Hughes dropped the phone.
Hughes dropped it with his heartbeat in his mouth.
They were here. They were at the command center.
"Is that…" He choked, thinking harder. "Is that why nobody was questioning anything at the base? Did our doppelgangers tell everyone that it was fine? Is that what's been going on? Why are they doing this? What's their endgame here?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" The voice of Armstrong said from the now dangling phone.
Hughes snapped out of his trance, quickly grabbing the phone. "I'm sorry, I'm here." He hoped his voice didn't sound too shaky. "What do you mean they're at the base?"
"I saw all of them, and from the looks of it they were heading to Fuhrer Bradley's office."
"Fuhrer Bradley? Why would he….?" He gasps, eyes shrinking. "He couldn't be…"
"Lieu. Colonel?"
Hughes grit his teeth. "No way...He can't be…" He grips the phone tighter, a certain memory playing back in his mind. "Fuck!"
"Lieu. Colonel Hughes? What is it? What did you figure out?!"
"It's about William and what he said to me when we first met back in the warehouse…"
"-From that day,the officer's rage helped him move in the ranks, eventually overthrowing the Fuhrer and becoming the most feared man in the whole country-"
"He told me that the other Roy overthrew the Fuhrer, but the more I look back at it, the more I wondered how? How would someone like Fuhrer Bradley back off so easily? And then it hit me…" His knuckles turned pure white against the handle. "I think he might have killed him."
Over the line, Armstrong sucked in a breath, growing rather pale against his fair complexion. "You don't think he's here to kill our Fuhrer, do you?"
Hughes bit the tip of his finger nervously. "It's just a theory, I could be completely wrong. However, why else would he be there? Why would the other doppelgangers show up now? Unless… they're trying to draw William out."
"But why would William be drawn out like that by the Fuhrer?"
"Because William is exactly like our Edward, he's always trying to save somebody, even the enemy. If saving the Fuhrer means giving up his life to do so, then William would."
A pause.
"My god… I never thought of it like that."
Another pause, and Hughes enough time to think before the Major spoke again.
"What's the plan?"
"Well if they're going to try to draw William out, then there's no way the rest of us are going to sit back and let him go alone." Hughes replies, his nerves simmering down. "Major, try to see if there's any way you can slow him down. I'm going to alert the others and try to come up with a plan."
"I'll see what I can do. Good luck to you all."
"Same goes for you. Be careful."
He hangs up the phone and grips his hair with a heavy sigh. This day couldn't get any worse. Possible memories lost, Another Kimblee, a possible murder attempt on their Fuhrer, this day just keeps gettiing worse, and worse.
And it's going to get a whole lot worse….
*Break*
"I'll see what I can do. Good luck to you all." Armstrong said, holding the phone tightly, his body shaking in fear.
"Same goes for you. Be careful." Hughes said over the line, and the phone went dead shortly after.
Armstrong placed the phone back on the receiver, still feeling the tip of the blade against the nape of his neck. His family would be ashamed if they saw him in this state, cowering on the floor, staring at a wall with guilt of lying to a commanding officer.
"Did he fall for it?" A voice behind him said, the one holding the deadly weapon.
He nods slowly. "Yes… he did." He turns around to face a familiar face, one that had a bandage over his left eye, and a faux Colonel uniform.
"Good." Fuhrer Roy said, smirking mischievously.
"Now please, let Miss Winry go. That was the deal."
Roy cocked his head to the side, looking over to where Captain Hawkeye had a barrel pressed in the poor girl's forehead. He then glanced back to the Major's pleading eyes, and gave in. He sighs. "I guess that's fine, you did hold up your end of the bargain."
Hawkeye then tossed Winry by her collar into the state alchemist's arms, which he gladly welcomed. She was shaking to her core, desperately trying to grab onto his uniform with her bound hands as she sobs muffley from the gag they tied around her mouth. Tears pricked out of her eyes, as the man held her closer.
"Why?" Armstrong asked, looking back at the doppelganger who was putting his sword away. "Why did you do this to her? To cut her hair and scar her face?"
"Just some changes to Miss Rockbell to get Edward to come pay me a visit, that's all." Roy said proudly, with an evil glint in his eyes.
"But why? What exactly is your plan? Your endgame here? Why must you go through all this extreme measures-"
"Like killing your own Fuhrer Bradley?"
A pause, and he could feel Winry shaking again. Armstrong gluped. "Y-yes…."
The evil Roy of course smiled. "Yes, I guess that's another thing my and your world has in common, our Fuhrer's were both Homunculus-" His eyes trailed to the pile of ashes next to his feet, and tiny pieces of red that used to be the philosopher's stone. "-Such a shame, he didn't even put up a fight like the last one."
Roy let himself smell the burning scent that was still lingering in the air, as he started peeling the white bandage off his eye.
Armstrong tightened his grip on the girl. "I don't understand, how though? If he was a homunculus, how did you out of all people kill him?"
"Easy." He shrugs out of his top half of his uniform. "All you have to do is suck all the oxygen out of the room, and turn it up a couple hundred degrees, then you have yourself a killing machine. Too bad that everyone was at Mandatory Training, or otherwise I would have guns pointing at my face."
Armstrong was surprised by the words coming out of his mouth, "You're a monster. Even this world's Colonel Mustang wouldn't do that."
"Well that's because he's weak. 'Hero of Ishval', my ass. If you want to win the war, you have to do it at any cost." Falman handed him his Fuhrer jacket which he then slid on.
"War? Are you saying this is all just a war between you and your Edward Elric?"
"Of course. There's a war going in my world anyway, so why not bring it here too? I mean, Elric's already figure how to open rifts between worlds, so why not use that to my advantage?" He rakes his fingers into his hair, slicking back, completing his look. "So while I go prepare for more rifts to open, my subordinates here will keep an eye on the two of you." He starts heading for the door, stopping short to cup the blonde girl's chin, making her look at him. "And when I'm done, I'm coming back to get you."
Her pupils shrunk and she wiggled away, falling back into the alchemist's embrace. Armstrong scowled, "Damn you…" He whispered, harshly.
Roy chuckled, and opened the door, sparing another glance. "Oh, and Major?" Hateful blue eyes faced his charcoal and smoky gray one, and his smile grew again. "That window over there has a clear shot of the training field, if you value the lives of Sergeant Brosh, or Lieutenant Ross, or anybody else down there, I suggest you don't do anything drastic; I do have one hell of a sniper on my team."
He closed the door, and only then did Armstrong feel like he might cry himself.
*Break*
A metal fist hit the table hard.
"You can't be serious?!" William blurted out, frustrated.
"So they're at Central Command, and they're planning to kill the Fuhrer?" Heymans asked, gripping his ginger hair in distress.
"It's just a guess, but they could be." Hughes chimed in, reminding them of his wild guest about the doppelgangers' plan.
"Yeah, but still, they're at Central."
Roy sighs, shifting his stance uncomfortably. "What are we going to do?"
William scowled, and moved away from the table, facing everyone in the room. "The only thing that we can do, I gotta turn myself in!"
Ed shook his head at his older look alike. "What?! No way! You're going to get killed!"
"Well I have to do something! I can't just stand here and let that happen!"
"What about the circle? Can't you just draw it real quick and be on your way?" Kain asked, wincing a bit when he moved his leg.
The Rebel shook his head. "That'll take time since it's so complicated, and I'm not even sure if it's going to be hundred percent accurate, I could still mess it up and not change anything, and then what? Your world is plagued by evil doppelgangers and your Fuhrer ends up dying? I have to go there."
"William, that's insane. Think about what you're about to do, it's a sucide mission." Jean says, calmly.
"I have, and I've decided I'm going. If your world ends up in disarray like mine then I would never be able to live with myself."
"William-" Riza begins, also trying to get the boy to stop and think.
He shakes his head again. "No, I have to-
"Um, I don't mean to interrupt but… the sky's red…" Al's quiet, and child-like voice broke through the arguing bunch, freezing them in their tracks. They all glanced at the suit of armor staring out the window.
"Wait, did you just say the sky was red?" Vato asked, confusedly.
"Yeah. It's weird…and kind of morbid."
"Red sky?" William mumbled, before his gold and green orbs turned into saucers. "Oh no…" He bolted out the room, and pushed open the grand entrance door, stopping a few feet away. He gasps, and his eye sets on the red blaze in the once blue sky. "Oh no…" He muttered again, just as he could hear the others arriving behind him.
"What's up with the sky?" Ed asked, his voice at the tip of being scared.
"They're rifts opening up." Kimblee stated, glancing over at his boss. "Aren't they?"
William nods slowly. "They are. Fuck… this must of been Mustang's true plan."
"Which is what exactly?" Roy asked, feeling a wave of unknown bitterness towards his look alike.
"There's a gateway between our worlds, and anyone who goes on the transmutation circle gets sent here."
"But I don't remember the sky being red when you and the others arrived a few days ago." Al said, with another sense of confusion.
"A transmutation circle is still a transmutation circle; The longer it stays activated, the more unstable it gets because there's no one controlling it. It has been three days since I've activated it."
Suddenly they winced at the wind that picked up, feeling like a tornado might sweep by at any moment.
"Jeez, this wind is going to blow us away!" Jean complaint, the wind hurting his face.
"We have to get to the command center, that place is going to be overrun by soldiers from my world, and you don't want that." William replies, ready to leave the mansion.
"No, you need to stay here and get to work." Roy ordered, steading himself from being blown away.
"No way, I need to go! Those guys are going to slaughter you If I don't show up."
"William-"
"Look, when I know everything's okay, I'll just activate it there."
"William-"
"I'm not. Changing. My. Mind."
The two of them exchange hard stares, which didn't last long because sleep debrief Roy gave in. He sighed, "Why are all the Edward Elric's so stubborn?" He faces the rest of his team, who seemed to struggle against the wind as well. "Gentlemen, listen up, we're going to HQ, but someone needs to stay here with Hawkeye and Fue-"
"We're coming with, sir." Riza replies, coming out the door with Kain leaning against her.
"Yeah, we're going, with or without your permission." Kain replies, dead serious.
"William is not the only stubborn one here, sir."
Roy frowned, feeling his eye twitched as he looked at his best friend. Hughes caught his eye and shrugged. "Don't look at me, they're yours." He replies, making the flame alchemist sigh.
"Fine. You can come." His subordinates nod. "Alright, let's get moving! We can't waste anymore time!"
With their guns and other useful weapons, they all split off into three separate cars before bolting down the road towards their place of work. The ones driving kept tight grips on the steering wheels as they drove against the wind, keeping their eyes peeled for anything tumbling in their way, or civilians who were trying to run home.
Breaking all laws, liking driving on sidewalks or going over the speed limit (like way-way-way over), they ended up arriving in a short amount of time. The drivers hit the brakes, and they threw their doors open, hissing at the hurting air.
"Jesus Christ!" Heymans yelled, his eyes burning.
"Lieutenant, help me get Hawkeye and Fuery out!" Hughes said, and the two of them worked on holding the door open long enough.
"Everyone press against the wall and get inside! And stay close to one another!" Roy ordered, waving them to get in a line.
"Colonel! Watch out!" Al yelled from somewhere.
He heard a loud creaking noise. "Huh?" Immediately he was enveloped in two arms, and being covered by a suit of metal. The creaking noise got louder and louder, just as a light pole came crashing down and landing on top of the fourteen year old.
"ALPHONSE!" Ed yelled, stopping where he walked against the wall.
"Al?!" Roy yelled fearfully from under him.
"I'm fine, it just chipped my armor a bit." Al replies, truthfully, still holding onto the Colonel.
"Are you sure?!"
"Yes. Now get against the wall!"
The kid shoved him towards the other, and even then Roy couldn't take his eyes off him. "Note to self, reward Al for saving your life somehow."
Al's heroic moment didn't end when Hughes and Heymans asked for his help getting the two injured out the car. They worked quickly enough, and they all pushed themself against the brick wall of the command center, trying to block out the wind until they were standing right in front of the entrance. They desperately used all of their strength to open the doors and run inside. They sighed with relief, trying to calm their racing heartbeats.
"There's no guards at the front." Vato pointed out, feeling worried about this whole thing.
Hughes frowns. "This might be a trap." He stated, his guts twisting in knots at the thought of it.
"You're right, it might be." A voice said.
They all stood up straight, grabbing their weapons. Standing at the halfway point on the staircase was the scarred faced Fuhrer, or some people like to call him, 'The Blood King'.
"Mustang." William said, a mixture of worry and fear in his voice.
"So you actually showed up? I'm not surprised though, you always follow me like a puppy." He said, hatred in his eyes.
"What do you want? What exactly is your plan here? I know you don't want to just kill me any more."
The Evil Roy laughed, "Oh Elric, so smart. You always seem to figure things out so soon. So-" He holds his arm open wide. "Welcome to Central Commands, a perfect place to start a war, and perfect place to fight a battle, a perfect place…"
He smiles mischievously.
"-For the endgame."
*That's right, just like I said last chapter, the Endgame is here. With only a few chapters left including an epilogue (there's also a one-shot sequel being planned). Thanks for reading!*