A/N: This will be another super long chapter, I hope. Anyway, this is the chapter before the events of MegaMan X 3 kicked off, so enjoy.
Chapter 55: A Deal: The Fullmetal Maverick Hunter
"X-Squad! Let's deactivate that Maverick! Zero, you take the rear!" X ordered.
"Roger!" The IS girls and Zero nodded as they got around the Maverick. The FMA group saw X and Zero for the first time and were confused on their armor.
'Are they like Al? Using Alchemy to move around?' Ed scratched his chin in thought. The Maverick fired lasers at the team, but they dodged it.
"Eat this!" Zero leaped up and slashed the Maverick three times with his Z-Saber three times, giving it some decent damage. Roy and Hughes were amazed by Zero's weapon.
'Amazing… That blond haired gentleman is using a hilt to make a blade of green light?' Hughes thought to himself. 'Is he using Alchemy? No, it can't be. We haven't reached that stage yet.' He noticed Roy staring at Zero with a calm look. 'I bet the Colonel noticed it too.'
"Keep it distracted while I pelt it with Buster shots!" Cecilia issued as Ling leaped up and slams her foot down onto the Maverick, knocking it back a little, Cecilia charged up her Buster and fired a charged shot. Riza was even impressed by this advanced firepower.
'That armor of hers can do that? Now I want to take one home with me.' She thought to herself as a slight drool appeared on her lips.
"X! Let's double team on this berserk Maverick!" Houki called out to X.
"Got it!" X nodded as he charged up his X-Buster to level 3. Houki flew up and slashed off the cannon on the Maverick's back. The Maverick tried to capture Houki with its claws, but X fired the charged shot at the Maverick, damaging its claws.
"Hah!" Charlotte grunted as she dashed in and thrusts her spear at the Maverick Mechanloid five times, damaging. Meanwhile, the Elric Brothers looked on at the battle before them.
"Al! Those 7 girls and strange armored guys… They have some impressive fighting skills." Ed commented.
"I can tell, Brother." Al looked at the battle some more as he sees Tatenashi and Kanzashi combing their attacks to give the Maverick some double dose of damage. "But they keep calling that metal monster a Maverick… What do they mean by that?"
"I don't know… But we're definitely not in Amestris anymore." Ed muttered.
X fired more Buster shots at the Maverick, giving it some small damage. "Now it's my turn!" Laura yelled out courageously as she flew up and slashed the Maverick five times with her claymore, even Armstrong is impressed by Laura's strength.
'She is strong for a little girl. But… why is she wearing an eyepatch over one of her eyes?' Armstrong thought Laura lost her eye in a battle or something, but he wasn't too sure about it.
"Now, to finish this!" X yelled as he charged up his X-Buster to level 5 and with an angry scream, he fired the charged shot which hit the Maverick dead on. The Maverick started to emit electricity. X realized it's about to blow up. "Everyone, down!" Almost everyone heeded their words and got down as the Maverick exploded.
Roy stiffened when he saw the explosion. When he saw the blinding light, and the sound of the shockwave hit him, memories of the Ishbal massacre flashed before his eyes. He couldn't take his eyes off of the explosion as the first shockwave approached him. He mind was so flooded with the images and sounds of that event that he didn't hear Riza yelling at him to get down. Nor did he feel her crashing into him, forcing him to the ground as the shockwave finally hit him.
Later…
Al was over Hughes who was still lying on the ground in a strange, running position. Hughes looked like one of those old Egyptian paintings with his head turned to the side, his body facing the sky, and his right arm angled up, and his left arm angled down. His legs were also in some sort of running position. "Are you alright Hughes?" Al was the first to get up. Being a piece of armor, he didn't suffer any scraps or brushes. Though his armor appears to need a good polish though.
"Oh Elysia! You smile is as wonderful as ever!" Hughes spoke without realizing it.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" Al asked with concern in his eyes.
Hughes finally noticed Al's presence. "Oh hi Al. Ummm...just need to rest here a bit! Hehehe…"
Al sighed. "Want me to help you up?"
"Um, no." Hughes replied weakly. "I'll…I'll get up on my on. After I rest here a bit."
"If you insist." Al replied.
Ed was getting his bearings straight. 'That was some explosion.' As he was walking back to the group, he sees Roy sitting on a rock. As he approached him, he notices Roy seemed to be in deep thought. He sat next to Roy. As he looked back at the explosion, and what it did, he wondered if, if it was like… "So, Colonel. Was that how it was like?"
Roy continued to stare blankly into the ground.
Riza breaks the silence. "Edward. I don't think now is the time to bring that subject up."
Ed looked at Riza, then back at Roy and sighed. He stood "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
'No.' Roy mentally responded. 'It was missing the screams of the men, women, and children before their voices were silenced forever.'
As Ed was walking away, his mind was running over what he has been through, and trying to think what Roy had been through. While at first, he thought that Roy was a cold heartless jerk, especially what he did in Ishbal, after a while, he started to realize that Roy wasn't what he originally thought. 'After all, when he went to Risenbool, he visited the Rockbells. Especially since it was he that took away the parents of Winry. It might've been his attempt to confront his past and maybe, just maybe, try to correct the wrongs in his past.'
X and Zero walked up to their friends. "You girls alright?" Zero asked them.
"Yep. Not a scratch on us." Ling gave a cheesy thumbs up. Houki noticed the car all scratched up.
"Though I wish we can say the same for the car…" Houki sighed as she walked up to the tipped up car. "X, would you mind helping out a little?" She asked him.
Before X can comply, Armstrong stood between X and Houki. "Hold it right there, Miss Shinonono…" Armstrong ripped off his shirt. He started posing his massive muscled body. "I can help right your automobile!" Sparkles seemed appear from his body. "My strength has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"
"Uh… Thank you?" Houki's left eye twitched in humor while Ling and Tatenashi giggled and Laura sighed and shook her head. Houki turned to Hughes. "Is he always like this?" As she said that, Armstrong was already putting the car back to its normal position.
Hughes grinned. "Pretty much."
Zero walked up to Houki, Cecilia and Tatenashi. He looks at the FMA group. "Who are these guys?" He asked Cecilia.
"That's the thing. We don't know how they got here in Neo Tokyo. Plus, I bet they never saw a Maverick before in their entire lives." Cecilia reported. Ed walked up to Zero.
"Um… Excuse me, mister long haired guy? What are you? Are you running on Alchemy?" He asked them.
'Alchemy…? The attempted method to turn metal into gold?' Zero thought to himself as he looked at Ed. "Hey shorty, how much do you know about Alchemy?" A vein appeared on Ed's head as he was in rage mode right now.
"Did you call me short?!" Ed snarled in fury.
"Calm down, kid. I didn't know you were a teen." Zero remained cool and calm despite Edward's outbursts.
"I DARE YOU TO CALL ME SHORTY AGAIN!" Ed snapped as Al and Hughes held him back.
"Brother! Calm down! I'm sure he wasn't being rude or anything!" Al reasoned.
"Yes. He didn't know you were a teen." Hughes nodded in agreement with Al.
Laura glared at the FMA group.
"I think we want answers when we get back to HQ…" She said warningly.
(2 hours later…)
The FMA group were placed in the brig while X and the gang were discussing the events with Dr. Cain. The FMA group didn't put up an fight, well Ed was about to until Roy stopped him. "I see… They appeared out of nowhere when that Maverick attacked, is it?" Dr. Cain scratched his beard in thought.
"That's correct, Dr. Cain. Plus, that young man named Ed used something to block one of the Maverick's attacks. It was amazing. He claims to call it Alchemy, you know, the attempted method to turn lead into gold?" Cecilia told him.
"Wait, Alchemy can do that? Where did they come from anyway?" Zero wondered as he leaned on a wall.
"Could they be brought here by Project Uni? …Is Project Uni stolen again?" X frowned.
"That's a slight possibility, X-kun." Kanzashi nodded in agreement. "But we can't be sure for now. Right now, we need to focus on our strange guests."
"Let me go talk to them. I'm sure they'll listen to reason." X volunteered.
"I… I'll go with you too, X-kun." Charlotte added. "We can't be too careful, can we?" X blushed as he nodded silently as he and Charlotte went to the brig.
(With Edward's group…)
Ed and his friends were placed in a fancy brig with laser bars to act like a jail cell. To Edward and his companions' surprise, it was nothing like the ones back home.
After a long few hours of fuming, Ed couldn't take it anymore. "I'm tired of sitting here!" Ed shot up from his seat. "We should've never listened to those three girls out there! Now…" Ed raised his tone of voice as he approached the door. "We're trapped in here for who knows how long! And we're probably going to be experimented on by those crazy metal scientists!"
Roy peered at Ed for a moment. Then he shut his eyes again.
Ed was about to clasp his hands. "I'm breaking us out of here…"
"And do what?" Roy interrupted in a low, but strict tone. "Once you break out of here, are you going to face down an entire army of them?"
Ed gritted his teeth. He shot his head towards Roy. "Anything would be better then staying in here while they experiment on us! Maybe even turn us into chimeras!"
Roy grinned. He was quite amused by the little man coming to his hasty conclusion. "Do you really thing that they would turn us into chimeras? If you remembered the lovely Miss Houki Shinonono's expression, she was completely shocked when you did alchemy. From what it appears, no one here has seen alchemy before."
Riza frowned at Roy's one-track mind. 'Lovely Miss Houki Shinonono? Same old Colonel Mustang.' Riza internally groaned. However, other than that one line, Roy was making sense and she started to understand why Roy did what he did.
"It could be a trick!" Ed harshly replied. He refused to give ground to the Colonel. "And if it wasn't, that's even more reason why we shouldn't stay! Who knows what they have planned for alchemist!" He finally clasped his hands and was ready to get out of there. "We still need break out of here and…"
"And what Fullmetal?" Roy finally fully opened his eyes and turned his attention at Ed. "You haven't answered my question yet. You're going to take them all head on? Even if we all helped, it still probably wouldn't be enough to get past them. Not to mention the fact that we saw those two metal people's powers and it wasn't Alchemy. Even if by some miracle that we do get through their forces, how do you suppose that we get to the city?"
Ed was starting to feel defeated. "Well, we could…"
"Do nothing." Roy told him firmly. "We don't want to leave a bad impression on the people of this strange land we're in. Plus, they keep calling that metal monster a Maverick. And what is a Reploid? We need to wait for them to tell us more about this stuff. So patience is a virtue as they always say."
Ed let his arms fall to the side. He finally sees the hopelessness of the situation.
Hughes thought about it for some time. "The Colonel has a point Ed. We're stuck in this situation ever since we decided to come along with Houki and her friends."
Ed sighed and nodded silently, feeling defeated. Just then, X and Charlotte walked up to them. X waved softly at them. "Hello. I'm willing to answer any questions you guys may have. My name is MegaMan X, but call me X." He introduced himself.
"Um… Hello, my name is Charlotte Dunois. It's nice to meet you. And sorry about putting you guys in here."
"It's no trouble at all, Miss Dunois." Roy smiled as he did a light bow. "My name is Colonel Roy Mustang, you can see I'm the leader of this strange group of people. Now can you answer our questions? First off, what is a Reploid? Is it a new type of Alchemy move?"
'Alchemy again… From where they're from, it must be pretty common and they think I was made by it.' X thought to himself before speaking. "No. I'm a advanced robot who can choose and think for himself. I'm a Reploid, the very first one created by Dr. Thomas Light. There are hundreds of Reploids who shared the same traits as me." The FMA group's jaws dropped to the ground in shock.
"T-T-Then that would make you a machine who acts like a human! And that makes you the father!" Al gawked.
X chuckled nervously. "I get that a lot." He stared at Al. "You know you should get out of that armor, it's not healthy for you." The FMA group started to sweat.
"Um… He… He has a skin disease that will kill him if he takes off that armour!" Ed lied, hoping they will buy it. Charlotte however caught on to their lie.
"That's not the truth, is it? What is Al really?" She asked them seriously.
"W-We're not lying! We're telling the truth!" Edward panicked. Al, however raised his arm to stop him. "A-Al?!"
"No Ed. They have a right to know. We can't keep it a secret forever." Al told him calmly.
"…" Ed was silent for about 30 seconds till he sighed in defeat. "Al… show them." Al nodded and removed his helmet, shocking X and Charlotte.
"T-There's nobody inside that armor…" X stuttered in disbelief.
"H-How is this possible?" Charlotte stammered.
Finally, Roy spoke up. "Al… is the armour."
"But how?" X asked again, wondering how is this possible.
"He…" Ed didn't feel like reliving those memories. But if it makes everyone understand the situation. "He…lost his body when we…tried to bring our mother back."
Al looked down in sadness having to relive that moment in his life. Although he couldn't escape it since he is reminded of it every time he looks at himself. And though whenever asked, Ed would be the one to take the blame for what happened, Al still felt responsible since he could've stopped it.
"How do you do it? Was it by magic?" Charlotte asked them. She seen Nanoha and Fate do magic before, so it confirms her theory of the FMA group being from another universe.
"It wasn't magic. It's Alchemy." Ed told her.
"You mean the attempted method to turn metal into gold?" X blinked, crossing his arms.
Ed looked at X. Not just that. While many of its founders started on that quest to turn common metal into gold, it is much more then that."
Armstrong finally spoke up. "Alchemy is the ability to change one substance to another. To understand the molecular composition of an object, break it down, and then rebuild it into something else."
"How is this possible?" Charlotte covered her mouth in shock.
"Sorry to be rude, but are all of you alchemists?" X asked them.
Roy shook his head. "No. Major Armstrong, Edward Elric, and I are the only State Alchemist here. First Lieutenant Hawkeye…" He indicated to the woman standing beside him, "And Lieutenant Colonel Hughes are not alchemists."
Hughes waved at X who waved back.
'I see… Like scientists in this world, not everyone is an alchemist. And he mentioned something about State Alchemist was it? And is every alchemist a State Alchemist?" X asked, feeling interested in this story.
Roy shook his head again. "No. Al over there is an alchemist, but not a State Alchemist."
Ed frowned. "Right. Because once you become a State Alchemist, you become a dog of the state."
Charlotte looked at Ed. 'Something tells me he doesn't like it. But why?' She thought to herself.
"So I guess some of you have titles for certain alchemists, right?" X asked Roy.
"Yes sir." Roy nodded. "Major Armstrong is called the Strong Arm Alchemist. And me and Ed are called by different names. I am the Flame Alchemist." Roy showed his glove. "With the use of alchemy, I can turn a little spark into a flaming inferno by feeding it the oxygen from the surrounding air." He then pointed to Roy. "Edward is…"
"The Fullmetal Alchemist!" Ed proudly posed.
"Um… Shouldn't that go to your brother, Al?" Charlotte asked confusedly, a question mark above her head.
Ed face faulted.
Al waved her away. "Uh hehehe…"
Roy chuckled a bit. "I get the feeling they get that a lot." He looked at the two Maverick Hunters. "No. You see, only State Alchemist get an unofficial second name. Since Al is not a State Alchemist, he doesn't get one."
"I see. And how did Ed get the title of Fullmetal?" X asked, now he was intrigued.
Ed showed him his artificial arm. "I can make alchemy without a transmutation circle with this arm." X and Charlotte were shocked.
"How… is this possible?" X asked confusedly.
Ed's smile disappeared and lowered his head. "Not just my right arm. My left leg as well. I…I lost it the same reason why Al doesn't have a body."
"I see. It must have been rough for you…" X looked down despondently.
"When our mother died, we tried to bring her back using alchemy. We brought all the ingredients together that made up a human body." Ed began.
Al continued to the story. "But alchemy isn't magic. It takes more then just carbon, calcium, water, and other materials to bring a person back to life."
"The first law of Alchemy. The Law of Equivalent Exchange." Ed was fighting back the tears that threatened to appear. "We had everything. Everything to bring her back except…"
"Something to exchange for the human soul right?" Charlotte looked down despondently as well.
Ed and Al both nod in silence. "I guess in exchange for trying to bring back your mother, you lost your arm and leg, and your brother lost his body. Pretty high price to pay." As she continued to ponder this, she then looked at the two boys. "Did you, at least…succeed?"
Al and Ed shook their heads.
"We were fools." Ed choked out. "Something came back, but it wasn't our mother. And when…and when Al was losing his body, I had to quickly transfer his soul to a nearby armor. The one you see now."
Hughes looked at the brothers. 'Although he didn't have much to say at the moment, given that he wasn't an alchemist, his mind was still cluttered with many thoughts. While he knew, at least part of the story on what happened to the Elric brothers, he didn't know all the details either. Being an investigator and all, he was able to find out a lot of things. Also, he could've easily found a lot about what happened. Maybe not every single detail of course, but at least a lot of what happened on that night. He however stayed away from it. 'It was something that can only be retold by them, and only them.' And at the moment, this was the most he has heard of their story. 'And while they were fools to try, I hate to admit it but, if my dear Elysia or Glacier died, I might try to bring them back as well.'
"I guess you can't play God…" X muttered in sadness.
"Human transmutation." Roy commented. "It's forbidden from where we came from for this very reason. Although they weren't the first to try it, nor will they be the last."
"Which was why we are looking for the Philosopher's Stone." Al spoke up. "With that stone, we can get my brother's limbs and my old body back!"
Ed was waving back at his brother. "Wait Al! Don't…"
However, it was WAY too late for that. "The Philosopher's Stone?" X looked up, feeling confused. "Is it an object or value?"
Ed shook his head no. "It's supposed to bypass all laws of alchemy and give the user an unlimited amount of power."
"In theory." Hughes butted in. "Although there has been a lot of researched devoted to that area, and some might even claim that they came close, but no Philosopher's Stone has ever come out of it. Now, there have been rumors of its existence for years, but so far, none of them have been confirmed."
"But we can keep trying, right?" Al replied with a little hope in his voice.
"Yeah." Ed said. Though he was slightly down. "However, if Doctor Marcoh's work holds any truth, it might be a fruitless matter. From his instructions, it takes living people to make."
"But then, how would this Doctor Marcoh know that it would take living people to make a Philosopher's Stone? Is he implying that it was made then?" Charlotte asked, feeling interested in it somehow.
Roy answered for him. "We can't be certain. Although Doctor Marcoh was able to create a fake Philosopher's Stone which was able to give alchemist an enhanced power, it still wasn't the real thing."
"And the use of living people?" X frowned, he's starting to not like this one bit.
Roy stayed silent. While he wasn't privy to all the information, what he knew of the research, he could guess that the answer was yes.
"But there is another way!" Al reassured his brother. "There has to be!"
"I hope so too Al." Ed smiled. "Otherwise…" He couldn't think of the possibility that his brother would never have a human body. At the same time though, he would NEVER sacrifice another human life for it either.
"And can the Philosopher's Stone bring back a person back from the dead without any consequences?" X asked.
Ed nodded. "In theory."
"But everyone that pursued the Philosopher's Stone has ended in failure one way or the other." Armstrong replied. "And even if they succeed, is the price in making it worth the benefits?"
"Maybe not." Roy replied. "After all, we're here because of a failed attempt to make the stone."
"I see… If Sigma was still alive and got word of this, he would do anything to make the Philosopher's Stone to create his insane Reploid utopia." Charlotte frowned.
"Sigma?" Riza blinked.
X looked at the FMA group with a serious expression. "Listen to our story about this dimension." And so, X and Charlotte told Ed and his group about the Mavericks, how the former commander of the Maverick Hunters, Sigma became the Mavericks' leader and started two wars on humanity to create an omniverse for Reploids only, how X and the IS girls stopped him three times with the help of Zero and otherworldly heroes, Sigma's latest plsn on hacking the Mother Computer two months ago and how he was foiled again and how Sigma exists as a computer virus to continue his sinister plans.
"I see… This Sigma guy sounds like bad news." Roy scratched his chin in thought.
"If he somehow finds our universe…" Riza frowned deeper.
"Everyone we know and loved will die by his hands with his Maverick army…" Ed gritted his teeth in anger. If Sigma harms Winry, the girl he secretly loves, he will make him pay even if he keeps coming back from the dead.
"But X." Charlotte looked at him with concern. "That Maverick we fought… I thought Dr. Doppler's anti-virus program fixed that."
"That's why we're looking into it, Char." X told her with a sweet smile. "But I have an idea for our guests." X turned to the FMA group with a smile. "We need all the help we can get to solve this mystery and make a world where Reploids and humans co-exist. Can I count on you lot to join the Maverick Hunters? In return, we'll help you find a way to restore Ed and Al's bodies and send you guys back home."
"R-Really?! You'll do that for us?!" Ed gasped before smiling softly and shedding a tear, he wiped away the tear. "I-I'm not crying or anything, honest!"
"Brother, this is good news! With X and Miss Dunois's help, we may not need the Philosopher's Stone after all!" Al beamed. X deactivated the jail cell. Roy walked up to X with a smile.
"You have a deal, X. Let's work together to stop whoever is behind this. May it be this Sigma guy or whoever." Roy acknowledged.
"Glad to have you aboard. But there are some rules you need to follow." X smiled.
"Welcome to the team, everyone!" Charlotte closed her eyes and smiled.
To be continued…
Next chapter: Doppler Strikes! Hunter Base Under Attack!
A/N: Next up is the FMA group adjusting to the MegaMan X dimension before Doppler's forces attacks. Can our heroes repel this invasion and stop Doppler? Find out next time. Catch you later!
