CHAPTER 13: UNLEASHING THE MONSTER
All hell had broken loose. The meagre Allied forces defending the former-Nazi base was under heavy bombardment from the air and ground as they mustered what they could to repel the sudden arrival of the Germany military. High above the skies of Central, the British and American warplanes quickly turned around to assist their compatriots. The Second World War had arrived.
"What's going on?" Roy asked with some confusion.
"It's a bit complicated." Ed answered with a look.
"There isn't enough time for me to explain the geopolitical situation of my world." Gabriel stated. "But to put it simply, they don't like each other. This works for us, they're distracted so there's our opening to get into the base." He stood up and started down the hill. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Riza startled, but she was too late as Gabriel had already taken off.
"You heard the man!" Ed added, as he and Al sprinted after the Colonel. Roy frowned as he and Riza exchanged glances before they joined them. The five ran as fast as they could, as shells, bombs and bullets rained down around them. In front of the base, the few available Allied tanks had formed a defensive line and were firing at the Panzers rushing towards them. However, the Allied guns lacked the power and range of the German ones and most of their shots either fell short or failed to destroy their targets. In contrast, a few of the Allied armour blew up from the return fire.
In the vast blue canvas of the sky the Luftwaffe was entangled with the Royal and United States air forces in an epic aerial struggle that involved hundreds of spectacular dogfights. The five managed to get up to the base without drawing any unwanted attention.
"Hurry! This way!" Gabriel led them towards an unguarded entrance, kicked it open with his foot and ran inside.
"What the…!" They all stopped. The interior of the facility had changed dramatically. They were now inside a cavernous room, with the Philosopher's Stone at half its original size, glowing brightly in its center. A number of huge tubes and pipes attached to it via metallic clamps fed into a large machine none of them recognized. And from this contraption, more tubes extended into the body of Doctor Arthur Baldwin who was sitting in a large, padded chair next to it.
"Doctor?" Gabriel muttered, and the old man slowly lifted his head up. He grinned weakly when his eyes met them.
"Colonel… welcome back."
Lieutenant Kain Fuery led Winry into the large room that made up one of the many bomb shelters strewn throughout the capital city of Amestris. They were inside a low-ceiling, hardened building located near the Central Headquarters and military hospital. Even though the structure was built to withstand the most punishing abuse, it was still shaking from the on-going battle outside.
Winry could see hundreds of people crowded in there, including a number of hospital beds with patients filling an entire side. As a result, the place was unusually warm and the air somewhat stale, so she loosened the army jacket that Ed had given her not long ago.
"Den!" Her expression immediately brightened when she caught sight of a dog with an automail leg running at her. Den jumped into her arms and licked her face as Winry happily embraced her friend.
"Winry?" She perked her eyes up at the familiar voice.
"Scieszka!" The brown-haired girl with big glasses greeted her with a cheerful smile. Then Winry saw the other two people standing beside her old friend and her grin grew even wider. "Mrs. Gracia! Elicia!"
"It's been a while Winry." Gracia Hughes waved at her, also grinning. Elicia, who has grown up considerably ran towards her.
"Big sister!" Elicia and Winry gave each other a warm hug.
"I'm surprised to see you here Winry, I heard you were kidnapped!" Scieszka said with some disbelief.
"It's a bit of a long story." Winry tried to reassure her. "But I'm alright."
"Thank goodness." Gracia spoke, and then her face changed from that of relief to curiosity when she noticed Winry's odd coat.
"Oh… err Ed gave this to me."
"Edward's here?" An astonished Scieszka asked.
"Aha, yea and Al too." Winry was met with some confused looks. "Like I said, it's a bit of a long story."
"Are they alright?" Gracia asked with some concern. "Where are they now?" Winry cast her eyes down sadly.
"They ran off to save the world again." She said, almost with a sigh.
"You're still worried about them." Gracia could relate.
"No, I know they can take care of themselves no matter what happens." Winry paused for a moment. "It's just, I wanted to tell Ed something but I didn't. And now I might never get another chance to."
"Winry." Gracia walked up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "They left you because they wanted to protect you." She smiled at the younger woman again. "But one shouldn't live with regrets."
"Hey Fuery!" They all jumped at Lieutenant Breda's voice and turned to see him walk into the shelter.
"Oh Breda, what's going on?" Fuery answered.
"Colonel Armstrong sent me to get you; the enemy's retreating so we need everyone we can get."
"Did we win?" Fuery's excitement grew.
"Ah not quite." Breda dashed Fuery's hopes. "They're running, but apparently there's another battle outside the city. The Colonel wants to know what's going on, so we're heading out to see what's up. The Colonel's worried that the Brigadier General might be caught up in it. You know how he is." Breda shrugged.
"Alright, let's go." Fuery moaned, and he and Breda turned to leave. Something suddenly popped into Winry's mind after hearing the conversation. This is my chance. She turned to glance at Scieszka, Gracia and Elicia standing behind her. They understood and all three gave her supportive nods and smiles.
"Take care big sister!" Elicia waved at her, Winry bid them farewell and ran to catch up to the two departing military soldiers.
"Lieutenant! Wait!" She caught them by the exit, and the two stopped when they heard her voice.
"Huh? Oh is something wrong?" Fuery asked.
"Lieutenant…" Winry started, looking at them with determined eyes. "I need a favour."
"Doctor… what the hell have you done?" Gabriel wanted to rub his eyes, because he was sure they were deceiving him. Ed, Al, Roy and Riza were equally in shock, and they stood frozen as the British SAS troops that Gabriel had led to capture the building earlier surrounded them.
"I did not like the atmosphere down there, too dank and depressing, so I moved the vault up here with alchemy where I can get some fresh air." The old professor sounded more energetic then usual. Then he noticed the presence of the Brigadier General and the Major. "Ah, I see you have brought friends."
"What are you doing to yourself?" Al referred to the machine that Baldwin was hooked up too.
"This?" He looked at his arm where a number of intravenous tubes fed into his veins. "I'm injecting the Philosopher's Stone into myself."
"That's crazy!" Ed yelped.
"I may have knowledge of alchemy." Baldwin rose from his seat. "But unlike you alchemists, I do not know how to fully utilize it." He gestured at the machine, then at the pulsating stone. "By becoming one with the Philosopher's Stone, I can harness its power directly to fuse our worlds. Once that is complete, it will be irreversible."
"Doctor, you've bought the war here too." Al interrupted. "It's going to destroy everything!" Baldwin laughed manically in response.
"What's so funny old man?" Ed raised his voice as he anger grew. "There are people dying out there!"
"That is what happens in a war!" The Doctor lifted his arms up in the air, and was basked in a brilliant crimson light forcing everyone to shield their eyes. The walls and roof of the structure slowly morphed and changed. The solid and thick concrete became a webbing of steel beams filled with panels of clear glass. Before they knew it, they were standing inside a giant crystal dome. "Behold! Witness the glory and savagery that humanity can achieve!"
A large explosion above them rocked the entire building and threatened to toss everyone to their feet. The transparent glass allowed them to see the fierce battle that was being waged outside. Planes rumbled dangerously low overhead blasting their guns, as artillery and cannon shells rained down around them. Even worst, were the many corpses littering the ground around the base, along with the smoking hulks of ruined vehicles. The German Panzers were also drawing close.
"The Germans are almost here!" Gabriel yelled. "You have to stop this at once!"
"Why would I do that Colonel?" Baldwin said wirily. "I was the one who called them after all." Gabriel's eye grew wide in surprise, and the British soldiers suddenly became very uncomfortable.
"You would betray your own country?" The Colonel flared.
"I do not care about either side." The old man shook his head. "They will destroy each other, and with no one left to oppose me, I will take the reins of power for myself." Gabriel could barely contain his rage.
"Are you so obsessed with this world that you'll destroy both just to have it?"
"You wanted this as much as I do Colonel, do you not remember?" Baldwin smirked.
"I was wrong to think I could replace Winnie." Gabriel answered softly. "But I don't live in the past anymore, I'm going to move forward and that includes stopping you no matter what." He flinched slightly, as if to attack causing the British soldiers to level their weapons at them.
"Hold your fire." Baldwin calmly raised his palm. "Before you die Colonel, I think you should know that it was I who handed Winnie to the Germans."
"What?" Gabriel gasped; he couldn't hide the shock from his face. "Why would you do that?"
"I could not directly to feed them the information they needed." Baldwin explained casually. "But no one would suspect if an understudy of mine was kidnapped."
"It was you!" The Colonel's anger was seething. "You told them we were coming, so our raid would fail and Winnie would get killed in the process." He gritted his teeth very hard. "That was your way of silencing her. You planned it all along."
"That was the price, the equivalent exchange, of manipulating the Germans into manufacturing the stone for me. And it worked out so perfectly." They could all detect the pride in Baldwin's voice. "And the Elric's arrival was a sheer stroke of luck. Even your blunder of letting Winry Rockbell fall into the hands of the Germans worked out in the end." He was absolutely beaming. "So you see, fate is on my side. Your continued defiance is futile."
"It's not over yet old man." Ed wouldn't give in so easily. "The merging hasn't finished, we can still stop you."
"Stubborn as ever Edward." The professor sighed. "Of course you will try, but I will not give you the opportunity to do so." He gestured at his guards. "Kill them." The British soldiers took aim, and prepared to fire.
Before they could, a load roar came from outside accompanied by the glow of a bright fireball. Everyone turned their heads to see, through the glass dome, a Luftwaffe fighter in flames screaming towards them. The aircraft crashed into the crystal panels violently, shattering them all.
"Al!" Ed yelled at his brother, taking advantage of the distraction. They clapped their hands and transmuted a series of concrete hands that burst from the floor which literally grabbed several of the startled soldiers to restraint them. By then, Riza had already drew the pistol holstered on her belt and had shot down some of the guards with her expert marksmanship. Roy wasn't to be left out either, as he stylishly snapped his fingers rapidly, blasting his opponents with well-placed bursts of fiery explosions that shredded their numbers.
"Baldwin!" Gabriel yelled at the top of his lungs as he dashed towards the professor. The plane wreck had passed overhead, showering them with millions of pieces of broken glass that sparkled beautifully from the glow of the burning aircraft, before going through the other side of the dome and slamming into the ground beyond.
"Must I do everything myself?" Baldwin muttered angrily as he watched his troops being demolished and his former subordinate charging him. Red sparks flickered around Baldwin as Gabriel produced three knives from his sleeve and winded up his arm to throw them. As he did, a couple of the steel beams that had formed the dome came swinging down at him. He jumped over one, then ducked under the second but was struck by the third. As Gabriel was thrown back, he let loose his weapons and all three impaled the professor in the chest.
"Ahhhhh!" Baldwin screamed in pain, as the force of the impacts threw him back but his tether to the machine prevented him from going too far. Gabriel was flung across the building and landed with a large thud near Ed and Al.
"Colonel!" Al ran to help him up.
"I'm alright." Gabriel coughed. The force of the fall had opened his old wound and he was bleeding from it again but he shrugged off the pain. Riza and Roy joined them when they finished disposing the last of the guards.
"Damn you all." They heard Baldwin's voice. The doctor was lying on the ground struggling to get back on his feet, as blood poured from his wounds. The old man turned on his belly and started crawling towards the machine that was feeding the Philosopher's Stone into his battered body.
"That's as far as you go." Roy walked forward, and snapped his fingers. A tornado of fire rose and encircled the wounded man. Baldwin disappeared behind the spinning column of flames for several seconds before the Brigadier General let up. The fire faded quickly, leaving behind a smoking body that was charred in some places but the Doctor, with most of his cloths burnt off, was still clinging to the contraption with both arms. "Give it up, you've lost!" Roy said sternly, offering him one last time to surrender.
"Never." Baldwin wheezed. "It is not over yet!" And with a grunt, he reached out and pulled down a lever that kicked the machine into high-gear. The Philosopher's Stone grew even more brightly, and they all watched in amazement as it quickly shrunk before their eyes.
"No! He's trying to inject the whole thing at once!" Al realized. Baldwin was screaming in agony as he tried to absorb the sudden surge of power.
"Major!" Roy called out to Riza. She ran and jumped up on several of the fallen girders to get a better vantage point, knelt down, aimed and squeezed off a shot. The bullet managed to sever one of the intravenous tubes, a second was cut after she fired another round but it was too late. The last of the stone that remained was sucked into the machine and fed into Baldwin's body; the event triggered a blinding flash and sent forth a shockwave that knocked everyone into the air.
They were all sent crashing into the rubble, and they slowly rose back up in pain. Everyone stared at the giant white cloud of smoke before them, as the silhouette of a huge figure took form inside.
"Baldwin?" Gabriel squinted his eyes.
"No." Ed replied, as the smoke gradually dispersed to reveal a grotesque figure that barely resembled a human. It stood at least fifteen feet tall, its body dotted by red stones that protruded through the pale skin. It had multiple arms sticking out of its torso and back and a hideously twisted and distorted face that was eerily similar to Baldwin's own. "It's a monster."
To Be Continued…