Me- Well I must admit the way this story is progressing was not originally what I had in mind…you know Ed losing it and all that…ok that may have been a small factor…

Ed- You've had it in for me this whole time!

Me- Ed do you realize just how easy it is to make your life miserable?

Ed- What do you mean by that?

Me- What I mean by that IS…um…

Ed- I'm waiting…

Me- Thank you all for the very nice reviews! I will say once again that I'm very glad you all are enjoying my story…sniff…

Ed- DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT! >o

Chapter Sixteen: Mental Rebound

"Brother?" Al put his hand on Ed's shoulder; he was about to take a look at his brothers' shoulder when suddenly he pulled back.

"Help me brother…why won't you help me?" he had a slightly mocking tone in his voice. Al though took a step forward and grabbed his brothers' arm, with a sharp tug he managed to pull his brother off balance and was able to get a good look at his shoulder. It was faded and a different color but it was there…the Ouroboros…but this one was different for some reason. Like the original it was the mark of the serpent that devoured its own tail but…instead of being dark red it was a jet black color, well it would have been if it wasn't so faded.

"What is…this?" he muttered, Ed pulled his arm out of Al's grasp and shoved him. For some reason he didn't like to be touched,

"Don't! Touch me!" he hissed.

"You again?" Al muttered…this was going to be difficult, how was he going to be able to tell the difference between his brother and…the other one…if the other one could imitate his brother? "I want to talk to my brother."

"You are talking to your brother…can't you tell?"

"Let me talk to my brother." Al repeated.

"Al, it's me…" Ed said.

"…"

"Al?"

"Prove…it…" Al suddenly said, he had a plan. He knew his brother had lost him memories, so if he was able to answer the question then it was the fake! Then the paused, but wait…what if the other one has no memories also? He had to admit this was a bit frustrating. "If you're really my brother then tell me…why are you doing all of this?"

"What?"

"Why are you destroying everything?"

Ed looked around at all the destroyed buildings then at Al,

"I…heh…I don't know…" he muttered. Al just shook his head, that wasn't the answer he was hoping for…it was the other one. Walked up to him and said,

"You're not my brother."

"…" Ed looked Al in the eyes "What is it about 'your brother' that you are so inclined to get back?"

"He's my brother what other reason is there?" Al replied.

"H…how noble, such loyalty…what is it about me, that you are so inclined to get rid of?" Ed chuckled.

"…"

"Nothing? Well, if you want to get rid of me then you have two choices. Kill me or make me remember, I really don't think you're going to agree to the first one."

Al shut his eyes tight and shook his head vigorously, this isn't happening; no it's not happening. He was about to say something when Edward suddenly attacked him, both falling to the ground,

"B…brother! What are you…doing?"

Edward backed up and hugged his knees, he was trembling considerably, Al sat up and looked at his brother. What was wrong with him, why did he attack him?

"G…go away…leave me…alone…"

"Brother?" Al scooted up next to him "Is it you this time?"

"Get…get out…get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" he moved away, Al wasn't sure what to do. He wanted with every fiber to help his brother, the only thing holding him back was the undeniable fact that he wasn't sure how.

"Brother! What's wrong? Is it the other one?"

"Hmm…hmm…hmm…" he was still trembling; he had his face in his knees now and seemed to be muttering something. Al tried to get closer so he could see what was wrong, at that moment Ed lashed out again. He looked very confused and very upset, looking around, as if he didn't know what was going on, that's when he noticed Al giving him a worried expression.

"It is you isn't it? What's happened to you? Did that other you do this?" Al asked.

"…No…"

"Then who? Who did this?"

"…" Ed looked at him for a moment then went back to staring into his knees "I…did…"

"What? You couldn't have…" Al muttered.

"Oh, but I did…"

Al jumped slightly by this sudden response, looking at his brother again he saw that he was being givin a very mocking glance.

"Such brotherly love, even if one of them doesn't know why. Yes I did it, though I guess you could say…he did it. Going to find Sesshoumaru, getting him to revive you, the whole thing was his idea. He didn't know why but when you died it really bothered him, I can't imagine why though, you're so meddlesome. I must admit though, he didn't realize just how much it would take to get you back. It was only a matter of…time, was it not?"

Al glared at him, he was listening to his conversation before? How? That didn't matter at the moment. Why doesn't he want Ed to get his memories back? That's what Al wanted to know.

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"What? Destroying this…quaint…village? Because, I feel like it. Or…maybe you want to know why I don't want me to remember my past. If that's the case well, lets just leave it at…the strongest survives and the weak…die."

"What!"

"I have no intention of losing this fight, though currently I'm doing pretty well, I can't say the same for the other one though."

"…"

Edward stood up and looked down at Al with a very unsympathetic glare,

"Are you going to stop me? If you are, how are you going to go about it? That's what I'd like to know. You see, if you try the first one you'd be killing me AND well…me, but if you go about with the second you'd just kill me. This is quite the dilemma if you ask me, I don't want to die but…I too have this empty feeling inside. Like something was taken away that shouldn't have, I can only guess that would be my memory."

"I don't care about you, you're nothing like my brother. You…are not the same people." Al said standing up also.

"Oh aren't we? Mentally? No, I guess we are different…maybe…"

"Not maybe, my brother would never do this stuff!" Al snapped.

"Is that so? The way I see it, what he lacks in memory he more then makes up for with mental instability, a black void can do that to a person." Ed walked up to Al and grabbed the front of his shirt and continued,

"Would you stoop so low as to kill something that…in a way…is part of who your 'real' brother is? That wouldn't be very nice now would it? Does that not go against what you where striving for in the beginning?"

"You are not a part of my brother," Al tried to free himself, it was strange, even though he looked rather weak and in some ways unhealthy, Edward was considerably strong "I will make you remember, then we can go home to granny and Winry."

"I…don't think so…" with a sudden jerk he shoved Al to the ground "I won't have you kill me! It's like I said, the strongest survive and the weak die!"

"Well…"Al got up "I'm sorry to disappoint you then, because I'm not letting you kill my brother…or whatever it is you're going to do."

-To Be Continued-

Me- sigh Yet another chapter closer to the final out come...and this chapter is sorta short

Ed- Wait…I'm not me…you have me trapped inside my own body!

Me- sigh…again It's not my fault! It comes from loving Bakura so much!shocked that he didn't react to the 'short' comment considering it was slightly directed at him

Ed- Who?

Me- Ryou Bakura…in my opinion he's the best example of being trapped in ones own body by an evil counter part.

Ed- Will this torment never end?

Me- . probably not

Ed- TT.TT