Book 1: Earth

Chapter 5: The Plot Thickens

By this time, Clive was already past Baldwin and was heading into an alleyway to the right of the road. Once out of sight he sat Flora down on the cement and up against wall of the alley. Dumpsters and garbage filled the space completely, making him grimace from the smell. He pulled his scarf above his nose and waited to see Luke run down the street to escape Descole's henchmen, but he didn't.

"Luke, come on, I know you made it," Clive held his breath, praying that he would see the Avatar turn the corner.

"C-Clive," Flora stirred, he looked down at her and tried to mask his worry, "Where are we?" She asked rubbing her forehead, suddenly her face went green, "What's that smell?"

"Shh…" Clive wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her close, "I'll tell you in a minute." She buried her head into his coat, to hide her nose from the smell.

"Where's Luke?" She managed to ask. Clive closed his eyes and did not respond, Hopefully he's coming right now unscathed. He thought to himself, "Clive?" She asked once more. Suddenly an explosion jolted both of them onto their feet; a light could be seen from across the city skyline.

"Oh my-" Another explosion knocked the wind out of Clive and he fell flat on his back, gasping for breath while Flora gripped loose bricks from the building to keep steady. Luke then came running out of Baldwin and noticed the two in the alley, he ran towards them.

"What just happened?" He asked while helping Flora gets Clive to his feet.

"Bombs," was all Clive could manage to say.

"What?" Flora took a step back, afraid of whoever this mysterious enemy was.

"We need to get home, the Professor will know what to do," Luke draped Clive's arm over his shoulder, "Flora, a little help?" The boy raised an eye brow.

"Oh, yes of course," She slid under Clive's bad arm, he winced in pain as they made their way down the smelly alleyway taking small delicate steps, "Does it hurt?" She asked him once they could no longer smell the putrid aroma of the alley.

"Yes, yes it does," Clive clenched his fists.

"We're almost home, you'll- you're going to be alright," Flora tried to reassure him.

"I hope so," he muttered as they walked down the streets of early morning London, listening carefully for more bombs or Family members.

They walked for another twenty minutes before reaching Scotland Yard, police officers were busily running in and out of the station, streetlights blinded the three teens. They stopped for a moment, to gain their sight and maybe a little bit of energy. Luckily, the right officer had been walking out when they reached station.

"Luke?" Emmy Altava came bolting towards them, her dark brown mane was frizzy and tangled, bags hung under her eyes, but her spirit had not been slowed, "What in the world are you doing here? Don't you know how dangerous-" she stopped, noticing what a terrible condition Clive was currently in, "Hurry, all of you get into my car, I'll drive you to the Professor's."

Within the next ten minutes they were all in Emmy's yellow bug speeding down the London streets. Luke was up front with the officer while Clive was laying in the back and Flora was squeezed up against the window.

"Please explain to me what you were doing at this time of night?" Emmy asked sternly, she obviously played the bad cop in a good officer/bad officer situation.

"We were…" Luke shot one look at Flora before giving their whole night away, "We went to a Family rally," his words were meshed together, but still clearly understandable.

"What?" Emmy hit the brakes, Clive slid slightly off his seat, Flora banged her head on the driver's seat head rest and Luke was gripping the seat for his dear life, "You went to a Family rally! And what gave you the impression that this would be a smart idea?" Emmy added one more question as Luke began to readjust himself.

"Nothing did!" He cried, "I needed to find out what Descole was up to, so-"

"Why in the world did you need to find that out?" She eyed him.

"I'm the Avatar, first of all!" Luke shouted, "Second," he paused, "If he can take people's bending away like he did tonight, can he take mine?" Emmy sighed and started driving again.

"Luke I understand your-"

"It's my duty as the Avatar to help people," the boy eyed her, "And by attending the rally, I can determine what I have to do to help the people of London." She sighed.

"Please, just never do that again," she breathed in, "And tonight couldn't have been worse for one of those foolish rallies," she said to herself, "With the explosions from those old warehouses around town, gosh Luke. We don't want what happened to the last Avatar to happen to you."

"What happened to the last Avatar?" Flora asked from the back, wide-eyed and interested.

"Avatar Claire," Emmy said softly, "By the age of eighteen she had mastered all of the elements, the youngest age ever and she was pursuing her career as a scientist at a time research lab in the middle of the city," Emmy paused, "At that time, nothing very interesting happened, it was one of those time periods where there was no danger, no wars, no enemies of the Avatar."

"Then what happened to her?" Flora asked.

"During her research, well a few things went wrong," Emmy tightened her grip on the steering wheel, "The two scientists she worked with, a waterbender named Dimitri Allen and a firebender, Bill Hawks, who is now our prime minister-"

"Our bloody prime minister," Clive mumbled.

"As I was saying," Emmy faced front, "They worked on a time machine, to be able to travel through time, past and future… failed miserably," She gripped the steering wheel harder, her knuckles were now white, "The machine exploded killing Avatar Claire and nine other people in the apartment next door, strangely enough Bill survived, Dimitri though, was not in the lab when the machine exploded." Emmy paused once more, "Claire was only twenty-seven when that happened, you were just being born Luke," she managed a weak smile towards him.

"But Emmy," Luke asked her, "Wouldn't Claire just have gone into the Avatar state and saved herself?"

"No," she replied simply, "If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar state, the cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist." Emmy pressed the brakes in front of the large brick building, through the windows they could see that the lights were on, papers fluttered casting shadows along the walls and a tall man in a hat was franticly running about.

"Oh my, here we go," Flora muttered as she opened the door onto the sidewalk, Clive was very uneager to follow her.

"I'll do all the talking," Emmy told them as she exited the car and stood on the sidewalk, "Just get to your rooms before he has a chance to talk to you," she laughed just a little, but no one else did. Flora slid under Clive's bad arm as he exited the car and Luke ran around to the other side to support his other arm.

"Um…" She looked back at the trio, her eyes fell on Flora, "You have a key don't you?"

"Uh huh," Flora quickly shifted her weight to make it easier and more comfortable for Clive while she reached into her coat pocket for her keys, "Here," she handed the ring to Emmy and then continued to support Clive as they made their way up the stairs, "It's the one with H.L. on it," Flora told her as they stood on the porch.

"Got it, thanks," Emmy sifted through the keys until the correct one caught her eye; she picked it out and inserted it into the lock. Before they heard a click, the Professor whipped the door open, his hair was gray with worry and fear, and his eyes were folded in bags.

"Professor," Emmy said calmly, "I can explain what these kids were doing, may we please come in?" Her words were rushed but he nodded anyway with no words, he was too speechless to say anything.

They all entered the flat, Flora and Luke as quickly as they could deposit Clive comfortably on the couch, Emmy set the Professor down on the piano seat, and Luke ran into the kitchen to grab a bowl of water for Clive's injuries, just as Flora slumped onto the couch.

"Emmy," the Professor breathed, "What in the world has gone on tonight?"

"Well," with one reassuring glance at Flora, Clive, and Luke who was running out of the wavering door with a bowl of water, she proceeded with the events of the last few hours.

…

"You went to a Family rally!" He was now standing up, fists formed, "Do you know how dangerous Descole is? Let alone the power and the supporters he has? He could have taken your bending away, permanently!" The Professor's face was red; this was the most he had yelled in a very long time.

"Yes Professor! Of course we knew how dangerous it was!" Luke told him, he was sitting on the coffee table and carefully waterbending the water from the bowl onto Clive's arm, which was now exposed. The water turned a bright sky blue and a tiny ringing sound was heard from it, "But I'll tell you the same thing I told Emmy," he looked the Professor right into the eyes, "It's my duty as the Avatar to help people, how am I supposed to help the people of London if I don't know what the danger is?" Luke's eyes glistened with regret and sorry, by now the color in the Professor's face was becoming its normal shade of brown.

"Luke, I know that's it's in your nature to help people, but you honestly don't know how dangerous Descole is, just because he can take your bending away, doesn't mean he'll stop there."

"I understand that now, and I'm sorry," Luke extracted the water from Clive's now healed arm and put it back into the bowl, "But I will never back away from people who need my help Professor," Luke stood up to take the bowl back into the kitchen as the Professor sat back down on the piano seat. He rubbed his temple with the tip of his fingers.

"Professor, would you like me to get you a pain reliever of some sort?" Emmy asked, noticing his headache.

"No Emmy, but thank you, I appreciate it," he smiled lightly at her before standing up as Luke reentered the room, "Luke sit down, please I need to talk about something else with all of you," Luke looked at Emmy, a puzzled look crossed his face as he plopped next to Flora and Clive's feet.

"What's the problem Professor?" Flora asked him as he walked around the couch so his back was facing the front door, he propped himself up on his hands.

"Those explosions you felt tonight," he paused and looked down at the three, "They weren't an accident," Emmy peered at him, ready to throw just about a million questions for him to answer, "They were the Family's doing and they were high-tech bombs created for war-"

"Professor, do you think we should-"

"I'm not going to sugar-coat it for them Emmy," he looked over at her, "Those Family members completely detest benders, in every possible way you can imagine. Those explosions you heard tonight killed over fifteen benders; two of them were children under the age of seven." Flora gasped at the very last part of his speech, "Now do you realize how afraid I was to find out that you three had left in the middle of the night to go to a Family event." He paused to stroke his chin, "I'm guessing now that the council might completely cancel the Pro-Bending tournament and shut down the arena."

"What!" Clive sat up to the best of his ability, "They can't cancel the tournament! They just can't!"

"Clive, I'm sorry but we can't risk the lives of more benders by that game," the Professor told him, "I know that you and Luke were both looking forward to the season, but it's too dangerous, in a week London could be in a full out war with the Family. We have no idea what is coming next and I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt in that shenanigans."

"But-"

"Clive, we can't risk the safety of benders and non-benders with the tournament." He paused to straighten himself up, "Would you rather live the rest of your life bending to your heart's content or losing it in a blink of an eye?" That shut Clive up immediately, of course he wanted to keep his bending, but Pro-Bending was the only way for him to make money in London. He lay back down on the pillow his head had been resting on and breathed in.

"Keep my bending," he muttered.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses, my boy," the Professor managed a weak smile before heading for the coat rack next to the front door, "I have work to do at Scotland Yard, please all three of you, stay here don't leave until I get back. I promise, I'll sort this all out," he fastened his last button on his coat and opened the door.

"Wait Professor, let me drive you, you're stressed enough," Emmy pushed herself off the wall and made her way out the entrance just behind the man.

"Thank you Emmy," was the last thing the trio heard before he shut the door.

"Well," Luke stood up and took off his hat and scarf that had still been on from their rally incognito, "I'm going to get some sleep it's been a long day, good night," he threw his accessories onto the coffee table and rounded the sectional. On his way to his bedroom, he also took off his coat and hung it where the Professor's had once been. Once his coat was put away he headed his bedroom door

"Good night Luke," Flora yawned as he shut the door to his room, "I should probably head to bed to, Clive," she turned to him, "Are you going to be able to make it upstairs?"

"I think I'll just sleep here," he told her while rolling on his side, "Sleep well Flora,"

"You too," she yawned once more before taking off her hat and coat, then heading towards the direction of her room, "Good night," she mumbled as she turned off all the lights and walked into her room.

"Night," Clive said one more time before letting his eyelids flutter shut and drift off into sleep.

…

None of the teenagers woke up before ten o'clock. They were all exhausted and needed plenty of sleep, especially from what happened the night before. Flora, who woke up first, waddled out of her bedroom, baggy-eyed and groggy and headed through the wavering door, into the kitchen. Light streamed through the window over the booth as she cracked about five eggs into a pan over the gas-powered stove. The smell woke Clive and Luke up, even though neither of them was in a ten foot radius of the pan.

"Oh gosh, what's that smell," Luke's head rose from his pillow as he plugged his nose and slid out of the covers. He stepped onto the hard wooden floors just as Toppy; his pet mouse climbed up his arm and sat on his shoulder. The little animal squeaked in reply, "No Toppy, those can't be eggs, what could someone do to them to make them smell that horrid?" The mouse once again squeaked a response as Luke sauntered across the room to his door, "Flora? Oh boy…" Luke paused to breathe through his mouth, "The Professor did warn us about her cooking skill," he sighed as he turned the knob and lightly pushed the door open.

The young boy slowly made his way towards the kitchen, the smell getting more intense the more steps he took. Then he noticed Clive lying on the sofa, his head was buried into the cushions.

"Clive," Luke shook his shoulder, "Wake up."

"I've been up," he mumbled into the cushions, "I just can't take that smell, what in the world is it?" He asked lifting his head just the tiniest bit from where it had been pressed up against.

"Flora's making breakfast," Luke whispered so she couldn't hear from the kitchen, "Do you think we should… I don't know go in there?"

"Um… do you want to die from food poisoning?" Clive asked sarcastically.

"Stop being a baby and get up," He pushed his shoulder over so that Clive was lying on his back, "Come on, you don't want to hurt her feelings again do you?" Luke raised one of his eye brows.

"Ug," Clive mumbled, "Fine," he used the back of the couch for support as he pulled himself up and sat down with his elbows on his knees.

"Come on," Luke pushed him softly on the back.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he shot Luke a dirty look as he stood up and waddled behind him.

As soon as the two enter the kitchen, they felt the urge to pass out from the terrible odor that engulfed them. Even little Toppy fell back as the smell hit him straight in the face. Luke raised his hand to his nose, as Clive coughed into his hands, trying to avoid the putrid odor as they both shuffled to the booth and slid inside.

"Good morning!" Flora chirped happily while spooning the eggs, which were strangely green instead of yellow, onto two plates, "I just made some eggs- Ah!" As she turned herself around, she noticed little Toppy on top of Luke's shoulder and yelped from the sight of the rodent. She flung both plates backwards making the green mixture fly off their platters and splatter against the cabinets and the window just above the kitchen sink, "Luke!" She cried.

"What?" He asked, he and Clive were now both laughing hysterically, on the verge of crying from the funny scene.

"Why must you bring your rat-mouse thing into the kitchen? Do you remember what I told you yesterday?" She had put the plates down on the now greenish colored counter and placed her hands on her hips.

"First of all," Luke said wiping the tears from his face, "Toppy is not a rat-mouse; he is just a mouse-"

"Just a mouse?" Flora eyed him.

"Just a mouse," he confirmed.

"Wow," she muttered.

"Second," he eyed her back, "Of course I remember what you told me yesterday, but he only does his business if it…" he cut himself off there, knowing how sensitive she is, he didn't want to tell her how much her food resembled a toilet.

"If it what?" She bent over slightly, asking for an answer.

"Never mind," he rushed his words quickly, "I think that I'll go freshen up for the day," he awkwardly stood up with Toppy still on his shoulder and exited the room, through the wavering door.

"So," Flora turned to Clive after she had scowled at Luke on his way out, "Do you eat breakfast every day?"

Hey everyone! My mom is letting me on the computer for an hour and then I have to do a little in my confirmation packet and then she'll let me on again, so I'll get a lot of writing done today! I am having so much fun writing this story, you guys have no idea! I want to thank everyone who has been reviewing and favoriting and following, it really does mean a whole lot! Thanks! Also PLEASE CHECK OUT MY POLL! I only have like 3 voters right now and I've added some more ideas, so please check that out! And I'm going to say it again, I have no idea where I'm going for Broken Mine… an update might not be in the near future. Anyway thanks! Peace out girl scout! -Lil