Burn My Dread FES
By Iain R. Lewis
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.
"Now it's over! Survival of the fittest, time for me to take over. I was lenient but now game's over. Mass Destruction's now our slogan."
- Mass Destruction - Reincarnation-
Lotus Juice
Chapter 14: Super Ego
Azula Houou was not having a good day.
She didn't know exactly how she found herself grabbing onto the back of a rocket pack wearing, heavily armed flying badgermole, and she really didn't have time to try and reminisce. Especially since it was doing a barrel roll.
"Hey! What's taking you guys so long!"
Add to it an increasingly irate Toph Bei Fong screaming at them, and Azula could be forgiven for wanting to just crawl under the sheets until today became a distant bad memory. She heard a click and a whirring noise from the guns on the wings. The belts of ammunition feed into them as the creature, named uncreatively Pao Pao, swooped down on the rest of her group.
"Run for cover!" Sokka shouted
"Do you need some help, Azula?" Katara shouts from behind a shimmering wall of water. The bullets enter the large bubble, floating harmlessly, "Because all you have to do is ask."
All she has to do is ask? Hardly. Azula rolled her eyes and turned back to turning off the rocket pack. "I have it under control," she shouted. Her fingers worked overtime. She didn't have long until it decided to loop de loop or do another barrel roll.
"She has it under control," Katara repeated, looking at Zuko with a shrug. "How did your sister end up this way."
"I blame my father,' he spat out.
"Oh, right. Sorry," she answered, wincing.
"Why did she even think this was a good idea?" Sokka wondered aloud. All eyes turned to him. "What? I didn't think she'd do it!"
"Seriously, guys!"
"Toph seems to be getting impatient," Yue noted.
"Let her."
"That's awfully cold of you, Katara." Yue looked over at the door and back at Pao Pao the Flying Badgermole, "Still, he doesn't seem to want us to go any further."
"Because he'd get stuck again!" Sokka pointed out.
Sokka's comments not-withstanding, it was getting a bit tedious watching Azula flail about, holding on for dear life on a whirlwind trip about the tall rocky cavern. "Maybe we should just help her, Katara," Yue urged, "I mean, it's been far too long."
"She said she has it under control," Katara retorted.
"You know you can be kind of scary when you're angry at someone," Zuko commented. Apparently his words came out unbidden, since he clamped a hand over his mouth as he finished.
"Oh, can I?" Katara turned on Zuko, her expression clearly not amused.
Azula passed by, Pao Pao flying in low alongside the walkway, his wing going clicker-clack on the steel railing. "Azula!" Yue called out.
"It's under control!"
"She keeps saying those words," Yue quietly commented, "I do not think they mean what she thinks they mean."
"You can just ask me to help, Azula, I'd be more than happy to!" Katara shouted back. The response came a moment later as Pao Pao looped around the walkway.
"I'm -- I'm fine!"
"You look kind of green," Sokka pointed out. "Maybe if you ask Katara nice, she'll shoot out some magic water, freeze up the badgermole, and we'd be on our way."
Pride forbid her from asking. Pride also forbid her from losing all contents of her stomach in front of everyone. She chose the path of least shame, "Katara, would you please stop this thing for me?"
"Certainly, Azula," Katara answered, blithely. She moved over to the other end of the walkway, and drew water from a bottle. Seeing her move towards the exit, Pao Pao veered and flew in high over the walkway.
She spun around, a large wave of water crashing against the badgermole, and by extension, Azula. Soaked and irate, the badgermole turned suddenly upwards and way, exposing its back to Katara, who threw up a lance of ice.
The construct crashed against the harness. The rocket sputtered and coughed, giving up the ghost with a tiny black puff of smoke. Gravity set in immediately, and momentum sent the badgermole crashing towards the entrance.
"Azula, jump!" Yue cried.
She didn't need the suggestion. She leapt, perfectly flipping in the air and landing precariously on the edge of the walkway. She felt her stomach lurch and she stopped, perfectly still. "You really don't look so good," Sokka pointed out, "But don't let this bad experience put you off flying. Statistically, it's still the safest way to travel."
"Will keep that in mind, thank you, Sokka," she answered from behind clenched teeth. Pao Pao wiggled and kicked his large legs helplessly before slumping down. "It's not a very smart creature," she commented before turning to the entrance.
"She's just ahead." Yue's voice sounded nervous, "I think we'd better hurry. I can sense that other Toph, and it's getting stronger by the second."
"Hold on, Toph!" Katara shouted ahead, "We're coming!"
The steam from the pipes left the cavern they traveled through steamy and uncomfortably warm. The noise of running water got even louder as they moved down a low slope that stopped right before a long drop.
Water from a pipe rained down on a long, empty resevoir below. The only water in it came up to a person's ankles, and the only person standing in the resevoir was busy stomping and splashing in the small wading pool.
"No, no, no! No fair! You're trying to cheat."
"Ow ow ow," the only other person was Toph, suspended by a small length of rope just above the ground. The water from the pipe above crashed down on her head intermittently, as she swung back and forth. "Hey, stop that!"
"No!" the other Toph said angrily. "Not until you apologize for trying to trick me!"
"Why should I?"
"Good to see the Tophs sitting down and talking," Sokka muttered quietly. "So, what's the plan? We sweep in there, rescue Toph, and go home happy?"
"If only it were that easy," Katara answered. "You haven't dealt with one of those things yet."
"What's so hard? Just don't say something like 'No! You're not me!' and there's no problem, right?" Sokka smirked. He looked far too pleased with his leap of logic. Katara slowly shook her head. He couldn't be farther from the truth.
"Do you know how embarrassing it is to have yourself exposed like that?" she retorted, crossing her arms as if to protect herself.
"My other side said things that I couldn't even accept myself," Yue added. "I know the other Toph is going to put Toph through the same ordeal."
Azula rolled her eyes. Could they be any bigger bleeding hearts. "So what? We defeat her like we defeated the others."
"Well, yeah, but," Sokka looked nervous as he spoke, "Last time wasn't exactly a walk in the park. You know, if it's just the same with you, Azula, I'd rather avoid whatever weird monster thing Toph will turn into."
Yue asked the obvious question, "So, what do we do?"
"We have to rescue Toph," Katara answered.
"So we have to stop the other Toph from going on some creepy rant about inner feelings and repression and how Toph's other side is her and she is her other side and they're one big happy family and a knick-knack paddy wack and all the rest, right?" Sokka added, "Okay, I got an idea."
"I've got a better idea," Azula retorted. "We get Toph to accept her other side."
"That's not going to be easy," Yue warned.
"I know, but it's either that or the monster," Azula answered, "I don't see any other way to rescue Toph."
"Of course," Yue looked down at the resevoir below. "Let's climb down very carefully, everyone."
Azula, ignoring Yue, leapt from the cavern down to the resevoir below, landing with a splash. The other Toph turned around, her strange, empty eyes staring vacantly through her. "Oh, look, Tophy, our friends have arrived to save you."
"I got it handled," Toph protested.
The other Toph smiled, "Oh Toph, we're so tough and strong and we don't need anybody except ourselves, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Toph, she's trying to provoke you," Azula shouted back, "She's trying to get you riled up and angry."
"Azula's really smart, but she's not very bright. Maybe I am, but maybe I'm not. We don't do anything other people want us to do, after all. Daddy and Mommy wanted us to be a perfect little daughter, fragile as a porcelain doll. Isn't that sad?"
"Toph," Azula warned, "Whatever feelings you have about what your parents did, you never let that stop you before. Do not let it stop you now."
"Azula's right!" Toph spat at the other Toph, "So tough luck, sister!"
The other Toph didn't seem perturbed at all. Her strange eyes softened, listening to the splashes of the others running towards them, "You're right. You never became what they wanted to be. That's why you became everything they didn't want you to be, right?"
"What are you? Crazy? I'm me!"
"They wanted you to be feminine, so you became a tomboy. They wanted you to be delicate, so you became tough. They wanted you to be helpless, so you pushed everyone else away and never accepted anyone's help."
"That's not true!" she shouted in response. Azula tensed.
"Toph, remember who this is. You made her, don't let her get the better of you."
"That's right," Toph said, "Okay, so if you're me, you know what you just said doesn't make any sense."
"You never wanted to grow up," the other Toph continued, "You just continued to throw a tantrum until things went your way. The whole independent and powerful Toph Bei Fong is just an illusion to protect a small child playing make-believe."
"Shut up!" Toph shook.
"Toph, don't --" Katara started, only to be cut off by the other Toph laughing in a mad fit.
"You're blind, and tiny, and helpless. Your bending was the only thing that made you powerful, and now that you've lost that, you just push everyone away, yelling at them all the time. You gave up on everyone. You saw Katara and what she was dealing with," she smiled, a wide, dark smile, "You knew and you just gave up on her. Just like you gave up on yourself."
The smile, an out of place smile on Toph's face, so full of malice and vindictiveness, grew even larger as the tremors grew, "Just like you gave up on him."
"Shut up! I never gave up on Aang!"
"Toph! Stop!" Sokka shouted. His eyes widen.
"He needed you! You let him down! When he needed you to win, you lost! You lost miserably!".
"That's not true! I didn't -- I don't lose!"
"Get ready," Zuko frowned.
"Toph! Don't --"
"You're wrong! I don't lose!" But even those words lose their strength. Toph's head hung low, she repeats weakly before drifting away. The other Toph laughed, triumphantly.
"Poor baby, you can't win!" her eyes shimmer, and the shadows begin to pour from the pipeways, "I'm free of that loser at long, long last!"
She grabbed onto the black shadows, letting them wind around her arm and cover her body. The shadows ran wild, her body growing and shifting, wider and taller until the shadows stretched thin to conceal it.
Then, cutting throw the shadows, a large badgermole claw stamped down into the water. "What the --"
Sokka's statement fell off into nothing as the full form of Toph's other self emerged. Like two badgermoles drawing a chariot, the metal frame was shaped ornately in the form of those creatures, lashing and snarling as though they were alive.
If they were paying attention, they'd see the other Toph bound into the metal frame of the device, tiny and almost inconsequential, her torso buried deep within it almost seamlessly, her body looking more like metal, like a robot toy. Their eyes, however, were drawn to the body's armaments.
"This is not good."
A cannon, several automatic weapons grafted to the side, a large assortment of rocket launches, another cannon on the side, what seemed to be a flamethrower, every inch of the metal shell was covered in some new and deadly looking firearm.
"I'm the true self!" the other Toph proclaimed, "I won't hold back and I'll never give up, ever again!"
That whirring sound, and the loud echo it left behind, sounded far too familiar. Two grafted chain guns spun around. "We need cover, now!" Sokka shouted.
"On it!" Katara slid her foot across the ground and raised her hands up in a wide, sweeping arc. Following her lead, the water bended and shifted into a long shield in front of them. She tightened her hands into fists, and the water froze solid.
The ammunition -- not really bullets from the sound of it -- struck the ice with a loud crack, almost like the breaking of bones, repeatedly at such speed that the noise sent a shiver down Azula's spine.
The fire carved through the ice, each hit chipping a little more of the barrier away, little by little making its way through. "We need to get out of the line of fire!"
"And leave ourselves open?" Zuko grunted, "Sokka, this is stupid."
"We hold our ground and that wall's going down," Sokka said, "The only thing we can do is move."
Azula looked at the barrier, and saw some of the ice propelled inwards. Katara, focused and quick, mended the whole as quick as it came, but not fast enough to stop a shot from landing with a splash in their midst.
"See?" Sokka crossed his arms.
"We'll get mown down if we move!"
"Boys, you're both right," Azula said, touching the wall, "Katara, let's move this wall."
"Move it?" Katara blinked, stunned, "But where?"
Azula pointed forward, "I'll make a smaller barrier for us to duck behind while you do so," hesitation only briefly showing, "This way, we'll have time to rebuild."
"All right, Azula," Katara said, hazarding a smile, "Let's see if this works."
"Of course it will. Have I let us down yet?"
She kept her mouth a thin, unreadable line, her mouth going dry. Dance with the water, that much was easy to understand, it was just a matter of how much of it she could dance with, and how long before she screwed up and splashed herself.
"What's wrong?" Katara said, bracing herself, "Azula? What is it?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." There was no time for doubt. What was it Toph said, that one martial artist she quoted all the time? Don't think -- feel.
Grace in movement was not something she ever doubted. Dance, sports, music, everything she ever applied herself to she succeeded in, without fail. This would not be different. She refused to let it be different. She slid her heel across the ground, lifted her arms in a wide arc and brought her hands up into fists.
And then she opened her eyes. It was a barrier at least. Not very tall, but more than enough to duck behind. "Get behind, first one to say something gets to take their chances out in the open," she snapped, ducking under the barrier.
"Won't hear me complaining," Sokka answered as he dove behind it.
Katara pushed her hands against the wall and pushed as hard as she could, feeling the wall lurch forward at the other Toph, the gunfire slowing it down, chipping away at it, and finally crushing it into two as it approached, pieces of ice falling and crashing around.
They could hear the other Toph coughing and trying to speak, but the mist thrown up by the ruined wall made it impossible to see. "No fair," she coughed, "Targeting systems! I need my targeting systems!"
"Uh oh."
"She's preparing a big attack," Yue said, "If I may make a suggestion? Now would be a good time to try and stop her."
"Duly noted," Azula said, climbing over her cover. "We need to get Toph down from there and into safety! Sokka, get on that."
"Right!"
"Katara, with me. Zuko, well," she paused, watching Zuko run off in front, "You go and do whatever you're doing then."
"Zuko, be careful!" Yue called. Her warning seemed to go unheeded. He leapt up, bringing his foot down atop one of the badgermole constructs, arcing his sword to strike at some of the armaments along the front of the tank.
The badgermole roared, coming to life and swiping him down. He rolled, thrown into the water, his Dao blades thrown around as he landed. Sokka just shook his head, "That guy will never learn just to leave badgermoles alone."
"Get going," Azula snapped.
"Yes'm."
"Acquiring target! Come on, give me a firing solution!"
"We don't have long," Azula said, "Let's move, Katara."
The two girls swung their arms wide, bringing water up into the air. Katara wrapped it around herself before launching it, shifting mid-throw into a solid stance, letting the upward arc descend sharply as they turned into an icicle rain down on top of the vehicle.
Azula struck with a simpler movement, hitting the legs of the badgermoles that carried it with a surprisingly forceful whip of water. The chariot buckled under the force, but the other Toph still screeched triumphant. "Fire!"
The main cannon drew back, cartoonishly throwing the vehicle back several feet while throwing a large black shell into the wall. Rubble collapsed out of the hole, and more water poured in, blackness clawing its way out of the hole and across the wall. "Fire the Big Missile!"
Katara kneeled down besides Zuko, offering him her hand. He took it grudgingly. "That sounds bad. Can you stand up, Zuko?"
"Sokka!" How are you doing on that Toph rescue thing?"
"It's coming, Azula," Sokka said, clinging tightly to a precarious big of cliff "Thanks for telling that evil Toph thing with the million guns about it, though." He tried to cut the chain, but it wasn't budging. "Please don't fire on me, please don't fire on me, I'll give you cookies if you don't fire on me."
"That won't help you. Big Missile armed! Commencing countdown!"
"Oh great, she's got a countdown," Sokka said, "Just what I needed, added incentive. Just once, I'd like to be given the easy job, y'know? It's always, Sokka, go do research at the library or Sokka, go fight that impossibly powerful monster. Why can't it be, Sokka, eat this delicious cake we made?"
"Five!"
He hacked at the chain as hard as he could. "Come on, chain, give me a break!" He didn't even have time to congratulate himself on the pun. All he could do is keep predicting, early, the next number on the countdown.
"Four!"
There was a click as the sword finally hit hard enough to break one of the links. "I got you, Toph!" he said as he threw her over his shoulder and slowly climbed down the slippery cliffside. Not that he hadn't been in worse situations, but the countdown was what made it just that extra bit special.
"Three!"
With a snapping and snarling badgermole -- whatever it was -- nipping at his heels as he dropped the last few steps, he could feel the heat from the missile as it started to fire. "Come on, almost there!" he said, sprinting as fast as his feet could carry him through the ankle-high water.
"Two one!"
"Oh that's just not fair!" he cried as he rushed towards the others. "Wait for me!"
"Missile is away! Ming Ming mk 2, do we have confirmation of hit?" the front-end badgermole roared as the missile descended upon its target, waiting for a chance to bark out an affirmative. The ones underneath the target however were more busy running.
"Katara, get up something, now!" Azula barked.
"Right, I'll just do that."
"Don't talk back, just figure something out!" She scowled back at Azula, but it didn't matter. Azula already turned her attention back to the rampaging Toph. So many questions filtered through her brain, the only important one being 'What would Toph Do Now?' Their Toph was never exactly one to pull punches, she expected this wild and unfettered Toph to be no different.
There was a loud noise as the missile exploded, sending out a ring of dark smoke as it tore into the ground, throwing debris everywhere that they could see. Katara's slipshod costruction barely held against the largest piece of debris, and when another slammed against the wall, it shattered, raining down rapidly melting splinters of ice down on them.
"We missed? Deploy the Teddy Bombers!"
A still came over everyone, as they tried to filter the words through their heads. Combined they suddenly sounded alien in their head, like she was speaking another language. Unfortunately, their silent respite was broken by the noise of the chain guns spinning back to life. "Rocks, cover, yeah, that'll work!" Sokka said.
The Bending Club ducked behind the rubble just in time, the sound of whatever the other Toph was shooting at them ricocheting off echoed loudly in the chamber.
"She's firing like crazy!" Katara shouted over the din.
"Suppressing fire," Zuko grunted back, in turn, "She wants us right here."
Why did Toph have to be so clever, Azula wondered. Still, she couldn't figure why she'd want to keep them pinned down behind the strongest cover they had. She looked to their side. The impact crater was filling with water, but more than that, a deep blackness from beneath the water stirred and shifted until a small, black, bear-like shape emerged. She couldn't figure out what kind of bear it was meant to be, but she could see the smile on its blank face, a large white line.
More of them stood up from beneath the water, climbing up the impact crater and cooing cutely. One spun around on its foot and landed on its bottom, rubbing the sore spot briefly before it made a noise sounding almost like, "Uh oh," as it expanded and exploded.
"Teddy Bombers," Azula said, "Coming in on our flank."
"Toph, you half-mad have insane crazy person!" Sokka shouted. "What do we do?"
"That explains the suppressing fire," Azula murmured. "They're coming in fast! Strike hard and keep your distance!"
"Boomerang! I choose you!"
Azula rolled her eyes, but was too busy lobbing small bits of ice at the approaching teddy bomber line. The slightest bump seemed enough to set them off. Explosions rocked the line, throwing some back and causing chain reactions, tearing a line of craters into the resevoir's floor.
Katara and Sokka's attacks slowed down the line, but Zuko, back to the debris, looked on helplessly as one lone bomber broke through, slamming against the debris. It started to expand. "Yue!" the girl stood frozen watching the thing explode.
Zuko moved without thinking, throwing the thing clear just as it exploded, knocking him clear and covering Yue from the blast. "Zuko, thank you, I didn't think --"
"Yeah, you didn't," he grunted angrily. "Be more careful!"
She nodded meekly as they positioned themselves behind the largest in tact piece of rubble. Sokka, while sheathing his boomerang, turned to look at Zuko sidelong, "You didn't have to be a jerk about it."
"I"m not being a jerk."
"Zuko, you're a jerk, you can't help it sometimes, I know, but you were definitely a jerk there," he continued.
He was about to retort, or maybe apologize judging by the scrunching of his brows, but Azula cut him off before he could speak, "As enlightening as this conversation is, boys, we have a lot to deal with."
"Do we have a lock, Pao Pao mk. 2? Fire the rocket propelled grenades!"
"Like that," Azula added. "Yue, make sure Toph stays safe."
"Of course! But, what will you do?"
That was a very good question.
The chariot buckled under the force as a series of grenades were launched Behind the rubble, Azula could feel them hit, and the whole floor shook dangerously. "We need to do something. She's got us right where she wants us!" Katara shouted.
"I know that!" She couldn't help snapping, but no ideas were forthcoming at this point. Move out into line of fire, get mown down by artillery fire. Stay under cover and the explosions would eventually hit home and at the very least leave them exposed and open.
Neither of those options seemed to end well. She knew, rationally, that there must be a third option that she was overlooking, but the noise of rockets and the shuddering of the nearby explosions made things even harder to concentrate.
She stood in the middle of a battlefield. Toph's Other Self was equipped with a weapon of mass destruction and time to find Option C seemed to be quickly running out. The explosion hit close to home this time, shooting up debris and splashing heated water up at them.
"I can't think of anything," Zuko admitted. "Sokka?"
"Every weapon's got a weakness," Sokka said, "But I don't think I know where this one's is."
Every weapon has a weakness, this was indisputable. There however was a key flaw with Sokka's reasoning and with a rush through her head, causing the back of her neck to tingle painfully, an image came hazy into her brain.
The trigger of her gun, hesitation, and her target -- who was her target, she couldn't tell -- but if she hadn't hesitated he would have been no more. Instead, the slightest adjustment, a different figure falling.
All weapons have a weakness. But all weapons share that one weakness.
"I know where it is," Azula answered.
"Oh? You've got something?"
Azula drew her gun. "Yes. I've got something."
"Oh, sure, I nearly get it and you go and steal my thunder."
"Tell you what, I'll let you watch and figure it out," She grinned, actually rather enjoying this. She just had no idea how to exploit this weakness, though. She looked at Sokka, briefly, and blinked. Of course, it was that simple. "Sokka, I need you to be Sokka in her general direction."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Sarcastic?" Katara suggested.
"That, my dear sister, is my sparkling wit and I would thank you not to demean it."
"Yes, do that," Azula said, "Just do it with Toph instead of Katara."
"I still don't get you, Azula."
"Just do it!" she snapped.
"Fine, whatever," Sokka shrugged. He peeked around the corner of a piece of masonry that stood broken in the resevoir pool, and said, "Hey, Toph. Do you mind shooting us a little less?"
There was a tense silence. Azula hesitated. She couldn't be wrong, could she? No, she needed to get such doubts out of her head.
Still, that silence was very convincing.
Sokka shrugged, "So, what now --"
"Why should I?"
Sokka paused and looked at Azula. She took a second to recompose herself, she knew that was coming but why did the other Toph take so long to respond. She gestured to Sokka to keep talking.
"Because of my sparkling personality?"
"You're funny!" the response came much quicker, but was accentuated by some grunting, "I'll come for you last!"
"Gee, thanks," Sokka said, without thinking.
"What was that?" Toph's response was immediate, but the sound of her fumbling with something and a large crash seemed a bit disconcerting. "Oh, good, the Omega Disintegrator Bomb didn't detonate! Look what you made me do, you big meanie. Remember when I said I'd come for you last? I lied!"
"That's a surprise," Sokka muttered. Azula glowered at him, and told him to speak louder, "Ahem, I mean, that! Is! A! Suprise! Loud enough for you, Azula?"
She rolled her eyes and peeked around the rubble.
A very large bomb sat very precariously on the floor next to Toph, who was currently fumbling as best as one connected at the torso to a bizarre metallic badgermole tank could to grab it. She stuck out her tongue in Sokka's general direction. "Yeah, so?"
"I was being sarcastic. I mean, witty! Yeah, witty!"
"You're so weird!"
Her attention was fully on Sokka, just childishly going back and forth. Azula grinned. She signalled to the others. Now was their chance.
They moved quickly and quietly across the far edge of the resevoir. "Just you wait til I get this thing armed! Then you'll be sorry!"
"Look, I know that bomb is important to you, but I'd really appreciate you not killing me with it, okay?"
"I'm sorry?" the other Toph sounded confused. Sokka's personality had its uses. Confounding any normal person was among them, and, in this instance, bizarre spiritual manifestations of repressed emotions seemed to share a lot with any given normal person.
Ming Ming mk. 2, rooting around in the water tiredly, looked up as she heard them approaching, and it growled menacingly. Azula paused. That wasn't good. "What's the matter, Ming Ming mk. 2? Do you hear something?"
The other Toph swiveled the main gun over towards them, moving just ahead of them. "Well, fire away!"
They had to make a break for it! Azula turned back and sprinted, and the others followed her lead shortly after. The cannon nearly threw the whole body of the machine hurtling to the side, and its shadowy shell collided with the wall and spread in a massive explosion, raining down water and rubble all around.
"Did we get 'em?"
Ming Ming mk.2, hyper alert, carried the structure like a chariot, slowly closer. "Targetting device online! We'll track them down this time for sure!"
"Now or never, Azula," Zuko said, drawing his weapons.
Katara steeled herself as well. So much for getting the drop on her. "All right. Now it is."
Zuko charged first, ducking to the side as the mechanical Ming Ming sliced in his direction and leaping off its head and bringing the blades down at the front of the vehicle. They barely scratched the surface, and he leapt back to safety as Ming Ming sliced again with her claws.
"Oh, did you get a hit in?" the other Toph laughed. "The Chariot is equipped with ultra-hardened geotanium alloy plating. Nothing can break that!"
"So like a kid," Zuko grunted.
"Let me try!" Katara said, raising her hands up to strike, fluid and fast. Water lobbed through the air after her then wheeled back as she stepped back. She spun it around her once more before striking straight into the main cannon, and with a simple movement, freezing it inside.
"What did you do to my gun!" she cried. "It's not supposed to break! I won't let it! Fire! Fire now!"
The main cannon fired, but not in the direction the other Toph expected. A large explosion tore through the back of the vehicle, pieces of the plating, unbroken true to her word, falling to the ground.
"Oh no! My precious Chariot!" the other Toph said, sobbing, "You'll pay for that! I'll make you pay! Targets locked! Fire the mega-laser!"
"What's a mega-laser?" Katara asked. Azula slapped her head. Why would you ask something like that? It was a laser, persumably it was a very big laser. One of the assortment of moving parts on the Chariot moved, in quick stuttering motions.
The laser itself emerged from its back and positioned itself over the other Toph's shoulder and kept extending and expanding.
"Firing mega-laser!"
Azula was blown to the ground by the concussive force the laser fired. Real lasers didn't quite work like that, but sometimes she forgot that this other Toph had the mentality of a small child playing with big, and notably dangerous, toys.
"Ow," Katara moaned. "What was that?"
"The mega-laser," Zuko muttered, getting to his feet, "Hits like a truck."
"Oh that made me feel all better. Let's get back to playing!"
The spinning of those guns -- not now! Azula drew herself to her feet quickly, "Zuko, we need to --"
"Yeah, I know," Zuko said. "If we could just stop that thing from reloading --"
"Too late for that now. Move!" Azula said.
Katara lifted her arms, preparing to shape the water into an icy barrier when the shots fired. They tore through the still viscous, freezing water and struck her with enough force to knock her to the ground.
With a pained shout she fell to the ground and the bullets sailed just overhead, as she stared up at them. "That, that really hurt."
"Katara," Zuko shouted, "We need to --" he didn't get far before he was gunned down as well, falling face first into the water. He rolled slowly to his side. "Can't move."
Azula glowered. This was very, very bad. She leapt up into the air as high as she could, and hoped she landed somewhere safe. "Deploy the anti-air rockets!"
Azula's face fell. "Oh, of course."
Sokka just watched helplessly from behind cover. "They need me out there, Yue."
Yue nodded slowly, "Be careful, Sokka. She's powerful and she's just gaining more and more power. Toph must have been holding so much back. She's very strong, herself, isn't she?"
Sokka nodded in agreement. "But what's that weakness Azula was going on about."
Yue blinked, "You haven't figured it out yet, Sokka? Shame on you!"
"Oh, and you have?"
She giggled, "Of course. There's one weakness all weapons share. It's--"
"No, don't tell me," he said, "I think I got it."
"I'd love to play guessing games at a later time, Sokka, but right now I don't think --"
"Every weapon's weakness is they've got to be used by somebody!" he paused, "No wait, that's not right. " She sighed. "What?"
"I think you should hurry and help everyone!"
"Right! On it!" he took off, forgetting completely what they'd been talking about, at least, outwardly. Yue smiled weakly. She cared for Sokka dearly, but he did tend to go on, sometimes.
"Go get 'em, Sokka!"
Sokka charged, and, to his surprise, didn't seem to be getting any attention whatsoever from Toph. The girl was too busy firing her rockets after Azula. For her part, looking tiny from where he stood, she seemed to be deflecting them for the most part.
"We winged her! Awesome!" the other Toph cackled.
Well, mostly. Sokka grimaced. He had to do something about those rockets and fast. The rocket launchers were mounted on her back and moved trailing after their target. Well, he'd get her attention that way for sure, with that big snapping badgermole thing on her rear.
That bomb she nearly exploded on top of herself was still on the ground, precariously positioned. Seemed she couldn't reach it with her stubby arms. At that moment, a crazy idea formed in his head. It was a typical Sokka plan, relying a little too much on chance for even his liking, but it was crazy enough that it just might work.
He snuck over to the bomb, and examined it. Round, black, cartoonish. Exactly what he imagined it to be. Pressure sensitive trigger, too, which just made this all the more tricky. There was a timer on the side. That was good. It wouldn't immediately kill them all, they'd have time to make final words. He always figured his last words would be confessing to his sister that he was the one who used her hairbrush -- it just made his wolftail look so poofy and nice -- but he really didn't want to do that today -- or ever for that matter.
Still, if he could just -- he found a button and pressed it and to his surprise, the numbers on the timer changed, going upward.
Oh, this could work. He grinned, devilishly, as he adjusted the timer and smacked the bomb's trigger with his sword.
The numbers started to climb down. He had to move fast. "Hey! Ugly!" Sokka said, leaping into action, "Leave her alone!"
"Oh, I forgot about you!" she said, turning. The rockets were still firing, that wasn't good, but her attention was now on him, which -- as he thought about it -- wasn't so good either. Spontaneous improvisation would have to see him through this. Unfortuantely, he knew full well just how long he had.
She began to spin up those guns of hers again, "Hey, look behind you, a three headed lemur!"
"Where?" she squealed, turning about face.
Sokka barely recovered from disbelief in time to act. He brought his sword down on the ammo belt, and left the spinning chain guns sputtering without bullets. "Ooh! You tricked me!" she huffed, "That's so mean!"
"Yeah, I know," Sokka said, "Sorry."
"That's not good enough!" Those rockets were still firing. He had to think of something. "I have to punish you now!"
"Oh, I know," Sokka said, eagerly, "You could totally fire those rockets at me!"
"This isn't some kind of trick, is it?"
"Would I be dumb enough to try and trick you twice in a row?" Sokka asked, smiling broadly.
She hesitated, "Y, yes?"
"Of course I wouldn't!" he said, "I respect your cunning too much to try that."
"You're making fun of me!"
"No!" Sokka said, smiling broadly, "Of course not!"
"Turn rockets to target the big meanie-doody head in front of me!" she ordered the Chariot, and the rockets, reluctantly, turned towards Sokka.
"This was not one of my better ideas," he said before breaking into a run.
The rockets collided with the ground, blowing him clear in the explosion. Surprisingly, it wasn't exactly what he imagined when he saw the movies -- it really hurt. His whole body ached, and he wouldn't be surprised if he broke something like that.
Still, everything seemed to be working. And he rose to his feet slowly as the rockets began to reload. Oh, and the bomb was still ticking down, wasn't it? Fantastic. He could barely stand and he was left counting on Azula to pull out some kind of miracle.
Any second now.
He clenched his eyes shut. He couldn't watch.
Someone fired a weapon, he didn't want to open his eyes and see who. "Please be Azula, please be Azula, please be Azula."
"Rockets are offline? But that was a puny little gun! No fair! You cheated!"
"Oh thank you, whoever's listening." He opened his eyes and watched the Chariot turn around to face Azula, who was holstering her gun. "Azula, we don't have much time." He pointed at the bomb as surreptitiously as he could.
She cocked her brow at him. "Looks like most of her weapons are offline."
"Okay, time to deploy the Ultracannons!"
"Or so I thought," Azula hesitated. "We need to get to cover."
"Yes! Thank you!" Sokka said. "I'll get Zuko, he's kind of heavy."
"Heard that." Zuko started to pull himself off the ground, "Hurry it up."
"I'd make some kind of comments but I'd rather not get blown up," Sokka said, pulling Zuko out of the water, "Man, oh man, what are you eating?"
Azula rolled her eyes and pulled Katara off the ground, "Come on."
As they ran, Sokka looked back, hobbling a bit, "Okay,two things, first. One, I think my leg's about to fall off."
"Noted," Azula answered.
"Two, I kind of set up the bomb. You know, for us."
"We're going to need more cover."
The Chariot threw off a layer of its plating, revealing beneath it even more armor plating, this time with large cannons mounted on every edge. They moved about to point forward, shifting the plates about.
"We'll bring this place down around their heads! Fire the Ultracannons!"
"Warning. Detonation in ten seconds."
"Wait, what?"
Ducking behind the debris, the shockwave from the cannons firing shot out like a sonic boom. "Katara, do you think you can bend?" Azula asked, quickly. Katara nodded, stretching out her arms. Whatever those shots did seemed to be wearing off, slowly, though she still moved stiffly. "We need to fortify this position!"
"On it!"
In sync, they built up the barrier, cold ice over hard stone masonry. Both shuddered as the first shots started to collide. Besides them they could see parts of the floor blown asunder by the blast. "Hold it!" Azula urged through clenched teeth.
"Five seconds until detonation. Four. Three."
"Almost --" Azula started until she turned her eyes upwards. Pieces of the ceiling were raining down. One landed in front of them, torn apart utterly by the constant onslaught. "Not now!"
"Two."
They would be crushed before the bomb ever went off. She wracked her brain for answers. Maybe if they pushed the barrier forward?:No, that would be too slow with that masonry stuck in it. The whole cavern was trembling as rocks and pieces of the waterway crashed into the ground.
"One."
"Move!" Zuko put his arm around her waist and threw her to the side just as a large jagged rock slammed into the ground where she was standing. "Azula, pay attention!"
"You idiot! The barrier!"
"I've got it, Azula, don't worry," Katara said. "Brace for impact, here it comes!"
"Detonating. Have a nice day."
"No fair! No! Fair!"
After the initial explosion, things seemed quiet except for the ringing in their ears. The cavern was cast into a bright light and fragments of stone disintegrated mid-air as they crashed into the radius of the blast.
As the ringing subsided, the other sounds became more pronounced. Cracking, rumbling and screaming as the blast consumed the Chariot and the other Toph inside it. The barrier shuddered violently, cracking and breaking under the force. Fragments rained down on them, and then, just as soon as it started, the blast subsided.
"Is it over?" Sokka wondered, limping over to the corner of the rubble, and peering over. "Is Toph okay?"
"Yeah, I am." The voice was groggy, but the inflection was sharp.
The others turned to Yue and Toph. Yue, dazed and a little shaken, nodded slowly, "Sorry, I, I guess I wasn't much help." Toph started to climb to her feet, and Yue reached to steady her. "Here, Toph --"
"I got it --" she paused, grimacing, "Okay, thanks, Yue."
"You're most welcome!"
Toph rubbed her shoulders, "Where's that other me? I got some words for her."
"Toph!" the group shouted in unison, all thinking the same thing.
"I'm not going to do that again, okay?" she said. "Just help me out here. Can't even get myself oriented here."
"Toph, asking for help?" Katara blinked, "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Yeah, well, weirder things have happened, right?"
"No, no, no! I lost!" the other Toph's voice echoed loudly, drowning into a sobbing fit and then into a loud whine as she bawled into the waters of the resevoir as they slowly drained away into the holes left by the falling rubble.
"Come on," Toph said, holding out a hand, "Let's go talk to her, I guess, and get this over with."
Katara took Toph's hand and led her across the ruined battlefield. She certainly left a path of destruction wherever she went, Azula grinned. "Hey," Sokka said, "The weakness every weapon has is the person using it, right?"
"Knew you'd figure it out eventually, Sokka," Azula said with a grin.
"Yeah, well," he said, "It worked out in the end. Thanks for pulling me out of the fire back there."
Azula frowned. He was thanking her? "If you hadn't thought of using her own weapons against her, we would have lost back there, Sokka. We should be thanking you."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Everyone should be thanking me now, you hear that, Zuko?"
He rolled his eyes.
"I wonder what Toph has to say to herself," Yue interrupted.
They leaned forward, trying to listen.
"Hey, get up," Toph said, pulling some of the debris aside with Katara's help, "So you lost, big whoop. We all lose, right?"
"But, but!"
Toph grimaced, "Okay, so I was wrong. You're me. I get it, okay? I've been trying too hard to be someone because everyone expects me to be something else. So, yeah, maybe I can overdo it sometimes and act way too tough, but you know what else? I'm tough because I'm tough. That's there too, isn't it?"
She stared upward at her, vaguely.
"So, pull yourself up." She grinned, "We're not going to give up just because we lost, right?"
"Toph," Katara ribbed her hard. The other Toph was looking blankly at Toph.
"I'm no good at this feelings thing, okay? You know that. But, if I keep giving up because things get tough, I'm never going to grow up. So, I guess what I mean is, I didn't want to accept that I was too stubborn to grow up."
The other Toph nodded as the shadows subsided around them, taking the childish Toph into them like the receding of the water. Her feet touching the cold stone, she shifted it around, and her eyes seemed to flash.
"I'm proud of you, Toph," Katara said, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey check this out!" Toph slammed her feet into the ground and shot a long fissure across the ground until it tore into the cavern wall. The small quake blew apart an opening hidden in the wall, rubble rolling down the slope inside. "Oh yeah! I'm back!"
Katara rolled her eyes. Some things would just never change.
"Also, I know you're listening, so you guys may as well come out."
"Oh, uh," Sokka said, appearing from behind a large stalactite that punctured the ground straight on. "Congratulations, Toph, you can bend again."
Azula coughed, "We're merely here for -- uh -- moral support?"
Toph crossed her arms, "Yeah, thanks, guys. Real great support. Come on, the exit's down there, right, Yue?"
"I'm so proud of you, Toph!" Yue was brimming with pride. Toph paused.
"Yue! Focus!"
"Oh!" she snapped back to reality, "What was that? The exit? Yes, I think that's the way out. Good work, Toph!"
"Naturally," Toph said, dusting off her hands, "Let's go, team! I'm leading!"
"Well, at least she's moving on from that without a hitch," Sokka said.
"But doesn't that whole ordeal normally leave people incredibly exhausted?" Zuko wondered aloud as Toph fell back first onto the ground.
"Okay, maybe I'll lead after a quick nap," she amended.
"Azula, why don't you help Toph back to the door?" Sokka suggested. Azula gave him a humorless expression. "Hey, you made me do it the whole time we were in here!"
"Fine," she said, "Come on, Toph."
She was snoring.
"I guess she can really sleep anywhere," Katara said with a smirk.
"I'm not carrying her if she's asleep," Azula muttered.
"All right! I'll do it!" Sokka snapped. He lifted up Toph, bridal style, all the while glowering at Azula, "This is the thanks I get for saving us?"
"Well, I think you did wonderfully, Sokka," Yue offered.
"Let's get moving," Azula said. As they started, a low rumble filled the room. Azula looked up, and frowned. "Before the ceiling collapses on us."
The hidden tunnel went deep into the earth, deeper and deeper still as they walked into the blackness. "Wish we had a light," Katara said, "I don't know if we're still going the right way."
"There's only one path," Azula said.
"That we know of," Katara retorted. "Who knows where this leads. We could just end up in another trap."
"Well, we'll have to be careful this time," Azula commented.
"Hey! There's a light ahead," Sokka said, excitedly.
"Perfect!" Katara cheered, running on ahead. Azula squinted at the light, which grow even brighter as they approached until it blinded them justa s much as the darkness. Where were they? She couldn't feel any walls, it all seemed like vast, empty whiteness about. She couldn't even see the others.
"Guys?"
"Sokka?" Zuko's voice was nearby, but Sokka's was further back.
"Where are we?"
"How would we know?" Azula snapped.
"Well, you seem to know a lot, so I just thought," Sokka said, trailing off. Azula grimaced.
"I have no idea, Sokka." She paused, "I sense something nearby."
Azula stared forward, searching, and her eyes caught something, a shadow moving in the light, its blue eyes staring straight at them. "Aang?" Azula startled said, and then, with more confidence, shouted after, "Aang!"
He turned and started into the light, "Wait! Aang!" Katara called out to him, breaking into a run. Azula wouldn't let her get there first. She started to run after.
She pushed on, and her eyes slowly began to adjust, started to see things. There was noise like static on a television, some chairs were arranged around a table, there was a sofa and a desk and a computer and --
She knew this place.
"We're home."
Maybe today was finally looking up.
To be continued.
Author's Note: Again sorry for the delay but wow did this go on. Maybe the pre-chapter quotes now have some context? Also, a lot of Toph's arc in BMDC used the the song, the quotes are a remix of. Neat factoid.