EDWARD
He sighed, wondering how Winry was doing. He knew she had to be safe, but he was still worried about her.
The arrangement had been that after Scarlett found a way to send word that she'd screwed up the tunnels enough, they'd find the Ishvalan refugee-camp in the near-by slums were Scar, Marcoh, May and Winry were headed. From there, they'd head to Liore to meet up with her. So far there'd been no word.
"I'm worried too." Al said from behind him. He nodded.
"You should be."
The two turned to see General Armstrong. She looked grim. "Why's that?" he asked.
"The Fuhrer is here to see you two."
"What?!" they both cried.
They were lead to a different room, where the Fuhrer sat. From his expression, he wasn't happy.
"Hello, you two. You may go now, General."
"Sir." Armstrong nodded, walking out.
"Your friend has caused quite a bit of trouble."
"She attacked us, sir..." Al said softly.
Wrath's eye widened a bit. "That's something I haven't heard. All I heard was that she assisted Scar in the kidnapping of your friend and killed Kimblee, directly afterwards returning here and killing General Raven before escaping into the tunnel. Envy was sent after her, but so far we haven't heard anything from him."
Scarlett killed Raven...? But General Armstrong... Oh!
It had been a cover-up! To make Scarlett seem bad while they continued on with the plan! She was nearly indestructible, so if all the Homunculi were focused on her, she'd eventually destroy them!
"It's true, sir. Right before helping scar abduct Winry, she helped him defeat the soldiers that had him cornered, and then she turned on us." he said, playing along.
"Well, she shouldn't get too far. She is strong, but Envy is stronger, and he's been around longer. He'll surely beat her."
SCARLETT
"Get back here, you bloody coward!" she howled, chasing after Envy's fleeing back.
She'd been using him as a tool to assist her demolition of the tunnels for a while now. It was taking him longer to heal. But then they'd uncovered a mine-shaft, and he'd slipped into it.
"What's the matter? Afraid of a puny human like myself?" she yelled, stopping at a fork. "You're a bloody coward, Envy, hiding behind the faces of other people to avoid pain and punishment! You're just jealous of us! How we have others who care for us!"
She carefully examined the ground. Left!
She started running down the tunnel. She heard the panicked cry of the terrified Homunculus a second before she saw him. She put on an extra burst of speed.
Now he made the mistake of looking back, causing him to trip a little. She gained more ground, and soon had him pinned up against a wall.
"P-please... Don't..." he whispered, begging her.
"Why? Have you ever shown mercy to the ones you kill? Have you ever felt even a sliver of pity or any emotion other than that of your hatred and jealousy for us humans?" she snarled.
Her right arm-blade slipped out, her blood trickling down it. Envy's eyes widened in fear.
ENVY
She was going to kill him.
He stared in terror at her. Her red eyes were glowing, like they had at Father's lair, when she'd gone berserk on him.
But he didn't think he'd last even a minute of her attacking him, not in this condition!
Her arm came up, and he swallowed in fear.
"Your Stone..." she started, the point of the deadly blade tapping the skin on the bottom of his chin. "... it's right about here, isn't it?"
"... don't..." he squeaked.
"I could, if it struck my fancy. I could end your life just by thrusting this upwards..."
He clenched his eyes shut.
"But I won't."
"Huh?" He was confused, and opened his eyes.
"In this condition, I can out-run you, I'm stronger than you, and I can end your life in mere seconds. So right now, you're going to do as I say. And you're going to help me dig." she hissed, her forehead inches away from his.
"What...? No, I can't! Father would-"
"Who do you think is more important right now, me? Or your so-called Father, who doesn't really give shit about your insignificant life? To him, you are expendable. But if you play your cards right, you could become valuable to me, Envy. I bet I could find a way to restore your Stone a bit too, if you were to behave."
He trembled, going over the options. The only way to make a Philosopher's Stone was to sacrifice human lives... Would she, a human herself, stoop so low as to do that?
"And..."
"What?"
If you were to behave long enough, I might learn to like you. It's your choice, Envy."
EDWARD
He swallowed nervously, watching the Fuhrer's envoy leave the fort. "That was close..." he murmured nervously.
No one else spoke for a while after that.
"Well, we've stalled for a while, and if what you say about Scarlett is true, this Envy person won't be able to stop her." General Armstrong said.
"Not necessarily..." he said softly. "Envy's true form is huge. Almost big enough to fill a portion of the tunnel. He could very possibly beat Scarlett."
"Then we'd better get to work on other parts of the plan."
SCARLETT
She didn't stop her even tempo despite having to keep an eye on Envy. His rhythm was frantic, and there wasn't any set rhythm to his digging either. When he felt she was going to punish him for slacking off, he sped up.
At least he wouldn't rebel... Not with his Stone so low...
Her eyes registered something approaching them. "You don't stop working. We've got company." she ordered.
Terrified, the Homunculus nodded and kept digging.
She turned and went back the way they'd come. She walked quickly, knowing the danger of having another Homunculus come and ruin their plans.
"I can smell you!"
Ugh... Gluttony... Had to be...
She didn't pause, rushing at his form. He narrowly avoided her blow. "You got lucky that time, but I'm not holding back!" she snarled.
"Why is Envy with you? Envy was sent to destroy you!"
She ignored his voice and focused on killing him. He'd been newly resurrected, so she'd have a bit of a job on her hands here...
But that was fine...
... She had all the time in the world...