A/N: All right, before I start this chapter, I have a little ranting to do. Feel free to skip this if you like. Unless your name is Zane.

Although I doubt Mr. Zane will ever see this, I still feel the need to adress a few things considering the review he left me.

First of all, no, I do not mind getting a negative review. By all means, if you think my work sucks eggs, go ahead and tell me so! I won't be upset! As long as you explain why. If you don't go into detail and explain you think my writing isn't good, then I consider that a useless flame. Constructive critism is wonderful, but flaming is not. How I am supposed to know what to improve on if all you say is 'dumb'?

Geez, Zane, throw a girl a bone here. You don't like my story? Fine. You think it's dumb? I can deal. But if that's all you have to say, then please, don't bother leaving a "review". If it doesn't help, I don't wanna see it. You're wasting your time AND mine.

By the way, you said only Square-Enix characters can crossover into Kingdom Hearts. While I don't understand the logic behind that one, I will tell you this: there is Fullmetal Alchemist video game (actually two, I think) out there and guess who made it? SQUARE-FREAKING-ENIX.

Pwn'd.

Okay, I'm finished. Sorry you other guys had to see this, but Flamer Zane didn't log in when he reviewed nor did he leave an e-mail adress (hmm, how convient) so I couldn't contact him personally. Also, I like having the last word. xD Again, my apologies. You can go back to your regularly scheduled fanfic now.

(13) Warnings and Scornings

He stared into the light blue liquid uncertainly. It seemed harmless enough; no strange odors reached his nose and there wasn't anything floating in it. In fact, it was just plain blue and wet, but Ed couldn't help to feel slightly questionable towards its nature. Ether, Donald had told him, was a potion that would help replenish his magic and regain his strength in the process.

But...was he supposed to drink it all? Or would that overdose him? Were there any side effects? It was a potion after all; what if it turned him into a frog?

"Today would be nice," Donald chipped at him. Ed swallowed a retort–he just was too tired to argue with the duck right now– and threw a questioning glance at his brother instead.

Al just shrugged his shoulders.

Thanks a lot Al. Ed sighed and held up the ether. Well, here goes nothing. He downed the whole bottle in one swig, swallowed it with a bitter expression on his face, then waited for warts, webbed feet, and a sudden urge for flies.

After a moment or two, however, he got to his feet and decided that the ether must have worked properly, seeing as he suddenly felt a lot better and was not an amphibian.

"Wow, fast-acting," he commented, stretching his arms out. He was full of energy once again. It felt nice.

"Of course it's fast-acting," said Donald. "If a magician is in the middle of a battle, he doesn't have time to wait for his magic to replenish itself."

"Are you saying my magic would've replenished itself after a while?" asked Ed, wondering if he could have been spared the doubtfulness of the ether.

Donald gave him a considering look, then replied, "Probably not, seeing as you're not a natural magician. Even if you were, it still would have taken too long. Anyway," he said, taking on the best authoritive tone he could manage with that scratchy voice of his, "No more magic until I say so. Obviously, you're not mature enough to handle the responsibility it entails."

"WHAT–"

"Um," Al said uneasily, while unintentionally cutting off Ed's protests, "Does that go for me too?"

Donald took only a few seconds to think this over, then said that Al could continue using his magic whenever he felt it was a necessary to, since he seemed to have a lot more common sense than his older brother.

Said older brother was feeling a bit miffed by then, but after his short yet embarrassing fainting spell from before, he didn't exactly mind laying off the magic for now. In fact, now that the excitement had come to a dead halt, he decided that he preferred alchemy anyhow and magic was just a shabby substitute for the time being.

He turned his attention to the blue crystal they had recently found and asked Donald what he knew of it.

"That's a mythril gem!" he exclaimed. "Oh boy!"

The Elric Brothers stared at him blankly. Donald sighed.

"It's a rare item used for synthesis," he explained tiredly, while silently wondering what was keeping Sora and Goofy; it was their turn to baby-sit now, gosh darn it!

At least explaining the synthesis process was keeping the brothers occupied, thus avoiding anymore magical disasters for the time being. Both boys were listening intently, although why they seemed so fascinated with the subject was beyond Donald. But he told them all about it: how Heartless and Nobodies sometimes drop certain stones or gems or shards and how the moogles use these things to make special items.

"Would there happen to be, oh I dunno...let's say a red stone, by any chance?" Edward asked, attempting to be subtle.

"Er, sure," Donald shrugged. Like he paid attention to that sort of thing.

Ed was grinning his 'I-have-a-really-good-idea' grin at Al. This actually made Al nervous, however, since he knew what that grin meant and he knew that Ed's good ideas weren't always as good as he thought they were. In fact, many of Ed's "good ideas" usually ended with "lots of trouble and/or chaos". His brother was smart, all right, but just because someone's intelligent doesn't necessarily mean they have common sense too.

"I have a really good idea, guys," he announced cheerfully (and predictably). "Instead of just standing around here waiting, while don't we spilt up and go searching for some these synthesis items, huh?"

Donald blinked and Al groaned.

"Explore the town, kick some Heartless butt, collect some items," he continued, "Come on. It'll be fun. Or something."

-------------

"Or something" was definitely how Al would've described it. Donald surprisingly agreed to this plan, but the way he kept rubbing his head suggested that he was not interested in synthesis item hunting at all, but merely had a headache and wanted to buy some free time away from them. He headed off in the same direction Sora and Goofy had left, probably hoping to run into his friends along the way. Before he left, Donald made sure to stress that neither of them (specifically, Ed) should rely too much on magic and that it should only be used in a tight situation, and also, that everyone would meet up back Sandlot in about an hour. With that, he left them, looking notably relieved as he did.

"Do you really think we'll find a verison of the Philosopher's Stone here, brother?" Al asked dubiously.

"Eh, I dunno. Can't hurt to look, though, right?" Ed smiled brightly, which Al found a little strange. Not that Ed was never optimistic before, but Al just couldn't help feeling somewhat unsure about this. Was Ed really eager to comb this world for the Stone, or did he just want an excuse to blow things up behind Donald's back?

"Don't worry," he said, almost as if he had read Al's mind. "I just want to check things out. Nothing serious and nothing dangerous, all right?"

"Well, okay then," Al said reluctantly. "Um, which way are you going?"

"That way, I guess," he replied, pointing. "And you can go the opposite way. But don't go too far," he added hastily, using his 'big brother' tone. "I want to be able to find you quickly if I have to."

They've split up a few times before, but this was a strange and foreign place and Ed, in his role as older brother, wanted to be careful. It made sense that they should go separate ways; that way, they could cover more area quickly and increase the chances of finding something. At the same time, though, he didn't like the idea of being too far from Al.

But it seemed to be a small and relatively harmless town, full of nice people and minor Heartless, which consoled Ed enough to proceed with the plan. The Nobodies rose in his mind, those white creatures they had seen in Sora's journal, but they hadn't come across any of them yet, so he didn't worry about it. Besides, Al was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Well, more or less.

"Okay," nodded Al. "See you in hour then?"

"Yup. Good luck. And be careful. And don't talk to strangers. And don't stray too far off, and watch where you're going. And make sure to–" Ed paused, finger held up in a lecturing manner and mouth hung open, and he remained in that pose for a second or two before his brain kicked in and registered that Al had already left him and that he was talking to the air.

Then, shoving his hands into his pockets and grumbling, he turned on his heel and walked the opposite way and the words "ungrateful little brat" could be heard if one was listening closely.

---------

He knew his brother meant well, but Al really didn't feel like listening to all of that, so he simply walked off and went on his way. Besides, what did he have to worry about anyway? He was a suit of armor, there wasn't much that could hurt him. He couldn't even feel physical pain, for that matter. As long as nothing touched the blood seal that kept his soul attached to the suit, he was practically invulnerable to anything that was thrown at him. And as far as the Heartless went, well, he wasn't entirely sure if they could take his heart or not, considering his current state. It wasn't like he couldn't fight them off by himself anyway.

The small, short street he had taken was also empty of people, leaving Al alone with his thoughts. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Excited, confused, happy, worried...his emotions seemed to be at war with each other. He found it nice to be away from their world and their troubles for once, kind of like they were on an unexpected vacation. Yet he was doubtful when it came to his brother's idea of finding a Philosopher's Stone here; it seemed so unlikely, and even if they did find something like it, it's not like they could use it. At least, not until they returned to their own world.

And how long would that take? As much as he liked being away, it was still awkward and overwhelming. After discovering that there are tons of different worlds at there besides his, it's not surprising that Al's already lose grip on reality was quite shaken.

Al stopped halfway down the street, bringing his thoughts to a crashing halt. He quickly whipped his head around, half-expecting to see Edward there behind him–but there was no one. He looked left and right, up and down, in all directions, but still, there was no one there.

He hadn't actually heard anyone following him, but he felt it. Or he thought did. But maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him again. All of these new discoveries and experiences were probably just overloading him a bit. Which was fine, as long as he got adapted to all of this soon, preferably before he lost all of his sanity...

----------

A little shiny object hit the ground with a 'clink'. Edward walked over and picked up, giving the shard a brief look-over then shoving it into the recess of his right pocket with a satisfied smirk. (The left one was already full.) A little brown-haired boy, who had just up until recently been under attack by a couple of Shadows, was staring at Ed in awe and admiration.

"Wow," the boy broke out excitedly, "That was awe-some! Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Back home," Ed replied, looking nonchalant (although inwardly, he was feeling quite pleased with himself). "I had a good teacher. Are you okay, kid?"

"Yeah, thanks!" he said brightly. "Man, I wish I could fight like you. Do you think I could meet your teacher and ask for lessons?"

All the blood instantly drained from Ed's face. He gripped the boy by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, saying in slow, icy tones, "Don't you say that. Don't you ever say that again. Don't even think it! You're so young. Value your life, don't throw it away! Don't be a fool and make the same mistake I did! Do you understand me?"

"Y-y-yes, sir," the boy managed to stammer out, in shock by his rescuer's sudden outburst of fear at his simple question. What had his teacher done to him, the little boy wondered, to cause such a reaction?

"Good," said Ed, releasing the boy and returning to normal cool and collected self in a flash. (He had long ago figured out how to block out the painful and scary memories of his training days.) "Now, could you kindly direct me to the nearest–gah, what are they called again? Muggles?"

"Um, do you mean Moogles?" the boy suggested helpfully.

"Yeah, that's it. Moogles. This place got any of those?"

The little boy happily led Edward to the main part of town and pointed out the brightly decorated moogle shop in its center. The boy, careful not mention anything about fighting or teachers, thanked Ed again before leaving him to get on with his business.

Ed eyed the shop with distaste; it looked like a giant, gaudy birthday cake. What kind of self-respecting alchemist would willingly work in that thing? On second thought, what kind of self-respecting alchemist would call himself a moogle? Ed was fully aware that in another world, and that alchemist here could mean something entirely from the definition he applied to the term. But seriously; a moogle? Was that even a word?

He shrugged away his doubts and walked up to the shop. It appeared to be empty and he couldn't find a service bell anywhere to ring, so he leaned casually against the blue counter, waiting for the moogle-guy to come back from his lunch break or whatever it was that was keeping him.

Ed nearly had a heart attack when a small, white creature with wings and something sticking on its head suddenly materialized before him and squeaked, "Hiya, kupo! How can I help you?"

His jaw dropped to the floor. Flying teddy bears?

And just when he thought things couldn't get any weirder...

–TBC–

(Random Extra)(Battle of the Century)

During a meeting, the members of the SEPOSEPWARP got into a heated debate about the strongest person in all the worlds...today, they've decided to find out who's right...

Envy: Okay, I got her!

Lust: Huh? Isn't that..?

Envy: That's right; Izumi-sensei! The Elric Brothers' respected/feared teacher!

Izumi: Get your hands off me, or I'll BREAK THEM OFF!

Envy: See what I mean? Isn't she great? Definitely better than the chump Axel was going on about...

Axel: Hahaha! That's what you think. -ahem- Allow me to introduce to you...the great and deadly CHUCK NORRIS!

Chuck Norris: Huh? What? Where the Hell am I?

Envy: Are you kidding me? Izumi-sensei can totally take this guy down.

Izumi: I'm not going to fight some stranger! But I will kill you, you twisted bast–

Axel: No, dude, look! Chuck Norris is unbeatable. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. Chuck Norris doesn't read books; he stares at them until he gets the info he wants. Chuck Norris sleeps with a pillow under his gun! Beating the snot outta her will easier than breathing for Chuck Norris! Right, Chuck?

Chuck Norris: I can't fight a girl.

Axel: Whaaaat? Why not?

Izumi: Maybe because he has a sense of honor, unlike you morons..?

Chuck Norris: No, that's not it. I'm just offended that they would have me kick the snot out of such a weak and fragile creature.

Izumi: -vein pops- Weak, huh? I'll show you who's weak!

Chuck Norris: Fine, if that's how you want to be! Prepare for the worst round-house kick in the face you've ever experienced!

Axel & Envy: Yay! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Twenty seconds later...

Envy: All right, pay up!

Axel: What? No, that doesn't count! My guy wasn't done fighting yet!

Lust: He was just rushed to the emergency room. I think that means he's done.

Izumi: Pfft. Stupid chauvinists. -dusts off hands- Okay, are you going to take me home now or do I need kick your ass too?

Envy: Eep! Don't hurt me! You can go! -runs away from certain doom-

(Poor Chuck Norris...FIN!)