And so, after days and days of his fun-filled vacation, Mastermind finally began the trek home from his [location classified] vacation home. When he finally made it, he was delighted to see his room back in the clothes littered state he left it, and plopped on his bed in delight. But returning home was only the beginning. His mind felt strange back in its old habitat, finding things that would be common knowledge strange facts. So, he did the only thing he knew he could do, injected himself with more and more of his precious entertainment source, video games. He played for hours and hours, becoming accustomed to the old feel of his chair and the comfort it provided. When he finally felt accommodated to his biome, he realized something... HE HAD A CHAPTER TO WRITE.
Stranded VI
Aang and Azula ran down the halls of the sinking Gudan, ducking under fallen pipes and making detours when the way was blocked.
When they made it to the galley, it was a horrible scene. The explosions had taken place during dinner, and more explosives were placed here than any other area. Dead bodies, mutilated corpses, and pieces of flesh were everywhere. Aang took his cloak and held it up to his mouth to avoid the stench beginning to take root.
The water here was stained blood red, and higher than anywhere else.
A radio was in a fallen soldier's hands and emitting static.
"Can we use that to signal anyone else on the ship?" Azula asked.
"Yeah, good idea." Aang picked up the radio. "Hello? This is Aang. Can anyone hear me?"
More static.
"This is Aang, Avatar Aang, is there anyone on the other end?"
The static stopped and was replaced by the sound of someone breathing into his radio.
"Hello? Is anyone-"
"Sh!" he interrupted.
Aang stayed quiet, Azula leaning in as if the radio were a picture screen. Several minutes of tense silence went by before anything else came through the speaker.
"There. Those green bastards almost found me." he said in a gruff and masculine voice with a slight australian accent.
"Hello? This is Avatar Aang, is-"
"Yeah I know who you are. I heard you were aboard. Never really cared though. You just attract more unneeded attention."
Azula huffed, "Tell me about it."
Aang gave her a look and went back to the radio, "Who is this?"
"This is Officer Tin, I oversee engine maintenance and make sure the rich and noble get to where they're going."
"But this is a prison ship," Aang said, "why are they even on here?"
Tin chuckled, "That, dear friend, is a good question. But back to the here and now. Why exactly are you in the galley?"
"Oh, we just wanted a quick snack before we catch the next life boat out of here." Azula jeered. "Nothing special."
Tin laughed through the radio, "I like your attitude little missy."
Her face turned red, "What did you just call me?"
"Don't worry about it sweet-cheeks."
Steam might as well have been coming out of her ears.
"Now," he continued, "how badly do you want to get off this sinking steel can?"
Aang smiled, "We would love to stay, but we don't like to get wet."
He chuckled, "Then follow my directions."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
A group of the green terrorists were silently making their way to the deck of the ship, where they knew more of the occupants would be.
When they made it to the door overlooking the deck from a balcony, one of the men was ordered to stay there and oversee the operation about to take place.
The rest filed to the steel door that led to the deck.
The lead looked to the others, nodded, and opened the door.
Everyone on the deck turned, their faces pale with shock. When they saw who was coming through the door, some even fainted. The few remaining soldiers turned and ran towards the green men, circling them with fire in hand.
"Give up! You're outmatched!"
The head of the group chuckled and said in a voice like honey, "Oh no, it is you who are outmatched."
Knives flew from their sleeves, dropping three of the nine guards. The rest either dodged them or were hit in non-lethal areas. The soldiers responded by sending a flurry of fireballs from their palms, the heat making the steel where they hit red hot. But they were no use.
The attackers started advancing, dodging fireball after fireball, moving with a deadly grace that would have been beautiful under different circumstances.
When they made it face to face to the soldiers, they had already won. They moved their arms in a blur, seemingly doing nothing but tapping them. When they had finished, the soldiers stopped and sank down to their knees, clutching their stomachs in agony.
One of the nobles stepped forward from the group, "What did you do to them?" he asked in a strong and steady voice.
"Oh, we simply tickled them to death." one of them said, which didn't exactly appeal to the nobles.
One of the green men whispered to the leader, to which he nodded in agreement.
He cleared his throat, "Alright everybody, we're gonna go ahead and make this short and sweet. Well, not sweet. Short and painless would be more correct."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Aang and Azula ran through more hallways, up more steps, and got their feet wet in more water. When they finally made it to the door Tin had specified, Aang sighed in relief.
He went to knock on the door.
"Wait." Azula interrupted. "Let me."
Aang turned, "Why you?"
She walked past him to the door, "Because we don't know if this is a trap or not. And I'm a better bender than you." she knocked on the door.
Aang was about to say something else when the door swung open quickly, and big strong arms pulled them inside before closing the door.
"Are you alone?" he asked in total darkness.
Aang was having trouble breathing in his strong grasp, "Yes, we are." he managed to say.
"Good." he let them go.
Azula immediately went into a ready position and lit her palms with fire, illuminating the area around her and Aang, "How dare you grab the Princess of the Fire Nation without her consent! I will make sure you sink into the depths of-"
"Yeah, keep blabbering princess." he said, before flicking on a set of lights.
The room was big, very big. And dry. No water was on the floor and the room was much cleaner than other parts of the ship. There was a large rumbling engine on the far side of the room, and a console with blinking lights and switches on the wall beside the giant rumbling rumbling contraption.
A metal table was to the right, with a radio and a small dagger.
Aang rubbed his side and stood, "Are you Tin?"
He laughed, "Who else?"
Aang looked around, "Is there anyone else here?"
"Does it look like it?" he said.
He sighed in relief and leaned against the wall.
"But don't get your hopes up, guards could pop in here at any moment."
Aang stood up straight and looked over at Azula, who was still eyeing the officer with a suspicious gaze. He looked back over to Tin, "Why did you call us here?" Azula looked over.
"Short and to the point, I like that. But why else but to grant me a hope of escape? You're the Avatar, right? So you should be able to give these green scum bags what they deserve."
"But even if he is able to beat all of them," Azula pointed, "how will we survive a sinking ship?"
"That, is where the Avatar comes in handy." Tin said. "You're a waterbending master. You should be able to make an ice-raft or something, right?"
Aang thought it over, "Well... yeah. But-"
"Then what have we to worry about! We beat the men, make an ice-raft, get off this can, and we're home free!" Aang looked worried at his seemingly flawless plan. "What is it?" Tin asked.
"Well, many things. This entire plan rotates around the fact of me defeating several armed men, of which I've only managed to beat one. And also, you're saying I can make an ice-raft. Well let's suppose I do. Would it be able to float? And even if it did, do you realize how cold that would be? We'd die of hypothermia for sure, if the hunger didn't get to us."
Tin sat blinking at Aang, "Well... it was worth a shot."
"More like a shot to the face." Azula mumbled.
"Well... do you have a better idea?" Tin asked Aang, oblivious to Azula's comment.
Aang sighed, "I've had almost no time to think since these bombardments started. I don't have a clue, unless any of the lifeboats are still intact."
"No. Think, airhead. Do you think they would leave any survivors? The lifeboats would be the first thing they would go for."
Tin and Aang turned to each other before turning back to her, "Airhead?" they both said quizzically.
She blushed, "It's just- oh shut up."
Aang shrugged, "I'm surprised you haven't said anything stronger."
"Alright. Moving on. So, no lifeboats, no chance of making a raft... we're going down with the ship, then?"
Aang slouched, "I guess so."
Tin sat in his chair in thought, trying to make sense of this chaos.
Azula sighed and smacked her forehead, "You guys really don't get it?"
They turned, curious.
"If there's no hope of escape, how will the green guys get home?"
Tin and Aang sat in thought for a minute.
"You've got a point." Aang said.
"Exactly. So, why are we wasting time here?"
"Wait." Tin interrupted, "I might have some men we could use. You know, to help take whatever they're using to get out of here."
"Where are they?" Aang asked.
"On the main deck, protecting civilians."
"Can we get there in time?" Aang asked.
He smiled, "As long as we use the shortcut."
Aang quickly looked at Azula before turning to Tin, "We could at least try."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The green cloaked men were shoving the last of the bodies off the ship, heaving on a particularly heavy soldier, laden down with gear.
"That's the last of them!" one of them shouted to an off board ship.
Another waved back from the boat and had it move forward.
The door swung open on the far side of the deck, and a group of them came out onto the deck with one of the prisoners leading.
"I'm surprised it took you this long Meiko."
Meiko, the leader of the operation, bowed, "It is good to see you in good health Shin Qang."
"Hmph, if you had taken any longer I would not be in such 'good health'. However there might be someone on board who would jeopardize this operation."
"Who is it, O Glorious Shin Qang?"
"The Avatar. I saw him take a female prisoner from her cell while I watched from above. He already killed one of your men."
"It will not happen again, Shin Qang." he said with a bow.
"It better. You know what happens to people who become a liability to my cause."
Meiko held his bow and averted his eyes. "Yes, Shin Qang."
"Good, and when all this is over, I'll be sitting back in my suite in BaSingSe, and this will have never happened."
A few men helped him into the boat, and others got out to look for Aang.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Aang, Azula, and Tin were ducking into a small, narrow passageway. It felt dark and damp, with the only lighting being scant red lights scattered here and there. The floor crunched under their feet from the concrete, and the smell was violated by the stench of rat dung and mold. Aang didn't dare touch the walls to see what they felt like.
Tin started whistling a tune as they went, changing from song to song in a medley of sorts.
Azula flinched every time he changed tunes, "Could you stop that pointless clamor?"
He stopped and chuckled, "Anything for you milady." saying the word with a hint of sarcasm.
Azula rolled her eyes and continued with a bored look the rest of the way there.
There was a slight feel of discomfort that took its roots into her spine, sending the hair on the back of her neck raised, as sentinels watching her six. She stopped and held up her hand. "Do you hear that?" They both looked around.
"It's something big. It's getting closer."
Aang, who was in back, turned. He squinted his eyes in the dim light but couldn't see anything. Then a light, far back where they came from, went out.
"Wait. A light went out."
"Oh great, power outage." Tin said.
A great rumbling shook the metal around them and rats scurried past them, ignoring the giants in their path.
"No, it's something else." Aang concentrated as hard as he could, peering into the dimly lit depths. Another light went out. "There goes another. What could that be?"
"It sounds like..." Azula's eyes widened. "Water! GO!"
"What?" Tin asked, confused.
"The engine room just flooded! GO!"
Tin turned and ran as fast as he could in the cramped hallway, which was only a fraction of his normal speed. Now that the water was getting closer, the smell of the salty water wafted in, and cooler air rushed by them. The feeling was good, despite the death coming only a little ways behind them.
There were only a few more lights ahead of them, each about ten yards spaced between them. When they made it to the last light, they could hear the water rushing towards them, and the smell of salt overcame all other senses.
They finally made it to the end, where a large space and a ladder waited. It went upwards many floors, each numbered from 1-15, 15 being the floor they were on now.
Azula walked up to the ladder and grabbed on, "Come on. Let's go." she started to climb.
Tin grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb with her.
Aang was about to climb when he thought better of it, instead using airbending to jump up from floor to floor.
The ladder was rusty, the paint long flaked off from lack of attention, and the screws creaking ever so slightly.
When they made it to floor 11, Azula got off and slumped against the wall, taking in breaths. Tin made it to her level and laughed, "Come on princess, can't wait for the water to catch up with you." Azula looked over the ledge and saw the water had made it to the room and was rising.
She sighed, Why can't we just get off this ship?
When they made it to floor six, as specified by Tin, Azula's hands were red and the early formations of blisters forming, her forehead sweaty. Tin on the otherhand was used to using his hands, and simply chuckled when Azula finally made it. "Bit of physical exertion can be good for you, you need to get outdoors more."
"Oh I get outdoors." Azula mumbled to herself. "So where do we go from here?" she asked.
"Well, this floor leads directly to the main deck, the first floor of the crew quarters, and the first-class bunks, but I'm sure the men have already rounded up the last of the survivors and taken them to the deck. Follow me."
He took them straight through the hallway they were on, and then into a bigger main hallway that was lit with much more lights. They went straight until they were confronted with another metal door, this one less about thickness and more about being watertight.
Tin opened the door and stepped onto the deck, "Does anyone...! Wait a sec." something flew through the air and hit him on his bald head, leaving a purple mark and making him lay down flat on the ground, unconscious.
Aang took Azula by the arm and pulled her to the wall beside the door. She shook Aang's hands off her and crept to the edge of the door.
"Come on out Air Boy! Before I go in there and do what the Fire Nation couldn't!"
Azula huffed and smiled, "We almost got them too." she said, within earshot of Aang, of course.
Aang ignored the comment and made a mental note to get back at her for that. He walked closer to the edge of the doorway, "I'll come out as long as you promise to put your weapons down and talk!"
Laughter was heard, another voice shouted with a strange accent "We've got orders to clear this ship out completely, you're not getting out without our consent."
Aang sighed and turned to Azula, "Can you firebend?"
She formed a blue flame at the tip of her finger, "Can you airbend?"
Aang nodded, "I'll talk to them more, see where their sentries are located, in the meantime you make your way to the balcony and-"
Azula blatantly pushed him aside and ran out the door firing a barrage of firebolts as she went.
Or that. Aang thought.
He ran out on the deck of the ship to find a cluster of green soldiers dodging Azula's blast and throwing knives back. Some were even throwing other firebolts back, or bending the water into ice spears to throw. Aang ran to Azula's side and bent the air around them into a transparent shield, blocking anything thrown at them and not limiting their field of view.
Azula continued firing away, a sadistic smile spread across her lips as she tossed balls of sapphire flames at the emerald men. That's when she noticed something was wrong. The men were simply dodging the blasts and advancing slowly, some even stepped backward to keep the ruse that her blasts were keeping them back, she cursed to herself and ran out of the airshield.
"Azula no!" Aang shouted as she ran.
She straight to one of them and threw a blast of fire at his face, sending him to the ground clawing his face and screaming in unbearable pain, leaving Azula reveling in his suffering. She moved on to a squad of five or six surrounding her, leaving no escape. She dropped to her knees and spun, shooting flames out in every direction.
The men surrounding her flew back, some landing on the deck and others flying into the ocean. More came from out onto the ship, climbing through the railings from somewhere overboard.
Aang let down the barrier and stepped forward, launching blasts of air to throw men off the ship, and firebending bolts of flame at enemies getting too close.
When they had finally defeated all that were on the deck, more crawled up from the unknown and sprinted around them in a circle, dozens upon dozens surrounding them from all sides. Aang and Azula stood with their hands up, looking around at the opposition, back to back.
"This is a situation." Azula whispered.
"Yes, it is indeed." someone said from the group. A short man in simple prison garb stepped from the masses, three other guards surrounding him, each wearing black and gold armor aside from the simple green cloth the rest wore, and one with a satchel around his torso. He had black, slicked back hair, shackle marks on his wrists and legs, and a nasty scowl on his face.
"You're the one from the prison cell!" Aang blurted out.
"Yes, I am indeed. But 'the one from the prison cell' isn't nearly enough to describe one such as I." he turned and whispered something to one of his guards, who reached into his satchel and took from it a blade, one unlike any Aang had seen before.
It had a black sheath with golden designs printed onto it, and a handle encrusted in black gold, with a single bright ruby gleaming from the pommel. When he unsheathed it, the blade was as black as night, the only reflection being the light of the moon on the polished metal.
He shoved the dagger back into the sheath and looked up from admiring the blade, "I am Shin Qang, perhaps you've heard of me?"
Aang searched his mind for information but came up blank, thinking only of the meaning of such a name, the Green Decade.
Azula sucked in a small breath and froze still at the mention of his name.
"Ah, Azula. I remember you! It is good to see you again despite these... circumstances."
Her eyes betrayed a feeling of deep fear, before she once again came to hold of her senses and snapped back to reality. "Why are you here?" she asked. Her voice hiding a hint of dread.
Aang looked over at her with a worried expression on his face. She never loses control, why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
Shin Qang chuckled, "Well, I am here to be deported from the Fire Nation to an Earth Kingdom prison camp for incarceration." He said the word as if it were bitter to his tongue. "The better question would be why I am leading this endeavor." he motioned to the surrounding mass of men.
"Okay, why are you doing this?"
Aang took in a breath, Why is she acting so submissive?
Shin's smile got visibly bigger, eyeing his prey, "Well, I've decided not to go to prison. Much less an Earth Kingdom prison." He spat onto the deck. "Such filthy mud-lovers."
Aang started to calculate a way out of it, his forehead giving a bead of sweat.
"Oh, don't try to find a way out, Avatar, there is none." he seemed to think it over for a second. "You know, I just might not kill you. It would be good to find how much the Northern Water Tribe would pay to have you back. A shame she had to get in the way," he took the blade out and pointed it to Azula, "it would be much better to have her die in her cell than have me do it myself."
Aang's eyes widened as he saw him twirl the dagger in his hands with expert grace, flipping the blade in his fingers with the skill of a learned master. And the only reason a man would practice such a form was if they planned on using the momentum to throw it.
Aang anticipated the blade being thrown and positioned his body to block it with bending, however he soon found that that wouldn't work. It was coming too fast, and it would take too long to perform the specific form. His mind raced in the many different moves he could use, in all the different styles of bending. He went from idea to idea, from melting the blade with firebending, to bending water into an ice shield. He went over and over through different styles before realizing that the blade was close. Too close to block now.
Aang tense his legs and focused on only one motion, the simplest act he could do and the most risky one of all. It requires no bending, no special training, not even any special concentration. It was a move performed many times before by thousands of different people for a multitude of different reasons, and the reason Aang did it was for the deepest act of selflessness a human could perform.
The act of sacrificing one's life for another.
He leapt in front of Azula's body, catching the blade in his right shoulder.
He fell to the ground limp, a blood sacrifice to the Princess of Fire.
Shin Qang frowned, "Well... there goes my bonus payment. Oh well, this shouldn't take long. Boys, throw them both into the sea."
They moved in and chi blocked Azula of any movement, leaving her eyes racing around in their sockets.
The men took Aang's body and Azula's and tossed them off the ship, leaving their fates up to chance.
"What shall we do with Tin's body, sir?" one asked.
"Bring him with me." he replied.
And so begins the plight and perill of the implausible pair of provocateurs! What will happen next in our thrill-filled episodic series? Find out next time in STRANDED!
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PAZ MEUS AMIGOS!