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: I plan to do a short story for just about all the groups. I also don't plan on being skimpy like others who had made it this far. I also plan on a few foreshadowing events as well.
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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…
Katara looked to the others and excitedly said, "I can't believe that we finally made it to Ba Sing Se."
"It will feel a little good to be back." Clint said when he leaned against his seat as their train pulled into the city.
Iroh looked up to his nephew and explained the flowers, "I just wanted to make our place look really nice," He lightly nudged his nephew when he added, "in case someone brings home a lady friend."
"This city is a prison." Zuko disapproved as they kept walking. Tony and Iroh gave the teen a questioning look and he added, "I don't want to make a life here."
Ju Dee was the first to step out and said with her usual and unnaturally large smile, "Ah, here we are. Your new home away from home."
Water Tribe teen walked after Ju Dee and said, "Maybe you missed what I just said. We need to go and talk to the Earth King about the war. It's really important."
Ju Dee unrolled the scroll and said, "It would appear to be more good news. Your request to meet with the Earth King is being processed, and it should be through in about a month."
"Well, if we're gonna be here for a month…" Aang spoke up and turned to look out the window. Momo woke up from his little cat nap when the Airbender said, "We might as well look for Appa or the others."
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Book Two: Earth
Chapter Sixteen: Extended Tales of Ba Sing Se
The Tale of Toph, Katara and Clint
A brand-new day came over Team Avenging Avatar's home. It had been a couple of days since they had arrived into town and been dealt with at the Earth King's party. Inside the bathroom of the house, the majority of the group was getting ready for the day. Aang was shaving the top of his head, Sokka, Bruce and Steve were shaving their faces, and Thor and Katara were fixing up their hair. Even Momo was trying to get himself by wiping his face with his hands. While everyone else started going about their day, Katara walked back into the main room of the house and opened the door. She gasped to see Toph lying face down on the floor still asleep. The Waterbender regained composure and asked, "Uh, Toph? Aren't you going to get ready for the day?"
Toph sat up and tried to fully wake up. Then she hacked up a loogy before spitting it into a nearby spittoon. Katara jumped when it went into the spittoon quite harshly. Toph stood up and dusted herself off while saying, "Don't worry. I'm ready."
"You're not going to clean up?" Katara asked, a little worried. She pointed to where she saw dirt on the girl, "You got a little dirt on your-" Katara was surprised when she finished, "Everywhere, actually."
"You may call it dirt." Toph disagreed with her. A proud smile formed on the young Earthbender's face when she said, "But I like to call it a healthy coating of Earth."
"Hmm." Katara thought as she looked the only other girl over. An idea popped into Katara's head and she suggested, "You know what we need?
"A girl's day out." She excitedly said. It made Toph a little worried and she asked, "Do I have to?"
"It'll be fun. I promise." Katara said, really wanting to bond with Toph. Toph hung her head in defeat and decided to at least try to hang out with Katara. Toph then raised her head to ask, "But what are we going to do and where are we going to go?
"I'd rather not have Ju Dee the Second taking us anywhere." Toph shuddered. Katara understood Toph's concerns of the replacement Ju Dee and paused a moment to think. Her face lit up and she said, "I think I have a way of knowing someone who can be our escort instead."
"Who?" Toph said, a little confused. But it quickly dawned on her and she excitedly said, "Clint!"
"Go get ready and I'll go and find him." Katara said. Toph then told her, "He's out in the backyard of the house shooting his bow.
"I guess it's to relieve some of the stress from the past few days." Toph added, a little worried for her friend. While Toph went to get herself ready, Katara walked outside and went around the back.
Clint was indeed in the backyard shooting at a couple of targets with his bow. Katara waited patiently until after firing the readied arrow. He let it go and it landed in the middle of a log with a thunk. Before he could ready another arrow, Katara quickly said, "Hey, Clint?"
"Yeah." Clint responded while readying another arrow without looking behind him. Katara was a little surprised by this and asked, "Toph and I are having a Girls Day Out today and we could really use your help of finding the best places to go."
Clint didn't release the arrow and looked back to the Waterbender. He seemed a little skeptical when he asked, "Toph really wants to go and do something like that?"
"She did agree to it." Katara shrugged. Clint thought about it for a moment before saying, "Alright. I'll tag along with you two."
"Thanks." Katara said and clasped her hands together in excitement.
…
After Toph had gotten herself ready, she met with Clint and Toph outside of the house. Toph sighed and said, "I'm ready."
"You sure you want to do this, Toph?" Clint asked her. Toph turned her head to her oldest friend and said, "I'm willing to give it a try. But let's go before I get bored and change my mind."
"All right, follow me." Clint said and they started walking.
…
They went into the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se and found themselves before a decorated building. When she was told where they were, Toph then asked, "Mr. Lee's Fancy Day Spa?
"Sounds like my kind of place." Toph sarcastically said. Though she knew that Toph didn't seem in to it, Katara did want to have fun with her friend and asked, "Are you ready for some serious pampering?"
"Sure, Katara. Whatever you say." Toph said, feeling like she wasn't going to be able to get out of it. She did have one rule when she said, "As long as they don't touch my feet. That's my only rule."
"Come on. I'll see what I can get you girls." Clint said and they walked into the building. The three came before a desk where a man in a green robe, with a small mustache and orange tinted glasses sat. The man said, "Welcome to Mr. Lee's Fancy Day Spa.
"I'm Mr. Lee and I welcome you to my humble establishment." The man said. Clint walked up to him and requested, "These two are here for your finest treatment."
"Of course." Mr. Lee nodded. Then he said, "That'll be seven coppers my good man."
"Let me see." Clint said and started digging into his pocket. But as he fished the coins out, he happened to notice a familiar face walking out of one of the doors. It looked to be Ju Dee, or someone who looks like the two women, walk out of the room following a regal looking individual. Remembering what he was doing, Clint pulled the coppers out and placed them on the table. Mr. Lee nodded and said, "Thank you for choosing Mr. Lee's to take care of your stressful days."
"Uh, yeah, thanks." Clint said and started to walk away. Both Katara and Toph noticed this and the former kept her voice down when she said, "What is it, Clint?"
"That woman with that guy over there." Clint said and subtly pointed to them. Katara glanced back and her eyes widened when she saw what Clint was seeing. Toph became confused and asked, "What is it?"
"Either the two Ju Dees have a triplet in their family, or something's really going on." Clint said as he watched them go. Katara then asked, "What are you going to do?"
"A little reconnaissance." Clint said and started to walk. But he was stopped when Toph grabbed his arm and said, "Wait. Won't the Dai Lee be watching out for you?"
"I'll be sure to be careful." Clint promised. Then he added, "And I won't tail them for long. I'll be right back to get you when your treatment is over."
"Maybe we should go with you." Katara suggested. But Clint shook his head, "No, no, no. If all of us go, it'll likely bring more attention on us all. It's better for me to go by myself."
"Plus, you guys are having a girl's day." Clint suggested. Then he ushered them by saying, "Now go have some fun. I'll be back. I promise."
"I'll hold you to it." Toph said before both girls walked off. Clint watched them go in before turning and walking out of the building. When he reached the outside, he glanced about before spotting the Ju Dee look-a-like and her escort walking across a bridge. Taking a quick glance around, Clint made his way after them.
…
Back in the spa, Katara, Toph and a few other women were in the middle of being pampered. Each attendant had been given a light green robe and had their shoes, or if they had shoes, removed them for a pedicure. While Katara and a few of the other girls were enjoying the treatment, Toph on the other hand wasn't. A strong burly girl had a hold of one of the blind girl's feet and was scrapping against the bottom of it with a tool. Each stroke kicked up a little dust as she worked. Toph had to be held down by two of the workers to keep her still. But she didn't seem to like it all that much as she was straining from the pain and the violation of her one rule. When she couldn't take it anymore, she used her other foot to send the girl working on her trapped foot flying out of the room with a scream. The girl grunted when she smacked against a wall and fell on her butt against the floor. She groaned as she placed a hand against her head.
…
Clint had followed after the guide and her escort for a few blocks now, but he hadn't seen anything suspicious happen between them or anyone else that they may have passed by. After they had turned down a corner, Clint carefully followed after them before looking around the corner. He quickly ducked back when he noticed the Ju Dee look-a-like looking back. He waited a moment before glancing around to see if it was okay to keep following them. Clint saw that they had walked a good distance away before coming around the corner and following after them again.
…
After talking the management down about what had happened with the previous treatment, they moved on to the next thing. And that next thing was: a mud bath. The girls had mud facials applied, hot towels on their heads and cucumbers in their eyes. The girls were left relaxing in the steaming mud baths.
It wasn't long when a girl with fresh towels walked up. She went up to Toph who was able to sense her coming through the mud and the stone tub. Deciding to have a little fun, Toph was able to use her earthbending on the mud on her face. She let out a breath to extend the mud over her mouth and eyes to make it look like it was an alien. When the girl with the fresh towels looked, she screamed in fright before running off. Her reaction got a laugh from both of the girls.
…
After following the two for an hour, Clint saw them go into a shop. He walked up and waited to see what would happen. They weren't in their for very long as they came back out before waving down a carriage ride. The carriage stopped and the Ju Dee look-a-like and the man she was showing around climbed in before riding off. Clint watched them go before huffing at a waste of time. Seeing no more need to stay out, Clint headed back to the spa to meet with Katara and Toph.
…
Speaking of Katara and Toph, the two were on the last leg of the treatment with a little time in the sauna. The girls had towels wrapped around their bodies and heads. When the steam seemed to die down, Toph used a kick of her foot to knock a rock onto the pile in the middle of the room and Katara gave a wave of her arm to bend a small glob of water onto the pile. The added water onto the hot rocks created another billow of steam. Katara and Toph sighed at the relaxing feeling.
…
When they had finished their treatment, Katara and Toph walked out of the building. They saw Clint waiting for them outside and he looked back to see them approaching. Katara and Toph walked up to him and the former asked, "So, find out anything?"
"Not really." Clint shook his head. He rubbed his forehead, "I probably followed them for as long as your spa treatment went and I didn't learn one thing that connects this Ju Dee to the ones that we met."
"Well, we might find something out later down the road." Toph suggested with a shrug. Clint nodded and said, "Yeah. Let's get going."
The three headed back to the house. As they walked along a path, Clint glanced to Toph and asked, "So, Toph? How'd the treatment go?"
"Actually, it wasn't so bad, if I'm honest with myself." Toph said with a grin. She turned her head to the Waterbender and said, "I'm not usually into all that girly stuff, but I do actually feel girlie at the moment."
"I'm glad that you were able to enjoy it." Katara grinned back at her. Katara then looked ahead when she said, "It's about time that the two of us did something fun together.
"Thank you, Clint." Katara quickly said. Even Toph gave her appreciation by saying, "Yeah, and I'm sorry that today didn't turn out like you were hoping."
"Eh, maybe it was just not meant to be a day for spying." Clint said as they kept walking. They soon came upon bridge over a small river. A group of three girls came in on the other side and happened to notice Toph and Katara's makeup, mostly Toph's when the one with an umbrella said, "Wow, great make up."
"Thanks." Toph said as the three passed by the girls. The girl with the umbrella laughed when she added, "For a clown."
Her words made Toph's face fall and Clint and Katara look back to them with glares. Katara placed a hand on Toph's shoulders and suggested, "Don't listen to them, Toph. Let's just keep walking."
"I think she looks cute." The one with the double hair buns on her head said. Then she jeered to the others, "Like that time we put a sweater on your pet poodle monkey."
That made all three girls giggled with glee at how they were being mean to Toph. One of them was able to calm down enough to say, "Good one, Star."
"Let's go, Toph." Katara calmly insisted, not wanting her friend to suffer any more abuse. Clint agreed with Katara by saying, "Yeah, who'll believe the words of the three ugly step-sisters anyway."
The three girls gasped from the comment from the archer of the Avengers. But Toph put on a grin when she chuckled, "No, no. That was a good one.
"Like your pet poodle monkey." Toph remembered when she turned to the girls. Clint and Katara were a little surprised to see Toph laughing. Toph then asked, "You know what else is a good one?"
She quickly stomped her foot and made a circular motion of her hands. The three girls were shocked when a circular crack appeared under their portion of the bridge and they screamed when they fell down into the river beneath them. They landed with a pretty good-sized splash while the umbrella floated down into the water. All three girls looked up to see a smiling Clint and Katara looking down at them. The archer chuckled when he said, "She was right."
"That was pretty funny." Katara agreed with him. Katara decided to make the joke even funnier with a quick motion of her arms. The three girls screamed again as they were sent down stream in a massive wave. When they were gone, Clint and Katara looked to Toph with smiles, but were surprised to see that she walking off. The two looked to each other before moving to catch up with her.
"Those girls don't know what they're talking about." Katara said to make Toph feel better. Clint agreed by saying, "Yeah, they've been living the pampered life so long that they don't know what real beauty even is."
"It's okay." Toph shrugged it off, even though she still felt a little lousy. Then she added, "One of the good things about being blind is that I don't have to waste my time worrying about appearances.
"I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval." Toph said, her voice sounding like it was breaking. She stopped and her eyes trembled when she tried to say with pride, "I know who I am."
A few tears ran from her eyes and Katara and Clint looked to each other. Clint moved to stand before Toph and kneeled down. He wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "And that's what we really admire about you, kiddo."
"He's right." Katara agreed, a smile forming on her face. She wrapped her arms around the Earthbender, "You're so strong, brave, confident and self-assured."
"And if people can't see that about you, then they don't got the right to talk about you like that." Clint believed with his gut. Katara added her piece by saying, "And we know that it doesn't really matter, but we do think that you look pretty."
"I am?" Toph asked, starting to perk up. Both Clint and Katara nodded, "Yeah. You are."
Feeling much better, Toph started walking again and the two followed after. They were soon walking side by side again, all having smiles on their faces. Toph then said, "I'd return the compliment to you guys, but I have no idea what either of you look like."
"It's okay, we'll take your word for it." Clint chuckled and Katara giggled. Toph decided to return it in her own way by just saying, "Thank you, guys."
"Ow." They both said when she followed up by punching them both in the arms. Katara and Clint rubbed their sore limbs but still had smiles on their faces.
THE END
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The Tale of Longshot, Johnny Blaze and Logan
It was a silent and eerie night for a small trio as they started to look for their lost friend. Jet had been missing for a few days now and the entire group had been greatly worried that something bad had happened to him by now. Longshot, Johnny and Logan all walked through an open street. They were trying to follow the trail that the carriage that took Jet, but weren't having any luck. Logan looked to Longshot and said, "We've been walking around for a few hours now. We've lost the trail."
'Then let's start asking questions." Johnny said and walked over to a group of people. He tapped a guy on the shoulder and the man turned to face him. The man had a long scar that ran from his face down to his right shoulder. The man narrowed his eyes when he questioned, "What do you want?"
"Easy there, bub." Logan said when he joined Johnny. Johnny then said, "We're not looking for trouble. We just want to ask you about a group of men in green robes."
"The Dai Lee?" The man asked, every one of his group starting to become worried of the men in question. Longshot, Johnny and Logan nodded as the holder of the Ghost Rider then asked, "You see, a friend of ours had been arrested by them. We just want to go and make sure that he's okay."
The men looked to each other but instead of still looking worried, they now had sly looking grins on their faces. The man with the long scar nodded and said, "We may know of what happened to your friend.
"Follow us." He said and gestured for them to follow. The three looked to each other as they all had a bad feeling about this. But they ended up following after the group to see if they were telling the truth.
…
The trio had followed the group to another part of the Lower Ring and came upon a warehouse. The man with the scar knocked on the door and it opened a crack. The trio couldn't hear anything when the man leaned forward and whispered something to the person behind the door. The door then opened and the man looked to the trio and said, "The guys in there will the information that you need."
"Uh, thanks." Logan said while Longshot nodded. The group parted for the trio to walk in and they walked through the door. They walked into the middle of the warehouse and were surprised when a large number of men walked out of the shadows. Logan looked about and asked, "So, whose gonna help us find out where the Dai Lee took our friend?"
"Anyone who wants to deal with the Dai Lee must be out of their minds." One of the thugs chuckled. He brought out a small sword and said, "But I think they may pay handsomely for troublemakers."
"Either way you'll probably be reunited with your friend." Another added with a snicker. The large group of thugs started moving towards the trio. Logan shook his head, "You guys are gonna regret crossing us."
He clenched his hands and his adamantium claws extended. The thugs became a little worried from what they were seeing and even more so when smoke came from Johnny. Longshot removed his bow and readied an arrow as they were about to start fighting. The lead thug glared at them when he ordered the large group, "Get 'em."
With a yell, they all rushed forward with their weapons raised. With a feral holler, Wolverine rushed forward and sliced through a guy's sword. The thug looked at his destroyed weapon with a whimper and became even more fearful when Logan grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt and chucked him across the room. Another thug tried to stab the Ghost Rider with his spear, but the flames ended up making the metal melt. The skin of his vessel burned away and the Ghost Rider looked back to the thug. He whimpered from the gaze of the specter. Ghost Rider pointed at him and said, "Sneaking up from behind? Not a good idea."
The man screamed as a bony fist knocked him back a few feet. Longshot quickly dodged a few knives thrown at him before raising his bow to those standing in the upper levels of the warehouse. He loosed a couple of arrows and they hit them in the shoulders and knocked them down.
Logan took a few swipes from blades before dishing out a few swipes of his claws himself. His cuts just as fast as he received them, but the cuts he ended up giving the thugs made them all cry out in pain. One thug ended up getting wrapped up in the Ghost Rider's burning chains before being yanked over to the specter. Keeping a grip on the man's shoulders, the Ghost Rider said, "Your sins know no bounds. And yet you come here to seek a safe haven.
"Look into my eyes." The Ghost Rider said, beginning his Penance Stare. The man screamed as he was made to look at all the wrong doings that he had done. A moment later, he slumped in the Ghost Rider's grip and the undead bounty hunter let him fall to the ground.
One of the men, who had a curvy knife, looked to scared to attack. The Ghost Rider noticed him and pointed at the man. The scared thug became even more so as he was fearing the worse. But the Ghost Rider surprised him by saying, "You. Innocent."
The battle continued with people falling to the ground injured or dead. But as the fight continued, the Ghost Rider suddenly started spasming out. Logan and Longshot looked to see him moving erratically and even blue flames starting to flare up. Logan shouted, "Blaze?"
"Ergh!" The Ghost Rider shouted and another flame flared from him. The remaining thugs became very scared of the spectral bounty hunter and high tailed it out of the warehouse. The Ghost Rider dropped to his knees and the specter retreated and Johnny Blaze was once again seen in the world. Longshot and Logan both rushed up to him and the latter knelt down and asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Johnny panted, feeling that there was something up with the Ghost Rider. Looking to them he said, "Let's get out of here. If they didn't really know anything about the Dai Lee, then we better not be here when they really do show up."
"That's a good idea." Logan agreed and Longshot nodded himself. The two helped Johnny to his feet and kept an arm over their shoulders. The three quickly got up and ran out of the warehouse and into the night.
THE END
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The Tale of Iroh and Thor
The sun was shining on another beautiful day in Ba Sing Se. Business was really bustling down in the Lower Ring of the city. Browsing around the many shops of the Lower Ring was Iroh as he strolled about the place. He passed by many a people and soon came to a stall that interested him. He saw a lovely basket and thought that it would be perfect for today. The owner, a man with dull green robes, a small mustache and orange tinted glasses, walked up and said, "If this is for a romantic picnic…"
"Might I suggest this lavender one here." He said and gestured to another basket. But Iroh shook his head and politely said, "Oh no, it's not a romantic picnic.
"But it is a special occasion." Iroh said with a grin. He took out a copper piece and handed it to the shopkeeper. The man took the coin and Iroh took the basket. Iroh then started to walk away from the stand and immediately noticed a drooping flower in the sunlight. Recognizing it, Iroh looked to the shopkeeper and said, "The moon flower likes partial shade."
He gently slide the vase under the shade of the stand and the flower immediately perked up. The petals and leaves seemed to become more lively from the improvement to its environment. Iroh looked to the shopkeeper and bowed in respect who graciously returned it.
Iroh then turned and walked away again, but accidentally bumped into someone in the process. The two men stumbled and Iroh clutched his head, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"It's quite alright. Nothing to worry about." A familiar voice came from the man. Iroh looked to see the man's back still to him and it was covered by a red cape. The man looked back and his face lit up when he said, "Ah, my friend! So wonderful it is to see you again!"
"Thor!" Iroh smiled and was caught off guard when Thor wrapped him in a bear hug. After a quick second of nearly squeezing the life out of a blue faced Iroh, Thor set him down and said, "Apologies for that. Just didn't think you'd be here in Ba Sing Se."
"Well, circumstances had us come here." Iroh told him. Then he offered, "Care to join me?"
"I don't suppose that would hurt." Thor shook his head and the two men started walking again. They soon came to a stand that sold musical instruments and Iroh was looking over some of stringed instruments. Thor then asked, "So, what is the basket for?"
"I have something special planned when I am finished shopping." Iroh told him, and Thor noticed that Iroh was keeping something within himself. Thor wondered aloud, "Where is your nephew?"
"Oh, he's back at a tea shop here in the Lower Ring working with a friend of ours." Iroh said. Then he explained why he wasn't there, "I myself was able to get this special day off."
They were suddenly brought out of the conversation when they heard a child start to cry. They looked to see a mother kneeling down to her son and trying to calm the boy, "It's okay.
"Shh-shh-shh. It's okay." She said, but the boy didn't seem to stop. Iroh and Thor looked to each other before the former looked to the shopkeeper, placed his hand on one of the guitars and asked, "May I borrow this for a moment?"
"Uh…" The shopkeeper started to say. Thor promised by saying, "He'll be sure to either give it back or pay for it."
"Find I guess." The shopkeeper shrugged. Iroh smiled and took the guitar. Iroh turned and started playing a small tune before walking over to the boy. The mother looked up just as Iroh started singing, "Leaves from the vines, Falling so slow
"Like fragile tiny shells, Drifting in the foam." His singing seemed to make the boy start stop crying. The boy looked up to him as Iroh knelt down and kept singing, "Little soldier boy, Come marching home"
"Brave soldier boy, Comes marching home" His song seemed to do the trick as a large smile formed on the little boy's face. Thor was greatly impressed by what he had just seen. And everyone around lightly laughed when the little boy playfully pulled on Iroh's beard and he cried out, "Ouch!"
The little boy laughed while Iroh bore no grudge and stroke his beard. The mother nodded to Iroh and said, "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Iroh said ad stood back up. The mother did as well and took her son's hand before leading him away. The boy waved goodbye to Iroh and Thor before walking after his mother. Thor walked up to him and said, "You seem to have a way with children."
"Of course." Iroh said, his grin never falling as they watched the mother and son walk away. Iroh looked really happy when he said, "That song would make my son feel better whenever he was sad."
"You have a son?" Thor asked, wondering why Iroh hasn't said anything about him until now. But Iroh didn't say anything and only nodded as he turned back to the shop and paid for the instrument. When it was done, Iroh started walking away from the shop and left Thor wondering what Iroh wasn't telling him. He was quickly brought out of his thoughts when he heard Iroh said, "Thor?"
The Asgardian looked to see Iroh waiting for him and he moved to catch up with his friend.
…
The two moved to another section of the Lower Ring. They heard the sounds of kids playing and moved to go see what was going on. They walked through a little alley and saw four kids standing in a little courtyard. They watched as the kids started playing their game with one boy using Earthbending to kick a ball into the air before it landed in front of him. He placed his right foot on it before launching it forward and with a swinging motion of his arm, he created a ramp that the ball rolled across. Another boy created a couple of stone pillars to deflect the ball away from his goal before creating a small mound of earth that sent the ball flying towards Iroh. Thor quickly reacted with a quick motion of his fist and sent the ball hurtling into a window. Someone inside shouted, "Hey!"
"Oops." Thor and the boys all said at the same time. Iroh looked to them all and offered with a smile, "You know, it is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur, and seek to restore honor."
"Perhaps you are right, my friend." Thor nodded and the four boys agreed with nods of their own. They were all startled when thundering stomps came from the window where the ball went and saw a giant mound of flesh appear in the hole. A face lowered itself to the hole and an angry man threatened, "When I'm through with the lot of you, the window won't be the only thing that's broken."
Everyone was put off by the man's huge size and really bad mood. Thor leaned to Iroh and asked, "Still thinking that we should…
"Not this time." Iroh shook his head. He gave his second piece of wisdom to them by saying, "Run!"
The kids didn't need to be told twice as they quickly took off with Thor and Iroh following quickly behind them. After running a good deal, Iroh and Thor quickly hid in an alley and looked to see if the giant burly man was following them. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they were in the clear. Thor shook his head, "I think I could have beaten him easily."
"I'm sure that you could have." Iroh agreed and patted the Asgardian on the arm. But then he said, "But it's best not to cause to much of a ruckus."
"True." Thor thought, knowing that he would probably get into trouble with the Dai Lee. Thor then noticed something behind them and looked back. He placed a protective hand in front of Iroh and said, "Keep behind me."
"Hm?" Iroh asked and looked back into the alley. They were confronted by a man in raggedy brown clothing. He was pointing a knife with a curvy blade at them and demanded, "Both of you give me all your money."
"I would advise you not to do that." Thor warned the thief and Iroh noticed how the man was standing. The man's legs were standing at awkward angles. The man repeated himself, "Give me your money. I'm not going to tell you two again!"
"You don't want to mess with us." Thor disagreed and prepared himself to defend Iroh. Iroh agreed with him by shaking, "And with such a poor stance to boot."
"Huh? What are you talking about, old man?" The thief asked while looking over his form. He shook his head and repeated one final time, "Now give me what you got."
"But with a poor stance, you are unbalanced and you can be easily knocked over." Iroh argued and walked around Thor. The Asgardian was confused and surprised by how bold Iroh was being. He was even more impressed when Iroh moved around the blade before grabbing the man's wrist with one hand and shoving him to the ground with the other. The man grunted when he fell while Iroh held his knife in his hand. Iroh's attention was brought behind him when Thor said, "You may want to watch where you point this."
"Oh, sorry." Iroh said and moved the knife away from his friend. But Thor didn't seem to be too upset by it. They both looked to the thief as the man groaned and rubbed his head. Iroh twirled the knife in hand before extending his free one to the thief. When he was on his feet, Iroh assumed a better stance and advised, "With a solid stance, you are a much more serious threat."
"You're giving advice to someone who just tried to rob you." Thor pointed out, thinking it was kind of a bad idea. Even the mugger thought it a little weird and Iroh disagreed by saying, "I think he's just a little misguided is all.
"Now, follow my lead." He said to the man. The man copied Iroh's stance by crouching a little. Seeing a few flaws in the man's stance, Iroh stood straight and corrected it by placing a hand on the man's head while giving a slight boot to the rump to fix it. He nodded in approval, "Much better."
"Thanks." The man sheepishly said, feeling a little better about his day. Iroh then said, "But to tell you the truth, you do not really look like the criminal type."
"I guess you do have a point, my friend." Thor agreed with Iroh. He then said, "He looks more like someone who hasn't found his purpose in life."
"You're right. You're both right." The man agreed, feeling like he was greatly lost. He slumped against the wall and rubbed his forehead when he admitted, "I'm just really confused. Things haven't being going so well for me."
"I think we all have been there." Thor said with a sympathetic look while Iroh placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Iroh then suggested, "Perhaps we should talk over a cup of tea."
"I think that would be a great idea." Thor agreed and the man smiled.
…
Iroh had quickly gone to gather the necessary ingredients for the tea. When he returned, he found Thor and the man, whose name turned out to be Ling, sitting on the ground talking with each other. Iroh then set to work making the tea. After waiting for the tea to boil, Iroh poured all three of them a cup. They chatted and Ling asked, "So, do you both think that I could be a good masseur?"
"Of course." Iroh nodded and finished pouring his and Thor's tea. Thor had been waiting for another cup after a long while, but he fought to control himself from just drinking down in one gulp. Ling had a big smile on his face when he said, "This is just so great.
"No one has ever believed in me before." He added when he looked to the two. Thor lowered the cup from his lips and said, "It would be hard to think that you're worth anything when no one will stand beside you."
"And a little help from others can be a great blessing." Iroh added and they all smiled. When he finished his tea, Ling placed the cup down before standing up. Thor and Iroh looked to him and Ling vowed, "From now on, I'm going straight with my life. No more stealing, just working my way through life."
"And we know that you can do it." Thor said as he and Iroh both believed in him.
…
After departing ways with Ling, Iroh and Thor soon came to a park. The sun was just starting to set behind the western Inner Wall of Ba Sing Se when they started climbing up a hill. But as they kept going up, Iroh had a sad smile and Thor noticed it. Thor then asked, "There's something about this day isn't there?"
"Yes." Iroh nodded. He glanced to Thor and said, "You were curious about my son earlier." He lightly stroked his beard when he glanced away, "I was slightly dodging the question because I didn't want to ruin a good day.
"But I guess I can tell you know now." Iroh said and began his tale. Thor listened to his story and was overcome by a flurry of emotions. And when Iroh finished his story, Thor found that he truly knew Iroh for the first time. Thor placed a comforting hand on the former general and said, "I do believe that your son would be greatly proud of you."
"Thank you." Iroh said when they reached the top of the tree. Iroh set the basket on the ground before removing his hat from his head and enjoyed the view of the sunset. Thor stood beside him and thought the view was a great one. He then looked to see Iroh turning to the tree and kneeling down. Thor, wanting to be respectful, kneeled down with him as Iroh placed a rock on top of another. Then he grabbed a cloth, a small sack, a few fruits, a picture and some thin candles with a display. After setting the candles on the display, Iroh used a little firebending to light them. Thor looked up when noticed leaves fluttering down from the tree. Iroh then set the picture against the cloth propped up by the rocks and said, "Happy Birthday, my son."
Thor saw that Iroh's son, whom he had been told was called Lu Ten, was a fine young man. Tears welled up in Iroh's eyes as he said, "If only I could have helped you."
Thor remained silent and started to think of the loved ones that he too had lost in a battle; his mother, Frigga, and his brother Loki. The tears rolled down his cheeks when Iroh then started singing again, "Leaves from the vine, Falling so slow"
"Life fragile tiny shells, Drifting in the foam" Iroh sobbed as he continued to sing. Thor gently placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and Iroh thundered on, "Little soldier boy, Come marching home"
"Brave soldier boy, Comes marching home" Iroh finished before hanging his head in sadness and Thor pulled him into a tight embrace. Tears began to roll down Thor's cheeks as he knew that losses like this weren't very easy to deal with. But he wouldn't allow Iroh to be alone right now.
IN HONOR OF
MAKO
THE END
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The Tale of Aang and Steve
The day was bright in the afternoon in the grand city of Ba Sing Se as Aang flew over it on his glider. He was mostly looking over the Lower Ring of the city before descending to a certain spot. He saw Steve waiting for him under an arch that was underneath one of the monorail tracks. Steve looked up just when Aang landed and asked, "See anything?"
"No." Aang said when his feet touched the ground and spun his staff closed. Steve then suggested, "We've been searching all day. I think we need to take a little break before we continue."
"That maybe quite helpful." Aang agreed with a small grin. They looked about and Aang noticed something across the street. Pointing to it with his staff he asked, "Why don't we go in there?"
"Hm?" Steve asked and looked to see an opening. Aang read the sign over the entrance, "It says, 'Mr. Lee's Wonder Zoo'."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look around." Steve agreed and they both walked in. But once they stepped inside, both Aang and Steve quickly noticed how gloomy the zoo was. They looked into each pen and saw sad, bored and unresponsive the animals were looking. There were many creatures from a platypus bear, hog monkeys and a few other kinds of animals. Aang looked up and saw a few dragon flies all hunched in a hanging cage. There was even a large mandril like creature laying in the dirt at the bottom of a pit cage. They came across an animal that seemed a little more lively. What they were seeing was an armadillo tiger growling as it gnawed on the bars of its cage. It looked up when it saw the two approach and it got up before backing up a little. Aang kneeled down and extended his hand in a friendly gesture, "Hey, there, fella. You look hungry."
The armadillo tiger suddenly roared at him and Aang defensively moved back with a yelp. The armadillo tiger quickly rolled up into a ball and rolled to the back of the cage. Steve looked to him with a slight smirk and asked, "Well, what did you think was gonna happen?"
"Well-" Aang started to say. But he was cut off when a voice said, "They are mighty hungry."
Steve and Aang looked back to see a janitor sweeping the grounds. Steve then asked, "Are you Mr. Lee?"
"No. Mr. Lee hasn't been here for a while." The man said. Gesturing to a poster with a man's face on it hanging on a wall. The man, also known as Mr. Lee, on the poster had orange tinted glasses and a small mustache. Mr. Lee had a big smile and the poster read, "Excelsior" on it. The man currently running the place sighed when he said, "He's runnin' something else now adays."
"And you're running the zoo all by yourself?" Steve asked him. The owner nodded and they started walking together. He then told them, "The Dai Lee won't give me any money, because the kids have all stopped coming here.
"And the kids won't come around because the zoo's all nasty and broke." He said when they came to a stop before one of the many cages of the zoo. Inside was an animal that was hunched over and facing one of the walls with the same sad look that the other animals have. Aang glanced to the zookeeper and asked, "What kind of an animal is that?"
"Oh, that's a Rabbi-Roo." The zookeeper told them. He sighed and said, "I just wish that I could get her a big open prairie like she'd love." The Rabbi-Roo glanced to the three men as he continued, "And let her hop away to the happiness that she deserves."
"So in other words, there's hardly saving the zoo?" Steve asked him and the zookeeper nodded in agreement. An idea came to Aang and he looked to the zookeeper when he said, "Let's do it."
"Huh/Say again?" Both Steve and the zookeeper asked in confusion. Aang explained his plan by saying, "There's a big open space right outside of the walls of the city. If we can get them out there, then we can make them all new habitats."
"Aang, that's a nice gesture and I like where your heart's at. But it hardly seems like it could work." Steve said with a quirked brow. The zookeeper agreed with the super soldier by saying, "Yeah, and how are you gonna transport all these wild critters from here to outside the wall?"
"Don't worry. I have my ways." Aang said with a look as if to say that he's got this. Then he reassured them by saying, "And I'm great with animals."
"Uh…" Steve started to say when he looked to the zookeeper. But he decided to trust in Aang so he stayed quiet.
Ten minutes later…
After the zookeeper had left to let the guards know of the move, Aang and Steve had let all the animals out of the zoo. But the moment that they were all loose, complete chaos exploded into the streets of Ba Sing Se. The animals were destroying property, chasing people and running around the place. The troop of hog monkeys were making a wreck of a woman's stand and she chased them out with a broom. Other residents were being chased by the giant mandrill creature, the dragon flies and other various animals. Some of the citizens tried to defend themselves from the animals, but were unfortunately sent running the other way a moment alter. One group of people were being attacked by the platypus bear as it raised its paw to strike them, but Steve came to the rescue by jumping off the roof of a building and landing on the bear's back. He grabbed a tuft of its fur and gave it a gently but firm yank. The platypus bear growled as it tried to reach for the super soldier, but he kept out of the way of its paws. When the large creature had moved away from the people, Steve shouted to them, "Get out of here! Go!"
The people didn't need to be told twice as they took off running down the street. The bear finally managed to grab Steve with its paw before flinging him into a stack of crates. The super soldier groaned as he sat up and looked up to the platypus bear as it prepared to fight. Getting up and taking a stance himself, Steve readied his fists when he said, "I can do this all day."
The bear roared and both it and Steve charged for each other. Aang was currently running around trying to protect both the people and the animals, but had to change direction many times when new trouble occurred. He saw the armadillo tiger rolling around and the Rabbi-Roo munching away through a cart of cabbages. Oddly enough, the cabbage merchant, who had been let into Ba Sing Se after some time, was catching the falling heads of cabbages and whimpering, "My… My…"
He groaned when the heads he had saved fell out of his hands save for one and stood up straight. He became distraught as he placed a hand over his forehead and started to weep, "My cabba-"
He was cut off when the Rabbi-Roo looked to him with a head of cabbage in her mouth. They stared at each other before she chomped down on the head of cabbage in her mouth. Seeing that it wasn't worth it, the cabbage merchant turned with a huff and threw the head of lettuce in his hand as he walked away, "Oh, forget it."
"That guy has the worst of luck when it comes to his cabbage." Aang said as he rushed past them. He jumped onto a roof and saw the dragon flies were hovering over a group of people. The people screamed in fear that the little creatures might harm them. Aang saw to saving them by using a blast of air to gently knock them away from each person that they were hovering over. When they were all gone, the people ran off without so much as a thank you. Aang scratched his shiny bald head in frustration, "This was so much easier in my head."
The sound of screaming made him look to his left and he quickly ducked when Steve came flying at him. Steve smacked into a wall and Aang rushed to help him up. When he was on his feet again, Steve looked to the Airbender while dusting himself off and suggested, "Next time we take job like this, you might want to think of a better plan."
"Yeah, I know." Aang agreed and started to think. An idea suddenly popped into his head and he snapped his fingers before he reached into his over shirt. Steve was a little confused to what he was doing until Aang pulled out the bison whistle. His friend asked him, "Do you think that this'll work?"
"Only one way to find out." He flicked the bison whistle up into the air before crouching down and taking in a huge breath. Steve watched as the Airbender caught the whistle and blew all the air he had gathered into it. The air through the whistle created a shockwave of sound that spread throughout the section of the Lower Ring.
It was heard by all of the animals as they stopped their shenanigans before heading towards the sound. Each animal headed for the sound, relieving the residents of Ba Sing Se, especially for one sobbing cabbage merchant. The animals came running down the streets and alley ways towards the sound. Steve, feeling the rumbling of the incoming animals, looked to Aang and suggested, "Aang, I think you need to get a move on!"
Heeding his friend's words, Aang tossed his staff into the air before quickly forming an Air Sphere and hopping on. He grabbed his staff when it came down and zipped away down the street. Steve watched him go for a moment and looked back to see how far the animals were. His eyes widened and he comically flattened himself against the wall when they came rushing by.
Aang quickly sped down the streets and people kept out of the way when the animals ran close behind him. After he passed someone they made sure to stay out of the way when the animals came through. They even kept out of the way when a turtle seal came waddling by.
…
Over at the wall, the zookeeper was trying to talk the guards into opening the gates. But he wasn't having much luck when he pleaded with one of the guards, "But please, you have to open this gate!"
"Or else what?" One of the guards skeptically asked as he and his friend smirked from the zookeeper's story. The zookeeper turned and pointed when he fearfully said, "Or else that!"
They all looked to see a large dust cloud approaching. When it came closer they saw that Aang was leading the animals right for the wall. All the animals were bellowing, screeching and roaring as they came closer. Now believing the zookeeper, the guard shouted, "Open the gate! Now!"
The two guards quickly moved out of the way and the zookeeper looked to see them running. The ground started rumbling and he looked back to see the tall wall starting to open itself up. Aang rode straight for the growing opening and stopped blowing the whistle to look behind him. When he was close enough to the wall, Aang jumped off of his Air Sphere and took flight on his glider just as the animals made it to the opening of Ba Sing Se's Inner Wall. He flew up the side of the wall before coming over the top.
Down below, the animals all started to disperse into the open area. But before they could get too far, Aang flew down to quickly get to work. Aang threw his glider into the air and formed an Air Sphere underneath him. He quickly clenched and raised his left hand to create a large wall of earth and quickly rode ahead of the charging group of animals. When he was ahead of them, he turned to block the animals from running any further. After going around them, Aang completed the wall with an opening before jumping into the middle of space. Taking a deep breath, Aang quickly flicked his hands down and lowered a large spot of earth a few feet down. Then turning to face the other way, he raised his fists and created a multi-layered rock formation. Then turning again, he raised his left hand before lashing out his right fist. The action created a large divide to keep some of the more predatory animals from the herbivores.
After a little more work, the new zoo was completed. Aang looked back to see people from inside the city starting to come in to take a look. And from the looks on their faces, they were all greatly impressed by what Aang had done. The zookeeper looked to see a few laughing children rushing out of the wall towards the new zoo to see it for themselves. From the back of the crowd, Steve ran up and he became amazed by what he was seeing.
Everyone came in and looked at the different kinds of animals that were there. Both the people and the animals seemed to be really happy from the looks of it. One hog monkey expressed its joy by jumping up and down. Aang moved over to where the Rabbi-Roo was and looked down into her enclosure. She was taking a drink of water before looking up to him. He was greatly surprised when three little Rabbi-Roo babies popped out of her pouch and squeaked adorably.
"Well, Mr. Zookeeper…" Aang said when the man joined him and the Rabbi-Roo hopped away. He looked up and asked, "How are you liking your new facilities?"
"An excellent job there, Avatar." The zookeeper said with an impressed grin. Steve joined them and said, "Got to say, this was some is pretty creative work, Aang."
"Thanks." Aang said and rubbed the back of his head. The zookeeper then said, "You should think about working with animals for a living."
"Yeah, once you're done saving the world and all." Steve agreed with a nod. The three lightly laughed from this. But their faces turned to surprise when they heard a child complain, "Mommy, Miss Snowflake got out of the house again."
The three moved over to the enclosure and saw a few house pets down in the enclosure with the large mandrill creature. One of the cats was screeching while the others kept back. The mandrill creature looked at them curiously but didn't make a move. Aang, Steve and the zookeeper looked to another child when she asked, "Fluffikins, what are you doing down there?"
"Well that's not good." Steve said with a bit of a worried look. The zookeeper looked to the two and suggested, "On second thought, you guys should probably stick to saving people."
Aang gave a nervous chuckle while rubbing his bald head while Steve could only lightly shake his head.
THE END
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The Tale of Sam and Rhodey
The two friends of the Avengers kept silent as they were roaming around the wall that separated the Lower Ring from the Middle Ring. As they looked about, the two heroes noticed that everywhere they turned they noticed a lot of the agents who had arrested Jet the other night were walking about. The two managed to keep a low profile and stayed out of trouble with these police. When they found a good spot, Rhodey looked about before saying to Sam, "Is it just me, or are there a lot of those Dai Lee agents?"
"You're not the only one." Sam shook his head. Glancing about he said, "They're making it pretty hard to look for our friends."
"We could try to ask one about the whereabouts of either Jet or the others." Rhodey suggested to him. Sam shrugged and said, "It is worth a try."
The two then moved out to try and find any potential help.
…
They must have been walking around the section of the Lower Ring for about an hour and they were unable to find a single Dai Lee agent. Sam groaned and said, "How hard is it to find one agent in this entire city?"
"It does seem to be a recurring thing." Rhodey huffed. His eye brow twitched and he said, "The moment you need to find someone, they're hardly ever around to be found."
"If memory serves me correctly, there were regular officers as well the night that Jet had been arrested." Sam suddenly thought of. Thinking of nothing better, he suggested, "Perhaps if we go to them, they may be able to help."
"Then let's get going." Rhodey agreed with him. The two quickly got moving again. It wasn't long until they found an officer and walked up to him. Sam let Rhodey do all the talking and the question about their friends was asked. The guard shook his head, "Usually those apprehended by the Dai Lee are kept for a while. It could be a while before your friend is allowed to walk the streets of Ba Sing Se."
"And the other people we're looking for?" Sam asked, making Rhodey look back to him. But the guard shook his head, "Haven't heard of anyone like that, I'm afraid. Plus, if there were, they'd probably be in the Upper Ring."
"Uh, thanks anyway." Rhodey said and the officer walked away. Looking to Sam he asked, "So what now?"
"We keep looking." Sam said as he looked towards the wall. Glancing back he said, "It's the only thing that we can do."
Both him and Rhodey were left looking at the walls that separated the different society classes of Ba Sing Se.
THE END
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The Tale of Sokka and Loki
The sun was just starting to set over the city as Sokka casually walked about the streets. He reached back and pulled out his boomerang before flinging it into the air. He didn't have to wait for very long as it came back to him and he effortlessly caught it. He came upon a few fancy buildings as he just placed his boomerang back into its holder. He walked around a corner and came across a few guys loading up a wagon. One of the guys was trying to keep an ostrich-horse under control while another said to a third, "I don't know how the wheel suddenly came off.
"I mean one minute and I was riding fine. The next, everything starts bouncing from the lack of the wheel." He huffed. The third man then said, "Be glad that that stranger had found it for you."
"Yeah, he said that he had seen it pop off." The second guy said. Sokka just watched the conversation from afar with a questioning look. Someone appeared behind him and said, "Lovely evening for a stroll isn't it."
Sokka yelped as he took out his boomerang out and held it in a threatening manner. The person held his hands up in a calming manner and said, "If I had known that this was going to be your reaction, I'd have come at a better time."
"Nikol?" Sokka asked when he recognized the man. Nikol grinned and held his arms out when he said, "Surprise."
"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since you helped us with the Haru and the Earthbenders." Sokka asked as he put his boomerang away again. Nikol shrugged and said, "Just thought that I'd see the sights that this city has to offer."
"Well, I guess that's one way of using your time." Sokka shrugged with a grin. Loki then said, "I see you're taking in the sights pretty well."
"Trying to." Sokka shrugged. He looked down when he said, "Coming here's been pretty rough."
Loki was about to say something when they heard voices coming from inside the building next to them. Sokka moved to an open window and wondered aloud, "What's this?"
"Looking through a window." Loki said and he crossed his arms. He shrugged when he said, "And people say I'm mischievous."
But he ended up looking over Sokka's shoulder. They looked in to see a woman standing on a stage holding a scroll in her hands. She read from it, "Through all the long night, winter moon glows with bright love. Sleet her silver tears."
"Poetry." Sokka sighed as he thought that it was beautiful. Loki looked to say something to him when the ostrich-horse brayed behind him. He stepped out of the way when it lashed out its foot. Loki winced when it kicked Sokka in the backside and sent him falling into the building.
Sokka gasped from the harsh kicking and all the girls inside screamed in fright from the sudden visitor. Loki looked into the window and saw that no one had made a move. Glancing down to Sokka he said, "You might want to try something to alleviate the situation."
"Uh, right." Sokka said to him. Turning back to the girls with a sheepish grin, the Water Tribe teen groaned, "I am so sorry. Something struck me in the rear." He stood up, removed the window frame from his waist and said, "I just wound up here."
He and Loki were both surprised when the majority of the room started giggling and clapping from what Sokka just said. A grin formed on Sokka's face when he thought he had something going. They were all surprised when a mock clap rose above the rest and they looked to see a more stern looking girl getting up from her mat. She stepped onto the stage and said, "Five, seven then five… Syllables mark a haiku." She bowed in mock respect, "Remarkable oaf."
Sokka's eye twitched in irritation to that while Loki had a bored look from it. He then got Sokka's attention, "Psst."
Sokka glanced back to Loki and the prince said, "Put her through the wringer."
"Ah." Sokka said, quickly getting what Loki was saying. Turning back to the mean haiku girl, thought about what he would say and started his round of poetry smackdown, "They call me Sokka, that is in the Water Tribe.
"I am not an oaf." He counted with his fingers and it caused the girls still sitting to laugh again. Even Loki was impressed by this. But the mean girl didn't look to be one to back down when she went again, "Chittering monkey. In the spring he climbs treetops," She narrowed her eyes when she finished, "and thinks himself tall."
"Ooh." All the girls went as she basically went for a low blow through poetry. From his spot in the window, Loki wondered how Sokka was going to top it off. Sokka then came back with, "You think you're so smart," He leaned forward when he dismissed her cocky attempt, "with your fancy little words.
"This is not so hard." He finished when he leaned back and crossed his arms. Another round of oohs went through the girls as they thought that it was a pretty good come back. The girl gave another attempt when she said, "Whole seasons are spent, mastering the form, the style.
"None calls it easy." She finished while coming on to the stage. But Sokka shrugged her off by saying, "I calls it easy," He turned around and started smacking his butt, "like I paddle my canoe.
"I'll paddle yours, too." He finished when he turned and pointed at her. That one got a few more giggles and laughs from the audience. The mean girl, who placed her hands on her hips, had one last attempt to try and started, "There's nuts and there's fruits." She removed a small fruit from her sleeve, "In fall the clinging plum drops…
"Always to be squashed." She said with narrowed eyes as she looked between Sokka and the fruit. Then to emphasize her point she stepped on it and juice splattered onto the stage. Loki looked to Sokka who just retaliated by saying, "Squish, squash, swing that slang.
"I'm always back at ya, like my…" He started to finish while reaching behind him. He removed his trusty weapon when he ended, "Boomerang!"
Cheers rang through the audience and even Loki clapped from how well that it was handled. Though not liking it, the mean girl conceded defeat before returning to her seat. Sokka got the girls to calm down when he waved his hands at them. He decided to the give them an encore performance by saying, "That's right, I'm Sokka.
"It's pronounced with an Okka." He continued with a grin. But Loki became shocked from how many syllables there were in Sokka's last line, "Young ladies, I rock ya!"
Sokka was surprised to be met with silence from the audience. None of the girls looked too happy from what they had just heard, save for the mean girl who had lost the haiku duel. Sokka counted on his fingers with that last line and noticed that he had used six syllables instead of five. Loki ducked down when a bouncer came up and told the teen when he grabbed him by the shirt, "Uh, that's one too many syllables there, bub."
The man kept a firm grip on Sokka and flung him to the door. Sokka screamed as he crashed through the entrance before landing onto his back. The teen sat up, looked to the doors of the club and sighed when he said, "Poetry."
"If it's any consolation, you did give that girl a run for her money." Loki said when he came around the corner. Sokka turned to him and said, "Yeah, one of the few battles I'll win."
"Can't win them all. Even I know that." Loki offered with a small chuckle. He extended a hand to Sokka and the teen took it. Loki suddenly remembered something and said, "Before all of that, you said that there was something wrong with this city, correct?"
"Uh." Sokka said as he glanced around. He didn't see any Dai Lee agents before nodding, "I can't say much, but there is something definitely bad going on here."
"Well, then if there's one thing that I'm good at, it's causing a little trouble." Loki said and started to walk away. Sokka asked, "What are you going to do?"
"See what's up." Loki said when he looked back. Loki then said, "If it'll make you feel any better, I'll be sure to let you know of what I find."
"I guess that could work." Sokka shrugged as he thought it a decent plan. Sokka watched him go before walking home himself.
THE END
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The Tale of Zuko, Tony and Peter
A bright sunny day once again shined down over the city. Another day of customers came over the tea shop and some of the tables were full. Iroh was tending the supplies they had while Tony brought one of the customers their cups. Zuko finished cleaning off one of the tables and noticed one of the customers glancing at him with a grin. The Fire Nation teen acted as casual as he took one more glance at her and then taking the dishes to the back. Keeping one hand under a plate, he pulled Tony away from the customer once he had set the cup down before the customer. When they were behind the counter, Tony got himself free of Zuko's grip and the inventor questioned, "Okay, what is your deal? I was about to get a big tip from that guy."
"It's important. Trust me." Zuko said as he placed the dirty dishes in the sink. He then tapped Iroh's shoulder when the older man came down from the ladder. Iroh looked to him and Zuko said, "We have a problem.
"Don't look now, that girl over at the furthest table. She's on to us." Zuko said when he looked back to the exact table. Iroh became a little worried and his nephew said, "She knows that the two of us are Fire Nation."
"Gee, say it a little louder, would ya?" Tony lightly questioned to avoid drawing eyes to them. He and Iroh turned to see what this girl looked like, but they were stopped when Zuko turned them back around, "Didn't I say don't look."
"From what I saw, she's a nice girl." Tony shrugged and Zuko groaned. Iroh then threw in by saying, "You are right, Zuko. I've seen her in here quite a lot. But I don't think that it's because she thinks we're Fire Nation."
"Another reason, perhaps." Tony said with a chuckle. The three didn't happen to hear the front door opening as a familiar face stepped inside. Iroh agreed by lightly nudging Zuko and saying, "It would seem that she has quite a little crush on you."
"What?!" Zuko asked with a comical looking face. They all slightly jumped when a female voice said from behind, "Thank you all for the tea."
They turned to see the girl from the table standing at the counter. She placed a few copper pieces on the counter and Zuko took them before placing them in another spot. From behind, Peter Parker stepped up while the girl looked to Zuko and asked, "What's your name?"
Zuko jumped from the question and it earned some light smiles from Iroh, Tony and Peter. Zuko quickly turned around and gave her his cover name, "My name's Lee.
"My uncle, my friend and I just moved here a few days ago." He added. The girl returned it by saying, "Hi, Lee, my name's Jin." She bowed her head in respect and said, "Thank you again and, well…" She looked a little nervous when she said, "I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime."
"Wow." Peter said, thinking that Zuko was very lucky. Before a surprised Zuko could say anything, Tony and Iroh both slid in and said at the same time, "He'd love to."
"Wait, wha-" Zuko started to protest and looked at the two with a shocked look. Thinking that it was a date, an excited Jin said, "Great. I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown."
She turned and left the shop with a grin. Iroh wrapped his arm around Zuko and the older teen looked to the two with a slightly annoyed look. They looked to Peter when he asked, "Don't you think that you kind of pushed Lee into the deep end a little too fast?"
"Seems like someone with sense is on my side." Zuko commented to the two as his glare didn't falter. Tony then advised the Firebender by saying, "Kid, there's always a time to try the dating game. If you wait too long…" He clapped his hands to emphasize his point when he said, "Then you miss your chance."
"And it would do you some good to have new experiences." Iroh agreed with Tony. Zuko sighed as he knew that there would be no way out of this. Iroh then looked to Peter and asked, "Did you want some tea, my friend?"
"Uh, actually I mostly came in to ask you guys…" Peter started to say. But then he remembered what happened with Jet and figured that these guys might still be sore about it. He shook his head and said, "Uh, never mind. It's not important."
With that he turned and left the shop himself. The three watched him go before looking to each other with odd looks.
…
The sun was starting to set and Iroh had spent a little while getting Zuko to look nice for his date. They had talked Mr. Lee into letting Zuko off for the rest of the night so he could focus on his date. When he was done, Iroh let Zuko walk out of the shop. Zuko came walking out with some nicer looking clothes and had his hair combed. He looked about the place and felt a little ridiculous about it. But before he could go too far, Tony stepped out and teasingly said, "Well, don't you look like a gentleman tonight."
"You could have said something, but you just went and watched." Zuko bitterly said when he looked to his friend. Tony chuckled and said, "Yeah, it was kind of funny to see you squirming when your uncle tried to get you sit still."
"Mm." Zuko groaned and Tony laughed a little longer. When he calmed down he said, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm gonna be watching over you two." He shrugged when offered, "If you need me to bail you out, I'll jump right in."
"Thanks, I guess." Zuko said and heard footsteps approaching. He then said, "I think she's coming."
"Right, I'll hide behind the door." Tony said before sneaking back inside. The moment the door closed, Zuko turned around and waited for Jin to show up. He didn't have to wait for very long when he heard her say, "Hey.
"Well, look at you all dressed up." She lightly laughed from how his hair was. Thinking it was a little off, she rubbed his head, "You look so cute."
"It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair." Zuko said as he smoothed out his freed hairdo. Jin then grabbed him by the arm and led him down the streets of Ba Sing Se. As they walked, Zuko took one more glance to the tea shop while Tony opened the door a crack to peek through.
…
From another apartment complex, Peter poked his head out the door and looked about to see if anyone was watching. When he was sure that he wasn't being watched, Peter quickly went around the corner of the apartment and looked up the height of the neighboring building. Taking one more glance to see if anyone was looking, Peter placed his hands on the wall and started climbing up it. He moved quickly but quietly to avoid drawing any suspicion. When he made it to the roof, Peter pulled himself over the edge and looked about before running across the roof and then jumped to the next one. As he jumped across each roof, Peter smiled as he got a bit of a rush from having a little fun.
…
Zuko, Jin and Tony, who was secretly following behind them, came to another section of the Lower Ring. They came to a restaurant and the potential couple sat at one table while Tony sat by himself at another. Up on the roof of a nearby building, Peter landed and happened to notice Zuko on his date. He wanted to keep going, but something told him to stay put.
The dinner portion wasn't that bad as Zuko and Jin ate what was brought to them. While Jin took a sip of her tea, Zuko was fiddling with the last piece of his dish with his chop sticks. Jin then asked him, 'So, how do you like the city so far?"
"It's okay." Zuko shrugged, hardly having any feelings towards it. Jin took another sip of her tea before asking another question, "What do you like to do for fun?'
"Nothing really." Zuko said, really wishing that he were doing anything else. The waiter walked up to the table and said, "Excuse me, sir." Then he offered with hospitality, "Would you and your girlfriend care for some dessert?"
"She is not my girlfriend!" Zuko lashed out and it made everyone around him cringe. From his table, Tony had heard the outburst and facepalmed from the lack tact in the situation. Even from on another rooftop, Peter had heard the outburst and thought it a little harsh. But Peter did understand since his friend had been kind of forced into this date. Deciding to do something to help, Peter ran to another roof top closest to the restaurant and climbed down.
The waiter left the table with a sour look and Zuko took a deep breath before turning back to his date. He became surprised when he saw Jin slurping down her noodles in a hungry fashion. He tried to be nice when he said, "You have… quite an appetite for a girl."
"Oh, geez." Tony murmured from his table and placed his head in his hands. He looked up and commented, "Has he ever been on a date with a girl before?"
"Um… thanks?" Jin said, not sure how to feel about that. Zuko started twiddling his thumbs and she asked, "So, Lee, where were you, your uncle and your friend living before you came to Ba Sing Se?"
"Um… well…" Zuko tried to come up with a decent place to say. Then he was honest by saying something that was kind of the truth, "We've been traveling around for a good long time. Seeing new places and people."
"Oh." Jin said, thinking that it was pretty interesting. Then she asked, "Why were you guys traveling around so much?"
"We were, uh…" Zuko became lost about what to say. From the corner of his eye, he could see Tony mouthing make-it-believable to him. Zuko said the first thing that came to his mind by saying, "Part of this traveling circus."
"Ok, not totally inaccurate." Tony shrugged as he thought of all the adventures that they had been on. From another side of the restaurant, a hand reached around a pole and grabbed one of the uniforms just laying out in the open before pulling it back. A moment later, Peter came walking out in disguise completed with a fake looking mustache. He glanced about before placing a cloth over his arm to look fancy and walked about the restaurant.
"Really? What did you do?" Jin asked, wondering what kind of acts he did in the circus. Then she shook her head, "No, no. Wait, let me guess." She thought about before coming up with one, "You juggled."
"Yes, I juggled." Zuko said with a bit of a bored look while Tony snickered from his spot. The inventor then shrugged, "If he could, I bet juggling some fireballs would really impress her."
"I've always wanted to learn how to juggle." Jin admitted, thinking that it was a neat thing to do. She picked up a few items and asked him, "Can you show me something?"
"Huh?" Zuko asked, feeling his cover story was coming around to bite him in the butt. But from the look in her eye, Zuko could hardly say no and took the stuff when she handed the stuff to him. He was careful as it was breakable stuff. Then he started tossing the items into the air but kind of messed up when they crashed around or on him. Jin kept herself from laughing while Zuko tried to explain himself, "I haven't practiced for a while. I'm a little rusty."
"Would you care for a napkin, sir." A young voice said from the side and handed him the item in question. Zuko took it and said, "Thank you, sir."
But when he looked to see who it was, he became shocked and started to question, "Pete-"
"Ah, yes, Sweet Pete is my name. Don't wear it out." Peter cut him off with a chuckle, trying to stay in disguise. Tony looked and became surprised to see who was waiting on Zuko's table and questioned to himself, "Why is he here?"
"Uh, thank you again, sir." Zuko said and rubbed his face and hair with the napkin. Giving him the okay sign with his hand, Peter said, "No worries my good man. I'm always around to help when I can."
With that said, he started to walk away and passed by Jin. He tensed up when she looked to Zuko and asked, "Isn't he that boy we saw at the tea shop earlier today?"
"Uh…" Was all Zuko could say while Peter quickly made his way through the restaurant. Jin then said, "Hey, I want to show you one of my favorite spots in the entire city."
"I, uh…" Zuko said, trying to think of a way to end the date much sooner. But he didn't get a chance to say anything as Jin got up, walked around the table and grabbed his arm. He yelped as she pulled him away from the table. From his own table, Tony looked to a nearby waiter and raised his hand, "Check please."
…
The full moon was looking down the city as Zuko and Jin ran down the streets. From behind, Tony was carefully following after them. And from the rooftops, Peter was doing the same as Tony, even though he didn't know that he was there. Jin looked to Zuko and said, "I'm so excited for you to see the fire light fountain. The lamps make the water sparkle and reflect in the pool in the most beautiful way."
They soon came upon the spot and Jin's face fell from what she was seeing, or rather, what she wasn't seeing. She looked in disbelief when she said, "I can't believe it. They aren't lit tonight."
From a separate spot, Tony happened on the scene and saw the unlit torches and lanterns. It was then he noticed that Zuko had a certain look in his eyes and Tony knew he was going to do something crazy. Tony then noticed something hiding on top of a nearby roof and figured that it could be Peter. Knowing what was at stake if Peter were to find out, Tony quickly made his way to get to the top of the building. Peter on the other hand had landed on a roof that overlooked the fountain and was a little bummed that Jin and Zuko's date was kind of ending on a sour note. He became surprised when he heard Zuko say, "Close your eyes and don't look until I tell you to."
"What?" Jin asked, a slight smile forming on her face and followed his directions. Peter quirked a brow and asked, "What is he going to do?"
Zuko looked about to make sure that there weren't any other witnesses before taking a step towards the fountain. He brought his hands together and took a deep breath before opening his eyes and beginning. Taking a stance, Zuko then shot a small flame towards each of the torches and lanterns. The flames managed to catch onto the wicks and started lighting up the place.
From the roof, Peter's eyes were wide in shock when he realized that Jet had been telling the truth. His spider sense started tingling, but he was a little too slow to react when a hand wrapped around his mouth and another pulled him away from the edge. Peter struggled in Tony's grip until the Avenger let him go. Peter turned to him and said, "Mr-"
"Shh!" Tony quickly shushed him. Peter was about to say something again when Tony repeated the noise. Peter then quietly asked, "Mr. Stark, what is going on here?" Pointing down to the fountain he said, "Jet was right, Lee and his uncle are Firebenders."
"Just hear me out, kid. It's not quite what you think." Tony said to ease the situation. Peter folded his arms and demanded, "Then what exactly is going on?"
"Okay. First of all, don't look so cross with me." Tony warned with a slight look. Then his gaze softened and he said, "Second of all, it's kind of like this."
While Tony started telling his and the two's story to Peter, Zuko was finishing up with a few more lanterns. When he finished, Zuko calmed himself before looking to Jin and said, "Okay. You can look now."
Jin lowered her hands and opened her eyes. She was met by a beautiful sight of all the lanterns lit up and a small smile on Zuko's face, "Oh, wow.
"What happened? How did they light up?" She asked while looking around the fountain area. She walked up next to Zuko and started to ask, "What did you…"
They both ended up looking at the fountain and Jin glanced over to Zuko. She gingerly took his hand into hers and it made him look to her. They both faced each other and Jin started to lean forward. But kind of knowing what she was up to, Zuko brought something out of his pocket and held it between them and quickly said, "I brought you something.
"It's a coupon for a free cup of tea at Mr. Lee's." Zuko explained. Jin gently lowered his hand when she said, "Lee… this is so sweet."
"Don't thank me." Zuko sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and took a step back. Then he admitted, "My uncle thought it up. He thinks you're our most valuable customer. And my friend encouraged me to do it."
"Well, that was nice of them.' Jin said as she looked at the coupon in her hand. She smiled at the gesture and could feel her emotions swelling while Zuko was kind of having fun himself.
Up on the roof top, Tony quickly wrapped up the story. Peter, who no longer knew what to think, glanced over the side of the building and said, "So, they're not here to hurt anyone?"
"They're just looking for a safe haven." Tony nodded. Then glancing to the Inner Wall he said, "And here in this world, it's kind of in short supply."
"I can tell." Peter said when he saw what was out there. Tony then said, "And about the others. I will tell them. But it has to be the right time, okay."
"I…" Peter started to say. Tony stopped him when he placed a hand on the teen's shoulder and said, "You're one of the few people who knows about my friends. And I need you to keep it a secret for now, okay."
"Mm." Peter said and took a step back while clenching his eyes closed, confused about what to do. He didn't want to hurt the friends he came here with this secret, but he also knew when to give someone a chance. And he figured that Zuko and Iroh at least deserved one. He sighed before nodding, "Okay. I'll keep this secret."
"Thanks." Tony smiled and patted Peter on the shoulder. Peter then asked, "Should we see how the date goes?"
"We've been doing that so far; I don't see why we can't know how it ends." Tony shrugged and they looked over the edge. They watched as Jin was turning to Zuko.
In front of the fountain, Jin gently placed a hand on Zuko's cheek and said, "I have something for you, too.
"Now it's your turn to close your eyes." She said with a grin when he turned to face her. Zuko had an idea about what was coming, but decided to just go with it by closing his eyes. From above, Tony and Peter were watching with wide eyes as Jin leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Zuko's lips before backing up. But they all became surprised when Zuko leaned forward this time and kissed her back. Zuko's eyes suddenly shot open at what he was doing and took a step back. Becoming confused, Jin asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's kind of complicated." Zuko said when he looked down. Jin asked, "I'm sorry if I-"
"It's not you." Zuko said to reassure her. He started to walk away, "I have to go."
He took off running and leaving a hurt and confused Jin behind. Peter and Tony looked to each other with worried looks. When Jin left, Peter said, "I had better get back to the others."
"Uh, take care." Tony said and watched as the kid ran off. Tony watched him go before glancing down to the street as Jin disappeared around the corner.
…
Peter managed to make it back to his apartment complex and noticed that some of the guys were returning. He dropped down to the window of the shared space. He looked into the home before climbing in through the window. When he saw that he was in the clear, Peter walked to where he was sleeping and flopped down onto his back to stare at the ceiling. He remembered Tony's story about him and the two Firebenders and just hoped that he wouldn't come to regret having to keep it all a secret. With a sigh he turn to try and get some sleep.
…
At their own apartment complex, Tony and Zuko arrived at the entrance at the same time. They looked to each other with sad looks. Tony then asked, "So, what happened?"
"Let's just say there's something that's unresolved." Zuko said and rubbed the back of his head. Tony was quick to guess, "It's got to do with another girl, doesn't it?"
Zuko didn't say anything as he just walked in. Tony shrugged before following him inside. In the room, was keeping an eye out for Tony and Zuko while tending to a couple of Bonsai trees. He didn't have to wait for them for much longer as the door to the three-room apartment opened and both of them stepped inside. Iroh, pretending that he was only attending to the bonsai trees, glanced back and asked, "How was your night, fellas?"
"I thought that it went pretty great." Tony shrugged while Zuko walked into his room. He slammed the sliding doors shut behind him and Tony and Iroh looked to each other. Iroh sighed before returning his attention to the tree in front of him. Tony was about to move to the door to say something when it slid open and Zuko said, "It was nice."
He closed it without another word and Iroh had a grin on his face as he had hoped that his nephew had enjoyed himself. Tony on the other hand, knew that Zuko was wishing that tonight had gone differently for him. Rubbing the back of his head, Tony walked away from the door to let Zuko be.
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The Tale of Smellerbee, Wade Wilson, Eddie Brock and Venom
The other group mixed of the Freedom Fighter and the Rescue Team took their search to the far side of the Lower Ring, further than they had gone before in their search. But as they went about the section of the city, they too had to be careful of the Dai Lee agents walking about the place. Wade looked to the leader of their group and asked, "How much longer are we gonna search? The episode is getting close to the end."
"Say what?" Eddie asked and looked to the mutate. Smellerbee looked to the merc with the mouth with a glare and said, "We keep searching until we find Jet.
"I won't rest until he's found." She added when she turned away again. Eddie then pointed out by saying, "We've checked just about every corner of the city and still nothing."
"We've checked most of the Lower Ring." Smellerbee clarified for him. She glanced over to the wall that separated and said, "We'll find a way to check the rest of city in due time."
"Are we sure that the city is what we need to be searching?" Wade cut in. They looked to him and he shrugged, "He could be outside of the Inner Wall for all we know."
"If you don't have anything useful to say, then keep your trap shut!" Smellerbee snapped before storming off. Eddie and Wade looked to each other with concerned looks. Venom carefully peeked out from Eddie's shoulder and said, "Maybe you need to keep your comments to yourself."
"Oh, like I'm gonna take the advice of alien goo that'll crack a comment every now and then." Wade shot back at the symbiote. Venom growled and looked like he was about to attack when all three cringed when Smellerbee shouted, "Get your butts in gear now!"
"Coming!" Wade and Eddie said before rushing after her. They caught up to her but kept a small distance behind Smellerbee. As they kept walking, the guys behind her could feel the anger radiating off of her. Wade leaned over to the host of the Venom symbiote and asked, "Should we ask to see if she's okay?"
"I am fine!" Smellerbee shouted and once again turned to them. They all became a little nervous and surprised from the tone in her voice. Smellerbee however did not look fine from the look on her face. Wade took a step forward and said, "I'm serious when I say that it's okay to let it all out."
"That's not gonna help us find Jet." Smellerbee disagreed with him. She turned to walk away, but she was caught off guard when Wade pulled her into a hug. Wade then said, "We are all worried for Jet. But making yourself miserable isn't something he'd want.
"Not to mention that you might actually end up like him, which wouldn't be helpful." He pointed out. Then he reminded, "He was obsessed with finding the truth and it ended up getting him taken away. Do the same thing and it'll probably end up happening to you as well."
Smellerbee took a deep breath as she knew that he was right. Wade let her go and she nodded, "Thanks, Wade. That really did help."
"Yeah, that really surprised me too." Eddie nodded in agreement, he could even feel that Venom was greatly impressed. Wade just waved it off and said, "Ah, I'm useful when I can be."
"But now let's get back to searching." Eddie said as he placed a hand on Smellerbee's shoulder and Venom placed a tendril on Wade's. Wade looked to the reader and said, "Yeah, I knew that was going to happen."
While Smellerbee and Eddie looked to each other odd looks, they just shrugged as they knew that it was Wade being Wade. The group then walked off again to begin the search once more.
THE END
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The Tale of Momo and Bruce
At the group's apartment, the house was mostly empty, save for one lemur. Momo was currently sleeping on the window sill and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He wasn't the only one in the house for much longer as Bruce came in with his arms filled with books while balancing a few scrolls on his head. He grumbled to himself, "Why am I always the one getting stuck with the research? And having to watch over Momo to boot.
"And everyone else is pretty much galivanting around in the city." He added before placing the items on a table. He sat down and glanced over to Momo before diving into one of the books. From where he was laying down, Momo was currently dreaming…
…
Momo's Dream…
In his dream, Momo was flying about some pretty tall trees. He looked down at the large cloud that the trees were poking out of and saw Appa burst through them. Momo seemed happy to have the bison in his dream as he chittered. The bison flew over to one of the trees were some fruit was hanging from and Momo jumped to get some. He landed on one of the vines with the fruit and plucked a couple off before tossing them to Appa. Appa caught them in his mouth and enjoyed them. The bison licked his lips before floating up to the tree as Momo ate a few more himself. Momo became startled when Appa suddenly came really close and let loose a thundering roar.
…
Momo woke up with a start when thunder boomed outside and quickly jumped into Sokka's bag that was hanging on the window frame. He looked out the window to see dark clouds rolling in. Momo looked into the house to see Bruce sitting at the table looking over some of the books. The lemur became sad from the peaceful dream turning into a bit of a nightmare when he noticed something on his head. He became surprised to see that it was tuft of Appa's fur and took it in one hand. Sniffing the fur, he found the scent to be pretty old. Momo then glanced out the window and saw a large shadow that looked familiar to him. Momo turned and chittered to Bruce. He looked up and said to the lemur in the bag, "What?"
Momo continued chittering, tied the piece of fur around his right wrist and looked between the gamma scientist and the window. Bruce then said, "I really wish that I could understand you, but-"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Momo jumped out the window after the shadow. Bruce quickly got up with a, "Hey!"
Momo landed on top of a tree and looked for the shadow. He saw it, but when he looked up, the lemur became disappointed and his ears drooped in sadness. What he had seen was the shadow from a passing cloud. His perked when he heard Bruce calling to him, "Momo! Come back!"
Momo turned to go back to the house when he saw something in the corner of his eye. He saw something on the other side of some roof tops that was white and it looked like it had horns. Momo jumped from the tree and headed for it. Bruce, who was watching from the window, saw the lemur fly off. Quickly grabbing a cloak to protect himself in case of rain, he ran out the door while saying, "If something happens to that lemur, Aang's gonna wanna kick my rear again."
Momo flew through the air and soon was able to get a good look at it. He became disappointed again when he saw that it was just a tree with some branches sticking out of it. Momo landed on one of the branches and groaned sadly at the thought of Appa being gone. Bruce managed to keep up with the lemur and looked up to the top of the tree. He could see Momo's expression and said, "Ah, Momo."
But before he could try and even call for the lemur, Momo opened his wings again and took off. Bruce sighed again as he took off running after the lemur once again.
…
Momo sound himself in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se and flew over the streets. The lemur landed on a barrel in an alley and started drinking some water collected in it. As he did so, his tail swished from side to side and knocked over a plank of wood. The plank clattered against the ground and drew some attention of some mean looking alley cats. The cats looked to Momo and growled at the lemur. Hearing the growling, Momo looked up from his drink and became worried when the alley cats came stalking towards him. With a screech, Momo took off to get away from them.
Bruce had just arrived in the Lower Ring and panted from all the running that he just did. He looked about looking for any sign of Momo when he heard the lemur's familiar screech. He started to breathe a sigh of relief that lemur was close by, but he became tense again when heard a few wild cat yowls coming from the same direction. Bruce muttered to himself, "What has he gotten into know?"
Momo ran down the alley and spotted a wooden crate with a hole big enough for him to fit through. He squeezed in and stayed away from the opening when one of the alley cats peeked inside. It tried to grab Momo with their claws and Momo became startled when one tried to reach for him from the top of the crate. Momo looked around for a way out when he spotted another good-sized hole in the crate. He quickly slipped out and took flight with the alley cats once again giving chase after him. The felines jumped onto the awning of a building and raced after the lemur. Momo flapped to give him a boost in speed, but it wasn't enough when two of the alley cats managed to beat him to a clothing wire. Momo went high to try and avoid him, but he was knocked from the air by the third who had cut him off. Momo fell from the sky and bounced off an awning before crashing to the ground. The lemur groaned from the fall but became shocked when the alley cat that had knocked him from the air was coming down. He didn't stay on the ground by quickly getting and running off when the cat landed. It hissed in Momo's direction and was joined by its fellow felines when it gave chase again.
Momo dashed into a crowd of people and it seemed to make the three alley cats halt in their pursuit. Bruce happened to come across the crowds and called out, "Momo! Momo, where are you!"
Momo, on the other hand, had made it to the middle of the crowd when he was grabbed from behind by his scruff. The lemur was greatly surprised when the person holding him placed a strapped hat on his head. He glanced back to see that he was being held by a man with a small mustache and orange tinted glasses. The man then set Momo down between a couple of dancing monkeys as music started to play. Momo started to move to the music with less complicated moves than the monkeys since he didn't know the routine. It seemed to work as the crowd started to applaud and cheer for the three. Bruce glanced over someone's shoulder to see what was happening and gasped when he saw that Momo was in the middle of the act. He then happened to notice the three alley cats as he could see them looking through the legs of the viewers. The act was starting to up the ante when one of the monkeys jumped to where it was balancing on Momo's shoulders on its hands and was quickly joined when the other monkey jumped and stood right side up on the first monkey's feet. The tower of chittering performers started to sway and moved a little too close to the edge of the space. The three alley cats made their move and dashed through the crowd.
People screamed as the alley cats started to attack Momo and the monkeys. The tower of primates collapsed when Momo made a run for it. The alley cats ignored the two monkeys and went right after Momo. Bruce quickly went around the crowds to try and save Momo. The lemur jumped into the air and tried to fly, but one of the alley cats jumped up after him and wrapped its forelegs around the lemur. The surprised crowd watched them go while the other two quickly ran after them. The extra weight messed with Momo flying and it allowed the other two to catch up. The cats jumped up and managed to latch on to the other cat and it ended up dragging Momo to the ground. They crashed and tumbled along the ground. Momo panted from the chase and started to get up when a black shape barreled into him. The lemur suddenly found himself lying on his back with the three growling felines looking down at him. Momo was greatly worried that this was the end and even Bruce became worried when he ran up to help the lemur. But they were all greatly surprised when a net was suddenly thrown over them. The alley cats roared as they tried to free themselves. Bruce could only watch as an animal control sort of person took Momo and the three alley cats away. He had placed the four animals in separate cages and locked them with a key that looked like skull. Momo looked at the key before sadly groaning and rubbing the patch of Appa's fur to try and comfort him. When the lemur looked again he could see Bruce trying to catch up to the moving cart.
…
Bruce had managed to follow the carriage to one of the many shops in Ba Sing Se. But when Bruce saw the headless, skinless animals hanging from hooks, he became nervous about what he was seeing. From Momo's perspective of the place, he was mostly watching the man who had caught him and the alley cats talking with a man holding a large rectangular knife in his hands. The butcher roughly slammed the knife into a stump while speaking with the other man. To Momo it sounded like gibberish, but he knew that it was meaning trouble for him. The two men then looked to the four before resuming speaking with each other. Momo glanced at the three screeching alley cats and became fearful for all of them. But before any actions could be taken, there was a crash from another part of the shop and the two men moved to investigate. While they were gone, Momo heard something coming around the corner and seemed really happy when he saw that it was Bruce. Bruce carefully made his way over to the cage and Momo started chittering. Bruce shrugged and said, "Yeah, be glad that I came." Pointing to the lemur he added, "But you owe me for this."
Momo then moved over to the lock of the cage and started to fiddle with it. He was able to pull the key from the lock while Bruce kept watch. When the key was out, Bruce opened the door and Momo jumped out of the cage. The two started to move out when Momo looked back to the screeching cats. Bruce stopped too and looked to the three felines. They both felt bad for the alley cats as each feline looked pretty sad about what could be their fate. Momo looked up to Bruce and chittered again. Bruce sighed and agreed, "Yeah, it wouldn't feel right to leave them behind.
"Don't make me regret it." Bruce said before quickly moving to undo the lock on the cats' cage. When it was open, the cats, Momo and Bruce quickly hightailed it out of there. When the two men came back to the carriage, they became surprised to see that both cages were empty.
…
After managing to get away from the butcher shop, Bruce, Momo and the alley cats were sitting on a balcony that over looked a good deal of the city. The cats showed their gratitude by rubbing up on the two. Two ganged up on Bruce as one was rubbing its head against his shoulder while another laid in his lap. Bruce laughed as he petted the one on his lap's head and said, "You're welcome."
One of the cats noticed the fur wrapped around Momo's wrist and sniffed it. The feline seemed to recognize the scent and gently grasped the fur with its teeth. With a small pull, the fur became undone. Momo immediately noticed the fur gone and screeched as the cat took off. The lemur took off after the feline while the other two alley cats gave chase too. Bruce sighed and said, "And here I thought we were having a good time."
But nonetheless, he got up and ran after the four animals too. They chased after the cat that had the fur through a good deal of the Lower Ring. At one corner, the cat stopped to look back while the other two caught up but ended up running past the first. Bruce became surprised by this but still ran after Momo who continued the chase by flapping after the cats. The three cats came to a stop in a spot and the cat with the fur laid the tuft down in a small hole in the ground. It backed away while Momo landed in the hole and took the tuft of fur in his hands. He looked about before holding the patch of fur close to him and gave another sad groan as he greatly missed his friend.
A light rain started to come down over the city as the mood once again turned sad. Bruce came running up to the spot and panted when he stopped. He looked to the lemur with a sympathetic look and looked over to where the cats were sitting. He wondered to himself, "What was the point of this chase?"
It was then he took notice of the hole that Momo was in. It had a bit of an odd shape to it. Deciding that it needed further inspection, Bruce noticed a small stack of crates and went to climb it. When he made it to the top, he looked at the hole. From that height, the shape of the hole became much clearer to him when he said, "Appa."
It seemed to make Momo perk up a little and look up to the Avenger. Bruce came down from the crates and took a look about for any other clues. When he looked to his left, he saw something shiny standing out in the rain and walked over to it. It seemed to be a small object of sorts and when he pulled it out he saw that it looked like a Widow's Bite. He lowered the object as he had a good idea of who it belonged too, "Nat."
A chittering Momo came up to him and he looked to the lemur. Bruce shook his head, "Yeah, it's got me wondering too, buddy.
"But let's be heading home." He said and extended his arm to the lemur. Momo hopped up onto his shoulders and Bruce turned to leave. A soft growl made him and Momo look back to the alley cats. They gave him a sort of pleading look and Bruce couldn't help but smile. With a gesture he said, "Alright, you guys too. Come on."
It seemed to get the three felines motivated and they followed after Bruce and Momo.
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This story's dedication to:
Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018
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Author's Note: This one was actually a blast to write in my opinion. I know I went off the book for some of the stories, but I felt it necessary. And I do apologize if two of the three original parts of the story weren't that big or epic like the rest. So yes, Loki is in the city, Peter knows about Zuko and Iroh and Bruce is kind of a cat person now. This is all kinds of relative to the story, so don't worry. And the next chapter will be the final OC of Book 2 and then we'll be back on track for the remainder. 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 and may God bless your day.
P.S. Also, I must inform you that while working on this original chapter, I'll also be working on some stories that really need to get done. Which means that it might be a little while until I get back to Book 2. But worry not, I will return to you.
