Chapter 11: ...Spirit of Man

Charging through the rain as it began to come down harder made it slightly slower going than Yor had hoped. That, mixed with that she was wearing no shoes while on cobblestones that were slick with the rain, meant she had to keep at least some focus on her balance as she followed Dr. Forger forward towards the continuing sounds of battle.

'If it hadn't been for Dr. Forger,' She thought, 'I would have died.'

It was, honestly, something Yor had never really thought about before. Her entire time as an assassin, she had been either so much stronger, or in so greater an advantage, that she had never been quite as close to death before. During her previous fight with Scar, the serial killer that was hunting alchemists like the Elric Brother's she had been overconfident. Also enraged with one of her colleagues being killed, but still overconfident. She had treated Scar like he was just another man, rather than a warrior who had engaged in likely dozens of battles with other skilled warriors. She had allowed herself to be brought into a false sense of security with her landing of that first kick, and in how quickly she had sent him backward with her twin kicks.

But she had underestimated his strange ability to breakdown matter, and been caught off guard when he had destroyed her heel, causing her to lose balance. The only reason she hadn't ended up like Marsha had been the Doctor's quick thinking.

'I would have died before coming to love the world,' she considered, before thinking about the look on the Shopkeeper's face not a day earlier.

She shook her head, as they continued along the main street, and then her eyes caught a flash alongside an alley only a block away.

"Dr. Forger," she pointed forward, and Lloyd's eyes shot toward the alley she was pointing. He pushed himself forward, and then Yor looked down at the gun in her hand. She then stopped, and said, "Please take this!" and then tossed him the gun.

Dr. Forger, showing the same strange agility that he had had in grabbing and rescuing her, caught the gun out of mid air, and then cocked it. That a doctor was this capable of using a weapon, and as athletic at all, was impressive. She doubted most regular soldiers in the military would be as capable as Dr. Forger was clearly showing himself to be.

He looked back at her with a quick look.

"I don't really have much practice with guns," she answered honestly. She found they were too crude a tool for a proper assassination, "I only brought it because it is standard issue. You probably have shot more than I have."

"Fair enough," he said, before slamming himself into the wall next to the alleyway's entrance. He looked back at her nervously, though she couldn't tell if his forehead was covered in sweat or in rain, "Stay behind me, I'll go and provide fire for Ed and Al."

"Yes," Yor nodded, not wanting to draw too much attention. Now that she was still alive, it was honestly lucky that she hadn't been able to actually fight to the fullness of her ability. If she had, there would be more questions about the fighting skill of an administrative worker than she as an assassin should probably be comfortable with. She wasn't as good with dodging questions as one might think an assassin would be, which meant that her relatively low profile was very good to allow her second career to continue. And defeating a specialized Alchemist Serial Killer was not a way to maintain a low profile.

'Need to play the part,' she thought to herself, as Dr. Forger suddenly rounded the corner, and arms fell forward with his gun pointed down the alleyway.

"Free-ehagh!" he suddenly fell backward, as Edward Elric slammed into him, and the two tumbled backwards. It was actually incredibly lucky that Dr. Forger had such good control of his finger, other wise he might have shot he might have shot the young alchemist. Quickly, both Edward and the doctor were back to their feet, and only now did she realize that Edward Elric was falling backwards away from something.

And of course, that Edward Elric was missing his right arm. Along the shoulder where the arm should have been attached, was a metallic hinge, with a spray of wires and anchors sticking out and hanging there. It took only a second for Yor to look and see the rest of what had clearly been Ed's arm, gears, hinges and plates scattered around along the edge of the alley.

"Automail," he heard Dr. Forger say in shock, and while she had long known about it, she had seen the boys around a dozen times, and the fact was that Edward's presence had always been uneven, his gait just slightly different than a normal human body. It had been relatively unnoticeable to anyone who was not paid to understand the minute details of human movement and how to make sure those didn't stop you from making that person dead, and was certainly less notable now then it had been when she had first seen Fullmetal a year earlier, but she had known. What was far stranger was the feeling that she had gotten from Edward's brother. Even though he was much taller and wore a suit of armor, he had always seemed unusually light.

And her answer came when she looked down the alley, and saw Alphonse laying there, in pieces. The right side of the torso of the armor had been disintegrated, and the damage had slipped down the body of the armor, causing both legs to fall off. Yet despite these clear openings, she could see no human body, and even more surprising, the armor was still moving, using its arms to try and push itself up. As she stared, Yor suddenly realized that Alphonse Elric didn't wear a suit of armor.

Alphonse Elric was a suit of armor.

"EDWARD!" she heard Alphonse's boyish voice carry across the alley. He likely hadn't quite realized that she and Dr. Forger had arrived. She heard a gasp from where Lloyd was sitting, and realized he must have just seen Alphonse's state as well, and was trying to piece together what was happening in his head.

"What on God's Green Ea-"

"You two," she heard Scar's voice carry over the patter of rain and the metal scraping sounds of Alphonse, "My quarrel is not with you, leave Fullmetal to himself, and I shall allow you both to live. I am here for the state alchemist," it was only then that she realized that Scar had been talking to both Lloyd and Yor herself. She had allowed herself to become seen in the open, and any surprise she might have had for a sudden strike disappeared. Dr. Forger looked for his gun, only to see in the collision it had fallen over three yards away. Before either of them could reach it, even Yor with her great speed, Scar would be on them, and use the same power he had killed Lieutenant Strauss with and had dismantled the Elrics with.

'If only I had a weapon to throw with,' Yor inwardly growled. She saw Dr. Forger slowly, almost unknowlingly, readjust his arm to be under Edward's remaining flesh arm, and saw an angle for a roll he was about to perform. He was going to try and perform a similar roll to what he had done with Yor in the courtyard, 'If he can pull it off, just right, while Scar is distracted I can probably catch him on the side, then we ca-'

"Scar guy," Edward suddenly spoke up, "You're after State Alchemists right?"

'...what is he-'

"Yes."

"My Brother isn't one, even though he uses alchemy," he looked up to Scar, his Gold Eyes filled with both fear and yet a strange resolve that felt...familiar. For but a moment, the alley way disappeared, and all there was was a small blackhaired boy with bruises around his legs, surrounded by three much bigger children with sticks and rocks in their hands. And in the back of her head she heard her own voice from across the playground, and almost felt her little feet fly in a charge forward.

"LEAVE YURI ALONE YOU MEANIES!"

"If I don't fight anymore, will you let him live?" Edward was going to protect his little brother, with his life if he had to. Yor felt her lower lip tighten around her teeth as she bit down.

"Edward!" Dr. Forger shouted into the young man's ears, "You can-"

"Anyone who strays into the path of God's Vengeance will be eliminated," Scar stated, and yet...something had changed in his voice, "However...I only have business with you Fullmetal Alchemist."

'I'll let your brother live if you let me kill you,' and Yor knew in that moment exactly what Edward Elric was about to do.

"Alright," Ed suddenly pushed his remaining arm out of Dr. Forger's hold, and then forced himself to his feet. He wobbled, still clearly not used to walking without his arm, but he managed to get to his feet. Dr. Forger, in shock about what was happening, only barely fought the push, "Then promise me you will let him...all of them live."

"Ed?" Yor could hear a pleading from down the alleyway. It was quieter than before.

"I promise," was the serial killer's response to the Fullmetal Alchemist. Fullmetal, slouching forward, suddenly fell to his knees, his body no longer able to keep itself upright from the strain.

"Edward, what are you doing?" Dr. Forger was suddenly gritting his teeth, and swishing his eyes back towards the gun. Yor looked over, and realized he was planning for one last desperate gamble. It would be hard, and he would have to wait for the exact right moment, but if he could make a quick dive right in the middle of Scar's reach, he could probably get it, and try and shoot Scar before he activated his weird power on Edward.

"Big Brother!" she heard Alphone scream, "You have to run away!" Yor quickly felt with her toes around her body, being careful not to make any noticeable movements. Finally, after a second, she found what she was looking for, and picked up a small piece of rubble, and lodged it between her two biggest toes. If she could time this right, she might be able to hit Scar in the face with it right as Dr. Forger was to go for the gun. It wouldn't do much damage, not with the precision she would need to even hit him with a rock this size with only her toes to maneuver. With the right timing though, it would add a half second to Dr. Forger's time to grab the gun, and to save Edward.

"GET UP EDWARD!" Alphonse was now screaming, and it was only enhanced from the clear shearing of metal coming from the armor as it began to collapse upon itself. The sound would provide some distraction, but it was only allowing her to focus on the rock, and the angle she needed to toss it at him, all while Scar came closer and closer to Fullmetal, "PLEASE DON'T DIE! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME! RUN AW-"

BLLAAAM

'Dr. Forger?' she thought, thinking he had gone early in the confusion, only to see the Lloyd himself had just jumped back, and the gun wasn't even in his hand.

"Good thing you wear such a distinctive outfit Ms. Briar."

"Colonel Mustang!" Yor shouted, looking back, and seeing the Colonel standing in just outside the passenger side door of his car. A standard issue pistol was smoking after Mustang had fired it into the air, causing the whole scene beside himself to grow quiet. Suddenly coming around from the driver's side door was Lieutenant Hawkeye, another pistol in her hand as well. She soon saw 2nd Lieutenant Havoc, and over a dozen other soldiers suddenly appear, rifles in hand, all standing at the ready for the coming fight.

"We were about to head to the hospital, but the Lieutenant here," he twisted his head towards Hawkeye, who had her eyes and gun strictly on Scar, "saw one of our staff uniforms, and we realized you would probably be trying to get to Fullmetal before Scar could," the Colonel looked over the wreckage of the alley, and the wreckage of the Elrics' bodies, and shook his head, "And it looks like we got here just in time."

"Colonel?" Ed said weakly. And yet...she could almost hear relief in the back of his voice. As though, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"As you have probably already guessed," Mustang began to swagger forward, his gun still held in the air. He was getting closer, but, from his slow gait, not to much closer. He was likely trying to get into a position for him to have a controlled shot of flames right at Scar, but with enough distance so the serial killer couldn't reach him before he could activate it, "This is the famous alchemist serial killer," he then stopped, and glared at the scarred man, "I suppose it is you who murdered Shou and Nina Tucker this morning?"

"Nina?" Yor turned, and saw Edward's face drop again. He hadn't known...she hadn't known, she had been out of the office, and they hadn't explained anything beyond Scar being after Edward. She thought back to the one time Shou had brought his daughter to the main office, and her heart sank at the thought.

"Alchemists pervert the world of God with hubristic intent. Creating in their manner is to deface the perfection of his work," Scar declared, now fully focused on the Colonel, "I am Divine Judgement on the sins of man," he then began to stalk forward, his right arm alight with blue destructive power, "And I will punish you for your sins, Flame Alchemist!"

"You know who I am, and still insist on fighting me," Mustang tossed the gun in his hand back, and the Lieutenant caught it. The move surprised Hawkeye for some reason, whose eyes went wide as she caught the gun.

'What could she be surprised about?' Yor considered, 'To properly use his alchemy, he was going to need to have his hands free.'

"Come then Roy Alchemist," Scar screamed, charging at Mustang with a full head of steam. Roy smirked, and brought his hand in front of his face, about to unleash his flames-

when suddenly he fell down. Yor stopped, and felt her jaw drop when she saw that the Colonel had fallen because Riza Hawkeye had kick out Roy's knees from behind, causing Roy to fall. Scar's hand was now where Mustang's head had been, but it wasn't for long, as Scar was forced to retreat back into the alleyway as Riza Hawkeye was firing both her and Mustang's gun at the killer.

'Why would she?'

"What's the meaning of this Lieutenant!?" Mustang screamed as he sat on his ass on the street. Riza, didn't even look back at him, as she reloaded one of her pistols, and two other men were trying to help the Colonel back to his feet.

"It's raining sir, you're useless when it rains."

"...Seriously?" Yor looked over, having forgot about that particular fact for a moment, and focusing on Dr. Forger. Or should she say, Dr. Forger and Edward Elric. The doctor had used the few seconds between Mustang and Scar, to reach out, grab up Edward, and pull him away from the edge of the alley, and now the two of them were over twenty feet away from Scar, with Lieutenant Havoc and two other men with guns around them. He also looked as though he wanted to slap his face, and was only not able to because his arms were holding up the teenage alchemist, "You mean to tell me Roy Mustang, the great Flame Alchemist, is literally useless in a light drizzle?"

"Pretty much sums it up. I mean he can't make sparks in the rain," Havoc added, and Yor could almost feel the despair begin to build around the Colonel.

"So many sinners surround me," Scar finally spoke up, "Fullmetal has been disabled, and Flame is useless in the rain."

"Even the serial killer calls me useless," Yor could hear in the background as she watched the serial killer with as much caution as she could muster. They were now clearly in an advantage, but taking down Scar would be difficult, especially since he would be able to use the alleyway as a way for the Colonel's men to bring their superior firepower down on him/

"I'll destroy every single one of you!" Scar screamed, "Alchemists, sympathizers, anyone who gets in my-"

SMASHHHHHH

Scar barely had enough time to dodge backward, further into the alleyway. Where previously there had been a wall into a building, suddenly there emerged a large shadow, with massive shoulders, looking in fact bigger than Alphonse was when he had still be a complete suit of armor. Yor was taken aback by the new entrant's size, and then almost fell down as she heard the voice.

"I have had enough of you, you Brazen insurrectionary murderer!" the voice announced in both the most booming but also the most formal way imaginable, "You think you will kill everyone here! Well you will have to get through me first! These muscles of mine shall form an impenetrable wall between you and my comrades, and you shall know defeat at the hands of," the man was made of complete muscle, all seven feet of him. He wore the standard military officer blue uniform, though along his fist was a bronze gauntlett with spikes at the end. He had a large blond moustache and a dip of blonde hair at the front of his mostly bald head. Finally, there seemed to be a...sparkle next to his right eye...for lack of a better term.

"ALEX LOUIS ARMSTRONG!" And suddenly, the coat flew into the sky, carried by the wind of the storm away, until it somehow landed on the defeated form of Mustang, who just let the overly large coat cover him up completely. Armstrong's sudden upper nudity showed nothing but muscle on muscle, from his chiseled abs to his incredibly defined triceps. Yor didn't think she had ever seen anyone's muscles like that, and she had been in an extensive body building program to become an assassin. Now, with his chest free of any obstructive clothing, Alex Louis Armstrong twisted himself and forced his his forward, all the while flexing his muscles in the most obvious manner possible, "THE STRONG ARM ALCHEMIST!"

...

"Why did he did take of his shirt?"

Dr. Forger's comment seemed to bring everyone out of their stupor, including, incredibly Scar. Apparently the entrance had been too much even for the zealous serial killer, and he was only able to regain his mind as he heard that, no, he wasn't the only one shocked by Major Armstrong's behavior. And, as he regained his mind, suddenly the dark skinned man gritted his teeth, all the while the rain continued to beat down on his shock of white hair.

'Wait, white hair?'

"You dare mock me!?" Scar shouted, preparing to pounce forward, "I'll sho-"

"Mock you!" Armstrong suddenly slammed his fist into the cobblestones beneath him, and suddenly spikes jutted out towards Scar. The serial killer, jumped back, before settling his feet, and catching one of the range of spikes with his right arm. He disintegrated the upturned concrete of the alleyway, and readjusted himself so he would not fall over. However, before he could readjust, Armstrong had thrown up a small brick into the air, and slammed his fist into it, causing a massive spike to emerge and hurtle towards scar. Scar had to adjust his head to dodge, and then did so again a second, and then a third time, all the while falling back from the edge of the alley way, and further and further back.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing Scar," Alex was suddenly quieter, as though he was planning his next move as he moved down the alleyway, "you may consider my work blasphemy, but how can you say that when you are performing alchemy as well?"

"What?" Yor heard Lloyd say, only for him to be cut off by Edward.

"I thought so," Dr. Forger looked down at the boy, who continued to explain, "Alchemy has three concrete stages of application. Analysis, Destruction and Reconstruction," Dr. Forger's eyes widened, as though he was remembering something, "He's just using the second stage, and deconstruction everything his right arm touches when it has that blue glow around it."

"That make sense," Lloyd nodded as he looked down the alleyway at Scar. All the while Major Armstrong continued to push forward.

'He is an amazing fighter,' Yor nodded, watching as she saw his quick feet and constant framing of his body, 'He's not just relying on his strength and his alchemy. Rather, he is using his speed to continue to push Scar backwards. Controlling the fight, and keeping Scar from being able to launch any kind of attack on anyone else,' she thought back to the man's declaration not a few moments earlier, 'He's not a wall, he's a tank!'

And during that tank push, Scar was always on his back foot. Armstrong used both alchemy and his fists to continue to push scar closer and closer to the back wall of the alley. With that back wall, he would finally be able to corner Scar and hit him. But he would have to be careful, if he got to close, Scar might be able to use his smaller frame to get under Armstrong an-

'Why is Armstrong turning and running?'

It only took a second for her to realize what he was doing when suddenly Armstrong's arms were around Alphonse Elric's armor body. With barely any kind of stress, the mighty man lifted the shattered armor over his shoulder, and was charging down the side of the alley. Scar, only now realizing that he had been corner, tried to charge forward, when suddenly, Yor saw Lieutenant Hawkeye step forward with a rifle in her hand. The woman aimed the barrel towards Scar, and Yor saw comprehension dawn on the serial killer's face as Hawkeye pulled the trigger.

BANG

'He's too fast,' Yor could see that Hawkeye had only grazed Scar. Yet she had hit him on the side of the head, and knocked off the sunglasses. And finally, as Scar looked up, she could see why the serial killer was wearing shades while it rained.

Red eyes.

"I never realized how much I loved Ishval until it was gone," tears were now flowing down his face, "I didn't have enough love for it, and because of that the world burned."
The Shopkeeper's words hung in the front of her mind. One of her master's people stood there, hate and rage over his face as he looked on the members of the military that had committed a genocide on his people. She could hear a few gasps from those around her, and she could tell from a lack of a second shot, they were just as shocked as she was...and perhaps, a bit more hesitant about putting this man down.

"Perhaps," there was an exhaustion in Scar's voice. Perhaps the adrenaline of the hunt was finally disappearing. Perhaps he had decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Perhaps he saw that over two dozen rifles were being lined up to shoot him. Whatever the case may be, he placed his hand on the ground beneath him, "There are too many to bring to justice today."

CRRRIIISHHSHHAKKKKK

And the ground beneath him collapsed. A whole the size of the width of the alleyway opened up, and Scar disappeared downward. For a moment, they all stood in shock at the event, before a few soldier went and looked down into the hole. Finally, she heard Lieutenant Havoc curse aloud.

"SHIT! he got into the sewers!"

"Sorry," Mustang said aloud, looking over at Major Armstrong, "We should have moved up more quickly, if we had-"

"You did all I could have asked of you," Alex replied, grabbing the coat from Mustang and hanging it over his wet, and as she could tell from the slight shivering, cold shoulders, "I was barely able to push him like that. Any closer, and he likely would have killed me."

"HEY!" Yor looked back, and saw a glasses wearing man with a strong jaw and a fuzz of a beard walk out from one of the cars, "Is it over?"

"Where were you?" Mustang asked.

"Hiding until it was safe. If things went bad, someone had to relay it to command."

"What, you could have helped us!"

"And get in between monsters like you all fighting, no thank you!"

Mustang and Hughes bickering was suddenly cut off by the sound of footsteps. Ed ran from Dr. Forger towards Major Armstrong, and Al on his back. He placed his hand on the armor's hand, and looked at the suddenly comatose suit of armor.

"Al?"

And then that suit of armor swung a mighty fist into Edward's face. Yor almost jumped back, the human like movement of an empty suit of armor still causing her to feel a bit strange. And as she jumped back, she fell into someone's arms, catching her from falling on the slick cobblestones. She looked back, and saw Lloyd Forger, having tried to catch up to Edward after his rush towards his brother. She was about to apologize,

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU IDIOT!?" Alphonse shouted at the top of...well as loud as he possibly could.

'Does he still need to breathe?' Yor considered.

"I told you to run away!"
"I wasn't going to leave you!" Yor almost felt herself nod at Edward. Were her brother in danger, she'd have rather die then leave him to perish on his own.

"If you left, you might have survived!" Al countered what Yor thought was very obvious sibling affection.

"But you might have died!" Ed responded back.

"But I might not have, and you surviving would be much more important than me living."

"...don't say that," Edward seemed to fall at that declaration by Alphonse.

"I'll say whatever I want to say," Alphonse's arm reached out, and grabbed Ed by the shirt, and lifted him up to where his eyes met the slit for the armor's helmet. Which, being that Alphonse was still being carried by Armstrong, was quite high up for the short alchemist, "You have to live, so you can continue your research," Ed seemed to sag at that declaration, "You're so much better than me. You're the one who is going to have to figure out how to get back our bodies. And the one who is going to be able to find ways to use alchemy to protect little girls like Nina!"

SCRREK

And then Al's arm fell off, causing Edward to fall to the ground in a heap. Yor felt the arms holding her let her go, and for a second she felt a pang of disappointment. But, she allowed herself to watch Dr. Forger walk up towards Edward, and place his own jacket along the young man's shoulders. The taller man placed his jacket along Ed's shoulders, and he looked down at the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Look at what you did," Alphonse began to whine, still hanging on Armstrong's shoulder, "I'm falling apart!"

"Yeah," Ed began laughing, and he rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks for earlier Doc."

"It was my honor Edward."

"We're kind of a mess, aren't we brother," the adrenaline, or the closest thing Al had access to, was beginning to come down in the suit of armor. Ed just continued to laugh.

"We are a mess," and finally, a small smile sat fully on his face, "But..."

"We're alive."