Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Legend of Korra
Edward
He couldn't sleep. He didn't even really try; he had too much going through his mind to wind down. The Promised Day, the eclipse, Harmonic Convergence, the spirit portal. He couldn't shake the feeling that tomorrow would be his last day with Ayana, and after everything was finally over, she'd disappear from his life forever.
She was sitting on his right, leaning against the same tree he was. Glancing over at her, he could see she was lost in her own thoughts, too. Her eyes were unfocused as she gazed toward her shoes.
He surveyed everyone else. Hohenheim was talking quietly with the chimeras, who were standing a short distance away. Lan Fan was lying in the grass on her back, but he wasn't sure if she was actually sleeping or not. Yoki was snoring nearby, and Ed noticed he'd somehow found a blanket to curl up in. Dr. Marcoh sat on a fallen log with Scar, but they didn't look like they were talking.
He looked down and was surprised to see Ayana's hand in his automail one. He hadn't felt her grab it, of course, but he hadn't seen her move, either. She could be sneaky when she wanted to be. He squeezed it a little and she looked over at him.
"We will win." She said confidently. "It'll all work out; Father's plan will fail. We'll beat him."
He wished he felt as confident as she sounded, but even as he looked, he could see the inkling of doubt in her eyes.
"Yeah. We will." He repeated back, trying to sound as confident as she had.
He could feel the tension hanging around the group, and the anticipation was so thick in the air he could almost taste it. The hours dragged by, and he phased in and out restless dozing.
Eventually the sky began to lighten, and the sunrise brought even more anxiety as they waited for any sign that the coup had begun.
Shortly after sunrise, Ayana left on her glider to scout out the proceedings from above. The two of them had agreed that they didn't think Fu was going to return; he seemed more concerned with finding Greeling than reporting back to the group. Ed tried to pick out her red sails in the sky above Central, but she was too far away.
A few hours had gone by when Lan Fan announced loudly from her perch up in a tree, "The Avatar is returning, and I can see smoke rising from the city."
Squinting into the sky, he could see the red sails growing bigger as she approached swiftly. The group gathered and watched her rocket towards them before pulling up suddenly and collapsing the glider, spinning it over her head as she landed.
"Mustang and the Briggs soldiers have made their move. The city is in chaos, and the citizens have been ordered to stay in their homes. The only people on the streets now are soldiers, and most of them are heading towards Central Command." She relayed.
"All right. We should get going." Hohenheim announced loudly to the group. "I do have a countermeasure for his circle, but I'd rather prevent him from activating it in the first place. Be ready to leave in five minutes, everyone."
Ed wanted to say goodbye to Al before they left, so he jogged through the trees back to the dome that he and Pride were trapped inside. Approaching the earth wall, he shouted through. "Hey, Al! We're heading into the city now. We're going to kick that bearded bastard's ass."
"Be careful, Brother." Al's muffled voice came from inside the earthen prison.
"Right." He punched the dome and heard Al punch it from his side. He hurried back to join the rest of the group. While he'd been gone, it had been decided that Dr. Marcoh and Yoki would stay behind with the injured Heinkel. Everyone else stood waiting, and together they descended the hill and headed towards Central.
Infiltrating the city was easy. The streets were deserted, and the soldiers they did see were in too big of a hurry to pay them any mind. Scar took the lead, and he guided them through the meandering streets until they came to an alleyway. As he was about to turn down it, he paused and held out his hand. Everyone else stopped and waited.
Scar informed them over his shoulder, "The entrance is being guarded by soldiers. There are too many for us to take them."
"Is there another way in?" Jerso, the frog chimera, asked.
"What about the Third Lab? That's the entrance Mustang, Hawkeye, Al and I used when we were chasing Barry." Ayana suggested.
The memory sparked in Ed's brain. "Right! They'd hidden the entrance with alchemy, but I should be able to find it again and reveal the door. Let's go."
He took the lead this time and everyone followed him earnestly. The lab wasn't too far from their current location, so it didn't take them long to get there. There was a park across the street from the entrance, and they used the trees and bushes to obscure their approach.
"There's only three MP's here." Zampano pointed out.
"Now that's a number I'm more comfortable with." Darius chimed in as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
"I can take them." Ayana declared confidently, and before anyone could stop her, she raised her hands and started waving them in circles.
They watched as a tornado grew in front of them, then raced across the street. The MP's cried out in surprise and panic as they tried to run away, but they weren't fast enough. The swirling vortex picked them all up, and Ayana moved her hands sharply downward. The tornado turned into a microburst and sent their bodies forcefully into the ground, knocking them out cold.
"That wasn't very nice." Hohenheim stated in a bland tone.
"Better than wasting time by fighting them. C'mon."
She leapt out of the bushes and headed for the building with the rest of the group hot on her heels. Ed quickened his pace to pass her and take the lead, and he kicked the door open. He wandered the halls, looking for the alchemy traces he had seen last time he was here. The lab personnel were startled by the group of ragtag strangers marching through their building, but none of them tried to stop their progress. These hallways looked familiar, it had to be around here somewhere…
"There!" He pointed to a wall where the telltale transmutation marks were visible to his trained eye. He clapped and put his palms to the wall to transmute a door. Upon opening it, a set of stairs was revealed. The group hurried down to find two hallways running in opposite directions.
"Which way?" Darius asked.
"Both lead to the same place." Ayana answered. She seemed distracted; she was gazing down the hallway to the right.
"What is it?" Ed asked her. He knew there was something she hadn't said.
"Bue's down there. I'm going that way." She made to move down the hall, but he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Not alone, you're not."
"I think we should split up to cover both hallways." Hohenheim suggested. "I'll go to the right with the Avatar and Lan Fan, the rest of you can cover the left tunnel."
"I'll go with you too." He insisted, but she shook her head.
"Go with the others, Ed."
"But…"
"This is my fight, not yours. You need to find Father and stop him. I'll meet up with you later, okay?"
He sighed as he realized that arguing with her was a waste of time, and they were limited enough on that as it was. "Fine. Stay safe."
She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which made him blush. "You, too." She turned and disappeared with Hohenheim and Lan Fan down the hall.
Still blushing, he found the others were already heading the other direction. He hurried to catch up.
They followed the hallway for a long while and eventually found another set of stairs. They descended and kept moving. The only sounds had been the echoey footfalls that marked their progress until they heard a horrific, inhuman screaming reverberating down the corridor. It was multiple voices, and it sounded eerie. It only lasted a few seconds before fading away. He felt a shiver run down his spine, and they kept going.
They finally came to a doorway, and he hesitated as he gazed down the hallway past it. Ayana had said both tunnels led to the same place, so they should have met up here. She must still be searching for or fighting Bue.
They entered a white room with a large door in the opposite wall, which was decorated with alchemic symbols. A transmuted wall stood between the two doors, and a set of armor and bones littered the ground.
"Barry the Chopper." He said aloud to no one in particular. This must have been where Mustang killed Lust. The large door looked exactly like the one Al had described to him.
The dull echo of thunder seemed to accentuate the mood of the room as it sounded from the hallway behind him, and everyone glanced between themselves nervously. Well, at least now he knew where Ayana was, and that she was okay.
Marching over to the door, he found there were no handles. He put his fingers in the crack between the panels as best he could and pulled, but his grip wasn't good enough and the doors were too heavy.
Scar approached behind him with his destructive hand raised, when suddenly the door creaked open. Ed was about to enter when he was thrown back by people streaming out, trampling him in their haste. Rolling away quickly and standing up, he assessed the strangers.
They were human in shape, but that's where the resemblance ended. Their bodies were mostly white, dotted with strange red circles beneath their ribs and on their sternums as they stood naked. Their genderless bodies looked malnourished as every rib showed through their skin, and they each had one large eye, right above their noses.
Scar attacked one by placing his hand on its face, and using his alchemy to blow up its brain. Green blood gushed and for a few seconds and the thing froze, but then it turned its eye back to Scar and began clawing at him. He jumped back in surprise and avoided its hands.
The group huddled together, protecting each other's backs, as the creatures surrounded them. They were groaning and growling, tongues lolling out, teeth baring. With a jolt, Ed realized something horrible.
"They used human souls to make these things!" He exclaimed in horror. As if using souls for Stones wasn't enough, now they were using them to make themselves a mindless, immortal army!
"This is bad." Scar growled. "If these things escape outside, there will be no stopping them!"
Ed turned his head to look at the door they'd entered through and saw some of the monsters milling towards it. He quickly clapped and transmuted a barrier to cover the doorway.
"Sorry. Guess I just blocked our exit."
"Don't worry about it. If you hadn't done it, I would've slammed the door shut myself." Darius reassured him.
"We're gonna have to plow through these things to get to that bearded bastard. Let's take 'em down!" He yelled as he transmuted his automail into a blade. He raised it aggressively as he charged the monsters.
Alphonse
"Hey, Alphonse? What's that racket in there?" He heard Heinkel's muffled voice call from outside the dome.
"Selim's playing with my helmet." He shouted back. Unable to escape, Pride had resigned himself to banging on his helmet, which had fallen off his body during Pride's capture.
Al was startled when he heard urgent pounding on the dome's wall.
"Stop him, Alphonse! It's code, he's sending out a signal!" Heinkel cried.
He immediately stood but it was too late. A portion of the dome's wall exploded and created a large opening, which allowed sunlight to stream in. Pride strolled through the opening and carelessly tossed his helmet back into the dome. Al got over his surprise and crawled over to his head and replaced it on his armor.
He saw Pride talking with Kimblee. Heinkel had been thrown by the Kimblee's blast and lay bleeding and coughing against the dome's wall further down.
"Mr. Heinkel!" He shouted in worry. He stood and rushed to help but was tripped from behind. When he looked back, he found that Pride had wrapped shadowy tendrils around his feet.
"You're not going anywhere!" Pride ordered menacingly as he glared at him.
Al responded by clapping and transmuting the ground, creating a dust cloud to obscure himself. He clapped again and touched his legs to sever the feet of his armor, effectively freeing himself from Pride's grasp. He crawled over to Heinkel and grabbed him under the arms. He began dragging him, trying to get him to safety.
"Alphonse! Just get out of here! At this rate we'll both die." Heinkel pleaded.
"No! Don't give up! I'll save you!" He wasn't going to abandon his friends. "Think about something useful, like staying alive!"
"Think about it." Heinkel wheezed between coughs. "We're facing both Pride and Kimblee. We don't stand a chance. If you leave now, maybe you can save yourself."
"Don't give up!" He pleaded with him. "We can still make it out of this!" His stumpy legs gave out on him as the metal armor fell to pieces below the knees. Frustrated, he punched what remained of his legs angrily. "No! Come on, legs! We've come too far to give up now!"
"You guys really are something else." Heinkel observed softly. Al paused his punching to listen. "You're willing to risk your lives to save another, even when you're falling apart yourselves."
"I promised my brother that I wouldn't let anyone else die." He replied sternly. "No matter what."
Heinkel was gasping as he lay there bleeding. "I guess you're right. Here, I just remembered. I have something that might be useful."
He reached into his pocket and grabbed something. Bringing his fist out, he opened his palm in front of Al. A red Philosopher's Stone glinted there.
He made a gasping noise. "Mr. Heinkel, why do you have that?"
"I happened to pick it up after Kimblee lost it, back in the mine in Baschool." Heinkel must have sensed his hesitation because he went on. "Your brother told me these are made by sacrificing human lives. I know you don't want to use it, but don't use it for yourself; use it to save the entire world. The people inside, even though they're trapped in stone, I'm certain they would not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect what they care about. Let them fight. They deserve the chance."
Al considered his words. He and Ed had promised each other that they wouldn't use a Stone to get their bodies back. But Mr. Heinkel had a point, those people inside deserved the chance to fight for the things that mattered to them. And saving the world from Father was definitely something worth fighting for.
"All right." He relented.
Mr. Heinkel turned his palm and let the Stone tumble into his waiting hands. He pulled the chimera off from where he was leaning on his armor and propped him up on a nearby boulder. Using the Stone, he restored his legs and feet in a flash of red alchemy. He stood and marched out of the dust cloud to face Kimblee and Pride.
Pride looked astonished at his appearance, but Kimblee had a wide grin on his face. "Well done, Alphonse!" He congratulated him. Al tossed the Stone in his hand, showing it off for them to see. Kimblee's grin immediately disappeared as his face fell. "A Philosopher's Stone!"
"Where did he get one?" Pride growled.
Al slammed his hand down and created another dust cloud. He used it to cover his movements as he flanked them, then he lashed out, punching Kimblee hard.
Kimblee recovered quickly and used his own alchemy to send a wave of destruction at him. He quickly created a wall to block the attack, but his shield was shortly destroyed by Pride's shadows. The homunculus sliced relentlessly at him and used his old, abandoned feet as projectiles. Al caught one of them, quickly transmuted it into a sword, and used it to block Pride's tendrils. He closed the distance and managed to land a good hit on Pride, which sent him flying. He took the opportunity and twisted the ground up to create another dome to encase the homunculus.
"I won't fall for that again!" Pride shrieked in fury as he whipped his shadows out and sliced through the earth. He threw his shadows at Al and punctured his armor in several places to hold him immobile. Limited in his movements as he was, he was still able to transmute a flash bomb, and he tossed it into the air quickly. Pride yelled in surprise and sliced the bomb in midair before it could explode.
"Decoy!" He shouted smugly as he created another one in the ground by his feet and set it off instantly. Pride's restraining shadows disappeared as he raised his hands to shield his eyes. Al wasted no time and created another dome, successfully trapping Pride.
Kimblee was standing nearby, and as he turned to face him, he watched him grin maliciously. His own red Stone glinted between his teeth.
"A Philosopher's Stone!" He gasped. He quickly produced another dust cloud to shield himself.
"Alphonse!" He was surprised to hear Dr. Marcoh's voice. He ran towards the sound and found the doctor kneeling beside the injured Mr. Heinkel.
"Here!" He thrust the Stone at Dr. Marcoh. "Heal him! Please!"
A rain of pebbles fell from the sky and impacted his armor in loud clinking noises. Shadows snaked over and instantly grabbed him. He was pulled away from his friends and held restrained in the air above Pride and Kimblee. He shrieked in indignation and surprise.
Pride slammed him down to the ground by his feet. "Even with the Stone, there's no way you can win this all by yourself!" He sneered.
"I'm not alone!" He replied confidently.
From nowhere, Mr. Heinkel, who had transformed into his lion form, leaped from the dust cloud and closed his jaws around Kimblee's neck. Still restrained, Al was unable to do anything but watch as Pride turned his attention to the lion and raise his shadows aggressively.
Mr. Heinkel responded by releasing Kimblee's limp form from his teeth and holding him in front of himself to shield his body. Pride hesitated, reluctant to hurt Kimblee further. Instead, he turned to where Marcoh stood, and cast his shadows towards him.
"No!" Al cried out as he struggled in the shadow's grip.
He was shocked when a vehicle suddenly barreled into view and drove in front of Marcoh to shield him from the attack. The car drove right at Pride, and it impacted hard and sent Pride flying.
Next thing he knew, Mr. Heinkel was dragging him toward the waiting car. Yoki sat at the steering wheel, crying and shaking with emotion. Everyone climbed in and he slammed on the gas to speed away from Pride. One last-ditch attack from the shadows sliced the roof of the car off, but thankfully no one was injured.
"Get us to Central on the double!" Mr. Heinkel shouted to Yoki. "We need to meet up with Ed and the others!"
Ayana
She walked with Hohenheim and Lan Fan, feeling apprehensive. She really didn't want either of them to be there when she beat the daylights out of Bue. But she couldn't think of how to get rid of them nicely.
Thankfully, Hohenheim did it for her. "Lan Fan. I know you are anxious to find the prince. Go. The Avatar and I will be fine."
Lan Fan gave him a probing look, and then without a word, she jumped into an air vent in the ceiling and disappeared.
The two of them continued and eventually came to the entrance to the room she knew Bue was in. She stopped, but Hohenheim continued down the hall. She was about to say something, but he spoke first.
"As you told Edward, this is your battle. I have business with the homunculus. From here, we go our separate ways. Good luck."
Perfect. That suited her just fine. She walked through the doorway and found herself in a very large room. It was mostly empty; broken water pipes had created a large pool of stale water in one corner, and there was rubble stacked in what looked to be a long-collapsed wall. At the other end of the room stood Bue.
"I have been waiting for you, Avatar." He drawled. "I feel I owe you an explanation before today's events begin."
"I'd love to get some answers." She spat. "How about you start with why you brought me to this world?"
"That is a complicated tale. It all began many centuries ago, before you humans had created the society that exists today. I was implicated for a crime, the details of which are not important. The spirits decided that my judgement would be banishment from the spirit world forever. But they did more than that, you see. They split my spirit in half, attempting to weaken me, I suppose, and banished the halves separately. I am here, and my other half, my brother, is in your world."
She hadn't expected him to be so forthright. But this would save a lot of trouble for her, so she didn't much care. "Your brother? Your other half?"
"Yes, but the spirits miscalculated when they split me. Since he is a part of me still, and I a part of him, I can feel and communicate with him, and he with me. We still act as one entity."
She stared at him. Shared consciousness? "So, it wasn't you, it was your brother who sent me here." Sudden realization hit her. "Your brother is the kraken spirit, isn't it!?"
"Very good, yes. But we did not send you here ourselves. As I told you before, that was La."
She shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand. Why would La send me here?"
"Because we left them no choice. For centuries, my brother harried your human sailors, sending many to their watery graves in the ocean depths. This eventually drew an incensed La to him, where they demanded he stop or suffer further punishment. He bargained with La and struck a deal: he would never harm another person if La promised to send one human of his choice to this world to be with me. He reasoned that what was one human life in comparison to many? One human life sacrificed for the benefit of all. And La agreed. And so my brother lay in wait, biding his time for the perfect opportunity. And he took it when you came along. La held up their end of the deal and sent you here."
She couldn't believe it. She finally croaked, "Why?"
"You are the only one with the power to open the portal. When the portal opens, I can return to my brother, and reunite my two halves."
"What does this have to do with Father? What does he get out of all this?"
"We struck a bargain as well. He will open the portal for me if I help him claim the power to do it." Bue spoke with no emotion in his voice.
The reality of the situation sunk in, and a pit formed in her stomach. The only one with the power to open and close portals was the Avatar. If Father intended to take that power from her, that meant ripping the Avatar Spirit out of her. Tearing Raava out of her.
"You'd really help him steal Raava from me? You don't care about Harmonic Convergence? We need to stop Vaatu!" She cried indignantly.
"Personally, Harmonic Convergence does not concern me. Vaatu can do what he likes." Bue replied indifferently.
"How can you say that?" She shouted in disbelief.
"Think what you like, but I do not care about the future of you humans. My only concern is returning to my other half." He blinked at her with an unconcerned expression.
Her blood was boiling. She raised her hands in front of her body and bent her knees, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet. "I can't allow this to happen."
"You have no choice." And with that, he stretched an arm out to grab her.
She dove out of the way and threw a chunk of debris at him from the side, which sent him staggering. He growled as his three eyes flashed in anger. She rushed him, kicking fire as she jumped, but he dodged it. He threw his head forward and snapped his jaws, which nearly took her arm off. Thankfully, she moved at the last second. Deciding that close combat was too dangerous with that maw of his, she airbent herself backwards to give them some space. She picked up the water on the floor and sent it over to cover his body and then froze it into an ice block. He was momentarily immobilized, but his tail was still uninhibited. With two powerful swipes he'd shattered the ice and freed himself.
Picking up more rock chunks, she punched them in quick succession, hoping at least one of them would catch him off guard. He managed to block them all with his arms, cursing loudly. She bent the water up in a tidal wave and doused him, then immediately sent a bolt of lightning at him. He snarled as the electricity shot through his body, and the loud crack of thunder was deafening. She pulled more water to herself to freeze him again, and she was going to make sure and get his tail this time.
He saw her intentions and pushed through his spasming muscles to rush her with his jaw snapping. She ended up using the water to deflect his snout instead, and afterwards wrapped the liquid around it and froze his muzzle shut.
In response, he swung his body around and his tail connected with her stomach, which sent her sprawling on the ground. The blow had hit her in the same spot the beam in Baschool had impaled her, and she found herself gasping for air, blinded by intense pain radiating from the spot. He took advantage of her plight; he extended his arms and pinned her spreadeagled on the floor. She tried to move, but his grip was too strong.
His malevolent eyes gleamed as he looked down at her. "You will cooperate, Avatar. We must go, the time draws near." He brought his tail around and slammed it forcefully against her head, and darkness enveloped her vision.