37: War

"What's going on?" Edward asked. A siren had started blaring really loudly, making him jump.

"Everyone remain calm. There has been an enemy sighting. This is not a drill; I repeat, this is not a drill." A voice announced over the intercom. Cissy, as Narcissus preferred to be called, jammed a communicator on his head. At first he heard nothing but static, but after a while Christin's voice took over.

"Everyone get into position. Blue squad, you're going out first. Red squad, you follow them. Silver will stay here as back up. Gold, you're all coming with me!" her voice was so professional it almost didn't sound like her. "Elric and Tringham, you two are going to fly with me. Find a suitable spot and get ready to fly."

"I don't get it. What are we supposed to do?" Russell asked as they hurried over to the Sora no Hime. Two other guys were adjusting their aviation goggles and communicators.

"We need a gunman and a co-pilot. Hurry up and decide your posts!" one barked.

"I can't fly a plane!" Russell whined.

"I can, more or less, but I can't be co-pilot!" Edward cried.

"Shut up and get in the plane if you wanna live!" Christin barked. Edward scrambled into the co-pilot's seat and stared blankly at the buckles. "Oh my… move your hands; I'll do it." She muttered something under her breath as she strapped him in, tugging on the shiny black belts until they were a little more than snug. A loud explosion sounded in the distance.

"We're ready back here, Captain!" the other man reported.

"Keep an eye on Tringham," she ordered. Edward watched as Christin did something with all the buttons and knobs in front of her and flinched when the plane roared to life. "Here we go!" she warned, steering the plane out after the others.

Edward couldn't help staring as the machine lifted off the ground. He had never been up so high… well, he had, but he hadn't seen his home world like this. He could actually see the curve of the planet as they rose higher into the atmosphere. Sharp black ships that looked more like blobs darted around the sky, leaving trails of bombs and smoke in their wake. He gritted his teeth as the plane sped up, tailing one enemy vessel in particular. Something zoomed past them on his left; Christin turned the plane so sharply it flipped over a few times.

"You bastard… what the hell did we ever do to you?!" she cried.

"So you're the girl with the special powers… this might be easier than I thought. Quite some time ago, my superiors sent in a requisition to have an audience with you. They were denied," a male voice replied.

"That's no reason to start bombing a city!!" she barked.

"Actually, it is. You're an abomination and a freak of nature. Something like you shouldn't be alive. We heard of you and your power and knew something was severely wrong. No one, not even your beloved alchemists," Edward flinched, "… can do the things you can. We tolerate the alchemists because they are so powerful."

"So I'm too powerful, eh? Is that it? Because I'm so powerful you want me out of the way," she chuckled dryly. "Elric, take over. Harper, you instruct him."

"What? What are you doing, Christin?" Edward asked as she unbuckled her seatbelts and turned transparent.

"I'm trying to solve the problem. And that's Captain to you," she replied curtly. She climbed through the roof of the plane and solidified, but not before Edward grabbed her ankle, thus turning transparent himself, and joining her on the roof.

"Stop it! Why won't you listen to me?" he demanded.

"You idiot! Why are you up here?! Don't you know that you can fall off if no one's driving?!" she snapped. She grabbed his automail hand and in a flash of light fused it to the plane. "Stay put; I'm getting a pilot."

"I can't!" he heard Russell insist. The blond man was shoved through the transparent roof and strapped in.

"It'll be fine," she said softly before returning to the roof. She unfused Edward's hand and the plane suddenly banked. Edward slid off and began plummeting towards the earth. "God… why me?" she muttered as she dove off the roof. Edward was so scared he couldn't even think. He thought he saw Christin jump off after him, but he wasn't sure. Wind whipped his hair into his face and made his clothing flap. Suddenly, something grabbed his waist and the wind changed direction. He looked up through slices in his blond bangs.

"You can fly?!" he cried.

"Can it; this isn't as easy as it looks. You weigh a ton," Christin replied. He watched with wide eyes as her body vanished. "Stay quiet. Invisibility only works if you're silent."

He nodded, not knowing what else to do. She seemed to hate him right now, but why was she saving him? He let his face fall and just let Christin do whatever. He felt his body… warp was a good word, like when Christin first jumped them into this world. Something red fell out of the sky, splattering in his face. It was very warm; blood, most likely. All too quickly he fell to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of him.

"Ah, she brought the other alchemist we needed. How thoughtful…" a very familiar voice cooed. He blinked and saw Envy leering down at him.

"Envy, you…" he started.

"Tut tut, now's not the time for sweet nothings. Though I have to ask, isn't it marvelous?" the Homunculus grinned. "While the outside world is occupied with another war, we have the whole city to ourselves. Remember this place?"

Edward's golden eyes scanned the room and his breath hitched in his throat. It was the ballroom he had been in when he had saved Alphonse from Dante and Rose almost became her new body. A large transmutation circle was carved into the polished floor.

"What are you planning to do?" he gasped, still trying to get his breath back.

"I'm going to take over the world, like any good villain would. Now, your role is the unsuspecting-but-still-helps-the-villain-because-the-people-he-loves-are-at-risk hero. Think you can play that part?" Envy asked sarcastically.

"Brother!!" Alphonse cried. Edward snapped his head around to see his brother chained to the floor.

"Al!!" he cried.

"Ah, ah, ah… I don't think so…" Envy cooed. He grabbed Edward's collar and flung him across the room. Someone grabbed his wrists and clamped shackles around them. Heavy chains weighed them down. "That's better. Now… for the main event."

"What are you doing, Envy?!" Edward cried. He watched as his half brother approached Christin and began lying her out on the floor in the middle of the circle. "Don't touch her!!"

"Aw, quit whining. It's not like I'm going to kill her…" he sighed, "Yet."

"Envy, please stop this!!" Deceit cried as she ran into the room, tackling the said Homunculus. "This is wrong!!"

"Shut up! No one's listening to you, you worthless waste of space!" he snapped. Edward clapped and transmuted his shackles… or so he thought. "Can't transmute them, Fullmetal. They're specially fabricated to resist alchemy. I can't have you trying to play a part other than the one specifically for you." He whipped his head around and grabbed Deceit's hair. "And you! What the hell is your problem?! After all the hard work I've put into this, you choose now of all times to bow out?!"

"I don't want this, Envy. I'm sick of living this life… living a lie! Hundreds of people are suffering because of you!! You're disrupting the flow of the world and wrecking everything!" Deceit cried, glaring furiously up at him. "I know now… I know you rigged everything… everything from Christin's passage through the gate shortly after she was born because of her power to the train accident that killed me… none of that was supposed to happen!!" she gasped and coughed up blood.

"That's what you get for trying to save your stupid sister and her boyfriends," Envy hissed, withdrawing his arm-turned-blade from her abdomen. "Now stay out of my way so I can get her power and my revenge!"

"What's going on?!" Edward cried as the chains attached to his shackled jerked forward, bringing his hands together for a clap. He watched as Alphonse did the same, only to see their shackles disintegrate into white dust.

"I'm the one you want, right? Why bother terrorizing my friends? Why bother starting a war? All you could possibly want is right in front of you," Christin said as she stood up, blood dripping down the side of her face. "Why not take me, if that's what you so desire?"

"I won't let you walk away from this alive!!!" Envy screeched. Deceit shrieked and clutched her head, quickly followed by Alphonse. "Aislinn and Alphonse are only part Homunculus, meaning I can take control of them anytime I want to. And because your heart is also a machine, I can control you, thanks to Robin's ability to jump through time and space. He was kind enough to bring me a controlling device as a souvenir, something that can control anything that is a machine."

"Brother…" Alphonse gasped. Edward dashed for Envy, swiftly transmuting his arm into a blade. Deceit darted in front of him and blocked his attempted attack at Envy with her arm.

"You have to kill me… that's the only way you can free yourself and your brother…" she croaked. "Please… kill me…"

"Aislinn, don't say that! You can't die!" Christin cried, large cracks appearing in the ground from sudden instability of her powers.

"Yes, that's it… lose control…" Envy grinned. "… Unleash your pain and suffering… the more you release the more I can control…"

Edward tried circling Envy, but Aislinn blocked him again, forming a shield out of her black power. Christin watched in horror as her friends fought each other. She tried to keep her powers under control, but just couldn't. The cracks traveled further across the floor, snaking up into the wall where the two met sometimes. Her chest throbbed in pain, as did her head. Suddenly, an idea struck her: Aislinn and she were connected, right? Some things that one did reciprocated in the other. Maybe… just maybe… she grit her teeth and made ready to charge, but Alphonse blocked her path. Before she could think, she slammed into him, pressing her lips to his and transferring her power. Something red – too pinkish to be blood – began oozing out of his neck and crystallizing. She had countered the Red Stones in his body and they were now being rejected. She just had to do the same with Aislinn… with her apparent sister. But she seemed to be more under Envy's control than Alphonse had, so she might have to use her brilliant idea after all. Edward still fought her, trying to get to Envy, who was merely standing there laughing his green-haired head off. Aislinn kept getting in his way… maybe her idea would work… out of the corner of her eye, she saw Robin stride into the room.

Envy slowed his laughing to a chuckle, but his eyes went wide when he saw Christin heading towards them. "Vengeance, get her!" he barked. A familiar flash of blue light indicated that the boy was no longer part Homunculus… that stupid girl returned his humanity! He saw the crystallized, rejected Red Stones sparkling in the dim lighting. He tried to move, but found his feet trapped.

"My name is Alphonse, and I'm not a Homunculus anymore. I'm sick of being everyone's puppet. I have my body back and I'm going to put it to good use!" Alphonse roared, feeling angrier than he ever had in his entire life.

Edward sighed and clapped, pressing his hands to the floor. Large blocks rose out of the ground, but Deceit… Aislinn, whoever she was… simply ran along the tops of them as they rose out of the ground. For a split second he saw her face; she was crying. This was hurting her… he hated it too, because she reminded him so much of Christin, but until he got to Envy there wasn't much he could do about it. She was under his control, and until he got around her could he get to him. Alphonse was busy with the other Homunculi, who appeared sometime in the past few minutes, and Christin… was fighting off Robin. Amidst the chaos, he felt eerily calm. She was trying to save him. Maybe… maybe she didn't hate him after all. He knew that she was prone to interpreting things the wrong way… maybe she had seen that it wasn't his fault so much as Rose. Or maybe she wanted to do away with him by her own hands. He shook his head, dashing the negative thoughts from his brain and returned his attention to Aislinn.

"Christin… she can stop this…" she whispered. Confusion flashed through his brain. Christin was helping them; he already knew that. She as trying to stop Envy's madness. He had gone too far this time. Hohenheim was dead, as was Dante… why did he still come after him? Edward had nothing to do with his creation, so why was he at the center of so many attacks? Shouldn't Envy have died when the permanent Gate was made back in Germany? How deep did his hatred run?

"Try all you want, Fullmetal! You'll never get anywhere!" Envy cackled.

"I've had enough of you!" Edward hollered. "When I kill you this time, I want you to stay dead!!

He swung his right arm around extra harsh, hoping to pierce Aislinn and wound her enough to make Envy pause to let her regenerate. He closed his eyes as he was about to strike, desperately wishing this was all over. He felt his arm enter something soft and warm, and heard a feminine gasp. Wait… why did he feel the insides of Aislinn? All the times his automail touched her, he hadn't felt anything. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. Christin coughed up blood and gripped his arm. She looked up weakly and offered a smile.

"Sorry about how I acted before. I knew… it wasn't your fault…" she coughed. Edward just stared in horror at her, his golden eyes filling with hot tears. What had he done?

Instead of hitting Aislinn, he had pierced Christin directly through her abdomen.

A/N: okay, a rather short chappy, but whatever. I've decided to stop the breaking up the story into three parts and mush them all into one, like I originally planned. Also, I changed the title to Deus ex Machina, because it means 'god from a machine' in Latin, and Christin is basically that: she has the powers of a 'god' but realized that through the 'machine' she was becoming (her ipod fusing with her body and then her mechanical heart). Makes sense? Yes? No? Maybe so? I dunno… it makes sense to me and if you think about it I'm sure you'll get it too. If not, then please enjoy the story for the story's sake. Like the ending for this chappy? I've wanted to write that for months now.

Until chapter 38…