Last time Irma apologized to Martin. Perhaps there's more to their relation than they think. Meanwhile Will and the others learned that Ed and Al were looking for how to create a Philosopher's Stone without the need for human sacrifice. The moment was interrupted when reports came in that demons were attacking the kingdom. On with the show!
Chapter 6: 'Be Thou For The People'
"My god!" exclaimed Will as she and the others exited the palace. She could see smoke rising from several locations in the city below. "How many demons are we talking about here?" asked Cornelia. "At least six from what I've been told," said Elyon, "But these things are huge."
Just then Irma came running out he front doors. "Sorry I'm late," said Irma, "What did I miss?" "There's about half a dozen huge and ugly demons rampaging in the city," said Taranee, "Just where have you been?" "Making up for harsh words," said Irma, "What's it to you?" "Never mind that," said Elyon, "Where's Caleb anyway?" "I'm right here," said Caleb as he and about 100 soldiers stood at the foot of the palace steps.
"Good," said Elyon, "Let's do it." "Wait!" exclaimed Martin as he ran down the steps to Caleb, "You can't go fight the demons yet, Caleb. There's something you'll need first. I just need fifteen minutes of your time." "What for?" asked Elyon. "I have something that'll give Caleb and your forces an edge against the demons," said Martin, "All I as is fifteen minutes to get it ready, that is, if you trust me."
"Of course I trust you," said Elyon, "So I'm gonna hold you to your words, Martin. Fifteen minutes." "We won't be late," said Martin as he and Caleb rushed back inside the palace.
"We're just going to have to keep the demons busy until they're done with whatever they're doing," said Elyon. "I hate to be the barer of bad news," said Al, "But I think the demons are coming towards the palace." Al spoke true, for the demons were weaving paths of destruction towards the palace.
"In that case," said Will as she pulled out The Heart of Candracar, "We'll just have to meet them first. Guardians Unite!" With a bright flash, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin had transformed into their Guardian outfits. "That was so cool!" exclaimed Al. "It was, impressive," said Ed. "If you enjoyed that," said Cornelia, "Then you ain't seen nothing yet!"
With that the Guardians took flight and flew towards the oncoming demons. "Hey wait for us!" exclaimed Ed as he and Al ran after Will and the others, leaving Elyon and the soldiers at the palace.
They met the demons at the edge of the city. Will and her friends had encountered many demons and other fell creatures during their careers as Guardians, but these demons were the most hideous yet: the creatures stood at well over seven feet in height; each had four arms, with four claws at the end of each limb. Their heads were attached to the body with little neck visible; each with three eyes, no nose and rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth.
"Well," said Taranee, "This should be interesting, at least." "Indeed," said Hay Lin. Just then Ed and Al caught up with them. "What kept you two?" asked Cornelia. "You five might be blessed with wings," gasped Ed, "But some of us need to run." "No wonder you're out of breath with such short legs," muttered Irma. Ed heard her however, "Don't make fun of my height!" yelled Ed. "What height?" asked Irma, "You have no height to make fun of. Get some height and I'll make fun of it."
"Save your anger for the demons, brother," said Al. "You're right, Al," said Ed as he hefted his spear. He glared at Irma, "To be continued," he said before he and Al charged at one of the demons. "He has issues, that one," said Irma referring to Ed. "Gee, you think so?" asked Cornelia as she and the others charged the oncoming monstrosities.
Taranee and Hay Lin teamed up on one of the demons. Hay Lin summoned a tornado around the monster, while Taranee fused the whirlwind with searing flames, transforming the tornado into a funnel of fire. When the flames cleared the demon was a charred, smoking hulk.
Cornelia summoned several thorny vines to trap one of the demons, while Irma drenched another. Will then sent several lighting bolts at the soaked demon, electrocuting it.
Will saw that Ed had already sliced the head off of one of the remaining demons. How Al had destroyed his demon was a bit more complicated: He drew a circle on the ground with a piece of chalk. The circle had several complex symbols in it. When the drawing was finished, Al held his gauntleted hands over the circle. Blue lines of energy raced from the circle towards the demon, when they reached the monster, large spikes seemed to grow from the ground, impaling the creature.
"How did you do that?" asked an amazed Cornelia. "I simply drew a transmutation circle on the ground," said Al, "Then I used alchemy to change the format of the ground under the demon." Al was so busy describing his attack; he didn't notice the demon rearing behind him until it was too late. The demon slashed at Al, he ducked, but his helmet caught the blow, knocking it off of him.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Hay Lin, "That thing took Al's head off!" "He's fine," said Ed in a tone that sounded like this sort of thing happened all the time. Taranee picked up the helmet, "There's no blood," she said in a disturbed tone, "in fact there's nothing in here at all." "There's also nothing in here as well," said Irma as she looked inside Al's armor, "No blood, no bones and no body! Why doesn't he have a body?"
"This armor is my body," said Al's voice, which came out of the empty armor, "Would you please give me back my head?" Taranee blinked before handing the helmet back to Al. He replaced it back on, "That's better; I really hate it when I lose my head."
Ed meanwhile had just finished slaying the demon that knocked Al's head off. He had removed his red coat; he wore a black long-sleeved shirt with white edges. The shirt was ripped on the right arm, yet there was no blood, for Ed's right arm was made of metal. His left pants leg was also ripped below the knee, yet again there was no blood for his flesh ended with the knee, and continued with metal.
"What?" asked Ed as he realized that everyone was staring at him. "Oh, you've noticed." "It's rather hard not to notice when your friend has two metal limbs," said Hay Lin. "Pardon my interruption," said Cornelia, "But what about that one?" she pointed at the demon she trapped with vines. "I got it," said Ed. He clapped his hands together and then placed his left hand on his metal right arm. There was a short flash of light, and a long metal blade hand extended from his arm. Ed walked up to the trapped demon and slashed its head off.
"That takes care of that," said Ed as he clapped his hands together again, he then returned his right arm back to normal, that is, if you can call having a metal right arm normal.
"Forgive me for asking so rashly," said Will to Al and Ed, "But would either of you happen to be the Fullmetal Alchemist?" "That would be me," said Ed, "That's the name I received when I earned my State Alchemist license. But how did you know that name?" "A strange man with these really weird glowing blue eyes told us to keep an eye out for you," said Taranee, "And to be honest, I thought you'd be taller."
Before Ed could reply to Taranee's comment a seventh demon reared up and was about to slash at Cornelia. She didn't have time to react, but the demon never got the chance to strike, for Caleb had just sliced off it's arms, his sword was glowing bright blue. Caleb then swung his sword again and removed the head of the demon.
"That takes care of that," said Caleb as the blue glow faded from his sword, he then turned to Cornelia, "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm more than fine," said Cornelia as she embraced Caleb, "Now that you're here." They kissed. "I hate to interrupt the moment here," said Will, "But how did you get your sword to glow like that?"
"That would be my part," said Martin as he, Elyon and about 35 guards came down from the palace, "If you would set your eyes on his sword, specifically the part where the blade meets the hilt." Everyone looked to where Martin pointed out. At the point where the blade met the hilt was a metal device with a blue diode.
"This handy gadget," said Martin as he removed the device from Caleb's sword, "Enables Caleb, or whoever uses it, to channel their energy into whatever weapon the device is connected to. With the weapon charged with energy, said weapon can cut through even the toughest demon hide. I've been working on how to accomplish this ever since we first encountered Naruto and his fellow ninjas. It's still just a prototype, but once I get all the bugs worked out I can have one for every soldier and guard on Metamore"
"Now that's what I call cool," said Irma, "I've said you're smart, but you're a genius." "Why thank you," said Martin, "Oh divine goddess of the oceans." Irma promptly blushed at this.
"Is it me," said Hay Lin, "Or is Irma being a lot nicer to Martin all of a sudden?" "I guess she took the time to get to know the real him," said Will. "Looks like Elyon is going to win that bet after all," said Taranee to Cornelia. "Perhaps," said Cornelia, "But it's not Sunday yet. Irma still has time to come to her senses."
Meanwhile Elyon was speaking to Ed and Al. "I saw what you two did to help here today," she said, "How can I thank you for your assistance?" "It was no trouble," said Ed, "It's all part of the creed of the State Alchemist; 'Be thou for the people,' that applies to all the people, no matter what dimension we're in."
"I hope what happened here today isn't the normal for you girls," said Al. "We normally don't go looking for trouble," said Cornelia, "Trouble usually finds us." "I doubt these demons were the last of them," said Will, "When demons invade another dimension, they don't stop until they've done whatever they're supposed to do, or unless whoever sent them is either killed or at least defeated." "Then we can expect more of these things," said Ed, "Or things like them." Will nodded in agreement. "Trust me," said Will, "what happened today was only the beginning."
The end of chapter 6. Next chapter we shift views to the hellish dimension where Pai-Mey has been hiding and we learn of her latest diabolical scheme. Please review and I'll see you next time!