Back in the laboratory Riza watched in utter horror as Roy's body was systematically decomposed and healed by the power of the stone. His flesh ripped and tore only to heal up an instant later. "No." She whispered. "Please no." Roy's blood pooled on the table and dripped to the floor. His face contorted in pain as he tried to reject the stone's power.

"Damn you no! I will not lose to you!" He paused for air. "I am not Vengeance! I am… the Flame Alchemist," he gasped. "Brigadier General Roy Mustang!" He shouted his voice strained. More blood rose from his lips as he wheezed.

Vengeance watched as the souls from the stone tore through Roy's, "You are in pain, let me end it." He crooned softly a gruesome grin spreading across his face.

"Never you bastard!" Roy yelled smiling at the pain though his eyes betrayed how much agony he was in.

"Let me help you, if you share your body with me I can help you obtain your goal, and you will not perish before you become Fuhrer. Let me make all your desires into reality!"

"Shut up!" Roy screamed aloud, "Just shut the Hell up and leave me alone!"

Ridgemont glared at the sight. "Inject the second candidate!" He shouted above the noise coming from Mustang.

Riza spat in the eye of the black haired alchemist who approached her. He yelled and slapped her face before driving the needle into her flesh and shoving the stone into her veins.

"No!" Roy barely managed as Riza screamed in agony the stone making its presence in her body known.

"I'll be fine!" She yelled back between gasps as energy arced across her soft skin. Sweat covered her forehead and arms as she struggled against the strength of the stone. Roy ignored Vengeance as he watched her in horror his eyes black pools of hopeless despair. Blood slid down Riza's arms as the stone tried to gain control of her body. She twitched as the stone causing the skin of her arms was ripped open revealing the lush pink muscle tissue. It healed up as the stone's energy twisted around it.

"Hello Riza." The soft quiet voice sounded much like her own.

"Who are you?" Riza demanded angrily in her mind.

"I am Loneliness, the one thing you fear most of all." Loneliness replied and appeared before Riza. Riza gawked at the pale skinned, sad-eyed reflection of herself.

"You will not take this body! I will never give in to you!" Riza replied strongly.

"But behold, your beloved man is fading fast! He will leave you all alone! Only with him are you strong! Admit that you are afraid to lose him! He is your solace and your light! He was the one who replaced your father when he died, and you have come close to losing him several times. Each time you fail to maintain your composure in the fear of losing him!"

"Silence!" Riza screamed. Blood sputtered from her lips as she thrashed under the leather bonds. Though in pain and her blood seeping from her body to a puddle on the floor below her she was not unable to yell at Roy. "Roy if you give up I will kill you myself!" She choked out the words. "I won't…" Roy's answer was cut off by Vengeance.

"You left yourself open!" Vengeance chortled as the tendrils like fingers of the philosopher's stone reached Roy's frantically beating heart. They grasped it with a fierce fiery power that seared. He choked out a gasp of pain.

"You're as good as mine!"

"No!" Roy shouted back at the cruel eyed copy of himself. "You will not have me!" Roy's soul pushed against Vengeance with all his might. Vengeance backed away and the pain in Roy's chest eased.

"You will not defeat me!" Vengeance hissed angrily.

Meanwhile Riza struggled to hold her own ground. "Please, let me protect you." Loneliness pleaded with Riza. "I will keep you from feeling the pain of your loss."

Riza shook her head the souls from the stone cutting through her own mercilessly. "You will never have me! I belong to no one!"

"Spare me the lies, you do belong to someone! You belong to Roy Mustang! You always have and always will! You have trusted him with your heart for years now! He's about to break it!" Loneliness whispered in Riza's ear.

"No! I'm not going to let you have control! Leave me alone!" Riza put her hands on her head trying to ignore Loneliness's whispers.

Riza thrashed harder against the leather. "I can survive without him! I know I can!" She coughed more blood up.

"Stab her." Ridgemont whispered to one of the black clad men he commanded. The young man pulled a knife from his belt and walked towards Riza. He smiled at her as her brown eyes glared at him. He raised the knife and drove it into her stomach. She gasped and choked on more blood. He yanked the knife out and walked away.

Roy stared his eyes fixed on the wound that was not healing up. "Riza!" He yelled. "Riza hold on!" He yelled to her again trying to get a response from her. Her eyes clouded over when she turned to give him an apologetic glance. "You bastards will pay for this!" He screamed.

Riza felt a shudder and Loneliness sighed, "If you don't let me heal your body you'll die. Do you want to leave him alone? I promise I'm not going to destroy human life that's not my goal. I am you, I am your emotion born from your soul and I can save you now. I do not like this situation anymore than you do, but if you reject me from the start, the power of the stone will kill you! Take my hand so that you may see Mustang reach his goals." She was right next to Riza now. Riza shook her head and tried to think.

Vengeance put a hand on Roy's shoulder. "She's either dead or a homunculus. Whichever it is, you can't let them get away for that. I can help you. I will give you the strength and power to destroy them and avenge what they have done to you both. I hate him as much as you do. I also want to see you reach your goals, but I don't think you can make it alone. I promise I will not keep this body. You are my host, and I can not kill you without killing myself. Please let me help you fight. She is unable to live without you, please do us both a favor. Give me six months of control and you'll be back to normal. We'll get your name cleared and you can have the girl too." He grinned at Roy.

"I don't know, this is a corner of Hell I never wanted to enter. I always knew my path was full of pain and hard choices, but this is insane!" Roy tried to fight Vengeance off. He was losing strength though, he knew that he couldn't save Riza the way he was. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he made his decision. He snapped his eyes up and spoke, "Promise me you won't do anything without telling me first, and you won't take advantage of this partnership."

Vengeance grinned and grabbed Roy's hand. "You have yourself a deal!"

Roy felt the stone invade his heart fusing itself to his body. His mind closed into his soul as Vengeance took control of the body.

Energy exploded all around Roy in a flash of bright blue light. He screamed as frayed burnt bits of leather flew in all directions. Everyone watched in silence as Roy sat up in the smoke around him. He held his head in his hands as he exhaled deeply. "Riza follow me." He whispered. Riza looked at him as his head snapped up and his eyes rolled back. The skin on his chest above his heart darkened and the ouroboros colored scarlet red marred his skin.

"Oh God no!" Riza cried.