SHONEN ALLIANCE

BOOK OF THE SHADOWS

EPISODE 34

A Weapon… or a Shield?

Opening Theme: Melissa (Fullmetal Alchemist)

As Rukia and Mustang battled Envy, the remainder of the alliance… were having some difficulties.

"We've been down this hall before," Renee said angrily.

"How can you tell? They all look the same to me!" Ichigo shouted, "where're we going Ed?"

"Don't ask me! I'm just following Ali. She ran out in front, so I figured she knew where she was going!" Ed replied.

"Wait, you're following me?" Ali replied coming to a stop, "well there was your first mistake."

"Even Aliasse knows that was a bad idea. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, you little runt!" Ichigo shouted angrily.

"STOP CALLING ME A RUNT YOU CARROT HAIRED FREAK!" Ed wailed in response, "look, there's a door up ahead! I told ya I knew where I was go…" he shouted as he and Ichigo crashed through the door and found themselves falling through the air, "…IIIIINNNNGGGG!" Ed continued to shout right up until he landed on the hard floor below, with Ichigo landing on top of him.

"That'll teach ya to watch where you're going," Ali taunted as Mizore formed an ice slide for her and the others to slide down on while the Princesses simply flew down to the ground. Ichigo and Ed were still dazed from their fall, "hey, now's no time for a nap! Get up!" Ali shouted pushing her foot against Ed's head while Mizore knelt down beside Ichigo and began poking his cheek with her finger.

"Hey, cut it out," Ichigo ordered, pushing Mizore's hand away as he stood up.

"Stop stepping on me!" Ed shouted as he pushed up on Ali's foot knocking her onto her rear end.

"Ow, you jerk!" Ali shouted glaring at Ed, who she noticed was staring at her. Panicking, Ali held her hand down to push down the skirt she was wearing and kicked him in the nose. "HEY! YOU PERVERT!"

"Ow! WHAT THE HECK! I WASN'T EVEN LOOKING AT YOU!" Ed shouted angrily pointing behind Ali who turned to see what Ed had been looking at.

"Oh… sorry," she replied. Standing in the far corner of the room was Greed.

"My, you're certainly an entertaining lot," Greed declared, "so, what happened to the man who killed me before. Don't tell me he actually stayed behind to fight one of the other Homunculus. Just my luck, now he's going to die before I can pay him back."

"Greed? How? You should be dead!" Ed declared.

"Well, it sure doesn't look like it," Greed replied, "did you really think it would be that easy to get rid of me?"

"Guess not, after all, you Greeds always have been one of the hardest ones to get rid of," Ed replied as he transmuted his automail blade.

"Let's begin then, Sloth! Get out here!" Greed shouted angrily.

"Sloth?" Ed repeated.

"This is one of the ones we don't know anything about," Ichigo cautioned, "don't drop your guard."

"Yeah, I got it," Ed replied as both knights prepared to fight and waited for the newcomer… who didn't seem to be coming out.

"Now Sloth!" Greed shouted, now even angrier then before.

"But… Greed," a voice called from just behind another doorway. Both Ichigo and Ed were surprised by how young it sounded, "you said…"

"I said get out here you spoiled little brat!" Greed shouted.

"Alright," the voice whined as the door opened and Sloth walked timidly into the room. Ed recognized her immediately.

"What? Wait, you're a Homunculus?" Ed stuttered as the girl walked in, "but you're…"

"You know this kid Ed?" Ichigo asked.

"Sort of," Ed replied, "Vine, Al, and I rescued her from some kidnappers on our way to that tower where Alicia was being kept. I can't believe that she was really one of the other two Homunculus."

"Oh you remember me?" the girl said, smiling happily, "I'm so glad, thank you so much for earlier."

"If you think trying to be nice'll help you you're wrong," Ed declared raising his blade up in front of him, "what's your game, where you spying on us for your Mother? Trying to figure out what our weakness was by watching us fight before you Homunculus had to take us on?"

"What? No… I…" Sloth began to protest.

"You Homunculus really make me sick. What makes you think you have any right to say that we humans only deserve to be killed!" Ed shouted, surprising Sloth, "I'm not going to let it happen! I'm gonna stop you right here!" he shouted, "Ichigo, let's go!"

"Right behind you!" Ichigo shouted as Ed and Ichigo charged at the two Homunculus.

"Wait… I…" Sloth protested.

"Enough talking! It's time to die!" Greed shouted, forming her Ultimate Shield over both her arms. She and Ed began a fierce exchange of blows while Ichigo went after Sloth.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he shouted firing his attack at the small Homunculus. She shrieked and shot to the left, dodging the attack and surprising Ichigo with her speed. "Whoa, her speed is incredible!"

"I'm sorry," Sloth said timidly, "umm, actually, I'm the fastest Homunculus."

"What're you apologizing for?" Ichigo sighed, "just my luck. How does the one called Sloth end up being the fastest? Isn't sloth supposed to mean lazy? That doesn't make any sense."

"I'm sorry," Sloth apologized again.

"Will you cut that out! What're you apologizing for!" Ichigo shouted again, "alright, guess I have no choice. I can't fight what I can hit, so I'll just have to match your speed," he declared holding Zangetsu out in front of him.

"BAN-KAI!" he shouted as a wave of spiritual energy engulfed him, "Tensa Zangetsu."

"What?" the little girl shrieked with surprise.

"Alright, time for round 2," Ichigo declared vanishing from sight. He appeared over the girl and began to swung the sword down, causing Sloth to squeal and hold her arms up to protect herself. However, the blade never hit her so she pulled her arms down to see that Ichigo had stopped the sword a few inches away from her.

"What the heck is wrong with you kid? You didn't try to dodge, or defend yourself, or anything!" Ichigo shouted angrily. He regretted it, however, as the girl broke down into tears. "Ah great, what's wrong now?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Sloth cried, "it's just that… it's just that I don't wanna fight!"

"What?" Ichigo replied.

"I don't want to fight," Sloth sobbed again, "I know Momma says I'm supposed to, but… I don't wanna kill people. I don't wanna hurt anyone! Why… why do I have to kill people!" she cried.

"What do you mean, 'why do you have to kill people'!" Ichigo shouted angrily, surprising Sloth, "if you don't want to then just don't! Just because your mother tells you to do something, that doesn't mean you have to do it, and it doesn't make it right either!"

"But… you don't understand," Sloth shouted angrily, "I… I have no choice. I'm not… I'm not normal. I have all this power, and the only thing it's good for is destroying things! I… I can't do anything else!"

"Is that all?" a girl's voice from behind Ichigo shouted angrily. Ichigo turned to see that Aliasse had walked up behind him!

"Ali?" Ichigo said, in confusion.

"What a cowardly little girl. Is that all you can do is run away?" Ali spat angrily at the small Homunculus.

"What? What do you…" Sloth asked fearfully.

"All you can do is destroy, huh!" Ali shouted angrily, "that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard! You only say that because you're too scared to try to see what else your power can be used for!"

"Aliasse," Ichigo began to protest.

"What do you mean… I'm too scared?" Sloth replied, "I…"

"I should know," Aliasse declared, "I used to be just like you. I thought that since I had all of this power I possess, the only thing I was capable of was destroying and hurting others. I was sure that my only purpose was to be a weapon for destroying whoever and whatever I was told to, and because of that, I killed a lot of people who had never done anything to hurt me."

"Ali?" Ichigo said. This was the first time he was hearing any of this, and it made him realize just how little he knew about the yound Valkyria standing beside him.

"You… but… why?" Sloth asked.

"I asked myself that question a lot," Ali replied, "I finally convinced myself that that was my only purpose. My power had been given me for no other reason than destruction, and I was okay with it. If it hadn't been for Vine and Ed… I don't know what would have happened to me."

….

Ali hit the floor hard, tears forming in her eyes as she held her hand to the cheek that had just been struck.

"Colonel! What're you…" a girl in her class protested trying to stop Vine.

"You idiot! Just what the hell is your problem!" Vine shouted angrily as he stood over the downed Aliasse.

"I'm not like you! I'm not like you or Shorty! I can't protect people with my power like you do! The only thing I'm good for… is destroying!"

"Is that right?" Vine replied angrily as he reached into his cloak and donned his alchemy gloves, "if that's the case, then maybe I ought to destroy you right here and now!"

"What? Colonel, wait, you…" the girl protested.

"Quiet!" Vine ordered as he walked towards Aliasse, "this is for her own good."

"What?" Aliasse cried, a look of fear appearing on her face as she tried to crawl away,

"No. Papa, please, I don't want… please, don't… DON'T!" she screamed as she shielded her face as Vine knelt down and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"Now you see the truth," he said as he hugged her, "my power is no different from yours. I can use it to destroy you or I can use it to protect you. I use it to protect you because I choose too. There is no nature to power. There is no such thing as 'power to destroy' or 'power to protect' there is only power. You choose what that power will be used for. You're the only one…"

….

"…who can choose whether your power is a weapon to destroy those around you or a shield to protect them," Ali finished. Sloth just stared at the young Valkyrur, her eyes wide with surprise.

"A weapon… or a shield?" Sloth repeated. Just then, Greed slammed Edward into the ground and pinned him with her shielded hand against his throat.

"Shorty!" Ali screamed.

"Now, die Edward Elric!" Greed shouted raising her arm as several dozen shards of ice suddenly pelted her, forcing her away from Ed. Mizore continued to fire on her as the Homunculi's shield covered her entire body.

"You wanna die first, huh you little tramp!" Greed shouted as she charged at Mizore. Mizore stepped back as Greed attacked, but Ali stepped between them, blocking Greed's attack with her shield before pointing her lance right at Greed's chest and firing a point blank burst of blue energy that blew Greed into a far wall.

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Ali screamed as she prepared to fight the Homunculus.

"You little brat. You can't even scratch my Ultimate Shield with those pitiful attacks," Greed declared as she walked out of the smoke, completely unscathed by Ali's attack. "You can't all die first, some of you will have to wait your turn!" she shouted charging at Ali who held up her shield to intercept the attack, but it didn't reach her as Selvaria stepped in to intercept the attack.

"So the young princess can't scratch you," she said in a menacing tone as an intense blue aura formed around her, "but let's see how you fare against a fully matured witch." Like Ali, Selvaria put her lance right against Greed's chest, but this time, the blue blast blew right through Greed's shield, blowing her onto her back.

"It would appear that my attacks are able to harm you," Selvaria declared, "the rest of you keep moving. I can more than handle this myself."

"Alright, she's all yours then, Selvaria," Ed replied standing up, "Ichigo, let's go."

"Right," Ichigo replied as the two knights prepared to leave.

"Well well, would ya look what I found! A voice shouted from above them. The heroes looked up to see Ling/Greed standing in the doorway they'd fallen from. "I knew if I followed you kids around long enough you'd lead me to my 'other half'. Lucky me, looks like I get to kill this little poser myself after all!" he shouted joyously as he jumped down and faced the female Greed.

"Who're you?" Greed demanded.

"Me? The name's Greed, baby. I'm the guy who want's everything, and right now, the thing I want the most… is to be the one and only Greed, just like I should be."

Ending Theme: Super Infinity Stream (Infinite Stratos)