A/N: Ahhh, school just started :'(

Sorry if I'm a little slow on updates from now on.

And since, I had so little of Ed last time; I have a surprise for you! –

…No light showed through the stormy clouds. Everything was pitch black, as if the sun had just given up on us. No lights were turned on in the houses below, for the power had been knocked out by the violent rain. The world was holding its breath…

1st person POV:

A cup of bewilderment. A few gallons of raw anger. Perhaps a pinch of confusion. Sprinkle on some dizziness and fear. Now, dump all the adrenaline you can think of on there. Voila- you have about a fourth of what I was feeling when I realized who was standing over me.

It was "Masks'" servant, in all of his 5 foot 10 glory. He had a downright irritating smirk on his face planted on his face. His face was young, although probably a couple years older than me. With jet black, messy, an evil light in his eyes, and scars that screamed "dangerous" no matter how you looked at them, he had mastered the typical "supervillian" look, all down to the maniacal laugh. However, despite the fact that he seemed born to lead oh…let's say an army of robot clones or something, his obvious servant suit and tie provided an astounding contrast.

I wanted to beat it all up.

And yet, I was still frozen with who-knows-what, mouth gaping and eyes opened as far as they could go. My heart pounded so violently, I was sure that the only thing that prevented it from bouncing straight out into the forest and beyond was my shuddering rib cage.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare?" he scoffed. "Stupid girl."

I cast my gaze aside for a moment, as if embarrassed, and tried to look normal as I kept my eyes out for the Lieutenant. The land was full of rocks, and from where I was sitting, I could barely view a couple yards from here. The Lieutenant would be at least a few hundred feet away. Hopefully she spotted my visitor and is setting up a sniping position right now. Hopefully, but I doubt it. The servant wouldn't be that careless. If he noticed my searching, he didn't show it.

Finally, I returned my attention to him, waiting and expectant. My body refused to move, so all I could do was glare at him from my spot, and hoped it looked threatening.

He chuckled, "Is that all you can do? Glower at me? I expected much more from Akiyama-senpai's daughter."

Akiyama-senpai. My dad. Why would he call my dad in a formal and polite tone? Unless…

A pit of dread was growing in my heart, slowing it down from its current jumpiness. I was afraid that after a few minutes it would stop it all together.

"Don't call my dad that," I hissed, still staring daggers at him. I was surprised at myself for saying that. Although I meant it, there were plenty of other insults I've been waiting numerous days and nights to throw at him, and this was the one I instinctively picked? I remembered at night, how I would picture this encounter. First would be the trash-talking; I'd spit all the mean things that I had been building up in my mind for 3 years. Then, I visualized myself leaping at him, and pinning him down with all the angry attributes of a mountain lion. We would wrestle on the ground for a while, and finally, I would take a clean swipe with my knife, and that would be the end.

I never expected that, when the time I had been waiting for came at last, I would be planted on the ground, looking up at him, and not being able to move a single bone in my body, while he jeered at me.

Reality sucks, doesn't it?

Edward's POV (*ahem* surprise! ^^)

Pant, pant, gasp, gasp.

Damn, this automail was way too heavy. I would have to consult Winry about it when we got back home.

"Mustang, where are you? You can't keep hiding," I growled. That bastard. How dare he call me short! For god's sake, I grew like 7 inches!

"Oh yes I can, Fullmetal," he taunted. I pounced at the spot where his voice came from, but all I found was a messy pile of leaves and a crumpled newspaper.

I roared in anger, "You were reading the newspaper?"

I heard him chuckle to my right. "You're just too slow, Fullmetal."

It was like a cat and a mouse. No, actually, scratch that, it wasn't- the cat usually was able to win after, let's say, the half an hour we've been at this! It was actually more like…that comedy that I've heard about- Tom and Jerry. Stupid cat could never catch the mouse.

Friggin Jerry, I'm going to catch you if it's the last thing I do!

And the game continued.

I heard gunshots in the distance, but at this point, I was too fueled on rash frustration and pure anger to be bothered by the military. In my aggravation, I slammed my hands together in a praying-like manner, and thrust them to the ground.

To my satisfaction, I heard Mustang curse.

BOOM! I looked around expectantly. That idiotic mouse couldn't hide from me when I had destroyed all the trees…well, actually, everything within a half-mile radius.

"Come out, Mustang. I'll find you soon enough," I grinned evilly.

"Fullmetal, come here!" he hissed from behind me. "And be quiet."

The tone of his voice was no longer relaxed or joking. He was fully Fuhrer-serious mode now. Despite my longing to claw off his head, I surrendered to the mood and crouched over there. He was kneeling behind a clump of wild grass, which was adequately covering his head. I immediately took the hint and carefully placed myself next to him, peering out from behind a convenient oak tree that was located right there.

The view was focused on the east side of the pit. There was a large, random rock sticking oddly out of the ground, and I saw a tall man standing nearby. He was leaning over the rock, and I noticed a second shadow. There was someone sitting there.

Alarmed, I started to rise without thinking, before Mustang jerked me back down.

"Stay put, we don't know enough to go charging in there yet."

"But it might be Yumi!" I protested.

He shook his head firmly. "Fullmetal, don't you know, whenever there's a hint of someone that you love is in danger, you go rushing off and end up getting everyone in trouble."

I grumbled, "I'm already against you for calling me short, don't give me another thing to be angry about."

This he laughed at. "I already gave you many things to be angry about. Doesn't hurt to add another one to the list."

I shrugged, "It's your head."

He snorted, "I doubt you be able to even touch me. Being the Fuhrer does come with loads of unnecessary guards…" Mustang simpered while I started to frown. "It does come in handy at times, I suppose."

"I have a metal arm and I'm not afraid to use it!" I threatened, waving my heavier left arm around, preparing to bonk him on the head if the situation called for it.

"What are you idiots doing?" a voice from behind hissed.

Startled, I whipped around, and to my displeasure, fell down in surprise while Mustang just stood up calmly and addressed the visitor.

"Don't just sneak up on us like that!" I complained, when I found out it was Lieutenant Hawkeye.

However, she paid little attention to me, and was spending the rest of her energy on pounding Mustang heavily and giving him what sounded like a tedious lecture. I figured that the only reason she was whispering it instead of yelling her lungs out was because of the current circumstances.

That made a thought intrude my mind.

"Hey, where'd Yumi go?"

The Lieutenant stopped amidst her rant to stare. Mustang took one look at her face, which, to sum it up plainly, had "Oh, shit" all over it.

We scrambled back to the ledge and I raked my eyes far and wide for that mysterious stranger we saw earlier. Adrenaline pumped me up, and it took merely a few seconds before I started to leap down the cliff, catching whatever footholds there were to slow my fall. I landed lightly on my feet, being careful to not place as much force on my automail leg. At full speed, I bound across the pit and raced to the big rock that was hiding Yumi, or at least that's what I hoped.

Dread began to set in my heart as I took in the gist of the situation. The pit, although quite long while traveling by foot, was no problem for the speed of a bow and arrow. The sniping range was at least quadruple this! Yumi would not be able to use her most efficient weapon, something that was certainly needed against the skills that man was supposed to possess, to fight. Or defend herself, I thought grimly.

Worry ramped up my speed, and at the pace I was going now, I would be there only in a few seconds. Sure enough, as I slowed myself down when I was nearing the foreigner, I found Yumi crouched against the rock, staring at him with such a piercing scowl that reminded me bleakly of the phrase, "If looks could kill."

I stood there, unmoving, for a couple milliseconds, taking in the newcomer. I saw his hand flit inside his cloak.

The moment I saw that tiny little action, my own impulsiveness took over, and I darted around so fast, I barely had time to realize what I was doing. One second I was standing beside them, observing the staring contest between the two, the next I was set in front of Yumi, my back to her protectively, and fending off a knife.

Luckily, I didn't have to go to the trouble of using alchemy to create a blade out of my automail arm; Winry already installed a useful switch so I could snap it in or out at my convenience.

My blade was holding off his sword, the two edges clashing sharply against one another, in front of my face, and I struggled to keep my position. Damn, he's strong. I slide back another centimeter from the huge amount of force he was exerting, and I put even more weight onto my left leg that was pushed back. Hopefully Winry made it not only heavier but tougher too.

"Come on, you can do better than that," he jeered. I lost another inch.

"How are you going to protect Yumi with that kind of idiotic strength?"

My rage peaked past its limit, and my vision was tinted with livid bloodlust. The only time when I had felt this furious was back when I was kicking that first homonculus' ass. Maybe this time I was even angrier.

All I could think about was, "No, not Yumi. You'll never touch Yumi," with an immensely passionate feeling that I could scarcely recognize.

What made it worse was that I couldn't do anything about it. This guy, although his shirt and jacket covered them up, had enormous muscles. I couldn't understand how he was putting this much power onto the sword by just holding the very end.

By now, exhaustion was taking over me. I wasn't able to use alchemy with only one hand. And any second I didn't pay attention, he would take it to slice my head open.

Suddenly, I slipped, and his sneer went grinned even wider as he brought his sword down…

"YOU BASTARD!" screamed Yumi unexpectedly, as I saw the man's slits of an eye widen in surprise. He tumbled backwards, violent curses flowing from his tongue, and I slumped back in relief. It only lasted a second though, because I realized that Yumi had tackled him and was now wrestling with him.

Shit, where are you, Mustang?

Yumi's POV

When I saw Ed standing in front of me, defending me with his automail blade, my first thought was annoyance. I didn't need any protecting. But, then, as I swallowed my shallow pride in, I realized that he was truly in danger. I bit my lip, hating myself that I even dared to think that ugly thought.

I watched, still frozen, as thoughts rumbled through my head, trying to figure out what to do, while Ed got pushed back another inch.

I could barely hear the servant taunt Ed, as my mind was too busy panicking. Why couldn't I do anything? I criticized myself, haven't you trained for 3 freakin' years just for this moment?

My head was whipped even more into a frenzy of worry when I saw Ed start to tire out.

Then, I caught his eye. One of the servant's dark, black eyes was directed straight to me.

I saw his wicked smile widen even more, and abruptly all my puzzlement turned into pure fury. It was all too familiar. He wore the same face that he had the exact time he was taking my father away from my grasp.

Now, I'm going to do the same with this idiot. Those were the all-too-obvious words that were shown in his face. Impetuousness took over and releasing my entire wrath in one scream, I lunged around Ed and towards him. I tackled him with all of my body strength, causing him to drop his sword, just as Ed slipped and fell. I didn't have time to see whether Ed was okay or not; I was too busy rolling around with the man.

He was strong. I'll give him that. I couldn't let him pin me down for even a second, or I would be done for. Fortunately, my agility was better than his, and I scrambled around him like a speedy mouse. However, I couldn't control myself while I was like this.

My thirst for his heart to stop was too great. Instead of dodging his lunges like a sensible person would, I started to attack him with all of my raw power. Which was teeny-tiny compared to him.

I searched my surroundings, trying to find a way out. That's when I saw Roy's head peeking out of a bush. He was trying to signal something to me. I saw his fingers pressed together, and I got the message.

With a great heave, I propelled myself away from him. I had the pleasure of seeing his baffled and suspicious face before a wall of soil appeared between us. I watched as Ed trapped him in a hole, and Roy snapped his fingers with a sense of finality.

The ground rumbled violently as a giant, fiery explosion burst inside the hole. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of black flash through the trees.

My rage still hadn't completely subsided and my rashness showed through as I took one look at the ashes of in the hole, and sprinted away. The only thing one my mind was lust for revenge.

I'll kill you. I'll rip you apart and let you pay for everything you did to my dad.

A/N: Hmm…I believe I have a hint of writer's block. .

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