The Usurper and the Monk

As told by Jin Kisaragi

While we gathered at Greed’s bar, Askari, the lion Vergil talked to when the latter was in Bradley’s temple, wandered around the Pantheon, seeing piles of destroyed corpses of those mannequins. Despite their corpses exuding a horrible odor, he wasn’t disturbed by the sight of the bloodshed. “They’ve certainly done a number on those things…” Moving away from the corpses, he yawned, then let out a quiet snort. “Bah, I’ll need to rest.” The unsavory lion decided to go to his temple to rest. Twenty-five minutes later, he arrived at his temple, located in the House of Family. He climbed up to his temple, a rocky land, to lay down on all fours and witness the destruction that ensued around this crossroad of dimensions. “It’s good to relax at my home…” He slightly raised his head to see the chaos and destruction around him. “despite all the… mess around here.” Hungry, he looks around, only to see mice, running to a corner. Getting up, he chased the mice, who noticed him approaching them. They tried to run away, but they were caught. Licking his lips, he seemed fully intent on eating them, only to frown afterwards. “You mice won’t be a suitable meal at this moment.” He lets the mice go, instead going to a waterfall to drink water to sustain himself. Curse these “Overdeities” and their rules. I was king once, and with the right… associates, I will repeat the accomplishments again. Once I obtain absolute power, I shall kill Mufasa and his son, then the half-homunculus and his wretched ilk, Xanatos, and anyone else who stands against me! Tch, I had a feeling this damned lion was a self-serving cutthroat, but then again… the same could be said of the half-demon. He looked to a specific area, a laboratory, from what it appears. “Those humans would mutilate me if he escapes before I enter there.” A thought made him growl in anger, possibly the idea of him being a ‘pet’ of the Fuhrer’s. It pains me to have to check on their little ‘situation’ for them… Getting up, Askari started to exit his temple to go to the laboratory, but on his way there, he spotted a certain dark-skinned monk, a sight that delighted him. Seems a more satisfying meal has caught my eye… One sharing the same nickname as I. The king of the jungle, succumbing to instinct. How truly foolish. Breaking away from his destination, the dark-colored lion targeted the Scarred Man.

…

Panting to find a way, the Scarred Man rushed his way to the House of Power to meet with the rest of us, the government members of his world in particular. I must find the State Alchemists quickly and correct them about the information the Sorcerer Supreme told me. Even if the Stone isn’t the one they’re seeking, I have to tell them more than just the stone… Slowing down, he looked around to see the points of light, now reaching seven, causing him to push forward in a more urgent manner. The Shining Trapezohedron… There are seven balls of light now… I need to hurry, and fast before they take off. These thoughts were interrupted when he saw a lion in the air, lunging at him. Fearless, the monk struck the assailant between the eyes with his elbow. Heh, what a nice way to shut that lion up. Reeling from the elbow strike, the Lion growled in pain, giving the Scarred Monk a chance to see and recognize the beast had come after him. A lion with dark orange fur, a black mane, and a scar across the far end of his left eye? He lets out a sigh of exasperation. “It’s a pity such a creature would become consumed by hunger at this moment.”

“Urgh… You insolent mongrel!” The lion yelled, still recovering from injuries on the bridge of his nose. My brother’s mentor is a cat… This won’t strike me dumb at all.

It spoke like a human. The Scarred Man blinked for a moment. “Who are you, savage lion?”

Slowly recovering from the injury, Askari growled “What do you think!?” He tried to slightly recompose himself. “If you wish to know, I will indulge you. I am, simply put, a lion sharing your namesake. See, I looked at you, and thought you’d be of-”

Not wasting any more time, the Scarred Man interrupted him. “Whatever your offer is, forget it, but I must warn you… if you’re going to stand in my way, I’ll seek to end this quickly.” Straight to the point. Just like me. The lion growled that his offer was ignored entirely.

Impudent human… Keeping it together, he smirked. “As you wish, warrior of god.” The injured lion walked around the man, remembering something as he did so. His alchemy can kill me if I claw him directly. If I could get around that measly homo sapien and strike him from behind, maybe I can kill him. Pressing up the speed, the treacherous lion ran behind his prey, closing in on him, ready to strike from behind.

The monk let out a sigh, likely in resignation. Unless I take some form of transportation, I’m going to be late anyway. He stood while the lion predator was prepared to strike with his claws. As Askari was about to close in on Scar, the latter turned around and hit the lion with a fierce palm strike to the neck, getting scratch marks on his left shoulder with claws. Quickly, but weakly recovering, the self-serving cutthroat opened his mouth. Seeing this, the dark-skinned monk side-stepped, and crouched to the ground with his right hand, summoned a sharp construct that heavily damaged him, retracting the construct at its original form. He witnessed the bloodied Askari, now growling in fury at the idea that he was defeated by a human monk, one that can somehow perform alchemy.

“Foolish monk! You haven’t seen the last of me… I promise you, we will meet again!” Askari runs away with the remaining strength he had, presumably leaving the Scarred Man to continue onward to Greed’s Bar to meet us all.

Revelations and Strategies

As told by Charlie Nash

We all entered the rebel Homunculus’ bar. A majority of us sat down, with myself getting a fresh cup of scotch. Greed’s mascot… Teddie, turned the TV on to hear the news, particularly about the House of Justice, with Lois Lane being the focus.

“Good morning, everyone! This is Lois Lane for Pantheon News. Recently, The House of Justice has obtained information from acclaimed mouse detective Basil of Baker Street, alongside Major David Q. Dawson and Mrs. Brisby, that the missing deities from the Rainbow Rocket crisis were found in King Bradley’s temple.” I almost dropped my cup of scotch at the mention of a rodent being a major. I don’t know what to say about that.

Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov was the first one to express shock at this. “I don’t believe it… The missing deities were in King Bradley’s temple… And of all beings, a group of mice found them?” Is it possible their security is less robust than I thought? You’d think the Ouroboros would hide the missing deities in other worlds in places that are hard to find.

Rashid simply blinked at the absurdity of a mouse being in the military. “A mouse is a soldier? Really, now…” If this happened in my world, I would immediately dismiss something as outlandish as this. “How did the Majors miss him?” Indeed. How did they miss him?

Police Chief Lin Beifong rolled her eyes before smiling in relief at the revelation. “I can call Aang and the others to pursue wherever Bradley’s taking those ‘trophies’ to.” The Chief of Republic City does just that, while others express shock.

While I was sitting down on a chair next to Jax, Selena walked next to the two of us. “I have an idea.”

“What is it, Ms. Recital?” I asked.

“Let’s claim to the homunculi that we sent that Mouse Detective on a journey to Bradley’s temple to screw with their minds.”

“That’s…” Jax initially protested about this, until he realized what this could do. “… not so bad. I can get a good laugh at pissing them off.” I merely shrugged as I looked at the TV again to the next topic of interest.

“The House of Music has been destroyed by the Diclonius Lucy, according to Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, who witnessed the explosion firsthand and escorted deities to safety in the GUAG’s Medical Division.” The screen showed a picture of a woman with long, red hair with spherical hair ornaments and blue eyes, and a beige military uniform. This was accompanied by what appears to be a beige… cape with brown linings at the end? Adding to this was a mini-apron of the same color, with brown gloves and boots. All parts of her uniform had yellow lining. What was especially weird about this woman was the hat she was wearing, specifically the eye at the front and wings around the sides. I don’t recall Japanese people being red-headed, at least in my world.

“That was her evacuating all those folks out of the House of Music?” Asami Sato looked at the red-head woman, as if she was expecting someone more muscular. “I could’ve mistaken her for someone else.”

The rest of us merely watched as Ms. Lane continued. “Despite several deities being injured, Lieutenant Yayoi has volunteered to help protect the Master Builders in their efforts to rebuild the House of Music.” Good to know I have another ally of justice. Whether she’s lost her way as I did is another story. I looked around to see Major Jin Kisaragi sigh in relief.

“Your efforts weren’t in vain… I owe you one.” Kisaragi uttered under his breath. That’s odd; Guile’s told me he’s aloof to speak to, but it’s nice to see he cares for someone.

Bolin was the next to comment on the topic. “You know, she’d make a nice addition to the Delta Cops.” His brother Mako, Chief Beifong, Chun-Li, Cammy, Majors Sakamoto, Kisaragi, and Zonvolt all looked at him. “What? It’s just my opinion.”

…Not as horrible as I thought. Kisaragi seems to be in agreement. Hmm… I would’ve advocated for this, if it wasn’t for her dedication to those damned Knights. Knights are in the Pantheon? This place is like a kid’s fantasy coming true… As an American, it’ll be a glorious honor to fight alongside them.

“I’d rather not invite her.” Major Sakamoto vetoed it. “I doubt she’d be ready to take some of the harsher choices a cop has to make.” With the almost holy-looking military uniform, I’d agree.

“More justice rants are welcome.” Togusa, one of Chief Major Motoko Kusanagi’s men, sarcastically remarked as he rolled his eyes. Having learned about the President from me and Guile after the Armstrongs had driven two of the homunculi out of his office while we were away, Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, got up from his seat and went to Greed. At first, he was angry about us not telling him about President Bartlet before the ice general attacked him, Guile, and the others. Given that his brother and Major Kisaragi, in addition to the group I formed under the President, split up, he calmed down and realized it was more beneficial than we all expected.

“Hey Greed.” The bar host turned to the short blonde man. “Didn’t you say once that the fat slob funding your place set up that big screen over there so it could do video conferencing?” He pointed to another big TV screen, located on the ceiling next to the restrooms.

“Only on a network between my temple and his.” The rebel homunculus clarified. “If I thought I could use it to reach everyone, I might’ve just done that instead of holding a grand council.” I like the way he phrased that. If only my government council wasn’t so corrupt.

Engineer Tony Stark, alongside Ororo Munroe, approached the two of them, later joined by Teddie. “Even if you could, security and encryption would most likely be an issue.”

“Sometimes, we must rely on tech less if we want to be subtle.” Good point, Ororo. Major General Olivier Armstrong overheard this and turned to the five of them.

“I might know of a solution to that problem.” She brings out a cell phone to dial a certain number to. A minute later, someone picked up the phone.

“Satsuki Kiryuin speaking?” The leader of the militaristic Honnouji Academy. She’s noted to have connections with both her and Mustang, if Guile’s sources are on target at least.

“This is Olivier, calling from Greed’s Bar Stray Dog. There’s a request I want you to make for me, Satsuki.”

“What do you have in mind Olivier?” Satsuki asked through the phone.

Olivier explained the conversation between Edward and Greed. “Apparently, we have a technical difficulty with communications. More specifically, we’re looking to hold a video conference with the person Alex and I rescued so he can properly strategize with everyone in the fight. However, the fat sleazebag who helped fund the bar only set up TV communications for Greed and himself.”

The Honnouji leader took in what she was told for a few seconds before answering. “I believe I know what you’re looking for. I’ll get my hacker to ‘modify’ things for you to get in contact with him, so hold on for a few minutes.” She puts the Major General on hold, as if to give him specific instructions before returning to her. “He’s setting up the secure backchannel now, so be patient for three minutes.” Three minutes? I don’t believe someone can hack something that fast, unless their technology is more advanced in their world. Normally, I’d condemn hacking; under normal circumstances it’s illegal… if I was given the choice to use it against a big criminal organization like Shadaloo, I’d reluctantly accept it. Small rant aside, Olivier hung up her cellphone, turning to the large group.

“Satsuki Kiryuin’s hacker will have that connection securely transferred in about three minutes’ time.”

“Three minutes?” Alphonse Elric said in disbelief.

“Whoa… That’s really fast!” Chun-Li added. The group quietly chattered. The Jellyfish Pirate leader Johnny sat up straight, lowered his glasses a bit. “Heard of a tech guy in my world. Rumors have it that he isn’t the nicest guy…” I wonder the same with all these other folks in this place; it’s a crapshoot around here. The information, however, had made Teddie ponder about something.

I wonder if this guy is as good as that girl who ascended recently. Sensei says she’s really good at it.

“This person must be really good if they’re doing it in three minutes.” Colonel Kagura Mutsuki commented on the hacker with his arms crossed. “Somewhat sounds like someone from my world.”

I simply remained calm in spite of all this. “Saves us time having to look for one to do it for us…” I quietly muttered before downing the scotch in my hand. Jax, on the other hand, was not too pleased at the idea of hacking something so quickly.

“Shoot, if we got teenagers with those kinds of skills running around here, I’ll have to beef up security in case criminals try to pull something shady with our tech.” Typical procedure, Major.

“That we can agree on, Major Briggs.” Couldn’t agree more with you both, Stark.

Three minutes have passed… and nothing happened. Major Zonvolt turned on the TV, only for the screen to be filled with static. “Hmm, nothing seems to be happening.

“Give it time.” Stark suggested as he sits on a stool to ponder about something. I never expected a President to get involved in this, let alone be in cahoots with these world warriors. I’m getting a bad case of deja vu. I know of those ruthless backroom deals you cut, Stark. Captain Steve Rogers and a few others told me about them. Still, we waited until the TV screen changed to that of the President, his face on the screen front and center.

“The Anti-Ouroboros Force…” The President gave a look at us before continuing onward. “I’m impressed to see such a large number of people standing against our common enemy despite repairs happening around the Pantheon.” He looked around, as if seeing Major Elric was among them, next to Greed, Tony, and Ororo. “As the first order of business, I wish to speak to the Fullmetal Alchemist.” True to form, Major Elric, followed by his brother, moved to the front of the screen. “So I take it you’re the young man who defeated the leader of the Homunculi the first time?”

“You can say that, but I didn’t do it alone.” Major Elric honestly answered. “I had help from an important ally of mine.”

“Hmm… I expected as much.” Mr. President replied. No one can truly handle things alone. “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten data from the Ouroboros through Major Guile and Captain Nash. They’ve told me everything about the monsters from your world, but tell me, what does this ‘important ally’ know about the Ouroboros?”

Major Elric tried to recall a combination of history and experience. “His history with the homunculi leader dates back several centuries. Apparently, he prepared and set up a transmutation that countered the one the leader used to steal the souls of the people in our country, Amestris.”

“Where is he now?”

“We don’t know.” Edward’s brother Alphonse answered. “Looking for him now is going to be very difficult.”

The President remained serious. “That ‘ally’ of yours could be on his way to stop him. Would you two like to come over to my office once this is over?”

“No thanks.” Both brothers declined while Chief Major Motoko Kusanagi and Colonel Roy Mustang looked at each other before the Chief Major decided to step in, gesturing to the Elrics to leave.

“You’re the President Guile’s been a liaison to. I’m Motoko Kusanagi, leader of Public Security Section 9 and Chief of the Majors. I’ve picked up on this ordeal for some time.” I knew those guys were cyborgs, but to figure it out without openly revealing it to the two of us Americans until now… I’m actually impressed. “I didn’t kick him out because I felt that whoever else he was answering to is benefitting us as well.”

“And you were right. I’m impressed that your squadmate found my office without any invitations.” It has to be that same hacker loyal to the Honnouji leader with connections to Mustang. The Flame Alchemist told me of ‘strong underground activity in the House of Faith.’ What a time for me to be grateful to everyone here. Thank you for bringing us all together, Mr. President. “Did he ever tell you of a plan to destroy the temples with air strikes?”

“He did.” The Chief Major replied as the President motioned toward his screen, only to stop in his tracks as though he noticed something.

“That’s odd. It appears my side of the feed just changed to a different camera closer to you all.” With that statement, we looked to the side of the counter, where one of the cameras had a red light flashing.

Major General Armstrong’s eyes lit up as though she had a good idea who was behind said development, and sure enough, she stood to speak up. The President seemed to see her clearly, even as she turned her body to face the nearby camera rather than stepping toward the TV.

“That’s something I can shed some light on, Mr. President.” The President waited as she began to explain the matter. “We had to call in someone who saved us a lot of trouble to be able to connect with you in this bar. That someone evidently is still paying very close attention, and as such they must have decided to make things just that much easier by giving you a vantage point that’s closer to the rest of us.”

The President seemed a bit taken aback by being so highly considered. “I appreciate all this, but are you sure that an ordinary man like me is worth all the trouble?”

“It’s no trouble at all, since you helped organize a fighting force for something much bigger than you’re accustomed to. In fact, the contact I speak of is the same one who detected Sloth’s activity underground.” It’s only natural for something like this to happen with a good man such as Bartlet.

With a grateful smile, knowing that he brought us all together at the bar of the Rebel Homunculus, President Bartlet simply tented his fingers. “Well, in that case, I’ll be glad to stay on for a while longer.”

“Thank you, sir.” As Olivier sat back down, everyone began to discuss their ideas and tactics. Touta Konoe, as Colonel Mutsuki told me, was the first to speak. “So what do we do now? Have one group look for Hohenheim while the others plant explosives on the temples?”

“No.” Alphonse replied. “He must be on his way to the leader’s temple as we speak.”

“Alone?” Rashid asked as if he was specifying, to which the Armored Alchemist nodded. “Man, that’s very unwise. Those humanoid monsters outnumber him by nearly thousands with their organization.” I agree with you there, Turbulent Wind. Rather, I would, if it wasn’t for Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes suggestion.

“If the old man is going, he’s going to have to sneak in. If he can do that slowly without getting caught, we could take advantage of it.” Of course, we attack from the outside while the Elrics’ father strikes from the inside. It must work.

“I’m sure he knows that by now. He’s pretty good at sneaking around, plus he’s a bit of a humanoid monster as well.” Edward added. “If I remember correctly, he told me the bearded bastard made both of them a Philosopher’s Stone, while the Ouroboros leader based his body on him.” Tch, How vile… Creating one’s body based on another person. It’s all too similar to Bison and his backup bodies, if reports on them are to be correct.

“So we’ll need to be careful not to destroy your father by accident.” Colonel Jade Curtiss added as he sat up. “If he’s in the homunculus leader’s temple now, we’ll need to strategize quickly before he gets outnumbered.” The bespectacled leader looked at everyone. “Which Homunculus are we going to fight? If not them, who’s fighting which member of High Command?” Major Kisaragi turned to Colonel Curtiss.

“Leave Esdeath to me.” We all looked at the Hero of Ikaruga. “I’ve fought that childish woman before. She won’t get away with what she did with the other Majors while I was away.” Seems like they’ve had some sort of history before. “Sub-Zero will provide backup.”

Chief Beifong began to chime in. “Mako, Bolin, and I will fight Azula. It’s imperative that we keep those two outnumbered and away from Bradley.” From various sources, Esdeath and Azula are the most authoritative members of High Command aside from Bradley himself, and all three of them are already very fearsome fighters on their own. I dread to imagine what they can do together… It can only end in failure on our side.

“There’s still that ‘Coyote Starrk’ guy lurking around.” Batou noted. “They call him the Primera Espada, if I’m not mistaken. He’s a pretty strong one in High Command, if the reports we got are correct.” Another one? Neither me nor the President have intel on this ‘Primera Espada,’ or whoever that may be.

This piece of information devastated the living stuffed… bear? There’s no way that’s a human inside that suit. I guess it’s Halloween tomorrow. “I still can’t believe he’s working with horrible people like them… He made a vow to stop.”

“Tony and I caught him attempting to shoot energy blasts at Majors Sakamoto and Zonvolt.” Rhodes explained. “A young lady was heartbroken over his betrayal when she and a few others saw him with those artificial vampires.” Poor woman. That Espada person will pay for his treason. “According to the woman, he had been in their little gunslinger group for some time.” Traitors… just like the ones I called for backup against Bison… only for me to get shot instead.

Hearing this made Ororo stand up. “Allow me to keep him occupied. Stark and Rhodes will need to help the others destroy temples.”

“That’s two.” Major Zonvolt kept note of the discussion. “Anyone else?”

“There’s still the matter of Bi-Han and that other teleporter to worry about.” Chun-Li reminded a few people.

“Bi-Han…” The Airbender Tenzin, one of the sons of Avatar Aang, lowered his head, only for a realization to come to his mind. “The undead ninja assassin with dark, shadowy powers, enough to make portals…” Tenzin’s description made Alphonse realize something.

“Wait a minute… I fought him right after I decided to split up from my brother and the other majors. He threw a shuriken at Teacher.”

Major Kisaragi’s brother Ragna was angry, not only at the fact he lost a whole day of work as a chef, as I overheard from Grandmaster Hasashi, but getting duped into an unnecessary fight with his own brother. “I’m gonna make it up to you guys and go after that punk.”

Grandmaster Hasashi himself nodded in agreement. He turned to Chief Major Kusanagi. “Chief Major, it’s partially my fault he slowed you all down in your fight against these creatures. Allow me to rectify the problem.”

Kusanagi nodded in agreement as Ms. Recital wrote down the names of our folks and the respective enemies we’re fighting. “That’s three High Command members. What about the Ouroboros themselves?”

For a minute, everyone was silent before Colonel Mutsuki spoke. “Johnny and I will handle the homunculus with the shadows. Just need a few flash bangs to stun him, right?” Everyone nodded while Peter Parker approached Sub-Zero.

“Sub-Zero, have the Lin-Kuei fight Envy. I’ll back them up.” Hearing this, the President picked up on what the Spider-Man is devising.

“Planning to swing around and intercept the monster while he attacks? That should confuse him well enough.” Hearing this, Grandmaster Kuai Liang nodded in agreement to Parker’s tactic.

Colonel Roy Mustang sat up and turned to Major General Armstrong to make a suggestion about a matter I wasn’t prepared for. “We should call Satsuki again and have her look out for that red-and-blue man with blonde hair Alphonse and the others fought.”

That man’s with the Ouroboros? Is this for real? If it’s who I think it is… I immediately put my book aside at Mustang’s description of the man and turned to the two Amestrian soldiers. “If the person you’re talking about is involved… We’ll definitely need more backup. One man isn’t enough to put that person down.”

Catching sight of the look of shock and urgency on my face, Olivier remained cool in spite of my heightened worries. “Make no mistake, her giant is listening. Satsuki has guaranteed she and her Elite Four are coming to the battlefield.” Though this calmed me down a little, I remained uneasy about that man’s involvement.

“I’ll take on the female homunculus on my own.” Ahsoka’s suggestion made everyone worried.

“That’s bold of you to take on one of them yourself, but you might get ambushed.” Touta Konoe commented. “Let me come with you.”

Ahsoka sighed, knowing he was correct. “Very well , then. Just be careful to distance ourselves from friendly fire.” For some reason, this ordeal made Asami Sato shoot a glare at the boy, if a slightly annoyed one, at that. The Elrics’ Teacher Izumi, sitting near the latter, noted the glare.

“Actually, it would be better for Touta not to commit himself to a particular opponent.” She suggested, as the Airbender Tenizen informed me and others on the way to Greed’s Bar. “We should leave room for a few of us to operate freely in case we need more bases covered. For example, stepping in to hinder any lethal advantage a High Command member might have…” She shifted her eyes to Asami. “Or luring a threat away from an ally. Asami is another who should be included in the second criteria.” From Mrs. Curtis’ explanation, the young female engineer didn’t take it well. President Bartlet, meanwhile, voiced a suggestion.

“I propose Ms. Recital for the first criteria. She’s proven quite adept at infiltration and interception.”

“I second that option.” I made a concurring nod as I adjusted my mal-aligned glasses.

“What will you be doing, Teacher?” the Armored Alchemist asked his mentor.

“I’ll assist the Armstrong siblings against Sloth.” I heard she‘s pretty tough. It’s a shame I’ll miss out on that part. “I’ve dealt with that monster before, and I’ll do it again.” She turned her left hand up into a fist, slamming it into the palm of her left hand, smiling confidently. Rashid, meanwhile, wondered about something.

“If that kid isn’t helping the Jedi Apprentice against the female monster or whatever, who is?”

The bar host turned to the Turbulent Wind, gesturing to himself with his thumb. “I’ll do it. What better way to keep the Ultimate Spear from penetrating its target than to put the Ultimate Shield up in the way?” I nonchalantly rolled my eyes, hearing a pun of medieval knights, albeit unintentionally. Colonel Mustang turned to his subordinate, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye about something.

“On that note, Lieutenant, are the resources in place for our plans to cover the Ultimate Eye?”

“Affirmative. However sir, that still leaves the question of how to shut the Ultimate Mouth.” Right after Greed’s punny remark… I can’t disagree with them.

Ultimate Mouth… The Fullmetal Alchemist thought about Lieutenant Hawkeye’s comment. “Huh, pretty dead-on shot there.” This however, exasperated Parker for some reason.

“Wait… no… Please don’t tell me someone called Deadpool.” That annoying assassin everyone keeps talking about?

“Calm down, Parker.” Chief Beifong sighed. “I’m pretty sure they meant Gluttony.”

“I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”

“I’ll take care of the Voracious One.” Colonel Curtiss pitched in his opinion as everyone listened. “Someone will have to cover me, though.” Colress, a Pokemon professor, stood up.

“I suppose my Pokemon and I can help you and keep him at bay.” Colonel Curtiss gave him a nod.

Keeping track of everything that was discussed, Major Kisaragi addressed something else. “That’s all of the homunculi, but what about Esdeath’s henchmen? We’ve fought one of them who had a vicious animal, one that my brother had no trouble defeating, to fight alongside her. Certainly, the others will be around for another ambush on us.”

Noting the possibility, Rhodes faced the Hero of Ikaruga. “I’ll help you and Sub-Zero if it comes down to that.” Kisaragi and Grandmaster Kuai Liang nodded.

“Do we have a plan for the head honcho?” It was Bolin’s turn to ask the big question. I was wondering when we were going to get to the leader. “If he finds a way to cancel out the alchemy of the State Alchemists again without them being able to fight back this time, then they’re screwed.”

“We’ll take evacuation measures sooner than usual.” Even in the possibility of the tide being turned against us, the Chief Major remained calm. It’s impressive, yet eerie. I wouldn’t be capable of maintaining such a state for long periods of time.

“The young man has a good point.” From Stark’s tone, I can’t tell if he’s disagreeing with Kusanagi or is just addressing something else. “That leads me to the next possibility I thought of: if the means to counter their new experiment fails… I think we’re going to have to look for that vampire Alucard again.”

Touta smiled, as if that relieved him of the burden to fight the female homunculus. “I’ll go look for him. If his guns can negate the souls of the Philosopher’s Stone, then maybe we can reverse the ritual.” Vampires are known to drain the blood of their victims, but can a vampire actually steal souls through a Philosopher’s Stone? I would have pondered more about this, if Bloodedge hadn’t spoken.

“Looking for that vampire won’t be necessary.” We all turned to the ‘Grim Reaper.’

“What do you have in mind?” Major Briggs asked him.

“Charge in, kick his ass, and shred him to pieces with all your might?” Stark rolled his eyes as if to expect what the Grim Reaper intended to do. “If that’s your strategy, I congratulate you, buddy. It’s a nice plan for getting us all killed.”

Ragna chuckled at the Armored Avenger’s response. “Good guess, asshole, but that’s not it.” Everyone blinked as he started to explain. “I have the Azure Grimoire, a dangerous weapon that taps into a power that penetrates the soul. You guys mentioned that this leader has a stone that inhibits souls for a heart, right? I can simply extract the souls of the stone out of this bastard’s body.” What this man brought to the table was something that astonished me. Is it true he can actually do that? In a way, this sounds similar to what I did to Bison in his base. Guile, Chun-Li, Cammy, Rashid, and Ms. Recital, all having the same expressions, turned to me, thinking of the exact same thing. I turned to Major Kisaragi, who also had the same look of shock on his face; from his expression, the claim isn’t as bogus as I thought. We may have a chance.

Behind the mask, the Iron Man blinked, stunned. “Bloodedge, that’s… actually a good idea, but I’m not sold that it’s worth the risk. I’m pretty sure that guy’s absorbed more than enough souls to withstand your dangerous toy, so we’ll have to bring Alucard and his fledgeling with us for extra help to undo the Head Homunculus’ voodoo ritual.” He turned to Konoe again. “Kid, be sure to look for that vampire while you and Asami are done picking your spots.” As Touta and Asami nodded, right before someone else spoke on the President’s end.

“Wait, Alucard? Isn’t that one of the names he mentioned?” President Bartlet turned to his right to address the secretary. Knowing who it is, Ahsoka smiled.

“That’s right, Ms. Lemon. Knowing a certain friend of ours, he might already be making his move.” Sears… When did he contact the President about all this? I don’t know what he’s plotting to do after meeting with Alucard, but it could increase our chances of victory. Batou and Togusa, on the other hand, spoke in private. While everyone else was confused about who the President was referring to, Beifong’s other subordinate Mako tried to get the topic back on track.

“Once we carpet bomb their temples, we do the same to their leader’s temples?”

“Correct.” Guile answered “We’ll just need to be careful to ensure the Elrics’ father doesn’t come to harm in the process, even if he can protect himself from it.”

Having confidence in our strategy, I stepped in front of the television screen to face the President. “Mr. President, I believe we have the strategy we need to stop the Ouroboros. We will return to your office for support after the battle.” I gave him a salute.

The President saluted back. “I look forward to it, Captain. Godspeed, soldiers.” He turned off the TV, leaving us without him.

“Well, if that’s everything, then I guess we’re done.” The Avaricious homunculus answered. “That old man’s gonna be impossible to stop if we keep babbling here.”

“Agreed.” The Major General inhaled before announcing more loudly. “Everyone, make whatever final preparations you need. We move out in twenty-five minutes!”

We all stood up, with Greed being the first to depart his own bar, with the stuffed bear following him, leading most of the others out of the bar. I, however, remained inside to discuss some arrangements to our strategies.

Rearrangements

As told by Edward Elric

A majority of us walked out to different areas in the House of Power. Of the people who split up, some wanted to relax, while others trained. Stark, the Colonels, and the Chief Major, however, stayed behind. Greed decided to head near the entrance to relax. Yawning, he looked around, seeing Beifong behind him. He doesn’t seem too surprised by her presence.

“Not gonna lie, I was hoping you’d follow me out here.” The Renegade homunculus sat on a rock before laying, hands behind his head.

“I figured.” The Chief of Republic City responded. She looked at the Avaricious as he laid down. “So, what’s on your mind?”

At first, Greed never said anything before taking a deep breath. “I have something to ask. Remember when we all traded stories at Asami’s after the party for Korra’s new seat, your sister’s name came up a lot?“

Beifong processed what her ‘partner’ described for a few seconds. “Suyin? What about her?”

“You said she created a metal city during the time when you guys were on the outs.” Greed turned to the metal-bender, almost seeming like a poker face. “She’s a metal-bender, correct?”

“That’s right.” She nodded.

Content on where this is going, Greed then asked another question. “How good is she at using that to create armor?”

Recalling Suyin’s experiences, Beifong gives a brief account. “She can take a slab of metal and wrap it around herself as protection in the middle of a fight, almost effortlessly. Hell, I’d say she could give you a bit of a run… for…” Realizing where she was going with her statement, Beifong stopped herself; she closely noticed a sly smirk on Greed’s face. A combination of dread and rage consumed her. “No… Absolutely not. We are not bringing Su to the Pantheon just to throw her into this war against your family from hell!” It’s going to be one of Greed’s ‘possessions rants,’ isn’t it? Just like the time me, Darius, and Heinkel were his ‘possessions.’ The reaction Lin had gotten was different from what she was expecting; Greed got up and snapped at her.

“Can it, Lin! You should know me better than that!” Beifong’s eyes widened as her anger began to subside. “If I make the effort to get Su brought into my temple as my High Priestess, that makes her one of my possessions. And I told you this already, if I have anything to say about it, my possessions stay in top condition.” Contrary to what I’d usually expect of these two, Beifong actually sighed in relief, her anger had been reduced to annoyance.

“Her husband most likely wouldn’t appreciate you referring to her as your possession.”

Greed, however, remained calm. “Oh, he’d be my possession too, and so would her kids.” Never knew Toph made such a big family. “You mentioned they have plenty of those, right?”

“And how do you figure that?” Beifong asked.

Laying back down on the rock, Greed chuckled lightly. “Easy. Once she becomes a part of the Pantheon through me, it’s only a matter of time before someone combs her history, finds something she embodies, and gets her a seat of her own.” At first, Beifong seemed content as she allowed the rebel homunculus to continue. “Gives her the chance to have them all become her Heralds, all connected to you and me.” Well, the Major General did first ascend under Beifong as a High Priestess before Raditz attacked Republic City.

“Why would you do something like this, though?” Republic City’s Police Chief asked, confused in regards to his explanation. Did Greed lie to her? He’s always so honest about things. “You just said you won’t ask her to help with the Ouroboros, and if you’re trying to ingratiate yourself with me, we both know that I wouldn’t fall for something so cheap.”

“That’s not it, either. I have plans of my own as well.” I know he swore to bring his old chimera friends to this place as well, but this has me wondering, how is he going to bring them here the way things are now if he couldn’t do it before? “You see that list everybody had to pick up to get in? Those are all the names of certain chimeras I either know or know about.” He stood up.

“Chimeras…” Beifong tried to remember what they looked like. “You mean those half-animal humans?”

“That’s them.” Greed confirmed. “Nina was a little girl the Elrics failed to save from her scumbag father’s experiments. They’ve been haunted about that one to this day.” Al and I visit the House of Life and Death once a month in memorial to her and Alexander. Unfortunately, there are many guys like Tucker doing the same thing, one of them I’ve gotten reports from Colonel Mutsuki. If they ever experiment on their children, the other Majors and I will come knocking at their doorstep. “Milla’s the one you heard about from this very house of the Pantheon.”

Beifong’s description is… hilarious. “The dog girl who’s scared of Mustang?” Hah, a chimera’s scared of a person who loves dogs. The irony behind this makes me want to laugh. “So you two really are familiar?”

Greed let out a chuckle. “Yeah. I trained her a little bit in hand to hand combat based on what I picked up from Prince Ling.” Ling… I hope there’s a way to get him into the Pantheon. “I think she has some friends around that I haven’t met yet. Hopefully she’s up to speed about what’s going on.”

The daughter of Toph joined in on the laughter. “Wait till Olivier hears about this. I doubt she’ll let the colonel slide without a good insult if she knows the dog who fears him is friendly with a homunculus.” And again, Mustang’s a dog lover. If I heard this, I’d laugh. Greed’s laughter died down.

“You can go ahead and go deal with that, but let’s get back to the list.” Both stopped laughing as the Avaricious one explained further. “The previous two were me and Ed’s followers heading into the original Promised Day. The two before that were Al’s traveling buddies. Apparently, they’re still in Xing when he’s not here.” …And the four of them used to work under Kimblee, at that. “And the first four-”

“Are Roa, Dolcetto, Martel and Bido. The original stray dogs of the Devil’s Nest.” Beifong finished. “The ones you rescued from the military and pulled into working for you until they all got killed by Bradley or your amnesiac self.”

Though a little unhappy, Greed tried to maintain a positive expression on his face. “Y-yeah… kinda wish you didn’t bring up that last part.”

“I was paying attention at Korra’s afterparty too, you know.” Her words had led her to a realization. “Now it all makes sense; you want to bring your Chimera friends back, and get Suyin here through your temple to help expand your capital.” Well-spotted, Beifong. “But.. You could’ve done this already. Why wait until now to bring it up?”

“Could’ve,” Greed sighed. “But it wouldn’t have been the smartest play. Not with Pops, Bradley, and the rest of those creeps scheming around.”

“You’re not wrong on that one.” The Republic City Police Chief remarked. “Especially given the fallout from the Rainbow Rocket incident.”

Baring his teeth, the Avaricious Homunculus balled his left hand into a fist. “That’s another reason we have to kick High Command’s ass and put a stop to their rituals. Before I bring anyone in, I want to at least make it to where the old bastard and his damn puppets can never steal my people from me again.” That explains everything about his chimera friends being absent. With the Rainbow Rocket outbreak, as well as that robotic outbreak before that, the Bearded Bastard could’ve taken them hostage at any time.

“I’ll stop you right there.” Chief Beifong interjected, feeling rather inspired by Greed’s motives. “You’re including my sister in that statement, and you keep saying I’ll be your Queen. That makes them my people as much as yours.” That speech sounds familiar….

A sly grin returned to the rebel homunculus’s face. “Oooh. Thinking about resources for when you need to operate outside the law?” Smiling, the Earthbender official rested her forearm around Greed’s shoulder.

“Sounds like we just came to an agreement.” Sighing in a content mood, Greed returns the favor.

“That we did.” The two remained that way for a few moments until they heard footsteps coming from behind them.

“Ahem.” How long was he there? They turned around to see a certain airbender with a mustache and beard. The Chief was the first to speak.

“Tenzin.”

“Seems you’re both getting along fine, for once.” He remarked to the two as if they were a love-dovey couple.

“And you seem fond of eavesdropping like some kind of scoopbender.” Tenzin’s face turned at the Earthbending official’s remark.

“I simply chose not to prematurely interrupt an adult conversation!” Does that really look like such? He takes a deep breath to calm down, turning to Greed. “Although I did hear enough to comment about the crew. If they’re anything like you, Mr. Greed, that makes more people of ill repute for Korra to gravitate towards despite my misgivings.” Greed noticed a solemn look on the Airbender’s face.

“It’s nice to see you here, old man, but you can’t come at me with a half-hearted jab like that. Something seems to be troubling you.”

The Airbender sighed as he began to subtly express his worries. “I’ve been thinking about the reports Asami and Touta mentioned. The ones about Azula capturing Giovanni in High Command’s name and moving the deities they’ve captured.” Is it possible that the rodent detective found Korra in Bradley’s temple? Maybe I should look for him when I have the chance. The piece of information, however, led to Beifong pondering the possibility.

“Given that this ‘Basil’ rodent just exposed the trophies, it’s highly unlikely they wouldn’t know anything about the missing captives.”

“Including Korra.” Greed added.

“Especially Korra.” Tenzin also added.

Stressed at the thought of our ideas falling apart, Beifong sighed. “I imagine those two are planning to ambush Azula to try and get something out of her. The Elrics’ teacher was awfully quick to suggest they both be put on tactical interception duty.”

Keeping in mind the discussion at the bar, Tenzin’s tone became more serious and urgent. “We’ve seen Touta’s powers. She must’ve realized that Asami needed his power to take on whatever the Fire Nation Princess could throw at them.”

Greed clenched his teeth in frustration. “I know Asami can fight, but if she goes in against someone like Azula with just one person helping her and she’s off her game… dammit, that could be trouble.”

“Why do you think I volunteered myself and the boys to take her on?” Beifong remarked.

“Sounds like someone thought ahead.” Hearing a certain voice, the three of them turned around to see me and Al, having finished training from Teach, myself being the one who spoke. “You were right. Those two are hell bent on using this fight to get information on Korra.”

Tenzin placed his right on his chin as he suggested something. “Perhaps we should tell another person or two about this to try and temper their approach. Touta’s power may be more potent than Alphonse and I realized, but approaching the likes of Bradley or Azula without being on high alert is definitely a way to get caught in some sort of trap.”

“He created a steel shell around himself when we fought that blonde, red-and-blue skinned person.” Al added.

Stressed, Tenzin sighed. “Indeed, he’s a tough one, as well.” The airbender complimented. “Smarter than he looks, and incredibly determined in spirit.”

“Reminds me of someone I know.” Beifong said as she sat down on a stone.

Greed looked around, as if key people were missing. “Where is the Major General? Is she still at the bar?”

“That’s part of what I came here to tell you guys.” I revealed. “I saw her and Chief Major Kusanagi going over something with Colonel Mustang and Colonel Curtiss. I wonder what that’s all about.”

“They could be using these last minutes to look over worst case scenarios.” The Earth-bending official guessed.

Al then had a question. “Do you think Eastern Command is helping Section 9 with preparing our emergency evacuation route?”

Greed rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to plan both a raid on a place and a possible escape, getting input from folks who’ve done it before isn’t a bad idea.” You know, I can learn a thing or two from the Chief Major.

“It’s better than being dead.” Beifong remarked as she watched Tenzin sit down on a rock as well. “Aside from the people staying behind the Homunculus leader’s temple, perhaps I could call some of my troops to attack from the outside once we storm the place.” That’s a good idea, attacking from both inside and out. “Would certainly help in keeping High Command’s reinforcements from closing in on us while we’re fighting inside.” We all nodded in agreement to the idea.

“It’s a sound tactic.” Tenzin noted. “We should bring it up to those three. What arrangements will you make for Asami and Touta?”

“Assuming we can get them to listen to reason, I was planning on having Touta help Satsuki’s giant take down that red and blue man.” She explained. “But then Stark suggested that he look for Alucard, until Bartlet mentioned that a friend of his is already looking for him.” She grew more stressed as she continued explaining. “I’m not certain what the kid intends to do, but we should try to reach him with my original plan. Asami, on the other hand… I haven’t fully thought that one out. At first, I intended to have her be on the lookout for ambushes coming our way, but-” she stopped herself as she sighed. “It’s kind of troublesome accounting for everyone.”

I turned to the Earth-bending official. “Teach suggested they should be pulled away from the fighting, but I see why you’re not so sure about it. If Asami goes it alone, that frees her up to get overzealous at some point.”

“Maybe she can work with Cyrax.” Al’s suggestion served as a reminder to me.

“Cyrax? Wait…” I blinked in confusion before I remembered an instance of us splitting up in the past. That’s right. You told me about someone going by that name before. Now I remember. If I recall, that man’s a friend of Major Briggs and Sub-Zero. My brother told me he met him once, and how he was forced into a similar predicament to him. Major Briggs informed me that he is a member of Sub-Zero’s clan, the Lin Kuei, but slightly distanced himself due to being forced into a process called the Cyber Initiative. “That ninja cryo-mancer mentioned he’ll be joining us. She could help fix him up if he needs any quick maintenance. Someone will have to cover her, though.”

“Soon as me and that Jedi apprentice take care of Lust, I’ll go straight to her side.” Greed responded.

“But where will the yellow cyborg go?” Tenzin asked, noticing a particular flaw in the rebel homunculus’ plan, making him rethink his idea.

“Damn, good question. I better ask that Cryomancer Ninja before he leaves with his group.”

“I’m gonna talk to Ice Jerk and see if he knows something about Asami.” I suggested. I don’t know how often they’ve spoken to each other, but they live in the same area. It’s worth a shot. As we were speaking about reigning Asami in, two more people walked in.

“Enjoying the fresh air, I see.” The five of us turned to see Guile, with Chun-Li by his side.

“I guess you can say that.” Beifong noticed Olivier was missing. “The Major General’s still inside the bar?”

“Yeah. They’re discussing things with Charlie, Stark, and the Colonels.” The circle-top soldier answered. “They should be coming shortly, as should everyone else.” As the conversation continued, Al turned to the entrance to see a figure, sporting what seemed like yellow armor from afar.

“He’s here.” We were initially confused as to what Al was saying before we turned to his direction, and surely enough, the guy he suggested a minute ago was walking right toward the House. Behind Cyrax, was a large army of ninjas and assassins. It was so large it caught the attention of Ryu, the only present guardian of the House of Power.

“Both the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu…” The man took note of the colors of the uniforms both groups were wearing, then stepped out to greet them as they neared the entrance. “Your Grandmasters are both preparing at a bar in the House of Power.”

“Thank you. We shall be on our way.” Cyrax nodded before leading both clans to Greed’s bar, seeing Al with the rest of us. “Alphonse?” Surprised, he approached us, with both clans following him, with Al walking to Cyrax. “It’s good to meet you here. What’s going on?”

“We’re about to fight old enemies from my world,” he responded. “King Bradley’s High Command.”

“Yes, Bradley, I’ve been told about him.” The cyborg noted. “I look forward to fighting alongside you, Armored Alchemist.”

“The same here, Cyrax.” My brother shook hands with the cyborg before noticing the huge army. “There’s no need to send the clans into the bar. The masters will be on their way here.”

Content, Cyrax gave a signal to his soldiers to wait. “Very well, then. We’ll wait with you here.” We joined the two of them.

“Good to see you’re keeping connections strong, Cyrax.” Chun-Li commented. Greed then interrupted the hand shake to introduce himself.

“Sorry to interrupt your handshake with armor-boy here, but it’s nice to meet ya, tin man. I’m the owner of the bar you were just about to enter.” He looked at the others briefly before turning back to him. “We were just speaking about you before you arrived here. Sorry for asking you this so soon, but there’s a favor we need you to carry out.”

Cyrax blinked beneath his helmet. “What is it?”

“There’s a girl with us named Asami Sato, and she’s been quite temperamental lately.” Tenzin explained. “You see, we’ve been looking for a way to keep her away from Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, and Alphonse here suggested she should be with you.”

Cyrax took a moment to process the explanation. “I don’t mind taking her with me, but to what cause do I owe this unusual request?” He’s actually going to take her with him? I was expecting him to decline.

“Ever since her girlfriend, an Avatar, was captured, she’s been trying desperately to find her.” Greed continued the explanation. “Me, the female soldier and her troops had to drag Asami out of the Pantheon when some criminals attacked and started turning deities into golden trophies. If she goes against the Fire Princess, or worse, King Bradley, in the condition she’s in, she may rush herself into a trap, and we don’t want a CEO of an engineering company dead.”

Behind the mask, the last detail caused Cyrax to raise his eyebrow. “She’s an engineer?” The yellow cyborg then announced his decision. “Very well… I will free you people of your burden and take her as my subordinate for the time being.” He accepted? I thought he was going to turn down the offer and give us a harder time than we already have.

The seven of us were relieved that Cyrax accepted the proposal. Tenzin was the most vocal about it. “Thank you.” We should also be thanking Alphonse for making friends with this guy.

“We’re grateful for your help, Cyrax.” Chun-Li spoke before taking out her cell phone from her pocket, doing something before speaking to him again. “By the way, I’m sure this man will look familiar to you.” The Interpol detective showed Cyrax a picture of the shadowy guy Al and Ice-Jerk fought.

“Bi-Han…” He knows the shadow bastard. What kind of history do they have together? Cyrax was disheartened to see the man. “Sub-Zero informed me everything about him being in that dictator’s group. Even at his worst, I always thought he despised deception and took pride in making use of his abilities. I can’t believe he’s fooled someone into hurting their own kin.” If they were pals back then, I wonder what this Bi-Han guy was like before he became undead. Cyrax must be really devastated if he knows this crook so fondly.

Remaining calm, Guile placed his hand on his chest. “He’s embraced his darkness, Cyrax, just like Bison. He can’t be reasoned with anymore.” I noticed he sounded more morose, knowing how well the two knew each other.

“Good to see an army already assembled.” A certain voice made us turn around to see everyone else, with Colonel Mustang being the one who spoke. The Flame Alchemist saw the large number of people behind Cyrax, noticing their weapons. Recognizing their clans, both Grandmasters Kuai Liang and Hanzo Hasashi approached their respective clans to lecture them.

“Listen up, Lin Kuei! You are to aid Spider-Man against the shapeshifter homunculus Envy! Fight to your dying breath! We are at war!” Sub-Zero’s ordered the Lin Kuei.

“Shirai Ryu! You are to help the vampire Alucard take down the Nazi organization called The Millenium! Show them the harvest from our training!” Scorpion commanded his Shirai Ryu.

“Yes sir!” Both clans shouted in unison.

“So, any idea how we’re gonna fit all THESE guys in transportation?” Parker asked, noticing the large number of people in both clans.

“We’ve arranged for the Clan members to be on two airships made by Future Industries to arrive here.” Always keeping a cool head, that Chief Major.

“Two armed helicopters will be coming here as well.” Charlie informed us. “I’ll pilot the one we flew our way here, while Guile and Jax fly the other two.”

“We better proceed quickly, I will be on my Dyengard.” Major Zonvolt was the first to leave the group for his mecha.

“Since I’m gonna face Lust, I’ll be going with the Jedi apprentice.” Greed turned to Ahsoka, who led him to the Delta 7B Aethersphere. Selena watched as the two left before turning to the rest of us.

“Who’s attacking what, exactly?”

“Pride and Envy’s temples are in the House of Mentalism, so I will bomb theirs.” Guile proposed.

“Two birds killed with one stone.” Charlie remarked. “In that case, I’ll drop explosives on both the temples of the female homunculus and King Bradley’s barracks in the House of Personal Appearance.”

“Other than keeping our MVPs alive, things seem to be a good start, so far.” Johnny commented.

“Guess that leaves me to bomb the fat homunculus’ temple then.” Jax sat down on a rock, stretching his legs.

“Try not to go overboard with the air strike, Major Briggs.” Colonel Pervert pointed to Ragna. “Chef Reaper still has a job.”

Jax sighed. “Gluttony’s temple is far away from the guardians, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Gordon Ramsey, one of the chefs, has a rather nasty temper whenever someone screws up. Jax, alongside a lot of us, looked up to the sky and saw two armed helicopters descending to the entrance of the House of Power, landing near the first one Guile and Nash co-piloted; the second helicopter was green-blue in color with red stripes. The third was purple on the front, with camouflage on the rear, accompanied by light-green stars. Three minutes later, two airships arrived at the House of Power, descending to the ground moments later.

“Transportation has arrived!” Ororo noted as she turned to everyone. “Has anyone decided on pilots yet?”

Charlie nodded before making his decision. “I’ll use the plane Guile and I co-piloted on our way here.” He then turned to the metal-armed Major. “Jax, go to the green and purple one.”

“That leaves me with the green and blue one.” Guile surmised.

Jax turned to Cyrax and the two Grandmasters. “Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Cyrax, you guys are coming with me!” He then turned to Ice Jerk and his brother. “Major Kisaragi, bring your brother, Colonel Mutsuki, and that Jellyfish pirate with you to my chopper too!” Before they could all come with Jax, circle-top made a last-minute suggestion.

“Jax, bring Asami with you as well. She’ll be working with Cyrax.” This confused Sub-Zero, who turned back to us.

“Why is the engineer coming with us?”

Cyrax approached his fellow clan member. “Arrangement of plans from Republic City’s Police Chief.” Colonel Pervert looked at Beifong confused before heading into the helicopter with the others. Ororo turned to Cammy.

“Cammy, I’ll fly on my own to find this treacherous Primera Espada, and take him down as quickly as possible.”

“Right.” The Delta Red Agent nodded as she turned to the Interpol Inspector. “Are you ready, Chun-Li?”

“Of course.” The two female martial artists agreed to board Charlie’s copter. Olivier, meanwhile, turned to the Colonel.

“Mustang, you and I will be boarding Guile’s helicopter in the company of every Amestrian present.”

“Sounds like a plan, Major General.” he responded. He stopped for a moment as he placed his hands on his chin. “But how are we going to fit everyone on the chopper? Too many people could weigh it down.” Good point. Major Armstrong remembered the muscular, mosquito-like Ultra Beast during the fight at Bartlet’s office. Reaching the Pokeball in his pocket, he threw it in the air, summoning it in a blue light. After it revealed its reddish-orange muscular form, the Major took note of the wings on its back.

“I will need your assistance.” Armstrong told the Ultra Beast. “You see, there are too many passengers on the helicopter I’m about to board. Can you alleviate the trouble and transport me with your wings?” Despite the rather formal way of asking the creature, the Ultra Beast agreed to let the Strongarm Alchemist climb on its back. He then faced us. “Alright, I have my Pokémon to fly me.” The rest of us blinked as the Ultra Beast flew off with Armstrong.

“Well, that’s… One way to have less passengers on the choppers.” Rhodes uttered, slightly dumbfounded at the idea of the Major using a Pokémon to fly.

“Colonel Curtiss and I will go on the Air Force Captain’s helicopter.” The bespectacled Colonel nodded in agreement with the Pokemon Professor as they went to Charlie’s copter while Selena went inside her AS Alegrias. After watching them leave, the Chief Major turned to everyone else.

“Batou and I will pilot Tachikomas while the rest of Section Nine will drive the van we all arrived in with the firearms equipped inside.” She gave the signal to her group, who all immediately went to the van while the rest of us Amestrians boarded Guile’s copter. Meanwhile, Parker led the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu to the airships from Asami’s company, with Chief Beifong, Mako, and Bolin following him.

“Sheesh, lunch is gonna take a while with these guys.” I wonder if all of those guys fit in the two airships?

As everyone prepared to depart, Stark and Rhodey flew up. “Alright, transportation’s covered, Tony.” The latter noted the former as the Iron Man looked around. “Everyone, let’s get moving! We’ll continue with Easter celebrations after this!” With that, we all departed the House of Power. I’ll come for you after this fight is over, Winry. Wait for me.

The Premier Cyclone

As told by Tony Stark

Another day in the Pantheon, another scheme to thwart. We all departed the House of Power, with myself and Rhodey flank-guarding Captain Charlie Nash’s helicopter as it headed towards the House of Personal Appearance. I flew over closer to the front of the copter, getting Nash’s attention. “Alright, captain, what’s the plan?”

“We’ll destroy the Fuhrer’s barracks first, then the homunculus Lust’s next.” It’s smart for him to do that first. Just what kind of experiments does the Fuhrer have inside the place? Whatever it is, High Command, the Homunculi, and their grand leader will be deprived of resources after we demolish it. Three minutes later, we arrived at the House of Personal Appearance, preparing to destroy Bradley’s temple, and then Lust’s. Wasting no time, I protected the helicopter as the captain bombed the Fuhrer’s temple first; pressing a button, the bottom part of the helicopter opened, revealing explosives that dropped on Bradley’s barracks, devastating the temple.

“One down…” Rhodes noted. “Guess the female’s temple is next.” The two of us followed the helicopter to protect them as Nash is about to do the same to Lust’s temple. As soon as the first bomb was dropped, a blue beam of light was seen coming our way. I was the first to see it coming from my right.

“Incoming!” Immediately, I rushed to intercept the blast of energy, knocking me away. Rhodey rushed in to catch me, stopping the velocity of the impact.

“Tony, are you alright?” Rhodey asked, holding me for a few seconds before letting me go.

“Yeah.” I looked at the right shoulder of my armor and noticed a small singe. I turned to the helicopter to check on its condition. “How’s it going in there, Nash?”

“No damage here, Stark.” The Air Force Captain turned to me and Rhodey, noticing the injury. “Looks like whatever just attacked was able to graze your shoulder.”

“Someone tried to pick you guys off with an energy blast.” I responded. “And I think I know who did it.” We waited a minute until a certain figure arrived, the same one that tried to stop Majors Sakamoto and Zonvolt from destroying a missile High Command launched… Had dark brown hair down to his neck, and blueish-gray eyes, one of them being covered by an eyepatch for some reason. He wore a white coat with fur on the back of it, black pants with fur up to the shins and his waist. What unsettled me a little is how he has a hole in his chest. What pissed me off a bit more is that this bastard almost has the same surname as I do. In a contemptuous look, I turned to the man. “You…” I intensely stared at the assailant. “My friend and I here were told about your part in that young lady’s marksmen group.” He turned away, remaining stone-faced. Was he using them? Does this guy feel anything? The look on his face confused me and Rhodey. Before he could face us, Ororo appeared in between us.

“Primera Espada… I shall take you down here and now!” The female X-Man turned to us; I in turn made eye contact with Nash.

“Evacuate immediately! Now!” At my command, Charlie steered the helicopter to fly away, with Rhodey following them. I turned to the black woman one last time. “Make sure to come back to us.” I left the House of Personal Appearance to catch up to the others, leaving the two of them to duke it out. The sight of the woman before him surprised him a bit.

“A woman? Hitting ladies is not something I’m ecstatic about…” He sighed. Wasting no hesitation, he shot blue energy blasts at her. Ororo swiftly descended almost to the ground, avoiding the attack. The Primera Espada fired several more blasts of energy at the mutant. Ororo evaded the blasts again, but this time, it ended up in the direction of a few of Bradley’s troops who survived the air strikes at Lust’s temple, killing them instead. This puts him in a state of shock for a moment, only to regain his calm. He turned to the weather mutant. “This is getting troublesome. Let’s take this elsewhere.” With this unexpected ultimatum, he flew away from the House of Personal Appearance. Smiling at the avoidance of casualties, Ororo wordlessly followed him. Leading their fight away from the House of Personal Appearance, the Primera Espada flew past several other houses. What the two didn’t expect was that they got the attention of two specific deities with them, both female: One of them was one of the gunslingers that fought those artificial vampires before I arrived to stop the Espada from taking out the two Majors in their attempt to destroy that missile. From the looks of her appearance, she had brown hair, seemingly with an orangish tone. She sported a white vest with blue lines at the end, with a black skirt that had lines of red underneath. She also had a shorter skirt that had the same color as the vest, probably held together by two belts tied to the center of her waist. The other was an older woman who had black hair, sporting big braided pigtails. She wore a hakama uniform that met at the middle. It’s well known that this woman has a more vicious side only shown when she lets her hair down. I haven’t seen it personally, but maybe someone else has stories. And it’s just my luck that this woman is in the same area as the current head of Future Industries, the Major General of Briggs, and the Hero of Ikaruga.

Where is Starrk going? I wished the gun-woman hadn’t thought about that name. Is he going to talk to her about something? Curious of the Primera Espada’s motives, she pursued the two of them from a distance. The other woman quietly did the same. Primera continued to lead Ororo around the Pantheon, spotting an area two miles away from the House of Nature. He turned back to the female X-Man before taking to the ground, while the mutant did the same. From a distance, both female witnesses took to the ground moments later and watched what the two combatants were about to do.

“I guess we can settle our fight here…” Primera sighed as he faced the weather mutant. “Killing isn’t my style.” Is this guy joking? He betrayed a marksmen group, attacked two Majors to prevent them from destroying a missile, tried to attack Nash’s helicopter, and now he just killed some of Bradley’s troops after the temples were bombed. This bastard isn’t making any sense right now. Who’s side is he on?

“You say that, Espada, but the suffering you’ve caused doesn’t match your conviction.” That I can strongly agree on, Ororo. “By the powers of the elements, I will end your treachery, here and now!” The mutant sorceress went into a stance, while Primera pointed his gun at her. The wind blew as the two prepared to continue the fight they’ve left off. The weirdo shot a sequence of five blasts at the X-Man. With her wind currents, she dodged three of them. After she evaded the third shot, Primera decided to aim the fourth shot at the tree she was going to land, something Ororo noticed at the last minute before moving out of the way, leaving her only a little time to block the attack, leaving her with a small bruise mark on her left arm. The Espada fired the fifth blast from his right arm, bigger than the rest of them. As the blast headed straight for Ororo, the Omega-Level Mutant parried the blast of energy with lightning on her hands, dispelling it. Channeling into her powers, Ororo summoned a whirlwind, lifting multitude of tree branches in the process, lightly knocking her opponent away and briefly blinding him in the process. Seeing this as a chance to strike, the X-Man flew at high speeds, charging electricity in her hands. Once she was close to the Primera Espada, she placed her hands on her chest, zapping his entire body; opening his eyes, he screamed in pain. Trying to resist electrocution, he delivered a head-butt to drive her away, getting away from her in the process. As the mutant sorceress engaged him, Primera, without warning, fired a large blue blast of energy from his chest; while Ororo evaded it, the blast reached a long distance that it damaged a tree near the House of Nature, bringing it down, enabling the X-Man to summon a tornado to disorient his flight in the process. Trying to retain his balance, the Primera Espada created two swords made out of spiritual energy. I guess swords must be part of the wild west now, I can accept that. Jokes aside, the weirdo closed in on his opponent in an attempt to cut her down. Ororo managed to dodge a few sword slashes before making a counter-attack; stepping to his side, she quickly went in again to punch him in the face, followed by a kick to his right shoulder.

I didn’t think this woman could fight without her powers. The thought of the mutant hitting him with just punches and kicks had caught him off-guard a little before pressing on with his attack. Ororo, meanwhile, continued to dodge the sword blows, only receiving three cut wounds, one on her left hand, one on her cheek, and the last one on her collarbone. As Primera struck with his energy weapons again, she caught his right hand, kicking him in the thigh in the process, while decreasing the body temperature in his hand to freeze that hand, causing the sword to dissipate. With his left arm still functional, he tried to impale his opponent, only for her to move out of the way and freeze the other hand as well. With both energy swords fading, he could no longer attack. Looking around, he spotted the older woman with the braided pig-tails, instantly recognizing her by the black hakama and white coat. One of Soul Society’s Captains? Is she with this woman? If they’re here together, I have no chances of winning here. While Primera was pondering about this ‘Captain,’ Ororo, with her hands once again channeling electricity, moved in and electrocuted him again, more intensely than she did previously. He screamed in agony before she stopped, leaving him and his uniform fried and burned. Now defeated, he let out a quiet chuckle before collapsing and falling to the ground. Ororo could only watch as she saw her opponent crash-land.

“It is done.” Without delay, the mutant sorceress flew off to catch up with the rest of us, leaving the two female spectators to emerge out of hiding.

He’s down. Now’s my chance to get answers out of him. The gun woman immediately rushed to the Primera Espada, only for the Soul Society Captain to swoop in, attack her, and grab Primera. The gun woman also recognized her. “Captain Unohana? Where are you taking Starrk?” The older woman, Retsu Unohana, said nothing. The younger female however, remained calm. Her next words were in a colder tone. “…Do whatever you want with the traitor. I’m leaving.” Without a word, Unohana disappeared with Primera in tow. I’m surprised the magical markswoman took this calmly. There were two other marks-women who didn’t take part in that raid against those artificial vampires. One of them is a Puella Magi, a group of which I’m not close with. The other one, who knows where she is now…

Food for Thought

As told by Jin Kisaragi

I sat on my chair, remaining calm as Major Jackson Briggs piloted his helicopter on the way to the House of Food. First I saw Kagura quietly leaning on the wall beside me, with Sub-Zero being across the seat from me. I then turned to Brother, who discussed something with the Shrai Ryu Grandmaster.

“So, what should I serve for the guests?” He asked. “Sanuki Udon? Motsunabe? Maybe Unagi Don?”

Scorpion sighed in annoyance as he tried to maintain his composure. “Just cook whatever you want, Ragna. The Shirai Ryu will send you ingredients whenever you’ve decided on your meal.”

The Dark one smiled. “Thanks. I owe your clan one for that.” I smiled without him knowing seeing it; even if he, or more specifically, the power he possesses, could pose a threat to the world order, he’s become a friendlier person to help those in need.

The Jellyfish pirate leader smiled. “Count me in as well. Could use a refresher after all this…”

Turning away, I looked at the yellow cyborg, Sub-Zero’s contemporary Cyrax, and, more particularly, the woman accompanying him, Asami Sato. Hindering as it is, it’s strange that Major Briggs brought one of my ‘neighbors’ to the helicopter. I don’t talk to her often. Ugh… I don’t have time to babysit the CEO of an engineering company, but Major Guile informed us that it was due to arrangements by Lin Beifong, the old woman in a military uniform who brought up how my talk with Greed led to the childish woman retreating. I’d shrug it off… if she wasn’t in such a foul mood. If I remember accounts correctly, her girlfriend, a female Avatar of Light, has gone missing and those Pokémon criminals had a hand in it. Before all of this, I witnessed the Elrics and that old woman among a crowd of people walking their way to Asami’s temple. As I was on my way to talk about something with Cygnus Hyoga and then the Chief Major, I didn’t participate in that trivial parade. I looked at her for a few minutes before directing my attention to Major Briggs, who turned to us all.

“We’re in the House of Food now.” As he turned back to the cockpit to focus on the location, Kagura’s eyes met the woman’s, also noting the dour look on her face. Not comfortable with sad women, he approached her.

“Hey.” The engineer turned to the Librarium’s Black Knight. “We’ll find your Avatar girlfriend. Just give it some time.”

“I just want to find her and get back to my schedule.” She replied somberly. “But thank you.” She smiled, knowing that it won’t be soon. Hearing that, my indifference towards the girl suddenly faded to an extent.

“Want to hear a story?” The engineer nodded in response to Kagura’s request. “Alright. In my world, there were two girls and one man who were trying to save a friend they cared about, kind of like what you’re doing right now.” Overhearing the story, me and Kagura looked at each other before I quietly turned away from them, knowing fully well what this was about, while he continued on. “The similarities end there: the girl they were trying to save was under mind control from a former emperor of ours. One of the girls had to relive an unfortunate memory to get stronger.” The story made the engineer a little fascinated to see where this was going.

“So, what kind of memory did this girl have?” she blinked, wondering. “Was it being brainwashed into some sort of mindless spy or something?”

Nervous, Kagura turned to Brother before continuing on. “Right. The other woman was… apparently a lonely ‘doll’ who hated herself. Some bastard capitalized on this and brainwashed her.” How fitting for Kagura to recall that incident; the obstacle really did sound like a machine the first time she first became ‘that.’ Oddly, looking back, I found her more feasible that way despite how dull she was. The engineer frowned at the story he told.

Listening to the story, the Jellyfish pirate contemplated this. Lonely… I remember meeting a girl like that once.

“That sounds horrible. Has she stopped hating herself?”

Before Kagura could explain, explosions were heard from the plane’s interior. Our focus was on Major Briggs, who got our attention after the airstrikes were done. “Alright. Fat Voracious temple, nuked off the Pantheonic map. So, where to next?” Taking this time, I responded.

“The House of Villainy.” I suggested boldly. “The sooner we find Esdeath, the sooner we can isolate her and that Fire Nation Princess away from that Fuhrer.” Everyone else nodded before Kagura concentrated on Asami once more, letting out a smile.

“It took her a while even after ascending, but she’s gotten over those issues now. She’s been leading a quiet life ever since, away from the endless crazy conflicts of this place. I doubt anyone connected to those Pokémon terrorists or the Homunculi would’ve caught so much as a glance of her in the past six months.”

Relieved that the story came to a happy end, the engineer’s face beamed with light. “I’m glad she’s overcome her flaws. I wish to meet her sometime after all this. After I find my girlfriend.” As the Black Knight smiled, Jax’s helicopter flew away from the House of Food.

Childish woman… Once I find you, I’ll make sure you’ll pay for harming the other majors.

Raiding a Führer’s Keep

As told by Roy Mustang

Arriving in the House of Mentalism in Guile’s helicopter with myself as co-pilot to guide him and Major Armstrong riding on this weird… muscular humanoid beetle that happens to be an Ultra Beast. We intended to demolish Envy’s temple first. There was one problem: The temple was dark and maze-like as it had only one lightbulb in one area each. Though the lights on the helicopter helped, I tried to give Guile directions to the Envious one’s temple through a copy of the map I printed.
“How can anyone see inside this maze of a House?” The American soldier looked around, displeased about the lack of a good light source. With just a single bulb, the House of Mentalism makes even the House of Crime look less suspicious. Though there are more good folks there, I can’t deny whatever tactics the deities there have implemented. There are rumors of something located deep beneath this House. That isn’t my concern now. We approached Envy’s temple, which were full of crude paintings of people related to the victims he killed. Guile pressed a button that activated the missiles, pressing another button that fires a few more of them at the bastard’s temple. “One down.” I wished Hughes was with us to see his killer’s temple get incinerated. Steering away from Envy’s temple, the American soldier decided to go to Pride’s next. From the passenger’s seats, Fullmetal quietly discussed something with his brother, whispering in his ear.
“Al, we are going to fight Dante.” We never brought up that woman in the discussion at Greed’s bar in the House of Power, so why bring it up now?
“You’re bringing this up now, brother? Why-” Alphonse stopped for a moment, remembering something. Of course. Teacher’s homunculus child from the other timeline. She has taken his soul captive. So that’s the reason they kept that a secret, even from their own teacher. Of course, I almost forgot she also performed human transmutation as well; in her case, it was to resurrect her dead son. Where is that Dante woman now? My thoughts wandered a little for a moment, only to snap out of it. Reminding myself to direct Guile to Pride’s temple, which was filled with… Nothing, to say the least.. After the American soldier demolished the other temple, he blinked. “That was quicker than I thought.”
“They’re in the same area in this House, so that’s less problematic for us. ” I retorted. As we proceeded to exit the maze- temple, Olivier’s phone rang. She took it out of her pocket to respond. Cell-phones sure are a great commodity in the Pantheon. Taking it out of her pocket to see it was Satsuki, she responded.
“Yes, Major General Armstrong speaking. Is there something you found, Kiryuiin?
“I’m thirty feet outside Fuhrer Bradley’s temple in the House of Magic. I will need the help of Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye to defeat Bradley.” As the Fuhrer, or should I say the Homunculus Wrath, has the Ultimate Eye, an entire army could only weaken him at most. Even despite being calm, I still dread the thought of fighting the Fuhrer again with my Flame Alchemy.
“Understood. I will inform the others.” Hanging up her phone, she ordered the Lieutenant to follow her to the cockpit to inform the two of us. “Major Guile, head to the House of Magic. Satsuki Kiryuiin wants the assistance of Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye against King Bradley.”
“Make sure you bring flash-bangs with you.” I have to thank you for that suggestion, Major Guile. “They’re beneath the passenger seats.” I got off the cockpit to go to the passenger’s area. As I retrieved the Flashbangs to put them in my pocket, Fullmetal looked at me.
“Please come back in one piece, Colonel.” He gave me a thumbs up. I responded by confidently doing the same.
“You can bet I’ll return victorious over the former Fuhrer, Fullmetal.” The both of us smiled before I returned to the cockpit with Guile, discovering that we exited out of the House of Mentalism. As we made our way to the House of Mentalism, I noticed a particular figure on the ground; he had dark skin, white hair, and his choice of clothes was a yellow jacket and black pants, though they were tattered for some reason. “Land the helicopter to the ground. There’s someone we have to pick up.” Making a brief detour, we descended to the ground, catching the attention of the man. Alphonse was the one to open the door.
“Scar! Get in!” Wasting no time, the Scarred Man of Ishval rushed to the pane and entered.
“Apologies for not making it to the meeting in time.” Scar looked at all of us before taking a seat.
“Were you going to the homunculi leader’s temple on your own?” Mrs. Curtis asked.
“Prior to your retrieving me, I was going to do just that.” He replied before taking a deep breath. “Now that I’m here with you State Alchemists, there’s something I must inform you all about.” Everyone was in silence as he began to explain. “The Philosopher’s Stone you claim those godless monsters have stolen from the treasury… That’s not a Philosopher’s Stone, actually.” This explanation confused everyone.
“What do you mean it’s not a Philosopher’s Stone?” Fullmetal was angry that he was lied to. “Me and Al saw the Homunculi took it with our own eyes!”
Scar tried to clear everything up. “I’d believe that too if I joined you, but the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ they stole at the treasury is actually a magical artifact known as the Stone of Nicodemus. Apparently, it’s in the possession of a human woman in league with the Fuhrer.”
Mrs. Curtis immediately figured out the description of the woman “Dante…” While the Elric brother’s teacher was angry, everyone, including myself, pondered about the information for a bit, only for the realization hit me. The homunculi must’ve mistaken it for a Philosopher’s Stone.
“I have no idea what the woman intends to do with it. However I must also warn you that the godless monsters have in their possession an angled stone known as the Shining Trapezohedron, a magical stone known to summon a dangerous creature to this world.” So these freakshows have magic in their hands now? I bet it’s from someone in the GUAE that gave them this. Everyone else muttered among themselves while Guile and I overheard everything.
“We’ll need to move more quickly if we’re to stop them this time.” Guile steered the helicopter to depart the House of Mentalism. “Who knows what they’re going to do next.” When I see Bradley, I’ll want to get more answers out of him when I arrive at his temple.

A Prelude To A Vampire’s Feast

As told by Charlie Nash

Two vampires lightly landed outside the latter’s temple in the House of Weapons. One of them was a man in a red coat and hat, with a buttoned shirt and vest underneath and black pants. The other vampire was a blonde woman with blue eyes, wearing a yellow vest and skirt with a belt around the waist, presumably to hold the skirt. She had socks up to her thighs, and black boots. The latter was the first to enter a temple. The other vampire began to also enter, but stops at the door. The female blinked.

“What is it, Master?” She looked at her master in confusion. For a few minutes, he didn’t respond, until he turned around and saw a certain old man approaching him. He donned a specific armor. Ignoring the armor, the vampire looked at the man. “What do you want?” The female approached them.

“I see you’re getting ready. Alucard, was it?” The man assessed the two vampires, figuring what they were about to do next. “My subordinates have spotted the artificial vampires from your world, heading to the House of Craft.” Bradley’s High Command fired a missile there, now they’re invading the place outright? The female vampire was confused.

“Just what does their leader have to gain from invading the House of Craft?” The question seemed to cause her master to change a more serious face.

“We’ll find out when we get there. Go inside and prepare your guns, Police Girl. I’ll go after you.” At his command, the ‘police girl’ vampire did as he told her after he stepped outside to speak with this man. “It’s an annoying hunt trying to find information without my mistress in this place.” He let out a sigh before going on. “I forgot my manners. Who are you, to start off?”

The old man smirked. “You may call me George Sears. Thank me later when we find them.” The powerful vampire remained silent as the female opened the door, all geared up with weapons, in particular a cannon that would be too heavy for even a muscular human to carry.

“I’m done, master. Are yo- Oh…” She stopped to see that Alucard and Sears are still talking. The latter turned his head to the woman. “You must be his fledgeling, Seras Victoria, correct?”

She bowed her head to the black operative. “Yes, it is nice to meet you… Um-”

“You can call me Sears.” The old man clarified while Alucard went in after his “child” was finished. I’ve never seen a vampire this polite and friendly before. It’s an odd, but warm departure from the typical kind of vampire.

“So, who do you work for?” She asked.

“I work for a very courageous and honest man who wants the best for his country.” It’s a suitable description of President Bartlet, I can’t complain. Alucard went inside Seras’ temple while the two of them continued talking. “Your master’s nicer than he seems.”

“Y-yeah…” The fledgeling laughed nervously as she waited for Alucard, only for another person to spot them.

“Seras!” Both Seras and Sears turned around to see a certain young man running toward them. “Thank goodness, I’m just in time to meet you!”

Cheerful, the female fledgeling approached their visitor. “It’s been a while since we last met at that vampire party, Touta.” The boy’s a vampire? I’m curious to know what they did at this ‘vampire party’ they speak of.

“Y-yeah… It was going all well until ‘that’ happened.” The boy chuckled nervously as he glanced away from Sears for a moment before looking at her again. Right… The ‘party’ that went bad after Zarovich grabbed a powerful scepter as a false promise by Mira Fallegeros to help him meet his love again. I heard he was jealous anyway. Absolutely despicable from both parties. To play with someone’s love is one thing, to be jealous of another man is something else. They’ll receive no sympathy from me. Regardless, they waited until Alucard emerged from Seras’ temple with his two guns loaded, noticing the young vampire in the process.

“It’s you. You’re here for something, kid?”

“I’ve been sent to find you…” He glared at a calm Sears for a moment before returning to the vampire. “It looks like that old man beat me to it. Where are you guys going, anyway?”

“The House of Craft.” Sears answered. “Those artificial vampires have been sighted there, carrying cargo.” He glanced at the boy to suggest. “You’re coming with me to my truck, vampire-boy. I can’t leave the tank undefended in an ambush.”

The young vampire blinked in confusion at the old soldier’s suggestion before rolling his eyes in slight annoyance. “Okay.” With the group having formed, the odd quartet departed the House of Weapons to deal with the vampires; Alucard and Seras opened their wings to fly, and Sears and Touta in the former’s tank-like truck. As he started the engine after taking out his cell phone, he began to make a call.

“President Bartlet speaking. Have you gotten our vampire friend, Sears?” The President called.

“I’ve done just that, Bartlet.” Sears reported. “I’ve also got this young vampire with me. His name’s Touta.”

Through his end, the President stopped for a moment before continuing on. “Of course. The Armored Avenger told him to look for Alucard to combat the Ouroboros in a conference meeting. May he be useful to your cause in your fight against the vampires, my friend.”

Sears began to step on the gas. “He’ll be more than enough to help me. President Sears, out.” He hangs up the phone to focus on the road.

Theory of Power

As told by Edward Elric

In the Bearded Bastard’s lair, that strange spider demon has been setting up pipes and contraptions, consisting of what seemed like Voodoo magic, likely for the Great Philosophers Stone ritual. In his possession is what seems to be a black, sharp-looking stone in his hands, giving it to the Homunculus leader.

“The preparations for your ceremony are almost complete, Homunculus.” The spider demon informed the homunculus before he went back to setting up the contraptions for the seven sacrifices, directing his attention to the Bearded Bastard in the middle of the construction process. “Not that it’s my concern, but what will you do once you and your children have absorbed the souls?”

The Bearded Bastard blinked. “I…I will bide my time and repeat the process.”

The spider demon thought about something for a moment before stopping with the contraptions again. “And usurp Melkor?” The response shocked the head homunculus; the look of astonishment morphed into one of anger as the spider grinned in a condescending manner. “Ha, you think you’re a special one, homunculus? I don’t know why he wants me to help an imbecile like you in your endeavor, but you don’t seem to work hard for the power you’ve earned.” This struck a nerve in the homunculus leader, who was ready to attack him. “Perhaps that incomplete demon’s words are true; the ‘traitor’ whose temple you had your children burn down.” I suspected it was them this whole time, but they burned that temple over a betrayal? I still haven’t gotten to know that traitor’s name. Still continuing the contraptions, often finishing one of the contraptions, the spider continued speaking. “I do not intend to fight you at this time. I’ll help you complete this ritual and see how well you and your ‘children’ will fare against the Pantheon’s best wizards.” The homunculus leader stopped his attack, allowing the spider to continue working on the contraptions.

You will be spared for now mocking me, demon, but our next encounter won’t be full of pleasantries. He continued to watch as the spider worked on one of the contraptions, changing its structure from the other ones. Speaking of traitors, I have a good idea who’s going to be in that one. I just hope Ahsoka is keeping him tightly around for the time being. With that shadowy ninja guy Al and Ice Jerk fought and that other weird officer around the Pantheon, we are under-prepared. He continued to work on the rest of the Great Philosopher’s Stone ritual.

Rampaging Voracity and Herd Evacuation

As told by Tony Stark

Rhodey and I caught up with Nash’s helicopter, discussing the next step of our plan after dealing with the Homunculi.

“What’s the next target? Should we meet up with the others?” Cammy asked, unsure of the next step of their plan.

“We go wherever High Command’s causing trouble.” Colonel Curtiss looked out through the window to look around the Pantheon, only to see Rhodey flying past him.

“Sounds like a good idea to me, I guess.” Rashid shrugged as he too looked into his window, bored at the fact he hasn’t taken any action yet. I, however, contacted the Chief Major to see how things are going on their end.

“How’s everything going down there, Chief?”

“We are secretly following the homunculus Gluttony entering the House of Food.” She revealed.

“Is Lust or Envy with him right now?” I asked to make sure.

“That’s not the case here. Hold on.” The Chief Major put us on hold to spy on the fat homunculus.

…

Gluttony, the Voracious homunculus, was on his way to his temple, yawning along the way. As he treaded to his temple, he noticed some dog-like walking away from the House. Surprisingly, he ignored the creature, running into the cannibalistic clown Pennywise. Damned cannibal. The clown waved at the homunculus before the latter saw smoke. Curious, the fat homunculus moved in a little closer, getting a few more people before he got to see it in plain sight. Putting his hand into his mouth, he stood there, confused. He seems slower in thought than the other homunculi. Little did he know, the Chief Major and Section 9 was spying on him from a distance on the bushes in the outskirts, inside their Tachikomas, waiting for what the homunculus will do next.

“Does he even know that his temple’s been destroyed?” Togusa asked. “He seems oblivious.” He will; it’s more a matter of when he’ll notice.

“We should wait.” Batou suggested as his attention switched to the Chief Major with his face being slightly worried. “Major, can a homunculus be sedated?”

Remaining calm, Chief Major Kusanagi coolly turned to her officer. “Depends on the type of Homunculus and the substance that makes them. The Ouroboros homunculi seem to have a high resistance to tranquilizer darts, given their ‘hearts’ are philosopher’s stones. We’ll give it a try.” Fully prepared for the worst, Section Nine waited for Gluttony’s response. Still, nothing… yet. Ishikawa, from inside Togusa’s Tachikoma, was exasperated at the homunculus.

“Should we evacuate-” Togusa was interrupted by a loud scream of rage; everyone focused on Gluttony, who stomped around in a temper tantrum before his mouth became so wide that it ‘ripped’ his ribcage, turning them into fangs of some sort. In the middle of his ‘mouth’ formed an eye. Son of a bitch… If I remember correctly, that’s his ‘Gate’ or whatever it’s. If people in the House of Food get caught in that, they won’t escape; there’s no exits. We’ll have to send skilled wizards to get them out of this homunculus’s stomach… IF the victims’ bodies are intact. The Chief Major quickly reached for the phone and contacted us through Nash, who picked up the signal.

“Captain Nash speaking? Is there danger in your vicinity, Chief Major?” Forelock Captain asked.

“The homunculus Gluttony’s about to begin his rampage. I’m having my section evacuate everyone immediately. Get everyone with you over here, now!” She looked at the now monstrous homunculus, now prepared to lay waste upon the innocent people of the House of Food, “Get here immediately and deploy Colonel Curtiss and Colress! We’ll distract them!” Hanging up the phone, she piloted the Tachikoma to charge into the homunculus, knocking him into the ground to stop his onslaught for a few minutes while everyone else moved to get the deities out of the House. Recovering, the Voracious roared at the Chief Major, something she was fully counting on. As soon as he made his attack, she piloted the Tachikoma to evade the attack at the fastest speed it could travel, distracting him as long as she possibly could before we arrived. “Fire a grenade on the bastard!” At her command, the Tachikoma ignited the grenade and fired it at Gluttony, the above speed and force of it being able to hit his head before it exploded into his face. The Chief Major waited before the smoke subsided, only to reveal the fat homunculus to have been little worse for wear, regenerating with red sparks and more ticked off.

“Must kill… Must eaaattt!” Gluttony’s roar reached the House of Food. As the other members of Section evacuated deities, both residents and visitors, out of the House of Food, informing them what had happened. Chief Major Kusanagi remained steadfast and undeterred.

“I have more grenades to feed you.” Reaching for the cockpit to aim as she pressed a button three times. More grenades of the same number were launched, this time landing around the ground, surrounding her enemy. Still full of rage over his temple’s destruction, he set his sights on the Chief Major, his opponent taking this as a cue to start moving. He tried to sucked them both into him, only for the Tachikoma to evade the blast with enough momentum, extending its arm to aim at its head. It fired bullets at a rapid pace. This, however, did little to slow him down, as he regenerated from the bullet wounds. Before the Voracious homunculus could do anything more, a bomb attacked him from above, followed by laser beams from behind. The Chief Major looked up at the helicopter, followed by Rhodey and I raising altitude, before getting a call she picked up. Good thing we’re here in time. Something worse definitely could have happened.

“Disengage from the Voracious one, Chief Major!” Charlie advised. “Colonel Curtiss and Colress will be deployed to handle him.”

“He’s still focused on me. I’ll need to get out of the Tachikoma quickly and blind him.” She grabs a few flashbangs from the desk before climbing on top of the machine. As she reached top, she took a moment to take aim at Gluttony throwing the weapons next to him. Before Gluttony could move, the flash bangs detonated, causing him to lose sight of the Chief Major, who quickly went back into the Tachikoma and broke away the fight to help everyone else evacuate from the House of Food. From Nash’s helicopter came Colonel Jade Curtiss and Internet Explorer, descending into the ground (softened by the scientist’s Beeheyem) to confront Gluttony. By the time the homunculus regained his senses, he realized that, in the Chief Major’s place were those two. Colress unloaded all of his Pokeballs to take out his Pokemon to give them instructions.

“Beheyeem, Magnezone, Rotom, Porygon Z, get everyone out of the House of Food.” The four Pokemon left their trainer to help us evacuate deities while he shifted his attention to the last two Pokemon. “Klingklang, Metagross, stay here. What you’re up against won’t be a Pokemon, but a being known as a homunculus. This one here can suck you into another dimension, so make sure to dodge it when I command you.” Don’t know if that’s a great idea; if, in a moment of intelligence, that Gluttony goes for him and that he gets caught, even with help from Colonel Curtiss, his Pokemon will be vulnerable to getting caught by Team Rainbow Rocket; I’m afraid we might have to go on without him. Nevertheless, the two Pokemon nodded as they, alongside Colonel Curtiss, engaged against Gluttony, the Voracious Homunculus roaring at his new enemies once more, charging at the two. Colonel Curtiss quickly extended his spear, with a violet magical circle in front of him. Before fat homunculus could get close to them, a purple dome suddenly surrounded him, hampering his movements a moment later. It slowed down his movements noticeably, but he was still moving towards them.

“Metagross, move to his left side and use Meteor Mash. Klingklang, go for his right and use Shift Gear, then use Gear Grind.” At Internet Explorer’s command, the two Pokemon moved around Gluttony and attacked him from his sides. His Metagross, surprisingly, was unaffected by the dome while the Gear Pokemon wasn’t so lucky. Nevertheless, the attacks wore the stubby monster down a bit further. Enraged, ravenous homunculus prepared to attack, cuing Internet Explorer command them to evade the attack, a tree being destroyed in the process. Regaining his balance, the bespectacled Colonel twirled his spear at a fast speed to create an abnormally powerful gust of wind, causing Gluttony to fall on his back while the dome was still in effect. He stopped his whirlwind to see the homunculus regenerating from the hits of the Pokemon.

No good. The Colonel surmised. It’s healing itself… I’ll have to wear this homunculus down further. As he and Internet Explorer started to notice that the dome’s effects were starting to subside, the former picked some sort of rune from his pocket and stabbed the ground with his spear. A darkish purple burst of water was summoned, directed at the Voracious one, who had just started to recover. As the liquid reached the ravenous monster, his only response was to drink it up. This horrified Colress, who watched every moment of it.

“He consumed it all…” The scientist watched Colonel Curtiss, who remained calm. He’s unphased. What does he have in mind? The next thing he knew, a smile crept upon the Colonel’s face.

“Just a minute now…” As Gluttony got ready to attack them again, he suddenly started to cough, slightly mitigating the Philosopher’s Stone regeneration process; the process beginning to become increasingly uncontrollable, a sight that horrified Colress, who figured out what the bespectacled Colonel did the Voracious one.

He poisoned him… His face lit up as he realized something. It adds up now. He probably corroded the homunculus Philosopher’s Stone through his nose, and now the poison’s disrupting his ravenous hunger. He looked at Gluttony, who cried out in pain.

“I… can’t… smell…” I didn’t think it would affect him this badly. Normally, I’d be appalled at someone being poisoned, but he’s a homunculus who’s part of an evil cause. Seeing the ravenous homunculus severely weakened and crippled, Colonel Curtiss extended his arm and opened his hand. A few moments later, a sphere caught the homunculus as it grew larger, also catching small parts of several temples in the process. As the sphere stopped growing, the Colonel closed his hand into a fist, encasing the area in a flash of light with the ball being crushed. A few minutes later, both of them witnessed an unconscious Gluttony, now turned back to normal and heavily damaged, with the healing factor being slowed down. Relieved that one of the Ouroboros has been defeated, Colress contacted me.

“Stark, this is Colress. The Ultimate Mouth has been defeated.”

“Good. We’ve evacuated everyone from the House of Food.” I answered through the phone. “Now we’ll tell them it’s safe to go back to back in. See you and the Colonel outside.” Cutting off contact, Colonel Curtis turned to the scientist.

“We should get going.” Internet Explorer nodded as they and his two Pokemon left the House of Food to regroup with us.

…

As the Colonel and the Pokemon scientist walked their way out, deities walked into the opposite direction in small droves, seeing all of us at the entrance. All of Internet Explorer’s Pokemon raced for their master, happy that he’s in one piece. “You’ve all done a great job, but it won’t be the last of this ordeal.” Taking out the Pokeballs from his belt, he recalled all of them inside as he and the bespectacled Colonel continued walking to the exit, where they saw Nash’s helicopter with the other passengers inside, waiting for them. Getting past the numerous deities, they entered the helicopter with myself, Rhodey, and Ororo standing next to it.

“Where are we going next?” Colonel Curtiss asked me.

“Wherever someone needs our help.” I rolled my eyes before I changed my tone to a more serious one. “Nash suggested that he wants to keep an eye on some muscled weirdo with a red-and-blue paint job.” Why is the Captain so concerned about that certain man and what’s so special about this guy?

Colonel Curtiss blinked for a moment before pitching in. “It appears to be someone he knows.” Could be the case, Colonel.

“We will find out together.” Ororo assured them as both the soldier and the scientist boarded the plane. The blades of the helicopter started to spin before it ascended to air level, departing the House with myself, Rhodey, and Ororo following them. Just who is Nash talking about? I swear, if this is another costumed weirdo… I’m just gonna blast them on the spot and be done with it.

A Quest To Override the Fuhrer’s Operation

As told by Roy Mustang

In Guile’s helicopter, we arrived in the entrance of the House of Magic, both resided by Fullmetal… and the former Fuhrer, heading our way to meet with Satsuki Kiryuin at the entrance of the temple, with myself and the Lieutenant prepared with a bit of gear to take down the ex-Fuhrer. As we moved closer, the two of us moved next to the exit door, as Guile sighted the Honnouji leader in front of the entrance to his temple. In turn, she looked up at the sky to see our helicopter on top of it.

“The Honnouji leader is ready to raid the Fuhrer’s temple! Colonel, Are you ready to go?”

Taking a deep breath, I tightened my gloves. “Of course, Major.” I turned to the Lieutenant, nodding along with me as well. Both Fullmetal and his brother inched out, giving us a worried look.

Make it back in one piece, Colonel… I’ll try not to get cut up by this false homunculus, Fullmetal.

Shortly afterwards, we opened the door and jumped off the plane. As the Lieutenant and I jumped off the helicopter, activating the parachutes to land safely at the entrance of Bradley’s temple. I smiled as we met up with our ally.

“Glad you can both make it, Colonel and Lieutenant.” She greeted us.

“Same here.”

The Lieutenant took out her cell phone and dialed a number, waiting at least a 10 seconds before someone picked up. The voice was a male.

“Hello? You’re at the Old Swordsman’s Temple?” He asked through the voice.

The Lieutenant nodded “Correct. How long will it take you to arrive and intercept Bradley?”

“Ten minutes.” He answered. “Tell your Colonel not to burn the temple with his alchemy on my way there, will ya?” The Lieutenant nodded as she hung up the phone to relay his message.

“He’ll arrive in ten minutes. Colonel, try not to burn down the Fuhrer’s temple while we fight them.”

Though slightly annoyed, I knew our backup wasn’t wrong. “That’s going to be difficult for me to pull off, but I’ll try nonetheless.” Determined, the three of us entered the Fuhrer’s temple, weapons in hand, only to be shocked to see it damaged from the inside. Who broke into the Fuhrer’s house? Brave as they are, it’s a foolish move. As we moved into the living room, we ran into the former Fuhrer himself, slowly walking toward us. Satsuki went ahead of us and engaged the Fuhrer herself. Both drew out their weapons, and as they began to close in on each other, the Honnouji leader was ready to strike… Until Bradley, at high speed, rushed past her and went for both me and the Lieutenant.

“Dammit…!” She turned around and rushed as a fast as she could to stop him from stabbing me and the Lieutenant. We tried as fast as they could to move out of the way, and even then, Bradley still managed to cut a part of my face. Bradley tried to go for a second slash from his right hand, this time intending to cut off Mustang’s right arm. Thankfully, the Lieutenant quickly drew bullets that slightly distracted him before Satsuki intercepted and tackled him with enough force to bump him near a wall. “You’re business is with me, tyrant!” She drew her sword and attacked the Fuhrer, who simply parried with his left hand before preparing a stab with his right hand. As she dodged the attempted impalement, I quickly clapped his hands and slammed his palms into the ground, summoning a multitude of small spikes toward the Fuhrer’s way before creating a small wall that protects both myself and the lieutenant, having been forced to perform human transmutation back in Central. I’ll have to appreciate how convenient this is. I could make my opponents believe that I’m useless without my gloves to catch them off guard. But, considering this is the former Fuhrer me and the Lieutenant are fighting against, that element of surprise could be squandered easily. Even with this in mind, the Fuhrer remained undeterred, redirecting his concentration on Satsuki, giving her a cold glare.

“You’re a fool to come here without your ‘Elite’ subordinates, young woman.” He slowly approached her. The leader of Honnouji Academy walked back as she led Bradley upstairs.

“My troops shall dismantle your army with support, monster.” She held her blade in a defensive position. “If I fail in stopping you here. I’ll do my best to impede you and your brethren.” This angered the former Fuhrer, who, without a word, rushed in and attacked her; while she parried some of his sword strikes, she took several cuts all across her body, from five small cuts on her left leg, seven on her right, eleven of them across her body, from the the waist to the midsection, two across her left arm with four on her right, and two scars across her face. In a strange form of support, the Lieutenant shot through the ceiling of the first floor, catching Bradley off-guard and giving Satsuki an opening to attack the former Fuhrer, swinging her blade upward with one hand to cut through his chest. Fuhrer’s clothes were almost split in two, showing his bare chest in addition to the cut wound. In what appears to be a subdued look of rage, right as the Lieutenant fired a few more bullets from the first floor’s ceiling, Bradley rushed toward his opponent and tackled her into a room, knocking her into the floor.

As she tried to recover, she noticed a few strands of white hair and a few pieces of ripped blue cloth. For some reason, this came to her as a surprise. These remains are…! I’m pretty sure I, Lieutenant, nor the Elrics didn’t tell anyone about the old fox, so it must be someone she specifically knows. Just as Bradley is about to stab her, she quickly evades them, distancing herself from her eye-patched opponent. Breathing heavily, Satsuki looked at the white strands of hair and blue cloth a second time before turning to the ex-Fuhrer. “Did a demon come to your temple?”

“Why does it matter to you what a treacherous demon would do?” He remained focused on her as she remained on the defensive.

Vergil betrayed Bradley’s group? Just as I thought. Whoever that may be, it confirmed her suspicion over the hair strands and blue cloth in the room. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant and I moved accordingly under the room beneath the room they were in with myself speaking with the man the Lieutenant spoke with earlier through the cell-phone.

“How close are you to Bradley’s temple?” I asked as the Lieutenant fired more bullets to distract Bradley.

“Four more minutes.” The male responded as he seemed like he panted. “Keep him busy until then.” That’s easier said than done, but we’ll try.

“Will do.” I hung up, this time, climbing on a table to transmute the ceiling to help distract the half Homunculus.

The Frozen Duel of Strength and Blood

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Inside Major Brigg’s helicopter, we arrived at the front of the House of Villains, a place where the vilest scum, cutthroats, and sadists reside. Aside from this being a place of residence for Esdeath, it just so happens that Yuuki Terumi also has a temple here, a fact Brother didn’t like.

“Dammit…” He uttered under his breath before looking below, worried. I wonder If Terumi’s in his temple? I’d be glad to take the bastard down if I wanted to, but that could really screw up everything against these homunculus monsters… As Major Briggs flew closer to Esdeath’s temple, he curiously took a look down the helicopter to look at Terumi’s, seeing if the incorporeal entity is inside. The entity himself being absent, to Brother’s complete surprise. Relieved, he prepared to go back to his seat. “Oh, God, the bastard isn’t inside his temple…” Sighing in relief, he took a glance at Asami and Cyrax for a moment, blinking as if he remembered some detail. As he returned to his sitting place, Major Briggs turned around to catch our attention.

“Alright, everyone. We’re getting close to Esdeath’s temple. Grandmasters, Jin, Ragna, you all better get ready. I’ll open the door to the chopper in two minutes.” We all nodded as we grabbed our weapons in preparation against that immature woman and the wraith. Just before the four of us decided to get to that woman’s temple, a dark portal opened at our location. Before we knew who it was, emerging from the portal came that ambushed Sub-Zero’s temple, and another figure who isn’t nearly as dark as Bi-Han himself, one Kuai Liang instantly recognized, just as we faced them down.

“…Smoke… ” Quickly assessing the circumstances, the cryo-mancer grew angry while Cyrax, though his face was obscured through the helmet, was more anguished. “The Pokemon criminals got you too…” As the Shirai-Ryu Grandmaster went to his side, he turned to Asami Sato, nodding to her to rush to Major Briggs and help him pilot the helicopter, just as the wraith himself entered. The Lin Kuei Grandmaster grew angrier, making it harder to maintain his composure.

Brother, however, stepped forward, being the one to ask the questions. “Is there a reason you’re working with those homunculus freaks? And More importantly, is Terumi with them? I can imagine how much that bastard wants me dead.”

The dark wraith turned to my brother, giving him a mocking smile beneath the mask. “To help Quan Chi and Shinnok recover from the damage caused by the thunder god.” I could otherwise care less about his answer, but would those two really be interested in working with that childish woman and the half homunculus? The claim he made seems like nothing but a farce. Sub-Zero sighed as his brother went on. “Yuuki Terumi has no involvement with Bradley. I simply snuck into his temple and collected information he had on you and your siblings. Envy has done a great job distracting you.” Bi-Han bellowed a dark laugh before his face turned to disgust as he looked at Scorpion. “The Shirai Ryu lapdog, working with my clan…”

“Save it for just the two of us, Bi-Han.” Hanzo stepped in front of his rival, not wanting to hear his former killer’s words.

“Straight to the point.” He signaled both Smoke and the robot to attack us; Smoke attacked his compatriot, who parried a few of them before punching him in the stomach. Before he could retaliate, Kuai Liang froze him. Meanwhile, the robot prepared a grenade to take down the helicopter, only for Scorpion, having now lined behind both the robot and the door, to quickly intervene and tackle it off the helicopter. As the helicopter started losing its balance due to the fight, Bi-han, meanwhile, briefly fought Brother and that pirate, buying me, Sub-Zero, and Kagura time to get the frozen assassin off the helicopter as well.

“I’m getting off to deal with that childish woman. Leave and make sure the helicopter isn’t damaged.” I suggested to Kagura as we all threw Smoke off the helicopter, me and Sub-Zero jumped off, myself forming an icicle to ride on to catch the latter. Seeing as his two partners have been taken off, Bi-Han disappears from the helicopter, causing Brother to rush out of the helicopter to join the three of us while Kagura, Cyrax, and the Jellyfish pirate balanced themselves as Jax and Asami work to regain the ship’s altitude.

After the pilots regained their balance, Cyrax rushed to the pilot’s aid, primarily to check on Asami. “Have any of you suffered injuries since Bi-Han attacked?” The cyborg noticed the woman holding her right arm to her left hand, most likely due to the circumstances. Recognizing his attention towards him, Asami made contact with him.

“It’s only minor. It’ll recover soon. I’ll join when it’s all healed up.”

“Do not overexert yourself.” The Lin Kuei cyborg returned to the passenger’s seat, leaving Asami and Jax to themselves.

“To be in a robotic body like that. It must be painful to not help his clansmen and endanger us like that.” This makes me curious about Sector Seven’s Red Devil. Has he experienced something similar? The woman told her co-pilot as he got himself into gear.

The man with both prosthetic arms looked at her before putting his hands on the steering wheel. “This is one of the few occasions you’ll see him and his clansmen together. He usually distances himself from them for that very reason.” The engineer looked behind the pilot seats, watching Cyrax walk away.

…

As for the four of us, Sub-Zero and I landed directly in front of the temple of the childish woman, the former looking around to see the wraith to the right of us. Before we proceeded to Esdeath’s temple, we heard a landing behind the two of us two minutes later. We turned around to see Brother, who stood up before wiping the dirt off his clothes. The fiery specter teleported to our location, scaring the latter for a moment before he sighed.

…I’m going to have to get used to this. He muttered to himself. As we nodded on what to do next, we all advanced immediately to our destination. True to my suspicions, Esdeath was present, with Bi-Han, Smoke, and the attack robot alongside her, waiting for us to arrive. The childish woman shot a glare at me. Though she remained calm, I can tell it was one of intense anger.

“It’s great timing you showed your face to me, ‘hero…’” She drew out her sword and pointed it at me.

I simply rolled my eyes, not wanting to hear her speech about oppressing the weak, noticing her angry glare. “If you feel special, you can take your vengeance out on me if it makes you feel better.”

The childish woman darkly chuckled at my comment. “It’s the second time she’s died, and so quickly to you. What a pathetic weakling.” Is this woman out of her damned mind? That female cyborg spoke so devoutly of her, and yet this woman disregarded her like… garbage… I knew she was horrible when we first met, but looking at it now… It’s almost as if I’m looking at a twisted mirror made by demons. This is starting to make me reconsider my treatment of Saya in the past… Even when I mistreated her horribly, I still had some degree of compassion and respect for her, despite my tendencies to hide how I feel. Even so, it’ll make my victory over her more cathartic, especially when I defeat her and report it to the other majors. Speaking of which…

“That makes two of us.” I took a short breath before announcing my intent. “By my hand, you will answer for assaulting my comrades!” The four of us advanced towards Esdeath and Bi-Han’s team, myself fighting the childish woman, Grandmaster Hasashi fighting his killer, Kuai Liang his former friend, and Brother, the combat robot, the latter three together, and in the former’s case, my opponent and I separated ourselves on top of tower, where the two of us exchanged strikes. Despite our injuries, we still fought on; Esdeath summoned a row of icicles to fire towards me. Even as I rode on an icicle, I couldn’t dodge all of them, as some cut through my clothes, the cloth strips from my shoulder having been shredded the most. To repel the icicles, I swung Yukianesa around, creating a large wave of ice around me. It’s going to be as troublesome as my previous fight with her, even if she still has to show some level of restraint in her own home here. Nevertheless, the childish woman placed her hand on the ground. Having fought her previously, I got out of dodge as fast as I could; she summoned a giant spire made of ice in an attempt to have me impaled. Either way, the sadistic general summoned more icicles.

How predictable. You’ve become an easy target. She placed her aim to fire them, several of them where I am, others at where I intended to go. As she prepared to create yet another object, she fired the icicles in the intended locations, the latter before the former. As I reacted to the icicles trying to attack me, I made a right turn, avoiding the former intended for me as well. Turning around, I used my power to create a giant wolf head to fire at her. Though she destroyed the wolf head, it gave me a small window of time to run away to create an ice arrow. Jumping off the icicle, I fired the arrow at her. Sensing this, she simply created an ice wall to render the arrow useless.

Frustrated, I got to a safe distance from my opponent. “Dammit… How am I going to take care of this woman?” If reports are correct, even the Night Raid, the group of rebels who fought her in her home world, had a hard time taking her down, and unfortunately, even at my lonesome, so am I to a lesser extent. Keeping a cool head, I closed my eyes, remembering that I needed to keep her away from the half-homunculus. I shifted my focus to Brother and the two Grandmasters, particularly Grandmaster Hasashi, fighting Bi-Han, Smoke, and the combat robot I fought earlier, their fighting disrupting a meeting procedure in one of the temples. Since we’re keeping Esdeath away from Bradley, Scorpion will be the important factor in this victory. Then I looked back at the childish woman, who advanced in my direction, ready to strike me down. Reacting as fast as I could, I parried her sword strike with Yukianesa, clashing blades with her. Don’t you dare die on me, Brother. Everyone else needs you to deal with that homunculus leader. As I continued to fight the deplorable woman, Brother and the two Grandmasters, now together, have an easier time against the other three enemies. In the middle of the battle, Sub-Zero watched me fight the woman, realizing I’m struggling against her, a glare that was followed briefly by the Dark One.

“Do you Grandmasters have a plan to get rid of these punks?” The Grim Reaper asked as he moved to the location of his allies. “If that bastard returns from wherever he is now and sees me here…”

“It’ll end poorly for us.” Kuai Liang responded as he kept his distance away from both Smoke and Bi-han, joined by Grandmaster Hasashi, who teleported next to them. Remembering what the old woman advised back at Greed’s bar, it seems he also remembered another detail. “Azula’s in the same House as Esdeath. We cannot let the two of them band together, even if Chief Beifong and the Ferret Brothers are making preparations against her as we speak.”

Noting Sub-Zero’s words, the former wraith joined in on the tactical brainstorm. “With Scorpion’s powers, I can banish that ice general to the Netherrealm.” Being saved from an assassin… by two assassins. The irony annoys me, but I’ll excuse it just this one time. Nevertheless, he eyed his killer and his brainwashed allies.

Going along with his rival’s non-verbal gesture, Sub-Zero nodded. “We’ll need to remove these three first.” This suggestion prompted Brother to move ahead of them.

“I’ll go for the specter and the other ninja.” Despite Sub-Zero’s protests, he rushed ahead to deal with the shadow wraith and the “smoke” ninja, leaving the Grandmasters with the robot, causing the cryo-mancer assassin to let out a breath of exasperation.

The Shirai Ryu Grandmaster, however, had a more approving look as he placed his hand on the shoulder of his contemporary. “I think he’s heard enough of our strategy.” They both directed their attention to the robot. “We take down the robot first, then we take care of Smoke and your brother.” The two nodded in agreement as Kuai went for the robot, who aimed his assault rifle at him, while Scorpion went around him.

“Ready to die by my hand, human?” It asked.

“I wouldn’t be so confident to declare victory so early, machine.” The Lin Kuei Grandmaster retorted as he looked at Hanzo, who seemed to be joining brother in fighting Bi-Han and Smoke, with the robot unaware of his true intentions. From its rifle, it then fired a few blasts at a Sub-Zero, who avoided several of them before the latter lunged at it, creating a clone made of ice at the last second before the robot’s next shot hits him, followed by an ice wall. Noticing the small wall of ice, the combat robot quickly realized that his opponent is still alive and fired another blast at the ice wall, damaging it. Before he could fire another rifle, the robot found his chest pierced by a sharp object from behind. Looking down, he sees what appears to him as a spear. Before it could turn around, the spear started to ignite, burning its insides before being pulled away from Sub-Zero, who revealed himself through the ice wall to see that his rival caught their immediate enemy in a flank attack with his kunai attached to a rope with his right hand. As he brought the robot closer, the fire wraith raised his left hand to burn the robot. As this only slowed him down, he could only struggle to escape. Concentrating his ice powers to create a hammer as dense as he could possibly make it, Sub-Zero moved in on the robot, swinging the hammer on the robot’s head several times before it was smashed off, causing the robot’s body to collapse immediately afterwards. “That’s one down.”

“We must catch up to Bloodedge as fast as possible and reach Bi-han.” Hasashi insisted as he rushes off to help Brother. Before Kuai Liang followed him, he noticed a red sharp object falling off the robot’s body.

A weird-looking chip? He took a closer look at the object. If this chip is controlling this robot, it’s controlling Smoke as well, even though he isn’t a cyborg. Seeing this led the Lin Kuei Grandmaster to an unfortunate implication. I’ll have to report this to Jax once this is all over. He rushed to catch up with his rival. Hmph, one less assassin to worry about.

…

In another area of the same sub-house, Brother has done a decent job holding off both Bi-Han and the other ninja, despite the few injuries he’s suffered, evading the former’s shadow clones and all. “I’d love to keep playing ‘Shadow Tag’ with you, Bi-han…” He sarcastically quipped as he evaded yet another one going for him next to a wall. “But I don’t have all day.” Sensing a smoke cloud drawing near him, he jumped to avoid the ambush from the ninja, landing on a statue.

“You cannot deny your revenge against me, Grim Reaper.” The shadow wraith remarked. “You want to lay waste to those who harmed your sister. Give in to your hatred, Ragna.” In a combined attack, Bi-Han created another portal that leads to the wall, next to Brother’s location, and signaled Smoke to chase him through there, while he summoned a shadow clone and took shurikens, throwing them at the Grim Reaper. My brother dodged several of the shurikens, jumping away as he repelled the rest with two seither-infused swings with his sword-scythe, giving smoke enough time for Smoke to re-materialize and ambush him; having little time to avoid the next attack, he blocked with his sword before the ninja knocked him away from the area. Having gotten a safe distance, he briefly looked at me, slightly more damaged than usual,still struggling to land a hit on the childish woman Esdeath despite managing to successfully hit her a few times, all the while also witnessing the spire she created to impale me earlier, in addition to an ice boulder she threw at me in the middle of their fight.

This is going to be harder than I thought. Damn it, just how powerful is that woman? He pondered as returned his focus onto his enemies running towards him. Please catch up with Sub-Zero soon, Hanzo…

“You seek revenge against the Dark Slayer for what he did to your sister.” Bi-Han interrupted, hoping to invoke Brother’s wrath. “Channel the power you have for him, now that he has been weakened.”

Brother closed his eyes, remembering everything that polite woman with the ponytail told him before opening them as he prepared a counter-attack. “I don’t care what happens to him now.” he retorted “He can kill himself, for all I care. If you think I’m using the Azure to destroy, you’re mistaken.” As Bi-Han summoned his sickle from his abdomen, he began to briefly duel with the Grim Reaper, parrying blows before their weapons locked. “I’ll use this power to protect the ones I hold dear.” Heh, nicely said, Brother. The shadow wraith didn’t seem to take the response too well.

“Then you’ve gone soft. Goodbye, Ragna the Bloodedge!” As Smoke joined in on the combined strike, the ninja found was knocked down with a kick from the certain yellow-clad ninja, while Bi-han gets hit by what appears to be a statue, knocking him away from Brother. He immediately went for the yellow-clad ninja, who teleported to his two allies.

“Right on time…” He let out a breath of relief. “Now, what’s the plan here?”

“Deal with Smoke.” Scorpion was the one who spoke of a tactic this time. “First, We’ll need Smoke separated from Bi-Han to put the latter out of commission. You first.”

Not impressed with how the Shirai Ryu Grandmaster spoke of the plan, he laughed sarcastically. “…Very funny.” Nevertheless, the plan was put into action: Scorpion went for the Lin Kuei compatriot, while Brother and Sub-Zero occupied Bi-han; the former two parrying blows, before the former hellspawn back into a distance, waiting for his opponent to strike. In a flash, Smoke appeared behind the yellow-clad ninja, hitting him before instantly appearing in front of him to strike his fist, in which his enemy parried and grabbed. The next thing he knew, they both disappeared instantly, something both Sub-Zero brothers noticed immediately. Concentrating on his brother again, Bi-Han broke away from the fight, only for Brother to grab him, stopping the shadow wraith in his tracks. “I’m not gonna let you go, especially after you tried to tempt me, bastard.” The Grim Reaper of the Azure quickly punched the shadow wraith in the gut with such force, followed in quick succession by another one to the same place, before throwing him to Sub-Zero for the latter to freeze his brother. He then charged his power to make sure Bi-han stayed frozen for a sufficient amount of time. Right as the cryo-mancer was done freezing his brother to a rigorous extent, Hanzo returned to their aid. Witnessing my fight Esdeath, the three of them rushed to my aid. At least I don’t have to deal with any more ambushes for the time being…

…

Still standing on a tower, slightly bloodied from the icicles she fired at me, I faced the childish woman, herself suffering a few injuries and now encased in armor made of ice around her upper body, making the attempts to strike her down even less possible than the earlier attempts. From a lack of discomfort in her own ice-made armor, I grew frustrated at the implication; if I froze her at any moment earlier in the fight, she would’ve used my ice to create the armor anyway. Damned woman. I can’t defeat her alone. The both of us parried strikes with our blades, receiving a few more injuries in the process. As the two of us moved away from each other, the sadist chuckled darkly, smiling all the while.

“I’ve been so excited since our last fight, hero. It’s so thrilling to see so many powerful opponents like yourself.” Gilgamesh, DIO, or the mutant with magnetism? Nevertheless, her smile immediately vanished afterwards. “But this is as far as you’ll go. I’ll tell your brother how lovely your corpse will be once I’m done with you.” Wasting time no longer, She moved in towards me with a stabbing motion. I simply warded it off with a swing, blocking and parrying her next attacks in the process, and moved away from her. I took a glance around me and saw Brother and the Grandmasters below me.

They’re here. I just need to hold her off a little more. I created another arrow of ice, this time aiming for her legs, the part she neglected to cover, and fired it at her. Seeing this, Esdeath quickly summoned a wall of ice to block it. As she used the ice wall to summon to create what appears to be another spike to impale me.

Before she could complete it, however, she sees the ice wall melting before her eyes. My Ice wall’s melting? Before she could process what’s going on, a flash of fire appeared behind her; Scorpion quickly grabbed her. The sadist angrily struggled to escape as the fiery hellspawn prepared his next move.

“To hell with you.” The specter calmly uttered as he began to take her away from the House of Villains and into the depths of hell itself. When they finally entered the place, he let her go. “This is the Netherrealm. Without arcane magic, you cannot escape this place alone, though you’re welcome to try.” Before she could attack the ninja, he teleported out of hell, leaving her trapped inside. With Bi-han frozen, we’ve accomplished our goal.

…

Some time after the fight with Esdeath, the four of us were now out of the House of Villains, having been teleported out of the place thanks to the fiery specter. Brother in particular sighed in relief, not having to fight Terumi. “Damn, that was close…” With a smile on his face, he stretched his arms in relief. “Not the best way to take care of that punk, but I’m okay with it.” Hearing this made me smile a little. That makes two of us. It felt cheap doing it alone, but I couldn’t defeat that woman easily on my own.

Grandmaster Hasashi, however, had an expression that was difficult to tell, looking at his face. Was he somber? Or was it neutral? I couldn’t tell. Using Scorpion’s power for this fight… It’s a rare moment to appreciate having the powers of a specter again. Brother told me that, after he returned to life as Hanzo Hasashi, he refused to be associated with the moniker Scorpion and anything related with the Netherrealm, even though he’s well-known for it. Either way, he turned to Kuai Liang, now with a serious look. “We still have to take care of Bi-Han before he thaws out.”

“Of course.” The Lin Kuei Grandmaster turned to me and my brother. “Major Kisaragi, you and brother should regroup with the Elrics and their allies to stop the homunculus leader’s plan. Hanzo and I will keep him occupied.”

“Noted.” The two Grandmasters began to return to confront the shadow specter again while Brother and I, nodding together, walked away from the House of Villains, creating an icicle, one bigger and slightly wider than normal, for the both of us to ride on. I got on first for movement and steering, while he followed suit behind me. The moment we had our balance, I began ordering the icicle to go as tolerably fast as possible. As we left House of Villains, a thought entered the Dark One’s mind.

If Terumi isn’t involved with those humanoid monsters… He paused for a moment until a thought entered his mind. …Relius. He’s an alchemist just like those boys. Shit, I completely forgot to tell them about him. The Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother are aware what kind of person Colonel Clover is, but it’s possible he’s aligned with those monsters. As for Major Elric, you may rest easier, now that the childish woman is out of the picture… far away from the half Fuhrer Homunculus and the Fire Nation Princess for the time being.

Diversonary Oversight

As told by Roy Mustang

Even despite our help, Satsuki still struggled against the ex-Fuhrer, after seeing the “remains” of this ‘Vergil’ person she seems to be familiar with. Partially, this had to do with me abstaining myself from using my Flame Alchemy to burn the place down. The Lieutenant’s efforts to intervene by shooting more bullets from the ceiling, however, had caused the former Fuhrer to slip up, slightly.. Twice at that. Those two moments allowed the Honnouji leader a good chance to strike him twice each time; otherwise, she had to be on the defensive, waiting for the two of us to interfere with another attack. I smiled, realizing the situation.

Bradley’s focus is on Satsuki. Just as I wanted. With this in mind, I clapped my hands and touched the ceiling specifically beneath the spot the Fuhrer’s standing, transmuting the floor beneath him; the constructs from the alchemy I gained post-human transmutation slightly caused him to lose his balance, enabling the Honnouji leader to try stabbing his eye, only for him to narrowly parry it in a hurry. What followed next, at least as far as me and the Lieutenant were hearing, was that she changed her armor, Junketsu, into some sort of form where the bottom part of the uniform becomes a sort of a loud jet that enabled her to propel herself into the air, right into Bradley himself, tackling him through the constructs I made, and into the ground near a window. As she reverted Junketsu back into its default form, Bradley recovered, standing on his feet. Despite the injuries, however, he continued on the offensive, albeit a little more carefully than he did moments earlier. As he tried to attack his opponent, she dodged and parried a good number of his sword strikes as she still struggled to land a hit on him.

I don’t know how much longer I can hold on before their “guest” arrives, but I need to do something fast before he goes for Mustang. Persevering against the former Fuhrer, the Honnouji leader tried to mount a cautious assault against him: quickly moving sideways to the left, she grabbed a large, broken piece of strong wood to strap around her left arm to use as a shield to defend herself against the ex-Fuhrer.

With the half-homunculus’s speed, I’m not sure if she can do that well, given the earlier injuries…

Before they could resume anything however, arrows started to break through the windows of his temple in both floors, several of them hitting Bradley from behind, one of them strong enough to hit through his back while the other arrow emitted smoke to engulf the temple, thus giving Lady Satsuki the chance to attack Bradley while he was vulnerable, almost cutting off his Ultimate Eye, followed by another that nearly cut off his right arm.. The Lieutenant and I looked outside to see a man wielding a bow outside, wearing a magenta domino mask on his eyes and purple clothes. Recognizing us, he waved his right hand. With him is a familiar stuffed bear who walked alongside him. Weird as it may be, it’s about time they showed up nevertheless. As the man rushed inside to get me and the Lieutenant, the stuffed bear teleported to the second floor in Bradley’s temple, right behind the injured former Fuhrer himself. Without delay, the bear cast an ice spell to attack the half-homunculus, freezing him solid. Satsuki watched as he tried to resist the process in vain. Six seconds later, Bradley was completely frozen solid, unable to move out of it. The Honnouji leader would have smiled… had it not been for her rescuer’s appearance.

“Thank you… Um…” Considering this… thing can talk, I’d be at a loss, too. In fact, I was when the runaway homunculus Greed introduced me to him.

“Call me Teddie, Satsuki-chan! Now, let’s get you out of here. Grab on to me!” Doing as she did, the Honnouji leader held on to the mascot as he began to teleport them out of Bradley’s temple before the temple could fully envelope with smoke, with myself and the Lieutenant being escorted outside by our archer friend.

“Keep forgetting you could perform alchemy without a circle, Colonel.”

“Most people do, Barton.” I told our backup, Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, as we kept our distance from the temple as the smoke further consumed the temple with Bradley inside. “It’s better this way.”

“The element of surprise…” Barton smiled, catching on to my point. “Good one.” The five of us got to a good distance from the temple. Satsuki, despite the injuries from her fight with Bradley, was still confused to see Teddie.

“Is this some sort of Life Fiber? Is he part of this ambush?” She blinked, taking a good look at him.

“Riight. About that…” Barton gave a sigh as he began to explain himself. “Before everyone else went out to bomb the homunculi’s temple, Colonel pyromancer here suggested to Stark that I should come help him and his trusty markswoman sidekick, and take Stray Dog’s ‘mascot’ with me in the process.”

“Reluctantly, I was against withholding this sort of thing from the homunculus.” I clarified to the Honnouji. “That would ruin the ambush.”

Teddie stretched his arms. “I was actually scared there. I’m tired. I need to get back to my friends.”

“I’ll escort you back.” Satsuki advised. She noticed the worried looks on our faces, knowing her wounds could slow her down, but she gave us a determined look. As we let her go, I tightened my gloves and approached the temple action while the Lieutenant called for Guile to pick us up. Closing in on the temple, I snapped my fingers to set the temple ablaze, destroying it with Bradley inside. We departed the temple and ten minutes later, the helicopter picked us up, and dropped Barton off to his own temple.

An hour and a half after the ex-Fuhrer’s temple was destroyed, Bradley, now thawed out and thus heavily injured from the destruction of his temple, slowly recovered. He started to stand on his own two feet, his phone started to ring.

“Fuhrer Bradley speaking. What is the situation around the Pantheon, Schrodinger?”

“It’s bad. Your siblings’ temples have been destroyed, Gluttony’s stone has been used up, Azula’s recovering from another battle, and Esdeath hasn’t been responding for the past forty-five minutes.” Although he remained calm, the half-homunculus was livid.

“Recall the other homunculi back to Father’s temple. We need to make haste on the Great Philosopher’s Stone Ritual. Teleport me out of this temple first. Bradley out.” With his remaining strength, he hung up, and dropped to his knees. A few seconds later, Schrodinger appeared, taken aback by the wounds his superior officer received.

“They’ve done a number on you… I need to get you back to your Father’s temple.” With his teleportation, they left what was once Bradley’s temple and returned to the homunculus leader’s temple.

Mannequin Chaos Finale

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Inside Major Brigg’s helicopter, the remaining flight attendees discussed what to do next, particularly after I’ve called the former on our victory over Esdeath and her group. As he steered the plane in search for the shapeshifting homunculus, Cyrax and Asami tried to inspect the helicopter for any damage after Bi-Han’s ambush while Kagura remained on the lookout for any signs of their target. After a few minutes of inspection, the two of them noticed smoke behind the passenger seats; Cyrax offered to try to mitigate some of the damages with Asami returning to report.

“There’s only minor damage to the engine transmission fuel. Cyrax’s working to reduce the damage.”

“Guess we’ll need to find a landing spot fast before something bad happens.”

“Should we meet the others already?” The Jellyfish pirate captain leaned back on his seat to lay down. “Seems like we’re done blowing up homunculus temples.”

“Envy is still on the loose somewhere.” Major Briggs explained. “Got a report from Guile, saying he wasn’t in his temple. We just don’t know where he is at the moment.”

Do they have other dark secrets besides the ritual, I wonder? Nevertheless, I’ll do whatever I can to help the Elrics and everyone else to drive off the Ouroboros scum in this and any other threats they try to pull.

As Major Briggs tried to find a spot to safely land the plane, Kagura looked through the window to find a small horde of those black white creatures with red nodes, once again ransacking part of the Pantheon.

“Everyone, look down there.” He pointed towards the monsters, with Jax and the Jellyfish pirate following his direction and looking out the windows to see the horde of monsters on the move.

“These the one-eyed freaks you and May were talking about? What kinda disgusting creatures are they supposed to be?” Johnny pondered aloud; it seems Kagura’s encountered these abominations and told him about such, but the pirate himself was fortunate enough to avoid coming across the rampaging creeps up to this point.

Major Briggs, much like the Colonel, had fought them, and thus had an answer for Johnny. “Mannequins, lesser homunculi; I call ’em white zombies. Had to stop those things from ransacking the Children’s area.” He steered the helicopter to the House of Shape to help the deities fighting off this current horde. En route, they caught sight of two airships, recognizing them immediately. I guess Chief Beifong noticed the damage as well. As they began to enter, Lin Kuei warriors were deployed from the airships, followed by the mutant Peter Parker assisting them. Looks like the Chief noticed these zombies too… As he tried to find a landing spot, he noticed several deities already beginning to fight off the ‘zombie’ horde before the back-up arrived to repel them. Along the way, Asami recognized a temple.

“We’re going to pass Pride’s temple.” This prompted Major Briggs to slow down slightly, prompting Kagura and his friend to gather flash bangs before rushing to exit the helicopter with Cyrax closing the door behind them.

“Colonel Mutsuki and Johnny are off the copter, Major Briggs.” Cyrax approached to inform him before returning to repairs. The metal-armed soldier decided to land on an outskirts area near the House of Shape, away from the interference of the mannequins to do maintenance.

“This’ll do.” As he turned off the helicopter, he and Asami joined Cyrax to do maintenance repairs on the helicopter. “It’ll be a pleasure working with someone good with technology.”

“This will be an easier time to fix it, I guess…” The CEO nodded as they and Cyrax began working to repair the copter’s engine. I’m relieved that Major Briggs’ ethics aren’t those of Sector Seven’s…

…

In the house of Shape meanwhile, several mannequins, even before intervention from the Lin Kuei and Parker, were already taken apart by some eyepatched little girl in a green dress… A little girl like that shouldn’t be playing with weapons, but she seems to be trained. Others include a lion humanoid who cuts off the heads of several monsters, rendering them dead in the process. Another was an elf woman wearing tribal clothing who froze several of the monsters in place before shattering them, a man having a grotesque left arm longer than the other crushing the heads of a few. By the time the monster horde was already wiped out, a green lizard witnessed the destruction. It hopped into the ground, transforming into a certain dreadlocked male who looked on in disbelief.

I don’t believe this… All the mannequin soldiers Father created, the souls harvested into them, and unleashed everywhere, wiped out in almost two days?

Two days… That’s the same amount it took for me to end the Ikaruga Civil War. Hmph, did he really think the demigods and lesser gods were complete weaklings in this place? These homunculi don’t seem to know the Pantheon very well. However, it makes me wonder, what twisted plot are he and his ‘siblings’ intending to do here after they’ve gathered these ‘Crests of Blood’ the renowned one informed his apprentice of?

Nevertheless, the damned homunculus tried to attack the deities going driving off the infestation, only to be kicked in the left side his ribs by a certain costumed freak, accompanied by his horned companion. “Of all the times, you-”

“…had to jump in, I know.” Parker interrupted. “You gave yourself away.” He took a deep breath as Envy approached him, holding up a fist. So much for a reunion… As the homunculus threw a punch, he dodged by ducking. The homunculus follows with a left kick, which his opponent side-stepped.

“Stand still, you damned spider-freak!” He tried hitting Parker, but due to the latter’s fast agility, Envy had a majority of his punches and kicks blocked and caught by the Spider-Man, with the latter retaliating in response. only for the latter’s feline companion to join the fight and hit him. Incensed and trying again to take down Spider-Man, he stopped to calm down for a moment. I almost forgot my lessons already… What is this homunculus babbling about now? Soon enough, he approached with a different fighting style; beginning his assault anew, the jealous one threw a punch at Parker again (which he evaded). Differing from his previous assault, he spun around to throw a back-handed punch, to which the mutant also avoided, attempting to hit Parker with a cart-wheel. He almost fell down in the process, but this didn’t deter him too much; he went into a hand-stand, spinning around to kick his enemies. The webbed freak, however, caught his right leg and lifted him, a feat the pine-tree scum didn’t think was possible. How is this bastard so strong!? He tried to retaliate by kicking him with his free leg, only for him to avoid it and catch the other leg as well. He then began to spin around, swinging the dreadlocked homunculus in the process for a minute or two. as the Spider freak threw the petulant brat into his own temple, the latter screamed as he crashed into a wall. The impact from the velocity was so strong that it leveled a large part of his own temple. Is this what the mutant is capable of? He wasn’t bluffing when he told the Fire Nation Princess that he was holding back. It was loud enough to catch the attention of all the deities and the Lin Kuei, the combination of which had already eliminated a large horde of those mannequins by the time this occurred.

Ooooh… I’m going to have to explain this to the guardians once this whole ordeal is over.

Someone has to.

Envy recovered, getting all the debris off him before giving the mutant a seething glare. “You son of a bitch… You’ve ruined my temple… Now you’re pissing me off!” Everyone watched as red sparks surrounded the homunculus as he began to transform into the green monstrosity I briefly saw when he crushed the murderous Diclonius Lucy.

There’s something that baffles me: How can the homunculus keep that weight even in his humanoid form? Perhaps their ‘father’ would know.

Having transformed, Envy bellowed a loud roar that reached across the House of Shape, catching everyone’s attention. The webbed mutant turned to everyone else as several more people appeared. “Get everyone to safety while I take care of Envy!” As they destroyed the remainder of the cyclops monsters, the weaker deities tried to take every inhabitant barring Kagura and Johnny to safety, knowing that the homunculus is targeting Parker at the moment. Wasting no time, he approached the monster, buying everyone else time to evacuate everyone out of the house at.

How am I going to defeat Envy without turning the House of Shape into a demolition course? He approached his enemy, horrified by the human-like bodies protruding from the sides of its large body. I just need to not look at the… people. I don’t fault you for being disgusted at the monster’s appearance, mutant. Before he could land an assault, fire suddenly starts to come toward Envy from the right side. Parker looked from the direction of the attack to discover a tank belonging to a red dragon with green hair. Great. Now I need to find a way to get to him and- His thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion, this time hitting the large lizard from the front. The spider-freak looked at the direction of the shot to find a tank. I got they’re trying to defend their temple, but I- wait a minute… Initially, as he wanted to fight Envy alone, the fact that intervention from other deities annoyed him; he wanted everyone else to first flee to safety as he fought the homunculus alone, but these two interferences allowed him a perfect opportunity for a tactic. With Jake Long here, we might be able to hurt him. He directed his attention to the red dragon. “Jake!” The dragon turned to Parker, hearing what the webbed mutant has to say. “Do me a favor and give this monster some entertainment! I’m gonna have a surprise for him!”

“Got it!” Jake Long tried to divert Envy’s attention away from the spider freak. Hearing everything, and thus thinking his intended enemy ran away, the jealous homunculus focused on the red dragon-human hybrid, in disbelief that he was going to fight a dragon. “Alright, you ugly monster! I don’t know where you came from, but you’re going down!” The two creatures began their offensive against each other; despite his immense size, the homunculus was nearly as fast as his humanoid form, able to tackle Jake Long into a building. This sort of moment shocked Parker, who was on top of another building, in between antennae.

I thought Envy was slower in his monster form. Not good. He gulped as he watched Jake Long recover as the latter began to grab dirt into his hand. He ascended to the skies keeping his distance from the monster homunculus. A minute later, he began flying down toward the monster.

Is this dragon going to just charge into me again? How predictable. Envy turned around, trying to swipe the red dragon away with his tail, but his enemy flew upward to evade it. Like a mere fly to a human, he moved around Envy to annoy the cretin, right until he closed in on his eyes and threw dirt on them, irritating his eyes in the process. “Fuck! I can’t see!” He grunted in pain as he placed his hands on his eyes. Tch, how low, throwing dirt to someone’s eyes.

Envy’s blinded. Now’s my chance! Shooting two webs between himself, Parker moved back a few feet before moving slightly to the right to match the angle to reach Envy. A few moments later, he propelled himself toward the blind homunculus, somersaulting mid-air to attack him foot-first. With the speed from the catapult, he delivered a devastating kick to the head, knocking him down. “That’ll keep him down for a while…” Jake Long regrouped with him, anticipating that the jealous homunculus will recover. However, that strange officer from before appeared suddenly, the same one who approached the female after she damaged the renowned Jedi in Bradley’s temple.

“Having trouble with these people?” He asked.

Recognizing the voice, he realized who was speaking to him. “Of course I’m having trouble with these insects, Schrodinger! Help me take them down!” The spider and dragon prepared themselves in case the officer tried to fight them. However, Schrodinger, the officer in question, had a neutral face.

“That won’t be possible. Your fat brother has been taken out. You and your sibling’s temples have been destroyed. Especially your youngest one.” That the others have destroyed the half-homunculus’s temple, with his brother Gluttony being defeated, the jealous homunculus relented.

“…Get us out of here.” Straight to the point. Without any delay, Schrodinger teleported himself and Envy out of the House of Shape. With their departure, Parker checked on the House of Shape; no signs of those mannequins anywhere thanks in part to the Lin Kuei and various other deities wiping them out. Spider-man and the clan regrouped, noticing several of them missing.

“You guys did pretty good here. Your Grandmaster would be proud. A shame some of them had to die in this whole ordeal.” The mutant’s compliment made some of them bow to Spider-man out of respect.

“We should thank you and that red dragon for keeping the monster busy.” One Lin Kuei clansman responded. Parker turned around to see Jake Long, now in his human form, going back to his temple.

“These people have done an amazing job defending their temples.” Another commended. The others wondered what to do next, now that they’re finished in this place.

“You should all go back to your Grandmaster’s temple.” Parker suggested. “You all need rest. I’ll tell Beifong not to take you guys back there.” The clansmen seemed relieved, having to spare some space for Parker. They parted ways, with Parker going back to the airship, and the Lin Kuei returning to Sub-Zero’s temple. I wonder what he must be thinking, calling off the cryomancer ninja’s clan.

…

Having already slain dozens of mannequin soldiers, Kagura and his friend Johnny have approached the doorstep to the bricked temple of the homunculus Pride, who, if the data from those state alchemists are anything, is said to be the oldest of the homunculi. With enough force, Kagura broke the door open. This will take explaining to do with the authorities… No comment there. Breaking the door open, they encounter a little boy, one who appeared innocent that he wouldn’t harm a soldier, one who posed as a ‘child’ of the former Fuhrer. Thanks to information from the State Alchemists, however, they weren’t fooled. Johnny groaned in displeasure at the thought.

Why’d this homunculus have to look like a boy? As he moved with Kagura, the boy seemed to be annoyed.

“You humans have some nerve, breaking into my temple at this time.” He turned around, looking at the two men as Johnny reached for his pockets.

“Nice manners you have…” Kagura pointed his weapon at the boy. “…but don’t think you’re fooling us with that innocent look… Pride.”

“Clearly anyone coming to this temple armed and dangerous would already know the truth.” Immediately after this retort, the boy attacked the two of them with shadows. As the Black Knight warded them off, a few of them grazed the Jellyfish pirate captain as he went behind Kagura for safety, taking out a flash bang. Recognizing his partner’s strategy, Kagura nodded in cooperation, fending off more of Pride’s attacks for a few seconds before the pirate captain pulled the string and waited nearly a minute before throwing it at the homunculus. A flash of light dispelled the shadows, banishing the shadows. Smirking, the Jellyfish pirate moved in on the homunculus, drawing his sword at such a fast speed, and the strikes were as equally as fast, first beheading him, then stabbing out his chest. As he ran back to Kagura a few moments later, Pride’s body regenerated and his shadows reformed. The arrogant homunculus didn’t seem too angry at the dirty trick used against him. He resumed his attack against the two of them, as they swatted away his shadows once more, noticing Kagura’s friend having a marginally better time repelling the shadows faster.

This is interesting… The man in sunglasses strikes as fast as Wrath and Vergil, yet he isn’t letting up. It pains me to agree with the homunculus; If I were with them, I’d be taken aback by Johnny’s swordplay. Heh, maybe it can give me a little trouble. I’m not taking any more chances. Realizing the two of them could use a flash bang again, he attacked the duo more offensively. Johnny and Kagura tried their best to defend themselves, but the amount of shadows, compounded by the speed of which they’ve traveled, overwhelmed them, receiving cuts in their chests, arms, and legs. In one case, the homunculus’s shadows knocked the Jellyfish pirate captain’s sunglasses off his head, an act that angered him.

“You’re in for it now, shadow boy.” A glint of rage was on his eyes as he slowly approached the homunculus, who smirked .

“Kill me again if you like. You’ll only wear yourself down. You humans are so naive, going out to your deaths.”

Realizing they won’t permanently kill Pride quick enough, Johnny smirked. “Guess we can kill for some time.” His eyes met Kagura’s, who understood what he intended to do.

Please repair the copter in time, Major Briggs. Kagura held his weapon into a more defensive position. I don’t know how much longer Johnny and I can hold him off. He prepared his weapon as Pride began his offensive. As he defended himself, the Black Knight ran to get behind the Jellyfish leader, dropping his weapon as he reached for a flash bang out of his pocket as fast as he could. Seeing this, Pride redirected his shadows, focusing solely on attacking Kagura as he pulled the string. Johnny tried to defend him, but he couldn’t defend himself and Kagura against all the shadows; he received a few more cuts around his chests as his friend threw it at the homunculus. The flash bang exploded, having dispelled his shadow again. As Johnny started to recover, the two of them saw three women flying into one of the windows of Pride’s temple. Kagura seemed to have recognized them. Those girls again… He comes to a realization as they fly closer. Are they here to help Pride? The three women crashed into the window. The arrogant homunculus, however, was relieved.

“The abyssals are here. You two swordsmen have made a poor choice fighting me at the worst time possible. Now, are you two ready to-” Before he could finish, two of the women grabbed him. “H-hey! Get your hands off me!”

“Your father wants you back at his temple as soon as possible.” The woman’s words were enough for Pride to relent his attack. His attention returned to Kagura and Johnny.

“You two should be fortunate to be spared at this moment. Next time, there won’t be mercy.” The women took off with Pride, leaving Kagura and Johnny.

“We need to get out of this temple and look for the others.”

“Agreed.”

As Johnny picked up his sunglasses, the two departed Pride’s temple, finding the helicopter up in the air.

“They fixed the helicopter, but they’re up already?” An annoyed Kagura groaned in annoyance.

“How t’hell are we supposed to get up?” Johnny scratched his head for a moment before he blinked. “‘Less they’re using that bomb…” As the helicopter lowered its altitude almost to ground level, the door opened, revealing Asami gesturing to them to hurry up and get in. With Cyrax joining them, the two injured men entered the helicopter and rested while Jax ascended to the skies again and dropped a bomb into Pride’s temple, leveling the area in the process before leaving.

“That should be all of them.” Jax noted. “Think it’s time we met up with everyone else.” Everyone else nodded as they left the House of Shape.

Plasma Hypothesis

As told by Charlie Nash

Millennium vampires, began to overrun the House of Craft by the hundreds, destroying all of their resources but not without resistance: Among the people fighting them consisted of one the guardians, Rohan Kishibe turning dozens of them into humanoid books, extraordinary engineer Angus MacGyver, who laid ridiculous traps that restrained a decent number of the vampires, legendary swashbuckler Zorro, weird squid humanoids who blinded these vampires with… colored ink? Some form of acid? I don’t know what it is that they’re firing at the moment. Besides those three are former motocross champion Chuck Greene, an apparent buddy of Macgyver’s who helped with the traps, in addition to his own weaponry that annihilated more vampires along the way. For a House of the arts, they’re doing a decent job, especially for five deities at this time.

I assumed this House was ill-prepared for defending themselves against monsters like these. Boy, was I proven dead wrong.

“Keep going, everyone! We’ll make these imbeciles suffer!” Kishibe rallied as he started writing on a vampires’ body as the squid humanoids defended him. “More help is to come.” As he was finished writing on the vampire, they suddenly attacked their brethren, desecrating more of their own kin by the dozens. That this man could actually do such a thing is astounding in and of itself. This shouldn’t be a problem once Sears and his vampire allies arrive. As a few vampires prepare to close in on MacGyver and Greene, they were cut into pieces before they realized what happened to them. A green, armored figure briefly revealed himself before moving on to kill the other vampires on the ground at such a fast, almost unseen speed. One of the vampire generals made a gesture towards their enemies as more of them arrived.

“Open fire!” At his signal, the rest of the artificial vampires pulled their triggers and began shooting at the members of the House of Craft. The green-armored warrior tried to take as many bullets as possible trying to protect the citizens, cutting apart the bullets in the process. The artificial vampires continued to fire their artillery weapons, only for the reinforcements to get run over by a truck from behind, including the vampire leader who ordered the attack in the first place. Jumping out of the truck is the boy vampire Touta, who has ambushed the vampires and cut their heads off with a sword in his possession, disrupting whatever prior strategies they had beforehand. What followed was Seras, who dived in from the skies and mauled the vampire’s arms with her bare hands before killing them. The vampire Alucard, however, moved elsewhere. More artificial vampires tried to assault the residents inside their temples, only for them to see blades shaped-like cymbals coming toward them at a fast speed. Confident, they tried to catch the cymbals. In the middle of this, a woman with rose hair, one who wore a tall conductor hat with a skull-like design, black thigh highs, pink high heels, shoulder pieces that cover the upper part of her breasts, a small black patch over her groin, and three bone-like decorations on her bare midriff, in front of them, firing a weak purple energy beam to distract them before the cymbals came closer. This allowed the cymbals to vertically cut in half.

“Didn’t think that would actually work…”

Joining her was a blue-haired young man with glasses with a more formal-looking uniform, eyeing the vampires to see if they’ll regenerate. “Do not let your guard down, Jakuzure. These things will come right back up.” They witness Seras approaching them at an almost instant time.

“These vampires cannot regenerate lost limbs.” Seras informed them from afar. “Their arms and legs will need to be taken off.” Right she suggested this, the green-armored swordsman who briefly appeared earlier attacked one of the vampires who went after one of the residents, a foreman, cutting off the arms before he could attack the innocent. A close one. The swordsman turned to the two people besides Seras.

“Hey you two! Give me a hand, will ya!?” He immediately rushed off to prevent another vampire attack. This annoyed the rose-haired young lady.

“You damned monkey! Don’t go rushing off on your own after asking for help!” Angry, she rushed to join her companion. Besides the boy vampire joining them was Sears, the latter of whom instantly recognized the two figures from the first attack against Bradley.

“Uzu Sanageyama and Nonon Jakuzure of Satsuki Kiryuin’s Elite Four. I suppose your friend Inumuta detected activity here.” So this Inumuta, the one with the glasses, was the one who helped the Armstrong siblings rescue the President. Brilliant.

As the four of them, joined by Seras, prepared to eliminate the other vampires, they all saw a large shadow looming over them. Sears and Seras were the first to look above them to see an airship flying into the House of Craft.

“Are those more Millennium vampires inside there?” The female asked, slowing down slightly for a moment, wondering if there were more reinforcements from the enemy. Everyone else followed suit, keeping an eye on the airship. Alucard, who was in another area within the House of Craft, also looked at the airship right after he killed seven vampires. What they saw a minute later were not vampires, but ninjas in yellow coming off the airship. Touta smiled, recognizing these ninjas and the only one in the loop regarding the whole deal.

“The Shirai Ryu…” The boy vampire happily exclaimed, being the only one in the loop on Grandmaster Hasashi’s clan.. “Do not attack them. They’re here to help us!” Everyone else nodded as they resumed their attack on the vampires. With the assistance of half the Shirai Ryu, they’ve managed to kill the vampires by the hundreds, while the other half of the clan dragged the non-combatants to safety. As he witnessed the onslaught, Inumuta turned to his laptop, seeing a blinking red on his laptop, removing his focus from the fight.

What’s this…? More of them are coming this way…! Raising his head, he looked around to see reinforcements running in the outskirts; the people he saw, however, weren’t vampires, but what appeared to be humans. Is this some sort of prank? Confused as he was, he contacted his two associates through a transmitter. “Heads up, you two. Back-up from the enemy is coming our way. They seem to be human, be on your guard.” The strategist cut off contact for the moment and observed the fight from afar. From what he saw, they were all wearing tank tops and shorts… All but one man behind them, who was wearing glasses, a yellow suit with a white shirt underneath it, with a trench coat on top of that. Before these soldiers could make it to the House of Craft, the troops were destroyed by a purple laser beam that decimated everyone in almost an instant, somehow causing an explosion. This sudden moment shocked everyone barring Alucard, who looked up to see a demon in the air. The demon quickly moved to the scientist, who was terrified to see that his army was decimated in the blink of an eye, now accompanied by a masked man who’s holding what appeared to be a flamethrower.

“My entire army… defeated in a single blow…” The stunned scientist uttered as he and the masked man tried to make a run for it, but the demon grabbed the former. The scientist was engulfed in demon energy, draining his entire life force almost instantly. The demon dropped the scientist, who ended up being a husk. The demon turned to the masked man.

“Better call off your army before they meet the same fate like your friend here. If you come here destroying this house next time, I’ll fuck up your employer, whoever they are.” The demon’s warning prompted the masked man to run away without a word; the other vampires followed suit, retreating from the House of Craft, breaking away their fight from everyone else. By the time the enemy retreated, the demon transformed into a black man with a black coat and yellow leather pants and very large black boots. As he returned to the House of Craft lighting up a cigar, everyone approached the man as he calmly departed them. Alucard in particular was surprised to see this creature in action.

To see the demonic weaponsmith in action… Rodin the Infinite One… The rumors about his powers were true… A creature naming himself after the French sculptor who built a statue to honor the famous poet Dante Aligheri? That demon must have some form of respect for the sculptor. He shifted his focus to everyone who looked at him.

“Where is he going?” Sanageyama asked Kishibe.

“Back to his own temple.” The artisan was still as shocked as everyone else to see this entity intervene. We’re fortunate to have him on our side. They all watched as he calmly walked back to his temple before the guardians and residents returned to their own as well after thanking everyone for helping repel the vampire attack. Sears noticed something missing.

“Where’s your giant friend?”

“He’s looking for someone else.” Inumuta was to the point.

Sears turned away from them, looking beyond the House of Craft. “Of course. Miss Kiryuin would cover more ground… it’s not one of her best choices, either.” Despite the disagreements, the three Elite Four members took the comment in stride, knowing that their missing associate is more vulnerable than they’ll be. Alucard, meanwhile, looked elsewhere at the sky, seeing two people; one of them being a certain man in beige uniform. Their eyes briefly met before he teleported out of sight. The other figure he saw was a winged man who wore a white robe on top of a black shirt and pants with a brown belt, a feather pin behind his left ear and a collar-like accessory on his neck. Is this supposed to be some sort of low-class angel or something? It’s disturbing to think one is fighting on the side of a bloodthirsty general like Esdeath. The winged man made eye contact with Alucard for a moment before flying off without a word.

Were they really trying to re-enact that moment again? You really spared me from reliving that time, Demonsmith. Relieved that the weaponsmith thwarted what appeared to be some sort of ploy, he let out a sigh. As he turned to the others, Touta was the one who approached him.

“There’s something I have to ask you before you go, Alucard.” The boy vampire stopped him from leaving.

Alucard remained calm, curious about the question he was about to be asked. “What is it?”

“The Ouroboros Homunculi have souls within their Philosopher’s stone that they use as hearts. Is it possible that you can directly absorb the souls from the homunculus leader?”

“Only by absorbing the blood can I absorb the souls. Taking the victim’s soul directly is impossible for me without taking their blood.” Alucard’s answer seemed to have worried the boy vampire. To his slight surprise, the boy sighed in relief.

“Guess I’ll have to join the Elrics and their allies again and meet up with the Grim Reaper of the Azure.” The moniker was enough to surprise Alucard, if only by a little, knowing who Touta was referring to.

“So that midget alchemist managed to get Bloodedge to his side.” That’s not what happened. Nevertheless, the ruthless nightstalker bellowed a chuckle. “Be sure to say hi to him and his mistress for me when you get the chance.”

A nervous crept on Touta’s face. “I’d rather not… A bolt of lightning is the last thing I’d want to receive.” So they’re that kind of couple. I wonder if there are more like those two. Satisfied with the answer, the boy vampire ran off to join the rest of us. Please stay alive, Ragna… He might be a criminal, but if his word is true, he’s our best chance to thwart whatever ritual they have. Sears, however, looked at the Shirai Ryu, who protected the residents, escorting them safely to their temples after the fight. The old man approached a few clansmen.

“Are you Japanese ninja joining your Grandmaster?”

“We’re returning to his temple after everyone here is safe.” One of the clansmen answered as he oversaw the rest of his clansmen guiding the residents. Relieved that the chaos is over, he waved goodbye to the three Honnouji Elite Four members before heading for his car. As he started the engine, he saw Alucard and Seras flying off to an unknown location. Taking out his cellphone, he called the President.

“President Bartlet speaking.”

“We’ve successfully repelled the Millennium army away from the House of Craft, President Bartlet.”

“Excellent news, Sears.” The President sipped a cup of coffee on his end before speaking again. “We should leave Captain Nash and Major Guile to help handle the rest.”

The old soldier put the key to start up the car.. “Me and my army will try our best to block the rest of the Millennium from interfering with those two to ensure their victory.”

“Very proactive move. I like it.” The president smiled on his end of the line. “Report to me after you’re done.”

“Will do. Sears out.” Sears hung up his phone and stepped on the gas, driving away from the House of Craft.

Revelations on the Fall

As told by Tony Stark

Somewhere in the outskirts of the Pantheon, Honnouji Elite Four member Ira Gamagoori has walked around the Pantheon, having been called by his leader to help us look for this red and blue weirdo Alphonse encountered. Almost exhausted from looking around, he yawned. Seeking such a man is harder than I thought… Exasperated, he let out a sigh as he looked at the mountains, right where the House of Prophecy was located. He smiled. I’ll take a break. Maybe a short rest will do. He made his way to the House of Prophecy to take a short nap.

…

Six minutes later, he made his way to the entrance of the House of Prophecy, looking at a small number of deities walking separately to their own destinations before taking his eyes on a bench to sit on. Right as he proceeded to do so, a certain muscular man walked out of the entrance. His appearance was exactly what Alphonse described of him: Blonde hair, skin that’s red on the right side, and blue on the left, all the way down to his feet. That’s got to be body-paint. On his forehead was a weird jewel. All he wore was… a loincloth. Definitely the guy Nash is looking for. It was all the Elite Four giant needed to beat up people. Looking at this behemoth, he could be right at home in the wrestling organization. I’ll need to take him away from this place. Having decided on how to handle this situation, Gamagoori approached the man. “You with the red and blue body-paint.” He uttered as he closed in on the man. “I challenge you to a fight at the outskirts.” looking at the dark-skinned man, the mysterious weirdo smiled.

“I will accept your offer, young man.” He looked back at a certain temple. “Perhaps I could use this time for a warm-up before my next meeting.” The last word piqued Gamagoori’s curiosity as the two of them walked away from the House of Prophecy.

What kind of council is this man a part of? The giant thought, now suspicious of his soon-be-opponent’s motives, as they continued walking. Questions surrounding the red and blue weirdo began to surround Gamagoori’s head. Is he in league with King Bradley? His face turned to annoyance as he looked back at the man. Looking at that loincloth reminds me of that one creep who controls lightning and metal. It’s irritating enough that people keep thinking I’m his descendant. The weirdo, however, smirked as they began entering the outskirts of the Pantheon, walking right into a field, where no one else interfered.

“We’re here.” The weirdo inhaled before looking at his opponent. “As the challenger of the fight, I suppose you make the first move.”

“With pleasure!” Yeesh, thanks for reminding me how obnoxiously loud you can be. At the suggestion, Gamagoori activated his weird uniform, turning his clothes with a black armored uniform, covering everything but the parts from his chest to abdomen, having gauntlets and knee pads with spiked bracelets on both wrists, a spiked chakram placed on the back of the uniform, and huge collar beneath the chakrams. Gamagoori rushed toward the man and threw a punch with his right arm. The weirdo caught it with his left hand. Little did Honnouji’s Disciplinary Committee Chairman realize that his fist was getting colder.

My’s arm getting colder? As he tried to apply more force to the punch, he felt his arm losing heat. I only threw a punch at him and suddenly, my arm’s getting even colder. He pulled his punch, backing away from this weirdo as quickly as possible, touching his right arm with his left hand to feel the coldness, a problem he quickly remedied by rapidly rubbing his arms together. He looked at the muscular, mysterious red and blue man again, the latter channeling fire in his right hand as he approached his opponent. Fire’s on his right side… I’ll need to think of a contingency. Thinking ahead, Gamagoori took a red and white ball out from his belt and threw it out, summoning a blue amphibian creature. “Alright Swampy, I want you to do something for me.” He pointed his finger at his opponent. “I’m facing a man with a strange look, one who seems to have power over ice and fire. I want you to stay out of this, but extinguish whatever flames that emerge from my fight!” Looking at the fire coming from the mysterious man’s right hand, the Disciplinary Committee Chairman’s companion obliged, moving to the sidelines to let the two muscular giants resume their battle.

“Very generous of you to take precaution.” The mysterious opponent took a look at the amphibian companion before returning his attention to his opponent. “It’s the first time I’ll be seeing a Pokemon in action.” At least he doesn’t live under a rock.

Ever since certain Pokemon ascended, there has been a surge of numbers among them in the Pantheon and a program that certain have applied to partners to. Steve’s partner is some sort of steed, often letting it out of its Pokeball out of respect for its wishes to roam around this place. In Gamagoori’s case, this Pokemon is what they call a Swampert.

With the Pokemon sidelined, the mysterious red and blue man began engulfing his right arm in fire and had his arm outward, preparing to do a lariat. The big guy decided to block it with his own, with part of his gauntlets being slightly seared in the process, retaliating with a punch that merely staggered him, only knocking him back a few inches. It didn’t even phase the bastard. Nevertheless, the man continued his offensive against the Disciplinary Committee Chairman as they began to clash, engulfing his limbs in fire and ice on their respective sides in between attacks. Even though Gamagoori had landed several of his heaviest punches, it did little to slow down the mystical man. In fact, parts of his body were bleeding from the ice-engulfed strikes from his opponent. Swampert started to show concern for its partner, who stood his ground, preparing to go on the defensive as the mysterious weirdo prepared to put his left arm forward, closed into a fist. Before the big guy could realize what could happen next, a ball of ice was fired at him. Fortunately for him, it was slow enough to embrace the ice ball. Unexpectedly, despite being in a defensive position, it managed to slowly freeze him and a small portion of the grass around him. I only blocked it. How am I still freezing from the ice ball? The Water-type cried for its partner, desiring to help him. The red and blue man walked up to the Disciplinary Committee Chairman, having a closer look at him from head to toe. He chuckled.

“I suppose the claims about you two aren’t exactly off.” Gamagoori struggled as the mysterious muscular man continued speaking. “Dark skin… The tendency to change between formal clothing and little to none… Perhaps you could pass as a descendant of my brother.” This comment was enough to enrage the Disciplinary Committee Chairman enough to partially thaw out the flame

“You bastard…! You and that man are brothers!?” Full of anger, he took a moment to break out of ice. “For this offense, I will do everything to put you in your place!!” Enraged, he charged at the red and blue man at full speed, only for both of them to be stopped by a laser beam. Both of them looked around, only for the two of them to look around to see me and Rhodey flying toward them in our armor. As the two of us landed, we immediately held the red and blue man at gun-point.

“Don’t take another step further! We’ll shoot if you do!” Rhodey made our intentions clear as the mysterious man stepped back. Instead of rage, his reaction was more mixed. He didn’t expect us to come looking for him.

The Armored Avengers… Where did this guy learn about us two? I don’t remember having done anything to be on their ‘wanted’ list. He’s mistaken. We don’t want you, weirdo. The person who’s going to arrive here next most definitely will. We all stopped until a certain four-eyed fore-lock captain landed between us. He looked up to see his plane, now being piloted by Ororo, fly off elsewhere, before directing his attention to the red and blue man before him. Seeing each other had an unexpected reaction between the two of them.

“Where have I seen you before…?” It was all the captain could utter.

“You know this weirdo, Nash?” For once, he didn’t respond. Whatever’s going on with Nash is not what I was expecting.

I feel like I’ve seen this person before, but… Where, and when? Nash examined the loincloth before looking at the man’s face. How can a man walk around the Pantheon dressed like that?

Seeing Nash here, the mysterious man smirked. “Ah, so you’re the one Kolin was hoping would fulfill the prophecy.” I have no… wait a minute, Guile informed us that Shadaloo collapsed in his world. If this guy’s spouting stuff like that…

“Kolin? Prophecy?” Charlie seemed a little confused. I don’t remember a person named Kolin assisting me in my fight against Bison and his cronies. Unless… His eyes widened as a realization hit him. “Wait, are you talking about Helen!?”

The red and blue weirdo chuckled. “You’re quick to pick up. I’m sure you would piece the rest together.”

But that would mean… No… The bespectacled captain had come to another realization. “You’re the ‘lord’ she was working for! You had a hand in Shadaloo’s downfall!” This weirdo helped them take down Bison and his organization? Not too surprising; in fact, it makes sense. There’s no way Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Ken, and the other World Warriors could topple Bison’s operation without some coordinating resources of their own, even if the former finally mastered that Mu no Ken ‘power of nothing’ he and his teacher would talk about. Stunned, Charlie lowered his head down. “Stark, Rhodes, we’ve caused enough of a scene here as is. Get me back to the helicopter.”

Me, Rhodey, and Gamagoori looked at each other before the first two of us approached the captain. We all turned away, but the blonde captain looked back at the man with a look that was subdued in anger before we flew Charlie away and departed the place, leaving Gamagoori, the red and blue man, and the Swampert. The mysterious weirdo, despite us interrupting their fight, seemed oddly satisfied.

An interesting encounter with that man… He looked at the sky, still with that smile remaining on his face. Two minutes later, he glanced at Honnouji’s Disciplinary Committee Chairman. “It was a pleasure meeting you here in person. I presume our next encounter won’t be so polite.” As he faced away from his opponent and began to walk off, the Swampert approached Gamagoori while his smile faded.

Gamagoori, meanwhile, was not satisfied. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going!?” The red-and-blue man briefly stopped, but did not turn to look back.

“I must tend to one of my associates. He might be worried. Rest well.” On this note the mysterious man continued to walk away, Gamagoori staring angrily as he recalled his Swampert back into its Pokeball, slowly turning into a scowl. An image of a dark-skinned man burned into his mind, realizing that the man he just fought was the brother of one of his enemies.

…

Back in the helicopter, Ororo, now the pilot, searched the area to check for us. Cammy offered to be her co-pilot in case something happens to her. Storm was surprised when she was asked to take Nash’s place as a helicopter pilot. Either way, aside from our MVP Bloodedge, one who’s a criminal by the way, she needed to put her powers to rest to some extent before the big fight.

“Will you help with the Easter proceedings after this?” Ororo asked.

“Anything for a friend.” Cammy smiled. There was suddenly a knock on the door. Colonel Curtiss and Chun-Li, the two people next to the door, were the ones to open it, letting me, Rhodey, and Nash inside the plane.

“Did you find the man you were looking for? The one Alphonse and his group encountered?” Colress asked.

“I did.” Nash directed his attention to Chun-Li, who saw that he was not as composed as he’d been before leaving the helicopter. “Inspector, that red and blue man has long blonde hair, a large muscular build, and is wearing only a loincloth. Have you ever met someone who fits that description?” The question was a surprise to the Interpol officer.

“Not exactly. I’ve met a tall, muscular fighter in a loincloth, but his skin was darker, not oddly colored like the man you’re talking about.” The same one that appeared in Gamagoori’s mind and expressed animosity towards. “He presented himself like an honest businessman when we first met, but later I learned that he captured Li Fen, one of my students.”

“Li Fen?” Cammy repeated, turning back to Nash and Chun-Li with a look of surprise. “Isn’t that the one you’ve been looking after? The girl we found and rescued during the Black Moon plan?”

Chun-Li nodded at this. “Yes, that’s her. Thankfully, I was able to track that Urien man down and save her again. That’s when I saw him in his full frontal fighting attire.” The words ‘darker skin’, ‘Black Moon’, and ultimately the name ‘Urien’, all led Nash to experience some sort of deja vu.

“This dark-skinned man called Urien, did he also have white hair, blue eyes, and a green jewel on his forehead as well?” The question was enough to stun the Interpol officer.

“Y-yes, that would be his description. How did you know?”

Colonel Curtiss listened to the tone of this conversation and sensed where it was going. “Going by the loincloths, there’s definitely some sort of connection between those two.” The guess was enough for Nash to partially recompose himself as this confirmed his suspicions.

“My thoughts exactly, Colonel.” He took a seat, trying to take a rest. “Seems like more people were involved in the hands of Shadaloo’s downfall. We’ll deal with those two shady crooks later. We need to focus on the Ouroboros.” He turned to the pilot seat, knowing that Ororo and Cammy are still piloting the helicopter, ordering them to regroup with the others at the House of Otherness to confront the Homunculus leader before getting himself two bottles of water to drink before resting; the image of this mysterious man was still fresh on his mind, as is his brother.

Who is this ‘associate’ the red and blue guy was speaking about, and does he have more than one? What history does the captain have with these people? If there’s one thing I agree with Nash on, it’s that I don’t like where any of this is going.

Herald of the Ritual

As told by Edward Elric

Deep within the Bearded Bastard’s temple, Hohenheim walked inside the hallways, turning his head as he saw blueprints of other plans that were previously set in motion. He smelled what seemed to be an eerie odor. This place smells odd. What are you plotting this time, Homunculus? As he followed the scent, he looked at the walls, which had strange drawings on them. So he has more in store for this place? Looking at them, Hohenheim frowned, as if he was in regret of something. After walking for about eight minutes, he found himself in the Bearded Bastard’s throne room. What he saw next horrified him: seven people were held hostage, each of the homunculus tied to the captive representing the sin the latter party embodied. Some of them were easy: Lust herself was bound to Juri, the woman she enlisted to kill Asami for resembling her, a woman noted by Chun-Li to be lustful for a fight; Envy was bound to Cersei, a royal in Westeros who’s noted to be very jealous herself; the Diclonious Lucy was tied to King Bradley, their rage ending with hundreds of people being slaughtered. The other four were more questionable: Shinji Ikari was tied to Sloth. It seems to be due to the former’s initial reluctance to pilot his mech. Anakin Skywalker, the former Chosen Jedi, once Darth Vader, is aligned next to Pride. Brock Samson, the man Nash and his group were looking for, was magically tied to Gluttony. I don’t know what the connection is here. Going from the title ‘Murderist Extraordinaire,’ I assume it’s an addiction to killing? Vegeta’s cell, however, was empty, though, based on the obvious missing homunculus, it may be worth noting he used to be part of an arms race against his own emperor to obtain immortality and rule over his universe.

Horrified to see the set-up of the ritual, Hohenheim confronted the Bearded Bastard. “Kidnapped these seven innocent people as sacrifices to perform the Great Philosopher’s stone.”

The homunculus leader, however, chuckled. “These captives are far from being untainted souls, Hohenheim.” It sickens my stomach to agree with this asshole. “The lives they have taken in their past will be the anchor to our ritual this time.”

Hearing him speak, Hohenheim closed his eyes, sighing in relief. “The transmutation circle in the sky…” He opened them, facing the Bearded Bastard. “I’m starting to understand part of it now.” The Bearded Bastard stared at my old man as the latter started to explain. “At first, I thought the circle in the sky was just some magic trick done on top of your temple. When I came here with a few people who caused a diversion for me to infiltrate your temple, that’s when I realized it was indeed magic that caused the circle to manifest in the sky.” I’m sure that spider monster sure helped with the magical artifacts. “Still, I never thought you’d resort to using magic, but is it possible for your alchemy to extract dead souls?”

“With the power of the Dark Shadow, I will succeed.” Who is this ‘Dark Shadow’ he’s talking about? Now with a serious look on his face, Hohenheim confronted Homunculus, once again making a step to make sure this alchemical process must be stopped. Hang in there, old man. Al and I are coming.

…

After having dealt with everything, all of us regrouped with all our airborne transportation intact. Our destination was the House of Otherness with the intent to stop Homunculus’s plans again. Several of us were healed up from injuries of prior fights with either a High-Command member or a Homunculus. Major Briggs informed us that Ice Jerk commanded him not to pick up him and his brother. Initially, I thought it was a bad idea for them to not be retrieved by Briggs, but then Mustang and Colonel Pervert noted it could serve as an element of surprise. Considering the homunculi never actually met this ‘Grim Reaper’ before, they can catch them off-guard, if only at a crucial moment. Nevertheless, we’re going to end their plans once and for all, just like in Amestris. Meanwhile, the Chief Major ordered Major Zonvolt to act as a body-guard around the Pantheon, helping others in need, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov offering to go with him, while Togusa and the airship pilots stayed behind. With all this in mind, all air transport had begun lowering altitude near the Bearded Bastard’s temple; as we all reached ground level, we noticed a particular woman there at the entrance, one me, Al, and Teach recognized all too well.

“Dante…” I coldly uttered her name under my breath as the helicopters began to reach the ground, followed by the airships from Future Industries, followed by Ahsoka’s own airplane with Greed inside. As we all exited our transport, Touta, who was sent to meet up with Alucard and his fledgling earlier, returned to us, rejoining Asami particularly, followed by Greed, the latter being relieved the engineer was safe and sound, directing his attention to Cyrax.

“She’s safe. I really owe ya one, tin man.”

“All of us did what we could to defend her.” The yellow cyborg responded. “She assisted Major Briggs in fixing our helicopter malfunctions.”

He paused for a moment due to Cyrax being a cyborg. “…Does having a drink mess up your systems or something?”

“I’ll politely decline your reward.” He answered.

As we walked toward the entrance to confront Dante, we all looked up at the sky with the transmutation circle floating there, now with seven points. Six of them glowed up. “Seems like the circle’s still missing something.” Bolin was the first to comment on the transmutation circle.

A confident smirk crept upon Rhodey’s face. “Still gives us some time to stop this whole ritual.” As we all rushed to the fortress, Rashid had a thought coming into his head.

These homunculi have seven ‘Crests of Blood.’ If there are seven captives, and seven homunculi… Just as he began to come to a realization, Greed was suddenly tackled from the side into the ground surprising everyone. “…Oh shit.” We turned to see a shadow clone on top of Greed’s body.

“What the hell?” He tried to overpower the shadow clone, but instead, more clones piled up on him, making it harder to even move and break free.

“Greed!” Asami cried as she, Beifong, Tenzin, and Touta were the first to rush to the rebel homunculus’s aid, discovering the shadow clones. Before they could knock the shadow clones, a portal beneath the Avaricious homunculus was summoned, sending him down to an unknown location. That damned shadow specter.

“I thought Sub-Zero and Scorpion were taking care of him.” Chun-Li asked in disbelief.

Colonel Curtiss, however, seemed to make sense of the situation. “He seemed to have made enough distance from himself and the Grandmasters to pull this off.” It’s plausible… Just as Bradley mentioned, too. Right at the Bearded Bastard’s doorstep.

“What’s our next course of action?” Ororo asked, wondering what to do next.

“Everyone should go inside and help Father.” Alphonse suggested. “Brother and I will fight Dante.” Good thinking, Al.

Stark, however, remained calm. “Well, since we’re doing that…” Without delay, he flew up in the air at full speed, only slowing down once he closed in on Dante, tackling her before she could react, subduing her to the ground afterward. “Everyone, get into the homunculus leader’s temple, NOW!” As Dante was subdued, everyone rushed to the Bearded Bastard’s temple.

Noticing everyone entering, Teach remained by our side. “I’ll stay with you two.” Teach shot an angry glare at the woman who was her teacher in the latter’s timeline. “I want to give her a piece of my mind as well.” Me and Al nodded as we watched everyone else run inside, then moved along the sides to circle around her. Once he saw them entering and only me, Al, and Teach remaining, the Armored Avenger released his grip on Dante and went inside with the rest of the group. She stood up, realizing that we’re here to confront her.

Teach and I turned to each other, making sure to keep Dante in our line of sight. “Hey Teach, maybe you and Mr. Curtis should get a well-cooked steak ready for Iron Man when this is over.” I suggested with a quick tilt towards the entrance, grateful for Stark help in isolating Dante for us.

Teach concurred with a nod. “That’s a good idea, Ed.”

Dante looked squarely at Teach. “My dear former student.” She then turned to Al, then myself. “The sons of my beloved Hohenheim.” Our faces were now focused squarely on her, completely serious, as she redirected herself back and forth between the three of us. “Did you really need to conspire with the God of Powered Armor just to get an audience with me?”

Before I could answer, Al spoke up. “Actually, we didn’t. That’s why we’re so grateful to him for helping us out. But you don’t understand that at all, do you, Dante?” Her face burrowed a bit, giving away a small touch of agitation. Good job striking a nerve there, Al.

In fact, I decided I’d pick up where he left off. “Don’t confuse our father for your Man of Light. If there’s one thing I know about Van Hohenheim, it’s that he never thought like you. Even the one in your timeline, the scumbag you knew and desired, guess what? He woke up. That’s the whole reason you know who we are.” Knowing that her attempt to entice us wasn’t working, Dante’s face grew more annoyed than before.

“Tch, and I was hoping we’d have some ‘time’ to catch up together.” Having her facade crack under the pressure, the pseudo-immortal alchemist transmuted the ground, creating an army of stone lions. Teacher retaliated by transmuting a couple of stone fists that destroyed a majority of the lions. Scattering not too far from our teacher, me and Al transmuted small cannons in almost-precise positions and angles that destroyed the rest of the lions. As the two of us went back to Teach, Dante’s face had an angry scowl, switched into a sneering smile. “Not bad. You’re stronger than yourselves in the timeline I dwell in.” She briefly chuckled before she went on. “I suppose I’ll have to take some extra measures.”

Teach let out a groan. “All on your lonesome?” Now that she pointed this out, this reminded me of something: In a past fight with Lust, Gluttony, and Envy, the former told me and Al that Dante tried to eliminate her Gluttony of his free will, and he ended up backfiring on her in the process. I guess that’s the reason she didn’t do the same to the Wrath of her timeline. At that, I let out a smirk.

“You didn’t bring an infant with you.” This piece of information had shocked Dante, knowing that she can’t send people to the Gate of Truth without one. “Good. It makes it all the easier for us to tie you up.” This assertive remark caused Dante to regain her scowl.

“You fools! I will find partners and another alchemist to help me regain the Philosopher’s Stone and transport me to another body!” How foolish. Aside from condemnation, this rant annoyed us, as there are several flaws in that plan, some of which Al pointed out.

“You never learned anything from your last attempt, did you?” Dante grew more pissed off as Alphonse began to explain. “Even if you transfer your soul to another body, the new body will rot faster than the one you have now. And no matter how much you cover yourself up, you still can’t hide your smell.” Al’s rebuttal made a crack in Dante’s composure, in which she brought out from her pocket a certain object we encountered.

“With this Philosopher’s Stone, I will achieve immortal life!” Everything flew over her head, as usual. But still, this stone she’s wearing is different from a Philosopher’s Stone… The Stone of Nicodemus.

“Which means we just have to take it from you.” As her rage increased, I paused for a moment before bringing up a different topic. “I just vaguely remembered something.” Everyone directed their attention to me. “It’s kind of hazy, but the previous female body you had before you took Lyra’s. That woman existed in our timeline.” This revelation had surprised Al and Teach, but Dante didn’t believe my claim.

“That’s ridiculous! No such woman would appear in that monster’s timeline!”

I remained unfazed and continued on. “After the fight with Homunculus, I encountered an old lady that looked just like your previous host body. Probably one of the souls that he briefly took. Greyish green hair with a bun tied, a magenta dress, a pendant…” Dante’s eyes widened in surprise at this revelation before sporting a more curious look.

“And why are you telling me this?”

“…I just thought you’d make a nice sister to that Bearded Bastard.” My answer baffled everyone.

I can’t believe this child. Dante’s face turned into that of disgust, taking offense to that statement. “I would never consider that ugly homunculus a brother of mine!”

“You’re both shadows of Hohenheim who crave immortality, stealing life from others to try to have it.” I pointed this out. Both Al and Teach’s disbelief quickly wore off afterwards. “Might as well become-” before I could finish, Teach suddenly interrupted me, transmuting the ground into spikes lunging at Dante. The false immortal alchemist transmuted a wall in a hurry to block the spikes; some of them penetrated the wall while the others were destroyed on impact.

“That was for my son you abused in your timeline.” Teach uttered with a contemptuous look on her face. I stood there, initially baffled, but relieved.

“I-i’m glad you took that opening I made, Teach.” I complimented in a sheepish tone. Al, however, had a different reaction.

“That was a weird way to catch her by surprise.”

I simply laughed until we realized a lack of a yell or grunt of pain from Dante from the spikes Teach created via her alchemy. Al transmuted another cannon to blast a hole through the wall, revealing Dante had disappeared. “Wait, where did she go?”

Little did we know, Dante transmuted the ground to be a few feet under, having transmuted the place before the spikes hit her.

“Damn that Iron Man. I was expecting to have them all fight through me, not for him to subdue me and allow everyone but my student and the Sons of Hoheheim to just pass right by.” It’s still not a smart move, Dante. Nevertheless, it still feels good to give you a beating. Recomposing herself as she tried to think of her next move, officer Schrodinger appeared next to her.

“Seems you’re in a difficult position.” He told her. “You never had a chance against them, did you?”

Though it annoyed her, she tried to remain calm. “Bring me to Homunculus’ temple. Now.” Without any delay, the Millennium officer grabbed Dante and left before the three of us went to her original position and saw what happened.

“She’s gone.” Teach uttered, but this didn’t drop Al’s guard.

“Bi-Han or that officer must’ve taken her away from the fight.” That theory isn’t off the mark.“Let’s meet up with the others.” Me and Teach nodded as the three of us rushed to the Bearded Bastard’s temple to meet up with everyone else, help our old man, and stop the Great Philosopher’s Stone ritual once and for all.

Homunculus Theory: 1st Exchange

The Usurper and the Monk

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Revelations and Strategies

As told by Charlie Nash

Rearrangements

As told by Edward Elric

The Premier Cyclone

As told by Tony Stark

Food for Thought

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Raiding a Führer’s Keep

As told by Roy Mustang

A Prelude To A Vampire’s Feast

As told by Charlie Nash

Theory of Power

As told by Edward Elric

Rampaging Voracity and Herd Evacuation

As told by Tony Stark

A Quest To Override the Fuhrer’s Operation

As told by Roy Mustang

The Frozen Duel of Strength and Blood

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Diversonary Oversight

As told by Roy Mustang

Mannequin Chaos Finale

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Plasma Hypothesis

As told by Charlie Nash

Revelations on the Fall

As told by Tony Stark

Herald of the Ritual

As told by Edward Elric

END Part 1

The Usurper and the Monk

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Revelations and Strategies

As told by Charlie Nash

Rearrangements

As told by Edward Elric

The Premier Cyclone

As told by Tony Stark

Food for Thought

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Raiding a Führer’s Keep

As told by Roy Mustang

A Prelude To A Vampire’s Feast

As told by Charlie Nash

Theory of Power

As told by Edward Elric

Rampaging Voracity and Herd Evacuation

As told by Tony Stark

A Quest To Override the Fuhrer’s Operation

As told by Roy Mustang

The Frozen Duel of Strength and Blood

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Diversonary Oversight

As told by Roy Mustang

Mannequin Chaos Finale

As told by Jin Kisaragi

Plasma Hypothesis

As told by Charlie Nash

Revelations on the Fall

As told by Tony Stark

Herald of the Ritual

As told by Edward Elric

END Part 1

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