Sorry it took so long! I got kidnapped by the Pokemon Fandom but it was worth it! Here's the next chapter. Wooooo! As you can see by the title we're nearly at the end now :(
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Final Battle
Fire swirled round me. I shielded my eyes from the heat. After a few seconds, everything returned to normal. I glanced round to see Roy at the archway with Scar, Al, Falman and Fuery behind him. Roy had a look of murder on his face.
"DADDY!" Kit roared, fear stricken, tears rolling down his face. I jumped to my feet and grabbed the boy. I held him tight in my arms. Father appeared not long after.
"Such a bother," Father said. Roy and the others sunk into the floor. The shadow creature 'Pride' no doubt had something to do with this. "The Flame Alchemist. Hoenheim's child. The Ishvallan named Scar. You have finally found me."
"Give me my son," Roy yelled. I held the boy closer to me.
"As I have told your wife," Father said calmly, "He is not your son. He is mine for I created him."
Roy's eyes widened before he bit his lip. I looked over at him, worried about what he would say.
"I created him for my own purpose," Father went on, "Therefore he is my son, like the Homunclus."
Father turned to me but his eyes were focused on Kit.
"You will open the gate," he told the toddler.
"No!" Al yelled, "You can't!"
"Open the gate, child," Father said, "It is why you were born. You know how to do it so do it."
"Kit don't listen to him!" Al yelled, "That's why big brother is so big!"
As if to make Kit understand, Al took off his head and showed Kit the inside of his armour.
"It's why big brother is empty," Al said.
"Kit," Roy said this time, "Don't listen to him."
The shadow squeezed Roy suddenly. I jumped as my husband began grimacing as if the shadow was attempting to break him in two. Kit was alarmed by this.
"Daddy!" he yelled. Kit looked at Father, his expression set. Kit was mad. "Me open the gate."
"No!" Roy shouted. Kit looked at me.
"Mummy," he said, "I'm sorry but Auntie Geowge said to help people."
"Kit," I replied, fearing that Envy had brainwashed my son, "Auntie George doesn't know everything."
Kit shook his head at me.
"She said me am clever, me am brave," Kit said, "Me want be like mummy and daddy, but me can't be like mummy and daddy if mummy and daddy are dead."
"Kit," I said softly, stroking his cheek. He looked at me in such a way that I couldn't help but feel like he had a plan. Slowly I nodded.
"Riza!" Roy shouted, but we both ignored him.
"Auntie Geowge says that it better after storm," Kit said to me. I smiled softly at him. Father seemed confused by the useless babble Kit was giving me. To a certain degree so was I. Kit walked over to Father. Pride released Roy so that he could breathe again. He glared over at me but I gestured for him to calm down.
"Don't do it, Kit!" Al was yelling.
"You'll kill everyone," Scar added. Kit ignored them, allowing him to be led to a black transmutation circle over by some weird looking machinery. I stood on the spot, waiting. Something caught my eye. I saw Tserkov out of the corner of my eye. She offered me a thumbs up before she slunk into the shadows. It was a plan. I shuddered as Kit walked into the transmutation circle. Kit looked back at me, then at Roy.
"Me going save Mummy and Daddy," he told us, "And big brother."
He slowly began to put his hands on the ink when he stopped and looked at Father.
"What going to do?" he asked.
"It will open the gate so that I can absorb everything," Father replied a smile growing on his face, "I will become the most powerful being on the planet."
"Power this."
Tserkov fell from her hiding place, landing beside Roy. There was a light and the shadow completely froze.
"Make it count," she snapped at Roy, Al and Scar. I looked over at her to see her hands had froze to the shadow. The act of freezing something so large was bound to take its toll on her. Scar blasted the iced shadow and freed himself. He then quickly freed the other two alchemists. I got out my gun and shot at Father, although it didn't do much good. He merely absorbed the lead into his body. It did make him glare at me leaving Roy to attack while Father wasn't paying attention.
It took the three alchemists to fight Father. I rushed over to Kit to find the boy was already making alterations to the circle.
"Mummy, pattern," he said happily. I smiled at him.
"You know how to open the gate?" I asked. Kit nodded slowly. I stroked his head, glad he was unharmed.
"Riza," Ed yelled. They were finally here were they? I glanced to see Ed, Breda and Havoc rush through the arch. Havoc and Breda broke off to help Fuery and Falman out of the shadow. Tserkov was attempting to get herself free but it didn't look like she was succeeding. Ed stumbled over to Kit and I, unable to fight do to his arm.
"Are you two alright?" he asked.
"Little brother!" Kit cheered, "Look, look."
"A transmutation circle…" Ed muttered. He looked at the changes Kit had made to it and smiled widely. "That's it."
"What's it?" I asked. Ed pointed at the marks.
"We can change the effects of the circle," Ed told me, "But we need Colonel Flamehead to open it as well."
"Can't Kit do it?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder as a large fire ball was shot across the room.
"He will," Ed replied, "But since the three of you are linked, we'll be able to control it more if all of you activated it."
"I can't-" I was cut off as Roy was thrown across the room. I stood up out of instinct. He landed painfully on his back. Roy began to get to his feet.
"You need him?" Father asked, "To defeat me?"
Ed bit his lip hard. I scowled at Father. He looked nonchalantly at Roy, holding up his arm. A few sparks of light later, Father's nails appeared to become longer, sharper and metallic. He was aiming for Roy. Roy wouldn't be able to move in time. There was a yell from behind Roy, then a yell from Roy. He landed oddly on the floor as Father shot his nails at him. They missed him completely but Tserkov wasn't so lucky. She let out a yelp as they landed near her, one piercing her left arm. Roy glanced at her.
"Move it!" she snarled. Roy got up and rushed towards Kit and I. Ed took the opportunity to attack Father with a few kicks. Roy crouched down next to Kit and looked over the circle.
"It's brilliant," he commented, before messing Kit's hair up playfully. I glanced down at Roy to find an arrow imbedded in his calf. I glanced over at Tserkov who was now lying unconscious on the floor next to Havoc. She seemed to be bleeding heavily. My attention shifted to the battle between Father and the other alchemists. Father was matching up well against them. Too well.
"Riza," Roy said. I looked down at him. He and Kit were crouched over the centre of the circle. Roy pointed at the spot in the middle. "If we activate it here then we should be able to defeat Father."
"How?" I asked, crouching down. Roy pointed round the circle.
"Kit's tweaked it so that the Gate will open, but anything that is not human will be sucked into it," Roy explained, "As seeing as I don't think Father is human, he'll get sucked into it."
"I can't use alchemy," I said flatly. Roy smiled at me.
"Now's your chance to try," he replied. I looked at Kit who seemed just as adamant as his father. I rolled my eyes but nodded. Roy grinned. "On three… One… Two…THREE!"
The three of us put our hands on the circle at the same time. I found I was suddenly at the epicentre of green light. The whole circle lit up. An upwards draft made my hair float upwards. I glanced at Roy and Kit to see that theirs were the same.
The three of us looked round when we heard Father let out a yell. A large door like object had appeared behind Father. It swung open, revealing swirls of different sorts. Thin, black claws reached out and attached themselves to Father, dragging him into the door. One black claw made its way towards the three of us. It settled on Kit. It tapped his forehead before retreating back into the Gate. Father clawed at the floor, trying to resist the force of the many hands pulling him in. Finally the claws won and Father was pulled into the gate. The doors swung shut and the whole thing disappeared.
Kit slumped forwards as the light from the circle disappeared. I grabbed him, alarmed. Roy instantly checked for a pulse.
How could we have been so stupid? If Father had created Kit then Kit would have been taken with him. I hugged my son tightly, allowing tears to well up in my eyes. Roy let out a sigh. I looked at him.
"He's still there," he told me. I hung my head, smiling in relief. Roy stroked my shoulder. "Well… That was interesting."
A disturbance behind us signalled someone coming towards the arch. Breda, Feury and Falman were already on their feet, pointing their weapons at whatever was coming our way.
Bulldog ran into the area, followed by eight men. He looked around, confused.
"Bulldog?" Havoc asked. He got to his feet, holding Tserkov in a bridal style way in his arms. Bulldog looked around.
"Sorry. Did we miss the action?" Bulldog asked.
"You're about thirty seconds too late," Ed yelled, "Useless Briggites!"
"Hey!" Bulldog snapped, "We would've been here earlier but we were at the opposite end of the bloody country!"
Roy picked up Kit and I got to my feet. The two of us smiled at Bulldog as Ed began to yell at him over something. Al was immediately trying to defuse the situation. The rest of us seemingly relaxed for a few seconds. It was over and Kit was safe.
I think there was a lot of explaining left though.
Tserkov woke up not to long after in her hospital bed. She awoke to the screams of Ed being hit over the head by a wrench. Winry wasn't too impressed at the breakage of her automail. Apparently, Winry had travelled with the Glacier Guards who were the ones who Bulldog arrived with. Ed wasn't so pleased to see Winry as we thought he would be, but then again, with the way she was hitting him, no wonder.
Kit was still out cold. I was sat by his bed while Roy sorted out a few things out with General Armstrong. Apparently, the whole capital had gone crazy not long after we had escaped our prison cells. Armstrong had used this to her advantage and completed a coup.
Havoc walked over to me and handed me a bottle of water.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Tired," I replied. He glanced over at the confused Tserkov. She didn't seem alarmed by the noise or the fact Winry was beating Ed to a pulp with a wrench. Al was once again trying to calm down the situation.
Everything went still when Armstrong and Roy walked into the ward. Roy came straight over to Kit's bed while Armstrong stayed by the door. Bucaneer and Bulldog walked in after them.
"So is anyone going to tell me what is going on?" Armstrong asked.
"Father wanted to open the Gate so he could become really powerful," Ed started.
"So he made Riza's father create the alchemic circle on her back so that eventually Kit would be born and used to open the gate," Roy went on.
"Father also created the Homunculus," Havoc pitched in.
"One of the Homunculus was the Fuhrer," Breda added.
"Using a transmutation circle, the Mustangs were able to send Father beyond the gate," Al explained, "So that Father couldn't do anything ever again."
Armstrong, Buccaneer and Bulldog looked really confused.
"Then who called us?" Bulldog asked.
"Where's Jester?" Armstrong asked.
"How did you two get free?" Buccaneer asked.
"Scar helped us escape," Roy replied.
"I was told to get the Glacier Guards assembled," Scar explained, "And also Miss Winry, in case the Colonel needed back up."
"George is…" Breda said. Everyone looked away from Bulldog and Buccaneer. "She's dead. She was killed by a Homunculus."
"No," Bulldog said, alarmed yet upset. Buccaneer didn't say anything but he looked away from us all. Havoc and Tserkov burst into laughter suddenly. Slowly everyone looked at them. I glanced at Havoc to see him smiling genuinely.
"What's the meaning of this?" Buccaneer snapped. Havoc shut up.
"Zat iz a good question," Tserkov said, looking at Havoc. It struck me as weird that her accent was suddenly back. Havoc shrugged.
"Hey, I'm not as dumb as I look," he replied, holding his hands up, "Like I said back in the tunnel. I knew something was wrong with George when she got back here."
"Tserkov…" Roy said. Tserkov sat up in her bed.
"Lieutenant Churchill was stationed on the glaciers on Drachma's side. She had called a contact in the Drachmarian army to get some information from him, however when she reached the rendezvous point, he wasn't there. Envy had killed him and was waiting for her," Tserkov explained, "The two of them fought. Churchill was over whelmed by Envy's strength so decided to dive into the glacier to escape."
"Basic tactics," Bulldog said.
"Yar," Tserkov said, "Then she made her way back to the Drachmarian base where she came across another contact, Colonel Letovsky, who agreed to help Churchill get word to her superiors. However, when they called Briggs, they said a Lieutenant Churchill had already arrived back there. Churchill realised she had been cloned by Envy and decided to take another way to get back to Central without raising suspicion."
"And they sent you?" Armstrong asked.
"Yar," Tserkov replied.
"You worked for Colonel Letovsky?" Roy asked.
"No," Tserkov said with a shake of her head. Havoc smiled.
"I did some digging," Havoc said as I looked at him, "Just after the Colonel was arrested. Lieutenant Tserkov has served five years in the Drachmarian Army, however, she's also been blonde haired, blue eyed, a brunette with green eyes, a man with blonde hair and a black head with grey eyes too."
"She's a master of disguise?" Breda asked.
"If she can also grow and shrink at will," Havoc replied, "And turn into a man. Also the name has changed several times too."
"Anja Tserkov," Armstrong said, "You were sent by Jester? She's alive then?"
"Yar and no," Tserkov said, "Jester is alive, yar, but I wasn't sent here by her."
"Then who the hell are you?" Ed yelled. There was a pause. Tserkov nodded and proceeded to put her hand to her eyes. She put her thumb on her eyeball and pulled away a coloured lens. She did the same with the other one and looked up at us.
"I am George," she said, blinking her hazel brown eyes. Everyone had the same expression on their face: confusion. Havoc was smiling like he had worked this out ages ago. I found even my mouth was slightly open as she said this.
"Genius!" Bulldog said, being the first to recover, "Brilliant."
"Wait, you're George?" Roy asked, pointing at her, "Since when?"
"I couldn't let Envy wreck my life," Tserkov… George replied, "But I knew if I went to people 'I'm Churchill', I'd be silenced pretty fast. I found it was easier operating away from you all. I was able to call the Guards and get Ed to do stuff for me, thinking it was the Colonel ordering him around."
"So you really are George?" Breda asked.
"Yep," she replied. There was silence for a few more seconds until everyone seemed to either hug her or yell at her for keeping it a secret. Kit stirred beside me.
"Mummy," he muttered, "My head hurts."
I glanced at him before hugging him tightly. Kit hugged me back before we looked over at the crowd round George. For a while we were unnoticed until Roy realised Kit was awake, then the whole crowd descended onto him instead.
There is only one more chapter and then a short epilogue :( But there is a squel! Wooo! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. It's been a long time coming. Don't forget to review :)
RSx
