Hey people, here's the next chapter!
Review's answers at the end of the chapter, as always.
Chapter XV
The First Signal
1300hrs, August 4th, 2024
Central Library, Central City, Amestris
When Major Armstrong, along with Sora and the others, arrived in Central the next day after leaving East City, he went to the military headquarters of the city and left the group. There were two soldiers waiting for the Elric Brothers at the train station, a man with blonde hair and a woman with short black hair. They were Sergeant Denny Brosh and Second Lieutenant Maria Ross, two Amestrian soldiers who were assigned to escort and guard Edward and Alphonse Elric in place of Armstrong. The two soldiers asked Edward about Sora and Xion, and he simply told them that they were in the city doing a favor to Colonel Roy Mustang. It wasn't completely true, but he thought it would be better if he didn't tell them everything.
Sora and Xion were now in the library of Central, looking for the Elric Brothers. A brown-haired girl called Sheska recreated for them a research from someone called Tim Marcoh since the original was burnt down. After she finished, the two brothers took the research to Central Library while Sora and Xion walked around the city to look for the Heartless with the Lacrima. Since they couldn't find the Heartless, they decided to see how Ed and Al were doing.
"How many days have passed since we arrived?" asked Xion.
"It was Monday when we left Radiant Garden, and now it's Sunday," replied Sora.
"A week, then," said Xion. "I wonder what the others are doing. Surely Aqua and Ven already returned to the guild. Mmmm, maybe Kairi went to Earth Land to visit Blue Pegasus."
Sora's eye twitched. "Hey, you…"
"Just kidding~," said Xion, poking out her tongue.
After walking for a few minutes around Central Library, Sora and Xion found Ross and Brosh guarding a door. The two of them were sat on chairs at both sides of the door. If they were there, then the Elric Brothers were inside that room.
"Oh, Sora, Xion," said Brosh when he saw the Keyblade wielders. "Could you find what you were looking for?"
"Nope, it's more difficult that I thought it would be," replied Sora. "How are Ed and Al doing?"
"Well…" said Maria Ross before getting up from her chair and opening the door for Sora and Xion. "Why don't you see it for yourself?"
The two Light Guardians crossed the door and saw Ed and Al sulking in a table with a lot of papers and books around them. It seemed that they didn't have much luck with what they were doing either.
"Hey Xion…Sora," said a depressed Ed.
"Hello…" said a crestfallen Al.
"What's wrong?" asked Xion.
"This encryption is hard as hell…" said Ed.
"Brother, don't you think it'll be faster to just ask Dr. Marcoh himself…" said Alphonse.
"No! If we ask him, we lose!" said Ed. It was obvious that he wanted to solve the encryption himself without Marcoh's help.
"Is that the problem here?" asked Al before turning to Sora and Xion. "By the way, could you find the Heartless with the sphere you mentioned?"
"No, sorry, it's going to take us some more time," said Sora.
"Don't apologize," said Ed. "It's already something that you two are helping us, so we can't complain. Take a break and continue later."
"You should follow your own advice, don't you think?" asked Sora smiling. "Anyway, it's weird that the Heartless haven't attacked us yet. Usually, they appear when there are Keyblade wielders around, and now that there are three of us here…"
"Three?" asked Ed raising an eyebrow.
"Ah right, two, sorry," said Sora smiling awkwardly.
"Ummm…" said someone before Edward could ask Sora anything. The group looked at the door and saw the girl with glasses who recreated Marcoh's research.
"Sheska," said the Fullmetal Alchemist. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to thank you," said Sheska. "I was able to transfer my mother to a wonderful hospital thanks to you. I really appreciate it."
"No problem at all," said Ed smiling.
"So, any progress on the decoding?" asked Sheska, and the Elric Brothers looked at her with a gloomy aura around them.
"Have you found a job?" asked Al, and now it was Sheska the one with the gloomy aura around her.
"But thanks to you two, I realized that even a failure like me can be useful to others," said Sheska with a smile, and then she bowed. "Thank you very much."
"You're not a failure at all," said Al, and this surprised the girl. "I believe able to wholeheartedly commit yourself to something is a talent in itself, and you have an amazing memory. You should have more confidence in yourself."
"Thanks," said Sheska, feeling happy after Al's kind words. Then she saw the two teens that were near the Elric Brothers. "Oh, Sora, Xion, you're also here. You were looking for something in the city, right? How did it go?"
"Well…" said the Keyblade wielders, now with a gloomy aura around them like the others before. They were a bit worried since they spent a whole week in Amestris and they haven't found the Heartless with the Lacrima yet. It almost felt as if they haven't done anything useful since they arrived.
"I see…" said Sheska.
"Yo!" said another person who entered the room. Ross and Brosh were now inside the room two, saluting the person who just entered it. It was a tall man with a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and jovially spiky black hair. He was wearing rectangular spectacles framed in front of his hazel eyes.
"Lt. Colonel Hughes!" said Edward surprised.
"I heard from Major Armstrong you guys were back," said the man known as Hughes. "Come on…I told you guys to come and say hi when you stopped by Central again."
"Sorry, I had urgent matter to take care of," said Ed scratching his head.
"Yeah, I've been kind of busy too…" said Hughes.
"He's chatting to Lt. Colonel Hughes like they're buddies…" whispered an astonished Brosh, looking at Ross.
"What are those boys!?" said Ross also whispering.
"There have been a lot of incidents and such lately," said Hughes concerned, and he stopped talking when he saw the two Keyblade wielders in the room. "Hey, you must be Xion and Sora, right?"
"Huh? Do you know them?" asked Al surprised.
"Mustang called me saying that he was sending two people to Central to take care of those little monsters that started appearing recently," said Hughes. "Although we haven't seen any since yesterday…"
"That guy is sure fast when there is glory and military notoriety to be gained…" said Ed slightly annoyed.
"Nice to meet you!" said Hughes as he shook hands with Sora and Xion in an unusual way. "My name is Maes Hughes!"
"Nice to meet you too," said Sora smiling.
Xion nodded. "Likewise."
"You're Xion, right? I heard you kicked Mustang's butt in a battle," said Hughes smiling as he approached the girl. "Nice job. I'd have liked to be there to see it!"
"Did you hear that, Second Lieutenant!?" whispered Brosh. "That girl defeated Colonel Mustang in combat!"
"What kind of girl is she!?" asked Ross stunned.
"I can hear you, you know?" said Xion, looking at the Elric Brother's escorts.
"So, are you two some kind of Alchemists like Mustang and Ed?" asked Hughes. "Mustang didn't tell me all the details, just to leave the Heartless to you. I suppose he was referring to the creatures."
"Yes, they're called Heartless," said Sora. "We're not alchemist, but don't worry, we know how to take care of ourselves."
"That's good to hear," Hughes said, and the he started to take looks at Sora and Xion simultaneously. "Say, what are you two? Friends? A couple?"
"Hey, don't ask something like that to people you just met," said Ed, expecting the two Keyblade wielders to be embarrassed after hearing Hughes' question; however, Sora and Xion started laughing instead, much to the Fullmetal Alchemist's surprise.
"We're just…" said Xion after she finished laughing.
"Brother and sister," finished Sora. Xion was surprised at what he said, but couldn't help but smile. Even if it wasn't true, he was happy that Sora said that.
"Is that true? Well, it's not my business," thought Ed.
"Oh, so you're family working together, like these two, huh?" said Hughes pointing at the Elric Brothers.
"Come to think," said Al looking at Sora. "Yuffie said that you like a girl called Kairi. Is that right?"
"H-hey!" said Sora embarrassed.
Ed chuckled. "Now that's the reaction I expected."
Xion laughed. "It looks like it's true she gave all the details."
"Oh, so you also have someone waiting for you at home, huh? You and I are kindred spirits, then!" said Hughes, now with his arm around Sora's shoulder. Then a goofy expression appeared on his face as he showed Sora a picture of a woman with short light brown hair and green eyes. "Look, this is my dear wife. She's the loveliest woman I ever met."
"Here we go again…" said Ed. It seemed that Sora isn't the first one Hughes showed that picture.
"But!" said Hughes, and then he revealed a photo that was behind of the first one. In that one appeared a little girl. "If we talk about cuteness, then my daughter is the winner here! She's going to be three years old soon, isn't she adorable?"
"She sure is," said Sora smiling. He liked how much Hughes loved his family. The soldier sure was a good guy.
"I knew you were going to agree with me, Sora!" said Hughes grinning.
"Hey Lt. Colonel, didn't you say that you were busy?" asked Edward.
"Oh right," said Hughes as he sat in a chair. "And if I hadn't enough work, the First Branch of the library just had to burn down…"
"The First Branch?" asked Ed curious.
"Yeah, we kept a lot of case records and whatnot in the archives, so it really messes our job," said Hughes, and then he saw that Edward blinked, as if he had an idea suddenly. "What is it?"
Ed and Al turned to Sheska, who was standing on their right. Hughes also looked at her when he saw that the Elric Brothers were doing it. Sheska blinked and then gasped out of surprise when she understood why they were looking at her.
"What do you think, Lt. Colonel?" asked Ed smiling. "This woman is looking for a job."
"Yes, I have read army criminal records and remember them, but…" said Sheska.
"All right!" exclaimed Hughes. "Let's get you set up right away! We pay really well!"
"That's…ummm…" said Sheska before looking at Ed and Al with a smile. "Thank you very much! I'm going to have more confidence in myself, and I'll try my best! Thank you so much!"
"Come on!" said Hughes as he dragged Sheska out of the room while laughing. "I need you to get to work right away!"
"What is he? A kidnapper?" said Ed smiling as he waved his hand at them.
"You're nicer than I thought you were," said Xion looking at Ed.
"What impression you got of me in Resembool?" said Ed. "Anyway, what are you two going to do now?"
"We'll continue looking for the Heartless," said Sora. "We can't just stay here without doing anything, right?"
"Then, Al and I will continue working hard to decode this," said Edward with a smile. "Good luck!"
"Be careful out there," said Al as Sora and Xion walked out the room.
-TLG-
1535hrs, July 31st, 2024
Andy's House
"Yahoo!" said Ventus as he destroyed all the Heartless that were around him. He just used Time Splicer to freeze all the Heartless that were close to him, and then he started teleporting to each one of them.
"Hey, that this more serious, and be careful with your magic," said Aqua while fighting against the Heartless that charged at her. She wrapped her Keyblade with magic and used it to defeat the heartless quickly, trying to find the sphere as soon as possible. "Try to find the one with the sphere."
"That's easier said than done!" said Ven. Then he used 'Aeroga' and lots of Heartless were sent flying into the air. "Aqua!"
"Right!" said the blue-haired woman before casting a Thunder spell. The lightning bolts struck all the Heartless that Ven sent flying, but none of them a sphere inside. "Nothing…where is that sphere?"
"There has to be another one around here," said Ven and then he saw that a Heartless was going to attack Aqua from above. "Watch out!"
Aqua looked up and saw a Heartless that looked like a European dragon. Ven could swear that he had seen that dragon before, and then he realized that it looked a lot like one type of Nightmare Sora fought during his Mark of Mastery Exam, although now had the symbol of the Emblem Heartless. Aqua created a barrier and blocked the Heartless' attack. Then she counterattacked with a magic pulse, but the Heartless jumped back and dodged it.
"Something tells me that this is the one we're looking for," said Aqua.
"Yeah, let's take care of it and return to the guild," said Ventus as he swung his Keyblade. Then, much to the surprise of the two Keybearers, another Heartless like the first one appeared.
"Another one?" said Aqua. "Could it be that it was attracted by the sphere?"
"If that's the case, then why only one appeared?" asked Ventus, finding the whole situation strange. Suddenly, a green aura appeared around the two dark monsters and Pureblood Heartless started to appear. "Hey, did you see that?"
"Yeah, it looks like the two of them have a sphere," said Aqua. "We have to defeat them before the sphere lures more of them."
"So, any ideas to finish them off quickly?" asked Ven.
Aqua didn't respond so Ven looked at her and saw that she was really focused looking at the Heartless. She was moving her eyes quickly, as if she was selecting multiple targets. After a couple of seconds, Aqua stopped moving her eyes and jumped to where the Heartless were. Before Ven could say something, Aqua started spinning gracefully as she fired several volleys of energy at the Heartless. All the Heartless were destroyed by Aqua's technique, or at least that's what it looked like.
"Seriously, using Lightbloom just like that," said Ven with his arms crossed. "Didn't you tell me to be careful with magic?"
"Yes, because you aren't as good as me with magic," said Aqua smiling as she ruffled Ven's hair.
"Hey, cut it out!" said Ven. "You could have left a few for me, you know?"
Aqua smiled, but then she felt that two Heartless that were still alive. She looked behind and saw that the Heartless with the spheres were still there.
"It seems that we're not finished yet," said Aqua.
"All right, let's take care of them," said Ventus, but before he could attack the two monsters, they started flying to the hole that was behind the Keyblade wielders, the same hole they used reach the attic.
"Oh, no!" said Aqua when she saw the Heartless escaping through the hole.
"Don't worry, remember the plan Woody and the others made," said Ventus. "Come on, after them!"
Aqua and Ven ran to the hole, jumped and used the string to descend to the floor. As they descended, they could see the two dark creatures flying near the floor. When the Heartless flew near Andy's room, suddenly the toys appeared with a net. It looked like they were going to use that to trap the Heartless; however, they only could catch one of them.
"They got one!" said Ven when he reached to floor.
"The other one is heading to the stairs," said Aqua. "We have to stop it before Mrs. Davis sees it! Where's Jessie?"
"Right here!" said Jessie, who was approaching the Keyblade wielders riding Bullseye. "Come on, we have no time to lose!"
"Ven, you go with her, I'll take care of the one they trapped," said Aqua.
"You got it!" said Ventus before jumping on Bullseye.
"Hold on tight, Venny!" said Jessie smiling, and then Bullseye started galloping really fast. It surprised Ven how fast the toy was. With that speed, they might be able to catch the Heartless before Andy's mom sees it.
"Miss Aqua, we need your help here!" said Rex, who was trying to pin down the Heartless with the other toys help.
"I'm coming!" said Aqua before she started running to where the toys and the Heartless were.
Unfortunately, the Heartless broke free before she could arrive. Then Buzz did something that surprised Aqua, he jumped and grabbed the Heartless tail, trying to stop it, but the Heartless was strong enough to flying with Buzz grabbing its tail.
"Buzz!" said Woody, and then he grabbed the space ranger's legs, but the Heartless was really strong and could still fly.
"I can't let it get away," thought Aqua, and then she jumped and grabbed Woody's legs. Now the Heartless was starting to have problems to keep flying, but it had enough strength to reach the window in Andy's room and get out of the house.
"We didn't foresee this…" said Ham.
-TLG-
Meanwhile, Ven, Jessie and Bullseye were trying to catch the other Heartless with the sphere. They were now in the kitchen, and Andy's mom was also there. The Heartless flew under a table with Ven and the toys behind it. Then, the Heartless flew out the kitchen, and hit a chair while doing it. Ven saw that Andy's mom was turning around, so he threw his Keyblade to hit a chair that was in the other side of the room to distract the woman.
"Nice one!" said the cowgirl impressed.
"Thanks," said Ven smiling before looking at the Heartless. "Hey, it's going to get out of the house!"
"Hey, Bullseye is getting tired, you'll have to use the second ride!" said Jessie.
"And that is…?" asked Ven.
Jessie pointed at a dog with brown fur that was waiting for them next to the door that led outside the house. Slinky was also there, next to the dog. Bullseye stopped next to the dogs, and Ven jumped off him.
"Thanks for the ride, pal," said Ven patting the horse's head, and then he looked at the dog. "I suppose this is Buster, right?"
"Yes, get on him and I'll tell him to go after the monster," said Slinky.
"Okay!" said Ventus as he jumped on the dog.
Then Slinky started barking at Buster and the bigger dog nodded and crossed the pet door that was in the house's front door. Now the Keybearer and the dog were outside and entering the garden of the house next to the one they just exited. Buster started chasing the Heartless with Ventus on its back. Ventus stood up on Buster's back and threw his Keyblade at it and managed to hit one of the Heartless' wings.
"I got you now!" said Ventus, who was preparing to jump and destroy the Heartless completely; however, before he could do that, Buster jumped and ate the Heartless, much to Ven's shock. "H-hey…"
Fortunately, Buster spit the sphere, although Ven couldn't help but feel a bit worried for the dog. He jumped off and grabbed the sphere after cleaning it. Then he started to hear a voice, Woody's voice, but it was far away. Buster started barking while looking at the sky. Ven also looked up and saw Woody, who was grabbing the Heartless' tail. Aqua and Buzz were with him too.
"She's getting all the fun parts…" said Ven, and then he jumped on Buster again. "Let's go, Buster, we have to help them."
Buster nodded and started running. Ven saw that the Heartless started losing altitude, most likely because of the three passengers that it had on its tail. The blond Keybearer had to take advantage of that to take down the Heartless. Ventus jumped as high as he could when Buster was directly under Aqua and the others.
"Aqua!" shouted the boy.
The Keyblade Master saw Ven approaching her, but he was going to need a hand to reach the Heartless, so Aqua let go of Woody's leg and extended her hand to reach Ven's. The young woman could grab Ven's hand and threw him at the Heartless with all her strength. With that new impulse, Ven could reach the dragon Heartless, which was gaining altitude after Aqua let go of Woody's legs. Now Ven was on the Heartless, who tried to shake him off, but couldn't do it.
"The flight is over!" said Ven as he raised his Keyblade.
"Wait Ven, we're still too-!" said Woody, but Ventus already stuck his sword in the Heartless and destroyed it. "…high…"
"Oops…" said Ven before he, Buzz and Woody started to fall. Luckily for them, Aqua was already ready for that, and she used an Aero spell to stop her friends' fall. Ven, Woody and Buzz landed safety on the grass, the two toys panting while Ven just laughed.
"That was intense," said Buzz standing up.
"Let's not do that again, okay?" said Woody as Buzz helped him to stand up.
"Oh, come on, it was fun!" said Ventus, making Aqua laugh a bit as she approached the sphere that fell to the ground after Ven defeated the second Heartless. It was then when she noticed a huge shadow in front of her. There was something behind her and the others, and it wasn't Buster.
"Uh oh…" said Woody when he saw the person that saw them. It was Sid Phillips, Andy's neighbor and the boy who gave the toys troubles some time ago. Nobody said anything for a moment, and suddenly Sid started screaming with fear and ran to his house. Aqua and Ven looked dumbfounded at each other, not understanding what happened.
"It seems that the boy hasn't forgotten what happened," Buzz said touching his chin.
"It's not something you can forget easily," said Woody with a small smile.
"Did you do something to that kid?" asked Aqua.
"Let's forget about that, shall we?" said Woody. "So, you guys finished your mission, right?"
"Yup, it's all done," said Ven.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Buzz.
"We should return to see our other friends," said Aqua. "They might be wondering where are we, and there are some things I need to discuss with someone."
"I see, so this is goodbye, then," said Woody. "We have to thank you for your hard work. You helped us without knowing us."
"You did the same, right?" said Ven smiling. "Let's return to Andy's room and tell the others that we could defeat the monsters."
Aqua smiled as she looked at Ven, who walked with Woody and Buzz to Andy's house. She looked at the green sphere that she had and started wondering why the second Heartless appeared so suddenly. It was as if someone knew she and Ven were there. There was something else strange about the Heartless. Why they only attacked when she and Ven arrived? There was something fishy behind all this.
-TLG-
2200hrs, August 4th, 2024
Fifth Alchemical Laboratory, Central City, Amestris
"This place is completely shut down, too," said Edward looking at the door of an abandoned building. At least that's what some people wanted others to think. Ed and Al could decode Marcoh's research and found out something important about what they were looking for. This took them to an abandoned laboratory in Central; however, there was a guard in the entrance, so maybe it wasn't abandoned.
The Fullmetal Alchemist started looking at the building's façade, trying to find another way to get into the laboratory. He spotted an air vent, it was small but surely he could use it, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. Ed removed the vent with Al's help.
"Al, wait here," said Ed.
"Will you be all right on your own?" asked Al as his brother got into the duct.
"Either way, you can't get through here with that big body of yours, can you?" asked Ed before starting crawling through the duct.
"Not like I chose to have a big body…" said Al feeling dejected.
The armor waited for his brother for a while, and he was starting to worry. He was standing with his arms crossed near the vent Ed used. He wondered what was taking Ed so long. The young Elric also wondered how Sora and Xion were doing. The last time he saw the two Keyblade wielders was in the library, so they must be still looking for the Heartless with the sphere.
Suddenly, Al hear something above him, so he looked up and saw someone in a suit of armor that was going to attack him with a meat cleaver and a carving knife. Al moved aside and dodged the attacker's strike. Then the man in the armor swung his weapons at Al, but he was agile enough to dodge the swings and jump away from their reach.
"You're pretty fast for a guy so big," said the second armor. "Else it wouldn't be fun for me!"
"Who are you!?" asked Al.
"I'm Number 66," said the armor. "That's just my work name, though. I'll dismantle you neatly, so go ahead and wail!"
Al raised his arms, ready to fight the guy with the knives, but before he or his enemy could do anything, someone kicked the latter in the head and sent him flying to the building's wall. Al was surprised to see that the one who kicked Number 66 was no other than Xion.
"So it was you the one making those noises, Al," said Xion.
"Xion!" said Alphonse. "What are you doing here?"
"Sora and I saw two suspicious people entering this abandoned building, so we decided to follow them," Xion answered. "But I heard some noises, so I told him to go alone while I checked what was going on here. I didn't expect to see you here. I guess you could decode the research."
"Yes, that's why Ed and I are here," said Al.
"Hey, this was between me, girly!" said Number 66, who juts recovered from Xion attack. Al and Xion looked at him and were surprised to see that he didn't have a head. In fact, there was no one inside the armor.
"That body…" said Al, and Number 66 started laughing.
"I've got a few circumstances of my own," said the armor as he grabbed his helmet from the ground. "Actually, let me tell you two a story. You've heard of him, too, haven't you? A long, long time ago there was a middle-aged man here in Central named Barry who loved to cook. Barry loved to cut up meat. But one day, it got to the point he couldn't satisfy himself with just beef and pork, so he started to go out into the city during nighttime to cut up humans. Barry was eventually caught, but the number of people who fell victim to him was twenty-three. After terrorizing the hell out of the residents of Central, he was sentenced to death by hanging. And everyone lived happily ever after…at least, that's the story given to the public, but there's actually a sequel to the story. Barry isn't actually dead. He's alive and has been assigned to watch over a certain place, even though he's had his body taken away."
"Are you saying that you…" said Xion.
"That's right! The man standing in front of you right now is the infamous serial killer, Barry the Chopper!" said the person revealed as Barry.
"Sorry, we've never heard of you," said Al, and this petrified Barry.
"Nope, not at all," said Xion, although that was obvious for her since she wasn't from Amestris.
"But even if you've never heard of the story, shouldn't you give some kind of reaction!?" asked Barry irritated. "Something like…'AAAAH!', or 'What's with that body!?'"
Then Al grabbed his helmet, revealing that he also was only a suit of armor with no one inside.
"AAAAH! W-w-w-what's with that body!?" exclaimed Barry shocked.
"That hurt, you know?" said Al.
"Al, you…" said Xion, who was really surprised to see that Ed's younger brother was like Barry.
"I wanted to tell you and Sora about this before, but you guys didn't return to the library," said Al. "Sorry for not telling you before."
"Hey, don't apologize," said Xion smiling. "Sora and I knew that there was something odd about you, but since you and Ed reacted strange in the train when we were going to East City, we didn't ask you about it again."
"Thanks," said Al, who was glad that Xion and Sora were so comprehensive.
"Then you were sentenced to death, too," said Barry. "Scaring me like that…"
"I'm not a criminal!" said Al upset.
"Huh? Then why?" asked Barry.
"Well…I've had a few circumstances of my own," said Al as he put his helmet back on. "My older brother affixed my soul when I lost my body."
"Brother?" asked Barry before he started laughing. "I see. Your brother, eh?"
"What's so funny?" asked Al.
Barry laughed. "Are you guys really brothers?"
"I mean, our personalities are different, but…" replied Al.
"Oh, no, no, no, that's not what I meant," said Barry. "What I meant to say was, maybe you're just an armor doll your 'brother' created? Does your real human self really exist? Or are you just a puppet?"
"P-puppet?" said Xion, whose eyes went wide when she heard that word.
"Xion?" asked Al, looking at the girl who had now a sad expression on her face.
"Maybe even the memories when you were born were also created," said Barry looking at Al, but it looks like Xion was the one being affected by the killer's comments. Then, Barry noticed that Xion was looking at the floor, so he took that opportunity to throw his meat cleaver at her.
"Xion, watch out!" shouted Al.
-TLG-
Meanwhile, inside the laboratory, an injured Edward Elric tried to stand up. When he got far into the laboratory, he arrived to a room where he fought another armor that had two souls affixed to it. Two people appeared after Edward won the fight, a woman with long black hair and red eyes who had an strange tatoo on her chest, and a boy with long wispy hair and violet eyes. The boy just used the sword that the armor to eliminate it by erasing the Blood Seal that bound the soul to the armor.
"Who the hell are you two!?" asked an angry Edward. "What plan!? What do you mean by sacrifice!?"
"Oh? This runt is ready to go," said the boy with the sword after getting closer to Ed.
"Quit calling me a runt!" said Edward panting.
"A runt's a runt, don't you agree?" asked the boy, and then Edward tried to kick him, but he could dodge the kick and walk away from the Fullmetal Alchemist. "Hey, I don't like fighting. It hurts if you get injured."
"You're the one who started it! I'll beat you to a…" said Ed as he clapped his hands; however, a sound came from his automail. Ed looked at his right arm and tried to move it, but he couldn't.
"Looks like it's broken," said the woman, much to Ed's shock.
"Lucky me!" said the boy with wispy hair as he grabbed Ed's head, but before he could do anything to the alchemist, a sword approached him at high speed, so he dodged it instead of hurting Ed.
"What the hell was that!?" the boy asked.
"Two against one isn't very fair, you know?" said Sora, who just entered the room where Edward and the other two were.
"Sora," said Ed surprised as the Keyblade wielder walked to where the injured alchemist was.
"Are you okay, Ed?" asked the Keyblade wielder.
"I've been better…" replied Ed.
"Is your automail broken? Winry is going to kill you," said Sora, not moving his gaze away from the other two people in the room.
"You don't have to remind me…" said the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Did you say Sora?" asked the woman.
"I see, so you're the guy he talked us about," said the boy. "That boy in the yellow coat came out of nowhere and told us to give you a message. He said that you should prepare yourself for the hunting. Not sure what he meant, though."
"Who are you talking about?" asked Sora, who couldn't remember having met someone with a yellow coat.
"You don't know him? Because it looked like he knew you very well," said the boy, and then an angry expression appeared on his face. "Anyway, he beat me up very bad, and I think I should get my revenge with you since he's not here anymore. You don't look very strong, so this should be quick."
"Oh, really?" asked Sora as he prepared to fight. "Damn it, surely that woman will intervene, and I can't fight against the two of them and protect Ed at the same time. What should I do?"
The black-haired boy charged at Sora. The Keyblade wielder stood there, waiting for his opponent since he didn't want to move away from Edward. The black-haired boy jumped and swung his leg to kick Sora, who raised his Keyblade to block the attack, and then something unexpected happened. Sora's opponent was sent flying away by someone who created an explosion of fire.
"Mustang?" said Edward as he looked around, looking for the colonel. Then he spotted a person leaning on the room's wall, but it wasn't his superior officer, it was a redhead man in a black coat. Sora also saw the man and recognized him immediately.
"Lea!" said the brown-haired Keyblade wielder.
"Kept you waiting, huh?" asked Lea smirking without looking at Sora. It seemed as if he was looking at an invisible camera.
"Who are you looking at…?" asked Sora raising an eyebrow.
"To my fans, of course!" said Lea, and then he started walking to Sora. "Anyway, it's good to see you after all this time, Sora, but you and Xion need to learn how to take care of yourselves. Although you know that I don't mind being the hero from time to time."
"Yeah, I know, Mr. Dark Rescue," said Sora with a smile that Lea returned. "Wait, why did you mention Xion too? Did something happen to her?"
"No, well, I don't know," replied Lea serious. "She is fighting outside with a guy wearing a suit of armor against another guy wearing a different armor. I don't know if something happened to her, but she was acting weird."
"I'll talk with her later," said Sora. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Well, there were Heartless in this city, so I'm here to defeat them," said Lea, and then he took from his pocket a green sphere. "I suppose you also saw some of these little things."
"So you already defeated the one with the sphere," said Sora. "That'd explain why we couldn't find it. I suppose it went after you."
"Yup," said Lea. "Then my flames were the ones that went after the Heartless."
"Yeah, I heard some people saw your flames," said Sora. "You aren't very discreet, you know?"
"Hey, I didn't use my Keyblade so the people around here didn't think I was a magic monster or something," said Lea. "I know there's a guy who can also use flames in this world, so I only used my fire magic. This way the residents of the city would think I was him. I was doing that guy a favor since now the people will think he was the one who took care of the Heartless."
"Yeah, that's exactly what the colonel needed..." said Sora.
"So it wasn't a mistake when you said that there were three of you here," said Ed looking at Sora.
"Right, well, I wasn't sure if it was Lea, but Xion and I had the feeling it was him," said Sora scratching his head.
"Oh, who's the little guy?" asked Lea.
"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" shouted Ed and then he started coughing.
"You're not in a good condition to be shouting like that," said Sora, and then he realized that the woman and the boy weren't in the room anymore. He was glad that the two of them were gone since Ed needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible, but he would've liked to ask them about that person they mentioned. A boy with a yellow coat…
"Hey, let's take him to-" Lea's sentence was interrupted by an explosion. Could it be that the woman and the boy who attacked Edward were planning to blow up the laboratory?
"Let's get out of here!" said Sora.
"You don't have to say it twice!" said Lea as he grabbed Edward, who was too weak to move on his own. Lea and Sora ran as fast as they could and reached the exit before the building collapsed. When they arrived outside, they saw Al and Xion. Maria Ross was also there, but Sora couldn't spot the other soldier in charge of the Elric Brothers' security.
"Sora!" said Al. "Have you seen my brother?"
"He's right here," said Lea as he put Edward on the ground gently. "It looks like he lost a lot of blood so we better take him to the hospital quick."
"Who are you?" asked Maria Ross.
"Don't worry, he's a friend," said Sora, and the he saw Xion, who was next to Al. She was looking at the ground with sad eyes. He wondered what happened while he was inside the laboratory.
"Second Lt. Ross, hurry!" said Sergeant Brosh, who was running to where the group was.
"Sergeant, lend me a hand!" said Ross.
"He's covered in blood!" said Brosh.
"We'll talk later, now let's get out of here!" said the Second Lt.
-TLG-
1900hrs, August 7th, 2024
Hospital, Central City, Amestris
While Ed recovered in the hospital, Sora called Mustang to tell him that the Heartless won't be a problem in Amestris anymore. Much to the Keybearer's surprise, the colonel thanked him for his help, although it wasn't him the one who defeated the Heartless with the Lacrima. Mustang also thanked him for the money, and told him to say thanks to Xion for him. The colonel was in a good mood for some reason.
Sora was now walking to the room where Ed was recovering from his injuries. He spent a whole day looking for Xion, who disappeared after the incident in the laboratory. Sora also looked for Xion today, but with no avail. He only talked with Ed after he woke up since he wanted to make sure the alchemist was fine.
Before Sora left to look for Xion the first day, Ed told him the story about what happened to him and Al, and the reason they were in the laboratory. This shocked the Keyblade wielder, and asked Edward the reason he told him that, and the alchemist answered that it was fair since the two brothers knew about a lot of things about him. Besides, Edward had the feeling that Sora and Xion already knew that there was something strange about Al.
"Hey, Sora," said Lea, who was next to the door of Ed's room.
"Lea, have you found her?" asked Sora.
"No, sorry," said the redhead. "You look tired. Take a break, okay? I'll look for her now."
"All right," said Sora. "By the way, isn't Isa with you?"
"No, he went to Radiant Garden because he wanted to talk with you and the others," said Lea. "He wanted to see if you know what those strange spheres are."
"I see," said Sora. "Say, is Ed in his room? I'd like to see how he is doing."
"Yeah, it looks like the girl, the little guy and his brother are going on a trip or something," said Lea as he started walking to look for Xion. "You should say goodbye to them!"
"Girl?" thought Sora before opening the door. When he walked into the room he saw Ed, Al and Winry. He was surprised to see Winry there, but it was normal since Ed's automail needed to be repaired.
"Oh Sora, you're here," said Winry, glad to see the Keyblade wielder.
"Hey, it's good to see you, Winry," said Sora smiling.
"Did you find Xion?" asked Ed, and Sora shook his head.
"Xion?" said Winry. "I saw her in Hughes' house. He invited her to his daughter's birthday."
"Really!?" said Sora as he approached the blonde mechanic. "Do you know where she is now? Is she still there?"
"I don't think so, she wasn't there when I left to come here," said Winry. "Maybe it was me, but…she looked a bit sad, as if she was worried about something."
Sora sighed. "I'll have to continue looking for her. She was acting weird when we brought Ed here. I wonder what happened…"
"Maybe it was because of what he said…" said Al.
"He?" asked Sora.
"Xion and I met a guy called Barry outside the laboratory," said Al. "He was also a soul affixed to a suit of armor like me. He tried to deceive me by telling me that I was just an armor doll, a puppet, and that my memories probably were also created to make me think I was real."
"That bastard…" said Ed, not very happy when he heard that. He and Al had an argument because of what Barry said, so it was normal that the alchemist was mad at him.
"A puppet?" asked Sora, and then he realized why Xion was acting like that. Despite being more cheerful than she used to be when he brought her back with the Key to Return Hearts, she was still a bit emotionally fragile when it comes to her origins.
"Sora, are you okay?" asked Winry when he saw the serious expression on Sora's face.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry," said Sora. "I heard you three are going somewhere, so I guess this is the last time we'll see each other."
"Wait, aren't you going to visit us again?" asked Ed as a smile appeared on his face. "I thought you told me that you'll come back to see us when Al and I get our bodies back. Besides, you'll need to come back to get the armors back too, right?"
Sora smiled. "True."
"Ah, I almost forgot!" said Winry suddenly, startling the three boys. Then she opened the bag she brought from Resembool and took out the shoulder plate of Sora's armor. "I could repair your armor before coming to Central, Sora."
"Whoa, that's amazing!" said Sora as he grabbed the shoulder plate from Winry's hands. "Thanks a lot, Winry! You're awesome!"
"It was nothing," said Winry proudly. "I told you I wanted to have yours repaired before you leave, so I'm glad I could do it. I'm going to a place called Rush Valley, but don't worry, I put the other armors in my bag, so I'll work on them while I'm there."
"All right, thanks," said Sora gratefully.
"I just remembered something I wanted to ask you in Resembool," said Ed looking at the spiky Keyblade wielder. "You said that the city where your guild is located is huge, so I'm sure there must be blacksmiths or mechanics over there who knows more about this…magic things. Why didn't you let them take care of the armors?"
"What? And miss the opportunity of visiting a new world?" asked Sora grinning.
"Besides, we wouldn't have met each other that way," said Al.
"And I wouldn't have five armors made of an amazing material in my house," said Winry with a dreamy face which made the boys laugh nervously. "Oh, Sora, be careful with your armor now that I repaired it. I don't want you to break it, got it?"
"O-okay," said a nervous Sora. "I won't use it every day anyway."
"Well, we have to take a train, so we better leave," said Winry as she grabbed her bag. "Come back soon, Sora!"
"When you find Xion, tell her we said goodbye," said Al.
"Good luck wherever you go, Keyblade wielder," said Ed smiling as he shook hands with Sora.
Sora smiled. "The same to you, Fullmetal Alchemist."
-TLG-
"Seriously, where is this girl…" thought Sora. He was starting to worry because it was already night and Xion was nowhere to be seen. He asked some people around Central about her, and a woman said that she saw a black-haired girl walking around a park near the military headquarters.
Sora was now walking around the park the woman mentioned, but he couldn't see Xion anywhere. Now it was him the one who wanted the Heart Perception ability, even Soul Perception would be enough to find Xion.
"Sora?" said someone, and Sora turned around and saw the girl he was looking for.
"Xion!" said Sora. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you!"
"I know, sorry," said Xion with a sad smile. "I needed some time to think about myself. I suppose you know why I was acting weird that day, right?"
Sora nodded. "Look, just because that guy said-"
"No, Sora, it's all right," said Xion smiling. "I don't know why I reacted like that when he said those things to Al, but after thinking about it, I realized that it was stupid to get sad because of that."
"Xion…"
"I cannot change the way I was born, I already know that," said Xion. "And now that I am…alive, I can't get sad because of my past. Everything should have ended for me after I joined you, but even so you managed to bring me back. Neither Roxas nor Naminé get sad about their past, so why should I be the only one? As long as I'm not alone everything will be fine."
Xion looked at Sora, who didn't say anything for a while, and this made the girl nervous. Then Sora let out a huge sigh of relief, which shocked Xion a little.
"Thank god, all this time I was thinking about a way to cheer you up and I couldn't come up with anything," said Sora. "I guess I am not inspired today."
"H-hey…" said Xion stunned.
"It was difficult because I didn't want to touch the wrong buttons…" said Sora, trying to hide his smile.
"Again with the buttons…" said Xion unamused. "Have you talked with Lea before coming here or something?"
Sora laughed. "Just kidding, I'm glad you're all right, Xion. You worried me a lot, you know? I spent two days looking for you!"
"Sorry…" said Xion feeling guilty. "It took me some time to think, and Hughes dragged me to his house and I spent a whole day in his house. It was her daughter's birthday, you know? He also wanted you to be there, but he couldn't find you."
"Well, at least everything is fine now," said Sora crossing his arms. "Because everything is fine, right?"
"Yes, and thanks for worrying about me, Sora," said Xion, and then she hugged Sora. "I really appreciate it. Say, what you said to Hughes in the library…did you mean it?"
"Huh?" said Sora. Then he remembered what he said and couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. "Oh, well…yeah, I guess."
"Why are you embarrassed now, big bro?" said Xion with teasing voice after letting go of him.
"Oh, shut it," said Sora, and the girl started to laugh. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Have you seen someone with a yellow coat around the city?"
"No, why?" asked Xion puzzled.
"A guy I met inside the laboratory said that he met someone in a yellow coat that knew me, and told him to give me a message," said Sora. "'Prepare yourself for the hunting'."
"'Hunting'?" asked Xion. "That doesn't sound very good…"
"I know," said Sora pensively. "Look, Lea's waiting for us in the Gummi Ship, so we should return to Radiant Garden and talk with the others about it."
"Okay," said Xion before hearing a sound coming from behind. "What was that!?"
"A gunshot?" thought Sora. "Come on, let's see what happened!"
Sora and Xion ran through the park as fast as they could until they saw a phone booth with its door opened. The two Keyblade wielders could see that there was someone lying on the ground, and when they got closer, they could see blood.
"No, no, no, no," thought Sora. Then he and Xion reached the phone booth and saw that the one who was on the ground and losing blood was the Lt. Colonel they met in the library of Central.
"Oh my god!" said Xion, covering her mouth out of shock.
"Hughes!" exclaimed Sora as he crouched near the soldier. "Who did this to you!?"
"S-Sora…Xi-Xion…y-you…" said Hughes, who was too weak to speak.
"Damn it!" said Sora and then he started to use Curaga with his hands, near the wound in Hughes' chest. His healing magic wasn't even close to Kim's or Wendy's, but he couldn't just let Hughes die.
As soon as Sora started trying to heal the Lt. Colonel, Xion also used her magic to help him, hoping it would be enough to at least close the wound.
"Y-you…need…to leave…they'll blame you…" said Hughes. It looks like he had more energy thanks to the healing magic, but he had lost a lot of blood, and he couldn't even move.
"Shut up, I won't leave until I'm done!" exclaimed Sora. "Aren't your wife and your daughter waiting for you at home!?"
"Sora…" thought Xion as she continued healing Hughes. She and Sora continued using their magic until they ran out of it. The two of them were panting, but thankfully, they could close Hughes' wound; however, the soldier wasn't moving, so maybe they couldn't save him in time.
"Hughes?" asked Xion, and then she put her ear on the man's chest. Much to her relief, she could hear his heart beating, although it was very weak. "Sora, don't worry, I think-"
"My body is aching…" said Sora, who was leaning on the phone booth.
"What? Is it because you ran out of magic?" asked Xion concerned, but that wouldn't make sense since she was feeling fine. She approached Sora and grabbed his arms since it looked like he couldn't stand on his own.
"No…I started feeling bad when I saw Hughes on the ground, my head started aching, but now my body…it's burning from inside," said Sora clutching his shirt. "Why am I feeling like this?"
"Sora, I-I…" said Xion, who didn't know what to do now since she couldn't use healing magic on Sora because she used all to heal Hughes.
"Wait, I'm starting to feel better…" said Sora as he stood up slowly. He breathed deeply and relaxed his body. "All right, I'm feeling fine again."
"You sure?" asked Xion, and Sora nodded. "Thank god…"
"Why did I start feeling like that when I saw Hughes?" thought Sora. "My body felt like when …"
"Do you think we meddled too much into this world's affairs?" asked Xion, interrupting Sora from his thoughts. "Hughes would be dead if we hadn't been here."
"I'd rather break that stupid rule than let someone die, Xion," said Sora, and then he smiled. "Come on, you should be glad we found him. It was all thanks to you."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Xion.
"If you hadn't been hiding from me, we wouldn't have found him," said Sora smiling.
"Hey, I wasn't-oh, whatever…" said Xion pouting and Sora chuckled. "You looked really upset when we were healing him…it was a bit scary, but I can't blame you."
"I know, sorry," said Sora, and then he looked at the unconscious Hughes. "So, did you say he was okay?"
"His heart is beating and it looks like he's breathing, but he's lost a lot of blood…" said the black-haired girl. "Maybe he's in a…what's the name…"
"A coma?" asked Sora, and Xion nodded. "Well, it's better than nothing. At least there's the possibility that he wakes up someday."
"And you, Sora?" asked Xion. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I am," replied Sora. "I was already feeling tired, and seeing Hughes in that condition didn't help at all. You know that I can't stand seeing people dying in front of me."
"And who can?" said Xion before hearing something behind her. She turned his head and saw a car with a red cross. "Hey Sora, there's an ambulance over there. Someone must have seen the blood trail. What shall we do?"
"Let's go to Radiant Garden," said Sora. "We can't do anything more for Hughes now, so we should leave. He was right before, the soldiers might blame us if they see us here."
"All right," said Xion. "I guess it's time to return to the guild."
-TLG-
As you could read, I decided to spare Hughes, but I put him into a coma so the FMA story won't be altered. That last scene was necessary for a future arc in this story, and that's why I spared the soldier. Surely some people know what happened to Sora during that last scene.
Lea finally appears, so I hope his fans are happy. Now he'll go to Radiant Garden along with Sora and Xion. He didn't have the opportunity to show off, but he'll have it in a future, don't worry.
To Anthony627AA: I'm glad you liked my work! I try to write every time I can, but I've been kind of busy lately. This update was a fast one, though.
To The Dark Dragon Emperor: 1) Well, that's Sora for you. 2) Yeah, he deserved that one. 3) Remember when Sora went to talk with Ansem the Wise in Chapter 11? He asked him if he could talk with Tron and Ansem the Wise asked him why. Sora's answer was: "Let's say that I need his help to play a game."
To Ultima Z: Glad you liked the fight and the couch joke!
To Sunny Lighter: Oswald, huh? I noticed he's quite popular, and some people want him to be in KH3. I'll see if I can find a way to make him part of the story.
To AnimeMasterDub: 1) You'll have to wait to the next chapter to know the answer 2-3) I think I don't need to answer these. 4) There was someone in Amestris affiliated with Maleficent, but it wasn't someone from that world. 5) I haven't planned anything for Bradley in this story. 6) Personally, I don't like that cartoon, so no. 7) Well, they helped Aqua and Ven the best they could 8) Who knows? 9) Nope.
To Dracoboy259: It's good to hear that! I haven't played BioShock 2, so I don't think I can do that.
To StarTrail: Axel or Lea? Well, it doesn't matter lol I hope you liked the part where he appeared!
To Ventusblade: 1) Well, she wasn't using advanced combat techniques, just a few pushes and kicks to mess with Mustang. I thought of making her use her magic in the duel, but that would have gotten her and Sora into some troubles. 2) And finally Lea appeared! He didn't have an opportunity to show off since Envy and Lust had to leave to destroy the laboratory, but he'll have his spotlight in a future chapter. I have to think of a mission to send him with Roxas and Xion, like you asked me to. If you want to suggest a mission for them, then I'll be glad to hear it. You can write it along with your review, or PM me if it's too long.
To animelover276: Next time she fights someone I'll make sure she uses her Keyblade.
To AquaTitaniaMiyuki: Yes, Ventusblade already asked me to send Lea, Roxas and Xion on a mission together and I think it's a good idea. If you want to suggest a mission for them, then I'll be happy to hear it. You can write it along with your review, or PM me if it's too long.
To TigerOfGuy7139: 1) Me too, the closer thing to water in the games is Aqua's bubble attack lol. 2) Naminé put the memories of the events of Castle Oblivion in Sora's mind again, and he saw "by accident" some things, and not only about her. 3) Don't worry, no one was giving me a hard time, I was just explaining someone why some of the readers like that more than one girl likes the spiky Keyblade wielder.
To Drag0n-0f-Shu: 1) Thanks, I also want to reach the Tournament Arc, but we don't want to rush things, do we? 2) I know the games, but I haven't played them.
To Red Diz: Thanks, I'm glad you like this fanfic!
To fallenstar2013: 1) Yes, it won't be like some animes where the main character actually wants to have a harem, but Sora will have his moments with some girls of other series. 2) Maybe she told her about Kairi, but I'll leave that to your imagination. 3) I have the feeling that you like the Harem genre lol. 4) He'll use Saïx's Claymore, I think it suits him more.
To Guest: Yes, I want Jellal to appear in this story, so you'll see him, and yes, he'll meet the Light Guardians.
To Great fan-M: Oh, but don't think Aqua forget it. She knows Ven's hiding something ;)