Welcome to the Isaac MacDougal Incident!
"The Freezing Alchemist? He's here?"
"I have word from my men that he managed to slip into Central a few days ago," the Fuhrer told Mustang. "I'm putting you in charge of catching him."
"Consider it done, sir."
"Oh, and I have word that our rising young star is here, as well. I'm placing him at your disposal."
"You mean… Edward Elric?"
"Of course. Who else could I mean?"
"Goddammit," Ed muttered on the roof. It was a cinematic shot, with the moon illuminating him and his siblings. Al was cut an impressive figure as a suit of armor, and Rin's hair blew in the breeze. "The Colonel's never going to let us out of here."
"Does that mean we're not going to Liore?" Rin asked.
"Nah, it just means we're stuck here a tad longer."
There were shouts down the street. The three Elrics jumped down from the roof and headed towards the sounds. A man stood before two dead soldiers—one burned by steam and the other frozen to death.
"Water freezes; water boils—either way, you're just as dead," he declared. Ed created a spear and chucked it at him, the murderer jumping back just in time.
"What a nasty thing to do," Ed commented, stepping into view.
"We both know great deeds require great sacrifice," Isaac snorted. "Isn't that the law of equivalent exchange?"
"The laws of alchemy don't justify murder!" Ed yanked the spear out of the ground and transformed it into a bat.
"No transmutation circle…" Isaac marveled.
"Don't be too impressed! Now!" Ed rushed forward and Isaac attempted to transmute the water in his arm.
"No! I had you! Any water in there should've boiled!"
"If it's any consolation, you did ruin my coat." Ed held up his arm to reveal a tattered sleeve… and an automail arm.
"An automail arm! A gifted young alchemist, who doesn't use transmutation circles…"
He was caught from behind by a suit of armor and a little girl used alchemy to hold him in place at the feet.
"I'd heard the rumors, but I didn't think it was true! You are the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"
"Damn straight," Ed replied.
"So… it's not you?" He looked to Al, who had joined his brother and sister.
"No, I'm his younger brother, Alphonse."
"I never would've guessed that the Fullmetal Alchemist was just some little kid." Rin cringed as her brother stiffened.
"Oh, yeah?! Can a little kid do this?!" He trapped Isaac in stone, piggy-backing off his sister's trap.
"I don't think he was referring to your height," Al told Ed. Ed calmed down… just a bit.
"Well, he still pissed me off." Ed took off his coat and began to fix the sleeve. Rin went to get some soldiers to take care of Isaac, and they—like MacDougall—assumed Al was the Fullmetal Alchemist. They took Isaac away, but he used his alchemy to escape in a cloud of steam.
"Uh-oh," Rin murmured.
"Dammit, now he's really pissing me off!" Ed spat.
The three Elrics were escorted back to Central Command, where they were greeted by Mustang and Hawkeye. Rin sat on the couch next to Ed, since Al took up an entire couch by himself.
"Looks like you underestimated your opponent, Fullmetal," Mustang commented.
"Who is this guy, anyway?" Rin asked.
"Well, if your brother had listened to the briefing, he would've known, but no! The three of you just had to rush out after him."
"Fine, I get it! I suck!" Ed waved it off.
"His name is Isaac MacDougal," Mustang began. "He's a former State Alchemist who went off the grid after the Ishvalan Civil War. He's been working against our country ever since, and he must be brought into custody, dead or alive."
"I'm not killing anyone for you," Ed declared.
"And that's your decision. We just need you to help contain him, nothing more."
Rin smiled at her brother. The door suddenly flew open, making all three Elrics jump as a man none of them recognized entered the room.
"Yo, Roy!" he greeted the Colonel, who looked extremely annoyed. "Heard they put you in charge of catching the Freezer! One hell of a nasty assignment, if you ask me, but hey! This could be your chance to get that promotion to Central." His eyes landed on the Elrics—specifically, Alphonse. "You must be the Fullmetal Alchemist I've heard so much about! Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, pleasure to meet you!" He started enthusiastically shaking Al's hand.
"Oh, that's nice of you, but I'm actually his younger brother, Alphonse!" Hughes then looked at Ed.
"It's you? But you're…" Rin could practically hear her brother daring the military official to call him little.
"Hughes, what are you doing here?" the Colonel sighed. "Go home."
"Oh, right. I'm actually here on official business." He turned to Ed, Al, and Rin. "I've been told that you three have nowhere to stay in Central, so you'll have to come with me." He reached into his pocket, making the three jump defensively before he held out a photo of a woman and a little girl. "My wife Gracia and my daughter Elicia—we'd love to have you!"
"Who's daddy's precious little girl?!"
The three Elrics stood awkwardly in the hall as Hughes fussed over his daughter.
"Elicia, these are the Elrics," he stated. "Edward, Alphonse, and Catherine." Elicia looked at the trio, then pointed to each one.
"Big brother, little sister, little brother." Ed stiffened.
"Nice try, kid, but Alphonse is my younger brother." He trembled with rage. "Got that? Youn-ger bro-ther."
"But younger means little, and you're little." Ed began babbling angrily as Al carried him into the apartment.
"Brother, these people are kind to let us stay here."
Luckily, dinner was waiting for them, and the two Elrics who were still able to eat dug in. Rin, as usual, ate twice as much as Ed. Hughes looked over at Alphonse worriedly.
"Al, how are you going to eat with that armor on? Take it off—relax."
"He can't!" blurted Rin.
"It's part of his alchemy training!" added Ed. Hughes gave them an odd look as they both chuckled nervously.
"Training! Choo-choo!" Elicia giggled.
"Hughes seems really nice," Rin commented, climbing into one of the twin beds. She snuggled under the blankets and Ed tucked her in.
"Yeah, he does," Ed agreed.
"And Miss Gracia's quiche looked just like Mom's," Al added.
"Tasted like it, too." Rin's eye fluttered closed.
"I'll add it to the list of things to eat once I get my body back!" Al pulled out his little notebook and did just that. Ed sat on the other bed and looked at his sister, who was already fast asleep.
"You know, you can't even tell what happened when she's asleep," he commented.
"Yeah. It makes me sad sometimes," Al agreed. "We shouldn't have dragged her into it."
"She's an Elric. She wouldn't have listened. I guess we're lucky that she didn't lose more than she did."
"But I still feel awful."
"Me too." Ed felt the familiar lump in his throat as he brushed Rin's hair away from the missing eye.
Shortly after Ed had left to take his State Certification Exam, Rin had taken advantage of the fact that she no longer needed a transmutation circle. While nobody was watching her, she'd transmuted the empty eye socket closed so it wouldn't be as disturbing to people. Ed had been livid with her for doing it, but she had argued that it looked better that way and that it had hurt to do it in the first place. Because of that last part, Ed had refrained from trying to undo it. Pinako had agreed with Rin's choice, stating that a closed eye socket with scarring was less terrifying to the general population.
It didn't erase the fact that Rin was only eleven and missing an eye.
The following night, the Elrics once again tried to catch Isaac. Mustang and Major Armstrong were unsuccessful, leaving it to a couple of teenage boys and an eleven-year-old girl. It became a race against time as the Elrics realized MacDougal's plan was to freeze over Central Command. In the scuffle atop one of the moving waves of ice, Al lost his head.
"Empty!" Isaac gasped, noticing the blood seal. A fierce wind picked up and revealed Rin's transmuted eye socket. "And scarred…"
"So what?!" Rin spat, picking up Ed's anger.
"You three tried it!" he laughed maniacally. "The ultimate taboo—you tried human transmutation! You lost your arm, your sister lost her eye, and your brother lost his entire body!" Rin looked to see Ed gritting his teeth.
"You know, there are some lines you really shouldn't cross," he muttered darkly, scaring Rin more than his outbursts.
Somehow, Isaac lost his footing and ran off, running smack into the Fuhrer himself.
By the time the Elrics and Mustang got there, Isaac was dead.
"Don't look," Ed whispered, covering his sister's eye. She'd seen the Truth, but not a freshly-killed and bloody corpse.
"Thank you for your help, Elrics," Bradley said, patting Rin on the head as he left. "This will make a fine story for my son."
"Are you three okay?" Hawkeye asked.
"We're fine," Rin insisted.
The next day, the Elrics were on the train to Liore.
"You know, we never did find out if he had a Philosopher's Stone," Al commented.
"I don't think he did," Rin stated. "I think he just had a lot of power."
"How about this priest in Liore?"
"Well, I've been doing research, and according to it, science and religion don't mix. There's something fishy about it."
"Agreed."
And that's chapter two.
If you followed this story originally, please go back and read the first chapter. I changed it a lot, so it's necessary to understand this new Catherine character.
So long and thanks for all the fish!