DISCLAIMER. I am not King Jeongjo of Joseon, nor am I Bedřich Smetana. Come to think of it, neither am I Sejong the Great, Edward Longshanks, Qianlong, Hammurabi, Beethoven, Liszt, Handel, Cimarosa, Mozart, Voltaire, Tenzin Gyatso, Aang, Mike DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Timmy Turner, Toph Beifong, American or a light bulb. I am a poor student who does not own anything. Do not ask if I claim to own anything, because I don't.
NOTE. For my own convenience, Toph will not be totally blind in this fic. However, she will be pretty close to legal blindness.
Midnight Madness
for Twilight Rose2's contest
Chapter 1: The Infinitely Stupid Way in which the Gaang gets stuck in the Mall
On the bus home from his part-time job, Aang opened a discarded newspaper to a random page. It was 6 PM on a Wednesday night, but he wasn't tired; his job handing out incense and pamphlets at the local Buddhist temple was not taxing. His eyes landed on a full page ad on page 14, and promptly grew wide. As soon as he arrived at the bus stop, he leapt off the bus and sprinted through the side streets to his house. He let himself in quickly, ran to the phone and called Katara.
"Hello," the girl said after two rings.
"Hey, it's me, Aang," he spoke quickly. "Do you want to go to Cloverdale Mall with me? They've finally opened that Allegri's there, and I want to go! I know it's late, but will you—"
"Woah, slow down, Aang. You want me to go to the mall with you? Now?"
"Yeah!" Aang held the cordless phone to his ear as he shut the front door and put away his backpack.
"They've finally opened the new Allegri's, huh? You must be excited. Alright, I'll come. Should I ask Sokka to come, too?"
"Would he?"
"Wait, let me ask him..." Katara covered the mouthpiece and called to her brother, but his voice was heard on the phone immediately.
"Sure, I'll come, buddy. I'll even drive." He had been listening in on an extension.
"Yay! Thanks, Sokka!" Aang replied.
"We'll meet you at your house as soon as we're ready. Why don't you call Zuko and Toph and see if they can come?" Katara said.
"Good idea! I'll call them now."
As it turned out, both of them were available to go to the mall. After Sokka picked Aang up, he drove around to their houses as well. After a relatively uneventful drive (three detours, a stay in the highway known locally as "the world's longest parking lot", two incidents of bird-pooping and four fights over parking spaces) they arrived at Cloverdale Mall.
"Come on, let's go!" Aang shouted, dragging Katara and Sokka by the wrists.
"Slow down!" Toph exclaimed. "You know I can't see well!"
"Yeah, slow down!" Zuko agreed, running after them.
"The mall closes in one and a half hours, and there's so much I want to see!" Aang shouted.
"It's just a new music store, man! Calm down and let go of me," Sokka admonished. Aang complied, but still kept up a brisk walking pace.
"Speaking of music, how'd your flute competition go?" Katara asked.
"I got...first place," Aang replied with the hint of a smirk.
"Very nice, Aang!"
"Good job," Sokka said with a slap on the back.
"Congratulations," Zuko said.
"That's our flautist!" Toph shouted, punching the boy.
They entered the mall and found the new music store without delay. It was crowded, but Aang looked through it with joy. Zuko and Toph were less interested, however, and decided to browse other shops while he was there. Katara stayed behind with Aang, but Sokka eventually followed the two. When he found them, they were browsing at the Sears store. After Aang was done, he and Katara joined them there, too.
"Look at this book I got!" Aang said with a smile. "Chaminade's Flute Concertino! I've always wanted to play it!" He displayed his new book.
"That's very nice, Aang," Zuko replied dismissively. "Now, what do you think of this—Wait. Did you see what I just saw?"
"No," Toph said flatly. "You know how close I am to being legally blind."
"Obviously not you, Toph. What did you see, Zuko?" asked Katara.
"A...masked man," Zuko said. "Sort of ran past me. I wonder why someone would be wearing a mask like that—it's nowhere near Hallowe'en."
"Nyeh," Sokka said with a shrug. "I'm sure it's nothing."
"Forget it, then. Do you think this tie looks good on me?"
"I don't know..." Katara said. "How about this one? It suits you well." He held up a flaming red tie.
"It's so red..."
"Exactly!"
"And what do you mean by that?"
Toph laughed. "I'm sure she isn't talking about your fiery character!"
"What?"
"Come on, let's go," Aang suggested. "I want to go to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream." Everyone agreed.
Katara and Sokka were ahead of the others, and left the department store first. As Zuko tried to leave the store, however, the alarm started beeping.
"Empty your pockets, sir," a security guard demanded.
"Wh—what?" Zuko stammered.
"Empty your pockets."
Zuko complied. Along with his wallet, a little bottle of perfume was found. The security guard held it up.
"You were trying to steal this, weren't you?"
"I—I—How'd that get there?"
"Don't play dumb, you shoplifter. Come with us."
"What?"
"Zuko would never steal stuff like that!" Aang shouted.
"Besides, why would he need to? He could buy a thousand bottles of that stuff with the money he has!" Katara added.
"That's a lie," the guard retorted. "Look at the guy. He's obviously a thief. If you come peacefully, boy, maybe the police will go easy on you. Come on!"
Zuko was about to follow the man when someone started shouting, "FIRE!" Immediately the whole place was in a panic. As the guard looked around in confusion, Sokka grabbed Zuko by the arm and ran. The others eventually noticed and followed suit. The security guards started chasing them, but approximately halfway through the huge mall they lost sight of their prey. Seeing that this was so, Sokka dragged Zuko into a washroom with Katara, Toph and Aang following.
"Why are we in the girl's washroom?" Zuko demanded.
"Shut up and do what I say," Sokka whispered to the group. "Go in the stalls and stand on the toilets. Make sure no one sees you." They did so.
Meanwhile, the security guards gave up the chase. Ultimately they recovered their merchandise, so they weren't too concerned. By this time, the mall was about to close. The light jazz that had been playing was interrupted by an announcement that the mall was to close in ten minutes. A security guard went into the washrooms to make sure no one was in them; but as he reached the door of the washroom where the kids were hiding, someone knocked him out. All the guard could see before he fainted was...a masked man.
"Do you think we can come out now?" Zuko whispered.
"Yeah," Sokka replied. "Come on, guys, I think the mall's closed. Let's go."
They came into an empty hallway. All the stores were closed; there were no security guards in sight. They had been hiding for so long that everyone had left.
"Okay, the mall's definitely closed. There's no one here," Katara said.
"OH NO! WE'RE LOCKED IN!!" Sokka cried, falling to his knees.
Katara punched him. "Don't be stupid. Even if the doors are locked, they're designed so you can open them from the inside. We're not locked in."
They had been walking down the hall, but suddenly they were confronted with something quite unexpected. A huge partition of iron bars stretched across the hall, blocking access to the exit beyond.
"Don't worry," Katara said, "I'm sure there's another way out. Let's keep going."
Toph and Zuko were the ones to become frustrated when they came across a second partition. By the third, Sokka was getting desperate; by the fourth, Aang was starting to panic; by the fifth, Katara lost it.
"NOOO! WE'VE REALLY BEEN LOCKED IN!!" she cried, running all over the place.
None of the others cared as they themselves were running all over the place, but one by one they returned to their senses. After a total of about ten minutes of screaming and running and kicking and shouting and (thirteen thousand two hundred thirty-two and a half verbs later) and galumphing and jabberwocking, they settled down around the central fountain (which was off, incidentally) to discuss their situation. It was within their knowledge that some malls employed partitions such as the ones they'd seen to prevent any thieves entering at night from having full run of the place. They came to the conclusion, then, that they were unfortunately stuck in a section of the mall that didn't lead to an exit.
For the benefit of the reader, we shall make a short digression concerning the nature of the section of the mall they were stuck in. It would be described as the main part of the mall by most visitors, being approximately at the physical center of the establishment. A glass-roofed atrium makes up the greater part of this section; each hall leading from it leads to a partition. In the centre of the atrium is a large fountain; when running, it spouts three great jets of water every half hour in addition to the normal jets of water. The first two jets reach up to the second and third floors of the mall; the last reaches as high as the fourth. From the fountain it will be seen that the mall at this point is five storeys high; the second and third floors contain stores while the fourth and fifth contain offices. These last two floors are only accessible from outside the mall. Overlooking the atrium on the second floor is the food court. This is the only part of the second floor our friends can reach at the present moment, the hallways leading beyond being sectioned off. On the third floor were more stores; among others, the Allegri's whose grand opening brought Aang and his friends to Cloverdale Mall in the first place. Apart from a pair of escalators between the first and second floor, there were two elevators and a spiral staircase that spanned the lower three floors, all of these being accessible from where our friends are. The escalators were off, but the elevators were operational. Needless to say, all of the shops were individually locked. Four pairs of washrooms are to be found in this section: two on the bottom floor, one at the food court, and one on the third floor.
To return to our friends, they were sitting around the central fountain discussing their situation.
"Well, we've established that the section we're stuck in doesn't lead to an exit," Katara said. "Any suggestions?"
"We should check whether there's any windows," Aang said.
"I didn't notice any," Zuko said. "Anyone got a cell phone? Mine's in the repair shop."
"I'm too poor for one," Aang pointed out.
"Ours is at home," Sokka said. "We forgot to bring it. How about you, Toph?"
"Don't you know how easy it is to track people's cellphones? I snuck out of the house. I'm not going to just tell my parents where I am."
"Wait, you snuck out?" Aang asked. "I thought you said your dad was okay with it?"
"I said that so you wouldn't try and talk me out of it, you little goody-goody-two-shoes."
"So no one has a cellphone?" asked Zuko.
"Use a pay phone," Katara said flatly.
There is a saying that may apply here: "Easier said than done". The most accessible pay phone was two feet beyond the partition they first encountered—and boasted a nigh-permanent "OUT OF SERVICE" sign. When this was discovered, there was another few minutes of (insert previous list of verbs here). After this, they headed back to the fountain.
"We're stuck in the mall with no access to an exit and no way to contact the outside world. Great," Toph ranted. "Now what?"
"Wait. Wait a minute..." Zuko said.
"What's the matter?" asked Aang.
"Something's fishy about this. That masked man...remember that masked man? What if he had something to do with this?"
"Why is that fishy?" asked Katara.
"I don't know. It just doesn't feel right."
"We were unlucky and got stuck in a mall for the night. We can't phone home or contact the outside. That's all! I say we go to sleep and wait for the mall to open up tomorrow, then leave. What else can we do?" said Katara.
"Still..." Zuko insisted.
"Okay, let's split up and search for clues," Aang said.
"What?" Sokka asked. "Clues? What clues?"
"I think Zuko suspects foul play," Aang said. "In that case, let's go and search for clues. Once we come up with nothing, we can all get some shut-eye and get out of here first thing tomorrow morning."
"You think I'm making this up?" Zuko demanded.
"No, we think you're paranoid," Toph retorted.
"I'll go that way," Aang said, pointing down one of the halls.
"I'll go upstairs to the food court," Zuko said.
"I'll take Toph to check the washrooms," Sokka said.
"I'll take a look around the third floor," Katara said. "Let's go."
Aang walked up the corridors one after another. The silence was almost overpowering; the echoes of his footsteps only served to emphasize the mall's emptiness. He found nothing, however. He was preparing to return to the fountain, which was their designated meeting place, when he nearly tripped over something. Bending down, he found that he had stumbled over a bag, and picked it up. It seemed oddly familiar, however, so he decided to take it with him.
Meanwhile, Zuko was poking around the food court. He found nothing, but he did hear quiet footsteps. He spun around but saw no one there. Eventually, he too headed back to the fountain.
On the other hand, Sokka and Toph found something interesting: a knocked-out security guard. Even more interesting: she was in the men's washroom beside the women's washroom they had been hiding in. The guard was breathing (to Sokka's dismay; he had been hoping to put his first aid training to the test) and did not appear to be injured or bruised. She had been stuffed in the innermost stall of the washroom. They picked her up and brought her out to the fountain.
"I suspect that if this one is knocked out," Zuko was saying, "others would have been, too. That's probably why there are no security guards around here. I told you there was something fishy going on!"
"Will she be alright?" Toph asked.
"I'm betting it was chloroform or something like that," Sokka said. "There seems to be no concussion, and she won't wake up. Let's leave her here for now; there's nothing we can do for her."
"Alright, then. Oh yeah, Aang. What's that you got there?" Zuko asked.
"This? I found this bag in one of the halls. It looked familiar, so I took it," Aang replied.
"Oh! Maybe there's something inside that can help us!" Sokka exclaimed as he reached for the bag. He emptied it onto the floor; there wasn't much in it. He sighed heavily, but Aang picked up a thin book that had fallen onto the floor.
"I remember this..." Aang murmured. "I don't know why, but I remember this book..."
"Catholicism in Joseon Korea during the reign of King Jeongjo," Zuko read, peering over Aang's shoulder. "Why would you remember something like that? Are you into Korean history or something?"
"No," Aang said, "but it's familiar somehow. And this one too," he said, picking up a similar book.
"Leitmotifs in Avatar: The Last Airbender," Sokka read. "Avatar: The Last Airbender? You mean that kiddie show from Nickelodeon?"
"Yeah," Aang mused, flipping through the book. " 'The present author feels that the Track Team could have benefitted from a study of Smetana's treatment of the Vyšehrad theme from Má Vlast. This theme is almost identical to the Avatar leitmotif, the only difference being in the note values.' "
Toph blinked. "You know what I just heard? Blah blah musical mumbo-jumbo blah blah something about Hindus."
"Well, come to think of it..." Aang continued to himself, "...Smetana does make more varied use of that theme...I wonder if that change in note value has anything to do with it..."
"Aang!" Zuko snapped. "Now is not the time to be performing a comparative musical analysis of children's television shows! We have a problem here!"
"It's not just for children!" Aang retorted.
"Aang—first of all, bad comeback," Sokka said. "And more importantly, where's my sister?"
"Oh no! Katara!"
"Didn't she say she'd take a look around the third floor?" Toph asked. "Let's go there and take a look."
Everyone got up at once. "Let's go!" Sokka shouted. They were about to rush off when Zuko suddenly stopped them.
"Look over there. What's that?" he asked. He reached over and picked up the slip of paper he had indicated. "Look at this, Sokka. You were sitting on it." He read out loud:
I have the girl. If you want her back, send Aang Tenzin to the men's washroom next to the food court. If he does not come alone the girl will not live.
It was signed "A Flautist".
Yeah, my lame attempt at a cliffhanger. I don't know about this fic, to be honest; it isn't my best writing. I'm not good with mysteries and stuff, but the premise seemed intriguing. The way they Gaang got stuck in the mall may seem contrived, but I didn't think they would be the type to sneak into places after dark. For future reference, by the way, I'm not Korean (I'm Chinese). That reference to King Jeongjo was completely random. All musical facts are true—I may not be a flautist, but I've accompanied them!
For future reference, the contest rules were as follows:
This month's is something easy and fun. 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.
Wish me luck!