A Day Later

'Just where the hell is he?'

A whole day has gone by since Bradley's funeral and Roy had not been seen since then.

According to his Aunt Riza, Roy didn't even come back to their home to sleep.

Alex never imagined that 24 hours of not seeing Roy was possible.

'Well, I guess mom got her wish then.' Jokingly thought Alex remembering times when Akari had wanted a whole day without seeing Roy.

As Alex sat at HQ's food court just thinking, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw two boys.

(GOD DAMMIT! THE WRONG PHOTOS AGAIN!)

The FullMetal Alchemist Edward Elric

And his younger brother, Alphonse Elric.

As Alex, saw the pair, he smiled and got up.

"Ed and Al. Yikes I haven't seen you two in months!" Said Alex.

Ed chuckled. "Yeah I know. Turns out Liore was a big waste of time. That Cornello guy was just a phony priest. He lied to his people about his "miracles."

"Yikes."

"We stopped him, but, his Philosopher's Stone was a fake." Said Al.

Alex tried his best not to laugh as he let out a little chuckle.

"Hey what the hell's so funny? That was our first leas in months Alex. Now that it's fake we gotta wait our asses off again until your dumb uncle finds us another lead." Said a grumpy Ed.

Ed and Al have been Alex's best friends for 3 years already.

He has first met the brothers after he returned from Ishval.

Alex was only 10 as Al was 12 and Ed was 13.

It just started with Ed congratulating Alex for surviving a war at his age.

Eventually over time Alex shared a deep and close bond with the brothers due to their past lives.

That was when Alex learned about their past.

Ed and Al never really had a father for most of their childhood as he straight up left their home when the two were VERY young.

That left their mother, Trisha Elric to take care of the brothers on their own.

Eventually, Trisha fell deathly ill and slowly died.

After the funeral, Ed and Al excitedly attempted the one forbidden taboo of Alchemy.

Human Transmutation.

Ed and Al didn't understand the concept of Equivalent Exchange so they thought all they needed was all the elements that made up a human body and their blood.

Unfortunately, they didn't account the need of a human soul.

Something that can never be matched.

Due to the unbalanced exchange, in return for transmuting a human, Truth took away Al's entire body and Ed's left leg.

According to Ed, he was the only one who saw the monstrosity of a creature they made.

Ed had realized his mistake and in a desperate attempt to save Al, managed to bond Al's soul to the suit of armor he was currently in thanks to a blood seal, though, that actuin would cost Ed his right arm.

Eventually, Ed was given a metal right arm and left leg.

They established to Alex that should the blood seal be removed, Al's soul would be lost forever.

Afterwards, the brothers revealed their goal to Alex about how they plan to obtain the Philosopher's Stone and return their bodies back to normal.

After they finished their past, Alex explained his situation about the shitty living conditions in the slums, the planned coup d'etat, and eventually the massacre.

That right there established the personal bond he had with the brothers.

The three were living their young lives alone as orphans.

At least, Alex thought he was an orphan.

He obviously didn't know that his mother and father had survived their wounds.

So now, Alex definitely had no plans of telling Ed that he lied about being an orphan and that his mom is still alive to this day.

Sure Alex didn't know that she was alive then but Ed was a very hard headed and emotional kid.

He definitely wouldn't give Alex a chance to speak.

"So, where's your Uncle Roy?" Asked Ed.

"No one's knows. He's been gone since  Bradley's funeral. And my Aunt Riza said that he didn't even return last night."

"Roy was gone for a whole day?" Asked Al.

"Yeah. It was weird. All of us here at HQ are waiting for him."

"I see. Hey Alex? Sorry we couldn't make it to Bradley's funeral. The Liore stuff took a while. Me and Alphonse knew how important he was to you." Said Ed.

"Hm? No it's fine Edward. That was top priority for you two so it was reasonable."

The two nodded as suddenly, a Black Ops message bursted in from the door.

"HE'S FINALLY HERE! Führer Roy Mustang is back!"

"Hm? Uncle Roy's back?"

"Well that was short lived." Said Ed.

The three and almost every member, including Riza, walked to the front gate and all were relieved to see their leader safe and sound.

Roy greeted everyone with smiles as Alex, the Elric brothers, and Riza noticed something, odd about Roy.

More specifically, over his right eye

'An, eyepatch?' Questioned Alex.

Everyone walked back to their usual business as Alex, the brothers, and Riza all walked up to Roy.

"Well well Roy. Just because your now Führer doesn't mean you gotta copy Bradley's look." Jokingly said Edward.

"Well well. FullMetal. Glad to have you back. You as well Alphonse."

"Hey Uncle Roy. Where the hell were you?" Asked Alex.

Roy smiled and softly patted Alex's shoulder.

"Sorry I was late kid. That person who needed me yesterday took such a long time that I couldn't make it back in time."

"Um. Roy? What the hell happened last night?" Asked Riza as she pointed to the eyepatch.

"Hm? Oh this thing. I'll explain it to you on my office Riza."

Riza sighed. "Fine. I'll be waiting." She said as she walked up to his office.

"Hey Colonel. I-I mean Führer."

"Don't worry FullMetal. If you wanna call me Colonel then go ahead. I don't mind."

"The Liore stuff has been taken care off. Turns out Cornello was a false priest and had a fake stone."

"I see. Well, good work you two. Go out and spend the day with Alex. I gotta go talk to Riza."

The brothers nodded as they along with Alex walked away.

Roy being alone gave a sinister smirk. 'Time to give my beloved wife a surprise.'

Roy began to walk to his new Führer office and knocked.

"Come on in Roy." Said Riza.

Roy opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him.

"So go on. What happened to your eye?'

Roy gave a smile and awkwardly chuckled as Riza sighed.

"Great. One day without me and you couldn't stay safe."

Roy's smile then turned into a menacing one as Riza grew cautious.

"Roy? What's going on?"

"Your such a foolish human Riza Hawkeye."

"Roy. What the hell is-."

Riza stopped talking as Roy slowly removed his eyepatch and showed Riza upclose his new addition

Riza's eye widened.

"W-Who the hell are you!? What've you done to Roy!?"

"What're you saying Riza? I am Roy."

"NO YOUR NOT! GET OUTTA MY HUSBAND!" Shouted Riza as she pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Roy, or, whatever this being was.

"Your such a nuisance. I am Roy. I am still Roy Mustang, but, I am also the Homunculus Wrath!"

At that moment, the tension snapped.

Riza had pulled the trigger

Chapter 34: End