CHAPTER 7 REWARD AND PUNISHMENT

The rumble had settled hazardously on the ground, leaving the campsite in a ruined fashion. The air felt heavy and hot, electrified even. All the same, the winds raced along the rocky and grayish landscape without a care, and the rains continued their onslaught of flooding the Earth, nothings changed . . . but the prior shockwave finally lessened in intensity, returning the field back to normal.

Ed simply stood his ground, looking over the grand alchemic 'experiment' he took part in making. The boy, though proud of his efforts, still looked at the remaining rubble with hesitation; his faced sweated as the rain fell, his eyes had constructed pupils, his teeth clenched at the thought of Envy waking from the stony burial.

'I got him, the plan worked out almost perfectly, and yet, I still have this immense doubt in my heart! Damn it. It doesn't matter how hard I hit him, he'll just keep coming back.' Ed thought to himself, feeling almost helpless.

'I'll have no other choice but to go with that plan, but there may only be a 1% chance that it'll work, but it could work.' Ed thought to himself, feeling restricted with his options on stopping the homunculus as best he could.

Just as Ed was about to press both his hands together, a fast-moving harpoon-like object shot from where the rubble stood motionless. The incoming attack slashed part of Eds right cheek, leaving a small red scar of dripping blood to follow. Ed was taken by surprise, a look of astonishment covered his usual face.

'He was able to recover that fast from lightning!?' Ed thought to himself, shocked at how little effect his light show had on the newly reborn homunculus.

Not long after, the rubble started to shift from underneath, something was emerging from below, and it was none other than Envy. The homunculus still looked scorched, skin charred as black as obsidian, and his hair has taken a darker shade in green as it coursed naturally over his body. His black clothes still covered his private areas, though the already blackened skin tone makes him look almost naked. As he looked at Edward, Envy wore a devious and wide grin on his face; with purple eyes that contracted Red Eye, and white beast-like teeth, the homunculus looked all the more intimidating, practically possessed by the lightning strike, ready to do nature's bidding by wiping out the toxicity that is humanity.

Ed couldn't help but freeze at such a face, once again reminded of how inhumane the homunculi really are. Just in awe. It was just like before with Barry The Chopper; nowhere to go, nowhere else to hide, and no way to fight back without getting killed in one fell swoop.

'No! Why I'm I getting so scared?! Of all the times to get shaken up by the enemy, now's not the time! Get it together Ed!' Ed thought to himself, wanting to snap out of this sort of hypnotic trance he found himself in, but was unsuccessful; all he could do was look and gaze over his enemy, his executioner.

"Trying to resurrect the dead again Ed? For shame, I guess you of all people will never learn your lesson." Envy stated as he returned to his playful and sarcastic demeanor with his face relaxed and all.

Ed finally broke out of his trance as his face returned to a more serious-looking one. "Funny, I didn't know a zombie, like you, knew about that story, but I guess it takes a monster to know one." Ed fired back, smirking a bit.

Envy simply laughed out loud. "Jeez, that was uncalled for Pipsqueak." Envy said as he placed both hands on his hips.

"And who do you think is responsible for creating the monster in the first place?" Envy asked, challenging Ed's flawed logic. Ed lost his smirk.

"Because if you ask me, that's the true monster right THERE!" Envy almost shouted as he gradually raised his voice while simultaneously shooting a single bullet at Ed. The state alchemist always kept his guard up, so deflecting the bullet with his automail was no problem.

Ed looked a bit shaken up from Envy's words, but he understood the meaning all too well; he couldn't counter that argument, how could he?

"Oh well, what's an inhuman entity, or even human, to you lowlifes anyway? Huh, just something for you to exploit and leave behind without regard for its life or motives, for your own selfishness and personal desires? I see it time and time again." Envy stated as he looked downwards and slowly walked towards Edward. As a natural response, Ed kept up his guard for any attacks.

"What exactly are you talking about? Look, is that what you really think Envy, because not all humans are possessed by excessive greed you know?" Ed countered, feeling slightly offended by Envy's proposition.

Envy only chuckled at him. "Yeah, sure. You know, I kinda like this coloring on my skin at the moment." Envy said as he examined his dark flesh with his fingers. "It probably brings back many painful memories of your little bring-back mommy experiment, doesn't it?" Envy said as he transformed into a very grotesque version of Sloth that resembled how she looked before consuming the Philosopher's Stones. Ed couldn't believe his eyes, and an untamed anger vibrated his body, his instincts.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ed shouted aggressively, as he ran straight for Envy with his automail blade at hand. Envy quickly reverted back to his preferred form, and blocked Ed's strike with a rock-hard arm.

"Oh my, I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve there, Pipsqueak?" Envy asked as he grinned with sadistic pleasure.

Afterwards, Ed continued to lash out at Envy by trying to pierce his head/neck area with frontal stab attacks and even horizontal slash attacks. The still blackened homunculus managed to dodge his attacks and even blocked some of the strikes. Miniature sparks were flying with each clash. After a few more exchanges, the two paused with a clash, with Ed trying his hardest to overcome the powerful Envy.

"You know, has anyone ever told that your true abilities lie in pissing people off?" Ed asked venomously, ready to cut Envy down with fiery golden eyes.

Envy closed his eyes, smiling. "Hmm", then opened them back up, "well I have been called a Jackass many times before."

Just as Envy answered Ed's question, he lunged his right leg forward, attempting to kick Ed into the ground. Ed leaned back in time to dodge, but Envy continued his bodily motions as he switched to a Flare breakdance, landing a fast fleshy hit on Ed's cheek. Ed spun onto the ground, but used the momentum from the impact to push himself onto his feet again.

'Damn, so acrobatic' Ed thought to himself as he struggled to keep up with Envy's movements.

Envy started his round of assault as he attacked with fast consecutive punches and kicks. Ed's could block most of the blows, but his breathing started to hasten, and he eventually got uppercutted in the jaw, resulting in a leakage of blood from the mouth. Despite the pain, the elric was close enough to pierce Envy in the neck, which made the seemingly invincible homunculus fall back a little, but such an injury would soon regenerate into brand new flesh.

Huffing and puffing was a new struggle for the poor human, but he still stood on both feet as he wiped his mouth of the red blood which plagued his small tinder lips. "Damn . . you're an even better fighter . . . than Greed." Ed admitted, slow with his speech.

As expected, Envy recovered his throat in mere seconds, regaining the ability to speak.

"Hahaha, while I appreciate the flattery, pitiful compliments won't save you now. You wouldn't have earned this ass-beating if you simply told me where your brother is hiding." Envy reminded Ed.

"Yeah, like I would tell you where he is." Ed fired back.

"Oh, but in due time you will, I just know it, I know you." Envy declared, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

"What's that supposed to mean? Have you been stalking my brother and I this whole time on our journey!? What do you know about it!?" Ed shouted, regaining his usual speech, and obviously offended by Envy's last comment. His balled his hands into a fist, veins were popping out, teeth were showing, and eyes were leering. His anger kept his mind and body invigorated, focussed, and alive.

"Don't be silly, I'm not your guardian angel, but I know enough that self-sacrifice isn't an option for someone such as yourself." Envy confirmed as his expression grew more serious.

Ed responded with a slight growl, he couldn't think of a rebuttal.

"Let me ask you something Edward Elric, what do you know about me?" Envy asked with a hint of aggression in his unique and androgynous voice. Ed looked somewhat confused at the question.

"You know, the last time I asked you about yourself, I got my ass kicked, so what makes you think I'll ask now?" Ed neglected the question with obnoxious aggression in his tone voice.

Envy titled his head down, a small frown formed on his mouth, but quickly reverted back to a smirk.

"Although, I think a better question is why you haven't killed me yet. If you're a monster, then why aren't you acting like one?! What's the hold up?!" Ed yelled questioningly, confused by Envy's seemingly convoluted actions.

"Wasn't it you who said you would never forgive me? And that it was only because I carried that bastard's . . blood in my . . . . . .?" Ed's voice drifted slowly into silence, lost in thought, lack of words. His face, filled with astonishment, faced the envious creature, but looked aimlessly into the far distance.

'No . . no . . wait a minute . . . . how can that . . .no way . . no way! But then, why?' Ed thought to himself, his own realizations were conflicting his better judgment.

Envy started to walk closer towards Edward. "Finally catching on huh? That's good, now here's your last clue." Envy said as he quick darted toward Ed and punched him clean in the face, sending the youngster flying back into the trees. Ed hissed in pain as he clenched his bleeding face, and struggled to get back onto his feet; the pain was almost unbearable, the pain . . . was real.

"Damn it" Ed said weakly while coughing up some blood. His stance started to falter and his vision gradually grew more blurry, he was losing it, losing the fight, and losing consciousness, but not his will.

Ed quickly got into the defensive position as he dodged and blocked, with his automail, incoming pocket knives from an Envy in Hughes form. All the while, Envy kept running at him, and once he was close enough to Ed, he transformed back to normal and hopped over the alchemist; being over top of Ed in an upside-fashion with both arms, now sharpened blades, rearing to backslash Ed, but got blocked by the automail, resulting in a plethora of flying sparks from the clash.

With the given momentum from the jump, Envy flipped onto both feet and bounced into a backflip to slash at Ed with a newly created leg in the form of a blade. Once again, Ed blocked the attack, then proceeded to slash at Envy, but the lightweight homunculus dodged that attack, then performed a windmill breakdance with both of his legs moving as blades in a counterclockwise direction. The clever alchemist twisted his body in time to block the impact of Envy's leg blades with his left leg made of automail. From there, Envy decided to hop back and keep his distance from Ed. The automail was in worse condition, slash marks and bits of broken pieces were everywhere on the contraption. It won't last much longer if those attacks keep up.

"You know, for someone who wants to get there limps back, those fake ones sure are keeping you well and alive." Envy stated, laughing at the irony.

"Yeah, go on and keep laughing, you bastard." Ed dared as he clapped his hands together, summoning spiked earthy pillars from the ground to stab Envy. To Ed's bad luck, Envy carefully avoided the attacks with elegant high jumps and flips to keep out of range; at one point, Envy kicked off part of one of the earthy spikes with a timed rotational kick and used his spinning momentum to throw the spike back at Ed at full power. Ed barely avoided the attack, which bore through some trees behind him.

'Damn, I guess he really does want to kill me after all.' Ed figured to himself, still unsure of Envy's true intentions.

Taking advantage of the off-balanced position of the elric, Envy took a jab at Ed with another powerful punch. Ed yelped at Envy's speed, but bent his body further backwards, dodging the punch, and backflipped out of the way.

'Hopefully, Scar won't mind if I borrow this attack.' Ed thought to himself, ready to counterattack with the powerful alchemic technique.

Once Ed got upright again, he squatted and swiftly planted his hands onto Envy's waist, and blue lights formed in the moment of contact. Envy backed off before getting completely blown to bits from the blast; a big gaping hole formed on his side revealing some of his internal organs. As expected, the damaged area patched it self up with white alchemic light.

"Ooo, I see someone's getting desperate to murder me, not bad." Envy admitted, looking normal as ever; meanwhile, the blonde alchemist kept huffing and puffing, he felt fatigued.

'At this rate, I won't last much longer against him, I gotta end this quickly.' Ed promised himself as he hopped back onto his feet, gathering whatever strength he has left for his last gambit.

He clapped his hands once more and proceeded to press them onto the muddy ground, only to be stopped by a drop kick from Envy, sending the boy flying further back into the trees once more. Ed, once again, struggled to get back up, and Envy, being fast on his feet, had already circled behind Ed to tug him hard by the braided hair. He lifted the blonde-haired boy by the braid with ease, grinning gleefully at the vulnerable alchemist trying to break free. Ed hissed in pain, being tugged on from the hair was never a comfortable feeling, and certainly not from your arch-enemy.

"What will it be Pipsqueak? Would you like to suffer some more pain before I'm done? Or should I end you right here?" Envy asked with sadistic pleasure as his arm turned into a sharp blade, and held it up to Ed's sweaty nape.

"You can kiss my rear-end." Ed answered with a raspy tone of voice.

Envy laughed at his answer. "Wrong answer!" Envy exclaimed as he began to swing Ed in a circular motion in the air while still hanging on to his braid. Ed felt like he was literally losing his mind, the pain was unbearable, the young lad couldn't help but scream from twisted torture.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All the while, the demented creature continued to chuckle and laugh at the displeasure of the rotating human. With each complete rotation, the screaming progressively got louder and louder, and the laughter only followed suite. Round-and-round the hell continued for a few more moments until the beast stopped playing with its food, as if it grew bored of its meal.

He lowered the boy to eye level only to whisper into his ear, "Do you understand now?"

Ed, as limp as a rag doll, barely processed those words, and what they meant; all he could do was pant and occasionally throw up bits of blood from his mouth. His world, his vision, shifted in multiple directions, a dizzying dilemma. His stomach grew disgustingly nauseous, and his mouth had a sour taste of iron, he felt miserable, defeated. He wished that Envy would let him go, so that gravity would do the work, and let him rest on the muddy ground. He wished he could sleep on that ground, only to wake up and pretend that this was all a dream, that Envy never showed up, and that he could set out and do his research. Why had destiny done him so wrong? He wondered about that question, as he dangled, almost motionless, breathing, but motionless.

"C'mon Ed, are you still with me?" Envy asked as he slapped the dying boy on the cheeks multiple times. "It's no fun If you die on me now. This is only a tiny fraction of the pain that I've had to experience, so what's wrong? Too much for the Pipsqueak to handle? To comprehend?!" Envy shouted as he punched Ed right in the stomach, blowing him away until he tumbled into a big puddle of water.

The frail boy laid on his shattered belly, on the muddy puddle, looking more like a corpse. It was a miracle that he still had his automail intact, though it was in bad condition. It was a miracle that he was even alive, he thought. Should he die now, all of his hardships would've been for nothing, yet he still believed in that damned principle of Equivalent Exchange.

Ed intentionally twitched his body, testing his bodily movements like wagging his fingers and toes around. He then tested his whole body, trying his best to move and shake about; testing the waters, and testing his vitality. Blood still dripped from his mouth, which diluted in the puddle of water like the blending of different liquids. His final assault was coming.

"Well, if you feel like dying right here, I'll make sure to help you with that. I have some ideas as to where your brother could be hiding. I'll make sure that everyone sees your corpse before I toss you into a watery grave to join your deceased mother. Maybe then your beloved little brother will show his hollow and ugly head." Envy declared, feeling victorious with each step he took.

Ed giggled under his breath, unleashing the strength to clap his hands and place them on the ground quicker than last time. The clever transmutation summoned a circular well made of hardened earth, prefilled with water, 10 feet deep and 15 feet in diameter, below Envy's feet. As such, Envy fell into the water, feet first, looking quite surprised from the sudden change in terrain. His feet touched the bottom of the well, but used such force to bounce up and swim back onto the surface. Ed took advantage of situation by getting back onto his feet, stumbling a little due to the pain. Once he limped enough to be overtop a corner of the well, he performed one last transmutation by placing his hands on the water, immediately freezing it. What remained of the newly formed pool of ice was the head of Envy around the center along with small portions of his middle and ring fingers poking out from his left hand. The almost-frozen homunculus had eyes widen with amazement, looking at the weakling with a blank stare, not knowing what to think.

Ed settled his body on the corner like he was about to nap comfortably on the spot, showing signs of exhaustion, frozen in place, just like his enemy. His breathing still intensified, his blood took refuge on the crystallized pool of ice, his whole body was cold and soaking with bruises and cuts. He took a moment to look over at the seemingly immobilized monster with tearful eyes, a smirk appear on his face despite it all.

"Now . . . what were you saying . . . . about ah . . . .watery grave?" Ed asked with the last of his breath before collapsing onto the corner again, chuckling to himself at last.

END OF CHAPTER 7