Downpour
By. Fanficer21
Chapter 6- Protect
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Disclaimer: FMA: Brotherhood is not mine! But one can dream, can't they!
Rated M: Blood, lots of it. Rated M just in case.
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Previously: Catching the man's scent, the dog howled before bolting down the road. Pulling her gun from its holster, Riza followed him. Maes wasn't far behind, throwing knives out, ready for anything.
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I'm sorry for the super long update. But here it is! The next chapter! Enjoy!
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Alphonse had jumped around the instant he heard Roy scream. Shocked to see the creature on top of the Colonel, its fangs mere inches from ripping the man's throat out. Fear and anger filled both boys at the sight. Edward wiggled his way out of Alphonse's grasp before grabbing a chunk of cement and throwing it at the beast's side. He didn't want to accidentally hit the Colonel by throwing it at the creature's head. He threw a few more pieces before finally getting the creature's full attention.
Edward got ready to charge the beast, but stopped when he heard his superior's scream. Caught off guard by the man curling in on himself, the boy barely had time to jump out of the way of the monster's swinging tail and sharp claws flying towards him as the chimera pounced. Barrel rolling as quickly as he could, Edward missed the claws as they buried themselves into the wet ground. Dragging its hands, the creature left large claw marks in the mud. It stared at Edward who stood in a fighting pose, as if assessing the situation for the best plan of attack.
Looking around him, while keeping track of the beast's movements, Edward searched for anything that he could help defend himself with. If he could use his alchemy, he would transmute his arm blade and slice the monster up. But he couldn't. Noticing a jagged metal pipe laying nearby from the corner of his eye, Edward slowly made his way towards it, trying not to alarm the creature to his motives. Alphonse understood what his brother was planning. He too saw the pipe that Edward was now inching his way towards. He stood off to the side of his brother, ready to intervene if the chimera tried to attack.
When Edward was about a foot and a half away from the pipe, the creature finally noticed the metal. As if understanding what the boy was up to it bent down, hissing at the boy before it lunged forward. Edward jumped the rest of the way, grabbing onto the metal pipe before attempting to spin around to pierce the chimera's flesh. But the creature was too close for him to defend himself. His eyes grew wide with fear as he stared over his shoulder at the creature closing in on him.
But before the beast could bury its muddy claws into his back, Edward felt large metal arms grab hold of him before he was thrown into the air and out of the creature's reach. The sound of breaking metal filled his ears as he hit the ground and rolled, the metal pipe firmly grasped in his automail hand. The moment he stopped rolling, Edward looked up with fear. He saw Alphonse pinned to the ground with the creature's large teeth buried in his metal chest. The boy's legs were gone, scattered over the ground as the monster tore them apart. It buried it's claws into Alphonse's sides ready to rip him to shreds.
Edward's heart pounded at the sight, and his brother's cries sent chills down his spine. Gripping the pipe in anger, his automail hand crushed the metal in his grasp. A sudden gasp caught his attention. Looking to the Colonel, Edward saw that the man was on his hands and knees, reaching for his gun. Golden eyes widened at the amount of blood flowing from his side. Despite the agonizing pain, the man continued to fight. A feeling of admiration wormed its way into Edwards heart, before it disappeared a moment later at hearing his brother's screams once again.
Adrenaline filling his body, Edward lunged forward, metal pipe held forward as he charged the beast. The jagged end of the pipe embedded itself into the creature's rib cage. Howling in pain, the beast jumped to the side, yanking the pipe from Edward's grip as it turned to face said boy.
"Brother! Run!" Alphonse shouted from his position on the ground, watching in terror as the older boy just stood there with eyes full of fear. No matter how much he wanted to move, to run, Edward's body wouldn't allow him to. Movement suddenly caught the boy's attention. He saw Roy dragging his feet towards him and Alphonse, bloody hands clutched to his left side and the gun. The man's face scrunched up in pain, but he continued to push himself forward. But the man's look instantly changed from pain to fear as he stared at Edward.
Why was the man so afraid? Edward wondered, until he saw sharp claws flying towards him. The impact almost seemed slow motion as the claws drug themselves against Edward's chest, towards his automail port. The intense pain filled his body as the claws continued to cut his flesh until they were caught in his automail arm. Yanking its arm sharply, the boy's right arm was torn from his body, sending chilling nerve pain throughout his body. When Edward hit the ground and rolled, he laid there in shock, staring up at the terrible beast ready to tear him apart. Tears in his eyes as he realized he was going to die.
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"Brother!" Alphonse screamed from his position on the ground, desperately reaching for the boy. Roy forced himself to stand despite the terrible pain of his side. Hand weakly grasping the gash at his waist, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding. His clothes were soaked with blood as it spurt with each step he took. His face contorted as he fought through the pain of taking every step towards the young alchemist. "Ed-ward!" He growled through gritted teeth, his bloody fingers readjusting their grip on the gun sliding out of his hand. "G-Get out of th-there!" But the boy didn't seem to hear him, he just continued to stare into the beast's eyes with fear, as the chimera's arm made its quick descent to tear the boy apart.
"EDWARD!" Roy screamed, ignoring the searing pain in his waist as his steps quickly turned into a sprint, running towards the boy. There was no way in hell he was going to let his boys get hurt any further. Not if he could help it. Baring his teeth like a wild animal, Roy held the gun up again with bloody hand. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BOYS AGAIN!" The man roared, drawing the creature's attention to him as it snarled. He was able to buy the boy some time. But how much?
Seeing the monster pause its attack, Edward made to crawl out of the way as fast as he could after being startled by Roy's angry shout, desperately trying to ignore the pain in his chest. Pulling the trigger once more, Roy was alarmed to hear nothing but the click of the hammer. There was one bullet left, he knew it. But perhaps the gun jammed from the impact of hitting the ground.
"NO!" He growled, fear filling his heart as the beast seemed to understand the situation. Turning its attention back to the Fullmetal Alchemist. It raised its arm once again, ready to strike. Edward, seeing this, tried to move faster, but his lack of an arm made it difficult to get away with the searing pain in his chest. Instead, he fell to the ground again with a gasp.
His momentum keeping him at a sprint, Roy threw the gun to the ground. He was within ten feet from the beast when its arm descended once again. He could no longer feel his pain as the adrenaline took over. "BROTHER!" Alphonse screamed, pulling himself forward as fast as he could, though not fast enough. Roy, suddenly filled with parental fury, pulled out the knife he kept near his holster, trying not to stumble as his vision went out of focus from his pounding headache. Once the hilt was gripped in his hand, Roy did his best to clear his vision before he leaped, somewhat blindly, towards the beast with a snarl.
Edward closed his eyes tightly while staying on his side. Waiting for the sharp claws to penetrate his body. But the pain never came. Instead he heard the creature roar as Roy jumped at it, his knife embedding itself in the beast's right eye. The creature lurched backwards, clawing at the cold steel, like a cat with something in its eye.
Bending down, Roy grabbed hold of Edward, struggling to pull him up and away from the monster with the help of his adrenaline rush, despite his ever increasing headache. Edward tried to stand up, but his boot slipped on a muddy patch, sending both him and Roy to the ground, causing Roy's vision to swim once again. His body halfway on top of the boy's. There was no time for them to get back up as the creature came at them again. The knife pulled from its eye. The chimera swung its hand down once more. Roy looked at Edward's terrified face, their eyes making contact for a short moment before Edward looked towards the beast, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. The moment Roy's vision cleared, he made his move.
Edward closed his eyes at the sight of the claws coming towards him, after briefly looking at his superior's blank face. He didn't want their lives to end like this, he thought, turning his head to the side. He was broken from his reverie when a deep grunt filled his ears, feeling a sudden weight around his legs. Opening his eyes, he was met with Alphonse looking his way. The metal boy was shaking uncontrollably. A soft gasping sound coming from the empty suit of armor, almost like the boy was about to cry. But he wasn't looking at Edward.
The next thing he noticed was an arm pressed against the ground near his face. Slowly turning his face upwards, eyes wide, Edward was met with the Colonel's face above him. His visage the image of despair and relief. His arms desperately holding himself up against the soggy ground. Despite the pressure on Roy's right arm, he forcefully held it still to keep himself steady, his body shaking. Edward was about to speak, but was stopped the instant something fell from the Colonel's lips, landing on his neck and sliding down his skin. Blood!
Everything around him paused as Edward trailed his eyes down Roy's chest, noticing the creature's large, muddy claws penetrating the man's body. Blood staining the blue uniform and running down the sharp claws onto Edward. Eyes wide with terror at the sudden realization, Edward's face scrunched up. Tears sliding down his temples as he looked up at the onyx eyes of his superior. The man he would never admit to being a 'father'. Curse his stubbornness!
Roy coughed, sending more droplets of blood on the young alchemist's face, a distinct wheeze following the cough. Squeezing his eyes shut as the monster tried to pull it claws from his body. The man tried to stop his world from spinning when he opened them again. Focusing only on the boy beneath him, a weak smile made its way to his lips despite the intense pain coursing through his body. He did not regret his decision, he thought as his vision suddenly went blurry again, before darkness claimed him.
Golden eyes widened to maximum capacity, as ebony eyes rolled upwards, revealing only white. An instant later, said man fell in a heap atop the dumbstruck boy. The boy's eyes rigidly moved to look at the man's face resting against his shoulder, more blood seeping from his mouth.
A moment later, the man's body was thrown to the side as the creature removed its claws from his flesh. Roy's body hit the ground and rolled until he came to a stop, not five feet from Alphonse. Said boy, gasped sharply. Invisible tears rolling down his face as he stared at the colonel.
The chimera, looking down at Edward once more, snarled as it got ready to finish its job. Said boy laid motionless, the shock of the situation boring into his mind. Gritting his teeth, his eyes widening, rage flowed through his body. Rolling to the side, he avoided the bloody claws that dug themselves into the wet ground. Jumping to his feet, adrenaline coursed through his veins as he charged the beast with a fury he had never known, a heart wrenching scream escaped this throat at his advance. Tears cascading down his cheeks before flying into the wind.
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* I don't know if Roy actually has a knife at his belt, but it works for the story. Plus, it's good to have one handy, just in case you need it.
No flames please!