Chapter 1: Revenge of the Chronicle Alchemist.
The day seemed as ordinary as ever for the Colonel, who sat at the desk and checked over his mounds of paperwork. The one consequence of peacetime was the desk work, but it meant that there was no war or conflict. So in the end, he would trade paper work over bullets anytime.
Suddenly, the door to his office burst open and one of his subordinates, 1st Lt. Riza Hawkeye, ran to his desk.
“Sir, I have alarming news!”
Roy looked up at her, his face now as serious as her tone. “What is it?”
She handed him a report that was written in a journal with old and worn parchment paper. Roy curiously took it and read over it. His eyes grew wide as he finished.
“Sir?” questioned Riza.
“Bring me the Elric brothers here, now!” he yelled, almost jumping out of his desk.
“Yes sir!” Riza said saluting him quickly.
She rushed out of the office wondering what was so serious. Being under-ranked, she couldn’t so much as glance at any report she handed to him. However, when the officer handed her the paper to give to Col. Mustang, he looked as nerved as the Colonel did.
Nevertheless, she rushed into the phone office and readied to call the two people that she knew could figure out whatever this mystery report had said.
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The sound of footsteps echoed in the halls of Central Command. Ed walked slouching, his hands buried in his pockets. His brother, Al, walked next to him. Ed wasn’t too happy that he got called to do this assignment. He was enjoying some relaxing free time when they were ordered to come back to Central.
Riza escorted the boys to the office, even though both knew already were it was. Ed kicked open the door and stomped into Roy’s office.
“Ever hear of knocking Fullmetal?” said Roy, not looking up from a report in his hands.
“Shut up!” yelled Ed. “You’re the b*****d that wanted me here so why should I knock?”
Roy sighed and turned his chair to face him. “Well since you are here, I might as well get down to business.”
Ed sat in a nearby chair and Al chose to stand by the door with Riza. Roy stood with the report from before in his hand.
“Earlier today, I received a disturbing report. A former state alchemist, Scott Hanson, was planning to cause a major catastrophe for the state military; revenge for dishonorably discharging him twelve years ago.”
“So you want me to find this guy before he does any real damage to the state, right?” asked Ed.
“Exactly. However, I must warn you Ed, this won’t be an easy task. When he was with the state, he was known as the Chronicle Alchemist.” Roy opened a drawer on his desk, pulled out some photos, and handed them to Ed.
“He was a Lieutenant in the State Military and experimented with time control methods using alchemy. One day, he made a mistake that nearly took out Central headquarters so he was dishonorably discharged. No one heard from him since. Until today that is…”
Ed looked over the photos. The man in question appeared to be in his late 20s and had wavy brown hair and a short goatee. He wore wide brimmed glasses and a white lab coat over his military uniform.
“So why ask Al to come along,” questioned Ed, “Wouldn’t it put him in danger to have him on this mission?”
“Because Ed,” said Roy coolly, “I know that without him you would be pretty helpless at certain times…”
“Who’re you calling helpless you b*****d?!” yelled Ed nearly jumping on Roy’s desk.
Al ran over and held his brother back. “Brother, please, calm down.”
Ed simmered down and sat down again. “Fine, I’ll take the stupid mission.”
“Good, Lt. Hawkeye here will take you to a waiting car where Lt. Havoc will take over,” said Roy sitting back down at his desk.
Ed stood and him and al followed Riza out of Roy’s office. As they left, Roy read over the report in his hand again.
---Message Date: July 19---
Former Chronicle Alchemist Scott Hanson was spotted near central today. He left this message behind, causing striking urgency. I have ordered these findings to be shipped directly to you Roy. I just hope it reaches in time.
-Hughes
“I have come to right what has been wrongfully done to me. In 24 hours, I will erase the enrollment and records of all state Alchemists, starting with the coward who discharged me. These state dogs who wrongfully threw me from their military, they shall pay for that they’ve done. Cower in fear of the great chronicle alchemist, master of time!”
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Roy put the report down and sighed. He only hoped that Ed and Al would reach him in time and stop this plan from happening…
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Ed and Al slowly walked up to the remains of an abandoned factory.
“Jeez, why do bad guys always pick the dreariest places to hide?” complained Ed as he walked up the steep hill.
Al waved goodbye to Havoc who drove off back to Central. His orders were to take the Elric brothers straight to the factory and then return back. If in 2 hours they had not returned for his pickup, he was to call in for plan B.
Ed sneaked up to the sidewall of the building and crawled under the ledge of a cracked window. He peaked inside hoping to see anything and saw something indeed.
A large factory furnace had been converted into some sort of machine that Ed couldn’t identify. It was covered in pipes and vents and on the front was a large transmutation circle. Walking around the machine was a ragged man wearing a worn military uniform and cracked wide brimmed glasses. His hair was long and ruffled and he had a long goatee.
“Soon,” Ed and AL heard him say, “Soon my revenge will be set. And I will finally get those bastards back for getting rid of me. I’ll start with the one who discharged me first, the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang!”
Ed was taken back but with he said and thought for a second. “Hey Al.”
“Yes brother?”
“Maybe we shouldn’t stop him.” Ed said with a sly grin. “I mean, he seems to hate that cocky b*****d as much as I do.”
Al gasped. “Ed! We can’t do that! He’s targeting all state alchemists, not just Col. Mustang!”
“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll stop him,” sighed Ed.
“Exactly how do you plan to stop me then?” came a voice from the window.
Both looked up and saw the mad man standing there, a pistol in his hand pointed right at Ed.
“Damnit!” Ed yelled jumping back. The man fired a shot but it ricocheted off Ed’s automail arm.
He steadied himself and slapped his hands together then slammed them to the ground. Dazzling blue lights shot towards the wall and it changed shape, creating a large, brick hammer that nearly fell on the deranged alchemist.
‘No transmutation circle?’ thought Scott as he stumbled backwards, ‘But how?’
Ed ran crashed through the window and stood a short distance from the other alchemist.
“Alright Chronicle Alchemist, I’m here to turn you in.”
“And who are you?” said Scott. “Are you one of the military’s dogs, sent to fetch me?”
“Shut it!” yelled Ed, “I’m Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and no one orders me around!”
“The Fullmetal Alchemist eh?” replied Scott sounding unnerved. “I thought you might be taller, not some pipsqueak…”
“Who’re you calling a pipsqueak mouse so short you couldn’t see him with a magnifying glass?!?!”
Scott laughed wickedly. “My, my, what a temper you have. Well let me introduce myself. I am Scott Hanson, the all powerful Chronicle Alchemist!”
“All powerful eh?” said Ed, “You don’t look so tough to me…”
The Chronicle Alchemist laughed and took some steps back towards his machine. “Looks can be deceiving Fullmetal alchemist.”
He grabbed a lever on the side of the machine and grinned wickedly. “Now, you and all alchemists will pay!”
He threw down the lever and the machine whirred to life. Lights flashed on and off and steam poured out the vents. The transmutation circle on the front of the machine started glowing and the ground shook slightly. Suddenly, a loud bang came from somewhere in the machine and was followed by a loud boom.
The lights died down and smoke began coming out of the vents. The transmutation circle also stopped glowing.
Scott looked at his machine with worried eyes “…… uh-oh….”
He flipped the lever up and down, up and down and nothing happened. Then from the corner of his eye, he saw Ed transmute his right arm into a blade.
“Well so much for your invention,” he said with an angry look, “Now you’re gonna pay for that short remark!”
He charged at the Chronicle Alchemist and leaped into the air. Scott flinched and ducked down. Ed, who had jumped just a little too high, was about to come down on him when a pipe smacked across his head.
He ended up falling into a side compartment of the machine and his blade cut some of the wires.
The machine then sprung back to life. The lights glowed, the steam billowed, and the transmutation circle glowed bright.
“No! Get out of my machine!” yelled the Chronicle Alchemist, but was blocked by a wall of hot steam.
“Brother!” yelled Al who could only watch as the transmutation circle threw violet colored sparks around the machine.
Ed rubbed his head and tried to open his eyes only to be blinded by a bright light. He then felt dizzy and collapsed onto the ground.
He felt like he was almost… floating. But how? His mind went into a daze and he soon lost consciousness, feeling as though a soft, summer breeze was hitting his body…
-To be continued…-
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