Chapter 16: A City on the Surface

Aang sat quietly on smooth leather seats as the carriage he was in slowly moved through the street; next to him, on his left, Katara gracefully rested her hands in her lap while Toph (at the very left) had her arms crossed in front of her. On the opposite end of the carriage, facing them, sat a concerned Sokka who was practically screaming at the woman he sat next to – her name was 'Joo Dee'. She worked for the Earth King, just like most officials, and her job was to show the avatar around the city as well as assist him in any way she could. She wore a robe that was colored with varying degrees of yellow and green; atop her head sat a long block-like hair clip that had been positioned horizontally, relative to the ground. Her eyes were somewhat narrow and her nose was quite short and button-like; the main feature about her, however, was her smile. Instead of having what most people would consider to be a normal smile, Joo Dee sported an incredible and almost eerily large smile that practically stretched from ear-to-ear. Rows of pure white teeth were entirely visible underneath her peach-colored lips.

"Look, I'm not sure if you know this or not, but WE NEED TO SEE THE EARTH KING," Sokka exclaimed as he raised his arms above his head.

"I understand," Joo Dee happily replied, looking back at the teen, "don't worry. Most people take a while to see the Earth King, but given you're the avatar and all, I'm sure he is willing to see you much sooner - perhaps….in a month or so."

"A month?!" the rest of them repeated in horror.

"Yes," the woman confirmed, "quite fast, isn't it?"

Before any of the teens could raise their voices in protest, Joo Dee looked out the window of the carriage and gestured to something outside.

"It seems we're here," she stated as the carriage came to a stop in front of a large house.

"Where?" Aang asked as he glanced up at the structure.

"Your temporary home," she replied, stepping out of the wagon.

The rest of the gang followed her lead and made their way out of the carriage, planting their feet on the flat ground as they stared up at the structure in front of them.

The house was quite large, stretching at least 20 feet in either direction; its height reached about 25 feet and overlooked the group as they made their way up to the front door. A wide set of stone stairs led up to a porch that was positioned in front of the entrance; a circular arc surrounded the outside of the front door and reached up to the underside of the roof. Circular columns stretched from the base of the porch to the surface of the ceiling, and the group noticed that well-trimmed bushes were positioned on either side of the stairs.

Taking her time to unlock the front door, Joo Dee gently pushed it open to reveal the inside of the massive house; just like the stairs, the walls of the dwelling were made of stone that had been smoothed. Near the back of the house, in a separate room, a large carpet was set in the center of the space to allow for comfort. Toph was the first one to make her way to the back room and heavily sat down on the mat.

"Joo Dee, what do you mean this is our home?" Sokka asked as he scanned the interior of the room.

"Well, while your request to see the Earth King is being processed, you have been allowed to stay here in the meanwhile," the woman explained.

A look of disbelief adorned Sokka's face, but his worries were quickly dispelled when he glanced back and saw the rest of the group happily wander around the room. Letting out a long sigh, the water tribe boy gave up any hope of arguing with them.

"Please, take your time and settle in," Joo Dee said as she rigidly stood in front of the doorway, "I'll be here when you need me."

"We don't need to be babied," Toph bluntly responded from across the room.

"I think what my friend here is saying is that 'we'll be fine'. You don't have to stay here," Katara said, giving Toph a look of warning.

"I'm sure you will," Joo Dee said with the same huge smile, "however, I'm afraid I cannot leave you by yourself. After all, how can I 'assist' you if I'm not here?"

Toph let out a grunt and folded her arms in irritation.

"Fine, you can stay," Sokka intervened, "but we're probably gonna head out to search for our bison soon, right Aang?"

"Yeah, I'm sure someone in the city has seen Appa," the young airbender said.

After a few minutes of Joo Dee showing the group around the house, introducing them to the living room, kitchen, and even the bathrooms, all of them eventually decided to head out in search of information about Appa. Wandering outside to the front of the house, they all made their way down the stairs and back into the carriage; fitting themselves back into the leather seats, they settled in as the wagon started back up again and moved down the road.

For the next few hours, Aang and the rest of the gang spent their time meeting various people throughout the city; most people hadn't seen Appa and others didn't even know what a sky bison was. As they were talking to people, there were a few times when they seemed to look somewhat scared to answer questions – certain people even glanced nervously at Joo Dee before saying they didn't know anything. Eventually, the time came for them to return to the house, although the group was largely disappointed that they couldn't gather any valuable information on Appa. Coming up to the house like the first time, the group sluggishly emerged from the stationary carriage and stood in front of the massive structure.

"I'm sorry you couldn't find your bison. You can search tomorrow. Goodnight! I'll see you tomorrow," Joo Dee happily chirped from within the carriage as it began to move away from the house. It continued down the street until it made a quick turn and vanished around the corner.

Aang let out a sigh and slumped his shoulders, "I can't believe no one has seen Appa."

"I know, right? How do you miss a giant flying bison?" Sokka exclaimed.

The group walked up the same stone stairs as before and unlocked the front door; entering into the interior of the house, they silently decided to settle in for the night. Toph stomped over to the back room and sat down on the floor with a relaxed sigh.

"Jeez, my feet are killing me," the blind girl said as she massaged her heel.

"How long were we even out there?" Katara wondered.

"Probably a couple of hours," Sokka blindly informed as he shuffled through his bag once more.

Suddenly, there was a firm knock on the front door that caused everyone to become silent.

"Who could that be?" Aang asked as he slowly made his way to the door.

Grabbing the metal handle, the bald airbender slowly opened the wooden object. Seconds before he fully opened it, Toph suddenly screamed as him from across the room.

"WAIT! Don't –"

But before she could finish, Aang's eyes suddenly widened as he revealed who stood behind the door.

There, staring down on him with red eyes, was the 'boy with the white hair'.

Accelerator's POV:

The avatar's face was priceless; it was a mix between surprise and sheer terror. His lips curled into a small grin as he loomed over the airbender.

"Hey, how's it going?" he hissed, the maniacal smile still apparent on his lips.

"Y-y-y….you," Aang stuttered as he began to back away.

"Yes, 'ME'," Accelerator said, taking a step into the house.

"You should be careful. You're soooo easy to track," the esper whispered as he closed the door behind him.

Toph gritted her teeth as she slammed her palm down on the stone floor and sent a large brick at the white-haired teen; expecting an attack, Accelerator stuck out his arm and caught the object in his hand, fully stopping its motion.

"Nice try," he chuckled to himself as he dropped the stone brick.

"I'm not really here to fight," Accelerator said, scratching the back of his head, "but if you want to….I CAN GO ALL OUT!"

His eyes seemed to flash red with danger, causing everyone else to slightly back away in fear.

"but like I said, that's not why I'm here," he resumed in a calm tone.

"Why are you here then?" Katara asked.

Accelerator remained silent and instead glanced at Aang who stared back at him with uncertainty.

"You," he said, pointing at the avatar, "You're weak."

The young airbender was slightly taken aback; although he was expecting hostility, he was somewhat unprepared for direct verbal insults. He looked back at his friends; they also seemed to be just as confused as he was.

The pale esper continued, "Do you know why you were able to stop the drill? It wasn't because you were strong, it wasn't because you had any chance against the Fire Nation – it was because I 'let' you win."

His words came out slow and precise, almost as if each word held vital significance.

Aang gulped a little to wet his dry throat, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"When you first met me in the drill, did you think you had even the slightest chance of beating me?" Accelerator questioned as he began to walk towards the airbender.

Aang opened his mouth to reply, but his words were halted by Accelerator's rising voice.

"The answer is NO. You had absolutely no chance of beating me. That's why I let you leave, that's why I allowed you to fight Azula alone, and it's most certainly why I let you destroy the drill."

"W-why?" Aang asked, shocked.

"Because of one fact – it would be boring," he stated, confusing everyone even more.

"What's the point of fighting you if you're not at your best?" the esper inquired.

"What do you mean?" Katara decided to ask.

Briefly turning his attention to the water tribe girl before looking back at Aang, Accelerator answered, "As far as I understand it, the avatar is meant to master all four elements, but when I watched you fight I realized that you weren't even close."

"That's not true!" Katara protested, "Aang knows how to use all of the elements."

"Well then," Accelerator said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "why haven't I seen you use fire bending yet?"

Aang remained silent as he stared back at the cocky esper.

"I…I can't," he said with a lowered head.

"…bullshit," Accelerator cursed, causing Aang to raise his head once more.

"I see that look in your eye," he said, leaning in closer to the avatar's face, "It's not that you can't do it, it's that you're afraid to."

Aang gritted his teeth in defiance, "Shut up! What do you know? So what if I'm afraid to fire bend? Besides, I'm confident I can win without it."

In one swift motion, Accelerator grabbed the collar of Aang's shirt and roughly pushed him against a wall. The others in the room were shocked but quickly planned on attacking the white-haired teen.

"You think you can win without it?" the esper angrily repeated, "What kind of crap is that? Do I look like a f***kin' joke to you? You're not even powerful enough to beat the Fire Lord; what chance do you have against me if you won't fire bend?"

"You beat the Fire Lord?" a shocked Sokka asked with a boomerang raised above his head.

"It was almost too easy," the esper quickly shot back.

"He's lying," Katara nervously declared.

Toph leaned down and placed her hand on the cold, stone ground.

"No, he's telling the truth. I can hear his heartbeat from here," she informed before standing back up.

"That's right," the esper snarled, "Now, if you want to have any hope of defeating the Fire Lord, I suggest you improve."

Accelerator then released his grasp of Aang's clothes and took a step back.

"If you're not gonna use all elements, then just give up," he said as he turned around and headed back to the door.

Before he could reach the door handle, Aang said something behind him.

"I can't give up," the avatar stated, "there are too many people who are counting on me."

Accelerator stopped in his tracks as he listened to Aang's words.

"If I don't defeat the Fire Lord, then millions of people could die. I can't let that happen," he continued with confidence in his words, "but…I know you're right. I'm being selfish. If using fire bending can save people, than I can't afford to be afraid of it."

A small smile spread across the esper's face, but this time it was not one of malice or one of aggression – this time, it was genuine. It might have been silly for Accelerator to think this, but Aang reminded him of someone he once knew. A will to protect others was something Accelerator had wanted, but it was something he also didn't have; whether it was because of his nature or how he viewed people, he had no one he truly wanted to protect – at least, not in this world.

Without turning around, the esper gave Aang his parting words.

"You're lucky, avatar. You are surrounded by friends who care about you and who are willing to help you in any way they can. You have a purpose that drives you foreward. I'm envious. Just know this, avatar – when we meet each other next, I will not hesitate to take you down."

A with that, the esper swiftly left the house, closing the door behind him as he left.

End of Chapter 16

Author's Note: Hey, guys. So, although this chapter didn't have a lot of action in it, I mainly tried to build up Accelerator's character a bit more. Later on in the story, I want Accelerator to go through some personal changes (don't worry, though, he'll still be Accelerator, but just a little different). A few of the things that were said in this chapter, might also be connected to things later on in the story. So anyway, I have a riddle for you: what is T-N-E-M-M-O-C spelled backwards? If you got it right, you'll know what to do.