Fullmetal Ghoul

A Ghoul's Anguish

Me: Aaaaaaah... poor, poor Nina... This episode made me cry.

Al: -pats my back- There, there, Kori.

Me: -sniffles- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Tokyo Ghoul. Oh, and I think I'll start making the chapters longer. BTW, I just reread all three chapters and realized that there are small spelling errors in all of them; I don't use spellcheck. It's overrated. (That one time I tried to write 'Fullmetal' and it autocorrected to 'Fundamental'... I'll never live it down.)

Ed: -staring at the wall with a deadpan expression on his face-

Me: ...I think the thought of me crying traumatized him.

"You owe me for this, Colonel."

The smirk on Major Edward Elric's face was one that could strike terror into any average soldier's heart. It was one that silently promised, I will not forget this.

"It gives me shivers to hear that from you," replied Colonel Roy Mustang easily, his amused expression completely contradicting his statement. He sighed and stood, walking over to the bookcases erected against the wall. Ed turned in his seat, looking deeply suspicious, and demanded, "What're you doing?"

Al's quiet reprimand of "Brother" went ignored by Mustang, who sniped, "Don't be so suspicious. I'm paying off my debt here and now." He extricated a file out of the tightly wedged books and reports with some difficulty, then tossed it onto the table in front of the Elric brothers, explaining as he sat back down at his own desk, "The Sewing Life Ghoul, Shou Tucker. He got his State Ghoul license when he successfully created a chimera that could speak like a human."

This snatched Ed's attention. Creating chimeras was notoriously tricky, and usually, only Rinkaku ghouls did it because they were at the least risk with their increased healing abilities. Other ghouls could create them as well, of course, but it was considered a reckless thing to do unless you were a Rinkaku and knew what you were doing. But what really struck him was that one piece of information—"You mean it could speak? A chimera?"

"Yes," repeated Mustang patiently. "But apparently it said only one thing: 'I want to die'. After that, it refused to eat, and starved to death."

Al exchanged glances with Ed, who muttered, "I wonder why Mr. Tucker would create such a thing..."

"Holy... This house is huge," Ed said in awe, staring up at the mansion with a look of disbelief on his face. Al was looking around at the garden, lips quirked in a grim smile at the withering flowers. The whole place seemed to be in disrepair.

Suddenly, a huge shadow fell upon Ed. The half-ghoul only had time to look up and shriek before an overlarge white dog landed on him, panting in victory. Al clamped both hands over his mouth to stifle the laughs wracking his lanky frame.

"Whoa! Lots of visitors, Papa!" Cried a young girl's voice. Al, unoccupied, turned his head at the sound, and there was a small child, a girl with long brown braids hanging down her back, standing in the doorway, pushing the door open further. A middle-aged man wearing wire-rimmed glasses materialized behind her, chastising weakly, "Now, Nina, I told you to keep the dog tied up..."

"Mr. Tucker," said Mustang smoothly. "These are the Elric brothers. They wish to learn about the biological branch of using kagune, specifically for Rinkaku ghouls, and I pointed them here." He finished his little spiel with a charming smile, not quite unlike the one he would give women who were drooling over him, but Shou Tucker didn't seem all that reassured; however, he did bestow upon them a nervous little smile.

"Come in, come in," he said, ushering them in, rushing the little girl—Nina—inside as well, and though he had not been called, the dog, Alexander, jumped up, and Ed, grumbling, clomped in.

"This is the Fullmetal Ghoul Edward Elric, Mr. Tucker," said Mustang, nodding towards Ed, who inclined his head to Tucker. "He's the one interested in the branch of Rinkaku chimera creation."

"Ah." Tucker sat back, observing Ed, who gave him a hard stare back, accustomed to mutterings about him and the pointing of fingers, then his eyes flickered to Al, who patted his mess of silver hair self-consciously. The older man gestured for them to sit down at the dining table; Ed and Mustang complied, though Nina tugged at Al's arm, begging him to come play with her, until he gave up and followed her, just as Tucker appeared to reach a decision.

"If you want to know what I'm keeping hidden behind my back, you'll have to show me what you are, too," he said placidly. "It would be fair then, would it not?"

Mustang remained completely still; only his dark, alarmed eyes darted to Ed, who had stiffened, as though his spine had been replaced by a metal rod. He began to speak, to cover Ed's reaction: "Mr. Tucker, I'm sorry, I don't think—" but Ed raised a hand to stop him.

"I think Mr. Tucker deserves an answer," he said quietly, and he grit his teeth, dug his fingers into the armrest of the chair, and his silver Unique kagune flickered to life from his back. Tucker stared for a few moments before nodding, and Ed's kagune practically deflated before retreating into his back.

"I would appreciate it if you kept this a secret, Mr. Tucker," said Mustang, his voice considerably subdued. "Not many people truly know what kind of kagune the Fullmetal Ghoul has."

"Of course," said Tucker levelly. He stood with a heavy sigh and added, "Follow me, Major," and Mustang and Ed exchanged a fleeting look before Ed nodded, grabbed Al's hand, and went after Tucker.

Before Tucker could turn the corner, Mustang called, "Mr. Tucker? The examination is coming up soon."

Tucker turned slightly, his glasses catching the light filtering through the window. "Yes, I know."

"That library is amazing, Mr. Tucker!" Exclaimed Ed, waving his gloved hands animatedly. "There are books in there that I've never read, and they're awesome!"

Tucker chuckled, then lowered his gaze. "It's been a mess around here ever since my wife left... It's nice to hear someone complimenting it."

"Mama left when I was little," said Nina with a hint of sadness. She buried her face into Alexander's white fur, adding, "I write to her a lot, but she never writes back."

Both Ed and Al flinched, remembering their father, who'd left them while they were young.

"Well, she left because of the state of poverty we were in..." Tucker lowered his head further, adding under his breath, "I have to pass this examination no matter what."

"Big brother, what's an examination?" Asked Nina. Ed looked at the small child and said simply, "An examination is when State Ghouls have to report their findings to the military. If you don't do well, they take your State Ghoul license."

Nina gasped loudly and threw herself into Tucker's startled arms, saying, "No way! Papa, you'll do well for sure! You're always studying so hard! If they don't let you, I'll make them!"

Both boys chuckled, then Al said, "You tell 'em, Nina."

Tucker glanced at the young girl in his embrace, the light catching the lenses of his glasses and making it hard to distinguish his eyes underneath the glass. "I have to pass this examination, no matter what. I can't have us go back to the poverty we dealt with before."

The two Elrics exchanged glances, Al looking bewildered, Ed doubtful.

"Er, good... Good luck, Mr. Tucker..."

Tucker looked at his hands for a moment, then said suddenly, "Nina, do you want to play with Papa tomorrow?"

Nina gasped again, almost comically, and exclaimed, "Alexander, did you hear?" The dog barked happily, sensing his mistress's joy.

"Papa says we can play!"

It was a gray day. Ed groaned as they ascended the steps to Tucker's house; as a Rinkaku-Ukaku type, both kagune highly sensitive to rain, he could feel a distinct aching in his back. Al gave him a sympathetic glance; because his Koukaku was incomplete and he was unable to use it properly, he wouldn't be able to shield his older brother from the downpour.

"Mr. Tucker?" Called the elder, poking his head into the doorway. "It's Ed and Al! Can we come in?"

Silence. Unnerving, bellowing, terrifying silence.

Ed narrowed his eyes, stepping smartly over the threshold. "Mr. Tucker?"

Al joined him, calling, "Nina? Mr. Tucker? Are you alright?"

"Down here."

His voice had a kind of hypnotized, dreamlike quality that sent chills up both ghouls' spines. It was almost... Dead.

When they entered the darkened chamber beside the library, there was a white chimera with a lank brown mane and a curved back sitting on all fours, staring at Tucker. The older alchemist's eyes were, once again, obscured by the light reflecting off of the glass of his spectacles.

"It's my newest creation," he said, spreading his arms, gesturing to the chimera and smiling widely. He then knelt down in front of the creature and spoke to it, "Hey, this person is Edward. Got it? Ed-ward."

"Ed... ward," repeated the chimera sluggishly, and Tucker nodded vigorously, overjoyed. "Yes, that's right! Edward."

Ed crouched in beside the chimera, tucking a hand under its chin as he would a dog as it continued, "Ed... ward. Ed... ward."

It suddenly gave him a horrible grin of some sort, showing its mouthful of blunt teeth. "Big... Bro... ther."

Ed gasped, stifling it at the last second. He couldn't have... He wouldn't have...!

"Mr. Tucker, when did your wife leave?"

Tucker appeared a bit taken aback, but answered amiably, "Let's see... Two years ago."

"And when did you get your State Ghoul license?"

Tucker's glasses obscured the view to his eyes. "Two years ago."

"Can I ask one more question?" Ed clenched his teeth, fighting back the bloodlust. He'd eaten over a week ago, and he didn't need to spill more blood... But if he did... If he'd done what he thought—!

"Where did Nina and Alexander go?!"

Tucker moved his head to the side, so that his eyes were visible, and they held a kind of patronizing reproach. "I hate nosy brats like you."

He was carried forward by rage on his silver wing; his two silver tentacles whipped around angrily. You didn't, you didn't, you didn't!

"So that's what you did! You—you scum... How could you?! The first time, it was your wife!" The enraged half-ghoul gestured violently to the chimera, who sat stock-still in the middle of the cobbled floor, supremely unconcerned with the rapid turn of events. "This time, you created a chimera using your own daughter and a dog!"

Al, too, gasped, turning to stare in horror at Nina, who tilted her head to look back. "Oh, my God..."

"Because it's so much easier to use humans, isn't it?! Because tampering with mortal life gets you much better results, doesn't it?!"

Tucker, who'd been pinned helplessly to the wall by a silver tentacle, managed a wheezy laugh. "Oh, so I'm wrong? Your kagune, your brother's senses... They're because of tampering with mortal life, isn't it?"

"You're wrong!" He was going to regret screaming in the morning, his voice would be all but gone, but he didn't care, not when he'd done the Devil's work, not when he brought back all those memories, with the violet light and the blackened corpse of his mother and Al standing unmoving and no, no, no.

"We're both State Ghouls, bound to the military with our abilities and curiousity! We're scientists, ready to go to unreachable lengths to satisfy our questions!"

"You're wrong!"

"You're curious, too, aren't you? You want to know everything, but you're held back by laws! Why should we obey? We deserve the answers and thus should be allowed to perform these experiments!"

"You're wrong!" This time, he punctuated his meaning with a gash from his free tentacle. The man laughed, blood gurgling from his gut where the Rinkaku had probably pierced a vital organ or two, but Ed didn't care.

"We ghouls..." Another slash.

"Would never..." Another wound.

"I'd never—!" His left arm, hanging limply at his side, was pulled back gently. Ed froze, his unshed tears still watering in his human eye, blood spattered over the right side of his face.

Nina had the red sleeve of his jacket in her mouth. When she had his attention, she dropped it and padded over to her profusely bleeding, but rapidly healing, father.

"Pa... pa... Do you... hurt...? Papa, do you hurt...?"

Ed stared at her. No matter what form she was in, she was still Nina, and she, even though her father had done this to her, she still loved him unconditionally...

He screamed.

"This was truly the Devil's work." First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye follwed Mustang out of the Eastern Command Center, her brows furrowed.

"The Devil's work, huh?" Said Mustang, phrasing the question more as rhetorical than one to be answered. "We State Ghouls must be ready to act in these types of situations. In a way, what Tucker did wasn't so different from what we do, interfering with things that we often don't understand. We chose this path, knowing full well what we were doing." He paused in the middle of the stairs, in the rain, even though there was a prickling at his shoulder blades where his Ukaku would be.

"Right, Fullmetal?"

The boy was sitting on a step, his head buried in his knees and arms. His kagune was strewn behind him, dispersing momentarily every time a drop hit it, but though it must have been at least remotely uncomfortable, he didn't withdraw it.

"People may call us demons or Gods. Because of what we can do. But we're not demons, much less Gods." Ed stood, slowly, crushed by the weight of emotion and pain. "We're mortal." He clenched his fists. "We can't even save one little girl." He finally hunched over, ready to cry but forcing himself not to. "We're just... Pathetic... Mortals...!"