Alchemic Dragon-2


The night was dark, and the streets of Central were nearly bear with the occasional set of people walking home from their late shifts at work. Unknown to them, in a dark alleyway, a man was drawing in chalk, a transmutation circle of his specialty.

In Central Command, Mustang was in a meeting with Fuhrer Bradly, discussing the very man who was out on the streets, drawing transmutation circles.

"The Freezing Alchemist?" Mustang questioned. "Really, he's here?"

"We have information he managed to slip into Central a few days ago." Bradly said. "That's why I've summoned you here Colonel. I need you and your men to smoke him out, and bring him in."

"Consider it done, sir." Mustang said.

"Hmph. I'm glad you're with us in Central for a while Mustang." The Fuhrer chuckled. "It's good to know I have people here I can count on."

"Sir."

"Uh, one last thing. Our rising young stars are here as well." Bradly exclaimed. "I'm placing them at your disposal."

"Forgive me Fuhrer Bradly, but just to be clear, are you referring to…?"

"I am." Bradly said. "The State Alchemists known as the Fullmetal and Gemstone Alchemists. Edward Elric and Athena Xiao Long."


~Rooftop in Central Somewhere~

"Ah damn it." Ed cursed. "The Colonel's never gonna let us out of here is he?"

"We already bought our tickets for Liore to, does this mean we're not going?" Al inquired.

"It'll be fine Al." Athena smiled, tapping her knuckles lightly against the armored body, a bandana on top of her head. "I've already anticipated this, and postponed our tickets for when we're ready to leave."

"C'mon, let's hurry and get this over with so we can go." Ed exclaimed.

"Lead the way Brother." Al said.

"Why don't we let Athena take the lead on this one?" Ed smiled.

"I've got his scent from his pocket watch, so I know where to find him. Follow me." Athena smiled, running across the rooftops.


~Alleyways~

"There he goes, after him." An officer shouted as he spotted the fugitive.

"You halt. Halt or I'll shoot." One of the MP's said, as he and his partner held up their guns.

Isaac held up his arm, showing the transmutation circle engraved onto the metal of his gauntlet and used his alchemy on the water around him, creating spikes of ice that killed the two MP's, before the spikes melted into water and he had a clear path again, until he was stopped by two more MP's. Before the officers could inflict damage on Isaac, he grabbed one of them by the wrist, freezing the water that comprised his body, killing the man, while superheating the water in the other MP's body to where he was boiled alive from the inside.

"Water freezes, water boils, either way you're just as dead." Isaac said, before he was forced to jump back, from a spear being thrown at him, as it gave off sparks of blue lightning. "That's alchemy."

"What a nasty thing to do." Edward said walking into Isaac's sight.

"You of all people should know, great deeds require great sacrifice. Isn't that the law of equivalent exchange?" Isaac questioned, gaining a maddened look in his eyes.

"Save your breath, the laws of alchemy don't justify murder." Ed exclaimed before clapping his hands together and turning the spear into a spiked club, with his face on it.

"No transmutation circle?" Isaac questioned.

"Don't be too impressed." Ed exclaimed, before he went running at the fugitive. "NOW."

From behind Al came to grab Isaac, and from above Athena dropped down, pulling him into a grapple, and trying to keep him in place.

"Surprise." Athena smiled, as Isaac struggled to break free.

Managing to grab Athena by the arm, Isaac used his alchemy to free himself and kick her into Alphonse, while bending back at the same time to avoid her counterstrike, before he crossed his arms forward, blocking Ed's attack with his gauntlet. Using his upper body strength, Isaac knocked Ed back, and just as Athena and Al came for a team up attack, he kicked Athena in the face, knocking her back into Al, before he blocked another strike from Ed's spiked club, and used his alchemy on his right arm.

"What?" Isaac questioned, before bringing his arms upward, to avoid getting hit in the head from an attack from Alphonse from behind. "Impossible, I had you. Any water there, should have boiled." He said, throwing Alphonse forward, in a double shoulder throw.

"If it's any consolation, you did ruin my coat." Ed exclaimed, lowering his Automail arm.

"An' Automail arm." Isaac said, as Alphonse stood up.

"Careful Ed, or Winry's not gonna be too happy you broke her precious creation again." Athena said.

Isaac turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw Athena's bandana was gone, and her ears were visible, and the half balaclava mask covering her face was torn from his kick, revealing the scales on one of her cheeks. Looking down, he saw the moonlight glinting off her limbs like polished stone.

"An' who's gonna tell her. You?" Ed smirked.

"Two young gifted alchemists. Neither of them use transmutation circles. One has an Automail right arm, and the other is a human chimera with scales and feline ears on her cheeks and head, with four gemstone limbs. I know you, I know you both. You are the Fullmetal and Gemstone Alchemists, Edward Elric and Athena Xiao Long." Isaac said, before pointing to Alphonse. "So, you're not the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Uh, no I'm his younger brother, Alphonse."

"But he's a runt." Isaac said.

"OH YEAH CAN A RUNT DO THIS?" Ed shouted before clapping his hands together, and pressing them to the ground, before he trapped Isaac in pillars of stone, like a puzzle.

"I've heard the stories, but still I've never imagined this." Isaac said. "The Fullmetal Alchemist is just a little kid, and the Gemstone Alchemist looks old enough to be his mother."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE/OLD?" Ed and Athena shouted at the same time, hitting him from both sides, with stone fists made from alchemy.

"You know, I don't think he was talking about your height and age just now." Alphonse said, as both Athena and Ed were fuming mad, before the realized what Al was talking about.

"Well even if he wasn't he still pissed me off." Athena and Ed shouted in unison.

Later, after more MP's showed up to take Isaac away, one of them stopped in front of Athena and Al, as Athena had put her Bandana back on over her head and used alchemy to repair the tear in her mask.

"So you're the ones we've been hearing all the stories about lately, the Fullmetal Alchemist and the Gemstone Alchemist." The MP said.

"Well, actually he's not the Fullmetal Alchemist, he's actually the younger brother of who you're talking about." Athena said, before pointing over to where Ed was, fixing his coat and gloves. "That's the Fullmetal Alchemist right there if you're wanting to meet him."

"Well, either way you're as good as the stories say, thanks for the help." He MP said, before walking off.

"C'mon let's get going you two, we've got a train to catch." Ed exclaimed after putting his fixed coat back on.

"Right behind ya Ed." Athena exclaimed, before turning back to the MP. "Be sure to keep Isaac away from any source of water, and that includes human bodies, since we're made up of 70% of water."

As if to jinx it, there was a commotion and a large explosion of steam, drawing their attention to Isaac's escorts, and running to them before seeing as Isaac had disappeared, leaving behind the corpses of his escorts.

"He's gone." Al said.

"Damn it, now he really pissed me off." Ed exclaimed.


~Central Command~

"Looks like you underestimated your opponent Fullmetal." Mustang said. "At least Athena had the smarts to warn the MP's to keep him away from water."

"Who is this guy anyway?" Ed questioned.

Sitting on the couch in Mustang's temporary office, Ed's red coat and black clothing could be better seen with a pair of white gloves accompanying the outfit. His golden blonde hair was longer, and tied in a braid.

"Ed, you'd know that if you'd listened to the briefing like he told you to." Athena sighed, sitting next to Al.

"But no, you had to go charging right after him."

"Yeah, yeah I get it all right. I'm sorry, kay? Whatever."

"Next time a superior tells you to pay attention, you might just try it." Athena sighed.

Athena's attire had drastically changed since she first met Ed and Al. Her old outfit was nice, but she felt more comfortable in her new and current one. Going from the top portion of her outfit down, her clothes consisted of a red and black trimmed breast band, holding in her now I-Cup chest, with a black open front leather vest with a similar design to an AL2857 halter top, with leather vambraces.

For the bottom portion she wore, a black leather belt with a red pleated piece of leather going from hip to hip, over a pair of black mini-shorts.

The stockings from her old outfit were gone, leaving her legs exposed, minus the handkerchief around her right thigh like a garter belt, with the martial arts slippers, being replaced with what looked like a pair of women's Harley Davidson strapped boots.

She had let her hair grow out to what it used to be, and allowed it to be wild like her mom's, but was in a ponytail at the base of her neck. On her forehead she had a diamond shaped ruby, with violet catseye shadow. Her cat ears had been pierced, with two piercings in her right, and one in her left, while she had stud piercings in the lobes of her human ears.

Currently, her bandana was off and sitting on the coffee table in front of her, with her mask down and around her neck, covering the choker and blue diamond pendent she wore.

"His name is Isaac McDougal." Athena began, going over the briefing. "But during the War of Ishval, he was known as Isaac the Freezer. But his codename was the Freezing Alchemist. He's a former State Alchemist."

"Former?"

"That's right. He served in the Ishvalan War of extermination." Mustang said. "During that time, he gave us no signs that he'd turn traitor. But after, he immediately resigned his commission and went into hiding."

"According to the records, he's been working with the Antiestablishment Movement, ever since." Athena said, rereading over McDougal's file.

"Taking him into custody, is a matter of top priority." Mustang said. "Whether it's dead or alive, that's up to him."

"No way, I'm not killing anyone for you." Ed exclaimed.

"An' that's your choice to make." Mustang said.

"But Ed, you should know that being in the military, there may come a time when you're not given a choice, but to kill." Athena said. "I understand it may bring up unpleasant memories of that day, three years ago, but it's inevitable."

"Your orders are simply to help us contain McDougal." Mustang exclaimed. "But Gemstone is right, the time when you'll have to kill, is inevitable." He said, before smiling. "Off topic. Have you turned up any leads for getting your bodies back to normal?"

"We've managed to find information on a man named Tim Marco. A State Alchemist who did some very top secret research for the Top Brass on something alchemy related during the Ishvalan Civil War, but he went missing with all his research notes on what he was working on, in the middle of the war, and hasn't been seen since." Athena exclaimed before she jumped when the doors burst open.

"Roy, how goes?" A man with black hair, wearing glasses called out. "Hear you let them put you in charge of catching the Freezer huh? One hell of a nasty assignment, but hey could be your chance to earn that promotion to Central. Oh say looks like my timing was perfect, you two are the Elric brother's and the Xiao Long girl right?" He exclaimed as he spotted Athena, Ed, and Al, just as Athena put her mask and bandana back on.

'Phew, he didn't see my ears or scales.' Athena sighed, before her eyes widened as Hughes removed her bandana.

"Wow, you really do have cat ears, just like the rumors said. Do you have a tail to, or is it just the cat ears and the scales under your mask?" Hughes questioned before turning to Alphonse, and began shaking his hand furiously. "Wow, it's an honor to finally meet the youngest State Alchemists ever, you're a real legend around here. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, a pleasure."

"Um, you want Edward, I'm actually his younger brother Alphonse." Al exclaimed.

"What? You're the Fullmetal Alchemist? Sorry, I had no idea you'd be so…"

"Lacking of metal?" Athena asked.

"Pretty much." Hughes said, before Athena slapped him across the face.

"That was for invading my privacy." Athena said sternly. "I'm ranked as a Brigadier General, I'm you're superior. So don't just do stuff like remove my bandana to see if any rumors are true."

"Sorry. Won't happen again, I promise." Hughes exclaimed saluting her. 'I forgot that one of the two youngest State Alchemists, holds a ranking higher than mine and Roy's.'

"Hughes." Mustang said.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here? Go home."

"Actually, I'm here on official business." Hughes said, causing Mustang confusion. "You three, I understand you don't have a place to stay, which means that you'll have to come with me." Hughes exclaimed, reaching into his pocket coat pocket, and pulling out a picture of his wife and daughter. "My wife, Gracia, and my daughter Elicia, we'd love to have you."


~Hughes Residence~

"Hi Princess." Hughes smiled, pulling his daughter Elicia in for a hug, scratching her with the scruff of his beard.

"Ow. Daddy, your beard is itchy." Elicia laughed.

"Like this? Itchy, itchy." Hughes said, rubbing his beard against Elicia, causing her to laugh some more.

"Look we have guests, these are the Elric Brothers, and their friend Athena." Hughes said.

"Big brother. Little brother." Elicia said, pointing to Al, then to Ed. "Big sister." She smiled, pointing to Athena.

"I'm not their sister." Athena chuckled. "But Ed is actually older than all, and Al is Ed's younger brother."

"But younger means little, he's little." Elicia said.

"Oh boy." Athena sighed as she followed the Hughes into their home, with Al restraining Ed coming up behind her.

"Hope you three are hungry. Gracia's cooking is delicious." Hughes smiled.

Later at diner, Athena was a little nervous about removing her mask, since Gracia and Elicia were civilians. But the food looked so good, and it looked as though Gracia had made enough to feed a small army.

"Roy told us about what the alchemic rebound did to your metabolism Athena, so feel free to dig in and eat as much as you want, and remove your mask and bandana while you're at it." Hughes smiled.

"But, my…"

"It's fine. Maes has already told us about what the alchemic rebound did to you, and this is a judgement free home, so there's no need to feel like you should hide your true self from us." Gracia smiled softly, understanding her concerns.

Feeling better after that reassurance, Athena pulled her mask down, and even removed her bandana, letting her ears out, and twitching them around a bit, after being cramped up under the bandana for hours.

"Kitty ears." Elicia smiled, stars in her eyes. "Can I have some kitty ears to?"

"Maybe when you're older Elicia." Gracia said. "Now don't be shy, dig in."

Athena graciously accepted and couldn't believe how good it tasted.

"Oh man, it's been almost three years since I've tasted such delicious home cooked food." Athena smiled.

"I know, this is great." Ed exclaimed.

"Alphonse, how you gonna eat wearing that armor? Take it off, relax." Hughes said.

"He can't." Athena said, having figured this would happen, she already made an excuse for why he was wearing the armor. "It's a ritual in the Elric family for alchemy training. He has to wear the armor constantly, and can't show his face from under it for a certain amount of time before his training's complete."

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll be sure to eat plenty for the both of us." Ed smiled.

"Training, Choo-choo." Elicia smiled.

"Well, that certainly is a rough style of alchemy training." Hughes chuckled.


~Central Prison~

"Hahahahaha. Hands down, that's got to be the funniest joke I've heard in a long, long time." A man in an isolation cell, laughed as Isaac was standing outside his cell door, giving him an offer. "The Freezing Alchemist wants me to come play his sidekick. Well as fun as that sounds, the Crimson Alchemist works alone, I always have."

"Kimblee, if we work together, we can bring down Bradly and this Godforsaken military." Isaac said. "You saw the horrors that took place in Ishval. You were there damn it. You knew the kinds of things Bradly ordered us to do, the kind of man he really is. That's why you killed all those officers isn't it? To send him a message."

"Hahahahaha. I think you've got me all wrong. My motives aren't so, sophisticated as revenge or honor or anything like that. The reason I killed all of those men, was because I could." Kimblee said. "It's that simple."

"That's too bad Kimblee. That truly is too bad." Isaac said, walking away, and pushing the guard he killed, over onto the ground, causing him to shatter like glass. "Keep up the good work."


~Hughes Residence~

Later that night, Hughes was out sitting on the couch, trying to wrap his head around why Mustang, his oldest friend since their days as cadets, would rope three children, into the lives of State Alchemists. He was so caught up in thought, he didn't even realize Gracia came out to check on him until she spoke up.

"Maes dear, what's wrong, can't sleep?" Gracia questioned.

"Guess not." Hughes sighed.

"I know what's in that head of yours." Gracia said, sitting down next to him. "You're worried about those three, aren't you?"

"You do know what they call State Alchemists right? The Dogs of the Military, not exactly the most popular bunch. I try to imagine what enduring that must be like at their age." Hughes sighed. "You know, I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight." Hughes looked back towards the balcony of their window, and Gracia followed to see Athena, dressed in her shorts and tank top for bed, looking out at the moon and stars, with a distant look in her eyes. "She's deep in thought, not even saying her name got a reaction out of her." Hughes exclaimed.

"Guess that's why she loved my cooking so much. It reminded her of home." Gracia said with a sad smile. "But still, she's so young, and yet she looks like…"

"She looks like a veteran soldier, ready to fight on the battlefield again." Hughes finished. "I've seen the same look in Lieutenant Hawkeye. Athena's been in battle, and something tells me, the only comfort she's gonna get, is when she's back in action."


~Dark Alley~

"One more. One more and Fuhrer Bradly is on his way to hell." Isaac said, after completing another transmutation circle.


~The Following Day~

"We have a confirmed report that McDougal broke into Central Prison last night." Mustang said. "Whatever he's up to, he's growing bold. That means our time is short. Close off all roads, search every square inch of the city. When you find him, shoot on sight. That is an order from the Fuhrer himself. But if I find him first, he's mine."


~Late Afternoon~

"Get a medic, hurry." An MP called out.

"Report to Headquarters, five men dead." Another MP called out.

"How awful." Al said as he was standing in front of the body with Ed and Athena.

"It looks like a steam explosion." Ed exclaimed.

"Raise the temperature of water fast enough, it expands with the force of a bomb blast." Athena said, wearing her mask and bandana again, now that she was out in public. "An' the human body is 70% water. C'mon, we have to find him before he hurts anyone else."

"Have you picked up his scent?" Al questioned as they walked off.

"No, I haven't. I'm just picking up faint traces of lime and death." Athena groaned. "An' it's stinging the insides of my nose."

"He most likely knows that's how we tracked him down last time, so he's using an odor to hide his scent." Ed sighed.


~Alleyway~

"Finished." Isaac said, before the wall beside him began to light up with alchemic energy. Acting purely on instinct, Isaac jumped back, right before he could be skewered.

"Impressive reflexes Isaac. Few are able to dodge my alchemy so easily." A boisterous voice called out from the other side of the wall.

"I know that voice. Is that you Armstrong?" Isaac questioned, right before a spikes metal fist with an alchemic transmutation circle, came through the wall.

"Indeed. None other." Armstrong said, bursting through the wall, creating a cloud of dust, before he came walking out of it. "It is I, the Strong Arm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong in the flesh." He exclaimed, showing his blonde mustache and single lock of hair on his forehead, with stars glistening around him.

"Ah, shut it." Isaac stated, before using the water in the alley to send a high pressure blade of water at him. "High pressure water will cut through anything, and I've always wanted to chop that ego of yours down to size." Isaac said, as the blade of liquid cut through the stone spikes that had failed in impaling him.

"Except you'll need far more than water, to quench my fists." Alex said, as the fight began.

As the fight raged on, the commotion drew the attention of several people, and two young State Alchemists and a suit of armor.

"Found you." Athena called out racing towards the battle. When getting in the alley, she spotted Isaac fighting against Major Armstrong. "Major, I'm coming."

"General." Alex nodded, causing Isaac to look behind him, just before Athena threw a punch at the Freezing Alchemist. Isaac managed to dodge it, but knew he was out of his league when fighting against both a Brigadier General and a Major, so using water from his Canteen, Isaac created a cloud of steam that Athena took on full force, and ran past her.

"Brigadier General, are you all right?" Armstrong questioned, coming to Athena's side.

"I'm fine, just a little shocked, now let's go after him." Athena said, getting up and running with Alex right behind her as they passed Ed and Al. "You two, follow us. I have an idea." Athena said.


~That Night~

"Damn it." Isaac groaned, coming back to the sight of the battle, and grabbing the rubble on top of his transmutation circle, before smiling, seeing that it was still in one piece. "Still there, perfect."

"That's far enough Isaac." Athena said, standing behind him. "I found it a little odd, you'd be spending more than your fair amount of time in alleyways. But then it occurred to me that you might be up to something, so for the last several hours, I've been steaking out this area since our last encounter."

"There's nowhere to run, this time." Al said as he and Ed came in at the opposite end of the alley.

"Clearly, but who's running?" Isaac questioned, before his transmutation circle began glowing red, causing a chain reaction in his other transmutation circles. Right then, Athena felt the presence of something, or rather someone, very powerful.

"Ed, you know what this means right?" Athena questioned. "An' Alchemic reaction on this scale, can't be possible, unless he had some way of bypassing the laws of equivalent exchange."

"A Philosopher's Stone." Ed smirked, before the light turned blue, and ice began to form. "He's freezing all the moisture in the air."

"Edward Elric, Athena Xiao Long." Isaac said as the circle was still glowing red under the ice. "You've sworn you lives to the states as Dogs of the Military. But, do you really know the ones you serve, or what their true plans are?"

"Who cares? It's not our problem." Ed exclaimed.

"Don't be fools. He'll lead us all to ruin, I'm only doing what needs to be done." Isaac said.

"I told you I don't care." Edward said, before he and Alphonse jumped over the wall of ice forming, and All came stomping down, both of them trying to fight Isaac, before he was kicked away down and out of the alley, before he slammed into the railing leading into the flood zone area.

"Alright nice work Al." Ed exclaimed as Athena turned to march towards Isaac.

"But we still have to stop his alchemy." Al said.

"You two get to it, I'll bring Isaac in to Mustang." Athena said.

"Right." Al and Ed exclaimed.

"Alright pal, where is it?" Athena asked, grabbing Isaac by his shirt. "You have a Philosopher's Stone, on you somewhere don't you? I'm picking up a strong scent of death coming off you."

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked.

"I won't ask you a second time." Athena said, tightening her grip. "Where is it?"

"An' what are you gonna do girly? You're out of your league." Isaac said, before the river behind him began turning to ice, before forming glaciers. This sudden act of alchemy, surprised Athena, making her let go of Isaac, before he held his arm up and grabbed the railing that brought him into the air with the glacier, as it got caught on the ice. This got the trio running off towards where Alex was.

"Stand back and be prepared for a display of Armstrong Alchemy." Alex said, taking a fighting stance.

"He's all yours major." Ed exclaimed as they ran past him.

"Witness the Alchemic Art, passed down the Armstrong line for Generations." Alex declared before he slammed his fist into the glacier. He initially thought the stop was his doing, but that was dashed away as at the same time, it sprouted out to the side, destroying buildings. "That's unexpected."

"What the hell are you doing? You're making it worse." Ed called out.

"Uh, I was merely…" Alex stopped when a building further down the street from them was destroyed with a glacier of ice coming out of it.

"No, this isn't just a normal attack." Athena said. "The glaciers are moving in a specific pattern. They're forming a city sized transmutation circle. An' when they meet in the middle, they'll all freeze over Central Command."

"He's gonna freeze Central Command over." Ed and Al exclaimed.

"Ed, Al, you two try and slow him down. Major you take care of the Transmutation Circles, I'll try and destroy the glaciers of ice." Athena said.

"What are you gonna do to stop them?" Ed asked.

"Let's just say, I've got a knuckle sandwich that needs to be kept frozen."

Ed and Al weren't sure of what that meant entirely, but they knew at the least she was gonna try and stop the glaciers by punching them. With their directives, Alex and the brothers went to take care of their tasks, while Athena ran back from the glacier further, needing a running start to pull off what she was about to do.

'It's been a while since I've used my One-for-All, I haven't actually used it since… before the USJ, in mom and Mr. Aizawa's Quirk Assessment Test, so here goes hoping I still know how to use Saffron's immense strength.' Athena thought as she put one foot in front of her crouching down forward, with both hands resting on the ground as she charged up her power. 'In theory, my arms and legs should be able to withstand 100% of the Saffron's strength since they're made of gemstone, but it's only theory. So here's putting it to the test.' She thought as violet lightning began emitting from her body, causing any onlookers to gasp, before she went lunging forward, breaking the sound barrier as she slammed her fist into the glacier. "SMASH." She cried out.

The force of the punch reverberated through the ice, causing it to crack and crumble into shards as it began to fall apart.


~Glacier Heading for Central Command~

"Fuhrer King Bradly, for your coldblooded crimes in Ishval, I condemn you to a frozen hell." Isaac said.

"Not so fast." Ed called out as he and Al were chasing after him, using Alchemy to jump onto the glacier.

Isaac used alchemy on the glacier's surface to try and envelope the Elric Brothers in ice, but it was stopped when Ed destroyed the front part of the glacier.

"Two can play at that game." Ed exclaimed as he made his move.

Jumping into the air, Isaac used alchemy on a large chunk of ice to turn it into boiling hot water that rained down on Ed and Al. As Ed was flailing about because of the hot water, Isaac came down to try and kill Ed with his alchemy.

"Brother." Al cried out, pulling Ed back.

"Too slow." Isaac said, grabbing Alphonse by the face, and using his alchemy on him.

"Alphonse." Ed cried out as the armor fell back.

Stepping up to the Elric brothers to finish off Ed, Isaac was taken aback when Al kicked upwards, forcing him to step back, as Al used the momentum of the kick to keep going and get back on his feet, giving Isaac a view of what's inside the armor, including the blood seal.

"There's no one in there, it's empty." Isaac said, his eyes wide with shock. "But that… that could only be true if his soul was bonded to the armor." He exclaimed before he put the pieces together. "So you lost your arm, and your brother he'd lost his entire body. I see, it all makes sense." Isaac smirked as Al put his head back on. "You fools committed the ultimate taboo. You attempted human transmutation didn't you? Alchemy's one and only unforgiveable sin."

There was a tense moment of silence as the memories of what happened that day, came back to Ed.

"You know, there are some lines you really shouldn't cross." Ed exclaimed, before he went running up to Isaac, and slammed his steel prosthetic into his chest, causing him to bend over, before he entwined both his fists into one, and brought them down on Isaac's head, slamming him into the frozen ground. Taking the chance, Isaac created two spikes of ice that were aimed to skewer Edward, but the spry little boy jumped back as Al came forward and destroyed the ice, before kicking Isaac off the glacier.

Right before Ed and Al were about to jump off, the glacier began to quake, and when they looked back, they were shocked to see the glacier was falling apart behind them. Acting fast, and not wanting to get caught in the glaciers crumbling, Ed and Al jumped down, sliding down the side of the ice, just barely avoiding being caught in the glacier's destruction, as they went to where Isaac was just picking himself up off the ground, blood pooling from his right arm.

"Give it up, there's no water for you to use here." Ed exclaimed.

"Heh. You've forgotten something, I've all the water I need, 70% of my body." Isaac said.

This shook Ed, as he wasn't expecting Isaac to be desperate enough to use his own body for a source of water. Isaac sent an attack at Ed, but it never reached the young blonde boy, as a wall of stone sprouted in front of him, taking the attack for Ed, and shattering the blood ice on impact.

"Be careful Ed. He's gone off the deep end if he's willing to use his own blood." Athena said, coming up to them, but it looked as though she was in pain.

"Why can't you fools understand? I'm trying to save this country." Isaac said.

"It's too late Isaac." Athena said, breathing heavily. "I destroyed all your glaciers, and Armstrong is about to destroy one of your transmutation circles, so the ice won't be able to regrow." She said, before she fell to her knees, giving Isaac an opportunity to run for it.

"Athena, you're hurt?" Al questioned, as he and Ed came to her side.

"I'll be fine." Athena said, before she pulled down her mask, and covered her mouth as she began to cough up blood. 'Actually I'm in a lot of pain. The backlash from using Saffron's Strength at 100% traveled through my arms and into my body, causing some of my ribs to crack. One might even be broken. I'm pretty sure I've got a few cracked vertebra in my spine. My insides are all messed up to. My body feels like it's on fire on the inside.'

Isaac was panting heavily as he made his way into another alley, and made an attempt to escape. 'I'm not done, not by a long shot. I'll be back, and I'll succeed next time, I'll be stronger, and I'll be sure to send Bradly to the frozen hell he deserves.' As he went deeper into the alley, he stopped when he spotted his target standing right in front of him. "Bradly."

"You've made quite a mess here these last few days. You even critically injured Brigadier General Xiao Long. Now I consider everyone under my command as a sort of extension of my family, and I hate it, when they get hurt, especially when I see a certain girl, as a daughter of mine of sorts." Bradly exclaimed. "So I'm gonna give you one last chance, to come in peacefully, or you'll deeply regret it."

"Hehehe-hahahahahahahahahahahaha." Isaac laughed, completely ignoring Bradly's warning. "Perfect." He said, as he used his blood to create a frozen blade if blood ice, before he went running at Bradly.

Time seemed to slow down as Isaac now stood behind Bradly, their backs to each other, before Isaac's shoulders began spew blood like fountains, and he fell to the ground dead. In the pool of blood, a red marble rolled out from Isaac's top left coat pocket and through the blood, turning to dust as soon as it hit his hair.

With Athena, and the Elric brothers, she could no longer feel that presence she'd sensed when Isaac activated his transmutation circles, as Alex had destroyed one of them, causing Isaac's plans to be over with completely. She forced herself back to her feet, and began running in the direction Isaac went, with Ed and Al following her, but when they got to the alley, they saw the MP's already prepping to haul Isaac's body away, with King Bradly watching intently.

"Fuhrer Bradly, you're here?" Ed asked.

"Ah yes, job well done Fullmetal, and Gemstone. I came out to see if I could lend a hand." Bradly exclaimed. "An' to think, that I'd actually be the one to catch him. If nothing else, this should make an exciting story for my son."


~Following Day~

"Achoo." Mustang sneezed.

"Ooh, is that a cold I hear? Ah, never mind, from what I'm told you're the man of the hour." Hughes smiled, running in to the room and facing Mustang.

"I just destroyed the transmutation circles. The Fuhrer is the one who brought down McDougal." Mustang exclaimed.

"Sure, but the Fuhrer's telling everyone it was you." Hughes exclaimed. "So congratulations." He smiled, before seeing the look on Mustang's face. "Oh, it's like that huh? Suit yourself, but some friendly advice. Next time a superiors tells you to take credit for something you didn't do, you might try it for once."

"Right." Mustang groaned.

"Anyways. I'm also here because of the rumors going around about Athena. Is it true that one punch from her destroyed the entire circle forming from glaciers?" Hughes questioned.

"It is. According to her, it was a method she developed for breaking past the limiters her mind subconsciously puts on the body as to not injure itself when using its full strength, but she only had time to perform that method on her arms and legs, leaving the rest of her body vulnerable to the backlash of the strength she'd developed with that technique. She's in the hospital recovering now." Mustang said.


~Military Hospital~

"Are you sure you'll be all right for traveling tomorrow?" Ed questioned Athena as they were sitting in her hospital room beside her bed.

"I'll be fine Ed. My medical skills have already reversed the damage done by the backlash of One-for-All, so I'm in tip top shape. I'll just need to take it easy for a day or so, and I can do that on the train ride to Liore." Athena exclaimed.

"You know, we never did find out whether or not McDougal had a Philosopher's Stone." Al said.

"No but, maybe it'll say something in the official report." Ed exclaimed.

"He had one. But it was a fake." Athena said. "As soon as we found him, all I could smell on him was his own decaying stench. The strong scent of death that lingered on him, like the Grimm Reaper looming over his shoulder, was gone." Athena said, before her hospital room opened, and in came Alex Louise Armstrong, with a bouquet of red roses and a box of chocolates.

"General, I was saddened to hear you were in the hospital, so as soon as I could I got you some get well gifts to cheer you up, and dashed right over." He said.

"That's very thoughtful and sweet of you Armstrong. But I'm not gonna be needing the strip show I know you have planned." Athena said taking the flowers.

"I would never dream of doing something such as that in front of a woman as fine and graceful as yourself." Armstrong said.

"Oh Armstrong you're gonna make me blush." Athena said. "Seriously though, this is very thoughtful of you. You doing stuff like this actually reminds me of my Uncle Toshi, you're about the same height and have the same hair and eye color to."

"Well, I'm glad to have made you happy." Alex smiled. "Now I must be off. I wish you a speedy recovery, and hope you'll be out soon."

"I'll actually be out by morning tomorrow." Athena smiled.

"That is wonderful to hear, now I must go. Have a pleasant day." Alex said, before leaving.

"Well that was strange." Ed exclaimed.

"Trust me, if you were the one in the bed, he'd have done the strip show and use his own body as an example to inspire you to speed up recovery." Athena chuckled.