Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. On a separate note, woo-hoo! I've made it to the first two Parter of Book One. I am so excited. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.
Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air
(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)
Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)
Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)
Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.
(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)
Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.
(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)
Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.
(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)
Nickelodeon and Marvel
The Avenging Avatar
Avatar Roku: Previously, on Avenging Avatar…
In the Southern Air Temple Steve, Sokka, Aang and Katara stand before the statue of Aang's predecessor Avatar Roku.
When Aang goes into a rage, the eyes of Avatar Roku's statue glows.
On Kyoshi Aang fights against Zuko while Steve and Natasha battle the Winter Soldier.
King Bumi turns to his old friends and said, "It is the duty of the Avatar to master all four elements and confront the Firelord.
Aang asks Katara about being the Avatar, "How is Roku supposed to help me?"
Aang, Sokka, and Katara looked to the two Avengers and the former said, "I promise we'll help you find a way to help Bucky."
Katara's necklace lays on the battleground of the rig. It was picked up by Prince Zuko.
Book One: Water
Chapter Seven: The Spirit World
(WINTER SOLSTICE, Part 1)
It was a peaceful day in a region of the Earth Kingdom. Though it was cloudy, the sun still shone down on the land. Up in the clouds, a twin-tailed hawk cawed as it flew. But soon a large shadow passed over it, and when the shadow let out a snort it scared the bird away. Appa flapped his tail as he continued to fly. Katara looked over the edge and said, "Those clouds look so soft, don't they?"
Each of the group was doing their own thing; Aang laid back against Appa just enjoying the ride, Sokka was using a knife to make something from wood, Natasha was meddling with a radio that she had on her, Katara laid on her stomach as she looked over the saddle's side, and Steve looked up higher into the sky with Momo right beside him. Katara then wondered, "Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap."
Nat looked up from what she was doing and smiled at her friend's child-like curiosity. Sokka looked at his sister and with a sarcastic look he sarcastically said, "Maybe you should give it a try."
"You're hilarious." Katara said with a deadpanned expression. Nat, not looking up this time, slaps Sokka upside the head, making him drop his stuff. He rubbed the side of his head as he gave her an irritated glare.
There was a brave soul on the bison as Aang sat up and shouted, "I'll try it!"
Then grabbing his staff, he jumped off the bison. He laughed as he fell. All four looked over the side as they gave the Airbender questioning looks. Aang shouted as he fell, "Yeah!"
The Airbender landed in a cloud and disappeared in it. The four in the saddle looked for the Airbender as they still had raised eyebrows on their faces. They looked back as Aang flew up the other side. He landed on his rear with a smile on his face. The others just looked at him with blank stares. Both Aang and Momo looked as the water ran off his body as he said, "Turns out clouds are made of water."
"Sounds like this world needs a bit of a science lesson." Nat commented. Steve nudged her with his elbow to keep him quiet. She looked at him and asked, "What? They would benefit from it." She took a moment to think before saying, "Just don't ask Tony or Bruce."
Then setting his staff down, he took a deep breath as he sat up straight. The with a fist to his palm, he sent an air wave that blasted the water off of him. It caused Momo's fur to poof out. Sokka, Steve, Katara and Natasha still just looked at him with blank stares. Katara then looked past them and asked, "Hey, what is that?"
All five of them looked out ahead of the bison and saw something on the land. As they looked past the clouds, a huge patch of land looked black. Sokka then said, "It's like a scar."
"From a forest fire, perhaps?" Natasha looked to Steve. All the super soldier could do was look at her and shrug his shoulders.
Soon the group landed in a clearing amongst the desolation of the forest. Trees in the burnt area were bare and short while ash covered the ground. Sokka kept a look out for anything but said as they spread out, "Listen. It's so quiet." He looked amongst the dead trees and said, "There's no life anywhere."
Aang looked around and felt guilty about all of this. Katara noticed that Aang looked sad from where she stood and asked, "Aang, are you okay?"
Sokka looked down and saw tracks in the ash. And they weren't just any tracks as he angrily exclaimed, "Fire Nation! Those evil savages make me sick. They have no respect for…"
"Shh!" Katara told him with a finger to her lips. Sokka looked annoyed as he said, "What, I'm not allowed to be angry?"
"You can," Natasha said. She pointed over to Aang and said, "but there are times and places for it."
All four of them looked to the Avatar as he stood there with slumped shoulders and sat down with a saddened sigh. Picking up a fist full of ash, he questions, "Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?"
This shocked the four as Katara stepped forward and said, "Aang you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you."
"She's right." Steve said as he walked over Aang, "You shouldn't blame yourself that you didn't have control over."
"Yes, it does." Aang said as he sat in a lotus position. He reminded them, "It's the Avatar's job to protect nature." He put his head in his hands as he said, "But I don't know how to do my job."
"That's why we're going to the North Pole. To find you a teacher." Katara reminded him. Nat looked over at the girl and said, "I don't think that's what he really meant by that."
"Nat's right, I didn't really mean a waterbending teacher," Aang said as he looked behind him, "but there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar." He looked out into the burnt forest as he said, "Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me."
"The Avatar before you?" Sokka questioned as he came a little closer. He made a solid point by saying, "He died over a hundred years ago. How are you supposed to talk to him?"
"That's a really good question." Natasha said as she looked at Aang. Aang turned away and closed his eyes, "I don't know."
Momo came bounding up to the Airbender and laid in the boy's lap as if to comfort him. Aang appreciated it, but it didn't make him feel any better as he stroked the lemur's ears.
Somewhere else in the Earth Kingdom, Prince Zuko parted a few stalks of bamboo shoots and shouted, "Uncle, it's time to leave!"
He walked to where his uncle's clothes were and said, "Where are you?!" As he came closer to the branch he shouted, "Uncle Iroh!"
"Over here." His uncle called from one of the hot springs. Prince Zuko was confused as he asked, "Uncle?" Before coming closer, the prince looked back and shouted, "I found him! He's over here!"
Walking to the branch, Prince Zuko told him, "We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him."
"You look tired, Prince Zuko." Iroh said carefree. He invited Prince Zuko to join him with raised arms, "Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles."
"My troubles cannot be soaked away." Prince Zuko said with a stern face. He became impatient as he said, "It's time to go!"
"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little." Uncle Iroh said as he didn't move. He sounded content as he said, "The temperature is just right. I heated it myself." To prove his point, he took on a focused look as he placed his left fist into his right palm. Then through his nose, he released a stream of steam into the water. The reaction was a huge steam cloud enveloping him and the spring. At that moment, the Winter Soldier stepped through the bamboo stalks and walked towards the springs.
Waving the steam away, Prince Zuko impatiently said, "Enough! We need to leave now." He took a step forward as he ordered, "Get out of the water!"
"Very well." Iroh said as he started to stand up and stretch his arms. Prince Zuko turned away with his eyes closed as he held his hand to prevent seeing what should not be seen. The Winter Soldier did the same as he slightly groaned from seeing something he didn't want to. Prince Zuko was quick to fix the situation by saying, "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes." But before he left he warned, "But be back at the ship in half an hour," He walked away as he finished, "or I'm leaving without you."
Iroh sits back down in the sigh, "Ah…"
As Zuko walked back to the ship, the Winter Soldier quickly caught up with him and said, "I can never un-see that."
This surprised Prince Zuko for a moment, but then he offered a quick apology as he knew what the assassin meant, "Yeah, sorry about that." He looked back to Iroh and said, "Sometimes Uncle does stuff like that." He looked to the Winter Soldier in confusion and asked, "How come you've never spoken before?"
"Sometimes I know what to say when to say it." The Winter Soldier said through the mouth piece, "And sometimes I don't say a word at all."
Both of them continued on without another word.
Back at the burnt forest, Aang and Sokka, who was hugging his knees, sat down in the ash while Katara, Steve and Natasha came walking up to the Airbender. Katara happily asked, "Hey, Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?"
"No." Aang said, still feeling down about the forest. But three acorns were quick to change his mood, "Ow!" He turned to the three, rubbed his head and questioned as the acorn landed on the ground, "Hey, how is that cheering me up?"
Sokka chuckled before saying, "Cheered me up." This earned him three acorns to the forehead, "Ow!" He immediately knew what he did and said, "Yeah, I probably deserved that."
"We thought you might." Nat said. She pointed to Katara and said, "Katara convinced us to pick up two more acorns for ourselves."
Turning her attentions back to Aang, Katara came closer and said with a smile, "These acorns are everywhere, Aang." She knelt down and told him what it could mean for the forest as she had one more acorn in her hand while Momo had dug up some and stuffed his cheeks, "That means the forest will grow back."
"Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday." She said to make him feel better. She took his hand and placed the acorn in it as she said, "And all the birds and animals that lived here will come back."
Steve walked to the other side of Aang and knelt down with a hand on the Avatar's shoulder and said, "So stop worrying about what you couldn't do, and focus on how to help now."
"And don't worry. Remember, we'll help in any way we can." Natasha said as she came to stand next to them. Katara folded his hand around the acorn. He started to feel better and said, "Thanks, Katara and Natasha." He turned to the super soldier and did the same, "Thanks, Steve."
They smiled back at him. But the sound of approaching footsteps made them look up. The group looked over to the source and saw an elderly man in Earth Kingdom robes with a brown shawl over his shoulders using a walking stick. Sokka was the first to address him as he stood up, "Hey! Who are you?"
The man ignored the question and looked to Aang as he said, "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible." He came closer and looked Aang over, especially the Airbender tattoos, "But those markings…" He looked hopeful as he asked, "Are you the Avatar, child?"
Aang looked between Katara and the two Avengers. When they nodded for him to tell them, he turned to the old man with a smile and nodded. The old man was straight to the point when said, "My village desperately needs your help."
Later, as the sun began to set in the west, the group had followed the old man to his village. As the group walked into the village, the saw the destruction on the left side of the village. Steve asked the old man, "What exactly happened here?"
"Yeah, did the Fire Nation do this?" Sokka questioned. But all the old man said, "You will soon know once we go inside."
Momo chittered as he flew in behind the group. The doors opened when they stepped onto the porch. All seven entered the building. The old man happily told the leader of the village and everyone about Aang, "This young person is the Avatar."
"So the rumors of your return are true." The village leader said as he walked over to them while pressing his hands together. With a bow, he humbly said, "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence." He looked to the group and said, "As is the Avatar's companions." He took a look at Steve and Natasha and said, "Such interesting garments, we must discuss your stories at a more appropriate time."
"Nice to meet you, too." Aang said with a friendly smile. When no one said anything else, Aang asks, "So, is there something I can help you with?"
"I'm not sure." The village leader said with a turn of his head. The old man seemed to have much faith in him as he stepped toward the village leader and said, "Our village is in crisis. He's our only hope."
The village leader nodded in agreement. The old man turned to the group and told them of their problem, "For the last few days at sunset," Katara and Steve look out to the sun while Sokka and Natasha looked a little skeptical as he said, "a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Haybi, the black and white spirit."
"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asks. The village leader honestly told them, "We do not know," He walked past them to look out the door as he told of the last few attacks, "but each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own." He sounded truly worried as he said, "We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."
"What happens then?" Katara asks. Nat was also confused as she questioned, "Yeah, what exactly goes on during a 'solstice'?"
The old man explained, "As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the spirit world grow closer and closer, until the line between them is blurred completely."
"Kind of sounds like the convergence fiasco that Thor was in." Steve said to Nat. She nodded in agreement as the village leader said, "Haybi is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen."
"So what do you want me to do, exactly?" Aang asks them. The old man said as if it were obvious while stepping forward, "Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the spirit world than the Avatar himself?" He lowered himself a little with a smile as he told Aang, "You are the great bridge between man and spirits."
"Right…" Aang said before turning and looking up at the ceiling, "That's me."
"Sounds like he's thinking that it's a whole load of bologna." Nat whispered to Steve.
"Hey, great bridge guy." Katara said drawing his attention. She then asked, "Can I talk to you over here for a second?"
The group moved to a corner to where they could talk more privately. Katara looked out the window before she turned to Aang and said, "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all this."
"Yeah," Aang said as he looked away down to the side as he didn't really know if he could do this, "that might be because I don't know anything at all about the spirit world."
Katara and Sokka looked to each other before giving their friend a look. Steve had Aang's back as he said, "Come on, you guys. Even though he's been around for a long time, we can't assume that he'll know this stuff right off the bat."
"Yeah, it's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff." Aang defended himself. Katara then asked, "So, can you help these people?"
"That's probably the million dollar question of the day." Natasha commented. Aang felt that it was his job to at least give it a shot, "I have to try, don't I?"
He thought about it before hopefully saying, "Maybe whatever I have to do will just come to me."
Momo came chittering as he perched on Aang's right shoulder. Steve smiled and said, "That's some good thinking right there."
"I think you can do it, Aang." Katara said in support. Natasha then reassured him by saying, "And if you should run into any trouble, we'll have your back."
"Yeah." Sokka said as if he were going to say something supportive as well, but he went the other way when he said, "We're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster."
This earned him two slaps to the head from the two Avengers as Aang and Katara only glared in annoyed.
Back at the springs, Uncle Iroh had dozed off in the water. He happily snored away as he slept. The sound of something rustling in the bushes woke him. He looked about the bamboo forest and asked, "Who's there?"
A little rodent hopped up on the rim of the spring. As it started to rub its face, Iroh became relieved as he said, "A meadow ball." He leaned a little closer and held out his hand and said, "I should have known." The little creature hopped into his hand and he playfully scolded, "You startled me, little one."
He let out a sigh as he leaned against the back of the spring rim and said, "It seems I've dozed off and missed my nephew's deadline." He moved his hand to where the meadow ball could run about the rim as he sighed in content as he put his hands behind his head and said, "But it was a very sweet nap."
The meadow ball started to jump up and down as it started to chitter about something. It stopped and turned when it sensed something coming. The ground started shaking and as a dust cloud came their way, the meadow ball shrieked before running off. Iroh tried to get out of the way, but before he could move a muscle, four jaggedly and pointed rocks burst through the water. When he couldn't move, three Earthbender soldiers jumped down close to the captured man. Another soldier examined Iroh's clothes and told their approaching leader, "He's a Fire Nation soldier."
"He's no ordinary soldier." The leader said as if he's seen Iroh before. He revealed who he was, "This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West." Iroh looked at the point right in front of his nose as the leader said, "The once great General Iroh." The leader of the Earthbender soldiers put on a smug smile as he said, "But now, he's our prisoner."
All Iroh did was glare at him and his team of Earthbenders.
Back at the ruined village, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the mountains to the west. As sunset approached, Aang was let outside of the main building. The doors creaked behind him, making him look back before stepping off of the porch.
Holding his staff with both hands, he tried to talk to it, "Hello, spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking. I'm here to try to help stuff."
As he walked to the gates, his friends and the villagers watched from the inside. Sokka didn't feel good about letting Aang do this by himself, "This isn't right. We can't just sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up."
"I agree with Sokka." Natasha said as they watched. But the old man made it sound as if Aang was the only one who could, "If anyone can save us, he can."
"He still shouldn't have to face this alone." Sokka argued for his friend. Steve was in full agreement as he said, "I don't like it either." He placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder and said, "But we'll wait and see if Aang can handle this on his own." Sokka looked to the super soldier as Steve said, "If he needs help, we'll step in."
Sokka didn't say anything as they all looked back out the window. The light began to dim as the sun disappeared. Aang, still waiting for the spirit to show, called out, "The sun is set. Where are you, Haybi?"
When their was sign from the spirit, Aang tried a different tactic, "Well, spirit, uh," He tried to sound authoritative as he put a hand out and said, "I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace." Then after a quick though and a spin of his staff and firmly planted it on the ground towards the gate. When nothing happened he said, "Okay, well, I guess that's settled then."
"Something tells me that this is not going to be that easy." Natasha muttered loudly for the other three to hear. They looked to her, before looking back outside.
Aang then turned away from the gate and slowly made his way back to the central building. But unbeknown to him, the spirit began to materialize as it came through the entrance. The spirit looked amphibious, had two big white arms, two smaller black arms, eight bumps along his spine, a white torso and black back legs. The head was mostly white with a few black markings and it had sharp teeth.
Aang whistled as he slowly made his way, unaware of Haybi following him. When he heard breathing coming from behind, he slowly turned around and saw the spirit behind him. Trying to be friendly to it, Aang said, "You must be the Haybi spirit." Out of respect, Aang held his staff with both hands and said with a bow, "My name is…"
But he was interrupted when the Haybi spirit roared and blasted him with spirit energy. Then Haybi reared up on his back legs and roared again, releasing another blast. Then the spirit stepped over Aang.
Steve, Sokka, Katara and Natasha looked in awe and terror as the spirit moved. Aang tried to introduce himself, "My name is Aang. I'm the Avatar and I would like to help."
When the spirit didn't seem to listen, Aang ran to catch up with him and shouts, "Hey, wait up!"
Haybi used his smaller left arm to completely demolish the first building. Then he used a spirit jump to move to the one on his right and slammed a fist through it. Then with another spirit jump, he roared as he tore the water off and then blasted the remains with a blast of spirit energy. The blast completely eradicated the remains. Then it spirit jumped to another spot in the village. The ground rumbled when the spirit walked. Aang ran after the angry spirit, but lost if for a moment. He knew where to find it when it roared and tried, "Uh…" before running towards Haybi just as it caused more destruction.
From inside the central building, the village leader tried to lightly comment, "The Avatar's methods are…" Everyone inside had to brace themselves as a stray plank of wood crashed in front of the window, and making Momo screech in fright, "unusual."
"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying." Sokka deduced. He turned to the others and suggested, "Maybe we should go help him."
"No." The old man was quick to say. Thinking of everyone's safety, the old man said, "Only the Avatar stands a chance against the Haybi."
"Aang will figure out the right thing to do, Sokka." Katara reassured him. Sokka groaned in frustration to this. Steve understood how the Water Tribe teen felt when he and Natasha put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as they continued to watch Aang.
The Haybi continued to cause destruction as he walked through the village. Aang tried to get him to stop with words as he ran after the spirit, "Please! Would you stop destroying things and listen?"
He jumped on a barrel and then onto the roof right behind Haybi. Then he said right as Haybi used a fist from his smaller arms on an already destroyed building, "I'm just trying to do my job as spirit bridge." He walked to the other side and was becoming annoyed when the spirit still didn't listen and asked, "Excuse me, would you please turn around?" When the spirit continued pounding on the building, Aang became fed up with the spirit's behavior and shouted, "I command you to turn around now!"
The spirit heard him that time, and did as was ordered, but swatted the Avatar away. Aang was sent flying into the roof of another building and grunts as he slid down. Sokka, having enough, decided to take action, "That's it- he needs help."
Without another word he, Steve and Natasha all ran to the door. Katara shouted, "Sokka, Steve, Nat, wait!"
When she tried to run out with them, the village leader grabbed her by the arm and said, "It's not safe!"
Aang stood before the spirit as it crushed a cabbage cart. Sokka, Steve and Natasha rounded the corner as the former shouted, "Haybi, over here!"
Then with a fling of their arms, he and Steve threw their weapons at the spirit. Both boomerang and shield bounced off the spirit's backside. When it didn't do anything the three ran to join with Aang. The Airbender was concerned with their safety as he told them, "You guys, go back!"
But they didn't listen as they came up to him and Sokka said, "We'll fight him together, Aang."
"Yeah," Natasha said with a smirk, "after all, we said we'd have your back."
But Aang didn't want to resort to that as he said as two of the four looked to the spirit, "I don't want to fight him unless I…" He didn't finish as the Haybi grabbed both Sokka and Natasha from behind Aang and headed through the gate. Picking up his staff Aang took off after them as Steve used his speed to run after them.
Katara ran to the gate and shouted, "Sokka! Natasha!"
But she didn't go any further as the other villagers came out of hiding. She looked to the villagers before looking down in sadness.
It was night over at the springs. Prince Zuko moved a tree branch out of the way as she shouted, "Uncle!" He walked over to the springs questioning, "Uncle, where are you?"
"Sir, maybe he thought you left without him." A soldier suggested. But Prince Zuko thought otherwise. He noticed that something was off about the situation, "Something's not right here."
The Winter Soldier then looked into the spring where Iroh was when he and Zuko left him. Prince Zuko noticed it too and said, "That pile of rocks."
"It looks like there's been a landslide sir." A Firebender said. The Winter Soldier shook his head and said, "I doubt that." He pointed to a crack that made its way toward the spring, "Look how the crack moves up the hill."
Prince Zuko was in full agreement as he leaned over and said, "He's right, land doesn't slide uphill. Those rocks didn't move naturally." He knew what happened as he revealed, "My uncle's been captured by Earthbenders!"
The Winter Soldier came forward and asked, "What do you want us to do about it, Prince Zuko?"
Back to the chase with Haybi, Aang and Steve weaved between the trees as they gained on the fleeing spirit and the captured friends. Both Sokka and Nat gasped in fear as they tried to get out of Haybi's tight grip. Both Aang and Steve quickly gained on the running spirit and Aang shouted, "Steve! Try to grab Natasha! I'll get Sokka!"
Steve nodded in confirmation as they both got closer to Haybi. Both captives saw their friends and Sokka shouted, "Aang! Steve! Over here!"
"Hurry!" Nat shouted. When Aang smacked into a tree limb, he flew above the trees to continue the chase. Steve moved to where he ran behind the spirit. Haybi, Aang and Steve were headed to the burnt section of the forest. When Haybi with his captives, and Steve broke from the trees, Aang flew down and got closer as Sokka yelled, "Help!"
When he was close enough, Steve jumped onto Haybi's back and slowly moved towards Haybi's right arm where Natasha was being held. Aang called from the air, "Hang on, Sokka! Hang on, Nat!"
"Not like we have much choice here!" Nat sarcastically shouted. Haybi tried to throw Steve off, but the super soldier was able to hang on as he made it to the spirit's shoulder. When he reached with his hand, Aang flew in closer and held out his hand for Sokka to grab. Once both captives took the hand of their rescuers something happened. Haybi vanished into thin air with Sokka, Steve and Natasha along. Aang gasped and lost his balance in the sky. He fell to the ground with a yell before crashing.
His body had crashed in the center of a ring of bear statues, with one standing taller than the rest.
A little while later, Aang shout up and shouted, "Sokka! Natasha! Steve!" He looked about and placed a hand on his head. When he didn't see a sign of them he hunched his shoulders in sadness and said, "I failed."
It was night time on another path as a group of ostrich-horses walked down it while being guided by a single lantern. The ostrich-horses, with armor specially made for them, bleated and grumbled softly as the walked. Iroh sat on the back of the third ostrich-horse with his hands and feet shackled to prevent his escape. Iroh became curious as to where they were going and asked, "Where are you taking me?"
"We're taking you to face justice." The leader said as he rode the last ostrich-horse. Iroh knew that but asked for more details, "But where, specifically?"
"A place you're quite familiar with, actually." The leader said as he brought up a piece of Iroh's past. He looked to the Dragon of the West and said, "You once laid siege to it for six hundred days but it would not yield to you."
"Ah, the great city of Ba-Sing-Se." Iroh said in realization. The leader of the Earthbenders smugly commented, "It was greater than you were, apparently."
Iroh was quick to defend himself about it, "I acknowledge my defeat at Ba-Sing-Se." He looked down as he remembered it, "After six hundred days away from home, my men were tired and I was tired." He lets out a huge yawn, and pressed up against the soldier rode and made him glare back, before saying, "And I'm still tired."
Then after a few more steps Iroh tilted off the ostrich-horse and fell off the ride. The soldier looked back in surprise to the sleeping Iroh. Three of the guards surrounded the sleeping man. Two helped him two his feet and led him back to the ostrich-horse. He looked back to the spot where he fell and saw the sandal that he had intentionally left behind. He smirked at leaving something that would lead his nephew to finding him.
Near dawn back at the ruined village, Katara sat by the gate, hugging her knees and holding Sokka's boomerang as she waited for brother and her friends to return. The old man walked up to her and offered a few comforting words, "I'm sure they'll be back."
"I know." Was all she said. They continued to watch the woods for a sign. The old man put a blanket over her shoulders while saying, "You should get some rest."
Still holding the boomerang as she pulled the blanket tighter, she said something to comfort her, "Everything's gonna be okay."
She tried to remain strong as she turned away from the woods. The old man kneeled down and comfortingly said, "Your brother and friends are in good hands." Aang started to emerge from the woods right as the old man said, "I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without him."
Aang stopped a few feet from the gate and was downhearted when he said, "Katara? Katara, I lost them."
The sun rose over the village as Aang took a step forward. But unbeknownst to him, something was wrong as his entire being was blue. The old man said to Katara and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "The sun is rising. Perhaps he will return soon."
This confused Aang as he questioned, "What?! No, I'm right here." He gave a frustrated groan before he tried to show them that he was there by waving. But as the birds started to chirp as he noticed his hand.
Aang held his up to the sun and saw that it was translucent as he realized out loud, "I'm in the spirit world!"
On the trail where Iroh had intentionally left his sandal, a pair of Fire Nation boots walked over to it. A hand picked up the sandal and brought it over the head of Prince Zuko. The Winter Soldier stood a few feet behind him as he inspected the footwear. Just to make sure he was on the right trail, he took a small sniff. But the sandal had a strong odor that made the Fire Nation prince cringe and gasped from it. Though he didn't sniff it himself, the Winter Soldier felt that he would've been sick himself.
"Yep, that's Uncle Iroh." Prince Zuko muttered before standing back up. Turning he set to get back on his Komodo rhino. He jumped back on as he and the Winter Soldier set off again.
Back over in the ruined village, Katara had no idea that Aang's spirit, with a staff somehow, was sitting right next to her. But Aang tried to sound as if he could get everything under control, "I'll figure this out, Katara, I promise. Like they said, 'I'm the bridge between the two worlds', right?" He tried to make himself sound convincing to himself as he said, "All I have to do is figure out what I have to do." He perked up as he said, "But once I do that, no problem."
He looked to the left as Appa walks up and gives a sad groan. Aang tries to talk to him, "Appa, hey, buddy, I'm right here."
But the bison couldn't see him either and turned to the saddened Katara and sadly sighed as he blew in Katara's face. This made Aang depressed as he said, "But I guess you can't see me, either."
Appa sadly groaned in Katara's face, making her open her eyes. She looked to the bison and reassured him, "It's okay, Appa, don't worry." Katara rubbed Appa's nose as she said, "I'm sure they're on their way back." She stood up and led the bison into the village while saying, "I bet they even found you a bunch of moon peaches for a treat."
Appa groaned softly as he followed the Waterbender in. Aang was completely lost as he turned the other way. He asks himself, "What am I supposed to do?" Shouting up to the sky he yells, "Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?!"
When he didn't receive an answer he sadly turned and looked down. Then he heard something approaching and hopefully asked, "Sokka? Steve? Natasha?"
He saw something glowing in the forest. Whatever it was got closer and it was higher in the trees. He kept smiling in hope that it was one of his friends, but squinted to get a better look. What he saw wasn't the Water Tribe teen, the spy or the super soldier. A Chinese dragon spirit with wings flew at him. Aang then commented, "That's definitely not any of them."
Then opening his spirit glider, he tried to take off. But he only got a few feet off the ground before falling and landing with a grunt. Getting up, he found that weird and then with his arms parallel he tried to make a rush of air, but nothing happened. He tried again, but the same results. Aang realized in horror, "What? I can't airbend in the spirit world!"
He grew scared as he turned to see that the Chinese dragon spirit getting closer. The dragon spirit then came in for a landing in front of Aang as he waited outside the village. Aang backed up when the dragon spirit landed. It had two horns with white tips, a shaggy beard and two whiskers under its nostrils. Though a little frightened of it, Aang tried to sound brave as he asked, "You don't know where Sokka, Steve or Natasha are, do you?"
The dragon gave a low growl as it lowered its head. It moved one of its whiskers to where it could touch the whimpering Aang's forehead. When it touched him it gave him a vision of the past. He saw the same dragon, but when it was alive. It had more reddish appearance and carried a man upon the back its neck. When the whisker removed itself from his forehead Aang understood, "You're Avatar Roku's animal guide," He thought about it as he said, "like Appa is to me."
He told Roku's dragon his predicament, "I need to save my friend, and I don't know how." He stepped closer and asked, "Is there some way for me to talk to Roku?"
The dragon lowered his head again to where Aang could climb on. The dragon waited for Aang as the new Avatar quickly hopped on. Before they left, Aang looked back and promised, "I'll be back, Katara."
The dragon spirit raised its head as Aang asked, "Take me to Roku."
With that, the dragon spirit took off into the sky. The dragon spirit wound itself higher into the sky as Katara petted Appa to make him feel better.
On a more mountainous pass, the team of Earthbenders continued on their trek towards the Earth Kingdom capital. Iroh just sat quietly on the back of the ostrich-horse when he noticed and gasped as a dragon spirit with a rider fly overhead. He gasps again when the dragon spirit flies away. The leader of the team, as he didn't and couldn't see the spirits, asked, "What's the problem?"
"Nothing." Iroh said as he knew they wouldn't believe him. But then he thought of a way to either escape or slow the Earthbenders down, "Actually, there is a bit of a problem." He used his age as a trap as he said, "My old joints are feeling sore and achy, and these shackles are too loose."
"Too loose?" The leader questioned with a repeat. Iroh smirked as he tried to make it sound believable, "That's right- the cuffs are loose, and they jangle around and bump my wrists." He made himself sound weak and pathetic then to grateful as he said, "It would help me if you would tighten them, so they wouldn't shake around so much."
"Very well." The leader said. Turning to one of the other soldiers he ordered, "Corporal, tighten the prisoner's handcuffs."
The group stopped as the corporal did just that. His ostrich-horse laid down so he could dismount. As the corporal moved to fix the cuffs, Iroh took in a deep breath before covering what he was doing with his right hand as he released a stream of hot steam onto the metal. When the corporal put his hand on it, Iroh smirked as he kept the Earthbenders hand against the hot metal as the man screamed. When Iroh released him, the corporal fell on his knees and continued to yell in pain. Then taking action, Iroh jumped off of the corporal's ostrich-horse and then jumping horizontally, he shot a fireball with his feet. The fireball landed in between the first two ostrich-horses and scared them. The Earthbenders gasped as they tried to get their rides under control. As the Earthbenders worked to control the situation, Iroh smirked as he started to roll towards the ledge of the path. The leader turned to see Iroh go over the edge.
Somewhere far on the ocean, Avatar Roku's dragon brought Aang to an island with smoking volcano. Near the shore of the island was a temple and a bridge that made it accessible from the shore. The dragon flew straight into the temple, and once it reached the central chamber it maneuvered itself to fly towards the ceiling. This terrified Aang questioned, "Hey! What are you doing?!"
Aang yells as the get closer to the ceiling. But he was new to the whole being a spirit business as they phased through the ceiling. When they came into the top chamber, Roku's dragon landed in a coil and let Aang down. Aang jumped down and looked to the far end of the room. But all he saw was a more glorified statue of Avatar Roku. This confused Aang as he said, "I don't understand. This is just a statue of Roku."
Aang continued to stare at the statue before turning to the dragon as it moved its whisker towards him again. When it touched his forehead, it showed him a new vision. A comet blazing through the sky. Aang then asked, "Is that what Roku wants to talk to me about? A comet?"
He looked to the statue again before asking the dragon, "When can I talk to him?"
With another low growl, Roku's dragon lowered its head to let light from a stone high on the wall. Aang looked from the stone to where the light pointed. It was really close to the statue of Avatar Roku. When Aang turned back to the dragon, it moved its whisker to show him another vision. In this vision, the sun rose and set many times over the temple. On the floor of the chamber, markings of the day of the solstice, lay on the floor. The stone in the wall kept shining the light of the sun on the statue. And each day it got closer to the statue until the day of the solstice when it hit the statue. Aang understood as he looked at the floor and said, "It's a calendar," He smiled as he looked to the statue, "and the light will reach Roku on the solstice."
Aang turned to the dragon spirit and asked, "So that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?"
The dragon spirit gave a low grunt as if to say it were obvious. But Aang knew he couldn't wait that long to speak to Roku and said, "But I can't wait that long. I need to save Sokka now!"
With that said, Roku's dragon quickly flew Aang back to the Earth Kingdom.
Back on the mountainous trail and the disaster going on, Iroh continued to roll down the hill and grunt as he went. From the top, the leader of the Earthbenders came to the edge and with a kneeling stomp, sent a landslide down after the Dragon of the West. The landslide was faster than Iroh as it caught up with him and stopped his roll. The leader and two other Earthbenders then jumped over the ledge and used their earthbending to skate down the slope. They came to a stop at the mostly covered Iroh. The corporal then said the obvious, "He is too dangerous, Captain. We can't just carry him to the capital." He sounded firm when he said, "We have to do something now."
"I agree. He must be dealt with immediately and severely." The captain said. Iroh twitched before spitting out a rock. Then he smirked as he opened his eyes a little.
Over a river between the burnt forest and the rest, Katara flew on Appa to see if she could see the others. But when they didn't see anything, she said, "It's no use, Appa- I don't see them anywhere." Then she decided to wait, "Our best hope is to go back to the village and wait."
Appa softly groans as he turns back to the village.
On the trail of the ostrich-horses, the foot of Prince Zuko's Komodo rhino stomped down on the tracks. The Komodo rhino took a few more steps before the prince and the Winter Soldier looked behind them to the sky. They both saw the flying bison. Prince Zuko said aloud, "The Avatar!"
He turned the Komodo rhino to follow and the Winter Soldier was more than willing to follow the prince's lead. But Prince Zuko stopped the rhino short as he looked to the tracks. The Winter Soldier saw the prince's dilemma and said, "Which ever you decide, I will comply."
Prince Zuko looked between the two choices as he thought about what to do now. Then he looked down to think to himself.
The sun was about to set when Roku's dragon had brought Aang to the burnt forest and flew over the trees. As they passed the burnt trees, Aang saw where they were heading and mutters, "Whoa!"
He saw his body holding his staff sitting on the top of a bear statue. He gasped as the dragon headed right for it and shielded himself with his arms. Roku's dragon folded its wings as it phased into the statue and Aang's spirit back into his body. With his spirit returned, Aang opened his mortal eyes and looked around him. Then jumping off the statue and into the ring of bowing bears. As he looked up to the statue, he started to understand it a little more.
Knowing what he had to do, Aang opened his glider and took off into the sky towards the village.
The sun began to set on the fifth day for the village. Katara stood on the porch of the main building as she waited. Two of the villagers waited to close the doors. When she didn't see any signs, she hung her head down in sadness. Then something appeared over the forest, making her look up. Aang quickly approached on his glider. He landed before the main building and twirled his staff to close it. Katara ran out to meet him and Momo flew to his shoulder, happy as she said, "You're back!"
She embraced him and then looked past him to see if the others were coming. She was confused when she didn't see them and asked, "Where are Sokka, Steve and Natasha?"
Katara then looked to him with a small smile. Aang wasn't too happy to tell her as he hung his head, "I'm not sure."
They both noticed as the sun started to set and they both knew that Haybi would be hear soon. Aang faced the entrance, hoping that he could handle the situation.
In a ditch somewhere, the team of five Earthbenders had Iroh chained to a boulder with his hands stretched out before him. The captain then said, "These dangerous hands must be crushed."
Then with a ferocious grunt, the captain did a stomp and raised a boulder from the ground. Then hovering it over Iroh's hands, he lowered his fist to drop the boulder on Iroh's hands. But right before the boulder could do it job, Prince Zuko came in with a flying side kick. As he landed before his chained uncle, Zuko raised his leg high before bringing his foot down on the chain, breaking it to where Iroh could stand. The uncle then commended the nephew as he readied himself with the chains, "Excellent form, Prince Zuko."
"You taught me well." Prince Zuko said as he took his firebending stance.
"Surrender yourselves." The captain ordered. He made a few points, "It's five against two." The captain smirked at his odds, "You're clearly outnumbered."
"Ah, that's true," Iroh admitted. But then he told them with a small snap of the chains, "but you are clearly outmatched."
"And you may want to check your numbers." A voice said from the top of the ditch. All eyes looked to the source of the voice as the Winter Soldier jumped down to stand with both Prince Zuko and Iroh.
The captain yelled as he charged into battle. With a twist and a stomp, he caused a trail of rocks to jut from the ground as the others punched boulders. Iroh swung his left chain in a circle as he used it to break the incoming boulders. Prince Zuko sent a fire kick to one Earthbender as the Hydra assassin smashed through the boulder of another Earthbender and grabbed the soldier with his normal hand. Lifting the Earthbender into the air the Winter Soldier kicked him in the gut that sent him flying into the ditch wall. The soldier groaned as he slid off the wall.
Two of the still standing Earthbenders then sent a huge boulder towards the smirking two as they had their backs turned. But before the boulder could strike, one of Iroh's chains wrapped around it. Then swinging himself in a circle, he yelled when he sent it flying their way. The boulder smashed into both Earthbenders and made them crash into the opposite wall.
The captain was the only who remained in the fight as he raised three boulders. Then with a shove he sent the three boulders towards them. Prince Zuko was able weave around the boulders while the Winter Soldier used his metallic hand to smash them. Then lowering himself, Prince Zuko did a low fire sweep kick. The Earthbender captain dodged the first. Zuko then sent to fire fists at him. The captain was able to use his helmet to block the fire ball. Then with a slight stomp and with a parting circular motion of his hands, he raised two pillars of earth. Prince Zuko gasped at the attack. But before the captain could use it, two knives cut into his shoulders as Iroh wrapped his chains around the captains legs from behind and gave them a little yank. The captain fell to the ground and his attack fell on top of him. He groaned in pain as he was mostly covered.
Prince Zuko, General Iroh and the Winter Soldier all stood together as they proudly viewed their work. Uncle and nephew looked to each other as the latter placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder. The prince then took care of one last matter, "Now, would you please put on some clothes?"
"Yeah." The Winter Soldier agreed. He then made the comment, "I was trained to handle intense situations, but this is becoming too much."
Iroh chuckled to this before becoming serious for a moment. With a slight bow he said, "I do thank you both for coming to my rescue."
Prince Zuko gave a small smile to this. And unbeknown to both Firebenders, the Winter Soldier slightly smiled as well.
On the outside of the ruined village, Aang stood before the gates as he waited for Haybi again. From inside the main building, Katara, Momo and the villagers watched and waited to see if the matter would be resolved. The wind blew as Aang waited again. But when Haybi didn't show like the last time, Aang turned and went back into the village.
Wind chimes jingled as the wind blew. Before Aang made it half way past the second, Haybi appeared roaring and raised arms with to clenched fists. Aang screamed as he formed and air shield around him to block the falling debris.
"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara shouted from the main building, "Run!"
Haybi roared and released another blast of spirit energy before using a spirit jump to move towards the building. Aang acted quickly as he ran towards the spirit and jumped high over Haybi. The angry spirit had his teeth clenched as Aang came down over him. As he came down before the spirit's head, Aang placed a palm on Haybi's forehead and he was able to see what lay beneath the surface of the angry spirit. The true form of Haybi was a black and white panda, but it was just as angry as the spirit form that it took. The translucent panda disappeared as Haybi released another blasting roar. Aang then landed on the porch and realized, "You're the spirit of this forest." He then understood why Haybi kept attacking the village, "Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down."
It was obvious to tell be the Haybi's angered heaving breath. Aang knew how Haybi felt, "When I saw the forest had burned, I was sad and upset," But then he remembered what Katara said, "but my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back."
He smiled as he showed Haybi the acorn, the sign of hope for the forest. Haybi watched as Aang gently set the acorn down on the porch. Using one of his shorter hands, Haybi gently picked the acorn up. Now longer angry, Haybi reverted to his true form of the giant black and white panda as he turned to walk out of the village. The villagers came out of the main building to watch with Aang as the spirit walked off. Haybi gave a low groan as he passed through the gate, and a fantastic sight happened. As the spirit disappeared into the forest, stalks of bamboo grew between the gate posts. When the stalks had completely grown, Sokka, Steve, Natasha and all the others who had been taken by Haybi emerged from the spirit world. While the returning villagers were confused, those who had been worried were relieved as Katara shouted in joy, "Sokka!"
She ran up and hugged him as some of the villagers hugged those returning. Aang ran up too and smiled at the two Avengers. Natasha was still a little confused as she asked, "Did we die or something?"
"I'm not completely sure." Steve honestly said. They both looked to Aang as Steve asked, "Did you solve the problem with Haybi?"
Aang didn't say anything, but smiled as he gave a nod of his head. Both Nat and Steve smiled as the former wrapped her arms around the kid and said, "I knew you could do it."
"Way to go, kid." Steve said as he placed a hand on his shoulder as he smiled at the Avatar. Sokka was still confused and asked, "What happened?"
"You, Steve and Natasha were trapped in the spirit world for twenty-four hours." Katara told them. Then she asked, "How are all of you feeling?"
Sokka made a constipated face as he said, "Like I seriously need to use the bathroom."
"Me too." Nat said as she ran to find one. Steve just shrugged as he knew that he should be safe than sorry and ran.
Katara made slightly disturbed face as all three walked away.
Much later in the village, the villagers stood behind their leader as he expressed his gratitude to them, "Thank you, Avatar and his friends. If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done."
"You could give us some supplies and some money." Sokka said. This made the group give him questioning looks as Katara elbowed her brother, "Sokka!"
"What?" Sokka questioned. He had a smile as he said, "We need stuff."
Nat chuckled while Steve patted the Water Tribe teen on the back. The village leader looked more than happy and said with a bow as he placed his right fist in his left palm, "It would be an honor to help you pre pare for your journey."
As the village leader walked off, the rest of the group looked to Aang as Katara said, "I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do all on your own."
"Actually, I had a little help." Aang admitted as he turned to them. This made them curious as Steve asked with a raised eyebrow, "What kind of help, exactly?"
Aang looked down as he thought about something, "And there's something else."
He thought about his vision about the comet. They could tell that something was bothering him as Sokka asked, "What is it?"
"I need to talk to Roku," Aang said as if it were truly important, which it was. He thought about how he found out, "and I think I found a way to contact his spirit."
"That's great!" Katara said with a smile brimming. Sokka was in somewhat agreement, "Creepy, but great."
"So where exactly do we need to go?" Natasha asked. Aang remembered where he needed to go, "There's a temple on a crescent-shaped island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him."
"But the solstice is tomorrow." Katara said as she grew worried. Steve then thought about this predicament and said, "So we have a time limit, maybe we can beat it."
"Yeah, but there's one more problem." Aang reluctantly said as he remembered where the island was, "The island is in the Fire Nation."
This caused his for friends to look at him with shocked faces.
On the path as they made their way back to the ship, the trio rode on back of the Komodo rhino with Zuko in the front and the Winter Soldier in the back. The Winter Soldier then asked, "So, now the Avatar?"
"So, now, the Avatar." Prince Zuko confirmed as they continued.
Author's Note: That took so long to right. Especially while working on a few other fanfictions. I plan to have the second half up before long. I also plan to have the second part as a Thanksgiving gift to you readers. Also, I just heard about the passing of Stan Lee, so in honor of his memory, I've decided to dedicate this story and give him a cameo appearance in each episode. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.
