Fullmetal Alchemist 68

Editing is done. Ready for the full TMI treatment :)

Page 0:
Fullmetal Alchemist

Al/Ed: Zzzzzzzz...

Text: A father watches his children sleep...

Page 1:
Trisha: You know, you CAN stroke their hair or pat them.
They're your sons.
Why are you so restrained with them?

Sfx: Scratch scratch
Hoenheim: I don't want them becoming monsters like me.

Trisha: Dear!
Geez...
If you could "catch" it, I'd have turned into what you are a long time ago.

Page 2:
Trisha: Silly man...

Hoenheim: I've seen countless deaths ever since my body became what it is.
I've watched friends age and die...seen places that used to be familiar change completely.

I look on as people repeat the same mistakes over and over, without even trying to learn from them.

My only relief was to remind myself that each of those blunders was just a small blip in the grand scheme of things.

There's still a myriad of beautiful, unique things that I've yet to experience.

I thought that this body would give me the time I needed to see them all...
I thought it would be wonderful...

Trisha,
When I met you, and we had kids,
I realized that I would never change, while my sons, my own flesh and blood, will grow. They will age.

and that
terrified me.

Page 3:
Hoenheim: I thougt,
"Truly...I am a monster."

Title: Family Portrait

Page 4:
Photographer: Let's get started!
Stand over here, please

Trisha: Dear! Come in here, please!

Hoenheim: What's all this?
Photographer: Good afternoon, sir.

Hoenheim: Is that a photographer?
Trisha: Yes. Now put on your tie!

Page 5:
Trisha: We don't have any pictures of us all together.
So I figured we should take one!

Hoenheim: What brought that on?
Hey! Heeeeeeeey!

Pay attent-
Bubble: Tug

Sfx: Tug
crawl

Page 6:
Trisha: You hold Ed!
Hoenheim: Buh? Eh-

Photographer: I'm all set.
Everyone get together!

Hoenheim: Trishaaaaaaaaa~
She got us...

Page 7:
SFX: SMILE

Photographer: Everyone look at the camera and hold still.
Trisha: Someday I'll turn into a monster, too. A wrinkly old hag!

But that's fine.
No matter what I end up looking like, if we can still take pictures of all of us smiling together, I'll be happy.

So please...stay with your family.
Don't be distant...don't shit

Page 8:
Trisha: And don't call yourself a monster.
Photographer: Say cheese!

Trisha: Dear...
Smile.

Page 9:
Hoenheim: Everything went wrong after my body became what it is.

Page 10:
That's why I accepted it,
and planned to go on living forever, as I am.

But that's changed.

I want to stay with Trisha, and my kids...

Page 11:
Hoenheim: I want to age with them...and die with them.

Damn him...
He leaves me no choice.

Page 12:
SFX: Swip

Hoenheim: That should...
do it!

Mmm.
This should hold for a while-
Uh-
SFX: Slip

Page 13:
Trisha: Oh my.
What're you doing?

Hoenheim: Putting up a swing.
Trisha: Teehe...You've never been much of a handyman.

Hoenheim: It dawned on me that I've never really done anything for them...I'm always buried in research.

So I figured I could at least...you know...

Trisha...

Trisha: Yes?

Hoenheim: I
need do go.

Page 14:
Hoenheim: Please wait for me.
Trisha: I will.

Hoenheim: Don't tell them about me.
Trisha: You're not going to say goodbye?

Hoenheim: No.
If I have to look at them I'll start crying.
Trisha: That's not a BAD thing!

SFX: Click

Page 15:
Hoenheim: Oh-
Trisha: What're you boys doing up so early?

Ed: Al needs to pee.

Trisha: And you're helping him, what a good brother!
Thank you, Ed!

Page 16:
Hoenheim: Bye.

Ed: Bright-
Al: Bwite-

SFX: Creeeeeeeeak

Page 17:
SFX: SLAM

Page 18:
Hoenheim: Just a bit longer...

SFX: WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Leader: Well?
Soldier 2: Nothing.
The line's dead.

Page 19:
Leader: Figures.
We're on recon and we can't even tell them what we find.

Soldier: Should we continue, sir?
We do have the equipment to set up camp.

Leader: Yes...
There are rules to follow when digging a tunnel this big, like setting up exits every so often for trucks to remove the
rubble,
and creating ventilation shafts.

We can go a little deeper.
Smith, report back to base.

Smith: Yes sir.

Leader: Move out.
?
What's that?

Page 20:
Small SFX all over the page: Zo zo zo zo

Click
Soldier: What is it?
Leader: Fall back!
Horse: Neigh!

Page 21:
SFX: ZO ZO ZO ZO

Page 22:
SFX: ZO ZO ZO ZO
Soldiers: GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Smith: Eee-

Page 23:
Smith: Aaah-
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

SFX: ZOZOZOZOZOZO

Page 24:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Henshel: Nn?

SFX: clipclop, clipclop

Soldier: The recon team's back!

Henshel: Wait....
somethin's not right.

SFX: Baddombadoom

Page 25:
SFX: Baddombadoom
Clopclopclop

Soldier: Whoooooah!
Easy-
Hey, EASY!

Soldier 2: What the hell-

Page 26:
Raven: Would you be interested in seeing a TRULY immortal army?
Ed: Gotcha...
But...

Olivia: Took the bait awfully fast, didn't you Raven?
Are you trying to trick me?
Or are you just stupid?

I need to keep up the act and get as much information as possible...

Raven: How about it?
No death, no decaying body...

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

Page 27:
Olivia: I WANNA CUT HIM TO BITS!
RRRRRRGH!

Raven: Hm?

Olivia: Nothing.
I have no idea how to answer such a silly question...

Raven: There are two ways.
You're either interested, or you're not.
SFX: Smirk

Page 28:
Olivia: He's pressing the issue...
You don't seem happy, though, Raven.

...I'll admit, I'm intrigued.
Tell me a little more?

"The day immortality ceases to be a dream", you'd share that gift with all my soldiers, not just me, yes?

He's pretty worked up.
Maybe he's running out of time?

Raven: When the day comes,
yes.

Olivia: Fantastic!

The problem is what to do until "the day" comes to stay in their favor.
If I'm too obedient, Briggs will just become another one of their tools.

But if I resist too much, they'll...probably demote me.
And they'll have no problem finding a replacement who'll follow orders without question.

SFX: Smirk smirk

Page 29:
Olivia: Hmm...what should I say here...
SFX: KNOCKNOCKNOCK.

Olivia: Pardon me.
What is it?

Soldier: My apologies for interrupting!
The reconnaissance team sent into the tunnel has-
Er-

Raven: What about the tunnel?

Page 30:
Olivia: It's fine.
Out with it.

Soldier: ...Ma'am...

Something has happened to the team.

Olivia: Understood. I'll head right down there.
They're at the tunnel site, you said?

General Raven, I'd like you to come as well.
Raven: Me?
Oh, yes, of course.

Page 31:
Buccaneer: Let's move!
Radio: SLAM

Ed: Whoa, whoa!
Wait up!

We were tied up, remember?

Buccaneer: Ah, right.

Al: Tie him up tight.
Ed: Right, it'll look weird if the ropes are loose or barely tied.

Falman: You got it.
SFX: SQUISH
Ed: TOO TIGHT, TOO TIGHT! OFFICER FALMAN, ARE YOU PISSED AT ME OR SOMETHING?
Falman: That's LIEUTENANT!

SFX: Step step step step

Page 32:
SFX: Step step

Miles: What's going on, Buccaneer? You'v got quite an entourage there.
Buccaneer: Sir! I'm transferring the Elric Brothers from the east block to the west.

May I ask who you are escorting?

Miles: Zolf. J. Kimbley.
He's General Raven's special guest.

Al: Kimbley...
Ed: ...Then he must be the Crimson...

Kimbley: The Elric Brothers...
Then you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Page 33:
Kimbley: Well, that's certainly a fitting nickname, isn-
Ah-
It's YOU, is it?

Ed: Haven't had THIS conversation in a while.

Kimbley: Pleased to meet you,
Fullmetal Alchemist.

Ed: ...Likewise.

SFX: People speaking

Henshel: General!
Olivia: Henshel.

SFX: Step step step

Page 34:
Henshel: I sent in a platoon without waiting for your orders.
Olivia: I don't care,
apparently this is an emergency.
What happened?

We don't know, but something happened to the squad while they were investigating.

Olivia: Any word from them?

Henshel: They had radio equipment, but they never contacted us.

And Smith's horse...

It came back empty except for this arm. We think it's Smith's.

Olivia: Just an arm...
And the rest of him?

Henshel: We don't know.

It appears to have been sliced off by an edged weapon.

Also, the horse has gone berserk. We can't get it to calm down.

Page 35:
Olivia: Do we know what's in the tunnel?

Henshel: No idea. And since we don't know what happened to the recon team, it's too risky to deploy a medical unit.

Raven: This can't continue, Major General Armstrong.
No, no, this won't do at all.
Such a dangerous hole must be closed and exploration forbidden.

Where's that "Invincible Bio-soldier" you mentioned?

Page 36:
Raven: Put him back in the hole and close it, General.

Henshel: You can't be-

Raven: You grunts don't need to worry about what's down there.
I'm speaking to the General.

That's the law of the land here, yes?
The strong...
take things by force, Major General Armstrong.

Page 37:
Bradley: Mmh.
I see.

Follow Raven's lead and proceed as planned.

And don't worry.
Your freedom and authority are both secure.

Kimbley: I am grateful.

Oh, and,
I met the Fullmetal Alchemist as well.

Page 38:
Kimbley: Apparently, he "refused to reveal what he knows about the mysterious bio-soldier," was suspected of being a spy, and

locked up.

Is he here on your orders?

Bradley: No. This is the first I've heard of him being up there.

Kimbley: Oh dear, shouldn't you be keeping a closer eye on such valuable "resources"?

Bradley: I know they're researching Xing's style of alchemy...

And that
took them to Briggs...

SFX: Ching

Bradley: Hmph.
I thought I'd hammered that nail down, but it seems to need another whack.

Page 39:
SFX: Brrrrrrrring
Garfiel: Coming, coming!

Helooooo, Garfiel's Atelier! [An Atelier is an artist's studio]

Oh?
Yes, she's here...

Page 40:
Garfiel: Winryyyy, telephone!
Winry: Just a sec!
Garfiel: It's from the military!
Winry: ...the military?