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For Honor (ATLA Waifu Catalog Zuko SI) Chapter 46
🕑 Added 2023-05-12 04:01:41 +0000 UTCMai
The sound of cheers was ringing in her ears but Mai really couldn’t bring herself to care, perhaps the atmosphere was getting to her but being surrounded by so much noise was exciting. Everyone around her seemed to have a favorite and yet…Toph’s cheers seemed to be the smallest. She still had her group, loyal fans who cheered on her, and the occasional idiot that had a banner for her to see which was obviously impossible.
Many in the Fire Nation had said that those in the Earth Kingdoms had rocks for brains but Mai didn’t think it so real until she saw how they hollered at the man called Boulder.
“We love you boulder!”
“Crush them all Boulder”
“Bury them boulder!”
“I want to have your child”
That last one made her do a double take since the one desiring a child seemed to be a man, she wasn’t the only one as the people close to him stared dumbfounded at him too but a quick cheer for the Big Bad Hippo got their attention.
The stage names were very stupid, entertaining, but stupid. Mai briefly wondered what kind of name she would have if she were a fighter like the ones in the arena, what name would Zuko or Azula have? Something involving dragons probably, Ty Lee would have something dumb like the Sexy Flexy Lady or she would go in with a clown circus name.
The image of Ty Lee in clown makeup appeared in her mind making Mai shudder, that was not something that brought a smile to her face.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Let’s get ready to Rumble!” the announcer finally appeared on stage, his little podium taking to the air as he talked, and fittingly with his declaration came a rumble from the earth but it wasn’t any earthbender causing it but the feet of the spectators smashing the ground. “Tonight! We have a special fight ready just for you! Tonight! Our champion will fight in a free for all, no-holds-barred fight! putting her title on the line for a chance at a greater price!”
With a flourish, the earth started splitting and from the middle of the arena Toph emerged, her posture was completely different than when she was at home, she was laid back but ready and her gait was exaggerated as if she truly wasn’t able to guide herself all that well.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the blind bandit!” Well, it was time for Mai to cheer, it wouldn’t do to break the first promise she had made to her new friend and a chorus of voices joined her as they chanted.
“Blind Bandit!”
“Blind Bandit!”
“Blind Bandit!”
“Blind Bandit!”
Mai was going with the flow, and she was happy to see that many of the people that cheered for the other fighters started to join in on the cheer for the ruling champion. Finally, the announcer raised a hand and surprisingly the people immediately quieted down as he started speaking again.
“Now for our next contender, you know him! You love him! The strongest man in the arena! It’s my pleasure to let him onto the scene, The Boulder!”
Calling The Boulder’s entrance dramatic wouldn’t be doing it justice. The man dropped from the ceiling into a throne carved out from the falling rocks that had accompanied him in his fall and the cheer that came from the audience was something otherworldly, a wall of noise that didn’t have an ending or a beginning. Mai even saw people foaming at the mouth and passing out just from the sheer excitement of that entrance.
“The Boulder is here to win! By a landslide!” the man arrogantly declared to the audience who ate up the theatrics as he posed. Mai couldn’t help but laugh at the arrogance of the man, it was like a parody of a great warrior, it was almost like Azula’s arrogance but unlike her, this man wasn’t even the local champion.
“Don’t get too comfortable on that chair Boulder or you might feel a slight rumble” Toph’s words proved to be poetic as a miniature earthquake soon made itself known as it threw The Boulder from his makeshift throne much to the delight of the crowd who started hollering as Toph made her challenge.
“The Boulder doesn’t like to hurt little girls but he will make an exception for you!” the man pointed at Toph’s face and the ‘OH’s’ and ‘AH’s’ of the crowd got a lot louder.
The announcer put himself in between the two earthbenders pointing at two separate corners of the place “Things are getting hot and heavy here in the arena but let’s not forget that we have many more fighters to present! So without further ado here is a man that will come right for your head! The man with the painted face! Headhunter… and what’s this?! From the depths of the earth comes a man that attacks from below! A man with the most unusual earthbending style in the world…Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Gopher”
The two new fighters appeared at the same time from different places, The Gopher came in right below the boulder drawing out a scream of surprise from the arrogant fighter and laughs from the crowd, and on the other side, the shadow of the Headhunter came right for Toph’s head who managed to dodge at the last second.
The crowd went wild at the blatant hostility among the fighters, there was an electric atmosphere in the arena and the fight hadn’t even properly started yet.
“And now to put an end to our presentation, the last two fighters who will compete for a chance at holding the belt! This man can cling to any surface for the most devastating surprise attacks, he can cling onto the opponent with his rock-hard grip The Gecko!”
A beam of light pointed at the ceiling where the aforementioned man was crawling around without a care in the world and just like his namesake he quickly moved down on all fours towards the arena much to the delight of the younger members of the audience.
“Now last but not least, he weights two hundred and fifty pounds, he can chew on rocks as if they were candy and he is the roughest! the toughest! The Big Bad Hippo!”
It would have been funnier if the man didn’t have teeth comparable to a hippo and if he hadn’t started chewing on a piece of the ring as soon as he entered the scene, as he walked the arena swayed from side to side and the Hippo spewed rocks at the feet of the other competitors, some dodged like the Gecko and Headhunter, others blasted them apart like the Gopher and the Boulder and the champion took it all in stride grinning in the direction of the Hippo.
“Ladies and gentlemen let’s begin!” as soon as the words were said the lights turned off and a man carrying a torch came running to the arena, he was dressed in a mockery of the modern Fire Nation uniform and surprisingly he held a startling resemblance with the new general of the Fire Nation that was making waves with his plans of attacking the North Pole “What’s this? It seems like there is an intruder in the arena, fighters! Why don’t you show this Fire Nation scum how we do things over here? Let’s send him back crying to the Fire Lord”
The crowd booed at the man who seemingly was named Fire Nation Man, as if that hadn’t been obvious enough, Mai had heard of him from Toph, he was the so-called heel, the guy that they beat up to make things more exciting, according to Toph they paid him quite a lot because no one really wanted to be the guy that gets beaten up while the crowd cheers. Mai hoped that he had gotten his money’s worth because the fighters seemed to be bristling with energy.
“Beat the Fire Nation!”
“Fuck him up!”
“Bury him!”
“Make him eat dirt”
“Boulder I want your child!” Mai snorted as the Boulder’s fanboy screamed his dream again and the brief silence that came after his declaration was an awkward one but it wasn’t before long that the rest of the crow decided to continue shooting encouragement to the contestants.
“Destroy him!”
“Fuck him up!”
And just like the crow was asking, the fighters moved. The Gopher went underground and pulled the legs of the Fire Nation Man and gave him a nasty hit to the balls as a parting shot, the Gecko pinned his arms to his sides so that he couldn’t escape while the headhunter delivered two great hits to the Fire Nation Man’s head leaving him swaying on the spot.
The Boulder and the Big Bad Hippo then came at him from opposing sides and Mai had to wince as the poor bastard was made a sandwich by them, Mai was sure that at least half of his ribs were broken. Toph came running at him atop a mountain of stone that resembled a wave but just when it was about to smash the man she jumped from it making her attack disappear, there was a brief moment of confusion but that confusion turned to cheers when the wave reemerged from beneath the man and launched him out of the arena.
The roar of the crowd was louder than ever and Mai decided that perhaps this type of spectacle wasn’t so bad. She would definitely take them over her mother’s reunions with the rest of the noble ladies back home.
