“Our next match, The Boulder versus,” a man dressed in red and black entered the arena carrying a Fire Nation flag, “Fire Nation Man!”
Fire Nation Man walked across a stone bridge leading to the Lai Tai table. With each step forward, that he made the bridge behind him crumbled. As he continued his walk to the table, the crowd began to boo and hiss at the new competitor. Unable to resist the lure of the crowd Sokka joined right in with the booing.
“Boo! Boo!” Sokka had become just like everyone else in the arena taken in by The Boulder's act.
Fire Nation Man stopped once he reached the Lai Tai table and raised his flag up high, “Please to be rising for the Fire Nation national anthem,” Fire Nation Man then began to sing, “Fire Lord, my flame,” at that point in the anthem the large man dropped to one knee, “burns for thee!”
The crowd began to boo and hiss even louder. Sokka continued to join in with the booing grabbing a nearby rock cocking his arm back ready to throw it, “Go back to the Fire Nation!”
Sokka threw the rock with all his might at Fire Nation Man's head. The large competitor growled in anger at being hit in the head but had no chance to retaliate as he suddenly found himself twisted into the ground. Up to his shoulders in dirt and stone Fire Nation Man could only watch in terror as The Boulder raised himself up on a pillar of stone.
“No please no!” Fire Nation Man was begging The Boulder to spare his life.
The Boulder would hear none of the pleas from Fire Nation Man. With a mighty leap, the bare-chested man grabbed onto his knees landing hard onto the table sending Fire Nation Man flying out to the large stone next to the kids. The only thing left of Fire Nation Man was the imprint of his body where it struck the large stone.
Sokka had now been fully taken in by the act The Boulder put on for the crowd. He was now a Boulder fanatic, “Yeah! Woo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!” Sokka was now taunting the future competitors that would be challenging The Boulder, “Woo! Yeah!”
Katara looked over at her brother and rolled her eyes. Sokka had become a raving fanatic totally taken in by the spectacle of the rumble. Katara was certain that her brother had forgotten why they came to the rumble in the first place.
Ranma watched as the crowd made fools of themselves over The Boulder. One kid in particular, who looked to be not much older than him, had become a total Boulder fanatic, in the course of two matches. The kid in the first row was now taunting the next challenger The Boulder was about to face. With a heavy sigh, Ranma began to think that maybe the three kids in the first row were not at the rumble looking for someone like Toph. Ranma began to think he had been wrong about the kids all along.
To the people who came to the rumble it was a great spectacle to behold. To Ranma, the rumble was nothing more than a sham. He knew what took place behind the scenes. Xin Fu, the announcer, made certain his competitors were marketable characters that the crowd could either love (like The Boulder) or hate (like Fire Nation Man). Although they were Earthbenders, the men at the rumble were only in it for the money Xin Fu paid them. At times, Xin Fu made certain the right characters won the matches. However, Toph was a different story.
The first time Toph came to the mountainside arena with Ranma Xin Fu and the other contestants laughed at her. They believed Toph was a novelty being paraded around by her brother for comedy and a few coins. “See the blind girl who can earthbend,” at first Xin Fu thought of turning Toph into a sideshow freak he could manipulate. Then, Toph demonstrated her Earthbending abilities. It was then Xin Fu changed his tune completely.
He was nothing more than a simple muscle bound Earthbender who had yet to receive a rumble name from Xin Fu. He came to the arena under the name Mountain Crusher but he was all talk and very little bending. In three moves, Toph ended Crusher's career with the Earth Rumble smashing his leg under a rather large stone. When Xin Fu asked who she was, Toph just gave him her first name. Turning to Ranma for further answers about her bending style and her family, Xin Fu received more mystery than answers.
“The only family you have to concern yourself with is me. I find out you've harmed her in any way and I'll personally take down each and every one of you. Her bending and my hand to hand combat are one in the same. What my sister can do with stone and dirt I can do with my bare hands,” Ranma gave Xin Fu and the men of the rumble a hard cold stare to prove he was not someone they wanted to fight.
Xin Fu immediately pasted on a fake look of concern for Toph's safety around the rumble fighters, “Don't worry your sister will be in the company of one of my rumble girls at all times before and after any of her matches.”
“See that she does,” Ranma was not too pleased with the tone Xin Fu used but he knew Toph could handle herself against the older fighters.
Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes as the band in the arena began to play a cheesy upbeat tune. The Lai Tai table was a mess and in need of repairs. A man on the back of a badger-mole guided the creature over to the table where it preceded to earthbend the surface of the table into a smooth sheet of stone. As the badger-mole moved slowly across the table, a woman in white sleeveless dress paraded across the arena floor holding a placard high above her head. The placard announced the next match.
The matches continued. One by one, the challengers came and one by one, The Boulder defeated them all. The first contender burrowed through the stone like a gopher. The second contender was a thin shirtless man in a green mask. The third contender had a painted face. After each defeat, the crowd cheered even louder for The Boulder. As the crowd cheered and chanted for The Boulder, Ranma made his way down to the empty row behind the kids. Sitting down behind the trio, Ranma had a confident smile upon his face. He knew what was coming next.
“I wonder who The Boulder will fight next,” Katara was curious to see who was going to challenge the seemingly unstoppable Boulder .
Aang knew whomever The Boulder went up against would be in for a hard match, “Whoever it is he's not going to have an easy time against him.”
“Yeah! Woo! Boulder , woo!” Sokka continued to cheer and wave his arms around like a crazed fanatic not caring about finding an Earthbending teacher at the rumble.
As the crowd continued to cheer, Xin Fu stood up in his tower and raised his hand high, “Now the moment you've all been waiting for The Boulder,” Xin Fu pointed a hand at The Boulder before moving it towards the other end of the Lai Tai table, “versus your champion!”
A second woman in a matching dress now joined the woman in the white dress on the Lai Tai table. Between the two women, stood a young girl dressed in green and gold with a green and gold headband in her hair. Draped across her shoulders was a green cape with a golden lining. Worn around her waist was the prize for the rumble, the green and gold champion's belt. The girl's head was facing the stone table as she reached around to remove the belt from around her waist. Raising the belt high into the air the young girl lifted her head to reveal two milky green eyes.
“The Blind Bandit!” Xin Fu raised his fist into the air eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd. A good number of the people in the arena who were chanting for The Boulder began chanting for the Blind Bandit.
From their seats in the first row Aang and Katara sat there completely speechless unaware that behind them sat a young man with a confident and proud smile upon his face.
(Posted Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:46)
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