Chapter Title: Enter the Lab
Pairings: None! I can't write romance for the life of me!
Spoilers: For the 5th Lab (obviously…)
Warnings: Cursing
Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but I don't. Darnit.
A/N: I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry for the long wait, you guys. This was the freaking hardest chapter to figure out and write ever. But on the plus side, I've actually managed to plan out the entire Lab arc during the wait, so the next chapter probably won't take nearly so long (or at least not for the same reasons…). Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your time before you get to the story with a rant about how stupid Barry didn't want to fit anywhere, so I put it at the bottom where you aren't actually required to scroll through it to get to the chapter. Anywho, onwards!
To say that the atmosphere of the hotel room that night was tense would be an extreme understatement. Ed was sitting on his bed, facing the wall very deliberately and positively radiating anger. Scar was almost perfectly calm, sitting on the edge of his bed and holding a small bag of ice against the cheek Ed had punched; true to his mental prediction, there was swelling and large yellow-green bruise which made talking somewhat uncomfortable, so he remained silent and stared out the window. Al was sitting in a chair up against the far wall, right between the two. The poor suit of armor kept glancing worriedly at each of them in turn; he knew he ought to be upset with Scar, but he couldn't quite bring himself to be. The Ishbalan hadn't known Nina…he'd done what he'd thought was right, and Al couldn't hate him for that. But Ed…he knew that Ed could hold a grudge like nothing else and didn't often let anything change his mind once he'd made it up. He could only hope that his big brother would let this go…preferably soon.
The second he laid eyes on it, the Fifth Laboratory made Scar uneasy. It might have been the huge, intimidating stone wall, complete with barbed wire, that surrounded the entire perimeter. It might have been the iron-barred gate and various other barricades, or the fact that the entire place looked utterly dead. It also could have been that the prison next door was the very one that he had just been released from. Whatever it was, it made him nervous and he decided right there that he didn't like this place one bit.
"Niisan, there's nobody else here," Al pointed out.
Ed shrugged, "What's wrong with that? The place is supposed to be abandoned."
"But how are we going to get in if there's nobody to open the gate?"
"Uh…" clearly Ed had not realized this dilemma until just then, but it didn't phase him for long. He thought for a few seconds before grinning and clapping his hands; within seconds there was a nice wide opening in the bars of the gate. He climbed through carefully, avoiding the trip-wires that might set off an alarm, "There. Come on through, I'll fix it once you're both in. Watch out for the wires."
Al stepped through, but Scar hesitated, giving the lab an uneasy glance, "I don't like this."
"You didn't like the other labs either," Ed shrugged, not turning around; he was very obviously still harboring quite a bit of animosity towards Scar at the moment.
Scar shot the stubborn alchemist a small glare, "This is different than the other labs…why would there be nobody here to open the gate if they knew we were coming? Something isn't right."
"Quit being so paranoid and come on."
"Niisan…he might be right, we should listen to him…" Al spoke up, looking back and forth from Ed to Scar worriedly.
Ed's shoulders stiffened, "Why are you siding with him?"
Now Al was just plain frustrated with his older brother and his bullheadedness, almost shouting his reply, "There aren't any sides, niisan! Scar-san knows what he's talking about, and we should listen to what he has to say!"
"And since when do I not know what I'm talking about?"
"You're just-"
"Enough," Scar's deep voice was only somewhat raised in order to stop the argument, but that was enough to cause both the brothers to turn and stare in surprise. He continued in the same tone, "This is not the time for arguments," he took a deep breath and stepped through the opening, being careful of the alarm wires. He still didn't like this place one bit, but it would not help anything if they were fighting amongst themselves, and he didn't want to complicate things any more than they already were.
"Hey, Al, are you gonna come inside or stay out here?" Ed was already at the door, looking like he was thinking about whether or not he was going to alchemize it like he had the gate.
Al thought for a few moments, then shook his head, "If the last one was off limits to civilians, this one probably is too. I'll just wait out here. And besides," he said in a joking tone that had almost a strained note in it, as though he was trying to lighten the tension that was brewing, "if the place collapses, who else is around to dig you guys out?"
Ed shrugged, "Good point," and transmuted a gap in the huge iron doors that was just big enough for Scar to get through, "C'mon, let's get this over with."
Scar took one last look around before giving a small sigh and following Ed into the darkness of the lab. This place might not unnerve the young alchemist, but the Ishbalan would be on his guard. To do otherwise would be foolish.
The pair had only been walking through the gloom of the lab for a few minutes when the hall branched off into two passages.
"You go that way," Ed pointed down the left hall, "and I'll go the other way, and we can meet back here when we're finished," the way he spoke, tonelessly and without looking in the Ishbalan's direction, was a clear indicator that the boy was still fairly angry with Scar.
The Ishbalan just nodded, knowing better than to do anything else with the mood Edward was in. But as the boy began to walk away down his chosen hall, Scar spoke quietly, "Be careful."
Ed gave no indication that he'd heard, and before long he was lost to Scar's eyes in the darkness, and the Ishbalan was alone. Without a word, Scar began to walk down his own hall, even his own breath seeming to become loud in the silence. He wasn't sure how long he walked through the hall, briefly checking inside whatever doors he happened to come across. There was nothing but dust, old furniture, and the occasional empty file drawer or broken test tube, and the utter pointlessness of being here was beginning to grate on Scar's nerves. But even though there continued to be nothing really suspicious about the place, there was still a distinct feeling of wrongness pervading the very air that kept Scar on his guard. And this unease was what saved him when a gigantic creature flew out of the darkness at his back. He'd managed to hear it before it had leapt at him, and dodged quickly out of the way, swinging his right hand around to land on it. With a crackle of red lightning and a kind of 'splut' noise, his attacker was no more. He took a closer look at it and saw that it wasn't a creature as he'd first assumed, but a monstrously fat, gorilla-like human. Edward would not be happy. Too bad for Edward.
"Nicely done, scarred man," a sultry voice caused him to whirl around, and, when he saw who stood before him, freeze in shock. A smirking woman with flowing black hair and a rather revealing black dress stood about ten feet away. But even in the dimmed light of the lab, he could see her face…the face of one who had died a great many years ago.
For a moment he could do nothing but stare wordlessly, eyes widening in confusion, but eventually he managed to find words, his shock at the woman's appearance leaking into his voice, "You…why do you have that face…?"
The woman tilted her head slightly in confusion, her smirk still in place, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, scarred man," he saw her eyes glitter dangerously, and she called in an authoritative tone, "Gluttony."
Suddenly, Scar felt a looming presence directly behind him, and, before he had time to move, the Ishbalan was enveloped by a pair of huge, thick arms which pulled him backwards and held him tightly to their owner's chest. An almost childish voice exclaimed happily, "I caught him, Lust! Can I eat him?"
Scar had instinctively begun struggling the second it had caught him, but this proclamation caused him to whip his head around in shock…and he found himself looking up at the grinning face of the fat, human-like creature he'd just killed.
"No, Gluttony, not now," the woman took a few steps closer, "Stop struggling, scarred man. We are not here to kill you. I've come with a…proposition for you."
Although externally Scar wore a strong glare of defiance, internally he was fighting tooth and nail to quell the panic and confusion that was threatening to overwhelm him at the fact that he was trapped in the grip of a creature who had not only expressed the desire to eat him but had also been dead less than a minute before, and that a woman who was mostly identical to his brother's long-dead lover was standing before him. However, he did cease his struggles, instead opting to determine a more effective method of escape while the woman talked; he had no intention of agreeing to any proposition she had for him.
The woman smirked and said in a mock-scolding tone, "Don't give me that look, scarred man. This is one deal that you should find to be quite beneficial to you. Help me with just one little thing," her eyes glinted, "and in return, I can give you your freedom."
Scar's eyes widened. His…freedom? To no longer be chained to the military? The prospect was so wonderful that he opened his mouth to agree with her almost immediately, but, fortunately, common sense reached his mind in time to stop that, and he closed it again. 'Never agree to anything without knowing what you are agreeing to!' his brother had once advised him, and he mentally cursed himself for nearly having made so stupid a mistake. His eyes narrowed again, "What is it that you want me to do? I will not agree until I know."
For a moment, he swore he saw a flicker of disappointment and anger flit across the woman's face; he assumed it was because he had not been so overcome by the prospect of freedom to agree without thinking. That didn't say anything good for what she was going to ask him to do. But the expression was gone within seconds, replaced with her former smug look, "You are to help us…convince Edward Elric to create the Philosopher's Stone for us, should he disagree to."
A cold, jolting feeling of shock went through Scar's stomach as he heard this, and it was quickly followed by raw, seething anger. His eyes narrowed almost to slits, and he bared his teeth in a snarl as he spoke, his voice low and dangerous, "You…want me to harm the boy in order for him to create that accursed Stone…"
The woman looked surprised at his vehemence and quickly amended, "Not harm him necessarily…perhaps trick him into making it…he would trust you more than he would us…"
Scar growled, "And you want me to betray that trust for my own gain. My freedom is not worth that, nor is it worth the creation of such a terrible thing as the Philosopher's Stone."
Irritation and impatience crossed the woman's features for a few moments, but then she seemed to regain control of herself and sent him a somewhat condescending smirk, "Come now, scarred man, reconsider. Surely a State Alchemist couldn't mean that much to you…"
"That is where you are wrong," Scar interrupted, eyes blazing, "And there is nothing you can offer me that can make me willingly betray the Elric brothers," his right arm crackled with red light, "Nothing."
And with that last word, there was suddenly a sizeable hole in the side of the creature who had been holding him. Scar knew now that it wasn't going to be down permanently, but used the few seconds slack in its grip to slip free and dart away from it. But he wasn't expecting the woman's fingernails to extend into razor sharp spears, and only barely dodged; five, long, bloody gashes now adorned his left arm. He was lucky, seeing as how they had actually been aimed at his chest and vital organs. Now the Ishbalan stood with his back against the wall, clutching his freely bleeding arm and glaring at the two creatures standing before him.
"That was a mistake, scarred man, and you're going to pay for it," the woman-creature retracted her bloodied claws, smirking at Scar's defiant expression.
"Now can I eat him, Lust?" the fat one whined, looking at the Ishbalan with a hungry gleam in its eyes.
Scar slipped into a battle stance, right arm crackling dangerously. These were no slow State Alchemists, their moves sloppy with arrogance and disuse. He was really going to have to fight for his life now.
"How the hell did the scientists get around in here…?" Ed grumbled to himself as he finally reached the end of the booby-trap filled hallway. About ten minutes ago he'd finally gotten sick of nearly being killed every few seconds, and had transmuted the entire hallway solid. He wondered for a moment if Scar's hallway had been like this one, and, despite his current anger at the Ishbalan, a small stab of worry went through him; he himself had only escaped being killed because of his (although he was loath to admit it) smaller size, and Scar wouldn't have been able to get rid of the traps through alchemy like he could. He shook it off, though, telling himself that Scar could take perfectly good care of himself and that he could get back to being furious with the Ishbalan. Besides, he had his 'inspection' to worry about right now.
The traps had made him somewhat suspicious that there might be something going on, and the fact that there were working lights in a supposedly long-abandoned lab was also strange. His level of suspicion skyrocketed when he pushed open the heavy iron doors at the end of the hall and was greeted by a massive room…with human skeletons scattered across the floor. He grimaced in disgust as he took a few steps forward and accidentally knocked his foot into a skull.
"I'm surprised you made it this far, boy," a deep, resonating voice spoke from the shadows of the room.
Momentarily startled, Ed took a step back before regaining his composure, asking confidently, "Who's there?"
"I am," the voice was now accompanied by a huge figure, who Ed saw was wearing an almost samurai-style suit of armor, and wielding a huge sword, "Number 48, a guardian of this lab. You are an intruder, and I am obliged to eliminate you."
Al stood patiently outside in the courtyard, leaning against the cement wall of the lab building, wondering how long it would take for Ed and Scar to go through the whole thing. It had been a little over half an hour since they'd gone in, and with the size this place was…he sighed. He'd be out here for a while longer. At least it was afternoon and not night; he was pretty sure that darkness would make this place even creepier than it already was.
"I hope they're not fighting…" he sighed quietly to himself, casting a worried glance at the entrance to the lab.
"EEEEEEYAAAHAHAHAAHAAAAA!" a loud, maniacal mixture of a scream and a laugh echoed through the courtyard, seconds before its source came into view, leaping down from the roof directly at Al.
Caught by surprise, Al barely managed to dodge the knife that the person swung at him. At second glance, he saw that the person was wearing a bulky suit of armor, smaller than his but still fairly large, with a kind of furry-edged, brown tunic-like garment over that. The helmet was a terrifying, sharp-toothed skull from an animal of some kind, with a huge mane of white hair attached to the back. In one hand, he held a huge meat cleaver, and in the other a smaller carving knife. After the initial attack, the person stood, unmoving, a few feet away from Al, who questioned nervously, "W-who are you?"
The person spoke, his voice holding a somewhat demented tone, "Oh, how rude of me, I'm Number 66. I guard this lab from intruders," he raised his knife and cleaver to cross in front of his 'face', "and as my payment…any intruders I catch are mine to chop into little pieces!" he laughed maniacally again.
Al gave a gasp of surprise, and protested, "But…I'm not an intruder! I'm just here with my brother and my friend, and they were officially sent by the military to inspect inside!"
"Officially sent by the military, huh? Hmmm…" 66 stroked his chin and cast his gaze around as though he was thinking, then turned back to Al, "Sorry, but I don't care why you're here, or who sent you. All I care about is how I'm going to chop you up!" and with that, he practically flew at Al, knives at the ready.
Too late to get out now.
A/N: This chapter…gave me so much trouble…we must've chased down at least ten plot bunnies (most of them concerning what the hell I was going to do with Barry; obviously I eventually opted to just leave his bit mostly the way it already was, with a few changes), only to discover that they wouldn't work for some reason or other. And then when we did find one that would work, I kept confusing myself with who was doing what when. I had to go and make this gigantic chart with all the characters I was dealing with that actually did anything worth putting them on the chart (turned out to be eight characters), and every time something happened with one person, I went and put down what everyone else on the chart was doing at the time, even if I wasn't actually going to be writing it out. It actually helped a lot, and now I've got all but the very last bit planned out, so the next chapter shouldn't take nearly so long.
Envy: And we're not going to write out the whole effing Slicer thing. It's pretty much exactly the same as it was in the series. You should know what happens already.
Don't snark at the nice reviewers, Envy. Yes, this chapter was highly frustrating…
Envy: Mostly because of Barry.
True, but be nice anyway. Go snark at him if you need to. Anyway, I'll kinda summarize the Slicer fight and immediately afterwards as kind of a flashback-y thing (I don't really know how to explain it, but I know what I'm talking about) so we can be like, 'Okay, this has happened now…', but I really, really don't want to write it all out, since it'd just be boring since you all (certainly should if you're reading this) already know what happens.