Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Six - Villain Emerges

Captain Hitsugaya and his group quickly made their way to the spot where the reiatsu of the others was radiating from. It was obvious, from the rapidly changing reiatsu, that the group was involved in a battle. And this made the others want to reach their location as quickly as possible in case they needed assistance.

When they arrived it was to find Al and the others engaged in battle with more of the modified Hollow. The group was slightly larger than the one that had attacked Hitsugaya's group and the combatants were struggling to keep the upper hand. With a snarl Ed leapt forward, drawing his zanpaktou in one fluid motion.

"Get away from my brother you bastard!" the blond snarled, slashing at one large Hollow that was sneaking up on his younger brother. If there was anything that set his anger off it was someone threatening his brother. That, and being called short but that was a completely seperate matter. The Hollow gave a screech of pain before disintegrating.

"Sorry about that brother," Al apologized, turning grateful eyes to his older brother. "I didn't even see that one coming."

"Don't worry about it," Ed said, his golden eyes focused on the group of Hollow that seemed intent upon their destruction. "Let's just take care of these guys."

"Right." Al nodded his head and slashed at one of the modified Hollow that was making a move toward Izumi. Being a member of Squad Four Al wasn't really one for battles but that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of fighting when the necessity arose.

The addition of the other group served to take away the advantage that the Hollow had enjoyed. Screams resonated through the air as the creatures fell to the blades and kidou attacks of the combined forces of both groups.

In no time at all the combined efforts of the group brought an end to the assembled Hollow.

"Thank goodness you showed up when you did captain!" Matsumoto exclaimed, rushing forward to pull her superior into a rib crushing hug.

"Release me Matsumoto," the young captain snapped, pulling himself from her grasp. He didn't have time for her antics at the moment; there were still a few things that he wanted answers to. Like how the enemy had managed to track both of their groups and calculate attacks accordingly. Sheathing Hyourinmaru, Captain Hitsugaya turned to Al and the others who were in his group. "Is there anything that you can tell us about this attack?"

Al held a thoughtful expression in his eyes for a moment before an important bit of information seemed to spring to the front of his mind. "The person responsible spoke… and their voice sounded familiar for some reason. And they said that this was a test."

"That's similar to what happened with us," Ed pointed out, recalling the voice that he KNEW he should remember.

"Were you attacked as well Edward?" Hughes questioned, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two Elric brothers. It seemed that both of them had heard the voice of the person responsible for the Hollow chimera at some point. Which seemed fairly odd to the man.

"Our group was attacked by a large group of the modified Hollow," Ed confirmed. "But that isn't the part that's concerning. I know that I've heard that voice somewhere before but I can't place it…"

"Why Edward, I'm hurt."

The gazes of the group simultaneously went to the source of the voice and Ed gasped as he realized who it was. "Tucker," he snarled, glaring daggers at the man that he had met when first becoming a State Alchemist. The bastard who had turned his own daughter and her dog into a chimera.

Mustang, Hawkeye and Hughes all gasped in surprise as they realized that the person they had been pursuing was another former State Alchemist. A man who had been guilty of a horrific crime and someone that they hadn't expected to ever see again.

"So you do remember," Shou Tucker said, his gaze focused on the boy who had caused his ruin… as well as his demise. "That's good. Here I was thinking that the child prodigy had completely forgotten about me."

"You bastard!" Holding up his zanpaktou Ed leapt toward the man, only to be knocked back by some kind of invisible barrier. Crying out, both from surprise and pain, Ed fell to the ground.

"Brother!" Al rushed over to the spot where his brother had fallen and dropped to his knees at the older boy's side.

"I'm fine," Ed snarled, his glaring gaze still focused on Tucker.

"Tsk, tsk," Tucker said, waving one finger in the air and speaking as though he were addressing a small child. "We can't have you escaping Edward… I have plans for this group."

"The hell you do." Hitsugaya's voice was icy as he got to his feet, holding up the blade of Hyourinmaru. The young captain's teal eyes were locked onto the enemy, glad that the person responsible had finally been revealed. "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyou…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you captain," Tucker said, his gaze shifting to the white haired youth. There was a note of warning in his voice as he addressed not just the young captain but the entire group. "This barrier deflects reiatsu… you'll only end up sending your own attack rebounding toward you and your friends. But if you think they can survive then by all means, feel free. It'll be an interesting experiment."

Hitsugaya ceased the attack, not sure whether the man's words were the truth or not. He knew that there were powerful kidou barriers that could do what the man said but it would take a fairly powerful Shinigami to erect one. Not to mention the fact that it had been hidden from them until it was too late and they were already trapped within.

That had either taken a tremendous amount of skill on the part of one individual or the combined efforts of many.

"What the hell do you want?" Ed demanded, hatred for the man once again rising up to overwhelm him.

"I simply want to repay you for everything that you did for me Edward," Tucker replied with a somewhat demented smile. A crazy light seemed to be gleaming in the man's eyes as he stared at the young man. He had grown older since their last encounter however the boy's eyes were something that the man would never forget. "And there are others who would like to show their appreciation but they'll come out in due time."

"Damn it!" Ed and Hitsugaya swore in unison, both glaring at the enemy.

Who merely smirked.

A/N - Another chapter and the enemy has been revealed! Maybe… Anyway, hope that you enjoyed.