Lots of action in this one. And plot. Some of it nonsensical and some of it confusing. I hadn't planned on adding a new character, but I did. Hopefully it won't prove to be disastrous.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Ed was instantly ready for a fight. Al was too, though Ed was pretty sure his brother had no idea what was going on. Simba, on the other hand, just looked confused.

"Ed? What's wrong?"

"Simba, get away from him," Ed replied. "He wants to kill you."

"Oh, come now, just because we had a slight misunderstanding doesn't mean I want to kill my own nephew," Scar replied. "Don't try to lie to him."

"Oh, I'm not lying. You're planning something nasty, and it's pretty obvious by now that both of us are involved."

Simba looked even more lost. "What? What's going on?"

Scar looked pissed. "Simba, this boy is lying to you. Come with me, and I'll take you back to Pride Rock."

"No. Don't go with him, Simba. What was the last thing he said to you?" Ed asked.

"Don't answer that, Simba! He's trying to trick you!"

Ed snorted. "What, afraid of what he might say about you? Why don't you tell him how you accused me of sending him here?"

"What?" Simba looked at Scar in confusion. "I thought you said I had to go to the rocks to find something that would prove he wasn't planning anything!"

"Oh, Simba, he's already started," Scar lamented. "He's trying to turn you against me."

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?" Ed snapped.

"Simba…" Al said. "I have no idea what's going on, but Ed and I would never try to hurt you. Please believe us."

Simba looked torn. For a moment, he shifted his gaze between the opposing parties, trying to decide who to believe and who to turn to. Finally, he closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and turned towards Ed.

"I believe Ed and Al. If Ed had been lying, Dad would have ripped his head off before he got all the way here."

Damn it, did he really have to remind Ed how scary Mufasa was?

Simba ran up to the Elrics and jumped into Al's arms. "Besides," he said. "I can see further from up here."

Ed snorted. "Good thing I've got Al on my side."

That seemed to be the thing that set Scar over the edge. He leapt forward, barely giving Ed enough time to jump out of the way and form a blade on his arm using alchemy. Al set Simba down and got into a fighting stance, and Ed did the same.

"I'll kill you first," Scar said to Ed, poised to spring on the alchemist. Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground, creating a wall just as Scar jumped.

But it didn't work. Scar was used to that trick already, and he had aimed to the left of Ed. Ed whipped around to see him just as he pounced, knocking Ed to the ground and placing a paw on his throat. It was there for a moment, and Ed got a very good view of a lion's mouth for a split second before he got an equally good view of his brother's forearm. Al had landed a punch that sent Scar flying.

"Watch out for Simba," Ed said as the lion got to his feet. "All this was some plan to get rid of him so Scar could be king."

"I have no idea what you mean by that, brother, but I'll do it," Al replied. "Just watch yourself, okay?"

"I'll do my best."

Scar pounced again, but Ed was ready for it. He lunged forward and down, sticking his arm out and catching Scar's shoulder on his arm-blade. Scar roared out in pain and slashed out at Ed as soon as he landed. The claws hit metal, and Ed slashed again.

The fighting continued for a couple of minutes before Ed noticed that he had an audience. He now two Scars in front of him, and neither was a welcome sight.

Ed was exhausted by now. Al had helped as much as he could, but now Al's focus was on keeping the human Scar away from Ed. And of course, Simba was in the background, trying desperately to shout out helpful advice to Ed and unable to do anything else.

But things were about to get even more complicated. Scar had backed Ed into a wall, and was about to pounce once more when a golden blur slammed into him. Ed managed to see that it was Mufasa.

"Traitor!" Mufasa shouted.

"I'm not betraying you!" Scar replied, backing away from the larger lion. "You see, I was trying to protect Simba from these humans."

"Yeah, right!" both Ed and Simba snapped. Mufasa glared at them both to shut them up and turned back to Scar.

"I should have known what you were planning," he growled. Ed was still in a fighting stance, but he backed off a ways, trying to catch his breath and see how Al was faring. "You always wanted to be king. You hate my son because of that."

"Do you really think he's capable of ruling the Pride Lands?" Scar asked. Ed noted that Al was retreating towards the group, and Simba had jumped up to a higher cliff and – for the most part – out of harm's way.

"He will be."

Both lions looked over at Ed. Scar looked spiteful, and Mufasa looked grateful. Ed decided to continue.

"He's got what it takes. He cares about everyone around him. He'll be a better ruler than you would ever be."

There was a crash. Ed's attention was instantly diverted to Al and the human Scar, who were now less than ten yards away. Al's body had been destroyed again, but he was still alive. The only problem was that it was two versus two again, assuming the two Scars got the idea to team up.

"Well, well, I think I like this newcomer," the lion Scar said, walking around to where the human Scar was approaching Ed and Mufasa. The human Scar looked at the lion Scar in confusion for a moment. Ed decided to translate.

"He likes you because you hate me," Ed told the human Scar.

"So that cub wasn't you after all," the human Scar said.

"What? Of course not! How the hell could I be turned into a lion?" Ed asked.

"Shou Tucker was capable of it."

Now that was a harsh blow. Ed glared at the Ishbalan and tried to rid himself of the horrible feeling that came with those memories. "That case was a bit different. Besides, you killed both him and Nina, as I recall."

"I assume this is the one you mentioned earlier," Mufasa said.

"Yeah, he is," Ed replied.

"So it's two against two."

"Sorry I can't help!" Al shouted from where his armor was in a heap on the ground.

"Don't worry about it, Al! You tried," Ed shouted back to his brother before turning back to the situation at hand. They were at a momentary standstill, and Ed decided to give Mufasa some good advice before things got ugly. "Watch out for that guy's right arm. If he gets his hand on you, he'll explode your body from the inside. I saw him blow some guy's brains out once."

"Thanks for the warning," Mufasa replied.

And that was when all hell broke loose. Both Scars attacked, and Ed and Mufasa were forced to fight back. Simba still shouted bits of helpful advice, but Ed was getting tired, and even though the lion Scar was tired as well, it seemed like team Scar had the advantage. Ed continued to fight with all his strength, but after another few minutes, something happened that proved to be a serious blow. The human Scar had gotten his hand on Mufasa's shoulder.

Ed turned away from the lion Scar and slammed himself into the Ishbalan, but the damage was still done. Mufasa's shoulder had been ripped away, and Ed could see the bone sticking out from beneath the flesh. Now it was officially one against two. Well, one and a quarter, if Ed counted Simba's shouts.

"Why the hell did you attack him like that?" Ed screamed at the human Scar, standing in front of Mufasa as the lion attempted to do something about his wound. "He's got nothing to do with what happened to your people! Hell, the only reason he's protecting me is because we're both trying to keep his son safe!"

"That's not the only reason," Mufasa managed to say, but the human Scar couldn't understand it. Ed was breathing hard, and he was about to attack again when something completely insane happened.

A wall shot up between the two groups, separating team Scar from team Everyone Else, and Ed fell back in surprise. Then, he saw someone walking up, but this was probably the worst surprise he'd gotten all day.

"Hohenheim, you bastard! What the hell are you doing here?" Ed screamed.

"Why are you calling me a bastard?" Hohenheim asked, sounding honestly confused.

"Who is he?" Mufasa asked, and Ed jerked back to reality. He had to help Mufasa first, though judging by the labored breathing, there wasn't much time left.

"That's our father," Ed growled as he pulled off his jacket. "Just be quiet, I've gotta stop the bleeding."

"Why are you talking to a lion?" Hohenheim asked.

The wall behind Ed vanished in an explosion of dust, and Ed whipped around, tripping over Mufasa in the process. Hohenheim stepped forward and placed his hand on Mufasa's shoulder.

"Well, I don't know what this lion's doing here, but since you seem so bent on keeping him alive, I suppose he's on our side," Hohenheim said as there was a bright flash of light. Something was off about the way he healed Mufasa's shoulder with such ease, but Ed ignored it. Team Scar was approaching.

"Give your father my thanks," Mufasa said as he got up.

"Mufasa says thanks," Ed growled, preparing himself for another fight. Hohenheim looked confused, but Ed didn't care. He'd punch his dad in the face for being such a moron after this was finished. "Are you going to help us?"

"Well, I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll try," Hohenheim said.

"All you need to know is that we're fighting those two. The human's got some kind of destructive alchemy circle on his body. All he has to do is get his hand on something."

"Understood. What about that cub on the ledge up there?"

"That's Mufasa's son Simba. We're trying to protect him."

That was about all they could say, because Team Scar had arrived. Ed was ready to fight again, but somehow he found himself forced back, and his father had completely taken over for him. In fact, Hohenheim was doing a hell of a lot better than Ed had done. It was like he didn't even have to think about using alchemy, and he didn't seem to ever get hurt. In the end, the lion Scar disappeared back into the other world, and the human Scar followed.

"Take Simba back to the Pride Lands," Mufasa shouted at Ed before turning and disappearing as well. Ed watched as Hohenheim followed, and decided to take this opportunity to fix Al and check on Simba.

"Thanks, brother," Al said as soon as his body was back to normal. "Should we go after them?"

"No. We've got to get Simba back home," Ed replied. "He'll be safe there."

"Brother, that was our father, right? Are you–"

"I'm going to break his nose as soon as this is over," Ed growled as he walked to the ledge. "Hey, Simba, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Simba shouted down to Ed. "I don't know how I'm supposed to get down, though."

Ed looked up. Simba was nowhere in sight. He sighed and climbed up, looking for Simba as he did. When he finally spotted the cub, though, Al was the one who had disappeared.

"Al?" Ed called.

"I'm down here, brother. Why can't I see you?"

"Uh… I'm not sure," Ed replied. "Hang on, I'll move a bit and see if–"

"Oh, I see you now. That was weird, it was like you just appeared out of thin air."

Ed frowned. "Thin air… Hey, Al, I think there's another entrance to the Pride Lands up here."

"How the hell does that work?"

"How should I know? I still don't know why I can understand animals all of a sudden!" Ed shot back. "Just get up here. It's probably better if we don't go back the same way as the others."

"Okay," Al said before beginning to climb.

They climbed a bit further up to where Simba was sitting, and looked out across the savannah. It was then that they finally let themselves recover from the day's events.

"I was terrified," Simba said.

"Me too," Ed replied as he sat up. "Come on, let's get you back home. We've got to tell everyone else what Scar's up to."

"Which Scar?" Simba asked.

"Your Scar," Ed replied as they began to walk forward. "Come on."

Mufasa was exhausted. They'd been chasing the two Scars for hours, but somehow they managed to keep a good distance ahead of them. When they'd gone a good ways into the Pride Lands, Mufasa stopped, and growled at Hohenheim to get the human to do the same.

"Eh? You want to stop chasing them?" Hohenheim asked.

"It would be better for us to protect our children," Mufasa replied, gesturing with his head to where they had come from.

Hohenheim got the idea, even if he couldn't understand the words. "It wouldn't be good if they found our sons again."

Mufasa nodded, and they turned around. They were downwind of the two Scars, and as long as the wind didn't change, Mufasa would know if the two were following them. Pride Rock was in the distance, and Mufasa made his way towards it.

"This isn't the way we came," Hohenheim said.

"We will find our sons there," Mufasa replied.

"Is… is there something important there?"

Mufasa nearly laughed. So this is what Simba had gone through when he'd gone missing.

"Well… I suppose there's no point in trying to argue," Hohenheim said. "I don't even know how Edward was able to understand you. He seemed to be a normal human when he was younger."

Mufasa turned to the human. How he longed to explain how Edward had come to understand him, and how something inside him made him into something more than an ordinary human. But the only way he could do that was through Edward, and even when they met again, Mufasa did not wish for Edward to know the truth just yet. It was something for him to find out on his own.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

As they walked, Ed felt uneasy. There was no sign of Team Scar anywhere, but they'd had to take a different way to get down off the cliff, and there was no sign of Pride Rock anywhere. They'd continued in what both Ed and Simba thought was the right direction, but there was something else bothering Ed. It was as if someone were following them, but every time Ed looked back, there was no living thing in sight.

"Something wrong, brother?" Al asked.

Ed looked over at him. "Not really. I'm just nervous."

"Me too. Think dad's okay?"

Ed snorted. "As long as he doesn't get Mufasa killed, I don't really care."

"Brother, that's harsh. At least he's helping us."

"He's probably got some selfish reason for doing it," Ed muttered, but he didn't say anything more on the subject. After all, Simba was now listening in on them.

They walked in silence for a while, Ed's feeling of unease growing with every step. He kept looking back every once in a while, and was finally rewarded when he saw a flash of movement.

"Al…"

Al looked back. "What'd you see?"

"Something's definitely following us," Ed muttered.

"What is it?" Simba asked.

"Dunno yet. We'll just have to be careful, and be ready to make a run for it if we have to get out of here."

It was too late for that, though. The mysterious being had somehow sneaked past them and was now standing in their way. Ed assumed a fighting stance as soon as he noticed, but it was no use.

There was no defense against a crazy monkey.

"Why are you all the way out here?" Rafiki asked.

"What? We had to take the long way around and we got lost," Ed replied, his voice higher than he would have preferred it to be. "What are you doing here?"

"Sinking."

Ed stared. "…What?"

"Sinking deep into thought, but being interrupted by a couple of humans!" Rafiki exclaimed. "Have you ever sunk into thought?"

"What? Yeah, but– Hey, do you know how we can get back to Pride Rock?"

"Of course! You go that way!"

Ed scowled. "It would help if you told us which way 'that' way is."

"You need to warn the others about Scars?"

"Yeah, so if you could tell us where to go–"

"Go that way."

Rafiki wasn't pointing in the way they'd been going. Ed cursed under his breath. "So we were going the wrong way."

"Yes, but now the lionesses will be warned and you will be safe. Go ahead."

Ed felt like he should make a nasty remark, but he honestly couldn't think of anything. He settled for a glare and led the way. "Thanks."

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Yeah… Hoho.