Winding back the Pendulum Prologue

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. – Chaos Theory

Staggering, Hughes desperately headed for the pay phone. He didn't have any time to waste, but the pain in his shoulder from being hit, gave his speed away. Pain did not matter for what he needed to do was get the news to Roy Mustang as soon as possible.

Once he got there, he picked up the phone and dialed the number to reach Easter Headquarters. After a couple rings, a woman's voice answered. "Hello? You've reached Eastern Headquarters."

Hughes quince in pain though managed to speak. "Let me talk to Roy… Colonel Roy Mustang."

"Sorry," the woman's voice said. "We're not permitted to relay direct calls from an outside line."

"I'm Lt. Colonel Hughes from Central!" Hughes snapped, impatiently on the phone. "I'm calling from a phone booth because of an emergency!"

"Please give me the code."

"What a bother!" Hughes growled, trying to take out the mini booklet with the code in it. "Uncle-sugar-Olivier-Eight-Zero-Zero!"

There was a pause on the other line for a small moment then he heard the woman speak again. "I've verified the code," she replied. "One moment please."

"Hurry up!" Hughes shouted. More impatience and anxiousness began to creep in his throat. The more the wait, the worse he was starting to feel. "The military is in danger!" HE didn't say anymore for he heard a clicking noise just out of the pay phone.

"Could you put down the receiver, Lt. Colonel?" a female voice demanded. That voice… to him sounded awfully familiar but he knew whoever it was, it was definitely not a good thing. Somewhat frightened, Hughes turned around to find that Maria Ross was holding a gun aimed to him. "The receiver, please," she said again, sounding a little too calm even for a woman like her.

"2nd Lt. Ross…." Hughes said, not really shocked at all. He smirked, realizing who it truly was. "… Or not. Who are you?"

"I'm 2nd Lt. Maria Ross," the woman appearing to be The 2nd Lt said. "Have you forgotten?"

"No you're not," Hughes hissed. "2nd Lt. Ross has a mole under her left eye!" Of course he would know that, he seen her enough times to know what she looked like. Whoever this was, was not human.

'Maria Ross' looked startled at his accusations. She had the same face, but her expression was all wrong. "Huh? Really? I was careless," she had a different voice now. She or 'it' touched the bottom of her left eye. What appeared to be a red laser created a mole exactly where Hughes said it was. "How's this?" It glared at Hughes, as if mocking him for figuring it out.

"What the hell…" Hughes muttered, not believing that any of this was happening. "It's as if I'm dreaming."

"Your quick-wittedness brought the end of you, Lt, Colonel Hughes," it said to him.

"Hey now, give me a break," Hughes begged, in a calm voice. "I've got a wife and a daughter waiting for me at home. There's no way…" Hughes secretly grabbed a knife from his pocket. "… I can die here!" He turned around to hit the fake Maria Ross but stopped.

His wife, Gracia, stood there holding a gun to him. She grinned in a mocking way. "Perfect staging, right?"

Hughes started to shake now. Seeing his wife… holding a gun to him was too much. He didn't know what to do but he could not kill her… she was his wife, right? "Damn you!!" Hughes shouted.

'Gracia' let go of the trigger without even having to think twice. The bullet went right into his chest. Immediately, Hughes fell down to the ground in pain. He didn't know what to do, or what to think at the moment because he knew he was going to die very soon. Still Hughes decided not to go down without a fight.

On the other end, he heard Roy's voice calling for him. Hughes reached for the receiver but another hand he didn't know, took it instead and hung up the receiver. Instead of seeing his wife, he saw a strange looking figure wearing a two pieced black outfit and weird green hair which looked the same as dread-locks, in his opinion.

The strange being looked down on him, as if he were nothing. "Humans are so foolish," it said, "risking their lives for something so stupid." Time was running out for Hughes. He felt the blood pouring out of his body already and slowly began to feel the life being taken from him.

When the strange looking creature left, the last thoughts were about his family and what could have been the future. He felt pathetic for not being able to get the news out to Mustang. He really hoped he would see his best friend get to the top.

"Elysia… Gracia… I don't think I can… keep my promise," were his last words before he closed his eyes for the last time.

The night of Maes Hugh's death was a horrible one… So many people lost the cheerful, kind-hearted man who meant so much to them in different ways. He was a husband, a father, a friend, and a fellow soldier to different people. While, his death afflicted many problems towards Colonel Roy Mustang, it also helped him realize his reason for going to the top to become Fuhrer.

"You were supposed to help me get to the top," Mustang whispered.

If had not happened, then Mustang would have been able to probably get Bradley kicked off being the Fuhrer. He may have had a chance to avoid a whole war. He could not accept the fact that it happened. He wanted to do something… No he wanted to change it. He wanted to turn back time.

Mustang would do anything to change what happened that dreadful night.

The door opened, making him lose his train of thought. "Something wrong sir?" Hawkeye asked as she came into his office. "You look as if you're remembering something awful."

"Hughes' death," Mustang replied, without hesitation.

"Listen, Colonel, I know you're sad about your best friend even though months have passed since his death," Hawkeye said, "but he wouldn't want you moping around."

"I'm not moping," Mustang said. "I'm thinking."

She raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "About his death?"

"Not really. I want to know if there is a way of preventing his death."

"Sir, with all due respect, there is no way to go back in time to stop his death," Hawkeye said, "it happened for a reason. I wish it never happened but it did… you can't mess around with fate."

"I would have been able to stop Envy from killing him," Mustang said. "Then things would be different. He would be with his family…"

"I'm serious… once the path of fate has been messed up, something else serious happens."

"Have I ever told you, Lt. Hawkeye that you worry way too much?"

"Only for your own good," she replied. "Without me, where would you be right now? Anyways, I should get going… I have tons of things I need to do today."

Once she was gone, Mustang quickly called a number, of someone who knew a lot more than he did. His own mother. She adopted him as a kid, but she felt like she was his birth mother. She may know things that not even he could know today. That knowledge could be the key to unlock so many secrets.

The phone rang five times before she actually picked up. "Hello?"

"It's Roy," he said instantly.

She sounded amused. "Roy boy! What a pleasant surprise to hear from you!" she exclaimed. "How are things?" He hated it when she called him 'Roy boy' as it reminded him of when she used it on him as a kid.

"Things are fine," he replied.

"Oh really? Usually when you say that you are desperate to find something out," she said. He could tell she was smiling. "What is it you would like to find out?"

Roy gulped. So she knew he wanted something from her.

"Listen," he started out, "I want to find a way… to prevent a certain incident from happening."

"What exactly do you mean?"

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly into the receiver. "I want to go back in time."

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