Greed's bones jolted painfully when Pride tossed his body on the cold floor. As he scrambled to get up, he heard Mustang and Hawkeye being deposited in much the same manner. Despite the shadows that circled around him and watched his every move, black tendrils slithering across the surface of the walls and the ceiling, and sharp claws on the ready to tear him to shreds, Greed was able to notice a few important things about this chamber.
For starters, they were not alone here.
One of the scientists who were in on the big plan was here, accompanied by a bunch of grizzled, dead-eyed soldiers Greed had not seen before. And would you look at that, they had Scar completely encircled, swords at his neck and chest. Greed hadn't seen that charming guy ever since he, Envy and Ed escaped from Gluttony's stomach, nor had he any idea how or why the Ishvalan had gotten himself into this mess… but it probably wouldn't end well for him.
The scientist who looked like he was in charge of this shindig was an ugly old bastard, grinning up at Pride with a wide smile that glinted a little in the dark thanks to a shiny golden tooth. Even in Greed's opinion it looked a little tacky. He was crouching on the floor, and was just finishing drawing a big, complicated-looking transmutation circle with a piece of chalk.
"Ah," the guy nearly crooned when Pride's fanged maws and glowing eyes turned to scrutinize him. "Well done, Homunculus. It's nearly time." He groaned as he got up, his joints looking weak and stiff, and he walked to where Pride's shadows were keeping Mustang subdued and bent to look down at the Flame Alchemist. "Colonel Mustang," he reached and grabbed the guy's chin in his hand, turning his face up and looking him over almost as if he was a specimen to be dissected. "You managed to sow quite the chaos for our forces above, but the time has finally come. Are you ready to do your part?"
"Go to Hell," Mustang spat at him, still looking pissed.
Greed couldn't help but laugh bitterly. That's what you get for not dying back at the Third Laboratory, foolish alchemist.
Pride hissed at him and tightened his shadowy hold on his arms and torso as the doctor with the golden tooth stood up and stalked closer to Greed. When he got near, Greed saw that there was something wrong with his eyes, each iris crooked outwards and giving him an even more grotesque of an appearance. His lips curled in disgust as he watched the human.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" The scientist tilted his head sideways like a confused dog. "Why do you have to be restrained so? Did you do something to displease Him?"
You're asking too many questions, little man, Pride's echoing voice warned him from at least five different maws that floated in the black air, but the guy turned right to the vessel, the child-like form of Selim Bradley standing with its little arms crossed, and leaning its back against the wall near the entrance. Hundreds of eyes watched them, the shadows blooming and twisting slowly against the stony surface behind him. The expression on the vessel's face somehow seemed older and more cruel than a child had a right to be and its clothes looked torn and dirty, covered in dried blood and grime. He must have gotten straight to Central after Kanama, Greed thought idly.
"O-of course," the creepy scientist nodded at Pride's vessel. "We should get on with it. Yes."
He turned back to Mustang and made a gesture at the soldiers with the slack faces. A couple of them moved quickly and fluidly away from Scar, surrounding Hawkeye. A thin sword, the same kind as the ones Wrath used, was suddenly pressed against the marksman's throat. Greed could only watch as Mustang let out a low growl and visibly tried to move and get back on his feet, but he was no match for the hold Pride had on him.
You know what you're supposed to do, right? One of Pride's fanged mouths materialized and grinned next to the Flame Alchemist's face. You have to perform human transmutation for us, so you'd open the Gate. Once you're done, Father can begin the ritual. So hurry up, Colonel Mustang, everyone's waiting on you.
"Go to Hell," Mustang repeated, gritting his teeth. "If you think I'm about to play your twisted games, you're delusionial."
"Unfortunately, we don't have the time to convince you with rhetorics, Colonel," the doctor declared and even before he gave the nod to the guy who had Hawkeye, Greed knew what was about to happen.
It was that first moment of silence that got him.
For a heartbeat Hawkeye stood very still, forced down on her knees just a few feet away from Mustang.
And then the blood gushed out of her slit throat and when the soldier let go of her body, she lurched forward and fell before Mustang.
Even after their fight, even after the fire and the horrible pain, Greed couldn't help but cringe at the sound the Flame Alchemist made when he saw what they did to his woman. He began to trash and yell so violently that Pride had to pretty much wrap his whole upper body in shadows to keep him from moving.
That's why the old man was gonna win, Greed realized. He averted his eyes from the screaming Mustang and looked at the scientist with the golden tooth. When you had something – anything – to lose, guys like that took it from you without even blinking. Funny. Greed wasn't sure if he could pinpoint the moment when he had stopped being like them. He wondered where Envy was, and hoped that they had had the sense to run as far away from Central as possible. This one didn't have a happy ending in sight, and Greed was more or less fine with dying as long as he knew Envy was safe. Sadly, he didn't think that was the case.
"Perform the human transmutation, Mustang," the doctor commanded, his gleeful voice somehow managing to carry over the shouts and the promises of murder coming out of Mustang's mouth. "Choose anyone you like. The Ishvalan should do fine, or even one of my men." None of the soldiers even reacted. "Do it, and the Lieutenant's life may yet be preserved." Greed glanced at her and saw that she was still holding on, her breaths shallow and irregular, her life leaking out between the fingers of the hand she had pressed to the mortal wound.
"Colonel," Hawkeye's voice was getting weak, but Greed could hear her all the same. "Roy… Don't. Don't do it, Roy," she pleaded. "Don't give them what they want."
But you will do it, won't you, Mustang? Pride purred in the Flame Alchemist's ear. Mustang's face was so twisted by rage and terror that Greed couldn't recognize the man who had incinerated an immortal army of monsters. The good doctor here has a Philosopher's Stone with him, as if to confirm Pride's words the guy reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small flask. The red liquid inside glinted in the underground daekness. Once you open the Gate, he can save Hawkeye's life. But you have to make a choice, and you have to do it NOW.
"No."
And just as Mustang spoke that single word, something that Greed couldn't really identify snagged the doctor into the air and in a flash had him dragged into the opening of the service tunnel above before the human could even screech in fear. A few of Pride's eyes even blinked in surprise as the flask with the liquid Stone dropped on the floor and rolled towards Greed's feet.
What the…?
Before Greed could process it, a bunch of people jumped down from the hole that the scientist had disappeared into. No, not people. Chimeras.
Greed recognized Darius and Heinkel, and there was another guy with them, this one made in the form of a hulking mixture of man and warthog. The three chimeras rushed at the dead-eyed soldiers, making good use of the confusion. Along with the chimeras Greed saw a little Xingese girl who immediately threw a bunch of small throwing knifes at the wall next to Pride's vessel. The blades formed a perfect circle, and then she repeated the action, creating another circle at her feet and before Greed could realize what was happening, she triggered a transmutation and the round chamber was suddenly aglow with ringing energy.
The gears inside Greed's mind finally clicked together – the newcomers must have been the ones in Envy's group in the North – just as the wall next to Selim Bradley exploded and all the shadows screamed and twitched. Which was enough to free both Greed and Mustang for a second.
Neither of them needed more than that.
As Greed covered his body with the carbon armor of the Ultimate Shield, Mustang ran towards Hawkeye and took her in his arms.
"Lieutenant!" he cried out. "Lieutenant, stay with me! Do you hear me? Lieutenant?! Riza!"
He was so absorbed in her that he never noticed one of the soldiers who came at him from behind and lifted his sword, intending to cut them both down. Not very smart, considering that Mustang was needed for the old man's plan, but these guys seemed to be nothing but fleshy drones, their minds wiped of any form of individual thought.
Greed's armored punch came at the soldier so hard that he heard the air whipping around his arm as he slammed his fist into the human's face. The guy staggered back, spitting blood and broken teeth and Greed followed him, batting his sword away with an arm covered in the Ultimate Shield and then smashing his skull into the soldier's. He heard bones cracking under the assault of the carbon armor and the useless human dropped like a ton of bricks.
He briefly looked around and saw Scar effortlessly taking down another of the blank-faced soldiers, and he could hear the chimeras making a commotion somewhere behind. The little girl was running all around the room, looking panicked. What the fuck did she think she was doing?
His elbow shot out almost on its own accord in order to block a sword swing that came at him from the sides and when he twirled around to make short work of the dumbass who had attacked him, Greed finally saw what she was chasing.
The Philosopher's Stone.
She was so focused on it that she never noticed the shadowy tendril that tripped her up, sending her crashing down into the hard, stony floor.
You'll regret attacking me, you little Xingese rat, Pride promised her, malice dripping from his voice. A few black blades coiled up from the ground like serpents, waiting for the kid to get back on her feet so the bastard could take his sweet time killing her.
But Pride never even registered Greed who vaulted over the girl and let the shadows strike uselessly against the Ultimate Shield. Pride's immaterial maws roared and sputtered in outrage.
"Sorry, big guy," Greed sneered at Pride even as he felt the shadows tighten around his throat and torso, almost like he was trying to strangle him. "No fun for you. Hey, kiddo," he reached with his pointy shoe and kicked the flask with the Stone back towards the Xingese girl, grunting as Pride's claws scraped around the Ultimate Shield. "Go and help out the idiot and his girl. Can't miss'em. I'll hold off Mr. Black, Angry and Stupid here."
"But you're.. you're…" she mumbled confusedly behind him. "You're a monster too. Or are you on our side, like Envy?"
"What the fuck does it look like?!" Greed shouted irritably at her as he slashed at Pride's black tentacles and jumped into the mass of swirling, furious shadows that radiated cold and hatred.
Why won't you just give up, damn you?! Pride hissed at him from the blackness that engulfed him and desperately began clawing at his carbon armor. Why do you have to betray Father every time you get a fucking chance?!
"Cause I hate him with everything I got," Greed answered honestly and for a moment it looked like he had managed to push through the cloud of roiling shadows because suddenly he glimpsed Pride's vessel within the reach of his armored claws.
For a split second the smooth, childish face of Selim Bradley registered something that might have passed for fright, but then the shadows struck Greed again, unstoppable and unrelenting. A black avalanche of claws, fangs and glowing eyes washed over him and slammed him on the floor.
Hate? Pride tsked with an invisible tongue. Such a strong word. And to think he only considers you a failure. He gave you another chance after we caught you in Dublith, but I reckon we're past that now, eh, Greed? Pride laughed as his shadowy blades and claws struck at him again and again, and he could feel his Shield straining to keep up after the fiery bath Mustang had given him back in the Laboratory.
When he heard the roar of the fire barreling down on the writhing mass of shadows, Greed couldn't stop himself from wincing, but it was Pride who screamed.
Suddenly the shadows were gone and Greed could breathe again.
He got up as quickly as he was able and looked back to see Mustang standing tall, the Xingese girl kneeling over Hawkeye who looked much better. Well, Greed supposed it was all relative considering she was covered in her own blood and everything, but she didn't appear to be dying anymore. The soldiers seemed to be all dead, and Greed could hear the doctor struggling and moaning in fear somewhere in the tunnel above the ceiling.
Greed and Mustang locked eyes, the Homunculus taking big gulps of air and the alchemist clenching his jaw, his arm outstretched and his fingers once more ready to snap.
Both of them heard the footsteps and they turned to the noise at the same time.
Greed felt his stomach doing a painful flip when he saw who it was.
Wrath looked battered, bloodied and… soaked, weirdly enough, but it was Envy who caught almost all of Greed's attention.
His fucking shitstain of a little brother had them impaled on his sword as he dragged their petite form along. Red lightning was constantly sizzling around the wound, but the blade was keeping it from closing itself, forcing Envy's Stone to keep spending energy it couldn't afford to waste.
Why weren't they trying to fight him off? What was wrong? Greed stared at Envy's arms and legs, dangling limp and weak almost as if they weren't able to… use… them…
And then he understood, snarling in fury at Wrath.
The bastard had cut into Envy's spine, paralyzing them and using the sword to keep them in such a state.
Wrath stopped and looked calmly at all of them, as if his injuries and the immobilized Homunculus impaled on his sword were nothing but a minor nuisance.
With one smooth movement he lifted a leg and kicked Envy off his blade, sending them stumbling right into Greed's arms. Their pretty little body shuddered as it was finally allowed to heal itself and they looked up at Greed.
"You're alive," Envy whispered, sounding almost bewildered at the fact.
"Yeah, sweet cheeks," Greed forced himself to smile at them as he moved back, never letting Wrath out of his sight. "Still here, I guess."
"I thought he burned you to ash."
"Yeah, well, when everything's done here, we might go live someplace nice and cool for a few years, what do you say?" Greed joked, wondering when exactly was Wrath going to attack.
Envy mumbled something incoherent and tried to shakily stand up on their restored legs.
"Pathetic," Wrath finally said. "And here I thought that it was the humans who had the weakling hearts. But Colonel Mustang proved me wrong. We assumed you would do anything, included human transmutation, to save her," the Führer looked at Mustang, who was holding Hawkeye up in a way that wasn't terribly different from how Greed held on to Envy.
"There was a time when I might have," Mustang said. "But I'm done being reckless. I have people who would keep me on the right track."
Wrath chuckled softly. "To think we consider you all pathetic creatures who could never learn a lesson properly." Then his eye flashed at the Flame Alchemist. "That's one more reason why I can't stand you humans," he bit out, suddenly angry. "It infuriates me when I can't predict how you'll behave."
Just then the air behind Greed and Envy moved, as if something flew past them. They both turned madly around, only to hear a hoarse yelp of pain and see blood gushing from the hole in the ceiling where the scientist with the golden tooth had been carried to.
Another chimera, this one some kind of a large toad or something, crashed down on the floor. The rest of his buddies looked startled and surprised, but what scared Greed were the shadows that dragged the doctor out of the hole, holding him securely in a cocoon of blackness.
Pride.
And then Wrath moved, faster than any human could ever dream to be. He grabbed a second sword from the floor mid-lunge just as Mustang sent out a blast of flames at him, but the Führer dodged them easily, letting the fire destroy the entrance behind him, and before anyone could blink he was already upon Mustang who barely had the time to shove Hawkeye away.
It was over as quick as it started.
Mustang was on his back, squirming as pain as Wrath had his hands pinned to the floor with his swords.
"Colonel!" Hawkeye immediately moved to aid him, but Darius held her back.
Greed considered jumping at Wrath from behind – seemed like the best chance to take this fucker out once and for all but before he could act, Pride's shadows started slithering on the floor around Mustang, forming a…
"He's making a transmutation circle," Envy gasped, shocked.
"Well, Colonel Mustang," Pride's vessel snickered as it moved towards the fallen alchemist, still holding the doctor up in the air with the rest of his shadows. "Looks like you'll be our fifth after all."
"That's right," Wrath cruelly twisted the handle of one of his swords, making Mustang cry out. "Our last human sacrifice." And just as he said it, alchemical energy crackled around the edges of the black circle and the underground chamber was lit by a blinding glow.
Greed remembered this sight well. He had stepped inside a circle like that once, after all.
"I really hoped we wouldn't have to resort to this," Pride said coldly. "But there is no choice. We've run out of time."
Shit.
Did that mean that the eclipse had began. Damn. If only they had wasted ten more minutes. Or if he had managed to take Mustang out back in the Laboratory.
"They're forcing the portal open for him," Envy said next to Greed, sounding almost as if they were talking to themselves.
"Yes," Wrath didn't even turn to look at them, still standing over Mustang as blue energy sizzled and swirled around him. "Pride just assimilated an alchemist who knew the correct formula." Greed's eyes looked up and he saw the gold-toothed doctor twitching in Pride's grasp.
"Step away, Wrath," Pride ordered calmly. "I have him secure."
The Führer nodded and took his swords out of Mustang's palms, stepping over the Flame Alchemist's prone body as the circle began to pulse and the crackling energy turned into a roaring gale.
"Colonel! NO!" Hawkeye screamed from somewhere near, but the light was so bright that Greed could barely see anything anymore.
"I wonder…" Wrath hesitated as he looked down at Mustang. "What will be taken from you?"
Greed glimpsed the Eye opening underneath the screaming Mustang, and then the light blinded him fully for a moment and when he could see normally again, the Flame Alchemist and Pride were gone.
Something hit the floor with a wet, fleshy thud. Greed looked down and swore under his breath. He heard one of the chimeras retching somewhere in the back.
"The transmutation is complete." Wrath sounded oddly pleased. Or maybe it wasn't odd at all.
The scientist was no longer a scientist. Or a human, really. He had been turned into what Greed could only describe as a slab of pulsating… meat. He could still see the golden tooth inside his drooling, gaping mouth.
Worst of all, the guy was still alive. If you could call it living.
"C-colonel?" Hawkeye's voice sounded lost and terrified.
"Oh, Mustang is still alive," Wrath shrugged. "Right about now he's joining my father and the rest of the sacrifices. Although I can't vouch for his physical well-being. Now then," he looked sharply at their ragged group. "What about you?" He lifted one sword, still dripping with Mustang's blood, up. "Who among you has the courage to take me on? You all can see I'm wounded," Greed measured him up with his gaze, and indeed, the one-eyed runt looked to be in bad shape. Though only a fool would let that cloud his judgement. Greed had learned his lesson the hard way. Wrath was not easy to kill. "So who will it be? Who will try to claim the honor of vanquishing the Führer of Amestris? The chimeras? The outsider? Mustang's bitch? My treacherous siblings?" He smirked. "Or would you all like to come at me at once?"
"Wait," the Xingese girl whispered and they all turned to her. "Something's not right…" What was she on about? "Their leader… I can feel him. He's… he's just below us. Just below him," she nodded at where Wrath stood with his weapons ready.
"So that's the center," Scar's eyes narrowed. "Well then…"
And before anyone could even blink, the Ishvalan moved, quick as a desert viper. Greed still remembered the fight in the lair after he and Envy escaped from the False Gate. Scar had nearly leveled it, and Father hadn't been able to even stop his access to alchemy.
Alchemical energy blazed around Scar's right arm and when he pressed it to the floor, the explosion shook the whole chamber. The ground collapsed with a deafening crash and Greed lost his balance and the stones gave out under his feet. He tried to grab on to Envy, to make sure they were okay, but it was no use, both of them were falling down, down into the blackness where Father awaited to become a living god.
I'm a little pissed off at myself here. I THOUGHT that I would be able to wrap up the climax in, like, two chapters (this one + one more), but FMA's climax really is a tough beast to tackle and I end up tackling more of it than I originally intended (for example, in my mind this chapter would have included a confrontation in Father's throne room as he opened the portal and stuff, but this would have made it insanely long as this is not something that I want to half-ass). So it might be a bit more than two chapters and an epilogue before we're through. I'll try to contain it to two more (aside from this) plus the epilogue, but we'll see. At least Envy and Greed are at the same physical place now, that should make it easier?
So, see you next time, maybe?