Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 3: Weapons Under Fire

a young man sat in his chair, sipping tea as he thought. His blonde hair was swept out of his face as he stared down at the report on his desk. A soldier had recently returned from a supposed capture of Roy Mustang's child. Normally he would shrug it off as he did the other forty that came in every day, but this one was unique. The soldier couldn't give an accurate description of the suspected Mustang, but was able to explain clearly the appearances of two renegade alchemists who had interfered. One was said to wear a black metal arm, and could transmute by merely clapping his hands. The other didn't even clap before she transmuted a weapon from the nearby flowers. They had called themselves the Fullmetal Brigade, an apparent rebel force. He adjusted the glasses over his red eyes as he set his tea cup down. 'clearly,' he thought, 'they're just a bunch of wannabe heroes. But worth looking into, nonetheless.'

Once again the group was hitch hiking. They sat down amongst the cargo of fruits and vegetables. Trevor took an apple from one of the crates, but Alicia took it and put it back, glaring. "We're not thieves Trevor, wait until we get to the next town and we'll get something to eat."

Trevor glared back and crossed his arms. "With what money? In case you forgot we're broke. It's not like we're hitch hiking for fun."

the two stared angrily at each other for sometime before Alicia scoffed and walked to sit down. "fine then, take as many apples as you want."

Trevor smirked and took a victorious bite of the apple. Anthony was reading his book, "A History of Famous and Infamous Alchemists," reading about Alex L. Armstrong. "It's hard to believe that with so many benevolent alchemists that the country turned out the way it did."

Alicia nodded and stared at her lap. "Fuhrer King Simon pursued multiple goals in the name of justice, but some theorize that it was a conspiracy to convince the people that it's better with him in power."

Anthony put his book down and yawned. "What does this Fuhrer Simon guy look like anyway?"

Alicia thought for a second. "Well," she said, taking a history book out of her backpack, "The last known photo of him is this one."

she showed him a picture of a group of people. The caption at the bottom read, "The liberators of Amestris." she pointed to the young man in front with his blonde hair combed back, his blue eyes sparkling with pride. Anthony looked him over for a second. "Geez, how long ago was this picture taken? He looks our age."

Alicia put the book away. "about nineteen years ago, but no one has seen him around since then, some say they have, and that he's still alive, but he spends all his time in his office working."

Anthony nodded and layed back against the wall. "So Fuhrer Simon may not be our target."

the truck came to a sudden stop, and the three quickly jumped ship before the drivers had time to notice them. They began exploring the streets of this new town, bustling with activity. Anthony looked at all the tall brick buildings and smoke pipes. "What is this place?"

Alicia took a map out and started following the path with her eyes. "It looks like we're in Melbrooke, a town with a weapon manufacturer for the military."

Anthony smiled and started climbing a fire escape. "Seriously? Well let's see if we can't find it."

Alicia and Trevor followed behind him, staring out at the city from the top of the building. Trevor pointed to the largest building, surrounded by a fence and barbed wire. "That must be it."

Anthony nodded. "It's a big building, if we take it out it could dramatically increase our chances of taking down the government. Alright, let's find the inn and plan our next move."

Alicia shook her head. "Anthony this is a military town, not only will there be guards all over the place but the only people that are supposed to live here are the factory workers."

Anthony sighed. "Damnit, that's going to make it that much harder."

he thought for a second and looked to the nearby mountains. "I bet there are caves in the mountains there."

Trevor looked over and smirked. "I'll do you one better, I'll bet my next meal that there's an old mining cave over there."

Anthony looked down at him. "What makes you say that?"

He pointed to the slopes of the mountain. To the focused eye there were multiple landslide areas around it. "Those landslides might indicate that there was dynamite used inside the mountain, causing enough rumbling to shake loose rocks free."

Anthony nodded. "Then we'll hide out in the mines, great idea Trevor."

the three climbed down and began making their way toward the mountain. Sure enough, there was an old mine that had been closed off with restriction tape. The three made their way in and made some modifications to make sure the mine wouldn't collapse on them. They were able to find a small living quarters not too far in that had been used by the miners. Inside were cots to sleep on and a crate full of stale bread which, with some quick alchemy, were made fresh again. The group ate some bread and began planning. Anthony looked over his grandfather's notebook but found no tips about this particular building. "Well, we're on our own for this one. The first thing we should probably do is sneak inside and get a good look around."

Trevor nodded and layed back on his cot. "Well, since the building is near the mountainside, there's probably an old mine shaft leading into the building, and if not we could always make one with alchemy."

Anthony nodded. "If we had the blueprints then we could find an old way in."

Alicia smiled and sat up. "Well maybe the head builder was also the head miner, in which case there might be old copies of the blueprints hidden somewhere in this mine. All we have to do is find them."

Anthony nodded and stood up. "Then let's start looking, if we don't find them by six o'clock then we'll come back, put on our alchemist gear, and just scale the fence."

the three nodded and started exploring. Trevor lit a lantern for light in the tunnels, and they looked through all the tunnels they could, a string leading the way back. Unfortunately the three found nothing and went back to camp, leaving the string so that they knew where they had been. Anthony and Alicia started putting on their alchemist gear. Trevor held out his hand. "Give me the pocket watch, I'll stay here and keep searching the tunnels we missed, I'll come back at 10 o'clock if I don't find anything."

Anthony nodded and handed him the watch, walking with Alicia to the fence. Some tree roots were transmuted to assure that they could get across safely without getting hurt by the barbs. It wasn't easy getting past the guard patrols, but the two made it to the roof without too much trouble. They hung over the side, staring into a window, and what the saw upset them terribly. Inside the building were row after row of people in poor clothing, chained together, putting guns together in an assembly line while soldiers watched them. Anthony gritted his teeth from behind his mask. "this isn't a weapons manufacturer, it's more like a prison camp."

Alicia sighed, then she noticed something and pointed to a man. "Anthony, that's the guy that bumped into you in Rebitan. And that couple over there were taken from Risembool. These people are all prisoners taken for petty crimes."

Anthony climbed back up onto the roof and helped Alicia up. "We have to get back to Trevor, this building must fall."

Alicia nodded and they quickly returned to the mine. Trevor was there, holding the blueprints he had found. Anthony took off his mask and looked at them. Everything that they covered he recognized from his reconnaissance. Anthony smiled. "this is perfect." he told them.

Trevor leaned against an unfamiliar box. "And that's not all, check out what else I found."

he opened the box, and more than two hundred sticks of dynamite fell out of the box. He pointed to the two behind it. "We've got enough dynamite here to blow up a mountain, but it's old so we'll have to repair them all."

Anthony nodded and drew a circle on the floor. "Let's get started then."

Alicia stopped him. "It's late, let's get some rest first."

Anthony stood up, sighed and nodded, walking to his cot.

Anthony rolled in his bed, his head wrapped in nightmares. Alicia, laying in the cot next to his, sat up and saw him struggling in sleep. She watched him for a moment before shrugging him awake. "Anthony, get up."

Anthony awoke in a surprise, sitting up and breathing heavily. Alicia looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright? You were rolling around and groaning in your sleep."

Anthony wiped some sweat off his head, sighing. "Yeah, I was just having a nightmare. I've been dreaming about my home world, worrying that I might never go back."

Alicia put a consoling arm on his shoulder. "maybe we should try helping you find your way home."

Anthony shook his head. "We need to help Amestris first. This was my grandfather's world, it could have been mine. If I leave while the country is still like this, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself, to face my grandfather in the afterlife."

Alicia nodded. "Alright then, try to get some sleep."

he nodded and layed back down.

Alicia hung over the side of the roof the entire day, taking notes on the schedule they ran by. In the late evening she returned to Anthony and Trevor, who had spent the entire day transmuting the dynamite back into working condition. It was tough, they had to do it one at a time so the light from the transmutation wouldn't alert anyone. They had finished two boxes, and with Alicia's help they finished by the late night. They finished transmuting them into bombs the next day, creating fifteen powerful explosives, strapping them to their backs and carrying them to the factory.

Alicia's research had told them when the guards changes occurred and when lunch was. Anthony and Trevor dove down on the two guards in the main production room, knocking them out. They transmuted the bombs underneath the floor so that they wouldn't be found. They hid a total of eight bombs inside the main room, then hid the rest one each in the other rooms. Alicia was waiting on the roof with a radio they had found in the mine. Trevor took off his mask, Mustang's bangs carved into it. "Damn, how do you guys handle all this work? It's murder."

Alicia took off her own mask and smiled. "You get used to it."

the group heard commotion coming from the yard. They looked over and saw a prisoner tied up and blindfolded against a wall. "Attention prisoners," the guard announced, "This convict has refused to obey our laws, and has therefore been chosen to be made an example of to the rest of you."

Anthony's hand clenched up. The guards raised their guns, ready to fire. He ran and jumped off the roof, diving down and transmuting some rocks to destroy the guns. The guards turned to him and pulled their sidearms. Alicia dove down and pushed him out of the way, her mask back on. She took out a smoke bomb, a side project they worked on, and created a smokescreen. Anthony ran toward the bound prisoner and picked him up, and the four escaped. The guards were in a flurry, they began searching the city for the felons.

The group were back in the mines before the guards had begun their search. Anthony released the prisoner. He looked at the three with worry. "D-did you save me? Who are you people?"

Anthony handed him a map to escape the mines. "Fullmetal Brigade, Alchemists for the people. Get out of here and return to your family."

he looked at the map and nodded, running away. "Thank you very much." was the last thing they heard him say.

Anthony took off his mask when he was out of sight, smiling. Alicia wasn't as happy as she slammed her palm against his head. "Are you a dumbass? We almost got caught Anthony! This was supposed to be a stealth operation, now they're onto us!"

Anthony sat down on his cot, rubbing his head. "I can't watch someone die in front of me if I can help it, I watched my dad flatline in the hospital when I was little."

Alicia sighed and sat down. "they're going to double up guard patrols after this for sure. It's going to be twice as hard to get everyone out of the factory before we blow it up."

Trevor smirked, sitting down too. "A challenge just makes it more fun."

Anthony stared up at the ceiling. "I'll make sure that every prisoner gets out of there alive."

A man was sitting behind the desk in his office. The door across the room read "Warden" backwards, an ornament on his desk read "Head Warden Fang" his black jacket hung snugly on his shoulders. He was leaning back in his chair, his black hair hanging down to the floor. He had a lot to think about after the riot in the prison yard, when a prisoner scheduled for execution was stolen from him. A search had been started, but nothing was found. Clearly these intruders were planning something, but he couldn't figure it out. He stood up and stared out at the city. A smirk passed across his face. "I accept your challenge mysterious rebels, You should know that an animal's deadliest weapon," he cackled softly before finishing, "Is it's fangs."

the group were preparing for the prison break today. Anthony packed an extra pair of gloves in his back pocket as they went over the plan one more time. "Alicia," he began, "Your job is to clear out the factory of all prisoners while I distract the guards. Trevor, you are going to wait in the prison yard. When all the prisoners are evacuated you need to wait exactly five minutes." he handed Trevor his pocket watch. "If I'm not out of the building by then, you need to light it up, no exceptions."

Trevor nodded. "No problem."

Alicia nodded aswell. "Understood."

they all put on their masks and went out. To their surprise it was easy to get inside the compound. Alicia waited on the roof, watching through the window. She waited for Anthony's distraction. Suddenly, a flashbang grenade ignited in the hallway, all the guards ran out of the factory, and Anthony sealed off the room. Alicia hopped in the window and started escorting the prisoners out, breaking through the fence. Anthony ran through the compound, making sure that all the prisoners were cleared out. Some guards were there to stop him. He forced them out of the window with a pillar of concrete. As soon as he was done, he hacked his way past the guards back to the factory part of the building, but was stopped in his tracks. Anthony barely managed to block the sword coming at him with his armored arm as he was kicked back against the wall. Fang was standing there, holding his large sword with both hands. "So we finally meet, mysterious rebel."

Anthony got up, his armor nearly broken in half. "You can call me the Cast Iron Alchemist. And who might you be?"

He licked his lips. "I'm Head Warden Fang, and I believe you have stolen my property."

Anthony growled. "those prisoners are innocent human beings, not objects."

he clapped and transmuted his arm into a blade, dashing at Fang. Fang blocked it with his foot and dug his sword into Anthony's shoulder. Anthony let out a cry of pain and was kicked back. "You are no match for my sword skills Cast Iron Alchemist. You will die here in this building."

Anthony was doing his best to keep track of the time, but he lost his focus. How long had it been? Two minutes? Three? Either way he was running out of time. But he knew that if Fang survived he would go after Alicia and Trevor. It was a difficult decision, but Anthony knew his answer already. He stood up and clapped his hands, sending spikes toward Fang. Fang smirked and sliced straight through the spikes. "Pretty tricks won't work with me alchemist."

Anthony tossed a flashbang into the air, covering his eyes as it lit up the room. Fang let out a screech as his eyes were blinded. Anthony got up, thinking he had time for a counter attack when he narrowly dodged Fang's sword. "You haven't won yet, I can track you by your scent. I'm no ordinary human, alchemist."

Anthony backed away and clapped his hand. "I hope this works!"

he pressed his palm to the ground and transmuted a tall spear from the ground, Edward Elric's Griffin Spear. He did his best to parry and block, not used to fighting with such a weapon, but was successfully able to keep Fang held back.

Trevor stared at the watch, watching every second inch past his vision. Finally, five minutes had passed. Trevor sighed and put the watch in his pocket, looking over at Alicia. "Well? What should we do?"

Alicia paused for a moment and sighed. Even she hated the next words that left her mouth. "Anthony told us what we have to do, light it up."

Trevor nodded and reached into his pocket. With a reluctant snap of his fingers, he lit the first explosive.

Anthony heard the rumbling coming from the other side of the factory, his time was up. As the explosions got closer, Fang realized what was going on, and began to run. Anthony stopped him in his tracks, encasing his feet in solid concrete. Fang struggled, but to no avail, he had dropped his sword attempting to flee. Anthony wasted no time and pressed his palms to the ground, protecting him with a shell of concrete. He heard the rubble come crashing down overtop, hoping the canopy would hold. When it finally stopped he made a tunnel going up and climbed out, looking out at the rubble and flames. Across the room he saw fangs hand broken out through the rubble, but it was limp.

Anthony made his way out, his bleeding shoulder hanging at his side. Alicia and Trevor were overjoyed to see their friend walk out of the building. Anthony transmuted the snake and cross on the front wall, then turned to all the prisoners he had freed. "Prisoners of the Amestrian army, you are free now. We are the members of the Fullmetal Brigade, saving this land from the tyranny of the state."

A man walked forward sluggishly. "Excuse me, it's not much, but please take this for saving me."

the man handed him $10. Anthony nodded and took it. "Thank you."

systematically more people came forward, offering them money. By the time it was over they had nearly $500 in Amestrian currency. The last person, a girl no older than fifteen, came up and offered her money. She noticed Anthony's shoulder and walked forward. "Did Warden Fang do this? Hold on."

she took some gauze from her pocket and wrapped it up, drawing a medical transmutation circle on it. She pressed her palm to Anthony's shoulder and sealed it, adjusting the glasses on her face. "There."

Anthony looked at his shoulder and smiled. "Hey thanks, what's your name?"

the young girl blushed and brushed her brunette hair from her face. "My name is Jennifer Meadows. If it's not too much trouble, could I accompany you three? I want to help the country too in any way I can."

Anthony looked at her and nodded. "Alright, from now on you're in the brigade. Welcome, Prison Medic Alchemist."

she blushed agan at the name and nodded back. "Thank you very much."

The next day the group packed up their equipment, and had Jennifer fitted for her own white brigade jacket. She denied a mask, having no need to join them on their missions, only to heal their wounds after. The prisoners waved goodbye, cheering them out to the horizon. The four continued forward to their next destination, Central.