Humanity, a fragile state that could be tilted at any moment.
Any normal person would be willing to run away at the sight or placement of terror; but for Edward and everyone else they're willing to confront them head on, even at the cost of their bodies.
No one in the barn could begin to fathom of what the stones could physically do to their bodies.
Winry braced herself for the worst, Edward made sure that she had something in her mouth so she wouldn't accidentally bite her tongue off. As soon as the needle slid so smoothly into her skin, her body couldn't stop shaking. The stone whipped its way around her body like a bullet, destroying everything in sight. Red, bright flashes of light escaped, and she screamed every second along of the way. Izumi couldn't bear the sight of seeing another young woman in pain and agony.
"WINRY, just try to breathe and not let it take over you completely. I'm here for you!" as Edward's voice was muffled by Winry's endless screaming, her body thrashing all over the place. However, Edward held her down with some assistance from Roy and Armstrong. Blood and tears were mixed into the fray, but it all came to a halt, and she tried to get a few deep breaths in. Her eyelids shut; her hands no longer tensed up, Winry realized how much power was coursing through her own body. Carefully, she stood up, her body waving back and forth, as if a toddler was trying to find its balance.
"Hand me a weapon." She quietly requested, with her head tilted down and right hand slightly open.
Alphonse couldn't believe it. "Winry, are you still there?" his young voice asked, would his childhood friend still be the same?
"Yeah Alphonse, I'm still here. I just need to test something." Her words slightly trailed, with her focusing on breathing and feeling the power all over her body. Every muscle twitched and she didn't want to make eye contact with anyone. Muscles contracted and the veins in her arm were incredibly prominent.
However, Tim wanted to make sure his patient was okay and did provide her with a knife. "I'm not sure if this is what you asked, but go for it kid. Just remember, at any point in time I can make you physically stop with my alchemy."
As she rose her arm up with the knife in her hand, metal-like plates covered her arm and extended the length of the blade.
"HOLY SHIT!" screamed Kain, he to adjust his glasses from the shock of it. "That's insane, you were able to do it like that without any thought. I would hate to be that guy who pisses you off."
"Yeah," She said with a slight smile on her face, "I'll make sure that whoever hurt those people will pay. We're supposed to be the ones to protect them, NOT HURT THEM!"
Alphonse couldn't believe it, to see his childhood friend with such strength. "Winry, I'm glad you're okay. Marcoh, I can't believe your theory worked!"
However, a siren in the distance was going off. Screams of people could be heard as well. Something was causing chaos, something unknown to Roy and the others.
Without a hesitation both Olivier and Izumi bared their arms.
"I think we're starting to run out of time, and we don't have quite the luxury to learn what our powers will be. We'll have to think on the fly." Olivier retorted; she wasn't too pleased with the current situation. Worry ran through her face; it would only be a matter time till others would eventually be picked off one by one.
Roy and Armstrong needed more help to hold down the two women as more of the stones were injected into their body. Jean and Heymans rendered their assistance.
Olivier and Izumi both managed to not let out a single scream, but the muscles and veins on their bodies showed just how powerful the pseudo-Philosopher's Stones were. No man was ever made to bear such an incredible, otherworldly, almost at a God-like level. What could the human body do on its own accord, would it still be able to remain in control or would the mastermind decide its fate?
All of the years of mental agony and anguish that a soldier and even a housewife could deal with, was no match in comparison to measly stones. Blood trickled out of their bodies; they were ready to deal with any consequences that came along the way. It was almost as if the sins they have committed were meant to be atoned by this very affection. Lives who couldn't defend for themselves or were lost at a war that should've never happened to begin with, how many more people would it take for something to change?
However, like any other human, their emotions did finally emerge. With one loud final scream, Izumi and Olivier managed to catch a breath. It was hard to stand on their two feet, but Olivier's loving brother was willing to help both of them find their footing. "You two are the strongest women I have ever met. No question in in my mind; I will keep fighting alongside with you two." He extended his hands out to help both of them get back on their feet.
The two glanced at each other, their faces remained the same, but could tell that physically they looked stronger. Blue lightning streaks escaped from their fingertips, as if it was almost calming to them.
"I wonder what my husband would say? Honey, how much stronger did you get?" Izumi chuckled, quickly followed by a chuckle by Armstrong.
"I bet your husband is a lucky man, a woman of your caliber and strength is simply magnificent."
All of the adults laughed in the room, but it wasn't so amusing to the younger alchemist.
Every once in a while, Edward peeked his small head by a window, trying to make sure that no one was watching their actions. However, as time went on his nerves were starting to get the better of him and his patience was running out. "Guys, we might need to hurry or get our asses moving. We're sitting ducks!" Edward demanded, but with one flick of his hand he alchemically assembled a blade on his automail.
Jean motioned to the others to cover all of the other doors. "You guys do what you need to do! We'll try to hold the fort down. I recommend you hurry up if these superpowers will somehow save us at the end of the day!"
The blaring sound of a siren in the distance went off, followed by crowds of people screaming and droves of them being muffled out quickly. Riza kept her hand close to her gun. "People, be prepared, who knows what on earth might happen. General Armstrong, Izumi Curtis, and Winry Rockbell, you three cannot fall. We need all of you at this crucial moment."
All of a sudden, the sound of a whizzing rocket launcher round was shot right at the barn. Wood and other debris flew in the air like it was nothing, as if the barn was on its last legs. The place was nothing but a rubble.
Roy tried to keep his vision focused on his Lieutenant, somehow managing to hold onto the tiny fragment of stone he fiddled with earlier. He looked around; however, his sight was blocked by the fog. It looked entirely desolate, as if nothing were to remain. "HAWKEYE! Please, let me know that you're okay!" With every step he took, more and more wood broke underneath his foot and dread started to run through his mind.
"She'll be okay, when she's truly dead." An older, gruff sounding man uttered, as his most treasured sword pierced through Roy's stomach.
Red, large droplets of blood trickled down his coat; he didn't know whether to breathe, to cough, or say a word. Images flashed in his mind of soldiers being slaughtered like cattle as if the fate of every man who became a soldier would become fodder fuel. "Furher Bradley, the most treacherous man in all of Amestris going out of his way to eliminate his own military. I don't know if it's ironic, but you motherfuckers have got nothing over us. I swear to my life I will TAKE YOU DOWN!" Without any hesitation he swallowed the stone; his throat feeling heavy with all of the guilt and sins that may come with that price. What toll would his body take?
"You just swallowed one of Morfran's stones, do you quite realize what may happen? You can die right here as your body rejects or maybe your body does something else. I am quite intrigued." Bradley slightly sighed as he counted to plunge the sword into Roy's being, "It's a shame that a man like you would be lost to something to futile. Admit it, you never had the upper hand. We, the Homunculi, will make all humans tremble."
Every muscle and blood vein pulsated in Roy's body; however, he was alone. His closest allies buried underneath the rubble, could they all be dead? He clenched his hands as the pain went through his body. What will become of me? Will I turn into a monster or a protector? He wanted to close his eyes, just for one moment.
King slightly smiled and chuckled. "How noble of you Mustang. You, trying to gain an edge over me?"
Red lightning streaks encased all over Roy's body, as if the power wanted to materialize in real life. The pain of it all would force any man to crumble, but he had that focus, that drive; almost as fiery as the sun, his eyes showed that color. A billow of flames emerged, forcing the Homunculus to jump back. "Huh…" the older Wrath sighed, tilting his sword down till it barely touched the ground. "I guess the Flame Alchemist will truly live up to his name?"
Roy kept his composure together, the words he heard had no weight. "If you want some real flames, I'll be glad to give you some." With one firm motion, he punched his arm forward, causing a flame to run almost mad. His alchemical symbol glowed bright on his hand, as if his gloves melded to his body.
The Homunculus thought quickly to get out range for the time being. I wonder what the others will come to face with.
Stone and other tiles rattled, Riza eventually woke up and couldn't believe she was seeing. No way. Colonel?
"Riza, I'm glad you're okay. Have you seen the others?" he spoke quietly, showing his never-ending compassion for the woman he cared about.
Riza realized that the moment for romance wasn't quite appropriate but kept her composure as always. "No, I haven't. I'm not sure how long as I was out for, but you're the only one I've seen so far. We need to find them."
Roy nodded in agreement and gently opened his hand for a little bit more illumination. Riza managed to find a crowbar to help move more of the slightly heavier debris. However, she knew time was of the essence and moved efficiently as she could.
A bright, blue lightning streak broke through a revealed a structure strong enough to protect Alphonse, Edward, Winry, and the others from a collapse.
"Phew, I can't believe how quick I had to act. I knew I heard something funny, and I just acted like that." Alphonse breathed a moment of relief; he dropped his head down to show it. "Oh gosh, is everyone else okay?" the younger Elric wanted to express his concerns to others, making sure people were able to stand back up on their feet.
However, people couldn't believe the sight of the Colonel. How bright the flames were and the power his body could show to others.
"How you feeling Mustang?" Jean rhetorically asked, trying to find a cigarette is his military jacket.
"I'm okay, but we must head back to Central as our only means of shelter has been completely destroyed and I bet the other Homunculi will slowly close in our path. I hate to break it, but Furher Bradley is one of them."
A few slags of wood arose, and Armstrong was underneath, protecting Olivier and Izumi. "What did you just say Mustang?" the muscled alchemist asked, more of his faith in the military was slowly breaking down. "Are you telling me that the leader of our country is a traitor and is willing to turn other humans into willing puppets?"
However, as much as Armstrong wanted to imagine the other horrors in his mind, a large, almost gargantuan creature hurled right at them. Without any hesitation, Armstrong's gauntlets gleamed, and a giant wall stopped the beast in its place. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. HOW MANY MORE ARE THERE?!"
Without any hesitation, Edward transmuted a large enough barrier to keep the other monster at bay. "MOVE YOUR ASSES! Alphonse or teach, one of you will need to carry Tim. I hate to break it to you old man, I don't think you'd be able to keep up with us."
The oldest man sighed without any argument, he sightly slumped his head down. "I guess you're right Edward, I'm not a spry chicken anymore. We need to hurry and god knows what the others in the military are doing or not doing. We're the only ones who can protect Central."
Everyone grabbed everything that they could from underneath the debris, but both Edward and Armstrong wanted to hold the mysterious creature for as long as they could. Moaning and groaning sounds escaped from its mouth, "Must. Go. Back. To. Sleep." With one powerful punch, the Homunculus Sloth showed his ugly face to the others. "Father. I. Must. Obey." Large, bulging muscles contracted and his face showed absolutely no emotion. The bright red vein on his face started to glow and it growled inhumanly.
In the blink of an eye, the behemoth lurched forward right for Tim, but Olivier stepped in and with one hand stopped the beast. "I don't care who this Father guy is, but you are the least I am concerned with." She slightly chuckled, firmly grabbed onto the Homunculi's shirt and threw it across like it was nothing. Quickly, Winry followed in suit with a large spear she had made beforehand from the knife and jabbed it right in the middle of Sloth's stomach.
"YOU STAY DOWN!" Winry screamed ferociously, she wanted to feel like she could do something instead of standing off to the side.
Edward couldn't believe what he witnessed, but nothing could else distract them at the moment. "As I said before, LET'S MOVE!"
/
Father tapped his foot impatiently, his brows furrowing with absolute disappointment. "I see it'll take more than just one Homunculus to take them down and Wrath why did you exactly step back anyway?"
Wrath cracked his knuckles while holding his sword and leered right back at Father. "If you want to know, I think those humans may serve some purpose to you. Besides, if they get close enough back to the military, maybe Morfran will make them bend to you and do anything for you. I may be a King to my country but, I would be a fool not to realize your true goals; to turn this world into what you truly desire and rule it with no objections from everyone else."
Off in the distance, the other Homunculi sighed in boredom.
"How much longer do you plan to keep us cooped up old man? At some point I need to let off some steam." Greed demanded, he smirked with every intention to cause chaos. "A greedful Homunculus like myself shouldn't feel deprived of anything, in fact, LET ME TEAR DOWN THOSE HUMANS! It may not be the most ideal situation, hell, I'd rather be kicking it back at the Devil's Nest, but this could be a lot of fun." Greed laughed out maniacally, letting every thought in his mind playing out of the world being his own and how he could whatever he truly enjoyed.
Off to the side Envy shook his head in disbelief. "Alright, let me out so I can show Mustang and the others to what they will need to be in fear of. The Mannequins that Morfran created for us pales in comparison to a real Homunculus. I think showing my true self is all that it will take."
Gosh, all of you are so stupid. Don't you realize Morfran's true intentions? Pride thought to himself, while kicking his foot right by large rock. "I hate to ask you this Father, but why are you letting Morfran run the show here? I thought someone like yourself would like to be the center of attention; have all humans bow down to the only God and make them fear us." Pride stared right at Father, a sense of disgust was seen on his face.
"Selim, while in fact you're the oldest Homonculus here and have the face of a child, I want to get all humans to believe in a disease that could kill them all. Have that fear become real and make them all coalesce into one spot. My true intentions are to steal God so that I can become one and it'll take whatever the cost may be whether it's ten people or tens of thousands of people. CENTRAL CITY, NO, THE WORLD SHALL KNOW TRUE FEAR AND DESPAIR!"
/
It was only time before the citizens of Central City would be picked off one by one. More of the Mannequins filled the streets, cars crashing into storefront as everyone ran off in a frenzy.
"MOMMY! WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKS!"
Some of them tried to fight back with guns and bullets, but to no avail. Limbs were torn like meat, bones snapped like twigs. The Mannequins feasting as if they had no food or water ever provided to them, as if the victims had their humanity stripped from them. No longer they would be able to think for themselves, their thoughts and bodies manipulated by one person. Morfran would set the stage unlike anyone would ever see.
Edward and the others ran back towards the chaos and were shocked to see hordes about hordes of Mannequins.
Winry ripped out a light pole and in one fell swoop, altered the physical state of it, with spikes added and threw it right at them. Legs carried her across the streets and taking out the monsters in droves. Her face was full of determination and a fire that Edward has never seen before. Although, Jean and the others made sure that Winry had backup.
"I'm not gonna let a lady fight by herself!" Vato yelled as he threw grenade after grenade. Mannequins fell over like dominos, their voices quickly muffled by Winry's onslaught. Slight guilt ran through her mind. They too were once people, but I'm sorry that they have to be killed. Even if we could save them, would it be a life worth living?
Regardless, Winry put on a brave face and continued to pave a way for the others. "KEEP GOING! I'll deal with these things as best as I can, whatever is causing the source of the misery needs to be stopped!"
As Winry was about to stab another Mannequin, she got completely blindsided and knocked right off her feet.
Roy was about to retaliate back with a fire-filled punch but saw a man right on top of Winry with something sharp in his hand right by her throat. "WINRY!"
She tried to speak, but her throat was being crushed by the force of the unknown man. "Who…. are you?" she struggled to get her words out, feeling the windpipes slowly closing.
"Ah, you're a feisty one. Man, I would hate to kill someone like you, but I was ordered by Father and Morfran to stop anyone who comes in our way." Metal-coated, sharp pointed fingertips carefully danced around Winry's neck, as if Greed was expecting some sort of reaction from the girl. "Oh, come on now, you were just destroying those white abominations with no issue, but now you tremble before me. Greed the Lascivious, the Homunculus who could want anything and everything in the world!"
"You talk too much." She quietly muttered, with her other open hand she allowed it to turn it entirely into a spear-like weapon and jammed right into Greed's stomach.
The wind got knocked out of him and he fell right back. "Damn, this bitch has a few moves right underneath her sleeve." He quickly jumped right back onto his feet and ducked right behind a car. Man, this lady's got some fine moves. Well, I shouldn't be upstaged like that.
Greed tore the car in two like paper and hurled part of it right at Winry. Roy gave some cover and melted it into a hunk of junk. "Come on Homunculus, you seem a lot cleverer than that! Give me your best shot!"
Riza fired a few rounds from her handy pistol and Roy added a fiery kick to them.
Greed bobbed and weaved, and just as he was about to unleash a powerful wave back, Envy stepped in front. His eyes were full of glee and delight, the envious Homunculus of them all looked forward to toying with some humans.
Envy rose his right arm up and it partially transformed into his true state, faces of woe and agony moaned, "You humans disgust me! Stop trying to fight us and accept your fate."
Like a lion, Envy lurched forward even more in an attempt to take out Riza and Roy as the fire and bullets did nothing.
A loud clinking sound was heard, and pale, blue lightening streaks danced around the ground, forming more concrete barriers. Izumi smiled and was ready for a challenge. "COME ON! Is that all you got?"
Envy was not one to take a threat from a human, his face was filled with loathing and hatred. He gritted his teeth and screamed, "JUST DIE!"
As Envy was ready to show his true colors, the other Homunculi showed up. All of the citizens of Central tried to hide as best as they could while the Mannequins continued running amok. Children cried and pets whimpered, their world was falling apart as they saw it; flames and despair filled their view, would they manage to make it out alive and live another day?
Roy didn't like the situation at all, neither did Edward.
"FullMetal, I'm gonna need all of the help I can get as I hate to say it. Falman, I need you and the others to protect the citizens as best you can. If you see one of those white freaks, take them down without any prejudice. Those people are far gone; I owe it to them that they can be taken out of their misery."
There the Homunculi stood, ready to ordered, however, something else was starting to brew. Wrath tapped his sword amongst a dead body, its face torn in two by the Mannequin. He sighed, as if he was bored by it all, "Alright then, who will make it to the top, a few meager humans or the ones who were meant to evolve in this world?"