♛. strength and weakness — ; pride&armstrong&akane. )
There they stood, seemingly impervious to the weather conditions as they met face-to-face.
The towering mass of muscles before him largely contrasted to the tiny child that he was, as did the amount of authority dealt between the two of them. This man was a State Alchemist, someone his own adopted father had chosen to be a human weapon for the country of Amestris. His race?: human. No matter what rank in the military line-up, this man was at the very bottom of the food chain among the other skittering ants no more important than the mud in which they dug.
Still, a hand raised to act as a visor above the little one’s eyes, shielding his vision from the downpour as his eyes lit up with wonder at the familiarity of this military officer, Major Armstrong, if he had remembered correctly. His sister had certainly been an interesting nuisance.
“Oh, it’s Major Armstrong! What are you doing in this city?” His voice barely audible against the violent winds and constant shower and striking thunder, the child instead favoured to cup his hand near his lips to shout a little louder.
“Do you know of any clues for this sector? I know a couple so maybe we can share!!” Truth be told, he’d rather not work with someone whose soul should’ve been sacrificed for his father. In fact, “working together” wasn’t what he intended to do at all from this sudden meeting. His secret had possibly already reached the ears of the Armstrong family, which meant his current charade could’ve done nothing but perhaps confuse the giant mass and his sparkles. If that were the case, then he would have to deal with the situation in a different way and use the man more openly instead of being sneaky.
But really, could a harmless little kid honestly be the monster everyone spoke of?
Armstrong looked down on the small boy warily. He had expected to meet other residents of Amestris whose time frame did not match his own, since this had been the case with Edward Elric. This encounter was anything but pleasant.
As a soldier, the Major understood that joining forces would be greatly beneficial to the matter at hand. Selim Bradley seems to be of the same mind, seeing that the homunculus was still playing up his more amicable cover. Perhaps this particular Pride was taken from a time frame before he exposed his identity. The question for Armstrong now is whether to play along or not.
The acidic rain continued to soak the two figures as the hulking figure of the two considered over his options. Remaining silent was easy, but lying was not the Major’s strong point and he understood that about himself very well.
“Pretend no further, Selim Bradley. Your play-acting has already expired on me.”
“Or should I address you as Pride?”
Over the intercom, the Major alerted his Chief and briefed her on the current situation. Alex, despite his personal disdain for the homunculus, was ready to form a temporary alliance to seek out the detonators, but he wanted to confirm it with his superior.
“Chief Tsunemori, should we cooperate with this dangerous character?”
Chaos reigning in all districts of the city, more and more injured filled up the local hospitals. Akane's day turned into a hectic nightmare, as her position as the Bureau chief made her responsible for dealing with the horrid catastrophe. After giving orders left and right, she ended up sitting in a hospital lobby, trying to rest for a short while-- only to be interrupted by a sudden call from one of her most trusted, if a bit eccentric employees. Major Armstrong briefly explained the situation. A dangerous character, he said...
"I don't exactly understand what's going on with that person, but I suppose we don't have a choice," she replied in a calm tone, barely stopping her urge to sigh. "As long as he knows some clues, we should cooperate with him."
"I'll meet you in a moment." Since Armstrong's location was close enough to get there by foot, Akane put on a long raincoat and stormed out of the building. It didn't take long before she arrived at her destination, breathing heavily from running too fast in the rain. As she raised her head, two surprises awaited her-- a fully clothed Armstrong, a rare occurence in itself, and a boy way younger than she had expected. What could be his reason for calling such a kid dangerous?
"So you're the informant? We'd appreciate any clues you can share with us."
