Okay, I'm pretty glad I got some feedback for the last chapter, but I'm probably not going to update as much. I'm pretty busy during the week and I'm severely hooked on the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist (2003).

For those of you who hasn't seen it, I strongly suggest you watch it. ;)

"Y'know, I'm going to need a few things."

The young, blonde woman with blue eyes became startled and almost dropped the piece of tech she was carrying. She managed to straighten herself and shot Ex a glare. "What you need is a bell. Quit sneaking on me - you know I'll give you a sore jaw."

"It's nothin' much: just a couple of rags and some of that chemical fume...I can't remember what it's called." Ex murmured, rubbing his jaw.

"Chloroform?" Isis supplied.

"Yeah, chloroform. Glad I remembered." Ex said. Isis sighed in annoyance and decided to let it go.

"Did you finally come up with even a remotely good idea?" Isis found a shelf to put the machine on and looked at Ex expectantly.

"Isis, you underestimate me; it's better than all the other idea's I came up with and it's easier. But a crowbar works fine too." Isis gave him a strange glance at this statement but said nothing.

"The things you need are in the supply closet, Ex. But how are you going to capture him in the right environment?" Isis inquired.

"I...didn't go that far yet. Guess I'll have to improvise." Ex said simply.

"Don't take unnecessary risks, Ex, there's the dssibility of you going to jail." Isis warned. "You can get the death penalty at worst."

"Cops got nothin' on me."

The woman sighed, "whatever, Ex." Then deciding to change the subject, she asked, "what do you think about the boy, Ikki Tenryo?"

"I don't know, he doesn't look like the 'type', if you know what I mean." Ex expression had turned thoughtful, "he may have been strong a couple of years back, but he's just a goofball now. I suppose that's normal for a kid."

'Like someone I know.' Isis thought wryly. She looked up at him, "what about his Medabot?"

Ex groaned, "should we go through this again?"

"I'm asking your opinion."

"You don't even value my opinion, but here goes... I'll probably target the 'Bot first - it'll save me a headache in retrieving Ikki." The young man said. "But if you want my opinion, that 'Bot is tougher than he looks and probably won't give up without a fight. He'll riddle me with bullets if I so much as look at Ikki wrong. He's gotten a lot more protective of the kid these last few years."

It probably doesn't help when they get targeted by 'bad guys.'"

"And we're not?"

"I prefer to think of us as 'revolutionaries.'"

"Whatever you say, Isis."

Isis nodded and stood up, starting to walk out the room. "Hey, where are you going?" Ex asked.

"My team and I need to work on that special Medal: it's not quite finished and needs some more tests before it's completed. I suggest you get some rest. You're going to need it."

"I think I might take you up on that offer; thanks Isis."

"You're probably not going to be thanking me if I said you'll be running on three hours of sleep for a while." Isis replied with a small smirk.

"You're kidding me, right?" Ex asked with no small amount of disbelief plastered on his face.

"Nope, I'm telling the truth. All of us have to work with little sleep and a not-so-healthy amount of coffee." She turned around, "anyway, I'd stay and chat a little more but I have to go." Isis dismissively walked out of the room, leaving Ex behind.

The sun shone brightly the next morning as Ikki and Metabee tromped through weeds on an abandoned path, stopping every once in a while to unsnag Ikki's t-shirt from the plants along the path.

"Hey, Ikki?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we going down this path? I'm getting sticks in my joints!" Metabee asked, irritation building up.

"I told Koji I'd meet him here." Ikki replied.

"To robattle? Why not choose the park?"

Ikki made a face. "Apparently, he wanted a private robattle so no one would be 'overwhelmed by his awesomeness.'" He made air quotes.

"And?" Metabee pressed.

"I only agreed so I can say 'I kicked his butt big time!' Who wouldn't want to put that jerk in his place?"

"And?"

"...And win Karen's affection." Ikki replied, saying the last part with great hesitance.

Metabee sighed, "you do realize I'm the one doing the work, right? So why should I go through this just so you can steal the credit?"

"I will be ignoring you now."

"But still, why the heck should we go marching around a forest just to win a stupid robatt-!"

Ikki heard the loud sound of clanging metal and a shout but assumed the robot had simply fallen.

The forest suddenly went silent as Ikki kept on going. It took a few moments before it registered and the boy stopped and looked around. "Hey, Metabee? Metabee? Come on, this ain't funny! If this the best prank you can pull, then you're slipping; it's pathetic."

Ikki's ears caught the small sound of something dragging against the leaves, "Metabee, you knucklehead, come out before I get my hands on you!"

When no answer came, the boy started to get aggravated and walked a few steps forward, "fine, if you're going to have an attitude, then I'm leaving you behind!"

Metabee didn't jump out of the bushes to call Ikki's bluff, instead he heard something give a small groan and what sounded like deactivation. It was dead silent after that. His blood began to run cold. Metabee wouldn't go this far to creep him out, would he? That just wasn't his style.

"Alright, o-one last chance, Metabee! Don't make me come over there!"

The crunching of leaves immediately sent him sprinting towards the exit. A part of him felt guilty for leaving his friend behind, but the other part was telling him to run from whatever it was lurking in the forest.

His instincts told him it was not Metabee.

He heard light footsteps and began to run faster. He felt his heart pounding painfully against his rib cage and his lungs were burning like they were on fire. However, Ikki was actually making good progress when he tripped over a root of a tree.

Ikki cursed in Japanese and quickly tried to get up. Unfortunately, a rough hand gripped his arm and yanked him to his feet, covering his mouth and preventing him from screaming. Ikki started throwing his fists around, hoping to reach their target. All the fist-fighting he and Metabee did must have done some good! He even tried biting the hand but that didn't seem to work - all he got was a taste of a leather glove.

"Nice try, kid. But that's not going to work, say goodnight..."

Ikki felt a white rag with this weird smell pressed to his face. After a few seconds, he started to lose consciousness. Seeing his vision doubling and feeling an overwhelming urge to pass out told Ikki he was in bigger trouble than he thought. His body was getting increasingly sluggish.

He just knew wherever he was going, he was going to die.

Ikki twisted around to look his would-be murderer in the eyes, but his doubled vision wasn't helping very much. All he saw was that X shaped scar on the top half of his his captor's face.

'Why me?' That was his last thought before giving in to the darkness eating away at his vision.

Hmm, a bit short, don't you think? Sorry, I'm in a rush but I hope you liked this rewrite and if you were careful, maybe you found a reference or two from my previous story. ;)

Anyway, reviews really make my day, so send in your opinions.

Signed,

Winterbornbree

(Edited: 12/10/2015)