Iserlohnn - continued

Chapter 22

Doctor Seris Ferguson sighed deeply. She was beginning to wonder if getting involved with the Elric brothers was a big mistake. Edward seemed to have this amazing knack for getting himself and his friends into the kind of trouble that usually caused life-threatening injuries. He had been stabbed repeatedly but none of the wounds hit major organs. However the Princess was on life support and in critical condition. No one was saying how she got that nasty stab wound in her chest but they didn’t have to. She knew the sort of enemies the Elrics had made recently and the odds are it was one of them that got to her.

She caught up with Al and Colonel Mustang just as the pair was leaving the hospital. Mustang stopped and asked, “Care to give us a hand or have you had enough of this freak show for the day?”

“What do you need?”

“Tenshi’s been captured. Last place he was being held was at the Furher’s Palace,” Mustang explained. “I’m going to check on that end. However, on the off chance he’s been moved I’m having anyone who can spare the time search for him.”

“Any idea where he might have been moved to?” she asked.

“If they bothered to make it look legitimate he may have been taken to the brig at Central or to a number of holding cells the local police have at their stations,” he said. “And since the local authorities have stations all over the city you can see this is something our little group can’t do alone.”

“The Colonel’s men are helping,” Alphonse piped in.

“I think you two should look together,” the Colonel suggested. “Considering who we’re up against, none of us should be off on our own.”

“Try getting Ed to obey THAT command,” Alphonse remarked.

Mustang snickered. Lately getting Edward to listen to anyone besides Edward had been spotty at best. However, Mustang was glad that for once he didn’t have to worry about what sort of trouble Edward was getting himself into. The boy was fast asleep in a hospital bed and was not likely to be up to getting himself into any mischief until morning.

“For once Fullmetal is doing what he’s supposed to,” Mustang said with a wry grin. “Now get going. I’ve got to check in on a few people before I head over to the Furher’s Palace. I’ll be in touch.”

And with that he was gone leaving Al and the Doctor on their own.

The Doctor looked up at Al and, as she pulled out the Port Key she had hidden in the breast pocket of her uniform, she asked, “Was Tenshi given one of these?”

“Yes, we all got them,” Alphonse told her.

“So, if he has one and got the chance to use it-“

“He’d be at the safe house!” Alphonse blurted out as the realization and hopefulness hit him all at once.

“Let’s start there!” she suggested feeling as optimistic as he did.

The Doctor easily hailed a taxi. The driver goggled at Alphonse as the armored Elric climbed into the back of the car and seated himself next to the Doctor. Seris had to poke the man to get him to pay attention to her. She gave him the address and they sped off. For the duration of their trip the driver spent his time with one eye on the road and the other staring at the strange armored man in his back seat…


Although the discovery had caught him completely by surprise, it didn’t really matter to Envy that Tenshi was a boy. Gender only mattered to humans and Envy wasn’t human. The small alchemist was adorable and Envy liked pretty things. He was told to bring the boy back alive and unharmed. That was easy enough. He could follow Kenton’s orders and still slip in a little fun for himself. After all, what he had in mind wouldn’t leave any visible evidence….

Tenshi tried to free his hands but the homunculus was stronger than he looked. Envy nibbled at his ear and nuzzled the nape of his neck. He knew what the Sin had on his mind because he could feel the other man’s arousal poking into him. Tenshi would rather be chained up again in Kenton’s cell than have this thing make love to him.

“Stop that!” Tenshi ordered doing his best to pull away from the horny Sin.

“I won’t hurt you,” Envy said pressing even closer to Tenshi. “I just want us to have a little fun.”

He used his ability to stretch to use one-hand to hold Tenshi’s hands securely so he couldn’t spell cast and used his other one to reach under Tenshi’s shirt to caress his bare skin. Envy stopped his probing after finding out just how much of Tenshi’s slim body wasn’t made of flesh.

“What are you?” Envy asked after a long pause.

Tenshi looked up at him puzzled.

“Who built you?”

Tenshi realized why he was being asked these odd questions. The Auto-mail. He had so much of it he would look more like a construct than a human being to someone who didn’t know his story. Maybe he could use the Sin’s confusion to his advantage. Tenshi decided to play into the idea he was just as inhuman as his captor hoping it would save his virtue as well as his life.

“The person who made me like this died a long time ago,” Tenshi told him. That was mostly true. The mechanic who constructed his Auto-mail was dead and he was responsible for Tenshi’s mechanical body.

“He had an eye for beauty,” commented Envy as he caressed Tenshi’s cheek. “And must have had some skill at flesh crafting to make you feel so soft and real.”

Tenshi made no comment. He shied away from the hand that resumed fondling him. Tenshi had temporarily turned the Sin’s ardor into curiosity. He no longer felt a boner poking him in the stomach, which made Tenshi feel a little less threatened. But he was still getting his body poked and prodded by the homunculus and he wished somebody – anybody – would just show up to end his torment.


The taxi stopped in front of the house and the Doctor paid the cabbie. He lingered for a few moments while Al and the Doctor made their way to the front door. It wasn’t until she threw the driver an annoyed glance that he finally sped off. Seris knew she and Alphonse made a very odd couple but they weren’t going to do anything inappropriate. Some people just have dirty minds, she thought as she opened the door to the safe house.

They walked in, Alphonse snapping on the hall light as he entered. It was quiet and both of them were beginning to think that maybe Tenshi hadn’t gotten the chance to use the Port Key Edward had made for him. Then they both heard the sound of footsteps coming from the second floor and Seris’s heart skipped a beat.

“Tenshi?” she whispered hopefully to Al and he shrugged.

“Could be,” he replied as he followed her up the stairs.

They hard voices and realized Tenshi was indeed there but he was not alone. Alphonse motioned to the Doctor to continue up the stairs alone. There was no way his passage up could go unnoticed. The old stairs were bound to groan under his weight and give him away. Seris understood his reason for waiting and, quietly drawing her service pistol, she softly made her way to the room where she heard Tenshi and an unknown person engrossed in conversation.

Seris listened at the door. She could tell by the pitch of the second voice it was a young man in there with Tenshi. Whoever he was he had Tenshi scared. She peered through the keyhole and noticed the strange man had hair that looked like the top of a pineapple and one of his arms was unnaturally stretched and holding Tenshi bound. The alchemist was struggling to be free of his captor and the man who held him seemed to enjoy tormenting Tenshi.

She saw the door was unlocked and swiftly made her move.

Seris burst in and with her gun leveled at the pineapple haired man ordered, “Release him!”

Envy stared at the woman holding a gun to his head. Tenshi gasped in a mixture of surprise and relief.

“You have to be joking,” Envy said snidely his grin on Tenshi not wavering in the slightest.

“I don’t know who you’re but I doubt you’re bullet proof!” Seris stated cocking the pistol.

“He’s not human!” Tenshi told her.

Alphonse made his way up the groaning stairs quickly. He saw past the Doctor to where Envy stood holding Tenshi and realized he would have to do something quick if Tenshi was going to escape from that Sin. He swiftly drew a circle on the wooden floor and charged it.

Envy cried out in a mixture of pain and shock as the wooden floor transformed into thin needle sharp vines and branches that attacked him mercilessly. He was forced to release Tenshi so he could fight off the plant life that was trying to envelop him. Tenshi backed away quickly and gathered his wits about him. A moment later he added to Alphonse’s spell by zapping Envy with enough static electricity to send the Sin flying into the wall.

Realizing he wasn’t going to win this round Envy shape shifted into a coal black hellhound and leaped out the window. Falling two stories had no effect on the creature Envy had become and the trio watched as the Envy hound raced off down the street disappearing into the night.

Tenshi hugged both his rescuers. “Thank you!” he said truly happy to see them. He glanced around and asked in a concerned tone, “Where’s Ed?”

“He’s in the hospital,” Seris told him. “He’s going to be okay.”

“And this time he’s going to stay there until he’s well enough to leave,” Alphonse added meaningfully. “ Even if they have to tie him to the bed!”

Tenshi giggled. “They’ll have to chain him to the bed if they expect him to stay there! You know how he gets…”

Series rolled her eyes and Alphonse sighed heavily.

Changing the subject Tenshi asked, “Do you know where the Iserlohnn disk is? Kenton is after it!”

“Yes,” Alphonse said. “And its someplace Kenton will never think to look!”

Tenshi smiled up at him. “Good. I had a feeling that’s what Ed fetched from the dining room. Glad he as able to hide it someplace before Kenton’s goons could get it.”

“Why does he want it so badly?” Seris asked. “I mean, it’s a primarily a communication array. Isn’t it?”

“I know it can do more than that,” Alphonse said. “I’m not sure of all its powers but I do know its very old Alchemy. And the gemstone in its center I think is some kind of energy source. If I can get some time in the Colonel’s library I may be able to figure out what that thing really does.”

“Will he let you borrow his books?” Tenshi asked.

“He has in the past. Anyway, if I tell him borrowing a stack of his books will keep Ed out of trouble then I think he’d hand them over to us happily!”

“We should go to Central anyway,” Series said. “The Colonel sent his men out to hunt for Tenshi and I think it would be a good idea to check in and let everyone know he’s been found and is okay.”

“It’s kind of late,” Tenshi pointed out. “I know someone will be there but I have a feeling the Colonel will have gone home for the day.”

“He wasn’t planning on going home,” the Doctor told him. “He was going to the Furher’s Palace to look for you.”

“Kenton’s there!” Tenshi told them. “The Furher is on his side. And those things are there too. The creatures like Envy.”

“So he has all the homunculi working for him as well,” Series said matter-of-factly. “I’m not surprised.”

“The Colonel could be in trouble if he goes there,” Tenshi pointed out. “Kenton already tried to kill him once. Was he planning on going there with anyone?”

“He didn’t say,” Series told him. “I think you two should go back to Central and check in. I can go to the Furher’s Palace and look for Mustang. I’m the only one who can without getting anyone suspicious.”

“What will you tell them when you get there?” Alphonse asked.

“That’s easy,” Series said with a confident smile. “I can tell them that Princess Katarin has regained consciousness and was asking for him.”

Alphonse and Tenshi exchanged a look. It was the perfect excuse. The Furher knows about the Princess and they had a feeling he might also know about the Colonel’s connection to her. When she shows up in an official vehicle to pick him up and escort him to the hospital no one will question her presence. Her idea was practically foolproof.

However Alphonse had gone on way too many “practically foolproof” missions with Edward to know that few things ever went as planned. He turned his attention on the Doctor asking, “Do you have something personal you can loan me for a little while?”

Puzzled she looked up at him. “How personal?”

“Like what you used for the Ward. Something connected to you,” he said. “I need it just in case…”

“Is this to do that Scrying thing Edward was talking about?” she queried. He nodded and she continued, “Okay. I guess having you keeping an eye on me just in case is probably a good idea. I don’t think I caught Kenton’s eye but I’m not sure how under the radar I really am. After all, I was here with you to rescue Tenshi. I am sure that thing that had him prisoner is going to tell Kenton all about what happened here tonight.”

“It will,” Tenshi said meaningfully. “Which means if you want to stop the Colonel you had better get going now! Maybe you might be able to get him out before Envy tells Kenton about what happened.”

She handed Alphonse the ring she had used previously when they were making the Ward saying, “Don’t lose this. I know it’s a link to me but for me it’s my only reminder of my late brother.”

Alphonse put it away in the same safe spot he had the Iserlohnn Disk hidden saying, “I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

She patted his armored arm saying, “I know I can trust you. You are the sensible brother!”

If Alphonse were capable of smiling he would have. Instead he said in a lighter tone, “Ed can be reckless sometimes. But he means well. And for once we don’t have to worry about him because he is in a safe place and fast asleep!”

They all got a chuckle out of that. Series looked at the odd couple that was Tenshi and Alphonse saying, “You get to Central as fast as you can. There is a police station not too far away and I think I may be able to convince them to give me transport to the Furher. Feel free to use that ring I gave you to check up on me once you are back at the base. I think I’ll feel a little more confident knowing you two have my back.”

They nodded and she headed out making her way swiftly down the creaky stairs. Alphonse and Tenshi looked around the room they were in and sighed almost simultaneously.

“Well, in theory the safe house was a good idea,” Alphonse said conversationally as he led the way out of the room.

“Yeah, but how did Envy break through the Ward?” Tenshi wanted to know. “He can’t do Alchemy.”

“Yes, but his master can,” Alphonse said. “Kenton may have figured out a way to fool the Ward by somehow altering Envy’s essence so it mimics one of ours when he assumes one of our shapes.”

“Is that possible?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Alphonse said. “But in our research into the Philosopher’s Stone Ed and I discovered just how many things can be done using Alchemy that we never even dreamed of. Just because we don’t know how to do something doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”


Once they were downstairs the Doctor phoned Central to let Mustang know Tenshi was found alive and well. However, she discovered he had already departed for the Furher’s Palace so she was forced to move to Plan B. She garnered transportation for herself to the Furher’s Palace for the outward reason of fetching the Colonel to take him to see the Princess at the hospital. Her own reason for going was to do a little snooping around to see if she could get any clues as to what Kenton was up to. She knew she was the least visible member of the group and as such had the best chance to move around in enemy territory without arousing much suspicion.

Seris also arranged to get Alphonse and Tenshi a ride to the hospital. She knew both of them would want to see Edward and if anyone could convince the headstrong Alchemist to obey doctor’s orders it would be the two young men standing before her.

When the cars arrived, both teams headed off to their separate destinations each hoping the other would meet with success…
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SORRY SO LONG BETWEEN UPDATES!
I started a new job and working 12 hour shifts is tough!
Once I get used to these hours and the RPG this is based on starts anew there WILL be updates!
THANKS for your patience and readership!