Chapter 37: Appointment with the Fuhrer

'What was in that tea she gave me?' Twilight asked, doing his best to rub the misery in his temples out. It had already been a full day and night since then, and he was still feeling the effect of it, 'maybe I'm still just feeling tired from everything else,' but then he shook his head, and growled under his breath, 'but this is still far worse than anything I've felt before.'

He was sitting in his office. His...new office. Second floor, East Wing, Room B-007. The newly renamed Basque Grand Research and Military Hospital. Also known by it's previous name, Lab 3.

'The Fuhrer put me in middle of his palm,' Twilight seethed inwardly. He'd been forced to move his office here. Officially, it was due the appointment he had been scheduled, and the need to keep all records related to the Fuhrer's health under lock and key of the military. Unofficially, it was to "protect" Lloyd Forger from any reprisals that might occur for helping save Maes Hughes from the spy Twilight, 'And in reality, it's to let me know that Bradley owns me now.'

He had been dreading this day, ever since he had finally discovered the truth of Amestris, and of the Transmutation Circle beneath his feet. Half the reason he had been so exhausted, so...vulnerable, had been that he had this meeting today. In his vulnerability, he had allowed Yor to bypass his defenses, and drank something from her that had probably had some sort of sleeping pill in it. Which, were he a bit less prideful and stressed, he probably would have appreciated.

'But now,' and then the door opened, and one of the nurses at the front desk opened the door.

"Dr. Forger," there was a hint of wonder in her voice. She was a relatively young nurse, and that likely explained why she was reacting to him with something other than the disdain of most of Lloyd Forger's fellow doctors, who questioned why someone as young as him were getting to meet face to face with Fuhrer King Bradley, "The...uhm..."

"I suppose the Fuhrer is here?"

"Yes Doctor," the girl bowed her head, and Twilight nodded. He sat up out of his seat, and then reached around, and pulled his doctor's white coat over his shoulders, all the while mindlessly clicking the fountain pen in his hand. He nodded at her, and she closed the door. He then went over, and picked the file off the top of his desk, opened it, and stared at the information that the military had provided him when he'd first managed to get this appointment. So, basically nothing that wasn't already in his official biography. A minor noble family from just south of Central, enrolled in the military academy in 1874, married a a noble but destitute heiress Dana Unhaus in 1884, became one of the fastest generals in it's history in 1888, supreme commander of the Amestrian military after saving Amestrian positions in Second Southern War in 1897, declared the first Fuhrer after stunning conquest of old Crestan territory in Pendelton in 1904...mostly anything that anyone who knew anything about modern politics of the continent knew.

'And now...I get to know the truth.'

"Ah," the door opened, and the figure of King Bradley appeared into Twilight's view again, "Good to see you again Dr. Forger," he was standing proud, with his hands held behind his back. Behind him stood two very large military policemen, one of darker complexion and dread locks, and the other with tiny lensed glasses and short spiked brown hair, both of whom were looking at Twilight with careful eyes. The two made to follow their commander, but he placed a hand up, "Ah, Jerso, Zampano, please wait outside," when the two looked at the Fuhrer, with cocked eyebrows, he motioned to his sword, "Patient confidentiality."

"What ever you say boss," the dark skinned one nodded, and then waved at the Fuhrer.

A second later, the door closed. The Fuhrer walked to the middle of the room, and gave Lloyd a look. Twilight simply pointed at the patient couch, which the Fuhrer nodded. He waltzed towards the couch, while Twilight stared at Bradley's exposed back, but decided that the pen likely wouldn't be enough to kill the man even if he managed to hit the back of Bradley's neck.

"Ah, Envy," Bradley was staring at the window, where Twilight saw a rat pawing at the glass. He turned back to Twilight, and motioned at the window, "Dr. Forger, would you please allow our friend into the room. I would like a status report."

Lloyd growled, having a feeling he knew what was about to happen, but he walked to the window, and opened it. The rat quickly jumped into the room, and within a second, the familiar red lighting of Envy's transformation. The slimy little...homonculus stood up, stretching his back, and then smirking at Lloyd.

"Hello human," Envy then turned his attention to the Fuhrer, "Yo Wrath, this guys been trying to get back with his-"

"No he hasn't," Fuhrer Bradley sat down onto the couch, rolling his one visible eye at Envy, "If he had been attempting to communicate with his fellow spies, you would have already come running to me as soon as it happened," he pointed at Lloyd, "So no, we aren't going to kill him."

"But I'm booooooorrredddd," Envy whined, twisting it's head to the side, all the while Twilight twirled the pen, wondering if he'd at least managed to stab out the creature's eye before they overwhelmed and killed him, "Do you know what it's like having to follow this wretch around is. I've been stuck with him for over a week, and haven't had a single break."

"Consider this your break," Bradley pointed up at the clock on the wall, "I'm here for two hours, why not go enjoy yourself for a bit."

"What can I do in two hours?" Envy scowled, pointing out the window.

"Well," Bradley rubbed the bottom of his chin, "You seem to be stuck on being a rat or a human," he pointed out the window, "Maybe trying being a bird for a bit, work on flying," he smiled in the biggest, warmest smile that Twilight had ever seen.

"Fuck off Wrath," Envy flipped off the Fuhrer, before transforming once more, into a rat, and then slipping through the window once again. Twilight looked at the Fuhrer, who nodded, allowing him to walk over and close it.

"Now that that's out of the way," Bradley then laid back onto the couch. Twilight sighed, shaking his head at the strangeness he was around, before walking over to his chair. It was all he could do really, "Now, then," the Fuhrer raised his hand into the air, making a circular motion, "What is it, we um...do here?"

"Well," Twilight groaned, "Our job is primarily to...talk," he slowly looked over at the Fuhrer, who was busy shaking his head, "Is...is something the matter?"

"You are paid to talk," the sneer at the back of Bradley's voice was clear, "My word, you humans are so full of yourselves," Twilight decided it was best to avoid confronting the man on this. Better to try and probe into him when he was more comfortable, "So...my dear spy," Twilight bit into the side of his mouth, "What, pray tell, should we talk about."

"Well...you."

"Me?" Bradley sat there for a moment, contemplating that, looking up at the ceiling, "well, I suppose that would be rather interesting to you, wouldn't it," his right hand reached over to the sword on his side, "What do you want to ask about me?"

"How about what you would like to be called," Twilight said, trying to slide into his role as psychiatrist, "I know that you are the Fuhrer, and your official name is King Bradley. Though I've never even heard your wife call you King," he heard the dictator snort at that, "And of course, your...associate calls you Wrath, so if you would prefer-"

"No, no," the Fuhrer waved his hands, "Just the Fuhrer," he sighed, "Less chance of you accidently revealing what I am to others if you get used to calling me that. And of course," Twilight saw a glower in the man's jowls, "I'd rather my real name not come out of your stinking human lips."

"So Fuhrer Bradley then," Twilight said, making a note on the manila of the file that Wrath showed extreme aggression, a separate note for himself in comparison to the patient notes he'd be showing the Fuhrer himself at the end of this session, "I don't suppose you would be willing to tell me about your childhood," he saw the open eye of the dictator open slightly, "Most issues of my patients showing your...tendencies, " psychopathy, megalomania, "tend to have their origins in childhood."

"Is that right," Bradley let out a chuckle, and then saying, "Well, I was born in a log cabin," he then snorted even louder, before adding, "No, no," he sat up, and reached around his head, "Well, agent Twilight, I suppose you have already figured out that I was not a simple nobleman who showed a talent for all things martial," when Twilight gave him a nod, the Fuhrer continued to both work on his eyepatch and speak, "Well, my life began as an orphan on the streets of a suburb of Central. I never knew my father, or my mother. As far as it could be said, this body was perhaps the son of a prostitute, or a plague victim, it really doesn't matter one way or another."

And then the eyepatch fell from his face, and Twilight gasped. Instead of a hole, or a long line of stiches, instead Twilight saw an eye actually within the Fuhrer's skull. But instead of a pupil, sitting in the middle of the eye was a snake with wings biting at it's tail, surrounding a five pointed star.

"What matters is the birth of Fuhrer King Bradley," the older man pointed at the now clear eyeball, "The man with the Ultimate Eye."

"Lieutenant Ross," Maria snapped her head from where she was standing at attention. She looked to her left, and saw Major Demetrius Desmond walking up, his uniform immaculate as he arrived right in front of her, "It is good to see you again."

"Major Desmond," she adjusted her voice to be as forceful as she could while maintaining her respect for the younger man's position, "I trust your injuries have been...handled."

"Yes Lieutenant," the young man calmly placed his hand behind his back, and even Ross, with a military policewoman's eye, could not see a hint of a blush or embarrassment, "The damage I took from the end of my bout with Major Elric was minor by every stretch of the imagination," he then looked over at the house behind her, "Speaking of which, I was wondering where Major Elric is at the moment. I need to speak with him on my work on the assessment."

"D-do," Maria Ross did her best to keep her shock at the request underneath her voice, "Do you really believe that Edward is going to just up and speak with your confrontation?"

Demetrius raised an eyebrow, though it did not show on the rest of his face, "I do not see why not," he placed his hands behind his back, "Surely Major Elric recognized my skills in our bout, and would wish to discuss how best to improve our alchemy using what we learned from our own weaknesses," he then looked on, "Though, I will say, I am sure I have much to learn from the woman who interrupted us," he tried to look into the house, "I suppose that was Major Elric's master then?"

"Major Desmond," Maria switched to a full salute, "Sir, I would advise you not to pursue any other attempt to meet with Mrs. Izumi Curtis."

"...Why?"

The door behind her slammed open, and Maria gave a quick look back. She saw Edward Elric lifting a rather large bag behind his back, grumbling all the way as he carried something that was almost twice his weight. Maria sighed, realizing from the stains, that Edward had been given the chore of lugging the bones and old meat from the Curtis butcher shop over to the town's compost heap. As a butcher's shop, it was something the Curtis's had made sure that one of the boys would do each day.

"Major Elric," Ross saluted Edward as he grumbled, "I see that it is your day today."

"Why wouldn't it be," Elric, still clearly peeved at the task, sniped, "Al did it yesterday, and I did it the day before that," he grumbled, "Master can be such a slave driver."

"Major Elric," Demetrius began, "It is good to see you again. I would like to request-"

"The answer's no jackass," Edward said walking right past his fellow state alchemist, "I ain't talking to you after the crap you pulled," he then cursed under his breath, doing his best to heft the can of left over butcher's waste over his back, "And I certainly ain't doing it when I'm carrying fifty freaking pounds of stuff too old and useless to be put into sausages."

"Well Edward," the young blonde's face suddenly lost all composure, and Maria Ross inwardly sighed as she recognized the look of terror on Edward's face, "I would have hoped by now, you would know how things in the Curtis household work," Izumi Curtis had come out of the front of her house, arms crossed, glaring at Ross, "Though, if you actually respected my household, you wouldn't have brought a dog with you."

This...had been the problem for Maria Ross. Edward and Alphonse had not been lying when they had said that Izumi Curtis seemed to despise the military. That wasn't entirely unexpected, there was a small but solid minority of Amestris outside Central that had a mixed to negative opinion of the military itself. It was easy to imagine the boys illusive and secluded alchemy master disliking their decision to go into the military, though she hoped that eventually Izumi Curtis would reaccept the boys into her home. Especially after Edward had relayed what had occurred that night four years ago, when the Elric brother's lost their bodies attempting human transmutation.

She had ended up reaccepting the boys into her home, after a bit of a kerfuffle about their relationship. It had seemed touching, watching the older woman embrace the boys once again.

'What isn't touching,' Maria Ross growled under her breath, 'Is that she won't even let me into her freaking house.'

"I may have to accept that you boys signed your souls away to be the Fuhrer's dogs,' the dreadlocked woman's voice reverberated in her mind, "But don't expect me to take someone in who chose that life of their own free will. So," the older woman's muscled arms pointed directly at Maria's face, "If you step one foot on my property, I'll kick you so hard you land in Central in an hour."

"A dog?" Demetrius seemed unaffected by Izumi Curtis's words. In all honesty, he seemed more confused than anything. Maria supposed that made sense, considering he was from a family that never questioned the importance of the military. He would likely have never encountered anything approaching the disdain shown by Izumi Curtis.

"Edward, I expect you to be back here within an hour," she slammed her right fist into her left palm, "We have some new exercises I've been waiting to test on some young bodies."

The look of terror on Edward's face was enough to almost distract Maria Ross from the disdain this woman was treating her with. Almost...

"Major Elric," Demetrius continued, "I believe that it is vital that you and I discuss my alchemy before my assessment."

A vein seemed to bulge on Edward's head, causing the shorter young man to growl at Demetrius, "How many times do I have to tell you you freak, I don't care about your assess-" he then stopped, and blinked. His face slowly morphed into one of horror as something seemed to dawn on him, "MY ASSESSMENT!" he dropped the bag from his back, causing it to spill all over the ground.

"HEY!" Edward's Master shouted.

"My yearly assessment is due!" he screamed, and Maria felt the need to slap her forehead. Of course a fourteen year old boy would forget to do his homework, "Oh shit, oh shit."

"What are you on about Edward?" Izumi Curtis asked, arms crossed over one another. Behind her, Alphonse emerged, somehow looking more roughed up and off balance than she was pretty sure was possible for a living suit of armor. Izumi turned back to the younger Elric, and then asked, "What is that shrimp going off about?"

"Oh, the Military requires it's State Alchemists to have a yearly review session, to ensure that their investments in those alchemists are being used wisely," Alphonse tapped the front of the helmet, "If assessments are judged to be inadequate, or not completed at all, then the State Alchemist might be censured, or even lose their license."

"Oh good," Izumi then turned on her heel, "I'll go ahead and call the Military to let them know you won't be coming by again Ed," once again, it seemed that Izumi Curtis was the only one who could induce real shock inside Demetrius, whose eyes widened at the mere suggestion of someone willingly giving up their place as a State Alchemist, "You can go ahead and stop being a Dog of the military like these tw-"

"STOP!" Edward shouted, and Maria was just glad he cut the older woman off. She was getting fairly tired of hearing this woman demean her and her profession every time she opened her mouth, "WAIT! I need the State's Research Grants and travel allowance!" at that, Curtis paused, before sighing, and turning back around, "Oh shit," Edward began to pace back and forth, "This is not good."

"Surely Edward Elric," Demetrius said, looking at Edward with a regained composure, "Surely you have some research that will show the value of your service to the Military this past year," when Edward looked at him with horror, Demetrius suddenly developed a large bead of sweat on the side of his head, and then again said, "Surely?" though it was more from disbelief at the alternative than anything else.

"I...I'll come up with something," Edward slammed his automail fist into his waiting flesh palm, "But damn, I need to get a ticket and-"

"Well," Let it not be said that Demetrius could not recover from his disbelief quickly, however. The other young alchemist coughed, before sticking out his hand, "I have a private car leaving this evening for South City and Southern HQ," Edward looked at the outstretched hand like it was a snake, "I can assure you, it will be faster for you to join me on that trip, than trying to get a ride to Central."

"He's right Big Brother," Edward snapped his head over to the suit of armor, shock at the sudden treason of his younger brother, "I know he's kind of weird," at that Demetrius looked over at Al, vaguely offended, "But it will be better for you to get their quickly," he then raised a finger, "You might even be able to use working with him on his alchemy to help fill out your assessment."

"AL!"

"I would be glad to put in a good word for your assessment if you assist in describing the issues with my style," Demetrius cut in. Ed stopped, slumping down, and looking between Demetrius, and Al. Finally, he lowered his head, stuck his hand out, and Demetrius took it up and shook it, "Excellent," he then turned around towards the train station, "I shall meet you all at five o'clock on Platform Eight. Good to see you both," he then walked away in that mechanical gait of his, causing Maria Ross to feel sweat trickle onto the side of her head.

"What a strange boy," she said, mostly to herself.

"Well then," Ed suddenly marched back towards the Curtis shop, "I need to start packing if I-"

SMACK

"OW!"

"Oh no you don't!" Izumi had reached out, and thwack Edward on the forehead. She then pointed at the spilled trash on the street, and shouted, "Clean up this mess you made, or next time you come back here, you'll be going to the compost heap!"

"YES TEACHER!"

"Of all the souls that warred within me," "King Bradley" rested against the rest of the couch, not even bothering to stop looking up at the ceiling, his strange tattooed eye the only sign of movement, it constantly twitching all around the room, taking in every stray inch of movement, "Only one was left. One soul that just felt one emotion," Bradley turned his head, and stared directly at him, "Wrath."

Twilight could only stare down at his hands clasped together, unable to look his patient in his eyes. A second of silence followed, before the Fuhrer would continue, "Whether that soul was the original that inhabited this body, or one of those that came from the Philosopher's Stone, I cannot say, and will almost assuredly never know."

Twilight gripped his hands together more tightly, veins bulging as the strain built and built. He did not know what he was feeling, as he did his best to control the cold sweat around his body.

Terror?

Rage?

...Guilt?

"So...," Twilight looked back at the placid face of Fuhrer Candidate Number Twelve, who seemed to have not been affected by a single word of what he had just said, "In the end, you are just as much a victim of this as anyone."

"...," at this, Twilight could see the Homunculus's face morph, his eyes widen, and his frown become...confused. Then, after a second, the face transformed, as his mouth shot upward, and he barked out, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Twilight could only sit and stare as the Fuhrer of Amestris guffawed at him. A sense of indignation rose up, and he stood up, and then said, "What is so funny about your entire life being stolen away from you?" the Fuhrer only began to harder, "You were used as a child soldier, no worse than that, a child Guinea pig, and then had your soul ripped to pieces. All for some insane scheme that you had no choice in the matter. None of that is funny!"

"HAHA-OH-hahaha," Bradley seemed to calm himself, placing his hand on his forehead, before shaking his head, "Oh, it's hilarious," he then turned, and allowed himself to sit up, "You really think that what happened to me is some kind of tragedy? That Fuhrer Candidate Number Twelve was the one that finally ascended beyond the bonds of mere human flesh and spirit? That for some reason, I deserve your pity?" He stood to his full height, and once again Twilight was reminded of just how large a man the Fuhrer was, "Fate smiled upon me. I do not know what set me apart from the first eleven candidates, but that is what was provided for me," he stretched out his arms, "I have been provided many things. A Name, a title, a country, power, wealth, influence. Things that most men spend their entire lives striving for, I was given the moment I became Wrath."

"But it cost you your humanity," Twilight hissed, "Don't you see that? Don't you ever want that back?"

"What?" and suddenly, all the joviality of the Fuhrer vanished. In it's place was the severity of a man who'd ordered tens of thousands of people be put to the sword. Twilight was forced to take a step back, as the much larger figure loomed over him, "Why would I ever want to be human again?"

"Because that is wh-"

"It was what I was," Bradley cut Twilight off, "I'm something so much more than a mere human being now. More than a man. I was created to be greater than you, and I am greater than you. You are a series of accidents of chance and biology, I am the result of planning and power. Why would I chose to lower myself and defy the purpose I have been provided?"

Twilight made to open his mouth...but he couldn't, 'What can I say?' he asked himself, 'What is there to say?'

"So, the homunculi are your family now then."

"Oh, not really."

'Oh,' Twilight killed the smile that threatened to creep up his lips, 'Finally got something.'

"Do you have no sense of camaraderie," Twilight asked, "No companionship. No familial bond."

"We are tools to bring about the Promised Day," Twilight's heart soared when he saw the tiniest flick of emotion along his jaw, "I doubt what we have is anything even mildly close to what you humans might classify as a family," this wasn't Bradley's own thoughts, or at least, not the ones he kept to himself, "We have been given our roles, and it is our destiny to complete them. Nothing more and nothing less."

"So, that's it, you are nothing more than automatons, mindlessly doing whatever you are told, taking up any task they give you," he pushed, "Doesn't sound to me like you are some higher being," he glared at him, "It sounds to me like you are a slave."

"Whatever you need to do to provide yourself some comfort in your inferiority," Bradley didn't realize it, but a vein on right above his Ultimate Eye was raised slightly, "I have a purpose, and through that purpose everything a man desire."

"Men desire power because it is theirs's, to mold the world to what they want it to be," Twilight had to keep pushing, had to see what he could get out of the Fuhrer, "But your power isn't something for you to wield on your own. It is simply a tool to do whatever you are told to do."

"So wh-"

"You have so much, but none of it is really yours's," Twilight stepped forward, "Like you said, everything was decided for you. You've never had to make a real choice in your entire life. You didn't choose to join the military. You didn't choose to become the Fuhrer. You certainly didn't chose to become "Wrath"," the name never seemed to have matched Fuhrer Bradley better than it did now, "I bet you didn't even choose your wif-"

SHLINK

"GYAH!" Twilight fell backward, holding his hand up against the side of his ear, feeling blood pour from the wound. He then looked up, and saw that top of his left ear sitting on the tip of the sword. He glared at the Fuhrer, desperately trying to stop the bleeding from his now bisected ear. Still, in the back of his mind, he smirked to himself, glad he'd forced the Homunculus to lower his guise if but for a moment.

"Tell me, Agent Twilight," Fuhrer King Bradley looked Twilight directly in the eye, "Why was it that you were assigned to come and speak with me?" he refused to smile, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice, the rage within him subsiding with the wound he'd just caused Twilight, "Oh, that WISE managed to get a spy to have me in for a psychiatric session is actually very impressive, but they wouldn't have done that unless they were extremely worried about something here in Amestris," Twilight looked to the ground, "So tell me, what is it that you were assigned to investigate."

"...," Twilight took in a breath, and said, "We...we heard information of something massive going to happen in Spring of next year. After the Pendelton disaster, we wanted to see if there was going to be another blitz by the Amestrian military against us or Aerugo to the South."

"That does make sense, doesn't it," the Fuhrer adjusted his sword, and Twilight's digit landed directly at his feet. Bradley then returned his sword to it's scabbard, "Actually quite logical, enough activities have been preparing for the Promised Day that it would be foolish to think that something wouldn't be happening then," Bradley rubbed his chin, "Yes, with the planned meetings of the South and West armies for their war games near Pendelton, and the North and East armies being close enough to Central to be sent in support for a second wave...not to mention...," the Fuhrer got quiet, contemplating Twilight's answer. Twilight used the chance to pull himself up on his desk, and reach into his pocket and pull out a handkerchief, which he brought to his ear to try and staunch the bleeding.

'He's right,' Twilight considered, 'He's faster than any human I've ever seen. Even if I had a full drop on him, I doubt I could survive a fight with him,' he then thought back, to Envy screaming as Twilight emptied a magazine into the creature, 'Though, even if I landed a shot on Bradley, would it have mattered?'

"So, I believe that you are telling the truth," Twilight was snapped out of his consideration by the Fuhrer's words, "So, then," he slapped his hands together, "I have good news. I won't kill you today."

"Why?"

"Because I choose to," Bradley answered, and Twilight decided it wasn't worth fighting on it, "Hell, considering everything, I might let you and your family go on the Promised Day if you keep following my orders," he smiled, "Your daughter...managed to amuse me, so consider it something of gift to her. Just continue to do what I say, and you will get out of this alive."

"Even if I survive, then millions of others will still di-"

"What do you care?" Bradley raised an eyebrow, "They're Amestrans."

"There still human beings," Twilight growled, "They are still people."

"And why does that matter?"

Twilight looked up, and realized that Bradley was trying to get back at him. To get him to reveal something, so that momentary lapse in control did not seem a total loss. Twilight then looked down at the sword on Bradley's side, and decided that at least he could offer something.

"Because my dream is world peace," he answered earnestly.

The Fuhrer snorted, as Twilight imagined he would, "World Peace," the dismissiveness was clear in the Fuhrer's voice, "What a frivolous desire. There won't be world peace until every last human is gone from this world," he was about to add something to the end of that statement, but he stopped, and he then turned, "I have grown bored today," he then stopped, "Still, this was...cathartic. I will arrange for another meeting next month," he waved his hand back, "Until we meet again."

Twilight watched as the taller man opened the door, and exited the room. The two guards gave him a look, and began to follow the Fuhrer as he walked down the hallway. Twilight watched as the Fuhrer walked away from him, the two giants following behind, before he made a turn to the central hub of the hospital, and out of his site. Slowly, Twilight walked to the door, and closed it. He then walked back to his chair, sat down, and allowed his arms and legs to sprawl out. He took in a deep breath, and then let it out, before retuning his eyes to the window, to see a familiar rat sitting against the glass. He brought his hand again to his ear, and felt, despite his attempt at wrapping it up with the handkerchief, it was still bleeding quite badly. He took all this in, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed.

'Honestly,' he considered, 'I was expecting a lot worse.'