Yes, I'm updating sooner than anticipated (don't get used to it, unfortunately), and we finally have some action! Which turned out to be a little darker than I thought . . . It's a bit of a changeup for this series, so please let me know how the fighting turned out and where it could be improved. I'll just keep this short (and there was much rejoicing) and leave it at that for now.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except a secret gum stash that my dentist would probably frown at.

. . .

Sokka hated parties.

He hadn't always, mind you—no, it had been nice whenever Katara and Gran Gran would celebrate his birthday and that one time with Yue at the Northern Water Tribe had been fun. Even Aang's secret dance party had been enjoyable, even if he had just spent the time watching Aang and his sister flirt (fortunately, thanks to Responsible Chaperone Wang Fire, no hanky panky happened—no one argues with Wang's beard, nobody.); at least the music had been decent. He had long ago come to the conclusion that he just couldn't be trusted to plan parties—a plan to take out a giant drill? No problem. A plan to defeat an army of airships? Done it. Plan a party? That's where the good old Sokka truly shown (to this day, he's convinced Aunt Wu cursed him, the lying old witch). Only his parties could be so awkward, puke riddled, and have a fucking monster come crashing through the floor.

Granted, that last one had been kinda the point of the party, but still . . . there was no way in hell they were getting their deposit back. Damn it.

He shook his head and focused on the tall behemoth before him. It—or he; it definitely made Sokka think it was male, maybe it was the voice, or the fact that it was as muscular as the Boulder—hadn't said anything and frankly, there was no way this guy was actually a dragon, but the mask proved that the son of a bitch was crazy as one; the power of stuff was frightening. The ornate horns, the unblinking, intense gaze—the nostrils were even smoking a little. Frankly, had he not been busying pretending the small trickle of moisture running down his leg was sweat, he could've been quite taken with the craftsmanship.

"Sokka?" Toph murmured. "What's the plan?" Before he could respond, the lights shorted out and the room was plunged into darkness. Naturally, this didn't make a difference to Toph, but still. Before he could respond or even get his mental gears going, the Dragon charged at him, moving faster than Sokka would've guessed for a guy that size.

"Get do—!" He grunted as he shoved her aside just as the Dragon landed a solid blow on Sokka's chest. He gagged and slammed into the wall behind him. Son . . . sonofa bitch, that hurt. . ., he thought, dazed. He could swear he heard Toph call his name. He glanced up and noticed the Dragon begin to lumber over towards Toph; from what he could see from the moonlight, Toph looked pissed. Toph. He struggled to get to his feet. She couldn't use her earthbending, it'd give them away and without it . . .! Dammit, this part was his job! To protect everyone.

"G-get everyone out, Tiguh!" He rasped; he didn't even notice if anyone else was still in the room and he didn't care; at that moment, all he was focusing on was seizing the man up. He narrowed his eyes. Was that a slight limp he saw? Perhaps from when he had a hit and run with Mrs. Fink? Whatever. Sokka didn't say anything; he just groped around the floor for the nearest thing he could grab—a leg from the remains of their coffee table—and began to move.

The Dragon didn't notice him; instead, he just reached for Toph, who had begun to shrink back, her teeth clenched in frustration; unfortunately, she underestimated his reach and he picked her up, his hands closed around her throat. "Leave. Hina. Alone. She's marked by the Fire Nation; she's under our protection."

"I'm what?" Hina murmured. From what Sokka could tell, she was near the doorway; she seemed genuinely shaken. But this wasn't the time for that; fortunately, the Dragon was too busy focusing on his monologue to Toph to notice him sneaking up behind him.

"Leave this building." The Dragon growled as he raised his arms, as if to throw Toph against the wall."Leave Fuin to his—" Sokka acted quickly; he ran the last few steps and rammed the table leg behind the Dragon's knee, right where his limp was. The Dragon stopped in midsentence and howled; unfortunately, Sokka didn't have time to celebrate, as he threw himself to the side while the Dragon stumbled backwards and began to collapse, his arms flailing. Sokka steadied himself and instinctively dove to where Toph was landing. Fortunately, he managed to grab her before she landed on stone ground.

He carried her behind the kitchen counter. "F-Fuck you, you bas. . .tard." She rasped, a look of pure fury on her face; Sokka shivered a bit at the sight, though he understood her rage just fine. She got to her feet and took a stance, but Sokka put a hand on her shoulder. "Not yet, Toph." Briefly, she directed her anger towards him and it took all of his strength not to whimper. "We can't blow our cover. Yet. You'll get your chance." He got to his feet and took a deep breath. "Leave this guy to me and get out as soon as you see the chance. I need you to look after Hina; do you hear me, Toph?" She reluctantly nodded, but the murder didn't leave her eyes. Sokka nodded and wisely figured that was the best he could hope for. He took a breath and tried to calm himself. In his mind's eye, he could picture his space sword. The sword is an extension of yourself . . .

"Yo-you little heathen! How dare you harm a spirit of my caliber? Do you want me to send Koh on you?" Sokka opened his eyes and looked in the Dragon's general direction.

"Cut the shit; I happen to know some spirits and, you sir, are no spirit." Sokka snapped emotionlessly. He walked out behind the counter, table leg in hand, and put himself face to face with the Dragon, who was glaring down at him. "Now then, let's see how long a 'dragon' can last."

The Dragon roared and lunged at Sokka, who dove aside again. "You're slow, you know that?" Compared to Piandao, anyway. The Dragon didn't bother responding; Sokka figured that it/he had finally figured out that Soka wasn't going to be scared away by words and masks alone and was a little unsure of how to proceed. He dodged another lunge with contemptuous ease. After Azula and Combustion Man, it took a lot more to scare him than that . . . creepy puppets aside; those didn't count. Nor did being snuck up on count; the point was that nothing frightened Sokka except puppets, the new moon, sneak attacks, Azula . . .

He shook his head—his mind shouldn't be wandering now. Fortunately for him, the Dragon didn't seem to be trying that hard. He was swinging punches, but he seemed to lack the training or experience to make them effectively; Sokka had seen better brawlers in bars. He could be holding back . . ., he thought as he dodged another punch, while he kept the table leg held at the ready. After another punch nearly grazed his head, he shifted his weight and swung the leg, hitting the Dragon's elbow. Toph must have heard the crack and Sokka heard her run to the door, hesitating slightly at the doorway, before continuing down the hall.

The Dragon howled in pain again—Sokka was getting really tired of that noise. Clearly, this guy was more in the ways of scare tactics than actual fighting . . . Sokka's foot slipped a bit over edge of the hole left in the floor from the Dragon's entrance. Shit! The Dragon noticed him falter as Sokka tried to readjust his balance and the Dragon punched him in the stomach, which sent him over the hole. Fortunately, he landed on the stone floor. Unfortunately, he landed on the stone floor. He tried to get up, but the wind was knocked out of him, along with what he was sure was two of his ribs. Again? Had the Dragon been luring him towards there? Sokka shook his head in an attempt to clear it, but he couldn't quiet the stupid ringing bells. The Dragon leapt towards him, his booted feet just barely missing Sokka's leg. Sokka's instincts kicked in and he rolled away and got to his feet.

Sokka managed to get enough of a stance to raise the table leg to block another of the Dragon's punches. He spat on the ground and privately hoped it wasn't blood. "What's the matter? No firebending? I thought you were a Dragon."

"You are unworthy of being killed by the sacred art of fire," The Dragon grunted as he struggled to find an opening in Sokka's defense.

The Water Tribe warrior swatted away another punch. "Really? I think I know a crap ton of firebenders that would disagree. The War? Remember? Good times."

"Th-those were good times, but then the Avatar ruined everything . . . !" He faltered.

Sokka's eyes narrowed. "Please, Dragon; where's the passion? That sounded forced, even though that stupid mask of yours." The Dragon fell silent and raised his arm; Sokka prepared himself for another punch."You know what I think? I think you don't give a damn about the Fire Nation—actually, I think you hate it." Sokka slowly got to his feet. "You can't bend; all you are is a sad man hiding behind a mask-" Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him-the son of a bitch had kicked him. Cursing himself for lowering his guard, Sokka bent over and forced himself to look up.

The Dragon leapt towards Sokka and an onslaught of fists rained down on him. Sokka managed to keep up with most of the attacks, but the moonlight didn't make for the best vision; he let one slip through and it slammed into his right shoulder. Sokka hissed and jumped back; however, he almost slipped on the spilt sea prunes. With his guard lowered, the Dragon again kicked forward and his foot slammed into Sokka's left thigh. Sokka grunted as he fell onto his back. At least it's on drier ground. The Dragon slipped into a stance and the water from the sea prunes was lifted into the air.

"You're a waterbender?" Sokka gapped. The Dragon didn't reply again; it appeared the time for banter had passed. With a sweep of his left arm, the water drops turned into ice shards, which he launched at Sokka. The Water Tribe warrior threw himself to his right and landed on his injured shoulder. "Fuck!" He hissed, but he heard the ice shatter on the stone wall. Ignoring his pain, he rolled onto his feet and charged the Dragon—the most important thing when fighting a bender, he knew, was to prevent them from getting into a stance, by any means necessary. He hurled himself at the Dragon, who ducked to the side and punched Sokka 's left side. Sokka bit his lip and skidded to a quick stop; with a pivot, he kicked the Dragon in the groin.

The Dragon hissed and stumbled; had Sokka not been too busy repressing his pain, he would've smirked. Instead, he ran after the Dragon and kicked him behind his injured knee; while the Dragon began to fall to the ground, Sokka raised the table leg and brought it down on the Dragon's mask with all his might. A loud crack resounded throughout the apartment. Sokka didn't stop there, though; he moved towards the Dragon's right hand—he needed to. . . .

It was too late.

Sokka noticed the water on the ground too late and he watched the Dragon's hand tighten. He could feel the water engulf his feet and free. "Shit!" The Dragon got to his feet and, with one hand on his cracked mask, he began to walk towards Sokka. Shitshitshitshit. He remembered when Katara had done this to him, but he didn't have his trusty boomerang to chip him out, nor did he have the time. He did the only thing he could do: he bent his knees and held his table leg before him. Hopefully, he would be able to block whatever strike came. Sokka squinted, trying to see through the mask's cracks at the face beneath, but he had no luck—the moonlight was nearly bright enough, though he did see the glint of an eye.

The Dragon walked up before him and stopped. He raised a hand and slapped Sokka across the face with the back of his fist. Sokka was thrown towards the right and he felt one of his ankles twist—the left one, he distantly thought—from their trapped position in the ice. This time, he screamed in pain. His eyes blurred and he distantly heard the front door slam open. Now he was stuck leaning at an awkward angle, his head only a foot from the floor; he wasn't facing the door, but he could figure the Dragon was distracted by the intruder and, with the last of his focus, he lifted the table leg and hurled it at the Dragon's head. There was another loud crack and the mask fell apart.

The Dragon ran behind the kitchen counter and ducked out of sight. Sokka heard some faint footsteps and he felt two small hands wrap around him. "Sokka . . . ." He heard Toph say; even if she couldn't see, she could probably tell that he wasn't doing well. Before he could even attempt to speak though, he felt her hands stiffen. "He's earthbending!" Huh . . . ? Sokka looked at the kitchen, and suddenly the stone from their floor hurled the Dragon towards the right wall. The wall shattered on contact and the Dragon kept repeating the process until he must have reached the street. Ho . . . how is that . . . possible? He was a waterbender. The ice around his feet proved that much.

"To-Toph . . . ," he rasped. He looked up at her and he saw her head go from looking at the hole in the wall to gazing down at him. "He still here?" He knew he wasn't.

She shook her head slowly, her eyebrows creased and her mouth trembling at the weariness and pain in his voice. "No. He got out onto the street and I can't sense him anymore."

Sokka tried to nod, but he coughed instead, and pain shot through his chest. Stupid ribs. He felt Toph begin to try to raise him to a vertical angle and the pain that exploded from throughout his body almost caused him to black out. He bit his lower lip.

"Toph . . . get Hina." Then he allowed himself to fall unconscious.

. . .

Oh, another cliffhanger! I hope that you guys enjoyed the action and that it was relatively easy to follow. Yeah, it turned out a bit darker than I thought, but when you think about it, fighting benders is really difficult, you know? And I tried to show that here. Fortunately, the aftermath of this will be up before noon tomorrow, so there won't be a long wait. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!