Chapter 18

It turned out Mrs. Bradley and the Owens had taken the underground tunnel all the way to Central, coming out within the building somewhere. How they'd gotten there so quickly, while the Doctor's team had needed her to speed up the train, was something to worry about later.

The Doctor set Pride to work crafting a circle in the center of the room. The other alchemists would also need some sort of symbol at their points, but she couldn't instruct them on what to do until the radio was done. She was getting help from Lucy (who was mostly holding things for her) in modifying a radio, making it so they'd be able to communicate and hear each other all at the same time.

Then they heard the sound of an explosion on one of the lower floors. From this high up, it was hard to make out the exact words, but they were clearly dalek voices.

Pride looked up from the circle he had almost completed. Everyone looked at the door, except Lucy, who was scrambling through radios to get another part. She yanked something out of one of them and ran to the weird radio the Doctor was cooking up.

"Not good," the Doctor said. "We're just about done, but the other alchemists still need to make their symbols."

"We need to buy some time," Mr. Owens interpreted.

"It would be good," the Doctor reluctantly agreed. "But your weapons aren't going to work on daleks. They're shielded against that."

Mr. Owens scoffed. "We're in Central Command. I'm sure there's plenty of creative weaponry to try on them if we can find it."

"We don't need to," Ling cut in. Everyone looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "We just need to distract the daleks. We don't need to defeat them. After all, that's the whole point of his." He waved his hand at the room. "I'll be happy to help keep the daleks downstairs busy until you're done."

"Me too," Mei agreed. "I'm sure alkahestry could help."

"Hold on now, aren't you like, the Emperor of Xing?" Mr. Owens asked, not sounding completely confident about that. "What'll happen if you die here?"

"I have people who will take over for me." Lan Fan looked skeptical of that idea. "Right now, this is more important, for the whole world. If the daleks do win in Amestris I doubt they'll stop there."

So the people from Xing, along with Mr. Owens, headed out, leaving the rest in the fuhrer's office.

A moment later, radio static crackled to life. "Hello? Hello this is the Doctor."

"Doctor! Tell me we're ready," Al shouted.

His voice was very clear, considering the weird hodgepodge pieces of radio the Doctor's device was made of.

"The Doctor? Al called, told me you might be contacting us. It was impressive, considering how little contact is going on." That was the Elric's teacher. Not that Pride had heard her speak often, but there was no one else it could be.

"I've been caught up, in a sense." And there was Mustang. "We're in the right spot, so let's do this quickly. West City is still crawling with daleks."

"Yeah know the feeling," the Doctor said looking around.

"I take it you're activating the circle in Central?" Mustang asked.

"I can't do alchemy myself," the Doctor told him. "Pride's handling this circle."

"Pride? Wait, he remembered?"

Pride made a frustrated noise, though it was quiet, so it probably didn't pick up on the radio. "Yes. I never forgot. Are we done yet? Anyone else?"

Al started laughing. Pride looked at the radio like Al had grown another head. Not that Al could see anyone's reactions, but the dead silence must've been a tip off.

"Sorry," Al said, still amused. "I just never expected that tone from."

"This isn't funny," Mustang said. "It's serious. But, the daleks are more serious right now. So Doctor, your plan?"

"Right." The Doctor nodded. "Do we have someone in the North?"

"Indeed! Alphonse told me of your plan! It is I! Alex Louis Armstrong!"

Somehow, it was possible to hear his sparkles over the radio.

"Right." The Doctor began giving out instructions. Nothing too complicated, especially if you had knowledge on alchemical symbols.

It got dark outside. Well, the sun had already almost completely set, but it was darker now. Something had thrown a shadow over the building. And if it wasn't Pride's he sure wasn't happy about that.

"Woah."

"What's going on?" the Doctor asked.

"The dalek ship is in the sky again," Pride told her.

"I can see it too," Mustang reluctantly agreed.

"The ship? But brother and Winry are on that!" Al shouted. "Will the transmutation be able to affect the daleks from that high?"

"Not quite," the Doctor admitted.

"Then we can't use this circle yet," Al said. "We have to save him."

"We do not," Pride said. An unpopular opinion, but he'd be unpopular no matter what. He was saying what he thought of that terrible plan. "There is still an attack going on down here. This building is rocking from the daleks. What happens if one of us dies before we activate the circle? Edward can find his own way out, he always does."

"No. Alphonse is right," the Doctor said. "We can't let his brother and Winry die while trying to help us. Besides, I've got a plan that will be much better than if we activated the circle now." She turned to Pride. "And you wonder why I couldn't take you with me."

That was what she was worried about? Didn't she have more than enough morality for both of them? And now the two of them had the attention of at least everyone in the room, probably the people on the radio too.

Mrs. Bradley cleared her throat. "You were rescuing Edward?"

"Right. Yes." The Doctor took a breath. She really didn't seem as happy on this adventure than their past ones. "I need to get to the roof."