The Elric brothers were walking through Central, hunting down Shou Tucker. When Ed had decided to ask around if anyone had seen him, he found a trace.
"So he went over there?" Ed asked.
The man nodded, "He said something about going to the library."
"Did he say which one?"
"I'm just guessing the main branch, but I'm not sure."
"Thanks, that helps." Ed said, as they walked off.
--
When Ed and Al walked into the main branch of the library, Ed literally ran into him.
"Oof!" Ed said, as the impact pushed him back a bit.
Ed looked up at him and he got an instant rush of anger.
"Oh…Edward, Alphonse. It's been a while." Tucker said, smiling at them.
"Damn right it has—"
"Edward!" Al said, nudging his brother.
"Why don't you two come over to my house." He offered.
"Sure Mr. Tucker." Al answered, before his brother could shout some more.
Ed pulled Al back a bit while they were walking.
"Alphonse, what are you thinking!?" He whispered.
"I figured if we could get into his house, maybe we could get a clue on what he's planning." Al replied.
"I see….good plan there."
"Is something wrong, boys?" Tucker asked, looking back at them.
"Eh…nope! Nothing at all!" They answered.
"Alright then…we're almost there."
"Yeah…I still remember the way there." Alphonse said, remembering the good times with Nina.
--
Later, Tucker served the brothers supper and offered for them to stay over, which they approved nonchalantly. When Ed and Al were settled in their room, they waited until they knew for sure that Tucker was asleep, so Edward was able to sneak around.
"So Al, the plan is that you keep watch and I search the basement."
"Why do I always have to keep watch?" Al complained.
"Because if you were the one sneaking around, he'd hear you from your armor."
Al sighed. "You're right…"
--
Edward frantically, but quietly, searched through Tucker's information in his basement—or "lab"—but didn't quite find anything that he hadn't spotted before.
"Brother! He's—" Al said, but was cut off.
Next Edward heard was a "CLANG!" from the armor falling, then footsteps coming down the stairs.
Shit…
Edward looked around for a space to hide, but didn't find any.
A moment later, Tucker arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"So Edward, you're that curious are you?"
Ed gasped a bit under his breath and kept watch of Tucker's movements.
"Well. If you really want to know what I'm up to, maybe I'll give you a demonstration up front."
What? What in the world does he mean by that?
"Edward.." He said, breaking through his thoughts.
Suddenly, Ed felt something hard slam on the back of his head, but not hard enough to knock him out, just temporarily paralyze him.
Ed fell, but Tucker caught him before he hit the ground.
Tucker set Edward in his chair by his desk, as he walked over to the center of the room and drew a strange transmutation circle he had never seen before.
What is he up to now?...
Tucker looked at Edward.
"Your wish of finding what I'm up to, will be revealed once I perform it on you. You should feel lucky. I haven't tried this on anyone else before…" Tucker began to rant.
Ed felt himself gulp.
Ah crap…this isn't gonna end well…