Oh, boy. This is another case where it's taken me way to long to get to work, but also one I've been flip-flopping hard on. Again, I think I'll take the expedient (lazy) route and not go over everything I could. If it feels like it's skipping or cutting too much, I can go back and add in my next draft. Plus, the sooner I finish this draft, the sooner I get to the next one as well as the sequels. Also, I guess I should address the episode "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" since no one's yet commented on my quip about Legend of Korra season 2 needing to go die in a fire. I mean, I kind of don't know how to take that, but I digress. I know basically everyone who's set out to review Avatar in any capacity has decided that "The Divide" is the worst episode in the show. I've heard all of their nearly identical arguments. They have no idea of what they're talking about. I'm not going to say it's a standout episode or anything, but people's complaints about it are fucking nonsense. "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" though? That's the dud from the series. So, no matter how things work out, that dumpster fire's getting skipped. Which means this should be in interestingly structured chapter.
As much as Tom enjoyed his time in the water like the rest of the group, he couldn't spend the entire day relaxing. After all, they'd have a guest to entertain that night. Specifically, he wanted to get used to getting from where the group would be sleeping up to the lip of the ridge around the lake. A firebending boosted jump was enough to get him there quickly enough. His seemingly random jumps from the ground to the ridge got him some odd looks from his friends, but they were largely used to that sort of thing by this point.
It hadn't even occurred to him that with how different things had become with regards to Zuko's story that he might not have even sent an assassin after Aang. Speaking of which, he'd have to remember to ask Zuko that guy's name either way. Tom stayed up that night as he often did, though this time it was with purpose. Rather than just blankly staring into the fading campfire, he held himself against the rock wall they were camping against, watching as much of the wall as he could. The uneven and natural crater-like formation had a hill within the interior that abutted the lake. It made the perfect cover from the angle Tom expected their guest to come from. And he was wearing the armor he had made for himself. This would make a good field test for it.
Everyone else was asleep, of course, until Toph suddenly sat bolt upright. Her calm but emphatic words roused the others as well. "Guys! You're all gonna think I'm crazy, but it feels like a metal man is coming."
The glint of the moon off dark steel drew the eye up to a gargantuan man, some two hundred pounds of pure muscle. Maybe a little more or less depending on the weight of his metal arm and leg. Aside from his size and prosthetics, his bald head bearing a third eye tattoo was his most distinguishing feature. There was a pause as the two parties just stared at each other for a moment. Then the man inhaled deeply through his nose.
Aang moved instantly, recognizing the breath control of a skilled firebender. But the attack that came was unlike any other firebending than the group had yet seen. There was some kind of thin tube of distorted air, sometimes popping along the way with gouts of fire. Once it got close enough, Aang used a wall of air to stop whatever it was and it exploded in a ball of flame and deadly force.
And that was where Tom's practice in jumping up to the wall in one move came in. Before the assassin had the chance to launch a second attack, Tom was already most of the way to his opponent. "Artillery doesn't work that well at close range, does it?!"
Tom tried to cave the assassin's nose in with his elbow, but the giant was too quick and ducked. The assassin responded by swinging his metal hand, frozen in a clawing shape with unnaturally long nails, toward Tom. With a boost of flame, Tom flipped out of the way. The instant his foot touched the ground, he sprang forward again, still on the attack. He landed a punch right in his opponent's core, but the assassin didn't even flinch. The assassin then slammed Tom into the ground at his feet with that metal arm of his. Tom was only barely quick enough to put up his arm to block the attack. It was hard enough to warp the vambrace in a single blow.
Tom looked up to see the assassin point his (organic) palm at him and take an even deeper breath than before. He got up and rushed as quickly out of the way as he could, fire erupting between the two of them as soon as Tom's flames flashed to life. Tom landed on his back, but rolled straight to his feet, ready to continue. When he looked up, he saw the assassin preparing the attack Tom knew him for. The explosion that followed ripped apart the mirage Tom had left behind.
The second it took for the assassin to recover was more than enough for Tom to come blasting in from the side. But even a full force punch to the jaw barely got any reaction at all. It certainly didn't take him long to recover and take another swing at Tom with that metal arm of his. Tom was able to dodge the attack, but had to jump away again when the assassin launched another invisible beam of explosion or whatever it was he was doing. It was actually a little frustrating to Tom that he couldn't figure out what this guy was doing despite now being a firebender himself and experiencing it firsthand.
He considered that as he had to jump back behind the natural rock wall the rest of his friends were using for cover. "Well, long is his range, short didn't work and medium is my worst, so I'm out of ideas."
Everyone covered their heads as another blast slammed into the rock, spitting shrapnel in every direction. "This is crazy!" Sokka exclaimed, "How can we beat a guy who blows things up with his mind!?"
"We can't!" Aang returned, getting ready to make a break for the far wall. "Jump on Appa! I'll try to distract him!"
The young airbender was off like a shot before anyone could respond. Tom clenched his fist in anger. "Damnit! If I could figure out what he's doing, I'm sure I could find a weakness to exploit…"
Another shot sailed over their cover, probably directed at Aang. The explosion against the far wall of the crater caused everyone to flinch again. Once the pressure wave had passed, Katara grabbed Tom's arm and pulled him toward Appa. "Figure it out later! There's no point if you get blown up!"
Tom begrudgingly acquiesced, everyone boarding Appa after hastily gathering their things. They took off and headed off in the direction Aang had led the assassin. It was easy to spot the explosions in the dark and they hovered over the fight until Aang was able to use one of the blasts to propel him straight up into the air. It was easy enough for Appa to catch him at that point.
"I'm okay," the airbender assured.
"Well, that was random," Toph grumbled as they left their attacker in their wake.
"I don't think so," Katara said worriedly, "I get the feeling he knows who we are."
It was a disconcerting thought, but there was little to do about it with the danger shrinking into the distance. They'd see him again all too soon. A few days later the group stopped by a river, deciding it was a good place to do a little training. When a little blind fighting training for Aang was suggested, Tom realized what their next few days were going to entail. A part of him was surprised by how quickly his rematch came, but that wasn't really important.
After Aang retied his headband around his eyes as a blindfold, Tom, Katara, and Toph surrounded him. Even with Tom adding a few intermittent fireballs, things played out in nearly the exact same way, right down to Katara and Toph's little spat.
Since there really wasn't anything to do at camp, Tom decided to join Toph, Aang, and Sokka in town. They all had a good time spending their pocket change until they were down to their last coin. As Tom saw coming, Toph suggested duping a local scam artist to get more money. Tom wasn't particularly engrossed by the shell game. Or really any of the other scams Toph, Aang, and Sokka pulled over the next few days. "I prefer chess over poker," was his only response when he was asked later about the subject.
The only thing that was off script was Toph coming to Tom a few minutes after her and Katara's first big argument about the scams being too dangerous. "Umm… is she right?" Toph just asked simply. No lead up, no preface. Just as plainly as could be. Even in her more vulnerable moments, Toph was still Toph.
Tom decided to respond just as plainly. "She is. But nothing bad comes of it. And maybe a little good. Besides, you weren't wrong either. So, go ahead and have your fun."
Toph frowned. Not just in that she had gotten the answer she didn't want to hear, but also the way she got it. "Uhh, you want to give me some details, Hotshot?"
"Of course not," he answered easily, "It'd be better if you didn't know all the details so-"
"So I'll act natural, I know…" she grumbled back at him before turning to walk away. "Tightwad…" Tom grinned at that last whispered word. Weather she meant for him to hear it or not, he couldn't help but enjoy seeing the normally in control earthbender's confidence crack just a little.
And so, she did act natural. She hid the wanted poster of herself and had her big blow up with Katara. Incidentally, Tom made a point of being scarce around that time. Katara had gone to him first about the wanted poster but found him unhelpful, so he knew when to be off "meditating".
Just a bit more waiting and Aang asked the question Tom had been waiting for; "Do you think this scam of theirs should be taking this long?"
"Something may have gone wrong," Tom noted, "Shall we check on them?"
"I think that's a good idea," Sokka agreed. They started to walk off, but Sokka turned to address Momo and the messenger bird he decided to buy on a whim with some of the scamming money. "You two behave. Appa's in charge." The two small animals were readying to do just exactly the opposite as soon as the three humans were out of sight, but Appa roared them into submission. At least camp would be orderly when they returned.
Once they arrived in town, it was immediately clear that something was wrong. It wasn't lost on any of them. There wasn't a soul anywhere. The town was completely empty. And there weren't any signs that people left in a panic either. It was just as if they all picked up and walked away. Still, Sokka stayed focused on what they were in town for; "Where do you think they might be?"
"Where do you think anyone is?" Aang responded.
Tom couldn't help but grin as a thought occurred to him. "This is so dumb. This is the start of some made-for-TV horror movie, I swear."
"Made for what horror what?" Sokka asked.
"Never mind. We have an old friend to catch up with," Tom said as he casually tossed his thumb over his shoulder, pointing up at one of the roofs. Aang and Sokka looked up to see their assassin friend from a few days prior. They both leapt for cover, but Tom seemed to stand still as the assassin's explosive attack rapidly approached. The assassin seemed a bit surprised for a moment that his attack landed so easily. "I'm amazed people keep falling for that!"
The assassin turned his head just in time to get punched in the face with a flaming fist. But like before, he barely reacted. He responded by trying to club Tom with his metal arm. Tom was able to duck it and tried to vanish again with Heat Shimmer, but he was close enough that the assassin could track the quick movement. He lashed out in a metal kick, slamming Tom in the back and making him tumble across the roof they were on. Tom recovered right away and jumped away into the air before the next explosion came. While extending his jump with jets of flame from his feet, he threw a few fireballs the assassin's way, but they were blocked with a circular sweep of his arm. He was definitely a firebender, that was for sure, which means what he was doing with that explosion ray thing was some kind of firebending.
No time to dwell on it. Tom propelled himself under the skyline of the village to dodge another explosion. In the alleyway he found himself in, noticed Aang and Sokka running to him. Right away they turned to one end of the alley at the sound of loud, mechanical footsteps. Just as the assassin rounded the corner, Aang grabbed a wooden cart with his airbending and flung it in between the group and the assassin. They used the explosion that followed soon after to find better cover.
Once they were relatively safe around a corner, Sokka started gesticulating in his frustration. "This guy is too good! He shoots fire from his brain!"
"It's not that bizarre," Tom grumbled back, "He's just firebending. If I figure out what he's doing, I'm sure I can win…" The assassin had to have lost sight of them in the smoke from the explosion and fired a shot down the alleyway to try to flush them out. Tom watched the attack closely. The air looked distorted. Like it was rippling. "Wait…" He thought back to that close range attack. It was like the air was warping and distorting between them before the explosion. And it exploded the instant Tom's flame bumped into the distortion. He smiled. "Finally. I figured it out…"
Before Aang or Sokka could ask about this revelation, Tom stepped out from behind the corner and into the alleyway, the assassin in full view. For the assassin's part, he didn't react to Tom's brazen act. His passive face remained unchanged as he took another deep breath and loosed an attack at his target. All Tom did in response was to put up his hand. Once the distorted air was less than a foot away from his palm, he flicked his arm to the side. The distortion followed the arc and curved past him, exploding several feet behind him harmlessly. For the first time the assassin reacted, his face betraying surprise as Tom continued his confident stride forward.
"You're fight like me, don't you?" Tom stated rather than asked, "It's all pure heat. Honestly, you're probably stronger than I am. I don't think I'd have the power to heat the air to flash point even if I had time to prepare. But that's what it is, isn't it? You concentrate using that third eye of yours and heat up the air along a pinpoint until the oxygen in the air auto-ignites. Or something in the way does." Still off guard, the assassin flinched again, telling Tom that he was right on all points. Once he was at a distance he liked, he lowered into a fighting stance. "It's a pretty cool technique. But it has its weaknesses, doesn't it? Let's see how many I can exploit."
After another moment the assassin regained his composure. For the first time, he spoke, "¿Eres un Espejo Caminante, verdad zagal?"
To Sokka and Aang it was just gibberish, but those words sent chills down Tom's spine. He didn't know what the assassin had said either, but he recognized the language he had just spoken; Spanish. That could only mean one thing: "Mirror Walker…"
"Yes," the assassin said, "like you."
There was a moment's pause. "Erm. Well. I have a lot of questions now."
"I as well," the assassin agreed, "Pity they will go unanswered. You are in my way."
"I don't suppose I could convince you to back down and talk this out? One 'long distance traveler' to another?"
"No. No importa dónde estoy, sin contrato escapa Jose Gonzalez."
The assassin, Gonzalez apparently, launched another attack, but it exploded far too soon. He couldn't see past the eruption of flame, but Tom had tossed a small flame in the path of the attack. The naked flame set it off early. The next Gonzalez saw of Tom was his completely flame cloaked self erupting through the explosion at full speed. Tom smashed into the giant at full force, unleashing a flurry of punches to his face and chest. Finally Gonzalez gave ground, but only a few steps before he recovered. He locked his fingers with the ones on his metal hand and clubbed Tom square in the back and into the ground. He tried to follow up with a stomp, but Tom rolled out of the way. The time it took for him to charge up another of his unique attacks was enough for Tom to just barely recover, fortunately for Tom, but the blast still knocked him into a wall and out of his Cosmic Dragon Burst.
His vision was blurred as he tried to pick himself up. He could hear Gonzalez approaching, his metal leg was far too loud to miss. But before he had to think of a way out of the situation he'd put himself in, he looked up to see Gonzalez's head get encased in ice. Gonzalez stumbled aside, revealing Katara to be responsible for Tom's reprieve.
She rushed over to him and dragged him to his feet by the arm. "Tom, get up!" Once he was on his feet he lingered, looking over to the struggling Mirror Walker just a few feet away. "Let's go! We have to get out of here!"
Begrudgingly, Tom acquiesced, the group running out of town in the direction of their camp. Before they were out of sight, Gonzalez was able to shatter the ice around his head with his metal hand and spot his fleeing targets. He fired another shot, but Toph countered with a boulder. It shattered and the low pressure from all the burnt up oxygen drew a fragment of stone right into Gonzalez's third eye hard enough to take him clean off his feet. He tried to fire again, but the attack only managed to explode in his face, letting the group escape.
For the entire rest of the night after they packed up camp and moved on, Tom was seething. Everyone decided to give him a little space. He was clearly in no mood to talk about what had happened. For his own part, he was wracking his brain. When is the next time he shows up? When he's supposed to die?! That's unacceptable! I won't let this lead slip through my fingers! Gonzalez, you're mine!
And if it weren't for my backlog, this would almost be a week late! I wonder if I can finish Rise at the pace I'm going before I'm out of backlog. Irrelevant. What's important is that this one's done! And I actually really like it. The ending might not be the greatest, but otherwise I think this is one of my better ones. Also on a side note, the Dragon Knight version of Combustion Man was originally going to be named "Antonio Garcia", but then I discovered a new Youtuber. So now he's Jose Gonzalez, he arrived in the Avatar universe in 2005 and he doesn't even know what universe he's in. If you got that reference, then apparently we have at least somewhat similar taste in Youtubers.
Also, I do not speak Spanish. I used Google freaking Translate for Gonzalez's lines. Please, if you speak Spanish, let me know what Google fucked up so I can fix it in the next draft. Thank you and sorry for probably butchering your beautiful language.
