CHAPTER THREE: AFTERMATH

We were stuck between a rock and hard place. These people were pointing their weapons at us. We could always run, but we had no protection from the sound waves. We had to make a choice in a split second. The four of us were all cornered, being careful not to fall into the sound barrier.

"So this place wasn't a myth." Sokka whispered.

"It surely isn't all computers," Toph said. "I can still see."

"Should I tell them I'm the Avatar?" I asked.

"Let's just see where this goes." Toph replied, throwing a heavy rock at a soldier.

"They're benders of the Avatar world!" The man gasped.

The soldiers put away their weapons. We all let out a sigh of relief.

That was when the heavy weaponry kicked in.

"Off with their heads!" A deep voice bellowed.

Suddenly, grenades turned into atomic bombs. Guns turned into rockets. The amount of enemies we had, doubled.

The frightening sound of a battle shriek began the battle.

Hundreds of rockets came my way. I swiftly dodged them, and then retaliated with a heavy gust of wind.

Out of nowhere, Katara brought in a strong tidal wave, followed by Toph's earthquake. All I could hear was the sound of explosions. It was madness.

Then, I saw a soldier put down their gun. They could not have given up. Then, I was faced with a heavy-duty thunderbolt coming my way. This wasn't just lightning. I could redirect lightning. It was genuine electricity. I raised a wall of rocks, trying to ground the electricity, but it only worked for a split second. The thunder came back to shock me.

I looked over at my friends. The real battle had just started. Sharp steel daggers were flying. High voltage thunderbolts filled the air. Circles moving in the wind marked the trail of sound waves. Fireworks of brilliant colours were flying, because of plasma bombs. We were almost all knocked out.

I looked to my other side. All I saw was another sound wave, with flashes of light, making it move even faster. It was coming my way.

This was probably the end for me.

My last memory was a swish, and a flash of light.

XXX

"Aang," a familiar voice whispered.

My eyes opened. I was sitting cross-legged, on a round stone platform in an enchanted forest. The stone relic underneath me was glowing. A few feet in front of me, was a woman. She was cross-legged, with her eyes closed.

I knew where I was. I was in the spirit world.

"Who-who are you?" I asked.

"I am Avatar Fang." she said.

I was speechless.

"I heard that you are now aware of my brother…Yin." She reflected, looking down at the stone relic we were sitting on.

"Yeah, I-"

"Don't say anything." she replied, getting up.

Avatar Fang stood up, and walked around.

"You must reunite the family." she explained, playing with the vines of the enchanted trees, through her fingers. "We would always fight, Yin and I. I sided with the elements of nature, and he would defend science, and technology. A million years later, I finally realized—it did not matter. Family mattered. Peace mattered. Unfortunately, it took me this long to come to my senses."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked.

"Aang," she said, kneeling down to my level. "Do what none of us had the bravery to do. It has been too long. Make peace with the Ratava. For millions of years, the world was divided in half, shared by the Ratava and the Avatar. Make the world one again."

XXX

My eyes widened. I took in a deep breath, as if I'd been submerged into a deep body of water, and had just surfaced.

I was lying flat down on a bed, facing up. Katara, Sokka, and Toph were at my side, staring at me.

"He's awake!" Katara yelled.

"I'm…alive?" I asked, getting up.

I was in a small modern house, with steel walls, and no floor. Just earth. Everything else was made of wood. A young Asian girl, around my age, walked through the door, carrying a tray of food.

"Aang, this is Naoki." Katara said. "She's the one who saved us when those soldiers attacked."

I took a while to examine Naoki. Naoki was wearing a pink and yellow satin dress, which stopped at her knees. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair was in two ponytails, each at opposite sides of her head. Her smile was so welcoming, and exciting…I was afraid.

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

"Oh, don't mention it." Naoki said, setting down the food. "Literally, don't tell anyone of that. Any intruders that come here are to be destroyed, but I saw you guys, and my instincts told me that you guys weren't all that bad, so I stepped in."

"Wait, are we still in the Ratava world?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid that it is very hard to leave this place without permission from our government. If you were to go anywhere near the boundaries, they would know that you are a refugee, and they'd kill you." Naoki explained.

"So there's no getting out of this place?" Toph asked.

"The only way to pass through the boundary is to be an honoured member of our world. To get to that rank, you would have to make an impression on the Ratava." she replied.

"Perfect! We were planning on meeting them anyway." Sokka said.

"I'm afraid that the Ratava lives very far from here." she replied. "Speaking of which, who are you guys, and where are you from, anyways?"

"My name is Tim and I like eating bologna." Toph said sarcastically.

Sokka sighed. "She's Toph."

Katara looked at me, and I nodded.

"We're from the Avatar world. I am a waterbender, Toph here, is an earthbender, Sokka's just, well, Sokka. In addition, Aang's the Avatar. We heard that the Ratava was Aang's brother. We're here to meet him." Katara said.

"Oh, I know about you guys. I learned about the natural elements in school. Down in this part of the world, we bend sound, electricity, metal and plasma." Naoki explained.

"Wait, so you knew there was a whole world opposite to yours? Because for us, this is all new." Sokka replied.

"Well maybe your government didn't say anything because they didn't want to start commotion. Look at us; we need hundreds of people just to protect our boundary." Naoki said.

"Or maybe they just didn't know..." Katara reflected.

"So, are you a bender, or what?" I asked.

"I am a soundbender." Naoki said.

"Wow that is so interesting." Toph commented, sarcastically.

"Toph, she saved our lives, shut up." Sokka said.

"That's okay. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words don't hurt me, right?" Naoki said.

"Okay there Confucius." Toph retaliated.

Naoki sighed. I could tell that even she was annoyed.

"Well, no one else lives here, so I'd be more than happy to shelter you guys during your visit." Naoki said.

"Thank you so much, Naoki." Katara said.

Suddenly, the door behind us was broken down. We turned around, but saw nothing. I could hear some swift movement, but nothing was there.

Naoki screamed. She punched the air, and two sound waves flew from her hands. They stopped in the middle of the room, and a swoosh followed. The plants and tables were magically shattered.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The police, they're here. Get out!" Naoki said, pointing to the back door.

"Wait-how do you see them but we don't?" Sokka asked, jumping up.

"You know how bats can see in caves, because they use supersonic sound waves to feel the room? That's kind of how a soundbender operates. I don't see them either, but I can feel their presence." she replied.

"Wait, them?" Sokka asked.

"Yes. There's six of them in here. They're invisible. Now, run!" Naoki demanded.

Toph lifted her hand, raising a block of earth in the middle of the room. Then, a grunt was made.

Toph walked up beside me, whispering in my ear, "As much as I despise her upbeat and optimistic attitude, she's right. Get out of here. We'll take care of this."

And so I ran.