(AC: Next Chapter – FMA:B OST 1)
"Sis?" Alex asked in stunned disbelief at the sight of his sister, Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, the Northern Wall of Briggs, alive and well. Even her supposedly deceased driver stood with her in a solid white variant of Amestrian Desert Combat gear, denoting his being a part of the Briggs Mountain Guard. Olivier walked forward to stand next to Roy.
"I can tell by that dumb smirk of yours, Mustang that you knew I would be here." Armstrong said as she observed the battlefield before them.
"You left plenty of hints behind. The fact you made me recite the alchemical ingredients for a human body was the first clue. Then those requisition forms for those exact ingredients along with the necessary ingredients for a bomb were the second. Then there was the Colonel's blunder by referring to you in the present tense." Roy answered as General Armstrong glanced at Miles in annoyance. Miles stood at attention.
"We're going to have a talk about this later, Colonel." Armstrong said in a low voice as Miles saluted. She then turned back to Mustang.
"It seems you're not as dense as you look Mustang." Armstrong replied.
"B-b-b-b-b-but sis! How did you survive the bombing?!" Alex asked as Olivier glared at him in annoyance.
"We just covered that, idiot!" Olivier yelled.
"She was never in the car when it exploded, Colonel. She planted a decoy made of the same ingredients as a human body, like the one I used to fake the death of Lieutenant Ross, one for her and one for her driver. They bailed out of the car and into the moat outside of Central Command before the bomb that she planted went off." Roy explained.
"That's correct, Mustang. But as you can tell, I've not been idle in my absence." Olivier said as a troop truck bearing the symbols of the Briggs Mountain Guard rolled up next to the tent and stopped, allowing several familiar faces to disembark.
"First Lieutenants Darius and Heinkel, Second Lieutenant Yoki, and Private Paninya reporting as ordered, General Armstrong!" Darius reported as the aforementioned soldiers saluted. Paninya was in Amestrian desert combat gear but unarmed and looking nervous about entering battle. Four more figures then emerged from the back of the truck, all of whom they recognized.
"So this is Ishval. Must say that I've heard a lot about the exotic spices used with their meats here. Maybe it's time to expand our business. What do you think honey?" Izumi Curtis asked with a smirk, cracking her knuckles. She had her sandals in her back pocket and was walking barefoot in the sand. Sig gave a nod with a smile before he looked to Alex with a nod of respect. Alex returned the nod, the two men inexplicably sparkling. Scar was the third figure amongst them, glaring angrily at the city before him and saying nothing. Dr. Marcoh was also with them but he had hurried on towards the aid station to help treat the wounded soldiers. Roy took a moment to look over the people that Armstrong had assembled with a smirk.
"You have been busy, General." Roy said as Scar approached Armstrong.
"We stopped to pick up a couple of passengers along the way." Scar said, raising his hand towards the General, palm facing up and open. Armstrong looked to see a certain tiny panda sitting in his hand, shaking slightly at the sight of the Northern Wall of Briggs.
"The pet of the Xingese Princess. Where did you find him?" Armstrong asked.
"We called a truce with an old enemy who wants some payback against the Red Kingdom. The Panda was with him. It appears they both stowed away on the train here from Central." Izumi said with a smirk as Selim Bradley/Pride approached, his hands behind his back, and his two human eyes practically glowing purple with anger.
"You? The Homunculus?" Armstrong asked as Roy, scowling at the Homunculus, made sure his ignition cloth gloves were secure on his hands.
"My reasons for siding with you are my own." Pride replied.
"I don't care what your reasons are, monster, but I assure you that if you show the slightest sign of betrayal, we will cut you down. I believe you do recall that it was General Mustang here that eliminated two of your kind two years ago." Armstrong stated as Pride gave a nod.
"I am aware." He replied, his eyes focused on the city as he started walking towards it, anger clear in his eyes.
"Just so we're clear, monster." Armstrong said as she turned to Roy.
"I assume those two from Xing are here as well?" she asked. Almost instantly the two Xingese warriors in question dropped down from atop the tent.
"We are here and we are ready." Lan Fan said.
"Darius! Heinkel! Go find the Fullmetal runt and his brother! They're likely to be near the civilians!" Armstrong ordered. Xiao Mei immediately leapt over to Lan Fan but paused and took a moment to sniff the other Xingese warrior curiously before hopping over to him, nuzzling up against him with a happy cooing sound.
"These two can help you find them although I imagine they have some house cleaning to deal with first." Roy said, motioning to Lan Fan and the other warrior. Darius and Heinkel immediately morphed into their animal forms. Their uniforms didn't tear as they had been specially tailored to stretch and conform if necessary to accommodate their animal forms. Lan Fan, the warrior, and the two chimeras immediately started charging towards the city. Armstrong then turned towards the others with a stern gaze.
"Don't just stand there gawking! MOVE!" She yelled. Izumi merely smiled and leapt into Sig's arms.
"Doesn't this remind you of something, honey?" Izumi asked as Sig blushed.
"Our honeymoon." He replied before running towards the city, Izumi giggling effeminately as he carried her bridal style into battle. Scar wordlessly charged into the city as well. Alex immediately ripped off his uniform shirt, slipping his alchemical knuckle plates onto his hands before picking up the timid Paninya under his arm.
"Come Private! I shall show you combat survival techniques that have been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" Armstrong declared as he ran towards the front lines. Hawkeye was quietly smiling, impressed by Olivier's cunning as she raised her rifle, looking through the scope to scan the battlefield.
"We've assembled quite an army, General. I imagine the Fuhrer is aware of this?" Roy asked.
"He knew only what he needed to. I placed my elite guard on him to insure his safety." Armstrong replied as she picked up a pair of binoculars, looking out over the battlefield.
"Funny, I did the same thing with my men." Roy said with a smirk. Armstrong didn't respond except to bark out an order to Karley to order more men to rush one of the enemy's exposed flanks or to order the artillery to redirect fire towards specific areas. As Roy examined the map of the city, Hawkeye spotted something through the scope of her rifle that made her freeze in alarm.
"General Mustang! You need to see this!" Hawkeye said as Roy quickly stepped towards her and peered through the scope. His eyes widened and jaw fell open in shock when he saw what the Captain had seen. He then clinched his fists together, the ignition cloth causing a couple sparks from the friction. Armstrong noticed this out of the corner of her eye but said nothing.
"Captain, grab whatever armaments you need and follow me." Roy said with an infuriated look on his face. Hawkeye quickly grabbed a field pack with a carbine rifle clipped to it, quickly slipping it onto her back before following after Roy as they ran towards the front lines, leaving Armstrong to oversee the battle from the command center. (End AC)
…
In the temple, it had quickly dissolved into a two-sided free-for-all. The Elrics, May, Zampano, Jerzo, and the prisoners who had the courage to fight were battling the Red Kingdom Chimeras and soldiers tooth and nail. Garand, Morser, the twins, Nina, and Sherman had disappeared in the chaos along with Xiao Fujin and her Fang Clan guard. Winry in the meantime was doing what she could to lead the scared and confused civilians to safety.
"Come on! Hurry! Get to the edge of the city! Go towards the military!" Winry yelled. She then saw some of the civilians slide to a halt and back away from her. She turned around to see one of the Homunculus twins rushing towards her with a sadistic grin, her arm reared back to attack but she was suddenly intercepted by an armored fist to the side of the face from Ed, knocking her away some distance and smashing into a wall, causing the wall to partially collapse on top of her.
"Winry! You okay?!" Ed asked as Winry gave a nod.
"Yeah but we need to get these people out of the city!" Winry said as Zampano and Jerzo ran up to them.
"We'll take care of that! You help the others, Elric!" Jerzo said as Ed turned and saw the Homunculus twin, free of the debris and running towards him again.
"Run for it!" Ed yelled back as he ran to intercept the twin again. Zampano, Jerzo, and Winry then began leading the citizens out of the temple, making for a courtyard outside of the temple. As they made their way to the courtyard, they heard two gunshots from nearby, causing Zampano and Jerzo to both fall to the ground in pain. They had both been dealt non-lethal gunshot wounds. Winry turned to see Dr. Garand leveling a pistol towards the civilians.
"Turn back around now or my next shot will be fatal!" Garand ordered but Winry stood her ground.
"You want to make us into stones well you're out of luck because you'll have to kill us first!" Winry said as Garand sighed in frustration.
"Suit yourself." He replied before pointing the gun at the Hughes women. Winry's eyes widened and she quickly dove in front of them just as Garand pulled the trigger, the resulting shot hitting Winry in the stomach, causing her to tumble to the ground, grasping her stomach with a cry of pain. Ed heard the gunshot and looked to see Winry sprawled across the ground, blood gushing from her wound.
"WINRY!" he yelled, still grappling with the Homunculus twin. Before Garand could fire another shot, an artillery shell impacted a nearby building, causing it to collapse and leave a wall of rubble between them, the rubble landing perilously close to the escaping hostages. Garand snarled in annoyance and ran off into the city. May heard Ed's yelling and looked towards him and then towards where Winry and the civilians were, spotting Winry. She quickly started to rush towards her positon but quickly leapt backwards when she saw six modular knives land in a circle in front of her. Xiao Fujin then dropped down with her mask over her face and hair, her Fang Clan retainer with her.
"You're not going anywhere, Chang trash! Tomorrow Xing will mourn the death of Princess May Chang, murdered in the crossfire between Amestris and the Red Kingdom!" Xiao hissed, rearing back to attack with a ninjato blade but May leapt back just in time but was stunned when someone else took the blow. Xiao was similarly surprised as she saw a pair of dark brown eyes glaring back at her through a white mask and her blade caught in the grip of a clawed automail hand.
"You will not lay a finger on the Princess, traitor!" Lan Fan hissed as May blinked in surprise. She hadn't anticipated Lan Fan's arrival and neither had Xiao.
"Lan Fan! Wait, if you're here…then that means…" Xiao said, her eyes widening in alarm as the warrior that had accompanied Lan Fan landed between Lan Fan and May. (AC: Xing Symphony ~Overture~ - FMA:B OST 2)
"Hey sis, long time?" the warrior asked as he pulled off his mask to reveal himself as none other than Ling Yao, Emperor of Xing. May immediately dropped to her knees in respect.
"Y-Your majesty!" May yelped before seeing Xiao Mei pop out of Ling's back pocket, hopping down onto the ground in front of her.
"Xiao Mei!" May exclaimed as the panda muzzled up against her.
"You might want to hurry on over to give Ed a hand. I think his fiancée could use your help. Leave this court matter to me and Lan Fan, alright?" Ling asked, his sword already drawn, not taking his eyes off of Xiao who was shaking in horror at the realization her plan to kill her brother had completely backfired and that she was now exposed as a traitor to the Xing Empire.
"Right!" May replied as she quickly and nimbly darted past.
"So, sis. Trying to kill the Emperor. Sorry but you know how I feel about the clan wars." Ling said as Xiao ripped off her mask.
"You were supposed to be on the train from Xing! The one arriving tomorrow!" Xiao exclaimed as Ling shrugged.
"Thanks but I'm not too keen on falling for such obvious traps. I knew that if there was a plot against my life it would be carried out while I was away visiting a foreign country. Now, about this attempt on my life, regardless of if I live or die, you're gonna find a lot fewer Fang and Fujin clansmen when you get back. I had General Mustang send a message back to Xing, exposing your clans' treachery. I think you know what happens to these clans when they attempt to murder the Emperor." Ling said as Xiao's eyes widened.
"No! You can't!" Xing exclaimed, realizing that her whole clan was about to be wiped out by the rest.
"You're right, I can't. I said I'd end the clan wars, and I'm keeping my word…but if I don't come back alive, I can't exactly stop the wars from continuing now can I?" Ling asked as Xiao stepped back in disbelief.
"That's extortion! You're holding my clan hostage!" Xiao exclaimed.
"That's right. I think it comes from that little bit of Greed leftover from when he took over my body." Ling replied as Xiao shook with fury. She then ripped her ninjato free from Lan Fan's grip and lunged forward to attack, the Fang Clansman drawing a ninjato of his own and moving to attack only to be intercepted by Lan Fan while Ling blocked Xiao's blade.
"You made one miscalculation, Ling. I'd rather watch my clan burn content with the knowledge that I killed you than let you live and continue to ruin our country!" Xiao spat but Ling merely smirked.
"And this is why you'd never have made a good Empress." Ling said as the two half-siblings engaged in a fast and swift duel of blades, their retainers and bodyguards fighting each other nearby. (End AC).
Ed had been narrowly dodging the Homunculus Twin's attacks. The Twin had been intentionally keeping him from running to Winry's side and this was just making him angrier still.
"Get out of my way!" Ed yelled but the twin merely grinned.
"You should've sided with father, short one! Now you'll have to lose someone else close to you!" the twin said.
"Not this time he won't!" a voice said from nearby just before a hole opened up in the ground, the twin falling into the hole but an earthen hand grabbed Ed, keeping him from falling. The hole closed back up and the hand released Ed just as Al rushed up to him.
"Thanks Al! Come on, Winry needs help!" Ed exclaimed as the brothers rushed towards her, May catching up to them and overtaking them.
"Everyone get back! Make some room!" Ed yelled as he hurried towards Winry, the three reaching her. Mrs. Bradley was helping her sit up while some of the other civilians had dragged the wounded Zampano and Jerzo to safety. May immediately began drawing a purification circle.
"I can help heal her wound but I shouldn't heal her while the bullet is still in there!" May said as Ed looked towards the edge of the city where the Amestrian troops were attacking. He noticed several tents set up near the back with the familiar Red Cross insignias on them.
"The military has aid stations set up to help the wounded! We need to get her out of the city!" Ed exclaimed just as they heard a feral growling sound. They turned to see several Red Kingdom Chimeras in one of the buildings nearby, eyeing them all hungrily.
"Uh-oh! We've got trouble!" Alphonse exclaimed before an explosion rocked the building, everyone shielding themselves from the blast. (AC: Clash of the Alchemists – FMA:B OST 1)
"Huh?! What was that?!" Alphonse asked.
"Fear not Elric brothers! We have arrived to assist you!" a familiar voice declared.
"Colonel Armstrong!" Alphonse exclaimed as Armstrong, Paninya, Lt. Ross and Sgt. Bloch approached. Paninya had a hole in her trousers again from where she had fired the shot from her automail leg.
"We'll escort you to the civilians to the aid stations! General Armstrong wants you two to help in the fighting!" Maria said as Ed picked up Winry.
"Forget it! I'm not leaving Winry at a time like this!" Ed said, ripping off his helmet, showing a defiant yet worried expression.
"Ed." He heard Winry say weakly.
"Winry?" Ed replied, looking at her. Winry then grabbed the edge of the suit's neckline, pulling herself up towards his face with an angry expression.
"IF YOU DON'T KICK GARAND'S ASS WE'RE THROUGH!" she yelled, tears running down her cheeks from the pain. Ed blinked in fear of her for a moment before chuckling nervously.
"Well what can you do?" Ed asked, handing Winry off to Paninya.
"Don't worry, she'll be alright! The wound isn't serious! I'll get her to the aid station faster than you can blink!" Paninya said with a reassuring grin.
"What about these two?" Mrs. Bradley asked, referring to the wounded Zampano and Jerzo.
"We've got them." "Leave them to us." Darius and Heinkel said as they arrived and picked up their wounded fellow chimeras under the arms.
"Mr. Gorilla? Heinkel? Hey!" Ed greeted, earning an annoyed look from Darius.
"You still can't remember my name?!" Darius asked but got no response.
"Come on, Ed, let's do what we can to help!" Al said as Ed watched Maria and Denny leading the civilians towards the edge of the city. Paninya was carrying Winry off towards the aid station while Darius and Heinkel carried the wounded Zampano and Jerzo away. Ed smirked and put on his helmet, turning towards the temple.
"Yeah, let's find Garand and show him why he shouldn't have messed with the Fullmetal Alchemists!" Ed declared before he, Al, and May rushed back towards the temple. (End AC) Armstrong however had disappeared into the fighting. As they ran, they heard a howling sound again, sliding to a halt and looking up in time to see the Nina Homunculus come pouncing down at them. Al quickly clapped his hands together and dropped to his knees, pressing his hands against the ground, causing an earthen wall to quickly raise up just in time to block Nina's attack.
"Nina!" Ed exclaimed as Nina climbed to the top of the wall, grinning down at the three.
"You made daddy very angry, big brother Ed and big brother Al." Nina said as the three dropped into fighting stances.
"Stop calling us that! You're not the Nina we knew! The real Nina wouldn't do this! You're just a monster created by a madman!" Ed yelled angrily, earning an annoyed snarl from Nina.
"I am the real Nina! I remember everything!" Nina screamed before she pounced at the two only to be impaled through the chest on Al's arm blade and throw away behind them. Nina merely climbed to her feet and turned towards them, the hole in her chest regenerating.
"You know what I am, so you know it's gonna take more than that to kill me! But I don't think you can, can you? You can't bear the thought of losing me again, can you?" Nina asked with a smug smirk, the Elrics and May all visibly disturbed by the thought, proving she was right.
"I thought so! After all, who would be so heartless as to murder an innocent little girl?! I know the three of you haven't got the guts to do it so it looks like I'm going to have to-…" Nina said before she suddenly felt a firm hand grasp her head from behind. Ed, Al, and May all widened their eyes in surprise just as Nina's body crackled with red alchemical energy for a moment before she coughed up a large burst of blood before falling limp to the ground, revealing Scar standing behind her, a look of pity on his face. (AC: A Soldier's Honor - FMA:B OST 3)
"Scar!" Al exclaimed as Nina's body crackled with red energy as it regenerated.
"There is nothing heartless about putting to rest the body of an innocent girl, victimized by the greed and vile ambition of her father. I ended her suffering two years ago. I shall do so again." Scar said as Nina looked over her shoulder from the ground, weakened by the attack, and her eyes widened at the sight of Scar.
"I…I know you. You…you're the Ishvalan…I've heard of you, but…I know you. Your memory inspires…fear?" Nina asked, confused as she staggered to her feet, turning to face him but was suddenly grabbed by the face, slammed into a nearby wall before he used his destruction alchemy to implode her organs again, alarming the Elrics and May.
"Scar! Stop! You're killing her!" Al exclaimed but Scar continued his execution, repeatedly imploding her organs over her gurgled screams.
"Scar!" Al yelled before something flew past him, grabbing Scar's arm and freeing Nina. Scar looked in surprise to see Ed, helmet off, had Scar's arm in his metal grip, a look of anguish on his face.
"I don't care what she is. I don't care if she is or isn't the real Nina. I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU KILL HER AGAIN!" Ed yelled, Nina slumping to the floor as she regenerated. Al and May were watching in surprise. Scar said nothing as he and Ed maintained eye contact.
"You have no idea what her death did to us last time. It was bad enough when her father mutilated her but then to learn that she had been killed was the worst thing that happened to us! We lost our mother, Al lost his whole body and I lost an arm and a leg! We were able to live with those but to see alchemy used to such monstrous lengths was too much! It was the first time since we'd first committed the taboo that we even remotely thought about attempting another human transmutation, and all to bring back a little girl!" Ed yelled, tears running down his cheeks.
"Even if she is a Homunculus made in her image, she was right! We can't bear to lose her again!" Ed yelled, Nina looking up at him in silent surprise. Scar quietly looked at his hand in Edward's grip, quietly forming it into a fist in contemplation. Finally he relaxed and ripped his arm free of Ed's grip.
"Very well." Scar replied as he turned and walked away, disappearing into the ruins of the city. Ed, Al, and May watched him leave for a moment before Ed put his helmet back on his head.
"Come on! We have to go!" Ed said as Al and May both nodded. Al immediately clapping his hands together and pressing them to the wall, causing it to retract into the ground, allowing the three to flee, leaving Nina behind, confused by what had transpired.
"He could have killed me just now…but he stopped him…why…why would he do that?" Nina asked herself mentally. As she sat pondering, she suddenly began to have visions of Edward and Alphonse from two years prior. Seeing Edward smile whenever she was near, playing with Alphonse and the dog Alexander. She looked at her clawed hands in quiet contemplation, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she absently brushed her hand against her cheek where her Ouroboros tattoo was, closing her eyes in grief at what she had become. As she wept her enhanced senses picked up a familiar scent. The scent of something old, something she recognized as a multitude of eyes opened in the shadows around her along with a hideous grin.
"So you now realize which is the superior species, don't you?" Pride asked from the shadows as Nina shook in fear of the older Homunculus.
"Y-Yes." She replied softly as Selim stepped out from around a corner, looking down at her with a scowl. He then stretched out his hand, offering it to her.
"Come with me, Nina. We will redeem ourselves in the eyes of the humans, together." Pride said as Nina quietly reached out and took his hand. (End AC)
…
Meanwhile Dr. Morser and one of the twins had made their way into a hidden underground tunnel that ran beneath the city, Morser clearly frustrated from the turn of events.
"Damn the military! Damn them all!" Morser hissed as she and the twin made their way down the tunnel.
"This is a problem, isn't it mother?" the twin asked with a scowl on her face.
"Yes, Michelle, it is. The military was never meant to find us. This has thrown our whole plan into disarray!" Morser said as they approached an intersection in the tunnel just as Garand emerged from a tunnel to their right.
"Victor!" Morser called, catching his attention.
"Good, you're both here. Where's Rachel?" Garand asked.
"I'm right here." Rachel said as she approached from another tunnel, dusting herself off.
"What's the plan now? The military will overpower our forces. The Emperor of Xing is here and has outed Xiao Fujin as a traitor, our sacrifices have escaped and these tunnels could be discovered at any moment!" Morser explained as Garand pondered for a moment, his hand to his chin in thought.
"We might could still create the Immortal Alchemist but we'd need to act quickly. We need to draw the military away from the temple and the transmutation circle. Once we've gained our immortality, we can flee to one of the neighboring countries and start again." Garand said as Morser smiled.
"I assume you have a plan for getting the soldiers away from the temple?" Morser asked as Garand motioned to follow, leading them through the tunnel until they reached a large doorway. Garand opened the door which opened out onto a large catwalk overlooking a large rectangular chamber. The chamber wasn't empty though as over a thousand of the white Mannequins like the ones used in Central two years ago. They were in active, the Philosopher's Stones that would fuel them being stored in smaller tanks above them.
"These mindless drones will cause enough chaos in the city, giving us the opportunity to do what we need to." Garand explained as Morser arched a suspicious eyebrow.
"And will they obey our commands?" Morser asked.
"No but then again we don't need them to. They'll cause the chaos we need them to." Garand said as he pulled a key from his pocket and stepped towards a control console, putting the key into a slot on the console and turning it. (AC: March of the Moving Dolls – FMA:B OST 3) An alarm suddenly sounded as the floor below was lit up by red lights, the tanks holding the Philosopher's Stones beginning to bubble and churn as the stones were injected into the lifeless Mannequins.
"(Sigh) these imperfect Homunculi are rather disgusting if you ask me." Rachel commented.
"Their stones are not even strong enough for them to regenerate." Michelle added.
"Why again did we go through the trouble of collecting all those people for the stones that would bring Homunculi like us to life?" Rachel asked as a chorus of bone chilling moans and cries of anguish rose from the chamber below them, the Mannequins coming to life and mindlessly starting to lumber towards the doorways at the ends of the room.
"Because those stones are more powerful. They're true Philosopher's Stones. The stones in these monsters only contain the souls of one or two people and aren't strong enough to be of any use for bringing a true Homunculus to life." Garand said as he turned and started to lead them on towards the other end of the catwalk where the tunnel continued. On the surface, numerous tunnels and hatches opened up within the city via mechanical gates. The Red Kingdom and Amestrian soldiers all paused as the gates opened, looking at them curiously before they saw the mannequins trudging towards them. The mannequins immediately saw the soldiers and started lurching towards them, the soldiers screaming in fear. One group of Amestrian soldiers saw them and slid to a halt.
"What are those things?!" one soldier asked as another turned to one of the radiomen wearing one of the bag phones on his back, picking up the phone.
"Squad Five to forward command! Command come in!" the soldier yelled. Back at the command tent, Karley put his hand to his ear.
"This is forward command, go ahead!" Karley replied.
"Sir were under attack by…what are these things?! White, naked, one eye! Oh God! They're trying to eat us! Send reinforcements! Bullets aren't stopping them!" the soldier screamed as Karley's eyes widened. He knew what they were facing now.
"General! We have a situation! The enemy has deployed an army of those mannequin soldiers from two years ago!" Karley reported as Armstrong's eyes flashed with fury.
"What?!" she snapped as she grabbed her binoculars and looked towards the city. Sure enough she saw several of the mannequin soldiers attacking both Amestrian and Red Kingdom alike. Armstrong snarled in annoyance.
"Order the artillery to switch to incendiary rounds and tell the men to focus on severing the enemy's lower jaws!" Armstrong ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" Karley replied as he and the other radiomen began relaying her orders to the men in the field. In the city, Ed, Al, and May had just run into a group of them.
"What?! These guys again?!" Ed asked as the three backed into each other, standing back-to-back-to-back as the mannequins surrounded them.
"I don't remember running into these things two years ago! How do we stop them?!" Al yelped.
"That's easier said than done!" May replied, Xiao May cowering from behind May's shoulder.
"We need to get away from these things but they've got us surrounded!" Ed exclaimed. That's when Al had an idea.
"Wait a minute! Ed! I just heard them call you a pipsqueak!" Al yelled as Ed suddenly froze, quaking with anger. (AC: Favorite Daughter – FMA OST 1)
"WHAT DID THEY JUST SAY?!" He yelled before charging into a large crowd of the mannequins, smashing through them, screaming at them and daring them to call him pipsqueak again. May and Xiao Mei were both stunned.
"Whoa!" she yelped.
"Never thought that would work as well as it did." Al said, mildly surprised at what had transpired.
"Wait, you mean that was your plan?" May asked, stunned, watching as Ed beat the ever loving daylights out of the mannequins, inadvertently creating a path for the three to escape.
"Ed's still sensitive about his height and that's one way to really make him mad. Thought it might help in this case and boy did I underestimate him." Al said, grabbing May's arm and leading her through the path Ed left behind.
"And let that be a lesson to you freaks! DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Ed yelled, shaking his fist at the mannequins that lay scattered across the ground. (End AC) Unfortunately for the three, the mannequins were starting to climb back onto their feet despite a myriad of broken bones and limbs. The three backed away in alarm.
"Damn I forgot how tough these things were!" Ed grimaced.
"Now what do we do?!" May asked before the wall of the building next to them suddenly slid free from the building, flattening the mannequins against the opposite wall, killing them between the two walls.
"Whoa!" Alphonse yelped as Colonel Armstrong stepped through the hole in the wall.
"Ah-ha! There you are! I was wondering where you were!" Armstrong called as he approached them.
"Lieutenant Colonel!" Al greeted.
"Are you alright? We got separated during the fighting." Armstrong asked.
"We're fine. Thanks for the save." Ed replied as Armstrong surveyed the surrounding area.
"The Red Kingdom has unleashed an army of those monsters. How did they get a hold of them?" Armstrong asked.
"Probably Garand. He mentioned to us a while back that he was responsible for making them back when he was working for Father and the Homunculi." Ed replied as Armstrong furrowed his brow.
"Any ideas where to find him?" Armstrong asked as Ed and Al both looked towards the temple, the temple being lit by the first light of dawn as the sun rose in the east.
"I have a hunch." Ed said as they saw the temple.
"Lead the way. I will help you as much as I can." Armstrong said as the brothers both nodded and started leading Armstrong and May towards the temple.
End Chapter 17