Havoc locked his gaze on the small mirror in front of him, straightening invisible wrinkles on his uniform. However, his motions were slow, almost absentminded, and he didn’t really pay attention to his surroundings. That is, until the sound of someone clearing their throat made him turn around. Riza stood on the threshold of the room, looking at Havoc with a soft, albeit unreadable expression. She was out of her uniform and dressed in a pair of trousers and a shirt, part of the disguise she had to wear according to Roy’s plan.

Havoc shifted on his legs in uncertainty, but she simply walked up to him and examined the straps that held his guns.

“You should be checking these instead of your uniform,” she said in a slightly disapproving tone. “You have two lives to protect.”

“I know,” Havoc said.

“Now remember,” Riza continued, “As long as no one gets close enough, they won’t realise the trick we’re trying to play on them.”

“I’ll keep everyone at a distance,” Havoc promised. “If you don’t trust me, trust Breda, Fuery and Falman. They’ll do their part of their job just as well.”

“I know.”

The words were barely audible, and it made Havoc more than just a little nervous. Riza Hawkeye always served as the voice of reason and logic within the team. This time, though, Havoc could tell that the woman had mustered all of her courage, and she was at the limits of her strength.

“Riza?”

The woman looked up from the straps. “Yes?”

“How are Ross and Bloch?”

She pursed her lips for a moment. “They’re doing fine. Bloch kept stuttering at first, but Ross found a way of silencing him.”

“Yeah?” Havoc said, intrigued. “What did she do?”

Riza finally smiled, a tinge of colour appearing on her lips. “She kissed him.”

Havoc blinked. “You’re kidding.”

“Really, Havoc… have you ever heard me kidding before?”

That was only too true, Havoc had to admit.

“So, as you can see… you have one more reason to protect them,” Riza said. “You understand that better than anyone else.”

“Not just me,” Havoc replied, this time, locking his gaze on Riza’s eyes.

Riza’s cheeks actually reddened more, and she averted her eyes. But Havoc spared her from further embarrassment. He stood in attention and saluted in respect – a gesture of goodbye.

“Look after yourself, 1st Lieutenant.”

Riza remembered herself, and she stood in attention as well. “Likewise, 2nd Lieutenant.”

With that, she walked out, concealing her hair under a brown cap. Roy was expecting her.

Ed and Al still walked on, staying alert for anything out of the ordinary. Though the sun was quickly setting and the streets were swiftly getting covered in darkness, neither of the boys intended to slow down. It was time to correct their mistake, and that was precisely what they intended to do.

“No other people in sight,” Ed commented in whisper. “I guess that works to our advantage.”

“Yeah,” Al replied.

That tone was quite off, and it made Ed face the suit of armour. “What’s wrong, Al?”

Al’s red eyes dimmed slightly. “Are you sure that she’s not Mom? I don’t want to feel that we’ll be killing her again.”

Ed supposed he should have expected it that. He felt exactly the same way when he had seen Sloth back in Liore. But he also knew that those kind of thoughts wouldn’t help them with their cause.

“It’s not her, Al,” he said. “As long as you remember that, you’ll do fine. Okay?”

Al didn’t answer at once. But, finally he nodded slowly. “Okay.”

The boys continued on in silence, but Al broke the spell once more.

“Don’t you think we should have found her by now? She couldn’t have got all that far away.”

Ed smirked wryly. “Don’t worry, Al. I’ve got the feeling that she hasn’t.”

As if someone wanted to prove Ed’s words correct, one of the water pipes over the boys’ heads broke, and a great gush of running water sprang out, about to fall on them.

“Brother!” Al pushed Ed away in the nick of time, and he took the hit instead. At the next moment, Sloth let out a cry of dismay and tried to get out of the armour, but it wasn’t possible. She solidified inside Al and remained there, unable to move.

Ed got back on his feet, dusting some dirt from his sleeves. “You okay, Al?”

“I think so,” Al answered.

“What is the meaning of this? What have you done?” Sloth asked

“Consider it payback for making me freeze back in Liore,” Ed replied coolly. “The big difference is that you have been paralysed by the remains of the person which you resemble. At times like these, it’s quite convenient when your brother is an empty suit of armour.”

“You mean…? He has…?”

“They’re inside his leg,” Ed replied. “Al, take her out. Slowly.”

Al complied, making sure that he removed the female homunculus and his mother’s remains at the same time. Sloth collapsed on the ground, and she looked at Ed with sorrowful eyes.

“Why do you want to hurt me, Edward?”

Ed felt anger boiling in his veins. “Why?” he echoed. “I lost two of my limbs and Al lost his whole body so that we could have our Mom back. Instead of her, we got you. A monster who would stop at nothing to use us for the creation of the philosopher’s stone, and who was ready to sacrifice thousands of lives for that very reason; someone who ordered the death of a good man, whose only fault was that he wanted to protect his wife and daughter! And you dare ask ‘why’?”

“I just wanted to become human!” she said.

“You don’t even know what it means to be human! Otherwise you would understand the kind of nightmare that you have put us through in the last five years!” Ed snapped.

“I still have the face of your mother,” she whispered in a hurt tone.

“Funny… You said we weren’t your sons,” Ed replied. “Are you ready to die now?”

“Brother, look out!”

Al’s warning came too late. The sound of a machine gun being fired reverberated through the area. Al crouched as the rain of bullets kept pounding at him mercilessly, while Ed had no choice but to take cover behind an alchemised wall.

“Step away from her!” Wrath cried, stepping out and holding up his arm, or at least where it used to. The machine had taken its place.

“You’re only postponing the inevitable, Wrath!” Ed cried back. “I suggest you try and save yourself!”

“Never!”

Ed frowned at those words. It looked like Sloth denied herself from the ones who could have been her sons to become a mother to Wrath. Wrath, on the other hand, despised his own creator and found the mother he had been looking for in the face of Sloth. Could that actually be an attempt for the two homunculi to reach the humanity that they had been craving?

At the next moment, Ed clenched his automail hand into a fist. No matter what reasons those two homunculi had, they were still prepared to hurt others to accomplish their goals. Ed couldn’t allow that. With that thought in mid, Ed clapped his hands, and planted his hands on the ground.

The light of the alchemical reaction lit up the area, but Wrath was ready. When the rocky fists came onto him, he simply punched them and shattered them as if they were nothing, using his own alchemical power. Al, however, clapped his hands too and placed his hands on the broken water pipe above him, transmuting it into a lance which he pointed at Wrath.

“Al?” Ed asked, not really understanding.

“See to Sloth. I’ll take care of Wrath,” Al declared.

“You can’t do it by yourself!” the teen alchemist exclaimed.

“Then hurry up!” Al said, and he lunged at the homunculus.

Ed didn’t have to be told twice. As the suit of armour and Wrath locked themselves in combat, he started sketching the array on the ground around Sloth’s body. She trembled violently, trying to fight her paralysis, but it was of no use; the box with Trisha’s remains was still next to her. When Ed activated the array and the light of the alchemical reaction surrounded her, there was nothing she could do but purge out the red stones that sustained her. After that, it was all but too easy for Ed to ran his blade through the homunculus and thus end her life.

“NO!” Wrath screamed. In the next moment, he alchemised Al’s feet with the ground, gluing the suit of armour on the spot, and started shooting at Ed again. Ed jumped aside before any of the bullets hit him, and Wrath saw his chance to run at Sloth’s side. Just as he was about to drag the dead homunculus to safety, however, he was trapped by five lance-like fingers. He looked up, growling in dismay, for he knew who could have done this.

“You have no idea how much pleasure this gives me, Wrath,” Lust said, smirking. Indeed, she was standing at the top of the building that towered over the young homunculus, the fingers of her right hand elongated and forming Wrath’s cage.

Wrath lunged forward in an attempt to run through the lances, but he merely crashed himself against them. Crying in frustration, he lunged a second time, then a third; but Lust’s fingers wouldn’t budge.

“Why?” He finally cried at her. “Do you think that they’ll make you human just because you helped them?”

“Hardly. But at least they never pretended they would,” Lust answered.

“Teacher,” Ed said at that moment, looking to his left. Indeed, Izumi and Sig had appeared on the scene as well, and the woman’s face was almost stony as she walked up to Wrath. Sig clasped a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of support, but Izumi didn’t notice it; she was too focused on the young homunculus.

“Such anger,” she said in a thoughtful tone. “I suppose it is fitting. I was angry with myself for losing that first time. Or rather, the child you were based on.” She shook her head. “Then I got angry with myself when I realised I was nothing but a fool thinking that I could bring you back.”

Wrath glared at Izumi, his eyes filled with hatred. “Spare me your sympathy. I’d rather you just kill me.”

“That would be a mercy,” Izumi replied. “But I’m afraid I can’t. There’s nothing in this world that can destroy you.”

Wrath smirked, falsely thinking that he was safe. But the cruel smile vanished from his lips when Beregond came into view, standing next to Lust.

“No… no…” The young homunculus cowered, making himself as small as possible. “Get him away from me! Don’t let him take me back there!”

Ed frowned at those words. “Send you where?” he wondered aloud.

“Back to the Gate,” Lust answered. She shook her head when the alchemists looked back at her incredulously. “I see. You don’t know then.”

“Know what?” Izumi said.

Lust pointed at Beregond. “Dante thinks that the Gondorian can summon the Gate at will.”

Al gasped, whereas Beregond staggered a step back, mouth agape. Ed, however, snorted.

“What is this? Some kind of joke?”

“No joke, Fullmetal boy,” Lust said. “And if you don’t believe me, just look at his face.”

Ed did, and saw the terror in the homunculi’s face. Wrath certainly believed Beregond could do that, something that had him thinking hard. Was it possible that Dante was correct?

“Wrath may believe it,” Beregond said, practically echoing Ed’s thoughts. “But if that were true, why haven’t I been able to summon it before?”

“Beregond… you already have.”

The Gondorian stared at Al, for it was the suit of armour who had said that. Al was far from finished, though.

“You opened it… when you tried to save Bergil.”

Only then did Beregond finally understand. He opened his jacket and shirt, then pulled out the pendant, which glistened brightly under the sunlight.

Lust locked her gaze on the five-pointed star etched on the golden piece of metal. “That’s the same array Dante used to call the Gate herself.”

“Then you were telling the truth,” Izumi noted before turning to Beregond. “Please, give me the pendant.”

“Izumi?” Sig said, frowning.

“If there’s nothing that can destroy Wrath in this world, then let it be something from the world beyond the Gate. And if there’s anyone who should do that, is the one responsible for his creation,” Izumi reasoned, aware of her husband’s possible objections. “Mr. Beregond… The pendant.”

Beregond remained hesitant for a few moments, clearly torn. In the end, though, he removed the pendant from his neck and tossed it to Izumi. The woman grabbed it with agile fingers; then placed it around her neck. Wrath watched her, looking on as if he had been frozen in place and resembling a strange statue.

It was an almost pitiable sight, but Izumi was determined to end this once and for all, just like Ed had. Closing her eyes, she clapped her hands, and the pendant emanated a red light that swiftly surrounded Wrath.

Wrath screamed, yet even that sound was cut short as the boy vanished. When the young homunculus opened his eyes again, he found himself in the timeless void where the Gate dominated everything with its presence. His legs almost gave way underneath him in sheer fright; but, when the door opened with a loud groan, Wrath did the only thing he could do: run away as fast as his feet could carry him.

It was in vain. The serpent-like hands of the Gate grabbed hold of the homunculus and wrapped themselves around his body and limbs. Voices whispered close to his ear, telling him that it was time for him to pay for trying to cheat the Truth.

And then there was nothingness again.

Lust retracted her fingers, and Izumi regarded the huddled form closely. Wrath was back from the Gate, yet he was irreversibly broken. His right arm and left leg were gone, and he was in a pool of his own blood.

“Though cruel, the Truth is nothing less than fair,” she noted with a sigh. As Wrath remained in place, unable to move anymore, she completed the array that would force the homunculus to purge out the red stones. “It will be quick,” she promised.

But Wrath said nothing, merely accepting his fate in defeat.