鋼の錬金術師 (FullMetal Alchemist)
Chapter 9 The City
Roy moved ahead a few steps, and snapped his fingers, creating a fire wall.
His amry started moving, and the steps made the ground shake. The auto mail users made an incredibly loud noice.
A rain of arrows flew over the fire, and was about to reach the army, but Armstrong grew a series of stone heads shaped like himself, and stopped the attack.
After the arrows stopped being heard slicing the air, Alex made the wall dissappear, and so did Roy.
"Ahead". He said.
The army stayed put. Only him and the alchemists moved ahead, running against Envy's whole army.
"Go!". Envy shouted.
Gluttony jumped past the Xing army, and crashed the floor in front of the alchemists. In the meantime, the Amestrian and the Xingian army faced by the sides, leaving one grat circle where Ed and the others fought Gluttony.
While the blood started spreading through the floor, alchemists, who no one but Envy had seen, drew a circle around the reduced group.
o0o
Ed verily dodged one of Gluttony's mouths. He jumped over it, and ran on the neck, piercing little holes every time he could.
The philosopher's tone dripped, and the long neck shook, throwing Edward away.
Hohenheim, almost lazily, fought two heads at a time.
He jumped back and forth without loosing his calm face. Once in a while, he grew a spike from the floor, and damaged the heads severely, but these regenerated.
Al, Izumi and Wrath were on Gluttony's back, trying to transmute pieces of him into something else, in order to waste him down, but it wasn't working quite well.
One of the three extra heads trapped Wrath, who held the fangs open sing all of his might.
Envy looked lazily at the battle, just on the border of the circle he had sent his alchemist's to draw.
The armies were getting closer to where Gluttony was. Soon, they would all step into it.
Armstrong and Scar were busy trying to smash Gluttony's hands.
They had succeded in some fingers, but Gluttony, proving to be tough, kept trying to punch them, many times, holding balance in just one of his hands.
o0o
"Al! Here!". Ed shouted, as he tossed his brother a philosopher's stone.
Al grabbed it in middair, just in time to dodge one of Gluttony's faces.
He transmuted one of the necks into solid rock, and then destroyed it.
Gluttony roared in pain, and looked at his own back, twisting his neck.
Ed jumped on top of him, as did the other alchemists. Only Roy stayed on the ground, making a circle of fire around the monster.
"Lower him down from the inside! I have to take care of some things right now!". He yelled to Ed.
"Stop giving me orders!". Ed replied.
Using the stone, he transmuted his arm into a blade bigger than usual. He let it fall, and pierced de whole of Gluttony's skin.
He opened the wound, and made everyone jump in.
Using the stone tohether with Al, they transmuted a platform out of thin air. They splashed on the sea of blood, and looked around, trapped in that solitary scene once again.
"Okay, let's waste all of this material. We have to transform every little extra piece of Gluttony into something else. How about Oxigen?". Ed proposed.
"That should be quite hard… It's a lot of flesh, bone and blood".
"It'll work well". Izumi said, after thinking for a while. "Come, kids, lets draw the circle". She said. She put her fingers into the blood, and started making the formula circle for the transmutation.
"Looks complex". Scar said. "I could deconstruct the structure". He added.
"It's mainly water, as a human body". Armstrong said, looking around. "If you just deconstruct it, Central will flood. A more extensive circle has to be prepared".
After a while, the circle was ready.
Russel and Fletcher looked around. They were quite shocked about the battle, but still helped on the alchemy.
Mei Yang was completely terrified. She couldn't bare blood. She got sick just by the sight of it. She had to face the fact that there was gonna be blood, the situation being open warfare, but this sea was too much.
Everyone clapped their hands, and then laid them on the circle.
It started shining.
A light in the sea of darkness.
o0o
The army completely stepped in the circle. Only a few men weren't able to step in.
Gluttony started shaking wildly, as parts of his body started decontructing, as if they were rotting.
After falling to the ground, and crashing several soldiers, Gluttony yelled in agonny.
He fell down, and rolled. For one last act, one of his little head went into his open mouth, and down his throat.
"He's deconstructing… Damn- Well, not a pipsqueak, seeing his size". Envy whispered.
Inside, Edward heard the noice of the raging creature, and saw the head approaching.
It trapped him between his fangs. He barely had time to get his auto mail limbs in a good position to oppose the strength of the bite.
He was pulled outside, and thrown away.
He transmuted his red coat once againg to a parachute, but he was taken down by a series of arrows, which, luckily, didn't wound him.
He fell to the ground, near where Envy was standing. He looked at the green haired shape, and groaned.
"Hm? Oh, it's you. I wonder how did you get out so quick?".
Ed looked at him with deep hatred.
"It looks as if I were the one who killed Ling… Shoud I remind you that you did it?".
Ed felt a stone on his stomach.
Just to go against Envy, he looked at him with even more despice.
"I'll revive him".
"Oh, you know that is forbidden, as well as impossible".
"I have done it once, I can do it again".
"Would you really sacrifice all of this for just one life? Your brother is one thing, but this guy…!".
"Shut up!".
o0o
Gluttony shook wildly, and lost his size. All of the alchemists were already out of him, while he breathed heavily.
Al came close to him, and pat his back.
"I'll let you eat people, but only this one time, you hear me?".
"Yeeees". He said, letting his tongue hang out.
"All the people in green armors, you can just eat them". He added.
Gluttony looked around, and jumped away.
The bloodbath that followed was undescriptible, as were his screams of pleasure.
Al looked up, and saw Ed standing in front of Envy.
"It's just about to end, brother". He said.
He turned, and went on fighting.
o0o
"You knew him! And yet, you betrayed us! You were our friend! I really believed that you had changed!".
"Oh, what a whimp! Really, you can't come out here and tell me all this sweetie-weetie bullshit, Edward. If you're trying to convince me, then fight me".
"You know I could have killed you several times already". Ed said, raging.
"Yes, but this time I'll fight abusing my powers, as should you, Ed".
"Why? Why did you betray us? It's not really Envy that you have! You had lost it when Lust confessed that she loved you… You had finally become a human then! You had almost forgave Hohenheim!".
Envy's look darkened. He lost his wide smile, and turned around. He shook his arms, and the alchemists clapped their hands, and made the floor under the warriors dissappear. They fell into what seemed a bottomless pit, but Ed knew they had fallen into the abandoned city.
"A five hundred year hatred isn't forgotten so fast". Envy said. He ran to the hole, and jumped down.
Suddenly, thruth shook Edward's mind.
That wasn't…
It hadn't been…
And it may never be again…
He ran after Envy, and jumped into the hole too. He looked down, as the shape of Envy grew little by little, since he was reaching him in middair.
"It's not you! You are not Envy!". Ed shouted.
He rolled in the air, and landed on his feet, pushing the auto mail leg almost to the limit.
"Envy was born fou hundred years ago…". Ed said, smiling evily himself, and looking at Envy's shape.
"Hohenheim created him four hundred years ago, but he was with you one hundred years before that!".
Ed grew his blade, and pointed at his enemy.
Envy's face was still dark, but all of a sudden it turned into a wide smile.
"You finally realized...".
"You're not Envy! You're Dante!". Edward shouted.
