Desperate Measures Chapter 2: Discovering a New World
Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the really late update. I just finished my other story but now that that is over I will regularly update this one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing expect the original plot of this story. I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or The Legend of Korra.
3rd Person P.O.V
"We meet again, Roy Mustang." A thousand voices uttered in a sickening chorus. Roy had braced himself for this or so he thought as he turned to face the Truth; a bare, hairless, white figure with no distinct features. It was grinning widely as if it had been expecting him. Roy reminded himself once again that he had nothing to be afraid of. Dr. Marco had given him his sight back with a Philosopher's Stone; the only thing that could surpass the Law of Equivalent Exchange; the only thing that could surpass the Truth. But still the few hazy images of his last visit to the Gate continued to run through his mind like an endless reel. Would the Truth try once again to punish him?
"I see that you've gained back what I've taken from you." The timeless voice inquired. Panic rippled through Roy's mind
"What do you want from me?" Roy yelled.
"Want from you? It's not that I want anything from anyone. It's what they deserve."
"I didn't deserve what happened to me!" Roy accused. "I was forced into it."
"That doesn't change the fact that you committed the taboo. You transmuted a human." The Truth replied.
Before the Truth could take anything more from him he sprinted to the door opposite of where he stood. He didn't bother to try to attack the milky figure as he passed for he knew if the Truth wanted him to stay, he wouldn't have much choice in the matter. Surprisingly, the Truth did nothing as the young man passed. He merely watched as the man pushed the heavy stone doors open and fell into the abyss that lay within them. He knew that Roy Mustang would soon be back, whether or not something would have to be taken from this man; was up to him.
Roy felt himself falling head first into the darkness; there were no signs of life. Even the door had long since disappeared with distance. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever arrive in a new world at all, when suddenly the blackness around him began to spiral into colours and he became very quickly surrounded by a rapidly spinning vortex of colour. Slowly the vortex slowed and with the new speed, shapes began to form. Soon Roy was able to make out distinct shapes; they were buildings, golden buildings. Soon Roy could feel a certain coldness against his cheek which eventually spread to his stomach, and his legs. He was lying face down on a sidewalk; he realized. He was lying face down on a sidewalk surrounded by golden buildings. Roy Mustang had found himself in a golden city in a different world.
~NEXT SCENE~
He groaned as he forced his body off of the ground and lifted himself to his feet. He hadn't remembered hitting the ground at all, but the after affects of one such fall raged through his pulsing head and bruising legs. It was dark here, save the few street lamps, with no sign of the redness of early morning. No one wandered the streets and Roy couldn't see any incoming traffic on the roads. Thankfully no one had seen Roy's dramatic entrance into the city or at least they hadn't stayed to confront him, so he allowed himself a quick sigh of relief.
As Roy began to wander the streets of this otherworldly city he found that in fact, it looked rather normal. It reminded him of the few times he had been to Xing; the buildings seem to have a motif of greens, reds, and golds, and each building shared a similar grooved roof that jutted upwards at the edges. But as much as Roy would have liked to admire the architecture he couldn't; he came here on a mission. Was there anything in this world that could help Amestris win the war? As he sauntered through the streets he was beginning to doubt so.
Soon he found himself following along a bay where a substantial lone statue stood erected in the middle of the water. In the background even large majestic mountains appeared minimal to the majesty of the stone monument. The statue was of a bald monk who held his staff out in front of him as if he meant to shield the city. On the monk's forehead was this most peculiar arrow and he wore the strangest clothes, it made Roy wonder if this person had ever really existed. What type of people lived in this world? Were any of them alchemists, or were they something else?
As Roy began to ponder he realized that travelling the city during the dead of the night probably wasn't the most productive way to search. It would be much easier to find something if he could ask someone to explain it for him. On this note Roy followed some streets signs to a rather spacious, lush park. He forced himself to shallow his pride and despite everything he had ever taught himself, he curled up on a park bench and fell asleep; hopeful for what the next day could bring.
~Next Scene~
Roy awoke with the early morning sun in his eyes and a very noticeable kink in his back but thankfully his admittedly, naïve optimism about the strange city he had found himself in, intact. He stood up with a jolt and began to stretch out his aching muscles when suddenly he heard a nearby bush rustle.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty! Did you have a nice rest?" a straggly voice called from behind him. Mustang turned on his heel to find a rather cheerful, silver-bearded face popped out of the bush. As the man stood up Roy found the man to be stout with a large, toothy grin that lacked a few of its teeth. Why was this man watching him? Did he perhaps see Roy enter the city the night before?
"What are you doing?" Mustang demanded coldly.
"Just trying to help out a brother." The man assured. "You know if you need a place to sleep, I recommend the bushes, they're really quite nice."
"You slept in there?" Roy asked incredulous.
"Why yes indeed! Quite comfortably in fact." He replied. Roy soon came to the conclusion that this man couldn't possibly have the deductive prowess to suspect him. But Roy couldn't quite leave this strange man and be on his merry way quite yet.
"Alright then…." Roy trailed off attempting to start a new conversation. "As you can see I'm a bit lost….. can you tell me where I am?"
"You're worst off than I thought brother." The man sighed. "Ok you are in a park…." He stated slowly as if explaining a complex situation to a small child.
"Yes I know that!" Roy cried, getting frustrated. He took a deep breathe through his nose and tried again. "What city are we in?"
"The great Republic city, of course!" he replied blinking his eyes in confusion.
"Thank you." Roy sighed thankful he finally was getting some answers. "Can you direct me towards the center of town?"
"You're not from around here are you? Those clothes of yours look mighty strange." He replied stroking his beard as he contemplated.
"Well you see…" Roy started in attempt to explain himself.
"Wait no need to tell me." He said raising a hand to silence the young man. "I don't judge. If you want to get into the hustle-bustle of the city just take that bridge over there until you reach the merchants."
"Thank you." Roy said as he gave the peculiar man a firm handshake before he began to run to the bridge. Today he was going to find something. He needed something, anything to save his country. He had become Furher in order to rebuild the country, but how could he rebuild a country that had been reduced to rubble?
~Next Scene~
Roy Mustang suppressed his morbid thoughts as he quickened his strides towards the heart of Republic city. He was surprised to see the city that had seemed so empty to him last night, now was filled with so much life. As he travelled on the city sidewalks towards the merchant sector he heard the rumbling of car engines pass as traffic clogged the roads, and the chattering of excited townspeople as he passed them on the street. What seemed strange was that all the people seemed to be dressed in a similar fashion. They all wore similar reds, greens, and blues with similar pattern embroidered into the cloth. Each person was individual; yet the same. Was this just part of the way these people lived?
Despite the few cultural oddities Roy had been witnessing he couldn't see anything of use to him. Until suddenly he felt the chill of a massive shadow pass over him.
Roy craned his neck to the skies to find a large, floating, metal structure bloating out the sun. It was massive! At least 5 or 6 tanks long he estimated. Metal supports supported a curved case and propellers mounted to the machine's exterior constantly spun keeping the large frame afloat. It was a true flying machine! This world had made a machine that could actually fly! Roy briefly remembered their being a short-lived project for something like this in Amestris but it was quickly scrapped in order to focus on alchemic research. This flying monstrosity was exactly what Amestris needed. All Roy needed now was to figure out how to get one for himself.
Roy searched frantically for someone who could give him answers and his eyes immediately fell upon an official looking gentleman decked out in a uniform completely made of metal, standing at attention on the street corner. He appeared to wear some type of police badge on his uniform so he assumed this man must have been a part of the local authorities.
"Excuse me, officer?" Roy called. When the words came out of his mouth he was surprised to hear how winded he sounded, it came out as more of a wheeze than coherent speech.
"Yes, is there anything I can help you with?" The man asked looking rather suspicious.
"Yes, you see that?" Roy said pointing to the floating marvel. "Who invented it?"
"Hiroshi Sato." He replied staring at Roy as if he had grown a second head.
"Is he still alive?" Roy asked excited to be one step closer to his prize. "Where can I find him?" he finished.
"Sir… are you OK?" The police officer asked skeptically. Mustang realized what he had been asking could have been viewed as strange so he quickly tried to remedy the situation.
"Well, you see I'm from a small town and I don't really know much about what happens in the city…." Roy explained trying to sound meek and sincere. Roy saw a brief flicker of surprise cross the police officer's face before he responded.
"Hiroshi Sato is currently a prisoner in Republic City Jail for his involvement in the Equalist Movement." The guard offered solemnly.
"I see…" Roy replied still determined to find Hiroshi Sato even if it did mean visiting the prison. "Thank you for the help."
"Wait a minute, Sir." The officer ordered.
"What is it?"
"That chain coming out of your pocket…. Would that happen to be a pocket watch?" The man asked. Why would this man be asking about his State Alchemist pocket watch? In this world it had no significance; it was just a pocket watch. But Roy still pulled the intricate metal work out of his pocket for the officer to inspect.
"Strange design; is it custom made?" The officer asked all of a sudden rather intrigued.
"Yeah…" Roy drawled on as he was beginning to become kind of weirded out in this man's interest in pocket watches.
"I see, sorry to bother you."
"No problem." Mustang responded as he made his way down the street in order to begin his search for the criminal inventor oblivious to the watchful eyes of the police officer that followed him until he finally walked out of sight.
~Next Scene~
"Sato, you have a visitor!" called the security guard as he opened the door into the secluded room to allow Roy to see the convicted inventor. It was a plain room; bland in color with only a metal table and two chairs as furniture. "Mr. Roy Mustang. He claims he knows you from when you were kids?" Roy had hoped the guard wouldn't mention his fib in front of Sato but thankfully the man didn't contradict his lie. He remained unresponsive and stared blankly at the table he was seated at.
"You have 10 minutes." The guard informed Roy as he briskly left the room slamming the door behind him.
"Mr. Sato?" Roy asked trying to establish communication as he pulled out the rather noisy chair opposite Sato.
"I don't know you." The man replied simply his vacant and cold eyes only looking at Roy for a brief moment. Even so his stare was enough to send a shiver done his spine. This man clearly had lost everything. He no longer had anything to live for; he was just waiting for the day that death would come and finally take him. Roy smirked a little on the inside because this was exactly the type of man that Roy needed. Only this type of person would be desperate enough to try to travel to another world for a second chance.
"I want you to build your machines for me." Roy stated simply leaning closer towards Sato as he stared him square in the eyes to prove his honesty. Shockingly the fire returned to the old man's eyes instantly but the gaze was not of determination, but of anger.
"You must be joking. That's what got me thrown in this dump. I'm never getting out if you hadn't realized." He explained his voice rising in contempt as he gestured to his surroundings.
"What if I told you there was a way to get you out of here?" Roy asked calmly his voice as thick and slow as honey.
"I'd call you insane. Rightfully! You're probably just another one of those wretched benders trying to prolong the torture that is my life!" Sato accused.
"I don't know what a bender is…." Roy started. "But I'm not one."
"Then what are you?" Sato asked his voice dripping with hatred.
Roy clapped his hands together and touched the metal table. When he lifted his hands a rough metal sculpture of dancing flames rose from the table. "I am an alchemist." Roy allotted Sato a few moments to let the information he provided sink in but the shocked look of dazzled amazement never left Sato's eyes.
"That's not possible."
"It is where I'm from." Roy said. He quickly ran his gloved hand through his cropped hair and took a deep breath trying to get back on task. "Where I'm from…. were in trouble to say the least. We need your inventions to save us."
"So you're telling me that if I agree to build for you, you'll break me out of prison." Sato clarified.
"Yes."
"Then Mr. Mustang you have a deal." He replied putting his hand out for Roy to shake. "Where is this place you're from?"
"Not in this world." Roy admitted. "It's called Amestris."
"You can take me to a different world?"
"I can and I will Mr. Sato."
~End Chapter~