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: And I'm back with another chapter. Hope I didn't keep you all waiting for too long.
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Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air
(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the Waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the Earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the Firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the Airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)
Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)
Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)
Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.
(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)
Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.
(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)
Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.
(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint, Toph and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)
Nickelodeon and Marvel
The Avenging Avatar
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Avatar Roku: Previously, on Avenging Avatar…
After having met with some friends, Iroh met Zuko and Tony outside the room. The older man had a smile on his face when he said, "We're heading to Ba Sing Se."
"Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked, "Why would the three of us go to the Earth Kingdom capital?"
"The city is filled with refugees." The old man from the Misty Palms oasis told them.
Some time ago, Katara, Thor, Natasha and Sokka had come to Kyoshi Island to help Aang. As they walked behind Oyaji and Sokka asked, "So, what's Suki up to?"
"Actually, she and the other warriors left to go fight in the war." Oyaji said, surprising three of the four.
Appa groaned as he was pulled away by the Sandbenders.
A day later, the group had been confronted by the Sandbenders. Angered Aang pointed his staff at the one responsible and demanded in a distorted voice, "Tell me where Appa is!"
"I traded him to some merchants. He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now." Ghashiun explained to Aang. But the Airbender's eyes narrowed as he didn't like the sound of what he was hearing, "They were planning on selling him there."
Aang created a large sand cloud formed around the dome and both started to expand. Steve looked between everyone, but didn't know exactly how to handle the situation. They knew that they had to stop Aang, but they didn't know what to do without hurting the Airbender. The large sand cloud started covering everything as it grew. Inside the dome, Aang started to rise off the ground and Katara raced to stop him. Aang looked as if he were ready to fully release his fury on the world. But before he could do anything, a hand reached up and grabbed his right arm. Aang sharply turned with a glare to see a sympathetic looking Katara looking back up at him. She was able to reach up and grab his other arm before gently pulling him back down to the ground. When his feet touched the ground again, Katara pulled Aang into an embrace to comfort him. Tears flowed from Aang's eyes as he was greatly hurting on the inside.
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Book Two: Earth
Chapter Thirteen: The Serpent's Pass
The sun shone down on a secluded spot in the Earth Kingdom. The spot was a nice, beautiful and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. After spending some time in the harsh desert, they had chosen to remain here for a few days to rest. Some had stripped down to swimming clothes while others had remained in their usual outfits. On the side of the river, Toph was simply splashing her feet in the river while Clint remained close by to keep an eye on her. On a boulder next to them, Natasha, Steve and Sokka were going over some of the maps that they had "borrowed" from the long-gone spirit library. A chittering Momo climbed onto Sokka's back while they continued to look over the map. Aang and Bruce were currently floating in the river when the former suddenly took a deep breath before diving down. Bruce looked over to him as the Airbender encased himself in ice before coming back up. Bruce smiled when he said, "That's one way to chill out."
Aang just laughed from the joke and they continued to float in the water. From on top of a cliff, Katara stood at the edge. She shouted down to them, "Waterbending bomb!"
She took a few steps back before running up and jumped over the edge. Katara laughed as she assumed a cannonball position. Everyone watched as she landed with a large splash and it created a large wave. Sokka became frantic as he covered up the scrolls with his body while Steve shielded himself and Nat with his weapon. Clint and Toph were able to shield themselves from the water when it came down on them. The wave ended up throwing Bruce and Aang out of the water and onto the shore. Bruce able to land on his own two feet while Aang's encased body crashed to the ground. He seemed to be okay when the ice broke and he landed on the ground. When it was over, mostly everyone looked to each other before they started laughing. The only one who wasn't laughing was Sokka as he uncovered the scrolls and groaned when he saw that they were wet. He lifted one and commented on what happens when water and paper mix, "Sure, sure, five-thousand-year-old maps from the once again lost Spirit Library. Just splash a little water on them."
"It's going to be okay, Sokka." Steve said when he lowered the shield. Katara had walked out of the water and was ringing her hair out. She looked to her brother and said, "Sorry about that."
Then raising her arms she pulled them back and it drew the water out of the scrolls. When all the water was gone and the papers were dry, Sokka lowered it on the rock again to take another look. It was then that Thor walked back to them from a little patrol. He grinned and said, "I see that you all are enjoying a little merriment."
"And a little buzzkill as well." Clint added when he looked to Sokka, which earned a laugh from Toph. Sokka glared at the archer for a moment before stepping off the rock and placing the map on the ground. The others gathered around him and Aang asked, "So, did you guys figure out what route we're gonna take to Ba Sing Se?"
"We did talk about it." Natasha nodded. Sokka pointed to a spot on the map, "Okay, we just left the Si Wong desert. So we must be around here." Then pointing to a spot that showed a walled space he said, "And we need to get to Ba Sing Se, which is up here.
"It looks like there's only one passage that connects the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass." He informed and pointed to a spot between the two points of land. That sounded a little ominous to everyone else as Toph commented, "You're sure that's the best way to go to get to the city?"
"It's the only way." Sokka confirmed. Even Steve and Natasha agreed by the former saying, "Trust us, we've looked at any possible routes, but they end up taking too long either way."
"We could try going two hundred miles to the west, or twice that many to the east." Natasha offered. Everyone else was in unison when they said, "Nah!"
"Didn't think so." Sokka said. With a shrug he said, "And it's not like we could have Thor fly us over that stretch."
"Mjolnir is a mighty tool, not a taxi bus." Thor reminded. Those from Earth looked to the Asgardian and Natasha told him, "It's a taxi cab, Thor."
"What's the difference?" Thor asked. Those who knew what she was talking about just shook their heads and Sokka, "And, we don't exactly have Appa to fly us across."
That put just about everyone but Sokka and Aang on edge. Natasha lightly nudged Sokka while Katara glared at him, "Shush up about Appa." Gesturing to the Airbender she questioned, "Can't you at least try to be more sensitive?"
They all turned their heads to the Avatar and some looked a little worried. Aang, though still hurting, didn't show it when he said, "Katara, it's okay. I know that I was really upset about losing Appa before. But I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the upcoming solar eclipse."
That surprised just about everyone in the group. Katara then said, "Well, okay. If you say so."
"We're glad that you're feeling better." Natasha said and gently patted his shoulder. But Steve wasn't exactly buying what Aang was selling. Sokka started putting the scrolls away, "Then away to Ba Sing Se we go. No more distractions from now on."
"Might want to rethink that, Sokka." Toph warned when she sensed something coming. A group of people walked around the bend and the man waved, "Hello there, fellow refugees!"
The man was in the lead while two women stood on both sides of him. The man was wearing faded green clothing and had a pack strapped onto his back. The girl on his left wore more darker green clothing while a yellow-ish skirt was wrapped around her waist. Her hair was tied in braids and she had light green pouch strapped to her. On the man's right was an older woman who was also wore faded green clothing. She had a hand placed on her stomach. The man waved to them and Sokka adopted a bit of an annoyed look. The trio of refugees came closer and Aang asked, "So, are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?"
"Sure are. I'm Than" The man nodded and introduced himself. Looking to the woman next to him he said, "We're trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby."
"I'm guessing that you're pretty close now?" Bruce asked them. Ying nodded and said, "Yes. It's been nine hectic months, what with everything going on.
"It'll be nice if we can get to Ba Sing Se pretty fast." She said with a look of hope. Katara then decided, "Well, we can travel through the Serpent's Pass together."
The family of three gasped in shock at the mention of the pass. The group noticed the tension from the family. Ying questioned, "You're going to take the Serpent's Pass? Only the truly desperate would take that deadly route."
"Deadly route, eh." Toph repeated the description. She punched Sokka in the arm while sarcastically commenting, "Great pick you guys."
Sokka groaned as he fell over while Natasha and Steve became a little nervous. Thor placed a comforting hand on their shoulders and said, "Fear not. You did not know."
"Well, we are desperate." Sokka said when he got back up and rubbed his bruised arm. Than then suggested, "Why don't you come with us to Full Moon Bay? There are ferries that will take refugees across the lake. And it would be much faster to Ba Sing Se."
"And it's well hidden," Ming added, "so the Fire Nation and Hydra can't find it."
"Hm, peaceful ferry ride? Or deadly pass?" Katara contemplated the thought. Natasha seemed to be on board, "Gee, it does sound like a great idea."
Sokka responded to this with a deadpanned look at the girls. Steve then said to the family, "Just give us a few minutes to round up our things and then we can head out."
"Mm." Than nodded and the group went to get ready.
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They weren't the only ones headed for Full Moon Bay, for Jet and the Rescue Team had entered the premises not too long ago. On the other side of a tall wall, five docks sat in the water while three boats were docked and waiting to take people across the lake. The majority of the group were up against the wall, waiting for their turn to board the ferry. While some were keeping their cool, others were feeling a little fidgety as Eddie's head kept swiveling about. But it wasn't really Eddie that was doing it. Looking about the place as it was crawling with refugees, Eddie whispered to the one inside of him and questioned, "Will you please cut that out?"
"I cannot help it." Venom said, sounding hungry. Eddie's head continued to turn left and right when Venom said, "So many good-looking snacks."
"Hey, hey. You are not going to hurt these people." Eddie quietly warned, making those around him look to the symbiotic pair. Eddie then reminded, "These folks have already lost a lot."
"Not them." Venom huffed. Eddie saw what the Symbiote was looking at when the Symbiote said, "Those little cluckers and such."
A few odd bird-like creatures moved about. Eddie tried his best to keep Venom in check. Smellerbee looked to Logan who was standing next to her and asked, "Are they going to be like that the whole way?"
"Pretty much." He said without opening his eyes. Sam and Rhodey had remained behind as well and were talking amongst themselves. Sam then asked, "You think that they're going to show?"
"Well, they got to get here before we cast off for Ba Sing Se." Rhodey said while looking at all the refugees. He shook his head, "Man, all these people."
"Yeah." Sam nodded in agreement. He thought about what was going on and said, "The war is getting a whole lot worse every day."
"I bet we could take care of it within a few hours." Wade said when he joined them. He popped a bit of food into his mouth and added, "Honestly, if we were to meet up with your friends, I bet that we could take care of those butt wads before the end of the summer."
"What?" Both of them ask the Mutate. The merc with the mouth explained, "Yeah, I mean, the end of the summer is when the world is likely to burn."
"Do I have to keep telling you about the rule with Wade?" Logan asked from the other side of Wade. The man with the Adamantium skeleton was leaning against the wall. Looking to his left he questioned, "How much longer are Jet and the others gonna keep us waiting? It feels like they've been gone for an eternity."
"Don't worry, Logan." Jet said when he, Smellerbee, Longshot, Peter and Johnny rejoined them. The Wall Crawler held up some papers and the leader of the Freedom Fighters said, "We got everything we need. Our ferry will be leaving soon enough."
"Finally." Logan said and straightened up. They all started to follow after Jet to prepare to board the ferry. When Rhodey looked amongst the tents, he thought he saw Tony walking amongst the tents.
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On the other side of the hidden bay, a pair of Earthbenders stood by a section of the more natural wall. One of them suddenly moved his arms downward and a huge portion of the wall came rumbling down. On the other side of it in a hidden tunnel was Team Avatar and the family of three. Just about everyone in the group was surprised to see how many people were here. Katara felt really bad for them when she said, "I can't believe how many people's lives are being uprooted by the Fire Nation and Hydra."
"This actually happens a lot in war." Steve said as he slightly remembered his time during the Second World War of his world. Than knew why they were here by saying, "We're all looking for a much better life, behind the walls of Ba Sing Se."
They could hear the sounds of unhappiness when a child suddenly started crying. Natasha looks to the family and asks, "So, what do we do now?"
"Now, we just have to get passage across." Clint said and they started walking through the crowd. Unbeknownst to them, a man in the shadows quietly walked into the tunnel and stopped when he saw Team Avatar. When they had walked on ahead, the man continued into the bay.
…
One of the ferries started to leave the docks. And on this particular boat, a certain trio stood at the bow. Iroh looked solemnly over the side when he said, "Who would have thought, that after all these years, I would be returning to the scene of my greatest military disgrace…"
He perked up when he turned and placed a straw hat with a pink flower on his head. He had a big smile when he said, "But this time as a tourist?"
"Where did you even get that hat?" Tony asked him from the other side of Zuko. He found it nearly impossible when he pointed out, "There were no shops in the bay."
"Is that really what you're wondering?" Zuko questioned the inventor of the Iron Man suit. Then looking to his uncle he bitterly said, "And look around. We're not tourists. We're refugees."
He raised a bowl that had some kind of stew to his lips. But when he took a sip of it, his eyes widened from how horrible it tasted. He spat out what he sipped and looked at the bowl with angry look and started ranting, "I'm getting really sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt and just about always on the move." With a sigh he leaned against the railing, "And I'm really tired of living like this.
"Aren't we all." A voice said from behind the three. Tony, Zuko and Iroh all turned around to see Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot and two others standing against a pillar or the shadows of the boat. With a grin, Jet came forward and introduced himself, "My name's Jet. And these are some of my Freedom Fighters…
"Smellerbee," The shorter fighter said hey to the three. Jet the looked to the archer of his group, "And Longshot."
"Got anyone else in your entourage?" Tony asked the teen. A voice familiar to Tony said from behind the three Freedom Fighters, "I think that we're all friends here, Tony."
Both Smellerbee and Longshot stepped to the side and both Rhodey and Sam stepped out of the shadows. Tony was very surprised to see them and walked up with a grim looking expression. Just about everyone around the three seemed a little confused and worried about how intense this was starting to look. But the intensity wore off when Tony held out his hand with a grin. Rhodey started laughing when he took it and they shook their hands. Tony then asked, "How did you guys get here?"
"Basically the same way you did. Just under less action-packed circumstances." Sam told him. Jet quickly cut in by saying, "Not that I don't mind a touching reunion of sorts, but this ship seems to be having a major problem."
"What kind of problem?" Zuko said, even though he hardly cared when he looked over the side of the boat again. Jet stepped forward and explained, "I've been hearing that the captain's been eating like a king while us refugees have to feed off his scraps.
"Doesn't seem very fair, does it?" He asked, raising some good points.
"What sort of king does he eat like?" Iroh asked, earning a few side glances from Zuko and Tony. Jet opened his mouth to say something when Wade appeared in front of him and said, "The fat, happy, Henry-the-Eighth that likes to swing his drumstick like a scepter kind."
Wade then looked to the reader and winked with a grin, "Thank you for your input, mpowers045."
While Tony and Zuko were startled by the Merc with the Mouth's sudden appearance, Iroh started comically drooling and looking really hungry. Wade pointed to the disguised Firebender and warned, "Careful there, buddy. Keep that up and you're liable to fill the entire Si Wong desert."
"What?" Tony asked as both he and Zuko were confused. Rhodey quickly intervened by saying, "Ignore him. Sometimes he just says whatever pops out of his head."
"Which is often." Wade nodded to them. Jet then asked them, "You guys want to help us liberate some food?"
"I imagine that you guys are already on board?" Tony asked the two that he knew of. Both Rhodey and Sam nodded and the former said, "We fight against injustice all the time. A smaller one like this won't hurt."
"All right, I'm in." Tony nodded. They all looked to Zuko who just looked down at the bowl in his hands. His eyes narrowed when he thought about it. Coming to a decision, they all watched as Zuko flung his bowl into the lake. The former prince of the Fire Nation turned to them and said, "I'm in too."
Everyone smirked to see that everyone was on board with this plan. Jet motioned for everyone to come close and he said, "We'll meet up with the others and come up with a plan by tonight at the least."
"Sounds good." Tony nodded and they all moved to get started.
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Back at the hidden bay, the team was waiting in line to get their tickets. While waiting, Aang, Steve and Sokka saw that the ticket master up ahead was a stern looking lady wearing all dark green clothing. She stamped a piece of paper and looked to the customer with a glare when she said, "I have already told you! No vegetables on the ferry."
The group was surprised to see the cabbage merchant that they've seen just about every other time standing in front of the lady. The man shook his head as she justified her reasonings, "One cabbage slug is all that it could take to destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se!
"Security!" She shouted out loud, making everyone nearby cringe. Everyone turned their heads to see a handler holding the leash to a platypus bear. The cabbage merchant gasped when the platypus bear reared up with a roar and used its forepaws to smash the cart. The man screamed as the beaked ursine completely smashed the cart and started devouring the produce. The cabbage merchant dropped down to his knees and shouted again for probably the billionth time, "My cabbages!"
Two security guards walked over and effortlessly picked the cabbage merchant up and took him away. The team watched them take the man away while he whimpered and muttered about his beloved vegetable. Natasha leaned to Bruce and said, "Suddenly, the Serpent's Pass is looking a little more friendlier."
Bruce didn't say anything but no one said anything as Aang, Sokka and Steve walked up to the lady. The woman stamped another piece of paper before shouting, "Next!"
"Um, nine tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please." Aang kindly asked when he stepped up. The woman then requested, "I'll need to see your passports, sir."
"Uh, passports?" Steve said to Sokka when he leaned towards the teen. The super soldier and remembered, "I don't think that Than said anything about passports."
"We don't have passports." Aang said to the lady. Sokka then asked her, "Don't you even know who this is?" He placed a hand on Aang's shoulder and said, "He's the Avatar. You know, the last Airbender."
"Ah!" The woman scoffed while continuing work. She looked as if to have seen them all when she said, "I see fifty Avatars a day every day a month." The woman got a good look at Aang and commented, "And by the way, young man, not a very impressive costume."
She pointed with her brush and everyone looked to see a group of boys all dressed like Aang. While some stood up a couple of them were sitting on the ground. Some were the wrong size, wearing the wrong colors and definitely the wrong age. Natasha and Katara were a little grossed out when one of them started picking their nose. Aang nodded in agreement when the lady had a point. A chittering Momo climbed onto Aang's shoulder and screeched at the boys. But they were all startled when she suddenly added, "And besides, no animals are allowed."
"But-" Aang started to say. But he was cut off when the woman questioned, "Do I need to call security?"
The four looked over to the platypus bear as it turned to them. In its tooth filled beak, was a head of cabbage. They all became a little nervous when the platypus bear crushed the vegetable in its mouth. Momo chittered in fear and ducked down behind Aang. Quickly placing a hand on Aang's shoulder, Steve said, "No, ma'am. That won't be necessary."
"Next!" The woman shouted for the next customer in line. But when Aang, Steve and Sokka turned to the others, they noticed that both Clint and Toph had smirks on their faces. Steve looked to the two and asked, "What's with you two?"
"Oh, nothing." Toph chuckled, making the others look to her. Clint then said, "We just thought we'd see how far you'd get with what Toph likes to call the Chump Method."
"Hey." All three boys said in unison. Even Momo chittered with an annoyed look. Toph walked past them and pushed a small bag into Aang's hands when she said, "Watch how it's done, country folk. I'll take care of this one."
That earned her some slight glares from most of the group while some looked to Clint. The archer just shrugged as he moved to join her. Toph placed an official document on the counter and said, "My name is Toph Bei Fong and I'll need nine tickets for the ferry, please."
"Oh. The golden seal of the flying boar." The woman said in astonishment at the document. She bowed in respect to Toph when she said, "It is my great pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family."
"It is your pleasure." Toph agreed when she turned to the others. Pointing to herself she said, "As you can clearly see, I am blind." Raising a hand to them she said, "And these people here, a mixture of imbeciles and heroes, are my valets."
They each gave smiles while Momo just blinked. But the lady was still unsure when she said, "But the animal…"
"Is my seeing eye lemur." Toph explained and Momo jumped onto her shoulder. The blind Earthbender patted the lemur's head and said, "He likes to move around a lot."
"And if it's not enough, I still have some money." Clint offered the woman. She recognized him and bowed her head when she said, "Ah, Master Barton. How wonderful it is to know that you are back.
"And, while normally it's only one ticket per passport. But the document is so official.." The woman said. She gave in and said, "I don't suppose nine tickets would hurt."
With that said, she filled out nine tickets before stamping them. When she was finished, Toph and Barton took the tickets from the desk. Before they left, Toph turned her head back and said, "Thank you very much."
"Have a nice day." Clint added and the group walked away to wait their turn. Toph and Clint handed the others their tickets as they kept going. When they were good enough away from the ticket booth, Sokka started celebrating by raising his arms and saying, "All right! We went and scammed that lady good!"
"Would you keep your trap shut please, I don't want to get into any trouble." Bruce said to make Sokka be quiet. But it was a bit too late when a hand grabbed Sokka's shirt from behind and yanked him back. Sokka screamed as he was forcefully turned around and came to face with a female guard. She held out her hand and demanded, "Tickets and passports, please, sir."
"Uh…" Sokka started to say, as he had one of those but not both. Then he sheepishly asked, "Is there a problem, ma'am?"
His question made the others turn around and they were wide-eyed at Sokka's predicament. The woman lightly tapped him in the chest when she said, "Yeah. I got a problem mostly with you. I've see your type before.
"You're probably sarcastic, think you're really hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar." She listed, earning not just a confused look from Sokka but the rest of the group as well. The only one who wasn't confused was Natasha as she started chuckling from what she was seeing. Looking to the guard she nearly couldn't contain her laughter when she said, "I think you've made your point, ma'am."
That just made the others with her look to her with questioning looks. Sokka, who was still confused, asked the guard, "Do I know you?"
"You mean you don't remember?" The guard questioned and grabbed Sokka by the shirt again. She seemed really upset when she said, "Well, maybe you'll remember this!"
She raised a fist and looked like she was about to hit him. Sokka winced from the suspecting punch. But he didn't have to worry as she pulled him closer and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. It seemed to help Sokka put the pieces together when he happily exclaimed, "Suki!"
He pulled her into an embrace and she smiled as she returned it. When they broke the hug, Suki's demeanor changed when she said, "Sokka, it's so good to see you again.
"All of you." She added when she saw the group. Suki was a little surprised to see that their group had grown since she had last seen them. She gave a half-smile when she said, "I see that you've made some new friends."
"Boy do we have a lot to talk about." Sokka said and they all went somewhere to talk.
They came to a spot on the wall that overlooked the cave entrance. Some of the group leaned against the poles while the others sat on a bench. Sokka started the conversation by saying, "Suki allow me to introduce you to the newest members of our group.
"Meet Thor, Bruce, Toph and Clint." Sokka said when he gestured to each new member. Suki bowed her head and said, "It's nice to meet all of you."
"And it is an honor to meet the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors." Thor returned the bow. Natasha then said, "It seems like you've been doing well. And that prank was so hilarious."
"And you look so different without your makeup, Suki. And the new outfit…" Katara added when she gestured to the Kyoshi Warrior. Suki nodded and said, "Yeah, that crabby lady makes all of us security guards wear them.
"And look at you, Sleeveless Guy." She said when she looked to Sokka. Then she asked, "Been working out?"
"Eh, I'll go and grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then." Sokka said as he stretched. This earned a look from Katara, Steve, Bruce, Natasha and Clint while Sokka said, "Nothing too major."
"Well, Sokka does need all the exercise that he can get." Toph cracked, earning a laugh from nearly everyone there. Sokka lightly glared at them and they became quiet. Aang then asked, "Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around here too?"
"Yeah." Suki nodded. She glanced down the wall to the refugees and said, "After you guys left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees a while back, and we've been here ever since."
"Don't suppose that you've heard any word about Tony have you?" Steve asked her. Suki thought for a moment before asking, "Didn't you say that he had a small beard and an ego about the size of an elephant Koi?"
"Pretty much." All the Avengers of the group said in unison. Suki then said, "I heard from some of the other guards that they did see someone like that not too long ago.
"He boarded a ferry to Ba Sing Se that just left." She informed them. This surprised the group and they looked to each other. Aang then said, "Guess we have something else to do in the big city."
"Yeah, but until we get there we won't know where to start looking." Natasha pointed out. Steve then said, "Don't worry. We'll figure everything out."
"By the way, I think you might have a few extra friends too." Suki said, confusing the group. Steve asked her, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not sure about the others, but I did see two men with really dark skin asking about you." Suki explained to them. Steve looked to Natasha and said, "You don't think it could be Sam and Rhodey, do you?"
"Only people I know of with dark colored skin and would be asking questions about us." Natasha shrugged, not having anything better. Clint then asked them, "Where did you see them?"
"They got on the ferry with Tony." Suki told them. They seemed a little surprised as she said, "They're all liable to be in Ba Sing Se."
She laughed when Momo jumped onto the railing beside her and petted the lemur. The lemur gave a happy chitter as she said, "It's good to see you again too, Momo.
"And speaking of the city…" Suki said and turned back to the group. She unknowingly asked a painful question, "Why are you guys taking the ferry when you could just fly on Appa."
The question caused a lot faces to fall. Suki noticed that something was wrong and asked, "What is it? What's wrong? Did I-"
"It's not your fault, Suki. You don't know what's happened." Natasha shook her head. Thor then said, "It's just something that's not easy to talk about."
"What do you mean?" Suki asked. Katara answered her question by saying, "Appa is missing." She glanced to the Airbender and said, "We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se."
"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that." Suki said, remembering the bison for only as long as he was there. Everyone looked to Aang when she asked him, "Are you doing okay, Aang?"
Aang looked back to them and could see the worry on their faces. He seemed to get annoyed and said, "I'm doing just fine, okay. Would everybody please stop worrying about me?"
Some of the group sighed while others turned their heads away. However, Steve could tell that Aang was far from fine. He knew that he would have to talk to his friend later about it. They were all put on alert when they heard Ying call out, "Avatar Aang, noble Avengers!"
The group moved beside Aang to see Than and his family standing at the base of the wall. They all looked worried when Ying said, "Please, you have to help us."
"What's wrong?" Steve asked them. Ying then said, "Someone has stolen all of our belongings all of our belongings. Our passports and our tickets!
"Everything is gone!" She said in distraught before turning and sobbing into Than's arms. Clint looked to the blind Earthbender and asked, "Toph, sense anything?"
"I have a good sense of the place." Toph shook her head. She raised her head to Clint and said, "They may have left or something."
"Then we need to do something else." Bruce said. Aang nodded and then told the family, "I'll go and talk to the ticket lady for you."
The family looked up to the Avatar with hopeful looks.
One flight of stairs and an attempt of an explanation later…
"No passports, no tickets!" The lady sternly denied before picking up one of her stamps and pressed it against Aang's head. Aang looked up to the denied print and blinked a couple of times. Aang then tried to argue for the family, "But she's pregnant, and all of their stuff was stolen.
"Please, you have to make an exception." He pleaded to her. But the woman wouldn't have it when she shot forward and denied, "No exceptions! If just went out and gave away tickets willy-nilly to everyone, there would be no more order.
"And do you know what that would mean?" She questioned him. But before he could answer she shouted, "No more civilization!"
"But what if we gave them our tickets?" Aang tried to ask. But she remained firm when she said, "No."
"But-" Aang tried to argue. But the woman was done with the conversation when she spat out the word, "NEXT!"
Aang cringed from the flying spit before walking away in defeat. He walked back over to the others and the family while wiping his head and face. Aang looked to the family and promised, "Don't worry. You'll get to the city safely."
"I'm guessing we may be taking another route." Bruce said and Aang nodded. Clint sighed when he remembered, "And there's only one other quick way to go."
"I'll take you through the Serpent's Pass." Aang said with a determined look. Steve placed a hand on the Airbender's shoulder and he reiterated, "You mean we'll take them through the Serpent's Pass."
"Right." Aang nodded with a smile. Steve then said, "Take care of what you need. We're rolling out in a few minutes."
\_|_/
Back on the boat already on the lake, Jet, the Freedom Fighters, the Rescue Team and Zuko's group all stood in a secluded part of the boat. Eddie looked about and before saying, "Okay, we're in the clear."
"So, here's the plan." Jet said as he laid out a sketch of the boat on the floor. He pointed at different spots on the sketch and said, "Here's the kitchen area and thanks to a little reconnaissance, we now know the times of the patrols the guards make."
"You are welcome." Venom said when he waved a tendril from Eddie's back. It made Eddie comically flail about trying to hide the tendril. Tony shook his head, "That's gonna be hard to get used to."
"I know how you feel." Smellerbee said before they all turned their attention back to the sketch. Jet then said, "We'll sneak into the kitchen after dark and have a lookout or two posted. They'll let us know when the guard is coming around and we'll have Longshot give us an escape route.
"Fine with you?" He asked the archer of his group. Longshot nodded that he was good with it. Jet looked amongst them and said, "Smellerbee, you, Peter and Eddie will keep a lookout while me, Rhodey, Sam and a couple of our new friends sneak into the kitchen."
"And the rest of us?" Johnny asked from behind the group. Jet looked to him and said, "I want the rest of you to keep a look out on the lower levels."
"Sounds about right." Logan nodded that it was a decent plan. Jet looked to them all and said, "Then we meet around here at sunset."
"At sunset." They all agreed.
\_|_/
Back at Full Moon Bay, the group reconvened with each other and were heading for the door. Aang, Katara, Steve and Thor took the lead in front of the family while Toph, Sokka, Clint, Natasha and Bruce brought up the rear. While most weren't that upset about it, one however was as Sokka complained, "I can't believe that we gave up our tickets and are now going through the Serpent's Pass."
"I can't believe that you're still whining about it." Toph commented as they kept going. Natasha looked to the teen and reminded, "And didn't someone say earlier that the Serpent's Pass was the only other way?"
"I'm coming too." Suki suddenly called out from behind. Everyone stopped and looked to see her running towards them. They were surprised to see that she was back in her Kyoshi Warrior outfit. While the majority of the group was pleased to have a friend tag-a-long on the trip, Sokka became worried when he turned and asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Sokka, I thought that you'd want me to come with you." Suki said, feeling a little confused and hurt by this. Sokka started to say, "I do, I do. It's just that…"
"Just what?" Suki asked when she took a step closer, not understanding why he was looking so down. Sokka tried to think of something to say, but came up with, "It's nothing." He smiled when he added, "I'm really glad that you're coming."
Suki looked at him a minute more before walking around him and joining with the others. Sokka watched her for a moment before thoughts began to cross his mind. Some of the group noticed the look on his face, but didn't say anything as he rejoined them.
\_|_/
It took a few hours before they reached the spot on the map. They came to a mountainous stretch of land that went all the way across the lake. Before them stood a large wooden gate that had the name of the pass carved into a sign. Some looked about the route and Sokka said, "This is the Serpent's Pass?"
"What thought that it would have serpents carved into the rock? Or that it would have a serpent like mouth." Bruce asked the teen. Sokka shook his head, "No, I thought it'd be more windy, like a serpent.
"Hmm, I guess that they must have misnamed it." He shrugged. Thor then put in his two cents by saying, "I do believe that there is more to this place than that, my friends."
"Probably." Steve said as he looked up the path o the side of the mountain-like structure. Ying noticed something carved into the left wooden post and walked up to it. There were two words that gave a single message. She sounded horrified when she said, "Just look at this writing here. How awful."
"What does it say?" Toph asked, wondering what was going on. Katara walked up next to Ming and read the message aloud, "It says, "Abandon Hope."
"Ominous enough for anyone?" Natasha questioned and the others just glanced to the spy. Ming didn't like when she asked, "How could abandon hope? It is all that we have left."
She turned to her husband and he embraced her to comfort her. They all looked to Aang when he suddenly said, "I don't know.
"The monks used to say that hope is just a distraction." The Airbender said as he turned to the lake while remembering from his past. It sounded good to him when he said, "So maybe we do need to abandon it."
"Are you talking about only for this pass, or something else?" Steve asked when he stepped closer to the Avatar. Aang didn't look back when he said, "Hope isn't going to get all of us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not going to help us find Appa."
"You'd be surprised as to what hope can do." Steve countered. Aang shook his head and turned toward the gate, "Look, we need to focus on what we're doing right now, and it's getting us and this family across this pass."
"If you say so." Katara said, knowing that Aang was mostly talking through the pain. Steve then nodded and said, "It's your call."
Aang started walking through the gate with the others following close behind.
…
The large group had walked across the pass for a few hours and the sun was getting close to the western horizon. The pass through the tall rock formations kind of got windy every now and then. On the tenth or so path that went around a rock formation, Bruce looked to Sokka and said, "Is this windy enough like a serpent for you?"
"Oh, hardy, har, har." Sokka sarcastically laughed. Natasha looked to Suki and asked, "Learn anything new from Full Moon Bay?"
"I did learn a piece of information actually." Suki nodded, though it looked like it wasn't going to be anything good. Suki the said, "The Fire Nation and Hydra are controlling the Western Lake."
"Which is unfortunately the side that we're on." Clint observed as they carefully walked in a single file line on the path. Suki then said, "And rumor has it, they're working on something big on the far shore and they don't want anyone to know about it just yet."
"Some kind of weapon?" Steve asked her and she nodded. Bruce noticed a Fire Nation ship sailing close to the wall and said, "I don't think I need to say anything, right?"
"We're all being careful here, Banner." Thor reassured him as they continued walking. Steve glanced back to Suki and asked, "Don't suppose that you've heard anything about the Winter Soldier, have you?"
"Your friend, right?" Suki returned with her own question. Steve nodded and she said, "Sorry. I haven't heard anything regarding him. And the last time I saw him was on Kyoshi Island."
"Thanks anyway." Steve nodded before turning his gaze back ahead. The group kept an eye on the passing ship while they walked. But as Than carefully helped Ming walk, a piece of the path started to crumble under his weight. He cried out in fear as he started to fall, but luckily, Toph was able to save him when she turned and waved her right arm. It created a slab that caught Than and Toph followed up by raising both palms upward. Than yelled as he was tossed back up onto the path and both Clint and Natasha caught him. He gave them a grateful look when he assured everyone, "I'm okay!"
The rest of the crumbling rocks fell into the lake below. Unfortunately, it had been seen by the passing ship and there seemed to be movement coming from it. Sokka shouted to the others, "They've spotted us! Let's get a move on!"
It was at that moment the ship fired a fire ball. Steve looked to the Airbender, "Aang!"
Aang responded by jumping onto the wall before leaping towards the ball of fire. He readied staff to strike before swinging it at the fire ball. He redirected the fire ball back at the ship and it crashed into the back of the ship. The engine started to catch fire and it seemed to explode while another fire ball was shot. This one managed to hit the side of the rock formation above their heads and it sent an avalanche towards the group. While Suki and Natasha gasped at the sight, Sokka came in and shoved them out of the way. But it put him in the path of the stones as they came down on him. Toph created a slab of earth over Sokka's head by extending her left hand down while raising her right fist. The falling rocks tumbled off the slab and down into the lake below. When they were all gone, Sokka ran forward and helped the Kyoshi Warrior to her feet while asking, "Suki, are you okay? You need to be a lot more careful!
"Come on!" He said before pulling her forward. Clint helped Natasha to her feet while Toph mimicked what Sokka should have done, "Are you and Nat okay, Suki? And gee, thanks for saving all of us, Toph.
"No problem, Sokka." She finished the imaginary conversation. Natasha agreed by saying, "I know, it's like we're not even here."
"You guys notice that he's being strange about Suki being here?" Clint asked as they all ran forward. They came to a spot in the pass that was more protected from future attacks, but just in case, Steve looked to Thor and asked, "Thor, mind covering our tracks?"
"I can at least disable their ship for a while." Thor said before flinging Mjolnir at the ship. The magic hammer crashed through the hull of the ship before coming out the other side into the lake. Seeing that they would be preoccupied with that for a while, Thor extended his hand to recall Mjolnir and the hammer came back to him. When it was back in his hand, Thor raced to catch up with the others as Aang rejoined them on his glider.
…
The sun was just about gone over the horizon when the group started to make camp. They found a bit of a protected spot and everyone put down the sleeping mats. Than kept an eye on his wife as he rubbed one of her sore feet. Thor and Bruce were trying to make a little dinner for everyone. Suki walked to a spot a little away from fire and unrolled her sleeping mat. But there was one against it when Sokka walked over and said, "Suki, you shouldn't sleep over here. Who knows how stable the ledge is. It could give way at any moment.
"Today's been proof of that." He reminded and took the sleeping mat from her. Feeling a little overprotected, Suki argued, "Sokka, I'm just fine. Stop worrying so much!"
"And I think Toph would have warned her if the ledge was about to collapse." Clint argued for Suki's case. He looked to the blind Earthbender and asked, "Right?"
"Yeah, I'd probably tell you." Toph said as she was laying flat on her back. Clint gave her a deadpanned look even though she was oblivious to it. Sokka placed Suki's sleep mat down next to another and agreed with the Kyoshi Warrior, "I know, I know." He gave it a light dusting while he said, "You're more than perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."
He stood up and she started to sit down. Sokka suddenly screamed and ran in front of her, "Wait!"
"What?" Suki and most of the group asked when they looked to the teen. Sokka seemed to calm down when he turned to her and said, "Oh, never mind. It's nothing. I thought I saw a spider."
He patted Suki on the shoulder and she returned it with a deadpanned look. Natasha got up and wrapped an arm around Sokka, making the teen look to her. The spy then said to him, "Why don't we go and take a walk. You seem like you have something on your mind."
"Oh, I'm fi-" He didn't get to finish as she yanked him along.
\_|_/
Elsewhere on the lake, the ferry transporting the two groups was getting much closer to Ba Sing Se by the minute as it sailed across the water. And while all seemed quiet at the moment, there was activity going on. A guard walked around on the upper deck with a lantern on a pole over his shoulder. When he passed by a set of steps, Zuko, Rhodey, Jet, Tony, Smellerbee, Eddie, Peter and Sam all made their way up the flight of stairs. Going in the opposite direction of the guard, Tony walked over to a window and found himself staring into the kitchen. He motioned to the others that it was all clear. They moved towards the door where Jet readied one of his hook swords. He jabbed the back end into the space between the lock and the wall before prying it open. When it did Tony, Zuko, Rhodey, Sam and Jet walked inside, the remainder of the group stayed outside and kept a look out for the guard.
Inside the kitchen area, the five set to work liberating the food for the other refugees. Sam and Rhodey held a bag in place while Jet used one of his blades to cut down a few skinned, headless birds hung up. They managed to catch all of the birds into the bag before rushing off. Zuko used his own swords to place two sets of bowls on top of one another before stacking them with his swords. Tony quickly grabbed some supplies to help prepare any food while Zuko finished his work by tying the packages together. Their work seemed to impress Jet when he watched them.
Outside of the kitchen, Eddie suddenly stiffened up and Smellerbee and Peter quickly noticed. Peter asked, "Eddie? Venom?"
"We can sense one of the guards approaching." Eddie informed them. Peter looked to Smellerbee and said, "Go and alert the others."
Smellerbee nodded before moving off. The group inside finished up the job as Tony and Zuko put the last of their goods in their own sack. They were all startled when Smellerbee alerted, "The guard's coming!"
They quickly ran out of the room before making their way to the railing. Tony then asked, "So, what now?"
"Eddie, you and Venom take the sacks of food." Jet said before tossing his sack to the symbiote's host. Zuko did the same and accidentally misjudged the throw. It started to go over the railing and they all started to panic. Lucky for them, Venom's tendril shot out and grabbed the sack before it could fall overboard. They all breathed a sigh of relief and another tendril appeared and waved, "You are welcome."
"Let's get a move on." Sam said before Rhodey motioned to Longshot. The archer raised his bow with an arrow at the ready. A rope was tied to the arrow to help them escape. He fired and the arrow hit the railing. Eddie and Venom leapt over the side of the railing with the sacks of food in hand while the others started ziplining down the rope. Everyone made it to the bottom and were joined by Eddie and Venom when Longshot pulled on the rope to get the arrow back. The arrow came out of the railing right as the guard walked by again. The guard, an old man with a small mustache and orange tinted glasses walked up to the railing to make sure that everything was all right. He looked about over the railing, the man nodded, "Seems to be alright to me."
He started whistling as he walked away from the rail. Down below, when they saw that they were in the clear, everyone made their way back to the other refugees to share the bounty. Tony then commended, "Nice hustle out there, everyone."
"Same old Tony." Rhodey shook his head with a grin.
\_|_/
Back on the Serpent's Pass, Aang was standing on a cliff overlooking the lake. Both Steve and Katara walked up to him to talk. Katara asked him, "Can we talk about something?"
"Sure." Aang said not looking back. Katara then said, "Well, you know it's okay to miss Appa."
Aang didn't say anything or look to them and it made them worry. Katara then asked, "What is going on with you?"
"It's like you're being a different person." Steve observed when he crossed his arms. That got Aang to glance back at them. Katara was in agreement when she said, "He's right. Back in the desert, all you were caring about was finding Appa, and now it's like you don't care about him at all."
"You guys saw what I did out there." Aang said, hanging his head in shame for letting his emotions get out of hand. When he raised it again, he sounded disappointed in himself, "I was so angry about losing Appa that I lost control of myself. Not to mention that I left you guys alone. I hate that I did all of that."
"I actually know what you mean." Steve said, earning both kids' attention. Steve walked out to the cliff and said, "Back when I thought that Bucky was gone, I blamed myself for what had happened. I was so frustrated and mad about it that I trashed a bar and tried to drink my sorrows away.
"But it didn't work." The super soldier shook his head. He shrugged when he said, "Mostly for two reasons."
"Which is?" Katara asked, wondering how he handled it. Steve then said, "Well, the first reason is, because of the super soldier formula, I couldn't get drunk no matter how much I took in."
"And two?" Aang asked. Steve looked to him and said, "Because no matter how much I blamed myself for what happened, it wouldn't change anything.
"And with the right kind of help, I was able to start feeling better." Steve added. Katara then asked, "What kind of help?"
"I had the right people to turn to." He said, looking from Aang to Katara. Katara smiled in appreciation to this and said to Aang, "He's right Aang. You're not letting yourself feel anything or talking about it.
"I know it hurts more to hope and I know that it hurts more to care." She said, speaking from experience. She walked onto the other side of Aang and asked, "But please promise me…" Then she gestured between her and Steve when she said, "Promise us, that you won't stop caring."
"Come on, I think you need a hug." She smiled and opened her arms for him. But Aang just nodded his thanks and said, "Thank you for your concerns, you guys."
He bowed to them both before walking off. Katara and Steve both watch him go and the former looked down. Steve placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's okay. He just needs a little time."
…
Elsewhere on the pass, Natasha and Sokka were both staring up at the moon. It was more than half-full in its phases. The spy looked to Sokka and said, "You do know that you're being overprotective of Suki right?"
"I know." Sokka nodded and turned his gaze from the moon. Natasha started to understand why and said, "But I guess that you have a reason to be, huh?"
"Yeah." He nodded again without turning to her. They were interrupted when they heard Suki said, "Mind if I sit down?"
They look to see her standing there at the edge of the opening of the path. Natasha nodded and said, "Uh, yeah, sure.
"And you know, I was just about to leave." She added while getting up. Gesturing to the two of them she said, "I think the two of you might want to sit down and talk."
With that said she started to make her way back to the group. Suki and Sokka watched her go before the latter looked up to the moon again. Suki looked to him and noticed him looking at the moon with a somewhat hurt look. She moved to sit next to him as a cloud passed overhead and said, "It's a beautiful moon tonight."
"Yeah, it really is." Sokka agreed, but not for the reason she was thinking. She sat down and gently said, "Look, I know that you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself."
"I know that you can." Sokka said, not doubting that. Then he offered, "And I am sorry for being overprotective."
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you being like that?" She asked him, confused. Sokka looked away when he said, "It's so hard to lose someone you really care about.
"Whether you have to go away or when you can't save them." He added, feeling deeply hurt that he couldn't save Yue. He then explained, "Something bad happened up at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone. It's kind of been haunting me ever since. I just don't want that to ever happen again."
"I lost someone I cared about too." Suki said, thinking about the first part that he said. She described what happened when she said, "He didn't die, he just went away.
"I only had a few days to get to know him and the good friends that he had, but he was pretty smart, brave and could be funny at times." She described him, making Sokka a little jealous. Standing up he questioned, "Just who is this guy? Is he taller than me?"
"No, he's about your height actually." Suki said, kind of thinking that his jealousy was a little funny. But it didn't seem to sink in for Sokka when he asked, "Is he better looking?"
"It is you, stupid." Suki chuckled when she stood up with her hands on her hips. Feeling that way, Sokka calmed down and said, "Oh. My bad."
Suki just laughed again before the two looked in each other's eyes. They started to lean forward and kiss when Sokka pulled away at the last second, clearly still upset about Yue. He shook his head, "I can't."
I'm sorry." Suki said, thinking that she had done something to make him upset. Sokka released her and shook his head, "No. You shouldn't be. Because it's not you. It's me."
He started walking away and Suki watched him go with a sad look in her eyes. She gave a quick glance to the moon again before following after him.
\_|_/
Back at the ferry, the ship continued to sail through the open water. But where the refugees were being housed, everyone was feeling a little merry with the fresh food that they were receiving. Jet, Eddie, Wade and Johnny were handing out the goods and people started to dig in. The rest of the group sat in a circle with Iroh and the man looked to the only girl of the group and said, "So, Smellerbee, such an unusual name for a young man."
"Maybe that's because I'm not a man." She retorted with an annoyed look. She got defensive when she said, "I'm a girl!"
Smellerbee rose from her seat and started to angrily walk away. While Zuko and the others facepalmed from the lack of tact, Iroh tried to fix it by saying, "Oh, now I see. It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl."
The guys around him just facepalmed from this and Longshot got up to go after his friend. Sam looked to Iroh and said, "You need to work on how you say things."
"I know." Iroh agreed and hung his head.
Longshot was able to catch up to Smellerbee and placed a hand on her shoulder to make her stop. She looked to him and he gave a look that needed no words. Smellerbee agreed when she said, "I know. And you're right. As long as I'm confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think of me." She nodded in appreciation, "Thanks, Longshot. I needed that."
"You were able understand him?" Wade asked when he literally slid into the conversation. This just earned a couple of looks from the two Freedom Fighters. Looking between them, Wade asked, "What? Can't a guy be a little curious?"
The two just rolled their eyes before leaving him alone. Back with the others, they were enjoying the spoils from their mission. Jet rejoined them and said, "From what I've been hearing from the other refugees, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se."
"Guess that's something to look forward to." Logan shrugged when he sat down and at some of his food. Peter interjected by saying, "The city must be doing pretty well if everyone's safe and eating well."
"We'll have to wait and see." Johnny added and joined them. Jet looked at all of them and said, "I think we all can't wait to see that giant wall on the other side of the lake."
"I am kind of wondering that, yes." Peter nodded as he was curious. Iroh nodded in agreement when he said, "It is a sight to behold."
"So, you've been there before?" Jet asked, curious to know what it was like. Both Zuko and Iroh's faces fell when the latter said, "Once… When I was a different man."
"I've done some things in my past that I'm not particularly proud of." Jet said, remembering the last few months and running into the Avatar and the Avengers. Sam looked to the teen and asked, "Is that you're looking for in the city? A little redemption?"
"It's a second chance. To make a new beginning for myself." Jet nodded to confirm it. Iroh respected that decision by saying, "That's a very noble thing of you.
"I truly believe that people can change their lives for the better if they really want to." He added while glancing over to Zuko. His nephew looked to him when he said, "I do believe in second chances."
What he said got the wheels in Jet's head moving as he kept thinking.
\_|_/
The next morning came and the group on the Serpent's Pass was once again moving. They covered a good deal of ground a couple of hours after dawn and found themselves going down a slope towards the water. They came to a stop at a spot and a mixture of annoyed and confused emotions went through the group. The reason being was that there was a large gap of water between them and the rest of the pass. Steve then said, "There are a few ways that we can do this." He looked to them and asked, "What do we do?"
"I have an idea." Katara said when she went up in front of the group. She looked to everyone and instructed, "Everyone in a single file line. With me in the front and Aang in the back."
Everyone did as she said and moved between the two. Aang moved to the back and Katara got to work by raising her hands up before waving them forward. It made the water part. She started walking down into the parting water and continued to make the waters part to make room for everyone. As the group started to follow after her, Katara yelled to the back, "Aang! I'm gonna need some help."
Aang passed his staff to Toph and she took it without a fuss. Both Aang and Katara started waving their arms around to keep the water from crashing down on them. Everyone looked on in amazement from what they were seeing while at the bottom of the lake. They could see schools of fishes swimming about. Bruce smiled when he said, "This would make aquariums back home a lot more entertaining."
"That's for sure." Clint agreed with a nod. Suki looked to the Asgardian of the group and asked Thor, "You guys got anything like this on Asgard?"
"Nothing specifically like this, I'm afraid." Thor shook his head. Momo chittered as he watched the fish swim by before leaping into the water himself. Those who could watch found it amusing to see Momo swimming after the fish. But before the lemur could go too far, a large shape passed by him. With a frightened gasp, Momo quickly turned tail and swam back to the bubble. Everyone was shocked to see Momo return and perch himself on Toph's shoulders again. It was then that they noticed the large shape swimming by. Katara slowed her waterbending as everyone watched in fear and suspense when she asked, "What is that thing?"
"Something bad." Steve said as they all prepared themselves. Everyone cried out when something big came through the air bubble and let the water flood in. Clint looked to one of the group and shouted, "Toph!"
"I'm on it!" Toph shouted as she stomped her foot. Then raising both her hands that held Aang's staff, she caused pillar of earth to rise from underneath them. The top of the pillar with everyone on it burst from the lake. All those who could fight looked about for whatever was out there with them. Toph handed Aang his staff and everyone became surprised when they saw something big and green swim by their little island. It circled around them and everyone watched and waited to see it would do.
The water suddenly burst and revealed a large green sea serpent. It roared down at the group. Pointing to it, Sokka stated the obvious that was on everyone's minds, "I think I now know why they call it the Serpent's Pass."
"Gee, ya think." Clint sarcastically said when he glanced to the teen. It let loose a screech that made everyone cover their ears from the harsh sound. Sokka looked to the Kyoshi Warrior and said, "Suki, you know a lot about giant sea monsters. Make it go away."
"Just because I live near the Unagi doesn't make me an expert." Suki shot back with a ticked off look. Sokka looked to the super spy of the group and asked, "Uh, Nat?"
"What makes you think I would know anything?" Natasha questioned while Bruce just nudged the teen. They watched as Sokka bent down before taking Momo into his arms. Sokka then held the nervous looking lemur to the sea serpent and say, "Oh, great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you."
"Sokka!" A good deal of the group scolded him and the teen cringed. The sea serpent gave another screech and lunged at them. Aang quickly stepped up and swung his staff. The air wave knocked the sea serpent back and Clint quickly followed up with a shock arrow. The arrow caused the serpent to spasm from the electricity coursing through its body before it thrashed about and made the arrow fall off. Aang looked to the group and said, "I'm going to distract it.
"Katara, get everyone across safely." He said before opening his glider. Aang didn't wait as he shot off the little island towards the sea serpent. The serpent chased after him while everyone backed away. Katara ran to the side of the little island that faced side of the pass that they were supposed to go to before throwing her arms forward. It caused the water to freeze before she ran again and did the same motion. Another stretch of ice formed before she ran one last time and with another forward motion of her arms, she made the rest of the ice bridge touch the other side of the pass. She looked back and shouted, "Okay, everyone slowly come across!"
Thor, Natasha, Bruce and Steve all stayed with the family while Clint remained behind with Toph. Sokka and Suki followed after the family. Steve looked to Katara and said, "We got the family. Go and help Aang."
The Waterbender nodded before jumping onto the ice. With a quick motion of her hands, she created a slab of ice from under her feet and with a wave of her arms she shot towards the battle to help out. The serpent continued to chase after Aang as he flew down and past its neck. The sea serpent screeched as it chased after him before diving underneath the water. Katara surfed up beside it with her waterbending before making the ice around the middle of its body. It caused the sea serpent to slow down before rising up out of the water. The serpent growled as it started thrashing its body and breaking the ice around it. Katara quickly turned tail on her board of ice and started surfing the other way. The sea serpent hissed as it turned its attention on Katara and started chasing after her.
Meanwhile, the four Avengers, Sokka and Suki were able to get the family safely across. When they reached the end, Sokka looked back and noticed that Toph and Clint were still on the island and called to them, "Clint, Toph, come on! It's just a little ice!"
Toph gingerly placed a foot down on the ice before retracting her appendage. She shouted back to Sokka, "Actually, I think I'll stay on my little island where I can see."
"Toph, you'll be okay. I'm right here with you." Clint reassured her. Toph turned her head to her friend and said, "Don't treat me like I'm, scared. I just feel a little more comfortable-"
They were startled when the serpent's tail crashed down on the island behind them. Toph grabbed Clint by the arm and dragged him onto the ice while yelling, "Okay, okay, we're coming!"
Clint had a hand on her shoulder to stabilize her as they carefully made their way across the bridge of ice. They were doing pretty well when Sokka shouted, "You guys are doing great! Just come towards the sound of my voice!"
"It's really hard to ignore!" Toph commented as she and Clint kept on coming. Clint then said, "He's just trying to help!" He looked to the teen when he added, "Even when it's not necessary!"
From the other side of the pass, Sokka just scowled in the two's direction. Clint and Toph reached the halfway mark and the four on the rocks looked to the battle. Their eyes widened when they saw the serpent coming their way. Natasha shouted, "Guys! Heads up!"
"Huh?" Both Clint and Toph asked as the former looked up. Toph started screaming when the serpent's tail smashed through the ice and sent the two flying into the water. Both of them landed in the water and Toph was the first to surface. She frantically shouted, "Help! I can't swim!"
"Hang on, kiddo!" Clint shouted and swam to her. Those on the shore looked in horror as Sokka shouted, "Hang on! I'm coming!"
He seemed to take a moment by trying to remove his shoes, but Suki beat him to it by diving into the water. They watched as she swam to help Clint rescue Toph and they both dived under the water when Toph sank beneath the waves with one last scream, "Help me!"
The two were able to reach Toph before she sank any further. They pulled her up to the surface and took a deep breath of air. Toph was grateful when she said, "Thank you, Clint and Sokka for saving me."
Clint and Suki were both confused when she graced both of them with a kiss to the cheek. Clint arched a brow to the blind Earthbender when he said, "Well, you're welcome and it is me, but-"
"But it's actually me." Suki said with a small grin, letting her know who her other rescuer was. Toph gave an embarrassed laugh, Oh. Well…" Wanting to die of embarrassment she said, "You two can let me go and let me drown now."
"Sorry, kid." Clint shook his head with a grin and they started swimming to rejoin the others. From the shore, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Bruce said, "I guess we better check how Aang and Katara are doing."
"I think that they are doing quite fine." Thor said and pointed to the two. They all looked to see that both Aang and Katara had the sea serpent on the ropes.
Between the two Waterbenders they had trapped the large creature in a whirlpool. Aang ran on the side with his staff in the water while Katara shifted her feet on the water while waving her arms around. The sea serpent screeched as it was starting to get dizzy from the swirling torture it was in. The two Waterbenders started going much faster and it sent the sea serpent flying. It roared in pain when it was sent crashing into the rocks. But it seemed to have had enough as it started swimming away.
Aang jumped into the air and opened his glider again before flying over to Katara. She was able to grab on to his outstretched hand and he flew them over to where the others were. Everyone started cheering when Aang and Katara flew over them. Aang let go of Katara's hand and she was caught by Steve and Thor. Aang landed by them and closed up his glider.
…
They quickly made their way across the rest of the pass without any other delays. They walked down the final hill and came down on the far shore of the lake. Everyone started to breathe a little easier. Sokka looked up and his face brightened when he saw something in the distance. He looked back and excitedly said, "There's the wall!"
Everyone looked to where he was pointing and saw a large structure in the distance. They saw that he was right and it really was the wall of Ba Sing Se. Sokka seemed so relieved when he said, "Now it's nothing but smooth sailing from here to Ba Sing Se."
This caused just about everyone in the group to groan from Sokka's poor choice of words. Clint raised his hand with three fingers up and counted backwards, "Three… two… one."
"Oh, no!" Ying gasped in pain and Than moved to help her before she fell off her feet. Sokka seemed to bit oblivious when he stupidly asked, "What's wrong?"
"What do you think is wrong?" Bruce said as he hurried to Ying's side and checked on her. Ying gasped again before informing them, "I think the baby's coming."
"What? Right now!?" Sokka asked, thinking that this was the worst time. Then he asked another stupid question, "Can't you hold it in or something?"
"Sokka, she's having a baby, not needing to go to the bathroom." Clint scolded him with a questioning look. Katara moved between them and said, "Calm down, you guys.
"I helped Gran Gran deliver lots of babies back home." She added while Than and his sister helped Ying onto the ground. But it didn't seem to calm Sokka down when he argued, "This isn't going to be the same as delivering an arctic seal…" It sounded so foreign to him when he said, "This is a human thing!"
"It's called a baby." Katara clarified for her brother with a deadpanned look. Then she pointed out, "And I've helped her deliver plenty of those, too."
"Seems like you're the right person for this job." Steve nodded, knowing that she was the one to take charge. Bruce stepped up and said, "This isn't something that I normally do a lot. But I will help out as much as I can."
"Thanks, Bruce." Katara nodded her appreciation. Looking to the others she said, "I'm going to need a few things. Aang, Steve, Thor, go and get some rags.
"Sokka and Clint, we'll need water." She added when she looked to the other two. Everyone was surprised at how well she was taking charge with this. The five ran off to go and get what she needed to get this done. Katara then looked to Toph and said, "Toph, we're going to need an earth tent and a big one at that."
"Got it." Toph said before moving to stand in front of the family. With a stomp of her foot and a raise of her hands, she created a large earth tent that covered the family but let an opening big enough for all of them. Katara looked to the remainder of the group and said, "Bruce, Natasha and Suki, come with me."
The three followed her in to get started.
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On the ferry to Ba Sing Se, the waters lapped around the vessel as it continued to sail through the water. On the deck where the refugees were being housed, the people had been notified that they would be approaching the outer wall soon. From where they were standing or sitting, Logan was leaning against a post and he said, "Well, boat ride's nearly over."
"Journey's not over yet, pal." Johnny argued when he picked up what he had. Peter agreed with the cursed bounty hunter by saying, "Yeah. I mean, I know we found Mr. Stark and all that, but we still got five more people to look for."
"Well, they shouldn't be too behind now." Sam said when he joined the group. From his mat, Iroh looked about and asked, "Where have my nephew and Tony gone off to?"
"I think they went off to the bow of the ship." Smellerbee said as she finished packing up as well. Then she looked to them and said, "That's where I saw Jet and Rhodey going."
…
Up at the front of the boat, Zuko and Tony stood and kept a look out for the wall of the city. Tony had bits of his suit hidden underneath his clothes while Zuko had his weapon strapped to his back. Only Tony glanced back when Jet and Rhodey joined them. Jet was looking to Zuko when he said, "You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were."
That made Zuko glance back to the former rebel leader while it made Tony a little worried. But luckily, it wasn't what Jet was thinking when he stepped up next to them and said, "You're an outcast just like me.
"And us outcasts and Avengers kind of need to stick together." He added when he looked to Tony. Tony only gave him and Rhodey a slight glance before looking down and thinking about what the teen was saying. Jet glanced to Zuko when he said, "We have to watch each other's backs because no one else will."
"You do make a point kid." Tony nodded. He looked to Rhodey when he said, "It's hard to come by people who have your back and really appreciate them."
"Since when did you get really sappy?" Rhodey jokingly asked and leaned against the bow of the ship. Even Zuko saw truth in Jet's words when he remembered not too long ago, "I've realized lately that being on your own isn't always the best path to walk."
"It hardly ever is." Tony, Rhodey and Jet all agreed at the same time. All four of them gave slight smiles as the outer wall of Ba Sing Se came into view.
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Back with the family, those outside the tent were still waiting for the baby to arrive. Inside the tent, Than and his sister held Ying's hands as she was breathing heavily. The poor woman was sweating up a storm. Bruce looked to Katara and said, "The baby will be coming really soon."
"I wouldn't worry too much." Natasha said to try and reassure her. Katara was in agreement with the spy when she said, "You're doing great, Ying.
"Sokka! Clint! Where's that water?!" She called out to her brother. They all prepared themselves when Katara instructed Ying, "Okay, get ready to push.
"One… two… three!" She counted just when Sokka and Clint entered the earth tent with jugs full of water. Ying screamed as she started to give birth. Sokka's eyes went wide and he groaned before fainting. Clint quickly went to catch Sokka's jug of water and breathed a sigh of relief when it was still full.
…
After a little time and work, it was over. Outside the tent, the boys minus Bruce and Toph all waited outside. Momo was up in the branch of a tree nibbling on a piece of food. They heard the sound of the baby crying and Steve was very impressed when he said, "Seems like the family was in great hands."
"Aye. Katara is quite the resourceful one." Thor nodded in agreement. They heard Katara shout from the inside, "It's a girl."
"Can we come see?" Clint asked when he looked to the opening of the earth tent. Natasha said, "I think you'll be okay to come in."
"Then let us go and welcome the new baby into the world." Thor said as he left Mjolnir on the ground and followed Steve and Clint inside. Toph looked to Sokka who was wiping his face with a rag and asked, "So, do you want to go and see the baby, or are you going to faint like an old lady again?"
"No, no." Sokka shook his head, feeling much better. He got to his feet and felt confident when he said, "I think I'm good this time."
The two walked into the earth tent while Aang stayed on the outside, looking a little sullen. Both Steve and Katara stepped back outside and the latter said, "Aang, you really have to come and see this."
"It really is a sight to see." Steve nodded before they both went back inside. Aang thought about it for a second before getting up, picking up his staff and went inside. When he went inside, the baby was only slightly crying as everyone was watching over her. Toph smiled and said, "She sure sounds healthy."
"She's so beautiful ." Katara said while Ying held her new baby. Sokka commented, "It's so squishy looking."
"Really?" Bruce questioned when he looked up to the teen. It sounded so stupid to him when he said, "That's the best you can come up with."
They all then just kept looking at the little girl in her mother's arms. Aang smiled from the scene and began to feel something in his heart again. Than looked to Ming and asked, "What she name her, honey?"
"I want our new daughter's name to be something unique." Ming said when she looked to her husband. She looked back to her child, "I want it to mean something."
Tears welled up in Aang's eyes and he let them fall as he was happy for this family. He wiped his eyes before saying, "I've been going through a really hard time lately, but seeing this family has made me hopeful again."
His words seemed to really touch the family and it gave Ying an idea. She looked to Than and told him, "I now know what I want to name our baby now.
"I want to name her Hope." She decided when she looked to her daughter again. Than smiled as he liked the name, "That's a perfect name." He gently brushed his daughter's cheek when he said, "My little Hope."
Aang looked to Katara and Steve and silently thanking them for talking to him. Then he asked, "Could I talk to you guys outside?"
"Uh, sure." Steve said and all three walked out. Aang turned to them and said, "I thought I was trying to be strong. But I was really just running away from my feelings. I guess that seeing this family, full of happiness and love, just reminds me of how much Appa."
"We know how much finding him means to you." Steve said, understanding that he was in pain. Aang then said, "It also reminded how much you guys mean to me as well."
That made Katara start to cry as she hugged him. Aang returned the embrace as the rest of the group joined them. Aang looked to the group and said, "I am sorry about what happened in the desert."
"I think we can all let it go." Clint nodded, knowing that Aang was just really hurting then. Thor then suggested, "But perhaps you should go on to the city. You can get a head start on looking for our friend."
"That's not a bad idea." Bruce thought about it. Aang agreed with them and said, "I promise, I'll go and find Appa as fast as I can. I just really need to do this."
"Don't worry. We're right behind you." Steve said by placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. Sokka pulled Aang into a bro hug and said, "See you in the big city, buddy."
"Say hi to the big fuzzball for me." Toph said when she lightly punched Aang in the arm. Aang rubbed the sore spot and promised, "I will."
"You'll find him, Aang." Katara said as she knew he would. Aang nodded to them before opening his glider. The others stepped back and Steve said, "I would say don't do anything stupid."
"How can I when you're taking it all with you." Aang said with a grin. Steve chuckled from the light banter that he and Bucky would do. Aang looked down to Momo who had opened his wings and asked, "Are you ready, Momo?"
The lemur looked to him and chittered as if saying that he was good. They both jumped into the air and flew towards the wall. Everyone waved goodbye to him before he disappeared over the horizon. Steve then said, "Okay, let's start to pack up. We got quite a walk ahead of us."
"Right." The others nodded. But before they could get too far, Suki said, "Actually, I've got something to say."
They looked to her and she seemed a little conflicted about something. But she came out with it and said, "It's been great seeing you all and meeting those that I just met."
"Wait, hold on. Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye?" Sokka asked her, feeling a little confused. Suki then said, "I mostly came along because I wanted to make sure that you all got through the Serpent's Pass safely."
"And we thank you for your assistance, Lady Suki." Thor nodded his appreciation. Suki continued by saying, "But now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors."
"So you mostly came along to protect us?" Sokka asked her, feeling a little bewildered. Suki gently moved a lock of hair back and said, "I mostly came to protect one person."
Katara, Toph, Thor, Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Clint all smirked when they knew who she was talking about. Sokka became a little surprised and pointed to himself, "Me?"
"Mm." Suki nodded. Her face fell as she started, "And listen, I'm really sorry about last night." She blushed from the memories of the previous night, "We were talking and saying some things. And then I just got carried away, and before I knew it, I was…"
She was cut off when Sokka stepped up and kissed her on the lips. Suki was surprised by the kiss, but didn't seem too upset about it. Sokka stepped backed and said, "You talk too much."
Suki chuckled before they kissed again. The others started to feel a little embarrassed and turned around. When they broke up again, Suki looked to Natasha and asked, "Ready to go?"
"Huh?" The group said and looked to the spy. Natasha turned to them and looked a little nervous about it. Then she said, "Yeah, that was something that I was meaning to talk to you guys about."
"But we just got most of the group back together." Clint argued. Natasha nodded and said, "I know. But I feel like I can do a little good if I went with Suki."
"What do you mean?" Katara asked. Natasha looked to the Waterbender and said, "I mean, I can get intelligence, do a little recon and other things out here. Suki was even telling me that she and the Kyoshi Warriors weren't staying much longer at Full Moon Bay."
"If you feel that this is something that you have to…" Thor said and placed a hand on her shoulder. He nodded, "Then we shall support you."
"I'll find a way back into the city." She promised them. With that said, Natasha and Suki started their journey back to Full Moon Bay. Katara looked to Clint and asked, "Think they'll be okay?"
"They'll be fine." Clint nodded. He was confident in his friend, "I know it."
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The ferry pulled into another port and all the refugees aboard started to get off. As Tony, Zuko and Iroh walked on ahead, Jet, the Freedom Fighters and the Rescue team were right behind them. Rhodey looked to Jet and said, "Something's been on your mind since we met up with Tony and his friends."
"Kind of." Jet nodded. But he smiled when he said, "But I think it's more of that those guys might actually be help to our cause."
"You want to recruit them?" Peter asked as he walked behind the older teen. Jet nodded as they continued toward the city.
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Aang and Momo came upon a much more flat land when they neared the wall. The two reached the base of the wall, the two turned upward and flew along the height of the large wall. When they reached the top, they did a loop before descending onto the wall. Aang landed before twirling his glider closed. Momo landed on his shoulder and they looked out to the inner wall of Ba Sing Se. A noise came to Momo's ears and he gave a startled squeak. It alerted Aang and he looked to where Momo turned his head. Both of them were wide eyed from what they were seeing. What they were seeing was a large futuristic drill making its way towards the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. The drill was about a mile long and had the combined insignia of the Fire Nation and Hydra on the top of it. Eight tanks flanked the drill on both sides of it. Aang looked to Momo and said, "Sorry, Momo.
"Appa's gonna have to wait." He begrudgingly said when he turned back to the drill.
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This story's dedication to:
Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018
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Author's Note: Oh, I can't wait to get the next chapter done. It's got my favorite moment from Book 2, where Aang runs up and down the wall to destroy the drill. And yes, I know that Natasha leaving the group is a total shock and some of you might be upset, but that is how I planned for it. And don't worry, she will be back before you know it.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.
