1347/Friendships Across Lifetimes

Friendships Across Lifetimes
Date of Scene:	16 January 2015
Location:	Asian Plains
Synopsis:	Ziggy and Toph find themselves in the Earth Kingdom, but not the one Toph is familiar with. In this newly unified world they stumble across a certain Avatar...
Cast of Characters:	20, Ziggy Grover, 688

---

Ziggy Grover has posed:
That Damn Rock Lee.

Ever since he'd put it in Dr. K's mind that Ziggy Grover could be training -just- a little more, improving his performance as a Power Ranger, Dr. K had been putting him through some -regiments-.

And while he was sure Dr. K was practicing some form of tough love, this might -take- the cake.

"Come on, spaz lord! I ain't got all day!"

Yeah. Toph love, as it were. Some days, like the cannon in the fridge, it was fairly easy to tell when it was -that- time for Dr. K. This had to be another one of those.

"Ok, here I come...!"

And while Ziggy had learned that Toph liked very much to use the earth and mess with -his- balance, the... unorthodox methods and survival instincts honed from running away from the cartels in Corinth had taught him much.

So it was only a little tumble here, a leap there... a few setbacks in being knocked backward by rocks.... but sooner or later, he'd caught on... be as quiet as possible, be as spazzy as possible, and...

TRIP...

And be as unfortunately unlucky as possible and he could well grab ahold of Toph and accidentally hit his teleport device...

-ZAP-

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Sparring is always fun, though indeed, Toph is a busy girl with all of her important tasks as a junior officer in the Union. Nevermind that her supervising officer is the one who decides to fill her time with all of the lessons that girls ought to know. Still, she can always come up with an excuse to go sparring instead.

    So when Ziggy had asked, she had been eager to get going and toss some rocks around. What she wasn't prepared for however was to be teleported somewhere.

    "Just freaking /great/!" she grumbles, huffing as she crosses her arms across her chest. Still, this place seems rather familiar somehow, even if she can't put her finger on it right away. The open plains here with the hills and forest nearby doesn't seem bad though, and there seems to be some roads leading off somewhere, but it's beyond reach of her seismic sense. "You see anything specific about this area, Spaz lord?" Toph asks Ziggy. "This should be a Unified world, and there ought to be a warp portal nearby anyway. So I don't think you messed up /too much/."

Korra (688) has posed:
Where are they?

A whole heap of trouble maybe?

No. Not exactly.

Instead, not too far in the distance, a city can be seen. Sure there appears to be a river inbetween here and there, but that isn't a giant problem. After all, there's also a giant metal suspended bridge connecting a paved road not too far from where the pair land, to that city.

And yet, as the pair appear, apparently out from nowhere, there is something up above, in the sky. Something that appears to notice them as they appear and crash. Something with what looks like wings. Something that up and swoops down towards them...

Something that when it gets within a few feet of them, its wings vanish, before there's a motion like something spinning, before finally that something.... A girl in blue holding a staff, lands a few feet from the pair, in a crouch.

"Are you guys all right?" is shouted as Korra eyes the pair, apparently genuinely concerned, and for the moment, not overtly aggressive.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Quit calling me Spaz lord... the name's Ziggy. Just... okay, hold on..." De-razzing out of his suit, Ziggy taps at the communicator. "Doc? Doc...?"

There was no answer.

"Just great. Uh... there's a bridge over a river, and a road, I see a city over there. We're not in a forsakened wasteland, so it's not -my- universe... and... ... ... uh... you see that?"

Wait. Of course she couldn't see that. "There's someone floating in mid-air and coming towards us."

And then as the girl in blue lands, Ziggy waves frantically, with both hands, a spectacle wearing a leather jacket with wild hair. "Hey! Yeah! We're okay... uh... where -are- we?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Suddenly Toph blinks, turning her head slightly... wait, that is a sort of familiar sound. The moment somebody lands in a crouch nearby them however, she turns, assuming a defensive stance with her feet apart and her arms held up in front of her chest, palms facing inward. Though when the young woman speaks, it's clear that there is no immediate threat, so Toph relaxes her stance. "Yeah, at least I think so until genius over here managed to teleport us here. Whereever this is..." Toph mutters as she jabs a thumb in Ziggy's direction. "You know where the nearest warpgate is, lady?"

Korra (688) has posed:
"Right off of the road to Republic City." comes out almost instinctively. "So if you're headed to their, or The Earth Kingdom, you're good."

Of course as that's said, Korra eyes Ziggy for a moment. Especially at his almost frantic actions.

Then though, there's a blink. That is before the girl in blue eyes Toph.

"Warp.... Gate? Never heard of that. All though there's some sort of thing that appeared in Republic City a few hours ago. Supposedly it's being compared to The Spirit Portals. So if that's what you're talking about..."

Wait. Pause.

"All though if you're heading into the city like that, you'll probably get some odd looks... That is if you don't magically appear there like you just did here."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Uh... Republic City. Nope, definitely not one of mine. Then again, there's only one city left in my universe. What about you, Toph...?" Ziggy asks, before returning his gaze at Korra, tilting his head. "Really...? So you haven't encountered Warp Gates yet... wait, there's one in Republic City? That's where we need to go. Right, Toph? Toph...?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Wait a moment...

    "Earth Kingdom? How did we end up here?!" Toph exclaims and throws her arms aside. Though she seems even more confused when the lady in front of them doesn't know about warp gates. There's a look of confusion on Toph's face as she arches an eyebrow and half frowns. "I never heard of any Republic City in all of my life, and I have travelled around most of the Earth Kingdom from Gaoling to Ba Sing Se!"

    Seriously, what kind of little place in the middle of nowhere have they arrived at? It doesn't make it easier when Ziggy nags, and she groans and kicks the ground, sending a little earthen spike to unsettle his balance just slightly if she's lucky. Anything to shut him up at this point.

    "Just shut your trap for a second, Spazzy." Turning to Korra again, she looks a bit serious. "So you haven't heard of the multiverse, I take it? If so, then I guess this is another world that just unified."

Korra (688) has posed:
"..."

Okay. So now Korra just stares at Toph. She openly /STARES/ right at her.

"All right. You'll definitely draw attention. Between being blind, and looking kind of like her, you're even named after Toph?" Then there's a slight pause before the girl in blue levels a finger at the young earthbender. "Hell... You even sound a bit like a Beifong. All though calling him 'Spazzy' might be a bit of overkill in the 'be like a Beifong' department."

"And unless these 'Warp Gates' are like the Spirit Portals, I haven't. And I've never heard of The Multiverse either. What ever that is."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"What...?" Ziggy had no idea why Toph was telling -him- to shut up, when he was probably far more diplomatic and...

Whoops!

Landing on his butt, Ziggy winces, rubbing his posterior and looking up at the two of them. With a very exaggerated scowl, he looks back at Toph. "Man... another Toph...? The multiverse's going to be in trouble when all the Tophs get together, because then there's going to be something like, I don't know, a Highlander meeting and then before we know it, there can only be... mmmph?"

That might or might not have been some sort of dirt or something caught in his throat. Ahem.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "... what? Looking like who?" Toph asks when Korra talks to her. And she outright snorts when there's talk about names. "What are you talking about, dunderhead?" Here the young blind girl stands to her full impressive height of five feet and crosses her arms confidently across her chest. "I /am/ a Beifong!"

    For now Toph is more intent on talking about the multiverse. "The multiverse is a big collection of various worlds out there, all collected by warp gates. Not just your world, but worlds with magic, technology and all that crud. There's a war going on too, lots of fighting. I think our side is the best though," Toph shrugs.

    As for Ziggy's comment? "There was another one of me before, Goldie said. I don't see what's the big deal anyway. Besides, it's not like I'll have some sort of spiritual crisis or any crap like that."

Korra (688) has posed:
    For maybe the briefest of instants Korra rolls her eyes, and looks up.

"Let me guess. You're the chiefs daughter or something? Named after her mother? Somehow I'm not surprised. All though I am surprised that no one ever mentioned you before."

Of course as that's said, the girl in blue clasps her hands behind her back and moves a little to the side.

"And there's only one Toph. All though I don't know where she is. That is if anyone knows."

As for the rest of that....

"As for the whole Multiverse thing, either you're crazy, or things just got a /LOT/ more complicated. And after the whole Harmonic Convergence thing, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this... Heck, if you're telling the truth...."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Um... well, -you- might not. If you run into another you, though, I dunno... I mean, if I ran into another Ziggy, we could do the whole twins thing, and trade places and nobody would be able to tell the difference, so we could be multiple places all at once..." The out-of-uniform Power Ranger fiddles with his fingers as he considers the possibilities.

Looking up quickly, Ziggy shakes his head. "Well, I promise we're not crazy, but it -is- a little much to take. It took Dr. K an hour to explain all this stuff to me, and I'm not sure I still get it. Something about quantum mechanics, special snowflakes and multiple branches, and... well, if you're meeting us now, your universe's hooked up now."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Chief?

    Toph snorts at that. "My mother isn't the chief of anything besides fussing about how I should dress more like a lady instead of an earthbender!" she states. "I am named after no one. I am Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender of all time! And I know bloody well where I am, whoever you are!"

    Ziggy's idea makes Toph turn a bit towards him again. "Surely you could come up with better stuff than silly jokes like that, I mean... think of how handy it could be during combat!" Though Ziggy is right, they aren't crazy. Toph nods her head. "Things are complicated when it comes to the multiverse. And of course we are telling the truth! I don't even know who you are, why would I have reason to lie to you? I have better things to do with my time," Toph shrugs with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Like Ziggy said, your world is connected, and you will probably see a lot more people barging in. And not all of them are as nice as us, lemmie tell you. I might be biased, but I would recommend you join up with the Union. The Earth Kingdom from my world did just that."

Korra (688) has posed:
The whole thing that Ziggy spews about 'other you's', 'doing the twin thing', 'quantum mechanics', 'special snowflake' and the like just goes right over Korra's head. Instead, she flashes him an odd, almost deadpan, 'not amused' look, almost like she feels he's toying with her.

Of course, odds are, somewhere else in the multiverse, possibly on a world that hasn't been 'hooked up' just yet, there may very well be a version of Hant Jou who sneezes before commenting about how he wishes that there were two Go-On Greens.

Maybe.

But anyways, back here...

The girl in blue bends over slightly, so she's eye level with Toph, before flashing the blind girl almost the exact same look she just offered Ziggy.

"Right. Toph. And I'm Korra. Korra of the Southern Water Tribe. Avatar Korra. So trust me, I know who Toph is. Even if Katara hadn't told me stories about her back when she was teaching me water bending, I'd know who she is."

Then, there's a deep breath, before there's a slight nod.

"I can't speak for Republic City. Or the Earth Kingdom. I can maybe speak for the new Air Nation. Maybe. And if you want to fill me in on what's out there, let's talk. If you want to show me.... Fine."

Then there's an almost mischievous grin.

"And as for the Chief... The former chief of Republic City and its metalbending police was our Toph Beifong. And the current chief is her daughter."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"... huh. Wow, Toph, you're -old- here," is Ziggy's very simple response to that entire Korra speech.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Wait... AVATAR Korra?!" Toph blinks in confusion. "What kind of time is this? Just..." Then she blinks and snaps her fingers. "RIGHT!" Turning to Ziggy again, she explains her train of thought. Though it's for Korra too. "I heard that name before! Like... there was an Avatar Korra in the Union before, and she did some cool trick with a Coke bottle or something!" But seriously, Korra doesn't seem to believe her. So she sighs and raises her left hand, then moves her right hand to the metal bangle there. "I am the Toph Beifong, Avatar Ang's earthbending teacher... and the inventor of metalbending." Here she motions with her right hand, and the bangle on her left hand shifts, bending itself open. "And I am guessing this /is/ another version of my world, but... later. During my time, the Fire Nation is still at war with the rest of the world." Is that a mischievous grin on her lips? "You know Katara, huh? Just how is Sugar Queen doing?"

    Something does catch her attention though, and Toph blinks in confusion, bending her bangle back into place. "What do you mean, 'new Air Nation'? And this world's version of me has a daughter?!"

Korra (688) has posed:
Meanwhile, in that other, unconnected reality...

That version of Hant Jou gets blasted. For now apparent reason.

He must be paying for someone elses sins!

But back here...

Korra's gaze drifts back and forth between Ziggy and Toph for a moment.

"Yes, Avatar Korra. And it's about seventy years later. Since that's when The Hundred Year War ended. So yeah... She's old. And so is Katara. Who's considered the greatest living waterbender."

On the other hand, at the mention of /another/ Korra, there is a bit of an odd look, before The Avatar grins.

"And here I thought Avatar Wisdom was a thing of the past. I might have to see if I can find her."

As for the rest...

"Short version Toph? Yes, the Toph from here has a daughter. She's Republic Cities Chief of Police. And yes, there's Airbenders here. The bulk of the ones we know are Aangs sons and grandkids. But after Harmonic Convergence a few weeks ago, new ones have started to appear at random all over The Earth Kingdom. Since I'm not welcome in Republic City, a bunch of us including Aang's sons were getting ready to go find the new airbenders. But if you're right about the whole other worlds and a big war out there, then there's a whole new set of problems we have to worry about."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Man, benders, benders, and more benders. Dr. K was having some theory about everything being connected to the bioenergy field... she made suits that tapped into these things. Maybe she could make suits that does bending the way you do..." Pausing, Ziggy eyes Korra. "Wait, what -are- you supposed to be an Avatar of? The only Avatars I know were these things from some game where you had to help Lord British or something. Not, uh, not that I was playing those things, but they were just there when I was young and... you know. They're so... retro."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Okay, this got really weird. But also really funny. Toph's expression changes, her lips moving slightly... and then she lets out a loud bark of laughter as she leans over, hitting her thigh. "Sugar queen? The greatest living waterbendeeee--" That's all she can say before she breaks out into laughter again, though she does manage to quiet it down to a snicker. "Ooooh man..."

    Though she does look curious when Korra mentions Aang having sons and grandkids... "So he got a family huh? With who?" she asks. But she does listen as Korra explains about the new airbenders and how they suddenly showed up after some harmonic thingiemagigwhatever. "Airbenders? In the Earth Kingdom? Talk about irony, considering how different the two elements are..."

    Ziggy earns a shrug. "The Avatar is the link between this world and the spirit world. And the only one who can bend all four elements. It is a cycle that goes on and on, and..."

    Suddenly Toph pauses, her expression dropping. When she speaks again, her tone is a bit more quiet. "... since you are here, Twinkle Toes... died, huh?" It isn't really a question.

Korra (688) has posed:
Korra is right about to say, 'Do you want to tell him, or shall I show him' in response to Ziggy's question when well....

Toph answers it.

"Yeah. He did. Sorry." is instead said as Korra looks down.

"He had a good life. Or so I've been told."

Still, to see Toph go from laughing, to reacting to what happened to Aang...

There's no easy way to respond to that.

"Still. Sorry."

And then well, there's a glance at Ziggy. Again.

"Trust me. There is energy involved. But that's another, even longer story."

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Using his hands to make a 'whoosh' over his head, Ziggy looks back at Toph, then at Korra. "So, is -everyone- like, 'the greatest bender' ever? I've heard this from Toph, now this 'sugar queen'... please tell me that you people are prone to hyperbole."

There was a sudden frown. "Wait, what does a twinkletoe have to do with her being here?" Pausing, Ziggy shakes his head, waving his hands over his head. "Hold on, hold on a minute. Are we just going to stand here all day when we could be, I don't know, sitting somewhere getting a cup of coffee?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Everybody dies, but still... to know that there is no Aang in this world is kinda... sad. But Toph isn't one to get all gloomy about it, so she takes a deep breath...

    And then punches Korra in the arm with a stern look. "I guess that makes you Twinkle Toes now."

    And for that matter, there is something else that Toph can't help but wonder about. "Just how well have you mastered the elements, huh? You are older than Aang was when I began teaching him." So she should be better than him, right?

    There is a groan from Toph at Ziggy's question. "If somebody who isn't Toph Beifong claims to be the greatest earthbender ever, then they are lying sacks of shit. And Katara... well, she was Avatar Aang's waterbending master. As for her," she continues and points at Korra, "She is the reincarnation of the Avatar from my world." As for coffee? "Ugh, I hate coffee. Tastes worse than mud water." She does turn back to Korra. "Seriously though, you should come with us to Njorun Station when you can. And consider signing up with the Union."

Korra (688) has posed:
Prone to...

"No. We're not. But there aren't a lot of Waterbenders known for stopping every drop of falling rain in a storm either. Or benders who can up and start metalbending after every earthbender in the last 10,000 years has tried it and failed." is said before Korra takes a deep breath and motions towards that road.

"And like Toph said, there's only one Avatar. Now more than ever."

Of course as she starts towards the road, there is a faint snort, before she motions towards Ziggy with her staff.

"Twinkle Toes? I guess that makes you Cranky to go with... What did you call him, Spaz...?"

"Anyways, fine. I'll go see this station. And I might 'sign up'. As for the elements....." The Avatar stops, spins on one foot, and slams the other foot down on the ground, before a chunk of earth goes flying up into the air for a moment. Then, there's a punch like motion before a blast of fire goes flying at it, hits it, and knocks it up higher into the air. As that chunk comes down, Korra makes a motion with her arm, where her arm goes from down, up, and back in a wave like motion, as a sphere of water launches up from a nearby puddle and slams into the chunk of rock, slowing its decent. Then, there's an almost spinning like motion with both hands, before a funnel like wind construct leaps up, and catches that rock, finally lowering it to the ground.

"You could say I've mastered them."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Oh yes, Toph does grin when Korra seems to know the story about metalbending. "I sure showed those dunderheads." Hell yeah she is smug!

    Cranky? "I'm not cranky, I just don't put up with whatever. And he's Spaz Lord."

    Having an Avatar on their side for the multiversal conflict should be a good thing. Even more so when Korra displays her skills with bending. Toph stands still, her expression calm as she feels Korra work her bending. While she can't say much about three of the bending types, she does know what there is to know about earthbending. And she smirks just a bit. "Mastered, huh? We'll see about that, Twinkle Toes."

    Besides, there are other types of bending, isnt't there?

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Hey, hey... I'm not Spaz. There's no way. So we've got earth, water, air... all we need now is fire and heart, and then by your powers combined..." Ziggy flings his arms out. "GO PLANET!"

Pause.

"... You guys didn't watch tv much in your childhood, did you?" he sighs. "Fine." Wringing his hands together, Ziggy looks at Korra. "So... uh. You going to summon an airbus for us or something?"

Korra (688) has posed:
"If you want to wait here for a little bit..." is said before Korra does something with her staff, causing glider wings to unfold. "I can get a sky bison. Then, we can get you to your portal."

Yeah, Korra could make a comment about Cranky, buuut....

"I won't ask who that is Spaz Lord."

And with that said, Korra runs a few steps, and takes to the air with her glider.

"I'll be back soon with your ride."