When Edward received a call from Mustang at 3 in the morning, he knew it wasn't going to be good news. For a start, it was three in the morning, and it was Mustang. He was ordering him to return to central ASAP for a snap assignment that cropped up, and apparently needed his 'special skillset'. As he talked about nonsense with Alphonse on the train from Leore, Ed kept running that phrase through his head, 'special skillset' was an odd way to phrase it. When Edward, annoyed and frustrated with the lack, arrived at central, he was immediately grabbed from the train station by Mustang, and he and Al were practically dragged into his car, and quickly debriefed as Mustang drove swiftly through the bright, midday lit streets.
"A crazy alchemist left a note written in the stone in front of Central Military Library, saying that at noon today he would activate an array to do something 'never successfully done using alchemy before.'" For a moment, all that could be heard was the huffing, groaning engine of the military car Mustang owned. Then; "Human Transmutation?"
"Perhaps. As I said, we need your skillset to identify, and hopefully dissuade this alchemist from attempting it."
A moment's pause, and the air crackled with tension, "Hurry up and take us to this Alchemist, Colonel." The relief, if solid, would have displaced all the gasses around itself through sheer mass.
"So, this weird Akemy-"
"Alchemy, Jake!"
"Alchemy, yeah, yeah. Why are we researching it?"
Lao Shi put his book down, to pierce his apprentice's visage with a stormy glare. "Because there are some very influential alchemists going on a world tour, and learning about the magical world in other parts of the world, you need to make a good impression young one, the council would have our heads if you misrepresented your part of the world with a lack of knowledge!"
"Could ya fit any more worlds in there?"
A blast of fire singed his hair, and Jake yelped. "Yo, what was that for gramps?"
A pointed stare.
"Okay, zeesh… But can I at least see this mojo? All these dusty books are making my head spin, yo!"
Gramps sighed, realizing that he would have to compromise, but still rather annoyed with his grandsons impatience. "Ai-ya… Find Fu-Dog and ask him, but be straight back here after you've seen it…!" Jake grinned, donned his Jacket, and practically flew out of the room to the roof, where he'd last seen Fu. Luckily, the Sharpei was still up there, sticking a phone into one of his many folds of fat.
Jake grimaced, but quickly his face morphed to excitement once he had the dog's attention. "Yo Fu, you got a moment? Gramps said that y'all could show me some of this alchemy mojo he's had me holed up researching all afternoon."
Fu grinned, "Follow me kid, I was preparing a research circle for the alchemists who're going to arrive tomorrow, earlier so all we need to do is channel some magic and bada-boom!"
"Awesome!"
It didn't take long to move all the books and miscellaneous items off the section where the chalk circle lay, and Jake couldn't help but whistle, impressed. The magnificent white circle covered half of the back room, and was filled in with a detailed six pointed diagram and old runes, Jake could only name a few of them, despite his extensive draconic tutelage requiring him to read books written in them on more than one occasion. With a sly smirk, Fu gestured at the circle, "All you need to do is press your hands to the circle's edge while thinking of some structure or other you want to make outta the floor and channel magic into it, like how you would to transform. Then bada-boom, you got yourself a floor thing!"
Jake smiled. "That simple?"
"Yep, go ahead!"
With a determined grin, he pressed his hands to the circle, closed his eyes, and focused. A flash of blue light spread around the circle, and he focused on his dragon forms shape, willing the floor to squeeze itself into that form. He dimly heard Lao Shi's voice yelling something angrily, very quietly, and then all sound stopped.
Worried he'd messed up and transmuted his ears or something equally bizarre, he opened his eyes to see- nothing. It was just a clear expanse of white nothingness, stretching on forever and not at all. He turned around, and nearly fell backwards in surprise at the strange sight that greeted him. A creature, shaped like himself and made of the same formless material that surrounded them, sat in front of two large ornate doors.
"Who are you?"
Jake was worried that he'd offend the creature, and so strayed away from asking some of the more pressing questions such as 'where am I' 'what are you?' or even 'why am I here?'. But it didn't matter, for the creature grinned without a mouth, and spoke with a hundred different voices, and none at the same time. "Some call me one and all, and some know me as truth. Some describe me as the universe, some would have me called time, and some would name me god. I am all of these things, and I am also you."
Well, that answered the question well. "You are here, at the gate, because you activated a circle your energy could not provide for. I will be taking your toll."
Frowning, Jake looked at the creature, about to ask what 'toll' it spoke of, when a cold trickling sensation encroached upon his senses, moving up his legs and towards his head. "Your human chi will be apt payment."
As he watched, the creature seemed to shift, humanoid legs changing to double jointed draconic, a tail stretching out behind it, and staying steadfastly still despite the fact that it was clearly attached to something that should have it twitching with emotion. Eventually, in no time at all, he was looking at a reflection of his dragon self made from the strange nothingness that surrounded them, and he could feel his wings and tail well stretched out behind them.
With a creak, the ominous doors he had somehow overlooked swung open, and a swarm of hands dragged him into it despite his thrashing and writhing panic. As quickly as they opened they shut, and for a moment he was in darkness. The first instinctive reaction he had was to breathe a quick blast of flame to illuminate where the heck he was. The second was to want to throw up, when he saw the hollow, still bleeding body he was standing over.
His breath catching, he stepped backwards in shock. His tail scraped something on the floor, and a broken lamp caught alight, revealing the basement he was in, and the three onlookers. Two men, one in military uniform and the other in armour, the last of them, a small boy who looked to be no more than ten years old, was standing next to a man who was wrapped in the floor, somehow. Probably best not to question it, with how weird magic rules could get.
The boy stared at him, utterly surprised, and Jake had the distinct impression that if he were to make a sound, the kid would either attack or cry. Nervously, his tail slithered forwards to curl closer to himself, and Jake felt like kicking himself in shame. He didn't need to though, as the kid startled at the slight movement, clapped his hands together, and suddenly the dragon hit the floor with a heavy thud, his wings bunched up and bound against his chest by some sort of metal. The same applied to his muzzle, it was bound shut by a tight metallic ring. Dimly, Jake could hear arguing voices in the background.
He was still too surprised by everything to really be able to struggle, and so didn't exactly protest when the armoured one walked over to him and removed the ring around his muzzle. With a gasp he sucked in a deep breath of air, and nearly set the guy alight in surprise when they spoke with a kid's voice. "Hi there Mr. Lizard, I'm Alphonse."
Jake made to stand up, then remembered his situation. "I- I'm Jake. But first yo, I'm a Dragon, not just some lousy lizard!" Alphonse seemed to blink, his armour made it hard to tell, and then the kid started laughing. "It's nice to meet you, Jake! I'm sorry brother tied you up, but the Colonel wanted to burn you. Well, either burn you or the guy over there…"
"Is your brother the short one?" Apparently, that was the key to summoning the blonde midget, because he was near instantaneously in Jake's face yelling about not being short, and how he was just an overgrown lizard, and several other odd insults that completely flew over his head.
Jake just decided to tune him out, and consider why he was here, when the colonel stalked over to demand his attention. "What sort of chimera are you? I've never seen anything like your form before." Jake almost laughed, the idea of him being a chimera just seemed so absurd, bur restrained himself. This situation probably called for the 'research mode' dragon, rather than the 'punch everything that's threatening' dragon he normally was. "I ain't no chimera, yo. Like I told Alphonse -ton over there, I'm a dragon, the American Dragon! Have y'all never seen one before?"
A hesitant glance towards the stairs, and then back at the still bound dragon. The boy leaned up and whispered something, and the Colonel's eyes widened. "It's probably best to discuss this someplace more secure, Jake. Could you come with us?"
And that was how one very confused dragon found himself curled up tightly, still bound up tightly inside a tall, empty suit of armour with a kid's soul bound to it. Well, weirder things had happened…
A.N
Woot! Glad I got this out my system, might continue, might not. Probably will though, so review ideas and opinions you have, you too guests and forgot-to-log-in-ers!