Though Fu is confident that Lan Fan can handle Gluttony, Ed is concerned due to her having her new automail arm for only six months, but gets caught in part of the explosion from a bomb Lan Fan released which Fu explains they have more than just melee combat abilities in their arsenal. Asking what arsenal Fu is equipped with, Ed realizes after Fu's explanation that he can be of help on dealing with Pride and knows they have to go help Heinkel as the townspeople from Kanama are starting to get the lights turned on again. Heinkel on the other hand is starting to get exhausted with attacking Pride. Meanwhile, at Madame Christmas' bar, she supplies Roy Mustang with photos that prove that Selim Bradley is not human, as they were taken 20-50 years ago, each with a different government VIP. Madame Christmas also states that none of the townspeople from the Führer's hometown have seen him despite official records stating that he was born and raised there, and even the mansion listed there is fake. Madame Christmas then points out that King Bradley has no actual relatives. Thanking her for her help, Madame Christmas admitted she overcame her fatigue through this difficult investigation once she discovered that Selim wasn't human. Asking why no one noticed it before, Mustang can only state it is likely due to being the son of their nations' leader which makes it easy to have anything fabricated.

Heinkel continues to tire as he holds down Pride, and when two unsuspecting townspeople from Kanama arrive with a lantern, thinking that a monster is trying to kill a child, Pride uses this distraction to wound Heinkel and then knock the lantern out of one of the townspeople's hands to start a forest fire and create more light. Before Pride can finish off Heinkel, Ed arrives and deflects the attack with his automail arm. Outside Madame Christmas' bar, government agents are observing it hoping for Roy Mustang to come. When another agent arrives and reveals that her real name is Chris Mustang, Roy's foster mother, they attempt to enter, but are stopped by an explosion that destroys the bar. It turns out the two had escaped into the sewers and Roy promises that one day he'll help her re-establish a new bar. Knowing she has to go into hiding for awhile, Madame Christmas reveals that her girls that worked for her have already fled to another country to avoid being taken hostage and state he must attend to his own affairs. Before leaving, Madame Christmas hopes that Roy won't end up in a bodybag and be branded as a rebel, and Mustang admits that she should stop treating him like a child. Mustang then walks from the sewers and into a abandoned mineshaft where Heymans Breda, Kain Fuery, and Riza Hawkeye are waiting for him.

Hawkeye reveals that due to the Bradley family schedule, both the Führer and Selim are scheduled to be at the training grounds for three days, only for Mustang to reveal the train the Führer was on had plunged into a river. Breda admits that Grumman certainly takes some extreme measures, but Hawkeye states it will be harder for their mission to succeed now due to the alert level being raised after that incident. Fuery asks if the Eastern troops will arrived as planned. All Mustang can state that even if their primary mission turns into a trap, all they can do is move forward with no turning back, and hopefully survive so they can rebuild their nation. Meanwhile Ed continues to block Pride's attacks with his automail arm even though blocking simultaneous strikes from multiple directions is exhausting him. Ed admits keeping his northern design automail arm was a smart move because of its carbon fiber metallic composition (which Ed transmuted it be similar to Greed’s Ultimate Shield) that allows him to block Pride's attacks. Pride attempts to take control of Al's armor again to use as a shield while he fights Ed, but Ed anticipated this, and at the moment signals for Fu to use a Xingese flash grenade to break apart Pride's shadow to save Al.

Meanwhile Gluttony can only run away while regenerating since he cannot face both Ling and Lan Fan. Noticing the flash grenade, he follows it to its source, with Ling and Lan Fan in pursuit, despite Lan Fan having problems with her hastily made automail arm. After having Darius pull Al away when Pride's shadow disappears, Ed assures him it got cut off from the main body and that he needs to get Al as far away as possible. Before Pride can attack again, Ed uses another flash bomb. Once Gluttony mentions what has happened to him, Pride realizes that Ling has taken control of his own body, and that Lan Fan is the Xingese warrior that Wrath mentioned, and they both possess the ability to sense chi. Once Gluttony mentions he has been killed a lot of times, Pride realizes both of their Philosopher's Stone cores have been severely drained and they'll die if the battle drags on. Having no choice, Pride kills Gluttony and devourers him with his shadow, inheriting both Gluttony's Philosopher's Stone and his strong sense of smell. With it Pride can sense that Hohenheim is nearby as he is with Al and Darius.

At Central Command the top brass reveals to Father that Mustang has met up with his former subordinates and that it is likely the train accident involving the Führer as well as the Ishvalans who are heading to Central are connected to this. Father asks what Mustang will do next since they know Mustang a little better than him, which after a few seconds, Major General Armstrong suggests he would kidnap Mrs. Bradley. Father states it is unlikely as she is useless as a hostage. At that moment Mustang's group halts the car Mrs. Bradley is traveling in and after taking down her bodyguards, Mustang states she needs to come with him, promising that she would not get hurt in the process.