Dragon Ball GX, Side Story: The Alchemic Saiyan
A/N: This Chapter was made possible from contributions from viewers like you…is what I'd say if more people read this daggum story! Such as it is, they are not to thank, though I wish I could say that, it would mean people are actually taking the time to get past the few chapters and see the genius this piece of work is, instead it is this man who has helped me finish the tail end of this segment so I could finally post it after all these months, fellow FF . net author Wowza48, kudos to your dedication to my tale
Chapter 29: Who Is Mother?
May Chang
As Alphonse ran with Buccaneer to help herd us to safety, Katherine, Randall, along with Xiao-Mei and myself all followed the two to an as of yet undisclosed location away from the battle going on way down the hallway.
"Ok, we'll be safe soon, we're headed to the barricaded archive rooms near the medical bay, its almost as well protected as the secret bunker we were in earlier" Buccaneer explains in his gruff voice while we ran full speed after him.
"Wait a minute, Ling, where is Ling?" Al asks suddenly, as I take note that the prince of the Yao clan is indeed not among us. I thought he had been behind us just as Lan Fan and Fu were. How could they have lost Ling if he was so close to us…unless…
"Fu, Lan Fan, do you know where Ling is?" I snap, causing them to turn to face me as we kept sprinting. Their eyes telling me all I needed to know.
"We have to keep running, Ling is trying to buy us time" I shout as we keep going, Alphonse suddenly stopping, causing Randall and Katherine to immediately slam into him with a pair of clangs due to being right behind his body.
"Ouch! That nearly broke my nose" Randall groans as he rubs it gently.
"What the hell did you stop for, we gotta get to the archive room!" Katherine shouts angrily.
"I have to go back, Ling can't fight Sloth all alone, he'll never survive, Sloth said he'd come here to kill him" Alphonse retorts firmly. Fu promptly responded with a groan of annoyance.
"Envy is with him, I'm sure that between the two, Sloth doesn't have a chance, that's why he ordered us undergo a non-negotiable retreat" the old man shouts to Alphonse.
"That's still not enough, Sloth is the fastest of the Homunculi, and combining that with his strength and Envy's inability to use his true form inside this confined space without risking harm to the soldiers, they need all the help they can get, he's too vulnerable, so I'm going back!" Al screams, turning about face and preparing to speed back to the site of battle. I immediately leapt after him, determined to follow him, for some reason I couldn't just stand to let him go do this on his own, even though I couldn't put a finger on exactly why I had to accompany him, I just…felt some kind of connection, and it wasn't going to let me leave his side at a time like this. Several minutes later, we reached the area of conflict, where we saw an impressive spectacle had unfolded.
Both Envy and Ling were attempting to slam around Sloth, who was somehow withstanding every blow, and I knew firsthand that Envy was incredibly massive, and he could easily smack around anyone but my darling Edward with his superpowers.
"Al, good to have you here, mind helping us!" Envy screams as he tries to pin the hulking speedster, missing his mark by miles however as his fist smashes through the wall.
"Yeah, May came too, she can help out as well" Al replies as he pats my back.
"The little girl! Are you kidding, what can she do against that thing?" Envy bellows with disbelief. I couldn't believe my ears, he thought I was useless!
"I'll show you what I can do pompous!" I shout as I toss a series of knives around the giant, then proceed to do what I do best; Alkahestry at its finest.
"Huh…what is this?" Sloth remarks as he notices my kunai knives just before I drop another smaller set at my feet and crouch to activate the giant array.
Smiling, I stared Sloth dead on and grinned as I discharged power into the circle saying, "This is remote alkahestry"
Moments later, the blue discharges began to flow around the floor beneath the monster's feet, and it quickly began to melt, sucking his feet down into the molten mire. Once he was sunk in up to his waist, I changed the flow of energy and rapidly cooled the materials to trap him.
"Lets see you do that Envy" I huff as resume a standing position and grin proudly, feeling certain I could impress my darling Edward with this feat of transmutation and cunning.
"I could easily do it, but I don't want to waste precious ener…I mean, souls, to do it, I'll just learn how to do alchemy the way humans do one day" he replies bitterly, his tone softening a little during his change of word choice.
"Very impressive Ms. Chang, I'm starting to wish I'd learned Alkahestry, however, once I gain more mastery over my Ki, I'll not need that for battle, and I'll be ready to win the throne and lead Xing to a golden age" Ling comments as he jumps onto Sloth's back and sits upon it.
"(Slow snarl) Get…off…me!" Sloth roars as he tries to reach his beefy arms around his back to grab hold of Ling, needless to say, it was impossible, as his muscles were far too bulky to allow such as feat, causing the prince to guffaw as we watched this…admittedly hilarious attempt by the homunculus to remove the Yao clansman from his shoulders.
"Its no use Sloth, you're trapped, and I'm going to make sure you stay trapped" Alphonse announces as he claps his palms and touches the ground, using alchemy to form large anchor rings in the flooring.
"Ling, grab his chains and put them near the anchors!" he shouts as he takes his hands a few inches off the ground in preparation to clap again.
"Right!" Ling responds as he leaps off Sloth's back and does the task Alphonse asked of him, in a matter of moments.
"You've already unlocked Ki power? Tell me how right now!" I clamor as I leap over to his side and stare him in the face.
"Like I'd tell you, we're from rival clans each trying to ascend to the throne, I'm not jeopardizing my ace" Ling scoffs rudely. I felt my forehead pulse at the stupidity of his statement and so I thusly leapt onto his shoulders and began to pound my fists on his skull like a drum.
"You big ass, tell me, tell me, TELL ME!" I screech as I let loss my rage on his head.
"AAH! GET OFF YOU TINY BITCH!" he screams as he tries to reach for me, swinging my body side to side to avoid his grabs.
Envy
As I saw the two members of royalty bitching over the succession of their country's damn throne, I groaned and covered my hand with my face, wishing they could just get along.
"Ow…what a pain!" Sloth drones as he attempts to move.
"Give it up Sloth, you're not strong enough, and you don't have any room to build momentum to aid your escape even if your do free your arms, we've trapped you brother, you may as well cooperate" I say stiffly as I look him in the eyes.
For some reason, this caused him to begin chuckling slowly as he grinned; that wasn't a good sign.
"You're…right, normally…this would…trap me, but…(chuckle) I got something…special from Mother, and…it gives me…an enhancement when used" he says arrogantly as he begins to struggle.
That cinched it, now I knew that something was way out of place. But what, he spoke as if he had something that amplifies his powe…oh shit.
"Guys, get back, he's up to something!" I scream, as I notice Sloth's body rumbling and vibrating like it was a tectonic tremor.
"Huh, what did you say Envy?" Ling asks as he and May pause their struggle and look at me.
"You fools, don't you hear the vibrations!" I snap as I point to Sloth behind them, who had already snapped the chains that Al had transmuted as his shaking intensified.
"What's he doing?" May asks with surprise.
"(Gasp) Guys, he's vibrating his body at an exponentially increasing rate, and soon, its going to reach the point that its energy transfers into extreme-"
With a sudden burst of hissing steam, Al's remark was cut short as the floor around Sloth's waist begin to melt again. Within moments, the indolent began to lift his legs from the burning slag and was free!
"-heat…and transform the floor he was trapped in back into a liquid state allowing him to…get out" Al gulps as he notices that Sloth was now truly angry.
"Ugh! You pests…are…getting…on…my last…nerves!" he bellows as he shakes off patches of the molten metal that had stuck to his lower body, a few splashes barely missing Al and May, the molten steel melting partially into the other areas they'd landed on with a hissing squish.
"Such…a…fucking…(pant) pain! I will squash you all" he says slowly with rage as he pulls his arms to his side and looks at me with his eyes, his other white one now strangely gaining a faint red glow. Without a moment to blink, he vanished, and then before I could barely think, I felt his fist slam into my face, sending me barreling toward the opposing wall and through it.
Edward Elric
As I was struck again in my gut with a right hook, I flew through another rock cropping with a mighty crash. Immediately after getting up, I was struck again and sent through another one, this time the larger rock taking my momentum at first, then crumbling shortly after impact.
"(Groan) What the hell, she's only a homunculus, they aren't supposed to be this powerful" I gripe as I rub the back of my head, if it hadn't been for my Ki film, I'd have likely gotten a superficial wound, and for me to get injured wasn't a good sign, thankfully as it was, it only felt like the times back when I got whacked in the head by Winry's wrench as a human. Moments later, the she-thing was upon me, and held me by my throat as she picked me off the ground again.
"So Not-Edward, mind telling me why you are here at Fort Briggs? Your desire to go here so suddenly has Father and Mother most intrigued" she asks firmly with her thick accent, her eyes glinting as she smirked confidently while he kept her grip.
"(Chuckle) You'd…(groan) be surprised by how intuitive I' am, I had a feeling Sloth's next target while digging the tunnel for the circle, would be at Fort Briggs" I laugh as I fight off the pain.
"What…you knew we were coming!" she bellows as she chokes me harder.
"Ack! No…just Sloth, you were a complete and total surprise, I didn't even know you exist, I wish you'd tell me what's going on" I groan as the pain intensifies, her grip squeezing the Ki film around my neck like a noose.
"As it should be; well, we actually never anticipated surviving the trip, it was extremely…wait, I know what you're trying to do. You want me to spill Mother's secret plan, get me to blow our cover, well I refuse to fall for it Not-Edward!" she screams angrily as she chucks me toward another rock, sending my body crashing through it headfirst.
"You'll also not live to tell the others what I accidentally let slip before, so prepare to die alchemist impersonator" she chuckles dryly.
"OWWWW! Ever heard of being careful!" I snap as I float back to my feet, staring at her with a burning anger.
"Why bother? You'll be dead soon anyways, Not-Edward, or would you prefer I call you…Rekinju?" she teases haughtily.
"Rekinju, Not-Edward, whatever floats your boat; now explain…why will I be dead soon Brash?" I retort curiously.
"Because I'm already at 75 percent of my maximum power, and a special item I have on hand will allow me to boost my full power by a further 500 percent! You are already at full strength and cannot even touch me" she boasts with a grin.
Now I knew why she was taking her time, she was at, er…near her full natural power limit! She also thinks I' am too…
With a big evil smirk, I stood up and looked at her intensely and began to laugh loudly over the roaring winds that had picked up.
"What are you laughing at shorty?" she growls bitterly.
"HA HA! Cause bitch…HA HA, my current power level of 18,000…-" I chuckle as I float and land on my feet, drawing my hands to my sides.
"- heh…that's not even one half of a one half of one percent of my full power in this form!" I roar ecstatically as I begin to summon more of my Ki, the faint sunset red, flame size aura now changing into a blazing inferno of ambient life force energy, its color gradually darkening to the color of deeply oxygenated blood. Brash's eyes promptly began to bulge slightly as she stared in shock, while the ground beneath me began to rumble and crack, the loose pieces beginning to float up with my flow of energy as my power nullified the local gravity. Then, with a roar of animalistic proportions, I summoned yet more of my power, and a pulse of Ki energy swept across the land, knocking Brash off her feet and sucking her into the gravity-free zone that was ever-growing alongside my power level. As I kept raising it, she twisted and oriented herself over to stare at me, and I saw the fear registering on her face, the abject terror visible, plain as day as the homunculus realized the truth.
Now she really wasn't merely screwed, her continued existence was solely dependent upon my whims, drawing breath due only to the desire to keep her alive and repay the monstress's wickedness in blood.
With a last pull on my massive reserves, I raised my power level up one more step, increasing its sphere of influence, instantly destroying the stone, snow, and soil it touched, the matter broken apart into its constituent particles upon contact with my natural, yet unearthly might, the spectacle visually appearing as though the ground beneath me was eaten away while I summoned more strength from within, my blood red aura now burning around me like a wild forest blaze as a final pulse of Ki shoots from my body, ripping Brash in two as the blade-like burst shoots through her torso diagonally, screaming obscenities and cursing my name as she began to slowly fall onto the rocky ground, then abruptly crashed once the overflow of Ki from my body ceased to pour into the environment and gravity was restored. Now, I could begin to really punish her. Leaping 100 feet into the air, I charged a small Ki orb into my right fist to make an energy punch, then began arcing my arm downward, pointing at her torso as I sailed through the air straight into the place her black heart would be if she had one, causing her to scream in agony.
Ling Yao
After having summoned Gluttony, the fat coward's return being reluctant on his end as it was, the tide of the battle had gone back to even, as we now staved off the incredibly pissed, yet somehow even faster and more powerful, Sloth, though barely. His velocity and strength were unbelievable, and it hurt to try and block his blows, even after summoning more Ki.
"(Groan) He seems to have gotten stronger, yet I can't sense any increase in power level, or his power level at all in fact, (yelps) how is that possible Ling?" May shouts as she barely dodges a blow from Sloth that sinks into the floor, leaving a fist shaped dent in the metal.
"Despite how impossible-WHOA!-it seems, he must be masking his Ki, somehow he's got an item that can conceal his life force without it weakening or diluting his power" I reply as I barely dodge a clothesline blow.
"Well, then we need to find out how to stop it, he's getting faster, and if you two can't sense his presence we'll not have much of a choice but to retreat, if we can that is" Envy shouts as he tries to hit Sloth with another huge arm, but misses once again.
But moments later, I felt the brute grab me by my waist, and his grip was now more powerful than my recent slight power increase had made me, I couldn't break free!
"No…escape, I…have you now" he chuckles as he looks at me with a wicked grin.
"(Gulps and chuckles nervously) Eh heh, you wouldn't hit a blind guy would you?" I whimper, hoping I could stall him long enough for someone to save me.
"Not…stupid, you can…see just…fine" Sloth snarls, seeing right through my bluff.
However, the next thing I knew, Envy had enlarged his head to its full size, and shot a huge slimy tongue with faces on it around Sloth's waist. Then, as he opened his mouth, he began to pull his tongue in with Sloth attached as he viciously roared, "RAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
Upon snapping his freakish head closed, he smiled, apparently indicative that he'd trapped the giant for now.
"Phew, that buys us some time…I hope; ok, he's made of flesh and bone, the same basic composition as us, right guys?" I ask May and Alphonse, the latter of whom had stayed back and apparently been thinking hard on some backup plan while we fought.
"Yeah, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are all the core key elements of the human body, and Homunculi's physical forms are made from them too" Alphonse states as Envy nods his giant head in confirmation.
"Well then why don't we just transmute his body into smoke and dust and we'll be done with it?" I remark, thinking it'd be worth a shot.
"Yeah, it would kill him instantly, and then we'd be safe" May replies in agreement.
"No, Edward said that as long as the stone is intact, they can fully reconstitute provided they have enough souls to do it, destroying his body alone would only give us a few minutes, maybe less" Alphonse chastises with his hollow metallic tone.
"Well what are we gonna do then?" Gluttony says as he sucks his thumb with worry.
"You…can die" Sloth's voice bellows from within Envy's cavernous mouth, the tone murderous and enraged. Before we could blink, Envy's mouth was torn asunder and Sloth had me by the neck in his left hand.
"I…will…crush you!" he bellows as the brute begins to apply pressure of an unimaginable scale, my body only holding out due to the Ki enhancing my cellular structure by magnitudes beyond its original limitations, but even that was beginning to wane in the wake of this monster's still rising inhuman might.
"(Choking) Guys…not trying to rush you or anything but…CAN YOU SAVE MY ASS SOMETIME SOON!" I wheeze as I try to pry Sloth's hand off me.
"Now…I…crush…you!" Sloth chuckles maliciously as he raises his other fist and prepares to crack it right in my face. Just before he could hit me, I felt time slow down, and memories flooded my mind of before we even arrived in this country.
Flashback-Xing Royal Palace over a month ago
"Young lord, why do you strive so hard to reach this foreign land? What is so important about it, why not send vassals instead of risking your life on its soil? We would gladly go in your stead your highness, we are your humble servants after all" Fu pleads.
"Because, while the other chumps from the rival clans try to use Alkahestry, which we have learned is a dead end, to continue and achieve immortality, I know the true source lies in the skills of Alchemy to the West, in Amestris, the home to the foremost experts of the field in the known world, plus I heard they have great food!" I reply with a serious tone, my voice relaxing upon the mention of food.
"Master Ling, you are the prince, and we are honor bound to follow you wherever you go; so while I question it and hope you are making the right choice, either way, we're in this together with you leading, so when do we head for Amestris my liege?" Lan Fan asks as she kneels and bows her head.
"On the next sunrise, we head for the desert route to cross over illegally to Amestris, we must be crafty, for if we are caught, we will ruin any chances of me ever ascending the throne and leading my country to a golden age" I reply solemnly as I stand up and grab my scabbard, then my sword, sheathing it with a loud slicing noise.
Several hours later, Lan Fan crept into my room from the hallway, and shook me awake, had it not been for my reflexes I'd have killed my best friend, oh the misery I'd have felt if I had.
"Master Ling, I have a matter I want to discuss, its…personal" she whispers quietly as she stands beside my bed.
"(Groan) I was about to go to sleep, what is it?" I ask groggily, having just barely skirted falling into a deep slumber thanks to her entrance.
"Lets go, my grandfather will likely wake himself up soon and I don't want him to know I left my post for even a moment" she says quietly.
"(Sigh) Ok, lets go, walk and talk" I groan as I flip out of bed and begin to head for my balcony.
"So Lan Fan, what was so important that you had to speak to me in private at this time of night?" I yawn as I rub my eyes.
Taking a deep breath, her voice replies with, "Master Ling, why are you always so nice to me and my grandfather, especially me?"
Nearly choking on a small amount of saliva that had pooled in my mouth as I sucked in my breath sharply due to her question instantly awakening me.
"You woke me up for that!" I whisper harshly as I hack up the spit, unable to believe the stupid reason for the interruption of my rest.
"I see, you're mad at me, and I apologize for picking now of all times to discuss it, but it was the only time I could guarantee that Fu wouldn't hear us, my grandfather is overbearing as you know" she replies meekly.
"Well you got me there, but still, what is the big deal about that, so I treat you nicely, its supposed to be how we all treat each other, why are you obsessing over it like this?" I reply dismissingly as I reach the balcony and rest my arms on the ledge.
"Because you're a member of the royal family" she states flatly, causing my body to tense up as my mind registers her sentence.
"Are you seriously saying that you find it weird I treat you with the respect you deserve even though I'm the prince?" I say as I whip around and look her in the face.
"Ling, I'm just a servant, I'm not anything special, why do I deserve such special care like I'm one of your brothers, sisters, or father or his other wives!" she argues heatedly.
I just looked at her as if she said something stupid. Why wouldn't she deserve respect? She is loyal enough, and she is definitely nice enough, so I couldn't see what the big deal was.
"Because, without name and rank, when you just cut right down to it, we're all human; one person is not inherently, automatically more important than another, because everyone is special and has the right to a good life, everyone also has a role they must fill, and they must survive and live to achieve their purpose" I say.
This time she stared at me like I had several heads. After regaining her composure, she replied, "Why do you believe that?"
"Because we all have a reason to live, and we all have people we feel we are worth dying for. Those who can't fight to protect themselves will have safety, those who prey on the weak will be stopped and removed, problems with poverty and famine will be resolved, there will be peace that everyone can enjoy, be it the top of the ranks, or the lowest of servants, all together, as friends. Those are just some of the things that I want to bring with the golden age, that is what I believe my purpose is, that is what I believe is one of my reasons for being here; to fight, to defend, to love" I respond with a passionate tone.
This seemed to make her content with my answer, so she nodded and bid me a good night, then left promptly.
End Flashback
That's right…I remember now…I have a reason…a purpose…
"I have a reason to live, a reason…TO FIGHT!" I roar as I find more strength and manage to rip myself from Sloth's grip, summoning a little more power in the process. Upon freeing myself, I retaliated with an uppercut to his jaw that sent him sliding back several meters, leaving behind a very deep impression in the shape of my fist upon his chin.
"Ow…that hurt…you will…pay for that!" he moans as he raises his fists and vanishes from super speed again.
This time though, I poured on the swiftness as well, and found I was able to match his velocity, though just barely, and a hi speed battle began to ensue as I dodged and dealt blows to the homunculus faster than most of the others could visibly follow.
"I swear Lan Fan, I will not fail my country, and least of all, you" I say to myself under my breath as I smashed Sloth in the stomach before dodging his retaliatory swing by the skin of my teeth.
Alphonse Elric
As Ling proceeded to vanish from sight, reappearing only when certain blows were exchanged for a moment, I felt May tapping my leg to get my attention.
"Alphonse, you think Ling can hold off Sloth long enough for us to come up with a plan?" she inquires nervously.
"I'm not sure, but if we can't think of a plan, surely we can at least survive long enough for Ed to come help us" I reply with a hopeful tone.
"I'd bank my money on Ed, remember Sloth has become more powerful, and I doubt he's done raising the stakes, so it may be all up to the pipsqueak" Envy remarks as he leans against one of the wall areas that wasn't wrecked in the earlier fighting.
Turning my head to try and follow the battle again, I saw Ling take what surely would have been a bone-shattering blow to his chest had he still been human.
"Yes, it just might be; please get back soon brother" I mutter to myself as I clench my fists in worry.
Edward Elric
After having trounced Brash thoroughly, I felt it was time to see what kind of fight she'd put up if I let her power up as she'd claimed she was able to do, because this was quickly getting to be a let down. After she finished regenerating, I smirked and landed back on the ground to prepare and speak.
"Come on you sagging heap of nothing, get up and fight me! I'll even let you take time to increase your power, that is if you still can!" I taunt, hoping it'd encourage the all but defeated artificial human to stand and face me one last time. Her anguished scream of rage told me all I needed to know.
"You fool, now I shall squash you Not-Edward!" she bellows in her thick accent, that deepens and becomes more demonic, just like Father Cornello's voice had done when he bulked up, as her muscles begin to bulge till they're nearly as thick as Major Armstrong's. After several more seconds, her bulking up was complete and she grinned in a crazed fashion, her eyes now glowing with the same red hue as the alchemic discharge given off when a Philosopher's Stone is used.
"This is my full power Edward, prepare to die, and I will make sure your death is prolonged and painful-"
"Half of a half of a percent!" I remark with a nagging sing-song tone, causing her to stiffen and frown.
"What? You mean you weren't bluffing!" she screams worriedly.
"No, I wasn't! That's the level where I was before my last power up I just smacked the tar out of you with, I bumped me up to using half of one percent of the full power of this form, versus half of a half a percent; I'm still not using even 1 whole percent of my power!" I begin as I cause her face show a look like a stone had been dropped in her stomach, the fear permeating her whole form. Positioning my feet to stand evenly apart from each other as I widen my stance, I clench my fists and draw them into my sides.
"Prepare to see the other half and witness a full one percent of my base form's full power!" I bellow, then begin to Kiai and raise my power dramatically to my stated level, the entire mountain range beginning to quake from my strength as it rolled off me in waves.
Brash The Impatient
As Rekinju's power kept growing, I felt the gravity begin vanishing once more, but this time I slammed my feet and hands deep into the ground to get a good foothold, I would not float away so easily again.
But as the screaming and rumbling kept growing in magnitude, I felt the ground I'd gripped begin to crackle and break, and soon I found that it was shattering like glass and floating into the air, as the earth itself shuddered from his might.
What had I gotten myself into? This was no man; he was a beast, a monster, a devil! With a mighty crack, the last pieces I had grasped for anchorage to the planet, and dozens more meters of soil and rock near it snapped and broke apart, sending my body into the anti-gravity well where I floated helplessly yet again, awaiting his power-up period to end, and his next move.
Roy Mustang
"Yes, I understand, we'll be prepared, thank you General Grumman" I reply, hanging up the phone having now received the urgent call.
"Sir, what's going on?" Fuery asks worriedly as he walks in with a device he'd been tinkering with left behind by Edward.
"Yeah, there are constant surface ripples in my coffee, and it's a very full cup, so I'm worried that it might spill onto some of my work, what the hell is going on? Earthquakes aren't supposed to affect Eastern Command, we're alchemically stabilized for miles below the surface in this city" Breda whines from across the room.
"That was General Grumman, calling from Central City, who just got word from Central Command; there is strange seismic activity going on at the Briggs Mountain Range, originating from Drachman territory" I reply calmly.
"But its affecting us, shouldn't we be concerned?" Falman remarks with concern as he walks in with Hawkeye and Havoc.
"Yeah, earthquake are serious business, I have some family up North, they are a very dangerous force of nature, its what powers most alchemy in this country after all" Jean says with a straight face.
"Its not an earthquake at all you mindless idiots" the smooth voice of Lust purrs from the doorway.
"Oh why Lust, how are you today Ms. Lascivious?" Jean replies smoothly.
"Keep dreaming lover boy, you're not my type" the female homunculus scoffs as she walks toward my desk.
"Yeah well you know what they say; dream hard enough and chase it relentlessly, it will come true babe" he retorts with his same composed tone.
"Look, I'm here on a serious note, and also I have to pretend I'm keeping an eye on Mustang here, he's too close to Hughes for me to let them interact freely, according to Father, you know the drill" she says with a wink.
"Yes, indeed; now, your serious business, mind spilling it, ma'am?" I taunt.
"This is no laughing matter Colonel; those tremors you feel are not seismic in origin whatsoever, they're from Edward" Lust states with a severe, intensely serious tone, causing my heart to skip a beat, and the rest of my men to let their jaws drop, while Riza just stiffened with fear.
"I thought Edward needed to hold back the majority of his power, doesn't he like…pose a danger to the stability of the planet if he powers up too much? I remember him saying that to us when he described his new abilities, he's far more durable than the earth is now, and his full power exceeds the world's level of durability by magnitudes as well, that's the gist of what he said all those weeks ago" Falman say as he gulps hard to swallow down a panic attack.
"Yeah, why would he need to draw out so much that he makes the entire continent rumble? It seems overkill, there is no way what he's fighting up there could be anywhere near that strong" Jean injects as he starts to light a new cigarette.
Without warning, one of Lust's Ultimate Spears shot toward Havoc, but instead of hitting him, it severed the lit end of his nicotine stick, sending the smoldering tip to the ground where it burned out.
"Stop huffing those portable exhaust pipes, and you'll up your already impossible odds with me a several points" the homunculus says with a grin. This immediately made Havoc loosen his lips to drop his severed drug tube and toss the package of smokes over his shoulder with a love struck face.
"Sure thing" he drones mindlessly, as he hands the lighter to Breda and sighs.
"So why is Edward being so reckless, he knows how fragile the earth is, doesn't he care about the well-being of our planet, and more important, his friends?" Breda bemoans with a sigh.
"I doubt he'd do anything like this just for the fun of it, he'd be more careful if he was showing off for someone, this has to be an emergency" Hawkeye rebuts firmly.
"You're right, it is, there is something dangerous up in Briggs, and Edward is fighting it right now" Lust remarks as she examines her nails, retracting the spear she shot out and returning its appearance to a finger as she began to examine her other hand.
"Do you know what's going on?" I demand, looking straight into her eyes and seeing a subtle flicker betray the truth to me.
"There is something big happening up North, and you do know what it is, tell me homunculus" I demand, causing her to scoff.
"Now Colonel, I may be one of the "good guys" now, as its so eloquently put, but I'm a double agent, so I have to be careful about letting sensitive information just slip recklessly or too soon, and right now its too soon. If word got out that I'd blabbed about the current events, I'd be destroyed, so I suggest being patient, besides, maybe Edward will share next time you speak with him, but I can't squeal at this point in time, its simply too risky for my health and yours" she argues teasingly. Upon finishing her statement, she promptly began to saunter out the door.
"Well, that's all I can give you for now, I have to go back to Central and keep an eye on Hughes, make sure he stays safe, and remember what Pride said, whisper his name whenever you need his aid, and if he can, he'll give it, for he is watching from the shadows, always" she says creepily as the shadow form of Pride appears at the doorway with its multitude of smiling faces and eyes, then swallows up Lust in a matter of moments before vanishing like the night itself.
"Whoa…that's super cool, but super creepy" Fuery remarks as he shivers a little.
"Screw that, its downright terrifying, I wouldn't travel with him if my life depended on it!" Falman all but shrieks as his composure nearly breaks down from what he'd witnessed.
"Well don't worry, he's on our side, Lust and Pride are both double agents, they'll keep us one step ahead of Father, so we have to remember how they've changed" I say firmly, causing my men, excluding Havoc, and Riza to nod affirmatively.
"Yeah, that Lust sure lives up to her name, she is hot" Jean drones dreamily, having barely registered the events surrounding her departure. We all groaned in annoyance at his attitude, then went back to work.
In the back of my mind though, I worried; if whatever Edward was fighting had enough strength to require him power up to such dangerous levels, what might be going on with Father, what could that bastard be up to?
Scar
After several hours of searching, the sun had begun to go down, and Marcoh had not ended up being near his house when we first searched at 1 PM.
Six hours had passed since then, with us scouring the entire town looking for the Crystal Alchemist, even calling him by his real name, Tim Marcoh. But still, we had no luck; either he was no longer here, or we kept missing him due to not knowing how to search for the man, he was the most elusive alchemist whose trail I'd attempted to follow yet.
"Dolcetto, you been able to pick up a scent trail yet? His house reeked of his odor, something should have come up by now" Greed asks with an eager tone.
"Sorry man, nothing, not a single string of aroma molecules to pick up on yet, we must be searching the wrong part of town" Dolcetto replies with a sigh.
"We've searched the whole damn village, but he is nowhere to be found, ugh, we're wasting our time lingering here, lets go" Martel huffs angrily as she begins to stomp back up the road. I was about to follow, till I saw the sign for a small back alley tavern, "The Last Hope" with an image of a kind elderly couple caring for a bed ridden young man carved into the wood.
"Hey…what about that tavern?" I remark, as I point down the side street. The others promptly turned their heads, with the dog man sniffing the air and shaking his head.
"Sorry, it smells like flowers just like the rest of the town, lets go" Dolcetto remarks as they turn around and prepare to leave. I was about to turn and join them, till I caught a whiff of the flowery scent…and stale beer!
"Wait, stop! He's there" I shout, causing Greed to snarl.
"If this is an attempt to try and escape, then you'd better say those prayer things to that god person you always-"
"No you idiot, I'm serious, the alchemist is in that tavern, I'm positive!" I scream, cutting off the abomination curtly, and causing the beast to raise an eyebrow and sniff the air himself, he apparently smelt what I did as his eyes widened upon inhaling, wherein he promptly turned his head to gaze at the canine chimera.
"Dolcetto, take another whiff please" Greed says commandingly.
Obliging to his command, the small chimera took a deep breath, immediately cringing and covering his nose afterward.
"Yuck! Its even stronger here and…wait, I thought the entire town…(sniffs again and gasps) guys, I've been making a big mistake; I thought the entire town smelled like those flowers, but it turns out its just the scent off one source wafting through the entire place. Whoever smells like flowers has covered every inch of this settlement within the past 48 hours, that's why the scent is so noticeable everywhere to me, its just strong enough now that Scar could smell it too with his human nose" the chimera explains.
"You just happened to notice this error now Dolcetto?" Greed admonishes as he taps a foot.
"I make mistakes man, give me a break, I've got the best sense of smell here along with Bido, and he's afraid of sticking his tongue out to make use of it due to Scar's presence, thinks the man will tear it out or something before we can shock him" Dolcetto argues, reminding me about my currently predicament. Despite Edward not having said it was necessary unless my hand shackle was taken off, they had put the electro-collar on me regardless; I felt like a beast of burden in a circus with this contraption on my neck. But since it was plenty comfortable and currently not in use, I didn't complain too much throughout the day.
"My fear is justified, you know that" the lizard whines in protest, staying behind Roa like a shield due to his cowardice.
"Well if the odor is strongest here, that must mean its where Marcoh is, he's the only one who'd have any directive to travel across the entire village; I remember he was a medical alchemist back in the Ishvalan war, he must have been unable to resist helping these poor citizens when he came here to desert the army, lets go get him" Martel says eagerly.
"Wait, let me go in first, he's familiar with both chimeras and homunculi I'm sure, but at least I'm all human, let me go in, without the restraint, I'll try to convince him to come quietly" I say calmly, immediately causing an uproar among the Chimeras.
"No way, why do you think we put the collar on despite your hand still being restrained?" Greed snaps.
"If I go in there like this everyone will know something is strange, and he'll be long gone by the time I get the crowd to stop hassling me, so either you take off the hand restraint or we may lose the doctor you so desperately want to get into protective custody" I retort, causing them to silence themselves and Greed to nod.
"Fine, but if you hurt anyone, I'll mow you down faster than you can say "decomposition" am I clear?" the artificial man says coldly.
"Yes, besides, even if I could kill all of you, Edward would find me within hours, it wouldn't be smart to try anything stupid, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm under his seemingly all-oppressive thumb, so I have to cooperate if I want to ever live and see the return and freedom of my people to our holy land, I give you my word, I will not harm anyone, even the alchemist and his kind that I have a grudge against" I swear, doing my best to show my sincerity. This seemed to appease my handlers so they nodded.
"You know, he's right, we've not taken into account how much of a deterrent Edward and his might is, distance does not matter to Edward so he's almost as swift as the collar, just remember that, and we'll take it off too, ok?" Greed states. I nodded to his deal and signified my submission.
"Very well then" the homunculus responds as he pushes a few buttons to disarm and dislodge the collar, and pulls out the key card, swiping it on my shackle and freeing my hand. Had it not been for the very real threat of Edward and my promise, I'd have taken down the homunculus and his friends here and now, now bound by my word though, I had to go inside to get the doctor without trying to start anything.
Pulling down the sleeves on my arms, I then raised the hood over my head and strolled down the path, pulling the door open and stepping into the tavern. Upon entering I noticed how dim it was lit by nothing but torches, the stench of alcoholic drinks and cigarettes filling the main room.
"Well how do you do friend, welcome to the Last Hope tavern, do you need room and board, or just a drink?" a short old man says cheerfully from behind the counter.
Faking a severe cough, I covered my mouth and wheezed, "I need, (cough) a doctor, please, I have (violent cough the consumption"
Immediately the entire bar emitted a collective gasp, and the man pulled a rope that rang a bell 3 times, suddenly a series of fans turned on and the air was cleared of all stinking aromas within moments.
"Everyone stop smoking for a few minutes, let the man pass through without fear of his condition being aggravated, you all know the rules of Last Hope, all patients with ailments that can be irritated by smoke are given special dispensation when they need to pass through the main area, so snuff em if you got em for now" the man says authoritatively.
I was very pleased, I hated the cancer-inducing, toxic smoke sticks the foolish amestrians huffed that affected everyone around them, it was nice to know other amestrians understood the health risks at least for the sake of the ill, I felt some pride at their consideration and concern for this matter, despite the fact I was not truly ill.
"You poor dear, please come with me, I'll take you to Doctor Mauro immediately, just come with me sir" a short old woman with an appearance similar to that of the one on the sign. After following her through the winding corridors, we came upon an unnoticeable door marked with nothing but a etched number, 13.
"Wait, before you take me to him, I have to show you something" I reply weakly, lowering my hood, and causing her eyes to widen a tiny bit.
"He doesn't hate Ishvalans, does he?" I wheeze.
"Sir, we don't discriminate by race or ethnicity here, we know that there are good and bad people the world over, and race does not favor any particular one over the other in regards to wickedness, most people choose that path themselves from their own foolishness or bigotry. We do not encourage any of that here, nor do we serve anyone who has such compunctions, the fact you're an Ishvalan will not warrant you any different treatment at our bar or with the doctor, go on in" the woman says kindly. I was moved by her genuine heart, the world needed more like her and the bartender.
"Thank you, (cough) can he fix me?" I hack as I cover my mouth.
"He can cure almost anything, he's a real miracle worker, a medical alchemist of the highest degree, we're all grateful he came to us all those many years ago just after the civil war, so you just worry about how thankful you'll be when he cures that consumption" the woman remarks with a chuckle, promptly walking off after her statement.
Opening the door, I stepped in and saw the room was quite dark and smelt heavily of body odor and rotten flesh. In the corner by a multitude of candles, was a middle aged man hunched over a pile of papers.
"Please, hang on just a moment, I have to calculate the cost of my rent versus what I made this month, I have to be very frugal with my money" the man says wearily.
"Doctor Tim Marcoh, better known as the Crystal Alchemist, correct?" I state, causing him to stiffen and whip around.
"Who are you, how do you know my name? Did "they" send you?" he pants nervously as he whips out a gun.
"Whoever "they" are, I assure you it is not on their orders; I'm with a man named Edward, its on his orders that I' am to take you with me into protective custody from the Central Forces that would eventually find you, plus we need to talk about things" I reply with a serious tone. This caused the doctor to frown and tighten the grip on his gun.
"Who are you, step into the light so I can see your face!" he screams as he aims the gun at my head.
As I complied with his statement, I entered the glow of candlelight and let my features be revealed, causing him to gasp and drop his gun.
"I want to know why my boss is so interested in you, what was your role in the Ishvalan War of Extermination waged on my people!" I demand angrily, letting my tone alert him to how adamant I would be in my pursuit of answers.
"Tell me…what is your name?" he asks, his breathes shallow and tense.
Clenching my right fist, I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm and removed my sunglasses, then replied, "My name, is Scar"