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Chapter 10

Ambushed

With Twinkle Toes gone for work for the rest of the afternoon, Toph was feeling incredibly bored. Appa was too worn out to play from having run around in the snow all day; her mom was busy having too much fun making her wedding plans for her (not that she was complaining about getting out of it); her dad was taking care of the end of the year files for Bei Fong Industries; and Ty Lee had not been acting like herself ever since the whole Fire Lord thing started. She had no one to play with.

"This sucks," she said to no one. "I guess if there's nothing here, then I can just go to work early."

It was not the best of plans, but there really was nothing else to do. It was easy enough to slip passed the house staff and property guards, but Kuzon might be a problem. Then again, with the way Ty Lee had been behaving lately he had been kind of distracted. Toph made sure to secretly check up on the two of them before sneaking off the grounds.

"I am not sure I like this sudden interest, Ty Lee," Kuzon was saying.

"But, Daddy," Ty Lee whined. "It can't hurt for me to be a little better at it. You said so yourself that you wanted me to learn some. Besides, Jiayi said there were those guys asking about me at her place. I don't want to stop going just because some scary sounding people are there. And I want to keep Jiayi safe!"

"You let me worry about keeping Jiayi safe," Kuzon told her. "And I will have a talk with those men when and if they show up at the diner again."

"Daddy, I want to learn," Ty Lee said sternly. "And if you won't teach me, I'll find someone who will."

Whatever they were talking about, Ty Lee did not sound like she was going to budge an inch. Maybe Azula was starting to rub off on the bubble brain.

Without Kuzon running things around the perimeter of the house it was becoming ridiculously easy to get out without being noticed. When the whole Fire Lord thing started Toph had debated telling her father and Kuzon with Aang, but in the end she convinced him it was a bad idea. The only two things her father would have done was either move her away from her friends during this hardship or simply increase security around the house. The danger in increasing security was that she did not even trust that the men and women in the house now other than Kuzon could not be bought and sold by the Fire Lord's influence.

With the aid of a taxi Toph was able to get to the arena in just over an hour. She threw her bag over her shoulder and walked through the revolving doors. The building was practically empty compared to what she usually arrived to. No audience members were present since the show was not for another three hours and there were very few people handling preparations. The only place that felt as busy as usual was the locker room area.

Toph maneuvered through the women that crowded the lockers and tossed her bag on the floor. A few of the girls were speaking with each other, but none of them would have anything to do with her. Apparently they did not like being put down week after week by a girl short enough to pass for a junior high schooler. She pulled her outfit out of her bag and quickly began to change. The uniform her mother made for her two years ago was her favorite to fight in. The materials used to craft the shirt and skirt were both durable and flexible which made them more comfortable to wear with a great range of movement. The only thing that had been changed was that she now wore a pair of virtually undetectable shorts under the skirt rather than the pants. It was a suggestion made by the owner of the small company. When she asked why he simply said it was better sex appeal. Toph did not know what this had to do with fighting, but since the shorts were just as easy to fight in as the pants she did not bother arguing about it. After fastening the metal Hung Gar hair clip that she got for Christmas into place, she left for the arena floor.

Through the long hallways and out onto the stage Toph felt almost no one. Some of the guys from the men's division were there, but not many. The crew was thinning out the closer she came to the floor too. When she climbed up onto the fighting ring, the only people present were the safety crews going over their checklists and the head of the company.

"I want to talk to you, Xin Fu," Toph said.

"Bandit," he replied with surprise in his voice. "Didn't expect you for hours."

"Enough chit chat," she hurried. "Let's talk business."

Toph had never met a man like Xin Fu before. His body was built like it was carved from stone and three times as hard, and he was more likely to win in a fight against pretty much anyone he had hired. In his own right Xin Fu was a somewhat intelligent man as well. He managed this company well enough for a muscle bound pea brain so Toph had to give him some credit. Though not nearly as much as the men she was used to hearing her father deal with.

"What kind of business?" Xin Fu told her.

"Look, I've royally kicked the butt of every girl you've put me up against more than once. You know I can handle the rest of your fighters too. Let me fight one of the guys tonight. I don't care who as long as it's a new opponent."

"You know, I've been entertaining that idea for a while myself," he said with a smile. Toph felt him wave his hand and the safety crew started to leave. "I had a few people in mind actually."

"Well, start naming some names!" Toph grinned.

"At first I was thinking of Wild Man or The Gecko. Some of the smaller fighters. Then I started thinking of how dominant you've been and thought that Gopher would be a good challenge."

As Xin Fu continued to speak Toph could feel the presence of the men he was talking about. Most of them were beginning to come out to the floor as the crews were leaving. A few of the female fighters were coming down too. Toph's muscles began to tighten as Xin Fu went on.

"Then I thought 'imagine the turnout if in our fight cross gender match I put our top female competitor against one of our top male competitors'. It would be one of our most profitable nights if I could promote The Blind Bandit vs The Hippo or maybe even The Boulder. But then something interesting happened.

"I was approached not even an hour ago by a man with a most interesting proposition of his own. You see, Bandit, we've been offered five hundred thousand to do a very simple job. That's more than we make in a week of sold out shows. And all we have to do is make sure that you don't walk out of this arena tonight. Issue some grievous bodily harm as it were."

"So you're all going from professional fighters to petty thugs?" Toph said as she felt herself being surrounded. "Bring it on!"

No sooner had she said that Toph was already plowing her fist into one of her attacker's faces. She felt the mask of the shorter man that people called The Gecko as he fell to the ground. He was back on his feet quickly as she landed another blow into the gut of the stout Gopher. A follow up swing to Gopher's face pushed him back enough for another assailant to try their luck. Their numbers kept her in a constant state of attack just to try and keep them at bay. She took as many blows to her arms as she could, but still had to take some to the head and body to keep from losing her stance. If she lost that, she was as good as theirs.

Toph could feel Xin Fu walking along the edge of the floor like a vulture as he watched her fighting for her life. She felt sickened by it. And angry. And hateful. All of these emotions culminated into a powerful stride forward paired with a ramming motion that slammed right into the exposed torso of the very large Hippo. She could feel whatever air he had in his lung leave him as she shoved passed him and charged towards Xin Fu. She was so focused on causing some "grievous bodily harm" of her own that she did not notice the presence of Xin Fu's champion fighter.

The large arm of The Boulder wrapped itself around Toph's neck as he hoisted her into the air. As she tried to bring her elbow down into his ribs in order to force him to let go, she felt the fist of Xin Fu plant itself directly under her ribs. Her eyes opened wide as she coughed up what little air she could through The Boulder's strangle hold. Another blow landed in the same spot and she felt her senses beginning to fade. The Boulder dumped her on the ground and she could just barely make out the other fighters closing in around her.

"Not so tough now, are you?" she heard one of the women say before a foot hit her stomach. "Well?" another kick. "Are you?"

"Take it easy, girl, we're all gonna get a shot," Xin Fu was saying. He turned his attention down to The Bandit. "Did you really think you were going to be able to fight all of us at once? I'll be the first to admit that you're a good fighter, but not that good, kid. I mean, even on your best day you couldn't hope to beat The Boulder here on his own let alone all these guys."

"Cowards," Toph managed to choke out. "I could take any of you anytime."

"That big head of yours has always really bugged me," Xin Fu scowled. "I would have done this a long time ago if it weren't for the fact you brought in so much money. But I think five hundred grand is more than a fair trade for you."

"It's nice to know that scum thinks the same way no matter where you are."

Though she could barely feel it, Toph could clearly hear the voice and the heavy footfalls of its owner as a figure entered the arena. Everyone's focus turned to the new person present and Toph took the opportunity to try and regain some control over her senses.

"And just who are you, lady?" The Boulder's hoarse voice called out.

"It doesn't matter who I am," she said. "What matters is that I am here for the girl. Give her to me and I can assure you that you will all walk away from this with your bodies and pride intact."

"Are you trying to threaten The Boulder?" The Boulder asked. "The Boulder could snap you in half like a toothpick!"

"The Boulder should learn how to use pronouns," the mysterious woman said. "And also learn how to assess a situation before opening his mouth."

"What kind of assessing would you say needs to be done here?" Xin Fu asked, amusement in his voice.

"Your most prestigious talent is currently standing in my way," the woman said. "You can either choose to go about business as usual tonight, minus your star female fighter, or you can choose to continue down this road and have all of these performers on medical leave along with losing your five hundred thousand in blood money."

"You think you can take all of my fighters?" Xin Fu asked.

"With my eyes closed," she replied. "Including you."

Xin Fu was no longer amused. It was bad enough that this woman was interfering, but now she was insulting him? This had to end.

"Break her!"

Before anything else could happen Toph distinctly heard the sound of the building's power dying. The shocked reactions of the fighters was all she needed to confirm what she was thinking. The lights had gone out.

Advantage Toph.

Without hesitation, Toph pushed herself to her feet and went on the attack. Her two fists easily downed the fighters nearest to her as she felt the mystery woman moving through the others. Toph did not know how the woman was able to fight blind so easily, but she was not about to start asking questions when there were butts to be kicked. In less than a minute's time Toph felt the fighters all fall one by one leaving no one but Xin Fu on their feet. A high pitched humming met her ears and told Toph that power had been restored and the lights had risen.

"What?" Xin Fu screamed at the sight of his fighters.

"You were saying?" Toph asked with a smirk. "I thought you could take me on your own anyway?"

"You little brat!" Xin Fu growled. "I'm going to crush every bone in your body."

With no other fighters to distract her or protect him, Toph met Xin Fu head on. He had a softer style of fist than her, but that did not mean that his blows would be weaker. Each punch and kick left their mark as she blocked them. He outmatched her in a straight up power fight. He also had years of experience on her as well. What he did not have though, was her unique ability to read a fight. When his left fist made another attempt at her face, she blocked it with her left by linking their elbows and grabbing the back of his shirt. Before he could react to her block she was repeatedly burying her fist into his side just above kidney. When he tried to pull back Toph released his shirt and placed her hand on his face. When he took his backward step Toph's leg was there to stop it as she shoved his head back as hard as she could. The sound his head made as it slammed into the ground under her grip was quite satisfying.

"Well done," the mystery woman said.

Now that the fighting was over, Toph had time to take in what details she could about her unexpected helper. The woman was tall. Not tall for a woman, but tall tall. It be a pretty close contest if she were standing side by side with Aang. She also had oddly large feet.

"Thanks for the help," Toph replied. "And you are?"

"My name is Kyoshi," the woman replied, "and I have been sent here to help you."

"Sent here by who?" Toph asked.

"It does not matter who sent me, just that I managed to get here in time. The Fallen Angels need your help."

Needing no other explanation than that, Toph ran for the door as fast as she could. She felt as though her lungs were on fire as she pushed her was through the revolving door not even thinking about her clothes or how Kyoshi knew the Angels needed help. All she could think of was the Fire Lord must be making his move.

"Do you really think that it was wise to let her go in her condition?" Kyoshi asked.

"Are you kidding me?" another voice from somewhere in the rafters responded. "Where would the fun be in keeping her out of the fight? Besides, Iroh just said to let her know and that's what we did."

"And what are we supposed to do now?" Kyoshi asked. "It is not as though The Order can act anymore directly than we already have."

"What else? We go get some rock candy and wait at Iroh's tea shop!" the voice replied with a snorting laugh.