Book 1: Earth

Chapter 8: The First Match

"Welcome, to the first Pro-Bending match of the season!" A perky London announced screamed into a microphone. The crowd roared Pro-Bending was the most popular sport of city or better yet the world, "First we welcome… Don Paolo's Master's of Disguise!" Three short kids in purple uniforms were transported off a platform to the main arena. There was one girl in a green belt, a skinny boy in a red, and the shortest boy in blue. "Becky! Hazel! And Max!" The announcer hollered. The crowd went wild, screaming for all three of them. They grinned and waved cockily back at their fans.

"Second… we welcome Team Avatar of Scotland Yard!" He pointed to the opposite end of the ring. Three young adults emerged from the darkness; they were clearly bigger than their opponents, but were they evenly matched? "Clive! Flora! And…" the announcer became a bit quieter because he was so shocked at the next name on this roster, "Avatar Luke." The place went quiet.

"Is the Avatar allowed to compete? Surely this can't be legal. That's not fair!"

"Now, now," the referee stood in the center of the ring, "Avatar Luke has only mastered one element, he is allowed to compete in today's match." The Scotland Yard officers circling the arena screamed and shouted for the team and the rest of the arena seemed to join in, 'Let the match begin!"

The six players stood on their side of the stand, eying each other. The boy presumed as Hazel, who was a stick in shape and size had a red belt tied around his thin waist. Max, who was short and barely sucking his thumb was in a blue belt, and the girl, Becky standing in the middle grinning wildly was wearing a green belt.

Flora took a worried glance in Clive's direction, who seemed extremely over confident in his stance and body language.

"Clive," she whispered, "Clive, I can't do this."

"You can," he whispered, not looking back at her, "Trust me, I promise." He tried his best to give the anxious girl a reassuring nod, but she just shut her eyes tight and breathed out hot air.

"I don't think so," she barely mumbled.

"3, 2, 1!" The referee pulled the trigger on his small hand gun as the sound echoed through the arena, the Pro-Benders took off. Max quickly drew water up from the pool below spinning it in a tornado around his body, shooting icicles out at Luke, who he knew was the other waterbender in the ring. Luke quickly slid over, controlling the water from the pool below himself and redirecting it in the pathway of the icicles. It knocked him back a few places.

Then Clive on the other end of the ring stepped hard into the floor, pushing up three discs of stone and punching them through the air at Becky on the other side who seemed to falling over from loss of balance. He zoomed them towards her knocking her down into the pool of water below. The team advanced, sending Hazel and Max both back another step. Hazel then quickly reacted spotting Flora as the weak link, punching out fire from the thin hair, sending the orbs towards her.

Because of her inability to make fire, Flora had to control it. Caught the heat in her hands and spun around on the ball of her shoe, making it slightly bigger. Then she pushed it back over to the boy. Without any healthy weight to balance himself on he fell down into the water. Team Avatar advanced forward. As Max worriedly tried to make another set of icicles, he was shoved off the ring in a matter of seconds by Clive's powerful blow to the chest.

"And Team Avatar takes the first round!" The announcer shouted as the gong sound once again. The crowd cheered loudly. Emmy and the Professor stood in one specific corner that lit up with excitement.

"We won the first round!" Luke jumped with excitement as the three formed a little circle.

"Yeah, yeah," Clive rolled his eyes, "We need a steady plan this time, we know their strategies now, we just need to work against them."

"I think it worked fine last time," Flora said quietly, relieved she didn't have anything important to do that round.

"Well, it won't work every time." He told her.

"That's true Luke chimed in, we need to think of a plan," He grinned, "How about we all aim for one person, take them out, then another, and then the last."

"Like a main target?" Clive questioned.

"Yeah," he replied.

"That's not half bad Luke," Clive smiled, "Let's do it."
"But Clive-" Flora reached out to grab his arm, "Clive."

"What?" He shot back quickly, not realizing that he sounded incredibly harsh.

"Ah," Flora took a step back, "Never mind."

"Flora, I didn't mean," as he replayed his words in his head.

"I'll just go," she nodded slightly as the Master's of Disguise began to get back into the ring.

"No, uh, just," he mentally slapped himself for that as he went back to his place, glancing over at the nervous girl several times.

"Round 2 begins in…" the announcer gripped the microphone, "3, 2, 1!' The gong sounded as the players shot into action. Luke looked over at Clive quickly as he shot a water bullet towards Becky, knocking her down to the ground. He nodded back and took a stone disc whipped it towards the girl pushing her right off the ring.

The other team noticed their tactic and suddenly put it into use for themselves. Max took water up from the pool and twisted it into a spring ready to catapult forwards. He twisted himself around, letting it go, unclenching his fists as it hurled towards Flora. She quickly threw both arms in front of her face as the water hit her directly in the stomach sending her flying backwards into the pool.

"Flora!" Clive turned around as if he could somehow grab her, but she was already floating in the water. Before he had a chance to turn around a cascade of fire hit him in the back. He literally flipped on his face and fell down into the water. Luke quickly faced front as the Master's of Disguise advanced forwards.

"The Avatar is the only one left!" the announcer shouted into the microphone, "What will he do?" Luke took a deep breath, his mind flashed back to Arianna and Crow in Misthallery, the foggy pathways, misty forests. He took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched his fists. A thick fog glazed the other side of the ring. Neither Max nor Hazel could see nearly two inches in front of them. Then he took a giant wave over his head a thrusting it at the opponent, in a matter of minutes, both boys were bobbing in the water.

"And the second round goes to Team Avatar as well!" The crowd let out joyous shout. "Wait a second folks, the referee is reviewing that round, it may be a few more minutes." The arena went silent, only whispers could be heard.

"What?" Luke pouted, "I used a basic waterbending technique, at least where I'm from," he complained with his arms crossed over his chest. "Wouldn't have review the round if Clive and Flora had worked together." He mumbled to himself.

"Flora," Clive lifted himself out of the water and sat on the edge, "Need a hand?" He held out his hand as Flora tried to swim back to the platform.

"No," she replied angrily.

"I think you do," he smiled at her grabbing her hands and pulling her on his lap.

"Clive," she said uncomfortably, "Get off of me," She pushed him back.

"Listen, I just want to say I'm sorry," Clive scratched back of his head awkwardly, like he always does.

"I know, I'm not mad by the way," she offered him her hand, "It's just nobody understands, I used to be able to firebend and now I can't, don't ask me why because I'm not ready to tell you. But I just can't anymore." She crossed he arms and turned away, "It just makes me upset when you guys forget to include me in your stupid plans and things."

"You know, Luke and I, we'll always be there for you." Clive stood behind her, "I promise."

"Thanks," she sighed at the platform began to rise.

"Really," he smiled, "Always."

"I get it," she laughed pushing him playfully to the side.

"Alrighty, everyone, the referees have declared it a win for Team Avatar! One more and they win the match against Don Paolo's Master's of Disguise!" The crowd let out a hearty cheer as Clive and Flora made it back up to the ring.

"Okay you guys, that last idea didn't work as well as we had hoped, so let's try something new," Luke brought the circle together, draping his arms over his teammate's shoulders.

"Yeah, it might be better to think of something different, who is their strongest player?" The three all craned their heads back towards the other end of the ring.

"Max," they said in unison. The boy was standing awkwardly with a hunching back, screaming "Ding, ding, ding," every few seconds. Though he was probably the youngest and… strangest of the three, he was definitely the better trained of the team.

"So how do we take him out?" Luke asked.

"Well, I'll aim for him, Flora you redirect Hazel's shots at him and Luke you put him on the spot with the final blow, after their middle link is broken off, the chain will fall a part." Clive grinned, as did the rest of the group, "Team Avatar on three."

Clive put his hand in first, the supporting base, Flora put her hand in second, the glue holding the team together, and Luke put his hand on top, protecting his friends for his life.

"1, 2, 3," Luke smiled.

"Team Avatar!"

They dispersed, standing strongly on their claimed territory of the ring. The crowd began to notice that the hoped final round of the match was beginning, Team Avatar beginning to become their new favorite. The announcer cleared his dry throat, adjusting his tie and coughing into his sleeve.

"Welcome back benders! And I must say this has been quite an interesting match! It's gone incredibly fast-"

"It's not over yet!" A deep, crackly man's voice erupting from the crowd.

"I guess so," the announcer laughed, "Well on the count of three, 1, 2, 3!" The gong sounded for the hoped last time as the benders sprung into action. Clive jumped into the air as discs flew out from under him, flinging them at Max who stood in the middle trying to fight the shots off with his waterbending.

On the other side of the ring Hazel was punching fireballs at Flora who redirected the energy back to Max who began to back up from the amount of force being hurled at him. Team Avatar advanced. Next Luke took slow steady motions as a wave of water came surging over his head, with one quick motion, his hands flicked downwards and the water took Max out, he was pulled under the wave.

Without their supporting glue, Becky and Hazel tried their best to patch up what was left, which wasn't too much. Becky quickly forced the discs out of the ground sending them straight to Clive who ducked under and jumped over as best as he could. Flora on the other hand couldn't do anything if Hazel wasn't doing anything, she tried her best to make a simple flame but nothing seemed to spark.

"Flora, look out!" Luke screamed as an earth disc suddenly came zooming to her nose. Without any bending to support herself she covered her face just a little to late and she was sent rolling over the edge of the ring and into the water.

"Oh no," Clive's face was boiling red, "You're not getting away this- time!" He lifted up every disc on his side with his arms in a raising motion and crumpled them together before letting it roll Becky into the waves. She didn't know what even hit her as the rock crumples to dust. When Hazel was the only one left, he seemed to too anxious to even start a spark. Carelessly Luke sent a torpedo into his stomach and he was sent into the water.

"Team Avatar has won their first match!" The announcer cried, "They best the most advanced team…" Clive droned the man out as he ran towards the edge of the ring, Flora was being escorted from the water , "Luke," Clive said to get his attention as flowers were thrown from the stands, "Luke!" He shouted at the boy.

"What?" He shot Clive a dirty look.

"Something is wrong with Flora!" Luke's head snapped back at him as they ran to the edge of the ring.

"Jump in, with me," he said quickly pushing his feet off the ground and flying down into the rippling water. Clive looked down slightly scared, but he shook the little fear he had and jumped down into it as well. He came splashing down in waves as he tried to swim back to the surface. When he reached air, he tried to wipe the water from his eyes to get a clear view of the platform that Luke was just now getting on top of.

"Hey!" Clive swam over quickly hoisting himself up onto the platform along with Luke, Flora and two paramedics, "Is she okay?" He stood awkwardly next to the boy dripping wet.

"I think she'll be fine," one paramedic told him as Flora held her throbbing head, "Just keep her rested for a few days, she should be able to compete in another few days."

"Alright, thanks," Clive smiled at the two as they exited the arena, "Hey are you alright?" He plopped himself down next to her.

"I think I'll be fine, but I have a bloody nose," she pouted holding a red tissue to her face.

"Here, let's get you up stairs," Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her up as the platform began to rise up back to the ring. The arena was louder than loud as they screamed shouts of happiness and surprise.

"We won?" She asked, a little bit dazed.

"Yes, we did," Clive smiled wrapping his arm around her as they exited the platform and stood proudly in the spotlights.

"I could definitely get used to this," Flora laughed.

"So could I," Luke smiled, waving at his new adoring fans.

"Just wait," Clive grinned at the two of them, "It gets much better."

…

As the weeks went by the team blew people away. They were winning against every team that came into their path. By the end of the postseason they were 12-0, completely undefeated and into the Championship rounds without question. They were also winning fans' undivided attention, which in some cases was great, but in others… not as much.

"Do we have any milk left?" Flora asked loudly searching through their refrigerator in the early afternoon.

"I thought we did," Luke replied while flipping through the radio stations in the living room.

"Sorry, I used it up this morning!" Clive yelled while running down the steps from his room, almost stepping on little Toppy.

"In other words, Team Avatar has been named the greatest Pro-Bending team to step into the arena!"

"Wait, Luke, don't change the channel!" Clive took a quick peek into the kitchen to see if Flora was looking, when she wasn't he jumped over the couch and plopped down next to Luke was who turning the sound up.

"I must say, that they really have put up a good fight!" Another announcer responded.

"I can't wait to see how they'll do in the finals, which are coming up very soon. I'm also interested to know about the little romance that has been brewing." The announcer laughed.

"Romance?" Flora shouted, running out into the living room. He propped her hands on the back of the sofa.

"Yes, I've heard from many different eye witnesses, both Clive and Luke are fighting for Flora's heart!"

"What?" Luke stood up, angry bubbling in him, "No, I don't like Flora like that! What if, what if Arianna is listening to this… I have to go ring her… I have to!" Luke dashed into his room, fumbling to find the telephone that the Professor had hooked up about a week earlier. While in the living room, an awkward silence between the two filled the room as the radio suddenly shut off.

"Flora," Clive stood up, his hands were sweating. What should he say? He did like Flora, but enough to love her, he wasn't sure.

"Clive- I," a loud pounding rang from the doorway.

"I'll get it," Luke came out of his room, annoyed, nobody had picked up the phone on the other line. He sauntered lazily up to the doorway and swung it open ,"Emmy?" The woman was standing there, her face haggard, there were bags under her eyes and her hair was now in the biggest, mess not even the professionals could take care of it.

"Get your things now," She ran into the flat, "Clive, Flora!" She hollered, "Pack up, now all of you need to-!" The entire place shook from an explosion erupting from the outside world, "Now!" Flora whipped around; worry ceased the lines in her face.

"What's going on Emmy?" She was on the verge of tears.

"Get a bag, put only necessaries in," she ushered Flora into her room to pack everything up, "Clive!" She screamed again.

"What's going on?" Another explosion sent him onto the floor next to the sofa. He then quickly stood up, grabbed the portable radio on the coffee table, and ran up to his room to grab anything he would need.

"Pack up now!" Emmy shrieked once more before running into Luke's room and pulling out his bag and throwing it at him back in the hallway, "Put this in the Professor's car, now we don't have much time," She came very close to his face; he could see the sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Emmy, what's going on?" He managed to whisper.

"The Family is attacking, Scotland Yard raided one of their-" Another bomb shook the base of the house, "Raided one of their ammunition supplies, but they obviously have more, go, get into the car, now," Emmy pushed Luke lightly towards the door, his bag squeezed to his chest.

"Flora, Clive, get out of here now!" Emmy ran into Flora's room, she was throwing clothes from her dresser into a little pink suitcase, "We don't have time, come on!" Emmy grabbed the bag from the girl and zipped it up as best to her ability before running back to the car. Without thinking Flora hastily followed her.

"Clive!" Emmy stopped before running outside, "You need to get out, the-" the next bomb sent both of them against the stairs, "Uh!"

"I'm coming!" Clive suddenly came running down the steps; his duffel bag was under his arm flopping aimlessly up and down. Emmy was the first to recover; she pushed herself up with a gust of wind sent from her fingertips. Soon after she pulled Flora up by her right arm and the young man rapidly followed them.

"Hurry, you two get into the car, quickly, the Family is attacking!" Emmy kicked down the front door with an airbending kick, it went flying across the street and landed on the sidewalk "Now!" The two immediately obeyed, they scurried outside, and when they looked up, they were met with a horrible sight. Planes clouded the sky, letting bombs fall from their underbelly, dropping them where ever they chose. A few houses down the road had caught on fire making the air uncomfortable and un-breathable.

By this time, Luke had the trunk open; he was shoving his bag inside next to the Professor's rocks, artifacts, and old textbooks. Luke eventually fit his inside the back when he realized he forgot something very important.

"Put your things in the rear!" he cried to Clive and Flora, "I need to go get something!" Luke darted straight past them and back into the house, running into Emmy in the process.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She gripped his shoulders.

"I forgot something," He looked her in the eye; she saw a flash of blue light, a flash of the Avatar's true power.

"Be back out here in less than a minute," he nodded to her as she glided past him. Luke ran to his room and shuffled through the drawers, his waterbending scroll. He pulled it out and ran with it, tight in his hand.

"Luke!" Emmy shouted while getting into the car. The young boy suddenly appeared out of the archway, the old paper in hand.

"I'm coming!" He hurriedly rounded the car out into the street and whipped the left hand door open. Flora grabbed his arms in the process and pulled him inside as his foot got caught onto the handle and he pulled it closed.

"Let's go," she mumbled to herself as she pressed on the gas and old car started up. Clive, who was next to her, turned his head to the right to face her.

"Where are we going?" He asked calmly as the car began to speed down the bombed streets and avenues.

"Here," Emmy pulled out a letter addressed to a woman by the name of Janice Quatlane.

"Who is Ja-" he didn't have time to finish.

"She is a friend of the Professor's who lives in the North Water Tribe, she's a singer," Emmy increased the speed of the car which was now by far breaking the speed limits, "She told him if he ever needed help, she would supply it," Emmy breathed in as she increased the speed a second time making Luke and Flora in the back create indents on their seats.

"So that's where we're going?" Clive asked.

"Look who's catching on?" Emmy smirked, but didn't take one eye off the road, "Put that into your jacket pocket now, we can't loose it." Clive nodded and opened an in jacket pocket and stuffed it inside, "Now," she paused to once again boost the speed, by this time the car was heading directly for the docks of London, over the Thames.

"Emmy!" Luke cried.

"Just…" she pulled the steering wheel back slightly, "Hold…" She pressed down the accelerator, "ON!" Emmy pressed a small red button on the corner of the dashboard as the car flew straight off towards the water. But instead of diving right into the waves, wings sprouted from all sides and a propeller spun just by Flora and Luke's heads. The roof completely disappeared as the group flew through the air.

"Emmy!" Flora quickly ducked down, afraid of falling from such a high height.

"Put on your seat belts, it's going to be a little bumpy!" Emmy twisted the wheel to the left and the car spun towards the direction of the city, "Stay low all of you!" She screamed. Luke peered over the car door, the city was in flames, air planes dropped bombs anywhere that there weren't any and people franticly ran from place to place.

"This is what I was talking about," Luke said quietly, "How to help people."

"Oh my God," Emmy stared down at what once was Scotland Yard, masked men threw punches at Inspector Chelmey, Grosky, and the Professor who tried their best to fight them off.

"What?" Clive asked her, trying to get a peak at what was going on.

"Chi-Blockers…" Emmy stopped looking down and stared forward. I have to get the Avatar to safety; I have to get the Avatar to safety. She repeated in her head, then she had an idea, it was crazy, yes, but she had to help them somehow. "Do you know how to drive?" Emmy turned to Clive who was still trying to see what was happening at Scotland Yard.

"Yes- yes, but not this thing…" he trailed off while looked at the dashboard.

"It's just like a car," she put a hand on his shoulder, "I have to help the Professor, please Clive," she looked him in the eye, begging for his help.

"Well…" Emmy rounded the car so she was heading towards the station.

"Three…" She whispered to herself.

"Emmy, I don't know-"

"Two…" She let her hands fall from the steering wheel.

"Emmy, don't!" Clive tried to grip her shoulders, but she brushed him away.

"One!" She pushed herself from his grip and drove in a perfectly straight dive down to the station. Once close enough to the ground, she moved her hands in circular motions to create a gust of wind and she touched down with a powerful surge of air towards three Chi-Blockers coming running at her and then another three charging with anger running through them.

Clive on the other hand jumped forward to grab the wheel to keep the car from falling onto the streets. He slid into the driver's seat and switched gears as he drove in a downwards motion increasing speed steadily. Then he hit the gas forcefully as the car zoomed out of the flaming city. Luke looked back at the fire and the fear, the last thing he saw of London was the Professor losing his consciousness.

Hey guys! Sorry for the longness and the long update, but I wanted to make this epic! Thanks for everyone who is reading this, I really enjoy writing this story, also, I might be writing a little Christmas one-shot for Professor Layton soon, and I'm extremely excited about that! Also, I'm sorry for all the Clive/Flora moments in this chapter is that isn't your thing, but trust me I'll have plenty of other cute couple moments as well, you just wait! Thanks! Peace out girl scout! -Lil