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Time's Scar	By : RotSeele Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 828 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Time's Scar
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Epilogue
- 10
- 11
- 12
Eleven
Edward was a bundle of nervous energy as the second day came to a slow close. Again, the man in black hadn't appeared, hadn't so much as sniffed at the bait. Of course the fifteen year old wondered if the man realized it was a trap and simply wouldn't come. Roy had the same worry though he didn't say anything. The Elrics, the Colonel, and the thirty or so soldiers would start to pack up soon to return to their rooms and get ready to trek out here again tomorrow and hope that tomorrow would be the day the bastard finally showed himself.
We should be so lucky, right? Ed surveyed the "laboratory", looking at the mannequins that were set up to look like living breathing people. Everything looked normal, but the killer hadn't shown up yet, not even to look. Maybe we weren't specific enough. But if we were too specific, he'd know right away it was a trap.
"Fullmetal,"
Ed looked down at Roy, who held up two brown bags. The Colonel gave a small smile. "Want to eat something?"
"Sure." Ed got up from his spot and tromped downstairs to join Roy as a small card table Alphonse had set up at some point. Alphonse was no where to be seen, but that wasn't unusual. The younger Elric drifted between the stairs leading to the roof and the lower floor. And he didn't need to eat, like Ed did, thought the elder Elric with a hint of shame. That was his fault, a mistake he was fighting to rectify.
They are quietly, not saying much of anything to each other. It was an early dinner, since it was by unspoken agreement that they be prepared for anything that might happen. It was better to make sure they'd be full before they had to fight, and that the food had time to digest before they got into the fight. Roy just watched Ed, as Ed watched the floor, wondering again of the circles looked real enough like translocation alchemy circles rather than the traps they were.
"Do you think this will really work?" Ed asked. It was the same ritual question he'd asked last night, and he'd probably ask it again tomorrow night if nothing happened.
So Roy answers with the ritual answer. "Of course it'll work, Fullmetal."
The boy seemed to accept it like he always did, but then he said, "I'm just worried. We're facing an alchemist who's able to use alchemy he's not even supposed to know. That means he's either a genius, or..." He let the sentence hang. Roy didn't want to fill in the 'or' part of the sentence himself.
Roy stared at the half-eaten sandwich in his hand. "Until we catch him, there's no telling what he knows. It could be that he saw your blood seal and was able to infer what kind of alchemy to use that way. Or, like you thought, he has a Philosopher's Stone. The best we can do his hope he shows up and we're strong enough to fight him."
"I'm not sure he really wants to fight."
Both Roy and Ed looked up at Alphonse. The younger Elric was standing behind them, staring at the alchemical circles he'd drawn earlier. When he realized the others were looking at him, he continued, "I want to try and see if he'll surrender peacefully. If he does, maybe we can help him."
"By doing what, exactly? Killing people?" Ed asked.
"No." Alphonse said, sounding shocked. "Not that. But we could find out why. He didn't seem to be like Scar. He didn't seem like he wanted to kill. He was doing it because he had to."
Roy sucked in a long, quiet breath and released it. "The only thing we can do is wait and-"
And that was when the lights shut off.
Edward released the power cables and shook his automail hand to disperse the last of the electricity. It hadn't been easy to figure out which cables led to the power surrounding the complex and which cables led to the inner building's power supply. He'd intentionally cut the inside power on purpose, hoping to lure most of the outside forces to the inner building. It worked, to an extent. Most of the guards on one side of the building went toward the front, seeking an answer as to why the power suddenly went out. It gave him a mostly clear field to vault over the fence and run up to the building's side. A quick glance confirmed there were no guards nearby, so he began to climb.
The idea that this was a trap was definitely in his mind, so he was moving slowly, cautiously, aware that there could be someone waiting on the roof for him. It probably would've been easier to use alchemy to create a tunnel right up under the building's floor, but that would take days of careful alchemy-use and constant monitoring. The ground here really wasn't suitable for tunnels, and even if he'd taken the time to make one, it was an all too possible possibility that someone would've discovered it.
He reached the roof and rolled over the edge. He tried to land as lightly as he could, unsure if there was anyone up here waiting and listening for the sounds of footsteps. There was no sound nearby, except for the voices below asking numerous questions and finally some genius suggesting they go check the power cables. Ed couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. Even if they managed to fix the cables, the only thing they'd succeed in doing would be to blow the other fuses, cutting off the rest of the lights and the emergency phones.
He looked around for a way in. He spotted the small door set into a small building that looked like it held a staircase, then spotted the small ashtray and half smoked cigarettes laying in it. Slowly, he approached the door, noting that it was propped open. Edward frowned, then crouched to touch the cigarettes. Mustang, you must think I'm stupid or something. Still, he smiled and rose. It looked like his younger self and younger brother weren't the only people he'd have to face in order to succeed in this mission. He didn't know what skills this world's Roy Mustang knew, but he knew he'd have to work hard in order to achieve anything.
He eased open the door, looking for any signs that it might've been tampered with to let anyone who was inside know he was coming. It was probably too late anyway, and they knew he was here. Still, Edward slipped inside and started down the staircase carefully. Only silence and gloom lay ahead of him.
He didn't dare try a light. That would only make him a target, since whoever was waiting for him would be able to see him before he saw them. Of course, he knew that there had to be a trap. Getting in had just been too easy. Edward took a deep breath and made sure his hood was pulled up enough to obscure his face before he moved from the stairs to the first landing.
If he hadn't known who he was up against, he probably never would've seen the alchemy circle drawn on the concrete landing. In just a second of seeing it, he knew the circle's purpose and what it was designed to do. He stepped around it, carefully watching where he put his feet just in case there was something else waiting for him. He kept low to keep out of anyone's line of sight, and reached another set of stairs. There, he was able to see down onto the floor. He saw shapes huddled together in the dimness and felt a flash of ice run through his veins. It was the same flash of ice that went through him every time he was about to take a life, like he was separating himself from what he was about to do.
He leaped the railing and as he fell from above, he clapped his hands together to focus the destruction alchemy on his left hand. The flesh took the damage better than metal, and he knew how to protect his flesh and bones from both being affected by his own alchemy, and the blowback that came from using the alchemy on a living person. He realized something was wrong before he'd even struck the first body he came to. His alchemy fizzled out with a red-lighted snap and he stood there, stunned. Then he started to laugh, quietly, to himself. He'd been tricked.
He dodged to the left, escaping the alchemical circle drawn on the ground seconds before the circle could completely activate and the concrete floor could become his cage. He spotted his younger self in the shadows, saw the look of irritation on the boy's face as he realized his prey had escaped him. Then Edward dodged a punch to his face that came from Alphonse. He caught the armor's wrist and spun, sending Alphonse skidding across the floor with a yelp. A snap sounded in the darkness, and Edward threw up a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden glare of firelight, and realized he had to move before the flames reached him. He fell into a roll that took him into the deeper shadows and there fought to control his breathing to keep from making too much noise.
"We know you're there." Came the deep voice that made his stomach twist and his chest tight. "There's no way out. Just surrender peacefully."
He heard movement and knew that his younger self was looking for something to transmute into a light source. If they turned the lights on, then they were all on an equal field. If they kept the lights off, Edward was sure he could incapacitate at least one of them. He focused on Alphonse, not because the boy was the least of them, but because his little brother was the one he'd do anything for. And if his younger self acted the same way he did, then targeting Alphonse was his only option. Edward hated himself for doing what he was about to do, but he had to get away. His own brother's life depended on it.
He found the armor silhouette in the inky darkness and rushed it. He heard Alphonse gasp as he saw Edward coming on and tried to back-pedal out of the way of the black-clad man as he rushed him. Alphonse saw - or thought he saw - the killer's hands come together just like his brother's would before he performed alchemy. Alphonse quickly tried to get out of the way, trying to put distance between him and those hands that had the power to destroy in the blink of an eye.
"Wait! Wait!" Alphonse cried. "I just want to talk to you!"
Edward hesitated, then slammed his hands down onto the floor, breaking the concrete down into its basest parts. It flung a cloud of dust into the air, obscuring their view, and Alphonse crashed to the ground. Edward stood over him, staring down at him, and then he looked to the side to see his younger self attacking with a spear fashioned from stone and turned into metal. He danced back, avoiding the spear tip as he sought a weapon of his own.
There was a loud snap, and suddenly flames surrounded him, licking at the material of his black coat. Cursing, Edward spun out of the flames as fast as he could, grabbing hold of the spear as it came for his side. He heard his younger self yelp as he was thrown forward into Roy, and Edward spun the spear expertly in one hand, all the while putting out the flames with the other.
There was the crackle of alchemy, and Edward looked over at Alphonse in time to see the boy's hands touching another alchemical circle. This time, Edward realized he wasn't going to escape. Not by normal means, anyway. He looked over where Roy and Ed stood watching, waiting for him to make a move. Edward lifted the spear and threw it as hard as he could, not aiming for anyone in particular. Roy still grabbed Ed and pulled him toward safety, and the spear tip crashed into the concrete, breaking the circle. That was when Alphonse rushed him, using his superior martial arts to his advantage. He might've beaten his brother, but Edward had had years to match Alphonse's skill in hand to hand combat. The nineteen year old easily caught Alphonse's first punch and retaliatory kick, and then he was assaulted by his younger self.
Gritting his teeth, Edward knew there was no other way to escape this than the obvious solution. Between fighting his other self and his other self's younger brother, and Roy Mustang waiting in the wings, preparing who knew what, it was his only real escape plan. It glared at him almost as much as the reality that he'd failed in his task. And the moment Olivier found out, he'd either kill Alphonse, or he'd capture Edward himself so he could make the elder Elric watch his brother die slowly and painfully.
Somehow he managed to put distance between the younger Elrics and tried to get the right permutation of the alchemy sequence he needed secure in his mind's eye. In the scant second it took for him to fix that formula, Edward found himself being assaulted by a new set of flames. They came so fast and so strong that he was forced to stop his alchemy and cover his face with his arms. He grunted in pain as the metal of his automail arm began to heat up and sear through the black cloth of his coat. He could feel the flames against his flesh as well, and that hurt slightly less than where metal touched his skin. He saw Roy - this world's Roy - standing just outside his reach, performing his alchemy in quick sequences of snapping fingers.
There was a loud clap and alchemical light flared behind him. He saw the shadows of rising concrete and knew he had only seconds to make a decision. No going back now, not if he wanted to survive and keep anyone from knowing who he was. He surprised Roy by launching himself into the flames, keeping his arms crossed in front of his face. It still hurt like a wicked bitch, but he wasn't going to be as severely hurt as he would've been trying to go around. Just before the concrete prison slammed shut, he crashed into Roy, disrupting the Colonel's alchemy and sending them both to the floor.
Edward was on his feet in an instant, running for the far wall. He heard two voices cursing behind him and the hollow pounding of armored feet. He brought his hands before him and clapped them together, then hit the wall full force and unleashed his alchemy at the same time.
The wall exploded outward. Edward flew through the opening, pummeled by debris of his own making. He could hear the shouts of the guards and stumbled upright, nearly dragging himself out of the pile of brick and mortar. Hot blood cascaded down one side of his face where a piece of jagged brick had struck. His black coat was torn in several places, but his hood seemed to be intact. The parts of the coat, and his clothes beneath, that had been charred by fire tore off as he extricated himself, and he spared a moment to look at himself. His automail leg was exposed slightly, a brief flash of metal each time he bent his knee. His right arm wasn't working at all.
Shit. Winry's gonna kill me.
Despite himself, Edward grinned at the automatic thought and then sobered. She wasn't here. He wasn't going to die from a wrench to the head today.
He gripped his right arm with his left to keep the limb from flopping everywhere uncontrollably as he ran. Behind him, he heard shouts from the soldiers, calling out to see if everyone was okay and still in one piece. Then he heard Roy's voice, deep and strong, yelling at the soldiers that everyone was fine, get out of the way, and then there was a loud snap and Edward felt the rush of heat at his back. He launched himself forward to avoid the heat, but the damage had already been done. His back screamed in agony as he forced himself up and tried to run.
He felt more than heard the pursuit and knew that it was Roy behind him. With his longer legs, he'd be able to catch up far faster than Ed, and Alphonse wouldn't leave his brother behind. So he ran, and as he crested the small hill that he hoped would take him out of Roy's line of sight, a hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed his flesh arm.
Edward gasped as he was jerked around and inhaled even more sharply as he saw the face of the person who had grabbed him. Roy Mustang's single eye glittered darkly at him from under a silly bolero cap. Then he swung Edward behind him hard enough to make the young man gasp in fresh pain and Mustang turned to regard Edward's pursuit.
There were twin snaps, almost at the same time, and as the heat of twin fires washed around him, Edward could do nothing more than give in to the pain coursing through his body and pass out.
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Time's Scar