Hello readers! The tenth chapter is finally here! I can't believe there's been ten chapters of "I'll Carry You"! That's crazy...and awesome! This chapter is mostly based on episode 55 of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, it's characters, or original dialogue. All rights of that stuff goes to Hiromu Arakawa. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I liked writing it. (Except my back was KILLING me after I was done.) I also really like the little team that has formed of Wendy, Olivier, and Armstrong. I think it's awesome and bad-ass! Reviews are very much appreciated. Enjoy~!
Wendy's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp crackling noise.
Red light flashed around Sloth's mangled body. That means that he was attempting to regenerate.
Then, everyone in the room, including Armstrong, Olivier, Wendy, and the many soldiers, heard gun shots outside of the room.
Wendy cringed every time she heard a shot.
"We're under attack!?" a soldier asked in disbelief.
"It couldn't be…Mustang's soldiers?" another soldier wondered.
Just then, a soldier burst through the door, and collapsed onto the ground.
Another soldier slowly backed into the room, shooting at someone.
The soldier turned around, and he looked absolutely terrified.
Suddenly, a flash of white leapt onto the man, and bit into his neck, tearing open his skin.
He gave out a wail of pain, and fell to the ground.
The attacker looked up, and Wendy saw it's face.
It wasn't even human. But, it didn't look like a homunculus either. It was more like a humanoid figure, which had the shape of a man. It had only one large eyeball in the middle of it's face, and had red markings on it's back, face, and chest.
More of those things then started slowly shuffling into the room, one by one. Wendy started panicking, looking for her weapon.
Her sword was nowhere in sight.
Sweat streamed down her forehead, as she nervously searched the area for her sword. She couldn't find it anywhere.
"Damn it!" Wendy cried out, as the creatures dashed into the room.
Soldiers started firing at them. Some of them fell over after being shot, but they all slowly stood back up again.
What!? How is that possible!? They couldn't be homunculus…could they? What are those things!? Wendy screamed in her mind.
"What are those things!?" a soldier yelled, almost reading her thoughts, "Even when they're shot, they don't die!"
"Are they soldiers from FortBriggs?" another soldier asked.
"Idiots!" Olivier shouted, hearing them talk about her soldiers that she trained, "How dare you compare my brave men to specimens as disgusting as those! I'm guessing that they're the same as this guy." She pointed towards the homunculus Sloth, who still had a huge column pierced through him, "The one who gives you orders must have sent out these things for an attack."
An Amestrian soldier near Olivier pointed his gun at her. "We don't know anything about these things, you understand!?"
Olivier chuckled, and smirked. "Well then, I guess they just don't care. It doesn't matter to them whether you know or not."
Two of the creatures jumped onto two Amestrian soldiers, tearing into their necks.
Wendy gasped, and continued to frantically search for her sword. Finally, she saw the blade glimmering behind a piece of building rubble.
She crawled over and quickly grabbed it, leaping to her feet. Thank goodness she found it in time. If she hadn't, she may not have had enough time to transmute her arm into a blade, and therefore would have gotten killed.
A soldier still had his gun aimed at Olivier.
"So, what's it going to be? My Brother and I can handle these monsters." Olivier sneered, wondering if the soldier was really going to shoot her or not.
Just then, a giant chunk of Sloth's arm tore off and fell on the ground with a splat.
Red light flashed.
Now, he was really regenerating.
Wendy dashed across the room, to get to Olivier and Armstrong. One of the odd humanoid creatures dove at her as she was running, but she easily dodged him.
Right when Wendy finally made it over to them, Sloth stood up, with a giant piece of column in his mouth.
Olivier suddenly grabbed the soldier's wrist, and put the barrel of the gun to her own forehead.
"WELL!? WHAT'S IT GONNA BE!? DO YOU PLAN ON SHOOTING US, AND THEN FALLING PREY TO THE MONSTERS AFTER!? OR, ARE YOU GOING TO WORK WITH US AND BRING THEM DOWN TOGETHER!? MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN MIND NOW!" Olivier screamed at him.
"General Olivier! Stop! He could shoot you!" Wendy screamed, about to try to attack the soldier she was talking to.
"No, kid! Stay back! She can handle this!" Armstrong shouted at her.
Wendy stopped, and slowly nodded. She was just going to stay out of this.
Amestrian soldiers poured through the ceiling.
Hanging from ropes, they lowered themselves onto the ground, landing softly.
"Monster! What is that thing?" some of the soldiers said, looking at Sloth regenerating.
"You're here! Give us a hand!" One of the soldiers that was already in the room before said.
"No. We can't do that. We're under orders to kill General Armstrong." One of the new soldiers answered.
He turned around, and saw Olivier standing before him.
He aimed his gun at her. "General! Major!"
Olivier scowled, her blonde hair draped over her angry blue eyes. "You're here just in time. FROM THIS POINT ON, I'LL BE RUNNING THE SHOW!"
She turned around. "Help us out, or we all die!"
The new soldiers nodded.
More of the white creatures from before, the mannequins, walked into the room.
"Everyone! Get down, now!" Armstrong shouted.
Everyone ducked, and he flung a heavy chain over the crowd, which knocked some of the living mannequins down.
Most of the soldiers started shooting at them. Armstrong kept trying to hit them with the chain over and over. Olivier was using her sword. Wendy stood to the side, not knowing what to do.
"Hyeah!" she shouted, dropping her sword and clapping her hands together.
She touched her hands to the ground, and used her alchemy to make the ground rise and encase at least thirty mannequin soldiers as once.
"Bullets have no effect on them! Go for their upper jaws! If we do that, at least we won't be eaten! Attack in pairs, and take out at least one! Get ready to fight, Central soldiers! Show me your courage, men!" Olivier commanded everyone.
Wendy continued to encase more mannequins. However, one managed to dodge everyone's attacks, and was heading strait for her.
She clenched her teeth as the monster dove on top of her, knocking her to the ground.
It made growling noises, and it's teeth went for her neck.
She couldn't grab her sword in time, so she balled up her fist and punched the monster right in the face, knocking it off of her.
Wendy quickly used her alchemy to fight off more of them, but it looked like there were just more and more coming.
Sloth put his hand on his aching head, now finished regenerating. "Let's see…where was I? Ah…I remember. I need to kill the woman General."
Sloth walked forward, to try to get to Olivier. However, he couldn't move. He looked down, and saw a chain wrapped around his left ankle.
Armstrong held the other end of the chain, stopping the homunculus from going anywhere.
"Oh no you don't!" Armstrong said when Sloth turned around and glared at him.
"Let go!" Sloth said, trying to pull away from Armstrong.
He then broke the chain, and flung it at Armstrong, hitting him fiercely on his left shoulder, which was already dislocated.
Armstrong growled in pain.
"This would be so much easier if I could use both arms." Armstrong stated.
Sloth swung his gigantic fist at him, knocking him in the jaw. Then he swung again and again, and soon there was a thin line of blood pouring down Armstrong's face.
Wendy sliced her large curved sword strait into a mannequin soldier's skull.
She glanced over, and saw the homunculus Sloth repeatedly punching Armstrong over and over.
"General Olivier! Go to your Brother! The homunculus is going to kill him!" Wendy screamed.
"No! Just leave him there! He's my brother, and he was trained better than to be killed like this!" Olivier snapped back.
Armstrong looked up, and glared at his sister.
"This is it. This is the end." Sloth stated, ready to hit Armstrong once last time, expecting to kill him.
Armstrong's pale blue eyes gleamed.
He turned just in time, so Sloth's hit only hit his dislocated shoulder.
Armstrong let out a loud battle cry, and lifted up his fist, which contacted with Sloth's firm lower jaw.
Sloth flew back, and landed harshly on the ground.
"Nice!" Olivier said, smiling at her Brother.
"Good Job, Major Armstrong!" Wendy cheered.
Armstrong beamed, and ran over to Sloth, who was getting up form the ground.
One after another, Armstrong hit many punches on the homunculus.
Sloth kept getting knocked back from all the punches.
Eventually, by using his alchemy, Armstrong finished Sloth off by punching his fists into the ground, causing a giant spike to pierce through Sloth's head.
"My incredible strength and the arts of my alchemy work beautifully together! You'll find them to be an uncomfortable combination!" Armstrong boasted, sparkles of pride shedding from his skin.
After she punched a mannequin soldier in the face, Wendy looked over at Armstrong and smiled underneath her mask.
What was that? I couldn't hear you." A soldier said, hunched over the phone.
All the other soldiers, Armstrong, Olivier, and Wendy were all doing their best to fight off the rest of the mannequin soldiers.
The soldier with the phone listened carefully, then his eyes grew wide.
"What!? Are you sure!?" he asked the other person on the line, obviously hearing something unbelievable.
"What happened!?" another solider came over to his side.
"The OperationCenter! It's been taken over by Brigg's forces, and they've captured General Cremid!" the soldier with the phone answered.
Olivier heard this, and ran over to the phone.
Across the room, Wendy saw Olivier shouting into the phone.
Right then, Wendy was making sure that all of the mannequin soldiers she'd encased in concrete earlier were completely dead.
Wendy dashed across the room, nervous as to what Olivier was talking about over the phone. Hopefully nothing bad was happening.
"It's getting bad out here. We have a large number of pale humanoid monsters on the loose. They're hard to kill…and worse, they're man eaters. No matter what happens, do not open any gates! We can't allow a single monster out into the city. WE NEED TO DESTROY THEM. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Olivier shouted into the phone.
Wendy stared at her, with wide eyes.
"Major General Olivier…what is happening at Central command? How did Briggs soldiers take over? And…why did they take over?" She asked.
Olivier smirked. "Mayhem is what's happening at Central Command. If you don't already know, I'm the leader of the Briggs soldiers. However, what they are doing in Central Command right now wasn't my idea. They planned that themselves. In Briggs, our most valued law is 'Survival of the Fittest'. I taught my soldiers that they need to have a brain of their own. And, if something happens to their leader (me), they can still go on themselves. That, is true proof of a great army."
Wendy smiled. She definitely admired how fondly Olivier talked about her soldiers.
"Okay…but I'm still confused as to why they took over Central Command." Wendy stated.
Olivier smiled softly. "It's a lot to explain. I'll just say that somewhere in upper Amestris military command, some people are trying to overthrow all of the military. My Briggs soldiers are preventing this from happening. Trust me. We are on the good side."
"Oh, and, by the way," Olivier continued to Wendy, "If you're wearing that mask to keep your identity a secret, I suggest you be careful to keep it that way. If no one knows you, then that will make it a whole lot easier for the people you're teaming up with."
Wendy adjusted her mask that covered her mouth and nose completely.
"Thanks. I'll be careful." She answered.
The two of them looked around the room. There were still quite a few mannequin soldiers, but it seemed like the Amestrian soldiers were starting to get a handle on them. However, it was still pandemonium. So, Wendy ran back into the battle and gave her best efforts to destroy a large amount of mannequin soldiers.
Just then, a whole group of more mannequins entered the room.
"More!? Will they never stop coming!?" Armstrong said, exasperated.
Olivier and a soldier were back-to-back, fighting off more mannequins.
"Uh, sorry General. But what the hell are these things?" the soldier asked.
She smirked. "They are the immortal legion, as promised. They are created by placing human souls inside mannequin bodies. They are soldiers with no fear of death."
Wendy was nearby, listening to their conversation. She shook with fear when she heard Olivier's words.
That is awful! Who in the world would take innocent souls and make them into these brainless things!? Wendy wondered. Her fists were clenched with anger.
Just then, there were flashes of red light, which were from Sloth regenerating for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"How many times do we have to kill that thing!?" a soldier asked, looking at Sloth.
"As many times as it takes!" Armstrong answered, clenching his fists.
Sloth stood up, and used his super speed to dash forward, slamming into a wall.
"Damn it! This thing is starting to piss me off!" Wendy growled, staying close to Olivier and Armstrong.
Armstrong used his alchemy to create a spike from the ground, in attempt to slow down the homunculus.
Sloth easily broke through this, and ran to the opposite wall, sending Armstrong, Olivier, and Wendy flying through the air.
Some soldiers tried running over to them to help, but Armstrong just stopped them.
"Stay back! Olivier and I are the ones he's after. Keep your distance." He warned.
Then he turned to Wendy, who was sprawled across the floor next to him.
"You too, kid! Get out of here! I don't know who you are, but this isn't your fight! You're going to get hurt, so get out of here!"
Wendy scoffed, getting back onto her feet. "There's no way I'm leaving you guys now. I'm sticking with you two, whether you like it or not!"
Armstrong smiled. "I admire your courage."
Sloth got back on his feet, and groaned. "…Must…Kill her. She's such a stubborn woman…that general."
Armstrong stood in front of his sister protectively.
Sloth leapt forward, and a bunch of soldiers grabbed one of his large chains, and trapped him from going any further.
"Pull! Come on, everyone! Pull!" One of the soldiers yelled.
All of the soldiers pulled back, struggling to keep the homunculus from moving.
Despite their efforts, no matter how hard they pulled on the chain, Sloth still moved forward slowly.
"The three of you…run now, while you can!" one of the soldiers shouted at Armstrong, Olivier, and Wendy.
"This way! Please! Quickly! Go now!" Another soldier said, pointing at the doorway.
"You would have me run away from this? The mere thought of fleeing the battlefield in disgrace. I swear on my life that such a thing would never happen again!" Armstrong said, having flashbacks to the Ishvalan war.
Sloth struggled against the soldiers, but eventually snapped the chain they were holding him back with.
Sloth walked forward, and dove at the three of them.
There was a loud boom, and then Sloth was blown to the side of the room before he could hurt anyone.
Olivier, Armstrong, and Wendy all looked to what had blown him to the side, to see a giant chunk of concrete, obviously moved and formed with alchemy.
Still using alchemy, someone stepped out from inside the chunk of concrete, by forming a door.
Out stepped a tall woman, with light skin and dreadlock-like black hair pulled into a pony tail. She was wearing a long white coat, and she had an alchemy symbol tattooed on the left side of her chest.
Then the woman started speaking. "You refused to run. That's impressive. You're a fine man. But, then again, I've already got a man a hundred times finer than you." She smirked, and cracked her knuckles.
"And who are you?" Olivier asked.
The woman thought for a second. "I'm a female officer. You must be the legendary General Armstrong then. That subordinate of yours…the one that has a Mohawk asked me to come and help you."
Olivier mumbled something under her breath. She knew exactly who sent this woman to save them. It was her most trusted soldier, Captain Buccaneer.
Nearby, Sloth stood up, ready to strike again.
Sloth dashed towards them, at super speed.
With ease, the woman with the white coat grasped him by the arm, and flipped the gigantic homunculus through the air.
Armstrong, Olivier, and Wendy stared with awe at the huge monster soar above them.
"Honey! He's coming at you!" The woman yelled, with a smirk.
A man on the other side of the room, who just appeared, balled up his fist and punched Sloth so hard it made him fly across the room, smashing into a wall.
"That was extraordinary. Who is he?" Armstrong asked the woman in the white coat.
"He's my husband." She answered simply.
They all looked at him. He was a man just about as tall as Armstrong. He had rippling muscles, black hair, and a full black beard.
Armstrong ran over to the man, shaking his hand in respect.
Just then, Sloth dashed towards them. Without hesitation, both Armstrong AND the man punched Sloth in the jaw with all their might. They continued to punch him over and over, with their combined strength.
Lastly, they grabbed him by the legs, and swung him up into the air, and he smashed into the ceiling, and then fell back down.
Sloth groaned. "Ug…it hurts…"
He tried to regenerate, but nothing was happening.
Just then, the homunculus's hand burst into dust.
The rest of him just slowly faded away, bit by bit.
"Am I dying now…for real? What is dying like…? It's such a pain…to think about it. But it's also such a pain…to live, too…"
Those were Sloth's last words, and then he had completely faded away, into nothing but a pile of black dust.
It was over. Sloth was finally dead.
Wendy exhaled.
Then, all of the pain they had ignored started to catch up with them now that the battle with Sloth was over.
Armstrong collapsed to his knees, clutching his dislocated shoulder, groaning.
"All that's left are scrawny mannequins! Get a move on and eliminate them!" Olivier commanded the Amestrian soldiers in the room. They nodded, and got to work with killing the rest of the mannequins.
Olivier sat down to catch her breath after that.
Wendy sat down, too, clutching her left hip. Her bullet wound still burned. She had other painful gashes and bruises on her body, but she would be fine for now.
Olivier turned to the woman with the long white coat. "I don't know who you are, but I am grateful for the help."
She smiled. "It was my pleasure."
Olivier continued, "With skills like yours, I'm surprised I haven't heard of you before."
The woman grinned, flattered. "My 'skills'? I'm just a housewife and an alchemist. Nothing more. You have met the Elric Brothers…haven't you? They're like family to me."
Wendy's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't breath. She almost fell over by how fast she ran over to the woman.
"Does that mean that you're Izumi Curtis?" Olivier added.
She nodded. "That's me."
"Then I'd assume that the Elrics are here too." Olivier said.
Wendy was at a loss of words. That meant they were still alive!
"T-THE ELRIC BROTHERS ARE HERE!? W-WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE THEM!? ARE THEY SAFE!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!?" Wendy shouted at her, hoping that she was telling the truth.
Izumi furrowed her brows at Wendy. "I'm not sure where they are at this very moment. Who are you, anyways? Do you know them?"
Wendy was hesitant. So far she had kept her identity a secret to everyone. Should she tell Izumi her real name?
Armstrong's eyes widened in realization as he looked at Wendy.
"Wait…I know who you are! I remember a while ago Edward Elric introduced me to you! You're Wendy, aren't you?" he said, pointing at her.
Wendy sighed. She pulled down her mask, revealing her face.
"Yes. My name is Wendy Havoc. I am the former 'Sapphire Alchemist'. I was close friends with the Elric Brothers until I left to Xing. I spent a year there training to be a better alchemist. This is my first day back in Amestris."
Olivier laughed. "Well, you picked a pretty rotten day to come back to this country, huh? It wasn't the wisest decision to come back on the Promised Day."
Wendy smiled gently, and her blue eyes looked off into the distance. "Well…while I was in Xing, Ed warned me about today. I decided that I had to come here to help out as much as I can. I didn't know things were going to be this crazy."
Izumi grinned. "So…you're the 'Wendy Havoc' I've heard so much about. Al told me a lot about you. He went on and on for an hour talking about how great you are."
Wendy blushed. "Really? Well, I'm not that great. I'm just an old friend of theirs."
Izumi laughed. "I doubt that you're just a friend to them. I think you're more that that. Well, at least you are more to Ed."
Wendy's blushed darkened, and she pulled her mask back up to cover half her face.
"So, how do you know them?" Wendy asked her.
Wendy listened as Izumi talked about how she trained them when they were little kids.
Meanwhile, Armstrong decided what there next move would be.
"Alright. Now it's time to take care of the rest of these dummies. Now, tell me the truth, sister. Can you really stand?" he asked.
"Don't ask stupid questions." She sneered, standing up.
"Hold on a second. You're severely injured. You should take it easy." Izumi warned.
"Like I said before, I know how to perform alchehestry. I can close some of your wounds." Wendy said.
"You know how to perform alchehestry!?" Izumi asked, amazed.
"Yeah," Wendy grinned proudly, "Only a little bit, though. My Master in Xing gave me a few introduction lessons. It's quite fascinating, actually. Although, I'm probably the worst alchehestrist in the world. It's very different from alchemy, and it's very hard to master. I'm still learning, though."
"No. We don't have time for that." Olivier insisted, "We have to keep moving. The Promised Day isn't over yet."
"You make a very good point. My husband and I would like to help you guys out." Izumi said.
"Thanks. We'd appreciate any help we can get." Armstrong said.
Everyone turned to Wendy.
"So, are you sticking with us? You don't have to stay here. You can go find your friends and help them out. It's your choice." Olivier said.
Wendy grinned under her mask. "I said I was going to stick with you guys, and I meant it. My friends can handle themselves just fine for now."
"Also," Wendy added, "We're a team now. And a team sticks together."
Reviews are appreciated! ^_^