Combustion Man operated more subtly by setting up a trap in Fire Fountain City via a wanted poster to capture Katara and Toph locked them in a wooden cell, depriving them both of earth and water to bend, and used them as nothing more than bait to lure in Aang, after Katara inventively used her sweat to waterbend and escape, Aang and Sokka, who had only narrowly avoided the ambush because Aang heard the assassin inhaling Katara momentarily hampered his assassination attempt by freezing his head in a block of ice, allowing the group to escape. Toph launched a boulder at him to cover the group's escape, prompting him to destroy it as the rock exploded, a single pebble flew off of the rock and struck him directly on his third eye tattoo, blocking his chi he got up and attempted to shoot another explosion in the group's direction, only to find his ability hampered the air around him detonated, sending him flying against a nearby wall, enabling the group to escape.