Blue Spirit Begins.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. I don't own Batman. I don't own a working cell phone. I don't own a home. I sleep in someone else's during the day and eat their food and use their computer while they're asleep.
Description: This is a Zuko-centric story loosely based off of the movie "Batman Begins" In an alternate universe, the war never happened, Ozai was a nice person, and Azula is not Zuko's sister. With all of this, Zuko must be a happy person, right? Wrong. Some things will always be. Aang will always be legendary. Zutarians will always be hormone crazed, teenage girls, and Zuko will always be one bad-ass son of a bitch.
Prologue: A hero's fear
'Fear… Fear murdered my parents… In the darkest pits of the Earth, I found fear in its purest form, and thought I had conquered it… But fear followed me home…'
'It all began one night when I was 8. My parents and I were going to a festival in honor of the Avatar Aang, who had saved the entire world from a mad man named Long Feng, who had overthrown the Earth King and tried to conquer the world. On our way home, we tried to take a shortcut through a back alley. My father was one of the greatest firebenders in the world, if not the greatest. '
'But all the skill in the world doesn't mean anything if a guy with a knife catches you off guard…'
'And so, I sat in the Earth Kingdom police station, shaking, until my uncle Iroh came and brought me home to the Fire Nation, where I, an 8-year old boy, was expected to become the next Firelord. I wasn't ready… I was afraid…'
'I still remember the day that man was caught and brought to the Fire Nation for trial. I sat with the prosecutors, looking him in the eye as he testified to his innocence. I reached under my cloak and pretended to scratch my neck. I was actually fingering the dual swords I had stashed in case the trial turned sour.'
'The man was lucky. At least he thought he was. He got off with 5 years in jail; even though killing a member of the of the royal family is a crime punishable by lifetime imprisonment, he was still let off for being from the Earth Kingdom, as though that made him any less responsible for my parents' death. As he walked to his cart to carry him to jail, I forgot about the swords. The fire in my hands promised me that I wouldn't need them. Before I got my chance, though, a member of the crowd stepped out and stabbed the man with a dagger, forever denying me my revenge.'
'As I sat in the palanquin ride home with my childhood friend, Mai, she told me 'he didn't deserve that.' I looked at her in rage as I pulled out the swords I was hiding and said, 'Yes, he did…' I was met with a slap in the face, both figuratively and literally.'
'Mai opened the palanquin's curtains and showed me the slum we had passed through to get home. Mai normally wasn't one to show emotion of any kind, but now she was angry. 'This is what your parents fought to prevent! This kind of poverty caused by people like Xin Fu is what caused that man to stoop to thievery! He was the kind of man your parents tried to help, and you wanted to kill him!? If you had done that, all you would've accomplished was blackening your father's reputation!' Xin Fu was an earth bender who had come to the Fire Nation with his band of goons to start up a criminal organization. He was one of the most powerful crime bosses in the Fire Nation, and all he had done was sink half of my nation into poverty and caused hundreds of people to resort to crime. As much as I hated to admit it, Mai was right.'
'The following night, I marched up to Xin Fu and told him, "One day, I'm going to take you down…" He pulled me in close and said, "You can't touch me rich boy. I have every cop in the city in my pocket. If you try to kill me, there are 20 guys in here who will shoot you without a second thought. Then we can bury you with mommy and daddy." I clenched my fists in anger, but, knowing he was right, I walked away.'
'A few years later, Mai left the Fire Nation. Her father had been made the head of the Fire Nation embassy in Omashu. She kissed me on the cheek when she left and smiled at me. I smiled back at her, but it was an empty smile. Inside, I was dead, empty. I know people usually feel better about losing loved ones, but I didn't. I never got the confrontation I needed. I never got to look that man in the eye and show him what he took away from me. I never got closure. Every day, I would just stare at the painting I had taken with my family. The pain I felt inside was too much to bear. I felt like I was losing everyone in my life. The only person left was Uncle Iroh, and even he wasn't able to help me get over the pain of losing my parents.'
'In the end, it was too much to bear. I left the Fire Nation. I knew it would be in capable hands with my Uncle Iroh anyway. I went to the Earth Kingdom and blended in, in Ba Sing Se, and ultimately ended up getting arrested and sent to an Earth Kingdom jail. I went there to lose myself, but ultimately, I found myself. I found what I would become: The Blue Spirit.'
Well, that was the prologue. Next comes the actual story, this is just a little side project to "Avatar: The Last Ninja." It shouldn't be that long. Maybe 9 or ten chapters. It might end up being longer though. Yes, it will be Maiko. I'll try to work in as many characters as I can, but Aang won't be making an appearance. I'm saving him for the sequel. I have to hold off on one other character, but I can't decide who. I'm leaning towards Haru though.
