Fullmetal alchemist >15. The Ishbal Massacre

Armstrong:
I heard you on my way in. You say you're an agent of God. Well, why don't you try passing judgment on me? That's Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist! Don't pray just yet. You're facing the technique that's been passed down the Armstrong line for generations. That's hardly a blessing.
Next shot!
It's true, what you said. The opposite of creation is destruction. And both must be served. Destroy and create, it's the grand currency of the universe. And it's the charge of the Armstrongs to carry out both.

Scar:
That's why I was going to track you down, once Fullmetal and Crystal were finished.
A unique combination of alchemy and physical power. God help me.

Armstrong:
You have red irises. Red eyes and brown skin, you must be from- But the God your people kneel to forbids alchemy. It's modernity's greatest sin. I see your rationale. Alchemy has three parts. Determining the makeup, then break it down, rebuild it as something else. You stop at step two so you're saved by a loophole. Like killing for a religious cause. But murder's murder, and you're still an alchemist.

Scar:
I only do as this arm instructs me, contrary or not. Leave it to the prophets to interpret God's will!

Al:
Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth.


Al:
Brother? What are we gonna do now?

Ed:
I don't know, Al. Let's just get some distance from that guy with the glasses.
Get down.
Ma'am? Have you got a back door?

Al:
What about Eastern Command, and the Colonel?

Ed:
Nah, there's no way we can go there. With the Brigadier General showing up like that, I get the sense not even Mustang can protect Marcoh right now.

Al:
Oh yeah, all those people from Central are there. Maybe you're right.

Marcoh:
People from Central have been deployed here?

Ed:
Just the Fuhrer and his entourage, yeah.

Marcoh:
I don't understand. Is this for me?

Al:
No, it's not like that. Don't worry.

Boy:
Okay, here we go. Ready?

Boy:
Yeah, yeah, just start!

Boy:
Nobody better cheat this time! Ready?

Boy:
Hey, wait! You didn't say go!

Boy:
Too slow!

Boy:
That's no fair!

Boy:
Just catch me!

Boy:
Let's play a new game! Priests and Dragons!

Boy:
Yeah, okay!

Marcoh::
I can't do this.

Boy:
I get to be the pocket watch!

Marcoh:
I've run away from it long enough. I won't do it now. I don't care if that man kills me.

Boy:
This is the village. You go over there!

Marcoh:
How can I when it's something I deserve.

Boy:
Wait for me!

Breda:
Colonel! We found him!

Mustang:
Come on, talk to me, Major. What happened?

Hughes:
Close call. This is turning into a real mess.

Havoc:
That's a hell of an understatement. What about Gran?

Hughes:
We found him on the road, a few blocks up. Let's just say there'll be some promotions, unless Iron Blood can survive his brain turning into hamburger meat.

Fuery:
But he was the Brigadier General! He was an expert in hand-to-hand, right?

Hughes:
Scar's M.O. No doubt about it.

Armstrong:
That man... He's an Ishbalan. I'm sure of it. I saw his red eyes.

Hughes:
Just stay down. You're hurt.

Armstrong:
I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel. You sent me with direct orders. and I failed. I hope Elric is okay. But the brown skin and red eyes, I know the man chasing him is from Ishbal. I even confronted him about his god.

Mustang:
Well, well! There's a decent break in the case, Hughes. Now you know why he's killing us.

Ed:
I'm missing the connection. Why do you deserve death just cause he's from Ishbal?

Al:
The rebellion, right? Ed told me Mustang was sad about that, too. But why? Ishbal started that war for independence. They lost lives, but so did the military.

Ed:
If all of us swore revenge every time we lost a war, there'd be no end to it. It'd be a cycle without a point.

Marcoh:
You're not listening. That was no war. It was a massacre.
The people of Ishbal are an ethnic tribe in the East, who worship Ishbala as the one and only creator. They draw from a different history, so they see the world through a different lens. Our world is sulfurs and nitrogen, science and math. We believe everything can be explained with numbers, and Equivalent Exchange is our sacred cannon. But to them, alchemy is a perversion of the world god has given us. The devil's miracle, corrupting man by putting us in Ishbala's place.
As a result of this collision of views, resistance movements would pop up from time to time.

Girl:
Hey! What did you do that for!

Marcoh:
One day, during a house inspection, an officer in the military accidentally shot and killed an Ishbalan child. The incident became a rallying cry. Massive riots and uprisings broke out all over the region.
It was too much, too fast. The military couldn't control its soldiers in the chaos. More fuel for the fire. It escalated into a full-scale rebellion that lasted seven years, until the Fuhrer had had enough. He sent in the problem solvers. The State Alchemists.

Marcoh:
Why? Because of their doctrines, the Ishbalans have neither alchemists, nor up-to-date weaponry. Want them to demonize us even more? You think that's a long-term answer?

Grand:
Did you bring the materials?

Marcoh:
I did, Colonel, but they're still under research. And like I told you, we don't need them.

Grand:
Have you not seen the reports? The resistance is growing.

Marcoh:
That's because your excessive use of force is creating sympathizers. It's easier for the Ishbalans to recruit the other tribes.

Kimbley:
What are you trying to say? That our Fuhrer's great cause is unjust?

Grand:
We've lost several thousand men. And the civilian casualties are well beyond that. The whole country is unstable. This isn't a humanitarian summit. This is war. Now turn them over, Crystal Alchemist. That's an order.
Dominance in a bottle, men, alchemic augmentation. It's my job to end this war quickly, and with this I can.


Ed:
So what happened? How did the Ishbalans respond to your weapon?

Marcoh:
They didn't.

Al:
What?

Marcoh:
Every gathering-point of resistance the State Alchemists were sent to, they were all wiped out in a single night.

Man:
That's him! Over here!

Bradley:
No more running, Colonel. Take him down.

Mustang:
Sir.

Boy:
My ankle!

Marcoh:
Let me help you, son.
During the war, there were doctors who would treat the wounded. It didn't matter what side you were on, Ishbalan or with the state, if you were in need of help, they would treat you.
How's that feel?

Boy:
Thanks! I'm it!

Girl:
How'd he do that? That was cool!

Marcoh:
However, they were casualties, too.

Grand:
Colonel Gran, what happened here? This became an underground contact point for Ishbalan insurgents. These doctors were involved.

Marcoh:
Involved? They were treating them! They were just trying to save anyone they could!

Grand:
That's right. And the ones they saved were coming back to murder my soldiers.

Marcoh:
Stop that. You were a soldier following orders in a time of war. It's my soul that carries the sin. These doctors gave everything in the name of saving lives. I, meanwhile...

Mustang:
How can we ever make this bearable?

Marcoh:
If I run away, will you keep quiet, and let me escape?

Marcoh:
So I left with the Philosopher's Stones, and all the research that explained how to create them. But I acted much too late. The people of Ishbal had largely been exterminated. I heard that our military let only a handful survive.

Ed:
It's grim, granted. But that's no reason for him to come after you.

Marcoh:
He wants revenge. What could be more legitimate?

Ed:
He's dragging people in who had nothing to do with it. How can you talk about legitimacy? He's a fraud. He's on a tirade of personal vengeance and he hides behind this excuse of ''God's Will'' so he can claim it's noble.

Al:
Still, if someone took you away from me, brother, I think I might do the same thing. Isn't that Equivalent Exchange?

Ed:
No! That isn't how the principle works! Haven't you learned that yet? Destroying lives doesn't bring lives back. We all just need to live and be content, while we can.
Come here.
Doctor Marcoh, why don't you let us hide you in our hometown for a while. It's just three days on a train from here, right?

Al:
It might be hard on us going back there, though.

Ed:
Not at all. We have friends there, the Rockbells. They make auto-mail. I'm sure they'll be-

Marcoh:
Rockbell? No, I can't. I can't go there. I'm sorry.

Ed:
Doctor Marcoh, what?

Scar:
Foolish troops. Don't think you'll be spared! You're all using weapons with alchemic modifications! God judges you!

Mustang:
That's far enough.

Hawkeye:
Colonel Mustang, wait!

Scar:
Colonel Mustang? Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang?

Mustang:
The one and only.

Hawkeye:
But sir!

Mustang:
I'm awfully sorry about your grievances. But no one hurts my men.

Scar:
Yet another soul who departs from God's path. Death will be swift.

Mustang:
Brave enough to attack the Flame Alchemist. I'll make you a funeral pyre.

Hawkeye:
Colonel!
Stubborn man.

Mustang:
That's no way to get promoted, Hawkeye!

Hawkeye:
Relax, sir, I just saved your life. Your flame attack's no good in the rain.

Havoc:
She has a point, Colonel. Wet gloves can't make a spark.

Hawkeye:
Fire!
He's certainly a fast one.

Mustang:
After him! Now! Lieutenant Breda, go to the train station. Wait for Fullmetal.

Breda:
But how do you know he's going there?

Mustang:
Isn't it obvious? He's shielding Doctor Marcoh. He'll try to get him out.

Ed:
Marcoh! Wait! It's your call. We don't have to go anywhere you don't trust. We're not trying to steal your research.

Marcoh:
No, Ed. There are other reasons I can't go there with you. I'm a stained man.

Scar:
This time I have an attack made just for you.

Ed:
Al!

Scar:
By clasping your hands, you make an array with your body, and circulate the alchemic reaction within. I know your secret, and without this sinful arm you can't transmute quickly. That is your weakness.

Al:
Brother! No, brother! Get up and run! Get out of here!

Scar:
I will give you a moment to pray.

Ed:
Thanks for the gesture. But I don't believe. Stopped a long time ago. Back in the tunnel, you told me you lost your older brother. Died in Ishbal, right?

Scar:
Correct, Fullmetal. He was murdered by a State Alchemist.

Ed:
Well I'm the oldest brother, so take my life and go. That's an Equivalent Exchange, don't you think?

Al:
No! What are you talking about, brother! You just said yourself, a life doesn't equal a life!

Ed:
You stay out of this, Al, I'm doing what's fair! He's not a State Alchemist. I should be enough.

Scar:
I promise before God I won't hurt your brother. But you should listen to him, Fullmetal. Your life for another is not a fair exchange. There is nothing in this world that can equal the loss of my brother and my people. Nothing will make it easier to bear.

Ed:
Really? Then why are you murdering all these people?

Al:
Brother! What are you doing? Get away from him! Brother! Run! We're all we've got, remember! We're all we've got! I don't want this. No!

Ed:
Doctor Marcoh? Don't you have any sense? You should be long gone by now!

Marcoh:
I investigated some ancient texts written by your people in Ishbal. I remember discovering the alchemic drawing you have tattooed on your arm. Maybe this has flaws, but it is a Philosopher's Stone. And sure enough, your arm is responding.

Scar:
Don't say it! You know nothing!

Ed:
It's some kind of reaction. Doctor Marcoh, what's going on? Is there a different way of using the Stone?

Havoc:
The classic sewer escape.

Mustang:
Don't follow him.

Havoc:
Damn it, I was about to jump in.

Hughes:
Nice mess. Is it over yet?

Mustang:
You know, you could try to help while you're here, Hughes.

Hughes:
Lay off. I'm about as normal as they come and this is a contest of freaks. What do you want me to do, fire my slingshot at him?

Mustang:
Lieutenant Hawkeye, take crowd control. I don't want anyone getting close.

Hawkeye:
Yes sir.

Ed:
Say something, Al. Are you still with me?

Al:
You idiot!

Ed:
What's that for?

Al:
Why didn't you run away when I told you to?

Ed:
Because, steel for brains, then he would've killed you!

Al:
So you decided to die instead? That's really smart!

Ed:
Don't call your older brother an idiot, idiot!

Al:
That's not how we do things. Live, and be content while we can. Live to research more alchemy, so one day we can get our bodies back. That is how we do things, brother! Dying, and dying by yourself, and leaving me on my own, that's something I won't let you do.
Oh, this is perfect! Now my arm's fallen off too! Today is a terrible day!

Ed:
We're really falling apart at the seams, aren't we? Everyone who sees us must think we're a joke.

Al:
But we're alive, right?

Ed:
Yeah. We are that, Al.

Armstrong:
A hollow suit of armor... I've never seen a soul transmutation that actually worked.

Mustang:
Yeah, they both must've risked their lives to make it possible. What do you think makes the bond between those two so strong?

Hawkeye:
Colonel. The Fuhrer's secretary has arrived.

Mustang:
Has she really? And what does she want?

Douglas:
I have orders to take Marcoh into the Fuhrer Bradley's custody. He assures you that the doctor will not come to harm.

Mustang:
But... Yes, of course.

Ed:
Marcoh, don't.

Marcoh:
It's like I told you, Ed, I can't go with you. Your hometown is not a place where I could ever be welcome.

Ed:
Why not?

Marcoh:
The two doctors that we executed in Ishbal, their names were Rockbell.

Douglas:
Let's get going, sir.

Al:
Brother? I think I just heard Mom's voice.

Ed:
Come on, Al, you've had a brush with death. Don't go unstable on me now.


Ed:
Fullmetal Alchemist.

Al:
Episode 16. That Which Is Lost.
Equivalent Exchange. Brother's arm, and leg. My body. We lost them. But what have we gained?