A/N: The beginning is in the FMA world, but I'm planning on switching to the Shaman King world later. I'll try not to make a random switch though. I'll make some kind of transition, but I still don't know if I'm going to continue this. Mustang is kind of OOC too. Sorry.

Summary: Word is spreading around Central that the Elrics are no longer the talk of the town. A new alchemist is taking their place and he's rumored to be able to speak to the dead, even bring them back. Best of all, he's willing to give the Elrics a second chance to see their mother. That is, if they help him out. His name: Asakura Hao. (FMA/Shaman King crossover)

Disclaimer: If I owned either of these animes, I would not be writing a fanfic about them so no, I do not own Shaman King or Fullmetal Alchemist.


A Second Chance

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Central is not a homey place, especially when you don't want to be there. Nobody knows this better than Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, known as the dog of the military that sides with the people. Truth be told, Central was not nearly as bad as he often made it sound, but there was a certain unease that came with entering it. However, even now, the famous alchemist was complaining about having to be in the one place he claimed to hate most.

"Al, remind me why I am here again." In his looks, Ed was nothing out of the ordinary. With a head of braided blond hair that reached his mid-back and his traditional black clothes under a red overcoat, he was no more intriguing than the next person. At least, that is what I would love to be able to say. Unfortunately, Ed was, shall we say, a bit vertically challenged. You know, a touch on the short side, a teeny bit less than normal in terms of height. Oh, to hell with it! Ed was what some people call a midget, but a midget prodigy nonetheless.

Anyway, so here was Ed, walking sulkily through the corridors of Central with his younger-but-much-taller brother, Alphonse Elric, complaining and whining like there was no tomorrow. And there was Al, listening to it all, without a single word to say. He just clunked along in his suit of armor, agreeing here and there so as not to anger his brother.

"I bet you Mustang doesn't even have any news for me. I bet he was just lying to get a chance to make fun of me," Ed rambled. "We'll walk into the room and he'll be like 'Oh, hello Alphonse, where's your brother? I was under the impression that he was coming with you. Wait, what is that I see there? Oh, sorry Ed, but I couldn't see you beneath the height of the table'," he continued, giving Al an impression along with the words.

Meanwhile, Al was thinking about the situation seriously. What was so important that Colonel Mustang would rush them back to Central from the East District so fast? "Ne, nii-san…"

Ed stopped in the middle of his second impression. "Nani?"

"Did Mustang-san tell you why he wanted us here so quickly?"

Ed looked uncertain for a minute. "Ie. At least, not that I know of."

Al nodded, retreating back into silence.

"Why?"

"Well, I just thought it might have to do with that rumor that we heard on the train…"

Flashback

"Hello, sirs. Is there anything I can get you?"

Ed looked up. Standing right next to him was one of the train's attendants, looking at him with questioning eyes.

He grinned, "Something to eat would be nice."

The woman smiled back and nodded. "Of course." She glanced at Al who was staring out the window, admiring the beauty of nature. "What about your older brother? Does he want anything?"

Now normally, Ed wasn't one for drawing attention, but any slur about his height could not go unpunished. He jumped out of his seat and glared at the woman. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT YOU COULDN'T SEE HIM BETWEEN THE FIBERS OF THE SEAT?" he demanded, fuming.

It was then that Al finally took notice of the woman. Quickly grabbing Ed's arms and holding him back, he turned to the surprised woman. "Gomen, demo nii-san is very sensitive about his height. If you could just bring some food, that would be great."

The woman nodded again, but slowly this time. After mumbling a thank you, she turned and fled down the aisle.

After Ed had calmed down and again had control over his emotions, Al let go of him and sat back down. He looked at his brother and sighed. "Nii-san, you really should stop doing that. Soon you'll be known as the schizo alchemist rather than the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Ed shifted his glare to Al.

"I'm just saying," Al said, immediately defensive. "Just think about it."

The two of them sat in silence, listening to the conversations around them for a while. They continued to listen without interest until they both hit upon the same exchange of dialogue.

"Hey, wasn't that the Fullmetal Alchemist?" The speaker was a young woman who was chatting with her friend.

Ed smiled. If there was one thing he loved about being the Fullmetal Alchemist, it was the touch of fame.

"Yeah, wow! I never thought I'd see a state-alchemist. Oh! Did you hear though? There's a new alchemist whose been traveling around. Word says he's really hot," her friend replied. "I want to meet him."

Ed scowled. Who was this unknown alchemist stealing his fame?

"No, I've never heard anything about him," the first girl said, excited. "What's he like?"

"Well, he's supposed to have long dark hair and a really nice body. You know, the tall, dark, and handsome type." The first girl giggled and her friend hushed her. "Oh stop. Anyway, they say that he can talk to spirits of the dead along with doing alchemy, too. He's even rumored to be able to bring them back from the dead. Someone said they saw him do it," the girl said, an adept at gossip.

Ed's and Al's eyes widened. Well, Ed's did anyway. They glanced at each other and then focused back on the conversation, not caring that they were eavesdropping. However, the woman from before had come with the food and interrupted.

"I have your food. If there's anything else you need, just call." She set down the plate of food.

Ed sighed, annoyed. The dishes on the platter were jingling and he couldn't hear a word of the conversation. Eager to get back to eavesdropping, he muttered a hurried thanks, but his tone was rather demeaning. The woman took the comment offensively and left with a huff, creating more noise as she made her way back down the aisle she had come from.

Finally, Ed could hear the two girls again, but their discussion about the unknown alchemist was practically over. The last thing that he heard was a name: "Asakura Hao."

End Flashback

Al looked at his brother. Ed had been quiet for a while, and that was strange in and of itself. Ed and quiet didn't usually go together, even when he was in a bad mood. Eventually though, Ed broke the silence.

"Maybe," he mused, "but it's unlikely. After all, it's just a rumor. There's probably no such person as Asakura Hao. And even if there was, I doubt the rumors about his abilities with the dead are true."

Al seemed depressed for a moment. "You never know. A lot of things happen that were never meant to happen or never should have happened."

There was no arguing with that, Ed thought. The two of them were living evidence. "There's no point of dwelling on it. We'll find out as soon as we get there so we might as well hurry up and get to Mustang's office."

"You're right, nii-san," Al agreed. "Come on, let's hurry up. We're late already anyway."

The two brothers sprinted through the building, turning sharply around corners and nimbly dodging people. They ignored the comments that were shouted at them and kept running until they reached a door that read: Colonel Mustang – Flame Alchemist. Taking a few deep breaths, they slowed their breathing. Al nodded to Ed and he opened the door, leading the way in.

Mustang was sitting behind his desk, reading documents with Lieutenant Hawkeye watching him when the Elrics entered. As the door shut, Mustang set down the papers he was holding and looked up at the two of them. "Took you long enough, Hagane no," he said, waving them in.

Ed scowled and sat down on the couch, making himself comfortable. Al, in turn, thanked Mustang and sat across from Ed, ever the polite one of the two brothers.

"So," Ed began, wanting to get right down to business.

"So indeed," Roy said. "You're wondering why you're here, I assume?"

Al nodded. "Hai."

"Well, there's been a rumor going around about an alchemist traveling the country, raising the dead," Roy began before Ed interrupted him.

"We've heard, but what does he have to do with us?" Ed wanted to know.

Roy sighed. "You'll know if you shut up and listen." He ignored Ed's glare and continued on saying, "This alchemist came in a couple of weeks ago saying that he wanted to take the state alchemy test. The only problem was that we have no idea where he's from or if he has any other intentions."

"He didn't tell you where he was from?" Al asked.

"Actually, truth be told, he did, but we'd never heard of it before," Roy admitted.

Ed snorted. "And they say Central has the best records in the world," he scoffed.

"We do, but have you ever heard of a place called…" Roy looked at Risa questioningly.

"Tokyo, Japan," she supplied after rifling through a stack of papers she was holding.

Ed was silent. Seeing at the look of confusion on his face, Roy laughed. "And so the Fullmetal Alchemist has met his match."

"Did you let him take the test?" Al asked, going back to the original subject.

The Flame Alchemist nodded. "He passed it with flying colors. He was as good as Ed when he took it. Maybe even better."

Ed scowled. This alchemist was getting on his nerves. "So what do you want us to do about it?"

Roy smiled. "Well, seeing as he is a new state alchemist and very new to this, and we know nothing of this Tokyo, Japan where he is from, we are going to send you to investigate his homeland with him as your guide."

"WHAT?" Ed shouted, shooting out of his seat. "We can't do that. What about our mission, or have you forgotten? We're trying to find the philosopher's stone?"

Roy shook his head. "I haven't forgotten."

"Then what makes you think that we'll go on this mission?" Ed demanded.

"The fact that you might be able to see your mom again," Roy replied, quietly.

"Well think again! If you think we're just going to—wait, what did you say?"

"We might get to see okaa-san again?" Al whispered.

Mustang nodded, his eyes sad. "You don't have to take the mission if you don't want to, but I thought I should ask first," he said. "I'm not completely sure if you'll be able to see your mother though, so think seriously about this. All the information we have about his abilities with spirits is rumors. However, judging by his skill and strength, it may be true. However, if it isn't, you could end up just wasting time."

There was silence in the room for what seemed like an eternity. Al looked like he had seen a ghost and Ed was having a mental breakdown of sorts. His eyes were wide as saucers and he was trembling like mad. Al looked at his brother with half-worried and half-pleading eyes.

"What should we do, nii-san?" he asked, his voice even softer than before.

Ed laid his head in his hands, staring at the ground. "I don't know Al. What can we do?"

Roy looked at the two of them and waved Hawkeye over to the door. They walked out, leaving the brothers alone again and the room was quiet again, almost deathly so.

"Nii-san?" Al's voice sounded scared, like this might be the last decision he would ever make.

Ed voice was harsh in comparison. "What is it?"

"I…" Al's voice died away. Taking a deep breath, he tried again, "I think we sh-should do it. I would never forgive myself if I had a chance to see okaa-san and I m-missed it. We still have the rest of our lives to find the stone, but this may be our only chance to see okaa-san again."

"I know, but what if we can't see her, Al? We'll have lost time. Our information will be obsolete. We'll have to come back here and start over, from scratch," Ed said.

Al voice was shaking when he answered, "B-but don't you th-think it's worth the risk?"

Ed didn't answer. He was thinking the same thing as Al, but he wasn't so sure if it was the right choice. Raising his head, he studied Al. He could see the loneliness in his brother's eyes and could hear the pleading in his voice. That settled it. "Okay, we'll go. For okaa-san, we'll go." He got up and opened the door. Roy and Risa were standing outside, discussing something, but they stopped as soon as the door creaked open.

"You've decided?" Mustang asked.

Ed nodded and the two came back into the room.

"So you're going?" Hawkeye said.

Ed was surprised. "How did you know?"

"You seem more determined than before," Mustang said. "Sort of like you're bracing yourself for what's to come."

Ed looked at him strangely. "Are you sure you're Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist?" he asked after a minute. "'Cause you seem different to me."

Roy chuckled softly. "Yes Ed, I'm sure." He paused as if he were about to ask something, but thought better of it. "Anyway, while you're on this mission, I need you to keep a close eye on this Asakura Hao. If anything strange happens, tell me."

Ed nodded, agreeing with the Flame Alchemist without a fight for once in a lifetime.

Just then, the door opened again and a man stepped in. He was dressed simply in black pants and a white poncho-like garment. His brown hair fell in a dark waterfall over his shoulders and his eyes were a hard dark brown. He looked amused as he scanned the room and it's inhabitants.

Ed looked him up and down and understanding lit up in his eyes. "Is this…?"

Mustang nodded. "Ed, meet your new partner, Asakura Hao."


A/N: yeah, okay...i know it's weird, but please review...thankies