Hello there to all of my previous readers, ready to continue on Ed and Al's journey! Welcome to all of you who are just jumping on board as well! You should be able to hop right in to the story, but if you want to read the first installment, titled Welcome to Hell (A Fullmetal Alchemist/Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover), you can find it on my page. It does have season six and seven spoilers though. Some Buffy will be discussed in this story, but I will try to keep it spoiler free besides some Spike spoilers.
This will follow the canon of Firefly, but not the canon of Serenity. I promise it's for plot reasons and not just because I really love certain characters and don't want them to be dead, although that might be a tiny bit of the reason.
Quick shout-out and thanks to the super awesome finstermunker for creating Topos 6 for me, and to kaibalikeaboss for kicking my ass and making me sit down and write. Enjoy! Or not. Leave me a review about your strong opinions on the matter.
Welcome to Serenity: Chapter One
In a Galaxy Far Far Away
Space was an awfully big place, so Malcolm Reynolds wondered why he spent so much of his time in it avoiding people. Surely he did not have so many enemies that he would run into one everywhere he flew. Unfortunately it seemed that way. Be it Alliance or someone with a more personal grudge, the crew of the Firefly class ship: Serenity was having a pretty hard time as of late. It seemed there was nowhere they could go that wouldn't end up with someone falling into a spot of trouble and then some.
It had been nearly three weeks since their last job. Even worse, they were sitting on a mother lode of cash but had no way to get a pay-off. The Lassiter laser pistol was worth a fortune to say the least, but four months of trying to fence the damn thing proved that no one wanted to deal with something so well-known. They needed money to keep the ship flying, and out of the Alliance's grip.
That's why Mal was thinking about going somewhere he had sworn to never set foot again. And for a very good reason. He liked living, was very fond of it in fact, and going back to Topos 6 jeopardized that. Some powerful people on that rock wanted him dead, and preferably by their own hands. He wouldn't even be within a few parsecs of the gou cao de place if he weren't so desperate.
"He's not even listening to me! Mal! Hey, Mal!"
"Sorry what?" Mal turned to look at Wash, who was glaring at him from the pilot's chair. Zoe stood next to him, a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"You know, it would be great if you actually paid attention when I was talking. I'd like to have a say in whether or not we steer Serenity somewhere where we will most likely be skinned alive by a terrifying Russian lady. Since it, you know, kind of effects how long I will remain alive. I don't think that's too much. Do you?"
"Apologies Wash, I was thinkin' along those lines myself. Far as I can tell we don't got any other options. I'd love to stay away from Topos 6, but you know well as I do we got to get rid of the Lassiter. Now Zoe, if you've got a better plan now would be the time to speak up."
She looked down at Wash, and then back at him. "I sure wish I did, sir. No such luck I'm afraid."
"Let's just toss the Gorram Lassiter out the airlock and hoof it out of this quadrant. The money isn't worth the risk!"
He had a point. Mal had been hoping there was some way to make even a small amount of money off of the laser pistol, but maybe Wash was right. Did he want to risk the lives of his entire crew? But was the risk any worse than it normally was? Weren't everyone's lives always in jeopardy with how often they were running from the law?
Mal was once again distracted, this time by hurried feet coming up the corridor. River practically burst into the cabin, followed immediately after by her brother.
"No!" she yelled, stopping in front of Mal. "We have to go! We have to land!"
"What in the hell-"
"River!" Simon admonished, grabbing gently onto her shoulders. "You can't run off like that! Leave the captain alone-"
"No!" She shrugged him off and stared up at Mal. "We can't leave. We have to land on Topos 6! We can't leave them there!" She looked on the verge of tears. "They need us!"
"They?" He gave Simon a glance. Did her brother know what River was talking about? No, he seemed just as clueless. "Who's they?"
"Our friends! They are gonna arrive soon, very soon! We have to go get them! They need our help! Hurry!" She was frantic, and clutched at Mal's shirt. "I can feel the Gate! It's putting them there! Right where it put the bad man! The bad man is still there! We have to help them stop him!"
Grabbing her wrists, Mal carefully pulled her away from him, and into the embrace of Simon. "See if you can get her to calm down. Now what in the hell is she going on about?"
"Some folks on Topos 6 need our help?" Zoe mused. "But who? And why does River know about it? Surely you don't know anyone living there, Dr. Tam?"
"No," Simon sighed. "She's been like this all morning, screaming that we have to go meet our friends. I even gave her a sedative. It hasn't seemed to affect her in the slightest. Maybe we should land and see if it calms her down. I'm really at a loss here."
"Sir, if we land we have to try and fence the Lassiter. Otherwise, it ain't worth the risk of landing." Zoe stated.
"Yeah! And then we can meet up with River's friends and have a tea party! Maybe a certain mob boss and her big henchmen will want to join us as well. Hell, maybe they're even the same people! Won't that be lovely?"
"Wash, your sarcasm is not appreciated. You forget that Zoe and I do have an old friend there. One of the few who don't actually wanna shoot us. If we can get to them we can get the pistol fenced, River here appeased, and be gone before any of us even hear so much as a Russian accent."
"You sure about this, sir?" Zoe had to check, just to be sure. Mal knew she would go along with whatever he decided. And he was decided.
"I am. Wash, set a course for Topos 6. Zoe, inform the rest of the crew. I'll be in my room, figuring out how we're gonna pull this off." He had a feeling though, that nothing was going to go as planned. All he could do now was hope he had made the right decision.
Experiencing the sensations of weightlessness and falling at the same time was disconcerting. He seemed to have a little better sense of self than his previous trip through The Gate. All of him had made it through, at least. Now if he could just get any part of him to function he would be off to a great start. He'd started with the eyes before, so he started with them again.
Okay not so good. His head swam and he blinked several times to try and clear away the purple spots dancing in front of his eyes. Try number two went a little better, and he could see hazy shapes. Sensation came next. He was lying down on cold cobblestones. The sudden return of olfactory senses told him this was an alleyway as he was hit with the lovely fragrance of filth. He coughed and spluttered, eyesight finally going normal.
He heard a groan and scrambled up way too quickly to get a look at his brother, who was lying about ten feet away, on the other side of the alley. "Alphonse! Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah," Al managed, "That trip was better when I was unconscious."
Edward Elric couldn't help but grin. "You all accounted for?"
"Well I'm obviously still not a suit of armor if that's what you mean. But yeah, no harm done here I think." That was a relief. The Gate had promised them Al's full body in return for tracking down and destroying all of the homunculi who had jumped into alternate worlds and scattered. Ed had been so surprised when they arrived in the first world and Al had already been given his body back. The Gate was playing dirty, to make sure that the Elrics knew exactly what they were losing if they failed. Part of Ed had feared Al would be put back into the suit after the first world, as insurance so they wouldn't get cocky.
"How's your strength? Can you move properly? We don't need to re-teach you anything again, right? Without the spells Willow and Giles cast, it will take forever to get you back up to-"
"I'm fine, brother!" Alphonse sat up and rolled his eyes. "Or I will be once this headache goes away. More importantly: where are we?"
That was a very good question. Scanning the alleyway for clues, Ed managed to stand up. There were some posters pasted to the wall advertising alcohol and what appeared to be a strip club. A couple of posters, however, were written in a language he couldn't understand. It looked very similar to the language used in Xing. The alchemist sighed. Who knew what this world was like? The last one had magic. Magic. That had been hard to swallow. A world where people came back from the dead and fought vampires, and sometimes even befriended them. This world could have anything in store.
"Well I don't think we are gonna get anywhere in this nasty old alley," Ed wrinkled his nose. "Let's try and find a market and ask some questions. You're cute, Al. People like to answer your questions."
"Am not cute!" the younger Elric demanded, pouting.
"Sure sure you're ferocious. Let's just-"
"Well look'ee here boys what I done found." Ed turned to find four men standing at the entrance of the alleyway.
"Looks like a coupl'a lost kids. Think we should give'em some direction? See'in as we's such friendly folk an' all." The man grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellowed, rotting teeth. "For a price. You have stepped into Red territory after all."
Ah. This place was probably ruled by opposing crime syndicates or gangs. They needed to get out of this territory, to somewhere safer. "Sorry, pal but I don't let thugs push me around. Now my brother and I are gonna walk out of this alley, and you fine gentlemen are going to tell me the fastest way to get out of Red territory."
A quick glance at Al told him that his brother was ready for a fight.
The man cackled and snarled, "No one insults the Bratja like that and gets away with it! Teach these here children a lesson boys!"
But they were too slow. Ed was upon the first thug before the others had barely taken a step. The heel of his palm came up swiftly under the man's nose, and he felt the cartilage shatter. An automail knee to the gut sent him sprawling on the ground, shouting in a language Ed didn't understand. Swinging to the left to avoid a punch from the second thug, he heard Alphonse grappling with the third man before he landed a solid hit to the second thug's face.
"Gun!" Ed heard Al shout. Looking down he kicked the weapon away from the previously prone thug before smashing the offenders hand into the ground with his boot. The second thug grabbed for him, and it was child's play to flip the poor guy right on top of the first thug. He turned to take on the fourth man and froze with fear.
The fourth man had a gun pointed right at Ed. He heard the click of the hammer. If he dived out of the way fast enough he could-
The gun went off. Ed threw himself to the side, but he could tell he'd moved too slowly. He waited for the impact of the bullet, but the only impact was that of him falling to the filthy ground of the alleyway. Then he heard a cry of pain.
Edward managed to whip his head up just in time to watch his little brother crumple to the ground. "Alphonse! Holy shit! Al!" The next few moments were a blur and when things came back into focus he was kicking the fourth man repeatedly in the ribs.
"Ed! Ed stop kicking him!" It was Al's voice that pulled him back. The alchemist reeled back in horror and stumbled over to his brother, who was trying to sit up. Just next to his right shoulder was a growing red stain.
"Al how the hell did you let yourself get shot you big idiot?" Ed could feel the tears coming.
"Jumped right in front of it." Alphonse rasped, and let out a weak chuckle. "Forgot for a second there that I can't deflect bullets anymore."
Alphonse had always been Ed's shield. He'd never needed to worry about things like that. Al had his back at all times. But now he was so fragile, and Ed had forgotten for a moment too.
"We need to get you some help. Now." Ed removed his jacket and tried to wrap it around Alphonse's arm. "A doctor. We really need a doctor."
Hauling his bother up, they stumbled out of the alley and down the street. After about an hour of wandering and asking directions, they were incredibly lost. Alphonse was losing blood and slowly his consciousness as well. Everything was so foreign here, even more so than the last world. Ed had no idea what to do. What could he do?
There were so many people, just passing them by like they saw young boys bleeding out all the time. Suddenly Al went slack in his arms. Ed went into full panic mode. "Al? Stay with me, Al!" he was breathing, but only shallowly.
There was nothing else to do. "Help! Somebody please help! He's gonna die! I need a doctor now! Please, anybody help!"
"gou cao de" is Chinese for "dog fucking"
"Bratja" is a term often used to describe Russian mobs, normally used by the mobsters themselves. It's akin to calling themselves a "brotherhood"