A/N: AntiHero here! Sorry I haven't worked on this in a while. I kinda lost interest in writing this story, but then I started watching episodes of Avatar: the Legend of Aang/Korra and the spark came back. Now that I got my inspiration back, it's time to continue where we left off, and I think you'll like the surprise I have in store for this chapter!
Disclaimer – I own nothing, just this fanfic.
Chapter 24 – The Swamp
(A/N: I'm skipping the beginning scene because I seriously hated it! I mean, a great fire general like Iroh mistreated like some hobo and Prince Zuko had to sit and watch in anger; that ain't right at all. However, I have something later that might make up for it.)
After their visit to the conquered Omashu, the Gang was now on the quest to find Aang's Earthbending teacher. They flew over a large swamp with the Avatar, the Water Tribe siblings, and the lemur on the Bison's saddle while the Z Fighter was riding on his dragon companion right beside them. As they flew, Momo was looking down at the swamp while Katara was reading a map and Sokka was sharpening his machete, both humans looking very bored. On Appa's head, Aang was steering the flying beast when he glanced down at the swamp; he seemed entranced by the land and unknowingly directed the Bison to descend.
Sokka noticed their descent and inquired, "Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" When he got no answer from the monk, he repeated a little louder, "Aang! Why are we going down?!"
Hearing the Tribesman's voice, Aang snapped out of his trance. "What? I didn't even notice," he admitted as he wiped his face.
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked.
"What's up, guys?" Gohan asked as he flew to Appa's head.
"Is something wrong?" Katara inquired as she came up to Sokka.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but... I think the swamp is... calling to me," Aang replied while wearing a hard look.
"Is it telling ya where we can get something to eat?" Sokka questioned while grasping his empty stomach.
"No, I... I think it wants us to land there," Aang explained further.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on," Sokka stated, making Aang frown.
"I don't know... Bumi said that to learn Earthbending, I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" Aang asked his friends.
The Water Tribe siblings looked down at the swamp as Appa got closer to it. "Yes!" Sokka answered.
"I'm sensing some weird energy from this place. It's a little mysterious," Gohan admitted. "I don't think we should be here."
"I agree with Gohan. There's something ominous about that place," Katara said. Momo then looked away from the swamp, Icarus growled, and Appa groaned out.
"See? Even Appa, Icarus, and Momo don't like it here," the Tribesman stated.
"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this... bye swamp," Aang sighed. "Yip, yip!" He whipped the reins, commanding the sky Bison to fly away from the swamp. Before they could get far, though, a tornado appeared behind them. Sokka heard the noise and looked back to see the strong winds coming at them.
"You better throw in an extra "yip"! We gotta move!" he warned his friends.
Aang and Gohan desperately tried to direct their animal companions away from the twister, but no matter where they steered, the tornado easily followed them. Eventually, the twister closed in on them and the suction started to pull Gohan, Icarus, and Sokka in. Katara grabbed her brother while holding onto the saddle, and Icarus struggled to fight against the wind current, but it proved too strong for him, so he quickly bit onto Appa's fur with Gohan holding onto his tail. Aang then jumped onto the saddle and created a massive air bubble around his friends, Appa, and Icarus. The bubble kept everyone together and they piled in Appa's saddle. Aang struggled to maintain the bubble as they were pulled into the tornado, but it began to shrink around Appa, exposing his foot to the twister. Seeing his brother's predicament, Gohan summoned all his strength to create an energy barrier around them as Aang's bubble dropped, but just like the Avatar, he couldn't keep up the dome for long against the tornado. He eventually let go, causing everyone to be swallowed by the twister. The four teens were then thrown out into the swamp; the Water Tribe siblings fell into the water while Aang and Gohan slowly descended to the bottom.
Sokka sat up in the water and rubbed his head in pain. The Water Tribe siblings got to their feet and the four observed their surroundings. "Where are Appa and Momo?" Aang inquired.
"Icarus is missing, too," Gohan noted. The two hoisted themselves into the air and appeared on top of a tall tree, above the swamp.
"Appa! Momo!" Aang called for his pets.
"Hey Icarus, where are you, boy?" Gohan yelled. They scanned the area, but only saw trees everywhere.
Down below, Katara and Sokka were trekking through the water when the Waterbender pointed to her brother and said, "Sokka, you've got an elbow leech!"
"Where?! Where?!" Sokka questioned frantically.
"Where do you think?" Katara replied calmly with a hint of sarcasm.
The non-bender glanced at his elbow to find the parasite hanging from it. "Why do things keep on attaching to me?!" he questioned furiously as he pulled the bug off and tossed it away, nearly hitting his sister. Katara glared at her brother just as Aang and Gohan descended to the water.
"You couldn't find them?" Katara asked.
"No... and the tornado... it just disappeared," Aang reported. The four gazed into the trees, wondering where the rest of their group was.
In a different part of the swamp, Appa was tangled up in a bunch of vines; he groaned as he attempted to free himself but failed. Momo and Icarus began chomping on the vines to free the Bison. Eventually, Appa fell to the swampy water with a large splash; he shook himself dry and started to fly back the air, but he quickly got caught in another trap of vines. The Bison growled and the two smaller animals started cutting vines to free him again.
Back with the teens, Sokka cut through the swamp vines to clear a path. "We better speed things up!" he said as he continued cutting.
"Maybe... we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang suggested.
The tribesman stopped cutting to address the monk. "Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?" he questioned before he resumed cutting the vines.
"Maybe you should listen to Aang," Katara spoke as she looked up. "Something about this place feels... alive."
"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here, and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can," Sokka reasoned before he cut another vine. "Gohan, how about a hand here?"
The young warrior shook his head. "No thanks. This place gives me the creeps, and I don't wanna do something that might upset it," he replied.
"Wait, Gohan! You can sense Appa's energy to find him and the others!" Aang remembered.
"It's worth a try," Gohan agreed. He closed his eyes to try and sense Appa's or Icarus' life force. His expression became uneasy before he reopened his eyes. "Sorry guys, their energies are too low for me to sense at this distance, and this swamp's own energy is interfering with my senses."
"Guess we gotta do things my way then," Sokka said as he continued slicing through vines. Behind the teens, a few vines opened slightly as though someone was watching from them; the Energybender glanced behind him suspiciously but saw no one there.
"What is it, Gohan?" Katara inquired when she noticed his discomfort.
"I thought I sensed… never mind," Gohan dismissed before the teens continued on their way. After wandering for a while, the sky got dark as night had fallen. Sokka continued to lead the benders through the swamp while they searched for their animal companions.
"Appa! Icarus! Momo!" Katara called out.
"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night," Sokka suggested before he swung his blade to ward off some swamp flies. A bubble emerged from the water before popping.
"What was that?!" Katara yelped.
"Nothing, just swamp gas. Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here," Sokka said before the Gang tried to block the terrible smell from their noses. Then they heard a bloodcurdling screech and were startled into hugging each other; the teens spotted a small white bird before it screeched again and flew away. "I think we should build a fire..." the tribesman mumbled. He quickly broke away from the benders and started cutting off pieces of wood.
"Sokka, the longer we're here the more I think you shouldn't be doing that," Aang protested.
"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine. Right, swamp?" Sokka answered sarcastically before grabbing a branch and saying, "No problem, Sokka!" He continued to chop wood while Aang looked at him with an annoyed expression. After Sokka made a wood pile, Gohan started a fire with an energy blast and the four sat around it while camping in the root system of a large tree. Katara looked around their campsite before facing her friends with a scared look.
"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" she inquired.
"Yes," Gohan agreed.
"Please, we're all alone out here," Sokka denied as he swung his blade at another fly; a bright light suddenly appeared, blinding the teens. It flew into the woods, where the Gang spotted multiple eyes glaring at them.
"...except for them," Aang said.
"Right, except for them," a scared Sokka parroted as the four teens huddled together in fear. Moments later, the Gang's campfire went out as they finally fell asleep; just as before, vines were moved to give someone a view of the teens. One vine suddenly started slithering toward them and wrapped itself around Sokka. The Gang was still asleep when more vines appeared and tied each of them up; the vines suddenly pulled the teens away from each other, waking them up instantly. Sokka quickly planted his blade that was still in his hand into the ground, stopping himself from being dragged, but the three benders screamed as they were all pulled into the foggy swamp. Sokka struggled against the bindings, eventually using his machete to cut himself free. He got up and ran to escape more vines that tried to grab him; he tripped and fell down a tree root into the water but quickly got back up and continued running from the vines.
With Katara, she fought her restrains before pulling out water from her pouch and using it to sever every vine that came at her before running away.
Gohan fought against the force pulling on his vines; he then revved up his Ki, reducing the vines around him to shreds. "Whoever you are, come out and face me!" he shouted to the swamp. "Where are my friends?!" He quickly brought out his sword and cut more vines that tried to grab him before wandering off into the dark swamp.
With Aang, he managed to create an air bubble, expanding the vines tied around him before dropping the bubble and jumping free of his restraints. He jumped from branch to branch while he was being pursued by more vines; one vine managed to grab his ankle and dragged him to the ground, but he used his airbending to escape and gain some distance. When he got away, he stood up to find that he was alone in the misty swamp. "Guys?" he called out before the fog faded away.
Moments later, each teen was wandering around the swamp looking for each other and their animal friends. The Energybender walked through the water as he called out to his friends. "Aang! Katara! Sokka!" When he got no answer, he decided to see if he could find any of their pets. "Appa! Icarus! Momo!" The spiky-haired boy still found nothing, so he attempted to sense their energies, but he couldn't pick up a trace of Ki. "It's no use. I can't sense any of their life forces; this swamp's own energy keeps getting in the way," he thought as he kept walking. He then noticed someone standing in the distance in the light. "Hello? Is someone there?" he asked as he started to approach the stranger. As he got closer, he saw that the person was wearing an orange gi and had black spiky hair and eyes; the resemblance was similar to his own but also to someone else's. "Dad?" Gohan questioned, but the person didn't answer him. Now much closer, Gohan could see that the person wasn't his father. The hair was shaped like a palm tree but was slightly off and the blue undershirt was long sleeved instead of short sleeved like his or Goku's; plus he looked much younger than Goku, like he was a teenager.
When the light faded, Gohan could see who it was standing before him; he stopped right in front of the person as he stared at him in surprise. "G-Goten? Is that you?" he asked but still got no answer. He blinked and saw that his brother had vanished from his sight. "It couldn't be… could it?" he wondered. He then looked up and saw his younger brother jumping across tree branches. "Goten, wait!" Gohan called before chasing after him. Gohan pursued his brother until he went behind a tree; when Gohan looked there, he saw Goten was gone again. Goku's 1st son then spotted the 2nd son on the ground running. Gohan jumped down and chased after him again; the boy came close to grabbing his brother before he crashed into a tree. He shook his head and saw no Goten. "I must be going nuts. Yeah, swamp's playing with my head. That's why I can't sense his energy," Gohan thought before he muttered, "Goten is dead." He then sensed something and looked up to see Goten running along a large tree. Even though he thought it was an illusion, he still followed after his brother; he continued to pursue until he stopped at a large tree. Staring at this tree, he touched it and felt a strange sensation. "This is where the swamp's energy is coming from," he thought. Gohan then walked around the tree and stepped on something hard; he looked down and saw a round object covered in moss.
Gohan picked up the sphere and rubbed the moss off, and he saw that it was an orange orb with six stars on it. "It's another Dragon Ball!" he exclaimed.
A little earlier, Aang wandered through the swamp, looking for his companions while calling for them. "Gohan! Katara! Appa!" He then spotted something in the light: a girl in a fancy white dress with a winged pig. "Hello?" he said to the girl as he walked toward her. "Who are you?" The girl just giggled as the flying boar flew away; she then turned and walked off. "Hey, come back!" Aang yelled before jumping to follow the girl. He looked around and spotted the girl on a tree branch before she disappeared. The Avatar swung on vines to catch up to the mystery girl. The Airbender went in every direction he could, but no matter where he went, the girl seemed to evade him with ease while still laughing. The monk continues to pursue the girl until he spotted her on top of a mound. "Who are you?" he inquired as he ran toward the girl. The girl then turned toward him, revealing to actually be… Katara. Aang saw her but was unable to stop himself from crashing into her. The two tumbled along the tree and crashed into Sokka, taking him with them.
Gohan gazed at the mystic orb and said, "That makes three, better put this with the others!" He reached for his bag, only to find that he didn't have it on him. "Oh right, it was on Appa when the tornado hit us," he remembered while facepalming. He then heard something coming his way. He turned in time to see his friends flying toward him but not in time to dodge. The three crashed into the Energybender and the Gang rolled all the way to the bottom of the large tree. When they finally stopped, the Water Tribe siblings sat up, looking very upset. "Hey guys!" Gohan greeted them.
"What do you guys think you're doing?! I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka shouted at them.
"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara yelled back.
"I was chasing some girl," Aang said as he got to his feet.
"What girl?" Katara questioned as she was pulled to her feet by the monk.
"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress," Aang explained.
"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka said in a sarcastic tone.
Katara was quiet for a moment before she sadly said, "I thought I saw Mom."
"I saw my brother," Gohan confessed.
"You mean Aang?" Katara inquired.
"No, my blood brother. His name's Goten," Gohan responded.
"I thought you told me that he died years ago, before we even met," Aang said. Gohan didn't reply, but just looked away in grief.
Sokka's expression turned sad as well. "Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here," he said to the benders.
"You saw something too?" Katara asked her brother.
Sokka turned away before confessing, "I thought I saw Yue."
"Isn't she the Moon Spirit now?" Gohan inquired.
"Exactly, and me seeing her proves nothing!" Sokka stated as he faced his friends. "Look, I think about her all the time. Gohan, you saw your brother, and Katara, you saw Mom, people who you both miss a lot."
"But the vision of my brother was different than when I remembered him," Gohan countered. "He died when we were little kids, but here he looked to be about my age."
"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw," Aang reminded him. "And all of our visions led us right here." The four teens looked up at the large tree that was surrounded by numerous smaller trees.
"Okay... so where's here?" Katara questioned. "The middle of the swamp?"
"Yeah, the center..." Aang agreed.
"I do feel most of the swamp's energy coming from here," Gohan put in. "Like it's the core."
"No, it's the heart of the swamp, it's been calling us here," Aang stated as he smiled at the large tree. "I knew it."
"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone!" a still unconvinced Sokka said. "For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here!" At that moment, a giant monster made entirely out of swamp vines and wearing a wooden face emerged from the water in front of the Gang, causing them to scream and clutch each other in fright. The four teens gazed at the swamp monster in awe, until it swung one of its arms at them and the four quickly scattered to avoid the attack. The creature then stretched its vine arm to grab Sokka, who was running through the water. The tribesman was slammed around by the monster before Aang cut off the arm holding Sokka with an air attack; Sokka fell into the water while the monster stretched its arm, slapping Aang aside. In the water, Sokka tried cutting up the vines before they were pulled back into the monster's body. Sokka got grabbed again and the swamp creature surfed across the water with him in its grasp. Katara stepped in and cut the monster's left shoulder with her waterbending, but more vines grow from its shoulder, repairing the damage Katara had done.
The Waterbender surfed across the water to evade the monster's strikes; she then hit it with a giant wave, knocking it backwards. Katara then separated the water, clearing a path for her to approach the swamp beast. She ran toward it, but was sent flying by a third vine arm from its abdomen. Aang got back up in time to see Katara fly though the air just before he was struck by the vine arm. Gohan charged at the monster and pulled out his sword; he cut all three arms off of the beast but they instantly reattached themselves. "If I can't cut you to ribbons, then I'll pound you to pieces!" the Z Fighter exclaimed as he put back his sword and jumped at the monster. He punched it where its gut should be, but instead of it inflicting any damage, Gohan's fist sunk into the vines due to them being so soft they absorbed his attack. Gohan gasped just before the vines started entangling him into the monster's body. Gohan struggled to free himself and eventually did by releasing his Ki and blowing the creature back with a kiai.
He then jumped to hit the monster with an energy blast, but it grabbed him with the third vine arm and threw him through the swamp; it then pulled the arm holding Sokka back into its body, pulling the tribesman in as well. Sokka attempted to fight against the vines, but they kept him restrained inside the swamp being's body. The monster walked through the swamp waters while Sokka struggled to escape its grasp. Aang appeared on his air scooter and rode to the top of the attacker's head; he created a whirlwind, twisting the vine monster and tangling it up. Katara then used her ice breath to freeze a circle in the part of the enemy that held her brother. Gohan then covered himself with energy and flew at the monster like a missile; he collided with the ice circle, shattering it and grabbing Sokka. The two boys landed in the water in front of the monster that now had large hole in its body, though it quickly summoned more vines to repair its hole and approached the teens. "Masenko…ha!" Gohan shouted as he fired an energy beam at the foe; the blast collided with the monster, knocking it onto its back. When it stood, its mask was burned black and smoking; the swamp beast countered by slamming its arms into the water, creating a large wave and bending it at the Son of Goku, sending him flying through the air once again.
Aang suddenly hit the monster in the back with a wind slam, knocking it face first into the water. He landed in front of it before it stood up and slapped him away into the water. Now ticked off, Katara started moving her arms in a circular motion, creating numerous water slicers that bombarded the monster and cut it apart. The rapid slicing began to overwhelm the beast and the vines started to slide off faster than it could recover. At one point, the vines were cut open enough to reveal a man inside before they closed up just as quickly. Gohan then joined in by firing multiple Ki blasts at the monster. Once again, the vines were destroyed and the man was exposed, but he quickly bended the vines back around himself. "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!" Sokka alerted his comrades. Katara then created a huge water blade, severing the monster's mask and body diagonally. The top half fell into the water but the vines restrained Katara when Aang and Gohan suddenly landed in front of the vines and used air and ki blasts to blow them away, stripping the man of his power. "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang demanded furiously.
"Wait! I didn't call you here," the bearded man in a leaf loincloth stated.
The teens glanced at each other before looking back at the swamp bender. "We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land," Aang explained.
"He's the Avatar. Stuff like that happens to us - a lot," Sokka clarified.
"The Avatar! Come with me," the man requested. The Gang dropped their fighting positions and began following the swamp bender up the root of the largest tree in the swamp.
"So, who are you then?" Katara inquired.
The swamp bender moved a vine out of the way, letting the Gang pass. "I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it," he revealed before gesturing to Sokka holding his machete. "Like this fellow with his big knife."
"See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it," Sokka said.
The Swampbender continued to lead the Gang up the tree root. "Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. It's sacred." He sat down and started explaining. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree. I heard it callin' me, just like you did."
"Sure ya did. It seems real chatty," Sokka remarked sarcastically.
The man ignored him and continued on with his lesson "See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more - one big living organism, just like the entire world."
"I get how the tree is one big thing, but… the whole world?" Aang asked in perplexity.
"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?" the Swampbender countered. "If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together, and you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."
"But what did our visions mean?" Katara wondered.
"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved. Folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not," the protector of the swamp explicated. "We're still connected to 'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."
"But what about my vision?" Aang questioned. "It was someone I had never met."
"You're the Avatar, you tell me," the man told him.
Aang muttered while thinking about his vision. "Time is an illusion... so it's... someone I will meet?" he asked.
"Time is an illusion, and so is death," Gohan thought for a moment. "Does that mean my brother's still alive… and that we'll meet again?"
The Swampbender smiled and nodded to both of them.
"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa, Icarus, and Momo," Sokka cut in.
"How? I still can't sense their energies," Gohan reminded him.
"I think I can help with that," Aang said. "Gohan, come here for a sec." The Energybender stood by the Airbender; they placed their hands together and closed their eyes. "Everything is connected," Aang muttered as the tattoo on his hand started to glow. A white stream of energy shot out of their hands and began traveling down the root into the swamp. The two boys then had a vision of where their animals were located; they saw more swampbenders chasing down Appa and Icarus. They had just managed to catch the bison with a large net and captured the dragon by roping his legs and tail. The boys then opened their eyes and stood up. "We know where they are!" they announced.
Elsewhere in the swamp, the swampbenders were dragging the flying beasts back to their camp. "Set my lines by the river bed! Caught ten fish and I killed 'em dead! Cut 'em and gut 'em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them cat gators dead," the bender named Tho sang as he patted the side of his boat while Momo struggled in his bag and his partner Due was bending the river to move the boat. Suddenly, an energy blast shot through the air and collided with one of the boats, destroying it and sending two swampbenders flying into the river. Gohan then descended to the river and cut his dragon free; Icarus cuddled with his friend and licked his face. "Hey Icarus, nice to see that you're ok!" Gohan exclaimed just as Aang appeared on a tree branch. "Appa!" Aang cried before he launched an aerial attack at Tho, blasting him into the water and releasing Momo from his bag.
"We're under attack!" Due shouted. The Swampbender then shot a large wave of water at the Airbender; Katara came beside him and the two repelled the tidal wave. The three benders pushed the wave in the exact same motion.
"Hey, you guys are waterbenders!" Katara gasped in realization.
"You too? That means we're kin!" Due said with a smile, although his statement made Katara cringe. Sokka and the Swampbender they met earlier appeared beside the others. "Hey, Hue! How you been?" Due greeted his friend.
"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual," the bender named Hue replied.
The teens stare at Hue in disbelief while Sokka said, "Hue?"
Moments later, the Gang and the swampbenders were all gathered around a campfire. Their animal friends were rested behind them as they all chowed down on shish-kabobs. "How you like that possum chicken?" Due asked the Gang.
"Not bad," Gohan replied in between chomps.
"Tastes just like arctic hen," Sokka commented before he asked, "So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around," while gesturing to the reptile like creature behind Due.
"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!" Due exclaimed before tossing a piece of fish to Slim.
"Nice, Slim!" Sokka said as he tossed it his own food; it bounced of Slim's muzzle, making him growl at the tribesman, who flinched in fear.
"Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's people food," Due laughed.
"Where'd you say you're from?" Tho asked the Water Tribe siblings.
"The South Pole," Katara answered.
"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?" Tho continued to ask.
"No, it's all ice and snow," Katara stated.
Due and Tho stared at the southerners in shock. "Hmm. No wonder you left," Tho remarked.
"Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here," Sokka said to his friends. "Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp."
"What about the visions?" Katara questioned.
"I told you, we were hungry. I'm eating a giant bug!" the tribesman replied as he held up the huge insect and took a bite out of it.
"But what about when the tree showed me and Gohan where Appa, Icarus, and Momo were?" Aang inquired.
"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count," Sokka denied.
"What about the twister that sucked us down here?" Gohan challenged.
"That's the only thing I can't figure out. How'd you do that, Hue?" Sokka asked the Swampbender.
"I can't do anything like that! I just bender the water in the plants," Hue responded.
Sokka frowned and dismissed the issue. "Well, no accounting for weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp."
Gohan then pulled out the dragon ball he found and looked at it. "I'm just one step closer to finding all seven dragon balls," he thought before looking up. "And if you're out there, bro, I'll find you too!"
Somewhere in the Earth kingdom, the broad swordsman that oppressed General Iroh was walking through the streets alone at night when he heard a strange noise coming from behind him and instinctively brought out his dual swords. "Who's there?" he demanded to know as he turned around. The Red Spirit stepped out of the shadows and approached the swordsman. "Who are you?" he asked the spirit.
"Give me you swords, or I'll take them from you," the Red Spirit simply said.
The broad swordsman raised an eyebrow before laughing at the masked man. "Listen pal, I'm not a fan of people sneaking around and threatening me, but since I'm a nice guy, I'll let it slide if you leave now," he offered.
"It seems you misunderstand what I said… I'm not leaving without your swords!" the Red Spirit hissed.
"You don't know who you're messing with!" the swordsman warned.
"I was just about to say the same thing!" the Red Spirit retorted.
"Well then, bring it on!" the swordsman called out.
"Very well," the Spirit said as he took a fighting stance, which confused the swordsman.
"Aren't you gonna draw your weapon?" he asked the Spirit.
"Don't worry, I'll take your swords when you're done with them," the masked fighter replied. Although he was confused, the swordsman charged at the man who threatened him; he swung his swords at the Red Spirit, but every strike was evaded easily. The Red Spirit then grabbed the wrist of his right arm and twisted it, forcing the man to release one of his blades and allowing him to claim it. "Now according to you, the fight's fair," the Red Spirit spoke. "However, it won't be long before you are defeated." Now ticked off, the swordsman swung his last blade wildly at the masked man, yet the Red Spirit demonstrated superior swordsmanship by deflecting all off his strikes before knocking the sword out of his hand and kicking him to the ground. He pointed the sword at the former swordsman's throat and stated, "You are not worthy to wield such excellent weapons." The Red Spirit then got on one knee and held the swords up; suddenly the Blue Spirit appeared and received the blades presented to him. Both Spirits glanced at the defeated swordsman before fading into the darkness.
A/N: That's another chapter done! Sorry if it's short, I just couldn't bring myself to write some parts since I felt they were irrelevant and that you could just watch the show to know what originally happened. Anyway, this chapter's main purpose was to introduce the 2nd Son of Goku into the Avatar Universe. That's right, Goten's gonna make an appearance, and it'll be pretty soon! Until then, stay tuned more chapters in the future, 'cause I'm not done with this story yet! TTFN AntiHero out!