Chapter Nine: The Stakeout

Edward waited outside a phone both as Ed made a call. He didn't listen in as Ed talked.

"I think you'd like to know that Shou Tucker has been making his talking chimeras by mixing humans with animals. He used his wife and a boy by the name of Fletcher Tringum. He also killed Fletcher's older brother. ...I have a sinking feeling that he'll use his own daughter in the future if he isn't stopped. Oh, and one more thing, Mustang. I'm on my way to see you." Ed hung up the phone.

"Did you tell them we were coming?" Edward asked.

"Yeah. They'll be expecting us, so we should get in pretty easily," Ed said. He didn't tell his double about last night or about what else he called about.

When they reached the place, they were let in when Ed told his name, by Mustang's orders.

"Hey, Mustang, know anything about this guy?" Ed asked after entering Mustang's office. Ed held up a paper with a name on it.

"Clay Jonston... He used to be a State Alchemist, until he snapped during the Ishbal Rebellion. We've been looking for him for quite some time now... But it's getting more urgent that we find him, because we believe he could have something to do with those recent murders at Central..." Mustang said.

"Is that why you believed me so easily when I told you I was from another dimension?! Why you let me look at Tucker's research?! Because you knew I'd find this guy for you?!" Ed asked angrily.

"How could I know that he was involved?" Mustang asked.

"Well, can you tell us anything about the case?" Edward asked.

"So you're this world's version of him..." Mustang said thoughtfully as he looked toward Edward. "I thought you'd be the same height."

"We are!" Ed yelled.

Mustang ignored Ed and answered Edward with, "We believe your man is working with a partner. The victims are found with their brains blown up, from the inside, out,"

"Scar..." Ed said in realization.

"and all of their valuables are taken. Several victims are State Alchemists, but we've found some victims in the same condition in banks after robberies have taken place."

"I thought Scar was seen in Eastern last."

Mustang shook his head. "No. He's still in Central."

"But... I thought Scar followed when everyone moved over here..."

"Moved over here...? Heh. I guess that could have been a possibility, if the intended victims were known to be State Alchemists."

"Oh... The bank robberies. Well, consider this a lead: Scar is only after State Alchemists. I guess Jonston must be after money, and that's why they're robbing banks. They must have some type of deal..." Ed said.

"Is there a way we can set a trap for them?" Edward asked.

"This is boring!" Edward exclaimed.

Ed woke with a start. "They said this bank was the best lead they had. They robbed every other big bank in Central."

"Can't we do something besides wait, though?" Edward asked with a frown.

Ed shrugged. He felt as though he was about to fall asleep again, but he tried to stay awake. Suddenly, they heard an alarm. Looking toward the bank, they saw two men running out of the building - one carrying a bag. "That's them!" Ed exclaimed, seeing the scar on the taller one's face. Both Eds jumped to their feet and ran after the men.

Edward had dropped a walkie-talkie when he stood. "Fullmetal?" a voice said over the walkie-talky. "Ed! - Are you two awake?! We just got word that the bank's alarm went off! You were supposed to tell us! ...You're not going after them yourselves, are you?!"

Ed and Edward followed for quite some time, and after turning one tight corner, they bumped into the two men they were following, not realizing that they had stopped. Both Eds were knocked to the ground from the collision.

"I believe you boys have some explaining to do..." one man said with a smirk as he stood over the boys. He and his partner had planned this when they realized they were being followed.

"You're him!" Ed said, having caught a glimpse of that face when he had followed the man into this dimension. "You're Jonston, aren't you?!"

Jonston widened his eyes slightly, recognizing Ed. "It's that kid I told you about!" Jonston told Scar as he pointed at Ed. "Who are you?!"

"The name's Edward Elric - but it's the Fullmetal Alchemist, to you," Ed sneered at them.

'This kid's an alchemist? But why didn't I know that?' Scar thought. He glanced at his tattooed arm, wondering what it meant. 'I usually know a State Alchemist when I see one.'

"And who's he?" Jonston asked, pointing toward Edward. "Your twin or something?"

"Or something," Ed replied.

"If you're a State Alchemist, I must kill you," Scar stated, shoving Jonston out of his way.

"Ed, run!" Edward yelled with wide eyes. It was the first thing he had said since they ran into the men. He was scared stiff - these guys were murderers. And by the looks of them, they could easily snap his and his double's bodies in two. Yet, the other him didn't seem afraid of them. ...Why? Was this just an average day for him as a State Alchemist?

"I'm not running away!" Ed snapped at his other self. He picked himself up and looked toward the approaching Ishbalan man. He clapped and touched his automail arm. A blade jutted out from his sleeve.

"Alchemy without a transmutation circle?!" Edward asked in amazement. No one seemed to notice the sentence.

"This is for Nina!" Ed said as he rushed toward Scar. (Of course, Scar hadn't killed Nina in this dimension, but Ed didn't think about that.) Scar dodged the attack and grabbed Ed's arm. Ed watched in horror as metal shards rained to the ground. 'I just had that fixed!' he thought. He felt something on his forehead and looked up to realize that it was Scar's hand.

--End Chapter--

My original chapter notes (bold words are new):

Okay, well, that's the end of the story. Hope you guys liked it. (watches your expressions, then bursts out laughing) You know I can't kill him off, right? He's the star! (but... I guess I could kill his double...) (--Heh... Guess any new readers won't fall for that. I'm so bad at jokes, by the way... )

Well, I hope Scar can do that to Ed's arm... I can't remember. I know Ed can't defeat him, though. (--Yep. Scar can do that. I reworded it just slightly, but it means the same thing. I guess I remembered more about that episode Scar does do that than I thought I did. It must have been very much inspired by it. Oh, and I added in that about Nina, after seeing that episode where Ed's told that Scar was the one to kill Nina. Ed then said he was ready to take Scar on. - And then he didn't in lab five. But, that's as far as I've gotten in the anime, so... Oh, and around the time that he finds out that Scar did that to Nina, Ed also thought about Mustang's search for his father four years ago, if I remember right. - I mentioned that earlier, if you remember...)

I made up Clay Jonston, by the way. I just took my last name and changed a few letters... I don't know where the first name of Clay came from, though. Roy first came to mind, but we already have a Roy, and then I thought of Clay - I guess I heard it on TV before. I wonder what Jonston's code name would have been... I donno what he really does, yet... (--And now that I do, I'm halfway tempted to change his talking about both arrays opening the portal, to just one of them, but I don't think I will.)

I'm not sure how often I'll be updating anymore, because my classes start this Tuesday. Last year, I didn't have very much free time at all. This fic seems to be able to be written quite a bit quicker than the other ones I've done, though... It might take a little time to figure out how everything can tie together, though. (--Heh. I was updating this every day, I think. But, after classes started, I'd do it every other day, or every three days or something. Still quick, though.)