HMJ - Chapter 51 (Patreon)

Edward Elric POV - Fort Briggs

KAAATHOOOM

“What!?” Edward cried out as he saw the floor in front of his brother and him crumble and a massive figure climb out of a hole below them.

It was a big, hulking, and muscular figure, easily dwarfing even Major Alex Louis Armstrong or that grizzly guy that had been beaten up outside in the Briggs Mountains. He wears black pants and shoes and sports black straps across his chest.

He has long and stringy black hair that runs down his head, sharp teeth, and a single blank white eye with a scribbly outline.

But most notable to Edward was that red Ouroboros tattoo on his right shoulder: “It’s... a homunculus." He said it in shock.

It’s one they hadn’t met before. What was it doing here? How did it get here? Did it follow them?

‘Dammit, they already know we came here to find a way to fight the homunculus.' Edward realized this in anger.

The massive homunculus starred right at them. Their eyes met and...

It began to snore.

“HEEEEEY!!!” Both he and Alphose shouted, pissed off, that that thing was ignoring them.

Their voices were loud enough to wake it up again.

“Who… are… you?” It asked slowly as it looked right at them.

What? This Homonculus wasn’t there for them.

“Didn’t your father in Central City tell you about us?” Edward asked, unsure if they could still salvage the situation. “We are just here to find a way to get our original bodies back. We are not here to get in your way!?”

They had just recently met the leader of all Homonculi, who, for some reason, resembled their own asshole Father.

It watched them with a confused gaze for a while and said, “Never… heard… of you!”

And then the Homonculus turned and began to ignore them while slowly muttering to itself as it walked away, “So… much… work. I… have… to… dig… Why… me? No… more… talk! Too… much… effort…”

“Could it be?” Edward whispered towards Alphones.

His armored brother completed his tought for him: “It didn’t hear about us from Father or the Furher?”

But their knowledge of Homonculi just earned them another problem. The surrounding Briggs soldier looked at them with suspicion again. “Could it be that those two know that thing?” “They were awefully chummy with that monster!" “Maybe they’ve been helping that thing all along?”

Second Lieutenant Vato Falman, a member of the Colonel Mustangs Unit that the Elric Brothers had just met minutes ago and who had been moved to Briggs, decided to get a bit of distance between himself and the Brothers.

Smart Choice, if he didn’t want to be suspected too.

“This is getting bad.” Muttered Edward to his brother, just as he had to jump out of the way.

A bullet impacted the ground where he had just stood seconds ago.

That aggresive Grizzly, Captain Buccaneer in charge of the Mountain Patrol Squad, had chosen that moment to appear and accused them, with a smoking gun pointing at them, “So you are Drachma Spies!”

“You got it all wrong!” Shouted Edward back at him.

Buccaneer just shouted back, “Then how come you are so chummy with that intruder!?”

“We are not chummy!”

Meanwhile, Homonculus just ignored all the people around him and said, “This… is… in… the way..”

“Where… am… I?” and it threw some rubble out of the way, unbothered by the commotion surrounding it. “I… have… to… keep… digging.”

Realizing that Homonculus was demolishing their base, the Briggs soldiers began to move, aiming their weapons at that massive creature. “Open Fire!!”

Unfortunately, the Homonculus didn’t even notice the bullets hitting its head as it continued towards a wall.

Buccaneer and his soldiers looked astonished at that sight. “No way! The bullets didn’t even hurt it!”

Not having noticed anything wrong, it somehow walked onto an elevator and got lifted up to another floor.

"Shit, it’s heading towards the research level!" Buccaneer shouted, “After it! Martin Squad, check out the hole it came from. There may be more of them.”

Edward and Alphonse followed Buccaneer and his soldiers to the upper floors. They just arrived in time.

Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, the scary but beautiful blond-haired commander of the Briggs base, was already there, leading her soldiers in battle against that hulking Homonculus.

They were using explosive weapons like bazookas and a tank, which was clearly a protoype, to combat it. But no matter what they shot at that thing, any damage got regenerated instantly.

Edward had to admit that this was the strongest Homonculus besides Father they had encountered to date. For now, he had no idea how they could beat it. This one was clearly made to be physically strong, both in defense and offense.

While it was pretty much unhurt, the damage began to agitate the Homonculus as it began to rampage and throw some debris around.

Some of it was directed directly at a Briggs soldier.

Edward rushed forward, forming a transmutation circle with his hands, and touched the ground. A stone wall appeared in front of the soldier, blocking the debris from hitting him.

“It’s no use, general! No matter how often you kill that thing, it won’t stay dead!” Edward said as he approached the general.

“How do you know so much about that thing?” Buccaneer, who had also arrived at the battlefield, asked.

This shut Edward up; if he told them about Father and the Homonculi, they would only be in danger. “Be... because...”

Suddenly another voice Edward was unfamiliar with interrupted them: “Don’t presure the kid. He is trying to look out for you. The two of them are one of the few people who have realized a part of the truth about this country.”

It belonged to a dark-haired boy, about Edward's age, with glowing green eyes and a face that looked out of this world.

“Who are…” Alphones asked, but got interrupted by the general.

“Didn’t I put you in a cell?" Olvier said she was pissed off, showing her scary face.

“Ahaha, so cute.” The boy chuckled, which seemed to anger the general even more. “Why would I stay in Cell if there is so much commotion going on? But I left you a gift there, Olivier~”

“It’s general for you!” A scary aura formed around here, but that boy seemed to be unaffected by it, while both Edward and Alphonse stepped back.

“Anyway. That’s one of the Homonculi I was telling you about. He is Sloth.” He said, pointing at that hulking figure, “You don’t have enough firepower to kill it. The Philosopher Stone inside of it, combined with it’s natural strength, makes it very hard to kill.”

“So how do we get rid of it?” The general asked, still annoyed, but seemed to accept that she had to work with that boy.

"Well, kill it again and again, until it’s dead.” He said, matter of fact, “Or watch me. I am here for the guy anyway. But first. I gave you a general idea of what was really happening, and the Elric Brothers will be able to give you more context. But to know everything, you should discreetly contact Mustang.”

“Tch That Greenhorn? What does a fool like him have anything to do with this?” She asked, annoyed.

“Greenhorn? That’s a good one. I have to remember that.” The boy said, “But I had a bit more time to talk with him. He knows the full details of what is going on and has been working on it for a while. The Elric Brothers are able to confirm the facts with their own investigations. So talk to him.”

“And why can’t you tell me about it, Harry Potter? Is that even your real name?” She asked, still not even slightly calmer.

“Ahaha, because I am about to do something stupid. I have no idea if it will work. So don’t forget the gift. And Elric Brothers, you are looking for a way to get your buddies back, aren’t you? It’s simple; you will just have to follow the law of equivalent exchange. After all, you got something in exchange! But I would wait a bit~ And if you want to know more about what is happening with the Homonculi, ask your Father! Don’t forget my offer, general!" The boy, Harry, said it with a grin.

It took Edward a few moments to realize what he could mean; before he could ask more, the boy had already rushed in front of the Homonculus called Sloth.

What he saw shocked him; while his hands were glowing, the area around him was changing. But it wasn’t like Edward was using alchemy by forming an alchemy circle with his body.

No, the boy was acting more like ‘Father’, changing the area without even really moving.

And then Edward saw what was happening around the boy and the homonculus, which was looking at Harry in confusion.

“Ed, he can’t be serious! That’s…” Alphonse said she was worried.

“He is creating a human transmutation circle!" Edward nodded, having also realized what the shape on the ground was and that Harry was creating an ability that almost looked like magic.

“Why would he do that?” Asked General Olivier, “It’s an Taboo.”

“No, idea. This is bad. We need to stop him!” Edward shouted as he rushed forward, but it was already too late.

Harry had cut his hand, with blood flowing out of it, and touched the ground.

Which activated the Transmutation Circle containing Homonculus and the Boy with the Lightning and Energy Flickers from a Transmutation.

A bright flash later, and both of them had vanished.