And now, all good things must come to an end. Here is the end of my first fanfiction here on After this one, I'll be working on another one which could go up about a week after this one. Thanks again for all the reviews you've given me!

Ed was tossed unceremoniously into the cell he had been in before the trial. He instantly whirled around and clapped his hands, full ready to transmute the bars and escape. But it didn't work. Ed gripped the bars and pulled and shoved, trying anything to open the door. He was soon fed up and sat on the bench, waiting his fate. In all his time as an alchemist, before or during, Ed never remembered hearing of a creature called a Jabberwock. Before he could muse on the subject anymore he heard a distinct snickering. He looked at the bars of his cell but no one was there. He looked away again, trying to think of how he'd fight something he'd never even heard of, when the snickering returned. This time when he looked up, Ed saw Envy staring at him.

"What the hell do you want?" Ed yelled at him.

"Still have that temper I see." Envy said, grinning broadly. "So it looks like you got yourself into some trouble."

"Why would you care? What do you want from me?" Ed asked.

"I want what you want. No, no to get home." Envy said, noticing the expression of surprise on Ed's face. "I want the Philosophers Stone."

"Good luck trying to find it out here." Ed, looking away.

"And what would you say if I told you I know I'm getting a Philosophers Stone?" Envy questioned.

"I'd say you're crazy!" Ed replied, still not looking at him.

"You can't run away from your problems."

Ed looked Envy directly in the eye and said, "I've never run away from my problems."

Envy giggled at the fierce look in his eyes and said, "Then it should be an enjoyable fight."

Envy raised his hand to Ed, as he exited the jailhouse. Ed still heard his mocking voice as he said, "Don't disappoint me Pipsqueak!"

Ed ignored him. It wasn't something he usually did in a situation when someone called him "small", but there was little he could do while trapped in a jail cell with no access to alchemy.

The door leading to the cells opened and Ed saw two soldiers coming for him. It was time. The arena was relatively close by and it didn't take long to get there. It was a giant coliseum with only two entrances. One for the arriving guests, and one for arriving prisoners. A hatch was built inside the arena which housed the various chimera used in "entertaining" executions. But Ed couldn't see that yet. He was still standing outside the coliseum. While waiting to be taken inside, a strange mark in the dirt had caught his eye. It ran around the circumference of the arena. It looked too purposeful to be just a random line. Ed's eyes darted around, looking for anything suspicious. What he saw made him gasp slightly. Latin writing was etched just below a small set of interlocking circles. Ed recognized the piece of the array used to create a Philosophers Stone! Ed's heart was pounding as he saw streams of people entering the arena. The soldiers started pushing him towards the arena.

"Wait! You can't do this! It's a trap!" Ed yelled.

They didn't listen. He was forcibly pushed into the arena, the doors leading out covered by a lattice gate. Once inside, Ed saw pieces of the array scattered around the arena floor in seemingly random patterns so no one could tell what it was. This was what Envy meant. If Wrath got free then he could use alchemy to activate the array and transmute the entire arena into a Philosophers Stone. Ed scanned the crowd and saw the three homunculi watching him from the top of the arena wall, out of sight.

"Do you think he figured it out?" Envy said to the other two.

"I'm sure he has." Lust said. "But it won't matter when Wrath gets here."

"What if he's not here?" Gluttony said.

"Don't worry." Envy said. "He'll be here.

"Shh…" Lust said, pointing. "It's starting.

Roy had just stood up from his private viewing area. Riza was with him, holding out a scroll. Roy took it, opened and began to read from it.

"The accused, Edward Elric, has been sentenced to a fight to the death with the Jabberwock. His execution will now commence!"

The hatch creaked and slowly opened. A towering creature rose from its depths, saliva dripping from its jaws. It stood at least twenty five feet high and had glistening dragonfly wings folded on its scaly back. Two eyes, on stalks, swiveled around its head, looking in all directions until they fastened on Ed. It lumbered forward on powerful lizard like legs ending in clawed birds feet. Its arms reached out, talons on his paw, the arms themselves furry. This thing was obviously a chimera. Ed had never seen such a disgrace to living life. The Jabberwock was a sin against nature and had no right to be alive.

Ed clapped his hands and was about to place them on the ground, when he remembered the array.

"Better not take any chances." He said, placing his hands on a wall.

The crowd cheered as Ed pulled a lance from the wall and charged the creature. The Jabberwock swiped at him with uncanny speed and Ed only just dodged the lethal talons. He stabbed the creature in its foot as he ran between its legs. It howled in fury, but not pain. Ed turned and stabbed it a little higher, this time in its scaly leg. Still no impact. The creature kicked out at Ed, sending him flying into a wall. It hissed and ran forward, ready to snap up Ed in its jaws. Ed clapped and transmuted a spear, one just big enough to stop the Jabberwock's mouth. It reared back, black blood raining down on the ground, and thrashed around, drying to dislodge the spear. Ed's mind was racing. How was he going to kill this thing? It was too heavily armored to pierce with his transmuted weapons. It was like trying to kill a lion with a toothpick. He moved quickly along the wall, getting behind the Jabberwock. He stopped and something fell out of his pocket. He stared at the piece of the growth mushroom. A light went off in his head as he ate the mushroom. The crowd 'oooed' as Ed grew to the same staggering height as the Jabberwock. He clapped his hands, the sound echoing through Central, and transmuted his metal arm into a blade. He grabbed the Jabberwock around its neck and sliced its head off. The Jabberwock jerked once or twice then was still. The crowd cheered as Ed let the corpse go. The cheers were cut short as Ed quickly jumped over the wall of the arena and vigorously rubbed the transmutation circle out. Soon, it was gone entirely. Ed sighed in relief as the mushrooms effects wore offand her returned to his regular size.Roy was furious! How dare that boy embarrass him like this!

He stood up and said, "That boy is still a convicted prisoner! Get him!"

Ed heard the crowd roar in anger and saw them surging after him. He yelled out and ran towards the edge of Central. He saw the different paths leading away and read the sings. Each one led to a place he didn't need to be. That's when he finally understood. He clapped his hands and touched one of the signs. The letters changed around and became: Home. The path twisted and untwisted until a straight path lead into a tunnel. He ran as fast as he could until he reached the mouth of the tunnel. He looked behind him and saw the homunculi chasing after him with their unnatural speed. He turned and kept running into the darkness of the tunnel. He felt Lust's dagger like fingers dart to either side of him, heard Gluttony's slobbery breathing, and felt Envy's wicked presence pushing against him. He pushed himself harder and faster until he felt his feet lifting from the ground. He felt like he was pushing through water and his breathing became labored and difficult. He reached out as far as he could and his fingers met wood. He looked up in hope and saw the door transform back into Envy.

"How—" Ed gasped out.

"Stupid kid!" Envy said. "Did you think you'd escape that easily?"

"Get out of my way!" Ed yelled, clapping his hands.

He pushed his hands onto Envy's chest and Envy blew apart into hundreds of bubbles. Ed pushed through the now open passage and fell, fell, fell into darkness. Ed yelled and felt a sudden shaking all around his body. His eyes scrunched shut as he felt the shaking get worse.

"Brother!"

Ed didn't want to open his eyes. It was too much. Too much shaking.

"Brother, wake up!"

He was starting to feel sick. It was too much—

"Shaking!" Ed yelled out, opening his eyes.

Al was staring down at him. He abruptly stopped shaking his brother and put a hand behind his head.

"Ehehehe…Sorry brother." He said sheepishly.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Ed said, sitting up.

"We're where we've been all day. You fell asleep a few minutes ago and were quiet. Then you started yelling about something and I thought I'd better wake you up."

Ed looked around him. Bright blue sky, familiar surroundings, and the sight of absolute normalacy greeted him.

"I'm…I'm back! I'm free!" Ed yelled out, jumping up and dancing happily.

Al jumped back in surprise then laughed with his brother, pleased he was in such a good mood.

"Come on Al! Let's go home and visit Winry." Ed said.

"Really?" Al asked excitedly. "You never want to go and visit Winry."

"This time, I think I need too." Ed said, smiling.

As they walked off, Ed was in such a wonderful mood now that he knew his ordeal had just been a crazy dream, probably brought on by the sun and boredom. Then Ed stepped in a puddle and felt cold and wet. He looked down and saw he was missing a boot.

"Hey Al. Did you take my boot?"

"No. Why?"

"No…reason." Ed said.

Meanwhile…

"Oooh! So close!" Envy said, smiling as he watched the Elric brothers walk away.

"Don't worry. That was just one small plan." Lust said. "I'm sure our master has other plans for the Elrics."

"Speaking of plans, what do you plan on doing with him?" Envy said.

Lust smiled as she looked down at the man between her fingers.

"The Illusion Alchemist has served his purpose." Lust said.

Before the terrified man could say or do anything, Lust brought her fingers together and took off his head.

Gluttony's stomach gurgled as he looked at the body.

"Can I eat him?"

The End

Ending Note: And our time together is at an end. For now. If you're having trouble deciphering the ending, just say so and I'll explain it. But it should be pretty self explanatory. Once more, I'd like to say thanks for all the positive reviews and suggestions I've got. Hopefully my next story will be as good as this one!