Media: Fic
Title: Solar Winds (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fusion, 54/?)
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo, swearing, violence.
Spoilers: None for either series that I am aware of.
Warnings: None.
Word Count: ~7000
Summary: When a usurper sets eyes on the Fire Nation throne, Avatar Kurt and friends find themselves on the run with the deposed Prince Blaine in a country gone mad. Can they escape Lady Sylvester's wrath? Or will her minions snuff them out for good? Fusion fic!

Author's Note: This chapter is short, but it packs a punch. That's all I have to say about it. Well… maybe just one more thing: Surprise! ;)


CHAPTER 54 Dragon Hawks, Intermission:
A Scuffle with Assorted Ruffians

Pouring out of the damaged house before it can collapse or something equally inconvenient, the gang lines up on the lawn to face their adversaries. Blaine and Kurt stand side-by-side in the middle. To Blaine's left, stand Wes and David. To Kurt's right, Artie, Mercedes, and Finn prepare to fight.

Behind them, stands Rachel. On her shoulder, perches Pavarotti.

"Why must violence follow us wherever we go?" she asks the bird.

Pavarotti caws, as if to say 'fucked if I know.'

"You are seriously testing my patience," Kurt says. He sticks out his hands and pulls up some rainwater from the ground, coiling it around him like a python waiting to strike. "Stop following us."

"What's wrong, Quinn?" Blaine growls. "Do you really need that much help to take me down?"

"Quite the contrary," Quinn says. "I'd prefer to take you down solo. Your side was the one that broke the rules of engagement."

"Oh, come off it, Lady," Kurt snarks. "Bombs are not part of any fair fight that I've ever been aware of."

"We can finish this one-on-one," Blaine says. "No one else has to get involved."

"Your friends seem to think otherwise," Quinn says, snapping her fingers. The soldiers and Chi-Ryus step forward. "So I brought these guys. These are not city-guarding simpletons," she says with a smirk. "This is an elite unit hand-picked to serve the Fire Lord."

The specialists step up to stand side-by-side with the terrible threesome, drawing their weapons. The apparent leader of the soldiers (the one with the spikiest helmet) stands next to Quinn, armed with a very nice straight sword with a dark red tassel on the end. Puck is flanked by a stockier one who wields dual dao swords and a slightly taller one who uses a spear. Santana is assisted by a slightly heavier soldier who wields a staff and the largest and most built of the unit, who wields a chain whip. The other five soldiers take firebending stances alongside the Chi-Ryu behind them.

"I think they'll do nicely to keep your friends busy while you and I hash things out," Quinn says. "No more outside interference."

Blaine gulps, feeling just a little worried. This, in turn, makes Kurt a little worried.

"Huh," Artie says, slightly shocked. "These guys actually seem to know what they're doing. I'm impressed."

"I'm not," Mercedes scoffs. "We've faced worse odds than this."

"We have?" Rachel asks nervously.

"Well, not you," Mercedes amends. "And I don't know about Blaine or his BFFs. But for the rest of us? This is nothing."

"I don't know," Finn says cautiously. "We're kind of outnumbered by… a lot."

"Hey!" Puck says. "Didn't we kill you?" he asks, pointing at Wes and David.

They shrug. "Didn't take," Wes says flatly.

"You actually sent us on vacation," David says simply. "It was quite the trip."

"Look, are we gonna stand here all day, or are we gonna throw down?" Santana asks. "Seriously, I've got shit I'd rather be doing."

"Enough!" Kurt says. "Look, I'm all about nonviolent solutions when they present themselves. Walk away, right now, and you won't get hurt. Otherwise, a quad-elemental smackdown is in your immediate future."

Blaine opens his mouth to add something, but he is distracted when Wes and David step out of line and calmly march in front of them.

"Prince Blaine," Wes says. "We'll take care of this, if you don't mind."

Blaine's jaw drops in stupefied disbelief. "You'll what?"

"We'll handle this," David elaborates. "You all can have a seat. Get comfortable."

"You're kidding," Kurt says flatly. "This is a joke."

"And it's not funny," Quinn says, annoyed.

Wes shrugs. "There is no joke," he says simply. "Surrender."

"You have no chance of winning this fight," David continues. "This is your first and only warning."

Puck and Santana burst into laughter. "Are you shitting me?" Santana asks.

"You two dweebs couldn't even handle us, and now you're gonna handle all this?" he gestures to the battle-ready battalion around them. "Give me a break."

"Guys, if you could stop being crazy and suicidal on my behalf, I'd really appreciate it. It's not a good habit," Blaine requests.

"This is ridiculous. No one is surrendering," Quinn growls. "You are outnumbered nineteen to eight, with at least one noncombatant. If you think those odds are in your favor, you have seriously miscalculated."

Wes and David look at each other and shrug, as if to say 'oh well, we tried.'

"The miscalculation is yours," Wes says, shaking his head in disappointment. "Alright. I move that we strike down the enemies of the Prince."

David smirks. "I second that motion," he says.

And Wes smirks with him. "All in favor, present arms, and say 'aye!'"

And just like that, it all turns around.

"Aye!" Quinn hears from her left. Suddenly, she has a very nice straight sword held at her throat.

"Aye!" Puck hears from both sides, now finding himself with a spear at his back and two curved swords under his chin.

"Aye!" Santana hears as she is rendered equally immobile, with a chain wrapped around her neck and a staff against the back of her knees.

"Aye!" cries a set of five more voices, as the Chi-Ryus are surrounded by a circular wall of flame, burning so high and held so tightly they can barely breathe without burning themselves.

"Aye!" David says, crossing his arms.

"Well, how about that?" Wes grins, entirely too pleased with himself. "A unanimous vote! Motion carried."

"Wait!" Puck says. "Can I vote 'no?' I vote 'no!'"

"Sorry, dude," Two-Swords shrugs, bringing his blades a little closer. "Motion already carried."

Blaine's eyes practically shoot out of his skull to take a closer look at this phenomenon. Kurt drops his water supply in shock. Artie looks close to applauding, Mercedes is disbelieving, and Finn just looks confused.

"Oooh, plot twist!" Rachel says excitedly. Pavarotti squawks in agreement.

"What is the meaning of this?" Quinn spits.

"'This' could mean any number of things," the lead soldier says. "But its most pertinent meaning is that you should count your allies more carefully."

Quinn grinds her teeth as the cold steel presses against her neck. "You filthy band of traitors!" she seethes.

"Infiltrators," the lead soldier corrects, "is the term you are looking for. The only traitors here are you and yours."

Quinn holds herself carefully, even as she rages. "Impersonating soldiers? Stealing military-grade weapons and armor? That's treason—crimes against the military are crimes against the Fire Lord!"

"That's all well and good," the leader says simply. "But you forget one thing…"

"Sue Sylvester is not the Fire Lord!" Wes, David, and the lead soldier say in perfect unison.

"What is… what… who are these people?" Blaine asks.

"Oh, just some friends of ours," David says lightly.

"A little after-school club we started in your absence," Wes adds.

"Now," says the spikiest helmet. "Shall we discuss the terms of your surrend—?"

Quinn's answer leaves no room for doubt. She flips backwards with stunning speed, evading the leader's blade by literal hairs (losing several inches off her bangs) and kicking the sword out of his hand as she goes. His reflexes are quick, and he snatches the blade by the tassel before it flies out of reach; unfortunately, the damage has already been done. During her backflip, Quinn splits her legs and sends fire blasts at the soldiers holding Puck and Santana hostage, before snapping back to her feet and kicking a slice of fire at one of the soldiers on firewall duty.

All three take direct hits, giving their captives a precious moment to escape.

Chain Guy grunts and stumbles to the side as the fire blast hits him, enabling Santana to duck out of his noose. Staff Guy tries to sweep her legs out from under her, but she just lets the momentum carry her over into a handstand, where she kicks him in the helmet and rattles his brain. She handsprings over a swipe from Chain Guy and has her whips out in a second. She and Chainy get into it pretty good—but Chainy's got a different style from her. Santana is all about the lashing and the snapping, while Chainy just likes to keep his chain spinning, a whirlwind of constant motion. It's hard to get close to him and his chain-link defense.

Spear Guy gets knocked on his ass, and Two-Swords is too busy looking at him to pay attention to Puck. The assassin jumps backwards and throws his fist forwards. Two Swords knows enough to step the fuck back, but he still takes an indirect hit, getting swept off his feet and into the Sylvester House by a blast of air. Finn and Rachel immediately run over to downed soldier, while his friend steps up to his defense. "HEY!" Spear Dude shouts, "Not cool, bro!" He rushes forward and gives Puck a serious run for his money with his pokey-stick—and endless stream of jabs that Puck has almost no time to counter.

The soldiers holding the firewall are distracted when Quinn's attack hits one of their own, and the wall falters. This gives the Chi-Ryus all the opportunity they need to break free of the restraints and start fighting back. Soon, firebending battles are spread out all over the yard.

Meanwhile, Quinn herself engages Straight Sword. His style is dynamic and swift—in one hand is his sword, slicing and swiping in whip-quick circles, flipping in his grip as-needed, guided by incredibly dexterous fingers. His other hand is empty, held with two fingers extended, and used to add the occasional burst of flame to the proceedings. His legs are in constant motion, augmenting his strikes with kicks and leaps, shifting his stances and making him difficult to pin down. Even in full armor, he is agile and adroit. The coordination and precision of his strikes carry a strange air of elegance to them, and Quinn is shocked to find herself making very little progress against him. The pompous punk is fighting her to a standstill.

Then, one of the soldiers fighting her girls cries out in pain and hobbles over to lean against a tree. A couple of his friends gather around him, but they don't seem to be quite on the same level as the Chi-Ryu, and they're outnumbered. Observing this gives Quinn a nice little boost of energy and pride. She fights back with renewed vigor, and suddenly, Straight Sword is on the defensive.

"You've made a grave mistake," Quinn says as she lays a carpet of flames at Straight Sword's feet.

"This is not an error," the leader says, leaping backwards and glancing a blow off of her raised wrist guard. "It is a correction! Your so-called 'Fire Lord' mocks the very throne upon which she sits!"

Quinn raises the fire into a pillar and pushes it at him. Straight Sword flips to the side and thrusts at her, but she locks his blade between her wrist guards.

"Let go of that!" he orders. "It's incredibly valuable! You're going to scratch it!"

Suddenly, a bell rings in Quinn's mind. "Wait a second… I know you. I've met you somewhere before," she says, trying to stare through his helmet.

"Errr… no! No you haven't!" Straight Sword insists in a manner most unconvincing.

Wes and David give each other a brief glance before running forward to help. In the meantime, Blaine, Kurt, and the two earthbenders have a brief pow-wow.

"You think they can handle this?" Kurt asks.

"Possibly," Blaine replies, watching the fights as they progress. "But… why chance it?"

"I'm not the kind that likes to sit back and watch," Mercedes says simply.

"We have an advantage—let's take it. One-sided fights are the best kind, as long as you're on the right side!" Artie grins.

"Then it's decided," Kurt smiles. "Shall we, Blaine?"

The Avatar extends his arm.

"We shall, Kurt, we shall indeed," Blaine says, looping his arm into Kurt's and cocking his chin in the air. With completely ridiculous expressions on both faces, the two actually prance into battle together.

"…I worry about those two," Artie says.

"Hey," Mercedes says. "That's my line!"

And they charge in to join the fray.

Meanwhile, Finn and Rachel work together to help the soldier who fell to Puck's air-fist. The attack slammed him into the Sylvester House wall, though thankfully not through it. Instead, he's landed in some overgrown bushes and currently having some trouble getting himself down.

"Are you alright?" Rachel asks as Finn tries to pull him out. "Can you hear my voice? How many birds are on my shoulder? Do you hear any unusually loud noises?" She is sure to ask her question while enunciating carefully and giving it enough volume to be clearly heard through the din of battle and the soldier's helmet.

The guy flinches away from her. "Umm… just one," he grunts. "One bird, and one really loud noise."

"Okay, dude, I'm gonna try something. Get ready!" Finn says, before drawing up some rainwater and slicing the branches out from underneath him. The guy tumbles out of the bush and hits the ground with a clank.

"…ow," he grunts.

"Sorry," Finn winces. "Are you hurt?"

"No," he says, shaking his head. "But—oh, shit! Thanks for the assist; gotta go!"

Without further explanation, the guy picks up his swords and dashes back into the fight.

The duo turns their attention back to the melee, finding a scene of complete chaos.

Puck slams his fist into the ground in front of Spear Guy, blasting him backwards. As he flies, he jams his spear into the ground and drags himself to a stop before he hits anything. Unfortunately for him, his spear is now stuck in the dirt, and Puck has no intention of letting him pluck it out again.

"Come on!" Spear Dude grunts, trying to heave his weapon out of the dirt.

"Oh, I'm coming alright!" Puck says, charging and raising his fist.

"So am I!"

That's pretty much all the warning Puck gets before Two Swords is all up in his grill, slicing and dicing like one of those freaky-ass super chefs at a sushi bar. Puck doesn't want to end up in anybody's stir fry, but the guy's not making it easy for him. Dude is fierce with his blades. He strikes fast and hard, and his swords are pretty much everywhere at once. Even though he has two swords, he uses them as one. The blades always move in relation to each other, like there's magnetic force between them, sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, but always keeping them connected. Puck manages to dodge a couple of swipes completely, but his luck doesn't hold out, and soon, pieces of his armor are popping off as the dude straight-up slices them clean.

"Hey!" Puck shouts. "Quit it! I paid a lot of money for those!"

"Then you should take better care of them!" Spear Dude replies.

And suddenly Spear Dude is coming right at him, and Puck is faced with two dudes at once, feeling a little nervous. He dashes to the side to avoid getting caught between them. They try to chase after him, but Two-Swords doesn't realize that he lightened Puck's load by slicing off so much of his armor. Both the assassin and his attackers are shocked by how fast he can move now, and before they can do anything about it, Puck slams his fist into the ground and sends a shockwave of dirt their way. Both bozos are swept up by the wave, and Puck grins.

The grin vanishes when instead of smashing them against the house, the wave just kind of peters out and drops them next to…

Shit.

"Well, look who it is!" Artie grins. "Everybody's favorite one-trick pony pup."

"Shut up!" Puck growls. "I've got a score to settle with you, little punk. Your ass is mine."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Artie says with a slight shudder, "but if you want a piece of my ass, come over here and take it!"

Artie sends a wave of dirt at Puck, and Puck punches right through it, as the fight begins again…

On the other side of the yard, Santana is having a little trouble of her own. The clowns she is stuck fighting can't lay a finger on her, but all she's not making much progress against them, either. Staffy is pretty quick with his stick for such a big guy. All her attempts to rope him in just get smacked down or knocked aside. He's not as good at moving himself, but he doesn't really seem to need to move. Santana has kicked the shit out of him at least two times, and he barely stumbled. It's a little unnerving.

"Why won't you fall over?" she growls.

"Physics!" he replies jabbing at her with his staff. "Greater mass means more inertia, which means more force is required to move me. Add that the armor, which absorbs and spreads the force of impact over a greater area, not to mention how much surface area I have, and your blows just don't hurt me! You can't argue with physics!"

"Argue with this!" She jumps up and slams both feet into his chest.

He stumbles backwards a few feet, but again, just shakes it off.

A chain wraps around her from behind. "A debate with the universe is fruitless. Its answer to all arguments is the same; it is. And that is inarguable."

Chainy tries to swing her into a tree, but she's got the reflexes of a catsnake. She twists around in mid-air and lands neatly on the branch.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to take me down," Santana says.

Suddenly, the tree pitches sideways and dumps her on the ground, where a flipper of rock comes up to slam her into the dirt. She sprints out from under it, and looks around to see which earth-twerp is trying to smack her down now.

"How was that?" Mercedes asks. "Good enough? 'cause I can do plenty better…"

Over in Quinn's territory, there is a bit of a shake-up. As soon as Wes and David arrive, another soldier fighting the Chi-Ryus yelps and falls, clenching his leg and not quite able to stand. A friend of his moves to his defense, but that still puts the soldiers vs. Chi-Ryus ratio at 2 wounded and 3 standing for the soldiers, and 6 standing for the Chi-Ryus.

"Monkeyfeathers!" Straight Sword shouts. "This is not going as planned."

"Fall back!" Wes orders the soldiers. "Move the wounded behind us!"

"Do not let them move their wounded!" Quinn orders her Chi-Ryus. "Take them prisoner!"

"Don't listen to her!" David shouts.

"Stop ordering my Chi-Ryus around!" Quinn barks, offended.

"Stop ordering your Chi-Ryus to attack our wounded!" the leader counters.

"I'm not ordering them to attack the wounded; I'm ordering them to attack the unwounded so they can take the wounded prisoner!" Quinn clarifies.

"Ummm… Captain!" one of her Chi-Ryus calls out. "Which wounded prisoner did you want us to take? There are two of them."

"Not the wounded prisoner. The wounded soldiers! Take them!" Quinn shouts.

"Okay!" one of the still-standing soldiers says. "Wait… where were we supposed to take them, again?" He gestures to the limping soldier at his right.

"Over there!" David shouts, pointing to the house.

"Nowhere!" Quinn counter-shouts. "You stay right there."

"Hey!" Wes grumbles. "Now who's ordering the wrong people around?"

"Okay, ENOUGH!" Kurt shouts. "Everybody just shut up for a few seconds!"

The leader snaps his head over to look at Kurt, tilting it in slight confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

Blaine steps in with some helpful instructions. "Soldiers, take the wounded to the house! Talk to the tall boy; he's a healer."

"Excuse me, sir, but—" the leader starts, before Wes elbows him.

"That's Blaine, you speckled badgertoad!" he whispers.

"It is?" the leader says. "Oh. I thought he'd be taller…"

"Chi-Ryus!" Quinn orders. "Do not let them escape! Stop them!"

"Kurt!" Blaine counter-commands. "Stop the Chi-Ryus!"

To his credit, the Avatar takes only a split-second to side-eye his boyfriend for giving him an order. As the Chi-Ryus attempt to head off the wounded soldiers' escape, Kurt lashes some rainwater into thin whips, striking at the Chi-Ryus' legs from the grass. The assault is sufficient to throw them off-balance, so he completes his assault by earthbending an impressive sinkhole underneath them, dropping them into a muddy pit.

The soldiers carry their friends over to Finn, and Kurt crosses his arms and grins.

"That's it!" Quinn growls. "I am sick of getting… Kai-blocked by you people! CHI-RYUS!"

The girls blast out of the mudpit and land beside their leader.

"FLASH-FRY!" Quinn commands. All seven girls rear back and prepare to firebend.

"Firestreams! NOW!" Blaine orders. Wes, David, the lead soldier, and Kurt all jump in to counter Quinn and her Chi-Ryus' stream of flame with their own, creating a massive firewall in the middle of the battlefield. A violent struggle ensues as the wall is pushed back and forth between them, filling the air with steam as rainwater evaporates and plants are incinerated. Neither side looks like they'll be giving up any time soon…

Meanwhile, Puck slams everything he can at the trio of losers, and none of it does a damn bit of good. The boulder he smacks at Two-Swords gets sidestepped. The tree trunk he smashes at Spear-Dude gets pole-vaulted over. He even gets smart and tries to blow Artie off the ground with an air punch, but the little dude just digs down deep and roots to the earth.

"Same old, same old," Artie says. "I was kind of hoping for something different, but I guess you can't teach an old lapdog new tricks…"

The assassin sees red. Puck dashes over and slams a tree into shrapnel, sending splinters screaming at the three. Artie just heaves up an earthshield for the guys to duck behind, prompting Puck to kick what's left of the trunk in frustration.

"Speaking of tricks," Artie says from behind the shield. "You two know any good ones?"

Two-Swords looks at his buddy. "Think we should light up?" he asks.

"Oh, fuck yes," Spear Dude says. "You know what they say…"

Two-Swords twirls his blades in his hands, Spear Dude whirls his spear over his head…

"It ain't a party…"

…and the metal ends of both weapons burst into flames.

"…until somebody brings the fireworks!"

Artie grins. "I'll fake him out. You light him up."

He bodily rams through the earthshield, coating himself with much of it and effectively becoming a fast-moving battering ram. The only parts of his body exposed are his eyes—the rest of him is rock-steady and zooming at Puck. The assassin relishes the opportunity to get up-close and personal, raising his fist and aiming to turn Artie into creamed cornball. But of course, Artie is no fool—he banks at the last second. Puck is already mid-punch, and his last-second attempt to redirect it throws his weight off, causing him to stumble and leaving him open to the firebenders. Two-Swords hurls some pretty forceful flame slices from his blades, forcing Puck to duck and jump. Spear's attacks are punchier and more compact—spearheads of flame that actually blast chunks off of trees and clumps of mud out of the ground as they hit.

Puck is so busy ducking and covering from the fire attacks that he completely forgets about stone-solid Artie until the earthbender rams his legs right out from under him. Puck flips out and lands on his back.

"Consider looking for a new job," Artie advises. "You're not very good at this one."

And then he catapults him towards the river.

Santana, in the meantime, has turned her agility to its highest setting, dodging every earthbending technique that Mercedes has. Pillars try to launch her, slabs try to squish her, walls come up to crush her, holes try to swallow her, and she takes none of it. "You can't touch this!" she taunts.

"She has much greater-than-average speed and flexibility," Staffy says, sounding uncertain. "We aren't making progress against her, but the reverse is true as well!"

"The mountain cannot tame the wind," Chainy nods. "Nor can the wind move the mountain."

Mercedes rolls her eyes. "She's not an airbender," she grumbles.

Chainy shrugs. "Moves like one."

"What should we do?" Staffy asks.

"We need to give her more to dodge," Mercedes says. "You bending boys?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Staff says brightly.

"Then get to burning!" Mercedes orders. "Tell you what—you two fight, and I'll drive. Deal?"

Chainy tilts his head at her. "…the meaning of your words escapes me—WHOA!"

Suddenly, both boys stumble as discs of solid earth pop up underneath them. Before they have time to complain, Mercedes roots their feet onto the discs and slides them along the ground towards Santana like shuffleboard pieces. Though it takes them a bit to regain their balance, eventually both boys get the idea. Chainy runs his hand over his whip, spreading flame clear to the tip. He swipes the fiery chain at Santana, who jumps over it, only to bring it back around and lash it so that it snaps near her. As the momentum is transferred up the chain, the fire travels with it, being pushed and gathered along the whipe like a reverse avalanche, until all of it reaches the end in a powerful crack! The resulting explosion sends her flying backwards, but she lands on her feet, still ready to go.

So Mercedes moves in Staffy to keep the pressure on. The bigger boy, instead of setting his weapon alight outright, uses fire in short bursts. He'll twirl the staff over his head, adding a stream of flame when Santana tries to jump over him. He'll slam it on the ground near her, sending fire up the staff so that it spreads along the ground on impact. He'll repeatedly thrust it at her, adding a little punch of flame with each jab, driving her steadily backwards. Every attempt to counterattack or move around him is foiled by Mercedes, who uses earthbending to move him far faster than he could move himself. Slowly but surely, Santana finds herself being pushed back to the river.

Over in Finn and Rachel's little nook of the universe, Rachel is having pleasantly distracting (if a bit one-sided) conversations with the soldiers while Finn is kneeling and healing, just finishing up some wince-inducing burns on a dude's leg. None of them are life-threatening, but they're not very pretty, either. A wave of heat hits him, and he looks up to see a heart-stoppingly huge wall of fire erupting between the good guys and the bad guys. The thing is enormous and kind of really bright, and it looks like it's drying out the whole area, turning all the water into steam.

Even worse, it looks like it's being pushed towards them. As in—Quinn is somehow winning.

"Shit!" Finn curses. "Rachel, watch these guys, I have to… I have to something!"

"Finn!" Rachel says. "You can't just run over and—"

But Finn is already off and running, ducking and hiding in the steam…

Quinn is furious.

He slips away, and slips away, always sliding through the door just before it closes. Old friends pop out of the woodwork to support him, new friends appear as if from nowhere just to fawn over him and screw her up. He keeps winning, and he thinks it's right—that he is supposed to win. That he is supposed to have everything handed to him because of who and what he is. That he is supposed to rule—that it's his divine right.

The Prince lives a charmed life. He knows nothing. And it pisses her off.

So she channels that. She takes her newly-expanded rage reserve and infuses it into her firebending, shocking herself with how much potency it adds. Slowly but surely, the wall of flame is creeping towards the Prince and the Avatar, and not even the combined strength of them and their firebending friends can stand against it.

Might makes right.

She is so focused on her fury that her normally keen senses completely miss the giant oaf trying to creep around her. Neither she nor her Chi-Ryus notice him at all until it is already too late. She spots movement out of the corner of her eye, and glances over at Finn just as he slams a huge glob of water on her girls, scattering them, throwing off their concentration and leaving them open.

The enormous mountain of fire slams into her and her Chi-Ryus full-force. Reflexive blocking and the water they are covered in keep them from being too badly injured, but the force of the attack nearly knocks them into the river. And as she picks herself up off the ground, steaming both figuratively and literally, she sees she is not the only one in a losing fight

Puck lands in a heap on her left as Artie earth-catapults him overhead. Two-Swords and Spear give each other a high-five, before sharing low-fives with the earthbender.

On her right, Santana is shoulder checked by Staffy, hitting her at a seemingly impossible speed without even moving his feet. The Chain-wielding soldier slides over next to him, and Mercedes steps up to break the earth around their feet. Santana lands in the mud and slides to a painful halt against a Chi-Ryu.

In front and all around her, the Prince, his friends, and his Avatar stand ready for battle. Behind her, the river itself rises up into a looming wave, waiting for an excuse to crash down upon her.

"Surrender!" Blaine demands.

"I realize you're probably used to getting what you want," Quinn seethes, "but I'm going to have to say no."

"You don't exactly have a lot of other options," Kurt points out.

"Just give up," Blaine says. "You're surrounded, outnumbered, and you have nowhere to go!"

"Maybe we should listen to him," Santana says, staring at the curved water-wall that looms behind and over them. "Just sayin'."

Quinn searches her surroundings carefully for a way out. Everyone around her looks ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice.

Everyone but him.

Quinn smirks. "Fine," she says, holding up her hands, "I see your point." She turns to her girls, and begins speaking two languages at once, each telling a different story. "Chi-Ryus!" she says with her mouth. You take care of the waterwall, she says with her eyes. "We have been defeated. It is time to surrender with honor." I'll take care of the distraction.

She turns back to Blaine and friends as the Chi-Ryus kneel. "I surrender," she says, sweeping her eyes across the enemy ranks. "You may take us priso—"

And then she strikes. A whip-quick snap of her arm with two fingers extended, and a razor-thin line of flame screams from her fingertips as the Chi-Ryus scorch a hole in Kurt's water wall.

Finn doesn't even see it coming. He's too busy smiling at Rachel, that little smile that says 'yay, I helped!' She's smiling right back at him… right up until the moment she sees a thin string of fire tear through his shoulder, in one side, and out the other, with plenty of fire in between. Finn gasps, too shocked to even scream, and falls. Rachel's heart falls with him.

"FINN!" Kurt shouts. He drops the water immediately and beelines towards his stepbrother.

Quinn and company waste no time, dashing through the hole they blasted as the rest of the water falls down around them, absorbing the many fire attacks shot at their backs.

But just as it looks like they're going to make a clean getaway, the Avatar remembers himself, sliding to a stop in front of Finn. As Quinn and the gang scramble through the relatively shallow river, Kurt whips up a massive wave, sweeping every last one of them up and white-water rushing them downstream and far away, where hopefully they can't hurt anyone else. He watches the wave until it is out of sight, and then turns back to Finn.

While Kurt was occupied, a massive clump of bodies seems to have appeared around the wounded boy, who is lying on the ground, face pinched, clutching at his shoulder and gasping for air. Rachel looks like she's about to fall apart. Artie is absolutely horrified. Blaine is shocked, and even Mercedes seems distraught.

"Is… he okay?" the leader asks.

David smacks him, while Wes smacks his own forehead. "He was just… perforated!" Wes shouts. "Of course he's not okay!"

"We need to get him to the river," Kurt says urgently. No one does anything, so he glares at anyone in range. "Don't just stand there! Pick him u—"

"Got it," Mercedes says, lifting Finn all by herself. It's a testament to Finn's height and Mercedes's lack thereof that even when cradled in her arms, Finn's limbs almost touch the ground. The waterbender cries out as the earthbender jostles his injured shoulder, but she just shushes him and carries him to the river, gently laying him in the water. As soon as his shoulder is submerged, it starts glowing, and Finn's pinched face relaxes quite a bit. His eyes are still closed.

Artie, Kurt, Rachel, and Blaine all gather around him as he lies in the water.

"Finn?" Rachel asks. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…" he says weakly. "I'm okay." He smiles, though it quickly turns into a wince. "Just gonna… lay here for a little while."

A collective sigh of relief bubbles up from the entire crowd (Kurt is pretty sure they qualify as a crowd at this point), and the tension breaks at last.

"Don't scare me like that," Kurt scolds him gently, running fingers through his hair.

Finn grins. "S… sorry," he says.

As the Avatar stands up to take a moment to himself, Rachel sits down beside Artie on the muddy ground near Finn. The two begin a slightly one-sided conversation, talking at him moreso than with him, more to distract him than anything else. Mercedes looks ambivalent, but relieved, and after a moment or two, she walks over and joins the conversation.

Blaine has him wrapped in a hug before he even knows he's there. "Are you okay?" he asks.

Kurt nods. "Come on. Let's go meet our new… friends? Recruits? Who are these people?"

"I have no idea," Blaine says. "Let's find out."

They turn their attention to the group of soldiers, whose leader is currently addressing them at large.

"Well," Straight Sword says, sheathing his weapon. "That was an ordeal, but I'd say we handled it admirably. Good job, men!"

A collective whoop of triumph pops up from the soldiers, who start milling around and high-fiving each other.

Blaine finds his attention drawn to the soldiers as they celebrate. Two-Swords and Spear give each other one-armed hugs before gushing about how awesome they were. Staffy looks slightly panicked—the more level-headed Chainy finds him a place to sit down and puts a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Come on," Kurt says. "I think if anyone knows what's going on here, it's them." Together, Kurt and Blaine walk over to the three apparent leaders of the group, where things are only slightly less friendly.

"You couldn't have stopped them before they nearly killed us with a giant boulder?" David asks, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry!" the leader says. "I had no idea he was going to do that! It was very spur-of-the-moment."

"Yes, death tends to happen that way, on occasion. Do try to avert it if you can," Wes says.

"Well, I solemnly vow that the next time I have occasion to stage a sudden and unexpected betrayal, I will shoot for more beneficent timing," the leader says, haughtily turning up his nose. "You are welcome, by the way."

Wes rolls his eyes, but his exasperation soon gives way to fondness, and he pats the soldier on the back. "Thank you," he says. "You did fairly well."

"Fairly well?" the leader balks. "Are you joking? We saved your proverbial arses! We "pulled your nuts from the flame," as they say," he says. The extra quotation marks indicate finger quotes,that—

Wait. Hold the fuck up.

Something twinges in Kurt's mind. He marches up to the spikiest helmet. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asks.

"What a coincidence! I was about to ask you the same," the leader says. "I'd almost swear I recognize your voice. It's very distinctive, but I can't quite… place…"

He tilts his head at Kurt, slowly walking right up to him. Suddenly, grabs Kurts robes and pulls them up so that they cover his face from the nose down.

Kurt smacks his hand away. "What is wrong with you?" he asks.

The leader gasps. "It's… it's you!" he cries, pointing accusatorially.

"Yes," Kurt says. "It's me. I'm Kurt. Who are you?"

"Ha!" the leader spits. "How easily you forget! Well… perhaps this will jog your memory." He reaches up and pulls off his helmet, revealing a boy close to Blaine's age, with vaguely similar gelled hair, lighter skin, and a slightly thinner face. "Do you recognize me now?" he deadpans with a glare.

Kurt jaw drops. "Oh. My. La," he says, pointing right back at the distinctly unamused boy. "It's… you're… you're… Not-Blaine!"

"Indeed," he says flatly. "We established that quite thoroughly."

"You two know each other?" Wes asks.

"We've… met," Kurt says uneasily.

At this, Blaine finally steps forward. "Okay, seriously. Wes, David—what is going on here? Who are all these people? What are they doing here?"

"Oh, right!" David says. "We still have introductions to take care of. MEN!" he calls out. "FALL IN!"

The helmet-wearing soldiers scramble from their various positions around the yard to line up in front of Wes, David, and Not-Blaine.

"I will do the honors," Not-Blaine says, stepping forward. "Your Majesty, Prince Blaine, I would like to introduce you to—take off your helmets, you fools! This is no way to meet the Fire Lord."

The soldiers' hands snap up and remove their helmets revealing… more boys. All boys, all around Blaine's age, some a little older, some a little younger.

"Prince Blaine, allow me to introduce…" Not-Blaine moves to the end of the line, and steps in front of the soldiers one-by-one, introducing each of them by name.

"Nick Duval!" he says in front of the dark-haired, brown-eyed boy with two swords. Nick gives a standard Fire Nation bow, and smiles warmly at Blaine as his commanding officer moves on.

"Jeff Sterling!" he announces in front of the spear-user, a bright blond with a slight fringe and a wide grin. Jeff gives Blaine two thumbs up until Nick elbows him. Then, he bows. Not-Blaine rolls his eyes and moves down the line.

"Trent Nixon!" he continues, stepping to the heavyset staff-wielder, a nervous looking boy with blue eyes and hair in what almost looks like a pompadour. Trent's bow is formal, if quick, and he almost hits his head on Not-Blaine as he passes.

"Flint Wilson!" he says in front of the tall boy, a calm-looking figure slightly spiked hair and grey eyes. Flint's bow is measured, gracious, and slow. A bit too slow for Not-Blaine, who moves on before he finishes.

"And…" Not-Blaine says, starting to move down the line only to stop between Flint and the next soldier, a small, mousy-looking boy with black hair. "Erm… I'm sorry, but I can't seem to remember the rest of your names."

"Hey!" the rest of the soldiers grumble, quite offended.

"Don't get your cummerbunds in a twist!" Not-Blaine says, turning to walk back over to Wes and David, who are facepalming and shaking their heads. "I'm certain that we shall learn them eventually. And as for myself…"

He steps in front of Blaine, and bows with poise and elegance. "I am Thaddeus James Harwood the Third. It is an honor to meet you, my Lord."

"Thaddeus?" Kurt snorts. "Seriously?"

Thaddeus glares at the Avatar. "You may call me 'Thad,' if the full name is too cumbersome."

Pavarotti soars majestically over the gathered soldiers, giving a magnificent screech, circling around and landing on Blaine's shoulders.

David gapes and points at the bird. "Oh! He did it! He did the thing!"

"What thing?" Blaine asks.

"We've been trying to train him to do that for days!" Wes says excitedly. "Oh, it was just as cool as I'd imagined!"

"Indeed," Thad nods. "Now, if only we could work on the timing…"

The Prince shakes his head. "What timing? What are you talking about?" he cries, exasperated.

Thad steps forward and gestures to the soldiers. "My Lord, I am honored to present…"

The soldiers bow in unison.

"…the Dalton Academy Dragon Hawks!" he finishes with a grin.

There is a brief moment of silence, as if they are waiting for something, before Thad throws up his hands and stalks off, muttering about 'insufferable, insouciant, self-absorbed game hens…'

"Ideally," Wes whispers, "Pavarotti would do the flyover during the introduction."

Blaine looks up at the bird, which has his wings in what suspiciously looks like a shrug, and says the only thing his overworked mind can come up with.

"…ah."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: That's right, people.

MOTHAFUCKIN' WARBLERS.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED.

Wes and David were just part of the surprise, mere decoys meant to distract you. This is the true surprise, the game-changer, and the entire reason for Wes and David's separate adventure. Where did these boys come from? How did they come together? Blaine's BFFs spin out the remainder of their epic yarn in Dragon Hawks, Part 2: The Tale of the Hawks. So, what do you think of the real Big Surprise? ;D