Ch 11 Lake Laogi

A fist came towards Wash, and he deflected it. Wash grabbed the extended arm and threw it on the ground, the body following.

"Remember to use your entire body." Wash said as he picked Ursa up.

"Like this?" Ursa asked, as she attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks, keeping Washington moving from one spot to the next. Wash suddenly lunged forward and tackled Ursa. Ursa wrapped her legs around Wash and threw him over and now straddled him.

"Where you trained in hand to hand at the palace?" Wash asked.

"I took some classes when I had the chance. It's starting to come back." Ursa said.

"I can help you with that. And you dressing as the Dai Li is giving me an idea." Wash said.

"Infiltrate the Dai Li? Could work, won't work, who knows." Ursa said.

Wash and Ursa walk inside and watch Sokka drawing on paper.

"What are you drawing?" Wash asked.

"It's Appa." Sokka said.

"Really? Caboose can draw better than that." Wash said.

"And that's saying something." Tucker said.

Aang and Katara came into the house with a stack of papers.

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Aang asked.

"He's attempting to draw Appa. I hope you have a better poster." Ursa said.

"Here it is." Aang said, showing the highly detailed poster.

"Wow. This is very good." Wash said, taking the picture.

"Hey, Aang. Maybe you can draw me some pictures." Tucker said.

"Don't do it, Aang. It's not worth it." Wash said.

"Why not?" Aang asked.

"Some things are better not known." Wash said.

"You're cryptic all the time, you know that?" Ursa asked.

Aang left on his glider to deliver the posters, and when he came back, he found everyone lounging in the living room.

"Has anyone come yet?" Aang asked.

"Be patient, Aang." Katara said.

The door was quickly knocked on, and Wash was suspicious.

"That's not right. Those flyers were just delivered." He said.

"Could be the Dai Li." Ursa said.

"I think you're right." Sarge said, pumping the rack on his shotgun.

Aang opened the door, and saw Joo Dee.

"What happened to you? Were you taken to jail?" Sokka asked.

"What? Jail? Of course not. I was sent on a vacation to Lake Laogai. It was quite refreshing." Joo Dee said.

"Wait a minute. We infiltrated the king's party, and you warned us to leave. We didn't leave at first, being apprehended by that Long Feng person. And instead of punishing you for failing in your job, they send you on a vacation." Wash said, not buying her story.

"You don't buy her story?" Aang asked.

"The holes in her story are so big, I can fly a covenant supercarrier thru it. I've seen one before. The sheer size is…." Wash purposely cut off.

"So what are you doing here?" Ursa asked.

"Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted in the city. Not without proper clearance." Joo Dee said.

"I'd like to properly put a bullet thru your cranium." Wash muttered.

"Wash." Ursa chastised.

"We can't wait for clearance on everything." Sokka said.

"We don't care about the rules and we're not asking for permission! We'll find Appa our own way, and you should just stay out of our way!" Aang shouted, slamming the door in Joo Dee's face.

"Great work, Aang. Men, time to enact operation cause chaos and find the giant bison before the Dai Li." Sarge said, prompting looks from his group.

"Sarge, considering the Dai Li's resources, I find it highly unlikely we'll find Appa before they do, if they don't have him in custody already." Simmons said.

"Simmons, we're Red team. We'll find that giant fluffy monster in no time." Sarge said.

The group separated into smaller parties, putting up posters across the city to help get the word out.

"Caboose, don't eat the glue!" Tucker said.

"Yeah, it's kind of sticky. Maybe I should sniff it." Caboose said.

"Jesus Christ." Wash muttered, thankful that he wasn't paired up with Caboose.

"He's an odd one." Aang said, as he put a poster on the wall.

"I think they're all odd ones." Ursa said.

"But they get the job done when they put their heads to it." Wash said, when he heard some shouted.

Katara looked at Jet, whom she just pinned against the wall with icicles. Looking behind her, she saw her group and the reds and blues, aiming their weapons at Jet.

"Katara, what's going on?" Aang asked.

"Jet's back." Katara said.

"Who?" Wash asked, lowering his sniper rifle.

"We can't trust anything he says." Katara said.

"But we don't know why he's here." Sokka said.

"Doesn't matter. It can't be good." Katara said.

"Lets hear his story. If he's an enemy, we let our new friends kill him." Ursa said.

"Good compromise." Wash said, lowering his rifle.

"I'm here to help you find Appa." Jet said.

"You're lying." Katara said.

"Katara, shut up. Jet, keep talking." Ursa said. Katara folded her arms and pouted at Ursa.

"He's telling the truth." Toph said.

"How can you tell?" Tucker asked.

"When people lie, there's a physical change. He's telling the truth." Toph said.

"Katara, he's our only lead." Aang said.

"Fine. But we're not letting you out of our sight." Katara said.

Jet took the group to a large warehouse, which was empty.

"If this is another trap…" Katara said, pulling out some water.

"He was here." Toph said, holding some fur.

"Yeah. They shipped that creature to some island." An older man said, sweeping the floor.

"What island?" Aang asked.

"Whale tail island." The man said.

"How far away is the island?" Sarge asked.

"Very far. Right at the south pole." Sokka said, opening a map.

Church… it's why they stuck you in some useless backwater canyon where no-one ever goes. Then why they transferred every person in your outpost to a different base than you.

Wash clenched his hand and put the memories away. Why would they transfer Appa to another island, right where the Avatar can easily get his hands on it?

"Guys, wait here." Wash said to the red and blues.

"Something on your mind?" Simmons asked.

"Don't you think it's strange that we just happen to run into Jet, and happen to find information about Appa's position? I doubt he's on the island. Aang can just easily head there, get the bison, and fly back to the city. This sounds like a snipe hunt, and I doubt the Dai Li will just let Aang get his bison that easily." Wash said.

"You think it's somewhere else?" Sarge asked.

"Maybe it's invisible." Caboose said.

"It's in the city. Somewhere close so they can easily get rid of Appa, maybe send his fur to another place, and claim they found Appa in said other location. He's here. Just don't know where. Hell, Project Freelancer did a similar thing to the Alpha. Move him from one location to another so the agents couldn't get a hold of it. And the Dai Li are pulling the same game." Wash said.

"Makes a lot of sense. You know, I'm having second thoughts about helping these kids. Running into the Dai Li is just like the Freelancers. And we all know what happened." Sarge said.

"You're right about that." Wash said.

"So what do we do? Do we stay, go?" Simmons asked.

"Griff, Lopez, Donut. You three load up the supplies and take it back to the ship." Sarge said.

Leaving the warehouse, they saw the group drag Jet off the streets.

"Now that's a sight you don't see." Wash said.

"What's going on?" Wash asked.

"He was brainwashed by the Dai Li." Ursa said.

"Shit." Wash replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jet said.

"We're trying to jog his memories. Figure out what the Dai Li did to him." Sokka said.

"The fire nation. Remember what they did to your family." Smellerbee said.

Jet closed his eye and remembered. His eyes re-opened in a mad frenzy.

"It's too painful!" Jet said.

"Restrain him, now." Wash said, moving behind Jet and grabbed his shoulders.

"Wait. Let me try something." Katara said, taking Wash's position and bended water onto his head.

Jet heavily breathed inside and out and remembered.

"They took me to their headquarters under the water, like a lake!" Jet said.

"Lake Laogi. That's where they took you, and Joo Dee." Wash said.

Outside the city, Jet lead the group to the lake he mentioned.

"There's nothing here." Ursa said.

Toph earthbended the entrance to raise above the sea level. One by one, the group went down the ladder and into the base.

"Any idea what goes on down here?" Tucker asked.

"We're the first outsiders to see the headquarters of the Dai Li. So be prepared for anything." Wash said, raising his rifle.

"Wash, take a look at this." Ursa said, peeking inside a room. Inside, was dozens of woman, all being brainwashed to be Joo Dee agents.

"Nothing we can do for them. We stick to the mission." Wash said, dragging Ursa away.

"I think Appa's in here." Jet said, opening a door.

The red and blues went in first, scanning the room for any threats.

"Now that's something different." Sokka said, as he saw dozens of Dai Li agents hanging from above.

"You are all enemies of the state. Take them into custody." Long Feng said, and the agents dropped to surround the group. The second they touched ground, the red and blues fired on them. Earthbending was no much for rapid fire 7.62 mm. But more Dai Li agents were heading to stop the red and blues.

"Caboose, they're on our side. Help them!" Tucker said.

"Okay." Caboose said.

The hapless sim trooper calmly walked towards the advancing Dai Li agents and hosed them down with his assault rifle.

"Long Feng's escaping!" Aang shouted, and he and Jet ran after the leader.

"Keep firing! They won't come after us for long." Wash said, as he fired at a group of Dai Li agents taking cover behind a cover of earth. The high caliber bullet tore them to shreds.

"What about Long Feng?" Ursa asked, as she shot a fleeing Dai Li agent.

"We'll deal with him soon." Wash replied.

The Dai Li agents were killed as soon as they appeared. Wash ran forward after Jet and Aang, hoping to shoot Long Feng.

Wash ran down the murky cavern and heard a commotion.

"Jet, snap out of it!" Aang shouted.

Rounding the corner, Wash saw Jet swinging his swords at Aang, while Long Feng was smirking at the situation.

"One shot, Wash." He muttered as he looked thru the scope and put the crosshairs on Jet. One squeeze of the trigger, and Jet fell dead like a sack of potatoes, blood pooling from his head.

"What was that for?!" Aang shouted, as Long Feng ran.

Wash looked at Long Feng's previous position and shook his head.

"He's gone." Wash said.

"You mind telling me why you killed him?" Aang asked.

"He was about to kill you." Wash said.

"What's going on-oh no." Katara said, seeing Jet's dead body.

"Are we going to stand here, or are we going to find Appa?" Wash angrily asked.

"Wash is right. Where is he?" Tucker asked.

"Down there." Toph said.

The group followed the direction and opened the door, finding another empty room.

"Damn it! He's one step ahead of us!" Wash said.

"Not for long." Sokka said.

Escaping to the beach, they were ambushed by more Dai Li agents.

"Can we outrun them?" Tucker asked.

"I don't think that's going to matter." Aang said.

Aang's warning was correct, as the Dai Li quickly surrounded them.

"Oh, no. We're surrounded." Simmons said.

"Nonsense, Simmons. This is a target rich environment." Sarge said, putting more shotgun shells inside his shotgun.

"For once, you're right Sarge." Wash said, as he put in another mag in his sniper rifle.

"Oh, no. It's the end of the world." Ursa playfully said, as she joined the red and blues in massacring the Dai Li agents, again.

"Aw shit." Long Feng muttered, as he saw the sim troopers walk towards him weapons raised.

A deep roar was heard, prompting everyone to scatter.

"What the hell is that?!" Tucker shouted, as Appa soared overhead and landing in front of Long Feng.

"It's Appa!" Aang shouted.

The bison landed in front of Long Feng and threw him into the sea.

"Appa's back!" Sokka shouted.

"What kind of a creature is that?" Simmons asked.

"A ten-ton flying bison. Judging from its markings, it belongs to the air nomads." Wash said.

"Can it be my friend?" Caboose asked.

"More importantly, can you pick up chicks on a flying bison?" Tucker asked.

"More things change…" Wash muttered.