Chapter Eighteen:
I cringed in fear as the claws poked against my face. Kuma swung her sword at the assassin's head, but he lifted up his other hand and blocked it. I quickly ducked down and slammed my head into his neck and chin.
The assassin reeled back, but soon recovered and swiped at me. The claws came right in front of my face and I backed off more. Kuma swung again at the assassin, but he ducked under the blow.
The assassin turned around and made a thrust towards Kuma. She dodged it and made a few swipes in return. I hurled a bola at the assassin but he grabbed it out of the air. A rock then slammed him in the head.
The assassin turned to Fung and sprayed nails, who crossed his arms and coated them in rock. Kuma and I moved closer to him. He dodged my glove, and then caught Kuma's sword. I came in with another swipe but the assassin dodged again and took a swing at me.
"Don't worry about me." said Kuma, and she pointed at the pregnant woman. "Take care of her."
Fung and I continued to lead her down the street. The assassin came towards her, but Kuma blocked him.
We got closer and closer to a safehouse. Then a trio of Water Tribe soldiers jumped down from a roof. "Hmm hmm hmm." one of them chuckled. "Lady Visola will reward us."
One reached towards the woman with a water whip, but Fung lifted up a small wall. I lunged towards him, and ducked down when he swiped at me. Fung hurled the slab of earth towards the waterbender, but the other two lifted up their whips and caught it.
I continued towards the waterbender and swiped with my electric glove. He ducked and I went past him. I quickly turned around and lifted my hands up. They stung as the whip smacked down against them.
I hurled a bola and lunged in again. The waterbender dodged the bola, then dodged my glove, but I hit him in the stomach with a punch. He lifted up the whip and I quickly jumped out of the way before it smacked down beside me.
Quickly I grabbed the man's arm and let the shock loose. He shuddered and collapsed. I turned and saw Fung battling the other two waterbenders. He continued to lift up blocks and walls to protect himself from the onslaught.
The waterbenders kept whipping and sending ice shards at Fung, but he focused on building up his defenses. The waterbender began to slow down and Fung went on the offence. He began hurling slabs of rock at the waterbenders.
They struggled to protect themselves, trying to catch the chunks with there whips. They soon became overwhelmed and were knocked out by the chunks. Fung and I quickly went over to the pregnant woman.
"We are almost there." I assured her.
The woman leaned against us, completely exhausted. We kept on moving, keeping her support. Once we got close, more Resistance fighters surrounded us. They exchanged shots with various enemies around us.
We went into the safehouse, almost dragging the woman. When we went down the stairs various civilians gathered around the woman. "She's been through alot, but she should be okay." I said.
"Keep an eye on her." Fung added.
We stepped out of the safehouse back into the battle.
Kuma faced down the assassin, still snarling fiercely. He went in for another barrage, swiping and stabbing furiously. Kuma backed off, keeping just out of arm's length. When he came in with a large trust, Kuma felt up the ground.
As his hand came at her, Kuma lifted up a stone pillar. It struck him in the wrist and wrapped around it. Kuma kicked the assassin in the gut and swiped at his head. He threw himself down, and ripped the pillar out of the ground.
The assassin swung the pillar towards Kuma. She ducked and it went over her head. He then lifted up and swung it down. Kuma dug her feet into the ground and lifted up her hands. When the pillar came down she caught it.
Kuma swung the pillar, picking the assassin off his feet. He slammed against the nearby wall, cracking it in several places. The assassin soon got up. Even with the nails, Kuma could see the rage in his eyes.
The assassin lunged and Kuma and she leapt out of the way. He quickly skidded a stop and turned around. Kuma faced the assassin, preparing for his next move. He charged again and Kuma dodged.
The assassin flew right by Kuma. He quickly turned around again. He trembled in anger and ground his teeth. "That's right." Kuma thought. "Keep baiting him."
The assassin charged again and Kuma leaned. His deadly claws swooped right past her. When the assassin turned around he snarled and growled. "Come at me." Kuma dared.
The assassin lunged at Kuma once more. She did not get out of the way this time, instead holding her ground. Right when he got close she lifted her sword. Normally an assassin would notice this, and break, blunt, or deflect the sword. But this time he was so focused he did not notice it until it went straight into his head.
The assassin fell to his knees. Kuma lifted up her hilt and the assassin slid off and collapsed into a heap. She sighed in relief.
This was short lived. Kuma heard a loud sound. She looked and saw Arata flying in the sky. He was letting a bright glow. She had heard about the Avatar state, but never seen it herself.
With a small gesture, various buildings shoke and crumbled. Even from far away, she could see fear in his body language. She quickly ran away from him. The ground around her was cracking and shaking, and Kuma worked hard to keep it stable.
In front of Kuma a building crumbled to pieces, and the debris fell onto the street in front of her. She gave a powerful shove and cleared herself a path. She quickly ran by and the debris fell back down behind her.
Kuma ran into a small group of Resistance fighters. "It's Kuma." one of them said.
The group approached Kuma. "Arata is going crazy." said a resistance fighter.
"That's the Avatar state." Kuma replied. "It happens to new Avatars."
Kuma led the fighters away from the danger zone. With a few swipes she smoothed out a cracked and broken street. The fighters kept to the center to avoid the falling pieces of rock. Kuma looked around the corner and saw a group of White Lotus soldiers and gangsters coming towards them.
Kuma backed up and her group did the same. The enemies came over to the intersection, but they moved right on. After some sighs of relief, Kuma and her group kept moving.
After the next few blocks seemed more intact, the group slowed down. Kuma looked around. "Stay alert." she told the fighters.
A few White Lotus soldiers approached, but Kuma threw some rocks and they backed off. She continued to gaze in there direction so they would not come back. "Seems like they are giving up." a fighter remarked.