SHONEN ALLIANCE

RE:BIRTH

OPENING THEME: GOLDEN TIME LOVER (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)

In the days that followed, everything seemed to happen at once.

True to his word, Colonel Roy Mustang requested and received his transfer to Central Command, arriving in Central, eager to learn the circumstances that had led his companions to take such desperate actions.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be receiving any information from Vine, at least not immediately. As Mustang was arriving in Central, Vine was boarding a train with Central forces that were being dispatched to suppress violent riots in a small town to the northeast.

He was sitting in the front car of the train with the other officers, including the operations commanding officer, one General Brutus Graham. The General was a tan skinned, mountain of a man with a shaved head and handlebar mustache. He was almost as big as Armstrong, though the fact that Graham's build consisted of far more fat then muscle told the story of a man who'd likely gained his position based more on who he knew as opposed to what he had done.

Even so, the presence of a General for such a seemingly minor task was concerning.

If he'd been aware of it, however, Vine might have been even more concerned about the problems Ruby Rose had the potential to cause, stowed away as she was in the luggage car of the train.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Miles away from the developing action, Edward Elric simmered grumpily in his own frustration. He wasn't sure how burning to death in a forsaken desert was supposed to be a vacation, but here they were.

"What're we even doing here, Major!?" he shouted at Armstrong, who was watching the desert sands with a pair of binoculars.

"Be patient, Edward," Armstrong instructed, "they will be here shortly."

"Damn it, this is a waste of time," Ed hissed, "we should go back to Central and make that bastard stop avoiding our question!"

"There must be some reason we're here, Brother," Alphonse reasoned, "maybe we should wait and see what's going on."

"I understand your concerns, but you must understand. Vine is not trying to avoid your questions. You'll get the answers soon enough," Armstrong promised, offering Edward the binoculars. Confused, Ed took them and looked in the direction Armstrong had been looking.

Two camels were clomping across the desert towards them, each carrying a rider wearing a cloak to protect themselves from the sweltering sun. One of the riders spotted them and gave them a friendly wave in greeting.

"Who is that?" Ed wondered aloud.

Soon enough, the camels arrived and their riders dismounted.

"I'm a bit surprised to see you two here," the rider who had waved admitted, his voice shocking the Elrics. Hughes pulled back the hood of the cloak, giving the boys a friendly smile.

"But… how?" Ed asked as realization sunk in, "how did you guys pull it off?"

"Guess I should explain."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Edward sat quietly for a minute, digesting everything Hughes had just told them.

"Hold on, where's Usopp then? He didn't come with you?" Alphonse inquired.

"Kakashi convinced the Lunarian Alliance to go back to Lunaria. He must have brought them up to speed there, because Teresa showed up a few days later for Usopp," Hughes explained, "she offered to take me with them too, but I refused. Can't leave everything to you guys after all."

"Hold on, then who's this?" Ed asked, referring to the still hooded second rider. They removed their hood to reveal they were a stern faced yet attractive Darcsen woman with long hair tied behind her in a ponytail.

"A few of Vine's old war buddies have been sheltering us," Hughes explained, "a couple of them run an orphanage in Imperial territory, which made it a great place for us to lie low. Imca here happened to show up to visit after we got there."

"When Hughes told me what was going on, I knew it was only a matter of time before that bastard got himself in trouble. When he does, he's going to need me to get him out of it."

"That bastard? You mean Vine?" Ed inquired, noticing for the first time that the woman had some large piece of equipment wrapped in clean cloth tied on her camel's back. He also realized that Major Armstrong was on their transports portable radio, and likely had been for some time prior, as he was wrapping up his conversation.

"I'll pass the information along," Armstrong promised before saying his farewells and turning off the radio.

"Who was that?" Ed asked.

"Lt. Havoc was reporting to us," Major Armstrong revealed, "Central forces were just dispatched to the northeast to suppress a riot. Brigadier General Vine was assigned to go with them."

"The northeast!?" Hughes startled everyone by shouting. The color drained from his face as he rushed back to his camel and searched through a large pack tied to it. "No, this can't be happening," he muttered as he searched.

"What's wrong?" Armstrong asked when Hughes returned at laid out a heavily marked map on the truck's hood.

He looked it over and cursed, slamming his fist onto the map in anger.

"Vine's walking into a bloodbath."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Aliasse was in a foul mood as she walked down the nighttime streets of Central, kicking a stone down the street in front of her and Neptune trailing just behind her.

"It's not fair. Why did that other girl get to go?" she grumbled.

"Well, I'm not so sure she was supposed to," Neptune pointed out, "Ruby just kinda… you know… snuck along."

Neptune's clarifying didn't help. Instead, Aliasse let out a low, loud growl and booted her stone, sending it sailing into a dark alleyway. The sound of the stone striking something metal rang out, followed by a surprised yelp.

"The heck was that?" Neptune wondered as the two peered into the darkness.

"Well well, what do we have here?" An ominous voice shouted loudly from the shadows. As the sound of clanking metal began to approach the two, "it's dangerous to be out on the streets at night. Two young ladies like you might run into something terrible!" the loud voice continued to shout as a bulky silhouette appeared in the alley.

He emerged into the street light, allowing Ali and Neptune to finally make out the bulky suit of frighteningly crafted armor that had been the cause of the clanging. The helmet was was designed to look like some kind of demon, complete with horns,, frightening eyes, and a fanged mouth. Unfortunately, the illusion was undercut somewhat by the visible dent in the helm's forehead, left behind by Ali's stone.

"Something like the infamous serial killer, BARRY THE CHOPPER!"

"Who's this guy?" Neptune asked, rubbing the back of her head in confusion.

Aliasse growled, giving her mysterious assailant a death glare that caused a shudder to run through the armor. "Get lost."

"Get lost!? Well, maybe I will! Of course, not before I chop you two into… why are you on fire!?"

Aliasse's blue Valkyrian flame had enveloped her as her glowing, blood red eyes burned into Barry's. She hooked her foot under a small stone and kicked it into the air.

The infamous serial killer Barry the Chopper yelped with fear when Aliasse kicked the stone, launching it with the force of a bullet into his armored torso, leaving a dent while knocking him flat.

"Such a violent brat," Barry groaned as he regained his feet, "well, I'll teach you a lesson! Prepare to be frozen with fear!" he taunted, removing his helmet. Ali's eyes widened with shock.

"Whoa! No one's wearing that armor!" Neptune cried, "it's a ghost!"

"You're… just like Al?" Aliasse questioned as Barry replaced his head.

"Like I said, frozen in fear. Now I'm going to chop… you…" his voice trailed off when Aliasse kicked another stone skyward. Another panicked shriek pierced the air when a follow up kick sent the stone sailing directly into his chest, knocking him on his bottom.

"What gives!" Barry roared, flailing angrily as he stood back up, "why aren't you screaming and crying and shouting 'WAHHH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BODY!?'"

"Seen this trick before," Ali admitted bluntly, "honestly, you kinda just remind me of someone I know."

"Someone you know? Hold on! Don't tell me you're a friend of Alphonse Something-or-Other!"

"Something-or-Other?" Aliasse replied, so confused a question mark seemed to be dancing above her head, "I thought his name was Elric."

"That's it! Alphonse Elric! So you're a pal of his, huh? Well, that changes things!"

"How so?"

"Now I'm really gonna chop you into pieces!" the Chopper threatened, brandishing his machete and charging the two young women.

"Sorry pal, no protagonist chopping for you!" Neptune shouted as a katana appeared in her hand with a flash of white light. Jumping forward, she swung her blade and deflected Barry's, throwing the armored killer off balance.

"That's not fair?" Barry complained, "you were supposed to freeze with fear so I could kill you!

Barry the Chopper froze. He didn't metaphorically freeze with fear as he'd claimed Aliasse and Neptune should have done, rather he literally froze, encased in ice. Neptune and Aliasse were dumbstruck.

"Whoa, what happened?" Neptune vocalized the question first. A sound caught their attention and they turned to face a trash can they were sure hadn't been there before. In fact, they were prepared to say they'd passed this same trash can half a dozen times tonight.

Without a sound, Mizore Shirayuki slid out of the can, it's lid staying firmly on her head as she rose.

"Hey, I remember you! Misery, right!?" Neptune exclaimed.

"Misery? Nuh uh," Mizore replied shaking her head, "my name is Mizore."

"What're you doing here?" Aliasse asked as Mizore nimbly hopped out of the trash can.

"I followed them," Mizore replied, indicating Neptune and presumably the absent Ruby.

"Whoa, wait! You've been here the entire time! Uh, has anyone ever told you you're, like, creepy levels of good at the whole stalking thing?"

"I've been told that, yes."

"Well, anywho, what the heck do we do with this guy?"

Aliasse stepped forward, "I'll call the guy Vine told me to call while he's gone. I bet he'll be interested in this."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The town had been so small, it hadn't even been on the map. Now as he watched dumbstruck as the ruins continued to simmer, Vine doubted he'd ever learn its name.

It had been a complete bloodbath. So much blood coated the ground it might have looked like someone had taken buckets of red paint and splashed it around the town, were it not for the bodies, many mutilated so severely it was impossible to even determine the gender of the victims.

And yet, that was only part of what had Vine dumbstruck. The other factor was the man whom Vine currently faced.

"Well," General Graham said congratulatorily, "it seems you live up to your reputation. Hardly a need for us to have come at all, it seems." Graham's tone was as pompous as any career politician Vine had ever dealt with, and his arrogant tone was sickening in the current situation.

Vine gritted his teeth as his dumbfoundedness finally gave way to an emotion. Pure, cold anger.

He hadn't seen this man in years, but his hatred for the man was something that hadn't faded with time. Few in Amestris would recognize the man's face, yet he was a murderer so deranged and deadly that by comparison, the more infamous Barry the Chopper looked like an inept schoolyard bully by comparison.

"It's such a tragedy," the man said disingenuously, "but they didn't leave us with any choice."

"I'm sure they didn't," Graham replied with a sickening laugh, "such a shame, but I suppose this means our work here is done.

Vine remained silent, unable to tear his angry gaze away from the sadistic smirk of the killer he'd hoped to never meet again.

The world seemed to fall silent, as fearful of the encounter to which it bore witness, as the Darcsen known as Vine, the Raging Blast Alchemist, faced off with sadistic Solf J. Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist.

"I'll admit, I'm a bit surprised to see you here," Kimblee admitted, staring Vine down.

"I could say the same. I was under the impression you were dead."

"They let me out for good behavior."

In Ishval, Solf J. Kimblee had been a butcher. Vine's Blast Alchemy or Mustang's Flame Alchemy were both impressive and powerful combat alchemies, but Kimblee's… Kimblee's alchemy was tailored for killing.

Those who saw him in action would likely have assumed the title "Crimson Alchemist" was a reference to the red light his alchemy created, but Vine was one of the few who knew the truth.

"Crimson Alchemist" was a reference to the color Kimblee painted the battlefield.

The urge to draw his sword threatened to consume the Darcsen Alchemist, as, in his head, an internal debate raged.

Kimblee had been marked for death after slaughtering several Amestrian officers, his propensity for innocent casualties was, at best, viewed by the top brass as a slight character flaw (at worst as a positive).

No one was entirely sure why he'd done it, Vine's personal theory was that the man was completely unhinged, but it had been the step to far that put Kimblee on the fast track to a court marshal.

Yet, here he was.

Kimblee had one real skill, genocide, and if he'd not only been spared execution, but been released, it could only mean one thing. The Central Government wanted to use that skill.

There was a chance that the lives saved by relieving Kimblee's shoulders of the added weight of his head would, at least in the short term, save enough lives to be worth Vine blowing his cover for. For a moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity, Vine considered.

A soldier brought the eternity to an unexpected end.

"General," he saluted, "we've captured someone."

"A survivor?" Vine asked.

"A stowaway, sir. She was found on the train."

"Interesting," Graham observed, visibly displeased the soldier had elected to report to Vine over him, "I suppose I should see what this is all about. Carry on, Mr. Kimblee," he said pompously as he turned to follow the soldier.

After a moment's hesitation, Vine followed. All he could do now was hope he hadn't made the wrong call.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Central forces had taken an old general store on the outskirts of the town as their makeshift base of operations, and it was to this makeshift base that Vine and General Graham had been brought by the reporting soldier.

"So what's this about a stowaway?" Vine inquired of the soldier.

"We found her while she was trying to sneak off of the train," the soldier admitted, "we detained her for questioning, but she gave us some trouble so we had to take some… harsher measures."

"Did you hurt her?"

"No sir, she's not hurt. You'll see."

Vine wasn't overly concerned with something as seemingly inconsequential as some girl using a military train to get a free ride to the middle of nowhere. There were far more pressing concerns weighing on his mind at the moment.

Kimblee should have been executed after Ishval, or at least spent the rest of his life in prison. The fact that he'd not only been released but restored to the military, seemingly complete with all the State Alchemist privileges that certainly would have been revoked, came with some troubling implications when considered against their enemies' rapidly progressing scheme.

"In here, sir," the soldier directed them into a back room that had likely been a storage room for the store. Graham entered first, Vine followed, and was surprised to find that Kimblee had somehow ceased to be the most pressing issue of the moment.

It had been replaced by the captured stowaway, who now sat in a wooden chair, an apologetic look in her eyes when the two saw each other. Vine fought the urge to let out a groan.

He did understand now what the soldier had meant by "harsher measures". The stowaway had been tied with a comical amount of rope that covered most of her stomach, securing her back firmly to the chair while her ankles had been tied together. The thick, knotted cloth pulled into her mouth to gag her indicated to Vine that the soldiers had finally gotten tired of the verbal abuse that had likely followed once the prisoner had been detained enough to no longer be able to rely on physical abuse.

With everyone else focused on the prisoner, Vine facepalmed, shaking his head in dismay, while sat in her chair, Ruby let out a muffled grunt that was likely supposed to sound apologetic.

"Well, isn't this interesting," General Graham mused.

Vine let himself hope for a moment that Graham wouldn't recognize Ruby was one of the outworlders. That hope survived for a matter of seconds.

"So one of those outsiders remained here."

CLOSING THEME: KIMI NO NAMAE (Rising of the Shield Hero)