A/N- I great thank-you goes out to my 3 reviewers who have taken their time to say anything about my work! I thank-you greatly, and appreciate it dearly!

Steele Scale

Shinigami109

Kagami no Renkinjutsushi

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Chapter 3

Edward Elric was laying in silence on a cold floor taking in his surroundings through scent, touch and hearing. He didn't want to open his eyes. He feared what he may see as what we felt and heard were horrible enough. He heard yelling, screams filled with terror and unusually, the loud crackling of electricity. He could feel cold, nothing but cold air, cold floor all around him. That wasn't all he felt though. Great fear, despair and sadness overwhelmed him as he lay on the dirty, cold floor. He smelled death. Death and blood mixed with the horrible scent of rot and dampness. Where was he? In a way, he didn't want to know, but in another, he yearned to know. He opened his eyes, slowly. His sight was blurred so he blinked to correct it. Even this helped not to answer his questions. Darkness engulfed him, aside from very faint light filtering in through what appeared to be a grate nearby.

"What is this… where am I?" He questioned aloud as he made an attempt to stand. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten earlier events.

Bone ground against bone, splintering like wood. Half-healed skin stretched and split apart like cheap fabric and blood ran out from the torn flesh. Edward screamed and fell flat against the floor as his wounded right leg sent searing pain through his body. The bone broke through the flesh this time. He heard it, he felt it more. He gasped for air; he seemed to have forgotten how to take it in. He only knew the pain.

"Damn it!" He managed to shout, lifting his right hand to support himself. He pushed himself up to try and examine his leg, but it was far too dark to see anything.

Edward was suddenly silenced completely by the sound of voices. Orders being barked and the starting of some form of machinery as it seemed. He couldn't identify it though, sadly. He listened more closely to the voices, which seemed to be turning more into a conversation now.

"You say you have a new subject for me." A man's voice, deep and gruff questioned.

"Yes sir, we found him around the Industrial area of the city, unconscious. We knew straight away that he would likely be of use to us." Another man replied.

"How is this so?" The deeper voiced man asked.

"He doesn't even seem of the same species as we." There was a short silence.

"Well, bring him out! I wish to see this 'promising' subject!" The deeper voiced man barked.

"As you wish, Baron Praxis."

Edward quirked a brow. What, or who could they possibly be talking about? A different species? What kind of sick place was this? It was then; he heard a louder piece of machinery start up. It seemed to be coming closer, and closer. He hoped so deeply it for it to pass him by. His deep hopes were demolished, as a door in front of him, which apparently had the grate set in it, slid open with a hiss and a muffled clank. Edward's tired, golden orbs looked up to see a tall man with fiery hair and amber eyes standing under the arch of the doorway. The man had a dangerous looking smirk plastered on his face and appeared to be holding a strange weapon.

"Hello…" The man simply said as his advanced into what was Edward's cell, "You are the promising soul to bring us to victory, are you not?" His smirk widened.

"Who the hell are you?" Edward demanded, eyes narrowing, challenging the older man.

"I would speak to me such a way, brat." The man hissed, cocking his weapon, "I hold your very life in my hands."

"The hell you do!" Edward growled. This gesture sent him into a pit of pain as the older man squeezed the trigger of the weapon. Blue electricity shot out from the nozzle, striking Edward's body and numbing him to temporary paralysis.

"Yes… I do!" The man mused, "By the way, you can call me Erol. I'll be your 'Master' from here on. Clear? Heh, good."

Edward felt himself being lifted from the cold, dirty floor and carried out onto what appeared to be a floating platform. He was slumped against the rail as Erol continued on his merry way, pressing glowing buttons mounted on a pad. The floating platform began to move steadily toward another solid platform. This one fit with many devices that Edward knew he could only dream of. Once again, he asked himself where he could possibly be. The platform came to a sudden halt, and he again felt his limp body being lifted from his ground.

"This is the promising soul you've brought me? This small, deformed child?" The deep voiced and much larger man barked.

'Who's deformed? And who's small!' Edward though to himself, unable to talk or shout.

"I assure you, Praxis, he will show us our desired result."

"He had better, or you, Erol, will stand as his replacement! Now prepare him!"

"As you wish." Erol finished before he practically threw Edward's body onto a cold, steel table.

Edward felt his movements returning slowly just as he was being strapped to the table. His tried to lift his left hand, but a cold, steel bond quickly restricted it. He tried for his left leg, but again, it was restricted. Each time he attempted to move a part of his body, it was restricted. Simple steel bonds reaped his normal ability from him; he didn't like it all to say the least.

"H-hey! What's going on here?" Edward finally built the strength to ask. Erol and Praxis glanced at him a moment.

"We'll just say, you're about to find out." Erol replied, another dangerous smirk formed upon his face. He descended a step down to a large pad or console covered in what appeared to be hundreds of flashing buttons.

"I don't want to find out, I want to…" Edward was silenced by the eerie crackling of static and a sound that could only be matched by a dentist's drill.

His golden orbs slowly shifted to his right side to witness what kind of horror was about to overtake him. His eyes grew wide as he saw what appeared to be a rounded, but bladed device rise dangerously close to his neck. He didn't have time to wonder what it was for as a long needle protruded from its center. Edward began to shake; he could feel the fear on him like his stomach was caving in. He watched as Erol walked over, calm and cool, whistling a tune as he connected a clear tube to the needle device. The tube connected to a large contraption, which lingered above his head. Edward only began to panic as he saw this tube fill with a dangerous looking, violet-black substance, and the memories of the horrible creatures came back to him.

"This is the dark-eco tainted with the Metal-head DNA isn't it?" Praxis asked.

"I believe so, sir." Erol replied.

"What are you going to do to me? What's going on here?" Edward began to shout in a panic.

Erol walked over calmly and held Edward's head firmly in place as the needle began to move closer to his neck. It released some of the substance to check for air pockets in the tube. Some of this substance fell upon Edward's skin, and it sent a cold burning sensation through his body. He tried desperately to move away from the needle, but to no avail. Erol's grip was far too great. He remembered this from a dream; he tried to convince himself that this was just a nightmare, but it was far too real when the needle punctured the flesh of his neck. Not even a second passed before the tube began to pump the horrible substance straight into his veins. It didn't even take a minute for the freezing burn of the substance to strike his whole body. He couldn't even scream, and it was the worst feeling imaginable. It wasn't long at all, though it felt like ages before the substance was finished poisoning his body.

"Quickly, start the second stage. The eco has to be activated or he'll die. And we can't lose our final chance." Praxis barked.

"Yes sir." Erol replied as he removed the needle from their subject.

Edward suddenly began to convulse. His eyes rolled back into his head, his body began to shake and he lost himself to a painful, but conscious darkness. Erol reset the controls and a new device came forward from the contraption above Edward's body. It lowered down over his head and opened up like a poisonous, bladed flower. Erol flipped another switch on the controls and it began to spin, radiating dangerous amounts of what sounded like static.

"Commence the activation sequence, now!" Praxis barked.

"Yes sir!" Erol replied, flipping a final red switch.

From the middle of the rotating device came what appeared to be violet, electrical sparks. They shot out, striking Edward's body continually, repeatedly as he continued to convulse violently. He was conscious the entire time, asking himself over and over why this was happening to him. He wanted to know what this was. What were they doing to him? Why, what was the purpose of this torture? As the 'dark-eco' fused into his body, he began to come back from the darkness. His eyes snapped open as his own golden orbs returned to their rightful place. They were different this time though. They were slightly blank, dilated, and full of intense rage. He screamed out with the hoarseness of an angry growl and attempted to release himself from the steel bonds that held him. Erol and Praxis took very quick notice to this, but nothing prepared them for what was to come next. Edward broke his right arm, his auto-mail arm, free and was working on the bond restraining his left. All of this taking place as the electrified darkness ran through his body.

"Erol, do something! Now!" Praxis demanded as his watched his new creation trying to escape.

"I am sir!" Erol shouted back as he pulled out a communicator, "We need at least ten men in here! Immediately! Take the warp gate, it's the fastest way in."

Erol then quickly turned to the operating console and attempted to turn off the machine before he realized that the sound of static had stopped before he'd touched anything. He turned around to find his Baron backing away slowly, fear in the great man's face. Erol turned slowly to find what had started him so. He would soon regret his movement. He found himself face to face with the subject, Edward. His skin a gray-pale, his eyes dark, almost jet-black and full of rage. His auto-mail balled into a fist, and sharp black claws protruding from his left hand.

"But, you couldn't possibly stand. Your leg, we checked! It was broken!" Erol shifted his sight to Edward's right leg, his flesh leg. Nothing but a scar, no blood and the subject stood straight. He'd forgotten the changes the eco would inflict upon the teenager.

He suddenly felt a tightening grip around his throat, blocking his airway and bruising his flesh. It was Edward's auto-mail hand, clamped tightly and securely around his throat. Erol reached up to try and pry the metal from him, but found a slight problem with that movement. The new, dark Edward grinned sadistically as he tightened his grip on the commander's throat.

"Is this how you get your kicks? Rearranging innocent people's images? Destroying their lives?" The dark Edward spat at Erol. He could not reply.

"I wish I could show you this pain. How many people you've done this to before… and their pain… you sadistic son of a bitch!"

Dark Edward then punched the commander in the face sending him flying across the platform and into the opposite wall near what appeared to be a slowly rotating ring… and many different men dressed in crimson armor. Each of these men armed with dangerous looking weapons. Dark Edward fixed himself into a solid fighting stance at the sight of these dangerous looking soldiers. Erol shook his head violently to knock the sense back into himself. He picked himself up off of the floor.

"What are you oafs standing there for? Attack him!" Erol commanded pointing toward Edward and retrieving his own gun from its holster.

The men began to charge at Edward, cocking their weapons and readying to tear his head off if necessary. Edward merely smirked as the first guard leapt at him; weapon raised high above his head. Ed simply jabbed his left hand forward. His new, razor sharp claws punctured through the guard's chest-plate and through to the other side. Blood sprayed from his enemy and he ripped his hand back through the open wound. The next guard to come forward met the very same fate as his comrade before him, and so the next. Heads came rolling and rivers of blood trickled delicately from black claws and metal fingers. Fangs were displayed in a most sadistic grin as more flesh was torn like a sharpened blade through cheesecloth. Edward found himself in some kind of Blood-lust state. He killed continuously, no remorse whatsoever, no pain in his heart. It was as though the real Edward or the Edward he once was no longer lived there. No longer existed. He found himself soaked in red, surrounded by crimson armor and bloody corpses. He looked about, but this time, there was no sadistic smile. He fell to his knees, holding is head, claws digging into his scalp. He even began to whimper, wondering so deeply what he had done. What was this, what could possibly drive him this far?

"Wh-what's happening to me?" He asked himself aloud, his voice shaking. Praxis and Erol had escaped long ago. He was alone. His claws retracted and his jet-black eyes receded to their natural golden color. His skin no longer the deathly pale-gray it was before. He took in his surroundings. The crimson, the blood, and himself soaked to the bone in all of it.

"What… What have I done?" He asked, his voice shaking, on the verge of tears, "What the hell have I done!" He cried, falling flat to the floor. Alarms rang out; computerized voices began to call out codes. Edward could hear footsteps coming his way. He knew that the only way to avoid the horrors of what he'd gone through already was to escape as quickly as he possibly could. He pushed himself up to his feet and caught glimpse of the slowly rotating ring in his opposite direction. He remembered seeing the guards come in through it. And the two men, his captors, use it to escape. He nodded to himself, still in a shock or fear of his own actions. He swallowed hard and approached the ring.

"T-there's only one way to find out, to see where it will take me." He reached out a flesh hand, "Right now… anywhere is better than here." He glanced back at the devastation he created and winced.

He touched his fingers lightly to the slightly distorted effect within the ring's core. It rippled like water and a tingling sensation traveled gently up his arm. He retracted his arm in surprise. This kind of technology was so new to him; he still didn't know how to react. He shook his head to knock some sense back into himself and backed away from the ring slowly and carefully. He sighed and slouched.

"What am I doing?" He asked, "Even if I do escape, what am I able to do in a place like this? Who knows what horrors could await me out there." He shook his head lightly, "But when have I ever been one to back away from something because of what the future could hold. Heh, great time for my sense to kick in huh… Eh… who am I talking to anyway?" He took a final glance at the ring and sighed, "Well… Take the chance you have before it's gone."

Edward's eyes narrowed as he looked forward toward the ring. He acted as if to challenge it, full of determination. He readied himself for anything he may encounter, he hoped for the best. For the first time in his life, at least he thought so, Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist was basing something off of hope instead of calculation. He ran at the ring, as fast as he could so he could not stop and turn back and just as he reached the ring, he leapt forward. He dove headfirst through the very core of the unknown piece of technology and disappeared from the room leaving no trace behind. Only unwanted memories.

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A/N- Well... I don't know but, I think this is turning out very nicely. Sadly, I feel as though my chapters are too short. Then again, I'm really, REALLY picky when it comes to writing. Watch me read this later and get all pissed off because there's a stupid spelling mistake I missed. I do that alot. It makes me mad! But anyway. Reviews make me happy dearests. Very happy. Aye! I'm open to ideas, suggestions. I love those! If you think there's something that can be added to kick it up a notch, I'd love to hear it!