Two silk traders and an armored guard

[aspiredeathe]

Jean raised an eyebrow as Barry went on, losing him half way.
He was still trying to make sense of the speech when Kimblee stepped up dressed in all his glory and turned their travelling companion into a walking bomb.
"Are you insane? You may not be pulling the trigger, but if he goes off and kills innocent people, you will be held to blame!" It wasn't so much that the man would have to answer for the action, but people getting hurt, Hawkeye getting hurt. She was the one in most danger here, whether by being at gunpoint or in blast range.
"Don't try anything Hawkeye." He warned, familiar with the look in the female officer's eyes.
Kimblee hadn't said that he would blow Barry up, but he doubted the Alchemist could do anything else but that with those hands of his.
Unless he could pinpoint the blast the a certain point, say a blood seal.
He wondered if he had time to go grab his gun? He could just shoot the joints, freeing Hawkeye and the they could deal with him.
Though he wasn't sure how, the words the armour had spouted moments ago somehow settling in his mind. He wasn't doing this because he wanted to, that he was sure of.
After all, why would he have come along with them if he planned on causing mayhem?
He doubted Kimblee would have had any qualms with just releasing him into the wild, so to speak.

[rizahawkeye]

Hawkeye only nodded... it's pretty much all she could do at this point. She didn't have the right shooting angle anyway, and couldn't reach her gun... also, her oxygen intake was limited, so she wouldn't trust her eyes anyway.

[amouri]

Barry froze in shock, as Kimblee suddenly strode over towards him.
What the hell does he think he's doing?!
Before he could react, the alchemist had placed his hands on his armour, and activated the alchemy.
Barry stiffened in discomfort, as a sudden burst of blue light seeped out of the cracks and gaps in his armour, emitting from his now active bloodseal.
Before he could even gasp in shock, the light had faded as quickly as it had come.
He stared in uttermost shock at Kimblee.

"But-how could you...why, you measly filthy stinking blubberheaded rat-eared fish-faced bug-brained twisted LYING NO-GOOD SLIME-COVERED DIRT-LICKING DOG-KISSING GREEDY BLOODY SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!"
The shocked whisper quickly increased in volume, until it became a full-throated bellow of rage.
Barry was trembling so hard with fury that he was worried he might pull the trigger by mistake.
He glared at Kimblee, with a look so venomous he was surprised he wasn't dripping.
It wasn't the fact that he now realized how incredibly stupid he had acted, neither the fact that Kimblee had just turned him into a walking death trap.
No, it was the fact that his greatest anxiety had just been voiced and confirmed.

He narrowed his eyes.
"Tool, eh? Tool?! Ahahahahaha yes, tool."
He cocked his head, chuckling like crazy, though his eyes were as hard as flint.
"I had a suspicion something like that was going on. Why would anyone ever want to do something for me, why would anyone ever have wanted to do that? Well...thats the whole thing, ain't it? No-one has ever wanted it, they just all needed the extra backup, the guy in the sideline who gets rid of the witnesses and does the dirty work. The "Clean up man" So to say. Thats always been my part in this life, apart from butchering of course, then I was just the guy who supplied this greedy bunch of idiots we call a population with meat."

He chuckled quietly.
"I should have known better. Even if I for once mean well, no-one could ever see me in any different perspective. Thats a curse I've been carrying for a long time, and just when I'd thought it had given up and died-bang! There it flares up again, like a fire fed to burn."
He glared at the alchemist, hating him with every inch of his bulky metal body.
It would all have been easier if he had killed them-though it had probably left a disgusting taste in his throat.
Havoc he knew just couldn't help it, he was a part of the military, forced to follow orders. He couldn't help that he had wound up with a psycho like himself.
Riza, why on earth would he ever want to kill Riza? It just wasn't possible. He wouldn't be able to do it.
Zolf. Ah, Zolf. Well, at this moment, he felt that he would gladly make sure that Zolf would be having quite a few problems digesting in the future, after having his guts spilled out on the floor.

He fumed silently, but regained some of his control.
He couldn't really blame Zolf, what mustn't it have looked like?!
Of course Kimblee would try to do SOMETHING, Barry would have done nothing less.

"Look, when have I ever tried to kill you guys? When have I ever betrayed your trust and stabbed you in the back when you weren't looking? Except of course when we met, but you can't blame a fellow for doing what he was ordered to under penalty of death.
Kimblee, that night at your house, I could have sliced your heart out while you were asleep, and you wouldn't even have noticed!
But did I? Huh?
Havoc, just now, when that filthy bug was biting my seal, how did you not know that it could have been a trick, a trick to get you away from Kimblee so I could tear you up and run for it?
But that wasn't what happened was it? Eh?
Riza, when these two gentlemen were changing, I may have been a little bit pushy and such, I'll admit that. But I didn't try to cut you up, now did I?"

He glanced at the ceiling.
Fuck it. Envy can go screw himself, this ain't possible for me to do. I tried, and I failed. See how he takes it, see if I care.

"Time, eh? Allrighty then."
He sighed and took his arm away from Riza, patting her briskly on the shoulder and handing her the gun.
"There you go sweetheart, sorry for the inconvenience."
He grunted, reaching in inside himself, and taking out the massive knife, flinging it at Kimblee's feet, where it fell with a clatter.
"There ya go you slimy git. Take your fancy-pansy thing back, I'm not like a dog to be bribed to do things. Oh, and hang on," He rummaged in his toga, taking forth his other knife, the one he had owned ever since becoming an armour.
That too he flung at the alchemist's feet.
"There ya go. NOW, what to do with me?" He said calmly, crossing his arms.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Zolf sighed inwardly with relief as Barry released the officer under his command and returned her weapon. He listened patiently at the diatribe that poured out of the suit of armor. He knew he had it coming. And hell...he'd been called worse by better people, right? 'Rat eared?' he thought and unconsciously reached up to cover them with his hair better.

A sizzle of blue sparks shot from Barry's armor and a puff of smoke went up, revealing a tiny yellow bird swinging back and forth on a spring. He shrugged and grinned. "Aheh..mission accomplished." he chuckled nervously, "Now...scrap-for-brains," he continued in an irritated voice, "do you wanna march your metal behind back into the cabin and cool your jets? C'mon, Barry, I'd never really hurt you or kill you. You left me with no choice, really. You made a play...I bluffed you. Game over."

He wanted a cigarette badly, but he didn't think Hawkeye would care to have he or Havocs second hand smoke filling up the cabin. He picked up the two butcher knives and tossed them onto the seats. It hurt and rankled that he'd had to make such a cheap play, but what's done is done. The Lieutenant was safe, no one was hurt. All it cost was the only thing resembling a friendship he'd probably ever have. Duty sucked.

"Oh...and Barry?" he added, "if you're a tool, you're not mine, or Havoc's or any of us here. Who's the one who made you go ballistic? Ain't none of us three here pushed your buttons...till you made us. So this increasingly hypothetical something you keep dropping hints about...yeah...if you're a tool, you're their tool."

The situation reminded him of Basque Gran the time when he'd supposedly been the one insulting he and the other prisoners before providence stepped in and saw fit to provide him with a way out. He knew what 'it' was then, and had a pretty good idea that only something that powerful could scare the likes of Barry the Chopper. He managed to bluff and flush out Barry...could he do the same with the unseen threat? Of course, it was only a suspicion at that point, but a pretty good suspicion. Barry sits in the train..fine one minute, not so good the next. Nothing visible was the threat. And if it wasn't visible then it was invisible, that was goddamn sure.

[WWTDD? What would Tyler Durden do? xD buheeheehee!]

[amouri]

Barry gasped in shock as something shot through his eye, obscuring his vision for a split second.
He quickly reached up, pulling the strange little figure out of his empty eye-socket, crushing it with a sharp crunch.
"Aha, unexpected eh? Sure is unexpected, I'll give you that." He hissed, dropping the now pathetic looking bird to the floor.

Hm. Figures, he wouldn't put himself at risk. I could've run amok if I'd wanted to, who's he to know that I might be suicidal? Lucky he took his precautions, he might have done something far more worse if he had no harmless way of stopping me.
"Yes, master raven-hair." He said slickly, giving a mock salute, and trundling into the compartment, where he flopped onto the seat nearest the window, gazing determined out at the moving landscape.

As the knives were thrown onto the opposite seat, he bristled slightly.
In some eyes it might have looked like an act of trust to give them up like that.
In others, it would seem more likely that he'd just lost hope.

At the alchemist's remark, he grunted slightly.
"Whatever you say pal." He sighed.
"But there's reason I didn't tell you flat out. See if you can crack the clue smart-ass."
He still had no idea whatsoever what to do now.
Once again he wished he'd never left lab five.
What he'd do to get away from everything...
With a slight creak, he settled himself and sank into the only condition wherein he could have at least some privacy.
The shifting masses of thoughts and dreams that were his meek imitation of rest.

((Btw, I did indeed start school today ;D YAY IT WAS GREAT! Though I won't be posting so regularly anymore...I have been chosen! Farewell my friends, I go on to a better place!))

[aspiredeathe]

((Congratz on surviving your first day ^^
And why Tyler Durden?? xD))

Jean let out a breathe he'd been holding and shot Hawkeye a look to see if she was alright. She was a tough woman, so she should be fine, slightly rattled but nothing she couldn't deal with. He then headed into he compartment, after the other two, yet stopped, standing in front of Barry "You really area an idiot. Think I don't know how many times you could have killed me? Hell, having you sitting in the back of my car was probably the most scariest thing I've had to do in a while. But I trusted you, that's why I came to see if you were alright."
It was true, he hadn't expected an ambush of sorts, actually believing that the guy wouldn't kill him, having had so many chances already.

He then took up his seat, leaning back and folding his hands in his lap, feeling his fingers making that twitchy feeling that meant he was low on nicotine or high on stress.
Probably both.
"Screw it." He got up again, grabbing his bag and searching through it. Smoking was not part of his cover, but he didn't give a damn right now. Besides they were gonna be there soon, so he could at least try and squeeze one in.
With a victorious grunt he pulled out a carton, listening to the exchange of words going on while he shoved his bag back up on the rack and took up his seat once again.

He cracked open the window, the loud noise of wind forcing itself into the compartment hitting his ears.
"Sorry. "He muttered, a cigarette already in between his lips as he tossed the pack to Kimblee, his lighter in hand.
It took two tries to get the end to light, with all the wind, passing his silver lighter on to the Alchemist as well.
Jean took a long drag as he thought about it all. Why wouldn't someone be able to lay out the situation? Possible compromise. A threat. Someone watching. Blackmail.
All good reasons, all very possible.
He then took everything else into mind.
Barry had only recently started acting odd, round about when he left for the second time.
Which reminded him, why did he leave? Another bug?
And did he get it? After all, he was suddenly talking to someone.

Ah.
The cigarette hung loosely on his bottom lip as he stared ahead of him. Had he really figured it out?

[Zolf J Kimblee]

[Why not Tyler Durden? xD Dunno...guess Barry and Kimblee's reckless risks kinda remind me of something Tyler Durden would do...except of course, Tyler Durden would definitely blow everything up. 'If you wanna bake a cake, you gotta bust a few eggs!' ]

"Why, thank you soldier...don't mind if I do." he said with a grin and lit up a smoke with the silver lighter. He handed it back and exhaled with a deep sigh.

It looked like Barry was gonna be all pissy now that he'd been called out. Oh well, he had no one but himself to blame. But then again, Barry didn't have a soldiers training and instincts. He had killers' instincts, but not a soldiers' killer instincts. Being a soldier, Zolf knew he had to think on the fly....a fly. He listened to a faint buzzing in the cabin and saw a fly land on the wall.

"Hey Havoc..." he asked casually, taking another puff, "you ever wish you could be a fly on the wall of a room where an interesting conversation was being held?" He quickly rose from his seat and smacked the wall, but the fly was faster still. He could fry it if he wanted to and perhaps he would if it landed nearby again. Flies were stupid and usually landed in the same spot seconds later. Something smarter than a fly would leave the room....or some other course of action. He watched the fly buzz about the cabin, and blew a cloud of smoke at it.

[When is a fly not a fly? Hehehe! We'll have to wait and see what Envy decides to do. ^___^]

[masterwarlord]

((Sorry about that. I made my post as you made yours so I didn’t see it. Anyway, here’s the edited version))

Envy was massively disappointed when Barry just seemingly gave up. Perhaps it was for some sort of surprise attack? No, he’d given up his weapons, his hostage, and to leave no possible room for doubt, he’d shut off. A crying shame. . .Envy hadn’t intended for Barry to sabotage the operation so blatantly, though he wasn’t complaining. Envy wondered whether Barry would go on to do it in a more subtle fashion in the future, but he obviously didn’t have the time to stick around and find out. He’d have to come check up on Barry later.

Envy chuckled to himself in satisfaction as he heard that his suspicions on Kimblee merely bluffing were correct. Humans were so very predictable. However; just as he was getting ready to leave, Envy was extremely irked as he heard that Kimblee was actually picking up Barry’s hints. . .He didn’t think any of the others were capable of figuring out what happened, but Kimblee worried him. Kimblee was the only thing preventing him from having total control over the operation in the first place. . .Envy was beginning to get a grudge, though he couldn’t bring himself to hate the guy, seeing their similar outlooks on the world.

It was quite possible that Kimblee could actually link the incident back to the homunculus in his mind, though there was no way of proving it to the others, so Envy felt relatively secure, reassuring himself. Seeing he’d already spent a lot of time here and Barry was shut down, there was no reason for him to stay any longer. He’d have to come back and check up on the group after they arrived at Lior. Envy doubted they’d be hard to find if Barry was with them and they had such horrible (In his opinion, at least, though he was a master of disguise.) disguises. There was nothing more he could do. . .For now. Envy went to go buzz out the now open window (He was quite thankful to Havoc for opening up his exit wide so he didn’t have to go through a small hole)…

But was suddenly smacked at by Kimblee. He was already dodging the blow due to having gone to leave, and very frantically he did, hovering up and landing on the top of the car. He wasn’t thinking about what to do at the moment, just set on trying to escape. After resting his little wings on top of the train car a moment, he regained his senses. . .Why was he fleeing? Kimblee was obviously onto him, as he’d suspected. . .But there was no way he could know that it was him, was there? Then again, there could be some alchemy he didn’t know about, or he could be underestimating Kimblee. He’d underestimated his enemies far too often. . .More often then not it led to failure.

So what was he going to do about this if Kimblee knew what was going on? Take the risk? No. . .He couldn’t leave humans to their own devices. He’s been far too generous with the group already. Envy chuckled to himself. . .Kimblee would’ve been far better off if he would’ve just remained silent.

Envy buzzed back into the room and took on his true form. . .He wasn’t going to kill anybody, so long as they cooperated. Though if, say, the trigger happy female lieutenant put a bullet into him he wasn’t gonna be happy. He turned to Kimblee and smirked. “So you found me out, huh? Long time no see, buddy. Last I saw you was back in that old lab. . .I was gonna bust you out myself for a job if you’d just been a bit more patient, though I can’t blame you for wanting to get out. . .You’re just like me. Dying to get out of your bonds. Anyway, I was there back at the Ishbal massacre. I saw what you did. . “. Envy grimaced. “I absolutely loved it.”. Envy chuckled to himself briefly.

“I was gonna wait to use you until later, but you’ve left me no choice, and you’re heading to Lior anyway. . .I’m intending on using the place to make a philosopher’s stone. I’ve been searching for an alchemist to perform it for some time now, but my search was over the moment I met you, Kimblee, old pal.”. Envy turned to Havoc and Hawkeye recently before eyeing Kimblee once again. “As for the rest of these people here, I don’t care what you do with em. Keep em alive if you insist, but there’s no way you can risk them spilling their guts out. Keep a close eye on them. . .”.

Envy took out a small philosopher’s stone and held it dauntingly in close of Kimblee’s face as if to taunt him, then quickly whipped his hand back before he could snatch it from his hand. “Just join my cause and this baby’s all yours, free of charge. So what’ll it be, Kimblee? I know you can’t resist a second Ishbal massacre. . .”. Envy chuckled again.

[archer]

(And so Archer returns! )

A small smile flickered upon his lips as the woman meekly obeyed. The man was silent, speaking not as the girl failed his task time after time. At last, some progress was seemed to be made. Fifth times the charm? Rather premature, such a thought was, as the books fell off at last. Archer shook his head once, before clasping his hands together. "Perhaps it would be best to practice in the future with a few less...?" Commented the lieutenant colonel. Chuckling softly for a moment, then returned the brim of his cup to his lips. His thoughts for a moment flickered to Kimblee- Or rather, the Crimson Alchemist. Reinstating him had been a risk, a terrible one at that. But he could be controlled, just as this lady. A dog has fangs- The trick was to make them not point at you.

The blue eyes returned to Sheska. "Better some progress then none at all..." He murmured to himself. Every wolf could be tamed. The difficulty was, doing so without them realizing it. As the Fuhrer no doubt knows well... Frank cleared his throat, before speaking to the poor klutz. "Miss Sheska." He began calmly.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Kimblee jerked as the homunculus appeared out of nowhere, then settled back down in his seat. "My, my, my," he said, "if it aint the old gender confused palm tree." he replied, "Oops! Now I have no room to talk now, do I?" he smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle in his dress to make his point.

"Well...you'll just have to pardon me for not waiting for you any longer." he continued. "After all, can I be blamed for not wanting to stick around and continue being violated by guards with a grudge? Trust me...I may be a dangerous alchemist, but there's not much you can do when you got one behind you and another holding a gun to your head. I'm lucky to be alive...or unlucky, whichever the case may be."

He didn't make a move when the red stone was dangled in front of his eyes like a carrot on a stick. He simply moved his tongue in his mouth, and produced a round red stone between his teeth. He grinned and raised his brow, then tucked it away. "I got my own toy, thanks."

As for what he intended to do about the offer, well...he would just keep his own council for the moment. "Get back with me on that later...I have work to do for now...although if my suspicions are correct, the job is finished already." he said in a cocky tone. "Damn good thing, too. I'm already tired of femming around in this get up."

[Yay! Archer returns. ^__^ Gotta love that chalk faced, war-mongering bastid.]

[Ha! Rat-eared Kimblee! Just now reminded me of the Kobalds on World of Warcraft. Kimblee: You no take candle!" xD]

[masterwarlord]

Envy twitched slightly as Kimblee accused him of being a cross dresser before continuing. . .He’d intended to be unattractive to all humans by making his main body somewhat genderless, but it seems he made it too feminine. While Envy could adjust it at time he wished, he was too used to the form to want to change it just to avoid some smart ass remarks. He was about to shoot right back at Kimblee what with his disguise, but he pointed it out himself. Envy laughing slightly through his nose. “At least I can pull off this stupid look. The goal was to be inhuman. . .Fits pretty well, doesn't it? All you humans look the same. At least I made something unique that doesn’t resemble you -disgusting- creatures. Showed some actual creativity. The hell with it if that’s frowned upon.”.

Envy looked rather annoyed at Kimblee putting off his generous offer, folding his arms. “Pfft. The job you’re on is totally meaningless, considering you’re working for me now. You were going to get to the bottom of how those two priests were appearing at once in Lior, right? Seeing you’ve found me out here, I’m amazed the thought hasn’t crossed your mind yet. . .That was me in Lior, you idiot.”

While Envy was taking care to not underestimate Kimblee, he pondered if he was OVERestimating him now. Still, better the later then the former. “So anyway, don’t worry about the city suddenly vanishing overnight. Now that you know about me being the priest there, you know that I control the people of the city. I’ll publicly announce that I’m gonna take the city through the redemption... Y’know, the usual religious bull shit.”. Envy chuckled to himself.

“You do know that you have no choice but to cooperate, of course? That said, I take it you’ll enjoy this. That’s why I chose you for the job. I’m still willing to offer you an extra stone for your collection should you succeed in making my philosopher’s stone.”.

Envy was getting quite casual about the situation, leaning up against the wall. “I’ll be there in Lior in a day or two. Got some other things to take care of first. Do whatever you feel like to kill time and make it look like you’re trying to research me, but don’t even think of starting anything until I get there. Got it?”.

[amouri]

Barry frowned inwardly, as the shifting images and shadows flickered slightly, disturbed by the turmoil raging inside him.
I just don't know what to do anymore...what can I do?! There ain't that many possibilities left for me...
Suddenly, a voice distorted, as though heard through glass, snaked itself into his mind.
"You really are an idiot. Think I don't know how many times you could have killed me? Hell, having you sitting in the back of my car was probably the most scariest thing I've had to do in a while. But I trusted you, that's why I came to see if you were alright."

He knew it was Havoc, but didn't rouse himself of that matter.

Soon after wards he faintly registered some conversation between Havoc and Kimblee, adding up the odd word or sentence.
"...Screw it..."
"...Why, thankyou...."
"...On a wall..."

Suddenly, a much louder sound made him open his eyes warily, but as he figured that it was only Kimblee smacking a fly, he sunk back into the unconsciousness.
"...so, you found me out, huh?..."
He jerked awake, staring in shock at the back of the wretched humunculus who had messed everything up.
He hissed slightly in surprise, drawing his legs up underneath him like some kind of a cat, watching the abomination warily.
He listened intently, becoming more infuriated at the minute.
If-no, WHEN-I snap, he'll be the first to go. he thought viciously.
He edged away slightly, as the humunculus leaned up against the wall beside him.

He switched his gaze to Kimblee. "Aha, see there? I could've saved ya this trouble if you hadn't been so thickheaded. Now your stuck with this-THING." He snarled, jabbing a thumb at the unwanted creature.

[masterwarlord]

Envy was surprised to see Barry awaken next to him, twitching a bit as he spoke up and propping himself up against a different wall so as to not be so blatantly exposed to him. “Thing, huh? I’ve been called better, but I’ll take it. Whatever I am, it beats being a human. . .Beats being lower then the ground itself.”. Envy was slowly angering himself what with how much he was talking about humans and decided to change the topic, not wanting to lose his temper when he was sure that the others could also snap at any moment. He was above that, after all.

“I didn’t tell you to go out and try to kill the woman, you know, butcher. All I asked was for you to sabotage the mission. No harm had to come to anybody. . .You brought that upon yourself. Then again, I probably shouldn’t of expected anything more from somebody like you. . .”. Envy smirked as he turned his gaze to Barry.

[rizahawkeye]

Hawkeye, once she was released felt a pat on her shoulder but she didn't know how to respond. Sure, she was a bit ruffled, but she'd recover once they got off the train. She gave a relieved sigh and went over to Havoc's side after catching his glance.
"I'm fine, Lieutenant." she said, patting the side of his arm with some reassurance.
She shakily sat down in the compartment, trying to clear her head, even slightly. All of this would be included in the report that she would write upon their return to Central Headquarters, but combined with the stresses of the present mission and her... near-death experiance... well, she needed air.

Sheska was bent over, picking up the fallen books when she heard her name. She hastened her pace and looked up uneasily.
"Y-yes, sir?" she asked, her voice trembling in its usual, mousy tone, "What do you need now, sir?"

[amouri]

Barry stared at Envy in shock.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?!"
He yelled in anger.
He cast a quick glance at Hawkeye, who seemed, to his dismay, rather pale.
"I didn't...I wasn't going to...I couldn't-" He sighed, gazing down into the floor.
"I would never kill her." He whispered.

He looked up again, raising his voice once more.
"No harm eh? God, that was exactly what you wanted me to do. I could see it in your sour cream face, you were just itching to see me slice them up. Cus I'm stupid, ain't I? I ain't got no any other way of doing things than killing."
He spat angrily at the humunculus, curling up and leaning further away from him.
"Your kind never done anything but trouble for the likes of my kind." He hissed.

[masterwarlord]

Envy chuckled some more. “True, it was fun to watch. A part of me was hoping you were just gonna kill them all, sides my good friend Kimblee here, of course.”. He shot a look over at Kimblee, smirking, then turned back to Barry. “But my good reason was hoping you’d wait and do something more practical. See how well this turned out?”. Envy shrugged. “Then again, this turned out just fine anyway, although I still would’ve preferred to not reveal myself until later. I shouldn’t of trusted you. You’re hardly reliable.”.

Envy chuckled as Barry clearly tried (but failed) to spit at him. Was he really still not used to his body after all this time? “Your kind, eh? You do know you’re not human anymore, right? You’re something else entirely. . .If anything, I’m the best thing that ever happened to your “kind”. Without me, you lot never would’ve existed. You would’ve been executed on death row without a second thought. If anything, you should be THANKING me. Such an ungrateful lot you all are.”.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Wow, Kimblee thought quietly to himself, pushy fellow, aint he? Who the hell does he think he's kidding?

"You know Envy, you certainly assume a great deal." he said, giving him a chilly gaze, "Not the least of which is assuming I intend to help you fulfill your mission." A slow grin spread across his face, "You seem to think you're holdin' all the cards. But you see...you're obviously forgetting a few things: number 1: You homunculi folken can't do alchemy. Why...without a talented alchemist, you can't even make a philosophers stone. number 2: You're forgetting another thing: WIIFM? What's in it for me?" he folded his arms smugly and snorted derisively. "Another stone? B.F.D! I'm not greedy, like some other homunculus I know. Or used to know, that is. And last, but not least: You assume I'm willing to be a servant again. What? I left all that bellyscraping for Greed just so I can kiss your effeminate behind?"

He grew silent for a moment and flicked his cigarette butt out the window. Lior could be seen on the horizon. They'd be there in a few minutes. Not soon enough in his opinion. That was the problem with every sentient being who know who he was. The homunculi assumed that because he'd committed murder on a massive scale that that must be all he cared about: more killing. And humans pretty much made the same assumptions about him. Yup...he was a regular machine.

But fine...let them all think what they wanted. That was the problem with intelligent creatures: ego. Everyone was always climbing their way to the top, like good ol' Frank Archer. At least Frank had the brains to know who's ass to kiss on the way up. And he himself knew that he'd had to kiss Greeds ass on his way out. That's all he really cared about. Out.

It was a heady and powerful offer Envy proposed. Sever his ties and loyalties, if it could be called that, from the military, and work to help the homunculi achieve their ends. He could make his way out in the ensuing pandemonium. Or...he could wind up back in a cell, just like before. Where had they been then? Apparently he was, as he'd called Barry, a tool.

Maybe he could ingratiate himself before them this one last time, and take them and their kind down for the last time. And as for himself? Well...he'd just slink away in the chaos...just kind of slip through the cracks and disappear.

"I told you...I'll consider it. Don't worry, I'll take care of my soldiers. As a matter of fact, you could help me out in settling this whole Cornello doppelganger sighting. Get back with me on it." he reasserted. Sure...ingratiate himself...become the self-effacing good servant and do their bidding until their all too human egos caused them to get cocky and careless. Then he'd act. "In the meantime...didn't you say you had somewhere to go? Well go then. Make like a fly and buzz off!"

He chuckled, enjoying his own little joke.

The train whistle blew, announcing their arrival, and began to slow.

[amouri]

Barry trembled slightly, not with fear but with uttermost contempt.
"We would rather have died than been submitted to the pain, grief and despair you all put us through." He snarled.
"But you had to drag us back, didn't you? Second chances bound us to whom we had become, bound us to these things that became our bodies. This is no imitation of life, this is the closest one can come to death. You're the living creature in all of this, techically I'm completely lifeless."

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Zolf listened quietly as Barry argued with Envy. Careful buddy, he thought, don't wear your heart on your sleeve...or armor in your case, for all to see.

In his opinion, Homunculus and humans were all too much alike. The only real difference was that the human race had thousands upon thousands of years to evolve. Homunculi? Well, they were just a by product of the worst and most destructive violations against the laws of nature and alchemy, which were one and the same. Destruction begets destruction...it was inherent in their makeup to destroy and in the end, that would include themselves.

"The mills of the Gods grind very slow, but also very fine." he muttered cryptically to no one in particular.

Sure, he thought, he'd help them out with their goal, but not for another worthless piece of incomplete stone. No, he wanted a slice of the real thing. Long life for himself and...he thought, glancing at Barry, a second chance at a real life for my good buddy here.

[masterwarlord]

Envy smirked slightly at how easily he was ticking Barry off, but the expression turned to annoyance when he actually spoke. “Pfft. You’re still an ungrateful human at heart. You’re improved in every way possible from these filthy human scumbags. A body that doesn’t know fatigue, age, or disease. . .Sounds pretty damn nice to me. Anyway, if you don’t want the life I was so kind to give to you, I could take it away right now, if you’d prefer.”.

Envy turned to Kimblee as he spoke up, hearing him out. He twitched slightly as he realized that he’d spent far too much time here as the train whistle blew. “There already? A shame. I was starting to enjoy this. . .Time flies when you’re having fun, they say. Before I go, Kimblee, just think about this for two seconds, will you? If you really refuse on cooperating, I can start forcing you instead of offering rewards. . .It’s far from difficult for me to get you back into prison, and then I’ll just get you out again and drag you back here to do this. So don’t delay the inevitable. You don’t have a choice in the matter. I know what you’re thinking. There’s no way you can trust me to not just throw you back in prison anyway once this is over, right? I can’t promise anything, but let’s just say this wouldn’t hurt your chances. I trust you’ll do the right thing.”.

Envy let out one last smirk, then went for the window and turned into an eagle, flying out of it. He was quick to leave after taking eagle form as he far from trusted the others to not take a shot at him. After getting away from the train, Envy glided away off towards Dante’s Mansion in Dublith. While eagles were rare in Lior, he didn’t care about not looking suspicious at the moment, and the eagle was his preferred method of aerial transportation.

”Damn those ungrateful fools. . .Do they have any idea how much time they cost me? So much for just riding the train while the paths overlapped. . .Anyway, Kimblee’s a madman, but he’s smart enough to realize there’s no way out of this. . .He’ll cooperate. What else can he do? Run? My ass. I can track anybody down. Tell others about what’s happening? Like anybody would believe a psycho like him. Betting on him was risky, but I haven’t left any room for him to mess with my plans. . .”. Or so the homunculus thought, anyway. . .