Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Replacement ❯ The Cold Hand of Death ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, because if I did Roy would SOOOOO be wearing Ed's leather pants.

 

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13 - The Cold Hand of Death

 

 

~*~

 

 

The group watched as Detective Woodgrove held her son's reanimated body and slowly she pulled away from him.

 

“For you, Angelina, I made him for you,” Dame Woodgrove stated and the Detective glared at her mother.

 

“What's the price for this gift?” Detective Woodgrove asked and the Dame smirked.

 

“Smart girl. I want you to take him and leave. You'll have your son as a child forever,” Dame Woodgrove stated.

 

“He won't age at all?” Detective Woodgrove asked and the Dame Woodgrove nodded.

 

“He cannot and you know that well,” Dame Woodgrove stated before smirking at Detective Woodgrove.

 

“Matt, how do you feel?” Detective Woodgrove asked and the child-thing looked up at her before looking at his grandmother.

 

“It's…cold…Mommy,” he whispered and slowly Detective Woodgrove stood up, her eyes on her son as she stroked his cheek. “I…want…to…go…back….” The tears fell into his golden locks and the Detective nodded.

 

“Mommy will make it feel all better,” she whispered, placing a hand on her son's head and she looked at her mother. “I take Matt and leave. Assuming you won't kill Tom and Catherine?” Dame Woodgrove smirked more.

 

“Oh, I will kill them, bring them back as I did Joshua and your son. It will be easier to just accept the new Alexander and Marcus. The old ones needed work anyway,” Dame Woodgrove chuckled.

 

“Mommy…I'm…cold…” the child-thing whispered and the Detective nodded.

 

“Is that a yes, Angelina?” Dame Woodgrove asked.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Envy hated chimeras, if he ever saw another chimera he would kill it quickly because it was just too much work to play with the sons of bitches. Lust couldn't free Gluttony because every time she tried the chimera would try and wrap her up.

 

“This has lost its amusement value,” Envy growled, eyes flashing as the creature's ripped a hole in his kilt. “How annoying.”

 

“Remember, we need the Fullmetal Shrimp alive, keeping this thing here and destroying it will result in his rescue,” Lust stated nicking the creature and Envy smirked before assuming Scar's form and catching the creature, lifting it off the ground.

 

“Free Gluttony!” he hissed and the creature caught him in the neck with its claws, it was a bad wound, he fell to the ground, letting it go so it could charge Lust, hopefully finding itself on the wrong side of Gluttony's mouth.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Matt,” Detective Woodgrove whispered. “Do you want Mommy to make everything right?” The child-thing looked up and there was a strange light in his eyes.

 

“Yes…Mommy…” he whispered and there is a moment that seems surreal, as if Mother and Child can understand something no one else can.

 

“Close your eyes,” Detective Woodgrove whispered and the little boy nods. “In answer to your question, Mother, is a big no!” Dame Woodgrove looks more than shocked. “Matthew, honey, never forget Mommy loves you, but you need to go to Daddy now.” Suddenly, there is the sound of a gunshot and the group turned to look at Hawkeye only to see her hands were empty.

 

The sound of a body hitting the ground pulled them back to see the smoking gun in Detective Woodgrove's hand, the body of her son-thing on the ground, a happy little smile on his face.

 

“Did that feel good, Angelina?” Dame Woodgrove asked and Detective Woodgrove looked up with a snarl.

 

“I will never forgive you for this!” Detective Woodgrove screamed only to have her eyes widen as a card hit her.

 

Detective Woodgrove hit the ground…her left arm hit the ground two seconds later.

 

 

~*~

 

 

The chimera hit Envy, completely covering him in the webbing, there was no ripping this off. Envy began swearing until he heard the telltale sounds of a creature screaming in pain as it was impaled on several long, razor sharp spikes. Envy smirked in his cocoon of white webbing and then there was the sound of Lust crying out in pain.

 

“Stupid creature!” she screamed and then came the sound of something falling to pieces. Envy smirked more, sounded like the creature managed to piss off Lust before it died.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Don't move!” Dame Woodgrove growled as she approached her daughter, who was on the ground trying to stop the flow of blood from her bloody stump.

 

“We have to do something,” Maes stated and Roy scowled before the Detective looked over her shoulder straight at him, her shoulder up in the air, a clean target for flame.

 

“Die, Angelina!” Dame Woodgrove screamed right as something few at her face, screaming in an inhuman voice.

 

Roy didn't stop he snapped his fingers, the flames dancing across to sear the flesh of Angelina Woodgrove's shoulder, closing the blood vessels, possibly saving her life.

 

“What is that thing?” Maes hissed as a ball of fur, feathers, and fangs tore at the face of Dame Woodgrove, ripping her cheek to hamburger. Roy's eyes had a hard time following the creature, it had wings and a long simian tail, sharp claws, large eyes, and a bit of a beak. It was clearly part bird and part monkey.

 

There was a whistle and the creature took to the air as the bloody stump of Detective Woodgrove's severed arm hit Dame Woodgrove in the face.

 

“Beating the one that removed her arm with the lost limb…there has to be some irony in that,” Hawkeye stated as they watched Detective Woodgrove bludgeon her mother with her lost arm. The creature was flying over the two, squawking its little head off.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed rested on the floor as Havoc ripped open the door to let the creature free. They had both watched in shock as the woman's arm had been blown off and were surprised that the little chimera had attacked the woman who had performed the explosion.

 

“The Colonel, Lieutenant Hawkeye, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, and Major Armstrong are here! So is Al and another officer I don't know!” Havoc cried. Ed looked up at him.

 

“Go get Al! He can get me out of here easier!” Ed hissed and Havoc nodded, bolting for the group.

 

Ed stared at the room, it seemed too normal to belong to the madwoman that had kept him as her replacement son.

 

 

~*~

 

 

The group stared at Havoc in shock, the two battling alchemists forgotten in the shock and relief of seeing their friend alive.

 

“Havoc?” Roy asked and Havoc stood at attention and saluted.

 

“Sir, sorry to be late reporting to duty, but we need to get Ed out of the house. He can't walk without help, he asked for Al,” Havoc gasped and the group nodded. They turned to the house to see the dueling alchemists right in front of it. Detective Woodgrove keeping her mother from the house.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“I will make your death slow!” Dame Woodgrove cried, her eyes on the boy-child that was struggling inside of the doorway, his golden eyes wide with fear as he struggled to crawl away from her.

 

“I don't see that happening!” Detective Woodgrove hissed, her nail, ripping a circle into the flesh of her severed arm. “Catch!” With that, she threw the limb at her mother before diving over the porch and covering Ed with her body as the limb exploded, catching the front of the house on fire, collapsing the overhang of the porch and sealing off the front exit of the house.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Roy watched in horror as the fire quickly began to cover the house, moving far too fast.

 

“Brother!” Al cried as he ran towards the house. Stopping quickly as he gasped. There was a cocoon of stone, slowly opening to reveal a slightly burned, half naked Dame Woodgrove.

 

“She survived the blast,” Havoc whispered, eyes reflecting back horror beyond anything Roy had seen since the Ishbal war.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed felt the hand tapping his cheek, slowly feeling the lap underneath him. His body hurt and he couldn't feel his right arm or left leg.

 

“Come on, Ed, wake up,” the hand gently tapped his cheek again, quickly and lightly with the pads of all four fingers. The voice…the voice was filled with pain.

 

Slowly Ed opened his eyes and his whole body stiffened as he saw the woman that had kept him captive. She opened her eyes and smiled. No, there was no way this woman could be the one.

 

“Good boy, Ed,” she stated, and he looked at her. There was a bloody stump where her left arm should have been. It was shiny and black, very obviously closed by fire.

 

“You're not her,” he managed, coughing as he took in their surroundings. They were in the room, but it was half collapsed and the smoke coming through the rubble told Ed all to quickly the external side of the building was on fire.

 

“No, I'm Detective Woodgrove, I'm here to save you,” she stated and Ed nodded as he tried to sit up, forgetting about his missing automail limbs. He looked up at her dust covered face as she placed him in her lap. “I'm getting us out of here, just let me move you.” With practiced ease, she had his butt firmly placed against her upper thighs. Her one arm was around his waist and he gripped her arm with his hand.

 

“Have you done this before?” he asked and she chuckled, her breath across his shoulder in a gentle puff.

 

“My son, Matt, he had a bad leg, learned this method so that one day I could help him up when he was bigger,” she sighed as her legs shifted so that they were under her. “I never got to use it on anyone but the instructor. Put your leg out in front of you, bending the knee. I'm going to lift you up. ” Slowly she began to stand up, one leg moving under Ed, pushing him up, while the other brought her up and supported them both. Slowly, they got to their feet and she panted. Ed looked over his shoulder, her face was in a grimace of pain.

 

“”Are you okay?” he asked, kicking himself over the stupidity of the question.

 

“Not really, but we don't have the time to worry about it,” she hissed and she turned Ed around, he was facing her. “Wrap your arm around my neck and down my shoulder. We'll do this on threes, when I say three, lift yourself up with your arm, I'll support you as best I can with my arm. Lift your leg and I'll carry you as far as I can. It won't be far, but we'll move fast enough to get out before the fire. Sadly, I don't know if she's crazy enough to come after us.” Ed quickly looked up at Detective Woodgrove.

 

“What do you mean? I thought you blew her to pieces!” he cried, hysteria beginning to work its way into his heart.

 

“Ed, honey, calm down. I didn't get her, she saw it coming and was building a shield. She'll be hurt, but I don't know how bad. Probably not enough to slow her down much,” Woodgrove hissed.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Mother, you have to let them go!” Tom cried from the tree he was still trapped to, Maes decided freeing the man would be the best and with a quick slash, Tom Woodgrove was free. Dame Woodgrove turned to face the group, from the waist up she was black with burns and soot, her hair was smoking, much shorter too. Her eyes glowed red in the fire light surrounding her. Her dress smoked as she stood there, bare breasted and clearly mad.

 

“No, Thomas, I will not let Angelina go unpunished this time. Just look what she's done to my home. She will pay for this…greatly pay for this,” Dame Woodgrove hissed.

 

“Please, be reasonable, Mother!” Tom cried and Roy dove, knocking the man down before the flames flew at him.

 

“No, Thomas, I am reasonable, she killed my Joshua, she turned my Catherine against me, she turned you against me, she made me kill my little Marcus,” the woman stepped towards the group.

 

“This has gone far enough!” Roy shouted. “I am…”

 

“Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, yes, I know all about you as well as Major Alexander Louis Armstrong the Strong Arm Alchemist,” Dame Woodgrove said, her eyes looking over Roy as if he was some insect she was deciding whether to soil her shoe or go get a newspaper to dispose of. “You were one of the ones that served with my Daniel. He spoke of every alchemist he met in his letters. Sadly, Daniel was a bit weak willed, perhaps I'll take you alive and use you to revive my Daniel. Of course, you might give him too much will and then I'd have to dispose of him like my Alexander.”

 

“You tried to bring back your husband?” Maes asked and Dame Woodgrove smiled.

 

“Oh yes, he was the first, I used a young buck that caught my eye in the bar one night. I took him quickly and brought him back here. I brought back my Alexander…sadly he was useless. He still wouldn't obey me, he wanted to find Angelina, as if she could stop me,” Dame Woodgrove let out a laugh before glaring at them. “No, Mustang, you and Armstrong are useless to me, the woman will be used for Genevieve, my new Alexander will be returned to the cell, and the other man will be used to revive Thomas after I kill him.”

 

“We won't be that easy to kill!” Roy growled a snap of his fingers giving birth to a wave of fire that flew at her, she held up a card with a circle on it, her fingers touched the circle before wind blew his flames out of the way and Armstrong punched the ground, sending Dame Woodgrove into the air where she immediately threw several cards….at the house.

 

“It was a trick!” someone cried as spiked grew out of the ground, stabbing through the house at torso level.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Shit,” Woodgrove whispered before falling to the ground, pulling Ed with her. Quickly she was over him again and Ed couldn't fight the urge to curl into her. The little boy in Ed screamed as the spikes burst through the rubble, a few with flames clinging to them. Ed shivered in fear as the world turned into a dust storm, the sound of more spikes ripping through the house too much for the young man to take. He began screaming for the first person to enter his mind.

 

“Mom!” he screamed and there was a tightening to the body above him and he felt fingers in his hair and warm breath by his ear.

 

“It's okay, Ed, it's okay. I'll get you out of this,” the voice whispered and Ed's arm wrapped around the body over him, helping him bury his face in the neck that smelt slightly of roses and lilies entwined with the crispy scent of alchemy hanging on it. It was a comforting smell, not quite blocking out the scent of charred skin and burning rubble, but a smell that slowly brought Ed back to himself.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Angela Woodgrove, you are under arrest for multiple counts of murder, multiple counts of human transmutation, multiple counts of kidnapping, and multiple counts of assault on officers,” Roy cried, this time his flames were manipulated into hitting the house.

 

“I doubt that you'll live to see me taken to court,” Dame Woodgrove snapped, glaring at the house.

 

“You've killed Angel!” Tom screamed in rage and the woman glared at him over her shoulder.

 

“Don't make me laugh, your slipper sister is still alive, I can practically hear her breathing,” Dame Woodgrove snarled. “Her suffering will be the kind that even demons pale at!”

 

“I'm sorry, Madame, but you are not going to hurt anyone in that building,” Armstrong stated as he pulled up a piece of rock and threw it into the air before punching it at the woman. She simply sidestepped and blew away more flames.

 

“None of you is a challenge, the only person I want to take care of is Angelina,” it was hissed in such a way even Hawkeye couldn't suppress a shiver.

 

“Hawkeye,” Roy growled and the woman nodded as she raised a gun.

 

“Fools, I'll kill you all,” Dame Woodgrove hissed as she raised up the ground around them and trapped them in a bubble of solid stone.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed lay huddled on the floor as Woodgrove stood over him, like a mother horse with her foal. It was a protected feeling, something Ed hadn't felt it quite some time. There was a disturbing creak from the very core of the house and Woodgrove's body tightened above him.

 

“The house is going to collapse, we need a way out,” she growled before reaching out and opening a door. Ed peered in to see a large, empty sitting room. Three spikes went across it, but on the far side was a huge fireplace, easily capable of holding three Al's. Woodgrove slowly got to her belly on the floor next to Ed. “Climb onto my back.” Ed did it and she drew a circle on the floor with a piece of chalk. Ed had no idea where the chalk came from.

 

“I've never seen that circle before,” Ed whispered and Woodgrove smirked.

 

“Marcus figured it out. Mother and Father never knew how he could more around so quickly, but I did,” she whispered as she touched the circle, slowly the wood beneath them rolled, like a gentle wave, delivering them to the edge of the fireplace.

 

“That was amazing,” Ed whispered and Woodgrove nodded.

 

“Yea, now let's make our getaway,” Woodgrove stated as she began to draw inside of the fireplace.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Can you get us out?” Roy demanded and Armstrong stared at the wall he had been pounding on.

 

“Sir, I believe she forced us underground,” Armstrong stated and Roy looked around him at the hole, sure enough they should have been out of the hole.

 

“Try going up,” Roy ordered as he turned to look at the others. Havoc was very pale and thin. “Didn't she feed you?” Havoc looked at him and nodded.

 

“Yea, but not much. I really think she was trying to reprogram us. It was like the old war methods I read about in the Xing Wars. Xing warriors would try and reprogram enemy troops into believe that Xing was the true country. I think she was going to try that on Ed and me,” Havoc stated, running his fingers through his hair. “Thank God that thing saved us.”

 

“The chimera…” Roy whispered.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Dame Woodgrove stared at the flat ground where the soldiers were buried and then turned to glare at the burning house.

 

“Let's try another means of persuasion,” she hissed as she pulled out a knife and carved into the base of one of the spikes she sent through the house. The spike turned to dust and the middle section of the house collapsed. “Come out, come out, Angelina. Come to Mommy.”

 

Slowly, Dame Woodgrove moved to the next spike.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed coughed furiously as the dust hit them and Woodgrove covered him again.

 

“She's bringing the house down!” Ed hissed as he tried to get air into his lungs.

 

“I know,” Woodgrove whispered. “Don't speak, we need to see which way she's heading with this.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

Dame Woodgrove looked at the next spike before turning it to dust. Her lips curled, revealing her teeth in a rather nasty snarl.

 

“I grow tired of this game, Angelina,” Dame Woodgrove hissed. “I can play this for a little while longer, but you can't.” She put the knife against the base of the next spike. Suddenly the simian chimera attacked, Dame Woodgrove snarled as she used the knife efficiently to remove its head from the neck. “Such poor quality.” She stepped on the tiny body, making it crunch beneath her feet as she moved to the spike.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“She put us in deep,” Armstrong coughed and Roy fought the urge to cough in response. It was clear that both Havoc and Hawkeye were feeling the lack of oxygen. Tom and Maes were watching Armstrong's progress.

 

“Keep going,” Roy ordered, giving in to the urge to cough.

 

“Yes, Sir,” Armstrong stated before the next hit caused a small hole to form nearly ten feet above the floor.

 

“Finally,” Maes sighed and Roy nodded.

 

“Major, stop, we don't want Mrs. Woodgrove to notice us,” Roy stated and Armstrong nodded. He began to widen the hole with his hands.

 

“What are you thinking Roy?” Maes asked and Roy looked down as he thought.

 

“Ed and Woodgrove need our help. I highly doubt we'll be able to take down Mrs. Woodgrove alive,” Roy stated.

 

“If you have to kill her, do it!” Tom spat. “I rather not see this hit the news, this would ruin our father and brothers' good names. I don't want that to happen.”

 

“Sir, this is a serious investigation,” Hawkeye stated and Tom grabbed her arm.

 

“My family name is at stake, the memories of three very loyal soldiers will be tainted by the acts this woman has committed. I will not allow my father's memory nor the memories of my brothers be tarnished like this,” he stated. “It would be wise for you to remember that, Lieutenant.”

 

“I have no problem pretending that it never happened,” Havoc stated. “I'm pretty sure Ed feels the same way.”

 

“Then we're planning to take her down?” Maes asked and Roy nodded.

 

“Shoot to kill,” Roy growled.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed and Woodgrove stayed still, the dust around them thick and heavy.

 

“Which way is she moving?” Ed coughed and Woodgrove looked up.

 

“Away from us,” she hissed before returning to her circle. “Hold on, almost done…this is a lot harder without an arm.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Ed sighed and she chuckled. There was no light as the hole appeared in the back.

 

“Let me go ahead, stay in here,” she stated, climbing out of the hole into the fire lit night.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Dame Woodgrove was destroying the last spike on one side of the house, that side of the house collapsed completely. She growled, still sensing the alchemic energy hanging on her daughter.

 

“Come out, come out, little Angelina,” she growled before a shot rang out and she grabbed her leg, hissing in rage.

 

“Angela Woodgrove, we told you before, you are under arrest,” Roy stated as he stood to one side, flames flying at the woman.

 

“Oh, hell!” Dame Woodgrove snarled before diving under one of the spikes. The flames began eating the spike before a roll of earth sent Roy onto his back, buried from the waist down in the ground.

 

“Come out, Mother, make it easy on yourself,” Tom cried his own gun trained on the spike.

 

“Nothing about this has been easy, I'm not about to make it that way either,” she hissed as she hit the ground again, causing the trees behind Tom to lower some branches and lift him off the ground.

 

Maes rushed her, throwing his blades at her, only to find himself wrapped up in a stone cocoon. His blades buried in walls of rock.

 

“Lieutenant Hawkeye, Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, Colonel Mustang, please escort my brother and Lieutenant Havoc out of here. I will finish this,” a voice said and from a plume of smoke, from around the side of the house, stepped Detective Woodgrove. “My mother's life is mine to claim.”

 

“Oh no, my dear, you won't make the claim on my life,” Dame Woodgrove chuckled and there was the sound of a gun.

 

“It wasn't me,” Hawkeye stated and the group turned back to the scene in front of them. Dame Woodgrove was gripping her bloody stump, her left arm on the ground.

 

“You shot me,” Dame Woodgrove stated and the Detective nodded.

 

“That I did, but I missed, that was supposed to be your head,” the Detective stated, taking a stance that put her body towards the group, her legs shoulder width apart, and her arm extended out towards her mother. “Goodbye Mother.”

 

“I don't think so,” Dame Woodgrove screamed. As Dame Woodgrove hit the ground, causing the house to collapse, Detective Woodgrove pulled the trigger.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Roy and Havoc watched as the building collapsed, the rest of the structure falling inward before a huge plume of smoke surrounded the battling Woodgroves and most of the clearing. Gray, nothingness surrounded them as they heard the sound of falling stone and then the crash of something heavy and huge.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Envy was pulling pieces of webbing out of his hair while Lust led the group, they stopped close enough to get a lungful of smoke.

 

“What happened?” Envy asked and Lust looked at him.

 

“I don't know, why don't we wait to find out,” she stated and he gave her a glare as the smoke danced around them.

 

 

~*~

 

 

The smoke cleared and the house was gone, the group ran towards the rubble, the stone fireplace just barely visible above the rubble.

 

“Are they alive?!” Tom cried, climbing towards the spot where his sister had been.

 

“I found Madame Woodgrove,” Armstrong stated and the group rushed to the site.

 

The woman's body was laying on her back, surrounded by dirt and rubble, her body untouched from the last time they saw her, save for the small, round, neat hole right in the front of her forehead. Maes slowly reached down, pressing the pads of his fingers against her throat.

 

“No pulse, she's dead,” Maes stated and then looked back at the group. “So where's Angelina?”

 

“Over here,” Roy called and the group approached him. Roy had moved a few logs to reveal the body of Angelina Woodgrove on the ground. Her remaining arm was thrown over her forehead in defense while her body was covered in the dirt of the rubble. Her right leg was under the remains of the chimney, a pool of blood slowly spreading out from under the rock.

 

“Can anyone hear me? Detective Woodgrove? Mustang?” a voice called and Al ran for the fireplace, disappearing into a hole. Out was pulled a familiar shape, minus two limbs, yellow hair that was darker because of the grime.

 

“Ed!” Maes called and several of the group moved towards the young alchemist.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Pity, I was hoping to kill her myself,” Envy pouted and Lust shook her head.

 

“Well, we know he's safe, let's go,” Lust stated as she turned her back to the clearing and began to walk away from the town of Laketon, Gluttony following quickly.

 

“Still, I was so going to enjoy watching the life drain from those gold eyes,” Envy spat before following his younger siblings.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Tom Woodgrove reached down, moving his sister's hair out of her face before placing his fingers against her throat. His eyes widened before he looked at the other.

 

“Roy, come quick! She's alive! Angel's still alive!” Tom cried and the group stared at the woman on the ground…the pool of blood growing all around her.

 

 

~*~

 

AN: So…what do you think? Is the story over or do I have one more in me? Anyone want to know what happens to Woodgrove or are we all happy Ed's back where he's supposed to be? Feedback is ALWAYS welcome.