Author's Notes – Greetings, comrades! Updates are going to be a bit slower since school is starting... Although I'll actually have more time on my hands during school days since I have more time on the computer than I did during the summer... Strange, isn't it?
Also, I actually check how many people read Flipping Table Production's stories...And I really expect more reviews from the 162 of you that read this story...
Now, I have a new policy: if I do not receive at least 3 reviews for new chapters, I will not even start working on the next chapter. And no, they cannot all be from the same person.
I'm completely aware it has been a long time since I last updated, and for that I truly apologize. My only excuse is that I have taken Angel-of-Energy's advice to heart...and I've started to write a novel based off of the plot of this story. Millions of thanks to Angel-of-Energy, this chapter is for you. I promise you all, I WILL finish this story. I refuse to give up on this story. I will write this story until I collapse.
"What are you talking about? America is not going to be destroyed."
"Never?
Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed.
All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours?
How much longer do you really think your own country will last?
Forever?
Block the entrances
Close the doors
Seal the exits
'Cause this is war
All gave some
Some gave all
But for what
I want to know
Carry on
Don't mind me
All I gave was everything
And yet you ask me for more
Fought your fight
Bought your lie
And in return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?
A folded flag
A purple heart
A family all but torn apart
I fought with courage to preserve
Not my way of life, but yours
Carry on
Don't mind me
All I gave was everything
And yet you ask me for more
Fought your fight
Bought your lie
And in return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?
The cowards preach from pedestals
With words like courage and resolve
But what they meant was fuck them all
'Cause freedom isn't free
They send our daughters and our sons
To deserts under burning suns
A sacrificial slaughtering to fill
The pockets of the weak
An artificial enemy
Are we so easily deceived?
They carry on
("You're a shameful opportunist! What you don't understand is that it's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
"You had it backwards. It's better to live on your feet than to die on your knees.")
Don't carry on
Just walk away
How many more sent to their graves
In this lesson ignored?
I fought your fight
Bought your lie
And in return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?
What purpose did I serve?"
- Survivor's Guilt by Rise Against
"And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar, Ezekiel 9:2."
Startled by the sudden voice, the other five Kyoshi warriors whirled around, weapons ready to fire. Standing next to a seemingly dead Kyoshi warrior was a rather plump old man, who was dressed in red silk robes and had two AutoMags in his hands. His grey hair was tied into a top-knot and his golden eyes gave the impression that he was amused and not at all threatened by the warriors. He moved to raise his own weapons and the warriors flinched, ready to fire.
He chuckled fearlessly and said nonchalantly, "Now, now, no one needs to die..."
"Put the guns down." One of the warriors commanded in a serious tone. The man then laughed and replied, "Now, ladies, you should know one thing: Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive."
In a blur, the man's hand whipped forward and fired; the bullet flying right past one Kyoshi warrior's head and straight into a fire extinguisher. Once the metal casing was penetrated, a giant cloud of dry chemicals spewed into the hall, making it almost impossible to see.
"Warning to all intruders..." The man announced in an amused tone, and the Kyoshi warriors panicked and flailed around, trying to see anyone or anything. "Trespassers will be shot..."
Two gunshots rang out, and two 'thud's followed. The remaining three warriors froze, utterly terrified.
"Survivors will be shot again."
Three more gunshots rang out, but only one 'thud' followed and quick footsteps. The man raised an eyebrow and stepped forward; right out of the chemical cloud. He removed the fogged up glasses from his face and placed them back in his pocket, and looked at the metal floor to see a trail of blood droplets on the ground.
Grinning, he advanced slowly down the hall, following the trail. Singing:
"We all live in a flying submarine...a flying submarine...a flying submarine..."
"I-I...W-we accept y-your offer, Lord Ozai."
Toph froze, and Ozai turned back to Lao. The hologram then asked, "Are you sure?"
Trembling, Toph turned to see her father, usually standing strong and straight, now tears rolling down his face and shaking with fear and sadness like a coward. The cyborg holding Toph shook his head in disappointment, and Ozai's expression turned into disgust.
"Sacrificing your child to save yourself, and not even going with her to be together in death...what a shame..." Ozai muttered; his voice low enough for only Toph and the cyborg to hear. At that point, Toph finally felt the tears rolling down her face as Ozai sighed and proclaimed, "Very well. Cyborg Hei Bai, take her to the others."
Poppy then let out a bloodcurdling scream as if she was being torn apart, and lunged towards the cyborg holding her daughter. The cyborg, Hei Bai, noticeably flinched as Lao grabbed her by the waist, trying to calm his crying and screaming wife.
"She's almost blind...weak...we're more deserving than her..." Toph heard her father murmur into her mother's ear, yet Poppy continued screaming as Hei Bai carried her out of the room. Toph remained silent with shock as she was carried down the stairs , not responding as the cyborg switched her position by balancing her over his cold, unfeeling shoulder.
As Toph was carried out the door, she turned to her street and saw what all the noise was, and her eyes widened in horror.
Large, hovering trucks filled the street, people being herded, shoved, and thrown into the trucks without a second thought. Dead bodies of those that resisted lined the sidewalks, and blood pooled all over the ground. Buildings around them were either burning or being raided, the screams and crashes proving the point.
As the two approached a temporarily empty truck, Toph heard the cyborg say in a deeply accented voice, "I'm very sorry, Miss Bei Fong."
Toph squeezed her eyes shut and she whispered, "Why did they just give up on me?"
The cyborg was silent as he opened the back of the empty truck and carefully placed her down, as if even holding her would make her shatter in his giant metal hands (the gun placed at his side). Toph sniffled, and she felt one metal finger wipe away the tears under her eyes, and she opened her eyes and saw the cyborg looking down at her with uttermost pity, like a saddened pet owner having to put down his dying puppy.
"To be human is to have human nature. Human nature is always the same it breeds pain, death, suffering, conflict, and war. Because they are human, they shall kill. Because they are human, they shall destroy. Because they are human, they will survive. Because they are human, they will evolve. Because they are human, they shall live...and you will die."
"But...am I not human?"
Hei Bai thought for a second, and then replied:
"I truly do hope the next time we meet, the scientists have decided for you to remain human, Miss Bei Fong. Because the things I've seen made from Lion Laboratories are Hell's worst abominations. Maybe...Death may even be the better option."
As the door slid shut, the truck was engulfed with darkness.
At that moment, Toph Bei Fong felt truly, and utterly alone.
Zuko cautiously strode down the metal corridor, flinching and pointing his light machine gun at every sound. His footsteps rang off the walls and floor, making his heart beat wildly and ears strain for any other sound.
Right when he was about to turn a corner, the gun was abruptly kicked out of his hands and punched him to the face.
Falling to his knees, he shook of the feeling on fear and tried to reach for the gun on the ground, only for a boot to stomp on his hand. He tried to look up at his attacker only for it to knee him in the eye and fall onto his back.
One of the two Kyoshi warriors stood over him, and pointed the machine gun right between his eyes. He saw pure hatred in the fighter's eyes, and he felt a great wave of fear roll through him. Suddenly, a voice ring in his ears:
"Get UP, Prince Zuko!"
The familiar, disembodied voice seemed to snuff out his feeling of fear, and the Kyoshi warrior's finger was just about to press the trigger. His hand subconsciously caught the gun's barrel with lightning speed and shoved it away from him the second the warrior began firing. Bullets pelted the metal next to him, making a horrible ringing noise in all their ears, catching both Kyoshi warriors off guard.
Taking the advantage, Zuko kicked the Kyoshi warrior's legs, causing her to fall over as he leapt upward. Once the warrior fell, he didn't hesitate to slam his fist to the back of her neck, and the other warrior behind Zuko threw her armored arm around his neck and held him back. The combatant on the ground wasted no time standing and began kicking Zuko repeatedly in the abdomen.
After the fifth blow, he felt bile and blood rise and his throat, and whipped his head back, breaking the other warrior's nose. The second he felt the arm's grip loosen, he whirled around and punched her right in the face.
The former warrior that was kicking him tried to throw another punch at him, just for Zuko to effectively shove her back, making her fall on her back. Right next to the gun.
Hearing the sound of scraping metal, Zuko turned to see the standing warrior, who now had a bloody, bruised broken nose, brandishing two steel knives and twirling them menacingly at him. The moment she tried to cut him to pieces, he grabbed her hand mid-swing and swung her around, pinning her hands behind the back.
Before the restrained warrior could even move, a huge blast of bullets flew and struck her in the chest, instantly killing her. A clicking sound could be heard as the gun ran out of bullets, and the warrior on the ground tried to stand and run. The moment she stood, a steel knife cut through the air and struck her in the back of the neck, severing her spine.
The body collapsed onto the floor, and Zuko standing a few feet away, ready throw the other knife at any other opponents.
"Good job, Prince Zuko."
He spun around and nearly threw the knife, only to see his Uncle Iroh standing in the corridor, a smile that rivaled the Cheshire Cat's on his face.
"U-Uncle?"
"A very impressive fight there, Zuko." Iroh commented, walking forward and Zuko calmed considerably, seeing the slight stains of blood on his uncle's clothes. Zuko hesitantly asked, "Did you take care of the rest of them?"
"That's more of a statement than question." Iroh replied, inspecting the bodies. "Except, one of them fired a missile into our crew's quarters and was heading for the containment chamber."
"W-wha-THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU GONE AFTER HER?" Zuko suddenly screamed. Iroh didn't flinch at his nephew's outburst and turned over one of the bodies and saw it still its eyes open. Closing the body's hollow eyes, Iroh simply said, "It's because she's already in there."
"Maybe...Death may even be the better option."
Slowly, the scene of the truck faded, as if Abaddon was finished showing her the memory. She felt confused and even...furious, at Abaddon, for resurfacing so much pain. What did that dream mean? Toph thought, eyebrows knitting together. What could Abaddon possibly want me to realize from these flashbacks...? Why me? What the hell?
Toph then tried to move her hands, and heard a startled grasp. Her mismatched eyes then shot open, and the first thing she immediately noticed was that she was coated in sweat and breathing heavily, as if she was running a marathon. Vision clearing, she looked around, trying to find out where she was.
In a moment, she recognized she was sitting, body propped against the wall, in her bathroom. A small clump of horribly bloodied bandages hung from the sink, and when Toph saw them she winced at the sudden pain from her only real arm. Raising her left arm to her face, her eyes widened.
As she suspected, someone had replaced her bandages, yet her hand was still uncovered, and Toph's eyes narrowed at the mangled bloody mess that was her hand. Noticing the bandages were beginning to unravel, Toph's metal hand reached over to finish it, only for a frightened voice to squeak:
"D-don't touch that! You'll hurt yourself."
Both blind pale green and electrical crimson eyes widened at the voice, and a memory flashed across Toph's vision, one of a certain young girl, who had brown eyes and black hair with a slight lisp, and got into a new crush every week. A certain girl Toph swore to a dying woman she'd protect, and ended up getting her arm blasted off.
Toph stiffened at the memory, as the image of the girl suddenly shifted, and was then covered in blood, screaming into Toph's ears:
"You said you'd protect me...You promised Aunt Wu...You PROMISED!"
Toph clamped her hand over her ears and let out a blood-curdling scream as another wave of sheer pain and visions flooded through her mind. Shutting her eyes, she could still hears the girl's screaming and shouting at her, and the image of the bloodied girl never leaving her vision, even with eyes closed.
Then, she felt two hands grab her shoulders.
Out of pure instinct, Toph felt a huge blast of pent up rage flow through her and she grabbed the person's wrists and twisted them; not enough to break them, but enough to inflict pain. Once Toph heard the person's pained cry, she jumped onto her feet and pinned the person to the wall behind her.
Using her bandaged arm to pin the person against the wall, she reared her metal arm back and unsheathed the blade, ready to stab through the person's head. The person's shouts and cries were muffled by the inexistent screaming Toph could hear. Just before Toph stabbed through the person's head, Toph felt the person's weight shift, and something unexpected happened.
SMACK!
...
...
Toph's eyes slowly opened, noticing the screaming had stopped, and she felt a nagging sting on her right cheek. She heard someone else's heavy breathing behind her arms, and Toph suddenly realized what happened. Toph hastily removed her arm form the person, and Toph immediately sheathed the blades, the blades quickly retracting into her metal arm.
The person slumped to the floor, grasping their throat and gasping for breath, and Toph leaned back against the sink, head in hands, trying to clear her mind. Toph them moved her hands away, and saw the person she had almost killed.
"L-little sheep...?"
Suki hastily plugged the tiny flash drive into the side of the key code controls, and the buttons flashed the brilliant color blue as it hacked the door open. The leader Kyoshi warrior shuddered as she heard gunshots echo through the halls, and Suki could almost tell she was the only one left.
"No, they can't be dead..." Suki muttered to herself, trying to suppress her feelings of sadness. "They just can't be dead..."
The key pad suddenly gave a ringing beep, along with hissing pressurized air coming out of the metal door in front of her. The door cracked open, and steam blasted out of the thin fissure. As the door slowly slid open, more steam rolled out.
Unnatural, blinding light hit Suki in the face along with the steam, and Suki subconsciously covered her eyes with her forearm. As her eyes adjusted to the right, she strode forward into the circular room, holding her breath.
Once her eyes adjusted, she lowered her eyes, and gasped.
In the center of the circular room, stood a metal pedestal, and on the top was a small glass dome. Inside the dome was a unnerving, small, multifaceted blood-red stone. The reason it was unnerving, was that it was floating. Floating, and glowing an eerie crimson light.
The light seemed to be...pulsating. Like a person's heartbeat.
The Lapis Philosophorum.
Suki hesitantly took a step forward, and the floating stone's light suddenly stopped pulsing. She took another step, and the light dimmed ever so slightly. As she strode forward, the light got dimmer and dimmer.
When Suki stood right in front of it, the light was almost gone, all except a tiny, almost pitiful glow. With ease, Suki raised her gun, and smashed the glass.
Loud, blaring sirens sounded as Suki took a hand-sized metal cylinder canister out of her pocket and scooped the stone out of midair and hurriedly snapped the lid onto the container.
"So much work for a Philosopher's Stone..."
Philosopher's Stone - (Latin: lapis Philosophorum) is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals (lead, for example) into gold (chrysopoeia) or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal in Western alchemy. The philosopher's stone was the central symbol of the mystical terminology of alchemy, symbolizing perfection at its finest, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss. Efforts to discover the philosopher's stone were known as the Magnum Opus.
