Dragon Ball GX, Side Story: The Alchemic Saiyan
Chapter 13: Catastrophic Conundrum
Envy
As Edward wove his tale of the travel to another universe, he showed us incredible things by manipulating light, and telling stories of people with so much power, the very fabric of existence itself bent to their will. Humans that without alchemy, surpassed Father in might. And a being so powerful…he was, in all sense of the word…a god among mortal men; the mighty Psyagon. It was he who had prevented our realm, and countless others from becoming dark, shadowy worlds, filled with nothing but monsters and pure evil. After several hours, we were finally caught up, and realized just how powerful Edward could become, even considering how mighty he was already.
"So…you have the power to use alchemy on a global scale?" Selim asks brightly, his face full of both excitement and fear.
"Yes, my master Psyagon taught me as much about alchemy as the Truth itself knows, but unlike Father or my dad, Van Hohenheim, I cannot break the Law of Equivalent Exchange due to there being no souls in me but my own" Edward says, with no hint of jealousy or envy in his voice.
"Then how can you perform those incredible moves?" I respond, still confused as to how one can create bursts of energy with the equivalent power of a volcanic eruption.
"My Ki levels are far greater than any human, Saiyans are naturally born and designed for fighting, even our minds are fine tuned to be battle adept from birth. It is because of our genetics that Saiyans are so powerful and skilled, some more than others, but all have the potential to be world breakers with Ki alone, something not even a homunculi could hope to accomplish" Edward says as he holds a glowing orb of the aforementioned raw life energy in his hand.
"So that's Life Force energy?" Fuery says as he points to the glowing orb.
"Yes, its destructive power is unparalleled, with no equal; this orb alone could reduce the tallest mountain to rubble, and its my own natural energy" Edward states, as if it were a simple, trivial fact.
As we all marveled at this raw power Edward now had, I couldn't help but feel jealous, but I quickly remembered how he had given me a second chance, and immediately suppressed my desire, when I was special enough already.
"What I want to know is…how are you gonna get Alphonse back in his body" Mustang blurts, shattering the calm.
Upon hearing this, Edward's smug self-satisfactory grin dropped like an anchor.
"AW DAMN IT! I'M STILL NO CLOSER TO FIGURING THAT OUT!" Ed screams, once again causing the ground to shake, rattle, and roll.
"Calm down Ed, we'll figure it out" Winry says as she gives him a peck on the cheek, which I couldn't help but wince as I watched.
"(Growl) SHIT! There's gotta be someone who can figure out how this thing works!" Edward screams, causing the Ki orb to detach from his grip and fly straight toward Alphonse.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Al screams as he knocks his own head off to prevent it from being vaporized in the orb's path.
Faster than a bullet, it whizzed into the sky, and just as it went out of sight, it detonated, giving off 10,000 times more light than Roy Mustang's Flame Alchemy.
"BROTHER! Have some restraint, neither us nor our world are as durable as the one you trained in to use that kind of power; DAD WAS NEVER THAT RECKLESS!" Alphonse screams, as he grabs his helmet and holds it in his hands.
"Oh gee, I'm sorry Al, I guess you're right. I do need to have more restraint. I guess that my emotional state doesn't count, just because I'm in a hair-tearing turmoil, over the fact that…oh maybe…YOU MIGHT BE STUCK IN THAT STUPID SUIT OF ARMOR FOR ALL ETERNITY!" Edward screams, making all kinds of weird faces, and one that terrified me when he mentioned his brother being stuck in the armor.
As the ground shook violently from Edward's emotional rage, Winry ran up and hugged him again.
"Ok ok, relax Edward, we'll find a way, even if you gotta go back to the universe you visited" Winry says soothingly.
"I just wish that I could find someone with more intimate knowledge of things outside Alchemy like Father and Hohenheim do…THAT'S IT!" Edward screams, his tone changing from despair to realization.
"What is "it" Ed?" I inquire, becoming increasingly interested.
"Van Hohenheim, our dad, he taught the Xingese Alkahestry. If there's anyone who can help me figure out this necklace, he's the guy" states as he begins to flare his aura.
"Whoa whoa! Calm down Ed; do you even know where your dad is?" Winry yells, apparently wanting to make sure Ed had his head on straight.
"Its not hard to find him; Homunculi have much higher Ki levels than humans, mind you, nowhere near a Saiyan, but enough that against a background of human Ki signals they stand out like a lighthouse" Edward replies with a smile, its distinct curve reminiscent of the one belonging to the Son family he had met.
"Wait…you can sense us!" I scream, realizing the full implications of what I we had all just learned.
"Yes, anywhere you are, no matter where you hide in this world, I can find you Envy, so if you have thoughts of trying to defect back to the Homunculi and return to your old ways, don't even consider it. I'll find you-" he begins.
CHINK! Suddenly, his left hand had been transmuted to 5 times its original size, with foot long, reddish metal nails.
"-And I'll execute you myself" he says coldly. I promptly gulped loudly and nervously, my stomach having dropped and my legs turned to rubber.
"Brother! Relax, you're being too harsh" Al says as he rushes over and puts a hand on my shoulder, attempting to calm me from my terrified state.
"You're right, sorry Envy; Its just…I learned everything from my mentor; he knew of everything Father is up to, what he plans to do" Edward begins solemnly, as if mortified to even speak of the horrors Father was planning, and I wasn't even sure myself.
"Edward…what is this "Father" planning?" Mustang asks flatly, his tone showing he had to know.
Lust
Having to run all the way back to Central was a major pain in the ass, but I managed to do so within 3 hours. As I vaulted my way over buildings with my ultimate spears, I catapulted down into the sewers, and made my way to Father's lair, so I could present the bad news before it reached him via the grape vine, which could result in my being returned to stone form.
Rushing to the grand chamber where Father sat, I began to pant, my fatigue finally catching up to me.
"What is it my child?" Father asks flatly, his statement indicating concern, but no inflection in his tone made it unclear to those who did not know him personally.
"Edward…lives…more powerful than you" I gasp, still trying to get my breath.
"Hohenheim's son lives? I was informed by Wrath that he died in the explosion at the remains of the 5th Laboratory three days prior" he remarks, clearly not having gotten word quite yet.
As it would happen, Wrath just burst into the chamber, missing the chance to inform Father moments before I had.
"Father! Edward lives, the child lives!" he yells, clearly in a state of panic, before Father raised his hand to silence him.
"I know, Lust just informed me" he replies calmly.
"But Father…there's more" I continue, causing Father's features to harden from their usual straight form.
"What do you mean Lust?" he begins, hidden anger lacing his voice.
"Edward…has convinced Gluttony, Envy, and Pride to defect to the humans" I finish, hoping Father wouldn't be too awful mad.
His subsequent roar and impaling of me through the stomach upon a giant tile spike indicated otherwise.
"HOW COULD MY OWN CHILDREN BETRAY ME!" he bellows, stomping his foot, and causing a second spike to impale me through the mouth.
After much effort, I managed to tear myself out of the second spike, allowing my head to reform and say, "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them, but Envy actually openly retaliated and spoke for Pride and Gluttony; he made it quite clear that they were through with us"
Immediately, Father's expression softened, and he released the rest of my body from the other spike.
"Very well then, since I' am going to be lower on companions for my grand plan, I'm going to have to fill you in on all the details, and what my vision is" he says as he sits back down and resumes his reclined pose with one hand on the side of his head.
Edward Elric
"HE WANTS TO WHAT!" Roy screams with burning rage, as his eyes burn like the sun after hearing what I had explained.
"Yes, he wants to transmute every last civilian of Amestris into a giant Philosopher's Stone so he can open the gateway of this planet, absorb Truth, and become a god" I reiterate, hoping I could get Roy to use that anger to fuel his determination to help me find a way to stop him once we had restored Al to his fleshy body.
"Well what are we waiting for? Lets go get my body, then go find dad so I can get back in it, then fix everything" Alphonse says hurriedly as he rushes to my side and begins tugging on my arm.
"Agreed, guys, we'll be back shortly, until then I'm gonna make sure you're all safe by making a huge Adamantium shell around Eastern Command" I say as I clap my hands and smash the ground to create the huge construct, such powerful metal not as easy for me to do without clapping just yet. After getting the shell fully formed after several seconds, I tested the blast door, just incase Father might come knocking, with a Ki burst powerful enough to vaporize a city. The door still stood.
"OK! WE WON'T BE MORE THAN A DAY AT THE MOST!" I yell, making sure that they could hear me past the foot thick unbreakable metal. "ED!" Winry screams, as she taps her foot. I then realized why she was mad.
"Oh my bad guys, gimme a second to make a blast door" I shout as I snap my fingers to draw out the needed energy from within to manipulate the Adamantium. Placing my finger tips to the surface, lines etched into existence with a flash of light, signaling the creation of a blast door.
"Just set the pass codes yourselves, its protected with Quantum Encryption, no technology exists in this universe that can crack the firewall!" I yell, hoping they'd hear me. I then swooped up Winry and Alphonse, and I teleported down south to Reseembool again.
Penako
As I brought another glass of water to Alphonse's body, he greedily sucked it down just like the other 20 he'd drunk within the past 10 minutes.
"Such a powerful thirst, do you need anymore still?" I comment as I take the glass.
"No, I'm good now, thank you granny" he replies cheerfully.
"I can't help but be amazed and confused; if what I remember is correct, Alphonse's soul is bonded to the armor and is out there with Edward now. But if that is the case, then how can you think and move on your own if your soul isn't inside?" I inquire quietly.
"Its something that humans would relegate to the science of biology and neurology. Human's have brains, and they can form imprints and patterns in their chemical pathways, its part of what makes every person unique, different brain shapes and builds, my brain remained in my body when our failed human transmutation occured, and that contains a part of me. But that's not why I' am still able to walk and talk" the body replies, his voice now much stronger since having been given a meal and some food.
"Then how are you able to do it?" I say as I press my curiosity.
A moment of silence presisted between us, Alphonse's body not replying.
"Despite what they think, Alphonse's soul and body are still bound in a way, a tenous string still exists between us, that's how I'm still Alphonse and not another person, we are one and the same" he replies solemnly.
"I take it that there is somehow some bad news to accompany that judging by your face Alphonse" I say with worry.
"Yes, though I' am grateful that Ed rescused me from the realm of Truth, and thus severed the nutrient drain that was needed to keep me alive over there, taking my souless body back to the outside world has created a new problem…cause if this form is destroyed, then Al will never get to return to normal, his vessel will be gone" he explains wistfully.
I gasped at this revelation, knowing how dangerous this situation had made Alphonse's journey to be reunited with his body. None of us had accounted for such a possibility, that his body would be vunerable if removed prematurely from the realm of Truth.
"Let's not think like that, remember, Edward is more powerful than any mortal now, I doubt they can hurt him, let alone anyone he cares about" I snap, helping to make myself not become depressed.
"You're right, no mortal or homunculus could possibly hope to stand to his power, so I guess that as long as none of the bad guys figure out I'm here, they'll have time to figure out a way to reunite us" Al's body says cheerfully.
"That's the spirit, now why don't we go try to get you to walk so you can repair those atrophied muscles?" I ask with a smile.
Swinging his feet out of the bed, he weakly got to his feet and smiled too. "Ok, but let's not go outside, just ot be safe" he answers as he takes a tentative step forward.
"MY BODY!" Alphonse's metallic voice echoes suddenly.
Winry Rockbell
Panting with shock, I regained my cool while still hugging Ed tightly as Alphonse strolled up to his body.
"What the hell was that?" I gasp as Alphonse rushes to his body and hugs it.
"Instant Transmission, I locked onto Penako's Ki signature and deconstructed us into photons, then we reassembled here, anyone who can manipulate Ki can learn it" Edward replies casually, like it was normal. But then again, it was normal for him, from what I'd heard, the world he went to far surpassed ours in the weird factor.
"Goodness Gracious Edward! You have to be careful using those powers of yours, you're liable to give someone a heart attack" Penako pants as she catches her breath from the sudden appearance of the three of us.
"Sorry, I just figured I'd lock onto your Ki signal instead of his so I could confront him in a more subtle manner" Edward says with a solemn face.
"Wait, confront who?" I ask with confusion, not understanding his reasoning for teleporting back to Resembool.
"Because he's just a few miles away, heading here" Edward says as he begins to walk toward the stairs.
"Hold on, who's here?" I continue as I press my desire for the reason behind our sudden and jarring mode of transport. Suddenly as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Edward looked deeply into my eyes, and I saw a look that rivaled that which we'd shared earlier, but of the exact opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
"Our father…Hoenheim" Edward replies, his tone a mixture of both dryness and uncertainty.