Scandals (ZUTARA)

Chapter 13 : Suki ❤︎ | Pro-bending Tryouts Pt 1

Wikipedia : Pro-bending is a popular sport in the world of Avatar that involves two teams of three benders, one from each of the main bending arts besides air-bending . The objective of the sport is to gain as much territory within the ring as possible within three minutes, or, alternatively, to drive the members of the opposing team over the edge of the ring and into the water pit below.

The pro-bending tryouts are gonna take place in the gym after school. Since me and Sokka had Fencing last period, we walked to the gym together.  He tries to talk to me, but I ignore him in the bitchiest way possible. I must admit, it's difficult. After all, Sokka's my best friend.

The gym is transformed into a large pro-bending stadium. Hundreds of students and teachers sit eagerly on the bleachers, waiting for it to start. 

Sokka and I find a few untaken seats in the front row so settle onto those. Soon, Aang joins us and takes a seat beside me. "Nice day, isn't it Aang?" I say, trying to make conversation.

"Yep," he replies awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers. "What's going on between you two?" he  asks after a while, turning to me furiously.

"Nothing,"I reply dishonestly. Sokka opens his mouth to speak but then doesn't say anything. 

" If you guys don't tell me what's going this instance, I'm going to vacuum the air out of your lungs," he says threateningly and I scoff. Yeah right.

"Suki won't talk to me after she saw me and Yue kiss," Sokka blurts. "But the thing is, Yue forced herself onto me..."

"Shut up, it's starting!" I hiss as the room goes almost pitch black.

Suddenly, a spotlight hits Coach Jha. "Morning everyone," he announces from outside the pro-bending ring. "Welcome to ATLA's annual pro-bending try-outs. Today we will find out who will be will join ATLA's national pro-bending. Let the games begin!"

Everyone apart from the three of us stand up and cheer as he finishes. I don't see why we should bother applauding someone who's welcome speech was only 3 sentences, but then again, there's a lot of things I don't see.

When the spotlight changes from Coach Jha to Toph, who enters the ring wearing odd-looking goggles. Another girl (Aroza) also enters the ring. She is a combustion-bender, but I could only tell that because of the tattoo of an eye between her brows. When they are ready to fight, a robotic voice states "READY? SET? GO!"

The begins with Aroza aiming a straight line of orange fire at Toph. She gracefully avoids whilst swaying her hands unnoticeably.  Solid disks fly towards Aroza's face, making her stumble back in surprise. When one hits her tattoo, Aroza collapses onto the floor. A bell rings to signal the end of match. "Toph Beifong wins!" Coach Jha announces. "She will now move forward to the next round."

Me, Sokka and Aang all cheer, extremely happy and proud of Toph. 

"Our next battle's gonna be wicked! Toako Yami against Luya Sansrow!" Coach Jha exclaims. 

A muscular boy enters the ring with a sour expression on his face as he sees Luya, a more quiet reserved type of girl, enter the ring nervosuly. After the robotic announcements, the match begins fiercely. Luya shoots a strong surge of water at Toako's head, and he falls into zone 2.  When the green light shows,  he watches Luya angrily as she is granted the opportunity to step into his side of the ring. Furious, Toako blasts rays of fire directly towards Luya, who tried bending a shield of water to resist, but ends of dodging them because she's grown weak and is thrown into the water below. "Toako Yami wins!" Coach Jha says and the digital screen propelled above the ring shows him selected to continue playing in the next round with Toph.

"That was a tough one," Coach Jha sighs as he watches Luya get dragged out of the water. "But now it's time for our next match of the day. Let's welcome Nulak Sado and Sho Fimi. Water VS Earth!"

Since I don't know Nulak or So, I just watch poor old Luya who sits at the back of the gym coughing up water. Katara is beside her, trying to warm her up with towels, but Luya is still shivering. 

"Nulak Sado wins!" Coach Jha exclaims, returning my attention back tot he match. "Next is For Princess Azula of the Fire Nation against Katara Hakoda," he says and my mouth drops open. Azula will show Kat no mercy.

Slowly, Katara steps onto the ring anxiously. Azula enters with more confidence, smirking as she plays around with evil facial expressions. 

Even though the match started, Azula and Kat don't move. 

"I'm sure you've heard a lot of stuff about me," Azula says, smirking.

"Yes, I heard all about how Toph made your pants came down infront of your friends," Katara teases. 

Everyone, including me, laughs. "You're a bitch!" Azula yells aiming a line of blue fire straight towards Katara's chest. "I don't know why my brother even likes you!" she continues. "You're nothing but an ungrateful brat!"

"No," she says, moving her hands gently. "You're wrong."

Suddenly, Katara produces a water-whip that comes slicing down Azula's head, slamming her onto the floor. The green light glows and Kat walks into Azula's territory. Azula gets up frantically, and sends a fire-bending explosion at Katara. In the end the both fall into the water pit, and the audience stares in shock. "BOTH PLAYER 1 AND 2 ARE ABLE TO ASCEND TO THE NEXT ROUND!" Coach Jha says. 

"And for the next match, we have Tova Mang against Karra Zimbabwe . Earth VS Water! Let's give this boy vs girl match a cheer shall we ladies and gentlemen?" Coach Jha asks and the crowd cheer in excitement.

Tova and Karra enters the ring in professional pro-bending suits. 

Every thing they do is in sync. They attack each-other at the same time, and even avoid each-other at the same time. I notice how Karra doesn't wait for him to attack and instead, strikes him whenever she has the chance, but sadly, she is cornered, and falls into the pool bellow. 

"Tova wins!" Coach Jha announces. "Next we have Prince Zuko VS Sha Seshin!"

When the match begins, Zuko and Sha begin to attack each-other immediately. Zuko perfectly the disks Sha aims towards him. She earth bends differently to Toph, which is an advantage to Zuko. He quickly gains territory over her first zone, and Sha freaks out. Every time fire comes her way she runs, as if it will burn her with just one touch.

 When she runs out of disks to throw, Sha is right at the end of the ring, breathing heavily. "I'm done," she blurts, collapsing onto the ground.

"PRINCE ZUKO WINS!" Coach Jha yells with triumph. "For the last match of round 1, we have Datar Tosrok against Abelia Sha."

The last match takes forever; both Abelia and Datar play safe and stay in their zones. Eventually, Datar is disqualified as he bends water from the water-pit instead of the zone lines; this causes the Earth bending girl, Abelia Sha, to win, but will she make it to round 2? I doubt it.