Avenging Avatar Book 2- Earth

by TheWriterForGod42

After defeating the Fire Nation and starting to master the element of water, Aang, Steve, Sokka, Thor, Momo, Appa, Katara and Natasha all head back to the Earth Kingdom to both look for the remaining three Avengers while trying to find Aang an earthbending teacher. But the combined forces of the Fire Nation and Hydra will throw all they have at the group.

20. Chapter 20: Freeing the Earth King

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: As I said, I'll be focusing on this and the last two chapters of Book 2 until it is complete. I'm getting pretty excited for that one moment that I put into the final trailer.

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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, he has 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…

When they were attacked by Princess Azula and her entourage, Suki stood at the ready with her fan out. Princess Azula smirked when she said, "Don't you know fans will just make flames stronger?"

She and Suki rushed forward to engage in combat. Azula threw a wave of blue fire at Suki, who was able to nimbly dodge.

At the Earth King's party, Aang had been stopped by the Earth King's right-hand man as he said, "I am Long Feng, head of the Dai Li."

"Why won't you let us talk to the king?" Sokka questioned when Long Feng had brought the group to the library. Long Feng told them, "The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles."

"So the king is just a figurehead." Katara guessed. Toph angrily exclaimed, "He's your puppet."

"Guys, it's a trap!" Natasha tried to warn them when they came to her rescue. But it was too late for them when the door closed behind them.

"It's time for you look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions." Iroh said to a conflicted Zuko when he and Tony confronted him in the Dai Li's secret headquarters. Pointing to Zuko he said, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I can handle you myself." An angry Long Feng said when Appa was staring him down after being freed. The leader of the Dai Li lunged forward with his foot outstretched and Appa caught it in his mouth. The bison then proceeded to throw the man into the lake.

A tearful Aang hugged Appa's head as he said, "I missed you buddy."

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Book Two: Earth

Chapter Twenty: Freeing the Earth King

The sun was starting to head towards the western horizon when the united group of heroes had found themselves a small island to rest on. The majority of the group multitasked between talking with the five Avengers while Aang happily hugged Appa's head again. Aang let Appa know how much the bison meant to him by saying, "I've missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy."

Appa closed his eyes with a groan and a chittering Momo flew down and hugged the bison's head. With a slight motion of his head, Appa made Aang slide off of him before licking the boy in the face. Aang just as he fell on his rear, having really missed Appa a lot. From where they were standing, Sam asked Steve, "So, that kid is supposed to be some kind of hero of this world?"

"Pretty much." Steve nodded with a slight grin. Then he said, "He's got a bit of a way to go before he's truly recognized Avatar."

"From what you've told us, that's gonna be kind of hard if he ignores one of the elements." Logan commented from where he was standing. Clint cut in by saying, "Well, we're gonna help out as much as we can. This place is tied into our own world somehow."

"Look, not that this isn't fascinating and I am happy that you guys were able to reunite." Sokka said and they all looked to him. Then he pointed out, "But we need to plan our next move.

"We escaped from the Dai Li, we got Appa back and now we're an even bigger group." He said and gestured to the Rescue Group now with them. Then he urged them by saying, "I think we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan."

"I agree that we should go to the king." Steve nodded. But then he said, "But our plan can wait."

"Steve's right." Bruce agreed with him. Knowing that the Dai Li were a bit of a threat he said, "As long as Long Feng has a grip on him, the Earth King will always be in the dark about everything and that ponytailed freak will still rule everything with an iron fist."

"No references to Tony." Logan said before shoving Wade to the ground. The Mutate groaned when he hit the ground and looked up with a glare, "Ow! I wasn't even going to say anything."

"Yes you were." Those that Wade had come with said in unison. Wade just grumbled as he laid on the ground. Katara then voiced her concerns by saying, "Even with all of our much bigger group, I think we need to leave and come up with a better strategy.

"After all, one slightly good hour after a few weeks of trouble isn't exactly a roll." She added and crossed her arms. Thor placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "I know that you feel that we aren't ready and we had just gotten out of a battle, but this is something that we must do."

"And we can build on all that we've gained." Sokka said, trying to convince her. Then he said, "If we want to be able to get anything off the ground, especially our invasion plan to stop the Fire Nation and Hydra, then we're gonna need the Earth King's support."

"And what makes you think that we'll be getting it?" Toph questioned from her spot on the ground. She then pointed out by saying, "I don't know if you've guys noticed," She gestured to the new seven members of the group and said, "and they haven't been around for that long so they wouldn't really get it, but things don't usually go that smoothly for our little gang."

"She does have a point." Katara agreed with her. Sokka then said, "I do know of that, but I've got a good feeling about pulling this off. This time it will be different."

"And if we don't take the chance, then it's not going to get done." Thor said, standing by Sokka and those wanting to go. Katara still argued with them, "The conspiracy of the Dai Li is about too strong for us right now. I suggest that we just keep flying and come back another day."

"I'm with Sweetness on this one." Toph agreed, which earned her a slight look from Katara. Clint then said, "Toph, you just want to leave because you don't like this place."

"Well, I for one have seen enough of Ba Sing Se." Toph retorted while pointing to herself with her thumb. She raised her arms up and exclaimed, "And I can't even see."

"But now that we have Appa back, Long Feng and the Dai Li have nothing to keep us from telling the truth." Aang said when he joined them. Sokka smiled to know that he had the majority of the group on his side. Natasha then said, "Plus, we owe it to those not here to at least try."

"So, what do you say, Katara?" Sokka asked his sister. Then he reminded her, "Plus, stopping the Fire Nation and Hydra from winning the war is the whole reason we came to the city in the first place."

"Well, I guess that if the Earth King did know the truth, then things could change for the better around here." Katara guessed after thinking about it. Toph on the other hand, was still wanting to leave when she got up, "I don't trust the newly positive Sokka.

"Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he?!" Toph questioned and pointed an accusing finger at the teen. Clint looked to her and arched a brow when he said, "Toph."

"Okay, okay." Toph gave in, willing to at least help her friends out. Some of the group started to notice something moving across the waters of the lake and Aang moved to see what it was. Three boats sailed across the lake. He then informed, "There are some Earth Kingdom boats out on the water."

"That must be the Dai Li searching for us." Sokka guessed, having a feeling that they wouldn't get long to rest. They were all caught off guard when they heard a voice say from behind them, "At least one of the groups."

They all looked to see Loki and Fae walking up to them. Bruce's three Pygmy Pumas came running up right behind them. Steve crossed his arms and questioned, "And what are the two of you doing here?"

"You never came back. And we were starting to worry about you." Fae told them. Loki adopted an aloof look as he turned his head, "I wasn't that worried."

"Okay, then." Clint said as they were a little unconvinced. Natasha however had a look of anger on her face as she started to approach Thor's adopted brother. But Bruce stopped her and said, "Easy, he's actually been helpful recently."

"Hard to believe." Natasha disagreed with a glare. Rhodey cut in by saying, "Guys, now's not the time for this."

"At the very least, we should take on the agents who are sneaking up on us." Wade said and pointed to the foliage behind them. Everyone looked in shock and confusion and noticed a few Dai Li agents starting to emerge from the greenery. Everyone assumed their stances or drew out their weapons. One of the Dai Li agents suddenly tossed something on the ground before stomping on the ground. It launched the item into the air and it exploded. Logan shouted, "They're signaling the boats!"

"We need to get out of here!" Steve said before flinging his shield at one of the incoming agents. The projectile knocked into the Earthbender while another knocked the shield out of the air. Aang quickly retrieved it by using his airbending to pull it to the group. Steve quickly retrieved it before continuing the fight.

One of the Dai Li agents tried to kick a rock at Natasha, but a black hand stretched out and grabbed it. Venom's arm brought the rock away from the spy and crushed it before Eddie looked to the agent and shook his head, "You shouldn't have done that."

"Who do you think you are?" Wade questioned as he bashed his head against one of the Dai Li agents. He looked to the host of the Symbiote and questioned, "Leo Howard?"

"Shut up, Wade!" Everyone yelled in unison. Katara looked back to see the Dai Li's ships heading right for the island. She then shouted, "We need to go, now!"

But one of the Dai Li agents created a wall that split between everyone. It served as the perfect distraction to allow the ships to move in closer. Sam looked about and shouted, "We're gonna be over run!"

"Then we fight to the end!" Both Aang and Steve shouted in unison. They looked to each other and nodded their heads. But before the Dai Li on the ships could make a move, something was fired into the water in front of them. This surprised everyone as they looked up into the sky. Flying towards them was a large orange and blue spacecraft. It fired more rounds at the ships and it caused the Dai Li agents aboard to start panicking.

Seeing how the agents were distracted by the recent arrivals, the team quickly went to work dealing with those on the island. Aang and Toph both stomped their foot on the ground to send some of the Dai Li agents flying away while Peter flipped through the air and used his web shooters to tie up a few more. Sokka threw his boomerang and it managed to hit an agent in the head while Logan, Wade and Natasha smashed through rock gloves and feet with their respective weaponry. Some of the agents were knocked over when the ship flew overhead and fired shots that hit the ground in front of them.

Even though the battle was starting to go well, they started to notice a few more ships heading their way. Steve then said, "We need to fall back!"

"On it!" Aang nodded before clearing a path to Appa by throwing some of the agents with his airbending. Katara, Sokka and Toph quickly followed after Steve shouted to Thor, Sam and Rhodey, "Grab someone and take off! We'll regroup at a safer location."

"Got it!" All three of them shouted. Thor quickly grabbed a hold of Logan while Sam took Johnny. Peter quickly followed up with a web to Sam's pack and yelped when he was yanked off his feet. Deadpool appeared next to Rhodey and asked, "Going up?"

"You just had to make it weird, didn't you?" He questioned and his mask formed. He grabbed the mutate before taking off. Steve, Bruce, Clint and Natasha quickly ran after the kids while the spacecraft provided them with cover fire. Loki and Fae were also quick to board onto Appa's back.

When the four Avengers, the four children and the two guests were on board the bison, Aang said to Appa, "Yip, yip!"

With a roar that caused any approaching Dai Li agent to halt in their tracks, Appa slammed his tail against the ground before taking off into the air. The ship fired a few more shots to keep the Dai Li agents back before quickly turning and following after the group. One of the Dai Li agents watched them go with a scowl, knowing that this wasn't going to go well with Long Feng.

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The group had found themselves a spot a good deal from Lake Laogai before setting down. Those riding on Appa's back hopped off while the others touched down. They looked up into the air to see the space ship starting to land. The craft landed a few yards from them and they waited a moment before a hatch on the side opened up. Emerging from the space ship were six figures. The majority of them looked human while the other two were short, fuzzy or made of wood.

Aang, Steve, Sam and Rhodey all moved to meet the six figures while everyone else remained behind but kept up their guard. When they were but a few feet from each other did the groups stop. Aang stood at the front of the group and the man in a long-sleeved, long tailed jacket moved to where he stood in front of the group. Aang then gave a quick bow and said, "Uh, thanks for helping us out back there."

"No problem, kid." The man said with a smirk. Then he said, "But before we get too far into discussions, how about we introduce ourselves."

"I think that would be nice." Aang nodded in agreement. Gesturing to himself he said, "My name is Aang. And those behind me are my friends.

"Steven Rogers, Sam Wilson, James Rhodey, Sokka, Katara, Toph, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Peter Parker, Logan, Eddie Brock, Johnny Blaze and Wade Wilson." Aang pointed to each and they either nodded or waved to the newcomers. The man looked over them and said, "That's a lot of people. But you can call me Quill.

"And this here is Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot and Mantis." He introduced and they copied the other side's movements. The green skinned woman, Gamora then asked them, "Who were those men that were attacking you?"

"They call themselves the Dai Li." Steve told them. Sam took up by saying, "And let's just say that us and them, aren't getting along."

"Why, did you or them do something to tick the other side off?" Drax asked, confusing some of the group. Aang answered by saying, "Let's just say that the Dai Li and their boss have an iron grip on the city, keeping people from knowing about a truth of what's going on outside these walls."

"I am Groot." The little plant man said, earning a few looks from the others. Rhodey then said, "We know who you are."

"No, no, no." Rocket shook his head and hands. He explained by saying, "He's got a bit of a limited vocabulary. The only things he can say are I, and Am and Groot.

"He was just basically asking what's going on outside the walls." Rocket then translated when Baby Groot had said. Aang blinked a couple of times before saying, "You see, there's a group of enemies, called the Fire Nation and they have allies known as Hydra."

"Hydra comes from our world, on Earth." Steve said, earning a few surprised looks from Quill and Gamora. Quill asked, "You guys are from Earth?"

"Yeah, and taking a wild guess, I'd say that you are too." Sam nodded, having a feeling that he was. Quill nodded and said, "Continue, please."

"We're currently trying to stop a war that's been going on for a hundred years." Aang told them. But then he said, "We have a plan to end the fighting, but the Dai Li won't let us talk to the Earth King to get the support we need to get the plan ready."

"And what do you plan to do next?" The woman with the antennas, Mantis asked them. Steve then said, "We plan to head right to the Earth King's palace. So we can get to him and tell him what's going on. Both the conspiracy and the war."

"Will you be requiring aid?" The green man, Drax asked, itching for a fight. Aang then said, "We don't wat to drag you guys into anything."

"Well, we are nice folks." Quill said with a grin. He looked to the other five in his group and asked, "What do you say guys?"

"Is there any money in it?" Rocket asked with an arched brow. Baby Groot nudged him and said, "I am Groot."

"What? I was just asking." Rocket said when he looked to his little buddy. Drax then said, "No one should be living in fear. I will join."

"As will I." Mantis gave her answer. Gamora looked to Quill and said, "I wanted to come here to see what has happened since his influence. I'd rather help end the madness that he brought."

"I am Groot!" Baby Groot shouted and pumped his fists. Quill looked to the large group and happily said, "Welp, it looks like you guys have the Guardians of the Galaxy in your corner."

"The Guardians of the Galaxy?" Sokka asked about their team name. Quill shrugged and said, "Yeah, it's a pretty catchy name."

"No, no. I think it's a great name." Sokka said when he shook his hands. Gesturing to the ship he added, "Plus it goes nicely with your vehicle."

"It's called a ship." Rocket quirked a brow. Katara then said, "Uh, not that this isn't fascinating or anything, but we do have a job to do."

"I agree with her." Gamora nodded. Looking to Quill she said, "We need to get going. Who knows if we'll be jumped again."

"Right." He nodded. Looking to them he said, "You guys lead. We'll follow in the Milano."

"Then what are we waiting for." Wade said and rushed over before jumping onto Rhodey's back. Pointing up into the air he shouted, "Mush!"

"Hey, does this look like a taxi to you?" Rhodey questioned and looked up to his comrade. Wade shook his head, "No, this thing doesn't have any cup holders."

"Uh." Rhodey groaned before taking off. Sam just laughed before extending his wings. Peter managed to get another string of webbing onto Sam's pack while he took off. Logan once again held on to Thor and the Asgardian took off. The others quickly got onto Appa. Aang started to join them when Quill came running up again. He tossed something to Aang and said, "Here! So we can keep in touch."

Aang caught it and it was a small device. He then asked, "How do I work it?"

"Just press the side button." Quill shouted before running back to the Milano. Aang decided to trust his word before using his airbending to jump onto Appa's head. When he was seated he shouted, "Appa! Yip, yip!"

With another groan, Appa took off into the air. The bison took the lead while Thor, Rhodey and Sam with their passengers were following behind them. Brining up the rear was the Milano.

…

It didn't take them long to fly back into the city as the day started to darken. Appa gave a roar as the Earth King's palace was soon within sight. Everyone on Appa's back was holding on tight to the bison's fur. None were more so worried than Toph as she asked, "Can we please buy a new saddle when we're done?! Riding bare back is terrifying!"

"Don't worry, kid. It's almost over." Bruce shouted to her as they were soon approaching the center of the city. Sokka took the communicator from Aang so he could speak to the Guardians too, "We're coming up on the Earth King's palace."

"It's huge." Quill said on the other end of the line. Sokka then guessed, "The Earth King's chambers should be in the center of the structure."

"As if it's gonna be that easy." They heard Rocket scoff. Sokka gave his sister an unamused look. Katara then warned them, "We need to be really careful. Long Feng's probably already warned the king that we're coming."

"He has had plenty of time." Eddie nodded in agreement. Sokka looked to them and asked, "What makes you guys assume something like that?"

"Maybe that!" Gamora shouted and everyone looked. Everyone yelped when something made of Earth came flying right at them. They flew through the cloud that it made in its wake and Toph asked, "What was that just now?"

"Surface-to-air rocks, and there's more incoming!" Sokka warned when he saw more heading their way. Down on the ground, a duo of Earthbenders lifted a rock into the air and a third sent it up into the sky with a strike of his fist. They heard Rocket shout over the commlink, "Don't worry. I've got this."

The ship's cannons managed to blow apart the projectiles made of stone with ease. The others managed to take out one with a blast from their guns, a slash of their claws or a bash of their fists. Aang managed to destroy one by backhanding one that came close to Appa's head without even looking while Momo chittered with worry. From his spot, Peter had managed to notice and complimented, "Nice one!"

"Thanks!" Aang said when gave a quick glance. Wade then said, "We're about to be greeted by a lot more Earthbenders. I think we need to- Hey what's that?"

"What?" Bruce and Eddie asked as they looked to the Mutate. Wade pointed to something on the ground and said, "I see something right there."

"Where?" Eddie asked when he tried to see. Wade jabbed his finger at a spot and said, "Right there!"

"I don't see anything." Bruce disagreed when both he and Eddie leaned for a better look. Wade backed up a bit and said, "Hope you guys can forgive me for this."

"Wait, what?!" They both questioned before Wade shoved them off the bison. Both men screamed as they fell to the ground and a good number of people shouted, "Eddie/Bruce!"

They looked to the merc with the mouth with questioning looks. Wade then explained, "Oh, come on. We're going into battle. They were gonna have to suit up sooner or later."

And suit up the two did. Venom quickly started to cover Eddie while Bruce started to turn green. Everyone on the bison was greatly surprised when they saw someone dropping from the Milano. They heard Gamora question over the comm, "Did he just jump out?"

"Yep." Quill said. Venom and the Hulk were the first ones to crash into the ground with a boom. They were slightly startled when Drax landed not too far from them. The two rushed over to his crater and looked down at him. Drax coughed a little as he sat up. Venom then commented, "Quite an entrance, but what the heck is wrong with you?"

"I saw you guys falling and thought that we were doing a thing." Drax explained himself. That just made Venom and the Hulk look to each other, thinking that this guy wasn't fully in his right mind.

Up in the air, the majority of the group was still being bombarded by the Earth King's soldiers. Aang yelled as he sliced through one with his staff and it split into two. More soldiers appeared and those that were shooting the rocks moved to meet with them. Aang stood on the edge of Appa's head before jumping down. He landed before the Earth King's soldiers and slammed his staff into the ground. He sent a wave of earth that sent the men flying and screaming. Aang looked back to see Appa and the fliers land as well as the three who fell run up to them. Everyone else geared up and Captain America said, "Forward!

"Aang, Toph, you two bring up the front." He said and both nodded. Appa walked forward to a commander on an armored ostrich-horse before growling. The man screamed as he fell off and his steed took off. The man moved out of the way when they started moving forward and everyone stuck together. Logan looked to Drax and warned, "Remember, we don't want to hurt them too badly. We just need to get them out of the way."

"Understood." Drax said and caught a guard running up to them by the neck. With a single punch he knocked the man back. The guard fell to the ground with a groan. Logan looked to him with a look and Drax said, "What? He's alive isn't he?"

"Very much still alive." The guard said when he raised his hand into the air. Logan just sighed before they moved on to catch up to the others. The Milano flew close and both Quill and Gamora jumped out of the hatch. They ran alongside the team as they approached the main portion of the palace.

Earthbenders appeared on both sides and moved to engage. They all raised square shape stones and launched them at the team. Toph and Aang both used earthbending, either with a slash of a staff, or using creative methods with their elements to protect themselves. Captain America, Thor, Natasha, Clint Logan, Deadpool, Falcon, War Machine, Gamora and Star Lord used their weapons to destroy the incoming blocks. Hulk, Venom and Drax used their great strength to smash the blocks. Katara, Johnny, Spiderman used their long-ranged weaponry to knock the Earthbenders back. When she slapped them back, Katara offered a quick, "Sorry."

She turned and water whipped another, but she winced when she saw that she had struck him in the rear. More guards rushed at them from the front. The one driving the Milano managed to stop them short with a few shots from the cannons. Toph then took advantage of this by bringing her arms back before lashing them forward. The guards screamed as the tiles they were running on over turned and trapped them beneath their weight. The group moved past them and Katara offered again, "Sorry, we just really need to get through to see the Earth King."

"Nothing personal!" Spiderman shouted as they kept running. Across a moat, more and more Earthbenders appeared to fight the group as they approached. From the top of a large flight of stairs, a group of guards lifted large stone badger moles into the air and flung them forward. Sokka looked a little worried when they came down at them. Cap shouted, "We need cover, now!"

"On it!" The two Earthbenders of the group shouted. They quickly created a dome that covered everyone including Appa. The Milano managed to move out of the way in time. The two stone badger moles crashed into the dome. The pieces scattered across the courtyard. Captain America looked back and said, "Katara, I need you, Spiderman, Natasha and Gamora to take care of the guards across the moat. Give us an opening."

"Right. Come on." Katara said to the three before rushing from out of their cover. They quickly followed after her and Katara opened up her pouch while Gamora and Natasha readied their weapons. The girls and Spiderman all jumped over the moat and Katara used waterbending to help her, Natasha and Gamora over to the other side. As she was landing, Katara pulled a long stream of water from the moat and used it to whip the soldiers down into the moat. They screamed as they fell through. Spiderman managed to knock some down with his webbing while Natasha and Gamora nimbly dodged attacks from their guards before knocking them into moat with kick or punch. Gamora looked to Natasha and commended, "You fight well."

"Likewise." Natasha nodded. Spiderman got their attention by yelling, "Heads up."

All four jumped out of the way when the guards at the top of the stairs launched several rocks at them. Katara then moved to use her water to pull the men down. Each man screamed as they were yanked off their feet and thrown into the moat.

The rest of the group moved towards one of the bridges and Aang jumped over it with some help from his airbending. He swung his staff and caused the waters in the moat to freeze over, trapping the guards. They struggled while the team moved further towards the palace.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they cringed when a large rock landed not too far from them. They looked up to see more guards either standing at the ready with more rocks or coming down the stairs. Deadpool looked to Toph and asked, "Got a fun way to do this."

"I don't know about fun. But I do have a plan." Toph said before moving to the front of the group. She started to raise her arms and the ground around them started to shake. Another rock landed not too far from them and Toph stomped her foot and brought her arms down. She caused the stairs to fold up into a ramp of sorts and it made the guards slide towards the bottom.

Aang handed Natasha his staff as he and Toph then moved into position. They formed a rectangle out of the path around the group and with a swinging motion of their arms made it move up the smooth path. The Earth King's guards screamed as they slide past them on their way down. Some of the guards managed to get onto their lift of earth. Captain American managed to punch one in the face while the Hulk effortlessly lifted another. The man screamed as he thought he was about to be ripped apart, but Thor said, "Banner! Enough scaring him."

The Hulk looked to the Asgardian with a playful look before tossing the man over the side. While those who landed on the lift were dealt with, Sokka shouted to those who went sliding past, "Seriously, we're actually on your guys' side!

"Sorry." He quickly offered as they kept falling. The lift made it to the top as more guards approached them. Both Aang and Toph ran forward before the two moved in sync and thrusted their hands forward. They raised slabs of earth and it pushed the guards back. Star Lord looked to Captain America and said, "Man, these kids are really something."

"Had you appeared a few months back, you really would have been wowed." Natasha told him as they ran forward again. Sokka noticed the way was open, "In there!"

They ran into the corridor of the palace while the Milano was left hovering outside. It wasn't long until they came to a four-way intersection. They were quickly greeted by more guards. Johnny then asked, "Okay, now what?"

Toph, Gamora and Natasha took action. Toph managed to trap a few when she stomped her foot and raised her arms to lift some of the guards on pillars. The guards grunted when they slammed against the ceiling. Natasha blocked a few rocks with the hook swords while Gamora leaped over some and knocked them down with a roundhouse kick. Sokka glanced about and asked, "Toph, which way to the Earth King?"

"Can you sense which way to go?" Deadpool asked as he knocked a soldier back with a fist. Toph raised her hands to prepare another attack while questioning, "How should I know, Not-so-Wisemen?"

"I'm still voting that we leave Ba Sing." She said before pushing her hands forward. She sent a wave of Earth that knocked more guards back. Sam shouted, "Someone check those doors!"

"On it!" Sokka, Deadpool and Spiderman shouted. They ran or jumped from the group to see which way to go. Aang raised a slanted slab of earth before pushing it into another guard. Sokka opened one door and found nothing, "Not this way!"

"Not this way either!" Spiderman shook his head after checking his door. A guard yelled when he was thrown across the room. Deadpool opened a third door and found a woman standing inside. She turned to see who it was and raised her hands into the air before dropping to the ground and shouting, "Burglar!"

"Gawrsh." Deadpool sheepishly said while looking like he had a goofy looking smile and pretended to fiddle with hair. The woman quickly acted by taking off one of her shoes and throwing at him. Deadpool cried out pain when it hit him in the nose. He closed the door while saying, "Ugh! Wrong door!"

He quickly slipped away to help the others.

\_|_/

Elsewhere in Ba Sing Se, Zuko, Iroh and Tony all returned to the apartment to lay low after their little adventure. Tony and Zuko entered first while Iroh shut the door behind them. Iroh looked to Zuko and commended, "You did the right thing in letting the Avatar's bison go free."

"Yeah, that was a good gesture." Tony nodded in agreement. But Zuko didn't share the same sentiments when he stopped next to a table, "I don't feel right for some reason."

His vision started to blur a little bit and he swayed from feeling dizzy. He dropped his sword and slumped against the table, knocking a potted plant off in the process. Tony looked to him, "Kid?"

But the only answer he got was a groan from Zuko and the teen fell to the floor. A worried Iroh rushed over, "Zuko!"

Both older men knelt down next to him. Tony checked for a pulse and nodded, "He's okay. He's just unconscious."

"We need to get him into bed." Iroh said and they worked to gently move Zuko.

\_|_/

Back at the Earth King's palace, the group had managed to take down the majority of the Earth King's forces. The men were alive as some were groaning from the pain that they had received. The group had made a bit of a mess evident from the piles of rubble around them. Sokka climbed onto one of the piles and noticed a really big door at the end of a corridor. A heavenly sound seemed to come as he looked at the large door, but when he looked to his left he found that it was only Deadpool making the noises. Sokka clamped his hand over where Wade's mouth would be and said, "Now that's one impressive door. It's got to lead somewhere."

"Then let's bust it down!" Deadpool shouted and pulled Sokka along. They broke into a run and made a flying kick towards the door. But the two fell short when they only touched the door with their feet and fell to the ground. They quickly got back onto their feet and tried to push on the door. When most of the group had climbed over the pile, they were seeing what was happening. Johnny shook his head while Logan commented, "Amateurs."

"But this must be the throne room." Thor guessed as he, Aang and Toph moved to open them. Thor twirled Mjolnir, Aang twirled his staff and Toph stamp her foot. They all lashed forward and Deadpool managed to at least save Sokka from the flying hammer. They were still unfortunately blown away as the door were blasted open. Sokka and Deadpool sat up and the former looked back to comment, "A little warning would be nice next time!"

"Then don't stand in the way." Gamora commented as they all entered the room. They rushed towards the Earth King's thrown and found not only the Earth King there, but Long Feng and a good number of Dai Li agents as well. The agents all stood before the throne while Long Feng stood before the Earth King on the elevated platform. Everyone assumed a stance in case there was to be a fight. Aang then said to the Earth King, "We need to talk to you."

"They're here to overthrow you, sire." Long Feng said when he turned to his monarch. Sokka shook his head, "No! We're on your side. We're here to help. We swear!"

"Please, you have to trust us." Katara urged. Deadpool then commented, "Though after everything that we just did, it doesn't seem likely."

"Wade!" Everyone shouted to him. But the Earth King seemed to agree with the Mutate by rising from his throne and saying, "No, he's right. You all invade my palace, lay waste to all of my guards, break down my really fancy doors and you expect me to just go and trust you?"

"They actually do make a good argument." Toph commented and it made most of the group send her looks. The Earth King then said, "If you're all truly on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down."

"Just do it." Clint said, earning a look of surprise from the Earth King. Everyone complied by either laying down or retracting their means of arms. When everyone had no reason to look like a threat, Aang said, "See? We're friends, your Earthiness."

"Oi." Some in the group shook their heads while the Airbender gave a weak chuckle. The Earth King didn't share the same thoughts as his eyes narrowed. Long Feng then raised his arm to signal the Dai Li. They all lashed out their hands and their rock gloves found their way to the group's wrists and bound their hands behind their backs. Long Feng smirked as he know had the group where he wanted them. Clint then said, "Earth King Kuei, please hear us out."

"Master Barton. I had heard that you were back in the city." The Earth King said while sitting back down. Then he commented, "It was a shame that I didn't see you at Bosco's party a little while back."

"I was a bit preoccupied." Clint remembered while glaring at Long Feng. Long Feng's smirk didn't falter when he ordered, "Detain the assailants."

The Dai Li agents used their earthbending to skate across the floor towards the group. Quill looked to the others and quietly asked, "Should I signal Rocket? Get him to come and bail us out?"

"No, that only make us seem guilty." Steve disagreed as he looked back to what was ahead of them. Sokka then reminded, "But we all dropped our weapons and put the symbiote and Hulk away. We're your allies."

"What's a Hulk or a symbiote?" Earth King Kuei asked with an arched brow. Long Feng dismissed it by saying, "Don't worry about it, your Majesty.

"Make sure that the Avatar, the Avengers and their friends never see the light of day again." Long Feng ordered his agents. The Earth King became very surprised by the news while the agents moved to take them away. Earth King Kuei then looked to Sokka and asked, "The Avatar? You're the Avatar?"

"Uh, no. Him." Sokka said and gestured over to Aang's direction. Aang was able to use a little earthbending to remove the cuffs temporarily and greeted with a grin, "Over here."

"What does it matter, Your Highness?" Long Feng questioned, finding it nonrelative to the matter. Aang placed his hands behind his back and the cuffs reformed around his wrists. Clint argued by saying, "It does matter, sir. If you were to think about it. If you have him locked up, then you'll most likely anger the friends that the Avatar has made all over the world, including the Earth Kingdom."

"That does sound like a problem." Earth King Kuei said as he lightly rubbed his chin. But Long Feng disagreed by saying, "It hardly matters, sir. They have made themselves enemies of the state. I think that even their friends would understand that when someone has done wrong, that not even the Avatar cannot take responsibility."

That earned some glares from the group. Earth King Kuei then said, "But what about those others that you called? The 'Avengers', and what are they about?"

"Well, who better to tell you about that than these five right here." Sam said and nudged Steve forward. The super soldier, the spy, the god, the archer and the monster all moved forward a little. Steve then said, "Us and a majority of the people are heroes from another world, Your Highness.

"The five of us and a friend of ours had been brought to your world when we engaged with a force of enemies of our own." Steve explained the situation. Then he revealed, "That group is called Hydra, and they are in league with the Fire Nation. Both sides want nothing more than to subjugate entire worlds. And now that we're here, we've made our decision to aid in the war."

"But unfortunately, you decided to attack the Earth King's palace." Long Feng said with a glare. Looking to the king he 'advised', "To lend them aid after doing all of this, it sounds like it would be unwise."

"Perhaps you're right." Earth King Kuei said, a little unsure of what to do. Long Feng grinned again, thinking that he had the advantage of the situation. But everyone was surprised when the king's pet bear walked up to the bound group, or Aang specifically, with a groan and started licking the Airbender's face. Aang chuckled from the friendliness that he was getting from the bear. A grin grew on Earth King Kuei's face and he said, "Though it appears that Bosco seems to like him."

They were even more surprised when the bear moved from Aang over to Bruce. The bear started licking him as well. Bruce laughed and said, "Yeah, I remember you too, pal."

"You've met Bosco before?" The Earth King asked him. Both Aang and Bruce nodded and the latter said, "At the party. Bosco here kind of got a bone stuck in his throat and we worked to get it out."

"Seeing as you are friends with Master Barton and that you have done me a service in saving Bosco, I shall hear what you have to say." Earth King Kuei granted them. Long Feng's grin turned into a scowl at the turn of events. Aang joined with Steve at the heads and he started to say, "You see, Your Majesty, like Steve here said, there's a war going on that's been happening all over the world for the last one hundred years. The Dai Li has kept it a secret not just from you, but from the citizens of Ba Sing Se as well. It's a conspiracy to control both the city and you, sir."

"We've seen first hand of what's been going outside of the walls." Steve added, remembering all of the battles that happened that he and his friends were a part of. It sounded a little preposterous to Earth King Kuei when he asked, "A secret war? That just sounds crazy."

"Completely." Long Feng agreed with him, earning glares from the group. They became startled when Johnny suddenly flared up from the Ghost Rider. Rhodey asked, "Johnny, are you okay?"

"The Rider is starting to act up again." Johnny told him, trying to hold it together. The Earth King was a little worried when he asked, "Is he alright?"

"I think some fresh air will help him." Sam quickly said. He then offered, "If someone could escort him outside." He was quick to add, "Someone he trusts."

"Of course." Earth King Kuei nodded. Then he looked to Long Feng with a nod, giving them permission. Long Feng sighed before saying, "Release one of them and escort them outside."

One of the Dai Li agents released Sam from his shackles and he moved to help Johnny to walk out. He looked to Steve and Aang and said, "Good luck to you guys."

They nodded as the two were escorted out. Turning back to the situation at hand, Aang then told the king, "Long Feng didn't want us to tell anyone the truth about all of this because of what it would do to his power. And he stole our sky bison to blackmail us to keep us in check."

"And blackmail is the least of his crimes. He brainwashed our friends and tried to kill them." Aang said with a glare in Long Feng's direction. The word tried made Long Feng's eyes widen, thinking that Jet could still be alive. Steve then added, "And if you don't believe us, we do have a witness to everything."

"Really?" The Earth King asked, and everyone but the Guardians nodded. But Long Feng scoffed and denied, "Even if they say that they have a witness, it's all lies. Especially about the part of the sky bison. I've never seen one, Your Majesty.

"And frankly, I thought they had gone extinct." He added, pretending to remember what he had heard. Earth King Kuei sighed as he folded his hands before him and said, "Your claim is quite difficult to believe, even from an Avatar and a group of heroes."

"These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks." Long Feng told his king, trying very hard to get the Earth King to heed his words. He then warned, "If you start listening to them, you'll be playing right into their hands and bring about your downfall."

A smirking Long Feng stepped back while the Earth King thought about it. He took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Clint stepped up and said, "Sire, I know that you've trusted Long Feng in the past, but believe me, the best interests that he's only looking out for are his own."

"I'm sorry, Master Barton, but I have to trust my advisor." Earth King Kuei reluctantly said, causing a lot of faces to fall. Three Dai Li agents rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Aang, Steve and Clint. They started to pull everyone away when Eddie started fighting, "Wait, wait, wait!

"Hold on one second!" He turned back to the Earth King. With a rapid nod of his head, "There is one way to prove that Long Feng's lying here."

"A number of ways really, but one obvious one will do." Wade shrugged, earning a few glances from his friends. Sokka was in agreement when he said, "Long Feng here has said that he's never seen a sky bison before.

"Ask him to lift his robe." Sokka requested, causing Long Feng's eyes to widen. Long Feng questioned as if it were incredulous, "What?

"I am not disrobing." He sternly said. Quill shook his head, "Dude, we're not asking you to strip down to your bathing suit."

"We just want to see around your ankles." Wade said with narrowed eyes. This earned light glares from the others and Logan commented, "There was no way to make it sound any less weird than it did."

"Still, I refuse to do anything you hooligans say." Long Feng said, remaining strong. That got the Earth King's attention as he looked between his advisor and the group with a questioning look. Sokka, Steve and Aang all looked to each other and they nodded. Aang took in a huge gust of wind before blowing it right at Long Feng.

The gust of wind lifted Long Feng's robe to where it was covering his face and unveiling were long looking under pants and a mark on his leg. When he stopped, Aang gestured to the spot right on Long Feng's leg, "Right there! Appa bit him!"

"Never seen a sky bison before, huh?" Sokka questioned with a cheeky look. Long Feng fixed his robes as he said, "That happens to be a large birthmark." He patted his robes to perfection while adding, "Thank you for showing everyone."

"Well, I suppose that there's no way to prove otherwise of where those marks came from." Earth King Kuei shrugged while gesturing to Long Feng's leg. But the majority of the group begged to differ when Natasha said, "Actually, sire."

"There actually is." Sokka said with a grin. The Earth King then signaled for the Dai Li agents to release the group.

\_|_/

Sam and Johnny made it outside of the palace and stood before the ramp courtesy of Toph. The Dai Li agents kept a few feet back while Sam looked over Johnny. He then asked, "What's been going on?"

"For some odd reason, the Rider's been restless." Johnny said as he took deep breaths and tried to control himself. Sam looked to him with a worried look. Lightly patting his back he said, "Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

"I hope so." Johnny said and gazed out from the palace.

\_|_/

Back inside, Aang rushed out of the throne room to bring in Appa. When the bison stood before them, Appa opened his mouth with a low groan. Aang pointed to one of Appa's teeth before pointing to the spot on a reluctant Long Feng's leg to show that they were a match.

"Yep, that pretty much proves it." Earth King Kuei nodded and Aang slid back with a grin. Long Feng slightly scowled as he lowered his robe to cover the mark. Everyone in the group lifted their arms as they cheered, "Whoo! Yeah! Drinks on me!"

Everyone looked to Wade once again with questioning looks and he noticed. He put his hands behind his back and sheepishly chuckled, "Or not."

"However, that doesn't prove this whole conspiracy thing." Earth King Kuei said with an arche brow. That caused some to deflate from the previous mood while Wade fell to the ground anime style. But a thoughtful look formed on the king's face as he thought it wouldn't hurt, "But I do suppose that this is a matter worth looking into."

"Okay. Yeah. We'll take it." Everyone murmured to themselves as they thought that this was a pretty good step in the right direction. Long Feng had a sour look on his face as he and his agents took their leave. Earth King Kuei walked up to the group and asked, "So, where is this conspiracy being held exactly?"

"There are two sights, sir." Rhodey told him. He then said, "One part of it is here, in Ba Sing Se.

"The other is at Lake Laogai." He added, making the Earth King think. Earth King Kuei then said, "Well, giving how there's only a few hours of light left, I suppose we could make it quick."

"If we leave now, then we should get there pretty soon." Bruce said as the three Pygmy Pumas suddenly ran out of nowhere and brushed up against him. Clint then said, "On the way, we can have our witness speak to you, to give you a clear idea of what's been going on."

"If that'll help." The Earth King agreed as they started to make their way out of the palace.

\_|_/

Back in the Lower Ring, Tony was looking over a sickly looking Zuko. Iroh stood at the door talking with Mr. Lee. The old man nodded to Iroh and said, "I do hope that your nephew will get better soon, Mushi."

"Thank you, sir. It's so nice to hear such kind things from a friend." Iroh respectfully bowed to him. Mr. Lee followed and Iroh then said, "And about what happened yesterday…"

"Water under the bridge." Mr. Lee waved off. Then he explained, "I was just sad to know that I was losing a few good fellas like yourselves. You managed to bring some good times to my shop."

"Speaking of which, I did want to talk to you about an offer." Iroh told him. Mr. Lee then said, "Perhaps after your kid gets back onto his feet. I got to get going any way."

Iroh waved goodbye as Mr. Lee walked away. The former Fire Nation general turned and walked back into the room. He kneeled down next to Zuko as the teen groaned while rolling onto his back. Iroh felt his nephew's forehead, "You're really burning up."

He grabbed a cloth before dipping it into a bucket full of water and dampened the cloth. Iroh turned back to Zuko, "You have an intense fever." He placed the cloth on Zuko's forehead, "This will help to cool you down."

"I just don't know what happened." Tony shook his head. Looking to Iroh he said, "The kid's been fine ever since we left the lake. But now that we're back, he's been like this."

"So thirsty." Zuko pleaded when he opened his eyes. Iroh let Tony hold the cloth over Zuko's head while he grabbed a ladle from another bucket, "Here's some clean water for you to drink.

"You should stay under the blankets and sweat this thing out." He held the ladle to Zuko and the sick prince grabbed it and drank it all in one go. Zuko then tossed the ladle before reaching over and grabbed the bucket of water. He greedily drank its contents. The water splashed around him and when it was empty he threw the bucket away. Iroh and Tony watched as Zuko laid back down and went into a bit of a coughing fit. All the two older men could do was watch over Zuko until he felt better.

\_|_/

Back with the Earth King, a few of the group and him had boarded onto a train. The Earth King had a few of his guards that hadn't been in the invasion come along for protection. But needless to say, both the king and the citizens of the city were greatly surprised to see the other. While Sokka, Katara, Toph, Clint, Steve, Thor and Fae sat on the sides, the Earth King and his entourage of guards stood in the middle. Earth King Kuei had a surprised look when he said, "So this is what a train is like. I didn't realize that it would be so public."

"So you've never been outside of the Upper Ring before?" Katara asked him. The Earth King had a smile when he said, "I've never been outside the palace before."

That made some of the group look to each other with worry. The Earth King noticed something outside and pointed, "Now that's the way to travel."

Flying next to the train was both Appa and the Milano. Aang and Quill flew their respective modes of transportation with a few friends riding or flying along. Back inside the train, Earth King Kuei looked to the group with him and asked, "So, where are we going again, exactly?"

"Underneath Lake Laogai, Your Kingliness." Sokka said. Clint then said, "Ju Dee can fill you on the way about everything. About the Dai Li's secret headquarters. You're about to see everything, from the brainwashing to who knows what, happens."

Earth King Kuei lifted his gaze to the head of the train, secretly hoping that they weren't right about this.

…

Ju Dee did her best to tell her king of what happened, but he told them that he wanted to see for himself. It didn't take them much longer to reach the outside of the Inner Wall and make their way towards the lake. They stood on the shore where the team and the Freedom Fighters once stood before going down. The Milano had landed not too far away and the Guardians moved to stand with them. Toph repeated what she did last time by walking to the edge of the shore. She performed the same motions as last time to raise the path. But she became surprised when a ruined path appeared instead, "It's gone.

"It's all gone." She said and turned to the group. Sokka clutched his head in despair, "Oh, don't tell me!

"But I'm going to try and keep my positive attitude. It's going to be okay." He said and took in a deep breath. Katara then guessed, "The Dai Li must have known that we were coming and bringing Fae."

"And thus destroyed what evidence that could have linked them to the conspiracy." Natasha said with a huff. The Earth King, feeling as if this were a wild goose chase, commented, "That seems awfully convenient now, doesn't it?"

"Hey, if anything, it does shed some light that the conspiracy does exist." Sokka said and gestured to the ruined path. Logan shook his head, "Unfortunately, that's not enough proof."

"And it means that Long Feng was right." The Earth King said. He shook his head, "This was just a waste of time.

"If you'll all excuse me…" He said and turned to head back to the palace. Peter then said, "There's gotta be something that'll convince him."

"If we can't prove anything about the Dai Li in the city." Thor started to say. That made Katara brightened up and she thought aloud, "The Outer Wall, they'll never be able to cover something like that up in time."

"Genius." Sokka said, knowing that they were back in the game. Aang then used his airbending to jump and catch up to the king. He landed before Earth King Kuei and requested, "If you come with us to the Outer Wall, then we can show you that the war is real."

"No Earth King has ever been out to the Outer Wall before." Earth King Kuei denied, knowing that it was a ludicrous idea. He walked past Aang and firmly said, "I don't have anymore time to waste for this nonsense."

That made everyone's shoulders and faces fall. But Sokka quickly came up with an idea and offered the king, "If you come with us, this time we'll let you ride on Appa."

That made Earth King Kuei stop in his tracks. He glanced back to the bison as Appa gave a roar. Steve looked to Quill and asked, "Since there's going to be a lot of people, just so Appa doesn't get weighed down."

"Eh, there might be enough room on my ship." Quill said with a grin. Then he added, "Anything to knock that snake down a peg."

"Thanks." Steve nodded to him. While Eddie, Johnny, Logan, Bruce, Peter, Wade, Fae, Loki and the three Pygmy Pumas hitched a ride with the Guardians, Sam, Rhodey and Thor took off on their own. Earth King Kuei, his guards, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Sokka, Toph, Katara, Momo and Aang rode on Appa.

When they were in the air, King Kuei screamed from being so high and flying so fast. From his right, Toph asked, "First time flying?"

"It's both thrilling and terrifying." Earth King Kuei admitted as he hung on. Toph lightly agreed by saying, "Yeah, I hate it, too."

"I have to be honest with you, Clint…" The Earth King said when he looked to the archer on his left. He had a look of worry on his face when he said, "Part of me is really hoping that what you're telling me about this war isn't true at all."

"If only it wasn't." Clint said, not wanting to drag his friend into this. Steve then said, "But sometimes, reality has a way of hitting us hard."

The group continued to fly over the vast country side towards the Outer Wall.

\_|_/

Back in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, Tony had left to get a few supplies to help with Zuko while Iroh remained behind. Iroh turned to his nephew when Zuko groaned, as if he were in pain. Iroh removed the cloth from the bucket and placed it against Zuko's sweating head. Zuko continued to groan as he laid there.

…

(Zuko's Dream)

In his dream, Prince Zuko found himself sitting in his father's throne room. The biggest thing he noticed was that he was sitting behind the wall of flames. Zuko looked over himself and found that he was wearing the robes of the Fire Lord. He looked behind the wall of flames to see Fire Nation soldiers sitting and awaiting his command. He felt the side of his face and became surprised to feel that it wasn't scarred. Zuko felt that this was always how it should have been, with him one day as Fire Lord and not having the mark that his father had given him.

He didn't seem worried when two serpentine dragons, red and blue, started slithering around his thrown. They weaved themselves along the columns of the throne. The Blue Dragon, spoke with Azula's voice as it slithered down to Zuko's level, "It's getting late. Are you planning to retire soon, my lord?"

"I'm not tired." Zuko said, not wanting to rest. The Blue Dragon moved to where it was next to his right ear and said, "Relax, Fire Lord Zuko. Just let go.

"Give in to it. Shut your eyes for just a little while." She said, and Zuko's eye lids started to droop. But he was snapped out of it when the Red Dragon moved to his left and warned in the voice of his uncle, "No, Fire Lord Zuko! Do not listen to the Blue Dragon.

"You should get out of here right now." The Red Dragon insisted when he leaned closer. Then it urged, "Go! Before it is too late."

"Yes, what will you do?" A new voice questioned, making all three sets of eyes widen. They look to the entrance to see a towering figure made of gold. They couldn't see his face, but his voice sounded as if it commanded respect. The golden helm of the figure, though faceless, turned to look about the room before asking, "Will you do as the Blue Dragon suggests?

"Or will you heed the Red Dragon's warnings?" The figure added the question. Then with a nod they said, "You must decide."

"Sleep now, Fire Lord Zuko." The Blue Dragon insisted and Zuko's eyes started to feel heavy again. The Red Dragon pleaded with him, "Please, Fire Lord Zuko. You must make a run for it."

But the dream started to take a scary turn for the worst as the flames in front of him started to dim. The dragons disappeared into the darkness and the columns around him crumbled before falling. Zuko began to grow worried, even more so when the Fire Nation soldiers' armor crumbled, as if there was no one underneath. Zuko looked to the golden figure but could only watch as they disappeared into the growing darkness. Zuko looked about the darkness to see if he could find any help. But he was greeted by a pair of yellow eyes in the darkness and the Blue Dragon's voice saying, "Sleep… just like your mother!"

The Blue Dragon erupted from the darkness with a hiss and opened its jaws wide. Zuko cried out as he shielded his face with his arms. He soon found himself back in the darkness, but alone voice broke through the silence, "Zuko!"

"Mother?" Zuko asked and looked around. He spotted her a good deal away from him and she cried out to him, "Zuko! Help me!"

Zuko could only watch as she too disappeared back into the darkness. He shielded his eyes when six bright lights appeared over his head. He glanced up and saw the colors of red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple and green. But before he could question what he was seeing, he cried out when he felt himself sinking into the mat that he was sitting on. After that, Zuko found himself in a dreamless slumber.

(End of dream)

…

Back in the waking world, Iroh continued to watch over Zuko with a solemn look. He turned to the door to see Tony walk in. Tony was caring some bags and he said, "I managed to find all that you needed from the market.

"How's he doing?" He asked and gestured to the teen. Iroh then said, "He's still fighting through it." With a shrug he guessed, "Perhaps it should not be much longer now."

"Is there any way that we can help him?" Tony asked, feeling helpless. But Iroh just shook his head, "Unfortunately, this is something that he must endure on his own. But we can offer support and help him through it."

"If you say so." Tony sighed before setting the bags on the table.

\_|_/

The sun was nearly gone when the group and the Earth King and his entourage approached the Outer Wall. Aang leaned to where he could see better. He noticed something and pointed, "It's still there."

Everyone looked to see that the Fire Nation and Hydra's drill that had tried to break through the wall weeks ago was still sitting in its spot. A smaller wall surrounded the ruined drill that was still covered the sludge. Earth King Kuei's eyes widened when he asked, "What is that thing?"

"It's a drill. A massive drill that was made by the Fire Nation and Hydra to break through your walls." Sokka explained to him. The Earth King realized that the Avatar and the Avengers were all telling the truth. He hung his head in shame at not believing them, and had felt a mixture of fear of what would happen next.

Appa, the fliers of the group and the Milano landed on a section of the wall. Everyone stood on the side and looked down at the drill. Natasha looked to her friends who had faced this thing and said, "Seems like a missed out on one heck of a party."

"Well, it was nearly a close call." Steve said, remembering how close the Fire Nation and Hydra came to victory on that day. Earth King Kuei bowed his head and said, "I can't believe that I never knew."

"It's not your fault." Clint shook his head, guessing that the Earth King was feeling bad about it. Steve then said, "But you don't have to worry. We'll help as much as we can."

"And I thank you." Earth King Kuei nodded in appreciation. They were all surprised when they heard the scrapping of stone and looked to their right. There were a lot of angry faces to see Long Feng and a couple of Dai Li agents rising on a platform of stone. Long Feng tried to remedy the situation by saying, "I can explain this, Your Majesty.

"This is nothing more than a construction project." He said, gesturing to the drill at the bottom of the wall. Everyone quirked a brow and Katara asked, "Really? Can you also explain where there's a Fire Nation and Hydra insignia on your construction project?"

"Yeah, try to wiggle your way out of this one." Peter challenged with a glare. Even the Earth King looked to him with a questioning look. Long Feng glared at the boy before trying to defend himself, "Well, it's imported, of course. You know that you can't trust domestic machinery."

"Lame!" Wade shouted what everyone was thinking at the moment. Logan held a fist to him and said, "I'll give you a fist bump for that."

"Yeah!" Wade pumped a fist before fist bumping him. The Mutate instantly regretted it as he punched Logan's hand with adamantium bones underneath. Wade clutched his hand and ran in circles, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"But surely you don't believe all of these people, especially those claiming to hail from other worlds? You wouldn't trust them over your most loyal attendant." Long Feng questioned to his king. Earth King Kuei looked a little conflicted as of what to do, but Clint placed a comforting hand on the king's shoulder and said, "Only you have the power to decide what's right."

"You're right, Clint Barton." The Earth King nodded, now knowing what he needed to do. Looking to Long Feng he glared and ordered, "Dai Li, arrest Long Feng. I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."

Everyone was greatly surprised by this as they looked between Long Feng and the Earth King. The two Dai Li agents glanced to each other before carrying out their orders. They thrusted their hands forward and launched a couple of metallic handcuffs at their leader. A mixture of emotions went through Long Feng as he tried to fight while being yanked back, "You can't arrest me! You all need me more than you know."

"I think we'll be just fine." Rhodey disagreed while the agents led Long Feng away. Sokka then became smug when he said, "Looks like Long Feng is long gone!"

"I would have gone for something more like, "Looks like this Long Feng just got pulled" in my opinion." Wade shrugged. This earned some questioning looks from everyone else. Rocket just scoffed and said, "Geeze, what are the two of you on? Those were some weak jokes."

"I think we can all agree there." Toph cracked and it made everyone laugh.

…

It was later that evening when everyone returned to the Earth King's palace. The Milano and Appa were waiting outside while everyone was gathered before the Earth King's throne. Earth King Kuei looked to each of them as he said, "I want to thank you, all of you, for opening my eyes to the truth.

"All this time, what I thought to be a great metropolis, was merely just a city of fools." He shook his head. Gesturing to himself he said, "And that makes myself, the king of those fools."

"You were kept in the dark for as long as Long Feng was keeping you." Gamora said, trying to ease the king's guilt. Bosco groaned at the Earth King's feet while Momo and the three Pygmy Pumas joined the bear. But Gamora's words didn't seem to work when Earth King Kuei when he hung his head in despair, "We're at war with the Fire Nation. And not only that, but they have allies from another world as well."

"And that's way we came here to Ba Sing Se, Your Highness." Sokka said when he stepped forward. The Earth King looked to him and Sokka said, "Because we think that you can help us end the war for good."

"We don't have much time." Aang told him while Momo jumped onto the king's shoulder. Then he informed, "There's a comet coming at the end of this summer. Its energy will give the Firebenders great strength.

"Strength that they will use to win the war. They'll become unstoppable. Even if it is for a short period of time." He added, earning a surprised look from Gamora. Steve stepped forward and said, "But there is hope.

"Before the comet arrives, there will be an eclipse a little while before. The sun will be entirely blocked out by the moon." Clint threw in. Natasha then took up by saying, "It'll be a day when the Firebenders of the Fire Nation will be helpless in terms of their element."

"What are all of you suggesting?" Earth King Kuei asked with surprise and a little worry. Loki took it up by saying, "I think you know what they're saying. They want your help in preparation for this day."

"It is the perfect opportunity to strike at them." Thor added while glancing over to his adopted brother. Sokka finished by saying, "And it's on this day that we'll need to invade. The Day of Black Sun."

"I don't know." Earth King Kuei said, feeling unsure and felt as if this was all moving too fast. He then moved his hands to the left when he said, "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. The city will be completely vulnerable."

"No offense, but I'd say that you're already vulnerable." Rhodey cut in. The king looked to him and he said, "Judging from what Long Feng's been doing for a while, you're not in the best shape to try and defend yourself."

"Judging by what we saw at the Outer Wall." Logan said with a shrug. Sokka was in agreement with them, "They're right. The Fire Nation and Hydra aren't gonna stop until Ba Sing Se falls to them.

"You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or you can take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance." He said, hoping to encourage the Earth King. Earth King Kuei seemed to be moved by their words and thought about it for a moment. Everyone waited to see what he would say. They didn't have to wait too long as the Earth King came to a decision. Earth King Kuei looked to them and nodded, "Very well, you will have my support."

That got the entire group cheering, seeing as how they were getting one step closer to ending the war. Some started dancing while Aang hopped onto his Air Scooter and rode around the chamber. The celebration was cut short when a voice from the entrance said, "Your Majesty."

Everyone looked back to see a man in fancy looking armor and a long flowing green cap walking up to them. The heroes moved out of the way when the man bowed in respect, "I do apologize for the sudden interruption."

"Everyone, this is General How. He's the leader of the Council of Five- my highest ranking generals." Earth King Kuei then introduced with a grin. Thor looked to the man and asked, "By any means, are you a mad man or a self-deluded coward?"

"What?" General How asked when he rose to his feet. Steve moved in front of Thor and said, "You'll have to forgive him. Some of us haven't had the best experiences with generals from the Earth Kingdom."

"Song and Fong." Natasha said to make clear. General How then said, "I do know of them. And I can assure you that I'm nothing like them."

"Just in asking." Bruce said to try and ease the tension. General How then looked to his king and said, "We just searched through Long Feng's office. And I think that there's something that will interest everyone here."

"Then please lead the way." Earth King Kuei requested. General How nodded before turning to the door. The Earth King rose from his throne and everyone followed after him.

…

They entered the library, which also acted as Long Feng's office. The four children and the five Avengers stood around the table while everyone else hung back. General How remained by his king's side while a guard walked in with a chest in his hands. General How then explained, "There are secret files on just about everyone in Ba Sing Se, including the nine of you."

"Secret files?" Aang asked, wondering the Dai Li had kept hidden. Earth King Kuei opened the box and pulled out a scroll, "Toph Bei Fong."

He handed it to General How who handed it to Toph who then handed it to Katara. She unrolled it to read it for Toph, "It's a letter from your mom. It says that she's here in the city and she wants to see you."

"Long Feng intercepted our leaders from home?" A slightly surprised Toph asked. She then shook her head, "Now that's just sad."

"Indeed." Most of the group agreed with her and cracked a smirk. The Earth King pulled out another scroll, "Avatar Aang, Bruce and Johnny."

"The scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when Long Feng intercepted him and Natasha." General How informed. That caught all three's attention as the Earth King handed it to the Avatar. Clint looked to Natasha and asked, "So, you know what it says?"

"More or less, but I'll let Aang tell it." Natasha said and they looked to the boy. Aang took the scroll and both Bruce and Johnny looked over his shoulder. Aang then became surprised and smiled when he said, "It's from the Eastern Air Temple."

Momo seemed to hear how happy Aang sounded and licked the top of his head. Both Katara and Sokka looked happy for their friends before the former hopefully asked, "Is there a letter for me and Sokka, by any chance?"

Everyone looked to the king to see what he could find. But the Earth King shook his head after looking through the box, "I'm afraid that there isn't."

That caused the two's faces to fall. They both sighed and Sokka said, "Oh."

"But there is an intelligence report that might interest the both of you." General How informed them as he handed them a scroll. The siblings seemed to brighten up for this. Katara took the scroll from him and unrolled it. She read aloud, "A small fleet of Water Tribe ships."

"What? That could be Dad." A hopeful Sokka asked when he looked over his sisters shoulder. Both of them brightened up even more when Katara kept reading, "Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay. Led by Hakoda?!

"It is Dad!" She happily said as the two became excited. Clint then said, "But that just leaves the question; where do we go from here?"

That caused a lot of faces to fall as they thought about what they would need to do next.

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Back in the Lower Ring of the city, the night had come over the city. Iroh let Tony watch over Zuko while he rose from his spot. The older man tended to a pot of tea that he filled three cups with. When he heard Zuko groan he advised, "You should know that this not a natural sickness."

"You think he caught something down there?" Tony asked about their little adventure. But Iroh shook his head when he brought the three cups over. Iroh handed Tony one of the cups before kneeling down next to Zuko. He helped his nephew to sit up and said, "But it shouldn't stop him from enjoying tea."

"Wh… What's happening to me?" Zuko asked after taking a sip from the cup. Iroh explained by saying, "Your critical decision about what you did under the lake.

"It was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war with your own mind and body. And are now going through a metamorphosis, my nephew." Iroh told him as Zuko laid back down and entered another coughing fit. Tony then asked, "So, this is something caused by some kind of mental situation."

"In a sense, yes." Iroh nodded. Looking to his nephew he shook his head when he warned, "It will not be a pleasant experience.

"But when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince that you were always meant to be." He added while pulling the covers over Zuko. He then wiped Zuko's brow off while Tony watched from the side.

\_|_/

Back in the library at the palace, the majority of the group had left. Only Johnny remained with the nine as they were sitting on the floor or standing close to the children. Aang said, "I can't believe it. There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple.

"He says that he's a guru." He added while looking over the scroll again. Sokka scratched the back of his head when he asked, "What's a guru? Some kind of poisonous blow fish?"

"No, Sokka. Not even close." Natasha shook her head. Aang then explained by saying, "He's a spiritual expert. He says that he can help me take the next step in the Avatar Journey and master the Avatar State while also helping Bruce and Johnny."

"How does he know about the Hulk or the Rider?" Bruce asked in confusion. Aang could only shake his head. The siblings became excited again when Katara said, "And I can't believe that we know where our dad is now."

"I do apologize that you had to wait this long." Steve said, thinking of their meeting with Bato. But Katara and Sokka shook their heads when the latter said, "No, we made the right choice in going with you guys. You needed us a lot more at the time."

"And I know what you mean by relationships with your parents." Toph said, making the group look to her. She seemed happy after hearing what the letter had to say and clutched it close to her when she said, "My mom's here in the city, and from the sound of it, it sounds like she finally understands me."

"This Is all such big news." Sokka agreed. But then he asked the big question, "But where do we even start from here?"

"I hate to say it, but I think we need to split up for a little while." Katara suggested, feeling that it was the best option. But Aang didn't like the sound of it when he repeated, "Split up? We just found Appa and Natasha and nearly got the family back together. Now you want us to separate?"

"And we'll still be together." Steve promised when he knelt down next to Aang. He placed a hand on the Airbender's shoulder when he said, "But this is the best option."

"He's right." Katara agreed with him. Gesturing to Aang, Bruce and Johnny she said, "You three need to go visit this guru. If he can help the three of you, it'll help if you're ready for the invasion of the Fire Nation."

"She does have a point." Bruce agreed, even though he and Johnny were still confused about it all. After thinking about it, Aang nodded that it would be best. Then he offered, "Well, If we're going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I could drop you off at Chameleon Bay to see your dad."

"Someone has to stay behind to help the Earth King and his generals come up with the invasion plan." Sokka said, knowing that this was just as important. He rose to his feet when he volunteered, "I guess that's me."

"No, Sokka." Katara disagreed when she rose to her feet as well. Then she said, "I know how badly you want to go and help dad. I'll stay here to help with things.

"You go to Chameleon Bay and say hi for me." Katara told him with a smile. Tears welled up in Sokka's eyes and he became excited when he lightly danced as he approached her, "You are the nicest… sister… ever!"

He hugged her and planted a kiss on her cheek. Katara gently pushed him back, "Easy there, big brother.

"But you're right. I am." She added with a grin. Steve then said, "I'll help Katara prepare for the invasion."

"As will I." Thor said. He crossed his arms when he said, "Someone will need to keep an eye on Loki."

"Speaking of him, I'm surprised to see that he is still alive." Clint commented as there was a history with the adopted Asgardian. Thor agreed by saying, "Same. Plus, there's a friend in town. I wish to find him to enjoy some more of his tea."

"You like tea?" Natasha questioned and looked to him. She pointed at him and said, "But when you were last on Earth, our Earth, you said that you couldn't stand the stuff."

"Well, this man managed to open my eyes." Thor said. Natasha looked to Sokka and said, "I'll go with you to Chameleon Bay."

"Thanks." Sokka nodded in appreciation. Clint shrugged and looked to his friend, "Ready to go see your mom, kid?"

"Yeah." Toph smiled, really hoping to reconnect with her. Aang then asked, "What about the others? What will they do?"

"We can extend invitations if they want." Steve suggested and everyone seemed to be okay with that idea.

…

The next morning, everyone prepared to depart. The Guardians had offered to head over to the destroyed drill sight to see what they could do to help. The Earth King graciously accepted the offer and told General How to notify Song. Both Sam and Rhodey decided to go with Sokka and Natasha to Chameleon Bay. Peter, Eddie, Wade and Logan decided to stay in the city. The Earth King and his guards were there to see the departing groups heading out. Earth King Kuei and a couple of guards came down the stairs while the others prepared to say goodbye.

A thought crossed Aang's mind and he turned to Katara. Steve happened to notice and made sure to keep it quiet when he said, "If you're thinking about telling her, I think now would be good time."

"Cause who knows if I'll get the chance again?" Aang asked and looked to the super soldier. Steve nodded with a grin and gestured for him to go, "Go get her."

Aang nodded and walked up to the Waterbender as she was petting Appa's side. He got her attention by saying, "Katara, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" She asked and stepped away from the bison. Aang blushed as he thought about it said, "I've been wanting to say it for a long time."

"Yes?" Katara asked, wondering what he had to say. Most of the Avengers gathered around to see how it would play down. Aang tried to come out with it by saying, "Katara, I…"

"All right, who's ready to get going on a little awesomely spiritual road trip?" Sokka asked when he rushed over and pulled Aang into a headlock and gave him a friendly noogie. Everyone of the heroes groaned from Sokka ruining the moment and Quill asked Steve, "The brother knows how to ruin the moment doesn't he?"

"You have no idea." Natasha sighed while Katara looked to her brother with a questioning look. They all looked to the king when Earth King Kuei said, "Aang, Sokka, Bruce, Johnny, Sam, Rhodey and Guardians, I wish you a good journey.

"Ba Sing Se owes you its thanks." He bowed in respect. They all smiled as he said, "And we look forward to your safe return."

Everyone bowed in respect to the king. As everyone was about to depart, a guard walked up to the king and reported, "Your Majesty, there are some female warriors here to see you.

"They're from the island of Kyoshi." He added, making Sokka stop climbing on Appa's head. A hopeful Natasha looked very surprised from the news. Sokka looked in surprise and shouted, "That's Suki!"

He lost his grip and fell to the ground with a groan. Everyone looked to him with odd looks as he picked himself up. Earth King Kuei then asked, "You know of these warriors?"

"Oh, yeah." Sokka nodded and stood by his friends' side. He then said, "They're a group of skilled fighters. Really trustworthy, too. They're good friends of ours."

"A good deal of us can vouch these claims." Thor nodded in agreement. Wade slid up to them and said, "Well then, I can't wait to meet these fine, lovely ladies."

"Suki's already taken!" Sokka protectively shouted while bashing his fist against the top of Wade's head. Everyone was a little shocked from this. As he laid on the ground, Wade waved a hand, "Okay! Okay! Message received."

"Ignoring what just happened..." The Earth King said with a quirked brow. A smile grew on his face when he said, "Then we shall welcome them as honored guests."

The guard bowed and left to relay the Earth King's wishes. Aang and Sokka started to make for the bison again when Katara said, "Aang, wait."

"Huh?" Aang asked before she pulled him into a hug. Then she planted a small kiss on his cheek, making him blush. Everyone else just smiled from the little display of love and friendship. Toph then said, "I'm really going to miss all of you guys."

"Don't worry, we won't be gone too long." Bruce promised as most of the nine all entered a group hug. They all looked to Sokka who was just standing there with his arms crossed. He looked surprised when he found just about everyone standing around him and they all embraced each other. A chittering Momo moved around to hug the back of the Water Tribe teen's head. Sokka, who had his hands over his head, smiled when he said, "Great, that's enough. Okay, we all love each other."

Even the three Pygmy Pumas got into it by weaving through just about everyone's legs. Sokka patted Aang and Katara's heads, "Seriously."

When they let each other go, Rhodey and Sam had their flight suits ready while those who couldn't fly boarded onto Appa's back. Momo hugged the side of the Airbender's head before flying down and perching on Katara's shoulder. The three Pygmy Pumas looked up to Bruce and had sad looking faces. Bruce waved to them, knowing that he would see them again. Aang gave a flick of the reins, "Appa! Yip, yip!"

With a groan, Appa took to the skies and flew towards the East. Both Sam and Rhodey took off after the bison. The Milano was the next to take off. The orange and blue ship headed to the South of the city. Once both groups were gone, Steve looked to Clint and Toph and asked, "Are you guys going to see Toph's mom right now?"

"Yeah, we'd think that it might do some good." Toph nodded. Thor then offered, "Then I wish the both of you a well journey."

"Thanks." Clint nodded to him. Logan then said, "Me, Wade and Eddie are going to find out what the Dai Li did with those other girls from the base."

"If we can help them, then that would do some good." Eddie nodded. Even Venom agreed by saying to his host, "And if we run into any of those agents, then they will end up filling my belly."

"Okay, that's really dark." Eddie commented to his friend as he and the other two walked away. Thor looked to his adopted brother and asked, "Let's get going."

"Really, that's it?" Loki asked, really confused by his brother's demeanor. Then he added, "No threats? No nothing?"

"Don't make me think twice." Thor said as he started walking. Loki just sighed before following after his brother. Steve and Katara watched them go before the latter said, "I had no idea that it was really Loki the entire time."

"I should have seen it when we first ran into him." Steve said, thinking of the rig situation. Katara then asked, "Do you think Thor will be alright."

"Thor'll be able to handle Loki. I'm sure of it." Steve nodded, having some faith in his friend. Looking to her he said, "Now, let's meet with the Council of Five. We need to get started on the invasion plan."

"Right." Katara nodded and they turned to follow the Earth King and a few guards back inside the palace.

\_|_/

Down in the Lower Ring, Zuko was starting to feel a little better as his eyes twitched open. He woke up with a groan and flexed his right hand a bit. With another groan he moved to sit up on his cot. He saw that both Iroh and Tony had fallen asleep while watching over him. Zuko rose from his cot and headed into the bathroom of the apartment. He slid the door open and walked in. Stopping at the skin, he splashed a little water on his face to help cool him off. He splashed himself a few times before looking at the mirror. But he jumped at what he was seeing. It was almost like he was possessing the face of the Avatar. When he raised one of his arms to touch it, he became even more worried when he saw that his right hand had become large and green like the monster that was with the Avatar. When he looked at his right arm, he gasped when he saw that it was covered in metal like that of the Winter Soldier. He jumped when he felt the touch of cold metallic fingers touch his shoulder. Zuko started to glance back when he heard an odd voice say, "Peace in our time."

His eyes widened when he saw something swing at him and came at his face.

…

Zuko screamed when he awoke from his dream and sat up. He took deep breaths from what he had seen. He clutched his forehead before looking at his arms. He saw that they were normal. Zuko then placed a hand up to his scarred eye and sighed in relief to know that it had been just a dream. He looked on either side of him to see both Tony and Iroh still asleep, the only thing that was the same from his dream.

\_|_/

The group heading East flew over the Outer Wall and out into the wilds of the Earth Kingdom. Sam and Rhodey flew right beside the bison and everyone had a grin on their faces. Sokka looked between them all and said, "You see, guys? A little positive thinking will work its wonders.

"We got the Earth King on our side, we got Long Feng arrested," Sokka started to list the good things. He seemed really happy when he said, "And when we get back, Suki's going to be there waiting for me."

"Yeah, she and the others will be there." Natasha said, still feeling a little guilty about what happened. Bruce looked to her and asked, "You okay."

"I will be." Natasha nodded, even though Bruce saw that something was bothering her. Aang nodded and said, "It does seem like things are starting to look up.

"Thanks, positive attitude." He added while looking up into the sky. Sokka sounded so sure when he said, "Everything is going to work out perfectly. From now on and forever."

"Well, let's just try to get there." Johnny interjected, but still cracked a smirk. Everyone just looked to one another with big grins.

\_|_/

In a building within the city of Ba Sing Se, the metallic halls were dimly lit by crystals that were placed along the floors next to the walls. A lone Dai Li agent walked through the halls before coming to a door at the end of the hall. He placed a tray on the ground and slid it through a slot into the cell of Long Feng before announcing, "Dinner."

Long Feng looked over the gourmet looking food and moved the tray to where he could eat better. A small bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, a roll, a cup of tea and a spread of grilled fish lay before him. Long Feng looked to the agent standing at the door as the man said, "The Council of Five and the military are loyal to the Earth King.

"But the Dai Li will always remain loyal to you, Long Feng, sir." He nodded to the man on the inside of the cell. With that, the agent walked away from the door as Long Feng began to eat. But while he was eating, a grin grew on his face as he began to formulate a plan not only to release himself, but to also take control of the city once again.

\_|_/

At a house somewhere within the Upper Ring, both Clint and Toph walked across a small bridge to the house. Toph seemed a little nervous as she stood but a foot or two from the door which Clint happened to notice. He looked to her and asked, "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little worried about seeing my mom." Toph admitted. She wondered how her mom would react, "It has been a while."

"I'm sure that she'll be delighted to see you again." Clint said to reassure her. Toph then asked, "Thanks for coming along with me."

"No problem." Clint grinned and Toph walked right up to the door. She knocked on it once, and it creaked open a little. They both found it a little odd. Toph pushed it open and called inside, "Hello? Mom?"

"Misses Bei Fong? Anyone home?" Clint called out as well. They found it a little odd as they came a little deeper into the house. Clint happened to notice the look of the place and commented, "Weird. There's nothing of your mother's here."

"And I don't sense anything but us." Toph shook her head. Toph suddenly sensed something and prepared herself. Clint did the same by readying his bow. But a rock to his back sent the archer flying. Toph shouted, "Clint!"

But before she could move to help him, a shape fell over her. She screamed when a metal cage fell on her. Luckily, she managed to keep her feet as she had jumped a little. She clutched the sides of the cage and called out, "Hey, who do you think you're dealing with?"

"Toph!" Clint shouted when he picked himself up again. He moved to get her out of the cage, but two shapes dropped down from the ceiling to reveal Master Yu and Xin Fu. The latter had a glare when he said, "One loudmouth little brat who went and strayed too far from home."

"What are the two of you doing here?" Clint questioned and quickly readied two of his arrows. Master Yu then said, "We are taking Toph from your custody, Mr. Barton."

"I don't think so." The archer shook his head. Xin Fu smirked when he said, "It's not up to you, it's her father that wants her back."

"Well, he's gonna have to talk to me first." Clint glared before springing into action. He jumped into the air and fired the arrows that he had. Both Earthbenders moved out of the way and the arrows embedded themselves where the two had stood. Master Yun then lifted some rocks out of the ground before chucking them at Clint. In a very flexible fashion, Clint leaned back to where the rocks passed harmlessly over him before they crashed into the walls. Clint then caused his bow to collapse and it became his bo-staff. He spun it around before jumping into the air and came down at Xin Fu.

But the Earthbender had a smirk when he backflipped and sent a rock at the Avenger. Clint's eyes widened when he couldn't dodge it. The rock smacked into his chest and it sent him flying out the door. He grunted when he hit the ground and groaned when he lifted his head. He could see the two Earthbenders starting to move towards the cage that held Toph and started to get up. But Xin Fu looked to him with another smirk. Then he said, "I remember hearing about this little gag from a few weeks ago.

"Some poor girls were nice enough to tell me about it." He added before jumping down and extending his fist. The bridge around Clint started shaking and he cried out when he was dropped into the river below.

Inside the cage, Toph heard Clint shout and became worried for him. She pounded on the side of the cage and shouted, "Clint!"

"Don't worry about him." Xin Fu told her as the two moved to complete their assignment.

\_|_/

Elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom, the Milano was starting to approach the Outer Wall where the ruins of the drill was. Rocket looked to Quill and asked, "So, how exactly are we supposed to help again?"

"We just see what they need us to do." Quill shrugged, thinking that there wasn't anything to it. Drax then said, "Perhaps we should have helped with the invasion plan. I am a great planner for invasions."

"Your best plan is to run into the enemy head first." Rocket countered with a grin. Drax shrugged, "It is a good plan."

"Not really." The two girls of the group shook their heads. Baby Groot looked about them and said, "I am Groot."

\_|_/

Back at the Earth King's palace, just about everyone there had prepared for the arrival of the Kyoshi Warriors. With guards standing beside of him at the bottom of the stairs on a platform, Earth King Kuei stepped forward to greet his guests. Five women stepped through two rows of guards and the Earth King said with open arms, "In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!"

The five women bowed before the monarch of the Earth Kingdom. The woman, clad in the uniform of Suki, raised her head. The others followed suit as the disguised Princess Azula said, "We are the Earth King's humble servants."

While keeping a straight face, all five women were smirking at how they had successful infiltrated the last free city of the Earth Kingdom.

\_|_/

This story's dedication to:

Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018

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Author's Note: Alright, final two chapters, here we come. I think I might get Book 2 done by Christmas, which was the goal anyway. I should let you know that I plan to post Chapter 21 at least around Thanksgiving and the final chapter and the ending titles around Christmas. I want to hear your thoughts of how the final two chapters will play out. 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.