Author's Note: Well, it's a new year, but I have no resolutions. Every time I try to think of one, I blank. But you may have noticed if you've been following the story from the beginning, that I've downgraded the rating from M to T. I was thinking it over and thought I was probably overestimating content of future chapters, although if you don't like violence… then you probably won't be reading anything with Envy in it, so it's not really my judgment that the problem is it? Oh read and review, thank you very much and I do not own Doctor Who or FMA.
Chapter 5 "You Mess with the Family…"
Envy was shook out of a restorative sleep with a reverberation that set his taut hammock spin*. In his state, jarred with a filtered din trying to contact the higher brain, Envy sat up and looked about groggily. "Wha…?"
"Don't just lay there, you fool," snarled a heavily built man who burst from the corridor and into the common room where Envy slept. "There's Yuurlnats on the attack!" Envy tried to remember where he was. This frustrated the man, who stormed over with a furrowed brow and bared teeth and hauled the Homunculus to his feet. "Come on!"
The shake woke Envy up completely. "What're the Yuurlnats? Who the hell are you?" He caught a glance of something outside the window; it looked like a large prone figure with a great deal of brains splattered out of its eye sockets and lungs out of its torso. The scene vanished as he was yanked away by the man that woke him up.
"Mostly nitrogen. You're the new one?" he was pulling Envy through the hallways of the communal housing. The man wore a form-fitting leather jacket and jeans, heavy-soled army boots and crew-cut hair.
"Yeah…"
"Shit," the man uttered. "Probably haven't got much souls in your stone to handle a battle, do you?"
"Um, no…?" Envy stuttered.
The man stopped suddenly, swung Envy to the wall and slammed his hands to it by both sides of Envy's head. It was an aggressive move, and Envy couldn't help but flinch. The man let out a hot, forced sigh. "What do you do- what's your power?"
"Shape-shift mainly… Where's the Doctor?" He watched the man's version of a Homunculus tattoo- a double-ended serpent, intertwined and each head devouring the other's half- ripple over the taut muscles and tendons of his neck.
"Doesn't matter to you. You're in no condition to fight." Envy blinked. The man gave another sharp sigh, explaining, "You're new, you don't got a lot of stone left, you don't know what we're dealing with, and I saw by that flinch that you're a poor fighter. You'll just get in the way."
Envy felt a pang of insult. 'Ass,' he thought, but knew the man was right. He did have a lousy record as of late. He stared back at the man, clench-jawed and purse-lipped. It probably didn't help that Envy never put much effort into to learning how to fight. "So… what, then?" he asked.
Envy was dragged around to the western doors. They took in the scene: oversized hunchbacks in sick green armor were trooping about in the valley and the Homunculi were gathering into tight-knit packs on the slopes. Beyond the enemies, a dense wood grew. Even from their vantage point on the crest of the ridge, they could see one major problem. "Kids! How is that-"
"Doesn't matter. You know what hyenas look like?" Envy nodded. "Good. They're our clan symbol. If one is running around-"
"Viewer! Why're the Yuurlnats here?" A child that looked about ten appeared from behind the door. It had a mop of curly hair and a loose shirt and pants.
"Take a wild guess. And you're not fighting." He turned back to Envy. "No one is going to notice a hyena on the loose. You're going to gather the kids up. Speaker, you're to go with the new it and get the brats to a safe spot." Then without waiting, the Viewer took off to join the amassing Homunculi.
Envy snarled. "Who is he, acting all great like that?"
"Don't worry about what he calls you; I'm an it too," said the Speaker to Envy. "There's lots of us as Homunculi. Besides, a fight's about to break out; it's only better if somebody takes charge of organizing us."
Envy gave the child a sidelong glance, wondering why this brat acted so professional about it. "Yeah, well, don't get killed," Envy replied aloofly before transforming. "Geez. Sure you can keep up?" he asked in hyena-form.
The child almost instinctively placed a hand on Envy's back. "We have to see who's in most danger first." They crept further out into the opening.
"Shit- it looks like the kids running around behind the hoard," Envy said, pointing with his hand-paw to the area between themselves and the mob of Homunculi below them. "Our side looks like they're going for an all-out onslaught. If the aliens remain stable, we could be pushed back."
The Speaker nodded. "And the kids get trampled. Let's go, then." He led Envy down a series of minor paths worn through the prairie, as the two hoped the din of the Homunculi mob and the growth of tall prarie grasses would cover their presence. The Speaker explained to Envy what the Yuurlnats were after.
"Water?" Envy was boggled. "As a fuel source? Alchemically, it makes sense, but to use an entire planet's worth? Could anyone be that stupid?"
"They had a lot to power. When they sucked their planet dry, they started looking for more sources for it. And it's easier to find it on wet planets than scooping up comets. So, they wipe entire planets clean of life to fuel the technology of one they already destroyed."
They crept along in silence for a bit before Envy asked, "So, what makes you the Speaker then?"
"I earned it. It's not easy, if that's what you're thinking. I was one of those Homunculi who was created as a child, that's why I look like a kid." The Speaker huffed. Envy glanced over and rolled his eyes. It was then when Envy glanced at the child, that he noticed that one of its eyes was grey, the other a pale yellow. The Speaker continued. "It's also why I can't fight. I'd get trampled- I didn't need to get reminded of that."
"But you have to have some power."
"Yeah, I do. That shake the building took? That was me. I make powerful sound waves."
Envy snorted, but it came out as a squeak. "You're the one who woke me up."
"Sorry," the Speaker said. "Covet," it said to the first child they came upon- a toddler playing with what looked like a scrap of shed snakeskin. "You shouldn't be here. Take her…"
"Envy. My name's Envy," he said before picking up the babe up by the back of the shirt.
"Come on, we've got others to get," the Speaker said. Envy gave a muffled reply.
The mob let out a war cry and assaulted the invaders just then. Envy couldn't help but look and watch the Homunculi engulf the Yurrlnats like a swarm of piranha. He found it… amusing. He sat alert, dish-shaped ears alert, and chuckled as the child swung and babbled from Envy's grip on her shirt. To get his attention, the Speaker tugged on Envy's long mane. "Come on," he snorted at the larger Homunculus.
Hiding behind Envy, the Speaker took two more children by the hand, and led them into an out-of-the-way root cellar for hiding. When retrieving a child that wandered too close to the battle Envy would sneak as close as possible, then rush in, grab the child in his mouth and sprint away.
In the middle of one rush, he sensed a body flying over his head, causing him to stumble. He saw that a Yurrlnat was advancing on him, most likely the one who killed the airborne body. Envy hunched his shoulders and growled defensively, baring his teeth. He slowly padded to the side as his haunches twitched in anticipation. The Yurrlnat stepped up the pace and tried to catch the Homunculus, but Envy jumped back with a snarl, circled around and tried to attack the alien's neck from the side. He didn't get in far enough. The Yurrlnat grabbed Envy by the fur on his chest and threw him to the ground with one hand, and brandished a dagger with the other.
What remained of the sky in Envy's vision was blocked as a great force tore the Yurrlnat off balance and whiplashed Envy along. Envy yelped. The Yurrlnat lost his grip on him, as the alien hit the ground, Envy was sent sailing into a tumbling meeting with the ground.
"Hi-nya roll-led!" He heard a high voice cry in front of him. It was the child he was trying to rescue. Envy scrambled to his feet, to see what was happening. The Viewer was wrestling the Yuurlnat, but as the match continued, a giant stingray like creature with a metal exoskeleton appeared where the Viewer stood a second earlier. The ray opened its giant maw and engulfed the Yurrlnat's torso in it. The Yurrlnat let out a scream of alarm and forgot about the Viewer; struggling against the new foe instead. It drove its knife into the ray's forehead and the weapon sank in. The Viewer emerged in seconds from the thrashing metallic demon's fin like the Lockness monster rising from the water. Steel-eyed, the Viewer gripped the dagger in a clenched fist, and wasted no time driving the weapon up into the alien's skull. Blood and brains ruptured from the wound, coating both victim and assailant with a furious spray. The blood spattered Viewer turned to Envy, and advanced with a deadly scowl carved into his face.
Envy backed up and cowered a bit, before noticing the child he was to rescue. He took the child by the back of the shirt, all the while never taking his eyes off the other Homunculus, until he bolted away.
Envy returned, child in tow, tail tucked and glancing over his shoulder every five seconds. The Speaker was aghast at the whole scene. "You should have gotten out of there with the kid as soon as you got to him," he admonished Envy, as they crawled away for another child.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Envy groaned. Like he had a choice about it.
In the next round of gathering the young, a stray Yuurlnat happened upon them, but the Speaker, being "the Ultimate Sound," heard it approach and tipped Envy off.
It should be noted that hyenas have some of the strongest jaws in animal kingdom of Earth, bone-crushing teeth, and powerful haunches. The Yuurlnat's throat crumpled like a peanut shell under Envy's snap. Envy found the eye socket and a place just behind the jaw next, dragging his unfortunate victim to the ground. He let go just as the Speaker brought his interlocked fists to meet the enemy's skull. "Beautiful," Envy sneered.
It was the last thing it saw: the animal with its muzzle sopping with the metallic blood of its victim; a maniacal smile sparkling in the sunlight, jaws parted in a cackling giggle.The laughter of the beast was the last thing it heard before the child's crushing blow thundered his head into pieces. The Yurrlnat's life closed with the drawing of a curtain of fluid crimson**.
They then took to the slope to the left of the battle, that being the next place a retreating side would fall to. There was a boy trying to sneak up on the battle, who looked the same age as the Speaker. His name was Reckless, and he began to start a fight with the Speaker upon their arrival.
"Why don't you go fight if you're fer real, huh Speaker?" the boy puffed out his barreled chest and crossed his arms, attempting to look threatening.
"That would be foolish," the Speaker replied. "A melee is not a place I could do well in."
" 'Cause you're a kid."
The Speaker drew himself up to his full height. "Reckless, now is not the time for this."
"Yeah, but 'cause you're so special…" Reckless pouted.
"Shut up, runt, I've heard enough," Envy said finally. He reared up and toppled the boy, showing a mouthful of sharpened teeth. "Maybe you want to be turned into muck, and that's fine by me, but orders are that we've got to collect you brats." He then seized the child in his mouth by the shirt collar and dragged him- none too gently- along. Reckless tried to kick in protest, but one slow growl silenced that.
The third group they evacuated were lead into the dense underbrush of the woods instead- it was something the smaller bodies had an advantage in. By their third trip, the Yuurlnats had broken under the pressure of a race of domestics who would not stay dead. They scattered in a retreat that lead them straight into the area where the Speaker and Envy were working. The hoard of Homunculi, already driving away the invaders, screamed in rage at their enemies' poor choice of direction (that being in the direction where their children were), and redoubled their drive to wipe out the threat.
If a small group of Yurrlnats held together, it was only took a few seconds of coordination for the Homunculi to wipe them out. Yurrlats fleeing alone were hunted down like prey, and if any stood to fight, they only made the Homunculi's job easier. Heaven forbid they get caught in the woodland thicket.
Homunculi, it was later explained to Envy at the post-battle meal, make poor parents as individuals. To get around that, the entire clan raises the children. The expectation that one's offspring will be safe in the presence of other clansmen is ensured by one's duty to protect everyone else's. Mutual respect, because if an act against Homunculus is not reasonable, the wronged are perfectly willing to be far less reasonable. Then consider a hoard of them.
"No hard feelings from me though," Idle commented during the late lunch they had. "They will become one with the earth, and the garden's going to need more nitrates soon. I never do get around to sending in requests."
"So it's a windfall," Envy said, keeping an eye on the Doctor, who sat beside him, for any reaction. The Doctor bit into an apple. "And-a sort of forgiveness when you think about it. I mean- we will be making them a part of ourselves. We're taking our place in the universe. When you look at it objectively, it's what happens naturally. So it can't be wrong***.
"Wait-" Envy realized something. "You actually fought?"
"No, but as I was putting my tools away, there were a number of Yuurlnats who all had vital organs of some sort in the way of where my things belonged. I never realized that their eyeball fluid could be caustic- now I need some new shears." She had a far-off look in her eyes, her fork hanging limply in her hand. "But at least now I won't be ruining the mulcher- we just got it, you know."
"Hey you, it."
Envy turned to face the Viewer. "My name is Envy."
The Viewer's already stern expression flashed even darker. He snatched up the Homunculus by his top. Couldn't this man ever relax?
"What the fuck Man!" Envy gasped through the Viewer's thumbs pressing into his throat.
"Hey!" "What's this about?" Idle and the Doctor started.
"Envy! Listen you, I told you not to fight! And guess what was found?"
"Wha- "
"A Yuurlnat with its throat ripped out complete with bite marks," the Viewer snarled. Envy tried to pry the Viewer's hands off him, transmuting his hands into raking lion's paws.
"Hey, ease up now," the Doctor said. "Put him down, it was battle."
The Speaker came into the scene and protested himself. The glass he held shattered from his sound waves and a tense grip.
The Viewer glared at the Doctor before letting Envy drop and he stormed away.
"What's his problem? Jerk." Envy asked sorely from the ground, messaging his throat. Recently, Envy had begun to learn about angry people, and had come the conclusion- based on personal observation- that the Viewer was an angry, angry man. He took note of this little finding and tucked it away for future reference.
"Did he learn what your name was? From what I've gathered," the Speaker supplied, "He had a brother named Envy, who he hated immensely."
"Why's that my fault?" Envy drank from the glass Idle offered him after the Doctor gave him a hand up to the bench.
The Speaker shrugged. "It's the idea, I guess. You know how sore feelings can be."
"Well," the Doctor said, "the idea of envy means something different to the Viewer's people than yours. To his, envy means that someone isn't willing to do what it takes to get what they want- a waste of emotion."
"Fucking asshole, I'm not his brother. Where does he think he gets the right to take it out on me? And I bet he's not the one that decided that I was worth recruiting."
"Don't take it personally, he always had an attitude." Idol said through a mouthful of some other planet's equivalent of lettuce. "He may have been worried."
Envy furrowed his brow. "Worried…?"
"You fought when he told you not to?"
"Like I had a choice. It was coming straight at us."
"With not a lot of souls in your stone left?"
"This again? Yes."
"But if it gone badly- killing the recruit, he'd be at fault."
"So he's as concerned about my ass as he is about his. That sounds like a proper Homunculus."
"Actually, there's a theory that Dalek Homunculi would be rather decent chaps," the Doctor said.
Envy stared blankly, very deliberately finished chewing, and swallowed. "That's a joke right?"
The Doctor tilted his head thoughtfully and said, "Well, sort of. Given the Dalek outlook on, well, everything, I'd say that their sins are things like… mercy… benefit of the doubt… tolerance, you know, that sort of thing."
"I still don't want to see it," the Speaker grumbled. "Could make them more… ugh." He then changed his expression. "But you need more Phliosopher's stone, right?"
"It seems to be a necessity."
"I'll show you where you can get some more. But you can only take what you need. It goes without saying- to keep the peace."
"Oh, I see," Envy knew of no other way to respond.
*That previous night the conversation went something like this:
Envy: Why's there a hammock in the middle of a flat lounge?
Idle: I don'no, it's just sort of there. You can sleep in it.
Envy: Uhh… hammocks are outside things; it's not supposed to be in a lounge.
Idle: Ask Steve. He brought it in here.
Envy: Steve? A Time Lord Homunculus named Steve?
Idle: That's what we call him.
Envy: What's his real name?
Idle: I don'no, I've always known him as Steve.
Etcetera.
**This is what I like to call the Kopi Luwak Phenomenon- when the partially digested crap you shit out is an improvement over what it started out as. Wiki "Kopi Luwak."
*** "It's the Cir-cle of Liiiifffe/ and it moves us aalllll…" It's a little known fact that the Homunculi of New Galifray love that song. A/N: If someone makes an AMV of the Circle of Life featuring the Homunculi, I will love you forever.