Cast Iron Alchemist

Chapter 7: Western Standoff

An alchemist in a lab coat made his way to Simon's office. He knocked on the door, and was welcomed in. Simon was staring out the window when he walked in. "Sir," he began, "The pride project was a complete success. Subject has been fully tested and has sustained combat knowledge prior to death."

Simon nodded, a dark smile across his face. "Excellent, his first assignment is sitting there on the table, take it to him, and give him a pair of soldiers as escorts."

the alchemist nodded and took the file from Simon's desk, leaving the room. Simon couldn't help but laugh as he thought of his plan coming to fruition.

A train went speeding through the rails of the western territory of Amestris. Anthony and crew were making the best of crowding on the caboose, the wind blowing heavily against them. Alicia sighed as she shuffled around for space. "Couldn't we have just taken the supply trucks like we usually do?"

Trevor shook his head, leaning over the rail. "It's safer if we hop trains, we're less likely to get caught this way. Besides, Zeke set up a rendezvous on the train's path with the brigade's western division."

Anthony climbed down from the train's top where he was keeping lookout, standing on the ladder. "We're approaching the jump, get ready."

the group nodded and adjusted their bags on their backs as the train began driving over a large bridge. Jumping one at a time, they landed with large splashes in the water. Once they all waded to shore and dried off, they sat and waited at the shoreline for their guide. It wasn't until late into the day that a man arrived, wearing a brigade jacket and mask. "Greetings Cast Iron Alchemist and friends. I am the Mammoth Quake Alchemist. Please follow me, the brigade headquarters isn't too far from here."

Anthony nodded and the group stood up, following the alchemist to the mountainous West City. West was a large citadel. Surrounded on three sides by mountains, it was the ultimate war base. Being a city built for war, it had far more soldiers and defences than any other main base in Amestris. Walking around to the northern mountain, the Mammoth Quake Alchemist led them into an old mine shaft, opening the secret door into the base. The base was large, stretching deep down into the earth. Mammoth led them across the main room, where people stepped out of the way, whispering to each other as the group passed by. Opening the door to the leader's office, they found a beautifully lit room with paintings on the surrounding walls, and a woman sitting behind a desk. She looked up from her paperwork and smiled at the group. "well it looks like you've finally made it. Thank you Edgar you are dismissed. Welcome Fullmetal Brigade, I am Samantha Wilkins, the Gemstone Alchemist."

Mammoth Quake left the room as Samantha got up from her desk and approached the group, brushing her silvery white hair out of her face as she stood in front of Anthony. She brought her hand up to his cheek, smiling. "My my, you're much cuter than your description."

Anthony couldn't help but blush as Alicia glared at Samantha from behind him. Alicia pushed him out of the way and stared at her. "Since we already know who's who, let's get down to business. What are we looking at in terms of opposition?"

Samantha frowned and leaned back against her desk. "Well you're no fun. Being a military town we're faced with military opposition, and they're onto your tricks. All sewer access has been permanently locked down, and there's heavy guard patrol in all sectors of the headquarters, especially the basement floors. It doesn't look like getting in will be easy."

Anthony nodded in agreement, thinking hard on the situation. "these mountains are full of mines right Samantha?"

she looked over at him and nodded. Anthony smiled and looked across the room at everyone. "I need to do some reconnaissance, but I think I have a plan."

Axel made his way down the streets of Risembool on his way back to Winry's house, carrying groceries in his hands. Fumbling through is pocket, he found the key and slid it in the lock, opening the door. "Miss Winry, I'm ba-"

he dropped the groceries in a panic, gasping in surprise at what he saw. He backed away, turned and ran toward the train station. "no...no no no no no! I have to tell Anthony!"

Anthony and Samantha stood atop the western mountain of West city, looking down at it from high above. Anthony slid down toward some loose rock and examined it. He smiled, running his hand over the rock. "Alright, this one will work, let's get going to the last one."

Samantha nodded and followed along next to him.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Jennifer and Trevor walked the streets of the city, taking photographs as they went. It was extremely uncomfortable, being surrounded by soldiers as they worked. Even though no one knew their true faces, it was still very discerning.

Alicia stayed behind with Zeke, studying the reports they had of the leading general, an alchemist that combined his sword skill with his alchemy, Lawrence the Stone Sword Alchemist. Alicia was having trouble focusing, not able to get the thought of Samantha and Anthony out together working out of her head. She did her best to focus on the matter at hand, looking at the photo of her upcoming enemy. Lawrence was the oldest person they had met so far. He combed his hair, white with age, back behind his head, and wore very formal clothing as he carried his sword at his side. She sighed and put down the report, taking out the satchel of philosopher's stones from her satchel. Zeke looked over at her and took her files from her. "you go ahead and work on that, I'll finish this up."

She looked up at Zeke, who was smiling down at her. She smiled back and nodded, going to the group's quarters to work. She took out some papers and some chalk, studying the notes on the philosopher's stone Anthony had copied out for her. They hadn't made much headway in reversing the stones yet, but she could feel they were close. Already they had cracked the symbols pertaining to life, death, night, day, and the relation to human transmutation, they just needed to figure out how to put it in reverse. Anthony walked in on her working and sat down. "Working on this again?"

she nodded, rubbing her head. "I feel like we're so close. A stone is basically red water and souls right? How could something so basic be so difficult?"

Anthony nodded and looked up at the ceiling. "I know, it's amazing isn't it. My grandfather could bond souls to armor, but he couldn't figure out the secrets of philosopher's...bond souls to armor...souls..."

Anthony turned to the other side of the table and took the chalk, drawing out the design they had found came closest to destroying the stone. "could it really be this simple?"

Anthony took his grandfather's journal out of his back pocket and flipped to the page with the blood seal on it. Alicia watched curiously as he replicated the design within the circles of the already drawn symbols of the circle, finishing with the upside down cane. Taking a philosopher's stone from the bag, he set it on the circle. He smiled down at the circle he had drawn, and clapped his hands together. Pressing his palms flat to the circle, it began to glow brightly. Anthony froze up and held his head, yelling in pain. Moving through his body were all the souls of the philosopher's stone. He could see all of them, all their memories flooding through him at once. He fell to the ground and passed out. Alicia got down on her knees at his side and shrugged him, trying to wake him up. "Anthony! Anthony!"

she turned to the circle that they had drawn. Where once there sat a philosopher's stone there was only a wooden night stand again, getting soaked by red water.

Anthony woke up in the dark. He stood up, looking around, but all he could see was blackness. He finally saw something in the distance. As he ran closer, he found Winry, smiling as she stood there in front of him. "Miss Winry..."

she smiled and walked up, hugging him tightly. He blushed and hugged back. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Winry smiled at him and began to fade away. "Miss Winry!"

she smiled still and became younger as she faded, turning back into her younger self. "Please, take care of Alicia."

that was the last thing she said before she faded away.

Anthony woke up, rubbing his aching head. Alicia was asleep, her head resting on his bed, sitting in a chair next to it. He smiled softly as he looked at her laying there, and everyone else passed out in their beds. "I promise." he whispered to himself.

Alicia began to stir as she looked up and saw him awake. She smiled and hugged him tightly. "thank goodness. Everyone wake up, he's awake."

the rest of the group began to awaken as she spoke, and they all surrounded his bed. Trevor smiled, patting his back. "That was quite a scare you gave us. We thought you'd never wake up."

Jennifer nodded, adjusting her glasses and brushing her hair away from her face. "You've been asleep for a week Anthony, we thought you were in a coma of some sort."

Alicia nodded, looking at him worriedly. "What happened Anthony? You destroyed the philosopher's stone and then you passed out."

Anthony rubbed his head, still hurting a bit. "When I released the stone, all the souls came blasting through my body, I guess once they're released they go to the one who performed the transmutation, looking for a catalyst. They passed through me and moved on to the afterlife. But...I saw them, all of their memories, it was a bit of a shock."

everyone was in awe, they had never heard of such a thing before. "Well, at least this is a step in the right direction." Trevor said, scratching his chin.

Anthony shook his head. "this is the destination, we've figured it out."

Alicia shook her head, putting her hand over his. "Anthony, we can't possibly use this circle, we thought you were put into a coma."

Anthony shook his head again and got out of bed, stretching. "It was just a shock, with practice I can master it, I'm sure of that."

Alicia sighed and shook her head, seeing she couldn't talk him out of it. She counted the stones in the bag. "Well, I hope you can master it in fifteen tries." Anthony smirked and slid his black metal armor on, while Alicia took out some blank gloves and thread. "I'm sure of it."

Samantha sat in her office, going over everything Anthony had the group collect. She couldn't make much sense of it, so she had to wait until Anthony woke up. As if by a stroke of luck, Anthony led the group into her office, all of them fully equipped in their brigade clothing. Samantha smiled and walked out from behind her desk. "It's good to see you up and moving again."

Anthony nodded and looked over everything that was gathered. "Alright, it's time for my plan."

the group nodded and listened intently. Anthony took out a marker and began circling different parts of the map. "at exactly midnight, three groups of earth alchemists will create a tremor just large enough to loosen the rock on the mountains that was loosened by mining. It will create a landslide on the three walls they surround. From there, we should be able to attack from three sides. Samantha will join our team to take out Lawrence. Since it's apparent he hasn't used philosopher's stones to control his ageing body, we can assume that there aren't any in the building. Even if there are, we don't need any more. So let's take him out and get it done."

the group nodded and Samantha smiled. "I'll go tell the rest of the alchemists."

the group nodded and dispersed to prepare for the upcoming night.

Anthony and crew stood on top of a tall building, looking out at the city. Anthony kept track of the time on his pocket watch, which was synchronized to the watches of everyone else in the western area. He followed with his eyes as the seconds counted down to the start of the plan. "55...56...57...58...59...midnight."

right on schedule, the rocks came crashing down on the city, it was time. The group jumped from the top of the building and made their way to West headquarters, the town turning to rubble before their eyes. They were stopped on the way by a group of guards who were fleeing. Anthony quickly created a wall of rock to protect them, but they were carrying heavy artillery, and the wall wouldn't hold for long. Anthony growled, thinking of his next move. "Split up, Alicia and Zeke with me, everyone else deal with the soldiers in town."

the group nodded and split up, the wall fell just as Anthony, Zeke, and Alicia took to the rooftops toward the headquarters. Anthony could see the falling rocks destroy it's walls, but the main building didn't fall. It was clear that the earth alchemist they sought was there in the main building. Jumping across the rubble, they made their way into the building, climbing the stairs to the general's quarters. Kicking in the door, they saw a man sitting in a chair, a sword leaning against the wall next to him. He sipped his tea slowly and stood up, picking up his sword. "such ruckus, can't a man sit and enjoy a cup of tea without some rude young group bursting into his office?"

Anthony clapped his hands together and transmuted his wrist sword, Alicia created her own out of wood, and Zeke summoned his own blade for battle. Anthony stepped forward, raising his blade. "Lawrence, I am the Cast Iron Alchemist, leader of the Fullmetal Brigade. We, the alchemists of the people, will defeat you and save this country."

Lawrence shook his head and drew his sword. "Very well then, I will accept your challenge."

with incredible speed, Lawrence ran at Anthony. Just in time, Anthony blocked and kicked him away, clapping and locking his legs to the ground. Lawrence smirked as he dug his sword into the ground. The base of the hilt glowed as the circle revealed itself and the rock disappeared from his feet and fell from the roof as boulders on the group. Alicia quickly transmuted a canopy to block the rocks. As if from nowhere, Zeke came up behind Lawrence and dug his sword into the enemy's back. His blade was blocked suddenly from under Lawrence's clothing. Lawrence smirked and sliced Zeke across the chest. Zeke had enough to to react that the gash wasn't too deep. Lawrence removed his jacket, revealing the undershirt and the rocky armor covering his skin. "Just give up, you can't possibly defeat me."

Anthony ran at his enemy, his arm out. Lawrence prepared to block, but was caught off guard when Anthony clapped his hands and pressed them against his enemy's chest. He yelled in pain as he felt the stone covering him start to stab him. Anthony kicked him hard in the chest and shattered the rock that he turned against his foe. Lawrence dropped his sword on the ground, and Zeke passed his sword to Anthony, who dug it deep into Lawrence's chest. Anthony sighed and pulled the blade out, sliding it across the floor to Zeke. "We're done here, let's go."

the two nodded and began to leave. Alicia walked up to join Anthony, and noticed Lawrence, still clinging to life, draw a circle out of blood. He kicked up the floor beneath his sword and sent it flying at Anthony. Alicia ran in between the two and took the blade in her stomach, falling to her knees in pain. "Alicia!" Anthony screamed, falling to his knees and pulling the sword out of her stomach. "why? Why did you jump in front?"

Alicia looked up at him and smiled, breathing heavily. "That's why I'm here...to make the risks...less risky..."

she coughed up some blood and leaned up, kissing him softly on the cheek before he passed out. Anthony blushed and glared, picking her up and carrying her on his back. "You fool..."

Zeke took a look at her. "We need to get her back to Jennifer quickly."

Anthony nodded and began running, carrying her on his back. 'I won't let her die, I'll keep my promise.' he thought to himself.

Alicia was unconscious for four days recovering, Anthony by her side the whole time. Finally, she awoke and sat up, her stomach hurting. "Be careful," Anthony said, "You took a bad blow."

Alicia nodded and looked down. "Yeah...I'm sorry."

Anthony shook his head and smiled. "There's nothing to be sorry for, you saved my life."

Alicia giggled and smiled. "I guess that makes us even."

Anthony nodded and chuckled softly. An alchemist knocked on the door and stepped in. "Mr. Cast Iron Alchemist, there's someone here to see you."

Anthony was confused as a tired Axel walked in and fell onto the bed, breathing heavily. Alicia looked surprised as he walked in. "Axel!"

she got up and walked over to the bed. Axel sat up, his breath caught. "A-Anthony...I have something to tell you...It's about Winry."

Anthony stood in front of Winry's grave, which sat next to her parents' and her grandmother's. Anthony's hand shook with a mix of anger and sadness. Everyone around him was in low spirits with him, especially Alicia. Anthony fell to his knees, crying and shivering. Alicia got down on her knees and comforted him. "It's all my fault...It's all my fault..."

Alicia shook her head. "no it's not, This was a warning to all of us Anthony, not just you."

Anthony looked at his hand, still shivering. "I shouldn't have come here..."

Alicia gasped and slapped him. "Don't you dare say that!"

Anthony rubbed his cheek, looking up at the now crying Alicia. "Anthony, if you weren't here that would be my grave! Don't you remember how you saved me? You formed this brigade, you gave us hope, don't you dare say you shouldn't be here!"

Anthony held his cheek, looking up at her. "Alicia..."

Trevor stepped forward, helping Anthony to his feet. "Anthony, I didn't know Winry as well as you and Alicia, but I do know that if you hadn't come along, I would have spent my life living in that cabin, hating my father for what he did. Now I see what he did was for the greater good. You showed me that Anthony, because you're here."

Jennifer got out her medical glove and healed his bruised cheek, adjusting her glasses. "If you hadn't come along, I wouldn't have been able to help so many people, I would have just sat in that weapons factory for the rest of my life, helping the bad side. You let me flourish Anthony, don't ever forget that."

she stood up and stepped back. Zeke looked over at him. "I didn't know Winry, and I barely know any of you, but I've seen what you're all capable of, and if you're the cause of that strength Anthony, if you're the cause of my own strength too, I can't say I was better off before I met you."

Anthony wiped his eyes, staring at Winry's grave. "guys...thank you. I need some time alone to think for myself."

he walked away, headed off toward a hill his grandfather wrote about, where he went to think. Staring up at the sky, Anthony thought about what his group had been through over the past seven months. He had come very far from the person he was when he came here, from the person who stood in front of his grandfather's grave crying over a lost soul. He was a source of hope, fulfilling his grandfather's dream. Anthony pulled the pocket watch from his pocket, staring at it. No matter how much he looked at it, knowing it was a symbol of hope, he could only see the sorrow he had caused. He sighed and rested his hand. The pocket watch slipped from his hand and rolled downhill into the river. Anthony gasped and followed after it, jumping in the river to find it. He saw it and picked it up, smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something else in the water. Picking it up, he saw it was a pocket watch, just like the one he had, but rusted from years in the river. The watch was opened, and had been for a long time. The clock's hands had long since broken, but on the inside of the lid, he could make out a crude carving through the rust. "never forget...3 oct 11."

Anthony looked over his own watch, confused, and found something else inscribed in small lettering on the side of his. "Willard Custom Watches, Germany."

Anthony couldn't help but laugh, sitting in the river looking at the two watches. He got up out of the river and put the rusted watch in his backpack, pulling out his alchemy glove. Pressing his palm to the silver watch, he changed the inscription inside. It now read "NEVER FORGET...3 OCT 11...& 5 SEP 93." he smiled, looking at it and closed the watch, attaching the watch to his waist again and pocketing it.

Alicia waited on the balcony of Winry's house, watching the horizon late into the day. Finally, in the distance was a familiar figure. She ran downstairs and out the door toward him, giving him a tight hug. He smiled and hugged back. "Sorry about that...I had a lot to think about."

the group nodded in understanding. Anthony looked over at Trevor. "Trevor, I have a request for you."

Trevor nodded, listening intently. "When you become Fuhrer, I want Rockbell Automail to be a national landmark."

Trevor smiled and nodded. "You got it. So what's the plan fearless leader?"

Anthony smiled and walked up to the wall, holding a piece of chalk. "Priority 1: master the philosopher's stone reverse circle. Priority 2: take out South Headquarters. Priority 3: find the way to get me home. And the final priority: stop Fuhrer King Simon and save Amestris."

the group cheered and smiled, pumped up. Alicia handed Anthony a glove, with the reverse circle sewn into it. Anthony looked up at everyone as he put on the glove. "We have a long road ahead of us, let's get started."

everyone put their hands in and screamed "Alchemists for the people!"

Simon sat in his office, happy with himself and his latest attack on the enemy. A man in black with long black hair walked in, carrying a sword at his side. "You called for me sir?"

Simon nodded, sipping some wine. "I was happy with your test run, and now I want you to take over southern command."

the mysterious man saluted him. "yes sir!"

Simon smiled and looked at him. "good luck with your new assignment, South General Fang."

Fang brushed his hair out of his face, smiling an evil smile, his left eye dark red with an ouroboros tattoo. "With all due respect sir, it's Fang the Proud."

he cackled and left the office. Simon smiled, staring out at Central City. "I'm not finished yet, Cast Iron Alchemist."