Chapter Text
Night time in a nearly circular city. Spokes of main roads led out from a large white almost-fortress situated in the center, other subsidiary roads connected these main ones like a spiderweb. Streetlights lined the streets, lighting up the faces of people going on their way home from work, or on the way to their friends.
Bustling and full of life though it was, an air of foreboding lay over the residents. Like the entire city was holding its breath.
It had been holding its breath for a long time, and sooner rather than later, it was going to start starving for air.
Smiles dressed most of the faces, and friendly waves or at least casual indifference was exchanged between most of the passersby. None of the citizens even spared a glance down the dark shadowy alleyways, or into the pitch black sewers. Which was just as well, because most of them weren’t prepared to deal with what they might find.
A man with long greying hair left his shop, locking the door behind him and walked whistling along the alleyway that connected his back door and the main street. There was a man crouched behind one of the dumpsters, the faint light of the streetlamps glinting in his orange-yellow eyes, but the shopkeep paid him no mind.
He might not have even seen him. People saw what they wanted to see, and Tukson was thankful for that for once.
As soon as the shopkeep was out of sight, Tukson crept from his hiding place and threw a final glance up and down the alley. If all went well, tonight it would finally be over. But for that to happen, he couldn’t get caught. Not now, not in the eleventh hour when he was so close to reaching his goal.
Sure to keep himself slightly out of sight of the light of the road, Tukson crouched to the ground and threw back his hood to see more clearly. A piece of chalk in hand, he carefully drew the lines of a circle he knew by heart. Even if he hadn’t memorized it long ago, in the blood and heat of the desert, he’d drawn it over fifty times in other alleyways around Central.
Just a few more. And this would all be over.
“The Freezing Alchemist?” someone asked in an office over a mile away, sounding faintly surprised. Standing at attention in front of the doorway, long black hair kept neatly in a ponytail down his back, the officer kept his voice respectful as he voiced his doubts. “Really? He’s here?”
He couldn’t imagine why Tukson would be here. Although to be fair it had been years since he’d seen the man. Maybe something had changed in the intervening time.
“We have information that he managed to slip into Central a few days ago.” Behind the desk, a bearded man with white-streaked hair tapped the file in front of him. The man glanced down at the Freezing Alchemist’s file once more and then turned his attention to the map behind him.
“That’s why I’ve summoned you here, Colonel Ren,” the man explained, keeping his attention on the map behind him and not sparing Ren a passing glance. “I need you and your people to smoke him out,” Ren decided to let that comment slide for the sake of maintaining professionalism. “And bring him in.”
Finally glancing over at his subordinate, Ren’s back stiffened subconsciously under the watchful eye of his superior officer. “Consider it done, Fuhrer Ironwood,” Ren replied, respectful as always.
Ironwood huffed a quiet laugh at Ren’s stiff behavior. “I’m glad you’re with us in Central for a while, Ren,” the Fuhrer admitted, smiling softly at Ren’s still formal stiff-backed posture. “It’s good to know I have people here that I can count on.”
Ren did relax at that. It was always good to know that his efforts were paying off and the higher ups were actually starting to sit up and take notice.
“Yes sir, thank you sir.” Ren debated for a moment between a salute and a full bow, and eventually just settled on a respectful dip of his head.
“That will be all,” the Fuhrer said, turning to gaze out the window down to the streets below. Dismissed, Ren saluted and turned to leave the office. “Ah, one more thing,” Ironwood called after him.
Ren stopped and turned back. “Sir?”
“Our rising young star is here as well,” Ironwood said, his visible eye crinkling when he smiled. “I’m placing her at your disposal.”
Ren did hesitate at that. He couldn’t mean…? “Forgive me sir,” Ren said, “But do you mean-”
“The Fullmetal Alchemist?” Ironwood interrupted him, turning away from the window. Ren nodded. “Yes, Rose will assist you in any way possible.”
“Thank you, sir.” Well this was going to be interesting. Maybe Rose and her sister would actually listen to him for once before galavanting off.
“Dismissed.”
On a roof across the city, the full moon shone down on two figures standing on a rooftop. “Dang it.” Ruby Rose, red cape flapping in the breeze behind her and moonlight glinting in her eyes, sat on the edge of the roof and wicked her legs out into the open air. “The colonel is always such a-”
“-slave driver?” quipped the echoey voice from the hulking suit of armor beside her. Ruby glanced up at her sister. “What, it’s true.”
Ruby shrugged. “I was gonna say meanie face, but slave driver works I guess.”
“We already bought our tickets to Liore, but that’s been cancelled, huh?” the armor commented.
Ruby stood and stretched her arms out over her head. “Nothing we can do about that now, Yang,” she sighed, straightening back up and flipping her braid over her shoulder. “All we can do is hurry to get this over with and hope that the Colonel still lets us go after.”
“Sounds good to me, sis,” Yang laughed, the noise echoing in her helmet. She shook her head and the plume of false hair rippled out behind her. “Let’s do this.”
Back in the dark alleyways of Central, a search is underway. A shrill whistle sounded over everything, echoing from the walls and issuing from many different locations to merge together into a cacophony meant to split your eardrums open. There are no more civilians meandering their ways home, and blue uniformed soldiers patrol the streets.
One soldier with his gun drawn, walking down the main road and peaking into each alleyway to hunt for Tukson, reached the mouth of one alley just in time to see the man himself sprint past. Tukson cursed internally when he heard the soldier yell, “There he goes! That way!”
So much for keeping under the radar.
Keeping his eyes on the path in front of him, Tukson’s eyes narrowed when two more soldiers blocked his path. Damn. He would’ve liked to do without leaving more bodies behind to mark his trail, but these two were in his way.
“Halt!” One of them called, a gun already drawn and pointing at him. His fellow wasn’t far behind. “Halt or I’ll shoot!”
Tukson whipped his right arm out from under his cloak, the oh so familiar transmutation circle on his gauntlet already glowing blue. Whipping his other arm out, he touched the walls of the alley as he ran. Water rushed before him, sharpening into spikes that sent the two soldiers flying.
He almost felt sorry for them, but he didn’t stop to see if they were alive as he ran past. There was no time.
Turning when he reached the end of the alleyway, he sprinted down the next one, only half a mind on where he was going. He couldn’t get caught. Not now when he was so close. Another two soldiers blocked the end of this alleyway as well, guns also drawn. From the glares on their faces, Tukson could already tell that these two wouldn’t hesitate to shoot like the previous two.
As soon as he reached them, he grabbed the wrist of the one closest and barely had enough time to shift the man’s aim upward before the soldier fired. A flash of blue light, and the man was frozen solid, with barely time for a cry of pain before he died.
The dead man’s companion certainly had time to yell in fear as he watched the frozen corpse drop solidly to the ground. His moment of sympathy would be his undoing, and Tukson wasted no time in taking care of this soldier as well
Gauntleted hand covering the man’s face, the soldier had time to give a muffled scream before Tukson transmuted all of the water in the man’s body into steam.
He was dead before he hit the ground.
“Water freezes, water boils,” Tukson commented, looking down at the two bodies. “Either way you’re just as dead.”
The familiar sound of a transmutation had Tukson glancing up from the bodies, war-forged instincts suddenly putting him on high alert. In the night sky above him, the starlight glinted off a spear arcing through the air above him. He barely had time to leap backwards before the weapon pierced the ground right where he’d been standing.
“That’s alchemy,” he muttered to himself, squinting at the electrical discharge off the newly transmuted spear. A booted foot stepped out of the darkness, and Tukson couldn’t stifle his gasp. It was better the gasp than the swears that he could feel bubbling up.
Of course the military sent one of their dogs.
“What a horrible thing to do,” Ruby commented, glancing down at the bodies. One was frozen solid and turning blue, the other a raw red mess of burns. If she’d just gotten here sooner-
“In order to do great things, sacrifices must be made,” the Freezing Alchemist rationalized from the end of the alleyway. In the darkness, the mad grin that suddenly split his face looked almost feral. “Isn’t that the law of equivalent exchange?”
“Save your breath,” she retorted, silver eyes as sharp as flint and glinting just dangerously as she stepped out into the light of the alleyway. “The laws of alchemy don’t justify murder!”
Ruby slammed her hands together, and the air suddenly crackled with bright blue energy. Grabbing the spear she’d thrown with one hand, the familiar rushing warmth of alchemy morphed the weapon into a mace. Angry fire blazing in her eyes, she twirled the mace one in her hand before pointing it at Tukson.
She did allow herself to feel a little bit smug when this did finally seem to take the other alchemist back. “No transmutation circle…” he muttered, sounding amazed even from this distance.
Ha! That showed him, who was the fancy schmancy state alchemist now? “You can’t afford to be too impressed,” Ruby warned him, a dangerous smile quirking at her lips. Ruby glanced behind the man and smiled a little wider. “Now!” she yelled, charging towards the Freezing Alchemist, who now frozen in shock seemed to be living up to his title.
“Gotcha!” Yang yelled from her spot behind Tukson, swiping at the man with one metal fist. He glanced behind him and just barely managed to drop to the ground in time to dodge her punch. Finally reaching them and not giving the man time to recover, Ruby slammed her mace down on him.
Tukson crossed his arms in front of his face just in time, gauntleted one on top, and the alley echoed with the metallic clang of the impact. Glaring up at Yang and then Ruby and then back to Yang again, Tukson forced his arms up, throwing the mace up and away from him.
As Ruby stumbled back involuntarily from the force, Tukson rolled to one side to avoid Yang’s grabbing arms. Flipping onto his feet, and kicking Yang back in the process, he was forced to block another strike from Ruby before he was even fully upright. The mace once again collided with Tukson’s gauntlet, but that left his other arm free.
‘Sorry about this, kid,’ the man thought as he grabbed Ruby’s right arm. Alchemical light lit up the alleyway once more as he forced all the water in the girl’s arm to turn into steam. Tukson’s alchemy ripped Ruby’s cape to tatters, and she stumbled back with a strangled yell.
“Ruby!” Yang yelled, watching as her sister tumbled away from the man and landed on the ground. Ruby groaned loudly and started pushing herself on shaking arms.
This forced Tukson to pause. She was hurt, sure, but- “What?!” Tukson shouted, unable to keep the shock from his voice. That was impossible!
Yang, taking advantage of the man’s momentary distraction, slammed her fists down onto his head. Tukson in turn brought up his arms to block the attack, just before her fists slammed into his head. ‘That was too close, he thought, grabbing her wrists and flipping her over his head in the process. She yelped and landed on the ground with a clang, but Tukson was too busy staring at Ruby in disbelief to notice.
“I had you!” he shouted at the girl who was undeniably still alive. The alchemic reaction hadn’t failed, he was sure of that, so how the hell was she still alive?! “Any water in there should have boiled!”
“If it’s any consolation,” she muttered, from where she was crouched on the ground. Ruby examined the damage done to her clothes and then glared up at the man. “You did ruin my cape,” she grumbled.
“An automail arm!” Tukson murmured in amazement. There was no denying it now of course, the metal was glinting dully in the moonlight for all to see. Wait but did that mean...
Her precious cape, all ruined now! Sure she could make a new one, but that was a hassle, and besides it was the principle of the thing! You didn’t just go around ruining people’s clothes, especially not when they were cool clothes.
The thought that she would’ve died had Tukson simply grabbed her other arm never once crossed her mind.
Grabbing her cape with one hand, she ripped the ruined cloth off, threw it to the side of the alley, and got up all in one smooth motion. She almost wished she could be Tukson right now if only so she could see how freaking cool that probably looked. If it looked as cool as it felt, then no matter the man looked flabbergasted.
She spared a recovering Yang a glance as her sister climbed back to her feet, and then glared at Tukson. He was definitely going down now, even if that wasn’t already her orders. Nobody ruined her cape and messed with her big sis and got away with it.
“A young gifted alchemist,” Tukson muttered, mind going a million miles an hour down a road that didn’t lead to any good destinations. “One who doesn’t use transmutation circles.” He glanced down at the girl’s arm, and allowed himself a moment to be impressed that someone so clearly young was able to endure the surgery necessary to get the prosthetic. “And has an automail right arm,” he finished, with a grudging respect coloring his voice.
“I know you.” Tukson’s eyes narrowed and he returned Ruby’s glare, silver eyes meeting fiery yellow. “You are the Fullmetal Alchemist, Ruby Rose!” he concluded, and his suspicions were confirmed when Ruby’s eyes narrowed, and beside her the hulking suit of armor shifted into a fighting stance.
Well this was going to be fun.
Wait. But…
“So… it’s not you?” Tukson couldn’t help asking, pointing at the person in the suit of armor standing beside the young alchemist. Ruby sighed in exasperation. This always happened! Just because she was called “Fullmetal” didn’t mean that she actually was !
Stupid Fuhrer and his stupid names. Why couldn’t she have been given a title that didn’t make everyone they met ask the same question?!
“No way,” Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I’m actually her older sister, Yang.”
Tukson hesitated again. “But she’s a child!” He knew first hand that the military held no qualms about doing truly horrific things to further their cause, but this was-
“Oh yeah?!” Ruby’s glare deepened and she barely stopped herself from stomping her foot in irritation, that would only encourage the guy. She was not just a child! “Could a child do this?!” She clapped her hands together, alchemic light sparking between them, and slammed them on the ground.
The energy crackled along the ground towards the Freezing Alchemist, and up the walls surrounding him. Tukson had time to glance at the walls in shock before the bricks extended and trapped him in place. He groaned at the sudden force and strained against the stone, but it was no use.
He was so close, he couldn’t just get captured now! Gaze now locked forwards by his stone prison, he watched as the red-haired girl grumbled and kicked at loose rubbish in the alley to vent her frustration.
“I’ve heard the stories, but still I never imagined this,” Tukson mumbled, voice muffled by the pressure on his face from almost every angle. Oh boy had he heard the stories. A young genius alchemist, gifted enough to not even need circles to transmute, how could he not have heard of her? But still when he’d heard she was young…
And rage boiled up inside of him at the thought of some military officer recruiting this child to be one of their dogs. “The Fullmetal Alchemist is just a little kid!”
Ruby froze in her pacing, and Yang sucked in a sympathetic breath. “Oh boy buddy,” she muttered, gazing fondly down at her little sister who was visibly struggling to get her temper under control, “You really shouldn't have said that.”
Her sister clapped her hands together, and slammed her automail one into the wall beside her. “Don’t,” she growled, watching as her alchemy caused a stone hand to sprout from the wall and send the already restrained Tukson flying. He landed and tumbled a few feet before coming to a halt in a heap. “ Don’t call me a kid,” she finished, glaring at the crumpled and groaning form of the man.
“Ya know sis,” Yang commented drily, putting one hand on her hip and letting the other one rest on her still fuming sister’s shoulder. “I don’t think he really meant anything by it.”
Ruby grumbled something under her breath to herself and crossed her arms in a huff. “Even if he didn’t, it was still mean!” she replied, crossly, kicking at the ground with one foot.
She was not just some little kid. She’d stopped being a little kid three years, two months, and eight days to the day. Ruby glanced up at her sister’s helmet and her gaze hardened when they met the purple soul-fire eyes staring back at her from the eye-slits in the helmet.
No. She was definitely not just some little kid.