Chap. 13

The Next Move

Bosque listened to Katara as she related Jin's plan and he agreed, it was a good idea. The two of them then spent about ten minutes calming Toph down enough to listen to their idea. Thankfully, she liked it and finally agreed to wear the shoes. After that, it was simply a matter of finding the others, checking out the clothes, and paying for them. And while there were a few choices that had to be redone (Aang's idea of mixing plaid with neon green simply made everyone feel like vomiting after looking at it) it all went rather smoothly, and the group finally exited the store.

"Well, that takes care of stage 1." Oscuridad said as he stepped onto the streets again. Turning around, the bat watched as the others came out, smiling as the Avatar Gang exited, holding their old clothes in plastic bags. It was just so weird to see them dressed in these American fashions, although Osc had to admit that they all looked quite good in them. Aang had chosen some beige shorts, a long red shirt with black stripes down the arms, white Reebok sneakers, and a black ski-cap to cover up his arrow-tattoo. Sokka, in a rather humorous move after his meeting with the black man at the crossing, wore a similar pair of Reeboks, extremely baggy jeans, a white shirt with an open gray-and-black splashed button-down over it, and a white bandana tied around his head.

Zuko was far more practical, and wore a simple pair of black jeans and a long shirt splashed with dark red flame designs with black sneakers. Iroh had been rather difficult to find good clothes for, but they had managed to find some simple shoes, beige slacks, and a large blue shirt (which didn't do a lot to hide Iroh's figure, but it still looked quite good on him). As for the girls, the bat thought he was watching a very interesting fashion progression as they came out. Katara had chosen a pair of rather tight jeans, along with some sneakers and a dark blue top. The bat could tell just by the surprised/adoring look on Aang's face that he liked the new look. Jin wore a jeans skirt, black leggings, and a green top. The bat noticed Zuko liked the look just as much as Aang liked Katara's, since he had the same expression plastered on his face that the Avatar did.

But it was Toph's outfit that really caught the bat's attention. It wasn't radically different or anything; jeans, white T-shirt, a numbered baseball jersey outside of that, and a ballcap perched on her head. But Oscuridad stared at it, shook his head, and asked Luz for at least the tenth time, "Are you sure that the Mets was all they had?"

"This is Manhattan." The fox replied. "It's a lot closer to the Bronx, so Yankees stuff goes fast."

"As well, no one's perfect." The bat sighed.

"I think she looks great." Tierra shot back.

"Of course you do. You're actually under the delusion that the Mets are a good team." Oscuridad shot back.

"You know, I'd have a lot more interest in this argument if I actually knew what it was about." Sokka said.

"Sports teams. These two have the same argument every time we come here." Trueno said. "Just let 'em go and they'll drop it. Or they'll go on and on for hours until we all go mad from hearing about it."

"If that's the case, may I make a suggestion?" Iroh said, hoping to divert the bat and dog's attention. "Perhaps we should find a private spot where Bosque can make the alterations to Toph's shoes, and we can figure out our next move."

"Good idea." Everyone quickly agreed.

"I saw a place near the coin shop we can use." Hierro said. "We can get something to eat, too." Everyone nodded at that, so the spider began to walk back in that direction, the others following. Well, except for Oscuridad and Tierra, who had been and were still, arguing the merits of the Yankees and the Mets. Until finally, they paused, noticed that everyone was gone, and looked at each other with equal looks of embarrassment.

"They left us again." Tierra said.

"Yep." The bat replied with exasperation. "One of these days, we have got to settle this."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"It won't happen will it?"

"Not a chance in hell. Now, let's try to find them."

Thankfully, the two Elementals managed to find the group in the crowd (a set of horns apparently stick out rather well), and once that was done, they all walked back to the coin shop, and a few stores down, they reached the place that Hierro had spoken of.

"So what is this?" Aang asked, looking at the restaurant in front of them. It was a fairly small place, the window decorated with red and white checkerboard patterns. There was a small statue in the corner of a chubby man in white, holding a circular pastry and smiling through his mustached face.

"Well, at least it ain't Dominoes." Luz said. "We're in New York; we should be able to get some real pizza."

"Pizza?" Aang asked. "Is that what this place is called?"

"No, it's what they serve." Tierra answered. "You'll like it; it's bread and cheese and tomato sauce and anything else you want to put on it."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Katara said.

"Plus, there's a good-size bathroom in there, so Bosque can fix Toph's shoes without a problem." Hierro said. "I'll hollow 'em out of course." The spider quickly added, noticing his brother's annoyed look.

"Whatever, let's just go and get some food." Jin said, making her way to the door. "I'm starving."

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" Toph said, as the group followed her inside. Once there, they saw that the restaurant was filled with many square tables, but most of them could only fit about four people.

"No problem, we'll just put a few of them together." Jin said, as she grabbed a table and began to bring it together with another one.

"You think quickly don't you?" Agua said, as he moved to grab another table.

"Well I'm hungry." Jin said with a laugh. "But you're right, my dad always called me his little cat-owl, because I could always see a solution before he could."

"No offense, but I think that where your dad and his temper is concerned, that could be anybody."

Jin smiled and started to respond, but then there was a clunk as another table pushed into hers. Looking up, she Zuko at the other end of the table.

"I thought you could use some help." The former prince said.

"Thanks." Jin said calmly, as she started to grab some chairs and put them together.

"Let me help." Zuko asked, starting to move over.

"That's ok. I've got it." Jin replied in that same calm voice, as she began to bring over some of the chairs from where the other tables had been. Zuko started to say something, but Agua whispered, "Not now kid. Wait." It wasn't the answer Zuko wanted to hear, but he knew it was the right one, so he grudgingly kept silent.

Meanwhile, the group decided that about three pizzas would be enough for the sixteen of them, so Oscuridad took the necessary money and ordered, making sure there were appropriate pies and drinks for everyone while they sat down and put their bags down. Hierro headed to the bathroom with Toph's shoes and cut out the rubber base. Leaving them there, he exited in time for Bosque to enter and fill them in with hollow wood. He emerged with the shoes a moment later, and presented them to Toph, who tried them on, and called them satisfactory after a 'vibrations' test. Once all that was taken care of, Bosque moved over to the table, sat down with the others, and they began to talk.

"So, any idea as to what our next move is?" Oscuridad asked to start things off.

"Isn't it obvious?" Desierto asked. "Azula's here too, along her troops. We need to start looking for her."

"It isn't that simple." Hierro argued. "This city is huge, and we have less then twenty-four hours to search for her. It's too dangerous to split up because we might not get back in time for the portal."

"But we do need to do something." Katara argued. "If there's no bending in this world, then Azula will have a field day here."

"True, but that may be to our advantage." Iroh said. "My niece is not one to be too disoriented by this turn of events. When she realizes there are no other Firebenders here, she will start to attack the city almost instantly. And it will not be a small event."

"But that makes it even more important to find her now." Desierto argued. "We can't let any innocent people get hurt."

"Then where do you propose we start looking?" Hierro asked. "They may have been sent to the same city, but we have no idea where, and we don't have time to search every borough, and it's too dangerous to use our powers."

"I agree with Uncle." Zuko said. "Azula will make herself known when she realizes what has happened. And there is no way we could find her in time to stop her from causing damage."

"So what do we then?" the wolf asked. "Take a vacation?"

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Aang said. "I mean, how often are we going to get a chance to see another world?"

"I'd certainly like to see this place in more detail." Jin said.

"And I wouldn't mind enjoying some home-comforts." Aire said. "No offense guys, but your world is pretty primitive compared to here."

"Why? Because we don't have cars and big clothing stores?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Look, these are all good points." Oscuridad said. "But I think the only way we'll settle this is with a vote. Everybody who wants to look for Azula, raise your hand." Desierto, Tierra, Katara, Sokka, Bosque, Fuego, and Toph raised their hands.

"Everybody who wants to see the sights, raise your hand." Zuko, Agua, Luz, Jin, Iroh, Aire, Trueno, and Hierro raised their hands.

"Looks like it's up to you, big bro." Aire said. "Do we decide, or do we need a tie-breaker?"

The bat was quiet a moment, then said, "I would feel better if we had Azula. But I agree, the city is too big, and we don't have enough time or manpower to look for her. But she will make her move, so we just need to keep our eyes open. With mass media, I doubt it'll be hard."

Aang started to ask what mass media was, but before he could, a pair of waitresses came over with a pair of pizzas and some plates and glasses. "The others should be out in a little while." One of them said, as she put plates down in front of the group.

"Sounds good. Make sure my cousin gets the caffeine-free." Oscuridad said, pointing at Aang. The waitress nodded, and handed Aang a glass of ice and brown liquid. Finally, they placed the pies on the table and walked off.

"Sweet, sausage and pepperoni! Dig in!" Tierra said happily, as he reached over and dragged a slice onto his plate. As some of the other Knights grabbed a slice from either that pie, or the plain one, Sokka carefully reached over to the pie with the familiar scent of meat, pulled one off, and then quickly moved it to his plate. As the others watched he then wrapped his burned hands around his cold drink.

"Sorry man, should've told you it was hot." Fuego said, as he took a bite from his own slice. Sokka scowled at the red man, but after a few minutes, he picked up the slice again and slowly brought it to his mouth. He bit it, chewed once, twice, then his eyes went wide and he began to hungrily devour the rest.

"Wow, it's that good?" Katara asked. Sokka's only response was to grab another slice as he finished.

"I guess so." Zuko replied, as he grabbed a slice. One by one the others followed, and after a few minutes, the Avatar Gang was collectively enjoying their first slice of pizza.