MISSION: Operation Central City Festival

"Mommy.... HELP ME!" Shrieked a voice in shrill terror from within the lonely L shaped corridor noted as Nikolaus's post as the cotton candy booth handler, a young boy by the age of 12 hung upside down as he was stripped to his undergarments whilst his legs were tied by a rope hanging from below a bricked up window... apparently the entire corridor is bricked up in such a short span of time with several holes in the grounds, wires, lasers, and even closed up roof with improvised light bulbs leaking out light! Pretty much a roof out of metal sheets were made as the entire place was pretty gloomy, prettily.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU PANSY! I know that mother is a code word for your organization... I am ONTO YOU DAMNABLE MONOCLE FAPPER! HAH! Trying to tip the country into war as you use your child-like innocence to infiltrate Amestris... not on my watch... NOT ON MY FUCKING WATCH!" Nikolaus sharpened his knife with a piece of flint, brandishing it in front of the upside down boy, "Tell me, who sent you here? I know you dirty bastards like a hawk watching a rat taking a dump by the park whilst making love to a mouse... yes, I am THAT good."

"I... I don't know anything!!!! WAAAAAAH!" He sobbed some more.

"Oh? Is that so, guess I have the wrong..." Nikolaus sweeped his knife across the kid's armpit as he sliced off a bundle of hair PAINFULLY, imaginably like when one pulls hair off from the arm pit with a tweezer kind of pinching pain, "...PERSON!"

The kid didn't whimper out in pain this time or showed child-like innocence for that matter, only managed to snap the rope with a quick tug of his own leg as he fell down to the ground, his back parted from left and right opens asunder as wings sprout out whilst his shirt rips, muscles suddenly grow as horns form on his temple as skin turned reddish. The boy grows 4 feet taller as his muscles enhance whilst his teeth become more pronounced and sharp. Eyes red and brimming with evil as it looks down at Niko. His face ugly and monstrous to look at.

"FOOLISH HUMAN MORTAL, YOU HAVE DEFIED A FORCE FAR GREATER THAN YOUR SMALL MIND CAN COMPREHEND. THE BROTHERHOOD WILL DESTROY YOU IN TIME AS YOU HAVE MADE AN ENEMY OF WHAT YOU CANNOT FATHOM."

The sniper baffled as he took steps back, gracefully not stepping on any trap triggers as the beast flew up, breaking past the metallic sheet artificial roof as it flew around sprouting fire from across the skies at the neighboring houses afar with Nikolaus's eyes widened. The Chimera then flew away sowing terror around Amestris.

"...He is a demonic-looking Chimera intent on massacring Central's populace to sow discord and chaos! And not a Cretan... I should've realized the danger he poses! False alarm after all, he isn't a danger then whatsoever to the carnival... ahhh... all in a day's work. Guess I'll pin the blame on that slit eyed bastard partner-o-mine if anyone asks." He shrugged.

And so, Niko whistled as he went to the chair, sitting by his cotton candy and popcorn booth with glee over his AWESOME accomplishment, all in a day's work to keep Amestris safe from external and internal threats. He loves his job as a cotton candy handler way too much.

Sheathing his knife anyways as he stares with bored eyes outwards to see if anyone else would visit his lonely... lonely... booth. BORING.

That guy blanched noticeably whilst the random girl laughed at his suicidal failure. Aurel stared at his shaking hands and looked back up at Hild who appeared oblivious to the fact that Aurel was able to be ridiculed in an amusement park of his own damn city. He slammed his trident into the ground and settled blazing red and blue eyes on his half sister. He was angry. "This place is corrupt." ... "It's CORRUPT!" He shouted and yanked out his trident, looking around ferverously. "It..it must be destroyed." Black hole... He could just destroy the entire pa-- No. That was impossible for one reason. No, two. It would make Hild cry and it...was an annual event in his city. He had to suck it up and take it. Just ignore it... Look the other way. Carefully concentrating on folding his trident and tucking it back into the confines of his menacing trench coat, he navigated them to the ice skating rink and stopped. No fucking way. He looked at Hild with a pathetic, powerless expression that clearly defined the fact that this was the last place he wanted to be.

"Why not try the roller coaster?" He turned on his heel and grabbed the girl's hand. Girls like that kind of thing. Aurel was a pro at manipulation. Now...she would forget all her ideas and plans and fall into his trap of avoiding the clear, open, kid-infested ice skating rink.

He stared blankly across the booths at the coaster in which its riders were screaming relentlessly. Actually maybe that was too annoying... Wait, why wasn't it stopping. He slowly tilted his head in confusion, shiny black hair slipping over his right shoulder. Just...just what was going on in this festival!?

Spade sneezed. Geez man, maybe he shouldn't have given the girl his coat. Now he was going to get sick! The horror!! Girls didn't like sick men. Spade shuddered. He had to...he had to do something!! The haunted house! Yes. That was the key. It could scare the sickness out of him...wait, maybe that only worked with hiccups? Whatever. He grabbed booze and stumbled his way to the glorious-- Spade burst out laughing and almost spilled his beer all over himself. Yep. That was the Head of East Head Quarters right there looking like a dead, mummified zombie soldier. "Yo man! Lookin' snazzy." He kept walking before he got beat up and just when he was about to enter into the danger zone, something grabbed his ankle. "Wah!!" He jumped. Wasn't this supposed to start after he entered the attraction? "Damn, Tataki, man, you're a genius." The guy was even covered with fake blood and bits of his shirt were missing from what appeared to be a saw or something. "H-heellpppmeee" it called to Spade, not letting go. The head of Central Head Quarters tried to shake him off, but soon gave up. "Does the fake blood hurt?" Spade laughed. "It's real!!" ...And That was when the sound of a chain saw began to get closer and closer. Spade took off his sunglasses and turned around to see!!

"Oh it's just that Hei bastard." Shit, wait a second... Spade held up his hands before the guy reached him. "Didn't you read the back of the card?" Thanks to his tip from Reila, he knew the secrets to the blood-thirsty maniac who was either ordered to kill, or killed on his own... But he was obviously lying. There was no way that Spade would think ahead to this maniac's actions. Before everyone in the park was murdered like the whimpering idiot around his ankle, he had to act. "It said that you could have all the food leftovers in the park after it closes. Now, what are you doing, if this continues, then I'll have to take back my offer. Now, get back inside and don't hurt anyone physically." No need to say it, Spade already knew he was a genius.

Someone fell down after running into a kid. Then they started yelling about being blind. Reila sighed. It made sense then... She skated on one foot over to the situation, letting the crying kid leave crying. He'd get over it. "It seems you weren't able to read the sign, but we don't allow those with disabilities on the ice... I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, but those are the rules. Would you like me to escort you off the ice??" Reila asked as nicely as she could in a genuine voice. It really was a painful rule to relate to them, but it couldn't be helped... The park couldn't deal with liabilities and such.

She was curling a piece of long, strawberry blond hair around her finger in nervousness when she heard a familiar voice. "Mura~~" She yanked him next to her and grinned, patting him on the shoulder. "I really can't balance well." She pointed to her scrapped knees that were covered in bandages with tinges of red to them. "See," she laughed nervously.

"So, let me guess... You were in charge of the roller coaster, correct? Did..you just shut it down and come here because you were bored? Please tell me you didn't just leave it run--" Reila looking above Mura's head to see the cart plummeting down one of the drops. She let her hair go from her finger and ran that same hand through the part in her done-up hair. Her golden eyes turned hard. "You left it running. Do you have any idea how those people feel!? They're all probably sick if they didn't die already from motion sickness!!" Reila glanced around the ice to make sure the coast was clear so she could escape and grabbed Mura's hand, pulling him towards the coaster. "There's got to be a way to stop it right?" She bit her lip. "We'll have to figure it out together."

Hm? The redhead looked down to see a little cat-chimera in front of him. Strange. The child was studying the spark that he was playing with. He smiled softly, before seeing his features more carefully. He had red eyes, and white hair - not to mention his darker than usual skin. Ishvallan, huh? He sighed softly, and suddenly spoke.

"You like that, huh?" The smile on his face was bright and kind, and he clapped his hands together, making the spark suddenly disappear with a smirk. He reached down and ruffled the boy's hair, before hearing some sort of commotion coming from the ice skating rink. Hmm?? He stood up and yawned, looking down at the boy.

"Look after this place for me, willya~" He winked at the kid, and slowly traipsed over to the rink, dodging a smelly man, who was running at a pace away from the toilets. ...huh. He shrugged, and walked into the rink, seeing Reila trying her hardest to deal with some girl. People were crowded around behind him, outside, looking at the Ferris Wheel. He blinked, and turned back to Reila with a small smile.

"Looks like you need... help?" He was suddenly distracted by Murazar, who was obviously drunk off his face. With a small groan, he heard the conversation between then and facepalmed. Really? He'd done that? He'd left it running? With a small sigh, he looked at Reila, slightly worried.

"I can handle the rollercoaster, if you want. Shouldn't be too much trouble."

Murazar giggled and hiccuped lightly before slipping out of reilas grip and avoiding dai's question. He was really out of it, he turned and started to jog backwards before saying playfully. " You do that refridgerator magnet. I however feel like flying today." He covered his mouth giggling before sprinting off onto the ice slipping and sliding towards the other end of the rink. It was obvious he was plastered, that and drinking while skating on his bare feet as he had apparently taken his boots off sometime prior to meeting reila made it seem rather hilarious to see him barely keeping himself from bashing his face into the ice.

He however was obviously headed towards the rollercoaster, which happened to be the nearest high point of the carnival. He was serious about trying to fly. A serious murazar mean't no deviation, if he jumped from the top of that height and passed out in mid-fall he'd be seriously injured...again. He was more of a handful than he was sober. He spoke loudly as he span backwards, " Betcha can't catch me." He waved with a stupid drunkish grin as he flipped over the railing and smashed his head on the pavement next to the rinks bars.

He stood up with his head smattered with blood and still bleeding as he took off with a sprint towards the ferris wheel. He had barely a clue of what he was doing, all he knew was he felt miserable. More miserable than he had felt in long time.

Inimeg stopped trying in vain to stand up and, although she couldn't see anyways, except through her cane's sensors, looked up at Reila defiantly. Then she screamed very loudly in Xingese, which she has no idea if Reila even understood. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!? I AM NOT DISABLED IN THE LEAST! I JUST HAPPEN TO BE BLIND! BUT I CAN STILL BEAT THE HOLY CRAP OUT OF A NUN IF I FELT THE NEED, AND I CAN SEND SOMEONE NOT JUST CRYING FOR THEIR MOTHER BUT BACK INTO THE WOMB! GO AHEAD! INSULT ME AGAIN! I WILL KILL YOU, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOUR WHOLE GENERATION!" Then she attempted to kick Reila's head, but slid on the ice and ended up stabbing a child in the arm, and proceeding to scream at him as well. Then, after several long seconds, she sighed. "Whatever Tsukino... I watch from side... Skating lame as load of bull crap anyways..." She then proceeded to throw her skates at people and scream at the person in charge of the rink before declining to screaming at people who looked at her, from the ticket booth.

Reila had noticed Dai's presence the entire time. And it pissed her off. Not only did she have to succumb to fake, motherly care towards children she despised, but now she had to hold back this anger. She ignored it for a while, focusing on Murazar as he talked. Then Dai offered his assistance as if he could save the day. Reila was a military woman who just happened to be not only above Dai in rank, but also his commanding Lieutenant General. This wasn't a date at an amusement park; this was a military operation comprised by the head of Central Head Quarters. Despite the fact that she outranked the playboy bastard by a long shot, Reila Tsukino wanted to help his sorry ass. She balled her right hand into a fist and turned blazing eyes onto her redhead counterpart. "You need to be more serious about your own job." Her sharp, long-distanced eyes honed in on the chimera child that was now toying around with the controls incorrectly of the ride that Dai was supposed to be in charge of. "I run a military base for heaven's sake. I can take care of it myself along with Mura. Excuse me." She turned tail with a flutter of blond hair. Turning her head one last time, she settled calm, controlled eyes onto red. "That's an order. If you need me to make it more clear, come find me." There had been no anger in her voice, but it was cold--as if she had brought Briggs with her.

Reila pushed past the screaming Xing lady and dove onto the ice like an Olympic expert who but a few moments ago would have fallen on her face like the silver-haired drunken idiot who was nearly about to kill himself. Reila stopped at his bleeding form and shook her head. "He's going to put himself in a coma again." God dammit how long was this mercenary going to make her wait?! She bent down to him, and since she had a huge supply do to the fact that she had scrapped her knees to hell, Reila quickly dismantled the wrappings and placed the sticky gauze over the wound now on Mura's right forehead. She wiped her hands together. All in a day's work. Now... she had to deal with his burning desire to fly. "Mura, you said you wanted to fly, right?" The spinning swing rides were perfect for that feeling and even if he jumped off them like an idiot, he wouldn't get hurt. Reila smirked evilly. "I know the perfect place. But first, we need to stop your roller coaster. Is that okay?" She brushed her fingertips against the ice wall and refroze and refurbished the melting ice into a smooth sheet of thicker ice that would take more time to melt. That should do it!

The blond alchemist almost collided with an asteroid of filth-smelling-decaying-shit that proceeded to yell about some sort of shovel. Was that a code for something? Luckily, Celesto managed to avoid such a catastrophe by throwing his hands onto the tin roof where he dangled like a dead fish, until he let go, of course. His snazzy black, leather boots hit the damp grass once more and he slipped into the ladies' bathroom with a sly smirk. No one was here, g-- Nope, he was wrong. There, standing in the doorway was Aren, his accomplice! Luck was on his side. He slapped his dirtied hands together and immediately went to the sink to wash them in blistering, hot water that looked like sewage. Somehow Celes felt more slimy now than before. He sighed and raised a single, quizzical blue eye to meet her gaze. He grinned ear to ear like a child and just like that, whipped out a small bomb. "They didn't even check my bag~" Then he put a slightly green tinged hand to his forehead (regretting it secretly) in thought. "I never told you my plan to blow up this bathroom as a prelude to the fireworks... How did you--? It was coincidence, wasn't it? fate! Unless I gave it away talking in my sleep? I tend to do that. Where is Sal? I've never met that chimera thing--child."

Celesto was already climbing on top of the stalls like a lizard hanging upside down and stuck the complex object right next to the camera: the blind spot. With one hand, while the other held his entire body weight, he reconfigured the bomb and set it for the exact time. This took about 6.43 minutes before he jumped down and stalked immediately over to Aren who had seemed to be watching him. The look in Celes' eye was different now, cooler and direct. He threw a pale arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, whispering hot breath into her ear in the same moment. "I need an alibi; think nothing." And before anyone could guess what was about to happen, Celes thrust his lips against hers, turning themselves at an angle from the camera so it appeared that they were lovers secretly meeting in the bathroom. The soft touch of their lips together--his arms wrapped around her, was all just a quick breath while carefully, strategically, he drew them back outside, and let her go. Winking, Celes pointed both hands like guns and smiled as he walked backwards away from her. But there was something different about this smile whne compared to his others; it was somehow sadder...

There was still some time before their plan went into action, and Celes wanted cotton candy. "I'm getting that sweet, puffy stuff. You can come if you want~" It was all a ruse; he wanted her to come. So he turned his back to her and only hoped that she would be following as he made his way across the park in his decorative clothing that somehow didn't look so strange in this place. His elaborate eye patch was what attracted the most attention. Hanging from it were seven blood diamonds with black fabric of the highest quality laced with real gold in art neauvou swirls. He stopped in front of the strange-looking stand and saw the strangest creature fly off. Was this a zoo or an amusement park?! "...Eto excuse me, mister...?"

Vincent arrived just in time to see everything unfold before his eyes. Holy cow was there a lot going on. There was a bunch of ruckus coming from the skating rink, looked like a woman screaming and some drunk guy falling on his face, which made Vince chuckle a little bit. The woman chasing after him on the other hand made him stop, the air about her was...cold. Some commotion was coming from the restrooms, including a mad running out with a shovel cursing and a guy with an eye patch teasing a woman. "Man this place is weird," Vincent thought to himself as he finally set eyes on his objective, Heibei. And who else but the infamous Spade Aeries, head of Central Command and his boss, standing in the psychotic killers way of first blood. Vincent, Knight Blade already in his hand, calmly strode forward, putting himself at his leaders side. "Is this man giving you trouble sir? Shall I dispose of him?"

(~(xD Aki, you picked the perfect ride. ^^ Also, Darky comes in here)~)
Jay sat at the controls for the swing ride. "C'mon, why is no body riding this? THIS IS THE PERFECT RIDE! IT HAS NASEUA, AND DIZZINESS< AND YOU MIGHT EVEN FALL OFF! Plus if you puke, I can sue you!" Jay flashed a group of now-frightened passerbys a look of drunken happiness Then she did what was in her opinion very wise. She chugged a bottle of tequilla and set the controls to start in 20 minutes. Then she went to the wings and buckled in. "IF NONE OF YOU LOSERS ARERIDE ENOUGH TO COOL THIS eh...THING! I'LL RIDE THE HAMSTER MYSELF, COLONEL! YOUR CHICKEN MEANS NOTHING GRILLED! Then, with expert skill, she threw a rock at the controls, hitting the speed lever. It went from "Normal" to "Psychotic Suicidal ($50 dollars, plus Waiver)". This would be interesting... But Jay was clueless as ever and therefore downed a bottle of vodka. Seriously, how much alcohol can one consume before drowning in vomit? Jay would eventually find out.

Darky walked around th park, happily whistling to himself. He had been invited by the Fuhrer, as he was leader of the very distant land of Frostdeath, which had always been an ally of Amestris. Of course, he was a bit aggravated, because half of the rides here told him they were 'unsuitable for children shorter than 3 feet'. Of course, he argued until he could argue no longer. But what could he do about it? He went out on a quest to find Jay's ride! Eventually, he found it. The spinning swings. He waved at his drunk friend, knowing that she was too blitzed to even know if he was there. She was actually sitting on a swing, waiting for the ride to start, and pretending she was in a high speed cop chase. He ignored all safety rules, including the height ruler, which he snapped into4ths to match his small 2 foot 8 stature. Then he took his place on a swing. It was a struggle, because the swing itself was almost up to his head. He had to use his homunculus powers to shadow-lift himself a foot in the air and then he managed to crawl on. Otherwise, he was happy, looking exactly like a small child on an amusement park ride.

You see, there was a ... problem. While his boss, the Central Commander, was trying to get his ass back inside the Haunted House, his entire body went all tingly. The desire to kill was now being overriden by a failed mission scenario that replayed in his pseudo-perfectionistic fabrication of a mind, and here he was thinking he had infiltrated Aerugese enemy lines. So, whilst his greatest superior, bar the Fuhrer and others, miltarily speaking was ordering his big lunking behind back inside the Haunted House, his infantile tiny-brained mind suited for a politician was misinterpretating that as a safehouse with a mole ... and of course housing terrorists who had fled behind enemy lines to avoid capture. His objective? Find and interrogate, then exterminate. So, it seemed like he was obeying orders, and really, for the time being(as there wasn't anyone looking like a militant or terrorist inside the attraction) he wouldn't be going berserk. So in he obediantly went, disregarding anything said to and about him as idle chatter.

And now there was a pair of security guards, Central troops they were, surrounding Hei. They were his co-workers, since he was a CENTRAL SOLDIER, and quite frankly it was no big surprise that when Hei snapped ... for any reason whatsoever, he was NOT a nice person. What they didn't know was that when he was this angry, usually just about everything in his path is destroyed the moment he can't find a punching bag that will withstand his savage attacks. In fact, their fates, as they had willingly entered the attraction to pursue Hei WITHOUT asking for back up, were up to the imagination of the adults, while a fresh batch of children unaware of the debacle within decided to make their way to this intriguing attraction!

Unknown to the crowd outside, what lay within was absolute horror! A spectacle of two men being pinned upside down against a wall with many, many, many, many sharp blades that just barely clips their skin. And Hei holding his chainsaw against one of his coworker's throat(gone to the point he doesn't even recognize them).

"I'll give you one last chance to tell me. WHERE ARE YOU TERRORISTS HIDING YOUR DAMN WEAPONS?!?" he roared away in what was supposed to have been his native tongue. The two stammered, more so the one held at the blade's tip, that they had no idea what it was Hei was talking about.

"Oh, ho? YOU ... DON'T ... KNOW? What an inept lot of bumbling fools you all are! Incompetent idealists who don't know what to fight for anymore! I should have killed you all right the moment I saw your spineless masses."

Cue roar. Cue fire. Cue people screaming. Cue the demonic-looking Chimera that his partner, Nikolaus, had accidentally provoked to unleash its fury. Only except, it wasn't looking and had bumped against Haunted House. ...

'Ridiculous! Is this the result of Aerugo's new development in Alchemy? What. What ... IS that thing? A Human? A Chimera? A Homonculus, more likely. Or is it a ... a demon.'

"Reassessing Aerugese combat force threat level: Now considering new target to be of unprecedented scale. Abandoning Primary Objective. Now moving to eliminate target." he held up what was his cellphone, but so far off the deep bend he was that he thought it was has a communicator back to base ... ... and his coworkers were relieved that they weren't going to die, just yet, but still terrified that such a monstrosity had showed up outside.

The demon was trying to fly away. NOT ON HIS FUCKING WATCH! Hei jumped through the window, chainsaw revved up and just slicing up excess wood in his way, so that he could leap through with the weapon in hand.

"ORRAAAAAAA! IT'S JUDGMENT DAY, BITCHES! AND. I. AM. GOING. TO. SHOW. YOU. WHY. YOU. DON'T. FUCK! AROUND. WITH. ME!" the very sound of his angry voice was loud enough to shock even the Chimera in mid-roar, as this insane Xingese-Amestrian landed on its back, left hand clenched and landing blows in rapid succession to emphasis each word. How they stayed in the air that long while Hei with his fists of literal steel was bashing the all-crap out of beast's head and back(READ: Spine) was a mystery, but that didn't change the fact that they were going down! And landing in a vacant area(people were fleeing) a bit of distance away from the Haunted House.

"FOOLISH HUMAN MORTAL! FOR THIS INSOLENCE, YOU WIL-!"

"Eh! Shut your mouth, you damn overgrown ram!! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU SHRIEK WHILE I SKEWER YOUR SILLY FLABBY CORPSE, AND ROAST YOU OVER A SPIT!! HIIIIYAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

AND THE FIGHT COMMENCES!

The Xingese brought his chainsaw to bear, while marching forth, taking his jolly sweet time to close the gap that had just been made when he was thrown off the Chimera. Meanwhile, his satanic opponent did indeed screech, before inhaling and spitting out a stream of fire. Hei was not amused, as he did not favor flames, proceeding to rush towards the enemy's right side, and avoiding being seered. His chainsaw's ridiculous length allowed him to maintain a respectable distance (over two meters) and swing like mad. Except, the teeth were already blazing away at maximum speed as the chainsaw drew close to slicing the Chimera clean in two. EXCEPT, the giant beast was much more agile than its size gave away, suddenly leaping several meters off the ground, avoiding the chainsaw completely, and then swooping down, horns and fists first to tackle Hei and overpower him.

It'd have WORKED if the Chimera had more strength, after all, its power, while signficantly greater than the average human, was nothing more than a budding nuisance in the considerations of abnormal or superhuman strength. After all, Hei's chainsaw was incapable of being used by normal men for a reason. Not to mention, he had swung with his right arm, the lesser arm of his. So, while the devil's hand was trying to slam into, he just held out his left arm and braced for impact. True, it was painful, it probably readjusted his bones a bit too, and sent him back heels dragging against the ground(ASPHALT!) quite a few centimeters. Needless to say, it was priceless to see the demon's bewildered expression, before Hei grabbed ahold of his wrist and swung him overhead to impact against the ground.

But AGAIN this beast was faster than he looks, and damn it was resilient, readily hopping back onto it's feet and opting to get MUCH more close. In fact, Hei was surprised to see this demon back up so soon after the overhead slam that he was a bit at a loss of what to do next, especially since his arms were starting to get sore from flinging or swinging heavy objects. But alas, his moment's hesitation was accented by the Demon's roar, a very bestial and guttural noise that struck fear into the MPs who were about to open fire and then just backed away, abandoning Hei to his fate. The Chimera's way too sharp teeth made their course about Hei's right arm. ... And needless to say, even the battle-maniac fellow could not supress the pain, shock, and even horror as those jagged fangs sank through his flesh, contorting his face even further upon hearing cracking. The sound of his reinforced bones being fractured ...

' ... Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffu-' went his mind. Trying to get this big brute to stop treating him like a chew-toy went his body. His right hand relinquished its grip upon the chainsaw ... letting the bladed implement just so happen to drop on this Chimera's foot, and impale it. But that wouldn't be enough, no. Instead, from the sleeve of his uniform, emerged a single knife, as though it had materialized out of nowhere, and now was held between his fingers. Fortunately, for Hei, ... well, not really fortunately since it hurt like hell, the Demon had crunched his upper arm, leaving the forearm free to bend at the joint, twist about and deftly stab the eye of the demon with a single silver knife. THAT was enough.

The Demon released his mangled arm, bone cleanly gnawed upon, and sadly while the dropping a two-ton bladed implement on the foot and stabbing the eye of the enemy did get the Chimera to release his arm, not before it tightened its clamped jaws in pain and snap his bones clean into two ... while reducing various parts into talcum powder.

But that was enough. For the umpteenth time today, that was enough. He was forced to finish the local Major Useless's paperwork this morning authorizing massive shipments of alcohol that got people in his division SMASHED and left their work for him. He was dragged into this macabre recreation of a carnival because a DRUNK NIKO wanted to make his life HELLISH since there would be clowns. He had been placed to deal with small pitiful screaming children in an attraction that made his blood pressure go through the roof because he had to SCARE the children, WITHOUT killing them. He had been chastised by his own commanding officer who mistook him as a soldier from BRIGGS instead of a man of CENTRAL, and threatened with no food ... when he was famished for the last 72 hours since Niko never handed him his share of that last job they had, and his paycheck had accidentally gotten shredded by a co-worker(who he pinned to the wall earlier). Now he was engaging combat with a Satanic Chimera with fangs made of diamonds that had just chewed his arm off, broke his bones, forced him to use his secondary weapon, sank its oversized claws into his shoulders and forcing him to bleed profusely.

BUT. What really did it ... was the sight of Isabella Galicia ... DRESSED AS A CLOWN.

A vein appeared on his forehead, over-sized and definitely unhealthy. Then its twin emerged ... and their doppelganger came to. And all this did for the onlookers was make them wonder, how bad of a cholesterol level did Hei have if so many of his blood vessels were getting clogged and swelling. Well, it did that fairly well, until his eyes started getting unfocused and he started repeating the following words slowly and constantly like a mantra: "Must ... exterminate ... clown. Must ... purge ... evil!"

The Demon Chimera reared its ugly head, roaring, trying to breath fire ... and Hei's eyes focused for a moment. On it. While repeating his mantra. In his mind, the chimera was now a clown, an enemy to humanity. The Xingese's left fist collided into the demon's face, effectively knocking him back, whilst Hei then unleashed a maddening barrage of blows to the beast's frame. Now, instead of saying those phrases, he just screeched 'EXTERMINATE' repeatedly as he savagely assaulted the not-so-human being in front of him. Granted, it was sheer luck he won the battle today. Sheer luck that his insanity was at its maximum on this day, and that his bloodlust had not been sated recently ... and luck that the Chimera was disguised as a human child to recuperate and had been injured prior to that. But, also lucky for him that he would later replace his own right arm with the Chimera's arm ... and get it surgically modified ... and probably have a new arm with proper enhanced bones when this was all said and done.

But for now, he was visibly exhausted, bleeding profusely, knocked out a terrorizing demon, and all that pent-up anger had been used up.

"What the heck was I doing just now?"

Vincent was taken aback by all that he had just seen. It was as if the security forces he brought along awoke a daemon deep within this man, then before he took it out on the innocent, he found a conduit, a strange chimera of freakish appearance and inhuman strength. Yet in the end, Heibei stood victorious over the creature, though he had lost his arm, then proceeded to forget all that had happened in the blink of an eye, as if bloodlust had clouded his vision. Vincent wasn't sure how to react, but Spade seemed to be happy with the outcome, and if he was content, Vince was as well. "Return to your posts gentlemen, the situation is under control. I repeat, return to your posts," he spoke into the comm built into his helmet. Suddenly a strange feeling overtook Vincent, as if something had just smacked him in the chest, hard. It weighed him down, feeling like a hundred pounds had just fallen upon him. He knew this feeling, it was one he knew all too well. It was the one he got when something bad was about to happen. "I have a bad feeling about this," he mumbled to himself as he made his way to the command post in the middle of the festival...

The young boy let out a disappointed sigh as the man clapped his hands, causing the spark to vanish. Darn. It was so fun to watch, too... He grumbled as the red-haired male ruffled his hair and placed his hands on his head afterwards. Somehow the vanishing of the spark had put the chimera in a rather grumpy disposition, and when the man asked him to look after the teacup ride, Sal nodded with his arms crossed. Wait, why was he watching this? He wasn't here to WATCH the rides, he was here to RIDE the rides! Shaking his head, he waited until the man was out of range, over by the...ice? Shrugging, Sal looked for the controls to the ride. It didn't take him too long to find them.

He weaved his way through the teacups and looked at them all before going back to the controls and began to mess around with them. He pressed buttons and moved levers from their initial positions. As the ride began to move, the small boy jumped into a nearby cup and laughed mischievously. There had been some other additions to this "tea party" that had wandered here without parents, but Sal didn't communicate with them. They seemed to think he was a little strange, anyway, but Sal was only here for the fun right now.

The tea cups began to move around as normal, at first... Sal spun his teacup 'round and around, but eventually they picked up speed...a little too much. The other children on the ride were clenching the center pieces of the teacups, and Sal realized that the little chains that were supposed to keep people from flying out of the cups were dangling from the cups. Great. In all his effort to have some fun, he forgot about that. The other children screamed, and parents ran over, panicking. When that man got back, he'd be mighty unhappy. Faster and faster the cups went, and eventually the chimera began to feel sick.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" His scream was mainly a scream of frustration, but mixed with the feeling of guilt and an upset stomach. He closed his eyes tightly and held his stomach. It wouldn't be long before what little was in his stomach ended up in the tea cup.

A young woman with vibrant blue hair walked through the crowd. Her hair was in a ponytail that was long enough to reach a little more than halfway down her back, and her bangs hung down the sides of her face.She wore the usual: purple miniskirt, white tube top, purple (half) jacket, and purple leather boots. Oh yes, and as always, she had the purple beret adorned with the face of a panda bear. He strides were small, but she walked gracefully as she approached the ice-skating rink. She leaned on the edges and glanced at the ice all around the rink. It was nice. She'd been ice-skating before, but it had been quite a while. The last time she could remember being on the ice was when she was in Drachma, which was quite a ways back.

Milleise sighed and smiled before retrieving some ice skates, ignoring the looks she was getting from people who might have recognized the face of one of the most popular bread companies around. She was the girl on most of their paper ads as well as in their television advertisements, and given her hair color, it was difficult to mistake her for anyone else. She sat down and slipped on the skates, tying them up slowly. Her green eyes were focused on the skates, so anyone could have approached her without her giving them much notice. A young boy bumped into her just as she finished, but she brushed it off and took a step onto the ice.

"It's been so long since I've been on the ice, I hope I'll be okay," she said to herself as she pushed off the side and began to skate. Immediately she began to feel nostalgic, and her skates carried her effortlessly across the ice. She did a few spins, jumps, all sorts of things, as if she had been skating all of her life. It was the part of her past that she didn't really talk about because it would mean revealing that she had been a loner before coming to Amestris. Suddenly she hit a gap where a small chunk of ice was missing, tripped, and would have fallen face first onto the ice if it wasn't for the person that she had bumped into. With a quiet squeak, she unconsciously grabbed onto the person to avoid falling. Her eyes were closed. Falling was not one of her favorite things to do. Not at all.

Zairen was not wearing ice skates. In fact, he was wearing his plain, pointy-toed black boots that had flashy buckles on the sides. He was adorned in his typical all-black style that involved a ruffled black trench coat, a black muscle shirt, and black skinny jeans. Clutched in both his hands was...well...a fully sharpened katana that glistened brighter than the ice. Indeed, he was getting odd looks for he was practicing lightning-fast moves while slipping and sliding around. Occasionally, he would fall and look like a complete idiot, but he always got back up, starting the kata over from scratch. The art of standing on ice while moving so quickly was nearly impossible, thus Zairen sought to perfect it! Waahahah!! He raised his kikuichimonji sword and cut down in violent motions, a smug look gracing his lips all the while. As he finished his last thrust forward, some brightly colored object threw itself at him?!

Zairen fell backwards, the thing landing on top of him and his sword spinning some distance away. The long, purple-haired man blinked with a bewildered gaze as he discovered that said object was in fact a girl whose face was plastered all over the bread bags he bought each week for breakfast. If it wasn't for the fact that her cheek was cut and dripping blood onto his nose, he would have thought that someone threw bread at him. Well, this situation couldn't...really be helped it seemed. Something hit him hard enough to knock him backwards, but in turn his sword slipped from his grasp and cut her cheek...that photogenic cheek that was pursed into a grin that seemed to say: "good morning! Time to toast your bread and start a new day~~" Zairen suddenly felt sick.

In a swift movement he swiped the girl into his arms and pushed the two of them up. He slipped slightly, but stalked over to his sword. Bending without dropping her, he retrieved it and sheathed it. "Idiot. Causing so much trouble. Now I look like a clown." He wiped at the blood on his nose and managed to get the two of them off the ice and into the nearest first aid tent. Unceremoniously, he dropped her flat onto the bed and turned tail to leave without a word.

Shula walked off, notebook in hand, prepared to do the odd job she'd been assigned to do... though if there were anything specific she should be looking for, she wasn't sure what it was. Just check to make sure everyone was doing their jobs at their assigned booths and testing them. How was she supposed to test them though? Get on each of them? But Spade had already vanished and somehow she felt asking her hunky boss silly questions would just get her teased more. And first she was supposed to check on someone running the cotton candy booth... but where was THAT?

She walked through the carnival, taking in the amazing mix of sights and sounds washing over her, purely ecstatic; she'd never seen anything like this in her life. If her brother were here, he'd laugh at how excited she was, but it'd be well worth the teasing from him, or even from Acra. Acra... speaking of, where was her dopey knight? Surely he'd been roped into this and was around here somewhere. Not that she missed him or anything, but he would be fun to hang out with out here.. even if he did nothing but tease her.

She was bout to ask about the booth she was looking for when the sound of children screaming caught her attention. Children were loud and screamed a lot, she knew, but there were different kinds of screams... and these were less than happy. Shula ran to the sound and saw a ride of spinning teacups. Frantic parents were screaming for their children, terrified children clinging to the safety chains and center wheels so they wouldn't fly out and die. It was going too fast. "Who's in charge of this ride?!" Nobody knew, but some poor grandmother pointed at the empty control station. Shula pushed through the crowd, running to the machine, looking at the knobs. None of them made sense to her, but engineering wasn't her strong point. "Everybody, hang on tight!" Common sense, however, was as she reached for the ride's starting key, pushed in and turned it back to the off position. The motor began to die down, the gears slowing quickly. Within a few minutes the cups stopped spinning and died down enough for terrified parents to rush forward, collecting their upset children.

Shula sighed, unable to stop the chaotic rush of parents and watched to make sure everyone had been found."What in Ishvalla's name happened here?"

He sighed softly, flipping the piece of paper in his hands, before opening it once again and reading it properly, making sure that he hadn't missed a thing.

Look, Samaris. I know you may not trust me, but I need you to, for once. Spade Aeries... wants to destroy Creta. He may not say it to you, but that's because he wants to stab you in the back once his plans come to fruition. I understand that this may be hard to believe, but you need to trust me, for King and Country. I am your King, and I am your savior in these darks times. Kill Spade Aeries, and you will be saved, will you not? He sighed again, holding the piece of paper close to his chest. What was he to believe? Was he to believe the man who had usurped the throne, with the best intentions of the country at heart? Or was he to believe his old friend Spade? He sighed, and stood up.

"I think... I get it. Why would Spade bring me here? I mean, it's not like... I need to be here. He brought me here... to kill me." He was now convinced of this, and would pursue it to the end. He walked forwards, and saw the man right ahead of him. His eyes turned steely, and he moved quickly, standing right before Spade.

"Aeries. I know what you want to do. I challenge you to a fight to the death. I will see you on top of the Ferris Wheel. I will no accept 'no' for an answer. Understand?" He stormed away, the glasses on his face and the cross on his back. Wait... no. Spade wouldn't do that! He turned back to the man and grabbed him by the rough of his neck. He had to get through to this man that he was serious. He pulled sharply, and Spade fell to the ground.

Markus began to drag him along, through a crowd of people splitting to let them through. He growled at them, and they moved away quickly, before Markus dragged the man into a single car of the Ferris Wheel. They waited for the car to reach the top, and Markus flung Spade up and onto the platform above him, before climbing out himself, the cross falling off of his back and hitting the ground below. He looked down and shook his head. He'd do this with his fists, nothing else. He stood up on the platform beside Spade and growled.

"I know that you want my head, Aeries. But I'm telling you now. For the honor of King and Country, I will end you." He took the man's sunglasses off, took his own pair off and cast both pairs off the side, watching him with annoyance, waiting for him to stand.

I don't expect to survive this. But if Spade must die for Creta, then it must be so.

In life...things happened quickly. People died, comrades were shot right next to you...best friends became enemies. The moment Spade saw Markus, a bright smile threw itself onto his lips and he forgot about the chainsaw-wielding man on the loose. Just as he was about to raise his hand in the customary Spade-greeting, Markus fired off accusations. The brigadier general's sight swam with the sudden rush of adrenaline mixing with the alcohol in his veins. What...was he saying!? Before he knew it, he felt a heavy pressure around his neck and was being dragged towards the ferris wheel. Bewildered emerald eyes raised to inquire as to why...why exactly his closest friend was now dragging him through the feet-trodden grass.

Spade Aeries was being played with. He sat there, kneeling at the man's feet having ridden a ferris wheel...without a woman!? It...was a sin. A sin against friendship. And a sin again humanity. He thrust himself to his feet and slammed a hand against his bare chest. "What the HELL is wrong with you!?" Oh and his prized most precious sunglasses were now shattered somewhere on the ground with that giant lug of a cross. That...didn't matter at all! Ha..ha... This guy was going to die. "Do you have any idea what you just did!?" Spade clamped both hands into fists, feeling the blood rush to his head in anger. A seething, drunk Spade was...pretty much dangerous. But no, the wavy-haired idiot fought with his head. Instead of punching the jackass square in the jar, first Spade decked a giant beam that held a part of the ferris wheel up. A large dent was incurred and a few fractured fingers. The pain cleared his thrashing head and THEN--then he punched Markus. And no, not in the jaw. Spade wanted to inflict pain: the ribs. CRACK!

"You fucking bastard, what is wrong with you!? You're just going to end me now, are you? Do you have any idea who I am!? Have you forgotten? Do you know all the shit I went through for you to get where you are?!" Spade raised his other fist and landed it directly into his best friend's face. And despite all his anger...all his rage and confusion, Spade knew that the only way to get into this dumbshit's thick skull was to rupture it. They spent too many years together for him not to have learned this. And...well, the simple thought of what he was doing to this man he had held at such high esteem--the violence, the anger... it sort of...made him want to cry manly tears of manliness.

"What the HELL is wrong with you!? Do you have any idea what you just did!?" Markus was silent and revenant. He didn't want to say it. He didn't think that Spade could do it. But... he couldn't just sit back and not try and make sure. He couldn't do it. He had to be completely sure... and he knew that doing this to Spade would help him prove it. He needed to be sure... or Dietrich would kill him... he didn't want to be usurped... he didn't want this...

"You fucking bastard, what is wrong with you!? You're just going to end me now, are you? Do you have any idea who I am!? Have you forgotten? Do you know all the shit I went through for you to get where you are?!" The fist to the face. It accentuated the pain in his ribs, and the man rolled backwards across the slab of metal, looking over the edge with forlorn eyes, tears beginning to brim at the edges. He didn't want this.

"I just want to know... what do you want? My King told me... that you want to kill me. WHY ELSE WOULD YOU BRING ME HERE?!" He pushed himself up quickly and went to attack him, sending a right hook to his face with a shout. Spade needed to know! He really wanted this to be okay... but he was past the point of no return.

I wish I could return to what I wanted... But I've started this. Which means...

"I'm sorry, Spade!" He stamped down suddenly, and went to hit the man with a left cross and another pained shout. This man... his best friend... why was he doing this? Paranoia? Because he was so gullible? He was about ready to cry... He wanted to just throw himself off the Ferris Wheel. He couldn't stand this, not anymore...

"What!?" Spade spat out, cracking his damaged knuckles and glaring green daggers at this man...this paranoid bitter man that wasn't the same Markus he knew. And then Spade felt it: the premonition that came with his strange genius. He didn't know what it was, but it made him sick. ...or...it was just the beer--probably the beer. Whatever. He was pissed off. Nothing was going to stop his rage and Markus' misguided accusation! "Are you fucking kidding me, man?! Why do you think I would bring you here?! --have a few drinks, play some Black Jack. Maybe it was to kick your ass so I could get some pocket change for the slots. Seriously, what the fuck is this about!?" Spade was punched in the face. He flew backwards into a railing, slamming his back deep into something pointy and jagged. The breath left him, and his stomach twisted into knots with pain. For a moment Spade couldn't tell where the sky was. The world tipped and blood seeped from the back of his shirt and all over the wide slab of cold steel under him. He took a shuddering breath, sweat beading on his forehead and lacing through his brown hair. He removed himself from the knife-like piece of construction and gazed down at it in half-shock. Immediately down his back ran a stream of thick liquid. It was warm at first, but as the air hit it, it was cool and sticky. Spade had never gotten stabbed before. He was shot, beaten, stun-gunned, and kissed by a man, but never had he felt this sharp...reverberating pain before. He breathed out the same breath he had just taken in, and with slippery hands, he punched Markus again and again. This was something nearly unforgivable.

"No matter what..." Spade choked out, drawing Markus up by the collar of his shirt. "...guys like us, we..." Spade looked to the side, his head in a mess of equilibrium failure. "...we don't ask god damned questions!!" Spade lifted up his foot, regardless of how much it hurt him--no matter how much agony ran up and down his entire body--and he kicked a sharp cowboy boot right into Markus' busted ribcage. "Now--" But Spade wasn't able to finish his lecture. He cut off with horror, watching as his best friend was flung off the side of the ride. "F-fuck," he was able to murmur, lungs hitching, heart stopping...almost. In all of his dizziness...he just couldn't see...he really couldn't tell where...where that fucking ledge was!! FUCK!!

Bleeding all over himself, Spade threw himself over the ledge after him. He didn't think; he just jumped. He had to save him--reach him before...before!! Behind him, Spades steel wires danced in the rainbow of ferris wheel lights and wrapped violently around the protruding bar that was now covered in red. It latched onto it tightly and Spade felt the weight of it as he dove, head first after Markus: his drinking buddy, his gambling friend, the one who, when he lost, never complained...much.

As he was falling and leaving his abdomen somewhere in the sky, he slowly began to realize that he wasn't falling fast enough. He wasn't making it... Just a little more... fuckfuckfuck... holy shit. HOLY SHIT. Spade clamped a shuttering hand over his mouth in a feeling that could never be described. "MARKUS!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed, eyes suddenly overflowing. "YOU BASTARD!!...you--you fucking bastard..." Spade faded out, trying to reach out his hand only yards away...but--but it..wasn't enough. Spade Aeries took a deep breath, eyes widening to see the end. "DON'T LOOK BACK!!!!!" WHACK. "Don't...ever...look back..." The wire caught and rebounded Spade a bit higher in the air and then back towards the ground where he fell to his knees...still only a few yards away, not from Markus, no, but from the body of his best friend...no longer of this world.

It seemed that things were going to go downhill very soon, very fast... The world was spinning around and around and around...and it wouldn't stop! The music that played as the teacups spun made Sal's head throb, and the movement only made him sick to his stomach. He sat there, gripping his stomach as though it might fly right out of his body. He just wanted it to stop! A figure seemed to have reached the controls, but trying to focus on it only made the chimera feel worse! Oh, it felt so bad! When it seemed the movement began to stop, it didn't make much of a difference. Sal was so disoriented and dizzy that he fell out of the teacup! He awkwardly got to his feet and began to walk away from the ride, paying the woman who stopped the ride no heed. Well, he didn't walk so much as stumble along. He had no idea where or how far he was going. Logically he would have gone to find a bathroom, but...

BAM!

The young boy bumped face first into a man and fell backwards. The sweet smell of a sugary treat filled his nostrils, and he laid down on the ground, still dizzy. Whoever it was that he had bumped into seemed to have blonde hair...and was that an eyepatch?

"Uggggggh," the boy groaned, "I'm going to die!!" With his hands back on his stomach, he looked up at the blonde man. The world was still spinning, spinning! It was as though everything was going to fall into that endless spiral! The poor child lay on the ground as though he had been thrown from a cliff, and his face held a strange expression, almost as though he was spaced out, but...with something else thrown into the mix. If anyone saw him, it would seem as though he were dead on the ground if he hadn't been making so much noise. He groaned again.

"Eyee...." Sal was too disoriented to continue what he was going to say. The sweet, sugary aroma only made his stomach feel worse. He put a hand to his stomach and clenched it tightly. Maybe getting on that spinning ride had been a terrible, horrible idea, after all...

The next few seconds flew by like they were nothing. Spade's reactions, the shouting, the shouting, the GODDAMN SHOUTING! He jut wanted to scream! TO shout that he knew that he was wrong! He didn't know what was going on anymore... why was he attacking this man... his best friend... the one who had been so close to him... He just took the attacks, finally realizing... he'd been duped.

Dietrich had known, hadn't he? That Markus would lose. That he'd just give up. That man... that false King... had sent him to fight the man who would kill him... He wasn't angry anymore. He didn't want to fight. He just grinned like a maniac, watching Spade attack him with true finality. Each hit caused a pained grunt, and then...

The foot. It was sent straight into his ribcage... and time just slowed down. All breath left his body, and he felt himself slowly begin to fall... If he didn't look down, nothing would happen... He'd just hit the ledge... he wouldn't die...

But he knew that it wasn't to be. He looked up through the air, and watched Spade leap over the edge, not seeing the metal wire around his body. He looked up at the man, and gave him a slightly roguish grin, lowering his arms by his side, and shaking his head at Spade, mouthing the words...

"It's over. It has to be this way." He didn't look down. He needed to see this through. Tears began to flow, streaming up into the air, mixing with blood and causing a red spray to follow him down. His eyes began to lose their life, the beautiful colour fading to nothingness as he went. He finally saw it, why Spade was the leader, why he was always the better one out of them. Markus had to get his position through trickery and coup, while Spade earned his position out of respect and hard work. Spade was the better man, he'd always bee the better man.

A dull thud resounded through his body, proof that he'd hit the ground. Screams sounded through the air, but he couldn't hear them, the sounds were slowly fading away...

"DON'T LOOK BACK!!!!! Don't...ever...look back..." Spade. He smiled softly, and opened his mouth, blood pouring out as he spoke.

"It's over... I'm finally... free..." The tears still rolled down his cheeks, forming a puddle under his face. His head slumped over, seeing the cross by his side... and the fireworks began to fly, sending bright colours into the sky. He could all but stare in wonder, seeing how free that they were, that death was no issue, that they could be their own thing, if painfully short.

His chest heaved a couple of times, not in pain, but in laughter. It was all pitifully ironic, wasn't it? How everything disappeared in a flash, nothing but the memories of another... He was only ever going to be a memory now.

And the flashing... that incessant flashing... It was fading away, the final thing in the eyes of Markus Samaris.

"They didn't even check my bag~" She blinked a couple of times and turned around, seeing Celes there before her. She raised a hand to her mouth, and giggled maniacally. She knew sort of what he meant, well... once he'd brought it out of course. He'd brought it - the device that was set to cause havoc and mayhem~ She watched him bring it out, and marveled in it's technological glory... Well... whatever. No, it wasn't that glorious, it was actually pretty bland and obscene. But she loved it - because it was going to cause some fun~

"I never told you my plan to blow up this bathroom as a prelude to the fireworks... How did you--? It was coincidence, wasn't it? fate! Unless I gave it away talking in my sleep? I tend to do that. Where is Sal? I've never met that chimera thing--child." She shrugged.

"Theres a lot that I know that you don't tell me - actually, it was kinda coincidence... I did hear you mutter about bathrooms in your sleep, and I figured that the best way to do so would be to scout the place out - and it seems that scaring away the riff-raff helped too." By 'riff-raff', she was, of course, referring to Apos - who she'd scared away with a baseball bat. She stood there watching, and checking the watch on her wrist every so often. About... six and a half minutes later, Celesto jumped down off of the stalls and walked over to her, before pulling her close. She resisted the urge to shout out slightly.

"I need an alibi; think nothing."

"An alibi? What do y--mmph.... mmm...." Her questioning tone turned into a slightly contented whine, as their lips touched. Aren felt herself wanting more, wanting to bask in this man's kiss... but as quickly as it had been brought about... it was gone. They broke apart, and Aren felt herself doing a similar little whine to that of Celes... she didn't want that kiss to break apart, not just yet...

Ah, well, back to work. Pity.

"I'm getting that sweet, puffy stuff. You can come if you want~" Sweet... puffy stuff? She watched him trail off... in his usual fashion, and giggled again. There was something about that goofiness of his that she found most entrancing about him. She followed him to the cotton candy stand, before seeing a ton of people moving towards the Ferris Wheel. Was that strange or what? She looked at Celes with a slightly worried look on her face, before shuffling up next to him and nodding.

"I'm gonna go see what's goin' on at the wheel." She nodded a couple more times, before trailing over to the wheel, and behind the crowds. Her slim stature and slightly imposing presence allowed her to... move around the crowd for a better view, just in time to see the cross on the ground. That cross... why did it look so familiar? She looked up to see... No...

She backed away, and the screams of the citizens around her allayed her fears. That was the Prime Minister... The Prime Minister of Creta! What... what was he doing there? Why was he falling like that? No... there was only one solution to this. No... no....

Nonononononononono! She went onto her knees and punched the ground with his fists, as the man's body seemed to fall in slow motion. Why would the Prime Minister be in Amestris, at a place like this, falling like that... She looked up, and saw, through tear-soaked eyes, Spade. Spade Aeries. Why had he killed Markus? What was going on? There was so much confusion in the woman's mind - was she really able to understand it at all? He hit the ground, and the fireworks suddenly went off, as well as another sound... An explosion. The screams grew louder, and people began to panic, running around in a mess, knocking over both each other and the stalls in their panic to escape.

But not Aren. She just stayed there, on her knees, tears falling to the ground. In her mind, there was only one explanation to this... Why else would the Cretarian Prime Minister be fighting against Spade Aeries on the top of the Ferris Wheel? There was only one man who'd be able to get them together like that...

Dietrich.

And through the screaming and the yelling and the stampeding... Everything suddenly died down to a blur, to a dull throb, as Aren felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Everything will be okay, Princess, my cousin, Euphemia... Your time will come soon..." At the end of that sentence... that statement spoken with a voice as soft as silk, and words as cruel as hatred itself, everything went back to it's original speed, and Aren suddenly looked around sharply, tears flying off of her face, the girl looking desperately for the source of that voice. It was her cousin, no doubt... but he wasn't there...

Vincent had but taken a dozen steps when he heard the shouts from behind him. "Oh great, now what?" he said to himself as he turned back around. Before he could say a word or do a thing, a man had grabbed his leader and was dragging him towards... the ferris wheel? Why would he... Oh no. Vincent knew he needed to act. He sprinted forward, blade in hand, only to be too late, as they had already boarded the car. He contemplated stopping the ride, but the more he saw the more he knew this was a personal matter that Spade needed to handle alone. As the fight ensued on the platform above, a crowd began to gather to watch as if it was some act in the carnival. "Wonderful," he mumbled under his breath. "Exactly what this day needs, more fun."

Vincent activated the commlink in his helmet while he checked the ammo on his wrist-mounted gun. "Full, just the way I like it," he thought aloud as the connection was made. "Calling all security forces, we've got a situation on the ferris wheel. This could get ugly, prepare for evacuation protocol Delta, I repeat, evacuation protocol Delta. Gonna need some crowd control here as well if all hell breaks loose..." His last sentence was cut short as his eyes grew wide in horror, watching the man who had taken Spade up the ferris wheel fall to his death on the ground in front of him, his general falling nearby second later, though not near as hard. Before he could even react, an explosion rocked his world, sending him down to one knee to not fall over. People around him were not so lucky, as they were sent flying from the giant flames that had came from the nearby bathroom.

"Fireworks... Fucking fireworks!!!" he roared as he stood up, fury in his eyes. It was lucky that nobody could see through the visor on his helmet, otherwise the chaos that was already in full swing would have become that much worse. "All available personnel, Spade is down, I repeat Spade is down! Execute evacuation plan Delta now! Command, I need fire engines in here stat, we can't let this get out of control. I don't care if you need to call in the damn police or whatever, we need to stay in control of the situation. I need a medic down here ASAP to get the general out of here, and where the hell is my crowd control? I needed them yesterday!" Now one might think, is he overreacting? Quite the contrary, as he was cool, calm and collected the entire time, but the sense of urgency did not escape his tone. This was what he had trained for, what he was born to do. Leadership and tactics were in his blood, he knew nothing else in this moment. "Be level my son, a nervous commander is a dead one," his father said to him inside his mind, giving him words of encouragement. Today, Vincent would make the Alexander family proud!