Ember Alchemist

Chapter 4 - Avenging Mother

(Ok, so i've kept forgetting the disclaimer and I've made tons of spelling/grammer mistakes, i'm really sorry . and i'm pretty sure they'll be more smistakes to come so sorry in advance. Thanks for reading, please review... and now on with Chapter 4...)

Disclaimer (atleast I remembered this time): I don't own Full Metal Alchemist, if I did I'd be having a feild day right now and wouldn't be here writing this!

Oh ya, and I suppose while I'm at this, since we're getting into the good stuff now, I should give you a quick catch up on the last chapter, weeelll- Ed and Ember became State Alchemists and also learned of each others pasts. Ember was being hunted down by a gang called 'The Night Riders' and was kidnapped by a member of the gang. Now it's up to Ed to save her from her death.

"Ember! No!" cried out Ed, blinking back his tears. He rushed over to the pieces of torn dark denim cloth that was hanging from the railings beside the gate. 'Nightrider' he read the stitching aloud. "So, it was them that kidnapped Ember! I've got to go get Al"

Ed sprinted inside and burst open the door to their room. "Brother, what's wrong?" asked Al who had stayed up and was busy pearched on the edge of his bed, reading a book on Alchemy.

"Ember," Ed panted, "was kidnapped by those Nightrider people!" Al got up.

"Come on we've got to save her!" Al said. And so the boys ran down stairs.

"Where are you two going?" a voice queried as Ed and Al were just about to step outside. They turned round to see Tucker sitting in his chair in the hall with some paper work scattered around his feet. Beside him was Alexander, he barked happily at the boys.

"Alexander!" Ed said, coming up with an idea. "Tucker can we please borrow Alexander? Maybe he can sniff out these crooks!"

Tucker flinched, "Um... No sorry, I need him to stay here..."

"Why?" asked Al, but Ed just tugged on Al's shoulder.

"Come on!" he said, "It doesn't matter, there's not enough time, we need to go save Ember!"

"Right"

Outside, Al observed the footprints left in the snow outside the gate. With them you could see where Ember had struggled to break free and had held onto the fence as a last resort, you could also see the foot patterns of the Nightrider. Of when he had snatched Ember away and bundled her over his shoulder and fled.

"We need to follow these footprints," Ed told Al and they went on their way.

Back with Ember, the Nightrider had reached The Nightriders hideout and the gang members had tied up her hands and then tied her arms tightly to a stone pillar, the gag still in her mouth, in the middle of the large warehouse they called their hideaway.

The warehouse looked rusty and abandoned. It was an old, unsteady place that was falling to pieces. The inside wasn't much better. It was decorated with old, dirty tables and chairs with a afew dangling broken lights hanging from the ceiling, a dusty smashed TV set stood unwanted in the corner and there were bits of splintered wood lying everywhere.

Ember sat down on the cold, concrete ground, feeling the evil eyes of the gang burning into her. She knew they were right now thinking, plotting of ways to torture and eventually kill her, just like they had done to her mother. 'It's hopeless,' thought Ember, 'I guess I just have to admit my defeat and take what's coming to me here'

Two men, one was the man that had kidnapped her, the other was the leader of The Nightriders, Ember remembered his horrid smug face from the dreadful day they stole her mother away from her. The leader, of whom the gang addressed as 'Boss' but was known to friends and enemies as 'Wolf', laughed intimidating at Ember, who wasn't free to do anything but cry out her sorrows.

"I knew we'd catch you sooner or later," he sneered, "You had a lucky escape last time, just like your mother" What was he talking about? Her mother hadn't had a lucky escape! Ember flashed him a look of disgust.

"Don't give the boss dirty looks!" snarled the other man, and he punched her. Ember yelped helplessly and fell to the floor. She mumbled something that sounded like 'You bastard!' which only made the man more angry than he was and he kicked her hard in the stomach. "Heh, scum!" he sniffed.

"That's enough, Target!" Wolf said to him and he raised his ring covered hand. He stood over Ember, making her feel small and all the more timid. Wolf was a smart looking man in an expensive grey suit and shiney black shoes, with long black hair with a strand out of place and small square glasses on a narrow head. Ember quivered slightly, and closed her eyes tightly. "I suppose you're wondering what we're going to do to you?" he said, pretending to be nice and kind. "Well, firstly," then his evil look and gruff voice came back, "Me and the boys are going to beat the shit out of you! Then we'll leave you to suffer a bit and then... It's night-night for you!" He finished his little speech with a kick in the head for Ember and then went back with Target for a game of cards.

They left Ember on her own for about five minutes to shiver with fear. It was torture enough for her, so when her eyes flickered upwards against her will to see Wolf and most of his goons standing in front of her holding terrifying looking weapons; knives, clubs, metal poles, even a gun or two, just about every gangster weapon in the book, Ember felt terrified.

Just about all hope was lost until she heard the sound of the familiar voice of a short, blonde Alchemist shouting from the entrance of the hideout; it brought her an amazing amount of comfort to her ears.

"Get away from her!" Ed yelled, gritting his teeth "Or I'll make you pay!"

"You heard him," said Al, not wanting to miss out on all the fun.

Wolf rolled his eyes, "Heh, yeah, we're really going to listen to a shirmpy little kid and his pet deformed robot!"

"Don't call me short! I'm not short!" exclaimed Ed. "That's it, you're gonna get it!" He ripped off the white glove on his right hand, revealing his shining, metal automail arm; he then clapped his hands together and ran his left hand over his automail one and suddenly it transformed into a blade. "Let's go Al!"

Ember wriggled out of her gag, "Ed!" she screamed, tears dripping from her eyes. "You guys came to rescue me!"

"Of coarse brother and I did, we're your friends," Al filled her in. Ember couldn't help but smile; she had never felt this loved in years.

"Brat, you shut up!" Target snarled at her, and he lifted her up by her ruby hair and punched her in the mouth. Blood dripped out of it and Ember doubled over, coughing.

Wolf sent forward his pawns first to attack Ed and Al, all wearing the same black denim jackets that Target had been wearing when he had taken Ember. They charged at the two, only to be defeated in one blow. "Pft Al, these losers don't even know what they're doing" Ed said to Al loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear too, pretending to yawn as if he were bored with these guys already.

"Careful brother, don't get too cocky!" Al warned him.

"Yeah right," was Ed's reply.

The second lot of thugs were sent. They were defeated in just one swipe of an Alchemists blade and thud of an armoured thud too.

"Grr, Target, go!" Wolf ordered.

"Yes boss," Target replied. He drew a transmutation circle on the ground and Wolf handed him a large scrap of metal that had been lying somewhere behind them. Target lifted it up with ease although it was clearly very heavy and he placed it inside the circle.

In a second he had transmuted himself a huge sword. The handle was made from the concrete on the ground and the gigantic triangular blade at the top was made from the metal. "Heheh, I've made it specially with rough edges so it can shave off almost anything. Target turned to Ember, "I'll use Ember here as a demonstration. He swiped the sword across the underneath Ember's right eye. She screamed with the pain. The blade had left a large painful looking scraped scar that began to bleed. Droplets of Ember's blood dripped from Target's sword. "Watch boy," Target yelled madly at Ed, spit dropping from his mouth as he said it, "Because this will be you next!"

"Don't worry brother, I'll protect you!" Al told Ed and he stood infront of him, stretching out his large metal arms, ready to catch the blow... But he didn't.

Bang... Screech!

Al looked at his hands to see what the sword had made of them. The sword had almost ripped his hands clean off, and he had the marks to prove it.

"Al, if you face this guy, you'll probably end up with no limbs. My blade is stronger than you're armour, let me take him on!" Al didn't want to let his older brother fight such a dangerous guy, but he knew what Ed had just said was true.

"Ed, you don't need to do this!" Ember yelled, "I'm not worth it, if something happens to you to, I'll never forgive myself!" She bit her lip to stop herself from crying as she imagined how terrible her life would be without Ed and Al.

Ed smiled at her, "And if anything happened to you I'd never forgive myself, so looks like we're stuck"

"Ed..." Ember whimpered silently to herself.

"Ahhh!" Ed screamed as he felt the blade dig into his human arm. Al and Ember gasped, but Ed was still determined to win. He forced his blade into Target's shoulder and twisted it until her heard his cry of pain. Target swung his sword at Ed but he dodged it by quickly jumping over the sword and landing gracefully back on his feet. 'I'll never win this way' thought Ed and he hid behind a pillar.

Target grinned and with one last heave he rammed his sword into the bottom of the pillar. It crumbled and crashed to the ground. Ed tried his best to dodge it, but he didn't make it in time and his right arm was crushed underneath the fallen concrete pillar. Target smirked and held his sword to Ed's face. "This is the End boy!"

"Ed!" Ember screamed. 'He's going to die and it's all my falt. Just cause I had to go play the damsel in distress, and I hate girls like that too!... How could I have been so careless! I can't let him die all because of me! Starting right now -I refuse to be so pathetic and needy. I'll never be the damsel in distress, the girl who needs saving again... Never again!'

With all of her might, Ember stretched the ropes enough for her to clap her hands. A red glow came from them, just like what had happened in the Alchemy Exam the day before. She gripped hold of the ropes and burnt them until they were small enough to brake free from. She pounced up and sprinted as fast as her legs would let her towards Target.

"Ember, how did you...!" Wolf gasped, but he couldn't stop her.

Just as Target was about to strike Ed down, he felt a burning pain take over his face, as if it were on fire. Ember.

He screamed in agony, whilst Ember, not even flinching stood behind him, staring at him coldly, her hands gripping hold of his head. "Ember?" said Ed watching as Ember forced Target to sink to the ground. Ed used this moment wisely and kicked the sword away out of Target's hands.

"Wait, you mean it's that bratty bitch that's doing this to me?" pathetically squeaked Target, who now looked about as threatening as a girl scout.

Ed laughed, "Well, she is the 'Ember Alchemist'" Ember closed her eyes and chuckled lightly at his joke.

"Take your hands off him!" said Wolf from behind her. 'When did he get here?' Well, it didn't matter anyway, because the answer to that question wasn't going to get the knife Wolf was holding to her neck to go away.

"Bastard," Ember murmured, and she gingerly raised her burning hands off of Target.

"Oh I don't think so," Al said, Ember gave a sigh of relief as she turned round to see Wold lying on the floor twitching with a mark from where Al had bunch him in the teeth on his mouth.

"Alright," Ember said in a strong voice to all the Nightriders in the room. "Unless you want your asses kicked, you're gonna let us go!" The gang did as she said, shaking like little baby, looking like they had just wet themselves. "Revenge is sweet, isn't it? Guess my avenging is all done!"

"Avenging?" Wold asked, standing up, "For what?"

"My mother, you prick! What else, don't try to tell me you didn't kill her, because I know you did!"

"We didn't kill your mother," said Wolf, "We were going to but on the same day we planned to she committed suicide and jumped off a cliff. We went down to see the body, deciding that if she was still alive we'd finish her off... but all we could find was a not in her pocket: A suicide note"

"I don't believe you, I won't believe you!" said Ember, feeling queasy and suddenly dizzy.

"Suit yourself, but here's the note..." Wolf dug in his pocket and dragged out a small dirty folded sheet of paper. He flicked it onto the ground and it landed infront of Ember's feet. Her hands shaking like crazy, she read it out loud in a choked up voice.

"'Dear whomever this concerns,

As you can see, i have chosen to take my life. There is no one really that important I have left behind apart from a little girl, my Ember. Ember, I will always love you but this Nightriders thing was just too much to bear... I couldn't take it anymore, I'm sorry I have left you all on your own, but please understand... '" Ember couldn't bear to read the rest and she let the slip of paper fall out of her hands and sway to the ground."You... Wolf, you bastard, this was all you and you're stupid gang's fault! I'll NEVER forgive you!"

Ember clapped and made her hands burn again then she threw herself at Wolf and punched him, again... again... again... again...

"Stop Ember, you'll kill him!" yelled Ed, "I know your angry, but that's not the way, it won't make things better" Ember halted in mid-punch. She tossed Wolf across the room. Al placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her that everything would be ok.

Ed glared at all the goons across the room, "Right, now as the nice lady said - If you don't want your asses kicked, let us go!"

Al heaved the pillar off of Ed's arm. "Ow, it doesn't look to good," Ed said, biting his lip as he looked at his automail arm, it was in a right state.

Suddenly, clunk! Something fell ontop of Al's head with a loud bang. They looked up and relised it was a part of the room. "The roofs falling apart in!" yelled Al.

The Nightriders all screamed, "I knew we need to get this place fixed," sighed Wolf, putting his hands over his head to brace himself.

A large part of the roof was heading towards Ember, she gave a short scream and closed her eyes tightly shut waiting for the pain... But it didn't come. When she opened her eyes again she saw Ed, sheilding her from the large plank of metal that should have hit her. "Thanks Ed" she smiled weakly.

"Don't mention it.." but suddenly Ed collapsed, falling unconcious.

"Brother!" exclaimed Al, rushing over to him, dodging a sheet of metal and afew small rocks falling from the sky. "Come on Ember, it's not safe in here, we need to all get to a safe place" He lifted up Ed and Ember followed him outside to a safe area.

They lay Ed down on on the dusty ground outside. Al scanned him over with his eyes for afew moments. "This is bad, his automail will have to wait,we need to find a hospital for Ed, fast!"

Dun - dun-du-un! Sorry, I just really wanted to say that ; ... Anyways, I don't want to sound demanding... but seriously, please, can I get some reviews. This will be the last chapter i'll be writing for a while until I get some decent reviews, sorry. ... um... Dun-dun-du-un!