Scar hid in the alleyway plotting his next attack.

"This time they're the ones who shall die." He whispered to himself. He looked at his brother's tattooed arm. "After they're gone; no one will stop me from completing the philosophers' stone."

"How does he kill?" Chloe asked. Ed sat next to Heather and looked at Chloe.

"His right arm is actually his dead brother's arm." He said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Heather said as she stared at the floor.

"He uses it to kill his victims... With alchemy. His main target is the head; he explodes your brains from the inside. The victims are dead within seconds." Ed concluded.

"Charming." Bec said. Heather continued to stare at the floor.

"That must've been how Dave was killed." Ed put his arm around her. Heather didn't react. It started to rain outside.

"Just perfect; the roof's gonna leak now." Jessie said. "Russell, can you help me with the buckets?" Russell rolled his eyes and followed Jessie out of the room.

"I don't trust them." Fletcher said in a sing-song voice.

"Why is Jessie so afraid that the roof is going to leak; it might not rain that hard." Al said.

"Trust me; when it rains here, it pours." Heather said. "This place is known for having flash floods." Jessie's voice rung around the house.

"Dad's home!" They all looked out of the window and saw a slender figure walk toward the front door. He looked sinister in the rain. He reached the front door and stuck his hand in his pocket and rummaged around for the house key. When he got inside he headed straight for the room that Jessie and Russell were in.

"That can't be good." Fletcher said to Al.

"Dad, you're drenched." They heard Jessie say.

"What's he doing here?" The man said.

"And now he's going to start raging at Russell." Fletcher said.

"Sir, i swear, I am only here to help with the leaking roof." Said Russell.

"Well, I'd better step in before Russell gets himself arrested, again." Fletcher said as he walked out of the room."

"I never really liked that Russell." Britt said."

"Same, he's always lying." Ed said. Fletcher walked in between Russell and Ian.

"Fletcher, what are you doing?" Jessie asked.

"Waiting for them to stop fighting and notice me." Fletcher replied.

"Oh, ok." She looked at the fighting boys; all they really were doing was talking over each other. "Dad." She said to get Ian's attention.

"What?" He replied, half listening to Jessie and half talking over Russell. Jessie pointed to Fletcher.

"Oh- Hi Fletcher!" Ian said. Russell fell silent.

'Fine, I see how it is.' He thought.

"So, what are you doing here, Fletcher?" Ian said kindly. While Ian talked to Fletcher, Jessie took Russell by the hand and led him outside.

The rain fell around them, drenching their clothes. It was as if they were standing underneath a waterfall.

"You'd better leave before he calls the cops, or worse." Jessie warned. Russell nodded. He gave Jessie a peck on the cheek and ran the street, keeping in mind that Scar could be anywhere.

Oh, so that's all I get; a kiss on the cheek.' She thought.

Ian walked into the lounge room with Fletcher close behind.

"Um, Jessie, why are there 6 teenagers in the lounge room? I thought you were only bringing Britt and Heather home." He said. Jessie walked in the front door and rolled her eyes. She was a little angry at her father for going off at her boyfriend.

"Because dad, Britt and Heather are after a mass murderer called Scar."

"That doesn't answer my question." Jessie sighed and explained everything that was going on.

"I have a feeling you're pissed at your father for something other than Russell." Al said. Jessie sighed again.

"I swear he is clueless. 'Oh, I didn't know you were bringing Britt and Heather back because of the political fight.' I told you before i left, dad. 'Ok, why didn't you tell me when you got back?'." Jessie rolled her eyes. "Well, fuck you dad."

"It's a good thing he didn't hear that." Heather said.

"Actually, yes i did." They heard Ian say as he walked casually past the lounge room.

"Whoops." Jessie seemed to intend for that to happen. "Where are you going?" She said to Britt as she saw her get up to leave.

"I need to talk to Mr. Hughes." Britt replied.

"Oh yeah, where's he been all this time?" Al asked.

"Talking to his wife."

"Makes sense."

"When will you be home?" Gracia asked. Maes twirled the phone cord between his fingers.

"I'll be home as soon as I can, honey."

"Daddy I miss you!"He heard Elysia say in the background. He chuckled a little and smiled at the sound of his daughter's voice.

"I miss you too my little Elysia!" He heard someone knock on the door frame from the lounge room. "Yes?" He turned around.

"Uh, Mr. Hughes, I need to talk to you." Britt said.

"Sure, what about?" Britt had tears in her eyes.

"Dave..." Maes nodded.

"Honey, I'll have to call you back later." He said onto the phone.

"Ok, love you."

"Love you." He hung up the phone. "What's up?" A tear rolled down Britt's face. She tried to hold the rest back. "Just let it all out, don't hold it in." Britt still refused to cry so Maes decided to resort to something else. "Al, we need you out here." Al poked his head around the corner.

"What for?" He saw Britt struggling to hold the tears back. "Oh." He wrapped his arm around Britt and whispered into her ear.

"If you don't cry, I'll cry myself." Britt started to laugh. "What?"

"BAKA."

"Huh?"

"Heather has said that to me before and you of all people should know should know that it won't work on me." She said through her laughter.

"Meanie." At this, Maes left the room to give Al and Britt some time alone. Al realized this and took his chance to romance Britt by wrapping his arm around her waist and placing his lips against hers.

Ed grabbed Heather's hand and began to lead her to the front door. They got to the front door and stopped.

"Did I see what I think I just saw?" Ed said quietly to Heather.

"Most likely." Heather said. They turned and saw Al and Britt so caught up in what they were doing that they didn't realize that Heather and Ed were staring at them, completely gobsmacked.

"Um, am I interrupting anything?" Ed said. Al quickly pulled away, almost knocking the phone off its hook.

"How long have you been there?" Al asked.

"Long enough." Ed said in a mortified way. Britt buried her head in Al's shirt, away from the embarrassment.

"Wait, why were you two heading outside?"

"Jessie insisted that we go and get Russell, frankly I don't want to, but she is providing a roof over our heads so i figured that it's the least we could do."

"Didn't she just send him home?"

"Pretty much." Heather said. Ed turned and opened the door but slammed it shut again. His back stiffened and he didn't move from the spot that he was in.

"what is it, brother?" Ed didn't say a word. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Brother?"

"Ed?" Heather said. She clicked in front of his face to try and snap him out of it. "Ed? Can you hear me?"

"Brother, answer us. What-is-wrong?" Al took him by the shoulders and turned him around to face him.

"S-scar." Ed's voice was filled with terror. Britt and Heather gasped.

"Outside?... NOW?" Britt said. Ed nodded and gripped his left shoulder.

"What am I gonna do? My shoulder is still wounded."

"What is going on out there?" Jessie entered the room. "I can hear mumbling."

"Jessie! Get your dad in a safe place where he won't get hurt." Al said firmly.

"What?" She looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Just do what I say, you'll find out later." Fletcher appeared soon after Jessie went looking around the house for her father.

"What is going on?" He said.

"Fletcher, good, come here, we need everyone's alchemy skills."

"What about Heather?" Britt said. "She can't use alchemy."

"Her engineering abilities will do."

"What is she going to do? Throw around spanners?" Heather's mouth fell open.

"You do realize, I am right here." She said angrily. "And there is a blood thirsty psychopath outside, waiting to kill us." She continued. "So you really shouldn't be worrying about me and my ability to hit morons in the head with a spanner."

Scar grew tired of waiting; he just wanted to kill them... Or at least fatally wound them and leave them for dead. He tried to force the door open, his anger building up inside him with every passing moment. He felt something heavy hit the back of his head. It felt as if it were metal. He spun around and saw a spanner lying on the ground and saw another coming his way. He ducked and let it fly over his head and hit the door. He charged in the direction that the spanners came from. Heather stepped aside and said

"Dude. Never. Hit. A girl. It's not cool." Scar revealed his right arm. Heather stepped back. "Heh, please don't hurt me..."

"Since I can't find your family; you die." Heather continued to inch away as he said this. She saw a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye and took her chance to run for it while Scar was distracted.

Al, Britt, Jessie and Fletcher had transmuted various weapons and started to attack Scar just as Heather ran and sat behind a wall that Ed transmuted. She breathed heavily; she was so scared, she had just come face to face with the man who was capable of wiping out whole towns if he wanted to.

"You look like you've just seen Scar." She heard Ed's comforting voice say.

"Well, yeah; considering the fact that he is right over there and as Britt and Al predicted I threw spanners at his head and pissed him off." She had to admit; as arrogant as that last statement made her sound, she was glad to hear Ed's voice and not terrified screams.

"Ed, Heather!" Chloe screamed as she, Maes and Bec ran towards them. "Watch ou-" They came to a halt and gasped.

Scar placed his hand on the wall and exploded it from the inside out. Although the explosion was suppressed; the wall shattered like it was glass. Ed reacted in a second and crawled over to Heather from where he was sitting and shielded her from the falling debris. He pressed himself into her, whimpering a little in pain as the rocks hit his back. Heather, who was squashed between Ed and the ground, still didn't know what was going on, it all happened so fast. She could hear Scar's footsteps coming closer, the screams of her friends telling them to out of there but, most of all she could hear Ed's whimpering. 'It's hard to see those you love in so much pain.' She thought. She heard Scar's footsteps stop. She panicked a little as she figured out what was going to happen. Ed didn't move an inch.

"Why aren't you going to run?" Heather said.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He answered softly.

"Ed, Heather! Get up and run! Now!" Bec yelled. Ed waited until he heard Al and Britt clap their hands. Then he got up, grabbed Heather by the hand and ran.

Al and Britt slammed their hands on the ground. A mass formed above Scar's head and Al and Britt grinned as they watched it fall straight onto Scar's head. (He seemed to get hit on the head quite a lot.) Now that the dazed and not-so-dangerous Scar had fallen to the ground, clutching his head in agony, Jessie and Fletcher quickly drew a simple transmutation circle around him.

"And where exactly are you planning to send him?" Britt asked.

"There is an abandoned mine shaft under this road. We can trap him in there for the time being and wait for the colonel to arrive." Jessie said. That was the smartest thing that had ever come out of her mouth and one of the only things that she had said that didn't turn into something about Russell. Britt, Al, Bec, Fletcher, Maes and Chloe were all absolutely baffled. "What?" Jessie asked. When no one answered she just simply put her hands on the ground next to Fletcher's and watched as a giant hole leading to the underground mine shaft opened beneath Scar. Scar wasn't able to move in time; all he was able to do was brace himself for the pain that was to follow the fall that awaited him.

Ed cut across the park, still thinking that Scar was still coming after them. Heather was pretty much being dragged along.

"Why are we still running?" Heather asked.

"Because Scar could be following us and I'm worried for you because he wants to kill you..." Ed continued to ramble on. Heather realised that he was really worried for her, even more so than usual. Ed continued to list why they had to run so far. Most of them were about protecting her. Heather bit her lip. 'How do I get him to shut up?' She stepped forward and kissed him tenderly. Ed was shocked; he never thought that she would shut him up that way. But, he liked it, it was nice. He returned the kiss with more passion than the first time. They both hoped that no one would interrupt them, especially not Al or Britt; if they caught them, they would never live it down. Ed stepped back and looked at Heather who was shivering.

"Are you cold?" HE asked. Heather nodded.

"A little, how are you not cold? You're not even wearing a jacket." She said. Ed shrugged.

"I guess I've gotten used to the cold."

"Lucky. I've lived here most of my life and I was never able to get used to it."

"I guess I'm just special." Heather laughed. They sat on the grass and fell silent. Ed remembered a conversation that he and Britt had had the night before. So, just to break the silence he said

"Britt told me last night that you were extremely ticklish." He grinned. Heather inched away slowly. She knew what he was going to do.

"N-no…" She timidly replied. 'Oh no! He's gonna tickle me.' Ed moved closer to her.

"I know you're lying; Al is a better liar than you and that's saying something." Heather continued to inch away. Ed quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his lap.

'Damn you Britt!' Heather thought. Ed began to tickle her ribs. Heather giggled and struggled away.

"I can hear Heather laughing; they can't be far." Bec said to Chloe and Maes. They walked through the park looking for Ed and Heather. The dim lamps were all that illuminated the path.

"It's the middle of the night; of all places why would they run here?" Chloe asked.

"I've known Ed for a while; he said to me that he would take Heather somewhere close to here when Scar attacked. He said that it was safe and away from Scar or something?" Maes answered.

"When Scar is close by, I've noticed that Ed does anything to protect Heather from him, and Al does the same for Britt." Bec said.

"You can tell that they love them."Maes said. He saw two figures in the darkness. "Is that them?" As he walked closer the giggling grew louder. "You two! Scar has been caught!" He made his way towards them.

"Thank god." Heather said. They stood up.

"Now we just have to wait until Roy arrives an-"

"Roy?" Maes nodded. "Great... Now I'm going to have to put up with that moron again."

"Why do you hate him so much?" Ed asked.

"I don't hate him I just dislike him...With a strong passion."

"But isn't that the same thi-" He was cut off.

"Nooo..."

"Heatherrrrrrrrrrr!" Britt yelled as she ran up to Heather and Ed. She wrapped her arms around Heather, almost knocking her over. Once Heather regained her balance Britt whispered to her.

"I see you and Ed are getting quite close there."

"What?" Heather said loudly. "You were spying on us?" This caught Ed's attention.

"When?" Al grabbed the back of Ed's shirt and dragged him away. "Did you spy on us?" Ed asked Al angrily.

"Well, I wouldn't say spied exactly..." Al said.

"What?"

"Well, we couldn't help it, you two are just so cute together!"

"What?"

"Even ask Britt." Al had a smug grin across his face.

"How long did you watch us for?"

"You promise you won't kill me?" Ed sighed.

"Fine."

"Well, let me just start from the beginning. Britt and I originally came to tell you that we managed to capture Scar but, we saw you two kissing and everything from then on." Al began to step away from his enraged brother.

"WHAT!"

"Brother, you promised you wouldn't kill me." Ed tried to compose himself but the anger was clearly present.

"Why did you tell him to tickle me?" Heather asked Britt.

"Because I wanted to see how you reacted."

"You know i won't hit him but I'll hit you."

"Why me?"

"Because you're an idio- Hey!" Heather was being dragged away by Bec. "I was in the middle of raging at her!"

"Well, too bad!" Bec answered. Heather looked to Ed who was also being dragged away. Looks like Maes had stepped in just before the boys ended up in a fight, again. Britt, Al and Chloe followed them back.