Chapter 20 - Bumi vs. Toph
Despite their pleas, discontented complaints, and urgent desire for more information, the Avatar's team was not allowed to leave the palace. No one was yet able to go in search of the ill-fated Dagoth to question him about what was happening. Trying not to escalate the conflict, Bumi peacefully resolved the situation by offering to let them question one member of his team about anything they wanted to know.
As it turned out, Ty Lee had not been taken far away; she was only in the neighbouring building, preparing to set off. The road to Ba Sing Se was long, and they still needed to get to know their new friends. After all, they only knew each other from a single source. When she met her former team and listened to a barrage of unconscious questions, perhaps even accusations that she was mean for not telling them anything earlier, Tai Li responded peacefully and with a smile, as she usually did, answering them all at once:
"Dagot believed that you would understand him because he had done invaluable services for each of you. He taught you, Aang, what it means to be the Avatar, and gave Toph an unprecedented incentive to strive for development. He showed Katara the magic of water and taught her techniques that are rare even in the North, and helped Sokka become an excellent marksman. Let us repay him for his support by supporting him when he needs it.
"We just want to know what's going on..." Aang felt uncertain. This speech was clearly intended to throw them off balance, but none of the embarrassed people thought of such a revelation.
Ty Lee struggled to hold her tongue. She understood why she couldn't reveal all the details; after all, they were fighting a threat that hadn't yet materialised, doing the same thing the Fire Nation had done, destroying their enemies with a pre-emptive strike. Whatever they said would sound like a broken record. But she made an attempt anyway, carefully testing the waters with her friends:
"What if I say that spirits can threaten the whole world?
"No, that can't be. We can negotiate with them," Aang smiled innocently. He stood with such a kind face, as if he were absolutely certain of the answer. "What... does Dagoth have a different opinion on this matter?
"He's looking for proof to the contrary," Tai-Li's deep, languid voice sent a shiver through the group. In the end, she convinced the team to stay in Omashu for a while, train, listen to the news, and, as they told themselves, get all the answers. They did not see Tai Li again after that day; her important mission in Ba Sing Se had to be carried out quickly and under the seal of secrecy.
The few days in Omashu were indeed good, even if the mood in the team was somewhat subdued, but Bumi was happy to show off the achievements their city had made in metallurgy and technology. New production lines and a new standard of living had turned this place into a paradise for most of the population, but there was one problem... a pair of spirits had risen from the bottom of the mountain a couple of months ago. Completely unexpected, no one had imagined that such creatures could live in the mountain, but they had nearly killed some of the miners. Fortunately, everyone was quickly subdued by Bumi. Aang merely frowned at this first warning sign and performed a calming ritual from the palace to stop the spirits in the city from attacking the peaceful inhabitants.
A day later, the world finally shook. The Sandbender Dagoth, better known as the Avatar's companion and teacher, announced through the Lotus network that a new era had dawned! There would be no more wars or escalating conflicts, nations could unite to help each other, and anyone from any nation could go to Omasha and find work and a home in a place that would welcome any honest citizen.
Other nations were not obliged to destroy their homes and borders, but simply to accept the creation of a new world in which everyone was welcome... except spirits. There was only one requirement for joining this common world: to renounce spirits and their help. There was no need to pray at holy sites or give them important metal deposits, and there was no reason to give up your own development if some foreign beings decided to guard a mountain or a pile of iron.
When this message spread throughout the world, only in Omashu was it received with the necessary calm; no one was surprised, because they already lived with the idea of a common world. Then the North Pole expressed its support, on behalf of the Water Master Pakku, and practically all the territories where members of the Lotus held high office supported the establishment of the United Nations. The great strategists from the village of China finally decided to light their powder keg and helped him in his conquest, greatly improving the success of his expansion and making it the most successful in thousands of years.
But what would happen if the idea of uniting the peoples and quarrelling with the spirits were not supported? Conflicts would flare up, and a fight to defend their positions would begin. According to many rumours, the heavy machinery of the country of fire has already carried out raids on the territories of various peoples, forcing them to submit using only two pseudonyms: "Dragon" and "Sand Mage," which have become household names. After they demolished a couple of city walls in their path and did terrible things to some rulers, their names became associated with unstoppable destroyers of traditions.
"I can't believe Dagoth is capable of such a thing. Look, he's subjugated this strip of territory and is heading in our direction. It looks like they'll be passing through the Misty Swamp," Sokka said, sitting with a map and marking the points that, according to rumours, had been captured by Dagoth and his right-hand man. "How could he make Azula his commander? Although, it must be said, the team is excellent, they are subjugating territories like...
"Like Chin the Conqueror," said Aang, sitting in the lotus position. Meeting the team's gaze, he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I talked to Kioshi. Actually, she decided to find me herself. She said that the whole situation reminded her of a tyrant who wanted to subjugate the world, and she wanted to convince me that Dagoth was just like that...
"But that's not true," Katara came closer and patted the guy on the back.
"I understand everything. Just like I understand that spirits don't like it when nature and the world are polluted, which is why Dagoth can't make peace with them — he wants to create a world that we can't even imagine. Apparently, he and Tai Li know something else that's serious, but I think I can help them! I can try to negotiate with the spirits, send them to, say, the foggy swamp — that place often appeared in history lessons as a passage between worlds. Let's do something so that everything will be fine for everyone, the main thing is to come to an agreement with Dagoth.
"I think you're forgetting something, quick feet," said Toph, sprawled out on a comfortable sofa. "They won't let us out of here until that 'strongest' mage of the earth, named Bumi, receives a counter-order. How many times has he already refused your request? Phew, and how can he call himself the strongest if he blindly obeys someone else?
"Such a simple question... who is stronger, you or the King? - Sokka pointed his finger at Toph, knowing where this would lead. If they had to run, the Avatar definitely shouldn't enter his ultimate state, God forbid he destroy the city or simply kill Bumi. But if it was just a matter of delaying... That one question spurred Toph into a bet, in which she loudly and clearly boasted of her strength, saying that some pathetic old man was no match for her.
So they decided to test it out. After making a plan, gathering their things, and dressing up, they ran away as if nothing had happened through the passageway ToF had created. They could have done this before, and what can we say — they had done it many times before. The problem was the self-proclaimed strongest mage's excellent sense of the earth.
"Leaving again? Here he was again, emerging from the pillar of his great palace, as if the walls themselves were telling him the Avatar's location. But he didn't sense it with his senses, but with the magic affecting the ground. After all, if you have so many open chakras, you can sense everyone who is spoiling your own territory." "I warned you, Aang, to keep you safe — that's all I was asked to do. Or was I asked to feed you banana and onion soup until you died? I don't remember~
"I'm sorry, Bumi, we'll just talk to Dagoth. We understand everything, we've travelled with him for a long time and have come to trust each other, we can solve this problem together!" Aang threw his hands up in despair, hoping for a completely peaceful resolution to the conflict.
"Oh, Aang, the trust you speak of is nothing more than a delusion. Trust exists between Dagoth and Tai Li, you haven't had time to test your bond," the old man said, putting his hands behind his back and stepping forward. At that moment, Toph stepped in front of Aang with a wide grin, taking a defensive stance. "Dagot has saved Omasha from long sieges and prolonged problems more than once, and it was he who ended the war, although the world believes otherwise. I'm really not on anyone's side... but I'll help him anyway.
"Enough chatter, you old fart. Take off your rags, let's fight like men!
"Ho-ho, young lady, you have a lot of spirit," with a wild and somewhat frightening crunch, the old Tsar began to straighten his spine, removing the unpleasant hump. The cloak that had been draped over his torso revealed previously unseen bear-like muscles and hair sticking out from his armpits. "Now that's what a real earth mage should look like.
Stamping his foot, he tore out a dozen huge boulders and threw them at the fleeing children.
"You're wrong," Toff said, staring at the floor, waiting for her hair to stop blowing in the wind. Her senses accurately determined how to move, and at that moment, her fingers clenched the cobblestone flying towards her forehead.
Shush-shush-Bam*
With quick, sharp movements, she knocked the stones away with her fingers, sending them flying back at the sender. She stopped several dozen cobblestones in less than five seconds! At the same time, her quick feet lightly touched smaller boulders, crushing them into pebbles and dust, becoming a real bastion for the Avatar's team, frozen in shock. Aang stopped for a second and wanted to help, using Yangchen's style to solve the problem peacefully, but he didn't have enough strength for this kind of battle.
"Just run, I'll handle it," he said. The stones scattered across the sand spun sharply and flew in dense clusters toward Bumi, forcing him to create a stone shield. Direct contact with the enemy was lost. The team began to run around them, the trajectory of the next attack was almost unpredictable. "Yeah, you're not bad. But not as good as me!
But even though her eyes didn't open for a second, Toph saw everything. Swinging her palm and striking the ground, she caused a powerful tremor. So powerful that the palace itself began to shake and frighten everyone nearby. Boomer, who was hiding underground and intended to quickly grab the fleeing Aang, was simply blown out of there and found himself in the air against his will.
"Can you see me?" the king asked, a little surprised, until the young girl found a way to strike him even harder.
"This seems to belong to someone from Kyoshi," said Toph, throwing metal fans out of her sleeves and making them spin above her palms. There was no situation that required her to awaken the metal, but she simply knew that it could be controlled and, moreover, that it was very easy to do so. Boom felt that there wasn't a single speck of ordinary earth in them, so he realised that she was just like Dagoth — she could sense what was happening beneath and above the ground, feeling every tiny grain of sand. Then, making the fans spin faster, she threw them in a straight line, attacking directly at his forehead.
"Ha, you're a real earth mage! Without even touching the ground, Bumi waved his hand and at super speed made the nearest column become a shield," "But even Dagoth was afraid to use Metal against me, do you think you're capable of anything? Compared to him, you're just a student!
And even if you block it, you could dodge such an attack even in the sky, but there was something Boomerang hadn't taken into account.
"Who said I'd only fight with metal?" Stamping her foot, Toph raised a giant cloud of sand, which allowed her to navigate perfectly in all three dimensions. She could see every tiny detail that the grains of sand touched, and until her view cleared, she threw a super massive amount of metal at the Tsar with all her heart, which, thanks to this very technological progress, began to appear everywhere.
Shuuuuh*
"Unpleasant," Boomer said, landing on the wall of the nearest house and looking at the couple of pieces of iron sticking out of his body. He looked innocently at the flying bison. They managed to free their pet, and Toph was already sitting on his head, waving her hand cheerfully in response. "I didn't let you go yet, milk-suckers.
Pulling a large harpoon with a stone chain attached to it out of the ground, which fit comfortably in his hand, Bumi gave it a strong push and was about to use this guided projectile to tie up the bison's legs or even its entire body... but then the Avatar showed up.
"Enough," he put all his strength into it and, as Yangchen had taught him, managed to take control of the stone by simply breaking it. Finally, looking at the surprised Bumi, he shook his head, "For the sake of our old friendship, stop chasing us. The fate of the world is being decided right now, and since I am the Avatar, I cannot not participate in this."
The two figures stared at each other in silence, moving further apart with every passing second. Should he run after them or even knock Appa down? It was possible, Bumi thought, he was sure he had enough strength to throw a rock at such a short distance. But after thinking about Aang's words, he put his hands behind his back.
"You're on your own now, Dagoth. I think I only did it because the spirits are starting to annoy me too," he said, pulling a slightly bloodstained letter from his bosom and reading the text that had made him stop the Avatar.
"The three days you gave me should be enough to burn the foggy swamp and cut off the spirits' access to our world forever.
P.S. A personal request: if you delay Aang for a little longer, I'll have time to deal with the Face Stealer. A week will be enough for me to prepare perfectly, even for a battle with the local Guru... Thank you for your help."
"I'm not going to make your plans any easier with such a small thing. It will be very, very difficult for you to deal with all this...