TwighlightRose2's contest rules. The gAang gets stuck in a mall for one whole night. It's your choice whether the stores are open or closed or if there's anyone else there. But there's a twist, this isn't just a simple fun overnight trip. I want mystery! Danger! Maybe even a murder? It's all up to you :D
The rules are:
No sex scenes. One shot or multichaptered. AU Someone must say this sentence: "Okay, lets split up and search for clues." IT MUST HAVE MYSTERY. MUST.
A/N: I know I'm in the middle of a couple of stories right now, but when I saw An Assassin's Violin writing for this contest, I couldn't resist writing my own. Oh, Toph and Aang are 15, the other girls 16, and the guys 17. It just makes things easier that way. ) And don't forget to review! The more reviews I get, the faster you get the second chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, or any other references I make. )
Chapter 1
Katara squealed and turned her head into Zuko's chest as the movie they were watching got scarier. The monster had come out and had trapped the two heroes and Zuko knew someone was going to die. Sighing, he glanced over at his friends and saw Sokka and Aang both holding Toph's hands as they winced and turned their heads away from the movie, trying to get away and still watch the horror. Toph was grinning as the scary music intensified, and let both teens hold her hands as she enjoyed the sounds of the monster movie. Haru was on the far end, wincing as the monster took slow steps towards the heroes, but watching the movie instead of hiding from it.
Katara squealed again and hid her face in Zuko's shirt and he wrapped a comforting arm around his girlfriend. She seemed to relax more as he hugged her and risked a quick glance out only to turn her face back into his shoulder.
"Just tell me when it's over," Katara whispered and Zuko just smiled. He turned back to the movie and saw it reach the climax. The monster took the hero, leaving the heroine and then was gone.
"It's over," Zuko whispered and saw Katara turn back to the movie screen. The screen showed the heroine grieving over the loss of her brother and Katara sagged back into her own chair, but stayed cuddled up next to Zuko. Zuko noticed Toph grinning as both boys relaxed and opened their eyes, slowly starting to let go of her hands. The blind girl turned towards Zuko and smirked, to which he smirked back. They both had seen or heard the movie on opening night and knew what happened next.
Zuko turned back to the screen as screams filled the theater. He grinned as Katara's hold tightened on his arm as she got closer to him. The screen showed a warehouse and then moved to the hero's figure as the screams died suddenly. Suddenly Katara screeched and clung onto Zuko, hiding her face in his shirt again as Sokka and Aang shrieked and clung to Toph. Zuko glanced over and even saw Haru jumping as the movie ended showing the hero's dead body without any eyes and the monster with the boy's eyes.
"It's over," Zuko whispered to Katara as the credits came up.
"You promise?" Katara squeaked.
"Yes," Zuko replied with a smile. He looked into his girlfriend's blue eyes as she carefully pulled her face out of his shirt and looked up at him before turning to the screen. She relaxed before turning to punch him in the arm.
"That wasn't funny," she said as she frowned up into his face.
"It was hilarious," a voice said from behind the group.
Zuko sighed as he recognized the voice and turned to see his sister, her boyfriend and friends the only other ones in the theater. Azula was smirking as Jet started laughing. Ty Lee was giggling at Zuko and his friends' expressions while Mai merely let the corner of her mouth turn up in a small smirk.
"We don't need this," Sokka stated, frowning up towards Jet and Azula. "Come on guys, we parked on the other side."
Zuko nodded and saw his other friends nodding before they got up to file out of the theater. They relaxed as they made their way through the empty mall. It was nearly midnight and the theater had been the last one to close.
"Promise me you won't make me see any more scary movies?" Katara asked Zuko as they walked with their arms around each other's waists.
"As long as I can see them by myself," Zuko said back to his girlfriend.
"I'll go with you for those, Sunshine," Toph said from ahead of the couple. "These two dunderheads are siding with Sweetness," Toph said as she jerked her thumbs at Sokka and Aang. "At least Mustavo can join us for some of the scary movies. The not so scary ones."
Zuko smirked as Haru turned back to Toph and frowned at her. "I can handle anything you can, Squirt. So don't push me."
"Lighten up Haru," Aang said. "You know Toph just loves to tease."
Haru sighed and relaxed as they walked towards the exit where Sokka's car was. Just before they got to the doors, the lights suddenly went out.
"What…?" Sokka started as Aang ran to the doors. Aang yanked on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. Katara tensed up in Zuko's arm as Haru and Sokka joined Aang and tried the other doors as they saw it start raining outside. Sokka and Aang checked their phones and Zuko reached into his own pocket to check his. He looked up at the other guys and saw from their expressions that their phones were suddenly dead like his.
"What's going on?" Toph asked.
"The lights went out and the doors are locked!" Sokka said. "And, our phones are all dead!" Toph walked up to her friend and punched him in the arm.
"Cool it Snoozles. Maybe the guard locked these doors first. And you know you're bad at charging your phone. Besides, this never was a good signal area. Calm down and lets check the other doors," she said.
Everyone agreed and Sokka started leading the way to the closest set of doors. Katara started clinging to Zuko again and he sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to ask Katara to not cling so tightly when they heard a scream echo through the mall.
"That sounded like…" Katara started with wide eyes.
"Ty Lee," both Sokka and Haru said before the guys started sprinting towards where they heard the scream.
Zuko let go of Katara enough to grab her hand before they started running after the guys. Sokka had slowed down enough to grab Toph's hand and was dragging the blind girl behind him. They came upon Mai looking around a bathroom as Jet and Azula stood off to the side, trying to not show concern as they glanced around.
"What happened?" Sokka asked as they slid to a stop before the other group.
"Nothing that concerns you," Azula snarled.
"Ty Lee's missing," Mai said. "And she screamed. All that's there is a puddle of water." Mai then pointed to a puddle just outside the women's bathroom.
"Anything else?" Sokka asked as he started looking around.
"It happened the same time the lights went out," Azula sighed. "She probably got scared and freaked out. She'll be fine, just give her some time."
"Um…where's Haru?" Aang asked suddenly as lightning lit up the mall through the skylights.
Everyone turned to look for the teen with the mustache, but he was missing. Katara got as close to Zuko as she could while Sokka and Aang's eyes got wide.
"He was right behind me," Sokka said. "Ok, this is creepy."
"It's probably a trick," Zuko said as he narrowed his eyes at his sister.
"Yeah, real nice trick," Azula sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I turned out the lights and told Ty Lee to scream and hide. Ty Lee! You can come out now!" Azula yelled out the last, turning around. "See? No trick."
"Then who turned out the lights?" Aang asked in a slightly quaking voice. "And why are our cells dead?"
"And who locked the doors?!" Sokka said as he stalked up to Azula.
"Oh please," Azula sighed. "Tell me you haven't heard the…legends." Azula started to smirk as she glanced around at the others.
"Legends?" Katara squeaked. "What legends?"
Zuko saw Toph roll her eyes and sigh and Zuko scowled at his sister. "Azula, this isn't the time for this. We need to find Haru and Ty Lee and get out of here."
Azula ignored Zuko's remark and instead turned to Sokka and Aang, occasionally glancing at Katara who was still huddled in Zuko's arm.
"Ah, the legend of the lake monster," Azula said in a sinister voice. "There was once a magical lake right here where the mall used to be. And it was said a monster protected it. When the mall was being built, there were a lot of accidents, but through human perseverance, it was built. The guards who patrolled at night simply disappeared, only leaving a puddle of water behind. Now, guards only patrol the parking lot. No one comes inside. Muah ha ha ha ha."
Azula turned and pointed to the puddle right outside of the women's restroom as she did her evil laugh and Katara and Aang cringed. "They say the monster traps people who walk the halls late at night and then…devours them."
Aang, Sokka and Katara all cringed back while Azula and Jet smirked. Mai looked a little uncertain as Toph started laughing out loud.
"Legend…of the lake monster? Hah!" Toph said between laughs as she clutched her stomach as she laughed harder. "I've heard that a million times and I know of no one who believes that rubbish."
"But Haru and Ty Lee are missing!" Sokka yelled as he turned back to Toph and started scowling. "What does that tell you?!"
"Please, they probably got scared or wanted some alooone time," Toph said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"What?" Sokka asked, coming up short.
"Oh, come on Sokka," Jet said, finally speaking up. "Even I could see they were digging on each other."
"And I'm supposed to be the blind one," Toph smirked.
"Well, we're still stuck in this mall," Zuko said calmly. "We should check the other doors to see if any are unlocked."
"Yeah, good idea," Sokka said, starting to take deep breaths and calm down. "There are four other sets of doors, so we should split up into pairs and try them. But…uh, what should we do if we find an unlocked door, or all of them locked?"
"We'll meet back in the food court, at the fountain," Toph said. "It's in the center of the mall, so come on Meathead, you're with me. We'll check out the north side."
"Katara and I will check the southeast," Zuko said.
"Jet and I will check the northwest side," Mai said quickly.
"Well Airhead," Azula said with a smirk. "I guess we're checking the southwest."
Zuko felt bad for his friend as Aang visibly cringed away from Azula and Zuko turned to Katara. "Why don't you go with Aang? I don't think he can handle my sister."
Katara nodded and hurried to Aang as Azula started looking disappointed.
"Ok, scream if you need help," Toph said with a smirk. "And we'll meet back in the food court within an hour."
Zuko smirked as many dark looks were sent the blind girls' way. But she ignored them and grabbed Sokka's shirt before making the way to her set of doors. Zuko watched as his girlfriend clung to his friends' arm while they separated. Azula was frowning at Zuko as he turned back to his sister.
"Why do you have to ruin my fun?" she whined.
"You ruin mine," Zuko said back to her. "Now, we have some doors to check."
Azula sighed and with a wave of her hair, led the way to the southwest doors. They arrived there quickly and checked the doors, but all were locked. Another flash of lightning lighted the area, quickly followed by the clash of thunder and the rain outside intensified.
"Well, maybe the others had luck," Azula sighed as she started walking towards the center of the mall. Zuko followed his sister in silence and they were halfway to the food court when a scream pierced the air. Zuko recognized it as Mai's voice and glanced at Azula. He saw that she had recognized it as well, and after a shared glance, they both started running towards where they had heard the scream.
Zuko and Azula passed the food court where they saw Sokka, Toph, Aang and Katara all looking towards the northwestern section before they followed Zuko. Zuko skidded to a halt behind Azula as they found Jet. The teen was soaking wet outside of a service hallway and looked completely lost. Jet looked more like a five year old child sitting on the ground with his knees drawn up to his chest than a seventeen year old tough guy.
"Jet?" Azula asked. "What happened? Where's Mai?"
"She's gone," Jet whispered and buried his head into his knees. "Gone."
"What happened?" Sokka asked quietly.
Jet looked up and looked lost before his gaze landed on Sokka. "She was there, then it went black, and now…now she's gone."
Zuko glanced at his sister and saw her deep in thought. "Oh hah hah, very funny 'Zula," he said sarcastically. "Mai! Ty Lee! The joke is up! Come out now!"
Zuko looked around, looking for his sister's friends as his own friends turned to look at him. They glanced around as well, but no one came out and Jet continued to look lost. Katara and Aang looked frightened, but only Toph and Azula appeared calm. But Zuko could tell it was only on the outside as Azula's eyes darted around.
"Come on Jerkwad," Toph sighed as she went to Jet and hauled the teen to his feet. "Let's get back to the fountain and plan our next move. Did you guys get to check the doors before Dullsville disappeared?"
"Yeah," Jet said dully. "Locked."
"Ours were too," Aang said and it was echoed by Sokka as they made their way back to the food court.
"Us too," Zuko sighed as he raked a hand through his hair. "Did anyone check the movies? Was anyone still there?"
"We passed by the movies on our way to our doors," Sokka said as he helped Toph maneuver Jet onto a bench. "All closed up and nothing budged. And I mean nothing."
"Well, what do we do now?" Aang asked as Katara continued to cling to his arm. Zuko frowned at the younger boy.
"Well, three people are missing," Toph said as she sat wearily on another bench. "We're stuck here till morning, so why don't we split up and look for clues?"
Everyone turned to stare at Toph in shock, even Jet.
"What?" Toph asked innocently. "We need to find our friends and I don't believe this whole lake monster mumbo jumbo. They must be here somewhere and we can try and find another way out while we're searching."
"Maybe two groups," Azula said. "Jet, Zuzu, you're with me. You…others…should stick together."
Zuko frowned at his sister as she sneered at his girlfriend and friends. He made his way to Katara and moved to hug her. Katara let go of Aang's arm and almost leapt into Zuko's arms.
"Be careful," Katara whispered as she hung onto Zuko.
"I will. You too. K?" Zuko whispered back.
"Oh, please," Azula sighed. "I'm not that way with my boyfriend. Come on Jet, time to get up."
Zuko let Katara go as he turned to see his sister picking Jet up off the bench and grabbing his hand before turning to look at Zuko.
"Coming Zuzu?" she asked.
"Yeah," Zuko sighed as he glanced back at Katara. His girlfriend had moved back to be between Aang and Sokka and clung to both of their arms as Toph looked Zuko's way. The blind girl seemed to be studying him before turning and leading the way back to where Ty Lee had disappeared.
Azula led the way to where Mai had disappeared and Zuko found it was a familiar setting. He hadn't recognized it in the heat of the moment, but now that they had returned the memories returned. It had only been a little over a month ago that he had found Mai there with another man, lips locked when he was searching for her to make up after their fight. After that, he had broken up with Mai. A week later, Katara had approached him and they had become friends until the dance where he had kissed her and they had started going out.
"Come on Jet," Azula said as she tried to pull her boyfriend down into the service hallway. "We need to check this out. Mai may have found a way out and couldn't get back in."
"No, I'm not going back in there," Jet said as he dug his heels in. "Azula, stop it. You can't make me!"
"Or maybe it's the memories that are stopping you," Zuko said snidely.
"Shut up!" Jet said as he turned to Zuko. "You don't know what it was like! Total blackness and then water and she was gone!"
"I'm not talking about tonight, Jet," Zuko stated as he frowned at Jet. Azula glanced between her brother and boyfriend, confused. "I'm talking about a month ago. When I saw you and Mai in there."
"You…" Azula said as she turned to glare at Jet. "You dared to cheat on me…with my best friend?!"
"I'll just leave you two to settle this," Zuko said as he saw his sister start to stalk up to and tower over Jet.
He knew he didn't want to get in the way of his sister's wrath and turned to head towards where the others were. Zuko felt strange for a second, almost as if a wave of nausea had come over him, but then he was fine. He saw someone further in the hallway, alone and looking around as if they were lost and he hurried towards them.
The person disappeared as he heard thunder crash outside and Zuko stopped as he heard voices. He peaked his head around the corner and saw Aang holding Katara.
"Don't worry Katara," Zuko heard Aang say. "We'll find them. We'll get out of here. I promise."
"But how can you know?" Katara asked
"Because I love you," Aang said as Zuko saw him raise a hand to cup Katara's face. "I always have, but I've never had the guts to tell you. Till now."
"But…what about Zuko?" Katara asked. "I can't just let him down. Mai already cheated on him, I…I can't."
"We'll tell him tomorrow, I promise," Aang said and Katara hugged him tightly.
Zuko shrank back, his chest tightening as he thought about what he had just witnessed. Aang loved Katara and she apparently loved the younger boy back. She had enough honor to not cheat on him, but just admitting her feelings to Aang made Zuko feel like he did when he had seen Mai and Jet lip locked. Zuko immediately turned tail and started stalking away from his soon to be ex-girlfriend and ex-friend. Zuko turned a corner and ran into Toph. The impact sent them both flying back onto their rears.
"Ow," Toph complained as she rubbed her rear. "Watch where you're going, Sunshine. Hey, you ok?"
"Yeah…no, I'm not," Zuko sighed as he got up and held out a hand to Toph. She thrust a hand into the air and he grabbed it, pulling her to her feet. "Where's Sokka?"
"Dunno," Toph sighed. "Something weird happened and then he was gone and I was on the other side of the mall. What happened to you? Where are your sister and the jerkwad?"
"They're breaking up and I…I just saw my girlfriend finding a new boyfriend."
"Well, don't just stand there, let's look for the others. Besides Sweetness and Twinkles," Toph said with a frown.
"Hey, you ok?" Zuko asked, noticing the frown.
"Yep, just peachy," Toph said, turning her face up towards Zuko with a fake smile. They started walking back towards the food court when Toph stopped suddenly. "Zuko? Something's wrong."
"What? Toph, what's wrong?" Zuko asked, turning back to the blind girl. She looked worried and he took a step back towards her.
"I can't feel any vibrations. What's going on?"
Zuko thought she looked a little scared and reached out to her, taking her hand. He noticed it getting darker around them and she tightened her grip on him. "I don't know," Zuko admitted.
Darkness started to envelop them and Toph tightened her hold on Zuko's hand.
"Don't let go!" Zuko yelled to Toph as he tightened his grip on her hand.
They seemed to be enveloped in a world of stuffy blackness and Toph squeezed his hand back. "You don't let go either!" Toph yelled back as their senses went dead to their surroundings. The only things they could feel were each other's hands and a great pressure as if they were going underwater.