325/Mu - The Wilting Lotus

Mu - The Wilting Lotus
Date of Scene:	01 August 2014
Location:	Avatar World <AW>
Synopsis:	After several days of not hearing from Toph, some of the Union decide to look for her themselves and head to the home of her parents.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 20, 43, 73, 75, 151, 172, Steve Rogers, 301, 424
Tinyplot:	Mu

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    On a normal day the Union hears a lot more from the outspoken earthbender among their ranks. Whether it be her esteemed and loudmouthed opinion, a snarky comment, darling nicknames for her fellow Unionites or how best to handle stuff with earthen qualities, Toph has only been happy and quite eager to speak. But the last days it's been quiet.

    Perhaps too quiet.

    Likewise Malibu's beaches have been pristine without weird sand formations and rock shapes bursting forth to adorn the landscape, the leftovers in Tony's fridge have been left alone, and well Toph has missed her lessons, whether it be boring reading sessions with Jarvis, swimming and some half hearted complaining to Tony or sour guqin lessons with the patient teacher Ana. This is rather strange, as the tiny earthbending master has more or less moved in with Tony and Pepper since mid March. Why, she's even moved all of her stuff there into the guest room she has claimed for her own. A guest room that is surprisingly non-dirty and rather quiet

    More than that, no message has been left with anybody. Her student hasn't gotten angry calls and loud yelling about how he needs to have more rock like qualities. Most likely all of his bruises has healed up by now. Her friends have not been dragged out for sparring, ice cream or whatever nonsense Toph has been adamant about doing before. But the most telling, her supervising officer and his fiancee have not heard anything about their grubby and willful little ward.

    Just where is Toph Beifong?

    Mood music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vindWE_XnWs

    The trek to the Beifong estate in Gaoling is a relatively easy one as well as uneventful from the warp gate, at least until the people arrive at the tall walls and massive gates with the insignia of the flying white boar. As usual, two guards in typical earthbender gear are stationed there, standing tall and imposing, and well it's easy to see that they have spotted the Union forces as they arrive, their eyes widening as well. Can you honestly blame them? The last time the Union visited, they were by all appearances just peculiar men, not this group.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
When Tony said sure, let's show up in force and show Lao that Toph has real friends, he... hadn't expected quite THIS many people to decide to come with him. But hey, you know what? Screw it. They all have reason to care for and worry about what may have happened to their grubby little earthbending friend. And screw Lao Beifong if this is all just him being a dick and locking her in her room without a radio.

"Hi," he greets the guards confidently, raising one hand in an amicable wave as he approaches. They ought to know who he is, at least. "Is Toph here? She said she was coming to visit Gaoling but she hasn't checked in in a couple days. I'm getting a little worried."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley decided to come along with the group.

    She isn't a particularly close friend of Toph, or anyone that Toph really knows. She doesn't have super strong abilities, and she isn't a master detective. She isn't sure she'll even be needed, and she's reasonably sure she won't be.

    But she has a strong heart, a fact told to her more than once. She needs to help. One of their own has gone missing and she refuses to let that go.

    The earthbender soldiers see a four foot tall lizard girl with a mild frown on her face. She has her hood pulled up, casting a shadow over her face. Her hands are tucked into her sleeves. Her red eyes leer out at the pair of them, glowing that faint and ominous red. She moves at a slightly shuffling pace, one of her legs still bruised after that encounter with the Draug.
    She has brought her armor journal and the pair of daggers, the latter of which are hidden in her clothing.

    She stands somewhere off to the side, attempting to use all of her visual prowess to investigate the area directly around her, looking for anything out of the ordinary with a quick scan or two. She tries not to be invasive with /people/, but she's on edge. She's paranoid about this sort of thing, especially after all of her experiences in Ivalice and seeing the height of betrayals by those that should have been trustworthy or responsible.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica isn't exactly a close friend of Toph's, but she likes the little Earthbender and usually ends up amused whenever the blind girl speaks up on channels. It's a regular occurrence for sure, and Freddie's attentive and clever. Not enough perhaps to recognize the girl's absence, but more than enough to immediately realize something must be up when Tony mentioned he wanted to look for her. As a "firebender" actually held in some regard by at least one incarnation of the Earth Kingdom, she figured she might as well go along. That, and she actually quite likes a lot of those who have decided to come throw their weight around Gaoling.

    Of course Frederica wouldn't put it that way. She's no doubt here 'just in case'. Unspoken but fairly obviously implied, that just in case is to 'keep Tony Stark from doing anything monumentally stupid' or something similar.

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Toph was an ally of the Assassins. Besides that, she's been a good friend and also a very reliable asset to Ezio's ends as well as a fine Union Elite and officer in training. She's also something of a terror to deal with, and considering the family issues she has, Ezio is half-expecting to deal with yet another rich asshole worst-case scenario.

    He isn't showing up in a dress suit, that'd just skyline him as a rich man on the road and an easy target. THus, he arrives in his traveler's robes, armed to the teeth and carrying himself as a mercenary and bodyguard for the Unionites or whatever.

    For the time being, Ezio remains quiet, letting Tony be Tony first, keeping on standby if a fight breaks out.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Seeing as he's seldom on the radio himself, Mithos hasn't noticed Toph's absence there as much as some others might've, but what Tony said was still enough to make him concerned, and more than enough to get him to break away from his epic gardening quest for a while. Thankfully, while he hasn't been to the Beifong Estate itself, he has been pointed in its direction on a previous tour of the city, so he knows enough to find Tony, at least. When he does, though, he doesn't add anything to what Tony says. He just waits, watches, and tries his best not to look like a quivering mess.

    Gnome, of course, is here too. Strange as it may sound to some, the spirit of Earth itself from the homely world of Aselia has found a kindred spirit in Toph, and he has just as much emotional investment as the little, blond antihero-to-be, so he wants to be here for whatever is going down. He, too, somehow manages to look a little more serious than usual - even in spite of the omnipresent red bow on his head - and once the duo arrives behind Tony, he immediately folds his arms and assumes the most intimidating stance that he possibly can.

    And this time, even if it may well be the -only- time, he has the good sense to stay quiet.

Steve Rogers has posed:
On the one hand, Toph is not only Steve's friend, but very nearly an Avenger in her own right by now. On the other, for all that his gut says this might be a rescue mission, he doesn't REALLY want to show up looking like he's here for a fight.

So for lack of a better option, Steve Rogers is here in civilian attire, as Steve Rogers - but he's got a leather rucksack slung over his shoulders which Ezio, and anyone else who helped overthrow King Washington, would recognize from the 'tea parties' they had in preparation for it. Tony would recognize it too, from when Steve dropped by the Malibu house. It's nothing too fancy to look at, and it goes well enough with the dark blue shirt and black slacks he's wearing - he could just be out for a hike.

A hike that goes from New York-199999 through a few warpgates to the Beifong estate in the Earth Kingdom, enough worlds away to give topographers a headache if they were trying to ignore warpgates.

A hike that happens to be in the company of good friends and trusted allies, all of whom share is concern about one young but incredible earthbender.

Rare as it may be, Steve is content to let Tony Stark due most of the initial talking, but he gives the guards a polite, businesslike nod.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura's reasons for showing up should... be obvious. Sure, she hasn't spent that much time with Toph, but nearly everyone in the Union knows by now that Sakura is friendly with everyone. Sakura helps people! It's what she does.

    So the Beifong estate guards will see a young Japanese teenager, wearing a pastel pink dress - with sleeves long enough to hide the Hidden Blades strapped to her wrists. Not that she's expecting a fight. But it pays to be prepared, right?

    Her Key and Cards are far more visible, although most people wouldn't realise they're weapons.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
It's nothing new for Rainbow Dash to ignore the radio for long periods of time. It's not her fault that the thing is distracting! She needs to focus on her moves, and people talking into her ear all the time just results in her crashing into something about twice as much as usual. That's her story and she's sticking to it.

But even she checks in a couple times a day, usually when she's bored, and Toph at least said hi almost without fail. That wasn't enough to really get Dash's attention, because who knows what trouble the earth bender was getting into. But after a couple days, even Rainbow started to think it was a little weird. Enough that she didn't need any convincing to come with when Tony made the call. Loyalty never needs much of a reason.

"Yeah, and tell her that her friends want to play," Comes the cocky, tomboyish voice of the pegasus. Dash touches down on the end of a tree branch nearby, cerulean wings beating rhythmically as she lands. They stay partially open to keep her balance on the branch. Aparently, she doesn't care if she stands out all that much.

Maya has posed:
Maya had a special love for this world she's spent over a month just traveling the Earth Kingdom once a long time ago and never regretted it either. She had been concerned for Toph. She'd vanihsed withotu a check in. Toph was nearly as much trouble as some of the kids she was basically mom to. But there was one thing Toph would always do, she'd check in so here she was as she was making for the estate, her pale skin by local standards and bright blue hair got more than a few looks. She also takes note she's not the only one responding.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Of course they notice the people arriving, and even if they do not move from their spots for now, they are obviously watching them intently. And the reaction they get might come as a surprise as it's something that has never happened before when the Union has come calling at the gates of the Beifong estate. Girls in peculiar dresses, assassins, summoners, spirits, flying ponies, soldiers... it's quite the odd team, and they sure as hell stand out.

    As Ainsley scans the area, there is nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. The inside of the walls are calm and quiet, but... there does seem to be a fair amount of guards around. Perhaps a bit too many for such a quiet town and such serene grounds? The grounds are too large to inspect from the front gates, as the buildings seem to be on the opposite site of the estate.

    The two men glance at each other as Tony gets straight to the point after that brief greeting. Not a word is said between them. And the reaction to the question concerning Toph's whereabouts seems somewhat... terse and unfriendly as one of the guards narrows his eyes and raises his hand, gesturing for them to stop.

    "Please turn around," he states with as much authority as he can muster. "The Beifongs are not accepting any visitors today. Not even from the Union." Somehow he seems unwilling to say much more than that, not even about to comment on whether Toph is here or not. Which might make the answer somewhat obvious. After all, the Union has never been turned away from this place before, and the sudden hostility is new.

    At this point, Ainsley might notice that there is a reaction to their presence from inside. Several of the guards seem to draw notice to the talk by the front gates... and they are making their way towards the group.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"So... Toph IS here?" Tony hazards a guess, based on the unusual hostility. Man, he really was hoping this wouldn't have to get ugly for once. "Okay look," he offers a compromise, holding up a hand for the man to just... pause and consider. Looking between the both of them he acknowledges, "I know you guys are just doing your job. It's cool, I get it. But we're not here to see /the Beifongs/; we're here to see Toph. If you can't let us in, just let her know we're here so she can come out." He offers a smile, though it's rather thin and there's iron beneath. He's not stupid; but he's giving the guards a chance to change their minds without loss of face. Or damage to their faces, come to that.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"If it helps further," Steve speaks up, "we're not here to visit on behalf of the Union. We're here as Toph's friends - this is a personal call, it doesn't have to be business."

He neglects to mention that he'd be just as happy for it to STAY 'not business' ... because if this has to be a business matter, the guards might not enjoy how the visitors take care of business that stands between them and their friend.

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    This is pretty much the part where Ezio takes advantage of the fact he's kinda not 'with with' the gang here. Moving around to the side and away from the guards as he sneaks over towards a wall. Leap. Climb, climb climb climb. It's child's play for the Master Assassin. A rookie could do this in their sleep, really.

    He manages to keep along the eastern side of the yard, using the trees for cover before he makes a sprint to cover further down the path, occasionally using the bushes to hide when guards are too close to run past.

    By the time he's closer to the estate, Ezio climbs his way up to the rooftops, using blind spots to hide from the guards until he's almost at the house proper. Time to get some answers.

Maya has posed:
Maya does stand out but so do a lot of other people here, she's not looking for trouble and for once she's not the most odd thing in a gaggle of adventeruing sorts. She makes no hostile aqction as they come up towards her she folds her arms a bit.

"Toph hasn't checked in in nearly two days, she was last headeding out to check on some baby bagermoles we think something's happened to her."

Maya is being very polite right and about as formal as she gets for the most part. Those who know her or her history knows she can be a heck of a gate crasher on her own. She's not against the idea of busting their ways rough them up without killing them. However talking has not failed just yet. Also there are other options on site thank you Ezio.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley pulls her hands out of her sleeves and advances to stand near Tony. Her eyes raise to fix on one of the guards in particular, looking him right in his eyes. She glares with the most powerful frown she can possibly manage. There's nothing but utter disapproval on her face. She's practicing her unhappy looks and it looks quite exaggerated, and very fitting for a lizard person with baleful red eyes.
    She wonders up at him, "What are you afraid of, exactly?"
    She says this because of the activity of the guards inside, and she hopes that he realizes that. The sheer menace of her nearly unblinking stare shows that the only reason she isn't busting in their right now is because of the others trying to approach this in a diplomatic way.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura crosses her arms, casually. She cants her head to one side as she listens to the guards for a moment... then she turns ninety degrees, and starts to walk along the wall.

    Her Key is in her hand, and she's soon muttering her unsealing incantation. The Wand appears in her hands as she turns the corner. Then, she promptly scales the wall, but only to peek over the top.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Despite what she might claim, Frederica's actually quite willing to let Tony take the lead. He didn't get to be an officer for nothing. Over the months she's come to trust that the Union Command really do have good ideas and can be trusted with authority... though she's careful never to admit it aloud lest Tony or Ash get the wrong idea.

    Still, she's not averse to helping. "I could send up some fireworks?" she suggests in a low voice, meant only for the group around her. She's looked around the estate, what of it she can see from the outside of the walls. It's huge, but not so huge that her artillery-class flame can't reach anywhere in it. She's been working out a program. An arc of flame, followed after a certain time by the concentrated sphere of fire exploding into a large sphere. Essentially fireworks, like she's done before for celebrations.

    "If I send up some flares, Toph should be able to see them from anywhere. I think she'd come out if she can, or at least send us a message... if she can." she says, her voice slightly dour. And yes, she forgets for the moment that Toph couldn't see fireworks if they went off right in front of her. She COULD, however, at least hear them... so her offer is at least plausibly useful.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Gnome balances his shovel on his back, and stretches a bit, keeping his eyes on the guards. "Y'know, if you -really- want us to not go in there, being all ominous isn't going to do a whole lot to keep our noses out of things." He lowers his shovel and gently spikes it into the ground, wiggling his whiskers and resting both paws on its handle. Instead of pressing things or being outright hostile as one might expect, though, he simply raises a claw in a shrugging gesture and nonchalantly adds, "Just sayin'."

    Meanwhile, Mithos... balls up his fists. Less out of anger, though, and much, much more out of tension. Something isn't right here. He's not a regular visitor or anything, but he's able to make the same observation as the others: there are a lot more guards here than there were before. What does that mean? Is Toph's dad forcing her to stay inside, and this is his way of doing it? But... couldn't she still sneak out, and just beat them up if she really wanted to? And even if Lao tied her up with iron chains, she could literally bend her way out of them! Right?

    ... at this point, he's beginning to wonder if there's more to this, but it's probably best not to get worked up over nothing. He glances to Tony briefly. He seems pretty capable... right? And everyone else from the Union... they'll figure it out. He takes a breath. Yeah, no need to worry.

    His shoulders sink and his fists uncoil in relief when Tony speaks again. Yeah! Toph... should just be able to come out, and say hi. And then they'll know that everything is okay, Toph is fine, and there won't have to be a big fight over nothing. But at the same time... if they say that Toph /can't/ come out...

    He gulps. Again, he's going to try not to worry about that for the time being.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"Blah blah blah," Rainbow Dash lifts up a hoof, and waggles it around in an imitation of someone talking. She rolls her eyes. "I keep hearing you talking, but not letting us in to see our friend." The pegasus leans back, and sits herself down on the tree branch. Her tail dangles off the side, swishing and flicking with her irritation. But from her higher vantage point on the edge of the tree branch, she turns her attention on the estate, peering around with vision tuned to see things far away.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The response to the request from the guards only makes them seem more determined to keep up with their duty. Tony's reasoning falls on deaf ears, as the guard shakes his head once more, his own expression stern, partially because of Tony's thin smile. Steve and Maya also earn some doubtful looks, as if they don't care about whether there are friends of baby badgermoles connected to this entire matter.

    How heartless.

    With the unnerving stare from one of the smallest members of the group though, the guard halts, a bit surprised before he swallows and regathers his wits, turning to gaze at the group at large instead of just Aisnely. Somehow it's harder to look at the little lizard. Her question is promptly ignored as he tries to regain some of that authority from before. "As I said, no people from the Union are allowed into the estate. It doesn't concern us what you claim your business is. Please leave, or we will have to remove you by force!"

    Both guards fall into a similar ready stance, feet apart with one fist pointed in their general direction, their other hand held back and up. Their expressions are both determined, and it doesn't seem as if they are joking.

    "We will not tell you twice."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl4Sw5qJBgE

    Inside the estate, several of the guards make it to the gate area, but there are even more guards coming from the main buildings, as Ezio might notice even as he stealthily makes his way into the compound and towards the large buildings that practically reeks of wealth, fortune and luxury. There seems to be four groups of houses... a wing for each celestial direction, with the southern wing being closest to the gates, and with the northern wing being the largest. That much should be visible to both Sakura and Rainbow as well, though it seems that Sakura is rather unlucky.

    A rock is launched through the air aimed at her, but the sound of crumbling earth should serve as warning enough to ensure that the poor little mage is struck in the head. This sets off a chain reaction however, and the guards on the other side of the gate react, kicking into the ground as they launch themselves up and over the walls of the estate, slamming down into the ground. And while this happens, the two guards are already attacking the group. Their movements synchronized and clearly practiced, they kick their left feet down into the ground, launching a large boulder each up from the ground before they punch the boulders at the Unionites!

    ... at least the guards seem intent on doing their job properly, right?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley surges forward toward the guard that made the mistake of taking his eyes off of her. Electricity crackles across her body, her steps come rapidly, and she swerves out of the way of the stone as it comes flying past her head. She tries to get up under his stance, and then points her finger at him from close range to release a surge of electrical energy. This lightning spell is an attempt to knock him out with a precise jolt like a taser. And then she would grab and attempt to bodily shove the man toward the other guard--
    And then leap after him, laying a hand on the remaining guard with a hand to zap him, too!

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura -senses- an earthen projectile heading her way. She doesn't quite hear it, not exactly. Time seems to slow down as she turns ehr head towards the direction of the projectile... and then she ducks down with an adorable 'eep!', as it sails right past her head.

    Sakura gasps for breath for a moment, before hoisting herself up onto the wall, and promptly running in the direction of the living area. She has pretty good balance, being able to do that!

    "DASH!" she calls out, while tossing one of her tarot-like cards into the air. Her body is surrounded by turquise light for a moment, before she suddenly vanishes from view, before leaping off the wall at the eastern building. How did she cover that ground so quickly?

    Magic. Duh.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Actually you already told us twice," Tony corrects, his wit seeming to take the front seat for his common sense as it often does. "When we first came up asking to see our friend, and then again just now--"

Boulders.

"Shit," Tony cuts himself off, and dives behind... Steve! Get your shield out and make yourself useful! Stark meanwhile is making some practice martial arts movements with his own hands, summoning his armor from where he stashed it nearby. He'll just need Cap to cover him for a minute.

"Well I guess this answers the question of where Toph is and whether she needs help," he comments amenably to whoever else was standing behind Rogers in the group.

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    MEANWHILE, in Ezio's little adventure through the estate...

    Entering the estate is an easy little affair, Ezio's steps light as feathers as he calmly and methodically advances through a window on the east wing. Silent and gentle like the Reaper's touch, the assassin is very careful to avoid giving himself away. The guards he waits to let them pass, before he keeps a sneaking. There's no use shedding blood here, given the sensitive circumstances of this situation, so Ezio makes sure he is bare-handed. Even his cestuses are not present on his hands, to prevent heads from getting punched in. How nice of him.

    It'd make this a hell of a lot easier, that's for sure.

    "...cazzo. I'm turning into Mualim." Ezio grouses under his breath, the implications not above his notice.

Maya has posed:
Maya looks to them for a moment she looks to them a moment longer.

% "You don't wnat to do that, just one of us is our of your league."

Maya doesn't even go for her weapon. She goes for one of the cars she has in her pocket as she's making ready they won't get this is well for long enough for Maya to make her move. The care comes up and there's a flare up of blue fire from her body. The card turns bright green as it's charge with magical power and she unmleahses a powerful curse of weakness supn the guards as they come at her. If the curse works it will make them far more sluggest weaker, really feeling like they'd been working out all day and then partierd all night without much sleep.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica would probably be quite willing to comment on Tony Stark's mouth but, alas, boulders. This whole thing seems rather more than merely suspicious to her. Closed to the Union? That is NOT happening. It's also clearly a hostile act... but then, so are the boulders.

    Frederica knows she can do little against those boulders herself, so she makes a rapid and entirely dignified scurry for cover behind the mighty Captain Frisbee and Goldie. She CAN, however, do something against the earthbenders. Even now she doesn't actually want to burn these guys to death. Sending out roaring blasts of flame would be remarkably poor manners as a guest, and also more lethal than she's comfortable with in a non-life-or-death situation. Sending out little bolts of flame, however, is entirely possible. She's seen earthbenders fight before. She's seen those strong, stable stances. She has always wondered how they would manage their attacks while receiving a hotfoot, and now it's her chance to find out.

    Frederica flicks out tiny little firebolts, dozens of them in rapid succession, flinging them into the ground at the feet of those hostile earthbenders. If any should hit the boots, no big deal... they're not hot enough to sear flesh instantly. The benders would have plenty of time to hop about, to smother flames with their bending... whatever. But while they're busy hopping and extinguishing it seems unlikely they can press the attack, right?

Steve Rogers has posed:
If the guards were only attacking hand-to-hand, or even with swords or spears or something, Steve wouldn't be all THAT worried about his allies. But when they send boulders flying at the visitors, at least one of his allies is DEFINITELY going to need help.

Even as the boulders are being pulled out from the surface, Steve's already unslinging his rucksack, and as Tony dives behind him, Steve advances, backpack braced -

**CLONG!!!!!!**

- and the boulder tumbles back to the ground, with Steve taking just one step back to regain his balance, pulling his shield out of the backpack and securing it properly on his arm.

Then he goes *OVER* the boulder with a leap and a scramble and another leap - and spots Ainsley zapping one of the guards he was about to come down on, and ready for the other. He adjusts quickly, though, unstrapping his shield and flinging it at another guard who's coming over the outside wall; the shield ricochets back and Steve catches it easily, only to hurl it again JUST as several other guards are landing on this side of the wall ... and taking out at least three of them, thanks to the shield being able to rebound from guard to wall to guard to wall, etc. and finally back to Steve.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Luckily for him, Gnome has just a few extra milliseconds of forewarning before the boulders are summoned and kicked in the group's direction because he's, you know, in his element. He can't respond quite as quickly as some, but thankfully, Mithos can -- he summons up a light green, translucent shield that envelops the two of them as a sprawling, runic field begins to spread out from underneath Gnome's claws. Once the dust clears, Mithos lowers his magical shield and breaks off from the group to counter the guards crossing over the western walls with combination of shockwaves from a distance and wind-powered thrusts when he gets closer.

    Gnome, in the meanwhile, keeps casting, focusing instead on the guards coming over the opposite walls. Doesn't look like he'll be finished any time soon, but as long as he doesn't get interrupted...

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"Is that stuffy talk for 'the easy way or the hard way'?" Rainbow Dash pushes herself up to all fours, multi-colored tail swishing through the air behind her. She glances out over the fence again, and her eyes widen slightly at the forces hopping up onto the walls. Her muscles tense slightly under her cerulean blue coat, wings giving just a little flick to get the feathers straightened.

Dash raises a forehoof up to her mane, and pulls down a set of brass goggles over her eyes. "Cause it sure sounds and looks like it to me!"

With a flick of her wings, Dash is in the air. She drops again almost immediately, and speeds on ahead. For a second it looks like she might follow Sakura, but Dash stops immediately after a few wingbeats. She twists around, blocking the view to the mage.

"HEY, featherbrains!" She taunts a couple of the guards, trying to get their attention on her, and not on the quickly retreating Sakura. "Bet you haven't been beaten up by a pony before!" She shifts her stance in mid air, lifting forehooves up in something that looks a fair bit like a martial arts pose.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The usual quiet grounds of the Beifong estate come to life at once. From the buildings several similar dressed guards arrive, rushing forward to assist their colleagues in defense of the manor and its inhabitants.

    "Do not let them pass!"

    Maya's curse of weakness is making things easier for the group at large, it seems. The effect is immediate as they blink, staggering in their steps as they advance, and with some of them visibly fatigued. One of the front gate guards blink as Ainsley seems to duck underneath the boulder sent towards her, his eyes widening in horror as he sees the incoming girl... as well as the electricity that dances towards him. When it strikes he screams and falls back, limbs twitching as he crashes into the guard that lands behind him, both of them knocked into the front gate itself. But there are others however, and another guard isn't slow to punch out as well, sending a series of thin spikes at Ainsley as she leaps towards the other guard

    Good thing for Tony that Captain America is here to save the day! The boulder is no match against the vibranium shield as it connects, falling to the ground and making a nice kick off as Steve assaults two of the incoming guards. As it is, they are not used to super soldiers. The second boulder is handled by Mithos' barrier, and the guards who haven't been struck so far stare in shock as Gnome begins casting his spell. "What is that thing doing?!" one of them demands, and another guard isn't slow to respond. Nor to act either, as he kicks up an earthen pillar. "Just stop it!" Kicking into the pillar, the guard sends several sharp earth shards at Mithos and Gnome.

    Things are getting hot when Frederica does her thing, and well... considering the guards are bare footed and earthbending relies on stance, this affects them. With the flames licking at their feet they all stumble back, making it easier for Steve to knock some of them out as the shield is sent slamming into one of them before striking another and another, all before returning to Steve.

    MEANWHILE, INSIDE THE ESTATE...

    Magic is not something of this world, unless you would consider bending magic. By the looks of the startled guards, Sakura's disappearance is in a completely other category as she vanishes from sight. It's only when she appears on the roof of the eastern wing that some of the guards in that area gasp and point out. "There she is!" "Get her!" More rocks, these a fair bit smaller yet quicker, are launched towards the girl.

    The eastern wing itself doesn't seem to have many people or servants, and the guards are all drawn outside to handle the 'attackers'. All in all... the wing is silent with nothing of interest through the eagle vision of the assassin. Red figures are all over, with the blue figures of the Unionites easily establishing dominance. Sure, the guards here are strong, but they are not used to fighting non-benders with their own unique skills and powers. Four more guards head towards the area as Rainbow ducks in and draws their attention. They do not bother to respond to the pegasus pony, instead they work on a combined attack, two and two going together to raise a wall each, then throwing their arms forward in a split palm attack to send the walls crashing towards Rainbow, clearly with the intent to crush her if she isn't fast enough!
    As it is, this seems to open up the opportunity for Ezio to continue onwards, as the eastern wing seems to hold nothing of interest except startled and hiding servants. There is a golden trail leading on towards the northern wing however...

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Ezio is rather quick to notice the golden trail as he notes red and blue in his 'senses'. The non-combatants will see a hooded and cloaked specter, a black avatar of death come not for them, but still very much a force unstoppable.

    He's also more or less armed to the teeth, which may help in giving him some space as he practically walks through those too afraid to dare move, even to get out of the assassin's way.

    He regards them with utter indifference, continuing to follow the trail before him down towards the North wing. Each step he takes is quiet as a mouse padding through the pipes, and he is eerily quiet as he reaches out to grab one of the servants upon finally stopping.

    Clutching the servant by the collar, Ezio pulls him close and looks at him from under his hood. "Where is Toph?" He asks coldly, full of enough menace to get the poor man's attention.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    As Sakura lands on the roof of the eastern wing, she's just about to search for a window or some other means of entrance... when the guards spot her. Crap. She turns her head just in time to see a bunch of smaller rock projectiles heading her way.

    She tosses a card into the air. A magic circle appears under her feet. "THROUGH!"

    Sakura seems to just hang there for a moment... before she slips through the roof as though it were made of water, dropping down into the room below her.

    She promptly sets about searching.

Maya has posed:
Maya is not even moving to strik hard she watches as the spell seems to be effecting them she looks right at them.

"Your fortunate, I do not intend for your to die."

But well he other comrades and friens are going pretty hard, Maya hasn't thought talling her worlds lord of the earth would be needed just yet. He tends to make a mess of things, she also fears he might want to go on vacation in a land so tuned to his element.

Maya now is moving to pull another card it glows agin and now she attmps to launche pillars of water at the guards.

"Look I suggest you just stand down you are out classed!"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    It takes little of Frederica's power to continue firing out those little flame darts, though it does take some concentration. She doesn't let the effort show though. It's all in her head, and she makes neither words nor gestures to call upon her power. To all appearances she's standing nonchalantly behind people as she arcs tiny hotfoot after hotfoot all over at any barefoot guard she can see. So long as they aren't being viciously melee'd by one of her companions that is. It's not a powerful attack or even a particularly dangerous one. It just happens to be particularly useful to counter a bunch of earthbenders, that's all.

    "I think we know there's something fishy going on." Frederica says casually, as if most of her brain wasn't actually being committed to a casual-seeming assault. "They have to be up to something. Or insane." she adds. One doesn't attack people showing up in the name of the Union unless one or the other is true, right?

Steve Rogers has posed:
The shield rebounds back to Steve's hands just in time for him to interpose it, protecting Ainsley from the incoming barrage of needle-esque spikes. If Lao Beifong needed more gravel for his driveway, the debris which remains after the spikes hit the shield will make a pretty good start.

"If you've got ice magic," Steve suggests, "care to coat the ground with a layer of ice under their feet?" He's staying alert, and while the Union party is certainly capable of plowing through mooks, sheer weight of numbers can still get the better of anyone. Deny the guards a chance to organize, and our chances to get in and out safely just skyrocket.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
The intercession of Captain America's shield was all Tony really needed; a few seconds of clear space before his armor comes rocketing in over the streets of Gaoling (and no doubt causing some locals to shout in alarm and drop their cabbages). With the neat clanging and whirring sounds of intricately-machined pieces snapping into place and locking together, Iron Man spins around a moment later, both hands raised to blast the oncoming guards with as many repulsors as they'd care to eat.

Only they seem to have already been decimated by his companions. "Aw, guys," he complains whimsically, as he gives one of the men still standing a force blast to the chest to send him flying back, "you didn't leave any for me?"

Well, he'll just have to stir up more hornets then. "Right, I'm heading in. If anyone sees Toph's parents... bring her father to me. But go easy on her mom, all right?"

And he steps over one of the fallen guards to wedge his armored hands into the joint of the front gate. He tries first to muscle it open with the sheer assisted power of the suit, but if that doesn't work he does always have explosives.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Mithos is alert enough to hear the guards talking about Gnome, but unfortunately, not fast enough to rush back over to him in time to guard him. Instead, he does his best to position himself between the great spirit and the exploding pillars, probably eliminating a number of the spikes... but still leaving plenty to go flying at the oversized mole man. A flurry of stone spikes flies at Gnome, most of them sticking into the blubber of his belly, but some others landing nearer to his eyes, or his (nigh invisible) elbows. Still, he tanks it, and maintains his concentration.

    Curling his fat, puffy cheeks and tweaking his whiskers, Gnome begins to smile. Almost playfully, he intones, "Ready~?" as the circle beneath him begins to dissipate. Once it is completely gone, he holds his shovel aloft as though it were a rod, and shouts,

    "STALAGMITE!"

    As if the verbal announcement wasn't enough already, the Earthbenders would likely feel the forces at work underneath the Earth... but whether or not they can react swiftly enough is something else entirely. A spire shoots out of the ground diagnoally aimed for the torso of one of the guards near the eastern wall, but that's not all; it's followed up by several more Earthen spires, one of the shooting for the other guard. At least three more come forth afterwards, adding even more damage if they make contact.

    The seismic waves produced by this technique will certainly be felt by all of the others present, and might even knock some other nearby guards off balance. As soon as this transpires, though, Mithos rushes over to his companion and heals him with another soft rush of green light... before turning to face the other guards at the western wall that are still likely unaccounted for.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Four guards focusing on Dash are four guards not going after Sakura. Teamwork!

Behind those brass goggles, Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes at the silent guards. "Ugh, are you going to be like that? Come on, at least give me some sort... of... banter..." Rainbow's eyes widen, staring at the two walls quickly rising up in front of her. Her jaw falls slightly. "Oh ponyfeathers."

As the shadows of the walls creep over her, Dash twists around, her wings beating furiously. Then WHUD, they crash down on where the pegasus was just a second ago.

Don't blink, or else you might miss the rainbow blur speeding out from underneath the falling walls, just in the knick of time.

"Nice try guys," Says a voice just behind the four guards. Dash hovers there, brushing off her forelimbs. "But I'm waaay more awesome than you." She flashes a grin, and then speeds away again, leaving a colorful trail in her wake.

But instead of flying away from the guards, she speeds around them in a wide circle. Then again, and this time a wind whips up behind her. And again, with the wind growing stronger. Each time going a little bit faster, and closing the circle in a little bit more. She starts to build up a small twister around the guards; strong enough that it might make it hard for the guards to do much but get knocked around.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley recovers from her quick attack, and looks up at the sight of-- Steve protecting her from earthen spikes. Her eyes widen a moment, and her frown turns into a smile. "You got it, Captain," she affirms to his suggestion, and once the group makes their advance into the building itself, she follows along with them, using a burst of lightning magic to get atop the walls. She finds a nearby pond -- full of... turtle ducks? -- and points at it with her finger. Then a surge of blue light washes over her, as she swipes her hand and washes the ground below several Earthbender feet with the entire pond's contents. Once she has set up the field...!
    She makes a stance very reminiscent to waterbender arts, and swipes her hands, and then the water freezes solid under their feet, turning otherwise sturdy ground into precarious, slippery terrain that they'll have a really hard time finding purchase on!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Outclassed doesn't even begin to describe the situation the guards are in.

    The servants are quick to move out of Ezio's way, clearly not wanting to get involved. They are not guards, and well... a determined and armed man is not somebody you interfere with willingly like that! His trek through the eastern wing is without interference, at least until one of the servants has the wits to yell out for the guards. Who are unfortunately busy enough as it is.

    The grabbed servant, a young man, lets out a shriek and quivers as his collar is grabbed, and he desperately tries to pry himself free as Ezio pulls him close. The question seems to bring terror to the man's face, and he shakes his head.

    The small rocks fly past where Sakura used to be, though by the time she falls through the roof of the building it's too late. Well inside it should be easy for her to notice that the servants are still somewhat shocked and scared by Ezio's earlier journey through the rooms, and it should be easy enough for her to follow the same path undisturbed save for some curious and worried looks.

    AT THE GATES...

    Lightning, fire, water, earth... is there no element the poor guards won't be struck with? The water and gravel fly at them as Frederica's fire still keeps them occupied, added in with Gnome's earthen magic as stalagmites knock into the poor earhtbenders. Sure, they might be steady on their feet on solid ground, but add in the water and ice combo from Maya and Aisnely... and it's enough to send them crashing back into the wall, stunning them. Though one of the guards does attempt to stand up... only to be sent tumbling back into one of the other guards by Iron Man's repulsor blast.

    The gates themselves are not too tough to open, as long as some of the guards are carefully nudged out of the way, and the green gates swing inwards, opening to the glory of the gardens that await them...

    The sight of Rainbow avoids being crushed by earthen walls meets the rest of the group. Somehow the guards are shocked by Rainbow's speed. "What kind of goose pony is that...?" one of them asides to the others, staring in shock as the cyan pegasus begins circling them, faster and faster... and by the time the guards realize what's going on, it's too late. The force of the twister makes them stumble slightly, and they cry out in horror as they are pulled up into the winds as they go around and around!

    More guards arrive from the northern wing, though there appears to be a figure that doesn't quite belong as he trails behind them, his formal clothes clearly setting him apart from the guards and the servants that are watching from the windows and doorways of the southern and western buildings. The middle aged man himself might be known to some of the Unionites. A man of middle height, a long and stern face with glaring brown eyes. Clad in formal robes that speak of wealth, he is clearly somebody of importance. His dark hair is pulled up into a xiao guan, his fu manchu mustache neatly trimmed. His expression is one of shock however. Because this is something Lao Beifong did not seem prepared for.

    "Sir, they broke in, we tried to-" one of the remaining guards say as he runs up towards the northern building, offering a low and polite bow to the man, can't help but swallow nervously as he beholds the chaos that has struck the normally pristine and calm gardens. And yes, he does look nervous, despite how authoriative he tries to present himself as. "Does the Union think it can impose itself in /my/ home now?" he questions, then turns to the guard. "Stop them at once!"

    "But Sir, they-"

    "I want no excuses, I want my home kept /safe/!" Lao continues, swallowing nervously.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura hmmms a little bit as she looks around the wing. Nothing really of note... Of course, she knows Ezio's in here, so the shocked and scared servants don't really bother her. She does give them friendly smiles as she passes, though.

    Is she... skipping? What the heck?

    Off to track down Ezio.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Lao Beifong!" Steve calls out on his way through the gate and into the estate grounds, glancing around to size up where the guards are who still pose a potential threat. "Call off your guards and we'll stop attacking, but we're here to visit Toph! Where is she, and why are you trying to keep us out?"

The guards who are *with* Lao seem the most likely to still pose a threat, and Steve readies his shield for another throw ...

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Ezio's pursuit to gaining information goes nowhere, and he shoves the servant out of the way. Calmly, he continues on his way to follow the trail until his little infiltration leads him towards Lao's hiding spot. Narrowing his gaze, Ezio notes a golden glow, barely regarding Sakura with the faintest of nods as they meet up along the way. "Stay quiet, keep your distance." He warns the Cardcaptor, before the mentore continues on his search.

    He'll let Stark or someone else handle Lao for now. Besides, if Ezio gets anywhere near that piece of shit, someone is going to have a knife in his throat. Considering the political and emotional consequences that would rise...yeah, better Ezio goes off on his own little tangent for the time being.

    . o O (Shit. there it is again.) Ezio thinks to himself, shaking his head.

    As he begins to search the North wing more thoroughly, Ezio begins to notice two other beings to track down. This will be interesting alright. Tracking the two figures with his senses still kicking in, the assassin begins to stalk his way there.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Ahh, there's the man Tony wanted to see. Well, not especially /wanted/ to see, but at least, the man he needs to see if he's to find out what the HELL is going on. He kicks off the icy, broken earth and flies in a single arcing leap across the grounds toward the little knot of people at the northern building. "Actually," he quips snarkily as he lands behind the guard speaking to Lao, and hooks his fingers in the collar of the man's tunic, "you tried to /kill us/, just because we asked a couple of polite questions about our missing friend." With a swipe of his arm he tosses the man stumbling away, and squares off with Lao. The scowling metal mask isn't particularly friendly today. "Where's Toph?" he demands, shortly. "I swear to god, Lao Beifong, if you're holding her against her will--" rather than clenching into a fist, the fingers of his right hand flex menacingly around the glowing repulsor transmitter in his palm. But he's not pointing it at the other man. Not yet.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica peers about, deciding that she's done here for now. Reaching up, she brushes back her hood and fluffs out her twintails, allowing them to drape in front of her shoulders and down her chest. "Ah, that was fun." she comments, smiling slightly. It's better than saying she feels a little distressed at using fire on people... even this little amount. Better to pretend a bit of bravado then to appear weak-willed or unhelpful.

    She follows Tony Stark - and by necessity Captain America. Well okay, maybe one more than the other. Frederica LIKES staying behind tanky defenders after all. When they reach Lao, she steps to one side and forward, trying to be somewhat close. Just in case. "Don't hurt him, Mr. Stark." she warns, but the GRIN on her face makes her look really insincere. For that matter she doesn't sound sincere either. "Unless he's hurt Toph. Then hurt him a little." she adds. Hey, nothing wrong with good cop bad cop... only in this case it's more like bad cop worse cop.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley is atop the walls, and so the lizard girl spots Lao, who seems to be directing the forces. Lao, who is clearly Toph's relative, her father by her recollection. Something profound surges into her heart. He is a father that is betraying his daughter. He is doing everything in his power to keep her from her friends. There may be a good reason for it, but she doesn't care. They attacked first. They tried to force the group away, when they were trying to handle this peacefully.
    She leaps off her perch and lands. She rushes toward Lao, and she completely disregards the various earthbenders around him. The reason for this is her full-bore sprint toward the man, using the speed enchantment on her daggers and a pulse of electrical magic to get to him despite everything else.
    She tries to tackle him off his feet, coil around him and hold the dagger up to his cheek until it dimples his skin and threatens to harm him, her other arm locked under his opposite arm to hold him still, and her cheek pressed up against the other one. Her tail would coil around a leg. This would make it a prohibitively dangerous act for any Earthbenders to try anything.
    "Many of them won't kill you. I, however, have a very deep-seeded grudge against parents like you. If you do not tell us where Toph is, I will electrocute you until you lose feeling in your fingertips, and then we can tear up your expensive estate looking for her. If a single guard manages to stop me, they will not manage to stop my friends over there." All at a murder-hungry whisper. She clearly has Issues with people like Lao in a way that is beyond this situation. She would point with the dagger toward Roger and Tony, particularly the glowing repulsor, indicating what she means.
    "Think very, very carefully about your answer."

Maya has posed:
Maya is clealry not trying to hurt the benders these guards all things considered? They are alert for the most part, for a civilian guard force? They are quite good but well they just got in over their heads. She make sure none of them are dead should any be too badly harmed they would find maya healing htem before she moves in with the rest of the group.

"We asked a few questions we got attacked for it. I didn't expect the earth kingdom to be like the World Bizzar back home. I thought it was better than that. I'd like to talk over fighting..."

She soes see how some people are worked up she is worked up sure but she's keeping in check that might be cause for convern with those who know Maya at all or her history.

"Your no fool I'm sure, honesty would likely have prevented all this."

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Around and around the twister goes, where it stops...

Only Rainbow Dash knows!

Abruptly, Dash pulls out of the twister. Without her weather magic fueling the winds, the twister quickly starts to dissolve. Unfortunately for the guards, that means that there's no light landing when the winds suddenly disipate. At least she didn't let them get any higher than a few feet off of the ground.

"PBBTTHH!" Rainbow Dash raspberries at the guards, before dropping down out of the sky to meet the others. "Hey guys, cleaned up some of the trash for you." She doesn't touch down, instead hovers just barely a few feet off the ground, her wings beating a steady rythem, up and down. The pegasus follows after the others, risign up to keep just above them. The guards might be earth-benders, but someone's got to watch the sky. Rainbow smirks grimly at Fredrica, "Only if we all get to hurt him a little." She's kidding, right?

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Gnome staggers a bit himself at the climax of his spell, but the healing wind from Mithos is enough to keep him standing. Once the magical swordsboy regroups with him, they exchange resolute nods, and rush off to follow Tony.

    Once there, they stand strong behind him and maintain their battle ready stances. Gnome may even be concealing another spell, just in case, but it's unlikely that he would use it here... seeing as this is -kinda- Toph's house. Even if she lives in Malibu most of the time.

    This time, though, they do more than just sit and stare; each of them has words to add to the choir of voices calling out to Lao. Mithos just follows up where Tony left off: "Y-Yeah! If you're doing anything to Toph, we'll make you pay for it!" Gnome isn't gonna stay quiet anymore either. "Look, man," He pounds his shovel against the ground again, a vein bulging in his forehead. "I don't know what you think you're doing, and I don't know what makes you think you can keep a horde of angry super people out your house, but... you can't. K'? So just give up now before we have to take back the world's best Earthbender by force." Then, casually, he gestures to Ainsley.

    "And yeah, unless you want me to, like... dig you a swimming pool in your living room, or have her teach you how to move your head like an owl... I mean. You get it, right?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It doesn't look as if Lao is happy at all, and he narrows his eyes at the barrage of questions. All before he lets out a heavy sigh that speaks of his annoyance and lack of will to bear with this disturbance. Some of these people are familiar to him... but others not so. They are strange people and creatures alike, and perhaps some of them get a harder look than others merely for not being human.

    As Steve is familiar to him, he turns his gaze on him first from behind the guards, standing tall and practically looking down his nose at the soldier. "I hardly see how this is any of your business, nor why I should let you see my daughter..." Yet, his eyes are drawn to the knocked out guards that are strewn about the gardens and by the front gates. These people took down his guards /this/ easily?! Just what is this Union?

    Yet there is a clear reaction on his face when Tony himself flies in towards them and grabs the guard who adressed the Beifong patriarch earlier, causing the guard to yelp. And Lao himself goes pale, muscle memory causing him to tense up and back up. Some things are not easily forgotten, and the other Unionites might just be aware of there being some... differences in opinion between the two men as there is. The rest of the guards somewhat nervously assume defensive stances. Yet like this, they are surrounded, aren't they? And while Lao does look nervous, he also does not look pleased. At all.

    Perhaps it's thanks to Lao being on guard from Tony and Frederica as she delivers her cutting remarks that Ainsley manages to slip through and pounce on the man. With the lizard leaping on him, the Beifong patriarch lets out a cry of surprise as he falls backwards, desperately trying to pull her off of him, only to tense when the sharp edge of the dagger touches his cheek and her tail coils around his leg. He remains unmoving, and while the guards initially move to attack, they halt when they see the situation Lao is in, not daring to risk Ainsley harming him. And the threat there is certainly taken seriously as he stares horrified up at her, his entire body tense. Then his eyes glance to the other people of the group that he can spot from where he lies. Mithos. Gnome. Steve, Frederica. Rainbow. Maya.

    They mean business.

    Several seconds pass before Lao responds, not even daring to nod. "Remove that dagger... and I will take you to her," he finally relents.. and the guards stand down, glancing at each other with great uncertainty.

    INSIDE THE NORTHERN WING...

    Somehow the air inside the northeastern building seems stale as Ezio wanders down the hallway. Little sunlight is let in here, and even if the corridors are neatly kept with not a single speck of dust to be seen, a general feeling of unease seems to have settled within the building. There are female servants about, and they seemingly startle when Ezio arrives, fear on their faces as they start whispering and muttering amongst themselves, pulling into the nearby rooms and running off, not intent to get near Ezio. All in all they do not look like they are certain about these events. But should Ezio follow his eagle vision, he will soon arrive at a double set of doors that are easily opened.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5qhNRmMilI

    The room that awaits him is somewhat darkened and only partially lit up from some soft light falling in through a window, with the lanterns in here obviously not being lit for a long while. The air inside being even more heavy and accented by several vases of flowers set out on the various elaborate tables and dressers of the luxurious room. The most notable thing to notice however is a familiar figure seated in a chair by the window, although she does look rather different from what most people are used to seeing her as. The girl is clad in a neat and light green hanfu dress, a thin silk shawl draped across her arms, her hair neat and kept away from her soft face and pale unseeing eyes. With her hands resting in her lap, Toph looks like the very model of a Chinese doll, not to mention just as quiet and unmoving as one. Her attention seems to be elsewhere for a few seconds, but on what? There's nothing in her hands, there's nothing near her chair. There is one other person in the room however Poppy Beifong. Toph's mother is as always neat with not a hair out of place, her clothes seemingly without a single wrinkle, dressed in high fashion and with her hair adorned with lovely jasmine flowers. The lady of the estate immediately turns her head towards the doors when the assassin enters... and her face goes pale as she lets out a startled shriek, her green eyes wide as she pulls back. Toph however.. has not moved where she is sitting.

    Outside, Lao tenses, the look of horror on his face growing more intense as he hears his wife scream, tensing further where he is held by Ainsley.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Hey! Whoa, WHOA!" Tony cries out, as Ainsley goes WAY past subtle threats into physical assault. He immediately shifts his focus from Bad Father to his own ally. He takes a stomping step or two forward; reaches for the lizard girl's dagger wrist. "We're the GOOD GUYS, remember?" he hisses, in as low a tone as the helmet speaker will allow. It comes out rather growly.

To Lao: "Yeah, I think maybe you'd better."

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura nods to Ezio, and falls behind slightly. She pulls out one of her cards, whispering "Illusion!", and tapping it with her wand. Her body is shrouded by a psychadelic pattern for a moment... before she vanishes from sight. And then she continues to follow Ezio! The cheater.

    Once they enter the North Wing, Sakura winces a little bit, putting one hand to her head. "...Mph. What is..."

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Ezio enters the room, and immediately he recognizes Toph. The other woman is Lao's wife, Toph's mother no less. It's evident the scary reaper thing is not exactly necessary now, and Ezio raises his arms in a sign of peace.

    "I've no quarrel with you, signora, nor should any of my compatriots either if I've anything to say of it. All I ask is a gaurentee of your daughter's safety. I'm certain you and your husband can work something out with the Union given your child's proclivities working alongside our ranks." Officially or no, Ezio is technically Union himself.

    He lowers his hood to reveal his face, and Ezio ambles over slowly and gently towards Toph herself as he kneels to her level, looking her straight in the eyes for what it's worth.

    Something is not right here, Ezio can feel it just by the way the girl looks.

    "...Toph? It is Ezio. Are you alright?"

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"... Whoa..." Rainbow Dash lifts a hoof up to rub at the back of her head uncomfortably. She looks away from Ainsley with none too little discomfort in those rose colored eyes. "Talk about intense," She mutters to herself, "I was just joking about the whole hurting him thing thing." Honestly? The worst she'd probably do is prank the poor guy.

Just imagine it, whoopie cushions glued to every chair in the Beifong estate.

At least they're getting somewhere. Dash's expression becomes more fierce, and she nods. "Now we're talking. Let's move it, bub."

Steve Rogers has posed:
And that was exactly why Steve tried to offer the easy solution ... although Tony calls Ainsley out on it before Steve is in a position to do so.

On the plus side, Lao is no longer opposing their efforts to get inside - in fact, he's willing to lead the way. Once Ainsley has let go, Steve gives Lao Beifong a polite and proper bow - just the way Toph taught him in preparation for the first visit to the Beifong house - and moves to follow him inside .... although not without a mildly searching gaze at Ainsley.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley calmly releases Lao, but holds the dagger in such a way as to remind him of what it means to cause problems. She looks away from Lao and up at Tony with that baleful eyes, and tells him, frankly, "I am a master at non-lethal incapacitation," while carefully looking down at the hand reaching for her. She looks up toward the direction of the scream. She ignores Lao, and stands properly then.
    She looks up at Tony again. "My father was a good man. My mother was a monster." She looks down at Lao again, and then steps over him. She gestures with her dagger at him, "He is a repeat offender, a commander of hostile forces who were using lethal force on us when we approached peacefully, and he is holding a Union Elite, and /your/ ward captive," she tells Tony, emphasizing all of it. "He is not just a civilian. He is a criminal with money and reputation, and utterly deluded."
    And then, with a certain tone to her voice that suggests that entire encounter was not as bad as she made it look, she says, "I would have left feeling in his fingers, anyways. I am not a monster, Tony. He just seemed like the type that did not understand us until he had no room to interpret it otherwise."

    She is marching off to the sound of the screen. She bets it's where they need to go. She doesn't seem to care that Lao wants to lead them there. As for Steve, she glances over her shoulder at him, wondering what the look was for.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica glowers at Lao, answering his question for him. "It's our business because Toph is an officer of the Union." she states. Of course he gives in without her words being necessary. The various threats, especially Ainsley's, see to that. Of course Toph's more than just a Union officer. She's a friend to most present too. The Union would tear down a world's government if necessary to rescue one of their elite members, but it would surely be friends who were leading the assault.

    Once the group finally reaches Toph and Poppy, Frederica frowns and bites at her lip in consternation. She's not got the senses of some of these people, but it's obvious to her that something's wrong. Toph's ... sick. Or something like that. Frederica's not much of a healer, but she's been getting better at it. She's managed to establish a healing link a few times now, and this seems like a potential time where it could not only be effective but useful. She follows Ezio forward, reaching out her hand to place it on the girl's gently. She tries to smile at Poppy, but her smile comes out crooked, obviously too worried to be comforting.

    With her hand on Toph's, Frederica reaches out, probing with her poor Trance talent. Reaching out is hard for her, and it'll take time. It's less hard here than it normally is though, what with the worried feelings of all the friends supporting her and helping to ease Frederica's mind out beyond its normally-high walls. The only question is, when she reaches to try to make her mind touch Toph's, to have Toph's condition mirrored by her own senses... just what does she find there, if anything?

Maya has posed:
Maya just kinda looks at Ainsley for a moment Maya's been that enraged only few times that badly. Very bad things happens when Maya gets that angry but for all the issues with Toph's father. She is angry but somehow has kept herself in check. She keeps an eye on the others for the moment she looks at Ainsley she looks really hard at her.

"Restain yourself your anger is consuming you."

Maya arrives and she pauses she looks about something does not seem right here. She looks at Toph for a moment as they arrive. She says nothing but another card is palmed she pulls it out it bathes in blue fire that leeches out of her body and then she narrows her eyes. She extends her senses but it's not like anything she's sensed before. There is one clear thing as she speaks.

"Something unatural is going on I can sense it, as to what it is? I do not know."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Gnome and Mithos shuffle into the room behind the others, the latter making every effort to stick close to his friend. He's obviously spooked by the scene in Toph's room upon entry. Probably sobering for Gnome, too, though; this may be the first time anyone in the Multiverse has ever seen a legitimately solemn look from him, if they're paying attention. After several moments of silence, though, Mithos whispers, "It feels like..."

    Gnome nods his head. "Yup. The temple of shadow, or somethin' like it." He paces closer to Toph with Mithos in tow, silently waving a claw in front of her face. Somewhat shocked, the boy turns to Lao.

    "Wh-Why... is she dressed like that? I know she doesn't like wearing dresses, so..." He lowers his head and speaks in a voice that may be filled with enough childish lamentation to rock even Lao's heart. He -is- a father, after all. "... what happened to her...?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Whether it be by Tony's help or if Ainsley finally relents, Lao is not slow to get back to his feet, giving the Unionites a quick glance before he hurries towards the north eastern wing where his wife's scream came from. Sure, he hears what Ainsley is saying, and it /infuriates/ him like nothing else. But family... family comes first. And the sound of his wife in distress is far more important than hearing to the prattle of some lowlife intruder into /his/ home.
    Some of the guards follow suit as well, and they practically run down the hallways, not about to stop the group as they follow.

    Inside the dim lit chamber, Poppy looks horrified even as Ezio assures her that things are safe. "W-who are you?" the woman demands, even as he kneels in front of the chair where the young girl is sitting. It takes a few seconds before Toph slowly turns her head slightly upwards as Ezio adresses her. Her manner of dress isn't the only thing different, however.

    Blind she might be, but doesn't her eyes usually have some manner of life in them? Now her unseeing gaze seems rather dull. Has she always been this pale? Or for that matter this quiet? Because she doesn't say a thing even as Ezio watches her. At least not until a few seconds has passed.

    "Oh."

    It's at that moment that Lao and the guards first enter, and Poppy hurries over to her husband, who takes her in his arms. "Dear? What is..." she begins, but Lao merely shakes his head. "The Union," he responds simply with a disgruntled tone, casting a displeased look at them. As if understanding at once, the noble lady nods her head, biting down gently on her lower lip with clear worry in her eyes.

    Frederica's presence isn't commented on either by Toph, and she doesn't react to the mental probing either as the psy user attempts to make a connection. Which proves to be rather difficult, more than normal. Yet as Frederica makes contact, it should be clear that there is no injury present with the blind earthbender. Her mind is there, and she's thinking. Just... very slowly.

    When he is adressed by Mithos, Lao narrows his eyes the question. "Because those are her clothes." Clothes she used back before she ran away. Clothes typical of girls of her position and stature. As for what happened? Lao's expression goes stern, and he wraps his arms a bit tighter around Poppy, who looks equally worried.

    "Toph has returned home to be with her family, like she is meant to be," Lao says firmly, doing his best to hide the fact that he is indeed fearing that Ainsley is going to leap on him again.

    Suddenly Toph raises her right hand though, fumbling slightly on the table as if looking for something. "... thirsty." Though she does reach up with her other hand to push Frederica and Ezio away if they get in the way of her fumbling.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve goes very still as he spots Toph, trying to guess at what might have happened to her ... but this is so far out of his fields of knowledge that it's hardly worth trying. He watches for a moment, not sure if he should step in to pour water for Toph ...

Well, there's something else he can do. He moves around to Toph's side (the side away from the table), and holds his shield out where she can touch it. "Toph?" he asks casually. "It's us, your friends. What happened?"

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura is still invisible! As people file into the room, she presses up against a wall so she doesn't get into anybody's way. She pulls another card out of her pocket, and taps it while whispering "Libra!". Someone with particularly good hearing might be able to hear that whisper, perhaps...

    Under her cloak of invisibility, Sakura's eyes flash pink for a moment. Then she fixes Lao with a steady -stare-.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    When the party comes to see Toph, Ainsley's visual field picks up on it, and she can't even enter the room. The dagger is put away and she steps aside. Her head lowers and her face shows a strong look of horror.
    Lao continues to speak as if he has Toph's best interests in mind, and Ainsley walks away to stand at the end of the hall. Any guards that try to come near her will have a hard time even looking at her without catching her attention. She just feels she can't stand there and look at that while Lao acts as if that is perfectly normal.
    She is standing very still and just staring ahead blankly.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
The faceplate of the Iron Man armor snaps up as he enters the interior room, revealing the look of shocked worry on Tony's face. "What have you done to her?" he demands, angrily at first as he shoots Lao a glare; then his expression shifts to a sort of pleading request for sympathy as he looks to Poppy. She's always been the more accessible of the two, for him at least. Maybe she can be coaxed into explaining.

In the meantime, he strides across to his young ward, and takes a knee before her seat. "Toph, it's me. Are you all right? We've come to... get you out of here." He restrains himself from saying 'take you home' because that would pretty much blow ANY chance he has of getting a cooperative story from either parent, wouldn't it?

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Ezio stares at Toph for the longest time, not even acknowledging Lao as the others shuffle into the room. He produces a skin of water the minute she rasps out something. 'Thirsty' means only one thing, and Ezio places the skin in the girl's hand before removing the cap. "Here."

    Then he rises, slow and predatory as he makes an about face towards Lao the moment he states where she is meant.

    "You stifle her by locking her up in this gilded cage. You are not only afraid of what she might do, but you actively seek to surprises it like her gifts are a curse." He says, suddenly /right/ in his face.

    Suddenly Lao's throat is grabbed in Ezio's hand, the assassin's grip like a python's embrace as he drags the nobleman towards the wall and braces his elbow against Lao's neck.

    "I am very, very low on reasons to spare your life. Convince me to do so. /Now./" It's very evident that Ezio doesn't even need blades to do what he's got planned.

    As far as Ezio is concerned, he'll sleep soundly tonight whether or not Lao Beifong lies dead at the end of this encounter. HOPEFULLY that won't come to pass.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
There's a bit more of an enthusiastic beat to Rainbow Dash's wings as she takes off down the hallway. "NOW we're getting somewhere!" Surely they just need to break open whatever lock Lao has put Toph behind and yank her out of this place. There's no way something else could get in their way! The only time Rainbow lands is when she approaches the doorway; too small for her to just fly through.

"Hey Toph!" Rainbow greets, her voice chipper, "What's the skinny, girl Where've you..." Dash blinks at the sight of her friend. "... Been...?" Something about the entire thing feels very wrong, even to the usually seemingly oblivious Dash. But Dash is far, far more observant than she ever lets on. The girl is usually so vibrant, so full of life. Not like this...

Dash pushes her goggles up from her eyes, the cheerful expression on the pegasus's face falling. "Uh... Toph?" Her hooves clip lightly on the floor as she approaches. She glances from the girl to a couple of the others around here. "What the hay's going on?

Maya has posed:
Maya watches and looks something does not feel like, she looks at Toph long and hard something is not right at all here. She feels something unatural and she looks to Tophs father.

"I sense something not natural here..."

Maya looks at him intently She doe snot seem please at this turn of events. She's looking right at him and gone is the Junker, the posture and stance of Maya's chanced to more the sort you'd find someone who rules a nation might carry their self with.

"My abilities do not lie, but I do know what has happened. Something however has been done to her..."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Gnome turns to face Lao after giving Toph a lingering look, but this time... it's Mithos who's having the much more noticeable reaction. He looks like he's about to say something, but... he lets Mithos have this one. Something tells him that what he's about to say will speak for both of them.

    The boy in question has his fists clenched again, and this time it probably is in anger. He's quivering, too, and when his gaze rises to meet Lao's again, his eyes are filled with a sort of fire and malice that he seemed incapable of just seconds ago. Quietly, darkly, he says, "... those aren't Toph's clothes."

    His head rises again as Lao says that she's 'returned to her family'. There's another, long pause as Mithos stares him down, a disturbingly stoic Gnome in his backdrop. "I never had a mother or father when I was growing up." His voice belies something poisonous; anyone could tell, but he isn't outright yelling. "Just Martel. But I'm not stupid." His fists clench tighter. "You did something to her, didn't you? Something bad." Then, finally letting some of that poison out in words, he says with a sense of finality:

    "You aren't Toph's family. The Union is Toph's family."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The water from Ezio is accepted, and Toph brings it to her mouth, drinking greedily for a few seconds. At first it doesn't seem like Toph registers Steve nor his shield, even as he holds it out. But she does turn her head slightly towards him, blinking several times as if trying to chase sleep away.

    The stare from Sakura doesn't escape Lao's notice, and he swallows and glances back at the young girl, not sure whether he comment on it or not.

     In the meanwhile it looks like Toph is about to respond... but then Tony speaks from in front of her, and her attention is drawn back and forth. Confusion settles on her face, and she shakes her head slightly as if she doesn't know what to say. It only intensifies as more and more people gather around, as more and more words are said. Lao swallows, clearly hesitating, and thereby it is Poppy that shakes her head. "She's barely eating, and... she just sits there. After she went to sleep the first night when she came to visit, she just..." The mother has a hard time continuing, reaching a hand up to her mouth. But to hear that Tony intends for them to take Toph away, that brings forth a reaction from both the girl's parents.

    "You can't be serious!" Lao says, his voice tense. "She's sick, she should be with family!"

    The assault by the assassin catches him by surprise, and Lao's eyes widen in shock as he's pushed up against the wall, and Poppy, torn from her husband, lets out a startled gasp, pulling back with her hands in front of her mouth. And her eyes also turn to Mithos as he adresses Lao, who's desperately trying to breathe even as Ezio pins him against the wall. Obviously Mithos' words hurt the woman a fair bit, the accusation stinging. The guards once again ready themselves. "Let go of him!" they warn.

    And in the chair, Toph tenses, her eyes widening as her hands begin to shake, threatening to drop the skin of water. And then there's a half croaked word escaping her lips, only loud enough for those standing around her to catch. "... father..."

    "Please release him!" Poppy pleads, looking absolutely torn where she stands. Her husband being threatened, her daughter lethargic in a chair... at least until said daughter clumsily gets to her feet, steadying herself on Frederica's shoulder as she turns towards where Ezio has Lao pressed up against the wall.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve keeps his shield where Toph can touch it at will - the fact that she almost didn't notice it at all is kind of worrisome, seeing as Toph *KNOWS* how the shield 'feels'. It's possible he might bump it (very lightly) against her arm or shoulder ... 'accidentally' or openly deliberate, who knows.

"Lao Beifong," he says in a gentle but still stern voice, "the Union's membership comes from an even wider range of worlds than the handful of us here represent. If we take Toph with us, then I'm *certain* somebody can bring her out of this state. But if you know anything - *anything at all* - about why she's in this condition to begin with ... then as her father, as somebody who treasures her and wants to protect her from harm, you owe it to *her* to tell us everything you know."

His gaze rests on Lao, daring to meet the man's gaze if Lao happens to look towards Steve ... assuming Ezio lets Lao go so he CAN look at other people.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Oh, no, Tony isn't buying that 'she's sick' line. "If she's so sick," he replies coldly, still kneeling in front of the girl, "Then why do you have her dolled up in here instead of tucked away in bed?" Again, the question starts angrily directed at Lao, but his eyes carry it in a more guilt-tripping tone to Poppy.

"Ezio, let him go," he says calmly. He's already given the order on the radio, but he hopes hearing it aloud will calm Poppy somewhat.

"/What have you done to her?/" he repeats in a low, quietly furious tone once Lao is no longer being held by the throat.

Ezio Auditore (75) has posed:
    Ezio only eases up enough for Lao to breathe, eyebrow arched. The guards present don't exactly give him much reason to keep the Caped Crusader routine up any longer. He releases Lao, but not without a final glare as he glances to Toph. "Obviously she's sick, but with /what?/" He asks. "I can't say I know many sicknesses that present the /mind/ from thinking short of some sort of psychic assault."

    Rogers at the least provides words of reason, but Ezio is hardly in a mood to be so reasonable himself. Really this entire thing has been a waste of time because of the ego of one idiot, far as Ezio is concerned.

    Backing away, Ezio remains against the wall, arms folded as he drums fingers on his bracers tensely.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura, having tensed up considerably after Ezio grabbed Lao by the throat and threatened to -kill- him, relaxes with a soft sight. She's faded into sight by now, possibly startling a guard in some comical fashion or other. She's still keeping her eyes fixed on Lao.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Things are not adding up, but Rainbow Dash isn't clever enough to figure it out why. She turns to look back at Toph with confusion in her expression. "Well duh, of course she's sick. I mean, like hay she'd be caught dead wearing a dress."

Dash's ears splay back, "Hey, I hate doctors as much as anyone else." A pause, "Okay, more than most people," Rainbow Dash says, turning her head to look at Toph's mother, then her father, "But if she's really sick she's gotta go see someone." She makes a face, tongue sticking out, "Ugh, much as I hate to say it, but the Union's got some pretty crazy awesome doctors. They'd figure out what's going on in ten seconds flat!"

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Mithos regards Lao and Poppy alike coldly, folding his arms. He doesn't so much as blink as Ezio strangles and subsequently releases Lao, instead fading in the the background as Sakura does and keeping his eyes glued to Toph. He wants to be there in case she asks for anything else, and... well. Some, small voice of reason still alive inside of him wishes that she could talk more, so that he could ask her what she would want for them to do.

    Gnome lays a placating paw on the boy's shoulder, nodding along with what Tony and the others say. Toward the end, he adds in simply, "Aren't many garden variety sicknesses that make it that hard to talk. 'Specially when she strikes me as the type that would get out and run around no matter how sick she was." He leans toward Lao slightly. "In other words, you're not being very convincing."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley considers the condition Toph is in and also considers various factors about this world. She thinks about spirits. She thinks about bending. She thinks about the possibility of something doing this to Toph, something taking advantage of Lao's delusions to do something awful. She crosses her arms. Alright, what can cause this kind of lethargy? Ainsley rubs at her face, walking down the hall and going in through the door.
    She looks over at Toph, and considers her state. Pale. Slow. Thinking slowed to a crawl. Barely coherent. Alive, but only just.
    She looks over at Lao, and considers him.

    "Lao, I know you had someone, or some/thing/ do that to Toph. Something that you probably don't fully understand." She pauses a beat. She doesn't know /what/ did it, or who, whatever the case, it's mostly a hunch based on basic evidence. "You have put Toph in danger. More danger than us. Tell us what you did. Tell us who did this to her."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica's not sure what's going on. If this is something Lao's done, she has no idea how he did it. This world doesn't have magic and it doesn't have psychic talent, so far as she knows. She can't easily reach Toph's mind, not that she'd expected to. But even so, when she did brush against it it almost seemed like there was something else in the way. Not a mental barrier... she knows those quite well thanks to her own. No, this seems something else. Something external, yet linked with Toph's mind.

    Shaken off by Toph, Frederica looks stung at the unconscious gesture. She backs off though, frowning and looking around. Her eyes lock on Poppy. Somehow, she thinks maybe the others are missing the best way to go forward. Don't ask Toph's father... ask her mother. "Ah... please, can you tell us anything?" Frederica pleads. She doesn't have to feign worry. There's plenty of it, genuine, in her voice. "When did she first go ... quiet like this. Who was with her. What was around her, and where? Please, for Toph." she asks. She ignores Lao, ignores the other Union people threatening and blustering, trying to reach out just to Poppy. This is no good-cop routine here. This is more genuine than that, woman to woman, calling on the protective mother to aid her daughter.

Maya has posed:
Maya Says "IF she's ill by mundane or occult means she should be somewhere she can be treated so she can recover. So your saying your a trained medical professional Mr. Beifong? I seen many things before, I seen horrible things done to people to twist them, had some even done to myself. I'd like to know what you has happened to your Daughter. Things like this ... do not generally end well for the victem of such things unless something is done to correct it. Is your urge to poesss your daughter greater than a father's love for his own child?"

She has utter trust in Federica to handle Toph's mom whom she's pretty sure is innocent of any goings on here. So she leaves the fire pison to handle that end. So she keeps things up here.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    For now the shield appears to hold no interest to Toph as she stumbles to her feet, and she blinks in surprise when it bumps lightly against her arm. And as the people around her start to move she reaches to grab more onto Frederica and Mithos, who are the closest, using them so she can stand a bit steadily at first.

    A gasp for air leaves Lao as Ezio eases up on the pressure, and he coughs, reaching up to rub at his throat, even as Poppy hurries forward to hug into him as he is released. His eyes are somewhat defiant as he watches them in return. Steve. Tony. Ezio. The accusing questions burn, and if he could, it would be a sure bet that he would have them all thrown out at this point. But that would be futile, wouldn't it? The Union has invaded his home and is not about to leave, now are they? Between Steve's reasoning, Tony's comments and Ezio's glare, it looks like Lao does not wish to answer. But then he does.

    "I... do not fully know," he states, one hand clutching his wife's shoulder tighter, and his eyes move from Tony's to look at Toph where she stands, looking a bit calmer now that her father hasn't been released. Yet the comments that arrive do seem to strike him like a ton of bricks, and Poppy too seems shocked when the spiritual people of the group state something that she thought unthinkable. "What...?" she gasps. And Lao's face? It's one of anger directed at Ainsley. First she threatens his life, and now these accusations of putting Toph in danger? Gnome earns an angry glare as well, and the Beifong patriarch swallows. "Toph showed up here a few days ago, and..." He pauses, and there's a slightly disgruntled look on his face before he continues. "As my wife, the next day she was like this. No matter what, she seems uninterested in what's going on around her most of the time. And we do not know why."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve shakes his head slightly, although Sakura's confirmation that Lao isn't deliberately lying helps quite a bit. "Lao Beifong, doesn't seeing Toph like this strike at your heart? She's obedient and placid like you might have hoped, but her soul's been wrenched away - there's no spark of life in her, she's just going through the motions. But I'm certain that the Union can help her recover - and if you don't know anything about what put her in this state, then the best thing is for her to come with us, and let the Union's experts on phenomena like this work to cure her."

He glances towards Poppy, although he doesn't repeat his questions - he's sure that she heard him, and if she feels strongly enough for her daughter's well-being, she'll indicate it - and her choice - somehow.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks a little skeptical at Lao for a second, and then her face screws up as she starts to get frustrated at him. "Fine, fine. You don't know what happened." She rubs at her face. She doesn't believe that, but if a spirit or whatever did this, than it can probably control Lao, too. It's probably why this managed to happen in the first place.
    "I am sorry about the knife. Please do not have guards throw boulders at me, it makes me twitchy," she says to Lao, as he seems to not be /directly/ responsible for this.
    "As you saw by the state of the guards outside, and our actions toward you, we are just as willing to go to great lengths to help Toph. We will help your daughter. And you, if whatever is doing this is doing it to you, too."

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"That's... incredibly bad luck," Tony sympathizes in a tone that does not suggest he believes a word of it. "Toph comes home for a visit for the first time without an escort, and is suddenly stricken with this horrible illness. That you didn't see fit to alert us to, despite KNOWING that the Union has excellent medical resources and that this... unexpected sickness could well be something deadly from another world. Actually, I should say that you're both very, very lucky it hasn't spread to you. Or any of the... rather more densely-packed guards that you seem to be keeping around these days."

He rises; drops an armored hand to Toph's shoulder and gives it a tiny squeeze. "She's coming with us," he makes the suggestion an executive decision. "We'll make sure she has the BEST medical care. You're both welcome to come along with her, if you want."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Mithos and Gnome effectively give up trying to talk here. Tony seems to have this well in hand, and... well. Toph needs support right now, too. Mithos knows he's probably not in the best position to exact judgement on Lao or Poppy, so with a heavy sigh - and maybe a final sneer in the patriarch's direction - he offers the little Earthbender his shoulder to lean on.

    Already treating what Tony said as an official command, he walks over to Toph and puts his claws on his hips, looking down to her with a smile. "Hey," His tone is waaay more gentle than should be feasible for him, really, "I know you can't do or say much right now, so howsabout this. If you want me to carry you back to Njorun, just stick out your tongue or raise one finger or somethin'. Otherwise I'll let the others handle it." He gives the sweetest, chummiest grin that he can muster, eliciting a smile in kind from Mithos.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"Way more reason for her to get checked out," Rainbow Dash says, matter of factly. Dash brings her goggles down over her eyes again. "Way better than just letting her sit here being all weird."

Dash pauses, looking away. Her tail lashes like a whip behind her. "Ugh," She says, crinkling up her nose, "Look, sorry about messing up your place, but Toph's our friend. I know you're her folks and all, but she's kind of a big deal to us too. That's got to count for something."

Maya has posed:
Maya listens to Mr. Beifongs's words as he starts to amdit a few things. She doe snot make any hostile moves now but she now has some idea he wasn't fully aware of what he was getting into. She looks to both of them and nods plainly.

"Toph is a virabnt young loady who does not let the hand that she was handed slow her down in the slightest. Any information you can give us may be of use to heal her of this. However we are going to need to take a look at her.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Even as Steve describes what is evidently the matter with Toph, she stands there as lifeless and quiet as she was when they first arrived, though she does raise her head a bit as if she's listening to Steve's voice.

    All in all, Lao can hardly look more displeased. And the thought of Toph being somewhere else now? It frightens him and his wife alike. and Poppy looks mournfully at Toph. "She can't stay here...?" Then perhaps in a surprising turn of events, Lao's jaw tightens... and he then nods his head. "If you /must/." He does /not/ look happy about it.
    Especially not Tony's tone and words. But somehow it seems to disturb the man too where he stands. And Poppy turns to bury her face in her husband's chest, quivering slightly. Come with them? Lao's gaze hardens, and he seems to consider this for a few seconds. "... perhaps." It doesn't appear that he is eager to follow them though, then can you blame him considering how many threats he has gotten from the Union today?

    Toph herself blinks a bit as Tony's armored hand settles on her shoulder, turning her head just a bit even as she steadies herself on Mithos' shoulder, her lips moving just slightly as she mumbles. When Gnome adresses her though, she listens. And listens. And then finally responds, her tone dull. "... not carry. I..." She shakes her head, reaching up with one hand to her forehead. Is that a sigh leaving her? Then she slowly nods her head once.

    Meanwhile Lao looks nearly crestfallen where he stands, not even daring to look at the Union personnel at the moment.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura sighs slightly in relief as everything seems to have been worked out. "...I'm gonna... go see if I can help with the damage," she murmurs, partially to herself, as she kinda just walks out.

Maya has posed:
Maya listens for a momeht longer and she looks at Tphs father for a moment she loosk to Tony, it's his call on i they can come or not, she doe sseem to be not happy about what's happened but there seems to be no visbale rage here she does seem to be now looking very concerned at Toph's condtion.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony's hand squeezes on Toph's shoulder again when her lips move in that faint mumble. With the other, he taps a compartment on the suit's hip and takes out a small emergency radio transmitter. He steps away from Toph briefly to offer it to Poppy. Because Fuck Lao. "Press this button," he explains to her, "and speak into this end, if you need to contact me. I will be /happy/ to take you to see your daughter in the hospital. In the meantime, I promise we'll get her the very best care. We'll find out what's going on here." That last is spoken with a narrow look toward Lao. As much warning as promise, if he's holding anything back.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
"Come on guys, let's scram." Rainbow Dash looks back towards Toph and the others. She swishes her tail again, and starts for the door. She waits there, unusually patient. ... But only in the fact that she waits. She still has a hard time keeping her impatience off of her face.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
    Gnome gives a few nods of his head. "Yeah, I gotcha." He relaxes his smile just a bit, giving her the Multiverse's lightest punch on the shoulder. "World's toughest Earthbender doesn't need me carryin' 'em around, right?" He eases off, giving Mithos and Tony both lingering looks. Now he finally sinks into the background as well, eyes darting between Toph and Lao.

    Mithos looks to Tony, letting him be the first to take hold of her. As Toph mumbles that inaudible word or two, a smile comes to his face, but he doesn't breathe a word. There will be times for teasing, but once the iron man has a firm hold on the Earth girl, he supports her other side.

    At least until they get out the door. At that point he may just let Tony pick her up. Because... well. If he were in her shoes, he would want Martel holding him, that's for sure.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley is at a loss. She looks at the state Toph is in and can only hazard guesses at what could've done that to her. The lizard girl has put away the dagger already, probably to Lao's benefit, and is more concerned with the solutions going forward. Even if they cure Toph of whatever affliction this is, how do they deal with whatever did it to her? If it's something to do with bending or spirits, it would be well outside of her ability to completely deal with.
    She looks over at Lao again, and squuuints at him once.
    "This has been an experience," she remarks, turning to leave with a few of the others. If she gets the chance, she'll try to do some research with the others, but she isn't really going to stick around after she's helped beat up a bunch of Earthbenders on their home turf.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    There is more than enough damage dealt to the estate grounds, so Sakura is likely to have more than enough work to do.

    Even as she's hugging into Lao, Poppy does hear Tony approach as the sound of his suit moving is pretty hard to miss. And she looks confused at first when the radio transmitter is given to her, taking it and looking between it and Tony. There isn't much more to say, so... she merely nods, trying to keep herself calm. As it is, the mother is quite upset from all of this. Then again, it has been quite a few trying days, and to top it off with a fight outside in the the very gardens that are supposed to be safe?

    For now though, Toph allows the group to help her out, making it easier for now with some support, still as quiet and dull as she was when they came. But something they might notice though is how uncertain her steps are, how her hands grip at them unusually tight and rather atypical of the usually confident earthbender who marched onwards whereever she wants to go.

    It's as if she's truly blind.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Between Tony and Mithos, it doesn't seem like Steve needs to help guide Toph out. He bows politely to Lao and Poppy instead, and then heads out with his friends and allies, taking stock of the damage the group did along the way ... if any supplies or materials are needed to help Sakura with the repairs, he'll see what he can do to get those brought in.

Rainbow Dash (43) has posed:
Rainbow Dash takes the lead, sort of like an honor guard. Though much to her annoyance, she has to keep her speed in check, even walking. This is going to take forever. She doesn't voice it, but she keeps gritting her teeth and rolling her eyes. Yet despite it all she keeps pace with the group.