Now I thought I wouldn't be updating till another couple of days, but of well, here you go. I'll end this arc with the next post and then go back to picking on Al again. But I'll be involving Ed a little more.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Deep down, I must hate Al. I didn't think I hated him, but I apparently do.

Nah, not really. He's just so fun to pick on because Ed's normally the one dealing with everything, that I thought Al deserved a little attention.

Anyway, here you go.

Episode 21 - Deceipt*

"Another day off huh?" Al said as he went through the few papers that Ed had brought home for him. "Hey Mom." He spoke to her in the hallway, she was putting cloths away in the linnin closet.

"Yes?" Trisha entered Al's room and walked up behind him.

He was sitting backwards on his bed, reading all the things he was given by his brother. "Yeah, there's a meeting, so I get to rest."

"If I knew you were going to get another day off, I would have sent you today." Trisha took the letter from Al's hand and went over it. "Your studies concern me."

"Even so, I don't think that would have went over well...hey, can you turn up the heat up here, I'm freezing." Al pulled the bottom of his blankets up over his shoulders.

"Dear, it's boiling in here." She rested a hand on his forehead. "And so are you...maybe was a good thing I didn't send you after all. I'm going to get you something to bring that fever down." She handed the paper back to Al and exited the room.

"Uuh..." Al moved the papers from his bed to the floor and curled up on his side. "I hate being sick..."

Later on in the evening, they had moved back to the bacement and Russell crashed on the armchair. "Hey...Hey..." Leo proded at Russell laying sprawled out on the chair, leg hung over the edge, head back. "Are you breathing?" Leo nudged him harder. Russell graoned uncomfortable form the poke. "He's gone." The taller boy sat on the edge of the coach and rested back.

"I knew he wouldn't last till midnight." Paninya scoffed as she tossed a pillow at the unconcious mass that was her friend.

"Came pretty close though." Ed referenced the clock. "Eleven fifteen...good thing there's no school tomorrow." They had been informed on a handout at the end of the day that there was an important meeting tomorrow for the school board, so all teachers had to attend.

What the remainder of the group was doing for the evening was trying to map out a script for Ed to follow as to trick the older youth into racing them.

"So, basically, we have to make him think that we have something set aside so we can actually beat him." Aria said.

"If we make sure he thinks we have nitro, that way there's less chance of him calling you out on this. He'll think you're serious about all this." Leo pointed out.

"Now that all the cards are on the table, it just a matter of how they're played. And that's where you come in." Paninya locked eyes with Ed. "He doesn't seem that bright, so I think you'll do fine."

Aria pulled her feet beneath her on the coach and crossed her legs. "Going with the card analogy, you need to keep a poker face, maybe smirk a little. Make him think you can win this."

Ed tightened his pony tail, it tugged at his temples. "I'm good at faking it, but full out liying...that's Al's suit, not mine...maybe I'm not the best one for this."

"Come on. My car's out of comission for now, so there's no I can do it. Aria and Bunny here don't drive and even if Russell wasn't going to be behind the camera, would you really trust him behind the wheel of a car." Leo tried to reason with Ed. He knew his friendhad valid reason to worry, but he really was their only option.

"Maybe we could just tell Roy you cut your hair and use Al instead. If it's for Winry, I'm sure he'll be all over the idea." Aria tried her best to think of an alternative.

"That's no good." Edward said with a grimmace. "Al can't drive, and he's sick...so that's out."

Russell briefly came to life. "About that. Why doesn't Al have his lisence and you do?"

Aria's eyes lit up and she hand over her chest. "Geez." Russell's quick 'spurt to life' startled her.

"Al's got a temper, that's why. When he was doing his road test, someone cut him off. Now, instead of letting it slide because he was in the middle of a test, Al decided to roll down the window and curse the guy up and down." Ed spoke as if it was nothing surprising.

"Hu-h...really now." Russell was shocked.

"Yea, apparently that makes you fail." Ed nodded. "They told him that he had to wait the full six months, even though both of us took the safety course. I got took my road test in July, he won't get to try again till October...I worry about him sometimes."

"We all do." Russ said as he rolled into another comfortable position and once again, dozed off.

Ed walked into the college garage where Roy frequented. Apparently he was a big on cars, which would explain his expensive wheels. "Roy, buddy, friend, comrad." Edward approached him in the same manner the he was approached just yesterday.

"Comrad?" Roy said in confusion as he walked out from beneath the raised up car he was working on.

"...Anyway, I have a little offer for you. A test of power if you will." Ed began in his semi-rehearsed manner. "I really like Winry, and so do you, and I figured there's something that needs to be done to settel this matter."

The older of the two turned to face him, towering nearly half a foot over Edward's head. "Maybe wresteling. I'm good at that." He flexed a bicep, blatently ignoring the car he was beneath.

Ed backed up a little. "Maybe something a little less..."

"Violent?" Roy questioned, a devious smirk on his face, tossing a wrench from one hand to another.

"Time consuming." Ed corrected him. From the looks of it, Roy was buying the whole thing. "I found out that Winry's a big fan of Nascar. So I think she might enjoy a little race. Now, I know we can't win her over, per-say, but whoever loses, has to stop making contact with her. She still gets to make her own choice and we get to settle this like men." Ed smiled, an equally as devious smirk as Roy mustered.

"What's the catch?" Roy then became skeptical.

"No catch. You beat me, I back down. I beat you, you piss off. Sound good?" Ed planted his fists on his hips, he felt he was doing a really good job of being lippy without being offensive.

Roy placed his tool down in the tool box that was on the ground at his feet. It made a loud metalic 'klunk' as it hit the other metal tools. "You're plotting something. What is it? This sounds a little too weird."

Ed shook his head. "I just know I'll come out on top. If you accept, I'll be in the lunch room of the campus till two o'clock" That being said, he turned on his heel and vacated the garage, leaving Roy dumbfounded.

"What's that shit up to...hmm?" Roy looked by his feet. There was a piece of paper that got caught in a draft coming out from beneath the door. "Who's making a mess of this place." He grabbed the slip of paper off the floor.

Leo placed the container of Nitros Oxide on the counter in front of the service rep. "I'd like to exchange this for a store credit. I found out that it won't work on my car...I did however lose the recipt."

"Not a problem." The clerk took the container from Leo and began scanning it and doing the procedure for returning an item.

Aria stood silently behind Leo as the transaction was complete. She leaned in close to Leo's ear. "Do you think Ed managed to plant the seed."

Leo nodded. "I think he's got a green thumb for it right now." They covered up their conversation with a quick analogy.

After returning the item and taking the credit in the form of a store gift card, they left for the parking lot. "He said he didn't want to lie, so a good old equivication works." The way the group managed the deal with Ed's pesky guilt was in the form of a half truth. They got him to say that he could beat him, and not say exactally how he was going to beat him.

"I just hope he falls for it." Aria checked her buzzing phone. "Looks like he might have." She held the phone out for Leo to see. The words 'Hook, line and sinker.' come into view.

"Yeah. He caught up to me in the hall and said that it was on. I guess he found the recipt and knew it was mine." Ed smiled, quite proud of himself. "You know what he's going to do? He's going to sup-up his car so it's super fast so he can be sure to beat my Nos."

Aria squeeled in delight. "This is so awesome!" She clapped her hands together really quickly. "We are going to thump him so badly."

Paninya smiled. "This'll be good payback for the 'trash can' thing too. Hell, we should just tell the cops anyway. Get him thrown in jail for a little while."

"I don't think we shoudl follow through." Russell stated calmly. "It's one thing to scare him, but it's another thing to take away something he obviously loves. He'd probably get someone on the outside to fuck with us, so let's just take this and run with it." Finally recovered from his restful sleep, he was there for the group to add in reasoning to this plot.

"It'll be tomorrow, later on in the evening. At 8 o'clock." Ed weaved his fingers together and cracked all his knuckels. "I'm nervous."

Leo pat his shoulder. "You can do it. I mean, we got up to 120 in the tunnel, so just keep a steady pace and it'll look like you're saving the Nos for the home stretch."

Ed inhaled deeply. "I hope you're right."

*Receipt+Deceit = Deceipt

Yeah, I couldn't think of a good title name so I just stuck a couple words together and came up with this title.