"Hmm, that would've been quite a fall." the detective claimed, looking over the side of the rail. His hands were careful not to touch the blood.
"Yeah, I guess this kid was lucky that he wasn't thrown over." the other detective said. "Why do you think, whoever did this, didn't finish the job?"
"Don't know. Maybe not killing him was part of the job."
"They sure beat they hell out of him. Didn't the meds say he was in a comatose state when they left?"
"I'm no doctor but I'll say he'd probably be suffering from head trauma, internal bleeding and some other shit." He left the rail and headed over to his partner.
"God, what the hell happened here?"
"At 8:37 P.M., a call was made by a neighbor that they could here a lot of noise coming from the victims apartment. Crashing objects, thuds on the wall, they got scared. By the time we arrived they were out of the apartment. A blood trail from the room lead us straight to the roof. That's where the victim was found, leaning right against the rail."
The other nodded his head, "I heard he had a bag with him that had a bunch of clothes and stuff."
"Guess the kid knew what was coming to him. Tried to leave but was beaten to the punch. Literally."
"And that a 'sword' was found only a few inches away from him?"
"Feds dusted it and found the kids prints all over it."
"So what, he had a showdown with whoever was trying to kill him?"
"I don't know, but since the kid is still alive, when they sure as hell could've killed him, I think this is only the beginning to a chain of homicides coming our way. So you better get your umbrella because the shit clouds are coming in." He started to walk to the stairs.
"By the way, what was the kids name?"
"Daniel Marcus his license said. But they checked it out and couldn't pull anything up on him. So it's most likely a fake."
"This just gets weirder and weirder." He followed his partner down the steps.
……
The detectives walked out of the apartment complex.
"You know, the world is crazy enough as it is already. What with all these damn benders and everything."
"Benders sir?"
"You know, the people with the powers."
"I know who they are but why are you concerned with them?"
"Are you kidding? Please tell me that you were aware of the war a year ago."
"You know, that wasn't a war officially. Besides, weren't benders the ones that ended it?"
"And benders were the ones that began it, also. Remember that. It's only a matter of time before some of them try to do something like it again."
"What about that Avatar person. Didn't he stop the others last time? He could do it again."
"That all-powered bald-headed freak with the tattoos? I wouldn't trust him for anything. What if he decided to try to take over the world. Then we all would be screwed."
"I don't know, it doesn't seem likely. Besides, the last people who went crazy that time were captured and imprisoned weren't they?"
"All but one. Zuko. That little creep is out there somewhere. Probably plotting on how to get even with the world for doing what we did to his father and sister. Mental illness is genetic, and if most of his family had it, he is bound to have it, too."
"Okay. Zuko I'll say is a problem. But isn't the government being trained to hunt down benders like him? So it would only be a matter of time till he's captured, right?"
The detective stopped, taking out his car keys and unlocking the doors. "I don't know. There hasn't been sight of him since the end of the war. He's eluded the government for this long and I'm not even sure if-" he stopped.
"What?"
"Did it just get warmer all of the sudden?"
"What do you mean?"
The suspicious detective looked around, only seeing the usual everyday street walkers. But he caught a glimpse of a hooded figure, back against the wall looking to the ground. The detective didn't think it was all to suspicious, but he couldn't help but feel a strange vibe coming from the person. It sent not shivers, but a creepy heat down his spine.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go." He got into his car, followed by his protégé. The car started up, and they began to drive away. The detective saw from his rear view mirror that the hooded figure was now in the open, watching him drive away. Once again, it creeped him out.
-----
Back at the apartment complex. A hooded figure stands outside the building doors, surveying the area. He walks inside. He notices all the police in the lobby, some asking questions to the doorman.
"I swear no one came in to visit anyone between eight 'o clock and nine 'o clock." He heard the doorman say.
The figure had a few questions himself to ask to the doorman. But with all these cops around, it wouldn't be easy. He'd have to do it some other time. He left the lobby to the front of the building.
The hooded figures eye scaled the building, looking up to see which room belonged to who. Analyzing from way down here, it was hard to tell. He'd have to get closer. Suddenly, his legs ignited with flame and then he launched into the air like a rocket. He quickly looked for the room he was looking for and shot his legs to where he would launch towards it. He landed safely on the balcony, and slid the glass door open to walk into the apartment.
The entire place was wrecked. The TV was broken through, pictures had fallen off the wall, the couch had been slashed. He noticed a small little mirror hanging on the wall, just barely and crooked slightly. He walked over to it and just stared at his reflection. Slowly he started to take off his hood. Still looking at himself in the mirror. The hood was all the way off, and he brought his hand to his face, touching the burn scar that still remained.
"August 17, 2009, 10:44 P.M.
My name is Zuko. I'm making this audio log to record the events that follow from this day. When I realized that benders all over the world were in great danger. I first came to discover this when I went to investigate the home of resident Daniel Marcus exactly an hour ago. I refuse to present his real name for his own protection. First discovery I made was when I searched the bathroom…"
Zuko walked into the bathroom. He carefully surveyed the place and found nothing out of the ordinary. Looked like it hadn't even been touched in the brawl. He looked in the shower, lifted the back lid to the toilet, looked behind the mirror. He only noticed that the toothbrush was gone. But that wasn't out of the ordinary. Zuko checked under the sink to see if anything was there. He felt something. Zuko got down to his knee and looked under. A bomb had been placed there.
"At first I thought that the bomb had been placed there by the people who tried to kill him. But then I discovered something…"
Zuko walked out of the bathroom. He looked to the floor, scratching the back of his head. The he noticed something lying slightly underneath the TV stand. He knelt down and picked it up.
"A detonator. Why would the assassins leave the detonator in the apartment? Then I came to the possible fact that Daniel set up the bomb in hopes of sending the assassins sky high when they came to search for him. He was obviously expecting them. It would've worked. But he just wasn't fast enough."
Zuko walked into the bedroom. He noticed the computer was still on.
"That's when I made my second discovery…"
The computer was logged onto the internet. Zuko took a look at some of the recent searches.
"Daniel had been keeping up with the news. He had been searching many news articles from many newspapers around the world. All talked about deaths and massacres, with pictures of some of the victims. Why was he searching this stuff?"
Zuko was confused. He looked on the desk to see if anything was there of interest. He found a manila folder in the drawer, practically stuffed with papers. Zuko opened it up.
"After a while of observing, I couldn't believe what it said. All those people from those articles Daniel was reading, the ones that were killed in those countries… they were benders. And not just a specific kind. Any kind of bender was killed more than once."
Zuko looked at the folder, eyes widened with astonishment. "What the hell?" He started turning some more pages.
"I looked deeper into the folder, seeing just exactly how much benders were killed already. Then I ran into something. Something BIG. A folder marked classified, with a label under it marked Codename…"
"Project Phoenix?" Zuko said aloud.
"What does this mean? Did it have some relation to all these deaths?"
Zuko looked at the bed behind him and saw a picture on the table next to it. He picked it up and looked at the two people in it. There he was, smiling. With his arm wrapped around his sister, Katara.
"Dammit Sokka. What did you know?"
"I couldn't think. Everything just came to fast. I was confused. What the hell is Project Phoenix? What is it's connection with all these benders dying? I had to go see some people. Some old friends."
The door to the room had been kicked open, and Zuko quickly broke free from his trance.
"Police!" they yelled, "Is someone in here?! Show yourself!" They searched the whole apartment. They found nobody. And the door to the balcony was closed.
-----
"What did we say about practicing your earth bending." her father was yelling.
"You're going to get us into some big trouble, young lady." the mother replied.
The little girl looked to the floor. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just- I get so bored. I have this amazing power and I can't use it. It sucks."
"Language Beulah." the mother exasperated.
"Please," the father signaled for one of the guards. "Take Beulah upstairs to her room. And make sure she doesn't get out."
"Can't you at least call me by my real name?" Beulah asked.
"Our government relocated us, gave us income and new names so that way we could live a normal life. Get use to the name sweetie because its staying."
"Come on." the guard said, grabbing her shoulder.
She smacked it away, "I may be blind, but I'm not helpless." With that she stormed up the stairs to her room and slammed the door. The girl was furious. Why did they treat her like this? Was she not one of the few who saved the world last time? She hated being treated like she was small and fragile. This was exactly why she left home last time. Why did she ever come back? She grabbed the nearest thing she could grab and threw it against the wall. She waited for the sound of impact. It didn't come.
"Good evening, Toph." That voice. She remembered it. "Or should I say Ms. Beulah Marianthol? Just to be safe."
"Zuko!" she yelled, running to him with open arms. They both hugged each other.
When they broke apart, Zuko said, "I believe this is your brush." He handed it back to her.
Toph blushed, remembering she just had thrown something. "What are doing here?"
Zuko kind of quieted down. "Sokka was almost killed."
Toph's expression went from ecstatic to shocked. "What?!"
"They found him on the roof of his apartment tower unconscious. Some people beat the hell out of him. From what I heard he's in a coma now."
"Oh my God." the expression on Toph's face was devastated. Zuko could tell. "Do the police know who did it?"
"No, please. Police are completely clueless these days. They didn't even find the bomb hidden under the bathroom sink-"
"A BOMB?!"
"I think Sokka placed it there. I think he knew they were coming for him."
"Who? Did you find out who they were yet?"
"No, not yet unfortunately. But I think it has something to do with what I found in his apartment."
"What did you find?"
"This." He laid a thick manila folder on her bed.
" 'This' is what again." she sarcastically said, waving her hand in front of her face.
"Right." Zuko felt stupid. "Sorry. In this folder, Sokka kept records of deaths all over the world. Deaths of benders." Zuko couldn't tell if Toph was paying attention or not, but he kept talking. "Also it had this file in here called Project Phoenix."
"Project Phoenix?" Toph responded. Yea, she was paying attention.
"Yeah. But when I tried to check it out the papers for it were gone. All that's left is a folder labeled Project Phoenix."
"Then how do you know that it has something to do with the attack on Sokka."
"Sokka has been looking into these deaths for a while, it seems. I don't know when he came over Project Phoenix, or if it even had something to do with what happened. But he was almost killed tonight for something. My guess is that he knew to much and someone wanted him silenced. So he couldn't tell anyone else."
Toph crossed her arms and sighed. "Why did you come over here Zuko?"
Zuko could hear the anxiety in her voice, "I just wanted to tell you to watch out. I know you're a strong earth bender but still. Don't go anywhere alone."
"Oh believe me when I say that my father has me locked down tight. I can't even go to the bathroom without someone watching over me."
"That's creepy."
"You're telling me?" They both laughed a bit. She seemed kind of down, though.
"Listen, the last thing I'd ever want to do was to purposely scare someone without a good reason. But with the incident with Sokka and this," he waved the folder in the air, "I just don't want to take any chances."
"Yeah, that's you alright. The one who cares." Toph teased. They both smiled and hugged each other.
"By the way, where are Aang and Katara?" Zuko asked.
"They settled down at Omashu Base. They have a nice home there."
"Omashu?"
"Yeah, why? Are you gonna go see them, too?"
"I have to. I got to show them what I found." He grabbed the folder and headed towards the window.
"For the past year, you've been running away from the government, and now you're just gonna walk up to their doorstep?"
Zuko thought on that for a while before answering, "Yeah, pretty much."
Toph laughed, "You're even crazier than I am."
"I'm only going to see Katara and Aang, I know they won't rat me out."
"Aang won't, Katara I'm not so sure of."
"Well, I'll take my chances." He stuck his feet out the window. Then looked back. "Take care Toph."
"Likewise Sparky. And if you find anything new out, I want to help." She gave him a thumbs up. Then he jumped out the window.
"Now that I knew where they lived, I headed there. To bad they lived at Omashu. Sneaking in wouldn't be too easy."
-----
Katara sat in her bedroom, thinking, worrying. Then a knock on her door brought her back to reality.
The door opened slightly, "Miss Katara, you have a visitor." the voice said. Katara quickly got up and head downstairs. She was surprised to see who was waiting for her.
"Suki!" she exclaimed, picking up her pace down the stairs.
"Katara!" Suki also exclaimed. She dropped her suitcase and greeted Katara with a hug. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. How about you?" she replied.
"I came down as soon as I heard."
"You got here really fast."
"Where's Aang?"
"Suki?" a voice came from upstairs. Aang air bended his way down to the ground floor.
"Hey Aang." Suki gave him a hug.
"I didn't know you were coming." he claimed.
"I left my home as soon as I heard what happened to Sokka. Is he alright?"
"We're not sure." Katara told her. "They said we shouldn't see him till tomorrow."
"Why tomorrow?"
"They said he's suffering from severe head trauma and internal bleeding. He's in a coma now. They said we should all give him so alone time to let the healing process begin." Aang explained.
"Well, where is he now?"
"In the base's hospital. Tomorrow we'll all go see him first thing in the morning." Suki sighed. She wanted to see Sokka as soon as she got there.
Katara grabbed Suki's shoulder, "I know you're worried. We are, too. Especially me. He's my brother." Katara began to cry a little. Suki brought her into another hug, crying also.
"Come on guys," Aang said, "Let's head to the kitchen. I'll make some tea. That'll help calm us down." The three of them all headed into the kitchen. The guard took Suki's bag upstairs.
…..
"So what have you been up to, Suki." Aang asked. They were all sitting at the table with their cups of tea.
"Not much. Just living day by day in this so-called new world."
"I heard you went to Australia a while ago." Katara claimed. "How are things going in the land down under?"
"Well, I went there to help out some earth benders. Locals over there were getting skeptical about having them around. I did what I could to help them settle with the town, but who knows what's happened now."
"Yeah. People are afraid of benders these days." Aang claimed.
"People have always been afraid of benders. Even before the war." Katara added.
"It's hard being the Avatar these days. You want to make peace with people but they don't want to make peace with you."
"Humanity has always been like that." Suki said. "We're afraid of change. We can't handle it. We think that everything different is bad. You would think even with the war that happened, people would start to see that there are higher forces at work besides us. The evolutionary chain goes on and benders are the ones next in line. We won't always be at the top of the food chain and the sooner we except that, the sooner we can move on with happiness. Yet, we're stubborn. We ignore what's going on around us and pretend that everything is the same. We're in control, when we really aren't."
Aang and Katara nodded in agreement with Suki's statement. "The war hasn't changed anything." Katara added.
"Last I heard it wasn't even officially a war." a voice came from the kitchen, startling them. They turned to see Zuko, standing by the entrance to the kitchen.
"Zuko!" Suki and Aang shouted in unison.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said smiling.
They both went to go greet him. But Katara stayed sitting, not the least bit excited about his presence. She could hear 'It's been so long' and 'It's great to see you again' and she could hear him say 'Thank you' and 'I missed you guys'.
"I didn't know you'd be here, Suki?"
"I came to see how Sokka was doing."
"So he is HERE. I thought they would bring him here after Toph told me where you and Katara were."
"You went to see Toph?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, I went to go talk to her about-" he was cut off.
"Oh, how is Toph?" Suki asked.
"Her parents seem to be too controlling. Which is driving her crazy she says." Aang replied. Then the rest of the conversation kept going back and forth like this until Katara noticed the manila folder under Zuko's arm.
"What's with the overstuffed folder?" she asked. Only then did the others notice he was actually carrying something.
"Thanks, Katara." He walked over to the table and placed it. "I went to Sokka's apartment a while ago to check it out myself."
"You were the one that broke in after the police left?!" Katara questioned.
"First of all, I didn't break in. The door to the balcony wasn't locked. And second, how'd you find out about that?"
"The cops are told to alert us if they find anything."
"Well, I didn't break in and I found a lot more out within the hour than the cops would've within the week."
"How'd you get up to the balcony?" Suki asked.
"I blasted myself up there with my fire bending." Zuko explained.
"How'd you learn to do that?" Aang asked.
"Um-"
"Guys?!" Katara shouted. "Zuko, what did you find out?"
"Well, when I went to check out his apartment, I found this folder. Look at it." The three of them opened the folder and skimmed through it. Taking out piles of papers and looking through them separately.
"Who are all these people? Aang asked.
"All those people in there are benders from different parts of the world. And they've been killed recently."
"Project Phoenix?" Katara said, holding the folder.
"Oh, you found that? Well, there's not much I can tell you about Project Phoenix. There's no papers in the folder to explain what it is or what it plans to do. But I'll tell you the same thing I told Toph. Whatever Project Phoenix is, someone is trying to keep it a secret. Sokka must have found knew what it was, and they went after him."
"The police did say that Sokka had a packed bag when they found him." Aang told.
"So Sokka was expecting them. He knew they were coming. He was leaving, probably trying to come tell you guys. But they got him."
Everyone was silent. No one knew how to handle this. "Well, if Sokka knew so much, how come they didn't just kill him."
"That, I don't know. Maybe the police showed up and they left before they got there."
"My God, what did Sokka know?" Suki questioned.
"You guys might not like it when I say this, but what I think is going on…" Zuko paused. The others stared at him, wondering what he was going to say. "I think there's a plot to kill all benders."
"Zuko, that's crazy." Aang insisted.
"Think about it. The world hates us. They think we're a bunch of freaks and that we're dangerous."
"Okay Zuko just stop." Katara commanded. "I appreciate your concern for my brothers attackers and you wanting to try and find them. But if you haven't noticed, we're all going through a crisis right now and we don't need any more drama." She stood up and tried to leave.
"Katara, I came hear to tell you guys that something is going on and that we need to stick together. Sokka knew something. Something huge. And since he's unable to tell us what, we're going to have to find out on our own."
Katara sighed, "Zuko, hear this. Since the war ended a year ago, we haven't seen you since. Not counting the times when we seen your picture in the paper and an article saying how you almost beat someone to death, or burned someone to death. It's benders like you that give all other benders a bad name. You say that people are wrong for fearing us but you're the reason why they do. You're the exact portrayal of why people hate us!"
"I'm not a bad guy!" he yelled. "Those people in the paper, my so called 'innocent' victims, had it coming to them. They were lowlifes, thugs, they brought harm to the real innocents-"
"Just your kind of people." Katara interrupted. Zuko was silent.
No one said anything. They were afraid to. The tension between Katara and Zuko was enough to suffocate someone.
"Alright guys, that's enough!" Aang barged in. "Now Katara, from what you said earlier, everyone just needs to stop. We've had enough drama for today." Katara got up from her chair and left. "Katara, wait. Don't-" She already was heading up the stairs.
"I'll go see her." Suki said, getting up from her chair. "It's was nice seeing you again, Zuko." Then she went to Katara.
"Nice seeing you also." Zuko sat down next to Aang. "Why does your girlfriend still resent me. I've done so much already to get her to like me. And yet she still doesn't. What's the deal. I mean, you guys like me, right?"
"You know I do." Aang replied.
"So what's her problem?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I think she just has it out for your family."
"I hardly even like my family. Except for my uncle and my mother."
"How is Iroh these days?"
"He went to Japan about two months ago to teach fire bending to some kids."
"Is he still in that organization?"
"The Order of the White Lotus? Yeah. He's been doing good for himself. He even gave me his old place to stay."
"That little house on the street with the little corner grocery store? That's where you've been this whole time?"
"Out in the open. The last place anyone would ever think to find me. Pretty ironic, huh?"
"I can't believe that's where you were this entire time."
"If I known where you guys were, I would've told you a long time ago." The two of them began to laugh and catch up some more.
-----
Suki went to go talk to Katara.
"Katara, what's the matter."
"I'm sorry, I just can't handle being in the same room with Zuko."
"Okay, well let's not talk about Zuko then."
"It's not just Zuko. It's what's going on all the time, and Sokka in the hospital. Everything is just going wrong. The world is against us, I don't know how much more I can take.
She could tell that Katara was really irritated. This made her feel uncomfortable. Then she came up with an idea. "How's about after we see Sokka tomorrow, we all go out into town. Just us girls. A little time away from all this is probably what you need. I'll even call Toph. We can all hang out with each other again."
Katara had to admit that that was a good idea. And it probably is what she needs. Time away from drama. "That sounds great, actually."
"Awesome. Let me go call Toph."
"Actually, let me. I know her number."
-----
The two guys were still in the kitchen, laughing and catching up.
"So how are you and Katara these days, Aang?" Zuko asked.
"Well, actually, not all to good I'm afraid. It's kind of hard to be the Avatar, and try to be with the one you love. I'm always out trying to settle peace and I hardly ever have time to be with her. I think she's sad."
"Hmm." was all he said, taking another sip of his tea.
"How about you and Mai? Did that last?"
"No. After the war, she said I changed. Changed too much. She didn't like it, so she left."
"Wow, that's sad."
"Yeah. But to be honest, I thought it would've ended one way or the other."
"You know, you did change, Zuko. And I mean for the better. You're not so down anymore, you're funnier, cool to hang out with. I don't see why Katara doesn't see it."
"Me either. But I'll find out one day." Zuko took one last sip of his tea before he noticed how late it was. "I think it's about time for me to get going." He got up from his chair and put his jacket back on.
"Already?" Aang questioned.
"I got to get up early tomorrow. I have places to go, people to see."
"Do you need help getting out of here?"
"I'll just leave the way I got in." Zuko headed for the front door.
Aang noticed the manila folder was still on the table. "Zuko, what about this?"
"Keep it. See if you can find anything new. I've seen enough already. And now I'm going to make my own leads." Zuko turned the door knob and pulled open the door. He looked back at Aang. "Take care, almighty Avatar." Then he left.
Aang stood there, staring at the door. "Likewise, Zuko. Likewise."
-----
Zuko stood outside of the house. He looked up to the sky. Clouds were covering up the moon, seeming like it was going to rain. He had better hurry and get out of there. Sneaking around when it was drizzling was hard. But before leaving, Zuko took a tape recorder out from his pocket. He looked at his watch, then pressed the record button.
"August 17, 2009, 10:44 P.M. My name is Zuko. I'm making this audio log to record the events that follow from this day. When I realized that benders all over the world were in great danger…"