Joe's Note: Back when I first posted it, the story got more hits than it had words. And ironically one douchenut who I think was waiting for something of mine to show up so he could Hide it because it was literally hidden within two minutes of me posting it. Twisting's users really knew how to keep it classy. Anyways, here's another costume that Cordelia never wore. Enjoy.
Edit Note: This was originally written before Legend of Korra was even a rumor. While I am updating it to bring it in line with my current writing style and to add a character, I've opted not to rewrite the story as a whole to integrate what we learn about Toph's life from the newer series.
Dedications & Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, Alonsis2, Connor, MJ, Daniel, Christopher, Janne, Eric, DireSquirrel, Joseph, mpop, RileyWestfall, bloodylord, Luke, Zachary, Marc, Ziryo, Elliot, Crusifikz70, Timothy, Leigh, Jason, Chris, George, Koby, Ken, Dimitria, William, Invernos, Paul, Pat, Joel, Kentucky Fried Dragon, Warren, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.
Rubbing the pad of her thumb over the tip of her index finger, Cordelia Chase shook her head sadly as she felt yet another broken nail, idly playing with the jagged edge as she tried to figure out exactly when her life had fallen off the tracks and crashed into the world of the weird. Granted she knew the whole series of events that had brought her to this point, but what had been the actual, singular point of no return?
Had it been when she'd been stupid enough to make that idiotic bet with Xander? Or when she'd decided to throw the quiz they were betting on because neither she nor Kat had any idea what to dress as for Halloween, and they'd agreed that he'd probably take full advantage of having two hot girls to dress up and put them in something good? When she'd overridden Kat's protests and allowed him to lure her in with a pretty dress and ramblings of a powerful girl from a rich and noble family? Or perhaps the most obvious point was at fault: when some kind of magic spell transformed her into the fictional character that she was dressed as, a character who'd then proceeded to turn most of Sunnydale's plethora of cemeteries into war zones as she went on a rampage against the things that went bump in the night.
A soft tap of her bare foot against the grass established that nobody was standing to her left and Cordelia turned her head before spitting. Then she grimaced; out of all the strange quirks and habits she'd acquired from being possessed on Halloween, that was easily the grossest… and the one she was having the most trouble shaking. One of these days, when she was completely and totally sure that her plan was foolproof and couldn't possibly be traced back to her if the body was ever found? She was going to kill Xander Harris. Because yes, her costume had been of a girl who was rich and from a noble family. And she had powers. She was also uncouth, had more parental issues than a whole sorority's worth of slutty coeds, and oh yeah, she was blind.
Sorta.
Kinda.
Not blind enough to leave Cordelia flailing in a world of darkness, but still blind enough to be a pain in her perfectly shaped ass. Because while the seismic sense that came with her strange new powers allowed her to 'see' to a limited degree - enough that she could get around without a dog, cane, or turning Kat into a Seeing Eye Girlfriend - she hadn't magically learned to read Braille or anything. Meaning that… well, to quote her Halloween self, she could hold books but they didn't really do it for her anymore. Which in turn had brought her education to a screeching halt, at least until Cordelia could figure out a way around that particular roadblock… but at least she'd found something to keep her occupied in the meantime.
"The key to earthbending is your stance: you've got to be steady and strong. Earth is a stubborn element and if you're going to move it, you need to be like the earth yourself. If you aren't determined enough, when the time comes, the earth won't respond to your will." Cordelia stomped the ground hard to demonstrate, raising a row of large boulders in front of her friends. "Now who's ready to see if they're worthy of being my student?"
Grumbles emerged from behind the line of boulders as Cordelia walked to a safe spot off to the side of what would soon become a firing range of sorts, culminating in Harmony's whining voice reaching her ears as the blonde called out to her. "No offense, but why do we even want to be characters from whatever silly little cartoon Harris tricked you into liking? I mean, this doesn't even make sense. So what if Halloween turned you into some kind of freak? That doesn't mean 'the power is real' or that anyone else ever is going to turn out to be a freak like you."
Clearing her throat, Kat McKee raised her hand and waved it slowly before guiding the water whip that she had formed across the lawn to poke Harmony in the side. Beside her sat Gwen Ditchik, a look of intense concentration on her face and a ball of water hovering between her hands. "Gwen dressed as a naughty nurse for Halloween but turned out to be a 'freak like us'. Shouldn't that prove that we're on to something by seeing if anyone else we know is a bender too?"
"Okay, you may have a point there. But why do I have to try this instead of trying that? I'd look much better in blue and white than shades of green and brown." Balancing on one leg, Harmony bent the other and twisted so that she could inspect her foot. "Not to mention that it's bad enough that I'm tromping around out here with no shoes on and totally messing up my pedicure, but if Cordelia's wrong and I'm right and we can't do this, I'm going to throw a punch and either break my nails or break my hand or-"
Cordelia opened her mouth to interrupt her second-in-command, only to find herself twisting at the waist and bending back as a boulder went flying through the space she'd just been occupying, Harmony landing at her feet with a thump a second later as the other girls screamed. The blonde's impact, combined with the boulder crashing to earth behind her, painted a picture for Cordelia and she thrust her arm out, one finger pointing unerringly at where one of the Cordettes was was standing stock still with her arm still extended in a punch. "Courtney. You're in."
"Um, not that I'm going to argue or anything but… I thought the test was to move the boulder." Courtney Palmer let out a nervous chuckle as she relaxed back into a normal stance, the soft patter of her feet allowing Cordelia to keep her fellow brunette 'in sight'. "Not… what did I just do to Harmony, anyways?"
Stepping over the prone blonde, Cordelia approached the piece of diagonal rock now jutting up out of what had once been her relatively pristine lawn, using her hands to confirm the shape and size in her mind. "You created an earth wall. Sorta. You lose a few points for not being able to raise it straight, but earn them back for making it strong enough to launch the boulder… and get bonus points for launching Harmony." As the blonde sputtered in anger, Cordelia leaned on the earth wall and casually shoved it back down into the ground. "So, who wants to try next?"