Hello once again! How is everyone? (Okay I'm just stalling because I have bad news). I won't be updating for a while after this since I have summer project that I haven't started. I promise I'll do the best I can to update, but I need to do this project! I promise you guys the second i'm done, i'll have two chapters ready for you! I'M SORRY!

DISCLAIMER: I WISH I OWNED FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST. THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO DO A STUPID PROJECT

Chapter 8: Tortured Souls

"Edward… What the hell is this?" Iris said horrified as they looked at the transmutation circle in front of them. The pair had made to a room, but what was waiting for them, wasn't pretty. The Transmutation circle they found had a stake in the middle of it with old ashes around the bottom. In other places of the circle, Iris could see dried blood.

"My guess would have to be that they tried transmuting a Philosopher's Stone here" Edward said.

"Yes, that's right." A hollow voice said, spooking Iris. "I don't know who you kids are, but you sure figured out a lot just from looking at a Transmutation circle."

"Sorry but we did our research" Iris snapped back.

"Who are you, pal?" Ed asked the suit of armor approaching the pair.

"The one in charge of guarding this place from curious brats. For the moment, let's just my name is number 48. And believe me, I'm not your 'pal'. My orders are to dispose of anyone who's been here, poking their nose where it doesn't belong. Try it not to take it personally." The armor spoke.

"Orders are orders, buddy. We just ask something in return, what do you think Ed?" Iris looked at Ed who clapped his hands and transmuted his arm into his blade.

"I say we ask him not to take it personally when these brats kick your ass!" Edward shouted.

"You're both alchemists, are you?" The armor said as he dashed quickly towards Edward until he was face first in front of him. "Alright then, let's see what you got!"

Iris clapped her hands and transmuted twin daggers about the size of her forearm from the floor (They were silver of course) and ran towards the armor, only to dodge his sword attack. The armor began attacking Ed's arm and Iris' daggers with full force.

"A prosthetic arm huh? No matter, my sword can pierce steel as well as flesh!" the armor announced, charging towards Edward.

Iris charged towards the armor as she observed his movements. His armor was heavy, but that didn't explain his speed. Iris listened and heard a whoosh that Al made when he moved quickly as well.

"Edward, he moves like Al!" Iris yelled before the armor's sword cut her shoulder, sending her back.

"Iris!" Edward looked at the armor, grinning. "Let's test out that theory, shall we?"

Edward kicked the armor in his chest and a loud bong rang out from the armor.

"You were right, Iris. You're hollow inside, aren't you?" Edward confronted the armor.

"You're both quite the perceptive ones"

"Your movement and sound gave it away" Iris confessed.

"I spare against someone like you all the time" Edward added.

"So there are people like me on the outside too, are there? That's surprising." The armor admitted.

"Makes me sick. To think there's more than one idiot in the world who came up with the brilliant idea of bonding a disembodied soul to a suit of armor"

"Ed? Wouldn't that be calling yourself an idiot?" Iris said.

"Oh shut up!" Edward spat. "That's not the point!"

"Perhaps I should introduce myself again. 48 is the number I was assigned when I was on death row. Back when I still had a living body, I was better known as Slicer. I was a mass murderer, you see" Slicer admitted.

"Guessing death row wasn't kind to you judging by what's in front of me" Iris said.

"Tell me something then, this laboratory, are they using condemned prisoners like you to make Philosopher Stones here?" Edward questioned.

"That I can't tell you" Slicer answered.

"That's a shocker." Iris mumbled sarcastically.

"It isn't my 'area'. They simply recognized my 'skills', gave me this body and made me the trusty guard dog." Slicer finished.

"Interesting. I'm sure they gave you a seal too, to serve as a median between soul and armor?" Edward questioned.

"Yes" Slicer said as he lifted the first half of his head to reveal a seal on the back of his head. "I have a blood seal. This is it right here. If either of you destroy this, the fight's yours"

"Thanks for showing it at least" Iris said. "But why would you show us your weak spot?"

"I like to give myself a little extra challenging fight every now and then."

"If you're in such a giving mood, then how about this: Why not just let us go?" Edward said.

"Nice try kid. What kind of mass murderer lets his prey get away so easily?" Slicer asked.

"Apparently not you. What made you think that would work, Ed? Nothing's ever that easy, Ed" Iris told him.

"I'd like to see you try!" Edward argued. "Enough talk"

"Now, let's fight!" Slicer announced.

"You said it! Not me!" Iris yelled before striking the armor before it could hit her with his sword.

Edward charged at Slicer, only to cross swords with him. Iris attempted to strike from the back, but Slicer pushed back and awarded Iris with a wound close her neck, throwing her back into a pillar.

"Iris!"

"I'm fine Ed! Keep fighting!" Iris yelled as she got up. Ed suddenly froze and looked at his automail.

Something wrong with Ed! I got to step in! Iris thought as she ran in front of Edward and kicked the armor back, causing a striking pain to go through her left leg.

"Focus, stupid! This isn't a practice fight!" Iris yelled as she blocked Slicer's sword with her daggers while Ed continued to jump back.

"…Or else I'm dead!" Edward mumbled. Edward charged towards Slicer as Iris moved out of the way. Iris attempted to run behind Slicer but was stopped by a twisted pain in her left leg.

No! I won't let Edward die! It's bad enough he convinced me to come here! Now I have to keep him alive! Iris thought as she ran, despite the pain, and kicked Slicer, giving Edward the chance to dodge. Slicer turned around and swung his sword at Iris before kicking her into a pillar. The sword had given Iris a wound to the chest.

Times like this, I'm thankful for having a jacket Iris thought as she attempted to stand up.

"Iris, stay there! There's no way I'm letting him beat me!" Edward said looking at the badly hurt Iris. Edward continued dodging but received a wound on his shoulder as he was cornered onto a pillar. Iris ran to protect Edward but was stopped when Slicer delivered a cut to her side and she was thrown hard against a pillar. Iris could feel blood running from the back of her head as she began to black out while her attacker returned to finish Edward as he corned him. Slicer almost decapitated Ed, but his automail blade blocked the attack. Edward fell back as blood fell down the right side of his face.

"What a cute little monkey!" Slicer said amused.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?!" Edward said.

"Ed… Now's not the time for one of your little tantrums" Iris muttered before she spoke no more due to the loss of blood.

Slicer began laughing.

"It's been too long since I've had prey that was worth hunting. But you're tired and wounded now, and your partner's out of commission. You won't last much longer. Right about now, my companion should be finishing off the other partner you left outside"

"Is this companion of yours strong?" Edward asked.

"Yes, he is"

Alphonse… Don't you dare die on us! Edward's still got to fulfill his promise to you! Iris thought as she struggled stay awake.

"He isn't as strong as I am though" Slicer finished.

Now Edward began laughing.

"In that case, I don't need to worry! You see, we've been sparing partners a long time, and I've still never beaten him!" Edward admitted.

"Your brother is that good, is he? Then I'll have to hurry up and finish you and your companion, but it seems that she is already dead. At least it will be quicker to take care of you." Slicer said as Ed looked over and saw a motionless Iris, covered in blood and cuts that were worse than his injuries. It didn't look well for Iris.

"Iris! Don't you dare die on me!" Edward shouted but Iris didn't move. "You've got some nerve, pal! Go Al! Do it now!"

Slicer turned towards the door along with his sword only to find that Ed was bluffing. Edward jumped and sliced off the armor's head.

"That was dirty!" The head yelled as it hit the ground.

"There's no such thing as dirty in a fight!" Edward yelled as Slicer's body slumped onto the ground. Edward transmuted his arm back to normal as he walked over to the disembodied head.

"What's the matter? You still haven't destroyed the blood seal I so kindly pointed out. You going to or not?" The bodiless head complained.

"There's something I need to ask you about."

"The Philosopher's Stone?

"Yes. Tell me everything you know about it"

"Sorry, Can't."

"Hey now, tell me. I did beat you at your own game!"

"That's where you're wrong! I'm not beaten yet!" Slicer yelled before Ed turned around to see Slicer's body still moving. Edward moved but not before receiving a fatal wound to the side.

"Impossible!"

"I forgot to mention something about this mass murderer, Slicer." Slicer admitted.

"His crimes were really done by a pair of brothers!" A new voice spoke from the headless body.

"An independent head and body?! That's a dirty trick!"

"Now, now weren't you the one who said there's no such thing as dirty in a fight?" Slicer's head spoke.

"Are you ready? Round two's about to begin short stuff!" Slicer's body said.

"Don't call me short!" Edward yelled as he prepared to transmute his arm.

"I don't think I'm going to give you time to transmute!" Slicer's body said as he charged at Edward.

This isn't good! I've lost too much blood, I'm starting to feel dizzy! Edward thought as he cut on his other side and thrown against the pillar.

Not good! Here he comes! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! Edward thought until he remembered something Iris told him.

Flashback

"I have to try Scar's alchemy sometime" Iris said as the group boarded the train to Central.

"Why would you want to destroy something like that?" Alphonse asked.

"I don't know. It could be a useful trump card one day when you need it! No information is ever useless!"

Edward clapped his hands and imagined it was Scar's hand coming for him, as Slicer's sword was heading for him. Edward jumped up and put his hand on the armor as blue sparks flew from his hand, destroying the bottom half of the armor.

"You reminded me of someone I don't like. Now I've done exactly what he did, but for a different purpose. That was my trump card" Edward said panting. He suddenly jumped when the armor began yelling.

"HOW COULD YOU, YOU BRAT!" the remaining half of the armor squirmed.

"He's wriggling! That's freaky!" Edward said sitting against the pillar.

"Brother!" Slicer's body called out to his head.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we lost." The head admitted.

"So you're not going to tell me you're really three brothers, are you?" Edward said poking the remaining bottom half of the armor.

"No, no" Both brothers said at the same time.

"Come on boy you won! Hurry up and destroy us!" Slicer's head yelled.

"No! I'm not a murderer!" Edward denied.

"With bodies like these, are we really even people?"

"I consider you people whether you have physical bodies or not. I'm sure Iris would say the same thing. Even if I didn't that would mean I didn't think my own brother is a person either. I know my brother is a human being. That means you guys are human too. I will not take the life of another person."

Slicer's head began laughing once again.

"Brother?" The body asked worried.

"My brother and I have been lying, stealing, cheating and killing together for as long as we can remember. And now that were in these suited bodies were being treated like humans for the first time! Don't you see the irony? For that boy I'll give you a parting gift; I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you who made the Philosopher's stone and who ordered us to guard this place." Suddenly, sharp spears shot out and pierced the head's blood seal.

"Brother!" The body called out.

"My, that was a close call!" A woman said as the spears retracted and revealed to be her nails. "Number 48, you should know better than to talk about things that concern you"

The woman had long black hair, a revealing dress, and a tattoo right above her chest. The tattoo was a bright red and depicted a dragon eating its own tail. A boy that looked the same age as Edward popped out. His hair splayed out like a palm trees leafs and he was wearing a cut off tang top with similar shorts.

"Well, well look at that! What's the fullmetal pipsqueak doing here?" The boy said with a raspy voice. He looked over to a motionless Iris and sighed. "This will make our job harder for sure!"

"Such a troubling pair. How did you two find out about this place?" The woman said as she broke the armor's head in two.

"Brother! Brother! Brother!" The body called out as the boy stabbed his seal with his own sword.

"Quit your pathetic blubbering you idiot! You were trying to kill one of our most important sacrifices and you killed one of them! Do you understand me?! You just messed up the entire plan! What do we do now?! Huh?!" The boy yelled making a new pierce on the body's seal with every word. Soon the body remained motionless.

The woman walked over to Ed as he attempted to stand.

"Tell me who you people are and what plan are you talking about?! What do you mean when you say important sacrifice?!" Edward yelled.

"Oh my! The pipsqueak's rearing to go! I think I made it angry!" The boy said right in Edward's face.

"Don't call me pipsqueak again!"

"Then what would you prefer? A pipsqueak?"

Edward almost kicked the boy head off as he backed up.

"Hey now! There's no need to fight here! Someone might get hurt you know"

Edward put his hands together, preparing to transmute.

"This is a fight you started! So come on!" Suddenly, Edward's automail arm popped and went limb.

"Technical difficulties-" the woman said as a dagger protruded from her stomach.

"Step away NOW." A familiar voice said as the dagger retracted and the woman fell over revealing Iris with a bloody dagger in her hand.

"Looks like the girl's alive. That was a close one." The boy said as Iris ran in front of Edward with her daggers held high. The woman stood up as red sparks began lighting up her wound.

"She's a stubborn one isn't she? Look, she's in a much worst condition and she's still fighting"

"But she's alive, which makes our jobs easier." The boy said as he charged towards and kicked her in the right leg, sending her down.

"Edward… G-go! Al needs y-you" Iris struggled to say as the boy hit the back of her head causing her to black out.

"You next pipsqueak" the boy chuckled as he kneed Edward in the stomach and held him by the hair. "You're fortunate your arm's broken, if it weren't for that you wouldn't be getting off so easily" the boy released Edward's hair, making him fall to the ground.

"Listen to me well boy, don't forget this. Always remember we allowed you and your friend to live." The woman said as she turned towards the boy. "We can't have them poking around this place again. It's too dangerous! It'll have to go, blow it up."

"What about these two?" The boy asked.

"Get them out of here. We need both of them alive. I'm sure the younger brother is still waiting outside for them. He'll take care of them once you deliver them." The woman said.

The boy picked Iris and Edward, throwing both of them over each shoulder, and carried them out of the exploding laboratory.

So I'll see you guys when I'm done with my project. Sigh... Is it too late to switch schools?

Jackie C.A.