"The Fullmetal Titan"
By cdc100
Summary: Edward Elric is a new resident at Jump City. When the city is in danger, the Teen Titans must turn to the Fullmetal Alchemist for help.
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.
Chapter Seven
"One of the Team"
The Titans were looking at the spot where Brother Blood had been. He, his xenothium bomb, and all of the dead bodies he was attempting to transmute had disappeared, never to be seen again. Secondarily, they were wondering where he had went, but their primary curiosity concerned Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse.
Ed apparently picked up on this, because he turned around to face them.
"You guys are probably going to want some kind of explanation, I bet."
"There's a lot of stuff you're going to have to explain, Elric," said Robin.
"Well, I'll give you a full explanation later. Right now, we need to make sure that Blood's flunkies can't escape on their way to jail," said Ed. "Al, think you could help me out?"
"Sure."
Ed, Al and the Titans made their way back to the main room, where the other H.I.V.E. students were either unconscious or conscious, but disabled. Ed and Al went around the room, picking up scraps of metal, and then transforming the scraps into strong cuffs, which formed themselves around their wrists.
"Robin?" asked Ed.
"Yeah?"
"You may want to call this in. Let the Jump City Police handle this."
Robin pulled his communicator out and did just that. Within a few minutes, the police were ushering the students one by one into a police boat.
"I noticed that one person was missing," said Beast Boy. "Where's Red X?"
"Gone," said Ed. "He must have flown the coop when Blood attacked me again."
"You're probably right," said Robin. "He's a selfish person. He's not the type to stick around for a fight unless it serves his interests. Check the stores. He probably took some of that xenothium ore with him."
Al walked to a door on the far side of the refinery, and opened it. He looked inside, and found that it was completely empty.
"You were wrong about one thing," said Al. "He didn't take some of it with him. He took it all with him."
"All of it?" asked Robin, incredulously.
"He must have made a few trips," said Ed. "God only knows he had the time."
"I should never have made that suit!" exclaimed Robin, punching the wall.
"Please," said Starfire, "no Robin yelling at Robin."
"She's right," said Ed. "A friend of mine once told me that you can't go trying to undo every wrong that you've done. It isn't worth it, and even worse, it's not healthy."
Robin stood up.
"Yeah. You're right. Well, I think that we'd better head back to the tower."
With that, the Titans and the Elric brothers made their way back to Titans Tower. When they arrived at the tower, Ed extended his hand to the Titans.
"I don't think we've officially met. I'm Edward Elric."
Robin offered his hand.
"Robin. These are the other Teen Titans-"
"Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire. I know."
Robin quirked an eyebrow.
"What? You're surprised? Ever since I came to Jump City, you're all I've ever heard about."
"That makes one of us," said Al.
Robin nodded.
"Well, you still haven't told us what is going on here."
"Yeah," said Cyborg. "I mean, your brother shows up asking to help us with taking down the H.I.V.E. again, Blood keeps on talking about a 'Fullmetal Alchemist," and you show up and kick his butt like you've been doin' it since you were born. What's the deal?"
"I admit, I probably should have had Al give you more to work with before telling you about the H.I.V.E. and Blood. I just wanted to know that I could trust you. You guys are heroes in this city, but I can't tell you how many national heroes or city heroes I've seen who was doing something bad behind the scenes. But I'd be more than happy to tell you everything you need to know now."
"You'll tell us anything we need to know?" asked Robin.
"Anything," said Ed.
Robin nodded.
"Okay, come on inside."
Robin led the way inside. When they finally arrived in the living room, the Titans sat down on the couch, and Ed and Al stood in front of them.
"Okay," said Ed. "What do you want to know?"
Robin cleared his throat.
"I think what we'd like to know first is, where did you guys come from?"
Ed gave a slightly frustrated smile.
"That's the question I'd hoped you would've asked last."
"Me and my brother come from an entirely different world," said Al.
"A different world? Come on, man. Do you have any idea how impossible that is?" asked Cyborg.
Robin looked at Cyborg and shook his head.
"You're teammates with an alien and a girl from a different dimension and you're questioning the existence of another world?"
"Is it anything like this world?" asked Beast Boy.
"They're similar," said Al. "This one is slightly more advanced, but in our world, science evolved differently than it did here."
"So, we noticed that you and your brother are skilled in martial arts…" said Cyborg.
"But how did you do that glowy, arm-sword transformy, turn stuff into other stuff trick?"
"It's that science that Al mentioned," said Ed. "Our world is called Amestris. The dominant science in Amestris is alchemy. We can use certain materials to make new stuff."
"Do you mind if I demonstrate, brother?" asked Al.
"No, go ahead," said Ed.
Al took out a piece of chalk, and drew a circle on the coffee table. Within the circle, he drew another circle, and a triangle overlapped by three more triangles- one for each side. Ed then handed Al his cloak, which had been torn from the fight, and a spool each of red and white thread.
"Is there some kind of rationale behind this?" asked Cyborg.
"Just watch," said Ed.
Al placed one hand over the circle, and slapped it down. Electricity crackled, and a light emitted from the circle. The Titans were amazed by what happened next. As the light disappeared and the area became stable, they saw that Ed's cloak now looked as good as new, and he now had a new white right glove. Ed promptly picked up the glove and cloak and put them on.
"So, you can use this… power of yours to make new things?" asked Cyborg.
"Depends," said Ed.
"On what?" asked Beast Boy.
"The things that are created have to have the similar properties to the things used to create it," said Al.
"It's a principle that we alchemists call 'equivalent exchange,'" said Ed.
"'Equivalent exchange?'" asked Starfire.
"'Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost,'" said Al. "Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. But since we've learned that principle, me and my brother have learned that it doesn't just apply to alchemy, but almost everything that goes on in the world."
"Take my cloak, for example. During the battle, my right sleeve got ripped to shreds, so I gave Al a spool of red thread to make up for the lost sleeve. Since the red thread made up for the missing sleeve, when Al performed that transmutation, it made one good-as-new jacket."
"'Transmutation?'" asked Beast Boy.
"Alchemy revolves around transmutation," said Ed. "It's what we do to take materials and turn them into something else. Transmutation comes in three steps: Analysis, deconstruction, and reconstruction. That means looking at a substance, taking note of its properties, breaking it down, and then reforming it into something else."
"I remember hearing about this," said Raven. "When I was growing up in Azerath, I remember reading a book in the library that told a legend of a world where alchemy kept evolving, and was even more important than the steam engine."
"I've got another question," said Cyborg.
"I'm pretty sure we have an answer," said Ed.
"What's with your nickname? How did you get the nickname, 'Fullmetal Alchemist?'" asked Cyborg.
"Well-" began Ed, before being interrupted by Al.
"Oh. Ed, could I
answer this one?"
"Why not?"
He stepped aside and let Al speak.
"Amestris is ruled by a military power, and this military has alchemists in their ranks, called 'State Alchemists.' Brother, show them your pocket watch."
Ed dug into his left front pocket and pulled out a silver watch with a strange emblem on the front. It had a strange animal on the front, standing in front of a six-pointed star, and the watch hung from a chain that was attached to Ed's belt.
"What's this for?" asked Beast Boy.
"This is the pocket watch that's only given to State Alchemists," said Al. "This watch amplifies their power, so that they can transmute objects without using a circle, like I just did. But Ed is able to-"
"Al," said Ed.
"What?"
"I think you've elaborated enough about the watch."
"Oh, yeah, right. Well, anyway, my brother became a State Alchemist when he was twelve years old. Each State Alchemist is given a symbolic second name, which signifies their attributes, or abilities. Because of his right arm and left leg being mechanical, my brother was named the 'Fullmetal Alchemist.'"
"So, there are others like you?" asked Robin.
"Probably none that are around here," said Ed. "And not all of the alchemists that work for the military are working for a good cause. Some of them are so corrupt that they use alchemy to their own ends, despite our motto, 'Alchemists, be thou for the people.' Some are just in it for the blood, some are in it for the money, and some are just in it for the glory."
"So, why are you in the military?" asked Robin. "From what you've told us, it doesn't sound like the kind of military you would join just because you want to. And, on the subject of your title, why are your right arm and left leg mechanical? And why does your brother not have a body?"
Ed frowned.
"It looks like I'm going to have to break that promise. That's one thing I can't tell you."
"Come on, Ed," said Al. "We can trust them. They've already proven themselves trustworthy, and it's not like they'd tell anybody about it. Besides, how would we feel if they didn't tell us something that we needed to know?"
Ed sighed.
"We learned how to do alchemy when we were really young. We were about eight or nine when we started to really grasp it," said Ed. "Our mother was so proud of us because we had learned to use alchemy like our father before us. Our father wasn't around to be proud of us, even though she told us that he would have been."
"One day, she became very ill," said Al. "We sent messages to our father to come back home. We were just little kids. We couldn't take care of our mother."
"She died right before our eyes," said Ed, with a tone of regret. "We couldn't bare the thought of living without her. So, we found a teacher, and learned more alchemy. Then, we returned to our hometown, and we attempted the greatest taboo known to alchemists…"
"We tried to resurrect our mother," said Al. "But it went all wrong. The transmutation failed, and we lost more than we were willing to give."
"Alphonse lost his entire body while I lost my left leg. I looked up expecting to see our mom, but…"
"The thing that we created wasn't human anymore. Anyway, after my body was taken, Ed sacrificed his right arm to bind my soul to this armor."
Al removed his helmet. He then pointed to a red circle with three triangles inscribed at the back of the armor.
"That looks like blood," said Beast Boy.
"It is," said Ed. "My blood. I took some of my blood and traced that seal on the armor. Then, I tuned the iron in my blood to match the iron in Al's armor."
"Anyway," said Al, replacing his head, "I took my brother to our next-door neighbors, and they fitted him with a new arm and leg."
Ed pulled off his cloak and his undershirt, and pulled up his left pant leg. Ed's right arm was nothing but cold metal all the way up to his shoulder, and his left leg was metal all the way up to his knee.
"It's called automail," said Ed. "It functions like normal limbs."
"After that, we began looking for an alchemic amplifier that we hoped would allow us to return our bodies to normal. It's called the Philosopher's Stone."
"I remember reading about that when I was in high school," said Cyborg. "But I thought it was just a legend," he added, incredulously.
"So, we went to the capitol and started working to help Ed get commissioned as a State Alchemist."
The Titans absorbed all of this.
"That is quite a story," said Robin. "Sounds like you've been through a lot."
"We have," said Al.
"This is going to sound weird, but… do you guys need a place to stay?" asked Robin. "We have extra rooms in this place."
"Well, that's very kind of you," said Ed, "but we've actually got a flat in Jump City that we're already staying in, and I need a place where I can continue research to find a way to get back home."
"Come on!" said Beast Boy. "We have free satellite TV, unlimited hot soft water, and all the food you can eat."
"And we have a kick-butt lab you could work in," said Cyborg. "You can move your research out here."
"Well… okay," said Ed. "What do you guys want in return?" asked Ed.
"In return?" asked Robin.
"Like we said, we've found that equivalent exchange doesn't only apply to alchemy," said Ed.
"I know this may sound kind of sudden, but I think that the rest of the team is thinking exactly what I'm thinking. We'd like you to be one of us. At least until you guys can find a way home."
"Us? Teen Titans?" asked Al.
"You would make good additions to the team," said Raven.
Ed looked at Al, who nodded.
"We'll do it," said Ed.
He offered his hand to Robin, who shook it.
"One thing, though," said Ed.
"What's that?"
"I may need to borrow your sub."
To Be Continued…