CHAPTER 14: THE GATE OF SHAMBALA
"Baldwin!" Gabriel stood with his fists clenched, yelling at the monstrosity standing in front of them all. The Philosopher's Stone had morphed the Doctor into a horrible creature, and the Colonel wasn't even sure if his former-mentor could understand him.
"Colonel…" It responded in a distorted voice that Gabriel could barely recognize. The creature's head shifted down to look at them, and what they thought was its mouth broke into a grin. "Arthur Baldwin no longer exists." It's numerous, and large arms rose upwards to the sky majestically. "I have become the Philosopher's Stone. I am now… a god!"
"So you're the Philosopher's Stone. Big deal, join the club." Al shrugged, almost sounding like his older brother for a moment.
"What now Full Metal?" Roy maintained his calm demeanour despite their situation.
"We still have to stop him from fusing the worlds together." Ed replied.
"But he's the stone now." Riza commented.
"That means we'll have to destroy him." Gabriel answered with some anticipation. Ed clapped his hands to transmute his automail arm into a sharp blade.
"Ever taken down a god before Colonel?" Gabriel smirked as he pulled out several knives from the sleeves of his jacket.
"There's always a first time for everything." Then the Colonel and Ed both charged.
"Damn him, he never thinks ahead!" Roy was a little, though not entirely surprised at their rashness.
"Yea, neither does brother." Al joked while frowning. "Mind giving us some cover-fire Brigadier General?"
"We're on it." Riza replied, as she snapped a fresh cartridge into her pistol. Al then dashed after the two.
"I suppose we should get to it." Roy sighed, and Riza signalled her readiness. The Brigadier General started snapping his fingers, as the Major opened fire. Fireballs burst around the huge monster, knocking him about as bullets penetrated into its flesh.
"Fools!" Baldwin screamed. "Your defiance is futile!" The crimson crystals protruding from his skin started glowing brightly, and they shot a string of red lightning that intercepted one of Roy's fireballs and redirected it towards Ed, Al and Gabriel. The three barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid being roasted.
"He's powerful!" Roy muttered angrily. Riza continued emptying clips into the monster. Baldwin started laughing at the pitiful gestures.
"I will show you how it is done!" He boasted, and the red stones on his body flared again as dozens of large gun barrels emerged from his chest and started spewing out bullets by the hundreds.
"Whoa!" Gabriel yelped, as he, Ed and Al split up and dove behind the wrecked steel beams and girders lying on the ground. Roy and Riza ducked behind the few that were still standing.
"I am invincible!" Baldwin bellowed, but then he was raked by the powerful machineguns of an aircraft. "Ugh!" They all turned and saw an American P-51 Mustang flying in to strafe the beast. Baldwin was thrown back and his body was riddled by huge holes. The fighter rumbled pass and climbed back into the sky to rejoin the air battle that was still waging above them. "Idiots!" Baldwin roared with fury, the bullet holes disappeared as his body regenerated itself.
"I think you're going to need a bigger gun Major." Roy noted with some sarcasm. Riza didn't respond; she just reloaded her weapon. But before they could do anything, Baldwin's chest literally exploded, knocking him to his knees. It was a High-Explosive Anti-Tank shell that left a deep crater in his torso where a flood of red light spilled forth from it.
"Huh? He's leaking energy…" Ed commented as he witnessed the event. They could see that several of the Allied and German tanks had broken off from their engagement to assault the gruesome figure. The explosive shells gave the Colonel an idea, and held his knives in his hands and focused as red sparks flickered around him.
"Meddlesome imbeciles!" Baldwin's rage had reached its maximum. "I am your master! Why are…" But he was cut off when a second shell blew his head off, which unfortunately grew back. "Bah! Enough of this. Feel my true power!" The stones on his body lit up, and he unleashed a wave of red energy that shredded the armoured vehicles like paper. He repeated it a second time to finish off the remaining tanks that had diverted to harass him.
"Brigadier General!" Gabriel yelled, as he dove out from behind the fallen girders that had provided him with refuge, throwing a knife from his left hand. It flew, and stabbed intoone of Baldwin's many shoulders. The monster barely even noticed it and he ignored it. But Roy's observant eye saw that the blade wasn't silver like the ones Gabriel had used before, instead it was black and he understood immediately. Roy snapped his fingers, creating a small blast of flames where the knife stuck out of the monster's flesh. He kept it small and short so that Baldwin would not have a chance to harness it and turn it against him. The fire lit up the darkened blade and it exploded with tremendous force.
"What?" Baldwin gasped in surprise, as the severed arm fell off. The shoulder stump where the arm was once connected to also bled more crimson energy. The force of the explosion sent his lumbering body tipping over. At that moment, both Ed and Al appeared from the wreckage. Ed jumped; running up one of Baldwin's other arms and used his blade to slice the limb off. Al transmuted a long spear and leapt towards the creature. At the apex of his flight, he thrust the tip of the weapon deep into Baldwin's chest, and used the pole to vault himself up the rest of the way towards the head. Al extended his right leg, his momentum carrying him, and he slammed his foot into Baldwin's face to completely topple him. The giant mass of stone and flesh crashed into the ground with a thunderous roar.
"Yea!" Gabriel cheered, as Ed and Al hopped off the fallen monster. But his celebration would be premature. Baldwin's injuries were slower to recover, but he lit up once again and the red sparks converged into a bright orb that hovered above him.
"Look out!" Al yelled, but it was too late. The sphere blew up, unleashing a tidal wave of raw energy sending them all, and much of the debris, flying in every direction. One by one, they smacked into the ground which knocked the wind out of them as they were showered by chunks of steel and concrete.
"This is the end, the grand finale." Baldwin spoke as he got back up on his feet to admire his handiwork. The stones dotting him glowed and the many bits and pieces of metal and rocks around them launched into the air, gradually morphing into small, razor-sharp nails. Suddenly, a cannon round tore into him, interrupting the transmutation and forcing him to stumble back a few steps to maintain his balance.
The sharp hazards rained down on them, and they all acted quickly to protect themselves. Roy created a large blast of flames that cleared everything directly above him and Riza. Ed turned his arm-blade into a large shield that most of the objects just bounced off of. Al transformed a steel beam next to him into a metal umbrella while Gabriel just rolled out of harm's way. Before Baldwin could react or do anything else, he was hit by a second and third shell.
"Ed! Al!" The Elrics could barely hear their names in the midst of all the loud cannon fire. They turned and saw a fleet of Amestrian tanks driving straight towards them from the city, and Winry was waving at them from the top of the lead vehicle next to Colonel Armstrong.
"Winry!" Ed was glad to see her, but also worried for her safety.
"Fire!" Armstrong commanded. And the tanks let loose more shells that sent Baldwin reeling. The monster lifted several of its arms and repeated the same attack he had made on the Allied and German tanks earlier. A massive wave of red energy swept towards the Amestrian attack force, but several State Alchemists jumped out from behind the vehicles and created a series of barriers in front of them that intercepted the deadly crimson light. Baldwin's attack only managed to break and crumple up the obstructions, and once they fell the tanks resumed blasting the beast with their guns. When Baldwin attacked again, they repeated the same strategy.
"Whew." Ed let out a sigh of relief. He was afraid the Amestrians were going to share the same fate as the Germans and Allies. Al, Gabriel, Roy and Riza joined him to watch.
"They can't keep this up forever." The Brigadier General observed, as the Amestrian tanks quickly closed in and Baldwin became preoccupied with them.
"And neither can we, how are we going to beat him if he keeps regenerating like that?" Gabriel noted.
"He's the stone remember." Al explained. "He uses up parts of himself every time he heals. If we keep hurting him, he'll eventually use himself up." But Gabriel shook his head at that idea.
"I don't think anyone of us is going to last that long."
"And we're running out of time." Ed said. "He's almost finished the merging process. I can feel it."
"Maybe we can try what we were going to do with the stone back at the base." Al suggested. "Use him to transmute something until he runs out."
"You want to go ask him to let us do that?" Gabriel turned down that idea too.
"If we can't destroy him, then what?" Riza asked. They all sank into deep thought for several seconds.
"If that's the case…" Gabriel started quietly. "Then the only option left is to destroy the Gate of Truth." Everyone looked at him in bewilderment.
"Are you serious?" Roy asked in disbelief.
"The Doctor explained to me, during my training, that the Gate is the link between our worlds." The Colonel recalled slowly. "It's what ties our worlds together. The Gate makes travel between them, and even their merger possible. It's also why the Philosopher's Stone can be created in my world without the power of alchemy."
"If the Gate was gone…" Al muttered, also thinking hard.
"The link will be severed." Gabriel concluded for him. "And our worlds will be permanently separated."
"We won't be able to perform alchemy anymore." Ed added, and the Colonel nodded at him.
"The Philosopher's Stone can never be created again." They all seemed unsure. "You heard what Baldwin said before." He turned to the Elrics. "Even if we stopped him now and destroyed the stone; others will follow in his footsteps. Someone else, in my world and yours will try to create another one, and people will continue to die and suffer for it. The cycle will keep repeating." They understood. "We have to end it, once and for all."
"But how can we destroy the Gate?" Roy questioned again.
"Father said that the Gate also controlled the flow of energy from the Other World." Ed started. "So in essence, it's also like a kind of regulator."
"And if you overwhelm a regulator with too much energy…" Al caught onto his brother's train of thought.
"It'll fail, and collapse." Ed finished.
"Where are we going to get that kind of power?" Gabriel asked, and they all turned their heads to the besieged monster. Baldwin took yet another shell and red light poured forth from the wound.
"Every time he's injured, he's bleeds the stone's power." Al observed.
"If we can get him inside the Gate, and hit him hard enough…" Ed thought out loud.
"It just might work." Gabriel's hope grew.
"If we're inside when the Gate goes down, it'll take us with it." Roy pointed out.
"There's a good chance we won't be coming back from this." Ed knew the risks. Gabriel stepped forward and volunteered.
"I'll do it then. It's my responsibility." Ed dismissed the thought.
"No you don't. We've gone through this before Colonel, we're in this together."
"I'm in too." Roy stated plainly.
"You don't need to come along Brigadier General. This is our mess." Ed tried to deny him.
"I can't let you have all the glory Full Metal." Roy grinned at him, causing Ed to frown. "How else will I get a promotion?" Then he glanced beside him. "Major?"
"I will follow wherever you go sir." Riza replied without any hesitation.
"Then it's settled." Gabriel nodded. "I can open a portal to the Gate and…" But he was cut off by a loud explosion that caught their attention. Several of the Amestrian tanks had been wrecked. They were too close to the beast now; the barriers the State Alchemists were throwing up provided no protection at that range. He attacked again, targeting the tank that Winry was riding.
"Winry!" Ed yelled. Armstrong grabbed the smaller girl and leapt off before the vehicle was ripped apart and exploded, but they were caught in the shockwave which carried them several dozen feet before they handed hard on the ground. "Damn you Baldwin!" Ed gritted his teeth angrily and rushed him, but when he got close Baldwin simply swung one of his arms sending the short alchemist flying.
"Brother!" Al yelled with concern.
"He'll be fine, come on!" Gabriel gestured at them and charged at Baldwin. Al, Roy and Riza took off after him.
"Are you alright Lady Winry?" Colonel Armstrong asked with worry as he gently helped her up.
"Ah I'm fine." She was a little dazed. Then suddenly, Ed crashed to the ground with a thud a few feet from them. "Ed!" She was startled, and ran to him.
"Winry?" He moaned as she knelt down to help him sit up. "I'm okay." She showed some relief at hearing that.
"Ed…" She said so softly that it was barely audible. "I have to tell you something."
"Huh?"
"All these years that you've been gone, I tried to move on, and I thought I did." She looked sad, but smiled lightly. "I was wrong. I could never really let you go."
"Winry…" Ed's eyes grew wide, and then he shifted his head down. "I'm sorry I left you like that." He apologized. "I didn't want to go, but… as I've said; I'll do anything to protect you." He fell silent for a moment. "That's why I have to do what I'm about to do."
"Ed?" She was confused.
"I'm going to make sure that you and our world will never be threatened again." She realized what he meant.
"You're…" She didn't want to say it, because it would be too painful.
"This is the last chance I will ever get to say it, and I wished it hadn't taken so long for me to realize this…" He swallowed hard and turned to look her directly in the eye. "I love you Winry."
"Ed… I…" She was completely caught off guard. It's now or never. She thought, and opened her mouth to speak.
"EDWARD!" They snapped to the source of the voice. It was Gabriel, who along with the others was keeping Baldwin busy. "We could use a hand here!" The Colonel's momentary lapse was enough that the monster struck him with one of its arms.
"Damn!" Ed cursed under his breath. He turned back to Winry and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry." He said, then stood up and ran towards the battle.
"Ed…" Winry could only look on.
"Colonel!" Ed called as Gabriel managed to land on both feet near him. Gabriel reached into his sleeves, noticed that it was empty and then felt around his cloths.
"I'm out!" He said with annoyance as the two caught up to Al, Roy and Riza. Baldwin grabbed one of the girders with his hands and whipped it towards them, transmuting it into a giant metal spike in mid-flight. Al clapped his hands and hit the ground with both. Half a dozen very thick walls burst up from the ground in a line, and the spike shot through the first four but was stopped by the fifth.
"Colonel!" Ed called out again, as he transmuted three knives, also from the ground and tossed them up. Gabriel grabbed them with one hand as he sprinted past the Elrics and leapt on top of the last barrier. He used it to launch himself even higher into the air where he threw the knives Ed had just provided him with. Roy snapped his fingers, generating a wall of flames in the knives' path so that they lit on fire when they went through it. The fiery darts impaled Baldwin in the face, and then exploded taking his whole head off.
"I'm going to open a portal…" Gabriel informed the others as he landed, but he stopped when he noticed a bright orb growing in front of the monster whose head was gradually reforming. "Look out!" He warned, and the sphere blew up. Ed, Al and Gabriel scattered out of the way, but Roy and Riza were caught by the blast. The force was strong enough to dislodge a chunk of the metal spike from the crushed walls and sent it spinning towards a petrified Winry.
"WINRY!" Ed screamed at the top of his lungs, but she was paralysed by fear and couldn't move. Time slowed to a crawl, as she watched the lethal object close in on her and her life flashed before her eyes.
"Get out of the way Winry!" Al yelled too. Both him and Ed clapped their hands and knelt to touch the ground to transmute something, the blue sparks raced towards her but it would not arrive in time.
"No…" She whispered, and then a figure jumped in front to shield her.
"Ugh!" Gabriel grunted as the spike entered his body, and the force of the impact sent him to the ground.
"Gabriel!" She ran to him. The metal spike was the size of a javelin and it had skewered him through his right lung. But the Colonel wasn't finished. He reached one arm out, and was bathed in crimson light. He focused through the pain, and concentrated as hard as he could to open a large, black portal behind Baldwin.
"Now!" Gabriel ordered. Ed and Al redirected their incomplete transmutations, and two massive rock fists burst forth from the ground in front of Baldwin, and slammed into him, punching the beast so hard that it knocked him into the gapping maw of the portal.
"Gabriel…" Winry knelt down beside the wounded Colonel. He picked himself up, and grabbed one end of the spike with both hands and pulled with all his might. "Wait… stop!" She said. He screamed in agony as he removed it, and his blood poured out. Dropping the spike, he clasped one hand over the hole in his body and he lit up again as he closed the wound with the power of the red stones inside him. It wasn't pretty, he was by no means cured or healed, but the near tidal flow of blood had stopped for the time being.
"Winry…" He said weakly in between grasping for air, trying to ignore the intense pain. "I'm sorry… for everything." It took considerable effort for him to even smile lightly at her. "Take care of yourself." Before she could reply, he took off and ran into the portal.
"Major!" Nearby, Roy knelt down beside Riza who had slammed into one of the few standing steel columns during the last explosion. Her right arm had broken in several places and she sat with her back to the steel beam.
"I'm okay sir." She coughed as she tried to get up, but Roy gently pushed her back down.
"No, you're hurt."
"But sir…" She protested, and he cut her off.
"Don't worry, I'll go and finish this." He said, glancing at the portal that was now slowly closing. She looked disappointed, at herself.
"I'm sorry sir." She apologized but Roy shook his head.
"Riza…" He started; she couldn't remember him ever saying her name like that. "You've always looked out for me." He smiled at her. "Now it's my turn." He leaned down, and their lips met. They kissed for what felt like an eternity, before he finally had to pull back.
"Go." She smiled back. "Go and save the world Roy." He nodded with a grin, then stood up and left. Al met the Brigadier General in front of the portal that was becoming ever smaller.
"You ready Alphonse?" Al nodded firmly, and they turned to Ed who was walking towards them.
"Ed!" Winry cried out from afar, and he turned to her.
"Brother…" Al whispered.
"Edward, we have to go." Roy reminded him as the portal gradually faded. Ed and Winry looked at each other longingly for a few moments. Sadness, and regret were clearly evident on their faces yet no words were exchanged between them.
"Winry…" Ed spoke finally, breaking the silence as a gust of wind blew her blonde hair around her beautiful face. He gave her a remorseful smile, and then did something she would've never expected. "Goodbye." He spoke just loud enough for his farewell to reach her ears, and then turned to join Roy and Al. The three gathered themselves and strolled into the portal side-by-side.
"Ed…" She whispered as the portal closed behind them and winked out of existence. "I love you too."
To Be Continued…