Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

"So, you're leaving Aladdin?" asked Nagisa.

In his apartment, not too long after the festival, Aladdin got the news out to Nagisa Shiota the second they got back. It was some pretty big news for him, and with how much he was actually looking around for his Djinn, Aladdin was happy to get himself moving.

"Yep! Heine found out where the Djinn is, and he wants to come with me to get him back," Aladdin said, getting a number of his stuff ready for the fly-off. The main things he got together were his staff and vessel.

"Sounds good and all, but are you sure you don't want the rest of us to come along?"

"Nagisa, I'll be okay, promise. Besides, you and the rest of the gang have those demons to catch, remember?" Aladdin reminded.

"I guess you're right. That and you'll have Heine with you this time, you'll have some company," Nagisa said. When he and Twilight ended up alone, they were truly by themselves for a good while, so with Aladdin having company to join him, it wouldn't be too bad for him. He'll have help, unlike Nagisa and Twilight. So once Aladdin was ready to go, he got out his flying carpet for his own little adventure to begin.

"Good luck out there, Aladdin," Nagisa said. Suddenly Aladdin actually gave Nagisa a hug.

"Thanks. I'll be back soon," Aladdin promised, hopping up onto his flying carpet as he began to take flight. Nagisa walked out to the window, watching his magi friend fly off to get Heine, and to get his personal goals fixed. Nagisa sighed, and began to head off to bed as his mind was thinking over things.

"This has been a very crazy year. I can only wonder what's going to be in store for us next," Nagisa thought. He began to head off for bed, and soon he was simply laying there, lights off and staring up to the ceiling.

"Well, we're on a good track now. Those visions are taken care of, we actually got some layout of Underworld, we -" Nagisa suddenly stopped his thought there when one particular fact went through his mind: Lugia. He at least could get to the same spot more directly now, but when it came to Lugia himself, he just wasn't making finding him any easier. Last two times he tried he didn't find anything of him, and the detailed instructions and vision he got in the second one was by paper.

"Well, third time's the charm. Here it goes ..."

.......

Nagisa opened his eyes again, and as before he was back at the tower. Just where he wanted to be. He jumped up to his feet and looked around a bit again. He looked around for only a little bit this time, and sure enough ...
Lugia. About time! Though, by the look, Lugia probably didn't realize Nagisa was even there, his back to him and looking off to the edge of the platform out to the open sky.

"Lugia!" upon the voice, Lugia felt startled, and was about ready to walk, but Nagisa rushed over before he could leave.

"N-No, don't go, I-it's just -" Nagisa paused when he saw Lugia turn to him. Tears. They were small, but they were just enough for Nagisa to see the current moment about Lugia's previous encounter with him. Lugia felt terrible about the visions. ...

"Nagisa. I'm terribly sorry about Heine. And Karma. ..." Lugia said, sounding guilty of everything.

"So he doesn't know what happened? ... Wait, he still thinks you can't alter the future," Nagisa thought, realizing the actual pressure Lugia must be under. If only he saw what Nagisa did already before with them both, or at least Lugia seeing them alive would make him feel better. Lugia wiped away some of his tears, Nagisa going up to his side.

"Lugia, listen to me, I know you think the future can't be change but you're wrong - We've changed each one of those visions so far just by informing the group: Heine's still alive because Ciel stopped Gakuho, and thanks to Alphonse Karma's alive too. They're still alive because we changed our fate!" Nagisa answered. Lugia was quiet at first, but he just sighed.

"... Look, I know you're trying to make me feel better ... but I couldn't help at all. I'm terribly sorry. ..."

"Turn around, Lugia, will you?"

"Nagisa, I've been in the dream world as long as anyone else. That voice is just you trying to -" when Lugia looked to Nagisa though, he found that this kid was looking more shocked than he was supposed to be. If this was in his head, he wouldn't be looking so surprised. That made Lugia a little curious and he did eventually turn around. ...

Karma. Twilight. Pinkie. Ciel. Blair. Edward.

They were all there?! Lugia looked a bit startled by the entire group suddenly showing up there, and without either one of them even knowing about it. Was this apart of the dream messing with them, or no? Nagisa's expression, it being his dream, made that unlikely. Seeing Karma Akabane too made it even more surprising for Lugia.

"Look who's still alive," said Karma, hand raised in greeting.

"Wait a minute. How'd the rest of you get here?" asked Nagisa. If it was just Twilight alone, then it would be understandable, but the others didn't even see Lugia face to face yet, but here they were.

"You tell me, we just ended up here after Yugure told us," said Blair.

"What? When?"

"Yugure told us about it not too long after your little festival. This charade of keeping quiet had gone on more than it should," explained Ciel. Twilight felt a little embarrassed about it, but after not hearing anything from Lugia, she had to get the others involved to help him out.

"Sorry, Nagisa."

"No, it's fine. Guess we should tell everyone anyway."

"K ... K-Karma?" Lugia moved right over to Karma next, and looked him over just to be sure he was telling the truth. There would be some sign, but he didn't see a sign anywhere on him. However, Karma then backed up.

"Ok, ok, easy with the eyes buddy," Karma said.

"So it was you who'd been giving Yugure and Nagisa Future Sight, am I correct?" Ciel concluded.

"W-Well, yes but - ... You ... but how, I - ... but you - ... how?"

"Alphonse saved him, that's how. He just needed someone there to not get killed," Edward answered, being a witness to it himself. Lugia still felt completely confused about it, especially seeing proof standing right in front of him.

"See Lugia, we can change our fate," Nagisa said.

"Yes-indeedie! Everybody's happy!" Pinkie agreed.

"... Wait. What about Heine, where is he?" Lugia asked.

"We're in dreamland, right?"

"Not exactly how you say it ... but yes, why?"

That was all Pinkie needed to hear: her clapping her hands together and working some of her own will into the dream realm, the environment changing and altering around them in a blur. It took them all a little bit until the setting completely changed around them, until. ...

"You talk about going through hell, when you've never truly seen what it's like for yourself. If I had a choice, I'd more than happily take your life over mine, Gakuho. ... And you wanna know what else? A young child like me can walk away from that and move on fairly, yet a full grown adult like you can barely handle it. If you ask me, Gakuho Asano, it doesn't sound like your fault at all. ..."
Gakuho! They all were stuck witnessing the same event play out again, all of it down in exact details. In fact, it looked rather ... realistic almost, but still anime anyway (not to mention dramatic). Seeing this, Lugia was left speechless, and yet there was Heine not too far away, still standing and still alive as they were saying.

"This how you really saw it, Pinkie?" Ciel quietly questioned.

"Nope, but look how neat it is," Pinkie replied. Yeah, true that, but the point was indeed made clear for Lugia.

"See, Lugia? We can change our fate, nothing's set in stone," Nagisa cleared up, as the image faded away back to the original tower.

"... You ... you really altered your fate? I-It shouldn't be possible."

"So's killing a giant demon about the size of Tokyo tower, but that happened," Blair commented.

"And with just one sword," added Karma. Lugia stayed quiet for a little bit more, realizing that Nagisa was right after all. Something as set in stone as this, and yet these kids all managed to use it and make it their own, changing the outcome entirely for the better. Lugia actually needed a minute to comprehend what this could mean.

"Lugia, it's your choice if you want it to happen, not your fate. Sure it can be hard, but if you don't even bother to try to work with these Future Visions a bit, then what's the point on having them in the first place?" Twilight explained.

There was a long silence. ...

...

"... You do realize. You're the first to actually do so. Right?"

"Well, if we're "destined" to get killed, damn straight we'll try to stop it! Why would we want our friends to die anyway?" said Ed.

"That, and it's pretty wasteful to not at least consider these visions. You might as well just imagine them if that were the case," Ciel added. Lugia gathered himself, seeing all their points. He could assume Envy was fine then if this was the case, but he didn't want to push it any further so he left that part out.

"Lugia, let us help you. We all know you want to help us," Nagisa then stated.

"... I really want to. ... But, I can't."

"Why's that?" Ed asked. That was when Lugia grew quiet again, slightly turning away from them.

"Lugia, why?" Twilight asked.

"I ... I'm scared ... I-I'll just make it worse."

"AHA! WORSE! WORSE HOW?!" Pinkie suddenly shouted. Lugia cringed.

"I'd rather not say. Listen, it's not that I don't care about what's going on. I wouldn't even give any one of you the visions if that's true, yet ... It's best if this is all I do."

"SERIOUSLY?! You mean you're just gonna hide away from everyone?!" Ed yelled.

"I don't enjoy it anymore than you do. Besides, you all have enough to worry about, you don't need to worry about me."

"You don't have to hide either! If you want to help, just come out with us," Ed sternly stated, though he was more upset that someone like Lugia will try to keep out of the problem he clearly needed to be in.

"He's right: we're all willing to help you if you'll let us, just tell us where you really are and we'll do that," Nagisa added. Not exactly what Ed said, but still as much meaning to it. Lugia had been giving them vision after vision, but still he didn't step out to see any of them physically. And now ...

"Everyone, listen. I do want to help you, I really do. ... But if I go in and use what power I hold, it'll do more harm than good. ... Just focus on what you need to do for now. You've done far more, and able to handle the situation better than I ever could," Lugia said. They all could tell that Lugia was regretting this decision, but something just was holding Lugia down in chains from actually going out and helping. And Lugia, while not enjoying it, knew it was for the best of everyone.

"Well have some decency to tell us why at least, quit talking in riddles!" Ed said, angry with him. Before this could go any further though, light started to come in brighter than normal, a signature sign of the dream's ending.

"Oh great. The dream's ending."

"What?! not yet, just tell us!"

"I'm sorry. Good luck everyone."

And there, the dream ended.

~~

So, new years had come and gone, and so had the festival itself. Tokyo had its fun in the sun for the brand new year to bring itself around, but even after all of that, some facts still remained. In the case for Team Harmony and company, Sombra's demons still had to be addressed in some way. Homunculi Wrath and Pride, info regarding the Underworld mainly, and still some more problems to handle all the same. And with this little dream of theirs, the group had a bit more to think about. Since Lugia just wouldn't come out to help, they had to get back to their own devices on the matter. What else could they do?
So, by the next morning, it was straight out of bed for Nagisa Shiota, and deciding to get his little act together. Since Lugia won't exactly admit where he was, he had to focus on the other problems at hand with the wanted demons and such. Good thing for them they didn't have school still, otherwise it would just complicate things for what they were going to do. Their meeting place this time, while it would normally be the 3-E building for a number of these meetings, this time their get-together was actually over with Ed and Al back at Seitenshi's military base. Honestly, they might as well get life-time passes at this point with the privileges like this. Along with those in the dream, Sebastian, Al, and Winry also ended up part of the group's little meeting.

"All present and accounted for, my lord," Sebastian informed.

"Good job, Sebastian. Now we can get underway without any trouble," Ciel said.
The room they ended up in was basically a office the others borrowed for this little talk, and Nagisa got on with the discussion. With some help from the others, he got the main posters up, each one for a different figure for them to find and face, all named, and all with a different bounty, and the threat levels mostly consist of Tiger class level. Considering what they were dealing with, they shouldn't be taken too lightly.

"OK, so which one should we go after first? Do you want to go from the bottom and work up, or do you want to get the hardest over with?" Nagisa asked, everyone looking over the wanted posters at the options. Pinkie then started to a relatively regular person to the Great Tengu.

"Eh, I dunno: we could try for this guy, but then again he could end up being the strongest one over Mr. Tengu over here," Pinkie pointed out.

"I'm leaning more towards the slicer myself," Karma said, looking to 'the slicer' demon criminal. They had mainly three options in the grand scheme of things: a butcher, a regular, and a Tengu, though considering what they all had gone through so far it was anyone's guess on what sort of danger should they actually try to get at next. It could be the easiest challenge, or the most dangerous, who knows?

"Hey, Sebastian, you got anything on these three?" asked Twilight.

"How so? Just because I'm a demon doesn't truly mean I know every demon in the underworld. Jumping to conclusions are you?" Sebastian said, though he sounded less annoyed and a little more playful, which bugged Ciel a little bit.

"Do you know them or not?" Ciel questioned.

"Just a joke, my lord. Naturally I do," Sebastian said with a grin, as he went over and picked up the first wanted poster he found interesting. The others stepped back so they could listen to him, as he went on to pick up the first one about 'the slicer'.

"First there's the Slicer: he's been a bit of a serial killer to many humans in this world and the Underworld. He was planned for death row, and on the date of his execution he ended up being transmutated. Think of him as a murderous counterpart to your friend there," Sebastian said, pointing over to Alphonse Elric. Interesting to note that another living body of armor actually exists here.

"Wait. Like me?" Al asked.

"Oh yes, it's just your one of the very few made here that's all," Sebastian stated.

"Neat. What else?" asked Karma. Sebastian then went on to get the Tengu poster.

"The Great Tengu. Many species of Tengu refer to him as their lord, and according to human legend he often trains with ice and water isolated in the mountains. Should be straightforward on his location, at the least," Sebastian explained.

"If this Great Tengu's anything like Karasu, then it shouldn't be long," Karma said.

"Karma, he nearly killed you, remember?" Nagisa reminded. He didn't need him to get too cocky over these demons. Karma didn't really answer him though. Sure it didn't go like he planned, but Karma still felt confident again the Great Tengu over his crow lackey. It wasn't the Great Tengu Nagisa predicted would kill him anyway.

"What about him?" Twilight then asked, showing the seemingly "normal" demon on the poster. Sebastian paused and looked him over pretty carefully, his eyes examining each details drawn out onto the poster.

"... Not a thing."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, admittedly my lord, I'm not entirely knowledgeable of all demons, but you'd think one like this would be known about in the Underworld. And yet, I've never heard mention of this face," said Sebastian, disappointed really. The other two had some sort of underworld reputation, but not this guy.

"He must be a newcomer then. Or maybe he's not a demon at all," Ciel concluded.

"Whatever the case, he shouldn't be too bad to deal with," Blair concluded.

"Not so fast, we don't know that. So many demons looked normal, but still can kill anyone anytime, what makes you think he can't be any different?" Twilight suddenly figured. She did have a point there: Sombra didn't look too much like a danger as far as they're aware, or how Sebastian described him yet he proved to be extremely dangerous. And Sebastian too; a butler that can kill anyone with some fancy butter knives at any time. In fact, many demons and Homunculus looked fairly normal but gave them a run for their money at least once.

"Point taken."

"Well, we got more than enough trouble with what we got already so if we're going to tackle any of them, we can't waste any time with it. So, perhaps it would be best to take attack to the most difficult one first and then work our way down," Ciel concluded.

"Or we could just split."

The others all turned to Karma on that idea.

"Split up, are you sure?"

"Now hear me out: we got enough trouble already right? We got King Sombra already, and Aladdin already flown the coop yesterday so who knows how long it'll be until he gets back. We got three demons to deal with right now too, and about ... eight, nine, ten of us. So we'll split up in groups, pick a demon, and call it a day."

"I get it: it can save us a lot of time from going from one demon to another, and this time we'll still be together fighting them when we do. Least we won't be alone this time, plus we got the Elysium soldiers on our side too," Nagisa concluded, thinking it over himself.

"Can we leave them out of it?" Ed suddenly asked.

"What? No, they're looking for them too Ed."

"You just don't want to deal with Olivier," Ciel figured.

"What's wrong with you, do you have no senses?! That general looked ready to tear my arms off!" Ed insisted.

...

"Hello, little red riding runt."

Speak of the metaphorical devil. Just after he said that, Olivier was suddenly standing right at the door.

"Gah! ... l-little, red ..."

"Are you all done in here? If you're ready to do this job, then stop wasting our time," Olivier stated, looking at the situation. Alongside her was actually Alex Armstrong, and his two cohorts, who was about ready as anybody else would be to go off and do the job.

"We'll be ready in a bit, we're just figuring out which ass to beat up first," said Blair.

"We thought of splitting into groups, but we didn't decide who'll go after what demon yet," Nagisa added, Alex going over to them, looking a bit intrigued with the answer.

"Well look at you. Me and Olivier were actually doing that decision ourselves, and we already decided which demon to face. If that's what you're going to do, some can go with me while others can go with Olivier," Alex explained.

"You two are on the ball. OK, who's going where?" Pinkie asked.

"I'll be going after the Great Tengu, and my sister will be - gah!" before Alex could finish, Olivier was suddenly stepping on his foot.

"Uh, sis? ... Will you be so kind as to remove your foot please?" Alex groaned.

"You are to refer to me as General," Olivier said firmly, making Alex Armstrong stand up at attention.

"Yes! General!" Alex said, and only then did she move her foot off of his. Embarrassing as it is painful on his foot.

"I'll be going after the Slicer. Now you all have until tomorrow to make your choice," Olivier said.

"Shall I deal with her?" Sebastian suggested.

"Don't bother, Sebastian," Ciel replied.

"Goodness, how're you ever going to find a husband with that kind of -" Not the right words, Alex: Olivier gave him a strong kick to his knee, making him stumble and kneel down as he held his knee.

"That's enough of your sniffling, you pansy! Better go before I catch your cowardice," Olivier stated, before she went off, leaving the group a bit stunned by her behavior. Seriously, was she really an angel or what?

...

"I'm going with her," commented Karma.

"Eh?"

~~

Well, it'd been a long day for them after that, and once it was all handled and figured out, all there was left to do was to wait it out until tomorrow to leave. It was a bit of a gamble to be sure, namely for the fact of who wanted to actually go with Olivier over Alex, yet it was all worked out regardless, though some still were wondering over the "normal" guy, as Olivier and Alex didn't even consider going after him yet, so whoever wanted to go for him would have to go without the Elysium aid.
Those going with Alex: Nagisa, Twilight, Ed, Winry
Those going with Olivier: Karma, Pinkie, Blair
Those after the normal Demon: Ciel, Sebastian, Alphonse
It was a decision they had to work out for a while, especially when splitting up Ed and Al, but Olivier insisted such and both brothers had no choice but to agree (none of them wanted to defy Olivier anyway). At least they had until tomorrow to go so they had some time to get themselves ready. For Ed and Al, they got their own "home" to relax and work out the situation to their new roommate Winry as she was sprucing up Ed's metallic leg for the task ahead.

"So who're you two going with?" Winry asked.

"Al's going to head off with Phantomhive while I go with your dad to go after the Tengu," Ed explained.

"I thought you two would go with my aunt. She was your teacher, right?"

That reminder simply made the two shiver a little. They had their respect for her, naturally, but they weren't so willing to rush off with her on a mission like this, knowing too well how serious she could be.

"We value our life a bit more than that, thank you."

"Come on, she's not that bad. she can be big on her job, but she's nice when you get to know her," Winry reassured them, but the two weren't going to risk it.

"So, Winry. Are you enjoying your stay down here with us?" Alphonse asked.

"It's pretty nice here. It's lively, though not much walking space," Winry said. Considering she lived in a city with flying angels, that was understandable.

"Well we humans can't always fly, you know," said Ed.

"I know, I know ... and done, that should do it," Winry finished, just finishing Ed's leg. Now mended up for the task ahead. Edward tested out the leg and felt that it was good and ready to go. As Ed and Al went to eachother, Winry had another question floating around in her mind since she's been living here pretty much.

"Hey Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but, why're you always wearing a suit of armor?" Winry asked. Now the brothers were feeling uneasy again, but not in the same way as their thoughts towards Olivier.

"I-It's a hobby," they both said.

"... what? That's even a hobby?" Winry thought. After that was done, Ed then began to head off to bed, but as he was going, something in Ed's pocket caught Winry's eye.

"What's that?" Winry asked. Ed turned back to her, and followed her eyes to the same pocket, seeing the same item. Ed eventually pulled it out to show her, and honestly it didn't seem to be anything too special: just a silver pocket watch.

"Oh this, it's just a pocket watch I've had from back in Amestris. It's nothing special, but -"

"Can I see?!" Winry suddenly asked, grabbing it and admiring it with eager eyes. It wasn't too far from a reaction to some new automail or something like that.

"The workmanship, the detail! This is the work of a craftsman, how does it work: do you wind it or is it self-wound, or could it be some new technique?!"

"I dunno, and so long as it's working I don't care," Ed said, smiling to Winry's enthusiasm. He still was getting used to Winry's big enthusiasm over mechanics (of all things), but it wasn't really harmful so he allowed it.

"Can I see how it works, Ed, please?"

"You crazy? I've had that watch for years, you'll take it apart to the last screw," Ed said, taking the watch out of her hands before she could tamper with it. Winry wasn't willing to give up on it though, and tried again.

"Well even if I do, I'll put it back together again, and it'll be good as new, you said I'm the best mechanic in the world right?" Winry insisted.

"When did I say that? Get somebody else's," Ed simply stated. Winry felt disappointed, and then she tried something else. She turned her eyes to Alphonse, and gave him a starry-eyed, puppy eye beg. Al felt humbled, but something told him not to mess with the situation so ...

"I-I'm gonna go for a walk. Yeah," Al decided, walking to outside.

"... Wow, you guys are stingy, aren't you?"

~~

Well Al didn't expect to be going out for a walk, but guess some things lead to others and the next thing he knew, Al was walking down through the suburban sidewalk of Tokyo. Well, even if he didn't plan prior to the little incident, it did give Alphonse some time to figure things out and time to relax a bit. The soft snow on the sidewalk gave the area a pretty calming feel, and while it was cold it didn't bother Alphonse thanks to his armor body. The world looked nice, but the moving thoughts going through his head. One in particular ...

Do try to make her feel right at home. It'll be grateful over what you three had gone through.

"What did she mean by that? Sure, there's me, and there's Ed, but ... what happened with Winry?" Al wondered. Celestia didn't sound like she was referring to anything particular, but then again what did happen to Winry before? Or for that matter, why didn't it get brought up again by the others? He tried to think about it a bit longer, but little by little, he began to realize something else, but before he could actually get what -

"Hello there."

The voice made him stop. Not a voice he ever heard before, and given where he was, not able to be seen either.

"Uh, hello? Who's there?"

*clank*

Then came the sound from a alleyway across the street. Al got into a fighting position, fists at the ready for whatever would come out at him, but instead, some sort of helmet simply rolled out. The object turned out to be some sort of helmet. It wasn't any normal helmet either: a composite of iron, facial bones and some kind of hair or fur. The nape and the scalp made of two distinct metal plates, with a pair of small horns just above the eye sockets, and Al could see the number "66" written on the left side, just above the cheek bone, and the white long hair protruding from the back. The bony face was formed of white facial bones of some unknown humanoid animal, having large eye sockets, a large mandible with two spiky bone going downwards and eight distinct razor-sharp fangs, four on the upper jaw and another four for the lower jaw. If it didn't scream a demon, Al didn't know what.
But then walked out the owner of the helmet. This figure had a full body armor suit, with the words "hulking" and "grim" fitting it rather nicely. His upper arms and legs were comprised out of several long, silver colored iron plates, while his lower arms were made out of a pair of two plates tied together. His hands - a pair of iron gauntlets, each having a pair of four spikes in stead of knuckles and fingers made of cloth. The middle, ring and little fingers actually looked fused together, leaving his index and thumb separate. The feet are a pair of leather boots with iron guards. His chest was formed out of two large metal plates held together by an iron ring, in turn held in place by five leather belts. Around his waist and left shoulder, he sported brown tunic with fur trims, which is tied together by a black leather belt with two dangling rings of iron. The neck is an extension of the torso plates, in turn covered by an iron guard formed from a single, long iron plate that forms a circle around his sides and the back of his head. One little detail though ...

No head.

"Oh, why does my head always get away from me? It can be a bit of a bother, though I suppose you are wondering how this happened," said the figure. Al didn't really answer him, still trying to take in the details and keeping his guard up, yet the figure was more than happy to answer anyway.

"There's a bit of a story behind that, actually. A pretty good yarn if I do say so. You probably already know it, but I'll be happy to tell you," offered the man. Al again didn't answer, but allowed him to continue.

"It all started with a man by the name of Barry. ... Once upon a time, there was a butcher named Barry who loved his work. It was all a nice job, but his favorite part was cutting up the meat into little tiny pieces. But one day Barry realized that simply cutting up cows and pigs wasn't going to be enough for him. So what's a lone butcher to do? Why, take to the streets of course, and he began cutting up people instead, every single night. Of course, in time the authorities caught up with him. But not before twenty three victims stained his name, and his knife. He was sent to gallows not to long afterwards, the world being rid of such a horrid and terrifying creature. ... That's what everyone always figured. And where did you think he'd ended up, huh? Where could such a killer being himself to?"
Al was a bit surprised that he would share something like this so freely, but if this was going where Al thought it was, the answer was right in front of him. Literally ...

"... You ..."

"YES, THAT'S RIGHT! HE'S STANDING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES! I AM THE INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLER: BARRY THE CHOPPER! HAA!" The mighty roar was met with two weapons in his hands, one a butcher knife, the other a clever.

.......

"Sorry, I've never heard of you."

... Well that killed the mood.

"I'm from the countryside in Amestris, so -"

"FINE! But even if you don't know who I am, shouldn't you at least be a little scared?!" Barry yelled, completely annoyed as he kept removing and reattaching his head to show what point he was making. "Shouldn't you be going "AAHHH!" or "What happened to your body?!" or something!"

Then Al removed his own head.

"AAHHH! What happened to your body, freak?!" Barry yelled in shock.

"Hey. Now that's impolite," said Al, not really fazed at all. After that little display, he was a bit more talk than Al was expecting him to be. Al put back on his own head.

"Oh, hell with it, I'll cut you down anyway! YAHH!" Barry suddenly jumped forward at Alphonse, his blades trying their best to slice him up, yet Alphonse's own armor deflected each and every single shot as he laughed manically. Al wasn't really having any ill attention towards Barry. In fact, only one punch was all it took to knock Barry off his feet, and onto his back. Yeah, Al really wasn't so spooked by Barry anymore, if he was to begin with that is. Barry tried over and over again, but Al wasn't even wavered by each attack at this point, and he punched Barry again.

"Uh, sorry but, can we call it a draw? My friend's are going to worry about me if I'm gone too long," Al said.

"Friends, you say? You mean that little runt following you around earlier today? Sound fun to chop up, far more fun than dealing with you!" Barry laughed. Now Alphonse was getting worried.

"Wait, don't do that, I'm not gonna let you hurt my brother," Alphonse suddenly insisted. Now it was Barry's turn to be a little but curious.

"Wait, hold on. "Brother". you mean that little pipsqueak is your brother?"

"Yes he is, and he hates it if you call him Pipsqueak. Or anything referring to small for that matter," Al said. Barry thought it over, eventually nodding his head ... and laughing.

"What is it?"

"So it was your "brother" who put you in that armored shell, isn't that right?" Barry asked.

"Yes, I'm sure he did. He saved me," Alphonse said, but the more he thought about it ...

"OH, isn't that rich!" Barry laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry. It's just that brotherly love is so beautiful ... even when it's a total fraud!"

"A ... A fraud?"

"Artificial affection!" accused Barry. Alphonse knew better than to believe Barry though. Why would love being an artificial thing, even for him being a suit of armor? He knew who Ed was, why wouldn't it be right?!

"No, you're wrong, you don't know anything about us! My brother loves me for real, and I love him!" Alphonse insisted. Barry's red eyes stared right into him, as he aimed his clever at him again.

"What a naïve worm! Ask yourself this: if your a fake - an imitation - how would you know the difference?!" Barry questioned. Al stopped himself on that question.

"You said your so-called brother put you in that suit of armor. So how do you know you don't love him because he made it so you would? Altering your memories and personality to suit him best!" Barry accused. Al was getting upset now towards Barry, and he stepped towards him.

"Stop that! My brother would not lie to me! My name is Alphonse Elric, and I'm the exact same person I was since I was a living human boy!" Alphonse insisted. That just amused Barry more than anything.

"Ok, prove it! I told you my little yarn, tell me how you got into that body then. What happened so horrid, so gruesome, that your "brother" had to stuff your soul in that suit without a hint of your normal body?" Barry asked, both as mockery and a hint of legitimate intrigue. A story like that was always a nice story to hear, and Barry wanted to hear Alphonse's little transmutation story. Alphonse wanted to prove him wrong, but he tried and tried, and tried some more ...

"HA, there see?! If your brother did craft that body for you, the least he could do was tell you what happened but he didn't even do that, now did he?!"

"G-Give me a minute!" Alphonse insisted. But Barry knew he was just trying to fish for an answer rather than just say one.

"Come on, if you knew what your little "backstory" was, then you would've said it straight up! You didn't need to think about it for a moment since your reminder's right there in front of you!" Barry brought up. The more Barry kept insisting that, the more he seemed to be right.

"Okay, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know who I am, and who my brother is!"

"But that's the trick isn't it? Your little soul, it's invisible, undetectable by any scientific tool! So what if you were designed in a way to make it impossible for you to decipher what's real, and what lies your brother has been feeding you! Tell me that!"

"No. You're wrong about Ed, he wouldn't lie to me about anything."

"Well then why don't you march right up to his face and ask him yourself, if you're so sure. Ask him what really got you stuck in that metallic husk, and then try to prove me wrong," Barry said, laughing himself silly again. Alphonse had to finally admit it now. He was right: Ed never truly told him exactly what happened to him, or Ed himself for that matter. Some reason his memory came up empty, and it all just stopped after a certain point. Barry might be onto something though if he did want to find out.

"You know, maybe I will. But not before I do one other thing."

"Oh yeah? What's that?!"

Al grabbed Barry's head, pulled it off, and threw it clear out of sight.

"HEY! THAT'S MY HEAD YOU'RE THROWING!! DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT!" Barry quickly raced off to get his head back, off out of sight and out of trouble. Alphonse really didn't see what the danger was with him, and as far as he was concerned, he was just all talk. But it was his talk that got him thinking as he went on for home. ...

"What did happen?"

~~~~~~

"Come on, let's go!"

The next day, the whole group met up over by the 3-E building for the fly off. Team Harmony had their method of flying off on their way. Olivier and Alex both had a different way of getting to where they needed to go: Olivier had gotten a military chopper together thanks to Seitenshi, and Alex got a less dramatic method in the form of one of Celestia's carriages. It was clear who was more focused on their tasks here, or at least what situation it was going to be. At the moment, the group was split in two, one standing alongside Alex, and one over by Olivier, with Ciel and Sebastian standing way side since they picked neither to follow really.

"Hey, good luck out there Nagisa," said Karma, giving Nagisa a pat on the head.

"You too Karma," Nagisa replied, as he started to head into the carriage. Before he fully got in though, Karma started to nudge him.

"And hey, enjoy your little time with Yugure," Karma teased, referring to Twilight again. Nagisa stayed quiet for a moment or two, as Winry and Twilight passed them by. Karma waited for a reaction, but eventually Nagisa just turned to him and actually smiled.

"I'll be sure to."

And with that, Nagisa went on into the carriage, and left Karma a little bit quiet. Karma wanted to have some fun with his own little "play thing" but Nagisa's reaction didn't really fancy him. Well so much for teasing two lovebirds with one stone. Anyway, he simply shrugged it off and went into the chopper with Olivier. Fun as it was to play around with Nagisa, the chance to beat up some demon was a lot more entertaining anyway. Just before Edward could go inside though, Alphonse got a hold of him.

"Brother? Can I talk to you before you go?" Alphonse asked. It took him a bit by surprise, but Ed did end up turning to him. Ciel and Sebastian were getting a little curious over what was going on, as Al got Edward isolated from the others after a bit. The others allowed them to do so, though they were wondering about it themselves. After all, it did kinda come out of nowhere. Ed and Al got a good thirty feet away, by the forest of the 3-E building. Far enough to talk with Ed in private.

"I need to ask you something."

"Oh, sure Ed, what's up? Wondering when I'll be back?"

"This is serious. Ed, I need you to be honest with me," Alphonse made clear, showing that this wasn't a simple question.

"Uh ... what?" Ed asked, now confused.

"... This body."

Ed paused on hearing that.

"I just want to be sure. You told me that you saved me to put my soul in this armor. ... Is that true?"

"What're you talking about, of course it is. I lost my arm and leg because of it, why would I lie about that?" Ed questioned.

"Well -"

"YOU TWO, GET MOVING! Or do I have to drag you over here?!" Olivier yelled, losing patience. They had a mission to do, and they can't do that if the brothers are stalling. Al wanted to figure this out, but neither of them wanted to get their faces punched out of them by someone like Olivier.

"E-Eh, you know what, nevermind. Sorry I brought it up," Alphonse admitted.

"No, Al, is everything okay? what brought this up?" Edward asked.

"I-It's fine. I was having doubts recently, and I just wanted to be sure, and now I'm sure. You better get going before Olivier drags you over," Alphonse suggested. It didn't matter if what Barry said was true or not, he didn't want Ed to get into trouble because of him. Eventually, Ed just sighed.

"Ok, I guess. Well, good luck little bro," said Ed, just before heading off back to the others for the liftoff. Alphonse still felt a little bit uneasy with his own answer, but again, he didn't want anyone to get into trouble because of it. They all had tasks to go to, and they all needed to get going before things could get any worse.

"... Good luck."