Metal Vs Storm

Building an Army

The doors to the military building slammed close nosily from the wind outside. The person that just walked in looked a bit guiltily at the loudness of the sound. Thane looked up in curiosity…….and promptly dropped his cup of coffee. ‘No way……..’ it was the officer that helped him with the kid in the mall (Operation: survive and sacrifice, if no one remembers him.). But he looked so messy right now. His normally clean white hair and coat looked gray with dust and speckled with dirt and…… was that blood? Thane scrubbed his eyes to make sure that the street ragged kid was the same confident fighter from that night.

The kid looked around again at the inside of the building, probably looking for someone. Thane tried to rush over to him, almost tripping over his broken cup of coffee, he could clean that up later. Storm was walking to the stairs at the other side, slightly limping and waving off any solider that tried to help him. Thane tapped his should as he was in reach, Storm turned to face him and his eyes widened in surprise. “Officer Thane, this is a surprise to see you here, I thought you retired?”

Thane shook his head, the kid looked like he just went through hell and here he was asking about him. “Colonel Blackstone gave me a job, you know how persistent he can be.” He  walked to the front of Storm, “How have you been, to be frank, you look like you’ve been through hell.” As he stood in front of him, he could see the speckled blood on his mouth from a busted lip and a scratch under his left eye that started healing.

“I guess you could say that.” Storm scoffed and Thane was a bit worried at the tone that he used but he moved to Storm’s side as they headed to Colonel Blackstone’s office. “I didn’t get chance to properly clean up, things have been so hectic lately.”

“Do you want me to get a medic?” Thane asked lightly as he watched the way that Storm held his left hand limply as his side, not attempting to move it.

“Please.” Thane was surprised that he admitted to it. “I need to talk to Colonel Blackstone, you know if he is in?” Thane nodded in confirmation. “Good, see you in a little bit then.”

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Toshiro sighed, that little meeting with Thane was a bit refreshing, besides as much as he hated it, he really needed some painkillers for his head, he could heal the injures he had once he was in the office but he couldn’t heal headaches. He opened the doors to Colonel Blackstone’s office, this should be quite the meeting.

“Colonel Blackstone, it’s been a while.” He gave a light smile but stopped as it pulled on the healing cut on his lip.

Colonel Blackstone gasped as he dropped his pen from the papers he was signing. “Storm” he stood and walked over to him, as the sight of the alchemist registered, he gasped, “What the he** happened to you, Leon can you get the medic please.” He called to his already standing Lieutenant, the man was also worried about the alchemist that he had gotten close to.

“Don’t worry, Thane already went for one.” He rolled his eyes and raised his hands as Blackstone tried to assess his injures, he didn’t have a choice, it was the only way to get the easy-to-worry officer off him.

“You actually admitted to needing a medic?” Colonel Blackstone looked at him in shock as Leon lead the limping alchemist to the nearest chair. “I want a full assessment. Stat.”

“One, I’m not one for your officers, two, I am an alchemist, you can’t really order me around and third, don’t worry I just want some painkillers for this irritance of a headache.” Toshiro sighed as he rubbed his head.

“Not an answer Storm.” Colonel Blackstone pressured as he attempted to smoothen out Storm’s hair, not quite achieving it before he removed the bands and plats completely and tried to finger comb the dirt out of it , slightly surprised as he got no complaints.

“Twisted ankle, hairline factures in my left hand, probably a fractured rib, a busted lip and a couple of scratches.” Toshiro sighed again before he gratefully accepted the bottled water handed to him from Leon.

“You were walking with those kind of injures!” Colonel raised his hand to smack him upside the head before he saw Toshiro brace for the hit and remembered the headache that he mentioned having and he lowered his hand. “Seriously Storm, you make all of us worry sometimes, what did you get yourself into?” the medic and
Thane walked in, the medic was also someone he knew well as she was always there after any mission that Blackstone’s men did and had gotten to learn quite a bit from her when he helped her out so he knew she could be trusted with anything he said in the room and he was certain that neither Leon or Thane was going to rat him out.

“Don’t worry, I can heal the damages, I just need something for the headache.” Without any words, the medic, Jody, wordlessly handed him the painkillers and despite what he said, she still moved on to pull up his sleeve of his coat and wrap his hand and placed it in a brace before moving on to his ankle, guided by Leon. While that happened, Toshiro relaxed while Blackstone continued fiddling with his hair. Working with Blackstone, he knew that this was a habit that Blackstone used to calm when worried, it was as if playing with his hair reassured him that Toshiro was still there and well. The first time that Blackstone did it, he just froze but after Maes explained that he did that to everyone with long hair, he just went along with it.

“Briggs wall was attacked.” Blackstone froze slightly before he continued playing with the strands in his hand. “A man came, speaking about changing the nation, making it better, the Commander got mad, she sent him to the other side.” Toshiro paused to hiss as Jody pulled his boot off. “What we didn’t know was that there was another officer, he had a bomb, took out the whole equipment parking lot.”

Jody handed Blackstone a comb from her pocket as he attempted to remove a knot in his hair. “Managed to take out a number of us, the fullmetal alchemist was injured, I headed here right after I healed him, I needed your help.”

“So, I’m guessing that blood is not yours.” Leon pointed to the gloves that shifted in his pocket as he moved, he nodded and the others sighed in relief.

Colonel Blackstone tied his hair in a high ponytail before beginning to plat it. “Just say the word Storm, I need to hear it before I get anything ready.”

“I want your men to help me fight this war, I can’t do this fight without you, I need all the fire power I can get.” Toshiro stood and meet his gaze to the Colonel’s mismatched ones.

“The needs of an alchemist cannot go unheeded, your wish is my command Storm, you have yourself a deal.” The Colonel smirked at him.

“Must you two be so dramatic?” Thane laughed in the background.

“Life would be boring without the theatrics.” They all laughed.

Things were looking up.

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Toshiro leaned back on the chair as he listened to the sound of pen scratching on paper. He thought about what he told Edward and Alphonse on the train, he wondered if it would be enough.

‘I am a creature more powerful than you can imagine, what you have seen is no more than five percent of my true power, because of your thin fabric of atmosphere, it will literally tear a hole in it if I were to use more than that. You must know that I am not exactly alive, or human for that fact. I am what you call an agent of the dead, a Shinigami if you must, as you know I and a chimera, cross between by body and that of a beast of old, the legend of the dragon, elemental of the ice. I come from a parallel world of yours, one where alchemist exists no longer and may never will again.  I was brought here as a curse of one of the most powerful beings that went mad on power and now I must find my way home before there is nothing to return to.’

‘Amazing, this is really hard to belief but I guess you’re living proof of that, a parallel world, huh?’

‘You said you were an agent of the dead, did you have a title?’

‘I was known as the Captain of the Shinigami Army.’

‘This is amazing!’

“Hey Storm, you ok?” Leon broke him out of his thoughts.

“Yea, I need to leave now, thank you for everything.” He nodded to Blackstone and Leon.

“Where are you going?” Blackstone questioned.

“I have a fire alchemist I want to freeze.”