Incarnate

New Light

There was silence. Father had stopped to stare at the sight of Ed, with golden light, with Pride mimicking his Father. Mei, Izumi and Al were still staring at Ed, stunned; whilst Roy was open-mouthed, looking for all the world like a guppy, as he looked at the boy who appeared to have restored his sight without even needing words. Greed sort of twitched in the corner, muttering to himself-maybe talking to Ling about something. Hohenheim moved unseen, closer to Father, before activating his master plan. Immediately Father started convulsing and choking, the souls of Amestrians exploding out of him in a tornado of red.

Ed snapped out of it, the light vanishing immediately. "How'd you do that, Hohenheim? All of his new souls are gone, now, I felt it, all back to their correct bodies- he won't be-ha!" Hohenheim looked at his son, slightly worried now it seemed his moment of lucidity was over; as well as the revelation that Ed had been able to feel the souls return. He was about to explain to them how he had released the souls from his philosopher's stones, but a flung hand out from Ed stopped him short. The blond looked up with teary eyes, as if he'd heard a brilliant joke. "Oh, that bastard is so stupid! He won't be able to hold the power of God without it destroying him- look!"

Sure enough the veins on Fathers face and arms were bulging, as if something was trying to escape from him. He looked in pain, but the others could not bring themselves to feel any part sorry for him. Then Father raised his eyes, burning with anger. He yelled a battle cry, and released the power of God that he held within himself in its most destructive form with the intention of smiting the bugs that dared defy him.

Instead of obliterating them, it hit a pair of golden wings. They were huge, at least twelve foot across, made of fine, silky feathers. The feathers looked like they were from a bird of prey- perhaps a falcon, or a hawk. The gold was the same as the glow that had been around Ed earlier, a metaphysical light that should be impossible to create. Ed's eyes were narrow, his back to the action, focused on protecting his family. "Come on, Scar", he yelled, not caring the man in question couldn't hear him. "These guys need there alchemy back- Mei's the only useful one here now!"

He flapped the wings once, as a larger push of power came close to making his shield fall, waiting for the moment-now.

Best Defence

"Alchemy's back!" grunted Ed, as he made the wings vanish, before dropping to the floor with a clap and forming a canon out of the ground. Izumi followed, creating a huge crossbow. Al made spikes, trying to get both Pride and Father from afar. But Father still had the power of God, as well as the fearsome powers he had had even prior to this. The red forks of alchemical lightning destroyed all weapons that came for him, before retaliating, trying to kill those that stood against him. Hohenheim fought back with his own philosopher's stone, shielding Ed from the destruction, quite needlessly as the previous demonstration had showed. 'So the bastard does have parenting instincts after all,' thought a surprised Ed, before obeying the order to carry on attacking the homunculus.

He focused on the ichor again, wondering if it would work for him again. The wings had been a reflex action, granting Mustang his eyes was done whilst in shock -and what good that had done, the git could only fire flames, not create like everyone else, still fucking useless- but now Ed needed to try and do something consciously, to make sure that the human body was adjusted to the power he now had. He saw Greed, leaping at Father, doing his best to claw the gold-haired creature's eyes out, forcing Father towards the pool of magma that Izumi had accidentally revealed. A plan came into his head then. 'It's so crazy, it might just work!' It didn't matter that in real-world time he had had these powers for not even twenty minutes. It was a fact of his biology, as easy as snapping one's fingers-a thing that you couldn't forget.

Divided Connection

As Greed slashed his ultimate shield-covered hands towards Father, he saw a light shooting towards him, and then- and then-
He was surrounded by red, once again inside his subconscious mind. Ling was in the lotus position he favoured, seemingly floating, a white contrast and an anchor inside the chaos. His face was flushed and troubled, and his hand was grasping his sword tightly.
"Greed!" Ling said. He sounded a strange mix of worried and excited. "What's going on? I'm getting snippets- I saw gold light, and wings, and Ed, and the circle-"
"-Shut up, brat. I don't understand even half of what is going on, but it's fucking dangerous and I don't even know how we're talking without me being attacked by anyone." If Greed could put a palm to his forehead, he would. The Xing brat was actually sounding concerned, damn him, even as he prattled on; but Greed did not need this shit right now. There was a battle going on, he could steal the power of God off of Father and he could finally fill the fucking hole inside him. He needed to fight, he needed his shield, he needed Ling to "Shut up! Just shut the fuck up already! Fucking leave in your meditation or some shit, just get out of my head so I can get out of this moment!"
Ling looked momentarily stunned, but then there was a gold light, and a feeling of being pulled out of a vacuum or something as well as something being pulled out of him- 'God, this is fucking surreal'- and then-

He was in the air, slashing towards Father, but there was something next to him doing the same thing. Instinctively, he looked, and stared. Ling, dressed in a yellow tunic and those weird bandages he was so fucking fond of, was slashing his sword at Father as well. Ling's strike was further below, but neither attack hit. They landed side by side, immediately standing back to back, looking for all the world like a pair of duelling partners. They were panting slightly, but all the same looked at each other from the corners of their eyes, simultaneously evaluating both the threat and each other.

"Greed?"
"Ling?"
"Wait- are we talking in our heads or aloud?"
"Both I-hang on, both, I think."
"So, we're still connected, but separate?"
"I guess. Just my luck, I'm fucking stuck with a brat from Xing for the rest of his life."
"You love me really, Greed." Ling's mental voice seemed to smile, before his real voice was used for the first time in months. "Well, fuck. Father's still alive and on the move, even after the magma."
"What? Magma?" "How the fuck did I miss that?"
"Look!" "Shut it, Greed. I'm thinking."

Ed smiled briefly, before concentrating on the newly-escaped Father. "Mei, Izumi- you guys beat Pride, okay? He's weak, he'll be easy to defeat. Bastard and Bastard, you lucky people are with me, and we're going to fight Father. Greed, Ling; do whatever the fuck you want as long as it's useful and our people don't die. Maybe find the chimeras? Any questions? Any objections? Good!" He ran at Hohenheim, grabbing him by the collar and doing the same to Mustang. He then focused on re-growing his wings, glad that it was no longer painful, before launching himself up with his quarry. "Hang on tight, we're headed for the sky!"

A.N.: That went OK, but I screwed up some of the action. I could've written it better, but it just didn't seem to work well with the style I'm writing this in. Sorry to all the die-hard action fans!

Also, I'm planning a multi-chapter AU FMA fan-fiction (yes, dear reader, that is all I write) to start soon. The main plot is: Ed is raised in Xing, as part of the Yao clan. It'll be pre-Brotherhood/manga.

Thank you to Fluehatraya for reviewing this again! You're great!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this one!
~ Call Me Tom [19.6.12] [Edited: 21.6.12]