Author's Note: First up is the final installment of the Ancient Avatar. His story is very important to this chapter (especially the shocker near the end! Wait till you see Irma's reaction!) Also, Zuko has Aang right where he wants him! (But what's Katara doing there??) Meanwhile, the Guardians have problems of their own as they have to get past a small army of fire benders to save Will, and they don't have their elemental abilities to help them!
Plus: You'll want to stand up and cheer when...but that would be telling. Oh, and there's the matter of a cast member dying.
WARNING: If brutal, despicable acts performed on a beloved hero upsets you, read no further!
This is high stakes drama, and if you can't handle it, you may as well leave.
Even though, if you do, you'll miss an excellent story!
What If Zuko Won?
Based on events in W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar
A Long Time Ago...
Taro was cleaning the stable of his master, the Avatar's, sky bison, when suddenly the flying animal crashed through the wall!
"Oh no! Something must have happened to the Avatar!" Taro surmised. "Peachie, can you lead me to him?"
Though Taro had been forbidden by the Avatar to ride his air bison, this was an emergency! (Plus, he knew chicks totally dug air riding!) So Taro climbed on Peachie's back, grabbed the reins and used the words he heard the Avatar speak to command the great flying beast. "Uh, Peachie, erp erp!"
Peachie lifted off so quickly, Taro almost fell off the beast's back. "Whoops!" he reflexively uttered. "Ahhh! Oh my spirits!" he screamed, like a little girl, as Peachie soared into the sky. Which was understandable. Taro was new to sky bison riding, after all.
After sailing through the sky for a bit, Peachie brought Taro to the site in the forest where the Avatar had been caught.
Taro was stunned!
There, lying in a clearing, was the Avatar - broken and bloody, prone in the dirt, next to the still body of a man Taro recognized as that of a villager! (There was also a strange object nearby: A giant metal ring, cleaved in two. Taro didn't know what to make of it, so he focused on what he could do for his employer).
Taro jumped off the air bison and sprinted towards the unconscious Avatar.
"Master? What happened??" Taro said as he attempted to rouse the injured bender of the four elements.
"Taro? What?" the Avatar gasped as he regained consciousness.
"I'm here, Master! Peachie and I will get you to safety!" Taro confidently announced.
"No. Taro...You must save them!" the Avatar pleaded.
"Save who, Master? I don't understand?!" the boy, shaken by the Avatar's odd words, replied.
"My...my wife. My children, Taro! Koh's coming for them! And I am too weak. Please, Taro! Promise me!"
Taro had never heard the Avatar ask for anything, so to hear him now, begging for assistance, was...disturbing. Very disturbing!
"Y, yes, of course, Master!" Taro assured the Avatar. "I'll do everything I can!"
Then the Avatar's eyes acquired a strange, glassy appearance. It frightened the teen, but what could he do about it? Taro didn't understand what was going on, or what the Avatar wanted of him! And who the heck was Koh???
"I've been such a fool." the Avatar said to no one in particular.
"Master?" Taro uttered.
"I fear the end. I cannot go out like this! Reincarnation cannot assuage what I feel." the Avatar talked to himself. "I've let down so many! I...hurt so many. My shame is so great. I would need several lifetimes to even attempt to make up for what I've done!"
"Are you okay, sir?" Taro gently asked. Taro feared madness was now overtaking the Avatar. And possibly himself, as well. Was the Avatar...starting to glow?
"I've lost so many, and thought I could console myself with material things. But, great as my grief was, it would be as nothing compared to the grief I would feel if the unthinkable happened!" The Avatar rambled on, heedless of his audience. "Yes! Look at me! The greatest of Avatars! None that ever lived could match my power! I believed all of the elements danced to my tune, and all four nations should bow before me. And yet...I was brought low with one simple thing...love!"
No, more than a glow, Taro realized. The Avatar was now covered in a corona of light!
Then the diminished Avatar half-jumped/half-fell at the boy, and grabbed him with what little strength his wounded arms could muster!
"But you will save them, Taro!" the Avatar yelled.
Light silently, yet violently, exploded all around! When the light gave way once more to the encroaching darkness, the Avatar lay on the ground. But Taro was nowhere in sight.
Chapter 11: Finale Part 1 - The Dark Avatar,
Or,
Oh You Nasty Boys!
Four Years Ago...
The grief-stricken Iroh traveled to the Spirit World in a vain attempt to contact Lu Ten, his dearly departed son.
Instead of the hoped for reunion, the son of Azulon received an important message from the denizens of that mysterious realm.
"You must mentor the Avatar." a council of Spirits told him.
"But the Avatar's gone! He vanished 100 years ago!" Iroh protested.
"No. He lives, and will return. But that is not important. You are required to train the next Avatar." the leader of the Spirits, Hei Bai, informed Iroh.
"What? The next...?? But why me, celestial ones??" the very confused General bade them speak.
"Because you already know him. And there are those who seek to prevent or alter his destiny…" Hei Bai stated.
"…The next Avatar is Prince Zuko."
ooooooooooooooo
Four Months Ago...
"And if I do this, I can re-claim my destiny and be the Avatar?" the Prince asked the ancient Spirit.
"Yes. As long as Aang activates the chakras." Koh replied.
"How can you be so sure?" Zuko grilled his Spirit benefactor.
"Foolish mortal! Did I not instruct you on how to use that fabulous jewel you possess?" the multi-faceted, multi-legged Spirit shot back.
"Well, yes, but…" Zuko sheepishly replied.
"And was I not present at the birth of the Avatar? I know all his secrets!" Koh bragged.
"If you say so." The skeptic in Zuko re-asserted himself. Could he really trust this inscrutable Spirit? Then the feeling passed, and his desires came once more to the forefront. "Tell me of these chakras." he humbly requested.
ooooooooooooooo
Four hours ago, in a Fire Nation bar in Capital City...
The hooded man sought refuge from the madness in the streets, the chaotic, war-torn nature of the city, by slipping into a still open bar.
But he wasn't the only one to have that idea.
Many others gathered there, also, but the cloaked one's attention drifted to two men seated at the bar.
"Zuko may think he's in charge now, but our leader has something special planned for him when the comet arrives!" one of the men said.
"Yeah! Third Way rules!" the second man cheered, raising his glass in celebration.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." the hooded man politely said. "What dire fate do you have planned for the Fire Lord?"
"Who are you?? A spy?!?" the first angrily responded, breaking his glass to use as a weapon against the intruder.
"Hey, I recognize him!" the second exclaimed, the candlelight illuminating the hooded one's features. "He's one of those losers that used to run the country!" he added, chuckling as he said it.
"I can never get them straight!" his friend remarked, a big grin on his face. "Is he the loser that gave up at Ba Sing Se because his widdle boy died, or the one that lost his crown after a little girl kicked his keister?"
"Ha ha ha ha!" both men laughed.
"I may not be what I once was..." the cloaked man sternly replied "...But I am still more than a match for the likes of you!" he declared, tearing off his cloak to display rippling muscles, but leaving the hood on his head.
After thrashing his opponents with minimal effort, the hooded one demanded "Now tell me what your leader plots against Zuko!"
ooooooooooooooo
Now...
In the early evening radiance of the Fire Nation glow rock lamps (made all the eerier by the fact that the clouds that blotted out the sun caused evening to arrive sooner than normal), the powerless Taranee, Irma, Toph, Cornelia and Hay Lin considered their options, however limited, as military forces approached them in the war-ready armed camp known as the nerve center of the Fire Nation's government in Capital City, the Red Zone.
"What do we do?" Hay Lin whined.
"We have to go!" Taranee, taking charge, ordered. "Right now!!"
But one would not be moved.
Cornelia, who insisted on staying by the side of her injured love, Caleb.
"I can't leave him!" the former Earth Guardian cried, tears flowing. "Not now!"
"But, Cornelia...Will's still trapped out there..." the former Fire Angel argued. "...If we don't free her, we won't be able to stop Zuko from doing whatever insane evil he has planned, or end the war!"
"Don't you think I know that?!!" Cornelia spat, more hurt than angry. "I know what we have to do, but Caleb came all this way to this world to save me!! I can't abandon him now! I just can't." she sobbed.
"Well, I hope someone knows how to spin a good yarn, 'cause it's gonna take some story to convince these Fire Nation guys to let us go!" Toph humorlessly cracked.
"It doesn't sound like a whole army is coming!" Irma said. "So get in your stance and act like you're going to hit them with that crazy kung fu of yours!" she added, jumping around, waving her arms and generally acting like Bruce Lee on speed!
Toph did assume a bending form even though she, like the rest, had their powers taken from them by Zuko. However...
"Ah...other way, Toph!" Irma, embarrassed, corrected the blind, former earth bender by turning her around.
Taranee, Irma, Hay Lin and Toph huddled there, ready to pounce, but...
...They weren't prepared for what happened next!
"Cornelia?" said the one, lone girl in a Fire Nation army uniform after she turned the corner.
Cornelia Hale looked up from her vigil beside Caleb, squinted in disbelief and replied "Jun??"
"It's so good to see you!" Cornelia said, as the two girls embraced in a sisterly hug and gabbed excitedly. "How are things with your parents?"
"Smoking!" Jun Yi replied, using Fire Nation teen slang for good/great. "What about you?"
"Could be better." Corny answered, massively understating the present predicament.
Their social interaction prompted Irma to state the obvious. "Wait...You two know each other??"
"I met Jun a couple of months ago." Corny explained.
"I'm a big fan of the Plant Spi-, I mean, Cornelia, and when I saw what Zuko did to her with that garden thing I was really bummed I couldn't help her! So after I heard she got free, I started looking for her, and here I am!" Jun Yi happily shouted.
"Yeah. Here you are." Irma uttered, trying (and failing) to hide her feelings of envy that Cornelia was partying with cool girls in the Fire Nation while she and Hay Lin were stuck with the likes of nose-picker Toph, way too much makeup-wearer Suki and the real fun (sarcasm intended) guys of the Allied Army!
"Well, that's nice, but it doesn't change anything. We still have to retrieve Will!" Taranee logically spelled out the facts of the matter.
"But, Caleb..." Cornelia reiterated, gazing sadly at her unconscious lover.
"Looks like he needs healing." Jun stated. Then she snapped her fingers. "Hey! I know! I'll take him to a med tent and tell them he's wearing those clothes because he's a special undercover operative! I have pull with some of the guys here, so it'll work!"
"You'd do that?? Oh, thank you, Jun!" Cornelia returned the Fire Nation teen's generosity with another hug. "You don't know what a relief that is!"
"It's the least I can do after you helped me!" Jun commented. "I'll stay with him as long as I can. I have some time to kill before my superiors start wondering where I am. Cornelia, you take care of whatever you and your friends have to do, and don't worry!" Jun confidently assured the blonde from Heatherfield.
"I won't! Thanks again, Jun!" said the smiling Corny as she waved goodbye.
"So, how big is your fanclub?" Irma sarcastically asked as the group went on their way.
"Oh, stop it, Irma!" Cornelia refused to allow the mouthy Miss Lair to puncture her good mood. "The kind of 'bending' I do, with plants, is unusual on this world! You know that. That's why they treat me like a rock star at times. It's not personal!"
"Yeah, I can see you really hate it!" Irma dead-panned.
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 1: Fear
In the debris-strewn Palace of the Fire Lord, now sealed from the outside world (and protected from outworlder interlopers like the Guardians) by the awesome energy of the Heart of Candracar, the present Fire Lord, Zuko, strutted like a zebracock in front of his captives, Aang and Katara, who were held to the wall, unable to move a muscle, by that same Candracan energy.
"Zuko, I can't believe you just did that!" Aang exclaimed. "Tossing the others out the window from such a height...You could have killed them!"
"Stop your moaning!" Zuko scoffed. "Those Guardians have the annoying habit of bouncing back from whatever obstacle they face. Besides, they have that earth bender friend of yours with them, so I'm sure they're fine! " the former Prince reminded the Air Nomad and the Southern Water Tribe girl, unaware he had robbed Toph of her elemental abilities just as he had the heroes from Heatherfield.
"I'd worry about yourself if I were you, Avatar." Zuko teased, grinning before the boy from the iceberg. "What is it you fear, hmmm?"
Zuko paced the room, lost in thought. "Could it be death? No. You've faced that many times."
The Fire Lord stopped in front of the girl from the South Pole. "Maybe you fear the fate in store for your friends?" he evilly purred, as he stroked the stunned Katara's chin.
"Leave her alone!!" Aang, full of brash energy, demanded.
"Or what?" Zuko challenged, his hand still grasping Katara's face. "What are you going to do to me??"
"I..." Aang was speechless, uncertain of himself.
"Come on, Avatar Aang! I'm threatening your friend! Release the Avatar State, break your bonds and fight me!!" Zuko urged the peace-loving Air Monk.
"...I can't." Aang gasped, and hung his head. "I'm sorry, Katara!"
"Look at you!" Zuko sneered. "The power of all previous Avatars at your fingertips, yet you're more afraid of that than you are of someone hurting those closest to you! Your weakness sickens me! You're not worthy of being the Avatar!!" the son of Ozai stormed.
Katara had kept quiet, as she was trying to figure out what Zuko was up to. But mentally torturing Aang?? Why?!? And in the middle of a war??? It didn't make any sense! Zuko didn't hate Aang that much, did he?
Then the Water Tribe girl noticed something unusual.
When Aang received Zuko's abuse, a glow seemed to emanate from the lower part of his back.
ooooooooooooooo
"So what do we do?" Toph asked the question of the day. "How do we find your friend, Will?"
"Oh, I know where she is!" Taranee replied. "She's in the Fire Institute! Which is..."
"The most heavily guarded building around here!" Cornelia completed the thought. "And it's full of fire benders!"
From their hiding place, Corny pointed to the towering military facility that had been converted into a training center for fire bending recruits, including those picked by the Fire Guardian to receive fire bending abilities back when she performed that task for Zuko. Patrols regularly passed by it, and the guards at the gate did not hesitate to kill anyone who did not belong.
"So the question is, how do we get inside?" Tara analyzed the situation. "It's not going to be easy! Even when I worked for Zuko, this is one place they didn't allow me access."
"I say we let Hay Lin at them!" Irma insensitively quipped. "She'll take care of those guards real good!"
"No!!!" Hay Lin wailed. "I can't do that!"
"I'm only joking, Hay Hay!" Irma explained, then turned toward her friend to ease her distress.
But the Asian girl wasn't there anymore.
"Hay Lin? Where'd you go??" the non-powered Water Guardian anxiously asked.
"I'm here!!" the Air Guardian responded, as she appeared out of nowhere.
"She turned invisible!!" Irma yelped.
"But I thought Zuko took our powers away?!" the bemused, non-earth sensing and still blind Toph said.
"He did. I still can't change!" Cornelia said, unable to alter her body to plant or stone or call upon those elements of earth.
"Same here!" added Irma, equally unable to call upon the liquid element.
And I can't generate fire! Taranee spoke into her fellow Guardians' heads. But I can still communicate with you three!
"And I can move things with my mind!" Corny cried out, as she levitated Toph.
"Put me down!!" the blind Earth Kingdom girl screamed.
"Yeah, and I can still change the color of clothes!" Irma interjected, altering Miss Bei Fong's green and yellow outfit to the Fire Nation colors of red and dark brown.
"Put me...!" Toph blurted, before her feet came to rest gently on the soil. "Hey, you did it. Without dropping me!"
"Why would Zuko leave us with any powers??" Hay Lin wondered.
"Maybe he's not aware of our extra powers?" Taranee reasoned. "I think Zuko only understands the elemental powers of earth, air, water and fire, so those are the ones he stripped us of!"
"Or he doesn't care! How are we supposed to stop Zuko with invisibility, telekinesis, telepathy and color-changing?!?" a depressed Hay Hay grumbled.
"Suggestion!" Irma corrected her lifelong friend. "My other power is the power of suggestion. Changing the color of clothes is one of those minor extras, like Corny's growing!" she pointed out.
"Okay, fine! But even with 'suggestion', how are we supposed to free Will from an army of fire benders?? This is a nightmare!" the Guardian of Air moaned.
"We'll find a way! We have to!!" Taranee pep-talked the group.
"Wait...I have an idea." Cornelia declared. "But first, we're going to need a few things..."
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 2: Guilt
"How many lives are you responsible for, Avatar?" Zuko asked rhetorically, then got more specific. "How many lost their lives, because of you?!!"
"I don't know." Aang confessed.
"Then I'll ask an easier question: Would your friend, the Water Tribe boy, still be alive today if he had never met you?" Zuko grilled the Avatar.
"Yes." Aang squeaked. "Probably."
"What's that? I didn't hear you!!" the Fire Lord raised his voice.
"YES!!" Aang shouted.
"Uh huh. What was his name?" Zuko pried deep into the Avatar's soul.
"Sokka." Aang answered, the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Yes. Sokka." Zuko smiled. He was like a Saber-tooth Moose-lion playing with his meal. "The boy you took from his safe home in the remote South Pole, and sent him at the head of an army to invade my country!" Zuko railed.
"It wasn't like that!" Aang feebly protested, the tears now flowing freely. "We, we had all decided..."
"Stop it!" Katara screamed. She couldn't sit by any longer and let the Fire Lord abuse the boy she cared so much about. "Leave him alone!!"
"Uh uh. This isn't about you!" Zuko snapped. At his command, a band of energy wrapped itself around the water bender's mouth, silencing her! "At least, not yet." he cackled.
"Now, then, Avatar...Where were we?" Zuko smirked. "Ah, yes! The Day of Black Sun Invasion! Where you, the brave 'Avatar', chose to confront a powerless fire bender - me - while your friend Sokka faced the full might of my army! Tell me, Avatar Aang, how could his death not be your fault?"
"I...I can't say that." Aang admitted. "It is my fault!"
With the utterance of those words, the Avatar's back glowed even more.
ooooooooooooooo
"This will never work!" Irma bitched. "I can't believe you talked Taranee into this! She's supposed to be the 'smart one'! Usually I'm the one dumb enough to fall for these stunts, but..."
"Irma, shush!" Cornelia silenced her much-too-verbal-for-her-own-good friend. "This will work if you give it a chance! Now be quiet" she ordered, the branches tied to her legs and feet rustling against the ground (and each other, kind of like a noisy pair of jeans) as she walked up to the entrance to the Fire Institute.
"Sure. If they don't see the wires." Irma sarcastically whispered to herself.
"Halt! Who goes there!!" the Fire Nation guard demanded.
"It is I, the Plant Spirit!" the painted green Cornelia Hale announced. The four powerless Guardians and Toph had smeared wet leaves and other green things on Cornelia's exposed epidermis to simulate her 'Plant Spirit' skin condition. Then, they gathered up all the vines, twigs and branches they could find and affixed them any way they could to the former Earth Guardian's body, tossing a few dry leaves into her flowing golden tresses for good measure. The girls tried to cover up the wires and string they used with a flowing green robe, but it was still a rush job. Opening night at the theater, it may have worked.
But here, in the Fire Nation, and now, with a war on?
Corny stood audaciously before the fire bending guards who, with only a quick movement, could burn them all to death! Then, with the power of her mind, Cornelia made all the branches and vines attached to her body quiver!
"By the power of the Earth, I seek entrance to your quarters!" she solemnly intoned.
It was a pretty good show.
If only the soldiers were stupid enough to buy it!
"Plant Spirit?!" the first guard reacted with amazement and no small amount of dread. He was obviously familiar with the story of how Cornelia single-handedly defeated the fearsome former Fire Lord, Ozai, even though, if you asked Cornelia, she would admit she got lucky! "I, I'm sorry, Plant Spirit, but you're not allowed in. Lord Zuko's orders."
"Er, Fire Lord Zuko rescinded those orders, but he's been much too busy to tell you! There is a war on, you know!" Cornelia bluffed. "It's very important to the security of the Nation that we be allowed in! So, step aside, or..."
"Even if we were to buy that, and I'm not sayin' we ain't..." the second, and obviously not much smarter, guard opined, "...Who are these other people with you? They don't look Fire Nation!"
Though Irma had used her strange ability to alter the hue of their garments to dark, Fire Nation colors, there was no disguising the decidedly un-Fire Nation-like features of the Water Guardian's round face and eyes, plus Taranee's hair and dark skin, among other examples. (Without her wings and 'grown-up', dreadlocked form, Taranee was unrecognizable, and appeared as just another foreigner to their land.)
"That's because...they're my subjects!" the quick-thinking Cornelia responded. Then, to put the cherry on top her scheme, she grew a foot and a half instantly and threatened "Now let me and my subjects in, or I'll turn you into a tree!"
"Yes, right away, Lady Cornelia!" the first guard yelped, and quickly moved aside.
"Please don't tell Lord Zuko!" the second, and equally fearful, guard requested, as he too stepped aside and nervously opened the gate.
"If I tell Lord Zuko anything, it would be what a credit you are to the Fire Nation, my good soldiers!" Cornelia smiled, and gave a 'royal wave'. Taranee, Irma, Hay Lin and Toph followed the courtly 'Plant Spirit' through the front door of the Fire Institute. They could scarcely believe their bluff had worked!
" 'Subjects'??" Taranee spat, once they were away from the Fire Nation guards.
"Lady Cornelia??" Irma Lair gagged. "Great, now she's gonna think she really is a Princess!"
"Hmphh! I've always carried myself like a Princess, Irma! It's aspirational! Not that you'd know what that means!" Corny retorted, nose stuck proudly up in the air. "So watch your mouth, peasant, or I'll have you clapped in chains for speaking against your liege!" she joked, imitating a snooty, upper crust voice.
"Gah! Kill me now!!" Irma wise-cracked, as she pantomimed choking herself. "Zuko's created a monster!"
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?!" Corny replied, winning the argument. "One thing you learn being so close to those in power is how easily soldiers follow orders!" she bragged.
"Great! We're in!" the acerbic Toph added her two cents. "Now what??"
The four Guardians looked around the corner to the main courtyard, beyond which lay the tower that held their friend and leader, Will, prisoner.
There were scores of soldiers in the courtyard, fire bender recruits, mostly, practicing their fire bending!
"Ulp! Now comes the tricky part!" the much less confident Cornelia uttered.
Unknown to the five girls, a sixth had followed them in, and clung to the shadows.
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 3: Shame
"Your race, the Air Nomads, were wiped out 100 years ago, and where were you?" Zuko castigated the Avatar. "You promised everyone you'd defeat the Fire Lord and end the war, and you failed there, too! It took a girl from another world, who had been here a only few short months, to do the job YOU couldn't!!"
Zuko continued to hammer away at the captive Air Monk.
Katara could only watch, helplessly, as her dear friend suffered more and more emotional anguish!
"At almost every turn, you failed those closest to you, Avatar Aang!" Fire Lord Zuko, wielder of the Heart of Candracar, ripped into his target. "Your shame is greater than any Avatar's in history!!"
Aang had no answer for Zuko. The look on his face said it all. He clearly agreed with the Fire Lord's sour assessment of his performance as the Avatar.
Also, his stomach began to glow.
ooooooooooooooo
FWOOOSHHH
"Incoming!" one boy shouted.
"Ahhh!!!" his friend yelped and jumped out of the way, the errant fireball narrowly missing his head!
"Sorry!" the boy apologized.
"Chan! Ruon Jian!" the instructor yelled. "What do you two sons of hogmonkeys think you're doing??!"
"Those guys are fire benders?? They're terrible!!" Irma commented as she and the other girls, from their hiding place, watched the Fire Nation recruits practice their fire bending. "And here I thought this was gonna be hard!"
"Those are two of the people I gave fire bending to." Taranee interjected.
"Say what now??" Irma sarcastically asked.
"One of my duties when I worked for Zuko was to give fire bending to some of his subjects." Tara informed the group. "But he let me pick who would receive 'the gift'. So I selected who I thought would be the least dangerous."
"But look how many there are!" Hay Lin wailed.
"Will's being held in a cellar storeroom in that part of the building over there." Taranee pointed the way.
"Then what are we waiting for?" an anxious Irma Lair retorted. "Let's go!"
"Not so fast." Taranee held up her hand to stop her friend. "It's not even guarded! I don't think Zuko told his men what's in there."
"Yeah, it is like Zuko to keep secrets." Cornelia wryly commented.
"So? Even better!" Irma responded.
"But look over there at that wing!" Tara observed. "Look at all those guards! I researched this place after the first time I was here, and it's supposed to be a former military prison. Emphasis on 'former'!"
"So you think maybe Will's being held prisoner there?" Irma inquired.
"Maybe. But I doubt it." Taranee replied. "I've got a hunch Zuko's keeping someone else on ice...His uncle, Iroh!"
"Again, so? I say we get Will right now!" Irma urged her friends, and began moving toward the courtyard of fire benders.
"Slow down, Irma! Taranee's got a plan!" Cornelia held the Water Guardian back, then turned to the Fire Guardian. "You do, right, Taranee?"
"Maybe not exactly a plan." Tara sheepishly admitted. "I've got this feeling he's there, and somehow he's the key to all this, this whole mess with Zuko and the Heart."
"Wait, you want to do something you didn't learn in a book?? You're using intuition? I'm shocked!" Irma teased.
"Ha ha." Taranee coolly retorted.
"It's not so dumb, Irma!" Corny stuck up for Judge Cook's daughter. "Iroh's supposed to be an excellent fire bender! He can probably beat all these guys!"
"I didn't say it was dumb. I'm just surprised Taranee's going with her gut! I'm actually impressed." Irma defended herself, then turned to her fellow Guardian. "If you're sure you want to do this, I'll back you, Tara!"
"Thanks, guys." Taranee Cook was grateful for the special bond that held them together. "But with all those guards in front of the place, I'm going to need a distraction to get in!"
"Leave that to me." Cornelia confidently declared, then glanced back at Irma and Toph. "And my 'subjects'!"
"Uh oh." Irma gulped. "I don't think I like the sound of that!"
Soon after, a 'royal procession' advanced through the courtyard of the Fire Institute.
"Make way! Make way! Plant Spirit coming through!" Irma announced, spreading flowers before the feet of the 'Plant Spirit', the disguised Cornelia Hale, while Toph took up the rear, literally, holding Corny's robe so it didn't drag on the ground (and also using it to follow her two friends, since she was totally blind without her earth bending).
"What's this now?" the fire bending instructor growled. He didn't appreciate any interference with his mission to train Fire Nation soldiers, and he especially didn't like foreign Spirits!
"Hello, my good sir!" Cornelia imperiously sniffed. "Fire Lord Zuko bade me inspect your facilities and see how you were accomplishing the glorious mission of the Fire Nation, Agni be praised!" Cornelia voiced the little prayer and then bowed, mimicking the proper etiquette of the Royal Court.
"Did he, now?" the senior soldier spoke, rubbing his chin in confusion, not knowing what to say in response. He was a simple army man, not used to courtly ways.
A crowd of recruits gathered around Corny, Irma and Toph. Some, stuck in the back, strained to stand on their tippy-toes to see who was visiting.
Noting the commotion, the guards at the prison tower wing abandoned their post and ran to see what was going on.
Leaving the way open for Taranee and Hay Lin to sneak up, unnoticed, to the unguarded door to the prison.
Moments earlier, out of earshot of the Air Guardian, Irma had told Taranee "Take Hay Lin with you. The way she is now, if we have to duke it out with these guys, she'd be more useless than Toph!"
"Hey! I'm blind, not deaf!" an offended Toph Bei Fong spat.
"Oh! Sorry, Toph!" Irma quickly apologized.
The plan was set thusly: Taranee and Hay Lin would search for Iroh in the prison, while Cornelia, Irma and Toph would free Will from her confinement. After these two tasks were complete, they would all reunite and launch another assault on Zuko.
Corny and Irma, ever full of chutzpah, would trick their way in while Tara and Hay Lin would operate more covertly. If anyone were to ask the Fire & Air Guardians who they were and what they were doing, they'd say they were new fire bending acolytes and got lost.
The plan was working perfectly!
Then someone saw the wires.
"Hey! She's not the real Plant Spirit!" an unusually on the ball acolyte pointed out. "Those branches are tied to her!"
"Uh oh." Irma uttered.
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 4: Grief
"Do you remember that day, Avatar?" Zuko's biting words dug deep into Aang's soul. "The day you said farewell to Sokka?"
The members of the Southern Water Tribe solemnly bore Sokka's body away from the site where he fell during the Day of Black Sun Invasion.
They took him to the middle of vast Mother Ocean, giver of life, prepared his remains, and buried him at sea while his sister, a weeping Katara, and his father, a silent Chief Hakoda, stood mute witness to his sacrifice.
Aang, though, could not face what had occurred, and kept to himself, away from the others in the grieving party.
"Shut up, Zuko!" Aang, his eyes red with after producing so many tears, snapped. "You weren't there! You don't know what happened!"
"No. But I can imagine. I've dealt with grief myself in my short life." Zuko confided. "And you want to know a secret?"
"What??" Aang politely, but angrily, responded.
"Just this..." Zuko leaned over to the Avatar and whispered in his ear.
Katara could only imagine what he was telling Aang! Something horrible, no doubt! She so wanted to take Aang in her arms, tell him it was alright, that, that she loved him and forgave him his mistakes, that EVERYONE did!
But it was impossible for Aang to hear any of that. Zuko had muzzled Katara.
And what the Fire Lord told Aang was more terrible than anything the Water Tribe girl could conceive!
"They all hate you, you know." Zuko whispered to the young Avatar. "They hate having to rely on you to help their world. You symbolize all their failures to end the war and bring peace."
"No, that...That's not true! I'm hope to them! They've said it many times!" Aang rejected Zuko's 'truth'.
"They blame you for the state of the world, just as my father blamed me for the loss of his wife, my mother." Zuko continued his private talk. "Don't you see, Avatar Aang? They wanted our deaths to pay for their sins, yours during the first attack 100 years ago, and mine after my father had...a dispute with Azulon, my grandfather. But we refused to go along! So of course they hate us! We have a lot in common, Avatar!"
"We're nothing alike, Zuko!" Aang spat.
"If only that were true..." Zuko sighed. Then he looked Aang in the eye and said "But mostly, they hate you for another reason, a far more personal one. Tell me, Avatar, have you told the girl how you feel about her?" Zuko quietly interrogated.
"Leave Katara out of this!" Aang railed.
"You haven't, have you? And do you know why?" Zuko paused, stared briefly at Katara, then returned his attention to Aang and continued. "Because she would reject you if you did. She hates you for taking her brother away from her! How could she not?! She only follows you now out of a sense of duty!"
"No. That...can't be." the sorrowful boy moaned, recalling how, although Zuko didn't know it, Katara DID reject Aang after he told her how much he loved her!
"You know I'm right, Avatar." Zuko whacked another nail in the personification of the four elements' coffin.
Aang looked at the distraught Katara, then turned away, unable to meet the gaze from the girl's pleading eyes.
His grief complete, Aang's heart lit up.
Zuko smiled. He was more than halfway home in his dark scheme.
ooooooooooooooo
"What happened to your plants?" the military man interrogated the 'Plant Spirit'.
"Ah, they must have gotten old and died! I can do that too, you know! Make plants die!" Cornelia thought fast, and ran her mouth even faster.
"I really am the Plant Spirit, and I'm here to inspect your facilities per Fire Lord Zuko's command!" Corny continued the 'Royal Spirit act' and telekinetically shook the twigs and branches as she spoke, but it wasn't working. "Want to see me grow?" she added. However, Cornelia couldn't enlarge even another inch because she had already grown to her maximum height. "Oh, wait, I can't..."
With the lamps ringing the area at full glow, the light was much better in the courtyard than outside, and it was becoming exceedingly hard to disguise the truth.
"Why are the plants tied to you??" one of the fire bending recruits asked.
"So I don't lose them?" Cornelia weakly offered.
"Fake!!" one yelled.
"She must be an Earth Kingdom spy!" another shouted.
"Let's get 'em!" an eager recruit incited his fellow acolytes.
"For the Fire Nation!" a group of the young patriots yelled, as they ran at our hapless heroes!
"Corny, lock arms!" Irma, standing back to back to Cornelia, implored her frazzled friend. Irma couldn't use her power of suggestion on such a large group but, luckily, she had a better idea!
"What??!" the Hales' oldest daughter responded. She thought they'd have to fight off the horde, but Irma wanted to grab hold of her??? Cornelia felt really confused!
"Do it!" the Water Guardian demanded. Corny, not sure of any better options, complied. "Now levitate!!" Irma ordered.
"For the Fire Lo-what??" the recruit leading the charge gasped as the female duo rose into the air.
Then he ran SMACK into his fellow fire bender attacking from the other side who also staring at the floating girls. They were soon joined on the ground by those following them from behind, who tripped and fell over the pair of distracted wannabe fire benders!
"Now drop us down and spin us around! Helicopter!" Irma commanded.
Corny swiftly got the gist of Irma's logic, and seconds later the duo's flying-in-circles-feet took the fight out of
their remaining assailants!
After landing and grabbing Toph, the girls ran for the entrance to the storeroom.
However, there were still a few soldiers between them and the door, so Cornelia dropped Toph so she could concentrate on using her TK to take them out, while Irma 'suggested' to her opponent he aim his fire away from her so she could run around him and knock him down.
Which left Toph facing a fearsome fire bender all by herself!
"A blind girl?? Ha! What are you going to do to me, girlie?!" he laughed.
"I'll show you!" the proud Toph dared, and set her feet, arms and body into an earth bending fighting stance, although she lacked any bending ability at the moment.
Cornelia saw Toph's predicament, and casually, telekinetically, pushed the man forward into Toph's outstretched fist! He crumpled like paper once his face met Toph's knuckles!
"Time to go, Toph!" Corny hustled her earthly companion through the door of the storehouse, followed closely by Irma, who slammed the door shut!
"Did you see me take that guy out??" Toph bragged, once the three were safely inside and Irma & Cornelia had barred the door. "I am the Blind Bandit! Yes!" she cheered, flexing her muscles in showoff fashion. Toph thought all that earth bending she did for so many years had given her quite the workout!
"Yeahhhh..." Irma began, then stopped herself, not wanting to burst Toph's bubble of invincibility. "Toph aside, when we get back home, I am so going to get Caleb to give me a few pointers on fighting! That was nuts!" Irma realized they had gotten lucky, and if there was one thing she knew about luck, it was that it didn't last.
"Noted!" Cornelia perfunctorily responded, then got down to business. "Now let's get Will!"
The three marched down the stairs to the cellar where Zuko kept Will imprisoned.
Meanwhile, Taranee and Hay Lin had made it safely inside the old prison without being spotted.
"Are you okay back there, Hay Lin?" Taranee gently inquired while slinking stealthily through the old prison's corridors. It seemed deserted and empty, but evidence of disturbed dust and recent footprints dispelled the notion it was unused. "You've been...kind of quiet." Tara whispered. She, like Irma, was worried the Guardian of Air was suffering post-traumatic stress after her 'run-in' (to put it kindly!) with Princess Azula.
"No, I'm fine." the much less chipper than usual Miss Lin replied in a voice very close to a monotone, but not quite that emotionless. It was clear she was putting up a brave front, soldiering on as best as she could for her team, 'her girls'. "But I don't understand why we aren't rescuing Will with Cornelia and Irma!" Hay Lin disappointedly cried.
"Because, to tell the truth..." Tara hesitated, and ducked back when she thought she saw someone up ahead. "...I didn't think it would work. I couldn't rouse Will, after all, when Zuko first showed her to me." Taranee recalled.
"Then, then you sent them to fail?!" a shocked Hay Lin gasped.
"No." Taranee held up her hand to halt Hay Hay's advance while she checked to see if the coast was clear. "Maybe they can do something I couldn't. But the key, as I said before, is Iroh. However, I didn't realize that until after Irma told me something that happened on the first invasion."
"You mean that spiritcatcher thingy Zuko trapped her and Aang in?" Hay Lin deduced.
"Correct. I had no idea Zuko was involved in anything to do with the Spirit World, and I heard that Iroh had...Hold it" Taranee ordered her friend to stop as soon as she spotted activity down the darkened hallway. "I think we're here."
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 5: Lies
"Lies swirl around you, Avatar! When we first met, you were hiding, denying who you were. And the lies continue to this day!" Zuko accused the last Air Nomad. "You didn't tell Katara the truth about your friend, the air girl."
"Her name's Hay Lin! And I don't know what you're talking about!" Aang shouted in reply.
"Really?" Zuko smirked. He was enjoying this far more than he thought he would. The Avatar was usually so self-righteous, all 'I don't eat meat, I don't believe in violence'! But Ozai's son was exposing him for what he really was! "Yesterday, before you left the Earth Kingdom, what did you tell Hay Lin? I'm sure Katara would like to hear it."
"I didn't...It's nothing. It was personal." Aang replied, not looking either Zuko or Katara in the eye as he said it.
"Okay. Fine." Zuko casually retorted. "If that's the way you want to play it."
Katara stared at Aang, until the air bender couldn't take it any more!
"Katara, it's not important! You...you can't believe anything he says! It's Zuko!" Aang yelled, rather unconvincingly. The young Air Monk made Hay Lin promise to save Katara if anything happened to threaten her life, but Aang couldn't tell Katara that he went against her wishes to seek justice for her brother.
With that deception out of his mouth, Aang's throat radiated light.
Oh, Aang! Katara felt for the youthful Air Nomad, who she loved more than she realized. What is he doing to you?!?
ooooooooooooooo
"It's locked!!" a very frustrated Irma Lair cried out. To have come this far, half a world, to rescue her friend, Will, and to be a few short feet away, only to be stymied by an old lock on a big ol' door???
"If only I had my metal bending!" Toph declared after feeling the obstacle in their path. Though the door was wood, its hinges and lock were metal.
"Step aside! You forget what I can do!" Cornelia declared, stretching her digits by interlocking the fingers on her hands and cracking her knuckles.
"But that door is too big and heavy for your tele-kiwhatever, isn't it??" a confused Irma wondered.
"Yeah. So?" Corny bent down, and directed her power at the lock itself. Since the metal deadbolt was too strong and solid to remove, Cornelia telekinetically moved the tumblers with her mind until they clicked into place.
"There!" a pleased Miss Hale announced, then swung the creaky cellar door open. "After you!"
"Now I see why Jet kept you around!" Irma joked, mentioning the 'freedom fighter' Cornelia spent some time with when she first arrived in the Avatar's world. Jet and Cornelia would often raid Fire Nation facilities in the occupied Earth Kingdom, and the Earth Guardian's special skills were invaluable to his success.
"Ha ha. Funny. Not!" a miffed Cornelia retorted.
"Who's Jet?" a curious Toph Bei Fong asked.
"Nobody!" Corny spat out the answer. Jet had used the blonde from Heatherfield for his own benefit, and the memory still rankled.
"Ask me later." Irma whispered to Toph.
"Hey, isn't it strange they haven't tried to follow us? I thought they'd have the outside door broken down by now!" Toph observed.
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Toph!" Irma cracked. "Now let's get Will!"
"A horse? You mean an ostrich horse?? And why would you look it in the mouth?" a baffled Toph mused.
"Never mind! Come on!!" an annoyed Cornelia Hale snapped, and grabbed the slow-moving blind girl by the arm to hurry her along.
Meanwhile, outside the storeroom building...
"What's this I hear about spies?" a serious and sober-minded Captain Zindao inquired.
"That's right, Captain!" the drill sergeant snapped to attention and informed the newly-arrived superior officer who reviewed all Invasion-related intelligence reports. "But don't worry, we got 'em!"
"Then where are they?" Zindao directly asked.
"Errr, they're in the storehouse, sir." the enlisted man nervously replied.
"And may I ask WHY they're in the storehouse and not in custody??!" a very peeved Captain of the Guard Zindao interrogated.
The sergeant was sweating bullets, and really didn't want to answer the question.
But he didn't have to.
Two of his fire bender trainees did.
"We're not allowed in there, sir." Chan said.
"Fire Lord Zuko's orders, sir!" Ruon Jian helpfully added.
The two recruits smiled, thinking they were most beneficial to the high-ranking Captain.
But...
" 'Orders'?" Zindao uttered, unable to believe his ears.
Then he got mad!!
"I have an order for you! Open that door and drag those spies out here! NOW!!!" Zindao barked.
"Yes sir, right away, sir!" Chan anxiously replied. He and Ruon Jian ran to the storehouse door.
However...
"It's stuck!" the slacker son of the Admiral cried as he and his buddy struggled with the gate barred on the inside.
"You're fire benders, aren't you?" Capt. Zindao hotly declared. "Destroy that door!"
But Chan's fireball attempt blew up in his face, and Ruon Jian's flameburst set his shirt on fire!
"Oh, for the love of Agni!" the exasperated Captain exclaimed, his hand trying to calm the throbbing vein on his forehead, while the two trainees each ran for a bucket of water to ease their pain!
ooooooooooooooo
Chakra 6: Illusion
Through the portal, a vision.
A vision of what the world would be like without Aang!
"Do you see that?" Zuko implored his two captives. "This is what the world would be like if Aang lived his natural lifespan, instead of cheating death! It's a world where the new Avatar ensures the peace, the wickedness of the Fire Nation having been wiped away by his ascension!"
The new Avatar, seen from behind, wore a royal crown of the Fire Nation on his head as he met peacefully with representatives of the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes at a great feast.
"How...how are you doing this?" the puzzled and weary Aang asked.
"Through the help of a friend." Zuko answered. He was making use of Koh's ability to play scenes on the wall of his cave. "But that's not important. What's important is how your selfishness hurt everyone in the world!"
Having accepted Zuko's shadowplay, Aang's forehead lit up.
Zuko chuckled to himself. He was so very close now! So close to all he desired!
ooooooooooooooo
"WILL!!!"
"Forget it, Irma!" Cornelia regretted. "Even your legendary wake-up skills are useless!"
The two Guardians stood before their red-headed friend, imprisoned behind a curtain of...
"What is this stuff, anyway?" Irma asked.
"It looks like the same thing Zuko used to trap us...Heart energy." Corny replied, probing it with her fingers as she said it. "But it feels...odd. Like it doesn't have any oomph to it."
"Yeah, it's not all sparkly, like when Will uses the Heart of Candracar, is it?" Irma pondered. "I guess 'cause Zuko made it?"
Then Cornelia looked to the unconscious Guardian leader and added "Lifeless."
Before the Heatherfield duo could consider the ramifications of those words, they were distracted...
...by Toph!
"Hey!" the blind Earth Kingdom girl yelped, her hands running over a large, man-sized object. "What's this??"
"Get away from that, Toph!" Irma ordered, tearing the Bei Fong lass away from the crystalline structure. "You don't want to wake that guy up! That's Phobos!!"
Phobos, evil Prince of Meridian, whom Lord Zuko had captured as a peace offering to Taranee and Cornelia, to make up for not releasing Will. He sealed the dread mage in a prison of crystal, lest he get free and terrorize the world!
"What do we do now??" Cornelia wailed. They had put all their hope in the ability of a free Will Vandom to beat Zuko and stop the war.
"What?? Is the 'confident Corny' actually worried??" Irma teased.
"After what I've seen? Yeah, a bit." the former Earth Guardian admitted.
"What did you see?" a very curious Irma Lair pried. "What happened to you, Cornelia?? I mean, first time I see you in months, you're a plant, for cryin' out loud, and now you're human again! So, I guess what I mean to ask is, how are you doing?" the Water Guardian oh so sensitively (well, sensitive for Irma, anyway) inquired.
"Honestly?" Cornelia took a rare moment to reflect. Usually, as a member of the Guardians, Cornelia Hale was too busy dashing off to Candracar, or Meridian, or in school, or with her boyfriend, or involved in some family outing to pause and consider her hectic lifestyle. She couldn't remember the last time she had an opportunity to discuss her life with someone close to her. "I've never felt better! All that time as the 'Plant Spirit' seems like a dream now. A very long dream! It was as if I was outside of my body, watching things. Really weird. And if I never have to do that again, that's fine with me!"
"You feel pretty good, huh? So Zuko actually did you a favor?" Irma zinged her friend of many years.
"I wouldn't go that far!" Cornelia snorted in reply.
"Zuko! What is the deal with that guy, anyway??" the ticked off Toph blurted. "He starts this war, grabs Aang and Katara, locks them all up...I don't get it!!"
"Zuko never did tell me much." Cornelia revealed. "I always got the feeling he was holding back, like he had some big secret that he couldn't tell anyone! I tried to find out, but..."
"Would this 'trying' involve using any feminine wiles?" Irma said in jest.
"Shut it, Irma!" a peeved Cornelia Hale shot back. Irma had touched a raw nerve, because the blonde Guardian had used a budding relationship with the scarred Fire Lord as part of her plan to free Will, only to see it all go wrong when Zuko turned the tables on her on the Day of Black Sun.
"I was just joking!" Irma said in her defense. Her weak attempts at humor, an effort to keep things light in the face of extreme adversity, were definitely falling flat.
Which prompted the Guardian of Water to get serious herself.
"It's nice you're feeling better, Corny, but the one I'm worried about is Hay Lin. She's not holding up real well." Irma spoke from the heart.
"I'm sure we've all been through a lot, but she'll be okay. Hay Lin's stronger than you give her credit for." Cornelia commented, unaware of the Azula incident/beat down.
"Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of." Irma whispered to herself. "Why didn't I see it coming?" Irma blamed herself, at least in part, for the Air Guardian's violent rampage.
"What?" Corny inquired.
"Never mind." Irma replied, not wishing to go into the sordid details. So she changed the subject. "Who was that girl who took Caleb?"
"You mean Jun?" Cornelia clarified. "Just someone I met here. There are a lot of nice people in the Fire Nation, Irma."
"I know that, but..."
"What's the matter? Jealous?" Corny teased Mr. Lair's daughter.
"Huh! As if!" a miffed Irma huffed.
"Wow. I thought things between me and Sugar Queen were messed up, but we've got nothing on you two!" Toph 'observed'. Though blind, she 'saw' some things more clearly than those with sight. Such as, Cornelia and Irma have one of the strangest love/hate relationships there is, attacking each other like drunk bridesmaids wearing the same outfit at a wedding one moment, and comforting each other like long-lost sisters meeting at a funeral for the first time in years the next.
The two Guardian girls had zero response to her snarky comment (years of ribbing by Will, Taranee and Hay Lin had inoculated the pair to criticism of their unique attachment), so Toph continued. "Um, what do you think Zuko is up to?"
"He's waiting for something, I think." Cornelia speculated. "But what it is, I have no idea!"
"Could it have to do with the comet?" Toph offered her theory. "It's supposed to make fire benders stronger."
"But the comet doesn't return until tomorrow." Irma pointed out. "And Aang's pretty slippery. Zuko can't expect to hold him that long!"
"Something doesn't add up." Cornelia said. "Either way, I don't think we can afford to waste any more time!"
"Yeah, about that time thing..." Toph ruefully interjected. A feeling of unease had settled over her like a funeral shroud. "...I think we're about out of..."
"Halt, spies!! You are all our prisoners!" the Fire Nation soldier announced.
He was joined by a squadron of fire benders who swiftly surrounded the elementally powerless trio in the cellar storeroom with no rear exit.
While our three trapped heroes faced certain capture, in the other part of the complex, the supposed former prison, Taranee and Hay Lin found a guard watching over a lone cell.
And, curiously enough, a discussion was under way...
"You should fear the Spirits!" the unknown occupant of the cell told the guard. "Don't incur their wrath!"
But the single sentry dismissed the advice. "Spirits! Ha! I don't believe in the Plant Spirit, and I've seen her!" he cracked.
"Iroh's got to be in there!" Tara declared from her hiding spot down the hall. "Hay Lin, pick up something heavy, go invisible and take that guy out!"
"No, Taranee!" Hay Hay wailed. "I can't do that! Please don't make me!!"
Hay Lin, by this point, abhorred violence. Although to Taranee it appeared as if the shell-shocked Air Guardian was having a nervous breakdown, Hay Lin sincerely believed if she attacked someone now she could kill them.
"But...okay, okay, I'll do it!" the Fire Guardian changed tactics. "So calm down. Get invisible and cause a distraction so I can sneak up on the guard. You can do that, right?" the irked Miss Cook asked.
"I guess so. Yeah." Hay Lin responded, her quick-beating heart slowing down. But her relief was replaced by a feeling of shame. She had let her friend down.
Hay Hay turned away from the object of her shame and, unseen, glided silently past the guard, then created quite a ruckus!
BANG
WHAM
"Who's there?!" the sentry shouted.
But the hall was empty.
Instinctively, he glanced in the other direction...
...and saw Taranee barreling at him, rock in hand!
Aaaahhhh!" Tara screamed, in an attempt to throw off her target's reflexes and allow her to get in one good shot at him.
But this guard was no novice!
He slapped the weapon out of the girl's hand, grabbed her by the throat, then picked his young assailant up off the ground!
"Ho, what's this, then?" he laughed. "It appears you have a visitor!"
Then the sentry's demeanor changed.
"One dead visitor!" he angrily growled.
"No! You leave her alone!!" a voice rang out, and echoed off the walls of the prison.
"What the??" the guard who didn't believe in spirits stammered, but didn't lose his grip on his prey. "Who said that??!"
But he could see no one.
Hay Lin! Taranee broadcast her thoughts to her friend. Get out of here! Save yourself!
"No!!!" Hay Lin cried, then became visible, her little hands balled up into fists as she stood her ground. "I won't abandon you, Taranee!"
Oh, Hay Lin! Taranee thought to herself. You've doomed us both!
ooooooooooooooo
Zuko took his pocket watch out and stared at the time. It won't be long now. he thought.
Since he had time to spare, the upbeat Fire Lord decided to take a refreshing pause from his necessary work of breaking the Avatar and relax with a glass of fire ale.
Moments later, Zuko returned to the room where Aang and Katara were held and noticed his unseen ally was still running his moving picture show through the hole in space.
In it, the 'new Avatar', an unscarred Zuko, supped happily with his father, Ozai (who, in reality, had disowned him); his missing mother, Ursa; his lost love, Mai; and his vanished Uncle Iroh.
"Stop it!" Zuko raged, and zapped the power of the Heart of Candracar through the portal.
Leaving Aang and Katara more mystified than ever.
ooooooooooooooo
"We've got them, sir!" the sergeant proudly reported to the Captain of the Guard, the captives marched out of the storeroom building by the squad of fire bender trainees. "And you'll never guess what these spies tried to pull! One of them pretended to be…"
"Plant Spirit!" Captain Zindao exclaimed upon seeing Cornelia. "What are you doing here??"
"Let us go, Zindao!" Cornelia demanded. "Zuko sent us here!"
"She really is the Plant Spirit??!" the alarmed Fire Army drill instructor howled.
"But why would you be here pretending..." Zindao noted her skin smudged with green dye and the bad 'Plant Spirit' disguise Cornelia wore. "...Then…You don't have your powers? Oh, this is rich! Fortune smiles upon me!"
"Don't worry, sergeant," Zindao reassured his subordinate. "Yes, she is the Plant Spirit, but she can't hurt us! What happened, did Zuko take your powers away?" he interrogated the blonde from Heatherfield. "And are these your outworlder friends?"
"Hey, I'm not an outworlder!" Toph protested.
"Don't tell him anything, Toph!" Cornelia insisted.
"You mean, like my name?" Toph sarcastically retorted.
"It doesn't matter. Whatever you were trying to do here is over!" Captain Zindao declared. "Take them to the stockade!" he ordered.
"Not so fast, Zindao!" Cornelia halted the soldiers attempting to take her into custody. "I...I challenge you to an Agni Kai!"
"What???" Zindao was stunned by the audacity of the outworld Spirit. "Only a citizen of the Fire Nation can challenge another to an Agni Kai!" he sneered. "Take them away!"
"Corny, what are you doing??" a baffled Irma begged her friend.
"The only thing I can do!" a somber but determined Cornelia Hale answered. "We're in real trouble! Zindao knows who I am, but he didn't blink when I dropped Zuko's name! Something is wrong."
"Actually, sir..." Chan interjected. "...Since she is the Plant Spirit, like you said, she is a member of the Fire Nation! Lord Zuko proclaimed her a citizen on Fire Angel/Plant Spirit Day at the Royal Zoo!"
"Yeah! I remember that!" Ruon Jian added. "That's where we met the Fire Angel and got her autograph!"
"That was so cool!" Chan cheered.
"Sure was!!" Ruon Jian smilingly agreed. "I even hung it on my wall!"
"Will you two idiots shut the fire up!!" a ticked off Captain Zindao angrily bellowed.
"Well...Guess who loses his honor by running away from a duel?" Cornelia mocked the Captain of the Guard.
"Very well. But you will pay severely for this attempt at belittling me!" the inflamed fire bender promised, as he tore off his cloak & shirt, revealing the buff torso beneath. "Prepare yourself!"
"I hope you weren't expecting me to take my shirt off, 'cause I wouldn't want to overexcite my fanclub!" Corny quipped.
"Yes!" Chan goaded Cornelia. "Please do, Plant Spirit!"
"Pleeeaaassseee! We won't look!" Ruon Jian bleated.
"What do you mean, 'we won't look'? No wonder they think we're idiots!" Chan retorted.
"I only said that so she'd do it!" Ruon Jian weakly claimed.
"Cornelia...Are you sure about this?" a worried Irma inquired.
"Oh, yeah! Zindao's only the two-time fire bending champion of the army, that's all! Nothing to worry about there!" the blonde from Heatherfield sarcastically replied.
"I'm serious! I..."
"Irma, I'm going to use my telekinesis to make things as crazy as I can, and when I do, you two have to run for it!" Cornelia Hale urged her friend.
"But what about you???" Irma cried.
"Don't worry about me! I'm too valuable a prize for them to harm." Cornelia reassured her longtime companion. "But God knows what they'll do to you and Toph!"
"No, I mean, we came all this way to get you, but it's all gone wrong, and now I..." Tears welled up in Irma's eyes. It was the one form of moisture the Water Guardian had no control over.
"Shh, I know, Irma, I know..." Cornelia embraced the one Guardian who was like a sister to her (and, like most sisters, drove her nuts as often as possible!) "I love you, too."
"What about me?" Toph interrupted the tender scene.
"What???" a surprised Irma uttered.
I knew it! They hate me! Especially Cornelia! Toph, rebuffed by the two Guardians, immediately thought.
The blind ex-earth bender's heart sank. After Sokka died, she suspected some in their group, but particularly Cornelia and Irma, blamed her for his death.
And now she was sure of it!
Then Toph felt two pairs of arms spread around her, enveloping her in a group hug.
"We love you, too, Toph!" Irma told her.
"And we're, I mean, I'm sorry!" Cornelia sincerely added.
Toph was blind, but if there is one thing eyes are totally unnecessary for, it's to see love. A good thing, too, since if Toph had eyes, she wouldn't be able to use them, what with all the water happily pouring out of her orbs at the moment!
"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Zindao mocked the three elementals.
"It is! Sniff!" Chan said, unsuccessfully holding back a tear.
"It's so beautiful!" Ruon Jian added, bawling his eyes out. "Wah ah ah hah!"
"I was making fun! Morons!" Zindao hollered, and followed up with a fireball that sailed over Chan and Ruon Jian 's heads, singeing their hair with a WHOOSH. "Now shut up!!" he barked.
Finally breaking from the hugfest, Cornelia walked to one end of the courtyard, then glanced over at Irma and Toph. Knowing they were united in love and friendship, the former Earth Guardian stiffened her spine, set her feet on the ground, fixed her gaze solidly on Captain Zindao the expert fire bender and declared "Let's do this!"
And then...
ROAR!!!
Flames shot over the length of the makeshift arena!
"What the?!!" Zindao blurted, as he dodged out of the way of the scorching lick of fire!
He turned to see where it was coming from. "A fire dragon??" he unbelievingly gasped. But he couldn't deny the evidence before his eyes. There it was, a dragon made out of fire, breathing flames on the assembled troop of fire bender trainees and destroying anything it hit with its arms and tail!
And behind the dragon was...
"It's the Fire Angel!" one Fire Army recruit yelled.
Taranee stood in back of the 'fire dragon' and directed its fearsome movements at the terrified group of fire bender wannabees.
"NO! Not the Fire Angel! We've upset her by threatening her friend the Plant Spirit! Run! Before she takes our bending away, or destroys us!!" Chan screamed like a little girl, as he and his fellow Army rookies took off like scared rabbiroos!
"It was his idea! Get him!" Ruon Jian said, pointing to Zindao. "Please don't hurt us!" he begged, as he kneeled before Tara and held his hands together in prayer.
"You fools! She's not using her powers like before, or even looks the same! She's probably as powerless as the Plant Spirit! This is all some sort of - Whoop!" Zindao exclaimed, avoiding the dragon's 'fire tail' that almost took off his head, then crashed into the wall, turning it into rubble!
Faced with a more powerful foe of heretofore unknown capabilities, Zindao, nephew of Admiral Zhao and an extremely accomplished military man himself, glared at the Guardians, then retreated to summon reinforcements - real Fire Nation warriors!
"What the heck??!" Irma yelped. She, Cornelia and Toph rushed to greet their fiery savior, all their enemies having fled before the might of the 'Fire Angel'! "Taranee, how'd you get your powers back??" the Water Guardian asked.
"Oh, I don't have my powers." Tara modestly responded, then smiled. "I did it with a little help from my friends!"
Hay Lin appeared out of thin air, wielding a mallet almost as big as her, and an older man stepped out of the shadows.
Iroh!
ooooooooooooooo
Aang struggled to control himself. With each negative emotion, a negative chakra was opened. Aang knew something bad was happening, and he recalled the Lion-Turtle's wise words.
The true mind can weather all lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. From beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.
That's it! Aang realized. I must release my hate, my darkness. Let my light shine. The Avatar meditated, and the glowing light released by his opened negative chakras grew and merged into a nearly perfect round ball, only lacking the top of the sphere, which would have covered his head.
This enraged Zuko! "What are you doing??" he sputtered. "Stop that this instant, or I'll...!"
Furious at the prospect of his plans coming undone, the former Prince accelerated his timetable and took out his anger on his next target.
"Let this be a lesson to you!" Zuko obstinately yelled, as he raised his hand to Katara!
"No!! Stop!" the heart-sick Avatar pleaded, as his healing light faded. "Please, Zuko! Don't hurt her!!"
But the Fire Lord would not be moved.
He swung his fist at the girl!
However, blinded by rage, Zuko missed Katara's face and hit her neck instead, breaking the chain that held the vial of water from the North Pole Spirit Oasis!
It tumbled through the air, spilling water as it went.
Spilling water, Spirit water, on the thing that held Katara fast to the Palace wall: Her Heart of Candracar energy bonds.
The special water...dissolved them!
Katara was surprised to find herself suddenly free, but no one was more shocked than Fire Lord Zuko!
"How?? This can't..." he stammered.
Then, peering out the window, a passing cloud revealed to the water bender a very important fact: The moon had risen!
The full moon!
Gritting her teeth, Katara quickly moved her limbs to perform an act of bending she had only done once before.
Blood bending!
With a sweep of her arms, Katara jerked Zuko around like a puppet on a string!
"What the??" Zuko gasped, as his body moved of its own volition. "No! Stop!!" he screamed, as Katara forced him to crash headfirst into a wall!
ooooooooooooooo
In the medical tent set up by the Fire Nation Army to treat soldiers injured by the invaders (who had yet to arrive, as the Fire Nation Navy and Airships had heroically bottled up the Allied Nations' forces at sea), Jun stared at the unconscious teenage boy she had brought in.
Though he was obviously strong and tough, like favored Fire Nation males, there was also a softness, a tenderness, about him. Must be why Cornelia likes him so much she thought.
Caleb stirred, and his eyes opened. "Who are you?" he gasped.
"I'm Jun. Cornelia's friend." Jun Yi introduced herself. "I agreed to watch over you while she and her friends went to get someone named Will."
"So they're okay? Thank Candracar! But where would they go?" Caleb pondered. "What's the most heavily guarded place in the Palace area?" he asked.
"Um, that would be the Fire Institute." Jun revealed. "But it's crawling with fire benders!" she warned.
"And they don't have their powers! Damnit!" Caleb railed at the horrible workings of fate.
"I'm sorry, but they said they had to do it." Jun Yi commiserated.
"No. That's right. It was the only way." the rebel leader from Meridian agreed with the strategy, but desperately wished he could aid them. "If there was only something I could do!" he cried.
"So you're okay now? Because I have to get back to my airship." Jun said.
"You have an airship??!" a surprised Caleb yelped.
ooooooooooooooo
"I won't abandon you, Taranee!" Hay Lin had courageously cried, displaying her little fists in a brave (though foolhardy) attempt to challenge the beefy guard who literally held the life of Tara Cook in his thick hand.
Having given up her only advantage - invisibility - what could the slight Hay Hay do to the huge Fire Nation sentry?
Not much!
And the guard knew it.
Stunned at first upon seeing someone appear before him like a ghost, the guard quickly recovered and joked to his prisoner "Heh. Maybe you're right. Maybe Spirits do exist! Too bad they're weak Spi-aghk!"
"Can't say I didn't warn you!" the cell occupant declared, as his hand delivered an incapacitating karate chop to the guard's windpipe!
Hay Lin's sudden appearance had so unnerved and distracted the Fire Nation security officer that he backed up too close to the prison cell, home to one of the most dangerous fire benders alive!
Though the magical properties of his jail prevented him from bending any fire, the special prisoner had many skills.
Moving with a speed that belied his age, the man behind the bars whipped an arm around, holding his captor in a headlock while he applied pressure to a key artery in the neck, knocking out the guard who then quietly slumped to the floor.
"Quickly!" the prisoner implored the girls. "Take his key and unlock my cell!"
With all the fight temporarily taken out of the sentry, Taranee and Hay Lin easily freed the detainee.
"When we got out of the prison we saw the mess you guys were in." Taranee Cook brought her companions up to speed. "But not even Iroh could fight that many soldiers, so I thought I could use my 'Fire Angel' rep and Iroh's fire bending to scare them off." she explained to Toph, Irma and Cornelia.
"And I helped!" Hay Lin beamed, proudly displaying the large hammer she found near the door of the detention facility, and which made an impressive addition to the Fire Guardian's plan. Using their telepathic contact, Taranee directed the invisible Hay Lin to strike walls and objects ahead of Iroh's fire dragon, while Iroh followed Tara's arm movements to guide the dragon to its targets. Taranee conducted a symphony of fire and destruction, and sent the pack of fire whelps running!
Buoyed by their success against the fire benders, the Air Guardian almost seemed to be back to her chipper, old self.
"You're Iroh? I thought you'd be older." Cornelia said, noting Iroh's middle-aged appearance and lack of facial hair, so different from the few paintings she had seen of him.
"Phobos glamoured him so no one would know who he was." the Fire Guardian pointed out.
"Oh."
"I didn't like it at first, but, as long as pretty ladies like yourself find it pleasing, I think I'll keep it." Iroh smiled.
Ew!! Did the old dude just hit on me?? Cornelia thought-communicated to her Guardian friends, holding her hand in front of her mouth to prevent her from barfing.
It's not all about you, Corny! Irma telepathically retorted.
Actually, I think he was hitting on all of us! Taranee thought-added.
That's even worse! Double Ew! Cornelia telepathically replied.
I believe that calls for the rare Triple Ew! Irma thought-quipped.
"You do sound very handsome." Toph threw in her two cents. She had tea with Iroh months ago when Toph ran away from the GAang, and he helped her then. "A good voice, at least!"
"No one asked you, Toph!" Irma snapped. In an odd sign of their improved relationship, Irma now treated the Earth Kingdom girl just as (poorly as) she did Cornelia.
"Enough chit-chat! We don't have a lot of time! Those soldiers will probably return with reinforcements!" Tara shouted. "Now that we're all together, we have to get Will!"
Quickly assembling in the storehouse cellar, the four Guardians surrounded the trapped form of their leader who was held in a perpetual sleepstate due to Zuko's use of the Heart of Candracar.
"We can bring her back if we combine our powers." Taranee theorized.
"How can we? Zuko took our powers away!" Hay Lin depressingly noted.
"That's where you're wrong! Zuko robbed us of our Guardian powers, yes, but he could never steal our greatest power - friendship!" Tara boasted.
"Geez, now I'm gagging on all the sugar in that little speech! Agk gak!" Irma joked.
"Oh, just join hands, Irma!" the simple and down to earth Cornelia annoyingly retorted, grasping Hay Lin's palm and extending her hand toward the exasperating Water Guardian.
"It makes sense, when you think about it." the brainy Taranee Cook speculated. "Together, we're all of the elements, like Will's energy is all of the elements combined, except we're here on this world and Will is, I think, somehow out of phase with us. That's why she can't hear us. So by becoming more like her, we harmonize ourselves with her structure, connecting with her and at the same time providing a path back to our world for her."
"Okay, who does not understand the 'hold hands' thing?" Irma mocked her long-winded friend.
Once they had all joined hands, they concentrated, thought of Will, chanted, did whatever they could think of that could possibly reach their lost leader, and thennnnnn.....
...Nothing!
There was no response, no discernible change in the frozen state of Will Vandom.
"Oh no!" Hay Lin cried. "It's hopeless!"
"That...that should have worked!" a puzzled Taranee exclaimed. "I don't understand..."
"Corny, do you think maybe if you picked up that energy thing holding Will with your tele-whatzis and dropped it off a roof it would break?" Irma offered.
"That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Cornelia railed.
"Children, please!" Iroh sought to calm the situation. "Don't fight! Could there be another way to achieve our goals?"
"Yeah, if Iroh's one of those fire benders who can bend lightning, maybe he can zap lightning at Will's cage and break it, like we did with our energy bonds when Zuko held us?!" Irma spilled her brainstorm.
"What, and hurt Will??" the much more cautious Cornelia Hale raged. "That thing surrounds Will, Irma! It's no little band of energy like we had! That much electricity could kill her! Think before you shoot your mouth off!"
"I'm only trying to help!" Irma Lair shot back. "I don't hear any better ideas coming out of your mouth!"
"Ladies, please! This is getting us nowhere!" Iroh, the voice of wisdom and reason, spoke.
"Forget it, sir!" Toph wittily interjected. "This is them on a good day!"
"OK, you two, dial it down!" Taranee assumed command. "Irma had a good idea - sort of!"
"I did??!" the pleasantly surprised Irma replied.
"Yes. If Iroh can bend lightning, as I've heard, then maybe he can tear a hole in that field around Zuko's Palace, and we can end whatever craziness he has planned for Aang and stop this war!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Irma gave her upbeat opinion of the strategy.
"Sounds good to me!" Cornelia agreed.
"Fine! Then let's get out of here before Zindao and his men come back!" Taranee hurriedly declared.
Though she didn't mention it to the others, the Fire Guardian was worried about more than Zuko and his guards. For you see, when Taranee visited the Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, he told her the end of the world was coming, and the Fire Lord was its messenger!
Nearby, unnoticed by the Guardians and their allies, the empty part of the adjoining storeroom glittered in the soft light. There was something there, in the air, something thin and golden that crisscrossed the space.
ooooooooooooooo
CRASH
BAM!
Seized by righteous anger over the harsh treatment of her friends (and especially of the boy she loved, although she'd never admit that little fact to herself), Katara repeatedly forced the Fire Lord to hurt himself!
Then, when Zuko fell silent and appeared unconscious, the Southern Water Tribe girl released her hold on him, and he tumbled helplessly to the floor.
At that moment, Katara realized she had done what she told Irma and the old woman in the market she would never do, but her misgivings quickly vanished when she remembered the one Zuko had tortured so mercilessly.
"Aang?" she called out. "It's going to be okay. I got him! But don't ask me what just happened, okay? I never want to do that again!" Katara said as she reached for the vial which still held some of the precious water of the Spirits, then bent the drops that had spilled back into the vial. She planned to use the special water to free the Avatar from his imprisonment.
"That's too bad." the voice behind her said. "Because you're going to have to!!"
The Heart of Candracar had granted the Fire Nation teen amazing powers of recuperation, in addition to its many other gifts.
"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed, as she got into a water bending stance. "I'll..." she hesitated, and lost her moment.
"You'll what? Kill me??" Zuko teased, as he wrapped his limbs in the power of the Heart so they could not be moved by anything, least of all a blood bender, and levitated toward the young girl.
"Because that's the only way you'll stop me!!" the Fire Lord declared in an angry huff. When he got close to Katara, Zuko released his arms from the force field and grabbed her!
He then dragged the struggling water bender to an adjoining room.
"You surprise me." the steely-eyed son of Ozai coldly commented. "And I don't like surprises!"
He held her down, covering her body with his.
"Stop fighting!" Zuko urged her. "It'll all be over very soon." he said, his hot breath running oddly icy as he exhaled on her face.
"Aang!" the terrified teen girl screamed, right before Zuko muzzled her with a band of energy over her mouth.
"Katara!!" Aang impotently bellowed.
"You should have finished the job." Zuko soullessly noted to his helpless captive. "It would have been a mercy."
The Heart of Candracar's pink energy lit up the small space, following which Zuko rose up, revealing Katara was bound to the dirty floor with separate bands of Candracan force fields that held the gagged girl's arms, legs, head and body, each in an unbreakable, iron grip. Only her eyes were free to move, darting to and fro, full of fear.
"But don't worry. I will." he impassively added.
Then, in full sight of the last air bender, the son of Ursa produced a hunting knife from his tunic and slashed Katara's jugular, butchering the water bender like she was nothing more than livestock!
As the life-giving fluid drained out of her, the cheerful, loving, loyal, kind (if a bit Mom-like) girl from the Southern Water Tribe breathed her last.
KATARAAAAAA!!! Her name erupted from Aang's mighty air bender lungs.
Then, for but a moment, he fell silent.
"No. No. It can't be." Aang croaked. As he took in the enormity of Zuko's murderous act, the Avatar seemed devoid of life.
Then all his turbulent emotions coalesced into one of pure rage!
"You killed her!!" Aang gave a full-throated yell. "I'll kill you, Zuko!!"
Quickly, the enraged air bender summoned the power of the Avatar State and broke his bonds.
Yes! Finally! Zuko grinned.
There was only one more negative chakra to be opened, and then victory would be his!
The maddened Avatar State Aang barreled into the Fire Lord with such force, they broke through the barrier around the Palace!
High above the Red Zone, Aang called on the power and knowledge of past Avatars to prepare for him for his grim task, and his body and tattoos glowed with the intensity of a small sun.
Zuko, too, increased in strength, power and radiance.
The clouds parted momentarily, and the reason became clear: The comet had returned!
The two mega-powered opponents hung there for a moment in the sky, then the battle was joined!
Aang vs. Zuko, for the fate of the world!
ooooooooooooooo
"Zuko said he has something planned for Aang. Something terrible, I'm sure! But why would he capture Katara, too? Heck, why would he doing any of this with the comet about to arrive?? It makes no sense!" the upset Water Guardian ranted.
On the way out of the old storehouse next to the Fire Institute training grounds, while climbing the long flights of stairs, Irma, Toph, Cornelia, Taranee and Hay Lin peppered Iroh with many questions. The girls sought the retired general's guidance and wisdom concerning Zuko and the present, horrible situation.
"Is the Avatar close to this young girl?" Iroh asked.
Irma and Hay Lin looked at each other, then Irma answered. "Well, yeah. You could say that. Aang...really cares for Katara."
"He loves her!" Hay Lin clarified. "Although I don't know if he told her, so maybe we should keep that fact among ourselves."
"Zuko, Zuko, my boy...What are you doing??!" Iroh sadly said. "Were my sins so terrible?"
The past replayed in Iroh's mind - the last time he had seen his nephew, after the teen ascended to the throne of Fire Lord and confronted Iroh at the cell the devious sorcerer Phobos had locked him in.
Why, Uncle? Why didn't you tell me my destiny was to be the Avatar??!
Nephew...I did not know if any of the strange sights I witnessed in the realm of the Spirits were true. When I awoke after my sojourn there, it seemed as if a dream! But I always loved you and wanted the best for you.
Liar!! Zuko raged. You never thought me worthy of being the Avatar, and actively prevented my destiny! You can stay here and rot!
Zuko, no! Who told you these things? They are using...
But it was too late. The former Prince had slammed the door to the prison behind him.
And Iroh couldn't help but blame himself.
Because, while it's true he did not believe the prophecy the Spirits had given him years ago, at first, when the young Prince faced his father, Fire Lord Ozai, in an Agni Kai and was scarred, driving Zuko into the arms of his 'beloved' Uncle, Iroh saw how he was to become the boy's mentor, and began to suspect the Spirits were right. Secretly, in the darkest recesses of his heart, Iroh selfishly cheered Zuko's banishment, because he got to spend more time with the nephew he considered like a son after suffering the loss of his own son, Lu Ten, in the war.
Zuko...Iroh grieved. I am so sorry for everything!
"Sir, do you have any idea what your nephew has planned?" Taranee inquired, interrupting Iroh's reverie.
"I'm afraid I do. Have you ever heard the theory of the Anti-Avatar?" Iroh queried.
"Sorry. They didn't cover Avatars in school. Although, people do use them as little pictures on the internet." wise-cracking Irma interjected.
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind!" Irma sheepishly replied, then smiled. Her modern-day comedy had bombed yet again, but now she was used to it. "Go on."
"According to Avatar scholars, the Anti-Avatar could be invoked only if an Avatar proved unworthy. That is, his powers could be taken from him and given to another." Iroh elaborated. "However, no Avatar has ever had his abilities forcibly removed from him for cause, because by definition an Avatar must be worthy in order to manifest his bending. The sages believe the Anti-Avatar option was created as a failsafe, in case the world was threatened by dark evil the current Avatar, due to extreme injury, could not stop. But it's never been used, except by…"
"The Dark Avatar!" Toph exclaimed.
"Who's the Dark Avatar?" the curious Taranee sought more information.
"He was a real jerk! Everyone hated him!" Toph replied. The Bei Fong girl had paid attention, in her own special way, to her history tutors back when she lived with her family.
"He was one of the more skilled, yet intensely troubled, Avatars of times past." Iroh explained. "One of Aang's people, an Air Nomad, but that was all they had in common. He was selfish, concerned only with his own needs, but that was not why he is so hated, even to this day."
Iroh sighed, and continued the ancient, tragic tale. "As he lay dying, nearly destroyed by his enemies, he could not bear to see his loved ones suffer because of his failure. So he activated his negative chakras and passed the multi-elemental bending abilities of the Avatar to his young assistant, who went on to save the Avatar's family."
"So? That doesn't sound so 'dark' to me!" Irma commented. "Seems pretty heroic, actually!"
"You don't understand!" Iroh cried. "The boy was unschooled in the use of such great power! He did save the Avatar's wife and children, but at the cost of his own life! The Dark Avatar sent the youngster to his death!"
Irma, Cornelia, Taranee and Hay Lin experienced a sudden shock of recognition. The story sounded...familiar.
"The Dark Avatar disappeared after such a scandalous end to his career, and ever since, he has been reviled, purged from the long list of Avatars." Iroh added.
"Uh, did this guy have a name?" Irma wondered.
"He did, but none ever speak it because of the dishonor he brought on the mantle of the Avatar." Iroh calmly replied. "He was called Himerish."
Three of the Guardians were stunned into silence. But not Irma.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!!" the cop's daughter swore.
"Irma!!!" Hay Lin sputtered, hand over mouth, shocked beyond belief her best friend would use language like that!
"But, but if Zuko is trying to activate this 'Anti-Avatar' in Aang to steal his power..." Taranee struggled to make sense of the situation after that soul-shattering revelation. "...Why all the drama with Cornelia, the whole Plant Spirit thing?"
"I do not know. But I fear the worst. My nephew has been under the influence of dark forces! Who knows what evil they plan to unleash?" Iroh despaired.
Unfortunately, not even the wise old leader of the Order of the White Lotus had any inkling of the world-wrecking crisis to come.
Emerging out of the storehouse, the way appeared clear.
However, once they all exited and began their trek across the courtyard, elite Fire Army soldiers emerged out of the shadows and surrounded them!
"Halt! Your defiance is at an end!" Captain of the Guard Zindao ordered. Then he noticed Iroh. "Ah. I see you've freed Zuko's 'special prisoner'!"
"Let us go, Zindao!" Iroh exhorted the decorated military officer. "You do not know who you are dealing with!" the fire bending master huffed.
"Oh, I know who you are, General!" Zindao spat. "And what we have here is a collection of outworlders and traitors! I will be honored for my actions this evening! None of you will be allowed to complicate my plans!!"
"You would take the Fire Lord's vengeance away from him, and incur his wrath?" the surprised Iroh stated.
"I wouldn't worry about the wrath of the Fire Lord after tonight!" Captain Zindao leered at the mostly powerless heroes. "No one can save you now!"
ooooooooooooooo
Meanwhile, in another part of the Capital City, the thick clouds covering the sky parted, and it appeared to observers on the ground that the comet was not only early, but the starlike speck was getting larger and larger all the time, as if it was on a direct (collision) course!
Definitely...To Be Continued!
Next:
It's all been leading up to this!
The battle you've waited a lifetime for!
(Well, a few years, anyway!)
Zuko vs. Aang,
and the fate of the world hangs in the balance!
(I always wanted to say that!)
Plus:
Can the powerless Guardians defeat the devious Zindao, leader of the insurgent cabal, The Third Way?
And even if they do, can anyone save the world from Koh's evil scheme??
Also:
More surprises I can't even hint at!!
Notes
Cornelia met Jun Yi in the associated story "Day of Black Sunlight". Also, Jun was in the club shut down by the Fire Nation army in the opening to Chapter 8.
Everything's been so serious lately, what with all the high drama and suicidal thoughts and should I kill this person today and whatnot, so thank God for the tag comedy team supreme of Irma and Cornelia! (Plus Toph!) I needed the funny. The story really needs more of a balance, but there were times I just couldn't get the humor in. And I really did miss Corny and Irma mixing it up. They're one of the best duos out there.
Chan and Ruon Jian first appeared in the Avatar season 3 episode "The Beach". It was their party Ozai's Angels (plus Zuko) trashed. Chan's dad is an admiral, so he'd be sure to get his slacker son on the fire bending list (also his pal Ruon Jian, after Chan begged daddy).
Cornelia's (mis)adventure with Jet was detailed in Chapter 14 of W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar.
In this alternate reality, Aang never received instruction from Guru Pathik on opening his chakras (as seen in Chapter 4), leaving Aang vulnerable to Zuko's plot.
Zuko is on so focused on his 'mission' to become the Avatar he doesn't even bother to learn the names of Aang's companions. I'm sure he's heard Sokka and Katara's names mentioned before, but he forgets them, as he deems it unimportant. Also, he calls Hay Lin and Irma 'air girl' and 'water girl', respectively.
There are seven chakras, which are opened by seven states, and blocked by seven corresponding anti- (or negative) chakras. They are Earth (Survival/Fear), Water (Pleasure/Guilt), Fire (Willpower/Shame), Air (Love/Grief), Sound (Truth/Lies), Light (Insight/Illusion) and Thought (Cosmic Energy/Earthly Attachment). Also, the chakras are associated with different parts of the body. The element I add to the mythology is that activation of all of the negative chakras blocks the Avatar State from the Avatar entirely, and results in him or her losing their very Avatarness.
Iroh couldn't escape his cell by himself because he was held there by a combination of Phobos' original magic and the power of the Heart wielded by Zuko.
Anyone who was hoping for some Zutara since Zuko was going to get upclose with Katara, well, the odds of that happening look to be between zip and zilch after the events of this chapter. Which doesn't mean it's impossible.
On September 22, the sun sets at 6:47 PM. If there was a full moon on that date, it would rise a few minutes earlier at approximately 6:37 PM.
Himerish is the real name of the Oracle, the leader of the Council of Candracar who gave the Guardians their elemental powers.
