I do NOT own FMA or the Transformers. If I said that I did, I would be sued. This story picks up from where Stormbringer left off while still adding a bit of Family Guy stupidity & pointlessness... Now, we're not talkin' Cartoon Network Transformers crap, I mean "Old School" Transformers, G1 stuff... IDW makes some of the best I've seen in a while. They are easily found on . Anyway, this story is based on one of the Transformer novels which happens to be a favorite of mine. Also, all those in "Italic" represent "thought" by the character. Pics are up, go to Photobucket .com & look for conman0102.
Is all that we see or seem but a dream, within a dream? Edgar Allen Poe.
Fullmetal Alchemist/Transformers: Escalation
Chapter 1: Forging The Stone.
Central, 23:00 hours.
Ironhide & company arrive at the hospital. Al climbs out from the back & quickly carries Ed inside while Lust & Wrath sit inside. Lust folded her arms under her chest & placed herself in deep thought, wondering who was the possible traitor.
"We've been here more then on one occasion. I discovered information about the Philosopher's Stone two hundred of your Earth years ago."
Two hundred years, who was around then? Our master, Envy & Greed... Greed was locked away. No one tried to rescue him & now he's gone. So, now we're down to two. One or both of you is the traitor."
"Excuse me, are you two going to join the Tin-man & his brother?" Ironhide asked, interrupting Lust's train of thought.
"Um, no... Not now... Wrath, I'm taking you to our home. Ironhide, please let me drive."
"Um, sure."
As they drove away, Wrath noticed the buildings became unpleasant to look at. They drive past a car that was sitting on a four cement blocks, then another that was burning on the opposite side of the street. "Wow, what a dump." Wrath said. "I know, this is the old part of Central. Welcome to the Ghetto." Lust said as they continued through the rundown projects. They where about three blocks away from the old church when the sound gunfire rang through the area. "Roll'em up." Lust said as she & Wrath quickly rolled the side windows up.
They finally reached the old church as Wrath unbuckled his seat belt. "Aren't you coming?" Wrath asked. "No, I have to make up for lost time & get to Liore... So, get out."
"But, I'm hungry. Aren't you going to make me dinner?"
"Just make yourself a cheese sandwich. You can at least do that... If you ask Envy real nice, he'll probably show you how to make one."
"I can't do that, he'll hit me again & call it 'tough love' or 'a hurts doughnut."
Lust only ignored his pleas & drove off. "I'm tellin'!" Wrath shouted.
Lust pulled up to the hospital's emergency entrance. "Please wait here. I won't be long." she said as she stepped out. "Hold on, I'm not your personal chauffeur. I have to get back to help prep Thunderwing for transport off this rock."
"They can manage without you. As of now, we have another potential disaster to stop."
"Like what?"
"Let me retrieve Alphonse, then I'll explain on the way." As Lust walks into the Hospital to locate Al, Ironhide makes a call to his peers. "Ironhide to Prime. Come in, please."
"Prime here, go ahead."
"Prime, the female is ordering me to stay put. She said that she needs help in stopping another disaster. What do I do?"
"Wait for her to return, then I'll speak with her."
Lust walks around the hospital, searching for Al, when she found him sitting quietly in a chair outside the room that Ed was in. "How is he?" she asked. "I'm just waiting for the doctor to come out." At that moment the doctor walks out as Al stood up. "Well, the good news is, he'll be just fine. He's lucky. Couple of broken ribs & one or two discs in his lower back were dislocated. We also removed what was left of his right arm."
"Call Winry Rockbell in Resembool. She'll take care of his arm. Come Al, we have to leave." Lust said as she turns to leave. Al was somewhat shocked that she knew that information. "Wait, how do you know about her & where are we going?" He asked before following. "I'll tell you on the way." She answered as she walked away.
Outside Ironhide continued to sit but now in the driver's seat sat a gray haired, early fifties aged man wearing a business suit. Lust & Al walk out only to see the man looking at them. He rolls a window as Lust & Al look at each other. "Are you two coming or not?" The man said, speaking with Ironhide's voice. Al climbed into the back as Lust sat in the passenger's seat. "Before we do anything, myself & Prime want to know what you have in mind?" Ironhide asked.
Lust began to wonder if they even knew about the Stone or not & if she should involve them in this. "A war is about to breakout in Liore & it will end as soon as it starts. But a large number of life will end with it." Lust answered firmly, folding her arms under her chest while Ironhide sat silently with his hands on the wheel.
"Tell me, you are aligned to one faction, correct?" Lust asked. "Yes." Ironhide answered. "Do you know if the other faction is here as well?" Ironhide remained silent until Prime broke the silence. "Unfortunately, yes. We have confirmed that the Decepticons are on your world." He said.
"There's a man named, Scar in the city of Liore. And he's on the verge of creating a Philosopher's Stone. A gem of enormous power that can grant the user with whatever they desire. I'm sure that if your enemies were to obtain this, they may try to use it to destroy you." Lust said.
"Prime?" Ironhide asked. "Very well, take them to their destination & do what you can. But be careful, I'd almost bet the Decepticons know what's transpiring as well." Prime said before closing the channel.
"Okay, off to Liore?" Ironhide asked. "Yes." Lust answered. The van began to pull away, but little did they know, that perched on the edge of the roof across the street from the hospital, Buzzsaw sat recording & listening to the conversation below & begins to follow. Al begins to wonder why her demeanor has changed. For as long as he could remember, she wanted to be human, at any cost. Now, she wants to stop Scar? Why would she throw away her dreams, did the end no longer justify the means? He'll wait until they get to Lior, then ask.
Liore 04:45 hours
The red van stops on the outskirts of the city when they see explosions rock through the streets. Lust & Al exit the van to see Scar chasing after Kimbly. "Wait here." Lust ordered Ironhide as she & Al chased after Scar. After a short time of running, the two could still hear the explosions happening and saw Scar still after Kimbly. "Split up, we'll surround him." Lust said. Al nodded & they ran in different directions.
Meanwhile, Ironhide sat patiently watching the smoke rise in different areas of the city. When he looked in the rear-view mirror. "This is not good, it's too quiet out here. Thought this was to be a war zone." He suddenly heard the sound of a jet engine fly overhead & saw Buzzsaw follow the explosions occurring in the city. "And that's worse." Ironhide begins to drive into the city to find everyone.
Buzzsaw homes-in on the action from the top of a roof as he sees Kimbly & Scar in a stare-down with each other. He began to record the events & noticed Lust standing in an alleyway across from them, hiding in the shadows, but ignored her. "Do you really think it's wise to be chasing me around like this, when the military can step in at any moment Scar?" Kimbly asked with a cocky attitude. "Oh I think I'll chance it to avenge my brother, Kimbly." Scar replied. "You're risking your own life for something as pointless as revenge?"
"And what is it that you're killing for?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? You mean to say, you slaughter all these people for nothing?"
"At the end of the day, a human-being is nothing more than the components needed to create a common bomb. If you think about it, we're not that special. Not you, not me. We're all empty. We're all worthless" Kimbly preached. Suddenly, he realizes he was standing in the middle of a transmutation circle. It lights up & a large stone hand grabs Kimbly tightly & holds him about twenty feet up. "I might be empty, but I'm not worthless." Al shouted.
"Cut me some slack, Al. I'm just a State Alchemist just doing his job. Just like your brother." Kimbly said. "You're just a murderer." Al said staring up at Kimbly before looking back at Scar. "And you've got to stop this. It won't solve anything."
"Stay out of it Al, you don't understand."
"What will you accomplish, by shedding more blood? Please, just walk away."
The stone hand that held Kimbly suddenly explodes. Kimbly pushes Al forward into Scar's path for a quick diversion as he grabs Scar's left arm. He was just about to use his alchemy when three daggers pierce his chest from behind. As the blades retract, Kimbly's grip loosened & he falls face first to the ground. "Homunculus."
"You're welcome." Lust said as she looked at her fingers & noticed the liquid was green in color. Scar didn't pay attention to the fact & began to walk away as Al stood back up & looked at Scar. "Scar?" He asked.
"You might as well go, there's nothing to discuss here." Scar replied as Ironhide pulled up & the older man stepped out. "I'm afraid you're wrong, there's plenty to discuss." He said pointing to the large bird-like creature sitting at the edge of the building above. "What is that?" Scar asked. "It's name is, Buzzsaw." Ironhide answered as a large gun extended from the roof of the van & took aim.
Ironhide took a few shots, hitting the building but missing the Decepticon infiltrator, forcing Buzzsaw to fly off. During the confusion, Kimbly was able to grab Al's legs. "Don't worry Al, I'll make it a slow death." Al screamed in pain as kimbly's alchemy took hold. Meanwhile, back at the Military Command Station in Liore. Pride sat at his desk holding the phone to his ear. "I see. Just keep him comfortable. Please send him some flowers & a get well card... No, I don't think that would be appropriate... Also, send someone to interview him & get some information on what happened." Pride hung up the phone as Sloth walked over.
"Fullmetal was admitted to the hospital a few hours ago. They said a talking suit of armor & a dark haired woman was with him." Pride said. "I just got off the phone with Wrath. He said, Lust dropped him off at the old church entrance & refused to stay & make him dinner... He also said the van she drove off in was really a robot... Much like the one that tried to kidnap myself" Sloth asked.
"Personally, I feel Lust has learned something on top of being rescued. But the question now is, what does she know? Are we, or, have we been invaded? Where, how & in what form are they hiding in?" Pride asked. "They could be in the room with us & we may never even know it." He added.
"What about the prisoner from Laboratory five, what should we do with her?" Sloth asked. "Have her executed. We can't have any of this go public... Not yet at least." Pride answered.
Liore
The sky began to give way to the daybreak. Al stood & stared at his legs. "What's going on? I feel strange." Noticing the blackening before watching Scar pick Kimbly by his coat collar. "You bastard!" Scar said furiously. "My work is so intricate, only an explosives artist like myself can defuse it. But you'll have to find someone else because I'm about to retire." Kimbly said, coughing up some green blood. "No need to hurry, you still have plenty of time left. I made his armor react slowly with the oxygen in the air, gradually spreading until he's completely black."
"Alright, I've had enough." Ironhide said as his holographic-self disappeared & the van transformed. Scar was shocked at the sight as Ironhide grabbed the dieing Kimbly "Alright Facsimile, I want some answers before you die. First, where's Megatron?"
"If you want him, you'll have to go digging around up North."
"How many more are there of your kind?"
"They're all over the globe, Autobot. You'll never find them all. To tell you the truth, me & Ms. Sunshine down there, are not so indifferent. The outcome is the same, but the method used to create life is the thing that separates us. In the end, my allegiance is what differs me from most of the others."
"How so?"
"All... Hail... Thunderwing..."
Kimbly dies in Ironhide's hand. Not bothering to lay him down, Ironhide opens his hand & drops Kimbly to the ground. Lust stood in disbelief of the conversation. This proved that Bludgeon was not lying, they were here back then & knowing now, that no one can be trusted. Going home to the underground city may be like wanting a death wish. Scar walked over to Al & knelt down to him. "I'm scared." Al said." "I know, Alphonse. Try not to over exert yourself." Scar said calmly. "The only thing that would save him is if his brother were here. Ed would be able to change his armor into another substance, counteracting Kimbly's alchemy." Lust said in a sad, yet, somewhat seductive tone.
"You think that would work, altering his composition?" Scar asked. "Yes, that would work... At least, I hope it would work." Lust said. Scar looked at the curiously until Al broke the silence. "This sucks... This is way worse then the time when I forgot how to sit down."
Curtis home, four months ago.
Al walked over & stood about five feet away from a reclining chair with a end table on the side. Izumi walked out the kitchen & saw Al take a flying leap at the chair, destroying it instantly with the table. As he lied in a contorted position, Izumi sighed lightly, folding her arms. "Tell Ed, that dinner is almost ready." Izumi asked. "Okay." Al replied as Izumi walked back into the kitchen.
Liore, 05:30 hours.
"Sorry if I never lived up to your memories of the woman you once knew." Lust said. "To tell you the truth, I never expected you to. I knew you were not the same woman my brother tried to resurrect. You just look like her, that's all. The dead can't be brought back to life." Scar said as he puts his right hand on Al's side. "What are you going to do to him? Tell me damn-it!" Lust said taking step towards him, but stopped dead in her tracks as Scar pulled out the locket & showed it to her. "I'm trying your idea to save the boy, so shut your mouth & watch." Scar ties the locket to the cloth around Al's waist.
Ironhide looks on curiously as Scar puts his right hand back on Al's side. He grits his teeth as the markings on his arm glowed bright red, red lightning cracks off his arm, he screams as his arm begins to defragment before Lust's & Ironhide's eyes. He pulls back, tearing his arm at he point his brother attached his own. Blood splatters the ground as the light dies & the arcane markings appear on Al's body. Ironhide's holographic-self appears once again & begins to aid Scar in bandaging his right arm.
"What have you done?" Lust asked. "That arm... was given to me by my brother... He trapped the souls of the dying Ishbalans inside it by turning his own body into a transmutation circle." Scar replied. "He did that for a good reason. To create the Philosopher's Stone within himself. A gift that he past on to you... So that means... Wait, have you lost your mind?! You want to turn him into the Philosopher's Stone?!" Lust shouted as Ironhide finished with Scar's arm. "Better that then a bomb, you said if we changed his body into something else, he wouldn't explode. It was the only way I could help." Scar answered.
"To tell you the truth, I don't even know whether or not this will work. But if by some miracle it does, the stone will be theirs & they can do what they want." he added. "By doing this, You'll be making Alphonse the target." Lust said. "What do you mean?" Scar asked as the holographic person vanishes again. "Because our enemies, The Decepticons are on this world too. And if their leader is here, then we'll have a huge problem. Making him into this, Stone thing, will make things even harder." Ironhide side. "It's too late now, what ever happens to Al, it won't be my responsibility. I have a rat in my group, that I need to catch... That might be hard enough on it's own."
Scar & Ironhide look at her curiously until she looked up at the Autobot. "Ironhide, head North, far away from the city & wait for me." she requested. "Um, okay. I'll keep an eye on things." Ironhide complies & transforms back to his van form & drives off. "So, now what?" She asked. "We need Kimbly's body & then-" Scar stopped when he saw Kimbly's clothes sitting in a puddle of green liquid goo. "Eww." Lust muttered. "Okay, new idea." He said as he walked to get some items inside of a building across the street.
Meanwhile, outside the South end of the city, Lt. Colonel Archer stands in front of a large battalion as a solider quickly ran up to him. "Sir, there is no sign of anyone in there at all." The solider said. "They must be planning a surprise attack" Archer said as other officers noticed a figure drop something from the roof top in the distance. "What's that?"
"Someone's up there." Archer was handed a pair of binoculars. "Looks like they killed a State Alchemist..." Archer said before looking up & seeing Scar standing on the rooftop. "I should've known that killer was behind this. But if he thinks he can intimidate us by killing a State Alchemist, he's about to find out how sorrily mistaken he is. The Tank Division will petrol the perimeter, while infantry charges the heart of the city to capture Scar."
As the troops run through the city streets, Ironhide arrived at the North side, far from the drama going on in the city. He contemplates on his options whether he should call the higher ups or not. He folds his arms & stares at the city, watching the primitive looking tanks circle around. "Makes me wonder how they came this far with such crappy looking machinery." He thought just before an explosion hit his back, causing him to fall face first on the sand. "Don't worry Autobot, I'll take good care of your little flesh-bag friends." the voice said, coming out of nowhere.
Central Hospital, 06:00 hours.
Winry walked down the halls of the hospital, holding small batch of flowers in search of Ed's room. When she finally finds his room, she slowly walks & noticed Ed was sitting up, bandages around his head & Lt. Maria Ross & Sgt. Denny Bloch stood at the end of his bed. "Hello, Winry." Ross said kindly. "Hi, you guys. Didn't expect to see... Oh, my God! Edward, what happened to your arm?! Christ, I leave you alone for less then a week, you end up broken & in the hospital!... How could you be so reckless with yourself?! And where in the hell is, Al?" Winry asked hysterically, but Ed just looked at her with a small smile. "Hi, Winry." He said calmly. Winry calmed herself & sighed knowing the recklessness will die hard with him. "Why can't I ever stay mad at you, Edward?" she asked. "Maybe it's his boyish charm that all girls like so much." the man in the neighboring bed stated.
"Um, not to be rude, but who are you?" Winry asked. "Winry, this is General Adam West." Ross answered. "Hello to all of you & you Edward must feel very lucky to have a wife like her at your side who is so loving & forgiving." Edward started to sweat bullets at the idea as Winry blushed bright red. "Sir, they're only seventeen." Ross stated. "Oh, well, that's fine. I won't judge anyone. Being young & in love is a wonderful & fulfilling thing." West said calmly. "Okay, someone get my clothes. I don't care if they're burned, I can fix them." Ed got out of bed & walked to the closet.
A doctor walks in at that moment & walked to West's bed. He was fat with a small black mustache & short black hair. "General West, I have your test results."
"Okay."
"I'm afraid, you have Lymphoma."
"Oh..."
"You probably got it from rolling around in that toxic waste. Just what were you thinking?"
"I thought I could give myself superpowers."
"That's, that's just plain silly."
"Silly, yes. Idiotic, yes..."
Everyone in the room were left slack-jawed. "Is there any reason why you did that, Sir?" Ross asked. "I'm glad you asked, my dear. I have been studying for years to locate the secret underground city of The Mole People... Since I don't know alchemy, I decided to try to gain superpowers. To combat the evil they would bring to our world." Edward grabbed his flack jacket after getting dressed. "Okay, General. Good luck on that. You tell me how that works out." Ed said before walking out. "Will do." West replied.
Liore.
Lust watches the city became engulfed in the bright, red light of the arcane transmutation that Scar dug in days before. Unfortunately, she is unaware of what is happening to Ironhide since she was on the West side. The light dies away as quickly as it started & Lust wasted little time looking for Al while the military was in disarray. "Alphonse! Alphonse, where are you?!"
She continued to search for him when she noticed a pile of sand that seemed out-of-place. She began to dig through & discovered Al's head. "Alphonse?"
"Lust?" Al explodes from sandy blanket forcing Lust to jump back. "Get away, I'm about to explode!" Lust smiled lightly, almost laughing to herself. "You should look at yourself before jumping to conclusions." She said with a slight tone of humor. "Hey, you're right. I'm normal again. Sort of..."
"Maybe, open your chest plate." He complies & Lust's eyes open widely as she saw the bright, red light illuminating from Al's chest. "What is it? Is it the ham sandwich brother left in the mini cooler?"
"You had a mini-cooler, is that what that smell was? Dammit, Edward..." She said as she stood up & dusted herself off. "All in all, congratulations Al, you found the Philosopher's Stone."
"Yeah, great... I'm my own night light now."
"Wow, you don't have to be a dick about this."
"Put yourself in my place, see how you feel." Lust thought about it for a moment. "Okay, I'll give you that... Lets go find Ironhide."
As they head North, Lust had a feeling of uneasiness. A feeling of being watched struck her nerves. She stopped and started to look around the horizon but saw nothing. "Is something wrong?" Al asked. "No, lets keep moving." She replied as the two crested a sand hill, they see Ironhide, face down & out like a light. They ran to him, calling his name, but with no response. "He was attacked, but who could've done this?" Al asked. "HA! That would be me!" the voice said. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Lust demanded "As you wish." The voice said as a large, far more advanced tank de-cloaks thirty feet beside them. Its cannon barrel pointed directly at them.
"The name is Blitzwing & I'll take the Stone, if you don't mind." Lust extended her blades, about to defend herself & Al. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Blitzwing transforms to his robot form. Tank treads on his shoulders & on the back of his legs, jet wings on his back along with his tank cannon & parts of the jet side of him were made up his chest & feet. "Hand over the Stone & I might let you go home to your brother in one piece." Blitzwing demanded. Lust steps in front of Al as Blitzwing begins to step forward, Ironhide quickly rolls over, drawing his weapon & fires pointblank at Blitzwing's chest, knocking him off his feet. He falls to the ground with major sparking bursting out of his chest.
Ironhide sits up looks at Lust & Al. "You guys... okay?" he asked. "Yes, we're fine. Yourself?" Lust asked. "I don't think I can transform, I was hit hard." Ironhide replied. "Guess we're walking home." Al said. "How far is this, Resembool place?" Ironhide asked. "We have to head for the mountains, that way." Lust answered. "Great..." Ironhide said sarcastically. He begins to stand & places two fingers to his head as a small mic extends from the side of his head.
"Ironhide to Optimus Prime, come in."
"Prime, here."
"Prime, we're heading for an area called Resembool. I can't transform, so we're on foot now. Any chance you can rendezvous with us along the way, we also have the Stone in our possession."
"Understood, we'll meet you A.S.A.P... Prime out."
With that, they begin the long journey home. The mission to stop Scar from making the Philosopher's Stone, ended in failure. And the game, is about to take a far more deadlier turn.