One is All, All is One

[Chaosmax]

Pride smiled underneath his mask. Heh one of the chosen ones? Looks like I’ll have to rough him up a bit but not go overboard he thought as a huge earth fist equipped with wind was headed straight for him. He leapt in the air dodging the fist skillfully and summoned his shadows around him.

“Hope that’s not all you’ve got young alchemist” he said out loud cockily as he then pushed the shadows down at him sending waves of arms reaching down grabbing him. As the arms grabbed his opponent Pride then came down with a sweeping kick and then lunged forward with his shadow drill in his right hand.

“Come on now you can do better than that”

 

[Lunarmaster54]

Brad swore as the shadowy arms grabbed him and his foe came towards him with a shadow drill. Blue static flashed around Brad's body as he curled up his leg and kicked the foe square in the chest before the drill could pierce him. The boy was sent flying backwards thanks to the wind powered kick and the shadows dropped Brad to the ground. Not wasting a moment Brad clapped his hands and drew a buster sword out of the ground in a shower of sparks. It had a golden blade with a black hilt and handguard and was as big as Brad himself.
"Its been a while since i've used you Foundation" he whispered, getting into his battle stance and glaring at the enemy
"Who are you?"

 

[Eva]

"Are...we...there...yet...?! WAAAHH!" Yue panted, ducking behind a lampost as Kitty splattered one of the zombie's blood everywhere. "Ewwwwwwww! You've gotta be kidding me!" The girl whined. She was tired, sweaty, drenched in blood that wasn't hers, and had a hell of a hard time keeping up with her mentor. The amount of mental notes on her mind that told her to get into shape were numerous; the only upside was that she had practiced what little Alchemy she could (meaning scribbing Transmutation Circles while Kitty took the front). Even that wasn't an upside.

"There." Kitty motioned towards the building, her body almost completely diamond. It was quite a sight; though she had mentioned the ability before, Yue was quite impressed--Kitty's entire torso, face, arms with the exception of her two pinky fingers, and legs were shimmering in the light, but her hair and clothes remained untouched, giving her an etheral look of an alien taking shape of a human being. Though the things had attacked her, none had been able to pierce through her 'armor'--then again, these were the minions. The thought of things being stronger than the semi-indestrcutible zombies made her shiver.

The two cautiously approached the entrance, which eerily enough, was free of the attack. However, there was much hustle and bustle; State Alchemists were running left and right, people were shouting orders and it would've looked like chaos to an outsider.

The two were, unexpectedly, stopped at the entrance by an important looking military man, stating. "We ask that all civilians stay at their homes, this is a manner of emergency--"

"I need to see the Colonel. Now." Kitty stated, suddenly making a salute. "It's very urgent; we have information vital to battle." The man took a look at Kitty, inspecting her form. "Ah, I apologize." Kitty shrugged, touching her two pinkies, and the diamond form left, revealing her face.

"...Major General?" He asked, blinking a few times. "Well, if it's you, I guess I can let you in..."

"Please, it's very urgent!" Yue found herself saying out of nowhere.

The man furrowed his brow. "I know. But things are hell here, no one knows what's going on, and it's only a matter of time those things come..."

Kitty let out a rather loud and hearty laugh, lightly pushing the man aside. "Lookit here! You obviously don't know who I am! Do you want to be disciplined?!" She had an evil, sneering look on her face, her eyes shining.

The man suddenly threw his hands to his head, screaming, "NO MAJOR GENERAL! I'M SORRY!"

Somehow, I feel like I know what he's afraid of... Yue sighed as Kitty cackled, following as they walked. They soon reached what looked like the lobby; Yue herself had never been there, but Kitty seemed to know. "What now?" Yue asked.

Kitty raised her eyebrows, looking at something behind Yue. "If it isn't Little Heartbreaker Demi, who never returns your calls or letters!"

Yue spun around, confused. "Who are you talking to--" The girl gasped at the sight she saw. Approaching them was none other than the Staccato Alchemist--a man she had seen around a few times and had earned himself quite the title. How can you speak like that to someone so important?! Yue thought, but as Kitty's words clicked in her head, she turned to her mentor, and asked, "So...you two have a history?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

_______________

Lust kept through her stroll, though smiled at Gluttony. There was just something about the Homunculi that made her chuckle on the inside, but nonetheless, she was used to his company. More or less her thoughts were more on where to go; the soldiers had obviously been annihilated (and eaten), so she assumed that they would just go around and kill whoever it was that was in their way. And everyone who wasn't in the way, of course.

It was then that she heard a yell, and an idea lit up in her head. "Gluttony, you know what to do." Using one of many tactics that the two had always used when together, suddenly Lust let out an ear-piercing scream. "Help! Somebody please help me!" She cried. The once sudden cooled demeanor of hers was completely gone, replaced by a terrified and helpless woman. She backed away from Gluttony, as if she had never seen a thing such as he.

Luckily for her, they had used this tactic many times; she would feign the victim, help would come running, and while she played the damsel, Gluttony would obliterate any opposition. It was one they were familiar with, and a favorite of hers; she would sit back and enjoy the show.

But until then, she had to play victim.

 

[Lone]

Gluttony was looking around, there wasn't a person to eat anywhere near him. They where all taking care of the gray soldiers. Gluttony had tried to eat them before only to find they tasted horrible. Lust was strolling through the city. Suddenly a scream was let out. Gluttony looked around there wasn't a girl in sight.

Suddenly Gluttony realized it was Lust who had screamed. She was standing in front of him looking like she was afraid of him. Gluttony tried to move towards her but she would just step back. Gluttony looked at her hard, then it hit him. This was a routine that wasn't new to them.

"Seems like it's time to play the part." said Gluttony to himself. "MMMM you look delicious, I want to eat you." he said kiddingly. Gluttony began to walk slowly as if chasing Lust and trying to get to her.
"I'm going to get a meal out of this." he thought to himself.
____________

Jack ran around the barrior and out of Richards sight. Although he couldn't see him he knew he was hard at work building walls. Richard pulled another handful of circles from his pocket. richard slapped another circle to the wall. Instantly a set of small vines sprouted from the wall and up it like steps. Richard ran up them to the top of the wall. When richard had reached the top he had a clear view of the situation.

Jack had formed a circle barrier around the creatures and was waqting for Richard to do his thing. "Don't forget to close of the top of this prison." Richard heard Jack call out. Richard slapped another circle down on the top of the wall. Large vines began to sprout out of the ground and impail the creatures. The ones that weren't effected where later stabbed by large thorns sticking out of the vines. Richard slapped a circle down.

A layer of vines almost like a wall sprouted out of the top sides of the walls. A ceiling was placed over the pit. Richard knew that down below the vines were peircing more of the creatures. Richard ran out across the vines and to the other side. He jumped down next to Jack who was looking to his left. Richard looked to his dismay. More of those creatures where flooding towards them. "Crap we don't have time for this we need to get to the summit." said Richard looking unhappy.

 

[Amata]

Once Rose cleared the area that was covered in that odd glowing blood, she came face to face with one of the creatures. It was bleeding it's strange blood everywhere, but it was not behaving as if these injuries mattered at all. It's speed was frightening as it rushed toward her, it's mind clearly set on killing. Rose jumped back from the creature, acting on pure instinct, and just managed to avoid one of it's attacks. Feeling the adrenaline begin to course through her body, Rose drew the pre-transmutated longsword which she always kept on her person and quickly slashed outward with it. The blade's edge, which had been made incredibly sharp, cut the creature almost in half just below it's chest cavity. More of the revolting substance flooded out, but within it, Rose caught a glimpse of something much more interesting.

Where the heart should have been, there was instead a small red stone. Rose slashed at the creature again, completing the job of severing it's two halves and splattering her leather jacket with it's blood. Her mouth set in a hard, disgusted smile, Rose reached into the creature's chest and pulled out the red stone which she spotted within it's chest. She merely looked at it, her mind simply refusing to believe that this could be that particular red stone, before it crumbled to a fine red dust.

For a moment Rose didn't move, she simply stood there in a growing puddle of blood, staring blankly at her now empty palm. What broke her paralysis was the rapid sound of gunfire from further up the street. Rose jumped a little and immediately began to move toward the sounds, repeatedly rubbing the hand which had held the stone against her trousers. She could not see the soldiers, but Rose guessed that they were just beyond the next corner, because she could hear them quite clearly as they shouted orders at each other and the cries of their dying and wounded.

Once she reached the corner, Rose stopped and peered around it. She hadn't just survived an encounter with one of those grey freaks to go and get herself riddled with bullets, so she wanted to see if there was a way to safely approach the barricade that had been set up a few yards ahead. The only way seemed to be through one of the small side alleys, which fed onto the street just in front of the barricade. Without wasting anytime, Rose turned around and began sprinting through the alleyway, her mind focused only on finding her way safely to the soldiers. A few seconds later, she had reached the mouth of the alleyway and stopped just before she would have ran right out into the street.

"Hey!" She shouted, not caring anymore about hiding her Drachman accent, "whoever is out there, stop shooting!"

There was only a slightly delayed reaction from the soldiers, and Rose had to admire their quickness of thought. Shaking a little with fear and spent adrenaline, Rose ran out onto the street and, without waiting for any invitation from the soldiers, she leaped over the barricade and into relative safety.

"You!" A male voice barked, "All civilians are supposed to stay within their homes. What the hell are you doing on the street?"

Rose looked toward the burly, bearded man standing on front of her and flashed him a hard, angry grin.

"Never mind all that shit, I can help. Now tell me what the hell is going on."

 

[Scribbles]

Demetri had his hands full back at the Command Center. Not only did he have the task of coming up with a sufficient defense strategy for their perimeter that also accommodated the forces in the streets, but he also had to find a secure place to house leaders, and a back up for that, just incase something happened. Communication lines were horrible. Reports just kept flooding in from all over; all of them reported the same thing. Death, near-immortal gray beings, and glowing red blood.


It was all bad.


To make matters worse, he had lost contact with every group stationed at all four of the city gates. None of it made sense. Neither Aerugo, Creta nor Drachma could be behind this strike—not only for the fact that the soldiers didn’t match up either. Why would the three losing states want to interrupt the meeting that could save them? But if it was another, new party attacking, where the hell did they come from? What could they gain from attacking like this?

And then there was the brutal, calculated way in which they went about the attack. The timing and positioning was too perfect. The greatest brain in Amestris’ gears was turning, but he feared that it would all be too late if he ever arrived to a solution.

And just where the hell was his State Alchemist back-up? Frosty and Stormstep were M.I.A.—weren’t they supposed to be positioned at the building anyway? Nothing was going right. And just when the Colonel thought the situation was hopelessly, but somehow safely stationed at rock bottom, yet another shot was fired his way.

Demetri was in the middle of a conversation with two lieutenants when he heard that voice.


"If it isn't Little Heartbreaker Demi, who never returns your calls or letters!"

A grim look appeared on the lieutenants’ faces, while Demetri just froze up. No, no, it wasn’t the fact that whoever just called him used his dreaded nickname. No, it wasn’t even the fact that whoever called him apparently had some fury in her voice. It wasn’t any of those. What it was, was the identity of the speaker, something that he could just sense. Only one woman ever made the hairs on the back of The Staccato Alchemist’s neck stand up…and that woman was…

“….Amalia Intan,” Demetri spun around on his heel, arms crossed a smirk on his face, “Didn’t expect,” Or hope he thought, “To see you here…” The Colonel gingerly stepped closer to her and her black haired friend. He looked her up and down with his golden orbs, “Looks like the years have been decent to you. …Ol’ Kitty.” A playful grin was rampant on his face. The stout looking lieutenant came shuffling up to the alchemist. Standing on his tip toes, he whispered something into his commanding officer’s ear.


“Hrm, alright. Thanks for the update. Have Wall and Paff’s team barricade the audience chamber then. The leaders are our priority.” Demetri had a foreign seriousness in his tone of voice. The lieutenant saluted him, but just before he took off to deliver the message, the dread locked officer called out to him again, “And try and get me a lock on Frosty and Stormstep’s location dammit. I’ve got enough problems without two missing Alchemists.”

“Yes sir!” He saluted again and stormed off down one of the long hallways of Central Command.

"So...you two have a history?" The Ex-General’s companion asked her, obviously a bit confused.

A sour look appeared on Demetri’s face at the question. “Oh yeah, we were quite the pair. Just like oil and water.” He shrugged. “Look, I’m sure you didn’t come here just to bother me, but regardless I’m gonna have to ask the both of you to leave—things are way too hectic for us to look after civilians.” Calling Kitty a civilian was an extreme understatement. “So just—“ The walkie-talkie on his hip beeped loudly, indicating an emergency transmission. “What now?!”



Colonel, the enemy has breeched the Central Command’s front gates! Requesting assis—augh!



“Dammit! I need any postless soldier to head to the front gate, pronto!” He hollered over the radio before slapping it back on his belt-loop. The lobby doors behind Kitty, and in front of Demetri flew open, revealing a mob of beastly men and women: chimeras. Half-man, half-animal, all monster. The Colonel gently shoved his old ‘nothing’ and her companion out of the way so he could face the creatures head on.

With his hands held out in front of him small purple sparks gathered around his body, all-stemming from the center of the circles on his palms. Just seconds before three Chimeras were ready to pounce on the golden-eyed warrior three wolves made of the same purple electricity appeared before them. They bared their vicious teeth and leapt at the chimeras, exploding into a mass of sparks on contact. The blood and lights looked like some kind of gruesome celebration as the charred and severed remains the abominations littered the floor.

“On second thought Kitty, why don’t you stick around a bit?” He was low on man power anyway. “These Chimeras weren’t in the city forces reports; I hope I’m wrong, but we might be under attack from two fronts,” Staccato reached around his back, quickly unsheathing jet-black Izanagi. “Watch yourself alright?” Surprisingly enough there was some genuine concern in his voice as he spoke to Kitty.



Indeed. It was all bad.


- - -


“The flowing of the crimson blood, the melody of the screams, the steady tempo of the bullets as they fly from the soldier’s gun. It’s all so damn beautiful, I think I might just lose myself in it all!”

Envy was biting his nails as he marveled the destruction as it played out in front of him. The Homunculus had his tommy gun slung over his right shoulder as he marched through the carnage his lifeless soldiers had created. He wasn’t fond of the things, but they certainly did a good job. Envy just wished they looked more……prettier. No beauty lied in shades of gray.

Envy had taken the face of Rio Medichi, an Aerugan general. It couldn’t hurt to set the military off on a false path.

The Homunculi was carving a path straight for Central Command, when he saw an impressive display of plant and earth alchemy. A Candidate perhaps?

"Now who's controlling you pesky bastards?"

It was the Steel Earth Alchemist, and if he wasn’t mistaken the legendary Botanical Alchemist was with him, along with Shockwave. Three Alchemists skilled Alchemists together—Envy was bloodthirsty, but he was no fool. A prolonged battle against them all would end in tragedy…but then again…this was way too much fun to pass up.

The Homunculi used a shower of bullets from his weapon as a greeting as he stepped closer to Steel Earth, a wide lustful grin wide on his face.

“Quite the mess isn’t it?” Envy, no, now he was Rio, pointed the long barrel of the gun towards the General’s dome. “Glowing blood, chop their heads off and they still don’t die. Eerie, am I right?” Rio chuckled.


“And…I wonder…just who’s behind all of this?” Rio cackled as he gave Steel Earth and his men a mocking confused expression.

 

[Chaosmax]

“Heh even if I’m not going all out that was an impressive counter attack” Pride said as he dusted off his shoulder and stood just mere feet away from Brad. “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Pride” he spoke with a bow and then noticed his blade, his grin beneath his mask faded away and his eyes narrowed at him.

“If you hold that blade towards an enemy” he pointed to the blade and shadows gathered around him in a spherical form “You best be ready to kill!” Pride screamed out as he dashed at Bradley. He twisted his body around him spinning at an 360 angle while attacking using multiple shadows punches.

Pride then came beneath him with a sweeping kick and used his shadow to grab the young alchemist and fling him towards a nearby building. Pride then quickly climbed the building beside it and sliced the building causing it to collapse upon itself. He whistled as the building crumbled down “My oh my I hope I didn’t kill him” he muttered.

 

[Lunarmaster54]

Brandon West was no stranger to pain.
His training had been hellish, some of the criminals he had fought had stabbed him in various places with extremely sharp blades, he'd even survived flu shot day at school! (cause schools had them back in his hometown) so Brad had a pretty high tolerance to pain.
This tolerance did NOT prepare him for having a building collapse on top of him. Even with his hastily made earth armor the rubble STILL hurt like hell as it all slammed into him. He wouldn't be surprised if a few ribs were broken. Brad stood up with a yell of agony, armor falling away back into the dirt it was made from moments ago. He wanted to lay down, curl up in a ball, cry and never fight again.
But he wasn't raised that way.
Gritting his teeth Brad pulled foundation out from the rubble, wincing as he stabbed it into the ground to retrieve later. Brad then spat some blood and what suspiciously looked like a tooth onto the ground before glaring at Pride.
"You little bastard. I'll show you ready to kill!!"
Brad clapped his hands and threw them outwards, palms facing Pride. Blue static raced across the distance between the two and the wind picked up. Brad waved his arms around as the wind began to get fiercer and fiercer, picking up some of the rubble from the collapsed building as the winds formed a full blown
"TORNADO!!!" Brad roared
Pride was right in the middle of that madness and Brad sure hoped this decided the fight cause tornadoes were no small feat to whip up. In fact due Brad's injured state he wasn't sure what he was gonna do if this didn't finish off his opponent. But then again who could survive a tornado? No human thats for damn sure.

 

[IceBlueWings]

Dashing to the Central Command and hoping that Rey is safe in the back of her mind, she nearly reached the place when she spotted two people fighting, rubble collapsing on a person who seemed to look like the Stormstep Alchemist, who yelled in pain.

Cura stopped. She wasn't about to pity a child. He is a State Alchemist and like it or not, this is the military. But she wasn't about to let him die with her watching, and neither will she let this enemy have his way.

Just then Stormstep clapped his hands, creating a strong gust of wind which turned into a tornado. It engulfed Pride. She made her way to Brad. She squatted down to his level and placed her hand on his shoulder gently. "Pull yourself together." She said softly yet her tone was a little indifferent. She stood up. "You are the youngest State Alchemist here; don't be the first to die." She said, putting up her guard to see what would become of the enemy with the Tornado attack. "To flee may be one of our best options." She mumbled, though loud enough for Brad to hear.

"You heard me. When there's a chance, we flee. We plan our attacks. I'm sure you've learned something from his attacks, have you not?" She asked. "Staccato is waiting."

 

[Eva]

“….Amalia Intan,” Demetri spun around on his heel, arms crossed a smirk on his face, “Didn’t expect,” Or hope he thought, “To see you here…” The Colonel gingerly stepped closer to her and her black haired friend. He looked her up and down with his golden orbs, “Looks like the years have been decent to you. …Ol’ Kitty.”

Amalia Intan?...Oh, that's Kitty...Oil and water? Opposites attract, I suppose... Yue assumed, inspecting the two. Though the two were (somewhat) smiling at one another, the Colonel had a somewhat half triumphant half nervous kind of smirk, whereas Kitty had a half angry half joking-like kind of grin. On said matter, the Colonel seemed so neat-looking and kinda cool wereas Kitty was so...feminist and preppy. What a combo they must've been. As she looked at Kitty, she was surprised to find her also looking the Colonel up and down.

Kitty wanted to punch him in the face, but resisted the urge greatly. Oh, how she wanted to crush every bone in his body, make him spit out why he dumped her, why he ended a perfectly GOOD relationship--but of course, this wasn't the time or place for it. No, she would play it cool, smile, relax, have fun, draw him in, THEN knock him a good one. Just...reply...YOU talked to HIM first...hahaha...Kitty forced herself to keep smiling, though when her eyes met with the Colonel's, she found herself wanting to knock that smirk off his face violently. "Wish I could say the same to you, Demi." Kitty winked, wagging her finger playfully. "But you already know how bitter women can be. I'm more surprised you remembered lil' ol' me." She gave a fake / forced laugh that sent a chill down Yue's spine.

Oh boy, exes are so awkward... Yue sighed; one could almost feel Kitty's aura attempting to strangle the Colonel. Jesus, what happened exactly? They look friendly but for some reason they're so...awkward. And she looks ready for murder...

“Look, I’m sure you didn’t come here just to bother me, but regardless I’m gonna have to ask the both of you to leave—things are way too hectic for us to look after civilians. So just—“

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an incoming transmission. From the looks of things, everything was in complete and total chaos. Whatever the enemy's goal was, it couldn't possible be known. These 'things' didn't seem to be doing anything in particular except go around killing people. Except obviously, that had to be taken care of. Of course, even more chaos ensued in the form of the newly arrived party of chimeras.

Yue's jaw dropped as she was pushed aside, the Staccato Alchemist going to defend the building. She grabbed Kitty's arm, dragging her to the side as he did his Alchemy. "Isn't there anything we can do?!" She asked, biting her lip. Though the Colonel had dismissed them as civilians, she could tell that the military was unprepared for this; there had to be something they could do.

“On second thought Kitty, why don’t you stick around a bit?” He was low on man power anyway. “These Chimeras weren’t in the city forces reports; I hope I’m wrong, but we might be under attack from two fronts,” Staccato reached around his back, quickly unsheathing jet-black Izanagi. “Watch yourself alright?” Surprisingly enough there was some genuine concern in his voice as he spoke to Kitty.


"And to you, Colonel." Kitty replied, cracking her knuckles. "We hold 'em here. No point in chasing what's coming to us..." An afterthought hit her. "No time for formalities, but...this is Yue. Yue, this is Demi--Colonel Maverick." She caught herself, clapping her hands together. Her Transmutation Circles glowed, englufing her body in diamonds once more, and she readied herself.

"A pleasure, Mr. Maverick." Yue bowed, readying her needles.

"Watch our backs and provide support only if neccesary." Kitty stressed the last part to Yue. "If worse comes to worst, save yourself and make a run for it." She could care less what happened to her, but the last thing she needed was an innocent girl sacrificing herself for something that didn't involve her.

 

[Lunarmaster54]

Brad managed a smirk "Of course i won't die here!"
He glared as the tornado attack finished, they didn't have very long before he struck.
"to flee may be one of our best options"
Brad looked at her in shock "But i can still fight!"
"You heard me. When there's a chance, we flee. We plan our attacks. I'm sure you've learned something from his attacks, have you not?" She asked. "Staccato is waiting."
Brad tsked and then winced. He hurt all over. "Alright. He attacks with his shadows. so far he's made a drill out of them and he can attack from long distances. If we're going to run away then we need to do it now while he's distracted. The little bastard is FAST"
He managed a half grin "and stay away from the buildings if you can. They hurt like hell when he collapses one on you"

 

[Kiba]

The sight of the large silver haired man devouring a soldier sent Ro falling back onto his behind, shaking. Never had he seen an act of cannibalism being performed. He didn't ever want to see it. And the way the man went about doing it. The fact that he was able to fit half of the soldiers body into his mouth was not humanly possible. "Who, or what, is that man?" Ro finally let out when the shaking had subsided.

"Spawns of the devil, monsters," Guil replied lifting his brother up from the floor of the rooftop. "I-"

A scream for help cut Guil off from continuing. Both their heads turned in the direction of the scream. The East gate. They both ran towards the edge of the roof and saw the large man encroaching onto a woman. The woman was the source of the screaming. The man was going to eat her like he had with the soldier.

"Go."

Clap!

Large, thick wires shot out from one of the lamp posts toward the large-mouthed, silver-haired cannibal. They began to circle him several times before they would be pulled taut, capturing the man. Ro stood nearby, his right hand resting lightly on the transmuted lamp post. "Oy, Who do you think you are?" Ro said taking a step towards the man, his expression fierce.

 

[Lone]

Gluttony was continuing to advance on Lust. There didn't seem to be anybody around. He was starting to feel that this was a wasted effort. Suddenly Lust let another scream which seemed to be louder than all the others. Clap. Suddenly a lamp post off to Gluttonys left grew wires that began to wrap around him and constrict. He was stopped dead in his tracks. Gluttony was over joyed he was going to get his next meal.

Suddenly Gluttony saw someone land next to the lamp post. The boy was young but not to young. Gluttony kept quiet, he knew Lust would take over here in a moment. "Who are you and what are you doing." said the boy. Gluttony looked at him for a moment determining if he wanted to answer or not. "I'm about to indulge myself in a bit to eat." said Gluttony opening his mouth in a large yawn.

 

[Chaosmax]

“Oh so you kept this up your sleeve eh?” said Pride softly under his mask as the young alchemist whipped up a fierce tornado surrounding him and sending debris from the building wreckage at him. The move was….decent at best but when you train with people like Envy, Greed, etc. This was nothing.

Shadows gathered around him shielding him from the harsh winds and he easily dodged the debris. As the tornado then ended he noticed a young woman near Brad. “This just may get interesting”

With quick speed he then leaped from the building and came beneath Brad “Now who’re you calling little short stack?” he pushed in his elbow sending a wave of force into Brad’s chest, a shadow then took the shape of a hand and sent him flying several feet away.

“Oh and just so you know I’m not that bad at close combat either sweet-cheeks”

Pride then swept her off her feet with another sweeping kick and then used a shadow to grab her face and slammed her into the ground.

 

[Lunarmaster54]

Brad hit another building, bounced off and fell face first into the dirt.
This was going from bad to worse
Pushing himself up Brad gritted his teeth, steeled himself and then charged at his small foe as he was slamming Frosty into the ground. Brad picked up speed and jumped into the air, connecting a solid axe kick to Pride's shoulder. Quickly Brad transmuted a katana out of a pipe that was near his feet and swung it at Pride, landing a satisfyingly clean cut on his enemy before jumping back next to Frosty and clapping his hands, creating a pillar underneath them and rasing them into the air.
"We can jump from here to the rooftop and use them to get to the summit" he said urgently to his companion.

 

[Chaosmax]

“You won’t get far brat” Pride muttered under his mask gritting his teeth. He then sliced the pillar they were on and the surrounding buildings. A smile came to his face “Sorry no building hopping for you” he said mockingly.

Pride then leaped into the air, this was clearly his advantage. Out of all of the Homunculi in the group only Envy and Wrath managed to beat him via mid-air battle. But now he was nearly undefeated and if so it was extremely close.

He punched Brad dead square in his ribs most likely breaking or severely damaging them, he then brought up a roundhouse kick to the female alchemist sending a flurry of punches and kicks to the both of them. Pride then brought the shadows around him and enclosed himself in a sphere, condensing it most and more. He then pushed out the shadow in full force extending out two fists into them sending them crashing to the ground.

As he floated back to the ground he looked at the two of them and cocked his head to the side “Hey still with me kiddos?”

 

[Lunarmaster54]

Brad pushed himself up, coughing up blood and holding back a moan of pain. Next time he would whisper his plans because apparently when your in the military your enemies come equipped with super human hearing. His vision was blurring so it was clear he was close to passing out. His ribs were busted to hell and he could barley stand. To make matters worse they STILL had to get to the command center.
"Burn in HELL!!!" he roared, clapping his hands and placing his palms on the ground. Blue static raced towards Pride and the boy was encased in a dome of earth. Brad slipped and fell on his side, moaning a little as he hit the ground. Shadows couldn't be manipulated without light. Or so he hoped. Grunting, Brad crawled over to Frosty, silently hoping she was okay. She DID come to help him after all!
"Hey! Are you okay over there?" he rasped out, just barley loud enough for the woman to hear him.

 

[IceBlueWings]

What monstrosity. She coughed out blood and the pain was numbing her. She was slightly stunned. The person looked human but he certainly overcame human capabilities. What the hell is he?! It was a little hard to take in, but she remembered everything he did clearly. No one would get out of that without casualty; civilians had no chance.

"Hey! Are you okay over there?"

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Stormstep's pained voice. Getting up, she took a deep breath. "Quite fine." She said, though she certainly didn't sound fine. She must have bruises on her stomach and her ribs were cracked if not broken. But she could still stand, and she was going to do exactly she planned; get them to Central Command. She looked at Pride with contempt, wiping off the running blood from the gash on her forehead and her bleeding lip.

"My apologies; I did not provide much support." She grimaced slightly in pain. She kept herself composed; she didn't want to seem terribly injured in front of the young Alchemist. Especially when he was worse off compared to her. "Can you stand? We should take the chance to get to Central Command." She said. "Looks like we need to find a place where his shadows cannot reach us." But that was unlikely, there doesn't seem to be a place.

She grabbed the walkie-talkie she held. It was broken. She sighed and looked at Brad. "You should get to the Command Center, call for help. I'll stay and keep this man occupied." She felt a sudden pity for the young boy. He shouldn't lose his life here. She looked away from him to hide the expression of gentleness she had at the moment. "And get yourself treated."

 

[Lunarmaster54]

For the third time, Brad dragged himself to his feet and nodded with difficulty. "He's trapped in that dome for the moment" he said "Come with me. That....thing is too strong to be fought alone right now. We're both hurt and if you try to fight him alone you will die" his eyes were hard with determination "The command center isn't far from here we can make it if we hurry!"
Brad brought his hands together in a soft clap and bent down, shaking as he placed his palms on the ground. Another dome of earth formed over the dome Pride was already trapped in. Though this one was far weaker than the first.
"Lets go" Brad said to the woman hoping the extra protection would hold off their foe long enough for them to escape

 

[IceBlueWings]

Cura turned to face him. Though she had blank look on her face, she was concerned for him. "Lean on me, if you need support." She said. "Let's make haste." She was feeling doubtful of the safety of the encased enemy. And to imagine if there were others like him...she felt a chill run up her spine. Nevertheless, they'd have to report this and it would do no good if they both bled to death here.

They ran to the lobby where Colonel Demetri was waiting. Once reaching there with some difficulty due to their injuries, they stood in front of Demetri, bloody and pained, especially Brad. She saluted the Staccato Alchemist while she held on to her injured ribs, keeping a straight face. "Apologies for reaching here late. There was an enemy, a..." She wondered whether he would believe her. "Might I say...a monster disguised as a human." She said. "It manipulates shadows to attack us. Stormstep has encased it inside an earth dome, and I believe it may escape any moment."