Disclaimer: I do not own any copyright to plots and characters from Fullmetal Alchemist anime/manga/games, so pls don't sue me!

AU: There is no made-up character in this fic though there's a lot of characters crossover for FMA manga/anime/games.

Refer to image of FMA Manga/game casts at: http:(slash slash)i14(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums(slash)a333(slash)lysergkun(slash)othercast(dot)jpg

Hi Renneh: In manga, 'Father' was a bastard figure, so he's not expected to be portrayed as a nice person in my fanfic… I'm thinking of changing my earlier draft so it may take quite some time for my next update. Hope u'll like this chapter….(smile)

Hi OintmentJar: I like this type of merged fic too, but I'm currently occupied with my real life matters… So I was wondering if I can rush off this fic asap before I lose all my interest like my previous few fics. Will try to lengthen my existing draft, but it'll take me longer time to update. Hope u won't mind.. glad u like my fic, I almost thought this fic is a goner. (sniff) Btw, Archer will not come to a good end…. I promise (smirk)

Chapter 09: Attack

Ed slapped his hand onto his face as he climbed out of the debris from the collapse wall. Roy soon regained his alertness as he scowled to himself: "I can't believe someone can bring down the wall and knock us inside out within seconds!"

"Colonel, are you alright?" called Riza, Danny and Falman as they rushed and climbed through the large hole on the walls.

"Who's that big creature who crushed into the office, Ed?" asked Sophie who followed into the office: "Cony, Lt Hughes and Major Armstrong have gone after them."

Ed did not answer her, but was glaring heatedly at the big hole.

"Damnit, they are dangerous!" Roy exclaimed angrily and rushed out of the hole. Riza pulled him back. "Don't stop me, First Lt!" snapped Roy.

"You need a vehicle to go after them, Colonel." Riza said and pointed to a waiting vehicle manned by Maria Ross.

Archer was shocked to see smoke and fire seeping into his office. Before he could storm out, a tall figure stepped in.

"Mustang?" Archer questioned in disbelief.

"Wrong answer, Mr Frank Archer." The deep voice of Zerugiu said: "I'll be handling over the Philosopher's stone if I were you for we have you thoroughly cornered. There's no one strong enough in the headquarter to help you now."

"Are you working under Father?" asked Archer calmly: "Or do you have the intention to betray him to obtain the stone yourself?"

"That's not your business to ask, Archer." Zerugiu said and flew at Archer.

Archer revealed his lance-like blades and attacked Zerugiu like lightning. Zerugiu's eyes widened in shock.

Armony was glad to see Winry moving towards full recovery and was currently able to return home to rest. Wrath had recently started alchemy training under Izumi. The sight of Izumi guiding Wrath in alchemy within the house reminded her of the old times when Ed taught her alchemy. She could not bear to see the sight and preferred to accompany Winry in her ward. On the day of her discharge, Armony accompanied Winry on her way home.

"Armony-san, Winry-san!" cried a familiar voice as Chang Mei ran up to them. Xiao Mei as usual was sitting on her shoulder like an obedient cat: "How are you both getting on? I'm going back to Xing later today, so I'm thinking of bidding you farewell before I go. Have you been seeing Alphonse-sama? Ever since my last farewell to him, I can't see him anywhere."

"You're going back to Xing despite your emperor's a homunculus?" Winry exclaimed in disbelief.

"Scar-san and Lust-san are going with me, so I've nothing to fear. Besides, Ran Fan seems to have forgotten me." Chang Mei chipped: "Thank you for taking care of me during that time. Farewell!"

Winry and Armony looked on as the little girl ran off towards the tall figure of Lust who was waiting for her.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" asked Armony.

"They will." Winry said.

Al sat restlessly on the bed and tested his alchemy again. He sighed, wondering how long will 'Father' removed the bind he had set around the palace that was restricting his alchemy ability for days.

'Looks like I'll have to use the traditional method.' Al thought and pulled out a pin he had found in the room the day before. Twisting its end, he proceeded to poke the keyhole. He had been waiting for this day ever since he felt himself fully recovered from his illness and injuries. He squeaked quietly in delight as the lock clicked and the door opened under his touch.

"Where are you going, little boy?" A general who was standing guard outside the door boomed and grabbed Al's arm. Al dodged and tripped the man down. He ran as fast as he could away from the pursuing guards. A guard agilely swung his leg, tripped Al onto the floor and drew his sword across Al's neck before he could get up from the ground.

A blade flew to block his movement easily as a masked lady appeared and grabbed Al before the boy could register what was going on.

"Shhh, it's me." The voice of Ran Fan whispered in his ears as she tried to push the distance between them from the guards as much as possible: "I'm going to get you out of here. Trust me."

"Why?" Al looked at her in surprise. He could feel the young lady smiled even though he could not see her face through the mask.

"Young Master's approval." She said shortly as she dragged him behind a dark cellar, leading to the underground tunnel of the palace.

"And you trust him? What is he sche… , sorry, I mean, planning?" Al whispered: "He's a Homunculus, remember?"

"I don't know." Ran Fan said softly as she led Al through the tunnel until sunlight greeted them from its end. "But sometimes, I feel he is my Young Master himself."

"This is totally insane." grunted Roy as their vehicle pursued the running Sloth who was carrying Envy on his back across the street of the Central.

"They're not getting anyway," said Riza as she pulled out her pistol. Roy ducked to other window and shot his flames at the escaping figures while Maria Ross kept to her focus as she drove the car. Ed was stuck between Roy and Riza in the back seat. Growling, he transmuted a hole on the car ceiling and climbed out of the car.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, FULLMETAL??!!" Roy yelled as the younger alchemist leaped towards the running homunculi.

"RETURN AL TO ME NOW!!!" roared Ed furiously as he managed to grab a fistful of Envy's hair.

"He's crazy!" gasped Cony from the other vehicle manned by Hughes.

"Get your dirty hands away from me, Midget!" screamed Envy, trying to kick away Ed from his face. Within a minute, Ed had rained countless blows on Envy's face. Sloth moved faster, banging against any wall he could find, hoping to shake him off, but the agitated alchemist refused to get off.

Several passing-bys screamed as they tried to dodge the passing homunculi and the flying debris from the hit buildings.

"Isn't that Ed?" Armony pointed as she and Winry saw Ed standing over the running homunculi and two pursuing cars manned by Roy and the rest.

"YOUR BABY BROTHER IS NOT WITH US NOW, IDOIT! NOW GET OFF FROM ME!" screamed Envy who had to recover himself many times from Ed's insane blows.

From afar, there was a big explosion in the direction of the military headquarter. Roy did not have to look to know something bad had happened.

"Let's go back to the headquarter. Major, I need your help to assist Fullmetal if necessary."

"No problem." Armstrong said and continued his pursue after Ed and the homunculi while Maria Ross reversed the vehicle towards the other direction.

The headquarter was in flames when Roy, Sophie, Riza and Maria Ross rushed to the site.

"What's going on here?" gasped Maria in shock. There were a few injured soldiers dragged out by their fellow colleagues and a few were probably still fighting or trapped inside.

"What happened?" Sophie asked an injured soldier.

"I think there's some fighting going on inside. The place just went up in flame for no reason and I think I've heard Colonel Archer battling with someone."

"There's something weird with Colonel Archer!" Another injured soldier said: "He has long lance-like weapons on his fingers. One officer was slashed to death when he tried to help him from a man who was blowing fire."

"You look after the rest, I'll go and take a look." Roy insisted and rushed into the burning building. Sophie made a quick thinking and ran after him.

Inside the office, Archer's eyes reddened with excitement as he grinned, increasing his speed faster and faster. "You are no match for me." His lance shot and stabbed straight into Zerugiu's throat, despite several burnts on his body which healed almost instantly: "Because I can revive countless times!"

"Homunculus... I... should have known better..." Zerugiu gave his last tragic smile before he collapsed backwards, dead. Archer's grin faltered as he saw Roy Mustang and Sophie came into view behind the tall falling figure of Zerugiu.

"He..he is a homunculus..." Sophie pointed in shock.

"Get out of here, I'll deal with him." Roy said, flicking his gloves: "Fullmetal and Major must know about this matter."

But Frank Archer had already started shooting his lance at the running girl. Roy dived and blocked it in the nick of time with raising wall and pushing Sophie away at the same time. As she fell onto the floor, something red and shiny came into her view. She grabbed it and ran off.

Realisation dawned onto Archer that he had dropped the Philosopher's stone during the fight and the girl had taken it. He roared in anger and ran after Sophie. Roy tried to burn him with his flames and was stabbed in his shoulder.

"COLONEL!" screamed Sophie.

"DON'T BOTHER ABOUT ME, JUST GO!!!" roared Roy Mustang.

Sophie screamed as a lance stabbed into her shoulder. Someone pulled her arm and she was tagged painfully behind. She could hear Roy's angry shout and Archer's frustrated growl as she left further and further away from them...

On the street, Armony and Winry ran towards the direction where Ed was wrestling with Envy and the confused Sloth. Armstrong and Cony ran to Ed's aid.

"LET ME GO, YOU MIDGET!!!!" screamed Envy.

"Fullmetal, we'll trap them and interrogate them for Alphonse's whereout." Armstrong said: "But first, I need space to trap them so that you will not be hurt."

"WHERE IS AL????!!!!" Ed roared, pulling Envy by his neck.

"Sloth, help me out of this!!!!" screamed Envy.

"What am I supposed to do? I've got you out of the room. You'll settle the mess yourself, I'm leaving." Sloth said and broke into a run. Armstrong activated stone hands to grab him, but he dug a hole into the ground and soon disappeared. Armstrong and Cony ran after him.

"Ed, what's going on?" exclaimed Winry as she ran towards Ed: "Did anything happen to Al?" Envy took the opportunity to slip out of Ed's hands and jumped away to breath properly.

"Hey, midget, your precious brother is now in Xing. Go and find him there if you dare!" He ran off.

"Hey, why do you tell us now after all these fighting?" Armony asked suspiciously.

"Xing huh? Then off to Xing I'll go!" panted Ed as he grinded his teeth. Shaking, he stood up and made his way to the house to pack up his things.

As Envy ran, he tagged a receiver in his ear: 'So the stone's now retrieved to be taken to Xing, huh? Right, I've told that midget where his precious brother is, he should be proceeding there anytime. I know, Father, I know what to do."

The market place of Xing was bustling with activities despite it was winter season and snow was falling softly as Al and the now maskless Ran Fan moved through the crowd, passing numerous stalls and shop houses. Al looked around in awe. He had almost forgotten the Eastern architectural buildings since his last trip in China when he was in the other world. Looking at those buildings brought him back memories of his time when he was gathering historical details during his China trip.

"The main gate should be at least 4 li from here." Ran Fan's words interrupted his thought. Her eyebrows suddenly tightened. "We've got company."

Before Al could react, strong wind of snow rushed through the marketplace, enveloping some passingbys into ice. Many people screamed and tried to duck into the safety of the buildings.

"Come with me!" Ran Fan hissed and pulled Al, following the sea of terrified people into one of the shelters.

"Not so fast, Miss!" A hoarse voice thundered as cracks zip zapped across the ground, separating them from the screaming people.

Al clapped his hands and transmuted a stony staff from the ground. Leaping before Ran Fan, he confronted Buffalo Bull Godoa and Shadow Leonardo.

"What do you want?" Al demanded.

"Hand over the Philosopher's Stone and we will not bother you again." Shadow Leonardo grinned. His smirk darkened. "Or else."

"It's not with us!" Al retorted angrily and swung his staff just in time to block Godoa's blow towards him. Leonardo swung more icy wind at them. Both Al and Ran Fan tried to duck his icy winds, but his winds moved faster and faster, closing more and more areas where the two youngsters could land. Coupled with Godoa's thunderous attack, there was hardly a space where they could rest their feet for more than a minute.

Someone moved like lightning towards Leonardo and sent a blow across his face. "Do you know it's very ungentlemanly to attack a lady?"

Leonardo glared into the face of Greed!Ling. "You!" He snarled angrily.

"Yes, me. Anymore trouble in my city and you'll regret for being born into this world." Greed!Ling said slowly. "The Philosopher's Stone is truly not with them, surely my word is trustworthy enough?"

Leonardo glowered at him for a second and without a second word, he disappeared amidst the slowing snowfall with Godoa.

Greed!Ling turned to look at Ran Fan and shrugged. Al could see light of admiration glimmering in Ran Fan's eyes as she looked at the Homunculus in front of her.

With increasing wind in the air, licks of flame rose in the air like fire dragons from the buildings.

From their resting area, Riza could not believe her eyes when several soldiers in Amestris uniform ambushed them and attacked the resting soldiers who had just escaped from the building. Several soldiers were killed instantly. Immediately with help from Maria Ross and several others, she rounded up the survivors and guided them to a safe area where they were shielded from the attacks.

"Is there a coup?" Falman asked in disbelief.

"Possible, there could be others who have been dissatisfied with the overthrown of the ex Fuhrer." Riza said: "There were others who prefer wars." She looked back to see some supposedly injured soldiers standing up and pointing their rifles at Maria Ross, Falman and herself. Several other 'injured' soldiers moved to shoot the genuine Amestris soldiers dead instantly.

In the burning office, Roy was stunned to see King Bradley appeared from nowhere with a small group of soldiers and abduct Sophie before his very eyes. Archer was agitated as he knew his chance to retrieve his Philosopher's stone has reduced if it fell into King Bradley's hand. Both of them ran after King Bradley and the rest. Roy was just in time to see them leaping into a waiting military car and drove off. Roy ducked behind the wall from the shooting bullets and made his way towards Riza's area based on leads left by her before she led the survivors away.

He was just in time to see the vehicle running towards the hiding area and was stunned to the ground to see Riza being dragged into King Bradley's vehicle at gun point and was drove off hastily. Just then, he caught sight of Archer and pulled him by his collar: "WHERE IS KING BRADLEY GOING??!!"

"He must have gone to Xing now." Archer said, feeling dejected over the loss of the stone and pulled off his collar from Roy Mustang's hand irritatedly: "And if you excuse me, I'm getting out of here!" With that, he ran off.

Just then, Sloth clambered out from the ground in front of Archer: "You... come with me.., Father wants ... see you."

"I have no more business with him and leave me alone!" Archer yelled, but was nevertheless dragged off.

"What has happened here?" Hughes exclaimed as he merged from the ground to see the burning headquarter with Armstrong and Cony after following Sloth.

"King Bradley has attacked the base, took the philosopher's stone and abducted a number of our people to Xing." Roy said: "You and Major stay here to settle the mess, I'm going off to Xing. Tell the top that I was missing during the attack."

Hughes sighed deeply and petted Roy on his shoulder: "Good luck, I don't know why, but I have a feeling that we might not be seeing each other again." Hughes reached out his hand.

Roy took it and shook hands with his friend with a weak smile.

TBC
AU: Sorry for the long update, coz I'm changing my original draft again. I've just killed off Zerugiu in this chap, still figuring who I'll be killing off next. Perhaps, Sophie or Lust or Triffany or Godoa. Err, I think I've protrayed Al like a little princess waiting to be rescued... Ah hahahaha... (uneasily)