"I hold you personally responsible!" Toph shouted. Aang sighed. He had expected this would be coming. They had moved from the hospital to the Metalbending Police headquarters building; Katara had left to watch Tenzin and Lin while they talked.
"And I don't blame you." Aang said. "You were right. We waited too long. We should have taken Yakone down the minute he presented a threat to Republic City."
"And what did you do?" Toph said, clenching her fists. They were standing in her office, a large metal room with windows that showed a view of the bay, uptown, and the lot that would soon become the first probending arena. "You mediated. For three weeks, you squabbled with Ambassador Shoda about getting extradition rights. And what happened? He destroys half of the inner harbor, levels two warehouses, and attacks Lin!"
"Wait, wait, wait." Sokka said. "Who is this Yakone guy? Why haven't I heard of him?"
"Yakone is a waterbender from the northern tribe," Aang said. "He came to the city about a year ago, and he's been causing problems with the Triple Threat Triads for the last few months. I've been trying to extradite him to the northern water tribe, but Ambassador Shoda is being…difficult."
"He's a terrorist." Toph said. "I've had enough. I'm bringing him in, Aang." Aang shook his head.
"No, Toph." He said. "It's too risky. Yakone is the most dangerous waterbender I've ever met-"
"You think I can't handle him?" Toph crossed her arms.
"That's not what I said." Aang said. "I'm saying we don't know what he's capable of. Plus, arresting Yakone could only increase tensions with the northern water tribe."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should talk to Shoda about it." Toph said, walking over to her desk. She reached under it and pressed a button, and a slot opened in the front of the desk. She reached inside and pulled out two gloves, made of metal with small circular openings on the top. She slipped the gloves on and clipped them to her police uniform. She grabbed a small, slim pack from her desk chair and put it on her back. She grabbed two metal wires from the pack and clipped them to the circular openings in the gloves.
"What are those?" Sokka asked. Toph grinned.
"My own personal invention." She said. She snapped her wrist, and a thin metal cord shot out of the end of the glove, burying itself in the wall. "They're called metal skaters. Two hundred meters of cord in the pack, and they can break through just about anything. I'm having more made. Pretty soon the entire department will have a set."
"Toph, I can't let you do this." Sokka said, stepping in front of her. Concern showed in his eyes, but the rest of his face was expressionless. "You're not going after Yakone alone. Let me come with you." Toph laughed and gave Sokka a quick kiss.
"I'm not going after him." She said softly, raising her hand to his cheek. Sokka grabbed her hand.
"What are you going to do?" He asked. Toph smiled, that same mischievous smile that she had given Sokka the first time they spoke.
"I'm going to call a press conference."
"Citizens of Republic City." Toph said into the microphone. The entire room, full of hundreds of reporters and journalists, went silent. Toph could have that effect on people. She was good at getting attention.
"A year ago, a man came to Republic City from the northern water tribe. Since then, he has committed several acts of violence against our dear city, including the destruction of the inner harbor last month and the death of three merchants working in the South Sea warehouses. This man is, for lack of a better word, a terrorist. He has already shown himself to be a major threat to the safety of Republic City and its citizens.
"But this morning, he made a grave mistake. He made a personal enemy of two very important people; Avatar Aang, and myself." The entire room was silent as the reporter's eyes moved to Aang and Sokka, standing in the corner. They were waiting with bated breath for whatever would come next.
"This morning, the terrorist known as Yakone attacked my daughter, Lin Beifong, in the street."
The room exploded in a symphony of shouting, waving and camera flashes. The rumble went on for almost a minute before Toph raised her hands, and the entire room was silent once more. Sokka was impressed. The Chief of the Metalbending Police commanded respect like no one he'd ever seen, not even his father.
"This is the final straw." Toph said, leaning forward on the podium. "Do the people of Republic City really want a man attacking children roaming their streets?" A mutter of agreement sounded in the crowd.
"While the council is caught up in extradition treaties and bending rights, the Metalbending Police have no such restrictions." Toph said, grinning. "Yakone is on our turf, in our cities, committing acts of violence against our citizens. This needs to be stopped. And I'm putting forth a challenge.
"Yakone, if you're listening, and I know you are, I challenge you to a bending showdown. To the death. Tonight at seven, in the probending arena lot. Come alone; bring nothing but your waterbending. That is, if you're man enough to show."
If the roar the crowd had erupted into minutes earlier was bad, this was an earthquake. The ground was literally rumbling as the photographers and journalists tried to get a decent look at Toph as she exited the stage.
"That was very unwise, Toph." Aang said gravely. "I wish you would let the council take care of this."
"Yeah, because they've done such a great job with that in the past." Suddenly, a mob of reporters made their way behind the podium and were bombarding Toph with questions.
"Chief Beifong, how is Lin doing?"
"Chief Beifong, what caused you to suspect Yakone in the attack on your daughter?"
"Chief Beifong, do you think Yakone will show at the probending lot?"
Sokka could see that Toph was getting a little antsy. Having so many people around made it difficult for her to decipher who was who, and that made her nervous. He decided to step in.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen!" He shouted above the din. He stepped in front of Toph, hand on his sword, a barrier between her and the journalists. "Chief Beifong's had enough questions now. If you'll just follow the lieutenant here downstairs, he'll be happy to take any more questions." He pointed to a metalbending officer in the corner, standing with one of his coworkers around a water jug. The journalists were on him in a second. Toph sighed in relief and intertwined her arm with Sokka as they walked.
"You just sent the Republic City Times after my second in command," She said, chuckling.
"He had it coming," Sokka said. Toph laughed.
"Thank you." She said.
"No problem, Chief." He said. Toph laughed, and he turned to face her. "Toph. Please don't do this. You don't have to go against Yakone. Let Aang handle it." Toph frowned.
"You don't trust me to take care of him." She said. She sounded crestfallen; Sokka winced.
"I'm worried about you." Sokka said. "Do you want me to come with you?" Toph shook her head.
"No," She said. "This is my fight."
"Lin's my daughter too, you know." Sokka said. "I've got a beef with this Yakone guy just as much as you do." Toph shook her head.
"No." She said. "This is all my fault. I could have stopped Yakone weeks ago; months. But I let myself get caught up in the politics. And now he's out there on the streets, and he attacked Lin, and she'll have those scars forever, and all I can think is that it's all my fault." Sokka looked at her for a second before taking a step forward and hugging her.
"Please be careful." He whispered into her ear.