"What you're gonna be made of is POWDER when The Boulder's through with you!" The Boulder smashed his left fist into the earth-made amphitheater, sending five enormous boulders up into the air and floating in front of their master. The Boulder smashed his first boulder with his fight fist, quickly transforming them from rubble into rock-made daggers. As soon as they transformed, they flew right at the Avatar. Aang leapt off the ground and spun in mid-air, avoiding the deadly stone-made projectiles.

The Avatar avoided the attack air-bending style, but as soon as he landed he assumed his earth-bending fighting position. The Boulder smashed another boulder and another with his fist and foot, transforming them into deadly flint-made shurikens, giving them twice the deadliness and twice the precision! The dozens and dozens of shurikens blasted right for the Avatar, but the young warrior stood his ground and created a huge triangle-shaped shield in front of himself, bouncing off The Boulder's attack.

Aang transformed the shield he's inside of into a battering ram. As soon as Aang started running, the battering ram he was inside of began to head right for The Boulder. The Boulder roared and crushed the battering ram with his enormous wall of stone. The Boulder lowered his wall and watched the dust settle, hoping to make his move when he sees Aang in sight.

However, Aang was nowhere to be found. At least not in front of his face. The Boulder scratched his head, trying to put the pieces of the puzzles together.

"Over here, ya big ox!" The Boulder turned a 180 and spotted Aang, with a pair of boulders meant for The Boulder to use! With a smile on his face, Aang slammed his fists into the boulders and turned them into a pair of large, tough boxing gloves. Roaring for a knockout, Aang lunged and smashed his stoned fist into his opponent's jaw. The Boulder spun around from Aang's attack, starting to see stars. The behemoth swung his right fist, but Aang's fancy footwork got him out of harm's way. Aang unleashed a merciless barrage of jabs, hooks and uppercuts to The Boulder's skull, turning his own opponent into a mere punching bag. With a good windup, Aang blasted his rock-gloved fist so hard that the rock-glove shattered on impact. The Boulder wobbled from Aang's blow and collapsed on his face. The referee stepped into the ring to check if The Boulder can continue to fight. Seeing the muscle-bound warrior out-cold, the ref shook his head and waved his hands apart.

"THE BOULDER CAN NO LONGER FIGHT! BY WAY OF KNOCKOUT, OUR NEW CHAMPION: TWINKLE-TOES AANG!" The entire capacity crowd burst with joy. Aang, the new champ, removed his remaining rock-glove and waved to the crowd. Katara, Sokka and Toph cheered for their newly-crowned champ as well.

"You did it, Aang! You're the new champion of Pa Ching Ko!" Katara shouted with glee, clapping for the Avatar.

"I always knew you had it in ya, Twinkle Toes!" Toph called out. Toph gave Sokka a light nugde in the ribs.

"Hey, Sokka. Just how did Aang drop the bonehead?"

"Aang turned a pair of boulders into these rock-gloves and beat The Boulder with his own fists! Seeing how huge those gloves were, Aang sure was pretty strong. Your training on our buddy really paid off!" Sokka said, mimicking Aang by punching the air.

Toph smiled to herself and placed her two fingers on her lips in a lady-like manner.

(… Aang's no pushover, that's for sure. So he likes to get physical, huh? I like to get physical too…) Toph's grin grew even wider and rubbed her shoulder.

Sokka entered the ring and faced the announcer.

"Okay, mister announcer! Just hand us the five million zennies my buddy rightfully deserves and we'll be on our way!" Sokka said, holding his hand out to the announcer. The announcer looked at Sokka's hand. Then he looked him straight into the eyes.

"… I'm sorry, but your friend's battle is far from over. You see, in order to be Grand Champion of Pa Ching Ko, your friend behind me must gain 100 wins in a row."

"… what?"

"I'm very sorry that we didn't inform you enough about the way this coliseum works, but that is the only way to true victory. This law of combat has been established 1100 years ago, and we dare not bend this law," the announcer explained. Sokka felt his energy for victory quickly deteriorate and walked up to Aang.

"Uh, you heard what the announcer said, right? One hundred wins in a row does sound pretty hard to achieve. I… I don't know what to say," Sokka said.

"… Oh man. I never took on 100 fighters in one day. I'm- I'm not sure if I can do it," Aang said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. This sounded even harder than destroying at least a dozen ships during the siege of the Northern Water Tribe. Katara and Toph entered the ring to join Aang and Sokka.

"It's okay, Aang. You don't really have to do this if you don't want to. At least you've proven that your earth-bending skills are at the top of its game. Why don't we just find the nearest supply shop and-"

"What the HELL are you talking about, Katara? Aang's got the guts and the bending powers to annihilate ANYONE that gets in his way! You can do it, Aang!" Toph said. Aang was taken aback by Toph's tremendous amount of support. Toph faced the entire capacity crowd. She had no problem facing the fans out there even when she was blind.

I mean there's hundreds of thousands of people out there. How can Toph actually face the wrong direction and end up talking to a row of empty seats?

"COME ON, EVERYBODY! LET'S CHEER FOR YOUR GREATEST CHAMPION YET! AANG! AANG! AANG!" The entire capacity crowd started chanting Toph's cheer, stomping feet along with chanting Aang's name.

"Maybe Toph is right! Go for it, Aang!" Katara cheered.

"OH YEAH! I SMELL A HEALTHY DOSE OF WHOOPASS ON THE WAY!" Sokka shouted. Sokka, Katara and Toph proceeded to leave the ring for the Avatar's next opponent. Aang stopped Toph by lightly clutching onto her wrist.

"Wait a second, Toph. Thanks for supporting me earlier."

"No problem, Twinkle Toes. Just don't make a fool out of me, okay?"

"Of course not. I won't let you or anyone down! Um, how come you don't want the fans to call me Twinkle Toes?"

"… Only I can call you by that name. Good luck, champ." Toph stood on her tippy-toes and gave Aang a light kiss on the cheek. After a quick smooch, Toph quickly left the 50 square-foot ring. Aang looked dumbfounded and rubbed his cheek.

Katara eyed Toph with a frown.

"What was that for, Toph?"

"Just wanted to wish him luck, that's all."

"You already wished him good luck earlier, remember?"

"What can I say? The more, the merrier."

"Look, Toph. Aang's already got enough support. So why don't you-"

"Okay, girls. Let's calm down, okay? Aang's about to fight!" Sokka interrupted.

"HERE COMES THE NEXT CHALLENGER!" Aang whipped to a 180 spin to face his next opponent. The agile warrior leaped into the amphitheater with incredible agility and whipped out his deadly spear. The kung fu martial artist demonstrated his spear techniques with amazing grace. The young man whipped his long ponytail over his shoulder and pointed his spear right at him.

"The name is Ima. Ima Goner! I am master of the bloody spear and I will become new champion by ending your very life!" Ima announced. Aang drew a huge amount of water out of the enormous moat and flowed the water to his very hand. With one punch towards Ima, who was many yards away, the water by Aang's side rushed right at him. Suddenly, the water transformed into a 250-pound ice fist! The ice fist crashed into the spearman's skull and knocked him out of the ring and out of consciousness.

"AANG DID IT AGAIN! THAT'S VICTORY NUMBER TWO!" the announcer blasted. Aang's friends leapt into the air and cheered for their friend.

For over three hours, Aang had to bring down another opponent, and another, and another. His opponents ranged from knife-wielding maniacs to masters of bending. Aang was already feeling his strength taking a toll on him after barely defeating his fiftieth opponent, which was a master water-bender.

Aang collapsed into his corner, sitting into his wooden chair and catching his breath. Sokka fanned Aang with a towel while Katara massaged his shoulders and neck. Toph stepped through the ropes and gave him a sack of water. Aang thanked her and drank it, but he didn't drink too much for that would put him at a disadvantage.

"Okay, Aang. Fifty down, fifty more to go. You can do it, Aang! These guys are nothing but small nails. YOU are the hammer! Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it, Toph! I got it!" Aang said, taking in heavy breaths.

"Awright, Twinkle-Toes! NO MERCY FOR THE WEAK!"

"Aang, are you sure you can continue?" Katara asked, giving him a look of concern.

"Sure, Katara. I'm just a bit winded, that's all. I'll be fine."

"Okay, kids. Break's over. LET THE FIFTY-FIRST OPPONENT COME ON DOWN!"

From there, it wasn't a struggle for the prize-money anymore. It was also a struggle for dear life. Aang's next opponents were quicker, more experienced and far meaner than the last fifty he knocked out. Many of them didn't just fight for the title; they fought solely for the sake of spilling Aang's blood. The Avatar's defenses could only do so much. Aang's left eye winced in pain from his 70th opponent, and he got hit real hard in the jaw from challenger number 88, who was a boxer.

In the middle of facing his 99th opponent, Aang felt blood coming out of his nose and the edge of his mouth. His left eye couldn't open as easily as his right and he felt pain aching on the left side of his ribs. The latest opponent, turning out to be a samurai, showed no concern of whatsoever. The samurai ran right for Aang and swung his mighty blade at him. Aang dodged his attack with amazing agility, but the blade cut right into Aang's shoulder. The Avatar crashed into the ground and rolled onto his back like a lifeless doll.

"AANG!" Sokka and Katara screamed.

"What happened? What's going on?" Toph asked, cursing her blindness.

"Aang's hurt real bad. That sword seemed to have cut into his shoulder really deep! Oh my gosh, he's still bleeding!" Sokka said.

Toph took a step back and covered her mouth in shock. Her eyes widen in shock from Sokka's latest news. Then she did something she though she'd never do.

She trembled.

(Aang… Oh no…)

While still on the ground, Aang unleashed a major air-bending whip, whipping the challenger right in the skull and knocking off his helmet. The samurai fell to the ground, out-cold.

"AANG WINS AGAIN! THAT MAKES IT HIS 99TH VICTORY! ONLY ONE MORE TO GO! IF HE WINS, HE GETS THE FIVE MILLION ZENNIES AND WILL BE CROWNED GRAND CHAMPION OF PA CHING KO!" After the announcer finished his speech, Aang slowly staggered to his feet. As he tried to stand upright, he winced in pain and fell to one knee. Katara and Sokka quickly helped Aang up and carefully brought him to his corner. Sokka gave him some water to drink while Katara did all she could using her healing powers on Aang. The bruises were slowly getting healed by Katara, but the deep cut in Aang's shoulder took quite awhile longer to close up.

"Aang, listen to me. We have to stop this right now. There might be a chance of you getting killed out there! We have to-"

"No."

"Come on, Aang. Don't be so stubborn. Katara's right. Let's call this off and-"

"NO! I'm no quitter. Just one more match. One more, and it'll be all over. Have faith in me, will ya?" Hearing Aang's optimistic voice, Sokka and Katara decided to let Aang continue the long trail to true victory. Katara saw Toph outside the ring and gave her a dark look, feeling that it was Toph's influence that got Aang into this situation.

Since Toph's back was to her, Katara didn't see a tear stream down Toph's face.

(… Aang's hurt. I put him in the ring. It's all my fault…)

Aang got to his feet, prepared to face his final opponent. Thanks to Katara, all his wounds are healed. However, she was unable to do anything about what's left of his energy to fight.

"BRING ON MY NEXT OPPONENT!" Aang shouted with a mixture of sheer optimism and battle-lust. Remembering Katara's healing abilities and hearing Aang's recovery from his wounds, Toph smiled and wiped her tears away.

(Aang's okay. Thank GOODNESS!) Toph said to herself, facing the ring once again.

"HERE COMES THE FINAL CHALLENGER!" Challenger number 100 stepped through the ropes and faced the Avatar. The Avatar felt chills run to the bone, and his skin started to pale. Aang began to back away.

"… No. YOU'RE my opponent? It CAN'T be you!"

"We meet again, Aang. It's been a long time..."