"Welcome
to the jungle
we got fun 'n' games"-Guns N' Roses
Al and Ed begin to walk towards the building so ominously entitled "Club Scum". As they tried to enter the front door, which is surrounded by various thugs and crooks, they were stopped by a rather burly, bearded man who is obviously the bouncer.
"Yo, you two got I.D.?" questioned the bouncer to the brothers
"Uh I left it-"but before Ed could finish Al piped in. "Actually sir, we're underage". Ed could only lower his head and put his hand to his forehead at his younger brother's naivety. The bouncer than pulled out two passes and held them out to the two.
"Here's two fake passes. Enjoy yourselves kids". Ed and Al looked at each other and then at the I.D.s. They took them and proceeded to walk into Club Scum. Upon entering they could see why the Club was called Scum. All around them were guys who looked like they belonged in prison and women who seemed too scantily clad to even be out in the public. Ed and Al took a seat at the bar, where the bartendress was busy pouring drinks.
"Ed, I'm feeling a bit nervous around these guys," whispered Al to his brother.
"Relax; you're a giant suit of armor. If anything these guys are intimidated of you. I'll ask for some directions from the bartender. Excuse me miss?" The bartendress turned around, revealing her to have wavy black hair that falls to her shoulders, tied back in a purple ribbon, and purple eyes with tan skin. She was of average height and is in her early 20's and was just finishing giving an old man sitting next to them some wine.
"Sure, what is-". She stopped mid sentence as she saw the two sitting in front of them and stared wide eyed and jaw dropped at Ed.
"Oh my god…."
Ed simply blinked. "Uh, what is it?"
Suddenly, the bartendress grabbed Ed and placed him into a seemingly escapable hug.
"Ed!" Al yelled out in surprise.
"I can't believe it Edward Elric is in my bar! This is so amazing! I love you so much!" She screamed out as Ed gasped "can't…breathe".
Suddenly she let go as Ed's eyes began to spin in spirals and stuffed into his hands a textbook and a pen. "Could you please sign my book on alchemic brewing, PLEASE?"
Ed, still a bit dazed signed and handed it over as she grabbed it in glee. "By the way, my name is Erica Reynolds and I make the drinks here in Club Scum. And might I compliment you by saying that you're not nearly as short as people have been telling me"
At this point, many, many, veins on Ed began to bulge in rage. "What did you say!" Al immediately took hold of him. "Calm down Ed, she didn't mean it like that".
"Yeah, for the past couple years I've been hearing stuff from travelers about your exploits. I'm surprised you haven't gotten ranked to general yet!"
"Well maybe someday….but would you mind giving me the names of the people who called me short?" Ed asked with angry eyes. Al could only react with a look of grief at his brother's obsession with his height. It was then that the bouncer from outside rushed in with a nervous look on his face.
"Boss, we got a problem" Whispered the bouncer to Erica
"What is it Road Rash?"
In a nervous tone Road Rash replied "It's Ron Walker, he's heading over here"
Suddenly Erica got an upset look on her face "What! That asshole is trying to get in here when last time he and his boys trashed the place?"
Suddenly, many of the seemingly cutthroat patrons got nervous looks on their faces and nearly all activity stopped with people leaving.
Al interjected "Uh, who's Ron Walker?"
Erica simply replied "Bah, he's LT. General Walker's son. He thinks since his dad is a higher up in the military he and his gang can do whatever they want. And he used some money from his dad's piggy bank to get a buff body, but he ain't that tough".
And as if on cue, a large, excessively muscular man entered the building along with a few assorted thugs. He wore red suspenders and a green undershirt with muscles bulging underneath it. He approached the bar where Erica was.
"Hey sweet thing, sorry about wrecking the place last time…a few too many brews I guess" Ron ended, laughing to himself at the end.
Erica looked more pissed off and R.R. tried to intervene. "Look Ron don't cause no trouble".
But just as he finished, a large fist smacked him to an opposite wall.
"Whoops, too late" Ron ended laughing more, inviting his thugs to do so as well.
Erica yelled out "Hey! You better get outta here! Edward Elric the full metal alchemist is here and if you don't stop he'll kick your ass!"
"Who him?" Ron replied pointing to a dismayed Al and making Ed even more dismayed.
"No, Him!" Erica yelled pointing at Ed
Ron and his crew did a double take…..and started laughing en mass
"Hahaha! You gotta be kidding me! This little bug is The Full Metal-"But before Ron could finish he found an auto mail fist lodged into his face and the "bug" behind it and causing Ron to fall to the ground with a few broken teeth.
"Holy crap he knocked out Ron!" Yelled out one of Ron's friends in dismay
Ron then rose up, his face bleeding "Is that the best you got you little insignificant mosquito?"
Right now, a person could have sworn that Edward transformed into some sort of demon or horrible mythological creature as he jumped Ron again and started to pummel the snot out of him as everyone watched in horror.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BEAN OR A GRAIN OF SAND OR A MIDGET!" Ed screamed as he continued to give Ron the worst beat down of his life.
"BUT I DIDN'T SAY ANY OF THAT! AUGHHHH!" Ron yelled in pain.
"Ed stop you're going to kill him!" Al protested
"Way to go Ed!" Erica yelled in contrast
Ed then rose up his entire right sleeve covered in Ron's blood as Ron's crew looked onward in disbelief as a large and happy grin grew on Ed's face.
"Man I feel WAY better now"
Ron, with his face looking like road kill rose up slowly.
"Ugh…you bastard…I'm going ta make you pay….guys!"
Suddenly, Ron's group pulled out various weaponry; ranging from brass knuckles to guns and Ron himself pulled out a grenade
"Hey put that stuff down you don't know what you're doing!" yelled Erica
"I know exactly what I'm…" It was then that a thug tapping his shoulder and showing that the other bar flies had pulled out their own cache of weapons interrupted him.
"Grrrrrr……that doesn't matter….all that matters to me is that I kill that little son of a bitch…" said Walker, unwittingly saying the "L" word again and causing Ed's rage to rise again as Ed prepared another auto mail punch all hell broke loose and….
Meanwhile at West H.Q.
Colonel Derek of Western Head Quarters had specifically stated to be left undisturbed for the remainder of the day. Was he doing something of great importance? Not quite. He was sitting at his desk with his face buried in a book entitled REVENGE OF THE GOLEM. The Colonel was what one would consider, even for these times, a nerd. What with his large thick glasses, short stature, unkempt dark brown hair and an abnormal love of science fiction stories. His almost Zen like state of stillness (except for moving his eyes to read, and turning pages with his hands) was immediately broken by someone bursting through the door.
"Derek! There's been an explosion downtown!" Yelled the large strong man who just busted in, scaring Derek so badly he fell out of his chair
"Bruce! How many times do I have to tell you, don't just run in here and yell at me!" Yelled the Colonel back at his LT, Bruce Williams who is otherwise known as "The Iron Fist Alchemist".
For his large right auto mail hand, which had a transmutation circle etched onto the back. Bruce was definitely not one to be messed with. Bruce had muscles that made him look as strong as a bull, his height was 6 and half feet, and he had what one could describe as an abnormally large chin….
"Look, I don't care if you were busy reading another lousy ghost story but somebody just blew up half a tavern downtown" Replied LT Colonel Bruce Williams
"Was it the work of one of the organizations?" Asked Derek back
Bruce scratched the back of his head "Not quite but people have been saying that those Elric brothers that Mustang was sending here were at the scene"
Derek's jaw dropped at least two feet.
Back at Club Scum (Or what's left of it) about 15 minutes later….
The bar was in shambles. Policemen and crowds gathered like insects to a flame. Edward along with Ron and a bunch of the thugs from earlier (who were also covered in the soot and dirt of the explosion) were hand cuffed and being rounded up by police while a few officers simply stared at Al, incredibly intimidated. Erica looked incredibly angry, and ran at Ron and started to shake him around as police attempted to pry her off.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU TOTALED MY BAR! HOW AM I GOING TO FIX IT YOU BASTARD!" she yelled at him while shaking up the disoriented Ron
"Stop shaking me around! I'm feeling nauseous from that damn explosion! And it's all that little moron's fault, if my hand grenade hadn't got caught in his transmutation thing then-"but before he could finish, Ed joined in on the beat down until police could pry them off.
"Arrest me! Do whatever! Just keep me away from these maniacs!" Yelled a terrified Ron as he was escorted away
"You get back here so I can break your legs off!" Yelled Ed
"Me Too!" added in Erica "Who's going to pay for these damages?"
"I will" Said a voice beside her
Ed and Erica looked, it was a man in military issued clothing and equipped with a great deal of medals, signifying a high rank. He had a buzz cut that made him look even more military and a long horizontal scar that went across his face.
"I'd like to apologize on behalf of my son" said the large man, obviously Lt. General Walker
"Aw, Dad it's so good to see you again" said a handcuffed Ron
"That'll be enough, perhaps another year at military school will help you be more disciplined" commanded Walker
"No! C'mon Dad I'm sorry I-"but Ron was cut off, being sealed into a paddy wagon
"So what're you going to do about my bar?" yelled an angered Erica
Walker simply pulled out a check from his coat, wrote on it and handed it to Erica. Her eyes visually bulged
"With this type of cash I can add another building!" said Erica joyously
"And by the way, are you Edward Elric?" asked the Lt. General
"Why yes I am, I was sent down here and-"
"We don't need you here" replied Walker, interrupting Ed
It was then that a car hastily arrived, and out stepped Derek and Bruce
"For the love of all things sacred, what happened down here?" Yelled a stressed out Derek
"The almighty general's son blew a hole the size of a city block into my bar after getting into a scuffle with Ed over here" Erica stated, pointing to Ed who was standing with Al
"Who, the guy with the armor?" asked Bruce
"No...ME! Just because I don't wear a suit of armor doesn't mean I'm not full metal!"" yelled an aggravated Ed, upset at the constant mistaken identity
"So…why does he wear the armor?" asked a confused Derek
Ed and Al looked at each other for a moment and gave their usual explanation "It's a hobby"
Bruce and Derek simply looked at each other and back at the brothers with blank looks
"Right…" said a slightly weirded out Bruce
"So Colonel it was you who brought over this unwanted agent?" Asked Walker
"Uhm… yes sir. But we have been in need of back up ever since, well, last week" responded Derek
"Well, I'll allow this for now. Only because I'm too preoccupied by the arrival of Count Locke"
And with that, the general went to his car and left the scene
"Jackass" Said Bruce as the car drove off into the distance
"Right, well we had best take you to head quarters and fill you in on the situation, follow us to the car" Added Derek
As they started walking to the car Erica followed
"Hey Ed if you need anything, from a free drink to elevator boots you know who to come to!" Squealed Erica as Al held back Ed and told Bruce
"I think we'd better go"
"WHY WOULD I NEED ELEVATOR BOOTS?"
Derek then stepped in "Mr. Elric…Ed. I'd like to brief you onto why you've been called out here"
Ed and Al began to listen attentively as they were driven through the city
"Well, as you may or may not be aware…Remus has started to turn into a crime ridden city, being on the border to the country of Creta it makes a good get away for criminals so the streets have begun to be crime ridden. And worse yet quite a few gangs have set up their operations here…but the biggest problem is that the two biggest ones have declared a Blood Feud"
Ed and Al looked blankly at Derek
"Uh…basically it means that both won't stop until the other is destroyed entirely. The two crime organizations in question are called The Bonne Foundation and The Inferno Society. Not much is known about each unfortunately."
Al then piped in
"So, why did the blood feud start?"
Derek sighed
"It all began a couple weeks ago when the gangs started moving into each others territory. But all hell broke loose when one of the Lieutenants, Bernard "Hand Canon" Harry kidnapped the wife of Jimmy "Needles" Capital. In the ensuing trade off, Harry shot Jimmy, his wife, and the rest of his gang, minus one member, to death. This is the match that started the fire. And the main reason we need your help is that both sides have begun listing Rogue Alchemists"
Ed raised an eyebrow "Rogue alchemists?"
"Yes, as you are aware after the Ishbalan Civil War many State Alchemists quit the military…but they did not relinquish their abilities. Some started working in crime rings. And now we can only fight Alchemy with Alchemy"
The car stopped and Bruce the stated from the driver's seat "We're here"
Stepping out, the boys got a look at West H.Q. it seemed to follow the same architectural design as Central, and Eastern head quarters, except that on the steps and other parts of the building were covered in graffiti.
"Damn punks" said Bruce looking at one reading 'Porkers!'
"Hmmm…better get grounds keeper Han on this" Thought Derek out loud, his hand to his chin
"So if you guys need alchemists what was with General Walker earlier?" asked Ed
"Bah, that guys just an old blowhard" responded Bruce
As the group entered the building, heading to Derek's office, they could see how busy the precinct was, officers of the military were rushing about as criminals were being dragged along hand cuffed or put in cells across the room.
After a short walk, they arrived at Derek's office where two people were waiting.
"Colonel Derek, you're back" Said a young woman who was standing next to a man about her age.
"Good to see you too Samantha, Edward, these are my two subordinates Major Samantha Colt and 1st Lieutenant Mike Winchester" Stated Derek as both gave a salute
Samantha was a little over five feet tall with red hair and light blue eyes. She also wore a necklace with a large red pendant hanging from it with a transmutation array on it. Mike was nearly 6 feet tall with short spiky black hair and green eyes.
"It's good to finally meet you in person Mr. Elric" said Mike
"Anyways, Colonel it's almost time for us to be posted to guard Count Locke" stated Samantha
"Who's Count Locke?" asked Ed
"He's a weirdo" replied Bruce
"Bruce-I mean, he's a very wealthy philanthropist and beloved figure of the city. He's also a very large land owner because he is descended from nobility" added Derek
"So why do we need to guard him?" asked Ed
"Well, tonight he's arriving here to open the new wing he contributed to H.Q. and while he is beloved….there are people who want him dead" explained Derek, scratching the back of his head
Mike tapped Bruce's shoulder "Uh, who is that guy in the armor?"
"It's Ed's brother"
"Why is he wearing a suit of armor?"
Bruce just shook his head "don't even ask"
Later that night
The city was adorned with lights as people were gathered around Western H.Q. Then an incredibly fancy black sedan drove up. The driver stepped out to open the door and out walked a man who was about 6 feet tall, had long bleach white hair, pale blue eyes, a fancy tuxedo and spectacles.
"Park the car Charles" Said the man to the driver, who complied
LT General Walker the walked up to him
"Count Locke, it's a pleasure to see you again" said the general, shaking the count's hand
"Yes..." said the count uninterested. They began to walk into H.Q. were there were many guards and soldiers stationed about as they finally reached the new wing with a traditional ribbon tied from one wall to the opposite one. The count was handed a large pair of scissors, still looking uninterested. When the count was about to cut it however, gunfire rang out.
"Nobody move!" yelled a group of masked men with guns who busted from the new wing
"I knew I should've stayed home tonight" Thought the Count to himself
To be continued
Author's Notes: First off I don't own FMA aside from all OCs. I would also like to apologize for two things: Leaving you in such suspense. And not updating for a long time ;;. I hope to get to the next one sometime soon. Also, check out my joint fic with SamuraiSirius, Han Rei.
And to promote reviews like a true criminal or lawyer:
PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEXT CHAPTER SOONER! XD