SHONEN ALLIANCE
BOOK OF THE SHADOWS
EPISODE 28
The Peaceful Homunculus
Opening Theme: Hologram (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)
An hour later, Amestris was in an uproar as military personnel were preparing for the war that was certain to soon begin. In central, in a large street, the Elric brother's and their team were teleported into the city by Shantella.
"Man, been awhile since we've been here," Ed declared.
"Yeah, I honestly can't say I'm sure how accurate a statement that is," Vine replied, "for all either of us knows, we could have been here yesterday."
"It would have to have been longer than that because it took you a few days after getting your memories back to arrive in Risembool from Liore," Shantella replied.
"Ahh, be quiet, you know what I meant," Vine replied, "speaking of, aren't you this little lady's knight, Fullmetal?" Vine replied glancing back at the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Huh, oh yeah, something like that," Ed replied.
"Ah, General Vine, I'm glad to see you," a familiar voice said from behind them. They all turned to see Fuhrer King Bradley standing behind them.
"It's the Fuhrer," Alphonse declared.
"Well, if it isn't the two Hohenheim brothers," Bradley declared, smiling gently, "I didn't know you were acquainted with Van Hohenheim's sons, Raging Blast."
"What do you mean 'Hohenheim brothers'!" Ed shouted angrily, "we're the Elric brothers! There's no way we'd let ourselves be called by our good for nothing father's last names."
"Soooo… am I the only one who noticed he called Vine General again?" Ali asked.
"I noticed, I just gave up. Apparently, I'm not a Colonel anymore," Vine sighed, "too bad, Colonel Vine just sounds so much cooler then General Vine."
"What do you mean?" Winry asked.
"Well, think about it this way, my name is Vine. Now it's true that it is my heritage rich Darcsen name, of which I am very proud, but it's also a type of plant. Now when you say Colonel Vine, it's easy to realize immediately that you're talking about the person, because I've never heard of a vine called Colonel. On the other hand, when you say General Vine, people could get confused as to whether you're talking about yours truly, or a general, run-of-the-mill plant," Vine replied.
"You're kidding right?" Winry sighed.
"How long were you rehearsing that line for?" Ali asked, obviously annoyed.
"Please, at least when I rehearse my spills, they at least sound half way well thought out. Even I have to admit that that argument sounded like garbage," Vine replied.
"Hmmm? Well, I'm not sure what you're talking about, but…" Bradley replied.
"There you are!" a familiar voice shouted as an orange flash shot past them, tackling Edward as it did. The other heroes turned their head to see Ichigo, strangling Edward from behind.
"Gahh… I…chigo… what're you doing!" Edward gasped.
"This is payback for that carrot-top crack you short little mouse! It's bad enough I've gotta deal with Aliasse now!"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHORT LITTLE MOUSE YOU CARROT HAIRED FREAK!" Ed shouted angrily as the two began an all-out fist fight.
"Well they're certainly… energetic," Kakashi sighed.
"They're idiots, this is almost as bad as actually having Naruto or Luffy around," Miria sighed.
"Hey, I don't wanna hear any complaints," Renji declared, "I have to deal with Ichigo on a regular basis."
"I don't even wanna hear it," Vine ordered, "Al and I have to deal with Ed on a regular basis, so you can just deal with it. Compared to Fullmetal, I'll take Kurosaki any day of the week."
"These two are the only two knights we've been able to locate so far? This alliance really is in a sorry state," Uryu sighed.
"Not gonna lie, I'd trade 'em both for Goku," Mustang declared.
"I would trade most of this team for Goku," Renee replied.
"I'd be offended if I hadn't been thinking the same thing," Vine sighed.
"Oh, you're here as well, General Mustang. How fortunate, I was just headed back to command to summon you two, but as long as I've got you both here, I want to discuss some matters with you. Our enemies seemed very familiar with you two so I want to know anything you might know about them."
"I had a feeling that was where this was going," Mustang sighed in reply, "unfortunately these particular homunculi really have us at a disadvantage. We're not familiar with any of them."
"Not true, Fullmetal and I fought all but the 2 cloaked ones and one of the others in Risembool. The woman wearing the rather revealing attire was the new Lust. All I know about her is that she uses a sword… and as far as her skill with it goes, she was able to match me blow for blow," Vine replied.
"The older looking one with the green hair was the new Envy," Ed continued, "as far as I can tell, his abilities now include manipulation of fire, though I honestly don't know whether or not he also has the original Envy's abilities."
"The fat one was Gluttony," Al continued, "as far as we can tell, he hasn't changed much."
"Alphonse? Your body," Mustang declared, obviously a little surprised.
"Oh, that's right. I'm not stuck in the suit of armor anymore!" Al shouted happily, "I have my real body back!"
"Yeah, yeah, the second woman is the new Greed," Vine continued, "she…"
"What did you just say!" Ling/Greed blurted out suddenly.
"Is every bit as annoying and rude as the original Greed," Vine finished.
"Hold on, pal. What do you mean there's another Greed? I'm the one and only Greed, and don't forget it," Ling/Greed replied.
"Whatever, although I'll admit, I'm curious as to how you still exist," Vine replied, "oh and she was using the Ultimate Shield as well."
"The other one, the one you hadn't fought," Ichigo piped up, "he's the new Wrath. I went toe-to-toe with him here in Central. He's as skilled as the original Wrath and if I'm not wrong, it looks like he still has the Ultimate Eye at his disposal."
"I see. You all certainly seem to know what you're talking about, so I'll have to trust you to explain our situation further," Bradley declared, "what about the remaining two?"
"I've got no doubt that the scary looking one in the darker colored cloak was Pride," Vine replied.
"Which leaves the smaller Homunculus to be Sloth," Mustang declared.
"Wait, I thought Sloth was giant and Pride was smaller then shorty," Ali declared.
"That's what I thought as well, but… even through that simple projection, it was impossible to miss the dark energy that was emitting from that larger one," Vine declared.
"He's no doubt the strongest of them," Mustang replied, "meaning he's most likely Pride."
"I see," Bradley declared, "I trust it's safe to assume that neither of you know anything about either enemy."
"Probably," Vine replied.
"Unfortunately, we've yet to encounter either Homunculus. There's no telling what they're capable of," Mustang declared.
"Then they have us at a disadvantage. To think we'd see the day when 8 individuals could declare war on the entire country of Amestris," Bradley sighed.
"If anyone can do it, it'd definitely be the Homunculus," Ichigo declared.
"Right, there level of power is really something else," Shantella declared.
"Guys, do you think someone ought to go get the Soul Reaper Captains?" Flora asked.
"Wait, you mean Toshiro, Byakuya, and Kenpachi? Where're they?" Ichigo asked.
"Well, we weren't exactly expecting to encounter trouble quite like this, so I left them behind to protect the castle," Shantella declared.
"And… Kenpachi agreed to that?" Ichigo asked.
"Shantella can be pretty convincing when she wants to be," Renee sighed in reply.
"Wait, who're we talking about?" Vine asked.
"No one you'd know," Isabella replied.
"Well, I'll leave you to make whatever preparations you need to make," Bradley declared, "I'm heading back to my office now. Oh, by the way, Raging Blast. Seeing as how it seems your Valkyrian friend wants to help us out, you'd probably better go to the incarceration tower and let her out. While you're at it, maybe that new girl, Riela, would be willing to help us out as well."
"Huh? Oh… right, uh, Incarceration tower, good idea," Vine replied as Bradley left.
"Where's the incarceration tower?" Al whispered.
"I have absolutely no idea," Vine replied.
"It's located just outside the south end of Central. Honestly, Raging Blast, even if you had lost your memory of this world, you could have at least done some research on what had happened, but then, I guess that would have required reading," Mustang declared.
"I'll be mad at you later," Vine sighed, "right now, I guess I'll head to that tower and get us some allies. Ed, Al, why don't you two come along."
"I guess," Ed replied, "maybe Alicia will have some bread or something to eat."
"That's right, I still need to try some of her bread… and Vine promised me he'd buy me all the ramen I could eat," Al declared.
"Darn it, I'd hoped you'd forgotten that last one," Vine sighed.
"I'm going to head back to command. Do you want me to contact Audrey and tell her to report back to Central?" Mustang asked.
"No, leave Squad 72 in Liore for now, just in case. It's been a hotspot for Homunculi activity in the past so let's make sure that it doesn't end up in trouble again before we pull troops out," Vine replied.
"Makes sense," Mustang replied, "alright then, I'll leave you to it."
"Vine, mind if I come along too? I never got to meet Ms. Melchiott," Winry asked.
"Huh? Nah, more the merrier I guess," Vine replied.
"Meet us back at Central Command when you're done," Mustang ordered.
"Yes mother," Vine replied as he, Ed, Al, and Winry walked away.
….
Elsewhere in central, a young girl with long, brown hair tied in two ponytails wandered the streets of town. She was looking down at the ground and looked quite sad.
"I… I don't know what to do," she whispered to herself, "I know Momma says that all the people here have to die, but… why… why do we have to kill them? They're not all bad. Most of them are really kind, I… don't want to…" As she was thinking she passed a small street side shop and looked up at it. Reaching down to her side, she ran her fingers over a cute little teddy bear charm that hung off of her skirt.
(Six Months Earlier)
Only a few days after her completion, Sloth had been exploring Central. Her mother had taken great care to construct Sloth as though she were a regular little girl, and with that had come a natural curiosity about the world around her that was natural to a child. She couldn't believe how kind many of the people were to her as she wandered the streets alone. It wasn't long before she spotted a small toy store and decided to go inside. The little bear charm had caught her attention almost instantly, but Sloth knew that she wouldn't be able to get it without any money, so, disappointed, she turned to leave just as two boys, each with golden hair, had walked in.
"Alright Al, hurry up and find what you're looking for, we're supposed to meet Mom at Central Command in 20 minutes," the older brother said.
"I'll be quick brother," Al replied as he walked over towards the counter, but stopped when he noticed the sad looking Sloth between him and the counter, "hey, what's wrong? How come you're sad?" Sloth was surprised by his question and didn't know how to respond. "I get it, you don't have any money, do you," Al realized, "come on, I've got more money then I need," he declared, grabbing the little girl's hand and pulling her back towards the counter.
"Huh? Wait, but I…" Sloth began to protest.
"It's alright, you don't have to worry about paying me back," Al replied, "no kid should have to go into a toy store and leave empty handed. Now, anything special you wanted to get?"
(Present Day)
The little girl turned and continued to walk past the toy store, still holding the bear charm that Alphonse Elric had bought for her that day. She'd been a complete stranger to him, and yet… he had bought it for her just because he didn't want her to look sad. She couldn't figure out how Momma could be wrong, but she also couldn't figure out how people as kind as Alphonse and his brother, Edward, deserved to die. She continued to wander, not really paying attention to where she was going, and wandered into a long alleyway. She stopped in about the center of it, looking around her. She'd been here before as well.
(Six months earlier)
Excited about her present, Sloth had wanted to hurry home to tell her mother and had decided to take a short cut through an alleyway in order to get home sooner.
"I wonder what Momma will say when she sees it," Sloth wondered as she ran through the alley. She was about halfway through when she tripped on something large. She took a moment to recover from her fall, and looked back to see what she had tripped on just as something started to growl at her. A large, angry looking dog had been sleeping in the alleyway and now glared at her with its fangs bared. Sloth screamed and began to back away from the dog, right into the wall of the alleyway. She was trapped as the dog climbed to its teeth and turned to face her. Frightened, Sloth pressed herself as close to the wall as she could, hoping the dog would leave. Instead, it leapt for her with its mouth opened to bite. Sloth shrieked with fear as the dog closed in. Suddenly, a flash of red light slammed into the dog, knocking it flying to the side. Sloth watched the dog slam into the ground several feet away, her eyes still wide with fright. She felt a gentle hand on her back and turned to see a man wearing a military uniform. He had dark colored, spiky hair and wore a red headband with a white spiraling pattern on it.
"Are you alright?" he asked smiling. Sloth only nodded her head. "Good, I'm glad. My name is Vine, what's your name." Just then, the sound of the dog growling caused Sloth to shriek again and bury her face in the chest of the man who had saved her.
"Ouch, ear," Vine whined as he put his other hand under the girls knees and picked her up, then turned his attention to the dog, who had arisen and was now baring his fangs at Vine. "Baring your fangs against me, you miserable mutt? You must have a death wish."
(present day)
Sloth's thoughts were interrupted as 10 men suddenly gathered around her.
"Well, what do we have here?" one of the men asked, "what an adorable little girl."
"She's just a kid. I doubt she has anything worth taking," another man declared.
"I disagree. Look at those clothes, they're quite expensive by the looks of them, which means her family is probably rather wealthy," a third man observed.
"I get ya, they'll probably pay quite a ransom to get their little girl back," a fourth man declared.
"Exactly," the third man declared, "and even if they won't, I hear Creta pays quite good money for Amestrian slaves, even if they are just little kids."
"You're wicked boss," another man declared, "alright, boys, tie this little beauty up and keep her quiet.
Terrified, Sloth tried to back away, but her escape was cut off by five of the men. She was trapped. Her lip began to tremble as tears rolled down her cheek. These men… they weren't kind or caring. They planned to sell her, as far as they knew, a fellow human being, for money. Was it because of men like these that all the kind people had to die? How was that fair? One of the men began to advance towards her, several coils of rope in his hands. Realizing that these men were serious, the tiny Homunculus prepared to fight. She didn't have to, however, as a large, round object suddenly struck the man in the head. When the ball rolled back to Sloth, she realized the ball had a goofy looking face drawn on it and a single strand of material, like a loose strand of hair, stuck up out of the top of it. She quickly turned around to see who had helped her.
Cue Background Music: Heart of Sword (Rurouni Kenshin)
"Man, talk about scum. They're country just went to war and here they are pestering a little girl," Edward Elric sighed as he and Vine walked into the alleyway.
"What a nuisance. I'll tell you boys what," Vine said, "I'm feeling nice today, so I'll give you until the count of 3 to leave the girl alone and get lost."
"Who the heck are these guys?" one of the men shouted.
"I don't care, kill 'em," the leader ordered.
"Three," Vine said.
"Time's up!" Ed shouted as both alchemists charged into the group of men. Ed knocked two men down with powerful blows to the stomach from his automail arm while Vine went straight for the child, dodging two attacks before kicking the man closest to the child away, grabbing the girl, and dodging his way back to the exit where Winry stood waiting. He handed Sloth off to Winry and then turned his attention back to the men, charging in to help Ed. It took only minutes for nine of the ten men to be unconscious.
"Why you, you'll pay for this!" their leader shouted as he turned to run. He ran right into Alphonse Elric, who had transmuted his soul into his armor. The armored fist crashed down on his head, knocking him unconscious.
"Well, that was easy," Vine declared, "let's give the police a call and get these guys taken care of."
Outside the alleyway, the still trembling Sloth hugged Winry tightly. She looked back into the alley to her helpers as they walked out of the alley. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she buried her face into Winry's chest. The humans her Momma wanted her to kill… had helped her again.
Ending Theme: Ano Kaze ni Notte (Valkyria Chronicles)
