"How did this happen," Zakuro said whilst Eren shouted and titans flailed around looking derpy in the background.
Alrighty then guys! This update's a little bit late, but things such as ridiculous curriculum choices, Jean's face and MA CHÈRE MAMAN got in the way.
So anyway, I somehow found myself watching Attack on Titan. I almost never watch things that are currently popular, but I somehow found myself kidnapped by Armin and his she-man hair. So there… (I AM DOCTOR SEUSS)
Hope you guys enjoy! This is mostly more introductory stuff, but I'm getting all plotty and stuff next chapter. Which reminds me, I need to get more time for writing. I'm so far behind, it's not even funny…
ONWARDS
The demonstrations continued after Ulfric and Felix walked out, leaving the audience in awe of the boy's precision with such a weapon. Although theatrical, the Avonese team's stunt had left even the Fuhrer with a look of surprise on his stoic face.
"It's those two southern jerks next," remarked Edward as he watched Ulfric pat Felix on the head just outside the ring.
"Should be interesting, at least," said Roy. "I'd like to see the major's take on Lightning Alchemy. It's not an easy style to apply. And with auto-mail, it's quite risky too."
"I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve apart from a metal arm," Edward replied, catching Roy by surprise. The next sentence cleared it up. "For all his sneaky ass bastardyness, he seems smart enough."
The two southerners strode out onto the field. Amory had some long weapon strapped to his back and his father had taken off his military jacket. There was a sword strapped to his hip.
Roy cocked his head. "A metal arm…metal sword…metal staff too, by the looks of it."
Edward frowned. "He must have a really good control over the electrical current then."
"We can only assume so."
The first part of the demonstration was pretty average. The pair sprang about slashing at each other in a match, Theodore with his sword and Amory with what Edward and Roy could now see was definitely some sort of spear. The way it glinted in the sunlight proved it was metal.
Roy analysed their fight out of instinct. They were part of the same army, but a little information on the fighting style of the southerners couldn't hurt. He supposed it might come in useful at some point throughout the competition.
That and Roy just wasn't a very trusting person.
The Schuylers fought with speed as a main trait, though not as fast as the team from the north. They looked intently focused on the fight at hand. Not once did either one of them look away from their opposition, not once did they falter.
Amory's fighting style clearly took after his father's, though with some quirks of an outside influence. Both of them kept their strikes short and precise. Not a single shot went wasted with these two. As well as this, they both moved quickly on their feet, darting back and forth like snapping dogs.
However, Theodore's style was more compact. Amory's differed in that he had a wide stance and was slower to strike, as if he carefully considered each attack and it's outcome. Roy also noticed that each time he struck, he left himself pretty open. His left arm lacked a lot of the precise control his right showed as well.
As for Theodore, he always took a step sideways before he attacked. On top of that, his defence was pretty weak.
By the time the fight ended, Roy had gathered enough intelligence to feel safe enough should it come to blows with the southerners. He had no doubt Edward had done the same, and probably with even more detail. Being a practised martial artist had its advantages.
Theodore took a few steps back to give Amory room.
This was what Roy and Edward had been waiting for.
Tyrell must have caught the change in atmosphere around the two as he looked over and asked, "Something you've been looking forward to?"
Roy made a noise of confirmation. "The kid claims to be an expert in Lightning Alchemy. We're curious."
Edward nodded in agreement.
"S'that a fact…"
Amory stepped confidently up to the middle of the arena and raised his spear into the air. With a 'hup', he flipped it blade side down and stabbed it into a crack in the cobblestones.
Everyone watched on in anticipation as Amory took a breath and grabbed onto the staff he'd driven into the ground.
Edward watched closely as the air around Amory seemed to flicker in darkness for the briefest of moments, almost so fast the boy thought it might have been a blink.
And then there was a flash.
At first Edward thought it was just the zap of alchemical reaction that came with each transmutation, but it stuck around and the boy remembered just what kind of alchemy Amory specialised in.
Weak splashes of lightning shot through the air around Amory's staff, crackling in and out of the metal pole. Edward narrowed his eyes as Amory gritted his teeth and leant his head forward.
Crack!
In a split second, the wispy flashes from around the spear vanished and a huge, white-hot bolt tore from the pole up into the air.
Edward's eyes widened at the flash of lightning, though it only lasted a second. A bright flash followed the bolt and it disappeared just as suddenly as Amory had conjured it.
Theodore strode back over and wrenched the spear from the concrete. He patted his son's shoulder as he handed the weapon to him and the pair left the spotlight to the sound of excited applause.
Edward's gaze stuck firmly to Amory as the young man exited. He nodded as his suspicions were confirmed by the way the southern alchemist leant heavily on his staff for support.
"Did you catch all of that?" Roy asked.
Edward nodded. "I did. He's got the transmutation circle he needs carved onto his palm so that he can activate it when he's touching the medium – which was the staff, in this case – and circulate a charge of electrical energy through it. The circle's on his metal arm not only for convenience, but it ensures the current will move outwards as opposed it up the metal of his arm as it might had he the circle on his flesh arm."
"I'd figured as much as well," Roy said. "Minus that bit about the auto-mail."
"His style of alchemy is one that's very rare. As opposed to transmuting elements and other tangible substances, he's getting right in there and transmuting the energy itself," Edward continued. "Where I would rearrange structures to form golems and you would alter the positioning of air molecules and currents, he's turned himself into an actual transducer. He draws energy from one source and somehow alters it into electrical energy which he stores within the staff."
"My thoughts exactly." Roy glanced around. "So, that dark flash… I'm assuming he drew in a burst of light energy and transmuted it into electricity, stored it for a moment, then discharged it all at once. But in order to prevent it from getting out of control once it was in the air, he needed to transmute it back into light, which was the final flash we saw."
"I'd place my bets on that." Edward looked behind himself at Roy. "But…"
"But?"
"Controlling something as fiddly as energy takes a lot of strength as well as skill. Holding that electricity within the staff shouldn't be too hard, but keeping it limited to a certain space in the air would take a lot of effort. It did look like it had taken a lot out of him…"
Roy nodded. "I see what you mean. Flame Alchemy was a lot like that at first too. Controlling so many things at once can be taxing on the body of a young person."
The babbling of the crowd had not decreased as the Central team stepped onto the field. Reece and Aidan Rothford looked no less egocentric than they had upon the day of their arrival, waving and smiling as they paraded onto their waiting stage.
Roy smirked as he heard Edward and Tyrell making quiet hissing and booing noises.
Overall, Roy saw nothing special about the tricks of the Central team. Sure they were skilled enough with their weaponry, but after everything he'd just seen… The Central effort paled in comparison.
However, there were a few things about the Central team's demo that caught Roy's attention.
The first was their ability to keep the interest of the audience even when following such a performance as Lightning Alchemy. There was something that people seemed to find riveting about the Central team, though neither Roy nor Edward could pinpoint it. There was just…something…about them that commanded absolute attention.
It might have been the second thing he noticed – the way their demeanour completely changed for the situation. Where they had, upon their arrival, been kissing up to the Fuhrer and acting like they'd had absolutely no martial training at all, they now acted with strict behaviour and tight, organised movements. Now they acted as expected of a general and his officer son.
Smooth, calculated and skilled.
The third and final thing Roy noticed was the physical power Reece possessed. The strength behind the tight grip the older man had given Roy's hand when they'd shaken their meeting the other day was put into practise when they sparred. Reece easily tossed his son about as if he were formed from pillow stuffing.
Roy's heart rate picked up as the pair took a bow, having finished their demonstration. It was Edward's and his turn next. They had nothing planned, just something along the lines of 'we should use alchemy'.
Edward elbowed Roy in the arm. "Coming?"
The man nodded. The other teams had already flaunted their strengths, there was no point holding back. The colonel considered cutting out displaying their combat skills on account of a possible edge in later events, but figured the other teams probably already knew they weren't lacking in that department.
We'll just see what happens, he thought. He turned and walked for the gate, but stopped when he caught Edward vaulting the fence out of the corner of his eye.
A second later, he was over too and they were both walking towards the centre of the space.
There was a rumble amongst the crowds at this point. Many of them knew just what the Eastern team had to offer, and the sight of the State's infamously disobedient dog, Edward Elric, wearing an Amestrian military uniform was an oddity that just couldn't go without a comment.
"What are you going to do?" asked Edward quietly.
Roy flashed his teeth and raised a hand, fingers at the ready. "What do you think?"
"Why did I even bother to ask…?"
"Stop here," said Roy once they were some distance away from the barrier. They weren't in the centre like the other teams had been, but more towards the opposite side from the Fuhrer's stage.
"Give me something to work around," the colonel ordered. "Golems, towers, projectiles… Whatever you see fit. Set something up for me to avoid."
"You got it," replied Edward. He dropped to his knees like a stone and slapped the earth heartily.
How he did this time and time again without flinching as his skin slammed into the ground was beyond Roy.
An instant later, forms began to shoot up from the ground. At first they resembled great rounded cylinders with no features, but they gradually moulded into totems with faces and decoration styled in Edward's signature tackiness.
Roy sighed as the crowd whooped and cheered. Would the kid ever grow a sense of taste? Though he had to admit… Despite the horrible finishing, Edward's transmutation was near perfection. The hulking totems stood metres high, each decorated lavishly with spikes and skulls. Some were shorter than others and all were uniquely designed.
Roy glanced at Edward. The kid is a prodigy after all.
"Give me some thinner ones too." Smirk. "That is, if you can keep up the transmutation."
"Like hell I couldn't!" retorted Edward. "This isn't even half my strength!"
At those words, ten or so thinner totems shot from the earth between the larger ones, towering above the ground. Each one was adorned with either fangs, bat wings, spikes or a gruesome face even a chimera would shrink away from.
Loud cheering echoed from all around and there was a drumming noise as people began thumping the barricade enthusiastically. Roy thought he caught a familiar voice whooping, but it might just have been his imagination.
He felt a thrill run through his body as he raised a hand that was set to snap. It had been a while since he'd used Flame Alchemy this way. He hoped he could still nail the control.
Alright. He closed his eyes and took a breath. The wind is blowing in from north-north-east, but only faint. Air pressure and oxygen levels can be safely assumed normal. Moisture level…optimum as far as control goes. The conditions are close to perfect. All this hinges on is my flawless execution.
He opened his eyes. Better not screw it up!
Snap!
The air before Roy's glove shimmered and contracted in a solid outwards stream. Almost in the exact same second, a red zap of alchemical light shot through the warped air and sped towards Edward's totem field.
At once an almighty blast rocked the area. Roy's fringe lashed around his face like miniature whips, stinging his forehead. He squinted against both it and the flames.
As the initial shock wave died down, he could hear the crowd's awestruck thrum begin to pick up once more. It was only just audible over the roar of flames.
In the field ahead, flames circled the towering structures like a sea of hungry wolves, circling, snapping, growling, but never touching. The fire surged through the whole area, but never did it come close to the barrier or any of the totems Edward had created. Roy held his arm steady as his eyes flickered analytically from point to point.
Monitoring, adjusting.
Supervising, ordering.
Watching, controlling.
He was the Flame Alchemist, king of the incalculable and uncertain. He was Roy Mustang, the human embodiment of everything a flame was.
Bright, powerful, unpredictable, compelling and energetic.
Destructive, uncontrollable, scorching, incomprehensible and controversial.
And he loved it.
There were times when Roy wished with all his heart he had never been entrusted with Berthold Hawkeye's secret. There were times when he loathed his gloves more than he'd hated anything in his life. There were times when the sight of flames drove him mad.
Now was not one of those times.
Now was one of the times when he felt in control, like he was king of the world. Now was one of the times he felt power coursing in his veins and setting his heart ablaze. Now was one of the times he felt as free as a bird, soaring through an endless sky on wings made of fire.
It felt great.
"And now we make it interesting!" came a cry from Roy's left.
"Huh?" the flames flickered ever so slightly as Roy started in surprised and glanced back to Edward. The boy had stood up and looked like he was ready to run straight at Roy's flames.
"Fullmetal, don't you dare—"
But even the king of the uncontrollable could not give orders to Edward Elric.
The boy sprinted forward.
Roy couldn't put out this amount of fire all at once. He would need to adjust his flames to move aside for the young alchemist sprinting through their midst. It would be difficult to alter the pattern he had going, but Roy could still…
"What the… Dammit Edward." Roy bared his teeth as the boy halted a short distance from the wall of fire and clapped. He fell into a crouch, his hands met the earth and next thing anyone knew he was sailing through the air with a stone tower at his feet.
Roy let out a breath of relief as the boy landed atop one of his totems. Calculating how to adjust the flames had he decided to land on the ground would have been tough. What was the kid thinking?
As if he'd sensed the question, Edward sprung forward off the first totem and along to the next. Then, tower by tower, he moved towards the other end of the area, slapping the totems with both hands as he went. He landed on each and every totem, even the ones Roy thought too high to reach. Each landing came with a flash of alchemical reaction.
What the hell is he trying to do? Roy thought, still working on keeping the flames circling. He was ready to create an opening in them in a second, should Edward miss his footing.
On the last one, he clapped, slapped, drew a spear from the stone and launched himself clear of the flame zone. He landed heavy on the ground in a fighting stance, his blade pointed towards the Fuhrer's platform.
A second later, the stone pillars made an ominous groaning noise before each one simultaneously exploded, sending debris all across the field and blowing Roy's flames into wisps of smoke and dust.
"Hmph." The colonel brought his arm back to his chest, narrowing his eyes. "The kid trapped air pockets inside his own transmutations and made them as solid as possible. My flames heated the air inside so it expanded and forced them apart…just like massive pieces of stone popcorn. And the air pockets were alternate sizes, so they'd all go off at the exact same time."
Roy closed his eyes and smiled to himself. Hate to say it, but the boy gets more amazing with every stunt he pulls.
Edward tightened his grip on his spear. The look on his face was identical to when he'd last pointed his blade in the Fuhrer's direction.
"This exam has room for improvement, don't ya think?" Edward had given his head a slight cock as he'd moved his weapon away. "Some assassin might just use my idea to knock you or your men off."
The Fuhrer's smile, the one so light-hearted that somehow bore the look of a sharp blade, was the look Edward received from the platform.
"I admire his guts," the Fuhrer had said. "Still rather inexperienced in the ways of the world though."
And even now, Roy knew those words still rang true.
He also remembered he words he himself had spoken on that same day.
"You're here to pretend the past never happened and successfully obtain your State license…while I'm here to gain good publicity from finding exceptional rare talents like you."
And the boy was indeed exceptional. He had bought Roy some valuable approval boosts back then. But times had changed.
And Roy found himself pondering yet again how Edward had grown from a talented tool to the boy the colonel cared for like family.
And how he'd managed to lose to him again.
Alright, I hope that wasn't too bad! XD I'm sorry the last few chapters have been so short.
And guess what this Friday is! That's right! It's the third! *0* In 2014! A hundred years since stuff happened in FMA! So you can expect a fanfic for it from me, through probably late…*sweats* Probably a poem too…
I don't have much time, so I can't write review responses here, I just wanna say how awesome all your reviews and things make me. Honestly, I reckon I don't deserve it sometimes. Thank you so much!
And now! To marathon FMAB! (That's right… I finally bought it! XD) ZAKURO AWAAAAY! *Don't forget, 3rd Oct 11!*