(A/N: Hello, loyal readers! This is the final, dramatic 'season finale' of Book One. Like the original Avatar series, the series has three 'books'. This is Book One: Shadows. The next season will by entitled Book Two: Energy. I am not allowed to tell you what the title of the third book is, because my publisher fears that it will give away too much. Hee hee! -^_^- You'll have to wait until the third book to find out what the book title is.
If you read my A/N last chapter, you'd know that I've been a little depressed as of yet. Here's a thank-you for jenniyan, whose kind reviews cheered me up a little! :)
Anyway, like all season finales, this will be the longest chapter yet. Hopefully, it will answer many questions. And it will definitely answer the biggest question of all so far, who are the Shadowbenders? So, before we begin, here's a little promo.
Water…
Khole: Gaang: The Next Generation! It has a nice ring to it!
Earth…
Ischi: When will I see you again, my prince?
Fire…
Zuko: I don't know, my princess. Hopefully soon…
Air…
Meiya: You wouldn't give me a second thought if I weren't the Avatar… It's all about being the Avatar…
And now…Shadows…
Reigo: We are the Shadowbenders... And we control this war…
The Four Nations are falling apart at their very seams, because of the world's most mysterious adversary yet, the Shadows. Nobody knows who these strange beings are, or where they came from…
Meiya: -pant, pant- Who the hell are you? How do you know who I am? How do you know our every move before we even make it?
…until now…
Reigo: It's quite simple, my dear, if you just give it a little imagination. But since you obviously don't have any, I'll humor you. I am Reigo. I come from…
Coming soon to a theater near you…
Zuko: That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?
…Avatar: Rise of the Shadowbenders… There's nothing to be afraid of…yet…
And that my series-regulation promo! ^^ Now, sit back and enjoy the season finale!)
After a few minutes, wrapped up in helping his nation overcome the new threat, Zuko had all but forgotten about looking for Ischi. The more he walked around, the less of the Shadowbenders he was seeing.
Just when he thought that victory was certain, he looked up and saw that the giant moon portal began to churn again. Suddenly, the spherical portal spit up several more large shadow meteors, which barreled toward the earth. Like the first few meteors, when they got close to the Earth, they exploded into hundreds of smaller meteors that formed pools of shadow when they struck.
'Reinforcements? Or the second wave?' Zuko thought.
Zuko was shocked to see that instead of one, two people emerged from the shadow pool, one obvious Shadowbender, who held another man by the arm, wearing black and blue clothing. Zuko couldn't tell if it was an elite branch of Shadowbender soldier, or just weird fashion.
The Shadowbender let the man go and ran off. Zuko half-expected the strange man to transform into some hideously powerful beast, but in fact, he did something that Zuko found even more shocking.
The man arched his fingers toward the ground, and all of a sudden, water began to seep from the plants all around him. He was a Waterbender.
Several confusing questions ran through Zuko's head. Who was this man? How could he Waterbend in the presence of New Moon? Why was he with that Shadowbender? But most ominous of all, where exactly did that portal lead to?
Zuko pushed these questions to the back of his mind for now and refocused on his enemy. Zuko dully noted the bright charm he wore around each wrist. They weren't glowing before he began Waterbending.
The man quickly snapped his wrist toward Zuko. Bullets of water began to fire out of the main water body, freezing as they flew through the air.
Zuko raised a shield of fire that destroyed the ice bullets upon contact. Once the sharp jolts of pressure left his arms, he dropped the shield and launched a stream of fire from his hand, flash-burning the plants in front of the Waterbender and sending up a plume of smoke into his face. While the Waterbender was distracted, Zuko leaped into the smoke and tackled him to the ground.
"Why are you here?" was the first thing that Zuko demanded, twisting the man's arm behind him. "Answer me!"
"Do what you will to me! You'll never be able to stop the Shadow Clan now! It's far too late! The third and final wave should be arriving at any moment!" the man yelled.
"Soldier!" Zuko yelled to a nearby idle Firebender.
"Yes, sir?" the man asked.
"Take care of this one. I've got to find my father. I know it's against the Fire Nation principles, but if we're going to win this battle, we need the war machines." Zuko explained before running into the fray of battle again.
000
Khole ran through the battle, chi-blocking any and every Shadowbender she came across. She was doing great, as she was discovering less and less Shadowbenders to chi-block.
"We're winning! We're winning!" she yelled.
Suddenly, she saw the moon expel more shadow meteors and her jaw dropped.
"More? Oh, come on!"
She leaped backwards when a small meteor struck the ground in front of her. Two people rose out of the ground, one wearing all black, and the other wearing black and white. The man wearing all black let go of them man in front of him and ran into battle.
"You Shadowbenders are more colorful than I thought you were, but it doesn't make a difference to me." Khole said, running forward. "I'm still going to kick your-"
Khole was cut off by a wind-strengthened fist to the stomach, which blasted her backwards for several yards.
"No way! You're an Airbender? But that's impossible!"
Khole's opponent was silent and cold. He took a small brown metal rod from the sash he wore and pressed a button on its side. The rod extended into a long Bo staff, almost as tall as he was.
The man used his staff to fire powerful gusts of wind at Khole, who found it hard to dodge the projectiles and even harder to fight back. She couldn't even get close to the Airbender.
'If this one guy is giving me such a hard time, I can't imagine what everybody else must be going through.' Khole thought.
One unlucky blast from her opponent's staff struck Kohi on the leg and caused her to kneel on the other leg, unable to dodge anything anymore.
The Airbender raised his staff to finish the job, but before he could end Khole's life, a dais of land suddenly shot up under the Airbender's feet and launched him into the sky.
"Ischi!" Khole sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. I think my leg is broken."
Ischi lifted Khole's pant leg and looked at the warped, purple bruise on Khole's thigh.
"That's definitely broken. We have to get you back to the Bison. I don't think that we're going to beat this second wave." Ischi said worriedly, picking Khole up and running toward the hills where they left their airship.
000
Kohi wasn't faring any better against the second wave. The strange adversaries that could somehow bend the other elements were too difficult to fight, so Kohi ended up running away for the most part. She found higher elevation and stayed low so no one would notice her. Kohi naturally glanced around at what was going on below her, but she gasped when she saw Meiya battling with Reigo nearby. Unable to do anything to help, Kohi could do nothing but watch.
000
Meiya breathed in and out slowly, trying not to pant. Reigo had barely broken a sweat.
"Oh, come now. Is this really the power of the Avatar? I thought you had your four elements on your side. Did you decide to divide and conquer? If so, how's that working out?"
'She's trying to make me angry. And it's working.' Meiya thought, clenching her teeth.
"I can't believe that someone so powerful would be this weak. Maybe you're not motivated enough. Here's some incentive. Don't you want to know what happened to your father and sister?"
Meiya gasped. "Y-You killed them, didn't you? With…with the rest of my temple-mates."
"Wrong. Those two were the only ones I didn't kill. I still have plans for them. But, once I AM done with them, they'll have wished that I did kill them."
"Tell me where they are, now!" Meiya screamed.
"You don't deserve such information. If you're not strong enough to defeat me, what makes you think that you are strong enough to defeat the forces that bound the family?"
Meiya growled, her breathing becoming hard and rapid. Her hairrow, eyes and tattoos began to glow bright white, and powerful gales began to whip around her and Reigo.
"Go on, Meiya! Release all of your inner rage and inner grief! Assume the Dark Avatar State!"
As if on cue, Meiya's evil personality overshadowed her positive one and her glowing features turned from bright white to blood red.
'Wait!' yelled a voice within Meiya's head. The Dark Avatar frowned.
'We're on the same side! We both have the same enemy! Let me help you!'
'How could you possibly help me?'
Dark Meiya asked
.
'Even though your brain is working at full capacity, you're not using it, no offense. I can work our brain and use instant recall to give you the ability to use the other three elements! We can beat her if we work together! I have the brain, you have the brawn!'
'Humph! Fine. A one-time truce.'
Light Meiya began to work through every nook and cranny of the brain. First the memory banks, where she found memories of Ischi Earthbending and Zuko Firebending. She took those memories and analyzed them thoroughly. Then, she delivered the analyzed memories to the front of the brain: instant recall.
Outside the brain, once the memories reached instant recall, Dark Meiya smiled and stomped on the ground, causing a ravaging fissure to tear through the ground toward Reigo.
"What? Impossible!" she gasped, leaping into the air and out of the way.
Dark Meiya pulled toward herself, and a gale of wind slammed into Reigo's back, sending her flying toward Meiya.
Dark Meiya took one step back and lunged forward with both hands extended, expelling a plume of fire which hit Reigo spot-on.
The young Shadowbender stood and covered herself in shadow. The shadow blob grew, and when it dissipated, Reigo was her regular, adult self.
"Alright, then, Meiya. It's time to get serious." she said calmly.
000
Zuko tried his best to help the Fire Nation soldiers fight off the new threat of Elite Benders that were affiliated with the Shadow Clan, but even with his help, the Fire Nation was being steadily pushed back.
"Father!" Zuko called, noticing Fire Lord Houja fighting alongside the army.
"Zuko? Zuko, is that you?" Houja asked. "What happened? Where did you run off to?"
"I had urgent business. I'm traveling with the Avatar now, but that's not important. We need the war machines."
Houja was physically shocked. "The war machines? Are you insane? Those weapons haven't been used since the Century War! They were the bane of the Fire Nation, and even now, they're a constant reminder of our previously barbaric people. Besides, if we use them now, in the climax of this battle, many innocents will get hurt or even killed!"
"It's the only way! If we retreat, we'll have given the Shadow Clan what they want, and if we keep trying to fight without the machines, many innocents will die anyway! An enemy told me that the biggest wave yet is already past due. Any moment now, this battlefield will be flooded with Shadowbenders and their Elites."
Houja's face darkened with gloom.
"That's right, father. If we don't deploy the war machines now, no one could escape here alive."
Houja thought long and hard. "Alright. I'll send for the machines."
"Thank you, father. I owe you one." Zuko said before running back to join the fight.
Houja called for one of his men.
"Report back to New Zuko. Tell our commander to send in the machines, no questions."
"Y-Yes, sir." the soldier stammered, running in the opposite direction.
000
"I guess this can be considered ironic." Khole said as Ischi carried her over the hills and away from the battlefield.
"How so?"
"Well, a couple of days ago, we had switched roles. You were the one who was injured and I helped you out."
"Returning the favor, I guess."
"Now, we need to find Zuko, Kohi, and Meiya so we can get the heck out of here. I feel this weird chill in the air, like it's not over yet."
"Hey, guys! Guys!"
"That's Kohi!" Khole said, recognizing her voice.
"Guys, Meiya's fighting Reigo in her Dark Avatar State!"
"Oh no, we have to find her before she hurts herself!"
"No, no! She's awesome! I don't know what's going on in Meiya's head, but it looks like she's in some kind of control of herself! She's winning!"
"Wow! That's amazing! Where is she?"
"Just over the hill there. Come on, I'll show-"
Kohi stopped suddenly when she heard a low groaning sound, the sound of moving steel.
"Oh, man… Guys, look up there." Ischi whispered with shock.
In the sky, the giant moon that had been pulled into the Earth's atmosphere began to rumble violently. Suddenly, more shadow meteors than ever before exploded from the moon and began to fly toward the ground, but the moon continued to rumble, and the sound of shifting metal continued to pierce the air. The source of this metal sound, however, was something that the Gaang never expected.
Slowly, something large, shiny, and metallic began to protrude from the lunar vortex. It was purely indescribable. The gargantuan machine was roughly cone-shaped, supported near the rear by a loose cylinder, which allowed it to rotate like a top. The peak of the machine had a large, ribbed hole, like a cannon. Four smaller cannons lined the machine on its cardinal points. A blackened sun emblem was painted on its side, showing that it was a Shadow Clan machine.
"What in the world is that?" Kohi gasped.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good."
000
Zuko looked up at the metal monstrosity that protruded from the moon portal, and all he could do was gape in shock.
"Impossible. It can't be. T-This just can't be true…"
-flashback-
Fire Lord Houja was sitting in his study, looking through various scrolls and papers. "Father?" asked a small child's voice. Houja turned and smiled when he saw a young Zuko standing in the doorway. "Yes, Zuko? What do you need?" "I wanted to show you this. It's a design for a machine." Zuko lifted the crude drawing of a cone-shaped device up to his father. "It's a super-huge fire blaster. The hole on the front fires a big ball of fire, and the four guns on the sides fire smaller blasts of fire. No one would mess with us if we made this!" Houja chuckled. "You're right, Zuko. If something like this were to be made, no one would bully the Fire Nation. But, something of this scale were to be made, we'd upset the balance again. The Fire Nation has turned over a new leaf. We've given up on the use of war machines." "Then why do we still make them?" "To protect ourselves and to protect the other three nations. We make machines that aren't used for war and give them to others, but machines that are meant for war are kept to us, for protection. Of course, these weapons would never be used to senselessly destroy others."
-end flashback-
"That's…my design…But, how? This shouldn't be possible. I doodled that machine ten years ago. How?"
Zuko felt severely lightheaded. He almost toppled over where he stood. He was snapped back to attention by the billowing of smoke from above. He looked behind him and saw the Fire Nation war machines piling over the hill.
Tension rose into Zuko's throat, so much that he really did topple over, becoming extremely dizzy from everything that was happening.
"Zuko!" yelled a familiar voice. Zuko sat up and looked around.
"Up here!"
Zuko looked to the sky and saw the airship floating down toward him.
"We have to go, Zuko. There's no way we can beat the Shadow Clan like this. Let's find Meiya and get out of here." Ischi called. Zuko nodded and leaped into the wooden Sky Bison before it took off again.
000
It was a surreal appearance for something so threatening as the Dark Avatar State to show a look of horror, but that's what was thrown across Meiya's face as the giant machine emerged from the moon.
"Ah, there it is at last. The object of your world's destruction: the Judgment Scale." Reigo said. "But, Meiya? If I were you, I'd focus more on the object of YOUR destruction."
Meiya turned around to battle again, but she was too slow. A powerful fist to the stomach sent Meiya reeling.
"This is my favorite way to win battles." Reigo said, lifting her hands and pointing them at Meiya. Suddenly, shadows from all around her flew forward into Meiya's mouth. Finally, Reigo herself melted into shadow and flew into Meiya as well.
The intense pain made Meiya's eyes literally wobble. The shadows were having their way with her insides. She collapsed to the ground, almost blacking out.
"And now…" Reigo said, making Meiya throw up all of the shadows she was force-fed. From those shadows, Reigo stood over Meiya's trembling body. She tried to stand, but Reigo was having none of it, she stomped on Meiya's neck to keep her on the ground.
"Did you really think you could win, Meiya? I know everything about you five. Although it was unexpected how the Earth Princess survived the hand of history, it matters not. Everything I did led up to this. I started the war, I screwed with your minds, and it was by my design that neither the Water Tribe nor the Air Nomads participate in this battle. That way, it was certain that I would come out on top. I know everything, Meiya.
Meiya managed to wheeze lowly.
"-pant, pant- Who the hell are you? How do you know who I am? How do you know our every move before we even make it?"
Reigo chuckled amusedly.
"It's quite simple, my dear, if you just give it a little imagination. But since you obviously don't have any, I'll humor you. I am Reigo. I come from… You know what, no, I won't humor you." Reigo said as she shadow-morphed to her younger form.
"THINK A LITTLE! I know every move you make before you make it. I know exactly who you are without having met you before! Surprisingly enough, even your stupid little friend guessed it right!"
Light Meiya, who was within the brain, thought hard.
-flashback-
"Whatever Reigo's source was, it told her that I would die at Fire Fountain City, but I didn't and she doesn't know that I'm still alive. She's continuing on her course as if I were dead! Just think about it! She took the Sky Bison and we were arrested. If she had her way, Meiya would come back to Ba Sing Se, tell my father that I had died, she and the others would be captured, I'd be dead and unable to free you, and you'd still be trapped in Ba Sing Se. Reigo doesn't know this, so she thinks that her mission is over and that she can relax until the mothership comes to find her." "Makes sense, except for one thing. How would Reigo know all of this?" "Ooh! Ooh! Because she's from the future!" Kohi said.
-end flashback-
"No…" was all Meiya could whisper.
"Yes! I'm from the future! That answers one book-long question! Now here's some other ones for the second season. You know where I'm from. Check one. Here are the the next questions on your test. WHO am I? You know my identity, but you have no idea WHO I am, and trust me, it'll blow your mind. Next question, where are your family members? Well, that should be a no-brainer, but I'll leave you to figure it out. Final question, and this is the money-maker, who is my mother? She runs this war, she ran this invasion, and she runs that machine. And those are your Three Questions (A/N: If you understood that reference, you're awesome! ^^). Now, before I leave, a little consolation prize."
Reigo raised two fingers on her left hand. Dark, powerful energy gathered onto those raised fingers.
"This will make sure that you never stray from your correct course." Reigo said, shooting her fingers into the small of Meiya's back. A searing, unbearable pain exploded throughout Meiya's entire body. All she could do was scream-roar under the weight of Reigo's foot.
When Reigo removed her fingers, Meiya was left twitching on the ground. Her hairrow and tattoos were flickering violently, and Meiya was gagging and gasping.
"Goodbye, Meiya. I'll see you soon enough." Reigo said, sinking into the ground before swimming away.
Meiya sat in burning pain on the ground until she felt wind against her face. She looked up as much as she can, and saw the Sky Bison landing beside her.
"Oh no! Meiya!" yelled Kohi's voice. The apprentice Airbender leaped from the Sky Bison and ran to Meiya's side.
"What's wrong with her? Her features are flickering!"
"Ischi, kneel me next to her." Khole said. Ischi nodded and put Khole down beside Meiya. She felt along her back and pulled her hand back quickly.
"Something is blocking her chakras. I can't get rid of what's blocking it, but I can move it so I can clear her chakra paths.
Khole began to tap various places on Meiya's back.
"Here we go." Khole whispered, raising the same two fingers that Reigo used, only on her right hand. Golden, glowing energy gathered on her fingers. Khole lightly tapped her glowing fingers on Meiya's back, sending the golden energy pulsing through her body.
Meiya felt calmed by the warm, 'soft' energy. Utterly exhausted by her day, Meiya passed out.
"Now, let's get out of here." Khole said. Ischi picked Khole back up again and Kohi dragged Meiya into the airship.
"Fire!" yelled a vague voice from far away. Suddenly, the large machine in the sky became active, whirring and groaning like a monster. Suddenly, a concentrated ball of fire shot out of the west cannon, hitting the ground and exploding spectacularly.
"Go! Go! Go! We don't want to be caught in that!" Ischi yelled.
Kohi worked the controls as fast as she could, lifting the airship into the air and flying away as fast as she could. As the Gaang looked back, they saw other elemental balls flying from the machine and ravaging the battlefield.
"So, what do we do now?" Zuko asked.
"I don't know yet. Meiya would know what to do." Khole said.
"Maybe we should just hide it out. This seems out of our league." Kohi suggested.
"We're in too deep now. There's no escaping this."
"Well, one thing is certain. Meiya has to learn the other three elements as quickly as possible."
"You're right. I guess we should go to the Southern Water Tribe. My home should be unaffected by what's happening. We can get a good rest and restart." Khole said.
The Sky Bison continued to cruise through the air, southbound.
000
"Help!"
"Help! Please, somebody help us!"
Naga and Suni yelled out from their prison cell in a dark and desolate world.
"There's no need to yell. No one else is here. No one is coming to rescue you." said a stony voice. A robed woman stepped up to the cell door.
"What are you going to do with us?"
"I'm not going to do anything. You two are nothing but bait for the real star. And once she arrives, my ultimate victory will be sealed.
"Freeze! Stop right there! Hey!" yelled angry voices. The woman turned and saw a young girl run past her, followed by several Shadowbenders.
"Catch her! She's headed for the portal!"
The woman sighed, then sunk into the shadows, following the pack of guards.
"Almost there! Almost there!" the girl panted to herself.
"Almost isn't good enough." said the woman as she rose in front of the girl.
"No, but THIS is!"
The girl took a small pouch out of her pocket and threw it on the ground. A large flash of light shot into the air, blinding the woman and allowing the girl to sidestep past her and jump through the portal.
"Master, she could alter the course of history!" one Shadowbender said.
"Don't worry about her. I'm sure that Reigo will keep her from doing anything too harmful. Get back to your posts. I'm awaiting a battle report at any time now."
The guards saluted, then turned and walked back.
"Meiya…Hm hm hm… I anxiously await your company." the woman said with a knowing smile.
(A/N: And that's that! Now, A:RotS will be on a short hiatus for now, like most series. Leve your reviws and tell me what you think! And here's something you can do for me! In your review, tell me which character(s) you want to see more of! I'll try to squeeze your choices into the story if I can. And don't be afraid to suggest ideas for the story, because I'm drawing a blank for about half of Season Two -^_^- See you next time! ;-))