The sky above darkened, as the bright day became a dreary night. Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh were both worried about Hikaru and the Elric brothers. Ever since they were able to decipher Dr. Tim Marcoh's research journal, they haven't left their hotel room and ate nothing all that day. Major Armstrong began to wonder himself to what they were up to.
There was nothing, but silence in the Elric brother's room. Al was sitting silently rereading through the research journal, Hikaru continued to work on decoding the small notebook that Marcoh wrote about his experience with Tsubasa, while Ed quietly stared at the ceiling, drifting off into his own universe. He was tired, weary, and all from the continuous hours of going through the research journal, only to find that the Philosopher's Stone, the only possible way to return him and his brother back to normal, was to sacrifice living humans.
As Hikaru was carefully looking through the notebook, she constantly diverted her attention from it towards Ed. She began to wonder what would happen if she showed him what she had recently decoded. She then soon broke the silence of the room.
"I have more information on Tsubasa, Ed." She said, hoping that he wasn't too exhausted from a whole day of work. His attention and interest was soon captured. He crawled off his couch and sat on the floor next to Hikaru and Al.
"Marcoh mentions that he met Tsubasa about a few years before you became a State Alchemist." She continued. "It was during the Ishbalan War, when the military first tested the abilities of Tsubasa. Many officers were flabbergasted at the sight of it in action and the rest were completely scared to death. Since it was only the first test, Tsubasa strangely went berserk and mindlessly killed off our own officers as well. Nothing could stand in its way. It was the military's most ultimate weapon of destruction. Marcoh was trying to flee the scene when large piles of debris collapsed above him. He thought that he had met his doom, until someone removed the rubble off him. Staring out into the light of the dusty battlefield, he saw what he believed to be a childlike angel. He thought this was his way to heaven, until he snapped back into reality. When he climbed out of the debris, he screamed out in terror. The angel that rescued him was Tsubasa. He was terrified to see that the machine of death was only a mere child with silver mechanical wings. Marcoh couldn't stand the cruelty of the military any longer and went AWOL."
Ed was once again stunned at the information. He never expected the military to be as cruel enough to use an innocent child as their ultimate weapon. Ed could imagine the years of torture that poor child had to go through to become a berserk, mindless killing machine, like Tsubasa. How could the military do such a thing?
"Did it say how old the child was?" Al asked Hikaru. She flipped through her decoded pages of notes again, looking for his answer.
"He described that the child looked about nine years old at most. Most likely the same age as Ed was during the Ishbalan War." She calmly replied when something suddenly clicked in her head. She quickly grabbed Ed and ran out the door.
"Where are you going, Hikaru?" Al asked curiously.
"I need to talk with your brother privately." She answered. "It's urgent, so I don't want you to eavesdrop this time." She then kicked the door shut and rushed to an empty, private room next door. Judging by her serious tone of voice, Al assumed that it must actually be very urgent.
In the next room Ed began to stare into Hikaru's bright, yet gloomy-looking crimson eyes and wonder why she had dragged him into another room. He was already tired from the excessive work. What more could happen now?
"This is really important Ed." She said. "Can you remember anything from 3-4 years before you became a State Alchemist?"
"Not really." He replied after some thought. Then something instantly clicked in his mind. "Are you suggesting that I may be Tsubasa?!"
"For now we can only assume."
"What makes you believe that I can possibly be Tsubasa?"
Hikaru flipped through Dr. Marcoh's notebook again to the page where he mentioned that Tsubasa had silver wings and then asked, "Do you remember that I have the ability to see 'wings'?"
"Yeah." Ed answered and then began to ask her his own stack of questions. "You said mine were silver, right?"
"That's correct. I can see them clearly right at this moment."
"Can you see anyone else's 'wings'? What about my brother?"
"I can't see his, since he doesn't possess a human body."
"Then what about others, like the Colonel?"
"His wings are white. It shows that he has a really kind heart and will do anything for the people he truly cares for. I think white is probably the color of 'wings' that represent the essence of being a guardian or protector. But that's in my eyes, of course."
"Then what's silver?"
"Well…" Hikaru took a moment to think. "The thing is… the color silver doesn't exist anywhere else. Every human should have a color from a regular Artistic Color Wheel, like red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple, as well as the two types of tints, black and white. Judging from my memory there shouldn't be any metallic colored 'wings', such as gold and silver."
This puzzled both the two young alchemists, but using Hikaru's enigmatic ability to see the "wings" of humans was possibly Ed's only way to figure out if he were actually Tsubasa, the military's ultimate weapon of destruction, or not. Ed was sure that the only parts of himself that were mechanical are his right arm and left leg; however with Hikaru mysteriously appearing in his life, he was sure that there has to be an explanation for the bizarre 3-4 year memory gap he had. He needed to prove that he isn't Tsubasa and never fought in the Isbalan War, as well as kill every human in sight. As Ed began to think more deeply into this subject, he and Hikaru headed back to the previous room they were in.
As they slowly walked down the hallway, Hikaru noticed how Ed was thinking far too much and looked completely exhausted. "Did I happen to trouble you more?" she asked.
"Not really." He quietly responded, which was usually atypical of him. "I think I could possibly use your extraordinary ability to help us in our quest for the Philosopher's Stone."
"Just get some rest first, Ed. You don't really look to well."
"I guess you're right, Hikaru. Too much information was poured all at once in my head today. Might as well take it easy before we make our next move."
------
Just outside on the hotel rooftop stood the two homunculi, who were staring out into the ominous night sky. Gluttony arrived and greeted them, "Lust. Envy. I have news directly from Pride."
"Anything on Tsubasa?" Envy immediately brought up.
"Pride only informed us to wait for a bit. The Awakening is coming more quickly than expected."
"Did you eat any humans on the way to the Exam?" Lust curiously asked.
"No." Gluttony answered solemnly.
"There, there" Lust comforted him and patted his bald head. "There will be chances for you to eat something next time."
"Speaking of 'next time'," Envy interrupted, "I believe our next destination is Laboratory No. 5."
--------
Finally, Ed was able gain the rest he needed from a long day's work; however his little break didn't last much longer. Ed, Al, and Hikaru all turned their heads as fast as lighting towards the door when they heard a thunderous voice bursting from outside in the hallway.
"ELRIC BROTHERS!! OPEN THIS DOOR IMMEDIATELY!! IT IS I!!"
"Oh no! It's Major Armstrong! What do we do now, brother?" Al quietly cried.
"The door's locked, so maybe if we ignore him, it'll be like we're not here." Ed suggested.
"I don't think that's going to work." Hikaru mentioned.
"What makes you so sure?" both brothers whimpered in fear.
She pointed her finger to the doorway, and in a second, the door was forced through with the Major still hanging on to the torn-off doorknob with pieces of wood and screws falling from it. Ed and Al shrieked at the sight of him, while Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh stood behind the Major looking as if they couldn't control him from gaining entrance.
"Greetings Major Armstrong." Hikaru said calmly with a smile.
"Why, hello there, Miss Hikaru." Armstrong blissfully greeted. "How are you today?"
"Oh, I'm just fine."
"Not us…" Ed and Al whined.
"OH, SUCH A TRAGEDY!!" Armstrong cried when he noticed the Elric brothers. "To find out the terrible secret of the Philosopher's Stone! As well as the hellish secret the military has been keeping from us! I cannot stand aside and watch this calamity unfold! The truth can be so cruel!!" Something suddenly clicked in both Hikaru and Ed's minds. "'The truth lies within the truth.'" Hikaru quoted from Dr. Marcoh's research journal."That means that there must be something more." Ed stated. "Sergeant Brosh, do you have to map of Central City?"
"Yeah. I have it right here." Brosh hurried over and spread open the entire map on the table.
"The military has four active Alchemic research labs. Dr. Marcoh worked at the third one." The Major explained.
"I recently visited the third lab, so I'm sure there wasn't anything weird going on in there." Ed mentioned.
"What's with the red 'X' over here?" Hikaru curiously asked and pointed to a large building next to the Central Prison with a semi-transparent red "X".
"That's Laboratory No. 5." Ross clarified. "It was shut down during the Ishbalan War due to its collapse. That's why the building's off-limits at this point."
"How did that happen?" Al asked.
"I remember during the War when the military needed the aid of its ultimate weapon, Tsubasa. I never saw what the weapon looked like, but it was always described to me that it had the body of a child resembling cherubic angel. Besides that, after Tsubasa was called out, the Fuhrer was informed that the Lab 5 suddenly collapsed when Tsubasa exited the facility like a rising rocket." The Major explained, recalling memories of the dreaded war he hopes to never take part of again.
"Then that'll be our next destination." Ed confirmed strongly.
"What makes you so sure, brother?" Al wondered.
"There's a prison right next to it and the military could simply use the prisoners as ingredients in creating the Philosopher's Stone. I'm guessing, they pretend to execute the prisoners, and since their bodies aren't returned to their families, they're probably given to Tsubasa to create the Stone."
"That's sickening." Ross said with a disgusted look on her face.
"I think we got too far involved into this mess." Brosh remarked.
"This is why it's a good idea to forget everything you heard." Al replied.
"What Alphonse said is a good idea." Armstrong supported. "It's best for you and Second Lieutenant Ross to not mention a word of this to anyone." He then turned towards the Elric brothers. "Since this situation is far too dangerous, I'll have to investigate it on my own and I promise to report back whenever I get more info. I really would suggest not getting involved in this, Elric brothers. I've witnessed Tsubasa's strength and it's something beyond extraordinary. An Ishbalan soldier was completely dismembered right before my eyes. I hate recalling this memory, but I can remember blood rushing down on me like rain. I was soon completely covered in a darkish-red color, and after the bloody downpour, I was pelted by the shredded limbs of the human Tsubasa had killed."
"That's completely disgusting." Both Brosh and Ross commented simultaneously. Ed and his brother were completely speechless, while Hikaru remained silent just like she did in the entire conversation. She believed that this whole matter was none of her business and didn't want to really become a part of it, but if it's to help Ed, then she may have to get a little involved.
Hikaru walked off to the bathroom, while Armstrong continued to explain the dangers of their current situation, including the fact that Scar is still on the loose, and telling the Elric brothers to stay put at this moment. She closed the door gently and swiftly flicked on the bathroom lights. With the facet turned on, she began to wash her face and then looked directly into the mirror. This time her reflection didn't talk to her. She knew that, she freed it and gave it a body. Now that body is roaming around somewhere, and the only information it left for Hikaru was that its name was L. With L no longer lingering in her reflection, Hikaru can clearly see her true parallel image. She was surprised to see that she resembled L. L looked just like a mirror image of her. They had the same face structure, body, hairstyle, and hair color. She only sees slight variations, which are the crimson eyes, small height difference, and L's eyes were a bit more upward slanted.
A sudden shock came when, Hikaru looked more carefully at her reflection. She was absolutely stunned to see that there were no 'wings' on her back. Hikaru knows for herself that she can still see the 'wings' of a human through that human's parallel image. Then why can't she see hers? She's human, for certain. Then how why is it that there was nothing on her back?
She walked back out and noticed that Armstrong, Brosh, and Ross have all left the room. The only people remaining are Ed, Al, and Hikaru.
"What did Armstrong tell you?" Hikaru asked, trying to change the subject in her head.
"He told us to stay put until he reports back." Al answered.
"Y'know, I can tell that you guys are up to something." She smirked at the brothers.
Ed returned that smirk and said, "Don't smirk at us like that. You look too much like the Colonel."
Hikaru simply laughed at his remark and opened the window of the hotel room. "I know what you guys want, don't I?"
"Yup! You can perfectly read our minds."
"Then, what are we waiting for?" Hikaru said as she hastily jumped backwards out the window. Both Elric brothers were surprised to see her antics once again. Without further ado, they, too, leaped out the window. However, since the hotel was from a much higher height, both Ed and Al came crashing to the ground. While Hikaru watched their fall from the streetlight she gracefully landed on. She jumped down to check if they were ok. It seems that Al made it out just fine since he was a suit of armor, but unfortunately, Ed didn't. He came fell through the air and collided into the ground with his head.
"Ow, my brain…" Ed groaned rubbing the pain on his head.
"Sorry Ed." Hikaru apologized. "Maybe I should've tied a rope for you guys." She placed her hand on his head and leaned her face close to his to ensure that his face wasn't damaged from the fall. Ed's face became completely covered red, as he got more nervous every time he could feel her breath smoothly brushed against his face. To inspect that he was ok, Hikaru had to climb on top of his body, which made the Fullmetal Alchemist more alarmed as ever. Never before in his life, he had a woman on top of him. Of course, a situation like this would make him even more tense. He began to cry when he felt her bare legs slide up the sides of his abdomen. The night was warm, so Hikaru would dress in her typical black shorts. The longer this torture lasted, the more Ed wanted to cry. He hoped that there was one kind soul out there that would save him.
"Are you like some kind of ninja?" Al curiously asked out of the blue.
"I don't know." Hikaru said as she did a back flip into the air, bounced off the brick wall, and then perched perfectly on Al's head. "Does that define the word 'ninja' or something?"
"If you can easily do tricks like that, then you must be a ninja! I can't believe I get to see a real, live ninja! I only heard about them in storybooks! To know that ninjas actually exist, makes me the happiest boy in the world! Maybe I should ask my brother to marry you, so then I can have a big sister that's a ninja. That'll be so cool!"
"What?!" Hikaru exclaimed. Then she and Al suddenly heard something hit the ground from behind them. It was Ed holding tightly on to crotch, sweating in pain. Hikaru rushed over to him and asked, "Ed, what's wrong?"
"Ack!" He shouted as he fell to the ground in more pain. "Please don't come near me, Hikaru. That'll just make the pain even worse."
"Um, ok. I'm really sorry if this is all my fault." she quickly apologized.
"It's not your fault. This is my first time having this pain."
"What kind of pain is he in?" Hikaru asked Al.
"Uh… how to explain it…?" Al questioned himself and thought hard. Oh why me? He thought. "You know about male puberty right?"
"Yeah."
"Good. That'll save me some time. Let's just say my big brother is… uh… having an erecting genital at this moment. He must have experienced something erotic in his mind."
"He should be back to normal soon."
"Oh dear god. That was so hard to explain without completely polluting her mind." Al mumbled quietly to himself.
"Let's not waste anymore time and get moving." Hikaru confirmed after she watched Al help his older brother up on his feet. She then leaped on to the rooftop and began to jump from roof to roof so no nothing can notice her. While the Elric brothers swiftly ran through the streets silently as possible.
As they were running Al quietly asked, "Brother, why did you have to have an erection at a time like this?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Ed whispered as different shades of red flashed across his face. "Even though Hikaru wanted to check if I was ok, she didn't have to get on top of me and breathe on my face."
"Just admit it, brother… you can be a bit perverted a certain moments."
"I am not a pervert!"
"Then explain the erection you just had."
"That was completely accidental!"
"Sure… I believe you…" Al sarcastically said and quietly chuckled at his brother who, at the moment, looks like a red tomato. Ed was completely embarrassed of what happened to him. He never meant for it to happen, especially in front of a girl with an innocent mind.
"By the way, thanks for saving me Al." Ed thanked. "If you didn't bring up the ninja conversation I would've been dead on the ground."
"Huh?" Al questioned. "I never meant to save you brother. I was actually wondering if she was ninja."
Ed merely laughed at his brother's answer as the two brothers tried to catch up to Hikaru who was jumping on rooftops at brisk speed. They finally came to the destroyed area of Laboratory No. 5, and the strangest thing the young alchemists noticed was the fact that there was guard standing in front of an abandoned building.
"The light from a transmutation may alert the guard so we'll have to find another way in." Ed stated as he looked up at the barbed-wire barrier.
"Leave that to me." Hikaru declared. She jumped down from the rooftop and told Ed to move aside about 5 feet. Swiftly and silently she slid underneath Al and launched him into the air like rocket, with a simple palm uppercut. Al was frightened by the sudden blast-off that sent him skyrocketing into the night sky and Ed was freaked out for his brother's safety.
"Hikaru, you really are a ninja!" Ed faintly exclaimed.
"It's just martial arts," she laughed as she placed Ed's arms around her making the elder Elric brother turn scarlet. "Hang on tight, Ed." Hikaru first leaped backwards on to the roof of a nearby building. Then she soared into the sky like an eagle, making Ed completely amazed at her ability. While in midair, she grabbed on to Al's left leg, and then tried to ease their landing. Before they hit the flat roof of the abandoned laboratory, Hikaru pushed the armor upward into the air a bit more to delay his landing. When she hit the roof herself, the crimson-eyed alchemist did a quick spinning sweep kick, slightly increasing the upward air pressure around her and Ed, who was a bit dizzy from the spin. With the increase in air pressure going up into the sky, Al was able to get a calm landing, without making a sound. The spinning sweep kick of hers was almost like her palm uppercut. Hikaru used both moves to increase upward air pressure, since it was a silent tactic and not usually seen by human eyes.
"You can let go now, Ed." Hikaru said, but was surprised to see him passed out with his arms still around her neck.
"He must've passed out from the dizziness your spin kick resulted in." Al clarified as he pulled his brother off Hikaru. He then faintly knocked Ed on his noggin, and that was able to wake the older brother up. Ed snapped back to reality and was still stunned at Hikaru's marvelous combating skills.
"I think you may be right about her being her being a ninja." Ed whispered loudly to Al.
"It's just martial arts." Hikaru repeated. "Don't you two practice fighting skills also?"
"Yeah," Al answered, "that was with our teacher. She said that if you want to train the mind you must train the body first."
"If the both of you practiced martial arts before, then why is that you two consider me to be ninja?"
"Ninjas can jump from roof-to-roof with perfect grace." Ed gave one reason.
"They move at lightning speed." Al added.
"And they're usually dressed in dark colors so they can avoid being caught on assassination missions." The two Elric brothers said simultaneously. "You fall into all three of those categories."
Hikaru merely laughed at them. How can she ever forget how happy these two make her? Even if they were on a secret invasion into Lab 5, she was still able to enjoy her time with them. No matter where they went, Ed and Al would always lighten up her mood. In spite of all the secrets and problems they have to face, Hikaru remained happy with the Elric brothers.
"Jumping on roofs was just an exercise routine I practiced." Hikaru explained. "It helps build the length of your jumps, as well as reaction time and agility. I don't have lightning speed. I can move pretty quickly from all the martial arts training, but it looks like lightning to the untrained eye. And for the black clothes I'm wearing, it's just my sense of style, I guess. I'm no where near gothic, but maybe I like these clothes since it's useful for infiltration and they're easy to maneuver around in. Does that give you guys enough information as to why I am not a ninja?"
"That explains a lot of things." Ed remarked and smirked. "But we'll come up with other reasons soon."
"Whatever." She smiled and thought. I think this is going to be my new pet peeve.
Hikaru found a long rope lying around the roof and tied it tightly on to some pipes. She tossed it down and the Elric brothers were able to climb down without any more casualties. She then jumped off the roof herself and flawlessly landed besides them.
"Man…" Ed groaned. "Even the entrance is blocked."
"We'll just have to find another way in." Al suggested.
"Ed can probably fit through that." Hikaru stated as she pointed her finger at a broken ventilator hole. Using Al as a boost, Ed pulled off its wired cover, and climbed in.
"Al, It's best for you to wait here." Ed confirmed.
"You sure you want to go in there alone, brother?" Al asked, worried for his older brother's safety.
"What choice do I have? Your body's too big to fit in here."
"It's not my fault I got big."
"Hikaru, you should be able to fit in here." Ed affirmed.
"Is it ok for me to leave Al here by himself?" Hikaru asked in concern for Al.
"Don't worry too much about him. He'll be just fine."
"Yeah, I'm a suit of armor, so I can't really feel pain." Al added.
"Alright then," Hikaru said. "I'll go with Ed then."
The two young alchemists climbed into the small ventilator and crawled their way through the tight walls into the laboratory. However, Ed happened to be in an uncomfortable situation again.
Maybe I should've gone in first. Ed regretted since he was crawling right behind Hikaru, meaning that he's going to have to stare at her bottom through the whole duration of their infiltration. He wanted to close his eyes, but he had to keep an eye out to see their progress.
"Hikaru, can we please trade places?" Ed begged as he tried to cover his absolutely red face.
"Yeah," Hikaru agreed. "If you like being in the front, then be my guest."
"Thank you, Hikaru." Ed cried, finally relieved to see that she agreed to help him move from his unnerving circumstance.
"However, you'll have to climb over me to get in front, since the space is tight. But I'm smaller than you, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you." She explained and tried to lied down as flat as possible.
Why do these things always happen to me? Ed questioned the world in his thoughts as his face became even more scarlet. Despite the tight space, Ed was able to climb over Hikaru. This doesn't feel right. Any perverted guy would be happy in my position. When he finally got in front, he collapsed with his head overheating from all his blushing.
"You alright, Ed?" Hikaru asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine now." He said as he got back up. "Let's just keep moving forward."
She nodded and followed his lead. When Ed turned at a corner, Hikaru stopped when she noticed a dent on the floor of their tight pathway. She wondered why Ed didn't fall through it since it was pretty loose and then thought that it was probably already like that before he crawled over it. He probably just made it in an even worse condition. When she leaned on the dent on the floor, she instantly fell through. Although she crashed through the flooring, Ed didn't hear a single sound. He finally noticed that Hikaru was missing when he finally found another ventilation cover and turned around to tell her that they finally made it to their destination. The Fullmetal Alchemist was in shock to see that his comrade had disappeared so suddenly.
Hikaru happened to have fallen into a small, dark room with a few dim lights hanging from the ceiling, just enough to moderately illuminate the room. She got on her feet and dusted the debris off her black clothes. The room had broken wires, fallen rock, and other rubbish lying around all over. The Macchina Alchemist took a look at what was in front of her. It was an old, dusty stretcher cart that surgeons use to perform operations on their patients. Usually they were pure white and were always clean. However this one is covered in ruins, wheels broken like a car tire with a nail stabbed within it, and the surface where the patient would always lay was almost completely covered with brown, dried, old blood. The blood on the stretcher seems to be at least 5-7 years old.
She walked over to the tainted stretcher cart and like lightning, a jolt of pain attacked Hikaru's chest. Feeling the old blood gave her an even worse pain. The enigmatic twinge in her chest continued to attack her repetitively, thus making her fall to the floor on her knees, entirely broken. She began to cough up her own blood. As a small stream of blood oozed from the side of her mouth, she looked up at the giant steel wall in front of her. There was a massive transcript written clearly, beckoning Hikaru to have a look. And with one glance she was stunned at the sight of it and fell to the ground again. This time she fell on her entire front body like a fallen statue. Blood continued to flow slowly from her jaws as she got on her grimy knees. Sitting in her own lake of blood Hikaru stared at the transcript again, fighting off the pain, and asked herself.
"Where am I?"