Cheers erupted from the gathered military personnel. Karma noticed the people around them for the first time and blushed. The orchestra began again after a moment of silence for the crowd.

"I need to sit," she whispered to Ed. He took her hand to lead her off the floor. Whistles followed them as they moved toward one of the smaller tables toward the other side of the room. The bar was open in the back corner near a long table that was still serving food.

"I had no idea you could dance like that," Winry said as Ed helped Karma into her seat. Ed flashed a smile at his long-time friend.

"Don't let Al fool you, he can do it too. We learned across the gate in Germany." Edward said, giving his brother a slight shove toward the dance floor.

Al laughed, "But you were always better than me brother."

"Nah Al, you were just as good."

"Speaking of good dancers," Karma nodded toward the dance floor where another couple had taken the place of Ed and herself.

The woman's golden blonde hair flowed just past her shoulders onto pale skin. Black straps crossed over her shoulders and across her back, showing a few scars. Riza Hawkeye's black dress clung to her body like a second skin. Mustang moved in perfect sync with his blonde partner. He and Riza were a vision in black and white as they glided over the dance floor.

"I didn't know Roy could Waltz!" Karma said quietly.

Ed looked down at her, "How do you know Mustang?"

"When I went through military training he was one of the instructors," Karma explained, "he taught physical combat which, as you've seen, was one of my strongest points."

Applause signaled the end of the waltz. The couple made their way through the crowd of military personnel toward the small group's table.

"I didn't know either of you could dance," Winry exclaimed.

"Roy likes to keep it under wraps so he can show off when something like this comes up." Riza said, patting her partner's shoulder. Mustang's larger hand snatched hers, bringing her knuckles to his lips.

"You give yourself no credit," he said as he lowered her hand, still in his, "you are the one everyone was staring at."

Ed rolled his eyes at his sometimes-rival. "Yeah well you were only so popular because we cleared the floor first," he grumbled.

Ed's gold eyes glanced down as Karma's fist lightly connected with his stomach. She was attempting to glare at him, and failing as her eyes glimmered and her lips twitched into a smile.

The evening was gone and passed before anyone of the three couples realized it. Before they realized it, the clock was chiming 11. The ball came to an end, people were saying their goodbyes. Ed, Al, Karma, and Winry waved at the happy couple they had spent the entire night with.

They began to make their way back to the hotel, joking and laughing in the darkened streets. None of them noticed the man in the street until they were almost on top of him. Karma was the first to notice him, stopping abruptly. He was standing in the middle of the narrow road as if he had been expecting someone.

Ed, who'd had a bit to drink, stepped forward. "Hey, what is up with you? Just standing out here? You just like to hang out in street by yourself?"

The man chuckled, raising his head so his blonde hair fall into his cornflower blue eyes.

"Why no Edward, I was simply waiting for you," said the man once known as Russell Tringham.

Karma's breath stopped. That face, she thought she would never see that face again. Ed and Al were saying something but she couldn't hear them. Those blue eyes locked on her and the rest of the world fell away. Her mind was telling her to run but her body wouldn't move.

Breathe! She screamed at herself, you aren't helpless anymore!

His held her gaze, "Come now darling, we can't keep the nice people waiting here all night."

Karma could only manage to shake her head slowly. She knew she was hyperventilating but she couldn't seem to slow her breathing down.

"Either you come with me now or I can drag you, kicking and screaming." He extended a fingerless-gloved hand toward the group, "your choice."

Karma shuttered, feeling those eyes scan every inch of her.

"My, my," he said, "I had forgotten how beautiful you are sweet heart."

"What do you want with her Russell?" Ed growled, trying to understand Karma's reaction.

"No need to worry about that Edward. Now am I going to have to use force here?"

"You think you can fight Al and me and win?" Ed tried to smile or laugh, "You must have killed a big part of your brain with one of your experiments."

The pale face hardened, "It seems you leave me no choice." His outstretched fingers snapped.

Ed and Al whipped around as Winry cried out. A teenage Ishbalan girl had a knife to her throat. Winry tried to struggle but only managed to have the knife pressed into her skin, opening a small cut that began to bleed.

"Let her go!" Al yelled as he and Ed began moving toward them at a run.

"Not that one you idiot," the taller blonde man shouted.

The girl sneered and quickly shoved Winry into the brothers, knocking all three of them to the ground. Ed looked up, trying to find Karma. What he saw made him look twice.

On one side he saw her fighting the girl who had held Winry. But on his other side she was throwing all she had into keeping Russell away. It didn't make sense, there were two of her! He stood, still looking back and forth between them.

"Confused Edward," Russell asked, "I thought you might be." The Karma on his side yelped as her fist hit his cheek, which had blackened. He smiled, revealing slightly pointed teeth. "Karma darling it seems you have found I'm much harder to harm than regular people."

"You don't have permission to use my name," she snapped through gritted teeth as she swung at him with her left hand, her right hand she held close to her side. This time he dodged and caught her hand as she lunged past him, pulling her up next to him.

"Greed," the teenager yelled behind them. The brothers and Winry turned to see the other Karma apparently knocked out and thrown over the girls shoulder. It was only then, seeing the girls face in the light that they noticed her left eye. It was white with an Ouroboros symbol where her iris should be.

"We have what you came for," the Ishbalan girl snarled. She began running toward one of the many dark alleyways that branched from the road. Greed followed, dragging the still conscious Karma along as if she weighed nothing and wasn't fighting every step.

Ed took off after them, closely followed by his brother. Al yelled over his shoulder,

"We'll meet you back at the inn Winry!"

"Don't either of you dare die on me!" She shouted after them. Her fear for her two closest friends was foremost on her mind as she quickly made her way back to the inn.

"I should have gone with them," she mumbled to herself, dismissing the fact that she could never keep up in the high heels she was wearing.

Don't be silly, she thought, they're more than capable of taking care of themselves. Winry shook her head, all she could do now was sit in her room and worry the way she always did.

~~*~~

"Envy," Al said as the realization hit him.

"What?" Ed yelled back at him.

"That's why there are two of Karma; one of them must be the new Envy!" Al was proven correct as the figure Greed had been dragging became taller, the dresses skirt disappearing to reveal running legs.

In the darkness Ed almost missed the real Karma's shift from the Ishbalan teen, who could only be the new Pride, to Greed. The two figures, one on either side of Greed, slowed down and turned to face the Elric brothers. As they both stepped into a bar of moonlight they stopped. Physically they were identical, having the natural tan skin and red eyes of the Ishbalan race and long hair, their outfits were the only obvious difference.

"So," Ed growled, "are you really twins or did one of you just play look-alike to try to confuse us?"

"Hello to you also Edward Elric," the one across from him spoke. "Greed has told us so much about you." This one, Envy, wore clothes that reminded both brothers of the previous Envy. Her thick brown hair was held back with a black headband. Her upper body was covered with clinging black fabric that ended a scant few inches below her breasts and a black skirt barley reached mid-thigh with slits on either side up to her hips. Black fingerless gloves came up to her elbows, covering her forearms completely.

"To answer your question," the other, Pride, said, "I would certainly hope you are able to notice the difference between us. I usually wear a cover over my eye but I decided against it for our meeting." She wore an identical headband that kept her wealth of hair out of her face. Her top half was encased in a black corset with thin straps over her shoulders, black pants held her shapely legs with only strips of fabric keeping the outer edges together.

"Where are you taking her?" Ed snapped, his patience quickly fraying.

"No introductions?" Pride tilted her head.

"How rude," Envy scoffed. "Guess we should teach them a lesson in manners."

Ed and Al, who had been silent through everything, braced themselves, knowing the fight was coming. The girls only smiled at them as they began to circle the brothers. They looked like harmless teenage girls, just fully maturing into the bodies of women. One minute they were innocent and circling, the next they were ferociously attacking the Elric brothers.

--

A/N: Yeah I know, it's a crappy end to a chapter but I couldn't think of anything and I wanted to move on. I might come back and fix it if I figure something out. Leave me some comments, they really do help believe it or not!