Chap. 9
The first hit was felt all the way in the palace, as the cannons bombarded the city. Buildings shuddered and crumbled as the people ran in fear from the harbor, where the mists had suddenly grown thick. The guards stationed there had already gotten to the dock's own weapons- spear-guns, archers, Firebenders, and motor boats so they could attack directly. They sat there, fearful of whatever lay within the mist, but ready to attack the minute it showed itself.
The commanders watched intently, as the archers readied their aim, and the Firebenders put use the vast concentration their form called for. But it was a lone private who first noticed movement within the mist, and called out to his fellow soldiers. The commanders immediately called to their troops to prepare for the attack, as a large shape within the mist became more and more visible. One by one, the soldiers trained their eyes and readied their weapons and bodies, ready to attack the enemy.
Slowly, the mists parted, as the enemy ship sailed out of it's hiding place. All of the soldiers saw it, but even with all their preparation, not a one of them fired a shot. It might have been the fact that the ship was one of their own, a firebird-class vessel that towered over them. It might have been the fact it was covered in barnacles and various forms of sealife that crawled and moved all about it, as though the ocean floor had somehow given birth to a ship. But most likely, it was the crew of men onboard the ship, men who had also been merged with the sea, and cursed at them with mouths full of scales and shook arms that ended in pinchers and tentacles.
As the twisted ship drew closer and closer, one of those aquatic men threw a dagger towards one of the archers. It landed at his feet, which was enough to break the man of his shock and let loose the arrow he had notched. It sped through the air, only to be batted away by the sword of the leader, a mix of man and lobster. He grinned through his crusty, bug-eyed face, and let a single word- "FIRE!"
The ship's cannons responded instantly, breaking the silence with thunder as the docks exploded around them. The commanders yelled for the soldiers to attack, even as their own footing blew around them. Those that remained tried to follow orders, but then the strange men from the ship leapt onto the docks, racing towards their enemies...
"Fire Lord please!" The attendant begged. "This ship and its crew are exceptionally dangerous! Listen to those cannons!"
"And what do you think they're doing to my soldiers?" Zuko demanded. "I'm not going to let some ship come in here and destroy my city! Not without doing something about it!"
"But my Lord..."
Zuko merely pushed the man to the side as he headed to the doorway. He left the throne room and continued towards the main doors. As he walked, Jhee, who had been noticed him and moved to walk beside him.
"I don't suppose I can talk you out of this?" the general asked.
"What do you think?" Zuko asked.
"I thought so."
"What do the reports say?"
"... I'm not sure yet. The message from the hawk says that the ship is apparently one of our own, but looks like it's been sitting at the bottom of the sea. The same goes for the men crewing it."
"And our soldiers?"
"I've sent some of the best we have down to the docks becasue of all the problems there. But apparently even they're having trouble."
"Then you and I are going down there. What other reinforcements do we have?"
"The Avatar and his friends have already left. The Knights as well, except for Agua. And that pirate captiain is also unaccounted for."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Zuko muttered as he continued towards the door. But before he got there, Agua suddenly appeared from the side.
"Where are the others?" the cat asked. "Is everyone down there?"
"We were just going to join them." Zuko answered. "What do you know about this?"
"More then I want to." Agua answered. "Zuko, what's down there is something, or someone, that shouldn't even exist anymore. And if he's back to his old tricks again, he could do more then threaten the Fire Nation. He could threaten every port from here to Ba Sing Se."
"Then who is he? What are up against?" Zuko demanded.
"I'll let Jack... Jack?" Agua said, seeing the empty space next to him. The cat sighed, then held out his arm towards a nearby door. His flesh became watery, and suddenly the arm stretched outwards pushing through the door and down the hallway, until it finally halted and began to retract. After a moment, Zuko and Jhee saw it drag Jack Sparrow into the room, and dump him unceremoniously in front of them.
"Ferget where we were headed, Jack?" Agua asked.
"No, of course not. I was merely looking for proper armaments to..."
"Where did you get that?" Jhee asked, pointed to a large ruby necklace on Jack's neck.
"Nice try." Agua said, as he pulled Jack to his feet and tore the necklace off. "You want to stay here Jack, you help out."
"Well, I would." Jack replied. "But I would point out, that I have already fought this monstrosity and come out victorious, so then my monster list is quite nicely filled in this area..."
"You know what this thing is?" Zuko asked. "Then you are going to help, unless you want me to revoke your protection? Understand?"
"...Egregiously."
"Good. Now what is this?"
"He's called Davy Jones."
The military force that Jhee had assembled lay in shambles on the docks, as the fish-men made their way into the city. The people ran in fear as the crew of the ship attacked anything and everything that they came across. People were stabbed, captured, or in some cases, eaten, while the buildings were bombarded by bombs, swords, and whatever else the fishmen could get their hands on. The few guards and soldiers that remained put up as good a fight as they could, attacking their enemies with all the fire they could muster up. In some cases, it did work- the lobster-man advanced on a soldier, only to suddenly find himself engulfed in flame. But as he panicked, battering himself to put out the flame, the soldier suddenly felt a blade stuck between his ribs, as a shark man laughed from behind him.
But as the battle raged onwards, both sides suddenly noticed a large shadow passing over them from above. They glanced up, but a second too late, as the massive form of Appa suddenly landed with a crash, knocking everyone back as the bison roared. As the two sides watched, a figure leapt upwards from Appa's saddle, hanging in the air for a moment as he unleashed a stream of fire darts upon the fishmen, setting each of their scaly bodies ablaze. They screeched in pain, batting themselves to put out the fires, as Katara and Bosque leapt out of the saddles, each drawing their weapons to battle the creatures, while Appa did his part by swinging his tail about.
Bosque was the first to reach a foe, as he noticed one of the fishmen putting out the blaze. Raising his axe above his head, he prepared to bring it down on the thing's head. But the creature, a swordfish hybrid, stuck out its long pointed sword hand, driving the sharp fin into the squirrel's side. Bosque grunted in pain, dropping his axe as he moved to pull the spine out. But the fishman snarled at him, as it drew it's own sword and prepared to stab the Knight once more.
This time, Bosque was ready, as a vine shot it's way out of his sleeve, wrapped around the sword, and pulled it to the side. The swordfish started in surprise, which Bosque used to push him, and the spine, away from him. Grabbing his axe, the squirrel slammed it down, slicing off the monster's sword hand.
Meanwhile, Katara and Aang were dealing with a group of the creatures at once. The two of them stood back to back, Katara using her waterbending to force the creatures back, while Aang used a combination of Earth and firebending to do more damage. It was an effective strategy, but the creatures were surprisingly resilient, and more of them kept pouring in from the ship.
"I've got an idea! Aang, I need you make a stream of earth!" Katara yelled. Aang immdiately responded, drawing up the ground into a hard stream of rock and dirt that he blasted at the creatures. Katara then refoucsed her water into the stream, creating a blast of mud that struck the fishmen.
"I think I get it. Good plan!" Aang said, as he cut the stream and both he and Katara hardened their respective elements, trapping the fish-men in a frozen, rocky prison. The two benders looked at their work with a grin, but then they both smelled brine. They whirled around, in time to see a squid-man bring his sword down on them. But before his blade could reach them, a dark shape suddenly stretched forth from the shadow he cast and caught his blade with a clang. As Oscuridad reformed from the shadow, he pushed the creature off balance with his sword, then let loose with a burst of shadowfire. The squid man was knocked backwards by the dark flame, then finally hit the ground unconscious.
"Thanks for the save." Aang said, as the bat sheathed his sword.
"Don't mention it." Osc replied. "I see you two did well enough on your own."
"But what are these things?" Katara asked. "And where are they coming from?"
"At the moment, it's that ship that landed in the harbor." Osc said. "Luz and the others are already down there trying to cut it off at the source."
"Then that's where we need to go." Aang said.
"Indeed. Wait, didn't Bosque come with you?"
"Ah'm over here." Came a voice. They turned, to see the squirrel stranding over the beaten and vine wrapped form of the lobster man.
"Want some butter?" Osc asked.
"Maybe later. Ah'd rather head to the docks for the rest of them. Make a nice platter."
"Then let's go." Aang said, as he went over to get Appa.
"How many of them are we going to have to deal with?" Luz snarled, as she loosed another lightblast at a crustacean man, knocking him off the dock and into the water.
"Yer guess is as good as mine." Tierra said, as he swung his hammer about, while Fuego held them back with a fire whip. "But if we got on ta that ship, we could get a better number."
"I don't think that's possible right now." Trueno said, as he used his rod to direct a thunder burst at a horde of fish men. "There's too many guarding it. We've gotta keep pushing guys!."
"Oh great idea." Luz said, as she brought her blade about, catching the sword of a puffer fish man. She stood in place, as the two of forced their blades onto each other. Luz gritted her teeth against the force, but even then, she noticed another creature charging her. The fox tried to bring her sword about, hoping to release another lightburst. But the duel was taking all her strength just to hold it in place. The other creature rushed her, ready to strike, until a series of large rocks suddenly slammed into it, pushing away from Luz and into the sea.
"Don't say I didn't do anything for you red!" Tierra yelled, as he directed another rock at an incoming fish man.
"First time for everything!" Luz yelled back, as she kicked the puffer fish in the knee, forcing to back off. She followed this with a swift strike across his chest, and then a light burst.
"Guys! Cavalry!" Trueno said, pointing up to the sky. The trio turned to see the form of Appa flying overhead, as Aang, Katara, Oscuridad, and Bosque dropped down.
"Took you long enough." Tierra said.
"Sorry. We needed to get some butter." Osc said.
"Uh guys? Maybe we should focus on the fish people here." Katara said.
"Good point." Luz said, as she saw more of them pulling themselves up from the sea. "All right folks, sushi bar is open!"
With that, the two groups charged each other, ready to tear the other to shreds. And they would've gotten there, if a loud voice from above hadn't called out, "ENOUGH!"
Both groups stopped, as a pair of komodo rhinos suddenly entered the docks. One carried Zuko and Jhee, the other Agua and Jack. The cat was the first to disembark, leaving a very nervous Jack left on the rhino.
"Agua, what's going on here?" Osc asked as the cat approached.
"It's all right. I know what's going on." The cat answered. Looking towards the fish men, he said, "You have disgraced the name of the seas. I command you, in the sacred name of Ruta, mistress of all the waters, to leave this place!"
The fish men bristled, and some even backed away a bit, but no one actually left. They stood in place, as if they were afraid of the cat, but unable to leave. Seaking narrowed his eyes, then turned his gaze towards the ship.
"I am Seaking, son of Ruta, and Knight of the Water. In the name of my sacred mother, and the names of all the oceans, I command you to come forth. I command you to bring yourself before me, and be judged, Davy Jones!"
"WHAT?" Bosque spat. Turning to Jack, he snarled, "You said he was dead!"
"Yes, well, apparently it's not as permanent as I thought." Jack replied.
Bosque would've said more, but then a clanking sound began to echo from the ship. It sounded like footsteps, clanking down on the metal hull, as the ship's captain emerged from the bowels.
Gasps were heard as the form of Davy Jones walked across the deck to face his accuser. He was tall, his body a mix of the creatures of the sea- his beard of tendrils, claw hand, and peg leg, combined with his watery, barnacle encrusted hat and clothes. He walked slowly, methodically, using his appearance to make his presence. Finally, he stood at the bow of the ship, looked down at Agua, and snarled, "You dare to summon Davy Jones?"
"I dare." The cat answered. "You have no right to be in this world Jones. You broke your bargain, corrupted the Flying Dutchmen, and left thousands of souls stranded."
"In another world." Jones spat back. "But this one is mine now. I will not be denied the right to exist!"
"You lost that right when you threw away your duty!"
"Does my betrayal mean nothing? Does that not grant me no rights?"
"Calypso betrayed you Jones. Deal with her and let this world be!"
"Never. I will rule these seas as I ruled the others, and not even you will deny me!"
"This is crazy." Jhee whispered. "If Agua can't control him..."
"Jones doesn't listen to anyone." Fuego said. "This is someone who betrayed a goddess."
"I warn you Jones!" Agua yelled.
"With what?" Jones asked. "Your weak powers or... no... SPARROW!"
"Huh?" Seaking said, as he turned to see his rhino empty.. except for the hat sticking up from behind the saddle. The creature yawned, then moved away, revealing Jack Sparrow sitting there, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
"Nope, nobody with that name here." Jack said.
"YOU SCABBEROUS DOG! YOUR SOUL WILL BE MINE AND YOU WILL SERVE ON MY SHIP FOR AN ETERNITY!"
"What ship?" Seaking demanded. "The Dutchman is no longer yours."
"Ah, but this one is." Jones said. "And a fine crew, taking from the people of this world. People who use water quite well, from what I've seen."
"A Water Tribe.. Sokka's ship!" Katara gasped. Breaking away from the group, she faced Jones and demanded, "Where is my brother? Did you take him?"
"What would that be to me if I had, little girl?" Jones answered.
Eyes blazing, Katara drew forth the water, shaped into ice spike, and began to shoot them at Jones...
But what no one had noticed, was that since Jones had emerged, Tierra had been sniffing the air constantly. There was a new odor in the air, something faint, but still there underneath the brine. It had gotten stronger as Jones had stood there, and now, the dog finally recognized it, just as Katara let loose her spikes.
"NO!" the dog yelled, as he brought up the earth of the docks, shielding Jones as the spikes drilled themselves into it. He lowered the ground back down, as Katara gaped at him in disbelief.
"What are you doing? If he's got Sokka captured..."
"He does. But not in the ship." The dog answered. "Jones is a dead man. Jack, ya saw him fall?"
Jack nodded, and suddenly understanding dawned in Agua's face. Whirling around, he yelled, "JONES! YOU WILL RELEASE THAT BODY OR SO HELP ME, I"LL..."
"WHAT?" Jones sneered. "Killing me is simply killing your friend. And what would this lass think if you did such a thing to her brother?"
"What?" Katara gasped.
Jones smiled, as his beard parted and revealed his chest. A chest in which the sleeping face of Sokka lay dormant.