Chapter 4: The Mysterious Lake Laogai

In the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se at the Avatar's Residence...

It was late night and raining when Tony returned to the residence and told everyone what Momo had found.

"Appa's here in the city." Tony finished.

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"Momo kept a strand of Appa's hair. My computer systems keep a record of lots of things from my world, though in my world bison's don't fly, yet the strand is fairly similar and the paw print is identical despite its immense size. Its definately Appa's." Tony explained.

"Please take me to where you found the print." Aang asked.

"Sure thing, follow me."

X X X

As Tony flew in his Mark I armor and Aang on his air glider, Toph used her earthbending to make an earth wave that Sokka and Katara rode on as they reached the spot where Momo and the panther-cats waited.

As they landed, Aang approached the paw print and knelt down to put his hand on it.

"Its Appa's, he was here."

"But he could be anywhere by now." Sokka stated.

"I did a scan on the print before the rain started to affect the area, this print couldn't have been made more than twenty-four hours ago." Tony said.

Sokka was a bit bewildered. "Huh?"

"I meant that it was made sometime last night." Tony clarified.

"Oh."

"So he was here last night, where could he have gone?" Katara asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, but I can tell you who took him." Toph stated.

"How?" Aang asked.

"The earth was shirfted in a way that he was pulled underground, like he was pulled into a trap. It was shifted in a manner similar to the way the earth was shifted when the Dai Li fled from us when we overpowered them a few days ago."

"The Dai Li?" Katara said, surprized by this revelation.

"Uh-huh." Toph acknowledged.

"So the Dai Li have Appa..." Sokka deduced.

"...And that means that Long Feng is holding him prisoner. He lied to us, he didn't have Appa until last night." Aang said, clearly upset.

"No surprise there given that he's forcing the entire city to lie about the war despite the many refugees that come here." Toph remarked.

Katara bended the rain off of them and formed a water barrier to keep the rest of the rain off of them. "Well, clearly Appa's no longer here, so let's just head back to the house and figure out what to do next."

Tony nodded, "She's right, Aang. At the very least I found this paw print and showed it to you but we have no way of knowing where they took him after last night."

"Exactly, I can't even tell which direction the went in. There are many underground tunnels so I can't tell which one they took." Toph added.

Aang sighed and decided it was best that they return to the house. Momo turned to his Panther-cat friends and chirped a farewell to them, but the the animals said in their own language that they would like to accompany him and his friends.

Aang and the others looked at the lemur and the Panther-cats in slight bewilderment when Tony said, "Uh, I think Momo's new friends want to tag along."

X X X

{Cue Iron Man Armored Adventures Theme}

X X X

The next day...

Sokka was laying on his chest on the floor of the residence as he tried to paint a picture of Appa while Toph laid on her back trying to entertain herself while Momo licked her feet. Tony sat to the side with a mini custom-built laptop connected to his armor where he was currently typing information about the strange world he was in while petting the three panther-cats that Momo had befriended.

Suddenly Aang and Katara can rushing in.

"We found a printer who can make our posters!" Katara said as she held up a poster that showed a perfect picture of Appa.

"Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my idea. I've been working all day on my Appa." Sokka complained as he held up a painted picture of a not-so-perfect Appa.

"Sokka, the arrow is supposed to be on Appa's head." Aang pointed out as Katara tried to stifle her laughter.

"This is his head." Sokka stated as Katara approached to get a better look.

"Why are feet coming out of it?" She asked.

"Those are his horns." Sokka said as he drooped over. "Look, I haven't seen him in a while, okay."

"It looks just like him to me." Toph said with a smile.

"Thank you, I worked really-." Sokka stopped praising his hard work when he realized that she was messing with him. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

"Let's just stick with the professional version." Katara said, resulting in a frustrated Sokka tearing up his poster.

"What are you guys up to?" Tony asked as he not in on what they were talking about.

"We're heading out to put up posters hoping to find Appa." Katara explained. "We figure that even if the Dai Li have him, somebody must've seen them take him so we made posters of Appa to find out if anyone's seen him."

"But you said that you asked around before I came along."

"Yeah, but we had Joo Dee hovering over our shoulders, assuming of course that even is her real name." Katara responded suspisciously.

Tony explained in a thorough manner, "I've actually been thinking about that and I figured something out. It seems that both the Joo Dee who first hounded you guys and the Joo Dee who escorted us home after the party go by the same name and yet they don't know anything about each other and they're always smiling in a rather creepy manner."

"Really? I couldn't tell." Toph said sarcastically.

"Bottom line, I think that both ladies are being brainwashed somehow." Tony concluded.

Katara then asked, "How is that possible?"

"Well, I happen to know what its like to be brainwashed or to be with someone who was brainwashed. There was this guy back in my world known as the Controller who uses control discs to brainwash people into doing his bidding. From what I've been able to gather, both Joo Dee's portayed the mannerisms of a person who was brainwashed and I think Long Feng is behind it."

"Tony's right, I sensed that there was something off about this Joo Dee since we first met her when we came to Ba Sing Se and the one at the party was acting very weird." Toph pointed out.

"Well, now that we know this, we'll just have to make sure we don't run into either of them while we try to find Appa." Sokka stated.

"Come on, let's get busy!" Aang said enthusiastically as he grabbed two handfulls of posters.

Everyone nodded and Tony grabbed his backpack that secretly housed his Mark I armor before they set out to find Appa.

X X X

In the Outer Ring where Zuko and Iroh work...

Zuko as Lee and Iroh as Mushi were serving tea to their customers when a man in fancy robes and expensive jewelry stood up and said to Iroh, "So you're the genius behind this incredible brew. The whole city is buzzing about you. I hope Pao pays you well."

Iroh smiled and said back, "Good tea is its own reward."

"But it doesn't have to be its only reward." The man explained. "How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

This took Iroh by surprise as he said, "My own tea shop? This is a dream come true."

"What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my own tea maker?" Pao the tea shop owner said nervously as he approached them.

The man smiled in response, "Sorry, Pao, that's business for ya; am I right?"

"Mushi, if you stay I'll make you assistant manager, wait senior assistant manager." Pao tried to negotiate with Iroh.

"I'll provide you with a new apartment in the upper ring, the tea shop is yours to do whatever you want, complete creative freedom." The man offered as Zuko overheard the conversation.

"I even get to name the shop?" Iroh asked.

"Of course."

"Uh, senior executive assistant manager?" Pao tried harder to persuade his employee to stay.

Iroh hand his tray to Pao and bowed to the man to accept his offer, causing Pao to moan in defeat.

Iroh then turned to Zuko and said, "Did you here, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city."

"That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better."

Zuko replied as he placed his tray on the nearby table while walking to the door leading outside, "I'll try to contain my joy."

Outside he leaned against the wall, not wanting to be bothered, when a piece of paper floating down from the sky which he caught and was surprised as to what was drawn on it.

The Avatar's bison.

He immediately looked up and saw nothing so he decided to climb onto the roof and looked around to see multiple sheets of paper with the same drawing falling across the other streets.

He then knew that the Avatar was in the city...and he was looking for his bison.

Perfect.

X X X

Back at the Avatar Residence...

Sokka and Katara were sitting at the table in the living room playing a tile game while Toph played around with a ball to keep from getting bored. Tony sat and watched Sokka and Katara play their game with intrigue.

"Tell me, what exactly are you guys playing?" He asked.

Katara replied, "Its called 'Four Nations' due the four nations of our world."

"How do you play?"

Sokka responded this time. "Basically, each player selects five tiles from a pool of tiles currently available."

"It kinda reminds me of dominos."

"And you would be right except the numbers are replaced by two of the symbols of the four nations, or a special black Avatar tile which acts as a wildcard. The goal of the game is to be the first player to use all five tiles in the pool by laying one of the tiles diagonally adjacent to a matching symbol already played. Some tiles have two matching symbols known as a 'double' and if laid the player can choose whether or not to place another tile. The game is won either if a player uses all their tiles or if the opposing player can't place a matching tile." Sokka explained in full detail.

"Interesting." Tony commented.

"Later on we'll teach you how to play Pai Sho." Katara said as she placed a tile down.

"I look forward to it." Tony replied.

The door opened and Aang walked in.

"I just dropped off all the leaflettes. Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"

"Its only been a day, just be patient." Katara replied.

Aang slumped and then sat down next to Tony to watch the game between Sokka and Katara.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Wow, you were right. Patience really pays off." Aang said in delight as he went to open the door.

He opened it to find Joo Dee standing at the door, the first Joo Dee.

"Joo Dee?" Aang said surprised.

"Hello Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Tony." She said rather calmly with her unnatural smile on her face.

"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked.

"What, jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage." Joo Doo replied while acting like they were talking nonsense.

"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party." Toph pointed out.

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai out in the country. It was quite relaxing."

"But then they replaced with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee." Katara explained.

"I'm Joo Dee." Joo Dee said.

"Rrright." Tony said sarcastically.

"Why are you here?" Aang asked.

Joo Dee pulled out one of Aang's posters and said, "Dropping flyers and putting up posters is forbidden in the city, not without proper clearance."

"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka said annoyed.

"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."

Aang was now fuming as he yelled, "We don't care about the rules and we're asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own and you can just stay out of our way!"

Aang was about to slam the door close on her when Tony said, "Hold up, Aang, I got some I wanna try out."

Aang calmed down enough to hear Tony and move aside when Tony brought up his armored right hand and aimed it at Joo Dee.

"Wh-What are you doing?" She asked timidly.

Suddenly he blasted her with a pulse wave that affected her brain and in seconds Joo Dee was on the floor sobbing in tears.

"What the-." Sokka said bewildered.

"What did you do?" Katara said slightly upset.

"I used a psionic blast on her. After my last encounter with the Controller I built it to break any form of hypnosis. Anything she was forced to forget, she'll remember." Tony explained as he lowered his arm.

"Then why is she crying?" Sokka asked.

"Apparently whatever the Dai Li did to her has left her emotionally scarred. All the memories she was forced to forget flooded back all at once thus leaving her in an extremely emotional state."

They stood around the sobbing Joo Dee until she calmed down and said, "I...I remember...how could I have done such horrible things?"

"It wasn't your fault, you were hypnotised." Katara said, trying to help her out.

"But that doesn't change what I did." She replied.

"If you really want to make it up to us, you'll tell us where Long Feng is holding Appa." Aang said with a determined look.

"I...I don't know where he is. I never saw him." She replied.

"Joo Dee, please-." Katara said before she was cut off.

"Stop calling me that...my name is...Miako."

"Miako, its important that you help us. Tell us what you know."

"Long Feng wanted me to keep an eye on you all, to make sure that you did not speak with the Earth King nor disrupt Ba Sing Se by mentioning the war. He wanted me to keep you from knowing the truth." The Joo Dee known as Miako explained.

"What truth?" Toph asked.

"The fact that he is trying to usurp the Earth King."

"I knew it, that slimeball is trying to sieze the Earth Kingdom just like Stane siezed my dad's company." Tony stated. "By the way, Sokka, you owe me five gold pieces."

Sokka grumbled as he took out his money and handed it to Stark. When they were discussing earlier as to what Long Feng was planning, Sokka bet Tony that Long Feng was planning on brainwashing everyone into thinking that there is no war so all the lovely ladies would worship him and become his harem girls. Apparently Tony thought he was out to assume control for power and now Tony was five Four Nation gold pieces richer.

"What does this have to do with him holding Appa?" Aang asked.

"I don't know where your bison is, Long Feng was searching for him as well as you to try and use him as leverage against you." Miako replied.

"Why?"

"Because you're the Avatar and that means that you are the only one who could oppose him. Then there is your new friend..." She replied as she turned to Tony.

"Me?" Tony said bewildered.

"You are Iron Man, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am Iron Man."

"Then you know that your unexpected presence in this world could also hinder his plans."

"That's right, I said that I would take him down and I meant it."

"Uh, that might come back to bite us in the blubber." Sokka stated.

"I don't care. From now on we're doing whatever it takes to find Appa, even if we have to go through Long Feng and Dai Li." Aang declared defiantly.

"Yeah, let's break some rules!" Toph said enthusiastically before she sent an earth blast to the east wall and shattered it.

"Come with us, Miako, you might be able to help us find Appa." Tony said as extended his hand to her.

"But if the Dai Li learned that I am with you they may learn that I have betrayed them and punish me." Miako explained.

"Don't worry, as long as you stick with us no one will ever hurt you again."

Miako looked Tony in the eye and could tell that he was sincere so she took his hand and accompanied Team Avatar as they journeyed out to find Appa.

Unbeknownst to them, several Dai Li agents hid on a roof top overlooking the Avatar's Residence as they watched what had happened. They were surprised to see Joo Dee walking them despite them busting a hole in the wall and figured that something must've went wrong.

They then retreated as they went to find Long Feng and report the situation.

X X X

"What happened?" Long Feng asked.

"There was a commotion when Joo Dee entered the residence and after they blasted a hole in the wall, she accompanied them as they went looking for the Avatar's bison." One of the Dai Li agents spoke.

"That is very strange, the Avatar and his friends are getting suspiscious and yet they allowed Joo Dee to accompany them. They must've gotten to her and managed to break our control over her, she never could handle her job despite having taken it of her own free will."

Long Feng deduced as he stood up and stared at his fireplace that burned with green flames.

"If the Avatar keeps searching for his bison, it could upset the delicate balance we have worked so hard to achieve in this city. It could even cost us control of the Earth King." Long Feng stated.

"Should we take care of him?" The Dai Li agent asked.

"No, its much too dangerous for us to confront him directly. Let's see if we can still handle this...quietly."

"Sir, we suspect that if they managed to break Joo Dee from our control, they may be more difficult to deal with."

"Indeed, it seems that our hypnosis techniques are not as strong as that of the kind our associate uses. Bring her to me at once." Long Feng ordered.

"Yes, sir." The Dai Li agents said as they left the room.

"I still have one last trick up my sleeve..." Long Feng said to himself.

X X X

At the Outer Ring of the city, Zuko entered the room he and his uncle were staying in to find him packing as they prepared to move out. His uncle was going on about his name for the tea shop until Zuko interupted him.

Zuko showed him the sheet of paper with a picture of Appa on it and said, "The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison."

Iroh took the sheet of paper and looked it over before he said, "We have a chance to make a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."

"Good things that are happening for you. Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There's nothing wrong with life of peace and prosperity. I suggest that you think about what it is you want for your life and why."

"I want my destiny."

"What that means is up to you." Iroh said as Zuko left before he continued thinking names for his tea shop. "The Tea Weemo...no, that's stupid."

X X X

Team Avatar was currently wandering the streets of Ba Sing Se pasting posters with pictures of Appa on the walls, though Miako stood back and watched nervously in fear of the consequences of there actions.

"We'll split up to cover more areas." Sokka stated. "Toph, I guess you should just come with me."

"Why, because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" She said annoyed as she swiped a poster and the paste brush swuished the paste on the wall and stuck the poster to it. After a moment of silence she said, "Its upside down, isn't it?"

"Actually, its on backwards." Tony pointed out.

"Not helping, Tony." Katara said to him.

'Oh, great, now I'm starting to sound like Pepper.' Tony thought as he kept mouth shut.

"I'll just go with Sokka." Toph said sullenly.

As they went off in seperate directions, Aang was joined by Momo and his three panther-cat friends and Katara went on her own while Tony stuck with Miako.

Tony took out his mini-laptop from his backpack and typed something down when Miako asked, "What is that strange device?"

"Its called a computer, like the human brain its a device that stores information. I'm writing a note to myself to teach Toph how to read while blind." Tony explained.

"Is that possible?"

"Yeah, actually, in my world blind people have to read through brail which is holes punched through paper or slight indentations designed to form letters and symbols. My friend Rhodey's mom is a lawyer and a friend of hers at her law firm is blind, he taught me brail in case I should ever meet a blind person to help them out."

"That was rather nice of him."

Meanwhile where Katara was she had just put up a poster near a playground area when she heard a familiar voice call out behind her.

"Katara?"

She turned and was surprised to see Jet.

"I think I can help you." He said with charming smile on his face.

Katara began to grow very angry and the sight of him and immediately she summoned a huge wave of water and sent it at him.

"Katara, I've changed!" He let out before he was swept down an alley.

Katara followed up by forming a sphere of water.

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet."

As she solidified the sphere, she shattered it as she launched it toward Jet. He pulled out his hook swords and tried to block them but was pushed back to the wall.

"I don't want to fight you, I'm here to help." He tried to explain as he dropped his swords to signify that he surrendered.

Katara was taken back by this but when she saw him move his right hand toward his back pocket she sent more ice shards at him and pinned him to the wall.

Moments later the others found them and Sokka said, "Katara, what is it?"

She simply said, "Jet's back."

"Who is this guy?" Tony asked.

Katara explained, "Someone who gave us trouble a while back. We can't trust anything he says."

"But we don't even know why he's here." Sokka stated.

"I don't care why he's here, whatever the reason is it can't be good." Katara said as she started fuming.

"I'm here to help you find Appa." Jet stated as he opened up his right hand to unroll a piece of paper with Appa's picture on it.

This surprised everyone especially Aang. Even though Jet tried to kill him and ton of innocent people as well as toyed with Katara during their last encounter, he knew that the Freedom Fighter might be of some help to them.

"Katara, we have to give him a chance." Aang said to Katara.

"I swear, I've changed. I was troubled person and I let my anger get out of control but I don't even have the gang now, I've put all that behind me." Jet tried to reason with them.

"You're lying." Katara declared.

Toph then walked up and placed her hand against the wall to feel vibrations when she said, "He's not lying."

"How can you tell?" Sokka asked.

Toph explained, "I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth."

"That's true, I've read about that back in my world." Tony stated.

Aang then turned to Katara and said, "Katara, we don't have any leads. If Jet says that he can take us to Appa then we have to check it out."

"Alright." She said before turning to Jet and pointing a finger at him to show that she was watching him in a comically paranoid manner, "But we're not letting you out of our sight."

After they removed the ice shards, Jet led the group to a empty barn and said as he led them inside, "This is the place I heard about."

They entered to find nobody there nor any sign of Appa.

"There's nothing here." Aang said with a hint of disappointment.

"If this is a trap-!" Katara said as she prepared to bend some water from her pouch.

"I told you, I work nearby. Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had, I figured it must be Appa." Jet explained.

"He was here!" Toph said as she found a strand of his fur and handed it to Aang.

"We missed him." An upset Aang said saddly.

"They took that big thing yesterday." An elderly man sweeping the barn said to them. "Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur and various...leavings all day."

"What island, where's Appa?" Aang said eagerly.

"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whale-Tail Island bought him up. I guess for a zoo or such."

"That doesn't seem right." Miako stated. "Long Feng wouldn't have sold your bison, he would be holding him prisoner somewhere."

"Like where?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, there are many places Long Feng could hold him, but I assure you that he would not have sold him to someone on Whale-Tail Island."

"Are you calling me a liar, young lady?" The elderly man stated.

"Be quiet, old man." Jet said. "Who is this lady?"

"Her name is Miako, but while she was being hypnotised by Long Feng she went by Joo Dee and was trying to keep us from finding Appa." Tony explained.

"Then what is she doing here?"

"I managed to snap her out of it and now she's helping us."

"Where could he be holding Appa." Aang asked.

"I truly am I sorry, Avatar Aang. I wish could help but all I remember is overhearing that Long Feng only recently acquired your bison and wanted to use him as leverage but I never learned where he was kept."

"Then let's keep searching, who knows, we might just get lucky." Aang stated.

As they prepared to leave the barn Jet said, "I'll come with you."

"We don't need your help." Katara said bitterly.

"Why won't you trust me?" He asked her before walking off with Aang, Sokka, Momo and the panther-cats.

"Gee, I wonder." Katara said sarcastically.

"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked plainly as Tony and Miako stood by wondering the same thing.

"What, no!" Katara said defensively.

Toph grinned from ear-to-ear as she said in a merrily manner, "I can tell you're lying."

Katara then had the good sense to run after the others.

"I'm thinking she just had a crush on this guy." Tony stated.

"That would explain why she blushes despite her hostility toward him." Miako added.

As they all walked down one of the streets trying to find Appa, two familiar characters rounded the corner they passed and one called out, "Jet!"

Jet stopped and everyone saw Smellerbee and Long Shot running toward them.

"I thought you said you didn't have your gang any more." Katara said angrily.

"I don't." He said as Smellerbee hugged him.

She then said, "We were so worried; how did you get away from the Dai Li?"

"The Dai Li?" Katara said bewildered

"I don't know what she's talking about." Jet stated.

"You got arrested by the Dai Li a couple of weeks ago, we saw them drag him away." Smellerbee explained.

"Why would I be arrested?" Jet asked. "I've been living peacefully in the city."

Toph bent down to the ground to feel the vibrations and said, "This doesn't make any sense, they're both telling the truth."

"That's impossible." Katara said, clearly as confused as everyone else.

"No, its not." Sokka stated. "Toph can't tell who's lying because they both think they're telling the truth. Jet's been brainwashed."

In that instant, Team Avatar immediately understood what was going on as Jet started to panic.

"That's crazy...it can't be...stay away from me!" He said as he tried to get away only for everyone to circle around him to prevent him from escaping.

X X X

In another part of town, the young Dai Li agent who was tasked with keeping an eye on Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man had lost him along with the Avatar and his friends and was now wandering the city streets trying to locate them.

He then heard footsteps from behind and he was pushed aside as the person who knocked into him said, "Out of my way, skinny."

The young Dai Li agent saw a young man dressed in a dark blue and black garb wearing a strange blue mask run around a corner into an alley.

The young agent knew he wasn't supposed to let someone treat a Dai Li agent with such disrespect and, for the moment, chose to abandon his purpose and go after the scoundrel.

He ran after him around the corner to find him standing down the alley staring at him.

Reacting quickly he launched his earth gloves at the scoundrel which punch a whole through the chest and knocked the head clean off to reveal that it was a stuffed dummy.

"Huh?" He let out before he felt a blade come up under his chin.

The owner leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "(If you don't wanna end up like him, do what I say."

Fear of being killed by the masked stranger, the young Dai Li agent nodded nervously.

X X X

Back at the residence where Smellerbee and Long Shot were staying at, Momo and the panther-cats sat outside on balcony to keep an eye out for unwanted guests while everyone else stood around Jet who was sitting down while enduring the multiple stink-eyes.

"The Dai Li must've sent Jet to mislead us and that janitor was part of their plot too." Katara explained.

"Which means that Appa is still in the city. Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet." Aang deduced before he asked Jet. "Where did they take you?"

"Nowhere, I-I don't know what you're talking about." Jet said defensively despite what they were saying made his story seem false.

"We need to get him to remember his real memories." Aang stated. "Tony, can you use that psionic blast on him like you did with Miako?"

"Sure thing, though I'm afraid that he might react the same way Miako did." Tony replied.

"Its the only way to get him to remember, we have no other choice." Katara explained.

"What are you guys talking about?" Smellerbee asked.

"This is a psionic blast that will make him remember any supressed memories, erasing his hypnosis, but the side-effect of the all the flooded memories might make him curl into a fetal position." Tony explained.

Smellerbee looked to Long Shot who nodded and then she said, "Do it."

Tony aimed his right armored hand at Jet which made him flinch and he sent the psionic blast at the Freedom Fighter causing memories he was forced to forget to resurface.

"I remember now, I was arrested because I discovered Firebenders in the city and yet nobody believed me..."

"What Firebenders?" Katara asked.

"Just some kid with a burn mark on his face and his uncle." Smellerbee explained which caused Aang, Katara and Sokka to panic.

"Zuko and his uncle are in the city?" Katara let out.

"You know them?" Jet asked.

"Zuko is the banished Fire Nation Prince who's been hunting us for months trying to capture Aang." Katara explained.

"So they are Firebenders, you were telling the truth, Jet." Smellerbee acknowledge while feeling guilty for not believing him sooner.

"We'll worry about Zuko later, right now we need to find Appa." Aang stated.

"Right, where did the Dai Li take you away to, Jet." Smellerbee asked.

"They took me to a secret headquarters under the water, like a lake."

"Hey, Miako, didn't you say that you took a vacation to Lake Laogai?"

"Yes." She immediately.

Jet stood up and said, "That's it, Lake Laogai."

X X X

As Jet and Miako had led everyone to the shore of Lake Laogai, everyone had their weapons and gear ready while Tony armored up into Iron Man.

"Hey, I remember Smellerbee mentioned you, you're Iron Man, right?" Jet asked him.

"Last time I checked." He replied.

"Funny, with that red armor I thought you might've been a Fire Nation spy, but you definately don't look it." Jet stated.

"That's because I'm not from this world."

"You'll have to tell me about it when this is over."

"If we survive, that is."

They arrived at Lake Laogai and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Sooo, where's this secret entrance?" Sokka asked.

"Under the water I believe." Jet replied.

"The Dai Li are required to Earthbend the entrance from the bottom of the lake in order to travel down to the secret headquarters." Miako explained.

Toph immediately slammed her feet against the earth and bended the path to the secret entrance up to ground level. They then walked toward the hatch and opened it the reveal a ladder going down a dark shaft.

They climbed down the ladder and descended some stairs that led to a green-lit corridor with multiple passages.

Aang held his staff tight while Jet drew out his hook swords, Sokka held onto his boomerang and Katara readied her pounce containing water while Toph stood straight and Tony clenched his armored fists as Smellerbee took out a dagger and Long Shot readied his bow and an arrow. Miako, Momo and the three panther-cats remained near the ladder so they wouldn't get hurt in case they ran into trouble as well as to guard the entrance.

Everyone crouched at the stairway ready for a surprise attack as two Dai Li agents conversed while heading down on of the passage ways.

Jet signaled that they were gone and they slowly tip-toed out of the hiding spot down the corridor being on they lookout for any signs of an ambush or a wandering Dai Li that might catch sight of them.

"(Its all starting to come back to me.)" Jet whispered as he leaned against a door cracked open to reveal a man and several women who were all dressed like Miako.

"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se." The man said.

"I'm Joo Dee, welcome to Ba Sing Se." The girls repeated in a trance-like state.

"We're so lucky to have walls to create order." The man cited.

"We're so lucky to have walls to create order." The girls repeated.

As they all passed room full of brainwashed girls, Maiko cringed at the sight of it and whispered, "(Some of those girls were my friends. If I had known that this was the condition of working for the Dai Li, I would never have joined.)"

"(Don't worry, as soon as we rescue Appa we'll find a way to stop Long Feng and free everyone from their hypnosis.)" Sokka stated quietly.

Maiko hoped they would be able to or else she would endure horrible punishment for having been freed of her hypnosis and willingly helping the Avatar.

"(There might be a cell big enough to hold Appa in up ahead.)" Jet whispered as he led them to a sealed door. "(I think its through here.)"

X X X

In a cell underneath Lake Laogai, Appa laid on the cold ground in shackles waiting for the right moment where he could break free and escape.

The flying bison had endured a lot in the following weeks; having been captured by greedy sandbenders and sold to a Fire Nation Circus where he was treated poorly until a young boy who reminded him of Aang set him free only for him to encounter angry farmers and wild animals as he searched for food and shelter.

He had been fortunate when he was discovered more recently by Suki and her band of Kyoshi Warriors who treated his wounds and gave him food and water before they were attacked by the Fire Nation Princess Azula and her friends Mai and Ty-Lee. Appa wanted to stay and help them but Suki knew that if he was captured they would use him to capture Aang so she forced him away by waving a flaming branch at him. Though he felt betrayed by her actions, he could tell she was sorry when he glimpsed tears in her eyes before he flew off.

He happened upon an old Airbender temple where an old man resided and asked Appa to give a message to Aang once he found him. Appa's search to Ba Sing Se just two nights ago as he followed the sound of a bison whistle, unfortunately it wasn't the one Aang used. Long Feng led him into a trap and he was brought he to be held hostage.

Suddenly the door to his cell opened and his eyes widened with anticipation when he saw a familiar yet unexpected figure standing in the doorway.

"Expecting someone else?" The blue masked figure asked rhetorically before closing the door and drawing a sword as he approached the flying bison.

Appa stood up while his shackles clattered and growled.

X X X

Jet opened the door he led everyone to and entered first to find a big empty room with a tall dark ceiling with chains hanging from it.

Everyone followed him inside when the door slammed shut behind them.

The green crystals embedded in the walls and floor glew brighter and revealed a small army of Dai Li Agents hanging from the chains ready to attack.

"Now that's something different." Sokka commented.

"You have made yourselves enemies of the state." Long Feng stated. "Take them into custody."

Everyone braced themselves for a fight as several agents jumped down to surround them before launching earth gloves at them.

Toph bended them into dust before summoning earth columns that knocked two agents in opposite directions against the walls.

Jet rushed at one agent and sliced the earth gloves coming at him into dirt before sliding and using his hook sword to trip the agent onto the floor.

Aang leaped and sent a wind slash at two agents that knocked them aside.

Katara slashed an earth glove which caused it the drop into a mud pile while Sokka slice at the other with his sword.

Iron Man sent repulsor blasts that vaporized the earth gloves and knocked back the agents that conjured them.

Smellerbee dodged the incoming earth gloves as she closed in on a Dai Li agent and soon flipped her dagger into a defensive position. She used the butt of it to inflict pain to the agent's abdomen and then whacked him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Toph elevated herself with an earth column as she dealt with two more agents when another sent an earth glove from behind which grabbed her shirt and pulled off. Fortunately Jet jumped up and used his hook swords to pull her to safety as Long Shot pulled back an arrow and fired it at in incoming earth glove which shattered it and hit the agent in the shoulder, injuring him.

Jet then jumped over Long Shot and slashed and parried incoming earth gloves before knocking the injured agent unconscious.

As the battle seemed to be going in the kids' favor, Long Feng sneakily turned and ran out of the room as the door sealed shut behind him.

As Aang used a wind sphere to send two more agents across the room he saw Long Feng run off and said, "Long Feng's escaping!"

Aang ran after the fleeing mastermind as Jet ran behind him and Iron Man flew overhead. He earthbended a hole in the wall where the door had stood and they pursued the man who had a headstart and was already reaching another room.

The three followed after him as they entered the room with a big platform in the middle hanging over a darkened pit which two adjacent waterfalls flowed down to have the door slam shut behind them and Long Feng jump down in front of it.

"Alright, Avatar, you've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance, if you want your bison back..." Long Feng stated in a threatening manner.

"Where is Appa? Tell me where is!" Aang demanded.

"Agree to leave the city now and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet." Long Feng said in hopes that they would submit to his request.

"No way, pal! We're not gonna walk away just so you can brainwash everyone into doing your bidding and take over the city." Iron Man said defiantly.

"You think you and the Avatar have beaten me, Iron Man, but you forget that this is not your world. Here, I am in charge and you will do as I say or you will be punished along with your new friends."

"No matter what threats you make towards us or Appa, we're not backing down. Your mind games with this city end here."

"That's right, you're in no position to bargain let alone be making threats." Jet stated.

"Am I not." Long Feng said as though he was the one in control of the situation.

"You're definately not!" Aang said as he rose his staff.

"Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai." Long Feng said confidently.

After several seconds of silence, Jet smirked and said, "Sorry, Long Feng, but your commands don't work on me anymore."

A slightly shocked Long Feng said rhetorically, "How is this possible?"

"Easy, I made something that not only erases hypnotically forgotten memories but also removes hidden suggestions placed in the subconcious." Iron Man stated.

"Hmm, intriguing." Long Feng said as he regained his confidence. "It seems that I have underestimated you, Iron Man, but I still have one last trick up my sleeve."

The three looked at Long Feng with bewilderment until the heard clattering chains from behind them.

They turned to see a rope chain extend from the floor up to the darkened ceiling and hanging from it was a woman, roughly eighteen years-old, with beautifully long black hair and tan skin. She dressed in a revealing yellow corset and a long dark green skirt with black leather gloves and boots but what stood out the most was her enticing eyes and her supple lips that smiled devilishly at them.

X X X

Meanwhile Appa was growling at the blue masked stranger as he approached, splitting his sword into two duel blades.

"You're mine now." He said confidently.

He then heard the door open and turned ready to fight only to see former general Iroh standing in the doorway.

"Uncle?"

"So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask." Iroh said half-curiously, though it seemed obvious that he knew who it was.

The Blue Spirit, Zuko, sighed before he pulled the mask off and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Iroh responded sternly. "I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep him locked in our new apartment? Should I go put up a pot of tea for him?"

"First I have to get him out of here-."

"And then what? You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole, you had him and then you had nowhere to go!"

"I would've figured something out!" Zuko said back.

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would've frozen to death!"

"Rrr, I know my own destiny, uncle!"

"Is it your own destiny or is it a destiny that someone else is trying to force on you?"

"Stop it, uncle, I have to do this!"

"I'm begging you, Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions! Who are you and what do you want?"

Zuko then screamed and dropped his swords and his mask to the floor.

X X X

Back with the Aang, Jet and Iron Man, the three kids looked up at the mysterious young woman as she spoke in a sultry tone that would make all men melt.

"I'm Hypnotia and your minds are mine to control."

"Hypnotia is the one who came to us and introduced us to the technique of hypnosis, although our techniques clearly aren't as powerful as hers, hence why I asked her to assist me in apprehending you." Long Feng explained.

"Yours minds are mine." Hypnotia said as she stared at the young boys sending a mesmerizing wave into their eyes.

Iron Man reacted quickly and said as he held his left arm over his face, "Don't look into her eyes or you'll be brainwashed!"

Aang managed to cover his eyes before he succumbed but Jet was unfortunate as he was caught in her gaze.

His eyes turned red from her hypnotic effect as he heard her speak within his mind, "Your friends are traitors, kill them, kill them now!"

Jet immediately gripped his hook swords and swung at Aang who managed to quickly avoid getting sliced and started evaded Jet's crazed swipes.

Iron Man was about to turn to activate his psionic blast when Long Feng sent an earth glove at him that formed a fist and punch in his metal plated face.

Long Feng sent more earth chunks at him to keep him from aiding Aang forcing him to use his shields and repulsor rays to counter his attacks, while Hypnotia kept Jet's line of sight in her direction as he tried to cut down the Avatar who's back was facing her.

"Jet, its me, Aang! I'm your friend!" Aang yelled trying to get through to the Freedom Fighter while avoiding being cut to shreds. "You don't have to do this!"

"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice, young Avatar." Hypnotia stated as she manipulated Jet.

As Jet was about to strike a fatal blow to the young Airbender, Aang sent a wave of air at him that pushed him back several feet but he managed to use his hook swords to lessen the distance by hooking them into the floor and land on his feet before continuing his assault.

"Jet, I'm your friend! Look inside your heart!"

"Do your duty, Jet!" Long Feng said to Jet as he pressed his assault on Iron Man.

Jet then stopped in place which caused Hypnotia to grit her teeth at his resistance to her mind control.

"They can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter!" Aang shouted at him.

Jet's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered the day the Fire Nation burned his village to the ground, remembered how he met Smellerbee, Long Shot, Pipsqueak, The Duke and all the other kids he found that were left homeless by the Fire Nation, remembered how despite his bad intentions he had grown to like Katara, Aang and Sokka.

"Do it, do it now!" Long Feng ordered.

"Kill them, Jet!" Hypnotia commanded him.

Upon remembering everything, Jet snapped out of Hypnotia's spell and turned his head away as he threw one of his hook swords at Long Feng who side-stepped them and sent a powerful earth chunk at him.

Time seem to slow down for Jet as he looked at the incoming earth chunk that would most likely kill him upon impact. Jet sensed that this was his end and he was content with it, knowing that he would at least die free from Long Feng and Hypnotia's control.

But this was not his end, just as the earth chunk was close to the point of breaking his body a repulsor blast shattered the earth chunk to rubble. The close proximity of the blast caused Jet to fall back onto the ground. He shielded his eyes keep dirt from getting into them and breathed heavily at having avoided his possible death.

In a split second after the earth chunk was blasted apart, Hypnotia swung down from the ceiling and grabbed Long Feng's arm as they swung up to a balcony over the door.

"Foolish boy, you have chosen your own demise!" Long Feng said before they ran off as the earthbended door was sealed shut behind them.

Aang and Iron Man ran over to Jet to check and see if he was okay.

"Are you alright, Jet?" Aang asked.

"Yeah." He replied as he looked at Iron Man who retracted his mask. "Thanks for the save there. I would've killed been killed if you hadn't been here."

"Your welcome, no doubt that chunk would've broken you in half." Tony responded.

Jet turned to the Avatar and said, "I'm sorry, Aang."

"Don't be." The young airbender said back.

Suddenly the door they came in through opened and everyone came rushing in.

"Are you all okay?" Katara asked with a concerned look.

"We're fine, just a few bumps and bruises, but Long Feng got away and apparently he has an expert hypnotist named Hypnotia working with him. She tried to have Jet kill Aang but he managed to break free from her control." Tony explained.

"We gotta hurry if we're gonna find Appa." Aang said as he helped Jet to his feet.

"Right, let's find him and get outta this freaky place." Sokka said happily.

"Alright, let's go." Tony said as his mask recovered his face.

They all ran out of the room and followed a passage to another door that read in the Four Nations writing, "Cell Block".

Toph bended the door open and they all rushed in to find a room that held six open shackles chained to the floor.

"Appa's gone!" Aang said in disbelief. "Long Feng beat us here."

"If we keep moving, we could still catch up with them." Sokka stated.

"We'll have to move quickly, let's go!" Iron Man added.

With that, everyone hurried out of the underground base and met back up with Miako, Momo and the panther-cats. Together they rushed up the ladder back to the surface and ran across the shore as more Dai Li agents followed after them.

"You think we can outrun them?" Sokka asked.

"I don't think its gonna matter." Aang said as he saw more Dai Li agents up ahead of them with Long Feng and Hypnotia standing at the front.

The Dai Li bended an tall earth wall the blocked off their escape as well as kept them from going after Long Feng and Hypnotia. The Dai Li behind the followed suit and Team Avatar found themselves boxed in.

"Joo Dee, I am very disappointed in you. When you decided to join the Dai Li, I had high hopes that you would succeed me after I was gone, but aiding the Avatar and his friends is a serious matter and you will be punished severely without prejudice." Long Feng said to Miako.

Miako finally overcame her fear of the consequences for speaking her mind and said bravely, "When I joined the Dai Li, I had no idea that I was going to be a mindless doll like the other girls who joined. You've taken their individuality, there feelings, their lives away from them. If I had known that was the cost of joining the Dai Li, I wouldn't have joined at all! I would rather die then continue being your slave!"

"Then you shall have your wished granted to you." Long Feng said as he readied to order the Dai Li to attack them.

Momo began chittering.

"What is it, Momo?" Aang asked before the flying lemur took to the sky and flew up toward the sun.

Suddenly Appa apeared as he flew down toward Aang and the others.

"Appa!" Aang shouted happily as eveyone began to smile in delight.

The flying bison flew down and rammed through the earth walls and sent the Dai Li, Long Feng and Hypnotia flying.

"Wow...just...wow." Iron Man said in awe, amazed by the flying bison's strength.

Aang and Toph then earthbended a few Dai Li agents clinging to the cliff wall out of position and into the lake while Iron Man started blasting repulsor rays at any remaining Dai Li still wanting to apprehend them.

Appa landed in front of Long Feng as the Dai Li near him fled and growled angrily.

"I can handle you by myself." He said overconfidently as he leaped to attack.

Suddenly Appa opened his mouth and caught Long Feng's left leg, gripped it tight and then flung him into the lake causing him to skip several times before sinking.

Hypnotia brushed off the rubble she was covered in and after seeing what had befallen Long Feng chose to run off after the Dai Li.

Appa then spat out Long Feng's left shoe as Aang, Sokka, Katara and Toph ran up the bison and hugged him tightly; having not seen him in weeks.

"I missed you buddy." Aang said as a tear streamed down his left cheek.

Appa then, for the first time in weeks, closed his eyes and sighed calmy at finally reuniting with his human companion.

Everyone ranging from Aang's group, Jet's team, Miako, Momo and the panther-cats got on top of Appa and the flying bison took to the sky while Iron Man flew side-by-side. Appa looked at him with intrigue and soon started to fly faster, hinting to wanting to race the armored hero. Tony of course accepted as they flew away from Lake Laogai.

Ubeknownst to them however, Zuko and his uncle climbed up out of the entrance to the underground headquarters.

"You did the right thing, nephew." Iroh said with a smile.

Zuko then held up his Blue Spirit mask and stared at it intensely.

"Leave it behind." Iroh told him.

Zuko walked over to the edge of the pathway near the water and looked at the mask more closely. He knew he should let it go, he had no reason not to listen to his uncle.

He had to let it go.

But he couldn't, something inside him told him the needed to hold onto it.

"I can't." Zuko stated.

"Zuko...?" Iroh said in confusion.

"I am the Blue Spirit, it's not just something that I do that I can't do as Zuko. The Blue Spirit has a legacy that needs to be keep alive and the only person who can do that is me. I can let the Avatar's bison go free, uncle, but I can't give this up." Zuko explained thoroughly.

Though Iroh felt that he was still clinging to something he didn't need, he knew he couldn't force his nephew to throw away the Blue Spirit and was forced to accept his decision to keep it.


This ends Chapter 4 and thus the changes to the Avatar story have begun, Joo Dee is freed from her hypnosis and joins the group along with Momo's panther-cat friends, Jet lives and he and his team stick with the group and Zuko continues being the Blue Spirit.

I sorta felt bad for the way Joo Dee was treated and thought about how she would've been if she were freed from the Dai Li's control and thus applied it to the story. I have something special planned for her later on.

The panther-cats I felt should've stuck around Momo a little more after he had helped them out and thus I decided to have them tag along for a while.

I always wondered what would've happened if Jet had survived and stuck by them in finding Appa. I have an interesting plan for him later on during the end of Book 2 during the climactic battle.

As for Zuko continuing to be the Blue Spirit, I thought about his meeting with Iron Man when he saved Iroh and this in turn gives him a reason to hold onto the identity to later on become a sort of superhero himself.

For those who are wondering, Hypnotia is a villainess from 90's Iron Man animated series that I worked into the Avatar Universe. Her powers are slightly supernatural as the moment someone looks into her eyes they become ensnared by her.

Next Chapter: Reaching the Earth King

After finally saving Appa, Aang and the others decide to reach the Earth King and warn him about the war, but Long Feng and Hypnotia continue to hinder their progress and Ba Sing Se recieves unwanted arrivals.