Chapter 3: Earth Rumble V Part One
After having nice conversations with Toph, and her telling me stories of how she ran away and trained with badger moles, the sun starts setting and we were called inside for dinner.
Toph and I were mostly silent when we ate, only giving vague answers to our parent's questions.
After finishing the meal, my family and I said our goodbyes.
Before I could leave, Toph pulled me to the side, out of sight and earshot of our parents.
"Meet me on the outside west wall of the garden to my house after dark. We'll go together."
I smile and whisper my acceptance.
I turn away quickly as to not make our parents suspicious.
We enter the carriage and head back to the Chen residence.
I say goodnight to Mom and Dad, and head to my room.
I enter my room and quickly change out of my noble clothes and into one more comfortable.
A standard practice uniformed custom made by the Chen family's head tailor.
It's a sleeveless green Kung Fu outfit with a thick studded black belt on the waist, short pants, and white bandages wrapping around my entire forearm and shin, leaving only my fingers, heels, and my toes open to the air.
Luckily I have [Super Stamina], and I'm not tired even after being up all day.
I make my way to the window beside my bed and look outside.
Fortunately, the Chen family doesn't have as many guards as the Beifongs.
I wait for a guard to pass and I make my way to the wall of the residence. I make an earth pillar as silently as I can and hop over to freedom. I turn to face the wall and make the earth pillar I made go back into the ground, destroying the evidence.
I still remember the route to the Beifong residence and it only takes me around 20 minutes to reach it.
I see Toph getting down from the top of the west side wall. She's wearing the same outfit I saw in the show.
Toph notices me and smiles.
We meet in the middle and fist bump.
"Hey, Toph. Any trouble getting out with your army of guards in the way?"
"Ha! Don't make me laugh. Those guys are so dumb."
"Harsh. They're only there to protect you."
"Eh, what's the good in that when I'm stronger than them?"
"Oh, you're stronger than your guards?"
"You'll find that out tonight, Little Lu."
Toph starts walking and I follow after her.
"Little Lu? I'm taller than you!"
"But your weaker."
Toph punches me on the arm.
Oof.
Don't do me like that.
"Ugh... You have a point. I'll get stronger than you one day, then I'll get to call you a weak-sounding nickname."
"Hahaha, we'll see about that Little Lu!"
Toph smiles as we make our way to the underground arena where Earth Rumble V is being held.
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Toph and I arrive at the underground arena without any trouble.
"I'm going over here, Little. I'll see you in the stands."
Haha, she made a blind joke.
Toph waves at me and smiles. She's all smiles today, huh? She must be happy to be out of her stuffy home.
I make my way to the stands after purchasing a snack while I wait for the tournament to start.
A few minutes pass, and in the middle of the arena, a small square hole opens up, and a man with long hair and a rough face wearing an open vest, and shorts appears.
"Welcome, Earth Kingdom, to Earth Rumble V!!"
The announcer, Xin Fu, greeted the packed arena, and the crowd went wild.
This is the first time I'm watching a wrestling tournament while in the stands for both of my lives.
Xin Fu announces the bracket and introduces the first two combatants.
(A/N: I'm not gonna name most of them, since I don't want to put the same roster from the show in this Earth Rumble showdown. I'll just name the ones that I think participated in this one. The Boulder not being one, since his reaction of meeting Toph in Earth Rumble VI seems like it's the first time he's seen her. The reason Lu Chen has a poster is because The Boulder participated in previous bouts. This one will be Toph's first.)
"On one corner, it's The Big Bad Hippo!"
The crowd goes wild for the Hippo as he takes a chunk out of a rock, chews it, then spits it out.
Xin Fu introduces another fighter that wasn't in the show and he and the Hippo duke it out, with Hippo coming out on top by launching a deflected rock using his gut back at his opponent.
Hippo celebrates by doing some sort of sumo dance really fast. What a weirdo.
Next up on the bracket are two unfamiliar fighters. It was pretty boring.
The third fight in the bracket was between Fire Nation Man and another unknown fighter.
The crowd booed and sneered at Fire Nation Man's sad attempt at singing the Fire Nation's anthem.
"FiRe LoRd!¡ mY fLaMe BuRnS fOr ThEe!-"
Fire Man gets cut off as the crowd throws their food and rocks at him, me included.
Despite the overwhelming hate he's getting from the audience, Fire Nation Man manages to win against his opponent with minimal injuries, most of them being inflicted by the audience.
Up next, the 4th bracket is between The Gecko and some other wrestler dude.
Of course, The Gecko easily wins due to his unique earthbending style.
The last fight of the 1st round of brackets is between Toph and The Gopher.
This should be an easy one for Toph since The Gopher digs around in the ground causing a lot of vibrations. Toph is gonna absolutely wipe the floor with this guy.
"On one corner, a newcomer, The Blind Bandit!!"
There is a mix of boos and cheers in the crowd. Mostly boos.
"Yeah!! Kick his butt, To- I mean, Blind Bandit!!"
I try to cheer as loud as I can for Toph to hear me.
I can see Toph look down and smile. A slight blush creeping on her cheeks from embarrassment and more likely, the excitement in participating in a tournament and being cheer on by a friend. She quickly shakes her head and stops smiling, nodding her head once as if she confirmed that she heard me.
Aw, she's so cute acting all tsundere.
A tsundere tomboy is definitely top tier when it comes down to how cute a girl's personality is.
"On the other corner, it's The Gopher!"
A lot more people cheer for this dude than Toph. These guys are just blind to Toph's greatness. Haha, Get it.
Jeez, I'm starting to sound like Sokka.
"Let's get ready to Rumble!!!"
After saying those familiar words, Xin Fu starts the match.
Immediately, Gopher takes to the ground and starts making his way towards Toph.
Toph, meanwhile, just stands there in a ready position, waiting for the right time.
After getting within a few feet of Toph, Gopher resurfaces and launches a rock to her face.
Toph deflects the incoming projectile and kicks her foot on the ground, causing a rock pillar to sprout from under Gopher.
Gopher then uses the pillar to retreat further back to get ready to attack again.
As Gopher's toe touches the ground, Toph immediately slides her right foot across the floor in front of her, causing the floor under Gopher's legs to turn into sand.
The Gopher falls necks deep into the ground, not expecting the ground to suddenly turn to soft sand.
As quickly as Toph turned the ground to sand, she slides her left foot across the ground, lifts the right one towards Gopher, and stomps her heel hard, launching him out of the arena.
She didn't just wipe the floor with him, she literally made him into the floor.
Toph then lifts her arms in celebration, but her face is still stoic. I can still see a slight blush in excitement though.
Such a cute tsundere.