Hello everyone! Yes, I bet none of you were expecting an update so soon! Has my life gotten easier? Nope! Am I abandoning my other fics? Nope! Well then, what IS happening you may ask?

Well, truth be told, I've come to the conclusion that progress on all fics is taking WAY too long. Not only do I want to provide you with new with new content in a reasonable time frame, but I am hoping to move on to create my own original work and, you know…profit from it. Of course, I want to do it for fun and to entertain others, but money's always good, right? However, I know many of you out there have enjoyed my stories, and I don't want to abandon any of them.

So, I am going to update much more frequently from now on. The downside is, chapters will be shorter. I guess you can think of it as getting weekly manga, where the overall arcs are rather long but individual chapters tend to be short. So, each "chapter" will be divided into parts. How many parts remains to be seen, but hopefully this will provide everyone with more content sooner.

Think of it what you may

Ed could not take his eyes off the sight before him. "No. No. How can this be!?" There he was, Robotnik, the tyrant ruler of Mobius, addressing the military. No, not just addressing them: if the uniform was any indication, he was now ONE OF THEM! Too many questions ran through his head.

"My friends." Robotnik spoke into the microphone. "For decades, our great nation has relied on alchemy to progress. It is a wonderful, remarkable discipline. However, the basic of science of combining elements can only take us so far. In addition, though our military consists of the finest warriors the world has ever known, in the end we are all only…human." Ed's eyes squinted in anger. "Through years of meticulous research, I have made machines like no other. Machines that can move like a living being, and act independently of any controllers, thinking on their own with a limited intelligence." This caused the crowd to erupt in heated debate. Raising his hand, Robotnik silenced them, confident in his proposal. "The key word, of course, is limited. In fact, 'Artificial' would probably be a more appropriate term to describe them." He clarified. "It only acts based on specific parameters I have programmed into them, with no danger of deviation. My friends…I present to you…the Combot!"

Suddenly, several green androids materialized behind him. Unlike the Swatbots Ed first encountered, these machines were fall taller, had a paint-job that seemed to act as camouflage, and possessed two red eyes instead of the Swatbots' one. In addition, their forearms were rather large; Ed imagined some nasty weapons were stored inside, and they had a rather intimidating look about them. The Combots saluted the crowd. "These units are specifically designed for combating threats." He chuckled slightly. "No pun intended. Now, observe this 'artificial intelligence!" Turning to a Combot behind him, he said "Unit 33020 Beta. Would you please walk down and shake this young man's hand?" He pointed at an officer Ed was familiar with: Sargent Denny Brosh! Armstrong assigned him and his partner to be his bodyguards back during the Fifth Laboratory incident.

The Combot turned its head in a way no living being could, and stiffly descended down the steps. He approached Sargent Brosh, and held out its hand "Good morning, Sargent Brosh. How are you this morning?" Its voice was disturbingly artificial.

"Uh…f-fine…" Brosh muttered as he took his hand. The Combot shook it in return. Though Robotnik had specifically programmed it to take it easy, Stan still flinched at the tight grip.

"There's a man under that suit!" Someone shouted.

Robotnik only chuckled in response. "I could whip up armor of such a nature. But no…that's not the case at all here." A part of Robotnik did not want to do this, but the nice thing about machines was that they were expendable in certain moments, and for him, easy to repair. "33020 Beta. Please…show the good men what you are underneath." Without hesitation, the Combot grabbed its head, and ripped it right off. The crowd screamed as the Combot feel straight onto its chest, it's head bouncing. "45871 Gamma, 809956 Alpha, show them what your brother was made of." Two more Combots walked down the steps as they reached down and lifted the hull up. The crowd was put at ease as they saw no blood or gory innards to speak of. "As you can see, they are, in every sense of the word, not living." Addressing the crowd directly, he continued "They do not fear pain nor death. As long as we will it, they will do everything they are told. We will be able to spare our men from the most gruesome of battles, and overrun our enemies with sheer numbers that were once inconceivable!"

Many of the soldiers clapped in amazement; Ed, however, could only grate his teeth. "Idiots-!"

"I have some concerns." Mustang suddenly said, raising his hand, turning the crowd's applause into silence. "While you have no doubt created amazing machines, Dr. Kintobor, I worry about the long-term effects of these machines."

"Long-term?" Robotnik asked.

"These things…are replacing us…" he emphasized.

"In doing so, they will be saving your lives." Robotnik answered back. He closed his mouth, careful not to show his grating teeth. "Keep it together…" Robotnik was good at presenting himself as an amicable character, but being criticized was still his greatest weakness…

"…and in doing so they will also take our jobs. Many men and women live for the state, and now their careers could be swept under the rug at any moment. If they do work for us, what guarantee do we have that we will still be a part of the military…"

"I appreciate your questions, and your concerns, Mustang." Bradley interrupted as he stepped up to the podium. "They are valid points we must consider and discuss for the future. But for now, we must live in the present, and right now, they are our best weapons against the looming threat." The fuher turned to Robotnik. "Thank you, good Doctor. I'll take it from here."

Robotnik saluted, and walked off stage. "Thank goodness…don't think I could've held it in much longer…" He grabbed a glass of water, shattering it from his squeeze after a gulp.

"Now, onto the threats to our nation." The Fuher said as a projector was positioned behind him. "We don't have much; only second-hand sketches from what witnesses we could gather. While we have confirmed Drachma was responsible for the attack, it seems they have allies unlike anything we have ever seen." The sketches began to slide.

Ed tried to sneak away from the crowd, but felt something suddenly pointed against his back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ed turned to see none other than Snively to his side, also wearing the blue military uniform. Judging by the way he positioned his arm next to Ed's back, it seemed he had a gun aimed at him. "Your Fuher demands your attention. I think it best if you stay put and listen." Ed growled as he slowly turned back to King Bradley.

"While we expected an attack from Drachma eventually, we were not prepared for these." A rough sketch depicting a creature in all black and 6 arms appeared behind him. The crowd seemed convinced it was merely a cartoon character. Then it switched to a hairy animal man wielding an axe. Then what seemed to be a knight on horseback. "Though they may look like the sketches for a Sunday strip, I assure you these creatures are indeed real and based off eye-witness reports." Bradley turned back to the crowd. "They appear to be chimeras, chimeras the likes of which we never imagined could have existed. Survivors have claimed that these things could think and speak on a level not even the disgraced Sewing-Life Alchemist Shou Tucker could have hoped to create. Normally, these three alone would not be a threat to an entire army. But they also seem to use some kind of unique alchemy to crystallize their bodies, making them impervious to damage. In addition…they seemed to have some kind of help." King Bradley paused to explain. "A sudden blizzard overtook General Armstrong's entire platoon. It was unlike anything recorded in recent history, and given the timing, I have my doubts it was a coincidence."

Bradley waited to see the crowd's response. "Unfortunately, we have lost contact with the Northern Border. But given the refugees pouring into Central, I think it's safe to say the North is lost. We CANNOT allow Drachma to advance any further. We go to war within 5 days. Prepare yourselves, my brave soldiers. This is unlike anything we have ever prepared you for."

"Yes, your excellency!" everyone saluted.

Only Ed remained while the others helped themselves out of the auditorium. "I suppose this is the part where you kill me." Ed whispered.

"That would be the smart thing to do, yes." Snively said. He then withdrew his revolver. "But, you have something Uncle Julian needs."

"His ore."

"That would be it. Right now, we have no quarrel with you. In fact, given the return of Ixis Naugus, it would actually be much more prudent for us to be allies."

"Ixis who?"

"Ah, yes. I suppose not even the princess would know about him." Snively responded. "Understandable, really; she wasn't even born when those shenanigans went down back then." Snively then said "Anyway, sometime tomorrow, he would like to have a word with you. I suppose I don't have to emphasize he wants you to come alone."

"I'd imagine most who know him trust him as far as they can throw him." Ed said. "I bet even Major Armstrong would have a hard time picking him up." After a moment of silence, Snively suddenly snickered in laughter, desperately covering the grin forming on his mouth. "Uh…I thought you would take that more as an insult…" Ed said in confusion.

"Hehe…uh, I mean, FOOL!" he said to save face. "We do not require your trust. Only your cooperation. We will discuss our terms tomorrow. Bring the ore." Snively turned around to leave, before he spun around to address him again. "Oh, and don't tell anyone. Not even your honored guests. We have your apartment bugged and rigged; If you pull something, we'll know." He warned him.

As Snively turned to leave, Ed clenched his fist. "Damn you…" he hissed.

Sonic rocked back and forth, back and forth, as if he was on a rocking chair with a high-turbine engine…" WILL YOU STOP THAT!?" Sally yelled. She was trying to pass the time by reading on Nicole, but Sonic's erratic behavior was making that impossible.

"Gotta go fast…gotta go fast…" he kept murmuring.

"I guess he doesn't like being in a confined space for very long." Al said as he watched the poor hedgehog rock.

"As mobians, we naturally like to be out in the open to run and climb." Sally said. "However…Sonic tends to take that to a whole different level…" she sighed as she watched the poor hedgehog lose his mind. "It's no wonder he was always so eager to go out and look for trouble."

Finally, Ed entered the room, slamming the door behind him. "Hey, welcome back." Winry said.

Ed only stood in the doorway, looking down on the floor. "Hey."

"Ed, are you alright?" Winry asked, doing her best to look into his eyes. "You look rather…spooked."

"I'm fine, alright!?" Ed was about to crawl back to his room. Still, he owed them something of an explanation. "We're at war." He said.

"War?" Sonic asked. "With who?"

"Drachma; the country next door up north." Ed answered. "But, they've got help. I wasn't so sure when we first got that letter. But now, I am positive they really are Mobians."

This certainly piqued everyone's interest. "Do you…do you think the portal may have opened another gateway?" St. John asked. "I mean, we don't know how the blasted thing works. For all we know, it opened a gateway from another dimension, if not from another location on Mobius."

"Or perhaps Sonic's twin here somehow was the trigger for bringing more strangers in." Knuckles added, pointing his thumb at his blue rival. "He's from another universe, and his blood was coursing with Chaos Energy at the time we went through. Perhaps those could have been factors?"

Sonic sighed. "True."

"They have some sketches." Ed said as he pulled them from under his jacket. "You recognize any of them?"

Ed handed out the sketches from the presentation. St. John's eyes widened as he looked at one of them. "This is Warlord Kodos." He said, pointing at it.

"Who?" Ed asked.

"Warlord Kodos." St. John repeated himself. "He was…well, a Warlord under the King's court. A brutal warrior."

"What happened to him?" Al asked.

"No one knows." St. John answered. "From what my father told me, he was making plans to overthrow the king, but they backfired on him, and he was never seen again."

"There is one thing, now that you bring it up." Sonic said. "A while back, we were having a crisis with one dimension overrunning ours." Sonic said. "For reasons I'd rather not get into, Buttnik and I had to call a truce. He mentioned having an armory leftover from his mentor…Warlord Kodos." Sonic growled as he clenched his fist. "I bet Kodos regret teaching that tub of lard anything."

Ed rubbed his chin in thought. "So…a treacherous warlord from your world is fighting for Drachma?" Ed thought about it. "It doesn't make sense. Based on what you're saying, there's no reason for someone like him to work for ANYONE, let alone for our kind." Ed then turned to Sally to ask her. "What do you think, Sal-?" He only stared as he saw her hands tremble at the sketch before her. "Sally?" Ed approached her. "Are you okay?"

Sally suddenly brought her hands to her face as she desperately tried to keep the tears from falling. Ed cautiously picked up the sketch, the one of the knight. "That's my father." Sally whispered. "He's fighting with Warlord Kodos."

Sally quickly explained what went down in the Zone of Silence when they went after her father. "And now, here we are." Sally said.

Winry quickly embraced her. "I lost both my parents too." Winry whispered, desperately trying to comfort her.

Ed sighed as he looked at the sketch. "I may have to fight Sally's father now. Just what is going on?" Ed tried weighing his options; none of them sounded good…

Later that night, after a rather dramatic day, everyone went back to bed. Even Sonic with his pent up energy was snoring on the sofa bed. Al, unable to sleep, would often go on walks around the city at this time; he could take care of himself in most situations. However, Ed remained awake at his desk, staring at the box that contained the desorganizero. "This could hold the key to restoring Al. I can't give it up…but if I don't return it, everyone will be in danger." Ed closed his eyes as an idea came to him. It was risky though. He couldn't be sure if this would work; Snively said the apartment was bugged. At face value, he took that as meaning that the apartment was being recorded, but after seeing the technology they were capable of, he had to assume they could see him too. Making sure he kept his person close to the box, he quietly transmuted his arm. Usually, he would form a blade on the top of his wrist. But this was the first time he made a small bit drill…

As Sonic and co had breakfast inside Ed's apartment, Winry looked at her cereal uneasily. "What's wrong, Winry?" Al asked as he scrubbed the pans.

"I, I don't know." Winry said. "Was Ed acting a bit…funny to you?"

Al looked up at the ceiling slightly. "His mind did seem to be elsewhere yesterday."

"What do you think he's hiding?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic!" Sally chastised him.

"I'm not saying he's doing anything bad." Sonic clarified, holding ups his hands. "I just get the sense he was hiding something."

"Like what?" Tails asked.

"Heck if I know, little buddy." Sonic answered honestly.

"It is probably best you don't know…hedgehog." Robotnik sneered as he observed the small screen hidden in his wooden desk. It felt great to have the Freedom Fighters right under his thumb where he could see them. True, he had surveillance cameras all over the Great Forest, but he never could pinpoint the exact location of Knothole to launch an ambush. Not even most of the mobians he successfully roboticized seemed to know it's location. Not to mention the time that Sonic lost his memory and led him down a fake tunnel…. "Best not to think about past humiliations right now." Now that he knew where the Freedom Fighters were, he could truly feel at ease. It would be simple to capture them all right now, but not yet. To deal with the crisis up North, he needed them alive…

"Sir." Snively said over the intercom. "Your…9'o clock is here."

Robotnik took a hand-held remote, switching to another camera within Central Command's entrance. Indeed, Ed had entered the building, and he was carrying a familiar case with him. "Ah, yes. Send him in." Robotnik ordered.

Ed nervously walked down the hall, his heart racing. He had never been in this situation before, having family and friends taken as hostages without their knowledge, and if he made a single misstep, it would be over for all of them. He then thought back to the ore he was delivering; what if they noticed the mass was different? Following Snively down the hall, the dwarf knocked on the door. "Sir?"

"Enter." Snively opened the door, Ed following in after him. It was a surreal experience, seeing a man who was a tyrant on another planet seated at a desk in his home world as if he belonged. "Ah, Mr. Elric. Please, do come in." he sneered, beckoning him to come closer. Ed cautiously approached him. "Before we begin in earnest, I trust you have brought that which you have taken from me."

Ed growled, and chucked the case onto his desk. Ignoring his childish behavior, Robotnik took hold of the case as he shook it a little. "Hm. It feels about as heavy as it should be. Still, just to be sure…" Robotnik pressed a button on his desk, and what seemed to be a glass case opened up from a trap door within the desk. Ed took note that Robotnik had extensively worked on this office and made it to his own liking; who knows what else he did to Central Command? Robotnik then opened the case and quickly emptied the contents before sealing it again. The rock continued to change color, though neither Ed nor Robotnik felt any effects from its strange radiation. Robotnik then looked at the weight on a computer display in front of him. "Ah. Seems about right." It seemed to have a gram missing, but considering all the travel they went though, it was expected to miss a small amount of mass. In his book, he more or less got everything back. "Thank you, Fullmetal." Robotnik said as the desk swallowed the desorganizero inside.

"I don't suppose this means my brother and friends are no longer hostages?" Ed said.

Robotnik chuckled. "Afraid not." He said, twiddling his fingers. "But I am not going to harm them. Not now, at least. Still, I didn't take them hostage just for the desorganizero. As you are aware, your military is going to war up North."

"And I take it you're familiar with those mobians starting it?"

"Yes. I had your conversation from the apartment recorded, so you already know some of what's happening. Please allow me to connect the rest of the dots for you." Robotnik opened up his roboticized hand, revealing a hologram of the lion with the axe. "This…is Warlord Kodos. My mentor, of sorts."

"You betrayed him." Ed accused him.

"I prefer to think of it as taking his lessons to heart." Robotnik chuckled. "He planned on betraying the King. I just betrayed him first and finished what he intended to start." Robotnik then frowned. "But he doesn't concern me. Kodos was a fearsome warrior, but that's it. It would just take one of your own soldiers to get lucky with your firearms to take him out. It is this creature that worries me." He then showed a hologram of the chimera-like creature. "This, is Ixis Naugus."

"Just who is he?" Ed asked.

Robotnik frowned. "His exact origins are unknown. Years ago, he simply appeared before King Fredrick's court, Maximillian's father I may add, and 'asked' to be put into service. However, the mobians had a huge leap in technology in the following years, and soon they found little use for his sorcery." "Or at least that which he was willing to share." He silently thought. "From what Kodos told me, they manipulated the Great War into happening. Sensing Kodos about to betray him, he exiled himself into a force of nature known as the Zone of Silence."

"You mean the place where you banished the King to!" Ed nearly shouted.

"Eventually." Robotnik did not deny. "Anyway, supposedly he put himself in the zone because it increased his magical powers. Still, at the time, Kodos succeeded in locking the gateway."

"Now he's back. Or rather, since this is my world, he has arrived." Ed concluded

"Yes, I would say so."

"Then why is this Naugus freak causing trouble here? All to get to you?"

"Unlikely. Naugus and I have never met." Robotnik clarified. "I personally have nightmares thinking of what he would do to me." "If I were to guess, I think after years in the vast nothingness, he's seeking to conquer what's in front of him. Pretty simple really."

"So, why exactly do you need me around?"

"Naugus' powers are incredible; not even I fully understand them." Robotnik answered honestly. "I could develop anti-mystic weapons, and with Enerjak under my control, I believe I have evened the playing field. But I can't afford to take any chances. So, you see, we need each other." Ed reluctantly nodded. "As long as you cooperate, your companions will be safe."

"No robotization?"

"No robotization." Robotnik answered. "Of course, when it's all over, I can't make any guarantees."

Ed was silent, keeping his scowl up. "Just one more question."

"Just one?"

"Did you know Sally's father was with them?"

"I did not." Robotnik chuckled, clearly unrepentant for his actions back then. "In fact, after all these years, I would have expected him to starve to death in the void. When I overheard the conversation you had, I was genuinely surprised to learn he was alive after all this time. Of course, if he's working for Naugus, it makes sense how he survived."

"Shit." Ed growled. Ed had a feeling Robotnik would use this fact against them.

Robotnik twiddled his fingers. "Anyhow, that will be all, Mr. Elric. Please do not inform your friends of this meeting; I will be forced to take drastic action otherwise." Ed nodded, and stormed out.

"Can we really trust him, sir?" Snively asked.

"Of course not." Robotnik said as he filled out a paper by hand; too much work to his liking, but again, an act he had to keep up. "He actually reminds me a little of myself when I was younger."

"WHAT?"

"We better prepare for an eventual betrayal." He said without looking up.

Ed hurried down the hall. He couldn't trust Robotnik; he knew the moment he was of no use to him, he would take his brother, Winry and the Freedom Fighters out. He needed a plan to counterattack, now! Ed reached into his coat pocket to retrieve a small box, almost like a ring box. Inside was maybe 3 grams of the desorganizero. It was a huge risk, but it seemed Robotnik did not consider the discrepancy in mass significant. Ed wasn't sure if he could really use it, but it was better than nothing. "Now, where do I put it?" The apartment was a no-go. The research labs? No, Robotnik was probably using them and probably had them bugged to when he wasn't there. "Think. If I were Robotnik, I'd want to keep an eye on people where they could be the most dangerous. Where would I NOT think to look?"

Eventually, he came to only ONE conclusion: The men's room. Ed wasn't so sure about this; Robotnik probably had no issue with spying on people in their most embarrassing moments. On the other hand, there was no reasonable space in the bathroom to conduct research, and as far as he knew, he wasn't going to bring any of the mobians inside here. "Looks like my best bet." Ed quickly ran all the way down the hall to the farthest toilet at the end. Quietly, Ed clapped his hands and placed it on the wall. He made a quiet transmutation, creating a small hidden drawer within the marble wall and pulling it out. Making sure to put his person as close to the wall as possible, Ed placed the box inside, pushed the drawer back in, and refused it with the wall. Unless sudden construction would be occurring, it was unlikely anyone would find it by accident. "If there's a god out there, I'm praying no one, let alone Robotnik, will find this!" Ed flushed the toilet just in case he was being tailed, and proceeded to wash his hand to keep up appearances.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Winry." Al said.

"Al, they can't stay indoors all the time!" Winry protested, pointing to the open window. "They need to get out!"

"I must admit, I've been pretty good about not arguing this point." Sonic groaned as he leaned on the couch. "I'm surprised I've lasted this long without action, but if it means getting out, I'm all for this!" Sonic banged his fist on the armchair, then raised it. "Here here!"

"I want to take them out, but how are we going to pull it off?" Al asked. "We put them in cloaks before, and that only attracted more attention. Even if we got them clothes, people are going to tell there are walking and talking ANIMALS on the street!"

Sally then raised a hand. "I…I may have an idea." She said. Taking out Nicole, she brought up a hologram of a diamond-shaped object. "This is a holo-projector. We normally use these on missions to create holographic duplicates of ourselves. However, with some tinkering, we might be able to use it to disguise ourselves completely."

"Way past cool, Sal!" Sonic smiled.

"There's just one problem. Because of our limited resources, we could only make them work once per use." Sally explained.

"You don't know how to upgrade them?" Al asked.

"It's a possibility; we haven't tried." Sally said. "When we disguised ourselves, we usually used empty robotic shells; they were a lot easier to put together AND required less resources. But becoming one of you…that's going to take something A LOT more elaborate and the technology will be time-consuming."

"I can help you!" Winry proudly proclaimed as she flexed her arm. "Just tell me what you need, how it works, and you'll have them in no time!"

"I can go buy any supplies you may need!" Al pointed to himself, now enthusiastic about the idea. "Ed and I share his research account. Money shouldn't be a problem!"

"Come on, Aunt Sally!" Tails shook her in excitement. "We have to get out of here eventually!"

Sally nodded as she got to work, typing the commands into her computer. "Okay. Alphonse, here are the materials we'll need…"

Ed briskly walked down the street, the parliment still deciding what their first course of action would be. He hid his portion of the desorganizero, so that was one debacle taken care of. Now, he had to find a way to begin a counterattack when the time was right. His first thoughts were to go to those in the military: Hughes, Armstrong…even Mustang (but only as a last resort!) However, he then realized the big problem of how to explain they were essentially being invaded by aliens! Even if he could omit that part, there were several other problems to arise. Robotnik would have surely prepared alibies and counter arguments to any accusations. Besides, if he already got so high up in the military, it meant he had friends in high places. So, the military was out completely. "The only one I can trust is Al." Ed looked up, and saw the suit of armor walking down the street. His eyes lit up at the sight of him. "AL!"

Ed ran up to him, and Al turned his head upon hearing him. "Ed!"

Ed quickly remembered he might still be being watched. He had to play this carefully. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, pretending nothing was wrong.

"Something of a science project." Al answered. "Sally may have found a way to disguise her and the others, so we don't have to keep them cooped up indoors 24/7."

Ed looked surprised, but smiled to save face. "Oh, that's cool!" "Shit! Now I'm really hoping I'm wrong about being tailed!" If they could leave so easily, Robotnik may be forced to take desperate measures if he can't control where the hostages would be! "So…"

"I'm going to get some supplies for them." Al said as he checked the list. "Don't you have some meetings to go to?"

"You know that's not my thing." Ed replied. While he was affiliated with the military, Ed was never privy to the details with the military. As his recent mission to Liore proved, Mustang used him as an undercover agent to bury a problem before they had to step in. "Come on, let's go together." Ed patted his back as they continued down the street.

This is where I'll leave you for now, my readers! Part 2 will be on the way!