Chapter 10: Memories of the Damned:

Horrified golden eyes reflected evil, vengeful violet irises.

Edward couldn't move. His legs seemed frozen solid. How could this be? There was a homunculus copy of himself...!

Words of the Gatelings floated through his memory.

'In the alchemy world...one of us is...trapped inside...of dead Golden boy.'

Wow. It would really mess with his psyche when he killed that monster. Killing something with your own face could have that effect.

But nevermind all that crap now, that thing had Trisha!

Ed put one foot forward...the blade pressed harder on Trisha's neck.

"I wouldn't try anything Edward. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little girl now, would you?", Pride stated.

Ed's nerve started to rise up.

"W..what do you want?", he asked.

"Your death, Edward. My whole existence is because of you! Tucker tried to bring you back, so he could make me bring back Nina. And what would've happened afterwards if I had? I'll tell you...nothing. I would have no reason to live anymore. I don't now, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of killing the one who ruined my so-called 'life'!! And we both know mine isn't the only life you've ruined!", Pride shouted.

Edward tensed at Pride's words.

"You were the one who made the decision to bring back your mom, and never even listened to Alphonse even once! You were so into wanting to see a talking chimera, that Tucker made Nina into that thing! Hughes died because he wanted to help you in your business! Dr.Marcoh got eaten by Gluttony because you forced him out of hiding!"

Ed's eyes started to fill with grief & self-loathing at Pride's every sentance.

"I...I...!"

"And what about the other world's Edward? It's your fault he got killed since you were in his body! And Alfons Heidrich! He gave his life to help you get home! Also Edward, think about the one person who's life you've ruined the most. Al. You put him in a suit of armor for 4 goddamn years. A metal prison that couldn't feel, sleep, eat, or even dream! Al didn't deserve to have his body taken away. You should've been taken instead.", Pride finished.

Ed stood rooted to the ground.

"You've escaped death too many times Edward. I'm here to put a stop to it. You're not immortal. You should have died a long time ago."

The air seemed to tighten as alchemical energy fizzed around Pride, his red tattoos glowing a bright blue. (A/N: Pride can also use alchemy thanks to the Gateling inside him.) Alphonse clapped his hands, about to slam them onto the ground, when the wooden floorboards rose up, curling around his wrists, keeping them from touching anything. Pride had seemingly alchemized the entire room to do his bidding. Trisha's bedsheet flew off of the mattress, & wrapped around Winry, making her lose her balance & fall to the ground.

All this seemed to happen in seconds, as Edward watched in horror. As he started to move towards his brother & Winry, the floorboards wrapped around his ankles, exposed nails digging into his skin. Ed gasped in pain, & turned to face Pride. He was still on the windowsill, eyeing the chaos with vicious delight, while Trisha watched in horror.

Trisha's eyes started to water as she saw her father in pain. She looked up at her captor, and her anger started to rise. How dare he hurt him! Her cheeks became red with fury, and she wriggled her head out of Pride's tight grasp, and immediately bit down hard on his arm, drawing a bit of blood.

Pride winced in pain, grabbing Trisha by her arm, making her face him. Anger at her impudence lit his violet eyes...until he saw tears in her own, because of the pain he was inflicting on her and her family.

His eyes softened as he looked into her golden irises.

...and he was hit with 10 years worth of Ed's memories from the other world.

And that...can give someone a major headache.

Pride screamed as his mind felt like it was being crushed, unconciously letting go of Trisha, retracting his scythe into his body, and deactivating the alchemized room. Trisha immediately ran to her father, Ed hugging her to his chest protectively. Al cradled his bloody wrists, and the bedsheet simply fell off of Winry.

Edward turned to Pride, who was currently gasping in pain.

Edward clapped his hands, set them onto his metal arm, and formed it into a machine gun with a crackle of blue energy. Pride took this moment to turn back to Ed.

Ed glared, livid. "You...BASTARD.", he ground out. The machine gun fired a round of bullets, effectively blasting off Pride's right arm.

Pride screamed in pain, before grasping the bloody stump of his shoulder and bailing out the window. Using his superior speed, he ran down the road until he was out of sight, leaving a trail of blood on the dirt.

Ed grasped the windowsill in fury, his now normal automail hand crushing a bit of the wood.

Al, Winry & Trisha watched as Ed's shoulders slumped. He then walked to his daughter, knelt down, and hugged her.

Ed's left hand felt the slight mark of where the blade had been on her neck.

He shuddered...and soon started to cry.

Trisha put her small arms around her father's neck, while Al & Winry gently placed their hands on his shoulders, hoping to comfort Edward as well.

It was exactly 1:00 am.