Dragon Ball GX, Side Story: The Alchemic Saiyan
Chapter 25: Regrouping In Resembool, North Bound
Ling Yao
As I stirred from my slumber, I heard voices talking, two of them belonging to Lan Fan and Fu, both sounding very far off, I must have taken a blow to my head because it hurt, which would explain the difficulty hearing.
"You and your accursed Philosopher's Stone boy, its turned the young lord into a disfigured freak!" Fu shouts angrily, causing me to try and focus harder, the voices becoming clearer.
"For the last time, its not a Philosopher's Stone! Its something else entirely, and Ling is not a freak, he should be proud of the accident his reckless actions brought about on himself" the angry voice shouts, now able to discern that it belonged to Edward.
"I still don't understand what's going on; grandfather, Master Ling seems the same as always, I don't think he's a freak" Lan Fan says quietly, an undertone of concern for me in her voice.
"The girl is right, there is nothing wrong with your prince, and all the details will be explained in due time, when Ling can hear it for himself so I don't have to repeat it all" Edward says in defense of my favorite guard.
"You think the young lord growing a tail isn't a problem!" Fu yells angrily, apparently not accepting Edward's argume…
All of a sudden, I felt myself snapped awake as I absorbed the full weight of what was just said.
"I GREW A WHAT!" I bellow, causing the 3 gathered before me to jump, apparently not having expected me to awaken this quickly.
"Oh, Ling!…hey there buddy, did you rest well?" the tall boy asks quickly. His eyes were twitching rapidly, as he tried to remain calm, his voice clearly shaken as he replied.
He was trying to soften big news before he delivered it! I could tell by his face and tone, something had happened to me recently, and I intended to figure out immediately.
"What the hell is going on?" I demand, causing Edward to chuckle nervously.
"Ok, Ling, look, please don't freak out over what I'm about to tell you. You slept through yesterday after the battle in Central, and dawn just broke a few hours ago, but you're fine, there's nothing wrong with you" Edward says calmly, attempting to skirt the big issue they'd been discussing while I was out.
"Edward, stop avoiding the topic…what's this talk of me being disfig-OW!" I shout as I suddenly feel my energy drained when I shift my weight onto my rear.
"What the hell, why do I feel so weak all of a sudden? Its like there's something sensitive pinned beneath my aaaaa-AAAAAHHHHHH! A TAIL!" I scream as I reach under my butt and find a black, monkey like tail, a tail!
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO ME!" I shriek, causing Edward to panic and clamp my mouth shut.
"SHUSH! You moron, you want the local residents to think you're being tortured? Calm down or I'll knock you out again!" he hushes harshly. Noting the serious look in his eyes, I nodded and closed my jaws, causing him to remove his hand. After regaining enough composure to be able to speak calmly, I sighed and tried again.
"Edward, what has happened to me? I have a damn monkey tail! As a prince and foreign diplomat, I demand you give me answers now, or I'll convince my country to go to war with Amestris" I whisper, causing him to give me a "you've gotta be kidding me" stare.
"Really, you're threatening me? Me, Edward Elric, a man turned living embodiment of cosmic scale force, with a petty war that I'll end in 5 seconds with my power, really?" he replies with a low voice.
"Cosmic scale…you can't be serious can you?" Fu comments breathlessly, Lan Fan staring at me as he spoke, not with fear or disgust, but…concern it seemed. However, a light poke from Edward to my stomach knocked the breath out of me, and he got my full attention once more.
"You're damn right I' am! And you Ling, you're gonna be told everything as soon as we get to Resembool, but by my good will, nothing more, I don't have to explain jack! Keep pushing it and I'll boot your ass back to Xing and make sure that the Chang clan gets the throne, not yours, am I clear?" Edward growls as his eyes glow a menacing red, like his aura from yesterday.
"(Wheeze) Yes, crystal clear, like that stone on your neck" I gasp, the wind having been knocked out of me from his finger jab.
Wait, yesterday, Edward, his necklace, the fight! There was something that had happened during the fight, but more importantly, something must have happened to me before that when I grabbed the stone, the phrase that the voice inside it had whispered to me still fresh in my mind.
"You have been deemed worthy, and your request shall be granted" is what it had said, the tone filled with wisdom and approval.
"Good, now, get ready, we'll be leaving once I let Winry know you're ok" Edward says with a smile as he begins to walk out of the room I was in.
"The young girl Winry refused to let him move you until it was certain you were ok Master Ling" Lan Fan says as she bends to one knee in respect.
"Lan Fan, are you alright, Edward didn't hurt you did he?" I ask as I get to my feet and hug her, causing my ward to blush and push me off her.
"Yes, I'm fine Master Ling, all he did was incapacitate us, not even to the same degree as you were, he went rather easy on us" she replies quickly, her cheeks still pink; I really wish I could figure out why she never made a move on me, I knew we both liked each other.
"Indeed, even despite his rage, he showed great control against us, it was very strange, as though he were at war with himself" Fu says with a pensive tone.
"Alright, time to get dressed, we leave in 10 minutes princey" Edward laughs as he sticks his head in the door before closing it. What an odd nickname, I wonder what princey meant? After handing me a set of fresh clothes, my servants turned their backs to me, and I began to change. While I was switching clothes, I could swear I felt a gust of wind from Lan Fan turning her head to sneak a peak at me, but it may have been my imagination, my senses couldn't be that acute. After a few more moments, I was all prepared and ready to go, and we walked out of the bed chamber, and found that the next room was filled with many people, most notably, the criminal known as Scar.
"Why is he here, last I checked you were trying to kill him weren't you?" I comment, causing him to sigh.
"Yes, I was, but I came to my senses and he's being given one last chance. However, if he blows that, I'm gonna squash his skull beneath my foot, after hacking off all his limbs piece by piece; isn't that right Scar?" he asks rhetorically as he nods over to the Ishvalan who was bound in heavy shackles.
"Yes, I understand" he says quietly, apparently Edward had broken him or something, because that fighting desire I'd seen in him before was gone whenever he looked at the boy now.
"Good, now Winry, I'm not sure what we'll be doing next, but I'm sure it will involve something regarding trying to get Al's body back, so we'll probably be traveling soon, I'll let you know when we figure out the details, so take care, and if you ever find yourself in trouble, promise me you'll just use that device I made for emergencies, don't try to fight" he says gently, as he holds her.
"I promise, you just make sure that you don't wind up dead, I want you to stay alive Edward Elric" she says as she hugs him back. I was rather envious of how open they were, and it seemed that they hadn't been like this till now, I had not heard mention of a relationship from him when we first talked yesterday, he must have wanted to keep it more private till now.
"Can do, wish us luck on finding a way to get Al back in his body" Edward says with a cheerful expression as he breaks the hug and walks to the center of the room.
"Ok everyone, grab on to me anywhere but down there, we're outta here as soon as everyone is connected to me" Edward announces as he briefly nods down to his crotch, then looks around, people walking up to him and putting hands on his shoulders for some reason.
"What's going on?" Lan Fan comments as we watch the strange spectacle of everyone forming a chain that connects to Edward.
"Its only the fastest way to travel, come on, grab hold, its actually kinda fun once you get used to it, its travel by alchemy" Alphonse says cheerfully.
"Travel by alchemy, this isn't like going through Pride's portal is it? No offense kid, but that was very creepy feeling, I don't think I'll be doing it again any time soon" I reply, causing him to chuckle.
"That wasn't actually alchemy in the strictest sense your highness, and don't give on it so quickly, it just takes time getting used to traveling by shadow; besides, you'll get used to this method Edward uses much quicker, because its an entirely different mode" Pride says with a smile.
"That's right, now all of you grab on and we'll be off" Edward says in agreement as he waits for us to come over there. Hesitating for a moment, we decided to gamble on it, and grabbed onto Alphonse's free arm, the other one holding the still sleeping May Chang.
"Alright, is everyone here?" he asks one more time, looking around at us, the chimeras, Greed, Envy, and Scar who as being held by an extra arm of Envy's.
"WAIT! Don't forget me!" the balding man with a mustache shouts as he rushes up and puts his hand on Edward's back.
"Where were you?" he asks the older man with suspicion.
"Bathroom, where else, why do you always accuse me of underhandedness you hypocrite" the man snaps.
"Yoki chill, I was kidding, I knew, I can smell the urine pheromones; now grab on so we can get outta here" he laughs, causing Yoki to sigh chuckle too. So his name was Yoki, I'd have to try and remember that.
"You have an interesting sense of humor Edward, but I'm just glad you're not trying to kill me; I'm ready" Yoki replies calmly.
"Ok then, everyone ready, here we go" Edward announces as I feel a strange pressure on my body, and then in an instant, a sensation of…weightlessness pervades my senses as the room around us vanishes.
Scar
In what took a span of only moments, we suddenly went from being inside that room with Winry, to another, with a more homey atmosphere.
"Ok, we're good now, you can all let go" Edward says cheerfully.
"How in the…where are we?" Ling shouts with shock as he leaps around like a cat, inspecting the home with great detail.
"The Rockbell Automail Shop in Resembool, its where Al and I grew up after our mom died, hey Penako!" the boy shouts, causing a sound of dishes clattering and breaking to come back.
"Damn it Edward, I said to give me warning ahead of time before you pop in like that, you startled me so bad I dropped a whole load of clean dishes, get in here and fix them!" an elderly woman snaps.
"I'll take care of it Granny, be right back guys" Al says as he casually trots off to the kitchen door at the other end of the room.
"Forgive my bluntness Mr. Elric but, (takes a deep breath) WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!" Fu screams to Edward, who sighed.
"Isn't it obvious? Its called instantaneous movement, the deconstruction of objects or people from matter to particles, projecting them to the desired location, then reconstructing them back to their original form, all in the span of a few moments regardless of distance" Edward explains as he takes a seat on a couch behind him.
"Wait, you mean you used alchemy on our bodies? But…that's human transmutation!" Yoki screams worriedly.
"So? Isn't it rather advantageous, being able to move at infinite speed, and obviously I wouldn't have done it if I thought it wasn't safe" he replies nonchalantly.
"But you transmuted us Edward, that's illegal, and more important, very dangerous" the short haired blonde girl remarks with a serious tone.
"Not all human transmutation is bad, its just a very special field that requires precise study and testing with people who willingly want to advance the science at their own risk; alchemy has practically limitless applications, and it'd be a shame to not explore the field of human transmutation as much as possible just because it has two moral red zone subjects. Besides, medical alchemy could be considered human transmutation too, after all, alchemy is being used on the body, so its technically exactly that, so there" Edward counters, making the girl's planned argument die on her lips.
"The kid got you there Martel, face it, he's already proven how good it is, he got us from Rush Valley to Resembool in under 5 seconds, and they're hundreds of miles apart, I'm already a fan of this instant movement thing" the short man with slick hair laughs. I was surprised at how well all these very different people got along, considering who was mingling with them.
Edward Elric, the infamous State Alchemist who had done the most treacherous act of blasphemy, trying to create human life. How he'd managed to get his limbs back though remained a mystery, but I intended to find out.
"Oh stop brooding Scar, you know you might learn to embrace Alchemy if you could learn to look past your own nose" Edward chastises, causing me to snap my focus to him.
"Alchemy is an affront to Ishvala, to create things is blasphemous to his works" I retort, causing the boy to frown.
"Well I guess that makes blacksmiths sinners then, as well as shoemakers, watchmakers too, and lets not forget, the people who made those stupid glasses you wore" he says sarcastically, his words seeming to have a hidden meaning.
"What are you getting at?" I inquire, hoping he'd explain why he made his statement.
"Hello! Don't you get it? According to your half-assed doctrine, your god feels that messing with the nature he created is offensive, which means he would find all science and technology blasphemous, including the medicine the Rockbells used to save your life and those of hundreds of Ishvalans!" he shouts, causing everyone to look at me with a very judgmental stare.
"Obviously you don't truly believe science and technology to be wrong, let alone Alchemy, or you wouldn't bother to use any of them; if you truly believed your own religion, you wouldn't even be here, you'd be out in the wild, living off the land with no societal advancements, hell your people wouldn't even have paper to write their beliefs down on, cause that's messing with nature too" he continues, striking a cord deep within me, he spoke like someone I knew before.
"So tell me Scar, do you really think that Alchemy and Alkahestry are evil? Because your brother sure didn't think so, his former right arm you carry now is proof of that, he saw the good it can do" Edward states accusingly, causing my eyes to widen. That's why I felt that pain in my heart, he reminded me…of my brother, Michael.
"Brother…I'm sorry I failed to get you and our family to safety" I mutter to myself, causing Edward too look at me with a peculiar face.
"Scar, you ok?" he asks as he walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine, leave me alone" I say bitterly, upset with myself that an Amestrian could remind me of Michael.
"Ok, sure, but first, let me lighten your restraints, you really only need it on your right hand" he says as the shackles around my ankles and arms begin to vanish in a burst of blue, leaving a thin coating over my right hand that wasn't near as heavy as the total weight had been.
"There, you're still unable to use your destruction alchemy, but you can move around now, I figure you'll at least be smart enough to not try anything stupid from now on, at least I hope. Just remember, I know your Ki signature now, so I can sense you anywhere you hide in the world, there is no use running, now try to relax, have some chamomile tea" he says as a burst of blue light occurs once more and he hands me a steaming cup of tea.
"Thank you" I reply as I take the warm liquid and begin to drink it.
"Uh…Mr. Scar, he didn't simply give you hot tea, he made that from thin air with Alchemy somehow" Yoki says nervously. Upon hearing his words, I nearly breathed it all down my lungs, then spit the remainder of it out violently all over Edward.
"(Coughing) YOU MADE THIS WITH ALCHEMY!" I splutter in shock, unable to believe I'd let it touch my lips.
"(Growling) Couldn't you have just drunk the damn tea, instead of reacting like…that!" he snarls as the liquid on his skin begins to steam and boil.
"Uh oh, you've done it now Scar" the demonic Envy says with a worried tone, as Edward becomes surrounded by the blood red aura again, causing his hair and clothes to whip around. Immediately, they all stepped back to give him room.
"(Yawn) Hey, what's with all the noise?" the soft voice of the girl May Chang asks from nearby on the sofa, causing Edward to instantly stop and turn his attention to her.
May Chang
I'd just woken up, and all I could hear was yelling. Upon stretching asking what was with the yelling, I heard the voice of dreamy Elric respond to my question.
"Oh, May, its alright, everything is fine; sorry about waking you up like that" he says apologetically.
Getting up to stretch, I sighed and sniffed the air, surprised to find the scent of tea in the air. Looking around, I saw Scar was holding a tea cup in his left hand, but no pot.
"Who made chamomile, is there any left?" I comment, causing Edward to snarl bitterly.
"Yeah, its all in my clothes; I made a cup for Scar to help him relax, but he choked and did a spit take all over me once he heard it was made with "alchemy", talk about rude, at least turn your head when you do a one of those spews like I do" Edward says with a growl, causing me to frown.
"I sure hope you get over that attitude problem Edward, it's a real turn off to me" I huff, causing him to gasp and fall over.
Edward Elric
As I did an anime fall, I found myself unable to believe what I was hearing; she was still attracted to me even after all that stuff yesterday. I had to figure out why she as acting this way.
"WHAT! Girl, I think there has been a misunderstanding. You're supposed to like my little brother, not me; I'm not the tall, prince charming from your fantasies you imagined and-holy crap what have I done?" I begin as I yell, my voice quickly dying on my lips as I began to realize how I'd messed up.
Letting my mind wander back to memories of the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Anime, I took notice of the two fantasy thought sequences belonging to May that had been shown, of her imagining a tall, handsome alchemist with stylish clothes and great hair. Then, I went back to the events of yesterday, when I had show off both my forms to Scar, to prove I was the boy he'd fought before. That's when May first began to act like this, and now I knew exactly why.
Not only was I now tall, but to add to it, I was the perfect specimen of health and manliness, with a body straight out of classical arts and properly proportioned. I didn't just fulfill her fantasies of the man she'd been dreaming of, I exceeded them! Aw fuck, what was I gonna do now? She'll never fall for Alphonse with a guy like me around! Worse, what would Winry say if she found out about this incident?
"Something wrong my darling Edward?" May asks worriedly as she walks up to me. Thinking quickly, I thought of a good distraction to get her to stop talking about this subject.
"Oh, hey, I didn't see Xiao-Mei sleeping with you, where could she have run off to?" I comment, causing May to scream.
"AAHHHH! XIAO-MEI, WHERE ARE YOU?" May yells as she leaps around frantically, looking for her little panda pet.
"She's over here May, I guess she was still asleep on my shoulder after the teleportation like you" Alphonse says as he comes back to us.
"Al, thank goodness you're back, pleaseeeee talk with May, I can't be near her right now, I've kinda gotten freaked out because of something I learned from my master regarding her" I say as I push him toward her and zip over to Ling, eager to try and shift the conversation in a new direction.
"You still have yet to explain what happened to me Edward, why do I have a tail, and why did I not suffer brain damage despite the force of the impact I endured?" Ling asks, catching me off guard. Then the prince held his hands up to his face, lowered them, and clenched with uncertainty.
"What has your wretched stone turned me into?" Ling asks weakly, his tone indicating he was worried about his change. I knew that it was time to start explaining, and it would be a long story.
"May, you need to hear this too, I'm going to be telling Ling some stuff involving what happened to him yesterday, and it'd be best you hear it too, its quite the tale" I say with a smile as I use my alchemy to manipulate photons and create holograms of the sky.
"Mankind has often wondered if we're alone in the universe, if our planet is the only one of consequence. I'm here to tell you that not only are we likely not alone in this universe, but that our universe is not alone amongst an potentially infinite multitude of others, each with their own Earth or version of it. My journey, which plunged me, plunged all of us, into this grand adventure, began in this realm, on this world, right after the explosion at the 5th Laboratory just over five weeks ago in Central City" I start as I show them a projection of the Dragon Ball Z universe's version of terra firma, with its towering megalopolises, floating cities among the clouds, the Lookout, and flying technology and people.
5 hours later
Ling Yao
I'd heard all of his story; about the history of the world he was taken to, the ancient races of beings and the true nature of Ki, yet I still could barely believe what I'd been told, let alone how along with Edward having been transformed into one of them, now I had been too. The others were in total shock from this story, Greed and his chimera gang too, their jaws just slack with awe. As for me though, now that the information had sunk in, I began feeling giddy and leapt to my feet.
"(Laughing) THIS IS OUTSTANDING! As a Saiyan, I don't even need a philosopher's stone or a homunculus now, I have all the political pull I need within my own body, this new, invincible, alien body. I don't know why I was so worried earlier, this accident turned out to be rather wonderful, I can just march up to the emperor, flash a bit of my new might, and he'll just step down so he can retire in peace and-YIIIII!" I scream, my speech interrupted as Edward grabbed my tail.
"Lets see you do that now smartass" Edward grins as he holds it roughly in his grasp, his move draining me of all my strength, paralyzing me, making me hopelessly vulnerable.
"What…the hell, I thought Saiyans were invincible, 20 bombs blew up in your face and you didn't even get a scratch" I argue with a wheeze, barely able to talk I felt so weak.
"Now you're as weak, and almost as vulnerable as an average man, so what can you do hot shot?" Edward asks rhetorically. He was right, in this state, it would be easy to be killed. Suddenly, I felt Scar's Ki move, and he was behind Edward, grabbing his tail.
"Ed, no!" I scream, worried that this would give the murderer a chance to escape; with Edward paralyzed he could kill him and we'd all be in danger if he got out of the restraint covering his arm.
"What…was that?" Edward asks with an annoyed expression.
"But…your tail; it weakened the eastern boy, why are you not immobilized?" Scar asks with confusion, as I notice Edward isn't even twingeing.
"Well unlike Ling, I received training to overcome that one flaw in saiyan biology, so now I have no weak points, not even my tail, so if you don't want me to show you how many ways there are to put your body through "kill me to end the pain" agony, you'll sit down on that couch, and not move a muscle other than your lungs unless I give you permission you traitorous asshole" he says as his body glows with a light red aura. Without a word, the once terrifying Ishvalan silently slumped into the sofa with defeat, and who could blame him? With the level of power Edward had, he was undoubtedly, the most dangerous man in the universe. Upon releasing my tail, I found I was able to move once again, and sighed with relief as I felt the pain go away.
"Edward, you said that your powers are mainly from manipulation of Ki energy, which is chi, life force, right?" May suddenly remarks, catching everyone off guard.
"Yeah…of course, why do you ask?" Edward remarks with confusion, he was right, it was confusing me as well, what was a member of my rival clan getting at with such a question.
"Well, all living creatures have chi, so that means any sentient being, with training, could gain the same powers you have, even if not on the same scale, right?" May continues.
"Well yeah, that's right, that's the source of my invulnerability, shielding my body with a film of Ki, you guys might be able to sense it if you focus" Edward replies with a smirk as he holds out his hand.
"Wait, so you mean the bottom line is, in order to be invincible like you…I have to undergo rigorous training?" I interrupt, causing Edward to give me an annoyed look.
"Haven't you been paying attention idiot? Yes, intense training!" Edward snaps.
"How long does it take?" May comments.
"To get to my level of mastery, 2, 3 years, depending on your natural affinity to Ki, some are more in tune with life energy than others depending on genetics, environment, and culture, like yours; in fact, I bet, any one from Xing who can sense Ki, even on a novice level, would be able to acquire super human abilities before the new year rolls around" Edward says with a smile.
"Then I humbly beg you, please teach my servants and I the ways of Ki, Master Edward" I say with praise as I bow to him. Upon returning to sitting on my knees, I saw the big alchemist was looking at me like I was crazy.
"Um…Ok, you know what, here is my answer in three simple words, wanna hear em?" Edward asks as he curls his finger, indicating me to lean my ear in closer so he could whisper something. As I inched closer, I put my lobe right up to his face, and waited for the answer.
"Alright, ready?" he whispers, causing me to nod in agreement. With a deep breathe, he prepared to tell me.
"NO…FRIGGIN…WAYYYYYYYYYYY!" he bellows, sending me crashing into the opposing wall with a crash.
"(Groan) How could I be so gullible?" I moan loudly as I impact into the wall briefly, then feel myself flaking off, and landing hard on the floor.
"Young Lord!" Fu shouts as he and Lan Fan rush to my side, having been to shocked to speak earlier after Edward's tales.
"Are you alright Master Ling, did he hurt you?" my most beautiful servant asks gently, her mask that had been repaired yesterday by Alphonse covering her face once more.
"(Moan of pain) Yes, but just a little, I only flew 10 feet" I grunt as I pick myself up.
"Ok, maybe I overreacted a little, but I have always wanted to sass off Ling, sometimes you just don't know when to get a clue, I mean, look at this!" Edward screams as he holds out his right hand, an crackling, red orb that shone with a menacing crimson glow hovering over his palm.
"(Scream) T-Tha-Tha-Tha-That's like what he used to vaporize the structure in the desert!" the lizard man known as Bido shrieks as he hides behind Greed.
"You see? That's the thing about this power, apart from making you feared by everyone, you become a threat; even I know this, I have this power, and even I'm afraid of what I could do with it. Do you know…how hard that is, to control the urge to just…cut loose and destroy? If you haven't felt that saiyan bloodlust yet, you will Ling, count on it, and be glad that for the time being, you're not powerful enough to be dangerous to everyone unless you get indignantly angered, when a tiny portion of your potential power is momentarily unlocked, like it did just before you knocked yourself out during the fight yesterday" Edward argues heatedly, turning his back to me, causing me to get mad.
"And what gives you the right to decide that without even testing us, I mean, you just assume we'd abuse this power? You know what that gem said to me after I grabbed it, do you Edward?" I berate, causing his eyes to widen.
"It spoke to you, what did it say?" he asks eagerly as he whips around and grabs my shoulders.
"For your information, the stone spoke to me, and it said, "You have been deemed worthy, and your request shall be granted". That's how I became a saiyan" I reply, causing him to look at me with shock. After several moments of silence, he seemed to get a eureka look on his face, and nodded to the silent Alphonse, who was busy petting Xiao-Mei to keep her calm.
"Ling…what did you do when you held my stone, what happened while you held it and you heard my master's voice?" he asks with a deadly serious tone.
"I…I think it was something about wanting to be able to protect the innocent, defend those I care about" I reply, causing him to shout in exasperation.
"Great, back to square one with the gem, the one way we're guaranteed to be able to connect my brother's soul from the armor back to his body" Edward shouts angrily, stomping the floor in frustration, causing the house to rock.
"Hey, easy, I'm still healing brother, and Granny said you're rebuilding the whole house if you damage it" an upset but gentle voice says from the kitchen.
"Who is that? He sounds dreamy" May remarks, damn she seemed fickle.
"Oh, body, I didn't realize you were back from the garden yet" Alphonse says as he gets up and creaks toward the kitchen.
"Yeah, I was trying to use the alchemy, since you finally recovered your memories of the gate, I guess I just don't have enough strength yet" a tall, lanky blonde kid with short hair says as he walks in, blue jeans and a white collared shirt adorned his thin frame.
"Who the hell is that? I thought it was just us and the old lady" Greed says irritably.
"Oh, I suppose introductions are in order; everyone, I'd like you to me my brother Alphonse's physical body, AKA, Body Al" Edward says sheepishly as the thin boy bows respectfully.
"Hey, how's it going everyone, by the way, your other brother Gluttony is in the forest getting his lunch, so he'll be back in a little bit Greed" the so called "Body Al" replies, causing us all to stare.
Scar
As they all talked excitedly about how Al's body was separated from his soul, yet it still functioned, I groaned, wishing there was a way to give Edward what he deserves. Sadly, with his invulnerability, and my hand encased in a near indestructible metal, I could do nothing.
"Yeah, we hope to find a way to reunite my soul with my body so I can finally feel and eat again" the armor boy says enthusiastically.
"I'll indeed be very happy when I'm whole again" the short haired blonde kid says with a smile.
"Yeah, then Al can get back to life, maybe meet his dream girl along the way" Edward chuckles as he throws his arm around the armor suit and his brother.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of memories, of my brother, Michael, how we used to be so close, even till the bitter end. That last family photograph, my father, Michael and me, we had our arms around each other, just like Edward and his brother and body were doing now.
"Michael…why did you have to waste time grabbing that damn notebook?" I mutter to myself.
Without warning, I found myself hoisted up by my throat, and Edward was staring me in the eyes.
"What was that Scar?" he asks, expecting me to confess. Likely, he already knew, so I decided to go ahead and repeat it so he'd hear.
"I said I wish I knew why my brother bothered to grab that damn notebook 7 years ago just before we tried to flee Ishval. If he hadn't wasted time to get it, we'd probably have all made it out alive and-"
"Wait, back up, the notebook, do you mean the notebook with his research on alchemy and alkahestry?" Edward remarks as he interrupts me, causing my eyes to widen.
"How the hell did you know about the contents of my brother's research?" I growl, wondering if maybe he knew more about the alchemist who had killed my family than he let on.
"I know everything Scar; I know about who killed your family, how the notebook is hidden in a cabin up north near Fort Briggs, how you were originally planning to go retrieve it eventually with Dr. Marcoh after you'd freed him from the prison beneath Central, and how we were going to go up there to meet the general of Briggs when Slo…(Gasps deeply) OH DAMN IT, I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT SLOTH!" Edward bellows as he drops me like a toy he'd lost interest in.
"Sloth, you mean our brother who's digging the transmutation circle beneath Amestris?" Envy remarks with surprise.
"Yeah, the laziest yet fastest homunculus, duh!" Edward retorts sarcastically.
"Why are you worried about him, I mean, he's just digging the tunnel, he's not to do anything else till that's completed, and that won't be for a while longer" Envy adds as he kicks back on the couch.
"No, you don't understand; thanks to that information I learned from my master, if events follow normal intended pathways as they have, that indicates that soon, he'll accidentally burst into Fort Briggs, and without us there to help he could…CRAP! Everyone, I'm sorry but my brother and I have to leave for Briggs ASAP, it's a potential matter of life and death" he shouts worriedly as I rise up to my feet.
"Hold on! You're not leaving without us, what do you expect us to do, just wait here in this dinky eastern sheep town with that horribly temperamental old woman?" Yoki shouts in protest.
"Call me old again and see what happens baldy!" Penako shouts from the kitchen, causing Yoki to break into a sweat and shut up.
"Anyways, you get my point, also you promised you'd make it up to me for ruining my life Fullmetal, I intend to hold you to your word alien!" he shouts as he points at the boy with an accusative finger.
"Yes, that's true, I did give my word Yoki. Very well, you can come with me, maybe Fort Briggs will toughen you up some, I heard the Ice Queen is good at finding hidden strengths, especially since you can't afford to be weak there; she lives by the motto "only the strong survive", she has no mercy for wimps" Edward replies, causing Yoki to sweat even more.
"On second thought, maybe I can go with Scar to meet Dr. Marcoh, after all, I'm sure there is some interesting information regarding the famous Crystal Alchemist" Yoki says as he holds his hands up in defense.
"You're right, I'd forgotten about Marcoh too, though due to the change in events its likely he's unharmed, but we need to check and make sure that he's ok. However-" Edward begins as he turns to me, and glares.
"-If I let you have free reign Scar, you'd better be damn sure I'll kill you the moment I find out you've committed even one single new murder you bastard. I can sense Ki across the world and beyond, so running won't save you as I've proven, am I clear?" Edward finishes, as he holds a glowing fist to my face.
"Yes alchemist" I say quietly.
"Ahem, care to repeat that, Scar?" he continues, causing me to sigh, knowing what he wanted.
"(Groan) Yes, Major Elric" I drone begrudgingly, the boy smiling after I'd used his proper title.
"Good, you are hereby charged with going to this town, Haimburgin, its between Pleonuk and Kaumafy, both on the routes that lead to either Eastern City or Central. So, who's gonna go with Scar besides Yoki, cause they'll need extra protection just in case" Edward asks with a lighter tone.
"My servants and I would volunteer, but he's a confirmed mass murderer, and we still don't trust him yet" Ling remarks.
"I refuse to work for Scar anytime soon either, he withheld the truth that he's a killer from a little girl!" May says angrily as she closes her eyes and turns her nose up, as her little panda growling at me; a pity, deep down I had a soft spot for cats and other similar creatures.
Then, in the doorway, I saw him; the fat homunculus that had tried to eat me weeks ago in East City! He closed the distance between him and May in moments, and was standing silently behind her, the girl suddenly realizing the presence that had arrived as her face contorted with fear.
"A LITTLE GIRRRRRRLLLLL!" the fat thing shouts elatedly, his cavernous and disgusting mouth opening wide to reveal the ouroboros tattoo on his tongue. May instantly began to zip around the room in a frantic attempt to avoid the inhumanly agile thing.
"You'll make an excellent appetizer!" he shouts as he narrowly misses the chance to grab her.
"Edward, save me!" she screams as she jump kicks off a wall again, the spot she was touching moments ago being promptly bitten by the gluttonous devil, who resumed the chase promptly.
"(Sharp Whistle) Gluttony, FREEZE!" Edward shouts, causing the fat man to stop himself just before he can jump at May again and fall flat on his face.
"(Groan) Not for eating?" he says woozily as he rubs his head.
"Not for eating" Edward says as he shakes his head.
"Oh…ok then, hmmm?" the creature says dejectedly, until he notices me, and his eyes brighten again.
"The Ishvalan, I know I can eat him, everyone wants Scar dead!" the thing shouts as he leaps at me, his maw opening once more in preparation to consume me.
That was the end of the line, I had to find a way to break this restraint, and defend myself, cause I severely doubted these people really care whether I live or die.
Then I remembered Edward's response to Greed's earlier question regarding the composition of Adamantium, the very substance my hand was incased within.
"Iron, its an Iron based alloy, and I know the make-up of Iron!" I scream as I focus on the ferrous bonds inside the alloy, and separate them to create a mass of beryllium atoms, pushing apart the other components of the alloy, and breaking the coating that covered my skin. An instant later, I grasped onto the incoming homunculus's face with my freed right hand, and destroyed his face, splattering blood everywhere. Edward, was needless to say, very shocked.
"Scar, you're good, a bit too good, that's a problem" Edward sighs, as I feel a light weight attach to my recently released flesh. Upon hearing a clang, I began looking down, and found my right hand was now covered by a new metal, one very shiny and lightweight, and had a strange lock around the wrist area it coated.
"Congratulations, you are looking at an element that is extraterrestrial in origin, much like myself" he says with a smirk. I instantly tried to use my destruction against it, but after several seconds, I found it was lacking in any elements I was familiar with, I didn't know how it was put together!
"Again, that's an element, a pure, atomic element with its own unique structure chump; its called Vibranium, and it absorbs kinetic energy directed at it, that means hitting Vibranium only makes the stuff even stronger, so its nearly as durable as adamantium, with additional properties that are surprising and quite beneficial for a variety of uses" Edward continues, ending my now admittedly futile efforts to re-free my hand, there was no way I could decompose an element that I had no atomic knowledge of.
"Now, Gluttony, hear me and hear me well, you voracious fatso; Scar, luckily for him, is not available for consumption at this time, he is my prisoner, and I expect him to be defended, not devoured, am I clear?" he asks as he bends down and looks into the regenerating face of the beast.
"(Groan) Yes, understood Edward, but I need something, I couldn't find much in the woods, and you told me the sheep, dogs, cats, pets, and people weren't for eating period, so I've only had 4 foxes, 3 rabbits, and a boar, I'm still hungry!" the fat homunculus whines.
"Oh get over it, you're almost always hungry, so you need to quell your desire to just gobble everything up and be patient, got it?" Edward retorts sharply, causing the fat one to nod in understanding.
"Ok, and the other new guests aren't for eating either?" Gluttony asks, apparently a final request.
"Yes, they're new friends, under no circumstance are you to eat even a fingernail off of them" Edward finishes.
"Got it, I'll just wait then" he says quietly, plopping onto his ass with a frown, sighing about how hungry he was to himself.
"Alright, as I was saying before, who will volunteer to go with Scar and secure Dr. Marcoh if he's ok?" Edward repeats, causing the shade wearing Greed to raise his hand.
"My men and I volunteer, we're all criminals, even if we're not quite as bad, save myself" the smooth talking homunculus says calmly.
"Very well then, I shall entrust the key to his shackle with you Greed, only take it off if absolutely necessary, otherwise, just call for Pride to get you guys out of there" Edward says with a smile as he hands a small, rectangular piece of plastic to the man.
"But, this is plastic" Greed deadpans, and for good reason; what kind of moron would make a lock that only requires a tiny rectangle to decouple.
"Its an electronic keycard, very advanced computer technology, far beyond anything known of in Amestris or this world at this point in time; its got a coded, magnetic strip that is scanned with a laser sensor, and thus, cannot be cracked by tumbler manipulation or lock picks, without this exact keycard, the only ways Scar will be getting that off are as follow: me tearing it off with my bare hands, as I' am strong enough to overpower the material, figure out the atomic structure of Vibranium without my knowledge, unlikely, figure out how to create an exact copy of the keycard, even more unlikely, or finally, sacrifice the shackled area by dismembering it" Edward says succinctly, causing Greed to smile.
"So in other words, he won't be causing any great trouble anytime soon, nice" the jacket wearing freak says with a grin.
"But, since you might need to allow him use of his hand for an emergency, which might present him an opportunity to escape, have this on hand to place on his neck while the shackle is removed" Edward adds as a circular band made of the same metal and a small oval shaped device appear from thin air into Greed's hands.
"Whoa, is that an radio-transmitter remote for the collar?" Dolcetto remarks as he rushes up to see the device.
"Indeed, it's a remote, electro-shock collar, one press of that red button, and Scar goes down like a tranquilized bear, green button is for detaching, needs three consecutive taps within a 1 second span to unlock, prevents accidents" Edward says proudly as he hands the devices to Roa, who pockets them in his big coat.
"Good, now that that's taken care of, you guys will head for Haimburgin to determine if Marcoh is still there, and bring him along if he that's the case, with Scar picking up his brother's research notes on the way to rendezvous at Fort Briggs with me and the rest of our group, am I clear men?" Edward states militaristically, causing them to salute and shout "sir yes sir!".
"Excellent, that means we move out immediately, and you're coming with us Gluttony" Edward remarks harshly, causing the fat one to rush over to his side promptly.
"Wait, move now, but its lunch time!" Ling whines.
"We'll eat once we get there, now come on, everyone in my group grab on, and everyone headed to Haimburgin get a hold of Pride so he can transport your group" Edward shouts as the people from Xing and the armor boy rush to his side and grab on, along with Envy and Gluttony. After several minutes, the shadowy demon boy appeared from the floor. After a short discussion with Edward about emergencies and the like, he opened a new one, and within moments of its creation, I felt myself being dragged in and the world above me vanished.
Edward Elric
With Scar under control, I sighed, and smiled, looking at Alphonse and his body happily.
"You wanna know something, I was terrified this whole time bro" I say as I hug the two bodies of my dear sibling.
"But you're the most powerful man in the universe, how could you be scared?" Armor Al remarks with confusion.
"I was scared of losing one of my last two blood relatives I have in the world, you and dad are the last family members, It'd break my heart if either of you died, just like mom's death did for all of us" I sob as I hold them tightly.
"Brother, its ok, we're here, and we're not gonna die, we swore on that when we started this journey to get our bodies back" Al's body says as he and the armor body hug me in return. After several minutes of emotional outpouring, I sighed and used my alchemy to evaporate my tear remnants, then turned back to face the foreigners from Xing.
"Alright everyone, its time to head to Fort Briggs at the border between Amestris and Drachma; micro hag, we're headed for the North, be sure to let Winry know, we might be heading that way soon!" I state to my group, shouting to Penako.
"Make sure your human companions don't catch their death in that bitter cold, and take care!" she snaps back, with an edge of care in his otherwise harsh tone.
"We'll be back as soon as possible, so make sure to keep Al's body safe, and that he practices his recently acquired alchemy powers so he can defend you two just incase of an emergency; ready guys?" I say as a finisher, and put my hand out for everyone to touch. They promptly placed their hands in the circle, eliciting a smile from me, and I began to teleport our bodies.
"Wait…did he say we're going to the North?" Ling blurts, apparently having just realized that. An instant later, we fully deconstructed into tachyons and vanished from the living room, leaving Al's body and Penako behind to wait on us.