V Conflicts of Interest [Unmaking Quest]

Roy Mustang

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Private Kain Fuery burst into the room, Sergeant Vato Falman close behind. Fuery adjusted his glasses back into place with a look that nearly approached panic.

"Lieutenant Colonel, sir! You need to see this!" He practically shouted, "There's something lighting up the CBA!"

Mustang grit his teeth. This was an exceedingly bad time for an interruption. He almost considered waving them off, so that he could ensure that Ohm Zui would be working in a way that didn't cause any problems. But he knew Fuery wasn't one to raise the alarm out of turn.

"Damn it! Falman, wait here with our friend, maybe you can compare notes about their experiences with the Unmaking. Second Lieutenant, with me." He spoke in rapid turn, moving swiftly out of the office, with Hawkeye and Fuery in tow.

They strode swiftly through the halls back towards the workshop where Fuery had managed to incubate the remains of Mustang's temporary scanner. It hadn't been intended to last longer than a few hours in this state, but Fuery had preserved it enough to keep his access line to the Crystal Ball Array open. Far better to use this device than to try to access it from any of their more trackable terminals, at least until the higher ups acknowledged the Array's existance with an official stance. Mustang's eyes darted across the screen as he read the chat room's correspondence of anonymous Markovians. A sudden attack on a sparsely populated sector in the south west side of the city... People were claiming it wasn't zoids, and apparently there had been no noted disturbances of the energy barrier.

...If he could believe the user that claimed to be a worker in the central power station that maintained the energy shield, that was. Mustang stood up and ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. The Crystal Ball Array was an extremely dangerous tool, despite all the potential benefits it presented at first brush. This person was either lying to everyone in the midst of a crisis for the sake of their own boredom, or they were willing to divulge highly classified information to a group of people who's only reference was a claimed desire to protect the city from destruction.

"Private, has there been any indication of this attack from official channels?" He asked, leaning back down to search for any further bits of useful information amidst the chatter. Fuery shook his head.

"No sir. We've yet to receive any information regarding this attack from the military."

"So either they're covering it up, or they don't know the attack has happened yet." Mustang mused. He glanced to Second Lieutenant Hawkeye, She seemed to consider for a moment then gave a nod of agreement. Mustang's mouth twitched into the faintest of smiles, then he turned to Fuery.

"Right, keep your eyes on the situation. I want to know the *second* that we get any official information on this attack. The Second Lieutenant and I will check the scene discreetly."

"Sir." Fuery saluted, as Mustang turned to leave, heading towards the vehicle bay. Hawkeye followed shortly behind him. Mustang straightened his overcoat with a smirk.

"Time to see if we can trust the autonomous collective."
 

Roy Mustang

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Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye slowed the jeep to a crawl as they approached the edge of the unmade zone. The patches of corruption had continued to crop up throughout Markov since the first scream of their arbiter. Indeed, some Pilot's unions rangers had gone on long-distance surveys, confirming what they had all been expecting, but had hoped against; The unmaking was happening across the entirety of Cevanti. Ruins from before 'the End' were disappearing into the surrounding jungle at a much faster rate, and packs of the maddened zoids that had assualted the city were being sighted on long-range scanners. They seemed not to be part of the initial force, just independent groups that were toppling trees and slaughtering other zoids they encountered with senseless rage. It was a pointed reminder that containing the unmaking here within the protection of the energy barrier. For every block of the city that devolved into chaos, there would be countless kilometers of wilderness succumbing to the Unmaking as well.

Hawkeye furrowed her brow slightly, watching the mutated vines as they slowly constricted an abandoned building. They still knew so little about how the Unmaking operated. The translation of the journal had provided some useful insights into the reasons behind the event, but the cultists were not an organized network supporting the unmaking, more like scavengers and opportunists desperately trying to save their skins. They spoke of 'Darksied' with an almost deific status, but amidst the ramblings and proclamations it was clear that the cultists knew only a little more how the unmaking worked than Palatinus itself, and not nearly enough for them to predict what kind of opposition it would provide. The Unmaking didn't seem to be a directed force. It didn't target critical locations, just stretched back and forth in patches, as though some distant god were drawing lazy lines of destruction merely to sate their amusement.

"We're not going around I assume?" She turned towards Lieutenant Colonel Mustang for confirmation. He was watching the slow but steady destruction of the building in front of them, his eyes focused on the sight, frowning faintly. Her words seemed to break into his focus, and he turned to face her with a confident smile.

"The rumors sounded like the attack was ongoing, so time is precious. I'm not about to let a little setback like this slow us down, Lieutenant. Just drive as steadily as you can."

She nodded, gripping the wheel as she sped the jeep back up. It wasn't just the plant life, the zones of unmaking had a certain 'off' quality to the air, crossing the perimeter of it was something you noticed, even if you couldn't quite place why. Almost immediately after the vehicle crossed the threshold, it had caught the attention of some of the destructive plant life. A veritable wall of briars and fibrous tendrils began assembling to block off the road forward. Mustang only leaned out of the window with a satisfied smirk.

"Its much better when they have the decency to show themselves first." He remarked, holding up a hand with his special ignition cloth glove at the ready.

*Snap*

The barrier of plant life erupted into flames. Much of the vegetation was reduced to ash in an instant. A couple of the thicker and wetter vines remained but Hawkeye accelerated the jeep, crashing through them while their array was broken. The Jeep roared over the broken surface of the roadway, caught air for a brief few seconds, then landed back onto the uneven roadway of the sector with a solid thump. As they pulled away from the main bulk of the corrupted foliage Mustang changed his position, instead watching their rear for any pursuit. There was little chance of plant-life posing a mobile threat to something like a jeep, but it would be unwise to assume anything about the effects the Unmaking would have on...

"Swerve!" Mustang barked the order urgently, and Hawkeye immediately wrenched the wheel of the jeep to one side. A sizable junk of concrete pillar flew past the left side of the vehicle, smashing into a shower of pieces as it crashed into the roadway ahead of them.

"What was that?" Hawkeye glanced in the rearview mirror in alarm.

The vines were... throwing things?

As she watched, a length of rubbery coil encircled a chunk of building in a way that reminded her of a constrictor snake. The vines bulged and strained, snapping the concrete and metal supports like the shell of an oyster. As the debris separated, the vines that incased it coiled, then arced forwards, flinging the piece of building at their fleeing vehicle.

*Snap*

An explosion intercepted the the missile mid-flight, the dust and small chunks spraying the street behind them. Mustang's control was as pinpoint as ever, the dust cloud might even serve to mask them from view, assuming the plants even used sight to detect them. They knew so little about what they were facing with the Unmaking!

"Sir, if those plants can..."

"Right, they're executing a targeted and tactical effort to stop us, Second Lieutenant." Mustang responded, still twisted back in his chair to cover their retreat. "We can only assume that the Unmaking is either directly controlling them, or has somehow given the plants a measure of intelligence."

Two equally disturbing thoughts. Hawkeye focused on the road ahead. She could see the edge of the Unmade patch up ahead where the destruction petered out to the general neglect and disarray of the mostly abandoned sectors of Markov. They were almost outside the reach of this sector, then they could find out whatever fresh new enemy was attacking the people in the one just beyond it. A few more chunks of building sailed through the dust cloud behind them, but for all their disturbing display of cunning, the corrupted vines seemed poor shots, and Hawkeye was easily able to evade them.

Only when a massively solid, vine erupted from the roadway underneath their jeep did they realize those had been a distraction.
 

Roy Mustang

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Mustang struggled to reorient himself. His vision was blurred, but he could clearly smell the fire. Burning gasoline, most likely from the wreck of their jeep. If it hadn't already made its way back to the fuel tank they needed to move, and quickly. He was finding it hard to draw a breath. The soldier's instincts reasserted themselves, and he forced his disoriented thoughts to focus. With clarity came panic, as he realized that the tightness in his chest was due to the vines that were slowly dragging him backwards.
They were outside the boundary of the Unmaking, it seemed clear that the corruption worked only in isolated sections now. The vines that were slowly dragging him backwards, they seemed sluggish, weakened. They were trying to pull him and Hawkeye back towards the corrupted section. His vision started to fade around the edges. How long had it been since he had managed to take a breath? Focus. He raised up a gloved hand towards Hawkeye. He had to burn the vines so that she could free herself. Had to be careful, making sure the flames didn't get to close.... Had to... No. He would not burn her.

Not again.

With a moment of clarity, he steeled his gaze and raised his hand.

*Snap*

He smelled burning vegetation, but Mustang's vision was now only a red haze. He had to keep himself alive too... had to breathe... With a concerningly distant recognition he realized that a vine had coiled itself around his gloved hand, prying his fingers apart. That would be.... a problem...

---​

He opened his eyes to Hawkeye cutting free the last of the vines with a knife. Breath returned and he gulped greedy lungfuls of air, coughing and hacking. Hawkeye settled back, her momentary panic passing to relief for a few seconds before she turned to study their surroundings.

"No more vines." Mustang rasped. Hawkeye smiled faintly, getting back to her feet as Mustang struggled into a sitting position.

"I think it's safe to say that our means of transport has been destroyed. We'll have to make the rest of the trip on foot." Hawkeye replied with a glance towards their overturned vehicle.

"Well, it's not too far!" Mustang winced, rubbing the back of his neck, "We can at least see if there really was an attack."

The pair of them moved warily through the street of the abandoned sector. Not the slightest hint of danger, nor signs of life. The City of Markov was dying slowly. It had been since 'The End' and the Unmaking might just be the undertaker to bring it to its final rest. The small community up ahead was previously clustered around the train station, providing them easy access to more lively parts of the city. The unmaking had collapsed the tunnel, and the collection of occupied blocks now found itself almost operating as a satellite village, despite being within the technical borders of Markov itself. They should have been protected by a Zoid attack, though.

There was no denying that they had been attacked. The destruction was obvious now, as the pair of them neared the edge of the sector. Something had tore through the street with a terrifying level of effectiveness. The sheer amount of damage suggested it was a rogue zoid, but the destruction seemed to precise, too calculated. No zoid weapon would have carved that scorched line through the windows of a building that straight. With a frown, Mustang realized that there were no bodies. There was the occasional pool or smear of blood. People had definitely been attacked here. So where were they now?

Hawkeye coughed twice, and darted her eyes towards a nearby window when Mustang glanced back at her. He blinked and slowed down his pace. A watcher in the shadows? They would either be one of the attackers or a survivor. Mustang made a show of kneeling down to one of the blood splatters while he considered the best course of action. The pair of them were exposed and their military uniforms would leave little question as to their allegiance. The fact that they hadn't been shot yet implied that the watcher didn't seek their death. This seemed to be an organized slaughter, so there would be little reason to spare them right now if the watcher was one of their foes.

An Ally then.

"Let's say hello, Second Lieutenant." Mustang got to his feet and placed his hands into his pockets. He strode towards the watcher's building with a confident purpose. Hawkeye followed, her handgun held out and down to one side, rifle resting on its shoulder strap across her back. The destruction wasn't nearly as bad inside, Mustang decided. Sure the café was not in the best repair, but he could still believe that it was someone's place of business. The stairs would be through the rear door, he decided, and wove between the tables towards the double doors that likely led to the kitchen.

There was a shout and several things happened in the course of a few seconds. A hand reached out from under one of the tablecloths as he passed, causing Mustang to pitch forward. He rolled on instinct, turning around to face a youth in her mid teens with a panicked look and a large steak knife inches from his face. She froze, either recognizing him for a member of the military, or more likely, noticing Hawkeye's aimed position a few feet away, a look of conflicted determination on her face. The double doors burst open, and a young man called out a warning, leveling his own rifle towards Hawkeye with the same panicked look the girl possessed. For a few heartbeats nobody dared to move, then Mustang exhaled a sigh, slumping back to the floor, and raising his hands to make it clear he wasn't holding any weapons.

"Alright kids, take it easy." He said placatingly, though he couldn't completely keep the sarcasm out of his voice. These two actually thought they were in an even standoff.

"Drop the weapon!" The man with the rifle shouted. Idiot, didn't he realize there was a very real threat that might over hear him shouting like that? Hawkeye did not respond, remaining completely still. Her eyes trained on the teen, or rather Mustang realized, the knife in her hands.
"I said drop-"

"Look." Mustang cut in more forcefully, "None of the four of us are responsible for that attack. So how about we all just put these weapons down for a moment, and you can tell us what it was you were expecting to kill with that knife?"

There was a tense few seconds where the youth with the rifle hesitated, adjusting his grip. Thankfully the knife was moved away from his throat. The girl crawled the rest of the way out from under the table, and Hawkeye slowly lowered her handgun, turning to look at the youth by the double doors. He exhaled a sigh of relief, his own weapon dipping towards the floor as well. Mustang sat up, pulling himself up with one of the nearby tables. He slumped slightly, unable to quite shake the fact that everything seemed to be getting the drop on him today.

"Right." He stood up, straightening his jacket and adjusting the sleeves. "We need to know what we're up against. What did all that in the street?"

"A demon!" The young man exclaimed, wide-eyed. "You're here to kill it right?"

"Are you two scouts?" The Teen asked with an air of skepticism, "Or are you all the backup the capitol sent us?"

"We're working on a tight schedule here kid." Mustang grunted, ignoring the questions for the time being. "What do you mean it was a demon? There's been far too many freaks running around Markov right now for a description like that."

The youth started to object then bit back his tongue. He turned, waving the rest of them into the back of the building.
"You can see it for yourself from the rooftop."

---
The youth with the rifle, Russio apparently, cracked open the door at the top of the stairs. He peered out briefly, then opened it wider, stepping out onto the rooftop.

"Keep your eyes on the sky." His younger sister Elita, muttered to Mustang and Hawkeye as she followed him out. Ah, so it could fly. That explained how it had managed to slip through the energy barrier without breaking it. Still, to avoid tripping the scanners it couldn't have been... His thoughts trailed off as his eyes widened. Russio and Elita pointedly looked elsewhere, ostensibly keeping watch. Mustang could hardly blame them.

A metal spire rose out the middle of one of the intersections, giving off the same feeling of unease as one of the unmade zones in the city. It's length broke off at uneven intervals, twisted and angled into prongs like some form of horrible tree. The missing citizens of Markov hung impaled on its branches. Dozens, easily. A gray creature hovered nearby one of the bodies, wings droning rapidly to keep it in place. With a sickening twist in his gut, Mustang realized the creature was arranging the corpse.

"What the hell is this?" He heard Hawkeye give voice to his own thoughts from somewhere off to his left.

"This is what we've been looking for." Mustang furrowed his brow. "Whatever that monster is, it is clearly a part of the Unmaking. Furthermore, it's the first thing besides the Doomsday mech to do more than mindless and selfless destruction."

The siblings shared a confused look. Hawkeye had knelt, her rifle already in position as she examined it through the sights. She glanced up at him, frown already forming as she guessed his next words.

"Sir, I have a clear shot from here. It hasn't noticed our position."

"We don't know what we're up against with the Unmaking. We have only the faintest shadow of a glimpse. If that monster is capable of giving them to us, then it's time we get some answers."
 

Roy Mustang

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Mustang approached the grotesque tree from the center of the street. His hands were kept loosely in his pockets to appear less threatening while still keeping his options open if the Unmaking creature proved to be uncooperative. Now that he was closer he could see that it was humanoid in shape, although the additional set of arms made it very clear that this was not simply a man in a suit. A set of four wings, poking through, or more likely a part of, the harsh metal armor suit that it wore completed the nightmare. It was hovering around one of the bodies on the tree, though a different one than they had watched it adjusting from the building's roof. It would give what he could only describe as a contemplative screech from time to time, then reposition the body slightly before flying a short distance further back to look at it again. The sick bastard reminded Mustang for all the world of a decorator fussing with their display in the final moments before a presentation.

Mustang came to a stop, standing in the street, staring up at the creature. How should he handle this? Part of him suspected that he'd get more out of the creature if it believed itself to be in a position of power. The deranged liked to think they were important. Feed their ego a little and they would dance on your strings without a second thought. And yet, the sheer barbarity of what this creature had done galled Mustang. Innocent people, civilians who had just survived an assault on their existence, had been hung here on display. A vain monument to a being of pure destruction; one Mustang knew would barely deign to notice it's creation. He wanted to make this monster pay for its atrocities, not snivel at its boots in the hope that it would let something slip. Mounting fury won out over caution, and Mustang raised his voice to address the monster.

"In the name of the Markovian military," Mustang spoke aloud, his voice honed by addresses made to soldiers on the battlefield, "I order you to land and submit yourself for questioning."

The monster's head snapped down to notice him, it's buzzing wings turning it in mid-air. Mustang locked gaze with the four bright red eyes of its exo-suit. From nearly three stories up in the air, the creature screeched at him in response. A high-pitched droning noise that drilled into his ears.

Hardly promising as to the kind of answers we can get from this thing. Mustang thought with a slight frown.

"Stand down! This is your final war-" Mustang cut off as the creature swung its legs up and backwards, diving towards him with a horrible cry. Almost instantly, a shot pinged off its shoulder as it plummeted through the air but it continued to close the distance at an increasingly alarming rate. Mustang made a careful judgement of its speed, then raised his arm up and to his left.

*Snap*

A gout of flame and smoke burst into existence in the creature's path. It was intentionally off-centered, striking the creature along it's right side with a light scorching. The flames were likely not going to do much damage, but the sudden impact of the explosion was strong enough to throw off the monster's aim in its dive. It crashed down to the ground several feet away from Mustang but rose eagerly, small trails of smoke rising off of its armor. Mustang frowned, noting the cracks left in the street by the monster's impact. Two of its arms reached for a chunk of twisted metal debris from a crashed vehicle, hurling it through the air at Mustang as the creature pulled out something that looked similar to a rifle.

Ah there we are! Mustang thought, diving away from the debris and coming up into a rolling crouch. The kids had mentioned a sort of searing energy weapon, the one that had likely carved the lines in the walls they had seen earlier. This device would almost certainly be it. Energy began to hum as the laser weapon powered up, just as they'd told him, it didn't fire immediately. So they simply couldn't give it the chance to get a chance to fire it! Another shot rung out, this one connecting solidly with the creature's head. Its neck jerked to the side, but then the bullet dropped to the ground, leaving only a noticeable dent in the monster's evidently quite dense head covering. It hissed, four red eyes darting away from mustang a moment to try and find the sniper.

"A moment you don't have." Mustang smirked, ignition cloth glove already up and pointed at the metal nightmare.

*Snap*

A tempest of fire swept over the beast as Mustang's flame alchemy was put to its purpose without hesitation. It's screeching turned into an equally unpleasant scream as it flailed in shock. It staggered out of the flames, reeling and off balance. Mustang grimaced. A blast like that would kill the average man on the spot most of the time.

*Snap*

The second the monster recovered its footing, the world around it once again burst into hellish flame. With a shriek it leapt upwards out of the inferno, wings buzzing to life to maintain its height. Immediately, a third shot rang out from Hawkeye's sniper position, this one a deadeye's strike into one of its red eye sockets. The creature reeled in the air, clutching at its face. The glowing light crackling with electrical arcs and fading into darkness.

*Snap*

This was exactly what they needed to do, Mustang was confident of it as flames once again enveloped the metal-clad demon. Keep hitting it keep it on the defensive. He had little doubt that it had the power to kill him easily with a good shot.

*Snap*

The next blast of flames ignited the air centered around the creature's laser rifle. The weapon was engulfed in fire, frying circuits and with any luck rendering it inoperable. They couldn't afford to underestimate the damage this thing could do. Look what it had done to this entire neighborhood, all on...it's... own...
Mustang froze as the words of the civilians on the Crystal Ball Array resurfaced in his brain. Attackers. They had said attackers! His gaze shot up towards the building Hawkeye and the two survivors had chosen, just in time to hear a scream, then watch a beam of red-hot laser energy carve a hole through the wall.
 

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Hawkeye observed the situation through the scope of her rifle. Mustang was walking right up to the target with his customary assumption of success. She shifted her attention to the armored creature; it would be a difficult target to hit unless she timed her shots carefully. Its wings kept it conveniently stable in the air, but it had a troubling tendency to make sudden movements with very little indication to help her lead the shot. At this range the armor might also prove problematic, should she target the wings instead? Grounding the creature might limit its ability to close distances…

“He’s crazy!” The young girl, Elita remarked from the next window over. She was holding up a pair of binoculars that she and her brother passed back and forth between the two of them. They had insisted on accompanying her here to the fourth floor of the building. It was a good story taller than it’s neighbor, providing her with a clear sight of the street below from a sheltered post.

“No, no! He’s a professional. He knows what he’s doing!” Russio said with an idealistic confidence.

Would you believe that both of you are correct? Hawkeye thought, adjusting her grip as the target stared down at Mustang in the street. Suddenly the target dove in assault. Hawkeye grit her teeth, tracking its descent and firing before it reached Mustang.

“You hit it!” Elita almost shouted with excitement, Russio tried to grab the binoculars to see, but she pushed him away.

A glancing shot. Not good enough. Hawkeye immediately pulled the bolt to eject the spent cartridge. Even without the scope she could see the familiar fires of flame alchemy burst to light in the street. She settled back into position, the scope drifting across the street until she zeroed in on the target. It was on the ground now, a much better shot. As the creature began to target Mustang with its energy weapon, she squeezed the trigger.

A direct shot to the head this time. Another exclamation came from the impressed teen nearby. They really shouldn’t have been kept on the battlefield like this, but there was nowhere nearby they knew was a safe location. Hawkeye noted with a frown that the creature’s armor had absorbed nearly all the impact of her shot. She wouldn’t be cracking that armor lethally without hitting the same location a couple times. Mustang didn’t have time for that. She ejected the next cartridge, growing increasingly uneasy. She had managed to give Mustang an opening at the least, and not even the targets impressive armor could hold up against a concentrated barrage from his flames. If it was taking too much damage on the ground, it’s next plan would be….

As she predicted, the target took to the air. This time she was ready. It even halted its ascent for her after a few seconds. How considerate. Her third shot was a direct strike to one of the creature’s eyes. She straightened up, ejecting the cartridge. Hopefully that would at least keep it off balance.

There the was the faintest cracking of something heavy from the hallway behind them! A soldier’s instinct sent Hawkeye diving to one side as a red hot beam of laser energy carved through the wall behind them and out into the street with a terrible whine. Elita screamed, pushing Russio back behind an office desk as he turned around bewildered. A second of the armored creatures muscled its way into the room, kicking away the remnants of the wall as it levelled the laser rifle to begin charging another shot.

Hawkeye came out of her roll into a perfect crouch, firing the bolt-action rifle at the creature’s face point blank. The bullet struck the gap in its armor that surrounded it’s mouth. She dropped the rifle, pulling out her handguns to continue the assault.

No! She almost shouted out as she watched Russio and Elita try to rush the creature as it reared back in pain. Elita stabbed at the creature from behind, while Russio let loose his shotgun at the arms holding the laser rifle. Almost as quickly as their assault started it was rebuffed in violent force. The creature’s wings buzzed, slicing at Elita who fell backwards with a cry and a streak of blood. The demon dropped its damaged rifle, instead ramming a wicked spear into Russio’s gut with a terrible speed.

Shots rang out, Hawkeye’s handgun’s firing once and again, several bullets cracking off the armor ineffectively, but a few hit exposed joints, and a pair of holes tore through one of the creature’s wings. It thankfully turned away from the bleeding youths, focusing its attention on Hawkeye. It leveled the spear in preparation for a charge. Her mind raced as Hawkeye side-stepped closer to the window. Three bullets left in the right handgun, a pair remaining in the left. She had injured the creature, but she doubted that she had enough stopping power left to halt its assault. She could at least draw the monster away from the other two. They’d have a chance to escape if they weren’t already dying.

Nothing else for it. Hawkeye snapped her arm backwards, firing two shots into the window behind her, then turned in a sprint. The monster screeched and sped forwards tearing across the room at breakneck speed. Hawkeye leapt, arms crossed in front of her as she crashed through the window into the open air, plummeting a story towards the metal roof of the building below.
 

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In the instant that Mustang looked away to the explosion above them the monster struck. It sped forwards, two claws closing around his throat as it slammed him backwards into a concrete pillar with enough force to knock the breath out of him. It continued to hold his throat with two arms, the other two delivering vicious punches, one across his face and the other to his gut. Mustang struggled to shake off the daze of pain, spots of bright white popping in and obscuring his vision. He could smell the seared flesh of the creature beneath its armor, feel the heat of the metal that even now was likely still burning the creature's skin. He had turned the monster's protection into a personal oven.

Agony raced up his leg in a sudden jolt, and he looked down to see that the creature had driven its spear straight through his foot. He would have screamed if he could draw a breath. It wanted to savor the kill, Mustang realized as the spear was twisted in his foot. His leg spasmed slightly from the pain. Clearly the demon thought that it had finished the battle. Mustang couldn't cause an explosion at this range, he'd be caught in the blast too. The demon leered at him with its three remaining eyes. It screeched in his face, spittle spraying his cheek.

*Snap*

So Mustang ignited the air inside of its lungs.

The thinnest trail of flames was visible entering the creature's mouth. The creature's screech twisted into a scream, then cut off entirely as it reared backwards. It staggered away, dropping both Mustang and the spear to clutch at it's own chest in clear agony. A sickening glow was visible in the back of the monster's throat and the smell of burning flesh wafted from its mouth as it gasped, heaving up a greenish fluid that was most likely acid or blood of some kind. Mustang struggled to his feet, leaning against the pillar for support, then raised his arm to finish the creature.

*Snap*

He didn't prolong the monster's agony any further. Flames engulfed the writhing form, charring flesh and scorching metal. Mustang limped away in the direction of Hawkeye's building. One of the windows shattered, and Mustang spotted the blue-clad form of Hawkeye briefly as she fell to a nearby rooftop. A second of the creatures burst out of the building seconds after her, swooping to intercept her fall. It moved with enviable speed, even without one of it's wings working. Flame alchemy was faster.

*Snap*

The explosion was a bit off-center, but it served its purpose as the creature halted its dive, reorienting itself in the air. It focused its attention on Mustang down in the street, hovering several stories in the air. Another of the creatures' ghastly screeches caused Mustang to briefly reconsider how much intelligence they actually possessed. Three shots rang out from the rooftop. Two bullets severing one of the creature's remaining wings, the third shot tearing a sizable hole in another. The monster screeched in surprise, hurling its spear towards the location that Mustang had last seen Hawkeye dive to. With only one functional wing remaining the creature spiraled down with a cry, falling nearly four stories to crash into the street.

*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*


Mustang didn't even give the monster a chance to reorient itself. The first blast immolated the creature. Almost immediately after he created an explosion in front of the flames, pushing the reeling demon back into an abandoned and crumbling building. The third burst of flames kept it reeling, unable to properly counter Mustang's onslaught as the scalding metal of its armor seared and fused with its burning skin. Mustang raised both hands, focusing his attention on the more load-bearing elements of the derelict building.

*Snap*

Explosions erupted around the front half of the building, shattering concrete and melting metal. With a cacophony of destruction, near half the building collapsed down on top of the remaining monster. The shockwave of dust knocked Mustang off his feet. He sprawled in the street for a moment, coughing up dust and trying not to ignore the puddle that he could feel forming inside one of his boots.

Hawkeye... He forced himself to his feet, staggering towards the building she had leapt to in desperation. He hobbled his way up three long flights of stairs, each step squelching and leaving a trail of blood from his injured foot. The creature was falling as it threw the spear... It's aim was probably off... He didn't manage to banish the mental image of an impaled Hawkeye bleeding out on the rooftop. He nearly fell reaching the door to the roof. It was locked. With a growl he staggered backwards and raised a shaking arm.

*Snap*

The door burst off its hinges in a cloud of smoke, clattering to the metal floor. Mustang burst out desperately, nearly falling once more as his boot slid on a patch of the blood he was trailing. The Second Lieutenant was here, propped up against a vent of some kind. Her leg was clearly broken, twisted beneath her at an unnatural angle. She was bleeding heavily from the side, the bloody spear of the monster lay on the ground a short distance away. From the angle and her injury it had most likely glanced off one of her ribs.

"Second Lieutenant!" Mustang shouted, half running, half staggering over to her. She opened one eye with a grimace as he began tearing strips from his uniform.

"...Did you... learn anything from it?" She spoke, though it was mostly a whisper. Mustang couldn't help but smile slightly as he worked to bind her injury.

"Very little. They don't seem to be interested in a conversation. Maybe if the one in the rubble is still alive we can learn something. Can you still breathe, or is that wrapped too tight?" Hawkeye grimaced, trying to adjust her posture, but eventually slumping back against the metal of the vent.

"I'll live. The pair of civilians... They also need-"

"I'll go check on them as soon as I'm sure you won't bleed out before Fuery can get here with the med evac team." Mustang cut in, turning his attention to the broken leg. It was an ugly sight but it didn't look like the bone had fractured too severely. Hawkeye was silent for a time as he worked, biting the fabric of her uniform as he adjusted the broken leg to a better resting position. Mustang settled back, his boot squelching once again.

"The other two." She reminded him. Mustang gave a relieved nod, turning to head in their direction. As he reached the doorway to the roof Hawkeye spoke up once more.

"Lieutenant Colonel..." Mustang paused, leaning one hand on the doorframe for support. He looked back questioningly.

"...I had a clear shot, remember?" She finally intoned with the faintest hint of a smile.
 
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