CHAPTER 6 WHEN STRATEGY STRIKES

'I sure hope the miners don't mind me borrowing their findings, I'll be sure to put it all back . . . maybe.' Ed promised himself.

"With the storm picking up, I might have a shot as this, but I have to make it count." Ed reminded himself, preparing for what's to come.

With that, the young blonde alchemist experimented with his alchemy and practical skills, working on a formula that could save his life.

Envy, still in his dog form, scampered on the path that Ed ran, and guided by the shoeprints the fearful alchemist left behind mistakenly. The dog of the military being chased by an actual dog that craves bloodshed, what an ironic twist of faith. The rain smoothed out Envy's black fur, giving it a silverish polish, it cleased his body, his mind, but not his path.

The dampened shoe prints maintained their directional pattern to the point where smelling Eds blood in the dog form became pointless. The once long-eared bloodhound transformed into a miniature crow with purple marbled eyes and dark green feathers. The newly formed creature raced through the path, airborne, still looking out for the footprints, making sure the clever Pipsqueak ran a straight path all the way through.

He could feel the wind gracefully graze through his feathers, his entire being. The rain made flight slightly difficult, but it proved unable to slow down the green bird. It was freedom, he felt free, or at least he should. For someone who appears so free, strong-willed, and driven by hatred, why wasn't he free? Why should he feel attached to his 'master' when he's seemingly superior. He's a homunculus; Dante's only human after all. A homunculus that hates humans out of jealousy, yet is ruled by one, a despicable one at that.

It wouldn't be too much longer before the keen-eyed crow arrived at his destination, although, the plan was to plot an ambush. His heart raced with excitement as he flew closer and closer to wherever the alchemist was hiding. It meant that his quest for vengeance would come to a close pretty soon should he succeed. Taunt the shortie, threaten him and the younger brother, torture him, make him spill the beans, then end him. Pretty straightforward that'll be difficult in execution. Ultimately, it came down to finding out for himself whether that bastard still lived above all else.

'Hohenheim of Light! He can't be dead! I refuse to believe that he would die so easily! Master, that hag must've been lied to me, damn her. . .' Envy thought to himself as to reassure that his tireless quest wasn't for nothing.

The skies took on a darker shade of gray as the blanketing sheets of stratus clouds gradually got replaced by ominous-looking cumulonimbus clouds. It was only the afternoon, and though the sun was naturally concealed by the towering clouds above, it still provided some patches of light.

Edward had already prepared his plan to counter Envy's coming assault as best he can. The middle region of the site was littered with sharp jagged spikes that were hidden beneath the mushy ground. Along with that trap, metallic rods, with a sharpen edge on one end and a hole with tied wire on the other, were stationed neatly underneath each tent and the middle region. The wires, themselves, were attached to the top of the tent farthest from the entrance on the rocky plateau, all of which were alchemically dug and planted to their respective positions from that spot. The wires there were evenly spaced out, labeled for whichever tent, and parallel to each other.

'Alright, this will have to do. It won't kill him, but it'll slow him down, should it work. But even then, he'll never stop chasing me. Crap. . .' Ed realized. He knew there was a high chance that he would die even if he did pull off this seemingly fruitless attempt to restrain Envy, like that would ever happen. The thought frightened him, he was all alone, no one to back him up, getting ready to confront arguably the most lethal of all the homunculi. Ed, however, has taken the lives of two other homunculi thus far, shouldn't it be fair that his own life gets taken from one as well? Equivalent Exchange, a life for a life, what a cruel joke.

The approaching storm continued to thunder and rain, intimidating the mortals that resided below it. Luckily for Ed, the tents provided decent shelter from nature's wrath. All he had to do was wait and watch out for the deceptive Envy before putting his plan into action. It felt like he was playing a game of hide-and-go-seek, hardcore version. He simply rested inside the tent closest to the entrance on the grass. He took off his signature red cloak, revealing a rain-stained black tank-top. The less weight on his body, the better.

'Wait a minute! . . . Yeah that could work as well!' Ed thought to himself as he just came up with a brilliant idea.

The excited alchemist rested his red jacket on top of a pillow, then rested that pillow perpendicular to another one. He then trasmusted a bobble-head like version of his own head with wide eyes, the hair antenna, a stuck-out tongue, and a spike at where the neck would be. He jammed the spike into the pillow, and turned the head to the side to make the dummy appear sleepy. He rested the dummy head onto the other pillow, and covered the body with a blanket. The metal rod that was planted in the ground was then jabbed into the head straight up, but deep enough to still make the rod hidden overall.

'It's not my best work, but it'll have to suffice.' Ed admitted as headed to the opening of the tent.

Like before, he would occasionally peek outside for any disturbances. Heart racing, ears alert, the time was coming. At the last minute, he scurried onto the rocky plateau and into the tent farthest away from the clearings entrance. From there, he had an outlook on the area, and the eyes for his trap, panting out of fear and desperation. With one final look, he closed his tent and observed the wires that were aligned nicely in the triangularly elongated frame of the tent. One last thunder clapped cemented his fate, this was it.

In due time, Envy had arrived at the entrance of the clearing. The rapid fluttering of his wings kept him airborne, hovering above the ground as he came to a complete stop. From then on, he flew onto a nearby tree branch that gave him a vantage point of the area; he then proceeded to transform into a snake and slithered slowly and carefully on the tree to the ground.

His skin was plain brown, blending in with the moist dirt below his slender scaly body. His snake-like tongue, dark red in color, jutted swiftly out of his mouth, sniffing out for the hidden Elric.

'Hisss, I wonder if he continued to run off like the coward he is, or settled here in this cozy looking area. And if he did settle here, it's likely that brat has something ready for me.' Envy wondered to himself.

As the snake moved closer to the site, he stopped suddenly. 'Oh my, this campsite wrecks of the pipsqueak's scent. Oh yes, he's definitely here, be where exactly is he hiding?' Envy questioned as he took his time slithering, watching out for any sudden movements that indicate that something was there. He slithered especially close to the base of the rocky plateau keep his cover, planning to investigate the set of tents that stood motionless on the grass. He noticed that each entrance to the tents were zipped up, sealed from outside eyes.

'Taking me for a fool? I see.' Envy chuckled quietly as he transformed into an oddly small and adorable mole with dark green fur, a simply straight nose, and fan-like claws, perfect for digging . . . and assassinating. As such, Envy tried his luck by digging a hole to the first tent closest to the entrance. He dug at an angle that didn't shake the wire that was attached there, Ed would've noticed. When Envy finally finished digging, he saw the that the interior of the tent laid empty, no one in sight.

'Huh, alright then' Envy simply said as if not surprised from the realization. From there, he dug to the next tent from his current position. And still, Envy hadn't taken any notice to the wiring, everything seemed normal to him so far. The result was more or less the same; nothing was there, except for some pillows and blankets.

'Well aren't you the lucky one Ed' Envy said to himself quietly, getting slightly irritated of this guessing game.

The last tent, which had the trap, carried a strong scent of the blonde alchemist, yet it seemed too apparent to Envy's nose. When he popped out of his hole, quicker than the last two, he noticed a sleepy alchemist on the floor, or so it seemed. The moment Envy caught sight of the Ed, he froze in his tracks and grinned sheepishly.

'Wow, well how about that. Does this boy really take me this lightly?" Envy thought to himself, he felt as though he could laugh to death; however, he kept his composure, placing a hand over his grinning mouth as he slowly transformed into a more childlike version of his preferred form to compensate for the averaged sized tent. Just like before, Envy transformed his left arm into a bow, and takes a strand of his own hair, which turns into a bow. He charges up the elasticity of the bow, ready to shoot, and this time, it'll land a serious blow.

'Well pipsqueak, time to rise and shine. This won't kill you, but it'll hurt. . . although?' Envy thought to himself as he directed his trajectory to what would be Eds butt. What an asshole. Finally, he released the shot, hitting his mark as expected, but to his surprise, no reaction from the alchemist.

"Damn, I had a feeling it was a fake." Envy said silently to himself.

A few moments later, Envy had a long cut in the cheek from an unseen metallic spike that pierced through the thin and delicate fabric of the situated tent.

'Almost!' Ed thought to himself, still observing the wires inside the tent, using the vibrations as guidelines for his accuracy as well as the sound each rod makes when an impact is made.

Envy, still shaken up from the object, tries to react fast enough by cutting a hole in the tent to make a swift escape only to be impaled in the abdominal area this time. Envy grunted at the impact, used to the pain sharpened weapons brung. Blood started to drip down on his figure.

'Jackpot!' Ed exclaimed excitedly to himself as he saw the unusual motions of the wire that made contact, thus confirming his judgment as well as the distinct fleshy sound.

Just like that, another rod was sent to Envy's way in the blink of an eye. Though Envy could still move, the rod situated in his body compromised his balance, which lead to another rod piercing through his chest. Envy had no other choice but to take it, teeth clenched, preventing himself from making any noises that would indicate being in pain, vulnerability.

Lastly, two more rods shot from the right and left directions; one rod sliced part of his stomach while the other one pierced his left leg. With quick slashes to the tent, openings were made, allowing Edward to finish what he started. Meanwhile, thunder continued to roar, and the lightning flashed within the clouds, blue in color, brightening the skies.

"Three out of five, good enough!" Ed confirms to himself as he jumps into the outside view.

With one clap, Ed stabilized the tent stakes with hardened mud and rocky Earth. The next clap protruded a large earthy pillar below Envy's body, who was wrapped in the tent, pushing him up towards the sky at a swift pace, so fast that a couple of the wire strings snapped from the accelerated pressure. The tent by Ed could barely hold, tilted in such an awkward position, half of it inside-out, and some strings broken off. The pillar stood around 60 ft - 70 ft in height, so high it looked like it could punched through the barrier of thunderclouds above, at least from Ed's view.

"Well Rose, if there is a God after all . . . I want to see it for myself, right here!" Edward declared as he shouted at the skies, as though he were tempting the heavens themselves.

Such an intense sequence of events came to an awkward stop. The lightning sparked with blue flashes of light, circulating within the clouds, but to Ed's panic, no strike. Envy, on the other hand, felt pretty uncomfortable having been impaled multiple times, wrapped in the tent like a mummy, and suddenly raised up to high elevations, the homunculus had to recover his composure. With his head sticking out, Envy could see where he was stationed; his head laid on the ground, staring directly into the darkened clouds that looked ready to explode, yet he still kept the same smirkish expression on his face. Ed pretty looked disappointed, his plan seemed like a complete failure, there is no God, only those who play God. And still, the thunder clapped loudly near the two, the rain poured with more force, and the winds shook the trees violently. The storm came to a climax.

With an amused look on his face, Envy started to break himself free from the clutter he was in.

"Nice strategy Edward Elric, but too bad for you, it's fut-" A large pillar of light encompassed Envy's body before he could finish his sentence. The brightness of the strike vaporized his vision, the world looked pure white for a second. His body felt scorched, his insides were as hot as the sun, a mixture of electrical scars and burns, simultaneous, quick on impact, severe pain. Now the skin was black as charcoal, veins were glowing blue, absorbing the light, the pain for one last time. The strike was so quick, almost lightspeed, there was no time to breath, no time to scream, the strike lasted for a split second, the pain was immediate and felt eternal. The moment was unexpected, sheer in presentation, yet rapid in execution, the top of the pillar enveloped in massive blue light . . .

CCCCCCCCRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH ! ! !

The alchemically-structured tower, slim in appearance, shattered into multiple fragments that fell back onto Earth's crust. The misplaced rods only joined the rubble, bound by the law of gravity. The conductive wires transferred the hot blue discharges into the tent, setting the thing ablaze as fast as a snap. The shelter no longer remained, sent to death in mere seconds, quicker than the real home. The shockwave scattered fierce tempest and electromagnetism across the campsite, the jungle, possibly the whole country. A single blink meant missing out on the once-and-a-lifetime lightshow that God had displayed.

And Ed, the mastermind, stood his ground by the newly born ashes, hardly fazed, only determined. A truth of many truths.

END OF CHAPTER 6