The ground trembled with the force of an explosion that shattered windows in a three-block radius.
A red flare lit up the Central sky, followed by panicked shouts and the distant howl of alarms. Colonel Mustang burst from his office, coat whipping behind him, and barked, "Lieutenant Hawkeye, status!"
She snapped a quick salute. "Confirmed hostile alchemist activity near the government armory. Estimated multiple casualties. Reports claim fire-based alchemy and metal manipulation."
"Armory?" Mustang's eyes narrowed. "They're trying to hit our fuel supply and weapons stockpile."
Auron appeared beside them, his golden-silver eyes gleaming, hair tousled from his interrupted rest. "Want me to sit this one out?"
Mustang smirked, already donning his gloves. "Not a chance, Elric."
---
By the time they arrived, the district was in chaos. Civilians were being evacuated. Two buildings had collapsed, twisted metal glowing hot from recent detonation.
In the center of it all stood a rogue alchemist: tall, wearing a cracked State Alchemist coat, and wielding dual chains of molten iron like whips. Transmutation circles glowed along his arms and down his jaw.
"Colonel Mustang," the rogue hissed. "They called you the Flame. Let's see how you burn when I control the fire!"
Mustang raised his hand.
Snap!
Flame erupted.
The rogue spun his chains, creating a cyclone of heat and iron that met Mustang's fire midair, redirecting it into nearby stone.
Auron's eyes narrowed.
"He's absorbing and rerouting fire through pre-set transmutation veins in the ground," Auron muttered. "He's been preparing this."
Mustang ground his teeth. "Smart bastard."
The rogue laughed. "You're just a puppet now, Mustang! You can't even burn me without feeding my trap!"
Then the rogue turned his eyes toward a crumbling building behind them, where screams echoed inside.
Children. Trapped.
Auron's breath caught. He felt the life signatures.
"Colonel," he growled. "Get the rogue. I'll get the kids."
Mustang hesitated.
Then nodded.
---
Auron vanished in a flash of chakra, his speed-enhanced movement cutting through the air. Flames exploded around the crumbling building's base as metal beams collapsed inward.
Auron's hand ignited with chakra.
"Chakra Art: Gale Palm!"
A burst of wind blew debris aside. He charged through falling rubble, eyes flickering with his Sharingan's divine clarity.
Three children.
One adult.
Pinned under a beam.
Time slowed.
He weaved signs.
"Alchemic-Chakra Fusion: Gravity Displacement Seal!"
A rune glowed beneath the beam as chakra flowed through his hands—and the metal lifted, suspended midair.
He pulled the children and adult out with chakra tendrils, leaping from the building just as the entire structure collapsed.
Outside, the rescued civilians looked up in awe at the golden-haired teen cradling a child in each arm, eyes glowing like molten stars.
---
Back at the battlefront, Mustang's flames clashed violently with the rogue's heat-warped metal tendrils.
"You think you're special, Mustang?" the rogue yelled. "You're just a glorified matchstick!"
But Mustang's eyes burned with more than fire.
"I don't need special," he snapped.
Snap.
Snap.
SNAP.
Each spark turned to inferno—controlled, sharp, precise. The air became his battlefield. But the rogue had lined the entire area with alchemic glyphs, funneling Mustang's fire into the stone and metal.
Mustang began sweating.
"This isn't working…"
That's when the rogue charged.
Chains whipped toward the colonel.
And then—
Boom.
The chains stopped midair, suspended by violet chakra.
Auron appeared between them, one hand raised, eyes glowing.
"Shinra Tensei."
A concussive blast of invisible force shattered the ground, blowing the rogue back twenty feet.
The chains disintegrated.
"You've had your fun," Auron said darkly.
The rogue snarled, stabbing his hands into the earth. "I'll bury you in my furnace!"
The ground glowed, forming a dragon-shaped blast of molten ore.
Auron's eyes fully transformed—Rinne-Mangekyō Sharingan now fully active.
Time itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Amaterasu: Red-Violet Flame of Judgment."
A burst of black-red fire, tinged with lightning, surged from Auron's eyes and consumed the metal dragon mid-charge.
The rogue screamed as the inferno exploded, his alchemy rendered inert by the all-consuming flame.
He collapsed moments later, groaning. The battle was over.
---
Back at headquarters, Mustang lit a cigarette with a spark of his fingers, exhaling as the medics carted the rogue away.
"You're dangerous, Elric," he said, not looking directly at Auron.
"I know," Auron said softly.
"But today…" Mustang paused. "You saved lives. That makes you a soldier. And a flame worth fearing."
Auron looked up at the clouds. "Fury of the flame isn't just about destruction. Sometimes, it's about protecting the ones you'd burn the world for."
Mustang nodded.
"Exactly."