The moment his pain stopped, Roy found himself submerged in a sea of black. But despite not seeing what had surrounded him, he knew that he was far from alone.
What he would describe as thousands upon thousands of voices rang out around him, ranging from the softest of whispers to the loudest of screams erupting from every direction his eyes darted toward. Some jeered him. Others begged for their lives. And some only seemed capable of wailing about their disdain for their existence there.
His mind began to race, trying to process what was happening. What those voices were... How he had gotten there. All he had remembered was waking up and seeing Riza-
Suddenly Roy's eyes flew open and his body tensed.
"Oh! He's awake," one of the voices crooned. A moment later the man in the white jacket bent over him, his distinct golden tooth catching and casting the light it captured as his grin stretched from ear to ear.
"Interesting," the second voice murmured as Roy's eyes darted over to the blond-haired man that stood over him. "The Ouroboros is not completely dominating that eye."
The gold-toothed doctor moved in closer as he adjusted his glasses. Staring down at Roy with his crossed eyes, he mumbled, "Yes, you're quite right. It's almost as if it's flickering; flickering back and forth in front of the iris."
"As long as the process was a success," the blond-haired man – Father, a quiet voice whispered in his ear– said in reply, "It matters not the state of the Ouroboros."
His eyes blinked again, slowly.
"It's gone…" the doctor mused as his wild eyes widened with excitement.
"Inconspicuous," Father murmured as he gazed down at Roy. "Possibly even more successful than the first Wrath..."
Wrath…?
His focus still on Roy, Father addressed him, "Are you able to speak, child?"
Child...? He-
"Yes, Father," he answered without hesitation.
What? He hadn't said that…. He hadn't said that!?
A faint smile graced the older man's lips as he looked down at Roy with newfound admiration. "A second success in one day… I'm very pleased."
A second success…?
His hand then rose up on its own and hovered above his face, slowly rotating so that his eyes could perceive it. After a few moments, his voice once again spilled from his mouth without any additional thought, as if his body were lagging behind his mind, "A second?"
Father nodded as his eyes rose to peer at an area to Roy's side. His head turning to follow his gaze, he watched as a familiar blonde came into view, now donning a white scrub top and pants, her hair cascading over her shoulders as she sat on the edge of the steel table next to him. Despite the fact that he was eyeing her, her focus was intently fixed on the man called 'Father.'
His mind automatically begged him to call out to her, to ask if she were okay, as his memories began to reorient themselves. He had seen her on the brink of death just minutes… hours, before. But once again his body would not let him, opting only to continue watching her in complete and total silence.
As if noticing him for the first time, she turned slightly toward him, dark and calculating eyes narrowing as she eyed him as intently as he did her. Then, the corners of her lips curled upward, and his soul shuddered.
That smile that was so… unlike her.
That's when something red caught his eye. His body reacted to it, instinctively setting its sights on what it was to try and make sense of it. The bright red head of a snake and the corners of two triangles that overlaid just below her collar bone, partly covered by the shirt's vee-neck, immediately called for his attention… and his memories.
An Ouroboros… Just like—
"Your memories have been cleared," the older man explained. "I doubt that you would remember her anyways, especially considering that she too has a new form."
"She," his voice uttered in question.
Father nodded. "We were lucky to both salvage you, Wrath… and Lust."
At the mention of her name, Roy's mind flew into a confused frenzy. Lust...? No… No, he had burned her, desecrated her until she was nothing but a charred, unidentifiable corpse. That was impossible. He destroyed her! That wasn't Lust… That wasn't—
"What is the matter, my child," Father asked, his voice tinted with a mix of curiosity and concern.
"He's fighting," his voice muttered as his brows furrowed. "He claims that she is not who you say she is."
"Oh," a voice soothed, once again bringing his attention back to the woman in question. "I can assure you that I am who he says. And," she added with a small smirk, "It's nice good to be back among the living."
No... Please no. That couldn't-that couldn't be possible! He tried calling Riza's name again, tried taking control, but the ever-present force that had been holding him back pushed him further down, suffocating his cries as the screams that had awoken him grew louder.
They took her. They took her and replaced her with that.
And he… He realized as the force that had been controlling his body took hold of him, had been taken as well…
Reaching up, Wrath rubbed his fist over his face and growled, "This damn body won't get used to this eye."
"As long as it rights itself before we reach the Elric brothers, that is all that will matter," Lust murmured as her eyes darted up to look at him in the rearview mirror for a moment before returning to the road.
"Right," he uttered as he pulled his hand away and blinked, noticing that the crisp sharpness the Ultimate Eye brought with it had vanished.
"It's gone," he heard her say from the front seat.
"Alright," he muttered as he sat back in his seat and frowned. He'd have to concentrate on not letting it slip again. The Colonel's body was still fighting to reject it, and him, and it was getting very agitating…
"She's fighting as well," she added as she glanced up in the front mirror again. "It'll be hard containing them when we encounter the Elrics, so be prepared."
"I intend to be," he answered, leaning against the car door and resting his chin on top of his balled up fist. Despite his overbearing dominance at that moment, the Colonel still continued to fight tooth and nail against him. Wrath's eyes flicked up again to note that Lust's outward appearance had not changed, and that she showed no indication of her internal struggle against Riza Hawkeye. Bound and determined to do the same, Wrath gave the Colonel's soul one final shove, thrusting him further into the recesses of his mind.
"Ah-achoo!"
"Gesundheit," Alphonse chirped as he grabbed a napkin from the table they were seated at and held it out toward Edward.
Leaning back in his chair, Edward crossed arms and smirked. "The whole city must be talking about me!"
Seeing that his brother wasn't going to stop to accept the tissue, Alphonse sighed and set it back down on the table. "Well, it's no wonder if you're this flashy about it."
Throwing his head back, Edward let out a short laugh before saying, "I can raise my reputation and fish Scar out. It's killing two birds with one stone."
"I suppose," Alphonse answered. "Now all we have to do is wait for your name to reach Scar's ears."
Just as Edward was about to comment once again on his prowess, the sound of an approaching car wafted to their ears. Turning around, they watched as the car pulled up next to the sidewalk and stopped. They watched as the backseat's occupant rolled the window down, revealing that it was none other than Colonel Roy Mustang.
Scowling at the two boys, he muttered, "Do you two want to explain what you're doing?"
"Heh," Edward scoffed as he walked up to the window and leaned against it, giving Mustang a sideways glance. "I could ask you the same thing." Moving closer, he murmured, "I heard everything about Second Lieutenant Ross."
The Colonel furrowed his brows for a moment, his eyes darting up to peer at Hawkeye, who was watching them intently in the rearview mirror. A second later, he looked back at Edward and mumbled, "Right… Right, that's good."
Edward raised a brow at the response, but brushed it off for the moment. After what had just happened, he assumed there was someone else on Mustang's mind... "And I heard about Second Lieutenant Havoc, too."
"Is that so," Mustang asked slowly as he watched Edward's face with newfound curiosity.
"Yeah," Edward went on. "Because about that, I think Dr. Marcoh can-"
The Colonel raised his hand, demanding silence from the young boy. "We can exchange information elsewhere. Get in."
The two boys looked at each other for a moment before Edward shrugged and opened the back door, inviting Alphonse to slip inside. Walking around to the other side of the car, he opened the passenger side door and fell back into the seat. Turning toward Hawkeye, he shot her a faint smile and offered a quick greeting.
Smiling back, she returned it with her own 'hello' before turning back to face the road.
A moment later he heard Alphonse yelp a quick apology. Both occupants of the front seat turned around to see Alphonse consuming the entire space of the backseat, with Mustang pushed up against the window. "I'm sorry," he squeaked as he lifted his arm above his head in an effort to give the Colonel as much space as possible.
"It's fine," the Colonel grumbled as he attempted to shift and make more room for himself. "Let's just drive and find somewhere more spacious to discuss matters." Looking up at the front seat, his eyes once again locked on the Lieutenant's. With a sharp nod, she started the car and put it in drive.
The car shifted beneath them and Edward lurched forward, bobbing into the back passenger cabin of the vehicle. Before he corrected his posture, however, something in on the floor of the backseat caught his eye. "What the hell is this," he asked with a half-laugh as he snagged a long, metal object from off of the floor. He held it up to better see it. Then his brow wrinkled . "What are you doing with a sword?"
He was about to unsheathe it when Mustang ripped the object from Edward's hands. "It's a new military standard," he explained in slight annoyance.
"Oh, and here I thought you were trying to compensate for something," Edward snidely replied back as he tried to lean closer to see. "Do I get one-"
"Of course not," Mustang replied bluntly as he pulled it out of Edward's reach and leaned it against the door. "Only those holding the rank 'Colonel' or higher are granted one."
Edward snorted and rolled his eyes, "I was just asking, geez. It's not like I'd want one of those anyways, especially since I could just transmute one whenever I want. Though I'd make it look more badass than that toothpick."
Just as Mustang rolled his eyes, the car turned the corner into an alleyway and slowed. Taking off his seatbelt, Edward quickly opened the door of the car and climbed out as the rest of the vehicle's occupants followed suit. Turning around, he watched as Mustang briskly strode around the vehicle and stopped in front of him, while Hawkeye stood a few feet away, removing the gun from her hip and holding it between her hands. Alphonse was the last to join them after maneuvering himself skillfully out of the vehicle without damaging the roof.
"Alright," Mustang asked as he folded his arms over his chest, "What do you have?"
"Like I was saying before, I think that Dr. Marcoh can heal Lieutenant Havoc. He has a Philosopher's Stone and-"
"Except," Mustang interjected. "Our reports indicate that Dr. Marcoh was abducted by the enemy," he continued as he pulled a book from his coat pocket and began to leaf through it. When he encountered a page with a piece of paper sticking out, he opened it to reveal a hand drawn picture of a woman amongst the page's notes.
"What?" When Mustang nodded, he hissed, "Damn it," as he sneered down at the book. "So they took him… and the information he was carrying." When Mustang raised a brow, he uttered, "The doctor said that he had previously made a Philosopher's Stone in the military's laboratories; the ones that were used in Ishval." Running his fingers agitatedly through his hair, he added, "The Philosopher's Stone, the military's dark side, the Homunculi … How are they all connected? Just what the hell happened in Ishval then?!"
Peering down at the picture in the book, Alphonse leaned forward and interjected, "Hey, that's Lust…"
"Yeah, yeah," Edward mumbled at the abrupt topic switch as he retracted his hand from his head and gave Mustang a critical glare. "You incinerated her, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Mustang replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "She was reduced to nothing more than a charred husk by the time I was through."
Edward heard Al's armor shudder at the mention. His younger brother had given him a very detailed retelling of what went down below Laboratory 3. It was something that, Al had said, he'd hoped he would never see again…
"Let's just get back on topic," Mustang grumbled. "Because speaking of Ishval, I heard Scar's here. And considering the little show you've been putting on, I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up soon."
With a snort, Edward replied, "That's the whole point. I have to fight with him one more time. The Homunculi said that Al and I were valuable alive to them, so I'm confident one of them will show themselves once they hear about Scar showing up. And when one does, Al, Ling, and Lan Fan going to capture it and—" Cutting himself off, he jerked his head to glance at the direction the Lieutenant suddenly raised her gun to. Following her stare, he saw the very man they were speaking of standing meters away from them.
"At last you've decided to show yourself," Mustang growled as he took a step forward and pulled an ignition glove onto his hand.
Seeing this, Edward knocked his hand out of the way and snapped, "Wait! We need him alive to—"
"He's an impediment," Mustang snarled crudely as he pushed Edward away and snapped his fingers… Failing to produce a flame. The dark-haired man's eyes widened in confusion and he tried again, and then again, the sparks flickering from his gloves continually failing to ignite.
Seizing this opportunity, Scar slammed his right hand on the ground, causing it to shift and crack as a massive rift snaked toward them. The four of them barely managed to dodge the crack as it reached Hawkeye's car, flipping the vehicle onto its side as they dove in different directions.
Through the clearing dust, Edward then caught a glimpse of Scar as he rushed toward the Colonel, who had just regained his footing and had braced himself for the inevitable confrontation. As Edward rushed forward to intervene, he heard a loud "Sir!" Whipping his head around, he saw Hawkeye on her feet with her gun raised toward Scar, one eye closed to spare it from a small trickle of blood that had run down her brow from a small cut received in the initial attack.
"Wait," he cried again as her finger found the trigger and pulled. But like Mustang's snap, the gun's report too was absent. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Edward managed to slam into Scar's side before he reached the otherwise defenseless Colonel, knocking the man off his balance. Standing between them as Scar regained his footing, Edward transmuted his automail arm into a blade as he sprinted toward the man.
He heard Al call out to the Colonel, possibly stopping him from snapping his fingers again… not that it even mattered. A few moments later, however, he heard the Colonel cry out in protest as Alphonse rejoined Edward, slapping his hands on the ground in unison as a multitude of columns rose from the ground and flew toward the Ishvalan man. When Scar dodged them and spun around a building's corner, Edward took the opportunity to ask, "What did you say to him?"
"I told him to keep the MPs off of our tails for a while," Alphonse offered as they rounded the corner, dodging Scar's next attack.
Catching his footing again as Scar grew defensive, Edward mumbled, "Let's hope he actually listens then."
"Do they honestly think they're going to catch one of us in such a ridiculous way?"
"Well," Wrath muttered, "Despite how asinine the whole plan is, he was correct in one thing: We do need to keep them safe at all costs."
"Right," Lust agreed as her eyes drifted over to him. "After all, we've already lost one sacrifice. To lose two more would devastate us." Reaching up and cleaning the blood from the already healed wound on her forehead with her glove, she added, "I'll go retrieve them while you go back to Headquarters and figure out why you were unable to produce any flames."
"You're going to need a car," he muttered as he glanced over at the overturned vehicle.
"Already got it," she murmured as she raised the gun and pointed it toward a car that had misguidedly turned down the narrow alleyway. "Military police! We require the use of this vehicle." The couple inside, frightened by the show of force, quickly threw their doors open and jumped out, backing away with their hands raised.
With the car now vacated, Lust ignored the couple and slid into the driver's seat, and slammed the door closed. "Once I have them in my possession, I'll bring them back to Central Command."
"Alright," Wrath agreed as he placed his hands on the window ledge and peered down at her. "Stay safe." The moment those words escaped his lips, he recoiled.
She turned toward him and arched a brow. "What was that?"
"Reminding you to turn the safety of your gun off next time," Wrath stated coolly as he pushed off from the car and took a few steps back.
She narrowed her eyes for a moment, but then shook her head and dismissed it, saying, "That's what I thought you said," as she turned the car's engine over and started it. After casting him one final dubious glance, she pulled away and began heading off in the direction of the various 'booms' and bursts of energy.
When she turned the corner and disappeared, Wrath growled and pushed Mustang back once more, promising himself that he would not let his guard down again.
As the ground beneath him began to break, Edward quickly leapt to the side, just barely missing another blow from the rogue Ishvalan man. With the distance between them closed, he used this to swing at Scar, managed to catch his left jaw with his right hook. Taking the brief opening Scar's stun left open, he swung again… only to feel something slam into his side. Tumbling to the ground, he heard Al cry out in surprise, followed moments later by the sound of his armor thudding next to him.
He whirled around and saw a small girl standing between them and Scar, her arms raised in defense. "Are you okay, Mr. Scar," she called as the man reached up and rubbed his jaw.
Before he could answer, the squealing of a car's tires filled their ears. Turning toward it, they watched as a car rounded the corner at breakneck speed, its driver pointing something out the window. When they skidded to a halt, a gunshot rang out, the bullet grazing Scar's shoulder.
Glaring at it, Edward recognized the driver as Hawkeye. His stomach dropped. He had trusted them-
Seizing the opportunity, the little girl let loose a flurry of throwing knives, burying them into a nearby water tower and pile of coal. "We'll retreat for now," she cried as she dragged her toe through the dirt to create an array. A moment later the array was activated, causing the water tower to explode and the coals to ignite, creating a thick cloud of smoke to envelop them.
Coughing and gagging, Edward tried to glance at the last place he saw the man, but to no avail. Within a matter of moments, he and the little girl were gone, leaving only Hawkeye, Alphonse, the military police, and him behind.
"Damn it," he growled as the smoke began to clear, confirming that they had left without a trace. Whirling around, he shot Hawkeye a look of disbelief as she stepped out of the car and eyed them warningly. Understanding, and begrudgingly accepting the look, he trudged toward the vehicle and climbed in, slamming the door shut behind him as Al got in on the other side.
"What the hell is Mustang's – oof!" Edward was unable to finish his sentence as Hawkeye stepped on the gas, the wheels skidding as the car quickly accelerated and took them away from the scene, avoiding questioning by the military police that had surrounded the area entirely. After she took a sharp turn and began to stabilize the speed, he grumbled, "What the hell is Mustang's problem? We had him!"
Hawkeye glanced in the rearview mirror, her eyes catching his for a brief moment before she peeled them away to focus on the road. For a moment, however, he thought he saw something… different? Upset enough as he was, he did not dwell on it for too long, dismissing it as a light's trick. "The Colonel has his reasons, Edward. You need to understand that we have to protect you."
"It's not like we're kids anymore," Edward countered bitterly as he leaned against the door and glared at the houses that they whizzed past. "We need to keep moving forward. So in order to do so we need to figure out what their plan is."
"Getting yourselves killed is not moving forward, Edward," Hawkeye replied without glancing in the mirror at the two boys. "Nor is that any way to figure out what they're planning."
Edward growled and slumped in his seat, but chose not to argue back. Hawkeye was being just as stubborn and narrow-minded as Mustang had been earlier, and he knew that he would be wasting his breath arguing with her alone… Instead, he glanced over at his younger brother to see that he was holding something. He squinted at the creature and grumbled, "Al, what is that?"
"I don't know," the suit of armor said as he looked down at the small black-and-white creature and tilted his head. "I found it just as we were running to the car."
"Well, you're not keeping it," Edward objected when animal began to snarl. Glaring down at it, he saw that the object of its aggression was mainly Hawkeye; the creature's small black eyes narrowed as it bared its teeth angrily toward the driver before it glanced back at and growled at the two boys. However, its eyes quickly returned to the blonde sniper.
Edward didn't blame it; he felt the same way at that moment.
"What the hell, Mustang," Edward seethed as he balled his hands into fists at his side. "We had him! If we had gotten just a few minutes, we could have lured one of them out and-"
"That's enough, Fullmetal," the Colonel chided as he leaned back in his chair. "I've already told you my reasoning. Just accept that your plan was flawed from the start."
"How," the teen shot back as he took a step toward the Colonel. "I explained it to you. I told you what we were doing. You didn't give us any time to—"
"Did you see the enemy, Fullmetal," the Colonel retorted hardly as he narrowed his eyes. "Because Hawkeye certainly didn't. All she saw was Scar and a small child that seemingly was accompanying him. There were no Homunculi on the scene."
"That's because you didn't give them a chance to find us," Edward cried. "If you had given us just a few more minutes, one of them would have been bound to show up."
"I highly doubt it," Mustang argued, his voice cracking with from his effort to keep it calm. "The fight went on for twenty minutes, including the time Miss Rockbell was involved. That time was plenty for them to show up, and yet they did not."
"Because you didn't give them—"
"I said that was enough," Mustang rumbled as he slammed his hands down on his desk and rose to his feet. "Just admit that you were wrong and that your recklessness would have gotten you killed."
"No way," Edward shot back. "Everything was laid out; we had a plan. Ling and Lan Fan were waiting and were going to ambush them from behind when they appeared. It wasn't a fool's plan, Mustang. We're trying to figure out what the hell's going on, so why the hell are you suddenly impeding us? Where's the damn trust you promised me?!"
Mustang remained silent, his unwavering glare focused on the young blond teen, who stood firm by matching its intensity. The longer the Colonel stood there in silence, the more agitated Edward became. The one person he thought he could trust to back him up on this was turning his back on him when he needed him most. He trusted him… and Mustang let them down. His eyes caught a slight movement by Mustang's side and he turned his attention toward it to see that his superior officer's fists were trembling. Casting his glare back at the Colonel, Edward taunted, "Aren't you going to say anything else? Let out that all that pent up rage you seem to have?"
The Colonel's eyes darkened for a moment, as though he were about to argue back. But then he scoffed and took a step back, masking every ounce of anger he had pent up inside him. "Instigating me won't do you any good, Fullmetal. I told you that that was the end of the discussion, so I am done discussing it."
"Fine," Edward shot back, casting the Colonel once last glare. "I'm done discussing it too, then." Whirling around, he stormed around his brother and past Hawkeye without giving her another glance. He threw the office door open and stomped into the hallway, turning his sights toward the entrance to Central Command. He heard Al offer a quick apology to the Colonel and Lieutenant before he followed him out.
"Where are we going, Brother," Alphonse asked when he jogged up to meet him.
"To see Winry and then find Ling and Lan Fan," Edward growled, prickling with bitterness from the fruitless 'conversation' with the Colonel. "For right now, I'm counting the Colonel out of whatever plans we have, because he sure as hell isn't helping us out anymore."
"There has to be a reason," Alphonse offered sympathetically. "I mean, they did just lose a member of their team. I think that really showed in their performance today. They're both suffering."
"Still," Edward argued as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "He's smart enough to know to put his damn emotions aside for a moment. He had the opportunity to do it, and now he's lost it. So I'm shutting him out."
"Ling Yao and Lan Fan," Lust mused as she glanced toward the door the two teens had vanished through moments earlier. "Those were the two Xingese immigrants that gave Envy and Gluttony trouble before, I believe."
"So Edward and Alphonse have befriended them," Wrath muttered as he sank down into his chair and dragged his fingers through his hair. "In that case, having them around will hinder us."
She hummed in reply before turning her focus to the window, noticing that darkness that had finally fallen. She chewed at the end of her thumb, tossing his words around for a few moments until they had sunk in. Then, the only solution she found plausible to their difficult situation sprang into her mind. "Well then," she said with a smile, "Perhaps we should pay them both a visit tonight…"
