Toph

Toph realized the answer to Mai's question the moment she landed in the arena amidst the roar of the crowd. It was simple as simple as breathing and Toph was the one that had made it all so complicated, she wanted out. Out of the oppressive atmosphere at home, no more pity, no more acting like a girl made of glass. Toph wanted to be true to herself more than anything else in the world.

And with her feet on solid ground, there was nothing that could stop her from being who she was.

Her father could send all the bounty hunters and bodyguards he wanted Toph would beat them all. It was funny that her realization of being true to herself happened on a stage where people were playing a character at every moment, even if some took it more seriously than others.

Toph looked at 'The Boulder' while the man riled up the mud-brained fans, she had spoken to the man before and sadly he spoke in the third person all the time, at least the guy wasn't as much of a bother out of the arena, he had even shown Toph his pet crococat. Funnily enough, the crococat had the name Pebble.

"With the interruption out of the way let's start this night!" the voice of the announcer broke Toph out of her musings and she tried concentrating on the fight, she had to make it look good for Mai even if Toph thought that beating all of them would be as easy as sleeping on the ground.

"Then people… lets Rumble!" a chorus of cheers was the obvious response. The crowd hadn't even quieted down when Toph felt the first person make their move, ironically it seemed that the one acting the fastest was the Big Bad Hippo. Perhaps the man just wanted a real shot at the belt, or maybe he just didn't want to take any chances on being the first out, whatever the reason the Big Bad Hippo had decided to start strong.

"What's this?! The Big Bad Hippo wastes no time he is-" the announcer stopped as he waited for the audience's answer and they didn't disappoint as they screamed out the name.

"ROCKING THE BOAT!" the deafening cry coming form the spectators could be felt in the teeth. If Toph was a normal blind girl she would have been in trouble just from that, luckily for Toph, she was built different. The pitiful swaying of the arena did nothing but move her head from side to side as her feet kept a firm hold of the ground, the other fighters however had a big problem in their hands.

The Boulder had unsteady feet and he came crashing onto the Headhunter after a misstep, the two immediately got into a brawl as they ignored the real culprit but with the way everything was moving they were pretty much missing all attacks they launched. Toph had to admire the tenacity of both fighters though since neither one looked like they were going to give up.

"What a shame, despite the ferocity of their attacks it looks like the Boulder and the Headhunter just can't hit their marks! There goes a wide left hook from the Headhunter that barely scratches the chin of the boulder! That one was close folks"

In retaliation to the attack, the Boulder planted himself on the ground, literally. He jumped and rooted himself on the ground leaving his feet deep in the arena floor. It wasn't bad strategy but Toph wasn't sure if it would pay off.

On the other side of the arena, the Gecko and the Gopher looked at the Big Bad Hippo as prey and as soon as they both had some steady footing each went into their perspective places, one burrowing and the other in the ceiling and soon they were upon their prey.

The two figures looked tiny in comparison to the Big Bad Hippo so Toph decided to give them a little bit of help, stomping the ground as hard as she could Toph neutralized the signature move of the Big Bad Hippo something that nobody missed.

"Ladies and gentlemen…for the first time in over ten years I'm speechless…your champion! the one! the only! Blind Bandit just stopped the signature move from the Big Bad Hippo!"

"Blind Bandit!"

"Blind Bandit!"

"Blind Bandit!"

"Blind Bandit!"

Toph basked in the cheers as the people celebrated a feat of earthbending that they had never seen before. Not ones to be left out the Gecko and Gopher took the opportunity to attack the dumbfounded fighter that was staring at Toph with a gaping mouth. The Gopher took out the Hippo's legs in a swift move as he pushed the man to the side and tilted him just enough for gravity to do its work on the other side the Gecko launched himself from the ceiling gaining speed as he felt because of the two pieces of rock that were stuck on his hands.

There was a terrible crash as the two fists covered in rock impacted the Hippo's head just as he was falling to the ground, the resulting hit had devastating consequences for the arena and the Big Bad Hippo. Who in an ironic twist was now out of the fight because of his desire to get somebody out.

"Ouch! That had to hurt!" the Big Bad Hippo tried getting up but before he could Toph took a single step froward and sent a fast-moving landslide his way, it was a terrible thing to witness as it grew bigger the closer the landslide got to the edge of the arena, not wanting the Hippo to feel bad Toph decided that the Gecko was the more dangerous of the other two, well, dangerous to Toph and her landslide quickly scooped him up too. Both of them quickly found themselves flying toward the stands as the landslide came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the arena.

"Well, who would have ever thought to see a Hippo and a Gecko fly together, eh?" the announcer looked like he was having the time of his life as he watched everything unfold and the laughter of the crowd was only interrupted by the sound of the Hippo hitting the ground, luckily for the Gecko he to fall on top of his more rotund friend.

"But look at this without the interference from the Big Bad Hippo it looks like things are heating up with Headhunter and the Boulder!" the announcer wasn't lying, now that the Hippo wasn't rocking the boat Headhunter had a clear shot at the Boulder's head who came to regret his little bout of genius now that he couldn't get his feet of the ground, at least not with the way the Headhunter was bashing his head in.

"He comes in with a right hook! He comes in with the left! He attacks with both! Nothing can stop this man from going for the head!" Headhunter might have been beating the Boulder's head like a drum but the aspiring champion wasn't just letting himself be punched. The Boulder was giving as good as he got as he used his arms like battering rams against the Headhunters ribcage whose only real defense against such heavy hits was to doge.

The Headhunter moved just in time to avoid a quick sucker punch but it seemed like that was a part of the Boulder's plan all along as he landed his neck squarely in the grip of the Boulder.

"The Boulder doesn't think about having fun while he is on the job but believe the Boulder, he will enjoy this" The sinister smile and tone of the Boulder's declaration were made all the more real by the blood that was pouring out of his brow and mouth. Then he stopped with the theatrics and started to squeeze, toph felt the Headhunter's pulse quicken, as he realized that his neck was in the grip of a man who crushed boulders with his fist just for fun.

"Things have turned in the Boulder's favor and his declaration will surely be set in stone! Is there anyone willing to help him?" the announcer looked pointedly at Toph and the Gopher to see their reaction Toph just scoffed but the Gopher seemed to have other plans as he quickly tried to dive back into the depths of the earth.

Tried being the operative word as his descent was quickly turned on him by a swift move from Toph, a wall of rock came crashing into his head and left him just beside her, wagging her finger at him Toph talked "Even a blind girl like me can see this is a duel between men it's better if you don't mess with it"

The Gopher jumped backward as he launched some rubble at her, Toph could have ended him right then and there but the show had to go on so she started trading some light punches with him and sending pieces of the arena his way by putting her feet at the edge of a tile making it rise and kicking it at him.

"The Blind Bandit starts a merciless attack to defend the Boulder! Careful people it's raining rocks and I would like to take this chance to remind you that the Earth Rumble arena doesn't take any responsibility for any damages you endure because of the show"

Headhunter finally tapped out leaving only three of them in the ring. Finally, the real show could start.


Author note: to be honest with you i don't like this chapter, i tried to rewrite but it only went worse and in the end, i was left with this. i might revise it later or maybe even write a whole new thing from Mai's perspective or just a random guy's perspective, just to show how the fight was for the audience.