Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, this would have happened in the episode with Cactus juice.
A/N: This may have lightly been beaten with the crack stick.
Aang squeezed his eyes more tightly shut. He tried to figure out what the strange noise he was hearing was. It sounded like water echoing off of rocks. The damp smell that assaulted his nose told him he was probably correct in what he was hearing. Under his fingers and body though, he felt cold metal. He knew he would have to open his eyes and let who ever had captured him know he was awake. Slowly, he opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light.
To his surprise, he wasn't chained to the metal table he lay on at all. He was free to move. He sat up and looked around, but he didn't get very far when his eyes landed on the Blue Spirit. He might have jumped off the table, but was too shocked at the sight past him. On the other side of him was another metal table, where the Blind Bandit was laid out. Past her laid yet another for the Painted Lady. His brain worked frantically to figure out what the Heros of the Four Nations were all doing together in one spot.
Logic told him the first step was getting the others up and figuring out what they were all doing in this place. Blue Spirit was the greater challenge to wake up, so he opted to get him up first. The man under the mask was by no means a heavy sleeper, but there was no telling if he was sleeping or unconscious at this point. He leaned over and whispered the man's name into his ear and shook his arm. Much to Aang's dislike and real challenge, he discovered the man wasn't unarmed as he found a sword quickly held at his throat. Aang backed away with his hands up.
"It okay. I'm here as a friend," Aang told him.
The Blue Spirit and him were on again-off again enemies with spurts of cooperation thrown in between. Aang was still entirely unsure about the man. It was hard to trust someone that often greeted you at knife point. The fact that the man had saved his life on numerous occasions though wasn't easily forgotten, even if other times the Blue Spirit was the one hunting him down. Aang knew that the man under the mask was a good person at heart, even if the man didn't.
Aang pointed past the Blue Spirit so that he could see the others. A quick turn of the head and the masked man lowered his sword. Aang took the opportunity to awake the Blind Bandit. This was a challenge only that he feared he might find a sudden falling boulder on his head for waking the woman. She was a tiny thing, but if angry could bring the whole cave they were in down on their heads. He shook her gently and called her by her hero name.
"Five more minutes," She mumbled and rolled over on the table.
He looked back at the Blue Spirit for support, but the man just shrugged at him. Aang rolled his eyes.
Shaking the girl again and getting the same response, he found a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see the Blue Spirit standing there. He made a gesture for Aang to cover his ears. Aang didn't hesitate after he realized was the man was going to do. Even with his ears covered he could still hear the grating sound of the metal sword as it scrapped down the metal table. It had the added effect of not only waking the Blind Bandit, but also the Painted Lady.
Aang nervously laughed and was about to start talking when he was cut off by the sound of foot steps. Everyone turned to see who was coming. Out stepped the most blue spandex he had ever seen on a single person.
"Boomerang Boy," Aang said.
"Oh good, you're all awake. That makes this so much easier," Boomerang Boy said as he walked over to them.
"What are we all doing here," The Blind Bandit asked as she moved to sit on the table, her legs dangling off.
"I brought you all here," Boomerang Boy admitted nervously.
"Why," Aang asked.
"To form the G.A.A.N.G."
"The what now?"
"Going AgAinst No Good!"
"It could use some work," The Painted Lady said.
"I'm working on it, but for now, its the point of the group, not really the name that matters."
"So let me get this straight. From the sound of it, it seems like you brought us all here, because you think we should be working all together in a group," The Blind Bandit scoffed.
"Exactly!"
The Painted Lady jumped off her metal table and said with a gesture at the Blue Spirit, "I don't know if you noticed this or not, but we are not exactly all group material."
The Blue Spirit raised his swords in a manner that could only be considered threatening. Aang stepped in between the two of them. This was the last thing they needed.
Aang said, "I know the Blue Spirit might not be the easiest to work with, but he pulls his own weight and saves, as often, if not more so, then he attacks."
"Don't you guys see, we all have one common enemy," Boomerang Boy pointed out.
The group turned to him curious to see where he was going.
"We've all been fight the super villain Phoenix King. All of us have fought him in different ways. The Avatar a lot more directly, but Painted Lady, you clean up a lot of his work. Even you, Blind Bandit deal with a lot of his men. Blue Spirit, you fight and help him, at the toss of a coin, but five if better then four."
Everyone looked at one another, realizing the truth for the first time. None of them had been able to stop him on their own. Aang knew he had gotten closest, but was often thrown off by the overwhelming number of men the Phoenix King had. If they all worked together they could work to stop him for good. They could even manage whatever evil tried to take his place after. They were known as the Heros of the Four Nations on their own, but together, they might really be able to give something back to the people that the Phoenix King took from them; Hope.
Aang stepped forward saying, "I'm in."
Blind Bandit jumped from her table and stood beside him saying the same. The Blue Spirit somehow had worked his way over to the other side of Aang and gave a nod of agreement. All eyes turned to the Painted Lady.
"I'll go along with this for now," She said reluctantly.
"Then its decided. The G.A.A.N.G. is now gathered and ready to kick some butt!"
The Blind Bandit turned to Boomerang Boy and said, "We're still working on that name."
FN: Prompt: Waking in a Cave (#35 of 50)