Sorry for the long wait. Read my Recent News on my profile and you'll find out why. New chapter!
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Chapter 16: The Finish
"And so, this is a wedgie." Jake finished, pulling up Sokka's underpants high.
Zuko nodded, fighting the urge to laugh at the look on the Water Tribe boy's face.
"Now, there are types of wedgies you can do. This one is called the Atomic Wedgie, where the underwear is actually over the head." Jake said, pulling up Sokka's loincloth as high as it could, but the fabric ripped and both boys were sent flying forwards and backwards. Katara and Rose laughed as they came over to Jake, Zuko, and Sokka.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked Jake; holding out her hand to help him up. Jake took it; laughing as he stood up.
"Of course, there's always that chance of snapping of the underwear." Jake recalled. Iroh and Long Shu approached them after playing a few games of Pai Gow.
"I just spoke to the helmsman; we will be in the Fire Nation by tomorrow." Iroh told them.
"Is it fast enough?" Rose questioned.
"We don't know, but we can hope." Long Shu replied.
"Hope isn't exactly something you have when a psychopath called your sister is out to kill you so she can get to the throne." Jake retorted.
Zuko himself said nothing; pursing his lips and, with a swift turn away, began to walk towards the rear deck. Everyone watched him total silence until he disappeared from sight.
"It's probably just some phase he's going through." Fu dog remarked with a shrug.
Sokka let out a crude snort of laughter at that comment. Katara turned to him and placed her hands on her pale hips.
"And what's so funny, Sokka?" she demanded.
"A phase? That incompetent jerk never has phases; he's just the same as any Firebender. He's pure evil." Sokka replied tersely.
Katara felt anger within her senses obviously directed at Sokka.
"He's not pure evil; you don't even know half of what he's already gone through! Why are you so superficial?" she snapped at him.
Sokka widened his eyes a bit out of surprise, but his face quickly drew a feature of being incensed by her slander.
"You're going soft. You know what the Firebenders did to our mother!" he shouted.
"Zuko didn't kill her! Other Firebenders did! And from what he's told me, the Fire Nation didn't even START the war!" Katara shouted back. Sokka stared at his sister; not used to this new side of her temper.
"What do you mean? We might be orphans now! Those killers probably massacred our dad and everyone else who was helping the Earth Kingdom fight!" Sokka screeched.
Katara looked at her brother; he was so naïve. But once, she was a female version of him; now she knew better. Sokka's heart has not been hardened by war; only angered by what rumors of the Fire Nation and their destruction. His ego was near massive and what he thought, he would never admit that he was wrong to.
'Just like me.' Katara thought and kept staring at him. Her body began to shake at these new discoveries and looked into her brother's eyes; he was prepared to disengage her as his sister if she so much as glanced at what life was like on the other side.
"Katara? Are you alright?" Rose whispered to her.
Jake watched as the entire scene unfolded as he intently watched Sokka.
'Was I like that?' he asked himself, remembering how he had broken up with Rose on the bus ride back from that fateful ski trip.
Was he just as cold as what's-his-name there? Did he even bother to empathize on what Rose felt? Did he ever consider anything else about the Huntsclan? Look deeper into their history, think more about the people, anything like that.
The answer was simple; no.
Jake felt guilty, he was the American Dragon; when he began training with his grandpa, he had sworn to always comply to the virtues, to fight for justice, but also to go on his own path.
He should have looked deeper into the Huntsclan instead of just mindlessly saying that they were all evil, taught to him by the order of the Dragon Council, maybe they had a deeper reason than slaying the magical creatures only for their own benefits.
"You always say that the Fire Nation is a bunch of murderers who will never feel a single emotion; that they were traitors. That's not true. You're no better than they are if you just THINK so narrow-mindedly, you hypocrite!" Katara shouted at him, feeling her throat tighten and tears come to her eyes.
Before Sokka could think of another retort, she turned her heel and ran before she hoped anyone would see her tears.
As she ran on the deck, her hands went to cover her face and she tried to wipe away the tears when she felt the ship tilt violently, sending her to the side of the ship and over the railing!
Zuko, turning to go back after cooling off his temper, saw her fly over and ran over to where she fell; managing to grab her by the end of her pink pants.
Opening her mouth, Katara let out a shrill scream.
A few moments earlier on the front deck
"She's right, you know." The voice of 'Rose' and Sokka turned to her.
"So you're siding with the Fire Nation now?" he asked in snubbing manner. Jake crossed his arms.
"I don't know too much about this whole war, but I'd say that you ARE a hypocritical, foolish, egomaniac who cares for nothing but your own gains; the exact type of person whom everyone should be against." Jake replied coldly to him.
A scream interrupted their conversation and everyone on the deck turned to see Zuko in Jake's body keeling over the deck holding onto something. Jake and Rose bolted towards them, looking down to see Katara about to fall away with Zuko holding on to only her ankle.
The ship continued to rock side to side, in nearly every direction and no one could get a steady footing to help Katara. Zuko realized, in near horror, that his hands had begun to sweat and that the seawater had splashed on his hands; causing her to begin slipping from his grip.
"Hey!" he shouted to the stumbling passengers aboard his ship.
Jake and Rose were tossed on either side of him and tried to grab Katara but she was somewhat stricken with panic and began to twist and turn; causing Zuko's grip to disintegrate on her ankle faster.
"Katara, listen to me!" Rose suddenly shouted to her.
"Close your eyes and focus on flipping to the front. Then, lift your head up as far as you can and extend your arms; we'll pull you up!" Rose shouted.
Katara nodded, closing here eyes and, to her amazement, flip upwards and her hands were caught as she was pulled to the solid wooden deck again.
"We're under attack!" A voice from above shouted and just behind them, the 4 switched teens saw, was a procession and psychopath; thou name is Azula, was in the rear with a smug smile on her lips.
"I'll hold them off!" Aang shouted suddenly and pulled out his glider.
"No, I'll do it! I know the structure of the boat that'll surely slow it down majorly." Zuko offered.
Aang stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Dragon up." Zuko whispered quietly and instantly, the whole 'inside-out-skin-feeling returned.
In an instant, he took off into the air and was headed towards the ship. Katara, Rose, Jake, Sokka, Aang, Long Shu, and Iroh watched as Zuko swooped just as he was near the back of the boat. As night nearly fell, everyone saw balls of bright light assembled from the dragon's hands and each of them streaking a length before crashing into a part of the ship like a spear.
"How can HE do that?" Jake asked his grandpa. "He actually studied instead of, oh, I don't know, maybe CARELESSLY AND RECKLESSLY SKATEBOARD AND LISTENING TO THAT HOP-HIP MUSIC AND HE ESPECIALLY DIDN'T FLIRT WITH THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF SCHOOLGIRLS AT ONCE!" he shouted.
"That's Hip-hop, G." Jake sighed exasperatedly.
Zuko landed again and changed back.
"Let's all sleep; we must beat Azula at all costs tomorrow." Iroh said as he ushered the guests into various rooms.
Sunrise
"NO WAY!" Jake shouted as he saw the message.
Azula had arrived hours earlier into the Fire Nation and the coronation was going along even as they spoke.
"We need to get to the palace, now!" Zuko exclaimed as he punched the metal wall.
"Children, do you lack common sense?" Long Shu asked calmly.
"G, this is no time for your riddles!" Jake snapped.
"What do you mean, we lack common sense?" Zuko demanded.
"Dragon Powers." Long Shu replied simply and in an instant, Jake's, or in this case Zuko's, face lit up instantly.
"We can fly there!" he exclaimed in excitement.
The girls looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Just climb on someone's back." Jake said simply and managed to turn his new body into a dragon.
Zuko repeated the action along with Long Shu.
Rose nodded; climbing on Jake's back and Katara onto Zuko's. Iroh climbed onto Long Shu and apologized if his weight would slow him down. Fu dog, Toph, Aang and Sokka all boarded Appa. When everyone was safe, the dragons and bison took off into the air.
"I think I'm going to be sick…" Fu dog murmured as he clutched his stomach.
Momo came over to him; prodding curiously at Fu's short tail.
"Hey, watch the tail!" Fu dog snapped at the lemur.
At the Fire Palace
"...you are succeeded by…" the head Fire Sage began, but was interrupted when a battle cry sounded through the air and, in the flashes of a second, something knock away all of the guard surrounding the princess.
"Not so fast, you usurper!" A male voice sounded to her left.
Azula, angered at the interruption, turned to become face to face with a tall, golden-scaled dragon.
A girl in blue clothes jumped off of his back and got into a fighting stance.
The dragon changed form back into her brother and got into a fighting stance also.
The people gasped at the transformation; the ancient prophecy…
2 more dragons with people on their backs descended and turned into a younger boy and old man.
A dark shadow cascaded onto her and she saw thick fur as it landed heavily down and 3 people jump down, a fourth climbing down shakily.
Azula scanned everyone that surrounded her, the bison now gone.
"Surrender!" the black-haired boy shouted to her brazenly.
"Never!" she spat out, launching a circuit of lightning at everyone.
Jake threw forth the most powerful punch he could muster at the time and watched as the fire collided with the lightning and, in amazement, cancel it out. Azula's eyes widened at the sight.
"Kill them!" she shouted.
At once, multiple guards came towards them and began to attack. While everyone else occupied themselves with the guards, Jake decided to finish something that Zuko had started.
He saw Azula trying to get away and ran after her. In the time of training with Iroh, he learned to outrun most of his soldiers and he caught up with his 'sister' in no time.
He grabbed her soldier and flipped her around to face him.
"You're scared." He realized aloud.
"I-I am not!" Azula spat at him, sending a blast of lightning to the tall, dry kindling they were both standing on.
Jake let her go at the sight of the Fire.
Azula, realizing his distraction, blew a large bolt of lightning in front of who she thought was her brother; watching as he raised his hands to his head and his body disappeared into the smoke.
She smiled smugly; the throne was all hers.
"Think again." A voice rang out from behind the fire.
Jake stepped forth, no burns anywhere on him, this time with a hard and merciless glint in his eyes.
No, it couldn't be! All of her fears were now becoming reality.
Desperately, she ran to him; pushing him off of his feet, and darted back towards the coronation grounds.
Jake pulled himself up and set out to run after her.
She arrived to a scene of chaos and the head Fire Sage, though frozen with fear, standing there with the crown in his hands.
She grabbed the collar of his robes.
"Coronate me!" she demanded.
The Fire Sage nodded, stumbling on his speech a bit.
"I crown you—" He began hesitantly.
"No!" Zuko shouted, punching away a last guard as he tackled Azula away.
The others scrambled forward, but none of them counted on this.
"–Fire—"he began, but stopped.
Everyone stared at the new Fire Lord and one thought ran through their minds.
'HUH?'
Guess the person who was crowned and you get a big virtual cookie!
Oh, and I've been talking with cbruce12 over at Deviantart about a sequel to Ninjitsu. Should I do one?
PS: the title of the sequel will be Taijutsu unless you have a different title in mind (ok, maybe a trilogy and the 3rd part is called Genjutsu. XD)