Sorry, I skipped episode 4. I never really liked it and I didn't think there was anything that important in it. Just Ed and Al dealing with yet another deranged alchemist. So onto episode 5.
Disclaimer: Same as before. I do not own FMA, etc.
5 Dash! Auto-Mail
Ed stood nervously at the train station; his knuckles under his gloves were white on the telephone receiver. "How may I connect you?" A female operator's voice drifted through the receiver.
"Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, please," the nervous boy stammered.
"Hold please."
Ed heard the phone click on the other end. "Roy Mustang."
Ed tightened his grip on the tiny receiver until he thought it would break. "This are Edward Elric," he managed, snapping to attention.
Roy chuckled. "'This are?'" he repeated, amusement evident in his tone. "There's no need to be nervous."
"We're arriving on the 9:20 train."
"All right," Roy agreed. He paused as his Second Lieutenant's brisk strides stopped at his desk and she handed him a piece of paper. His slitted black eyes quickly scanned the missive. "Wait. Is there a train leaving now?"
On the other side of the line, the train whistle blew. "Yes, but it's leaving now."
"Get on it." The phone clicked.
Ed jumped at the abrupt order and stared at the dead receiver in his hand. The whistle blew again and the thud and chug of the train wheels could be heard as they started to turn. Ed yelled over his shoulder to where Al stood by a bakery stand. "Al, let's go!"
Al quickly paid the lady for the bag of buns and sprinted after his brother.
Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye eyed her commanding officer. She stood at ease in her pressed blue military uniform, her light blond hair cropped short like a boy's. Mustang propped his elbows up on his desk on either side of the train schedule. "I'm going to test his luck."
Ed munched happily on the buns. "I don't know about this Lieutenant Colonel Mustang," he confided to Al around a mouthful of bread.
Al didn't seem to be paying any attention. Instead, the suit of armor raised his hand and tentatively waved. Confused, Ed turned around to see who Al was waving at. A small brown head disappeared behind Ed's seat. Al's face fell.
"Mom, there's a weird person over there." A little girl's insistent voice carried over from the next seat.
"Weird?" Al echoed miserably. Ed glowered and stood up and turned around to defend his little brother. He was met with the speculative gazes of the other passengers. He turned beet-red. "We're not suspicious or anything," he said, waving his hands in front of him. Embarrassed, he sank back down to his seat. A sound behind him caused him to turn back around.
The little girl was peering over the seat at Al. She appeared to be about five years old with shoulder-length brown hair. She caught their gaze and waved with a small giggle.
Ed smiled. "See, she likes you."
The little girl happily nodded. The light streamed in from the window and the girl's eyes were drawn to the glint of light on the teenager's arm.
Ed followed her curious gaze to his right arm. His jacket sleeve didn't quite meet the edge of his glove and the auto-mail peeked out from under it. The idea of covering it back up flitted through Ed's mind. Instead, he grinned up at the girl and pushed his sleeve up to show his whole metal forearm. "Cool, isn't it?"
The girl's eyes sparkled as she nodded her agreement. "Now, Marin, don't bother them," her mother gently reprimanded. The woman smiled at the two boys and drew her daughter back to her side.
A gray-haired general relaxed in his private car watching the scenery speed by the open window. Instead of his military uniform, he wore a brown suit minus the jacket. Next to him, an officer clad in the blue military uniform sat alert. The man smiled at his wife who sat across of him on the padded seat. Their two children, a boy and girl, lay sleeping in her lap. Pearls glinted on her fingers, wrist, and ears. "Looks like they tired themselves out from moving around so much," the man observed.
"Yeah," the bodyguard agreed. "I'm glad the vacation ended safely, General."
"I heard it wasn't very safe in the East, but it wasn't that dangerous," the general agreed. The two officers exchanged a laugh.
Outside, two men stood guard at the door. "Good grief. The higher-ups are so easy going," one man lamented. "By the way, where's Major Hughes?"
The younger soldier snapped to attention. "Sir! He's currently contacting Lieutenant Colonel Mustang about that case."
The man sighed. Warrant Officer Vato Farman wore civilian clothes, khaki slacks and a brown sports jacket. His severe features were blunt and his sharp eyes were incredibly tiny. He walked up to a round window in one of the doors.
Inside the cramped radio room, a black-haired man leaned back in the rolling chair. He wore black slacks and a long-sleeved purple collared shirt. "My wife has gotten more beautiful since she got pregnant," he gushed into the phone. "How can I say this? She's like an angel descended down to earth." His black eyes glazed over with happiness behind his rectangular glasses.
At Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang hung up the phone.
Hughes shook the phone. "It cut me off again," he frowned. "The line is so unstable now. What a bummer."
Farman peered in through the window. "You're the bummer!" he shouted at his now sulking boss. Hughes was a good man, and an intelligent one at that, but when it came to his family… He heaved a sigh. "I need to go on patrol again to feel safe.
Inside, Maes picked up another phone and dialed a number "Hello? What should I do if the baby is born tomorrow?" he worried.
On the other end of the phone, Mustang impatiently drummed his white gloved fingers on his polished wood desk. "Hughes. I heard that story about fifty times now," he said irritably. "If you're going to talk to me about that, call your wife."
Maes Hughes pushed the rolling chair back against a console. "I already did," he replied with a grin.
Roy lifted a white-gloved hand and snapped. Sparks flew from his fingertips. "Then don't ask me," he bit out.
The phone clicked. Puzzled, Mustang looked up to see his blond lieutenant pick up the extension. "Excuse my rudeness," Hawkeye apologized. "But, Major, let me give you a piece of advice. A baby will not be born in five months!"
The train sped under a tunnel. Hughes frowned at the dead receiver. "Damn this connection. What's with this phone?"
Farman silently walked through the train's cars. He paused at the entrance of the one the Elrics were in. His small eyes widened at the armor that towered above the train seats. He dashed back to the connecting room.
"You can stop now, Hughes." Mustang had re-established the connection to the train. "It's confirmed. There's no taps on this line. Are there any suspicious people on board?"
Hughes leaned back in his chair, all seriousness. "None," he informed Mustang, "but there are more passengers than expected."
The other phone rang. "Hold on," Hughes told Mustang, picking up the other receiver.
"I found a suspicious person!" Farman's frantic voice burst through the phone.
Hughes' eyes sharpened. "Where?"
"In the front car. A big guy wearing armor!"
Laughter drifted through the first receiver. Frowning slightly, Hughes' deftly juggled the two receivers. "Don't worry about that guy," Mustang assured them. "Is there a small boy with him?"
Farman rushed up to the seat where the armor sat. In the seat across of him, a short blond-haired boy lay comfortably in the three-person seat bench. "He really is tiny," he breathed.
Ed's ears instinctively picked up on any variations of the word 'small' or 'short.' 'Tiny' definitely counted as one of those words. "Who are you calling tiny as a grain of rice that you can't see him!" he yelled.
Farman backed away. "Sorry, I though you were--" He stopped at the sound of guns cocking. In a swift motion, he unholstered his gun only to be met with two other barrels. Two men in muted gray suits stood, guns trained on the passengers. Sunlight glinted on their black sunglasses. Their expensive Italian-made loafers had made no sound as they walked over from their seats at the back of the car. Outnumbered and cautious of the passengers' safety, Farman gritted his teeth. One man reached over and confiscated his gun then rammed him in the mid-section with the butt of it. The gray-haired man collapsed to the ground.
"Hands up!" the hijackers yelled.
Hakuro smiled at his children. "They sleep like angels," he observed. The clatter of gunshots erupted outside the car door. The soldier sitting next to the general leapt to his feet. He barely had pulled out his gun when the door opened and bullets riddled his slender frame. He fell to the seat in a pool of blood. The children screamed and held their mom tighter.
The armed men in the door moved aside and a tall, dark-skinned man walked in. His right eye was covered by a black eye-patch. His sparse black haired trailed down his back in a thin ponytail. "Hello, Major General Hakuro."
The commotion of gunshots reached the radio room. "Hughes, what's going on over there?" Mustang demanded.
Hughes covered the earpiece and surreptitiously replaced the receiver.
Two men threw open the door to the communications car and peered into the room. "There's no one here," they reported. "The radio room's empty." They didn't notice the open window in the corner of the room.
Mustang hung up the dead receiver and stared at the phone. Hawkeye stood at the right of his desk, her arms crossed over a pile of paperwork. "Is it them?" It was more of a statement than a question. The morning sunrays played across her delicate features.
The object of their attention rang again, its shrill ring piercing the room's stillness. Roy answered it.
"Major General Hakuro on train to Central has a message for Central Command. It's an emergency," the operator informed him.
"Connect him."
"It's me. Is that you, Mustang?" Hakuro bent over the phone, trying to shut out the wails of his sobbing and terrified children. Bald yanked the phone out of his hand. "Mustang?" he barked into the phone.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Mustang," Roy answered calmly.
"This is Bald from the Blue Brigade, the frontline frontiers for East liberation. I am now in control of this train."
"What are your demands?"
Bald was enraged at the unruffled response. "Don't be stupid. Today communication with one of our members suddenly ceased. It was someone who was supposed to send you a statement."
"What are you talking about?"
"Very well." Bald gritted his teeth at the infuriating man. "Bring our leader in the Eighth Prison to Central Station. We will exchange him for hostages for him."
"All right," Mustang answered the demands. "But in exchange, do not kill anyone. Otherwise…" His stipulation was cut short by the click of the receiver at the other end.
Hawkeye glanced at the papers in her hand. "Was that okay? We have the statement right here. If the general finds out we will be held responsible," she reminded her superior officer composedly.
A mysterious smile crossed Mustang's lips. "Don't worry," he assured his Second Lieutenant. "We just have to settle this incident. I've already taken the necessary steps."
Bald glowered at the phone. "What is that Mustang guy thinking?" he muttered. He whirled on the general. "If he screws up, consider yourself and all the passengers dead."
The two men methodically made their way down the car, checking passengers for weapons. One of the men spotted the giant suit of armor. Silently gesturing to his partner, they both made their way to the brothers, one gun trained on each of the boys. They stopped in front of Ed and Al, not quite sure what to do.
"Behind you!" Ed shouted the warning. The men swiveled around. Ed punched the first guy in the jaw while Al took out his partner. Both men collapsed in the aisle way.
One man's hand twitched on his gun. Marin saw the movement and whimpered. The man lifted his head and aimed the gun at the little girl. Terrified, she buried her face in her mom's suit. The man pulled the trigger just as Al's metal foot stomped on his back, shoving him back down to the floor. The shot went wild. Ed confiscated both men's guns.
"Are you all right?" he asked the girl, his voice laced with concern. Marin looked up from her mom's tight embrace and tearfully nodded. Ed shot a relieved grin at Al.
"Now what are you gonna do?" a man whispered.
"Yeah, before you resisted, we had a chance of getting back safely, but now…" another passenger chimed in. Worried whispers rippled through the car. Like always, Al turned to his big brother for an answer.
Another sound reached the boys' ears. The man who had approached them earlier wriggled his way out from a seat a few feet away. He was bound and gagged. Ed ran over and untied him. "Sorry," the man apologized for his mistake. "I'm Warrant Officer Farman." He gave a self-conscious chuckle at the boy's surprised silence. "I know I don't look like it like this. Who are you guys?"
Ed worked at the knots that bound the officer's hands behind his back. "We're alchemists," he answered. "What is the military doing on this train?"
"Alchemists," Farman repeated. "Well, you see, in the back car…"
Ed straightened at the story. He turned to his brother. "Al, you go with this guy to the back car. I'll go from up top." Al nodded and Farman smiled, grateful for the help.
A harried man opened the door to the general's car. "Bald, communications with the rear car have ceased and the men are screaming about a big armored guy," he announced. Bald scowled at this news.
Hakuro lifted his head. "Give it up," he said. "See…" A bullet slammed into the wood behind the Major General's head. With a cry, Hakuro clamped a hand to his ear. The room filled with his children's sobs and his wife's worried exclamations.
Bald lowered the gun. "Mustang better not be trying something funny, or else consider yourself dead." He turned to the man in the doorway. "Check the whole train again," he ordered. "Check the top as well."
Ed swung his slender frame up onto the top of the train. The train was now traveling over water. The wind whipped at his black clothes and long hair. Holding out his arms for balance, he carefully made his way down the cars. He looked up just in time to see a hanging tree branch closing in on him. The impact knocked him off his feet and he tumbled over the edge of the train with a yelp.
He flailed his arms as he fell through the air. His fall was stopped abruptly by a purple-clad arm. Ed opened his eyes to look at his rescuer. A black-haired man with glasses gripped the rails on the side of the train with one hand. The other arm effortlessly cradled the eleven-year old boy.
"You must be Edward Elric," the man said with a grin. "Lieutenant Colonel Mustang told me about you," he explained over the rushing wind at Ed's stricken expression. "I'm Major Maes Hughes. Now cooperate with me."
The two of them made their way to the engine room. From his perch at the top of the car, Ed leaned over and peered into the window. Two armed men stood over two burly train workers shoveling coal into the furnace. One wore a green shirt and the other wore a white shirt streaked with dirt and sweat. Ed made a face at their backs. Feeling someone's eyes on him, one man turned to the now empty window. Green Shirt followed his partner's confused gaze.
Taking advantage of the distracted men, Hughes swung in from the window on the opposite side and thrust a short dagger with serrated edges into the hand of the green-shirted man closest to him. The other man swiveled away from the window at his cry. Ed shot through his window and delivered a kick to White Shirt's jaw. The men groaned from their positions on the floor. They looked up to glare at their attackers, but the two train workers plowed their beefy fists into their faces rendering them unconscious.
The engine room back under control, Ed returned to the top of the train while Hughes followed his progress from inside the car. A man's head popped up on top of the train. "Hey!" he yelled when he spotted Ed. Grabbing his machine gun, he fired off a round at the boy. Ed quickly retreated off the top, clinging to the side of the train. Using a piece of chalk, Ed scribbled a transmutation circle on the side of the train.
The man paused as blue light glowed from where the boy had disappeared. His eyes widened as a canon materialized. The boy jumped back up to the top of the train. Ed grinned as he let loose the cannon ball. The man let out a strangled yell as he fell back into the train.
Hughes observed the whole episode from a window. He smiled at the boy's resourcefulness. Suddenly, he was shoved aside by the conductor. "Hey! Be careful. The tender is the train's life!" he shouted.
"Sorry!" Ed yelled back. He paused. "The tender?" An idea hit him and a devious smile lit his face.
The hijackers were in a frantic panic as calls came in across the train and they lost men. A blue light enveloped the car door. They stared in awe as a loudspeaker emerged from the ceiling. "Testing…" a boy's voice blared out. "To all you bad guys, how dare you threaten these passengers!" Murmurs erupted through the hijackers at the speaker's nerve and the unexplainable phenomenon in front of them.
"Quiet!" Ed ordered over the loudspeaker.
Blue light skittered over the area beneath the speaker. The door was transmuted into a large, gaping water pipe. "Passengers, take cover," Ed warned. With that, water rushed through the pipe and flooded the hallway, sweeping up all the men and their weapons. The rear door opened and the men collapsed against the metal railing gasping for breath. The door swung shut. The men dared to look up. A hulking figure towered over them.
Al clanged his fists together. "Welcome."
Bald stepped out into the narrow hallway at the muffled sounds of the beating of his men wafting in from behind the door. Another door slid open. "Give it up, it's over." Hughes pulled one of his signature daggers from his sleeve and threw it at the hijacker leader.
Bald raised his left arm to shield his face. The dagger bounced harmlessly off the purple cape. Hughes' eyes widened in surprise then slammed the car door shut. Bullets riddled the shut door.
Bald laughed. "Come on out," he beckoned. Smoke drifted up from beneath his purple cape where his left hand should be. On the other side of the door, Hughes' gritted his teeth and pressed his palm against the wound on his shoulder. "Before I kill the general, I'll take care of you first."
Bald took a step towards the door but was stopped by a loud yell. A young boy landed in the hallway in front of him. The blue sky was visible through the hole left in the roof. Bald whirled. He stopped the boy's attack with two hands.
Ed braced his feet apart in the hallway, straining against the older and much larger man. Their eyes assessed and measured each other, caught hand for hand. Ed registered the clang of steel against his right auto-mail palm. He glanced at the left hand pushing against his right. "An auto-mail buddy?" Bald's left forearm was a thick auto-mail cylinder. Where the fingers should have been, the auto-mail rounded off and left a hole in the center for bullets to shoot out.
Bald's single eye flickered in surprise at the boy's apparent lack of age and auto-mail right hand. "Since when did the military start using kids?"
Ed's young muscles flexed beneath his black jacket. "Sorry for being a kid," he bit out, "but I'm not being used."
The older man gave an empty laugh. "Let me tell you something, kid. I used to be in the military, too. When I was there, I wanted to equip myself with something better. But the military didn't like that. They feared the fact that I would become stronger. After I received the surgery to get this, they threw me away. And that's why I want to destroy the military." He stared straight into the boy's eyes. "You have an auto-mail, too. You must've wanted the same thing I wanted: to be stronger than everyone else."
Why was it that everyone he met was a deranged alchemist? Was it too much to ask for an uneventful trip to Central? He had enough problems on his hands with the mysterious Lieutenant Colonel as it was. Ed was insulted at the older man's observation. Winry probably would have torn a strip off him with her wrench if she had been here.
"I don't understand at all." He closed his fingers over the auto-mail buddy. "Don't compare my arm to your piece of shit." He dug his steel fingers into the flimsy metal and crushed the cylinder, sending nuts and bolts flying.
Momentarily shocked, Bald stared speechlessly at his ruined arm then at the young boy. He staggered back. A large hand on his shoulder stopped his retreat. Bald spun around and a metal fist plowed into his jaw. He crumpled to the hallway floor. Al turned to his brother and gave a thumbs-up. Ed grinned and returned the gesture with his right hand.
Hughes leaned tiredly against the doorframe, having witnessed the scene, and grinned as well. He picked up his small dagger from where it had fallen on the ground. "Really, that was quite nice."
Bald sat in a disheveled heap at the Central train station. He and his men sat on the platform bound with yards of rope. To the side, a large gathering of military soldiers directed the evacuation of the train. Hughes was amongst this group, now clad in the blue uniform. The train's passengers safely departed the station to the sides of the platform, giving the criminals a wide berth. Another smaller group of blue military uniforms approached. At the front was Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. He stopped before the hijacker's leader.
Mustang smirked. "'Don't harm any of the passengers,' I said. Looks like you did as I asked, even if you didn't mean to," he observed mildly.
Bald glowered at the young, black-haired officer. He was one of the youngest there, in his mid-twenties. A blade flicked out of his still semi-functioning auto-mail. With a deft twist of his elbow, it sliced through the ropes binding him. With a sly grin, Bald let out a cry and lunged at the unarmed Lieutenant Colonel.
Standing behind Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc made no move to fire at their superior officer's attacker. Mustang raked a disinterested glance over the enraged hijacker. He placidly lifted a white-gloved hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately, hot flames engulfed the man in mid-air. The man's hoarse cry echoed throughout the station and the flames drew many an astounded eye including those of the Elric brothers.
Within seconds, the flames disappeared, leaving a blackened Bald on his knees. Mustang walked up to the crisp man, his boots softly clapping on the platform. "I went easy on you. Those burns shouldn't be as bad as they look," he shrugged. Still addressing the stunned hijacker, he introduced himself in a loud, clear voice. "I am Roy Mustang. Rank: Lieutenant Colonel. I am the Flame Alchemist."
Sufficiently recovered from witnessing flames arise in mid-air from the Lieutenant Colonel's fingers, Ed's eyes flashed at the officer's self-introduction. He ran past the high-ranked officials and came to a halt ten feet away from the Lieutenant Colonel. His red cloak fluttered and his chest heaved from the exhaustion of the day and his anger.
"You're Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?" he demanded. "You put us on this train knowing about this?"
Roy turned to the short, blond boy. "We didn't know all the details," he said simply. Ed glowered at the older alchemist. He hated being manipulated. Mustang flashed his teeth in a smile. "But congratulations. The General is giving you special permission to take the exam."
Ed stared at him slack-jawed. "But you're the one who told us to come here," he finally stammered.
"We can't let children take such an important exam," Mustang scoffed. He leaned down into the boy's face. "Now aren't you glad I made you get on this train?" Straightening, Mustang walked off the platform, flanked by both his blond lieutenants. "Of course, it's up to you whether or not to take it."
Ed opened and closed his mouth a few times. His gold eyes sparked with annoyance. He whirled. "We'll take that exam, just you see!" he yelled at Mustang's retreating back, oblivious to the amused and doubtful gazes of the military brass. Hughes smiled at the headstrong boy. Life at Central was about to become very interesting.
Al came up beside his brother. "We played right into his hands, didn't we?" Ed scowled at Al's statement.
"Oniisantachi," a little girl's voice called out. Confused, Ed and Al turned in the direction of the voice. Marin stood behind the black railing, waving at them. "Thank you!" she yelled at them. "Thank you!"
Ed and Al grinned, the Lieutenant Colonel forgotten for the moment, and waved back. There would be time later to worry about the exam.
Review pls. Thanks for reading.