Fire. Air. Water. Earth. Heart. With your powers combined I am- PLANETMAN! Defender of truth! Justice! And all that is good in this world!
"Boys are you ready for school yet."
"In a minute mom!" Sheng-Li said, as he scooped another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
"You two don't want to be late for your last day of school do you?"
"No mom!" He-Ping said, his eyes stayed glued to the television set.
"Have you two fed Ronin yet?"
"Yes mom!" Sheng-Li said.
"Okay, now remember, I'll be working late tonight, so you'll have to make dinner for yourselves tonight, is that okay?"
"Okay mom!"
Dr. Evil! Your plan will not prevail this day, or any other day! For I! Planetman! Shall defeat you!
I'd like to see you try to thwart my doomsday plans Planetman!
The two brothers soon left the moment the credits started rolling at the end of the anime, and bolted out the door so they could catch their bus to school, barely getting to the stop in time.
The sat together in the back, their bags between their legs, discussing the end of their favorite show.
"So what'd you think?" Asked Sheng-Li the older brother, 16.
"The way Planetman destroyed Dr. Evil's base, and saved the orphans? I can't believe the Planetman team managed to save the day." Said He-Ping, the younger brother, 15.
The bus continued to make it's rounds through the suburbs, the fresh spring air wafting through the open windows.
"How'd you think you did on the exams?" Sheng-Li asked.
"Probably as good as last year." He-Ping said. What about you?"
"I probably bombed again, mom'll give me an earful if she finds out."
"You mean when."
"I mean if."
The two were as similar as they come, wearing the same secondhand sneakers, the same secondhand jeans, the same second hand shirt, and the same cheap haircut. Sheng-Li had only a small height and build advantage over his brother, sharing his brown hair color, green eyes, and tan skin tone. About the only thing to set them apart was Sheng-Li's grey military jacket, with green markers, and He-Ping's green hoodie with the Earth Kingdom symbol on the back.
"So another year of school out of the way huh?" Sheng-Li said.
"Yep. Go's by quick."
"Enjoy it little brother, these are the best years of our life."
The bus made it's rounds throughout the various burgs and suburbs of the boys small and unimpressive small town, spring breezes blowing through the windows, bringing in scents of freshly bloomed flowers, and seasonal allergies. The bus' regular stops and starts brought with it it's sense of regularity and routine.
"So, hey, aren't the White Lotus going to be making rounds throughout the school this year?" Sheng-Li said.
"Yeah and?" He-Ping asked.
"And I just thought it might be cool if someone we knew turned out to be the Avatar." Sheng-Li explained. "I mean that person'd know so many cool people, and go to so many cool places, imagine the favors we could get?"
"Yeah, but what kind of Avatar would do any favors for us?" He-Ping asked.
"Don't limit yourself to the possibilities, think of the oppurtunities!" Sheng-Li stated.
"Well it would be nice to know someone like that, a real life superhero, who saves the world just like Planetman."
"Exactly like Planetman."
"So long as it doesn't end up being someone like Huang." He-Ping said shuddering.
"Man, I fear for the world if that's the case." Sheng-Li said. "Can you imagine?"
"No, and I really, really don't want to."
With that the bus finally managed to reach their school, a thoroughly unimpressive brick and concrete building with an Earth Kingdom Banner on a pole out front. Together they got off with the other students, and entered the building to head to their respective classes.
"Of these space objects, we have Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites." The science teacher, Mr. Cho droned. "Comets orbit between the Sun and the Planet, and are characterized by their signature trail caused by the burning debris. The Famous Sozins Comet that marked the beginning and end of the Hundred Year War, last seen fifty years ago, has in more recent times actually been recategorized as a Meteor that passes through the Planets atmosphere on it's centennial journey."
Sheng-Li struggled to stay awake. Of all the teachers at this school, trust Mr. Cho to stretch out the last day of school.
"Another such object is expected to pass between the Planet and the moon in the near future, being named Xishuan-1, named after the Ba-Sing-Se astronomer who discovered it. However as opposed to Sozin's comet, it is expected to have far less noticeable effects, aside from some minor tidal changes. Meteorites on the other hand are categorized differently from Meteors, in that-"
Mr. Cho continued his lecture, as all his students did their best to sleep through it. Sheng-Li turned to see his younger brother, three desks over, looking uneasy, nervously jotting down notes. This peeked Sheng-Li's interest, as his brother was hardly one to study, especially on the last day of the year.
He-Ping continued to give nervous glances behind him, which Sheng-Li followed before finding what he surmised was the root of his brothers anxiety. There was sitting Haung, the dreaded himself, leaning back in his chair, giving a death glare to his brother, and pounding his fist into his hand.
Sheng-Li sighed, and glanced at the clock, seeing class would be (thankfully) ending soon. He packed away his school supplies into his bag, and waited for the bell to ring.
"So as you can see class, Meteoroids stay in the blank void of space, whereas Meteor's-" Mr. Cho was interrupted by the sharp ring of the bell. "That will be all class. I hope you have an enjoyable break."
Sheng-Li wasted no time in walking into his brother, and dragging him out the door, before anyone else could do anything.
"Hey, hey, what's the big deal?" He-Ping asked as tried to keep pace as his brother refused to let go, and other students began filing out of their classes.
"I noticed that Haung, you know, the big jock, bully, Pro-Bender athlete, guy, who would likely give Dr. Evil a run for his money if he turns out to be avatar, was giving you some less than savory looks." Sheng-Li said.
"Oh, yeah, that." He-Ping said.
"And I got a bad feeling about that."
"Yeah, well you see-"
"Did you get yourself into some more trouble?" He asked.
"Okay, well you know that stupid thing I did last week?" He-Ping stated.
"You're going to have to be more specific." Sheng-Li said, as he carried his little brother to his locker.
"Okay, remember how you told me not to dig into who May-Ling was dating, and I did anyway, and I went in got into trouble with her new boyfriend?" He-Ping began to explain.
"Yes."
"Well, turns out that May-Ling is now dating Huang, and he promised that he was going to kill me on the last day of school."
"Crap." Sheng-Li stated, hitting himself on the forehead in frustration as He-Ping started sorting his stuff in and out of his locker.
"Basically." He-Ping said, peeling off his Galaxy Rangers poster, and stuffing it into his bag. "I think I can take him."
"You can't be serious." Sheng-Li told him.
"Hey, I'm a decent Earth-Bender, right?"
"And he's a great Earth-Bender, who get's hit in the head with rocks for fun. Who fights dirty."
"Well I'm not gonna run." He-Ping said, slamming his locker, and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah you're gonna run! If mom finds out you got into a fight, she'll kill you." Sheng-Li implored.
"I'm not gonna be a coward." He-Ping said sharply, walking to his next class. "It's against my code."
"What code?"
"My code as an official member of the Galaxy Rangers reserves."
Sheng-Li hit his brother on the back of the head.
"Hey! Do you know how many boxes of cereal I had to eat before getting that membership?"
"Look, I'm not letting you get into a fight with that monster. At least not alone."
"Look, bro, I appreciate the gesture, trust me, I really do, I know you'll always be there for me, but this is something I have to do by myself."
"Why?" Sheng-Li asked.
"Why not?" He-Ping responded.
"Because it's stupid, it'll prove nothing, and more importantly, you'll die."
"There are some things I just gotta do by myself." He-Ping told him, stopping in front of his next class. "Look, just let it go. I know it's stupid, but I have to stand up for myself, no one else will."
"No-one?" Sheng-Li asked dubiously.
"Okay, nobody but you, but you don't count." He-Ping said. "Look, can you just let it go?"
"Fine, okay." Sheng-Li said. "It's obvious I'm never going to be able to convince you otherwise."
"Thanks Sheng." He-Ping said, before going into his next class."
At lunch, the Cafeteria:
"It's just so stupid." Sheng-Li said, between mouthfuls of rice. "He's like twice your height. His muscles weigh more than you do. And hasn't he shoved you in a locker, like three times?"
"All the more reason to stand up to him." He-Ping stated, sipping from his milk carton. "Show him that I won't take his abuse standing up. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to shove me in a locker if you agreed to learn how to metal-bend with me."
Sheng-Li sighed, trying to swallow his food. "Fine, he won't be abusing you lying down, he'll be abusing you standing up, which for your information, probably hurts more."
"Sheng-Li, do you ever think about the future?"
"Not if I can help it." Sheng-Li responded.
"Twenty years from now, when we have colonies in the moon, and we live in computerized houses, do you still want to be one of the nerds who is still being bullied by people like Huang? Pushed around, still living in the same small town you were born in?"
"No Ping, twenty years from now, I still want to be alive." His brother explained to him. "And I think it would be nice, as aggravating as you are, if you were there too."
"Are you two boys having a little spat?" The two brothers stopped their arguing to turn at the beautiful girl with about as much chemicals in her raven hair as the neighboring manufacturing plant.
"Hello May-Ling." He-Ping said tiredly.
"I heard from my Boyfriend that you and him have had a disagreement." She said. He-Ping stayed silent. "I hope you manage to resolve things with him, he can get so… aggressive when he has a disagreement with someone. Please do sort things out with him. Well then, buh-bye!" With that she sauntered off, her high heels clacking on the floor.
"Wow." Sheng-Li said. "There's a word for girls like her. If I were less of a gentlemen, I'd say it."
"You remember when May-Ling was that nice girl next door, who we would watch anime with?"
"Nope."
"Yeah, I figured as much."
"So not worth fighting for dude." Sheng-Li pointed out.
"I'm not fighting over her, I'm fighting for myself." He-Ping noted, drinking the rest of his milk.
"And that's so much better. So much less likely to get your face reconfigured into something our of Dr. Maniacal's Dreadful Tales."
"Oh come off it." He-Ping told him.
"No I will not, you know why? Because when mom get's home, and your sewing your face back on, I'm the one Mom's gonna blame for not talking you out of it."
"Oh like you've convinced me out of doing anything stupid before?"
"So you admit it's stupid?"
"I admit nothing." He-Ping said stubbornly.
After lunch, in the middle of the day, it was finally Sheng-Li's turn to be tested. He was called over the speaker system, left his math class, and walked down the hallways to where he was instructed to go. He found a line of Avatar candidates waiting outside of the empty classrooms where testing was being conducted, chatting excitedly or nervously. He joined them, keeping to himself, and waited his turn until his name was called.
He walked over to the tall woman who was holding a clipboard, and she ushered him in to the room, where it seemed weirdly quiet.
"Sheng-Li Pan?" Said a man with graying hair and a blue robe, sitting behind a desk.
"Yes?"
"Don't be shy, sit down." The man said. Sheng-Li obliged him. "Now don't worry, the test will be quick and informal."
"What are you going to do? Take a blood sample? Give me a psyche test?"
"Nothing so elaborate my dear boy, we prefer the older methods." The man said, producing a deck of cards about half an inch thick. He spread them out showing a variety of symbols on them. "All you need to do is draw five cards from this deck a few times. Feel free to talk if it makes you feel better."
"Okay." Sheng-Li stated. "So will you guys just 'know' if I get this right, or-"
"It's not a matter of getting it right young man. However, regardless of your 'results', we will still need to confer matters with other members of our order."
"Oh. Cool. So should I start then?"
The old man took the cards and reshuffled them, and spread them out on the desk face down. "Please go ahead."
"Fine." Sheng-Li said, picking a card completely at random. "So how do you guys know who to test? I mean do you just test anybody, or-?"
"Modern record keeping has been a tremendous help to our organization. With it, we have a good estimate of Earthbenders who were born across the globe during a certain point in time."
"Okay here." Sheng-Li said, presenting the man the cards he chose. The old man took a few moments to analyze the cards and record the results on a small notepad, before returning them to the deck, and reshuffling them.
"Again please."
"So what if you don't find the avatar during these tests?"
"Well, of course there is always the possibility that the next avatar was born in some remote corner of the earth, far from the trappings of civilization, but at the very least these tests serve as a good process of elimination."
"And done."
The old man took the cards once more, analyzed them once more, and recorded the results once more , a mysterious and unreadable expression lining his face.
"Very good Mr. Pan, you will hear our reports on your results shortly, you may go back to class."
It was the last class of the day, and try as he might, Sheng-Li was waxing philosophical.
His life was good, he mused as he stared out the window, and onto the school grounds. Sure, they could always use a little bit more money, but that's what part time jobs over the break were for. He didn't really want for much after all. Some good snacks, the odd collectable action figure, maybe rent a good VHS every now and again, enough to get a good game to play, maybe a proper long-term girlfriend. Some better grades would be nice too, while he was at it.
But as things were going, if his life did keep going the way it was, he wouldn't be too disappointed. Yeah, he expected to get a proper job at some point, his mother would force him if all else failed. Go get a college degree. Maybe he'd get real job at an office in the city or something. Find a wife, something like that.
He liked life the way it was. Yeah, there were bunch of little nuisances with his family, and with school, but that's the way life worked out right? He had a role to fill here, and he was happy with that.
Now if only his brother could keep from running off and doing stupid things that he needed him to be saved from. Like right now, were two meatheads were dragging him across the school grounds.
Sheng-Li rocketed straight up from his desk, and loudly proclaimed to the whole class a word that he rarely used, since he was nominally more of a gentleman.
"Mr. Pan!" His teacher said. The student in question grabbed his bag, and headed out the door. "Where are you going young man? Class is still in session!"
"Last day of school: who cares?" Sheng-Li said as his parting words.
Sheng-Li raced down the halls, barefacedly ignoring the plethora of signs advising him against such action, and took the most direct route outside, heading to the place where he had just seen his younger brother. He paused as the cool spring breeze blew through the grass, his brother or his executioners nowhere to be found.
"Okay, if I was a big-dumb-musclebound-meathead-bully where would I go?" Sheng-Li thought aloud. "Empty Gymnasium? Dirty Bathroom? School Rooftop? Not enough rocks to throw. Empty Parking Lot? Too out in the open. Everyone's inside school, so it'd have to be outside…"
Sheng-Li took off in the direction of the old abandoned sports field. The school got some more money a few years ago, and build a much newer and bigger sports field closer to the school with better equipment.
"Are you ready to give up yet?" He-Ping asked. He got another boulder launched into his stomach as a response, sending him sprawling.
"You are some kind of stupid aren't you." Huang asked. "Interrupting my date with that hottie May-Ling like that." For whatever reason, Huang's identical, and equally massive cronies found this funny, and chuckled cruelly.
"She deserves better than you." He-Ping said, with Huang's response to launch a pillar of earth into his back. "My turn." He-Ping said, bringing himself back on to his feet.
Huang kicked the earth spawning several rocks that Huang sent flying with his fists, aimed straight at He-Ping's head.
He-Ping ducked his head down, and protected his vitals as each rock hit him. He kept his stance strong, and dug his heels into the earth. He-Ping brought his own set of rocks up to his level, striking them at Huang, who easily knocked them aside, He-Ping launched the last one at his opponents feet, disrupting his stance. He-Ping then struck the ground with his heel, summoning a pillar of earth to strike his opponents back, putting him further off balance.
"Give up yet?" He-Ping said, preparing to continue his assault before Huang landed on the ground and with a series of punches to the ground, shook the ground, disrupting He-Ping's balance. He summoned a set of rocks to his arms, and launched forward and decked He-Ping, setting him for a course straight for the ground. Huang then got on top of him, his fist poised to strike again.
"You are the dumbest idiot alive, you know that?" Huang said. He then lifted his fist high above his head, and was about to strike before another boulder went flying, hitting him squarely on the head sending him flying off.
"I know, but he's my idiot." He-Ping got up as Huangs goons checked their fallen leader. His vision was blurry, but there plain to see was his older brother, standing triumphantly and angrily.
He walked over to He-Ping, and lifted him by the scruff of his neck. "I told you fighting him was a stupid idea."
"I told you not to help me." He-Ping said, readying his stance.
"Ah, since when have you ever convinced me not to do something stupid." Sheng-Li said, mimicking his brothers stance.
"Imma gonna kill both of you." Huang muttered as his goons helped him up.
"Were you so intimidated by my brother that you needed backup?" Sheng-Li taunted.
The three of them sent a volley of rocks heading right at them, the two brothers raised a wall of earth as a shield, blocking them. Sheng-Li dodged to the right, and sent a rock flying straight for the head of goon number 1, knocking him out. Huang and goon number two coated their arms in rocks, and went straight for a fist fight with Sheng-Li, who couldn't fend off two opponents at the same time.
He-Ping came out from the barricade, tripping the two in a small fissure, allowing Sheng-Li to back up enough to strike back. The two summoned boulders, and sent them straight for the two trapped bullies, bashing them in the head.
"You should have given up when I gave you the chance." He-Ping said triumphantly before collapsing. Sheng-Li immediately raced to his aid.
"So, you happy now?" Sheng-Li asked, helping He-Ping onto his shoulder, who simply muttered. "Good. Wanna head back home? I think school's over now." He-Ping grumbled again. "Smart idea. One moment." Sheng-Li helped his brother to his feet, and they walked over to where Huang lay unconscious. Sheng-Li gave him a swift kick before moving on.
The two ended up having to walk all the way home, as they had missed the school bus. After an exhausting journey, that served only to increase their aches, they finally made it to the their small and simple house in the suburbs. Sheng-Li took the key under the door-mat and used it to unlock the door, where the two boys promptly collapsed onto the couch.
"So that was a thing." Sheng-Li stated, leaning back.
"My everything hurts."
"Yeah but you didn't get yourself killed." Sheng-Li told him. "Your welcome by the way. Whattdya wanna do till mom comes back? Play something on the Playmaster? We could warmup some of mom's leftovers in the microwave. Heck, maybe we could order out, I mean we deserve it. We could watch a VHS, did we record that anime?"
"Thirsty." Sheng-Li said.
"Fine fine. Give me a few seconds." Sheng-Li grunted as he got up and walked around the couch and into the kitchen and got two plastic cups from the cabinets, took out a can of fruit soda, and poured it, and took the cups back to his brother, closing the door on his way back, placing the cups on the coffee table before collapsing on the couch again.
"Thanks." He-Ping said, slowly reaching for the cup, and taking a few gulps before coughing slightly "Oh, still hurts."
"I could use this." Sheng-Li said, looking at his cup fondly before he heard a knocking at the door.
"You should probably get that." He-Ping noted.
Sheng-Li grunted, and put back down his cup before marching to the door. He peered through the peephole and saw an old man in blue and white robes. With a shrug, Sheng-Li opened the door.
"Are you with the White Lotus?"
"Why yes I am young man." The old man said.
"I didn't expect to get my results back so soon. Or that you'd meet us in person." Sheng-Li said. "Alright then, go on, go ahead, and give us the bad news."
"This is the Pan residence correct? Home of Sheng-Li Pan, and He-Ping Pan."
"That is correct."
"And to whom am I currently addressing?" The old man asked.
"Sheng-Li Pan, call me Sheng." He explained giving him a short bow.
"And what of He-Ping?"
"Oh, he's just inside, on the couch." Sheng-Li explained.
"Might I step inside?" The old man asked.
"Of course, no prob." Sheng-Li stepped aside, and let the old man in, where he spotted He-Ping collapsed on the couch in the living room.
"May I take a seat?"
"Be my guest." Sheng-Li said, guiding him past the TV, and onto to a frumpy armchair. Sheng-Li joined his brother on the couch. "He's from the Order." He explained to He-Ping.
"I could see that doofus." He-Ping told him.
"Am I to assume that you are He-Ping Pan?" The order member asked.
"Yeah, I'm He-Ping Pan. Call me Ping."
"May I ask what happened to you?"
"Long story." He-Ping told him.
"Very well then." He said breathing deeply. "You two boys will likely be surprised to hear this, but after checking with our other Order members from across the country, there has yet to have been a successful result, that is except from your school today. I am sure I do not have to tell you that the reason I am here today, is because one of your tests was the successful one."
"You mean… one of us…?" Sheng-Li said.
"Yes, one of you is indeed the Avatar." Sheng-Li could barely comprehend the idea. All of a sudden his entire life seemed to tiny, standing at the precipice of this new information. "He-Ping Pan. You are the current Avatar."
Sheng-Li slowly turned to his brother, completely paralyzed, his mind in complete bewilderment. "Hey Ping, are you okay?"
Suddenly despite his sores, He-Ping leapt up, knocking over the coffee table. "I CAN'T BE THE AVATAR! MOM'LL KILL ME!"
Authors Note:
Helo and Welcome.
I'm not entirely sure how, but I got the inspiration for the next series for Avatar, with an Earth Avatar, set in a eighties/nineties period. I hope that came across, if not please tell me I failed. An English teacher recently told me I needed to work on scene-setting, so any advice regarding that would be nice.
My problem is that whenever I come up with an idea for a story, it's always a long overarching one, and then gradually I either lose resolve, or some disaster happens that wipes my current progress and I give up. I tell you this in warning, but I always start these things with the hope to finish them. Any feedback and help would be greatly appreciated. Now I have almost ten chapters written out in advance at the moment, but I think I could use some help for some plot ideas or elements. I have a good outline, I would just have problems getting from point A, to point B.
Anyway, if possible I would like to include elements from the eighties, who off how the world is different in culture and technology from the previous avatars, explore links between this age and the previous ones, and examples of more modern asia. problem is I have little idea how to do that, or at the very least nowhere near the scale that the writers of Avatar do.
Regardless any review would be greatly appreciated.
-Sincerely SAmaster01