A/N: Hey, everyone. Thank you for letting me know I still have support for this fic. ;) This chapter is completely filled with action! Unfortunately, it also swings back and forth between focusing on Mustang's fight and focusing on Al's fight. My apoligies for any confusion, but almost all of them start off with either 'Mustang' or 'Alphonse' so hopefully that will help. By the way, I am not the best at writing fight scenes... *coughhorriblecough* so please lower your expectations and read on! :D
To DieHard4Anime: I just thought I'd let you know that your private messaging is turned off, because sometimes people turn it off accidentally! So I can't thank you for your lovely reviews :) If you want to turn it back on, just log in and go to Account, then Settings :D
Chapter 25-
Edward, Hawkeye, Hughes and Havoc all silently entered the warehouse doors. They found themselves at a forked path, with one way leading up into the 'warehouse' area, and the other way leading down into the Homunculi's factory. Edward tensed as he felt a strange, yet familiar pull telling him to go down to the factory. Hawkeye noticed his tense stance.
"Don't worry, Fuery took Winry somewhere safe." Hawkeye whispered to him with a slight smile. Ed scowled at her teasing tone and waited for her to elaborate, but she instead turned to Hughes and Havoc.
"Alright. You two take that way and look for any Homunculi up in the warehouse area," Hawkeye told them softly, sounding nearly inaudible. "Edward, you come with me down to the factory. Remember, we don't know how many homunculi are connected to the Gate, or which ones they are. The lives of everyone in Amestris will only be safe when we eliminate all the Homunculi linked with the Gate."
The team nodded. "Oh, and one more thing," Hawkeye continued, locking eyes with the other three. "Don't die."
Havoc saluted. "You're the boss," he whispered quietly. "Good luck." Hughes silently smiled and waved at Hawkeye and Edward as he followed Havoc up the left path and out of sight. The Lieutenant nodded to Edward and headed down the right hand tunnel, unknowingly leading the way to the place where Ed's soul was located.
Edward and Hawkeye had been cautiously walking silently for just a couple of minutes when Ed felt a sudden grip on his shoulders. He swiftly turned and managed to hit whoever had grabbed him before the unknown attacker pushed them both through a wall. The 'room' on the other side ended almost immediately in a cliff, where the bottom could not be seen. Edward and his attacker stumbled straight off the edge.
"Edward!" shouted Hawkeye, gazing down into the pit anxiously. She received no answer. She hurriedly started running down the path, hoping to find some way of getting to the bottom of the pit, but she was interrupted by a whiny voice.
"You're that lady I've seen before!" the voice said, a large figure leaning just in the shadows. A fat tongue came into view, with an ouroboros tattooed on the slimy surface.
"You know, I'm hungry. And Lust said I could eat you!"
Snap. A blinding line of white-hot fire launched straight towards Pride, but he dodged the swift attack. Mustang snapped again, turning in a circle as Pride evaded every single attack. The Homunculus continually sought for a moment of weakness so he could strike, but the Colonel gave him no chance.
Unfortunately, that worked both ways. Mustang simply wasn't fast enough to land a hit on Pride, and Pride couldn't get through the wall of fire to strike Mustang. They circled one another, attacking and defending, until Mustang made a dreadful mistake. He stepped forward towards Pride, and his foot hit a patch of uneven gravel. Mustang fell backward and instinctively rolled to one side just as a razor-sharp sword embedded in the ground within millimetres of his face.
"Careless." Pride smirked smugly, but anger and frustration raged in his eyes. He detested prey too fast to kill instantly.
Pride pulled out his sword as he spoke and swung at Mustang. The Colonel thought quickly and kicked his foot out, attempting to knock the Homunculus off his feet. Pride jumped backwards to avoid the defensive attack, giving Mustang enough time to flick himself back onto his feet. The Colonel knew he was at a disadvantage here. He would eventually tire and slow down from exhaustion, but Pride could fight for the rest of eternity at the same level of strength and speed. He needed to end this quickly. He needed a plan.
Mustang avoided Pride's offensive attacks and sent a line of fire towards his opponent. Pride swiftly ducked down to dodge. He was just too fast! If he could somehow hold Pride in place for just a second, he'd have enough time to hit him! Mustang looked over Pride's head as he ducked to avoid the attack, and in that moment, Mustang could see the Gate hovering in the air behind Pride. That's it! Realization dawned on Mustang as he thought up a hasty but reliable plan to defeat the oldest Homunculus.
Al was stunned, a disbelieving look in his eyes. This was his fault! His movements slowed as uncertainty clouded his eyes, and Envy managed to hit him. Al quickly flipped and landed on his feet some metres away. Well, that hurt… He ignored his stinging face and ran up to Envy, light and fast without being weighed down by a clumsy, heavy armoured body. Alphonse kicked Envy to the stomach, and Envy scowled as he grabbed Al's leg and twisted it. Al gritted his teeth as pain flooded through his right ankle and tried to punch his opponent. The Homunculi dodged, accidentally releasing his hold on Al in the process. Alphonse winced as he stood on his injured foot, and quickly glanced over to see how Mustang was doing. He was just in time to see the Colonel roll out of the way of Pride's deadly sword. Al frowned, hoping Mustang would be alright fighting Pride, and nearly got struck in the stomach by Envy.
"Don't get distracted, kid!" Envy placed a hand on Al's head and struck him in the throat, leaving Al wheezing. "Your wonderful Colonel will get 'imself killed soon enough. If you're lucky, you'll still be alive to see him die!"
Al gasped for air as anger flooded through him. As if he'd let these monsters threaten any more of his friends! He lunged forward, taking the Homunculus by surprise and hitting him a couple of times before Envy could jump out of the way. Alphonse kept on the offensive, pushing Envy back one step at a time. The people of Amestris depended on him. He wouldn't lose. He couldn't afford to lose!
Pride sprang up, attempting to slice his rival's face, but Mustang swung around in time and elbowed Pride in the neck, sending him flying down to the ground. Mustang was now in between Pride and the Gate.
"How dare you!" Pride roared, his eyes turning to purple slits in anger. He refused to be lower than a mere disgusting human! Pride movements sped up from anger, but they were nowhere near as controlled and accurate as before. Mustang dodged Pride's sword with ease, stepping backwards each time until he was back in front of the Gate. Then, Mustang suddenly lashed out, clipping Pride on the side on the head. Pride nearly let him temper fly, but heard the tell-tale snap of Mustang's flames and leapt to one side to avoid them. However, the flames never came anywhere near Pride.
Mustang smiled as he snapped and attacked- not Pride, but the Gate. The looming monstrosity was engulfed by flames, only to survive the attack without a single mark. Pride scoffed at the officer's utter stupidity- as if a lowly human could possibly threaten the Gate in any way. Then the Gate opened, and millions of tiny black hands shot out to take their revenge on the Colonel.
Alphonse kept Envy down on the ground with one knee and strips of alchemised earth, repeatedly hitting the disabled Homunculus in the head. Small flickers of red lightning lit up Envy's injured, half-healed face as he tried to repair himself, but Al never gave him the chance.
"You gave Brother and me hell when we tried to get our bodies back!" Al yelled, unnaturally angry. "You caused trouble for everyone and you tried to murder everyone in the country!"
Envy opened his bleeding mouth to make a smart-ass reply when they both got distracted by the sound of the Gate opening. Al's eyes widened when he saw the Colonel standing there calmly, black hands shooting towards him.
Envy laughed maniacally. "Told you you'd be alive to see the Colonel die!"
Pride smirked as the hands shot towards Mustang. Stupid human. No-one in their right mind would attack the Gate, especially an alchemist! He relaxed as he watched the Colonel receive his punishment- death.
Mustang took a deep breath… and then jumped above Pride at the last possible moment. He stepped on the stunned Homunculi's shoulder to gain speed and landed at a sliding halt on the other side. The hands, of course, tried to follow him and grab him. However, they missed the Colonel and accidentally latched onto Pride.
"What? Get off me, you foolish weapon!" Pride roared, attempting to thrash his way out of the hands. The Gate only hesitated for a mere second to release its 'master', but that second was enough.
Colonel Roy Mustang snapped, and the arrogant Homunculus burned.
Alphonse began to hit Envy even harder than before. The Homunculus couldn't keep up his healing with the repeated attacks and he died several times. He couldn't break his way free of Alphonse's furious attacks.
"Pr… ide…!" Envy gasped, getting interrupted by the teenager's hits. "Hel… help me…"
Envy painfully searched for Pride until his eyes landed on the sight of Colonel Mustang snapping over and over. In front of him was a burning ball of fire surrounded by confused black hands. The ball of fire cried out in pain, and red lightning flashed repeatedly as it tried to heal Pride every time he burned to death at Mustang's hands. The young colonel looked like he was loosing control of his temper and was just angrily attacking without thinking.
Pride couldn't help him. Envy looked the other way and saw Sloth sitting on the floating platform, watching the two fights with a stony expression.
"Slo-th!" Envy choked on his own blood. " Damn… it… help me…!"
Falman tightened his grip on his weapon, expecting the female Homunculus to come to the aid of her dying colleagues, but she simply stat there.
"Sloth…!" Envy called again, desperately. Soon he'd die for real if Al kept this up!
Sloth gave the scene before her an emotionless look and slowly stood up. Falman swallowed and aimed his gun at her, as Envy felt hopeful he'd be rescued. But she just turned and left. Envy's jaw dropped, and Falman looked amazed as Sloth abandoned her fellow homunculi, vanishing into the distance with incredible speed. However, Falman was soon distracted from the escaping woman as he heard Alphonse yell out.
"Colonel! Colonel Mustang, stop!" Al shouted desperately. The Colonel was now even more furious than Al was before, his thoughts dwelling on the thought that Pride had tried to kill everyone in the country he ruled. Pride was going to kill his own people! Mustang's attacked had steadily gotten bigger, faster, and more destructive, until it had reached the point where Al and Envy where also being scorched by the flames.
"Mustang!" Al screamed, trying to be heard as fire licked at his right arm and injured ankle. He winced and jumped to one side, heading towards the inferno Mustang was madly causing. Falman was also trying to approach the furious officer from the other side.
"Sir, please stop! You'll hit me and Al if you go any further!" Falman shouted.
Alphonse staggered as out-of-control flames exploded to one side of him. "Colonel, you're going to incinerate everything and everyone for miles around! Stop! Colonel just… please stop!"
Mustang's enraged expression softened slightly as his friend's words reached his ears, and he gasped as his senses returned to him. The reality of what he was about to do struck the Colonel hard, and he immediately stopped snapping. The exploding inferno in front of him died down into nothing more than thick smoke, and Mustang collapsed on to his knees, exhausted. His injured head pounded like he was being hit with a truck every time he moved. Al and Falman instantly went to his side, Alphonse seeming concerned. Falman aimed his gun at the steadily clearing haze, ready to defend if Pride attacked. Mustang looked up just as the smoke cleared completely.
In front of the three was a blackened, melted sword and pile of ashes, which then blew away in the breeze. Pride was dead. The Gate had closed, and was still for the moment; however, when the officers looked at it carefully, they could see a number 1 burned into the Gate's door. The Gate looked a little hazy and insubstantial, which was understandable considering one of the objects to which it had linked itself with had just died.
Suddenly, Al's eyes went wide.
"Gah, I forgot about Envy!" Al swung around to the spot where he had held the Homunculus down with alchemy. However, all Alphonse could see were the scorched remains of the alchemised chains. Envy was gone.