Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Unlikely Ally
There has to be a way for me to get back to my world," Nick mumbled to himself as he walked down the street. He'd only been back in London for a short period of time and yet the horror of the bombing of Pearl Harbor was still with him and all the boy could think of was a way to get back to his own world. Although there were times of strife in his own world it was far less violent than the one he was trapped in and he desperately wanted to return to it. Desperately wanted to see his parents, Aiya, Kaori, Havoc, hell even Mustang would be a welcome sight at this point. His stomach lurched at the thought of Mustang and he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for the other Mustang, who had lost his life in the bombing.
"There is," a voice said from behind the boy.
Nick whirled to face the person behind him. He gasped when he saw that it was Greed who stood a few feet back. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Instinctively Nick clasped his hands together but since alchemy didn't exist in this world nothing happened. "Damn. I'm never going to get used to that."
"Calm down pipsqueak. I'm not here to fight you."
"Then why ARE you here?"
Greed's eyes glazed over and when she spoke her voice was filled with anger. "Those bastards let me get sucked into the Gate along with you."
Nick smirked. "Serves you right."
Greed narrowed her eyes. "Watch it boy. Without my help you'll never get back to the other side of the Gate."
Nick returned the glare, ten fold. "Assuming you have any clue as to how I can get back. Of which I have my doubts."
"Oh I have more than a clue."
Nick called her on that remark. "Then why didn't you summon the Gate yourself and get the hell out of here?"
Greed made an angry noise deep in her throat. "Because homunculi are unable to use alchemy."
Nick groaned. He'd known that it was too good to be true. "Alchemy? You moron. In this world I can't use alchemy either."
"There you are wrong. In the right situation, with the right set of circumstances you can use alchemy. Even in this world. But you can't do it without me."
"Well aren't you special. But you know that theory works both ways because you can't do it without me either. So hah."
Greed clenched her hands into fists. "True enough. So do you want to work together and get out of this hellhole or not?"
Nick crossed his arms. "I'm listening."
Greed gazed around the nearly deserted streets of London. "We can't speak about it here. We need to find someplace where we cannot be overheard."
"Fine. Do you have somewhere in mind?"
Greed nodded. "Come with me."
"I'll most likely live to regret this," Nick thought to himself as he followed the homunculi. "If I'm lucky."
Greed led Nick to a rundown part of town and into a small, dilapidated old shack. Nick gazed around at the poor excuse for a building, inwardly marveling that it was still standing. "You actually live here?"
"Yes," Greed spat out viciously. "Unlike you I have no relatives in this world to live with."
"Hey it's not my fault that my grandfather's stuck in this hellhole too," Nick said defensively. "And it's also not my fault that you don't have relatives.
"That's all beside the point," Greed said impatiently. "There's only one reason why I sought you out and that's to summon the Gate. You can use alchemy, with my help and we can both go home."
"Tell me something Greed. If what you claim is true and there is a way to use alchemy even in this world then why hasn't Hohenheim used his alchemic powers to summon the Gate. He's an alchemist as well so if there really was a way to do it then he most surely would have."
"He did summon the Gate. Once." Greed told the boy, remembering what she had learned from the man responsible for the homunculi's search for the Philosopher's Stone. "However he used it to send his son Edward back to the world from which he came."
Nick saw red as soon as he heard that comment. He couldn't believe what this homunculus was telling him. Not even bothering to question how Greed knew about this event, his anger at his father intensified. His eyes narrowed. "My dad came to this world!? Yet another important detail of his life that he neglected to tell me."
"Calm down Fullmetal," Greed said. "You can be pissed off at your dad all you want after we've returned to our world."
Nick stared at the homunculus for a few minutes before he made his decision. "Alright. I'll work with you but I don't trust you. And I warn you now; if you betray me you will regret it."
"Whatever." Greed walked over to a small nightstand, opened a drawer and pulled out a rather dingy looking piece of paper. Then she walked back across the room and offered the dirty piece of paper to Nick.
Hesitating for only a second, Nick took the piece of paper from Greed and stared down at it. On the paper was a poorly drawn transmutation circle, which was lopsided and smudged.
"It's just as well homunculi are unable to perform alchemy. By the looks of this particular transmutation circle, your alchemy would be seriously screwed up."
"Shut up runt."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"
"Enough." There was a note of impatience in her voice. "Do you think you can reproduce that array, magnified by ten?"
Nick squinted his eyes and stared down at the transmutation circle. "Maybe. But since the rendering is so bad it might not be one hundred percent accurate."
"It has to be one hundred percent accurate. There is no room for error. The transmutation won't work if the array is flawed."
"I'll try. But I make no guarantees."
"I suppose that will simply have to do for now." Greed pulled a chalk pencil from her pocket, which she then handed to Nick.
Nick took the chalk pencil. "We'll need another location in order for this to have even the slightest chance of working. Your shack simply isn't big enough for me to draw this array in the correct proportions."
"Very well."
An hour and a half later Nick was kneeling on the ground in an old abandoned warehouse. "I guess this will do." Nick pulled the chalk pencil and Greed's drawing from his pocked. The boy studied the drawing for a few minutes and then he began to draw the array, pausing from time to time to glance back at the drawing.
The array was quite intricate and it took Nick nearly forty-five minutes to complete the drawing.
"There," Nick said as he completed the array. "Finished. And done to the best of my abilities."
"It's about damn time. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of alchemical prodigy. Why did it take you so damn long to finish one simple little drawing?"
"Simple little drawing my ass!" Nick was quick to defend himself. "Don't blame this on me. It wouldn't have taken anywhere near as long if your artwork didn't suck so bad."
Greed shrugged off the accusation. "Shall we see how well you drew the array?"
Nick nodded and knelt at the edge of the array.
Greed stepped to the center of the circle.
Nick quickly moved his hands. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm the key ingredient for this transmutation. Now calm down and get on with it."
"I can't."
"Why the hell not?"
"I don't like you but I still can't transmute you."
"I'm truly touched. But you can get over your moral dilemma. The transmutation won't hurt me. In fact Sloth's done it many times."
"Is that a fact?"
Greed nodded. "It's how we sent you here and ultimately how I, myself ended up here."
A determined look appeared in Nick's golden eyes. "Alright. But if something happens to you it's your own damn fault."
"The only way anything bad will happen is if you made a mistake on the array."
"And I reiterate, if anything goes wrong it's your own damn fault."
Nick took a deep breath, in preparation for what he was about to do. Greed may not have a soul but she was, technically a living thing and Nick had always been taught not to use living things in a transmutation. That kind of alchemy was depraved.
Nick clasped his hands together and placed them on the edge of the array.
Blue lights began to swirl around them and Nick gasped in horror at the sight. This transmutation looked eerily similar to the one that had cost him his right arm and nearly cost him his life. The boy gazed around wildly, expecting the vivid blue lights to turn a violent shade of red, however that didn't happen. Instead a large doorway appeared out of nowhere.
"You did it!" Greed's voice sounded half surprised, half amazed.
Nick stared up at the huge door. "I've seen this before. When I attempted to resurrect my sister."
Greed nodded. "The Gate is essential in alchemy. Lives lost on this side of the Gate are summoned to our side by alchemists and used as energy for transmutations."
"No way."
"Way," Greed said in a bored voice. "Simply having the right materials isn't enough. You have to have energy in order for the transmutation to work."
"That's just wrong."
"Wrong or not that's the way of the world. Now come on. Let's go back to our world so that I can seek my revenge against those traitorous bastards."
Nick cast a wary glance at the homunculus. "Just so you know, nothing's changed between us."
"Good."
Nick walked toward the Gate and as he approached it, the door opened. Taking another deep breath and summoning up all of the courage he possessed, Nick stepped into the Gate.
Once Nick had disappeared into the Gate, Greed stepped out of the transmutation circle and ran to jump inside before the Gate closed.
A/N - The end of another chapter. Moment of silence for Other Mustang, who is now dead. Damn, he didn't last very long. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought cause I really wanna know.