Chapter 4.

Edward now regretted his running jump through the 'warp gate'. He now realized there wasn't much to go through to get to what was on the other side. As soon as his head was through the rippling ring, he found himself in another place, followed by the rest of his body. The only thing he truly saw before he hit the ground was the undoubtedly petrified face of an older, awkward looking man with funny goggles. He was gangly and couldn't support the full force of Edward and so was quickly flung to the floor as well. Edward could easily tell you himself, whether or not a man could in fact truly scream like a girl. It's up to you to make the decision.

A resounding 'crash', a loud scream followed by what could be described as the screech of a very scared bird echoed throughout the empty room. Edward shook his head and blinked a few times to focus himself. He was still lightly baffled by what had just happened, and yet, the back of his mind told him he was overly intrigued by the technology he had just used. Golden orbs widened as he finally took in what was around him. He would have gasped, if not for the fact that he was so overwhelmed by the beauty of what surrounded him. So much light, flickering bits of information in symbols he'd never seen before in his life, nor could he have dreamed. Control panels, far beyond that of which Central Military could have ever come up with. A large, rounded room paneled with bright steel and pipes with lights and beams. His head whipped around, frayed gold flying about with every oxygen deprived gasp of pure overwhelmment. Just as his racing mind was at it's peak of excitement, he began to realize, he was sitting, rather uncomfortably, atop of something bony, hard and somehow, vibrating. He jumped slightly to find it was a man.

"Please, for the love of Mar!" The individual choked out; "You're squeezing the life out of me."

Edward quickly jumped up and off of the poor man and quickly helped him to his feet. The man was definitely older, gray hair and a gaunt face, and much life his captors before, he had long, pointed ears. He could not make much of the man's eyes through his thick, awkward goggles. The man gasped, hunched over and rubbing the base of his back lightly. He shook his head.

"I'm very sorry about what just happened." Edward attempted to apologize, though with a quirked eyebrow.

"No, it's alright, it happens from time to time. At least you're not 'too' life threatening." The Man replied. Edward smiled very slightly.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't do you too much harm."

"Eh, I've had MUCH worse." The Man replied.

"By the way, I'm Edward."

"And I'm Vin…" Vin replied as he finally turned to get a good look at Edward and jumped back quite quickly, "…And, Oh My God what happened to your Ears?! Where are they!" He pointed.

Edwards's face suddenly went stern for a moment before he remembered things had not exactly been normal for the past little while. He placed his right hand over his right ear and felt the coldness of his automail against it. It was then; another gasp suddenly arose from the man who called himself Vin.

"By the Precursors…" He began as he walked over slowly, "What is this?" He asked with sudden, intrigue. Forget the ears, this was much more interesting, "Can- Can I?"

"What?" Edward raised his eyebrow at the strange man.

"Can I, maybe look at that, a little more closely?" Vin asked, voice seemingly infatuated with the prosthetic limb.

"Fine," Edward simply replied and held out his automail arm which was taken eagerly into the hands of Vin.

"This, this is so unusual. Mind you, I've seen something similar to this on some of our people, but not quite so primitive looking. What I mean is, it's not covered at all. The metal is fully exposed. What is this made of? It's very light, yet durable, I've not seen anything like it," Vin mumbled as he rapped on the plating lightly. He lifted the arm, exposing the wiring underneath, "Good G-… This is so, magnificent and yet, so unusual! Who designed this? How did you get this?"

"It's a very long story…" Edward replied solemnly.

Vin could not only sense, but also see that Edward didn't really want to talk of the events, which brought him to this, but he still wanted to push it. He knew he shouldn't though. He decided it best to wait until a time he felt a better form of trust between the two. It irked him slightly, the difference in appearance, action and structure of the being before him, but at the same time, intrigued his scientific mind. He waved away his left brained thoughts to take a more 'Human' approach to the circumstances before him and took note of the obviously upset, disturbed and slightly confused teenager standing in front of him. He looked like he'd been through a rough time. His clothing was torn; he appeared to have spots of dried blood spattered on his body. Vin didn't wish to delve into paranoia and ponder as to why this was, he did though, suddenly feel he should help the poor boy. He placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled slightly with sympathy.

"You can tell me later. Stay here, I mean it. Don't move from this building and I'll be back." Vin nodded to Edward.

"Where are you going?" Edward asked, suspicion and slight concern evident in his voice.

"To grab you some clothes and maybe some food."

"Why?

"Because you look like you need it."

"But, why are you helping me?" Edward looked away momentarily.

"Because, it's the right thing to do. I'll be right back." With that, Vin quickly exited through the sliding iron doors across the steel plated room and Edward was left alone in the hum of electricity.

OoO

Vin soon returned with a few things; just enough for him to carry comfortably in his arms. Within minutes, Edward was dressed in a white nerdy dress shirt and a pair of baggy khaki colored dress pants. He refused to wear the suspenders to which Vin replied 'To each his own'. Twenty minutes later the two were sitting on the floor of what Edward now knew as the 'Power Station' and splitting a loaf of bread. Both eagerly were asking questions of each other.

"So… I know this might sound ridiculous, but… could you tell me where I am exactly?" Edward asked between chewing pieces of bread.

"Well," Vin began, trying to be understanding and polite to his new acquaintance, " This is a city; a massive one at that. You're in what we refer to as the industrial section as this is where a lot of the power work and construction takes place. There are other sectors of the city that have different purposes. The Bazaar, the slums, the central city sector, the dead town and the palace area."

"That's a little vague. What's this place called?"

"Haven City."

"Haven? You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope."

"Not much of a Haven is it?"

"Why would you say that?" Vin asked with slight concern.

"I've seen very little of it, and I already dislike it." Edward replied. Vin was slightly insulted and Edward quickly recovered, "Not you! I just came from a horrible place before I met you, that's all."

"Horrible place? What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Lemme tell you something," Vin began, taking another bite, "I know a lot of people in this city who have seen a lot of crap go on here. That Includes myself. I Think that I can not only handle what you've got to say, but I also think you could benefit from talking."

"Yeah, and what do you know?" Edward shot back.

"I'm a scientist. I know quite a lot." Vin smiled with whatever vanity Vin could possibly have.

"Well so am I!" Edward growled.

"Not from here, as I can tell. And I can also tell you that my science is more advanced than yours is. Besides, I can't help you unless you start talking." Vin ended taking the last bite of what he had.

Edward looked away looking down at the floor and the bread in his hand. He looked up and took in the light, and the many codes flashing about him. He sighed before settling on the fact that he knew Vin was correct, as much as he hated to think himself being even slightly incorrect.

"I…" He began, "I came out of a prison. The worst place I'd experienced thus far. As if losing where my brother is wasn't enough; but this…"

"A Prison," Vin interjected, voice filled with more concern than fear, "Continue… please."

"There were these men. They were so, evil. One called Baron Praxis. Who the hell is he?"

"He… He's the ruler of this city." Vin stated, deathly serious.

"You couldn't possibly mean that," Edward began, he stood, "That Disgusting creature of a man runs this city?"

Vin was slightly taken aback. He began to feel some fear now, his hands beginning to shake lightly as he could feel the anger in the air and see the dangerous intensity in Edward's eyes. He knew, Praxis had done something horrible to him. It was not unheard of after all; he worked with a man who went through hell with the Baron, and among other things he guessed. He simply nodded and swallowed, hard.

"What does this city look like. How many people has he hurt?" Edward growled.

"I only know of a few he had done some things to personally. But, his actions have killed thousands of innocents." Vin replied solemnly, "Edward… What has he done to you?"

"He- it's his fault… It must be… It's…" Edward covered his face slightly, his skin beginning to discolor as Vin took a few steps back.

"What did he do, Edward?"

"All of those people, the men in the red armor. I-I killed them…"

"What did he do to you…" Vin asked, one final time, terror fully evident in his voice now.

Edward whipped around to face Vin. His eyes a jet black in color, his left hand sprouting black claws and his skin a pallid silver. His face depicted pure rage. The panels in the room sparked as they reacted with the violet sparks sprouting from the teen's body and Vin backed away very quickly, the fear of his own death coursing through his veins mixed with adrenaline.

"He turned me into a MONSTER!" Edward screamed, his voice shattering the air as one of the COM screens exploded with electricity. This explosion knocked him out of his race as he fell to his knees and there the mighty Fullmetal, cried.

Vin was breathing heavily, but straightened himself even through his residual fear. He walked to Edward, slowly as his body wouldn't carry him any faster for he was still shaking. He placed on frightened hand on his shoulder.

"You're not the only one…" was all that Vin said and Edward looked up.

"There are others?" Edward asked through his own rage filled tears and Vin nodded.

"Please tell me who…"

"There is a group of individuals in this city, against the things that Praxis does and has done. They're working to bring him down and liberate this city and it's people."

"Please, Tell me WHO." Edward urged.

"Go to the south end wall of the slums… there you will find a dead end alley near the city wall. There you will find a marking on the wall; it is not simple graffiti. Knock four times… the wall will slide open, enter and ask for a man named Torn. Talk to him. He will help you."

"What does this group call themselves?" Edward asked his final question.

"The Underground." Was the reply.