No Other Choice
AN: Because there isn't enough angst written about Ling. And let's face it, who in their right mind would want to become a homunculus?
"Those who seek shall surely find
Even if it kills their mind.
Condemned forever in this dark place
Time no longer keeps its pace.
In your room, you'll hear no sound
but meet your fate, and TURN AROUND."
Moon Diary III by Satriark
Ling was being crushed under Gluttony, unable to move from the pain in his ribs.
And were legs supposed to bend that way?
He was pretty sure they weren't.
Either way they hurt like hell.
The weight keeping him pinned made his broken ribs grate together painfully, and he barely stopped himself from screaming as he felt another two snap. He instead settled for a slight gasp, thankfully covered by some metal falling.
God Gluttony was fat!
Not really surprising, considering all the random crap in his stomach, but still! Would it kill him to use a treadmill!
Some part of his mind realized that he was probably going in to shock, and that the blood loss was starting to kick in.
Another part had figured out that the Homunculi were most likely going to kill him now.
Strangely enough, he was more worried about the blood loss. After someone almost assassinating him when he was twelve, he had kind of grown used to the fact that he might die at any time.
Bleeding to death however, appeared to have blossomed in to a little phobia of his.
It may have had something to do with Lan Fan's terrified scream when she and Fu found him bleeding to death in a side hall of the palace, back in Xing when he was twelve.
Afterwards he avoided that damn hall.
Just in case.
"You might not be such bad material."
Hold on, the boss was talking to him.
Wait, what? Material? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"I might be able to increase the number of pawns I can use."
That bearded bastard.
He tapped his forehead and an eye popped out of it for some reason, leaking out a red substance.
"That's... a philosophers stone!" Al gasped out.
"What?!" Ling said, suprised.
"You're planning to do that?" Envy said, with detached intrest.
"'That' what?"Ed said, quite clearly confused.
"Create a homunculus." Envy replyed calmly.
Shit.
"A philosophers stone is poured in;" Envy continued. "If all goes right a human based homunculus is created."
Despite the gravity of the situation, and the fact that he was royally fucked (no pun intended), Ling still has the urge to yell 'I'm right here!'
Gluttony leaned forwards, picking the bandage off of Lings face, making him hiss in pain as Gluttony's weight was shifted to two of his bad ribs higher up, and then back on to the others.
Looking through his bangs at the king homunculus, all Ling could think is that he really needed to get a haircut. A few of his older brothers had cracked some jokes about it, but he had just ignored them, determined to get to Amestris and find immortality.
Although he really didn't want it in this way. Having it forced on him by a bunch of psychopaths was not what Ling had planned in the slightest.
Hold up, the big green douche was talking yet again.
"...Usually unable to withstand the stones power, and end up dying."
"I wont let you do that!" Ed yelled.
Ling quickly scanned the room, desperately searching for some way out, some way to save himself.
There were none. He was trapped.
He could hear Ed and Al struggling against Envy's paws, and obviously failing.
"Damn it! What's going on! Why wont our alchemy work!"
God the clapping seemed surreal. Ling couldn't help but appreciate the irony of the fact that he'd die hearing the applause of his friends.
Then again, that's a little too morbid of a way to go.
"Hey you, bearded guy! Stop! He's got someone waiting for him! Let me go!"
And then Ling heard the distinct click of a gun being readied to fire, and he came to a decision.
Probably the only thing he learned from his father was how to bluff. And by the age of sixteen, Ling could pull a damn good bluff.
"It's okay! Don't shoot!" Ling cried out, feeling the lie slip out easily.
"Don't try to pull anything! This is what I want!" He said, sounding half mad even to himself.
"What?"
"I came to this country to find a philosophers stone! He's just going to give one to me! I couldn't ask for anything more!"
"What are you talking about?!" Ed screamed back.
"Ho, this is interesting. Then, as you wish, I shall give it to you."
He'd need to give Ed a message for Lan Fan and Fu.
You're a pair of bastards and I love you dearly.
He had just opened his mouth to ask Ed to pass it on when the stone hit the cut on his face and sank in to his bloodstream.
The veins pulsed uncomfortably before a blast of pain raked his body, snapping three more ribs and making him inhale sharply from shock and pain. The gasp quickly grew in to a scream as every single bone in his arms and legs shattered, quickly reassembling just to break again.
He felt his kidneys implode, and gasped words of reassurance to both himself, and the Elrics.
"I told you... not to... interfere!"
His lungs were punctured by his pulverized ribcage, both of them healing quickly, and he was dimly aware of Gluttony backing away.
Fat bastard.
"It's all right... just sit still..."
The bones of his arms and legs stopped breaking for a few seconds, ans he briefly wondered if it was ending, until the pain intensified around his gut.
"I'm the man who will be emperor of Xing, Ling Yao..."
At the last syllable of his name, blood gushed from his mouth, spattering the ground beneath him.
So of course, his arms were quickly broken, making him faceplant in his own blood.
Yeah, the haircut might have been a good idea.
He threw back his head and screamed, voice cracking at least five times in there.
Fucking puberty.
Suddenly he was falling through a land of red souls, which sliced through him, drawing out more screams and slamming him side to side.
And then it was quiet.
He stayed still, half curled in to fatal position, scared that any movement would draw unpleasant results.
A large soul split through the crowd, laughing.
Ling stood up straight.
"What's a little kid doing here? No matter. Hand over your body, I'm going to use it."
"Fine with me. You can have my body." Ling said, determined not to snicker over the blatant innuendo.
"Huh?"
"I told you, I'm accepting you."
'Wouldn't you ordinarily reject me?"
"I'm the man who will become the emperor of Xing! What good will I be if I don't have a breast large enough to accept twenty or thirty others!?" Ling yelled, mentally slapping himself about the breast comment.
Greed laughed again.
"You're decisive! I like that! Just don't go regretting this!"
"Regret this? If I went home empty handed there's no way I could face my vassal, who went so far as to cut off her own arm for me!"
Ling suddenly realized that he had stopped bluffing somewhere along the line, and was actually telling the truth now.
"I want power, too protect with... Absolute power to obtain things with! I know the risks from the outset!" he screamed, determined to somehow prove himself.
"I like your avarice."
Oh god, this is it.
"Now, let's see just how ready you are!"
The spirit of Greed opened it's moth, promptly swallowing Ling.
The next thing Ling knew he was on his knees, hanging limply.
"Ling?" Ed asked hesitantly.
"Huh? Ah, you mean the former owner of this body."
What. No. He didn't want to say that. That's not right.
"Sorry. Greed has taken over this container."
And then Ling realized he wasn't in control of himself anywhere, not even his eyes or voice. He was a passenger, a backseat driver in his own body.
Shit.
"You're not Ling?" Al said, sounding genuinely stunned.
"You're Greed?" Ed said sounding horrified.
No shit Sherlock.
AN: Challenge: Anyone who can point out the 2061 Space Odyssey quote wins 1000 internetz.