CHAPTER NUMERO DOS

OwlCookies: I'm so sorry if the first chapter was terrible! I'M DEARLY SORRY YOU HEAR ME! DEARLY SORRY! *shakes you silly*

Ehem… Sorry about that… So uhm, when I describe Creta, I made it all artistic. I dunno why, but France and Florence are like the same to me, so that's why I'm making Creta all artistic. Mostly because of Florence and I personally love to draw art ;)

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Al grabbed his arm. "Stop it brother! They're gone!"

Ed growled angrily. "Damn it."

"Are you guys ok?"

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A black haired boy walked toward them. He seemed older and didn't look like he was from Creta.

"Are you guys ok?" he asked again.

Al looked at him fondly and nodded.

The black haired boy shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked. "That was Envy and Pride. They've been bothering us as well. I take it you're not from Creta?"

"Yeah… But you don't look like you're from here either," Ed said.

He shook his head. "You could say that. Honestly, I was born in Amestris. But… I stayed there until I was 10. After that, my mom died. My attorney, Envy in disguise, sent me here." The black haired boy looked at them intently. "Even since that time seven years ago, a few other kids from Amestris found themselves here. The name's Mustang. Nice to meet you." Mustang nodded holding out his hand.

"Edward Elric." Ed spat on his hand and shook Mustangs hand.

Mustang smirked and wiped his hand on his pants. "Good one, Elric."

"I'm Alphonse Elric, but you can just call me Al," Al bowed.

"Al and Elric," Mustang smirked. "Honestly, my name is Roy Mustang but everyone just calls me Mustang."

"My name is Ed," he corrected.

"Yeah? Well I'm calling you Elric."

"Jackass," Ed grumbled.

"So, Al, you're the older one right?" Mustang asked, still smirking.

Ed cracked his knuckles angrily. "You wanna say again?"

Mustang laughed. "You're… the older brother? You're joking, right?"

"You only wish, bastard," Ed growled.

"Brother! Don't hurt him!" Al pleaded, grabbing Ed's arm in restraint. "Please, for me?"

Ed sighed. "Fine."

"Mr. Mustang, when you said 'everyone' who were you referring to?" Al asked.

Mustang smiled. "The Resistance."

Ed and Al looked at him with the same expression. "Resistance?"

He nodded. "Follow me and I'll explain everything once we get to our hide-out."

As they followed Mustang, Ed and Al looked at the city. Everything was so beautiful and artistic! Statues and monuments littered the streets filled with people. Mosaics and paintings were splattered along every wall. Their mouths opened wide with awe as they saw just how creative and talented those Cretan people were. Domes and arches, it was so advanced and beautiful!

"It's… beautiful…" Ed muttered in awe.

Mustang glanced back and smirked. "Isn't it? Creta is known for its artistic ability."

Soon, all the beautiful art disappeared into graffiti probably from gangs around the area. The buildings and shops turned into polluting industrial buildings and abandoned warehouses. Even a polluted creek ran around the buildings.

"Yeah, this is so artistic," Ed said rolling his eyes.

"This is the industrial district. No one ever comes here so that's why we set up our hide-out here."

Soon, they got to a moderately small and abandoned building. It wasn't as leaky, cold, and dirty as the other buildings. Probably because of the improvements given to it by its inhabitants. Instead of entering through the front door, Mustang led them around to the darkest and creepiest side of the building and knocked on the door as if he were playing a little tune. Once he stopped knocking, a little window on the door slid open and a pair of eyes appeared.

"Yes?"

"Breda, you're supposed to ask for the password." Mustang rolled his eyes.

"Sorry sir," Breda said. "Password please," he corrected himself.

"How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood," Mustang replied in a fast slur.

"Wood… chuck… would… Could you please spell that out?" Breda asked.

"Just open the damn door!"

The door opened and revealed a fairly large boy with dark orange hair, no older than 15.

"Who're they?" Breda asked.

Mustang looked around, scanning for something. "Ed and Al Elric," he replied, not really paying attention.

"Brothers? So… Al, he looks like he's the older one. You gonna call him Elric instead of just Al?"

Ed looked at Breda with a death glare and he clenched his fists and hissed in anger. "Say that again, I dare you."

"Elric, calm down," Mustang ordered still looking around.

His death glare lessened, but it was still there as he and Al followed Mustang.

"BREDA! FALMAN! FUERY! HAWKEYE! HAVOC! PARKER!" Mustang called.

The Breda person, a gray haired boy with squinty eyes, a little kid with glasses, a girl who looked totally emotionless, a blond haired boy with an unlit cigarette, and a boy with extremely light blond hair came and stood at attention.

"What's up, chief?" the blond boy with the unlit cigarette asked.

"We have guests from Amestris," Mustang replied.

The cigarette boy snorted. "Welcome to the club, kid. What's your story?"

"We'll have time for stories, later, Havoc. I have some explaining to give them."

"Then why'd you make us come here right now?" Havoc asked in slight annoyance.

"Havoc," Mustang said angrily.

"Yes sir?"

"SHUT UP."

"Sorry sir," Havoc muttered in shame.

Ed crossed his arms. "How much longer are we going to have to wait? We just met you, and yet, you drag us over here like you're expecting something."

"I am," Mustang admitted.

Ed narrowed his eyes. "You want us to join your little group, don't you."

Mustang sweat dropped. "Was I that obvious?"

"Yeah… you were…" Al replied.

"Man," he groaned in disappointment. "Well, I still owe you and explanation." He was now smirking. "Like I told you, when I was 10, I ended up here in Creta. But I didn't actually start the gang until I met someone named Maes Hughes a year later." By the look in his eye, you could tell this wasn't a happy story. "Together, we formed Resistance. It was great to have him by my side. We were best friends. Well, until, until… that time…" he looked down sadly. "That was the first time we encountered the homunculi. It was Pride, Selim. Pride said 'they' had no more use for Hughes and attempted to kill him so many times. I was there every time; it was like they wanted me to see his death. I tried to stop Pride but, my alchemy wasn't strong enough."

"Woah, hold up there pony boy! You're an alchemist?" Ed exclaimed.

Mustang nodded, the insulted hadn't affected him. "I use flame alchemy…"

"Brother! Let him continue!" Al scolded.

"But one day, Pride brought Greed with him. While Greed held me down, Pride… he… he killed Hughes right in front of my eyes…" Mustang scrunched his eyes closed and clenched his fists in anger. "My revenge is what's keeping me going. Until the day I can finally get back at Pride for what he's done, I refuse to die."

The emotionless blond girl stepped up, he eyes closed in thought. "After that, he met me and Havoc. And one by one, we all joined, all the way up to Parker."

"C'mon. You got to tell your sob story and Hawkeye got to tell a little part, is it story time yet, chief?" Havoc whined.

Mustang facepalmed. "Fine Havoc. FINE. It's story time! But do it in order this time…"

"I'm sorry… but my head is still jumbled…" Parker murmured.

"I've known Mustang for a long time," Hawkeye said, finally opening her eyes. "We're childhood friends because he was my fathers apprentice for alchemy. When he disappeared, I was 8. Because I was still only a little child, I wanted to find him. Besides Rebecca, he was one of my closest friends. I can't exactly remember what happened, but someone led me to Creta saying that Mustang would be there. It was true, he was here. But when I found him, he was sitting down, beating up a Cretan soldier."

Al raised his hand slightly. "Uh… excuse me, but Ms. Hawkeye, why are you all… er… emotionless…?"

Hawkeye closed her eyes again. "That's a story for a different time. Not now."

When she said that, Mustang looked at her sadly with passion and worry. It seemed he knew very well what had happened.

"A year after that, I came along. They knocked me out when I was playing around with a bunch my buddies. Like everyone else, I found out I was in Creta. I'm sure why, but where I landed, every kid that saw me started harassing me. That's how I got these!" Havoc started flexing his muscles and showing some scars. "Then one time, when I was fighting these kids, Hawkeye shot them dead. Did anyone tell you she's hella good at aiming? Suits her name you know, hawks eye?" While everyone was intently listening to Havoc's story, no one noticed how she shivered at the mention of the murder. "Well anyway, Mustang came up to me and introduced himself. We chatted a bit and he persuaded me to join the gang. So here I am now! But soon, a few months later, Fuery came into the picture," Havoc explained.

"So… how old are you now?" Ed asked.

"16."

Ed looked like he was going to sulk. He was 15, sure, but Havoc was waaay taller than him.

"I was only 7 when they got me," the kid with the glasses started. "I don't really think I have much of a story, but I was at school when they kidnapped me."

"By they, do you mean the homunculi?" Al asked.

Fuery nodded. "The homunculi are doing all the dirty work. The ring leader is hiding somewhere."

"So that means, that Father guy is a homunculus?" Ed punched his palm.

"Father?" Mustang asked. "Who's that?"

"Some guy who looks like my old man. Envy told me his name," Ed replied.

Mustang put his finger on his chin in thought. "I see."

Fuery sulked. "C'mon guys, I'm important too," he whined. (1)

"Oh, sorry!" Al apologized. "Please, continue."

"Nevermind… I don't feel like my story is that important," Fuery sulked.

Ed blinked confused. "B-But you just said you were important…"

"I'll pass," Fuery sniffed. He obviously felt so unappreciated.

"So," Ed asked. "Who's next for story time?"

The gray haired boy, Falman, raised his hand. "Like Fuery, I don't think I have much of a story. Breda and I were dragged here about 4 years ago."

"We're pretty close, eh Falman," Breda commented, jabbing his elbow at Falman.

He chuckled. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

"…Anything to add to that?" Al asked, trying not to be rude.

Both boys shook their heads.

"Ok then…" Ed muttered.

Parker, the boy with extremely light blond hair, stepped up. "Actually, I've been here for years. I was taken to Creta at a very young age. It's funny really, how I can just barely remember being from Amestris. Because of how young I was, nothing had actually happened to my parents. They were still alive when I was taken, I'm pretty sure." He squinted, trying to remember what happened to him. "Since no one really wanted me, a street boy, I just started wandering around and fending for myself. Years later though, I saw Mustang. Then, I eventually joined him."

"So… are your names really Havoc, Parker, Falman, and uhm… so on?" Al asked curiously.

"No." Mustang shook his head. "I called your brother, Elric, because formally, we call everyone by their last name. I've told you my name, but you'll have to ask the others for their first names. Quite frankly, some people might have forgotten their names, others, maybe they don't want to bring it up. But for me, I want to remember mine. If we ever get the hell out of here, I want to remember who I am." He grinned. "So what do you say? Will you join us?"

"Give us a moment," Al replied.

Together, Ed and Al left the building and talked outside.

"What do you say, brother?" Al asked.

Ed shrugged. "I'm afraid that if we join them, you'll get hurt. You know I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Brother, it's not healthy if you worry about me all the time! Think about yourself," Al told him.

He rubbed his automail arm and changed the subject. "Damn, my arm is aching. I guess it's going to rain soon."

"So, should we stay with them?"

"I don't know Al. Do you want too?"

"You're the one who makes the decisions, brother," Al told him. "They seem nice, though."

Ed snorted. "Yeah, but I don't like that Mustang guy. He's a pain."

Al sighed in annoyance. "Oh brother."

"Then I guess it's settled." Ed rubbed his automail arm again. "We should get inside now. My arm's starting to bug me a lot."

Inside, everyone was back where they were, only a bit more conversation occurred. Mustang watched as they left and came back.

"Well?" he asked.

Ed jabbed a finger at him. "My brother better not be hurt," he growled. "If he is, then we're leaving."

Mustang's expression lit up. "Don't worry Elric, he'll be fine."

"Aren't you going to do the uhm… thingy…?" Havoc asked.

"Hm… oh yes. Do you two happen to be alchemists?" Mustang asked.

Ed and Al froze in horror. "N-No. We… we're not," Ed replied shakily.

Suspiciously, Mustang raised an eyebrow. "Really? What about you Al? Are you an alchemist?"

Rapidly, Al shook his head. "No, I uhm… d-don't even think alchemy is very useful!"

"Alright. Now tell us your story. How did you end up here?"

The hairs on the back of Ed's neck stood up. "I guess I kinda have the same story as you. But I was found guilty for a crime I didn't do. They told me I either had to go to jail or sent to Pendleton. So, I chose to go there. Envy, disguised as Al came with me. At Pendleton, we met Pride and uh… a woman name Veronica. They drugged me and I found myself here in Creta. Soon, I found out that it wasn't Al who was with me. I found the real Al, you found us yadyadya…" he explained.

"By the way, I noticed that when your finger jabbed me, it was… how do I put it… er… not like a normal finger," Mustang said.

"That is none of your business," Ed grumbled, turning around and looking away darkly.

Mustang smirked. "You have automail limbs don't you?"

Ed spun around and looked at him in complete shock. "How the hell do you know?" he exclaimed.

"I have my ways," he chuckled, still smirking.

"Now that you're part of the Resistance," he started, changing the subject. "I have you tell you more about us."

"You sound like it's a grudge," Ed retorted.

Mustang ignored that comment. "Each person has his own rank depending on how useful and skilled they are. There is a private, which at the moment, you and Al are at. Corporal, Sergeant, Warrant officer, Major, Lieutenant, Colonel, and General. But I'm the general," he smirked at that last sentence.

"Conceited bastard," Ed muttered to himself.

"Hawkeye," Mustang called.

"Sir?" she replied.

"Take Elric and Al outside. Can you determine their rank for me?"

"Yes sir."

Hawkeye walked to them. "Please follow me," she politely ordered.

She led the brothers outside and loaded her gun.

"Uhm… what's that for?" Ed asked suspiciously.

"I hope you're fast enough to dodge bullets," was all she said.

"WHAAAT?" Ed shouoted. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?"

"No," she said pointing the gun at them. "If I injure you, it's because you didn't dodge my bullets." She pulled the trigger.

Ed ducked as the bullet whizzed past his head and made a loud splat on the wall behind him.

"Brother!" Al cried.

Hawkeye fired a bullet at Al. He ducked as well.

"Al!" Ed shouted.

"Well?" Hawkeye asked. "Aren't you going to fight back?"

Ed charged at her, dodging every bullet she fired at him.

"Brother!" Al called. "They are-"

He turned around to look at his brother. Hawkeye shot a bullet at his head. Surprised that he didn't feel any pain, Ed felt the back of his head. When he looked at his hand, he saw red goop dripping down.

"What the hell? This is paint!" Ed spun around. "You're using a paint gun?"

"Of course I am," she said matter-of-factly. "If you weren't able to dodge the bullets, you'd probably have to go to the hospital."

Mustang walked out to check on the three. He frowned. "Aww Hawkeye, why are you going easy on them? You're supposed to go all out."

Hawkeye turned around to face him. "Sorry sir."

He smirked. "No matter, I'll take over," he said, putting on his ignition gloves. "Ready to face the heat?"

"B-Brother, I don't think this is going to end well," Al gulped.

Ed cracked his knuckles. "Are you kidding me? I'm going to shove one in his face!"

He charged at the older boy, fist raised. Mustang snapped his fingers and a large explosion of fire boomed in front of Ed. The heat and intensity was so large, it knocked the smaller boy down. When the fire cleared to show the fallen figure of Ed, Mustang smirked.

"Damn it! That was a cheap shot!"(2) Ed growled.

"There are no cheap shots. Strike quickly and it will end quickly," Mustang retorted.

He snapped again, this time, a smaller flame headed for Al. The younger boy ducked.

"Al!" Ed cried.

"I'm ok brother," Al told him.

While Ed babied Al, Mustang snapped again causing a huge ball of flame to hurl toward the brothers. Ed turned around. His pupils shrank as he realized it was too late to duck. Instinctively, he clapped his hands. Blue alchemy light clashed with the flames as a fire-proof barrier came out of the ground and stood in front of Ed and Al.

Both Hawkeye and Mustangs eyes opened wide when they saw what stood before Ed and Al. By the way it was made, Mustang knew it was alchemy. He marched up to Ed and grabbed his shirt collar, sneering angrily in his face.

"You idiot, why did you lie when I asked if you could do alchemy?" he growled.

"Can't I have my own secrets?" Ed retorted, feeling just as angry as Mustang.

"You don't understand, Elric. If the homunculus knows you're an alchemist, they'll go after you. They want alchemists. I don't know why, but they're after me as well. But if you and Al are alchemists, they'll be after you AND your little brother!"

Ed shoved him off. "Get off me! Ever since that day, I never wanted to be an alchemist. I hid my alchemy and never used it. Al didn't either. Just today, I used it instinctively because we were going to be burned alive."

Mustang let his grip on the younger boy go, closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. "I understand. You just wanted to protect your brother. You didn't know what you were doing. But next, time, you have to tell me what you're hiding. I won't ask why you don't want to use alchemy, it's not my business, but I will ask, when did you stop using alchemy?"

"I was 12, and Al was 11," Ed replied.

"Alright. You can go now. I need to talk to Hawkeye in private."

Ed nodded and pulled Al with him back inside.

"6 soldiers and 3 alchemists. Isn't that two too many?" Mustang asked Hawkeye.

"They may just want 8 this time," Hawkeye shrugged.

"Then who's the one?"

"I don't know sir. Soon, he will reveal himself to us."

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"The two new ones are alchemists. Isn't that too much, Father?" a voice asked.

Father chuckled. "Nonsense, Thomas. 7 usually are more preferred, but 9 are just as fine. That is 9 less children in Amestris." (3)

"When do you plan to take them?" Thomas asked.

"Fairly soon. But, have you let your guard slip? We don't want them finding out."

"No, I haven't. In fact, I've been acting so loyal, I'm so close to being completely trusted. But that spot, has been taking by someone else."

"And who would that be?"

"That Hawkeye woman. They both seem to have feelings for each other despite the fact that they don't show it," he replied. Then, Thomas chuckled. "Mustang is a fool, he trusts anyone who claims they're Amestrian so easily."

Father nodded. "Good work, Thomas. Go now, or they will be suspicious."

"Yes, Father."

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OwlCookies: 1) I got tht from a quote my friend told me. I don't own it…

2) hehehe remember episode 15 from the original? xD

3) I meant it when father said "9" its not 8. its not. I swear.

Uh-oh! Who's Thomas? And what is Father planning? (lol and its like, some bday party pssht lol XD)

Oh, and also, some of the characters may be ooc becuz….. they don't really show much character in the anime so… sorry. Fuery may be more whimpier than he actually is, falman may be more quiet, havoc may seem dumber, and breda may be… I dunno…

PARKER IS NOT PART OF THE ANIME! HE'S JUST A RANDOM OC I NEEDED!