Act III: The Darkest Elements

(The Cauldron, Fallen Hand Laboratory and Manufacturing Facility)

"Revitalization procedure successful. Initializing drain sequence," sounded the voice of Mandark's computer.

"At long last!" exclaimed Mandark, laughing in his usual manner as the liquid-filled tubes around him began draining.

Within the tubes were the newly manufactured Next-Generation Universal Soldiers, which began moving restlessly as their new cybernetic enhancements came online.

"Computer, begin the cleansing, fitting, and arming protocols! I need all my NGUs ready for action ASAP!"

"As you command."

"Mandark!" sounded Surt's voice.

He quickly turned around, startled. "Oh, uh, Warmaster, how did it go?!" he bumbled, nervously, as he bowed toward Surt and his approaching Vanguards.

"A significant problem has made itself present. It seems we've severely underestimated our enemies and paid the price for such a novice mistake. Prepare the healing chambers!"

"At once, my great and powerful Warmaster!" said Mandark, reopening the tubes.

After they stepped in and put on their breathing masks, the tubes closed and began filling with a glowing, blue, gel-like liquid that sped up the healing process.

"Take as long as you need, Warmaster. Oh, and about the project: our army of NGUs is finally complete! Those special, high-grade materials that you procured for me were exactly what they needed."

"Excellent," echoed Surt's voice through the speaker on the outside of his healing chamber, "Promptly station them in Dimension PR-87, Planet S-666."

"The Orkando Wasteland Prison Facilityon Planet Muerte, Warmaster?"

"Indeed. We managed to get away not completely empty-handed, and I suspect that the WND will soon be going to rescue their friends. It is there that my men will defeat and capture the Avatar."

"But, Warmaster, how do you know that the Avatar will go as well?"

"Trust me, I know these pure-hearted hero-types. I have the utmost confidence that he'll feel some degree of responsibility for their capture, and will seek the only immediate form of redemption. He will be there."

"Brilliant reasoning, my lord! Very well, I'll leave you to heal in peace. As soon as all protocols have been run, I'll have the NGUs transported immediately!" With that, Mandark quickly boarded and sped away on his personal hovercraft. After a long flight across the massive, industrial-looking laboratory, he finally made it to his destination. Opening a hidden door that led into a large chamber that contained its own reactor, he entered an input sequence on a panel that raised a coffin-sized container, which held the little black cube on the top.

"Mr. Astronomonov, how is the project coming along?" echoed the same voice from before as the cube began showing the strange display of green computer code falling slowly along its faces.

"Eighty-nine percent complete. Surt believes that those special materials that he procured for me were used on the NGUs! What a fool!"

"Only eighty-nine? Then why have you come to disturb me?"

"Sometime within the next couple of days, it is very likely that the Avatar will be headed to the Orkando Wasteland Prison Facility."

"Ah, I see. Then that will be our chance to capture and use him to bend the Fallen Hand to our will."

"Indeed," agreed Mandark, grinning evilly, "It's about time that I finally took some control in this war!"

(Aboard the Esperanza)

"I can't believe it," said Aang, sadly, "Bumi's actually gone."

"And Master Piandao," murmured Sokka, sadly, sharpening his Water Tribe machete, "So how did Katara take the news about Master Pakku?"

"Not good. She cried in her room for hours after she heard. I just hope that your grandmother doesn't take it too badly."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," replied Sokka, sheathing the machete. Turning toward Zuko, he asked: "So why did Iroh and Jeong-Jeong stay, while you came?"

"Someone needs to run the Fire Nation while I'm gone, right?" answered Zuko. "Besides, I want to personally help make sure that those mad men pay for what they did."

"That can't be all that Iroh's doing, right?" wondered Aang, "Maybe I heard wrong, but didn't they say something about raising an army?"

"Yes. Alejandro told my Uncle to prepare for war just before we left. He said that the men who attacked the city had a grand army of their own, and that they were planning a major take-over across every world in existence. Something really bad is coming―I just know it."

Both Aang and Sokka felt uneasy as Aang's words from before were repeated back to them.

Something really bad is coming.

They were all startled as their room door slid open.

"Um, hello. I hope I'm not disturbing you gentlemen, but I just wanted to let you know that we're holding a meeting down at the main bridge in order to discuss our next course of action. I took the liberty of letting your companions know, as well." said Double D, peering in from the door-way.

"Sounds good, just give us a second," said Zuko.

"Of course," said Double D as he backed out into the hall.

"Aang, I… I never apologized for… back in Caldera City," said Zuko, nervously.

"It's fine, Zuko. You were right. You still are. As long as my Avatar-State is corrupted, I'm a danger to the world. I'll never again be the symbol of peace and hope that I once was if I stay this way, and that's why I'm gonna do my best to find out what happened to me, and hopefully fix it."

It had been two whole days since Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai had reluctantly departed from their home-world, and they were trying to get accustomed to their strange new surroundings, which were still so alien to them.

Once properly dressed, they followed Double D into the elevator, and after ascending, walked into the main command bridge where Numbuh 1 stood up near the Captain's chair, overlooking everyone as he prepared to relay the plan.

Three major things had recently transpired. First and foremost, Dee Dee, Nazz, Jimmy, and Marie Kanker had all been kidnapped by Unisols during the events on Aang's home-world. Second, while trying to fight off the kidnappers, Numbuhs 2 and 3 had been inflicted with near-fatal injuries, while Sarah, Johnny, Lee Kanker, and May Kanker were barely able to escape. Finally, Lieutenant Sa'rai of the Barrier Defense Force had reluctantly provided the whereabouts of the Fallen Hand's prison facility, which was the subject of the meeting.

"My fellow Warriors Next Dimension, it should go without saying that this rescue operation will be extremely dangerous for some of you. With that said, I'd rather you stay in a safe place, than come with us and needlessly die. It is our mission to prevent more innocents from dying," Numbuh 1 momentarily stopped, choking up as he thought about Numbuh 860, but finally continued: "and as such, in a few hours, we will be arriving to accomodate some of you at the WND Moonbase within my dimension―namely Sarah, Jonny, as well as Lee and May Kanker, plus anyone who wants to provide extra security at the Moonbase."

"But we want to help!" yelled both Lee and May Kanker, angrily.

"We won't allow it," said Alejandro, getting up to where Numbuh 1 was, "We've lost too many allies. I won't allow us to lose more. I'm sorry."

Before they could argue again, a temporary portal opened within the room.

"We're kind of busy right now, Lieutenant Sa'rai, but you―oh crap, you!" shouted Alejandro, in terror, as a fist came flying at his face.

"Idiot!" yelled the stranger as she comically sent him flying straight across the room.

"Whoa! That girl can freakin' hit!" exclaimed Numbuh 4.

"Alejandro, friend or foe?" asked Numbuh 1, dropping into a fighting stance.

"Both! Stand down, Numbuh 1, for your own safety," he responded, dazed.

"I don't know who she is," said Toph, laughing hysterically, "but I like her already!"

"So this is where you've been?!" said the girl, walking toward Alejandro as he still lay flat on the ground.

She was a young woman of eighteen years, with long, super-curly, reddish-brown hair that was held up in a high-ponytail by a dark-green bow with two equally curly strands hanging down the sides of her face, reaching her chest. She had light-brown skin, large, dark-green eyes, and an hourglass figure that was only accentuated by her outfit. It consisted of a long, purple, Chinese qipao-like skirt that was open from the sides beginning at her hips, as well as a matching, purple, sleeveless top that was completely split down the middle and only held together by a rose-shaped, diamond crest over her chest. She also had knee-high, black-leather boots over thigh-high, fish-net stockings, black, fingerless gloves that had a pink, swirly-leaf design on them, fishnet-like elbow warmers, and tied around her arm, a dark-green headband that had a metal plate on it with the same swirly-leaf design, as well as a holster for Kunai throwing daggers that was wrapped around her right thigh.

"Mom and Dad were worried about you! It wouldn't hurt to visit more often, you know!" she yelled.

"Mom? Dad? Wait a minute…" said Numbuh 1, "…Alejandro, don't tell us that this is your―"

"―Sister?!" yelled the Eds, in surprise.

"Yeah, she is," said Alejandro, finally standing up, "It's good to see you, Crystal. I see you're mild-mannered as usual. About not visiting, sorry about that, but I've been really busy. I mean, there's only a powerful mad man on the loose trying to kill everything! Didn't Mom and Dad tell you about what happened to our planet while you were off training in Ninja-World or whatever? And just what the hell are you wearing?!"

"Hmm? Who are all of these people?" she asked.

"Did you even hear anything of what I asked you?!" yelled Alejandro, growing frustrated.

"Don't know, don't care!" sang Crystal, inspecting her surroundings with newfound interest.

"Rrrrg! I swear, you still have the attention span of a freakin' gnat!" growled Alejandro, comically turning red with anger.

"It's times like this that I'm glad I'm an only child," said Double D.

"Look, Crystal, I'm on an important mission at the moment, so if you want to go back home, I'll visit when we're fini―"

"―Actually, I'm staying," she said, stone-faced.

"Uh, wha―?"

"―Yup, I'm staying. I figure I need a little break from home, so why not here?"

"Crystal, we're in the middle of a war!"

"So? I just fought in one against a giant, ten-tailed demon on the planet that I was training on, and I'm still alive! I'm not the same little girl from before, you know!"

"So how did you find me?" he asked, curious.

"I just asked the Lieutenant where you were and she didn't even hesitate in telling me. She thought that I could be of some use to you guys."

"Damn it, Sa'rai!" he muttered under his breath, and finally said: "Fine then, you can stay. I'm actually curious to hear about what you learned while you were away."

"Done deal. But first, I'm kind of bored. These RND ships usually have like a gaming room or something, right?" She then walked off before someone could answer her and left the main bridge.

"Alejandro, your sister's… something else," said Numbuh 1.

"Just wait until you see her get angry," sighed Alejandro, facepalming.

(Later, in the Mess Hall)

"So, Aang, I've noticed that you've been sleeping better," said Zuko, taking a bite from his meal. Everybody was in the dining area, enjoying one of Sanji's gourmet meals.

"Thankfully, yes. I'd hate to go berserk on this ship," joked Aang, trying to make light of the subject, "I guess just finally hearing that there's something I can do about it has really put my mind at ease."

"Not for me!" said Sokka, "I'm living peacefully and happily, and all of a sudden, all that darkness-stuff happens, and I find out that there's some insanely powerful, deranged lunatic trying to collapse every plane of existence in order to rule over a single, unified dimensionof pure chaos―and we all have to fight him?! Why is it always us in this crap?! For once, I'd like for someone else to take on these super-powered maniacs!" by this point he was hyper-ventilating when Suki hugged and kissed him on the cheek, effectively bringing him back to his senses.

"Don't worry," she said, "I just know that my big and strong Sokka will come up with a big plan when the time comes."

"Hmm, I do like big plans! You know what? You're right! I'll kick their butts with some good ol' fashioned strategizing, cause that's what I do!"

"Um, where's Toph?" asked Katara.

"She and Ty Lee decided to head into the training room," said Mai in her usual monotone, "I wouldn't mind heading in there myself. Should be less of a drag than this."

"Oh yeah! The training room! We should totally go too!" exclaimed Sokka, excitedly "These guys have such a cool sword collection in there! Seriously, there are some weird ones that I've never even seen before, and there's even a black-bladed Jian that looks like my old Space-Sword!" his face suddenly bore a saddened look as he said that.

The Space-Sword, as Sokka called it, was a Chinese Jian sword that he had forged out of black metal from a meteorite during his training with Master Piandao. Unfortunately, he had lost it toward the end of the Hundred Year War during a battle on a Fire Nation Airship. He strongly wished for his sword to at least have as a keepsake and reminder of his old master.

Aang noticed and tried to cheer him up. "Yeah, that actually sounds pretty fun! Let's hurry up and eat so we can head over there. If we're gonna be any help to this cause, we need to keep our skills sharp!"

(Meanwhile, in the Training Room)

Alejandro pushed and strained with all his might as the tremendous weight on his back began to feel like too much. "five… thousand! Okay… take… it… off!"

Zoro immediately ran over and lifted the massive weights from Alejandro's back.

"Damn! I'm really gonna feel that tomorrow morning!" exclaimed Alejandro as he slowly stood back up.

"Ha!" laughed Luffy, "I have you beat by a hundred more!"

"Forty-six isn't even close to a hundred, Luffy," pointed-out Sanji.

The doors to the training room suddenly opened as both Toph and Ty Lee entered.

"Good evening, ladies!" joked Toph, much to Zoro's annoyance.

"Hello!" replied Sanji, with pink hearts over his eyes. "Did you come to do some vigorously tantalizing aerobics?! Or maybe some sexy, tempting acrobatics?!" he said this with a bloody-nose and rosy cheeks.

"Sparring, actually," answered Toph, somewhat annoyed.

"With some acrobatics thrown in the mix, too!" said Ty Lee, happily.

"Weightlifting, eh?" said Toph, approaching them, "Well, chumps, check this out!" she then made an upward motion with both arms and immediately, all the weights lifted into the air where they were suspended and motionless.

"Damn!" exclaimed Alejandro, impressed, "You're able to do that bending-stuff with metal, too?!"

"Yup," she answered, proudly, as she set it back down. "It's called metalbending, and I pretty much invented it."

"Two thousand!" yelled Numbuh 1 from the background, doing push-ups while wearing a hundred-pound vest. He was sweating profusely, and struggled to breathe.

"Whoa, Numbuh 1, take it easy! You're gonna mess yourself up, man!" said Alejandro, concerned for both Numbuh 1's physical well-being, as well as his mental well-being.

"I need to get stronger! What you said about the Sky Vanguard… it just… Agh! Damn it!" he punched the ground with enormous strength in frustration. "I can't believe that he did that to us, Alejandro! Numbuh 1-Trillion was lying to us the entire time! I'll track him down and I'll kill him, myself!"

"I feel almost exactly the same way, Numbuh 1, but promise me that you won't be obsessed with vengeance!" said Alejandro.

"He took Keilana! He took the love of my life away from me! We were going to get married! You have no idea how I feel!"

"Yes… I do," replied Alejandro, sadly.

Numbuh 1 suddenly remembered, and immediately felt horrible for what he had said.

"Alejandro… I'm so sorry. I forgot about her… about Haruko."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. All I wanted to say is if you ever fight him, fight him with justice in your heart―not vengeance. Don't repeat my mistake. I lost it and fought vengefully when I went Super-Saiyan back there. My Saiyan blood completely took me over. Meanwhile, you've been pre-meditatingyour vengeance this whole time. Fight to protect those who remain, not to punish for those who were lost! Only then will you fight to your full potential!"

Numbuh 1, grateful for the wisdom, bowed and saluted to Alejandro in the traditional Chinese manner. "You're right; I need to meditate on this. Thank you… Sifu," He then proceeded out of the training room in order to meditate on Alejandro's words further.

"Seafood?" asked Luffy, "Where?!"

"Sifu, actually. It means teacher. He hasn't called me that since his training when he joined my unit in the RND. It would seem that my piece of wisdom has humbled him and made him realize just how much he has left to learn."

"You're a good teacher," complimented Toph.

"Thank you," replied Alejandro, "I just want what's best for him, you know?"

"So, I was wondering…" she said, "how about another rematch?"

"Another?!" yelled Sanji, angrily running up to Alejandro. "Just how many rematches have you guys had?!"

"Calm down, Sanji, we've just been training together for the past couple days! Nothing else!" said Alejandro, trying to put him at ease.

"You bastard… I want every lewd detail!"

Whack!

Nami had suddenly appeared and comically smacked Sanji from behind, causing him to face-plant.

"Can't I leave you alone for one second without you being a major perv?!" she yelled, dragging him away by his feet as his face dragged.

"Ha! Serves you right, Nose-Bleed!" laughed Zoro.

"Weird," said Toph, laughing.

"He's really a good guy, I swear!" laughed Alejandro, "Anyways, I guess we could go at it again. Are you looking to get me back for that last win I got?"

"You could say that," she said, grinning mischievously.

Everyone cleared out of the immediate area as both Alejandro and Toph took their positions in the center.

Alejandro stared her down, looking for any sign of movement, but this strategy backfired much too quickly. He began to get lost in her features. Her face, her raven-black hair, her body… it was all just too entrancing, and so much so that he barely noticed it when she took a few steps forward, effectively startling him when he snapped back to his senses.

"What's the matter, Tough-Guy? You losing your edge already, or what?" she asked, moving forward even more. "Come on, give me your best shot!"

"Alright then, you asked for it!" he then faked a straight lead at her, but effortlessly transitioned into a blazing-fast, spin kick that she still barely managed to dodge.

"Whoa there!" she said, surprised at such an unpredictable maneuver. She quickly dashed forward and shot multiple piercing strikes at him, but Alejandro was able to once again dominate in close-quarters by blocking and attacking at the same time, that is, until Toph pulled a surprising move of her own.

When she struck out with one hand, it was quickly pushed down, when suddenly, she used her other hand to hold his blocking arm down, and pulled the first hand free to deliver a powerful punch that he barely managed to redirect, spinning her and pulling her close to him by her waist, almost as if they were salsa dancing.

"Did you just do what I think you did?!" he asked, genuinely amazed, "No one besides my grandpa or sister has ever intercepted and trapped one of my attacks before!"

"What can I say? I learn pretty quick!" she grinned proudly. Realizing that their faces were so close, she felt her cheeks grow hot and broke out of his hold to put some distance between them.

This time, she attacked with much more ferocity and continued until he began gaining the upper hand again.

Growing a bit frustrated, she delivered a straight kick to his gut when suddenly, he countered with a jumping double-kick that redirected her leg with one foot while the other kicked her square in the chest.

She found herself falling backwards to the ground, head-first when an arm closed around her and pulled her back up. Alejandro then held her close like before.

"I guess I lost again," she murmured, feeling a blow to her pride.

"You know, Toph, I've gotta tell you . . . you're one of the most amazing fighters that I've ever met! No one outside of my crazy family has ever given me that much trouble in a close-quarters sparring match! Please don't feel bad―You should be proud! But, if you like, I'd be more than happy to give you some private lessons."

"Just what sort of private lessonsdid you have in mind, Tough-Guy?" she asked, grinning devilishly while blushing at the same time. His words had made her feel much better.

"Wait, not like that!" he exclaimed, feeling his cheeks flare up as well.

"Just kidding, I knew what you meant. You know, you're also one the most incredible fighters that I've ever met, and yet, you're still so kind, respectful, and sweet," she said, smiling seductively.

In that moment, everything other than the other person was lost to the both of them.

Deciding to take a risk, Alejandro slowly moved his face closer to hers. The pinnacle of everything that he desired in a woman was in his arms, and she was much too intoxicating.

Toph felt his heart-rate skyrocket as she sensed what he was doing, and her heart began to race just as fast as she too was flooded with a sudden desire―no, a deep yearningto do the same.

Their lips met, but parted quickly, though for only a brief instant before coming together into a full-fledged kiss.

Out of nowhere, Sokka's voice loudly boomed throughout the room: "Whoo! Get you some!"

They quickly, though reluctantly parted and regained awareness of the shocked and surprised faces around them, which now included Aang and the rest of Team Avatar, who had just walked in to the scene.

Toph, looking rather embarrassed, quickly slapped Alejandro and ran out of the room, shoving her shoulder against Sokka rather hard as she passed by, nearly knocking him over.

"Hey! What was that for?!" yelled Sokka, confused.

Alejandro just stood where he was, still in a sort of emotional daze over what had just happened.

"Alejandro, you are the man!" exclaimed Sokka, "Seriously, man… Toph?! Nice!"

Both Katara and Suki smacked him behind the head simultaneously, causing him to cry out in pain: "Agh! What did I do?!"

"Do you really have to ask?!" scolded Katara as she went up to Alejandro and, giving him a stern look, said: "Look here, Mister,I don't know what just happened, or what you were intending, but if I ever find out that you hurt her in some way, or tried to do something without her consent, then you're answering to me! Now go talk to her, apologize, just do whatever you gotta do to get this sorted out!"

Alejandro, not wanting to anger her any further, quickly answered: "Yes, Ma'am!" and quickly left after Toph, nervous as all hell. What will she say?! What will she do?!Alejandro thought frantically. Andwhere the hell did she even go?!

He looked in every area on the top deck of the ship before finally deciding to check the crew quarters.

Heading straight for her room, which she shared with Katara and Ty Lee, he knocked a few times before her voice sounded from the other side of the all-white, metal door.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have done that! I'm sorry."

The door suddenly slid open, startling him.

"Why? Are you regretting it?" her eyes suddenly took on an angry look.

"No! Not at all! I mean, you slapped me, so I just assumed that I'd crossed some sort of line!"

"I just didn't know how to react to my friends catching us like that! I guess I should be the one apologizing."

"You were really okay with it?"

When Toph stayed silent, Alejandro grew nervous and was unsure of what to do or say next, when she suddenly pulled him closer into a rather aggressively-passionate kiss.

"Does that answer your question, Tough-Guy?" she whispered in between breaths.

As they continued, he began to let his hands explore, which awarded him with some sultry moans from her.

"Wait!" she exclaimed as she suddenly pulled away.

"I'm so sorry! I couldn't help myself! Katara's gonna kill me!" said Alejandro, panicking.

"No, it wasn't that! I just… I need some time to think," she said, turning away from him.

"Take as much time as you need! I completely understand," said Alejandro, stepping back and out of the doorway.

When her door slid closed, he gave a heavy sigh when Crystal's voice suddenly sounded behind him: "So you've moved on from Haruko?"

"Holy crap! Don't do that!" he said, startled. Then, thinking on what she had said, he replied: "Were you there the whole time?"

"If you mean was I here long enough to see you introduce Mr. Lefty to her right butt-cheek, then I was here too long. But to tell you the truth, I don't really care if you've moved on or not. I just want to know if you genuinely have feelings for that girl―and not just physical feelings, if you know what I mean?"

"I do have genuine feelings for her, and to answer your first question, I did move on. Haruko's gone, Crystal, remember? As much as I loved her, what else was there to do but move on?"

"I just don't want you to end up hurting her, or her hurting you, you hear?"

"I get it. Thank you, Crystal."

"No problem. I'm just looking out for my dumb big brother." She then instantly vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Alejandro to his own thoughts: So long as I'm alive, I'd never hurt her. Ever.

Walking to his room to meditate, he started laughing to himself. Damn,he thought,I really need a freezing-cold shower first.

(Moonbase, Numbuh 1's dimension, the next day)

They soon arrived at the Moonbase and docked in the red, organic landing bay where Numbuhs 5 and 362 were waiting for them.

"Welcome to Moonbase, ya'll!" said Numbuh 5, in greeting as they all departed from the ship.

"Whoa! This place is so weird! Even the spirit world had nothing like this!" exclaimed Aang, amazed at the strange and surreal environment around him, as did the others.

"I'll admit, it's pretty cool in here, but… I thought this was supposed to be a tree! Are we in the stomach of some giant creature?!" wondered Sokka, looking around in a paranoid manner.

"I bet I'd find it amazing too if the ground were made of earth or metal!" said Toph, annoyed, "Hey, Ty Lee, give me your arm and lead the way."

"Sure thing," said Ty Lee, letting Toph wrap an arm around hers.

"Abby!" exclaimed Numbuh 2, immediately embracing and kissing Numbuh 5.

"I missed you, Hoagie-Baby," she said, holding him tightly, "What happened?! Why are you and Numbuh 3 all bandaged up?!"

"We kind of had a close encounter with the Fallen Hand―a little too close. But don't worry, we'll tell you all about it in a bit."

"It's good to be back, guys," said Numbuh 1, "Numbuh 5, Numbuh 362, I would like to introduce to you, Alejandro, formerly Commander Numbuh 529. He was the founder and leader of the RND's Metal Dragon Close-Quarters Assault Unit―the unit that I was in―as well as my mentor. He's saved my ass more times than I can remember!"

"Very nice to meet you, sir! Numbuh 1 has spoken very highly of you during his last visit. Thank you for taking care of him for us," said Numbuh 5, shaking his hand and saluting, as did Numbuh 362.

"Very nice to meet you both. Numbuh 1's spoken very highly of you all as well."

"I would also like to introduce to you, Crystal, his younger sister," said Numbuh 1, "She recently joined our group, and from what Alejandro's told us, she's definitely someone we want on our side."

They immediately greeted Crystal as well and went on to greet the rest of the new members.

"Wow, you've certainly recruited some rather interesting new allies, Numbuh 1! Well then, shall we get everyone accommodated inside?" said Numbuh 362.

"Actually, I'm sorry to say, but we can't stay for more than one night," said Numbuh 1, "We're going to be carrying out a very dangerous rescue operation tomorrow. That's actually why we came. You see, I've… we've… lost someone very dear to us, and don't want to lose anyone else. So we were wondering if some of them could stay here?"

"Of course they can stay! Right, Numbuh 5?" asked Numbuh 362.

"Sure thing! We could use some more hands around here. But, Numbuh 5 wants to know everything that happened out there."

"Thank you, Numbuh 5," replied Numbuh 1. Once inside, he recounted everything that had occurred during their absence, including their recent loss, which garnered much sympathy from the three of them.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Numbuh 1," said Numbuh 5, sadly, "I can't even imagine how you're feeling."

"Trust me, you don't even want to imagine it," he replied, "Now then, I'd rather not dwell on the subject any more than I have to, so let's get down to business."

"I understand. So who will be staying with us?" she asked.

"We still have yet to figure that out," he replied.

As most of the others either went off to bed in the personnel-quarters or discussed the matter of who would be going and staying.

Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Ty Lee, and Suki on the other hand, wandered off close-by to explore their strange and surreal surroundings.

The walls appeared to be made of a glowing, yellow wood, while the floor was completely metal, which finally allowed Toph to sense her vastly unfamiliar surroundings.

"What kind of tree is this?" wondered Katara.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm pissed!" said Sokka, "How could they build a base on the moon?!"

Sokka was referring to the fact that his first girlfriend, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, had sacrificed herself in order to become the new Moon-Spirit when the first one was killed by the evil Admiral Zhao of the Fire Nation.

"Sokka, this is another dimension, so it's a different moon," said Katara.

"Still! Do they have no respect at all?!"

"Says the guy who yells whoo, get you some,as he walks in on me kissing a guy," said Toph, with a sour expression.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, okay?!" yelled Sokka, "and to be fair, I was yelling that at Alejandro―not you!"

"Speaking on that, what were you thinking, Toph?!" whispered Katara, angrily, as she looked around, making sure that no one was around to hear them. "I told both you and Ty Lee not to get involved with any of these guys! I expected Ty Lee to disregard my words, but you?!"

"Hey!" said Ty Lee, offended.

"Mind your own damn business, Sugar-Queen!" retorted Toph.

"Ladies, please don't argue!" said Aang, getting in between the both of them.

"I'm just looking out for you, Toph! Can't you see that? I don't want either of you to get hurt! How well do you know this guy? How do you know that he isn't just trying to get into your pants? Or even if he isn't, what if, when this is all over, you two can never see each other again? Or what if something happens to him during a battle? You'll be mourning him for years to come! There's so much that can go wrong!"

"That didn't stop you and Aang!"

"That's different! The war was over when we finally got together!"

"I don't care! You may have had a perfect little fairy-tale romance, but not everyone else can!"

Frustrated, they turned away from each other, both nearly at their boiling points.

"Perhaps it's best if we head back with the others. We should help in deciding who is staying and who is going. Besides, it's already pretty late," said Aang, trying his best to divert the subject.

Much to his relief, the others agreed and headed back with him to the WND war-room, where they found Alejandro, Crystal, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Jack, Zuko, Mai, Numbuhs 1 and 5, Dexter, Eddy, Double D, and Kevin seated at a large table. The rest had gone to bed.

"What's up, guys? Still trying to decide?" asked Aang.

"We pretty much have it figured out," said Numbuh 1, "that is, except for your group."

Aang turned to the others, waiting for their input. "Well, guys, who's it gonna be?"

"Mai and I have decided to stay," said Zuko, "The WND is short on combat trainers, and Numbuh 5 said that new recruits are arriving everyday. I'd hate for our army to be ineffective in battle, so we'll oversee their training for now."

"Then I'll stay, too," said Suki.

"Suki?!" exclaimed Sokka, "I wanted you to go with us!"

"I'm sorry, Sokka. I'd really love to go and be with you, but they're gonna need my help," said Suki, "Besides, I have a lot of teaching experience from back home that could be useful here."

Sokka thought for a moment before sadly nodding.

"Thank you for understanding," said Suki, holding and kissing him tenderly.

"Just be sure to contact us immediately if something dangerous goes down, you hear?" said Sokka.

"You got it," she responded.

"Well then, now that we have that settled, we should all go and rest up for tomorrow's mission," said Alejandro, "I have a bad feeling that we're definitely gonna need to be at a hundred percent for this."

(The next day)

"Planet Muerte in view, Numbuh 1," said Numbuh 2476, "ETA is five minutes, people!"

"I've uploaded the coordinates for the prison in the Orkando Wastelands. They should be popping up any second now," he replied.

"Yup, got 'em," she said.

"Alright, everyone, prepare yourselves for one hell of a fight!"

"Planet Muerte . . . Orkando Wastelands . . . such nice names," said Alejandro, sarcastically.

"What do they mean?" asked Sanji.

"Planet Death, and the Suffocating Wastelands," he answered.

"You had to ask!" yelled Usopp, covering his ears.

"Alright, people, entering the planet's atmosphere," said Numbuh 2476, "get ready for a halo-insertion onto the prison!"

"What's a halo-insertion?" asked Sokka.

"We're jumping off of the ship and using Dexter's 'Smart-Descent' automated wing-suit system to slow our fall and make the landing as safe as possible."

"Oh man, and I thought riding on Appa was bad enough!" said Toph, clutching her head in dread.

Appa, in his custom-made quarters that were built by Dexter, let out a loud roar in response.

"Don't worry, buddy, she didn't mean that!" said Aang, giving Appa's head a wide hug.

"Please, have no fear, Miss," said Dexter to Toph, handing her a WND earpiece. "I'll be guiding you down remotely via my computer, and I'll keep in contact with you through that earpiece to let you know when to prepare for your landing. The wing-suit will automatically disengage once you've touched solid ground."

"I'm trusting you to not get me killed, you hear?!" she said, sternly.

"We're entering the prison's airspace! Get into your designated pairs, everyone!" yelled Numbuh 2476, opening the ship's cargo ramp

The ship gave a sudden, violent jerk as missile fire began hitting it.

Looking at the giant monitor on the wall of the cargo area, they saw that the prison, which looked like a hellish, twisted cluster of jagged, black towers in the middle of a harsh, desert wasteland, held a massive banner on it that read: WELCOME TO YOUR DEATH.

"Son of a―! They were freakin' expecting us!" yelled Alejandro.

"They took your friends. How were they notexpecting you!" said Crystal.

"Good point!" he replied facepalming.

"The Vanguards have been spotted!" yelled Numbuh 2476.

On the monitor were three video feeds: one was of the Land Vanguard standing outside of the main prison gate, within a wide space that was surrounded by massive rocks and wrecked machinery. The second was of the Ocean Vanguard standing in the middle of a large, shallow, water reservoir just outside of the prison walls. Finally, the last was of the Sky Vanguard sitting in a cross-legged, meditative position in the middle of a landing pad for aircraft, atop the roof of one of the prison's largest and tallest towers.

"It looks like they're waiting for us to challenge them!" said Sokka.

"Then I call dibs on the Land-guy!" exclaimed Toph.

"I'll take care of the Ocean Vanguard," said Katara.

"I guess that leaves the Sky Vanguard to me," said Aang.

"No. He's mine to fight," said Numbuh 1, sternly.

"Actually, I think it would be better for you to take him on with Aang, as a team. Don't forget, their main goal is to capture Aang, so having some back-up would be a good idea," said Alejandro, "the same goes for you, Toph, and you, Katara. Team up with someone."

"I don't think that Aang should go out there," said Katara, concerned.

"Sweetie, please, let me help you guys out. It's because of me that we had to come here!" said Aang, "If the WND hadn't needed to rescue me, their friends would still be with them. Please understand that I need to do this."

"Fine, just please be careful," said Katara, concerned, "And don't do anything stupid! So then, who'll be accompanying me?"

"I will," said Zoro. "I saw that Ocean guy use his water like blades. I'd really like to fight something like that!"

"Wait, what about Toph, then?" asked Sokka.

"Don't worry about me, Snoozles―I don't need anyone else!" proclaimed Toph, proudly. She then put on the wing-suit, "Yo, Brainy-Boy, ready to guide me down?"

"All set," said Dexter, amused at her nickname for him.

"Sweetness!" said Toph, grinning mischievously.

"Toph!" yelled Katara, in a scolding manner. "Quit being such a proud fool, and accept some help every now and then!"

Toph ignored her as she walked over to Alejandro and pulled him aside.

"Um, what's up?" he asked, nervously.

"I just… well, in case this mission doesn't go as expected, I just wanted to…" she stopped, unsure of what to say.

"Don't say that. We're gonna pull this off! I just know―"

She suddenly cut him off with a kiss, and embraced him tightly.

When they eventually parted, he said: "Please, Toph, take someone with you. I'll go, if you want."

"Passing over the Land Vanguard now!" announced Numbuh 2476.

"Sorry, Tough-Guy… but I don't need any help." She then quickly ran and jumped off the ramp.

"Toph!" yelled Alejandro, along with the others.

Unexpectedly, Crystal jumped off as well, which freaked everyone out, as she didn't have a wing-suit on.

Alejandro quickly tuned his earpiece onto their private channel, "Crystal, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Don't worry! I don't need the wing-suit, trust me. I'm gonna make sure she gets back to you alive."

"…Thank you," he sighed as a wave of relief washed over him, "You better be careful down there, you hear me?"

"You bet."

The signal then cut off.

"Alright, Miss Toph, brace yourself for the landing… now!" said Dexter into his earpiece. "Very good. Notify us once he has been dealt with. Over and out."

"Ocean Vanguard at six o'clock!" said Numbuh 2476.

Katara and Zoro walked out onto the ramp and jumped simultaneously, which prompted their wing-suits to tether to one another for the descent. It was one of two failsafe protocols against the miniscule chance of parachute failure.

Turning back toward the center of the prison, Numbuh 2476 announced: "Sky Vanguard, coming right up! You better get him good for all of us, Numbuh 1!"

"I was planning on it!" he exclaimed, jumping off with Aang.

"Alright, Numbuh 2476, head to the drop-off point over the heart of the prison!" commanded Alejandro.

"Way ahead of you! Start jumping in about thirty seconds!" she said.

When the prison's inner-yard came into view, they jumped in the following pairs: Alejandro and Eddy, Luffy and Samurai Jack, Dexter and Ty Lee (much to Sanji's discontent), Sokka and Usopp, Sanji and Numbuh 4, Double D and Ed, and finally, Kevin and Rolf. The only ones to stay aboard were Numbuh 2476 and Chopper.

Each pairings' wing-suits tethered before their parachutes automatically deployed, granting everyone a safe landing.

"Woo-hoo, yeah! That was awesome!" exclaimed Eddy.

"Let's do that again!" laughed Ed.

"Let's not!" said Double D, hugging the ground.

Both Usopp and Sokka just vomited as Luffy, Eddy, Numbuh 4, and Kevin pointed and laughed.

"Get to cover, guys, we have incoming Unisols!" yelled Alejandro, taking aim with his solar-rifle. "Stay sharp! These look a bit different than normal!" He was referring to their sudden bulked-up forms, and new black and red camouflage uniforms, as well as their bigger assault-rifles.

Everyone dashed behind one of the large supply crates that littered the prison yard and opened fire on the advancing squads, which were firing back as well, with near fatal accuracy.

"Damn it, they're good! These are definitely new and improved from the usual fodder. Who's got the incendiary grenades, and how many?!" yelled Alejandro.

"Right here, dude! I've got five!" responded Kevin.

"Throw two into their ranks! Usopp, I need you to unleash a couple of your Exploding Stars as well! Everyone else, lay down some blind cover-fire!"

"Yes, sir!" they responded.

Unleashing their initial round of explosives, they managed to cut the Unisol numbers down somewhat, and then proceeded to let loose another successful volley of cover-fire.

"Usopp, if you have any smoke bombs, put up a screen! We have to flank them from both sides! Everyone stay low when you move out!"

When the screen was up, they split up into two groups and quickly moved out, crouching low so as to lessen the chances of being hit by blind-fire. Then, taking positions at either side of the Unisols, they opened fire once more and whittled them down to a few stragglers that were quickly dealt with by Jack's blade.

"You know, I can think of so many times in the past when these things would have come in so much handy!" said Sokka, admiring his solar-rifle.

Running across the rest of the vast prison yard, they ran into the large construct in the center that acted as the main facility for the prison.

"We need to find their records! There's sure to be mention of where our friends are being kept!" said Double D, running ahead of the group as he looked for any sign as to where that could be.

"Too bad these cruddy Unisols can't feel any pain, or I'd torture it outta them!" yelled Numbuh 4.

"Actually, if we can just find a computer, I can hack it and find them in a flash!" said Dexter.

"Found one!" yelled Ed, looking through a large hole in the rotted wall.

When they peered in, they saw what appeared to be a giant metal tower that had glowing patterns running all over it within a vast and dimly-lit room. When they entered, the lights brightened up substantially, revealing the rest of the strange chamber. The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling looked to be made of thousands of massive, dark-gray cables that converged at the top of the tower. It was almost as if they were within some giant cyber-organic creature.

"This place definitely gives me the creeps!" commented Sokka, feeling just as uneasy as when he was in the Moonbase's organic landing bay.

"That's a computer?!" asked Numbuh 4, "Where the hell is the screen?"

"It's definitely a computer, and if I'm not mistaken, it may just be the main server for the prison's infrastructure! This will definitely be of some use!" exclaimed Dexter, excitedly, "Time to pay them back for what they did to my laboratory!"

(Meanwhile, at the Water Reservoir)

Katara and Zoro stepped into the shallow reservoir and approached the blue-garbed Ocean Vanguard, who stood waiting patiently with his arms crossed.

"You both wish to die by my hand?" he asked.

"It'll be you who dies here!" growled Zoro, drawing all three of his swords, "I'm gonna make sure to leave you in no less than one hundred pieces."

"A talking insect. How amusing," sneered the Vanguard.

Using his inhuman speed, Zoro instantly appeared beside him and took multiple swings, but the Ocean Vanguard simply dodged them with remarkable timing, and countered with a small wave of water that acted as a saw blade, but barely missed as Zoro twisted out of the way and dashed around behind him for a pierce attempt, but the Ocean Vanguard used the water around his legs to instantly move himself out of reach.

Freezing Zoro in place, he lashed out with another blade-wave, but it was stopped at the last moment by Katara, who had surrounded herself in water, forming it into an octopus-like barrier around herself, and had outstretched one of her water tentacles in order to disrupt the attack.

"You little bitch!" yelled the Vanguard, highly annoyed at her interference.

Katara expertly evaded all of his furious water strikes, while countering with her own, but neither one was able to hit the other.

Realizing that she wouldn't be able to stand up to him for long, Katara froze a thick layer of water around herself in the shape of a giant sphere and attempted to run the Vanguard down.

He desperately tried cutting through the sphere, but to no avail, as it was much too dense, and ended up jumping out of the way at the last moment, only to run directly into Zoro's reach, who was now free after cutting himself loose.

Zoro immediately swung his blades with astonishing accuracy and sliced up the Vanguard's chest armor with great effort, rendering it useless. He was about to deliver the killing blow when he suddenly felt himself lose control over his own body, and was forced onto his knees by an unseen force.

Damn it, it's like back in that tunnel! He's controlling my blood!Zoro thought, angrily.

Unfreezing the ice-sphere, Katara quickly returned to using her Octopus-technique and lashed out with all eight tentacles before also losing control of her own body.

"A good, but futile effort! Your waterbending was formidable, young lady, but it ultimately stood no chance against mine! And you, swordsman, did you really believe that you could kill me with mere swords?!" he laughed as he lifted them into the air before slamming them facedown into the shallow water, "You've lost! Now drown, you pathetic humans!"

(Back in the Prison)

"I've done it!" yelled Dexter, unplugging his wrist-computer from the massive server tower, "I've found Dee Dee and the others, and even messed with their anti-air defenses! They're shooting blind! Oh yeah, and I may have just set a few thousand prisoners free to riot. But not in the wing that we need to go."

"Nice going, Dex! So where to?" inquired Kevin.

"Lead the way!" said Double D.

"According to this map of the prison, we have to head north as far as the main corridor will take us, and then use the elevators to reach the top floor. I'll direct us from there." said Dexter, studying the prison's layout on his wrist-computer. "Since I've corrupted their anti-air systems, it should be safe to call in my Robo-Dexo 2000 for extraction once we have them."

Finally with a clear route in mind, they quickly ran back out into the corridor and followed it down all the way when a group of NGUs suddenly stood in their way. Jack quickly leapt into the center of the group before they could fire, and swung his sword around in a complete circle, causing all the NGUs to drop instantly from the swift decapitations.

They soon reached the end of the hallway as another, even larger group of NGUs began to chase after them, but were quickly left in the dust when the WND boarded the large, service elevators to the eighteenth and final floor of the prison.

"Okay, from here, just follow every 'restricted' sign!" said Dexter, taking point.

Along the way, they passed prisoners of varying species, as well as many who yelled out some rather lewd comments about Ty Lee as she passed by their cells. One of them even reached for her through his bars with one of his red furry arms, but was stopped by her lightning-quick, pressure-point strikes that caused his arm to fall limply and temporarily unusable.

"Come on, girlie, I just wanted to talk!" he yelled in a rather deep, almost growl-like voice.

"You know, I was thinking about letting these guys loose, seeing as they're prisoners of the Fallen Hand, and all. But now, I'm really having second-thoughts," said Alejandro.

"This is it! That must be where they are!" yelled Dexter, turning to the left into another corridor, except this one had no cells on the side and only culminated in a large, metal door.

Once they were at the door, Kevin immediately pounded on it, yelling: "Nazz, if you're in there, please answer me! It's me, Kevin!"

"Kevin, is that really you?!" sounded Nazz from the other side. "Please get us out of here! This is so not cool!"

"Hold on, Babe, we'll think of something!" he assured her while frantically studying the huge, metal door.

"There's no use! This blast-door was built to withstand high-powered explosions!" observed Dexter.

"I can knock it down!" said Luffy, winding up his arm.

"He's not kidding! Everyone in the cell, get away from the door and take cover, now!" yelled Alejandro.

"Gum-Gum Rifle!" yelled Luffy as he let loose his fist against the blast-door and instantly knocked it out from the doorway, slamming it against the back of the cell and opening a large hole to the outside.

Kevin immediately ran to Nazz and picked her up in a loving embrace as Jimmy ran towards Ed, crying tears of joy: "Oh, thank you! Thank you! I thought we were going to die in there!" his tears suddenly stopped as he looked around, "Where's Sarah?!"

"It's about damn time!" said Marie, "Where the hell are Lee and May?"

"Please calm yourselves, all of you," said Double D, "They're all safe and waiting."

"What is going on here?!" said Dexter in a devastated manner from within the cell, "Where's Dee Dee?!"

(Outside the Prison's Main Gate)

Toph stood up from the ground after rolling to lessen the impact of her landing, and immediately sensed the presence of both the Land Vanguard in the distance, as well as someone else, nearby.

"So he sent you to help me out, I'm assuming?" said Toph, annoyed, but not surprised.

"I jumped out because I wanted to," said Crystal, who had already landed before Toph, due to not having a wing-suit.

"Either you're telling the truth, or you're a really good liar," said Toph, still slightly angry even after not sensing any sign of untruthfulness from her.

"Listen, Toph, you can choose to believe me or not, but please, don't be angry at my brother," said Crystal, "I chose to do this on my own, for him. It may look like we fight a lot and don't get along, but I love Alex very much, and I'd hate to see him devastated because of your reckless decision. I can see that you're tough and proud, and trust me, I can relate―but, girl, you've gotta accept some help every once in a while!"

Toph was caught off-guard by her statements, and nodded. She sensed Crystal's whole-hearted sincerity, and understood her reasoning.

"Fine," said Toph, "But we're doing this my way."

"And that is?"

"Don't get in the way."

"Whatever. Let's just kick this guy's butt already."

They both began approaching the green-garbed Land Vanguard, who stood waiting patiently with his arms crossed in the distance.

"So, um… Alex?" inquired Toph.

"Oh yeah, that's what our family and his best friends from back home call him."

"Huh. Good to know."

"Good afternoon, ladies! Ready for your burial?" said the Land Vanguard in mock-seriousness as they drew near.

"Aw! You were really gonna bury us? How sweet and thoughtful!" chimed Crystal, sarcastically, "Because, you know… we were just gonna leave your corpse out for the birds."

Toph busted out in a fit of hysterical laughter as the Vanguard uncrossed his arms, obviously angry at Crystal's comeback.

"Well said, Curly-Cues!" laughed Toph.

"Wait, how'd you know that my hair's curly?" asked Crystal, confused, "Pardon me, but I thought you were, you know… blind?"

"Katara told me. She's mad jelly of your hair, you know."

"Ugh, ladies please… you're already killing me!" said the Land Vanguard as he raised up his foot and stomped it down on the ground, causing a line of earth spikes to shoot up toward them.

They both quickly jumped out of the way and let loose attacks of their own.

Toph countered with multiple, razor-sharp discs of flattened earth by raising them from the ground and sending them spinning at their foe by striking them with the gauntlet plates on her arms while Crystal let loose a storm of black kunai knives.

The Vanguard immediately raised a giant, thick wall of earth that stopped their projectiles, and then, sensing where they stood, sent entire sections of the wall sliding toward them at dangerously high speeds.

Toph jabbed her fingers into the section of wall that came toward her just before the impact, and successfully disintegrated it into nothing more than a large cloud of dust that swept over her, while Crystal took her section head on and obliterated the incredibly dense wall by focusing large amounts of her chakra (life energy) into her fists.

"Nice! I sensed that from here!" cheered Toph.

"Thanks! Oh damn, watch out!" yelled Crystal, barely dodging another wall section.

Sensing what she meant, Toph quickly spin-kicked the massive cube that rushed toward her and stopped it in its tracks. Then, taking a wide stance, she sliced through it with one of her arms, and immediately kicked the top half directly in the center to send it hurtling toward their foe, who jumped at it and kicked it back once again, simultaneously reforming it into a long spike when he made contact.

"Hell no!" yelled Crystal as she dashed toward the spike and smashed it to pieces before it came too close to Toph.

"I totally had that!" protested Toph.

"Seriously?! No thanks?" replied Crystal.

"Alright, thank you, but next time, leave it to me! I may not be a ninja like you, but I am a master earthbender!"

"Okay, but don't take too many stupid risks!" said Crystal before dashing towards the Vanguard, who couldn't keep up with her position as she seemingly teleported all around him, and then let loose a spinning roundhouse that connected and sent him flying toward the small hills and rusting machinery, where he crashed violently into a destroyed tank.

"He's really gonna feel that in a few seconds!" laughed Crystal as the Land Vanguard arose from where he had landed, roaring in a furious rage.

"I'll bury you alive!" he screamed, lifting the entire tank using his bending and then hurled it at them.

Toph and Crystal quickly jumped back as the tank crashed down, barely missing them.

"Damn it! He nearly got us with that!" growled Crystal.

"So this bastard's a metalbender just like me?! I thought that I was the only one!" yelled Toph, outraged and genuinely surprised.

"Alright, enough of this crap! We need to work together and attack together!" said Crystal.

"You got it!" replied Toph, with a look of fierce determination.

"Let's take this guy down!"

(Back with the Rescue Team)

"Everybody, get in quick!" yelled Dexter as he and the rest of the WND fired back at the NGUs from within the cell.

The Robo-Dexo 2000 stood hovering just outside of the large hole that Luffy had made when he broke the blast-door down. Its armored chest hatch was open, awaiting the WND members to jump in.

"There's no break in their fire! We need some cover! Anything, please!" yelled Usopp, frantically firing the last few of his Exploding Stars.

"I got it!" yelled Luffy as he took an extremely deep breath to drastically expand his midsection, covering the entrance, but then began gradually deflating as he started laughing hysterically. "Ahahahaha! Their bullets really tickle! Hurry it up you guys!"

"Holy mackerel!" yelled Jimmy in complete astonishment.

"Great job, Luffy! Guys, we have to get moving, now!" yelled Alejandro.

Everyone quickly scrambled out onto the Robo-Dexo until only Luffy remained, but he swiftly launched himself onto the giant robot by rapidly deflating himself to use the air as a propellant.

But before the Robo-Dexo's chest could completely close, the NGUs began firing into it, prompting everyone to hit the ground except for Ed and Marie.

"Ed, get down!" yelled Double D.

Rolf immediately pulled Ed's feet out from under him while Eddy sprung up and pulled Marie to the ground just before the NGUs' fire had nearly hit them.

"Suck on this, you cyborg freaks!" yelled Kevin as he threw his last incendiary grenade into the cell and took out the majority of the remaining NGUs.

"Nice one, Kev!" cheered Nazz, happily jumping into his arms.

Eddy quickly looked away, pained by the scene. He was still envious of Kevin for having won her affection.

"Hey, um, Eddy," said Marie, "what you did back there, I just wanted to say… you're alright."

Eddy was quite surprised by Marie, and in reply, answered: "It was nothing, really!"

"Nothing? You saved my ass!" she said, "I guess what I wanted to say was… thank you." For the first time ever, one of the Kankers actually gave Eddy a genuinely sweet and grateful smile.

Surprised beyond words, Eddy simply smiled back and quickly turned away as his face burned up. He had never really taken notice of any of the Kankers, and especially not Marie, seeing as she always pursued Double D, but this time, he actually really liked her smile.

"I still can't believe stupid Mandark took stupid Dee Dee!" said Dexter, angrily, "That second-rate scientist thinks that he can have my sister?! I'll kick his butt again, and then I'll get her back!"

"Hey, guys, I'm over on the south side of the prison wall," said Numbuh 2476 through their communicators.

"Copy that, Numbuh 2476, we're en route," said Dexter.

"Where do you think he took her?" asked Alejandro.

"I'm not sure. Mandark knows, firsthand, that Dee Dee is too much of a liability to keep around a laboratory, so I highly doubt that he'd take her to the Fallen Hand's Cauldron Facility. Also, seeing as how he took only Dee Dee suggests that this was out of personal interest, not an official order. So he has to have taken her somewhere where Warmaster Surt would not expect, and thus, I doubt that she would be at the Fallen Hand HQ, either. I don't know… I have a feeling that I'll just have to track him down and beat it out of him!"

(Atop the Prison's main tower)

Aang and Numbuh 1 picked themselves up as their wing-suits disengaged and hit the ground, followed shortly by their parachutes. In the middle of the large rooftop was a landing pad for aircraft, and in the center of that sat the Sky Vanguard, cross-legged in a meditative position. He was now garbed in white instead of his usual black, and wore a blackened steel-alloy piece of chest armor.

"Traitor!" screamed Numbuh 1, furiously. "Murderer!"

"Oh please, Numbuh 1!" laughed the Sky Vanguard, "I was never genuinely a part of the RND in the first place! And I guess it's too late to say sorry about offing your little girlfriend, right?"

Aang quietly whispered: "Alright, here's the plan―"

"No plan! Attack!" yelled an enraged Numbuh 1 as he began sprinting toward their enemy.

"Wait!" yelled Aang.

"Time to pay you back, you bastard!" yelled Numbuh 1 as he ran straight for him.

The Sky Vanguard quickly countered by redirecting Numbuh 1's attack to the side, and then flipped him to the ground, all while holding his sitting position.

Numbuh 1 rushed back onto his feet and attacked again, but the Vanguard blocked every strike and eventually hit back with a back-handed fist that sent Numbuh 1 tumbling off of the landing pad.

Aang quickly rushed to his side and asked: "Are you alright?"

Numbuh 1 stayed silent and got back onto his feet. He then suddenly jumped back onto the landing pad and resumed his furious strikes, which were all easily blocked once again. But this time, he began applying some Intercepting Fist techniques and was finally able to counter a few of the blocks with arm-trapping maneuvers, followed closely by quick and powerful strikes that hit their mark repeatedly.

This infuriated the Sky Vanguard and caused him to bend the air around him into a powerful wind that sent Numbuh 1 rolling toward the edge of the tower, but Aang quickly saved him with a gust of his own that stabilized him enough to barely grab the edge of the rooftop on time.

Numbuh 1 quickly pulled himself up and scrambled away from the edge, snapping out of his rage and heading back over to Aang.

"Will you listen to me now?" he asked.

Numbuh 1's face took on a look of angry annoyance, but he finally nodded.

"I know that you really want to beat this guy because of what he did, but you need to fight him with the proper mentality."

"That's easy for you to say. I can't look at the bastard without feeling pure hatred!"

"Please, calm yourself! He's an airbender! You need to fight him without any wild anger if you want to stand any chance against him! We need to strategize and attack him together!"

"Well then here's my strategy: You cancel out his airbending, while I attack!"

"I guess that's a start," said Aang as they turned back to face their foe.

"Of all the warriors in your band, they sent you two―An emotionally distraught teenager and the Avatar himself? Seriously, Numbuh 1, did you all forget that we're trying to capture him, or something? I mean, with you as his back-up, you practically delivered him to us on a silver platter!" laughed the Sky Vanguard as he finally stood up, "I was hoping for a real challenge!"

"Ignore him, Numbuh 1! He's just trying to anger you even further!" said Aang.

"Yeah? Well, it's working!" yelled Numbuh 1 as he rushed at him again, only to be kicked in the face and knocked away before he could even throw the first punch.

The Sky Vanguard then began amassing a large amount of air around himself and then shot it at both Aang and Numbuh 1, but Aang countered with his own powerful gust of wind, barely able to hold it back.

Taking this opportunity, Numbuh 1 dashed behind the Sky Vanguard to attack, but was unsuccessful as his foe instantly countered with a quick burst of air that sent him rolling away.

Aang suddenly let up on his airbending and jumped to the side, dodging the Vanguard's gust of wind to unleash a cascade of flames at him.

The Sky Vanguard swiftly dodged every fireball until Aang switched up his rhythm and finally landed a few shots.

"Agh! Damn you, Avatar!" he yelled while in great pain.

Control the rhythm, and you control the fight! Aang thought, remembering what Alejandro had once taught him in the training room.

Numbuh 1 suddenly reappeared beside the Sky Vanguard and attacked with a continuous string of strikes that pushed the tall Ilumari toward the edge of the landing pad, where he finally jumped and twisted in mid-air to deal a devastating spin-kick that knocked the Vanguard off of his feet and onto the ground. Aang quickly topped things off with a massive fireball that exploded on impact, sending smoke everywhere.

Numbuh 1 slumped onto the ground as a sense of relief washed over him. He's finally gone,he thought, as Aang walked over to him.

They were about to notify the rest of the WND when, all of a sudden, they found themselves unable to breathe, no matter how hard they tried.

When they dropped to the ground in a state of panic, the sound of familiar and horrible laughter sounded from behind them as the smoke from Aang's fireball finally disappeared, revealing the Sky Vanguard, covered in severe burn marks and wearing nothing but his tattered ninja-style pants. His mask and armor had been completely blown off, revealing his familiar Ilumari features, which included his gray-skin, pointed ears, and all-white eyes. Numbuh 1 grew even more enraged as he looked directly upon the face of his former leader, Numbuh 1-Trillion.

"Consider it an honor, gentlemen, that you get to die by the deadliest form of bending there is… voidbending!"

(On the Esperanza)

"Alright, Dex, bring it in," said Numbuh 2476.

Dexter, piloting his Robo-Dexo 2000, brought it into the Esperanza's vehicle bay and hooked it into its specialized docking area.

"So how did it go, Alejandro?" she asked.

"Not too bad. It got a little frantic at the end, but overall we're okay," replied Alejandro.

"That's good. I'm so glad that you're safe," she said.

"…Um, thank you. I'm glad that you're safe, too. So how are the others doing?" he asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation.

"…Nobody's reported in, so I think they're still fighting," she said, in a saddened tone.

"Is there a way to see them?" asked Sokka, "Like on that big screen-thingy?"

"Do we have any visuals?" asked Alejandro.

"I'd need to get back in the air," she said.

"No need. I've sent out some surveillance-drones," said Dexter, fidgeting with his wrist-computer.

After a few seconds, the three video feeds were back on the screen.

"Is it just me or does it look like they're in some serious trouble?! We have to go help them!" yelled Sokka.

"No," said Alejandro, "they can do this! Dexter, do those drones have any speakers on them?"

"Yes, for diversionary purposes."

"Patch me in to them."

"Right away!" he said, typing into his wrist-computer.

"Sanji, I'm gonna need you to start talking crap to Zoro through the first drone. I'll handle the others."

"What?" asked Sanji, confused.

"Just talk some crap to Zoro for, you know, motivation."

Sanji suddenly understood and stood ready for his signal.

"Alright," said Dexter, "you're in!"

(Back at the Water Reservoir)

The Ocean Vanguard stood laughing as both Katara and Zoro slowly drowned. Katara was unable to move an inch, but Zoro, through his sheer monstrous strength was somehow able to resist the bloodbending, and slowly inched closer and closer to Katara. He was intent on at least lifting her out of the water.

How is he able to do this?! the Ocean Vanguard thought, angrily. Is he really resisting me through sheer brute force?! He should be dead by now from the internal hemorrhaging!

Zoro finally got to her and struggled to get his arms beneath her head and chest in order to lift her up, but when he finally did, he found himself unable to move upwards.

He continued to struggle until a familiar voice sounded out of nowhere: "Sleeping on the job like always, Moss-Ball?! Get your lazy ass up and beat this guy already, you stinkin', no-good, second-rate swordsman! What, is he seriously a better fighter than you?! No surprise there!"

Damn that Dumbass-Cook! When I'm through with this guy, I'll tear him apart! Zoro thought intensely as he felt his strength rise exponentially with his anger, allowing him to almost completely resist the Vanguard's bending. He was in excruciating pain, but that was something that he was massively accustomed to by now.

"No, damn you! Nobody resists my bloodbending! Nobody!" yelled the Ocean Vanguard, struggling to stay in control, but Zoro resisted with every fiber of his being.

Lifting Katara out of the water, he picked up his swords and rushed at the Vanguard, who stopped his bloodbending in order to dodge and defend himself from Zoro's furious attacks.

"I see that you can't bloodbend while you're defending! How unfortunate… that I was one of your opponents!" laughed Zoro, grinning devilishly as he got in a few good slashes.

The Ocean Vanguard quickly countered with a few blade-waves that hit Zoro, but to no avail, for he showed no signs of slowing down.

"What are you?!" cried the Vanguard as he jumped away in fear, but was suddenly suspended and encased in extremely thick ice, save for his head. Turning to the side, he saw Katara barely holding a waterbending stance as she struggled to regain her breath. She had a look of pure fury.

"Now!" she yelled.

"You bitch!" he cried, as Zoro instantly appeared in front of him, smiling evilly while unleashing a whirlwind of slashes in nearly every conceivable manner with all three of his swords before finishing off with his signature Oni Giritechnique right through him.

The ice-block that contained the Ocean Vanguard suddenly exploded into a fountain of ice and gore.

"I told him that I'd leave him in no less than one hundred pieces," said Zoro as he swiftly cleaned and sheathed his swords. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just trying to breathe at the moment," panted Katara, looking away from the mess in the middle of the reservoir. She noticed that Zoro was covered in blood. "Wow, Chopper wasn't kidding when he said that you always take the worst damage in every major battle! I can heal you with my waterbending, if that's alright?"

"Thanks, but don't bother. I'll live," said Zoro as the drone came back.

"Good job, guys! Just stay put. We sent Kevin Rolf, and Chopper with a Doom-Buggy to pick you up," sounded Alejandro's voice through the drone.

"Thank you," said Katara as she and Zoro sat down on the ground to rest as they awaited their ride back to the ship.

(Back in front of the Main Gate)

"Here he comes!" yelled Crystal as Toph summoned a cluster of large boulders from out of the ground and hit them at their charging foe.

The Land Vanguard swiftly dodged every one of them as he raised both of his arms, causing many broken-down machines of war to fly out across the battlefield from the surrounding dunes.

"It's raining freakin' tanks and armored trucks!" yelled Crystal as she and Toph scrambled around to dodge everything. Thankfully, Toph was able to sense earth and metal even when it was in the air, and was even able to tell their size and trajectory.

When the metal storm was finished, the Land Vanguard sliced a tank into various pieces with his bare hands and stabbed them into the two thickest pieces of armored metal as he launched himself to where Crystal and Toph were.

Right when he landed, Crystal jumped at him with a flying kick that almost hit him until he blocked it with the large metal shields on his arms. He then furiously threw a multitude of surprisingly fast strikes that were extremely difficult to avoid due to the sheer size of his makeshift, metal boxing gloves, and quickly knocked both Crystal and Toph away with them, sending them both flying hundreds of feet across the metal-laden battle-ground.

"He hits like a damn train!" yelled Crystal, still on the ground.

"I feel like I just played chicken with Appa!" said Toph, holding her head.

"Crystal! Toph!" sounded a familiar voice.

They both looked around a while before noticing the surveillance drone.

"Alex, was that you?" asked Crystal, "What is that thing? A camera?"

"Surveillance drone. Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that the rescue was a success. Now hurry up and win already! I want you both back within fifteen minutes. Think you can do it?"

"Think we can't?!" yelled Crystal as she reached behind her back where she kept her ninja-tools.

"You got it, Tough-Guy!" exclaimed Toph, stretching and cracking her neck, knuckles, and back. She immediately bended the iron bracers on her arms into short arm-blades before finally dropping into a ready fighting stance.

As the sun-backed silhouette of the Land Vanguard approached in the distance, Crystal unrolled a small summoning scroll, causing a large cloud of white smoke to poof out as three, two-foot-long sections of white-colored wood landed in her hands. Besides a glossy, white finish, the wood also had a green vine design that wrapped around it multiple times. She swiftly connected them together and then held the staff out with both hands, twirling it fast as she said: "Chakra-Spear Jutsu!"

Suddenly, a seven-inch-long, Japanese-style spear-head that was made out of glowing, blue energy sprouted from one end of the six-foot staff, which Crystal now held in a combat-ready position.

"Bring it on, you Rusty-Dirt-Bag!" yelled Toph as the Land Vanguard now entered into a full-on sprint toward them.

When he jumped, Crystal jumped as well to intercept him in the air, and jabbed with her chakra-spear, but he quickly blocked it with the tank pieces that he held on his arms. When he landed, he ran straight for Toph, who braced herself as he drew closer.

She immediately began barely dodging his tank-reinforced punches as she tried to dish out her own attacks with her arm-blades.

The Land Vanguard eventually wore her down enough to catch her by surprise from the left side with a back-hand strike, sending her tumbling across the ground. Jumping after her, he tried finishing her off with his tank-gauntlets, but Crystal seemingly materialized instantly between them and ran the Vanguard through with her spear, causing him to scream out in pain.

Jumping away, he stomped down and brought his fists together to cause much of the metal around them to start converging on their position, but both Crystal and Toph jumped high into the air, just in time to avoid being crushed.

Landing on either side of him, they attacked simultaneously, effectively pushing his dodging and blocking skills to the limit as he struggled to defend against both of them at once, though he still barely managed to do so as he prepared another attack. This time, he bended the outer armor of his tank-gauntlets into sharp spikes and tried charging them down, but was unable to keep up with their jumping and dashing.

After Crystal threw down a smoke-bomb, they got in a few more good hits before he went berserk.

Crystal quickly blocked multiple strikes with her chakra-spear, jabbing back at opportune moments and causing the Vanguard to cry out even more pain.

Toph, on the other hand, sensed a nearby cluster of steel-cable strands within a pile of machinery beside where she landed, and metalbended them into a couple of long steel-ropes, making them much thicker, and thus, much easier to hold on to.

She unleashed her steel-ropes on the Vanguard as he charged angrily at Crystal, catching his fist and giving Crystal the opportunity to deal some damage in the form of another spear-jab.

When he missed his counter-attack on her, Toph used the steel-ropes as whips and dealt some massive damage before using them to hold the Vanguard in place again.

"Curly-Cues! Do something quick!" she yelled.

"On it! Hold him tight, but when I get under him―let go!" she said, focusing her chakra.

"I'll slaughter you both!" yelled the Land Vanguard as he struggled to free himself.

Crystal charged at their fearsome foe and ducked underneath him at the last moment, where she jammed the blunt end of her spear into the ground and spun around with a powerful, upward kick that sent him flying high into the air just as Toph let go of him. Crystal quickly jumped up as well, and after doing a specific series of hand-signs, which allowed her to command her chakra, she rose above the Vanguard and pummeled him back down toward the ground.

"Ninja Art: Blue Rose Ascension!"

The staff's chakra spear-head immediately turned into a cluster of blades that formed the shape of a rose as the staff shot up like a rocket toward the falling Vanguard and ripped straight through his chest in mid-air, flying back into Crystal's hands as it reached her.

"Father… I've failed you…" said the Land Vanguard with his dying breath before his lifeless body smashed into the ground.

Crystal gracefully landed on her feet as she deactivated her jutsu and stowed her spear away.

"Damn, what a tough bastard!" sighed Toph, falling back onto the ground.

"Seriously," agreed Crystal, "I even had to pull out my ace in the hole!"

"So what happened? I couldn't tell from down here," said Toph.

"I impaled him with a giant rose, a hundred feet in the air."

"Damn, Curly-Cues! You really know how to make sure they stay down!" laughed Toph, sitting up as she sensed something, "Hey, it feels like there's a vehicle headed this way. I think it's one of ours."

"I sent a Doom-Buggy to pick you up," said Alejandro through the drone, "Nice work on taking him out. That makes two down, and one to go."

(Back atop the Prison)

Aang and Numbuh 1 struggled for breath as the Sky Vanguard looked on with anticipation.

"Did you know, Avatar, that your people were the original creators of voidbending?"

Aang was mortified. He just couldn't believe the Vanguard's words.

"Do you want to know how it works? You focus, not on the air molecules, but on the empty space between them, and then spread that space as wide as you can, thereby manipulating a void around your opponent . . . and suffocating them! Ironic, isn't it? Such a peaceful, pacifistic people were the creators of the most horrific and feared form of bending in the ancient past! I love it!"

It's not true! It's not true! Aang desperately thought to himself. But the monks had once mentioned a dark past―an age that they lived to atone for by striving to live peacefully and spiritually. Somewhere deep in his heart, Aang knew that what the Sky Vanguard had said was the truth.

"Have no fear, Avatar. I'm not going to kill you―That honor belongs to Numbuh 1! After all, we need you alive. You, on the other hand, have the honor of powering the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction in the Multiverse! Countless beings will die because of you! Hahahahaha!"

Aang couldn't take it any more and suddenly snapped as his corrupted Avatar-State took over. Viciously attacking the Sky Vanguard with a great stream of flames, he successfully stopping his voidbending and even drove him to create a massive tornado around himself as a shield from the flames.

"So this is why we found you on your world! Poor, little, corrupted Avatar led us right to him!" laughed the Vanguard, struggling to sustain his tornado at maximum strength.

Aang roared furiously, shooting even more flames from his mouth as his rage increased. Mixing his firebending in with his airbending, he assimilated the spinning inferno into the Vanguard's own tornado in an tempt to cook the Vanguard alive.

Numbuh 1 looked on in frustration from the sidelines as one of Dexter's surveillance drones came up beside him.

"Whoa, what happened?!" sounded Alejandro's voice.

"Alejandro, what are you doing with that?" asked Numbuh 1.

"I was gonna let you guys know that the prisoners have been secured. Also, I was maybe gonna give you some battle advice, but it looks like I didn't have to. Oh yeah, the others have successfully neutralized the other Vanguards."

"Good. Thankfully, Aang activated his Avatar-State and stopped this guy from suffocating us!" said Numbuh 1, taking in another deep breath.

"What do you mean thankfully?!" sounded Katara's voice, "He's in his corrupted Avatar-State! If we don't do something quick, he'll get too out of control!"

"But his power saved us!" said Numbuh 1, "If we snap him out of it now, the Sky Vanguard will just voidbend us again, and I have a feeling that he won't go so easy next time!"

"But if he stays like that, he'll end up killing you too!" argued Katara.

"Then I'll die happily, knowing that the Sky Vanguard is dead! At this point, Katara, I'm willing to risk it all. My love for life died with Keilana!"

"Numbuh 1!" this time, it was Alejandro, again. "I don't want to hear anymore of that emo crap from you, do you hear me?! Look at me―when I lost Haruko, I was a hopeless wreck for weeks, cursing life everyday. But now I've realized just how wrong I was to feel that way. You may have lost Keilana, but in time, someone else worth living and dying for will come along." Alejandro looked at Toph as he said that last part. "Live and fight for your friends and family, Numbuh 1, and you'll fight like never before!"

"But-"

"But what?! Just kick this guy's ass so we can go home, already!" yelled Alejandro.

"We will," said Numbuh 1, feeling a newfound invigoration and purpose.

If I stay in here, I'll be dead for sure.The Sky Vanguard thought desperately as he was still surrounded by the spinning vortex of flames. Finally deciding on a plan of action, he surrounded himself with an intense and powerful aura of wind and launched himself at the inferno, successfully breaking out of it unscathed.

Aang, unaware of this, continued his flame vortex until the Sky Vanguard jumped up to his position in the air and spin-kicked him away, quickly jumping up and following with a storm of condensed air-punches that flew down through the air and burst upon impact.

Taking this opportunity, Numbuh 1 quickly jumped up behind the Vanguard and delivered a flying knee into his back, effectively knocking him back down as well. Before the Vanguard could fully stand back on his feet, Numbuh 1 dashed over and unleashed a flurry of windmill strikes into his face and topped it all off with a spinning roundhouse that sent him rolling across the floor.

This time, the Vanguard shot up onto his feet using the air and tried to strike Numbuh 1 with a wide side-swipe, but he just ducked underneath it and countered with a straight-lead punch that knocked the Vanguard back a bit before he let loose another series of powerful hits that left his foe in a daze. Finally, Numbuh 1 ran up to the stumbling Ilumari and jumped, rising just enough to deliver a downward elbow strike onto the crown of his head, resulting in his opponent falling instantly to the ground.

"How is this possible?!" he yelled, writhing on the ground, in pain.

"I've stopped fighting you out of anger, and finally cleared my head enough to focus on my techniques."

"So you've forgiven me? Even after finding out that I betrayed the RND? Even after I killed the girl that you loved?"

"I haven't forgiven you. I just see no point in punishing you for what you've done. It won't bring them back. But I will stop you from hurting more of my friends! You've lost this fight, and I'm bringing you in as a prisoner of the WND and delivering you to the Royal Ilumari Military. I'll see to it that you're properly executed by your own people for your crimes!"

"No you won't!" said the broken Ilumari from the ground as he reached out in Numbuh 1's direction and began voidbending the air away from him.

Why didn't I anticipate this?! Damn it, Aang still isn't awake!Numbuh 1 thought, horrified as he struggled desperately to take a breath. I'm really going to die!

Suddenly the Sky Vanguard stopped his voidbending as he thrashed around on the ground, holding his throat.

Numbuh 1, finally able to breathe, looked around and saw that Aang was back up, still in his corrupted Avatar-State, and he was actually voidbending their foe.

Noticing Numbuh 1, he suddenly began voidbending him as well.

"Aang, stop!" sounded Alejandro's voice from the drone.

But the voidbending continued as Aang roared furiously, shooting jet-streams of flames from his mouth, into the air. A large, black and white wormhole even opened up beside the tower as a result of his rage.

Katara quickly took over. "Aang, please, calm down! Don't do this! I beg you… don't kill them!" she had tears streaming down her face. "Don't kill them, Aang, please!"

This time, something got through to Aang, and his voidbending stopped as he dropped from the air, back in his normal state. Still conscious, he stood up and walked over to the Sky Vanguard, who tried getting onto his feet but fell back down – the result of Numbuh 1's severe beating.

"Stay away from me, you hear!" he yelled, attempting to voidbend, but Aang swiftly redirected his hand with a burst of air and pinned him down.

"You've hurt and killed innocent people!" said Aang.

"So then finish me!" yelled the Sky Vanguard.

"No, too easy… I'm going to take your bending away!"

"Wait, you can't! Please don't!"

But his cries fell on deaf ears as Aang touched his thumb down onto the Vanguard's forehead, specifically on one of his main Chakra points, and activated his energybending capability.

The Sky Vanguard screamed as he felt his power leave him, and then dropped onto the ground in a state of shock when the deed was done.

Aang stepped over the screaming Sky Vanguard as he went over to Numbuh 1, who was still coughing on the ground.

"Thanks," said Numbuh 1 as Aang helped him up, "Whoa, what did you do to him?"

"Exactly what I said―I took his bending away. He's no longer a threat to us."

"The Sky Vanguard is down, Alejandro. Requesting pick-up," said Numbuh 1, into his communicator, "and prepare the holding cell. He's coming along for the ride."

"Copy that. Good job, guys!"

Aang and Numbuh 1 turned around to face the Vanguard, but noticed that he had crawled to the edge of the roof-top where the wormhole was.

"Stop him!" yelled Numbuh 1, but before Aang could pull him in, the Sky Vanguard quickly let himself drop and got sucked into the wormhole.

"Damn it!" yelled Numbuh 1, punching and cracking the floor.

Aang was momentarily speechless. He cursed himself for not keeping an eye on the Vanguard.

"Numbuh 1… I'm so sorry. I―"

"Don't worry about it, Aang. Like you said, he's no threat to us, now… Let him live with it."

Within seconds, the Esperanzacame into view, and stopped next to the edge, lowering its vehicle ramp onto the tower.

Aang and Numbuh 1 quickly ran in, where they were immediately greeted with cheers from their friends. Katara immediately ran into Aang's arms, thankful for his safety.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Numbuh 4, "especially the way you beat the living crap out of that stupid Vanguard, Numbuh 1! We saw it all on the screen!"

Numbuh 1 appreciated their comments and compliments, but he still held a saddened look on his face.

"What's wrong?" asked Alejandro, "Is it because he got away? Don't worry, Numbuh 1. I'm proud of your decision to let justice take care of it. His escape was just an unforeseen circumstance. Don't beat yourself up for it. We'll get him next time!"

Numbuh 1 smiled and bowed his head in thanks.

"Now then, let's get home!"

The ship began to lift higher into the air, when an alarm suddenly went off.

"We've got a major bogey coming in hot! Its bio-signature is the same as a Unisol, but its energy readings are off the charts!" yelled Numbuh 2476.

On the screen, they saw what appeared to be a pale-skinned man with dark-brown hair, sunglasses, and an expensive-looking black suit and tie, soaring up through the air to the ship.

"Bring up the shields!" commanded Alejandro.

But it was too late. Before the shields could even be activated, the man had reached them and, lifting his leg straight up in front of him in mid-air, delivered a tremendously powerful downward axe-kick to the front of the ship, instantly bringing down the entire thing on top of one of the prison's biggest structures, where it crashed and broke through its roof.

"Hold on tight!" yelled Numbuh 1 as the ship continued to spin out of control, until it finally hit the ground violently.

Then, total darkness and silence.

(Several moments later)

The ship lights began slowly brightening up as everyone came to and assessed their situations.

"Is everyone alright?!" sounded Numbuh 2476.

"We'll survive," said Numbuh 1, "How are you holding up?"

"I may have a broken rib or two. I'm not sure."

"Chopper, can you check up on her please?" asked Alejandro.

"Yes, sir!" he said as he quickly left the vehicle bay.

"Man, what a kick! Numbuh 2476, do we have any visuals on the attacker?" asked Numbuh 1.

"None at the moment. The cameras are still jacked up from the crash!"

"I'm just outside the ship, Mr. Uno!" boomed a familiar voice.

"Wait… that voice!" exclaimed Numbuh 1, "It couldn't be…"

"Smith!" exclaimed Dexter, with a look of fury. "I'd recognize that stupid voice anywhere!"

"I told you all that I'd be back, didn't I?" he laughed.

"That's Smith?! From back in your lab?!" exclaimed Double D, fearfully, "But I thought that he was just a computer virus!"

"He was. Mandark must have engineered a body for him, and I have no doubt that Smith demanded only the best materials. I sense that we are in no condition to fight him," said Dexter, grimly.

"Indeed he has, and indeed you are not. And please, call me AgentSmith," he said, in a mocking tone.

"I'll fight him!" exclaimed Luffy.

"And so will I," said Alejandro, "Let us off."

"Are you sure?" said Numbuh 1, pressing the button for the vehicle ramp.

"You bet!" yelled both Luffy and Alejandro, quickly jumping out as the ramp was barely half-way open.

The ship had crashed into the chamber that they'd found earlier with the giant server tower, which was fortunate because the thousands of thick, rubber cables that lined the walls, floor, and ceiling had provided a relatively soft landing for the ship.

Agent Smith stood in the center of the chamber with his hands in his pockets, grinning evilly as they approached him.

"Smith! Where did Mandark take Dee Dee?!" shouted Dexter, angrily.

"Once again, that's Agent Smith. And how should I know? His goal was the girl, while mine is the Avatar. Give him to me, and I'll find Mr. Astronomonov for you! A fair trade, don't you think so? The Avatar for your dear sister?"

"Damn you, Smith! How dare you…" growled Dexter, "No deal!"

"Then enjoy watching your friends die while you can, because you're next!" yelled Agent Smith as he launched himself into the air.

Luffy quickly put up his guard as Smith landed directly in front of him and began unleashing a torrent of extremely powerful strikes that forced Luffy to focus on defense and rendered him unable to counter.

Alejandro instantly dashed over and tried to flank him with a roundhouse kick from the side, but Smith simply blocked and swiped with a back-handed fist that sent Alejandro flying all the way back to the wall, where he hit and bounced off of the cables that padded it.

Taking advantage of the break in the attacks, Luffy finally stretched his arm back and delivered his Gum-Gum Pistol attack which sent Agent Smith skipping across the entire chamber as well.

Alejandro launched himself over to Smith and, landing beside him, initiated an onslaught of rapid, powerful strikes that Smith tried countering, only to have his strikes trapped and intercepted, which resulted in multiple hits from Alejandro that nearly overwhelmed him.

Growing frustrated, Smith activated his super-speed capabilities and became way too fast for Alejandro to intercept as he retaliated with his own chain of attacks.

Luffy ran over and threw both arms back. "Gum-Gum Bazooka!"

Both of his open hands shot at Smith with insane speed and smashed him against the wall, angering Smith to no end.

There was a sudden burst of smoke as he shot out from the wall and struck Luffy with a flying punch. Alejandro quickly ran up behind him and attempted to clothesline Smith from behind, but instead, Smith caught his arm and, after delivering multiple solid punches to both his stomach and face, proceeded to pick him up and hurl him across the chamber, where he crashed into the giant central server tower.

Luffy suddenly appeared from above and bashed Smith's head downwards, nearly staggering him before he angrily reached up, grabbed Luffy by the neck, and jumped toward the tower, slamming him into it as well.

"Will either of you provide any sort of a challenge?!" howled Smith, furiously, as he landed back on the ground.

"Coming right up!" announced Luffy as he jumped back down and initiated his Gear Second mode.

"Interesting. Is that supposed to make me feel fear?" asked Smith, mockingly.

Luffy's movements were so fast now that he seemingly teleported beside Smith and kicked him to the wall.

"So that little display actually improves your abilities and attributes? Then it's time to get serious, I presume?" said Agent Smith, pointlessly smoothing out and cleaning off his suit.

Luffy dashed over to him again, but Smith jumped just in time and kicked him in the back of his head, sending him rolling across the floor. Luffy quickly stood and wound his foot up as he appeared behind Smith to unleash a piston kick that was unexpectedly dodged and countered with a punch to his sternum, causing Luffy to spit up blood and go limp on Smith's fist.

"Pathetic! I thought you would have improved beyond this!" sighed Agent Smith, angrily, as he lifted Luffy with his fist still embedded in his chest, and threw him across the floor.

Alejandro finally dropped down from the CPU tower, but hit the ground violently without landing on his feet. He was in too much pain to walk, much less even stand.

"Since you're both giving up, I'll be taking the Avatar now," said Smith as he calmly began walking toward the ship. "I'll be sure to kill everyone, so don't you worry about looking for survivors!"

"We're dead!" cried Usopp as Zoro, Sanji, and Jack ran out to stop Smith's advance.

"Stay away from him! You'll all be killed! Just take the others and get out!" shouted Alejandro from the ground. I'm useless! I can't help them! I have to do something!Alejandro thought desperately. Never had he felt so broken and useless, and so much so that tears began streaming from his eyes. They're all gonna die! Everyone… Toph… Crystal… I have to save them all!

Taking the opening, Luffy quickly stretched and wrapped himself around Agent Smith multiple times to restrain him, but he simply laughed.

"What are you doing?! You really think that you can constrict me, the perfect machine?! I'm the ultimate in both Unisol and Android technology!"

"I once beat a guy who said the same thing!" said Luffy. "And I smashed him into pieces!"

"Well not me!" laughed Smith as he jumped into the air and then, pushing off of what was left of the ceiling, slammed back down into the ground with Luffy on his back.

But Luffy never let go, though he did cry out in intense pain.

"I guess I'm starting with you, then! This next one will kill you for sure!" laughed Smith as he jumped back up to the ceiling.

"No!" cried Alejandro as Smith pushed off of it.

Then, a familiar feeling overtook him.

Agent Smith had nearly slammed into the ground when he was suddenly grabbed and stopped. Looking around in confusion, he noticed Alejandro, with glowing, neon-green hair, surrounded in a bright, blazing aura of yellow energy.

"What in the world came over you?" asked Smith, genuinely curious.

Without saying a word, Alejandro threw an extremely powerful straight-lead punch that dazed Smith enough to make him stumble to the ground, allowing Luffy to quickly let go and reactivate his Gear Second mode.

"To make a machine see stars… now that takes some power! Yes! This is what I wanted! Give me a real fight!" exclaimed Smith, readjusting his seemingly indestructible sunglasses.

Alejandro rushed at him, but Smith was ready as they locked in a flurry of back and forth combos that seemed even until Alejandro began intercepting his attacks at nearly the speed of light, quickly gaining the edge.

After taking enough damage, Smith quickly broke away from him only to face Luffy once again, who spin-kicked him across the room and jumped after him to smash him down into the ground before he could even hit the wall.

Enraged, Smith shot up over Luffy and did the same, but topped it off by attempting to stomp him further into the ground, though it was stopped by Alejandro who grabbed him in mid-air and jammed his elbow as deep as he could into his stomach, launching him out into the center of the room.

Luffy quickly activated Busoshoku Haki in his left arm and shot Smith with his Gum-Gum Red Hawk, which exploded on impact with such power that it knocked the entire server tower to the ground with its shockwave alone.

When the smoke cleared, Smith stood, swaying as he tried to stand up completely.

"You guys have him beat!" cheered Crystal.

"Finish him now!" yelled Toph holding her fists up in their air.

Alejandro took a deep breath as he focused his Saiyan energy into his arms and then channeled it into his palms.

"You may have defeated me here today, but there will be other fighters! The Vanguards and I were just the beginning…"

"Hadouken!" Alejandro roared as he unleashed the massive, green ball of destructive energy at Agent Smith, instantly disintegrating him as he laughed maniacally.

The entire chamber started crumbling even more from the shock of the blast, and caved in all around them until all that was left was the lower half of each wall.

"Guys?!" yelled Numbuh 1, when the smoke cleared.

"Oh no…" said Toph, sadly putting her face into her hands.

"What?! They couldn't really be…" said Crystal, nervously.

"You mean, they're really…" whimpered Usopp.

Both Alejandro and Luffy suddenly popped out from underneath the rubble, laughing as everyone else just sighed at their immature prank.

"Seriously, you're both such idiots!" yelled Crystal, as one of her eyes twitched with anger.

"I swear, Luffy, I'm kicking your ass myself when you get over here!" yelled Sanji as Zoro just laughed.

Toph also laughed hysterically, "I knew they were alive the whole time. I just played along!" She quickly calmed as Alejandro approached the ship, and then, gaining a serious, yet bright look on her face, ran and jumped into his arms.

"I'm so happy that you're safe!" she said as her cheeks burned up.

"I'm happy that you're safe, too," he replied, embracing her.

"You're hurt," she said, concerned.

"It's nothing. Just a few broken bones," he joked, "plus, I think I almost coughed my own spine out at some point during the fight, so, you know, I should probably have Chopper check that out."

She punched him square in the arm as she giggled at his jokes.

"Ow! I know that's how you show your affection, but now's probably not the time," he laughed, massaging his arm.

"Alright, you love-birds, maybe you should get back on the ship?" teased Eddy, "I wanna be off this dying rock some time today!"

As soon as they were on, the ramp closed, and the ship was off, leaving behind the burning ruins of the Orkando Prison.

End of Act III

Concludes in the next chapter [The Epilogue] )))))