Author's Notes: Thank you for waiting. At long last, here is chapter 9. The next chapter will be the finale, so please, enjoy this one! Get set for some adventures in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender!
Chapter 9:Family problems
Jade tentatively plugged in the 413th version of their replacement targeting computer, and braced for an explosion.
An explosion that never came.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, and whooped in delight as the computer's lights came on, the hard drives spinning up and the fans coming online.
"We did it!" Jade turned to her ecto-sibling.
"We can leave!" an equally excited John replied.
The two God Tiers embraced each other happily, before remembering that they still had unfinished business.
"Oh yeah." Jade grumbled as she let her arms fall to her side, "I agreed to meet their… 'Fuhrer'…"
John nodded sympathetically, "We should also say goodbye, common courtesy and all that."
The two Skaian heroes cleaned up the remains of failed computers and prepared to leave to wrap things up.
"Ready for teleport, John?" Jade asked John, who shook his head, "Nah, I was thinking of a more… thrilling route."
Without warning John opened one of the smaller windows on the Bridge, and used his windy powers to propel himself over the side of the ship. As he began his barely controlled descent, he screamed in excitement. Jade shook her head in amusement, "Really, skydiving, John? You're such a child."
The Witch of Space then proceeded to teleport right off the deck of the ship, and followed her friend, "Then again, I am too!"
[Somewhere in Central…]
Vriska slowly came to, and as she gathered her thoughts, she took note of her situation. For starters, she was blindfolded. Also, she was tied to a chair, and the ropes and handcuffs were pretty tight. In addition, to top it all off, she had no clue how this happened. Was Terezi engaging in some Legislacerator-fetish? No, Vriska wasn't alone, and whoever else was in the room didn't sound like Terezi. In fact, Vriska couldn't recognize the sound of the other person in the room.
Then it all came back to her. She had been wrenched from her dream bubble, and ended up in another world! She quickly did an inventory of what she had, as much as she could without moving. From the feel of it, she was still wearing her Mindfang outfit. Her wings had folded up again, and they seemed intact, which was good. No weapons, though, and no Flourite Octet to speak of. However, her body still hummed with the power from her most powerful roll; Ancestral Awakening.
That's weird; she didn't remember rolling her dice. Not only that, but the power from that technique should have worn off long ago. This somehow felt more… permanent.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a voice cut through the silence, "I know you're awake, why not cut out the unconscious act?"
Vriska felt displeased. This person saw through her? She must be out of practice.
Putting on the biggest grin possible and displaying her sharp teeth, she laughed, "Well, aren't you the perceptive one? You caught me, nice job! Mind telling me your name, Mr. Perceptive?"
There was an audible pause before the man said, "I am Colonel Roy Mustang of the Amestrian military. Now, tell me your name and title, if you have one."
Vriska didn't like being given orders, but it's not as if she had anything against telling her name.
"My name is Vriska Serket!" she stated, grinning smugly, "Thief of Light, and descendant of the great Marquise Spinneret Mindfang!"
"What kind of name is that?"
"Well what kind of name is 'Roy Mustang?' Your first name is a sauce and your last name is a horse!"
"You're thinking of 'soy', not 'Roy'."
"Same thing."
Mustang frowned at the creature sitting across the table from him. It was managing to pull off a smug and condescending attitude despite being tied and blindfolded.
"Anyways," he continued, "we would like to know what kind of chimera you are."
The expression on Vriska's face turned to confusion, "I beg your pardon?"
"What kind of chimera are you?"
"What's a chimera?"
Roy nearly let his head fall onto the desk. He really didn't like having to explain things.
"A chimera," he groaned, "is a fusion of two or more animals using alchemy."
Vriska frowned, "I don't know what kind of things you're using your alchemiter for, but I'm nothing like what you're describing. I'm an Alternian Troll. (Note: The word "troll" in this sentence was stupposed to be written in Alternian font, but it might not appear due to internet shenanigans. If it doesn't appear in English, then this note is pointless, and will be illegible, since I'm sure you can't understand Alternian. If it is in English, damn. I hate formatting issues.)
At the very foreign and unfamiliar word, Roy narrowed his eyebrows, "An Alternian what?"
Vriska tilted her head to the side, taking pleasure in the man's confusion.
"I believe the closest translation for English is 'Troll'. I don't think it's the most flattering translation, but it'll do."
Roy stood up, and got ready to leave, "Since it appears you're not in the mood to tell me the truth, I'll come back to visit you later. Let's see if you're in the mood for bullshit after you experience waterboarding."
The Thief of Light waited until she heard the door close, then she began to work on her cuffs. If she was very lucky, she could probably trip the mechanism…
Click.
She smiled. She had all the luck, all of it.
The next person to enter the room, on the other hand, was just all out of luck.
[Below the ship]
John landed like a feather drifting to the earth, a stark contrast to his rapid descent at terminal velocity a few seconds ago.
Jade landed with all the grace of an anvil. The cloud of debris rose five feet high and shot outwards for several meters. Standing in the middle of a newly formed crater, the Witch of Space dusted herself off.
"That was fun!" Jade shouted enthusiastically at John, who was kept clean in a little circulating bubble of air he erected as soon as he saw his ecto-sibling hit the ground.
"Tell that to the workers." John gestured at a road-repair crew, who were about 20 meters away, working on a section of the road that had been wrecked a few days ago. The crew gaped at Jade, and a few of them sobbed openly.
Jade's ears flattened against her head in embarrassment, as she twiddled her fingers, "Oh, um… sorry about your road."
Her apology did nothing to console the distressed workers, as a few more of them broke out in hysterics.
Because Jade had landed on a section of road they had just finished building.
As the two awkwardly left the scene, an Amestrian soldier stopped the pair.
"Ah, it's you two. I have orders to lead you to our Fuhrer."
Jade sighed in resignation, "Alright, take me to your leader."
As they followed the uniformed soldier, John gave Jade a look.
"Really?" he asked.
"I'm bored!" was the response.
As the two God Tiers were led to an underground tunnel, Jade warily glanced around at the piping lining the walls.
"What's wrong, Jade?" John asked, concerned as well.
"There's something down here," Jade answered apprehensively, "we're not alone."
The two of them cautiously followed the soldier into a large room with pipes inlaid in the ground. Most of the large chamber was cloaked in darkness.
"Alright, wise guy," Jade ejected her Green Sun Street Sweeper from her Sylladex, and armed it, "the jig's up, why did you really take us down here?"
The soldier turned around, a grin stretching across his face, "Why, to take you to my leader, of course!" Red static sparked all over his body as he suddenly shape-shifted into young looking man with numerous strands of braided hair.
Jade promptly burst out into hysterics, doubling over as she laughed her ass off.
"Wh…What is it?!" the man sputtered, knowing full well that Jade was laughing at him.
"Your…your hair!" Jade gasped, "It looks ridiculous!"
"Don't laugh at me!" the man yelled at Jade, "I'm Envy! A homunculus! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"
Jade snickered, "Nope," before bursting out in laughter again.
Envy snarled, "Shut the hell up!"
John ejected his Pop-o-matic Vrillyhoo hammer, and flourished it intimidatingly, "Alright, enough with the menacing tone, Mr. Dreadlocks. Who asked you to bring us here?"
"I did."
John and Jade turned to the new voice emanating from the shadows. Lights slowly illuminated a throne of concrete, with pipes and tubes trailing out from the back. A stocky, elderly man with a white beard rose from his throne, dressed in white robes. "The Witch of Space, I understand? Such a… quaint name. I am Father."
John tilted his head to the side in confusion, "Father? Father of whom?"
Father smiled, "Father of them."
Lights flooded the room, revealing more individuals. A woman dressed in rather seductive clothes and a fat, round man with a childish face were unveiled. The former smiled smugly at the kids, and the latter gave the two a curious look.
"As we are both beings of power," Father addressed Jade, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to arrange an… alliance of sorts."
Jade frowned, "What?"
"I have… plans… for this country," Father continued, "your power would be quite useful in my endeavors. I was wondering whether you'd be willing to lend assistance."
"No."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The answer is no, old geezer. I have friends who need my help, and I can't spend any time helping you in your megalomaniacal schemes."
Father shook his head in disappointment, "A pity. Well, if you will not give your power willingly, I will simply take it. Pride, contain them."
In an instant, John and Jade were beset upon by shadows.
[Above ground]
"You idiots! Come back here and face your judgement!"
Edward and Alphonse Elric were running for their lives. They had hoped it would take longer for their teacher to find them, but it was not to be.
Izumi Curtis was hot on their heels, fully intending to beat both brothers within an inch of their life. They could explain themselves later, but right now, her fists had their names on them.
Winry watched as Ed and Al dashed past her, running from a very angry woman in white. She sighed; those two were always getting into trouble. She followed, hoping to defuse whatever situation had developed. Either that or she'd clobber Ed with her wrench if it really was his fault.
[A dead end, a near-death experience, and a lengthy explanation later…]
The Elric brothers sat across from Izumi Curtis, each with solemn looks gracing their features.
"So that's what happened, huh?" said Izumi, "The students repeat the mistake of the teacher."
They all hung their heads, "We're all idiots." Izumi sadly commented.
After indulging a moment of self-pity, she suddenly became serious. In fact, the situation could be seen as slightly comical, "All right, so you two called me here for a reason, and I highly doubt it was so I could administer a beating."
Ed shelved his negative feelings, and got right down to the point, "Yes, Al and I were trying to work it out ourselves, but we kind of hit a dead end. You are aware of the destruction that Central sustained a few days ago, right?"
"Yes, what of it? I heard it was an earthquake."
"Well…no. I'm not even really supposed to tell you this, but all that damage was caused by a single person."
"What? No. It can't have!"
"The person responsible is a 16-year old girl by the name of Jade Harley. She and her brother arrived in Central a few days ago… on a giant flying ship."
"… Please tell me you're joking, Edward."
"I wish I were, Teacher. She and her brother have pulled off alchemy of which the likes I've never seen. She's even transported herself over large distances! Can you imagine the type of power that would require?"
"Al, please tell me your brother is joking."
"Sorry, Teacher, he's not. This girl is actually transmuting herself over distances up to a mile."
Izumi closed her eyes and thought for a moment, "But to do that without breaking equivalent exchange would require…" her eyes shot open, "a Philosopher's Stone."
Ed shook his head, "She has no stone on her, and whatever power source she's using, it's undetectable. Trying to find the source of her power has been the bane of my existence these past few days, believe me."
"And how do you think I can help?"
Ed looked Izumi straight in the eye, "We think she's directly related to Truth."
Izumi flinched, "Directly… related?"
"As in she's either affiliated with it, made a deal with it, or, worst case scenario, she is Truth."
"That's impossible, Truth is an entity based on the laws of the world."
"You should've heard her talk. She could've fooled me."
"Sorry Edward, this is a bit much to process…"
Ed leaned back against the chair he was sitting in, "Take your time, Jade isn't going anywhere. If she tries to leave, everyone has orders to detain her. As much as I hate doing a thing like that, this girl might be the only hope to getting Al's body back. We have to find out what she really is."
Izumi sighed, "Well, let me talk to her before I go jumping to any conclusions. If this situation blows out of control, there's no telling what could happen."
[Back beneath Central…]
Everything was chaos.
Razor-sharp tendrils sliced the air all around John and Jade, reducing the floor to fine dust and impeding John's attempts to control the wind, as the currents kept getting disrupted. John's hammer was pretty ineffective, and the only weapon that was having any sort of effect was the Green Sun Streetsweeper.
"Oh for crying out loud," Jade grunted, sidestepping a lunging tendril, "Use this!"
Jade tossed her gun through the air, which John deftly snatched out of the air and quickly turned on their shadowy assailant.
Green fire roared around the pair as John pushed the limit of the gun and Jade unleashed widespread destruction with the unbridled force of the Green Sun. That, and she was swinging around her katana, not that she needed to.
Nonetheless, Pride seemed to take interest in the weapon, and attempted to bite it clean in two.
The results weren't exactly what he expected.
As his teeth ground against the unyielding metal, Jade sneered, "What's wrong, taste something you don't like?" before smashing the shadowy maw with a vicious sidekick.
"Impossible!" Envy snarled, "Pride should be able to bite through anything! Nothing can-"
"Impossible?" Jade interrupted, "Think again, F*ckass. Alright, enough of the small fry!"
In an instant, the entire room was saturated in the energy of the Green Sun. Green lightning arced off Jade, striking Envy, Pride, Lust, and Gluttony. Father was untouched, and was the only one left standing after the furious attack subsided.
"Like I said," Jade growled at Father, "we don't have time to waste on your megalomaniacal shenanigans."
Father frowned, affixing the dog-eared girl with a stern gaze.
"You shouldn't have rejected my offer. Now you really will suffer."
A titanium cage leapt up around Jade out of the floor, without warning. Jade blasted it to dust in a second, but immediately after that, a spike sprang out from the floor behind her and impaled her.
Jade gritted her teeth in pain, unable to scream as the spike destroyed her lungs and heart. The spike crumbled, and Jade crumpled to the ground, out cold.
"Jade!" John cried out, erecting a protective dome of wind around the pair of them.
A dome that was torn apart by stone obstructions that rose up out of the floor.
"Now, you will serve us, willingly or not." Father stated, as if it meant nothing to him.
Then Father himself was enclosed in a metal cylinder, and a man who looked like a younger version of Father appeared, warily watching the improvised prison.
"Go!" he yelled, "I'll buy you two some time."
John nodded thankfully, if a bit confused, and carried Jade away.
The metal cylinder was atomized, and a pissed looking Father glared at Hohenheim.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" he hissed.
"You don't know what you were dealing with." Said Hohenheim.
"And you do?" Father retorted.
"Yes," Hohenheim answered, "They were more powerful than you could have possible imagined. That girl could have wiped all of you out of existence."
"But I subdued her!" Father shouted in an outrage, "I could've controlled them! They were weak; if that girl was so powerful, then why did she not exercise that power?!"
"Because she was being merciful."
Then the fight began.
John had to close his eyes as the signature strobing lights of God Tier Resurrection pulsed his face, but once they ended, he smiled to hear his ecto-sibling's voice, even if she was groaning in discomfort.
"What… what happened?" Jade groggily asked.
"We were rescued," John responded, grunting as he set Jade down on her own feet, "but I think it's time we high-tailed it out of this universe."
"I agree," Jade looked at her blood-stained clothing, "Argh, this blood will take forever to wash out."
John shrugged, opening the door to the outside, "Well, I think I can alchemize up some stain remover, we'll have all the time in the world once we leave this pla-"
"Hey asshole." A new voice interrupted John, making him turn around to face the speaker.
He came face to face with several guns and a metal arm with a knife at the end. Also, there was a glove with a design on it.
Edward Elric glared at John, "We need to have a little chat."
