Alright, let's make a deal. This my first story where I had a sort of deadline. Obviously, that failed horribly since I have a life outside of my computer (jk), but no really. I still keep in touch with friends and I just got Overwatch. So I'll just update this story whenever I can. Alright? Alright. No more deadlines.
Zuko collapsed on the hard ground in exhaustion. He had just ran 20 laps around the lake and he was just about to fall asleep right there on the scrunched up leaves beneath him. Izumi came up to him, clearly disapproving of how he was slacking when he was supposed to do a warm-up lap. "Zuko, you must have a good reason to why you're slacking off," she said in a warning tone.
Zuko stood up, still exhausted and panting heavily. "S-sorry, Teacher, I just...I can't...I've never-" He then proceeded to pass out on the ground in front of Izumi. She sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. 'He's...squishier than I thought…' she thought to herself. She then picked him up and took him to her cottage. She didn't want to overwork the kid, and this was just the first day of work.
She went into the kitchen and prepared some calming tea. Once he woke up, she gave him the tea and he slowly started sipping it. "Now Zuko, I want you to do me a favour," she said and Zuko
looked up at her. She quickly gave him a warning glare. "If you ever, EVER, neglect to tell me when you're too tired or fatigued. I will knock some sense into your head and make sure you never do it again, understood?" She said in an assertive tone and Zuko quickly nodded.
She sent him a smirk and got up silently. "Good, because tomorrow, we're start doing body-building exercises!" Zuko groaned and Izumi got an evil glare in her eyes. This was going to be fun.
WITH OUR HEROES
"Should I buy this bag?...Or not?...It's pricey but…" Edward groaned from the corner he was in. "Sokka, you've been looking at this stupid bag for hours! Just buy it already!" Sokka contemplated this for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I'm gonna buy it," he said and Edward got up slowly, popping his joints and stretching his body. "Ugh, finally," he said, annoyed.
They were about to leave when a shady-looking man approached Edward. "Hey, kid, ya' like rock?" (No joke, he says that in the actual show. Or something like that). Edward looked at him strangely. "Are you trying to sell us drugs or something?" He asked and Katara snickered while Sokka was paying for the bag. The man shook his head quickly.
"No, kid, I'm talking about earthbending. You can get the first lesson free if you go to this address." He then handed Ed a piece of paper and walked away. Edward was still not sure whether he wanted to sell drugs or something. But accepted it anyway. "He Aang, I think I found your next earthbending teacher!" Edward yelled and Aang perked up.
LATER
"Well that was a waste of time," Aang said as he took off his bandana. Edward sat there, snoozing off silently while Katara went to support Aang. She was trying to tell him that everything was ok when Edward let out a loud snore. "Ugh, what is wrong with you? Can't you see that Aang is upset?" She snapped at him, which got him to wake up (finally). Edward yawned and stretched his limbs. "Hey, you try carrying around 23% of your body weight in metal!" He argued.
Edward and Katara started to get into a heated fight when a flyer decided to smack Aang in the face. He removed it from his face and took a look at it. It was a flyer for the upcoming Earth Rumble VI. "Hey guys, look what I found!" He exclaimed to Edward and Katara. Who stopped bickering like an old married couple when they remembered Aang existed. "Maybe I could find a new earthbending teacher at Earth Rumble," he said.
Katara took a look at the flyer and shrugged while Edward was a bit more begrudging, he didn't want to see a bunch of way too muscled dudes chuck rocks at each other for six hours, but complied anyways. Sokka, however was more than happy to attend the event. They all decided to go there even though Katara and Edward weren't all that happy about it.
AT EARTH RUMBLE
Everyone sat down at the front row and watched as a hulking, mostly shirtless, man got up on stage. His name was "The Boulder" and he almost effortlessly got another giant shirtless man named "The Big Bad Hippo" out of the ring. "What about him, Aang?" Katara asked and Aang shrugged. "I don't know, Bumi said I need to find a teacher that listens to the earth. He just listens to his muscles," Aang said and Ed happily agreed.
Next was a guy named "Fire Nation Man". When Edward heard his name, he just sunk lower into his seat as he got ruthlessly beaten up by The Boulder while trying to sing the Fire Nation anthem. "Are those really the lyrics?" Katara asked while giggling. Those couldn't be the actual lyrics to any anthem. "Unfortunately, yes." Alright, never mind. But it was still rather funny.
One by one, foe after another. They all fell to The Boulder's strength and earthbending skills. Eventually it got a bit boring for Edward's liking and he almost fell asleep when The Boulder, surprise surprise, knocked out another opponent. "Man, can someone come in and put this arrogant bastard in his place?" Edward said to no one in particular. As if on queue, the announcer announced that The Boulder will be fighting the champion of Earth Rumble.
This didn't interest Edward, but what did interest him was the fact that the champion wasn't some big, hulking shirtless guy. But a blind 12 year old. "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a little girl," he said, "what? Ya' scared?" The Blind Bandit giggled and Aang seemed to recognize that giggle. "Hey, that's the girl from the swamp!" He exclaimed, "do you think that she's my next earthbending teacher?" He asked.
"I think she is," Katara replied. "I think she is GOIN' DOWN!" Sokka yelled. "I think she needs throw a rock a Sokka, maybe then he'll be silent...probably not," Edward said and Katara giggled while Sokka pretended he didn't just hear that. After a couple of minutes, it turned out that The Blind Bandit had quite easily defeated The Boulder. Which caused Edward to burst out laughing, not at the fact that a little girl had defeated The Boulder, but how easily he got shut up.
Things turned interesting when the announcer offered 500 gold to whoever could defeat The Blind Bandit. "I'm gonna do it," Edward said and Katara snapped towards him. "What? But...people could recognize you, and what if there were Fire Nation spies? And-" While Katara was worrying, Edward took off his cloak and transmuted it so that it would have a hood. Sure, the fabric in and around the hood was a bit thinner since he had to stretch it out, but it would do nonetheless.
He also took a piece of rock and transmuted it into a pair of glass frames so people wouldn't recognize his eyes. "Wish me luck," he said before he took off. The moment he stepped onto the stage, the whole stadium "oooh'd". Like he was a first grader getting in trouble for sneaking snacks into the class and The Blind Bandit got a strange look on her face for half a second. For a second there, Edward thought that his automail had gotten exposed. But he kept focusing on the objective.
The Blind Bandit started off by trying to chuck rocks at him, which he dodged rather easily. He then transmuted the stone around to try and cage her but she evaded that quite easily. He kept trying to trap her until he realized that she was starting to become tired. She wasn't about to give up so she shot him high in the air. She thought he had won, but Edward clapped and the whole stadium rose through the air to catch him.
She had not expected the stadium to move so high in the air, so she stumbled a bit and that gave Edward enough time to transmute a rock fist and shove her off of the giant stone tower, Edward cursed a bit for endangering someone's life and he transmuted platforms at the side of the tower to break her fall. Once she was down safely, she stomped in rage and the whole tower came down and turned back into the regular arena.
She proceeded to fume towards the wall. "Wait, I need to ask you a favor!" He exclaimed, but she didn't stop or respond to him. He mentally face-palmed, he'd gotten so caught up in trying to defeat her that he didn't get to ask her for help on teaching Aang. Just then, the announcer grabbed Edward's arm and yanked it in the air. "Amazing! You've defeated the champion of Earth Rumble! Tell us, what's your name?"
Ed's mind went blank for a second. He couldn't say "Edward" because he was supposed to be in disguise, he racked his brain for names when one appeared in his mind. "Uh, the Fullmetal Alchemist!" He blurted out and the crowed cheered. He liked that name, it was just his style. He saw Aang and the group descending from the front seats to the arena. Katara congratulated Edward while Sokka took the gold and the belt.
Some moments later, they were all walking out of Earth Rumble. "Sorry about not being able to get her to teach you, Aang," Edward apologized and Aang shook his head. "Nah, it's ok, I'm sure we'll find her eventually," he replied and gave a thumbs up. Edward smiled and nodded. "Alright, if we're going to find whoever that was, the best place to start the search is the Earthbending school," Edward said and Aang nodded happily.
They arrived at the Earthbending school and saw the two boys punching some sand. "What do you want? We're kind of busy," he spat and Aang cleared his throat. "We were wondering, do you know where the Blind Bandit is?" Aang asked and they shook their heads. "No, nobody knows where the Blind Bandit goes or where she came from," they explained.
Aang thought for a bit. "Well in my vision in the swamp, I saw a little girl with a flying boar…" he said outloud. "Do you know anyone with a flying boar?" He asked and the two boys looked at each other. "Yeah, the flying boar is the symbol for the Beifong family. They're probably the richest people in the world and they have a blind daughter," he replied and Aang perked up. "Great! Thanks!" He said and he dragged Katara and Edward outside with him while Sokka slowly followed behind.
MEANWHILE
"I mean, I saw that! That kid didn't earthbend! What type of earthbender claps to earthbend! We were duped!" The announcer from Earth Rumble complained (I don't know his name ok?). He slammed his fist to the wall in frustration. "Well, we should get that money back!" The Boulder said and The Announcer thought. "...Yeah, I have the perfect plan…"
LATER
The four teens crept onto the garden of the Beifongs. "Remember, we have to be verrrry quiet," Sokka said, sneaking around like a maniac. Edward rolled his eyes. "Pfft, we'll be fine, all we have to do is be-" he was (rudely) interrupted when all four were tossed into the air and they landed on a mound of dirt. "What do you want, Tin Man?" A familiar voice said and Edward groaned. "Ugh...Tin Man?" He asked and Toph rolled her eyes.
"Your metal limbs, idiot," she said and Edward sat up quickly, dusting himself off. "Wha- how? Did my automail show?" He said as he fumbled with his sleeves and pant rolled her eyes yet again. "Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't call the guards right now," she said while crossing her arms. Aang got up quickly. "Wait, we're not here for trouble!" Aang said quickly.
"Uh, well, you see. A king said I had to look for an earthbending teacher that listens to the earth, and I think it might be you…?" He said unsurely and Toph groaned. "Then why don't you take up what's-his-face's classes?" She asked. "Well...I forgot to mention this but I'm sort of the Avatar, and those lessons didn't work out for me," he said and Toph eyed them suspiciously.
"GUARDS! GUARDS!" Toph yelled out and Aang and the others quickly took cover in a tree while two guards came to Toph's "rescue". Aang let out a sigh of relief while Edward was still fumbling with his apparel. "Do you think I should extend my sleeves? Yeah, I think I should…" Katara took his hand before he could transmute and shook her head slowly. Warning him about trying to transmute here. "Wait, I have a different plan," she said. "What? Do I need longer gloves?" Edward asked and she hit him atop the head. "No, you idiot!"
THAT NIGHT
A guard came into the Beifong palace and alerted the Beifongs that the Avatar and the Fire Nation Prince are coming. They quickly set up dinner, although they were a bit reluctant to let the Fire Nation Prince come in, they've heard a lot about he had a heart of gold or whatever. So they decided to let him in. Once dinner came, the Avatar and his friends came and sat on the dinner table.
"So...you're the Avatar?" Mr. Beifong said, attempting to start small talk. "Yes, and I'm searching for an earthbending teacher," he said. "Oh, great, I know this professor that-" Mr. Beifong was then interrupted by Edward. "Um, actually, we were searching for something more traditional…" he said and Mr. Beifong cocked his head in confusion. "What about your daughter, is she a good earthbender-" Edward was cut off by Toph using part of the table to jab him in the stomach.
The Beifong's looked at their daughter, who was eating some rice innocently. "Um...do you want some dessert?" Mrs. Beifong said, trying to dispel the awkwardness in the air. Sokka nodded quickly while Edward used some good ol' alchemy to connect the chair to the wooden floor. Toph looked at him suspiciously as he had a cocky smirk on his face.
She tried to get up, but since the chair was connected to the floor, she tripped and grabbed the tablecloth with her as she fell down. All the food spilt on the floor and it was just a mess. Edward contained himself from laughing as Toph wiped some food off of her face and she emitted a low growl. She was like a tiny, really angry dog that Edward just had to laugh at her.
LATER
Edward and Toph were walking outside in the dark and Toph was quite pissed. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened back at the dinner table, it's just...you should've seen the look on your face," he said while snickering and Toph glared at him while she levitated a rock and hit him in the gut. "Ow...that hurt…" Edward said and Toph smiled. "Good." Edward picked up the rock Toph hit him with and inspected it.
"Say, how do you...bend earth and know where the enemy is if you can't see?" Edward asked and Toph gave him the short and quick explanation on how she can feel the vibrations in the earth with her earthbending and how she can see things even people with perfect vision can't see. "What about you, Tin Man? What you did there didn't feel like earthbending to me, it felt...weird…" Toph asked and Edward shrugged. "It's uh...called alchemy, it's a special science that allows me to shape the world around me...it seems like only I can do it, but I theorize that someone else by the name of...Van Hohenheim...can also do it," he said. He hesitated when he had to say Hohenheim's name. He resented him because he had left Alphonse alone and without proper parents for years.
Toph nodded slowly. "I understood absolutely nothing about what you just said," she said and Edward sighed. "I don't blame you, it took forever to explain that to Sokka. I doubt he understands anything he hears except for "food" and "boomerang"," he said and Toph laughed. They kept on chatting till Toph suddenly stopped. "Wait..there's someone here!" She said and before Edward could process what she just said, the entire place went dark and he felt he was in a very confined space.
He soon realized that he was in a metal cage and with one clap he and Toph were out of there. Once they were out Toph gave him a high five and his captors looked at them dumbfounded. "Ugh, I knew that he wasn't an earthbender!" One of them yelled. "Get em'!" He yelled and all the fighters from Earth Rumble came out and attacked them. Edward was about to transmute the ground when Toph told him to stop and let her handle things.
MEANWHILE
Mr. and Mrs. Beifong were sitting down comfortably, drinking some tea when they heard a lot of rumbling and screams from outside. They quickly went out to see what was happening when they saw poor, little, blind Toph defeating a lot of men who were experienced earthbenders (including The Boulder) while the Prince did nothing but sit back and watch the fight. Once she finished off the Boulder rather easily (once again) her father beckoned her inside.
LATER
Aang and the others were preparing to fly with Appa while Toph was getting reprimanded. "Gah, so sorry Aang. I mucked it all up once again," Edward apologized but Aang didn't say a thing. They were 99% percent sure that Toph was never getting out of the palace when they heard someone approaching. "Hey Tin Man, guess who's parents let come on an adventure with the Avatar?" She cheered.
"Wait, so your parents let you come with us?" Edward asked and Toph nodded. "Something like that," she answered and Aang cheered. "Yes! C'mon! Let's go," he said as he hopped onto Appa. "Uh, I have to do something first," she said and she threw a large rock at Edward. "Now we're even," she said as she climbed onto Appa.
YEEEESSS. I FINALLY RECOVERED FROM THAT HORRIBLE FEVER! NOW I CAN FINALLY WRITE STUFF AGAIN :D So what did you guys think? Pretty ok right? Please review and for that last time TELL ME WHAT OTHER CHARACTERS YOU WANT IN THE STORY...please...thanks :D