Chapter Twenty-One:

A man stood in front of a open door. The Avatar and his friends, went down it, but told him not to join them. He had been waiting there for awhile.

A strange pink haired young man walked up. "Hi there, what's up. Name's Nastu."

"Moku" the man replied.

"Nice to meet you." said Natsu. "What are you doing here."

"I'm waiting here for the Avatar to get my friend back." Moku said. "He said not to come down here."

"The Avatar is a big jerk. Let me help you."

"Okay"

Nastu and Moku walked down the steps into the darkness. Nastu produced fire from his hand to light the way."

"Man to think we had these tunnels underground us the whole time." remarked Nastu.

"Yeah"

"So where do you think your friend is?" Nastu asked.

"I don't know. I'm worried he becoming one of them."

"Who?"

"Iron Assassins."

"What?"

"Those guys." Moku said as he pointed.

Nastu turned and saw an Iron Assassin, complete with nail-pierced eyes. The assassin slammed his claws into Moku's head, and they slid out the back. Nastu chucked a fireball, but the assassin blocked it. He tried to form another, but the assassin grabbed his arm and slammed him into the ground.

The assassin the raised up his arm and stabbed his claws into Nastu's head, digging them into the ground.

Kaze snuck down a the hallways moving as quietly as she could. At this point she figured she lost her pursuer, but where were her friends.

Kaze froze and hid from another assassin. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and pulled a wall open. Kaze tried to peer inside, but the assassin closed it.

In the distance, Kaze saw a couple of lights. She quietly walked over to them, and saw her friends.

I saw a figure approach us. When it got closer I saw it was Kaze. "What were you thinking?" I said as quietly as I could.

Kaze pointed to the wall. "I saw something, a hidden room."

Tetsu and I put our hands against the wall, and felt it up. We walked to spot and opened the wall. Inside was a group of women, with noticeable bumps.

The women looked up at us in relief. Clearly fire was a sign that we were on there side. "Thank Agni!" one of them proclaimed.

"Are you of the Fire Nation?" another asked.

"Not quite, but we are working with Lord Yuzin."

We lead the women towards the exit, wherever it would be. Unfortunately, the path was blocked by assassins, Tsume in fact. "Avatar Arata."

"Yeah I'm the Avatar. I get it by now."

I glanced back and more more assassins gathered behind us.

"What do you want with these women?" I asked.

Tsume just looked at me without saying anything. "Why pregnant women anyway?" Sela asked.

"If you were going to kill them, you would have." Tetsu noted.

"Not yet." Tsume replied.

Tetsu suddenly pulled rock slabs up from the ground and shoved Tsume and the assassins aside. "Run!" he shouted, as the women ran down the corridor, some using flames to see the way.

Tsume and his assassin burst out of the slabs and descended upon us. We swiped and bended to deflect the vicious spray of nails coming at us. Genji rolled a pair gas canisters, and Kaze blew the gas away from us.

We responded with a fury of bending blasts, trying to push the assassin's back into the gas. They pushed forward, continuing to assault us with nails.

Suddenly the ground under us started to crumble into sand. We kicked and climbed to avoid being buried, but the sand pulled us down into it, even Tetsu and I tried to bend us out.

Above us, a pillar came down from the ceiling. Tetsu and I pushed up as hard as we could, but the sheer weight was overwhelming. Tsume grabbed me and pulled me out of the sand pit. "Can't kill him now." he said. "Kill the rest."

It all clicked in my head, pregnant women, the Avatar cycle, keeping me alive. He wanted to birth a new Avatar.

I watched as Tetsu tried his hardest to keep my friends from sinking and being crushed. The others kicked and struggled desperately. I tried just as hard to get free from Tsume's grip. "Watch them Avatar Arata."

In exhaustion and frustration and fell to my knees. I had failed. I failed my friends, the innocent women, Yuzin, the people of the Fire Nation, of Republic City. My friends sank deeper into the pit, and there was nothing I could do.

"No!" I told myself. "I am the Avatar."

With that I felt a surge of power. I lifted my hands and the pillar slide up into the ceiling. I pulled my friends out of the sandpit. The assassins around me pulled at the sand to keep dragging them down, but now there efforts where in vain.

I turned around and slugged Tsume as hard as I could. He went flying back down the halls. The assassins hurled rocks and nails at me, but I raised my hand and they all stopped before me.

I hurled the projectile back at the assassins, who desperately tried to block them. I produced pillars out of the wall, sending them flying. I chased after Tsume, who tried to run.

When Tsume saw me he dropped a wall from the ceiling blocking my path. I slammed my fist into it, and it exploded on impact. "TSUME!" I bellowed with a deep reverberating voice.

Tsume shut more walls, but I busted through them. Any projectile he sent bounced right off of me. After breaking another wall, I came across a intersection, and no Tsume in sight. I felt up the wall, and felt a secret passage.

Tetsu lead the group down the passages. "What going on with Arata!?" Genji asked.

"Avatar state." Kaze replied. "Really powerful."

The ran from corridor to corridor, searching for the women. After seeing a group of flames, they rushed into to escort them.

"Light the way." Tetsu told them. "We will hold them off."

A group of assassins emerged through the tunnels. Tetsu and Kaze greeted them with a fury of windblasts and boulders. They backed down the corridor as they exchanged fire.

The group saw faint light, behind them and began to back off faster. The assassins ralied harder, throwing nails and rocks. One of them charged forward towards the group.

Tetsu slammed his fist into the assassin's face, but he slashed back at him. He blocked kicks and punches from Sela, and swipped at her head. He grabbd one of the women and dragged her back. "Give them up. Or she dies."

The assassin held his claws near the women's head. "You wouldn't" Sela replied. "Tsume needs them."

"Just one." the assassin replied. "Plenty more."

"We are not going to give them up." said Tetsu.

Before the assassin could do anything, nails emerged from his forehead. He collapsed and behind him stood another assassin. His fellow assassins stared in shock, confused by the betrayal. "My name is Gansu." he said.

The hostage quickly scrambled over to the group. Gansu turned around and slammed walls into the assassins.

The group ran up the stairs into the light. "So your Gansu?" Kaze asked. "We were sent by your friend to look for you."

"He's dead" Gansu group reached the stop of the stair and emerged into the city. The group rubbed their eyes, adjusting to the sunlight. They looked and saw soldiers of the Order of the White Lotus.