Fullmetal Kingdom ~ Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Move Forward

Cornello rushes into the altar, and makes for the door out. As he pushed it open, outside, waiting for him, was an angry mob of townspeople! Almost every person who lived in Lior was there, with pitchforks, bats, and angry faces, but it wasn't just the townspeople, some of the followers were confused about Cornello's words.

"So all those miracles were lies?"

"We believed in you, how could you?"

"You made fools of us for the last time!"

"Father...is this true?"

"I don't understand father, what's going on?"

"It was alchemy all along, why Father Cornello, Why?"

Cornello was frozen in fear, his tricks were revealed, and everyone was against him. He couldn't explain himself, so he decided to go with a different explanation, "My children, do not believe the words of the non-believer! He has used his science to impersonate me as a conspiracy by the devil himself! But witness as Leto redeems me with this vengeful light! BEHOLD, GOD'S POWER!"

As Cornello raised his ring hand, he performed another alchemic miracle by bringing 4 statues to life. They slowly walk to Cornello's side, and to make sure the townspeople would take his side, he transmuted a nearby statue into a crystal vine with two large, red, ruby roses coming from the ends of the branches. The townspeople were starting to have their doubts, and it seemed like Cornello won, until Edward arrived, "I'm warning you, give it up!"

Cornello smiled and turned towards Ed, "You didn't fool me with that little display down there." he then reached into his pocket and pulled out Ed's pocket watch, "Without your precious watch, the only thing you could transmute was your metal arm!" Cornello then threw the pocket watch across the sky, and over the gateway to his temple. Ed just smiled, "Hey, nice toss, but you know what? YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN'T STAND DOUBTERS PREACH!"

Ed then transmutes a spear, to Cornello's surprise, and chucks it at him. However, it missed him, then Cornello laughed, "HA, you need to work on your aim!" Cornello then rushes toward the spear, "No matter what tricks you pull out of your sleeve, you will never get the stone, NEVER!" Cornello then uses his ring hand to transform the spear close to him into another gun. But suddenly, as he did, his hand was melded and mutated! His entire arm was turned into a pulsing mechanical mess.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Ed was just as confused as Cornello, "A-a recoil, but why? The Philosopher Stone was supposed to be flawless!" And then, behind Cornello, Sora, Rose, and Al came rushing towards Ed, "Edward, you little JERK!"

(WACK)

Sora knocked Ed on the noggin, Ed asked, "GRRR-!! What was that for?" Sora replied, "That's for not letting me in on your plan! I THOUGHT ALPHONSE WAS DEAD YOU DICK!" Ed pushed Sora, "WELL YOU DIDN'T ASK WHAT I WAS SMILING ABOUT STUPID!"

Suddenly, Rose screamed in terror, so Sora and the Elric Bros. turned around and saw Rose in the grip of Cornello! He threatened the heroes, "If you even try and come near me...I'LL KILL HER!" Rose pleaded, "Father Cornello, please don't do this!" Cornello replied, "SHUT UP ROSE! It's your fault they came, because of you, they ruined everything!" But before Cornello could retreat with his hostage, Sora's fist made contact with his face, "LET HER GO!" Rose was released while Cornello was sent flying, and then, falls, face-front on the ground.

As the townspeople gathered around Cornello, Sora came to Rose's side, "Are you alright?" Rose was in shock, "I-I'm alright." so Al told Sora, "I'll watch over her. In the meantime, you and Ed get the Stone away from Cornello." Ed pats Sora on the shoulder, "Let's go, we still need to ask him some questions about the Stone." Sora nods, and the two ran to Cornello...

Sora and Edward rush toward the townspeople who were surrounding Cornello, but suddenly, a burst of red light came from the center of the crowd! Cornello's voice was heard, "No, I won't be disgraced like this! Now, behold...THE CHOSEN EMISSARY OF THE SUN GOD LETO!" Just then, a large creature emerged from the crowd of townspeople, and blew them away!

The townspeople were convinced, Father Cornello was a liar, a cheat, and now, a monster! Knowing that they were no match, they ran away from Cornello and his temple. Cornello was now 9 ½ Ft. tall, with red glowing eyes, a large mechanical arm with spear-like fingers and a large cannon. Sora asked, "Edward, is it just me or is 'Fat-Man' Cornello as stubborn as you?" Ed smiled, "Yep, that jackass thinks he's so tough. What an idiot!" Cornello looked at them, "You're all laughing at me again? YOU'RE ALWAYS LAUGHING AT ME!"

Cornello reaches out to try and grab Sora and Ed, but they were too quick. Cornello then landed a strong punch at Sora, but Sora successfully caught it, "Stupid boy, the Hammer of God cannot be stopped!" Sora smiled, "No, but your fist is a different story!" Cornello was confused, but suddenly, a large fist came from the ground and hit him hard! Ed laughed, "Since when does the Emissary of God fall for tricks like that?" Cornello started to get irritated, "SILENCE!"

Cornello took the remaining statues he brought to life and threw them at Sora. As he tried to dodge the statues, one succeeded in hitting Sora, knocking him out. Cornello walks toward the unconscious bodyguard and attempts to crush him, "My word is the divine word of God himself! MY FIST IS THE ALMIGHTY FIST OF JUDGMENT!"

"If that's what you want...THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT!"

Cornello turns and looks at Edward, who just used alchemy. Cornello looked around and saw nothing coming at him, "HA, is this your way of scaring me with your alchemic tricks?" Ed smiled, "Nope, I'm bringing out the REAL Fist of Judgment!" And then, a rumbling sound was heard from inside the Temple of Leto, and then, an explosion came from the Temple doors. Al gets Rose out of the way to let out whatever Ed summoned.

And then, there it was, the gigantic statue of Leto that was in the altar, walking out of the temple and towards Cornello, it's towering size frightened Cornello, "I don't believe it! Not even the Philosopher Stone could move something that big!" Al and Rose came to help Sora up, then Al said, "Rings and watches have nothing to do with it. My brother is the Fullmetal Alchemist!" The giant statue then prepares a fist, and swings it right at Cornello. And with a successful blow, the great prophet was defeated!

(BRA-KOOM)

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

After the smoke cleared, Cornello is seen back to normal, back to his normal size, Cornello gathered his senses and saw before him, the triumphant heroes, Sora and Edward, Cornello stepped back, "N-no! I won't let you have it! You can't take the stone!" Ed grabs the false prophet's head, head-butts Cornello and yells, "AW SHUT UP ALREADY!" Ed grabs Cornello's mutated arm and looks at the ring, but before he could take it, the Philosopher Stone shattered, and turned into dust.

Ed wasn't at all pleased, "What the hell? The stone...was an imitation? That's impossible, the stone's raw material! How could it just break like that?" Cornello answered, "I-I don't know, I don't know anything about it! Spare me, please! I was wrong, please don't hurt me, I beg you!" Ed's eyes started to twitch, he looked at Cornello and said, "You mean we went through all this, risked our lives for this one possible chance, and it's a fake?" Edward's fists then started to shake, "He-he-he, after all the trouble you put me through, you, the miracles, EVEN THE STONE'S A FAKE? STOP JERKING ME AROUND!"

A nervous Cornello then asked, "So, uh, what about me?"

Ed gave a very simple answer...

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, JUST GET OUTTA HERE!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Cornello then makes a break for it, running scared while Sora, Al and Rose walk carefully away from the peeved little Elric...

Hours later, Ed was seen waiting with his bags packed and ready to leave Lior. He then noticed Alphonse running toward him with his bags packed as well. Alphonse asked, "Brother, are you alright?" Ed replied with a sigh, "It was a wild goose chase Al. I really thought we were close too." Al sits next to him, "I know Ed, but we have to be patient. We can't just expect things to just, well, fall into our laps." Ed smiled, "Yeah, you're right. We'll find the real Philosopher Stone, and when we do, you'll be back to normal." Al then said, "No brother, you'll be the one we fix first."

Ed then took a look around and asked, "Hey Al, what's taking the 'Palm Tree' so long?" Al felt a little depressed when Ed asked, so he looked back and said, "He's...saying good bye to Rose."

Back at the altar, Sora sat close to Rose, who was silent for a long time. Sora tried to talk to her, "I...came to say good bye. You see, I was given an assignment to protect Edward, but well, (chuckle) now that I think about it, I don't know why I was even needed, I mean, did you see the way Ed handled Cornello and his minions? Geez, he should be the bodyguard, huh?" Rose remained silent...

Sora felt a bit discouraged, so he tried again, "Did I do something to you? If so, can you please just tell me? Hey, Rose, come on!" Rose finally spoke out, "You should never have come..." Sora was surprised, "W-what do you mean by that?" Rose stood up and said, "Father Cornello gave us hope, what right did you have to take it away?"

Sora replied, "I didn't take anything! He was lying to you! Are you saying that it would have been better if he used you as a human shield?" Rose slapped Sora and replied, "If I didn't know about Father Cornello's secrets, I would have gladly died, knowing that in heaven, Cain would be waiting for me...but because of you and the Elrics, I'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN!"

"Do you really think that?"

Sora and Rose saw at the entrance of the altar, Ed and Al, who apparently heard everything, Rose ran in front of the Elrics, "GET OUT, ALL OF YOU, JUST TAKE YOUR 'TRUTH' AND HOPE-CURSHING ALCHEMY AND LEAVE! YOU'VE TAKEN ENOUGH FROM US!" Sora then said, "That isn't fair Rose! Cornello lied to you, he planned on taking the country, sacrificing the people in Lior, and he didn't give a damn about what you wanted!"

Ed stopped Sora, "It's no use. She won't listen to reason." Rose became furious, "Reason? What kind of reason would you have to take away our hope? With Father Cornello, we really believed he could do anything, even bring back the dead! We're a dessert village, we had nothing before that!" Ed then asked, "You're saying that we should have just left everything the way it was?" Rose replied, "Why not?"

Sora then said, "Because the dead can't be brought back to life. Trust me Rose, I know-." Rose interrupted, "SHUT UP! You're a killer, a murderer! You could never understand what it means to lose someone you love! You act like there wasn't any other way, like you have to do the right thing, but what about us? You don't care!" Sora replied, "I care more about you than you think!"

Everyone looked at Sora, who was starting to blush, He then said to Rose, "You can hate me all you want, just know that I would never betray you! Even if I'm not around, you can still count on me to come whenever there's trouble. And for your information...I'm not a killer! I stopped taking lives a long time ago, and for that, I was teased and beaten. But I didn't hate them, I made my choice, and I plan to stay with it! And you could do the same thing Rose, you can make a choice! It all depends on what you can do right now."

Rose trembled and said, "But my choice WAS to see Cain again! What can I do now? What choice do I have left, now that I know Cain isn't coming back, it's pointless to keep going! I HAVE NOTHING NOW!" As Rose cried, Sora didn't know how to help, but then, Edward came up to her, "Like Sora said earlier, it's your choice. We can't give you a reason to live; you have to figure it out on your own."

Rose looked at Edward as he continued, "Stand up straight, walk on your own, and keep moving forward, just like we do." Edward stood up and walked away, but then stopped, looked at a teary eye-filled Rose and said, "You've got some strong legs Rose...you should get up and use them, because you're strong enough to make your own choices."

Rose was filled with feelings of confusion. As Ed left, Sora looked at Rose, helped her up, then left, but Al didn't leave, instead, he came to her and explained, "Brother isn't trying to be mean; he just doesn't know how to handle some things." Rose looked away, "Would you just go away." Alphonse then said, "You can still believe in hope Rose. I still do..."

Meanwhile, inside the Temple, Cornello was in his office, still feeling the pain coursing through his arm, "RRRRRGH, What's going on here? That damn boy was right! The Philosopher Stone those people gave me was a fake!" Suddenly, a voice was heard, "Of course it was." Cornello looked and saw Lust standing with Gluttony, "You were using the bait so well too. In time, rumors will spread to alchemists everywhere about you holding the stone, and then..."

Cornello asked, "Cursed souls, who are you really? What is it you're after?" Gluttony asked, "Come on Lust, isn't it time you let me eat the old preacher?" Lust then replies, "I don't know Gluttony, the old fart could give you indigestion." Cornello was infuriated, "YOU'RE MOCKING ME NOW TOO? I WON'T STAND F-!" Before Cornello could finish, he was already dead, as Lust finished him by piercing his head. Lust smiled, "Well, I'd say this concludes our business."

Lust turned away and looked disappointed, "Just when things were starting to progress, I knew that ego would be too much for that empty head of yours. Mother and Father won't like this one bit, but no matter. Everything is going according to plan." Gluttony then licks his chops and comes toward Cornello's body…

(CHOMP)

Moments later, Rose steps out of the Temple of Leto, remembering what Alphonse told her...

"Before we go Rose, please listen to me. My brother and I have seen all sorts of things over our years of searching, and I need to tell you about them, so you don't repeat our mistakes. We were born and raised in a small village, East of Central, named Risembool. That's where it all began... Human kind 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. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth..."

A few hours later, Donald and Goofy came to Lior; Donald came up to a citizen and asked, "Hey, did you see some kid with spiky hair?" The citizen replied, "Yeah, they left." Donald was shocked, "WHAT? What do ya mean 'they left'?" The citizen explained, "I MEAN they left our town, our dessert, and our fudge'n train station! They left Ducky." Donald got P-O'd and yelled, "AWW SON OF A-!"

End of Chapter 10 and the Lior Arc