Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Legend of Korra
Ayana
They left Kanama that evening and headed towards Central. The sky was overcast and completely obscured the moon, making the darkness thick. Heinkel held a lantern to light their way, and she held a small fire in her hand. They didn't make it very far into the surrounding forest before a familiar sound caught their attention. The clanking of armor echoed in the trees, and Al stepped forward to meet them in a small clearing.
"Al!" Ed yelled excitedly, and he ran towards his brother to greet him. Something didn't feel right with Al, though; she sensed something else in his armor, obscuring the familiar presence of his soul.
Ed was talking to his brother, and something about Al's voice didn't sound right either. Suddenly Ling shouted out, having apparently overpowered Greed for a brief moment. "Ed! Get away from him!" Ed glanced back with a concerned look on his face. "That's… not…"
It clicked in her brain. "That's not Al!" She finished for him, and Ed's eyes widened. Stepping back from the armor cautiously, he examined his 'brother', trying to figure out what was going on.
Catching them all off guard, large black shadows, similar to Lust's spears, thrust out at them from the armor's feet. Everyone dodged out of the way, unharmed. The spikey darkness retracted just as quickly as they'd appeared.
"What the…?" Heinkel stammered.
A new voice spoke from the armor. It sounded high pitched and childish, but at the same time, menacing. "I see you're working with them now, huh, Greed? How pathetic, sharing your consciousness with a human. Your soul couldn't be any weaker!" The armor looked like it was leaking black energy; whisps of it were escaping from the seams. All available black slits or openings suddenly filled with multiple evil red eyes, and all of them glared at the group. "You're determined to betray us no matter what. That just makes you an obstacle for us at this point."
"Damn it! How did you even know I was here?" Greed asked vehemently. His question was met with silence.
"How dare you disguise yourself as my brother!" Ed accused furiously.
"Who said this was a disguise? This is, without a doubt, your brother's real body." Leaning forward, the mysterious blackness lifted the helmet up to reveal Al's blood seal.
"You bastard!" Ed's rage was palpable. Ayana clenched her fists as her own anger pulsed. What had that thing done to Al?!
"You guys should probably run for cover." She spoke over her shoulder to the chimeras, who she noticed were already hiding behind a tree.
"You guys should run, too!" Darius shouted.
"Nah, they need us alive for their plans. He's not going to kill us." Ed whipped off his coat and threw it aside, preparing for a fight.
"That's right, I need to take you alive. But if I slice off a few of your limbs in the process, so be it." The being in Al's body sneered, and then immediately attacked by sending more shadows at her, Ed and Greed.
All three of them danced away and continued avoiding the attacks as they kept coming. She saw the blue light of alchemy and watched Ed create a wall from the ground, which didn't even slow down the shadows as they sliced through and destroyed it.
"Barriers won't work against him!" Greed shouted from nearby.
Damn, that meant earthbending was out. The attacks were quick and furious, he wasn't leaving her any time for a counterattack. She was able to get a few fireballs in, but they didn't deal any significant damage.
"Fullmetal, I have captured your friend. Will you cooperate with me now, or will you make me threaten the lives of the slum-dwellers as well?" The voice purred, and she saw he had black tendrils wrapped around Greeling's body, pinning him. She shivered as it reminded her of the kraken spirit she'd fought.
Ed clapped his hands in response and sent alchemic reactions pulsing out in all directions. Suddenly all the lights went out in the nearby slums, which threw them all into complete darkness.
She couldn't see a thing; with the clouds blocking the moon and stars, it was pitch black. But she could sense Ed to her left, and Greed and the chimeras to her right.
"What happened?" She heard Heinkel say.
"I don't know, but it's saving our asses. Pride can't cast his shadows when there's no light source. He's just as blind as we are right now." Greeling explained. "He's lying in wait, he'll be back at it as soon as the lights come back. Did you guys notice anything about the shadow cast from Al's body?"
"Those tentacles? Kind of hard to miss those." Darius replied.
"No, not those. He kept close to the edge; Al's shadow never left the forest's shadows. Pride's real body is probably just beyond those trees."
"He's not inside Al?" She asked, bewildered.
"No, he has a special container he uses. A human shell. You'd recognize him as Selim Bradley, the Fuhrer's son. Heinkel, using your lion senses, can you smell him? Maybe we can use this opportunity to gain the upper hand."
"I'll give it a try." Heinkel responded. She heard him growl as he transformed, then he moved off towards the opposite tree line where Al's armor still stood.
"Ed!" Darius called softly. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here." He called back, and he began stumbling over to them.
She froze, sensing someone else coming. This one she recognized.
"Get down!" She cried as she tackled Ed and bowled him over onto the ground. They barely avoided Gluttony as he hurtled out of nowhere.
"What? What is it?" Ed shouted in confusion.
"It's Gluttony!"
"I smell the Fullmetal Alchemist, I smell Greed, and I smell the Avatar!" Gluttony announced cheerfully. "I also smell someone I've never smelled before, and they smell tasty!"
She stood and faced Gluttony. She couldn't see him, but she could sense him. Firebending was out since she couldn't give Pride a way to cast shadows. But she could use everything else in her arsenal.
She stomped, earthbending a chunk of rock from the ground and punched it towards Gluttony. He squealed in pain as the hit landed. She continued to pummel him with rocks and air blasts.
Gluttony was getting frustrated. "I just want to eat you, but you won't let me! I'll just have to swallow everything!" He screamed, and she felt a familiar sense, filled with foreboding, wash over her.
"Oh no. I've sensed this before!" She yelled in warning.
"Me too!" Ling's voice sounded from the darkness. Greed and Ling must have switched control again.
"What's going on? Normal guy here, no freaky abilities to sense anything!" Ed shouted hysterically.
Out of nowhere a new presence rushed in and closed on Gluttony with amazing speed. Ayana heard the gushing sounds of blood as the homunculus screamed in agony. As his body regenerated, it gave off red alchemic energy, producing enough light to illuminate the newcomer.
"I was wondering when you'd find me, Lan Fan!" Ling greeted her ecstatically. Lan Fan turned towards them, and Ayana noticed she was sporting a new automail arm with a sinister looking blade protruding out of the elbow.
Lan Fan turned to attack Gluttony again, who cried out as her blade cut deep. Ling jumped in to help, and Ayana followed. Together, they took the fight safely away from Ed and Darius, and they harried Gluttony relentlessly. She felt a small amount of pride as she realized how seamlessly they worked together. Ling rushed in, punching Gluttony and sending him flying, while Lan Fan sliced his belly open. Ayana bent up a spike of earth, slicing his arm off. Repeatedly they attacked without mercy. Lan Fan even had a couple grenades she used.
A bright flash of light drew their attention; the source wasn't far from where they currently were. Gluttony headed towards it quickly, and the three of them pursued. They followed him to a large clearing, where the surrounding trees were burning with bright flames. Gluttony approached a small boy, who was apparently Pride, since he had shadows flowing from his body. Another flash lit the sky, and Pride's shadows all disappeared.
Clever. She thought to herself. Using flash bombs was a good trick to getting rid of the shadows. Seeing Ed facing Pride, she, Lan Fan, and Ling positioned themselves near him, ready for whatever counterattack Pride and Gluttony were going to throw at them.
But Pride didn't attack. Instead, he addressed Gluttony. "How many times have they killed you, now?"
"I lost count. I know it was a lot, though." Gluttony complained. He started squealing as Pride's shadows started to surround him ominously. "No! Don't do it, Pride!"
She watched in horror as Pride's shadows lifted Gluttony up into the air and sliced him clean in half. His Philosopher's Stone was visible, and the shadows immediately devoured it whole. She could feel everyone else's shock, too.
"He ate his own kind! That monster!" Greeling exclaimed in disgust. She couldn't tell if it was still Ling in control or not.
Pride made a show of sniffing the air. "I can smell all of you, now. I could do without the ravenous hunger, but it comes with the territory, I suppose. I can smell you, too, Hohenheim. You're close by, aren't you? Tell me, Edward," he narrowed his eyes at Ed, "Do you think your father would step forward to save you if I cut off one of your limbs?"
Without waiting for an answer, he shot his shadows at Ed, who moved to jump away. She gave him a boost with a quick airbend but couldn't do much else to help as she watched Pride send shadows her way, too. She rolled sideways, avoiding the attacks. She continued to avoid him by dancing out of the way and throwing fire up as a last-ditch resort. The flames weren't bright enough to have the same effect that the flash bomb had. Maybe lightning would do the trick.
Pride's attacks relented, and he retracted his shadows around himself protectively as he gazed into the trees. Ed and Greeling were struggling to get up, but otherwise looked unharmed. Lan Fan was nearby; Ayana could sense but not see her. She followed Pride's gaze and watched as Hohenheim emerged from the trees.
"Finally decided to join us, Hohenheim?" Pride taunted, but his expression betrayed his apprehension at this new development.
"The hero always waits until the last minute to make his move." Hohenheim replied arrogantly.
They faced off for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, as Hohenheim took a step forward, Pride shot his shadows towards him.
She watched as Al rushed in from behind and tried to grab Pride, but it was a failed attempt as Pride reacted too quickly. He grabbed Al's armor and wrapped him tightly with his shadowy tendrils. "This was your plan? How pathetic. Your son must like being a captive. Or else, he's just incredibly stupid."
Hohenheim's eyes flashed dangerously. "That's crossing a line, Pride. Don't you dare mock my son!" Without moving a single muscle, red alchemic energy shot forth from his feet. Incredibly, the ground began to move.
She watched in amazement as huge pie-slice shapes emerged from the ground, rising up and converging on themselves like petals of a flower closing. Pride was in the middle, being held securely by Al. "Hohenheim!" Pride screamed in fury as he threw his shadows out in a last ditch effort to kill Hohenheim and stop the earth from trapping him.
She raised her hand and concentrated hard, feeling her energy gather in her palm. She shot a bolt of lightning towards Pride's extending shadows. She made it as bright as she possibly could, hoping to simulate a flash bomb. To her surprise, it worked; his shadows disintegrated from the flash. As the light faded, a large dome of earth stood before them, encasing Pride in complete darkness. The clap of thunder echoed in the silence that followed.
"What the hell? You've trapped Al in there with him!" Ed yelled at Hohenheim angrily.
"It was Al's idea. He asked me not to tell you. He said you'd be against it, okay?" Hohenheim explained. Seeing Ed still seething, he continued. "It was the only way to stop Pride and ensure everyone survived. Please try to understand."
Ed ran over to the dome and shouted through the thick wall to talk to Al. Hohenheim turned and caught her gaze. "How about we start putting those fires out."
Together they walked towards the burning trees. As they got closer, Hohenheim stopped, and she turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure you don't need my help." He explained simply.
Well, he was right, she didn't, but she wasn't going to rude and say that. She turned to face the flames and waved her arms to bend the surrounding fires away from the trees and into a large ball in the air, safely away from anything combustible. It took a few minutes for her to get all the fire, but eventually there were no trees left burning. She then dissipated the fireball safely into nothing but smoke.
She turned back around and was surprised to see she had an audience; everyone had stopped to watch. Hohenheim had a curious expression on his face.
Trying to ignore the attention she was getting, she returned to stand in front of him. "What now?"
"You made that look easy." He remarked in almost a playful tone. "We need to figure out a strategy for tomorrow. Let's find somewhere we can all sit down and talk."
They found some fallen trees near the edge of the forest where they had a good view of the skyline of Central. She sat down on one of the logs, and Heinkel and Darius sat beside her. Hohenheim remained standing as he waited for Edward, Greeling and Lan Fan to join them.
After a while, Lan Fan wandered over with Fu, who greeted everyone and introduced himself to those who'd never met him before. They were looking for Greeling; apparently, he had disappeared shortly after Pride had been confined, and they couldn't find him anywhere. Edward showed up shortly after, and somehow, he'd picked up even more people to add to their group. Dr. Marcoh, along with Yoki, Scar, and the two chimeras from Baschool were following him.
They gathered in two groups. The four chimeras separated themselves to have their own discussion while everyone else huddled together to discuss the plan.
Hohenheim started things off. "Our goal tomorrow is to stop Father from activating the country-wide transmutation circle. We need to infiltrate Central and find our way underground to his lair. It won't be easy to get us all through the city undetected."
Scar spoke up. "There are plans in the works between the Brigg's forces and Mustang's group to stage a coup d'état. They plan to attack and take over Central Command. If we wait until they begin their assault, the Central forces will be distracted, and we may be able to pass through the city unnoticed."
"That will work." Hohenheim agreed.
"There's an entrance to that dark place that Mei and I discovered. We found it by following Gluttony. It's guarded by vicious chimeras, but we should be able to handle them." Scar added.
"I can infiltrate the city before the action starts and keep an eye on things." Fu volunteered. "I'm the only one here who's kept my identity hidden."
Not having much more to discuss, Fu left quickly and headed towards the city. Everyone else either tried to sleep or milled around anxiously, waiting for the sunrise to bring the Promised Day upon them.