Chapter Two: Power Up

"My…power?"

"Yes," The voice answered. "The abilities given to you. Now, on the right side of your mouth, there should be a switch embedded in one of your molars. Bite down on it."

Misaki opened his mouth and reached a finger back near his throat, and was surprised to find a plastic-like button precisely where the voice said. He pushed down on it, but nothing happened.

"I said bite kid." The voice sighed irritably. "Now hurry up. We're all running out of time."

"O—Okay." Misaki nodded. Closing his eyes, he crunched his jaws together as hard as he could, snapping the switch further into his tooth. The teen gasped as his whole body jerked by itself and a kind of current began to flow down to his hands and feet, seeming to numb his limbs.

"Wha—What's happening to me?" He stuttered.

"Your powers are awakening. They aren't fully charged, but you should still have enough juice to get out of there. Now, stop hiding and run through that fence!"

"But what about the guns?"

"They can't hurt you now! GO!" The voice snarled. Fueled by his own uncertainty and panic, Misaki dashed out from behind the warehouse and raced forward, gritting his eyes shut and screaming as he charged towards the onslaught of soldiers. They bellowed back and began to fire rapidly, pummeling the target mercilessly with bullets. As he felt something ding against his cheek, Misaki opened his eyes, and gasped at what he saw.

Everything around him seemed to be moving in slow motion. The teen stared in awe at the bullets that lay suspended in mid air, slowly creeping towards him. He fluidly moved out of their path and watched them fly away like a bird caught in a breeze.

Had time… stopped?

In mere seconds of running Misaki drove through the ranks of soldiers like a charging bull and made it to the barbed wire perimeter. His little spark of confidence growing, he clenched his fists and jumped, clearing the twenty-foot fence with ease. He landed on his feet like a cat and kept running, the ground flashing past him as his limbs flexed with unnatural prowess.

BOOM!

Misaki's eyes widened as the ground right behind him exploded, raining dirt and rocks in a wide trajectory. Another landmine shot open at his left and Misaki increased his speed, skirting around the explosions like dodge balls. The teen saw that he was near some rocky hills and hope sparkled in his heart. If he could make it out of the open, there was a better chance that they wouldn't find him. But as he glanced behind him, he could make out at least two dozen black planes and helicopters rising out of the base, flying straight towards him. The boy tried to run faster, but found that his rapid acceleration was stabilizing, setting him at a constant speed. And in this state, they'd surrounded him in less than a couple minutes.

"Help me!" Misaki cried, praying the voice would here him. "I can't get out! HELP!"

But no answer came.

Filled to the brim with adrenaline and panic, Misaki focused all his strength on the last spurt of distance between him and the rocks. But the black machines only drew closer, and Misaki heard a gun being fired from above. Heavy bullets rained down on him again, causing him to loose his balance and fall head first to the ground. The frightened boy curled into a ball as a helicopter descended towards him, blowing the dust violently with it's whipping blades—

CRASH!

The boy looked up in shock as a boulder flew from the direction of the hills and struck the helicopter, smashing the machine and sending it spiraling down to the ground. Misaki covered his head with his hands as chunks of rock fell all around him, but he looked up as he heard a familiar voice.

"Get as close to those hills as you can! We have you covered!"

The boy scrambled up and took off again, watching in shock and horror as another airborne boulder collided with a plane, taking it out with one blow. As Misaki raced towards the rocks, he squinted and could faintly make out a lone figure on top of the highest hill, chucking boulders at the enemy like skipping stones. The figure threw one last rock missile before sliding down the steep hill towards Misaki, waving a single time in the opposite direction. The teen obeyed his command and ran after him, catching up easily with his springing gait. But as they raced past the last couple hills, another black copter rose down from the air, rapidly descending towards them. Misaki slid to a shaky stop and was about to run back when the other figure grabbed his arm and jerked him forward.

"Hurry!" The stranger said. "Get to the chopper!"

Misaki was unsure of whether to follow the orders of the man, but the grip on his arm was so strong he couldn't even hope to break it, so he dashed for the helicopter, and felt the other man grab his waist and all but throw him inside.

He landed on the floor of the cockpit, shakily sucking in air as his body trembled from the exertion and fear. He closed his eyes and folded into himself, whimpering as he felt a large hand touch his forehead.

"Are you all right Digamma?" A kind voice asked. Misaki slowly opened his eyes and saw the face of the man who had just rescued him. His face was handsome, but also inexplicably warm and loving, with black hair and deep blue eyes. The giant of a man carefully slid an arm underneath the teen's shoulder blades and sat him up, beginning to touch underneath his neck and the back of his head with precise fingers.

"How is he Beta?" Another asked. The giant carefully peered into Misaki's bloodshot eyes and gave a single nod.

"He's a little banged up, but looks all right." He replied, giving the teen a pat on the back. "Are you feeling okay?"

"…Y—Yeah." Misaki stuttered, carefully shifting onto his knees. "W—Who are you? What did you call me?"

"Digamma, the sixth." The man smiled. "That's your number. I'm Beta, the second, but my real name is Nowaki."

"Nowaki?"

"Mhmm. What's yours?"

"Misaki—whoa!" The teen yelped as the helicopter jerked sharply, sending him flying into the giant's arms.

"Hiro-san!" Nowaki cried. "Be careful!"

"YEAH!" Another high-pitched voice squeaked. "Are you trying to kill us you idiot!"

"Shut your mouth brat!" The person in the co-captain seat raged. "And you're all damn lucky I saw that missile so quit complaining about my flying!"

Misaki breathed shakily at all the jarring voices, but when he did, he smelled smoke.

"Is something burning?" He stuttered, looking up at Nowaki. The giant's eyes widened and he looked back over to the co-captain of the chopper.

"Hiro-san! You're catching fire again."

"I KNOW I'M CATCHING FIRE DUMBASS!" Hiroki raged.

"Well calm down." A more mellow voice exclaimed. Misaki looked over to a seat near the back of the copter, where a man as tall as Nowaki sat. But although he had black hair similar to the giant, his face held a startling difference. Two steel plates were placed over his eyes like sunglasses, bolted down to his skin. Misaki's eyes widened at the sight.

"Don't tell me to calm down again!" Hiroki snarled back. "If you don't like the way I fly then do it your goddamned self!"

"Yeah like that'll work!" The higher pitched voice screamed back. Misaki's eyes shifted all along the back of the copter, but he couldn't see anyone else.

"There are many life lessons to be learned Delta. One of the more obvious ones is don't let the blind guy fly the bloody plane." The steel-eyed man chuckled at the quarrel. Right after he retorted though, his head jerked up and he grunted thoughtfully.

"Alpha, they're tracking us through his sensors. We should remove them immediately."

"Do it." Said the one sitting in the captain's chair.

Misaki's eyes widened as he heard the same voice who had spoken to him all those times, but before he could even move, he found his head grabbed and restrained by Nowaki.

"Please hold still." The giant smiled. "It will be over quickly."

Misaki yelped as Nowak's fingers shoved into his mouth and probed the left side of his throat. The giant quickly located one of the boy's back molars and gave a sharp yank, ripping the tooth out by the roots. Misaki cried out in pain as the giant released him, but as his tongue carefully touched the wounded spot, he felt no blood.

"See?" Nowaki said, holding the robotic molar in front of his eyes. "All better. Now for the last ones."

Misaki flinched as Nowaki reached out and grabbed both of his earlobes, where two small metal gauges were. The giant slipped them out painlessly and showed them to the boy again.

"They're out." He announced.

"Throw them out the chopper. They will deter at least half of the force." Steel eyes said impassively. Nowaki opened the window and chucked them out into the air, watching them land in a cluster of small mountains.

"Here Misaki," Nowaki gestured to a row of empty seats. "Come strap yourself in. It might be a bumpy ride."

"I heard that!" The co captain screamed again.

"B—But wait, wait," Misaki said, his eyes darting around the group of strange people. "Who…are all of you? What do you want with me?"

Nowaki's eyes softened compassionately and he put a careful hand on Misaki's shoulder.

"You don't need to worry anymore Misaki. You see…we're all just like you. We've all had our bodies changed and tampered with by the FMA."

"The…FMA?"

A thoughtful grunt came again from the captain's seat, and Misaki heard the voice he knew so well speak again.

"I believe it's time for introductions."

Get to da chopper!

:) Well, now I can cross that off my "random things I want to say in a fanfic" list.

So glad for all the great reviews so far! ^_^ I am equally excited about this fic and I'm so happy everyone else is too! Squee.

Artemis Fortune- Watch the show! Dear god watch it! :D Don't let the goofy animation fool you, it's freaking awesome with great characters and plot. My fic differs enough from it so that you won't have any serious spoilers :)

Ricchan14- thanks for the review! And unless I specifically state a physical change, everyone looks normal.

Everlasting Snow Princess, KiyameHikari-chan, sesshomaru94, AlexisAshnew- thanks so much! Hope you enjoy! :D

TBF101