Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own FMA or any of its characters.

Stuff: This is not a oneshot – haha, funny, no? Anyway, I'm still not entirely sure how long it'll run, or if anybody will like it, but here's my attempt! Haha. Set roughly after the series, should Ed return Al to his body and not end up in Germany. Ha… Nazis. I love that word.

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Catalyst

Catalyst; noun.

!) Chemistry; a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.

2) Something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected.

3) A person or thing that precipitates an event or change.

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"It's such a nice night out," Winry sighed as the trio walked down the streets of Central. It had been a year since Edward had gotten Al's body back – though his arm and leg remained automail, a fact that Winry, although his friend, couldn't be more thankful for. At least now he still had a physical need for her. It had been a year since Edward had left the military as well – no longer needing to seek out his own methods of returning his brother's soul back to his body. After all, he could live with a metal arm and leg.

"Yeah, I guess," The teen shrugged, hands placed in his pockets. It had been Al's idea that he and Winry go out to Central for a while, catch up, and just hang out for a while. After all, Al was the more sensible of the three. But he had accompanied them, too – except where he was at the moment, Ed wasn't quite certain. They had some rooms rented at a local inn, where they were staying – and although Ed was weary of letting his little brother out of his sight for more than twenty minutes, Al managed to convince him that it was best. He was tired, anyway – or so his excuse had been. He shrugged again, staring ahead of him – where the brighter lights of Central were beckoning. He had to face it, he was tired himself, but with an excited Winry at his side, he doubted he'd have much time for sleep in the next few hours.

"So, where to next?" The teen asked, fighting back the urge to yawn. Winry tilted her head, as if in serious thought. It was times like these that Ed would catch himself staring at her, just examining how her hair fell into place, or her bangs sprawled messily over her eyes – they were due for a trim, she'd tell herself, but she never seemed to get about cutting them.

"Hm… I don't know, it's getting kind of late, maybe we should head back to the inn?"

"Sounds good…" This time he couldn't fight the yawn, and before he could catch himself, he yawned, which triggered a giggle from Winry.

"Sleepy head," She laughed, hitting him in the back of the head – promptly forcing him to fall forward and struggle to remain balanced.

"Hey, what'd you do that for, Win?" He asked, sending a glare at her. But she'd gotten used to this since he'd come home, and in a few minutes, they were laughing together.

Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of the inn, just glancing at the moon – which was so bright, that Edward knew if they weren't in Central, it would still be just as bright.

"Thanks for taking me to Central, Ed," Winry smiled, looking back at her friend. It was amazing how much he'd grown since they got back – Since he doesn't have to be tiny to fight all of those big, bad monsters anymore – she'd teased him for it at first, but now it was just nice not having to look down at him. He had gloated for a while, but then he got mad when, as Winry pointed out, Al was still taller than him.

"Anytime," The other blonde said, not being much for emotional stuff – or anything short of angst, anyway. But he'd been on a much lighter note since he'd gotten home, and for that, Winry was thankful. "We'd better go inside, it's starting to get cold."

"Okay."

And that's when it all started.

From the alley down the side of the inn, a large blue spark caught Edward's attention, followed by a roughly animalistic scream. A few seconds later, a giant thing – Edward had no clue what else there was to describe the blur – shot out of the alley and into the paved street.

"Shit! Winry, get inside!" He yelled as the other blonde followed orders. The creature exalted a turn on its heels and growled back into the alley. In the light, Edward had a better glimpse of whatever the thing was – thing still being a very important term.

What stood before him, standing at least three feet at the shoulder, was a chimera, not unlike the one he'd seen so long ago with Cornello in Lior. He grit his teeth, examining the creature – a bulky lioness stood in the street, one long, colorless wing protruding from its shoulder, and where the tan furline receded, pale green scales took over in the dragon-like continuation of the creature. Long, muscled legs kept the creature up, laced with sharp, dagger-like claws. Five on her front paws, three on the scaled toes, and one in the back on each hind leg.

"Get her!" A man shouted from behind Edward, capturing his attention for a minute. Three uniformed men carrying semi-automatic rifles charged into the street, flanking the creature that was clearly big enough to cut them all down at their knees.

"What the hell is going on?" He demanded, his automail fist clenched, "Why the hell is a chimera in the middle of Central?"

"It's none of your business, kid," One of the bulkier, huskier men dismissed as he took aim at the creature's chest. Though the chimera remained idle, an intelligent gleam in its eyes as it sized up the three men, as if calculating how hard it would be to gun all three of them down before they did the same thing to her.

"I thought the state ceased the authorization to create chimeras after the parliament was formed!" He growled, his flesh fist clenching. The husky man looked back at him, clearly dumbfounded that a kid would know something as hush-hush as the chimera production – which was all the lioness needed. In the blink of an eye, with breakneck speed, the animal was on top of him – and in the same blur of movement, had deposited his headless body.

"Shit, I thought I was through with the likes of you," He growled, clapping his hand into his fist, creating a blade with his automail arm. "But I guess we've just gotta do this the hard way!" Just as the chimera was mauling the second man, he sprang at it, bringing his bladed own into the joint between its shoulder and the right wing on its back. The creature hissed, sputtered, then threw a large claw out at him, snagging on his pant leg before wrapping it around his metal leg.

"Brother!" Al yelled, appearing in the doorway of the inn with Winry not far behind him. He stared in horror as the lioness closed its razor-sharp claws around his leg, jerking her own paw toward her, which ripped the limb out of its socket. "Brother!" Al screamed again, grabbing the chalk he had in his pocket – he never left without it, because he needed it, should he need alchemy – and scribbled a circle on the stairs. A second and a flash of blue alchemical sparks later, thick, thirty-foot walls were encasing the chimera.

"Shit," Ed growled, returning his arm back to its normal state. "That hurt."

"What happened?" Al asked as he ran over to his brother, helping him up – his automail leg was missing completely, and his pants were ruined as well.

"That chimera," He said, motioning over to the walls, "It came out of that alley and killed the soldiers after it." From inside the cage, a roar reverberated against the walls. Alphonse helped him to the stairs, where he sat down, staring at his brother's handiwork.

"Say, not bad," He chuckled, rubbing his leg, "Looks like you've learned something."

"Brother…" Al said in a tone that suggested it wasn't funny. Edward sighed, watching the street as bystanders – the few who were out this late, or the few whom had been woken up – were staring at the monumental work of alchemy in bewilderment, cringing whenever the animalistic sounds were loud enough to penetrate the concrete.

"Ed… What was that?" Winry asked, sitting next to him on the steps. A few feet away, the inn owner was chatting angrily with a man, the snippets of audible conversation reflecting things like how he was supposed to fix his reputation and the road.

"That was a chimera," He sighed, shaking his head, "It's a creature created when somebody merges two or more animals into a super creature." He stared at the crater in the road, listening to the nail-on-chalkboard screeching of the chimera trying to escape. A few minutes later, sirens rang through the street, and an armored truck pulled up in front of the inn. Military officials poured out of it, gazing in awe at the wall of concrete.

"Fullmetal?" Ed glanced up from the ground, looking at a stony-faced Hawkeye.

"Oh… Heh, hi lieutenant." She watched him for a minute as the men unloaded chains and ropes from the truck, getting ready to catch the beast. A few of the men had rifles, prepared to shoot the creature should it object.

"Would you mind?" She asked, nodding back at the concrete structure. Edward laughed a sheepish laugh – though somehow it wasn't as bright or careless as Winry had remembered it to be before tonight.

"Yeah, just tell me when."

"On the count of three, men," She called back at the men, who nodded.

"One…" They tensed, the men with the chains threw them back over their shoulders – being husky men like the first soldier earlier that night, and prepared to throw them around the beast contained in the street.

"Two…" The riflemen took aim.

"Three!"

Edward clapped his hands to the ground, collapsing the structure in the middle of the road. Shots filled the air as the riflemen tried to scare the chimera into submission – and the regal beast, with its breakneck speed and blinding agility didn't have much of a chance to escape. Chain lassos secured around whatever they could get a hold of – its neck, legs, the single wing on its back. Edward noticed the particularly nasty looking patch of white fur along its shoulder, where the other wing would have been. Figures, He thought, It must have lost its pigment when it scarred over.

The men heaved at the chains, and the riflemen shot vials of translucent blue liquid at the chimera. In ten minutes, it was resisting the urge to fight back, and was loaded into the back of the armored car.

"What was that?" Edward asked Hawkeye as she rounded up troops and prepared to bring the chimera wherever it would be taken. "In the vials, that they shot at it?"

"A special tranquilizer," She explained. "Made especially for this one. We didn't have anything strong enough before."

And with that, they left.

"Well, I'd say we'd better get to bed," Edward laughed, trying to shrug off the situation. Winry nodded somberly and headed upstairs, followed quickly by the two brothers.

"'Night," Ed called as he and Al detoured into their room, while Winry went into her own.

Though try as he might, he never got more than three hours sleep, for whenever he closed his eyes, the intelligent eyes of the chimera plagued him.

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Other: Well, here's chapter one. It's a little choppy, but everything will smooth out from here. Review, people! Tell me if you liked it, if you didn't, or what I could possibly change in future chapters. I always love getting your input. :3