The Ending Could Have Been Worse…
Preface: After watching the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie, my friends and I were saying that it sucked, but it did kinda have to end that way. Eventually the phrase 'it could have been worse' came up. So we came up with this:
(Pre-story note: This first part is just setting the scene by retelling the original story(I've only got a badly subbed Japanese version). Then I begin to add my own spice to the mix. Bare with me for the first seven paragraphs or so… Eventually I'll add gore, grotesque imagery, angst, and parody-like humor in some strange blend that will end up over-pressurizing your brain until it leaks out from your ears.)
Alphonse Elric followed Wrath's small form down a narrow staircase that seemed to go on forever. "Why did you take me here?" he asked as they descended into the darkness. Various carvings of monsters and temples lined the walls. "You'll be okay," was Wrath's confusing response. Finally the stairway opened into a ledge over a large city contained in an even larger cavern. The city had a very familiar and chilling symbol etched into its streets. "It's just like Lior!" Al choked out, disbelief evident in his eyes. He turned and hurried down the last set of stairs at just short of a jog, Wrath on his heels.
Eventually Al came to a large open space with broken and shattered stone pillars in a shape vaguely reminiscent of an open hall. His brow furrowed for a moment as he felt a brief stab of déjà vu while walking through the crumbling stone paths. Then he shook it off; he had more important things to be doing. Al stalked to the center of the open space. Without pausing, he slammed his arrays together to activate them, then pressed his palms to the ground. Beneath him the pigments in the stone shifted into the array that he saw on the other side of the gate. He saw Wrath out of the corner of his eye shifting nervously, but ignored him in favor of the power rushing beneath his hands.
Edward Elric couldn't believe that he had been betrayed by Noah, Hughes, and his entire town. To add to the entire irony of the situation, the Pride look-a-like, Fritz Lang, had been his rescuer. Not that Ed was one to complain about rescues; unless, of course, they were done by a certain charcoal headed womanizing Colonel. Then he would prefer it if his body were sold to the highest bidder for medical research. After making good on their get-away, Mr. Lang lead him to a plane that he had patched up after the Nazi soldiers crashed during the battle with Envy. Currently they were in midair, coming up on the Thule Society's hide out. He could only hope he could prevent anything from crossing over.
Winry couldn't believe she had managed to force herself back into the cramped passageways beneath the Central City military compound. After what had happened the first time, you would think she'd have learned her lesson. Contrary to common sense, she found herself following Scieszka once more in hopes of finding Al and, with any luck, Ed. The case she was dragging along behind her, which contained a new arm and leg certainly didn't help her keep up. "It's been a while since we've snuck in like this," Scieszka giggled. "So the former Fuhrer's office is ahead of us?" Winry guesstimated, trying to remember the last time she followed her bookworm friend into the crawl space. Then the ground beneath the two women gave a brief rumble.
Al let the power bleed out of the array beneath his fingers. "Why?" Al muttered in frustration, staring at the unresponsive transmutation circle below him, "What's missing?" He stroked the dark lines and circles of the array. "That time…" He pictured the gate as he saw it during his mother's failed transmutation. "If that's the same thing, if I want to go over there…" He fisted his shirt above where his heart was. "…I have to transmute myself." He would never admit that he was worried about that, however much he may be. Al was willing to give anything to get his brother back.
Off to one side, Wrath prowled around the edge of the circle, looking around apprehensively. Then suddenly he gasped and whipped around only to find that something had exploded from the balcony above them. Debris came raining down from the ruined concrete ledge. One chunk, which was big enough to be a car, skid past the floor where Wrath once stood, only having jumped away a moment before. The two boys looked up to the floor above them, watching as the dust cleared. There a mass of towering pale flesh covered in red lines and circles appeared, quickly jumping down from the balcony. Large did not begin to describe the thing before them. It was an enormous lump of pale muscle, fat, and bones sporting three tails, each with a watering mouth, and topped by a head with foot-like protrusions hanging down. Not only that, but it was leaking a red fluid that smelled vaguely acidic and metallic. It also seemed to be hungry. An unholy grin split the thing's face as it looked upon the two boys before him.
Wrath's face hardened as he recognized something in the beast before them. The round stupid face of a one time comrade that he could not forget: "Gluttony…" he hissed, just loud enough for Al to hear. He glared through the strands of his unkempt hair at the thing. "Gluttony?" Al asked, confused and wishing (not for the first time) that he remembered his time as a walking ensouled armor. Wrath glanced over to Al. "He's a monster, like me," he growled. Al looked back quickly at the hulking thing before them. This Gluttony thing certainly doesn't look anything like Wrath, Al thought redundantly.
Just then the monster opened its gapping mouth and let loose a bone rattling roar. Then it crouched down like a predator about to pounce. However, instead of jumping it used its enormous arms to scramble forward because its limbs seemingly had reversed their roles. It quickly whipped around and used its tails to broadside Wrath into the air, then lift it self into the air after him, trailing red liquid behind it in a grisly rain.
Al watched with an interest akin to horror, as it smashed through the surrounding columns to get at Wrath. The crumbling debris, a mixture of stone and glass stormed down around Al, who attempted to protect his eyes. The shards of glass cut into the jacket he had found with his brother's clothes and into his forearms. Here and there a piece got through to slice into his face, jagged cuts appearing above his right eye, below his left, and splitting his lower lip. After the barrage of wreckage subsided, he tried to follow the inhuman fight of the homunculi, only to find that the blood from the cut over his eye was blurring the vision of that side. He had yet to notice the effect it and the red liquid from the monster were having on the array at his feet.
Wrath on the other hand wasn't having a great time either. He was starting to feel the effects of his lack of red stone, the incomplete Philosophers stone. He couldn't even use his unique transmutation powers to fight back. The only thing he could do with any chance of success was dodge. Even that wasn't working so well. As Gluttony slammed its fists down behind him he stumbled at the tremors. It took advantage of his momentary weakness and sent a large slab of stone hurtling towards him. Wrath was caught by the g-force of the stone as he was sent towards more of the wrecked city. As the stone was stopped by more of its kind, Wrath continued on at the same speed, eventually skidding to a stop on the unforgiving ground near where he started.
As he was showered by water, Wrath realized that the thing had landed in a spring of some sort which was pooling nearby. Unable to muster the strength to move, he lay there in the torrent of water that washed over him. Behind him he heard the roar of the thing Gluttony had become and couldn't help but wonder if he would have become the same had he continued on with 'that person'. He also noted a faint spurting sound accompanied by a plop as whatever liquid the monster was spurting hit the water. Wrath's eyes widened as he heard some of it hit the stone with a weight that was not expected of liquid. In one burning moment of truth, Wrath realized why the scent of the liquid was so familiar. Red stone. Red stone had the exact same smell of acidic compounds mixed with the metallic scent of blood.
Wrath pulled himself to his feet and began to move towards Gluttony, slowly picking up speed. Gluttony was also charging him, tails flailing behind its massive body. Just as he was sure he would collide with the thing if he went any further, he made a flying leap into a puddle ahead of him. He used his momentum combined with the slick stone beneath him to slide beneath and past the hideous thing in front of him. From there he ran to the edge of the pool and stooped to pick up some of the red stone. Before he could get some of the poisonous smelling stone into his mouth, Gluttony slammed into him from behind. Wrath could feel his body skipping over the water before sinking with the weight of the automail.
Meanwhile, Alphonse had stumbled off of the violently counter-responsive array at his feet, which was throwing off red sparks. Though his right eye was closed to keep blood out of it, his left eye followed Wrath's battle with the beast. Al couldn't help but wince at some of the blows Wrath was taking. He wondered why he didn't fight back. Al watched, horrified, as Wrath sank beneath the dank water and did not immediately reappear. Just as he was worried Wrath had died for the last time, the monster dug beneath the ground and water with its tails and threw Wrath into the air. Al's jaw dropped as Wrath came to the apex of his flight and began to drop quickly towards the hungry mouths of the tails.
As Wrath flew through the air, he gritted his teeth as the effects of the red stone began to kick in. He channeled his newly found energy into a transmutation of his automail, the very same transmutation Edward Elric was fond of. In a font of blood Wrath removed one of heads attached to the tail-like projections from Gluttony. He caught the look of fear and desperation on Alphonse's face turn to a disbelieving relief as he realized that the blood raining down was Gluttony's and not his. Wrath landed steadily on his feet at the same time as Gluttony's fourth head landed, writhing, on the ground. He flipped his long dark hair back out of his face as the thing Gluttony had become roared its displeasure.
The blob-like monster surged toward Wrath in a rage, kicking up water and dust, its tails snaking forward with jaws wide. Wrath met one of the two remaining tails head on, grabbing it by the teeth and halting its forward momentum. As he began to lose his footing, he slipped past its jaws to its length of muscular neck/tail. Using his inhuman strength he twisted around the muscles connecting head to tail, effectively twisting the head from its appendage. Gluttony roared in pain and displeasure at its swift de-tailing. Wrath stopped to catch his breath as the second piece fell to the ground and writhed much the same as the previous one.
Unfortunately he wasn't given much time to recover after his many brushes with death. No sooner had the blood finished falling than Gluttony's final tail made a swipe at Wrath, only to graze by millimeters from his torso. Even worse, Wrath didn't have time to dodge the enormous hand that caught him broadside with enough force to fling him through the air into the stone and glass structure where Al's circle was. Wrath's eyes widened as he turned enough in midair to realize where he was headed, though he was incapable of halting his momentum. A horrible squelching noise echoed dismally in Alphonse's ears as he watched separate halves of Wrath tumble towards the inactive array.
Wrath felt the tingling burn akin to having a leg fall asleep that signaled his process of re-growing his other half. Even as he was regenerating, Wrath knew he wouldn't have enough time to do what was needed if he didn't do it now. Propping himself up in a pool of his own blood with his one flesh arm, he slammed the automail one into the center of the array until he heard ominous shrieking noises associated with breaking metal bolts and wires. Wrath caught his breath for what he knew was going to be the last time. Then he looked up through lank strands of dark hair to where Alphonse had backed away, nursing his bloody forearms. Al looked back into his light purple-grey slit eyes with his one un-blurred eye, which widened as he realized what Wrath was doing. Al drew in a shocked breath and whispered hoarsely, "No." Wrath smiled sadly, then jerked forward as Gluttony finally caught his prey between his gaping jaws. Al found his voice once more, only to scream, "No!!"
Wrath almost wanted to smirk at the poor boy. Unlike Alphonse, he had known from the beginning what was lurking in the dark corners of this city beneath the city. He had also known that he would die if he brought the human boy here and protected him. In point of fact, he had been counting on it. As the only Homunculus still alive and sane he was beginning to feel the strain of immortality. As much as he'd like to deny it, he wanted Izumi back. He wanted it enough to go get her beyond the gate. Instead of smirking at Al, as he'd tried to do, blood poured from between his lips as Gluttony smashed what organs had re-grown between his large teeth. He spat, trying to clear his mouth enough to finish what he'd started. He finally gasped enough air into his ruined and regenerating lungs to speak.
"Now," he rasped out, watching as Al's blood began to mingle with a single tear, "Transmute us, then the gate will open…" He paused in pain as Gluttony shifted his grip on what was left of his midsection, "…to meet us." Al's gaze steadied as the logical side of his brain began to take over and shut down the parts of him that were all for panicking and sobbing in a corner of his mind. "Of course. The homunculi were catalysts to open the gate…" He looked at the array as he thought aloud. "The same catalyst can be used to open the gate from this side." Wrath raised his head to look at Al once more. "This is why… the reason I came!" Al's reaction was enough to weigh Wrath with guilt, though he should not have felt any emotion in the first place. "I knew you were planning to use yourself as a sacrifice to open the gate," he said, watching as guilt played over Al's face as well. "I don't want to see that again."
Al couldn't believe what he was hearing from the mouth of an incomplete human. A body without a soul. "All along, you've wanted to die all this time!" he croaked, despair at having led the other to death with his own selfish actions. Then Wrath surprised him. "I just want to go home…where mom is." Gluttony took this moment to bite down harder on his all too lively meal. Wrath screamed in agony then yelled to Al, "Hurry!" And for a moment of indecision Al stood there, blood dripping down his arms to mingle with the growing pool of blood on the stone floor. "I won't waste his sacrifice!" he thought to himself as he sprung into action, running whole heartedly towards the two homunculi. He slapped his personal arrays together despite the pain of his raw, bloody arms and slammed them on to Gluttony's face to begin the transmutation.
Only too late did Alphonse realize that the intermingling blood from all three of them was warping the transmutation. It was tying him into the equation along with the homunculi… and he couldn't stop it…
Ed woke groggily only to realize that he couldn't move very well. "You're lucky, Edward," said an indistinct voice of to his left. His instincts rebelled against the lack of mobility and jolted Ed to full wakefulness. He realized that, while he had been knocked out from the crazed female Nazi's bullet, he had been strapped into one of Alphonse's rockets. "What…?" he muttered beginning to struggle against the straps. "So you're finally awake," came a now very familiar voice. He turned towards the speaker to find none other than his brother's look-a-like, "Alfonse!" The young German man hurriedly shushed him. "Everything is set so you can go home. Eckhart is busy with the first rocket. Are you ready?"
Edward pondered that for a moment then looked at his right arm. Alfonse saw where his thoughts were going with that and headed him off, "The bullet only just nicked your prosthetic arm." Edward pulled back the ripped fabric to find that he was half right. The bullet hadn't done any major damage, but it was still lodged in the metal of the arm. He couldn't risk pulling it out without damaging the arm more. "Good thing she's a bad shot," Al joked.
Alfonse looked up at the shining gold gate above them and smiled. "This rocket can go up to 2 kilometers a second. Haushofer thinks that at such a speed it is possible to break through the pressure from the gate and get to the other side. With this one-seater rocket there will be enough speed to get you through." Ed started in surprise and anger. "Wait a minute! I never said I wanted to go!" Al cocked his head at his friend. "I want you to go," he told Ed, smiling. Ed looked at Al sadly, "It's because I'm in the way, isn't it?" Al shook his head with a chuckle, then became serious. "We're not just an existence in your dreams Ed. Even if I die, I'm still myself. I definitely exist." His gaze fell to Ed's hand on the side of the cockpit. "Don't forget me?" Then, before Ed could answer, Al moved his hand into the plane and shut the top, securing it in place. Then he jumped down from the platform to the ground and hurried to the control panel.
Ed snapped out of his reverie when he realized what was happening. "Alfonse, don't! Alfonse!!" But it was in vain. Al had already pulled a lever which flipped the plane into an upright position, aiming at the portal. He began to struggle harder against the straps holding him in, muttering curses as his exertion did nothing to loosen the hold. He felt the engines start up beneath the frame of the rocket. He looked back at Al who was just about to press the last button of the launch sequence. Then he saw the soldier behind him whose aim was wavering from the plane to Al. "No! Alfonse, behind you!" But the words were drowned out by the rocket. Then a small explosion that marked a gunshot rang through the air. Ed watched Alfonse fall onto his knees in front of the controls, a rapidly spreading stain of red appearing on the back of a shirt. "Al!!" he screamed, in hopeless abandon.
Then he saw the subtle advance of Alfonse's fingers slowly moving toward the launch button. Ed's eyes widened incredulously, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Just as Alfonse was about to push the button, the soldier who had shot him strode over to where he was kneeling and smashed him in the back of the head with his gun. Apparently he had not noticed what Al had been trying to do, because his ill aimed swing brought Al's head down with a vicious force against the same button he had been reaching for. Edward's scream was lost in the roar of the engine as the plane launched towards the gate.
Ed quickly faced the front as the G-forces of the launch began to take hold of him. A movement to his left on the catwalks of the dome-like building brought his attention back to the here and now. Noah knelt there staring at him as he rose through the air towards her. Ed saw her say something that he couldn't hear over the thunderous noise of the engine. "Noah…" He watched her raise her arms to him as if she wanted him to take her into his arms. An image of Alfonse's dead body forced its way into his head. Ed grimaced and turned back to the controls, which he had learned at the behest of his dead friend, looking over his theories. He pulled back on the throttle and flew straight into the menacing golden glow of the gate between realities. "I'm coming, guys," he thought.
Author's note: Alright, so this chapter was mostly angst. Next chapter will be more death of parody than anything else. Unless of course you, the readers, want this to have an angst-y ending. Parody vs.angst-y, the battle of the century who will win?
And please don't write to me saying you want all of the good guys to live. Read the title, PUNKS! I'm making the ending worse so that you'll love the movie more, not better so you hate Hiromu Arakawa for diverting the show and movie from the manga. Like I am. Grrrrrrr!
Anyways, hope you enjoy this. And FMA fans who loved the movie:
Flame to your hearts' content, I await thee with sword drawn!
Tenshi no Mugen