Sorry it took so long. As always, your comments are very appreciated, welcomed, and listened to.
Toph walked towards the arena where the Earth Rumble VII would be held. She looked forward to this ever since the war ended, and even longer than that. She had grown stronger, released Xin Fu, since her father hired him, he wasn?t really evil, even though she knew that he still mostly hated both her and Aang, and she would have to work twice as hard as before to win, but the thing was, she never worked hard in the first place. The lineup consisted of the same people as before, most of which people had no idea that Toph would return. Since the tournament currently The Boulder, who had decided to return, in fact, already had planned what he would do with the money, and a personal-made tournament case was at the top of the list. The only person who was no longer in the tournament was the man who was supposedly from the Fire Nation, although in truth, he was only trying to taunt the other fighters, and is truly an earth bender. Even so, he still felt fear of being quickly defeated once again. Even though the competitors changed in strength and mind, the tournament itself remained exactly the same.
Toph jumped up, and finally came down hard, burrowing into the ground, she had a title to redeem, and pedestrians just walked way too slow.
~
?Welcome!? Xin Fu proclaimed in his most proctor-like voice, ?To the Earth Rumble Seven!!!? He said, separating each word in ?Earth Rumble Seven? for more emphasis, ?Our lineup contains some of the most deadly earth benders you?d ever set your eyes on. The Boulder, The Hippo, The Gopher, The Gecko, and Wild Man! Without further ado, let the games??
The crowd suddenly noticed his eyes narrow, and after trying to get a view at what he was staring at. The crowds roared wildly. And the screams from the stands, all together, only formed three words, some formed the words as a question, some an exclamation, others as a simple statement, but the word, indeed, was ?The Blind Bandit.?
Xin Fu was the only one who wasn?t excited about this, he even seemed infuriated, ?I refuse to let you join this tourney, you haven?t even signed up for the year, and your late for it anyw??
Once again, Xin Fu was curtly interrupted, this time, though, by the crowd. Their chants consisted of a mixed noise of scoffs towards Xin Fu, and encouragements towards Toph. He also noticed a few people rising from their seats. As much as he hated it, it was too much to ignore.
?Ladies and gentlemen, after brief... uh... reconsideration, welcome, the one and only, Blind Bandit!? He said, trying to be enthusiastic, but it was obvious to anyone who wasn?t completely blind, Toph excluded, that he wasn?t nearly as eager to announce her return as he was for the others.
~
Toph eased through all of the other contestants, they were stronger, much stronger than last time, but still ridiculously weak compared to Toph. The final person to fight, as fate would have it, was the Boulder, and probably Xin Fu afterwards, he wasn?t a competitor, but he wasn?t exactly excited to give her the title. The Boulder seemed as though he was the only one who had truly advanced his skills to a level that Toph could even pretend to respect.
The Boulder, less cocky and wiser than last time, decided to say no words, in order to spare himself the embarrassment that he would face, since it was obvious who would win. He actually had a strategy this time, not an extraordinary one, but there was a theory. Toph saw with her feet. So if he could keep making it so that there?s no earth under her, and then attack, maybe he could win this.
The Boulder charged in the second Xin Fu made the signal to begin. Jumping up, both of his arms spread out apart, making a giant hole that Toph fell into, and finally he pushed his right arm forward, intent on making the ground move towards the edge of the platform.
Toph, though, proved the quicker of the two, the second she felt the earth leave from below her feet, and she quickly pushed up one arm, making a giant pillar form under her. The pill towered a little over 20 feet. Directly afterwards, she made quick chops with her hands towards the Boulder, sending discs of razor sharp earth at him, making the pillar itself lose its structure, for the most part, so she thought it better to simply jump off onto normal land. The Boulder quickly made a wall of earth, making each of the discs simply slam into the wall, and were smashed into simple rocks. As he made the wall, he hardly noticed the earth moving out of it, three slanted pillars of earth bashed into three different places, all of which pushed him backwards, some more powerful than others: one his stomach, the other, his chest, and the last, and most painful, his skull. Lucky for him, not much went on in his brain anyway.
The Boulder flew back, slamming against the ground several times, as if he was a pebble thrown across a lake, until he finally smashed into the wall, and to some people surprise, instead of the wall breaking his bones, he broke off a lot of the wall. Toph smirked, and then curiously looked to Xin Fu who was now standing up and walking towards her with his eyebrows once again narrowed, this time, even more than before.
?Is there anyone, who has the guts to face the Blind Bandit!?? He proclaimed and
questioned all the same, while holding up a rather large sack of coins. After pausing for a moment, his face scrunched, making its features look even more gruesome than before. ?You?re mine,? he growled, to her for his own personal, selfish, reasons more than to the crowd for their entertainment.
Just as he started walking, a person, a young boy, jumped from the stands and onto the middle of the platform between the two. The boy seemed no more than thirteen. He wore a dark green tunic that had the Earth Kingdom seal on the middle, he also dark brown pants, along with even darker brown shoes.
?I?ll fight,? the boy said, a great sense of eagerness in his voice.
Xin Fu raised an eyebrow, ?Aren?t you a little young??
The boy pointed to Toph, ?Isn?t she??
Xin Fu snickered, then replied, ?Ok kid, I?ll give you the benefit of the doubt. By the way,
what?s your name??
?Tao... sir,? he replied, with more politeness in his voice than last time.
He pointed to Toph as he started to move back to his oversized chair, ?Well then, let?s see what you can do.?
Xin Fu put his arm up into the air, and finally sliced it down, after looking at both competitors, starting the battle.
Tao and Toph both stood for moments after the fight commenced, both of them slowly sidestepping in a wide circle. Toph finally made a move, pushing her arm upwards, she made a large pillar burst out under Tao, who promptly jumped off of the pillar, stumbled to the right, and finally made a wall next to Toph, and pushed it to the left.
Toph closed her hand quickly, shattering the wall into pebbles. Before the small pieces of rock had enough time to shatter, she clapped her hands together, making several larger spheres. She made several kicks as well, each one sending a boulder-sized chunk of earth at Tao. Tao made a large wall of earth, making the same mistake that the Boulder did, or so Toph thought. The second she made the pillars emerge from the wall, the wall started to sink, and Tao wasn?t behind it.
After tunneling through the ground for about one minute, he emerged behind Toph and
made her sink into the tunnel. As soon as she sunk in, he closed the three holes: the one he entered, the one he came out of, and the one he sunk Toph into. Clapping his hands together, just link Toph did, he forced the tunnels to slam into each other, completely forgetting that the goal was to knock her out of the ring in the heat of the battle.
About 6 feet underground, Toph struggled to keep the tunnels open. She let go quickly, and finally pushed herself upwards, slamming into the ground, and instead of being hurt, she actually made a tunnel of her own, allowing her to emerge from the ground. As soon as she came out, Tao made the earth that she was landing on into a large plateau. The plateau rose, and once he was pleased with its size, he made a fissure in it and closed it again once she was in. Punching into the plateau with one hand, making enough room with the punch to free herself, she used her other hand to push her through the hole. While still in midair, she used the plateau to shoot torpedo-like parts of earth towards him. As he jumped to dodge them, she guided two of them with her hands, making them like heat-seeking missiles. Putting both of his hands behind him, catching the two torpedoes, Tao flipped over and threw both of them towards her.
Toph, now back on the ground, pushed both of her hands forward, making spears of earth rush towards Tao, she made so many, that the torpedoes themselves simply lost structure and fell apart. Tao dropped to his stomach, making each of the spears go towards the wall, cutting holes that were nearly halfway through the stands. He winced at the pain he had nearly gone through, and stood back up, but, this time, neither of them attacked the other.
No one attacked for long moments, everyone was simply thinking, excluding the crowd, who was so caught up in the fight that they were virtually zombies. Xin Fu, was thinking of how much reputation the Earth Rumble would get after this, typical for somebody who mainly thinks of themselves. Tao was thinking merely of how much fun he was having. But Toph thought the deepest of anyone. Who was this kid exactly? Who was this kid who could possibly have the guts to face her? And most of all, who was this kid, who actually may win!?
Chapter 3: Reclaiming a Lost Title
Toph walked towards the arena where the Earth Rumble VII would be held. She looked forward to this ever since the war ended, and even longer than that. She had grown stronger, released Xin Fu, since her father hired him, he wasn?t really evil, even though she knew that he still mostly hated both her and Aang, and she would have to work twice as hard as before to win, but the thing was, she never worked hard in the first place. The lineup consisted of the same people as before, most of which people had no idea that Toph would return. Since the tournament currently The Boulder, who had decided to return, in fact, already had planned what he would do with the money, and a personal-made tournament case was at the top of the list. The only person who was no longer in the tournament was the man who was supposedly from the Fire Nation, although in truth, he was only trying to taunt the other fighters, and is truly an earth bender. Even so, he still felt fear of being quickly defeated once again. Even though the competitors changed in strength and mind, the tournament itself remained exactly the same.
Toph jumped up, and finally came down hard, burrowing into the ground, she had a title to redeem, and pedestrians just walked way too slow.
~
?Welcome!? Xin Fu proclaimed in his most proctor-like voice, ?To the Earth Rumble Seven!!!? He said, separating each word in ?Earth Rumble Seven? for more emphasis, ?Our lineup contains some of the most deadly earth benders you?d ever set your eyes on. The Boulder, The Hippo, The Gopher, The Gecko, and Wild Man! Without further ado, let the games??
The crowd suddenly noticed his eyes narrow, and after trying to get a view at what he was staring at. The crowds roared wildly. And the screams from the stands, all together, only formed three words, some formed the words as a question, some an exclamation, others as a simple statement, but the word, indeed, was ?The Blind Bandit.?
Xin Fu was the only one who wasn?t excited about this, he even seemed infuriated, ?I refuse to let you join this tourney, you haven?t even signed up for the year, and your late for it anyw??
Once again, Xin Fu was curtly interrupted, this time, though, by the crowd. Their chants consisted of a mixed noise of scoffs towards Xin Fu, and encouragements towards Toph. He also noticed a few people rising from their seats. As much as he hated it, it was too much to ignore.
?Ladies and gentlemen, after brief... uh... reconsideration, welcome, the one and only, Blind Bandit!? He said, trying to be enthusiastic, but it was obvious to anyone who wasn?t completely blind, Toph excluded, that he wasn?t nearly as eager to announce her return as he was for the others.
~
Toph eased through all of the other contestants, they were stronger, much stronger than last time, but still ridiculously weak compared to Toph. The final person to fight, as fate would have it, was the Boulder, and probably Xin Fu afterwards, he wasn?t a competitor, but he wasn?t exactly excited to give her the title. The Boulder seemed as though he was the only one who had truly advanced his skills to a level that Toph could even pretend to respect.
The Boulder, less cocky and wiser than last time, decided to say no words, in order to spare himself the embarrassment that he would face, since it was obvious who would win. He actually had a strategy this time, not an extraordinary one, but there was a theory. Toph saw with her feet. So if he could keep making it so that there?s no earth under her, and then attack, maybe he could win this.
The Boulder charged in the second Xin Fu made the signal to begin. Jumping up, both of his arms spread out apart, making a giant hole that Toph fell into, and finally he pushed his right arm forward, intent on making the ground move towards the edge of the platform.
Toph, though, proved the quicker of the two, the second she felt the earth leave from below her feet, and she quickly pushed up one arm, making a giant pillar form under her. The pill towered a little over 20 feet. Directly afterwards, she made quick chops with her hands towards the Boulder, sending discs of razor sharp earth at him, making the pillar itself lose its structure, for the most part, so she thought it better to simply jump off onto normal land. The Boulder quickly made a wall of earth, making each of the discs simply slam into the wall, and were smashed into simple rocks. As he made the wall, he hardly noticed the earth moving out of it, three slanted pillars of earth bashed into three different places, all of which pushed him backwards, some more powerful than others: one his stomach, the other, his chest, and the last, and most painful, his skull. Lucky for him, not much went on in his brain anyway.
The Boulder flew back, slamming against the ground several times, as if he was a pebble thrown across a lake, until he finally smashed into the wall, and to some people surprise, instead of the wall breaking his bones, he broke off a lot of the wall. Toph smirked, and then curiously looked to Xin Fu who was now standing up and walking towards her with his eyebrows once again narrowed, this time, even more than before.
?Is there anyone, who has the guts to face the Blind Bandit!?? He proclaimed and
questioned all the same, while holding up a rather large sack of coins. After pausing for a moment, his face scrunched, making its features look even more gruesome than before. ?You?re mine,? he growled, to her for his own personal, selfish, reasons more than to the crowd for their entertainment.
Just as he started walking, a person, a young boy, jumped from the stands and onto the middle of the platform between the two. The boy seemed no more than thirteen. He wore a dark green tunic that had the Earth Kingdom seal on the middle, he also dark brown pants, along with even darker brown shoes.
?I?ll fight,? the boy said, a great sense of eagerness in his voice.
Xin Fu raised an eyebrow, ?Aren?t you a little young??
The boy pointed to Toph, ?Isn?t she??
Xin Fu snickered, then replied, ?Ok kid, I?ll give you the benefit of the doubt. By the way,
what?s your name??
?Tao... sir,? he replied, with more politeness in his voice than last time.
He pointed to Toph as he started to move back to his oversized chair, ?Well then, let?s see what you can do.?
Xin Fu put his arm up into the air, and finally sliced it down, after looking at both competitors, starting the battle.
Tao and Toph both stood for moments after the fight commenced, both of them slowly sidestepping in a wide circle. Toph finally made a move, pushing her arm upwards, she made a large pillar burst out under Tao, who promptly jumped off of the pillar, stumbled to the right, and finally made a wall next to Toph, and pushed it to the left.
Toph closed her hand quickly, shattering the wall into pebbles. Before the small pieces of rock had enough time to shatter, she clapped her hands together, making several larger spheres. She made several kicks as well, each one sending a boulder-sized chunk of earth at Tao. Tao made a large wall of earth, making the same mistake that the Boulder did, or so Toph thought. The second she made the pillars emerge from the wall, the wall started to sink, and Tao wasn?t behind it.
After tunneling through the ground for about one minute, he emerged behind Toph and
made her sink into the tunnel. As soon as she sunk in, he closed the three holes: the one he entered, the one he came out of, and the one he sunk Toph into. Clapping his hands together, just link Toph did, he forced the tunnels to slam into each other, completely forgetting that the goal was to knock her out of the ring in the heat of the battle.
About 6 feet underground, Toph struggled to keep the tunnels open. She let go quickly, and finally pushed herself upwards, slamming into the ground, and instead of being hurt, she actually made a tunnel of her own, allowing her to emerge from the ground. As soon as she came out, Tao made the earth that she was landing on into a large plateau. The plateau rose, and once he was pleased with its size, he made a fissure in it and closed it again once she was in. Punching into the plateau with one hand, making enough room with the punch to free herself, she used her other hand to push her through the hole. While still in midair, she used the plateau to shoot torpedo-like parts of earth towards him. As he jumped to dodge them, she guided two of them with her hands, making them like heat-seeking missiles. Putting both of his hands behind him, catching the two torpedoes, Tao flipped over and threw both of them towards her.
Toph, now back on the ground, pushed both of her hands forward, making spears of earth rush towards Tao, she made so many, that the torpedoes themselves simply lost structure and fell apart. Tao dropped to his stomach, making each of the spears go towards the wall, cutting holes that were nearly halfway through the stands. He winced at the pain he had nearly gone through, and stood back up, but, this time, neither of them attacked the other.
No one attacked for long moments, everyone was simply thinking, excluding the crowd, who was so caught up in the fight that they were virtually zombies. Xin Fu, was thinking of how much reputation the Earth Rumble would get after this, typical for somebody who mainly thinks of themselves. Tao was thinking merely of how much fun he was having. But Toph thought the deepest of anyone. Who was this kid exactly? Who was this kid who could possibly have the guts to face her? And most of all, who was this kid, who actually may win!?
