A/N- Okay so last night I got lazy... Here's chapter eight. Nine and ten (epilogue) should be up tomorrow night since I'm putting those together. Otherwise, like I said, people will be angry with me. At least I would be angry with myself. Well, I won't give you anymore reasons. Sorry, this is kind of a shorter chapter, but it's mostly because it's informational! You need to know these things for me to further the plot! Also... I apologize for all the pain poor Ed is caused during this chapter. V.V Read on.

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Chapter 8- Equivalent Exchange

Envy looked up, into the angry eyes of Pride. But those weren't Pride's eyes. Those were the eyes that belonged to Edward Elric, not those of a sin. Great, Envy thought to himself, wondering whether anyone could tell he was getting a little annoyed with the situation at hand. It was definately not something to be happy about. "Good to see you again, Fullmetal pipsqueak," Envy snarled, wretching away from Ed.

"Why are you here?" Ed asked, angrily, glaring at his older brother.

"Why do you think I'm here, Fullmini?" Envy answered, waiting for Ed's temper to surge out of control. It didn't, and Ed didn't answer. "Well it's pretty obvious. You're turning into a sin, your little brother is dying, everyone aside from Wrath who's standing over there is about to be killed... I live for the thrill of killing. I kill, therefore I am." Edward looked at him, anger apparent in his eyes.

"Well you've made a huge mistake, dragging Al into this."

"Is that all you care about, Fullmini? Your little brother? Certainly seems that way." Envy was growing tired of the talking. He needed to take some action. It was true, he hadn't expected any of it to go this far, especially Pride returning to his true form as Ed, but if that was how it was going to be, then he'd have to take it as it was and deal with it. "Fine then."

That was it before Envy and Ed ran, at full speed, towards each other. Ed just now realizing he couldn't transmute an automail arm he didn't have, ducked under the oncoming Envy. "Come on Fullmini, I don't have all day!" Envy said, smiling evilly at the elder Elric.

"Oh please, we haven't even started yet!" Ed replied, transmuting an item next to him into a spear. This time, when Envy lunged at Edward, he was caught in the stomach with the blade. He gagged a little as Ed tossed him around the room, swinging him violently, first one way, then the other. "Don't tell me this is all you're good for..."

At the other end of the room, Wrath had the other four pretty tied up... Literally. Roy was tied up, in the corner, gloves ripped off so he couldn't create any friction for a flame attack. Winry was laying at one end of the room, knocked unconscious from being thrown backwards. Havoc was tied up near Roy, whining because he couldn't reach his cigarettes, and Izumi was trying to convince Wrath that what he was doing was wrong. It wasn't working very well.

"You lied. I never got a mommy or a daddy!" Wrath whined to Izumi as he stood stationary in one spot, tears welling up in his eyes. What a baby. Izumi could probably take advantage of this situation.

"If you come with me, I can find you one," Izumi said, most trusting voice at her disposal. Much to her suprise, Wrath's face cleared up a little, then turned to a smile.

"Okay." Envy, still on the end of the spear, overheard this, and getting a handle on the end that was shoved through his stomach, he overturned the short alchemist at the other side. Ed fell to the ground, landing hard on his back with a thump. The sin ripped the blade out of himself and threw it to the floor angrily.

"Wrath, I am your family!" Envy yelled across the room. The little sin wasn't listening as he took Izumi's hand in happiness. "Ugh, fine. Make this more difficult..." Envy shoved a foot on top of Ed's stomach, pushing down as hard as he could, forcing the air out of the poor alchemist. Izumi cringed at the sound's Ed was making as Envy continuously kicked him, but had to ignore them as she and Wrath untied Roy and Havoc.

Roy imediately pulled a glove onto his bare hand, and snapped his fingers in protest to what the elder sin was doing to Edward. A flame shot up right near them, not quite hitting them, but Roy hadn't meant for it to. It was a warning. "Let him go."

"Never," Envy said with a smirk, kicking Ed right into the middle of the room... In the middle of the transmutation circle. Edward tried to push himself up, seriously tried, but he couldn't do much when Envy shoved the spear through his stomach and pinned him to the ground. Havoc almost threw up from the noise Ed made. "And just so everyone knows I can sacrifice this little chibi without a problem..." He grabbed the spear, and repeatedly brought it up and down, scraping the insides of Ed, who turned his head to the side and choked up some blood. Make that a lot.

It was the manical laughing of Envy that woke the younger Elric brother. Al pushed himself up just as far as he could, and took a good, long look around the room. Everything was so... Different.

He saw Winry laying unconscious next to him. Unconscious, but not dead. Therefore, everything was okay. Izumi had an arm around Wrath... When did Wrath get here? Well, alright, whatever... Havoc and Roy were busy staring at something Envy was poking and prodding at in the middle of the room, something that looked a lot like his brother...

"Ed?" He asked, pushing past his limits and rising to meet the occasion. What he saw frightened him, truly frightened him. His brother. Laying in a large puddle of blood in the middle of the room, still conscious, a bit of blood trickeling out of his mouth.

"And I see our guest of honor has finally awoken, so I might as well get started..." Envy said, giving Ed the hugest smile he'd ever seen in his life. He pulled a red stone out of his pocket. The Philosopher's stone. Raising it into the air, and stepping out of the now glowing circle, he muttered a few words to himself, and the whole room lit up with a crimson light.

---

A few seconds later, when the lighting in the room returned to normal Edward was still laying in the middle of the floor, spear shoved through his stomach, but the blood had dissapeared. Envy was laughing manically again, and Roy was beginning to wonder what happened when Ed pushed himself up off the floor, and pulled the spear out.

It landed on the floor with a clatter, next to Pride.

"Alright, listen up!" Envy said loudly. Everyone gave him their full attention, which he appreciated. "If any of you ever wish to see your little 'alchemist' again, you'll hand over his little brother!"

"What?" Izumi asked. She didn't like how confident Envy was sounding.

"I'll give you back your precious chibi in exchange for his younger brother." He motioned to Al, who was giving him a blank stare. "I need him."

"What for?" Roy had now stepped a few inches closer. This wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

"I will either have Pride, or his soul. Take your pick." He pointed to Al. There was an awefully long silence at this part. Al's soul was already fading away. What did Envy expect to gain from it?

"What do you want my soul for?" Al asked, sounding more quiet with each passing word. "I'm dying. What good will it possibly do for you?"

"Homunculi have no souls. Even if had yours, I'd be human," Envy replied. "And before I take it, I will take your form, so when I do change your brother back to normal, it will be like nothing had ever changed." Everyone was dumbstruck, especially Al. Was Ed only on Envy's side because he did want a replacement brother, or was this completely out of his control? Al had no idea. "Now take your pick!"

"That's crazy. Why not just use the Philosopher's stone to turn yourself into a human, if it can in fact be done as you say it can." Izumi questioned, waiting for a good answer. It certainly was a strange one.

"Once I gain his soul, I'll act exactly like him. Therefore, Ed will treat me like the brother he once was. Edward would be like the brother I never had. Even though I supposedly had two," Envy snarled.

"I can't allow you to do that," Izumi replied. "Turn yourself into a human and live with it. Maybe if you were a little more appreciative of what you had and not so destructive, Ed would like you a little more." The next person who spoke was not Envy, but Al. He answered for him.

"Sensei, please. I'm about to die anyway, and if it helped Ed to have me around, even as Envy... Maybe it would be better that way."

"How can you say that?" Izumi said, a kind look in her eyes. "No one can replace you."

"Well if you're not going to give me his soul..." Envy interrupted. "Then I guess it's going to stay the way it is now. Pride, kill him." He pointed a finger at Al, snarling with a look of hatred on his face.

"Of course," was all that Pride said in return.

A/N- Stopping there because chapter nine has to be long. Well this is going nicely.