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It hasn’t been long since my first battle with a homunculus. More specifically, my homunculus, my sin. I still question on why he attacks so ruthlessly. Sean…what’s gotten into you? Do you not remember how close we were? We did everything for each other, we played games and sparred with sticks. You taught me my swordplay, why are you trying to kill me?

“No…it’s not him, it only looks like him.” I said to myself with my fists buried into my mouth.

“What did you say?” I looked up to see Teresa lying on the couch and looking at me. I shook my head, letting her know it was nothing. I couldn’t repair her leg, but I did make it into a solid piece. It was awkward, but she managed to move quite well still. I was still set on getting her leg repaired, so we were going to the Gate to Kingdom Hearts in a little while. We packed a few things, Teresa grabbing clothing and oils for her automail, while I grabbed some clothes, alchemy books, and research notes. For more than a month I had been recording everything I remembered about the homunculus and the day I tried to bring Sean back. The more I knew about how and when he was created, the easier it would be to find out how to destroy him. We jumped on the Fenrir and headed off towards the gate.

“So what is this gate all about?” Teresa asked as we road down a path in the forest.

“It’s leads to different worlds. As a keyblader, I have a responsibility to fight Heartless. Which also means I have to take out the ones in other worlds, all the while fixing up the loose ends that exist in said worlds.”

“Wow…and how do you manage to keep up with this world?”

I bowed my head. “You saw what happened…obviously I don’t keep up with this world at all.” After all, one of my closest friends was missing her leg because I couldn’t protect her. In a few moments we pulled up to the gate. I parked the bike and held my arm forward, my keyblade appearing in my hand. With a quick spin and wave of my arm, a light shot from the blade and changed the color of the gate to dark gray. Teresa was awestruck.

“That’s incredible!”

“I’ve never brought someone through with me before. Grab on tight and no matter what, do not let go of me.” I said sternly as my keyblade disappeared. She nodded and climbed onto me so I was giving her a piggyback ride. I took a running stance, and then bolted towards the gate before leaping into the center of it. The light swirled around and soon I felt air rushing past us. There was a bright flash and I saw the ground below, the same field I had landed in before. Teresa was hanging on extremely tightly still, and as the ground approached, I readied myself for a rough landing. Then an idea came to me, so I grabbed Teresa and swung her around in front of me before turning my back to the ground.

“Are you crazy!? You’re going to get killed!” she shouted.

“Nope, I have a plan.” I said clapping my hands together. I swung around as I touched my coat, the bottom binding to my pants. My sleeves extended and I had my own parachute. Teresa swung around onto my back, and right as the ground came up I ripped my hands out of the sleeves and did a hand plant on the ground, leaping forward and getting wrapped up in the parachute.

“Ugh, sorry about the landing,” I said as I struggled to get undone, “at least it helped cushion the b-” I turned my head to look Teresa right in the eyes, our faces almost right up against each other. We turned red and exploded into a frenzy of trying to get out of the coat we were in. There was a clap and my coat turned back into its original form in and automail hand. Ed was laughing at me as Al stood next to him with a smile.

“Maybe I should have left you like that, it looked like you two were having fun.” he said laughing. I grabbed my coat before shaking his hand, our automail clinking as we smashed them together. “Good to see you again Mike.”

“You too Ed, Alphonse.”

“Glad to have you back!” Al said smiling.

“So who’s your friend?” Ed said as he looked at Teresa.

“Oh, this is Teresa, a good friend of mine. Teresa, this is Edward and Alphonse Elric, two very skilled alchemists.” Teresa walked up to them and smiled as she shook their hands.

“So Mike, what did you come here for?” Ed asked as we started to walk towards the Rockbell house.

“I need to discuss a few things with you. I brought my alch-” I suddenly realized our stuff was gone, “Where did all our stuff go?” Suddenly my suitcase smashed into the ground near us, causing Ed to shout and Teresa to scream. The suitcase exploded, sending books and clothes everywhere as it shattered. Teresa’s bag landed too, but it was all in one piece.

“Next time you should attach balloons to it so it doesn’t scare the hell outta me!” Ed shouted as Al helped pick up my books. I gathered the rest of my belongings while Ed transmuted my suitcase into a whole again. We continued towards the Rockbell home, laughing about my exploding suitcase.

“We’re back!” Ed called as he entered the Rockbell home.

“Auntie, Winry, we brought some friends!” Al said as he helped Teresa with her things. Mrs. Pinako walked out from another room and smiled.

“Good to see you again Mike.” she said as I heard a rustling sound upstairs. There was a large bang that took Ed, Al, Teresa, and myself off guard. We thought some mad beast was coming for us. Winry suddenly burst out of her room and leapt down all the stairs. She had a bandana on her head and a black strapless braw, while her light purple jumpsuit had the top half wrapped around her waist in a knot. She came up to me with a large wrench and several screwdrivers.

“Good to see you again Mike!” she said with a hug. Suddenly she had backed up and had stretched my arm out. “How’s it working? Any damage? Is it broken!? Did you break it! It’s not broken? Do you not like my work!?” she kept twisting my arm as she inspected it.

“Would you slow down for a second Winry!” Ed shouted as he ripped my arm out of her hands, “He just got here and you’re already going all crazy on him!” The started to argue.

“Um actually,” I said, getting both their attentions, “I’m here for my friend Teresa.” Winry diverted her attention and laughed.

“Sorry, I get that way over automail.” she gave Teresa a hug and they both laughed and smiled. “So why are you two here?”

“Well, you see…Teresa has an automail leg and-” I didn’t have to say another word because Winry had already rolled up Teresa’s pant leg and was inspecting the automail.

“This is automail!? It doesn’t even work!” she said, trying to bend the knee.

“That’s why we’re here, we need you to fix it.”

“Sure thing! Where is your attachment?” she said, rolling Teresa’s pant leg higher.

“Not in front of everyone!” Teresa screamed in a panic as she pulled her pant leg down. We laughed before Winry took her upstairs to get to work. I envied Edward and Alphonse. They had such a wonderful family.

“So Mike, you never answered my question as to what you’re doing here.” Ed said cheerfully. I didn’t want Miss Pinako overhearing what I needed to talk to them about.

“Er, how about we go for a stroll. I’m not used to such a beautiful countryside.”

“Sure, let’s go.” Al said smiling. We walked out of the house and got a good distance away from the Rockbell house.

“So you must have found it, huh.” Edward said, his voice just slightly cold. He knew that I had encountered the homunculus.

“Yeah…” I said quietly. All of our faces were filled with both sadness and seriousness.

“You destroyed it, right?” Ed said, the tone in his voice telling me I should have.

“No, it was almost the opposite.” We all stopped walking and looked at each other. “He was so powerful, I couldn’t lay a scratch on him. My best skills, my alchemy, even my DarkFire alchemy, all useless to him. He knows my every move and can defend against all my powers. I…I can’t beat him.”

“So what are you going to do then?” Alphonse asked. Ed knew from the look in my eyes and frowned.

“He wants me dead by his hands…maybe if I give him that he’ll leave my friends alone.” Ed took a step closer before backhanding me with his automail.

“Brother!” Alphonse cried when Ed picked me up by my collar.

“You idiot,” Ed said sternly as sweat formed on his brow, “do you have any idea what it would be like for them.” I thought about the Nagakuras, Cassie, Teresa, all of my friends watching me get diced to pieces in front of them. It shook my soul how sad they looked.

“I have no other choice.” I said weakly, my hair covering my eyes as tears began to form. Ed shook me.

“Listen to me, it’s not impossible, you need to think rationally.” I looked into his eyes. He was both angry and scared. “I watch a homunculus kill my father, I won’t have one kill my friend, you hear me.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

I grabbed his hands as he set me down. “Well then, oh great and mighty Elric brothers, I hope neither of you would mind if you trained me so I could beat this bothersome sin back to the hell he belongs to?” Ed grinned widely while Al gave a determined nod. Ed brought his right arm back as I did, and we slapped our hands together. I was going to be trained by the legendary Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Two months. I trained with Ed for two months. The first thing he had me do was answer the meaning to what ‘All is one, one is all’ meant. Being an alchemist, I had a good guess to what it was and got it right. The next thing was that in order to train the mind, I had to train my body. Ed and I sparred daily, no alchemy, just our fists. Well, sometimes it was Ed and I against Winry, because the clanging of our automail made her chase us while flinging wrenches. Still, I could feel myself getting more powerful, and through the moves I was learning from Ed, I improved my own fighting technique.

In the meantime, Teresa was training with Al. They were doing the same thing, but Al was teaching her alchemy. Teresa’s new leg was amazing. It was fast and powerful, and there was a hidden blade in the shin that came out from her knee. Winry said she got the idea to install weapons after traveling to a place called Rush Valley. Soon I noticed Teresa transmuting art from the ground. She was getting good at alchemy. I would train her a few days every other week, and I could tell that her skills were close to my own. I was proud of my student.

After a long day of sparring and cramming alchemic notes, we would head back from the fields or caves to the Rockbell home. At home, I’d order a pizza or something for everyone. Now there was a hot meal and a welcoming smile whenever I came back. It made me feel like I had a family again. Then I started to think: back in Gaia, I already had a family. Calista and the Nagakuras were as close as sisters. Cassie and Teresa were just as close. Even Jennifer, my alchemy teacher who sometimes…usually beat me silly was that close. I had a family I had to protect, and that was more of a reason to fight than any other in the world. Even the Elrics, Twilight Town, and all of the people back in Feudal Japan that I knew meant a lot to me. I had a lot of reasons to fight now. There was no doubt that the next time I met that creature, I’d destroy it.

“So boys, how’s the training going?” Miss Pinako asked.

“Yeah, you four have been going at it for nearly three months now!” Winry said, sounding a little shocked herself.

“It’s good…Mike…great…skilled.” Edward mumbled through a mouthful of bread.

“I think that’s a compliment.” Al gently laughed, causing Edward to nod up and down vigorously. We all laughed.

“Teresa is doing really good too.” Al said as he cut some meat on his plate, “She’s a natural when it comes to elements like the air and soil.”

“It’s nothing too special,” she said, “I’m no where near as skilled as Mike.”

“Don’t be so sure.” I said giving her an impressed look, “Your style and skills have improved a lot! Alphonse is a really good teacher at these sort of things.” Al laughed.

“I’m nowhere as skilled as brother though.” Ed smiled widely as he place another huge lump of food in his mouth.

Winry saw his smile and decided his ego had grown too big for him to handle. “Well I’m sure he’s only a little-”

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ‘LITTLE’!?!? I’M TEN TIMES BETTER THA-urk!” His face changed from sheer rage into sudden surprise and fear. We laughed at him, thinking he could dislodge the food in his throat when suddenly he doubled over. After Al’s attempt at the Heimlich maneuver and my pounding on his back with my automail, Winry finally slammed the blunt side of her wrench on him, sending the piece of food flying up onto the ceiling. As the color began to return to his relieved face, Al muttered “You should chew your food better brother.” I laughed a little.

That night as I tried to sleep on the couch, I opened up an alchemy book that was next to me. I had read it a dozen or so times, but I needed more information, something I had skimmed over that was crucial to helping me. The dim light that reflected off the floor let me read it. Then I heard two different footsteps approaching me.

“Can’t sleep, huh.” It was Edward.

“No…for all I know that thing could rip up my friends and myself whenever it pleases.” I said, not loosing my place in my book.

“Well…I think you might be strong enough to take it on now.” He said as he pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards. I jumped up and closed the book.

“You think so?”

“Sure…you’ve beaten me twice already, and I never beat my teacher and still beat up all the homunculi that were created.”

“Alright, tell me everything I need to know.”

We talked for a solid hour, the moonlight being the only thing we had to see each other with. The whole room was eerily light as Edward filled me in on every detail of the homunculi. Apparently, they were created when someone tries human transmutation. Apparently the homunculi has a body and mind, but the soul comes from somewhere else. Edward said it might have been from the Gate of Truth itself, but I have no knowledge to tell of it. They cannot use alchemy, but can manipulate their own bodies in a variety of ways. I recalled him telling me about one that could eat anything, one that was invincible, and one that could change shapes. Every homunculi’s weakness was the remains of who they were in their previous life. There was also a transmutation circle used to trap a homunculi and keep it in one spot. All this knowledge made my head spin a little bit, but I kept it all in. I needed it to destroy Sean.

The next morning after Ed and I sparred I broke the news to everyone.

“Whaaaa!? You’re leaving already!?” Winry shouted at the breakfast table.

“Yeah, we’ve caused enough of a ruckus around here. It’s time to get back to our own world.” I said with a smile.

“Yeah, you all have done too much for me, there’s no way I can ever repay you.” Teresa said as she patted her automail.

“That’s ridiculous you can’t leave now we were just starting to get to know each other so well and I still want to make better automail for you-” Winry stammered on for a few minutes while Ed spoke.

“So what are you going to do when you get back?” He said as he sipped some coffee.

“Take care of some unfinished business.” I said, my words holding a deeper meaning that to anyone else at the table. After a moment Winry spun while whining.

“Ed, do something! Make them stay longer!”

“No way!”

“You’re so immature!”

“Ow! What was that for!?”

“Brother, I think you should stop talking.”

“You want some too Al!?”

“N-no ma’am!”

“Alright, settle down everyone. You boys help clean up the table, Winry and I will fix you two a little going away gift.”

After packing all our things up Teresa and I walked out to the field we landed in when we first arrived. Everybody followed us and as I stood there and looked up at the gate before us. I opened it with my keyblade and turned back to face everyone.

“Ed, Al. You taught me so much about alchemy and techniques in both fighting and transmuting. Winry, I know all about my automail and how it works now. And Miss Pinako-”

“Please please,” she said removing her pipe, “you can call me ‘auntie’ now.”

I laughed. “Sure thing Auntie Pinako. Thank you for letting me stay with you, even though I have nothing to offer.”

“And thanks for teaching me more about alchemy Ed and Al.” Teresa said. “Winry, I owe you for making me a new automail leg that works so great.” Winry formed a huge grin just like Ed and Al had.

“You two better get going before their heads swell up too much.” Auntie Pinako said. We laughed. I had Teresa jump on my back after she gave everyone a hug. I had hugged Winry and shook hands with Alphonse when I stepped up to Edward. We grinned wildly at each other before slapping our hands into each others, sending a few sparks in the air. We pounded our fists together and then ended by slamming our forearms into each others, wrapping them around the other’s. We smiled, our automail gleaming in the fading sunlight.

“See ya later Edward.” I said still smiling.

“Good luck Mike, or should I say Mr. DarkFire Alchemist?” We smiled at each other even more. We were good friends now.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING TO MY AUTOMAIL!!!” Winry shouted as she brandished a wrench.

“Gottagobye!” I shouted as I dove into the gate waving goodbye. Ed took off to go through the gate with me for safety, but bounced off and went flying a few dozen yards. I reached the other side of the gate, right by where I had parked Fenrir. We jumped on and went back home. Teresa went to sleep after a little while of watching T.V. I had made myself comfortable in my room, reading the notes I had taken with Ed and practicing some techniques on a dummy I made of alchemy outside. I would be ready when Sean showed his face again. And this time, he wouldn’t leave the battle.