Disclaimer: Never have. Never will.

A/N: Now for the first part of the Karate class. I don't know about you, but I've couldn't wait till this part of the story. Just because of all the work TwilightGD and I put into it. 101 REVIEWS! Thank you so much-for my first fan fic to make it over the 100 review mark is amazing. This is for you reviewers! Aaaand now…

On to the Tokka!

Finally!

I finished getting all the kinks out of the 'Bleed' chorus.

I glance at the computer's clock.

"And just in time to head off to KarateUSA…" I murmur, slipping my mint green high tops on and grabbing my gear bag.

I start out of Music Matters and yell goodbye to Teo.

"Okay, try not to be late next time!"

I laugh.

Please.

Since when does Toph Bei Fong try to be on time?

I'm not saying it's impossible, I just can't say I have the drive to attempt being punctual.

It's not my thing…

Walking into the building, I drop my skateboard and shoes on the bench near the entrance.

"Nice skinnies."

I pause and look over to Haru, raising an eyebrow.

I roll my eyes and slightly gag when I feel his eyes follow me.

This just isn't my day!

Or week, to be honest.

What did I do wrong?

Making sure no one is watching-except Haru, of course-, I flip him the finger and rush off to the bathrooms to change into my uniform.

Creep.

Sigh. I usually reserve that move for special occasions

coughAZULAcough

But…

I'm not in a good mood.

Spare me the lecture Sugar Queen.

'Cause I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow knows of my gesture…

"What is it? You okay, Katara?"

"It's nothing, Aang. Just felt kinda strange for a second… Achoo!"

Both kids stop walking, still hand-in-hand.

"You catching a cold or something?"

I shrug, not really caring.

I can always pop my head phones in and ignore her.

Like I usually do.

I walk out, dressed in my blue uniform.

After I shove my school clothes in my other bag on the bench, and take extra time to glare at Haru, I begin stretching.

Ow, ow.

Why's my leg not stretching easily?

It's sparring!

Pick another day to act up on me!

…

Oh yeah.

The AMC thing.

It's hard to think that happened yesterday…

And that my leg's still hurting!

It was just a stupid scratch.

Damn higher beings just can't get enough of ol' Toph, can they?

…Did someone just call my name?

I look up to be greeted by Mr. Lee looking at me expectantly.

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were ready for some intense butt-whoopin' tonight." He replied.

Everyone's creeping me out today.

What's with that conspiratorial grin?

"Uh…yes sir." I say, pulling on my second arm guard.

"Awesome! You better be." He walks off looking like someone waiting for the lottery numbers to appear on TV.

"Oh, drop and give me twenty." He adds.

"What? But-"

"You were late. Again."

I grudgingly whip out the twenty pushups only slightly slowing down when reaching the fifteenth mark.

"…my life is so-" Sighing, I pulling on my leg guards and ask for some new kid to tie up my chest protector.

Finally ready for some people-pounding, I stretch again until class starts.

I see Mr. Lee walk- wait, excuse me- skip into the room.

Everyone stands at attention with confused, and somewhat scared, expressions similar to mine.

"Alright class… Today is a special day. We won't be doing our normal sparring class." He pauses when everyone moans and starts to take their gear off. "We will be doing, what I call, a 'Battle Royal'."

Hmm…

Toph likes the sound of this.

I grin.

"What you will do is split into two groups. Number of people and skill doesn't matter because, like I said, this is a Battle Royal. You will all fight each other. Each group will line up along opposite edges of ring two. Three people will be tapped, they will 'Keyup!', and begin sparring at the ring's center. No head kicks, body shots only. Then I will tap another person, 'Keyup!', and they will replace one of the three people. The person not fighting will scoot out, I'll tap the next person after some time, and they will replace the contendor that's been in the longest. And repeat. Any questions?" He finishes, hands clasped behind his back, mimcking our 'at attention' stances.

I catch movement at the front door.

Hah, poor loser's going to have to do forty pushups.

He's way too late.

My grin slips when my instructor doesn't yell at the late arrival, but greets him.

Happily.

Forgetting I'm supposed to be looking straight ahead, I glance at the newcomer.

Hmm.

Two thirty year olds, man-hugging.

One is wearing what looks to be a giant, black, gathered skirt.

No joke.

I sigh.

This is why Mr. Lee's all giddy.

They're obviously old buddies and the new guy looks like he's wearing some type of martial art get-up.

There's a bet goin' on.

And it seems to center around us: the students.

Heh, can't wait.

"Now I should tell you about the surprise. Not only are we having a Battle Royal," He comments, standing next to the strange, ponytailed man, "We are going to give Master Piando here, and his students, the honor of a demostration of our skill."

I can't help but smirk at the slight in the indicated Master's smile, and then I fall back into shawl position with my eyes focusing straight ahead.

Not just old friends.

Old rivals.

I knew I was going to enjoy this class.

"Ahem, yes. As Rick here said," Said instructor twitching at the informality, "My students and I are here to observe you all spar. We will also demonstrate our form, Kendo, for you. Once you are warmed up from the free-for-all match, we will watch two of your matches, and then you will see two of our Kendo matches."

Kendo!

That explains the big, black skirt-well-pant type bottoms!

That's why it seemed so familiar…

"But that's not all," Mr. Lee interjects, "Our real surprise happens towards the end. We will each pick two students to fight each other."

I see Mako raise his hand, asking his question right away.

"I don't understand. You just said that we'll have matches to show the other students. Why's it a surprise to elect students to fight normal matches? Again."

"I should probably clarify for Mr. Lee here," The Kendo instructor replies, muttering under his breath something along the lines of, 'As usual.' This earns snickers from us and a scowl from Mr. Lee. "We will each pick out two students of our own. Then we will match up one of the elected Tae Kwon Do students against a selected Kendo student. The remaining two students will be partnered up to face off as well."

"The reason we are holding two normal matches of each is to give you an idea of the other's art. It wouldn't be smart to send you in a first-time situation like this with no background information. Too dangerous." Mr. Lee adds.

My grin slips slightly, once again.

Oh snap.

That's not what I was expecting.

And I kinda get a feeling that this night is just going to keep surprising me…

Even knowing this didn't prepare me for what came next.

Mr. Piando's students walk in.

The second to last person happens to be none other than the center of all my problems.

Sokka Mizu.

I look away when I catch his eye, but unwillingly feel myself wave back at him.

Is that a smile on Mr. Lee's face?

This isn't good.

To say I was nervous was an understatement.

Sokka is sitting down, eyes fixed on me and I have to spar.

Two people at the same time!

Just breathe, Toph.

Relax. You've got this.

Nodding to my instructor, we all, me and my two opponents, bow and prepare to fight.

"Two against one. First victim: Mako."

I look over at my temporary partner and share a silent understanding.

He will fake and get into, or break, Mako's defense and I will score kicks when possible.

"Begin!"

We both take a step towards the timid boy, sizing him up.

He glances back and forth, jerking back a step when Ryan, my partner, stomps on the mat.

Ryan fakes a step to the right and slides to the left, in front of me.

I shift to the right, Mako's attention solely on Ryan, and pull my leg up into a left sided roundhouse right into the center of his chest guard.

He staggers back, running between us to get away from his boxed, corner position.

Again, Ryan's faking, I'm shifting and throwing kicks randomly.

I focus hard on the fight, not daring to look towards the back wall where the Kendo kids are.

I can't screw up in front of Sokka and the other students.

We're here to show them Tae Kwon Do.

No mercy.

I grin and allow myself to relax and get more into the match.

When Ryan steps into what looks like a spin kick, Mako looks to me, expecting it to be a fake then to get kicked by me.

Mistake six.

I wince slightly when my partner follows through, bringing his foot around, catching the side of Mako's chest protector with the heel of his foot. Hard.

Nice spinning hook.

"Keyup!"

The victory's short lived, of course.

All of a sudden I'm kicked in the side and I side step to the left.

Glancing over my shoulder, I instantly jerk my head back to face in front of me and drop to a crouch, letting the newcomer's foot fly over.

What the hell!

No head kicks!

That was too close.

Who was that anyway?

I bring my hands down from their protective position near my chin to the ground and use them to steady myself as I send my foot straight up and out behind me, straight for the person's face.

I force the idiot to take a couple steps back, giving me time to stand up and survey my opponents.

Azula. She would comepletely disregard the rules to get back at me.

And get away with it.

Watch out for her retaliation attacks, jabs, and axe kicks.

And of course, Ryan. Fakes, hooks, and spin kicks.

Focusing on Azula's eyes, I only slightly pay attention to Ryan.

We move around for a couples seconds with them trying, and failing, to box me into a corner or between them.

That's a BIG no-no.

Never end up between two people with permission to kick the crud out of you.

Ever.

You will end up picking up your own teeth from the ground with broken fingers.

To put it mildly.

I line it up, so that Azula ends up in the middle and Ryan is cut from the action.

I see her eyes lock onto my side and immediately realize that she's going to send a roundhouse.

Hah, that's why you focus on the person's face. You can't give yourself away if you focus on their face.

I spin in place to the right quickly, kicking my right foot out straight behind me and into her stomach, jumping off my left foot and using it to send a roundhouse to her right side.

I move again when Ryan tries to come around to get me.

This, to an extent- all of us getting kicks in on our opponents-, happens a couple more times before someone else is tapped and I'm allowed to step out.

I take a minute to steady my breathing and risk a glance at Sokka.

He sends me two thumbs up and a smile.

I mouth a thanks too him and turn my attention back to the match, fighting a -dare I say it?- flattered blush creeping up on my cheeks.

Okay.

Not too bad.

So far.

A/N: Ahh yes. I was going to end this after the whole 'I feel like a ton more surprises are on the way' thing, but felt it was too short. I like longer chapters, but that might just be me. Anyway, I'm already working on the next chapter and it'll hopefully be out before school starts. Because that's when the craziness begins… :) Reviews are always appreciated!

Until next chapter,

-The Runaway