Another week later.
"The heck is this?" Jin asked, grabbing John's attention before walking over to see what she was looking at. "Oh. It's a news-paper. I'm surprised you guys even have that." The paper was a standard newsprint, which surprised him since these people shouldn't have the technology for this.
"Haven't you heard about the news?" He asked her, chuckling. "Of course not. What would they even write about?" Jin asked as she picked it up and looked at it. John took note of the caption at the top stating: "Harley-Corp News."
Jin's eyes widened as she began to realize what she was looking at… "Isn't that the last name of your sister, John? Apparently she's the CEO of every large industry and business in Ba-Sing-Se." John stared nervously as he read what Jin had just told him.
The page basically explained how the hidden inventor's work had revolutionized technology across the entire Earth-Kingdom, and how it was rapidly spreading across the planet… "Holy shit…" He began as it told him how she'd already gotten so rich that she could just swallow up all of these other big-time businesses on principle of her extreme methods.
"John?" John tore his eyes away from the paper to look at her again. "Right. Sorry- Um." He began rubbing the back of his head, unsure how to explain. "Yeah, that's definitely my sister. I'm just not sure WHY it's her. Come on, let's go see her." He began to fly in the air, and Jin equipped her jetpack.
Of course Jin thought it was weird how fast technology was suddenly advancing, and sure her new appliances were nice, but she hadn't realized who was responsible for this. Suddenly it made too much sense. This was beginning to get dangerous.
They noticed a strange storm in the sky over Lake-Laogai, so John blew it away with a giant gust of wind, while Jin watched in awe of his glorious power. "Jeez!" John yelled as what was going on became clear.
A small green sparking object flew around and collided with another small object. It was obvious that this was Jade flying around, and they found out she was facing off against a spirit once they got close enough- "Jade! What's going on?!" John asked, grabbing his sister and the spirit's attention.
"John-" She said, surprised to even see him here- She equipped her gun and fired at the spirit. Its body exploded and reappeared next to John, until one of its many blades came down on him- "Hey!" Jade screamed as his body turned to air and he reformed behind it with his hammer.
He brought his hammer down on the spirit and Jade sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. Help me take this guy out, John!" She shouted over the rushing wind, before teleporting him and Jin behind her- "Why is that spirit attacking you?!" John asked.
She fired a few more green-bolts at her opponent, but the attacks were useless as it kept reforming. "Apparently it's one of the many guardian spirits of Lake Laogai. They haven't exactly appreciated my entrepreneurial practices as of late." She spoke as she fired shots.
"Yo-" She turned her head to look at John behind the corner of her eye- "Jin over here doesn't have a weapon! She can't fight!" Jin gave him a look as Jade nodded and teleported her brother's friend away. "Nice!" John said, before shooting in front of her and blocking an attack-
"Nice try, jackass!" He grinned as the swords clanged and slid off his hammer. The spirit felt Jade grab and throw it into the ground- The two landed and found it in the crater as it composed itself. Jade fired a barrage of bullets from her girl's-best-friend as she hid her green-sun-streetsweeper behind her skirt.
The spirit deflected bullet after bullet, each one either bouncing off or rend in half as they impacted the ground. John was of course running towards him to get into melee-range. The spirit WAS fast, but this wasn't anything John couldn't handle.
She finished firing and watched John bring down his hammer, until she fired multiple blasts from her streetsweeper. The blast destroyed a couple swords, giving John some leeway, until he drew the spirit to the ground with another slam of his hammer. The click of gears chimed as John smirked.
This hammer just so happened to have a distinct lack of fear when in regards to anvils. As the spirit slowed to a halt, he switched it out for his Pop-a-matic-Vrillyhoo-Hammer. He twirls it back and around and into the spirit in an over-glorified blip of fanciful creativity.
The dice jostled and spun, landing inside of the hammer's red-hemisphere, before the function finally kicked in and the dice glowed. It landed on Eight-Six-Four-Five-Seven-Seven-Three-Six. A wonderfully high number, which summons a giant orb that sticks to its body.
Jade laughed and appeared next to the spirit, placing her hand on it, before teleporting away with it and back again, the spirit nowhere to be found. "Yeah, I've been fighting these guys all day." She teleported away again and returned with Jin in the crater.
"Jade?" John asked as he approached. "Hm?" She looked at him curiously. "What's up, John?" She asked with a smile, before opening her arms for a familial-embrace. "I've uh, noticed you've been busy, Jade." He smiled as he gave her that hug. "Ah, I guess you and Jin would have had to notice."
Jin waved as she looked at her, before her eyes returned to John. "Yeah…" He began as she released him. "What exactly are you doing?" She fell to her neutral expression and teleported the group into the Golden Battlecruiser. "Getting us out of here, is what." She began.
She began working on a refitted brain-hat-thing. "I'm basically putting the world in Katara's hands. 'Cause fuck it. Why not?" She asked as she chuckled, placing a set little suction-cups inside of it, where the needles used to be. "I mean, anyone would do. I don't see what their problem is."
"It's not like I'm throwing it into the sun." She frowned at that, remembering the complaints she had gotten from her new; "friends" But then again, she didn't really know them anyways. Sure they were kind people, but they were completely out of their depth, and yet still they wanted to get in her way.
She placed the device on her head. "What do you think? Does it look real enough, John?" He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. "What do you mean?" She walked over to the chair and sat down anyway, before flipping the switch.
"Aang asked me not to hurt myself with that hat, but I can't exactly scan my brain without it." She explained as she teleported the old one into her hand. "The new one is just to placate his anxiety. Although, it would be nice if I didn't have to stab my head every time I use it."
She spoke as lime-green sparks danced across the hat. There WAS one thing she felt she would exclude, and it was the fact that she was genuinely worried that her next death may swing JUST. She flipped the switch back down, and she checked the computer.
As expected: Nothing. She flicked a few buttons with her powers, and it played back a recording. "Hey- I think it worked, Jade!" John cheered, telling Jade everything she needed to know. "That was a recording I took twelve days ago." She explained and his expression fell.
"Oh." He chuckled, realizing his mistake. "So, uh… Harley-Corp?" He asked, lifting his arm to gesture to the news-paper in Jin's hands. "Oh, that- Yeah. I decided to buy up just about every business I could get my hands on. I just about own half of Ba-Sing-Se." John looked to the side and rubbed the back of his head…
"But… Why? Why do you need all of this?" Jade sighed and placed her hands behind her back. "I'm passing it off to Katara once I'm finished. I just need to get some telescopes up in space, and that should give me all the data I need for our next destination." As she spoke she pulled out a document she'd been working on in one of her computers.
It was a strange yet crudely drawn satellite that looked as though it were made by aliens. "You've already gotten this far, Jade?" John asked. "Yep! It would take much too long if I did it on my own. I've got the first one under construction as we speak, actually." Then she suddenly teleported herself and the other two into a large facility creating small parts.
"Hello, everyone!" She announced, grabbing the attention of multiple workers. "Miss Harley!" One of them smiled. "This is my brother John Egbert, and his friend Jin. Please be polite." They promptly waved at John and his friend, prompting him to do the same, Jin too of course.
"Well, it was good seeing all of you. But I have to give John and his friend the rest of the tour. Bonuses for the polite attitude, though!" The workers cheered as she guided John and Jin out of the room, just before returning to their very important work.
"They were just working on little doo-dads." John told her, a perplexed look on his face. "Of course they were. The design is incredibly intricate, John. I'm trying to look at other universes." She explained as she brought him down a hallway.
Down the right side, it was unfinished, and down the left it led to a large lobby. "This is the industrial-wing. It's where we construct most of the products everyone enjoys today. On the other side-" She pointed at the hallway on the other side of the lobby. "On the other side of the lobby." She explained as she guided him to it. "Is Research-and-Development. Though it's more of an academy than anything. While the Dersian Carapacians explain to the good people of the earth kingdom how this stuff actually works."
She continued to explain the incredibly intricate process as they went along, completely blowing John's previous idea of what she's capable of out of the water…
…
In the spirit realm with Davesprite and Toph.
You know, in case you were wondering where they were.
"Man, the Spirit World is like, crazy." Davesprite said, mostly talking to himself as they strode under giant clovers. "Yeah, you said that." Toph said, folding her arms. "How long has it been, again?" He asks, and she looks at him- "Davesprite, I have no clue."
"I can't keep track of time here any better than you- AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD AT THAT?!" She screamed- She was seriously at her wit's end. Davesprite backed away and gestured to her to calm herself. "Listen, I am NOT touching my powers here."
"I mean, I can barely figure out which way is up. I don't want to use my powers, and like, turn your mind inside-out." Toph calmed down and just stared at him for a minute, bringing up her arms in a weird gesture- "Can that happen…?" She asked, completely unsure.
"Fuck if I know, haha. Hey- If you're tired, I can give you a piggy-back ride or something." He said, tapping his tail against the ground and gesturing to his shoulders. "O-Oh. Okay. I AM a little tired…" Toph said, realizing how hysterical she was starting to become…
"Yeah. You just get some sleep, Toph." She lifted her arms and Davesprite threw her onto his shoulders, falling asleep only minutes after… "This place isn't doing MY sanity any favors, and I can't imagine it's any good for yours either." He said, after realizing she was asleep…
He traveled for hours, passing by flying whales larger than mountains, behind waterfalls that could put niagra-falls to shame, and over the world's longest fucking bridge, like holy shit, this thing never ends. "Shit's rickety as fuck too, I swear, if I even touch this thing, it might break on me."
"Like fuck, imagine even stepping on this thing. Get ALL of the splinters through your second-hand treasure-hunt adventure. Sorry little Jimmy, but fuck your little feelings, you're about to go on the world's most nauseating adventure due to blood-loss."
He spoke quietly, because his rambling had accidentally woken up Toph a few too many times.
Once he found his way to the end of the bridge, he saw in the distance a great and glorious mountain. There was a split in the middle, with a pillar of light extending into the sky from the epicenter… "Well, I guess if anywhere is supposed to be special, it's gotta be that place."
A little later, Toph woke up again, flailing in panic for a moment until Davesprite grabbed her- "Hey!" He shouted, surprising her. She immediately calmed down and looked at him… "O-Oh. D-D-Davesprite…" She stuttered, her face pale and her chest huffing with exhaustion…
"I-I'm sorry. I was- I just- I had a nightmare." Davesprite floated over to a particularly large stem, and set her down. "Hey. It's all good. It's probably just this place having some shitty affect on your head. I know what that's like…" She rested her arm against her belly, and looked at him.
"You do?" She was not doing well. "Yeah, I'm a Derse-Dreamer. I had to play music constantly, or otherwise I would have to listen to the whispers of the horror-terrors." He began to prepare her some of his alchemized food. Obviously he preferred the already prepared food, but they'd already eaten through the good stuff.
"Giant asshole tentacle-god super-monster things. They're weird." Toph chuckled as he tried to describe them, sipping from a bottle of apple-juice he gave her. "I bet they are. Where you come from must be so weird…" He finished cooking a nice steak, then placed it on a plate and gave it to her.
Yeah, he'd gotten a little into cooking. Making something with alchemized ingredients tended to really help with the stale alchemizer-taste that most food would eventually end up having. And that was something he always questioned with the Alchemizer, how it made food taste so stale.
(I personally like to believe that when the Alchemizer makes like an apple or something, it's almost atomically identical to any other apple it makes, -save for a few irregularities, due to simply existing- which is why someone might get tired of the taste.)
She chuckled again once she'd finished, and waited for Davesprite to put her on his shoulders. "Not bad. I didn't think you guys had to do any cooking, what with that Alchemizer of yours." He stowed away her plate and tossed her over his shoulder, the girl landing with a thud against his shoulders.
"Yeah, thanks. You'd be surprised how stale Alchemized food gets." He said, before picking up the rest of his junk. Dave ain't no litterer, and neither is Davesprite. So anyways, he got to moving again.
He passed through a purple forest, and an equally aubergine cave filled with violet spiders, exiting out the other end covered in orchid webs. He slowly came upon the mountain, finding a towering structure with a kind of Elephant-Aesthetic.
He floated up the steps, his exhaustion never to slow him down again, thanks to his Sprite Body. You know, the one he's had for a good while now. Not THAT long, of course, despite how it feels like he's had it forever up to this point.
So anyways he arrives at the top and finds a Giant Elephant sitting on a throne inside of the building. He's decorated in all of this cool chinese stuff that I don't know the names of. "Yo, Toph, we're here." Toph slowly woke up, her back aching due to the way she was lying against Davesprite's head.
Davesprite lowered to the floor, and she climbed down, surprised to see the giant Elephant herself. "What the fuck? Where are we?" Davesprite gestured to the giant elephant. "We're here to speak to the miraculous fucking elephant so we can get out of this place." He explained.
"Since when?" She asked, the sight of such a beast having woken her up all too easily. "Since now. Because I figured if anyone was gonna get us out of her, it'd have to be jumbo the holy Loxodonta." Toph frantically shook her head a stupefied look on her face- "The fucking what?!"
"It's the scientific word for, like, the African elephant. I don't actually know if this guy is an African Elephant. He might be an asian elephant, like one of those Borneo-Ones. Have you ever heard of those dudes? They're pretty dope." Toph waited for him to stop talking, which he promptly did once he realized he'd kind of lost himself in the sauce again.
That sauce being fun Elephant-Facts I won't write out. "Dave." She folded her arms. "Oh shit." Davesprite said, backing away 'cause shit just got real. "Do you even actually have a plan?..." Davesprite's torso went slack and he sighed. "Dude, of fucking course not. The Elephant-Dude hasn't said anything this whole time, and I was really banking on him helping us out."
He gestured to the Elephant-Dude who was just sitting there, tapping away at his chair, very much aware of these two interlopers. "Have you tried talking to him?" Davesprite shook his head. "What if that's disrespectful?" He asked. "What if it's disrespectful to not address HIM first?"
"Good point. Yo, Elephant-Guy!" Davesprite raised his torso again and waved at the funny Elephant who's still sitting on the chair. "Ah, so you ARE real." He said. "Like kraft-mayo, motherfucker." Davesprite commented as Toph spoke up- "Why wouldn't we be?" She asked.
"You would be surprised how often small spirits visit my domain, refuse to acknowledge my presence, then immediately disappear in some homunculi horror." His voice was deep and booming. "Why have you come to me, children?"
Davesprite stretched a little then spoke up. "I'm Davesprite, and this is Toph. We're from the real-world, not whatever this place is. Is there any chance that you could help us return?" The Elephant-Guy narrowed his eyes, then shifted in his seat a little. "I am Anvu, the lord of this mountain."
"There is no way to return from here. But head north, there is an old spirit who may still know a way." Anvu leaned on his left arm-leg-thing and looked to the side. "Word to the wise… He's aggressive, so perhaps find a gift he may like. Though what that gift is, I do not know."
Davesprite and Toph thanked him before finally leaving for their new journey.
…
"And THIS is my office." Jade said, gesturing to the grand room that is her office. They had entered the room via an elevator. A very UNSAFE elevator, but an elevator none-the-less. In the ceiling was a great big skylight, and a large carpet leading up to the chair.
Off to the sides of the room stood multiple artifacts that Jade had already either bought or stolen, of course with the help of an archaeologist. And on the table was a globe in the shape of this Earth… "Jade…" Jin began, walking over to one of the items.
"Are these what I think they are?" She pointed at an artifact that any member of the earth-kingdoms could recognize as an incredibly valuable and equally dangerous item to own. One that is, or maybe WAS owned and protected by a spirit… "Oh yeah, I had to fight a bunch of spirits for that one."
Jade excitedly guided John and Jin over to her desk, the ladder of whom not decidedly not actually chiming in Jade's blatant interloping in precious sanctums she does not belong. "I said busy earlier-" John began as Jade sat down, and teleported another set of chairs for her brother and her brother's friend.
"You are the whole hive, you are ALL of the bees. Holy shit." John said as he and Jin sat down and looked at her. "This is completely insane, Jade. Are you sure this is okay to do?" Jade laughed haughtily for a full minute as she kicked her legs up onto her table.
It's made of mahogany.
Her dress rustled into place, and the stillness that followed only made John and Jin more and more anxious. She continued to laugh until she rested her head in her hands and glared at him. "No." She bluntly said with a hint of disappointment. "Listen, John. Innovation isn't going to end the world."
MAHOGANY…
"But, Jade…" Jade sighed and rolled her eyes. "Who CARES? This is just one universe among the countless infinities. Why can't this be the universe where I kick back and let the people I -and mind you PAY for their service- have hired to deal with this shit FOR ME." John reasonably lightened up at that.
"Huh. I didn't think about it like that." He said, folding his arms as she began to smile. John shook his head though, and gave her a look. "But Jade, this isn't you. You're my sister, and the kindest person I know. Since when do you start taking over worlds for your own gain?"
Jin decided to check out the nice Mahogany Table.
Jade frowned at him and sat up again, pulling her legs back down. "John. We weren't GIVEN the chance to take over OUR Earth. Just because something's circumstantially impossible doesn't mean it's outside of my range of capability." Something surprisingly clicked with John as he thought further about it.
"Oh." He said as she nodded knowingly. "I guess you're right… The game WAS pretty oppressive. But can't you like, just not do this anyways?" Jade placed her arms on the chair and gave him a sad look. "But Jo~hn… I WANNA… I'm actually having a lot of fun." She pulled out her computer and showed off a few holographic charts.
She stood up and began pointing at them. "This one is tracking our intake, and this one is tracking our waste products." She suddenly raised her voice- "-and I will have ALL OF YOU FUCKASSES KNOW-" She calmed again. "That our waste is being reused for many many other products that benefit everyone."
Jin looked up from her table-gazing. "Is all of this really necessary, though? I mean… Is it that much of a risk if you don't go to all of this trouble?" Jade gave Jin a mean frown then slammed her fist into the table before shouting.
The Mahogany Table shook audibly.
"No! But also yes! I mean it IS risky, but we all take worse risks all of the time." She admits as she folds her arms. She kicks her swivel-chair back and it rolls, spinning her as it goes. "Listen, I'll think about it. Okay? You guys go have fun, I've got shit to do." She then teleported out of the room, leaving the two there to fester in her words…
"Let's get out of here." John began, standing up and catching his chair- Jin followed, leaving her chair where it was as John led her back to the elevator. "I'm assuming you don't plan to just let her do all of this." She said, placing her hands behind her head in the same way Jade had.
John looked at her as he pressed the button on the elevator. "Yeah, I'm gonna see if Aang has any plans to stop this. I have to assume he's aware of what's going on." The elevator descended. "What about you, though, Jin?" He leaned back a little and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Jin kind of just shrugged. "I'm not too worried. I mean, worst case scenario, I just go with you guys anyways. I'm kind of just playing both sides, and I guess by the end, I'll just see where I end up. I just haven't decided where I want to be." John nodded along as she spoke.
Later they arrived outside at night, John whistling as he noticed groups of people on their way home too. "Must be closing hours." Jin said, equipping her jetpack and shooting into the air, followed by John. The onlookers were only a LITTLE jealous.
…
A few days later, we find Zuko hanging out with Jade.
Jade had decided to visit the Fire Nation, and felt Zuko was the best person to be a guide "I have to say, you guys have some amazing creatures here, Zuko!" She cheerily declares as she pets a turtle-duck in her arms. "There's nothing we can do to convince you otherwise?"
She grimaced, then rolled her eyes. "If I hear that question again, I'll shrink your planet to the size of a kick-ball and kick it in the fire nation." She growls, making him back away as he gestures her to calm down with his arms- "You can do that?"
"Did I not already explain the whole thing with my powers?" She asked with genuine curiosity. Zuko watched as the planets gently floated behind her, gently drifting in a ring like that of a Raijin. She selected one and brought it forward, careful not to physically touch it.
"Each one is about a mile wide, a fraction of the size of earth. But scale doesn't really matter when I can flip your entire universe like a table." She summarily explains as she adjusts its size back and forth while they walk. Not that the concept of flipping a universe had much relevance to Zuko.
Yeah, the kids had kind of forgotten to give Team Avatar any contextual sense of scale in that regard… She begins to scale up the planet until it begins to struggle fitting inside of the room. "Now, at this size you can see all of the smaller details. Even the tower-house-thing." Zuko watched as it rotated in the air…
She suddenly summoned another small orb, but this one Zuko didn't recognize- "I pulled this one from Andromeda-" She then punched it- The thing exploded with energy and soared down the hall, the two following quickly behind it as it began to resemble something more akin to LOHAC.
"Wooh! I've always wanted to do that!" She glided down the corridor, immediately catching up to it as the planet's geological reactions began to become a little too volatile. She snapped her finger at it with a shake of her hip, and it immediately teleported away!
She appeared next to Zuko again- "And that's what I could do to your planet." She chuckled as she made a shrugging motion.
"So this is where you've been keeping your sister? Seems a little grandiose for what I assume is a jail for like, two people." Zuko nodded as she spoke, looking around at the massive hallway. He never had a lot of chances to come here, and it WAS actually kind of large.
"Yes, I admit it's a little much. But, as long as it takes us to get there, I suppose is how long it would take them to escape." Jade SUPPOSES she has to concede that point. "My sister Azula, her ambitions drove her to insanity. And my father, I had usurped his position as Fire Lord, after Aang had expunged his ability to bend."
"My father is the man who gave me this." He pointed at the scar over his eye, making her wince at the sight. "Damn, yeah. I thought that looked rough. I have this friend, she lost her sight from looking at the sun." Zuko perked up at that, noticing the feeble connection.
They finally arrived at the door and came to a stop- "Oh-" She looked up at the ornate structure. "Here wait, I got this." Jade said with a smile, as she reared her arm back and Zuko realized what she had planned. He moved to stop her, but Jade threw her arms forward and forced the door open!
Locks snapped and lugs shattered, gears soared and rods flew like bullets. One of the doors fell over and Jade immediately realized her mistake. "Ah- It was locked. That makes more sense." Her arms went slack as Zuko threw his open palms into his face.
"Eh, I can probably pay for it." She shrugged, before floating further in and finding that it only lead to two more doors. "Azula is behind the left door, my father is behind the right. Which would you like to see first? The both of them manage to be equally as infuriating to speak with."
Jade landed and walked over to the left doors, and flung them open. These ones were not locked. She found the girl in question glaring at her with a wide eyed glee. Her expression however fell to disappointment when she saw Zuko after.
"Oh, Zuko. Another one of your fruity friends? When I heard the crash, I had assumed my father's loyalists had come for me." She brushed her now not-so ruined hair with her hand as she strode away. Zuko wondered if it was some form of mockery, or if her insanity had spread enough to him that he was just making things up.
Her room had a nice queen-size canopy bed, bookshelves, a nice fire-nation style carpet, a dresser to the side of the bed, a wardrobe against the right wall with a divider for privacy, and a table and chair on the other side of the room, for whatever work she could possibly have to do.
"No, that was Jade." She turned around and raised an eyebrow as Zuko gestured to the girl in question. "She had managed to knock one of he doors clean off its hinges." Azula's jaw went slack and she looked again at the half-dog girl standing there in a dress.
"On accident." He finished. "What, by herself? What'd she do, kick it?" Jade chuckled and finally decided to cut in. "No, I can exert a force similar to telekinesis on objects." She picked up an object and it floated around in the air as Azula watched… "I'm actually just screwing with its position, if I wanted to I could eject this rock at the speed of light."
She snapped her finger again and the rock shot like a bullet, colliding with a bar and snapping it clean in half- "Jade!" Zuko shouted. "What?!" She asked as he gestured to the bar. "Who CARES? Zuko, it doesn't matter where she goes, I can just track her sent."
"Is that a challenge?" Azula grinned- Zuko immediately stepped between them and waved his arms in front of Azula in a gesture she didn't quite recognize. "Azula, bad! Please do not antagonize her!" Jade floated up from behind him and grinned herself.
"What say I give you a five minute head-start? See how far you get-" Zuko grabbed one of her dangling legs, surprising her and throwing her to the ground! "Do not! PLEASE!" She landed on her other foot and her hands, and just stared at him with shock… "O-Okay."
She looked around, then chuckled. "I was joking anyway, Zuko. Calm down, man." She picked herself back up and began floating again. "So you're Azula! I heard you hadn't even made it to your coronation. That's gotta suck." Jade said as she rested her cheek in her hand.
Azula crossed her legs and sat down, folding her arms. "YES! It was terrible! Can you believe my own FLESH AND BLOOD would do that to me?" She asked as Jade happily listened, noting the sarcasm in Azula's voice. "That is just terrible." Jade shook her head with a disappointed look on her face.
"THE WORST!" Azula declared as Zuko looked between them- "I don't think I've ever heard something so terrible!" Jade began to laugh as Zuko gestured furiously with his arms in a mix of exasperation, astonishment, and confusion at what he could possibly be watching-
He gave up as soon as Azula and Jade began laughing at each other. "Oh, I like your friend here, Zuko. You see, SHE can take a joke." Azula grinned smugly and leaned against the broken bar as she gestured toward the dog-girl in question. Zuko glared at her.
"Please, one pester-log with Karkat'll lower your standard for what you consider tolerable so low- I mean seriously, that guy NEVER stops shouting." Azula chuckled and raised her eyebrow again, rubbing her chin. "Seriously? Does he not run out of air?" That made Jade laugh again.
She flipped in a leisurely circle as she did so- "Oh man, he's got such a fat ego, I doubt he could run out if he tried." She sighed and spun her finger in a circle. "BUT… He's only got the best intentions for everyone at heart. So I guess it makes up for that."
Azula frowned and yawned. "Who CARES?" Jade gave her an unamused look, then immediately dropped it. "Yeah, I guess there's no point dwelling on it." She had a little more self control than to fall to some mind game like that. "Exactly!" Azula agreed, pointing at her.
"YOU! You understand what it means to have ambition!" Jade lied down in the air, resting her chin on her arms as her dress gently billowed. Zuko on the other hands was growing nervous with each word, worried about the strange connection they were beginning to make.
"Do I now?" Jade asked. Azula gave her a confused look- "What does that mean?" She asked, backing away as Jade began to grin. "Azula, I'll admit you had incredible ambition, but you were a bigger fool than Zuko could have ever made you out to be." She landed on the ground and strode up to the bars as Azula began to glare.
"Don't be disappointed, Azula." She smugly glared as the Devil-May-Care side of Azula's personality began to kick in and she considered punching Jade in the face. "I bet you hurt everyone around you, and when you realized nobody liked you, you decided not to care."
Azula took another step back and shook her head. "But your mistake was assuming you could do it all on your own in the first place. I can quite literally move mountains, and even I have enough sense to admit I wouldn't be where I am without my friends."
"Who are you to judge me?!" Azula cried as Zuko watched Jade break down her down- "I have watched myself die a countless number of times! I am the culmination of everything I could have possibly become, and MORE." Jade teleported behind the bars, following Azula as she fell back and her back hit the bed-frame.
"Azula, you are a FOOL." She grabbed Azula by the collar of her shirt, bringing her to Jade's level- "You can't just have power, you have to be clever. You can't just force people to do what you want, you have to be WORTHY. The fire nation would have fallen apart under your rule."
"Your people would have realized that you're just an entitled brat, and your nation would fall into a cesspit of civil war and anarchy. No matter what you did, so long as you tried to force your way into power, you would have ended up right here, living out the rest of your days as a smug, manipulative little bitch for the rest of your life."
Zuko raised his hand- "Are you sure you wanna go comparing people to dogs right now?" He asked and Jade dropped his sister back onto the ground before teleporting out of the cell. "No, the irony is not lost on me, Zuko." She sighed and they looked at Azula again.
The young woman just sat there, completely silent and defeated. She pulled her legs in and Zuko almost took a step forward to approach- "LEAVE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, surprising him! Jade immediately teleported herself and Zuko out and shut the doors.
"Goodness." She chuckled. "I don't think even Karkat gets that loud." She rested her head in her arms as she reclined in the air and folded her legs. "You really gathered all of that just from what I told you?" Jade gave him a curious look, then thought about it.
"Kind of. I wasn't entirely sure how much I believed at first. But I used what I could gather from her to fill in the rest. I mean really, all I did was humor her for a few minutes." Zuko looked down and simply frowned, sighing. "As… SATISFYING as I must admit that was to hear…"
"I worry what affect that may have had on her condition." As soon as Jade realized what he was talking about, she brushed it off and yawned. "Oh please, I couldn't have done her any worse than she was doing to herself." Zuko gave her a curious look this time and she floated back down.
"I mean, you MUST have noticed, Zuko. That poor girl is tearing herself apart in there. She refuses to own up and face any of her flaws and downfalls." Things slowly began to connect and Zuko realized what he'd been missing. "So then- Do you believe she might end up becoming a better person?"
Jade nervously looked around and winced. "I mean, that's up to her, dude. All I did really dummed down to me telling her where she went wrong. Worst case scenario, she becomes a whole lot more dangerous. Best case scenario, you get a sister who at least wants to care."
Zuko thought about what he had been told for a full minute before speaking up. "I guess for the moment, all I can have is hope." He said as she nodded in understanding, before speaking up herself. "Yeah, hope that she manages to drag herself out of that abyss." He began to wonder what life would have been like otherwise.
"Hope that whatever comes out will be the little sister I never knew I had."
End of Chapter: 8
Thank you for reading.