Separate Missions

There was an eerie silence that came into the frontal chamber of the cave of wonders. The quiet atmosphere was only broken by the soft flickering wound of dim torches that burned on their mounted foundations on the great mosaic pillars. The figures of Arabian heroes seemed to gaze on from the shadows, waiting for the fight to commence. Riku and Sora, their keyblades drawn, awaited for the cunning and beautiful Colonel Billiard to make her move first. Her eyes seemed fixed upon the key bearers. The eyes of the key bearers in turned watched the glistening glow of the general's emerald green eyes giving that cold and relentless stare. Sora quietly gulped, forcing saliva on his tongue to withdraw to the back of his throat. Riku accumulated a small sweat drop on his brow. He was anxious, not knowing how their opponent would react. Would General Scimitar attack, or would she be the one to make the first move.

"This feeling," Riku thought to himself, "Why do I feel so nervous? I've never felt this way since the day I battled against Triiken. Even Cuchulain, when he was possessed by General Dagger, didn't cause this kind of feeling. Even when we fought against General Saber, I didn't feel this kind of anxiety. There's something about General Scimitar that scares me. Is it that intense look in her eye? Is it because she's a woman? Or is it something else?"

"Gentlemen," Scimitar uttered, "We are here to battle one another correct? So why do you stand as if petrified?"

"We're not petrified." Sora replied.

"Is that so? Then I hope you don't mind that I make the first move!" Scimitar suddenly rushed forward. Her chakrams at the ready, she began to slash and cut at the key bearers. Riku and Sora clashed, trying to find an opening against her. The moment their blades connected, hitting the sharpened edge of Scimitar's bladed rings, they realized that this was no ordinary foe. Unlike the fight with General Knives, Bayonet, and Dagger before them, General Scimitar was a different kind of breed. She did not rely on fancy items and secret weapons. And her actions were greater than her words, so she was not all talk. Like a well rehearsed mock battle, the twists and turns and close calls came within inches of inflicting damage. Thought the key bearers battled from opposite sides, the general seemed to anticipate every move, despite having her back turned to one of them. She spun around, doing several repetitions, confusing the key bearers.

Suddenly, she turned her attention towards Riku and kicked him in the gut. Riku bent over from the pain, but maintained his guard, holding the keyblade before him in case the general decided to smite him. Sure enough, Scimitar came at him with both chakrams slicing at him.

"Riku," Sora cried. He rushed in to help his friend, but Scimitar tossed one of the chakrams at him. Sora quickly dodged, just as the ring flew straight at his head. The chakram passed without inflicting any damage. The youth quickly pounced to an erect position only to find the general running straight at him. His keyblade clutched in his hand, Sora swung his weapon. But Scimitar evaded, flipping over the head of the key bearer and landing just behind him. Sora quickly turned and blocked the striking ring.

"Not bad, key bearer." Scimitar chuckled, "But I'd watch your back if I were you!" Sora heard the spinning of steel approaching fro behind at a fast rate. Sora continued to block until Scimitar pushed him away. Sora gave ground and threw his head back just in time to see the chakram pass his face, giving off a little breeze as it spun harmlessly over him. Scimitar caught the chakram and began to battle again, giving Sora barely any time to defend himself.

Riku, regaining his stamina, charged back into the battle. His keyblade was in the thrusting position.

"You're mine, Scimitar!" he shouted. He thrust forward, but missed.

"So you're back for more pain, Noctin Tilandir?" Scimitar chuckled. "Well good, let's see how you favor against this?" The general suddenly spun about like a twister, her arms extended, holding the chakrams. Like a propeller, she spun, thrusting forward, trying to mince the youthful key bearers. But Riku fell on his back and watched the blades pass his body.

"Riku," Sora cried, "I'll take care of this!" Sora made ready to unleash his Twister Strike. "Let's see how you like my version of a twister!"

"No!" Riku shouted. "Don't do it, Sora." He jumped next to his friend and threw his hand before him, indicating Sora to stop what he was about to do.

"Why are you stopping me, Riku?"-

"Did you forget? We only have so much ether to use in this battle. We can't afford to blow it all on reckless elemental attacks."-

"Well we won't know what effect it will have on her. Maybe it'll work."-

"And suppose it doesn't? Not only have you wasted energy and a bottle of ether, but you also allowed Scimitar to see one of your attacks. We just have to hold back for now until we know what she's capable of doing." Sora had to admit that he was being rather reckless in his strategy, so he relinquished his attempts to use his elemental attacks.

It was at that moment that General Scimitar unleashed one of her chakrams at the key bearers. The spinning bade shrieked as it flew toward Riku and Sora. Scimitar unleashed her second chakram and it too flew towards the key bearers.

"She doesn't have her weapons anymore." Sora said. "She's open to attack."-

"Let's go then." Riku replied. The two key bearers rushed at Scimitar, who was for the moment unarmed. But even though Scimitar saw the two boys coming at her, she did not do a thing to try and dodge. Then again, she had her reasons.

"Turning your backs against the chakrams?" she uttered. "Do you really want to die in such a manner, being struck from behind?"

The key bearers halted to hear the sound of incoming steel heading towards them from the rear. Anticipating the path of the chakrams, Riku and Sora dodged out of the way, evading the incoming rings at the last moment. Both bladed rings returned to Scimitar. But the moment she caught them, she tossed them again, catching the key bearers of guard. Riku and Sora hadn't even regained their stance after the last evasion and find themselves confronted by the two chakrams again.

"Not again." Riku uttered, as he saw the blade coming within inches of his throat. He swung his head back and watched as the blade passed by. He could feel the air coming from the chakrams gently brush on his throat like a woman's delicate hand. Had the blade been any closer, the sensation would have been a painful sting across the throat, followed by the spurting of red blood and all things going dark. Sora in the meantime used his shoulder armor to protect himself. The bladed ring sparked at the armor's polished surface and continued on its path.

"That was close." He uttered.

"Did you boys forget about me?" Scimitar shouted. The key bearers turned to find themselves confronted by General Scimitar herself, who rushed at them with incredible speed. She jumped up and kicked Riku at the side of the face while striking Sora at the shoulder, knocking him down hard. At the same time, she jumped up and caught the flying chakrams.

"I'll get you!" Sora shouted. Jumped back up and lunging at Scimitar. But as the General landed, she made a twist of her body and rebounded back into the air like a rubber ball, her body giving an elusive spin as she breeched herself over Sora's head. She landed delicately back on her feet, her chakrams clutched tightly in her hands.

"Quite invigorating." She chuckled. "I never would have thought you to last this long against me. Perhaps if you keep going, I might just break a sweat."

"She's good." Riku uttered. "Really good…"

"We can't keep this up," Sora said. "I've never encountered such lightning fast speed and agility."

"Well, she's not a Blade General for nothing. And supposedly the second strongest to top it all off, I guess it just wasn't our lucky day."-

"Well, I just hope that the others hare having better luck than we are at the moment."-

"Gentlemen," Scimitar implied, "If you are finished reminiscing, may we proceed?"

"Okay, Scimitar, you asked for it!"-

The key bearers charged forward again against the mighty Blade General and the fighting continued.

The second party, lead by Cunla and Edward Elric, was reaching its destination to the lands of the black sands. The gummi quietly hovered over the sands of the Arabian Desert swiftly and without detection. With lights extinguished, having only the glowing lights of the control pad for illumination, the second rescue party made their way to the outpost of the Midnight Faction.

"We should be reaching our destination soon." Cunla said. "How much further is it before we reach the realm of the black sands?"

"Less then five minutes," Edward replied, as he looked on the screen. "We'll soon come over a cliff face and should be able to see the black sands from there."

"Speaking of which, does anyone know about the realm of the black sands?"-

"As far as I know," Genie said, "I know that the realm of the black sands belongs to a deranged sorcerer named Mozenrath."

"Mozenrath eh?" Cunla said.

"And they say that those who enter his realm of the black sands are never seen or heard from again."-

"Mozenrath…" Ed thought to himself. "It must be that guy Saber hired not too long ago."

"Oh that's great, just great!" Iago squawked. "You just had to go and tell me about that! You just had to tell me about the dangerous stuff! I don't like dangerous stuff! I don't like danger! The only danger that I want to see is when they serve me the wrong kind of salad dressing for dinner! That's the only kind of danger I like!"

"Ah, show a little back bone, will you Iago?" Cunla said. "It's not gonna be all that dangerous."

"Yeah, when you're used to it, it isn't! But I hate danger, I hate getting into trouble!" Iago started to lose feathers off of his head. "You see, look at that, I'm so stressed out that I'm molting! I've lost too many feathers on these perilous treasure hunts that Aladdin always goes on, or when I'm being confronted by bandits! And do you realize how hard it is to keep my feathers neat and clean! I can tell you now it ain't no walk in the park to keep your feathers straight! I mean have you ever met anyone attracted to a bird that's as bald as a Thanksgiving Turkey!"

"Okay, okay, Iago," Edward uttered, "We get the message. Now will you please shut up? Your squawking is giving me a headache."

"What do you expect me to do, sit here and say it's all peachy? I don't think so!"-

"Well, stop panicking."-

"You tell my legs that!"-

"I told you to stop panicking, featherbrain!"-

"Who are you calling featherbrain, you bean sprout!"

"You shouldn't have called me that!" There was a sudden rumble in the cockpit as Edward tackled Iago.

"Now, now, you two," Cunla said, a big sweat drop plummeting down his face, "Don't fight. If you blow our cover then we'll really be in trouble. Besides, how ominous and foreboding can the realm of the black sands actually be?"

It's funny how Cunla said his words so casually. The moment that the gummi reached the crest of the cliffs overlooking the realm of the black sands, their eyes came upon a sight so frightening. The realm of the black sands was darker than the night sky. The starry night seemed to expand, splitting from a night of beauty to a night of total darkness. Rocky outcrops and cliffs stood like sentinels watching over the realm.

"Well," Iago uttered, "You wanted foreboding and you got it."

"I can't even see the ground." Ed uttered.

"It's like a vast see of shadows suddenly covered the entire region." Cunla said. "So this is the realm of the black sands."

"Winry's being held captive in that place?" Fullmetal seemed rather worried looking upon the land of darkness.

"Were you expecting a land of milk and honey? The physical description of this realm certainly does the name of the region justice."-

"But where is this faction outpost?"-

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." Iago uttered. He flew behind Genie and shivered in fright.

"Awe there's nothing to worry about, Iago.' Genie chuckled. "All we need is a little light!" Genie transformed himself into a flashlight. But before he could turn on, Edward grabbed hold of him.

"If you illuminate the place now, we'll be sitting ducks!" he uttered. "We still don't know where the faction outpost is, so don't give away our position."

"Hang on, you guys." Cunla said. He looked out over the shadowy ground and spotted something twinkling in the nightly sands. He turned to Edward. "Ed, see if you can get a night scope visual of the terrain beneath us."

"How come…?" Ed asked.

"I think I might have found the faction outpost." Cunla pointed downward. Beneath them, in the darkness of the black sands, a series of stationary lights glowed brightly as the only means of illumination throughout the region. The lights of the faction outpost gave the appearance as if a cluster of stars had fallen from the sky and landed in the darkness of the black sands. Edward activated the night vision of the gummi ship. Sure enough, upon the transmission monitor, they spotted the entire structure of the faction outpost.

"I have a visual." Edward uttered. He scanned the perimeter of the faction facility. "I can't believe that they actually built a facility this large out in the middle of nowhere."

"Let me see." Cunla asked. "Transmit the image to the front monitor."

"Right…" Fullmetal transmitted the image and the night scope visual appeared before Cunla. Cunla browsed the area.

"Just as I thought." He said. "It's a makeshift prison, designed for instant construction." Cunla analyzed the grounds of the faction facility and all the features. The compound was a large rectangular base surrounded by triple chain linked fences covered by razor ribbon wire placed at the top and the base of the fence. Four guard towers stood highly erected over the compound, stationed at the four corners of the base. In the compound itself, there were at least ten separate guard houses, a supply warehouse, and two elongated sleeping quarter buildings where the guards had their night's rest. And at the very center of the compound was the prison facility itself. It was a large rectangular building, at least two stories high. "By the looks of it, there are very few guards about. Less than what's usually expected. Then again, the majority of them might be sleeping." Cunla then observed the towers at the four corners of the compound. "They only have four towers throughout the entire facility. I guess with such a securely guarded fence line, they probably think that there's no way anyone can break through or escape their defenses."

"How many guards do you see?" Ed asked.

"At least two hundred altogether that are on guard duty. That'll make it easier for us to sneak in."-

"And how do you plan on breaking in without having any of those guards fondle your plan?" Iago asked.

"Simple," Cunla eased the gummi ship over the facility and had it hover about in midair, "All we have to do is isolate the prison by severing any open communication lines from here to the mother ship, other facilities, or any other faction units out there on patrol." The young pup steadied the gummi. He then activated one of the gummi's key features, "Now activating the transmission jammers."

"Transmission jammers…?" Ed asked.

"That's right. This will prevent all radio signals or transmitted messages from exiting and entering the facility. We can't have the personnel sounding an alarm and warning of a jail break, can we?"-

"I guess you're right."-

"Boy, you certainly are smart for a kid." Genie chuckled.

"Yeah," Iago added, "You're pretty good, almost as good as me."

"Activating transmission jammer system now," Cunla said as he unleashed the scrambler shield over the whole of the facility. Like a giant, invisible dome, the entire facility was engulfed behind the shield. "Alright, the transmission jammer field has been secured in its place." Cunla got out of his chair and walked to the teleportation platform. "Donald certainly went out of his way to have these portable gummies equipped with the best stuff and updated systems." The youth grabbed his sword. "Alright Ed, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Fullmetal replied, "Let's go rescue Winry."

"Iago, Genie, I want you two to stay up here and keep the ship running."-

"Good idea." Iago said. "I can live with that. I can stand staying in the ship."

"Now don't touch anything while we're gone."-

"You can count on us, kid!" Genie replied, giving a little salute.

"Oh yes." Cunla added. "Just one more thing, this gummi ship's teleportation unit only works from inside the cockpit. When we come back with Miss Rockbell, I will send you a transmitted message using a secured line that'll be unaffected by the barrier I set up. Once you hear me say 'beam us up,' you press that green button on the side of the platform alright. That will allow us to be teleported back into the ship."

"What about the red button next to it?" Iago asked. "What does that do?"

"That button will teleport you out of the ship, so don't press that one. Only press the green. Red means out and green means in. Can you remember that?"-

"Of course we can!" Genie chuckled. "It's as simple as on two three. Red means out and green means in."

"Alright," Cunla and Fullmetal stepped onto the teleportation platform. "We'll be back soon. Give us at least thirty minutes."

"Well what if you don't make it back in thirty minutes?" Iago asked.

"You just better hope that we get back here on time. Failure at this point is not an option. If we're not back within half an hour, that means we've stayed on the ground and are gonna break Miss Rockbell out of prison the hard way."

"I was afraid you'd say that."-

"Good luck you two."-

"The same goes to you, boys." Genie said.

Cunla pressed the red button and he and Edward disappeared out of sight.

"Well, there they go." Iago said.

"Yep," Genie replied, "There they go." He gave a sigh before turning to Iago. "So what do you want to do while we're waiting?"-

"What do you mean what do I want to do?"-

"You know, what do you want to do to pass the time away? Shall we play cards?" Genie took out a deck of cards and shuffled them about like a Las Vegas dealer. "You feeling lucky?" He then turned into an elderly man with a V sweater with a white shirt under it, a long beard and think bifocals, "Or how about a game of chess?"

"But…"

"Or maybe checkers, that's a little easier to understand." Genie turned the chess board into a checker board, "Or maybe a nice game of charades."

"How can you even think about playing a game at a time like this!" Iago shouted. "We're up to our necks in hot water, we are hovering over a faction base, and yet you want to play board games!"

"Board games, I love board games!" Genie transformed the checker board into several other boards describing the games he suggested. "How about Mousetrap, or Shoots and Ladders, or maybe Monopoly! I get to be the battleship! Do you want to be the top hat or race car?"

"You are hopeless…" Iago grumbled.

In the meantime, Cunla and Fullmetal appeared next to one of the guard houses. The two slunk around in the darkness like a couple of thieves, making sure to conceal their movements from the sight of the guards. They hit in the shadows against the wall of the guard house and peeked behind a corner.

"We'll have to be very careful." Cunla said. "We don't want to attract any attention."

"Can't we just take the guards out?" Ed asked. "You can take them all on yourself can't you?"

"The reason why we have to be careful is so that none of the faction soldiers get the wiser and try to contact their main headquarters at the mother ship."-

"But I thought you said they couldn't contact anyone outside, or anyone could contact this base. That's why you set up that barrier right?"-

"That's right, but that doesn't mean they can't send out a runner to inform any reinforcement units. We don't want the personnel here to be suspicious of our activity prematurely and have time to send out a runner to inform their comrades elsewhere while we're still here. Besides, many of these faction soldiers are just like you and I. Their just doing their jobs. They too have families. So I would like to avoid unnecessary confrontation unless confronted directly. Only then will blood be spilled."-

"You still have sympathy for these guys don't you, even though they branded you as a traitor."-

"That's the thing about being a soldier. You have to be heartless, but at the same time you don't want to lose your humanity. Otherwise, you will be hated by everyone you know and meet. Perhaps my compassion will be passed down to those men if I make an example of myself."-

"Perhaps…"-

The two boys looked about to see if any of the sentries could be seen. They slowly crept passed the guard house. Inside, they saw several of the soldiers drinking and smocking and playing poker, laughing and singing and having a gay old time, like drunks at the local bar. Cunla and Fullmetal leaped from shadow to shadow, hiding behind supply crates and parked vehicles. They hid behind a couple of steel drum barrels just as two sentry guards passed by.

"So what are you gonna do when you get back home?" one soldier said.

"The first thing I'm gonna do is hold my three year old son high over my head." The second soldier replied. "Then I'll make sweet love to my wife. It's hard to support them at times though with only a soldier's pension."

"I know what you mean? My girlfriend only wants the best from me."-

"Women are so hard to please at times."-

The two soldiers walked by, continuing with their conversation, not noticing Cunla and Fullmetal hiding behind the drum barrels. Fullmetal watched as the two soldiers passed by. They were no older than he, perhaps a couple of years ahead of him.

"You're right." Ed said. "Those men are no different from us."

"In times of war though," Cunla said, "Even the most loving and compassionate of people, no matter how good natured they are, are transformed into beasts on the battlefield. That is why we fight. That is why we must be cruel at times, so that others do not have to experience that same type of contrast." The two boys quickly leaped up and ran over to the prison facility. Cunla continued he lecture on the way. "Humans, or for that matter all things in this universe, are susceptible to becoming monsters. In the end, the only thing that really matters in battle is your life. Whether you are on a mission or not, you always care for your life and the lives of your comrades. Everyone else is an enemy or a possible target. That's why we have to keep a low profile while we're here."

"I see what you mean." Ed said, looking down as they ran. It didn't take long for the two boys to make their way to the confinement building where the prisoners were being held. They orchestrated their moves in a timely fashion, making sure to elude the eyes of the guards on patrol, or the watchtowers observing from above. As they approached the main entry to the prison, they realized that there were two guards stationed on both sides of the steel doors. They remained vigilant of the surrounding area. To make matters worse, there were two other sentries that marched about back and forth in the area in front of the prison.

"They have guards in the front." Cunla uttered. He turned to Ed. "Are you ready to put those alchemy skills to good use?"

"I can make a hole in the side of the wall easily enough." Ed browsed around and saw a small part of the outer wall concealed by shadow do to a burned out bulb. "I'll make a hole in that part of the wall."

"Then I'll let you go into the prison, while I stay here and keep a clear route for you. Make sure to use that same way, but seal it up after you enter, so no enemy soldiers will get suspicious. I'll try and draw the attention of the guards away from that part of the wall."

"Right…"-

"We have fifteen minutes left. I'll give you five minutes to get in and get out with Miss Rockbell."-

"I gotcha…"-

"Good luck, Fullmetal."-

Ed gave a thumb's up. Cunla looked about to see where the guards were posted. Taking a rock from the ground, he threw the stone in the direction facing away from the targeted part of the prison wall. The stone hit a stack of drum barrels filled with gasoline, tumbling down causing a lot of noise. This attracted the attention of the guards.

"What was that?" one of the guards asked.

"Let's go check it out." Another guard added. The two sentry guards ran towards the area where the heard the sound. The two guards at the iron doors looked after in curiosity, their weapons at the ready. Meanwhile, Fullmetal began his own run. He looked about to make sure that the guards didn't see his movements. He scurried in the shadows, his black clothing concealing his movements. He made it to the outer base of the wall without anyone seeing him. Without hesitation, he clapped his hands together and placed them securely on the wall. There was a dim surge of electricity, not enough to catch the attention of the faction soldiers, and an entry way was formed. Ed rushed into the hole and then sealed it up with his alchemy again.

"Well, he's in." Cunla uttered. He rolled up his sleeve to look at his wrist watch. "Ed's five minutes begins now. All I can do for the time being is sit and wait."

Edward looked about, hoping that no guards were on patrol.

"Alright," he thought to himself. "I have to find block nine, cell one." Edward moved about the prison in a brisk and steady pace. Each of the cells within the compound was not your average cell with tamper tested bars, or security fiber glass. Instead, as a barrier to keep the prisoner confined in the cell, a red energy field was used. The glowing shields of each cell barrier gave out such a strange glow that it seemed the entire interior was painted crimson. Each cell was brightly illuminated with white lights preventing many of the prisoners from sleeping. Thus, as Ed passed some of the cells, the prisoners from the present world looked almost ghostly and pale in appearance due to deprivation of rest.

"Look at these people." Fullmetal thought to himself. "They look like phantoms." The people didn't bother to look up at Edward. They just didn't have the energy. Immediately, Edward became concerned with Winry, fearing that she might be found in the same condition. "I hope Winry is alright." Ed looked at each cell thoroughly, observing the characteristics and features of the confinement spaces. A solitary number was white washed above each cell, identifying the cell for each block. He then happened to look down to a series of panels along the hall, one on the right side of each cell. There was a red and a green button, perhaps to indicate whether the cell was locked or not. And since all the panels displayed red lights, this became clear that that designated color stood for locked cells.

"All I have to do is look for the cell that Winry is in and then we can get out of here." Fullmetal thought to himself. "I just have to find block nine, cell one."

Fullmetal walked to the side of each corridor, hoping that no sentries were about. He looked up to find large white numbers painted on the sides of the halls. The first white number he saw was the number seven. One the opposite side of the hall, there was a number four. He then moved down the corridor to find a directory sign, displaying the location of the different cell blocks. Ed looked at the sign and found that cell block number nine was located at the other end of the building. He hastened to the end of the compound to the ninth block, at the same time watching for guards who might suddenly appear around the corner, or might be patrolling the halls.

Silently, like a specter long deceased, Edward made his way to the ninth block. He passed blocks five and eight, then crossed over another axis of two intersecting corridors and pressed against the wall of the ninth block. He looked to the corner to see the series of cells down the block. Sure enough, the first cell he came to was cell one, located at the corner he was at. Ed peered into the cell to find young Winry Rockbell sitting curled up on the bed, looking downward.

Unlike the other prisoners, Winry was still fair and healthy. She was the sweetest and most innocent thing one ever dared lay eyes upon. Slender in physique, like many young girls her age, she was of course a ravishing blond, her hair draping down to her waist line and her eyes a delicate steel blue. She was dressed in a white tank top and a black miniskirt, showing the full slender of her legs. Edward presented himself before his life long friend.

"Winry," he whispered, "Winry."

Winry looked up to find the Fullmetal standing before her. Immediately, her hopes were rekindled.

"Edward?" she uttered. She stood up from her bed and walked over to the shield. "Edward is that you?" She rubbed her eyes before realizing that it was not a figment of her imagination. Young Edward Elric was standing outside of her cell. "It is you, Ed. You came for me."

"Try to keep your voice down, Winry." Ed replied. "I'm gonna let you out of that cell." Edward made his way to the panel, ready to press the green button. But Winry stopped him before he could press the access button.

"Don't press that button, Ed." She said.

"Why not? That's the only way to open the cell, right?"

"You can't just press the button automatically. Otherwise the alarm will go off and you'll have every guard in the compound coming here. You have to deactivate the alarm first. The green light will turn on, signaling that the security system has been deactivated. Then you can open up the cell."-

"I don't need to do that. I'll just use my alchemy to…"-

"It's no use. The entire facility block is armed with sensors. The moment you create a hole in the wall, the alarms will go off. I've seen it happen. The minute the alarm goes off, the guards from all around the compound will swarm in here like locusts."-

"So what, I can take on all the guards. I'll just use my alchemy to fend them off."-

"Are you really willing to take that chance?"-

Edward then recalled the strength he encountered when battling Cunla and how he had trouble trying to maintain equal strength with him. He then recollected on how he was ambushed by Scimitar's two soldiers and that the soldiers in the compound might do the same to him as they did before. Ed clutched his fist. Perhaps he was being too brash and too bold for his own good, to take such a reckless action in an unknown area.

"Where do I shut off the alarm system?" he asked.

"You have to deactivate the alarm from the main cell control room located at cell block one."-

"Are you sure?"-

"I saw how they take prisoners in and out of the cells before they put me in here. There should be a series of deactivation switches on the wall. Press the switch that has this cell and block number."-

"Right, don't go away." He quickly scurried towards block one, "Of all the times to have a time limit."

Fullmetal made sure to keep an eye out for any guards as he made his way down the hall towards the first block. Fortunately, for Edward, only one guard was on duty and he was stationed in the main cell control room. It took no more than forty-five seconds for him to reach the control room at the first cell block. Fullmetal peered into the room to find the guard sat at his desk, writing up paper work. He stood next to the door and clapped his hands together. He transformed his automail arm into a metal baseball bat. He then made whispering beckons, trying to catch the guard's attention. The guard heard the calls coming from outside. He stood up from his desk and peeped out. The moment he did, he happened to see Edward Elric standing next to the door and the incoming bat. There was a loud clang and the soldier fell to the ground with a red streak across his face where the bat struck him and several teeth missing. The guard fell backward and into his chair unconscious with little birds hovering over his head.

"Sorry pal." Edward said as he walked into the control room. He turned the guard's chair to make it look like he fell asleep on the job. He then looked to the side of the wall opposite the door and sure enough there were long brass columns of switches. There were nine columns altogether, each one representing a separate block, so there were nine blocks altogether. Edward scaled the ninth column and pressed the switch to cell one. There was a loud buzz indicating that the alarm was deactivated. Ed scurried back down the halls to the ninth block, back to Winry's cell. The moment he looked at the status lights as the side of the cell, he noticed that the light had switched from red button to green button. He pressed the button and instantly, the red energy shield diminished.

"Winry…" Ed said.

"Edward…" Winry replied. She ran over to him and him to her and embraced each other tightly. "I'm so glad to see you."

"Me too…" Ed said. They looked into each other's eyes. Winry looked around.

"Where's Alphonse?"-

"He's being rescued as we speak, if not already rescued."-

"But how did you find me anyway? I thought they were keeping my location a secret?"-

"We can discuss this later. Right now I'm on a time limit and I'm reaching the overdue point." Ed grabbed Winry firmly by the wrist and began to lead her to the designated area where he first entered the compound and a brisk pace.

"Where are we going, Ed? The exit's that way."-

"I know. And it's being heavily guarded by soldiers." The two eventually reached the spot where they'd make their escape. "Now stand back and hope that no sentries see us." Ed clapped his hands and secured them on the wall. There was an electrical surge and a makeshift hole was made on the wall.

"I'm surprised that there weren't sensors on the outer wall." Winry said.

"I guess that explains why there are guards patrolling outside the prison, but not inside the prison itself." Edward added. "They concentrated full automated security for the inside of the compound only. I guess they never figured on anyone using alchemy to make a hole in the wall like this." Ed poked his head out of the hold, browsing around, hoping to spot any sentries. He then happened to spot Cunla in the distance, concealed by shadow.

Cunla saw as the heads of Edward and Winry appeared from out of the darkness of the hole.

"There they are." Cunla uttered to himself. "It looks like Edward managed to rescue Miss Rockbell just in time." Cunla took another rock and threw it at the stack of drum barrels on the other side of the compound to catch the attention of the faction soldiers. Once again, there was a tumbling racket as the rock bounced off the metal surface of the barrels. The noise aroused the guards and forced them to investigate the situation.

"There it is again." One of the sentries said. The pacing guards quickly ran over to where they heard the sound. The guards at the prison doors looked on in the direction where they heard the racket. They watched as the pacing sentries ran over to the area of disturbance, not noticing Edward and Winry scurry through the shadows.

"I was wondering when you guys were going to get here." Cunla said.

"Did we cut it close?" Ed asked.

"Too close."-

"Who is this?" Winry asked.

"This is Cunla." Ed said, introducing her to the young pup. "He's the guy who'll be helping us out."

"Please to meet you at last, Miss Rockbell." Cunla replied hastily. "But we'll have to exchange kind greetings later. Right now, we got to get out of here."

"Right," Ed said. "Let's go." The three withdrew back to the area where Cunla and Edward first made their descent.

In the meantime, one of the faction officers, on his way to the prison, watched as the guards were browsing the area where Cunla threw the rock.

"I could have sworn I heard the noise around this stack of drum barrels again." One sentry said.

"I heard it too." The second sentry added. "It surely came from this direction."

"What on earth are you two doing!" the officer shouted. The guards quickly stood at attention.

"We heard a noise coming from around this area, sir." The first sentry said. "We thought it might be a…"

"You idiots, you'd attack your own shadows if they made noise. You're supposed to remain at your designated posts, not gallivanting off in pursuit of phantoms, playing the heroic lone soldier. Get you to bed. Your posts will be replenished with more experienced, more tolerant, and more disciplined soldiers. Now, away with you and stop disturbing this peaceful night, nothing remotely significant will happen here."-

"Yes sir." The two sentries replied and dismissed themselves from duty.

The officer made his way to the main gates of the prison where the two guards stood on duty, acting as aware as they could so as to avoid being lectures. The officer looked at the two sentries.

"Open the door."-

"Yes sir," the first door guard said. He activated a small switch located behind him. Instantly, the doors opened at a steady pace.

"At least there are some soldiers who know not to fool around." The officer implied. He walked into the prison compound and towards the cell control room.

"Private," he said, "You can turn in for tonight. I'll take over from here." There was no response from the soldier in the control room. Again the officer called him. "Did you hear what I said? You're relieved." There was still no response. The officer rushed towards the doorway, finding the soldier slumped in his chair, with his head upon the desk. "Sleeping on the job are we!" The officer grabbed hold of the soldier, but the soldier fell flat to the floor, still unconscious. The officer looked upon the face of young private. He had been knocked out cold, that red streak still across his face from the bat. It didn't take long for the officer to realize what had happened. He looked up at the deactivation switches of the separate cell blocks. Sure enough, he discovered that that one of the deactivation switches had been pulled. It was the alarm switch for the first cell of block nine.

"Cell one, block nine," he uttered, "But that's where we're holding Winry Rockbell." The officer quickly rushed out of the room, nearly tripping over the unconscious private. He ran over to cell one and came across what he had feared to see. The cell was open and the occupant was nowhere to be found.

"Jail break, jail break," he shouted. He quickly rushed to one of the emergency alarm buttons, which was a round red button concealed behind a thin sheet of glass. The officer didn't bother opening the little glass security door. He simply slammed his hand through the glass, breaking it and pressing red button. Immediately a loud siren was set off, bellowing in the dead of night.

Throughout the compound, hundreds of soldiers emerged from the slumbers, emerged from their feasts, emerged from their gossips and lazy smoke and drink to hear the call of the siren. Immediately, all search lights from the four towers were on searching the fenced perimeter and the interior of the prison.

"What is all this noise?" a soldier cried.

"A jail break." Another replied. "There's been a jail break!"

"Search out the escapees!" one officer ordered. Almost instantly, each soldier armed themselves and moved in pairs throughout the compound, looking for the fugitives.

Edward, Winry, and Cunla were in the midst of all the fuss, their movements still concealed by shadow. The sirens blazed out, ringing their ears.

"What's cooking, Cunla?" Ed asked.

"That'll be our heads, Ed," Cunla replied. "That's the general alarm!"

"You mean they're after us?" Winry asked.

"Who else…?" Cunla continued to run. "We have to hurry."

"Come on, Winry." Ed cried, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along. He turned to Cunla. "How did they figure out we escaped?"

"They must've tried to change shifts with the guard in charge of the cell control."-

"Oh boy…"-

"Exactly how did you take care of the guard?"-

"I just knocked him out. But he couldn't have regained consciousness that fast, not after how I pummeled him with a makeshift bat."-

"Well, whatever the reason. They already know we've escaped."-

"How far are we from the destination point?"-

"No more than a hundred feet." Cunla looked into sky where the gummi was located, hidden in the shadows, and coordinated its whereabouts with the spot they first teleported down to. It didn't take long for Cunla to spot the area, next to one of the guard houses. "There it is, not much further now."

But no sooner had Cunla uttered those words, then two of the faction soldiers, searching for them, stumbled into their path.

"Uh oh…!" Ed uttered.

"There they are!" one of the soldiers shouted. "They're here, they're here!" He raised his lance while the other soldier aimed his blaster.

"Damn it all…!" Cunla jumped up and kicked both of the soldiers down, knocking them unconscious. He landed on his feet thereafter and continued to run. But by this time, they had faction soldiers coming at them from every direction.

"Stop them!" one soldier cried.

"After them!" another shouted.

"They went that way!" said another.

"Don't let them get away!" cried another soldier.

The trio made it to the designated spot.

"Iago, Genie," Cunla shouted through the transmitter on his jacket. "Beam us up!" But for some reason, there was no response. This concerned Cunla. "Genie, Iago, over, over, come in! Beam us up!" Still there was no response.

The reason for delay was because Iago and Genie were too busy playing monopoly. Iago was the next to move, being the top hat, but he inadvertently moved into the 'go to jail' space.

"Oh man," he uttered, "I have to go to jail!"

"Oh too bad," Genie chuckled, "Just when you were on a winning streak."

"Well, that still doesn't change the fact that I have all these properties and hotels." Iago rubbed his wings together, looking at his vast empire on the board. But in the midst of their fun, the angry voice of an enraged thirteen year old roared out over the intercom.

"Iago, Genie," Cunla shouted, "Beam us up!"

"Beam us up?" Genie uttered.

"You idiot," Iago shouted, "How long have they been trying to call us?"

"I don't know. I was too busy purchasing parkway."-

"Never mind the game!" Iago flew to the control panel. He looked at the red and then at the green. "Ah, which one was it!" He pondered for a second before remembered what Cunla said. "Oh yeah, it was the green button."

"Oh no, no, no," Genie said. "I distinctly remember Cunla saying that it was the red button we have to press!"

"Are you that dense? The kid said it was the green button! Red means to be transported out! Green means transported in!"-

"No, I remember red being the one that beams you in and green beams you out!"-

"Iago, Genie," Cunla shouted, "Beam us up!"

By this time, many of the soldiers were starting to approach in the masses towards the trio. Cunla and Ed stood on the opposite sides of Winry, trying to protect her, fending off any faction soldiers that came too close.

"Genie, Iago," Cunla shouted, "We need you now!"

"What the heck is keeping those two!" Ed asked, using his alchemy to keep away the soldiers. "We're not gonna last here!"

"Iago, Genie, you better hurry up and get us back into the ship!"-

"We don't have time to argue!" Iago shouted. "I'm telling you it's the green button!"

"No, it's the red button." Genie said calmly, as if confident of his decision.

"It's the green one!"-

"I'm telling you its red."-

"It's the green!"-

"It's the red."-

"It's the green!"-

"Red."-

"Green!"-

"Red."-

"Green!"-

"Red."-

"Green!"-

"It's still red…"-

"Fine, we'll have it your way." Iago rushed at the button panel. "It's Green!" But Genie stopped him at the last moment.

"Nope," Genie said, "You're not fooling me with cartoon antics. I'm not a cartoon you know." He placed Iago on the teleportation platform. "And just to prove that I am right…"

"Genie, Iago," Cunla roared at the top of his lungs, "We're being surrounded! Stop goofing around and teleport us back into the ship!"

"Now watch." Genie said. He pressed the red button. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect of what he expected. Instead of Cunla and the others being transported back to the ship, Iago was teleported down to the battlefield. Iago watched himself disappear.

"Genie…!" he roared.

"Oops…" Genie uttered. It was too late, however. Iago had been transported into the middle of the chaos. He found himself surrounded by faction soldiers, with Edward and Cunla trying to battle them off.

"I'm too young to die!" he cried. He wrapped his wings around Winry's ankle. This spooked the young woman, who saw this feathery thing clutching at her leg.

"Get it off me!" she screamed, shaking her leg violently. "Get it off me!"

"Get what off of you?" Ed asked. He and Cunla looked down to see Iago losing a great deal of feathers from the shaking.

"There's something attacking my leg!"-

"Someone help me!" Iago squawked. "Where am I!"

"Iago," Cunla roared. "What the heck are you doing down here!"

"Don't blame me! It was that big blue doofus up there in the ship!"-

"I told you to press the green button!"-

"I told him that, but he insisted on pressing the red button."-

"Now what do we do!" Ed asked.

"Genie, you fathead," Cunla roared through the transmission device with a hot and enraged attitude, "You better beam us back up into the ship now, or so help me, I'll stick my hand in your ear and tear your esophagus out by the roots!"

"Oh…" Genie uttered sheepishly. "Iago was right, it was the green button. My bad…" Genie pressed the green button.

On the ground, the four disappeared from the sight of the faction soldiers.

"Where did they go?" one soldier asked.

"There's no one here." Another added.

"They must've used some teleportation technique!" an officer shouted. "Search the sky. They may have a ship hovering above somewhere."

Meanwhile, the four were teleported back to the ship. They all collapsed on each other as they stood upon the platform. Iago was still clutching onto Winry's ankle.

"Glad to see that you guys made it back." Genie said.

"You blithering idiot," Cunla shouted, "What the heck were you and Iago doing in here, taking a nap!"

"No, we were playing Monopoly."-

"We nearly died out there because you!" Ed shouted angrily.

"Never mind," Cunla said. "We're on board ship and that's all that matters!"

"Get off of me!" Winry cried, giving her leg one quick jerk, knocking off Iago from her ankle. Iago went flying into the cockpit windshield, with what was left of his feathers floating down to the control panel. He streaked down the glassy surface, with stars buzzing around his head, and as naked as a Thanksgiving Turkey.

"Well," Genie said to him as he slid down. "I guess you won't have to worry about straightening up your feathers anymore."

It was then that the hull of the ship began to rock back and forth as the sound of explosions echoed beneath its hull. Cunla looked out to find that the lookout towers had locked their search lights on them and every long range weapon on the compound were shooting at them.

"Get us out of here." Ed said.

"Right," Cunla replied, "here we go! Everyone get in a seat and hold on tight." Every member in that gummi ship threw themselves into a chair and locked themselves in, just as the gummi was starting to move. Cunla didn't bother with stealth mode. The enemy already knew where they were. But at the last moment, as a final gesture to the faction, Cunla turned the ship around for one last run. Despite the bullets and shells and beams attempting to strike at them, he was willing to risk the danger. He set up the protective shield. "It's just one last run then."

"Are you crazy!" Ed cried. "You're actually going to fly straight over the camp!"

"I'm going to knock out the communication system and the supply warehouse. We can't afford to have this facility raise troops or send out messages to any outside source." Cunla began his run.

"Cunla…!" Everyone cried in unison as they watched themselves draw nearer and nearer towards the faction outpost with every gun in the facility aiming and firing at them.

"Give my regards to His Excellency." Cunla uttered to himself. With that, he fired the main cannons and two homing missiles into the compound. While the beam cannon fired at the guardhouse with the transmitting station inside of it, distinguished by its large receptor built high above the guardhouse itself, the two missiles rammed themselves into the supply warehouse, where spare weapons, fuel, ammunition, and rations were stored. There were two massive explosions killing and wounding many of the soldiers and forcing the survivors to scatter. The night was filled with light and for a moment or so the entire realm of the black sands was illuminated by the light given off by the explosion.

"Whew…" Cunla sighed. "That was intense. And I still got it." But suddenly he felt the form of a fist smack him across the head. The poor pup developed a bump on the back of his cranium.

"What the heck were you trying to do!" Edward shouted, his face all contorted and his teeth sharp. "We're you trying to get us killed!"

"What was that for!" Cunla replied, angrily.

"You reckless little twerp, you could have killed us all!"-

"Who are you calling a twerp, you bean sprout!"-

"What did you say!" Ed wrapped his fingers around Cunla's throat and began to shake him violently. "Don't you ever call me a bean sprout again!"

"It's true isn't it? What did you want me to do lie?" Ed didn't let go of his neck. "Stop…choking me!"

"Why you little…!"-

"Stop it! Get off of me!"-

"Ed," Winry shouted, smacking upside the head, "Stop choking him!"

"Hey, what was that for?" Ed roared.

"You're being reckless!"-

"I'm reckless! He's the one who's reckless!"-

"Well, if you kill him, who the heck's gonna fly this thing!"-

"Oh…" Ed released his fingers from around Cunla's throat.

"We've managed to get out of that hell hole alive. Let's not ruin it for everyone."-

"Yeah you're right." Ed turned to Cunla. "Sorry, Cunla, I just got a little temperamental."

"Yeah," Cunla replied, "Ninety five percent temperament, five percent mental…"

Ed wondered if he should have taken that for an insult, but when he saw Cunla turn around and smile at him, he realized that the kid was only trying to lighten the mood, saying that it was alright.

"If I were you in your shoes though," Cunla uttered, "I would have done the same thing. But then again, I couldn't just let my emotions get the better of me. I had to destroy the supply warehouse and the transmission station, so that messages couldn't be relayed or received and there wouldn't be enough supplies to plan a retaliatory strike." There was a silence in the cockpit. "We took a subtle approach and tried to rescue Winry using a stealth strategy. I wanted to initiate an attack that would not senselessly take so many lives. Even though they are the enemy, they were all once my comrades, me friends and allies. They have families too. Sometimes, I feel bad for leaving the faction, but I do not regret turning against them. Still, I would like to see this conflict end without having to result in total genocide." Cunla looked down. "I guess that's why my father changed my geise, so that I wouldn't have to live the life of a warrior and further taint my hands of innocent blood. I remember that night in Traverse Town when he told me not to mindlessly kill whoever opposes me. He told me that his hands were so stained with blood that he could never hope to repent for all the sins he committed and all the lives that he took. He had killed relentlessly, but he didn't want to pass such a bloodstained legacy to me. He's trying to protect me, trying to not accustom me to such scenes of bloodshed. But I guess, compared to my father's acts of death, mine are mild in taste."

"Cunla…" Ed uttered. He placed his hand upon the boy's shoulder. Cunla looked up at Ed and smiled.

"I just hope that my father and the others are having just as much good luck as we are."-

At the same time as Sora and Riku were battling against General Scimitar in the cave of wonders and when Cunla and Fullmetal liberated young Winry Rockbell from her prison, Colonel Ophelia Billiard and Cuchulain, along with Aladdin, Carpet, and Abu, made their assault on the coastal faction prison. But unlike Cunla's strategy, which was to penetrate behind enemy lines unseen to save their comrade, Cuchulain's was exactly the opposite. He initiated a sneak attack on the compound itself, hoping to scatter the faction soldiers into disarray. With the gummi ship's anti-cloaking system activated, the team was able to charge at the faction base without being detected.

Colonel Billiard was at the helm, locking onto the target.

"We're within ten miles of the base." She said. "We're making ready to descend and initiate the attack."

"Very good," Cuchulain said. "Then prepare to engage. Set targets on the supply warehouse and the transmission and radar facilities."

"Right…" Ophelia locked on to the targets. "Targets in range, we'll be reaching the airspace over the facility in T minus twenty seconds."

"Aladdin, I suggest you hold on. We're going into action."-

"Right…" Aladdin replied. He buckled himself into the seat and held on tight. In the meantime, Cuchulain activated the funnel emitters, and set them to target the look out towers.

"Donald certainly put a lot of effort into upgrading these gummies." Cuchulain said. "Funnel emitter system, anti-cloaking system, and upgraded beam cannons and laser guns, front and rear. It must have cost the alliance a great deal."

"They sound like intense weapons," Ophelia said, "But let's see how well they back up their reputation on the battlefield." The former faction colonel kept the ship steady, approaching from the night sky like a bat upon an insect. "Will commence attack in T minus ten seconds. T minus eight, seven, six," the ship increased in speed, its energy levels starting to raise, "Five, four, three, two, one!"

"Fire…!" Cuchulain shouted. With that single command, the little gummi blasted away all of its weaponry. The beam cannons aimed for the radar and transmission station and blew them, bellowing a large ball of fire that lifted high into the sky. Then she aimed and fired at the supply warehouse, destroying almost all the weaponry and rations stored there. The explosives within the compound ignited and the explosion bellowed into the night sky over a mile up, illuminating the entire coast as if it were day time.

The faction was caught completely by surprise. The two hundred or so men, who were on guard, were overwhelmed by the attack. Many of those closest to the explosions were blown away entirely. The explosion took out have of the guard houses on one side of the compound and half of the sleeping quarters. Half of the fence perimeter was demolished. In the meantime, Cuchulain fired away at the watch towers, crippling them at the top, or causing them to burn and collapse. Many of the soldiers, fearing of what was happening, scattered about like mindless insects in a rainstorm.

"They're scattering." Ophelia said, watching them with the night vision.

"Alright," Cuchulain said. "I'll get down there and save Alphonse Elric in the prison compound. Make sure not to hit it by accident. Only aim for the outer defenses. When I call you with my collar transmitter, keep the ship in place for at least ten seconds allowing us to board."

"Right, you can count on me." Ophelia said.

Cuchulain stood up and grabbed his Gae Bulga. He then, walked over to the rear hatch and opened it.

"I'll be back!" Cuchulain said.

"Are you crazy!" Aladdin shouted. "We must be at least six hundred feet over the base. And yet you plan on jumping off the ship?"

"Don't worry about me, Aladdin. I'm the Hound of Ulster. It'll take more than a six hundred foot fall to kill me."-

"But still…"-

"See you guys later." Cuchulain gave a salute and jumped out of the gummi.

"Hey, wait…" But it was already too late. Cuchulain had already made his descent to the factional base below. "Man, that guy is crazy."

"He might be crazy at times," Ophelia said. "But Cuchulain can take on an entire army on his own. They don't call him the Hound of Ulster for nothing."

"I should at least give him a hand."-

"Then go right ahead, Aladdin. I can take care of these punks myself. Just don't get caught in friendly fire."-

"Right," Aladdin stood from his chair, "Carpet, Abu, let's go!" Carpet and Abu quickly stood up with enthusiasm and followed Aladdin to the open hatch. Aladdin looked down at the ground six hundred feet below and cleared his gullet. "I can't believe that guy Cuchulain jumped out of the ship from this height. He must really have guts." Aladdin and Abu boarded the carpet. "Alright, Carpet, let's go!" The carpet flew out of the ship and headed towards the ground at a very high speed.

In the meantime, Ophelia continued her run, firing her laser guns to further scatter the faction soldiers. Some of the faction soldiers fired mindlessly into the air, hoping to hit the ship as it passed. But Miss Billiard was crafty, always lurking in the shadows. She eluded the base search lights and shot down at them, further limiting the faction's abilities to spot her. Projectiles and energy beams flew into the sky, exploding all around her. But nothing could deter the colonel. Her experience in battle made her as hard as a rock, never wavering in the face of adversity.

"That's right," she said, "Fire all you want, but you will never strike down the invincible Tiger of Goth!" She unleashed a hail of bullets upon the soldiers below, causing them to duck and cover, scatter, or be struck down in severe injury or death. "This is for daring to turn your back on me, daring to try and discard me once my use was depleted!"

Cuchulain on the other hand, like a cat, landed upon the concrete ground of the faction base. Soldiers were running about like mad men, confused and bewildered. Their minds were so occupied with what was going on around them that they seldom noticed Cuchulain. And even though he wore the alliance blue instead of the Imperial grey or black, in the dark, with only the fires of chaos to identify his side, the soldiers seldom paid attention to him.

"Such chaos here," Cuchulain said to himself. "We might have gone a little overboard." The Hound quickly dashed to the area where the prisoner facility was located. No soldier lifted a finger to stop him. Their minds were concerned other pressing matters, such as trying to stay alive from the relentless barrage.

Like the base Cunla and Edward had penetrated, the prison was guarded by two sentries at the front iron gates. But unlike Cunla's operation, there was already a reign of chaos erupting throughout the compound. The two guards, despite the destruction and fire raining down from the sky, they maintained their posts, though at times, they ducked and covered. They watched as their fellow soldiers ran about like fowl whose heads had been recently severed from their throats.

Just then, from out of the barrage of chaos, like a ghost accumulating from the shadows, the figure of the mighty Hound of Ulster appeared before the two guards. At a distance, he seemed only another panicked soldier. Thus, the guards never really paid attention to him. But as he drew nearer towards the door with explosions and stray lights illuminating the color of his shell jacket, the two faction soldiers realized that he was a member of the Universal Alliance. But by that time it was too late. They tardily drew their weapons just as the Hound flew straight at them. He first slammed his weight into the soldier in charge of opening and closing the iron doors. The soldier was knocked against the wall and was knocked virtually unconscious. Cuchulain then turned his attention to the other faction soldier, who raised his sword as if ready to smite him. Cuchulain threw out his leg and kicked him in the face. The guard thus fell to the ground out cold.

"Sorry, you two," Cuchulain said, "I'd love to stick around and do battle with you, but I have other matters to attend to." He flipped the switch that opened the large iron gates. He rushed in to find the same type of facility Cunla encountered. The cells had red energy barriers, they had numbers white washed above each cell to identify the confinement area. And of course, each cell was armed with a security alarm system that had to be deactivated from the main cell control room first. He happened to look to his right and there stood the little cell control room with a solitary soldier in it. The soldier rushed out. By the looks of it, he was new recruit, a mere private, no older than sixteen. He timidly peeked out.

"What's going on?" he asked. Cuchulain came in eye contact with the boy. The boy, knowing the reputation of the Hound, quickly identified who he was. "You're the Hound of Ulster."

"My reputation is strong within the faction now." Cuchulain said. The soldier quickly ran back into the room and grabbed his blaster. He charged it and made ready to fire at Cuchulain, but he changed the destructive setting to a minimum, so he would kill the Hound, but not cause any inward explosions. He thus began to fire at will against Cuchulain. But for some strange reason, none of the shots struck the warrior. Cuchulain slowly neared the nervous recruit. The youth continued to shoot at him, but with no results. Even at point blank range, the young trooper did not strike he foe. It was at that moment was within striking distance of the boy. He raised the Gae Bulga and touched the boy's throat. The boy stopped shooting and dropped his weapon. He suddenly began to cry, knowing that this was the end.

"Please, don't kill me." He uttered. "Please don't kill me, Hound."

"I'm not gonna kill you." Cuchulain said, "So long as you do not attack me from behind, your life will be spared." Cuchulain lowered his spear. "Do not speak of me being here and your life will be spared. I will remember your face. Now go and live to fight another day, or perhaps seek enlightenment to find out what it truly means to fight for a cause that's worthy."

The young soldier backed out of the room slowly, Cuchulain didn't bother to keep his guard up on the boy, but then again he didn't have to. The boy was too scared and too concerned with his own life to be picking a fight with the mighty Hound of Ulster. The young guard quickly turned and ran out of the facility. Leaving the Hound free to do whatever it was that he wanted. Cuchulain walked into the control room and looked about at the series of switches for the different blocks. He looked carefully for the particular block and cell where young Alphonse Elric was being held.

"Let's see," Cuchulain thought to himself. "As I recall, Alphonse Elric is located on block four, cell twelve." He looked at all the cell deactivation switches on the column marked block four and happened to gaze upon cell number twelve. He pressed the switch and there was a low buzz, indicating that the alarm system had been deactivated. Cuchulain then rushed to the fourth block and searched for cell twelve. "Now, Alphonse Elric shouldn't be too far away." He counted down the cell numbers starting from one. He continued on until his hit cell number twelve.

"This is it." Cuchulain said. But as he peered into the cell, there was no one there. The only thing that was present in the cell was a bed, a sink, a toilet, and a rusty old suit of armor standing in the middle of the room, which was rather unusual décor for a prison cell. Cuchulain was left bewildered. He opened up the cell and walked in. "Alphonse, Alphonse Elric?"

"Yes?" a voice replied. It sounded like the voice of a young boy, a child more like. Cuchulain looked about the cell, but there was no boy to be seen.

"Where are you?"-

"Who are you?" the voice asked.

"I'm Cuchulain; I'm here to get you out of here."-

"Did my brother send you?"-

"I'm of the Universal Alliance and yes I know you're brother, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Now could you please stop hiding? We have to get out of here."-

"I'm not hiding. I'm right here."-

"Where?"-

"Right in front of you."-

Cuchulain looked in front of him, but he only saw the armored suit in front of him.

"I don't see you, kid. Where are you?" he asked.

"Right in front of you as I said." The voice replied. Cuchulain saw no one in front of him except for the armor.

"Where, behind the armor?"-

"I am the armor."-

"What!" Cuchulain was stunned. He examined closely at the armor. The armor began to move. "Are you Alphonse Elric?"

"I told you that already."-

"Of course you did. I just wasn't expecting you to be in a suit of armor." The Hound knocked at the empty shell. "You're hollow."

"That's right."-

"Are you some kind of ghost?"-

"You might say that. I lost my body when my brother and I tried to resurrect our mom and nearly lost my soul as well. But my brother used his own blood to attach my soul to this suit of armor." Alphonse took of the helmet and revealed the blood seal at the armor's collar.

"I see. He used the iron in his blood to attach you to the armor. I guess that explains why you have the voice of a young child, despite being in a rather large piece of hardware. For a minute I was wondering why they called you the younger Elric brother. You're much larger than Edward is." Cuchulain turned away. "Well, let's get out of here while we still can."

"Right…"-

Cuchulain and Alphonse quickly scurried out of the cell and down the hall. But as they did, they found themselves confronted by at least twenty faction soldiers, armed and ready for combat.

"There they are!" the officer in charge of the troops shouted. "Kill them!"

"Great," Cuchulain said. "More trouble." He turned to Alphonse. "I hope you know how to fight, kid."

"Of course I know how to fight." Alphonse replied. "I've trained with my brother countless times and he's never beaten me once."

"I'm glad to hear that." Cuchulain drew out the Gae Bulga and prepared to engage. The soldiers slammed full force against the two, but with one swipe of his spear, the Hound managed to knock down ten of the guards with ease, giving them only minor wounds in the process. Alphonse on the other hand grappled the faction soldiers who tried to cut at him with their blades. But being a hollow suit of armor, there were no visible weak points to strike. Alphonse beat the soldiers into submission, knocking them away like rag dolls.

"Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to be so rough."

"You iron behemoth!" one soldier shouted, raising his sword. "I'll slice you in half!" He came at Alphonse, but the boy simply raised his hand and broke the blade of the sword. As the battle went on, some of the prisoners who were witnesses to the confrontation began to cheer and holler for the Hound and the young Elric.

"That's it, let them have it!" one prisoner shouted.

"Give it to them!" another prisoner cried.

Within seconds, the soldiers were all down on the ground. Many of them wounded, while others were rendered unconscious. The prisoners in their cells still continued to cheer, though they seldom knew what was going on.

"That was easy enough." Cuchulain said. "And I didn't even break a sweat."

"Me either." Alphonse replied. "Of course, I can't really sweat, being a suit of armor and all."

"Let's get out of here. I bet your brother and Winry will be happy to see you."-

"You mean they rescued Winry too?"-

"Most likely, your brother and my son, Cunla, are in charge of that mission. So they had to be successful without a doubt." Cuchulain began heading towards the exit.

"What about the prisoners who are still here?" Alphonse asked.

"Well…" Cuchulain knew that it would best to save the prisoners. Many of them could have been civilians from the present world who were apprehended for suspicion of conspiring against the faction. But Cuchulain refused to release them. "I think it would be safer for them to remain in their cells. Otherwise, if we release them, it's most likely that they'd be killed by the faction soldiers."

"I guess you're right."-

"Let's get going."-

The two ran down the hall, despite the protests of the prisoners wanting to be released, and out amidst the chaos of the battle. All around them, soldiers were taking cover and running about, fearing that they'd be bombed or shot. But unlike before, when chaos was raining everywhere in a mindless display, some of the soldiers did take notice of Cuchulain and Alphonse walking out of the prison.

"Hey," one of the soldiers cried, "One of the prisoners is escaping! And he has an accomplice!"

"Oh boy," Cuchulain uttered, "They're onto us!"

"Get them!" another soldier shouted. At least third of the soldiers nearby heard the call and saw the two prisoners escaping. They picked up their weapons and charged towards them.

"Let's not try to kill anyone." Cuchulain said. "Enough blood has been shed already."

"Right…" Alphonse said.

"Kill them!" the soldiers shouted as they rushed head on into the fray. Once again battle commenced and Cuchulain and Alphonse did their best to fight the soldiers, but at least knock them out of commission, or wound them lightly. But fulfilling such a task was not easy and the faction troopers began to push the Hound and young Elric back into the prison.

"This is not going very well is it?" Alphonse said.

"We have no choice." Cuchulain said. "Remember, how I said not to release the prisoners?"

"Yeah…?"-

"Release them."-

"But I thought you told me not to."-

"Well, I'm sure that those prisoners will think differently. They want revenge even more than their freedom."-

"How do you know that?"-

"I don't know, I'm simply guessing. But if they really have the heart to strike back at the faction, then they'll attack whether they're armed or not."

"Alright…"-

"I hold them off." Cuchulain said as he pushed two more guards away. "You go back into that jail and press the main cell release button. That should automatically open up all the cells.

"Give me thirty seconds at the most." Alphonse uttered.

"I got your back."-

Alphonse rushed back into the prison while Erin's champion continued to battle long and hard, wounding as many as he could. Many of the other soldiers saw what was going on and quickly joined the fray.

"Man," Cuchulain grumbled, "For weaklings, you sure are persistent little buggers, aren't you."

"Kill him!" a faction officer shouted. "Don't let up."

The faction's troops jabbed ad sliced with their swords and blades, while others tried to take careful aim with the blasters. But though they were condensed and had the Hound outnumbered fifty to one, Cuchulain held them off as if he were a virtual character in a video game.

"We've had enough of this!" several of the soldiers ran forward with their blasters armed. The minute Cuchulain saw the blasters pointed at him, he ceased his fighting.

"Now, now, gentlemen," he said, "Must we have to come to such a violent conclusion. I don't want to kill anyone here."

"Is that so?" a soldier said, in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Of course not," Cuchulain thumbed behind him. "That's their job."

Suddenly, from out of the darkness of the prison, dozens of angered prisoners rushed at the unsuspecting troopers, with Alphonse leading the way. The prisoners jumped on top of the soldiers, many of them being killed and wounded from thrusting and slicing weapons. The soldier aimed their blasters, but the Hound rushed forth and wounded them as well. There was terrible violence as the troopers were being overwhelmed by the angry prisoners. The prisoners spread throughout the compound, rushing at and subduing, if not killing every faction soldier they came across. Of course, the prisoners too suffered a great deal of casualties.

By this time, Aladdin, Abu, and Carpet descended in front of the prison. He looked around and the terrific chaos that erupted in front of him.

"I see you guys have everything under control." He said.

"Aladdin," Cuchulain implied, "Let's get back to the gummi ship."

"Right," Aladdin then happened to look at the Alphonse. "Is that Ed's younger brother?"

"That's him alright."-

"I'm Alphonse Elric." Alphonse replied. "But you can call me Al if you want."

"You're nicknamed Al?" Aladdin asked. "I'm nicknamed Al too? I'm Aladdin."-

"What a coincidence."-

"You have to be at least twice as tall as your brother though. It's hard to believe that you're the youngest."-

"He can tell you all about why he's like that on the gummi ship." Cuchulain said. "In the meantime, let's get back to the gummi."

"Right…!"-

"Miss Billiard," Cuchulain contacted the gummi from his collar transmission, "We're taking the carpet back to the gummi. Prepare for boarding."

"Right…" Ophelia replied. She maneuvered the gummi high over the prison facility where the faction guns couldn't get at her. "I'm stationed over the prison. You have ten seconds."

"Acknowledged," Cuchulain ended the transmission. "Alright you guys, on the carpet! We're heading out!"

"Gotcha…" Aladdin said. He and Abu boarded the carpet amidst the battle as casually as if he were safe at the palace.

"Get on, Alphonse."-

"Uh…" he hesitated. "A flying carpet…?"-

"Don't worry, kid." Aladdin chuckled. "Carpet is perfectly stable. You can trust him with your life."-

"But do you think this flying carpet can sustain my weight? I am a suit of armor after all."-

"There's only one way to find out." Cuchulain said, pushing Alphonse onto the carpet. He jumped on the blue tapestry himself. "Alright, Aladdin, get us out of here."

"Let's go carpet!" Aladdin said. The carpet obeyed and rushed up to the gummi ship. Alphonse, not at all accustomed to such an experience, clutched tightly onto the fabric of the carpet for dear life. It took only a few seconds before they reached the hull of the gummi ship and were safe in the storage area. Alphonse was still grasping at the carpet.

"Here we are." Cuchulain said. "You can let go of the carpet now, Alphonse."

Alphonse looked around and realized that he was safe in the gummi, with the iron floor beneath him.

"Mission accomplished." Ophelia said from the cockpit.

"Great," Aladdin said. "Now let's get out of here and back to the place where we're supposed to meet the others."

"Right, then you better all get in here and buckle up." The team headed for the cockpit, all except Cuchulain, who seemed to have some kind of concern biting at the back of his head.

"Are you coming, Cuchulain?" Aladdin asked.

"Miss Billiard," Cuchulain uttered, "I want you to get the others back to the designated meeting place without me."

"What?" Ophelia asked. "But why?"

"What's up?" Aladdin asked.

"I have to do something." Cuchulain said. "I have to get to the cave of wonders."

"But why so soon?" Ophelia asked. "We're headed that way as soon as we meet up with Cunla and Fullmetal."

"I know, but there's something that has been nagging at me for some time, a thought at the back of my head, a question that needs answering. Besides," Cuchulain sensed the energy accumulating from afar. "Sora and Riku need assistance right now."

"Then we'll come with you." Aladdin said.

"No," Cuchulain said, "You have a mission to fulfill and that's get Alphonse back to his brother and Miss Winry."

"I won't argue with you then." Ophelia said with a sigh. "If it's extremely important, then I trust your judgment."

"Thanks," Cuchulain turned to Aladdin. "You mind if I take the carpet with me?"

"Go right ahead." Aladdin replied. "If Miss Billiard puts so much faith in your intensions, then I'll be as equally faithful."

"Thanks, Al." Cuchulain turned to carpet. "Let's go." The carpet flattened itself out just out of the ship's hull. Cuchulain stepped aboard. He turned to his friends. "You guys take care of each other."

"We will. Good luck."-

Cuchulain gave a thumb's up and he and carpet flew off in the direction where the cave of wonders was at.

"There he goes." Alphonse said.

"Yep," Aladdin replied. He turned to the giant suit of armor. "Well, he has his mission and we have ours. Let's get you back to your brother, kid."

"Right…"-

"Miss Billiard, let's get going."-

"Roger that."-

Aladdin, Alphonse, and Abu sat in their seats and buckled themselves in. The gummi's rockets ignited and off it went to unite young Alphonse with his brother and Winry, leaving the faction prison in utter ruin and at the mercy of the liberated prisoners. The coastal faction had fallen within less than half an hour.

As Ophelia went one way, Cuchulain and Carpet headed the other way.

"To the cave of wonders as fast as you can carpet," Cuchulain said. "We have to hurry." The carpet increased its speed to its maximum. Cuchulain, not at all scared, stood upon the carpet instead of crouching down on it. His mind was filled with questions, questions regarding General Scimitar who battled against Sora and Riku at that same moment. Her facer, her aura, they seemed so familiar to Cuchulain. The thought ate at his mind till his cranium hurt.

"It's without a doubt," the Hound thought to himself. "That fiery look, that aura, the intensity in her eyes." The emerald green eyes of the Blade General passed through his mind, embedding itself in his memories like a hot branding iron. "Even in the darkness of the night, such heavy shadows can't extinguish her flame or cover her face, the face of a true warrior. Could it be her? Could it be? It has to be. It has to. No such feeling diminishes so easily, even after years of idle speculation." Events of Cuchulain's past flashed simultaneously in his mind within a range of a few seconds. "And if she is that one woman, I fear not even Riku and Sora can stand against her, even if they were to fuse and use their combined strengths to their utmost extent." Cuchulain continued into the night, as fast as he could.

Things were quiet at the palace now, though Agrabah was still under constant guard. It was almost ten o'clock and many of the guards grew weary. Jasmine had once again dressed back into her causal wear, the wardrobe of a princess and sat down upon pillows on her bed, with her faithful tiger, Rajah next to her. The sultan walked in, fixing his coat and getting back into his casual wear as well.

"It feels nice to get that battle armor off for a while." He said. "At least things have quieted down." He then happened to gaze at his daughter. He walked up to Jasmine. "Why Jasmine, my child, why do you look so depressed?"

"Oh father," Jasmine uttered, "I'm worried about Aladdin and the others. I have this nagging feeling that something is wrong, that something is out of place."

"I understand what you mean." The sultan uttered. "But you must have faith in that boy. He can do anything. He can even make the impossible possible."

"I guess you're right."-

"Besides, he has the key bearers and their comrades to aid him too." The sultan put his hand on Jasmine's shoulder. "Now my dear, you must keep faith and Allah will protect them. And soon these faction barbarians will be driven back to wherever it is they came from."

"Thank you, father." Jasmine embraced her father. The sultan hugged his daughter.

"Now, now, no more tears for tonight." The sultan wiped away his daughter's tears. "Perk up, Jasmine, as of tomorrow, peace would have been restored to Agrabah."

"Yes…"-

The sultan smiled and walked out of the room giving Jasmine her privacy.

"My father has a point, Rajah." Jasmine uttered silently. "I must have faith in Aladdin and the others. They'll be back. They'll come back to us."

But little did they realize how grave the situation at the palace actually was. As the sultan walked through to the grand hall, he saw all of the guards, posted around the palace, lying upon the ground unconscious or dead. The sultan was taken completely off guard.

"What's all this?" he uttered.

Suddenly, something grabbed him from behind, gagging him. Then there was a sharpened weapon raised at his throat. It seemed that at that moment, the sultan's life would end until…

"Hold," a voice uttered, "We may need him for a higher purpose."

Before the sultan, a group of familiar faces appeared before him. It was the entire KH team. And the one who confronted was none other than his own son-in-law, Aladdin. For some reason, however, the faces of the KH team were different. They seemed darker and soulless as if they had been manipulated by evil.

"So nice to see you again, sultan," Aladdin said, "Going back to your royal lounging while we break our backs saving this world are we?"

"Aladdin…" the sultan uttered in a muffled cry.

"I think its time for a little change of rule. You are being dethroned."-

"I'm what?"-

"You've been sultan for long enough. I believe it's my turn now to ascend the throne and become the new sultan." Aladdin turned to Riku and Sora. "Take him away."

The two key bearers picked up the sultan and dragged him away.

"Aladdin," Sultan cried, "How could you betray me!"

"Very easily…" Aladdin chuckled. "I just bided my time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike." The key bearers dragged the sultan off.

"You'll regret this, Aladdin!" the sultan shouted. "You'll regret this!"

"Now," the dark prince uttered, "to pay a visit to a certain little lady." Aladdin walked down the corridor with pride as if he were a certified prince from birth.

By this time, Jasmine and Rajah had been standing out on the balcony overlooking the gardens. She sighed, gazing up at the starry night.

"Aladdin," she uttered, "Come back to me as soon as you can. I have wonderful news to tell you. I just wanted to keep it secret until the time was right." Jasmine placed her right hand upon her stomach. "It seems we'll be having a new addition to the family.

"Is that so?" a voice uttered from behind. Jasmine turned around and saw her husband standing just a few feet away from her, dressed in his princely outfit. Aladdin had this smile on his face.

"Aladdin…?" Jasmine uttered.

"The one and only."-

"Did you hear what I said?"-

"Of course not, I didn't pick up that last part about how there was going to be an addition to the family."-

"I wanted to tell you for the past couple of weeks, but I thought I'd save it for a moment like this."-

"I see." Aladdin slowly approached her.

Though Jasmine was thrilled to see him and was awaiting him to embrace her, Rajah on the other hand was not as ecstatic to welcome the prince. The tiger began to growl aggressively all of a sudden.

"Rajah," Jasmine scolded, "That's no way to treat Aladdin, you know that!"

But the tiger continued to growl, not heeding Jasmine's words, and crouched as if ready to pounce. But Jasmine stood in front of Rajah, blocking her path to strike.

"Stop it Rajah!" Jasmine shouted. "Stop it!"

"That tiger of yours has lost her mind." Aladdin said.

"I don't know what's gotten into her. She usually gets along with you very well."-

"Perhaps I've intruded at a bad time."-

"It's not that. Rajah only acts like this when…" Jasmine suddenly stopped mid sentence.

"Only acts like that when…?" Aladdin asked.

Jasmine turned to towards Aladdin. There was a sudden change of mood, a sudden change of expression on her face.

"What is it?" Aladdin asked.

"Tell me Aladdin," Jasmine uttered, "Why isn't your parrot friend, Abu, accompanying you."

"Well, you know Abu," Aladdin shrugged his shoulders, "He's always shedding feathers."

"Yeah, those fluffy blue and yellow feathers."-

"Yeah, of course."

"I knew it." Jasmine stepped to the side, allowing Rajah to suddenly pounce on the prince. Aladdin was nearly crushed by the big paws and the heavy weight of the tiger.

"What are you doing, Jasmine!" Aladdin uttered. "Is this how you treat your husband?"

"No, I wouldn't treat my husband like this, not my real husband anyway."-

"What do you mean your real husband? I am you real husband."-

"Don't try to fool me. I know that you're not really Aladdin."-

"And how would you know?"-

"For one thing, Rajah always gets along with Aladdin just as much as she gets along with me. She would never growl at Aladdin. Rajah only growls when I'm in danger, or when there's a stranger about. Nothing can fool her senses."-

"Is that so?"-

"Yes that's so. Also, when I asked you about Abu the parrot and his blue and yellow feathers, that was a lie too. Abu is the name of Aladdin's monkey partner, while Iago is the name of the parrot. And Iago's feathers aren't blue and yellow, they're red and green. The real Aladdin would have known that off the bat. This only indicates to me that you are an imposter." Jasmine looked at the Aladdin. "Tell me, who are you really!"

"Oh, was my identity really that obvious?" Suddenly, with one strike to the chest, the fake Aladdin knocked Rajah off of him. The Tiger went flying into the air and descended upon the edge of the balcony. Rajah landed just inside the railing and lay motionless on the ground.

"Rajah…!" Jasmine cried.

"I guess my disguise didn't fool you one bit." Aladdin said. He stood up and began to walk towards Jasmine. The princess rushed forward and tried to knock her fake husband off his feet, but the agile imposter was quick to evade, leaping over her head and landing opposite her. "Now, now, that's no way to treat your husband."

"You're not my husband! You're not Aladdin!"-

"Now that really hurt."-

Jasmine ran back into her room and retrieved her sword. But as she turned to face Aladdin, the fake prince grabbed hold of her hand that wielded the sword.

"Let go!" she cried.

"Don't try to resist." The fake Aladdin chuckled. "It'll ease your suffering a lot more."

"I said let go!" Jasmine kicked Aladdin in the gut and swiped her sword. The edge of the sword suddenly cut the throat of the imposter and he fell to the ground with grate spurts of blood gushing from the wound in his severed neck. Jasmine looked away at the grotesque sight, dropping her sword to cover her eyes. She later glanced at the damage she inflicted and saw the imposter laying on the ground, still twitching. The princess turned and walked away. "I'm sorry…"

"Now, now," the voice of the imposter uttered. "That's no way to treat someone, cutting their throat like that"

Jasmine turned to find the imposter standing back up on his own two feet, his throat healed. This scared Jasmine for one thing. It was impossible for someone to survive a throat cut and stand back up as if nothing had happened. She tried to run, but as she did, she was confronted by the key bearers and the rest of the KH team.

"Riku, Sora," she cried, "There's an imposter disguised as Aladdin."

"We know." Sora replied.

"We were wondering when you were going to figure that out." Riku added.

"What's wrong with you?" Jasmine uttered.

"What's wrong with them?" the imposter uttered. "They're with me." The two key bearers grabbed hold of Jasmine and locked her arms behind her. They then faced her towards the imposter. "I must admit princess. You were a lot harder to fool than your father. He fell for my little disguise lock, stock, and barrel."

Suddenly, the imposter transformed from Aladdin to some other individual. The figure emerging had skin that was a white and pale as snow. He was a youth no older than sixteen, well built in muscular tone. Atop his head were long strands of hair draping down as far as his waste. Like spider legs, or daggers, these dread locks hung, reflecting raven black. His eyes were a color that matched his hair, the irises as dark as a dolls, soulless and foreboding. His wardrobe was rather bare, wearing a sleeveless, black spandex, top that stopped at his upper rib cage. He wore black spandex shorts, covered by a gothic black loincloth. On his arms were black bands tightly fit around his flesh, from mid forearm to middle palm. The same with the ankle warmers that extended from his middle shin to the heel. Branded on his left leg was the seal of an alchemist, or a being created from alchemy. He was the being of legend, an alchemic creature with superhuman powers and eternal youth, but no soul, a homunculus.

"Who are you?" Jasmine uttered.

"I am merely a young man without an identity." The imposter chuckled. "I have gone by so many names. I've been everyone from higher ups and royalty to the lowliest of peasants. But many know me as Envy."

"Envy…"-

"That's right."-

"Are you a member of the faction?"-

"You might say that?" Envy flipped a strand of hair from the front of his face. "Actually, I'm here because I was promised the opportunity of disposing with a certain alchemist about so high?" Envy mocked the size he indicated, giving it a small height.

"Are you talking about that alchemist Edward Elric?" Jasmine asked.

"So I take it that you know the Fullmetal pipsqueak. Excellent, my time of vengeance will be coming soon enough." Envy looked at the KH team. "You can take the princess away. We've fulfilled out mission here."

"The key bearers," Jasmine uttered, "They're not real either are they."

"And to think that you didn't have to second guess on that bit of information." Envy chuckled. The key bearers and the KH team suddenly transformed into mumluks, groaning and moaning as they carrier her away. "Don't worry, princess, you won't be alone. You'll have your father to keep you company."

"My father…? What did you do to him?"-

"Don't worry, we didn't hurt him. Although he wasn't as smart enough to see through our deception as you were."-

"You monster!"-

"Have both of them gagged and tied and sent straight to the mother ship's confinement area." The mumluks tied a black band around Jasmine's mouth, muffling her cries. "I don't want to have them prattling all the way back to our headquarters."

Just then, from out of nowhere, black sand began to crawl into the palace like a serpent. It presented itself before the homunculus. Envy saw the sand approaching him at the corner of his eye. The sand began to manifest itself into the shape of a human. Within seconds, the figure of Lord Mozenrath appeared, a perfect clone created.

"Well, what do you want?" Envy uttered.

"I take it that you managed to complete your mission here?" Mozenrath asked.

"It was easier than I expected. Those fools fell for my disguise. All except the princess though. She was a little tougher to convince. Oh, well…"-

"I take it that you apprehended her without a scratch?"-

"Of course," Envy put his hands to his sides and smirked. "Both the little lady and her overweight father have been captured; as well as a conceived little one, or so the princess told me."

"Is that so? That information might actually prove useful to us then."-

"Also, we've cleaned out the sultan's treasure room as instructed. We're heading out now."-

"Very good," Mozenrath chuckled. "Then all is going according to schedule."

"Now that I have fulfilled my mission, can I eliminate the Fullmetal pipsqueak and that rusty tin can of a brother of his?"-

"Not so fast, not so fast, you have yet another mission to fulfill."-

"What, another mission!" The present declaration given by Mozenrath was not so easily accepted by Envy. "But I want to take care of that bastard's sons now!"

"In due time, Envy, but General Saber wants you to wait at the ship for him until he returns from his own operations."-

"Are you trying to delay me! I want to kill the Elric brothers and do away with that bastard's legacy! That'll teach him for tossing me aside like trash and make way for those little do-gooders!"-

"If you have complaints, Envy, take it up with General Saber."-

"Believe me, I will." Envy turned and stormed out of the palace in pursuit of the mumluks. With the end of the meeting, the figure of Mozenrath vanished from sight and the black sands diminished just as quickly as they appeared.

Mozenrath had been outside of the city the whole time watching as Envy's detachment withdrew from Agrabah.

"It won't be long now." He uttered.

"Boy was easily fooled." Xerxes chuckled.

"Yes he was." Mozenrath pondered at the situation. "This is quite complicated in the making. Envy's only goal is to kill Edward Elric, but little does he realize that the Fullmetal Alchemist has already met his demise at the hands of the faction. And what makes this situation even more splendid in its making is that Envy never realized that Fullmetal was aiding us all this time."

"Now it's up to us."-

"Yes, my pet. Soon, it will be our turn to leave our mark on the city of Agrabah. Soon, the most powerful source of magic will be in my hands."-

Meanwhile, over the sands expanding between the cave of wonders and the mother ship, Donald and Goofy had encountered the convoy of twenty transports scurrying across the desert sands. Like a pesky fly over a meal, the gummi fired away, trying to destroy the faction transports, while at the same time, trying to evade the incoming shells that were being fired at them by the remaining gatler tanks. Already Donald managed to take down five of the transports and at least one gatler, but the transports struck were empty ones.

"They must've had to leave in a hurry didn't they?" Donald said.

"Be careful, Donald," Goofy said. "Them tanks are still firing at us."

"I understand that."-

Just then, two transmitted messages came into the cockpit.

"This is Cunla, this is Cunla," the first message said. "Our mission was a success. I repeat our mission was a success, over."

"That's great." Donald picked up the transmitter. "I've acknowledged your message, Cunla. Great work, over."

"We're returning to the designated area, over."-

"Roger that, this is Donald over and out."-

The transmission between Donald and Cunla ended. Soon after a message transmitted by Ophelia came through.

"This is the Tiger, this is the Tiger," Ophelia said, "Mission has been successfully accomplished. Please acknowledge, over."

"I hear you loud and clear." Donald complied. "Great work, over."

"We're returning to the designated area, over."-

"Roger that, over."-

"Both parties will be joining you within the hour, over."-

"Copy that, over."-

"Also, one last thing, Cuchulain took the liberty of heading in your direction early. He's taking the flying carpet, over."-

"We'll keep an eye out for him then. Donald, over and out." Donald ended the transmission. "Goofy, keep your eye out for Cuchulain. Miss Billiard said that he'd be arriving here on the flying carpet."

"Uh, there he goes." Goofy uttered, pointing outside of the cockpit. Donald turned around to see Cuchulain pass by on the carpet.

"That was fast." There was a sudden explosion near the gummi and the cockpit was shaken violently. Donald grabbed firmly onto the helm and steadied the ship. He sighed, a big sweat drop dripping down his head. "That was close, too close for my liking."

"You should be keep your eye out in front of you, Donald. You shouldn't get distracted by anything." Donald cringed at Goofy.

"Sometimes, I really hate you, Goofy." He mumbled to himself. Donald plowed forward and continued his run against the retreating convoy.

In the meantime, Cuchulain drew nearer and nearer to the cave of wonders.

"Soon," Cuchulain thought to himself. "I'll be there soon. Riku, Sora, just hold on for a little while longer."

It wasn't long before Cunla and Ophelia's parties had reunited at the designated area. Cunla's party was the first to show up. The gummi slowly lowered itself down and the ignition was extinguished.

"Alright," Cunla said, "We're here."

"All we're doing now is waiting for Miss Billiard to come with my brother right?" Edward Elric asked.

"That's correct." Just then, the second gummi came down unexpectedly. "Speak of the devil, here they are."

The gummi ship touched down on the ground and all its functions were deactivated. The hatch opened and the first to come out was Alphonse Elric.

"Al," Ed cried, as he laid eyes on his brother.

"Al," Winry added, as Alphonse appeared.

"Al…?" Iago, Genie, and Cunla uttered, amazed at what they saw, a giant suit of armor meant to be Alphonse Elric.

"Brother, Winry," Alphonse replied. The three ran towards each other, emotions high and tears in their eyes. They hugged and embraced each other tightly.

"I'm so glad that you're alright, Al." Ed sobbed.

"Me too brother," Alphonse replied, "I'm glad to see that you and Winry are okay too."

"We worried for you, Alphonse." Winry said.

"So that's Ed's younger brother?" Iago whispered. "Boy he's tall. I'm surprised that he's considered the younger brother."

"Glad to see that you made it back successfully, Cunla." Ophelia said as she appeared out of the gummi with Aladdin and Abu, her hand at her hip.

"The same goes for you, colonel." Cunla replied. He then looked about. "But where's my dad at?"

"Your father's gone ahead to the cave of wonders."-

"He has?"-

"Yes…"-

"Then we better head that way as well before we miss all the action."-

"You're right. Let's hurry then."-

"What," Ed uttered, "Are you guys leaving so soon?"-

"We have to, Edward." Ophelia said, "Riku and Sora require our assistance."

"Wait," Edward ran up to Cunla and Billiard, "I'll go with you."

"What!" Winry uttered. "You can't be serious! After all we've had to go through!"

"I have to, Winry. It's the least I could do to repay them for what they've done for us."-

"Brother…" Alphonse uttered.

"It'll be dangerous." Ophelia said. "It may be most likely that both General Scimitar and General Saber will be there as well."

"Knowing how important this mission is for the faction," Cunla added. "I'm sure they accompanied the faction forces assigned to excavate the riches from the cave of wonders."

"If that's so," Ed uttered, "then I have no choice, but to go with you. I have a couple of questions that I want to ask Saber."

"What kind of questions?"-

"Serious questions, like why is he attempting to forge a Philosopher stone?"-

"What did you say, brother?" Alphonse said, shocked. "Did you say that he's trying form a philosopher stone?"

"That's right."-

"But how do you know about this?"-

"I saw copied documents on his desk when we were looking for the info disk leading to your whereabouts."-

"A philosopher stone, what's that?" Ophelia asked.

"It's none other than one of the most powerful weapons ever created by man." Cunla uttered.

"You know about the stone too?" Ed asked.

"It was one of the greatest legends that ever existed in the world of forbidden alchemy. I picked it up when I was still in training. The philosopher stone is a red stone that has the ability to perform alchemy without the concept of equivalent exchange. With the stone, people can be brought back from the dead, things that once were can be revived. Everything can be brought back to their original state or so the theory says."-

"But what does the faction want to do with the philosopher stone?" Winry asked.

"The one thing that all corrupted organizations want." Ed said, "Power…"

"And with the stone, the faction can increase their strength a hundred fold," Cunla added, "both at a mass and individual basis."

"I don't get it." Aladdin asked. "What's so terrible about this philosopher stone?"

"The philosopher stone is a thing that can easily corrupt men. With the stone, they can obtain absolute power. And just forging the stone is genocidal in itself, especially since Saber's planning to use the Grand Arcanum."-

"What!" Alphonse shouted. "Saber's going to use the Grand Arcanum?"

"What's the Grand Arcanum?" Ophelia asked.

"To forge a philosopher's stone, it requires one main ingredient," Edward uttered, uneasily. "It requires human lives."

"Human lives…?"-

"And with the use of the Grand Arcanum, the sacrifice will be great."-

"How great a toll are we talking?"-

"Using the Grand Arcanum, perhaps thousands of lives…"-

"Thousands…?" Cunla uttered.

"My God…" Ophelia uttered.

"But where are they planning to use…" Aladdin uttered. His mind then returned to the thought of Agrabah. "It can't be…" Aladdin turned to Jasmine's safety. He headed in the direction towards Agrabah.

"Aladdin wait…!" Cunla said. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't be reckless."

"But Jasmine…"-

"There's no guaranteeing that Agrabah will be the chosen source for forging the philosopher stone."-

"You mean they plan on using Agrabah?" Ophelia asked.

"It stands to reasons." Edward said. "Agrabah is a large city whose population numbers in the thousands, if not the tens of thousands."

"That may be so," Cunla said, "But what about the other possibilities? One, there are other cities along the Arabian coast that are just as heavily populated. Secondly, even if Agrabah were targeted, who would they use to perform the alchemic reaction?"

"Well, Agrabah's the most obvious source and the closest to the faction's mother ship."-

"But the faction is known for creating deception amidst the obvious." Ophelia said. "If only I could get my hands on someone who knew the plan, I'd be able to read their hidden thoughts and plan a counter attack."

"Well, we can't take anything for granted." Cunla said. "The faction might be planning a reversal since Saber and Scimitar know that we're fighting for the KH team."

"Well, what do we do?"-

"Colonel, I want you to take Aladdin back to Agrabah, and take Genie, Iago, and Abu with you. If the faction is planning to execute the Grand Arcanum there, we'll at least have a chance to fondle their plans."-

"Understood, but what about you?"-

"I need to help my father and the others at the cave of wonders."-

"Right…" Ophelia turned to Aladdin and the others. "Alright you four, get back into the ship, we're heading back to Agrabah."

"Gotcha…!" Aladdin said. "Let's hurry."

"Al, Winry," Edward said, "I want you to go with Miss Billiard too."

"What?" Winry asked.

"But what about you, brother?" Alphonse added.

"I'm going with Cunla." Ed replied. "If they're right and Saber is at the cave of wonders, I have to ask him about the Grand Arcanum and when and where he will initiate the forging of the stone."

"But why are you sending us away?" Winry asked. "Can't we come with you?"

"I would find it safer if you stayed as far away from Saber and Scimitar as you possibly can." There was a silence that lingered. Finally, Alphonse broke the quiet.

"Okay Ed," Alphonse said. "We'll do what you say."

"Al…" Winry protested.

"If we go with my brother, he'll have to worry about our safety as well. That's a burden that we don't want to lay on his shoulders."-

"I understand…" Winry lowered her eyes.

"Then let's go." Cunla said. "Ed and I will head for the cave of wonders while Colonel Billiard escorts the others back to Agrabah."

"Good luck!" Ophelia said. "And God's speed."

"The same goes for you."-

The two parties separated. Cunla and Ed climbed into one ship while Ophelia and the others boarded the other gummi. The ships were activated and they headed in their separate directions, as the ship lifted off, Edward couldn't help, but wonder about the safety of Winry and his brother.

"Is something wearing on you mind?" Cunla asked.

"Well," Ed uttered, "I hope I did the right thing sending Winry and my brother to Agrabah."

"Don't worry, Colonel Billiard is watching out for them. She won't let anything happen to them."-

"But what if the Grand Arcanum is going to be performed in Agrabah?"-

"That's the reason why we're gonna find Saber."-

"Yeah…" Edward pounded his fist into his open palm. "I'll make Saber pay, no matter what the cost."

Cunla and Edward headed off into the night sky, to destiny and the final outcome.

In the midst of the battle, Riku and Sora were reaching their limits in hand to hand techniques. Despite their effort, despite their talent and cunning, despite their swiftness and strength, they could not hinder the elusive blade general and her deadly rings. Around the entire chamber, they fought, off of pillars of the walls, they would battle. Perhaps it was the intimidation of the chakrams or the presence of General Scimitar and the fact that she was woman warrior. Perhaps it was the overestimation of the key bearers' strength. No matter what the reason, things were not looking well for Riku and Sora.

"I don't believe this," Sora thought to himself, "How in the world could this be happening. It's like no matter how close we get to actually striking her, she always seems to dodge and block us."

"Getting tired are we, boys?" Scimitar chuckled.

"And what gave you that impression?" Riku asked.

"I can see it in your eyes. You're starting to lose focus. You're becoming frustrated."-

"So what?"-

"You shouldn't become frustrated, my friend, it'll only cloud your judgment."-

"Stop talking!"-

"Why should I?"-

"I'm starting to lose patience."-

"Tsk, tsk, that will never allow you to win the battle."-

"Don't listen to her, Riku." Sora shouted as he stuck with his keyblade, only to be blocked by one of the chakrams. "She wants you to lose your cool so that you can recklessly attack. Don't let her do that to you, Riku."

"It looks like your young friend is giving you some hearty advice, young key bearer." Scimitar chuckled. "Perhaps you should heed his word. But then again, that only works to your advantage, which I cannot have!" Scimitar suddenly locked Sora's keyblade into the ring of one of her chakrams and withal her might yanked the keyblade out of the young man's hand. She then lunged forward and kicked Sora in the gut. Sora flew backwards and tumbled to the ground, grasping at his upper abdomen.

"Sora," Riku cried, "You'll pay for that, Scimitar!"

"Oh my," Scimitar chuckled, "I tremble with fear."

"You should!" Riku lunged forward, but like Sora before, Scimitar locked Riku's keyblade into the open center of her chakram and used Riku's weight and momentum against himself. Riku nearly fell, but kept his keyblade clutched tightly in his hand. He staggered for a moment or two

"You're better than I thought." Scimitar chuckled. "I guess there's not getting around you is there?" Scimitar at that moment withdrew her chakrams for a moment in the fight and unbuckled her thick black cape from her shoulder. "Well, let's see how well you do if you're blinded and immobile!" Using the cape almost like a lash, she threw the dark cloak around Riku's throat. Riku felt the cloth wrap around his gullet. Soon after, he felt the weight of a large body pounce on his back. Scimitar threw herself on Riku from behind. She then took hold of the cape and wrapped it tightly over Riku's head like a sack. She further wrapped the cape around one of the key bearer's arms, immobilizing him. At the same time Scimitar was doing this, she wrestled Riku to the ground, wrapping both her legs around his middle abdominal area and clutched tightly around Riku like a barnacle or a python on its prey.

"Let go of me," Riku cried, his shouts muffled by the thick cloth. "I can't breathe!"

"That's the whole point." Scimitar chuckled. "Fighting you at hand to hand would be pointless. So I'll smother you instead.

"I can't breathe!" Riku cried. Scimitar kept her self tightly wrapped around Riku's upper body, using her weight to weight him down and keep him bellied up. For a moment, Riku lost his hold on the keyblade, which proved to be another fatal mistake. Now, he tried his best to grasp at the keyblade, but Scimitar prevented him from doing so. With only one arm free, Riku was virtually at the mercy of this cunning foe. He thrashed his legs about violently as one would usually when being deprived of air in such a horrible way.

Sora in the meantime, turned about and saw the kicking limbs of his best friend. For a while, he gazed at the sight, not knowing what to make of what was going on. But as his vision cleared up, he realized what was going on. Scimitar was trying to suffocate Riku. Immediately, Sora called back his keyblade and rushed into the fight.

"Let go of Riku, you scum!" he shouted.

"Great," Scimitar uttered. "Just when I almost had Noctin Tilandir finished off." By this time, Riku's thrashing has come almost to an abrupt halt, as he used the last of his energy to try and release himself, but his was losing oxygen fast, being stifled and asphyxiated underneath that black cloak. Scimitar quickly jumped away and drew out her chakrams again. Sora rushed over to Riku and took the cloak off from around his arm, head, and neck, giving his friend time to breathe. Riku coughed and gasped for breath.

"Are you alright, Riku?" Sora asked.

"I couldn't breathe, Sora…" Riku replied, still gasping. "She tried to smother me."

"It seems that followers of the former Empire are good at that sort of thing. They know how to kill, but at the same time make you suffer horribly. That was the same feeling I had when I was attacked by the Asphyxia Twins six years ago."-

Riku grabbed his keyblade and made ready to battle.

"You won't be catching me off guard again." He uttered.

"Is that so?" Scimitar chuckled. "Then let your weary eyes catch these!" The general thrusts her chakrams forward, but again they miss the key bearers by inches.

"She's unarmed!" Sora shouted.

"Now's our chance," Riku added. "Rush her!"

The key bearers advanced, but no sooner had they begun to advance, they noticed that Scimitar only stood steadfast with her arms folded in front of her, a smirk streaked on her face.

"You fools," she chuckled, "do you really think that I would be so imbecilic as to leave myself open to attack?"

"What…?" Sora uttered. It was then that the sound of the spinning chakrams was heard again, approaching from behind. Riku and Sora were quick to duck, anticipating where the rings would strike. They dodge rolled just in time to feel the blades pass harmlessly over them. "Here we go again, the same old technique!"

"So much for your knowledge," Scimitar suddenly stretched out her hands and the two chakrams suddenly stopped in mid air and continued to spin just as fast as they did. The key bearers were back on their feet just in time to see the chakrams hovering in midair before their master.

"What the heck…?" Sora uttered. "Those rings are spinning in mid air."

"But how can that be?" Riku wondered.

"You mean, you really don't know?" Scimitar asked. "Such immature fools you are!" Scimitar pointed in the direction of the key bearers and the razor edged chakrams went flying at the key bearers again. But Scimitar was quick to turn her blades about and strike against the youths a second and a third time. By using this strategy, Scimitar was able to keep both key bearers dodging and evading, not able to regain an upward stance and initiate an offensive.

"How the heck is she doing that?" Sora asked.

"Don't you know?" Riku said. "She's using her energy to harness and control the movement and momentum of the chakrams."

"I don't believe it."-

"This is a whole new ball game were in now."-

"I guess the key bearers were not as tough as I had originally anticipated." Scimitar chuckled to herself. "It looks like the valiant efforts of Riku and Sora end here. And once they're dead, there will be no one strong enough to face the might of the Midnight Faction."