Chapter Thirty Eight:
Kaze looked and saw Arata attacking randomly. "What is going on!" Sela shouted.
"He can't control the Avatar state." Kaze replied.
"Let's get him back in control." Tetsu said.
Tetsu hefted Sela and Genji onto his shoulders and rode a mound of earth down the streets. Kaze bounced from rooftop to rooftop, and Kinto formed rode jets of water from various leaking pipes.
They followed after Arata as demolished various buildings. Kaze landed on a nearby rooftop. "Stop!" she shouted out.
Arata descended down towards the roof. He stared at Kaze for a few seconds. Then he pulled up a large chunk of rock. Kaze quickly jumped to the neck rooftop before he could throw it at her.
The rest of the group joined Kaze on the roof. Arata floated over to them and his eyes shifted between them. "Should we run." whispered Genji.
"He's showing much more restraint then he should." Kaze replied.
Arata took a breath and the group backed off. He blew a hot flame back and forth. Tetsu returned fire with pieces of rock, but they bounced right of him. Tetsu waited as Arata swung side to side, hoping to force him to move just a little to much. Each time he gave him a push, but each time Arata swung right back.
After a few attempts, he pushed just right and Arata shuddered a bit. When he swung back, Kinto pushed him again and disoriented him a bit. Arata regained his focus and slammed his hands onto the ground.
His hands lifted up, coated with enormous rock gauntlets. He strode over to Kinto who dodged a slow but deadly punch. He quickly dashed away as Arata turned towards him. Tetsu slide between the two, and Arata tried to crush him between the fists.
Tetsu jumped back and fused the fists when the collided. Tetsu held them together, and Kaze and Kinto pelted with with gusts and whips. "C'mon fight it." Kaze pleaded.
Sela and Genji gingerly approached, hoping to get close enough to knock him out. But Arata tore himself free, and the fists exploded into shards of rock and dust. He then reached for the water around him and began to spin a whip around himself.
The whip whirled around with incredible speed, so fast that it formed a blur. Everyone ducked down to avoid it, except for Tetsu who formed armor. The armor protected him, but with each impact bits of it crumbled off.
Tetsu broke the roof under Arata, but he just levitated and kept swinging his whip. Kinto grabbed the whip and Arata's arm tried to slow down the motion, the whip continued moving. As it twirled it slowly moved downwards towards the heroes.
With his armor breaking down, Tetsu decided to charge at Arata. He lunged at him and struck him on the back of the head, and then shoved him. Arata picked up another large rock and threw it. Tetsu pushed back at it, while Kaze assisted with gusts of wind. Kinto grabbed Arata's arm to stop him from pushing.
The three of them pushed on the rock as hard as they could, but they could hardly face the strength of the Avatar state. Kaze looked at his face and saw he was straining too. It was clear he was fighting himself too.
Sela and Genji carefully approached Arata. Anytime he seemed to be looking back, the other three would push extra hard on the rock to keep his focus. Sela and Genji slowly moved closer, step by step.
Genji got within reach of Arata and lifted up his glove. Arata heard the crackle and turned towards him. Sela then jumped over to Arata and hit him with a series of punches. He collapsed and the glow faded from his eyes. As he fell to the ground he glanced over to Sela.
The group gathered around Arata. Kinto knelt down before him. "He's okay, just exhausted." he said.
"Boy that was crazy." Genji remarked.
"The Avatar state is like that." Kaze replied.
Kinto stood up. "You guys can stay with him." he said. "I think it's about time I gave my father a little talking too."
Kinto stepped down to the street and searched around. He found him leaning against a wall. Visola was on the ground dead. "Well hello father." Kinto said. "Long time no see."
Arashi glanced over at him. "What did you come here for?"
"A lot of things." said Kinto. "By right now I'm asking you to surrender. You know it's over."
Arashi let out a chuckle. "Maybe you're right. For the White Lotus, the Triad gangs, the Fire Nation, and the Resistance, it's all over." he said. "But it's not over for you and I."
"Okay, so why did you send me away."
Arashi snorted. "Your cursed art killed your mother."
"Really, just for that it was my fault." said Kinto. "Do you blame yourself and your Waterbending everytime she stabs someone."
"You don't dare speak to me that way!" Arashi shouted.
"What? Tell you the truth." Kinto retorted.
"Defending your cursed art." said Arashi. "I struck down your sister for using it." he motioned to Visola's body.
"Well I think I killed her right hand man." Kinto replied. "I heard he used to work for you."
Arashi pushed himself off the wall. "Enough!" he shouted as he fired ice shards."
Kinto formed a whip and batted them down. He tried to approach Arashi, but he kept moving back. Arashi kept up the pressure with incoming shards. Switching strategies, Kinto lifted his hand and stopped the shards as they came at him.
He then sent the shards back to Arashi, who was forced to duck and dodge as they came at him. Kinto then started making ice shards of his own. Arashi went towards a building a made pulling motions.
Water burst out of the pipes, and Arashi formed two large whips. He lifted one up, and Kinto dashed away as it came down. The whip hit the ground next to him, and he fired more shards at Arashi.
Arashi pulled back to swing his other whip, but Kinto pushed at his arm. Arashi's arm pulled back and he snarled is frustration. "Typical, using your cursed art when you can't win."
Arashi swung the other whip, and Kinto jumped over it. The whip came back, higher this time, so Kinto crouched under it. He then fired more shards, which Arashi blocked with the base of his whips.
Kinto moved in closer and kept up the fire to keep Arashi occupied. He dodged when Arashi swiped at him, then continued pressing on him. When Kinto moved closer, Arashi dropped some water of the whips to make them maneuverable.
With the new whips, Arashi was able to block the shards easier. Kinto instead swung at him with his own whip. He lashed out at Arashi, then jumped side to side to avoid Arashi's counterattacks.
Kinto ducked as Arashi swung his whips together, and hit him in the leg with his own whip. Arashi growled, then charged towards Kinto waving his whips all around him. Kinto backed off and began firing ice shards at him.
Each time Arashi swung his whip, Kinto gave his arm a little push. With the excess movement, Arashi was getting increasingly frustrated. Kinto kept firing ice shards to keep him further of balance.
When Arashi raised his whip, Kinto gave a powerful push. Arashi arms flew back, and he fell to the ground. Kinto walked to him, his guard still up. "Are you ready to surrender?" he asked.
Arashi snarled at Kinto, who kept walking towards him. "So what will it be?" Kinto added.
Arashi lifted up his hand, and Kinto's limbs locked up. Arashi stood up and raised his whip. He glared into Kinto's eyes. "You... you're a..." Kinto gasped out.
The look left Arashi's eyes, and was replaced by disappointment. "It made me sick to use such a vile cursed art." he growled. "Take me away, it over." he added with a deep sigh.
Kinto wrapped his whip around Arashi's wrist and lead him down the street. He found some Resistance aligned officers and handed of Arashi to them. Then he rejoined Arata and his friends.
At this point Arata was awake. "I'm really sorry guys." he said.
"We'd be done for if you didn't." Sela replied.
"I got him." Kinto said. "It's over."
"Are we sure Tsume is gone." Arata asked.
Tsume awoke. He was on his stomach. He felt disoriented. He could feel rock all around him. Then he remembered, a building caved down on him. Tsume carefully tunneled his way out. He crawled onto the street, and felt the sunlight.
Listening, Tsume did not heard the sounds of battle. It seemed to be over, but who won. He didn't think Visola did, so he decided to leave the city, but not without his prize. When he beat info from the White Lotus soldier, he also found where the captives were taken.
He snuck over to the location and felt up the building. It felt right. Tsume broke open the door and stepped inside. He went up the stairs, and there waited one of the pregnant women. The women was about to scream, but Tsume rushed at her and grabbed her.
He grabbed her shoulder with one hand, and pointed his claws at her neck. He forced her down the stairs and out the door. The two walked through the streets, Tsume pulling at her whenever she slowed down.
When they were near the docks, the women broke free and ran. Tsume chased after her out onto a dock. He realized his mistake. It was a wooden dock, he could not feel a thing.
As Tsume came at her, the women used her bending and set the dock on fire. The old rotten wood collapsed like paper. Tsume was left kicking and struggling.
The women put her arm around his neck and grabbed him tightly. She pulled him down, putting his head under the water. Tsume continued to struggle, but she held on tighter.
His struggles slowed down, and she watched the bubbles pop on the surface of the water. Soon he stopped moving and the bubbles disappeared. The women swum back to the shore and lied down exhausted.