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. And here is the second part of the Winter Solstice of Book One. I am so excited. And as I said in the last episode, I will be dedicating each episode of Avenging Avatar to Stan Lee. And just to let you readers know, Steve will hardly take off his shield and helmet so just saying. He will have a cameo appearance in most of the episodes, so be on the lookout for him. 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…
Katara looked down as she told Steve and Aang, "You're looking at the only Waterbender in the whole South Pole."
"What about the North Pole?' Aang asked, "There are some Waterbenders up there, right?"
As the group flew on Appa, Katara then recited of what order Aang had to master the elements as she said, "According to legend, you need to master water, then earth and fire, right?"
"That's why were going to the North Pole," Katara said to Aang as he sat on his knees in the burnt forest, "to find you a teacher."
"Yeah, a waterbending teacher." Aang said, not feeling the same thing.
"But I haven't even begun to learning waterbending. Not to mention earth and fire." A distraught Aang told his predecessor Avatar Roku.
Roku then told him, "Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and patience. But if the world is to survive, you must do it by summer's end."
This causes Aang's face to fall in despair as he felt the weight of the world falling onto his shoulders.
x
Book One: Water
Chapter Nine: The Waterbending Scroll
Though it was somewhat cloudy day, the sun still shone through the clouds as Appa flew near the tops of a mountain range. As the bison passed between a gap in the mountains, most of the group was sitting with Appa and Natasha on Appa's head while Steve, Katara and Momo sat in the saddle with a standing Aang. The Waterbender and the super soldier watched as Aang paced around in the saddle, clearly lost in thought. It was growing to be aggravating to some of them.
"Would you sit down?" Sokka commented to his friend. The Water Tribe teen looked back as he said, "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off." Then not remembering he asked, "What's bugging you anyway?"
"You're kidding, right?" Natasha asked with a slight glare. Aang then told them why he was pacing around in a panic, "It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives."
"Well, let's see." Sokka said as he looked at Aang's progress so far, "You pretty much mastered airbending, and that only took you a hundred and twelve years." He offered a few comforting words by saying, "I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."
This didn't do much to help Aang as he looked way more stressed than before and said, "I haven't even started waterbending, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I gonna do?"
Natasha then slapped the driver of the bison in the shoulder when she saw him lightly smirking and said, "Good going, Sokka. Now he's even more rattled."
"Well first, I think you should sit down." Steve said as he and Katara grabbed Aang's wrist and pulled him down into sitting the saddle. Katara knew what to do as she said, " Is to calm down. It's gonna be okay."
Then looking into Aang's distressed eyes, Katara offered, "If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know."
Aang perked up and asked, "You'd do that?"
"Now that I've thought about it, even though she isn't a master," Steve said in reference to Katara as she nodded, "learning from a beginning Waterbender is still learning from a Waterbender."
"That does have some logic in it." Natasha said when she started to think of it. Katara with Aang following behind her. They looked to the ground as she said, "We'll need to find a good source of water first."
Sokka tried to be funny as he turned and said, "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in."
"And the bad jokes never stop rolling." Natasha said with an eye roll. This earned a deadpanned glare from Sokka as they kept flying.
Thirty Minutes Later…
After finding a spot to land, they unpacked their supplies from Appa. The group came by a large waterfall that fell into a river. Though it was a good spot to learn, two of the five looked in awe while two others were impressed while the final member sarcastically said, "Nice puddle."
Even Appa seemed to enjoy it as he flew into the water and created a huge splash. The giant wave washed up to Momo as he sat on a rock. He screeched in panic when he saw the wave coming. Getting up, the lemur shook off the excess water. Appa gave a contended grunt as he rolled over in the water. Thinking that it looked fun, Aang undressed down to his underwear and said, "Yeah! Don't start without me, boy."
"Uh, Aang." Steve tried to say. The Airbender was about to jump in when his teacher raised an eyebrow as she reminded, "Remember the reason we're here."
This stopped Aang in his tracks and looked behind him as he remembered, "Oh, right. Time to practice waterbending."
"Great." Sokka said as he felt as if he had nothing to do while Aang started to put the rest of his clothes back on, "So, what are the rest of us supposed to do?"
"You could… clean the gunk out of Appa's toes." Aang suggested and picked up a stick that looked like a brush. Sokka looked at the stick before looking at the Airbender and he skeptically asked as he crossed his arms, "So, while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work, picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?"
"Mud and bugs." Aang added. Natasha then placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder and suggested, "Me and Steve were about to practice our combat drills. You could train with us." But she looked to Steve before whispering to Sokka, "But I have to warn you, Steve can hit really hard. Even without the shield."
This caused the Water Tribe teen to look scared. Then he took the less painful root and grabbed the stick while saying, "Okay."
Natasha laughed as he walked away, making sure to stay clear of Steve as he went by. This causes Steve to give Nat a questioning look. She only shrugged as Appa deeply grunted after having turned over and making bubbles in the water with his mouth.
x
Somewhere within Earth Kingdom waters, Prince Zuko's ship's horn blew as it sailed. On the deck, a fireball flew off the ship indicating a scuffle. Prince Zuko and another Firebender were wearing sleeveless tunics as they practiced their Firebending. Prince Zuko threw another fire fist at the soldier, before ducking under the incoming fist of the Winter Soldier. Just as Prince Zuko was about to defend himself, the ship leaned to the right and made all three warriors stumble to the railing. After stabilizing himself, Prince Zuko looked up to the tower and said, "Someone's changing our course."
Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier quickly made their way up the tower. When he arrived first, the prince walked over to the helmsman and angrily questioned, "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course."
"Actually, someone did." General Iroh said from his spot. He and three other crew members were playing a game. Two crewmen sat down while the third watched behind their shoulders. His uncle then said before taking on a pondering pose with a hand to his chin, "I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."
"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" Prince Zuko asked, his patience feeling trifled. But all Iroh said was, "Even more urgent. It seems I…" He became distraught as he said, "I've lost my lotus tile." Then he moved another tile forward.
"Lotus tile?" Prince Zuko asked, confused over the situation. Even the Winter Soldier was confused as he leaned to Zuko and whispered, "What exactly is a lotus tile?"
"Not sure," Zuko whispered back, "but I bet we're about to find out."
"For my Pai Cho game." Iroh explained, "Most people think that lotus tile insignificant." He slide another tile as he said, "But it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."
"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Prince Zuko questioned in disbelief and aggravation. Iroh then said, as if proving a point, "See, you, like most people, underestimate its value." Then he basically asked, "Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call." His face perked up and pointed a finger up as he said, "Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock," Then he became serious when he placed a hand to his beard and said, "and I can get on with my life."
Prince Zuko, not a totally heartless monster, didn't say anything as he huffed in annoyance. Then in a fit of aggravation, he breathed a breath of flame that turned into a huge smoke cloud. The smoke quickly and completely over took the room. General Iroh then had a smile on his face and his hands in his sleeves when he said, "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew."
Then the was covered with the smoke at the end of his sentence.
x
Back at the falls, Sokka was working hard to clean whatever it was between Appa's head left paw. The bison grunted in content as Sokka worked. Sokka then commented, "Yeah, don't get too happy." Then he sarcastically said, "You've got to do me next."
As he started to really scrub, Appa gave another contented grunt while flapping his ears. Steve watched the Water Tribe teen hard at work and saw another stick that looked like a brush. Picking it up, the super soldier moved to go help Sokka out. Natasha on the other hand, was watching the waterbending lesson.
Aang sat with his legs crossed as he listened to Katara. She prepared herself as she said, "This is a pretty basic move," Then taking a Waterbenders stance, she started to push and pull the water, "but it still took me months to perfect."
Aang smiled as he watched her give the lesson as she said, "So, don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Aang gave a nod in understanding as she instructed him, "Just push and pull the water like this."
With her arms outstretched, she started to sway back and forth, and with her grip on the water it moved back and forth with her. Then she gave a little advice on how to do it, "The key is getting the wrist movement right."
Still smiling as he stood up, Aang then began his practicing by coping her movements. A assuming the same stance, Aang then began to attempt to push and pull the water. Then he asked, "Like this?"
Katara kept hers up while looking over to check Aang's progress. She noticed that the water didn't move and said, "That's almost right. If you keep practicing, I'm sure eventually…"
"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang said with a smile as he was able make big waves as he pushed and pulled the water. Both Katara and Nat were surprised to see him pick it up so quickly, the former more so than the latter as Katara said, "Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly." She looked a little down as she said, "It took me two months to learn that move."
Aang noticed her fallen expression and decided to cheer her up by saying, "Well, you had to figure it out all on your own." He was humble as he said, "I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher."
Katara seemed to appreciate this and said, "Thanks."
Steve ran over to Sokka and Appa when the bison had drifted close to the shore. Then he held up the stick and asked, "Hey, Sokka, needs some help."
Sokka took a moment to think and was about to say no, but then he looked to see the remaining five feet. Then with a half-smile, the Water Tribe teen said, "Okay."
With a smirk of his own, Steve hopped onto the bison's belly. Both warriors then got to work.
Eager to learn more, Aang asked, "So, what's next?"
"This is a more difficult move. I call it "streaming the water."" Katara said, feeling that it was time to give him more of a challenge. Assuming her stance, Katara then pulled out a small rope of water and started to make it flow around like a stream. Knowing from experience she moved the small stream and told him, "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if…"
When she looked over to see how Aang was coming along, she was both stunned to see that he was already pulling out a small stream and began moving it around. First he made it circle before making to go vertical, then he made the stream zigzag to the left and then made it arch over his head. Katara became a little annoyed at how fast and how easy he made it look. With an annoyed glare she abruptly dropped her gathered water back into the river. Aang then twisted to make the stream go a full circle before letting it slip back into the river too. Katara was impressed as she complimented, "Nice work." But then she comment a little with a deadpanned expression, "Although the over-the-head flair was unnecessary."
"Sorry." Aang said, feeling that he over stepped a boundary. Wanting to see what else his teacher had in store, the Avatar then said, "Well, don't stop now. Keep them coming."
"Remember, Katara," Natasha said making both Benders look over to her, "you gotta keep your cool when teaching. And I wouldn't try anything too big."
Katara nodded before addressing Aang, "Well, I kind of know this one other move, but it's pretty hard. I haven't even totally figured it out yet." She then assumed her stance for the third time and said, "The idea is to create a big, powerful wave."
Then with low arch motion, she raised her hands and started to bring up a large bubble of water. Katara strained to keep the wave up. But it popped when she couldn't hold it. Then Aang decided to give it a go and asked, "So, like this?"
He performed the same movements; the only difference was that he held his arms higher. He created a tall wave that started to fall over Sokka and Steve as they worked. Both of them were working hard until Sokka got a funny feeling. Turning around he saw the wave coming and had a comical face as he shouted, "Aang…!"
Steve turned to look to and he shouted, "Aang, make it stop!"
But it was too late as the wave crashed onto the bison. Appa grunted from the wave and looked up to find that Steve and Sokka had disappeared with his tongue sticking out. Both of them rose out of the water with annoyed expressions. Natasha tried to hold in a laugh and turned away as she held her breath. Aang felt pretty good as he looked to an annoyed Katara and said, "Looks like I got the hang of that move. What else you got?"
"That's enough practicing for today." Katara said as she turned her irritably annoyed expression away. Sokka was just as annoyed as he said, "Yeah, I'll say." Steve pointed down the river as their things. Then Sokka said, "You just "practiced our supplies down the river."
"Uh… sorry." Aang apologized, even though it wouldn't have done much. He tried to lift their spirits by saying, "I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff."
"My life was hard enough when you were just an airbender." Sokka commented. Steve watched as the boy went back under the water with an arched eyebrow.
x
There was a ship port where most boats could dock to supply or the crew's of the ships could rest. There was chatter in most of the stands.
Soon Aang rejoined the group as they walked through the rest of the stands. As they walked by, the soon found that the place was full of different characters. Even a few thuggish looking people as someone picked up another man who pleaded for his life, "Please, put me down."
The five passed by another stand with a man holding a blue sack filled with something as he shouted, "Believe the wonder in this bag." Each of the group looked around with different expressions as the man asked, "Who's brave enough to like into this bag?"
Sokka and Katara had worried expressions while Steve, with his helmet off, and Natasha kept themselves ready in case. As the group entered the market section ,Aang was the only one with a smile on his face. Aang walked by one of the stands that sold a bunch of neat looking whistles. As he looked over them, he saw a whistle that was in the shape of a bison. Picking it up, he walked up to the man who owned the stand and asked, "Excuse me, sir? How much for this bison whistle?"
The man, an older fellow with a small mustache, happened to be cleaning a pair of orange tinted glasses. The man placed the glasses before his eyes and looked to the whistle. Then he said, "Normally, I usually sell my custom made whistles for five copper pieces," He looked Aang over before saying, "but since you seem such a nice young man, I'll sell it to you for one copper piece."
"Sold!" Aang said as he placed the copper piece on the table. He placed the bison whistle in his pocket and waved to the man as he left. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Thanks, again!"
The man smiled as he watched Aang walk away. Then as he organized his remaining whistles, he said, "What a nice young man."
x
In another stall that sold different foods, Katara and Natasha sat against the window sill of a nearby window while Aang sat down. Steve and Sokka came out of the stall and from the look on Sokka's face, he wasn't very happy when he said, "Okay, we've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave to us."
"So that means that we should spend it wisely." Steve warned. Aang decided to confess about something, "Uh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka." He brought out what he bought, "I couldn't say no to this whistle."
All four of them groaned when they saw what he had done. Then with a sharp inhale, he blew into the whistle. Sokka and Natasha covered their ears to block out the sound, but what came out was mostly air. When they didn't hear anything, both the Water Tribe warrior and spy unplugged their ears and the former commented, "It doesn't even work."
Aang stops blowing into the whistle as Momo squawks at him. Sokka then thought that the whistle got on the lemur's nerves too and said, "See? Even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk."
"I guess someone gave you a bad deal, kid." Natasha commented with a half-smirk. Aang looked crestfallen at this. Then Katara decided to make sure nothing else happened to their money by holding out her hand and said, "No offense, Aang, but I'll hold the money from now on."
"That might be the smart thing to do." Steve said. Aang then reached into his belt and pulled out the last two remaining copper pieces before placing them in her hand. The coins jingled as they fell into her hands as he face fell again.
x
The group then came to the docks where ships of different kinds had made port. A man stood outside of one of the ships and tried to bring in customers by saying, "Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation," then he made up a rhyme and said, "so long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here. Don't be shy, come on by."
He then saw Aang and the others walking by and shouted, "Oh! You there." Quickly running up he then said, "I can see from your clothing," when he looked between Steve and Natasha he said, "And you two as well, that you're special world-traveling types."
"Well, he's not wrong there." Natasha whispered to Steve. The man then said with a wink, "Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"
"Sure." Aang said as they stopped. But then he asked, "What are curios?"
The man looked Aang and blinked before admitting, "I'm not entirely sure," but he perked up when he said, "but we got 'em."
The man gave a big smile as he wrapped an arm around Aang's shoulders and led him to the boat. The group walked into one of the ship's cabins and saw all the things they had. Aang gasped when he saw something interesting, but became confused when he leaned closer, "Huh?"
Sokka, Steve and Natasha were looking at other items and Katara stood before a statue with red gem eyes and a red gem necklace. Katara gave it a strange look as it stared right back at her and she thought she could hear noises. Momo chattered on Aang's shoulder as he walked to another section of the room. The lemur switched shoulders as Aang leaned forward. Then a voice from behind said, "I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur."
Aang turned around and saw a man in the door way at the back of the room. The man had an eye on Momo as he said, "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum," he stepped out, wearing what appears to be a captain's hat, shawl and had some sort of reptilian bird sitting on his shoulder preening itself, the man then said, "if you'd be interested in bartering."
The bird stopped preening and screeched at them both. The others turned to see the man to see Momo screech himself at the bird. Aang wrapped a protective arm around the lemur and said, "Momo's not for sale."
The man noticed the shield on Steve's back and said, "How about you, big fella? Interested in something for that nifty shield?"
"Shield's not for sale either, I'm afraid." Steve said with a firm voice. The man just shrugged and walked behind the counter.
Katara then walked over to cubby like shelf and saw something that caught her eye. In the center cubby, a scroll with the Water Tribe symbol. Reaching down to it, Katara grabbed the scroll and pulled it out. When she unrolled it, she was amazed to find it filled with waterbending moves. Katara had a big grin on her face and gasped and then she said, "Look at this, Aang. It's a waterbending scroll."
Aang, Steve and Natasha walk over to see it as she shook her head in amazement while saying, "Check out these crazy moves."
Aang smiled himself as he looked down at the scroll. He turned to the man in the captain's hat and asked, "Where did you get a waterbending scroll?"
The man slammed his hand on the scroll and started to put it away as he said, "Let's just say I got it up north, at a most reasonable price: Free."
He placed the scroll in the center cubby on the top. Katara couldn't take her eyes off of it, really wanting to master those moves. Sokka then noticed something as he looked through the merchandise, "Wait a minute." He started to put it all together, "Sea-loving traders with suspiciously acquired merchandise? And pet reptile birds?" He figured it out as he turned to the man they met on the docks and basically spit on his face as he shouted, "You guys are pirates!"
The man kept his cool as he wrapped an arm around Sokka and tried to ease the situation by saying, "We prefer to think of ourselves as "high-risk trader.""
"That's still basically along the terms of a pirate." Natasha told him with her arms crossed. Katara stood with the captain at the counter and looked down at their remaining copper pieces before asking, "So how much for the, uh, "traded" scroll?"
"I've already got a buyer- a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom." The captain said. But then he got interested as he leaned closer and said, "Unless, of course, you kids and your parents have two hundred pieces on you right now."
"Do we look like we're the kind of people who has that kind of money?" Natasha questioned. Then she became sassy as she said, "And we're not their parents."
Aang leaned to Katara and smiled as he whispered, "I know how to deal with these guys, Katara. Pirates love to haggle."
He held out his hand and she placed the copper pieces in it. He moved to the pirate captain and told her, "Watch and learn."
Katara walked away with Momo running after her and Natasha followed after them. Aang walked up to the captain and said with a pirate voice, "What say ye to the price of…" he played with the piece in his hand and flipped through the air and said, "one copper piece."
The pirate captain laughed from his attempt before becoming serious, "The price is two hundred gold pieces." He shook his head as he informed Aang, "I don't haggle on items this rare."
"Okay," Aang said as he pulled the piece back. He put on his pirate voice again as he presented both pieces between his fingers, "two copper pieces."
But the pirate captain wasn't amused by it this time as he said, "It's not as amusing the second time, boy."
Aang didn't like how he was being stingy. But before he could do anything, Katara came up behind him and said, "Aang, can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks."
"She's right," Natasha said, "let's get out of here."
"Aye," Aang said one final time in his pirate voice as he grabbed his staff, "we be castin' off now."
All five soon walked down as Aang questioned both the Waterbender and spy, "What was that all about, you two?"
"Yeah," Sokka said in agreement, "I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection."
"And I was looking at some neat helmets." Steve said as he placed his own back on.
"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here." Katara said as they walked away from the ship. Nat was in full agreement as she asked, "Those guys were giving you the creeps too?"
Katara didn't say anything as they kept moving. The man they met on the dock ran to the bow of the ship and shouted, "Hey, you! Get back here!"
"Well, well, look who's come to their senses." Aang said as he turned to the ship. He talked to the others as Katara fearfully backed away, earning looks from both Steve and Sokka, "Told you the haggling would pay off."
But it didn't seem that way as the pirates came off the ship growling and pulling out their weapons. One of the pirates swung onto the dock and pulled out two sickles and showed off his moves as the rest of his fellow pirates joined him. All five looked at the pirates with shocked expressions.
It was a standoff as Aang, Sokka, Katara, Steve and Natasha stood against the pirates. The pirates really looked as if they wanted to fight for reason as some of them shouted, "There they are. Get 'em. Nobody's goin' nowhere."
They all start to laugh menacingly at the group.
"I don't think these pirates are here to trade with us." Katara said as they saw that they were outnumbered. The five then turned and ran the other way, making the pirates shout, "Get back here!"
The group turned left into the market place. Some of the pirates angrily muttered as they followed. But the pirate in green stopped and told the others, "This way. Let's cut them off."
"Whoa…!" Sokka shouted as they took a right. Seeing a bowl of water, Katara grunted as she raised her arms to send it on the ground. Then acting quickly, she froze the puddle. The ice puddle tripped up one of the pirates and sent him screaming as he hits a stand. The other pirates jump over the frozen puddle and continue the chase.
The cabbage merchant from Omashu stood by his new cart as he happily sight while hugging a head of cabbage. He set the head down with the others and was about to move the cart when Sokka bumped into it. The cabbage merchant was quick to catch three falling cabbage heads before they hit the ground. Katara accidentally bumped into the cart and made two more fall, which the man caught. Steve and Natasha were able to move by the cart without incident. The latter shrugged to the man and said as she ran, "What are the odds, right?"
The man didn't say anything as Aang jumped through the cart. When he landed on his feet, he used his staff to send the cart flying at the pirates. The men see the cart coming and turn the other way, but the cart crashes into them nonetheless. The cabbage merchant shouted in distress, "My cabbages!" His distress turned into annoyance as he said, "This place is worse than Omashu." Then he walked away in defeat.
The pirates groaned in pain as they lay about the ruins of the cabbage cart.
The five continued running through the streets as the fled from the pirates. But the pirate in green and his side of the crew came upon them. The green pirate laughed, "Ha-ha!"
Sokka moans while Momo chittered in fear before they turned the other way. One of the pirates shouts as they after the group, "I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives."
But as the last pirate goes to follow, he is struck in the face by a frying pain. The user of the blunt instrument was the man with the tinted glasses. He looks down at the pirate and scolded, "That's what ruffians like you get for messing with one of my best customers."
He looked around to see if there were any other pirates before saying, "I'd better get out of this joint while I still can."
The man turned to run, but looked back to where Aang and his friends disappeared and said, "Good luck, kid. Excelsior!"
Then he ran down the street without looking back.
Aang and his friends ran down an alley but stopped when they came to a dead end. They turned to face the remaining three pirates as the one in green questions as he readies his weapons, "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?"
"No, thanks." Aang said before doing a spin with his staff to send a huge dust cloud at them. The men cry out as the dust cloud hits them. Steve turns to Aang and said, "You, Katara and Sokka get out first. Me and Nat are right behind you."
Not questioning his friend, Aang motioned with his hand for them to come. As they ran Aang shouted, "Grab on tight!"
Katara became confused as she asked, "Aang! Thought we were running away from the pirates."
But she and her brother grabbed onto Aang's ankles nonetheless as he said, "Just hang on."
Steve and Natasha followed closely as Steve shouted to her, "New York invasion after I've thrown the shield."
Natasha knew what he meant and said, "Got it!"
"Whoa!" Sokka and Katara screamed as they came closer to the pirates. Aang rose higher into the air and Sokka stepped onto each head of the pirates as they went by.
As the kids rose into the air, Steve removed his shield from his back and threw it hard at the pirates. The pirates screamed as they saw the incoming projectile. The vibranium shield hit the green pirate first and ricochet off the other two, knocking them off their feet. When it came back to him, Steve then turned towards Nat and held his shield at an angle. She jumped and he gave her a boost onto the roof. Then turning towards the pirates, Steve decided to do something crazy. Running at the pirates as they stood back up, the super soldier used his enhanced speed to go faster. The biggest of the pirates saw that the captain was coming at him and grunted as Steve used him as a springboard. Jumping off the pirate, Steve then flew onto the roof of the same building and climbed up. He and Nat joined up together and ran off as the kids flew from the docks. The pirates watched in anger as the group got away.
x
Back at the waterfall, the group joined up as Aang closed up his glider. As he did so, Aang then said, "I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible."
Aang then sat down against a rock. Steve then noticed that both Katara and Natasha kind of had a smug face and asked, "What's got you two all happy?" He stepped closer as he said, "Something's making me feel as if you two had something to do with that little skirmish. And I bet it wasn't anything good."
"You could say that." Natasha said as she kept smirking. Katara then revealed, "We know. That's why I took…" She held out the waterbending scroll, "this."
"No way." Aang said in disbelief. Steve was shocked nonetheless as well, "I don't believe this."
"Isn't it great?" Katara asked in excitement. Both Sokka and Steve weren't too happy about this as Sokka said, "No wonder they were trying to hack us up. You stole their waterbending scroll."
"I prefer to think of it as high-risk trading." Katara said as she defended herself. Natasha snickered while Aang laughed at it and said, "Good one, Katara."
"Don't encourage her, Aang. It was a risky and stupid move." Steve warned. Katara then looked to her brother and friend and questioned, "Sokka, Steve, where do you think they got it? They stole it from a Waterbender."
"It doesn't matter." Sokka argued. He was really upset as he scolded her, "You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes."
"Sokka's right." Steve said with his arms crossed. They all looked to him as he said to both girls, "This is just like what happened on the North Star ship, not telling your teammates and doing something on your own."
"But this was an item that would be crucial in teaching Aang." Natasha argued. Katara was in full agreement as she said, "These are real waterbending forms from an actual master. You both do know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending. No matter how or what it comes to him."
Sokka just huffed in anger and walked away saying, "Whatever."
Steve only shook his head as he walked off too. Aang, not liking to watch his friends fight, still went along with the girls and said, "Well, what's done is done. We have it. We might as well learn from it."
x
Back in the market, seagulls flew over the ships as Prince Zuko's ship had docked there. If one compared its size to that of the other ships', people would see how much it dwarfed them. Prince Zuko, General Iroh and the Winter Soldier all stood outside the market. Zuko had his arms crossed in annoyance as Iroh gave the report of his search, "I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace."
"It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for EVERYONE!" Prince Zuko said in Iroh's face. Iroh was quick to disagree as he said, "Quite the contrary. I always say the only thing better than finding something you are looking for," A group of three soldiers walked by with arm loads of items in baskets as Iroh happily said, "is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"
The last soldier carried some kind of horn. Prince Zuko then questioned, "You bought a Sunghi horn?"
"For music night on the ship." Iroh explained with a smile. Then he became serious and said as he walked away, "Now, if we only had some woodwinds…"
They soon came to a ship that had made port on its side. Iroh became hopeful as he ran and pointed to it while saying, "Oh! This place looks promising."
Seven minutes later…
The three walked onto the ship and started to look around. Iroh spotted the creepy statue with the rubies for eyes and a necklace. The older man became intrigued as he said, "Oh, that is handsome!" Then he asked to both an annoyed Zuko and confused Winter Soldier, "Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"
He reached to hold as the pirate in green informed the captain, "We lost the Water Tribe girl, and the little bald monk and man in the blue uniform she was traveling with."
Both Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier overheard this and the former asked, "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"
"And the man in blue," The Winter Soldier asked, now interested to complete his mission, "Did he have a star on his chest?"
General Iroh just turned the statue and his head, making some sort of monkey chatter while coping its expression.
x
Back with Aang and Katara, they had unrolled the scroll to get a look at it. Katara found a move that she wanted to try and told Aang, "I just want to try this one move first, and then it's all yours."
Picking it up, she placed it in his hands and said, "Here, hold it open for me."
Aang took the scroll into his hands as she backed up to the river. Assuming her waterbending stance. She looked among the instructions as she read the name of the move, "The Single Water Whip."
The movements were to have the left arm outstretched with the right hand covering the face, then drawing a stream of water and forming it into a ball, then maneuvering it to form into a whip. Then drawing the water, she brought up a shaky stream of water. And as she performed the movements, it didn't go as planned as it smacked her in the forehead. She cried out in pain from the blow, "Aah!"
Sokka, sitting on a rock, laughed at his sister's misfortune. She had a small bruise on her forehead that faded when she bitterly questioned, "What's so funny?"
"I'm sorry, but you deserve that." Sokka said with a smug grin. He turned to Aang and regretfully said, "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."
"Aang will get his turn, once I figure out the Water Whip." Katara said in frustration. Then she began again and pulled out another stream of water. But once again as she went through the movements, it didn't go as planned and smacked into Momo's backside. The lemur shrieked in pain and then chattered in anger. He wasn't the only one to be angered as Katara cried out in frustration, "Ugh! Why can't I get this stupid move?"
"Well, first," Natasha said as she came and placed a hand on the girls shoulder, "you need to keep a calm mind."
Aang put the scroll down and offered some encouraging words as he moved to show her, "You'll get it."
Katara wasn't feeling in the mood for his help as she stared at him with a slight glare. Bringing the water out, Aang went through the motions as he said, "You've just got to shift you weight through the stances." He pulled the stream of water away from the river and formed it into a ball before sending it out over the water as a whip. When he let the water go he said, "There. See? The key to bending is…"
"Will you please shut your air hole!" Katara shouted at him. This shocked him and the two Avengers as she said, "Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes." Then out of frustration and bitterness she shouted in his face, "Why don't we just throw the scroll away, since you're so naturally gifted?!"
She looked over to her brother and the two Avengers as Sokka had his arms crossed as he shook his head in disappointment. Natasha was still a little stunned while Steve just looked at her. Katara then questioned, "What?!"
Then she looked back to Aang and her expression changed as he looked at her as his lower lip started to tremble. This changed how she felt and she said, "Oh, my gosh, Aang." She tried to make it right by saying, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." She walked over to the scroll and then rolled it up while saying, "But you know what? It won't happen again."
Handing him the scroll, she said, "Here, this is yours." He took it as she said, "I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore."
"It's okay, Katara." Aang said, trying to cheer them both up. Sokka then said and pointed to a certain lemur who was rubbing his backside, "What about Momo? He's the real victim here."
Katara walked over the lemur and apologized to him as well, "I'm sorry, Momo."
"And what about me?" Sokka said, trying to milk it, "There was that time you…"
"No more apologies!" Katara shouted, scaring both Sokka and Momo, making the lemur run away. But then she felt guilty as she looked over to Steve. Standing up, Katara walked over to the super soldier and said, "Steve, I want to apologize about the scroll and everything…"
Steve stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's alright, Katara. We all loose ourselves at one point or another."
Katara smiled up at him and said, "Thank you."
x
Back at the docks, Prince Zuko's ship had the ramp at the back lowered. This meant that the smaller boat was in use once again. It soon lowered itself into the water. The cord released the boat and it fell in with a big splash.
Soon, both Prince Zuko's boat and the pirate captain's ship traveled along the river. The captain stood with the prince on his ship as they sailed. The captain then asked, "Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?"
"We don't need to stop." Zuko said as if he knew something. He then pointed out, "They stole a waterbending scroll, right?"
"Mm-hmm." The captain nodded. Prince Zuko looked to him before looking out to the river saying, "Then they'll be on the water."
The captain figured that he had a point as he looked out to the river with him.
x
Later that night, as four out of five slept soundly, Katara was wide awake as she laid there thinking. Deciding to take action, she slowly got out of her sleeping bag and looked to the others as they slept. Quietly moving around the others, she quietly reached into the sack and pulled out the scroll. Then she slowly and quietly backed away from the campfire. When she turned towards the river, she stopped as she found herself looking into the face of Momo. The lemur sat on a stump as he softly purred at her. His ears drooped when Katara hushed him, "Shh! Momo. Go back to sleep."
Then she walked around him and the stump. Momo's ears perked up again as he started to purr again. She was quick to shush him again. Momo's ears drooped again as she walked off into the dark forest.
x
It was a little later in the night as Katara made it to the river. She assumed her waterbending stance and pulled a stream of water out of the river. She grunted as she tried to make the water move the way she wanted by moving her hands, but then threw the water down in frustration. Then she shouted in frustration, "Shoot!" before shouting to the river, "Come on, water, work with me here!"
Then grabbing another stream out of the water, Katara tried something different as she said, "Okay, what if I just…" She hit herself with it, "Ow!"
Unfortunately, her shout of pain didn't go unheard. Prince Zuko, the captain and the Winter Soldier now joining them heard Katara shout, "Ow! Stupid scroll!"
All three men looked to each other as they had found their target.
Katara then talked to herself as she tried again, "Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances."
But as she tried to move through motions, it fell out of her grip. She sighed in frustration as she thought of giving up. The sound of distant clattering from further down the river drew her attention away. Parting some of the brush back, Katara gasped when she saw Zuko's boat. She turned to run, but ran into a pirate. She turned to run the other way, but he grabbed her shoulders. She shouted, "No! Let go of me!"
Then acting quickly, she pulled a stream of water and threw it into the pirates face. When he let go, Katara then ran to get away from him. But slid to a stop as she nearly ran into Zuko. He grabbed her by the wrists and said, "I'll save you from the pirates."
x
Soon Prince Zuko, General Iroh, the Winter Soldier, a few Fire Nation soldiers and the pirates had Katara tied to a tree with her hands around the trunk. Prince Zuko then said, "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother."
"Go jump in the river!" Katara said in defiance. Prince Zuko then tried a different tactic and said as she moved her head the other way, "Try to understand." He moved around the tree as he gave the reason why, "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost: My honor."
She looked away as he smiled as he said, "Perhaps, in exchange, I can restore something you've lost."
He then showed her by holding the necklace in front of its former spot around her neck. She looked in disbelief at the fact that he had it, "My mother's necklace." Prince Zuko walked around the tree and back in front of her as she angrily questioned, "How did you get that?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering." Zuko said, making a jab at what she did to the pirates. Then he was firm as he demanded, "Tell me where he is."
"No!" Katara defiantly said. The Winter Soldier then moved closer and leaned forward as he warned, "You might want to be careful in your choice of words." Looking to Zuko he said, "He's being the good cop." Then pointing to himself he said, "I won't be as nice when I question you."
Then standing straight, the Winter Soldier then said, "Tell us where to find the Avatar and the two Avengers with him."
"I'm not going to let you hurt any of them, Bucky." Katara said with a defiant glare. Prince Zuko became confused and asked, "Why did she just call you that?"
"I'm not entirely sure." The Winter Soldier said. Katara then shouted at him, "Yes, you do! You're Bucky Barnes! You're friends with Steve Rogers! You have to remember!"
His programming kicked in as he grabbed her by the chin. Prince Zuko was quick to act and said, "Stand down and gently release her."
The Hydra assassin complied and gently let her go. The pirate captain became fed up with waiting and said, "Enough of this necklace and name garbage." Then he demanded what he was promised, "You promised the scroll."
Seeing that the pirates were starting to forget to be patient, Prince Zuko pulled the scroll from behind him and conjures a flame in his other hand while saying, "I wonder how much money this is worth?"
"No!" A pirate cried out as the others gasped. Prince Zuko seemed smiled as he had them where he wanted them and said, "A lot, apparently." Then he promised them by saying, "Now, you help me find what I want. You'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy." Then he ordered, "Search the woods for the boy, the man in the blue uniform and the woman in black and then meet back here."
"Fine." The captain said before turning with a slight glare to the prince. Prince Zuko then turned to the Winter Soldier and said, "Go with them and make sure they stay on task."
The Winter Soldier nodded as he complied.
x
It was morning around the campsite as Natasha and the boys continued sleeping. That was until Sokka stirred and looked over to Katara's sleeping bag. He noticed she was gone with a, "Huh?"
He crept over to the bag and questioned, "Where did she go?" He looked into the bag and saw that the scroll was gone and said, "I don't believe it."
It stirred the others awake as Aang yawned before asking, "What's wrong?"
"Yeah, someone seems in a grumpy mood." Natasha said as she stretched.
He dumped out the bag and said, "She took the scroll. She's obsessed with that thing. It's just a matter of time before she gets us all in deep…" He didn't get to finish as a rope wrapped around his wrists and he shrieked when he was pulled away.
The pirate who threw it unwrapped it and then spun it over his head before throwing it at Sokka again. Sokka yelled as he rolled out of the way. He rolled towards his sleeping bag and picked up his club. Then with a determined look, the Water Tribe Warrior ran at the pirate. Aang assumed his Airbender's stance and was about to help when he looked back and saw another pirate with two huge crossbows over his shoulders. He lifted the weapons up and fired the arrows that were attached to a net. Aang sent an air sphere at it, but all it did was warp the net as it flew at him. Aang fell to the ground as he was entangled in the net. Steve saw this and shouted, "Aang!"
He picked up his shield and ran to help his friend. But before he could throw the shield, he had to block the incoming metal arm. The Winter Soldier was about to start fighting when a net ensnared Cap. He looked to the pirate who then shot at the incoming Natasha. As she fell to the ground and struggled to get out, she said with frustration, "Okay, this is just embarrassing!"
As Sokka was subdued by another pirate, Aang, Steve and Natasha's nets were dragged away. The pirate said to the others, "We've got them. Come on!"
The Winter Soldier glared as he started to follow the pirates back to the boats. As the pirates ran off, Sokka stood up and sarcastically asked, "Oh, what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?"
His answer to that was to be ensnared in another net. He shrieked as he was pulled alone.
x
It was later in the morning as Cap, Nat, Sokka and Aang stood in front of the pirates as they had their hands tied. Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier stood in front of the Fire Nation as the prince commended, "Nice work."
Prince Zuko had the scroll in hand as he walked over to make the trade. Three of the four struggled to break out of their bonds while Aang watched in uncertainty about how it could go. Katara then begrudgingly said to him, "Aang, this is all my fault."
"No, Katara, it isn't." Aang said to console her. General Iroh made the moment awkward by saying, "Yeah, it kind of is."
Katara gave him a side glance to this. Prince Zuko then decided that enough was enough and said, "Give me the boy."
"And the two Avengers." The Winter Soldier added.
"You give us the scroll." The captain said, not giving in so lightly. Sokka then thought of something and questioned, "You're really going to hand over the Avatar and two of the Earth's mightiest heroes for a stupid piece of parchment?"
"Don't listen to him." Prince Zuko said, knowing what Sokka was doing. He then tried to warn them, "He's trying to turn us against each other."
But the pirates had become interested in what Sokka said as the captain asked, "Your friend is the Avatar?"
"And what exactly is an Avenger?" The pirate in green asked. Sokka leaned around the captain and answered both questions, "Sure is-" He turned to the pirate and said, "And the Avengers are some of the greatest heroes of all time from where they're from."
Neither Nat nor Steve knew what to say as Sokka then said, "and I'll bet that all three would fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll."
"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Prince Zuko shouted in anger. Though not as angry, Aang was kind of in agreement as he said, "Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth."
Natasha then caught on to what Sokka was doing and said, "No, let him keep it up."
"I'm just saying, it's bad business sense." Sokka said as he kept it up. He played on their money fantasies as he said, "Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. Not to mention that someone had that guy over there with the metal arm look for these two, so they might give you a little extra," They looked over to the Winter Soldier and then to his friends and they perked up as Sokka said, "You guys would be set for life."
The pirates were in agreement as the captain turned to Prince Zuko and said, "Keep the scroll." He felt pretty good about what Sokka said as he smugly said, "We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for these three."
The pirates then began to lead their prisoners away. Prince Zuko then glared at them and darkly said, "You'll regret breaking a deal with us."
Then he and two of his Firebenders threw huge blasts of fire at them. The pirates screamed as they jumped out of the way. Then the pirate in green jumped over the flames as they touched the ground. Then running at the Firebenders, he threw three smoke pellets at them. When he threw them all, he had to duck under a blast of fire. The pellets landed to the sides of Prince Zuko and caused his men to cover their coughing faces from the smoke while he shot another stream of fire. A flying blade causes Zuko to shriek as he fell back into the smoke. Then the pirate jumped high into the air and dove into the smoke.
A trio of ordinary Fire Nation soldiers and the Winter Soldier ran around the smoke. The three Fire soldiers had their spears pointed at the kneeling Aang and Sokka. The two gasped in fear as they saw the shouting men coming. Cap and Nat stood their ground to defend the boys, but became surprised when four of the other pirates jumped around them, weapons ready, and threw down their own smoke pellets. The Fire Nation soldiers and the Winter Soldier stopped to look through the giant cloud of smoke, but the other three gasped as the pirates halfway jumped out and grabbed them. The Winter Soldier was about to be grabbed himself when he caught the last pirate's arm and pulled him out of the smoke. The pirate looked up to him in fear as he used his metal arm to hoist him in the air. Then with a mighty fling, the Winter Soldier threw the pirate into the river. Then with a yell of his own, the assassin jumped into the smoke cloud.
Katara watched the scene unfold in front of her as Momo climbed down the tree. She smiled as he began to chew through the ropes. And she was even more glad when he got them off. Rubbing her wrists and said, "Thanks Momo. I owe you a bushel of apples."
The lemur nodded in compliance before they both took off.
Inside their smoke cloud, Cap used his super strength until his bonds snapped off. He saw the silhouette of Natasha as she struggled next to him and asked, "Nat?! Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" She shouted back. He ran over to her but made sure to keep his guard up. When he reached her, he grabbed the ropes on her wrists and broke them with a yank. Nat rubbed her wrists as he suggested, "I say we find the kids and get the heck out of here!"
"No arguments here!" Natasha said. Then she saw something coming from behind him and made Cap duck as a spear passed over his back. Then jumping over her friend, Nat drop kicked the Fire Nation soldier back into the smoke. As they stood back up she joked, "You might want to keep your wits about you in here, hm."
Cap huffed in annoyance before running off into the smoke. Natasha did the same and ran the other way.
Aang walked through a different section of the smoke and coughed from it. When he stopped coughing, he saw some weapon coming his way. He grunted as he leaned back. The weapon sliced through the ropes on his wrists. He looked at his bindings as they came loose. He screamed as a spear nearly hit him in the back, "Aah!"
On the outside of the dust cloud, Prince Zuko shouted as he jumped out of the smoke, "Aah!"
Then he quietly slid the scroll behind his back through his belt. Even though it squinted, Prince Zuko's injured eye was able to see the incoming sword. He quickly turned and leaned back as the sword went over him. He glared and was surprised to that it was the pirate captain before glaring again. The pirate captain held his sword straight out before moving to a readied stance with a growl. The captain was able to move Prince Zuko's right arm to the left with his sword as the Firebender threw one. Then with a flaming spin kick, Zuko's leg was stopped by the pirate sword. Then the pirate captain lunged with his blade. Fortunately for him, Zuko used his left arm to block/divert it as sparks flew from it. He glared before using his other hand to make a fiery sweep. But the pirate captain was able to grab the hand while Zuko tried to keep the hand with the sword at bay. As the two grappled with each other, another pirate snuck behind Zuko and used a rope to grab the scroll from him. Prince Zuko looked back to the scroll flying to the man. But just as he reached for the incoming parchment, Momo swooped in and grabbed it with his back fee as he flew. This caused the pirate to shout in anger, "Hey!"
Momo flew by a tree that the pirate captain's bird crawled down from. It screeched when it saw the scroll and took off after the lemur. As he flew with the scroll Momo was tackled from the side by the bird, making him drop the scroll. It fell into the smoke cloud with the combatants still locked in battle.
Sokka crawled through the smoke as swords and other weapons clanged as they clashed around him. He stopped to take a look around as a knife hit the ground in front of him, startling him a little with a yell. Quickly getting over the shock of it, he used the blade to cut his bindings. As he moved his arms up and down the blade to cut the ropes he looks out into the cloud and shouts, "Aang? Steve? Natasha? Are any of you there?!"
"I'm coming Sokka!" Steve shouted as he ran through the smoke. A pirate came up to him with his sword raised, but Cap removed his shield and held it front of him as the blade came down. The blade broke on contact with the vibranium, causing the pirate to look at Cap in shock. Deciding to not get caught up in a fight with him, Cap took his shield and bopped it on the man's face. The man had a goofy grin on his face as he fell back words. Then he ran to where he heard Sokka's voice and found him as he had cut the ropes.
"I'm over here!" Aang shouted as he used airbending to jump up from the smoke. Then he instructed, "Follow my voice."
"Where? Me and Steve can't find you." Sokka shouted as he landed in the smoke. The Airbender then shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'm right here!"
Natasha then appeared out of the smoke and said, "I think we might need a different tactic, kid!"
Seeing that she was right, he tried something different and with an outward thrust of both arms, he used airbending to clear the smoke. But he and Natasha soon found it to be a bad idea as it awkwardly revealed that they were surrounded by both Fire Nation soldiers and pirates alike. Acting quickly, Aang brought the smoke back with his hands high above his head and then shouted, "Uh… never mind! We'll find you!"
Both Steve and Sokka crawled out of the smoke just as Aang jumped with Nat in his arms out. As the two sailed in front of Cap and Sokka, Aang shouted as he landed, "Run!"
None of them hesitated as Steve and Sokka stood up and they ran along the river. They saw Katara trying to push the pirate's ship back into the water. Aang happily exclaimed, "Katara, you're okay!"
"Help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here." Katara said as she struggled to push. Natasha then questioned with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure we can move this thing?"
"We should at least try!" Steve said as he moved to the other side of Katara and started pushing on the boat. The other three joined them and started pushing as well. All five grunted with effort as they pushed. When it only budged an inch thanks to Cap's strength they stopped. Natasha looked to Cap and remarked, "Wow. Even with super strength you can barely push a boat."
"Hey! It's not like I'm the Hulk." Cap retorted. But Sokka was kind of on Nat's side as he said, "We need a team of rhinos or this Hulk person to budge this ship."
Aang had a smile on his face as he thought of something. He looked to Katara and said, "A team of rhinos… or two Waterbenders."
The other three knew what he meant as Katara gave him a grateful glance. Steve looked back to the fight and saw a familiar figure emerge from the smoke. Readying his shield, Cap turned to Nat and said, "We need to by them some time." Turning to Aang and Katara he said, "Make sure to be quick and then let us know!" Looking to Sokka he said, "Watch their backs, alright."
Both Waterbenders nodded in confirmation and quickly assumed their stances. Cap and Nat walked towards the Winter Soldier as the assassin stepped out of the smoke. Cap placed his shield on his left arm as Nat readied herself. The Winter Soldier stopped and reached down. He pulled a knife from his boot and twirled it between his fingers. The three looked at each other and prepared themselves. Then with a yell, both sides charged at one another. Cap ducked as the Winter Soldier swiped his knife at him. When his foe spun the knife in his hands and pointed it down, Cap grabbed his wrist and grappled with his old friend. This allowed Natasha to come in from the side with a kick to him. The kick landed and knocked the Winter Soldier off to the side. He looked over just in time to see her trying to use an axe kick on him. But he was able to grab her foot as it came down and then used his other shoulder to knock her away. She rolled off to the side as Cap ran at him. Both men started a slug fest with Cap and Steve punching each other in the face at the same time. When they looked at each other, Cap tried to talk to Bucky again, "Bucky! Please, listen to me!"
"Funny." The Winter Soldier said as he raised his fists, "The little Water Tribe girl tried to talk to me too. But I am not really in the mood for listening."
With another yell, the Winter Soldier spun the knife again and made to strike at his former friend. But Cap blocked the blade with his shield and the blade shattered to pieces. Then with his metallic arm, he tried to punch Cap. But the untimely arrival of Natasha caught him off guard. With a punch to the face, she sent the Hydra assassin staggering. The Winter Soldier looked up as both Cap and Nat stood side by side.
Both Aang and Katara immediately got to work on moving the boat. With low swinging motions with their arms, both Benders brought the river water onto the shore. After for swings of their arms, the river came higher on the shore and made the ship rise up. All three of them had wide grins on their faces. Katara turned to Sokka and said, "Get Steve and Nat's attention so we can all get in."
Sokka nodded before running off. As Cap and Natasha stood side by side, the Winter Soldier started to move around him when something came in from behind and hit him in the back of the head. The Winter Soldier looked to see Sokka standing a few feet away with his arm outstretched. The Water Tribe teen looked at him with a regretful glance and uttered, "I'm sorry."
But before the Winter Soldier could do anything, Cap came in with a punch to his face. His old friend fell to the ground unconscious. Sokka then said, "Come on. The ship's ready."
All three of them started to move to the ship. Steve slowed for a moment to take one last look at Bucky. He silently said, "Goodbye, Bucky. I promise to help you. Some day."
He quickly turned his head away and ran for the pirate ship. All five quickly used the ladder on the ship to board.
Both Prince Zuko and the pirate captain continued to trade blows, but still not land a hit on the other. When the captain maneuvered around the prince, Iroh quickly made him lower his sword arm while pushing on the back of Zuko's ponytail. The two stopped fighting as he said to the captain, "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your ship has set sail?"
"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Prince Zuko exclaimed in irritation, thinking that his uncle was having one of those moments. But Iroh was quickly to make them see by saying and pointing to the river, "It's no proverb."
Both Prince Zuko and the pirate captain look to the water to see that the ship was indeed setting sail. The captain became shocked as he shouted, "Bleeding hog monkeys!"
The pirate captain then took off running after the ship with Prince Zuko laughing at his misfortune. The Winter Soldier, know having regained conscious, walked up to them and said, "I wouldn't be so quick to laugh."
He pointed to the river and they saw that the pirate crew had taken Prince Zuko's smaller boat. The pirates started to laugh at the prince's misfortune as one of them was about to moon him. In annoyance Prince Zuko shouted, "Hey!" He moved around his uncle and the Winter Soldier to run after them while shouting, "That's my boat!"
The Winter Soldier immediately followed. Iroh took the moment to ponder with his hand to his beard and said, "Maybe it should be a proverb."
"Come on, Uncle!" Prince Zuko shouted. General Iroh then ran after them.
x
Aang and Cap stood on the roof at the back of the ship to see that the pirates in their stolen ship gaining on them in their stolen ship. Aang turned to Sokka who was at the wheel and asked, "Sokka, can't you make it go any faster?!"
"Some more speed would be really nice about now." Cap chimed in. Sokka was flummoxed as he told them, "I don't know how." He looked back and worriedly said, "This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe."
"No offense, Sokka," Natasha said from the side of the ship. Sokka looked down as she said, "but you'd make a pretty terrible pirate."
This resulted in Sokka scowling down at her. But before anything else could be done, Cap and Aang looked to their left to see the Fire Nation boat next to theirs. Cap yelled down to the others, "Heads up! We're about to be boarded!"
Some of the pirates started to jump off from their stolen boat onto the pirate ship. All five of them prepared themselves for a fight. Two of them get ready to attack Katara when Aang jumps from one end of the roof to another and using a powerful wave to knock them both off. Both pirates scream as they were washed away. Unfortunately, only one pirate was washed off the boat. The other pirate hit the railing. Seeing that he was still on the ship, he got up and prepared to attack again.
Katara, unsure of what to do at first, became determined as she performed the moves of the water whip. She performed them flawlessly as she sent the pirate flying off the ship. While she looked excited, bot Nat and Aang looked in amazement as the latter joyously said, "Hey! You did the Water Whip!"
"I couldn't have done it without your help." Katara smiled as she admitted it. Natasha gave her a thumbs up and said, "Not bad, kid."
"Will you three quit congratulating each other and help us out?!" Sokka said as he and Cap were in a weird knot with the pirates. The big pirate had a sleeper hold on Sokka while one of his arms stuck out. Sokka had his legs wrapped around the pirate in green's neck and that pirate had Steve in a choke hold with the super soldier twisting the pirate's leg.
But before they could do anything, Momo flew by with the captain's bird still chasing after him. Both lemur and bird flew out over the river, growling and shrieking as they gave chase. The bird kept gaining as Momo flew away. Soon the two flew close to the river and stuck a wing in the water. When they turned back to the ship, Momo climbed up one of the sails with the bird following and punching holes in the fabric. As they flew over the smaller pirates flag, Momo went around it and grabbed the end with his back feet. When the bird started to follow him, Momo was able to entangle the bird with the flag. The bird squirmed to get out.
As Cap and Sokka continued to battle the two pirates, Cap ran at the one in green who moved to the side. This caused Cap to run over the railing and hit the deck. He laid there with a groan. The bigger pirate hoisted a screaming Sokka into the air and threw him at one of the sails. The pirate in green then complimented, "That's good."
But while they were observing their work, Aang jumped down from behind and used an air sphere to shove the green pirate through the railing. When the bigger pirate rushed him, Aang dodged around and used a sweep kick to knock him over. But before the pirate hit the ground, Aang created a funnel of air under the pirate, surrounded himself underneath and shot the pirate to other side of the boat and into the river. With both pirates down, Aang jumped down to Sokka while Nat checked on Cap. As they tried to wake up their friends, Katara saw something and shouted, "Hey, look!"
Up ahead was a huge waterfall. Aang saw it and gasped in dread, "Oh, no."
The pirate in green came up behind him and pulled out a knife. Aang reached into his pocket and pulled out the bison whistle. This confused the pirate as Aang took a deep breath and blew into the whistle. And just when the pirate was about to attack, Cap smacked him in the face with his shield and Sokka came from behind knocking the knife out of his hand and then with a round house, he knocked the pirate off the ship. Sokka then walked past Steve towards Aang and questions, "Have you lost your mind?! This is no time for flute practice!"
All five looked over the railing and watched as the ship came closer to the waterfall. Quickly thinking, Katara said, "We can stop the boat." Both Aang and Katara assumed their waterbending positions and started to slow the boat as she said, "Aang, together, push and pull the water."
They leaned forward before drawing their arms back. Aang kept track of his movements as they continued. A whirlpool from the bending formed in front of their ship, making it turn on its side. Katara noticed it and shouted, "It's working! It's slowing down!"
Both Waterbenders shifted around to keep it up. After a few more strokes of their arms, another whirlpool formed as it kept the ship from going over. Both Aang and Katara smiled at their success as she said, 'We're doing it!"
The other three smiled for a moment before looking back. Their smiles faded as Natasha said, "Um, guys, you might not wanting to be celebrating it too soon."
"Yeah, cause we have another problem." Sokka said as he pointed at the incoming Fire Nation boat. The boat came at them and rammed into the pirate ship, making both Aang and Katara lose their concentration. They all screamed as the boat tipped over from the blow. Both ships started to go over the falls. As they slid to the edge of the pirate ship, Aang shouted, "Jump!"
They all screamed as they jumped over falls and fell. Sokka screamed as they all took each other's hands and fell to the bottom. But at the last possible second, Appa came flying in and caught them in his saddle just as both ships fell over the falls. Both ships fell into the river and sent a huge wave down it as Appa flew away.
Holding up the whistle, Aang proudly said, "I knew a bison whistle would come in handy." He looked down to the bison and gratefully said, "Thanks, Appa."
"Yeah, we owe you one." Sokka said as Momo landed on his shoulder and wrapped his long tail around the teen's head. Steve chuckled and then said, "I guess you made the right move by buying that thing."
Appa grunted in agreement as he flew.
X
Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier ran to the cliff's edge and the prince shouted when he saw the wreckage, "My boat!"
"That's not gonna be easy to replace." The Winter Soldier remarked. General Iroh caught up with them and leaned over to take a breath. After taking a few deep breaths, a smile formed on his face as he chuckled before putting his hands in his sleeves and saying, "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this." He pulled something out of his sleeve as he smiled a big grin while saying, "The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"
All Prince Zuko did in response was huff in anger at losing the Avatar, his boat and now this. His uncle had his eyes closed as Zuko swiped the tile from his hands. Iroh then looked to his empty hand and then watched as Prince Zuko threw the tile over the cliff. The tile flew far and hit the pirate in green in the head.
X
As they flew high above the clouds, Katara turned to Aang and said, "Aang, I still owe you an apology."
All five and Momo sat in the saddle as the four others looked at her as she had her hands in her lap.
She looked guilty and downcast as she admitted, "You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."
"That's okay, Katara." Aang said to make her feel better while Sokka placed a hand inside his shirt. Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "And don't worry. Next time you feel competitive that it gets this bad, we'll make sure to help you snap out of it."
"That's right." Steve said in agreement. Then Katara, feeling a little better, rhetorically asked, "Besides, who needs that stupid scroll, anyway?"
"Is that really how you feel?" Sokka asked as he held something in his hand. The others were surprised that he got it. Katara looked up and said in astonishment, "The scroll!"
She moved to grab it, but Sokka held a hand in front of him while keeping the scroll away from her. Then he asked, "First, what did you learn?"
Katara, now knowing her lesson, said, "Stealing is wrong."
Seeing that she got the gist of it, Sokka then moved to give it to her when she swiped it out of his hand. She had a smirk on her face as she added, "Unless it's from pirates."
Aang, Steve and Nat all started laughing from this as they flew. Aang pointed to her and said again, "Good one, Katara."
x
It was past noon as they made it back on his ship, Prince Zuko still had a scowl from the entire experience as he walked through the halls. They had just recovered the smaller boat from the river and brought it back inside the bigger ship. As he walked through the halls, something started to plague Prince Zuko's mind about earlier in the morning. Something about what the Water Tribe girl had said about the Winter Soldier. But he decided after both a good mediating session and a training session to work it off, he would question the Hydra assassin about the name of: Bucky Barnes.
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This story is dedication to:
Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018
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Author's Note: This was a fun one to write. You've seen that I gave Stan Lee a little more than just a cameo appearance in this episode. Just to let you know, I have something very special for the next episode since I'll have reached the halfway mark of book one. 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. I will see you all guys next time.
