Chapter 12 - Intense training and bitter reunion

Well it has been awhile hasent it? Again I apologize, life has a way of tying your hands from time to time. Anyways, where we last left off, Edward was heading to the underground training room with his comrads to partake in unique training to hone his vamperic ablities. However, he'll learn that it's not just strength and stamina alone that will help him in battle.

Once the small group reached the basement level, they exited the pinball elevator. As they entered the training room, they were greeted with quite a sight. The room looked like a desert based enviroment, loaded with large cliffs and even tumblee weeds and cactus. The lights were even giving off the feeling that they werent in a room at all but an outside battleground. (Think of Kisuke's training room in Bleach for this.)

"Well this is the place. Let's get started while im still up for it." Edward said, heading further into the room as Itachi nodded, following the blonde. Sasori stood before him and beside the raven haired male whereas Sarah stood off to the side with Alphonse and Deidara, Tobi happily bouncing along as he chased a tumble weed, faceplanting a few times in the process.

"First, we need to train your speed so you can be able to use flash step and other speed based formations." Sasori explained, Edward giving him a confused look as the red head nodded to Itachi. In a mere second Itachi had vanished, reappearing a foot infront of Edward who in turn yelped and fell hard onto his backside.

"That..is flashstep. It will come in hand greatly during evasive needed situations." Itachi stated while the alchemist tried to slow his heart beat at being startled soo badly.

"Give me a warning at least next time damn!" Ed snapped before he rose to his feet dusting himself off. "So anyways, what do I need to do to get that fast?" He then asked raising a brow. Itachi looked to Sarah, motioning her forward. Sarah grinned and nodded, hopping to her feet as she walked over. Biting her thumb to cause blood, she then placed it on the ground, said blood forming a circle of kanji as a bright ray of light shone from the spot. When the light dimmed, a cute cactus-looking creature with a surprised expression and barely over a foot tall was standing in the circle.

"You are to catch this using nothing but your bare hands. No alchemy whatsoever." Sasori stated calmly as Ed sweatdropped looking down at the critter.

"What....is it?" Ed asked as Sarah chuckled.

"It's a cactuar. Dont let it's cute face fool you. It can be nasty as hell when angered. Plus it's rather fast which is why we chose it for your speed training." Sarah explained.

"Kinda reminds us of a certian someone neh un?" Deidara muttered to Alphonse who chuckled in response but kept his voice down so Ed wouldnt hear. Said blonde just scoffed waving a dismissive hand.

"I'll have that thing caught in no time. Just you watch." the blonde stated. Itachi just smiled behind his collar, slamming his foot on the ground next to the cactuar. Said critter jumped, letting out a whistling noise before he dashed off with such a burst of speed it knocked Edward into the air when it ran underneath him. Faceplanting then, Ed groaned and sweatdropped watching a dustcloud already reaching the otherside of the vast room. "I think I spoke too soon." he muttered, getting a laugh from Sasori and Sarah. Growling then, he got to his feet and headed in the direction of the tiny summon. "Get back here you mutant midgit plant!" he roared after it, Alphonse sighing and shaking his head.

"This might take awhile." the armor stated, Sarah taking her seat by him again.

"Good thing I brought snacks." Sarah said, pulling said bag into view. However she had to yank it out of reach when Tobi tried to grab for it, only for the masked male to then faceplant into the dirt again. "Not this time you snack theif. You ate all my food last time, go mooche off Sasori." she stated as Alphonse chuckled watching this.

Back upstairs Shadow and Tifa were taking a small break, Louis eagerly working away as he was currently wiping down the tables. Shadow looked up from his drink, frowning when he sensed a dark aura off in the distance. Seconds later a loud roar sounded far off but just loud enough for even Louis to hear it. "Didnt think he'd be here." Shadow muttered, Tifa looking to him as he stated this.

"Who?" she asked, Shadow shaking his head.

"Dont worry about it. He's Louis's concern alone." The dual haired ravenette answered, watching as his comrade was staring towards the exit. He then glared before heading behind the bar to pick up his shot gun along with some cartriges of ammo. "Try to come back in one peice you hear? He nearly made mince meat of you last time when you tried to reach out to him." Shadow called as Louis nodded, heading out the door without a word as he made his way towards the outskirts of the city.

After an hour or so Louis reached his destination, he frowned seeing a few central soliders scattered across the ground. One torn clean in half, another having been crushed completly into the dirt and flat as a pancake. The area itself looked as if it had been hit by a bomb.

"No doubt about it, this is his handywork alright." Louis muttered, continuing to slink quietly through the warzone and destruction whatever beast left in it's wake. He cursed when he accidently kicked a metal pipe as it clanged loudly sending echoes through the street. In an instant three hunters came springing from their hiding places, teeth bared and eyes wild. Louis ducked as one soared inches over him as he shot it in the stomach. Turning he pistol whipped another in the face dazeing it as he then shot it point blank. He then finished off the third by breaking it's neck when it dared get too close when he was handling the other two. Seeing as there was no other infected lurking around, or not wanting to wait for others to come running to see where the noise had come from, he continued walking. Reaching a large open area in the town, with only a fountain and a few statues of the town's founders etc, he found who he was looking for. Three large tanks were feeding off unfortunate soliders who dared to stand up to them all at once. The two were normal sized. But one was much bigger and it's skin was colored. Plus by just looking at the tank you could tell it was fiercer.

"To think you fell this far when you used to kick these things asses as a passtime." Louis muttered as he watched the large tank. He looked about the area, trying to figure out a way to take out the other two tanks so he could face the leader alone. Getting an idea he then slowly moved through the area. Reaching his destination he then climbed up the one statue partway. Taking a deep breath he then concentrated his energy. Gathering enough of it up he then slammed his fist hard into the base of the statue. In no time the statue wobbled and fell towards the one tank, crushing it instantly as he then shot it in the face. Of course this alerted the large tank and it's remaining comrad. Both roared as the smaller tank dashed towards Louis. Said male quickly ran, skidding out of harm's way moments before the tank could slam his fists down on him. He then ran infront of the other statue, the slow beast following. "That's it dumbass, come and get me." Louis called. Just as he expected, it ran straight for him as he jumped out of harm's way once more. Said tank then slamming into the statue which came crashing down on him, spearing the zombie in the face with the statue's sword as it died in moments. Panting and heart racing from the close calls, Louis then turned his eyes on the large tank that remained. "It's been awhile....Coach." Louis stated with a smirk. "To think that we'd have to meet on these conditions. Dont worry; I'll make it quick." he then said, loading his gun as the large tank growled fiercly. Such a fate Louis thought, that this is the fate his idol suffered in order to prevent Louis from dying at the hands of these beasts.

"Graaaah gotc- ARGH!" Ed howled out, faceplanting for the hundredth time when the tiny cactuar dove from his grasp moments before the blonde could seize it. It made another whistling noise, dashing off once more. "God dammit! Cant I use at least a little alchemy?! That thing is insanely fast!" Edward then yelled weakly over towards Sasori and Itachi who were playing a game of poker with Sarah, Deidara, and Alphonse.

"No, you cant rely on alchemy for every little thing Edward. Catch it with your speed and intellect." Sasori replied back, smacking Tobi when the masked male attempted to peek over his shoulder at his cards. "Dont even think it, I know Deidara is making you peek for him." the red head hissed out at Tobi who meeped and scuttled over to hide behind Al.

"Grah...you guys suck!" Ed hollared, twitching as he caught his breath, glaring towards the cactuar who was taunting him now by just running in circles. "All right, im going to catch that thing or my name's Susie Flanderbobbin, and it's not!" he then yelled, dashing towards the cactuar letting out a warcry. The cactuar of course heard this and sweatdropped, dashing off when the blonde got too close again.

"You'd think he'd want to sneak up on the thing and startle it." Itachi said as Deidara nodded neither of them looking up from their cards.

"Not much of a sneak attack of you announce it un." Deidara added. Eventually however, the alchemist managed to corner the cactuar when it accidently ran into a dead end. The blonde grinned as he walked up towards it, hands ready to reach out.

"Gotcha now you runty mutant plant freak." He said darkly. This was a mistake however, when he noticed the uneasy expression on said small summon change to anger. Steam came out of it as it whistled loudly, needles blasting off it's body as it literally turned Edward into a walking pin coushin. "RAAAAAGHSLK The......h-hell?!" Ed said weakly, laying there twitching as the cactuar had taken off once again.

"Should have warned you, it doesnt like being called small either. Though we did warn you it has a temper. Dont worry the paralysis should wear off in a few minutes." Sasori called, knowing what happened to Edward without having to go see for himself. Once he fought off the pain of the needles and plucked enough of them out, Edward was back on his feet and chasing the small cactuar about. Tobi had decided to nap whereas Sarah and Al were listening to a few Cds she had brought down.

"Dammit how the hell am I going to catch this thi...wait i got it!" Ed thought, grinning when the idea dawned on him. Turning he skidded to a halt and dashed off in another direction. The cactuar stopped and looked about whistling, confused as to where it's chaser had gone to. However he failed to see Edward had done a circle around him, hidden by the large rocks and cliffs before it was too late as he turned and saw the alchemist sprinting towards him. When the tiny plant tried to turn and run he concentrated enough of his energy and speed, pushing it to the max as he imagined himself infront of the plant in the direction it was headed. Sure enough, he vanished in moments before reappearing infront of the cactaur as it bumped into his feet. Grinning he snatched it up as it squirmed in his hands whistling loudly. "Hahaha got ya you slippery bastard!" Ed hollared, hopping up and down as Al and Sarah looked up, al quickly cheering.

"Alright nii-san, way to go I knew you'd get him in no time!" Al called, oofing when Ed flung the cactuar at him hard.

"Nice try Al I saw what you were doing! Remind me not to root for you when you're training your @$$ off." Edward exclaimed with a snort as Sarah chuckled.

"Take it easy tiger. You were actually faster than most of us at catching that lil guy. Besides we were getting abit hoarse cheering for you at the beginning." Sarah stated to calm the blonde. Walking over she then dismissed the tiny dazed summon whereas Itachi and Sasori got back to their feet.

"Well done Fullmetal. Now for the next phase of your training. Catch another being using just flash step. Again no alchemy." Sasori stated as Edward grinned.

"Bring it on, I'll catch it in an hour tops! Or hell thirty minutes." the blonde stated; still rather pumped after catching the cactaur. Sasori and Itachi smiled to one another before the red head kicked Tobi in the side as he yelped and hopped up saluting them.

"Tobi you're up. Time to play tag with Edward." Itachi said as Tobi flailed about happily.

"YAAAAAAAY ED CACTUAR SAMA GOING TO PLAY TAG WITH TOBI!" The masked male yelled out, Edward twitching at the ninja's comparison of him to the tiny summon he just caught.

"What did you c-ACK!" Ed was cut off, considering Tobi had smacked him hard in the face with his open palm as he then vanished, reappearing yards away bouncing up and down.

"Come and get Tobi~! Let's play let's play!" he called out, twirling about as Ed growled twitching.

"YOU'RE DEAD YOU MASK WEARING FREAK!" Ed hollared, flash stepping towards Tobi and attempting to hit him, only to miss by seconds as the other male vanished and reappeared in another location, still twirling around.

"Tooo slooooow Ed sama is!" Tobi then called out in a sing song voice, Ed roaring as he continued to chase him about in this super speeded game of tag.

"Thirty minutes eh? Give it thirty years." Sasori said to Deidara who snickered nodding, Alphonse sighing.

"Oh great, the blood has rushed to brother's head. That's always bad news." He mumbled, Sarah nodding in agreement as she nibbled on a cookie.

Louis yowled in pain as he was sent flying, crashing hard into the one building's wall for the hundredth time. Panting and bloody; he ducked moments before the tank's fist came hurtling towards his head. He then rolled and shot a few more rounds into the emmense beast that was once his idol and father figure coach. "Damn, you sure can take one hell of a beating huh? Then again you always were hard to kill. Sucks that you still have that quality though holmes." Louis said with a weak sneer, the tank growling as it looked towards him after rubbing his wounded side, countless bullet wonds embedded in his dark skin. "Too bad for you, I share that quality with you." Louis then added, rubbing his own side, wincing as he felt he had a few broken ribs. Pumping his shot gun he then dashed out of the way when Coach roared and charged him. Then turning he unloaded another round of bullets at the tank's back. Hopefully he could hit the beast's spine to paraylze him. That way he couldnt get torn to bits trying to take off his head. But he only managed to hit his one shoulder, wounding it as coach grunted stumbling. This only further angered the immense tank who turned and snarled, picking up the one statue had served one of the smaller tanks it's demise as he chucked it towards Louis. The raven haired male cursed and dove behind the fountain for cover, the statue sailing overhead as it chipped off part of the fountain's decor. Then it struck him. Hopping up into view, Louis waved his hands franticlly.

"Ey coach over here, come and get me or are you too chicken shoot?" He hollared, sure enough this caught the hulking beast's attention. Pounding his chest he roared and stampeded over, slamming his fists down into the fountain. And just as Louis had anticipated, crushing the fountain's top caused the pipes underneath to burst. And because of that a huge burst of water shot from the ground, smacking into Coach's face as he gurgled and flailed, giving Louis enough time to leap onto the statue and then point his shot gun point blank into the tank's ear cannal. Moments before the trigger was pulled, Louis smiled when the beast looked towards him. "Later Coach, say hi to the other's for me will ya?" he stated, pulling the trigger as the infected howled in pain, blood spraying everywhere as well as brain matter, one of his hands striking Louis hard as the male was sent tumbling. The tank then finally fell forward, crashing into the fountain's waters as it's blood quickly changed the water to a deep crimson red, Louis coughing up blood himself as he gave a weak chuckle.
"I'll see you soon. Least you arent suffering anymore holmes." He said, his vison blurring before finally going black.

Edward yelled, diving towards Tobi who was sitting with his back to him on a large cliffside. However it was in vain as Tobi quickly vanished as Edward went flying off the rock formation, only to faceplant hard into the ground. Tobi giggled, bouncing about yards away in victory.

"Ed sama soo slow, cant catch the mighty Tobi!" he called out as Ed groaned rubbing his head.

"Dammit how do I catch this guy? Speed wont help me here. And he's at least alittle smarter than that damn plant." He thought aloud. Pondering a few more moments he then got another idea as he smirked. Hopping to his feet he then teleported infront of Tobi who meeped, vanishing and reappearing a few more yards away out of reach. "Awww Tobi but Edward just wants a hug!" Ed called in an innocent fake tone. Tobi blinked a few times before gasping and appearing infront of him, glomping the blonde.

"Yay Ed sama wuffs Tobi!" Tobi called out cheerfully, Ed giving an eerie smirk that Tobi didnt notice but the other's did.

"And you know what else Tobi?" Ed stated.

"What Ed sama?" Tobi asked, yelping when Edward slammed his fist down on his head hard with his right hand.

"YOU'RE IT!" Ed snapped, Tobi faceplanting in a dazed heap. "Ok what else do you have for me. I caught the idiot and can probly flash step in my sleep now." Edward in asked, rubbing his hands and stretching as Sasori chuckled.

"My arent you the ambitious one. Very well then, since you have speed mastered, let's work on telekinesis ablities. I presume Sarah as told you about that yes?" The red head asked, Edward nodding to this.

"Yeah, it's moving stuff with your mind right?" The alchemist said, Sasori nodding to this.

"Yes, and much more than that. You see only ones with very strong minds can do this and much more advanced tk powers. But for now let's work on the tk blast. It's concentrating on an object and blasting it in a general direction with a burst of telekinetic energy. This is a basic move for beginners." Sasori explained turning his eyes towards a random cactus as he glared, the cactus then getting a rush of wind knocked into it as it toppled over afterwards. "Now you try. Concentrate on anything in the room and hone your mind in on it, imagine it getting knocked back or over." Sasori then explained as Ed nodded, looking about for something to work with. Grinning he then rested his eyes on an unaware Deidara who had stolen Sarah's sandwich when she wasent looking. Sure enough Deidara yelped when he was sent flying, crashing into a cactus before he hopped up and down in pain.

"Very good choice of target. Now let's see you move an object with your mind. Imagine it floating and moving about defying gravity. Holding your hands out to guide the object's direction and further help you in this." Itachi stated then ad Ed nodded.

"Ack, brother put me down this isnt funny!" Alphonse meeped out, franticly flailing when Edward had decided to use him as a target now. Once he got him high enough in the air he then abided to his younger sibling's wishes chuckling.

"Sorry Al couldnt resist." Edward said innocently as Al just huffed folding his arms.

"That wasnt very nice. I'm not going easy on you next time we spar." Al retorted as Ed twitched.

"Since when have you ever went easy on me?!" The older elric hollared, causing Sarah to snicker as Itachi cleared his throat.

"Alright enough bickering, final step in telekenisis training is learning how to use kinetic shackles." Itachi then said, turning towards Deidara as the blonde yelped, being pulled into the air as his arms were moved outwards in a cross like motion, large white bands of energy wrapping around his wrists. "Reinforcing your brute telekinetic ablities with exact tecnique will allow you to temporarily shackle your enemies in mid air with chains of force. This will come in hand greatly during battle and missions. It is a must know tk ablity to have in your arsenal against vicious opponents." Itachi then said before letting Deidara drop back down to the ground, Sasori speaking up now.

"Your training session now; is to catch a moving target with this tecnique." Sasori exclaimed as Ed nodded, only to sweatdrop when the red head punted Tobi awake. "Edward wants to play tag again." he said as the blonde glared at Sasori, oofing when Tobi head butted him before taking off once more.

"You have to make it hard dont you?!" Ed snapped, turning and chasing after the masked male while Alphonse looked to Sarah.

"So you guys always train like this?" the suit asked, Sarah nodding.

"Pretty much, though it's gotten alot more amusing now that your brother has joined the fray. Though it's going to get real interesting when Itachi and Sasori step up to spar with him." She said with a light chuckle, Al nodding to this as he looked to the two.

"I agree, those guys are really strong." he stated in an honest tone.

An hour had passed, Tifa coming down the stairs as she peeked into the training room. "Hey guys, hope im not innerrupting anything but can you take a break?" she called, noticing that Tobi was flailing franticlly in the air, having finally been caught by the kinetic shackles of a cackling Edward while the others were either playing cards or watching the blonde's actions. All turned to look towards Tifa however when she yelled to them, Ed losing his concentration as Tobi faceplanted hard into the dirt.

"What's up tifa?" Al said as the brunette nodded towards the exit.

"Roy called. He said he needs Ed and Al for a mission to Schlafrig Hobl. Says something about a massive infestation of zombies and other creatures are attacking the town and the troops there need back up asap." Tifa explained as Ed looked to Sasori and Itachi.

"Go on, you caught Tobi anyways and you trained enough for today. We'll teach you more tommorrow morning, Five am sharp so dont doddle." Sasori said as Ed nodded with a grin.

"Right, come on Al!" Ed called, Alphonse nodding and rising to his feet as the two Elrics headed after Tifa up to the first floor and then to central HQ. Little did they know what was waiting for them in the sleepy town of shadows....

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