[OPEN] earth rumble yeaaaaa

[barefootbender]

Date & Time: Monday, March 18, 2:00 pm
Location: a small open area wedged between buildings just outside the Hold.
Characters: Toph Beifong (barefootbender) and you!
Summary: There was quite a lot of interest in Toph's earthbending, and she isn't going to pass up a chance to show off to everyone! Toph puts out a message to the network telling people where to go if they want to see (or if they wanna challenge her!), and everyone is invited. Snarkiness, blind jokes and amazing earthkaratemagic ensue. (Either prose or brackets are fine.)
Warnings: none anticipated


[Around lunchtime on March 18, the following video message is posted to the network:]

HELLO, fellow Transports! Today's your lucky day! I, Toph Beifong, greatest earthbending master who ever lived, teacher of Avatar Aang, have decided to take out some time to display my talent for the curious. I know some of you that I talked to a coupla weeks ago wanted to see, so here's your chance.

And more specifically... I'm gonna take some challengers! So if you think you can take me on, let's go! I'd like to see you try.

[The camera swings away from her face and down at the floor, where there's an incredibly intricate and detailed model of the streets outside of the hold, that appears to be made out of rock. A little stone figure of Toph is standing in an open area about 5 minutes away from the apartments.]

I found a little bit of space, so come to this spot. I'll be ready at about 2 pm.

A.

Toph told everyone 2 pm because she wanted a little time to get this area ready. It's actually pretty small, so it's really not ideal for the kind of enormous show she'd like to put on for everyone, but it'll do. As far as she can tell through her feet, this city stretches on for miles and miles and miles. It's amazing, really - even bigger than Ba Sing Se, and Ba Sing Se was enormous - and unlike Ba Sing Se, the earth below is almost entirely covered in rock and metal over that entire expanse of city. It's pretty crazy, this future stuff.

If you get there early enough, or maybe if you just happen to come across her, you'll find her lounging on the ground eating instant ramen out of a styrofoam cup, or squashing back down her "map," or clearing out chunks of broken asphalt and cinder block by sending them to the tops of the surrounding buildings with a swipe of her fist. She seems pretty focused on these little tasks.

B.

At 2 pm, whether people are there or not, she's ready. It's time for some exercise after sitting around for two weeks. She stretches, does some push ups and sit ups, and finally plants her feet flat on the ground. Thrusting her arms forward, a sheet of rock suddenly sprouts from the ground, and she turns about 30 degrees and does it again, until there's a ring around her.

Whether you just want her to show you some tricks, or you want to challenge her, it's best to just walk up and announce yourself!

...Otherwise you might get a sidelong, suspicious glance from her as she waits for you to say something, especially if you're a stranger or someone she's never met in person.

Comments

[controlledvariable]

[Steph huffs a laugh; delicate isn't exactly a word that gets associated with her very often.]

That would be a good guess, I've never even heard that term before. I'm a vigilante. [It still feels strange to talk to people where it isn't instantly obvious what she is. She's used to the suit being a recognizable symbol.

Although it hasn't escaped her notice that Toph is blind. The girl still seems to see, though, just not with her eyes. Steph isn't sure if that means she can percieve the suit or not, or if whoever Toph "sees" doesn't translate well to details.]

[barefootbender]

[Oh yeah, she's blind. Toph isn't really looking at her as they talk, just sort of in the general direction of where her voice is coming from. Not really because she doesn't know where to turn her head, but because that's how she does things. As far as her clothes go, whatever image might be printed on it is lost to her.]

A vigilante, huh. Rough place where you're from?

[controlledvariable]

It can be. [Gotham especially, but she has a lot of feelings about her city and sometimes she doesn't like disparging it.] I was thinking I might see how I go against the earthbending master.

[barefootbender]

Oh yeah?

[that earns an interested grin from her. She shuffles her feet on the floor a little, silently sizing her up.]

Been a while since I dealt with anyone who moved like Twinkletoes does. You're not keeping any kind of... crazy other-world superpower from me though, right? Eye laser beams? Flying? Anti-earthbender magic?

[controlledvariable]

Twinkletoes? [There's an interesting comparison , but she laughs before answering the question.] I'm a baseline human, no powers or anything, I'm just armed with a bo staff and a couple of projectiles.

[She could not have mentioned the batarangs, since they might give her an edge, but she figures full disclosure is best in a friendly spar.]

[barefootbender]

[Projectiles are a difficulty for her, but it's not impossible to deal with. She considers for a moment.]

Alright. Let's see what you're made of, then!

[controlledvariable]

I'll try not to win by too much.

[It's cocky, but overly so, played up enough to indicate that she's mostly just talking shit, as is necessary for this sort of thing.

She moves a few feet back, near the centre of the area Toph's set up in, and flicks out her staff, settling into a stance.]

Ready when you are.

[barefootbender]

Alright.

[Toph takes a few steps after her so they were essentially fairly spread out from the center.]

First person out of the ring loses!

[and with that, it starts. But Toph doesn't do much other than lower herself into an open stance and wait.]

[controlledvariable]

Works for me.

[For a moment, she's still, watching Toph and weighing up how she wants to play this.

Rushing in head first has generally worked well for her, so she starts running towards Toph, light on her feet and fast. She doesn't expect to actually make it to Toph before the other girl responds, but it's a way to get things started.]

[barefootbender]

[the light footsteps make it a little harder for Toph to follow where she is, but not that much farther. She can respect that strategy of just charging head-on, though. Toph doesn't make any effort to move out of the way as she charges, but when she gets close enough, she slides one foot across the ground and brings a stone wall up in front of her from out of the cement.]

[controlledvariable]

[Wall.

A significant amount of Steph's instincts tell her to stop right now before she goes crashing into that wall, but instead she leaps at it, hauling herself up and over. She barely stays still for a second, simply jumping back down to ground level close enough to Toph and hoping to use her bo staff to sweep the girl off her feet, if she can.]

[barefootbender]

[She senses Steph's feet leave the ground, and they return a moment later on the other side of the wall, but she's a chess move ahead with that kind of evasion. Firing rock after rock into the air blindly (literally) was mostly just a waste of energy. Toph got by with waiting for just the right moment to strike. Hopping backwards, she doesn't even realize she's dodged a bo staff. Instead, she's making room for her to swing her fists to one side and send the wall sliding towards her, like it was trying to sweep her away.]

[controlledvariable]

[There's barely enough time for her to flip back out of the wall's path, and it clips her left leg as she does, turning her landing into more of a stumble. It doesn't take her long to right herself again, the armour and support in her boots having absorbed most of the impact, though she's sure there'll be a bruise later.]

Not bad.

[There's an exhale of breath that could be a laugh, and she's going to still for a moment, one hand braced on the ground, ready to spring as she waits to see what Toph might throw at her next.]