Fullmetal Alchemist 99

Greed/Ling + Fu vs. Wrath continued, and Ed and company vs. the crazy doctor.

Buccaneer's Moment of Awesomeness.

Summary:
At the main gate of Central HQ, Felman and the remaining Brigg soldiers try to hold off the Central forces while Fu and Greed continue to battle Wrath. After exchanging some attacks Wrath manages to isolate Fu, taking away Fu's sword and giving the Xingese warrior serious wounds. Ling takes over from Greed and saves Fu from Wrath's finishing blow, but Fu is too injured to battle. Fu tells Ling to abandon him, but Ling states that he won't sacrifice his people unlike King Bradley. Fu agrees that Bradley/Wrath must be taken down, but in a surprising move Fu knocks out Ling, letting Greed take over the body again. Fu then reveals dynamite sticks on his belt and jumps at Wrath for a kamikaze attack, but Wrath slices off the fuses on the sticks and at the same time inflicting a fatal wound on Fu's stomach. Suddenly, Buccaneer comes in from behind Fu and stabs through both Fu and Wrath with Wrath's sword (that was lodged in Buccaneer's abs last chapter). Fu provided a screen for Buccaneer and so Wrath is unable to dodge the attack. Wrath kicks Fu and Buccaneer away, but the enraged Greed/Ling follows up and Wrath is unable to completely dodge the next attack because of his injury. Meanwhile, Ran Fan arrives just in time to see Fu falling down amidst a shower of blood.

Is it necessary for eyes to look up their targets' crotches?

Deep underground, the unnamed doctor explains that he was the one who made King Bradley. Ed and company prepare for action, and the doctor sics a group of King Bradley-wannabes at Ed and comrades. These sword-wielding men have been undergoing combat training for the last sixty years for the purpose of becoming Wrath. Although they are not strong as Wrath, they are still quite formidable and are causing trouble for Ed and comrades. In the midst of the fight Riza manages to draw her pistol to fire at the doctor, but one of the swordsmen gets in the way and takes the bullets. The swordsmen have bought enough time for the doctor, and the doctor calls five of the swordsmen to stand on corners of a transmutation circle. Ed and company wonder what the doctor is doing, and the doctor explains that he is activating the giant transmutation circle that's formed by Central's five research laboratories. The activation of the giant circle cause the whole city to shake and the five swordsmen beside the doctor start to disintegrate. On the surface, Al and company are trying to find an entrance to the underground, but Heinkel suddenly gets a bad feeling. Suddenly, eyes reminiscent of what's in the Gate of Truth open up under Ed, Al, and Izumi (who is in Central HQ), and the three alchemists disintegrate as they are grabbed by black tendrils originating from the eyes.

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Looks like Father's ultimate plan is finally underway now that three of the human sacrifices have been taken away. I thought Mustang was supposed to be a sacrifice too, but for some reason he wasn't taken. The doctor's alchemy is pretty interesting since it resembles what happened when the Elrics tried to transmute their mother, but of course we can't have the Elrics and Izumi sent to the Gate of Truth this quickly. The Elrics and Izumi are probably taken to another location for Father to use in the final phase of his plan, which probably involves a transmutation circle that spans all of Amestris. The other might have to rescue Elrics and Izumi, but at the moment Mustang's group still has to deal with the crazy doctor and the swordsmen. It'll be a difficult hard fight given the doctor's alchemy skills, and the doctor probably has a few more surprises for Mustang and the crew.

The Wrath vs. Greed + Fu fight was just awesome. Fu goes all out showing his utter devotion to his master, but Wrath is just too insanely skilled that Fu's kamikaze attack can't even touch him. Letting Wrath see what you are going to do is always a mistake though. That was an impressive feat of swordsmanship by Wrath, slicing off just the tip of the dynamite sticks. Fu gets killed, but the big man Buccaneer comes out of nowhere and wounds Wrath by using Fu as a screen! You have to hand it to Buccaneer: that moves took guts, speed, inhuman pain tolerance and quick thinking. In the other words, Buccaneer was GAR, even though he only made one move in this chapter. Now Greed/Ling has the advantage as Wrath is injured, and I don't think Ran Fan will just stand on sidelines either. The end of King Bradley is probably near, especially since he ages and his regeneration abilities are probably not as good as the other homunculi.

In the next chapter I hope to see some coverage on the Father vs. Hohenheim fight and see how things are going badly for Hoheneheim. I'm also waiting for the supercharged Pride to show up, but I'm not sure who is going to match up with him now that Al is gone. May has wandered off somewhere in the underground with the chimeras so some coverage on her would be good too. Of course, we all want to know what happened to the Elrics and Izumi, and the Mustang/Scar/Hawkeye vs. crazy doctor and the Greed/Ling vs. Wrath fight will continue. There is quite a lot to look forward to.