A/N: Hi guys! So…I actually wanted to update much sooner, but alas, the flu caught me in a very painful bind and I've been confined to bed with high fever and extremely painful spasms and coughing fits, but I'm feeling fit enough to write! :)

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Pfeh: Truth be told, Gluttony was still a little out of it, I've made him a bit crazier than usual whenever Lust was insulted, that's why his senseless bouts of anger and disregard for Lust's orders in this chapter ^^ Aw, thank you so, so much! I'm really glad you like my chapters, I hope they won't get boring too soon .

JAS: Haha sorry about that, maybe my riddles seriously don't make sense . I hope the small scene with Riza and Rebecca may have cleared a bit up (or thrown even more questions into the fray as I have the tendency to do that :P). O.O Seriously? Ugh, curse you grammar! I admit, I suck at grammar, I'll take a look and edit the chapter immediately when I have the time (thanks for pointing that out! ;). Thanks so much JAS, I swear my heart melted at the reviews! (dramatic crying)

DragonFairyfloss: hehe, yup poor, poor Greed with a name like that ^^

EDIT (13.03.): Thanks JAS and guest10126 for mentioning the mistake I made about Ed's automail! :) Fixed it up!

WARNING: Blood and gore and horror ahead! Minors please turn away! Explicit war scenes!

Enjoy!

Thrill of the Hunt

He moved before his opponent did, firing off bullets from his rifle in rapid succession, the training from his academy days kicking in as he aimed at vital parts. He suddenly remembered his old drill sergeant's words.

When you're in front of the enemy, even if your hands are trembling – fight.

His hands weren't trembling yet, they hadn't in a long while, but he would fight nonetheless, fight this freak that was in some way connected to the Homunculi. The agonized, almost childish screams coming from the man rang in his ears distantly.

Calculating eyes surveyed the newly created battlefield and his enemy, before darting toward his only ally, "Kimblee, brace yourself, if his skill is anything like Greed's, we need to be on guard," the soldier nodded imperceptibly, one hand carefully moving behind his back to grab at a grenade.

That's when Gluttony moved.

Faster than Kimblee's hand moved back to his side, he launched himself at the stunned explosives expert, jaws wide open, but before the inevitable bite could occur, three consecutive gunshots pierced the air loudly.

Edward's expression was carefully blank, smoke emitting from the barrel of his gun as he calmly reloaded it, watching blood slowly ooze from the three gunshots on Gluttony's shoulders and in the middle of his forehead in addition to the ones he had previously inflicted.

He waited for the moment his body would start to sway and fall to the ground.

Like it should.

But it didn't.

Instead, slowly, right before their very eyes, the small bullet-sized wounds started closing until no traces of a wound remained.

Ed's heart sped up, "What the hell?" he cocked his rifle, aiming at his head, "You should be dead, how can you heal?" he set his jaw tightly, various questions running through his mind.

He didn't have time to think before the large man propelled himself toward him again at full speed, speed a man of his size and weight shouldn't be capable of.

Ed fell into a crouch, the man diving over his head, until Ed swiftly turned around and fired at his back.

The wounds closed again after long seconds.

He fired. Again and again and again.

Nothing.

Ed turned his head back, "Kimblee!" just as he turned and started running toward him.

The man nodded, releasing the safety pin and throwing it toward the man, who blinked slowly at the grenade, watching in confusion how Ed threw himself out of range before the thing went off.

Both Kimblee and Ed skidded across the ground from the blast and the soldier's high-pitched screams filled the air.

The wind the explosion brought disturbed small rocks and twigs and Ed weakly batted them away from his face before quickly straightening and hooking one finger into a throwing knife strapped to his lower back.

If this didn't work, Ed would need to employ hand-to-hand combat.

He tapped that foot, feeling the familiar heavy weight of the metal replacing the limb he lost tap against the earth. It felt good, secure. He flexed his arm, ears strained, still ringing from the blast, trying to listen for any signs of damage.

None yet.

Craning his neck, Ed's eyes narrowed when the figure emerged from the smoke and his eyes widened in surprise.

Armor severely damaged beyond repair, flesh burnt and charred and a pout on Gluttony's shredded lips. Ed watched, with a sick sense of fascination, how the flesh slowly morphed back together, sinewy tissue molding back together, burn wounds slowly healing.

He stiffened. There.

Ed smirked, "I take it you don't like fire, do you?" keeping one finger hooked to the throwing knife, Ed reached with his automail hand to grab at his own grenade strapped to his belt, "Seems like you don't regenerate as fast when you're being burned,"

The soldier – no the…thing reacted completely different than Ed expected, he started whining, "It hurts! It hurts so much! Why won't you let me eat? I just want to eat!" the creature lunged towards Edward and Ed braced himself, grunting at the brute force slamming into him.

Right when his jaws opened inhumanly wide again did Ed release the safety pin on the grenade and jam it down deep into the man's throat, ignoring the gurgled noises and the desperate teeth trying to clamp around his metal arm.

With a hard shove, Ed finally freed himself, using the man's round stomach to propel himself away from him, "Kimblee! Duck for cover!" the explosive's expert didn't need to be told twice, already diving behind a thick tree while Edward rolled on the ground and wrapped his arms around his head and curled into a protective ball just as the grenade went off again.

Gluttony's anguished screams filled the air again and Ed couldn't help but compare them to a child's, the high quality doing nothing to discourage the comparison, much less just how hurt it sounded.

He shook his head.

He was a soldier, damn it.

And this thing was the enemy.

He didn't deserve any sympathy.

Edward had learned long ago not many things deserved your sympathy when they tried to kill you.

There was a thud, but nothing much else. Not the ear defeating explosion like both soldiers expected.

Ed's eyes widened in shock when he felt pressure on his automail leg and the sight that greeted him chilled him to the bone.

The monster, mangled jaws wrapped tightly around his automail leg, blood freely gushing from in-between his square teeth, stared up at him with beady, pale eyes.

His jaw clenched tighter and Ed winced, "Eat," he saw something insane in the other man's eyes, uncontrollable.

Shit.

Before Ed could grab his throwing knife, a black blur suddenly moved the soldier cleanly off his feet, jaws releasing in surprise.

Edward was free again and he quickly scrambled to get up wobbly, being caught by none other than his brother.

"Edward!" Al's voice sounded loud to his ears, "Are you hurt?"

Despite his erratically beating heart and the sweat suddenly gathered on his forehead, Ed's eyes calmly zeroed in on Roy, who stood at the ready beside them, "Mustang," he breathed heavily he realized, probably from the fighting and the chilling sight he just witnessed, "They…they regenerate slower when you use fire against them,"

Roy's eyes widened just as Havoc appeared beside him, "They regenerate?!" he blanched.

Havoc tightened his grip on his sniper rifle, "Shit Mustang, I don't remember signing up for this," the cigarette usually in Havoc's mouth now fell to the ground in his shock.

Ed took deep calming breaths, feeling electrified with everything going on around him and the blood pumping harshly in his ears. And finally his gaze focused back on the fight before them.

Greed was the one that had slammed into the large man, how, Ed had no idea, but the Xingese man was repeatedly slamming the monster's head against the ground, brutally shattering bones beneath his bruising grip.

Greed kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying against a tree and Ed saw Greed's skin was dark with a metallic-like color.

It was his shield.

"Tch, of course they would send you out to track me down!" Greed's grin was vicious and feral as he repeatedly stomped down on the soldier, "Still haven't lost a pound of baby fat since the last time I saw you Gluttony!"

"Gluttony?" Ed rose an eyebrow, "So, that's his name," he wanted to slap himself, it made sense, given his obscene but large appetite and physique.

Gluttony seemed struggling to get up after Greed's newest assault, pleading eyes directed up at Greed, "Ow! Why do you hit me Greed? It hurts!"

Greed growled, "Shut it! Tell me who the hell sent you and anything you've heard!" he gripped Gluttony's jacket collar, lifting him up from the ground, the wounds on his face healing, "What has my lovely family got planned, hm? You'll tell big brother, won't you?" he grinned viciously.

Gluttony sniffed, eyes beady and innocent, "Lust said to eat everyone but the candidates, you aren't a candidate," Gluttony licked his lips hungrily. Greed's eyes widened.

"Candidates?! What candidates Gluttony?!" he growled, grip tightening, "What has that bitch planned, huh?!"

And suddenly, Gluttony's innocent demeanor changed and his childish voice sounded angry, "Don't insult Lust that way!" he slammed his thick arm against Greed's head, sending the man flying to the side, skidding across the dirt.

"Greed!" Ed ran forward, kneeling next to his friend who gripped his head.

"Ugh, shit, forgot any insults to Lust set him off," he cursed softly under his breath, violet eyes narrowed.

Ed warily watched how Gluttony stood up, preparing to attack, "Tell us how to defeat him, we have to work together,"

Greed laughed, "Heh, right. Listen Ed, the serum injected into every one of us gives us special powers and we aren't very easy to kill, but it's not impossible." He grit his teeth, "Long story short, we have a limited supply of the serum inside us, which can be recharged if we get injected again. If we 'kill' him enough times until it deplenishes and he won't get recharged, he'll stay down for good,"

Ed smirked, "That can be arranged," he shot his friend a look, "Any weak points?"

Greed laughed as he righted himself, "With this blob, everything's a weak point. Just stay away from his mouth when he opens it, he's got a deadly bite,"

Ed looked down at the shredded remains of his uniform pants, exposing the metal of his prosthesis, "Yeah, I noticed," he rolled his shoulders, taking a deep breath before taking on a defensive stance.

Greed's eyes widened slightly, "Hoho, you're gonna fight bare, Cap?" Ed's old title from the time he had become famous made him smirk as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, carefully watching Gluttony approach.

"Yeah, seeing as firearms aren't much of use to him." He flexed his wrist with a grin, "Maybe a good automail punch will do the trick," Greed grinned.

"Watch your step!" and both men sprinted forward, Roy smiling as he readied his own weapons.

"Havoc, make sure you aim for his head whenever you can," Roy pulled on his gloves and smirked, readying up his own explosive weapons.

He smiled at his custom-made rifle, one his own wife helped modify. It was one he affectionately, and secretly, liked to call "Hawk's Flame", in tribute to his beloved wife and his own field of expertise.

Checking if the built-in supply container was filled with gunpowder, Roy smirked and joined the fray.

Ed and Greed had fought long enough by each-others side to fall into sync when they engaged Gluttony, dodging the sin's attacks and dishing them out.

Each successful hit made Gluttony whine and stumble and he suddenly cried out when his eyes caught on fire, hands flailing wildly and blindly reaching for his burning eyes.

Greed and Ed looked behind them to see Roy, who smirked at them, shouldering his rifle, "Don't forget about me,"

A shot rang out and hit Gluttony's forehead and the screams intensified, "And me!" Havoc grinned and waved, Al shifted nervously beside him.

Greed smirked, "Just overwhelm him! He's a big-," Greed delivered a hard uppercut to his jaw, making Gluttony cry out, "-Cry baby!" kicking the sin in the stomach next.

Blood spurted out from Gluttony's nose and the bald man cradled it gingerly, tears streaming down his face like twin rivers, "Ouch! That hurts so much Greed! Why are you hurting me?" he blinked, small beady eyes fixed upon him, "…Lust said to eat everyone but the candidates, I guess I can eat you then!" jaws pried wide open, he threw himself at his sworn brother with incredible speed and Greed fell to the ground like a log.

"Greed!" Ed shouted out.

The man grunted heavily when his hands bled from keeping Gluttony's ravenous mouth away from his face, his fingers digging against Gluttony's blunt teeth as they each tried to overpower the other.

"Ah, damn!" Greed cursed, feeling his shield dropping and regenerative abilities kicking in, "Not now!" he looked at Ed, "Stop staring and help me before I end up as dinner!" he bellowed and his voice boomed in Ed's ears akin to an explosion, fierce and loud.

A torrent of fire rushed over Gluttony's back and the smell of burnt flesh hit Greed's nose like a truck when Gluttony's screeched like a banshee, a horrific high-pitched sound that made his head spin, and rolled off of him.

Greed quickly stumbled to his feet, hissing at his bleeding fingers, "Are you alright?" It was Ed that asked in-between deep breaths of air.

Greed shot him a dry look, "Do I look alright to you, cap?!" his nerves were on edge, not because of the pain in his fingers, which were healing, but because Gluttony was here.

Ed frowned, "Well, you have a super serum! This should be a scratch!" the glare Greed bestowed him with made him think otherwise.

"Yeah, serum or not, that's not how it works!" Greed braced himself for another one of Gluttony's attacks, he carefully watched his stance. Despite his large, obese form, he knew Gluttony had no problem moving around as fast as Ling if he set his mind to it and all that his head was full of wasn't food.

His eyes widened and Greed ripped off one of the grenades attached to Ed's belt, since he no longer had any of his own, "Hey!" ignoring Ed's protest, Greed grinned viciously as he ran toward the soldier, "Hey, Gluttony! Fetch!" he ripped of the safety pin of the grenade and launched his whole body toward Gluttony's torso, one hand clutching tightly at the fabric of his uniform while the other shoved the bomb straight down Gluttony's open jaw, down his throat.

He ignored the gurgling noises his sworn brother made and instead planted his feet firmly against his round stomach and use the moment to propel himself as far away from him as he could and just when he skidded roughly across the dirt, he heard a muffled explosion go off behind him.

The impact wasn't as strong as when the bomb would have gone off out in the open, but blood splattered onto his and his companions uniform and Greed grimaced at the sight that greeted him when he turned around.

Gluttony's torso looked mangled, as if mauled by several vicious bears and every other aggressive animal he could think of, his torso looked like it was had been thoroughly chewed before spat out in a messy, bloody heap of torn and burnt flesh.

Bloody bone peeked forth from the shredded pieces of Gluttony's shoulders, blood freely gushing down his whole front, the bomb having completely destroyed Gluttony's face and everything down to his ribcage. He looked like a…torseless zombie.

He could hear Havoc gag, "Oh ew, hello no! This is not what I signed up for!"

Mustang made a noise of agreement, a cross between a sound of disgust and surprise.

Gluttony was still standing.

And suddenly, it began.

Greed's features grew grim when he recognized the telltale signs of the regenerative abilities of the serum kicking in, subtle specks of red lightning-like current zipping over Gluttony's half destroyed body, the torn flesh slowly pulling itself back together, shattered bones joining again until his torso, along with his face, were fully repaired.

Gluttony's pale, beady eyes stared first at Ed then at him and Greed cringed internally.

He was mad.

"Why won't you let ME EAT?!" the animalistic roar tore from Gluttony's throat and the brute moved with speed even Greed had difficulties keeping up with.

It was only thanks to his reflexes that he dodged Gluttony's wide open jaws, dodging to the side and sighing in relief when Mustang's torrents of fire hit his former sworn brother again.

Gluttony's screams of agony and pain pierced the air and Ed found his heart tighten. Despite this being the enemy, a soldier out for their heads, he couldn't help but cringe at the screams Gluttony emitted.

They sounded like the pained, broken screams of a child shouting helplessly for its mother, of an innocent child in pain.

Roy didn't seem to have many qualms, mercilessly keeping the torrent of fire going, watching Gluttony's skin burn and roast like pork, "Havoc! Shoot!" the sniper didn't need to be told twice, despite the violently writhing body of his target, his aim was perfect, multiple bullets hitting their mark on Gluttony's head and neck.

Roy stopped his assault and the air grew very still, all eyes anxiously settled on Gluttony to see if he would stay down.

Greed's gaze narrowed at the subtle twitch of muscle on Gluttony's burned jaw and he tensed, "Get away from him! Now!"

It seemed like Gluttony still had plenty of the serum inside him, he moved even while he healed, mercilessly attacking Greed, who protected himself with his shield, only feeling bouts of pressure against his crossed arms that would normally cripple a man.

"Fuck! Get the hell off me you fatass!" Greed delivered a high, bone crushing elbow to Gluttony's jaw and he heard a loud crack, probably from the broken bone, until Gluttony slammed his joined hands down on Greed's spine and slammed him into the ground.

Greed's eyes widened at the intense pressure and the air was literally forced out of his lungs, "That hurt!" Gluttony's enraged complaint sounded distant yet loud to Greed's ears and a sense of relief flooded him at still having his shield up.

The force of the blow would have outright killed him, Greed was thankful for his shield.

"I don't care!" with a mighty shove, Greed was back on his feet, advancing on Gluttony again and again, aided from all sides by Ed, Mustang and Havoc.

Ed slammed his automail arm right into Gluttony's face and he cringed at the pressure it caused in his artificial limb, "That's for biting me!" the attack was brutal and would have broken in a normal man's skull, but they were harshly reminded Gluttony wasn't a normal man by the dangerous snapping of teeth just shy off tearing Ed's whole human arm off.

The blond had evaded it by a hair's breath.

"Fullmetal!" Roy's voice carried over the sounds of battle, sounding almost clear, "We need to restrain him! It's no use fighting continuously, he'll only heal!"

Of that, he was aware of, but how could they restrain him? He had the inkling feeling like Gluttony would be able to tear through any thick ropes they had.

Still, they couldn't let him escape, a valuable source of information and an enemy.

He frowned, carefully watching Greed engage the man in close combat and trying to figure out what to do when a white and blue blur suddenly zipped past him.

"Greed! Dodge!" Ling's voice boomed through the sounds of battle and Greed did a backflip just as the blur of white and blue rushed all around Gluttony's body and Ed could make out that the obese man was being…tied up?

By a wire?

Ed could only watch as Ling worked as fast as he could, too quick for his eyes to follow, wrapping the thick metallic cord all around Gluttony's large limbs until each body part was encased in the strong metal, effectively forcing him to bend in an extremely compressed, awkward ball of trembling human limbs. The wire wrapped several times over his mouth, preventing him from opening his jaw.

Ling stood off to the side, panting from the exertion of tying up Gluttony, the skin of his hands red from handling the rough material of the wire.

Greed slowly walked to stand next to his brother, "Good job," he clasped a heavy hand on Ling's shoulder and the Xingese medic scanned his brother for any injuries, narrowing disapprovingly at the labored breathing and the way he carried himself.

Ed unceremoniously fell backwards to the ground, propping up one knee to rest his elbow against it, burying his face in his hand.

Finally. It was over.

"Damn…" Ed heard the protest of metal when he rolled his shoulder, no doubt he would need to call for a mechanic again to get it checked. That could take days until one arrived.

He cursed softly under his breath and saw Roy's boot as it entered his field of vision beside him, "Injured?"

Ed's reply was automatic, "No, tired." He chanced a glance up at his superior, a small smirk on his lips, "I won't waste my breath asking you, all you did was stand and play with your flame thrower,"

Roy bristled, immediately falling back to their age-old banter, "It's called Hawk's Flame, Fullmetal and it proved infinitely useful against our enemies," he smirked, pleased with his retort.

Havoc smoked his cigarette behind them calmly, "Can't believe they allowed people like you in the military,"

Both Roy and Ed turned to glare at the sniper, who shrugged and held his hand up in a placating gesture, returning his attention to the restrained Gluttony a few feet away.

Roy shouldered his weapon, a certain sharp edge to his tone as he approached Gluttony's trembling form, "Alright, let's talk,"

His intentions were unmistakable, and Greed couldn't suppress the grin from stretching his lips as Gluttony whimpered.

"Riza, I don't think this will change anything if you smash your head against the wall," Rebecca sat across from her at the small coffee table, sipping quietly on her coffee, "And you're saying not even the State military data base has any info? Or the library?"

Riza shook her head, mulling over the spread documents before her, "I've been denied access, like I said and nothing turned up in the library, not even the classified section contained anything worthwhile. Whatever this project is, it must be something not even the military as a whole is allowed to know," she bit her bottom lip, eyes scanning a full list of all sorts of laboratories and projects the military ever engaged in, at the front of these documents lay the small piece of paper with Grumman's cryptic words.

Seven rooms. Two of them got torn down. One got locked and abandoned. Only four rooms were available for living. How many rooms remained?

Rebecca leaned over the table and swiftly snatched the piece of paper, looking it over with a raised eyebrow, "What could the rooms stand for anyway? Military bases? Camps?" she looked at her friend curiously.

Riza shook her head with a sigh, "I…don't think so. Maybe. I haven't figured out that one out yet." Her fingers massaged the crease between her eyebrows tiredly, "I think the first two sentences are insignificant, meant to confuse us." That would fit in with the scheme of Grumman well, "The rest is important. The locked room and the other four rooms available for living," she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, grabbing a clean sheet of paper to write her thoughts on it, "There must be people involved, occupying these 'rooms', these places, whatever they are. They must have a link to the military," Rebecca frowned.

"Something connected to the military, a room or space that got locked down and abandoned… do we have something like that? All that comes to mind are former POW camps," she shrugged, scratching Black Hayate on the head when she felt his tail brush against her legs from under the coffee table, demanding attention.

Riza's eyes narrowed in thought, "Perhaps…" she drew a square with the word POW above it, writing the word LOCKED inside of it, next to it she drew four other squares titled OPEN.

"The locked down room wouldn't be insignificant if he bothered mentioning it at all, so it must serve a purpose despite it's inactive state," Riza sighed, "Former military bases and prisoner of war camps were known to be used for shady operations from criminal organizations before Bradley came to power and tore them down."

Rebecca raised a finger, "Yeah, the labs were used that way too,"

Riza's pencil froze above the paper.

"Labs…" she frowned, "Five rooms…four were open for living and one was locked down," she rubbed her chin, "Maybe I'm wrong,"

Rebecca leaned forward on her crossed elbows, "About what?"

Riza met her gaze, "The laboratories…we have only four of them," she rubbed her arm uneasily, "They were used for chemical experimentations years ago, now served as laboratories for biological weapons and the medical field,"

Rebecca's eyes suddenly lighted up in realization, "Hey wait a sec! Wasn't there a scandal sometime ago about the labs? Something about inhuman experiments that the military tried to sweep under a rug?" she leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms, "I bet Hughes would know something about them,"

Riza's brow furrowed, "Perhaps, I should notify Roy of this. The intelligence network is bound to discover something," a small smile curled her lips, "Perhaps madam Christmas would know something as well,"

Rebecca grinned broadly, "Hell yeah, that old hag's still a badass! I wish I could be like that when I grow old," Riza chuckled at her friend, calmly sipping at her own coffee.

"Wouldn't you now…" her eyes twinkled with amusement.

The atmosphere in the hastily built up tent was stifling, maybe it was because of Gluttony's presence in it, or maybe the general sour mood everyone found themselves in.

Greed's violet eyes seemed almost a demonic red when he glared at his sworn brother, gun loosely held in one hand, "How many times do I have to shoot you for you to talk?" he pointed it at Gluttony's forehead, pale beady eyes staring up at him from their uncomfortable position on the floor.

Ling placed a calming hand on his brother's arm, making him lower the weapon, "Maybe violence isn't the answer this time," he observed Gluttony's withering mass carefully, "He seems frightened, Greed,"

Greed's gaze could cut steel, "Oh? Frightened? Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare the poor, shitty cry baby?!" Greed's guttural growl sounded loud in the room when he pressed the gun back to Gluttony's forehead, face mere inches away from him, "Listen Gluttony, you may have the intelligence of a sloth, but even you're not that dumb to be completely unaware of what's going on. How much do you know what the others are planning hm?" he ignored Gluttony's whimpers when he pressed the gun further into his skin.

Due to Ling's tight wire trap, Gluttony couldn't do more than release muffled whimpers, and Greed had half a mind to tear apart the wire, just to receive some answers.

He sighed, pulling the gun away and standing upright, "Damn it," he glared down at their prisoner.

"Maybe we could tie him up differently, so he can speak?" Ed's suggestion was met with a cautious glare from Roy.

"I don't think that's a good idea, you all saw what he was capable of with his mouth alone," Roy grimaced, grotesque images of torn bloody human flesh still imprinted in his mind.

Ed allowed the scowl on his face to deepen, "This doesn't make sense. If we can't interrogate him we should kill him," Greed's humorless chuckle made the blond glare at him.

"Oh yeah? We could be stuck here for days kid. I don't know when his dose was replenished, if it's to full power, this could take days before he's dead," he kicked Gluttony's side, hard enough to obviously break bone since the familiar red energy glowed briefly to heal his injury, "Lusty's smart, I'll give her that. Even if we ended up capturing you, it's far from a park's walk to getting answers,"

Gluttony kept writhing around, eyes looking up pleadingly at Greed, who remained stern with glaring at him.

Alphonse rubbed the back of his neck, his medic side surfacing through, "I know he's the enemy but…Greed, you said yourself that he has the mentality of an infant, if he's docile now, he shouldn't pose a threat, right?" he gazed down sadly at Gluttony's pleading eyes, "He…looks so sad,"

Greed snarled immediately, "Tch, yeah, question is for how long he will remain docile. Gluttony's like the retarded fat kid guarding the cake. If he's hungry, he will kill for a slice, if not he's a friendly, oversized baby,"

Alphonse frowned and Ed couldn't help but voice his protest, "You know, as much as I don't like this, maybe Al's right," he crossed his arms, ignoring Greed's scathing look, "He's dangerous, but only when he's hungry. He…" at this he swallowed roughly, "…ate his fill before and he seems scared shitless now than like a soldier. Maybe just loosening the wire around his mouth enough for him to talk for a while won't be so bad," he shrugged, truly conflicted over everything.

He shared a look with Roy, who looked just as troubled, "We've never been forced into such a…peculiar situation before." He looked at Greed's mistrusting eyes, "I trust your judgement Greed, since you know him the most out of any of us." He nodded, letting the ball fall in Greed's court.

The Xingese man grit his teeth, crossing his arms over his chest tightly, "I wouldn't trust Gluttony anywhere without a leash on." He looked at Ed, then back at Ling, Roy and Al, "We usually kept him under lock and key, or at least somewhat restrained back then," he looked at his shivering form on the ground with no traces of sympathy, "Not only that he's a cannibal, he's dangerous enough without his giant mouth." His gaze narrowed, voice tense with seriousness, "The serum enhances physical capabilities, enhanced strength, agility, healing rate, durability…" he shrugged, "Some are specific enhancements, according to the altered formula," he hardened one part of his arm as demonstration, the blood in his veins turning a metallic grey, "The composition of carbon in your body can be magnified to the point of having a near to indestructible shield, covered by skin, the Ultimate Shield," He looked each of his friends in the eye, "Normal human nails can achieve nearly the same hardness as my shield and elongate to inhuman proportions, those are Lust's abilities,"

Greed seemed unconcerned he was revealing his sibling's abilities in front of the enemy as he continued talking, "Envy can change his bodily features to certain degrees, altering his appearance to adapt to anybody he studies closely enough. In bouts of rage, he turns into a similar monster to this guy," he jabbed his thumb at Gluttony, "He's a bit of a unstable psychopath, so I would be careful around him,"

Ed frowned, "You…got a nice family there," he coughed into his hand, awkwardly shifting his weight.

Greed smirked, "That's not half of it. Now to the good part. Sloth's a lazy ass but he has inhuman physical strength and speed similar to Ling's," he shared a wary look with his brother, "Without the heavy chains around his feet and wrists, I'm sure he would fly off somewhere how fast he can get," he shrugged, "Onto the real bad boys," he tensed, drawing a deep breath, "Wrath's a highly skilled sword wielder, the serum granted him powers in his eye. We liked to call it the 'Ultimate Eye'. Apparently, he can anticipate his enemy's movements." When he noticed the looks he was receiving, Greed rolled his eyes, "No, he can't see into the future, but he can pick up on physical changes in his opponent's movements and gauge their next actions." He shrugged, "Twitching muscles in the right arm, the opponent moves to the right. Your foot slides slightly forward, it means a frontal attack. It's all about observing, really,"

Greed took a deep breath, gaze narrowed at the ground, his voice dropping an octave, "As for Pride…" he shook his head, "The brat's dangerous, one of the most powerful of us, as much as I hate saying it. His powers are the creepiest, even creepier than Gluttony's," he made a grimace of disgust, "Nothing as disgusting though, but…ever heard of that weird creep with shadowy arms that abducts children? That weird story that was in the media a while ago,"

Roy thought for a moment, before responding, "…Slenderman?"

Greed nodded, "Yeah…similar creepy shit. He can control shadows to his whim, he can use your own shadow against you. But he's absolutely useless if there's no light. He can't use his powers if he's completely covered in darkness," he smirked slightly.

Edward sighed, looking at Gluttony, "Great, we're up against super humans," he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

Greed grunted, "We're not so normal either," he shrugged and Ed didn't fail to notice the way his gaze lingered on his automail.

Ed winced, "We don't have a fancy serum," he pointedly looked at Greed, "Well…most of us,"

Roy frowned, "We still don't know what their plan is," his gaze locked with Greed, "Listen Greed, I know you think this is a bad idea, but it's the only way to figure anything out,"

Greed tensed, turning around to look at Gluttony, eyes carefully scanning his body language.

He seemed to be in his docile state, nevertheless, Greed crouched down to one knee and roughly pulled on the wire imprisoning the sin, making Gluttony wince and whimper pathetically, "If you dare open your big mouth for anything else other than talking," with that, Greed's shield covered the expanse of his arms, "I'll make sure however much of the serum you have will be completely depleted by the end of the night," he released him roughly, exiting the tent, the air becoming too stifling to him.

Ling worriedly watched his brother go, before walking after him.

Ed sighed at the predicament, sharing a skeptical look with his own brother, "You think this is a good idea? Greed knows him best, he may be right,"

Alphonse looked helpless, watching the poor man whimper, "I…don't know, he looks so helpless like this." He cut in before his brother could voice any protest, "I know he tried to kill us back there and that looks shouldn't deceive us, but, but-!" he took a sharp breath, his normally soft eyes burning, "We have to get to information somehow, we have to make use of the situation somehow,"

His brother was right, of course he was right, Ed knew that too. Killing Gluttony would be a waste after the trouble they went through to restrain him, if Greed had calmed down enough, he may play an instrumental role in interrogating Gluttony and making him tell them everything he knows.

"Considering, he knows anything at all," Roy cut in softly, voice far calmer than Edward had anticipated it.

The blond rose an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Roy looked at him, "Greed said they kept him locked up because of his ravenous hunger." His calculating gaze scrutinized him carefully, "If we were to completely believe Greed's words, his intelligence is lacking and I highly doubt the rest of his…brethren would bother to inform him of anything he shouldn't explicitly know about his mission," he sighed heavily, looking at Edward solemnly, "It's the same tactic high ranking officers use for the newly appointed ones. Send out one to do the grunt work, the less he knows the better, if he gets captured along the mission, the chance for the enemy to find anything out is far less. That way secrets are kept and they wouldn't lose valuable soldiers,"

Ed frowned, lips tightening into a thin line, "Yeah, I know, but still. Maybe he's not as dimwitted as he pretends. He said something about not eating the candidates," his gaze shot to Gluttony, "There's something we can work with, maybe they told him a bit more,"

Roy frowned, "It's a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless,"

"Whatever it is, let's hope he knows." Ed thought for a moment, "Maybe that Lust girl told him something, though Greed doesn't seem to be on the best of terms with her, calling her a bitch," he scratched the back of his neck, sighing. He rotated his wrist, hearing the groaning of metal, "Anyway, let's get this over with," he turned toward Gluttony, ready to release him when he froze on the spot.

Gluttony's form was shaking violently, even more so than before, but this time it wasn't out of helplessness or fear or anything similar.

His small beady eyes were wild, angry, fixated intently on Edward and the wire around him dug only deeper into his flesh the more Gluttony fought against it. Roy and Ed tensed and took a step back, while Al's hand flew down to his pouch, searching for his paralytic needles.

It was the sound of loud ripping, of the groaning of metal and the animalistic growls coming from their prisoner that caused all three men to make a grab for their weapons, but it was too late.

Gluttony moved faster than any of them could blink and Ed found himself on the receiving end of large, blunt teeth and the smell of death and decay breathed down his face.

"Brother!"

"Fullmetal!" two simultaneous shouts echoed in the small tent and Ed barely heard his brother shout for reinforcements.

Large teeth came dangerously close to snap his neck, Gluttony's eyes looked crazed and his movements were sloppy but powerful and vicious, just like in the battlefield. Just what the hell made him snap?

He pushed Gluttony away with his automail hand and made a run outside the tent, hollering commands as he did so, instructing his men to stay down. Not pausing to glance back and see where Greed and the rest were, he had to keep running.

Gluttony was dangerous, having him in the middle of his camp, unbound and ravenous, would cause more casualties than any of them were prepared or capable to afford.

He needed to get the monster away from here.

He heard the heavy but fast footsteps behind him, felling tree after tree as Edward ran deeper inside the forest, feeling the blood pumping in his ears and his heart hammering in his chest like a wild bird rattling against its cage.

Perspiration coated his forehead and his whole body felt hot and cold at the same time and he realized with a start what that feeling was.

Fear.

Just as the treacherous voice of truth echoed in his mind like a slow spreading poison, an enormous weight slammed into him from behind and Ed cried out when he narrowly avoided landing on his human arm and managed to put the brunt of the fall on his automail side.

The jarring impact made him cry out, immense pressure against his side made him cough and wheeze as the air was forced from his lungs, burning in a way they've never before.

He could feel the metal protesting against the combined weight of his own body and Gluttony's elephant weight on him and he cried out in pain again when the nerve endings were violently disconnected from his limb replacement.

Gluttony's jaw was once again wrapped around the prosthetic tightly, teeth clamped around it like a steel trap, the artificial limb hanging uselessly from his mouth like a bone would from a dog's and in a similar fashion, Gluttony spat out the offending object, saliva dripping savagely down his wide mouth.

Ed felt a sudden, icy coldness pierce his heart like it hadn't in a long while and he realized he was still more human than he believed to be all these years working as a dog for the military.

He still felt fear. He still feared for his life. He still feared the sight before him, that wasn't even remotely human. He thought he had nearly seen all the atrocities humanity had to offer, all the sights of blood and gore and death, but he was jarringly reminded that despite their physical appearance, they weren't human.

Greed was, of that he was sure. But the thing staring at him now, the monster that just violently ripped out his limb replacement with his mouth, wasn't human.

Fear was what locked Ed's body in place, he tried willing himself to move, to get out of the situation he was in, but he couldn't.

From Gluttony's weight pressing on him, the blood flow to his legs was temporarily cut off and he felt like ants were crawling or dozens of tiny needless were piercing the expanse of them, his hands shaking violently at his sides as he tried to control his breathing, looking up at angry eyes of his assailant.

He was a soldier.

A killing machine.

Soldiers weren't supposed to act like this. He had thought he had shed every semblance of everything human inside him when he joined the military, because human emotions held him back.

It seemed he had been so very wrong.

Not even Fullmetal could save him out of this situation with his shut down emotions.

"Finally I can eat," Gluttony's usually whiny, childish voice was far deeper now, guttural and Ed felt something warm and moist coat his exposed neck and realized with a shiver that it was Gluttony's saliva dripping from his mouth.

Exposed blunt teeth were far too close to his face for comfort and when his eyes zeroed in on foreign looking bits and pieces of something stuck between Gluttony's teeth, his eyes widened in horror when he figured out what it was.

The remains of human flesh Gluttony had consumed before they restrained him.

Instincts screamed at him to do something, to fight and push the danger away from himself, to save himself and bolt.

Time seemed to have slowed down, at least to him.

He felt acutely aware of everything now.

The blood rushing loud in his ears, like the crashing waves of the sea.

The hot and cold sensations running through his whole body and the clammy, moist feeling of his trembling hands as they dug into the soil beneath his body.

The dribbling, bone-chilling sensations of Gluttony's saliva running down his throat as his jaw came dangerously close to the exposed human flesh.

The intense pressure of Gluttony's weight cutting off his blood flow to his legs, the sensations of ants crawling up and down his unmoving legs.

And then, nothing.

All he felt was his rapidly beating heart.

He wasn't even sure he was breathing by this point.

And as surreal as it sounded, he thought he saw his life flash before his eyes.

Of the blurry memories of him and Al as little kids, when mom was still healthy and playing with them out in the field, how happy they were when dad came home from work, how they got in trouble for sneaking into dad's study to search through his many books and scripts.

The times he was bullied in school for being smarter than everyone his age, the times he kept fighting his classmates for bullying his brother, his first unrequited crush, all the times he and Al studied tirelessly and did their homework.

Then mom's death and dad's departure from home, him forced to grow up and take care of Al. Them enrolling into university and then the military.

All the trials, the blood, sweat and tears he poured into the academy. The horror when he found out Al enrolled in the military too, only weeks after him. Flashes of people he had met, images of small scale wars and conflicts he had been involved in, faces of dead people, of destroyed homes and torn families.

He remembered the journal he had found, tattered and abandoned in one of the tents of a campsite. He remembered how true the hidden message behind the words of poetry were, how the soldiers did the grunt work for the higher ups and had to live with the consequences of war and everything connected to it.

He remembered the first signs of Al losing his humanity the longer his time in the military ranged on. He remembered vowing to do everything he could to bring that back. To bring his brother back.

He felt blunt pressure being applied to his neck and his whole body froze, unmoving.

Move.

He shut his eyes tightly closed.

The pressure grew.

Move.

His pulse beat erratically beneath the threat of the closing teeth around his neck and he felt the panic in his chest mount.

Fucking move!

Ed's eyes shot open, wide horror-stricken eyes shooting down to look at Gluttony's face.

"Brother!" it happened so suddenly, Ed wasn't sure what happened first or who moved first.

His human elbow had slammed onto the side of Gluttony's jaw after he craned his neck back as far as he could, blunt teeth sliding away from his bruised flesh at the painful impact of his elbow. Ed felt like he had nearly dislocated his shoulder from the impact.

A needle imbedded itself directly above the space between Gluttony's eyes and Ed could see how they glazed over slowly, as if in a daze.

Ed reacted quickly.

He used what little feeling he regained in his legs to his advantage and bucked Gluttony's weight off him, quickly and wobbly scrambling on his only human hand and knees to stumble into his brother's awaiting arms, his one arm shaking from holding himself up without the support of his artificial limb.

He could hear more needless were imbedded within Gluttony's flesh, but he couldn't bring himself to look, to care enough to look.

He stared dead at the uniform of his brother, at the familiar red cross of his medic unit, at the green color of the fabric instead of the issued blue military uniforms worn for outside of the warzone.

And finally, everything came crashing back to him.

He could suddenly feel his labored breaths, the soreness in his throat, the indescribable burn and he realized he had, at some point while Gluttony started trying to eat him alive, screaming for his life.

His cold, clammy hand shakily inspected his throat and he found only shallow pressure marks created by Gluttony's teeth lining the side of his neck.

He was alive.

He didn't break skin, he wasn't hurt aside from superficial bruises.

His legs were still tingling, his heart was still hammering hard in his chest, the blood was still rushing in his ears, but he didn't feel like he would die of cardiac arrest anymore.

He was alive.

Ed slowly clutched at the fabric of his younger brother's uniform, eyes wide and unseeing, "Al…Al…Alphonse…are you okay?" his shaky voice sounded foreign to his own ears, hoarse from screaming.

Familiar hands tightly grasped his shoulders, but his eyes remained fixated on a unmoving point, despite his vision being filled with the familiar gold of his brother's eyes, eyes that were wide with horror and filled with worry and panic.

"Am I okay? Am I okay?! Brother, you were almost eaten! You can't be asking me how I am!" he shook his shoulders, uncaring for the daze and state of shock his brother was in, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

His brother's words were lost to him, the blood pumping in his ears was too loud to hear anything clearly and anything Alphonse said was muffled and the shaking he was subjected to was only getting worse.

With a trembling hand, Ed desperately grabbed his brother's wrist, effectively stopping him from shaking what little life he still had left out of him.

Alphonse froze, breath coming out in quick pants from his verbal lecture and the heart attack he almost got at seeing his brother, his brother, on the ground with Gluttony's teeth around his neck.

He tensed when Edward's hand shook horribly, his instincts screaming at him to offer immediate medical help but he subconsciously recognized the signs of shock and trauma.

His brother was panting too hard, "E-Edward, calm down, breathe deeply, deep breaths brother," Alphonse couldn't be weak now, not when his brother needed him.

Ed said nothing, he tried to listen to what his brother was saying.

He barely registered Mustang and Greed and everyone else arriving on the scene, he didn't even hear Greed talking, only watching how his mouth was moving and forming soundless words.

His breath was still erratic, he was still sweating, he was still unfocused.

Come on Fullmetal!

He was a soldier, damn it.

Soldiers don't go into shock in the middle of battle.

He had brushed death's shoulder plenty of times.

So why did this encounter leave him so shaken?

"Maybe because this had been the closest of them all," he tried to ignore the voice in the back of his mind, he tried to focus on his breathing.

He was gripping the roots of half withered vegetation in his hand, gripping them so tightly his knuckles were white.

But he didn't care.

Anything that was anchoring him to the real world right now.

His brother's warm hand on his shoulder was welcome.

The burning in his lungs was welcome.

Even the limp body of Gluttony as it was being dragged away felt welcome and Ed finally allowed his body to shut down.

He didn't register the arms that caught his fall, nor the strangely authoritative voice of his brother barking commands at everyone around them to get them the hell into a medical tent, he also didn't register several hands on his body, repositioning him, he barely felt being carried slung over someone's back.

The last thing he saw was the moving earth from his perch on somebody's back.

The last thing he heard was the voice of his brother, now soft and calm and laced with worry, sounding from somewhere near him, "It's gonna be alright, brother."

Ed closed his eyes and slept.

Thoughts? :)