"The Fullmetal Titan"
By cdc100
Summary: Edward Elric is a new resident at Jump City. When the city is in danger, the Teen Titans must turn to the Fullmetal Alchemist for help.
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.
Chapter Nine
"The Cavalry Arrives"
Ed led the way down the hall to the garage at the base of Titans Tower, where everybody prepared for the battle to come.
"Wait," said Ed.
"What is it?" asked Robin.
"We've got a problem. I don't think that both me and Al will fit in the car along with Cyborg and Beast Boy."
Al groaned.
"Why don't we just have Beast Boy fly, Al can take up the back seat, and you can ride shotgun?" asked Cyborg.
"I could carry friend Alphonse with me," said Starfire.
Everybody shook their heads. Ed snapped the fingers of his flesh hand.
"I've got it," he said. "Cyborg, you built the T-Car yourself, right?"
"Yeah," answered Cyborg.
"Do you guys have any spare parts for it, or the R-Cycle?"
"Yeah, plenty."
"Good," said Ed.
He went all around the room, gathering parts from different areas. He laid them down next to the T-Car.
"Do you have any fuel around here?"
Cyborg pointed to a large jug next to the toolbox. Ed grabbed the jug, and placed it next to the scattered parts.
"What are you going to do?" asked Beast Boy.
Ed clapped his hands, and placed them down on one of the parts. Electricity crackled, and a cloud of vapor filled the room. When the vapor cleared, a makeshift motorcycle and an empty gas jug stood before him.
"That. I'll buy you another tank when we're done," said Ed as he mounted the motorcycle.
Al got into the back seat of the T-Car.
"Let's go," said Robin.
With that, Robin slid on his helmet and led the team out of the garage and into the city.
Ed revved the engine of his new motorcycle, and sped forwards until he was just behind Robin.
"So, these guys that we're going after now, you deal with them all the time?" he asked.
"Plasmus is one of our more frequent enemies," said Robin, "Blackfire isn't so common, but she and Starfire have a long history together."
"Not surprising," said Ed. "What are they, sisters? Cousins? What?"
"Sisters," said Robin.
"Thought so," said Ed.
"Yeah, and she only shows up when she really has something she wants to do to Starfire," said Robin.
"So that means that something's going to hit the fan really hard," said Ed. "So, what should I know about Plasmus?"
"He freelances, mostly. He was human once, but he only remains human for as long as he's asleep. When he's awake, he's a monster made of toxic waste."
"Sounds pleasant," said Ed, with noticeable disgust in his voice.
"You wouldn't believe it, but it's actually a lot worse than it sounds!" yelled Beast Boy from the passenger seat of the T-Car.
"Can't wait!" Ed yelled in reply.
"What's unusual about this whole thing is that Blackfire and Plasmus have never teamed up before," said Robin. "I'm wondering why they would decide to do that now."
"Got a plan of attack?" asked Ed.
"We knock Plasmus out, and find a way to restrain Blackfire," said Robin.
"And, if we can't do that?" asked Ed.
"I'm still working on that," said Robin.
"Well, I guess I'd better work on it, too," said Ed, backing off of Robin a little.
When the team arrived at the scene, Plasmus had ripped a pipe out of the ground and was devouring its contents. Blackfire was admiring the jewels that she had stolen from the local jewelry store, and the way they looked on her.
"Look at these, Plasmus," said Blackfire. She held up her right hand, the fingers of which were covered with polished golden rings adorned with violet gems. "Aren't they just gorgeous?"
Plasmus averted his attention from the pipe momentarily to look at Blackfire, shrugged, and returned to his original task.
Blackfire scoffed.
"You're no fun."
"Hey, Blackfire!" yelled Cyborg, getting her attention. "You should really try to find another boyfriend."
Beast Boy and Cyborg both jumped out of the T-Car, Robin jumped off of his R-Cycle, and Ed dismounted his motorcycle while Starfire and Raven remained airborne.
"One chance, you two," said Robin. "Easy way or hard way? Take your pick."
Plasmus slammed the pipe back down on the ground and prepared to charge toward the team. Blackfire flew into the air, her eyes glowing violet with her fury.
"Guess it's going to be the hard way," said Ed, clapping his hands together.
Robin pulled an exploding disc out of his belt, Cyborg charged his cannon, Beast Boy changed into an eagle, both Raven and Starfire floated in the air, and Al put up his fists while Ed transmuted the plate on his arm into a small cannon.
Plasmus ran toward the Titans while Blackfire flew high into the air, firing starbolts at them.
"Titans, go!" yelled Robin.
With that, Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire flew in Blackfire's direction, and the remaining Titans fired their weapons at Plasmus. Al simply stayed next to Cyborg and Robin, poised and ready for Plasmus's attack.
The Titans' projectiles did little more than hinder plasmus, but they were determined to keep Plasmus from getting any closer than they wanted.
"What's the best strategy against Plasmus?" Ed asked as the hulking blob continued his advance toward them.
Robin threw the disc in his hand at Plasmus as they backed up, while Cyborg continued to charge his cannon. Plasmus stopped for a second, holding up his hands as if to keep the explosive away.
"Hands-on strikes, like with martial arts and Robin's staffs, usually don't work against him, but with a strong explosive, we can get the job done," said Cyborg.
By this time, his cannon was charged, and he got a shot off. The blast hit Plasmus square in the face, but his head grew back from the fluid in his body.
"Damn!" said Cyborg.
"That wasn't powerful enough," said Al. "What are we going to do?"
Ed thought quickly, as Plasmus was advancing ever quicker. The hulking blob started to throw streams of the acid that made up his eyes at the Titans.
While they were dodging Plasmus's strikes, Ed spotted some debris from Plasmus's interrupted assault.
"I have an idea," said Ed. "Can you guys distract him for a minute?"
Robin threw another explosive disc.
"Sure, but what do you have in mind?" he asked as the disc made impact.
Cyborg charged his cannon up once again.
"How many discs do you have on you?" asked Ed.
"Lots, why?" asked Robin, as Cyborg fired another shot.
"I need to borrow two of them. You guys distract him."
Robin handed two discs to Ed, while Al ran to the side of the street.
"What are you doing, Al?" asked Cyborg.
"Distracting Plasmus," said Al, who had drawn a circle on the wall. He tapped the circle, causing the wall to protrude and form a set of stairs just tall enough to reach Plasmus's head.
Al ran up the stairs just as Plasmus was getting closer, and jumped on top of him.
"Okay, I've got him!" said Al. "Keep firing at him!"
Robin kept throwing discs while Plasmus tried to get Al off his head, and Cyborg continued to charge his cannon.
Ed ran to the debris pile with the two discs and laid them on top of the pile. He clapped his hands and pressed them to one of the rocks, creating a cannon out of the whole pile. Ed sat in the seat behind the cannon and moved the muzzle toward Plasmus.
"On three, we all fire!" yelled Ed. "Al, jump off!"
Al jumped off, but Plasmus was still distracted by another explosive that was sent his way.
"One," said Cyborg.
"Two," said Robin.
"Three!" said the three, and Cyborg launched his sonic cannon, Robin threw a disc, and Ed fired a large cannonball which exploded as soon as it hit Plasmus. When the attack was over, all that was left of Plasmus was splattered on nearby walls.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Cyborg, high-fiving Ed.
"That was a great idea," said Robin.
Meanwhile, in the air, Raven and Starfire were trying to quell Blackfire. Blackfire readied a pair of starbolts in her hands.
"Good to see you again, Sister," said Blackfire, smiling. "I told you I'd get even with you one day."
Starfire threw a starbolt at Blackfire, but missed.
"This is not that day!" exclaimed Starfire.
Beast Boy flew in behind Blackfire and changed into a monkey, landing on her head. He started to tug mercilessly on her hair. Blackfire growled in frustration as the green monkey threw off her concentration.
"Azerath, metrion ZINTHOS!" yelled Raven, casting a spell at Blackfire.
The hostile alien had just managed to throw Beast Boy off of her when her arms were bound to her sides by Raven's spell. Blackfire began to fall to the ground, but was immediately picked back up by Starfire. Starfire regretted this when Blackfire aimed a starbolt from her eyes at her. Starfire lost her grip of her evil sister, who regained her position in the sky, and despite Raven's attempts to subdue the former alien princess, she was able to attack the three airborne Titans with beams from her eyes.
Blackfire broke out of her black magic trap by hitting Raven with a well-placed eye starbolt. As Blackfire escaped her imprisonment, Raven began to fall, and Beast Boy transformed into a pterodactyl and caught her on his back. When they touched the ground, Raven was all there again.
"Thanks a lot," said Raven.
Beast Boy morphed back to his human form again.
"Hold the thank you for later," he said. "Starfire needs our help."
He pointed up to the sky where Starfire was once again locked in a duel with her sister.
Raven nodded her head and kicked off of the ground, Beast Boy transforming back into his pterodactyl form and following suit.
As the other two Titans joined the fray, Starfire fired a starbolt from her eyes at her sister. Blackfire copied the gesture, and the two streams from their eyes connected.
"Now's our chance," said Raven to Beast Boy. "Let's get her."
Pterodactyl-Beast Boy nodded and followed Raven to the sky behind Blackfire. Raven cast a restraint over her, and Beast Boy transformed into an octopus, wrapping all eight of his legs around her.
With her sister restrained by her friends, Starfire broke the connection between the two of them, flew behind Blackfire, raised her hands into the air together, and brought them down on Blackfire with great force.
Raven and Beast Boy chose this moment to let go of her and Blackfire plummeted back to the street, leaving a small crater where she landed.
With Blackfire seemingly unconscious, the three airborne Titans joined the others on the ground, where they saw that Plasmus had been turned into splatters on the nearby walls.
"Nice job with Blackfire," said Cyborg to the girls and the changeling.
"I only hope that she is not too injured," said Starfire.
"You're concerned about her?" asked Ed.
"She may have been corrupted, friend Edward, but she is still my sister," said Starfire. "Would you not be concerned about friend Alphonse if he were to be injured in a fight between the two of you?"
"Well, when you put it like that, I suppose I would," answered Ed.
"How sweet," said a voice below them.
The Titans looked at the newly-formed crater in the street, and saw that Blackfire was not unconscious at all. She was looking up at them with a victorious smile.
"I don't see what you have to smile about," said Ed. "You're both going to jail pretty soon."
"Hold that thought," said Robin, causing the Titans to turn their attention to them. "Doesn't it seem odd that we've had Plasmus beat for five minutes now, and we haven't seen his human body?"
The other Titans took notice of this, and widened their eyes, but Ed looked at the goo that was Plasmus and back at Robin.
"Didn't you say that he's only human when he's sleeping?" he asked.
"Yes," said Starfire. "And after our first encounter with him, he was unconscious and in his human form."
"If what you guys are saying is true, then that means he must have only been pretending to be out," said Ed.
"Took you long enough to figure that out, shrimp," said Blackfire.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE COULD GET SQUISHED BY AN AMEBA? SO SMALL HE'S HARD TO SEE WITHOUT A MAGNIFYING GLASS?" yelled Ed.
Blackfire chuckled at Ed's reaction.
"What I mean by that is simply that you walked into a trap," she said.
When she said this, several of the Titans' other enemies made their presence known. There were five of them in total: Fang, who jumped onto the street from on top of a nearby building, Adonis, who came out of an alleyway in his mechanical muscle suit, Johnny Rancid, who came speeding toward them on his motorcycle with his giant mechanical dog Rex following him, Overload, who came exploding out of the sewer, and Punk Rocket, who came over flying on his guitar.
Just as the last of them came, Blackfire regained her previous stance, and Plasmus pulled himself together.
"Great," said Robin.
"Who are these guys?" aske Al.
"The guy in the battlesuit is Adonis, Johnny Rancid is the guy on the motorcycle with the giant dog, sparky over there is named Overload, Fang is bug boy over there, and Punk Rocket is the guy with the souped up guitar," said Cyborg, pointing to each of the villains as he explained.
"Should we be worried?" asked Ed.
"Maybe a little," said Beast Boy.
The villains then launched their attacks at the Titans.
Adonis ran towards Cyborg and threw a couple of punches at him, which the mechanical Titan barely managed to Dodge. Adonis succeeded in hitting Cyborg once, sending him back a few meters. Cyborg then charged his seismic cannon to attack the artificially-enhanced brute. Adonis started running toward him again, and when Cyborg fired, he took the brunt of the attack, charging through and sending a full-bodied kick into Cyborg's abdomen. This sent Cyborg back to his original position on the street.
Starfire and Blackfire started fighting again. Starfire would attack with her fists and her powers, but her sister, would match her move for move, and then some. In between punches, kicks and starbolts, Blackfire found an opening, and delivered a roundhouse kick to Starfire's face, and then brought a downward kick to the back of her head, sending her to the ground, next to Cyborg.
Beast Boy and Fang were practically doing the tango with Fang firing his pistol and Beast Boy trying to dodge his shots. Beast Boy transformed into a pigeon and flew up the side of one of the buildings lining the sides of the streets. Fang followed him, using the legs attached to his head to crawl up the side of the building. He continued to use his pistol to fire at Beast Boy, but the changeling dodged each shot. Fang chose that moment to stick out one of his legs, causing Beast Boy to move the opposite direction, and giving Fang the perfect opportunity to fire a paralyzing shot at Beast Boy. Beast Boy changed back to his human form and fell to the ground.
Al transmuted a few bombs and used them to fight Plasmus. Every time a bomb hit Plasmus, his body would just re-assimilate in the spot he was hit. It wasn't long before Al ran out of bombs to use against him, and it was Plasmus's turn. Plasmus began spraying acid at the armored boy. Al dodged the attacks as best he could, not wanting his blood seal to wash off or his body to be eaten by the corrosive liquid. He was too busy paying attention to the structural integrity of his body to notice Plasmus pick him up with an extended arm and throw him toward the other Titans. He hit the ground next to Cyborg with a loud clang.
Ed was fighting Rex with everything he had. He transmuted the plate on his arm into his signature arm blade, and defended against the dog's bites. He dodged all of Rex's moves until he finally found what he was looking for. Under Rex's chin, there was what looked like a motor. When Rex attacked again, Ed rolled under the mechanical dog and slashed the motor in half, causing fuel to leak out. Ed picked up a rock, and scratched it with his blade, causing a spark. The small spark ignited the fuel, finding its way back to Rex, and causing the robot dog to explode. While Ed was triumphant in taking the dog out, he had forgotten about his cycle-mounted owner, who came up behind Ed, swerved, and knocked Ed for a loop, making him land with the other defeated Titans.
Raven was using her powers to block all of Overload's shockwaves, but she wouldn't be able to hold him off for long. Overload released a surge from his electromagnetic body that broke through Raven's barrier, and shocked her senseless.
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" yelled Raven, using her powers to pick up a car next to her and hurl it at Overload. Overload caught the car mid-flight with his electromagnetism, overloaded it with electricity, and sent it back to Raven, who had no time to dodge it before it exploded in her face, forcing her backwards and in the direction of Ed and the others.
Robin was using his birdarangs to attack the British rocker wannabe. Every 'rang that he threw at Punk Rocket was blocked when he stuck his guitar out. Punk Rocket opened a nearby window, revealing his secret weapon: An unspeakably large speaker. He reached for the cord next to the speaker, but his hand was struck with a birdarang, causing him to retract it and yell in pain. Robin jumped toward Punk Rocket and threw punch after kick after kick after punch at him. Punk Rocket blocked these attacks with the back of his guitar, and finally, found an opening where he could strike the strings of his guitar, creating a sonic wave with enough force to send Robin away from him and give him a chance to pick up the cord to the speaker behind him. Punk Rocket cranked the volume up to the max on both the guitar and the speaker, and started playing an extremely loud guitar solo. The solo created a sonicboom that knocked Robin backwards and made his ears ring.
With all of the Titans incapacitated and clustered together, the villains slowly advanced on them, each with a wicked grin on their face. (Or as much of a grin as could be determined, such as in the case of Fang.)
As the villains reached the "not much further now" mark, the Titans started to recover.
"This is quite the negative development," said Raven.
"What?" asked Robin, holding his hand around his ear.
"Yeah, they just came at us out of nowhere," said Cyborg.
"What?" asked Robin again.
"And they managed to own us so easily!" said Beast Boy.
"What?" asked Robin a third time.
"They managed to own us so easily!" said Beast Boy, in Robin's direction.
Robin stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it a couple of times.
"What?" he asked an additional time.
Beast Boy retrieved a funnel, seemingly out of nowhere, and stuck the pointed end in Robin's ear.
"THEY MANAGED TO OWN US SO EASILY!" yelled Beast Boy.
"Why are you whispering?" asked Robin.
"Well, this is great," said Ed. "I can't remember the last time I got my ass handed to me like this."
Just as the mass of villains came to be a few feet from the Titans, a wall of fire ignited, separating the Titans from the villains momentarily.
"Well, here's one person I bet you didn't expect to show up," said a voice. The mob turned to see a tall man standing behind them. He had pale skin and dark hair, and wore a sort of dark blue military uniform and white gloves, each one with a transmutation circle on it. Everyone could tell that he was important.
"You alright, Ed?" asked the stranger.
Ed growled.
"I was until you showed up! Being in a whole other world doesn't keep you out of our business!"
"You know this guy?" asked Beast Boy.
"Get him!" yelled Blackfire.
Overload conjured up a big blast of electricity, and directed it at the ground under the stranger. Just as the lightning was about to finish him off, the stranger snapped his fingers, and an inferno appeared, obscuring everyone's view of him.
"Fire won't keep you safe from Overload!" cackled the powerhouse.
The volts went under the wall of fire. The fire began to dissipate into a layer of smoke.
"Did 'e get 'im?" asked Punk Rocket.
"Doesn't matter," said Adonis. "If the electricity doesn't kill him, those flames will."
Over the next minute or so, the fire died down, and the smoke thinned out, revealing the still standing body of the stranger.
"What the-?" began Fang.
"Who is this guy?" demanded Johnny Rancid.
"You were right," said the stranger. "Fire doesn't block electricity."
He then pointed at the ground he was standing on, specifically the mass of goo beneath his feet.
"But rubber melted by intense heat does," he said.
"Where did you get the rubber to do that?" asked Adonis.
It was then that everyone got a closer look at the landscape. All of the cars in the vicinity were missing their tires. All of the tires had been melted by the fire.
"Every moron knows that electricity takes the most direct route to the ground, and that rubber blocks electricity. And I would assume that everyone knows what happens when you superheat rubber. I think you can figure it out from there, but perhaps I'm overestimating you."
The villains snarled at that statement.
"As for who I am, my name is Roy Mustang, a Colonel in Amestris's state military."
When he finished his sentence, he snapped his fingers again. When he did this, a stream of flame licked the air, and exploded right next to Johnny Rancid's motorcycle, leaving a perfectly torched bike.
"But you can call me the Flame Alchemist."
Plasmus and Overload ran in Mustang's direction, leaving the rest of the villains to take care of the floored Titans. No sooner had Plasmus and Overload started attacking that Mustang snapped his fingers ever rapidly, conjuring bombs in mid-air around his two assailants.
"Damn it! He's always getting in the goddamn way!" growled Ed.
"Brother, he just saved us."
"Yeah, and now I owe him another favor!"
"It doesn't matter right now," said Cyborg, brushing himself off and helping the others up. "He gave us time to recover, and we might actually have a chance of winning, now."
"Fine," said Ed. "But don't come complaining to me when he starts bending you to his advantage."
"Works for me," said Cyborg.
Right after Cyborg had said this, the other villains came towards the Titans and crashed into them, knocking all of them into a nearby building, with the exception of Ed and Al. The villains then followed their victims into the building.
"Guys!" yelled Ed.
Ed made to follow them into the building and make sure his friends didn't get hurt, but he was stopped by the Colonel.
"Ed! They'll be fine," said Mustang. "Did you really think I'd come all this way and not bring any reinforcements?"
Ed growled and reluctantly ran with his brother to assist Mustang in fighting the two brutes.
"I swear, Mustang, if something happens to them-" started Ed.
"We'll discuss it later," said Mustang, cutting him off. "What are these things?"
"A mutant made out of toxic sludge and an electromagnetic mutant," said Ed. "What'd you think they were?"
"You know what I mean, Ed," said the Colonel.
"They're criminals that those guys I was with fight on a regular basis."
Mustang snapped his fingers, and caused an explosion right in Overload and Plasmus's faces.
"And they were having such a hard time with them now because…?" asked Mustang, snapping his fingers again.
"There were only two here to begin with," said Ed. "The rest came out and took us by surprise."
"Do you have any idea how to take care of them?" asked Mustang. "I can't keep them back with my flames forever."
Ed thought for a minute, and snapped his own fingers.
"I have an idea," said Ed. "Let down your flames."
Mustang stopped snapping his fingers, and Ed transmuted his arm blade into a kind of half-funnel-shaped shield.
"I'm going to distract Plasmus. See if you can't find some water to splash Overload with."
Ed ran toward Plasmus, who started spraying streams of acid at Ed. Ed used the shield on his arm to redirect the acid at the ground. The acid ate at the ground, making a crevice as Ed moved in a circular motion around Plasmus.
The Colonel snapped his fingers, and made an explosion at a fire hydrant next to Overload, causing him to short circuit.
Meanwhile, inside the building, each of the Titans was faced with one of each of the villains.
Robin landed in an apartment on top of a jewelry store, where he lay for a few minutes before being found by Johnny Rancid.
"I see your luck hasn't gone up by much, Bird Boy," he said.
"You really ought to come up with a different nickname for me, Johnny," said Robin, jumping to his feet. "This one's becoming less appropriate every time you see me."
"Tell you what," said Rancid, as he started to walk toward Robin.
What Rancid didn't notice was that a man had dropped down from the ceiling behind him as soon as he started moving.
"I'll write "dead bird" on your tombstone. How's that sound?" Rancid asked as Robin took notice of the man behind Rancid.
The man behind Rancid put his finger to his mouth, telling Robin to stay quiet. The man then pulled a small blade out of his sleeve, and tapped Rancid on the shoulder. Rancid turned around, and the man buried the blade in his hand.
Rancid yelled in pain before getting a roundhouse kick to the face from the man. With Rancid out cold, the man turned his attention to Robin and smiled.
The man was dressed in the same uniform as Mustang, had noticeable stubble, dark hair, yellow eyes, and square glasses.
"I can tell from the way you addressed each other that he's not a person whose company you enjoy," said the man. "I hope my daughter doesn't go out with anybody like that. You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Robin.
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. I'm an old friend of Ed and Al's. You're Robin, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," said Robin.
"It's nice to meet you, but pleasantries will have to wait til later. We'd better find your friends and regroup with Ed and the Colonel."
Hughes led Robin out of the room, and to the ground floor.
"Should I be worried about the others?" asked Robin.
"No, don't be," said Hughes. "The Colonel brought a lot of back up with him."
In another room of the building, Starfire was just regaining her footing when Blackfire flew in and landed in front of her.
"Boo," she said to her younger sister.
She then lodged her foot under her sister's chin and thrust it upwards, bringing Starfire to her feet.
"You know, the help from your midget friend isn't going to make any difference. We're going to win this fight."
"Friend Edward does not like being made fun of because of his height!" exclaimed Starfire, firing a starbolt at her sister.
"I can attest to that," said a voice out of nowhere.
Both of the Tamaranian girls turned around, and noticed a girl with log blonde hair, brought up into a ponytail. Blackfire didn't even get a glimpse of her face before an unnecessarily large wrench collided with her face. It was surprising, but the alien was actually knocked in the head with enough force to knock her unconscious.
"Thank you for your assistance," said Starfire to the stranger. "Would you like to be my friend?" she asked.
"Uh… sure," said the stranger.
"My name is Starfire. Please, tell me your name!"
"I'm Winry. Winry Rockbell. I'm a friend of Ed's," said the girl.
"You are a friend of friend Edward's? We must go inform him of your arrival!"
Starfire grabbed the girl's hand and led her down the stairs.
Cyborg and Adonis had resumed their fight in another part of the floor that Robin had been on.
"You're a little too gutsy for your own good, Adonis," said Cyborg. "Don't you remember who it was that made you his footrest the last time you decided to cause trouble?"
"You act like I didn't learn anything from that experience," said the super-powered weakling. "I totally upgraded this bad boy. There's no way you'll be able to beat Adonis this time."
As Adonis was about to engage Cyborg, a crash was heard. One of the walls in the room had been demolished, and standing in its place was a hulking, bald, mustachioed man who was wearing the same garb as Mustang and Hughes. When the smoke from the fallen wall cleared, the man spoke to Adonis with a gruff voice, his mouth not even noticeable beneath his mustache.
"If you're saying that you're unbeatable when it comes to brute strength, I, the heir to the Armstrong family line am obligated to take that challenge."
Adonis raised his fists.
"Who the heck do you think you are, pal?"
The look that the man gave Adonis was severe.
"I am Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist!"
The man raised a fist, revealing a gauntlet with a transmutation circle on it.
"Well, Mr. Strong Arm," said Adonis. "How about you show me the strength you say you have?"
The new arrival grinned beneath his mustache.
"Very well. I'll show you the alchemic style that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"
The man picked up a brick on the floor, tossed it up into the air, and punched it, launching it towards Adonis's gut. The brick had changed into a bust of Armstrong, and hit Adonis directly in the midsection, incapacitating him.
"Thanks for the help," said Cyborg to Armstrong.
"It was no trouble at all!" said Armstrong. "Anything for the friends of the brothers Elric. Who might you be, son?"
Cyborg blinked.
"Uh. I'm Cyborg."
The man bounded forward and incapacitated Cyborg in a bear hug that rivaled Starfire's.
"It is an honor to meet you, Cyborg!" he exclaimed, before his demeanor turned serious. "Your friends are being helped by my subordinates. We've been ordered to retrieve you and then regroup with Colonel Mustang on the street."
"Sounds like we don't have any time to waste," said Cyborg. "Let's go."
Cyborg and Armstrong ran out of the room to regroup with the others.
Raven and Punk Rocket ended up in the same room. Punk Rocket was using his now unplugged guitar to break through the barriers of dark energy that Raven kept putting up.
"You know, I've got to be honest. I was considering looking at some rock and roll music, but now you've irrevocably changed my mind," said Raven.
"By 'Rock and Roll' I assume you mean all 'at trash from back in the 70's and 80's. I'll show you what real rock music sounds like!" declared Punk Rocket.
He played a few more chords on his guitar, each one made a loud screech that broke Raven's barriers and concentration. When Punk Rocket had Raven on the ground and was about ready to release a devastating load of sound waves, a gunshot was heard from behind Punk Rocket. When he turned around, he heard more. Three bullets had been fired at his guitar, severing the neck of the guitar. Raven and Punk Rocket identified the source of the bullets as a severe looking woman who had her blonde hair in a bun behind her head. The woman approached Punk Rocket and slammed the butt of her pistol down on his head.
With Punk Rocket out cold, the woman offered her hand to the empath.
"You're not hurt, I hope?" asked the woman.
Raven took the hand and was helped up.
"I'm alright. Thanks for the help," she said.
"Are you one of the Teen Titans?" asked the woman.
"Yeah, my name's Raven," answered Raven.
"I'm Lieutenant Hawkeye. You can call me Riza. I'm a friend of Ed and Al and Colonel Mustang's right-hand woman. The Colonel instructed me and several others to assist you and the other Teen Titans with this situation."
"Well, you were a great help," said Raven. "Do you have any idea what happened to my friends?"
"They're being helped by Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes and several other officers," said Lieutenant Hawkeye. "You have nothing to worry about."
"In that case, it might be a good idea to help Ed, Al and Mustang downstairs," said Raven. "We can wait for them down there."
Hawkeye nodded, and stood by while Raven engulfed the both of them in her black magic.
Beast Boy hadn't finished his tango with Fang when they reached the inside of the building. Beast Boy had considered turning into a fly to avoid Fang's attacks, but then remembered that encounters between spiders and flies never end well for flies.
"Give it up, greeny," said Fang.
Beast Boy put his hands on his hips.
"Really?" he asked. "'Greeny,' Really? I can turn into animals, I have pointed ears, I'm the dumbest member of the Titans, I have a fang sticking out of my mouth, I'm skinny, and I'm a vegetarian, and the thing you choose to go for is my skin color?"
"I just work with what you give me," said the spider-headed monster. "But never mind the talk. The only thing I want coming out of your mouth right now is 'Goodbye.'"
A thud was heard, and Fang fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Goodbye," said Beast Boy.
Beast Boy then looked back up to find the source of Fang's incapacitation, and found four officers, all wearing the same uniform, and one carrying a rifle, the butt of which was raised as if it was used to knock out a man with a spider for a head.
"Hey, thanks!" said Beast Boy.
"No prob," said one of the officers, who had a cigarette in his mouth. "You know, fighting chimeras like that is bad for your health."
"Well, I don't know what a chimera is… at least, I don't think I do… but isn't smoking bad for your health, too?" asked Beast Boy.
The officer chuckled.
"Touché. I'm Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc. The guys you see next to me are Warrant Officer Vato Falman, Master Sergeant Kain Fuery, and Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda."
"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant. I'm Beast Boy," answered Beast Boy. "Have you come here to help the Elrics?"
"Pretty much," said Falman. "The Colonel thought that there might be trouble wherever the Elrics landed, so he asked us to come help out."
"Your Colonel sounds like a pretty smart guy to have assumed something like that," said Beast Boy.
"No offense, kid, but aren't you a little young to be handling on your own?" asked Breda.
"First, I'm not doing it on my own," said Beast Boy. "Second, we've saved the planet several times."
"Just sayin'," said Breda.
"Guys, I think we've yacked enough," said the one with glasses, Fuery. "We have to meet up with the Colonel downstairs."
The others nodded their heads and ran down the stairs.
The Titans and their respective saviors came downstairs to see an interesting sight. Mustang was blowing up fire hydrants in order to subdue Overload, and Ed was deflecting acid from Plasmus using a shield on his arm. Al, on the other hand, was taunting Overload into going towards the fire hydrants.
"The Colonel and Ed look like they're doing alright," said Havoc.
"I wouldn't count on it," said Robin. "Those two are full of surprises."
The Titans each decided on a target to help out with. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg went for Plasmus with Ed, while Raven and Beast Boy decided to help Mustang and Al with Overload. Meanwhile, Hughes, Hawkeye and Armstrong paid attention to both targets. Hawkeye offered cover fire with her pistols, as did Hughes, and Armstrong occasionally through one of his alchemically-amplified bricks at Plasmus. However, Winry and Mustang's other underlings watched from the sidelines.
Robin was throwing his discs at Plasmus, making him spray more and more acid at Ed.
"Ed, what exactly are you doing right now?" asked Robin.
"The only thing I can do," answered Ed.
Just as Mustang and the others finished and had Overload sopping wet on the street, Mustang turned in Ed's direction and smiled.
It was just then that everyone got a good look at what Ed had done. Beneath Plasmus's feet was a giant transmutation circle. Ed used his shield to deflect the acid sprayed at him by Plasmus at the street below. He then used the grooves in the street to make the circle.
"I'm sorry Robin. I don't know what he may have been before this, but it's clear to me that he's gone past the point of no return."
"Ed, what are you doing?"
Ed clapped his hands and slammed them down on the transmutation circle. The circle began to glow, and Plasmus's form began to shift and change. His body became a tar-like substance. Ed turned his attention to Mustang.
"Can I assume you know what to do next?" asked Ed.
Mustang, with a grim expression, snapped his fingers. Flames licked the air. And, to the surprise of everyone, especially the Titans, Plasmus's body was ignited. The great monster wailed in pain as its body burned. Everyone watched as the mutant was incinerated.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Hey, I'm sorry I didn't update this in over a year. I meant to, but I have been uber busy. Anyway, let me know what you guys think of the chapter. Sadly, this may be the only one I update for now. I do have two chapters of my Kingdom Hearts fic re-vamped but it'll be a long time before any more are modified. Thank you all for your patience.