AN: Surprise chapter because I had a reminder today that grief and happiness are not mutually exclusive. For all the sorrow in the world, I am grateful for all the love I've known. For whatever struggles you are dealing with, never forget the love you had and the love you have left to give.
Chapter 11 - Crimson Lotus
Izumi had three surprises in a single visit.
Hohenheim returning, Alphonse Elric in toe with the old traveller, and the glaring absence of Edward Elric at his brother's side.
"Teacher!" Al exclaimed.
She pulled the boy into a hug, "It's been too long, Alphonse."
He hugged her back fully but gently for a moment.
She looked up, "Hohenheim, how are you?"
The man smiled, and only then did she see how much Hohenheim looked like Edward. The colouring was the same for all three of them, of course, but Al must have taken after his mother where Edward so clearly looked a younger version of his father.
"I'm well, I must thank you for training my boys," Hohenheim said. "My research took me away."
Izumi, who had always thought well of the man, immediately disliked him.
She had never understood why any parent would leave those boys, and she hadn't connected this soft spoken nomad she had met all those years ago as being their sire.
How dare he abandon his sons?
Her sons, because really, the Elric brothers were hers.
"Where's Edward?" Izumi asked, killing both the golden boys' smiles.
Al looked away, "He's gone."
She startled, "You think he's dead?"
Al held up his hands, "No, no! He left, uh… he..."
"He left because of me, and I do not blame him for his lack of forgiveness. I dare say I deserved it when I failed them all," Hohenheim said, placing a hand on Al's shoulder.
"So," Izumi drawled, not surprised that Al would forgive his father. "You don't know where Edward is?"
"He left us," Al said defensively.
"He left you," Izumi pressed.
Al did not get angry like his brother. No, the youngest Elric was not quick tempered or explosive, but when he was hurting, his anger was the sort that could level worlds. "I told him—"
"You told him what, Alphonse?" she asked.
"I— He shouldn't have left. He's a stupid idiot," Al said, his voice breaking, clearly on the verge of tears.
Izumi softened, letting it go for now. "I can't argue with that."
Al's shoulders slumped.
Izumi pulled him into another hug, exchanging a look with Sig over Al's shoulder.
Edward was a State Alchemist now, something that Al wouldn't approve of given how close they had been to the Rockwells.
"Come, I've made dinner," Sig said, leading them further into their home.
Izumi pushed away from Al as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her. Her guts shuddered and she coughed up her dignity on the floor.
"Don't touch her," Sig warned as he held her shoulders.
"I can help," she heard Hohenheim say from what felt like a long distance.
"No, you can't," she said, trying not to choke on the familiar taste of iron.
"But I can. I can't give you back what you lost," Hohenheim asked. Placing a gentle hand on her midsection, "But I can close and reconnect what is left to be usable."
Izumi gasped as red light bloomed around her and her insides cramped then—
She took her first full breath that she had been able to take since she returned from the Gate.
She looked up.
Hohenheim looked mournful instead of pleased at his good deed.
Counterwise, Al was smiling broadly.
Izumi saw right through him. Edward had left Al with Hohenheim, and Al had chosen to stay with Hohenheim.
Doubtless, Al was always looking for Hohenheim to prove himself, to be more than what Edward had believed their father to be.
To be more than the caregiver and family his big brother had been.
Too bad for Hohenheim, Izumi thought ruefully, Edward left rather large shoes to fill.
oOo
Ed leaned against Mustang's desk, "So, ready for the long overnight?"
Mustang looked up at him, "We have permission to enter at daybreak. But I would advise getting some sleep."
"But no one has died yet," Ed said with a cheery smile he didn't feel.
"Mini-Hughes," Havoc began. "I have a date tonight."
Ed winced at the 'mini' comment but said instead, "I would call her and tell her to stay indoors tonight."
"Why?" Breda asked slowly.
"Because tonight the monsters will be released into the city," Ed said.
Mustang and Hawkeye both sat up and asked in unison, "What?"
"Best case scenario, we get there and everyone's already dead, but that would be a rather shit coverup," Ed said.
Mustang's gaze sharpened, "What do you think they will do?"
"If it's a full lab," Ed said, not worrying about being overheard as whatever plan was in place likely couldn't be alternated now. "Somehow they have to play it off as a rogue military unit that has been able to steal state funds."
"And you think they are you going to release everything the night before the inspection?" Hawkeye asked.
"Conveniently, there's a prison right beside it," Ed said.
Mustang stared at him.
Breda shook his head, "You mean a prison break into the lab and everything becomes collateral?"
Ed passed him the file he had been holding, "Dad gathered the files of the top security prisoners."
Mustang took the folder and opened it, freezing as he read the first name.
"I don't know if the Crimson Lotus Alchemist will run and cause chaos for another day or if he'll play along and go out with—" Ed bloomed his hands, "a bang."
"I know he's a traitor but what type of explosions was his speciality again?" Breda asked.
Hawkeye sighed, "Kimblee likes to use human bodies as bombs."
Ed sighed, "Well, there's going to be a lot of bodies."
"You knew this was coming?" Mustang asked.
He sounded angry.
Ed raised a brow, "Didn't you? They delayed the investigation by months. You don't do that unless there is something to cover up. And there have been no strange disappearances in Central among military scientists or personnel. Which means it's either a very small operation, or they will need an excuse to take out those who would fold under integration or betray them."
"Did Maes tell you all this?" Mustang asked.
Ed grinned, "Most of it, he gave me the highlights. He and Gracia have their anniversary tonight. And, I quote; 'You'll a bunch of freaks, and I'll leave the circus to you clowns. You're welcome for the formative paperwork.'"
"Encouraging," Mustang said dryly. "Hawkeye, call Armstrong."
"Yes, Sir."
oOo
"Do you think they know?" Sig asked after Hohenheim and Al left.
Izumi looked at the wall where they had pinned the article, 'Son of Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, Major Edward Hughes, passed his Alchemist Certification with record scores and became the youngest State Alchemist in the country's history.'
They used his full name, Edward Elric-Hughes, further down in the article. As if his name was interchangeable, and for all they knew, maybe they were.
"I still don't understand why Edward would join the military," Sig said.
"I don't know why he would leave Al," she countered. "I don't care how much he resented his father. Ed would never have left Al, not for anything."
"But he did," Sig said.
"They are keeping something from us," Izumi said, thinking about how cagey Al had gotten about what he said to his brother.
Her husband rubbed his beard, "I find it disturbing Al wasn't more worried or even seemed to have any intention of finding him."
Izumi sighed, "I admit I'm disappointed in Alphonse. I didn't think he would ever let his brother get away with being that stupid for years."
Sig sighed, "Whatever it was that caused Edward to leave, Al not following him is a—"
"Condemnation," Izumi agreed. "And nothing anyone says will ever let Edward forgive himself. Not when Al didn't chase him down. Not when Al chose their father over him."
"You know it must be more complicated than that," her husband countered.
"It won't matter," Izumi said with a sigh. "That's how Ed will see it. And he was always the sort of stubborn that would break before he bends."
"Should we go to Central?"
"No," she said. "Edward has a family now, and so does Al. However, if Ed doesn't come to find us within the year, we'll know that he needs saving."
And Izumi would happily burn down the government for her boys.
oOo
Wrath stared at Envy, "I want to know how dangerous the boy is."
"So what do you want me to do, beat the snout out of him?" Envy asked caustically.
"He's a sacrifice," Lust said.
"He isn't alone," Wrath said. "I want you to release everything."
"And the fall person?" Envy asked.
"Marcoh," Wrath said. "Even those who know where he is, will have no way to prove it."
Envy sighed, "You want me to get shot in the head, don't you?"
"You need to be seen, injured, then reasonably escape," Wrath corrected. "Avoid Mustang."
"And our scientists?" Pride asked, who was sitting on the Fuhrer's table.
"Already taken care of," Lust said, leaning into Gluttony. "A waste of meat."
Gluttony whimpered beneath at the mention of food.
"You had them made into chimaeras, didn't you?" Envy asked.
"The Alchemist Doctor was most accommodating," Wrath said.
Envy transformed into the golden toothed doctor, laughing maniacally, "You're dear mother?"
Wrath's fingers twitched.
Envy grinned at getting a rise out of their youngest homunculus.
Wrath was inhuman, the only one of them that had begun life as someone else other than father.
The Doctor had made Wrath, this was true, or at least had made his human body possible.
"Wasn't he dishonourably discharged?" Lust asked.
"Yes," Wrath said. "And we've left a cookie trail leading back to the Silver Alchemist who will be the one blamed for funnelling money to the Fifth Laboratory."
"The Pipsqueak and Mustang aren't going to take the bait," Envy said.
"Mustang is suspicious by nature," Wrath said. "But he's also destructive. We make it loud and chaotic and the Colonel will destroy the evidence he needs."
"What if that's what they want?" Lust asked.
"What are you talking about?" Pride asked.
"You saw what Mustang did to Shou Tucker. Maybe it matters less to them finding the cause, if it means they could put a hiccup in this kind of research," Lust said.
"We've already cleared out Laboratory 3," Wrath said. "Let them think they've won. We are already ten steps ahead of them."
Envy sniggered, "It was all a smoke screen anyway, Lust darling. Give them a conspiracy to distract them from the giant array that will wipe them off the map. Just like Xerxes."
"Speaking of the golden people," Lust said, massaging her fingers. "I've caught wind of a rumour spreading down South."
"Trouble in Loire?" Wrath asked hopefully.
"No," she said, looking up at them. "Van Hohenheim, and his son."
"I thought Fullmetal was Hohenheim's whelp," Envy said.
Wrath glowered, "What did you hear, Lust?"
"Well, assuming that Fullmetal hasn't left Central until he was instated, I would hazard to guess he had two sons. And the other one is just as good with alchemist as his older brother."
"What's his name?" Envy asked bitterly.
"Alphonse Elric," Lust said.
"Well, I'm not the one who's going to tell Father they've multiplied," Envy declared.
"I'll tell him," Pride said. "Fullmetal might be a fit human sacrifice, but we don't need two of them."
Wrath sighed, "Envy, go to the prison. I want to know what Fullmetal's limits are and if he is using an array or not when he transmutes."
Envy mock saluted before hopping out the window.
Wrath sighed, he had a feeling that the city would be in an uproar tomorrow.
oOo
A part of Roy was eager for the upcoming action, another part of him was worried he was going to get his best friend's son killed.
Grand was up in arms about the early raid.
"We were given a tip," Roy said, so done with Grand's interference.
"Oh, yeah? If it's someone on your team, Mustang, there will be hell to pay."
Riza signalled him and Roy felt his blood go cold.
Roy spun round and he bit back a curse.
"What is it?" Grand demanded.
Ross came sprinting around the corner, "Sir! The Major has gone in!"
Roy sighed, this was going to be a long night.
oOo
Hoping the walls was nothing, barbed wire wasn't a problem for automail.
The place was eerily quiet but not empty.
The quiet was broken by the hollow steps of an armoured something charging his way. Ed waited them out, watching from the corner of his eye as he 'examined' the wall in front of him.
He flipped easily, vaulting the armoured giant and taking the helmet with him.
The thing laughed as Ed saw an armour without a body.
The armour tilted forward brandishing its butcher knives.
He had nothing on Sig Curtis.
It began laughing, "Greetings little man—"
"You wanna die?" Ed interjected, energy building in his hands as he mentally took apart the elements that built up the bonefaced helmet.
"What? No, you're going to die. I'm Berry the Chopper!"
"Never heard of you."
It —he began waving his arms around, "Why aren't you scared of me!?"
"You're a soul attached to armour. I learned that trick when I was eleven. Now, are going to attack or surrender? I don't have all night."
"Why you little brat—"
"Don't call me little!" Ed hallored back, adrenaline taking away the control on his temper as he dropped the helmet to clap. He stepped to the side as Berry's momentum carried him downward.
Ed got both hands on Berry's arm and transmuted the armour to a two step footstool. Mindful of the blood array.
"Who's the short one now, midget?"
"No!"Berry wailed. "It's not possible!"
"As my friend would say, nothing is impossible," Ed said, stepping back so he could take a running jump at the rooftop.
He was too big to fit through the vent, but it shouldn't be hard to put a hole in the ceiling.
oOo
Envy watched in astonishment as the pipsqueak entered the lab.
The souls bound to armour didn't seem to bother him, one transmutation and the armour was down.
But then again…
Fullmetal had been friends with Greed since moving to the city. He sparred on a regular basis with Greed and his chimaeras.
Something that was made more clear when he battled the two slicers with the grace of a jungle cat. The only cut the Slicers managed were on his clothing over the metal arm.
Whoever was the boy's original martial arts master must have been a menace.
Again, the pipsqueak gave up the kill and seemed to nearly cry when the body of the armour destroyed itself.
Envy would have to kill the head later, like they had the Chopper, but for now, he was content to follow hidden in the shadows.
"The prisoners escaped years ago," the head of armour said as he led the boy into the research labs.
Double checking the room they were about to enter had been cleared, Envy stayed in the rafters as Fullmetal Pipsqueak gawked at his surroundings.
"It's a human transmutation circle," the child said.
Envy frowned. How had the boy known?
If the clapping hadn't proved it before, this certainly did. Greed's little pet was truly a fit sacrifice.
Two explosions hit the building from two different directions. Envy almost fell on the second, and then the third shockwave knocked him right down as Fullmetal transmuted the walls ceiling and floor, erasing the arrays.
"You okay?"
Envy scrambled to his feet, holding his hands out in front of him.
Fullmetal was looking at his thigh with recognition.
Damnit.
"I'm fine, squirt," they said, unsure if the child would attack him or not.
Golden eyes narrowed on them, "You're Envy."
Envy bowed, "And you're Greed's little chew toy."
Fullmetal rolled those golden eyes, this close he really did look like Father. "Why are you following me?"
"I have my purposes."
Fullmetal sighed, "Great, more cryptic remarks. Exactly what I needed."
He moved on to the next room without waiting for a reply, leaving Envy to follow.
"You performed human transmutation, halfling," Envy said.
"I am 5'5 and still growing, asshat. And yes, I did because I got myself into a human transmutation circle and nearly didn't make it back."
"With Tucker?" Envy asked for clarification as they entered deserted room after deserted room.
"Yeah," Fullmetal said, huffing as he kicked in a locked door.
Another empty room.
"Where the fuck is everything and everyone?"
"They had months to clear it out," Envy remarked.
There was a fourth explosion and the sound of running paws.
Many, many paws.
Fuck Wrath, they couldn't afford to lose another sacrifice.
"Make another hole in the ceiling," Envy said.
"What?"
"Do it, now!" Envy yelled.
Fullmetal sighed, and surprise, surprise, he listened.
Greed really had trained him well.
Without asking, Envy grabbed him around the waist and jumped up and out.
The little man twisted out of his arms like a fish the moment they landed on the roof before taking off in a run.
"Hey, Fullmetal Pipsqueak!"
He didn't look back and a moment later Envy found themselves running as the chimaera hopped out of their hellhole.
Envy groaned as they had to put the effort into catching up. They grabbed the helmet out of Fullmetal's hand, crushing it easily in a transformed grasp as the boy turned and delivered one hell of a kick.
Envy let themselves be pushed back, "Pipsqueak."
Fullmetal's face was angry, "What was that for!? He was a person!"
Envy sneered, "He was a head. A science experiment. What kind of life is that?"
Fullmetal opened his mouth to respond but Kimblee —the Crimson Lotus Alchemist— took that moment to make his appearance known.
He grabbed onto Fullmetal's arm and whispered, "Boom."
Fullmetal did the same move he pulled on Envy, as his coat was shredded.
"What—" Kimblee exclaimed and was cut off by a metal kick to the face.
Unlike Envy, the mere mortal went flying at the devastating kick.
Fullmetal clapped, fixing his coat as Kimblee stared at Fullmetal with wide eyes.
"Aren't you a little young for automail?" Kimblee asked as he staggered to his feet.
Edward arched a brow, "What a stupid question."
Crimson Lotus huffed a laugh, "Well excuse me if torturing children with automail surgery seems a bit odd."
"I've read your record, Crimson, killing innocents doesn't seem to be one of your hold ups."
Kimblee frowned at him as Edward took a fighting stance, "Who the hell are you?"
The Golden Pipsqueak smirked, "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist."
Crimson blinked, then threw his head back and laughed, "Oh, I needed that. The State must really be desperate if they are conscripting children."
Fullmetal shrugged, "My scores were higher than yours. You struggled a bit with Tchaikovsky's Theories, didn't ya?"
Kimblee's smile fell, "I'll show you theories, you little brat. Out in the field there is more to know than the theoretical."
Envy held back, remembering that Wrath wanted to know Fullmetal's limits.
Kimblee, who apparently wasn't eager to get kicked again, dropped his hand to the ground for a long range attack.
Fullmetall clapped and placed his hands down a second behind his attacker and the explosion rebounded at Kimblee.
Crimson only just managed to drop to the side, blatant shock coloured his expression as he stared at the younger man in consternation.
"How!?"
"Theory is important," Fullmetal said, clapping again and replacing his touch to the roof, the ground rose at his will in corded pipes of metal and stone.
Crimson found himself running and Envy could only stare.
The boy wasn't just intelligent, he was everything Greed hinted he might be.
From the holes in the building, however, came the hundreds upon hundreds of chimaeras that had been expedited over the last few months.
To Envy's surprise, Fullmetal turned tail and ran.
Kimblee laughed as he gave chase, missing what Envy noticed.
Fuck Wrath's plans, Envy wasn't getting between the Crimson Lotus and the Flame Alchemist.
They had already learned what they needed to about Fullmetal and the only thing left to 'learn' was who survived the night.
Envy transformed into the bad doctor and flashed his golden tooth as he fled into the night in the opposite direction of the mayhem that was about to befall the military personnel in the area.
oOo
"Don't let anything through!" Riza called to the troops.
"Armstrong!" Roy called. "Stay on the perimeter!"
"Mustang!"
Roy spun round at the sound of Fullmetal's voice. The young alchemist was already holding his hands together as if in prayer, energy sparking around him as he called, "Crimson Lotus!"
The officers around them rippled with concern.
"Hold the line!" Roy shouted at them, bracing as the ground beneath him rose, lifting him up toward the roof, away from the troops.
He was already snapping as Edward clapped again.
In a moment that was less than a blink but felt like an eternity, he saw Kimblee's manic grin and Roy's own flame racing above the rippling explosion.
Roy wasn't expecting Kimblee's alchemy to backfire and it ended up saving him from Roy's attack.
The dust cleared with a gust of wind, revealing Kimblee getting to his feet.
"How do you keep doing that?" the Crimson Alchemist asked, looking at Edward.
"You're predictable," Fullmetal said, standing a bit in front of Roy.
Roy let him only because he knew that Edward was better at close range fighting and if he was somehow able to stop Kimblee's alchemy, he needed clear sightlines.
"Predictable?" Crimson asked, mortally offended. "You aren't using an array, are you? You couldn't have countered both of those explosions. And you fixed your coat. The arrays for those three things are not similar."
Fullmetal's smile was in his tone as he said, "Genius like mine can be a burden."
Crimson's eyes narrowed, "What is your name?"
"Major Edward Hughes," Fullmetal said, strangely leaving off his mother's name.
But then Roy saw the flash of fear on Kimblee's face and he understood Fullmetal's intent.
"Maes Hughes. You're Maes Hughes's son?" Crimson asked, looking between him and Roy.
"Yeah," Fullmetal agreed, his red coat whipping around dramatically in the night wind.
Kimblee looked between Roy and Edward with apprehension; Kimblee knew Roy and Maes were close. Alchemists being secretive by trade, tended not to work well with others.
But the Flame Alchemist working with a friendly alchemist who didn't require a transmutation circle and was blindingly intelligent?
A slow smile curled Roy's lips, "Fullmetal?"
"Ready whenever you are, Coronal Bastard," the brat said lightly, though his attention never left Kimblee.
"Control the rebounds," Roy ordered as he snapped.
"On it!" Fullmetal called, running forward unafraid of either the Flame or the Crimson Lotus.
Kimblee tried to set of an explosion that would utilise Roy's flame, but Edward changed the slope of the roof so Kimblee had to jump back in a hurry, destroying his concentration.
From then on, Kimblee kept attempting smaller explosions but Edward was relentless and Roy had a near limitless amount of shots to fire.
The convict's energy began to waver.
"His hands!" Edward shouted.
Kimblee clapped ready to create an imbalance but Fullmetal transmuted the stone Kimblee stood on to coal.
"Fuck!-" Kimblee's curse was cut off by a scream.
Edward's transmutation had been little more than a distraction. Such a flammable substance had drawn Kimblee's attention, making him think of what coal could be used for, that split second of thought was all Roy needed to score the skin off Kimblee's palms. With the tattoos burned off, Kimblee could not transmute.
Roy snapped again, setting the coal on fire, causing a poof of black smoke to rise with burning embers into Kimblee's face.
Okay, maybe Fullmetal had a purpose to everything he did.
The Crimson Lotus Alchemist's curses were cut off in a stream of hacking coughs. His face was covered in soot, his tears drew lines down his face as he curled in around himself.
Fullmetal clapped, and pipes rose to wrap around Kimblee in the tight restraints.
There was no time to celebrate this victory however as the hounds from hell came leaping out of the broken roof, finally deciding to charge ahead.
Roy took a breath, then focused on the chimaeras, far more agile, dangerous, and more sophisticated than anything Tucker have come close to creating.
This was Marcoh's work. Or someone who had built off his work.
There were hundreds of them, drawn to the smoke like moths to flame.
Edward guarded his back, keeping a look out, and occasionally transmuting surfaces to become explosive for larger spans of monsters when they got too close to the edge of the roof.
Kimblee, who had regained himself a bit in the proceeding hours, said, "If we had this one in Ishval, we wouldn't have needed the stones."
Roy didn't respond though he fully agreed.
Edward, who specialised in water and metals, could likely have transformed a water source of incomprehensible size into an explosive substance.
All they would have needed was a match.
It was a good thing for the country that Edward Elric-Hughes was more interested in construction than destruction.
That being said, come morning, Laboratory 5 had been levelled to the ground, the sewer entrances clasped, leaving no evidence of the horrors committed here but for the ashes.
It hadn't been Roy's call, but Fullmetal which Roy had enforced.
When it came to human transmutation, one could never be too cautious.
When the Fuhrer arrived, he didn't seem particularly happy about their demolition, but the only 'failure' that could be reported of the night was that the Doctor Alchemist had been spotted escaping the scene.
Other than that, even with Kimblee escaping, the only deaths of the inspection were of the chimaeras and Kimblee's escape from the prison.
None of the soldiers Roy had deployed for this 'inspection' had died or come to any harm. Which Roy —despite the Fuhrer's apparent dissatisfaction with the public nightmare to hit the press in the coming weeks— considered it to be an unparalleled success.
oOo
AN: There will still be another update this Friday, but please, spare a moment to share your thoughts and reactions to the content of this chapter?