Fullmetal Kingdom ~ Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Ulterior Motives

Underground, Edward had just finished lining up the 4th pillar that connected the Transmutation Circle above to the Transmutation Circle on the floor. Edward looked at Xehanort and asked, "Just one more to go. By the way, I noticed a few scribbles on the pillars. What are those for?" Xehanort replied, "Those inscriptions help connect the Transmutation Circles. I'll be over shortly to see if they're connected or not." Ed then said, "Alright, thanks."

Xehanort finished his notes and walked over to Edward. He then examined the pillars…

"This pillar should be turned slightly to the left while those two are on opposite ends." Xehanort said.

Edward sighed and turned the 1st pillar slightly while Xehanort went over to Tucker to ask for his help. Ed then wondered, "Al…if you saw this…would you still want to be human again?"

"Probably not, which is why we'll have to hurry up and finish this before he comes down." Donald said as he came over to him. Donald then latched onto the pillar and said, "Here, I'll help you out. We can't let those schemers do most of the work, who knows what they'll try." Ed nodded, and so he and Donald worked on the pillars…

Outside, Maes Hughes, Alex Louis Armstrong, King Bradley, and a group of soldiers (along with Maria Ross and Denny Block) arrived at the 5th Lab, where Hughes noticed the building slowly falling apart. Hughes then reported, "Sir, from the looks of this place, I'd say the area is booby-trapped with explosives." The fuhrer nodded and said, "Let's get a bomb squad over here, I want to know where these explosives are planted."

Hughes nodded and rushed to the phone to make the call, but suddenly, he noticed some strange-looking red clouds, raining black water upon the town…

"…next thing you know, meatballs'll rain down on us." Hughes joked. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the front view of the 5th Laboratory!

(KRA-KA-THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

Hughes rushed to the fuhrer's side and asked, "Sir, if there were bombs in the ground, wouldn't they have detonated?" Bradley then said, "Perhaps the bombs are only connected to the building. Lieutenant Colonel, get in there and pull those boys out before they're buried here!" Hughes nodded and said, "Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Block, you're coming with me and Major Armstrong, LET'S GO!"

Ross instantly headed in with Hughes and Armstrong while a nervous Block followed in, "HEY GUYS HOLD UP! WAIT FOR ME!"

Inside a hidden room, the prisoners of the next-door prison were being kept inside, including Zolf J. Kimblee, who paid no mind to the confusion around him and simply waited…

One of the prisoners wondered, "Why…why would Basc Grand place all of us here?"

"That wasn't him."

Kimblee's words surprised the prisoner, who sat down next to him and wondered what he meant, so Kimblee explained, "That wasn't the real Basc Grand. I know because of this-." Kimblee then gave the prisoner a newspaper article form Aerugo, showing Basc Grand's body being covered by sheets to avoid the public seeing the murder. The prisoner read, "…Another State Alchemist 'SCARRED'. This sounds familiar somehow." Kimblee chuckled, "I love the title, 'Scarred', it's referencing a guy who kills our country's State Alchemists."

A prisoner nearby then said, "It's not surprising a traitor would laugh at his own soldier's slaughter. Stay away from this guy kid; he's as crooked as they come." Kimblee then asked, "Oh, I'm 'crooked' now, huh? Tell me old man, how do you know I'm a 'snapped twig' if I never met you." The elder prisoner explained, "Everyone in the joint heard about you, Red Lotus! You use bombs not only against the enemies in the Ishbal Rebellion, but also against your own men! You live only to see blood-."

Suddenly, Kimblee grabbed the elder by the arm, and then he said to the younger prisoner, "You mind telling everyone to keep their distance? This one's gonna get messy." The younger prisoner pushed everyone away while Kimblee looked back at the elder prisoner, who punched the Red Lotus away and said, "Heh, I'm gonna enjoy kicking your ass ya long-nosed amateur! You can't win without your precious bombs! Aw, what's the matter, 'scrawny', been locked up too long for being a sociopath-?!"

Just then, the elder prisoner noticed something wrong with his left arm…he couldn't move it!

Kimblee then just walked over and grabbed the left arm, "Feeling limp? Maybe it's because you didn't let me finish. You see, every last bit of you was supposed to go limp, but that punch of yours made me lose my concentration. And funny thing about concentration, you need that to make a good Transmutation work."

Suddenly, the elder felt dry, as if he was running low on oxygen, so then Kimblee said, "You were right about a few things, yes, I make bombs, and yes, I enjoy seeing blood, even when it's from my own troop, but what you need to understand is that the idea of 'sociopath' is a comical way to refer to the maddened grovel which resides in the furthest and most secured part of prisons. Me, I'm not a sociopath, I'm quite sane, sane enough to perform alchemy without resorting to making those BORING little boom boxes you cave-dwellers call 'bombs'. I can make bombs to, but it's not as easily understood as red and green wires, the bombs I make are MINE, and I can bring out explosions at will. Whether it's from the ground of an innocent gardeners' handiwork or from the innards of a stinky…hairy…ape, like yourself."

Kimblee then shoves the strangely suffering man against the wall and whispers, "This is half of what you expected, right? Bombs are my specialty, especially when it comes to Suicide Bombs."

(KA-THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

Edward, Xehanort, and Tucker were surprised to see the ceiling crumble above then, so Edward jumped out of the way and waited for the wreckage to end…

But what Edward saw brought up some questions…like why there were men and women inside the lab?

Ed looked at Xehanort, who was unconscious after being hit by some debris. Ed then looked at Tucker, who was recovering from the explosion. Donald dusted himself off and asked, "Who farted?" Edward answered, "IS THAT REALLY THE TIME FOR STUPID QUESTIONS?!" Donald shrugged, and then, he approached Tucker and asked, "Hey, what are those people here for?" Tucker didn't answer, he just laughed…

Ed yelled, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY, BASTARD?! WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE HERE?!"

Tucker answered, "(tee-hee) You want the Philosopher Stone, don't you?"

Edward stared at the prisoners and said, "So…that was it. This was all some scam to get me to make that stupid rock for you…YOU, the same bastards who would sacrifice family for results!" Tucker then said, "With the Philosopher Stone, Nina could be brought back from the dead! I would become a father again-!" Edward then grabs the mad man by the throat and said, "NO! You won't ruin another life. This ends HERE Tucker!" Donald yelled, "ED, WAIT, DON'T KILL HIM-!"

(SMACK)

Tucker swatted Edward and Donald away and said, "No Edward, you will keep on doing this for us! You don't have any choice but to make our wishes come true! YOU WILL ACCEPT YOUR ROLE AS THE SERVANT…AS THE SLAVE!"

Tucker rushes towards Edward, who transmutes a blade and shoves it through the chimera! Tucker pulls the sword out, but is instantly attacked by Edward's kick! Edward threw punches and kicks, weakening the mad man, but Tucker's strength surprises Edward as he grabs Edward's Automail Leg and attempts to tear it off, but Edward punches Tucker in the face, damaging his glasses!

"Let's see you get away with glass in your eyes!" Ed said as he leapt behind Tucker and tried to choke him to death! Tucker then said, "You can't hide your shame Edward, you and I…we are the same!" Tucker then throws Edward over his head, Edward lands on the ground and Transmutes two Sais, he then attacks Tucker, who then said, "You lost your beloved mother, and in an attempt to bring her back, you sacrificed your brother! I lost my reputation, and to restore my place in the history books, I sacrificed my annoying wife and my beloved daughter, Nina! We are men of science Edward, we are the only ones who understand each other, and we are the only ones who want the Stone to make things right!"

"Like when you turned Nina into a monster?!" Edward asked.

Tucker swung his claws at Ed, but only to push him against a wall, where Tucker would transmute chains from the wall to tie Edward up against the wall! Tucker laughed in victory, but Edward's hands were still close enough to perform alchemy…

(CLAP)

Tucker looked and saw Edward roar in tremendous rage as the chains that tied him up broke away to become daggers!

"YOU TOOK NINA'S HUMANITY LIKE YOU DID TO HER MOTHER, AND THEN SHE DIED BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU CHANGED HER INTO, NOW YOU COMMIT TABOO AGAIN TO CREATE ANOTHER MONSTER, THIS TIME WITH NINA'S FACE?! TUCKER, THIS ONE'S FOR NINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

Edward launched himself at Tucker while throwing AND stabbing tucker with every dagger made from the chains!

Tucker's body was pierced with every dagger Ed had, yet he was still able to grab the Fullmetal by the throat and force him down! Tucker then ordered, "YOU…WILL…CREATE MY NINA…MY NINA WILL RETURN…YOU WILL LIVE…FOR NOTHING BUT OUR WHIM…YOU-BELONG-TO-US-FOREVER-!"

Edward suddenly sliced Tucker's throat with a hidden dagger! Tucker gasped for air and rushed to the nearby office to try and bandage his wound. Edward stared at his Automail Arm and said, "The dead will never return…and I will never be your servant. Life goes on Tucker, and to punish you…I'll let you keep going, but without the stone."

Donald tried to get up, but he found his leg was hurt from Tucker's attack! Ed came up to him and asked, "What's wrong, duck?" Donald answered, "M-my leg, I think it's broken!" Ed then kneeled down before him and said, "I'll get you out of here, don't worry." Ed then picked Donald up and started walking towards the exit. Donald then wondered, "You know what bugs me the most? It's how we came all this way to find the exact same truth you looked up in that Crystal Alchemist guy's notes. He guided us here just to witness some lame-brained secret that was being cooked up by two crooks."

Ed then said, "Maybe…they were brought here just to make sure the Transmutation would work. I mean, Xehanort said he came here to carry out someone's 'ascension'. The Philosopher Stone could've been used to strengthen the same people who hired these guys and forced Marcoh to use his knowledge to form the stone in the first place. The question now is…who's the puppet master?"

"That would be ME, Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Edward turned around and noticed someone coming from the office. It wasn't Tucker, but a dead man!

"B-Brigadier General Grand?!"

Grand nodded, "The very same, I was the one in charge of this laboratory and the prison next door, as well as the secrets kept here from wandering eyes…like your own. What you see before you is EVERYTHING required to make a beautiful, flourishing, and powerful Philosopher Stone. Water, phosphorus, ammonia, every bit of the human body's ingredients is all gathered here, both physically and-well, in a sense literally." Donald guessed, "So, then the Red Water-?" Grand then said, "An extra boost on human lives. These prisoners, and the red liquid here, all of which can be Transmuted together into another Philosopher Stone, one of which will give the user enough power to rival 10 Golem Leaders. I'm sure you know which leader I'm talking about, right?"

Edward placed Donald down, clenched his fist, and rushed towards Grand, who asked, "Just what are you doing, anyway-?!" Edward then threw a punch at Grand's face, only for the State Alchemist to transform and get out of the way!

What was thought to be a resurrected ghost was actually a younger person with long dark-green hair, light-tones skin and black clothes! The young man was none other than Envy, the Homunculus who could shape-shift into anyone he wanted!

Envy asked, "What gave me away?" Ed replied, "The REAL Grand was dead, genius. I had a front-row seat." Envy smirked, "Well, you seem to be doing well for someone who seen a dead body." Donald then asked, "So, Grand WASN'T the one in charge-?" Envy smiled at Donald and said, "Ooooh, what a delicious looking turkey-." Donald snapped, "THAT'S 'DUCK' YOU INDECENT MAN-APE-!-"

Just then, Envy grabbed Donald and squeezed his throat!

(KA-POW)

Donald was instantly set free from the sinister changeling by Edward's punch!

Edward caught Donald and placed him in a corner of the room and said, "No quacking off this time, OK? I'll get you out shortly." Donald tried to stop Ed, but he could only cradle his aching throat…

Ed then asked, "Alright 'Aerosmith', start confessing, who are you and what's going on?" Envy smiled and said, "Who am I? Well that depends…I could be whoever you want. Any hottie, any friend of yours, any pet, as long as it's large enough that is. So why don't you give me a request, 'Mr. Pipsqueak'? C'mon, how's-about a taller version of you? Then again, maybe that wouldn't be nice; you could be a little jealous, then what would be the point of being your new buddy, huh-?"

"-YOU TRYIN' TO PISS ME OFF?!"

Edward then threw a punch at Envy, but the Homunculus simply moved his head and swatted Edward away! Envy then chuckled, "My-my, the little 'pipsqueak' wants to start a fight with me. I'm not sure if I should oblige, I'm really more of a pacifist." Ed snarled, "YOU SHOULD STOP CALLING ME A 'PIPSQUEAK'! IT PUTS ME IN A REALLY BAD MOOD-!"

(CLUNK)

Just then, Edward couldn't feel his right arm! His Automail was put through SO much pressure that it stopped working…

Envy sneered, "(tee-hee) Looks like the battery's dead. 'LUCKY ME', I get a turn!"

(PACK-KOW-PACK-KOW-PACK-KOW)

Envy unleashed three kicks against Ed, forcing him down! Envy then said, "Just remember, pipsqueak, you wanted this sparring match!"

End of Chapter 142