Dragon Ball GX, Side Story: The Alchemic Saiyan
Chapter 8: Getting Reacquainted
Alphonse Elric
I was totally speechless; here I was feeling cheated out of getting my body back cause my brother died-then out of nowhere, he comes back-AND HE ALREADY HAS HIS LIMBS BACK!
"Al, I know you're probably mad that I got my body back already, but I'm gonna make it up to you by getting yours back right now" Edward says as he hugs me.
"Ok brother, lets draw a Human Transmutation Circle and get it done" I say as my demeanor cools and I grab a piece of chalk.
"No Al, you stay back; I'm going to tear open the Gates of Truth and take your body back-and nothing will stop me!" Ed says firmly.
Suddenly, the air filled with blue electric sparks, and the eye of "The Truth" appeared on the floor.
"I'll be back soon brother" Ed says as he hugs me.
"Don't worry Winry-the Truth can't take anything from me ever again; I will see you again" Edward says kindly.
Then, in a move that shocked us all; HE KISSED HER!
As soon as he finished kissing her, his body was deconstructed and he disappeared.
Edward Elric
As I appeared before the Gate, I realized I was but a moment away from recovering Al's body.
"So Edward…you've come for your brother's body have you? What will you offer in return?" The Truth says with a toothy grin.
I immediately grabbed him by his neck in a chokehold.
"NO GAMES! WHERE IS MY BROTHER'S BODY YOU BASTARD!" I scream, powering up to Super Saiyan 3 to emphasize my zero tolerance for games.
"Calm down Edward; he's behind me-but you know the law of Equivalent Exchange-you must give up something of equal value to gain something in retur-"
"YEAH PIPE IT YOU JERK! GIVE ME AL'S BODY OR I'LL BEAT YOU TO A PULP THEN TEAR OPEN THE GATEWAY MYSELF!" I bellow, cutting him off as and making the whole area shake.
"(Panting) Ok Ok! Calm down, lets not upset the natural order of God's Realm you have ventured into; I'm sure we can reach an agreeable compromise Edward-isn't it fair that you give me at least some gift in exchange for your brother's body? Seeing as you got your limbs back free of charge?" The Truth asks feebly.
I scowled, but then remembered how he had shown me the Truth, allowing me to perform Alchemy without a Transmutation Circle.
"(Growl) Alright, I guess you do deserve something seeing as I circumvented Equivalent Exchange already with my teacher Psyagon giving me a new body in his universe" I reply.
However, at the mention of my master's name, the Truth stopped smiling.
"Did you say, "THE" Psyagon? The Divine Saiyan?" The Truth says in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, what's it mean to you?" I reply hostilely.
"Psyagon prevented that demon Mephelis from reaching this Universe by destroying him; if it wasn't for Psyagon-the balance of reality would have been shattered causing chaos" The Truth replies, relief filling his tone.
"I know, he told me that already" I respond, feeling annoyed that The Truth was beating around the bush.
"Well if you really trained under the mighty Psyagon-I think I owe him for all he has done; so part of my debt I owe him shall be paid off now for you" The Truth says with a smile.
With a snap of his fingers, he began to dissolve and disappear, showing Alphonse's body right in front of me.
"Give my regards to Psyagon next time you see him Edward, and thank you for not hurting me" The Truth says cheerfully.
Alphonse's body then feebly stood up and limped to my grasp.
"Brother…you came back for me" he says weakly.
"Yeah, and I'm taking you home now…brother" I say quietly as I pick him up in my arms and carry him through the Gateway with a smile.
Winry Rockbell
After 10 minutes, we were getting anxious and worried. I seriously considered drawing a Human Transmutation Circle and going after him myself; but before I got the chance-a hole opened in the air, and Edward dropped from it gracefully-WITH AL'S BODY!
"Hey guys, I'm back" Edward says calmly with a smile.
"(Gasp) can I have some water" Al's body says hoarsely, the effects of his years in another dimension showing their toll as he fully returned to the world of the living.
"MY BODY!" Al shouts with enthusiasm and glee.
Suddenly, Edward waved his hand and the floor grew a pillar-WITH A BOWL OF WATER ON TOP!
"There you go, fresh spring water Al's Body" Edward says warmly.
Without warning, Alphonse burst into a stream of unintelligible gibberish, so did I.
"Whoa whoa! Calm down, what's wrong guys?" Edward asks, acting as though we were overreacting.
"Brother…you performed Alchemy…without a Transmutation Circle, Clapping your hands, or following Equivalent Exchange" Al says from his suit of armor.
I was as shocked as Alphonse; no one should be able to do that!
"Yes, Yes, and No; I didn't use a circle, nor did I clap-this is all true; but I did follow Equivalent Exchange" Edward says as he sets Alphonse down on the sofa.
"But brother…Wood doesn't have the same chemical properties as water, how can you make water from wood?" Al retorts.
"Because Al, all the necessary elements are around us; combining the Hydrogen and Oxygen from the atmosphere created water, with the combination of different elements found in the wood, I made it mountain spring water" Edward explains proudly.
We stared at him with out mouths agape in awe.
"Edward…where did you learn to do that?" I ask speechlessly.
"And what did you exchange for my body?" Alphonse asks as he holds the hand of his body.
"I didn't exchange anything-I took your body" Edward states flatly as he gets some clothes for Al's body.
As soon as Penako and I heard that, we nearly choked.
"Brother…how did you manage to pull that off?" Armor Al asks as he places the clothing on his body's form.
"Cause The Truth owed my latest teacher a favor" Edward says as he hugs me.
I suddenly felt the urge to hug Edward back; so I did so-with great passion and love.
"As soon as we calm down, and fix up Al back into his body-tell us everything" I whisper to Edward as I keep hugging him.
"That reminds me…how are we gonna get my soul back into my body brother?" Armor Al asks eagerly.
Immediately, the sense of calm was broken.
"You do have a plan right brother?" Armor Al asks as he puts a blanket over his body.
"OH CRUD! I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THAT PART!" Edward screams, his tone one of horror and unprepared anguish.
Alphonse Elric
As I realized Edward hadn't thought about that part of the situation, I began to panic.
"BROTHER! IF MY BODY IS HERE, BUT IM STILL ATTACHED TO THE ARMOR…WHATS GONNA HAPPEN IF WE DETACH MY SOUL FROM THE ARMOR!" I yell with worry.
"Lets not panic; we'll just get information from the senior staff in Central-the ones who bonded Barry the Chopper and Number 48 to their armors" Edward says as he smiles.
Suddenly, there was a burst of wind, and his eyes changed color to cyan, along with his hair hue slightly-to more of a lighter golden; a fiery aura of energy surging all around him.
"Alright, meet me outside" Edward says with a smile as he vanishes.
As we rushed out the door, we saw Ed was already out there, with a strange machine, still sparking with the remnants of an alchemic reaction.
"Brother…did you make this?" I ask in astonishment.
"I sure did; its call an airplane or aero plane" Ed says proudly (Note: this plane looks like a typical fighter jet, but with more passenger room.
"Whats it do?" Winry asks as she admires the curved shape and extended sides.
"What do you think? It flies" Edward says plainly.
As soon as he said that, we started laughing.
"HEY! I'M NOT KIDDING YOU JERKS!" Edward yells, causing the earth to rumble.
Immediately, we stopped laughing, worried what might happen if he really got mad.
"Sorry Ed but…its just…how can that colossal hunk of junk fly?" Winry replies, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.
"Cause it uses the same principle birds use to fly; lift" Edward says.
"But brother, birds can generate enough counter force from their wing beats to offset their weight; and this…well…it doesn't flap I assume" I reply.
"That's where part two kicks in; see it may not flap-but it produces jet propulsion-like a firework. Its called thrust" Edward continues.
"So this…airplane, it actually generates enough thrust to get off the ground and not plummet to the earth once it gets there?" Winry asks in disbelief.
"Oh it does far more than that; this baby can reach Mach 2 easy" Ed says proudly.
"Mach?" we all ask in unison.
"(Groan) Its advanced physics I learned from my master; Mach 1 is the speed of sound in air-761 Miles Per Hour or 343 meters per second" Edward replies with a smile.
"So that airplane can go…(gasp) twice the speed of sound!" Winry yells in astonishment.
"You bet, want me to make it a faster plane?" Edward says with a wink.
"They can go faster!" Winry yells excitedly.
"I could make a plane with a scramjet engine, with that it can reach Mach 25 no sweat" Edward says as he rubs his fingers together.
"EEEEHHHHHHHHHHH! MAKE A SCRAMJET PLANE! I WANT TO GO FAST!" Winry squeals excitedly.
"Alright alright! Calm down Winry" Ed laughs as he pats her back.
Almost instantly, the plane began to reform, into something…huge.
After several seconds, it was now more than 3 times its previous size, and sparking all over from the alchemic power used to create it.
"Well go ahead and look inside guys" Edward says with a gesture of his hand.
As we stepped inside, we were amazed.
"Edward…it will be able to fly even with all this inside an us too-right?" Winry asks in a hushed voice.
"It sure will, this puppy will get us to Central in less than 2 minutes" Edward says proudly.
Suddenly, we found ourselves strapped into seats without warning.
"We need to go now, so I went ahead and strapped you all in" Edward says calmly.
Then, there was a hum and Edward started the engines.
But then, he vanished again!
However, I soon realized what he was doing, as I felt the whole ship rising up!
However, after several seconds, I realized we were ascending too quickly to be by an alchemic pillar or hand.
"Alright-I got us off the ground; now its time to engage the thrusters" Edward says as he appears inside the plane again and casually walks to the cabin.
Before we could ask any questions are even express astonishment, the entire plane began to move so fast we were pressed into our seats.
"AND OFF TO CENTRAL!" Edward whoops.
"YEAH!" Winry yells with excitement.
As I wondered how Edward would be able to lift us without alchemic constructs, we sped toward our destination.
Penako Rockbell
In a span of less than 10 minutes, Edward had taken Al and my granddaughter beyond view entirely in that machine he called an airplane.
"(Sigh) Oh well, I guess I'll keep an eye on Al's body till they get back" I say to myself as I walk back inside.
With one last glance into the sky, I hoped they'd be alright-then closed the door.