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: The title basically gives away the identity of the next Avenger. Hope I make you fun for you.

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Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air

(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the Waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the Earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the Firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the Airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)

Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)

Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)

Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.

(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)

Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.

(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)

Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.

(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint 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…

"We have received some intel of mysterious strangers popping up in the Earth Kingdom." Fong informed. All six of them looked hopeful as he said, "There have been rumors about a beast near the Bang Grove Swamp. And of an archer near the Earth Kingdom capital. As for the third, there has been nothing."

Zuko didn't say anything as he pulled out the one thing he was able to hold on to. A dagger with words inscribed on it. Iroh looked to see what he was doing, but said nothing as he knew it was the right thing for them right now. He looked at it before raising it up to his head, took a moment and then cut off his hair. He held the cut part before handing the knife to his uncle. Nikol watched as Iroh took the blade and cut off the bun. When he had, they both dropped the cut pieces into the river and watched them float away.

The rest of the group rushed to see what it was and gasped at the sight. The city of Omashu had been taken over by the Fire Nation and Hydra.

Looking down and turning away from Bumi Aang regrettably said, "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending, huh?"

"Your teacher, will be someone who has completely mastered neutral jing." Bumi informed him. Then the crazed king then told his friend, "You need to find someone who listens and waits before striking."

Azula then said, "She's right. We have more targets now."

"And with those three by their side," Rumlow added, "there's no telling when and where they'll meet up with Stark, Agent Barton or Banner."

"Then we need to send word for the others to come on board." Azula decided. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of their next encounter with the heroes, or her brother and uncle.

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Book Two: Earth

Chapter Four: The Beast of the Swamp

It was around noon in a little Earth Kingdom village and the town was bustling with activity. Villagers were going about their business of work while the more homeless were out in the streets trying to provide for themselves. Especially for Zuko and Iroh. The two fugitives were sitting in the middle of the village doing a routine they did when they came to a town. Their ostrich horse was curled up behind them, Zuko was sitting against it with his head down and Iroh was holding his hat for money from the passing villagers. He watched as many people passed by, even a man pulling a cart that had genuine masks for sale. Looking to his left, Iroh saw a man walking by and held out his hat and said, "Any spare coins for some weary travelers."

The man smiled as he took out a copper coin and tossed it into the hat. Zuko looked to his smiling uncle and griped, "This is humiliating. We're royalty."

Iroh's face fell from his nephew's negativity and even more so when Zuko said, "These people should be giving us whatever we want."

"They will if you ask nicely." Iroh said as his smile returned. Though his nephew was a little sore about the last few days since what happened with Azula and what not. But then he pointed out, "Plus, you once did say that we had to carry everything ourselves now."

Zuko huffed at the reminder, but didn't say anything. Iroh noticed that a young woman in a purple dress, yellow tunic and a fancy hat walking by. Iroh then decided to try a different tactic with this one. Holding out the hat he asked, "Spare change for a hungry old man."

"Oh…" The woman said, feeling for Iroh. Then taking out a coin, the woman dropped it into the hat and she said, "Here you go."

"The coin is appreciated." Iroh gave his thanks. Then he used a little charm by saying, "But not as much as your lovely smile."

That caused Zuko to facepalm while the woman just laughed. She walked away and a new face took her place. A man in casual clothing, a long beard and a pair of broad swords on his back. The man stopped in front of them and offered, "How about some entertainment in exchange for…" He pulled out a gold coin, "A gold piece?"

"We're not performers." Zuko said to discourage the man. But Iroh was doing the opposite by saying, "Not professional performers anyway."

He set the hat down and stood up. When he stood at his full height, Iroh clapsed his hands together, swayed and started to sing…

Iroh: It's a long, long way

to Ba Sing Se

His mouth became comically wide when he sang…

But the girls in the city,

they look so pretty

"Come on." The man said, a little disappointed. Then he reminded, "We're talking about a gold piece right here.

"Let's see some action." The man said then reaching behind him, the man unsheathed his broad swords. It made Zuko look up and his eyes narrowed. Iroh became a little nervous when the man pointed a blade at him and ordered, "Dance."

The man swung the sword against the ground to get Iroh to move as he started singing again…

Iroh: They kiss so sweet

that you've really got to meet

The blades caused sparks when they scraped against the ground.

The girls from Ba Sing Se.

The commotion had drawn the attention of a few people. And while some didn't think much about it, there were a few in the crowd who wasn't too pleased of how the man was treating Iroh. Even Zuko could hardly keep it together and wanted to fight for his uncle. When the man stopped swinging his swords at the ground he started laughing. Then he said, "Nothing like watching a fat man dancing for his dinner.

"Here you go." He said before tossing the coin onto the ground. Iroh picked the coin off the ground while the man started to walk off. The man made a few motions with his arms before bringing the swords together and putting it back in the sheath. Iroh sat back down and said, "Such a kind man."

"If that's kind, I'd hate to see what rude looks like." A voice said, startling the two. They looked up to see a man in a brown robe with short black hair and a beard walking by. The man looked to Iroh and said, "You gotta know when a person is taking advantage of you." Then gesturing to the departing he said, "And that guy was definitely taking advantage of your situation."

"Oh, no. It wasn't like that." Iroh wanted to deny. But the man nodded and said, "Guys like him, will just keep pushing people around." He looked to Zuko and he said, "If it were me. I'd do something about it."

The man then walked off without another word. Zuko couldn't help but think about what the man said. His eyes narrowed as he planned to do something about it.

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Elsewhere, Appa was passing over a large Ban Grove swamp with a growl as he flew. The skies above them were a bit cloudy at the time. It had been a day or so since the group had left Omashu. And while they were upset that things hadn't gone as planned, they knew that it was best to move on. Aang steered Appa while the others sat in the saddle. Momo looked over the edge of the saddle and felt a little spooked by the swamp below them. Sokka was currently sharpening his machete while Thor, Nat, Katara and Steve were going over the map they had. Steve pointed to the spot where they were and said, "According to what Fong's men told us when we left, we should be right over where the reports about our friend say."

"So, which Avenger do you think it is?" Katara asked and looked up from the scroll. Natasha shrugged and said, "I'm not sure. Each of them would have the knowledge on how to survive. It could be any of them."

"If we had Heimdall with us, perhaps he could help us." Thor put in. Katara asked, "Didn't you say that he can see just about everything in the universe?"

"Yes, he can." Thor nodded, "He keeps a watchful eye on what he can."

Aang wasn't paying much attention to the conversation behind him as he was staring down at the swamp below. Ever since entering the skies above it, the young Airbender felt as if something in it were speaking to him. Without meaning to, he directed Appa to descend. Sokka looked up from sharpening his machete and noticed that they were going down. Moving to look over the side he saw that they were getting closer to the ground. Then looking to the driver with a questioning look he asked, "Hey, you taking us down right here for a reason?"

This caused the other four to look around as well. Appa let out a purr like growl as he continued down. Aang didn't seem to hear Sokka's question as they continued to descend. Steve carefully made his way down next to Aang and saw that the boy seemed to be lost in thought. Gently placing a hand on his friend's shoulder he asked, "Aang?"

"Huh? What?" Aang said as he was startled out of his trance-like state. Sokka then asked, "Aang, why are we going down?"

"We're not even near the place where the soldiers told us." Natasha said as she gazed at the map again. Aang wiped his eyes as he said, "I didn't even notice that we were."

"Are you noticing now?" Sokka questioned as they continued to descend. Thor then told the teen, "Easy there, Sokka. Perhaps Aang does have a good reason."

"Is there something wrong, Aang?" Katara asked as they all looked to the Airbender. Aang then said, "I know that this is going to sound weird, guys, but I think that the swamp is…" He found almost hard to describe but said, "Calling out to me."

"I know that it might sound stupid when I ask," Steve asked as he glanced down at the swamp below, "but what exactly does it sound like it's saying to you."

"Well, not so much as it's talking, but more of just, uh…" Aang said, but felt like it wasn't easy to say. Steve then suggested, "Well, we are here, maybe we should land and take a look around."

"You could be right." Thor nodded. Sokka then stupidly asked, "Well, is it telling you where we can get something to eat?"

"Is that really what's on your mind right now?" An aggravated Natasha asked him. Sokka shrugged and said, "Like I've said before, I'm just a simple guy with simple needs."

"Nothing about you is simple." Natasha said with a look. Sokka glared at her but Steve then said, "Okay, enough you two."

"And it's not that. I…" Aang said, answering Sokka's question. With a shake of his head as he didn't fully understand it himself he said, "I think that the swamp wants us to land."

"Well, no offense to the swamp," Sokka started, being the skeptic of the group, "but I don't see any land there to land on."

"We don't necessarily have to land on land to be landing." Thor pointed out. This made them give him looks. Thor then said, "Plus, if this is coming from the Avatar, then perhaps we should pay heed to it."

"Thor's onto something there." Aang said as he recalled, "Bumi said that to learn earthbending, that I would have to wait and listen." Then gesturing to the swamp below he said, "And now I'm actually hearing the earth."

"What, do you want him to ignore it?" Steve asked the teen. Sokka, Katara and Momo all looked over the side as the teen then said, "Yes. Plus, when we get to the place where the soldier told us, then we can get our search started. With backup and all that."

"And I'm not so sure about the swamp." Katara said as she was a little spooked too. She glanced about and said, "There's just something ominous about this place."

They all noticed when Momo ducked down and Appa let out an agitated roar. Using their agitated states as an example Sokka said, "See, even Appa and Momo don't like it here." Then looking to the three Avengers he asked, "And don't tell me that the three of you don't find this place just a little bit creepy."

"I've been to many places in the universe." Thor reminded his friend. With a nod he said, "I've seen lots of creepy stuff."

"Well, if it'll make everyone feel a little better…" Aang started to suggest. They all looked to him and he said, "Then we'll keep going to the spot where the reports are made."

"Okay." Steve said and the others nodded in agreement. Then looking to the swamp below Aang said, "Sorry, swamp. Not right now." Then flicking the reins he said, "Yip-yip."

Appa roared before ascending back higher into the sky. But as the group continued to fly, a tornado suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was coming up behind them fast. Sokka and Thor looked back when they heard the commotion. Sokka then suggested, "You better throw in an extra 'yip', Aang. And do it fast.

"We got to get a move on!" Sokka shouted as the tornado got closer. Aang steered Appa in a serpentine like movement, but the tornado seemed to follow their movements. Katara looked to the Asgardian and asked, "Can you use your storm powers?"

"I'm the god of thunder, not the god of tornados." Thor said as they held on to the saddle. The tornado was getting closer with each passing second. Steve then shouted, "Just try something!"

Thor carefully stood up in the saddle before lifting Mjolnir up high. Summoning a bold of lightning, Thor pointed his hammer and fired the bolt of lightning at it. But since the tornado was made out of wind, it went right through it. Natasha then commented, "Well, that was a bust."

"It's gonna overtake us!" Katara shouted before a yelping Sokka was pulled out of the saddle by the high winds. The teen yelled as he was nearly sucked into the tornado, but both Katara and Natasha grabbed a hold of his hands. Sokka continued screaming while the girls fought to keep him in the saddle. Aang jumped up from Appa's head and into the saddle. Then with a spin, the Airbender created a sphere of air around them that caused the wind around them to calm a little. With the wind dying down, Sokka fell back into the saddle. Aang strained to keep the sphere of air going. But the force of the tornado pulled the group into it and they spun around and around.

Unfortunately, Aang wasn't able to keep the sphere of air going and it shrunk a little. One of Appa's paws stuck outside and it must have disrupted the technique as the sphere of air dissipated. Everyone screamed as they were pulled off of Appa and being thrown by the tornado. Aang, Steve, Sokka, Thor, Katara and Natasha were sent one way while Appa and Momo were thrown in a different direction. Their rough throw caused them to crash through some trees before falling down into the swamp below them. Sokka, Katara, Steve and Natasha all screamed as they fell into the waters below while Aang used his airbending and Thor spun Mjolnir to slow their falls. When they touched down into the water, the others popped their heads out of the murky water. Everyone slightly groaned in pain from the fall and checked to see if they were injured. Aang and Thor helped the others back onto their feet. Then looking about, Aang asked, "Where are Appa and Momo?"

"They're around here somewhere." Steve said as he looked about the swamp. Aang looked to Thor and said, "Let's see if we can see them from up top."

"Aye." Thor nodded before spinning Mjolnir very fast. Aang used his airbending to jump between the trees upward. Thor lifted off from the ground and shot up into the air. His liftoff created a small wave and the three braced themselves.

Aang and Thor reached the top of the tree and grabbed on to a branch. They looked about to see if they could see any sign of the bison and lemur. But they couldn't seem them, nor the tornado and the wreckage that it caused. Aang placed a hand next to his mouth and shouted, "Appa!"

"Momo!" Thor shouted to help. But they didn't hear anything for miles except the sounds of the swamp. Aang then said, "Looks like we'll have to go and look for them."

"Very well." Thor said before they both dropped down. Those down below were keeping an eye out for danger when Thor crashed into the water. A huge wave of water washed over them and knocked them off their feet. Thor looked about as they stood back up and gave him slight glares. Thor then said, "Uh, apologies."

"Never mind, Thor." Steve said as he helped Nat and Katara up. When Katara looked to her brother as he stood up, she pointed to him and said, "Sokka, you've got an elbow leech."

"What?! Where?! Where?!" Sokka shouted as he frantically looked around for it. His sister and the three Avengers looked to him with questioning looks as Katara crossed her arms and asked, "Where do you think?"

Sokka looked down to his right elbow and saw the leech. Gripping it with his other hand he questioned, "Why do things like this keep attaching to me?!"

He was able to pull it off and threw it away, but Katara and Natasha had to duck when it came flying at them. It disappeared in the swamp water and the girls looked to Sokka with slight glares. Aang came swinging down on a vine and touched down in the water. Katara looked between the swinging Air Nomad and Asgardian and asked, "You guys couldn't find them?"

"No." Aang said as he stood back up. He sounded confused when he said, "And the tornado…" He shrugged when he said, "It just disappeared."

"There wasn't even a trail from it." Thor put in. That confused all of them. Natasha shook her head, "That doesn't make sense, in a place like this, a tornado would leave all kinds of destruction in its path."

"Well, that's our second priority." Steve said earning their attention. The super soldier glanced about and said, "We need to find Appa, Momo and whichever Avenger before anything else."

The sound of faint growling came to their ears and they all looked about for the source but couldn't see it. When it looked like there wasn't any danger at the moment, the six moved off to find their friends.

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Elsewhere in the swamp, Appa was caught in a tangle of vines. He had ended up in them after being thrown by the tornado. Momo popped his head up from the saddle with a chitter and looked over the side to see that they were really high. Appa growled as he fought to free himself from the vines. But when he couldn't break free, Momo leapt from the saddle and started chewing through the vines. One by one the vines snapped and one particular vine, Appa was freed but falling to the ground. Momo screeched as they fell and Appa landed with a huge splash. Appa shook off the water in his fur before leaping into the air again. But the bison didn't get far as he was once again ensnared by vines.

Momo flew in front of the bison and Appa roared at the lemur. Getting the message, Momo flew up to one of the vines and started chewing through the vines once again.

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After traveling for an hour, Sokka decided to take a different approach. Aang and Thor stood on one of the roots while the other three stood behind Sokka. Removing his machete from his bag, Sokka started to swing at some vines while saying, "We had better speed things up a little."

"Maybe we should be a little bit nicer to the swamp." Aang suggested, not liking the way that Sokka was treating it. Natasha then said, "Aang, I know that you value all forms of life, but remember that these are plants, they'll grow right back."

"And yet we must remember that sometimes nature can fight back." Thor reminded. Sokka then said, "Guys, these are just plants. They're not gonna do anything to us. They'll just get hacked before growing back." Then sarcastically asking, "Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I hack through them with my machete back and forth at them?"

"But Aang and Thor do have a point, Sokka. Maybe you should listen to them." Katara argued, knowing that as the Avatar and someone who has seen most of the universe, it was advice not to be ignored. She glanced about and said, "Something about this place feels… alive."

"I'm sure that there are lots of things that are alive out here." Sokka pointed out. Steve then said, "No, she's right. There's something about this place. Like we're being watched"

"Well, if don't want to wind up getting eaten by whatever's watching us…" Sokka countered, "we need to find Appa and Momo as fast as we can."

"Fair point." Thor agreed. But then with a shake of his head he then warned, "But I will not needlessly throw my hammer around."

"Ah, come on." Sokka said as if he were about to ask that. But the teen didn't complain as he turned around and started hacking again. Aang and Thor just watched for a moment more before jumping off the root.

Unaware to the group, they were being watched from the shadows by something, two big somethings. The beings watched as Sokka continued to hack through the vines.

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Appa growled as he trudged through the vast swamp, leaving large footprints in the mud as he went along. Momo chittered as he sat in the saddle and kept his head down. Appa soon came by a large root that stood at an arch. Appa stopped to observe the situation. The root wasn't tall enough for him to go under, and Appa already knew what might happen if he went over. And with a shake of his head, he didn't want to get stuck in vines again. Then with a defeated groan, the Appa fell onto his belly with his legs splayed.

Momo, noticing that the bison wasn't moving, went over to where the group's stuff was. After rummaging around, he found what he was looking for. Momo pulled out the bison whistle and blew into it. The whistle gave off a high-pitched sound and it caused Appa to roar at the lemur.

But when Appa wasn't moving, Momo once again blew into it and the sound started again. Appa took action that time by slamming his tail against his back. But since he was protected by the saddle, only Momo was effected. Appa lifted his tail and the lemur dropped the whistle before falling onto his back.

The sound of laughter came to the two's ears. Appa rose to his feet and looked for the sound of the laughing. When Appa and Momo looked up to the top of the root and saw a woman with a shaved head and wearing orange robes sitting there. The sudden appearance of the woman startled them as Appa backed away. The woman then spoke in an accent, "Don't be afraid, my furry friends. I'm not here to harm you."

Both Appa and Momo looked to the woman as she jumped down from the root. When her feet touched down in the mud, the woman then turned to the root and held out her arm. An orange ring appeared in front of her and she amazed the two with what she did next. An orange glow surrounded the root before it started to rise up and it made the arch a little bigger. When it stopped rising up, the glow faded and the ring disappeared. Then stepping back, she gestured for them to go, "I wish you safe travels."

Appa grunted before starting to walk through the raised root. Momo looked to the woman as they went under. When the bison was fully through, Momo looked away for a moment. But when he looked back to her, the lemur was surprised to discover that she had disappeared.

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It was long after dark as the group continued to walk through the swamp. Katara looked in one direction and called out, "Appa!"

"Momo!" Natasha shouted as well. Steve yelled too, "Anyone out there!"

"There's no way that Appa and Momo can hear us and there's no way we'll be able to see them." Sokka pointed out as they walked along a tree root. Then glancing at Steve he said, "And I'm pretty sure that if anyone lived out here, then we would be seeing them by no."

"Then what do you propose then, Smart Guy?" Natasha asked. Sokka then suggested, "Look we're all tired, and it's been a pretty long day. Let's just make camp for the night."

A lot of bugs came buzzing up to the teen and Sokka slapped his face. But when they wouldn't leave him alone, Sokka started swinging his machete at them. The sound of bubbling came from their right before a bubble in the water burst. Not being able to see what it was, Katara became frightened and asked, "What was that?"

"Easy, Katara." Steve said and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sokka agreed with the super soldier and said, "Steve's right. It's nothing to be scared of. It's just swamp gas.

"Look, there's nothing supernatural going on in this place." He assured. But when the swamp gas passed over them. Everyone cringed or held their nose from the smell. Thor acted quickly by spinning Mjolnir fast to blow it back. The group took a deep breath and Aang said, "Thanks, Thor."

A sudden pierce scream caused all six to jump in fright. The kids all grabbed on to Thor while they all looked about for what was making the noise. They couldn't see it, but a little white bird sat on a tree branch before opening its beak and letting out another screech. The bird then flew away into the swamp. Letting go of Thor, Sokka then suggested, "I think we should build a fire."

Then dashing across the root, Sokka came across a branch that was growing up from the root. Removing his machete again, Sokka started to hack through the wood. Aang walked over and said, "Sokka, the longer that we're here, the more I think that you shouldn't be doing that."

"No, I asked the swamp. It said that this was fine." Sokka said, even though they all knew that it wasn't true. Sokka then pretended to make his point by shaking a tree limb and asked, "Right, swamp?"

"No problem, Sokka." He said in a high-pitched voice. Seeing as how he wasn't convincing them, Sokka hacked through the branch.

It was a little while later when the group found shelter in a hollowed-out tree. The tree had no top to it, but it did stand above the swamp water. Katara looked out into the swamp before turning back and asking, "Do any of you guys get the feeling that we're still being watched?"

"Kind of." Natasha said as she too felt like something was out there. They all seemed a little on edge about the spooky swamp. Sokka scoffed and said, "Please. We're all alone out here."

He swatted at a buzzing fly with his machete. The fly suddenly started glowing brightly and everyone shielded their eyes. The glowing bug then drifted up into the trees and a multitude of eyes were revealed. Aang became worried and said, "Except for all of them."

"Uh, yeah. Except for them." Sokka agreed as they all stuck close together. Thor then stood up and said, "You lot sleep for a while. I'll take the first watch."

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Elsewhere in the swamp, Appa was trying to get some rest on a tree limb above the water. In the saddle, Momo chittered as he could hear all the croaking, tweeting and other noises of the swamp. The anxious lemur scurried from one end of saddle to Appa's tail and back again. Appa raised his ear to the sounds and opened his eyes. Having had enough of the noises, Appa let out a roar that caused everything close by to be quiet.

Even Momo calmed down when he couldn't hear the noises anymore. Then curling up in the saddle, the lemur tried to sleep. But a sound caused the lemur to wake up again.

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Back at the groups campsite, the embers of the fire started to die out. Thor was still keeping watch when he began to tire. He glanced to his sleeping friends as they all rested back-to-back. When the last of the embers died out, Thor suddenly got the feeling that they were not alone. He moved to the other side of the hollow tree and looked to see if he could spot what it was.

Bu had he been looking on the other side, he would have noticed something slithering up to his sleeping friends, and himself. Vines started to wrap around each of the group and they only slightly noticed. From his spot, Thor felt something wrapping around his ankle and looked down. He gasped when he saw the vine climbing upwards and tried to pull away, but was caught in them. Looking to the others he shouted, "Wake up! Wake up!"

Each of the group woke up with a yell just as the vines pulled them into the darkness of the swamp. Even Thor was yanked away and couldn't reach his hand out for his hammer. Sokka, on the other hand, was able to pull his machete out and plunge it into the ground. Katara, Aang, Steve, Natasha and Thor all yelled as they were pulled away.

Sokka fought against his odd bindings and was able to cut the vines. The vine pieces fell to the ground. Sokka looked about for the others and more of the vines. He found the vines first as they came at him. Sokka hacked at the vines and was able to cut a few of them. He tried to run when more came, but one of them snagged onto his ankle and pulled him down. Sokka turned and cut the vine before running again.

The Water Tribe teen ran before tripping and tumbling down the root. He splashed down into the water. Sokka looked up before quickly getting back up and running when the vines launched themselves into the water. Sokka ran off to find the others.

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Steve yelped as the vines lifted him off the ground and started to wrap him completely. Removing the vibranium shield from his back by the rim, the super soldier used it to slice through the vines holding him. Steve yelled as he fell to the ground. The super soldier grunted in pain when he hit the ground, but didn't slow down as he ripped the vines around his legs.

When he stood back up, Steve saw a multitude of vines coming at him from the ground or from the trees. Leaping out of the way of a few, Steve threw his shield and the vibranium shield sliced through the vines before bouncing off the trees and slicing through even more vines. Steve grunted when a large collection of vines knocked him off his feet. Quickly rolling backwards onto his feet, Steve was able to reacquire his shield and jumped high over the vines before bringing his shield down to cut through them. The plants fell to the ground and Steve kept a look out for anymore.

When he didn't see anymore vines coming, Steve placed the shield on his back again before looking around. Since he was fighting the vines, Steve couldn't remember which way he had been pulled. Taking a chance, Steve ran off into the swamp.

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Katara struggled against the vine that was wrapped around her. Moving to where she could move her hand, she brought out the water in her satchel and cut through the vine. She gasped when she saw multiple vines coming her way and used her waterbending skills to cut through them. She fluidly swung her arms and guided the water to slice through the plants as they came at her. Though a few latched onto her, Katara was able to slice through them with her waterbending techniques. When no more came at her, Katara ran off into the mists of the swamp.

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Natasha still struggled against the vines wrapped around her. She saw a stick sticking out of the ground and grabbed a hold of it. She was able to pull herself against the pull of the vines before the stick broke from the strain. Maneuvering the stick through the vines she was able to cut through them. The vines were pulled away from her and Natasha got back up on her feet. The vines shot towards her and Nat responded by whacking them away with the stick. Some of the vines were cut, but others were just knocked back from the swings. The spy jumped out of the way of some vines and started to climb up a tree. She decided to try a different tactic against them. The vines followed her as she made a few twists and turns. They continued to follow her as she went around roots, over and under branches and even over, under and around the vines that were already taut.

When she felt that it was enough, Natasha stopped and turned around. The vines were coming right at her when they stopped from being tied up. They fell to the ground as did the other sections of the vines. Seeing as they weren't bothering her anymore, Natasha held on to the stick before running off to find her friends.

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Thor punched into the ground and it caused the vines to snap. Standing on his feet again, Thor then stretched out his hand and waited a moment. Another volley of vines were coming at him. But Thor smirked as Mjolnir came into his hand. Then spinning Mjolnir really fast, Thor was able to knock back the vines. He wanted to use a bolt of lightning, but something told him not to do it here.

Thor then decided to use Mjolnir to make a retreat. His hammer was able to pull him away from the vines. When he landed, Thor looked around and waited to see if anymore vines would be attacking. But when they didn't, Thor looked about and cursed himself for getting so far away from his friends.

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Aang had managed to stand up on his own two feet, but couldn't break free of the vines. But even though he was stuck, Aang was able to maneuver his arms to create an air sphere around himself that made the vines expand around it instead. When the sphere, fell, Aang jumped out of the way when vines came back in tight. Jumping into the trees, Aang ran along the branches while the vines gave chase. But as he jumped towards another branch, a vine was able to snag his foot and drag him back down to the ground.

Aang grunted when he landed in the water, but used a palm thrust to blast him away from the vine. The blast of air sent him sailing through the air before Aang was able to right himself and land on the roots of a tree. Looking about, he couldn't see any sign of his friends and called out just as the light of day chased the mists away, "Guys?"

With a sigh, Aang started to make his way through the swamp.

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Not far from Appa and Momo, someone was out and about when they came across the bison's foot prints. A man with a leaf hat, green loincloth, leafy arm bands, a small moustache and wooden glasses, poked the foot print. Glancing back he said, "Due, Tho. Come and take a look at this."

"What?" Two other swamp men said and came over. One was a slightly chubby swamp man and the other was a much skinnier fellow. The skinny swamp man, Due, looked between the two and asked, "What'd you fellas reckon makes a track like that?"

"Don't know, Due." The larger one, Tho, said with a shrug. Then poking around the footprint he said, "It's something with six legs. It's got pretty big'uns, too."

"Leaves a nice wide trail to follow." Due said and looked to where the footprints lead. They both looked to the older gentleman and Due asked, "You gonna come huntin' with us, Stu?"

"Not this old feller." Stu shook his head. But as he turned away he wished them luck, "But you boys have fun out there."

"Ok." Due and Tho said as he walked off. The two piled into a canoe and followed after the trail from the water with a few other swamp men behind them.

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Appa and Momo continued to search for their friends in the swamp. But this time they stuck to the water ways with Appa swimming in the swamp water. Momo sat on the bison's head when the sound of buzzing came to his ears. The lemur looked about for the bug and started following it around with his eyes. Momo chittered as the bug buzzed around him. When the bug flew away from Appa and Momo, the lemur opened his wings and took off after it. Momo followed after the bug and was able to catch it when it stopped on a log. But when Momo started to eat it, the log turned out to be a cat-fish gator that rose its head from the water with a roar.

Momo screeched in fear and took flight to get away from it. Momo quickly flew back to Appa who caught the cat-fish gator in his mouth. The screeching Momo landed on Appa's head and looked at the wriggling reptile in his friend's mouth. After a second or so, Appa finally spit the cat-fish gator out. It fell into the swamp water before resurfacing and hissing at the two. Momo returned it with a glare and a hiss of his own. But the cat-fish gator turned tail and left them alone.

When he was sure he was gone, Appa glanced up and growled up at the lemur as if berating Momo. Momo's ears just dropped in slight sadness and Appa kept going through the swamp.

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In another part of the swamp, Katara walked into a different area. She was very worried about her friends as she called out, "Aang?" Turning head in another directions she shouted, "Sokka? Steve? Thor? Nat?"

But when she turned around, she saw a figure standing in the mists of the swamp. Katara walked over to them and asked, "Hello?" When they didn't answer she called out again, "Hello. Can you help me?"

But when she got close enough, the figure started to look familiar to her. She noticed that they were wearing Southern Water Tribe garments. But when she got a closer look at the figure, even though they had their back to her, a smile grew on Katara's face as she asked, "Mom?

"Mom!" Katara shouted as she ran up to her mother. Tears flowed from her eyes as she became joyous to see her mother again. But when she touched her mother's shoulder and moved to see mother's face, "I can't believe…!"

She stopped to see that it wasn't her mother, but instead a small Ban Grove Tree stump. Katara gasped as what she had seen was only an illusion of the swamp. Katara broke down in sadness and dropped to her knees. But she didn't remain that way for long as a voice said, "What is the matter, my child?"

Katara looked about when she saw someone coming through the mists. She saw a woman with a shaved head and wearing orange robes walking up to her. Katara then asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is not important, dear Katara." The woman said. Katara's eyes opened wide to her calling her by her name. The young Waterbender assumed her stance and the woman put up a calming hand, "Do not worry, Katara. I am not your enemy."

"Then how do you know my name?" Katara said, not dropping her guard. The woman gave a soft smile and she said, "I know just about as much as your friend's friend Heimdall."

"You know of Heimdall?" Katara asked, dropping her stance. The woman shrugged and said, "To some extent. I don't know him personally, but I do know that he does his job well."

"So, are you a friend of Thor's?" Katara questioned, curious to know. The woman however, shook her head and said, "I unfortunately don't get to meet with him. But a student of mine will someday."

"What does that mean?" Katara asked as it confused her. But the woman shook her head again and said, "That's not important right now. Right now, we're talking about you." Then she asked, "I know that you are bearing great sadness, Katara."

"Kind of." The young Waterbender admitted. The woman then said, "But I also sense great anger within your heart as well. For the man who took your mother away."

"Yes." Katara said as she looked down and clenched a fist. The woman came forward and placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. Katara looked the woman in the eye as she said, "Learn to let the pain flow and then let it go. Only then will you find balance."

"Huh?" Katara asked before a splash made her look away. When she turned back to the woman, she gasped to find her gone. Katara looked about for the woman, but when she couldn't see her anywhere, she quickly made her way back into the swamp.

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"Guys!" Steve yelled as he walked through another part of the swamp. When he didn't see any sign of them, the super soldier climbed up into a tree. When he was high enough to try to see them, he shouted again, "Guys!"

"Steve." A voice said, startling him. Steve looked about before seeing movement in the mists. Jumping down from the tree, Steve ran towards it and stopped when he saw a familiar figure standing in the mists. Peggy Carter, in her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform stood on a root. She looked as she did when Steve disappeared from the world. Steve walked up to her and asked, "Peggy? Is it you?"

"Steve." Was all that Peggy would say. Steve climbed up on the root and stood before his love. But when Steve placed a hand on her shoulder, his gaze of wonder became one of confusion as she seemed to have disappeared. The world around him had changed and showed himself at an airport. Steve at first thought that he was back on his Earth, but the sounds of the swamp came to his ears and told him otherwise. The sound of metallic feet landing made the super soldier look behind him. He saw Tony Stark in his Iron Man armor, only this one was looking a bit different, standing there. Iron Man walked up to him and the helmet retracted to reveal an angry looking Stark. Jabbing a finger at Steve he said, "You kept this from me!"

"What?" Steve asked as he was a little confused. Tony then lifted his hand and charged a repulsor blast. The light became so bright that it caused Steve to cover his eyes and take a step back. He yelled when he lost his footing and fell into the swamp water below. He sat up with a gasp before looking about. He could see that he was once again in the swamp. Though questioning what he saw, Steve got up before moving off to find his friends.

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In another part of the swamp, Sokka continued to hack through plants as he shouted, "Aang!"

He hacked through of the vines even though they weren't moving and muttered, "Stupid swamp." When some fell into the water he whacked at them and insulted the place, "Dumb ugly vines!"

He walked into a more open area before placing his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Katara!" Then letting out a groan of frustration he shouted, "Guys!

"You think you're so tough, huh?" Sokka questioned the Ban Grove Swamp before trying to fight his way through. But he ended up tripping and fell into the swamp water. When he picked himself up, Sokka looked up to see a beam of light coming down from the trees. But who he saw floating in the air really surprised him. The spiritual form of Princess Yue and Sokka asked, "Yue?"

The Southern Water Tribesman walked forward and the two looked into each other's eyes. But Sokka tried to fight it by shaking his head and saying, "This is just a trick of the light. Swamp gas." Then turning away from the spiritual form of his love interest he continued to play it off, "I probably hit my head running away last night. I'm going crazy."

Then he looked back to see if what he was seeing was still there. But he became a little nervous when she was not only still there, but then said, "You didn't protect me."

Her words echoed not only in the swamp but in Sokka's head. The teen tried to rub his eyes and when he looked again he saw that she was gone. Her words made Sokka think about that night and what happened. A little of the guilt returned and Sokka couldn't help but feel like it was his fault again. He sighed before turning around, only to find 'Yue' standing in front of him. Sokka yelped as he fell to the ground. He landed in the swamp water before looking to Yue, but found that she had disappeared. He looked about the swamp to see if she was still there, but couldn't. Sokka only glared as he stood back up and took out his machete.

"Crazy things in this swamp, am I right?" A voice asked from the side. Sokka yelped in fright and looked to his right and saw a man leaning against a tree. The man had short black hair, dark colored skin and wearing what looked like green nomad clothes. Sokka arched a brow and questioned, "Who are you?"

"Just a friend." The man said as he moved away from the tree. He then looked Sokka in the eye and said, "I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't give in to your guilt."

"Huh?" Sokka asked as he was a little confused. The man then said, "There is something weighing heavy on your mind is there not?"

"Yeah." Sokka admitted as he thought about it. Then he said, "Let's just say that I was supposed to protect someone, a friend, and I couldn't."

"Well, know that they would at least be proud of you caring. And if it was there choice, then they knew that they were making their own choice for the greater good." The man said. It didn't make Sokka feel any better and the man could see it. He walked up and said, "Look, stop worrying about something you couldn't control. Your friend wouldn't want you to feel bad forever, right."

"I guess not." Sokka said as it did make sense to him. The man then said, "And I'm sure that they would want you to go on in life without weighing yourself down with all this guilt."

"Hmm." Sokka shrugged and nodded. A small smile came on his face and he said, "Thanks."

"No problem." The man said when the chirp of a bird made Sokka look up. But when he looked back, he was surprised to see that the man had vanished. With a shake of his head, Sokka started trekking through the swamp again.

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Thor kept a firm grip on his hammer as he sloshed through the swamp water. He walked up onto a root that stood up from the water and glanced around. When he looked in front of him, Thor gasped when he saw Loki standing in front of him. The older brother raised his hammer again before pointing it forward and questioning, "Loki, is that you?"

"I don't know." 'Loki' said with a shrug. Then he asked, "Can't you tell?"

Suddenly, the mists around the island came around him and Thor shielded himself from them. When he looked again, Thor was shocked by what he saw. He found himself standing in Asgard, but his home was set ablaze. Thor looked about and questioned, "What has happened?"

"Look around you, Odinson." A disembodied voice said. Thor looked for the source, but couldn't see anything. But when he looked under an archway, he saw a sickly green light in it. But before he could take a step forward, a saw a shadow being casted over him. He looked down and saw that it was a crown of horns. When he looked behind him, Thor suddenly found himself back in the Ban Grove Swamp. Thor took a deep breath before continuing onward through the swamp.

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"Guys!" Natasha shouted as she carefully made her way across the high tree branches. She had been searching for the others for a few hours now, but didn't seem to get any closer to them. Nat was about to turn on a branch to her right before a voice said on her left, "Nat."

"Clint?" Natasha said as she recognized the voice. She looked in the direction and saw something standing on the branches not too far from her. She quickly made her way over to the branches and landed in a super hero pose on one. When she looked up, Natasha found herself face to face with her friend/fellow hero. She saw that he was wearing an archers outfit, but it was more customized for the Earth Kingdom. Nat then asked, "Clint? Is that really you?"

"Heh, when boars fly." 'Clint' said with a chuckle, which confused her. 'Clint' then readied an arrow before firing it up into the sky. Natasha looked up to follow the arrow, but nothing was in the sky. When she looked to her friend again he was gone too. Natasha huffed in annoyance and said, "I've had just about enough of this swamp."

Then carefully making her way back down, Nat vowed to try and find all her friends as fast as she could.

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"Katara! Steve! Natasha! Thor!" Aang shouted as he walked through his part of the swamp. He carefully made his way through the trees before shouting, "Sokka! Appa! Momo!"

He came to a hill and looked up and thought he saw someone. He called out, "Hello? Who are you?"

He took a closer look to see a young girl in a white dress standing next to a boar with wings. The girl started giggling and the boar took off into the swamp. The girl suddenly turned and started running off as well. Aang called out to her, "Hey! Come back!"

Using his airbending, he was able to jump to the top of the hill. But when he reached the top, he couldn't see any sign of her. The sound of giggling made him turn around to see her standing on the branch of a tree. Aang then jumped towards the tree and swung on some vines to chase after her. But when he passed over the branch, he saw that she wasn't there. The giggling came from behind again and he looked to see her running across the ground. Turning his vine around, Aang swung to the ground. Dropping to the ground, Aang ran after her. But when he passed between to tree branches, the giggling came from above and it made him look up. The girl was standing on a branch before running across it. Aang huffed in irritation before jumping up and running across the branch. The Airbender hoped that when he caught up to her, whether he caught her or she stopped on her own, he could get some answers.

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Appa and Momo continued to paddle down one of the many water ways of the swamp. But when they saw three boats filled with swamp men in front of them, Appa stopped and the two looked at the men. The two sides just stared at each other. Momo chittered and Tho licked his lips from the potential meal. Due looked up on Appa's head and saw Momo before asking to his friend, "Looky right there, Tho. Is that little hairy fellow riding on that thing?"

"No, that's what folks call a lemu. Saw one of 'em at a traveling show one time. Real smart, they say. Tho said from the back. The two sides continued to stare at each other. Due then said, "Bet that he tastes a lot like possum-chicken."

"You think everything tastes like possum-chicken, Due." Tho said with a role of his eyes. Due shrugged before turning his attention on Appa and Momo. Getting on his feet he said, "Come on now, fellas. Just a little closer. Nice and easy."

Then he said something really stupid, "Nothing to worry about now. We're just fixin' eat ya."

Appa turned with a growl and started running back down the way he came. Tho looked at Due and questioned, "What'd you say that fer?"

"Well, we are!" Due pointed out. Tho facepalmed before saying, "Yeah, but you don't have to go and tell them that!"

"Well, how's I supposed to know they'd understand me?" Due innocently asked. Tho then shouted, "Come on! They're gettin' away!"

Due stood up on his legs as did the other two at the front of their boats. Then waving an arm back and forward, Due and the other two started to bend the water. Then spinning their arms in in circular motions, they made the swamp boats speed after the fleeing duo.

Appa was able to bound across the water to try and get away from the Swampbenders. But it wasn't long when the hunters caught up to them with their waterbending. The chase continued through the swamp as the benders continued to move the water while Appa bounded through the swamp.

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Steve made his way through the swamp when he saw someone standing on top of a hill. When he saw who it was, a smile grew on his face and he ran to them.

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Thor walked onto the side of a hill and looked about for any sign of his friends. He huffed before setting Mjolnir down and took a few steps away. He looked back when he saw Steve running up to him.

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Natasha was walking backwards on a hill when she bumped into someone. Her and the person let out feminine screams and she turned to find herself staring at Katara. Both girls took a moment to calm themselves.

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The girl continued to laugh as she ran through the swamp. Aang continued to chase her as he bounded across the marshy grounds after her. He ran by a few trees before pushing some hanging moss back. Then he thought he saw the girl standing on top of a hill. He was really confused when he asked, "Who are you?"

Then jumping over a tree branch, Aang ran really fast towards the girl. He reached a hand out to grab her shoulder. But when she looked back, Aang saw not only that it was Katara, but Nat was there as well. All three gasped when they saw Aang coming and the Airbender crashed into them. They fell down the hill and bumped into Steve and Thor as they tumbled.

Near the bottom of the hill, Sokka heard something coming towards him and turned to face it. But he didn't notice it coming from behind him as all five of his friends knocked into him from behind. They all slide down what turned out to be a giant root before coming to a stop at the bend. Sokka was the first to get up and hysterically question, "What do you guys think you're doing? I've been looking all over for you!"

"Well, I've been looking for you guys as well." Natasha shot back. Katara then said, "Well, I've been wandering around looking for you."

"I was chasing some girl." Aang said before using his airbending to stand again. Katara then asked, "What girl?"

"And what did she look like?" Steve asked as he and Aang helped Katara onto her feet. Thor helped Nat while Aang shrugged and said, "I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress."

"Hard to think that there's someone like that out here." Thor said as he found it odd. Sokka then sarcastically said, "Well, there must be a tea party out here, and we just didn't get our invitations."

Some of the group gave him deadpanned looks while Katara looked a little sad. Nat then asked, "Katara, what's wrong."

"For a moment I thought I saw our mom." She said. This surprised the group, as they knew the subject of their mother was a hard subject for Katara. Even Sokka seemed to quiet down a little. He then said, "Look, we were all just scared and a hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here."

"You saw something, too?" Katara asked, wondering what it was her brother saw. Sokka looked down, turned away and said, "I thought I saw Yue."

"And you guys?" Natasha asked her fellow Avengers. Steve said, "I thought that I saw Peggy."

"Your love from a past life?" Sokka asked the super soldier. Steve nodded to confirm it. Aang looked to Thor and asked, "And you?"

"I do not know exactly what it was I saw." Thor said as he thought about it. Aang then said, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"I thought I saw Clint." Natasha revealed. They all looked to her as the archer had a great friendship with the spy. Sokka then said, "But these things doesn't prove anything."

Turning to them he said, "Look, we think about them all the time. We've been seeing people we lost or miss."

"What about me?" Aang asked, making them all look to him. Then he said, "I didn't know the girl that I saw." Then he made a good point, "And all of our visions led to this exact spot."

"Okay, so where is right here, exactly? The middle of the swamp?" Katara asked, asking a good question. They all looked about as Aang said, "Yeah. We're at the heart of it. The very center of the swamp."

"That's a pretty big tree there." Thor said in awe, "It's even bigger than the tree in the middle of Asgard."

"It's been calling us here." Aang said as he thought about it. He pieced it together and said, "I knew that it was calling out to me."

"It's just a tree." Sokka argued, feeling that it was the opposite of what Aang was saying. He raised his arms up as he said, "It can't call to anyone."

"Seriously?" Steve questioned and looked to the Water Tribe teen. Then gesturing to the six of them he asked, "After everything that's happened so far, you can't open your mind to this sort of thing?"

"Well, what about what's been watching us?" Sokka countered. Then he said, "For the last time, there is nothing after us out here and there's nothing magical happening here."

But he was proven wrong when a giant shape burst out of the water next to them. All six cried out in terror from what they saw. They all huddled together from the sight of a giant monster. They all stared up at the beast as it had green skin and a brown wooden mask for a face. The beast lashed out an arm and the six scattered to avoid being hit. While Aang, Katara and the Avengers ran for higher ground, a screaming Sokka ran from it and it lashed out its arm. The arm stretched out before grabbing Sokka and yanking him back. Aang, Steve and Thor ran around to the other side of the beast as it slammed Sokka back down into the water. The three watched in shock as it continued to slam a screaming Sokka into the water. Steve looked to the two and said, "Aang, see if you can talk to it if it's a spirit. Thor, you might want to summon your hammer."

"Right." Thor nodded. Aang nodded too, "On it."

Aang forward while Thor held out his hand. Aang jumped onto the root and sent a vertical blast of air at the creature. It knocked into the hand of the monster and a screaming Sokka fell into the water. Aang then said, "Listen, I'm the Ava-"

But he didn't get a chance to finish when the creature launched its other arm at him. He stood in shock from the reach of its arm and it knocked him away. Steve shouted, "Aang!"

The Airbender was sent flying away as Mjolnir finally came back into Thor's hand. Spinning his hammer really fast, Thor then leapt into the air before he threw the hammer at the beast. The hammer smacked into the creature and knocked it back, inadvertently pulling the still bound Sokka along. Sokka yelped as he was yanked back. But he quickly sat back up and started hacking at the vines. But as he hacked them away, he and the others noticed when more vines attached themselves to the creature. Natasha then said, "Since it's not a spirit, what do we do now?"

"Hit it until it leaves?" Sokka suggested as he moved out of the way from another swing of the beasts arm. Cap pulled put on his helmet before throwing his shield forward. The vibranium projectile cut through both of the creature's arms and the mass amounts of vines fell into the water.

Thor resummoned Mjolnir into his hand before spinning it fast again. With a good swing, the crackling hammer was sent flying to the vine monster. The blow caused the monster to fall onto its back and Thor leapt onto it. But before he could do anything, a loud roar echoed through the swamp. Everyone looked around before something crashed down into the swamp a yard or two away from them. They all became frightened as the sounds of another beast came from it. But when the beast stepped into the light, Steve, Thor and Natasha all gasped to see that it was the Hulk!

The Hulk then let loose another roar that shook the swamp. When the roar ended, the gamma beast looked at the six with a snarl and charging towards them. Thor moved out of the way when Hulk tried to land a punch. While the Hulk only punched the air, Thor landed on a tree root and prepared himself. He shouted, "Calm yourself, Banner! We are not your enemy!"

But the Hulk's only response to that was another roar as he leapt at the Asgardian. Thor grunted when his big green friend rammed into him and knocked Thor into the swamp water. Katara maneuvered her wrist and caused a tendril of water to wrap around the Hulk's wrist. Natasha then warned, "Oh, you shouldn't have done that."

"Uh." Katara said in fear when the Hulk turned his gaze on her and used his great strength in a tug to easily break the tendril of water. Katara then raised her hands to create a large wave of water. The wave splashed over the Hulk and Katara acted fast by using a chilling breath to freeze the Hulk. The Hulk groaned as his body froze solid.

But they weren't out of the woods when the Swamp Creature knocked the Waterbender down with a punch of vines. Sokka came running up to it and got a hit on it, cutting some of the vines. The creature was able to heal itself before grabbing the teen and then quickly moving through the murky water. Katara came surfing up to the Swamp Creature before launching a spear of water at it. The blade of water took a huge chunk out of the Swamp Creature and its arm with Sokka fell down. Vines started to regrow from the inside and it made Katara and the others nervous. But their troubles grew when Hulk was able to witness the attack even though he was frozen. With a roar he broke free of his containment and charged at the Waterbender. Katara cried out as he came barreling towards her. But before Hulk could lay a hand on her, Mjolnir shot past her and struck Hulk in the face. Hulk landed in the water not too far from her and started to get back up on his feet.

Katara looked back to see the three Avengers running up to her and Cap said, "We'll handle Bruce. You guys take on the Swamp Thing."

"You know that Swamp Thing is from DC, right?" Natasha questioned. Steve huffed before saying, "We just need to figure out a way to calm him down."

"Heads up!" Sokka shouted as he was still in the monster's grip. Katara created a wall of ice between the Swamp Creature when it tried to strike at them. Then running around the wall of ice before pushing a wave of water against it. The Swamp Creature was knocked back and Sokka screamed as he was dragged along for the ride.

The three Avengers ran off to engage the Hulk while Katara continued to battle the Swamp Creature. She saw that it still had her brother and tried a different tactic by bending the water away by parting it. But as she ran up to attack it, the Swamp Creature created another arm out of vines from its gut and knocked her away.

A running Aang watched as the screaming Katara was sent flying through and stopped himself. But it turned out to be a mistake on his part as when he looked to the Swamp Creature, it punched him away as well. When the two were down and out of the way, the Swamp Creature traded its belly arm for the one holding Sokka and pulled that arm into itself. Sokka gave a choked scream as he was slowly pulled in but tried to fight his way out.

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Elsewhere, Appa and Momo were still on the run from the Swampbenders as they still chased them. The bison bounded through the swamp while the Swampbenders continued to use waterbending to chase them. They were able to follow the bison's movements even when he went through the twists and turns of the swamp. The Swampbenders were soon starting gain on the two as they continued to go through the swamp.

But luckily, Momo took up action by throwing the group's stuff at the Swampbenders. A crown of sorts hit Due in the head, and though it hurt when he clutched his head, the Swampbender was able to keep on bending the water to make the boat go forward. Momo picked up one of Sokka's rolled up shirts before throwing it at them. The shirt hit a swamp man and it caused the boat to swivel. Tho then became confused and questioned, "Now what would a lemu need a shirt fer?"

The out-of-control boat crashed and the two boatmen screamed as they fell into swamp water. The two boatmen tumbled before falling fully into the water. Momo chittered in laughter while Appa kept on running. But when Appa ran under a tree, Momo gasped in pain when he slammed into a tree branch. When the lemur fell down, Tho was able to catch the lemur in a sack. Tho tightened the bag before setting it down on the floor of the boat. Appa roared as he continued to run through the swamp with the Swampbenders still chasing after him.

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Captain America, Thor and Natasha all stood before the Hulk as he once again stood on his own two feet. The towering beast snarled at the three before charging forward. Thor was able to parry a punch from one hand before switching with Cap and holding him steady when Hulk tried to punch him with his other hand. The blow did cause the two to stumble backwards, but Natasha jumped at the Hulk from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. The Hulk tried to reach for Natasha to remove her, but Thor quickly punched the Hulk's legs. It made the behemoth fall to his knees. But Hulk glared at Thor before uppercutting him away.

Hulk once again then tried to reach for Natasha, but she was quick to let go and roll away when the Hulk tried to backhand her. Cap then tossed his shield under the Hulk's legs and shouted, "Nat!"

The spy was able to grab hold of the shield and knocked away the Hulk's hand when it reached for her. But the Hulk was able to grab onto the shield before yanking it away from her. Natasha took a step back and held out her hands in a nonaggressive manner. She slowly backed away as Hulk came closer. She then said, "Easy there, Bruce. It's us. Your friends."

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Sokka fought to free himself from the Swamp Creature's grasp by cutting the vines around him with his machete. Aang suddenly came riding in on his Air Scooter and went around the monster when it tried to smash him with its arm. Aang moved around the Swamp Creature before stopping on his back. Then holding his arms out wide, Aang created a whirlwind that twisted the vines of the creature into a towering formation. The Airbender then jumped off as it was a part of the plan he and Katara had come up with earlier.

Katara was quick to follow up by running onto a root and once again manipulating her breath to where it would freeze. It froze the parts around Sokka and the teen's teeth chattered from the cold feeling. With a downward motion of her hands, Katara was able to break her brother away from the beast before using a jet of water to not only push her brother through the monster, but also create a giant hole in it.

The Swamp Creature was able to reform itself again. It plunged its arms into the water before standing straight and taking more vines into it. When it had completely come together again, the Swamp Creature moved forward to attack again. But Aang was quick to come back and used his airbending to push the beast face first into the water. The Swamp Creature quickly rose back up while swatting Aang away. Sokka and Katara watched as the screaming Airbender was sent fly through the trees.

Katara became angry from the way it kept treating her friends and glared at the Swamp Creature. Waving her arms in circular motions, she was able to send large round blades of water at the monster. The water sliced through the Swamp Creature's body and didn't give it anytime to regenerate. On a particular cut, if one look, it turns out there was a lot more to the monster than meets the eye. Katara kept sending blades of water at it and another cut revealed that a figure stood in the monster before he made more vines cover him up again. But Sokka saw it that time and shouted, "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!"

Katara spun before sending a really big blade of water at the creature.

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The Hulk's march to her halted as the towering behemoth stopped in front of her. Captain America and Thor were about to go help her when she gave them a look saying that she would be alright. Nat then held out a hand to him and said, "It's okay. The sun's getting real low."

Hulk looked down at his hand before starting to move it to hers. The other two watched in amazement and thought that Hulk would turn back into Bruce any second. But then they heard Sokka shout, "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!"

The Hulk looked angry again before leaping back to the others. Cap, Nat and Thor all started to run after him. The super soldier was quick to bend down and grab the shield as they ran.

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Katara's blade of water cut clean through the creature's wooden face and body of vines. The bottom of the mask fell off before the cut portion of the monster fell into the murky water as well. But it didn't seem like it was through yet as more vines from the bottom of the Swamp Creature lashed out at them. Katara and Sokka gasped as it grabbed her and held her up high. But they didn't have to worry for long as Aang dropped down from the trees while spinning before unleashing a huge wave of air at the creature. The blast of air knocked all the vines to reveal a man in a really small leafy loincloth and an interesting style of shaggy hair. Aang stood at the ready with an Airbending stance while he questioned, "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us? And why is the Hulk with you?"

A roar made them all look up as the Hulk dropped down between Aang and the swamp man. The angry beast huffed as it looked down at the Airbender. But before the Hulk or Aang could do anything, a voice behind the Hulk said, "Wait."

They all looked to see the man emerge from the vines. Looking up at Hulk he said, "It's okay."

The other three ran up to join them and noticed that the fighting had stopped, and that there was a plump swamp man where the Swamp Creature used to be. The man then said, "I didn't call you here." Then smiling at the Hulk he said, "And my giant, green friend here's been helpin' me defend the swamp.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" The man asked. Steve removed his helmet as he said, "And we will. But first…"

He looked to Natasha and she walked up to the Hulk. Holding out her hand again she waited. Hulk was a little hesitant at first, but when he looked at the swamp man who nodded, he took a deep breath. The Hulk ran his fingers against Nat's skin all the way down to her hand. It was then that Hulk started to change. He let out a groan as he started to shrink down and his skin changed from green to white again. For the first time since they had been separated, Steve, Thor and Natasha stood before Bruce Banner once again. Bruce felt a little woozy from the change and shook his head to clear it. His pants looked almost as if they were a bit too loose for him. Looking at his three friends he asked, "Steve, Nat, Thor? Is that you?"

"It really is us, Banner." Thor said before giving the scientist a hearty embrace. When they broke the hug, Steve asked, "How much do you remember?"

"Uh, bits and pieces actually." Bruce nodded. Pointing to the three he said, "I remember us fighting against Hydra, we were sucked into their machine, coming here, and somehow being split up."

"And since then?" Natasha asked. Bruce then said, "I know that I've been basically living in the swamp since I got here and only turning into the Hulk when it mattered the most."

"Like when?" Sokka asked. It was then Bruce noticed the children and asked, "Who are your new friends?"

"Bruce…" Thor said as he moved behind the children. Placing his hands on the sibling's shoulders he said, "Meet Katara, Aang and Sokka. They are children of this world and are helping Aang to master all four of the elements."

"Master the four elements? I've only seen waterbending and a little of earth and firebending." Bruce asked as he was confused. Aang stepped up and said, "I'm the Avatar."

"He has the ability to bend all four of them." Katara added, "He's the bridge between our world and the Spirit World."

"And judging by your clothes, you are…" Bruce started to say. Aang nodded and said, "I'm an Airbender." But then he sadly looked down as he said, "The last Airbender."

"Wha-" Bruce asked, feeling a little confused and sympathetic at the same time. Steve then said, "The Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads a long time ago. Aang's the only one left at the moment."

"But now back to you." Aang said to the man standing amongst the vines. Aang then explained, "We were flying over and I heard something calling out to me. Telling me to land in the swamp."

"Something was telling you to land as you were flying over?" Bruce asked as it didn't make much sense to him. Sokka then said, "That's part of him being the Avatar. A lot of weird stuff like that happens to us a lot."

Some of the group gave the teen deadpanned looks. The swamp man's eyes widened a little and he said, "Come with me. I have something to show you all."

The group followed the man through the swamp. They all climbed up the large roots of the Ban Grove tree in the middle of the swamp. Aang then asked, "So, who are you again?"

"I am the one who protects the swamp from folks that want to hurt it." The man said as he maneuvered a vine out of the way of their path. Then he said for example, "Like this fellow right here with his big knife."

"See? Completely reasonable." Sokka said, going back to their conversation earlier. He sheathed his machete as he said, "Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about that."

"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place all right." The man disagreed with him as they kept climbing. Sokka scowled at being proven wrong, even though he still believed otherwise. Bruce was a little confused but Natasha then said, "Don't worry, he sets himself up for this kind of stuff."

"It's a sacred place." The swamp man said as they came up to the trunk of the tree. Stopping he turned to look at the group while saying, "I reached enlightenment at this spot under the banyan grove tree."

They looked about the tree as they did feel a peaceful aura around it. Sitting down he pointed to Aang and said, "I heard it calling out to me just like you did."

"Sure, you did. It seems real chatty." Sokka sarcastically said. Steve looked to him and said, "Sokka! Be quiet."

"See, this whole swamp is actually just one big tree spread out over miles." The man said and they all looked out to the swamp. They saw how it spread out as far as the I could see as he said, "Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more. One big living organism, just like the entire world."

"I can see that." Bruce said as he could see wisdom in the man's words. But Aang was still a little confused and said, "I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?"

"Sure." The man shrugged as they all sat down too. Then he said, "You think that you're any different from me, or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together." He looked to the four Avengers and said, "Whether we come from two different worlds or not, even if most folks don't act like it."

"He does have a point." Thor agreed as he could see his father saying something like this. The man nodded as he said, "We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree."

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked, wondering about that part. Bruce then asked, "You've had visions too?"

"Yeah, what did you see?" Sokka asked. Bruce then said, "I thought I saw Betty Ross. Someone I used to really know back before I became the Hulk."

"The visions that you've seen in the swamp, they're people that we've lost, people we loved. Folks that we think are gone." The man said. But then he said, "But they can also be visions of what may come."

The four Avenger's eyes widened to this before noticing the others. Natasha then asked, "You guys had a glimpse of a possible future?"

"Yeah." Steve said. Then looking away he said, "After I saw my vision of Peggy, I saw myself back on Earth, but for some reason, Tony was there, and he was angry."

"Huh?" The others asked as they were confused. But Steve just shrugged, not knowing much about it. Thor then said, "I saw my brother Loki. But it too turned out to be a vision from the swamp. When it showed me what could come, it showed my Asgard burning."

"Why was it burning?" Aang asked. Thor shook his head, "I can only think of one reason that it would be burning. Ragnarök, doomsday for Asgard."

"Did you see something, Nat?" Katara asked. Natasha then said, "All I saw was Clint. I asked him if he was really there, but it turned out to be an illusion by the swamp."

"Did you happen to see anything else?" Sokka asked Bruce. Bruce looked down before saying, "All I know is that when I saw Betty after arriving here, I've seen the same vision time and again, as if Hulk or I were both lost. I don't know where exactly, but-"

"But the swamp has told us all that they're not gone or illusions." The swamp man said. Then he said, "We're still connected to 'em." Then he said something profound, "Time is an illusion and so is death."

"But what about my vision?" Aang asked, raising a good point. Then he said, "I know it was something about what may come since I never met her."

"You're the Avatar," The swamp man said with a knowing grin, "you tell me."

"Time is an illusion." Aang started as he thought about the man's words. It clicked in his mind as he put it together, "Well, since it's something about what's to come… So it's a person that I'll meet and she'll have something do with our journey."

The swamp man nodded as he got it right. Sokka then stood up and said, "Sorry to interrupt the lesson here, but we still have a problem… finding Appa and Momo."

"Oh, yeah." Natasha said as they all thought back to it. Steve then said, "I kind of forgot all that while we were fighting you guys."

"Sorry." Bruce said as the swamp man shrugged. Bruce then asked, "Who are Appa and Momo exactly?"

"Well, Appa is a flying bison and is my animal guide. And Momo is a flying lemur who gets into mischief a lot." Aang explained. But he became serious when he said, "And I think I know how to find them."

Maneuvering to where he kneeled down on the root, Aang placed a hand against it. Then he said, "Everything is connected."

Everyone watched in amazement as the arrow on Aang's right hand started to glow. A circle of energy formed around the Avatar's hand before shooting down the Bang Grove root. The kids, Avengers and the swamp man all watched as the energy ran down the root and into the swamp.

The trail of energy traveled very fast and very far through the swamp. Aang concentrated as he could feel something from the roots. Suddenly, the swamp showed Aang an image of a fleeing Appa being caught by a net from the Swampbenders. The bison gave a panicked roar as he tried to escape.

Aang's eyes shot open as he knew they had to hurry. Looking to his friends he said, "Come on. We've got to hurry. They're in trouble!"

The group looked to each other as he started to run before following after him.

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The Swampbenders were overjoyed by the catch that they made as they dragged Appa behind them with their boats. Momo struggled in the bag while Due and another Swampbender bended the water for the boats. The third boat of swamp men had rejoined them and was slowly gliding through the swamp water. Tho laid the tunes as he patted the side of the boat and sang…

Tho: Set my lines by the riverbed

Caught ten fish and I killed 'em dead

Cut 'em and gut 'em and I toss the heads in the water

To keep them kak eaters fed

Suddenly some hanging moss on their left moved and they all looked to see a wave of water coming right towards them. They all screamed as the wave crashed into the boat and sent the other two Swampbenders flying over them. They landed in the murky waters while Aang landed on a root in front of them. Seeing his bison in the net he shouted, "Hold on, Appa!"

Bringing both hands to his side, Aang then sent a shot of air at Tho. It knocked Tho off the boat and into the water behind him. Katara ran up the root and stood next to him and was ready to fight. Momo was finally able to wriggle out and flew to safety while Due shouted, "Ah! We're under attack!"

Something came at them really fast and plowed into the other boat. Both men shouted as they too were sent into the drink. Due then sent a stream of water at Aang and Katara, but the two were able to block the wave. Both sides pushed back and forth on the wave and that's when Katara realized, "Hey, you guys are Waterbenders."

"What are the odds?" Natasha questioned as she joined them on the root. Due was surprised when he stopped bending the water, "You guys, too?" He sounded really happy when he said, "That means that we're kin."

Katara's face fell as if she didn't really like the sound of that. Even the others were surprised to see Waterbenders in the swamp. When Due saw who was with Aang and Katara, he said, "Hey, Huu, Bruce, how you two been?"

"You know, scared off some folks, swung some vines, the usual." Huu shrugged with a grin. Bruce then said, "Turned into a monster to scare off some folks and trying to enjoy the scenery."

The others were looking at the swamp man with weirded looks. Sokka quirked a brow and questioned, "Huu?"

"You fellas hungry?" Due asked. While they all agreed to it, Aang then said, "But you can't eat Appa."

"Who now?" Due asked as the others stood up in the swamp water. Bruce pointed to the bison and said, "Him."

"Oh." Due said while Momo landed on Bruce's shoulder. Tho and Due then removed the net from Appa. The group then followed the Swampbenders back to their village.

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Later that evening, the group and the Swampbenders were gathered around a campfire. Appa sat behind Aang, Steve and Thor and tried to keep as far from the swamp men as possible. Though a little reluctant, the group was enjoying veggies of the swamp, some fish and giant bugs. Some of the Swampbenders were using their bending abilities to help with supper. Due took out a shish kabab with a few meats on it before rejoining the group. Looking to the kids he asked, "How you fellas liking that possum-chicken?"

"Tastes just like arctic hen." Sokka compared to what they had back home. Thor then raised his shish kabab and said, "Is pretty tasty, my friend."

"You talk a little funny." Tho said with a quirked brow. Sokka then asked, "So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?" Then pointing to the cat-fish gator he said, "You've got plenty of those big things wandering around."

"You want me to eat ol' Slim?" Due asked as if the idea were crazy. Then patting the cat-fish gator on the snout he said, "Slim here's like a member of the family."

He tossed a fish to Slim who caught it with his mouth. Sokka then removed a bug on his shish kabab before tossing it to Slim, "Nice Slim."

But the bug only hit the cat-fish gator on the head. The reptile glared at Sokka and growled the Water Tribe teen shrieked in fear. Due started laughing before saying, "Oh, he don't eat no bugs. That there's people food."

"Here you go, Slim." Natasha said when she threw a fish to the cat-fish gator. The cat-fish gator was able to jump a little to catch the fish. Slim swallowed the fish whole before letting loose a low purr. The group all watched as the cat-fish gator then walked around the fire before stopping behind Natasha. Slim then nuzzled the spy and Due was surprised but smiled and said, "Well now, he seems to really like you, miss."

"Good, Slim." Natasha said as she petted the cat-fish gator. Sokka scoffed and placed his head on his hand and muttered, "No good-"

He was scared again when Slim let loose another growl at him. This caused the others to start laughing again. Tho then asked the Waterbender of the group, "Where'd you say you was from again?"

"The South Pole." Katara said while Sokka started eating again. Tho shrugged and said, "Didn't know that there were any Waterbenders anywhere but here." Then he asked, "They got a nice swamp there, do they?"

"No. It's mostly all just snow and ice." Katara told them. That shocked the Swampbenders before Tho commented, "Mm, no wonder you left."

"It wasn't so bad." Steve politely disagreed. Sokka looked to the group and then said, "Well, I hope that guys realize now that nothing strange was going on here."

"Seriously?" All four Avengers questioned as they crowded around the teen. Sokka cringed from their gaze before he pointed out, "It's just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp."

"But what about the visions?" Katara argued. Then pointing to Aang and the four Avengers she said, "They've all seen something about the future that they don't understand."

"I told you, we were all hungry." Sokka argued back. Then to prove it he held up a giant bee and said, "I'm eating a giant bug."

He took a bite of the abdomen before giving a face of disgust after swallowing. Aang then asked, "But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were?"

"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count." Sokka waved it off. Bruce then said, "Despite all the Avatar and spirits and other things, I'd have to ask that you're mostly a man that thinks of the more logical things."

"You got that right." Sokka nodded. But then he looked to Huu and said, "The only thing that I can't figure out here is made the tornado that sucked us down to the swamp."

"Uh, Sokka, he's a Waterbender, remember." Thor reminded. Huu nodded in agreement and said, "I can't do anything like that. I just bend the water in the plants."

"Well, no accounting for weather." Sokka then said. Still being the skeptic he said, "Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about this swamp."

"In your opinion." Natasha said as she crossed her arms.

Not far from the village, the little white bird from before landed on a tree root. It opened its beak and let out a shrill shriek. But hearing it from afar, Huu was able to bend a root close to it to swat the bird away.

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Back at the Earth Kingdom town, the streets were eerily quiet in the night. The man from before that cruelly made Iroh dance walked about in the quiet streets. The man stopped when he heard something before reaching behind him and unsheathed his blades. He swung them around to intimidate whomever was behind him as he turned around, but he didn't see anyone there. With a glare he asked, "Who's there?"

The sound of running feet made the man turn the other way, but he didn't see anything. But when a figure did appear from out of the shadows, a hand grabbed the man's wrist and caused him to drop his blade. The man yelled in pain from the twist of his wrist and swung his other sword. But the other man was ready for him as he grabbed the man's other wrist before twisting it too. The man dropped his other blade and the other person then threw the man into a stack of crates. The man cried out as he fell to the ground.

The mysterious figure stepped up to the dropped swords before kneeling down to pick them up. When he stood tall again, the Blue Spirit looked down at the man before stepping back into the shadows. Unaware to both of them, another figure crouched in the shadows, watching the whole thing.

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This story's dedication to:

Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018

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Author's Note: I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. And a lot of foretelling for the series there. And I also want to thank those who gave me a few good ideas for this chapter. I got a funny surprise in the next chapter. 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 next time.