Hey all, sorry about not posting for a month. Having to hold down 2 jobs and go to school full time turned out to be harder and much more stressful then I thought. :/ been putting a real damper on my mood and creativity, not to mention ive been incredibly tired lately. But i swore I would update before the month ended and what better day to pick then my birthday :) So enjoy this chapter while I participate in my b-day festivitys 'blows noisemaker'
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Chapter 20: Jet vs. The Spirit
While all the villagers were fleeing from the castle, Jet was getting closer to finding the Spirit. After finding the West Wing, he began searching every room he came across, keeping his arrow drawn in case he was ambushed.
Finally he found the large doors that lead to the Spirits bedroom and kicked them open. Jet then leaped in and drew his arrow, expecting to see the ferocious beast ready to pounce him. Instead, he saw the Blue Spirit sitting sadly by a mantle while staring blankly out the window. Zuko turned around briefly to see who had entered but showed no reaction to Jet or his drawn arrow. He just merely sighed and went back to staring out the window.
Taking advantage of his distracted state, Jet aimed his arrow and shot it straight into the Spirits shoulder. The Spirit let out a painful cry and stumbled away from the mantle clutching his shoulder. Jet then ran forward and elbowed him hard in the chest, knocking him through the glass window and onto the balcony. Jet laughed confidently and jumped through the window after him. The Spirit tried standing back up but Jet elbowed him hard again, causing him to fall backwards over the edge and stumble down the roof top.
The Spirit finally stopped rolling and fell hard onto the flat narrow ledge below. Jet slid down after him and stood menacingly over the injured Spirit.
"Get up." Jet commanded.
When the Spirit didn't reply, Jet kicked him hard the ribs causing him to roll over and further toward the edge.
"I said get up!" Jet repeated. The Spirit tried feebly to stand but the pain in his chest caused him to flop back down, much to Jet's amusement. "Aww what's the matter Blue Spirit? Too 'kind and gentle' to fight back?"
The Spirit looked up at the dark haired man, wondering why he was so determined to fight him, but still he did not reply.
Jet looked down at the pitiful creature and scoffed. "How pathetic...and I thought you'd be more of a challenge. Seems more like you need someone to put you out of your misery…" Tossing aside his bow and arrow, Jet took out his swords and began sharpening them against each other. "Any last words?"
The Spirit noticed the two hook swords out the corner of his eye, but still he didn't react. If the man wanted him dead, who was he to argue? It wasn't like he had anything left to live for…
Just then Appa appeared in the distance, flying quickly toward the castle with Katara, Hakoda and Aang on his back. Once within range, Katara peered through the thick clouds and was shocked and horrified to see Jet standing over Zuko ready to strike.
"No!" Katara shouted.
Hearing the familiar voice, the Spirit ears perked up and he lifted his head to see Katara flying towards him on Appa.
"Katara?" he uttered.
"Jet stop!" Katara shouted. "Don't!"
Jet however couldn't hear anything over the harsh winds and raised his swords high before slamming them down upon the Spirit.
Suddenly there was the sound of metal on metal and Jet was shocked to see the Spirit standing up on his own two feet. Looking fearfully up at his large broadswords, Jet stumbled backwards as the Spirit knocked his swords away. The Spirit then slashed at him twice, causing a wave of fire to erupt from his swords. Jet quickly ducked out of the way and took cover behind a stone gargoyle. The Spirit then used the opportunity to yank the arrow out of his shoulder, which began bleeding. Despite his injury, the Spirit held up his swords and charged forward in search of Jet.
Katara sighed in relief when she saw Zuko stand back up and snapped the reigns. "Let's go Appa!"She shouted pulling him toward the nearest tower. Unfortunately, due to Appa's large size and the roofs narrow ledges, the bison could barely get a paw onto the roof without it crumbling. Lightning then started flashing throughout the skies and came dangerously close to striking Appa. Seeing she had to take the long way, Katara then guided Appa toward the front entrance and burst through the doors just as the servants were celebrating.
"Katara?" Suki and Sokka said.
"You guys have to help me!" Katara pleaded desperately. "I need to get to the West Wing! Zuko's in trouble!"
"Trouble!?" Suki asked in a scared tone. "But we chased off all the villagers."
"Not all of them." Katara shook her head. "I just spotted Jet fighting Zuko on the roof. We need to stop him!"
"Then we haven't a moment to lose!" Sokka shouted. "Follow us Katara."
"I'll come too." Hakoda said taking out his sword.
"No Dad. You stay here with Aang and the others." she said determinedly grabbing her water pouch. "It's time that I help put Jet in his place." Together, she, Sokka and Suki charged up the staircase toward the West Wing.
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Up on the roof, Zuko looked around every corner for Jet but he seemed to have disappeared. Just then he heard a metallic noise and turned to see Jet pick up his hook swords off the ground. Jet then charged and almost sliced Zuko head off before being parried back with the broadswords. Soon the two began fighting sword to sword with all the strength and agility they had across the roof.
Eventually their fight lead up to a small tower. Jet tried relentlessly to stab Zuko and knock him off but the masked firebender was too quick. Suddenly Jet lost his footing and nearly slipped off. Seizing the opportunity, Zuko sheathed his swords and pounced onto him, digging his burning claws deep into Jets forearms. Jet let out a scream and the two fell off the tower, rolling down the slanted roof toward the edge. They managed to fall onto another roof where Jet kicked Zuko off before holding his badly burned arms.
Furious, Jet got back up and did a double slash attack on the first shadowy figure he saw. The attack hit but the arms that fell off were that of a statue. Jet then looked around him and saw that he was surrounded by stone gargoyles and creatures.
"Come on out and fight!" Jet called out among the motionless figures. Hearing nothing but the thunder, Jet cautiously he began looking among all the statues for the Spirit.
"I gotta admit Spirit, you surprised me." Jet said looking between the stone creatures. "You fight well for a beast. Didn't realize they taught sword fighting to wild animals." He then heard footsteps and turned to see a figure dart into the shadows.
Wanting to lure the him out, Jet tried a different approach. "So tell me Spirit...were you in love with her?"
Just then the footsteps stopped in a corner by a set of gargoyles. Carefully Jet moved toward the spot. "She and I are going to be married you know...why else do you think she was so eager to come back home?" Jet then ducked as a piece of stone came flying at his head. Grinning, he began moving closer.
"Struck a nerve did I? Seriously, did you honestly think she'd want you when she could have someone like me?" Lunging into the corner, Jet slashed his swords but only managed to clip off the ears of a statue.
Suddenly Jet heard movement and turned around to see the Spirit throwing a fiery punch at him. Jet ducked and began parrying the Spirits claws with his swords, dodging all the raging flames being shot at him. Around him, the shingles began burning and the stones became chared with black. The Spirit's firebending so furiously that even his gloves and the sleeves of his clothes began burning away.
After punching and kicking relentlessly, the Spirit managed to rake Jet across the chest, leaving a set of claw marks and a small flame on his shirt. Putting out his shirt fire, Jet managed to duck behind and clinch the Spirit's claws between his swords, rendering him motionless.
"You can't defeat me Spirit." Jet said snidely as he struggled to get free. "She belongs to me." He then reared back and kicked the Spirit in the chest, laughing maniacally.
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"Quick! We're almost there!" Suki shouted as she and Sokka raced toward the hall door with Katara right behind them. Finally, they had all reached the hallway that lead to the West Wing. Suddenly an arrow came shooting out of nowhere and embedded itself in a pillar next to them.
"What the-?" Sokka asked looking at the arrow and toward the end of the hall where Long Shot stood holding his bow. Suddenly all of Jets fighters jumped out of their hiding spots with their weapons drawn.
"Going somewhere?" Sneers asked slapping his club into his palm as he walked down the stairs.
"Don't move a muscle!" Smellerbee shouted aiming her knife toward them.
Long Shot, Pipsqueak and The Duke then appeared on both sides from behind the pillars and started closing in on them.
"You better turn back if you know what's good for ya." Pipsqueak said as The Duke jumped off his shoulder and waved his spear menacingly.
"I'm not turning back!" Katara said determinedly bending her water out of her pouch. "I came here to help a friend and if it means having to fight all of you, then so be it!"
"Katara's right." Suki said as she and Sokka struck a fighting stance. "You'll have to go through all three of us."
As the five fighters closed in on them, Katara heard a shouting noise and turned to see Hakoda, Iroh and the other servants standing at the doorway.
"Charge!" Hakoda shouted taking out his sword. All at once, the servants charged forth and began beating down on the remaining fighters.
"Alright another sneak attack!" Sokka yelled excitedly as he grabbed Suki and rushed into battle.
"Go! While we have them distracted!" Hakoda said as he parried away The Duke's spear.
Katara nodded and proceeded to go up the stairs when she felt an arrow zoom by her neck and take off her necklace. As it got embedded to the ground, Katara turned to see Long Shot aiming another arrow at her. Before he could shoot, he was knock upside the head by Iroh.
"Take that you scurvy scum!" Iroh said jumping onto Long Shots head. "Quick Katara! Find Zuko before it's too late!"
Rushing past all the fighters, Katara ran into the hallway and spotted the stairs that lead to Zuko's room. As she raced towards them, something wooden and metal darted from behind a pillar and whacked Katara in the ankles causing her to trip. Her water pouch fell to the ground and slid a few feet away from her. As she reached out to grab it, her hand was nearly crushed by a large shovel.
"Don't even think about it!" Meng said holding her shovel toward Katara. She then bent down and grabbed the pouch before turning toward the hall. Katara looked pleadingly at Meng.
"Meng please! I need to help Zuko! He isnt the monster you think he is-"
"Quiet! On your feet!" she said thrusting her shovel at Katara's face. Katara stood up with her hands in the air as Meng advanced on her.
"Meng listen to me." Katara said backing away. "Jet is lying to all of you. He's not here to defend the village, he's here because of his own selfish reasons."
"Your lying! Jet's our leader!" Meng said. "He's protects us! We do everything he says and things always turn out for the better."
"Jet is an obnoxious arrogant jerk who's about to kill an innocent person out of jealousy!" Katara replied angrily.
Meng looked surprised at Katara and lowered her shovel. "What?"
"Listen Meng, I know your only doing all this under his orders. But you don't have to follow them." Katara said.
Meng looked skeptically at her and kept a firm grip on her shovel "Your just trying to distract me, so you can go rescue your Spirit creature. Well it won't work!"
"I know that you like Jet and you'll do anything for him." Katara explained. "But Jet won't love you the way he loves himself, no matter what you do to please him. He'll only end up using or hurting you." Meng frowned and felt her cheek where Jet had struck her as Katara went on. "Deep down you know why he's doing this and you know it's wrong." Katara sincerely. "I can stop him...just let me pass."
As Meng stood contemplating what Katara was saying, a female voice called to her from the hallway. "Meng is everything alright in there? Have you got Katara?"
Meng looked akwardly from the hall to Katara before holding her shovel back up. "Yes! I cornered Katara and I'm about to tie her up!"
"Good, tie her up and hurry back. We're getting creamed down here!" yelled Smellerbee as Aang suddenly jumped onto her head and started bouncing on her. "Hey get off me you stupid cup!"
"Yeah, I got you right where I want you!" Meng said rather loudly pointing her shovel. "You can't escape now. Nothing you can say or do will change my mind!"
As Katara back up, Meng continued talking in a loud hollow tone and started leading her toward the stairs.
"You know Katara, there's two things I always wanted to say to you!" Meng said loudly again. "One...I HATE how perfect your hair is! And two!" As Katara's fell back onto the stairs, Meng slowly reached into her pocket and took out Katara's water pouch.
"Whoop his arrogant butt." Meng said tossing her pouch to her.
Katara caught the pouch and looked at Meng in surprise. Meng then winked and gestured for her to head up the stairs.
Katara smiled gratefully "Thank you Meng."
Meng nodded and then turned back towards the hallway. With her pouch in hand, Katara headed straight for Zuko's room.
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Outside the thunderstorm continued to worsen as Jet's battle with the Spirit raged on. Jet was being covered in burns and ash from all the fireballs the Spirit was throwing at him. But still his determination to bring down his opponent kept him fighting strong. As he spun quickly around with his swords, the Spirit dodge and did a back flip onto the nearest pillar, staggering slightly from both exhaustion and clutching his bleeding shoulder.
"Getting tired there Spirit?" Jet called up to him. "Or am I just too much for you?"
Regaining his focus, Zuko pulled out his sword and jumped back down. Jet tried to stab him in mid air but Zuko parried him away and pinned his blade down with his own. He then pulled out his other and took a swipe at Jet's head.
Jet had to bend all the way backwards to keep from being decapitated. He watched fearfully as the Spirits sharp blades sliced through the straw sticking from between his teeth, cutting it neatly in half.
Jet then fell to the ground and kicked the Spirit's feet out from under him, rolling over to grab his swords before getting up. Zuko fell on his back and instantly felt a sharp pain as Jet stomped on his chest.
"It's over Spirit." Jet said baring down on him. "Katara is mine!"
Zuko glared angrily back at him and grabbed his ankle with his burning hands. Jet screamed and stumbled back, clutching his ankle. Zuko stood back up and went to pounce but was stopped by Jet's sword.
As Jet struggled to get the Spirit off, his hook sword got caught onto the Spirits mask and was ripped right off as he pulled away. Zuko hands flew to his face and he lunged forward to catch his mask. Jet then used the opportunity to take another swipe at him and left a long gash across his chest. Jet then knocked him onto his stomach and struck, making another gash across his back.
"Aww did I mess up your costume?" Jet said snidely looking down at him. He began laughed out loud till he noticed something rise from the rip in the Spirit's clothes. Looking closer, he saw a long dragon-like tail emerge from the gash he had made. As the Spirit stood back up, Jet caught a glance of his real face and went ghostly pale.
"What…what are you!?" he shouted in fear, nervously backing away while holding up his swords in defense. Zuko finally found his mask and put it back on before turning to Jet.
"I'm your worst nightmare…" he then leapt forward and head butted Jet right in the face.
Jet fell backwards and dropped his swords, which Zuko instantly kicked off the roof. As Jet struggled to move away, Zuko grabbed the scruff of his shirt and lifted him back up before slamming him against a wall. He then grabbed one of his swords from the ground with his tail and held it up to his throat.
"Wait! Please stop!" Jet said fearfully, his voice cracking slightly. "Don't kill me! I'll do anything! ANYTHING!!"
As Zuko reared back his sword with intent to strike, Jet held up his arms to cover himself. Zuko then spotted the burn marks he left on his arm and paused. He remembered leaving a set of marks like that on Katara once when she angered him. He also remembered how much pain he caused her and realized he was about to do worse to this young man. As Zuko looked at the whimpering Jet, he realized he wasn't that monster anymore. And never again did he want to be.
Putting away his sword, Zuko pulled a confused and frightened Jet forward till he was face to face with him. "Get out of my castle."
Jet said nothing and collapsed at his feet, overcome with shock and relief.
"Zuko!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Zuko looked upward and spotted Katara leaning over the edge of the balcony. "Katara?"
Seeing him down there, Katara smiled and jumped over the side. She then slid down the rooftops till she was on the same ledge as Zuko and rushed toward him. Smiling widely, Zuko open his arms as Katara embraced him and wrapped them tightly around her, hugging her like he never did before.
"Oh Zuko, thank goodness..." Katara said holding him tight. "I was so worried."
"Katara…" Zuko holding her close as he stroked her hair.
From the ground behind them, Jet was coming back to his senses. As he spotted Katara and Zuko embracing, his raging jealousy re-emerged and he stood back up. He may not have had his hook swords anymore, but he did have one other weapon. Reaching into his boot, Jet took out a small knife with an oddly shaped handle and charged toward the couple.
Hearing the footsteps, Katara looked over Zuko's shoulder as Jet raced toward them. "Zuko watch out!-"
But Zuko didn't react fast enough and let out a piercing scream as Jet grabbed him from behind and plunged a knife deep into his side. Zuko fell forward into Katara's arms, yelling in pain before collapsing onto the ground.
"Zuko! Zuko!!" Katara shouted desperately shaking him. Zuko let out a sickly groaning noise as he tried reaching for the knife which was still embedded in his side. Katara tried lifting him up but felt a hand roughly grab her shoulder and pull her up.
"Your beast creature is no more!" Jet said turning Katara around to face him. "Which means you belong to me now, little wife."
Grimacing in anger, Katara knocked his hands away and punched him square in the jaw. Katara raised her arms high causing all the rain around them to suddenly stop in midair. Rubbing his jaw, Jet ran back toward Katara but stopped when he noticed all the raindrops hovering eerily around him. Katara then thrust her arms forward, causing all the rain droplets to zoom forward and attack. Jet immediately turned and ran, holding up his arms trying to protect himself from the attacking water droplets, which to him felt like a million stinging bees.
Suddenly a wave of water nailed him right in the head, sending him flying back against the wall. Katara had her pouch out and began unleashing wave after wave of water upon Jet.
"Once and for all Jet…I…DON'T…LIKE YOU!!!" she said arching her fingers as she made all the raindrops around her freeze solid and form icicles. She then sent them flying straight toward Jet, pinning him firmly against the wall.
As Jet struggled to get free, Katara went back to Zuko who lay flat on the ground barely breathing. Lifting his arm over her shoulder, Katara waved her hand around gathering all the water she could, and propelled herself and Zuko up toward the balcony.
Determined not to get beat, Jet used all his strength to wrench his arm free of the icicles. Freeing the rest of himself, he picked up the largest icicle and charged straight up the roof toward Katara and Zuko.
Thanks to her water bending, Katara managed to land safely on the balcony ledge and was preparing to lift Zuko when Jet appeared and grabbed onto Zuko's leg. The combined weight of the two caused them to start slipping over the edge. Katara managed to hold onto Zuko while Jet swung himself onto a nearby ledge. He then raised his icicle toward Katara, whose eyes widen in fear as she tried desperately to hold onto Zuko.
"Finally!" he shouted over the falling rain. "I'm about to get what I deserve!"
Just then a bolt of lightning appeared and struck dangerously close behind him. There was a loud cracking noise and the ledge Jet was standing on began breaking beneath him. Jet lost his footing and slipped as the ledge gave out from under him.
He slid down the side of the castle with his arms out before grabbing onto the statue head of a lion turtle. As he tried pulling himself up, one of icicles broke loose and fell down, embedding itself in his hand. Jet let out a piercing scream as he lost his grip and fell hundreds of feet, disappearing beneath the foggy ground below.
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And thats the end of Jet. Poor guy...he was so young and full of hotness -_-
Well, two more chapters to go and this story will officially be over. 'tear' :( but a new one shall begin. I'll try to update next week but no promises. Remember to R&R