Ah, summer time in Flint, Michigan... Once again, the hookers walk the streets off Dort HWY. Dust from the demolished GM factories fill the air. And the only thing higher than the temperature is the unemployment rate. Hey, nobody told you this was at the end of the rainbow...
Truth
The monstrous, Thunderwing emerges from a "Stargate" like portal inside of a large building that looked to be rundown & unused for a rather long time. After setting foot onto the dusty & debris covered ground before the portal closes behind him & his passengers. The sky outside had an ominous orange glow. Hard to determine if they arrived during sunrise or sunset as the giant walks outside & takes in the sight of the buildings that were crumbling before him & his crew after years, decades, even centuries of neglect. Windows blown out, framework exposed & rusting to the elements as well as the plant life seeming to taking back from what was once mass-produced.
He slowly walks through the broken streets of this ruined city while inside, Countdown begins to make a determination as to what planet they may be on. "Where in the hell are we? It's like there's no one here." The giant asked just as Countdown suddenly realized the planet they were on. A memory of a conversation from a time long ago on Cybertron between him & Ultra Magnus suddenly came to his mind.
"The humans stated, they want to bury this tragedy... As do we. But in the end, humanity will move on & justice will be served. Scorponok will pay for this heinous crime against life."
Countdown knew he couldn't bury this by himself & he needed answers ready for when questions are most likely to be asked. He began his search for slightest of contacts from his console which was now connected to the communication dish on his back, via a small cable protruding from his right arm. "I'm not detecting any life signs... No radio signals. Just dead space."
The emphasis on "dead" did not settle well with those in front of him. Countdown's control panel gave a sudden siren screamed, informing him & everyone else of pending danger. "Thunderwing, behind you!" The warning came too late as the giant was struck in the back by a fierce dropkick from the metallic Envy that appeared out of nowhere. He crashes head first into a condemned twenty story building that collapses down onto the giant after impact. Smoke, dust & debris fill the air around the area.
Envy wastes little time beginning to sift through the rubble, furiously digging & tossing large chunks of concrete & twisted metal. He finally comes across the cockpit & grabs hold of the lid protecting its occupants. "Welcome home, Fullmetal Pipsqueak!" He tears the lid from its housing, but quickly noticed that the inside was empty. "What?! Where are you, you filthy bastard!"
In a nearby parking garage, Edward & company breath heavily (with the exception of Countdown) after making a hasty jog to find cover from the maniacal Envy. "How the hell did he get here & what did he mean by, 'welcome home?' This sure as hell isn't our home!" Ed stated before taking notice of Countdown's stoic expression. "Edward, please try to understand. You & everyone else, may not be ready to hear this."
Thunderwing explodes from under the mound of granite & mangled metal. Throwing Envy off balance as the beast gives a furious roar of anger before turning his attention to his smaller adversary who was sitting on the ground & looking up as the giant balled his fists while making a loud growl from his throat. "Nice to see you decided to drop the extra weight... But that won't save you from me tearing you apart, piece by piece."
Envy began to question his odds of survival in his current form. His regeneration has been cut down & his weapons are nothing compared to Thunderwing's. Speed is on his side, but does not match up to the giant's brute strength. Envy's train of thought was interrupted by the large right hand grasping his throat. He lifts him off the ground & holds him into the air at eye level. He swings his right leg in an attempt to strike the giant in the side of his head, but only to have it intercepted by Thunderwing's free hand. Envy is forcefully thrown into a twelve story apartment building, causing the face of the building to collapse on top of him.
"What do you mean by, 'we may not be ready to hear' what?" Ed asked, looking up into the Autobot's eyes. Countdown only looked at him with an expression of sympathy along with dread, knowing that he was now going to dwell into a covered past. "Edward, the one you called, 'Envy' was not lying when he called this place your home... And yet, it is not."
The conversation was cut short due to the sound of Thunderwing's furious roar & then the crash of Envy's body colliding into a building not far from their hideaway. "We should keep moving. Their feud may approach our location..." Countdown's statement was well received & began to run after him & following his lead out of the complex, far from the action outside. Edward, (feeling anxious) still wanted at least one question answered. "Well, at least tell us where in the hell we are?" Countdown held back his answer until they were a safe distance from the battle now behind them.
Envy crashes through another large building before collapsing down on top of him. Envy's HUD display cries out with warnings & failures that began to occur from what has now become nothing more than a street fight. This mechanical body is no longer capable of handling such punishments. He quickly came to the conclusion, that this was a losing battle & the desire for self-preservation began to kick in.
[EMERGENCY EJECT - ENGAGED]
[SELF DESTRUCT WILL ACTIVATE AFTER EJECTION IS COMPLETE]
[HAVE A NICE DAY]
The center of the mechanical body's chest opens slightly in a five foot by five foot cavity that leads deep to the center. Envy climbs out only to be surrounded by twisted steel & broken concrete. The sound of thundering footsteps reminded him that this fight was far from over & now, he would be squashed like an ant. The giant takes note of the homunculas standing atop of the lifeless metal shell.
"Sorry Shady, gotta run." Envy leaps to the ground below & disappearing into the overgrowth of weeds & bush that seems to be taking back the land around it. The giant begins to pursue by stepping over the empty protoform only to be consumed by the thunderous explosion of Envy's exploding bio-metal body, knocking the giant off his feet & landing on his back. He lied on the ground & looked up to the early evening sky. "Ouch."
Nearly a mile away, Edward & the others stop in their tracks to look back towards the area of the blast. "That couldn't be good." Wrath noted. Ed just looked back at him with an expression filled with sarcasm. "No shit, Sherlock. What makes you think that?" Wrath just glares back with a look of annoyance. Countdown motions for them to continue on to a safer location & preferably some place out of sight as the sky continued to grow darker & the stars began to appear.
They enter what appears to be a rundown hotel complex. The lobby smelled that of decay & sea water, but at least they were now out of sight. The building overlooks a long stretch of beach that looks to be untouched for a great deal of time. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right." Ed's frustrated tone echoed through the empty building as Countdown attempts to explain the history of the world they were on.
"Edward, I'll try to explain this as clearly & as simple minded as possible... I guess in your own Earth years, it all started about six hundred years ago. Scorponok arrived on this planet & began to proceed with his experiments. Ultra Magnus & his team tracked him to this world, but arrived only to find the inhabitants beginning to kill one another. The ones that began the killings were changed in someway. They not only killed the innocent, they turned on the Autobots as well."
Ed folds his arms as he continues to listen to the grim tale while Wrath just casually plays with a small pile of patio stones, tossing them at some glass bottles that were scattered around the area. He was enjoying himself until a sudden thought crossed his mind. He walks into the hotel to bring up his idea with the group, only to walk in on Countdown's story about the planet they were on. And judging the demeanor on Edward's face, he wasn't happy & yet, he was all ears.
"We evacuated as many of the people as possible, but there were some that refused to join us... I admired their convictions, but they should have known a lost cause when they saw it... Condemning themselves to an epidemic that inevitably consumed them."
"What was the name of this planet, before all this happened?" Lust asked, nervously anticipating the answer. "My dear, this world... was called, Earth." Ed's arms fell to his sides as everyone's eyes widened at the information. "W-What about our... I mean..." Edward's words escaped him as Countdown knew where he was going with this & figured he would answer his question in mind.
"Edward, if you're questioning your heritage, I can assure you that it's not a lie... The world that you have made for yourselves is rightfully yours. However, many decided to start over from scratch & try to avoid as much of advanced technology as possible. Those on another world, chose to go beyond what they had on this world. Where they may be, I have no idea. But I can assure you that, they are out there."
Edward had heard enough & made his way out of the building, heading towards the beach. He flips his coattail back before sitting on the loose sand. His legs bent slightly as he stared out at the open water. He takes note of the large piles of junk & scrap metal that littered the beach, some of which seemed to have made some odd formations. The moon shined brightly in the night sky as Lust walks up from behind & sits down next to him on his left. Positioning her legs to the side & leaning on her right arm.
"Are you alright?" She asked in concerned & yet, sultry voice, immediately grabbing his attention. Looking at her, he can't help but somewhat surprised at the fact that, she took a simple question of concern & make it seem sexy. "To be honest, I feel like I'm at the threshold of Hell." She looked at him with a light smirk, musing over his answer. "It could be worse... You could be all alone & no one to help you home. Or worse yet, you could be stuck with just Wrath." The sudden idea made his nerves stand on edge at the notion of being stuck with the greedy wild child.
"I gotta ask you something... Why are you acting this way towards me? I mean, I guess I'm kinda flattered by it. But, why me?" Lust only smiles seductively at him before flicking a lock of her hair off her right shoulder. "If you really want to know. I'm fallowing through with what you said."
"What I said?"
"You said, 'If I wanted to be human, I have to start acting like one. And start caring about something or someone other than myself." She gently places her left hand on his & looks into his eyes. The moon's light shined down & lit the dark tresses in her hair, making look as though she had a halo over her head. Although, she was far from being an angel. He can't help but see a warmth in her features that seemed somewhat uncommon with her, but he welcomed it with a small smile.
"Aww, how touching... The Fullmetal Shrimp with a sin that's trying to sweat talk her way into his pants, just like the whore that she is." The two quickly rise to their feet & turn to face the familiar voice behind them & readied themselves for a pending confrontation. "Envy? What happened to your metal body? I didn't think you could eject from something like that." Ed stated as he rolled up his right trench coat sleeve. "It was just a 'pretender' shell... Besides, it was a pain to regenerate & I had business with you."
"Such as?"
"Why, killing you both!"
(Begin Soundtrack: Chevelle - Antisaint)
He rushes towards them at an unprecedented speed. Lust rushed to intercept with her blades extended & made her first attempt to impale him. Envy grabs her arm & spins around in a 360 degree motion. She retracts her blades just as he releases her & collides into Edward, who did his best to catch her, but only to soften the impact as she flew into him head first & knocking them both to the ground.
She pushes herself off of Edward, allowing him to sit up. Groaning as he pushed himself up. "He's actually stronger than before." She whispered, but Edward only gave a mischievous grin. "Well, lets see if his toughness matches his strength." He clapped his hands together & placed them on the sand. Blue lightning dances on the ground, taking Envy by surprised as a couple dozen large stone spikes burst from the ground & engulfing Envy.
Both showing surprisement at the fact that Ed's alchemy worked & allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as Envy broke through his stone prison. The look of shock filled their features, not due to the fact that he freed himself, but more as to what they saw under Envy's skin. Areas of polished metal have now become exposed. Envy had yet to take notice of this fact, but kept his focus on the two in front of him. "Sorry, Fullmetal Pipsqueak. It's gonna take more than that to kill me... You should've figured that out by now."
Edward rose to his feet before he helped Lust up, a small grin crept across his face once again. Envy snarls at the sight, but he was curious about the alchemist's amusement. "What's so funny, you little bastard!"
"Did you forget that we're not here alone."
"Wrath, that little brat? He's no threat to me. And Shady's having a nap at the moment."
"I wasn't talking about them..."
Envy realizes what Edward meant by his last statement & quickly turns around, only to have his left cheek be met with Countdown's right fist with the sound of metal clanging as Envy staggers slightly before sending a right fist of his own, but is caught in the Autobot's left open palm, taking Envy by surprise. "As you can obviously tell, I'm actually quite strong for my size."
He pulls Envy close to him, keeping his arm extended out before slamming his right fist down onto Envy's elbow, instantly breaking it. He cries out in pain as he's thrown to the ground. He makes a quick leg sweep to Countdown's legs, throwing him off balance & onto his back. He converts his left arm into a sword & jumps onto Countdown's chest, ready to pierce through his core.
Wrath quickly appears from behind & dropkicks Envy in the back, sending him flying face first into the sand & stopping just short of Edward & Lust's feet. Sparks burst from Envy's broken elbow as he looks up to see Ed's face was rather neutral, but Lust's showed much more evil intentions. "I am so screwed."
Lust extends all of her finger nails & makes one deadly inclosing sweep in attempts to slice Envy into as many pieces as possible, but he leaps back out of harms way, his right arm hanging on by the cables that are integrated with his nervous system. The pain was excruciating & made this fight more difficult for him.
She makes another running charge & makes a sweep with her right, only to be evaded with a quick duck. She quickly slices with her left at Envy's right elbow, cutting the cables & severing the arm completely off. Pain shooting through the remainder of his arm as he thrusts his left arm, (still in its sword form) aiming for her stomach in hopes of exposing the jewels that lie within.
She just avoids the attack, but it still catches the right side of her abdomen, causing her to stumble to the ground while holding her side. Envy raises his blade, looking to bludgeon her head, a maniacal smile crosses his face. Edward suddenly rushes from behind with a three foot long, blue energy sword that appeared off the top of his forearm & sliced Envy's right arm off at the shoulder, potentially saving her life or one of them.
His screams of pain along with blood & sparks from severed wires consume him. Never feeling so helpless before in his existence. "What's wrong with me?! Why can't I regenerate?! Why..." His concentration was interrupted with Edward grabbing his hair & piercing his upper back & through his chest with the same sword that took his arm. "That's for the pain you've caused for so many years." The sword retracts just as his arm changed to its gun mode, still being held tightly to Envy's back. "And this, is for all the short jokes!" The blast punches through, destroying his vital organs & leaving a large hole exposed through his chest.
(End soundtrack.)
He falls to his knees, staring into Lust's eyes & sending a chill up her spine before falling onto his back. Ed carefully walks over to her, keeping his eyes on the half dead homunculus on the ground as he extends his left hand & helps her to her feet. She stands at his left with her arms gently wrapped around his neck & resting on his right shoulder. Envy's eyes scroll down to see Edward & Lust standing together, the sight would turn his stomach, if he could feel beyond his chest.
The sounds of heavy footsteps are heard as they see Thunderwing appear from behind the hotel, seeing that everyone was in good health during his absence. They take notice of his open right hand in front of him as he kneels down & lowers his hand to the ground. Everyone's eyes widen when they see a familiar looking blonde haired man jump out from the giant's hand. Envy's hatred quickly grew at the sight of the man & the fact that he has now been rendered helpless.
"Dad? How the hell did you..."
"It's a long story Edward... I'll explain in a moment."
Hohenheim kneels down to Envy, a look of sadness crosses his face. Envy just looked at him, still seething at the notion of being unable to attack him. "This is my fault." Edward just looked at him curiously, wondering what was behind his father's statement. "What are you talking about?"
Envy rolled his eyes to the frustration. "For a bookworm at times, you're rather slow when it comes to the obvious... I was the first taboo & this man, is my creator." Edward's eyes widened at the sudden news as Envy looked on with a sense of delight. "Well dad, do you want to tell your son the truth or should I continue?"Envy suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood, an indication that his end was drawing closer.
"Envy is the homunculan version of Hohenheim's first son..." Everyone with the exception of Hohenheim, looks up to the giant after his initial statement. "Many years ago, he died of mercury poisoning... He then tried to resurrect his son afterward & Envy, was the end result..."
"Well, if he's my half-brother... Then, who's the mother?" Ed asked, looking for an answer. Wrath turns his attention away, humming lightly to himself. He turns to Lust who just raised her eyebrows when there eyes met. This was a sign to him, that she knew the answer. He pulls his eyes away from her's for a moment when he suddenly realized the answer as he lowered his right arm. "Ewww, you & Dante?"
Hohenheim said nothing as the sound of the light chuckling from the giant beside them. Hohenheim rises to his feet, sadness still crosses his face. "I'm sorry that I turned you into this monster." Envy presented a malice grin, showing no emotion in his eyes. "I have no regrets... And despite the fact that those two may hold something towards each other, they do have one thing in common. And that, is me."
"What are you talking about Envy?" Lust asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Well Lusty, I'll be happy to explain. You see, our master told me that the time had come to find some new sins. So, I went out to find the perfect candidates... You were first." Envy slowly sat up, pieces of metal & interior tissue fall from the gap in his chest. Countdown raises his right forearm mounted cannon, keeping Envy in the cross-hairs.
"I traveled the country to find the next 'Lust' & while in Ishbal, I saw this woman. She was perfection, a real knockout. While in the market place one day, I disguised myself to look like a local... Handed her a piece a fruit that I laced with a fatal disease." Lust's arms fell to her sides as her eyes widened at the stunning revelation of her past. "Wait, you're say that..."
"That's right... I killed you. Well, the former you."
Lust falls to her knees in shock & disbelief, Ed clenched his fists as his anger began to rise once again. "You bastard, you robbed her of her life!" Envy only smiled, not seeming to care what his "half-brother" thought of the situation. "Well, if you liked that, you'll love this... You remember how your mom died? Well, that was no freak health problem. I made myself look like the local postman, gave her a letter that contained the virus that I made & that's all she wrote. Though, you weren't around to catch it yourself was disappointing, but you saved me from having to find someone to be Sloth."
Edward lowers his head, hiding his face with his bangs as everyone looked toward Envy while the comments about his character ran through their heads. He looks at Ed, taking delight in what he thinks is his grieving moment. "Aww, what's the matter Edo? Are you crying? That's what little boys do when they want their mommy. Is that it?" Ed slowly raised his head, showing his enraged demeanor through his eyes. This took Envy back, not expecting this from Edward & watching his right arm change to its gun form once again.
"Envy..." Edward takes aim at the center of Envy's head, the look of shock covers his face at Ed's new attitude. "Burn!" The blast of energy tears the flesh away from Envy's face & neck, exposing the metal beneath as he was knocked back into a mound of junk automotive parts & twisted metal. He looks up at Edward with his glowing cybernetic violet eyes, his bone structure looked to be completely replaced with this metal substitute. "So, this is what you look like underneath now... It's all about equivalency, Envy. You took the Cybernetic Grafting, thinking you will become 'indestructible'. But in turn, you had to give up a lot in the process... Nothing's for free."
"Actually, Edward, I have to contradict you on part of your statement." Ed turned slight to face Countdown, who walked over to his side. "I think this is more like a 'fail-safe', produced by Bludgeon... If Envy were to betray him in someway, this would be the punishment."
"You bastards think you know everything... You don't know shit about anything. You think you can stop for what's about to come... You're just as dead as everyone else." The junk pile behind Envy suddenly stirs & takes form. A mechanical creature with a horrific face & disproportionate body loomed over Envy from behind. He slowly turned to face the creature only to be bitten by the monster's sickening, drooling mouth. Envy's screams of horror & pain go unaided due from shock at the sight that they see.
Edward pulls Lust to her feet as he sees more of the junk pile stir to life each seeming to just as hideous or more so than the last. "W-What the hell is that?" She asked as she watched the last of Envy being consumed by the creature before her. "I think the term you should be using is, 'they'." Thunderwing added, turning his sights to the buildings to his right & sees five larger robotic creatures appear from behind the crumbling structures. Two of which, were as large as him.
Countdown stands back to back with Ed, his satellite dish rotating in a clockwise motion while Wrath hid behind Lust, not wanting to end up as dinner like Envy. "Edward, I'm detecting at least twenty of them in this area & more are closing on this location."
"But still, what are they? And why do they smell like rotting flesh?"
"There is only one thing that we had on Cybertron that we used to call creatures like this... Similar to what you call, 'zombies', we call, Cannibalizers."
The term "cannibal" did not settle well with everyone as they ready themselves for a fight of survival.