Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.
A/N: So excited to share this with all of you. Plus, as a part of my Triple 19 Attack, this is such a big deal to me. Also, this takes place right after Bruce and Momo's story from a few chapters ago.
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Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air
(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the Waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the Earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the Firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the Airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)
Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)
Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)
Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.
(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)
Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.
(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)
Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.
(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint, Toph and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)
Nickelodeon and Marvel
The Avenging Avatar
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Avatar Roku: Previously, on Avenging Avatar…
"The Fire Nation killed my parents." Jet told Katara, Steve and Natasha when they first met the Freedom Fighters. He hung his head when he remembered, "I was only eight years old when it happened."
"Hello, there. My name is Ju Dee." Ju Dee greeted the majority of the group when they arrived in the city.
The next day, after being apprehended by the Dai Lee at the Earth King's party, Sokka tried to explain, "We found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless."
"And that would leave only their allies in Hydra to deal with." Steve put in. But Long Feng didn't listen when he stood up, "It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls."
Down in the Lower Ring, Jet had been arrested by the Dai Lee after getting into a fight with Zuko and their friends. He tried to warn them, "You don't understand! They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!"
The others that had watched the whole thing go down quickly disappeared in the shadows. Later, Jet had been brought to an underground facility. He was strapped to a chair by earth cuffs and the like. A lantern went around on a ring while a man in the middle said, "There is no war within the walls. Here we are safe.
"Here we are free." He added as the mind control started to kick in.
"I understand that you've been looking for your bison." The previous night before the Earth King's party, Long Feng confronted Natasha and Appa who had just arrived within the city. He lowered a whistle from his lips. Natasha tried to defend them by shooting her Widow's Bite at him, but he managed to dodge. With a wave of his arms, he sent all three of them underneath the city as Appa roared. "It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest."
Days later, Bruce and Momo were in the same spot. The former found the hidden Widow's Bite and said, "Nat."
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Book Two: Earth
Chapter Nineteen: Lake Laogai
A new, bright day came over the city of Ba Sing Se after a night of rain. And inside the Team Avenging Avatar's home, things seemed to be going at a slow pace. While Aang and Katara were out doing who knows what, Sokka, Toph, Steve, Thor and Clint were left trying to do stuff to pass the time. Toph was laying on the floor, the three Avengers were talking amongst themselves about two members of their team that have gone missing and Sokka was trying to make posters to help look for Appa. The Water Tribe teen was currently working on another one when the doors slid open. Everyone looked to see Aang and Katara rush in and the latter excitedly said, "We found ourselves a printer to make our posters!"
Katara unveiled one of the posters and Sokka and the Avengers looked at it. Aang nodded with a smile when he pointed at it. Thor took a hold of the flyer and said, "Such craftsmanship."
"It is bound to get people looking." Clint agreed when he looked at it. The only one who wasn't thrilled about it was Sokka when he objected, "Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my job.
"I've been working all day on my Appa." He grinned when he unveiled one of his homemade flyers. But it turned out to be pretty bad job as it was like looking at a poorly made cartoon of the bison. Just about everyone snickered or tried to keep from laughing. Aang then reminded his friend, "Sokka, the arrow is on Appa's head."
"This is his head." Sokka defended his work when he pointed to the part of the poorly drawn body. Katara came up and took the paper from her brother as she asked, "Why are there feet coming out of it?"
"Those are his horns!" Sokka snapped and snatched the paper away from her. He slumped his shoulders when he added, "I just haven't seen him in a while, okay?"
"Well, at least you tried." Steve shrugged, trying to make him feel better. The teen did seemed to perk up when Toph said with a hint of sarcasm, "It looks just like him to me."
"Why thank you. I was working really h-" Sokka started to say while Clint and Thor snickered again. Sokka stopped himself when he remembered that she was blind and questioned, "Why do you feel the need to go and do that?"
"Let's just stick with the professional version we have." Katara suggested and it made her brother scream while ripping up the poster in his hands. Katara then looked to the three Avengers and asked, "Still no word on Bruce or Momo?"
"They haven't come back, wherever they went." Steve shook his head. Thor then pointed out, "I think if they were in any sort of trouble, we'd have heard of it by now."
"Well, we can look for them while we're out and about." Aang said as he opened his bag. He pulled out multiple flyers and said, "Now come on, let's get busy."
He handed some to Thor and the Asgardian followed the Airbender out the door.
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At an inn in the Lower Ring, Bruce had long since woken up. He sat on the edge of the bed while Momo and the Pygmy Pumas were all sleeping together in a pile. The Gamma Scientist was looking at the Widow's Bite that he had recovered from where he had discovered Appa's footprint. He shook the little device and said, "Natasha's hear in the city.
"And if she left this in a hidden spot, then it must mean that she's in trouble." Bruce deduced as he thought about it. Deciding what to do, Bruce stood up and looked to the three. Momo and the three Pygmy Pumas looked to him and he said, "Come on. Let's get back to the others."
The lemur and the alley cats jumped off the bed and followed after Bruce.
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Over the city of Ba Sing Se, Aang and Thor flew in opposite directions from the house and let the leaflets fall from a bag. The leaflets fell to the ground a passerby would pick one of them up. The two stayed in the air for a while until all of their leaflets were gone. When their bags were completely empty of the flyers, they turned and headed back to the house.
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Down in the Lower Ring at Mr. Lee's tea shop, business seemed to be booming as there were a lot more customers than there usually were. Iroh and Tony were both tending to the customers by pouring tea while Zuko was being the busboy of the day. Iroh poured some cups for a couple of wealthy looking gentleman. He poured the one man's cup while the other took a sip of his. When Iroh walked away from the table, the two men took another sip of their tea. They looked to each other and were thinking the same thing when they nodded. Both men stood up and walked after Iroh. The first man caught his attention when he said, "So you're the genius behind this incredible brew.
"The whole city is buzzing about you." He complimented when he rose his cup to him. He took another sip after saying, "I sure hope Mr. Lee is paying you well."
"Good tea is its own reward." Iroh humbly said. The rich man then said, "But it doesn't have be the only reward."
"What's going on?" Tony said when he walked up. Iroh looked to his friend and said, "This nice man is complimenting the tea."
"And that's not all." The rich man said with a grin. Then he offered, "How would you boys like to have your very ow tea shop?"
"My own tea shop?" Iroh said, feeling like it was too good to be true. He held the pot in his hand close to him and excitedly said, "This is a dream come true."
The conversation caught the attention of Mr. Lee and he rushed over. He stood between Iroh, Tony and the rich men and questioned, "What's going on over here?
"Are you trying to poach my tea maker, Quon?" He glared at the rich men. Quon shrugged, "Sorry, pal, but that's just business for you, am I right?"
Mr. Lee looked to Iroh and offered, "Mushi, if you and your boys stay, I'll make you Assistant Manager.
"Wait, Senior Assistant Manager." He added with a hopeful look on his face. Quon then sweetened the deal for Iroh by saying, "I'll provide you all with a new apartment in the Upper Ring of the city.
"The tea shop is yours to do whatever you want with. Complete creative freedom." He said, and Zuko looked over while tending to some tables. Iroh then asked, "I even get to name the shop?"
"Of course." Quon chuckled and nodded. Mr. Lee tried to keep Iroh by saying, "Uh, Senior Executive Assistant Manager?"
"What do you think?" Iroh asked Tony. Tony shook his head, "You're the one who can make a call like that. But me and the kid will right behind you whatever you decide."
Iroh quickly thought about it before handing his pot to Mr. Lee. The owner of the tea shop groaned when Iroh bowed in respect to Quon to accept his proposal. Mr. Lee walked away with a glum looking face while Zuko passed by them. Iroh looked to his nephew and said, "Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city."
"That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better." Quon said and looked to the teen. Zuko set the tray he was holding on a table and walked out the door while saying, "I'll try to contain my joy."
Zuko stepped outside and took a breath of fresh air and leaned against the wall of the building. He looked up when he heard the sound of paper fluttering and saw a leaflet coming down. He grabbed it and looked at the image of Appa on it. Zuko's eyes widened when he realized that the Avatar was in town, and looking for his pet. He looked about the sky, trying to see if there was any sign of more leaflets or the Airbender himself. Zuko climbed to the top of a building to get a better look but didn't see anything. He looked down at the leaflet in his hands and started to get an idea.
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In another part of the Lower Ring, the Freedom Fighters and the Rescue group were trying to come up with a plan to find Jet or the Avengers. But so far, they didn't have anything good. Rhodey shook his head, "It's unbelievable that we haven't found any leads to where the Dai Li could have taken him."
"Yeah, I mean if he had been taken by the regular authorities, he'd probably be in a prison or something." Eddie agreed. Smellerbee then suggested, "Maybe we need to do another sweep of the city."
"Like if they let him go or something?" Peter asked. She nodded and they thought it was the best that they had. Wade walked into the room and said, "Well, if he is walking around, then maybe he'll have something to do with this."
He held out a leaflet and the group took a look at it. Smellerbee recognized the image and said, "Hey, it's Appa."
"Appa?" A good deal of the group asked. Smellerbee nodded and said, "Yeah. He's the Avatar's flying bison.
"Says here that he's been lost for some time and could be in the city." She added when she looked at the information. Sam looked to Wade and asked, "And how would Jet have something to do with this?"
"Eh, just a clue." Wade said with a shrug. Then turning for the door he said, "Vamonos, you collection of freaks."
"He's calling us freaks?" Johnny questioned but they still followed after him.
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Back at the team's dwellings, things seemed to have calmed down a bit since Aang and Thor had left. Katara and Sokka were in the middle of playing a small game while Toph threw a ball against the wall and Steve and Clint looked over their gear. The door opened and Aang and Thor walked into the home. Aang then said, "We just finished dropping all of the leaflets. Has anyone come in with any news about Appa?"
"It's only been a few hours since you left." Katara reminded as she set a tile down. She waved her hand to keep him calm, "Just be patient."
Aang sighed and sat down. He placed his head against the table. Thor walked over to Steve and Clint and asked, "Friend Bruce still isn't back yet?"
"No, we thought that he'd be back by now." Steve said, starting to get worried for his friend. They were all startled when there was a knocking on the door. Aang shot up to his feet and thought it true, "Wow, you're right! Patience really pays off."
He ran to the door, but when he opened it, he was startled when Momo came flying into his arms with a screech. He looked to the lemur and asked, "Momo?"
The lemur chittered up at him before looking back with another screech. They were all surprised when they heard Bruce's voice say, "Well that's what you get when you pull on something's tail."
The host of the Hulk walked up to the door and a startled Aang yelped when he moved out of the way for the Pygmy Pumas. Bruce walked into the home and Clint asked, "And where did the two of you get off to?"
"And we see you picked up a few new friends." Thor said as he picked up one of the Pygmy Pumas and started to pet it. Bruce closed the door behind him and then gave an apologetic look and said, "Sorry for running off. I had to chase after Momo when he started flying around just about everywhere in the city."
Aang looked to his lemur with a slight look before Bruce continued, "And we picked these guys up when we came across something."
"What was it?" Steve asked. Bruce was about to answer when another knock came to the door. Bruce opened it up and everyone became surprised when they saw a familiar face. Aang asked in confusion, "Ju Dee?"
"Hello, Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph." She bowed to the kids. She the bowed to the four Avengers and started to say, "And hello to you as well, St-"
"That's not necessary." The super soldier quickly cut her off. She stepped into the home and Sokka asked, "What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail or something?"
"You look less stressed than when we last saw you." Thor observed the woman. Ju Dee seemed a little confused but happily said, "What? Jail?" She waved off such a thought, "Of course not.
"The Dai Li are the protectors of our city's cultural heritage." She said. Clint glanced to Bruce and muttered, "So we've heard."
"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party a little while ago." Toph remembered. Ju Dee then explained by saying, "The reason as to why I look less stressed than I was and have been gone for so long is because I simply took a delightful to Lake Laogai out in the country."
What she said seemed to catch Clint's attention and he narrowed his eyes. Ju Dee smiled when she said, "It was quite a relaxing experience."
"But then they replaced you with another woman who called herself Ju Dee." Katara said, still confused by the whole ordeal. But it didn't seem to make sense to her as she gestured to herself and said, "But I'm Ju Dee."
"So says any other woman that happens to be around those in the Upper Ring." Clint disagreed, remembering what he had seen the other day. It seemed to spark something within Ju Dee. But they looked to Aang when he asked, "Why are you here?"
"Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city." Ju Dee said and revealed one of the leaflets. Then she added with a chuckle, "Not without proper clearance of course."
"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka argued, starting to get sick of all these rules. Ju Dee then said something that sounded like it was a recording, "You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."
While the others were giving her questioning looks, Aang moved in front of Ju Dee. He developed a comically large anime head and flailed his arms up and down as steam came out of his ears and he shouted, "We don't care about the rules of the place and we're not asking permission to do this!
"We're gonna find Appa on our own, and you should just stay out of our way." He added and made her back out of the door. When she was standing on the other side of the entrance he slammed the door while adding, "Have a nice day!"
Everyone was surprised to see Aang's reaction. Thor shrugged and said, "That kind of went better than his anger storm in the desert."
"Hey." Bruce said and nudged the Asgardian. Sokka then thought aloud, "That might come back to bite us in the blubber."
"In the butt." Clint corrected and it made the teen look to the archer. Sokka gave him a questioning look and asked, "What?"
"The phrase is come back to bite us in the butt." Clint explained while moving to a window. Steve looked between the two and questioned, "Is this really what we're going to be talking about?"
"Sorry." Both Clint and Sokka said at the same time. Clint glanced out the window and said, "Gee, Aang, you really did a number on her. She's running down the street crying."
"I was just really frustrated." Aang said, having calmed down a bit. Rubbing his arm he thought, "Maybe if she does come back around, I can try to apologize to her."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Steve said. He looked to Bruce and said, "Now, you were saying."
"Oh yeah." Bruce said and reached into his pocket. He looked to them and said, "I think that Appa and Nat might be in the city. And I think that they're in trouble."
"What makes you sure about that?" Thor asked him. Bruce pulled out the Widow's Bite when he said, "This."
Clint took it from him and examined it. Steve looked to Bruce and asked, "You say you found this in the Lower Ring of the city?"
"Yeah. And that wasn't all that Momo and I found." He promised. Toph sighed, "Yeah, yeah. The three cats."
"Not just them." Bruce quickly said. He then told them, "We found a footprint that belongs to Appa."
"Wait, what?" A good deal of the group asked him. Bruce nodded and gestured to the three Pygmy Pumas, "Yeah, after saving these guys, they lead us to an alley where we found the Widow's Bite and the footprint."
"Maybe someone saw what happened." Aang guessed, feeling hopeful now that they had a lead. Steve then said, "We know were we need to go. Go grab anymore of those fliers and we'll put them up while we look."
"Right." Both Katara and Sokka nodded before moving to go get the stuff. Clint looked to the super soldier and asked, "What'll we do if we run into the Dai Li?"
"Whatever we have to." Steve said and looked between them all. He then said, "Our friends are here in this city, lost and in trouble. We do what we need to help them and we don't let anyone stand in our way."
"Yeah! Let's break some rules!" Toph eagerly shouted before thrusting her arms towards one of the walls. She created a wave of earth that ended up destroying a good percentage of the house. Her actions had frightened everyone and Sokka commented, "That's not what he meant, Toph!"
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." The blind Earthbender sheepishly said while rubbing the back of her head. Katara then said, "We got what we need, let's go."
The group exited from the house and walked down the street. They were unaware of the two Dai Li agents watching from the top of Pong's house. The agents glanced to each other before slipping down the roof unnoticed.
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In the library of the Earth King's Palace, Ju Dee had been called to come before Long Feng. She had recounted everything that had happened between her and the group she was entrusted to. Long Feng narrowed his eyes when he said, "I'm very disappointed in your work of handling the Avatar, the Avengers and their friends, Ju Dee.
"I had hoped that you would be able to control the situation." He calmly added. Ju Dee clasped her hands together as she said, "I'm so sorry, sir, but they just don't trust me anymore.
"I don't think that I can keep working like this." She said and covered her mouth as she started sobbing. Deciding to take control before she completely broke down, Long Feng then said, "Ju Dee, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
The phrase rang through Ju Dee's head and the programing kicked in. She lowered her hand, sat up straight and her pupils expanded as she said in a drone-like tone, "I am honored to accept his invitation."
"Good." Long Feng nodded and a small grin grew on his face. Then he commanded, "Now go and await for further orders."
Ju Dee bowed her head before getting up and leaving the library. As she left the room, Long Feng spoke to two Dai Li agents that were with him, "If the Avatar and the Avengers keeps searching for the bison and their friend it could upset the delicate balance we've worked so hard to achieve in this city.
"It could even potentially cost us control of the Earth King." He added and grimaced at the thought. One of the agents then inquired, "Should we take them out?"
"No." Long Feng shook his head and moved to stand before the emerald fireplace. Knowing that it could end in disaster he said, "It's much to dangerous for us to confront him directly.
"Let's see if we can still handle this situation quietly." He added with a smirk. Glancing to one of the agents he questioned, "Is he ready?"
"He is." The agent nodded, knowing whom Long Feng was talking about. Long Feng then ordered, "Have him intercept the group and place all the points needed to make the group leave."
"And if that fails?" The other agent asked. Long Feng glanced to them and said, "Then we'll need to speed up her initiation before the worst comes."
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Back in the Lower Ring at the trio's apartment, Tony and Iroh had finished saying their goodbyes to those they had met and left their aprons at Mr. Lee's. The two were currently packing when Tony said, "I think we could offer the guy a partnership or something."
"Perhaps after seeing how our shop does." Iroh said, considering the idea. Then he said, "Now let's get back to thinking of the perfect name."
They were interrupted when Zuko opened the door to their apartment. Iroh then said, "Oh good, you're here. I wish to know your thoughts on a name that I've come up with for my new tea shop. I call it 'The Jasmine Dragon'.
"It's dramatic, poetic and has a nice ring to it." He thought while Zuko came up to them and reached into his shirt. Tony nodded when he said, "That does sound like it'll bring in plenty of people."
"To share good tea." Iroh reminded with a grin. Tony gave a light laugh as he couldn't argue with how Iroh's big heart worked. Zuko removed the leaflet from his shirt and said, "The Avatar and the other Avengers are in Ba Sing Se, and apparently they've lost their bison."
Iroh took the leaflet from his nephew and both he and the inventor of the Iron Man armor looked it over. Zuko walked around the two and stopped at the window. Iroh then looked to the Fire Nation teen and said, "Other than getting Tony here back to his friends, I don't see how this helps the two of us in the long run.
"We have a chance for a new life here. And if you start stirring up trouble, then we could lose all of the good things that are happening for us." Iroh said, not wanting his nephew to go down that path again. But it didn't seem to take hold when Zuko turned and seemed a little bitter when he said, "Good things that are happening for you maybe."
"Come on, kid." Tony interjected. The teen looked to him and Tony said, "Ever since we got here, we've had a roof over our heads and food on the table. That's good fortune in my opinion."
"Yeah I get that. But have the two of you ever thought that maybe that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?" Zuko questioned, feeling like something was missing from his life. Iroh cut in by saying, "There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity.
"I would suggest that you think about what it is that you want from your life, and why you want it." Iroh told his nephew. Zuko turned to the window and said, "I want my destiny."
"And what that means is up to you." Iroh pointed to his nephew. Deciding to try and help, Tony stood up and said, "Look, kid. Even I wasn't sure what I wanted from my life.
"But after this." He said and tapped where the Arc Reactor was. Tony nodded and said, "It started to become much more and more clearer to me.
"And you will find it. I promise." He added and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko just glanced down for a moment before walking out of the room. Tony and Iroh watch him go for a moment. The inventor looked to the older man when Iroh suddenly said with a grin, "The Tea Weevil!"
"What?" Tony questioned. Even Iroh's face fell when he had heard what he just said, "I know it sounded stupid when I said it."
"I think you had it right the first time." Tony voiced his thoughts. Iroh thought about it before nodding in agreement.
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Elsewhere in the Lower Ring, the group had made it to where Bruce and Momo had found the Widow's Bite, Appa's footprint and the Pygmy Pumas. The three cats stuck around Bruce while the others gathered around the footprint. Steve looked to Toph and asked, "Can you sense anything?"
"Yeah, actually." Toph said before lightly stomping her foot. After a moment she said, "The spot where the footprint is was overturned a while ago. Disturbed by an Earthbender no doubt."
"Then let's spread out and start asking and placing the posters." Clint said. Just about everyone grabbed some paper and some paste and spread out. Sokka brushed the side of a wall before applying the poster against it. Then glancing to the others he said, "We'll split up to cover more of the area.
"Toph, I guess you and Clint can tag along with me." He suggested to the Earthbender leaning against the wall beside him. Toph seemed a little ticked off about it and questioned, "Why? Because you think that I can't put up some posters on my own?"
"Toph." Clint started to say. But it fell on deaf ears when she grabbed the brush from Sokka's hands and slapped some of the paste against the wall. Then she grabbed one of the posters from him and slammed it against the wall. The only problem was, the paper wasn't where people could see it. Everyone looked to her with questioning looks. Toph hung her head when she asked, "It's upside down isn't it?
"I'll just go with Sokka and Clint." She said and handed the brush back to Sokka. They all took off in different directions with the three going one way, Katara and Thor in another direction and Steve, Aang, Bruce and the Pygmy Pumas in a third. Momo chittered as he flew after Aang's group. However, they were unaware when a figure was watching them from the shadows.
Katara and Thor came to a more open spot in the section. Katara pointed to a spot and said, "That looks like a spot where people walk by a lot."
"I'll go and put some posters up there." Thor offered and took the items with him. Katara watched him go before walking up to a pillar by the river and placed one of the posters against it. But she was startled when she heard a familiar voice call her name, "Katara?"
Katara looked back with a gasp and saw a shape in the shadows. The figure moved out into the light and it was the last person that Katara ever expected to see. Jet had a grin when he said, "I think I can help you."
A blush formed on Katara's cheeks as she thought of the last time that she had seen jet. Getting anger at the thought of being used again made her blood boil as she moved her arms while shouting, "Thor!"
Then with a fluid motion of her arms she created a large wave of water and flung it at Jet. Jet, frightened from her display of aggression, tried to reason with her, "Katara, I've changed!"
But it fell on deaf ears when the wave smacked into him and sent him down an alley. Jet grunted when he fell to the ground in the alley and looked up to see Katara standing there. Thor ran up to her just as she created a sphere of water from a puddle next to her, "Go and tell it to some other girl, Jet."
Then with a yell she flung the sphere forward and it turned into shards of ice. Jet quickly readied his hook swords and with a spin he slashed at them. He ended up tripping over his feet and fell against the wall. He got up and slashed at a few more and tried to talk to her by saying, "I don't want to fight you."
"Well, I got someone here who loves to pick fights." Katara said and Thor tensed up a bit. She glanced at him and urged him to go at it. Thor looked to her with a look and said, "I am not going to hurt someone on a whim.
"Especially when I don't really know what they've done." He said and gestured to Jet. Katara then said, "You know what he's done."
"What he tried to do." Thor reminded. Jet interjected by saying, "I'm actually here to help you guys. And I'll prove it."
He crossed his hook swords before dropping them on the ground. For extra measure, Jet took a step back from his weapons. It seemed to make the two calm down a little. Katara and Thor looked down at the discarded weapons before looking to Jet. A slight grin formed on Jet's face as he reached behind him and started to pull something out. Thinking he was up to no good, Katara whipped out some of the water from her water skin pouch and flung more ice shards at him. The shards caught Jet by the fabrics of his clothes and pinned him to the wall. Jet looked to the ice spikes closest to his head. Katara and Thor heard the others running up to them and Sokka asked, "Guys, what is-"
"Jet?" Steve questioned when he saw the trapped teen. Everyone looked in shock and surprise to the teen. Steve crossed his arms and said, "Didn't think we'd see him again."
"Yeah, last time we saw him, we had Natasha with us and he was stuck frozen to a tree." Sokka recounted their time with Jet and the Freedom Fighters. Katara looked to those who didn't know Jet and warned, "We can't trust anything that Jet says."
"But we don't even know why he's here in the city." Sokka pointed out. Clint was with Sokka by saying, "Maybe we should hear him out."
"I don't care about why he's here. And I'd rather not hear him out." Katara snapped at the two. Steve placed a hand on Katara's shoulder and said, "We need to stay calm and not let old feelings cloud our judgement."
"But what if the reason isn't a good one." Katara tried to argue. They were caught off guard when Jet said, "I'm here to help you find Appa."
Jet looked down to his right hand and allowed a rolled-up piece of paper to show them one of the leaflets that Aang had dropped. Aang and the others looked to the Waterbender and he said, "Katara, we have to at least to give him a chance."
"And we'll be watching him." Bruce promised her. Katara sighed as she crossed her arms, not liking how this was going. Jet then said, "I swear that I have changed. I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control.
"But I don't even have the gang with me now." He promised. Then he pointed out, "If I did, they would have come to my rescue when Katara attacked me."
"That's a good point." Clint agreed, seeing as just about anyone could have heard it. Jet continued, "I've put all of that behind me. I promise."
"You're lying." Katara said, not believing him. Clint was quick to jump in and say, "There may be a way for us to know if he is telling the truth.
"Toph." He said while turning to his friend. Toph walked up and nudged Katara out of the way. She walked right up to the trapped Jet and placed a hand on the wall next to him. Then she informed, "He's not lying actually."
"How can you tell?" Sokka asked, not knowing how she could know. Then he looked to Clint and repeated the question, "How can she tell?"
"Be quiet and find out." Clint said to the teen. Toph then explained, "I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there's a physical reaction."
"Unless one is really good at lying." Thor threw in. It made everyone look to him with a questioning looks. He took a step back and said, "Sorry."
"Anyway, he is telling the truth." Toph told them. Steve then looked to Aang and asked, "Do we accept his help?"
"We do. We have no other options." Aang said and looked to the others in the group. They looked to him and he said, "If Jet says that he can take us to Appa, then we have to check it out to make sure."
"All right." Katara said, deciding to at least try. But as she started to turn away, Katara turned back to Jet and warned him as she glared, "But we're not letting you out of our sight for second."
She jabbed her finger at him for emphasis before turning and walking down the alley. Clint looked to Bruce and commented, "Someone's still upset."
"I heard that!" Katara shouted from ahead, making everyone jump. They quickly followed after her and let Jet take the lead.
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Not too far away, Smellerbee, Longshot and the Rescue Group were walking down the streets of the Lower Ring. While some of the group was talking to people, others were looking for signs of Jet or the Avatar or the Avengers. Peter thought of using his powers to get a higher view, but the others turned it down to avoid drawing attention to themselves. In part of the street, Logan was regretting having picked Wade for a partner as the merc with the mouth currently had his first two fingers up against the sides of his head and tried to use mental powers that he did not have. Logan looked to him and questioned, "You look ridiculous and people are starting to stare."
"I'm becoming one with my inner Professor X and trying to use my Cerebro-less mind to find what we're looking for." Wade said in a mystical sounding voice. Logan just rolled his eyes and looked to his left. He noticed a familiar looking face moving through the crowds and said, "Found him.
"Go and get the others." Logan said to Wade. When he looked to the mutate, he gave Wade a deadpanned look when he saw that he was still trying to use his method. With a slight push he repeated, "Go get them!"
"Okay, okay, geez." Wade said and walked off. Logan just sighed while Wade muttered, "King Arthur wannabe."
"What?" Logan questioned and looked to the mutate. Wade dashed off while shouting, "Nothing!"
Logan watched him go before looking to where he thought he saw Jet.
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Jet had led the group through a good deal of the city and they came upon a large building. He pushed the doors open and glanced back when he said, "This is the place that I heard about."
"It's certainly big enough to hold Appa." Steve said as they walked in. Clint glanced around and said, "Not really any places to hold someone a lot smaller though."
"Where would they have put Nat?" Bruce asked, scratching both his head and one of the Pygmy Pumas. That made Jet look back and ask, "What's going on with Natasha?"
"She had split from the group a little while ago." Steve told him. He explained all that had happened while the others looked about. Aang walked over and said, "There's nothing here. No clues."
"Toph?" Clint asked her. Toph shook her head, "No secret tunnels or anything that lead to here."
"If this is a trap." Katara started to say while preparing her water skin again. Jet looked to her and said, "I told you guys that I work nearby. I heard two guys talking about a large fuzzy creature they had. And I figured that it might be Appa."
"Well, there was something here." Thor said from one of the corners of the room. They all rushed over to him and found him holding a large clump of white fur in his hands. He handed it to Aang and Aang could feel that it really was Appa's. His face fell when he said, "We must have missed him."
"But what about Nat?" Bruce asked, starting to worry about her. Their attention was taken when an old man came by sweeping said, "They took that big thing out of here yesterday.
"Shipped him out to some island." He added and it made everyone surprised. The old man then said, "About time too. I've been cleaning up fur and various, uh, leavings all day."
"What island? Where's Appa?" Aang hopefully asked while rushing over to the man. Steve then followed up by asking, "And was there someone with the big white creature?"
"Don't remember anyone with him." The old man shook his head. But then he told them, "Foreman said that some rich, royal type of person over on Whale Tail Island went and bought him.
"Guess for a zoo or such." He guessed while dabbing his forehead with a cloth. Then he shrugged another guess, "Oh, could be that the meat would be good."
"We need to get to Whale Tail Island." Aang said, feeling that Appa could be trouble while Sokka had pulled out a map. But Aang's shoulders fell when he asked, "Where's Whale Tail Island exactly?"
"Far." Sokka said, making everyone look to him. He lowered the map with a worried look and said, "Very far away. Look.
"Here it is." He set the map down and pointed to a spot on the map. It did look like a whale's tail, and it could be seen between the Southern Air islands and the tip of the Earth Kingdom, "It's almost all the way back home at the South Pole."
"Aang, it'll take us weeks just to get to the tip of the Earth Kingdom." Katara pointed out to him. Then she added, "And then we'll need to find us a boat to get to the island."
"I don't care." Aang said and stood up. Wanting to get to Appa he said, "We have ourselves a chance to find Appa- and we have to try."
"I agree." Steve nodded. They all looked to him with confused looks. He explained by saying, "Appa and Natasha should come first. And I hate to say it, but maybe we should divide our forces.
"You four should go to Whale Tail Island." He suggested. Looking to Thor, Clint and Bruce he said, "The four of us-"
"Seven." Bruce corrected and held up one of the Pygmy Pumas to emphasize his point. Steve sighed before saying, "The seven of us should stay to look for Natasha."
"It must be nice to go and visit an island." The old man said as he came by sweeping again. They all looked to him with bored looks as he said, "I haven't had myself a vacation for years."
"Don't you have some more hair to clean up?" Katara questioned to him. The old man just shrugged and said, "Shuffle on. I get you, missy. No more need for old sweepy here."
"Did he say sweepy or weepy?" Thor asked as the man went on. Steve then looked to the group and said, "Okay, so we have our missions."
"And we'll hurry back to you guys once we have Appa." Katara promised with a nod. They all stood up and Sokka said, "All right, let's get moving."
"And I could go with you guys if you'd want me to." Jet offered and gestured to the four children. Though Steve was a little reluctant since he remembered the last time he and the others encountered Jet. But he had a feeling that it might not be such a bad idea. But Katara beat him to saying anything, "We don't need your help."
"Why won't you just trust me?" Jet asked, even though he knew why. Steve then said, "Katara, we need all the help we're going to get. He's going to go with you."
"And you know that I'm not going to like it." Katara responded with her hands on her hips. That didn't stop them as they walked out of the building, leaving Katara, Clint and Toph behind. The Earthbender of the group was confused when she asked, "Was this guy your boyfriend or something?"
"What? No." Katara quickly said and looked away from the two. Both Clint and Toph smirked as the former asked, "Toph?"
"I can tell she's lying." Toph said in a singsong voice. Katara's eyes widened when she forgot that Toph could do that and quickly left the building. Clint held his fist to Toph and she lightly bumped it with her own.
As they were walking through the streets, Sokka looked to Steve and told him his plan, "The five of us can take the train out to the wall, but then we'll have to walk a great deal."
"You'll figure something out." Bruce said as the three Pygmy Pumas weaved through their legs and leaned against them for a moment before carrying on. Aang then reassured his friend by saying, "Don't worry, Sokka. On the way back, we'll be flying."
"I'd make a reference, but I don't think it would apply here." Clint lightly joked as they kept walking. A smile formed on Toph's face when she said, "We're finally leaving Ba Sing Se.
"Worst city ever!" She exclaimed with her hands in the air. She then resumed her bored look as she kept walking with the others. But before they could go much further, a group of people walked out from an alley and looked towards the group. When she saw him with Team Avenging Avatar, Smellerbee shouted, "Jet!"
"I thought that you said you didn't have your gang anymore?" Katara questioned Jet after looking back. A surprised Jet turned around and said, "I don't."
But it didn't seem that way when Smellerbee came running up and embracing her friend. Steve then noticed a few other faces with her and Longshot and said, "And it looks like you've got a lot more friends too."
"We were so worried about you." Smellerbee said when she looked up into his eyes. The others ran up to Jet and the team and Wade and Smellerbee asked at the same time, "How did you get away from the Dai Li?"
"The Dai Li?" Katara, Bruce and Clint all asked in unison with really shocked faces. Jet took a step back from Smellerbee and shook his head, "I don't know what she's talking about."
"What do you mean?" Rhodey asked, confusion coming about everyone's faces. Logan then said, "Don't you remember what happened after we got here weeks ago?"
"Yeah, you were arrested by the Dai Li a little while ago. We've been looking for you ever since." Smellerbee said when she gestured to her group. Eddie then added, "We were all there. We saw you get dragged into a police carriage of sorts."
"This is getting more weird by the minute." Bruce quirked a brow. Thor then said, "I think we're a little lost in this moment."
"Thor's right. Why would I be arrested?" Jet agreed with him. Gesturing to himself he said, "I've been living in the city peacefully since I got here."
"Toph?" Clint asked and the Earthbender moved between Jet and Smellerbee. She knelt down and pressed her hand against the ground. She became very surprised and curious when she said, "This doesn't make any sense. They're both telling the truth."
"They both can't be." Peter shook his head. Katara agreed with him by saying, "That's impossible."
"Not quite." Johnny shook his head. Sokka seemed to piece it together when he added, "Toph can't tell who's lying when they both think that they're telling the truth. And there's only one explanation to this.
"Jet's been brainwashed." Sokka, Wade and Clint all said at the same time while the Water Tribe teen pointed to the former rebel leader. Jet found it preposterous when he shook his head, "That's just crazy. It can't be.
"Stay away from me!" He demanded when he saw that they were starting to form a circle around him. He looked ready to make a run for it when Logan's fist connected with his temple. Because of the adamantium bones underneath the skin, it ended up knocking Jet out. Everyone looked to Logan with shocked faces and he quickly said, "Uh, sorry about that. Spur of the moment kind of thing."
"Let's just get him inside." Steve suggested and Logan, Wade and Johnny all moved to pick Jet up. The group was unaware that they were being watched from two different directions. One set of eyes was watching them from the roof of a building, but the other came from an alley not too far from the large group of people.
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It was a little bit after the sun had set over Ba Sing Se. Tony and Iroh were still packing up a few things and getting ready for the big move, but Zuko had stepped out a while ago. The two were starting to get worried as they looked to the door of their apartment.
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Later that evening, in another part of the Lower Ring, all was quiet in the district. A lone Dai Li agent walked through the empty streets. While keeping his hat low over his eyes, the agent kept a look out for trouble. Little did he know that a form of trouble was quickly running down the street behind him. The Blue Spirit roughly shoved the agent as he passed by, "Out of my way, Skinny!"
The Dai Li agent glared in the Blue Spirit's direction and took a stance. But the Blue Spirit ended up taking a right and running down an alley. The Dai Li agent ran after him and looked down the alley. He could see a shape like the Blue Spirit standing there in the shadows. The agent launched a rock glove forward before clenching his fist and it ended up tearing through the chest of the Blue Spirit. The Dai Li agent then spun around before firing his remaining glove. The palm of the rock glove knocked the head clean off and a dummy made of straw fell against the side of the building. When the Dai Li agent realized that he had been tricked, he glanced around, "Huh?"
He became scared when a broadsword suddenly found itself before his throat. The Dai Li agent became afraid as Zuko on his Blue Spirit disguise advised, "If you don't want to end up like him, then you'll do what I say."
"What do you want?" The Dai Li agent questioned and glanced back. The disguised Blue Spirit used his free hand to remove something from his pocket and unrolled it to where the agent could see. The agent's eyes widened to what he realized what the Blue Spirit was wanting.
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In a dark, foul place, a shape rushed through a tunnel. After spending a good few days down wherever they had dragged her, Natasha Romanoff had managed to get out of her chains and ran through the tunnel looking for Appa. It had been her second attempt of escaping and she wasn't planning on leaving without Appa. She had been stripped of all her weaponry and had to rely on her wits to get her out. Nat quickly glanced back to see three Dai Li agents quickly running after her. One of them raised their hand and a wall of earth appeared in front of Natasha. With a spring of her feet she was able to jump over it before it got too tall. She landed on the other side before flipping her hair back and taking off again.
But before she could get too far, a slab of rock dropped down from the ceiling. It was too far and moving too fast before Natasha could try to clear it. She stopped just as the rocky barrier crashed down before her and she looked back. It was her mistake to stop running as a rock glove or two were shot and managed to snag her wrists. Natasha was pinned against the wall and looked to her captors with glares. The Dai Li agents that had chased her cautiously drew closer to her. One of them said, "She's getting a bit too rowdy."
"He wants her ready for the worst when it comes." Another said. A third added, "Especially when our double agent in that kid of ours has been taken by the Avatar and his friends."
That caught Natasha's attention as she looked between them. She figured that the Dai Li had a double agent dealing her friends and now they lost their advantage over them. She could only hope that they would find her and Appa in time.
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Back in the Lower Ring of the city, the groups had brought Jet back to his apartment. After Steve, Clint, Thor, Bruce and the kids had gotten acquainted with Sam, Rhodey and their friends, they started to deal with the situation regarding Jet. The pets were all outside with Momo hanging on a clothing wire and the cats probably off on a hunt. While Bruce, Wade, Eddie, Logan, Peter and Johnny all stood at the back, the others formed a circle but made sure to give Jet some space after coming to.
They found it a little odd when both Thor and Clint had excused themselves for some odd reason. Katara then theorized, "The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us in our search for Appa and Natasha. And that old janitor was probably part of their plot, too."
"No doubt that they have Appa here in the city." Aang gave a good guess. Bruce then spoke up, "And they probably have Nat in the same place too."
"They're probably in the same place that they took Jet." Peter guessed and they thought that it was a good one. Steve then looked to the teen in the chair and asked, "Where did they take you when you were arrested?"
"Nowhere." Jet quickly answered. But he seemed a little confused when he added, "I… I don't know what talking about."
"We need to find a way to jog his real memories." Aang said, knowing that they were in there. From the back Logan shook his head, "Well, I don't plan on smacking him to bring them back."
"Knowing what's underneath that skin of yours, I'd say that that was a pretty good idea." Rhodey commented to him. Sokka smirked when he suggested, "Maybe Katara could kiss him.
"That should bring something back to Jet." He said and crossed his arms. Sam slapped the teen upside the head while Katara countered with her hands on her hips, "Why don't you kiss him, Sokka."
"Hey, it was just an idea." Sokka defended himself while rubbing the sore spot on his head. Aang glanced to his friend and commented, "A bad one."
"Oh, wait. I got it." Sokka quickly said when he thought of something. He looked around for something in the apartment before finding a blade of grass underneath the mattress. He moved in front of Jet before popping it into his mouth. Sokka waited to see if something would happen and Jet disagreed with this method, "I don't think that it's working."
"Just what is your brother high on?" Wade asked from the back. Logan smacked the mutate in the gut and countered, "Some people wonder the same thing about you."
Wade gagged as he fell to ground. Those who hadn't been traveling with the rescue group looked to Sam, Rhodey and Smellerbee with Smellerbee saying, "They tend to do that. Don't question it."
Jet then spit out the piece of grass and Sokka moved back. Toph then suggested, "Try to think of something from your past that'll trigger your emotions."
"I think we all know of what really triggers them." Steve said, making those who had been around Jet before get an idea. Smellerbee then stepped up and told Jet, "The Fire Nation. Remember what they did to your family. And why you fight."
"Close your eyes and picture it." Katara instructed him. Jet did so, and thought about the last day that he had seen his parents and family. Sweat started to appear on his face as he thought about it.
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(Attempt of a Flashback)
Jet tried to picture it but found the memory to be too bright. Everything he tried to remember what happened, but it all seemed blurry to him.
(End of Flashback)
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Jet opened his eyes and wiped his brow. He looked to them and said, "I can't seem to see anything for some odd reason."
"Something could be blocking him from seeing what he needs to see." Bruce theorized what was happening. They looked to him and he said, "Now, I'm not that kind of doctor, but if there's something psychological going on with his mind, then he may need a little help to get it to working right."
"Like true love's kiss?" Wade asked when he started to get up. This time, it was Toph he knocked him back down with her fist to his head. He groaned as he laid on the floor. Logan looked to the twelve-year-old and said, "Thank you."
"No problem." Toph said with a thumbs up to him. Bruce then suggested, "Katara, think your waterbending could help in a way?"
"It might." Katara said, thinking that it might work. Eddie then stepped up and said, "I think that I might have something too."
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Venom asked his host. Eddie nodded, "Yeah, and it's not like you're going to be inside him to any damage."
"Who is he talking to?" Sokka asked, a little creeped out at the moment. Eddie stepped up and asked Jet, "You willing to let Venom slip in for a moment?"
"I… I can give it a try." Jet said, though he wasn't too comfortable with it. Eddie then placed a hand on Jet's shoulder and everyone was surprised and gasped when they saw something made of black move from Eddie into Jet. When Venom had fully transferred from one host to another, Sokka pointed between the two and questioned, "What in the ever loving what was that?"
"That was Venom. And we'll explain later." Smellerbee informed them. Looking to Katara she asked, "Think you can try?"
"Uh, yeah." Katara nodded, even though she was completely weirded out by what she had just seen. She moved to where she was standing behind Jet and brought some water out of the water skin. She had the water completely covering her palms and placed them on the sides of Jet's head. Jet closed his eyes and tried to picture his memories again. His eyes snapped open when he could picture it more clearly this time.
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(Flashback)
A younger Jet now stood on the outskirts of a burning village. Frightened people ran by him screaming. The young boy was in tears when he saw Colonel Mongke and some of the other Rough Rhinos standing before a burning building. The Colonel turned his head to the boy with a cold stare. The younger Jet started to back away in fear, but bumped into something behind him. He became very surprised when she saw Venom standing there. The Symbiote himself sounded a little surprised when he said, "I can feel that this is greatly painful for you, and a little shocking for the both of us.
"But we need you to focus, Jet." He said before looking to the wreckage. Jet turned around again and became very surprised to see that the world around him was starting to change.
The ground started to change into that of a watery surface and he looked up to see someone standing in the middle of a large lake. The person he was looking at was a scowling Long Feng. Jet and Venom then watched as they were pulled under the surface of the lake and suddenly found themselves within a secret compound beneath the waters. Jet then remembered being strapped into a chair, the blinding light as it passed on a metal ring and the Dai Li agent that was standing before him. Jet clenched his eyes shut when the light passed by again.
(End of Flashback)
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Jet's eyes snapped open again and took a deep breath. He then said, "The Dai Li… They took me to a secret headquarter under the water. Like a lake of some kind."
"Wait, remember what Ju Dee said earlier?" Sokka asked those who would know what he was talking about. He then said, "She said something about going to Lake Laogai."
"That's it!" Jet remembered and stood up. He looked to them and said, "Lake Laogai."
"Then we have a destination in mind." Steve said. The door opened and Clint's voice said, "Not only that, but I've managed to find us a little more info."
Everyone looked to see Clint walking in and holding onto something. He pulled into the room a face that no one expected to see; Ju Dee. And it was the Ju Dee that the group had known the longest since being in the city. And from the look on her face, Ju Dee looked really frightened. Bruce looked to the archer and questioned, "You kidnapped her?"
"Not kidnapped." Clint shook his head. Looking to the woman he said, "Liberated is more like it.
"Katara?" He asked and the Waterbender walked up to the two. Katara then asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"Do what ever it was you were doing with Jet." Clint told her. Katara reapplied some water to her palm and placed it on the side of Ju Dee's head. Everyone watched as Katara used her waterbending to soothe Ju Dee's mind while Jet had Venom transfer back to Eddie.
A moment later, Ju Dee gasped and looked around the room as if waking up from a trance. Katara then asked her, "How do you feel, Ju Dee?"
"Ju Dee?" She questioned. Shaking her head she corrected, "My name is Fae."
"What can you tell us about the Dai Li?" Steve asked her when he stepped a little closer. Fae rubbed her temple before saying, "Just about everything.
"The Dai Li's headquarters split between Long Feng's office here in the city and a secret facility on the outskirts." She told them. Clint then guessed, "At Lake Laogai?"
"Yes." Fae nodded to confirm this. Bruce then asked, "What can you tell us about our friend Nat?"
"Nothing much, I'm afraid." Fae shook her head. She could only give them, "I only heard that they had brought someone, probably your friend, down to the lake a little while ago."
"Then we need to get there to save her and Appa." Sokka said with a determined look. But before they could make for the door, Thor's voice said from the other side, "Not before one more thing."
The door burst open and Thor dragged in an Ba Sing Se police officer by the collar of his shirt. Everyone was even more surprised than when Clint had brought Ju Dee in. Sam then questioned, "What is this? Drag in random strangers day?"
"No, that's not for another few months." Wade shook his head. That just earned him some questioning looks from just about everyone in the room. Clint then questioned, "Why did you bring this guy here?"
"Because he has been following us after we had met up with Jet when Katara had attacked him." Thor said while shoving the man into the room, making Katara blush while a few stares went her way. She looked to them and defended herself, "Hey, if you went through five of us had gone through when we first met him, you'd do the same thing."
"Now's not the time." Steve, Aang, Sam and Rhodey all said together. The super soldier looked to the Asgardian and asked, "What's so special about this guy?"
"Because, he's not an official of the Earth Kingdom." Thor said and looked to the man. Then he commanded, "Reveal what you know."
"Do you honestly think that you can command me?" The officer said with a glare at the Asgardian. Thor took a threatening step towards him and the officer started to back away. The officer ended up tripping over Wade's outstretched foot and it made him fall. The man groaned when he hit the floor and everyone was surprised to see the man disappear in a flash of green. What was in the man's place was a man in some fancy looking clothes. A found out Loki picked himself up and looked about the room. He raised his hands and said, "Surprise."
"Loki/Nikol." Thor and those who knew him said as he moved to where he was standing before his adoptive brother. He looked over Loki and questioned, "How is this possible?"
"Well, I…" Loki started to say. But he was cut off when Thor shouted, "How are you here?! I saw you perish that day!"
"It's a little hard to explain." Loki said, and all it did was make Thor turn with a huff. A lot of people were confused, but there were still a few angry faces amongst the crowds. Steve then shook his head, "Okay, I know that there's a lot of questions and feelings regarding…
"This circumstance." He said and gestured to Loki, earning a deadpanned look from the Asgardian. The super soldier continued by saying, "But we have a mission on our hands. We need to get to Lake Laogai and find Nat and Appa."
"And try to put an end to this conspiracy." Sokka added, to which everyone was nodding to. Loki then pointed to Ju Dee and questioned, "And what about here?"
"The Dai Li may end up searching for her when they realize that she's not with them anymore." Peter guessed. Steve looked to Loki and said, "I don't trust you.
"But I do have a favor to ask of you." He added and glanced to Ju Dee. Loki looked to the formerly brainwashed woman and said, "You can't be serious."
"She's going to need someone to protect her." Aang pointed out to him. Bruce then said with a glare, "And if she's with you, it may keep those who are still ticked off at you from pounding you."
"Very well. We shall accompany you all to the lake in the country." Loki said as he gestured between him and Ju Dee. But he shook his head, "But if you run into trouble, don't go crying to me for help."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Clint commented. Steve looked to everyone and told them, "Get what you need. No doubt that we're going into a fight. And we need to prepare ourselves for whatever we may find down there. And we're going to right the wrongs that the Dai Li have done to this place."
"Say it, say it." Wade quietly muttered from the back. Steve then said, "So as of this moment, we'll consider you all Avengers."
"Yes!" Wade shouted while pumping his arms into the air. They all looked to him and he had an enthusiastic smile on his face. He noticed their looks and he asked, "What?"
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In another part of the city, Zuko quietly slipped out of the new apartment after they had quickly moved in. In a bag that concealed his Blue Spirit attire, he had that strapped to his back. He planned on using the information that the Dai Li agent had given him and planned on putting it to good use.
From inside the apartment, Tony was looking down from the window to see the teen slip away. He sighed as he looked to where Iroh was sitting and could tell that both he and Iroh were a little disappointed with what Zuko was planning to do. Tony walked up to him and said, "Give me a moment. When I'm ready we'll go after him."
"Hm." Iroh nodded, trusting in his friend. Tony then walked into another room to get his Iron Man armor.
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Between Jet's, Smellerbee's and the group's apartment, everyone was starting to get ready for the coming fight. Aang twirled his staff before tapping it against the floor. Steve placed his shield on his back while pulling his helmet over his head. Katara refilled her water skin pouches before closing them up. Clint readied his bow before strapping the quiver of arrows behind him. Sokka slashed both his boomerang and his machete before putting both away. Thor twirled Mjolnir for a moment before holding tight to the hilt. Toph assumed her earthbending stance before calming down. Bruce thought of Natasha and Appa being in trouble before calming himself to keep the Hulk at bay for the time being.
At his place, Jet looked down at his hook swords before placing them on his back. From a corner of the apartment, Ju Dee and Loki looked to the teen.
At their place, Smellerbee and Longshot readied their own weapons. Sam put on his flight suit before slinging on his wings. Rhodey placed the War Machine armor onto his body and it enveloped him. Wade pulled his red and black suit on before strapping his katanas onto his back before finishing up by pulling his mask over his face. Logan extended his adamantium claws for a moment before sliding them back in. Johnny tightened his biker jacket and took a moment to calm the Ghost Rider within him for the time being. Eddie became enveloped by Venom and the Symbiote gave a sadistic smile. Finally, Peter pulled on his new suit; a brown suit with green accents along the sides and under his arms. Upon his chest where the spider symbol is, it looked like a spider made out of rock.
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It was around morning when the large group had made it outside of the city. A slight mist had rolled over the lake as they approached the beach. Everyone who was ready looked about the place and Sokka asked, "So where's this secret facility again?"
"Under the water I think." Jet rubbed the side of his head as he tried to remember. Fae nodded and said, "Yes, deep within the lake."
"Well, there must be a way in." Falcon said as he looked for any clues. They all looked to the Earthbender when Toph pointed and said, "There's a tunnel right over there near the shore."
"How exactly…?" Spiderman started to ask. Toph walked away while Clint smirked and said, "Trust me. This kind of things right up her alley."
"Way to put it, Hammond." Deadpool laughed while others just groaned from what Wade just said. A whistling Toph came to a stop just a foot or two from the water. She assumed her earthbending stance before leaping up and extending her arms out when she landed. Something emerged from the waters and a stone path was brought up. Everyone started to walk single file across the path. The last at the back were Thor, Steve, Loki and Fae. Captain America looked to the two staying behind and said, "Wait here, hopefully we'll be back soon."
"And we shall be here waiting." Fae bowed to him. Captain America and Thor then followed after them, but not before the latter gave Loki a questioning look. Loki turned his gaze from his brother. Thor followed after the others to the end of the path. The end was sealed up by a lid made of stone. Aang handed his staff to Katara and with a stomp of his foot made the lid move from its spot. Some had to look over the shoulders of those who were looking down into the entrance. Momo, feeling a little anxious of such a dark place, took off of Aang's head with a chitter. Bruce looked to the three Pygmy Pumas and said, "You guys stay up here. We'll be back."
The three Pumas looked to him before one gave a yowl and they all took off down the path. When they and Momo were gone, everyone looked down the long drop and could see a staircase at the bottom.
…
Everyone had filed down a narrow ladder with both Spiderman and Venom dropping down before hand to speed things up. When everyone had reached the bottom, they all quietly filed down the stairs to wherever it lead. When they reached the bottom, they found themselves before a long tunnel flanked by other tunnels. They remained hidden when they heard a few agents pass through. When they were gone, the group started making their way through the base. They kept their eyes and ears open as they went through. Jet looked about and remembered his time down here, "It's all starting to come back to me now."
He walked over to where a door was slightly opened and peeked through. When he moved away, the others took a quick look and were greatly surprised by what they were seeing. Standing before a single Dai Li agent, multiple women dressed like Fae and had their hair a certain way. The Dai Li agent was saying, "I'm Ju Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
"I'm Ju Dee." All the girls said in unison, "Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order and protect us." The agent said. Then the girls repeated, "We're so lucky to have our walls to create order and protect us."
Everyone who passed by the door was a little creeped out from what they were seeing. But when Sokka passed by, he seemed to swoon when he looked. From behind, Deadpool pushed him along and waited until they were away from the door before quietly asking, "Dude, don't you have a girlfriend or something?"
"What? How do?" Sokka started to ask. They were both shushed by Logan and they continued further into the facility. From the front of the group, Jet said, "I think that there might be a cell that's big enough to hold Appa up ahead."
"Got any ideas on where they might be keeping Nat?" Clint asked. But Jet shook his head, "Sorry, but I don't."
"Then we'll look everywhere." Cap said as they continued walking.
It didn't take them long to reach another door. Jet looked back and said, "I think it's through here."
Him, Steve, Thor and Logan all moved to help pull the door open. The door slowly started to slide open.
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In another part of the Dai Li facility, another door slid open and inside, Appa raised his head to see who it was. He stood up with a growl to see someone he wasn't expecting. The Blue Spirit looked into the room and questioned, "Expecting someone else to show up?"
The disguised Zuko walked in and removed his Dao swords from their scabbard. A nervous looking Appa growled and tried to get free.
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Back with the others, the door slid open to reveal a dimly lit room. And sitting in the middle of the room with her hands bound behind her back was Natasha. Everyone quickly came into the room and those she had been traveling with rushed to help her. Natasha lifted her head to them and shouted, "Guys, don't! It's a trap!"
But it was too late as the door slid closed behind them and dimming the room a little. Everyone looked up when the crystals in the room started to glow and allow them to see. They were greatly surprised to see a lot of Dai Li agents hanging from chains and a few more standing by the walls of the room. Sokka then commented, "Now that's something different entirely."
"Be on your guard." Captain America said and they readied themselves. Bruce pointed to a corner and said, "Guys, look."
They all looked to see Long Feng who was flanked by some of the agents. Long Feng gravely said to each of them, "You have all made yourselves enemies of the state.
"Take them all into custody." He ordered his agents and they started to move in or drop down from the ceiling. Everyone else prepared themselves for the fight. When they were completely surrounded, Captain America gave the battle cry, "Avengers, assemble!"
Thor, Logan and Venom all let out hollers or roars as they charged for some of the agents. War Machine's mask dropped down and he and Falcon took to the air. Bruce quickly transformed into the Hulk and made his way over to the captive Natasha. A Dai Li agent rushed to intercept the large green beast, but the Hulk was able to knock the man aside with a quick backhand. Spiderman flipped up into the air to avoid stone gloved fists before flinging some of his newly made webs at them. The Dai Li agents were sent falling to the ground and found themselves stuck against the floor due to the webbing. A set of rock gloves came flying at the others, but Toph was quick to jab her right fist at them and they became dust in mid-flight. She sent the two agents who had thrown them flying by pillars when she extended her arms outward. While Thor and Johnny provided cover with their, both Longshot and Clint were launching arrows left and right at the agents. Jet and Deadpool ran from the group with their weapons drawn at two Dai Li agents respectively. Jet sliced through a couple of rock gloves coming at him while Deadpool dropped down to his knees and slashed his blades at his agents' legs. Both men cried out in pain as they fell to the floor. Deadpool looked down and commented, "Aw, quit being a punch of babies."
A rock glove unexpectedly smacked him in the back of the head. He dropped his swords and clutched his head, "Owie!
"Who threw that?" He questioned and looked about. Over with his agent, Jet managed to drop down and slid past them while hooking his sword to their leg and tripping them up. The man fell to the ground and Jet smirked, "Down you go."
"Way to use old lines!" Deadpool shouted from across the room. From the back of the battle, Long Feng was watching as Aang jumped over a strike from one of his agents before blasting him away with a swing of air from his staff. Aang then followed up by raising a pillar underneath another agent. The leader of the Dai Li was starting to wonder how the battle would fair with so many fighters in one place. He was greatly startled when Deadpool suddenly popped up beside him ad the merc with the mouth said with a wink, "Don't worry. There's no chance for an apocalypse like in MKA happening."
"What?" Long Feng questioned before using his earthbending to get away from the mutate. Deadpool snapped his fingers, "Aw, man! I let Mr. Krabs get away.
"Get back here Lex Luthor wannabe!" He shouted before giving chase.
The Hulk managed to snap Natasha's bonds and she stood up on her feet. She rubbed her wrists while looking grateful, "Thanks, Big Guy."
The Hulk only grinned at her before noticing something coming right at them. He brought her in close and turned to where he took a couple of rock gloves to the back. Though they didn't hurt him too much, the attack did make the Hulk mad when he looked to the agents responsible. Natasha noticed the look on his face and said, "Don't worry, I've got this."
The Hulk was about to try and stop her when she jumped over his head and rushed towards the agent. She nimbly jumped or ducked when they fired their gloves at her before she reached one and landed a kick to his gut. The agent fell to the ground with a groan before Natasha turned to the other. The man tried to raise a barrier to block her, but she moved too fast to where she grabbed his wrist and twisted it to where he turned around with his back facing her. With a twist of her body, Natasha threw the Dai Li agent away.
Two other Dai Li agents fired a rock glove at Katara and Sokka, but they were able to defend themselves by either waterbending or a boomerang. They were surprised when they were nabbed by another set of gloves, but luckily for them, Sam came flying and with a swift kick he knocked them down. Two others tried to attack the Water Tribe siblings from behind, but Toph saved them by sliding by while creating a barrier of earth to protect them from the projectiles. Then she turned to face them. Both agents jump and spun around before raising their bare left fists at her. It created a wave of earth that Toph was able to avoid by raising herself on a large pillar of earth. The two agents followed suit by creating their own pillars. Two more agents rushed to help by running along the walls before extending their arms towards Toph and creating a horizontal pillar of rock. Toph was able to jump over the pillars before they smashed into her. Then with a stomp of her feet she created two stumps of rocks that knocked the agents back. Then with a jab from both fists she sent a rock at the other two agents and it knocked them back.
Toph exclaimed in surprise when a rock glove managed to snag her from behind and pulled her down. But she was saved when Jet came swinging in and managed to catch her with his hook sword. The agent that tried to catch Toph found himself bound in Johnny Blaze's chain but managed to kick his foot out twice and it sent foot shaped rocks after them. But before it could hit the two, both Longshot and Clint moved in and fired an arrow. The arrows smashed through the stone feet and the agent was yanked off his feet by Johnny. The host to the Ghost Rider let him out with a yell and the flaming skeleton took the man's place. The agents became a little afraid as they moved in to carry out their leader's orders.
Seeing that this battle was one he was starting to lose, Long Feng carefully slipped towards an open door and took off running. Aang, who had happened to notice, shouted as he came down from a wall, "Long Feng is escaping!"
"Aang!" Cap shouted and Aang twirled his staff before blowing a few Dai Li agents away. War Machine ended up knocking an agent down when he landed and shouted, "Someone's gotta go after him while the rest of us deal with these guys."
"Come on." Natasha said and grabbed both Aang and Jet. The three ran down the tunnel and Peter jumped down from the ceiling, "Hang on! I'm coming too!"
When he landed before the door he jumped through and went after the others. Captain America and War Machine found themselves back-to-back when a group of Dai Li agents had them surrounded. Not taking his eyes off of their opponents, Cap said to him, "Seeing that you've made some friends like we have, that must mean that you've been here for a while."
"Not as long as you, I'm afraid." War Machine responded before firing a few repulsor blasts at him. Cap blocked a couple rock gloves before asking, "All the same, have you…"
"Run into Tony during our travels." The silver armored man finished the question. He nodded and said, "Yeah, we found him. But we should talk about this when we're not up to our necks in Dai Li agents."
"Sounds about fair." Sam shouted as he flew by. Cap removed his shield from his arm before flinging it at a few agents. The shield knocked into one before hitting the other two in the chest before returning to his hand.
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Aang, Natasha, Jet and Spiderman all ran after Long Feng who tried to make his escape down a long corridor. They saw him exit the long hall way through another entrance and followed after him. They cautiously came through as well and found themselves in an aqueduct of sorts. But as they walked away and kept a look out for the conspiracy leader, the entrance behind them shut with a bang. They looked back just as Long Feng dropped down and stood before the closed exit. With a scowl he said, "All right, you lot, you've gone and caused me enough problems.
"This is going to be your last chance…" He warned as he took a few steps closer. He added with a sly smirk, "If you want your bison back and leave peacefully."
"You do have Appa." Aang angrily said as everyone prepared themselves. Then he questioned, "You tell me where he is now?"
"Agree to exit the city now with all parties, and all the charges against you will be dropped." Long Feng offered them. Then he tried to sweeten the deal by saying, "And allow you to leave with both your friend her and your lost pet."
"You're in no position to bargain." Jet disagreed and raised his hook swords. Natasha, knowing that Long Feng had some trick up his sleeve, looked to them and said, "Be wary of what he should do."
"Right." The three boys said in agreement. Long Feng then questioned Jet's statement, "Am I not?"
"You're definitely not." Aang agreed with Jet and pointed his staff at Long Feng. Spiderman followed up by jumping into the air and firing a couple of webs at the man's feet. Long Feng grunted when the webs managed to stick him to the floor and he flailed to keep his balance. When he was able to stabilize himself, Long Feng looked up and saw the heroes starting to approach him. He still had a trick up his sleeve by saying, "Jet, Natasha Romanoff, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
The words echoed in both Jet and Nat's heads. They both stiffened and it confused both Aang and Spiderman with the latter's sixth sense starting to go off. The two became worried when they heard their friends utter in unison, "We are honored to accept his invitation."
"Guys." Spiderman said, trying to talk to them. With a spin, Jet tried to slash at Aang, but the Airbender managed to duck in time to avoid the attack. When he righted himself, Aang jumped away with a worried look as Jet continued his attack Natasha then jumped at Spiderman and stuck her leg out. Spiderman backflipped away and Natasha landed on the ground before going after him.
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In the other cell, Appa growled at Zuko and tried to stomp forward, but prevented because of the chains holding him back. Zuko then told the bison, "You're mine, now."
But before he could start, the door behind him suddenly boomed. Zuko turned around with his blades drawn to see who or what it was. He became surprised when he heard a familiar voice say, "I don't really think you needed to do that."
"Well, it got the job done, didn't it." Iron Man said as he walked into the room. Another figure came in after him and Zuko recognized him and softly said, "Uncle?"
Both Iroh and Iron Man looked to the disguised Zuko as he lowered his Dao Swords. Iroh lightly scratched his beard when he said, "So the Blue Spirit. I do wonder who could be behind that mask."
"And an equally good question is; will he listen." Iron Man threw in. Zuko sighed before removing his mask and revealing his face. He looked between the two and questioned, "What are you two doing down here?"
"We could be asking you the same thing, kid." Tony returned and his mask retracted. Iroh then asked, "What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison?
"Keep it locked up in our new apartment?" Iroh rhetorically asked. Then he sarcastically said, "Of course I could put on a pot of tea for him."
"First things first, I have to get it out of here." Zuko said when he turned back to the bison. Tony just groaned at the teen's poor thinking while Iroh facepalmed and questioned his nephew, "And then what?! You never think these kinds of things through
"This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him and then you had nowhere to go!" Iroh reminded, fearing for Zuko's safety when the boys were trapped because of a blizzard. Zuko felt differently when he tried to defend himself, "I would have figured something out in the end."
"No!" Iroh shouted, knowing that the worst was the more likely outcome. He made it a point by saying, "If the Avengers and the others hadn't found you in time, you would have frozen to death!"
Zuko just groaned, not wanting to do this right now. Turning to the bison he said, "I know of my own destiny, Uncle."
"This can't be your destiny." Tony quickly cut in. They both looked to him and he said, "If your destiny is to come up with plans that hardly get you anywhere, then you're on the right path. But when I look at you…
"You personally." He added while walking up to the teen. Zuko looked Tony in the eyes when the inventor said, "I see someone who's a little lost, but could end up becoming a great person."
"Tony is right." Iroh agreed with him. Looking to his nephew and said, "This has been a destiny that someone else has tried to force upon you."
"Stop it. Just stop it, you two! I have to do this." Zuko shouted as he turned his back to them. Tony looked to say something, but he let Iroh take this one by shouting his plea, "I'm begging you, Prince Zuko. It's time for you to look inward of yourself and start asking the big questions.
"Who are you and what do you want?" He said and pointed to the conflicted prince. With an angry yell, Zuko flung down both his mask and his Dao swords. His echo bounced off the walls of the cell. Zuko dropped to his knees and placed his head in his hands. Deciding to take action, Tony walked past the teen and walked right up to Appa. The bison growled at him and Iron Man raised his hands to show that he wasn't a threat, "It's okay, Big Guy. Just want to get you out of here."
He moved to one side of Appa and used a laser equipped in the armor to start cutting the chains. Zuko looked up to see the inventor working and decided on what he wanted to do. Getting up, he walked over to Appa's other side to get to work on freeing him. The bison looked to him and Zuko cautiously came forward to get to work.
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Amongst the majority of the group, the amount of Dai Li agents were starting to dwindle as the group continued fighting. The Hulk and Venom continued smacking the agents away while Clint and Longshot got a few pinned against the wall with their arrows. Sokka, Deadpool and Logan hacked at whatever projectiles came their way while Toph and Katara used their bending to trip the agents up. When the last agent fell to the ground, Captain America shouted, "Come on! We need to catch up to the others!"
Without a second thought they dashed towards the door where the others had chased Long Feng. They were just hoping that they wouldn't be too late.
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Back in the other room, Jet continued swinging his hook swords at Aang while Natasha tried to go for a roundhouse kick at Spiderman. The web-themed hero managed to catch the limb before using his strength to toss her away. Natasha grunted when she hit the floor and Spiderman was quick to say, "Sorry about that!"
"Jet, it's me, Aang." The Airbender said when he backed away. Jet managed to snag Aang's glider with his weapons before tossing it away. Spiderman was once again on the run when Natasha came at him and he too tried to reach her, "Come on, I don't want to fight you. We're on the same side."
"You guys don't have to do this!" Aang shouted when he and Spiderman managed to get some space and regroup. But Long Feng disagreed when he said, "I'm afraid that they no longer have choice in the matter."
"There's always a choice." The webslinger countered as he and Aang slowly backed away. The two were panting very heavily from trying to hit Aang and Spiderman, but kept going as they both rushed for the boys. Spiderman grabbed onto Aang and quickly fired a web that zipped them out of the way. Jet threw one of his swords and it managed fly ahead and cut the line. Both boys screamed as they fell to the ground and grunted when they hit the ground. When they looked up they quickly rolled out of the way when both Natasha and Jet tried to stomp on them. They rose to their feet and Spiderman managed to make Jet's hands stuck together with a blast of webbing. But it didn't seem to stop Jet as he kept swinging his bound hands at him. Aang was able to knock Natasha back with a light air current. Thinking on his feet, Aang quickly bent a stream of water from the nearby channels and knocked Natasha's hand or foot back with a light whip. Over on the other side, Jet let loose a holler before ripping the webbing off of his hands and freeing them up. He rushed at Spiderman but the web slinger jumped over the rebel leader's head and landed with him back-to-back with Aang. Aang glanced back and asked, "What do we do?"
"We need to snap them out of it." Spiderman said with narrowed eyes. Aang nodded and said, "Jet, Natasha, we're your friends."
"We don't want to fight you." Spiderman added, trying to make them stop. Long Feng then ordered, "Do your duty, you two."
"You need to look inside your hearts." Aang insisted as he looked between the two. Natasha and Jet were still panting from what their bodies had been put through. The two then came closer and looked like they were about to strike. Spiderman shook his head, "He can't make the both of you do this. You're stronger than he is."
"You're Freedom Fighters." Aang said, and it seemed to spark something within the both of them. But then Aang shook his head and corrected, "No, you guys are Avengers."
That really snapped them out of their trances. They both suddenly remembered everything that had been leading up to this moment. From the friends that they made, to the people that they had hurt and the lessons that they had learned along the way. They were even remembering when they had been abducted by the Dai Li and at the center of all of that was Long Feng. Both Natasha and Jet clenched their eyes when their programming wore off. From behind Natasha, Long Feng ordered them, "Do it. Do it now!"
With a yell, Natasha quickly spun around and fired her last Widow's Bite at the man. But Long Feng was able to move aside and the projectile ended up hitting the wall. Long Feng then retaliated by assuming a quick stance and throwing his left fist forward. A wave of jutting earth was heading right for Natasha. Time seemed to slow down as Jet rushed past Aang and Spiderman before pushing the spy out of the way. A large dust cloud was kicked up when it hit Jet and Nat and the other two boys looked in shock to see what had happened. When the dust cleared, a tall rock was jutting out from the ground and Jet lay before it with his weapons just a few inches from him. The three gasped before rushing to help their friend. While they knelt down beside Jet, Long Feng took his exit by raising his hands ad creating a pillar to lift him up. The pillar stopped before an open pipe and Long Feng stepped back. He scowled down at them, "Fools. You've chosen your own demise."
With that said, Long Feng turned and walked down the tunnel to make his escape.
Down on the ground, the three looked Jet over. Aang looked to Natasha and asked, "Is he going to be okay?"
"I'm not sure." She shook her head. The spy gently felt his chest and something seemed out of place to her. Nat looked to them and said, "I think that jerk must have broken a rib or something."
"I don't know what to do." Peter said as he removed his mask. Natasha was a little put off to see that Spiderman was a teen, but she let it slide for the moment. Jet looked amongst all three of them and said, "I'm sorry, you guys."
"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Jet." Natasha shook her head. Aang agreed with her by saying, "She's right. You weren't you."
The door that Long Feng had closed on them opened, courtesy of Toph, and the group came into the room. They saw Jet lying on the floor not looking good and feared the worst that had happened. They all rushed to see what was going on and Sam asked, "What happened?"
"Long Feng." Was all that Peter said. Steve looked to Katara and asked, "Can you help him?"
"I'll try." Katara said, kneeling down to Jet. Whatever feelings about Jet that she had, they meant nothing to her now. She made the water completely cover her hands before she set them on Jet's chest. The water started to glow for a moment before it dimmed and she looked to them, "This isn't good you guys."
"Move." Venom said before moving Aang and Peter out of the way. Placing his hand on Jet's shoulder he said, "Okay, buddy. If it ain't too much trouble, I need to go inside you again."
"That sounded so weird." Wade commented, even though no one argued with him. Jet nodded and Venom then transferred himself again into Jet's body. When the Symbiote was completely in the teen, Eddie stumbled to stay up. Jet groaned as he could feel something hurting on the inside but then after a moment he started to feel a little better. When Venom appeared to be done, Jet lifted his arm and touched Eddie's to transfer him back. Steve looked to Sam and asked, "Will he be okay?"
"He should be fine. But we shouldn't move him too soon." Sam said. Smellerbee then said, "Then you guys need to go and find Appa. We'll stay here and take care of Jet."
"Are you sure?" Rhodey asked them. Katara didn't seem to like that idea when she said, "We're not going to leave you guys."
"We'll think of something." Clint promised. Longshot, surprising everyone, said, "There's no time to argue. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader."
"I'll be fine you guys. I promise." Jet said with a smile. They started to go when Jet said, "Natasha."
The spy turned to him and Jet reached for his hook swords. Natasha tentatively took them and he said, "Since I'm not going anywhere at the moment, at least a piece of me will help see that the war ends."
"I'll hang on to them until the next time I see you." Natasha promised him. Jet could only smile as he closed his eyes to rest. Everyone backed away before making their way out of the room. They went to the other side of the room and opened it up. They walked through and left Smellerbee and Longshot alone in the room. The archer of the Freedom Fighters readied an arrow and pointed it towards the other entrance in case more Dai Li agents were to show up.
But before they could worry about new foes or when to move, they all became surprised when the room started to glow blue. Smellerbee and Longshot looked down to see a blue portal opening up beneath them. All three rebel teens cried out as they disappeared into wherever the portal took them. The portal closed a second later, as if it were never there.
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The larger portion of Team Avenging Avatar showed up at another door and they opened it up. This one was a big room, though not as big as the other one. The biggest thing about this room was that it was empty. The only things in the room were six shackles laying empty on the floor and some loose tufts of fur. Aang shook his head, "Appa's gone."
"Think Long Feng beat us here?" Johnny asked. Sokka then hypothesized, "If we keep moving, then maybe we can still catch up with them."
"Then lead the way Callum." Deadpool said and gestured for them to run. Sokka looked at the Mutate and said, "My name is Sokka."
"I know. I know. Just run!" He said and pushed the Water Tribe teen forward. They kept running through the tunnels trying to find their friend and their enemy.
…
The group managed to find another exit and Toph forced it open with earthbending. The exit to the tunnel lifted and with a good punch she sent the lid flying. It hit the wall that went around the lake and everyone quickly climbed out of it and started running along the shore. Aang, Captain America, Falcon and War Machine looked back to see multiple Dai Li agents emerge from the exit and run after them. Some of the others had looked back and asked, "You think that we can out run them?"
"I don't think that it'll matter." Spiderman said when they all looked ahead. More Dai Li agents and Long Feng blocked their way of escaping. The agents raised their hands and created a wall of earth to prevent the group from getting away. The group stopped and the group of Dai Li agents behind them created another wall of earth to prevent them from going back. Everyone looked onto the cliff wall and saw a few more hanging on with their earthbending. The group was completely boxed in, the only other way was out on the lake. They formed a circle and were prepared to fight when a chittering Momo flew down. He landed on Aang's shoulders and started jumping up and down. The Air Nomad looked to the lemur and asked, "What is it, Momo?"
The lemur then suddenly took off again before flying high into the air. Everyone watched the lemur fly directly towards the sun before disappearing. Everyone was greatly surprised to see a large shape flying down and Appa groaned as he came right at them. While a majority of the group was confused, Aang and the others were very happy to see the bison as the Airbender happily shouted, "Appa!"
"Looks like the cavalry is here." Logan smirked as Appa came crashing through the walls created by the Dai Li. All the agents cried out as they fell towards the ground or in the lake. Aang and Toph both ran over to the wall where the remaining Dai Li agents were still hanging and punched it. It spread up to where they were and a small pillar of earth sent the five agents flying through the air. They crashed down into the lake. Appa turned in the air and flew back down to the ground.
The only one of the Dai Li who remained was Long Feng. The man picked himself up and looked to see that his agents were running off. He was startled when an angry bison landed in front of him and was growling at him. Long Feng glared at Appa and defiantly declared, "I can handle you all by myself."
He assumed a stance and prepared to fight. He lunged forward with his foot outstretched. But Appa managed to catch the limb in his teeth. Long Feng tried to pull himself loose, but Appa reared up and started swinging the man back and forth before tossing him towards the lake. Long Feng skipped like a stone across the water's surface and landed in the water with a large splash. That made a lot of the group start to cheer. Appa felt something in his mouth and spat out Long Feng's shoe that managed to slip off. The shoe tumbled along the ground and Appa turned away from it.
Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Thor, Clint, Steve, Bruce, after transforming back, and Natasha all ran up to the bison with happy looks and shouts. While everyone else hugged Appa's side, Aang jumped up onto Appa's head and hugged it. Even Momo came back down and hugged the bison's head. Tears flowed down Aang's cheeks when he said, "I missed you, buddy."
Appa lightly groaned as he was happy to be back with his friends again, especially Aang. Those who didn't really know Appa just stayed behind with smiles on their faces. Knowing that they couldn't stay there for very long, Aang allowed those who couldn't fly a ride on Appa's back. Thor, Sam and Rhodey all flew alongside the bison while everyone else rode in the saddle with Aang at the reins. As they were passing over the lake, Katara looked down into the waters and hoped that Jet and the others were all right. Natasha and Peter placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she looked to them with a smile. A happy Appa gave a small roar as he and the other flyers continued over the lake.
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Back with the trio, Zuko, Iroh and Tony all climbed out of the entrance that Aang's group had used to get into the place. The teen helped Iroh out while Tony came flying out. When he landed, Tony lightly patted Zuko on the back and said, "I'm really proud of you, kid."
"You did the right thing, my nephew." Iroh nodded in agreement. Zuko, hardly knowing what to say, took out and looked down at the mask of the Blue Spirit that he had been carrying for so long. Placing a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder Iroh advised, "Leave it behind."
Having a feeling that his uncle was right, Zuko tossed the mask into the lake and watched as it sank beneath the surface. The legend of the Blue Spirit would end forever at Lake Laogai. The group then turned and left to go back into the city.
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Up above the planet, the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship had just reached the planet. Inside the cockpit, Peter then said, "Lo and behold, the planet of the elemental benders that has no name."
"They call it Earth." Gamora said as she joined him. Then she said, "It's almost like Terra, but a lot different."
"Well, if we're here, then where exactly do we need to go?" Mantis asked from her spot near the back. Gamora looked over the planet and was getting a hunch when she pointed to a specific spot, "There. That lake within that ring thing."
"Then that's where we'll go." Peter said and started flying down to the planet. He glanced over to Gamora and said, "I just hope you know what we're getting into."
"Me too." Gamora nodded, hoping that she might be wrong. But boy was she not.
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This story's dedication to:
Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018
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Author's Note: And we're finally here with the second part of my Triple 19 Chapter attack. The Guardians of the Galaxy are dropping by, the conspiracy of Ba Sing Se is about to come to an end, and we're almost done with Book 2. And just letting you all know, Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot are far from done from being in this story. I do have big plans for them. I know for a fact that I enjoyed this ride just as much as the rest of you. I'll be working on the last three chapters and I do hope to be done by the time the year ends. I look forward to writing the final few chapters of Book 2. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you all next time and may God bless your day.
