AZULA'S MEMORY…
The princess was shivering.
She was sitting in the hottest basin that she could find in all of the bathrooms, but it was not helping at all. The voices were still there.
Much to her annoyance, the reason for her distress decided to walk in and take a bath in the very same chamber. Bulla, the newest agent of her mother, aimed to torment her a bit further by spying on her.
After a few dozen minutes, Azula left the tub. There was no reason to try to beat these shivers with warmth. She knew what she needed instead. She would not let another one of her mother's goons ruin everything she worked so hard for.
But first of all, she was curious.
She walked to the exit, staying close to basins' walls and keeping her Chi as plain as possible. When near the Saiyan girl, she put her hand near her target's throat and summoned a blade of narrow and intense flames.
"How did she get to you?" Azula whispered in Bulla's ear.
"Ummm, whom are you referring to?" There was no sign of distress in the response. She didn't even flinch.
"Don't bother denying it, I know you work for her!" Short pause. "Tell me how she got to you and I will let you live." She hissed.
"Honey, the only person I ever worked for is myself." Bulla chuckled. Her friendly tone did not suit her situation. "Again, who are you talking about? And what work you suspect I perform for them?"
"You know what work! The same as always! She wants to bring me down, to humiliate me, to make me cower in fear! She always hated me, she hated my ambition and my strength, she knows I can end her at a whim! She will do everything to stop me!" Her voice broke a bit.
"That would sound like one of your 'teammates', if not for the fact that they actually let you keep the powers." The Saiyan sniggered slightly.
"Are you toying with me? Don't you fear for your own life?" A pause. "I will give you one more chance: HOW DID MY MOTHER GET TO YOU?!"
Bulla looked stumped for a moment. Only to then laugh out loud and respond:
"Azula, I never met your mother. And I can't imagine how would she able to 'get' to me. I come from another planet, remember? And also, even if she did approach me with a proposition of trying to ruin your life, I would not accept it."
"You really think I will believe that?! I know she has spies everywhere. She must have recruited you by now. How else would you know about my plans?" Azula spoke angrily.
"I merely guessed them. And I don't think that your mother would be capable of recruiting me for anything." Bulla was still calm.
"Oh, is that so? Are you this loyal to me? Is there nothing that could make you betray me?" Azula asked condescendingly.
"Honey, there are many things I would betray you for. Just as there are many things you would betray me for. It's too early to speak of loyalty in our relationship. However, it does not mean that we cannot come to a mutual understanding." Short pause. "And I am still convinced that your mother does not have anything that I would want." The Saiyan smiled.
"Oh, and what would that be? What can buy your loyalty, if I may know?" Azula wanted to slit this oh-so-high-and-mighty girl's throat, but on the other hand she was still a bit curious.
"The crown of Earth, my homeworld planet, and the hand of Cado, the only person worthy of becoming my prince." The smile became wider.
This gave Azula a pause. Her mother should not be able to organize either of these, especially the first. She still could have been involved somehow, but something made the princess feel less suspicious of the Saiyan girl.
"Okay, let's assume that I believe you. How did you guess my plans and why did you speak of them when Toph was nearby? Don't you know how strong her hearing is?"
"I do, but it did not matter. And as for the plans, I merely observed you carefully, my dear, with the knowledge that you used to be enemies with the others. This intrigue is fairly straightforward. I actually suspect you use it as a shield for some other scheme. And when I spoke of it to you, Toph was distracted by an exercise. I thought that we had nothing to fear from her at that moment."
Azula reconsidered. All of that was true. However, the fire princess did not expect to be caught so quickly, nor be confronted about it so directly.
She did not even realise that her trembling and the voices had calmed down at that point. The only feeling remaining in her was curiosity.
"Very well. Why did you want to talk about them in the first place?" Her tone was calm now.
"I merely desire to be allies with you. And as an ally, I wanted to give you some advice."
"And what would that be?"
"Your methods are inefficient. And potentially harmful to yourself. Destabilising your teammates to this extent is not a good idea if Beerus have not been dealt with."
"I am aware of that. However, my target is specifically Katara. I leave the others for later."
She did not actually believe that they needed the entire group to tackle on Beerus. She was more than certain that she could tackle him alone. And even if it turned out that she needed help, she was more than happy to recruit some Fire Nation allies instead of Team Avatar.
"Then your methods were too indirect. Her friends won't hate her for getting mad at something, unless it incorporates slaughtering innocent bystanders. And we both know that it is unlikely to happen."
Azula paused. In order to break the group, she would need to plant some distrust between them. Then, if their interests clashed, they would be more likely to fight rather than help each other. Then, infighting and distrust would make them less credible in Zuko's eyes. This however required time, as well as some subtlety: she could not be directly linked to any actual hostility taking place, unless having earned the trust of any of the parties. And mentioning any of that now would confirm Bulla's suspicions.
Fortunately, she did not have to react. The Sayian spoke first:
"And you cannot act more directly if working alone." Bulla turned her head towards Azula.
Short pause.
"Why do you even want to aid me? What do you hope to gain from an alliance between us?"
"Your support for my cause. Taking over the world is not an easy task, every single asset counts." Bulla smiled. "And naturally, in return, I will offer my aid for your cause."
Azula thought about it for a moment.
She felt a weird sense of security, when talking to this girl. Naturally, she could not be trusted with anything of importance, but on the other hand she was a potential useful tool. Clearly overconfident and insolent, however somewhat relatable to her.
Still, Azula felt curious about one more point:
"And what if my enemies ask you for aid? Will you be as willing to support them?"
"Naturally. And as long as your interests do not clash, there is no reason not to do so. I aim to gather as many potential allies as possible." Bulla grinned. "But, should a need arise to pick a side…"
She placed her palm on Azula's wrist and pushed gently. The fire princess did not resist. She put out the flame blade, smiling.
"…I know what my choice will be." The Saiyan finished.
AANG'S MEMORY…
A beam flew right next to the Avatar's head.
One of the countless ones released by Bulla and Pan as a part of another exercise, focused on dodging. After the events of the previous day, it felt refreshing.
He and Azula did the absolute best job at it. Neither of them was directly hit on the body, albeit their clothes were torn in a few places.
The rest of the group was not so lucky though. Sokka loudly complained and grunted every time a beam got him. Toph followed his example, except more often, much to Aang's surprise.
And Katara was barely standing. It was easier to count the times she did dodge rather than not. She however did not say anything, limiting her reactions to weak grunts.
Aang did not see her smile even once since they came back from the South Pole, neither in the evening nor in the morning. She missed breakfast and came late to the training, and now all her motions lacked any energy.
Pan must have noticed that too, as she was sending less and less beams in her direction. She did not spare Toph though. At some point she cast a whole pack of them in the poor girl's direction.
Toph screamed as about a dozen of them struck her in various parts of her body. The impact threw her off her feet.
"For crying out loud, what is wrong with me!?" She punched the ground, causing a small ripple. "Why can't I dodge any of these?"
Aang knew why.
"You're an earthbender, you don't work well with… AAAH!".
A beam hit him, for the first time.
"Ha! Finally got you!" Pan was smiling widely.
Toph slowly got up and took a stance again. The Saiyan looked at her, and spoke:
"Maybe it's your sight. You're just not as used to it as to your seismic sense."
"That sounds plausible. From what I recall from our fight, your attacks did not appear to be accurate when I was mid-air." Bulla chimed in whilst throwing some beams at Azula.
"Unless you were making any sounds. Then they were." Toph grunted. She then dodged a few beams and got hit by a couple more. "And you guys barely move when firing those stupid things. I can't read you at all." After a few more hits, she added: "And Aang was right, I am more used to defending and countering rather than dodging." She shielded herself from a beam as she spoke.
"Well, I would not recommend defending against Beerus's Energy of Destruction. I hope that I do not have to explain why." Bulla smiled.
"Of course not. It's obvious that if you get hit by it, you get an ice cream." Sokka grunted, massaging a spot where a beam hit him.
Pan sniggered. Meanwhile, Bulla rolled her eyes and threw a huge set of attacks at him. The grunts and mumbles continued for a good while.
"Anyway, you will just have to practice." Pan spoke to Toph.
"Yeah, I know, but it's so tedious…" She heard in response.
Bulla then fired a few dozen beams in Katara's general direction. The waterbender girl moved out of the way of one of them, only to get struck by a whole bunch. When they flew towards her upper body, she just shielded herself by crossing her arms in front of her face. Once they stopped coming, she dropped her hands and just stood there.
The Sayian girls stopped firing beams altogether. The whole group stared at Katara for a few seconds. Toph was the first to speak up:
"Ummm, didn't we just discuss why we shouldn't block those things?"
Katara looked at her, her gaze empty. "Yeah…" She muttered.
"Come on, put some heart into it..." Pan spoke.
"Sorry…" A mumble. Not very convincing.
"You will not develop your powers with that kind of attitude." Bulla spoke.
"I don't want to have these powers." Katara's tone became more stern.
Short pause.
"You know that you need those to beat Beerus, right, so that he does not destroy our world?" Toph commented.
Another pause.
"I do. And I will keep them until then. But afterwards, I want them gone. If there will be any afterwards." Katara's tone gained some strength.
"Katara, Bulla's right, you won't make any progress with powers you don't want to use." Aang said.
"And why would I want to use them?" She spoke louder now, only to then crumble down and mutter: "All I've done with them is to hurt people…"
"That's not true! You've healed me after the battle with Bulla, remember? And you gave me some energy as well!" Toph reacted.
"I can do that without superpowers…" Katara grunted. "What's the bloody point of having them other than to destroy?"
"Well, you could not share your energy before." Sokka commented.
"Come on now. The point is to protect the people you care about. And the gods can use their powers for many awesome things! They create life with those!" Pan smiled.
Katara just grunted without saying anything. Meanwhile, Azula faced the Sayian.
"There is no point in pushing her now. She just needs time to process what happened." She sounded surprisingly friendly, Aang thought.
"Meh, it's never good to chew on your worries like this." Pan responded.
"Come on, you've always liked to help people, Katara. And you can help them much more with this power." Aang moved over to her. She avoided his eyes, staring at the grass beneath her.
"If that's what she likes, then I know what might help her!" Pan loudly exclaimed, smiling widely. She walked over to the waterbender. "I will show you how we use superpowers to help people in our world!"
"And how's that?" Toph asked.
"Me and my parents often help the police forces to fight crime! Come on, let's go and ask Whis if we can go for a round! It's about time we showed you guys our world!"
Sokka's and Toph's faces brightened.
"I'm in! I never complain about visiting new places. Not mentioning wrecking the bad guys!" Toph smiled maliciously.
"Oh, I want to go too! Didn't you guys say that your world is technologically advanced?" Sokka had a dreamy expression.
"Yes, it is!" Pan smiled.
"Do you have flying vehicles, like that Freeza ship?" Sokka's eyes widened a bit.
"Millions of them." Bulla smiled proudly.
"Ohhhh, please take me there!" Sokka was beaming.
"We will just need to ask Whis for permission. Come on, guys!" Pan said, walking towards the tree. She then jumped up and took off flying.
"Wait for us, we can't fly like this!" Sokka ran after her. Most of the group followed him.
Katara moved slightly towards the temple, but without much enthusiasm. Aang took her hand.
"Come on. It can't hurt to try to enjoy these powers." He said to her.
"Okay…" She still looked sad, but at least she did not resist, as he led her inside the tree.
SOKKA'S MEMORY…
"And remember, Sunday's visit to your world is cancelled, so that you may catch up in your training. Therefore, try to make it count and do not push yourselves too hard. It's supposed to be a leisure time." Whis spoke to Pan.
"Yes, of course!" She responded.
They were onboard the cube, headed for the Saiyan's Earth. Sokka tried to dig out some more details about it, but both girls decided to make it a surprise, for some reason.
"We are about to land." Whis exclaimed.
The cube turned around, and then the white tunnel broke into a picture of grass and blue sky, with something metallic in-between.
Sokka jumped out. And then his jaw dropped.
The flying ships, the glass tubes on columns, the black roads with weird vehicles zipping on them, the shining buildings made of metal. He felt that he would need a lifetime to check it all out.
He then focused on a giant beige dome near them. It had multiple windows, four circular towers and a large indentation forming a terrace. There was a spacious patch of grass between the building and one of the black roads, as well as a huge garden stretching in the back. All of it was surrounded with a small white fence.
Even Katara's expression welcomed a sense of wonder for a moment.
The only visitor from their Earth who did not seem to be amazed was Toph. The moment she put a foot on the ground, she lost all enthusiasm.
"Guys, I feel I'm going to be…" Her face whitened.
"Oh my gosh, Toph!" Katara moved over to her and held her up, as the earthbender started to wobble. "What is it?"
The team focused on her.
"This world… It's so big... And there is so much stuff in here… it's like a million spaceships at the same time…" She was spinning a bit harder. Katara lifted her up.
"Uggh, much better. One spaceship is confusing enough." Toph regained some colors.
"I think you should be putting on some shoes when you visit a new planet." Pan said, smiling uncomfortably.
"I thought I got used to this, between Beerus's world and ours, but this… This is something else." Toph responded.
Whis summoned his staff and moved his hand around the crystal. A pair of shoes materialised out of thin air.
"Not a problem. Put these on, and you should be fine." They flew towards the earthbender, who grabbed them mid-air.
"What is her problem exactly?" Azula asked, looking at Bulla.
"My problem is that I see this whole planet at once with my feet. It's kind of hard to function when a trillion of wonky buildings is buzzing around in my head." Toph grunted at the princess. Katara put her on the ground, helping her to keep her feet upwards.
"Side effect of unsealed Chi." Sokka turned to Azula.
When Toph was putting on shoes, a door opened on the beige dome. A woman walked out and headed towards them.
Sokka managed to notice short bright blue hair and a rather striking face, before the woman shouted: "Bulla!", and ran over to the namesake Saiyan girl. One they were near each other, he paid attention to her clothing: white short sleeved shirt, high leather boots and finally pants out of some blue material he never saw before.
"Welcome, mom!" They hugged.
"Good afternoon, Bulma, it's good to see you!" Whis spoke to her, moving closer. Pan followed suit.
Sokka was a bit surprised to hear 'afternoon' from him, given that for them the day had just started. When he looked at the sky, he noticed that the sun was indeed quite high up.
"You too! What are you guys doing here? I thought that you aren't coming until Sunday!" Bulma was smiling, but nonetheless puzzled.
"Ah, we are giving our new friends a tour of our world." Bulla responded. "Here…" She turned towards them.
Short introduction followed. Bulma learned that they came from another world and trained with Whis.
"It's nice to meet you, all of you. You are all free to stay at my house, naturally." She said.
"Wait, this dome thing is your house?" Sokka was baffled.
"Indeed." She smiled proudly. "Feel free to look around! Just don't touch anything in the labs without my permission."
"The labs?" Sokka's curiosity skyrocketed.
"Actually, we will be headed to Krillin's office. We want to do a round of criminal hunting!" Pan loudly exclaimed.
"Excuse me?" They heard a shout. Bulma chuckled uncomfortably.
Another woman of similar age to her was present at the terrace of the dome house. She had jet black hair in a tight bun and wore a yellow dress covering a white shirt and baggy pants. Something about her outfit reminded Sokka of the Earth Kingdom, albeit the colors did not match. Next to her were two other ladies, both quite beautiful. The first one appeared to be in her early twenties and had short blonde hair and slanted eyes. The second one was about the same age, a bit similar to her, but she had longer hair, a bit rounder eyes and smaller nose.
They both stared at the yellow dress lady as she jumped down from the terrace and ran over to Pan.
"Don't tell me that you came back from that god-forsaken world just to go and look for trouble in town!? When are you going to think about your future?!" She practically screamed.
"Grandma, we talked about this already and I am not changing my mind!"
Sokka was completely dumbfounded. First, the new lady appeared roughly the same age as Bulma, if not downright younger. Secondly, it was the first time they saw Pan legitimately disgusted and angry. She scoffed at her grandfather before (now that Sokka thought of it, he also appeared unusually young), and at Bulla's posh antics (because who didn't), but it was all nothing compared to this.
There was only a short pause before Pan spoke again:
"Uggh, everyone, meet my grandma, Chi-Chi. Grandma, meet my new friends, in front of whom you are currently embarrassing me."
Toph, who was back on her feet having put her shoes on, waved at her, and so did Aang. Every member of the Team Avatar voiced a greeting on top of that.
"Oh, hello there." Chi-Chi barely paid any attention to them. She turned back to her granddaughter immediately. "And you are not getting away this time, young lady! Do you really think that I will just let you waste your life away like this?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I think!" Pan looked as if she was about to scream. "And you are not going to stop me!" She turned away from her.
Team Avatar just observed the whole scene. Azula appeared amused, so did Bulla and Toph. Aang smiled uncomfortably while Katara just looked confused. Sokka felt somewhere in-between all of them.
"What kind of a language is that, young lady?! Do you have no shame at all?" Chi-Chi shouted.
At this moment, the slanted eye lady jumped down from the terrace.
"Relax, Chi-Chi. I will go with them and keep an eye on them. They will be safe." She spoke.
Pan's grandmother turned to her.
"That's very nice of you, but my problem isn't…"
"Let's face it, you won't be able to do anything about it right now. She has her own guests to attend to..." She pointed at Sokka and others with her head. "And she does not want to talk to you. Just let her go and try another time."
Chi-Chi hesitated with answer for a few seconds.
"Well, okay then. Thank you, 18. Just keep them out of trouble!"
Sokka was a bit baffled. Did she just call her '18'? Was that her name? His friends just observed the entire exchange, with some of their eyes widening a bit.
"Yes, yes…" The numeric lady sounded tired out. "Come on, Marron, we are leaving."
The other blonde girl followed in the other two's steps and jumped down from the terrace.
"Thank you for the dinner, Bulma. See you next time." 18 turned to the homeowner.
"My pleasure." Bulma smiled. "Sweetie..." She focused on Bulla. "...make sure that you check in on your dad before you go back. He's on the Lookout."
"Yes, sure." Her daughter responded. "Hey, is Mr Broly with him by any chance?" She suddenly brightened up, all excited.
"No, your dad's there alone. And he wants to talk to you about your new friends' world. He was going to call you later, but since you are here now..."
"Ah, I see." She mellowed down. "Well then, I shall pay him a visit. Thank you, mom. See you around!"
Bulla, Pan, 18 and Marron started walking towards a path and then a gate leading outside the fenced area. "Come on, guys." 18 gestured at the Team Avatar.
"We will rendezvous here." Whis spoke to them. "I will remain with Mrs Bulma. Have fun!"
"Yeah, sure!" Aang responded to him, and then led Katara towards the gate. Sokka and the others followed him. They entered a pavement placed alongside the road. Some of the weird vehicles were bolting next to them. Sokka tried to catch a closer glimpse of them, but it was difficult. He then took one last glance at the dome.
Chi-Chi kept staring maliciously at her granddaughter. Meanwhile, Bulma and Whis just smiled, before walking away towards the building. Soon, they lost the sight of them.
"Well, that was… something." Toph chuckled.
"Some grandmommy issues." Bulla sniggered, forgetting her usual demeanor.
"Piss off…" Pan grunted. She then turned towards 18. "Thank you for the save, by the way."
"You are welcome. In all honesty, I just wanted to get away from Chi-Chi. She's been non-stop about your education and how you waste your life, and blah blah blah…" she rolled her eyes as she spoke.
This caused another round of sniggers from Sokka and the others. Pan shot them a murderous gaze.
"Well, you know the way, and you can all handle yourself just fine, I presume. See you around." 18 taxed the group.
"Mom, I will go with Bulla and Pan. I haven't seen them in a while, I want to catch up!" Marron suddenly spoke.
The eyes of the entire Team Avatar turned into small plates. Mom?! The two of them looked roughly the same age.
"Yes, sure, just be back home before midnight. Take care." With these words, she jumped up and flew away.
"Ok, I never thought that seeing a person fly would be the least weird thing about them. Why the heck is her name '18'? And by what spacetime distortion can she be younger than you?" Sokka spoke loudly, looking at the Marron girl.
"Hey, be a bit more sensitive! You are talking about my mom!" She responded, frowning.
"Ummm…" Sokka felt kind of ashamed.
"Hah, just kidding. She looks younger than me, because she is a cyborg. And that's also the reason why she has that name." She giggled and smiled.
That did not help much.
"What's a cyborg?" Aang asked, visibly baffled.
"It's like a human with mechanical enhancements." Pan responded to him. "Although she is not exactly that, she was modified on a cellular level…"
Even Azula and Katara seemed to be confused now. Bulla taxed them all.
"I see, we will probably have to start from the beginning…" She smiled.
A lesson on cellular biology and cyborg mechanics followed. Sokka noticed that they covered some significant distance while it went on.
"Well, I think I get it now…" He muttered. "Still, isn't it weird to have a mother that doesn't age, while you do?"
"Or that is partially mechanised and named after a number?" Toph added.
"I don't care, really. It's my mom. Sure, it gets a little awkward sometimes when I get confused for her sister, like, right now…" She glanced at Sokka. He giggled uncomfortably. "But I love her all the same." She finished.
"And that's all that matters." Aang commented happily.
Short pause. Nobody noticed a twitch on Azula's face.
"By the way, how far is it to that police station?" Toph looked around.
"Hmmm, now that you mention it, it's still quite far. You guys can fly?" Marron looked at the Team Avatar.
"They can't yet, but we can easily carry them. Come on, guys, hop on!" Pan responded, before anyone else managed to.
Azula and Toph grabbed Bulla's hands, while Aang and Katara went to Pan. Marron, noticing what they did, presented her own arm to Sokka.
Soon, they were airborne. Sokka gazed at the sea of shining buildings below them. He noticed that many of their parts he considered 'metal' were in fact made from some other weird material. It resembled the walls of a Freeza Force ship.
"We are almost there. Prepare to land!" Marron spoke, pointing at a big building down below. It was made of a few large blocks, some of them metal and some glass, together forming an H shape. After taking a closer look, Sokka thought that the glass parts resembled multiple windows stacked next to each other with no walls between them.
They touched down. Marron walked straight to the entrance. There was a small panel there, resembling those that Sokka saw on spaceships. And it even functioned similarly, as she pressed a button and then spoke to a grate above it:
"Good afternoon, we've come to visit Chef Inspector Krillin!"
They heard a voice speak back: "Welcome. Apologies, but Chief Inspector does not allow visitors at the moment."
Bulla growled and walked over to the device.
"Tell him that Bulla Eschalot Vegeta Briefs has come over for a visit, accompanied by Pan Son, granddaughter of Mr Satan and Marron, Mr Krillin's own daughter. I hope I do not need to explain to you how he will react if he learns that you denied us entry!"
Something resembling a gasp sounded in the mechanism. Only for the door to slide open in a few seconds.
"Persuasive as always." Marron smiled.
"I never had the patience for ignorant dumbasses." Bulla smiled back. Toph and Azula sniggered.
The group entered the building. Much to his surprise, Sokka found the interior to be relatively plain, strongly resembling the offices in the Southern Water Tribe's town hall.
A person wearing a uniform walked over to them. A policeman, supposedly. After noticing the three girls, he bowed. He then taxed Team Avatar and spoke:
"Umm, and who are these…"
"Our esteemed guests from another world. You would do well to treat them with utmost respect." Bulla grunted at him. Azula and Toph smiled smugly, while Sokka and Aang did so more or less happily.
"Yes, yes, of course. This way…" He bowed to her again, and then walked in front of them.
Sokka tried to pay some attention to the furniture lying around. There were many items and gadgets he could not recognise, but there were also a few that rang a bell. Many of the policemen that they passed by wore a device on their heads that resembled scouters, there were also many screens and panels with buttons, similar to those on Freeza's ship.
Soon, the escorting policeman arrived at a door. He moved to the side of it and raised his hand towards the handle, but Marron beat him to it. He bowed and walked away.
The interior was a bit smaller version of Hakoda's office, barring all the techno gadgets. Behind the desk they could see a bald man of short stature, with six dots tattooed on his forehead. Sokka assumed him to be the mentioned Chief Inspector Krillin.
"Is this guy missing a nose?" Sokka heard Toph's whisper behind him, causing one or two muffed giggles. His eyes widened as he noticed that. Meanwhile, Marron and Pan walked over to his desk.
"Ehh, who is it this time…" The man spoke with somewhat irritated tone, lifting his head up. Only to notice who stood in front of him.
"Oh, hey there, girls! Jeez, you could have sent me a warning or something, I thought that it was those damned journalists again." He brightened up.
Marron walked around the desk and hugged him.
"It's good to see you, dad." She smiled.
Krillin then shortly gazed upon Sokka and the others and spoke: "Well, and who are you guys?"
Short introductions followed.
"Well, any friends of yours are friends of mine. So, how can I help you today?" Krillin asked.
"We just want to do some sightseeing, while hunting down criminals!" Pan responded. "It's time to remind the town that the Golden Warriors are still around!" She then struck a short pose, stretching her legs apart a bit and pointing with one of her hands at the ceiling, causing much confusion in everyone present.
"You are definitely your father's daughter, there's no doubt." Krillin chuckled. "Okay then, I'm sure that we will get an action or two. Grab these:" He threw her two scouter thingies. "And wait for my signal, as always."
"So, no bigger cases today?" Bulla stepped forward.
"Sorry honey, already got people on all of today's investigations. You will have to wait until a new one pops out." Krillin responded.
"Well, that's a shame. The little fish are just not as much fun..." She moaned.
"Speak for yourself, I love them!" Pan exclaimed. "Well then, we will be heading out!"
"Sure thing. Have fun guys! Just make sure you don't bash them in too badly!" He smiled at them, before returning to his paperwork.
The group left the building. Sokka could notice that Katara twitched a little after Krillin's last comment. She looked overall curious about this new world so far, but this remark made her mood drop.
One they were on the pavement, Bulla turned towards the others.
"If you guys excuse me, I would rather go and check out the local shops. Beating up thugs does not entertain me as much if they are not involved in some grander conspiracy."
"Count me in on that." Azula followed. "I would rather explore the wonders this world has to offer." She smiled here.
"And me, I need to have a longer chat with Bulla." Marron chimed in.
"I don't get how shopping can be more interesting than fighting criminals." Toph sniggered.
"If you can beat all of them in one chop, it loses its charm." Bulla turned to her.
"The most important thing is to stop them, not to fight them." Aang said.
"Sure, but you guys will handle either well enough on your own." The Saiyan commented. "We are not needed here."
"Yeah, true. Whatever, go. Just in case you are needed though…" Pan threw one of the mini scouters at her. "...keep in touch."
"Of course." She put the device on. Soon, they started walking away. Bulla, Azula and Marron.
Sokka looked at the fire princess, squinting his eyes a bit. He recalled his mother's warnings about her. Even though she would technically be under Bulla's supervision, he still wanted to keep track of her.
"Hey, can I come with you?" He asked, turning to Bulla. "Maybe I could learn about some of those techno gizmos."
"Sure, tag along if you wish." Bulla responded. Azula glanced at him shortly, still smiling. He could not really read anything specific from her, but that was of little consequence. She was most likely up to no good.
"Have fun, guys!" Aang waved at them, as they gained distance. The others in the crime-fighting team followed his example, before they all turned around and headed in the opposite direction.
KATARA'S TRIAL…
For Katara, this entire trip has been a godsend. Instead of sulking over her grim experiences from yesterday, she was allowed to gawk over a completely new world. While Beerus's planet felt more magical and mysterious, this place was sterile and mechanical, and yet lively. She could not get enough of those weird vehicles, buildings, and even people, all wearing weird clothes and some of them being human-like animals for some reason.
Now however, after meeting this Krillin guy and obtaining some communication devices from him, they were about to step into action. And she suddenly started feeling like the last person who should even be there.
She was not sure what to expect from the people they were about to fight, how any onlookers would react, or if she was ready to try and summon Chi again. She felt as if the darkness was creeping around every corner. Each time she tried to use aura, she could feel the painful memories resurfacing. Malina, her father, her people, this rage and hatred. And the worst part was that she was responsible for all of that.
She did not have much time to chew on this again, as after taking a few steps, she heard Toph speak:
"So, are we actually going anywhere? O are we going to just waddle about until you hear anything from that Krillin guy?"
"The latter. I will wait for his signal, and then we will go where he tells us." Pan smiled.
"How long it usually takes?" Aang asked.
"Mmm, half of hour tops, usually less." Pan rubbed her chin. "Sometimes there is a lot of stuff at once, and sometimes there is a dry spell. Well, given that it's afternoon, I think that it will..."
The trinket on her head started beeping. Pan pressed her finger against a button on it. "Yes?"
They heard a noise coming from it that resembled Krillin's voice, only for Pan to say: "On the corner of Park and Hill, got it." She then moved her hand away.
"Nevermind, a bank heist, everyone! A good old classic! Follow me!"
She bolted forward with incredible speed. Toph ran after her, quickly catching up. Katara wanted to do the same, but then she felt a surge of negativity. Her heart started to beat faster; a wave of heat appeared.
Then, Aang, who still held her arm, jumped forward after the other girls, pulling her along. Her world suddenly became a battle of survival, as she tried to keep up the pace with him.
"Be delicate, guys! We just need to catch them, not hurt them!" They heard Pan screaming.
"No promises, ha ha!" Toph shouted back.
"Cover civilians at all cost!" Pan added after a while.
"Got it!" Aang responded.
He barely finished shouting, when Pan stopped them.
They stood in front of a large building. It was a bit similar to the police headquarters, a few blocks of either glass or metal stitched together into a U-shape.
There were three vehicles in front of it, resembling freight wagons. A few people in masks were wandering around them with large bags. Each of them carried a metal trinket resembling a tube with a handle, presumably some sort of weapon.
Upon noticing Pan, some of them screamed. They jumped to two of the wagons. The machines started moving away quickly. One masked man ran back to the building.
"Aang, Toph, after them!" Pan shouted, pointing at the vehicles.
They jumped towards the runaways.
"Katara, with me!" She bolted towards the building.
Katara followed suit.
The interior of the building was lavish, resembling the interior of the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace in style, except for much brighter colors. There was a whole bunch of counters on both sides, shielded with thick glass. There were also a few tables with chairs scattered around, and a few doors.
Five thugs were guarding two large groups of people laying on their knees next to the counters. Two of the thugs held much larger tubes carried on their shoulders, most likely some more deadly weapons.
One of the masked men stepped forward and turned to Pan.
"Well, well, well. We meet again, Golden Warrior. But what is it? You brought a friend." His voice was dripping with venom. "What happened, too scared to face us alone?"
"Nah, it's just that beating you up is so much fun that I wanted to let my friends have a go." Pan smiled menacingly at him. "Now, will you perhaps spare yourself the trouble and surrender, or do you want to entertain us that badly?" She slammed her first into an open palm.
"Thanks, I'll pass. I have a better idea, you smug little brat." The thug smiled back at her in the same way.
He turned to the side, aiming his weapon at the curled down people on the right. The two of his buddies who carried the small tubes did the same. The two with the large ones turned towards the second group, on the left.
A burst of fire appeared at the rear of the large weapons. Then, drop-like projectiles flew right at the people. At the same time, more bursts of fire appeared at the ends of the small tubes.
Time has slowed down. Pan threw herself towards the drop projectiles. Meanwhile, Katara was able to notice similar, but much smaller objects flying at the people on the other side.
Well, at least now she knew what those weapons did.
She felt the urge to jump in front of these projectiles and stop them somehow. Her hand even instinctively travelled to her water pouch. Her idea was to catch them using water arms.
However, in order to keep track of that attack, she had to summon her Chi. And then, before realising it, she was flooded with all those feelings she tried to repress.
Guilt, fear, sadness. It was overwhelming, paralysing. Waves of heat and cold were washing over her, as she stared mindlessly at the floating pieces of metal.
They were getting close. Fear was being drawn on the faces of the people, their mouths opening and their eyes widening, albeit very slowly.
Pan managed to glance at Katara mid-flight. Their eyes met, and hers were full of shock.
One of the projectiles reached a kid, about 4 years old. It touched his arm, and then it went right through, like a hot knife through butter. An area of skin and flesh around the wound bloated, and then ripped apart, lazily flying away from where it was supposed to be.
Pan caught one of the drops, but she was now looking at that child.
Another projectile was headed right for the kid's torso. Meanwhile, two more were about to reach some other people.
And then they all stopped.
Katara's mind went blank. She just watched a kid's arm being torn off. While standing there and doing nothing.
A new feeling joined the others. Anger. Immense hatred. A sea of dark. But this time…
It was aimed not just at this man who fired the weapon, but also at herself. Mostly at herself. She did a horrible thing, and these feelings were a part of the price for it. But, in her self-loathing, she allowed someone to get hurt, because she was too scared to face her emotions.
This was not something she could accept. There was only one thing to be done. Protecting these people. Despite all that anger, and all those conflicting feelings raging throughout her Chi, her mind suddenly cleared up, as if it detached itself from them.
Her aura exploded violently into a large white flame. The time resumed, albeit slowly. She bolted forward furiously. Her Chi surged stronger and stronger. Her right arm reached ahead, while her left went for the water. The pouch burst, the liquid was shining white. She saw every single detail clearly. And then she realised something.
She could stop the first stream of projectiles with water, and the second one with her own body. However, she had too little water to stop the third. If she split her supply, the projectiles would go through it. It was possible to harden even a very small amount of liquid to make an impenetrable wall, but it was way harder that moderately strengthening a larger portion. She didn't have enough Chi yet to make a wall with this little water. She needed more liquid.
And then she realised something. Bloodbending. The words of Hama sounded in her head: "The rats that scurried across the floor of my cage were nothing more than skins filled with liquid."
She quickly analysed the situation. Some disgust at the idea managed to sneak in, but she showed it away. Besides…
The only skin of liquid moving fast enough where she wanted it to be was herself. And it was the only one she was willing to use.
She made a quick calculation. She had enough Chi to move her hands faster. And to moderately harden the extra portion of liquid she had in mind.
She directed the water from her pouch at her right arm, that was still stretched forward. As it flew, it formed a blade. She aimed it at the armpit, and sliced in, separating the arm completely. The blinding pain appeared immediately, but she cast it away with the other feelings.
She then pushed the loose arm with the blade, giving it that extra momentum needed to travel into the third line of projectiles. She then converted the water's motion into a downward swipe, aiming back left, to throw the water in line of the first projectile stream.
Her body landed right in the middle of the second one.
For a moment she wondered how she is going to command the loose arm to harden, but then she realised that it was still full of her Chi, which she was still in control of. Besides, a floating trickle of blood connected her to it. She could use the blood as an illusory arm.
The thing is, blood was not the only liquid in the body. In fact, muscles, tendons and even bones contained a lot of various fluids all throughout them. Katara made sure to focus on all of them at once, treating them as a single water body.
The arm exploded and moulded into a shapeless mass, only to reform into a wall and harden in a manner similar to glacier ice. Meanwhile, actual glacier ice was formed on her left. She feared the moment the projectiles would strike; however, they did not manage to even dent either of them. The blood wall, the ice wall or her body. Katara barely felt them hit.
One of the projectiles was about to miss her torso, but at this point, Katara's Chi has grown massively. She expanded both walls to completely cover the entire group of people behind her.
Pan managed to catch the second drop thing. Her aura became yellow, and her hair started to stand up. Her movements massively increased in speed, as she threw both drop things outside, into the grass. They both exploded, leaving a hole in the ground. And now Katara knew what those weapons did.
Time resumed. The deafening rattling sound of the projectiles continued for a second or two. Then it died down and some clicking could be heard instead for a moment.
The three thugs stared at her with their mouths and eyes wide open.
Katara felt a storm of emotions twirling through her. But one of them dominated all others. The hatred for the guy who hurt that kid.
However, she also remembered what happened the last time she let herself go wild. It made her even more furious now, but it also gave her an idea.
She broke the walls and squeezed them into tiny but incredibly hard spikes, putting almost all of her negative energy into this act. She then lifted them high up in the air.
"YOU PIECES OF SHIT!" She roared and threw them at the thugs.
Vertically, so that none of them pierced any of the bandits, but still held them in place. The area shook a little, as she released the remaining negativity stored in her in that scream.
They stood motionless. A wet stain appeared on one of the thug's pants.
Then, Katara heard a cry. The wounded kid screamed in pain.
She turned around immediately and moved towards him. His mother slightly pulled him away instinctively, but Katara ignored her completely.
For a moment she wondered where she will take water from to heal him, but then she realised something again.
His body was water. Bloodbending. All the liquid she needed to channel Chi was already there.
She moved her hand close to the wound. His arm did not separate completely: it was held in place by some bone, muscle and skin.
A strong light surrounded the broken area, and then both of their bodies. The wound started to fill in with flesh, bone growing back and then disappearing under muscles and skin.
In a few seconds, there was no trace of it. The kid stopped making any sounds, instead looking completely dumbfounded.
A few seconds of silence. Katara grew a bit fearful.
And then, the hall exploded with cheer. Mostly. The mother in front of her started crying, albeit also smiling and hugging her kid (who was still completely lost). Many people shouted: "Golden Warrior! Golden Warrior!" at Pan, while some cheered and whistled at Katara, albeit without words (they most likely did not know what to call her). Some people paid attention to her missing arm, shouting something like: "Jeez, you're hurt, girl!". Katara actually reacted to it and moved her left hand to the cut area. She used bloodbending again to push some of her blood back inside the body. She felt a little dizzy.
She stood up, smiling and tearing up a little. She wobbled a bit. One of the former hostages jumped to her and held her up.
The leader of the thugs, still held in place by the spikes, suddenly regained some composure.
"Hah, you think you're some kind of heroes? You think you're better than us? You're bloody monsters, just like us!" He screamed.
Katara showered him with the most hateful gaze she could muster. He flinched when looking at her.
Pan, having regained her own senses, walked over to him. She stared at him for a moment.
"You will rot in prison for the rest of your lives." She growled, her eyes full of hate.
She then punched his arm. A creaking sound could be heard. And then a loud scream.
"I would lop off your arm, but unlike you, I have standards." She then began to walk away.
The cheers stopped for a second. Only to become boos aimed at the thugs.
"Hah, don't think you are getting scot-free for this. I will sue you for the bloody damages!"
The thug with the broken arm somehow managed to regain composure again, even though his face was twisted in pain.
"What does he mean?" Katara asked Pan, frowning.
"Uggh, that he can demand compensation for what I just did. Even if he is still in prison. Whatever, let's just go."
Katara showered him with another hateful gaze. For a moment, she felt another surge of darkness. But then, she recalled the previous day again. No, she was not going to wail at him. Even though he actually deserved it.
She had a better idea.
She aimed her remaining arm at him and felt his flesh near the wound. She then reset his bone and healed him, using bloodbending in both cases.
He squeaked like a mouse. Or as if he was kicked in the balls.
"There, now he's all healthy." She told Pan. The Saiyan gazed at the waterbender for a moment, before bursting out in laughter, and taking her from the person who held her before.
They moved in the direction of the entrance. Pan turned her head backwards, and shouted:
"Okay, people, please form two lines and walk out of the building!" She then moved to the left side of the door.
When the kid Katara healed walked by, he looked at her, ran over to her and then hugged her.
His mother walked to them, and after a few seconds, she joined him, smiling.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" She spoke in Katara's ear.
"My pleasure." The waterbender responded, smiling as well, albeit a bit weakly.
After a moment, the woman walked away with her kid. Right in time for Aang and Toph to appear.
"Oh, hey guys, what took you so long?" Pan grinned at them.
"These idiots made a huge mess." Toph chuckled, pointing at a few thugs they brought with them. Their hands were bound with rocks, which she apparently used to yank them around. "We had to fix a few cars." She then caught Katara's confused look, and added: "You know, these metal vehicles."
"It was amazing! Toph metalbent them back into shape!" Aang exclaimed.
"Yeah, I had to try a few times though… where is your arm?" Toph smiled as she spoke, until she noticed a certain missing limb.
"Spirits, what happened? We need to…" Aang went hysterical for a moment, until he noticed Pan sniggering.
"Her arm is right there." She pointed at the spikes holding the bandits in place.
"Easy, Aang, I'm alright. I was kind of short on water… so I bloodbent my own hand to get more." Katara smiled weakly.
Aang and Toph were completely dumbfounded.
"Don't worry. We will go to Whis and he will patch her up right away." Pan became a bit more serious.
"Maybe he won't need to." Katara muttered. "Toph, bind these thugs, pretty please?"
"Oh, sure." The earthbender woke up and made a few more rock bindings. She walked over with them to the bandits. Katara released the spikes and levitated them towards herself. Some of them were ice, some of them were frozen flesh, albeit almost unrecognisable. Then, Toph bound the prisoners. One of them tried to run, but then the earthbender bolted to him and poked him in the head, knocking him out. "By the way, I learned how to do that, too." She said.
Katara focused on the spikes. She then glued them all together into a ball.
"Okay, just a warning, this might get pretty gross." She said.
She focused her Chi on the ball, and then touched the cut area with it. A strong bright light shone, as she was surrounded by her aura again.
The orb morphed into a rough arm shape, with the dark red substance floating inwards and the transparent liquid going outwards. Thankfully, the water completely shielded the fleshy parts. This took much longer than the kid's wound, but Katara soon began to feel her old arm again.
After a minute or so, it was done. Katara removed the water, revealing her completely healed limb. It felt as if it was never gone to begin with.
"Wow." Toph looked at it curiously, and even touched it. "Talk about some super-healing."
Aang also stared at it in awe. Only to then laugh out loud.
"That was incredible!" He hugged her.
Then, they heard a loud sound outside. They looked out, noticing a few vehicles with bright flashing blue lights. A few people in police uniforms walked over to them.
"We will take it from here. Thank you, Pan!" One of them spoke.
Another one looked inside the building.
"That's a nice clean action. Well, except for those holes in the floor and in the lawn." He said.
"Yeah, we had some…" Pan started, but then Toph moved her hand. The hole in the ground filled up, and so did the ones in the building.
"Nevermind, it's as good as new!" The policeman corrected himself.
Pan looked at Toph, and then exclaimed:
"You guys are the best!"
SOKKA'S MEMORY…
Sokka pressed some buttons on a radio.
It was only one of many different devices provided to them by Bulla. Both he and Azula carried a whole bag of them. Azula on top of that had a few bags of clothes. Sokka was not as demanding, he had only two.
They were sitting a bit on the side of a large table on the Capsule Corp's terrace (He did not understand the writing on the building, but Bulma was kind enough to read it for him). Whis, Bulla, Bulma, Chi-Chi and Marron sat together, chatting about some random trivia from their lives and nibbling on some food (In Whis's case, it was more like devouring). Normally Sokka would be interested to listen in, but the gadgets absorbed him completely.
He was a bit surprised to find Azula doing almost the same thing as him. Except she played with a tablet instead (now he knew what those devices from Freeza's ship were called). He heard her talk about being interested in technology before, but he did not really believe it. However, the shopping spree absorbed her so much that she did not do anything even remotely malicious during their time in the mall. Neither she did anything during the visit to the Lookout, a small palace floating very high in the air, where Bulla had a short chat with her father. It was supposedly a place where the local equivalent of Aang resided, but they did not meet anyone, being told to wait outside by Bulla.
His divagations were broken by the sudden arrival of the crime fighting group.
"Hey guys, we're back!... Oh." Pan's exclamation died down after she noticed her grandmother.
"Well, well. Had enough of playing a delinquent today?" Chi-Chi reacted immediately.
Seeing the two of them argue like this was distracting, but then Sokka was thrown off even more by Katara's reaction. She jumped towards the older lady, and shouted:
"Excuse me, but what is your problem? We spent the entire afternoon doing nothing but helping people! How can you call her a delinquent?"
The majority of the people present smiled uncomfortably, as Chi-Chi responded:
"I am merely worried about her future! The poor girl took it into her head to become some sort of superhero, instead of studying and getting a job!"
"And what is wrong with that? Isn't it up to her? You should let her decide!"
"Heh, of course you would say that! And who do you even think you are to know what's best for her? Another damned delinquent..."
"EXCUSE ME!?" Katara looked furious.
Pan laughed out loud, while Aang and Toph moved to Sokka, looking at his toy.
Whis stopped eating and looked at them.
"Well then, now that you are all here, are you ready to go back?"
Pan turned to him.
"Just a moment, I need to visit my mom and dad." She jumped up and flew away.
"Hey, get back here!" Chi-Chi shouted.
"Oh look, I guess I was right." Katara said smugly. "She won't listen to you if you keep screaming at her."
Chi-Chi growled, and resumed screaming at Katara.
Sokka focused back on his trinkets. He did not notice a short but cold stare, that Azula showered his sister with.
AZULA'S MEMORY…
"I have a distinct feeling that your little friend just undid everything I accomplished." Azula growled. She was back in Beerus's temple, after their return from the Saiyan's world.
She recalled Katara's relatively cheerful face, and her restored enthusiasm and focus. All of it filled her with fury.
"Patience, my dear. You know you can't break someone while they still have friends to rely on." Bulla spoke. They both sat in a basin, in the same bathroom where they had their confrontation in the previous evening.
"Yes…" Azula calmed down. "We will need to break their trust to her. And then, next time something bad happens to her, she won't come back."
KATARA'S AWAKENING…
Katara sat on a rock near the lake, making circles in the water with her foot.
Even though she did so much good that day, and in a big part thanks to her unsealed powers, after returning here she still felt some of her grief resurfacing.
"Hey, what is it, Katara?" She heard Aang's voice.
He and Sokka walked over to her. They both must have figured out how she felt. Which she appreciated, actually.
"Oh come on, don't sulk around! You did a fantastic job today! And that thing with the arm was sick! Both literally and figuratively!" Sokka smiled widely. "Just never use my arms or legs for spare water, pretty please."
Aang growled at him, but Katara just chuckled.
"Nah, if I ever do something like this again, it's only with my limbs. It's not about that, it's…" She paused here. "I may not dislike my abilities any longer, but, you know... dad is still lonely and my tribe still hates me..."
Both of them paused for a moment.
"Katara, in all honesty… you are too hard on yourself. Dad would most likely found out about Malina somehow. And then the same thing would have happened, whether you were there or not." Sokka said. "Hey, at least we know that she's innocent. We can turn this thing around, it will just take some time."
"And your dad will explain what happened to you and why. He and Gilak. If they both tell the same story, the people will believe them." Aang added.
"And we will find some way to make them like you. Hey, this trip should give us some ideas. Some crime fighting, some mortal wound healing, some extra miracles we haven't figured out yet, and you will be back on track!" Sokka grinned again.
Katara looked at the sky, as it darkened in the local version of sunset.
"Thank you, guys." She muttered, smiling slightly.
They both hugged her, and looked upwards, following her gaze. Even though she still felt some worry, she also felt hope. She was not alone, and she was ready to fight again.
And she had an idea. The ability that she so far despised, bloodbending, grew on her that day. It was about time to learn to use it in battle.