Chapter Ten
Disclaimer: I am still filed under the list of people who don't own Avatar. If I did own Avatar, though, things would be different. Like, I would have more money.
"What? You?" Sokka cried. "You're dead!"
"Or so the whole world thought. But, as you can clearly see, I'm not." said Admiral Zhao. "Staying dead was perfect. No one looked for me, no one tried to find me, I could do anything I wanted. It was perfect."
"Leave." said Sokka.
"No." replied Zhao, and he immediately threw a ball of fire at Sokka. Sokka barely dove out of the way in time; the fire singed his shoulder through his clothes, burning through them. With a spinning kick, Zhao had fire speed on the ground in a rapidly growing in a circular pattern. The fire, catching Sokka completely unprotected, engulfed him in flame. Rolling on the ground, he extinguished himself, got up, and picked up a chair.
Whipping it at Zhao, he hoped for the best. With a quick punch, the chair was completely destroyed, pieces flying everywhere. Looking around, Sokka tried to find anything that could help him. All he could see were tables, chairs, and five friends who didn't have a clue what was going on. If just one of them was right, he thought, Zhao could be taken out easily. But, without bending, a boomerang, or his space-sword, he had next to no chance.
A large blast of fire came Sokka's way. Grabbing a nearby table, he brought it up on its side, shielding Sokka from the fire. He rolled it Zhao's way, and ran alongside it. When Zhao kicked it away, Sokka was there. He delivered a quick punch to Zhao's chin. Zhao staggered back in shock more than pain. But, Sokka was still there, unrelenting in his blows.
Sokka got many great hit offs, but Zhao was strong. He used a leg to trip Sokka, while bringing his other knees into Sokka's face. He hit dead center, between the eyes. Sokka yowled in pain, and Zhao pushed him down to the ground with the bottom of his heel. With a shot of fire hitting Sokka in the head, it was over. Sokka was on the brink of unconsciousness, thoughts and vision blurry. He lay down on the ground, as that was all his body could muster. He was as weak and defenseless as his friends who could only talk and see invisible
"Filthy water peasant, I shall kill you slowly. You've been nothing but a thorn in my side since the very beginning. Now, I shall end you.
"Zuko! Quick! The dragon's over here, Zuko!" Sokka yelled, in a last ditch effort. Zuko immediately looked over and began hurling random flame. Sokka inched away, getting away from Zhao as best as he could. Of course, it didn't take long for Zhao to knock out Zuko. The deed was done in less than a minute. Zhao once again turned his attention to Sokka. Zhao's arms moved in the textbook formation of creating lightning.
Sparks began to appear on Zhao, all going to his stomach. Sokka was too tired and too hurt to do anything. He lay on the ground, awaiting his, and everybody else's untimely deaths. It's all my fault, Sokka thought. If only I didn't have to get revenge on Katara. Zhao was almost finished now.
One final thought was on Sokka's mind- Suki, his fiancé, his one true love. He and her, they were going to be murdered in cold blood. Now Zhao only had a second left to go, the amount of energy he had was amazing. Sokka's life flashed before his eyes. The adventures with Aang, living at the Southern Water Tribe were all remembered. And, for the first time, his mother. He saw her face, and started to cry. And, in one instant, it was over.
The sound of thunder to go with the lightning sounded. Blue lights filled the tea shop.
Sokka opened his eyes, for what he thought would be the last time. Surprisingly, there was no pain. He looked down; there was no mark on his body anywhere.
Sokka looked at Zhao. His eyes were wide open, in surprise. He staggered around, but managed to stay upright. Sokka saw behind him, and knew what happened. In the doorway, in perfect stance with two outstretched fingers, stood Uncle Iroh.
I'm skipping the humorous reference anecdote today for:
Warning- Review Rant Below
OK, I'm pretty mad. At time of writing (4:00 am EST, August 28, 2008) I checked reader traffic. I've had over one-hundred visitors from seventeen different countries. AND ONE REVIEWER. Please, people, please. Review. Say it's good, bad, or decent, I don't care, I'll try to make it better if you just offer your opinion. This lone reviewer got a personal message from me saying I was sorry for skipping a day when the previous chapter had a cliffhanger ending. I would send a message to every single reviewer if I ever felt the need to, as I did today. But, with only one reviewer, only one person got an official apology. So, once again, review. Review. Review.