Chapter 26
"I can't believe this!"
Major Armstrong smiled nervously. He was facing a messenger.
"Yes, King Bradley is missing. The military is looking for him. Do you know where he would be?"
"I think that he should be somewhere out of town?" He touched his arm muscles, feeling tired.
"I'll inform you if he is found." The messenger left.
Armstrong sighed. He knew that Mustang must have something to do with this. Now it is the time to strike.
He dialed the other people in the group. "Everyone, we have confirmation that we can strike."
"How do you know if that is possible?" asked a female.
"Sister, a messenger told me that Bradley was missing. We can attack tomorrow!"
"Little brother," chided General Armstrong, "We are already in Amestris. Don't start to tell me when to attack or not."
"Yes, sister..."
Back at the cabin, Ed was getting his arms flexed. Winry looked at him.
"Live, alright?" Winry said. "Don't get killed."
"Don't worry, Winry," assured Ed. "We have the colonel and Sora on our side. We can do it!"
"Are you sure? Sora told me about those creatures. If they are getting more and more powerful, then-"
"You're forgetting something. I can dish these things out. Al and I can take care of ourselves."
Winry sighed. "Just be careful, Ed! You can get hurt out there!"
Ed nodded.
Meanwhile, in the abandoned laboratory, Bradley is moaning.
"This pain...why..." He looked around and spotted a man with long hair and a man with fire on his head.
"Who...are...you?"
"We're someone from a different dimension." The man with the long hair smiled. "We can help you become stronger, but we need something in return."
"What do you want?"
"Your power." The man with the fiery hair said. "You see, we know that you came across the stone from an individual by the name of Maleficent."
"Her? What business do you have with her?"
"She is able to control the creatures," said the man with the dark hair. "Of course, she is just a fool...but she was able to get the stone. We need a sample of this..." He reached out, holding his hand out for a stone.
Bradley nodded, reaching his pockets for a stone, and threw it to the man with long hair. "Help me!"
"Alright..."
In the morning, there was commotion in town. Troops were shooting at Mustang's headquarters, only to be injured as Mustang's troops shot them. Mustang and Hawkeye gained their attention and where leading them out of the city. At the same time, Sora and Ed attacked the main headquarters. Al, Donald, and Goofy supported them, blasting guards away from them.
"We have to reach the top of this building!" yelled Ed. "We have to do this fast! Go into that weird form again!"
"Sure!" Sora turned into the dark form, transporting his friends to the top.
"STOP THEM!" cried a soldier. Suddenly, Kenpatchi, Demyx, Scar, and Ichigo crashed into the place.
"Time to bust these people up! Revenge time!" Demyx summoned water, filling the place up. The troops tried to run, but they ended up trapped by Demyx's water. "Dance, water, dance!"
"Let's not get too confident," mumbled Scar. "We have to save our powers for those creatures!"
Just then, hollows appeared, attaching themselves onto the soldiers. These soldiers charged at the group.
"Does this mean that I get to fight...all of them?" Kenpatchi laughed. "I can kill them, right?!"
"Watch yourself," warned Ichigo. "Soul Society will be pissed."
"Whatever..."
At the top of the building, Sora and Ed took down the enemies. "This seems-" started Ed.
"Don't, brother!" Al looked around him nervously. "I think-"
"Well, well, well!" Envy showed up, smiling. "You got away from Bradley, huh? Time for me to show off!" He transformed, turing into a huge dog.
"Gwarsh!" Goofy backed up.
"I absorbed countless souls! How can you compare to me?!" He roared, attacking Ed. Sora threw his keyblade, hitting Envy's eyeball. "Ahhh!" He shook himself, releasing several figures. They were completely dark, except for the eyes, which were red.
"This is one of my abilities! These monsters are completely made of shadows. How can you beat them?!"
"Hah!" Sora, who was still in his darkness form, threw multiple keyblades, hitting each of the figures. They collapsed, making Envy angry.
"HOW?!" Envy roared.
"Oh, Envy..."
Suddenly, from nowhere, Bradley appeared.
"What?!" Sora cried. "How are you alive?!"
"Have you forgotten...?" Bradley showed his philosopher eye. "My power is beyond your comprehension. Anyways..."
Bradley teleported to Envy. "Time to become a part of me..."
"No! Not-" Envy started to protest, stopping as Bradley put his hand on his head. Suddenly, his body disappeared as Bradley's body changed. "Nooo..." Envy cried weakly as he evaporated.
"Just like how you have absorbed Gluttony, I can do the same to you!" Bradley smiled, staring at the horrified group around him.
"How can you absorb one of your own?!" cried Al.
"You fool...we originated from one being, "Father". Absorbing him wouldn't matter."
"So?!" shouted Sora. "He still had a heart. He is someone close to you, and you-"
"You have no knowledge of anything, boy. None of us are close to each other-"
"But you all are homunculus!" yelled Ed. "You should care for each other. He might have been the only one close to you!"
"Accurate. But you are a fool if you think that I wouldn't take advantages when I needed them." Bradley showed his hand, which had a black tattoo on it. "I gained a new power, but in order to activate it, I needed to absorb an homunculus. Now, then..."
Bradley attacked Sora, who blocked his sword swings. How did he get so powerful in less than a day? thought Sora. Bradley roared and slammed his blades into Sora's, pushing him against a wall.
"Is this-" began Bradley.
"DIE!" Ed appeared, transmuting the ground. Pillars shot out, hitting Bradley and pushing him backwards. Bradley smiled, got up, and slashed at Ed. Al pulled Ed away from the slash, while Donald pointed his wand at Bradley.
"Floodra!" Donald's wand released a wave of water at Bradley. Bradley countered by making a line in front of the wave with the tip of his sword, and then using alchemy to create a counter rock wave.
"How hopeless can the five of you be?"
"Don't get excited, Wrath!" Suddenly, a man appeared. He had back hair, red eyes, and hands made of steel.
"Ling!" cried Ed.
"Actually, it's Greed," the man corrected.
"Who?" asked Goofy.
"I am a homunculus who lives inside a prince. Long story made short. So, Wrath, you think that absorbing homunculus makes you powerful?"
"I have enough power to destroy your "ultimate" defense," said Bradley. "Your deaths are at my hands!" He tried to attack Sora, but he deflected the attack by hitting him with darkness. As Bradley slashed the darkness, Goofy used his cannon shield, absorbing some of the hits to power his weapon. Greed started punching Bradley, who countered with his swords. Greed backed off, and Goofy pointed his shield at Bradley.
"FIRE!" Goofy yelled. A energy cannon bursted forth, hitting Bradley and sending him near the edge of the military tower.
"I've got tricks too!" Bradley started to move forward, and then jumped to the sky. "Enjoy this!" He pointed his blade in the air, gathering aura around his blade. Suddenly, multiple neithermen, shaped like Envy, appeared, protecting Bradley.
"Witness the true glory that is me!" Laughing, Bradley began to transform, surrounded by a cocoon.
"We have to stop him!" cried Sora.
"Don't worry!" Mustang appeared, coming from down the stairs. He snapped his fingers, pushing the neithermen away from the cocoon.
"Go after Bradley! I'll stop these things!" Ed nodded, leading the group to attack the cocoon. Ed and Al transmuted metal pipes to create spears, piercing the cocoon. Donald hit it with fire, Goofy bashed his shield on the cocoon, and Greed slashed the thing apart with his hands. Sora finished the job by blasting the cocoon with light, destroying it entirely.
"Looks like this mess is done," remarked Mustang.
"So it seems..."
Bradley, smiling, revealed himself standing mid-air above the warriors. His eyes were both philosopher stones, and his body became bulkier and surrounded with energy.
"It is the King's responsibility to vanish the darkness...am I right?"