While traveling through the Fire Nation with her friends, Toph's overconfidence leads to her being knocked unconscious and captured by Princess Azula. By now, the Fire Nation is well aware of Toph's remarkable ability to metalbend, so extra precautions are taken to ensure she can’t touch anything metallic. Typically, an earthbender must have direct contact between their bare soles and the ground, making boots an effective way to neutralize them. However, Toph is an unknown quantity — if she can bend metal, who knows what other abilities she might possess? Thus, in addition to being tied up with ropes and having her feet secured within locked boots, her hands are tightly wrapped in cloth bandages. Lastly, she’s fastened to a wooden frame similar to a medical stretcher, ensuring complete immobilization. The unconscious earthbender is transported to Boiling Rock prison, where she will be contained and interrogated. The prison itself was built entirely from solid iron. However, aware of Toph’s new trick, Azula had a specialized cell prepared in advance, just in case they ever captured the world’s only known metalbender. This cell — Toph’s Special Cell — had its floor, walls and ceiling covered with wooden panels, ensuring she would be isolated from any bendable material. At its center, stands an expertly crafted rack, long yet narrow, so it could fit through the door. Made entirely from wood and leather, it was assembled using advanced joinery techniques which made metal nails unnecessary. This magnificent bondage device features two sets of stocks — one for the feet, another for the hands. The first one is fixed at the end of the table, while the one meant for the hands can slide back and forth on rails, driven by a long, hand-cranked corkscrew, which runs under the table. Toph is then laid out across the rack. Her ankles are locked in the smallest of three hole sizes, securing her tiny feet close together at the center of the stocks. In the other stocks, her wrists are restrained further apart, leaving her in a Y-shaped position. Azula then turns the crank herself, gleefully pulling Toph’s short frame taut, enough to immobilize her completely, but without inflicting pain. When Azula first commissioned the creation of this cell, she already knew how she wanted to torture Toph. It was Ty Lee and Mai who gave her the idea, thanks to their prank on that beach. Ever since, Azula has been itching to find a suitable victim to endure the ticklish punishment she believes her friends deserve. And according to her spies in the Earth Kingdom, Toph might be the perfect candidate. After all, the reports claim that Toph once blew up a beauty salon because she couldn’t stand a simple foot scrub — an extreme reaction which strongly suggests that her feet are unbearably sensitive. For Toph, escape would surely be impossible. She would be utterly helpless before any cruel torments the Fire Nation princess might decide to inflict upon her. Upon arrival, the earthbender is stripped of her usual attire and forced into a standard prison uniform — a red tunic with slightly darker pants. Anticipating the needs of the upcoming interrogation, Azula has the tunic torn up, exposing Toph’s midriff and smooth underarms. Her wrists and ankles are then wrapped in leather padding to prevent chafing — a seemingly merciful measure, but one that makes perfect sense given what Azula has in store for her. Toph is then laid out across the rack. Her ankles are locked in the smallest of three hole sizes, securing her tiny feet close together at the center of the stocks. In the other stocks, her wrists are restrained further apart, leaving her in a Y-shaped position. Azula then turns the crank herself, gleefully pulling Toph’s short frame taut, enough to immobilize her completely, but without inflicting pain. The young earthbender awakens abruptly, curling her toes as a pair of stiff-bristled brushes glide uncaringly across her tiny rugged soles, jolting her senses with highly ticklish sensations.