Yay! Managed to get it up on time!

23.3.07

"WELCOME TO EARTH RUMBLE SIX!!"

Katara and Aang winced slightly at the incredibly loud noises from the crowds around them, but continued watching the arena as Xin Fu introduced the challenging opponent- a heavily muscled guy, going by the stage name 'The Boulder'. His first fight was to be against 'The Big Bad Hippo', a rather apt name for the heavyweight man.

They watched as The Boulder defeated his opponent quickly, although with some difficulty. Aang sighed noisily.

"Great. The challenging champion is a show-bender." At Katara's puzzled look, he explained, gesturing towards the man as he accepted the cheers of the audience.

"He's just listening to his big muscles. He's in it for the fame, not the bending."

"Well, I'm sure the other champions will be better. I mean, they can't all be money-grabbing idiots."

But as the evening wore on, Katara found herself being proved wrong at every turn. Each and every opponent the Boulder smashed his ay through was weak, flashy, stupid or a combination of the three. They all seemed to have some gimmick about them to make themselves stand out.

Then, finally, it was time for the last fight, and hopefully the best.

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder, versus your champion, The Blind Bandit!"

An almost deafening roar arose from the crowd as a petite girl held up a heavy belt, before handing it over to one of the white-clad assistants. The Boulder stepped onto the arena, crashing his feet onto the floor heavily.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl."

She pointed at the Boulder, and in a mocking tone said,

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder."

The Boulder paused, looking stung, then yelled,

"The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you-" he made a dramatic, crushing gesture "-in a rock-a-lanche!"

"Whenever you're ready- The Pebble." She threw her head back and laughed unrestrainedly.

"It's on!"

The Boulder, who yelled and took a step forward. The Bandit moved forward and opened her arms as soon as she registered the shock wave indicating the movement of her opponent. She moved forward to finish the set up for her attack. The Boulder moved forward, bellowing a battle cry. The Bandit began to swing her right foot in an arc towards the ground in font of her. As she struck the ground, her strike created a shock wave in the arena floor that churned up the ground and headed towards the Boulder in a straight line as if a gopher were tunnelling toward him at great speed.

The Boulder's descending foot met the shock wave just as he put it back on the ground. The shock wave made him drop down onto the ground, pulling his legs apart in a perfect split. He looked up with a look of excruciating pain on his face.

"Ooh!"

The Bandit made a chopping motion with her right hand. Three stalagmites erupted from the ground near The Boulder and ejected him from the ring. He slammed into the wall beneath the stands and slid down into the crevice between the arena and the stands.

The Bandit's face softened into a crafty and satisfied smile as Xin Fu spoke.

"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!"

The girl raised her right arm in triumph as the crowds cheered. Katara and Aang looked on in amazement, stunned at what they had seen.

"How did she do that?" asked Katara incredulously.

"She waited, and listened."

"She's amazing."

"Oh, yeah. I wanna know how she does that."

"Maybe we can talk to her after the- oh drat."

For while they were talking, the young girl had jumped off the platform edge and opened a tunnel in the rock wall, disappearing from sight.

"Damn."

And Toph appears on the scene! Don't worry, we'll be seeing (don't laugh) more from her later :D

On a lighter note, I was ill all day today. Probably caught it from one of my friends. From how she felt, it'll hit really hard soon and I'll lose my voice, so I may not be updating for a while.

As always, reviews are much appreciated!