Chapter 21: Fullmetal Alchemist VI

Opening Theme: Koi Se Yo Onna no Ko (Best Student Council)

Hanabi, Rein and Edward stared at Roy in shock. Rein glanced down at the charcoaled body for the second time. "Is that... the woman I was with?" she asked.

"I think so," Hanabi said as her glaring at Roy.

"What the hell happened here Colonel!?" Edward shouted. "Why did you kill Lieutenant Ross!?" Edward demanded grabbing him by his collar.

Roy punched Edward down to the ground shocking Hanabi and Rein. "You threaten a superior officer?" Roy asked. "You forget your place Elric."

"Damn You!" Hanabi shouted jumping over Edward and throwing her arm back shocking Roy. "Rubber!"

Roy quickly brought his hand up and snapped his fingers causing fire to appear and knock Hanabi back into the wall behind them. 'A Homunculus?' Roy asked himself.

"Hanabi!" Rein called out before turning to face Roy with a deadly glare. She pulled out a hand of cards and got ready to attack.

"You want to try next little girl?" Roy asked a cold stare replacing the shock Hanabi gave him.

Rein hesitated for a second. She was about to advance when a hand grabbed her shoulder. "Stop Rein you too brother," Alphonse told them seeing that Edward was also about to attack Roy.

"I'm not done!" Hanabi shouted running out from the flames with her arm still inside it. "Rubber Burning Pistol!" she shouted sending her arm forwards with her hand covered in flames shocking the four.

Before Roy could react Hanabi punched him in the chest sending him flying out of the alley and onto the street landing on his back. He propped himself up to see Hanabi getting ready to attack again by sending both of her arms back passed Rein and the Elric brothers. "Rubber!"

Roy snapped his fingers covering Hanabi in fire again. Alphonse got in front of Rein and Edward protecting them from the extreme heat the much larger flames gave off. "Hanabi!" Rein cried out seeing her friend getting hit by the ball of fire.

Hanabi's arms shot back into the flames and out towards Roy both of her hands covered in flames. "Burning Bazooka!" Hanabi hit Roy in the stomach sending him flying through the window of a building on the opposite side of the street.

The flames cleared to show Hanabi covered in burns. She was panting hard with her arms at her sides. "Hanabi," Rein said in relief.

"She's okay," Alphonse stated just as relieved.

Hanabi then flinched and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Hanabi!" Rein and Alphonse cried out as the three ran to her side.

"Hey are you okay?" Edward asked her turning her over to see she was out cold.

A shadow appeared over Hanabi's face causing the three to look up to see Roy had walked back over. He raised his hand up. "Move Elric!"

"No way Colonel!" Edward said standing up to block Hanabi from his aim.

"I said move Fullmetal!" Roy demanded. Edward stayed where he was and said nothing. "You are going to defend a Homunculus even when she might be the one who killed Hughes?"

"She couldn't have because she was in Rush Valley with us at the time," Edward said.

Roy slowly lowered his hand.

"So tell us why you killed Lieutenant Ross," Edward said getting back to the subject.

Alphonse gasped just now noticing the body on the floor.

"She's a fugitive and the orders we received were shoot to kill," she said coldly. "So I did. It seems she's a fugitive too," he said glancing over at Rein noticing her clothing.

Rein stepped back while Alphonse stepped out in front of her. "We won't let you kill her too," he said.

Roy said nothing but turned around. "It sounds like backups arrived."

Indeed the sound of rushing foot-steps were headed in their direction. "Al hide the two of them inside your armor!" Edward quickly told him pick Hanabi off the floor her feet dragging across the ground as he dragged her over to Alphonse.

"Yeah!" Alphonse said taking his helmet off freaking Rein out.

"Where's the rest of you?" Rein asked.

"We'll explain later just hide!" Edward said as he shoved Hanabi inside.

Mikoto sat up to the smell of food. She walked towards the smell with a smile on her face with her eyes still closed. She opened them to the smiling faces of Izumi and Sig. She them looked at the table to see food on it. She sat at the table and instantly began to eat.

"First thing she does is eat huh?" Sig asked.

"So it seems," Izumi said. "You said you were looking for your friends, right?"

Mikoto nodded as she ate a stack of pancakes. "Hanabi and Rein," she said swallowing.

"I can't allow you to just wonder around so I'll accompany you until you find them," Izumi said.

"Are you sure?" Sig asked with concern.

"I'll be fine dear," Izumi said. "I can handle a bit of traveling. And I feel very good today."

Mikoto swallowed several pieces of bacon before standing up and yawning. "I'm done."

Izumi and Sig looked down to see that a lot of the food was gone.

"She ate as much as last night," Sig said.

"She has a very healthy appetite," Izumi said as she began to cut her own pancake.

Rein sat in a hospital room looking at Hanabi lying motionlessly in the bed. Hanabi was covered in bandages with ointment to treat the burns she had that covered her bodies. She had a single bandage on her left cheek and around her forehead.

Rein sighed as she watched her sleep. "If I hadn't shot her with the cannon this wouldn't have happened," she said sadly.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Rein said. Edward, Alphonse, and Winry walked in.

"How's she doing?" Edward asked.

"She's fine just sleeping it off," Rein said. "I wouldn't be shocked if she got up in just a few minutes."

"Neither would I," Alphonse said a wave of relief washing over the three Amestrians.

"I'll say she took a bomb to the face and got right back up," Edward said.

"It's good to know she'll be fine," Winry said.

"I'm Tsunomoto Rein by the way," Rein said. "First mate, Lieutenant, and second in command of the…" Rein suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"What?" Edward asked.

"We don't actually have a name yet," Rein said causing the three to fall over. "But we are pirates none the less."

"So you never thought of a name?" Alphonse asked.

"What kind of pirates are you?" Edward asked.

"Shut up insect," Hanabi said in her sleep.

"Now she's mocking me in her sleep!?" Edward shouted. "And stop calling me small!"

"How old are you anyway?" Rein asked.

"Sixteen," Edward said.

"Wow," Rein said. "I'm taller than you and I'm fifteen."

Edward crumbled to the floor in a comedic heap. "You see that's why you should drink milk," Winry said.

"She right brother," Alphonse agreed.

"Who asked you!?" Edward shouted.

"I'm Winry Rockbell," Winry said changing the subject. "Nice to meet you."

"My name is Alphonse Elric," Alphonse said. "And this is my brother Edward.

"Right so you were going to tell me about why you have no body right?" Rein asked.

"Oh right," Alphonse said slowly. "Have you ever heard of alchemy?"

"Doesn't sound familiar," Rein said.

"Well it's that science of understanding deconstructing and reconstructing matter," Alphonse explained. "With it you can turn metal into gold or coal into diamond."

"That's awesome!" Rein said in amazement before she became confused. "How does that explain your lack of, missing, and nonexistent body?"

"Well brother and I tried to use alchemy to bring our mother back to life," Alphonse said shocking Rein. "But it rebounded and brother lost his leg while I lost my whole body." Winry and Edward quietly listened to the story with melancholic expressions. "Brother then gave his right arm to bind my soul to a suit of armor."

"So that explains it," Rein said. "So what about your dad?"

"We don't know," Alphonse said.

"That bastard ran out on us," Edward said. "What's worse he wasn't even there for mom's funeral."

"So your dad left you too huh?" Rein asked shocking the three. "When I was younger my dad just left without a word. I haven't seen him since."

"What about your mother?" Winry asked.

"I never knew my mother," Rein said. "She left before I could remember."

"Rein, I'm sorry," Alphonse said sadly.

"Don't worry about it," Rein said smiling happily. "I'll find my dad again, and when I do I'll punch him, kick him, and beat him down even if he cries for mercy!"

"You and Hanabi are just full of energy huh?" Edward said with a sigh. "Anyway, Hanabi said that there were two of you so where is the other crewmate she got separated from."

"Oh Mikoto, I think she's still on the ship," Rein said.

Mikoto sniffed the ground while crawling trying to get the scent of either Hanabi or Rein. Izumi followed close behind watching her with a raised brow. "Can you really find them like that?"

"Yes," Mikoto said. "I follow my nose to find lots of stuff."

"But can you really use it like a dog?" Izumi asked not at all convinced.

"I smell Hanabi!" Mikoto said taking off on all fours with Izumi close behind.

After a minute of running they wound up at the train station. "She was on that thing," Mikoto said pointing to the train.

"So she was traveling by train at some point," Izumi said starting to believe Mikoto a little. "Can you find out where she got off?"

"No," Mikoto said simply. "I can tell she was here though."

Izumi sighed as she got on the train with Mikoto. "What does your friend Hanabi look like?"

"She has blue hair and a hat," Mikoto said.

"Well not many people fit a description like that one," Izumi said. "Hopefully one of the stewards saw her."

Down the car from where they were a disguised Lust was watching with a smile on her face. "I've got one of them," she said over the phone.

"See I told you one of them would use the train eventually," a voice on the other end said.

"How does it go with keeping Mustang on a leash?" Lust asked.

"It's going swell," the voice said with a laugh. "He fell for it hook line and sinker. Even barbequed that lieutenant with his own hands."

"We wanted to keep him out of the way not kill anyone," Lust said a bit annoyed.

"Does it matter he won't go snooping around anymore so just relax," the voice grew silent for a minute. "Also that girl we captured, she escaped with the lieutenant and is now with the Elrics."

"Great another problem," Lust said watching Izumi try to calm Mikoto down as she tried to open the train window. "I'll get rid of this one while you track down our escapist."

"Can do," Envy said hanging up the phone he had.

"Is Lust coming back soon?" Gluttony asked.

"She's taking care of something so she might not be back for a while," Envy said earning him a sad groan from Gluttony. "How about we track down that girl who ran away and you can eat her?"

Gluttony's attitude picked up. "Can I eat her whole?"

"You can even lick the floor clean of her blood if you want," Envy said with an evil smirk.

"Yay!" Gluttony said with a sinister grin.

"So I think she should be fine," Rein said.

"You and Hanabi are too easy going," Edward said.

There was then a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Edward said walking to the door. "Who is it?" he asked when he saw a remarkably large man with an exceptionally-sculpted and well-defined musculature build barely hidden beneath his uniform. His head is completely bald save for a single lock of curly blond hair hanging from just above his brow. His eyebrows, too, are bare of hair and he sports a thick, blond handlebar mustache, which hides his mouth while accentuating his strong, cleft chin. He has blue kind-looking eyes with notably long eyelashes.

- Alex Louis Armstrong, Major of Amestris' Military Force, State Alchemist Code Name: Strong Arm Alchemist -

Armstrong suddenly punched Edward out of the room causing the three to rush outside to see if he was okay. "This isn't good at all Edward your automail arm seems to be in need of some repairs," he said shaking Edward's metal arm.

"Oh okay," Edward said.

"We must quickly head to Resembool right away to get it fixed," Armstrong said picking Edward up.

"Are you heading back home brother?" Alphonse asked.

"You stay here Alphonse Elric," Armstrong said. "You'd stand out too much! Stay here in Central!"

"Okay," Alphonse said.

"There's not a minute to lose!" Armstrong said caring Edward down the hall while the three watched them leave.

"What was that about?" Rein asked.

"No idea," Alphonse said.

Mikoto eventually fell asleep and was curled on Izumi's lap while Izumi stroked her hair. "How could such an innocent little girl be out on her own like this?" Izumi asked herself looking at Mikoto's sleeping face. "Where are her parents?"

"Excuse me," Lust said walking up to Izumi. "I think I've seen that girl somewhere before. Do you mind if I get a closer look?"

"Oh not at all," Izumi said shifting so Mikoto's face was more visible.

Mikoto's eyes shot open and in the blink of an eye she grabbed her duffle bag and knocked Lust's hand away causing her extending fingers to slice the roof of the train.

"Oh my, you are stronger than I thought," Lust said stepping back as Mikoto dropped the bag after taking Miroku out. "But you aren't a match for me."

"Who are you?" Izumi asked as passengers ran to other cars on the train.

"You can call me Lust," Lust said dropping her coat revealing her normal attire.

"An Ouroboros tattoo," Izumi stated getting into a fighting stance.

"I'm not here for you," Lust said. "I'm just here to get rid of that girl. I don't want to kill an important sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Izumi asked.

Mikoto charged forward with a roar and swung her Element down at Lust who jumped back causing her to slice through the floor.

"My, my," Lust said extending her sword like fingers. "It seems it will be a battle of blades."

Ending Theme: Uso (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)