Ch. 3

Ed watched General Zabat throughout the meal, hoping for a break. Ed knew he would have to get Shanks alone, away from his men, in order to corner him, in order to demand what he wanted. His plan was flawless, and every time he thought it over, he couldn't help but grin at his cleverness. He planned to follow Shanks when the General left the cafeteria. That's when he would get Shanks alone and confront him.

Ed's plan was simple enough, but of course, the General didn't know and was not cooperating. On top of that, it was a well known fact that patience was not a strong suit of Ed's.

Shanks sat there for more than an hour, conversing and laughing with his men. He seemed to be having a good time. He even seemed to be a pretty nice guy, despite his actions with Roy earlier. It stunned Ed that anyone could be soft like that, but especially a dirty dog like Zabat.

Ed waited and waited. He wanted to actually carry out a plan and have it work. So many times, he would plan or never do. And when he did do, something always went wrong. This time, he told himself, he would make it work, no matter what.

Despite his resolution, Ed found it increasingly harder to remain patient and not just jump in, as was his usual style. He wanted this bad enough, he would do whatever it took.

"Calm down Ed," he told himself. "He can't be too much longer. You can wait him out. You can wait until the end of the earth."

Ed, however, found this to be untrue.

An hour and a half after Ed's one-way waiting game had begun, Ed found himself ready and willing to give up.

Wait.

Right now, he despised that word. Of course, there was never a time where he did like the word, but right now, it was his most hated word in any language.

Ed scooted his chair back, ready to get up and willing to admit defeat, when Shanks finally, at long last, rose from his own table, and bid his men goodbye. Ed's triumph over his impatience made him extremely proud of himself, but a grunt as he hastily stood up still emphasized his impatience. If he hadn't wanted something out of Shanks, he would've told the General off right there. But since Ed was trying to get something, he held his tongue and temper.

"General!" Ed called out when they were in a deserted hallway. "I want to speak with you!"

Shanks stopped, confused at first, and turned around to see Ed as he sprinted up. A sly, cold grin slipped over his face as Ed stopped in front of him and caught his breath.

"Ah, hello Elric," Shanks coldly greeted, though his tone was not as cold as it had been when he had been talking to Roy. "What is it?"

"I want to talk to you," Ed stated, standing up straight.

"I know," Shanks replied dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I got that from 'I want to speak with you'. What do you want to talk about?"

"I heard you know some things about the Philosopher's Stone," Ed stated. "Is that true?"

"Yes," Shanks cocked an eyebrow. "So?"

"I want the information!" Ed demanded quickly, forgetting his resolve to do this in a sneaky and clever way.

Even though Ed was serious, Shanks' response was one of mirth.

"No, seriously," Shanks started again when his mocking laughter had subsided. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"That's it," Ed snapped, angry steam nearly rising off the top of his head. "I want all the information you have on the stone."

"Do you really think that I'm going to just give up valuable information like that just because you came up to me and asked?" Shanks snarled. "If I did that for everyone who ever asked me about it, let me say that there would be a lot more people looking for it…or avoiding it."

"Sir," Ed cringed at the use of that word, "I need that information."

"Yeah? Well, we all need something, now don't we?" Shanks mocked.

"I had hoped that you would give me the information and that would be that, but I figured you wouldn't," Ed grumbled. "That leaves me with one choice, as I see it. I challenge you to a match," Ed announced boldly.

"Challenge me? What for?" Shanks raised his eyebrow again. "Does mommy Roy know you're challenging me?"

"I don't care if he does or not, I'm going to get my challenge one way or another, with or without his permission," Ed yelled.

"Fine, calm down you spazz," Shanks yawned. "Do you have conditions?"

"Of course! If I win, you tell me what you know about the stone," Ed declared. "If you win, I'll tell you what I know about Osnair. Sounds fair doesn't it? Equivalent exchange."

"No," Shanks snorted. "See, the thing is, the information I possess about the Stone far outweighs any information you may have on Osnair, seeing as how I can just read the file or learn about it myself. Even with the…temptation," he used the last word sarcastically, "the information and the fight alone do not add up to my information."

"Of course it would! Information is information!" Ed shook his head. "All information is equal!"

"But the desire to have it isn't," Shanks pointed out. "Let me ask you this, how badly do you want the information I possess?"

Ed became suddenly intrigued by the ground. "I want it bad."

"Bad enough to do anything, right?" Shanks sneered.

"Yes," was Ed's small reply.

"And how badly do you think I want your information?" Shanks continued.

"Not very much," Ed answered.

"That's right, I couldn't care less whether I got your information," Shanks nodded. "Aside from that, my information is much more useful. So, now what do you think about all information being equal?"

Ed growled to himself and clenched his fists. His plan had soured. He had originally thought that he would corner the General, but instead, somewhere in the course of the conversation, Shanks had turned the tables and cornered him. He was backed into a corner with only two options. Let the beast kill him or try to get away and let the beast attack him. Let the information go without a fight, or go ahead and fight, despite what the General would have him do.

Ed knew what he would do. He had only one option.

"So, what would you want in return for your victory?" Ed regretfully submitted.

"If you win, I promise, I'll tell you what I know of the Stone. If you lose," he paused for effect, "you and your brother will accompany me and my men to Osnair for the duration of the investigation."

"What!" Ed bellowed.

"You'll become my temporary dogs," Shanks clarified.

"I know what it means! But that's unreasonable!" Ed protested.

"I think it's very fair, and generous actually," Shanks noted.

"No way!" Ed cried. "No way!"

"Look, it's either that or forget even thinking about getting the information I have," Shanks shrugged.

Ed growled softly. He really was cornered with no way to wiggle out. Now Ed knew that Shanks wouldn't give out the information as freely as he had hoped. He had hoped that they would fight, Ed would beat the living daylights out of the General, and then Ed would get his information, easy as that. He wished he had never even seen Shanks at this point. Ed just wanted to shrink back and forget the whole thing.

However, Shanks would probably never let him live it down, nor would he even stand a chance of getting what he wanted. But was he really willing to stand the risk of being put under Shanks' control?

Coming to his conclusion, he grumbled, "Alright. I accept your terms."

"Very good," Shanks let a smirk crawl onto his face. "The match will be held tomorrow, sundown. I trust you will arrange it with Mustang."

"Why me!" Ed angrily called as Shanks began to saunter away.

"He likes you best," Shanks laughed, giving Ed a sarcastic wave.

"You want to do what!" Roy bellowed, his voice being mere decibels away from shaking the building off its foundation.

"I've challenged General Zabat," Ed restated, pinky finger in his ear to show his discomfort at having his eardrums blown out.

"You deliberately disobeyed me!" Roy cried. "Not that it's such a surprise, but you blindly challenged someone without even knowing what he can do! Without even knowing what he's capable of!"

"And who was I going to ask?" Ed challenged. "You?"

"Yes!" Roy nodded. "I would've told you what I knew if you had just asked! But as it is, you don't know a thing about him and you're going to fight him! How could you!"

"I heard he was good," Ed noted. "But I'm better. I have talented. I'm the Full Metal."

"You're stupid!" Roy shook his head. "He's way out of even your league! Even I wouldn't go up against him alone! How could you be such an idiot! Blindly rushing into a fight like this is suicide!"

Roy sighed and sat back down in his chair with a thud. His hand flew to his head where a throb was beginning to develop and he suddenly found himself feeling extremely tired and much older than he really was.

Deciding that it would be best not to fight Ed on this, or Shanks, Roy groaned, "Alright, Full Metal, you can fight Zabat on the parade grounds tomorrow. But," he looked up at Ed, "why are you fighting him at night?"

"It was his idea," Ed grumbled. "I didn't like it but…"

There was a pause with Roy mumbling incoherent things under his breath.

"Why are you so opposed to me fighting him, besides the obvious reasons I mean?" Ed broke into Roy's thoughts.

"Full Metal, there's a reason he's called the Silver Demon alchemist. He got that name for a very good reason he was awarded that name," Roy warned. "And I'm afraid you're about to find out why."