534 534. Miracle Man and Attacked

Nina slowly opened her eyes. She saw Edward, Alphonse, and Ajax sitting near her and looking at her face.

She rubbed her eyes and got up. Quickly, tears welled up. She hugged Ajax as playing with him was the last memory she had.

"BIG BROTHER!... I was scared... It was scary. I felt like... I... I was stuck in a tight box. Waaa..." She cried.

Ajax patted her back lightly, "It's okay, Nina, everything is okay now. Everything is fine."

"Woof"

Nina turned her head and looked at her dog. "Alexander... you're fine too..."

"You called me, child?" Alexander(Grandpa) came.

Nina looked at him and felt his face looked familiar. "No, I called Alexander."

"Yes, I am Alexander," Alexander replied.

Nina shook her head, "No, you are not my dog. He is."

"Yes, I'm not a dog, but I am Alexander," Alexander argued.

"No, my doggy is Alexander." Nina persisted and hugged her dog.

Then Nina realized, "Oh, can it be... your name is Alexander too?" She inquired cutely.

"Yes, my name is Alexander." He affirmed.

"Then, you will be Alexander two and my dog will be real Alexander." She replied proudly.

"Why am I number two?" Alexander asked, funnily.

"Because you came after him." She replied.

"No, I am much older than him. I am more than 70 years old. How old is your doggy?" Alexander inquired.

Nina put her finger on her lips and thought, "He is... 10... I think."

"See, then he will be Alexander two. Oh, in fact, we can shorten his name to not cause confusion. Let's call him Alex from now on." Alexander suggested.

"Alex?" Nina whispered the name.

"Woof."

"Do you like that name?" Nina asked her dog.

"Woof Woof."

"Oh, that's settled then. You will be Alex." She hugged her dog.

Alexander took a sigh of relief. He had to bribe the Dog with a promise of 10 treats to make him agree to this name. Of course, all this negotiation happened telepathically.

"Nina, you can call me Grandpa. Do you want to see a beautiful place where you can play all day with lots of friends?" Alexander asked. Without her father and any immediate family, he had no choice but to take her in. He couldn't bring himself to leave her in an orphanage.

"GRANDPA!" Nina shouted.

~Ah... my heart, don't die on me.~ Alexander touched his chest from the cuteness overdose.

"Ajax, take her home and introduce her to your grandma and everyone else. Show her all the tailed beasts and unicorns." Alexander instructed his grandson.

"Yes, Grandpa. Ed and Al, I will see you later." Ajax held Nina's hand and ran out of the building.

"Hey, where did he take her?" Edward asked.

Alexander stopped him, "Wait, kid. I am adopting her. She has no family now and I have the power and money to give her a good life. Also, I have many grandkids. She can play with them. Don't worry, she will forget about her dad soon. It is for the better."

"Yeah, it is for the better." Alphonse agreed.

"Let's go, brother. We should rest for today. We will report to Colonel Mustang tomorrow." Alphonse decided, he saw the sad mood of his brother and thought this would be a better option.

~Hmm, these two seem to have been touched by a spirit of some kind. I feel its mark on the small kid's arm and leg and all over the body of the bigger one in the armor.~ Alexnader noticed. But he didn't ask as he didn't feel it was a demonic presence.

"Dobby, let's go to the Eastern Headquarters. Let's understand the working of this world." Alexander decided and headed out.

...

At the Eastern Headquarters.

The highest-ranking person there was called Grumman. He was a Lieutenant General and for some reason, he was sitting here in the Eastern Region.

As soon as Alexander came to the building, he was invited by Grumman for a chat. He was kind and with a wry abundant sense of humor. He was a jovial kind with an easygoing mind so he was very excited to meet the miracle maker.

Roy had already passed on to him the file containing the information about this Major General. It was very interesting to Grumman. The man came out of nowhere and climbed the ranks like they were really just a ladder for him. He wouldn't be surprised if he somehow became Lieutenant General in some days.

Grumman had found out that Alexander had a 100% success rate in every mission and zero death of his men in any armed conflict he participated in. He had a love for science and discovering new things which was why he was the head of the archeology department that only had 5 people in total as staff. If he were to be in central command as a real official, his authority would be immense as he had respect from all. He was a State Alchemist codenamed Miracle Man.

However, what made him the most accepting of Alexander was his record of always doing what was right instead of just blindly following orders. Now, he had enough authority that not many could order him around.

He greeted Alexander entering his room. "Welcome, General."

He was easygoing and didn't mind ranks and such things. He even jokes around with his subordinates. Not to mention, Alexander was just one rank lower.

"Haha, hello, General Grumman, a pleasure meeting you." Alexander shook hands and they sat down. There was already an open chessboard with all the pieces in place.

"I guess General is interested in talking while playing a game of chess?" Alexander asked.

"Well, I am old and need to utilize every chance to use my brain so it doesn't get rusted." Grumman joked and sat down. It was nothing but just an official visit, so Alexander just played and talked. He even took out his cigar and firewhiskey from his bag and they both had fun.

But, something more fun was going on where Dobby was. He was a colonel, so he was invited by Roy Mustang to his office for a tea break. Roy was an ambitious man and had dreams of becoming the Fuhrer someday, he knew the importance of having allies and networks. So, this was an amazing opportunity. He was even more motivated after finding out about Alexander's background.

But all his plans were foiled when his old friend and an officer from the central, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, also entered the meeting.

Hughes jumped around while talking. He approached Dobby and showed his wife and daughter's photo. "Look at them, aren't they the sweetest? Awww... my little angel. She is the cutest, isn't she?"

He shoved the photos in Dobby's face. Dobby started laughing. He didn't know there were guys like this in the military. So, Dobby also took out a photo of Little Thea, her cuteness was immeasurable after all. There was also a photo of Amy when she was a child.

"Look at these, these are my nieces, aren't they cute," Dobby said.

Hughes' eyes lit up as if he found a man with a common interest. He looked at the photos and his heart melted, "Awww... they are such angels. I am happy for you, Colonel Dobby."

"Just call me Dobby." Dobby corrected him.

Roy was just sitting in his chair with a frown. It was supposed to be his networking meeting but Hughes hijacked it.

*Knock Knock*

Riza entered the room and gave some documents to Roy. Ray coughed and spoke, "Colonel Dobby, some orders have arrived for General, straight from Central Military Command."

The group known as Central Command consisted of the Führer himself along with a group of Generals directly under the Führer's control. So, their direct command must be meaning it was something big. Roy didn't dare to look at what it was. He just passed it on to Dobby.

Dobby opened it and read it loudly. "Major General is to head to the southern border to the Aerugo war front and make the Principality of Aerugo surrender. The less bloodshed the better."

Roy and Hughes' faces turned serious. They had one thought in their minds. What can one man do to change the war?

"I guess he will be getting promoted soon." Dobby sighed and got up. This way, they will be able to investigate what's happening in the south officially. The life of people inside Amestris was very calm right now and Alexander didn't want to make any harsh movements that would put people in danger. He had already felt that there was some kind of mysterious powers working in secret and he just needed to find them.

"Okay, folks. I'll be going now. See you later if things go smoothly." Dobby left.

...

Alexander and Grumman were laughing while drinking. Alexander liked this man. He was a good military officer. "Well, General, I dealt with some problems in your Youswell town. A lieutenant in charge was exploiting people there."

"Oh, less work for me then. I guess I owe you a drink." Grumman joked.

"Also, Checkmate." Alexander made his last move and defeated Grumman for the 5th time.

Just then Dobby came and he got up to leave. "It was nice meeting you, General. Let's catch a drink later someday."

Grumman was also very excited, "Likewise, all the best on your mission."

Alexander left the building and stretched his shoulder. "So, what did you find out, Dobby?"

"Boss, this Aerguo is a principality ruled by a prince. They are much smaller than Amestris but are still holding up. They had supplied weapons to Ishvalans in the civil war but later denied the Ishvalans refuge. They were originally a trading economy but now, due to war, it is in shambles.

"But the biggest motive for Amestris is something else. If Amestris can take over then it will have a coastline and will be able to trade from the sea. Increasing the business opportunities for Amestris by a lot." Dobby explained.

"Hmm, are these Aerugo people ethnically different?" Alexander inquired.

"No, there aren't," Dobby answered.

"Good, let's take over this small country and make them surrender. Indirectly, we will run Aerugo and help its people while gaining a stronger footing in this world." Alexander planned.

"That is doable." Dobby agreed to the plan.

...

East City,

Ajax had returned as Nina was now sleeping in Phixheim. She had tired herself by running around with various animals.

He went back to pestering the Elric brothers. He followed the two around the city.

"Nina was very happy at my place. She happily slept after playing." Ajax told them.

Edward sighed happily, "That's good for her. Your family is good, Ajax."

"BROTHER! LOOK OUT!" Alphonse shouted suddenly.

Edward jumped to the side. But Ajax didn't move away and the white-haired glasses-wearing man attacked. It was a powerful punch that struck Ajax's stomach.

*Boom*

Ajax was thrown away so hard that he collided with a wall and even destroyed the walls and entered the building. A big cloud of smoke was there.

"AJAX!" Edward and Alphonse worriedly shouted. Alphonse tried to rush towards Ajax but was touched by the attacker.

In an instant, Alphonse's armor got disintegrated from the spot. He fell down.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Alphonse asked the attacker.

"This is the right order of things. As long as there will be creators like you there must be destroyers." He proceeded to touch him again. But Edward jumped and stopped him.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"Too slow." the attacker shrugged and stopped Edward's metal arm with his palm.

*BOOM*

Edward's metal arm got disintegrated as he fell to the ground. Edward was terrified now, he didn't know what was going on.

"BROTHER!" Alphonse shouted in worry.

"Now you will not be able to use your heretic alchemy. I will give you a moment to pray to God." the attacker said.

"Hah, I don't pray to god. tell me, are you only going after me or them too?" Edward asked.

"You are the Fullmetal Alchemist, only you will die today. But if they interfere, they too shall die." the attacker replied.

"Then I want your word, prom..."

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

"Woah, that was a strong punch. I feel like my food got digested. I'm hungry now." Ajax walked out of the rubble while coughing.

Alphonse was the closest to him so Ajax looked at the armor. There was no one inside and it was broken. Ajax's face turned serious.

"BROTHER ALPHONSE GOT KIDNAPPED?" he shouted in shock and worry. Hats, who was lazily resting not far away, facepawed himself.

Ajax looked at the attacker and jumped at him. "WHERE IS BROTHER AL?"

*BAM*

The attacker tried to stop Ajax's punch with his left hand but his arm's bones were crushed from the impact. It took a second for the pain to register in his mind.

"AAAARGH..." The attacker screamed in pain and agony.

[A/N: For those who don't know. The attacker is Scar.]

[You can see Nina and her dog, Grumman, Hughes, Scar on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif*

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