The Gate

Thank you Misaki-yo for beta-reading!

00/Prologue

The sky was darkening against the silhouette of a hotel on the quiet streets of Central City. Surveying the hotel with great interest was a man clad in a blue military uniform; he was wringing his hands behind his back, walking back and forth in a strange manner, as if expecting someone—or something. A lone car drove down the street and parked in front of the building. The screech of the wheels against pavement was disturbing against the silence of the night.

A tall and slim figure—a woman dressed in a black dress—climbed slowly but gracefully out of the passenger seat of the car and walked slowly up to the officer.

"Lieutenant Colonel Frank Archer…"

The man straightened up to acknowledge the approaching figures clad in black approached him. "Lust. Envy. And Gluttony."

Lust gazed at the Lieutenant Colonel. "You were given specific orders."

Archer laughed in an attempt to hide his anxiety. "I sent five of my men. They should be able to handle one little girl."

"You don't get it, do you?" Envy grinned at Archer as Lust and Gluttony began to approach the Hotel. "Your men are already dead."

A woman in black put down the phone just as the door to the hotel room was barged open. "Freeze!"

With her back facing the policemen, the masked woman slowly raised her arms into the air. They approached her as the leader, clutching a pair of handcuffs, tentatively moved forward. She doesn't look too dangerous… The man's thoughts were quickly proven wrong when she spun around, gun in hand.

Five shots sounded throughout the hotel room.

The phone rang, and the woman picked it up. "Taisa?" She turned over a corpse with her foot, trying to rid herself from the staring of the dead eyes. Her ever-stoic face hid her disgust.

"Hawkeye. You must go. They cut the hard line. Do you know where the nearest line is?"

"Yes. Wells and Lake."

"You can make it. You will make it."

"I will, Taisa."

Upon entering the room, the three Agents only found five bodies and an open window. Envy muttered something inaudible as Lust sighed. "Pathetic, these humans are… Gluttony, clean up the mess here. Envy, follow her. I will be following from afar..."

Riza's footsteps rang as she sped through the alleys of Central City. "Wells and Lake… I can make it there." She dashed around a corner and halted after sighting a familiar green haired Agent. "Hello Trinity," Envy smirked smugly as he approached her slowly. "A little slow today, aren't you?"

Without a reply or a moment of hesitation, Riza ran straight towards Envy, taking him by surprise. Using Envy's head as leverage to propel herself upwards with one hand, she landed gracefully on top of the nearest building. Below her, Envy held his head in disbelief as he chased her down the alleyway in vain, his curses long lost as he met a dead end.

"There!" More voices came from below, this time from Archer and a new backup group of cops. "Fire!" Riza ran further –her mask was slipping out of place— and found a street separating her from the next building. She paused, looked down, and leaped forward. With precise aiming she crashed through the glass windows of the seventh story in the neighboring building and rolled over the glass-littered carpet to break her fall.

"Th—That's impossible!" The policemen on the street below were dumbfounded. Archer glared at his men. "Quiet! Go after her, now!" He wouldn't risk his rank—and life— just because he was incapable of capturing one little girl…

"Just a few more buildings ahead…"She stood up, and allowed her legs adjust to the fall she just made. She took a step forward—and was startled to hear two footsteps instead of just one. She turned around to see Envy standing several feet behind her. He was still smirking. "Tsk tsk… still too slow…"

Hawkeye grabbed the gun from her coat and shot at Envy, who was ready this time. The bullets merely caused a disturbance on a hair or two of his head from his abrupt side step to avoid the flying pieces of lead. Riza watched futilely as her bullets were easily dodged and her ammo was being drained. Three bullets left… two bullets left… Riza stopped when she was narrowed down to her last bullet.

"Are you done wasting bullets now? Or if I'm guessing correctly… you're out of ammo, aren't you?" Riza found herself inching backwards, away from the window…

Just then the room began to shake. Through the deafening noise of the crumbling building she heard Envy's voice yelling but was unable to distinguish what he was saying. A hole in the wall opposite of the window appeared. Through it she could see Gluttony, and behind him the outside of the opposite side of the building was visible. The walls that should have been in the way had been dissolved. Gluttony was eating through the foundation!

The wall with the window Riza had jumped through began to cave in. Everything was crumbling, and Riza had the unnerving feeling that the building was about to fall… Riza saw that Envy was surprised as well; with Envy distracted, Riza quickly took the opportunity to find a way to escape the collapsing building. It would be risky, but she would take that risk. She ran straight for the window she had came in through and jumped out the seventh floor, just as the building collapsed completely…

Hawkeye landed on the street several meters away. She was safe for now; the collapsed building had trapped two of the agents. A phone booth several yards to the right suddenly began to ring, and she ran towards it. "Almost… there…!"

As Riza ran towards the phone, several things happened at once. Long black blades shot forward from the darkness of a shrouded alleyway—I won't make it in time— a truck suddenly screeched through the street— I have to try— it was driving straight towards the phone booth—

A large explosion shook Central City that night.

The door to the crashed truck opened. Archer climbed out of the truck and inspected the wreck. Behind him, Gluttony ate his way out of the rubble that he had imprisoned himself in, followed by a bleeding and furious Envy.

Archer frowned. He had failed— the only thing that was left of the wreck was an empty phone booth barraged with holes and shattered glass.

"Gluttony, you… I was in that building too!" Envy shouted angrily. "Damn, I've died twice today…" He wiped off blood from the side of his mouth… Damn that woman… for making him have to see his ownblood…

Lust walked towards the Lieutenant Colonel, who bowed his head with feigned apology. Angering the secret agents of the government could result in his death, or worse…

"Archer, you failed your mission." The voice let out no hint of emotion, and Archer found himself once again wondering if Lust had any feelings at all…

"I'm sorry, this won't happen again—"

"It doesn't matter." Lust smiled, but it revealed nothing. "Your men have already seen too much." Her empty smile widened. "Gluttony…"

Gluttony walked towards the group of policemen. The men tried to escape, only to discover that they were cornered by Envy, who was looking particularly murderous. Gluttony licked his lips.

"Can I eat them…?"

Archer said nothing but watched as his men were consumed. He did not fear a similar fate yet, however…

"As for you, we will leave you alive—for now. You may be of some use to us in the future. However… don't expect to get away with another mistake next time." Lust turned to Envy. "It's alright for now. We still have what we needed."

Envy straightened up, glad to be wiping off someone else's blood from his hands. "Yeah," he shrugged, and brushed his hands against his skirt. Envy kicked the last body over to Gluttony, who proceeded to happily devour the corpse. "The informant is real."

"Then we have confirmed who their next target is…"

"And his name...?" Archer asked.

"The name is Edward Elric."

"We'll need a search running..." began Archer, but he was interrupted. Envy grinned with anticipation.

"It has already begun."

To be continued…