The time before the arrival of the comet and the attack by the Fire Nation has been spent by Gaang in training. Galvanized by their mutual hatred of Viteq, Zuko, Sokka and Aang formed an uneasy friend group, where they would the dark feelings of envy and jealousy fuel themselves, while they worked out. And they did that a lot.
They weren't the only ones galvanized into action by Zuko's revelations. Toph grew much gloomier and angrier for the few days after learning that her older friend was alive and prospering while in the midst of the enemy territory. She spent a few days brooding, temporarily taking that role from Zuko, but eventually she got over her bad mood and decided to inflict her feelings on those around her.
She woke everyone up at dawn and trained until they dropped. She used Katara for healing and devised different methods of inflicting pain on her group of friends. It lasted long enough to have a shouting match with everyone involved, where she admitted to being angry and the situation was eventually resolved with her becoming less of a demanding task master and more as a tough trainer.
The group cohesion grew over time, with Zuko spending more time with the team and even dedicating a few days for each one of them. They had a few side missions with each member, other than Toph who didn't really have any dark secrets or past history that needed remedying.
Aang grew accustomed to the idea that he would have to put the Firelord down for good as to prevent his rise in the future. He trained with dummies and earth golems under Toph's control. It was hard for him to make that last step, to internalize the need to take a life. But eventually he managed it.
So, the time passed and the final battle was upon the group. Aang was worrying, but he had the support of his friends to keep him grounded. However, on the eve of battle, he disappeared with no trail. The only thing they found was a note that Viteq previously passed to him, telling him that if he had the urge to seek another way before the battle, not to fight it and follow that thought. So, Aang left for parts unknown and the rest of the team only had to hope that he would arrive and fight the Firelord in time.
The group then split, with Zuko and Katara traveling to the Royal Palace to confront Azula and stop her from becoming the Firelord. They needed somebody to take her place and so Zuko had to be there when she was defeated and Katara was sure that she could defeat the princess. Also, the group privately decided not to let Toph anywhere near the princess until later.
The three other members, Sokka, Sukki and Toph traveled to the place where the attack would be staged from and were working on a plan to destroy as many flying machines as possible. Although, with Toph simply grabbing them and launching them up towards the closest airship, they charged in and demolished any sort of resistance within. Suki and Sokka became proficient warriors, especially both from training they underwent with Viteq as well as all the group battles they had with the group of master benders. Even without bending of their own, they were skilled and dangerous.
Toph was a force of nature. She perfected the skills she discovered by herself and utilized them without care. She could send people flying with a flick of her hand, wrap them in metal, send shards of glass flying everywhere and even turn whatever coal and rocks were available into lava and back into solid form. Firebenders and normal could barely react when they were beaten down and left to recover, restrained and immobile. Toph was a one girl army and she reveled in it. As the three passed the metal ship, she didn't restrain herself and left behind mostly wreckage and flames.
By the time they reached the control room of the airship, the marvel of local engineering and ingenuity was held in the air by nothing but hopes and dreams of the Fire Nation soldiers. The metal grinding and shearing could be heard through the whole construction. The three only needed a way to move onto the next ship and to continue their rampage.
Sokka was looking over the controls and trying to steer the ship into the closest one when Suki gasped and pointed at something.
"What is that?!"
The warrior turned to look and gasped.
"What is it?"
Toph couldn't see at all and she was a little short to glance out of the window either way, so she couldn't see a massive flaming figure floating some distance away from their airship. It moved around and threw flames around and battered the other ships, trying to bring them down.
Sokka stared for a long second and then chuckled.
"That, that is Viteq, it could only be him."
Toph ground her teeth and clenched her fists.
"Show me where he is."
"He is flying on jets of flames and throwing around masses of fire. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a natural firebender. Although his flames are strangely bright, very different from what they were before. What is he shouting?"
Sokka strained his ears, trying to listen to whatever the flaming figure was saying, the words reverberating in the air strangely, as if spoken by something greater than a human. Toph tried to do the same but not knowing where to aim, she just stared into space. Suki was the more successful one.
"... fear the fury of Amon'Ra, worldly Avatar of the Sun, for he is here to show you his merciful warmth and deliver you to the embrace of the spirits of Fire…"
Sokka shook his head and chuckled.
"Yeah, that's Viteq alright. I bet he is having fun. I mean, how often would he get a chance to fly around and throw flames like a dragon?"
Whatever else he wanted to say was interrupted by the sound of tearing metal as Toph made a hole in the wall and widened it enough for all of them to easily fit through.
"That bastard is having fun? Fun?! Sokka, get him to come here, I have to tell him something important."
The boy looked at the smaller girl with a raised eyebrow, but realized that she was blind and couldn't see him. He coughed and decided to express his incredulity with words.
"Ah, yes, let me just take out my Waterbender Retrieval Rope and throw it at our friend, who is right now covered in massive gouts of flames and flying. What do you want me to do Toph, I am not a bender, you want me to throw a boomerang at him and hope it carries him back to us? Or, you could grab on and fly your way to him, that's an option."
Suko giggled at Sokka's sarcasm. Toph blinked at his words and chuckled as well.
"Ah yeah, sorry. Alright, if we can't bring him here, I gotta show him the error of his ways personally."
She started retreating from the hole and gathering metal together. Sokka sighed.
"Toph, we have a mission. We need to take out as many airships as we can."
"Oh, I am on a mission alright. Don't worry, after I am done with Viteq, there won't be anything flying left. Now, point to where he is right now."
Sokka raised an eyebrow, but once again realized the futility of his expression. He sighed and pointed at the flying flame monster.
"What are you going to…"
"Vi-i-i-i-I-I-I-I-I…"
His words were drowned out by the sound of shifting metal and the wind rushing by as a tiny projectile was launched out of the hole in the wall. She screamed as she flew through the air towards her destination. The mass of metal that helped achieve the feat broke apart and fell.
Sokka looked around the mostly demolished control room and hummed.
"Well, it's just the two of us. Let's try to get to the next ship and hope the two lovebirds actually do something useful."
Suki crossed her arms and raised her own eyebrow at him. He pointed at her with a scowl.
"Don't give me that! I know what you are thinking, but I am not jealous. Why would I be jealous when a girl jumped to her almost imminent demise just to have a chance to fight for someone else?"
The girl just raised her second eyebrow and simply looked at him with a smirk. He threw his hands up and walked towards the control wheel, about the only thing that was left intact after a tiny avalanche passed by.
—-
Viteq was having the time of his life. For the whole day he was full of energy, as if he downed a bunch of energy drinks and sugar. The closer the time of the comet's arrival came, the more powerful he became, his control over water growing just like the power of firebenders did. So close to the fated moment, it was easy for him to use water to create jets of flames to carry himself up in the air.
They acted according to plan, with Azula staying in the capital to settle the bet they previously had. He himself decided to go out and make the most of his temporary strength. He found where the airships were stationed and decided to add some excitement to their deployment. If he remembered correctly, Sokka and Toph should be somewhere nearby, which is why he didn't really unleash hell and cook everyone inside and mostly just threw fire around and boasted about his great power. He hoped to heat the metal as much as possible and to break down the airships.
His plan was in motion and he was having a lot of fun when his grand speech was interrupted by a tiny missile that sailed by with a weird elongated "E-e-e-e-e-q" sound. He stopped talking and looked to where it flew past him. His mood shifted, as he saw that Toph was now plummeting to earth.
He allowed himself a moment of weakness and within his shell of ice, water and flames, he pinched his nose and groaned aloud, expressing his frustration at being interrupted mid villain-speech. He exhaled and sent jets of fire upwards, launching himself down to catch the small projectile. The bright flames faded to paler color and lost in brightness.
He quickly caught up with her and enveloped her with cool water and slowed both of them down. He brought her closer to himself and held her at arm's length, flames obscuring them from the world.
"You know, Toph, it's a little inconsiderate to interrupt when one is having a good time. I was just getting into the gritty details and about to unleash the party of the firebenders and here you are, stopping me and needing a rescue."
The tiny girl in his grasp simpered and hissed at him.
"Inconsiderate? Good time? You bastard, we thought you were dead. I will show you inconsiderate! I will show you a good time!"
She moved a hand towards him and VIteq felt a force jolt his skeleton to the side. He was so startled, he let go of Toph and let her fall again.
He realized his mistake and quickly rectified it, but this time he used a water whip and held her at a distance.
"Toph, I am glad you learned new things, but it's not smart to use it on the one person that's keeping you from smacking into the ground."
"Smart? Was it smart to seduce a princess? Was it smart to seduce her friend? Was it smart to tell me you like me and go and get yourself another girlfriend?! I will show you smart!"
She made another gesture and from under her clothes, shards of glass flew out and launched at the flame clad waterbender. He dodged to the side, but lost his grip on the tiny menace. She moved and launched more things at him. He moved to the side to let them pass by and smirked at his opponent.
"You will run out of things eventually. We have a mission here, Toph, let's not fight right now."
The girl snarled at him.
"Oh, don't worry about the mission. Sokka and Suki are on it. And I will make sure to demolish everything that's left if he lets anything survive. But first, I have to teach you how to treat a girl properly."
She made a gesture of some kind and Viteq felt how she ripped herself from his water. She launched herself at him and once she got close enough, tried controlling his skeleton. He dodged again and for a moment, watched as Toph flew past and towards the ground again.
He rolled his eyes and extended a water whip again.
"Well, I guess nobody will fault me for being unable to multitask. I guess calming the strongest earthbender in the world can happen while we demolish the fleet of airships."
He swung the girl in a wide arc, sending her flying through the air towards the nearest vessel. He aimed just right so that she would reach it at the peak of her flight. She easily touched down and bent metal to soften her impact. She turned around with an angry expression. The metal around her flowed and formed into projectiles that she could launch, alrought aiming would be a problem. He didn't want to be mean, so he descended and landed nearby. She turned to him.
"I guess I understand why you are angry, Toph, but you are still young. I am a man and I had needs, I couldn't wait for years for you to grow up. And Princess, she practically threw herself at me. I couldn't call myself a man if I turned her away. She is hot."
The earthbender ground her teeth and got angrier, she stopped forming ammunition and instead simply grabbed the metal beneath her feet. She tugged at it, ripping a massive sheet and swung it around as she charged at Viteq. He smirked and closed in to engage. He wouldn't use lethal moves, but he had enough power to go toe to toe with her for now.
The mass of water and mist under his control leapt forward and deflected the mass of metal away as he got closer to the girl. However, he quickly realized his mistake as he felt her control over his bones before his own over her blood asserted itself. Her range was greater than his.
Viteq quickly jumped back and out of her range. He tutted and decided to change his strategy. Calling all the available water to himself, he formed a large armor made of ice and protected himself. His outer layer was covered in fire and water flowed through the ice to protect him from impacts.
Toph saw what he had done and did the same. She folded metal around herself, forming an armored suit. Whatever glass was nearby flew towards her and filled in empty spaces. She looked like a statue of shiny iron and glass, with aggressive looking spikes covering her form.
For a long moment the two stood, a fluid, white statue of ice and flames, opposite of the darker metal with shiny edges accented with glass.
Toph was the first to break the stalemate. She quickly rushed in closed, metal unfolding behind her and following suit. Ground behind her peeled back, revealing empty bowels of the airship. She made the metal flow in the air and grow hotter as she directed it to attack her opponent
Viteq didn't sit idle. He moved to meet her charge and used jets of fire to speed himself up. He ducked under the mass of metal and flew by towards the metalbender. Under his control, he easily split water into two gasses and burned them to form water again. He had an inexhaustible supply of his own element and used it to the fullest.
While Toph couldn't replicate the feat, around them Fire Nation airships contained enough metal not to be a problem as the two fought.
They closed the distance between them and smashed fists together. Viteq used water to lessen the impact and Toph softened metals enough to be flexible. They were at an apparent stalemate, but Toph quickly tried to take control of Viteq's bones. Which proved to be an error, because as soon as she tried gripping him with her power, a sense of vertigo overcame her and made her nauseous. She wasn't able to concentrate on controlling him and let go. The feeling of the world around her spinning eased up as soon as she stopped.
They jumped apart, Toph landing in a kneeling position while she recovered. She grit her teeth, angry at his retaliation. She could easily crush him if she could take control, but it seemed Viteq had a secret of his own which made continuing to control his skeleton impossible as her senses were assaulted with incredible discomfort. Katara never showed such skill and so Toph didn't have an immediate counter. And as angry as she was, she didn't want to kill VIteq, only hurt him.
She had to agree to the terms and stop controlling his bones or once again feel the world spin around her and send her sprawling to the ground. Being blind only made the issue worse, as she couldn't actually see where up or down was.
"Fine, we will play by your rules!"
Toph gathered herself and once again launched an attack.
"That's my girl!"
The small earthbender swore that she would make him eat his words.
The two clashed again, this time without bending bones or blood. The impact sent a massive wave of pressure away and this time they didn't jump apart. Toph continued swinging her fists and hoped to rattle what little brain was left in Viteq's head.
She used her bending to make metals move faster than her own muscles would allow, reaching incredible speeds, but Viteq was no slouch either. Ice flowed, fire and steam exploded and her fist was met with an impact of similar power. He had less water than she had metal, but he didn't let a single drop escape his grasp. His control was impeccable and, for a short while, his power was on par with hers.
She swung her leg up, trying to hit the waterbender's side, but he twisted, throwing himself to the floor, swinging his body around her leg that passed through where he was a moment ago, only to return to the position he just was in, but this time, with her leg held in his grasp.
He hefted her with all his power and threw her over his body and smashed her suit into the metal on the other side of him. She felt a little shaken, but was otherwise unharmed. She threw herself off the ground and glared.
She couldn't compete with him in speed or agility, but she had power and she had metal. So, she decided not to make it a fair fight and use all her power.
She moved, slower this time but all the metal around her flowed and followed her movement. Now, the ground beneath their feet became his enemy and spikes and holes sprung everywhere to make movement more difficult. The metal followed behind the small girl, moving in unison with her own suit and smashed where he had been a moment ago. Massive shockwave ran through the whole ship, rattling everyone on board.
She didn't stop and continued movement, softening and folding metal as it moved, making everything around her fluid and preventing Viteq from gaining foothold. He couldn't fight effectively and had to use his power to keep himself stable.
He fired jets of flame and hot steam to maneuver around as he jumped from place to place.
Toph used all metal in her grasp to assault Viteq, who dodged from side to side, avoiding her attacks.
Very quickly, the airship lost shape and began to descend and fall. The earthbender looked around and scowled. She didn't want to end this too quickly, but had no real way to continue being in the air.
Her momentary pause cost her a fist to the dome. A figure of ice smashed right into her, sending her flying away from the ruined vessel. She was sure that it was over, but even before the impact, she, through her power, felt a closing mass of metal.
Viteq punched her across from one ship to the other. She softened the impact and metal folded under her as she fell through the surface.
She felt metal under her control fold as something followed her and punched right through. The waterbender was on her trail, flying through the air with jets pushing him forward, ready to continue their fight.
She quickly gathered herself and stood up, turning to meet the incoming attack. Metal around her flowed to reinforce her stance and to help her fight.
Now that the two took a measure of one another and knew what kind of damage each of them could sustain, there was no need to hold back.
—-
Sokka ran through the corridors of another airship and glanced at the window on the side. He abruptly stopped and gaped at the picture before him.
"You are kidding! We have to compete with that?!"
Suki stopped and looked at him to see what happened. She followed his gaze to look outside.
They saw one of the ships in the distance fall to the ground, its exterior folded in bizarre ways, exposing metal framework underneath.
Another ship near the previous one was just impacted by a large metal shell that made the whole surface warp from impact and take on a weird, irregular shape. A large fireball followed behind and punched through the same place the metal just went though.
Explosion followed behind, the first ship quickly blowing apart and settling on fire. The second ship was visibly distorting and bending under the forces contained within. It took a handful of seconds for the exterior to get damaged enough to slow down and start plummeting to earth.
Soon after, a mass of metal with a ball of flame attached to the side punched through the side of the ship, spinning in the air in a weird spiral. The two objects were clashing, sending waves of metal and fire around. They quickly hit the next ship, metal visibly distorting on the impact, this time folding in a spiral pattern, as if following the movement of the projectile that hit it.
The destruction continued inside the ship and more and more damage could be seen appearing on the new vessel.
Suko came closer and slapped Sokka's arm.
"Come on, we need to go. Viteq only has a short time to compete with Toph, afterwards he won't be of much help. Besides, there are plenty of airships for us to break."
She ran forward and Sokka looked at her. He glanced back at the scene of carnage in the distance and resumed his movement. Even if the competition wasn't fair, he had a job to do.
—-
After breaking inside the third airship, Toph tried to restrict Viteq's movement by encasing him in metal. He was immobilized for a few seconds, which was enough for Toph to send attacks at him. She punted him about the inside of the air vessel, until he worked out a trick to escape her metal prison.
He would quickly turn some of the water or ice around him into steam and make it explode in flames, creating enough of a pressure difference to blow the metal apart.
After that, they again were at a stalemate, where they would hit each other with massive blows, gaining no real advantage. The only consequences of their attack was the massive damage their current location sustained.
They blew apart another airship and Toph decided to employ her lavabending. She found some coals and mud and heated it up to shoot a stream of lava at Viteq. He retaliated by shooting a stream of supercooled water and mist.
This time they demolished a few airships by making them crumple due to overheating and overcooling quickly. The metal fell apart and sheared after coming in contact with flowing lava and frosty water. It became brittle and under impacts from the two fighting figures shards of frozen metal flew around and if anyone were dumb enough to move closer, they would have been ripped apart by the masses of metal shrapnel.
They must have gone through at least a dozen ships, before Viteq felt his power wane. It was a gradual loss, but his flames grew weaker and he lost control of more and more water. He felt the power leave him and fatigue took its place.
After dodging another attack from Toph, he didn't fight back, instead moving back and jumping towards the ground. She was ready to fight, but grew confused by the lack of assault.
The earthbender stood at the top of the latest target of their fight, it having sustained plenty of damage, but still floating in the air.
Viteq softly landed on the ground and sat down to rest. He saw that Toph was nowhere to be seen and looked up. Using his bending on the water that landed near him, he amplified his voice and shouted upwards.
"I am here Toph, jump! I will catch you!"
The girl heard his voice and looked around. She found the edge and came closer, peering over it. Of course she couldn't see anything. She looked behind her and sighed. Reaching with her power, she made sure to damage the ship enough for it to stop flying and stepped over the edge.
Viteq saw her fall and was ready with water under his control. He jumped up to meet her not far from the ground, his fading power still allowing to bend more water than normal, which was enough to catch the girl and gently place her down. He set her down on the ground and sat nearby.
For a long minute, Toph just stared at him with a scowl. She was unsure of what to say. Her anger that has been boiling on the inside for all this time was released during their brawl. They destroyed enough military equipment to stall a sizable offensive force and their quest could be considered concluded, although a few airfaring ships still floated onward. One of them began to turn towards the closest one to ram into it. Sokka must have been hard at work.
She eventually came closer to the sitting man and grabbed his face. He smiled up at her. But he didn't expect her to headbutt his nose, making him reel back and grab for his face.
"Toph!"
"That's for making everyone believe you died!"
Viteq looked at the small girl through his bloody fingers. She was still the same tough earthbender he knew, but now there was vulnerability in her pose, something he rarely witnesses as she never wanted to show it to anyone.
He sighed and fixed his nose with healing. Shifting his nose into a proper position, he applied some of his personal water magic and removed hands from his face. With a gesture, he made blood jump off his face and hands and explode into mist.
Toph reached out for him again, and he warily let her grab his face again. He braced himself for another headbutt, but his friend didn't attack this time. She moved her face to be near his and placed a small kiss at the edge of his lips.
"And that's for coming back from the other side."
She hugged his head to herself and simply held him in her grasp. Viteq moved his hands behind himself and leaned back slightly, making Toph follow him and end up leaning against him with his head held by her..
They spent a little while like that, Viteq watching the remaining airships get destroyed by their friends, and Toph just played with his hair, happy to be reunited with her friend.
After a minute Viteq shifted slightly to look at the young girl.
"You know that kiss sucked right?"
The girl stopped her movements and growled at her prey.
"What do you expect? I am twelve! That was my first kiss!"
Viteq smirked at her and raised his arm to hug her.
"I'm kidding. It was adorable for a girl your age. But that's as far as I am willing to go now. You are still tiny, you have a lot of growing to do."
She grumbled at his words, but didn't deny them. He shifted his hands, making Toph turn and sit down in his lap. She shifted her body and leaned back into his embrace. The earthbender closed her eyes and stayed quiet.
After a short while she spoke.
"It's weird."
"What?"
"There is no heartbeat."
"Ah, yeah. Struck by lightning, mostly burned out. I have to use my bending to keep myself going now."
The girl stayed silent for a few moments.
"I feel it. The blood flowing through you. It's weird."
Viteq shrugged.
"I adjusted in the only way I could. Sleeping is a bit of a problem."
Toph opened her eyes.
"I hope you punished the Princess for what she did."
"Oh, I did."
The earthbender frowned at the smugness coming off of the waterbender.
"Not like that, you idiot! I meant you hurt her for what she did to you. How did you even end up with her? You said she was crazy."
"Turns out she was the right kind of crazy for me. And I did hurt her, only, she liked that. That's why we clicked so well. She is a haughty princess of the whole Nation, but under my power she is just a girl who wants to be loved. She was so starved for affection, she chased after the only genuine article for years until she got me. She carried the expectation of her father and the whole nation, while suffocating under it. When I used my blood control on her, she gleefully surrendered to me, glad to not be in control for once. She shines when she surrenders and it's intoxicating for us both."
"You are talking as if she wasn't the one who almost killed you and destroyed your heart. It's insane how you can treat her well after what she did."
"I was angry at her for a while, but it really confused me when she exposed herself to my power and repeatedly tried to rile me up. She is the first who doesn't turn away from that particular ability."
Toph was unhappy to hear that.
"I am not scared of your power. I learned to do the same thing."
"But you don't crave it. She does. To have so much power over somebody and to have them freely surrender to you, that's something unique. She revels in my power and she is happy to let me take control. Others are either scared of my abilities or just endure them. She liked to be bullied. I think the two of you could become great friends."
The tiny girl snorted.
"As if. I will never forgive her for what happened. She is my enemy and will stay that way forever."
Viteq chuckled at her tone.
"You know, in your own way, the two of you are very much alike."
She shook her head, denying his words.
"Nuh-uh, no way, I am not some crazy girl. We are nothing alike."
"You really are. You simply reacted similarly to your own elements. You were both put under great pressure, stifled under familial obligation. You were a rock, enduring and waiting, and once you had a chance, you broke free and left for the parts unknown. She was a flame, she didn't fight against a bigger torrent but followed suit, she sacrificed everything she had, her familiar bonds and love, her time and energy all to fuel the passion of her father. In the end, she was drained. Once she found something more fulfilling than the approval of her father, she went after it with little regard to anything in the way. Kinda like how you went through all those ships, trying to punch my face. You were both suffocating under parental care, you simply coped with it in your own ways."
The girl shook her head in denial, but this time less energetically. They lapsed in silence for a minute, until Toph smirked and shifted to show VIteq her smile.
"Hey, you know what? I think it's time for payback."
"What do you mean?"
She reached out with her hand and slapped the hard ground, making it shift into a slope with a cleared track in front of them.
"I think we should go for a ride!"
She shifted her hand and a mass of earth pushed the two of them along the track, quickly accelerating them forward.
"Toph, you can't see where we are going!"
She felt happy as arms tightened around her frame, holding her closely. She exclaimed.
"That's the point!"