--One Year Later--

It wasn't really a surprise to Al when he found his brother.

It was, however, a surprise to see him bloodied, ragged looking and utterly manic in the way he had smiled at him.

"Alphonse," he purred. "And here I thought you were dead. You finally got your body back, I see. A shame that you'll be dead soon."

And Alphonse? He had merely readjusted his grip on the gun he had bought and trained with until he was nearly as good of a shot with as Riza Hawkeye herself.

"What, nothing to say to me? Nothing at all? I'm your older brother, Alphonse, surely you want to say something, hmm?"

"You're not my brother." Al said calmly, readying the gun.

"You wound me," the insane chimera pouted, the expression more of a leer on his face. "I am wounded, Alphonse."

"Good." He took a steadying breath. "Brother, if you can hear me...I'm sorry." And he took aim, shooting not once, not twice, but three times in rapid succession, each bullet speeding towards his brother.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Each shot missed as Edward shot upwards, and Alphonse barely had time to move out of the way to avoid a fatal swipe of the talons that Edward had lashed out with.

And Al was hurting. This was his brother he was fighting.

Or, it was. He had no doubt that his brother was trapped in this beast somewhere, but right now? Right now it was feral, all consuming madness that had manifested in his brothers body.

And that's why Alphonse was doing this.

There was the matter that he was angry and upset that this thing had killed so many, but there was something overlying it all. And that would be the fact that he didn't want his brother to suffer.

He had killed hundreds, including several people that he had been close too.

Sheska.

Kain Fuery.

Vato Falman.

Anyone he could find.

Breda had been mauled and was in a coma.

Roy had barely been able to escape Ed's rage, but a deep gouge had been  across his face, blinding him in one eye.

Riza had managed to land a shot on Edward, driving him away. After, she helped Alphonse with his shooting without complaint, a steely glint in her normally bright, sherry colored eyes.

He shot again, aiming carefully.

He was rewarded with a bullet sinking into his brothers arm, but he wasn't prepared for just how...nonchalant, his brother would be after just being shot.

But that was also when he saw it.

For just a split second, he had seen a expression of honest pain and anguish on his brothers face. It had been the Edward he knew for just that brief amount of time.

"You know brother," he said in an almost thoughtful way. "I think you've gotten even more puny since I last saw you."

There it was again, although this time it had a look of angry betrayal.

Al shot again, the bullet sinking into his brother's thigh.

He shot once more as his brother stumbled backwards, wings splayed in order to attempt to regain balance.

Al reloaded quickly before shooting twice more.

Each shot hit, and a feral scream of rage and pain escaped not-Ed's lips.

Two holes, one in each wing, joined the others in spilling red blood.

That should keep him relatively on the ground.

"I'm sorry, brother..." Al said mournfully. It hurt him more than anyone could imagine to have to do this, but he also knew that Ed, if he was in his right mind, wouldn't have it any other way.

--
Edward was screaming.

Screaming, clawing, fighting against the insanity that had manifested into something all too real, with a mind and personality of its own.

He was in terrible pain, able to feel everything that happened to his body, and he could hear and see everything too.

He just couldn't move.

It was like watching through another person's eyes, just waiting for something to happen.

And when he saw where Alphonse was aiming that gun of his--when did he even learn to shoot?--at this time, he fought harder.

He was not going to die as a insane chimera.

He was going to doe as Edward fucking Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and Hero of the People!

He gained control right as the gun was fired, and instantly, he made his chimera features disappear.

Besides the odd, wing shaped curve to his spine, he would die appearing as himself.

He gave his brother one last, fleeting smile before the bullet pierced his flesh and punctured his heart. Killing him instantly.

And Edward Elric fell, the same smile still on his lips.

--

Alphonse was numb. He knew what had just happened.

His brother had allowed himself to be shot.

He had regained control of his body, only to be met with a bullet.

What a great brother he was.

In a slow, purposeful manner, he dug the military radio that he had convinced Riza to give him out of his pocket.

He pressed the transmission button, the radio already set to match a radio that Riza would carry until no longer needed.

"Riza?" He said faintly.

He didn't have to wait long for the fearsome woman to respond.

"Alphonse! Are you all right? You sound faint-"

"I'm fine. He's dead." He said flatly.

There was nothing but the static of the radio for several moments.

"Edward..?"

"Yes."

There was the sound of conversation in the background.

"Alphonse. Tell us your location. We'll come and get you." Mustang must have taken the radio, or else Riza was experiencing some very quick gender changes.

He complied.

"We'll be there soon." Female again. Women had it hard, it seemed.

And with that, the radio went dead. Al moved over to his brother's corpse, and sunk down next to it.

He closed the predatory looking eyes so that he instead saw his brother, not something that resembled him.

Alphonse cried for a long while, not even bothering to hold back his loud wails and sobs as his head bowed over his brother's body.

--

A pair of displeased violet eyes turned from the scene.

It appeared they would have to find a new test subject.

Perhaps that Hawkeye woman, the immortal mused.

--1019 Words--
My second ever book that I've finished! I feel so accomplished! Feel free to guess at who the immortal was! ~The_Sin_Pride