She knew she should be dancing with joy: She'd found the Spectrum Alchemist! But he'd hurt Dark. Dark was all that mattered. And she could see the Colonel Flame advancing on the fallen Dark. "You bastards stay away from Dark! Don't you touch him!" she howled furiously, throwing herself at the colonel. "Dark, how bad is it?" she asked, crouching next to him.

"My leg got hit pretty good…" he groaned. "Black, I won't make it! And I'm just ballast weight to you! Go!"

"I'm not leaving you, nit-wit!" she snarled. "We stand together or not at all!"

"Black! Leave Dark with me! We'll find you in the morning! At the regular rendezvous!" urged something small at her side.

"What good are you, Terios? You're stuck a fur-ball until the lights come on!"

"Shut up."

"Whatever!" she huffed, jumping over them. "Rainbow Alchemists! Regroup and fall back! Retreat!" she whooped at the top of her lungs.

They all grouped together at the entrance Green had created. "Hey, where are Terios and Blue?" worried Purple.

"Dark was badly wounded. He and Terios told me to leave him. Terios stayed behind to protect Dark. Rendezvous at my place." she said bluntly.

"That little albino Xingese prince! I'm gonna tan his furry white hide!" Red snarled. "Whatever, we have our instructions, we follow 'em. Fall Back. Now, before we get caught."

Ed glared at Dark and Terios again. Dark was asleep, but Terios returned his glare defiantly. "So what do we do with them?" he muttered.

"We could use them as bargaining chips for Strawberry." Al suggested.

"That won't work. Equivalency. They'd accept Dark back in exchange for his girlfriend, and you'd still be stuck with me." Terios said.

"What is up with you? You're stuck here, caught, and you aren't antsy or anything!" burst Ed, prepared to strike the young man.

"Before I ran away, people tried to kill me when I was still sucking from my mother's breast! Not to mention being bitten by a rabid cat-Chimera makes me a were-cat with lots of patience." Terios snapped, leaning back, stretching his arms out.

"Why would people try to assassinate a baby?" wondered Hawkeye.

"Wouldn't you try to kill off competition for food, resources, and other needs for your family as well? The Xingese emperor tends to play favorites with his kids, and I'm one such favorite. Least I was, 'til I got bored of killing people and trying to wipe out competition and ran away. I actually prefer living as a young girl's cat. I'm fawned and doted on still, but because I'm actually loved, not because of merit. It's different here." the man purred, kneading the air with his hands.

"You're a Xingese prince?" yelped Ed, jumping away from him.

"Was. Not am, was. I hate when people assume I'm still a prince now!"

"Well, there's a way to get him off our hands." Mustang said pointedly.

"Nonononono! Don't send me back there! Entire civilizations were wiped out because of me back there! Don't send me back!" pleaded the were-cat.

"You sound pretty desperate." commented Hawkeye.

"Of course not!"

A small furry bundle flung itself at Ed, hissing and screaming. "What the heck!" Ed yelled, trying to tear the white cat off of himself.

"Terios changed!" Al gasped.

Dark leapt up, lashing out at Mustang. "How in the hell did you break free?" Mustang snarled, preparing to snap. Dark squealed and threw himself at the colonel, rolling over and over with the officer.

"Dark! Let's go!" howled the feline as Ed ripped it off of himself.

Dark scooped up the small bundle and ran towards the window, trans-muting his clothing as he went. As he hit the window, his large dark blue-black wings unfurled. He hovered uncertainly for a moment before flying off.

"What the hell is he, an angel from Hell?" growled Mustang.

"You tell us. You recommended him." Hawkeye said bluntly.

"I refuse!" she snarled, slamming the tankard down in front of White.

"Black, he's the Spectrum Alchemist!" argued Terios, accepting his glass of milk.

"Yeah, so? I'm not dragging him to my bar!" she retorted.

"Why not? Once you get to know him, he's an okay guy." Dark told her, removing his mug from Green's reach, only to move it back away from Purple.

"Yeah, until you piss him off! Not to mention he's a midget, he throws temper tantrums, and he works in the Dog-House! You want him so bad, you drag him back here! I ain't goin'!" she snapped. She looked up as a riot started to break out. "Oi! You guys are paying for all damage done, and you won't be getting' any more! If you want to fight, take it outside and stay out!" she shouted.

"No nonsense bar-tender." snickered Yellow.

"You too. Shut up and pay me, otherwise you ain't getting another."

A knock on the door made them all look up. "Come in!" Mustang called.

The door opened, and a familiar brunette came in. "Strawberry!"

Everyone pulled up short as she took out a gun. "No one move or I'll blast someone's brains out." she hissed. She held up her other hand. On it was a red-gold chain with a ruby cut in the shape of a strawberry. "Dark, Green, and Purple are all amateurs at the game we play. They need their hands to transform." she said softly.

"Strawberry?" asked Al.

"No. It's Red." she said as the ruby glowed, the light encasing her body. When it faded, the masked woman known as Red stood before them. "Now, let's see if Black and White were right about the Spectrum Alchemist." she said silkily, pulling out the prism Green had the previous night. As soon as it left her dress, it flared with a bright light. She walked closer, holding it before her and still pointing the gun. As she drew closer to Ed, the light grew brighter. "So it's true." she murmured, putting the prism away. Another gun was pulled out.

Ed saw the movement, but didn't react fast enough. There was a bright flash, and then the world went black.

Black glared as Strawberry dragged the unconscious Alchemist into the back room. "So where do you guys intend on keeping him until he wakes up?" she asked snarkily. Everyone hesitated. "Am I the only one who realizes that when the military finds out their favorite puppy is here, they're gonna have all the damned dogs in the country in here?"

"Sad but true, I think you were! Damn, why didn't we see that?" swore Green.

"Watch your mouth! You're only thirteen!" snapped Dark.

"So what?"

The room erupted into a free-for-all, only Black standing by. Sighing, she dug a small chalk-board out of her apron. "This is gonna hurt…"