There might be so confusion in this chapter, so PM, or review and let me know if you have any questions :)
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Roy Mustang almost gave an illusion of gliding out of out of the Elrics' room.
He had a serious look on his face for quite a while as he walked, making him seem either frustrated or annoyed to someone who didn't know him well. For those who did know him, however, they would pass by and say Lt. Colonel Mustang was acting like his normal asshole self. After a couple of minutes in complete silence, and with no one in close proximity to him, his thin lips uncharacteristically widened to a smirk, his onyx eyes glinting in curiosity at what he had just witnessed a few moments ago.
"So the Fullmetal Pipsqueak and the tin can of his brother are planning something having to do with transmutation and and sexy Envy the Jealous. The little brat. "
After the strange uttering spewed out of his mouth, infamous red lightning began to spark around the dark-haired military officer's body. A black skort barely reaching mid-thigh replaced his uniform pants and a tight midriff-baring top substituted the blue military jacket. His almond-shaped eyes shifted to a much more angular and sharp look and the black irises visibly lightened to a mauve purple. The pitch-black hair grew past his waist, and it shone an emerald-green tint when the light hit it at the right moment.
He laughed in a raucous way, happy to be in his young and cute form. "Let's see what these dumb boys want with little ol' me." He ran his tongue along his abnormally sharp teeth and grinned.
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His fake-green eyes observed the two Elric brothers from afar. Much to Envy's chagrin, some stupid human had already picked the train seat that he initially wanted but couldn't obtain since he got there too late. The seat was directly in the back of Al and Ed, so it was perfect to keep close tabs on them but the man and his disgusting daughter won him by half a second.
He couldn't really kill them in a public place, it would rise suspicions, so he resorted to sitting in a more far place in the train, making his sight of the brothers a minimum. He could only eye them in certain points at time, and since they were in a diagonal direction from his own seat, it would also look strange if they were to suddenly turn around behind them and find him blatantly staring at them. He scowled at his predicament, which really didn't fit the face and form he chose to shift into. To anyone's eyes, he was actually a small slender young woman with long blonde hair with large doe-like green eyes and full pink lips. It was kind of a weird combination of Winry's looks with that Ice Queen in Briggs. What was her name again? Olive Something? Ah well, who cares, he had better things to worry about like observing Edward's current activity.
Truth to be told, he was a little puzzled after watching Edward draw on something on his gloved hand for four and half hours. He couldn't very well see specifically what he drew but managed to make out some type of transmutation circle, with a lot of strange symbols that aren't usually included. The types of hieroglyphs present in the circle seemed out of place and new. After this little 'expedition', Envy definitely would consult with Lust to ask her about the signs.
A frustrated sigh escaped his enlarged lips, still scowling at the two boys. Why did they have to single him out of all the homunculi?!
I mean, I know I killed that annoying Hughes, but c'mon! Grudge much?
Even at the moment, Envy still did not feel even a speck of regret or guilt over assassinating the beloved family man. And why would he? Hughes was a meaningless human who lost his life because he was poking his nose in other people's business. Not to mention it was fun shooting the naive fool.
I still have to figure out what the hell these dimwits are planning, and I'm damn sure it won't be pleasant.
"...the circle is much more powerful than most.." His ears perked up at hearing the typical loud voice that Ed carried with him. He probably should start musing to himself and begin paying attention to the Elric boys' conversation. After all, it could help him figure out the missing pieces in this puzzle. After tucking the long blonde hair behind his ear, he shifted slightly to his right, blue eyes trained on the back of the boys' heads. Currently, Edward looked like he had discovered something worthwhile, all the of the gesticulations his arms were making and the large smile on his face while he spoke to his brother made that sure.
"Enough to take out a human in a second. More than enough power to do the same with a homunculus." Envy couldn't help snicker at the excitement in the short alchemist's voice. He really should be more careful with voicing those kinds of thing out in the open, where any enemy (like the homunculus himself) could hear him.
Then Envy felt his breath taken away in a sharp exhale, his eyes narrowing in bewilderment. He just mentioned something strange. What in the hell are they talking about?
"I seriously don't see any wrongs with this plan. In fact, we better start celebrating him not being here in Amestris!" Edward continued on with the same intense glint in his molten orbs, while Al shook his armor head. "Brother..." At that time, his words were cut short and he turned around as if sensing another person's eyes on him. Immediately, the sin in disguise closed his eyes and slumped slightly as if he had dozed off. After a couple of quiet seconds, he heard Al, albeit much lower, continue.
"I thought we both agreed on not killing him." This statement alone was enough to startle Envy enough of his supposed 'slumber'. A petite feminine hand closed into a tight fist, not far from the two blonde boys, and blue eyes narrowed in fury.
Edward faltered for a moment before speaking again. "Al, we're not killing him. I already told you, all we're doing is transferring his soul to the other side of the Gate." Al shushed his brother with a metal finger. "Brother, lower your voice, people might hear us." Nevertheless, his words rattled around the homunculus's brain, taking in the information with a shocked expression.
They wanted to get rid of him? They wanted to leave him over at the other side of Gateway of Truth?!
Those fucking bastards!
Now both of his fists were tightened, his nails almost to the point of drawing blood. Oh, those motherfuckers will pay...they will regret the day they ever decided to mess with him. Nobody messed with Envy the Jealous and came back unscathed. Now that he knew what those two morons were planning, they will sure as hell cry their little eyes out when they find out they sacrificed their little grease monkey of a girly friend instead of him! HA!
When he was still in Roy Mustang's body, he figured that if something bad was going to happen to him, might as well get a hostage to settle down the pipsqueak. So 'Roy' authoritatively told him to get on to Rush Valley, right where Winry Rockbell was supposed to be. The train whistle blew out in a high-pitched screech, signaling the current passengers that it they arrived to their destination: Rush Valley. Envy instantly stood up and was the first one to step out of the train. His slim legs picked up the pace as he made his way through the busy streets of the congested city, already knowing the location of the Rockbell girl's workplace.
Having around for quite a while meant that he knew Amestris and all of the places like the back of his hand, and since his job required extensive knowledge and contacts on the sacrifices for Father's plan, that also included close friends and family of those certain sacrifices. Though the girl was not seen as a very big pawn in the game plan, she still was kept on close tabs (ordered by Father of course), and all of the homunculi were obligated to know where she was at all times.
Switching to the short alchemist's appearance in a somewhat dark corner of a desolate shop, he spotted the large Garfield's sign and smirked, licking his lips. "Show time."
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So far, so good...
The homunculus thought as Winry leaded him to her workshop in order to do the 'check up'. The blonde mechanic closed the door, locking since she was expecting Edward to strip for the routine maintenance."So you want both the arm and leg, right?" She turned around, and was startled to find Edward with a deeply worried expression on his face. In all honesty, he wanted to bust out laughing at her. He never failed to delight in how easily humans were fooled! Nonetheless, Envy kept his composure.
"Winry..." He said in a grave voice. "You're in danger."
Her ocean orbs widened in apprehension and her lips pursed in a tight line in anxiety. "What?" She spoke meekly. "The homunculi..." He inhaled sharply. Shit. Did the mechanic even know about them? It was too late to back down now, so he continued his statement. "...are coming after you." The girl gasped in fear, so he figure she did know what homunculi he was talking about.
"They want to use you as a hostage to make us do whatever they want. Trust me Win, when I say they won't be merciful with you." To dramatize the moment a bit more, Envy put a bit more angst in the pipsqueak's voice and grew closer to her as if concerned for her well-being. "Today the homonculi have a planned stop at Rush Valley, which means they only came for you!" She gave a small whimper in nervousness and opened her mouth.
"B-But how do you know they're coming here today?" An exasperated sigh came out of the young man's lips. "There is no times for interrogations, Winry! Just know that they will come-"
"Wait, are all seven of them arriving just to get me?" Winry squeaked. He bit his lip for a second and stated. "No. From what I know, Envy is the one in charge of bringing you back to the homunculi lair. You've got to look out for him especially. He's more dangerous than the rest."
Ain't that the truth. He snickered to himself, proud of instilling fear in the blonde girl's sapphire eyes. His fake automail hand grabbed her own to pull her close to him. "You need to hide. He probably knows where to look for you so..." He scanned around the small space before a door caught his attention. He opened it and found out it was a storage closet.
" I want you to stay here and not move a muscle." He pulled her into the darkness, and motioned her to sit with her knees touching her chest. He crouched along with her, and took a moment to mull over the directions he planned in his head before speaking again. "No matter who calls out for you, asks for you, even Garfield, I want you to pretend like you're not even here. Envy's a shape-shifter and he can trick you with a familiar face, so you can't trust anyone who comes looking for you." The girl merely nodded, frightened at all of what was happening in such a short unexpected time, her lips trembling and gripping the wrench tighter than ever.
"Listen closely. At seven o'clock, I want you to head out of your workshop, but NOT outside of the store. I'll be waiting for you in the costumer seats. If you see me there, then it means you're safe and we managed to keep Envy away for the moment and we should get a move on! Got it?" She nodded again, understanding the boy's direction's loud and clear. "Remember, Win. He can shape-shift into whatever he wants so suspect of everybody that comes in at any given time looking for you. This includes me." The girl looked at him with bewildered eyes.
"Then how will I know if it's you-?"
"Envy can't change his original eye color. The first thing I want you to do when you see me is observe my eyes." Hmm. I can't say my eye-color is purple, it's too unusual. Everybody will be able to tell if I'm impersonating a person just by looking in my eyes! She'll know that, I have to choose a more common iris hue.
"If the eye color is blue, you'll know it's Envy. If by any chance this happens, which I'm pretty sure it won't, I want you to lure him in the same workshop. Pretend like you don't know it's really him, so you'll have the element of surprise-"
"So after that I give him a good whack in the head with my wrench and run like hell, right?!"Winry interrupted him, her eyes flashing anxiously.
"No." Her lips pursed again in fear. "He's a homunculus, Winry. He won't even feel the wrench, it will be useless. Any type of self-defense or attack you make will not phase him. Thereis only one thing you can do. All seven of the homunculi have a certain weak spot that makes them crumple on the spot. Envy's hair is his own. Pull his hair once and he'll be out like a light."
Winry's mouth widened in disbelief. "Really? It's that easy? Just a tug on his hair?"
No. You're just a stupid human. The gleeful voice called out inside his head, but he nodded with the same grave expression.
"Then how come you never pulled his hair all the times he kicked your ass?" Damn, so the girl did know a bit more than he planned she did. Time to think on his feet. "I'm a guy, Winry. Do you know how girly it looks if I suddenly pulled his hair? I would be the laughingstock of the military!" She rolled her eyes, not believing her ears.
"So you'd rather be beated to a pulp than pulling his hair a bit?"
"You just don't understand guy code. If I do that, it it will become a cat-fight. " Again she rolled her eyes, probably thinking that all boys were stupid idiots. He internally smirked, it looked like his excuse won her over.
"Okay whatever. Then I run like hell, right?"
"No. You need to tie him up and duct-tape his mouth shut so when Alphonse and I arrive, he'll be packaged and ready to go. You need to stay beside him to assure he won't get away."
"But what if he wakes up?" She whimpered, her hands shaking slightly.
"I'll most likely already be there. Now listen to me closely, Win. This is very important. " She nodded, urging him to continue.
"After you tie him up, drag him outside from the backdoor, we don't want any commotion inside the store and risk collateral damage so get him there and wait for us. In case if he does wake up for a second, he'll probably switch to you in order to confuse Alphonse and I, but don't be surprised at this. He's conniving and clever and will try and make us believe that he got to you first and you're held hostage. However, we have the upper leverage since we'll know the tied up Winry will be the real Envy. We'll just play along to catch him in surprise and pretend you are the homunculus until we see fit to grab him and have Mustang take him away. You cannot say a word while this is happening or you will risk him knowing the real intention of the plan."
"..." It was clear that she was still afraid,
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. And this is just in case it's even Envy and he switches to you at the last moment! It probably won't even happen. " He reassured her. Oh, it's going to happen alright. All she did was nod uncomfortably, trusting Ed that nothing bad will happen. "Alright."
"Take care." After saying a last goodbye, he shut the door where the mechanic was hiding and grinned. Really grinned. Everything was going according to plan. The red electricity crackled and Edward was gone, now a smiling Winry taking his place. He opened the door leading to the main store, determined to make his planning worthwhile.
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"Those idiots are even easier to fool than I thought. "
Envy though aloud, still using's Winry's voice mind you, while returning to Garfield's shop.
The two were clearly suspicious of his behavior, as well as not freaking out like that damn mechanic always does with Ed's that's right, he should probably switch to the Fullmetal pipsqueak already.
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Winry peeked out of the door, a good hour and a half later, to check that the clock had struck exactly 7. Time for her to get out.
She entered the store, her eyes scanning a familiar face. Then, she saw Elric was looking for her, among the chattering customers , with a worried expression on his face. She exhaled in relief and ran towards him, not even giving him a chance to react, and wrapped her arms around his neck in happiness. Wait. She needed to be sure. Check his eyes, check his eyes... She prayed to God that his eye color was the same molten gold it always had been and looked straight into his face.
Winry stifled the urge to sob. The eyes were blue! They were a clear crystalline blue, immediately letting her know the person she was hugging was not Ed. No... Why? She closed her own eyes in anguish. No, she didn't want to go through this..
"Are you okay, Win?"The soft voice of her childhood friend broke into her despaired thoughts. "You look conflicted." She wiped the miserable expression off her face and forced herself to smile at the imposter.
"No, I'm fine Ed! I promise. C'mon, you need a check-up. Let's go to my workplace. " He nodded at her, with a small smile of his own as he followed her in. She locked the door, bracing herself to do what she feared most.
Here goes nothing.
1...2...3!
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He felt an unpleasant pulling at his soul coming from the other side.
Somehow, the strange wails and moans surrounding him made him feel at home more than the real world ever did. The force that slowly wrenched him away from the dark abyss was painted as a malicious enemy in his mind. He struggled against the invisible phantom fingers all over himself, and in an act of fear and desperation, his hand shot out of the pitch-black swarming bodies he was encompassed in, and blindly grasped one thin wrist.
The other soul didn't scream, but only gave out a sharp gasp in shock, not knowing his intentions.
Of course (for the first time in his life) he meant no harm to it; the only thing he searched for is an anchor to halt the shadowy hand's ministrations. He had to do whatever to resist exiting the Gate. He definitely didn't want to return back there.
No...he saw it.
The blatant sliver of light made him want to shut his eyes because of the painful glare, and it signaled the doors had been opened. He grew closer and closer. The sliver grew wider, and darkness slowly dissipated into the edges of his vision. He pulled again at the same wrist tightly, and he found it unusual the soul was very yielding to his dominant snare. Maybe it didn't feel like him, and wanted to be released from the inky sea that was made out of millions of other souls.
To his panicked dismay, he quickly found out that the arm he was holding on to was not serving as an anchor for him...more like he was serving to wrench the spirit into reality. It was too late to release it, the darkness was completely gone, and a whizzing thin luminescence surrounded him, immediately giving him a headache. Along with the soul he unwillingly dragged with him. The light subsided to be only partially-blindingly bright, and the dizzying motion in his head stopped. All was still, and he stood on a cold surface, white all around him. He was suddenly aware that he could see his own body. His hands right in front of him were visible, along with his thin emerald green hair flowing as if being moved by a gentle breeze. His peripheral vision caught something beside him, and he turned around half expecting it was nothing.
To his great surprise, the one and only Winry Rockbell stood a few feet away next to him. He had snatched her up by accident. Well wasn't this a fucking coincidence... She had a bewildered look in her face, and moved her head back and forth rapidly as if trying to figure out where she was.
"Equivalent Exchange."
A haunting echoing voice rang in both of their ears, and they aimed puzzled expressions right at each other. "...Truth..."He whispered apprehensively. The girl adjacent to him furrowed her eyebrows even more. "What?" She whispered back. Then, the unthinkable happened.
Her right leg started to to disintegrate into pure nothing.
His own violet orbs widened along with hers, faces both wrenched in terror. She opened her pink lips wanting to cry out in angst, but nothing came , a dizzying dazzling light returned to his eyes, blinding him once more and making his head feel like it was about to , with a burst of all of the colors imaginable, everything immediately went black.
Envy felt lifeless... in a dark void...
That is, until in a shattering second, a searing hot pain exploded in his leg.
I'm back... but why am I in pain-
It pulsed through his body like a debilitating disease. His mind briefly registered that he was laying on a dirty ground, on his back, but the pain was too much to acknowledge anything else. Heal! Heal, dammit! He thought frantically to himself. He wasn't sure how much he could suffer like this, and a feeling of vomiting rose in his throat.
Why didn't it heal?
It should already be healing!
In a moment, he opened baby blue eyes and directed his line of sight to his leg. Within two seconds of seeing a gory bloody mess instead of a limb and the torturous pain stabbing his brain over and over, he began to shriek at the top of his lungs. It was bloodcurdling screams over and over, and he couldn't stop it. The pain was too much, and he wasn't healing.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" He finally manged to shout out to no one in particular in a combination of hopelessness and anger, and immediately covered his mouth with a hand. That wasn't hisvoice. It was more feminine, it had a higher pitch, and it... it didn't SOUND like him!
"WINNNNRYY!" The pipsqueak's terrified voice bombarded his ears, but he could not pry his eyes from the gruesome sight of his amputated leg. The pain that enveloped his senses, along with the never ending blood, it hurt so much that... It disgusted him so much, he could not control it anymore.
Envy vomited horridly all over an unfamiliar black skirt and barely missing the leg. Ed had applied both of his gloved hands to his cut-off limb, not caring for the mess and pressed the skin painfully to staunch the profuse bleeding. Behind the two, the younger Elric brother stood there in dumb shock and abhorrence. If he had a stomach, he was pretty he would have been emptying the contents of it at the moment in revulsion like their current victim.
"H-how...How could this happen again..." Alphonse whispered shakily. "AL! We have to get her to the hospital, NOW!" The other one suffering kept moaning in agony as the blonde boy ripped up a large piece of his red coat to act as a gauze for the incessant bleeding in his amputated leg and halted abruptly. He looked at the bloody dirty ground, and saw a very familiar one lying around there with a very peaceful expression.
Pale-skinned, muscular, black clothes. Green hair.
His own body.
Envy, with his trembling hand, reached over to his head, and pulled back thick locks of blonde hair. The hand shook even more violently, as he realized something even more terrifying than losing a limb. With sapphire-colored eyes wide as saucers in inexplicable fear, he opened his mouth (HER mouth) to shriek all the more louder.
"Please, Winry, calm down," Ed's strangled voice tried to comfort him, but it felt like he was a million miles way. He looked directly at the boy tending to his wounds. HER wounds! "You're going to bleed to death if you don't calm down-" HE could see the anguish in his molten gold eyes. He was trying hard not to cry in front of his beloved.
If only he knew.
"I'm not-" Envy tried to finish his phrase, but felt his breath slowly dying away. Suddenly, everything seemed to be a lot more fuzzy. "I-I'm not-" He directed foreign eyes to his own motionless body, and his vision grew darker. "What is it, Win?" He spoke sorrowfully, holding the girl's body close to his own, and the sin could do nothing to stop it. His strength was too little to push the pipsqueak away, and he felt like he might pass out any second. No, he couldn't let the alchemist know what happened.
At least not yet.
If I grabbed Winry when I passed through the Gate, her soul is probably in my body! But, why isn't she up yet? Because her soul is human? Nevertheless, she has to stay with me.
Envy looked straight at Ed's eyes again, once again trying to futilely wriggle out of the boy's tight hug. He obviously had a crush on the girl. Ugh. His sight grew darker still, and he had no choice but to lean slight into Edward and whisper in his ear-his voice no longer could carry out to normal tone.
"...Take his body...with me..."
Everything went black.
Again, I combined two chapters since I felt it best it made more sense :)
