Chapter 53: Bones of the Earth

Toph was set on her course. While the initial encounter with her father hadn't gone as she had hoped, she knew her father would never listen so long as someone could see any sign of weakness. She had to do this alone, isolate her father, and make him listen.

"Listen, Toph, you shouldn't be here," Satoru pleaded, hurrying along behind her.

"I didn't tell you to come with me," Toph replied, not glancing over her shoulder. "And I'm not going to kill him, if you're worried about that."

"It's not that. My uncle took me in when I had nowhere else to go, and Lao has given me opportunities I never would have gotten from anyone else. You and your friends just show up out of nowhere, and the next thing I know, everything starts to go sideways."

"And that's when Uncle Baldy decides to saddle the blame on you." Stopping in front of the office, she looked at him directly. "There's a big difference between respect and slavish loyalty. Think on that, big guy."

Toph threw the doors to her father's office open with enough force for them to slam closed again after she passed through. Despite the fairly violent display, her father maintained the cool façade, at least outwardly.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Toph stared down her father, committing to memory how her father "looked". Despite the stiff exterior, everything beyond that was cloudy, shifting and swirling in a storm. Her normal means of lie-detecting weren't getting anything useful off of him, either. She needed to squeeze him a little to get him talking.

"I'm here to talk to my father," she answered.

Lao tented his hands in front of his mouth, leaning on the desk. "I told you already," he said, "you're confused." A blip on her radar. "You are not my daughter. Now see your way out of here before I call security."

"Aw, let it go, already! Nobody's here but you and me, and we both know you're lying."

"Show me I'm mistaken, then. Greet me properly ... as a child ought to greet a parent, in a manner befitting someone of our class."

Toph scowled. "If you were really paying attention, you'd have known that already."

"You presume to tell me what I know?!" Lao shouted, suddenly standing up, nearly knocking his chair down in the process. Clamping down on his emotions, he continued at a conversational tone, but he nearly spat out each word. "Let me tell you what I know: I spent countless hours of my life – not to mention a substantial portion of my fortune – raising my daughter to be a poised, demure, obedient young woman! I did everything I could to protect her from the corrosive dangers of the outside world! Now, clearly, this rude, ungrateful ... thing in front of me is not my daughter!"

Toph laughed, but the normal humor was diminished. "That's a load of bison crap and you know it. It's a dangerous world out there, I'll give you that much. But only that much."

Her father glared at her, but surprisingly didn't immediately retaliate, which was all the opening she needed to vent.

"I walked on and off the battlefield, again and again. I am the greatest earthbender in the world. I trained the Avatar himself. I invented a whole new bending art from scratch! I've fought men more than twice my own age and many times my experience, and I have won in each battle. Not just because I'm amazing, but because I had friends who helped me. I'm telling you this because the demure, fragile little girl you thought you raised never existed in the first place, and long since left you behind without you ever realizing it! And the moment I was gone, you tried to have me hauled back home like a criminal!" Taking a breath, Toph reined in her broiling temper. "Did you tell Yu to have a letter forged in mom's name, or did he come up with that himself?"

Her father was looking defeated when the doors swung open again.

"Are we interrupting something?" Aang asked.

Toph and her father looked to the door, where the remainder of the gang stood with the airbender at the forefront.

[-]

Two pairs of footfalls worked their way down a dim, underground corridor lit by torchlights held in their hands. The younger of the two halted, directing his torch down an empty corridor.

"What is it?" his partner asked.

"I think I heard something."

"There's not supposed to be anyone else here,"

"I know that!"

"Maybe it's a spider-rat or something like that."

A brief silence passed as he wondered what to do. "Should we go check?"

"Nah. It's not like anyone would be crazy to sneak through the unstable tunnels."

Another pause. "Eh…if you're sure."

"Of course I am. Now, move it. This place is giving me the creeps."

Once the footsteps faded out of hearing, a pair of held breaths were slowly let out. Zuko and Ty Lee had braced themselves against the ceiling when they heard the patrol, holding well out of sight for the guards, even when they flashed lanterns their direction.

"Are they gone?" Ty Lee asked, low enough for only her partner to hear.

Zuko strained his ears for any sign of movement, then he nodded his head.

The two eased themselves back down, taking great care not to make the slightest noise in case someone else was close by.

"That was close," Ty Lee whispered. "There isn't supposed to be anyone down here, is there?"

Zuko shrugged. "Let's find out what's happening around here."

Further down, both of them grew increasingly uncomfortable. Not for the silence, unnerving as that was, but for the way the walls felt like they were pressing in, how it felt like someone was watching them, even with both of them regularly checking and finding nothing.

"It's like this place is alive," Zuko whispered.

"There was something like this in the Swamp, too. Everything seemed…alive."

"It's a swamp, Ty Lee. That's normal."

"No, I mean it was like it was a single entity. A thinking one, at that. It had its own aura and everything. And why would a mass of metal ore be like a swamp?"

Zuko stopped short and bit back a curse he wanted to scream at that very moment

"We find whatever Lao and his partner are hiding down here, then we get out as fast as we can."

It was almost a relief when they heard signs of life, the key word being "almost". The cavern was better lit and had more supports of better quality. Shouts could be heard, both relaying orders and communication between other workers. The cavern was small enough, but it stretched back to the refinery as well and heading towards Yu Dao. From some of the equipment present, flooding was either a risk or a lingering issue.

None of this did anything to alleviate his earlier concerns.

"What are all these workers doing here?" he asked.

"Digging?" Ty Lee suggested.

"No, if anyone sensible is running this operation, they wouldn't have their people working down here while they place was threatening to collapse." He paused. "I am talking about sensible people. Come on."

Creeping along the edges of the cavern, Zuko's hand brushed along a chunk of iron. With it, the image of a mask flashed in his mind, raw emotion clawing at Zuko's psyche.

"You have failed!" a voice boomed. "There is no escape!"

"Zuko!" Ty Lee hissed, trying to calm him down with alerting anyone to their presence.

"He's already here," Zuko gasped.

The ground rumbled, metal shifting all around them. Bits of rock slid around them, stone groaning under stress.

Ty Lee began hauling him up and over her shoulder, despite his aura flaring wildly, reaching the point she wanted to simply drop him and run for it. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw what looked like a storage dump. If she could get to it, she could hide the two of them until things calmed down.

But her hopes were soon dashed as torchlight was directed their way, boots echoing after them. Zuko regained his footing, turning around to face their pursuers.

[-]

"What is the meaning of this?" Lao demanded.

Satoru stood next to them nervously, then ran and bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Beifong," he said, "but they refused to wait any longer."

The boy in strange robes entered his office, staff in hand. By all appearances, he was a monk of some sort, but he did not look like anyone from the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, and he looked little older than Toph. But the way he carried himself hinted at a measure of authority.

"Mr. Beifong," the boy said, giving a polite bow. "I am Aang of the Air Nomads. I have some questions about your facility."

"How did you get past the guards?"

"They let us in," Sokka answered. "I'm with Yu Dao garrison."

"What business would the garrison have with this facility? There is nothing out of order that would warrant a surprise inspection."

"Then what do you call those earthquakes you've been experiencing?" Aang asked.

"Geological disturbances have been an ongoing problem for this facility, but nothing so dramatic to bring work to a halt. I assure you that we are taking every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of our employees and property. Now explain to me how this has anything to do with Air Nomads."

"Given the circumstances, I will make this as brief as I can: prior to your company moving, before the war began, this region was a site of great significance to my people. We had been responsible for maintaining it as part of an agreement to maintain peace between Humans and Spirits."

Mr. Beifong looked unconvinced, but gestured him to continue.

"The reason for this agreement lies centuries ago, when there was a battle between humans and spirits. After period of fierce fighting, one of the past Avatars, Yangchen was able to negotiate an end to hostilities, one of the terms being that this region be restored and left to nature and maintained by the Air Nomads. It was only after the war began that my people were unable to continue with our duties."

"A fascinating story, but I fail to see what this has to do with my company."

"He's saying that your facility is sitting right on top of where that battle took place," Toph answered.

"With your permission, I would like to inspect your facility to gauge the present threat."

The Beifong patriarch looked at him, dubious. Then Sokka intervened.

"I'm all for your pursuits," he reasoned, "but you have to admit that even if there isn't a giant spirit monster lurking underground, letting your people work here without even trying to find out what's going on down there is pretty negligent. Besides, if it's really nothing, there's nothing to worry about."

Mr. Beifong shot a look at Sokka, then exhaled sharply. "Fine."

Leading them on an abridged tour, Lao explained the operations in passing, functions of machines and production methods. Sokka, ever the Idea Guy, is already assimilating it all. Aang keeps an open ear, hoping for a clue that would bring things together.

As they worked their way to the lower levels, the Air Nomad inspected the slurry that slid along the chutes.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A byproduct of the refinery," Mr. Beifong replied. "Completely natural."

Aang squinted and gave it a closer inspection, even sticking his hand in it and scrutinizing the muck that clung to it. His nose turned up, and he quickly blew the mess off of his hands, only barely suppressing his disgust, but before he could say anything more, the ground trembled.

"It's stronger here," Toph said.

"What's stronger?" Sokka asked.

"That thing we felt on the surface."

Sokka looked around, suppressing the inclination to draw weapons. Mr. Beifong, who hadn't heard anything, seemed unflappable and carried on as if nothing were out of place.

"This is as far as we've been able to dig safely," he said. "Any deeper, and the risks of a cave-in increase dramatically, which is why we closed them off. A shame, really, as we did find a treasure trove of resources and some ruins."

"You sure about that?" Toph asked, pointing at a blank section of wall. "That elevator looks like it's been used recently."

Beifong looked at his daughter. "Sometimes the workers used it for storage. We had to board it up to put a stop to it."

Another rumble echoed, this time it was more focused and abrupt, an explosion rather than the gradual quakes that plagued the facility. Evidently, Lao noticed the difference as well.

"What was that?" Mr. Beifong asked.

"Zuko?" Mai asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Zuko," Toph confirmed.

Mr. Beifong glared at Aang. "You sent your people down here before you even spoke to me?"

"Considering the investment you had in this, we weren't sure if you would even listen to us," Aang answered levelly. "Still, the fact that something like that happened further down means that someone didn't like what they saw."

Sliding away a section of the wall aside, Toph revealed the elevator. "Get on, everyone."

[-]

Zuko caught the next guard's fist, twisting it and pinning it behind the man's back before throwing him at his friends. As broad and diverse as his skillsets were, even before becoming the Avatar, he found himself forced to hold back, both to avoid accidentally killing anyone or potentially causing a cave-in. Already, he was worried he might bring the place down on their heads, even keeping his swords sheathed in case he experience a sudden explosion of power.

Still, he and Ty Lee were holding up despite the onslaught of guards, the latter keeping a lead in takedowns. The workers had scattered, taking cover behind sturdy objects while the guards scuffled with the intruders.

The sound of gears announced the descending elevator before it was visible.

Great, Zuko groused internally. Reinforcements.

Fortunately, the reinforcements were friendly. Mostly.

"Stand down!" Lao Beifong called out.

Almost at once, his orders were heeded. Once the elevator had stopped, the newcomers offloaded. A few workers began emerging from hiding, but the guards remained tense, despite their boss' arrival.

"This shouldn't be here," he said.

Mai stared at the back of the man's head. "Wow, I thought I was imagining things for a second."

"Loban and I discussed the risks involved in digging deeper. In the end, we had agreed that the risks were not worth dangers, both in material and manpower, and closed these mines."

"No, you said that."

Eyes turned to the tunnel as Loban emerged from the darkness. Flanked by a pair of Rough Rhinos and backed by a handful of thugs, he scowled at Lao.

"I made no such agreement. And since you were too cowardly to seize this treasure trove, I took it upon myself to continue this endeavor. And I will reap the benefits myself."

"All workers, vacate the worksite," Beifong ordered.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the workers began moving towards the elevator, but Loban was not one to back down easily.

"If you value your livelihoods, you will stay right where you are. All of you!"

Everyone remained still, waiting to see who would move first. The guards were coiled tightly like springs, ready for a fight and clearly intent on siding with Loban, who held the higher ground and had more cover for his men to work with.

"What do you intend, Loban?" Lao asked.

"These caverns contain an unnaturally rich deposit of iron and other metals. This venture will provide enough capital to buy you out. While I appreciate your assistance in starting this undertaking, your services are no longer required." Loban turned to walk away. "Escort these trespassers from my property."

"And if they resist?" Vachir asked.

Loban shot his underling a scathing glare. "You know what to do."

"As you command, sir."

Having already palmed a dagger, Mai threw a blade at the closest of the thugs at Loban's side. It was deflected easily enough, but it caught the rest off-balance, their flinching allowing everyone to scatter and go for cover before chaos erupted across the cavern. Workers scattered, and the building tension between both factions snapped in a storm of steel and fire.

Mai hauled Lao behind an untouched pile of crate, which soon came under fire. Toph erected as strong a barrier she dared in the unstable earth, but it quickly shattered, and her father and Mai were knocked back towards the elevator.

From where she stood, she could detect Zuko clashing with the guards that had come in with Loban, literally taking the heat off of them by distracting the firebender. Loban himself appeared to be fleeing towards the apparent exit he had come from. Sokka was holding off the bearded guy, who was playing things safe after his blade had been cut from the shaft. Katara was handling most of crowd control, disabling the small-fry and opening routes for the workers to get to safety.

What really irked the earthbender was that she was having to hold back to avoid collapsing the tunnels, while their enemies were not inclined to reciprocate. Like the explosives expert, who had just chucked one of his bombs towards them.

Aang deflected the explosive device overhead and away from them, only for it to explode in the elevator shaft. Sections of rock fell from above, scattering them from their hiding spot.

"Yeh-Lu, you idiot!"Ogodei snapped. "You're going to bring the roof around our ears!"

In the haze of adrenaline, Toph's focus fell on the archer, Vachir, who was taking aim at Lao, who was now out in the open, with Aang and Mai too far away and distracted to intervene. She could feel as the tension in the archer's arm released, sending the arrow down range.

The world slowed to a crawl in her mind. All she knew was that she needed to be across the room. Now!

Stepping forward, she felt the wind rush past her ears, and in the next moment, Toph was standing next to her father, holding the arrow in her hand and glaring daggers at his assailant.

When he reached for another arrow, beginning to run away, Toph tore a hunk of rock the size of her head at his chest, then sent it flying at his chest. His reflexes had it slam into his shoulder instead, but Vachir was out of commission for the rest of the battle.

"What was that?" her fathered asked.

"What was what?" she replied.

"You moved across the entire cave in a flash!"

Sensing another incoming projectile, she twisted around to face it head on.

"Don't know," she answered, giving the bolo a quick metalbending push, sending it wildly off course. "Save questions for later."

Belatedly, she remembered where she was, but by then, the object had crashed into a supporting beam some distance behind her. Despite the apparent insignificance of single support snapping, it was the final straw halting everything up, the shock reverberating through the ground, and the fighting haphazardly halting.

"Weren't you just getting on my case about that!" Yeh-Lu snapped.

Toph saw it before anyone else did, earthquakes rumbling through the ground. The supports groaned and twisted, threatening to buckle. The closest tunnel collapsed, heralding the cascade of imminent structural failures.

"Everyone!" she barked. "Around me!"

Those able to move on their own rushed to the center of the cave, some dragging the injured with them, gathering around Toph as another shift sent the entire load stone, ore, beams, and mining equipment to cave in on them.

"Zuko!" Toph shouted.

Jumping to her side, the two earthbenders held up the mass of rock and metal that threatened to crush them all.

"Whatever you do, Zuko, don't do anything with your feet. Knowing how things work with you, you'll bring the whole thing down on top of us."

"Thanks," Zuko groaned. "Everyone still alive?"

"For now," Katara replied.

"Stop moving!" Toph complained.

"I'm trying!" Zuko grumbled.

"Try harder!" she retorted.

"At least I didn't cause the cave-in," he said, giving the surviving rhinos a pointed glare.

"We can divvy up blame later," Sokka said. "Just keep holding this up!"

Zuko groaned, but silently agreed. Time seemed to drag on, the weight of the world resting on two sets of shoulders.

"So…" he drawled. "Anyone want to share deep-seated regrets and insecurities? You know, in case none of us survive."

Toph rolled her eyes. "That's not necessary," she replied. "That's because there's nothing to worry about." Exerting in effort, the ground above them began to rumble and shift around their cavern. "Because I'm the World's Greatest Earthbender!"

As she pushed, the earth around them rumbled once more, metal shifting upward through the ground, all gliding through the soil like worms, independently of the earthbenders' actions. Above ground, pieces of metal broke the surface, causing no shortage of surprise and concern for those still standing around.

One such piece broke the surface underneath the metalbenders, a giant mask that emerged face up, invisible eyes stared back up at them.

"What manner of monstrosity is this?" The Dark One inquired.

"Um… "

A trembling began, but refused to die off as it had before. Then the eyes of the mask lit with a dim light of gold, contrasting with the rapidly darkening skies.

"Everyone, move!" Hei-Won shouted.

Without asking for clarification, the sides of the crater cleared faster than thought possible, and not a moment too soon, as an unseen force the mask tore from the ground just as the last person reached relative safety.

The ground began to heave and groan, metal twisted and screeched in a great cacophony, and from the depths of earth, chunks of iron flying off to the horizon where Old Iron was approaching from, restored to pristine condition once it connected with him.

"The pact has been broken," he boomed, even as he was still miles away from shore. Armor settled around him until he was completely cocooned in metal, his eyes flashing with light. "Humans, your profane and destructive ways will now bear the appropriate fruit. Your time has come to an end."

A/N: FINALLY! After almost four months of inactivity, this chapter is finally released. Still not 100% happy with it, but at least it's done and I can move on with this project. Feel free to leave your comments and critiques if you find something amiss.

Onto other things, for as long as it has taken me to actually write this, this arc covers less than twenty-four hours in-universe. Toph talking to both Satoru and her father in close succession was more difficult than most conversations I write, partially thanks to the emotional tension conveyed between her and her father.

Aside from that, if you're confused by the names I used regarding the Rough Rhinos, here's a quick list of the ones who appeared in the series:

Mongke is the firebending leader of the bunch. Also, he's the one prominently featured in Jet's trauma flashbacks in canon (when Katara is trying to break the Dai Li conditioning).

Kahchi is the one with the blade on the stick (a Guan Dao) and a righteous beard.

Vachir is the guy who looks like a Yuyan archer (and actually is/was one, according to the comics).

Ogodei is the bolo-user with the weird braid.

Yeh-Lu is the explosive expert and completely decked in armor.

In the comics, they pick up some new recruits, though I think only a couple of them actually have names. These are granted the appropriate relevance in this story, by which I mean they are basically standard mooks instead of elite mooks like the rest of the Rough Rhinos.

At any rate, the next chapter is far simpler and mostly finished at this time.