Chapter Text
“Then let’s get out of here. It’s going to rain soon.”
Mustang looks at him with… Surprise? Consideration? Something. “How do you figure?”
Ed snorts, then steps deliberately hard, so the metal of his automail leg comes down with enough force to produce a distinctive ‘clank', and raises an eyebrow. “It’s going to rain,” he says again.
=0=
The State Alchemist Certification Exam is actually even easier than he remembers. Because –he hadn’t known or remembered to account for it at the time last time, but— all he has to do is wait. Wait for something to go wrong, and just react to it the way he always does.
And it will. Did. It’s so ubiquitous that he’s come to rely on it as a matter of course: when Edward Elric gets involved, something always goes wrong somewhere along the way.
At least he’s consistent. And self-aware.
It’s not the same disaster as last time, because he’s even more stupidly young now yeah, no, brilliant idea to join the military, Ed. Genius move, really .
+
There’s really no limit to his options on what he can do. There’s a whole entire asterisk on what he should do, because military.
But also: military. Ed's aware enough to know what they’re really looking for is pure destructive potential. He could always pull a Kimbley, he supposes. He doesn’t like the man’s alchemy –fucking obviously— but he knows how . Bombs are actually easy and Kimbley was 700% overkill.
Weapons wouldn’t be difficult, either. Stone naturally has plenty of inclusions even on the micro level. There should be enough iron in this room for him to work with, and the entire world is carbon-based: steel is basically a forgone conclusion for him.
If he just wants to go for sheer overkill of his own, Ed can even pull off the same little trick he once used to ‘free' Liore. There are no armors or carvings here, so he’d have to make his own big-ass statue first before animating it, but it’s not like that’s a challenge, either.
Decisions, decisions…
+
There’s intent in his strike – killing intent, what other kind could there be when staring down a monster?—that he doesn’t – quite— follow through on.
Because murdering the Fürer in cold blood in the middle of a military installation when he still has so much more to do and people to take care of seems like a singularly bad idea. Even above and beyond Ed's usual record for singularly bad ideas.
He really should stop that.
Eh, he’ll get around to it at some point, he’s sure.
Probably.
Maybe.
=0=
The heavy official-weight paper crinkles in his hand as he laughs, incredulous.
Edward is, reluctantly and under extreme protest, actually beginning to get used to the most ironic and annoying aspects of his previous life following him into this one.
We present Edward Elric with the title of Heavystep Alchemist.