Chap. 33
Un-hooded
"Kyla?" Sora said, as the girl with the glowing eyes stared back at him.
"The Avatar State." Zuko breathed. "It's true. She really is the Avatar."
Zuko started to move towards his niece, but he had barely taken two steps before Osc grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
"What are you doing?" Zuko asked. "It's Kyla. She won't harm me."
"It's not just Kyla anymore." The bat replied. "Something's wrong here. I don't know why, but my gut tells me something's wrong."
"For once, I have to agree with you." Ozai said, as he slowly pulled himself by the pillar.
At the sound of his voice, Kyla's head snapped over to the former Fire Lord. Her face erupted into a mask of anger as she gazed at him. Before Ozai knew what had happened, the ground rumbled and then pieces of the pyramid broke away from the ground and wrapped themselves around Ozai's hands and feet, then his mouth. The second they were secure, another piece of earth rose and struck Ozai dead center, forcing him to his knees.
"Nothing's wrong here." Zuko said. "This is the Avatar dealing out justice."
But no sooner had Zuko spoken those words then more of the earth broke away and wrapped around him in the same as his father.
"Kyla! What are you doing?!" Sora yelled as he and Osc moved over to Zuko.
"I knew it." Osc said, as they struggled to break the earth surrounding their friend. "This isn't the same Avatar State."
"What is this Avatar State you keep talking about?" Sora asked, as he pulled at the earthen chains.
"It's a defense mechanism built into the Avatar. It allows them to summon the knowledge of all the past Avatars and use their skills and power. Kyla's father had it too." Osc said, glancing back at Kyla, who just stood there staring at them with anger filled eyes.
"Kyla, let your uncle go." The bat said, as he kept struggling against Zuko's bonds. "Whatever it is you think he's done, the two of you are family and you can…"
"Hey, did it get windy all of a sudden?" Sora said suddenly.
"Oh shit." Osc whispered, as he felt the every increasing winds blow on his face. Zuko's eyes widened as he too realized what was about to happen. But unfortunately, none of them realized it soon enough to do anything about it, as the winds whirled around them faster and faster under Kyla's whim. Within seconds, the trio could feel themselves being pulled into the winds outside. Without a moment's hesitation, Sora and Osc quickly drew their blades and shoved them into the ground, giving themselves a safe point against the wind. Across the way, Ozai found himself pressed against the walls of the pyramid, as the winds battered down on him.
Once again, Kyla's eyes found their way over to where he stood, her rage building behind them. As Ozai looked on shock, Kyla brought her arms, pointing her hands at Ozai. Twin bursts of flame shot forth from the young Avatar, cutting through the wall on either side of Ozai. For a second, he wondered why she had missed him, then Ozai heard the sounds of the wall weakening around him, then breaking off around him, sucking him into the whirlwind that had grown outside the pyramid. He floated outside a moment, caught in the winds, and then vanished in a cloud of blackness.
Kyla's eyes narrowed again as she saw Ozai escape. Her anger growing, she began to float up, riding the winds over to where the former Fire Lord has escaped her. But she had barely gone a foot when two pairs of black hands suddenly wrapped around her arm. Kyla turned and saw the two Heartless standing next to her, clasping her arm and looking up with something in their eyes that almost looked like pleading. Kyla ignored them and tried to move forward, but the Heartless gripped her harder. This time, Kyla whirled back around and with a flick of her wrist, blew the Heartless. They flew away from her, towards the window just behind Zuko and the others.
It seemed as if they would fly out, but somehow, they grabbed Osc's cloak and held on. As the five of them held on for dear life, Kyla brought her hands to bear once more, as two fireballs appeared in her palms. Sora and Zuko's eyes widened in disbelief as she prepared to hurl them at her friends and family. Osc just closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to watch what was about to happen. But as Kyla hurled the fireballs, shadowfire suddenly exploded out of the bat's sword covering the group like paint being thrown on a wall. For a second, a blue-black fiery mass in the shape of the fivesome could be seen, then it vanished, just as Kyla's fireballs exploded harmlessly against the stone floor.
"Aire, what the hell are you doing?" Azula yelled, as she felt the winds blow against her. The pyramid had become engulfed inside a huge whirlwind that swirled around it in a spiral, pulling at everything with its spin. Some of the Heartless had already been sucked into, while the others had either vanished or were holding onto the ground. The Fire Rebels had been smart enough to leave the second the winds started to pick up.
"I'm not doing it!" Aire yelled, as his cloak whirled around him.
"Who else is doing it then? I don't see any Airbenders!" Azula shot back.
"Never mind that!" Jin yelled. "Toph, Tierra, lock us down!"
"Comin' up!" Tierra yelled back, as both he and Toph used their power to draw the earth up around everyone's feet, locking them in place.
"Did he get the Keyhole? Is this the end?!" Toph yelled out.
"No! The end of the world usually involves fire, ice, and the dead rising from the grave!" Luz shot back. "This is something new, and extremely fucked up!"
"Do you think Ozai's doing it?" Kairi asked.
"Why don't we ask somebody who might actually know?" Desierto yelled, pointing to the hooded man, who was staring at the pyramid intently, even as he was locked down.
"Good idea. Hey, Mr. Medieval,.." Luz began. But before she could finish, a huge gout of shadowfire suddenly shot up from the ground. It roared up for a moment, then faded to reveal Oscuridad, Zuko, Sora, and the two Heartless. The second they reformed, they started to rise up into the winds. But Toph quickly brought up their earth around them, locking them back down. But not all of them.
"Toph! Save the Heartless too!" Osc yelled, as the two of them clung to his cloak.
"What?"
"They're connected to this! We may need them! And get that stuff off Zuko!"
Toph frowned at the bat's order, but did as she was told, having the earth reach up and grab the Heartless, while causing the earth on Zuko to crumble and fall away.
"Zuko, what's going on?" Mai yelled.
"It's Kyla!" Zuko yelled back.
"What? How is that possible?" Baku snapped back.
"She's gone into the Avatar State!"
"And I think she's having a repeat of when Aang first used it!" Osc yelled over the winds. "It's been taken over by her anger and rage! She'll go against anyone that tries to stop her!"
"Well at least, it ain't us right now!" Tierra said, pointing to the skies. The group looked upwards, seeing the Heartless, all being pulled from the ground and caught inside the huge swirling vortex that encompassed the pyramid. They swirled around in it, a mix of winds and life around the pyramid. AS the group watched, there was an explosion from the back, and then a new figure whirled out, supported by a column of air. Kyla came to rest on top of the pyramid, looking out over at the city and the whirlwind of Heartless she had created.
As the group watched, Kyla suddenly brought her arms up, holding them out to the sides with her fists clenched. Some of the group, like Zuko, Azula, Roh, and Fuego, suspected what was about to happen. And they were right, as fire shot out from the girl's outstretched hands, mixing into the whirlwind and turning into a strange two-color rainbow of orange and black. But as the flame spread through, changing the whirlwind more and more into fire, the black began to disappear, puffing out as the flames extinguished the Heartless. Finally, they all vanished, as the huge column of air had become one of pure flame.
"Allah preserve us!" Desierto breathed, as the group stared at the huge swirling mass of death that stood before them.
"Even Aang never tried to do anything like that." Fuego said. "I wouldn't try something like that."
"Forget that! Where's Kyla?!" Baku yelled. "Is she alive?"
"That answer yer question kid?" Tierra said, pointing to the top of the fire-whirlwind. Baku followed the dog's finger and gaped as he saw Kyla rising to the top of the whirlwind, supported by flames shooting from her feet.
"Why is she still angry? She destroyed all the Heartless!" Baku yelled.
"Because she wasn't just angry at them." Osc said. "She still has to get Ozai."
"And me." Zuko said, as he looked up at the angry specter of his niece, riding a whirlwind of flame.
But suddenly, the group heard a crumbling sound, then an explosion of earth sprayed them with debris. Still, they managed to look up and see the hooded man, flying by flaming boots, soar through the air, pushing through the winds towards Kyla. She looked down and saw him, her face contorting into even more rage. Moving her hands about, Kyla brought wave after wave of fire down on the hooded man as he flew towards her. But the hooded man merely pushed through the flames, breaking them apart as he flew closer and closer to Kyla. Finally, he broke through the flames surrounding the young Avatar. But he didn't attack. Instead, he flew around her, then cut his flame jets and wrapped himself around her. Kyla sagged under his weight, but didn't fall into the flames. She struggled fiercely as she tried to throw him off, but the hooded man just reached over and placed both hands on her face, spreading his fingers out over his eyes. Kyla kept struggling, even as the light from her eyes grew brighter……
"Look!" Ty Lee yelled, pointing to the fiery whirlwind. Everyone looked over, just in time to see the whirlwind begin to shrink down. The flames began to dissipate, vanishing into nothing as the winds grew fainter and fainter. Finally, the whirlwind vanished completely, leaving only the figures of Kyla and the hooded man, beginning lowered down on a single column of air.
"C'mon!" Baku yelled, trying to break free of the earth. It fell a moment later, as Baku and the others quickly made their way over to where the hooded man and Kyla landed, the man holding Kyla's limp body.
"Get away from her!" Baku yelled, grabbing his club. But before he could bring it down, Zuko grabbed it. Looking at the hooded man, he asked, "Is she all right?"
The man looked at Zuko and nodded, as he brought the girl up. Kyla's eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping, her breathing slow and rhythmic.
"Thank God." Thunderer said. "She should be all right now."
The hooded man nodded again, then gently lay the girl down and got up. He turned his back to the others and then began to walk off.
"Wait!" Sora called. The hooded halted, but did not turn to face the boy.
"I still wanna know what's going on here." The Keyblade Master said. "How's you get the Organization's clothes? Are they back?"
The hooded man shook his head in reply.
"Then who are you? How did you do all that?"
"Uncle please." Zuko said. "Just tell us. We'll understand."
"Yes. Do tell them." Another voice said.
This time, the hooded man did turn, as Ozai reappeared from the dark, a pair of Large Bodies at his side.
"Tell them who you are. Tell them about the things you've done. They'll understand."
"I told you Ozai." The hooded man said. "This is between you and me."
"Not anymore." Ozai said. "Not with that child involved."
"You stay away from her."
"Why? You can't stop me. You're too afraid to show these people who you are. What do you think you can do against me?"
"You know what I can do."
"And yet I didn't see any of that when I started this. When I decimated the Water Tribe, where were you? When I destroyed my son's sister and brother-in-law, where were you?"
"Shut up."
"Hiding. As you always have. No wonder things turned out the way they have. With such a coward…"
"SHUT UP!!" the hooded man screamed. But as he screamed, the group heard a quaver in his voice, almost as if someone was trying to speak over him.
"Ah. So you learned about glamours, did you?" Ozai said. "Another coward's trick. Tell me, can you ever prove me wrong? Why don't you, in fact? Take off that hood. Show them who you are. Or I will, just before I destroy you."
The hooded man, trembled a moment, then looked over at the group. He seemed to look over all of them, from the Knights, to the Keyblade Bearers, and the reminder of Team Avatar. He even spared a glance at the two Heartless. But he took the longest glance at the sleeping figure of Kyla. He looked at her, then brought his head up. Slowly, his gloved hands reached up, touching the hood, then gently bringing it back. And as he did, everyone gasped at the sight of him. As he looked out at them, some tried to speak, to find the words to express what they felt. But none of them could, save one. Zuko stepped forward, slowly, in disbelief, as he looked over the man that stood before him. He looked at him for almost a minute before he whispered a single word to him.
"Aang."