"Damn it, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be!" Edward yelled to his brother, who was making a mad dash towards the mountain looming in the distance.

"Well, things sorta did go downhill after you threw that spear in his eye!" Al panted just as he tripped over a branch and let out a yelp. Without skipping a beat, Ed raced to his side and pulled him to his feet. The battle had been going on for about half an hour now and there was still no sign of the military personnel. Edward and Al had tried everything they could, but the monster had taken every alchemic reaction and essentially thrown it back in their faces. When Edward ordered a mountain of rocks to rain down and crush the demon, it would hurl the rocks at them without so much as a grunt. The two had come up with some crazy combinations of things, but even after landing several direct hits, the monster would emerge from the rubble unfazed and even more eccentric than before. What made things worse was the conclusion the Elrics had finally come to—the black beast was merely playing with them. After thirty minutes of 'cat and mouse' though, the grin had disappeared from its face and it had begun to chase them. The siblings decided that they should retreat to the mountain in the hopes of finding some shelter and allowing them some time to think.

Edward and Alphonse didn't dare look behind them. They only needed to hear the thundering footfalls of the monster to know that it was in pursuit. "Where are we running to?" Alphonse panted.

"I remember—a cave—at the base—of the mountain!" Was Edward's jagged response. At that exact moment, they finally cleared the trees and the bottom of the mountain came into view. "There!" Edward pointed. Al still didn't see what his brother was referring to, but he followed him in the hopes that he knew where he was going. Mean while, the galloping monster behind them continued to make the earth tremble. As they grew closer to the rocks that were piled high, Alphonse finally caught a glimpse of a crack in the mountain's face. "There!" Ed repeated. Grabbing his brother's hand tightly, Edward pulled Al in-between two boulders and into the darkness. Without waiting for their eyes to adjust, Ed dragged his sibling further into the cavern. Only after they had walked a good two minutes in the dark did he finally release Alphonse's hand and slump to the ground. The Elrics' heavy breathing was the only sound to be heard other than the steady drip of water falling from the ceiling.

Edward cocked his head to the side. He could no longer hear the beast's heavy footsteps. That had to mean that it was waiting for them just outside the cave. "Brother, we can't stay in here forever. There's only one way out," Al reminded Ed nervously.

"I know, Al… but at least this gives me time to think," Edward reasoned. Only moments after saying this, a deafening crash echoed from the front of the cave. The reverberations were so strong that they caused Al to topple over into his brother's lap. "What the hell?!" Again, a strong boom was heard from the direction in which the boys had come. It seemed that their pursuer was desperately trying to break apart the boulders at the front of the cave in order to get to them. From the beams of light that suddenly illuminated the Elrics' frightened faces, they assumed that it was having some success.

"Ed, what are we going to do? I don't want to die like this!" Al cried.

"We're not going to, Al! Come on!" Edward urged as he got to his feet. Pulling his brother along behind him, he continued to run further into the cave where more caverns could be found.

"What if we get lost?" Al protested as Edward made the decision to go to the left.

"That's the least of our problems!" The older brother retorted. Edward continued to run in darkness with his younger brother in tow until he could no longer hear the monster from the gate. Slowing his run down to a walk, Edward began to think out loud.

"Come on, think with me. What could be its weakness? No attack we throw at the thing has any effect, but we were able to defeat the first one through dad's sacrifice…" Edward grimaced at the obvious answer. Someone would have to die.

"No, there has to be some other way," Al said firmly, quickly dismissing Edward's thoughts. For a long time neither of the two spoke. Edward's thoughts were racing so fast that he had no idea where to go with them. He could go with one theory, but if he was wrong, they would end up dead. He had to be absolutely sure, but in this scenario he feared that being absolutely sure about anything would be near to impossible. Then, from out of nowhere, one thought stood out among the rest.

"I have part of his soul. Therefore, he belongs to me."

What the monster had said in his dreams suddenly made sense. The fake Al had been a manifestation of the Gate and the piece of Al's soul that had been sacrificed to bring Edward back to life. The beast, just like Alphonse, was ignoring equivalent exchange and that was the source of its power. In order to defeat the beast, equivalent exchange would have to be put back in place, which meant only one thing. Not only would the brothers have to somehow retrieve the piece of Alphonse's soul, Edward would have to die.

As this realization sunk in, Edward opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. How could Ed tell Alphonse that to save the world from destruction he would have to witness his older brother's death? There was no nice way to say it, so he would just have to do it himself. Taking everything from the time he had been rescued from the Gate until this very moment, Edward came to conclusion that he would have to sacrifice himself before his brother could get his soul back. Taking a deep breath, Edward reached out and touched Al gently on the shoulder. Although he couldn't see his face, he could imagine what his expression was.

"I think I have an idea. Follow my lead, all right?" Alphonse nodded out of habit even though his brother couldn't see him. Edward tugged on his brother's sleeve and began to lead him back towards the entrance to the cave. They hadn't gone very far when they heard a sinister laugh echo around them. Both of the boys froze instinctively.

"You thought you could run, did you? Don't you know that you're only avoiding the inevitable?" Glaring through the darkness, Edward was barely able to make out the hideous form of the beast that had been chasing them. It surprised him that it could fit in the cramped space. Pulling Al behind him, Edward transmuted another spear from the hard floor and prepared himself to fight. Before he could do anything though, he was blinded by a flare of light. The monster in front of him let out a squeal of surprise and pain as it was engulfed in flames. Edward shielded his face with his hands, but from between his fingers he could make out the familiar silhouettes of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. While the monster was still reeling, the two of them ran to the Elric brothers' sides.

"Good, we aren't too late," Mustang noted.

"Like hell you aren't! What took you so long?" Edward demanded.

"We had to go through a mountain of paperwork," Mustang said dryly. They didn't have much time to banter though because the monster was regaining its composure. The four turned to face it. Edward and Alphonse stood in front while Mustang and Riza stood behind them, poised to attack.

"Your numbers make no difference," The beast hissed in annoyance. Raising one clawed hand, it took a swipe at them all. Each person scattered in a different direction and began to attack. Alphonse used alchemy to bend the walls of the cave to grab the monster, while Edward, Riza, and Roy all took more direct approaches. Although Ed was grateful for the backup, he couldn't help thinking that his plan would be harder to pull off now. Ed fought valiantly in order to work up the courage to follow through with his theory. He had to give up—to lose on purpose, which he had never done before. In the light emitting from Roy's angry flames, Edward caught sight of his younger brother's determined face and engraved it into his memory. Then, he allowed his spear to fall from his hands. As it clattered loudly on the stone floor, all eyes turned towards him.

It seemed as if the world was in slow motion, but even as the monster crushed Edward's small body in his hands, all of Ed's attention was on his brother. Alphonse's expression was a mixture of horror and confusion. When the confusion became pain, Ed forced himself to look into his enemy's joy filled eyes. "I will thoroughly enjoy destroying your world, alchemist," it said. Those were the last words Edward Elric heard before he was swallowed alive.

***