On a quiet street on the outskirts of the city, a small blonde boy sat on roof on the nearby church. He was sat stock still amongst the stone gargoyles as his un-blinking golden eyes scanned over each and every household.

It was early evening and the streets were mostly empty as the last of the local children were ushered into their homes by doting mothers. The boy grinned. They had a good reason to worry over their children's safety. After all, there was a serial killer on the loose.

He let out a low chuckle and stood up, his long red coat flapping out behind him from the breeze. He breathed in the crisp autumn air and stepped toward the edge of the building. The streets were completely empty by now so there was no one around to see as he clapped his hands together and pressed them lightly to the side of the church.

In a flash of lightning blue, chunks of the stone wall began jutting out allowing the nimble boy to jump from one to the other until he landed gracefully on the floor. He walked away without bothering to fix the wall. He hated holy buildings anyway.

He looked up into the sky as he strolled confidently along the dusty streets. The once blue-grey sky was turning a deep navy in colour and he frowned. Pulling his hands from his pockets he broke into run. The houses blurred past him but he paid them no mind. He'd already chosen his victim for tonight.

At the very end of the street there was a whitewashed house that was noticeably larger than all the others. The boy knew from experience that a very wealthy man and his family lived in that particular house. The house that would soon be filled with the stench of blood and a most un-savory atmosphere.

The golden eyed boy stopped short outside of his destination and walked up to the large oak door. Smiling he ran a gloved hand across the wood. With another flash of sapphire light the door exploded into a thousand pieces and he stepped inside.

The explosion had done its job and alerted the residents that they had a visitor as just moments later a large dark haired man charged into the corridor and stared fearfully at the shattered entryway.

"Y-You!"

The man bellowed his eyes wide in fear.

"You…you're-"

The words he had been about to say fizzled on his tongue when the small boy in front of him gave a sadistic smirk.

"You know who I am?"

The man nodded mutely and the boy's grin grew wider as he took a step forwards into the beige hallway.

"Well sir, if you know who I am…I assume you know what I'm about to do?"

He took another small step forwards, his footsteps echoing in the long corridor.

"P-please…don't hu-"

"Shut up."

The man stiffened at the command and promptly closed his mouth. The boy was frowning now, staring directly at him with intense golden orbs.

"Where are your jewels?"

"There's a box…on the mantel, and in the bedroom."

He smirked again, and studied his gloves intently, keeping a watch on the man from the corner of his eye.

"And I believe you have a wife, do you not sir? Where is she?"

"U-upstairs, sleeping. But please, don't hurt her…y-you can have whatever you want but please…Don't hurt her…"

"Does this wife of yours have a wedding ring?"

"Y-yes and she'll give it to you, p-please. I'm begging you-"

"Contrary to what you might think sir, I do have manners. And I'm going to let you know that you and your precious wife are not going to die in vain. I thank you for the jewels…"

The man's eyes widened in fear as the boy grinned again and clapped his palms together, pressing them against the nearest wall. As soon as he did more sparks shot out of his hands and through the wall.

Before anything could be said or done a razor sharp spear shot out of the wall and pierced the man straight through the head. In a matter of moments, the now dead body of the man was slumping forwards and leaking ruby coloured blood onto the wooden flooring.

With a small chuckle the boy gathered the jewels from the box on the mantel and headed up stairs, preparing himself for more bloodshed. Bloodshed that would only make him all the more wealthy.

As he ascended the stairs he could hear shuffling coming from what he assumed to be the bedroom. He stopped at the door way and listened intently, there was a soft melodic sound coming from the room and he chuckled darkly. The man's wife was in there, humming as she went about her business, completely un-aware that her precious husband was no more.

He placed a hand on the door and, just like the first door had done; it shattered into a thousand pieces. He heard a loud gasp and he grinned, stepping inside.

"Good evening ma'am. I'm here for your jewels, if you'd be so kind as to hurry up and give them over I may make it a great deal less painful for you."

The brown haired woman blinked in terror and quickly scurried around grabbing anything valuable and placing them on the bed that separated her and the boy.

"W-who are you?" she stammered, entwining her fingers in a prayer like manner. The blonde boy gave her a bored smile as he picked up each item off the bed ne by one and placed it into his pockets.

"Well…People tend to call me a lot of things: A serial killer, a thief, a murderer…but despite what they might think I do have a name. It's Edward, Edward Elric. But of course, now that you know my name and what I look like, for my own safety I'm afraid I cannot let you live. "

The woman's face crumpled but unlike her pitiful husband she didn't try begging or pleading, instead she just nodded as a lone tear slid down her face.

"And I suppose, Edward, that my husband is already-"

"Dead, yes. So you won't be needing that pretty little ring on your finger now will you?"

The woman shook her head, more tears beginning to follow the first. With shaking fingers she removed the wedding ring and tossed it across the room, Edward caught it with one hand and placed it into his pocket.

"Thank you. Goodbye, ma'am."

He clapped his hands together and squatted down, swiftly pressing his palms against the floor. In a split second a thin spear jutted out of the floor and punctured the woman through the heart. There was an unpleasant spurting sound as her blood forced its way out and splattered everything in sight, including Edward.

He grimaced and brought a hand up to wipe the red blotches off his face then turned on his heels and descended the stairs, his pockets filled with yet more valuable items for his 'collection'.

---

His plan had been to leave the house quickly and return to hideout. But as he reached the bottom of the stairs he realized that his plan wasn't going to be so straightforward.

Stood in the doorway in all their blue uniformed glory were the state alchemists. Edward groaned as he spotted a familiar face amongst the group of authority figures. Towards the front of the group stood a young boy, he had dark blonde hair tied back into a pony tail and a face similar to his own.

When the boy saw Ed his eyes widened and he bit his lip.

"Brother…"

Ed smirked and leaned smugly against the corridor wall.

"Alphonse, it's been a while baby brother, how's it going being a dog of the military?"

"Brother…you killed these people?"

Alphonse's voice was quiet as he took in the state of his brother, there were blood stains covering his clothes, some of it dry but the rest of it fresh. The was a red smear across his cheek and Alphonse noticed that his gloves too were covered in the crimson liquid.

"Well Al, you know me, they had something I wanted, and so I took it."

"But why…Why do you have to kill all these people Brother?"

Ed rolled his eyes and stood up away from the wall as he studied his younger brother and the group stood behind him in the doorway. None of them were saying anything; they were watching the exchange between him and Al with extreme interest. Ed frowned.

"Well, if I didn't kill them, they would tell people who I am, what I look like. Then the streets would no longer be a safe place for me. It's much easier if they're not alive to say anything…"

Ed thought for a minute before adding:

"Plus, I don't think I could stop killing now…It's become a kind of hobby for me."

Ed laughed at his own statement as if it were the funniest thing anyone had ever said. Then, before Al could say anything that would undoubtedly put Ed in a bad mood. He slapped his hand together and pressed them against the floor.

As soon as he had, spikes began jutting from the floor causing the military alchemists to jump back to avoid being skewered. While they were saving themselves however, Edward took the chance to sprint around his creations and speed along the streets into the nearest alley.

Behind him he could hear the footsteps of the state alchemists, following him as he weaved in and out of the backstreets, the red tail of his coat flying out behind him. As he curved into another grimy looking alley way he quickly stopped and turned around pressing his hand once again to the stone floor, a giant wall shot up from the ground, shutting him in and the military dogs out.

He smirked and hauled himself up on top a nearby dumpster. From there he jumped up and grabbed hold of the edge of a roof. Just as he pulled himself up, his makeshift wall crumbled to the ground from the force of a different kind of alchemy. He laughed loudly as he ran along the roofs of the neighborhood houses, jumping from one to the other as he escaped once again from the pathetic excuses for alchemists.

---

About half a mile away from the house that Edward had robbed. There was an even bigger house. A house that, from the outside, looked run down and abandoned but in fact was home to seven of the most deadly creatures know to man.

These creatures were known simply as: The homunculus.

Each homunculus had a remarkable ability, a certain power that separated them from the humans. Without it, there would be no way to tell weather or not you were looking into the eyes of a blood thirsty killer, or an average human being.

The eldest of the homunculus was a young looking boy with long green hair that hung waist length in spiky tendrils. His violet eyes shone and his pointed teeth gave him a wicked smirk. His name was Envy, and even whilst he was doing nothing at all, there seemed to be a constant air of mischief about him.

Lately, the homunculus had been keeping low profile. Not long ago they had terrorized the people of central and killed more than 50 innocent civilians simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But people had began to fight back and Dante, the only human and leader of the group, had been worried that if they continued running rampant their hideout would be discovered.

Another taller homunculus was sat beside Envy; she was slender and had long wavy black hair. Apart from the two of them; the only other person in the manor was Dante, the rest of the homunculus had been sent on a 'mission'. Envy had been set to go with them but Dante had snapped that she didn't want the oldest sin ruining her plans.

That had sent Envy into a sulk and Lust had volunteered to 'baby sit' for the duration of the job. However Envy wasn't the easiest person to watch over, he was bratty and annoying and always had to get his own way.

After a half hour of being totally and completely bored Envy got up off the sofa and flicked his hair behind his shoulders.

"I'm going out." He announced.

"Where?" Lust didn't look up from her book as she spoke and Envy scowled.

"Out."

"Don't kill anyone."

"I can't make any promises."

"Envy. I said don't kill anyone." Envy's scowl deepened and he turned and walked to the door.

"Fine I won't, see if I care."

Lust rolled her eyes, knowing full well that it would be on the radio tomorrow that more innocents had been murdered, and if it was, Dante would be furious to say the least.

---

Envy was glad to be out of the mansion and finally into the fresh air, he'd never been one to enjoy being cooped up.

Effortlessly, he jumped up and grasped onto a strong looking branch of a tree. Pulling himself up he then climbed up onto the roof of a rundown factory. From where he stood at the edge of the sloping tiled roof, he saw a gaping hole leading into the highest floor of the building.

Curious as always, he peered into the opening and silently lowered himself down. The room was dusty and smelt damp; he peered around but saw nothing of interest.

Instead of lingering in the unpleasant room, he ventured on, coming to another room of equal unimportance. Envy was beginning to think that perhaps this really was just a rundown old building with nothing to hide, that was until he heard distinct signs of life from the floor below.

Now eager to see his next potential victim, he descended the staircase and came to a rather luxurious looking room. In the centre were a large red velvet lounger and a wooden table laden with jewels. But the treasure didn't interest Envy, what caught his eye was the person sat upon the lounger.

It was a small blonde boy with a blood red coat and the most unusual golden eyes. He was mumbling something to himself and looking over each of the shiny jewels in turn. It became obvious to Envy that this boy was some kind of crook, and normally Envy didn't associate with such lowly criminals. But this boy was so young and surprisingly well dressed for someone who should undoubtedly be living on the streets.

Silently Envy crept over to the doorframe and lingered there, watching the blonde with interest but he was so concentrated on the goods before him that he didn't see the androgynous killer stood just a few feet away.

---

Placing the last sparkling diamond down carefully on the table, Edward grinned to himself. He'd chosen the right house and had come away with more than he'd expected. Sighing contentedly he stood up and stretched. Carefully he took the bag that had been sat next to him on the lounger, and began to fill it with the assorted gems littering the tabletop.

Once every last diamond, ruby and gemstone had been packed safely into the satchel, he swung it over his shoulder and turned on his heels to leave. He only had to take to steps towards the exit before he stopped dead at the sight of Envy stood in his doorway.

"Who're you?" he snapped, completely unafraid. Envy raised a brow in amusement and smirked.

"Why hello, my name's Envy, and who might you be?"

"None of your business." He hissed. Envy faked a hurt expression.

"How rude, after I introduced myself so politely." Scowling, Edward took a couple of steps towards Envy and stared him right in the eyes.

"How long have you been standing there and what do you want? Because I don't have time for whatever game it is you're playing."

"For your information I am not 'playing' as you seem to think I am, and I've been hanging around long enough to know that you have some kinda of illegal business going on in here."

"Who says what I'm doing's illegal?"

"Well you seem a little over protective don't you? I'm being completely reasonable and yet you're all up yelling in my face. Now tell me blondie, what kinda' thing you got going on down here"

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Au contraire mon petit. You don't want anyone to know about this do you?"

Edward frowned and put his bag on the floor silently and careful not to jostle its contents.

"You're not telling anyone" In a flash Edward had clapped his hands together and pressed them to the floor producing a large alchemic spike to jut out. It would've hit Envy straight through the heart had he not somersaulted through the air as soon as he say what Edward was doing.

Much to the blonde's surprise he landed gracefully in front of him, smirking.

"So you're an alchemist huh? Well I'm afraid I'm not going to be so easy to get rid of. You heard of the homunculus? Yeah, you're looking at one, and I'm far stronger than you."

"We'll see about that!" Edward took advantage of the close range and threw a punch that too would've hit Envy had he not caught the boy's fist within an instant. Ed's eyes widened in shock as he tried to register what was going on.

Envy smirked at the boy's astonished face before swinging a low kick to his ankles and knocking off his feet. Edward groaned as he hit the floor.

"So, you gonna tell me your name or what?"

Edward eyed him from where he lay on the floor, giving him a once over before hauling himself into a sitting position and laughing. Envy blinked; not used to people laughing when he beat the shit out of them.

"Y'know..." Edward said between sniggers. "You're pretty strong for a guy in a skirt."

"Ha ha. Funny. It's a skort genius and yes, I am."

"My names Edward, so can you really not die? Or is that just what people say?"

"No it's true. So I wouldn't try any more stunts like that, they're a waste of time and really you're just gonna' end up pissing me off."

Ed nodded and dragged himself to his feet.

"So, Edward. That's a nice collection of jewels you got there. You wouldn't happen to be the thief that all the radio broadcasters are warning people about would you? The one who robs a house and kills all its inhabitants in violent ways with the aid of alchemy."

Edward smirked, obviously happy with his infamy.

"Oh, you've heard of me?"

Envy laughed.

"I admire you Edward, you've quickly become Ametris' second most feared criminal, after the homunculus of course."

"Of course." Ed echoed with a smile. "And how I truly have enjoyed this little talk with you Envy, I'm afraid I have to go."

"By all means, but I'll be watching you Edward. You intrigue me."

Not knowing whether this was a good or a bad thing, Ed simply nodded and took his leave. Envy was left stood in the room chuckling to himself.
'I believe I've just found my new toy..."