Edward and Alphonse were both staring Garand down, the Fullmetal Alchemists ready to move against the Immortal Alchemist on a moment's notice.
"You boys really are persistent pests aren't you?" Garand asked, although it was more of statement. The brothers said nothing, not taking their golden eyes off of him.
"How do you intend to defeat me? Only one of you can perform alchemy! Why not accept defeat now and spare yourselves the pain of a slow agonizing death?" Garand asked.
"Sorry, but there's a little lady who's threatened to dump me if I don't kick your ass, and who am I to disappoint?" Ed replied as Garand rolled his eyes, covering his eyes while trying to figure out why they wouldn't surrender.
"The Flame and Strong Arm Alchemists, your Teacher, the Emperor of Xing, the indomitable General Armstrong, and the entirety of the Briggs Mountain Guard could not stop me! What makes you think the Fullmetal Alchemist and his pipsqueak older brother can stop me?" Garand asked before noticing a shadow looming over him. He looked up just in time to be dealt a vicious uppercut from Edward, sending him flying into the arch over the temple doorway. (AC: Brave Fight – FMA OST 3) Ed was standing right where Garand had been, his fist shaking angrily towards Garand.
"You should know by now NOT TO CALL ME PIPSQUEAK!" Ed yelled as Garand landed at the top of the temple stairs, climbing to his feet with a snarl of alarm as Ed came charging towards him. Garand growled as he thrust his arm towards Ed, sending two cylindrical shafts flying towards Ed from the ground, but Ed leapt to the side, revealing Alphonse right behind him, clapping his hands together and slamming a hand on each shaft, shattering them into rubble, alarming Garand but leaving him open for an attack from the side by Ed. Ed raised both fists before swinging them downward only for Garand to jump back and transmute a shaft of rock up from the ground, hitting Ed right in the helmet, knocking the helmet off completely, leaving nothing behind. Al slid to a halt in shock.
"Brother!" Al exclaimed, earning Garand's attention. Before Garand could do anything, he was dealt a second powerful blow to the side of the face that sent him flying towards one of the temple walls, crashing into it and causing part of the wall to collapse on top of him. Al looked at the armor in time to see Ed's head pop up from inside of it.
"I'm not that easy to take out!" Ed yelled as Al turned towards where Garand had crash landed.
"Yeah! Just ask his fiancée!" Al yelled, earning a scowl from Ed.
"You're supposed to be insulting him not me!" Ed groaned.
"I'm sorry! I'm still kinda new to this!" Al argued before they heard the sound of shifting rubble. They turned and saw Garand was climbing to his feet, an angered glare on his face.
"That's ENOUGH!" He yelled, turning and slamming his foot against the floor towards them, sending a shockwave through the ground towards them.
"Get behind me Ed!" Al yelled, clapping his hands together and slamming them into the ground, causing a large earthen wedge to burst up in front of them, the shockwave being dispersed to either side of them by the wedge. Ed then stepped past Al and propped his foot against the side of the wedge before delivering a powerful shove, launching the wedge towards Garand at high speeds. Garand's eyes widened at the incoming attack and quickly raised a carbon barrier, the wedge smashing into the barrier and crumbling into rubble. Before Garand could react, he saw the barrier crackle with blue alchemical energy before an armored fist smashed through the barrier and grabbed him by the throat, pulling him through and tossing him towards the opposite wall, Garand tumbling across the ground before sliding onto his hands and feet, turning around towards them before coming to a stop, a look of impatience on his face. Alphonse had weakened the carbon barrier for Ed to smash effortlessly through.
"Damned pipsqueak!" Garand hissed, further incensing Ed.
"Oh YEAH?! Can a pipsqueak do THIS?!" Ed asked as Alphonse transmuted him a spear, tossing it to him as Ed ran towards Garand. Ed lunged at Garand but Garand sidestepped his attack and was now behind Ed. He reared back a crackling hand with intent to shatter the armor but Ed brought his spear around before he could, Garand grabbing the spear instead, shattering it. Ed's sudden switch caught Garand off guard enough for Ed to deliver a powerful punch to the face, knocking him into the ground so hard he left a rut in the floor as he slid backwards some distance, stopping right at Alphonse's feet. Alphonse quickly clapped his hands together and transmuted a set of stocks of his own around Garand's hands and feet only made of carbon. Garand scowled at the stocks holding him down. (End AC)
"That should hold you!" Al said as he started walking towards Ed.
"Great going Al." Ed complimented as he started looking for his helmet. Al then spotted Elizabeth Morser who sat propped up against a column on the north side of the temple, a trail of blood indicating that she had dragged herself there.
"Brother, look." Al said as Ed noticed Morser. She was still alive, scowling at Garand.
"Dr. Morser!" Ed said as they started to approach her.
"What happened to you?" Al asked.
"He shot me. Worse, he stole my alchemy!" Morser said, looking at her blood stained hands with tears in her eyes.
"I wondered whose alchemy he'd stolen to become the Immortal Alchemist." Al said, neither of them noticing the carbon stocks around Garand's limbs crackling with alchemical energy.
"You put up a good fight but I wonder if it's enough." Morser commented but Ed scoffed.
"What do you mean? We clobbered him but good." Ed replied but Morser looked up at them with a look of abject fear in her eyes.
"No! You haven't! You've hardly made a dent in his strength! He's got an even stronger stone than the one he got from the Xingese Princess! He's merged the two together! He's-…BEHIND YOU!" Morser exclaimed, the brothers spinning around to see Garand standing behind them. (AC: Into the Fray – FMA:B OST 3)
"Al!" Ed exclaimed, quickly shoving Al away just a split second before Garand transmuted a shaft from the ground into Ed's chest, the shaft continuing to grow longer at a fast rate until it smashed Ed completely through the upper wall of the temple, his armor bearing the brunt of the damage. The shaft finally stopped growing, sending Ed falling at least three stories into a large open area that acted as a slightly smaller courtyard than the one out front. Ed landed hard on the pavement, sending up a large cloud of dust.
"Brother!" Al exclaimed, narrowly dodging an attempt by Garand to grab him but Garand instead grabbed the red jacket by the collar, Al quickly slipping out of it, leaving him in a black short sleeved shirt with his metal arm guards. Garand tossed the jacket away as Al clambered onto the shaft, running up the shaft to escape Garand and find Ed. As he neared the top, he felt the shaft start to shake violently and saw the wall the shaft was resting on starting to crack and crumble from the weight. Garand suddenly placed his hand on the shaft, causing its density to increase, the shaft becoming heavier. The wall finally gave out, the shaft ripping through the wall on its way down. Al continued running up the shaft as it collapsed beneath him, leaping through the hole into the south courtyard just before the shaft hit the ground.
"Brother!" Al called, spotting Ed lying on his back in the courtyard, grimacing as he started to sit himself up.
"Man this armor really can take a beating." Ed grumbled as Al helped him to his feet.
"He's really strong brother! What do we do?!" Al asked as they saw Garand appear in the hole in the temple wall.
"We've got to wear him down! We've got to make him use his Philosopher's Stone!" Ed replied.
"But the whole military, Teacher, General Mustang, and our friends couldn't do enough!" Al said as Garand looked down at them in annoyance.
"It doesn't matter. We fight until we've got no fight left in us!" Ed replied as Garand stepped down into the courtyard, his gaze set on the two brothers. Al immediately transmuted the arm blade on his right arm as both dropped into a fighting stance.
"Still breathing. I'm getting tired of you both!" Garand hissed as he continued towards them. Ed then charged forward, his fist reared back but Garand sidestepped him again just in time for Ed to be slammed hard in the stomach by a transmuted pillar. Garand attempted to reach for Ed only for a sharp spike of rock to burst up from just in front of him, skewering him in the stomach. Garand calmly glared at Al as he ran forward, Ed getting off the shaft, quickly recovering. Garand quietly touched the shaft, alchemically shattering it as the hole in his body started regenerating. Al took a swing at him with the arm blade, cutting Garand across the chest but Garand came back around with a powerful punch to Al's face, causing him to fall backwards a short distance onto his back.
"Al!" Edward exclaimed, attempting to run help Al, only to be caught by the arm by Garand. He turned in time for Garand to deliver a strong punch to his stomach, dazing the older brother slightly. (End AC)
"I seem to recall this armor once being used to house your brother's soul, and that with it, he gained immeasurable strength and stamina. Let's see how you do WITHOUT IT!" Garand exclaimed as he slammed his palm against the chest plate, letting go of Ed's arm in the process, the impact of the palm sending Ed flying towards the nearby burned out shell of an old building, the armor and automail shattering as he flew through the air. By the time he landed, the only automail left was his leg and it was still disconnected so he couldn't use it. The remains of the armor and automail landing and clattering to the ground around him as he landed with his back slammed against the wall, reeling in pain from the leads and needles still in his arms and legs, crying out through his gritted teeth. (AC: Lapis Philosophorum ~Chant~ - FMA:B OST 3)
Garand looked towards Ed with a soft scowl. Al beginning to sit up, horrified at the sight of his brother. Ed directed his anguished expression towards Garand, blood slowly trickling from some of the leads but only a handful of them.
"Look at you Edward Elric. The once famed Fullmetal Alchemist. Hero of the people. But take away the alchemy and the automail enhanced armor and you're nothing more than an ordinary human. Weak and pathetic, unable to stand on his own two feet because he gave one of them up to try and bring back his dead mother." Garand said as Ed snarled at him angrily.
"You have no room to talk Garand! You talk about a father's job being to cherish his children when you willingly sacrifice your children and your own wife to obtain power! You're no different than Shou Tucker! You're worse than him!" Ed yelled as Al climbed to his feet, the strip of cloth holding his hair in a ponytail having fallen loose, his long hair now hanging loose.
"I almost envy you, Elric. To have such an open heart to care so deeply for someone you hardly even know such as that girl Nina. You've lost many people who you cared for. Your mother, the girl Nina, that Lieutenant Colonel in Central, your father...yes I knew all about your exploits, Elric. I would have thought bringing back the people you loved and cared for would be something you would want more than anything." Garand said as Ed tried to force himself to stand up, pushing himself against the wall but his disconnected automail leg didn't help.
"I tried, Garand! Al and I both tried to play God, and in the end we never succeeded! There's a fact we have to get used to as humans, Garand! We can't play God! We don't get to decide who lives and who dies! What's gone is forever lost! All we can do is live!" Ed yelled as Garand gave a slight nod.
"I suppose that is true…for humans at least. Homunculi on the other hand…" Garand said, turning towards Al. Al quickly dropped into a fighting chance.
"It's a pity you can't use alchemy anymore Ed! I would love to see what the Fullmetal Alchemist could have done! I would like to see you use your alchemy to save your brother! Because this time, he's not coming back!" Garand yelled as Ed's eyes widened in alarm and horror.
"ALPHONSE!" Ed yelled as Garand lunged towards Al but Al managed to evade the Immortal Alchemist's attack, managing to just barely evade him. Garand presented him with no openings, forcing Al to remain on the defensive. Ed quickly started reattaching the cables connecting his leg to his nerves, having seen Winry do it repeatedly many times before in the past.
"What are you going to do, Edward Elric?" a voice that Ed recognized asked from around the corner behind him but Ed didn't slow down.
"I'll think of something! I can't lose Alphonse again! There has to be something I can do but Garand's right! I can't do anything useful without alchemy! Not in this instance!" Ed replied as he continued trying to reattach the cables, plugging the last one in but he couldn't get a good enough grip on the bolt he needed to turn to reconnect the nerves.
"So you would die trying to save your brother? You would give up everything for your brother to survive?" the voice asked as Ed kept trying to turn the bolt but his fingers kept slipping.
"I'd do it as many times as I have to! I won't give Al up that easily!" Ed yelled as Selim Bradley/Pride glared at Garand from the shadows as he kept trying to catch Al but Al was managing to keep evading although it was clear that Garand was getting closer and closer to catching him. (End AC)
"That's all I needed to hear, Edward Elric." Pride replied as he closed his eyes. Suddenly Ed saw one of Pride's black tendrils wrap around the bolt and turn hard, reconnecting the nerves and causing Ed to suck air through his teeth and let out a loud grunt of pain before he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his side. He turned to see one of Pride's tendrils piercing him between his ribs from the shadows. Everything suddenly went dark all around him, the world turning pitch black. He looked around but soon saw Pride standing before him, a small smile on his face as he hung his head slightly.
"What is this, Pride?! Where am I? What are you doing?!" Ed asked.
"I owe you a debt I cannot fully repay, Edward Elric. I don't have the strength to confront Garand alone. My stone just doesn't have that kind of power left. It's all I can do to stay alive actually. There is enough power left for me to regenerate two more times but I now know how to use it." Pride said as Ed looked at him confused.
"Pride…" Ed said softly as Pride looked at Ed.
"No Edward Elric, I am not Pride the Arrogant anymore. Pride the Arrogant died two years ago. I am Selim Bradley. You alchemists say that humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. It was said that we Homunculi cannot perform traditional alchemy. That is true in our most basic forms as it takes the form of our regenerative power. But we can also use our regenerative power on someone else and this act constitutes a transmutation. Our power is drawn from our Philosopher's Stone. Without the Philosopher's Stone forged from the stolen lives of others, we cease to be. So I choose to surrender my immortality for something that was given up long ago. My stone isn't enough to pay in full, but it should be enough for you to do what is needed." Selim said as the purple color of his eyes started to fade. His many eyes and his large mouth then appeared in the darkness, smiling peacefully at him.
"Pride, what are you doing?!" Ed asked as the eyes and mouth started fading away, the pitch black gradually turning solid white.
"Goodbye Edward Elric. You will never see Pride the Arrogant again." Selim said before he vanished into nothingness, leaving Ed in the center of this strange yet familiar white room. He stood up, shaking in awe and disbelief at his surroundings.
"Well hello once again, Edward Elric." A familiar voice said behind him. The voice made a chill run down his spine. He turned shakily around to see something he never expected. The outline of a solid white figure, the only discernable features being a wide gleaning grin and a human left leg with overgrown toenails from six years of neglect.
Truth.
"You! How did I get here? I couldn't have gotten here! I can't use alchemy!" Ed said but Truth's grin widened.
"That Homunculus was rather surprising. He surrendered his own immortality for something of yours, insisting that you have it back, even though you were the one who surrendered it of your own volition two years ago." Truth said as Ed's eyes widened and mouth dropped open in shock, sensing something looming behind him. (AC: Main Theme ~The Fullmetal Alchemist~ - FMA:B OST 1) He turned and saw, fully restored behind him, was his Gate of Truth. Ed looked shakily up at the gate in awe. He then saw a small hairline crack appear on the door of his gate.
"The toll the Homunculus paid was not enough, Edward Elric. Not enough for the permanent restoration of your Gate of Truth. Use it wisely Edward Elric, because your time is running out." Truth said as Ed turned back towards him in time to see Truth starting to dissolve away.
"It was nice getting to see you again Edward Elric. Maybe one day you'll come back for your leg as well. I would be anxious to see what you would sacrifice then." Truth said as Ed's Gate of Truth opened, Ed being pulled back through the gate. Ed suddenly found himself back in reality, Al still evading Garand as much as he could. Ed looked hesitantly to his left and saw Selim Bradley's corpse, lying on the ground, his Philosopher's Stone sacrificed for Ed's Gate of Truth. Ed was shaking from the experience and grimaced in grief at the sight of the dead Homunculus.
"Pride! You DUMBASS! Ed cried angrily and tearfully at Pride for his humble sacrifice. His yell caught the attention of Al and Garand who both turned just in time to see Ed running towards them, Ed dropping to one knee, clapping his hands together and slamming them into the ground, causing a shaft of solid rock to burst up from the ground and carry Garand backwards away from Al before falling to the ground. Garand started to sit up from the surprise attack, trying to figure out what had just happened as Ed stepped towards him, baring his teeth angrily and clinching his fist.
"Get up you novice! You wanted to see what the real Fullmetal Alchemist could do! Well you're about to find out! We're going to show you just how outclassed you really are! This time you lose!" Ed snarled as Al stood next to him, both brothers ready to fight to the last.
End Chapter 22