Chapter 01

The Flying Girl

Edward Elric kicked a door off its hinges as he and Colonel Roy Mustang raided Dr. Jack Harlow's underground basement. There, they found the kidnapped victims bounded and gagged, sitting on a large transmutation circle. A man in lab coat stood just several feet away it. His back turned at Ed and Roy.

"Well then, look who's here?" Dr. Harlow drew an evil grin as he craned over his shoulder to look at the two state alchemists; madness was overflowing on his countenance, "You're just in time. I could use two more additional ingredients for my human sacrifice."

"Stay away from the transmutation circle, Dr. Harlow!" the coronel demanded, aiming his gloved hand with a transmutation circle at the mad scientist, ready to flick his fingers to ignite an explosion, but hesitant since he was worried that the innocent kidnapped victims might get in danger, too with his fire alchemy.

"Don't let us do this the hard way, doctor," Ed added as he transmutated his right automail arm into a blade, ready to strike.

The grin on Dr. Harlow's face grew wider. "Oh don't worry, Fullmetal. You don't have to."

A homunculus named Gravity that Dr. Harlow created from his own daughter's remains suddenly dropped on her feet in front of the two state alchemists from above. The ground shook under her feet. She stretched one arm forward and raised them up. Ed was suddenly lifted from the ground by an invisible force and hovered in mid air.

"Damn it! What's happening? Put me down now you little piece of-"

There was a sound of fingers snapped followed by an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Gravity was unharmed. There was a wall of force field hanging between her and the fire alchemist.

"It's no use. My dear Gravity wasn't anything like the other homunculus you've encountered. For years, her skills of being able to control magnetic polarity made her almost invincible. She could create force field and even control the gravity around her within 10 meters range. She can make things move by her mind." Dr. Harlow narrated proudly. "What can you do now, Fullmetal? Colonel Mustang? What I'm doing now is for her sake. Do you think she will let you stop me?"

"Making human sacrifice to be able to feed your homunculus with philosopher's stone? What makes you think that fake human of your deserved any chance to live in exchange with the lives or other real humans?" Ed commented angrily.

Somehow it irked Gravity and whipped the blonde alchemist against the ground. Ed screamed in pain; it seemed he broke his shoulder through the impact. Roy's teeth gritted, feeling terrible for being unable to do anything at a moment.

It was a mistake for the homunculus though to let Ed get back on the ground. Though he was nailed down against it, Ed fought hard to be able to have his hands clasped together and transmutated back his right arm into a hand use alchemy to create a solid wall under the homunculus to throw her off her feet.

Gravity landed on her back to the ground. Roy Mustang flicked his fingers immediately at her before she could even stand up again. He did it repeatedly. Fire was blasting in the middle of the basement, and smokes filled the room.

Edward leaped out from the smoke with his arm transmutated into a blade aiming at Dr. Harlow but the mad scientist drop both his hands against ground and produce an arched wall to block the Fullmetal Alchemist's attack.

Then the wall of smoke completely cleared off as Gravity use her force field to sweep it away. Roy Mustang appeared behind her and suddenly put two strong arms around her neck, choking her.

The homunculus put a force field around them and they both floated of the ground but the fire alchemist tightened his arms against her even more. They spun in the air. Gravity positioned the colonel completely beneath her, and then both of them dropped hard against the ground with the Fire Alchemist back hitting hard against the floor beneath the homunculus. Gravity was freed from the state alchemist's grasp.

Seeing her master fighting against the blonde alchemist, she lent Dr. Harlow a hand by using force field to make Ed crash hard against the wall. She did it four times until the blonde alchemist was battered enough that he couldn't move.

Gravity began to wheeze. She was starting to get hungry. She's getting weak for using too much of her power. She needed some philosopher's stone to nourish her self and get back her strength.

Ed felt that he was being dragged. Soon, he and Roy were inside the transmutation circle, too. Gravity's force field was keeping them nail on the ground and preventing them from getting up. The homunculus was getting weak though and she's using all her strength until Dr. Harlow finally performs the process of human sacrifice.

"Now, now, be good, boys." Dr. Harlow said excitedly, "You should be proud that you're going to be part of this. Aren't you happy you're going to be food for my greatest creation?" The mad scientist landed his hands on Gravity's shoulder; his face smiling grimly.

"S-screw you…y-you bastard!" Ed growled as he tried to crawl, fighting against the force field.

Dr. Harlow finally landed his hands onto the transmutation circle and the circle glowed. Slowly, the tied kidnapped victims, Roy and Ed began to dissolve slowly. They screamed in agony. Roy fought against the force field for him to be able to lift his hands a little and aimed at the homunculus.

There was a literal blast and Gravity was thrown several feet away. Her force field was gone but it didn't stop the process of human sacrifice. Half of Roy and Ed's body were dissolved and continue to melt in the air. Ed tried his best to crawl towards Dr. Harlow.

"Stay put miserable runt!" Dr. Harlow growled, reluctant to take off his hand from the transmutation circle.

Finally, Ed managed to grab onto the mad scientist's arm, "I'm taking you with us!" and pulled him onto the transmutation circle. Dr. Harlow began to dissolved, too.

"NO!" The mad scientist screamed and reached out a hand towards his homunculus, Gravity.

When she came to, she felt really weak. It seemed she had already drained the last of her energy into the force field she used for the last minute. She scrambled towards the transmutation circle and grabbed Dr. Harlow's hand. Her torso inevitably entered in the transmutation circle as well. Soon, she too, began to dissolve. Despair filled her countenance.

Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, her surroundings vanished. Only the Gate of Truth was in front of her. Its gates began to open. Terror filled Gravity's face.

32 hours later. Yu Dao City.

Toph decided to treat herself that night with a delicious bowl of noodles in one of Yu Dao City's famous Noodle shops since she just turned fifteen that day. She wished she could celebrate it with her friends, Sokka, Aang and Katara. But she was aware that they were currently busy with their own business at the moment. She thought that maybe her friends would make it up to her sooner or later.

If there was one thing that Toph hated about the said noodle shop though, it was their high wooden stools. She would have to sit on one of them and have her feet completely off the ground and therefore, she would be completely blind and not much aware of her surroundings. But she was already hungry. Toph told herself that maybe there won't be any harm to be blind for a bit while eating such a delicious noodles. It had been quite peaceful for the past few weeks. Actually, quite peaceful in general since Zuko became the Fire Lord and balance had been restored between four nations three years ago, thanks to Aang. What could possibly go wrong?

She was wrong that night though.

Toph was only half finished with her noodles when she heard a loud crash just a few hundred meters away from where she was. She quickly jumped off her seat and landed her feet on the ground and felt the vibrations of her surroundings again. A car just crashed against a building not far from where she was. People had been running and screaming; cars had been lifted off the ground? Toph was not sure but obviously there seemed to be a serious battle going on.

Toph left a couple of Yuwons on the noodle shop table and earthbent her way towards the source of commotions.

When she was almost there, she felt a couple of cars rapidly tumbling on the ground and crashed against another batch of vehicles and exploded. Toph was sure that those cars were lifted from the ground for a moment before being thrown. What she couldn't believe though was it seemed that those cars were lifted in the air by a mere invisible force and not by someone or something by brute force. She also felt a strange vibration on the ground, something she had never encountered before in her entire life.

There were police officers earthbending against a person in the junction of the road. Toph could not tell if the person was an earthbender, too, but she was not a waterbender nor a firebender either. She could not possibly be an airbender, too since she was aware that Aang was the last of the airbenders. Base on the vibrations, this person has a small body. A little girl about 12 years of age but there was a strange force surrounding her body.

Suddenly, Toph could not feel that girl's presence as if there was suddenly a wall surrounding her; something that completely hid her from Toph's senses from the ground. It was completely strange to her. Now she wished she could actually see to know what exactly was going on.

She felt some police officers coming over in a hurry, she took her chance to be able to ask questions and know more details of what was going on.

"Hey! Officer!" Toph called at one of the police. "What is happening?"

The police stopped and recognized that the person who called him was the famous Toph Bei Fong of Earthbending Academy.

"Oh, Miss Bei Fong! I'm glad you're here! We need some help. There was this girl with unusual hair color and scary eyes…." He trailed off for a moment then continued, "…she can lift things up and control them. I've never seen someone with such power like her before!"

"Lift things up? What do you mean lift things up?" Toph inquired, feeling confused.

There was another crash and explosion.

Toph didn't wait for her questions to be answered and run towards the source of the strange vibrations. It didn't take long before she was face to face with the girl of short, blonde, curly hair and ruby eyes. Her body was covered in bandages except her feet, hands and head. She was wearing a dirty earth-colored, ragged cloak though Toph couldn't exactly see her appearance. But she was aware of the burning vehicles that crashed against some wooden buildings along the streets near her; some police were lying unconscious on the ground. There were other police though who were still conscious and earthbending boulders and blocks against that wall of force field. Those were useless though since they only crashed against the force field protecting the girl and leaving her unharmed.

The force surrounding the girl disappeared and Toph could feel her again suddenly.

The blonde girl rose both of her hands in the air and two cars levitated from ground. Toph could feel her movements and when the girl swung her hands forwards; Toph threw her fists up to earthbend a thick earthen wall to protect herself and the people against the cars being thrown at their directions. The earthen wall cracked and almost got destroyed because of the strong impact.

Toph stomped her feet to earthbend steep mounds that trap the girls legs and arms. This totally shocked the girl; completely depriving her of freedom to move.

"Hey!" Toph pointed a finger at her. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, surrender already and stop destroying this town."

The police officers were never been so glad that Toph Bei Fong showed up to lend them a hand. They had been having a hard time fighting that blonde girl with red eyes. She seemed to have a completely different kind of bending abilities they had never encountered before. Her abilities were terrifying - being able to create an invisible force field to protect herself and make things move according to her will. It was not a bending involving just one element. It involves almost everything. She can almost make everything move by her mind.

The girl attempted to pull away her legs and arms with brute force but failed.

"Let me go! Let me go!" She screamed desperately.

"Officers, I think you can arrest her now." Toph suggested to the police near her when she thought that the girl being trapped like that wouldn't be able to do anymore harm.

However, Toph felt the strange vibration bubbling out from the girl's body again. Something wrong was going to happen. Alarmed by this, she warned the police officers, "Wait! Get back! Stay away from her!"

Suddenly the mounds that were trapping the girl's arms and legs exploded and the girl was set free and she looked completely pissed.

Toph bent her knees and punch forward and earthbent a large earthen boulder towards the girl to knock her off but the girl swung one arm upward and the earthen boulder crashed against a strong wall of invisible force field in front of her, completely destroying the boulder into pieces.

Toph made another move and this time, attacked the girl from behind by hitting her hard on the spine with an earthen column she earthbent from the ground behind the girl. The blonde girl was knocked off her feet and landed on face. Toph didn't waste time and trapped the girl's arms and legs against the ground. The girl struggled to be free for a moment, then she lay still and breathed deeply and then the earthen mounds that were trapping her limbs exploded into pieces again and she was set free; she jumped back on her feet.

"What the hell?" Toph whispered angrily. "This brat's persistence is starting to annoy me."

"Leave me alone!" The girl screamed angrily. She lifted her hands up high with open palms and arched fingers and swiftly swung them downward.

Toph and the rest of the police officers were suddenly knocked down by a strong invisible force from above and nailing them against the ground, as if the gravity became suddenly extremely heavy that they were being sucked down. It was so strong the earth beneath them collapsed a foot deep creating a large dry basin. Suddenly there was another strong impact of force field that crashed against them from above and they were almost knocked unconscious.

Then that force vanished. Toph, who was half conscious, started crawling. More police officers came and some of them began to firebend against the girl but she created a force field barrier around herself for protection. She started running to escape seeing more police back up coming over. Someone tried to earthbend along her way to block her path but she jumped. Toph didn't felt her land. Instead she heard people exclaimed in disbelief.

Someone screamed, "Oh God!"

"What? What happened?" Toph groaned.

She heard one of the police officers stammered, "S-she… she's escaping! She's FLYING away!"

The police officers hopelessly watched the girl disappeared in the night sky of Yu Dao's city.

…to be continued.

Author's Note:

I might re-write this because I just posted this without even re-reading it to at least have its grammar and spelling checked. I'm really sleepy already when I wrote and posted this. Hope you enjoy the story though. Please read and review ;) Criticism and corrections are welcome.