Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Barry's body had been thrown back by the shock of the bullet, but quickly bounced off the wall of the building, landing on the ground and clutching at his wound, snarling at us.
"Alright, don't even think of moving," Havoc said, his guns aimed at Barry's body, taking a step or two forward. "I've got a few questions for you... Wait a minute," Havoc said after a moment of staring at Barry's body, "I don't think he even knows what I'm saying."
"No way," I heard Barry say behind me, "I thought this guy looked familiar. That's my old human body!" That certainly shocked Havoc and Falman, but I rolled my eyes.
"What?!" Havoc said, looking at Barry before looking back to Barry's body, "Are you sure?"
"Those sick bastards must've dumped the soul of some feral lab animal into my body! And it came to find me because it wants it's real soul back." Barry laughed a little crazily, hoisting the spine of his giant knife to rest on his shoulder, "Talk about memories. I haven't even seen this guy since the day my soul got yanked out of him!" Barry laughed again, louder this time, "Do you know how amazing this is? I mean, how often does a guy get a chance to chop up his own body into tiny little pieces!" I still wondered how Barry felt happy about that, even if his old body was unfit for him to return to it. I mean, for gods sake, I felt like gagging! The stench from Barry's body was disgusting, but then again, it was rotting flesh...
"I'm pretty sure that would kill him and you told me not to do that." Falman stated.
"Well this changes things damnit!" Barry exclaimed, pointing his knife close to Falman's face. "I'm getting chills up and down my soul! I've gotta get my knives into it!" The pleasure laced in Barry's voice creeped me out a bit.
"Back off, Barry. I thought you were supposed to have the urge to return to your body, not chop it up into pieces." Havoc said pointedly. Barry huffed.
"That body is way past it's expiration date," Barry pointed out. Luckily, I had a mask covering my face, so the smell was reduced for me. Falman wasn't so lucky.
"Aw, man, that's what stinks?" Falman said, covering his mouth and nose with his hand. I chuckled slightly. Sucks for him.
"THIS IS JUST CRUEL! I HAVE TO DO IT! IT'S MY BODY SO IT'S UP TO ME! AND I'M PUTTING IT ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK!" Barry yelled manically.
"DAMNIT, I SAID NO!" Havoc shouted at Barry, pissed off. Just then, gun shots rang through the air. My eyes widened as I glanced at the tower they came from as I remembered what happened. Hawkeye is fighting Gluttony.
But my distress was quickly quelled when I saw an explosion in the tower. A ball of something flew out, and I was pretty sure it was Gluttony. I sighed in relief. The Colonel is here.
With the explosion as a moment of distraction, Barry's body used that to run away, but we soon started to chase him, Barry leading our chase.
We temporarily lost sight of Barry's body, but a car zoomed in front of us, pulling up to us.
"Quick, get in." I heard the Colonel's voice.
"Yes sir." Havoc said as he rushed into the car. I did a small salute to Mustang as I also got in the car. I didn't want to use my voice because I knew the hummonculi would appear, and if they found out I was there when Lust was killed and didn't do anything to help, they'd kill me. Literally.
So I was being a ninja.
I heard clinks of metal, so I looked out the window to spot Al. Aw, great.
"Are you trying to go after Mr. Hughes' murderer?" Al said. I tried not to chuckle at the serious yet childish voice he said it in. I felt better seeing Al.
"You in?" Mustang asked.
"Yeah." Al said. I kept from squealing. I forgot how cute he is!
The car was a bit squished, but we sped up and eventually got in sight of Barry's body, who was running along the rooftops of buildings. Barry had gotten ahead of us, since he was so intent on slicing up his body that he didn't even stop when the Colonel pulled up.
"Don't let him get away." Mustang commanded as he gained enough speed to drive alongside Barry, who was currently sprinting very, very fast.
"He ain't going nowhere." Barry said, laughing slightly, "My soul won't be able to rest! Not until I obliterate that meat bag!" Barry said. I sweat dropped.
"So do you think we can expect another appearance from that blubber beast back there?" Hawkeye asked while re-loading her gun.
"I doubt it. I scorched him off the ledge." Mustang pointed out. I facepalmed. At this point I wanted to speak so bad I could taste the words in my mouth. The Colonel is an idiot sometimes. That's exactly why his plans are half-brained. He wouldn't be smart enough to expect the hummonculi, immortal beings that heal themselves, would be involved? But that's exactly why I was coming along.
"Yeah, and I shot him in the head." Hawkeye said, closing the bullet cartridge on her gun, "But he didn't really seem to mind."
"He didn't have an ouroboros tattoo, did he?" Al asked, surprised. I was kinda getting squished in the seat by Al, but I bore with it. Running would be so much more painful.
"A tattoo? Well... Actually, yeah. On his tongue."
"In that case, you were probably dealing with a hummonculus." Al's words shocked Mustang and Hawkeye, but I yawned silently. Boooorrriiinggg!
The car swerved, almost hitting Barry.
"WATCH IT, MUSTANG!" Barry yelled, pissed off. Mustang got in line again, smacking his hand on the steering wheel.
"Hold on a damn second!" He said, "What are you saying, Al? That's just not possible!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Until I got kidnapped by a hummonculus." I rolled my eyes. That was the story of my life here so far. "He called himself Greed." Al continued, and I cursed. I didn't get to meet the last Greed since I was both staying behind because of my injuries and also to protect Hughes. But I'll get to meet the next Greed!
"One thing he told me is that nothing is impossible." Al said firmly. "I know for a fact that they have amazing healing powers. I watched Greed get the top half of his head knocked off, but he was perfectly one a minute later! They're real, alright. But I understand if you don't believe me."
"After what I just saw... I have to believe you." Hawkeye said.
"Hold on. I rendered fat boy down to a bubbling puddle back there. Are you telling me he's still alive?" Mustang said, slight alarm laced in his voice.
"Probably." Was all Al replied.
"Wonderful. Just a never ending parade of freaks lately, huh?" Mustang cursed. I silently scoffed. I hope he didn't include me in that list.
It was dark by the time we reached a brightly illuminated tall building which I guessed to be the third laboratory.
We all got out of the car. We poked our heads around the Gate to sneak a peek at the building, me on the bottom.
"My body ran in there." Barry said. "It seems to think it can hide from me. "
"The third laboratory, huh?" Mustang said, and I could see the wheels in his head turning once again, "So this ties them directly to the military." Mustang turned back to the rest of us, who had gathered in a small group, "That's all we need for now. We're pulling back."
"Well, you have fun with that!" Barry said, avoiding us as he ran toward the building.
"Get back here!" Havoc said strictly, but Barry continued in his marry way, bursting into the building.
"That psycho stormed the building." Havoc cursed.
"Yep, it's our lucky day." Mustang said, causing confusion for Havoc.
"Huh?" He blinked dumbly. I grinned. Now was the fun part.
Our little group paraded down the hallway, passing shocked and confused scientists. I prayed that we looked like a real military squad, not a freak show. I mean, an armored man, woman with multiple guns, a Lieutenant Colonel with a hand gun, a man wearing black with a big shotgun, and a girl smaller than the rest dressed like a ninja with knives hidden all over her body, a giant cape, and a fair-sized gun. We definitely looked like a freak show.
"All personnel must evacuate immediately!" Mustang commanded as we moved down the hall. A man with a military uniform walked up next to Mustang.
"Um, Colonel?" He asked, walking along us and saluting Mustang briefly.
"Stay back. The man who broke in is a deranged murderer. My men will handle his capture." We arrived at a stairway, which Havoc and Hawkeye aimed their guns down as the Colonel continued, "Order your guards to seal off the exits!"
"Yes sir!" The military man saluted again before running off.
I trailed behind Havoc and Hawkeye as the marched down the stairs, guns ready. They opened a door into an underground hallway and filed in, Al following right after me.
"How the hell are we supposed to find him?" Havoc asked, frustrated.
"We're going to have to split up." Mustang said. I froze as I remembered this part. DAMN THE WORLD. I had to figure out who to go with. Mustang and Havoc were going to encounter Lust first... And get hurt really bad... If I went with them, Lust would either recognize me and give me away, or she'd try to kill me too if she didn't. If I went with Hawkeye and Al, I'd have to watch Barry get destroyed and other things and Lust would see me anyway. But at least with them I could hide behind Al and not talk. BUT with Havoc and Mustang, I could hide in the shadows. Who to pick? SO HARD!... I'm going with Al and Hawkeye.
"Yes sir." Hawkeye said. I looked around at everyone, guilty I couldn't inform them. After we had the groups, I put a hand on Havoc's and Mustang's shoulder, looking them both in the eye.
"Be careful." I whispered, so soft I could barely hear my own voice. They both nodded, apparently hearing my words, and we all split up.
At one point, as Hawkeye, Al, and I were running, the building shook. I knew it was the explosion Mustang used with Hydrogen gas. Fear and guilt pierced me as Hawkeye and Al skidded to a halt. I bit my lip as Hawkeye quickly recovered and started back down the hall where we were headed. I followed her, wanting to be far, far away from the incident that I had let happen.
Our little team had soon reached a big white room, with a giant door across from us on the other end, a transmutation circle drawn on the door. In front of it stood Barry, his body lying next to him in a pool of blood.
"Sorry," Barry said, "But you got here too late." I couldn't hear the usual cheerful craziness in his voice, and that made me afraid. Not of him, but of loosing a friend. Even though Barry was a serial killer, he was my friend. All my friends were crazy, so what's a serial killer?
"Look at this mess." Barry said, staring at his body, "My body is damn near entirely decayed. I guess a body just can't hold up with someone else's soul being put inside of it." I heard Al gasp. He was figuring out what that meant. I quickly pulled my cape loosely over my body and head, praying I was unrecognizable. I heard footsteps behind me and a chill ran up my spine. I hadn't known Lust that well, and the only other time I saw her was in Lab 5, when my ribs were broken and I had to have surgery. That wasn't a pleasant memory, so you can tell I didn't have a very good opinion of her, even though Envy was the one hurting me that time.
Barry laughed slightly, without humor, "I was wondering when you were going to show up, Lusty." Hawkeye had already aimed her gun at Lust, and I had inched behind Al, also aiming my gun at Lust.
"Number sixty-six," Lust said, "Care to explain why you're helping the Colonel?"
"I thought it'd be fun to switch things up," Barry said in a more normal tone, resting the spine of his knife on his shoulder. "Besides," he pointed his knife at Lust. "I've wanted to chop you up since I met you!"
"You're such a handful, number sixty-six," Lust sighed, "And I'm sad to see you here, armor boy. You just had to tag along. Talk about a set back," Lust said sadly, "it's bad enough to loose one, now your forcing me to kill a second candidate."
"Candidate?" Al asked, "A second one?"
"Yeah," Lust purred, smirking slightly, "You and Mr. Gallantry."
"That's enough of the casual chit-chat, Lust," Barry said, zooming toward Lust, "All I want to hear from you is screaming!" He jumped high in the air at Lust, and I gasped.
No, was my only thought as Lust sliced Barry apart. Tears pricked my eyes as I resisted shooting Lust that very moment.
"I do hate overconfident men," Lust sighed again as the last parts of Barry thumped on the ground. "Now then, where were we? I think I was about to send the Lieutenant after her superior." She took a few steps toward us. I saw realization dawn on Hawkeye's face as Lust got closer.
"Wait a minute," Haweye said, her hands shaking slightly, " So when you said you'd already had to kill someone... It can't be... You didn't!" Lust's smirk returned, widening slightly. Hawkeye gasped.
"YOU BITCH!" She screamed, shooting Lust continuously as Hawkeye screamed out in pain and anger. Hawkeye changed guns as soon as her first gun ran out, screaming louder in major distress. I used that opportunity to shoot, aiming carefully for Lust's head and philosopher stone. I wanted revenge for someone who was actually destroyed, someone who was my friend. Someone who made my tears spill over.
"Are you done?" Lust asked as Hawkeye ran out of bullets, red lightning crackling around her as she healed. Hawkeye teared up, shaking a lot now until the tears spilled over. She fell to her knees as sobs escaped her throat.
"Such a sad and weak creature." Lust said, looking down at Hawkeye like she would look down at a starving cat, soberly. "Another typical human. Al stepped in front of Hawkeye, and I stood next to Al. I couldn't help it anymore. I needed to help kill Lust. She killed Barry.
"Stand up Lieutenant." Al said,"You need to get out of here."
"Do you want me to kill you first?" Lust said. I snarled silently at her as Al clapped his hands and pulled a spear from the floor.
"Oh my," Lust said, extending her claws, "It appears you've opened a portal." She sliced Al's spear as razor speed, and stabbed him.
"Such a shame," She said, "You are a perfect candidate." She extended the claws on her other hand, going for Hawkeye. But before it could hit, I dashed in front of it, getting them through my arm and redirecting them up intead of at Hawkeye.
"Listen Alphonse, M13," Hawkeye gasped, [a/n:M13 is A name Lynette wanted them to call her so no one would recognize her since Cold Blood is too obvious] "Leave me and save yourselves!"
"No," Al said. I stomped my foot in agreement, letting tears spill again over the pain in my arm.
"Run." Hawkeye repeated weakly.
"I won't!" Al said, and I silently agreed.
"GO!" Hawkeye cried.
"I won't leave you!" Al shouted. "I'm sick of watching people die! And I can't just sit back and take it anymore! I won't let anyone else get killed! Not when I can protect them!" Al shouted. Lust slashed her fingers up, tearing Al's armor slightly while she tore through flesh in my arm, luckily not touching the bone. I gasped as the pain brought me to my knees, blood dripping on the floor. Damn, that HURT!
"Well spoken." I heard Mustang's voice, "I couldn't agree more." I smiled through my pain as I glanced up at Mustang. Everyone gasped, and I could see Lust was shocked as she turned around. Ignoring my pain momentarily, I clapped my hands with Al and made a wall to cover Al, Hawkeye and I, Al covering both Hawkeye and I with his armored body.
A moment later vigorous flames were heating the room, and Lust's piercing scream rang through the air. I enjoyed every minute of it. Lust hurt me, she killed my friend. So she gets killed. SQUEE! ... Now I see why they call me Cold Blood... Hehe!
"Looks like I can get you on your knees after all!" Mustang's voice was strained and rough, but he had just burned his wound closed. He had a right to be in pain.
There was another burst of flame.
"You should have bled to death by now," Lust snarled, pain laced in her voice.
"I seared the wound closed. I came close to passing out from the pain." Mustang answered in his gravelly voice. Another burst of flame.
"You told me I couldn't kill you, but I'd like to try and prove you wrong!" Another burst of flame.
"So lets see, how many times its going to take!" Mustang growled, with another surge of flame.
"COLONEL NO!" Hawkeye screamed, trying to get out of Al's grasp. I used my good arm to help Al restrain her as the flame continued on.
There were a few extreme bursts after that, but finally they had faded into a silence. That silence lasted a while as smoke billowed around us, fading a bit. But it was quiet until Lust's soft voice broke it.
"You killed me," she whispered, "I hate loosing. But there are worst ways to die than at the hands of a man like you. I love how cold and focused your eyes are." Her voice faded as she continued, "I look forward... To the day when those eyes will be wide... With... Agony..." And with that, Lust faded into ash.
"It's coming. It's coming..." And then, all was silent, her voice fading into oblivion. Chills ran up my spine, but I was happy.
And so, Lust was no more, leaving behind Mustang, Hawkeye, Al and I. I escaped out from Al's grasp as I scrambled over to Mustang, who had let himself fall to the ground to lay down.
"Colonel!" Hawkeye exclaimed, rushing to his side right after me. Al came out to tabs beside where we were as the Colonel gazed up at us. Tears were still pouring down my cheeks, a mixture of pain, grief, guilt, and relief. I hid my bleeding arm.
"Are you alright?" Mustang asked Hawkeye.
"Forget about me! We need to get you some help!" Hawkeye said. I nodded stubbornly.
"Thanks Alphonse, M13. Thank you for looking after Riza." Mustang said. Al kneeled near Mustang.
"Yeah, sure. We need to call you a doctor!" Al said.
"Oh, yeah... Hurry!" Mustang said weakly, "Call a doctor for Havoc." He coughed slightly, "Please."
I glanced at the entrance where we came in. I narrowed my eyes before glancing back at Mustang.
Thank you for not saying my real name. Now the Wrath won't know I helped kill that bitch Lust. Thank you. I mentally sent to Mustang, finally gasping and falling to the floor.
Thank you.
Hey guys! REALLY LONG CHAPTER! Also, HAPPY ALMOST THANKSGIVING! WOO! FOOD! But there's one thing I don't get. Exactly one day after being thankful for what we have, we trample other people to buy new things on Black Friday. ...Whatever!
Anyway, YAY! SQUEAL! I love this episode! IF YOU WATCHED IT YOU WOULD KNOW WHY! But I got to watch it again so I'm fangirling even more SQUEE! So how's it going so far? Questions, comments, concerns?
My lovely readers, please review~
Thanks!