Chapter 15: Fullmetal Heart

Shaken by his brother's outburst, Edward apologizes and swears to restore Alphonse to flesh. Still haunted by Barry the Chopper, Al fires back with a darker fear: that alchemy only assumes a soul and mind exist, that these have never been proven, and that his memories and identity could all be an artificial invention corroborated by everyone who claims to know him. Edward storms off, but Winry rounds on Al with her wrench and tears, insisting that Ed's real unspoken dread was that his little brother might blame him for the night that maimed them both. She recalls Edward crying himself to sleep on life support, terrified of being hated for their shared tragedy, and orders Al to go apologize. On the roof, Ed sidesteps the apology by baiting Al into a sparring match, then wins his first-ever bout with a cheap trick using a bedsheet. Reminiscing over childhood scuffles, the brothers reaffirm that their bodies and their resolve to recover them are both real. Watching alongside Maes, Winry remarks that some feelings always have to be said out loud.

Later the Elrics, Hughes, and Armstrong compare notes, and Ed sketches the two Lab 5 attackers, their Ouroboros marks, and the array used to make a Philosopher's Stone. Their guards stiffen when an unexpected figure asks to see Edward: Fuhrer King Bradley walks in. After pleasantries, he chides Armstrong for prying into central command, then reveals he knows the boys seek the Stone and gravely presses them on how much they understand. When Ed cannot answer, Bradley laughs it off, confides his own suspicion of corruption within the military, and observes that the Lab 5 researchers all vanished just before the facility fell, proof that the hidden enemy outpaces even his intelligence network. Declaring the group trustworthy, he forbids further inquiry, warns them to trust no one since the whole military may be compromised, and promises to call on them. Then, hearing his bodyguards approach, he slips out the window with a cheerful goodbye.

That evening Hughes discusses the religious riots in Reole and unrest in the north and west with Captain Focker, then bolts to the records room as a horrifying realization strikes. There he confirms a link between the Reole turmoil and the Ishvalan war, and he resolves to warn both Mustang and Bradley at once. The door seals, and Lust appears, declaring he knows too much to live. Recognizing her Ouroboros from Ed's drawing, Hughes wards off a fatal claw strike and cuts her with a concealed push knife, then flees, believing her dead. Distrusting the military line, he reaches an outside phone booth and demands Mustang, but as he verifies his identity a figure resembling Maria Ross holds a pistol to his head. Hughes notes the impostor lacks the mole beneath Ross's left eye; Envy calmly fixes the detail, then, spotting a dropped photo of Hughes' family, shifts into the shape of his wife. The hesitation is fatal. In East City, Roy finally picks up the line to silence, as Hughes lies dead on the booth floor.

Edward and Alphonse settle their argument and renew their pledge to regain their bodies. Fuhrer King Bradley makes his first proper appearance, warning the group off the Philosopher's Stone case and telling them to trust no one. Hughes uncovers that Amestris' major conflicts have been staged to trace a nationwide pattern, wounds Lust, and tries to warn Mustang. Envy, disguised first as Ross and then as Gracia, exploits Hughes' hesitation and murders him at a public phone booth.

The chapter names a Resembool waterway called Rain River and first mentions that Ed and Al once fought over which of them would marry Winry. It marks Bradley's official debut and the moment Hughes becomes the first to notice that Amestris' historical crises were arranged into a precise geometric figure around the country. Hughes' military identification code is given as USO-800. Envy's comment about meeting Hughes at the hospital implies the homunculi had been watching Edward throughout his treatment, and one panel briefly draws Armstrong without his mustache.