FINALLY! I thought the torture of high school was never going to end! Actually, it hasn't, but I still had time to write another chapter of my story. Enjoy, kiddies!

Chapter 13: Confrontation of the Species

Kay sat on the huge water bed in her parents room, hugging her knees, tears starting to form in her eyes. A few seconds ago, she had discovered the secret that had been needing an explanation for a few months now. Unfortunately, it all rushed onto her as unexpected as possible.

Al came back into the room with a cup of tea in his hand and a solemn look on his face. He sat down on the bed next to Kay and handed her the cup. "Here. This might help you calm down a bit," he said.

Kay nodded and starting drinking the hot liquid. Al was right; it did start to calm her down a bit, but not as much as she wanted to. "How could this happen?" she asked, her gaze down to avoid eye contact with the one sitting next to her. "I knew I was different, but I never thought I was that different."

"Did you try washing it off? That might work."

"I already tried it while you were gone. It didn't work." A tear dropped from her eye.

"Don't worry. There has to be a way to fix all this."

"There better be." Kay closed her eyes for only a moment. "Do you think Ed and Cris are still in shock from that phone call?"

"I'm thinkin' that. A phone call couldn't get more random than that, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

Al tried to smile and put his arm around Kay's shoulders. "Don't worry, Kayla. I'll help you."

"What a touching display of grief."

The couple gasped at the unfamiliar voice and turned to see someone standing in the doorway to the room, a grin on their face. He was wearing a rather skimpy black outfit, and had spiky green hair that stood out it every direction. It was Envy. The most infamous of the seven original Homunculi.

Kay glared at him and, sure enough, her eyes flashed a bright amethyst once again. "Envy, I presume, right?"

"No wonder you're in all Honors classes, kid. You're a damn genius."

Kay placed her cup down on the nightstand next to the bed and stood up. "Well, guess what? I solved your little riddle. Mind explaining to me how my little Oroborous mark got on my leg?"

"Why, I'd be happy to, but I'd rather you figure it out for yourself. You look like you've been through too much grief as it is, and I don't want my little emo 'cousin' trying to kill herself."

"First of all, I'm not emo." Kay's voice held so much pain and anger now. "Second, I hate stereotypes. And third, I'm not your 'cousin'; I don't want to have anything to do with you. All you are is a liar who's killed off my family and has made my life a living hell."

"Yes, and might I say, that was so much fun. But, you ruin my plans. You have so many people to help you now. I'll have to get rid of them for you."

"If you touch any one of them, I'll murder you."

"Might I remind you that you can't kill me? I'm a Homunculus, and immortal."

"You're not a god, Envy. You can be killed off someway, just like every other living creature on this earth."

"Is watching those ridiculous television shows all you do these days? Let me explain to you, that story was only half-true. Most of it was all lies to little brats like you."

"I'm not a brat. Only my parents had the right to call me that, and now that they're dead, no one does. Got it?"

"Whatever." Envy sighed. "Well, I must be off; I need to go meet Lust and Gluttony. From what I hear, we have two new recruits that we need to meet. So, I'll speak to you later." And with that, the Homunculus broke out into a run down the hall.

"Wait a minute-!" Kay started to run after him, but the second she turned into the hallway, he was gone. From a bright light coming from down in the stairwell, though, she could tell that he had run off out the front door. He had gotten away. She ahd lost her chance at vengeance.

Al got up and walked to where Kay stood in disbelief, taking in everything that had just happened in a little more than sixty seconds flat. "Figures, right? That coward's too scared of us to fight."

"Yeah..." Kay went back into her parents' room and sat back down on the bed, her pupils still glowing in anger. "Guess this could be considered the second worst day of my life."

"I don't get it. This can't be all bad, can it? I mean, it's not like you're gonna die or anything, and-"

"I'm not worried about me all that much, Alphonse. I'm worried about everyone else. Didn't you hear what Envy said to me at all?"

"...Yeah, you're right. This means we have to look out for everyone and let them know what's going on."

"No! You can't!"

"Why not?"

" 'Cuz, they'll freak out, I know it! I don't want the guys to think of me any different from how they already do!"

"Kay, if they were real friends, they'd accept you for who you are, or rather, what you are, no matter what. I'm sure they'd understand if you told them."

"WHAT? YOU'RE A HOMUNCULUS!"

"Al, I hate you."

"How did this all happen?" Noodle asked, looking confused and not all that worried. "How are you a Homunculus?"

"I don't know, Noods," Kay replied. "I'm scared to find out, but I know that I have to stop being such a baby and figure it out."

"I don' get it," 2D said, trying to sound as less clueless as possible. "Wot's a 'Omunculus?"

"They're like living dolls. False humans brought to life as a consequence of trying to transmute a human being back to life."

"You can transmute 'uman beings?" Murdoc asked.

"Not really. From what I hear the only way to bring a human back to life is with use of the Philosopher's Stone, and a doubt that can actually help me."

"Can it turn you back into a human again?" Noodle started to get an idea.

Kay blinked in shock that she didn't think of that sooner. "What?"

"Can the Philosopher's Stone turn you into a human? I heard that if you have it, you do not have to obey most of the laws of Alchemy. Is that correct?"

"From what I hear, yes. Al!" She quickly spun around and looked at her boyfriend so quickly that she made herself dizzy. "Isn't Cris's wedding ring made out of a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yeah, I think."

"Then I gotta call her!" Kay reached for the phone. Before she could pull it off the receiver, though, it began to ring. She only shrugged and picked it up. "Hello?" she said.

"Kayla? It's Cris."

"Oh...hey, Cris."

"I think I know how to help you."

"How?"

"You know that my wedding ring's made of a piece of a Philosopher's Stone, right?"

Kay smacked herself in the head. "You're kidding right? Me and the others were talking about that."

"Okay? Well, the next time we have post session at school, I can use it on you and change you back to normal."

"Is it gonna break if you use it?"

"No, don't worry about it. It'll be fine."

"Oh, that's good. Cris?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

The blonde smiled on the other end. "No problem, Kay. I'll see you later."

"Right. See ya."

"Bye." Finally, the line clicked. Kay placed the phone back on the receiver once again and turned to the others.

"So, what's happenin'?" Russel asked.

"Cris can help me."

"That's good," Al sighed. "Hopefully we can get this all straightened out before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" Noodle asked, now seeming a bit scared.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing."

"Al?"

"Yeah, Kay?"

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"Nice of you two to drop by," Envy said, grinning at the two new figures that stood in front of her.

"We would've gotten here sooner if this idiot over here hadn't stopped and tried to pick up some girls."

"Shut up, you brat. Why the hell did I get paired up with you?"

"So I could look after you and make sure you don't do anything stupif."

"Wrath, Greed, shut up! Arguing isn't gonna help us right now."

Greed, a tall, muscular man with spiky black hair, growled under his breath at the sound of Envy bossing him around. Wrath, a short child with long black hair and a malevolent expression, rolled his eyes.

"Grow up, you two," Lust said in her usual calm tone. She was sitting behind Envy and Gluttony, watching everything and almost never speaking up. "The last thing we need is a couple of babies working with us."

Wrath stomped his foot on the ground. "I'm not a baby!"

"Kid, grow up." Envy walked over to the child Homunculus and ruffled his hair up a bit, but instantly pulled away when Wrath tried to bite at his arm with his slightly-sharpened teeth. "Brat."

"Whatever."

"So, what's the plan, abomination?" Greed asked, glaring at Envy. "Just tell me what I need to do so I can get it done quicker and not have to see your ugly face for a while."

Envy growled, but quickly shrugged the insult off. "We need you and that little brat over there to keep a close watch on a young girl and her friends. We killed off her parents, so now it'll be pretty easy to do away with them one by one. You just have to give us reports on if she's doing anything that looks suspicious."

"You mean that girl who's one of us?" Wrath asked.

"Yep."

"No problem."

"You're kidding me, right?"

Everyone looked at Greed after hearing his surprising response. "You three idiots called me all the way out here so I can babysit another kid?" He scoffed. "No thanks!"

"Oh, so you're against us. Is that it?" Lust crossed her arms slowly in disappointment.

"No, I'm just against palm-tree boy over here." He pointed to Envy. "It's just that looking after Wrath is hard enough; I don't run a child care facility, F.Y.I!"

Envy sighed. "If we told you you'd think she was hot, would you go?"

"That, my friend, I'd have to see for myself."

"Then we have to go and check it out," Wrath said. "So," he grinned, "who's gonna get rid of her when she gets the Stone and it makes her mortal?"

"I guess you could do it," Lust replied.

Gluttony whined. "But, Lust! You said I could kill her!"

"They'll be other people to eat, Gluttony. You have a big enough appetite for blood as it is."

"...So?"

"Just let the kid handle her."

"Man, and I'll have fun with that." The child grinned evilly. "A child should never grow up without her parents. I should do her a favor and put her out of her misery; make sure she doesn't have to go through what I went through."

"But, she hated her parents, Wrath."

"Then killing her will be all too sweeter." He turned to Greed. "Come on; let's go." Both then ran off into the darkness of the night.

"So, you think those two will be alright on their own?" Lust looked at Envy.

"Knowing Greed, I don't think he'll get into too much trouble. But if her does, Pride'll have a fit."

Gluttony whimpered. "He scary."