Chapter 2! Now, I had a nice review that got me thinking about the alchemy and magic and how they might mix. I figured, since Greed is the Ultimate shield, Edward could copy that factor into some interesting shield magic.

On with the story.

"You're in deep shit, you know that, right?" laughed Greed inside Edward's head. he scowled.

"You think I don't know that?" he retorted, hauling the cart behind him. Ahead was Erza, the massive gold encrusted horn on her shoulder like it was a paperweight.

"But I mean really, deep shit indeed." Edward scowled. Of course he knew he was in deep shit.

Well, not quite in deep shit, but he was in a bit of a situation. When Erza had reminded him of his clothing predicament, he had stated he had no other clothing. Instead of replying, she had reached behind her into one of the suitcases, grabbing a large wad of paperback bills. She had given him one hour to grab new clothes from the town. After that, he was going to have to catch up.

He had bought, on Greed's advice, black hiking shoes and black pants made of some kind of cloth. When he tried to buy a red coat like the one he used in Amestris, Greed had stated that with his powers of the ultimate shield, he would blow through money faster than Father could destroy buildings when mad. So, he bought a black vest with crimson trim. Greed had left the helpful advice of just transforming his torso to the shield form. It worked just as well to repel the elements, and lost none of the body heat. What he did buy was a leather strap for his hair, to keep it out of his eyes. When he got back, she had informed him he was now in her debt to that amount of money.

He could start by pulling the cart.

It wasn't that the cart was heavy, but the rope was short, so his ankles kept banging against the front of the cart as he walked uphill. Going down he had to let it down slowly from behind. And across flat roads, he had to watch to make sure nothing fell off, despite the webbed rope.

"At least the train is an hour away!" cheered Greed. Edward inwardly smacked Greed with an oar. All he got was a whining sin and a slight headache.

LINE BREAK

It wasn't for several hours later that Edward found himself in Magnolia, the home of the Fairy Tail guild. Edward was still stuck pulling the cart, but he was noticing something particularly... disturbing. Where Erza walked, the crowd parted, slightly fearful looks on their faces. Greed recognized it. It was a mixture of fear, respect and awe.

"Holy crap! They're scared of her! I never saw that coming!" Edward had to agree with Greed on that observation. The people around them seemed to know her and keep clear. He was ticked when they gave him a confused glance though.

"We're here," stated the red haired girl. Edward looked ahead, Greed looking through his eyes. The guild hall, the central meeting place of the guild, stood before them. It was white, with red sloped roofing. There were three tiers to it, the top most having three flags on each side. The other two Edward guessed were official things, like government and country, while the center one was obviously the guild mark. If he had to guess, it did kind of resemble some sort of white fairy with a barbed tail. The front door proudly displayed the name 'Fairy Tail' for all to read. It was actually a nice building. Behind it Edward could see the ocean.

"Wow, nice place," replied Edward. She didn't reply, only head for the door.

"Leave the cart there, I will grab it later." Edward gratefully left it there, making sure the rope was tied to one of the green pillars spaced around the building. While he was finishing the knot, he heard what sounded like a fight going on inside.

"A fight! This is my kinda place!" yelled the sin. Edward frowned. He wanted to be in this fight. By the sounds of it, it was a great deal of fun.

Erza meanwhile was standing at the door. "You coming?" Edward bolted, not quite sure he might want to anger the redhead. He stood behind her as she kicked the door, horn still in hand. He admired how she placed her force in the heel, using the added weight of the horn to apply far more force than needed to bust the door right off its hinges. He would have to try it later.

The sounds of fighting stopped when the doors opened, instead deathly silence taking over. Edward noticed, with his enhanced senses, that the air was unmoving.

"Well this is interesting. You found a good one Elric," mumbled Greed.

"Shut it Greed, or I'll find a way to hurt you." Greed quieted, but input one final comment.

"As to the fight from before, I've rethought it, and I think they were screams of fear, not the sound of a good brawl."

Edward ignored the sin, opting to enter the building after Erza. She walked to the middle of the room, slamming the massive trophy on the ground. Dust and dirt flew from beneath, creating knee high clouds.

"I have returned. Where is Mater Markarov?" Her eyes scanned the room, stating the question to everyone and no one.

"Welcome back Erza!" greeted a girl. Edward guessed she had to be some form of administrator slash assistance, based on the fact that she was helping a blond woman with what looked like a floating diagram.

"The master is in a conference for the next few days." Erza nodded, accepting the answer. A random patron, or guild member, asked what the horn was.

"It's the horn of a monster I defeated on my mission. The locals were so thankful, they decorated it for me." Her eyes hardened, and her face darkened. "Do you have a problem with it?" she growled, her voice whipping across the room. The person who asked, as well as several people next to him jumped, saying they were ok with it.

Turning to face crowd, Erza began a speech.

"Now listen up!" she yelled. And listen the crowed did, for they jumped in their spots and gave her their full attention.

"While I was on the road I heard some things. Word is Fairy Tail is causing nothing but trouble as of late. Master Markarov might not care, but I most certainly do." With that, she launched into a full scale verbal war against a good dozen or two people. Ranging from dancing to drinking, to a recent mission, to being unable to pick a mission, she spared no soul.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, looking up. "Has anyone seen Natsu and Grey?" she asked.

"Oh we're just over here, being best friends!" Edward looked over at a duo who had their arms around each other, while using their free hands to shake. He could clearly see it was an act. The arms were too tight, and the hands were too stiff. That and the sweat.

"I'm glad to see you're getting along so well," remarked Erza, an evil glint in her eyes. "However, it's only natural for the best of friends to lock horns every once and a while, right?" she prodded.

"Actually, we're not the best of friends," continued the black haired boy. Edward was finding it hard to concentrate, mostly because the other boy had an outfit that reminded him of Ling, but with pink hair.

"Natsu, Grey, I need you to do me a favor," began the redhead, not waiting for them to continue.

"Normally I would consult with the master before acting, but he is absent and this is important. You two are the strongest wizards here, so I will need your help. We will meet at the train station tomorrow at noon." With that, the redhead picked up her horn and walked out, leaving Edward standing there. Silence reigned in the guild hall, before finally somebody noticed Edward.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" yelled one guy. Edward turned to look at him. He had somewhat orange hair, with blue glasses and a green fur lined coat.

"Oh, I'm Edward Elric. Erza told me I should come here to join." At the mention of Erza bringing him here, the guild was silent. As if it wasn't bad enough, a few people screamed when Erza walked back in.

"Edward, you're coming too. Think of it as your proving job. Don't be late." With that, she made her exit, again, this time slamming the doors.

Edward turned to the white haired woman, since she seemed to be the administrator person. "So," he began. "How do I join?"

LINEBREAK

The woman, Marijane, turned out to fill the role of assistant and barkeep in Fairy Tail. Since the Mater, or Markarov, was gone for a meeting, Edward didn't have to appeal to him. Instead, since Erza had brought him in, he was asked a few questions on his 'magical' ability. He briefly showed the ability to harden his fists and, with a bit of help from Greed, hardening other points on his body to resist damage. In the end he got the guild mark on his shoulder, burning a deep crimson red. Since he didn't have time to find a landlord willing to rent him an apartment in the city, Marijane showed him to the guest rooms. They were used for circumstances such as these, or when fellow guild members were unable to stay at their house.

The next day, he had thanked Marijane, pausing only to grab something to eat from the bar and get directions to the train station. He arrived in Magnolia train station about ten minutes early, something he picked up from train hopping in Amestris, so he had time to find Grey, the black haired person, Natsu, who was probably the pink haired kid, and Erza.

He searched for the duo for several minutes before finding them. In all honesty, he should have looked for the red and blue glow from the north end.

"Why are you fighting?" asked Edward, stepping up to the duo. While they still glared at each other, they did spout forth an answer.

"Because he's a pyro!"

"Because he's a stripper!"

Edward groaned. It might take a while, but he was going to make sure they didn't irritate him too much. He was going to retort when Erza showed up. Just like before, the air stilled, and Natsu and Grey started hugging and talking about how they were such great friends.

With her extremely large cart, the red haired woman pulled up to the trio. "Sorry I'm late," she greeted. Edward noticed the two boys dancing with their arms around each other. It was very disturbing, considering the pink haired one kept saying 'Ai!'

"Listen, one Happy's enough!" yelled a voice. Edward turned, identifying her. She looked remarkably like Winry, except for the brown eyes and larger breast size. In her arms was some white... thing... with an orange cone shaped nose. Beside her was a blue cat thing eating a fish.

"I'm so glad to see you two getting along," smiled Erza. Edward noticed that at some point she calmed down, or something like that, since she wasn't sending death glares at everyone.

"Edward, glad to see you made it, I trust you found appropriate accommodations last night?" Edward nodded, quickly replying that he had slept in the guest rooms beneath the main hall, but would be finding something more permanent after this job.

"Oh, hello, we haven't met, and you are?" asked Erza, turning to the blond.

"I'm Lucy. Marijane sent me to keep an eye on the two friends over there, and get some experience doing a job." Erza nodded, glancing at Natzu and Grey, who were dancing. They quickly resumed when she looked away, continuing her conversation with Lucy. For the most part, Edward just stood there, wondering how exactly this trip wouldn't end without someone dying.

"Ooooohh I assure you, something will be dead by the end of this trip," laughed Greed. Both Edward and Greed watched as the pink haired boy stopped dancing, thankfully, and faced Erza.

"Hey Erza, I'll come with you but only under one condition," began the boy. The black haired boy next to him whispered for him to shut up under pain of death.

"Oh, and what is that?" asked Erza, amused.

"When we get back, I want a rematch when we get to Fairy Tail! This time will be different, I'm stronger now!" Erza grinned evilly, looking from Natsu to Edward. The latter took a step back.

"Yes, I can see you've gotten stronger. But only under one condition of my own." All parties stopped, looking at her.

"You have to defeat Edward in a fight first. Then I will fight you." Natsu looked at Edward, sizing him up. Of course he didn't look like much, he was still on the short side, something he was extremely grateful to not have mentioned about him.

"Alright, I accept!" shouted Natsu, fire igniting his fists. Edward stared at the flames, unsure of what to say.

"Go with it! Push comes to shove you can just transform and punch him in the face!" cheered Greed. Of course, that was a completely viable option.

"I don't suppose I get a say in this?" asked Edward. Erza glared at him.

"Not while you owe me money." Edward scowled, suddenly thinking he should have just worn bloodied boots and pants instead of borrowing money.

[A.N.] There you have it! Chapter two! Right before June 9th! A weekend update! I had planned for this to be last night, but I still needed a few hundred words to make it the same size, if not larger than the first chapter. Enjoy and please Review!

As a copyright notice, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist nor do I own Fairy Tail. Those are the properties of their respective owners. If I did own them I would not have to study for summer school.