Ed tensed. "W-what?"

"You heard me," Envy said in a louder voice. "He's getting in the way. It's your job to take him out."

"But…"

"Do it. You know what will happen if you don't."

Ed cringed as he looked at the man who had helped him so much. He didn't move for several minutes, and after a bit, he felt a hand on his neck.

"Did you hear me? I said kill him," Envy hissed. "It's going to happen either way. You might as well make it less painful for him."

Roy could tell Ed was struggling, but he didn't know what to do. If he fought, he'd run the risk of hurting Ed, and with the confined space they were in, he couldn't exactly use his flame alchemy. His mouth wouldn't move. All he could do at the moment was watch in shock as Ed took a step forward.

"That's it, pipsqueak," Envy said with a grin. "Just keep going, and take him out."

Ed stopped. "I can't."

"You don't have a choice. Go on, do it."

Ed didn't move. Envy grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him forward. "You remember our little conversation, don't you? Kill him now, or I'll do it for you, and get rid of your little frie-"

Before Envy could finish his sentence, Ed sent him flying with a kick to the face. It didn't take long for Envy to recover and immobilize the alchemist, but somehow, Ed managed to break free, and ran for Roy, who happened to be the target of a vicious attack from Wrath. Roy stared in horror as Ed fell to the ground, temporarily forgetting that Ed could regenerate, or at least he could a couple of times.

The homunculi stared at the body on the ground, watching in confusion as the regeneration process happened to someone they didn't expect. Once it was almost finished, Ed slowly got to his feet. He stood in front of Roy, his eyes glowing with anger. "Nice try, but you aren't going to kill him or Winry." Ed's eyes flashed dangerously. "This ends here." Ed lowered his voice so that only Roy could hear him, and muttered, "It's going to be very bright in here in a couple of minutes."

It was more like a couple of seconds after Ed spoke that a dozen torches lit up, each held by a soldier in a line that was headed by none other than Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong. Envy glared at Ed. "You…"

"You should have expected this," Ed interrupted. With that, the Major General gave a signal, and the final battle seemed to be beginning.

---------------

Al stared nervously at the front gates of Central headquarters. After hearing about some of the events up north, Havoc had decided to return to Central, and had been talking with some of his military buddies he had made since moving into Central. After he had shared the truth about the military with a couple of them, along with as much proof as he could think of, they immediately joined his side. From what they had gathered through spying, the higher-ups were planning something in the north. Al realized what this meant, but he didn't know how to stop it.

Havoc knew, however. He and Major Armstrong had met briefly the other day, and they came up with some sort of plan. All Al knew about it was what he was supposed to do, but he didn't really want to do it. The only thing that had kept him from refusing was the fact that Scar had been standing right behind him at the time, his right hand on Al's shoulder and a worrisome look on his face.

"Why haven't you gone yet?" Mei Chan asked, startling Al out of his thoughts. He practically jumped when he heard the little girl's voice.

"Ah… well, um… I'm…"

"Are you really that nervous? It's not that hard to do, especially since you've improved so much with your rentanjutsu. Just relax."

Al took a deep breath and tried to focus. "You're right. It's just that… what if this isn't the best…"

"Don't worry about that. You'll be just fine."

Al took another deep breath. "Okay, here goes…" With that, he did what he had seen Mei Chan do so many times, and within minutes, half the military was out by the front gates, trying to figure out what had happened to the gates.

Al and Mei didn't get to see what damage had been done, because they were currently making their way to the other side of the headquarters to meet up with the others. Once they found each other, Armstrong used alchemy to make a door in the wall. They snuck in, unseen by anyone due to the ruckus at the front gate.

"So, what do we do now?" Al asked, looking around at the places he'd visited several times before.

"Well, first thing's first," Havoc replied. "We have to find the higher-ups and see what they're up to today."

"Wait, why?"

Havoc paused. "Um, I don't know. I didn't come up with this part of the plan."

"Then who did?"

"Scar."

Al blinked. "Oh. But what's he…" Al trailed off as he realized what Scar probably had in mind. "I'm not doing this."

They heard footsteps, and Havoc grabbed Al by the arm and pulled him along. "Too late now! Come on, this'll be easy."

Al struggled to get out of Havoc's grip for a minute before giving up and going along with the flow. After a while, they came to a hallway where the higher-ups seemed to be congregating. Al stared quietly down the hallway as the older men filed into a large room.

"Are they having a meeting?" Al muttered.

"Looks like it," Havoc replied. "Anyway, I think that's all we need to know for now. Let's head back."

Al nodded, and they began their way back through headquarters, their efforts constantly delayed by troops running through the hallways. Al had to use alchemy a few times to hide Havoc and himself.

Finally, they made it outside, and Al kept watch as Havoc sprinted across the open area that separated them from the wall. He was about to make his way over when he heard a chilling voice from behind him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Al whirled around, and saw Selim standing right behind him. "Wha…"

"You are trying to accomplish something you will never be able to accomplish. If you surrender now, I might let your friends live."

"What are you talking about?" Al asked. "You're-"

"I am the first homunculus. You are the second-born son of one who is almost the equivalent of Father. However, you are getting in our way. I would kill you now if you weren't a sacrifice."

Al took a step back. "You…"

"You heard me. This is simply a disguise, to fool people like you who put more effort than necessary into a vain effort to disrupt our plans. Your brother was smart to hide the truth from me. However," Selim took a step forward. "You shouldn't have run away."

"Who are you?" Al asked, panic evident in his voice.

"I am Pride." With that, Al saw the black shadow behind the boy, and moved into a defensive stance. Pride smiled, and Al decided that a better idea would be to run.

He didn't make it very far. After about five seconds of sprinting, Al felt something overtake him, and he collapsed on the ground. He struggled to get up, but something was holding him down. Al looked back and saw that his body had been enveloped in darkness. Al continued to struggle, but all he managed was to wear himself out. He looked up at the child-like homunculus in fear before he heard footsteps. Immediately, the shadows disappeared, and Pride seemed to be Selim once more as a group of soldiers came up to them.

"Are you all right, Master Selim?" One of the soldiers asked as the rest surrounded Al.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just happened to come outside a moment ago."

"Did this boy attack you?"

"No, not at all."

"What a relief." Al was still staring numbly at Pride/Selim as the soldiers pulled him roughly to his feet. "Please go back inside, Master Selim," the soldier continued as he pulled out a gun.

A minute later, Al was pressed against the wall with a gun pointed at his face. The soldier was about to pull the trigger when a nearby voice rang out.

"What are you doing?"

The soldier lowered the gun and looked at the approaching soldier. "We have orders to capture and kill the intruders, sir."

"Not this one. I just got orders from the higher-ups. Disarm him and bring him up to the meeting room upstairs. They wish to deal with him personally."

The soldier saluted. "Yes, sir."

---------------

Al was roughly dragged up into the meeting room and forced to sit down on a chair facing the higher-ups, to which he was tightly restrained. As the regular soldiers left the room, Al could feel all eyes on him. After a minute, General Hakuro stood and walked up to him.

"So, you're continuing to resist. What are you planning this time?"

Al was silent, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the General. After a while, Hakuro slapped him in the face. "Answer the question!"

"I don't know."

"So, you stage an attack on military headquarters and attempt to sneak in, but you don't know why?" Hakuro laughed. "Let's try the truth, Alphonse Elric. You are in a very bad position. Don't force us to do the same to you as what was done to your brother."

"What did you do to him?" Al asked, his voice wavering from both apprehension and anger.

"We did nothing to him. It was someone else who found him and beat him into submission. And, at the moment…" Hakuro grinned. "There are plenty of people here who are capable and willing to do the same to you."

Al's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Then there was a crash out in the hallway, which distracted everyone in the room. As several people went to see what was going on, Al found himself being lifted from the chair and carried across the room. Someone opened a small, hidden door, and Al got thrown into a small closet-type space. Before the door closed again, Al heard a voice in his ear. "Leave."

He tried to free himself, and managed to get his hands free. He transmuted the rest of his restraints, using the light to see where he was. The so-called closet seemed to continue down, and Al realized that it was more of a tunnel than anything. He checked to see if anyone would come after him before making his way down the tunnel.

He had assumed that it would lead to some sort of room, but strangely enough, it continued, and eventually turned into a staircase. Al transmuted a small torch out of the wooden railing, and somehow managed to light it before continuing on his way.

After a few minutes, Al came to a realization. He wasn't going to get out of military headquarters. He was going straight down to Father's lair. He stopped and looked back, debating whether or not going back was a better option. If he continued, he'd most likely be found by the homunculi, and he'd be in a worse situation than before. Then again, if he went back, he'd end up being back under military control, which would be just as bad, since he would end up in the same place in the end.

Al decided to continue going down. He would fight until he couldn't fight any more. When he finally arrived, Al went straight to his father's room, hoping that nobody was in that general area, other than his father. Luckily, he was right, and Al successfully snuck into Hohenheim's room. Hohenheim looked up at his son with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Hoho asked.

Al paused. "I… kinda got into trouble…"

"What happened?"

"Well, we were doing something, and then I ran into Pride…"

"Pride? He found you?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, and he kept me from getting away until some soldiers came up. Then they brought me to the higher-ups and started interrogating me until something happened in the hallway and someone shoved me into this tunnel room thingy. That's how I got down here."

Hoho nodded. "You shouldn't stay too long. Someone's bound to find you down here."

"I know, but this is somewhat safer than staying on the surface. Besides, I think we may end up needing your help."

"I can get out of here on my own if need be, but if they find you… Considering everything you've done against them lately, you'll be very lucky if they don't hurt you."

Al nodded. "I know. They've already done that to Ed."

Hoho stiffened. "Those bastards… Get out of here. Now."

"But-"

"If you get caught, then you won't be able to do anything. You have to stay out of their grasp."

Al nodded. "I get it. I'll go now."

But as Al turned to leave, he found that he couldn't move his feet. He looked back, and saw a shadow on the ground, with three eyes staring at him. Al soon found himself completely enveloped in shadow, and after a moment, the door opened, and Pride came in, followed by Father.

"You fool," Father said. "Did you think that we didn't expect you to come here?"

Al felt a sharp pain shoot through his spine as Pride sent him flying into the wall. Much to his dismay, he soon felt a shadow cover his mouth and nose, making it impossible for him to breathe. Al tried to break free, but the lack of air soon became too much for him, and he soon ceased to move. After another few seconds, Pride let go, but Al was barely conscious. All he could do was try to regain his breath while he was carried out of the room.

----------------

Ed stumbled back, trying to regain his breath. Somehow, he and Roy had been forced further down the tunnel, so they were too far from the others to get help as they fought against Envy. Roy wasn't helping much, either. All he could do was set off a few very small explosions around Envy whenever Ed needed a break.

Ed was beginning to lose it. Envy seemed to be much more willing to go for fatal wounds now that Ed had shown that he could regenerate, but Ed had used up his second "life" earlier in the fight, and according to what his new companion had previously told him, one more fatal wound would kill him. After a while, his legs gave out, and he didn't have enough time to transmute something before Envy kicked him as hard as he could, which caused Ed to spit up more blood. Before Roy had a chance to use his flame alchemy on Envy, the homunculus had a grip on Ed's throat and pushed him against the wall.

"Don't move, Flame Alchemist," Envy growled. "Or your little friend will have to take your punishment as well as his own."

Roy stood still and cursed to himself. Envy pushed harder against Ed's throat until the alchemist's eyes closed and his body went limp. Envy let go of him and watched as Ed dropped to the floor.

"I should probably kill him again, just to watch his pain," Envy said, looking down at Ed with disdain.

"You'd kill him for real," Roy replied before he could help himself.

"Hmm? Ah, yes, of course, his stone is much smaller. Now then," Envy continued as he turned to Mustang. "It's your turn, Mustang," Envy growled as he approached Roy. "And I doubt you'll do so well against me. In fact…" Envy grinned. "You'll die just like your friend in Central did."

Roy let out a cry of rage and ran to attack Envy, forgetting that he wasn't very good at hand-to-hand combat. It only took a few minutes for Envy to wear Roy out enough so that the homunculus could easily deal the finishing blow.

Envy created a blade out of his arm, and as Roy began retreating, Envy ran toward him, blade extend for the final motion that would kill the Flame Alchemist once and for all.

But the hit never came. Instead, Envy watched in shock as the blade easily sliced through another body, going straight through a black circle on the pale-ish skin. Envy immediately pulled the blade out and checked Ed's vital signs. There was still some sort of pulse, but it was impossible to undo the damage. Ed was seconds away from death.

-------------

I still so evil. :D

And I should have updated a long time ago, but I've been uber lazy…