Chapter 22: Family Feud
Being on a battlefield, it had seemed almost like time was running out, with each step being take towards the front of the Military Base, Janelle felt Bradley getting just as close, already informing Greed that the homunculus was on his way, unfortunately Ling had already beaten the girl to the punch when he had sense the chi of this other person.
She should've just asked Ling if he sensed anything from a distance, would that have been easier? In return she could only kiss the side of the humanoid's head while he assisted in carrying the girl on his back. More like insisted, "Well, guess the old man just couldn't stay dead. Good, I wanted to take him out myself."
"Just be careful please, I already told Ling about Fu, I just want everyone to come out alive!"
"Easier said than done."
"Then let's make it doable." She replied her cheek close to his to make him smirk, and nudge his head at her for a second, "Heh, you're taking the words right out of my mouth, woman. Now then…Wrath…Where are you…" Trailing off Janelle pointed in the direction of where the fight were to take place, straightened herself on his back to make the homunculus nearly trip, "There! Over there!"
"Ah! Damn Jenny keep yourself balanced will ya, I only got one spine!"
"Oops, sorry, but no seriously, the fights over there!"
"Are you sure?" He asked quizzically to get Ling to respond, She's right Greed I sense the homunculus over in that direction, there's a few just in front of the barricade.
"I'm pretty sure." She replied back confidently.
"Alright. Hang on it's going to be a little bumpy!" He grinned with excitement knowing that just over the roof tops he began to run up, there was going to be plenty of fighting, and plenty of revenge to go around, especially after Greed's past life, he was going to repay the Furious for the friends he killed and for imprisoning Janelle, and nearly cutting off her entire arm. He could've killed her and that's all that plagued his mind. He was going to plan on sending Bradley to his grave.
When the two had arrived over the tall tower, hearing the loud explosion of someone entering through the front gates with an abrupt return. It was him, and the avarice knew it, sensing it as Ling sensed him, "He's coming…" He muttered it more to himself, but Janelle could already see the clouds of smoke riding up further towards their destination, "God he's moving fast. He's made up the first entrance without so much as stopping. It's almost scary compared to watching it on a television set. It seemed to go on forever, but this…"
"Psh that's nothing sweet heart. I'd have already been up here by now. He's losing the touch, being old and all." Janelle gave a sideways smile, and rolled her eyes only able to take his cockiness as a blessing, since she could only imagine stay as far away as she could from this man. Her stomach was churning bad, and her heart was pounding before she felt the hand of the homunculus, "Hey." His acknowledgement of her worried feature caused her to look to him, smiling more sincerely, but worried this time, "I'm okay, really."
"Just remember to use your Alchemy this time if he comes near you. No hesitating because he won't."
"I know. I promise I will." He smirked relieved, then pressed his thumb into her palm, "And make sure you don't jump in the middle of the fight. Only attack when I say to."
"I'll make sure my ears are open for you."
"Good girl." Then he kissed softly, catching himself in a second until the two moved away to the sound of the final entrance of Central, which led right into the center of Headquarters itself, but before them down below, Janelle and Greed could see Wrath just as the smoked cleared, his patch over his eye and his other scanning the Briggs soldiers standing their ground to him, weapons all alike readied and loaded while Buccaneer led them with a strong, yet astonished to see that this one man had taken out more than just a share of his comrades, "I don't believe it, this bastard just took a tank…!" Wrath was unharmed never scratched when he escalated this far, his eyes look towards where the proud Major stood. The angry homunculus took a step forward and the Major came at him, only to cut be down along with his auto mail that was broken to pieces when he skid across the floor, "Oh no…" Janelle smacked her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide, but Greed's face never changed, it was filled with thoughts running through his mind.
What Janelle couldn't see was the urge to kill in his eyes, but…She should've already known this to be the outcome. Greed was facing the one of the people responsible for his friends murders, and his first demise. And since Janelle came, there was no excuse. There never was. Greed could only feel more than generous to give the old man what he had coming to him, a slow and agonizing death, if possible.
From where they stood, the scene became abundantly clear that they would have to step in, especially when the Furher began to walk towards Falman, "Greed…" Janelle suddenly said, as if not being able to time it from when Wrath would attempt to attack him. Falman was terrified, "Greed help him please!"
"Hold on…Easy now…"
"What are you waiting for!"
Just then the man with the patch spoke, "So even afraid you refused to get out of my way, eh?" He stared at the lieutenant unfazed and bored, "You humans are so pathetic, you waste your lives for nothing, it's pitiful." He almost sounded disgusted, but Greed wasn't having him kill another today. Not on his watch.
"Heh, well you got one thing right! They are stubborn as hell…On the other hand as pathetic as they may be, and they sure are." He gave a prideful grin then, "I prefer to side with the underdog." Wrath didn't seem the least bit intimidate, in fact, he seemed to welcome Greed's appearance, "Well, Long time no see Greed, if you had any sense at all you would've stayed out of my sights for good."
"Yeah well my avarice tends to make these decisions for me. And right now I want your life, Wrath!" His hand had shielded over, his fingers stretching out only to ball into a fist filled with hidden rage. Greed wanted blood, his blood. And Janelle didn't know what it was about that tone, but…How could she take him so seriously when he sounded so sexy! She had to hide her bubbly thoughts by shaking her head a bit, seeing Wrath looking up at them both before he glared, hearing those words from the avarice.
But his gaze was quickly fixated on her, almost insulted by her mere presence, "And you brought the girl. Good, easier for me to bring her back to Father before you've completely destroyed his plans."
"Oh no, no, no you misunderstood her being here old man." Greed grinned sadistically before jumping down to the floor with a crater he made underneath him, straightening himself to see the elder's stare, "She's come to watch the show."
"Hmph, you're a fool for bringing her here in the first place. If I cared as much as you did I would've left her behind. You and that Xingese boy are almost the same, idiots to bring weak people into a fight that they can't fight."
"If you think that then you don't know us very well, do you? And you're one to talk, rumors had it that you died a fire-y death on a train. You look unscaved to me."
"Hmph, Let's just say I have sharp eyes. It only took me a second to find a path within the rubble, the rest was all a matter of foot work. But, the years do take there toll, I'm still left with a few aches and pains." Greed spat to the side, looking to the damage he had already caused, eyes annoyed and carefully watching as the left over smoke polluted the air. Janelle seemed to see his reaction already knowing what he was thinking before the avarice noticed the man he had saved before approaching him, "You're Ling Yao right?"
"Hey! I haven't seen you since we were held up in that crumby apartment. It's good to see warrant officer."
"It's Lieutenant!" Ling jumped a bit, only to laugh, "
"Oh right, I owe you for the stay and food so I'll lend you a handle. Plus, I got a score to settle." From smiling so gleefully to grinning deviously, the Ling and Greed had made a quick switch back, the avarice causing a burst of red light to lift below him like a large bubble around formed before it disappeared within the blink of an eye, "The truth is we both got a grudge to settle with this righteous old bastard. COME ON!" Wrath welcomed the invitation, both the homunculus now weapon to shield against the other, clashing back and forth until no one could keep up with them.
They were moving so fast, even Janelle was breath taken by the scene, keeping her hands up as she kept herself waiting to help as much as she could.
While the two men were in combat, Greed picked up on a hint from Ling, and began to jump to Wrath's blind spots. Bradley caught on quick, waiting until the two were at a stand still again to speak, "Using my blind spot to your advantage?"
"Heh, I don't know why I didn't think of it before but the prince gave me a few pointers on how to get to you."
"How thoughtful." He replied. It wasn't the answer Greed expected, and by Bradley's calm aura around him, the patch was the least of his worries. And as he grabbed for it, "Unfortunately for you…" Janelle spoke out, "GET BACK!" Her scream echoed getting everyone to hear it, even Greed who jumped back swiftly just as Wrath took his leap towards him.
He became faster, but the avarice dodged each attack with little room, Wrath's blade even cut a few inches off Greed's bangs, before the Furious knocked him back with a kick of his boot. But the avarice never lost his reflexes only using the force of the Furher's kick to leap back and move to the left out of the way of the blade again.
Each time Janelle heart jump, her fingers intertwining with one another, biting her lip in fear of what was to come, but she stayed alert, looking around herself before she looked down at the two again, "Come on guys, any time now…" Just then he got caught between the wall and Wrath, blocking with his shield when the homunculus thought he had his brother. But Greed ducked at a major swipe to his head, running out from underneath to move clear away from the man this time.
The men of Briggs thought it was a good idea while Wrath had his back turn to fire at him. Greed demanded they stop, "Damn it, stay out of this!" It was too late, Wrath was already on his way towards the soldiers, dodging bullet after bullet, but Janelle saw this coming, and clapped her hands without a second thought. She almost felt as if she didn't know what she was doing, only to know on command that she need a wall to stop Wrath from killing the soldiers.
Luckily for her, it worked. But now Wrath was surprised now looking around to see who had created such a thing. When he saw the stance that Jenny was in he knew it was her, and gave a grim look to her. And she didn't seemed frightened by him like before, instead she held her ground and gave him a stare back, "So, you finally have the guts to stand up to me eh? I see it in your face, you aren't as afraid as the first time." He went silent for a moment, getting Greed to growl, "Don't even…" Wrath took one look at Greed but only ignored him when he looked back to the girl who stood to her feet, "I give you create dear girl, but hardening your resolve isn't the same as being able to stand against me!" Bradley took a run up the wall, his foot work so quick that even Greed had a hard time catching up, "Janelle!" He called out to her when he saw the look on her face, yet even though Wrath had gotten within an arms length of her, the girl threw her hands down, this time without clapping by accident, yet the alchemy still worked in time for her to create a shield from the ground, bringing it up just in time to catch Wrath's blade, and throw her back against the wall, grunting hard with each powerful strike.
She think she might've broken a nail off, literally when he tried to slash it out of her hands, "Son of a bitch!" Greed jumped kicked Wrath back like the man had done to him before, and sent the old man down onto the ground, getting Bradley's attention back over to him more than anything, That was too close. What was he thinking wouldn't he want the girl alive than dead? Greed tried to keep his concerns out of his mind, but seeing the face Jenny was making only made him growl and glare lethally towards the Furious, "This fight is between you and me Wrath."
"On the contrary, the moment she decided to step in she became involved. And ever since that girl's come here she's been nothing but a nuisance. But…Her death is not what I'm after. I just need her incapacitated enough for me to drag her back to Father."
"You will not lay finger on her, I can promise you that."
"Oh?"
"I won't let you." He taunted, "Well…True love at its best I guess. But Love story's seem to always have unhappy endings. Usually with their spouses dying. Is that what you wish?"
"Heh, If anyone's dying today, it'll be you."
"We'll see about that."
From the side Janelle could see the Major Buccaneer getting to his feet and running towards the homunculus, again Janelle wanted to use her alchemy this time but Wrath was too quick for her, "I SAID STAY BACK!" She growled this time trying to stop him, but he jumped over her attempt at to stop him with her alchemy, leaping into the air in right into the view of Wrath's blade, "NO!" Janelle couldn't believe this guy! He was asking to be killed, and it angered her when he ended up at the end of the man's sword, "CAPTAIN!" Janelle fell to her knees, out of breath, and speechless, "No…"
The further may have thought he'd won, but Buccaneer was incredible strong, built like and bear and stronger than any ox. But still, Janelle could only wonder why.
Then she understood why she couldn't stop it. The idea was to take his sword. That's it. The sword his advantage and without it, and with no causalities really around him, what was he to do? Once Wrath had moved away from the furious man, he couldn't help but admire his strength, "That's some tough abs you got there."
"So what're you going to do without your fancy sword huh?"
"ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED DUMB ASS! Then again…I appreciate the help!" Wrath saw Greed in front of him, and spotted a body not too far off from where he was, one of the men that came blasting forward into the circle from his entry previous. So he ran for it, and skid on his side, "Oh no you don't!" Greed tried to catch up, but Wrath had already grabbed for the dead man's knives. When Greed skid back Wrath had already swiped at the side of his face, "Not exactly my weapon of choice, but I guess I'll just have to make do."
"Now you've gone and piss me off old man."
"Damn it, what am I suppose to do if he won't give me anything to do!" Janelle on her side of the fence was becoming agitated, she knew why he hadn't called to her yet, knowing he'd only use her as a last resort if it came down to it. It was when she hear Falman yelling about soldiers of Central trying to regain control of the gates once again.
But Greed being preoccupied only retorted frustrated and not trying to worry about gates right now. At the moment he was just trying to stay alive for his, Ling, and Janelle's sake, "I'm kind of busy! You're going to have to deal with it yourself!"
"What, me! What am I suppose to do!"
"FIGURE IT OUT!"
"I got it!" Janelle called out.
"What, like hell you do, just stay back like we agreed Jenny!"
"Everyone needs help, and you have no choice!"
"How adorable, looks like your little woman finally has a back bone." Wrath mocked, he even thought about going after Janelle again, but Greed quickly caught his attention back to him again, "Hey! Don't forget I'm still here!"
"You're going to end up getting her killed Greed, if you let her think she's a soldier. She'll end up dead before she even reaches our father."
"So you think, but you underestimate that which you do not understand Bradley and that's what will kill you in the end!"
"Let's see who's right then." Janelle was trying hard to jump down with her Alchemy, but with the weight of her change making her lose balance slightly she was slower than usual, and Greed could see it from the small glance he was taking to her. When she reached the ground she dashed for where the machine guns lied, the Central forces attempting to shoot their way in already half way up the crumbled stair way. But Janelle put a stop to them for now jumping over the small barricade Briggs had made for themselves, bring up the whole front entrance until it was shield off, "There. That should do it for now. Hopefully."
"Hopefully? Who are you?"
"Uhh…Long story, ask Roy when you get a chance he knows who I am." She replied gleefully, getting Falman only to itch his head, "Mustang? I don't understand."
"Neither did he at one point."
"Now you're confusing me."
"Trust me Falman it's just better if you don't know, but on the Brightside you can have my name at least, it's Janelle."
"Janelle…Janelle…Why does that sound familiar."
"Um, don't know, but none the less it's a pleasure to meet you." cutting off the two to their conversation, as well as the rest of Briggs that had been watching the fight between the two homunculus, everyone, even Greed and Wrath had pulled a part to hear something coming up the way, creating a colorful pink, red, and white smoke to rise into the air. Janelle sighed smiling brightly in relief, "Oh thank god finally!"
"W-who's that?"
"Friends of Ling's."
"No kidding. Wait, you mean his helpers?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, good news, that's nice to hear, we could use it. But…You know Ling too? I mean it was obvious before but are you his girlfriend or something?"
"Yep." Then suddenly an idea popped into her mind, "Hmm, maybe if I open it they could slip in." She opened it a bit, startled by the sound of someone darted out from the molded steel. Quickly she closed it up, turning to Fu who jumped in front of Ling and attempted to take on Wrath by himself.
He was so fast that his movements couldn't be seen only by those with trained eyes, and the sound of blade's clashing against one another made the woman's ears chime until they backed away, Fu and Greed/Ling side by side and looking to one another, then Wrath the Furious.
"Nice moves old man, thanks for the help, you saved my ass."
"I wasn't saving your ass, I was protecting the body of the young lord."
"Heh, well it's the same ass." Fu could only glare at him, "Your sickening chi is radiating from the prince's body, however, it did help me find you." Then he looked to Janelle who merely blinked, "As well as the young woman. Mind telling me what's she doing here?"
"She wanted to help." He replied looking over.
"She's carrying the young Lord's child."
"Our child to be exact, and let's get something straight." He looked to Fu with a stern glare, "She's doing just fine. If we left her somewhere else she would've just been kidnapped…Again."
"Still, it unnerves me to know that the heir of our country is literally in enemy waters."
"Well there are more important things then thinking about the next heir at the moment, and Janelle is more than capable to protect her own kid. Plus, the prince is the one claiming she can handle herself more than I am, so technically you'd be arguing with him not me. So she stays."
"Mm, if the young Lord wishes it so be it. But can you at least tell me who we're fighting, we couldn't even lay a scratch on him."
"That's King Bradley." Fu eyes looked to the man with the tattooed eye, his expression emotionless and deadly, frowning and awaiting the next move from the two before Fu finally gripped his blades and falling into a stance, "So, this is the bastard that attempt to attack Lan Fan? The man who nearly killed my granddaughter but…" He trailed off gritting his teeth. Then he smirked, "That young woman there…She's the one that took the impact wasn't it?"
"So I heard." Greed replied it softly, remembering what Ling told him, and like a chain reaction, Ling also began to respire in that memory.
"Then I am in that woman's debt. And this is my chance to return make amends…"
"NO amends!" She replied getting the others to look to her, "I heard that, no need for that, I just couldn't watch it happen, or let it happen. I don't know what I was thinking, I just…Want to stop this!"
"And what exactly are you trying to stop. You're nothing but child trying to live in a man's world. A world that isn't yours."
"A life is still a life!" She replied, "And you're still human Bradlely, Just like me, and them, and Greed…. Which means you still die like one, you shouldn't think so godly of yourself, the god complex doesn't suit you."
"The difference between you and me, girl, is that I will out live you. The only that will live pass you is your own offspring, if Father sees it fit that he needs his unborn grandchild." Jenny could only hold her breath, unable to shake the pale face she was sense coming off her expression. And when Wrath smiled it only confirmed it, the girl grit her teeth and took a deep breath, "Well, then I'll just have to prove you wrong!"
"Cute." In an instant the furious and turned towards her, and took on step forward before he took off on his tip toes, his two hand blades out and ready, but Greed and Fu both jumped in to stop him, distracting him back into a fight between the two, one after another Greed and the eldest man kept coming, even when Buccaneer had awaken from passing out he was shocked to see King Bradley still going strong.
Greed came down with a high kick, using the force of his leg to hit him but it was no use. Fu was going to come in for a strike but Wrath threw the avarice into his attack, making him grunt out in pain, "Ah! What the hell old man!"
"It wasn't my fault-, oh-, incoming!" Greed crouched down missing a blow to the head, but left himself open to be kicked in the face, and imbedded down with one of the blades that Bradley held. Now, he only needed one blade to go after the bodyguard, "Cheap son of a bitch…"
"Greed!" Janelle wanted to run over and help, but the avarice put his hand and looked back with an intense glare, "Stay there Jenny, just stay there!" She didn't refuse, she froze in place and held a fist to chest the other around to her elbow until she was biting her thumb in worry, nervous. Her heart was all over the place and the more she worried, the more she began to feel her back begin to give out, "Oh…" She whimpered when the nerve began to pinch, causing her to fall to her knees, "Ah!"
"Miss? Are you alright?" She cringed but smiled the best she could to Falman who was attempting to steady her balance, "I'm okay…It's-, it's just my back." Seriously! Of all times for this to happen!
"Falman don't leave her side!" Greed called out only to get the lieutenant to stumble over his words before seeing the girl's pale complexion, her breath heavy and her head falling forward in pain, "A-Alright. Alright I will."
"GREED FU!" While the two seemed a bit distracted by the girl, Janelle seemed to catch the mistake her back had just cost them. Greed looked over to the two older men, Bradley had already removed Fu of his weapon, and caused the cut on his forehead to blind him. And just as Wrath came up and sliced him, Ling called out in a panic, "Old man Fu!" He had taken over the body in an instant not even bothering to warn Greed this time around before he had taken the injured man in his care, Damn it Ling ASK me before you take over like that! He didn't answer, he was too focused on the King in front of him, and Wrath knew it when Fu said his title, "So, it's you again. Last time I saw you I had almost taken your girlfriend's arm, correct? And still you refuse to take my advice and stop saving things that aren't worth fighting for." Ling again stayed silent.
It was times like this Jan actually felt fear towards the prince because he was always one to answer. But, he looked pretty pissed, and who could blame him, "My Lord, forgive me…My life is not worth fighting for."
"Don't give me that crap! Are you honestly telling me I should be like him! A king should fight for his people because he is nothing without them! This man is about to sacrifice his own nation. His people, I'll never become the monster that he is!" There was a small pause, "And I will not raise my own child under such horrible morals either!" Janelle's face fell on the verge of tears before she held her stomach, the sickness slowly subsiding, but her heart only dropping when she saw the blood coming from the old man, his eyes dimming with each passing second while he seemed to know what was happening, his own face showing the sorrow of what was to be the inevitable, "No, not again…there has to be a way."
"Janelle…"
"I can't let this happen…He has to live-, But…I don't know how to stop the bleeding…How do I stop a major injury like that." Her eyes were scanning around for something, anything, but she couldn't think straight, she was beginning to panic just as much as Ling when Fu began to cough up nothing but blood, "Shit…"
"You need to rest please!" It was no use, there attempt at saving Fu may have been for not. But Janelle didn't want to give up so easily, "It can't end like this, I told Ling we could save him, if I told him how it would end I-,"
"What are you talking about? Save him how?"
"Please Falman let me go I have to go out there!" She was struggling now only feeling the man behind her hold her shoulders, and waist to stop her from going out into the middle of that mess, especially with the way she yelped out in pain when she thrashed too hard, "Ah!"
"Are you insane! You'll be killed!"
"I have to save Fu I can't let him die!" She exclaimed making eye contact with him, but he kept his conclusion firm, "Greed told you to stay put! What happens if your back finally gives out completely and then Wrath comes after you? You'll only give him something to hold over Ling's head! These monsters are not pass manipulating, please listen when I say I'm only doing this for your well being as well as Ling's!"
"But I want to help!" The blood was seeping fast. It was then Janelle could see the injury leading up from his pelvis to his chest. If he was lucky, his insides would stay in tact, and that thought terrified her. The sight made her eyes dread with tears as she weakly began to push herself, "Please…"
"I'm…I'm sorry, but Ling wants you to be safe, and that's what I'm planning on doing. Keeping you safe. I really am sorry, miss." By this time Falman was beginning to feel the girl's despair, her legs caving to the point she was hunching over, trying to hold herself together, "Me too…" Suddenly when the old man knocked Ling to the floor he caused the prince to release him and took a head start towards Wrath, "Greed protect the young lords body!"
Why, why can't I save everyone? Her eyes took one last look at the man who in many ways helped her get this far. She had seen so many go before her, reach another side that only could be reached in death, now watching another go and seeing the look on Ling's face as some one close to him departed before his eyes, the chill enveloped her as her tears intensified. She closed her eyes tight and cupped her face unable to watch what would come next, "I can't look…"
"This old servant, has no choice but to offer his retirement!" Fu leaped up with a home made detonator strapped around his waist. Everyone's eyes widened, Ling especially, he didn't expect him to go this far, and he could only watch as the man extended out his hand, his suicide mission hoping to be a success, "YOU STUBBORN FOOL!"
"I'M TAKING YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL WITH ME BRADLEY! YOU BASTARD!" It wasn't even seen when Wrath had moved his hand taking out the fuses in one go, but it was done, all within slicing right through Fu and causing his demise.
Ling's face filled with terror, his heart pounding loud against his chest, his mind clouded, and dark, full of delirious and angry all at once. And when a final blow came from one of Wrath's blind spot, Buccaneer was the one to give the injury that would assist in the Furher's end. The edge of his own sword. Wrath didn't see it coming, his eyes widening when he realized what had happened to him.
The pain seemed to finally settle in when he grunted, trying to hold his own sounds back from anyone hearing, but he blood was too apparent, "If you're going to hell, you're not doing it alone." Buccaneer replied, "I'll keep you company on the ride down."
"You have my gratitude…Thank you…" Janelle opened her eyes to see Greed taking a straight shot over the two that were thrown to the side like discarded toys, Wrath's gone ticks getting the best of him now, before the even more enraged prince ran screaming at Bradley, his eyes watered and teeth sharpened and gritting hard. He was furious. He was growling when he took his opportunity to catch a break, slashing the man's ultimate eye, then attacked over and over again until he was attempting to upper cut him. The more Janelle sat there on the ground she noticed his anger taking over, his eyes still violet as if in between the prince and the avarice's soul. Both Ling and Greed were taking over the body like she had seen so many times before. Not like this though of course, but she could say for certain that their souls were connecting, by heart and mind, feeling and thinking the same things, like twins becoming one in spirit, only…somehow they were able to do it just by being themselves.
Just then Janelle heard a familiar scream, the sound of someone calling for their grandfather. Lan Fan.
It seemed like the whole world stopped turning in an instant. Then Janelle began to feel the ground shake. She sniffled back standing to her feet cringe at the pain in her back to find some ground before bumping right into Falman. But their connection was shortly lived when a dark purple circle with hands began to arise from the ground, "Oh no…Get back!" She pushed the lieutenant back, now being eaten away by the black tiny fingers that began to dissolved her into nothingness, "Ling~…?" He didn't seem to hear her, he was stuck in his own world before she could barely move, panting back when she began to realize what this was, "Ling!"
"Ling, the girl!" He snapped back his head looking to the light that seemed to catch both him and Wrath off guard, "So, it's finally beginning…"
"Janelle!" Ling ran for it, his eyes tearing up with horror as he watched his lover fall apart by this alchemy before him. He didn't know what was happening, and when he tried to hold onto her hands they just broke down, breaking apart, "No…! Damn it, no, not yet, this can't be happening not yet!" They already knew, but Janelle tried hard to smile, trying to keep herself from crying, "It's okay. I should've seen this coming."
"Oh Jan…" He was attempting to still hold on to her, eyes fearing the worst while she was just smiling at him, her eyes full of the same emotion of fear and terror. It showed as she whispered to him, still with tears seeming to find a way to falter and appear, "I'm…I'm not going to lie I'm scared Ling…"
"Don't be. I'll come for you okay? I promise. Just be strong." Her expression was so relaxed compared to his, and she could only close her eyes with one last breath, hearing his words filled with desperate hope, determination filling his hurt filled eyes watching as she vanished before him leaving him screaming at nothing but the air in front of him, "I willfind you!" He could barely handle it. Seeing her just gone like that. And with fearing the worse for Fu, Ling was in denial of it still, everything coming at him.
Greed wasn't any better, his eyes widen, his head just as much in a daze before the avarice finally took over and went at the Furher, knowing Bradley had a good idea of what just happened. He didn't even bother to ask this time, growling louder and louder until he was yelling back and fighting against him with each single swipe he could muster. He only hoped that she would be down below him, clawing with each passing second with more fuel added to the fire, "Looks like someone didn't like their precious toy taken away!"
"RRRGH!" Greed swiped up into the man's face only to have Wrath punch him in the side of his stomach and throw him back with his arm into the nearest wall. When he made contact the avarice ducked at the next attack that crumbled the stone bricked wall behind him. Wrath didn't hesitate to tackle him over the edge, hoping to have them both fall into the waters below. But Greed had grabbed the wall in time to stop him from plummeting, unfortunately having someone tagging along with him, dangling from his wrist. He struggled to wriggle him off but he held a tight grip on the ultimate shield, "Damn…You bastard…" Now the wall was starting to come loose, the brick that the avarice was clenching hold of was slowly coming forward, but Greed tried hard to keep it steady. It was no use, and when he thought he would surely fall with Bradley, Lan Fan came to his aid, grabbing a hold of the avaricious, "I got you."
"Don't worry about me! Let go!"
"But…It is my solemn vow as a guard of the high King to watch over the young Lord!"
"Just take care of the old man damn it!" As he said this the woman's face changed, her eyes filling with tears and falling from her mask that hid her face, "I-it's too late for that…" One of the droplets fell on his face and the atmosphere around them darkened. It can't be…
"Briggs soldiers help me!" The men came forward, one with a rifle when he pointed it at Bradley, "I got it! Take this you son of a bitch!" Wrath saw this and threw the only weapon he had left before being shot in shoulder. Even though the soldier was wounded though, the Furher fingers slipped from the avaricious, getting Ling to take over when he jumped for the old man lying on the ground, "Fu!" He laid there lifeless in a pool of his own blood, his eyes closed, and seemed to be not at all breathing. And Ling's fears were coming to reality, "Is there a doctor here! Any doctor that uses alchemy! I've got a philosopher stone right here! Use it! Use the whole thing! Please Someone! Anyone! This country's the Capital of alchemy, right! Isn't there anyone!" No one could speak up, the only thing anyone knew what that Fu a great man and protector to Ling Yao, was now dead, "Why! Why…" Ling dropped to his knees, tears rolling down his face as he cried for his lost friend. A man that was like a grandfather to him, that was suppose to be there until the very end. And Now his lover and child were missing, completely gone from where he could keep her safe like he promised. But how could he keep his promise if he couldn't even save his subjects, "I don't understand, I have this…The stone was suppose to makes all immortal…But how when I can't save everyone?" There was a sudden explosion to their right, the entrance had been blown open, damaging the once solid wall that Jan had made before her departure, "Another wave is coming in!"
"Captain! Just hang in there!" Ling could see from where he stood through blurred vision the Captain of Briggs coughing up blood, his life also shortly ending before his time. And Ling could only feel helpless that he couldn't help him as well, "I'm sorry…I can't help you either, you helped us land a critical blow to Bradley, and I have nothing to offer my thanks."
"Here comes a second wave of Central troops!" Another voice called out when another explosion came from the other side. The machine guns that had started off previous to the first incoming wave suddenly stopped, "We can't hold this location for much longer we'll have to move!" Another called. All of which Buccaneer could hear, and turned his eyes to the gate close to him, the front gates to be exact, "Greed…Ling Yao…Who ever you are, if you want to thank me…Do me a favor will ya?" He pointed up towards the gate, he was trying hart to keep his hand steady as he did, "Our Queen, ordered us to keep this gate locked up tight. Please….Defend it!" Ling seemed surprised by this request, hearing the dying man's last request, "With your power…You can do it. You're…The only who can." He stopped to consider it. But his heart had already made up his mind. And even though he needed to find Janelle, defending this gate was what would get him a step closer to her. And felt it.
It was then Ling stood to his feet, and called upon the homunculus inside his soul, "Greed…"
Hmm?
"I want power…Give it to me." He half demanded it, but Greed didn't seem to mind, "Alright…We got time to kill anyway. Janelle should be safe."
"She'll be safe… Lan Fan I need you to protect the people here." He replied just as serious and demanding as before, his mind suddenly going to the blasted walls.
"So…You'll help?"
"Oh yeah, you have my word…" Just like he had promised his lover to find her, he knew that Buccaneer was right. He was the only one that could take them down with his ability. With the help of his homunculus friend, "And the Xingese…" He shielded his hands and arms once again, "Always keep their word…" His body hardened, and he began to walk to the front of the enemy he faced, knowing that just beyond this reach, he would find the faces he had haunting him mind. And once he came to honor Fu's death more and more, Ling and Greed both saw the face of the woman they longed to see, just as they came face to face with the Central forces, "FIRE!" They wasted no time when he got to ground level with them, the bullets of their guns only ricocheting off the avarice's shield. When they realized they couldn't do much damage to him, Ling called out to them with a dark warning, "Anyone who has a family, a lover, or just doesn't want to get hurt LEAVE!" Greed was the next to speak, ready to kick some ass and get pass this little obstacle that stood in the way of his next goal, "AND WOMEN TOO! I DON'T LIKE TO HIT GIRLS!"
"Don't be duped fire at will!" They had their warning, now Greed and Ling were striking left and right, pulling guns from soldiers hands and crushing their arms. When he was passed a few that he had knocked out, a truck came out of nowhere and attempted to take him out. Unfortunately for them they should've taken the warning because the avaricious dug his hand so deep in the engine he caused it to leak and explode in front of him.
The soldiers of Central thought maybe they had caught a break between the smoke, but when they saw Greed still standing there, panting, his eyes still fixated on-, who knew what. The Falman was still trying to figure out whether it was Ling or Greed doing all of that, but no one had yet to realize that now the main gate was safe for now, the only thing the two men's minds could think about now was finding their girl. Someone they had been waiting to get back since she disappeared from his grasp, "Jenny…" He then turned his head to a familiar gate he knew about, and growled loudly before taking off in a dash just to pushing the two trucks that had blocked the path in a synch. He grabbed the gate and crushed it in his hand before walk down, his body somewhat turning to normal with each haunting step down into the deep, deep undergrounds he remembered so well, knowing that down there somewhere, his lover awaited him, calling for him to come and get her.
And he was getting her one way or another, no matter what it took to find her. He would until it led to his death.
Her head was killing her, and when she had felt her head and lungs succumbed to oxygen Janelle gasped for air, as if she had just been revived from the dead, her heart beating against her head when she felt the carpet below her. She still felt nauseous and her back was killing her. She could barely even move her head up when she opened her eyes to see the T.V. in front of her. She could only see an eclipse slowly happening, but the DVD player was still oddly missing. She gasped loudly, panting back when she attempted to reconcile the scene before her, and where she had ended up.
The girl could hardly believe it, feeling , almost in denial as a cold sweat ran down her face, the ache of her nerves making her grunt silently when they pinched, "What…" She looked down at her stomach, her clothes still the way she remembered them when she left the world she was in. Now, she was staring around her old room, things still in place, her posters and anime portraits, pictures of friends, and memories all in tact again. She attempting to gather her thoughts, feeling sick even more now than ever.
Janelle swallowed back hoping the nausea would pass, but it lingered causing her to wobble to the familiar bathroom, and fall face first into the toilet heaving whatever she could before slumping back with a frightened face. She covered the side of her brow with her hands swallowing back her sanity before she decided to take in her own bathroom, "How am I home?" She stumbled to the sink, her head and ears giving such a high pitch sound that it caused her to almost lose her balance before she gripped the sink in front of her. Janelle in an instant looked at herself in the mirror her, finding what she would've considered back to normal in her universe before realizing that even though she had awaken from what felt like a dream, it wasn't. The clothes she was wearing proved it.
And as her vision cleared she began to find the strength to wash her face and look at herself once more, "This can't be real…No way…" Even the few scratches she had gotten in the current battle she had dissipated from made her come to the conclusion this wasn't over. She threw her towel to the ground and ran over to the television set, again seeing the screen stuck to an eclipse. It didn't seem to be on pause, and again Janelle checked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating the first time when she saw her box was missing. In other words she was taking this as a sign. Although for some reason attempting to use alchemy didn't work, her ability to do so was gone, leaving her take out a helpless breath, "Well that's that. I should've expected as much. Now what…" Then she noticed outside seemed to giving off an orange tint. One that made her cautiously walk towards the window almost expecting something out there.
She did. But something she thought was very odd. An eclipse, "Please tell I'm just seeing the news on mute." She walked over to the television again and attempted to change the channels. Every one was the same, and with no sound, "Shit. How is this even possible if the last time I was here the electrical box was shot? There's-, There's no way PG&E would've been able to fix it so quickly, or…Damn it, but it's been over a day so of course they've fixed it. Genius Janelle, freaking genius." She sat back trying to gather her thoughts, rubbing her face while she leaned against her bed. She was starting to worry, if she was home which meant Father didn't want Greed to interfere in whatever he needed her for. Yet, it seemed weird that he would send her home than to just send her to the 'center' like everyone else, "Oh Ling…" Now she was starting to panic a bit, she wanted Ling to find her, but how could he if she was completely out of reach. She feared the worse and cupped her face harder almost on the verge of tears before the house phone suddenly rang, startling the day lights out of her before Jan shook her head and hesitantly answered the house phone, "H-Hello?"
"Hey you! Where've you been? I've tried calling your cell but you turned off. Ooor you didn't pay the bill?"
"Um…I uh-, I dropped it in water." Was all she could think of off the top of her head to make her friend giggle, "Sounds tragic. Well, how about you follow Chase, me, and a few others to check out the eclipse? It'll be a blast? We're thinking of grouping up towards the mountains to get a good view of it, even stop in town to get some grub on the way!"
"Who is this?" She asked to get the person to laugh a bit, "Okay very funny. You know who this is."
"Uh…" Then her mind seemed to get a hold of the voice and her lips moved to the name, "M-Molly?"
"There you go! You remembered!" She replied cheerfully laughing more, "Sorry I've had a Monster recently don't mind my spaziness."
"Heh, yeah sure."
"Are you okay?" She asked slowly only to get Janelle to blink back confused before smiling softly, "No I'm fine, but uh…I think I'll take a rain check on that. I'm not feeling so hot today."
"What's wrong, seriously tell me." She whined attempting to sooth her friend but the brunette was more than feeling daft at the moment, and knowing that this was no coincidence made her feel paranoid, and more than unlikely to sit through a whole eclipse with people she already had…Lost a connection with, "I'm really okay. Just a fever, maybe a stomach flu. But-, can I call you later? I uh…I. I think I should rest." Jenny knew she would've never fallen for it, even from the sound of the small silent and the tone in her voice seem to say it all, "Alright. If you say so."
"Thanks. Later." With that she hung up the phone without any thought to it, stuck on the phone itself for a moment before she turned back to the moon that was slowly coming close to meeting in sync with the sun. If it wasn't so creepy right now, Janelle would've thought of it as cool or unique, but right now, she was staring at the screen with an emotionless face, thinking, and pondering as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Now what do I do? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs…" She trailed off only to suddenly notice the few messages that were missed on the answering machine.
She pushed the button: "Message 1: 1:00pm Saturday: Hey Janelle it's your mother, your cell phone seems to be off, but I just wanted to make sure you have the house cleaned by the time we get home Sunday night. We should be home around 6:00 and I'll be bringing home Chinese. I also found this great recipe that grandma sent for you let me know when you're home so you can write it down. Yeah so…uh, call me back? Bye." She kind of smiled hearing her mothers voice, as much as her and her own mother never got along hearing her voice seemed to be a heave sent when she heard it, "Sounds so weird hearing it again." She thought about even calling her back, but right now her head was full of thoughts as she sat in front of the television set, trying to stay put until something were to occur, all while listening to the second message coming in and off the speaker, "Message 2: 4:30pm Saturday : Hey Jen it's me."
Chase…
"Listen uh, I know we've been going through some shit lately, but I really want to talk to you. Please? It's important." She could only wonder if that's why Molly called her up, but at this current time, all Janelle could do was rub her tummy getting some Naked juice and a few fruits she had grabbed while rummaging through the fridge, seeming to notice that even though she had been gone in the world of FMA for what was nearly a year, in her world it had only gone by a day, and no one seemed to notice her disappearance in that time besides the fact that her phone was dead. While she stared at the screen she suddenly noticed the rest of her DVD's from Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and pulled out the fifth box set. The one that carried out the last part of the manga, and anime. The final conclusion that held the fate of everyone in that reality. And her heart thumped harder and harder the more she closed her eyes and began to imagine Greed and Ling, wondering how much they were wondering where she went, how much they probably were driving themselves insane just as much as she was.
In all honesty, she was beginning to believe this world was just an illusion, that Father was trying to trick her or force her into another alternate reality to keep her locked away until the Eclipse was completely a lined. It was the only thing that made sense, and when Janelle began to ponder how she even got here in the first place, she looked down at the baby, and tried to smile confidently, "Don't worry. We'll figure it out. It'll…take some time but I'll find a way. Or…" She trailed off, feeling helpless and hopeless when she realized what she was saying out loud. But she snapped herself out the funk quick, and took a deep breath laying her head back, "I guess all I can do is wait. They'll eventually realize I'm here…Right?" The only question to her mind now was how. How would she be able to make some noise loud enough for them to hear her. Or for her to even jump back over. "Damn it…I really wish Greed and Ling were here…." Just then she looked down at the DVD in her hands, and glared at the pictures of Wrath and Pride, both of their faces use to bring so much excitement, and joy, because of the damn cover being part of the Alchemist's made believe story.
But now, they just brought pure hatred to her as she spat on their face and threw the thing straight across her room, causing the box cover to slip off by itself and spread the box set into different directions, "Bastards!" She wanted to cry, she was feeling confused and stuck on what to do. But then another one of her crazy ideas came to mind. Whether it would work or not she didn't care if others would think she was out of her mind, and from the screen on the Television, she was noticing the sun and moon were a split of a hair away from syncing up with each other, "I got it…I think I got it." She looked down at the DVD case she had thrown and picked it up to take out the disc, "Crazy or not it worked last time, I just got to find the spark to ignite the ignition…" She ran (limped) into the living to find the DVD player still there, giving her the answer that this really was her world, and not an illusion, "Okay now that I know this isn't an alternate world, I can safely say that he wouldn't have been stupid enough to put an imaginary one. He's not that artistic." She stuck in the disc, and pushed the play button waiting for the DVD player to read the disc.
To her it seemed like it was taking forever, that loading sign feeling like it would be the death of her, "Come on…Read it…Read it…!"
From the world Janelle was trying to make contact with, Ed, Al, Roy, Izumi, and Van Hoenheim were laid out before Father and Pride who was off to the side watching everything take place. The rest were struggling stuck to the ground by the homunculus's shadow like tentacles, and the Eclipse from their end had become a lined by this time as the thing looked up at the shadowing of the Eclipse itself, "It's Time!" He announced.
The world began to shift, what would seem like normal earthquake, everyone could tell they were different. All of Amestris starting to change, "Have any of you considered this planet to be a single-life form. Or perhaps a single 'system' would be a better term." Everyone couldn't help but listen in, "A system with knowledge of a vast universe beyond your worthless human brain's ability to process." The one eyed monster grinned happily, "Do you realize how much power one could obtain by opening its gate? That! Is exactly what I'm going to use you all for right now!" The dwarf from the flash must've really been to stuck in his own egoistical thinking to see Greed behind him.
He came out of nowhere, grinning, waiting for this moment when he could take the power for himself. His chance to finally have true immortality to make this world his, "Heh, so this is the center of it all huh?…Mind handing it over Pops!"
"Greed!" Pride should've seen it coming, but with his sight cut in half from dissolving he regretted he hadn't. The avaricious slashed through Father like pudding, his face full of triumph, "NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ME THE WORLD AND MY POSSESSION BACK!" Father knew what he meant. He could see the rage still flickering from the fact that Janelle was no longer with him. Which means, for Father, his plan had worked in isolating the girl.
"Yes!" Ed cheered thinking that he had gotten Father long enough for them to escape, but it was all a façade when the eyes of the dwarf seemed to freeze around his son, "I knew you'd come my avarice son…Have you forgotten? You dear boy, were born of my own avarice. Your greed mirrors my own…"
"Where's Janelle!"
"Her time will come my son…Maybe I'll give you one last chance to see before I cross over to her side."
"Her side…?"
"Heh, now now…I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."
"What are you-,"
"You still haven't figured it out? Why she isn't here? How I am still able to hold this…" From the back of one of his tentacles, he seemed to be holding the DVD player Janelle had brought with her, getting Greed to grit his teeth at the sight of it, "And trap her in her own world until I see it fit to use her."
"You son of a bitch…" The dreams began to make sense now, Ling being the only person who seemed to come to the conclusion when he couldn't sense Janelle, but sound still slightly sense the child's soul beyond the center of the circle, just where Father had back away to. His chair, the stone through that was the foreshadowing of every session he held there, "Then that means, the kid's the portal to the other side…" Of course. Ling has the ability to sense Chi, which means somehow out of a connection for his kid he was able to sense it slightly from the door, because of Janelle. The kid becomes the link between her world and ours…
"So you've figured out? What a disappointment. Both you and that xingese boy."
"NO!" When the Elric's father heard this, his heart nearly gave out from the idea, using his own grandchild as a leverage to the girl's world, not even knowing of what it could do to the child or what its repercussions could cost the girl. What if it hadn't worked! In a fit of desperation Hoenhiem gave his own burst of his stone in an attempt to stop him, unfortunately it failed, and Father placed his hand over the paper like alchemy sign, "The real center…Is Here!" A large electrical red wave of sparks flew into the atmosphere. From below their feet a black ball began to spring to life, engulfing everyone until it reached over Central command, and far beyond Central walls, into the city, and outward. It shrouded everyone and even the sky in darkness.
From all five of the people he picked, their stomach opened with a portal of their own, their gates causing wind to blow in every direction until another portal, bigger than all of their put together seemed to open below them, "Yes, let your gates fight! Repel each other! What incredible energy! I can't barely contain it! Just think, once the girl's world is open as well? That will be two-life forms times the power and knowledge!" He gave a loud cackle, "And I will be the one to obtain it all!" From across Amestris a bright blue light took the entire country, sparking through the valleys until the sound of painful gasps and gags were being hear throughout it's rivers and once content skies. Within the underground the walls began to move, and a door was opened from the top of Central's floors, and an enormous dark energy of someone soul rang through the country, causing the earth to quake under the monster's scream for God, "GOD! ANSWER MY SOUL'S CALL! COME FORTH!" Again the black extending arms began to appear, taking the skies until the sun and moon as the Eclipse made a cracking sound…An eye from the heaven's appeared reaching down into the door of Father's own gate he had created. He reached up to grab for those same little black arms, pulling them into him into the portal as he roared with a boastful voice, "Yes…Come to me…I will no longer be bound by your rules! I'll drag you down to earth…And make you a part of me!" A ball of light hovered between the dark and light, almost between a poles as it began to spread out and quiet down with a brush of smoke taking over the sky.
From there, everything went completely silent. There were no tunes, no sounds of people or gun fire. When the smoke had cleared around the few that were safe in the center, Roy was the first to reply to the silence, "It's too quiet."
"Quiet…Did you turn everyone into Philosopher stones!" Ed was the first to ask turning his head only to see through a cloud of dust, and new man, or some kind of being before him, and it spoke in response, "Indeed. For me to imprison God within my body required an enormous amount of energy, and the citizens of this country provided it to me." Edward's breath hitched, everyone besides Mustang were able to see what stood before them, and where the smoke was coming from. Now that Father had gained what he had desired, they all could only stare back at the now young man with long blonde hair before them. His appearance just like Hoenheim's when he was younger. "Damn it, he succeeded…"
The monster smiled, pleased with the results, "Yes, yes I did. And I have you to thank for it, my friends…" His eyes were still that golden shade, but they were beyond deadly. This thing was not normal. It never was but something about Father made the others cringe in disgust.
"Everyone stand next to me!" Hoenhiem knew what was coming next, the look in his friend's eyes told it all, "There is no longer any need for your alchemy…Or for your to open the gate." Father barely touched the arm of his throne to cause the ground to spark in red for a mere moment which created another white explosions of wind to push them all back restraining themselves.
Ed clapped his hands hoping for some kind of protection from the blast, but it seemed to do nothing. It even stopped him from using his alchemy, "Shit, I can't use alchemy!"
"Farewell my sacrifices." The man put up a hand, and created a ball of light. One that Hoenhiem seemed to understand what it was. He hadn't said anything, but Greed/Ling could sense the balls destruction within Father's grasp, and only held their breaths when the ball of energy exploded from the ground up. But the Elric's Father was already a step ahead, holding his own shield of energy to stop the man's attack, "Stand by me!" He announced getting the others to listen, but Father again tapped his forefinger to the center of his arm stone chair, and caused Hoenheim to nearly lose his protective energy around him and the others, but he pushed against it, feeling his fingers tip begin to burn from the heat and power fighting one another. He begged and pleaded within himself for the souls he withheld for more power, hoping they could aid as much as they could.
It seemed to work, but Father could feel it within the struggle when he first attempt an air attack from above. Yet it failed by a mere inch of the older man's head, "Well, for a philosopher's stone of maybe half a million, you impress me. But your true enemy is time." He stomped his foot this time, causing the entire floor beneath them to nearly crumble before Ed stepped in and used his alchemy to keep the ground steady, "With all your efforts focused on defending the attack from above, you're left with no way to dodge a strike from below." It seemed like the more Edward attempted to use his alchemy though it didn't seem to help at all compared to the being's power, "ALCHEMY ISN'T WORKING!" Father attempted again to shift the earth with just a touch of his finger, but this time with May's help with her own set of Alchemy unlike the others, Hoenhiem was able to keep Father at bay, "May!" Alphonse called out.
"It's alright! I'll protect our feet Alphonse! Rentanjutsu are masters of controlling the Ebb and flow of the ground's energy! And the more power there is the more I can use at my disposal!" Now, the homunculus seemed disappointed in their efforts at survival, and sighed, "I was hoping to avoid this place…But I can always resurrect it, or world jump if I prefer…"
"Wait…You can't- that's a-,"
"Indeed…With the power of god at my command, I can create a sun within the palm of my hands…"
"A sun nuclear fusion…" Hoenhiem didn't realize he had said it loud enough for everyone to hear, everyone now flabbergasted at what could come at them, "Be gone…Alchemist." They were waiting for the end, but a loud sound deep within the homunculus stopped him in mid preparation.
But Van explained to him what it was after seeing the confused look on his face, sensing the same thing as him, "You feel it now can't you? That slow steady heartbeat that's been beating this whole time. The soul's of this country are still linked to their bodies, by a thread that we've come to know as the spirit. Like a mother and child connected by an umbilical cord, they don't belong to you yet!"
"What have you done Hoenhiem!"
"I've planned and prepared for this day for years. And part of that plan had me take part of the philosopher's stone…No…some of the comrades inside me and hide them in the earths soul."
Father didn't seem interested in what he had explained, but he couldn't stop his curiosity from getting the best of him, "What are you trying to pull? You say you inserted philosophers stones at a specific point. Even if you were to transmute, without a proper circle nothing will happen."
"Oh I've got a circle. When the time comes they'll active on their own, and when it does an unfathomable power will rain down from the heavens!" It wasn't until then that Father felt the power begin to grow with the sound of the country shaking again to points Van spoke of, he could feel it working too, trying to repel his power from him, slowly attempting to drain him of the souls he had stolen, "YOU STILL RESIST ME HOENHIEM!"
"THAT'S WHY I'M HERE TINY FRIEND IN THE FLASK!" A power surge ignited from the sky, "THE MOMENT YOU ABSORBED YOUR SO CALLED 'GOD' IS THE EXACT MOMENT OUR COUNTERATTACK BEGAN!" Then the surge of electricity took the homunculus, Father, "NGH!"
"The bond between a body and soul is nothing short of miraculous, you need an incredible amount of energy to forcibly remove them, but the reverse is easy, you only need to remove the soul, if the body remains unspoiled and untouched, it will simply call back its soul, like a magnet!" Father was then stripped of the souls, each soul belonging to anyone within the circle had returned to their body, alive and whole again, the world suddenly filling with small sounds that brought relief to the ones that could hear it.
But Father…He wasn't finished yet, he still had a ball of massive energy in his hands, unable to know what would happen if he released it, "The souls of the men and women of Amestris have returned to their bodies, and the souls you've stolen from Xerxes can no longer hold your 'God'. You can barely contain your little 'god' inside your body."
Father gripped onto the arms of his chair, his body revealing veins, and that what Hoenhiem spoke was true, "I still…Have all the necessary resources…All I need is another philosopher's stone…" but this monster was persistent, bringing up a hand as he began to laugh.
And laugh…They began to believe he had gone mad until he took in a deep breath and stood from his throne, a light grin taking his face. Then he put out his hand this time revealing the player in his hand, the one that Janelle had brought with her original to the world they were in, "And I know one other person who has the perfect stone, growing inside her…"
"What…No-," Greed and Ling both knew what was coming, they were all waiting for it when the once 'dwarf in the flask' crumbled the thing in his hand, causing a vortex of a great blinding light to appear. It was the size of a ball when he started, but when he tore the ball open it caused a hole. A hole in mid air that seemed to cross over to another world, "It seems your woman is more of value to me now, more than ever."
"NO!"
~:~
Janelle was getting frustrated now. She popped the DVD in three times before the damn thing seemed to finally read it, "Ugh, what is wrong with this thing?" Then a blast of light caused her to get thrown back over her coffee table and onto her couch with a yelp. Sort of. When she safely hit the cushions she attempted hard to regain her head, and repeated to do a double take at her television set.
At first, she thought maybe it was her way back, relieved for a moment to know that she hadn't driven herself insane, but the more she began to see someone appear onto her side of the realm, her face grew pale, and the person before grinned, his appearance no longer animated, but…real. Really real, "Ah…There you are." She was frozen in place, like the people in the Ring or something. She was straight having a panic attack when she saw Father pulling himself out of her screen, "No…" Her brain began to tell her to run, or hide, anything to get out of his sights now that she noticed from her room that the eclipse on her side of the fence had finally aligned, "Shit…Shit!" She attempted to jump off her couch and far out of the man's grasp, but just as someone grabbed him by the leg, he had grabbed onto Janelle's wrist, causing her to nearly rip a tenant when he pulled her back towards, "AH! GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Ngh! You're not going anywhere!" On his side, Greed had already sprinted before the others, grabbing his father's own leg to get him to stop passing over. And when the avarice heard his woman scream his eyes jumped, his heart included with a growl arising from his throat, "You bastard let her go!"
"Let go of me first boy!" The dwarf attempted to kick him in the face, but Greed cocked his head back, grunting and growling again when he finally got a hold of his creators other leg, "Fight me all you want! You're not getting the girl!"
"Greed you're slipping!" Ed and Al came to the rescue, Ed attempting to hold onto the Avarice while Al tried to reach over the two to get another grip on Father, "We can't let him get her!"
"You're telling me this!" Greed barked in response, the whooshing sound of the vortex starting to become stronger and stronger the small it began to get, "Crap, crap! Alright, we need to make a plan guys! I can't hold onto him for much longer!"
"What're you saying!" Ed exclaimed.
"I'm saying we either go with him, or let him get away, this thing is closing up!"
"Are you crazy!"
"He's not getting my family Ed! Please!"The words were full of desperation. In other words, for the first time Ed believed that Greed was begging for his help. And the blonde couldn't refuse only gritting his teeth before looking back to Al, "Hey Al, remember that one time you said we never do anything fun?"
"Huh? What! No! Why!"
"Because...we're about to have a bunch of more fun!" He replied sarcastically, "Let's do it Greed, push him through!"
"Are you sure-, ngh! No turning back once we do!"
"Just do it!" Greed grinned only wondering what could be over pass that white line, what could be waiting for him on the other side. Then he heard her voice, yelling, struggling, and from that, the avarice felt the courage to push through, grunting, "So old man, you always wanted to cross over to a new kind of world, well, now it's literal!" He shoved Father's feet in fast, causing a chain reaction of bodies to follow at the edge of Greed belt buckle, causing the three to yell when a light blinded them on the way over. Little did they know that Hoenheim was attempting to hold back another homunculus who seemed to slip out of his grasps, and jump through the last remains of the portal before it closed, "WAIT!" But it was soon too late, for the vortex had disappeared, and the few left there were baffled, and left to wonder if the Elric's, the humanoid homunculus prince, and the young woman would be alright, "…Ed…Al…"
While in all the chaos of the struggle though, Janelle's witness to the fiasco was mind boggling. She had attempted to fight against Father on the floor, punching him straight in the face when he tried to hold her down to the ground. It worked but only pissed off the man more, until he noticed the light behind him starting to close, and more than a few others attempting to make their way over, "No! It will not end this way!" He then grabbed a hold of the leg and shoulder Greed and the other were holding deathly tight to, and struggled hard against their strengths before pulling them over with what felt like a synch. But it was due to the help of the others pushing him.
This caused a burst of light to take the room, and through everyone in opposite directions. Unconscious. From below the apartment, it merely felt like a minor earthquake to the small old woman who lived under Janelle's residence.
But now, the room was silent. No sounds were made until Janelle found herself completely sprawled under the dining table. She didn't even know how she got thrown so far into her own kitchen, but when she had tried to rise to her feet, she found her self dizzy, and aching from the impact, "God damn…What the fuck was that…"
"That my dear lady is what happens when people get thrown into other places by alchemy…And so on…" A familiar voice trailed off, but Janelle found no one in her sights before shifting her eyes slowly over to a pair of familiar 'real' boots that resembled a certain alchemist.
This, Janelle nearly choked on her own spit when she attempted to swallow, "E-Ed?"
"Uh…Yeah…That's me…" He lifted himself softly off the floor, then rubbed the back of his head, "Owe, what a landing…"
"Holy…Crap…You…You're…"
"Brother?" Then she seemed to notice Alphonse coming up from behind her couch, the curtains slightly hiding his overly huge armor as it draped over his shoulders and head, "Uh…" Janelle's eyes could've been wider, maybe even saucers, but at this point in time, not in her world. They were only as wide as they would get.
But what really got her to become breathless, was the fact that Greed came grunting and crawling from the other side of her door. Yet, no one seemed to noticed their-, new changes, "Ngh…Janelle…?"
"Whoa…" When she laid eyes on him…She wasn't going to lie, he was-, damn! It was like looking at a bunch of live action cosplayers, only…The hair, the eyes, the clothes? The tattoos and she was pretty sure even Alphonse's crest was more realistic then she could've ever had imagined.
Janelle couldn't staring at him, blushing a bit and speechless with her mouth a gape. Then Greed noticed her, and the new surroundings that looked so odd. The coloring, the shapes and atmosphere. It was completely tripping him out, "J-Janelle? Is that you?"
"Y-Yeah…I-Is that you Greed?" She knew it was but she had to ask, it was just too much of a trip to be real. Here he was in front of her, and all she could do was watch him look down at his hands and feet, slowly looking over to Edward who himself was beginning to look around with the most palest expression on his face. All three of the boys did.
Then they screamed…
Next - Chapter 23: When Worlds Collide
Well guys I apologize but that's all I had in me for today, I was actually expecting it to be longer, but trust me there's a lot more coming up, and I hope this was worth the wait. It'll seem corny at first, but the story is far from over…So! Until next time! Be safe and watch Anime. Hazzah!
