lDisclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Isabella.
*No POV*
Meanwhile, at the Hughes residence. Hughes is on the phone, and in his pajamas. "What are you doing calling me this late?" Hughes asked Roy on the phone. "Well, there's something that's been bothering me for a while." Roy said to him on the phone. "What? That we haven't caught Scar, or is this about Dr. Marcoh being taken into the Fuhrer's custody?" Hughes asked him. "Yeah, well okay, there's that, too. But mostly it's that I haven't made an appearance lately." Roy said to him when Hughes hangs up.
"What an egomaniac. He doesn't realize the mess we're in." Hughes said to himself. "Maybe you should inform him. Colonel Mustang could be of some help here. At least with the Elrics, Rockbell's disappearance." Armstrong said to him. "He doesn't need to know that. Not yet, right? The soldier detachment I requested to guard the library is standing by now. They're all gifted marksmen, pretty damn useful in a raid." Hughes said to him when Ross gasped. "Does that mean?" Maria said to him. "It does. On my own authorization, you three can lead a full dive and sweep up Lab Five at daybreak. But you'd better be ready to confront whatever you find." Hughes said to them as they salute him. "Yes sir!" The three said to him.
"Humankind cannot gain anything, without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
{Opening song}
Ready Steady Go!/L'Arc~en~Ciel
"Created Human"
Isabella's POV
Ed is looking through some materials about making a true Philosopher's Stone. I was standing the whole time when he does this. "I think I get it now, what this facility is being used for. It was an operation to develop large-scale military applications for alchemy, or more specifically how they could harness human alchemy to the military's advantage." Ed said when he faced the incomplete material. I faced it also. "That explains what they were doing with these incomplete Philosopher's Stones." I said about what we just saw.
"If you two wanted to, you can use them to forge a complete Philosopher's Stone." Tucker said when Ed and I faced him. "Does that mean you know how these fragments were made?" I asked him. "Not quite. By the time I came, this room was already here. Created and abandoned, most likely by the man who had run this place before. One doctor Tim Marcoh, I can only guess his methods." Tucker said to me. "They're made of-" Tucker cuts me off. "Isabella, does it honestly matter anymore what it is they're made of?" Tucker questioned me.
"Even if they were in fact created using living human beings, are you and Edward capable of restoring them back to life?" Tucker questioned when Ed and I remembered Nina's bloody remains, and how the younger Slicer destroyed his own blood seal. "Using what's left of them to make a complete Stone is the only way to give their sacrifices meaning." Tucker said to me and Ed. "I couldn't have said it better myself,." Older Slicer said when Ed and I faced him. "You're agreeing." I said to him.
"Their lives have no value in this disembodied state, I sympathize." Older Slicer said to me. "No value?" I questioned when Ed stood up and sees his own reflection. But his reflection changed into an image of his brother. "I don't by that," Ed said when he gets on top of the material for support, so he can reach the ceiling. 'Edward, what are you doing?' I thought to myself. "But Al... Your life has value, even in this state, doesn't it remain..." Ed trailed off when his used alchemy to create a transmutation circle on the ceiling.
*Maria's POV*
Hughes, Bloch, Armstrong, the others and I are running down the hall and saw the Fuhrer coming out of the room in his pajamas. We stopped and saluted. "Well, you're all working overtime, aren't you?" The Fuhrer questioned us. "Fuhrer. I apologized for the disturbance." Hughes said to him. "I know, you're eager to get to the bottom of this business at Laboratory 5." The Fuhrer said to him when he gasped.
"I've heard rumors over the years but turned my blind eye to it. I'd trusted Basque Grand had the good of the state in mind. However, if the lives of those four young alchemists could be jeopardized by it, I can't stand idly by. I'll let the Major command the exploratory mission, and I'll personally accompany you. You won't go in alone." The Fuhrer said to us as we saluted. "Yes sir!" We all said to him.
Isabella's POV
I was with Ed and Tucker in a hallway and we stopped our tracks. "Is this it? Are we directly above the array Ed made?" I asked Tucker. "Behind that door is the storage tank that feats into the room below, with the ingredients for the Stone." Tucker said to me when Ed opens the door to see a red substance inside this room."Okay, I can work with this." Ed said as he closes the door.
No POV
Envy in his Grand disguise made sure it was clear, and the window became open to reveal the prisoners inside it. "Amazing. After thousands of years of evolution, you human beings remain as violent creatures as you ever were." Envy as Grand said as the window closes, leaving the prisoners stunned at what just happened. "And who does he think he is?" One prisoner questioned one of them. "Some kind of a high-up military mucky muck." The other prisoner said when Kimbley started chuckling. "I find it absolutely adorable that you believe everything you see. But that thing is definitely not the Brigadier General Grand." Kimbley said to them.
Isabella's POV
We made it back to the room where the incomplete material is. "You're going to transmute both rooms at once?" Tucker asked Ed. "That's the plan. Even combined, there are not enough pieces of the Stone, and this room alone. In Dr. Marcoh's research journal, he recommended using two transmutation circles. I'm hoping to take all the leftover materials from above, and collide them with the fragments in here, through the two circles, smashing them into one. But I'm gonna need a serious explosive charge to make all that happen. I'd better beef up the array." Ed said when he kneels down and used alchemy to make the array the same as the one on the ceiling.
'Edward, I'm not sure that's a good idea.' I thought to myself. "An array with a heptagon so described in it. I've never seen that before." Tucker said when Ed stood up. "Neither have I." Ed said to him. "Same here." I said to him as well. "If this theory of mine actually pans out, I'll give Al his body back, have Alice stop hating theIshbalans, and we'll get the hell out of here. Then you people can do whatever you want with the Stone." Ed said to him when he walks off.
"That's very generous of you, Edward." Tucker said when Ed got one of the incomplete materials in place. I helped him out with that same thing. And all of the incomplete materials are in place on the array. 'I hope you know what you're doing, Ed. Cause if this fails, then it's goodbye to normal life.' I thought to myself, unaware that someone is watching us.
No POV
The prisoners are panicking inside the red windows. "Would you people shut up already." Kimbley said to them. "You can drop the monk act, and admit you're scared. Even a headcase like you who killed his own men has to realize he's helpless in here, Crimson Alchemist." One prisoner said to him when he stood up. "You've been gossiping. Yes, I did kill my men. But do you know how?" Kimbley questioned him. "Yeah, you blew 'em all to hundreds of little bits, with explosives." One prisoner said to him.
"Explosives? I've never relied on anything like that." Kimbley said when he shows the circles on his hands to him. "Did you know that though the human body is made mostly of water, it's also comprised of small metallic particles?" Kimbley questioned when he pushed the prisoner towards the wall.
"Intriguing, isn't it? By reshaping them with basic organic compounds, a skillful alchemist can easily transmute a person into a human bomb. And taking to account the abundance of red water we're surrounded by, the reaction will be even greater." Kimbley said when he used the prisoner as material for a transmutation, and a part of the lab blows up. Scar is in the 'bad place' unconscious, and slowly regains consciousness.
*FF*
The prisoners are now inside the room where Ed and Roberta are, thanks to Kimbley's human-made bomb. The two coughed for air, and see what they just witnessed here. "All these people, who are they?" Isabella questioned when she and Ed faced Tucker. "Why didn't you tell us there were other scientists still here?!" Ed questioned him angrily. "Last I check, scientists wore lab coats, not prison clothes." Tucker said to them when they faced the prisoners. The two got mad at this and faced him again.
"What are they doing here?! If Ed had performed that transmutation without knowing, he would've-"Isa couldn't finish when Tucker started chuckling. The two of them faced the prisoners. "Everybody, listen up! Who brought you here?" Isabella questioned them. "I did, Fullmetal Alchemist and Flower Alchemist." A voice said when they faced the door, and Envy came in, while in his Grand disguise in front of them.
"I personally requested these criminals be transferred here from the prison next door. And what are you two doing here?" Envy as Grand questioned when Ed runs up and almost hit him, until Envy changes back into his old self.
Isabella's POV
I was too shocked when Ed almost hit that homunculus called Envy and he changes back into his old self in front of us. "What gave me away?" Envy asked him. "The Brigadier General was killed by Scar. We have front-row seats." Ed said to him when we remembered how Grand died. "Who are you? What's your name?" Ed asked him. "Well that depends, I can be whoever you want. So who would you like, Mr. Fullmetal Pipsqueak? Huh? Maybe a taller version of you?" Envy mocked as Ed growled, and tries to hit him, but he missed.
"My, my, the determined little pipsqueak wants to start a fight. But I don't know, I'm really more of a pacifist." Envy said when Ed growls again. "You should stop calling me a pipsqueak, it puts me in a really bad mood!" Ed said when he was going to get ready to clasp his hands together, but his auto-mail arm went limp. Ed was shocked by this and Envy kicked him in the face over and over again until he falls to the ground. "Leave him alone!" I cried out.
"Just remember you started this sparring match, pipsqueak. Do have any idea who you're trying to pick a fight with here? Huh?!" Envy questioned when he kicked him again, and I ran over to his side for protection. "Leave him alone, please." I begged him. "Oh, so the Flower girl is shielding her beloved partner. That's romantic." Envy said as I got mad at this. "We're not even dating!" I said to him. "I don't care." Envy said to me when he looks at Ed.
"The reason you're still around, the only reason I haven't killed you is that we were told not to. But I can never forgive you... and there'll never be a time when I'm able to forgive you, for carrying that bastard's blood in your veins!" Envy said to him when he get ready to kick Ed again, and I held onto him tightly for this. "Envy." A voice called when he turns to face a woman called Lust there picking up the older Slicer. "Don't take it out of them, because you failed to screen the ingredients thoroughly enough." Lust said to him when Ed and I faced her.
"I've seen you." Ed said to her. "Who are you?" I asked her. "If you two don't want to suffer any more physical punishment, then I suggest one of you will get on with the transmutation." Lust said to one of us. "We've had a minor unexpected setback, but the ingredients are still fresh." Lust said as Ed faced the prisoners. I faced them also. "You want Ed to use these convicts to make a Philosopher's Stone? Was that your plan? You really think I'll take their lives?" I asked her when the prisoners are looking a little confused by this.
The prisoners tried to run for their lives but were stopped by another homunculus called Gluttony, who has Al in his grasp. "I think that you have no choice in the matter, Edward and Isabella."Lust said when Gluttony tossed Al aside, Ed and I are shocked by all of this. "Al!" Ed cried out. As Lust walks passed him. "Edward. Isabella. These people, they're Homunculi." Al said to us.
"Homunculi?" I said out of shock. "That is correct." Tucker said when Ed and I faced him holding his unfinished work of his daughter in his arms, and walking next to them. "These people are indeed Homunculi. Perfectly created artificial humans. They've promised to provide me with the secrets of generating a Homunculus, so I can, at last, bring my precious Nina back to life." Tucker said to me. "Why are you even trying to recreate your daughter's body?! When you can't do the same for her soul?!" I asked him.
"But I already have her soul. I keep it here. My Nina's indomitable spirit lives on in all my memories of her. I can implant those in the mind of the Homunculus. Giving birth to a Nina even more perfect than the real one that inspired her." Tucker said to me. "Memory implants?" Al questioned that word. "It still won't be the real Nina!" Ed shouted when Envy kicks him again, and I held onto him for dear life. Envy kneels down in front of us.
"This pointless chit-chat stops here. So, pipsqueak. Why don't you shut up, and get to work on the transmutations, now? You can start by fixing the ceiling." Envy said to him when he faced Lust. I even faced her also. Lust sighs at this. "I'm embarrassed to admit, our group isn't capable of using alchemy on our own. We have to rely on others to do it for us." Lust said to us. "If you can't use alchemy, then what's the point? What could you possibly do with the Philosopher's Stone?" I asked her when she didn't answer.
"The same as Cornello, huh? Let me guess. You've got a God complex, and a desperate need for world domination." I said to her. "I want to become a human." Lust said to me. "You what?" I asked her. "Nothing more." Lust said to me as Ed sat up after I let go of him. "If you guys really are Homunculi like you say, then there must be an alchemist somewhere who created you. Why don't you get him to do your dirty work for you?" Ed said when Envy kicked him again, and I held onto him again for dear life.
"We weren't created by anyone, we were born." Envy said to him. "You were born?" I asked him. "Yes, we were, Flower girl," Envy said to me. "Then please don't kick Ed again, I'm begging." I said to him. "Very well then. If he blabs again, I'll kick him in the face again, got it." Envy said to me. "Yes." I said to him as I held onto Ed.
"Given our limitations, all we could do was leave a trail of breadcrumbs pointing towards the Stone. And advice some eager alchemists on how to go about constructing the Stone for themselves." Lust said to us."Wait a second. You mean you're the ones who showed Mugear what to do with that red water in his mine?" I asked her.
"And when Marcoh was working here in this lab, you must have told him about the secret ingredient. Not to mention Tucker's experiments and Cornello's fake stone, which we guess you were behind, too." I said to her."We laid the fake bait, and sure enough every idiot interested in the Stone came flocking." Envy said to me.' Idiot?' I thought about that word he just said. "And that's the way we found you kids, you found us." Lust said to us when Ed is shocked by all of this. I was shocked also.
"Are you saying that me and Roberta coming here was part of your plan all along?" Ed asked her. " No, Al, Isa, and I started this journey three years ago for our own reason, of our own free will! And we went through hell to get here." Ed said to her. "You're here because that is what we wanted." Lust said to him. "Al, Ed, and I are nobody's puppets! Not the State's, and definitely not yours!" I said to her.
"It's an Equivalent Exchange... I'm going to tell your partner everything he needs to know to make a Philosopher's Stone. And in return, he is going to use it to turn all of us into humans." Lust said to me when a long silence came by. "And why the hell should I trust you guys?" Ed asked her. "Oh, but you misunderstand me, Fullmetal. We're not asking... " Lust trailed off when she picks up the older Slicer and opens his helmet. "We're telling." Lust said when Ed and I faced her.
"Do you know what happens to an attached soul... when you do this?" Lust questioned when she scratches his blood seal. "Stop it! You can't do that! He's still a human being!" Ed and I shouted at her. "Edward Elric, Isabella Rockbell, I want you two too..." Older Slicer couldn't finish when Lust destroys his blood seal by slicing it in half. She gets off of Al, knocks off his helmet, and gets ready to do the same exact thing to him. "This won't take long." Lust said getting ready to do the same thing to Al next.
"No! Please don't hurt him! He's Ed's little brother! Please don't take him away! I'm begging you!" I cried out. "What if your friend next to you is a fake, an imitation? How would you know the difference?" "There's this thing, see... Something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now." "Don't give up on us now, Al! Okay." Ed said when he clapped his hands together and used alchemy to fix everything from the floor to the ceiling. Envy whistled in impression. Gluttony forces the prisoners onto the circle, and Ed is getting the incomplete materials in place. "Edward, no! You can't do this! It's not worth it!" I cried out.
No POV
Scar is walking down the hall holding his arm, and he sees Ed there in a room with the prisoners and the Homunculi. "Foolish child, I should have sent him and his partner to their maker when I had my chance." Scar said to himself.
Isabella's POV
I was by Al's side, even Lust and Gluttony are watching from the sidelines. I was so helpless to stop Ed. "That's it, you can do it, kid. I have faith." Lust said when Ed gets ready. "This is crazy!" I cried out when the prisoners looked a little scared at what Ed is going to do. The incomplete materials are bubbling and Ed closed his eyes. "Quit doing this, brother! Those people, they're... They're human!" Al cried out. "Yeah. And soon you and I will be. So what's your problem?" Envy asked him.
"I don't wanna get my own body back if it means having to take someone else's life!" Al said to him as he laughed a little. "I thought for sure you, your two friends, and your brother would've gotten the message after your pathetic attempt to bring back Mommy. You've gotta spend life to make life. Come on, this is basic alchemy here. Don't kid yourself into thinking there's some way around that, 'cause there's not. As they say,'Death is the high cost of living'." Envy said to him.
"In order to achieve anything in life, you inevitably have to take it from someone else... That is what any honest adult knows." Lust said to the two. "When Edward and Isabella decided to join up with the State Alchemists... They've given up all claims to childhood in exchange for power...So don't start behaving like a child now... Because you can't have both ways." Lust said to her. "I see now...This is really the truth behind all truths." Ed said when he claps his hand together and kneels down above the circle.
"I promised, that I'd get you your body back, and have you stop hating the Ishbalans, no matter what." Ed said to himself when he was almost at that point. The prisoners are stunned by this when Ed is getting ready to reach that point. Scar seems to notice this and Ed stops what he's doing. "Sorry, guys. I just can't do it." Ed said when Envy makes a noise, and is getting ready to hit Ed again. But an explosion occurred which made the incomplete materials fall out of the glasses, and the prisoners are stunned by this, including Lust and Envy.
"Fullmetal Alchemist!" A voice called when Ed turns to see Scar there. He was the one who made that explosion occur. "Take your brother and partner and get out of here," Scar said to him when Ed growls at this. "I don't need your help!" Ed said to him. "Maybe not, but your younger brother and partner need you." Scar said to him when Ed takes in his word, and he faced the other way. "Let's go!" Ed said when he ran over to us.
"Oh no! You aren't leaving until you've finished what you've started!" Lust shouted when Ed steps on the material and his body turns blue. My eyes widen at the sight of it. He started screaming, and his alchemic powers are going higher until his arm turns into a harpoon, and it almost hit Lust. but she dodged it. "That's not good! Even though it's unrefined, this much exposure to the stone material could turn the boy into a God." Lust said when several spikes appear, and they hit the walls, and Tucker dodged them, and so did Lust, Envy, and Gluttony.
"Edward! Stop this now! Please stop!" I called out. But he didn't listen. As I stand up slowly to straighten my balance.
Maria's POV
Our group has arrived at the lab. "The rear door is secure, we're all set to go in." Bloch said to the Fuhrer."We've got a block aid around the whole perimeter." I said to the Fuhrer as well. "Now listen up. Our chief mission is to secure the safety of the four young kids. Apprehend anyone who looks like civilian personnel." The Fuhrer stated to us. "And everyone else?" Armstrong asked him. "Mow them down. Now move out." TheFuhrer ordered us.
No POV
The soldier moves inside the shaking building. "This way, men!" One soldier ordered the others. "Who's that?" One soldier said when the others stopped and see who it was. "Is that the Crimson Alchemist?" One soldier questioned when a female Chimera named Marta stepped in and beats them up. Then Kimbley turns to see Greed there with two other Chimeras named Roa and Dorochett with him, who wanted him to join them.
Isabella's POV
Ed's alchemic power is rising. Strong enough that's almost a rebound. "Edward!" I called out but he didn't listen to my voice. "Edward! I'm begging you! Please stop this!" I cried out. But he still didn't listen to my voice. "Edward..." I said sadly when I hear someone coming in. Turns out it was Lieutenant Ross, along with Sergeant Bloch and Major Armstrong. "Fullmetal, sir!" Maria called out. "The boy's alchemic power is multiplying rapidly." Armstrong said to her. "Lieutenant! Sergeant! Major!" I called out when they faced me. "Flower, ma'am!" Maria called out.
"Are you in any danger?" Maria asked me as I shook my head. "No, I'm not." I said to her when she was moving away from them. "Wait!" I called out when she faced me. "Let me do this, Ross." I said to her. "But, Flower..." Maria trailed off. "He's my partner... I'll stop him." I said to her as I walk towards Ed, shielding my eyes in the process. "Thought Reading, get away from him! You'll be killed!" Maria called out to me. "I don't care!" I called out when I'm almost towards Ed. "Edward, you have to snap out of it, I love you!" I cried out to him.
Flashback Begins
"To be honest, Ed. I like you just the way you are." I said to Ed while we were by his mother's grave.
Flashback Continues
"There's nothing wrong with staying just the way you are." I said to Ed while helping him be his legs.
*Flashback Ends*
Ed's alchemic power is growing stronger until he sees a vision of me running toward him. "Edward! Edward!"I called out when the next vision slips in, with me reaching out for Ed. "I love you." I said to him when I finally made it to Ed, and the brightness of this light is too strong. 'How can I stop that rebound?' I thought to myself when I finally have the chance to hug him. Ross, Bloch, and Armstrong are stunned by all of this.
"Flower, ma'am..." Maria trailed off. "Isabella is hugging Edward..." Armstrong trailed off also. As I teared up and clenched his clothed back tightly. 'Edward. You want to stay with me, don't you?' I thought to myself. "Mom... You're back..." Ed whispered when the light went away with me holding Ed in my arms. "Edward... Thank goodness..." I said as I black out, and fall to my knees with Ed in my arms.
*No POV*
Lust, Gluttony, and Envy came out disguised as soldiers and walk right passed the other soldiers. "Good work, troops." Douglas said when they walked passed her. Armstrong came out with Ed, Al, and Issy in his arms, and the other soldiers including the Fuhrer applaud at this. Ed and Isa are both unconscious, but Al is most likely losing his consciousness.
{Ending song}
Tobira no Mukou e/ YeLLOW Generation