Creation began on 02-23-18
Creation ended on 05-18-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Living Alchemist: Sleep-Transmuting
"…I still had no idea that was the Fuhrer's wife," said Shinji to Alphonse as they were led to a house down the street by Major Maes Hughes.
"Even so, it's not everyday that someone actually tries to steal from the Fuhrer's family," Al told him. "You must have a guardian angel on your side…or you're just lucky."
Shinji stopped walking for a moment and took out his kunai, looking down at it.
"Luck or a guardian angel, huh?" He sighed. Or maybe it's something else altogether different.
"Whoa," gasped Edward, looking at the house that served as the residence of Shou Tucker, the Sewing-Life Alchemist. "This place is huge!"
Shinji looked up at the residence and silently marveled at its elegance and simplicity, something he didn't see much of in Tokyo-3, reminded that it was a fortress city, not a regular one where people just did as they have done for years or had a military power so close to them.
"Oofph!" He snapped back to the present as he heard Edward yell and fall to the grassy ground. "Get off me, mutt!"
It was a dog that had tackled Ed to the ground.
Shinji had never seen a dog before, let alone one as massive as this one; Second Impact had caused a major decrease in certain animal species, including most canine breeds. He had to admit that he was quite surprised that any dog could grow to such a height. It was as big as a mini-refrigerator!
The dog, taking notice of Shinji, got off Ed and ran over towards him.
"Arrf! Arrf!" It barked at him, sitting down in front of him.
"Hello," he greeted the dog.
"Alexander, don't bother them!" The three looked towards the house and saw a little girl by an open door, probably around three or four years of age, with long, brownish hair and blue eyes.
To Shinji, if the Elrics were any younger, they could've been siblings or friends with this girl.
Behind the girl was a bespectacled man with short, brownish hair; most likely the girl's father.
"Gentlemen," the man greeted them.
-x-
Across the street from the Tucker estate, observing the teen boy that held a strange knife in his right hand, an androgynous teen wearing an oversized coat and with dark green dreadlocks was wondering why his female partner felt that this kid would be a problem for them, as he didn't seem much of a threat at all.
"If anything, this kid's a pushover," he uttered, watching as the boy walked into the house.
-x-
"…You'll have to excuse the mess," Shou Tucker informed his guests as they walked around fallen book piles. "We generally lack a woman's touch around here. Oh, I'm sorry, that was sexist of me to say that."
"It's quite alright," said Shinji in response. "I'm used to messes like this."
That would've been odd, even for Shinji to say, even though it was the truth; Misato could barely keep house for herself, and he didn't want to think about how Asuka would likely fare on her own.
"Arrf!" Alexander barked again as he sat down, beside the side of the couch that Shinji sat on.
"That's odd," Shou stated. "Alexander…seems to have taken a shine to you."
"Uh…maybe it's because I'm just a friendly face," Shinji suggested. "I'm trying to keep away from bad situations that involve violence. Dogs can sense the good in people."
"And yet, you seek to become a State Alchemist. All three of you, in fact. Why the aspiration? What is your desired profession?"
"Applying alchemy for medical purposes. If such a thing were possible, then it would be possible to use alchemy to regenerate major injuries to the body, such as severe burns or lost limbs."
"But…wouldn't that be similar to Human Transmutation?"
"No, although it does sound similar. Human Transmutation revolves around using alchemy to alter the body, mind and soul, not preserve them. I don't seek to change the bodies, minds or souls of anyone. I want to believe that alchemy can improve medicine and make people's lives easier. What is the purpose of your alchemic profession, Mr. Tucker?"
This caught the Elrics' attention when Shinji asked him; they didn't know what Shou Tucker did to earn his designation as the Sewing-Life Alchemist.
"It is…Equivalent Exchange, as it is stated between alchemists," Shinji clarified; since he shared his reason for wanting to be a State Alchemist, it was only fair that Shou explained what his alchemy revolved around in turn.
"Are you familiar with the branch of alchemy involving the creation of chimeras?" Shou asked them.
Shinji's eyes widened momentarily before returning to normal.
"Yeah," he answered, "the military-permitted branch of alchemy to combine animals of different species in order to create new organisms. Chimeric organisms. Although following the principles of Human Transmutation, it is not considered such because it uses animals instead of people, thereby skirting the taboo, bending it without actually breaking it…unless the alchemist in question tries to do so with humans in addition to animals, regardless of whether or not it's with the person's permission."
"Yes, that's right. However, it's built upon unsteady foundations comprised of dead-ends and false starts. But it's seen some significant strides in the later years since it was permitted by the State Military to be practiced."
"Really?" Edward asked, curious. "How so?"
"I was able to create a chimera able to speak and understand human speech."
"Well, that's…that's an astronomical feat," Shinji praised him.
-x-
"…Who is this?" Asuka asked, pointing to the albino boy that looked similar to the First Child, only with gray hair instead of blue.
"He's the Fourth Child, since the original candidate declined the position," explained Misato to her; after Toji Suzuhara turned down the offer to pilot the Eva, NERV had to accept the pilot candidate the Committee had been training for three months after Shinji had been found and made to pilot Unit-01.
"Kaworu Nagisa, ladies," the albino boy greeted. "Nice to meet you."
Asuka found him to be very off-putting. It might've had something to do with his albinism, but she didn't trust him one bit.
"Welcome to NERV," she told him.
-x-
"…Ed fell asleep?" Shinji asked Alphonse, noticing the elder Elric brother passed out in front of a book.
"Yeah," he answered him, then yawned. "It's easy to forget that we're still young."
Shinji took the book Ed was reading and placed a bookmark in it before closing it.
"Ahh…" He yawned, setting the book down. "I gotta crash and burn before I collapse. Good night."
"Good night."
Leaving the brothers alone and returning to his room, Shinji fell onto his bed and let sleep claim him.
Yeah, he thought, his mind drifting apart, it is easy to forget that we're still young. It's also easy to forget that we have so much potential to do good with our lives. If we let it go to waste, we're just wasting our lives away. Sloth. How do I know all of this? How did I obtain such knowledge without trying? Why do I have such knowledge?
He suddenly found himself on a dark street, on dark rooftops, clapping his hands, making things rise from out of the ground and walls. In front of him were people that he didn't recognize. They looked like they embraced black, except for the skinny, lean and muscular individual with dark green hair shaped into long, wispy strands; there was something about the guy or girl that seemed…almost dangerous.
"…Get him," the woman that was with them told the green-haired individual and a fat, bald man with white eyes and huge arms.
"Can I eat him?" The fat man asked, and then moved at inhuman speed towards him.
What is this? Shinji wondered, now seeing himself dodging the fat man and green-haired figure, revealed to be an androgynous boy. Am I dreaming this?
FLASH! Shinji now found himself in a vast, white place, standing in front of…a young man that looked just like himself, right down to the face.
"You're not going crazy," the man told him, sounding like Shinji, but with a hint of rage. "I am you. You are I. We are one and the same. Your potential towards life, your brutality towards those that disgrace life, that take it for granted in the worst ways."
"What do you mean?" He asked him.
"You fought for the Elrics and their lives when you undid their Human Transmutation. I guess you could say that you unknowingly developed a split personality; the personality you often exhibit that pertains to your goal to use alchemy for medical purposes…and I being the personality that represents your held-back potential to use alchemy to protect yourself and others. I've been around since the day you arrived to that house, ever since the moment Alphonse begged you to help Edward…and I'll be around for long as you are alive. Embrace your life here…and know you have no limits to what you're capable of achieving."
The other Shinji then faded away, leaving Shinji alone. He soon felt tired. More tired than before he fell to sleep, and then he fell backwards, barely able to hear the voices around him.
"…You'll pay for this, kid!"
"…I wasn't able to eat him…"
"…We'll get him when he's alone again…"
"Ahh," he groaned as he awoke to the next day, feeling better. "That was exactly what I needed."
He vacated the room and stepped into the kitchen, noticing that it was unreasonably underused, like people ate very little within the finite area.
Grumble. He felt his gut growl.
Flexing his right hand, Shinji decided to get to work on breakfast.
-x-
"…He wasn't like what I had expected at all, Lust," said Envy to the woman that saw Shinji first, sitting on a console in an old laboratory, fuming. "He nearly killed us when he touched us."
"I couldn't eat him," whined Gluttony as he sat on the floor. "He kept moving out of my reach."
"The master will not be pleased to know that a rogue element is loose among the humans," Lust uttered, unsure of how to deal with the situation without drawing too much attention to themselves.
-x-
"…Something smells good," Nina expressed as she and the Elrics stepped into the kitchen where Shinji was setting the table with various dishes that looked too good to be true.
"Good morning, everyone," Shinji greeted them, setting down the pitcher of orange juice. "Hungry?"
"Starving!" Edward responded, grabbing a saucer holding rice balls and eating one. "Mmm! What is this? Some sort of pastry?"
"Rice balls. A dish I grew up with eating every now and then."
"Are most of these dishes from where you're from, Shinji?" Alphonse asked.
"Uh, yeah. I just made what came to mind that could be made using what was around."
"What is this dish called?" Nina asked him, pointing to a small bowl of soup.
"Miso soup."
Before she could partake of the dish, Alexander ran in and licked the bowl clean of the soup.
"Alexander!" She gasped.
"Well," sighed Shinji, not the least bit upset about what the dog did, "miso soup is healthy to eat."
-x-
"…Looks like a fight started here and spread across the rooftops and down the street," said Hughes to Mustang, evaluating the series of minor damage and transmutations that were present. "Who creates statues like these, though?"
One such statue was about the height of an average person, but was humanoid with what looked like armor and a horn atop its head. In three different alleyways were pillars of concrete that stuck out the walls and ground with other statues of the same sort, as though they were a calling card or something.
"Are we looking for a bunch of alchemists with no affiliation to the State Military?" Hawkeye suggested, finding a transmuted spear on the ground.
"Maybe," responded someone else, "or maybe just someone looking to make a name for themselves."
"All I know for certain is that whoever did this made a big mess and we have to clean up after them," Mustang stated, looking down at the patch of ground and saw the markings reminiscent of a transmutation circle. "What the Hell is this?"
The rest of the unit came over and looked down at the circle.
-x-
The synchronization test between the pilots and the Evas went on without a problem. Although it was still difficult for some of the NERV personnel to forget about the deceased Third Child and move on, they were making progress. For the most part, that was. Other members felt they would never forget what happened.
"Asuka's sync ratio has risen by three percent," Maya informed Ritsuko. "It's an improvement from the last test."
"And Rei's synchronization has only risen by one percent," the faux-blond responded, "but look at the Fourth Child's sync ratio."
Kaworu Nagisa, unlike the girls or the late Shinji Ikari, had an impressive synchronization of eighty-two percent. Slightly higher than any of them had ever gotten before. And this was only his first attempt at synchronization with an Eva prior to arriving at NERV.
"Is there a glitch in the system?" Misato asked Maya.
"No, ma'am, everything is running the way they're supposed to," she answered.
-x-
"…What happened out here?" Edward questioned as he, Alphonse and Shinji were walking to the store when they noticed several signs of damage done to either the streets or the sides of several buildings going down a few blocks.
"The military think that a wayward alchemist was up to no good last night," a lady informed them.
"Why would any alchemist do this?" Shinji asked.
"Who knows? Not all alchemists are stable."
Not all alchemists, huh? He thought; something in the back of his head was trying to tell him that he might've belonged in the alchemical category of those that weren't stable. Stability. Everyone needs it, but few people get it.
"Someone has weird taste in art," said Edward as Shinji and Alphonse looked further down the street and saw a statue on the sidewalk.
Shinji stopped walking and almost dropped his bag of groceries upon realization that the statue was the spitting image of Evangelion Unit-01!
"Are you okay, Shinji?" Alphonse asked him.
"Uh, yeah," he lied, giving a fake smile. "We should be heading back now."
He didn't want to think it, but Shinji was starting to suspect that he was the wayward alchemist from last night, except he had no memory of leaving out after he fell to sleep.
-x-
Mustang had no doubt about the circle they found. It was clearly one designed for Human Transmutation, a forbidden practice by Amestris. The only question was who would put such a circle on the street? There were no reports of people going missing, the soldiers had done door-to-door check-ups, and everyone was accounted for. But he suspected someone was responsible…and up to something they shouldn't have been.
"We could be looking at a practical joke or some new cult that just popped up," suggested Hughes.
"Maybe," Mustang responded, "but if this is someone's idea of a joke, they're probably the only ones laughing right now."
-x-
The night was still. Lights spread across the city gave it a small glow of calm. A lone figure stood atop a roof, overlooking the streets.
"Can I eat him this time?" A voice uttered, and the figure turned around, seeing three individuals from the previous night.
"This time, leave no trace of him," responded the woman, who raised her left hand up to reveal long blades where her fingers should've been.
The fat man charged towards the figure who, due to the illumination of the moonlight, was revealed to be Shinji Ikari, dressed in a white shirt and black slacks, but also wearing a long, black coat, but was unable to grab him as he sidestepped out of the way, causing him to fall off the roof.
The woman shot her finger blades at him, but he clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground, triggering a small tremor that traveled up to her and the androgynous guy. The guy jumped away, but the woman's feet became stuck to the ground.
Shinji, or at least someone that looked like him, transmuted a javelin from the next rooftop as he ran across and jumped from the last roof on the block, using it to stabilize his landing on the ground below. Then, once he looked up and saw the three were still after him, he made a hand gesture to come after him as he resumed running.
"Where does he think he's going?" The androgynous man asked.
The woman looked up ahead of the empty street the boy was running, and noticed the only thing down that stretch of road was…
"The Fifth Laboratory," she concluded.
"All we have are chimera guarding the inside, but he has to get inside first."
They looked down at the fat man, who came down the road, chasing after the boy, ravenous and angry.
"Gluttony, stop!" The woman shouted, but the fat man continued to go after him.
-x-
"Kensuke Aida?" The classroom teacher uttered, taking attendance for the day. "Kensuke Aida? Is Kensuke Aida here today?"
Asuka looked at the empty desk where the otaku normally sat with his camera, wondering where the stooge ran off.
"Do you know where he is?" She asked the other stooge.
"Most likely off in the wilderness again, playing soldier," Toji suggested; ever since they found out that Shinji was killed, Kensuke seemed to be doing whatever he could to keep from grieving over the loss of their friend.
"I heard a rumor that he requested a transfer out of the city," said Hikari to them.
It wouldn't be the first time any number of students were transferred out of the city after each attack, since it was becoming a greater fact that Tokyo-3 no longer held any capacity to stand as a fortress city.
-x-
"…Ahh…" Shinji groaned as he awoke to the next day, feeling like he just had recovered from a hangover if he had been drinking. "What a weird dream."
As he slept, he had the most unusual dream about running in the night from three people, some strange, dog-like creatures, avoiding a cave-in inside of a large building…and then, there was getting a compliment from a guy that was somehow trapped there that told him to do something about a skull used to keep him in check. But when he got out of bed, he noticed a small sack near the chair by the door. It was big enough to carry perhaps a human skull…and he worried that that's what was inside.
"Oh, man," he sighed, worried that his dreams were anything but dreams. "Please, don't be what I think you are."
He approached the sack and opened its top…and saw that it was a basketball, not a skull.
"A ball? Eh-heh-heh! It's just a ball. Heh-heh!" He expressed; he was getting worked up over nothing when he should've been stressing over the State Alchemist Exam. "I gotta think positive. Stay positive, Shinji. You want to be a State Alchemist so you can use alchemy for medical purposes."
But as he changed into his clothes for the day and left out his room, he neglected to check the ball. It was a basketball, but slightly larger than a standard-sized version. And had he held it from a different angle, he would've noticed a small mark that was a sign of a transmutation. It was as though the ball had been fabricated out of something else or was made from raw materials by someone that knew what they were doing.
-x-
It was the same culprit again, except this time, they managed to cause extensive damage to a condemned building that was housing secrets that were now brought to light. And this time, they left something else to be found in the building.
"This room looked like it was being used to conduct research into a forbidden practice, sir," said Hawkeye to Mustang as they evaluated the destruction caused by the small explosions from last night.
"I was thinking the same thing," he responded, looking at the red liquid that covered most of the floor, and then at the large statue of the horned figure that must've been the culprit's calling card of sorts. "What's this person's angle? The Phantom Alchemist? The Demonic Alchemist? The Mystery Alchemist? They constantly leave this figure behind as if to state they were here."
"Maybe we should ask the fat guy that they left for us," she suggested.
-x-
Envy was beyond enraged now. Not only had this kid exposed many things that Laboratory Five was supposed to keep hidden, but he had Lust and Gluttony restrained before he escaped. His only words during the entire time were, "I know what you are. If I see you again, I will show you the wrath of life. This is for the people. This is for being alive." But what had Envy bothered by him was the way he said his threat to him; it sounded as though he were a completely different person, one full of rage and confidence in their abilities. He was starting to think that if this kid chose to the previous night he tried to get rid of him, he could've performed a transmutation meant to seal them away, effectively killing them.
But that wasn't the worst part of last night. No, the worst part about last night was that during the struggle, the boy unleashed Greed, who got away with several prisoners while Lust and Gluttony were apprehended. It was as though he did this to spite the Homunculi, to show them how much they were ineffective against him.
"It doesn't matter if he's gifted or protected," Envy stated, running through the woods. "He's still a lowly human…and he can still be killed. I will find a way to do it."
To be continued…
A/N: Part of what Envy heard was inspired by the lyrics to the theme song of Black Lightning, and the statues found at both scenes were representations of Shinji's past, indicating that, despite his status as a result of the attempted Human Transmutation of the Elrics, he can't escape from it. How many of you suppose that Shinji, once he gets his status as a State Alchemist, will find an ally in Greed, stop Dante, and prevent things from happening like they did in the original anime series?