| abstract
| - Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph are riding on Appa's back in the Earth Kingdom. Sokka begins to get uncomfortable as he sees Aang and Katara cuddling and begs Toph not to leave him with them. Subsequently, Toph decides to bring him to appraise her metalbending school. After they land, Toph explains to Sokka what inspired her to start teaching metalbending, but Sokka puts her account aside with the knowledge that she only founded the school because she likes telling people what to do. As Sokka meets her students, they inform Toph that they have been kicked out of their school by a firebender named Kunyo, who is starting another class in the art of firebending. The man claims that since the new Fire Lord recanted his part in the Harmony Restoration Movement, he and his students are taking what is rightfully theirs. Kunyo also denies the existence of metalbending, until Toph bends a metal spear around his head. As the two of them prepare to fight each other, Sokka interferes, coming up with a less destructive solution. He suggests for the two classes to face off in three days. The sole condition of the competition is that whichever team forces an opponent to sit would net victory. As Sokka and Toph exit, Toph worries that her students cannot bend metal yet, and after seeing Kunyo's students train, she is sure that her own will be defeated decisively. Aang and Katara's arrival in Ba Sing Se beings them to meet members of the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club. They ask Aang if he would be willing to spend the night in their all-female clubhouse, which has been designed to look like the Western Air Temple. Aang gladly accepts, but Katara is unsure of her opinion of the group and feels jealous. In the Fire Nation, Zuko takes advice from his imprisoned father regarding the colonies as the ongoing dilemma of the people's fate weighs heavily on the young Fire Lord. Ozai begins telling Zuko a story involving a vacation their family had had on Ember Island. Zuko, only three years old at the time, witnessed a turtle crab being attacked by a hawk. He rescued the crab as fast as he could but realized he was condemning the hawk to starve. Zuko stood on the beach, debating whose side to take, until a wave washed him in the sea, forcing Ozai to dive into the sea and save him. However, Zuko does not understand how this story helps him with the Fire Nation colonies, so he leaves his father's cell. Back in the Earth Kingdom, Toph's students are training hard, but to no avail; they still cannot metalbend. In the other room, Sokka and Toph discuss her students and come to the subject of how she recruited them. She explains to Sokka that her bracelet "found" them. When she was in public, the bracelet would shiver ever so slightly, especially around emotional people. Toph hypothesized that the people who made her bracelet shiver could be metalbenders and recruited them, but she knows it is still only a theory as none of them has bent metal yet. Sokka offers Toph his service as a "motivational bender", saying he can motivate her students. Putting a headband on, he attempts to inspire them, but Toph and her students seemed skeptical. Sokka makes them take a strong stance, close their eyes and feel the earth. He subsequently starts throwing coins at them, hoping that the students will metalbend, but only knocks them down. After seeing his failure, Toph starts making fun of his methods and headband. At the fan club, Aang becomes distracted by spending time with the girls. Growing more jealous, Katara reminds Aang of the main reason they are in the Earth Kingdom. The two leave, and Aang tells Katara that even though it was a simple fan club, that the girls reminded him of being back with the Air Nomads, causing Katara to regret her selfishness. The following morning, Zuko brings more tea into his father's cell and again confronts him concerning the significance of the tale, to which Ozai sternly responds that either decision he could have made regarding the fates of the hawk or the turtle crab would have been the correct one because the Fire Lord's decision, by divine imperative, is always the right one. A bitter argument promptly ensues between father and son, with Zuko angrily denouncing Ozai's lack of belief in right and wrong and promising that he, Aang and the Earth King would come to an agreement as to the fate of the colonies. Ozai responds that he has heard rumors regarding the Harmony Restoration Movement and chides his son for continuing to pursue a negotiated settlement to the crisis. Ozai believes the Earth King will stiffen his resolve this time out and use force to remove the Fire Nation colonials from Yu Dao to save face following years of incompetent rule and past Fire Nation humiliations. He says if Zuko were a true Fire Lord, he would defend the Fire Nation colonials with equal vigor because his subjects are an extension of his divine will. However, when Zuko firmly places faith in Aang's efforts to resolve the crisis because he is on the side of right, Ozai angrily declares that the Avatar is a relic of the past attempting to impose his will on a situation that can only be decided by force and implies his son trusts Aang's judgment over his own. When Zuko fails to respond to the obvious insinuation, an enraged Ozai orders his son to remove himself from his sight. As Zuko angrily departs the prison, his leave is witnessed by Suki, who had secretly followed Zuko there, concerned over his frame of mind. Toph's students continue their training, but still cannot metalbend. Toph is so disappointed and worried that she does not even yell at them. Sokka suggests to Toph a new idea: they must make her students extremely emotional to get them to metalbend. Both of them try to figure out a way to get the students emotional. For Ho Tun and Penga, doom and shoes respectively are capable of causing great distress. It turns out that The Dark One, as revealed by Toph, has a name that embarrasses him greatly, which is the cause of his spiteful behavior. Toph tells Sokka the name on the condition that he never reveal it to anyone. He gives Toph the idea to construct something out of metal. Toph shows him the armory below the school, containing kid-sized Fire Nation armors. Sokka instructs Toph on what to build. Inside the Fire Nation colony of Yu Dao, Kori Morishita trains with her firebending and earthbending cousins, preparing them to defend the city from the growing threat of battle following the massive anti-Fire Nation protests outside the city gates days earlier. Kori's boyfriend, Sneers, appears following the end of her training session, and she learns from him that he was leading the protests together with Smellerbee. An argument ensues in which Sneers asks where her loyalties lie, with the Fire Nation or with the Earth Kingdom. Kori angrily responds that she is both an earthbender and a citizen of the Fire Nation and insists that Sneers choose between her and Smellerbee before storming off. Sometime later, Aang and Katara greet the Earth King. Earth King Kuei thanks them for taking care of the Yu Dao protest a few days prior. Kuei realized that Zuko desires to keep the colonies, contrary to their past agreement. Aang and Katara propose setting up a meeting between the Earth King and the Fire Lord, the waterbender noticeably concerned about Zuko's legitimate worries being pushed aside. Meanwhile, Sokka and Toph's students are enjoying the night outside, sitting down near a campfire. Sokka tells a scary story about a "winged boar spirit" that haunts the mountain, when suddenly Toph comes out disguised as the fictional spirit, which she made due to Sokka's request. The pupils scream, but The Dark One easily discovers Toph inside of metal winged boar. In order to get him emotional like the other pupils, Toph utters his name: Moo-Chee-Goo-Chee-La-Poo-Chee the Third. After all of them have become adequately emotional, Sokka attempts to inspire them to beat the firebending rival class. The students, however, are too panicked to listen. While Aang and Katara are eating at the Royal Palace, the Earth King enters proclaiming his decision concerning Zuko's position on the colonies: he will enforce the Harmony Restoration Movement by ordering his troops to march on the colonies. Tired of being manipulated and incompetent, Kuei wishes for once in his life to take control of his nation. Aang and Katara try to dissuade him, but fail. Earth King Kuei goes as far as to say that if Aang does not join his cause, he stands against him. Sokka meets Toph in front of the metalbending school the night before their face off with Kunyo's students. He tries to tell her about another idea for motivating the students, but Toph interrupts him, telling him how she achieved metalbending: when she first performed metalbending, it was in a tiny, metal cell when Xin Fu and Yu were taking her back to her parents. The thought that she was going to be made into something that she is not caused her to experience pain and pressure, feelings that she does not wish for her students to experience because of her. From now on she will not try to make her students be something they are not: metalbenders. Therefore, Toph plans to go up to Kunyo tomorrow and sit down, thus forfeiting the competition. Unbeknownst to Toph and Sokka, Ho Tun, Penga, and The Dark One have listened in on their conversation from inside the building. Aang and Katara decide to travel to Yu Dao to evacuate the colonists before the Earth Kingdom's army arrives. Before boarding Appa, Aang comments that Kuei is right in that Zuko broke his promise to remove the colonies from Earth Kingdom soil, knowing that promises, like the one that he has made with Zuko, should never be broken. Yee-Li, who is spying on the couple, sends a messenger hawk to the Yu Dao Chapter of the Official Avatar Aang Fan Club stating that their help will be needed. The next morning, the rival firebending class comes to the school. Kunyo is ready for the match and taunts Toph. Knowing that her students cannot metalbend, she says he has already won and begins to sit down. Suddenly Ho Tun enters and bends a few coins of metal at Toph to get his teacher's attention and to stop her from forfeiting. The other two students are also present and start metalbending at the firebender students. They release a barrage of coins at their opponents and eventually get Kunyo to sit down, winning them the match and their school. Afterward, the students explain to Toph and Sokka how Toph's words inspired them to learn metalbending, in turn inspiring Toph to get back to training her students. Back at the Fire Nation Royal Palace, Mai confronts Zuko, and they have an argument. Mai, upset that Zuko is keeping secrets from her, tells Zuko that she believes he cares more about his secrets than about her and leaves him, exiting despite Zuko's pleas that he still loves her. As she leaves, Suki enters the throne room, asking him if she or the Kyoshi Warriors could help in some way, and that they are worried about him. She further states that she, specifically, is worried about him. General Mak enters the throne room, reporting that the spies from the Earth Kingdom have sent a message saying that the Earth King and his army are ready for an invasion of Yu Dao. In the Earth Kingdom, Kuei has gathered his soldiers, ready for war. Near the Earth Kingdom, Fire Lord Zuko has gathered his fleet, ready to fight for the sake of the colonies.
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