I growled in annoyance. There was nothing wrong with me. I felt fine. Great even! So why were my brothers staring at me with those concerned faces? Ok…so I had been acting a little strange. A lot strange. But I wasn't in any pain, and I felt like I could take on the whole world and not break a sweat.

I guess I couldn't really blame them though. After we got back to the hotel, Ed had immediately passed out on his bed, without even taking off his clothes. I…didn't. I tried to wind down, but it was like my veins were buzzing, and I could not force myself to be still. Alphonse watched me for a while before asking for the fourth time if I was feeling all right.

"Yes," I groaned, quietly so as not to disturb Edward. The boy slept on, softly snoring. "That's what's bothering me though. I don't really remember what happened, but I feel like a million bucks."

"Bucks?" Alphonse tilted his head to the side.

"Erm, it's a term for currency back where I'm from."

"Oh." Silence fell over us for a few moments as I continued to pace. "Well…" Al continued, "If you can't sleep, how about you let me help you calm down?" He patted the spot beside him, and I considered.

"It might just get you riled up too, though," I said uncertainly.

Alphonse shook his head. "No, I think I've got a handle on myself. Come here."

I hesitated, but then nodded and walked over. I sat against him carefully, and allowed his emotions to wash over mine. For a few seconds my unrest coursed through both of us, but then Alphonse's usual calm presence slowly calmed me down, his rock-steady tranquility soothing my unease. My heart rate slowed, and I could feel myself relax.

"How are you always so centered," I asked him languidly.

"I have to chase you and Edward around all the time. One of us has to be collected, and it's not going to be brother, I can tell you that much."

I chuckled and allowed myself to relax against his cool metal body. That was how Edward found us in the morning. I had gotten no sleep whatsoever, but with the help of Alphonse I was able to loosen a bit.

Ed sat up from his slumber, discretely wiping away the drool on the side of his face. He looked around blearily, scratching the back of his head in annoyance. He always felt sore if he left his braids in overnight, but he had been so tired that he forgot. He spied Alphonse and me leaning against each other, watching the sunrise peak over the mountains.

"Alex, have you been awake all night?"

Alphonse and I nodded as one, although Ed had only been addressing me. It was a kind of side affect for us being in contact for too long. Hm…might come in handy some day if we want to do a ventriloquist gig. I smiled, and Alphonse shared in my amusement.

"Couldn't sleep," Al and I said at the same time. We pulled away from each other, and I shook off my whole body as I felt his presence leave me. Man, I don't think we've ever been in contact that long. I noted the effects and thought that maybe it wasn't something we should do too often.

Immediately upon our separation, my tension returned in a burst of energy, although it wasn't as powerful as before. Whatever was happening, Alphonse had held it off, at least for a little while.

Ed looked at me in concern. "Are you feeling alright? Last night you were acting off."

"Yeah, I think I'm good."

Ed gave me a look, and then shrugged, beginning his morning routine. After cleaning up, we went down the stairs to the restaurant to get some breakfast. Edward piled his plate high with food, and I did the same, although I didn't feel particularly hungry. We sat at a table by a window, other guests trickling in slowly. Ed immediately began scarfing down his food with his usual vigor, and I brought my first bite to my lips…and stopped. It wasn't that I didn't feel particularly hungry; I wasn't hungry at all.

"What's up, Alex? You don't like pancakes," Al asked.

Don't like pancakes? Don't like pancakes? I loved pancakes. I just… "I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry," Ed said through a mouthful of food. He looked out the window at the barely risen sun. "Well, it is still kind of early…"

"No, I mean I'm not hungry at all. I feel like I've just eaten."

"But you haven't, not since yesterday afternoon," Al said. I looked down at my plate, feeling no desire at all to eat anything. Maybe there was something wrong with me. I was always hungry.

"Maybe I should take you to the pharmacy. You could be coming down with something," Al suggested.

"Yeah," I said, a bit unsettled. Maybe it was nothing, but something was niggling at the back of my mind, something I was sure I had forgotten.

When Ed was finished eating, he wandered off, claiming that he was going to do some investigating. Al and I wandered through the town, following the instructions someone had given us to find a pharmacy. As we walked around I was greatly enjoying the cool air, and despite my worry, I began to feel that same giddy feeling I had been experiencing since coming to Xenotime.

Al kept looking around us, his armor clanking. "What's up, Al," I asked, wondering what had gotten his attention.

"Have you noticed that there are a lot of sick people in this town?"

I looked around as well, observing the people a little more closely. At about every fourth person, one would be coughing or looking worn down. "Maybe there is a bug going around…"

"Maybe," Al said uncertainly. I looked at him curiously, but he did not expand.

When we reached the pharmacy, we paused. "Wow, there are a ton of people here," I observed redundantly. The corner store was filled to the brim with people that had the same symptoms, a cough and what seemed to be exhaustion, as the people we had seen in town. "Maybe we should just leave. These people are way worse off than I am."

"But I would still feel better if we had you looked at…"

"Al," I said in exasperation. "I'm fine." Probably.

"Um…" a small voice asked. Al and I looked over to see the young boy that had been with the Edward imposter the night before. His brother, I guessed. He had blonde hair like the older teen, which he held back with green ear mufflers, and bright blue eyes. "If you need medicine, I could probably get you some…"

"Aren't you the kid who's impersonating me," I asked, my tone light. Despite that though, the young boy flinched as if I had struck him.

"I'm sorry…"

"Whoa, it's ok, I'm sure you and your brother have your reasons," I said hastily.

He looked up with doleful eyes. "You aren't mad?"

"Eh, I'm glad it's such a cute kid. Have to keep my reputation you know," I said, bringing my hands up to my face and making a comical cute expression. The boy giggled and Alphonse and I glanced at each other. With Alphonse's instructions he ran into the drug store, weaving in and out of the crowd. Al and I waited a little ways off, sitting on an old bench in the park.

The boy handed over some medicine with a contrite expression. "Thank you very much," Alphonse said politely, taking the white bag. "I guess both of us have brothers who let their tempers get the better of them," he said, starting a conversation.

"I'm sorry," the boy started. "For us to work with Mugear, we had to have some credibility. The only way for my brother to claim to be a State Alchemist as a teenager was to pretend to be the famous Edward Elric. I became Alex because we heard you were so much bigger than me, and we didn't want it to be too suspicious."

"Do you really want a Philosopher's Stone that badly?"

"My father," the boy said, looking down, "devoted his entire life to the research of the Red Stone."

"So he was an Alchemist as well."

"Yes. One day, he just disappeared. Out of love for my father, brother insists on completing his research."

"That's the opposite of my family," Alphonse said, looking up. I listened curiously. The brothers had never spoken much about their family. "My brother hates our father. He was also an Alchemist, and brother despises him for it. He was obsessed with the science, and our mother suffered because of it, especially when he left us."

This was news to me. They had never spoken about their father, but he must have been something special to produce these two geniuses. I guess that explained why their mother had been raising them alone.

"On our journey, my brothers and I have met many other people who have suffered because of alchemy. Listen, if your brother is doing something you know is wrong, be brave and stop him. If someone else has to intervene, it will only hurt him all the more. Trust me, I know."

Boy, did he. If Alphonse had been able to stop Edward that night, then none of us would be in the situation we were in now. Did Al blame himself for that…?

We walked in silence for a few moments. "Hey," Al said, "have you noticed that there are a lot of people with coughs in this town?"

The boy jumped and averted his eyes. "No, why?"

"Well–" The boy suddenly froze, causing me and Al to stop. At the end of the street from us, the Edward imposter looked down on us coldly.

"Um, it's time for me to go," the boy said apologetically. Before he could run off, Al stopped him.

"Wait! What's your real name?"

The boy smiled happily. "It's Fletcher." He ran to his brother's side and the two moved out of sight.

"Hm…What do you think we should do," I asked Al, looking where the two had disappeared.

"Well, for right now, we should find Ed. And you should take that medicine."

I grumbled to myself. I felt fine, and I was certain it wouldn't do anything. Ed chose that moment to show his face, running around the corner in a dead sprint.

"Ed!" I shouted in surprise as he nearly bowled me over. The boy skidded to a stop and spun around looking around us intensely.

"Al, that imposter is around here somewhere. Have you seen him?"

"…No." I glanced up in surprise. Why was Al lying? Ed strode towards us angrily.

"Did you know that he's been going around town, fixing broken tools an wheels?"

"Um…and that's a bad thing," I asked, confused.

"No, it's not that! It's the way he's doing it! He's completely ignoring the law of Equivalent Exchange."

"You don't think he actually did it, do you? Created a Philosopher's Stone," Al asked, slightly excited.

"I don't know, but we are going to find out."

o-0-o

That night, we found ourselves outside of Mugear's mansion for the second time. This time, I was paying strict attention to how I was feeling. As we got closer to the building, I noticed that my head was becoming a bit fuzzy.

Edward glanced about as we stopped behind a bush, looking intently for gaurds. Finding none, we rushed forward, and Edward's braid was waving erattically as he ran. I became immediately distracted. Heh….back forth…back forth…I shook my head vigorously. What was going on…?

We stopped at the same wall we had infiltrated before. I noticed with amusement that Ed's door had been converted back to how it was. "Alright, this time we go for 'operation mole hole,'" Ed whispered. He clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground. A flash of light later, there was a hole with piles of displaced dirt around it. Edward climbed in first, then Alphonse, then me. I followed behind Alphonse languidly, my vision blurring slightly at the edges. Heh…mole hole…I'm a mole! Hehe…I actually brought my hand to my face to check if I had whiskers…that would be cool…

I breathed in deeply. What was that wonderful scent? It seemed to be getting stronger the farther we went.

"Ok, I think we are right under the mansion now," Ed said from somewhere in front of me.

"Are you sure," Al asked.

"Nope, but we have to come up somewhere." He clapped his hands and put them above his head, completing the tunnel. "Bingo."

Air rushed in, rustling my hair slightly. I froze, my muscles seizing as I got a full blast of what had been making me giddy since coming to Xenotime. Sparks ran up and down my body in a disturbingly familiar way…and then I blacked out.

o-0-o

Edward climbed out of the tunnel he had created, his brothers close behind him, and paused in surprise. Before him was a stream cut into a cement indention on the floor, flowing quickly into the darkness to his left. It was not water, like he would have expected for what he guessed was the sewer system, but a red substance that let off a noxious pink gas.

Ed placed a hand on his chin, and he went through the catalogue of his remembered information, text flying behind his eyes at light speed. Then it clicked.

"So that's their plan."

"What is it?"

"This is the chemical used to produce the Red Stone. I remember reading about it in the library in Central. It's a chemical full of alchemic catalysts, that if put under enough pressure, crystalizes into a stone."

"Like the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ed snorted, "More like a cheap imitation." He looked up at Al. "I think it was some Alchemist named Nash or something that was researching the Red Stone. If I remember correctly it's highly toxic. We should get out of here as soon as possible–Alex, what are you doing! Get away from there," he shouted, suddenly panicked. Alex was crouched beside the stream, his hair hiding his face, and he was about to place his bare hand in the liquid. Alphonse quickly grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Ah!" Alphonse shouted in alarm as red sparks jumped from Alex's body and prevented the boy from touching him. Alex looked up slowly at what had disturbed him, and both brother's recoiled in shock. Alex's normally green eyes were a bright magenta, the same color as the red water.

"What the hell–" Ed gasped, then began hacking violently. "Al," he wheezed, "I can't breathe…" Ed collapsed forward, and Alphonse caught him.

"Brother!" He looked desperately over to Alex, who had turned back around and leaned down closer to the water. "Alex! Don't!" Alphonse snatched the back of Alex's jacket and pulled him violently away from the red water, causing him to slam back into the concrete wall. Alex shuddered for a moment before falling still, his eyes wide open and empty. Alphonse looked between the two comatose boys in fear. What do I do, what do I do!

"Over here!" Light suddenly pooled into the room and an urgent voice called out to him. It was the boy, Fletcher. He had a brown breathing mask over his nose and mouth.

"It's you!"

"Hurry!"

Alphonse nodded and quickly scooped Alex and his brother in his arms. He staggered at the sudden onslaught of feelings from the teen with a gasp. What the…? He slammed his mental shields up as best as he was able and got the two boys out of the steaming tunnel

Fletcher quickly led Alphonse out and slammed the door behind him. He led him to a room some ways away from the door and frantically began searching for something. "Fletcher, what's wrong with them," Al asked, slightly panicked. Fletcher seemed to find what he was looking for and handed one over to Alphonse. It was a facemask similar to the one he was wearing.

"Put this on your brother," he instructed sharply as he placed the mask on Alex, who still hadn't responded to all the movement, though his eyes were wide open. Alphonse quickly complied, placing the mask over Edward's face.

Immediately, both blonds began to breathe easier. Ed came to first. He opened his eyes slowly. "Brother, are you alright," the worried boy asked. Edward didn't respond at first, but then he sat up with a gasp.

"Al what–where am I?" His voice came out muffled, and he lifted his hand to the face mask in confusion. Fletcher moved slightly, and they boy's golden eyes snapped to him. "What is he doing here?"

Fletcher flinched. "I'm sorry," he said meekly.

"Huh? What are you sorry for, what did you do?"

"No, it's not what you did," Al said, "it's what you didn't do, right Fletcher? If you know something, tell us. I get the feeling you don't like what's going on here."

Fletcher looked stricken, but slowly nodded. "That red water you saw is a toxic substance that's been polluting the whole town. It's what's been causing the sickness that has been plaguing this place. But it's…the vital ingredient for creating the red stone…I'm so sorry…" Fletcher dropped his face into his hands and sobbed. Ed and Al glanced at each other, Ed's expression serious.

"Fletcher, you–" Ed was cut off by a sudden groan, and the boys all snapped their attention to Alex.

"Alex!" Ed and Al scrambled to the boy's side. He blinked his eyes slowly, but they were still the color of red water. He looked over at his brothers blearily. "Ed….Al…what happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ed said frantically. "What the hell were you thinking, getting so close to the red water! It's toxic!"

"Red water…" Alex mumbled through the mask. "What's that…?"

"Brother, I don't think he remembers," Al said worriedly.

"What is going on here," Ed said, his brow furrowed in concern. He lifted is flesh hand to Alex's forehead to check for fever, but pulled back immediately as red sparks emitted from the teen. "What the…"

"That's strange," Fletcher said, peering into the barely conscious boy's magenta eyes. "I have never seen anyone react to red water like this…"

"When I was carrying him earlier, I got a bit of what he was feeling," Al said. "It was the most intense thing I have ever felt, even when I had a body. It was like every nerve was going off at once."

"What? He's in that much pain?" Ed said, alarmed.

Al shook his head. "No…I don't really know how to describe it…it felt really really good…like…I don't know, having hot soup after being in the snow for hours? No, it was much more powerful than that…I've never experienced anything like it."

"What do you mean, 'it felt good'! He completely blacked out and it's like he's lost his memory–" Ed cut himself off. "Wait a sec. Al do you remember in Lior when Alex took some kind of medicine from that woman that has been stalking him? Did he ever tell us what color it was?"

"No…you don't think it was the Red Stone, do you," Al said, distressed, "Isn't it supposed to be highly toxic?"

"Yes, but Alex is…" he glanced over at Fletcher, who was looking at them curiously. "Alex is… a special case."

"You don't mean that–"

"Think about it, Al. The Red Stone is a powerful alchemical catalyst."

Al stood suddenly. "We need to get him out of here, now!"

Ed nodded in agreement and stood as well. "First thing's first, let's demolish this lab."

"I can't let you do that," a harsh voice came from the other side of the room. Ed turned around to find none other than his imposter standing by the closed doorway. "Not after we have finally created a Red Stone. My father gave everything he had to this research, and we are not leaving after we have made such an amazing breakthrough."

Ed growled in anger. "Your father wouldn't happen to be Nash Tringham would it? Does he know that the red water is polluting this town? Or maybe he was as sick as you and didn't care either!" Behind him, he heard Alphonse move over the still form of their barely conscious brother.

Fletcher gasped from somewhere behind him and the blonde imposter grimaced in fury. He grabbed a lamp behind him, and while holding the Red Stone, he transmuted it into a dangerous looking sword.

"Ha! A cheap sword from a cheap imitation! Let me show you what real Alchemy can do!" Ed clapped his hand and whipped his flesh over his automail arm, transforming the steel into a sharp blade over his fist. He rushed forward with a shout, and the two blades locked together with a clash.

The boys pushed back and forth, equal in strength. The imposters blade cracked under Edward's and the shorter boy grinned smugly. "Heh, mine's the genuine article."

The fake Edward gnashed his teeth in frustration and threw his knee into the other boy's gut, causing him to stumble back with a gasp.

The imposter slapped his hand against the steel door behind him, and in a flash of red sparks, created a large hose which he pointed at Edward. "Back off! If you get splashed by the red water you will lose more than just your consciousness. You'll die."

"Let it rain!" Ed shouted, transmuting a nearby stool into a wooden umbrella.

"Ed this is crazy, stop!"

"Brother, don't," Fletcher pleaded, but it was too late. With a shout, the imposter let lose a torrent of red water which bounced off of Edward's impromptu umbrella and sprayed across the room.

"You should listen to your brother Edward. Just leave and you can live!" Tringham shouted.

"There's no way I'm running from someone who wants to be just. Like. Daddy!" Ed grunted. As he tried to step forward, he tripped and had to desperately stumble out of the way. The red water spewed out unhindered and went right for– "Al! Alex!"

Al gasped in terror and threw himself over the other boy, hoping to deflect the water. Al braced himself…but it never came. He looked over his shoulder and gasped in surprise. "Fletcher!"

The boy had thrown himself in front of Al an Alex, and he lay twitching on the floor in pain, covered in red water. Alphonse hurredly helped the boy up. Fletcher looked blearily at the older Tringham. "Brother…the reason dad wanted to create the Red Stone was to make people happy and their lives easier. What we are doing is wrong! The cost is too high, and instead of helping others, we are making them suffer! Dad would be ashamed of what we are doing. Don't you see, it doesn't matter who gets the credit anymore!"

Trimgham lowered the nozzle, a stricken expression on his face. "But…This research was everything to father…we have to finish it…"

"No, you don't." Ed said strongly. "Be your own person. Your father left you for this research. Causing this much trouble for someone who abandoned you and Fletcher is not worth it!"

Tringham's shoulders sagged. "No…he loved us…don't you dare–"

Loud banging rattled the door, breaking the tension in the room. "Mr. Edward! Are you okay in there?"

"I'm fine!" Tringham shouted, snapping out of his shock. "Dammit, I told them never to bother me in here."

"Heh," Ed snorted tensely, "I guess they don't trust you as much as you thought."

Tringham growled, but didn't say anything. Fletcher squirmed out of Alphonse's grasp and pointed to a door on the other side of the room. "Quick, in here!" He gestured them into a storage closet. Ed glanced at his comatose brother and the door.

"Damn," he said angrily, lifting Alex with a grunt and carrying him inside, Alphonse following closely behind. He shot one last look at Tringham before Fletcher closed the door and threw them into darkness.

"Do you think they'll keep quiet about us," Al whispered.

"I don't know," Ed said back, "but we can't fight them all. Not with Alex in the condition he's in."

"Ed…what's going on…?" Alex mumbled, stirring slightly in Edward's arms.

"Alex!" Ed whispered urgently. "Can you hear me? Do you know where you are?" Edward felt the boy shake his head.

"I can't see…"

"Yeah, we are kinda in a closet."

"Ed," Al said suddenly. "His eyes are back to normal."

"How can you tell, it's pitch dark in here?"

"I can see in the dark."

"Oh…right."

The boys fell silent as it sounded like the door was finally broken through. "Aaaah! What have they done to my lab," an older sounding man exclaimed.

"Mugear." Tringham said.

"Ah…good to see you two aren't harmed. Is the Red Stone damaged?" The man's voice dripped with insincerity.

"No need to worry sir, it's safe."

"Good, good. But our schedule has just been tightened. We need to move straight into our contingency plan."

"But sir," Tringham sounded alarmed. "There is no need for that! We have been making excellent progress!"

In the closet, Alex finally sat up and shook his head, the fog clearing from his mind thanks to the filtering mask. "What–"

Alphonse and Edward shushed him, listening intently.

"Brother," they heard Fletcher say, "what does he mean by contingency plan?"

"Fletcher–"

"What, you mean you haven't told him," Mugear said cruelly, and Edward grit his teeth in anger.

"No–"

"The plan is to insert the red water into pregnant women. It permeates their placenta, a factory of biological condensing. Once the process is complete, we take the product and transmute it into a stone."

"What the hell…" Alex exclaimed.

They heard Fletcher gasp. "Brother, you didn't–"

"No! I never! You shut up–" Tringham shouted.

"You know, there was once another Alchemist who wouldn't do what I told him. He had to be…taken care of."

"What–You–What is that–Aagh!" Underneath the door, the boys saw a flash of red light, and they tensed in alarm when they heard the Tringhams' scream.

"You like it? With this machine, even a non-Alchemist like myself has options. You think I'm a fool don't you? You think that I don't know that the true Edward Elric has an automail arm, or that you two are the sons of Nash Tringham! Now, do as I say, and implement phase two!"

A tense silence filled the air, and Edward seriously wondered whether Tringham would accept. "Just tell me one thing, Mugear," the older Tringham eventually spoke, fury shaking his voice. "Did my father ever use that method on anyone?"

"…No. At the last minute the fool had a crisis of morality."

"And you killed him, didn't you!"

"That's right, and I'll do the same to you and your precious brother if you don't cooperate."

"GO TO HELL–Aaagh!"

Edward had had enough. He slammed the door open and strode out. "Elegantly put."

Ed's golden eyes flickered around the room, taking in the scene. An old man was holding some kind of glass bowl full of red water. He was pointing it at the Tringham's, who had been bound and thrown to the floor.

"What the–Who are you," the old man spluttered.

"Oh, no one, just the real Edward Elric." Ed came to a stop and his brothers stood slightly behind him.

"Ah, so you are! Looks like I won't be needing you boys after all," Mugear said to the Tringhams cruely. He turned to Edward. "What do you say, Mr. Elric? I heard you were interested in the Philosopher's Stone. The Red Stone is a prototype for the real thing." Ed grimaced in disgust. "If you were to help me, I'm sure–"

"If you think," Alex said harshly, taking a threatening step forward, "that we would help you," he stepped forward again, and Alphonse gasped in alarm, "Alex, wait!"

"–help you murder women and unborn children," he took another step forward and Al tried to stop him, but a red spark blew his hand back. "–to finish you fucking greed project–" the enraged teen pulled out his tonfa, and Mugear took a frightened step back, "then that's the last mistake you will ever make in your life!" He surged forward and stepped right into the puddle of red water on the floor.

"Alex, no!" Ed said, trying to reach Alex, but they were all thrown back as, with a scream, Alex absorbed all of the red water in the room. Sparks flew everywhere and a violent wind pushed everyone back. Alphonse threw his metal arm over Edward, protecting him and blocking his vision.

When the wind calmed, Edward frantically pushed Al's arm out of the way and tried to see Alex through the steam. He was crouching on the floor, holding himself. Ed made to move forward, but he froze when Alex stood. He opened his eyes, and the irises that had just begun to turn back to green glowed red, even in the bright light of the room. Alex looked over at Edward and Alphonse, and for the first time Ed met his eyes and felt fear.

Wow guys, has anyone noticed that my chapters are getting longer and longer? I wonder if that will continue...

Waaa! What's going to happen! Even I don't know that yet! Well, I kinda do, but you guys will just have to wait and see. Good job to those who figured out that Alex was behaving strangely because of the red water. I originally wasn't going to do the Tringham Arch at all, but I figured it would be a good chance to expand on Alex's reaction to the Red Stone. It's only going to get more intense from here on out, so hold on to your seats!

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm telling you, every time I get a new review, I want to start writing the next chapter immediately. It makes me that happy, so please continue to send me your love! Next Chapter: Alex gets angry, and some plants may or may not be harmed in the making of this chapter. See you next time!