Iserlohnn - continued

The Crimson Alchemist

After a the nearest few bookstores turned out to be dead ends, the group wound up on the steps of the Iserlohnn Alchemical Library. It was a decent sized structure housing not only all of that country’s books on Alchemy but it also held areas where Alchemists could do research and experimentation. All of them wanted to check it out, not just because it could lead them to Kimbley but because they each had an area they were researching and hoped something new could be found on their subjects.

Inside the main rotunda it looked like a standard library with books on row upon row of stacks. There was a floor above them visible from the ground floor and when they looked up they noticed there were people by the railing staring down at them. The people looking at them didn’t look like Alchemists but, then again, neither did Obaba and she was supposedly a very powerful practitioner of the art. Edward scanned the first floor and noticed they were the only ones in that section of the library.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Edward said.

From out of the shadows stepped a man in his mid-thirties. He was wearing the blue pants of the State military with a wife beater tank top. He had a slim wiry build and his long dark hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. He cast his rather crazed eye on Edward.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” he remarked.

“Kimbley,” Edward breathed.

“Glad to see you remember me!” Kimbley said stepping more fully into the light. “I see you still hang out with the Tin Man. And you’ve added Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion to your entourage. How sweet, my little Dorothy.”

“Fuck you,” Edward spat.

Tohru backed away from the quartet and tried to make a run for the door. Kimbley didn’t seem at all interested in the priestess and let her escape. However, no one else could follow her because he set off one of his many traps and the door sealed shut behind her.

“Seems you need to learn your place, boy,” Kimbley stated advancing on Edward.

Edward reshaped his Auto-mail arm into a sword and was quickly on the defensive. “Search this place for the Princess!” he commanded. “I’ll handle him!”

Seris knew she was useless in a fight and dashed off to begin looking for Princess Katarin. Alphonse wasn’t going to let Edward fight Kimbley on his own. This madman almost killed both of them the last time they crossed paths. No way Edward could take him single-handed. Tenshi ducked behind one of the support pillars quickly using the cover to hide him as he drew the circle that allowed him to change the weather. While Kimbley’s attention was focused on Edward, Tenshi was able to put into motion what he needed in order to unleash his most devastating attacks.

Alphonse tried to move in to help Edward fight Kimbley but the people who had been watching them from the floor above suddenly drew guns and began opening fire. Bullets bounced harmlessly off of Alphonse but the ricochet made his being that close to Edward a hazard. Alphonse decided to go upstairs and stop the gunmen leaving Edward and Tenshi to fight Kimbley. As he ran up the stairs Alphonse caught a glimpse of Tenshi behind a pillar in the middle of some working but he wasn’t sure what the little Alchemist was up to. Hopefully it was something that would help out Edward, since Al’s leaving left Edward facing Kimbley on his own.

Kimbley was a skilled Alchemist but he wasn’t the best at close-quarters hand-to-hand fighting like Edward was. However, he only had to touch Edward in order to start the chain reaction that would turn Fullmetal’s lithe body into a bomb. Edward was being good at keeping out of his reach but it only took one misstep and then Edward would be his newest weapon of mass destruction. Edward managed to score a few hits on the Crimson Alchemist but they were not good enough to drop him. Kimbley was good at deflecting his shots and keeping him off-balance.

“Leave Edo-Sempai alone!” Tenshi said angrily.

“Looks like your little girlfriend wants to help,” Kimbley snickered and Edward ignored the jibe taking the chance to slash at him again. His shot went wide and Kimbley said to Tenshi, “After I’m finished with the Fullmetal brat, I’m going to have a little fun playing with you.”

Tenshi felt the air filling with static electricity. The storm he had summoned was forming with the library being its epicenter. There was just enough of a charge in the air for him to gather it into one bolt and aim it at Kimbley. Channeling all the ambient energy into the yo-yo, a focus for his electrical attacks that had inscribed upon it his unique Alchemical circle, Tenshi blasted it into the ground. The floor ripped apart from the force of the charge and a bolt of white-hot lightning collided with Kimbley knocking the man into the air literally throwing him into the stacks ten feet behind him.

Edward took the opening Tenshi gave him and leaped onto Kimbley like a lion on a gazelle. Kimbley looked stunned from Tenshi’s lightning bolt but Edward found out too late that he was only faking being knocked out. The second Edward made physical contact with him Kimbley grabbed him by the throat and activated the chemical chain reaction to turn Edward Elric into a walking explosive.

“You are going to make quite a spectacular bomb,” Kimbley stated as he choked Edward for a moment before shoving him roughly back onto his butt.

Where Kimbley had grabbed him felt like it was on fire. He had no idea how much time he had left but he knew he could not undo Kimbley’s attack without help. The last time this happened Alphonse and the Colonel both had to work together to save his neck. This time he only had Tenshi and the Doctor as possible assistants for Al. Tenshi was a bright boy but his teachings had been very limited until he came to Central. The Doctor was a completely unknown quantity. He knew she had some skill as an Alchemist but the fact she wasn’t State Certified worried him. Did she know enough to help or was he really gonna die this time.

Kimbley got up ignoring Edward in favor of his new target Tenshi. “Little lady has a big punch,” he taunted a she closed in on Tenshi. “Let’s just see what you’re made of!”

He moved to grab Tenshi but the little Alchemist was spry enough to keep out of reach. Kimbley was pursuing him, keeping him moving and on the defensive and in no position to use his powers. Tenshi was scared and cried out in terror when he felt Kimbley’s hand strike him in the chest.

The expression on both Kimbley’s face and Tenshi’s was one of shock. Tenshi because he knew what that man’s touch could do and Kimbley’s because he just found out Tenshi wasn’t a woman.

“You’re not a girl!” Kimbley said surprised.

“But you are a dead man!” Edward declared as he jumped in taking a nice slice at Kimbley distracting him long enough to give Tenshi room to breathe. Kimbley was forced to focus his attention back on the knife-wielding Edward.

“You are the dead man, Elric,” Kimbley stated flatly as he deftly dodged Edward’s attacks. “The change has taken hold. Just look at yourself!”

Edward caught a glimpse of his reflection in his Auto-mail sword arm and gasped. His throat and chest were all black and the color was slowly spreading outward. Seeing he was slowly getting closer to the end only made Edward more determined not to die in vain.

“When I go I’m taking you with me!” Edward stated as he leaped at Kimbley this time catching hold and pinning the larger man to the floor. He shoved his Auto-mail sword into Kimbley’s gut so hard it went through him and was embedded in the floor under the man’s back. Edward was nose to nose with the snarling Kimbley when he whispered icily, “I’ll see you in Hell!”

Kimbley tried to break free but the sword held him fast. He tried to shove Edward off of him but the boy had him in too good a hold. Kimbley swung and his fist connected hard with Edward’s jaw but that still wasn’t enough to break him free. He began wildly swinging at Edward whose gold eyes had an almost demonic look to them, as he stood rooted to the spot taking a beating that would have downed any ordinary man.

Tenshi saw how Edward had Kimbley pinned and it gave him an idea. Again pulling forth the static in the air, Tenshi charged up another lightning bolt this time using Edward’s Auto-mail sword arm as a conduit. The blast shot through the metal and into Kimbley who screamed in agony as his body was enveloped in an electrical field. When the charge fizzled out Kimbley lay there a smoking ruin, barely alive his body smelling like it had just been cooked, and Edward was still straddling him wearing a shocked expression on his half-black face.

Tenshi ran over to Edward and forced him to get up. He saw the change taking place on Edward’s body and said, “Edo-Sempai, what do I do?”

Edward noticed a growing black spot on Tenshi’s chest. He didn’t want to scare his Kohai. He’d find a way to reverse what was happening to the two of them before it was too late.

“Get Al!” Edward ordered. “I’ll go look for the Doctor. I think reversing what Kimbley did is going to take a group effort.”

Tenshi raced off to do Edward’s bidding and Edward took off in the direction he saw the Doctor go. She had been headed to the part of the building set aside for research and experimentation. Since Kimbley was fried, Edward wondered if the wards that had been put up dropped now that the power source for them was no longer in play. He grabbed the disk that held the Princess’s message on it, placed it on the floor and charged it. Instead of the plea for help Edward saw the Princess lying on what looked like a couch in a windowless room. He also got the feeling she was very close by. The image faded and he was pocketing the disk as he raced down the hallway towards the room he was sure was her prison cell.

When Edward got to the place where he thought she was he saw there was nothing but a blank wall where a door should be. Edward activated his own inner circle and placed his hands on the wall. A second later there was a doorway and when he looked inside he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on lying fast asleep on a ratty old sofa. Her hands were bound in stocks, much like the ones that had been used on him to keep him from clapping his hands together the one time he had been somebody’s prisoner, and her feet were also bound together with rope.

As he stood there gaping in awe at her she awakened. The sudden bright light made her squint and, as she tried to make out his face, she asked, “Aren’t you a little short for a State Alchemist?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m Edward Elric. I’m here to rescue you.”

“You’re who?”

“Edward Elric. Flame sent me.”

She sat up with a jolt. “Flame? Where is he?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way back to Obaba,” Edward said as he quickly freed her from her bonds.

The Princess was about to step out of her prison and follow Edward into the hall when a hail of gunfire made Edward shove her backward into her cell. He quickly used Alchemy to make a wall appear between the gunmen and himself. The sound of gunfire was muffled but still present; however, none of it was getting past Edward’s defenses.

“Nice trick,” she commented when she saw the thick wall that blocked the hallway. “Did you plan this rescue or are you just playing it by ear?”

“A little of both,” Edward admitted. “Let’s go!” He grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her down the hallway away from the gunfire.

Princess Katarin was too shocked to do anything other than follow her savior. In the light she could now see this Edward Elric was quite good-looking, even if his pale skin was slowly turning black. What caught her attention most were his eyes. She had never seen anyone with natural gold eyes before. He was such an intense looking person. And the tight leather pants he wore left little to the imagination. At least Flame had sent someone who was as handsome as he was talented to rescue her, she thought to herself. She hoped they all got out of there quickly and in one piece. Katarin was looking forward to the opportunity to give Edward a proper thank you.

Edward found a stairway and took it up. Katarin had no idea what he was doing.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“My brother is upstairs. I didn’t know of any way out from this section of the building but I do know how to get out from the second floor,” Edward explained.

“So there are two of you?”

“Four actually,” Edward said as he led the way towards the front of the building. “I have Tenshi Hikaru the Lightning Alchemist and Doctor Seris Ferguson on my team as well. Come on!”

They ran through the upstairs, which was a combination of research areas and book stacks. When they reached the overlook they had seen from the first floor, both Edward and Princess Katarin came face to face with Alphonse and a pile of unconscious gunmen.

“I haven’t seen so many strange shapes since my mother gave me an Erector set,” Edward remarked gazing upon the moaning bodies of the barely conscious bad guys. “Nice work, Al.”

“Is she…?”

Edward nodded. “Al, this is Princess Katarin.”

The Princess looked up at the huge armored form and her mouth became a large O. She had never seen anyone wearing armor before. “Guess you’re the big brother,” she surmised eyeing Alphonse.

“Um, no, he is,” Alphonse corrected pointing at Edward who looked like he was going blow a fuse.

“But he is so small…”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL? WHAT IS ISERLOHNN? LAND OF THE GIANTS?” Edward screamed at her while Alphonse restrained him so all could do was rant. “Goddammit Al! Let me GO!”

Tenshi giggled. The Princess turned to see who was making that girlish noise and saw a pair of large lilac eyes staring at her from behind a bookcase.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Tenshi,” he said closing the distance between them. “Edo-Sempai hates being called small.”

She looked down at Tenshi. This person was even smaller than Edward but so adorable she had to resist the urge to reach out and hug her. Or was Tenshi a he? She couldn’t tell.

“Edward! Tenshi! Where are you?” they heard Seris call from the floor below them.

“We’re up here Doctor!” Tenshi said going to the raining to peer down at her. “We are all okay. How are you?”

“Fine.” She noticed the crisped body of Kimbley and heard a low moan emanating from it. “My god, he’s still alive!” she cried in horror.

“Fuck!” Edward swore as he broke free of Al’s grip and leaped over the balcony.

“Edo-Sempai, wait for me!” Tenshi called and he, too, leaped over the railing.

“Are they insane!” The Princess declared as she ran to the balcony and saw that both Alchemists were perfectly fine.

“How can they do that?” she wondered.

“Training,” Alphonse explained. “Stay with me Princess. If Kimbley is still alive, it isn’t safe for you here.”

She followed Alphonse down the stairs and stayed close. He was just as worried as Edward and Tenshi about Kimbley still being up and a possible threat. Edward transformed his Auto-mail arm back to the blade form and was about to take Kimbley’s head when the body just vanished in a haze of shimmering lights.

“What the Hell?” Edward cried as he stood there staring at blank floor.

“Where did he go?” Tenshi asked.

“Someone used a Transfer Portal,” the Princess aid emerging from where she had been hiding behind Alphonse. “He must have had a Key on him.”

“A…what?” Edward looked at her confused.

“A lot of our Alchemy is very old,” Princess Katarin explained. “Many things people learned to do with devices we do using Alchemy. Like the message disk I sent to Flame. That is how we communicate over long distances. Transfer Portals are another thing we use to get to places that are too far to reach by horse or by foot.”

“You have the train,” Edward reminded her.

“The train only came to us after my father, King Bradley, signed a peace treaty with Amestris, your homeland. He wanted some modern conveniences for our people and your Furher wanted more lands to call his own. So the exchange was made.”

“If that is true, then maybe you know something about the Philosopher’s Stone,” Edward ventured.

Katarin gasped. She wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Knowledge of the Stone was sacred and it was only spoken of within the walls of the Shrine. Was this boy like the others who have come to Iserlohnn seeking the secret of the Stone? Or was it just a question brought up by the fact it was also old Alchemy, like her communication disk and the Transfer Portal. She couldn’t be sure. He was a State Alchemist and they were known for wanting secrets to make the military stronger. The Princess wasn’t sure she could trust Edward with such sacred knowledge so she kept her secret to herself.

“I know of its power,” She allowed after a thoughtful pause. “And our library has books about it. But it is only a legend.”

Edward sighed. Was this another dead end? He wouldn’t know that until he saw what the books in the Iserlohnn library said. He would have to go there and investigate further after he completed his mission and got the Princess home safe and sound.

But before he could do that he had to reverse what Kimbley did to him and Tenshi. “Al, do you think you can reverse Kimbley’s effect?”

“Not by myself! Last time the Colonel helped!”

“Yeah, well, undoing this requires a knowledge of both chemistry and human physiology as well as Alchemy,” Edward said. “At least that is what Mustang told me after he helped you reverse this the last time it happened.”

“Then let me help you,” Series offered. “I know the medical end of it and I have a basic knowledge of Alchemy. I can lend my expertise as a doctor. That should fill in the gaps so your brother can do the actual working with me guiding him in the right direction.”

“It should work,” Tenshi said hopefully. “Seris is a doctor you know.”

“Okay,” Edward agreed. “If it works, great. If not, take my head. The transmutation requires living tissue. If I’m dead I won’t explode.”

“Nii-san no!” Alphonse cried horrified.

“Al, if this doesn’t work I could wind up killing people,” Edward stated flatly. “I’m already going to burn for what I’ve done, I don’t need the temperature raised an extra thousand degrees.”

Alphonse looked like he was about to cry. Tenshi wrapped his arms around Al’s huge armored one saying, “It will work. You must have faith.”

Alphonse patted Tenshi on the head like he was a kitten. “I’ll try,” he told him and Tenshi smiled.

“We don’t have much time…”

Hastily they drew the Transmutation Circle and the moment it was done Edward lay down in its center. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best. The Princess stood off to the side with Tenshi while the Doctor and Alphonse together charged the circle. While they watched and prayed they looked on as shimmering blue light bathed Edward in its glow. The warmth and eerie light made Edward open his eyes as his curiosity got the better of him. As he watched in awe, the blackness that had been trying to overtake his body faded away and was replaced by healthy normal flesh. The hotness that had been a sign of the Kimbley’s molecular transformation was gone. The Transmutation worked!

The glow faded and Edward sat up with a start. “Tenshi, get in here!” Edward ordered as he left the circle and the little Alchemist took his place in the middle.

Edward joined the Doctor and Alphonse and added his power to theirs as once again the Circle was charged and now it was Tenshi’s turn to have Kimbley’s evil undone. Once he was cured and the circle complete, Edward erased the evidence of their deed and took a moment to thank the Fates for sparing him yet again.

“I think we are finished here Brother,” Alphonse said quietly. “Let’s take Princess Katarin home to her grandmother.”
Edward nodded and headed for the main door. Kimbley had sealed it behind them when they entered but that was easily rectified by Edward, who undid the Crimson’s Alchemist’s working with the ease of an afterthought. He was out and leading the way back to the Shrine without so much as a backward glance.

They were halfway back to the Shrine when Edward saw Kimbley standing beneath a streetlight smiling wickedly at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and Alphonse had to stop short in order to keep from knocking Edward over.

“It’s him,” Edward breathed as he stared at Kimbley in shock.

All eyes were turned in the direction Edward was looking. They all saw Kimbley standing there looking smug and next to him was a slender man clad all in a white leather duster with a wide brimmed hat that hid most of his face and he had knee-length white blonde hair that flowed in the wind like a snowfall behind him. The White-Haired Man and Kimbley exchanged a confident look and moved off immersing themselves in the crowd.

“He’s not escaping this time!” Edward threatened as he tore off without a thought after Kimbley.

“Edward don’t!” Doctor Ferguson called.

“Does he always do thing like this?” the Princess asked.

Tenshi smiled up at her. “Uh huh.”

All four of them raced off at a trot trying to keep pace with the fleet footed Fullmetal Alchemist.
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