Full Metal Alchemist: The Almighty
In this story, I will use elements from the bible and various myths. It is an alternate universe to Full Metal Alchemist, which I do not own.
You've all heard the story, haven't you?
About the brothers who committed the ultimate blasphemy.
They had lost everything that night, trying to regain what was lost…
Their mother.
The brothers began their journey,
Expecting to find the Philosopher's Stone,
The one thing that can make their wishes come true.
But others wanted the stone
And would use it for warfare
Slaughtering countless lives in their wake.
As the journey thickened,
They discovered the truth about their prize
And had conflicting emotions about it
As they discovered the key ingredient:
Humans.
The brothers found the one man who knew more about the stone than they
And discovered new meanings to equivalent exchange.
What is gained is not always what is wanted,
But sometimes you must make the best of it.
The homunculi.
Artificial humans created when someone tries to play God using alchemy.
Sometimes they resemble a person
That the alchemist tried to resurrect.
Other times they are created
Out of curiosity.
Despite this factor,
Homunculi act to fill the void
In their shell of a body
To feel as we do
But go to extreme and even murderous lengths
To get what they want.
One such homunculus, Envy, hates all humans and wants to replace them
With homunculi.
The irony is that it was discovered that Envy is related to the Elric brothers
And felt replaced, therefore hating his younger brothers.
In the end, Alphonse used the Philosopher's Stone to bring Edward back to life
At the cost of his own.
Edward gave Alphonse his body back and was trapped on the other side of the Gate.
Later, Edward and Alphonse reunited as they fought against an enemy who wanted to
Conquer their world.
In the end, the brothers chose to stay in the real world
Journeying together
Seeing the world together.
But what if things happened differently?
Chapter 1: The Performer
Lior. A town teeming with life. This desert city is home to thousands of people who follow the teachings of Father Cornello as he preaches over the radio, telling the people of the town of the grace of the sun god, Leto. The people of Lior pray daily to their god, believing that he is God Almighty, the supreme being, the creator of all things.
The people of Lior stand in front of the temple of Leto on a sunny day, watching as Cornello performs his "miracles". Cray, Cornello's right hand, puts a log onto the altar as the prophet places his hand on top of it. A red light comes from his ring and the log transforms into a statue of Leto, standing at roughly 20 feet tall. The people in the crowd cheer as they seemingly worship Father Cornello. Cornello throws out his hand, speaking with the people in the crowd.
"Children of God, I am his commissary. I shall grant you each a wish and make your dreams come true. Speak now and I will let one person come and speak to the crowd."
"Me", shouts someone from the crowd. Everyone look to the rear, seeing a small person with a black fedora hat, shades on his face and a black suit with a black trench coat hanging off of his back. He wears white gloves on his hands as they reach skyward and he begins to speak in a preacher's voice.
"I have seen God. He told me that I now have the power. He told me to stand in front of these people today and show them the power of God! Can I come up to the altar?"
"Yes, brother. Come", says Cornello.
The person drops his hands and marches up the stairs. He stands by the altar and looks out to the crowd. He peeks out of the corner of his eye, seeing the obese Cornello with his bald head and his priestly robe with his walking cane, bearing a gold handle. He sees the red stone on Cornello's ring and wonders.
"That is an alchemic amplifier. No doubt about it", ponders the young man.
Cray scratches his beard, curious of the person who came on stage, trying to make out his appearance. "I've never seen him around here before. Is he a traveler?"
One of Cornello's men puts a log onto the altar. Cornello smirks while no one is looking, thinking that this young man is either crazy or stupid. "This ought to be good", thinks Cornello.
The young man touches the log in front of him and suddenly a blue light comes from it. Everyone in the audience are astounded, even Cornello is taken back by the display. Cornello looks stern, seeming to be on to the young traveler. "That is alchemy. It has to be", thought Cornello.
The log begins to transform, growing two bulky arms and legs, growing brown fur. The hands, or rather paws, have long black claws on them. Everyone are completely dumbfounded as the new creature shows the face and body of a bear! The bear roars and drops down to four legs, walking over to the young man and licking his cheek. Everyone are shocked by what they have seen, even Cornello who is now trying to contain his fear.
"That boy will expose me for sure! Not even I can do that, creating a living creature", shouts Cornello in his mind.
The young man approaches Cornello and holds out his left hand as if wanting to shake the hand of the prophet. "I want to thank you for letting me come up here. The publicity has done me a little good."
Cornello cautiously takes his hand and regains his arrogant smirk. "I'm sure it has…"
Cornello pulls the boy toward him and takes off his hat. The boy has gold irises and black hair down to his upper back. Cornello's smile becomes wider for he now knows the identity of the boy.
"Edward Elric! People of Lior, this is Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist! So, what is a dog of the military doing snooping around here?"
"I'm not a soldier anymore."
"Oh, that's right. You're a fugitive now! Do not worry, citizens of Lior! This blasphemer shall be punished severely for his crimes!"
"What crimes, father?!"
A young woman steps up out of the crowd. She wears a long desert robe and has pink threads in her dark brown hair with dark brown sandals to match her brown skin.
"Stay out of this, Rose. This does not concern you", says Cornello.
"Father, what crimes has this young man committed? What could he possibly be guilty of", questions Rose.
"High treason against the military of Amestris. As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing the country a favor. Now stand down, Rose."
"Hold it, father. I'm with Rose on this one", says the barkeep. "I see no just cause to punish him, I mean he just performed a miracle for us. He brought a creature to life from wood. Maybe he is God's commissary, just as you are!"
Edward yanks his hand from Cornello's grasp and makes a cocky smile.
"You heard the people, Cornello. Looks like we're both saviors, except I'm the real thing compared to you."
"We'll see about that. Put another log on the altar!"
Cray approaches the altar and places another log. Cornello puts his hand over it and it becomes a fountain spraying out wine. "Beat that", says a cocky Cornello.
Cray puts another log up for Edward to use. Cray looks at Edward with prejudice in his eyes and steps back. Edward steps up, claps his hands and touches the log. A blue light overtakes it, flowing beautifully as if purifying everything around. The people of Lior are curious as to what Edward is creating this time. The light fades and the people are once again astounded as they see a pyramid of gold bars. Cornello becomes pent up with rage as he sees Edward returning his cocky smile.
"You got lucky. Try this!"
A young girl brings an injured bird up to the altar. Cornello touches the bird and its injuries are healed as it flaps its wings joyfully. Cornello laughs at Edward as if he has beaten him when he sees several sick and injured civilians standing before Ed. He claps his hands together and the group of people are almost instantly healed. Cornello once again is ready to lose his temper when he has a brainstorm. He then smiles to himself and raises his hand. The stone on his ring flashes again and the statues of Leto begin to march off of their stands and come to life. Cornello laughs maniacally, believing that he has beaten Edward when the Full Metal Alchemist claps his hands together once more, transforming each and every one of the statues into small two legged cows with wind up levers on their backs. The cows wear glasses and hold large red pens in their hands, mooing. Cornello finally blows his top and transmutes his cane into a gun turret. He points it at Edward with a psychotic smile lurking across his face.
"Sinner!!!! You have been sent by the Devil to challenge our faith!!!! Your blasphemous ways will not fool me!!!!"
Reacting, Edward claps his hands when someone darts in front of him, holding out their hand. Cornello's bullets only pause in midair as the person who seems to be Ed's height is now protecting him. Cornello ceases fire as he is astounded by the seemingly telekinetic power of the newcomer, who looks a lot like Edward…
Next Chapter: The Messiah