DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with FullMetal Alchemist.
Author's Note: I wrote this while under pain meds and antibiotics, so I apologize if there are spelling errors, grammar errors, or if something simply doesn't make sense. I went through it and tried to catch everything, but I have a feeling I may have missed a few things. If I did miss something, I'm sorry.
After the colonel ordered me to stay behind while he rushed into the previously hidden cavern to destroy Envy, I was left to my thoughts. I knew that what he was planning to do would cause him to stray from his path, but I understood that he wanted to be the one who caught the brigadier general's murderer and, since his killer wasn't human, he'd take out all his unresolved anger out on him. After hearing various screams from somewhere inside the tunnel, I took a deep breath before I sprinted into the passage.
Once I rushed down a flight of stairs, I slowed my pace and raised my pistol so that the barrel was aimed at the ceiling. I looked around me and saw objects that looked like pipes strewn across the floor and walls. I found it odd that I couldn't hear anything and could only guess that the colonel had somehow lost track of the homunculus. It wasn't long before I came to the end of the path I chose.
I heard footsteps coming from my right so I crouched down and held my gun so that the barrel was facing the brown brick floor. Once the steps were nearly right in front of me, I promptly spun towards the opening and clicked the safety off my pistol. My eyes widened when I saw the colonel with his gloved hand ready to snap.
"I told you not to follow me, Lieutenant." He lowered his arm back to his side and relaxed his hand.
"I'm sorry, sir," I stood up as I clicked the safety back on my gun. "But I couldn't just stand there." I lowered my arms and aimed the pistol's barrel at the floor. "Where's Envy?"
"I lost him. This place is basically a maze," he allowed an annoyed sigh to escape him. "Stay close to me, Lieutenant." The colonel turned to the left and began to move forward.
My eyes narrowed into a glare as it became increasingly obvious this wasn't the Roy Mustang I had spent over half my life with. The Roy Mustang I knew would have never been so lenient if I disobeyed an order. Besides that, the feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that something obviously wasn't right with this thing before me. It was the same feeling I had when I was attacked by Gluttony and, later, Pride; I also had it everyday I had worked directly under the Fuhrer.
I allowed the thing who had the nerve to take the form of the colonel get a few feet ahead of me before I followed him. It only took a few seconds before I raised my gun and aimed it at his head. I clicked the safety off once again and the noise caused the homunculus to stop in his tracks. He raised his arms so that his hands were above his head.
"What's the meaning of this, Lieutenant," he inquired. "Who do you think you're aiming at?"
"Don't make me laugh," I told him with malice in my voice. "When we're alone, the colonel always calls me by my first name, 'Riza'."
"Shit," red electrical vines surrounded the homunculus as he transformed back into his actual human form. "You two have that kind of relationship?"
"I lied," I squeezed the trigger and a bullet landed in the middle of Envy's head. "Thank you for falling for it, but I'm going to need you to die here!" I shot him until my current gun was out of bullets. I dropped it onto the ground once the chamber was empty and, with both of my hands, grabbed two guns from holsters on my lower back. I promptly clicked the safety off of both of them and aimed them at Envy. I pulled the triggers simultaneously, causing the homunculus to back up without having any time to even attempt to dodge.
"That," red electrical vines moved around the bullet wounds once the two pistols I used were empty. "Hurt." Even though his philosopher's stone was still healing him, he aimed his arm at me and transformed it into the green beast leg of his true form. I winced as one of the claws sliced the top of my left shoulder. I ignored the pain as I pulled the rifle off my back and aimed it at him. I pulled the trigger and a bullet went straight through one of Envy's knees, causing him to stumble.
I kept shooting at him until I had to either reload or grab another gun. I didn't notice until it was too late that he had placed one of his arms on the ground and he transformed it into something similar to a green vine. The vine wrapped around my torso and the homunculus forced my body against the floor as hard as he could. My head took the brunt of the impact and pain flooded my senses.
"I'll bring you to your precious Colonel one limb at a time," he laughed mercilessly. Before I could even think about how I'd escape, flames came out of the hall directly to Envy's left and consumed him. The homunculus cried out in pain and the vine that held me slowly dissolved into black particles. I heard snapping right before more flames surrounded Envy. His screams filled the corridor once again.
Once the second set of fire dissipated, Envy was slowly sitting up as the colonel walked out from the shadows. "And just what were you doing to my Lieutenant?" I placed my hands on the cold ground and managed to partially push myself up. As I placed my right hand over the gash in my left shoulder, I felt strands of my hair and guessed that the clip had fallen off when I had hit the ground. The colonel turned his face to look at me. "Don't be so reckless, Lieutenant. I told you I'd take care of him." Mustang turned his attention back to Envy and, from the way the homunculus was reacting, I was positive an even harsher glare had formed on his face.
"Damn, human," Envy yelled once he got over his fear. "Don't you look-!" His statement was drowned out by his screams as fire once again consumed his being.
My eyes widened as the colonel kept snapping his fingers, never giving the homunculus even a second to recover. Despite being a decent amount of feet away, I could feel the heat of the flames. I was positive that, if I were closer, I'd risk being caught by the inferno.
The colonel refused to stop until the homunculus' body had black particles floating from it towards the ceiling. As Envy's body decomposed, a green parasitic object crawled out from his mouth and landed on the floor.
"Damn... Damn it," it spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Not again." I wondered if this was Envy's actual form.
Before the parasite could crawl any farther, the colonel stomped on it. "So this is your real form," he questioned. "How disgusting." Envy started to squirm under the colonel's boot. "I understand why you're called 'Envy'. Your name means jealousy and jealousy is an ugly thing." The colonel raised his hand to his face, his fingers ready to snap while the homunculus began to beg for his life. "Get the hell out of my sight!"
Before Envy started yelling, I grabbed a spare pistol from a holster hidden by my gray coat as I stood up. I quickly yet silently moved over to the pair and stopped about a foot away from my superior. I raised my pistol and aimed the barrel directly at the back of his head. I placed my thumb on the safety and clicked it off.
"What's the meaning of this, Lieutenant," anger was evident in his voice.
"That's enough, Colonel," my voice sounded far stronger than I felt. "I'll dispose of him."
"He's nearly gone," he replied. "Lower your gun."
"I can't obey that," I replied as my eyes slightly narrowed. "Put your hand down."
"No, damn it," the colonel yelled at me. "Drop your gun!"
I wondered if he had forgotten the order he gave me after I requested to be his subordinate after Ishval. The order sometimes haunted my thoughts, but, due to thinking about it often since Brigadier General Hughes died, I knew that I'd shoot him if I had no other choice. Even though I understood the urge for vengeance, it wasn't the right choice and it would only lead the colonel down the wrong path if he was the one who destroyed Envy. I wondered if he was aware that he'd go down the wrong path if he killed the homunculus, but I had a feeling he didn't particularly care.
"Colonel, I can't allow you to kill Envy," I informed him. "But I have no intention of letting him live. I'll take care of him."
"It's taken awhile, but I've finally tracked him down," he exclaimed. "Lower your gun, Lieutenant. I won't ask again!"
My expression changed from anger to shock then sorrow. I knew that my Colonel was no longer around. I looked down at the ground and slowly lowered my gun as I put the safety on. Once the safety was off, the colonel lifted his foot off Envy and snapped his fingers. Powerful flames consumed Envy and it wasn't long before his philosopher's stone burned up. The homunculus decomposed into black particles and his stone fell to the floor then turned into red dust.
Before the colonel could even blink, I had clicked the safety off my pistol and had it aimed at his head again. I squeezed the trigger and the bullet embedded itself in his skull. He fell to the ground and, once his body had hit the floor, I shot him directly in the heart just to be sure he was dead.
My hands began to shake after I clicked the safety back on the pistol. I could hardly believe I had actually shot my friend turned superior. My eyes were trained on the blood that flowed from his wounds and coated the floor. I barely even noticed when I dropped the gun and fell to my knees.
I didn't know how long I had stared at the colonel's body when I heard approaching footsteps. I didn't even bother looking up.
"Lieutenant," a familiar voice called. "Lieutenant!" That voice belonged to Edward. I heard a gasp and could only assume it was him. "What happened?"
Author's Note: I had thought about continuing to the end of the Promised Day, but it felt right to end it there. I'll probably just keep it as a one shot unless I come up with ideas for how the final battle's different. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed.