Reign of the Homunculus

Chapter 1

Greed had lived his life following orders for a long time, about a century in fact. Only Pride and Lust had been around longer than him. He didn't mind it at first. Father wanted the world and everything in it, and so did Greed. Their goals aligned, and so Greed did as he was told, creating Philosopher's Stones, amassing power, and inching ever closer to having everything.

Then came Wellesley. Greed, Lust, and Envy had been sent to instigate a border war in order to carve a bloody mark into the land for the nationwide transmutation circle. Something about it rubbed Greed the wrong way. It was in his nature to want everything, and killing people, seeing things that he might have owned lost forever, made him both sad and furious. And worst of all, he didn't even know why.

The homunculi were afforded great freedom and movement until Father needed them, which gave Greed plenty of time to search for answers. And of course, the first person he turned to was his older brother of sorts. The one who had been around the longest. Pride. The two met at sunset in Central, which Pride was actually forbidden to leave. Greed had been there for an hour, staring at the setting sun.

"What have you called me here for, Greed?" asked Pride. "I can't be gone long, or people will start to suspect things. I have a cover to maintain." Greed smirked a bit, reminded that Pride was forced to pretend to be a mere human child, playing house all day with the current Wrath and a human mother.

"I'll skip the formalities then. I want answers." said Greed, not bothering to turn around. "What does the Nationwide Transmutation Circle do?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Pride. Greed could hear the skepticism dripping from his voice.

"I'm helping to build the thing, and I'm greedy. I want money, power, women, and everything else in the world." said Greed, clenching his fists in determination. "I want to know how this will get me closer to my goal."

"Hmph. Very well." said Pride. "The Nationwide Transmutation Circle will, when completed, sacrifice the lives of all the humans living in this country, or rather what this country will be then, to create a Philosopher's Stone with massive power. Father will use this power to absorb God himself, and attain ultimate power, true immortality, and learn the Truth."

Greed scoffed. "That all? Thanks Pride. Might not help me much, but at least I know now."

"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get home in time for dinner." said Pride, almost gagging the mundane curfew.

"Hold on." said Greed, finally turning to face his older brother. "I have one more question for you." Greed could tell Pride was beginning to get annoyed, but he wasn't stopping Greed. "What's your goal?"

"Excuse me?" asked Pride, seemingly taken aback by the innocuous question.

"I asked what your goal was. I'm Greed. I'm greedy. I desire everything this world has to offer. So what does Pride want out of his immortal existence?"

Pride blinked several times, looking down at his feet in confusion. "I… I had never considered personal goals. Everything has been for Father's plans. For the Nationwide Transmutation Circle." Several second passed. "Though… I suppose it would be nice to let the world know what I am. To be openly known as Pride. To be proud of my power, my immortality, instead of parading around as Selim." Pride spit his human alias as if the very word was disgusting to him.

"Heh, glad to hear it. It's good to have goals." said Greed with a smile on his face. "Though that's not the kind of goal you can accomplish while working for Father."

"What are you implying?" asked Pride, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Greed repressed the urge to swallow nervously. He had known Pride was Father's most devout follower. Simply running would have been far safer, far easier, but he had hatched this dumb plan, and he was determined to see it through.

"I'm implying that neither of us can get what we want by following Father's plan. Hell, working for him benefits none of us homunculi." said Greed. "If we were to get rid of him though, every last one of us could pursue our desires."

"Are you seriously suggesting we kill Father?" asked Pride incredulously. The eldest homunculus hadn't impaled Greed with a million living shadows yet, which was definitely a positive.

"Why not?" questioned Greed rhetorically. "What do we owe him?"

"Our existence." said Pride, dead serious.

"So what? We are to follow his every order simply because humans obey the ones who created them?" questioned Greed, getting more passionate as he felt Pride wavering. "We are the first homunculi. We define how homunculi treat their creators."

Pride hesitated for a split second before replying. "Even if you say that, Father is stronger than us. Trying to kill him would only end in our deaths. You can't have everything in the world if you're dead."

Greed grimaced at the thought of his dream being lost to him forever before steeling his resolve. "Maybe not just us, but what about the rest? With you, me, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Envy, we should be able to do it." Seeing the doubt in Pride's face, Greed made to reassure him. "You don't have to do anything different. I'll talk to our brothers and sister. If even one of them is against it, I'll drop this whole idea."

"Very well. If you can convince the rest of our siblings, you'll have my support." said Pride. "I really must be going now. I'd invite you for dinner, but Mother likes me to call ahead when bringing over friends." Greed chuckled at his brother's joke as the shorter homunculus walked away to go eat his veggies.

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Lust had been hard to convince, but she loved toying with humans, so it only took a night of convincing to get her to agree that killing all the humans would make the world terribly dull. Like Pride, she only agreed on the condition that Greed get the other four homunculi on board.

Envy had been all for it once he learned that Pride, Lust, and Greed were all for it. He was jealous of the combat prowess of his older siblings, and it had at some point manifested into a kind of adoration and belief that they were unbeatable and always right.

Gluttony had been even easier. While Greed wasn't one to badmouth family, Gluttony wasn't the brightest of the seven, and was eager to please his siblings, particularly Lust. The two other instigators were incredibly close for some reason Greed couldn't figure out.

Wrath's desires were similar enough to Greed's and convincing the Führer President was easier than setting up a meeting with the undercover Homunculus. All it took was the promise of free reign over the military and the warlike man had been sold. Father enjoyed holding Wrath back to prevent complications, and it seemed that in itself had created a complication.

All that was left was Sloth. The worst part would be getting to the lazy homunculus, since going through the tunnels in central would be a great way to alert Father to his intentions. While Greed had plenty of excuses for seeing his brethren in Central, there was no excuse that would justify dropping in on Sloth. And so that's how Greed found himself in Wellesley, digging a hole in the ground, hoping to intercept Sloth as he dug beneath Greed's feet.

"Hey, you do know we're trying to build houses, not dig holes, yeah?" asked a deep voice behind Greed. So far the Homunculus had managed to avoid contact with the humans rebuilding after he and his siblings had instigated a border war. As long as he had some kind of tool and looked busy, people just assumed he was helping out with reconstruction and left him alone.

Turning to tell the man that he was indeed helping out by digging a large hole straight down for seemingly no reason, Greed's words stopped dead in his throat. "F-f-f-father?" managed to squeak out. If Father had somehow found out what he was doing and tracked him down, he was dead, regeneration or no. And the man standing before him was certainly Father. The same face, the same beard, the same golden eyes. They were identical in every way.

"Father? I don't have any kids. I'm a tad insulted you think I'm that old actually." said the man who looked like Father as he exasperatedly rubbed the back of his neck. Now that Greed looked closer, there was no recognition in this man's eyes, no gravitas in his actions. As much as he looked like the man who created Greed, he wasn't.

"M-my bad." stammered Greed. "You just looked a lot like someone I know." Clearing his throat, Greed regained his composure. "Anyways, I'm digging a deep hole. Trying to find a tunnel down here."

"Oh, well there's no need to go digging the old fashioned way. Let me help you with that." replied the man as he knelt down and gestured for Greed to get out of the sizable hole he had already dug. "Oh yeah, I suppose I should introduce myself. Name's Hohenheim." With that, Hohenheim placed one hand on the ground, and a perfectly circular hole sank down a fair ways.

"Hey, old man, was that alchemy?" asked Greed, perplexed. He wasn't an alchemist himself, but the concept of Equivalent Exchange and transmutation circles were things even he understood, and this stranger had just ignored both.

"I told you, I'm not that old." protested Hohenheim. "But I am an alchemist. Just helping out with reconstruction around here. Alchemy's good at fixing things." With that, Hohenheim held his hand out to shake hands. Enjoying the man's help and company, Greed reached out to grasp and shake.

The moment they touched hands, Greed felt an overwhelming power, exactly like Father's. It was clear Hohenheim felt something similar, as the jovial light in his eyes died immediately, replaced by the eyes of a killer. "What are you?" asked Hohenheim, dead serious.

Too taken aback to even think of turning the question around, Greed replied honestly. "I'm Greed, one of the homunculus."

"One of?" asked Hohenheim, as if he knew exactly what a homunculus was, and the existence of one didn't faze him at all.

"Okay, who are you?" asked Greed. He hated not knowing. Knowledge was one of the things in this world, and being reminded that he didn't have everything in the world annoyed him more than anything else.

Hohenheim looked down at the Seal of Ouroboros on Greed's hand before responding. "As I said before, my name is Van Hohenheim. And I'm a Philosopher's Stone in human form."

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"So my old man stole his design from you because you basically created him, huh?" mused Greed, trying to digest Hohenheim's story. "So does that make you my grandfather?"

"Well maybe we could go with uncle." replied Hohenheim. "Grandfather makes me feel old."

"You ARE old!" shouted Greed, before sighing. "Welp, that feels like Sloth all right. Ready to meet my brother Gramps?" Without waiting to see how Hohenheim would respond, Greed leapt down the hole he (mostly Hohenheim) had dug.
Greed dusted off his jacket as Hohenheim landed beside him. "So where is your brother?" asked Hoehenheim, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

Before Greed could explain what the vibrations meant, or why Sloth was underground digging a tunnel, the Homunculus in question burst through the side of the hole. The giant looked around in confusion. "I'm not done yet… Why am I outside?" looking down, Sloth noticed Greed and Hohenheim. "Oh, Greed... and Father… Do you have something you need to tell me? Because I need to get back to work, even though it's a pain."

"He's also a homunculus?" asked Hohenheim incredulously. "How many of you are there?"

"Later, not now old man." muttered Greed. "Sloth, I've been talking with the others, and we've all come to an agreement. You hate working, right?"

"It's a pain…" replied Sloth.

Greed smirked. "So why are you digging this tunnel then, if it's not something you want to do?"

"Father said to." said Sloth simply.

"And why do you do what Father says?" asked Greed, his grin widening. Sloth silence answered Greed's question just as it had with the other five Homunculus. None of them had questioned why they did what Father told them to, merely accepting it as the way things worked. "If we work together, we can get rid of Father. Then we can do whatever we want. Help us now, and you never have to work a day in your life again."

"That sounds… nice… but why are you saying this in front of Father?" said Sloth, looking over at Hohenheim.

"Ah, I'm not your Father, he just modeled his appearance after me because I gave up the blood needed to create him. I guess that makes me kind of like your guys' uncle." said Hohenheim.

"More like a grandpa, if you ask me." interjected Greed, much Hohenheim's chagrin. "So what do you say Sloth? Are you in or out?"

"Working like this… it is a real pain… and you are my brother… okay…" said Sloth.

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"So you plan on killing the Dwarf in the Flask?" asked Hohenheim as he sealed up the hole once more.

"Who?" asked Greed.

"Ah, I suppose he would have stopped calling himself that." mused Hohenheim. "The one you call Father, that was his name before."

"Oh. Well, intend to try." Greed sighed. "Hopefully all seven of us are enough."

"Greed and Sloth are two of seven, huh?" mused Hohenheim. "Am I right in assuming the other five are Pride, Gluttony, Envy, Lust, and Wrath?"

Greed laughed. "Got it in one old man. Named after the Seven Deadly Sins, which we perfectly personify."

"And after you kill him, then what?" inquired Hohenheim.

"Pursue our own goals. Sloth will probably do nothing forever. Pride intends to assume Father's rule as the real ruler of Amestris. Wrath is honestly pretty happy where he is and is just fighting with us to keep the status quo. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what Lust will do. Gluttony's probably gonna hang around her like he does anyways. Envy's a wildcard, but he's a pretty harmless one." said Greed, ticking each of his siblings on his fingers. "And as for me, I'm Greed. I'm greedy. I want money, women, status, fame, and everything else in this world."

"I'm still not convinced that I should help literal sins rule the world." said Hohenheim darkly.

Greed laughed. "We not may be good, but we're not so bad either. No worse than any human. For example, humans think greed is just for money and power, but everyone wants something. It's what lets them strive for more, and makes them protect what they have."

Hohenheim tossed his head back and laughed. "I suppose that's true! Hell, you're all only one of the sins every human has, so in a way you're even better than humans!" calming down a bit, Hohenheim looked at Greed. "And I can't say I condone what this Father is doing. I'm no fighter, but I'm a damn good alchemist. If you want my help taking him down, you're welcome to it."

Greed's eyes widened behind his sunglasses in shock. "Heh. I suppose eight have a better chance than seven. Much appreciated Gramps."

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"You know, I've always found it sort of morbidly funny how simple we are to kill."

"What do you want Greed?" asked Father irritably. Greed had been acting suspicious for some time now, and his recent trips weren't making him any more trustworthy.

Ignoring his creator's query, Greed continued. "We regenerate from any injury, no matter how sever, but there are limits to our Philosopher's Stones. So you just have to kill us over and over again. But you know what I find even more hilarious?"

Squinting as he decided to humor the homunculus, Father replied. "And what would that be?"

"You're just the same as us." That was all the warning Father had before the back of his throne practically exploded. On reflex, Father deflected the black arm with a barrier of alchemy. Turning his head, he saw Greed fly back, coated head to toe in his ultimate shield.

"So you've decided to try and kill me? Foolish. My powers far outweigh your own." No sooner had Father finished than several spikes made from the floor beneath him shot up to impale him. The flash of alchemy gave him enough warning to deconstruct the rock spikes just in time.

"Well then it's inconvenient for you that we're evenly matched in terms of raw power then." Father whipped his head around to see Van Hohenheim standing in the entrance of his throne room.

"Hohenheim. I must say I'm surprised to see you and Greed working together. I never told the children of their grandfather." Hohenheim's brow furrowed at being called a grandfather, and he silently launched several large earthen dragons.

Father responded in kind, casually knocking back Greed's attempt to take off his head at the same time. The two waves of rocky dragons collided, kicking up and veritable explosion of dust and debris. Father barely had time to take half a step back in surprise before his arms were sliced clean off by the two figures that shot from the cloud of dust. Repelling the follow up attacks with alchemy as his body regenerated, Father recognized the two figures as Lust and Wrath blades swinging alongside Lust's Ultimate Spear. It appeared that Greed's little rebellion had more supporters than he had initially thought. Before he could gather his thoughts, a powerful blow from behind took off his head far faster than he could react. As his head regenerated, drawing even more power from his Philosopher's stone, Father's newly formed eyes saw Sloth pulling his head out of the wall he had run into.

"How many of my children have you turned against me Hohenheim?" asked Father, blocking further barrages from his doppelganger. Focused as he was on the four attackers in front of him as he was, Father was taken surprised slightly by the voice that rang out behind him.

"I'm disappointed in them to be honest. It's only natural to follow one's father. Do they have no pride?" Turning to look, Father saw the eldest homunculus standing over a beaten Greed.

"Good job Pride. Now if you could-urgh!" Father was cut off by the blades of shadow that sliced into his body. "What?! Why?"

"Honestly, how could I follow a father who doesn't recognize his own children?" asked Pride as his body was coated in red lighting for a moment, revealing Envy with a shit eating grin on his face. The act over, Greed sat up as well. Before Father could trace the shadows back to Pride, more blades of shadow shot out of the blades already piercing him. To inflict as much damage as possible, the blades then began to spin rapidly, shredding Father from the inside out.

As the chunks fell to the ground, the air around them began to warp. In an instant, the chunks of Father and the evidence of the battle around them was gone, in their place a furrow carved into the ground. Gluttony walked out of the darkness of the entryway, Pride sitting on his shoulder. "I'm still really hungry…" said Gluttony as his stomach closed back up, looking rather dejected at how unsatisfying his meal had been.

"Look out!" shouted Pride, eyes widening. His shadows leapt into action, throwing Greed and Envy back as grasping hands seemingly made of the same stuff as Pride's shadows tried ot grab them. It was far from a graceful toss, and both thrown homunculi skidded to a stop rather painfully.

As the eight watched in horror, shadows that looked similar to Pride's, covered in mouths and eyes, congealed together, forming a humanoid body. "Well, you're all rather disobedient children, aren't you?" the shadow being said with Father's voice.

"So this is your true form, eh?" asked Hohenheim. "I must say, I'm a little glad you aren't me anymore. That's a pretty nostalgic look for you though. A little less cute than when you were in the flask if you ask me."

Father grimaced in anger at Hohenheim's jabs. "Joke all you want Hohenheim, but this form is superior to the one I borrowed from you all those years ago in every way."

"You say that, but how much is left in you Philosopher's Stone?" questioned Lust.

"You've lived this long, used alchemy often, and created all of us." said Pride.

"I know firsthand the limits of your stone, and I've felt how much each of your 'children' was given." said Hohenheim. "With the amount of alchemy you've no doubt done over the years, you must be running on empty right about now."

Father's frown answered for them. "Maybe I am running out of souls in my philosopher's stone, but luckily I've made a few spares." With that, small pockets of shadow Father had split from his real body enveloped the seven homunculus and drew them into his main body with startling speed. Hohenheim barely had time to be surprised. "After all, good children are always willing to make sacrifices for their father." As he spoke, the veins of the seven homunculus throbbed and pulsed red as the souls of their cores were sucked back into Father, causeing his children to panic.

"Of course, good fathers are always expected to provide for their children." said Greed, calming down and replacing his fear with a huge smirk. "As it stands I'm way better at taking things from others!" The flow of souls began to reverse, and now it was Father's turn to panic. Now that the act was over, Hohenheim watched on impassively as Father's shadowy form grew smaller and smaller as the homunculi absorbed their own father.

"No, no, no no no!" shouted Father, growing more and more desperate as he grew smaller and smaller. "I created you! I am your father!"

"A rather poor excuse for a father." said Wrath.

"One who uses us as mere tools to further his own goals." added Pride.

"One who purposely made us imperfect to make yourself better." spat Envy.

"Not letting us pursue our own goals, instead working for yours." said Lust.

"Don't worry though." Finished Greed as Father was reduced to a single eye's size and continued shrinking. "We'll be sure to let you see the future your children create through us. And what self-respecting Father wouldn't want to die saving his children's future?"

As Father was completely absorbed by his children, Pride stared at his own hand in wonder. "This is only a seventh of his power?!"

Hohenheim approached from behind and placed a hand on Pride's shoulder. "Yep, he killed an entire country to create himself and me." Pride looked up at Hohenheim with wide eyes, realizing that this unassuming man had seven times as much power as he himself had. He had known earlier of course, but until he had felt the kind of power Father had, Pride hadn't truly grasped how much that really was. "Welp, have fun ruling the world or whatever." With that, Hohenheim turned to walk away, breaking the other homunculi out of their contemplation of the much greater power they now possessed.

Greed recovered first, grinning in pure joy at the power he now had. "Thanks for the tip on absorbing the old man, Uncle! Really owe you one for that! Feel free to swing by Central any time!" Turned away as he was, none of the homunculi could see Hohenheim's small smile.

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A/N: So you know what happens when you watch all of Brotherhood in a week? You get writer's block on your other story and a billion ideas for FMA stories. Hopefully this crazy idea of Greed not just running but instead leading his siblings in revolution was enough to get words flowing for other stories and crap. I do have other ideas for this, so it might continue. May as well clarify stuff now. This takes place ~100 years before the birth of Ed and Al. I'm operating under the assumption Wrath has always been an aging homunculus, so the Wrath in this story is the previous Wrath before King Bradley. Feel free to ask any other question you have and I'll answer them in the next chapter, whenever that is. As always reviews are appreciated. See ya!