It was a few days after the whole… incident with Aang. Due to urgency of the message getting to Bato, they had missed the window to get Sokka and Katara to there father. Since then things have been a little… tense with Aang, and he knew it and was treading carefully.
The group at the moment were listening to a storyteller weave a tale with mild interest. Smellerbee was resting her head in Suki's lap, already asleep… leg twitching as Suki rubbed her head.
Sokka was sharpening his blade, getting it sharp for the next hunt. Ai was leaning up against Katara, fighting the urge to fall asleep. While Katara snuggled close to her, resting her head just on top of Ai's head.
Around each of their necks were pristen Tiger-Shark necklaces.
=== Days Earlier ===
"You need to leave" said Harribel, pointing at Aang "YOU are no longer welcome here"
Aang didn't say anything, he just nodded. He loaded his things on Appa, with no help from the others. With her word being spoken Harribel and the rest of her tribe left. All but one. The 2nd youngest of Harribels children… Yukine.
She had dark skin just like her mother… and snow white hair. Adorned on her arm were tribal necklaces made from a pristen Tiger-Shark tooth… a show off family and friendship amongst them slipped the necklace on everyone, wishing them all luck… then she got to Aang, who smiling brightly about getting a gift. Yukine pulled one last necklace off her arm and slipped it over his head. Upon looking at it, he furrowed… his tooth was chipped, had a few holes.
"Huh… hehe" said Aang "Kinda… rotten isn't it?"
"Compared to you to looks fine" said Yukine with a smile
Ai threw her head back and laughed at how bad Aang just got burned, that girl was savage. Yukine back away and bid them all one last farewell, then returned to her village.
=== Present Day ===
"So travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look, it might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!" said the Storyteller
"Wow, aren't Airbender stories the best" said Aang, looking over at the group
Ai was meet with cold stares, he ducked his head and looked back towards the campfire. The storyteller was going around, collecting payment for the story. Sokka reached into his pocket, digging around… pulling out some gold from odd jobs he'd help people with over the course over there following a few coins from the other, Smellerbee included added something to the hat of coins, a small bone
"That's… not necessary" said the Storyteller, giving Smellerbee her bone back. Smellerbee tilted her head, letting out a grunt.
"Pay no good? All Smellerbee have" said Smellerbee, her speaking starting to improve
"It's alright I got more than i need from your friends" said the storyteller.
Smellerbee tilted her head again, but then didn't care as she got her bone back was started to chew on it.
"It means a lot to hear stories of airbender" said Aang "Must have been 100 years ago your great grandpa saw them"
"What are you talking about… grandpappy saw the air walker just last week"
Aang looked over at 'Grandpappy' who looked a little sickly due to his age, but nonetheless was alive and kicking.
"Heya" said Pappy
=== Sky ===
"Why are we doing this again?" asked Katara, folding her arms, whispering in Ai's ear
"Because if they are there, maybe they can set him straight" said Ai, whispering back "He has falling far from what i assume they taught him."
Katara nodded her head, blocking out how happy Aang seemed.
"So… you think we'll find airbenders?" asked Suki
Sokka not looking up from his whittling shrugged his shoulder
"I don't know" said Sokka "Our only witness is old man who is over 100 years old. For all we know we could have mistake 100 years ago for last week, and last week for 100 years ago"
"Hey guys, look at this!" said Aang
The group look over to see what is obviously the Northern Air Temple. It sits atop a sheer peak similar to its sister temple down south. Unlike that temple, however, there are people or things flying around this one. Smoke rises in lazy pillars from a couple places among the spires. Around the temple fly many gliders.
"Well son of a bitch" said Sokka "Airbenders!"
As Aang watchs the 'airbenders' fly around, his smile fades and he flops back.
"No, they're not" said Aang
"What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying!" said Sokka
"Gliding maybe, but that's not flying… they lack spirit" said Aang
"Yahoooooooooo-ooooooo!" came a loud cheer
Ai looks over just as a large glider rips past them, and ahead of them, spooking Appa. In the glider, was a young boy with light purple skin, and a green mohawk, laughing and pointing back at the group.
"He looks pretty spirited" said Suki
The glider passes by again, this time over head… as the boy flies upside down, smiling at them. Getting a better look at the glider, and the boy Ai noticed what he was in… why his glider was different.
"He's crippled" said Ai
Once more the kid passes by, Aang seems to get a grin on his face… and pulls out his glider, and jumps. Sokka quickly took the reign as Aang chased after the kid.
"Idiot" said Katara, closing her eye and shaking her head
Ai rushed past her, cheering actually sounding like the little kid she had the appearance of.
"Ai just jumped off didn't she?" asked Katara, opening her eyes.
"Yup" said Suki, watching Ai sail downwards "She did"
Smellerbee then tried to run and jump mimicking Aang and Ai, but Suki quickly stopped her.
With a swing of her hand, dirt and sand from the temple stirred and flew over towards Ai, forming a platform. Ai landed on it with ease, and shot forward, after the two.
"Let's find some soiled ground… before it finds us" said Sokka.
Katara, Suki, Smellerbee and Sokka then tried to find a way into the temple considering they didn't want to crash on solid ground.
The boy in the glider looks back, flashing a smile at Aang… then sees Ai coming up behind him.
"Oh ho ho… Cool. I didn't know earthbenders can do that" said the boy.
All three of them shoot to the sky, flying upwards quickly… Ai leaning forward and using her chakra to stick as she was going upwards at an angle. Down at the temple, Appa having landed safely, the other have gotten off of him.
"Go Spike… show those two how its done!" came a cheer
Hearing the cheer, Spike hits the brakes on his flying wheelchair, falling back towards the two. After some aerial ballet to avoid hitting each other and being neck and neck Spike flashes a smile.
"You two are good" said Spike, in a very upbeat manner.
"Yeah well… i can do more than glide" said Aang
Aang soars to one of the temple towards, letting go of his glider and starts to run along the side of the tower with impressive speed, and an unnecessary show of airbending skills jumped off and grabbed his glider. Soaring back to them with a smirk.
"How'd you like that?" asked Aang
Ai glanced over at him, scroll in hand, reading its contents.
"Hmm… wha? Did you say something?" asked Ai
Having actually seen it, Spike laughed at Aang… knowing Ai was sarcastically dismissing what Aang had done, and practically saying she could do better.
"I don't think I can do that! But here's a good one" said Spike
Spike releases a cord on his glider and a cylinder on the back of his glider begins to leave a trail of thick grey smoke. Spike manipulates his glider through loops and arcs, leaving the grey trail behind him. Seeing what he was doing, Ai fell back and watched as he continued to zip around… making sky art.
Down from the temple the people could see Ai's face with a small smirk, next to a sour looking Aang.
"What do you think?" asked Spike
"It's great" said Aang sourly
"I like it" said Ai with a smirk.
Ai and Aang land next to Katara and the others, Aang folding his glider. Spike lands his glider right behind, skidding only a bit before he applies his hand break and come to a stop. A bunch of kids come up and detach the glider from his wheelchair. He then wheels over to others
"Hey! You're a REAL airbender! That means" said Spike, looking at Ai with glee "You must be the Avatar! That's amazing! I, I, I've heard stories about you."
Ai just nodded her head in acknowledgment.
"Wow! This glider chair is incredible!" said Sokka
Two girls bring the glider setup back for Sokka to inspect. Suki looks it over too, noting the craftsmanship.
"If you guys think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my Mom designed" said Spike
Spike begins to wheel away, the gang followed. They followed their new friend through the huge main gate of the temple, till they reach the main chamber, it is quite unlike that seen at the last temple they visited.
The room is dominated by a jumble of steam-powered machinery with many wheels, gears and pipes. It is not pretty. A beautiful statue of an airbender monk is seen in a recessed portico in the wall, but it too seems dirty and befouled as does the rest of the room. Shafts of sunlight do filter in, but the steam and dust make it look shadowy.
"Your mother is a steampunk engineer" said Ai
"A what… what?" said Spike
"Your mother uses steam to power all her… gadgets" said Ai "Back in my time we call that Steampunk"
"Oh… yeah" said Spike, marveling at his mother's craft "My Mom is the mastermind behind this whole place! Everything's powered by steam. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when we're gliding."
As he was speaking, Suki watched as a woman walks over to cage which she gets into. She pulls a rope and steam power lifts the cage up to a higher level where she exits.
"Wow… that thing just… lifted her to the next floor" said Suki
"Oh that… mom calls that the Acend-anator" said Spike
"Can it also take you down?" asked Katara, looking over
"Moms… still working on that part" said Spike "The cages keep crashing into the ground"
"This place is unbelievable." said Aang
"Yeh, it's great isn't it?" asked Spike
"No, just unbelievable" said Aang
Aang's walks away, clearly saddened by what he has seen. Keeping to himself.
"What's his problem?" asked Spike
"Aang's people lived here a long time ago. I think he's a little shocked it's so... different from his temple" said Ai
Aang stands in another part of the room, looking at a mural. The mural, was surely once breathtakingly beautiful. Now, it is gritty and dirty. Worse, many of the figures and shapes in the mural have been destroyed since many pipes now and enter and exit the wall here.
"This is supposed to be the history of my people." said Aang, as Ai walked up "and now its, its besmirched"
Ai, still anger by what he had pulled back at Harribel's tribe, felt sorry for Aang. She reached out and gave him a pat.
Ai and Aang walk away over to a huge statue that once had a fountain attached to it. Now the fountain basin is full of green industrial looking effluence that bubbles and spirits. The statue then emits a cloud of black smoke from its mouth, scaring Aang.
"Ugh!" said Aang, disgusted
"That's… an interesting way to use it" said Ai
"No it's not… that use to be water fountain" cried Aang
"Sarcasm still eludes you" said Ai
"I… I need some air" said Aang
"We could go to the courtyard" said Spike
=== Courtyard ===
The courtyard was untouched by any machinery and pipes, though it lacked much life its walls were somewhat clean and untouched.
"It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined." said Aang, looking at a statue
"Look out!" came a voice from the other side of the way
The statue disintegrates as a wrecking ball smashes through it. Aang falls backward with flying debris and dust. Ai's ninja training kicked in and she had a kunai drawn, throwing her arm out to shield Katara. Everyone in the yard coughs. As the dust settles, many figures can be seen through the hole the wrecking ball just created. One of them walks forward, a young woman with a purple hair and a pink highlight. Her right eye has a red monocle. She wears a green tunic mostly covered by the white smock or apron of an artisan.
"What in the Dinglie Danglie Doodle? Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!" said the women
"Do you know what you did? You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" yelled Aang
"Well, I'm sorry if you think proper hygiene is stupid… but people around here are starting to stink." said the woman, waving her hand away from her nose "It didn't mind it at first, but that was about 3 months ago"
"This whole place stinks!" yelled Aang
Aang strikes the ground with his staff, sending a gale back through the hole in the wall. The wrecking ball and its entire rig are blown off the building's rock foundation and falls into the crevices below.
"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I know what it's supposed to be like. And this aint it" said Aang
The woman let out a annoyed sigh, she put her monical away and pulled a pair of… monocles put together, and slide them on. She studied the group… then to Spike.
"Spike… who are these people? New friends?" asked the women
"Yeah they are mom" said Spike
"Hmm. It's a pleasure to meet you all… My name Is Twilight Sparkle" said Twilight, looking at Aang with disdain "I don't like the bald one… he is rude"
"RUDE? ME?" yelled Aang "You're the one who's destroying this sacred place. What are you even doing here?"
"Hmmm... doing here... A long time ago, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Spike, was hurt tremindicly… losing the ability to walk. I needed somewhere to rebuild everything that I… that we lost. And the I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home! A shame… i'd have loved to learn about then. Then I came across these fan like contraptions!" said Twilight
She puts her hands out and extends her arms as if they were wings and makes flying motions across the courtyard for emphasis. She stops in front of Aang, who still looks angry.
"Our gliders" said Aang
"Yes, little light flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak! We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?" said Twilight
The group could all tell that it hurt Twilight to relive what had happened to her, her son and her people.
"Nature knows where to stop." said Aang, then was hit to the ground by Ai
"You'll have to ignore him" said Ai "He's an idiot who thinks the world bends to his believes"
Aang shot up and looked at Ai.
"What the hell Ai" said Aang
"Language" said Twilight, holding up a figner
"This is their home now… the monks are gone" said Ai "This land as be unoccupied for 100 years… so drop it"
Aang shook the dirt from his head, unhappy with everything happening. Twilight seemed a little befuddled by what she saw… aren't those two friends? Twilight looked over towards a pedestal with candles, Smellerbee just so happened to be sitting by… scratching her head.
"Look at the time!" said Twilight "Come the pulley system must be oiled before dark"
"Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing? The notches all look the same" asked Sokka
"The candle will tell us." said Twilight "Just watch"
The candle flame flicker for a moment, then snaps four times in a row loudly. Smellerbee flinched and ran away from the sound, whining and rushing over to Suki.
"You put spark powder in the candle" said Sokka "That's genius"
"Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday, or, as I call it, four o'candle!" said Twilight
Sokka snorts and laughs. Twilight just smiles… she looked down to see Sokka's machete.
"If you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener!" said Twilight, she holds up her left hand. Three of her fingers are made of wood. She detaches them and tosses them to Sokka. "Only took me three tries to get it right!"
Sokka catches them, his eyes widen in horror
"Aaahhh!" screams Sokka, quickly throwing them back at her
Twilight reached out with her opposite hand, stretching them out of the air one by one
"Follow me!" said Twilight, snapping her fingers back on
Sokka, Suki… and even Smellerbee follow Twilight, leaving Katara, Ai, Aang and Spike alone
"Hey Aang, I want to show you something" said Spike
===xxx===
The four of them walked deep in the bowels of the Air Temple. Katara and Ai staying close, holding hands… as Ai wanted to. Spike wheeling ahead of them, every once in awhile popping a wheelie.
"I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same." said Aang
"I don't know about that. The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones that lived here a long time ago." said Spike "One area Mother ended up tearing down was turned into a habitat"
"Awwww" said Katara, looking at the fuzzy hermit crab Ai picked up
The crap snipped at Ai a few time, clearly unhappy about being picked up. Ai put it back down and let it be on its way.
"They're the keepers of the temples origins" said Ai
"There's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all" said Spike
The group walking down a long corridor of the Temple. Huge Air Nomad swirls are built into mosaics in the floor. They all stand in front of a door. It is huge, made of wood, and it is dominated in the center by a woodcut comprised of three wooden air symbols protruding from its surface and which are arranged in a triangular pattern. The symbols are attached to tubes that end in two horns near the bottom of the woodcut.
"Hey! It's just like the one in the other Air Temple." said Katara
"Mom said she tried to open it… but failed to do so after many attempts. She came to the conclusion that only an airbender can open it – so inside it's completely untouched, just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there." said Spike
Ai looked over at Aang, seeing a proud triumphant smile on his face
"I want it to stay that way" said Aang
"I completely understand. I just wanted you to know it was here" said Spike
"Thanks" said Aang, turning and started to walk away
=== Twilight ===
Twilight lead her group down a dark and narrow stone staircase, with only a dim lantern to light there way.
"This thing is terrible" said Sokka, taking a look at the jar in his hand "Wait… are these?" Sokka opened the jar, letting a few fireflies out.
"There fireflies… why?" asked Sokka, reaching into his pocket
"They are a reusable light source" said Twilight "And non flammable"
Twilight looked back to see Sokka holding a pair of spark rocks, reading a torch. Twilight's eyes widened and quickly smacking them from his hand and down the stair well.
"Blathering Blatherskite" growled Twilight "You trying to kill us all? There's a reason i was using fireflies down here"
Twilight turned around and resumed leading them down the stair, until the got to a door blocked with some caulk. She pat the door, checking for leaks… relieve when she found none.
"Hold your breath" said Twilight, sliding a panel over
Suki and Sokka looked in it, breaths held to see… nothing. They pulled back and let Twilight close the panel.
"An empty room, lets inform everybody, such a marvelous discovery" said Sokka
"Your sarcasm is duly noted" said Twilight "But tis not empty… it's full of natural gas"
Twilight cleaned her double attached monical's with her uniform, she had told them she call these things glasses.
"Came across it my first time here. Unfortunately, I was carrying a torch at the time. Nearly blew myself and the whole place even more sky high." said Twilight, throwing her arms out "Thought my eyebrows and hair would never grow back! Anyway, there's a vital problem that needs solving. From time to time we have gas leaks and they're nearly impossible to find."
"Wait wait wait… backup a moment. So your telling us that this place is an explosion waiting to happen?" said Suki
"Explosion, explosion" chanted Smellerbee
"Yes, until I figure out how to locate something I can't see, hear, smell, taste, or touch" said Twilight, rubbing her temple "So far… no luck"
=== Ai's group ===
"The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you – something even lighter than air, and that something takes over when you fly" said Spike
Katara and Ai stands at the edge of the terrace, holding a glider with both hands. Spike is to Katara's left , Aang behind Ai to the right with Momo sitting on his head. Katara leans on the glider. She pears down the terrace… fear taking over
"I've changed my mind. I think I was born without that something." said Katara
"Impossible! Everybody has it" said Spike "Are you ready?"
"No!" said Katara, shaking her head "Nope… not one bit"
Ai watchs as Aang and Spike jump down, Katara goes to… put stops in her tracks.
"I… I can't do it" said Katara shaking in fear
"Sure you can" said Ai
"No, i can't" said Katara
Ai pushed Katara forward, who failed her arms to try and lean back… but fell with glider in hand
"AI YOU FUCKING BIIIIIIITCH" screamed Katara
"Language" came Spikes voice
After falling for a few moments and screaming, Katara's glider caught the wind and lifted high into the air. Katara looked down and started to laugh… Ai floating up behind her.
"I can't believe I'm flying!" said Katara, looking over at Ai "Thank you for the push"
"Your welcome" said Ai
"Words to the wise… try not to talk much" said Aang
"Why is" started Katara, then started to cough. "Blech… blech, gross… i think i swallowed a grasshopper-ant"
"That's why" said Spike "You'll swallow less bugs that way"
"Yeah, i've been thinking. If you wanna see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you" said Aang
"Totally awesome" cheered Spike as he dived
=== Twilight ===
"Awww Blitsnack… why am i having so much with this" groaned Twilight, she looked up from her blueprints to something "HEY, i said don't touch anything"
Smellerbee flinches hard from the sound, Suki looks back to see she had just knocked something over, which had a domino effect knocking other stuff down.
"Smellerbee" scowled Suki "Look at what you've done"
Smellerbee began to whimper a bit, Suki sighed and gently stroked her face making Smellerbee purr.
"Clumsy thing." said Suki
Twilight walked over to the table, looking at what was broken. Smellerbee made her way too it and tried to put it back together, but to no avail.
"Oh… never mind, no harm done. I don't recall what this experiment was to begin with" said Twilight
Smellerbee sniffed the air once, then gagged… she put her hands to her nose and whined. The smell got the there attention as well, everyone holding their noses.
"Nope, never mind again… i just remember." gasped Twilight "I just can't for the live of me remember why i did this one"
"Being" said sokka, pinching his nose
"The shelf life of a Chicken-Lizard egg" said Twilight, groining at the smell "I forgot about it til now… it didn't have a smell"
"How about you too stop talking and help me find the damn thing" growled Suki, crawling around
"LANGUAGE" snapped Twilight, point her finger at Suki
=== Ai ===
"I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside" said Spike, giggling to himself with glee
"Your… enthusiasm has gotten me curious too" said Ai
Aang airbender two jets of air, one from each arm, into the horns at the bottom of the woodcut. The air runs through the tubes and one by one flips the air symbols from the blue sides which had been showing, to the maroon sides which had been facing the interior of the temple. As each turns, it flips another mechanism on the outside of a door, clearly all three of the symbols had to trigger each of their mechanisms in order to unlock the Temple door.
=== Twilight ===
Twilight, Sokka, Suki and Smellerbee were all on the ground, looking for the spoiled egg as if it was life or death.
"How could something that's so small you can't even see it make such a big stink!" said Sokka
"You'd think we'd have found it by now" said Suki
"Bad smell, nasty… bad smell" cried Smellerbee
Twilight stopped her crawling… she leaned back onto her knee.
"That's it" said Twilight "That's the solution"
Sokka looked over, holding his nose
"What solution" asked Sokka
"To the gas… if I were to dump a mess of these foul smelling things in with the gas" started Twilight
"It would mix with the gas" continued Sokka
"So when there was a leak… all you'd have to do" continued Twilight
"Find smell… find smell" said Smellerbee, holding the egg
"That's the solution to our problem!" said Twilight happily
"Yeah!" said sokka
Twilight and Sokka then grabbed Smellerbee and hugged her.
"Your a genius!" cheered Sokka and Twilight.
"What just happened?" asked Suki, as they pulled away from Smellerbee
Smellerbee tilted her head to the side… not understanding either. Suddenly a large bell starts ringing. Smellerbee hugs Suki's leg in shock, but Twilight's face drains of all color.
"What's that, a fire?" asked Sokka.
Twilight immediately began to get up and run.
Something's wrong I have to go!" yelled Twilight.
Suki, Sokka and Smellerbee go after her to understand the danger
Inside the Air Temple sanctuary as the doors open, revealing Aang, Ai, Katara and Spike. They walk in and are horrified to see that it is filled with evil looking war machines and torture devices.
"This is a nightmare." said Aang as his heart sinks into his stomach
"W-What's is all this?" asked Spike worried.
Ai answers bluntly
"Weapons, aircraft and fire nation insignia." said Ai.
Katara covered her mouth in shock.
Twilight had made her way to the room and stops when she saw Aiand Spike witnessing she desperately tried to hide. They all turn around and see Twilight standing there along with Sokka, Suki and Smellerbee arriving and they end up being as shocked as the others were.
"You have to let me explain!" said Twilight'.
Aang merely threatens her by pointing his staff at her.
"Your making weapons for the FIRE NATION?!" said Aang angrily.
Twilight looks down in humiliation. Everyone was angry, desperate for answers and this was more so for Spike who admired his mother greatly and in the end he was looking at her with contempt.
"What the hell is all that?" asked Sokka.
"Language" said Twilight, pointing at Sokka
Sokka merely gave her a dry look, with a slow eyebrow raise
"You need to explain yourself right now or I'll let Aang go nuts." said Ai.
Spike looked angrily at his mother.
"Mom?!" uttered Spike
Twilight decided to break down and the tell the dark truth.
"It was about a year after we moved here, Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement... I… I don't know how, back then you were too young to have remembered this." said Twilight.
Katara and Sokka had a memory of the Fire Nation invading their home when they were younger, when their mother died.
"I can tell this doesn't end well." said Katara.
Twilight walked into the room of weapons and looked at them disappointed in herself and what deaths they have caused and will cause.
"I feared they were going to destroy everything I strived so hard to build, burn it to the ground and all of us with it... But then… they saw my inventions and" said Twilight. "They promised if i help them… they'd leave me alone"
Twilight helped up her hand with the wooden fingers
"When i said i lost them to my sword sharpener… that was a lie… they cut off a finger each time i refused them" said Twilight, putting her hand down "After realizing i wasn't gonna help them… they said they'd do the same to Spike"
Twilight looks at her son with a face of desperation, Ai recognized it since Aang wore it himself. It was a face that begged for forgiveness and understanding
"You must understand, I did this for you!" said Twilight
Spike doesn't look his mother in the eye, he turns his head and his wheelchair away. Twilight feels her heart break seeing her son hate her, she turns and walks back down the hall.
Twilight was sitting and lamenting in her office, she tried to pass the time by playing with a small balloon that used a candle to keep in a float while carrying a basket filled with 3 eggs, 2 happy ones while one was cracked. She lets the balloon rise to the surface and hit the ceiling.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Twilight looked at the door and sighed.
"I know it's you all, you can come in an yell at me." said Twilight.
The door opened with revealing Ai, Spike, Aang and Katara
"We don't want to yell at you mom." said Spike as they walked in.
"The jury is still out on that." said Aang.
Ai shook her head.
"They would all be dead, but she didn't do what they wanted." said Ai "She did the wrong thing… but for the right reason"
Aang nodded and folds his arms angrily.
"I-I know, but I'm still angry its just at the Fire Nation." said Aang
"When are they coming." asked Katara.
Suddenly Twilight's candle sparks once making her hairs stand on end.
"Let me guess soon?" asked Ai.
Twilight nodded.
"Very soon!" said Twilight afraid.
Aang clenched his fists which was a constant occurrence today.
"You can't make anymore weapons for them!" said Aang.
"You think this was something that I wanted to do, it was for to protect my son and tribe!" said Twilight.
Ai gestured her hand at her, Katara and Aang.
"If you don't want things to be this way then let's end it for you, consider it a way out that you've wanted." said Ai
"A way out, I do want to stop helping them, those Clibber Flagassity Fire Nation monsters!" said Twilight.
The balloon falls down on the floor and catches fire, Ai uses water nature to put it out.
"But an entire army will be on our heels, I can't make you fight then, more people will die!" said Twilight.
Spike rolled up to his mother and took her hands in a pleading manner.
"Mom, I've never been able to walk even, I always had to stay inside on a bed and the only thing I could do is look out at the window watching other people." said Spike sadly.
"Aren't those Fire Nation guys coming soon?" asked Aang quietly.
Ai and Katara then elbowed him keeping his quiet.
"Shut up I want to hear this!" said Katara.
"Me too, learn to read the room Aang." said Ai.
"But then you made me my wheelchair and my glider, I finally had legs and even better I had wings!' said Spike happily.
"Spike." said Twilight teary eyed, this was clearly a touching mother and son moment, but no didn't seem like the time.
"You've always told me to use my abilities to help people and to benefit mankind, so how can I be as proud of you when your inventions are being used for murder?" asked Spike.
Before Twilight could give an answer as to what she would do.
*Ring*
A small bell rings making Twilight stand up stiff which catches the others attention.
"That them?" asked Ai.
"They're early, you have to hide!" yelled Twilight.
Twilight pulls a lever that opens a trap door in the floor. Aang goes in while he and Katara help Spike inside.
"There's no more room!" yelled Spike.
"Just hide!" yelled Ai as she shuts the trap door.
"What about me?" yelled Katara.
Ai forms hand signs and and uses her Transformation Jutsu to become a large storage trunk much to Twilight's shock. She opens herself up and Katara immediately understands what to do, she jumps inside of the trunk and shut it behind her.
Twilight mentally prepares herself, she pulls another lever and a wheel built into the floor beings to turn. A trap next to the wheel opens up with steam rising through it. A man in Fire Nation garb rises through the floor until the mechanism stops. He walks over to Twilight and leers at her.
"You know better than to keep me waiting" said the Emissary.
He walks over to Twilight but steps on her invention and crushes both of the eggs inside, he doesn't care and only gives off an air of disgust. Twilight thought about what Aang, Ai and Spike had said to her. She began to be hesitant and merely didn't move much to the Emissary's surprise.
"Well, where is it!?" asked the Emissary impatient.
Aang and Spike both watched from beneath Twilight and Aang was preparing to attack this man if it came to it. Spike on the other hand was hoping that his mother wouldn't go through with it. Meanwhile Katara was blushing due to the fact that she was "inside" of Ai at the moment, but she also had an idea.
"Ai, we can't let him go free." said Katara quietly as she possibly could. She then prepared hand-signs for a jutsu and hopped Ai understood.
"Show me the invention or I will make your son's arms useless too!" yelled the Emissary.
Twilight didn't think, she merely reacted upon hearing that and slapped the bastard in the face. The moment that she did Aang popped out of the floor stopping any attack the Emissary may have wanted to try.
"The deal's off!" yelled Twilight
"An airbender!" yelled the Emissary in shock.
Just as he was about to get up and attack a puff of smoke appeared behind Aang and Twilight. Water snaked around the Emissary's throat stopping his moments along with shuriken that stuck his legs. Katara and Ai come out from behind Aang and Twilight revealing themselves.
"Good work Katara." said Ai.
Katara blushes while Aang helps Spike out of the hole.
"We can't let him go." said Ai.
Twilight nodded.
"Do what you will to him, this Bindoddle threatened my baby boy!" said Twilight.
Katara made sure to keep the man still as best she could, but the Emissary then shoots a stream of fire out the window, Ai then quickly strikes his arms breaking them and making him stop. The Emissary laughs.
"You thought I didn't bring back up, I just signaled my men to bring an army back here to burn this place to the ground and take what we need." yelled the Emissary, then before he could take another breath Ai stabbed him in the stomach, killing him and silencing forever.
"But you won't see it." said Ai.
She took her kunai out. Spike and Twilight were a little horrified to see Ai do this, Aang still showed apprehension to killing despite what the situation was while Katara was okay with it…
However there was no time to rest, a Fire Nation army was on their way to kill them all and burn the temple to the ground.
Everyone aside from Smellerbee and Suki had gathered and were discussing what to do next now that an army was on its way. It seemed bleak but Sokka, Katara and Aang knew better seeing Ai in action.
"I guess your giving us permission to fight them?" asked Sokka.
Twilight nodded.
"Yes, keep them away from here!" said Twilight.
Spike held his mother's hand expressing pride that she had refused to help the fire nation anymore.
"We might not be easy, but fighting them all with you beside us won't be impossible Ai." said Katara.
Ai however looked on at the mountains and wasn't expressing the same confidence that the others were.
"I'm not sure." said Ai.
Everyone expressed shock at what Ai had just said, Spike and Twilight because she had offered to fight and Aang, Sokka and Katara because they knew how powerful Ai was. For Ai to say whether or not something is a problem is in itself a problem.
"Ai?" said Katara.
"Wh-What do you mean, how can't we win?!" asked Aang.
"Winning isn't the problem, the Fire Nation knows where this place is, even if we drive them away today they'll just bring more the next time" said Ai, she turned to Twilight "You may have to leave"
=== Twilight ===
"The problem with the balloons was once in there air… you could get back down unless you put a hole in it… then you'd only go down" said Sokka, flipping the lid "So by adding these on the balloons… you now have full control"
"This boy is a genius" said Twilight
"Thank you… so are you" said Sokka
"Thank you" said Twilight
"Ok… so for bombs we got Smoke, Slime, Fire, and" started Sokka
"Stinky Rotten Eggs" said Twilight "Never ever underestimate stink"
=== Outside ===
Ai looked over the edge of the onlook… hearing the oncoming threat. She turned back to the many volunteers in the fight… signaling them to start the attack.
Spike, Aang, and Ai dove down the side of the mountain along with many others. Katara, Suki and Smellerbee were in charge of handing off bombs to those whom would return to get some.
As the fire nation troops came up the mountain they were surprised to see the enemy bursting down from the clouds. Spike flew past pelting them with Smoke bombs and smile bombs… then Ai blasted by hitting them with rock shurikens.
The fire nation troops tried to fight back… but the number of them and speed isn't making it easy for them to fight. Aang passed by them sending an avalanche down on them… things were going.
Massive grappling hooks burst from the layer of clouds, holding onto the mountain side… slowly pulling up the even more massive thing they were attached to up.
"TANKS" yelled Ai "Fall back, get to higher ground"
"Whats?" asked Aang
Massive metal machinas slowly crawled up the side of mountain.
"Oh!" yelled Aang
Twilights tribe fell back as Ai said… pelting the tanks with bombs… to no effect. The tanks climb the cliff face and gain the small plateau area at the base of the Temple. The firebenders in the turrets begin to fire blasts of flame, which the gliders avoid. They drop more bombs, but they are ineffective against the Fire Nation armor. One firebender gets slimed right as Aang drops into the center of an advancing platoon of tanks.
Aang literally blows them away and upside down with blasts of air, but their central cabins of the tanks just flip over and they begin advancing again. The shoot more fire blasts at Aang, who avoids them.
Ai came down down onto a tank… she peeked over the edge and looked into the turret.
"Hi assholes" said Ai, then opened her mouth and unleashed flames
Screams came from the tank as Ai jumped away towards another tank
"Bye assholes" said Ai
"Ai!" yelled Aang, landing by her and grabbing her shoulder
Already knowing what he wanted, Ai swung her arm out a sent him to the ground
Spike swoops into down from the sky and deposits Katara next to Ai. She assumes a bending stance, concentrates, and stops the forward momentum of one of the tanks with ice. Then, presumably bending the water within it, the tanks big wheels fall off. Ai seeing what Katara did copied her action, destroying another tank. Having disposed of two tanks, the attention was turned to them. Ai jumps in front of Katara and starts blasting fire balls at incoming fire balls. The tanks close in. Ai and Katara are suddenly blocked by the massive bulk of Appa who lands in front of them, roars, and tosses aside the two point tanks.
Ai and Katara jump on Appa and he takes off. They survey the battlefield and it is clear that the situation is not good. Broken down tanks dot the battlefield, but most are still advancing, now closely supported by infantry formations. Cut back to the landing field terrace where Katara, Spike and Ai are in hasty council, with Momo in the foreground.
"We're out of bombs!" said Spike
"Come on, Sokka, where's that war balloon?" said Katara
As Katara speaks, the war balloon rises behind her in the background. The balloon is red and decked out with a Fire Nation symbol. It's removable top and tail fin give it a vaguely blimp like shape. Twilight and Sokka ride in the basket below the balloon. The basket also contains the coal burning plant that provides the heat for the balloon's air. Attached to the basket are four huge sacks of material used for ballast. The balloon moves out over the battlefield as the enemy armor advances below.
"Hey, why aren't they shooting at us?" said Sokka
"If i'd have to guess… its the insignia! They think we're on their side!" said Twilight
Sokka starts cutting a rope with his knife, grinning like a Fox-Cheetah
"Then I guess they won't see this coming." said Sokka "Bombs away!"
One of the ballast sacks drops and blows in a huge explosion of slime on the ground. Sokka drops the other three bombs. The slime washes most of the infantry away, but the tanks continue. They reach the next cliff to scale and begin to use their grappling hooks.
"Crap Baskets! That was the last one!" said Sokka
Twilight looked over at Sokka, ready to scowled him for foul language… but stopped.
"Huh… gonna have to remember that one" said Twilight, the sniffed the air "Wait a second... you smell that?"
"Yeah… smells like" started Sokka
"Rotten Eggs" said Twilight and Sokka together
Both look over the edge of the balloon. They are passing over a crevasse.
"There! That's where the gas is escaping!" said Sokka
Sokka quickly begins to ready the balloon's coal-burning plant to be thrown overboard.
"What are you doing!? That's our fuel source!" said Twilight
"Yeah… but it's the only bomb we've got!" said Sokka
They throw the coal furnace overboard into the crevasse. It hits the sides on its way down. The advancing Fire Nation soldiers and tanks have no idea as to what is about to happen. The Temple, which is suddenly buffeted by a series of enormous, fiery explosions at its base. The coal furnace has ignited the escaping natural gas. The Temple is covered in smoke. When it clears, the grappling hook chains dangle in the breeze with nothing attached to them. In the distance, the remaining Fire Nation troops are running back down the mountain.
"AND STAY OUT" yelled Ai, then noticed the balloon falling
"We're going down!" yelled Sokka
"No! Sokka! Hold on!"
Ai takes immediate action, she hops onto Appa and gets him to fly up towards the falling balloon… helping them off and letting the balloon fall off the edge of the mountain. Ai then pulls on the reigns and stirs Appa back to the mountain.
Back at the main terrace of the Air Temple, everyone was celebrating.
"You know what? I'm really glad you guys all live here now. It's like the hermit crab… maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. And now you protect each other." said Aang
"That means a lot" said Spike
"Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" said Sokka
The crowd cheers Sokka. Twilight who turns towards group and looks down, troubled by something.
===xxx===
A group of Fire Nation soldiers stand around the fallen war balloon. The are heating the air in the balloon, causing it to refill. A figure came up from the snow flurry… Tanya.
"This defeat is the gateway to many victories." said Tanya
Xxx
My god, i hate writers block… it fricken sucks.
If anyone, anyone wants to help… i'll take it. I need all the help i can get… those whom do shall and will be credited at the end of each chapter.