Chapter 9: Tale of the Avatar
(A/N: As of this chapter forward this story is now co-written by Iron117Prime and myself. Iron117Prime writes in third person while I write in first so it wlll be easy to tell who is writing what... I also do some light editing too... Now on to the chapter!)
Underground Lair
Envy sat on one of the large tubes in the dark lair with a single large light. He sat and waited impatiently for the others to arrive. He then finally heard the sounds of two sets of feet come in.
"About time you guys showed up." Envy said impatiently.
Lust and Gluttony both walked into the light.
"Is there a reason you called us down here?" Lust asked. "I have my own responsibilities to take care of; such as hunting down that annoying Ishvalan."
"And I had to cut my snack short." Gluttony wined.
"Believe me, that Ishvalan's the least of our worries now." Envy told them.
"Oh? What could be so important then?" Lust asked.
"That Fullmetal pipsqueak's got some new friends with him." Envy told her with his arms crossed.
"So? What's so important about that?" Lust questioned.
"Well one of them just so happens to be the Avatar."
Lust's eyes went so wide they we're almost circular.
"Yeah, you heard me." Envy told her with a scowl. "Oh, and apparently the pipsqueak's the half-brother of the current Fire Lord."
"Are you certain?" Lust asked with a look of disbelief.
"Would I be telling you if I weren't?" Envy questioned while rolling his eyes.
Lust had a look of frustration as she muttered out, "The Avatar... This could present a problem."
"Yeah, especially since he's got all his little friends with him too." Envy replied.
"Ooh!" Gluttony said happily. "The Avatar! Can I eat him Lust? Can I?"
Envy gave a mocking laugh. "You'd be lucky to even get close to him."
"So now we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed." Lust said while trying to calm down the ravenous Homonculus.
"Yeah, no duh." Envy said rolling his eyes.
"I suppose I could try to slit his throat in his sleep or something along those lines." Lust pondered. "Or you could perhaps change into one of his friends just like you did the last one."
"I guess I could do that." Envy smiled at that thought. "Eh, could you imagine the look on that brat's face if I turned into his little Waterbending girlfriend? That would be hysterical!"
"That won't be necessary." A forth voice spoke out.
The three Humonculi turned to the large stone throne in the center of the room, that the light was directly centered under. In the chair sat a man in a white robe with blonde hair and a beard with gold eyes.
"I am afraid I cannot allow any of you to end the Avatar's life." The man spoke with all seriousness.
"With all due respect Father." Lust began "This is the Avatar we're talking about; he very well could be the biggest thorn in our side yet."
"True." Father admitted. "However, not only is he the Avatar, but for the moment is he also the last living Airbender, which makes him an important sacrifice to us. That being said, our plan cannot commence if he we're to die now."
"Yeah, that's right." Envy recalled with a groan. "We need Fire, Earth, Water, and Airbenders for this; and a non-bender as well to go along with our other sacrifices."
"And given how the Avatar already has those who fit those descriptions in his company, they could be potential sacrifices to us as well; so keeping them alive is now a necessity." Father instructed while toying with the drawings at his side.
"You don't seem particularly worried though." Lust observed with her arms crossed.
"Of course not." Father said with a smirk. "I'm looking forward to meeting the boy."
"Why's that?" Lust asked.
"It's a fundamental law that existed long before bending or alchemy even began; the one true law that existed since the beginning of creation. For every force in the universe, there is an equal and opposite. Creation and Destruction; Order and Chaos; Love and Hate; Light and Darkness; Yin and Yang; the Avatar and Myself."
Father held up a small figure with arrows carved into it's head and set it down on one of his circles saying, "When we do come face-to-face with the Avatar it will likely be a battle that will shake the planet to its very core."
"Now there's a fight I'd like to see." Envy said with a smug grin.
"I'm quite sure you're looking forward to seeing that Waterbender girl again, aren't you Envy?" Lust asked with a equally smug look.
"You know it." Envy then shifted to the form of a fire nation solider said with an evil smile. "I never forget a face"
*his mind flashes to Katara's face as a little girl, then one when she's her current age*
From his throne, Father gave a small smile himself, looking forward to meeting the only being in the universe who could possibly be his equal.
Fire Nation
Zuko, Ty-Lee, Katara, Toph, Ed, Al, Sokka, Mai, Hakoda (Katara and Sokka's dad), and Suki we're all sitting at a dinning table. Ed just finished telling his tale to Suki, Hakoda, and Ty-Lee; Their mother's death, their failed attempt, the loss of Al's body, and Ed's limbs. Ty-Lee had covered her mouth in absolute shock with fresh hot tears drenching her cheeks.
"Your… mother?" Suki said with the shock ever present in her voice.
"Yeah..." Ed said with his head down low; same for Zuko and Al.
"We've been trying to find a way to get our bodies back ever since." Al added softly.
"Oh. You poor things." Ty-Lee said with sympathy evident in her face and her eyes puffy from the tear track.
"Is it just me, or is everyone in this group been through some kind of Hell at one point or another, huh Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked, only to find that Aang was looking out a window deep in thought.
"Aang?" Katara asked at tab bit worried.
"You okay?" Zuko asked as well trying to adjust his sling a bit.
"Scar." Aang said softly, surprising everyone at the table bringing their eyes towards him. "Ed, you said he's the survivor of a genocide of his people?" He asked, not even turning around.
"Yeah, what of it?" Ed asked.
"Uh Scar?" Suki asked Sokka in confusion.
"A serial killer who was the survivor of a nation called Ishval after the result of a civil war or as many people called it... A war of extermination..." Sokka asked quietly. "He's a total psycho! He's also the same guy who's responsible for what happened to Zuko's arm..."
Ty-Lee and Suki looked in surprise as Zuko then took of his sling revealing the shining black metal beneath. The gazed in horror and shock at Zuko's automail while Zuko held it up like a normal hand. Mai's face was evident with anger, no doubt thinking of ways to get back at the man who did this to her boyfriend.
Katara looked to Aang, who thoughts were now obvious to what he was thinking about.
"If things could have been a little different... I could have ended up just like Scar..." Aang said in a whisper.
"Aang no!" Katara told him as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You're nothing like that maniac! You're a sweet and caring boy, you try everything to help people. You're not the kind of guy who would try and kill for revenge. You even told me that revenge never solves anything. It just keeps feeding the circle of hate."
"Sugar Queen's right Twinkle Toes." Toph spoke up. "Revenge just isn't you're thing."
"Besides, I bet you can easily beat that Scar freak." Sokka told him.
Aang smiled at his friends. "Thanks guys."
"Uh. You mind telling us what you're talking about?" Ed asked with a brow raised. He truly wondered how this kid could be like that psychopath.
Aang gave a deep sigh. He knew this story would come up sometime or another.
"Well you see… Aang." Zuko tried to speak.
"Zuko it's okay. I should tell them." Aang said looking towards him.
"Tell us what?" Al asked innocently.
"As you know, this part of the world is called the Four Nations." Aang began. "The reason it's called that is because it comprises of the Four Nations that represent each of the Four Elements; the Fire Nation, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomads. A century ago, Fire Lord Sozin declared war on the rest of the world set on conquering the world; his first act of war was the genocide of my people; wiping out the Air Nomads..."
Ed's eyes we're so wide they we're almost circular. Al gave a light gasp inside his armor.
"Your own people…." Al began in a echo whisper.
"…wiped out?" Ed finished still shocked.
"Yeah. But the reason he attacked wasn't just to kill off a nation that could oppose him; it was to end me..." Aang told them looking down.
"Kill you?" Al asked. "Why you?"
"Wait a minute." Ed began. "You said that was a hundred years ago, and it was meant to kill you..." Aang nodded. "HOW OLD ARE YOU!?"
"Technically I'm 13." Aang said rubbing the back of his neck.
"THIRTEEN!?" Ed and AL both yelled as they fell back anime-style.
"The reason I was the target was because I'm the Avatar."
"Ava-what?" Ed asked.
"Centuries ago, the spirits created a man who could not only control all four elements at once, but could also connect the human and spirit worlds and maintain peace between them and the Four Nations. That man was called the Avatar. Every time the Avatar dies he is reincarnated into the next stage of the cycle. For example, the first Avatar was a Firebender, when he died he was reincarnated as an Airbender, then a Waterbender, then an Earthbender, then back to Fire, and the cycle repeats all over again." Aang explained.
He then added, "Remember I told a little about this back in Amestris."
It took about a minute for the details to sink in for Ed and Al. "So… you're saying… you're some kind of messiah?" Ed asked in all seriousness.
"Pretty much." Aang replied with a shrug.
Ed gave a laugh as if he was going crazy. He face palmed as he laughed. "Oh man, life is sure screwed the hell up."
"How are you still thirteen if the genocide was a hundred years ago?" Al asked.
"Well, I was kind of… frozen for the whole century." Aang replied.
From there Aang and his friends explained the whole story to the Elric brothers not just the basic detail one they got on the ride to Liore. Katara and Sokka finding Aang frozen in the iceberg, traveling across the world, being hunted by Zuko for while, going to the North Pole, Zhao invading the North Pole, meeting Toph, being hunted by Azula, going to Ba-Sing-Se, Aang getting shot in the back with lightning and almost dying, hiding in the Fire Nation, the Day of Black Sun, Zuko joining the group, and finally the final battle on the day of Sozin's comet.
"Wow." Was all Ed could say. "It really does look like we all went through Hell..."
"Yeah looks like it." Aang replied with a nod.
Al turned to Katara. "I'm sorry about your mother Katara."
"Thanks Al." Katara replied as she held her necklace lovingly.
After a brief moment of silence Ed finally broke it. "Al and I should probably head back to Amestris by tomorrow. We need to start looking into Marco's notes for the way to make a Philosopher's Stone."
"You mean we should be heading back to Amestris." Zuko told him placing an arm on his younger brother's shoulder.
"Zuko…?" Ed asked.
"Aren't you the Fire Lord? Don't you have duties that you need to do here?" Al asked softly not that he was objecting to spending more time with his older half brother.
"I'm sure my uncle can cover for me for a while longer. Plus, you guys are my brothers, I'm not letting you out of my sight any time soon." Zuko assured with a warm smile.
"And you can bet we got your backs too." Sokka told him holding up his arm in a muscular position.
"Guys..." Ed began softly.
"Sorry Metalbutt." Toph interrupted punching him in the arm. "We're stuck with you rather you like it or not. End of discussion."
"You really don't have…" Al began
"You guys are our friends and we're gonna help you." Katara assured with a warm smile.
"I used to believe that everything in the world was my responsibility." Aang began. "That I had to do it alone. But, it doesn't hurt to have friends to help be there for you."
The Elric Brothers looked to each other. "What do you think Al?" Ed asked in all seriousness.
"Well they've got some talent in self defense that's for sure." Al told him. "Plus with someone like the Avatar on our side, I bet we can find the Philosopher's Stone even faster..."
Al looked down a bit and said, "I would also like to be around Nii-san a bit more..."
Ed smiled at that and declared, "Well that settles it; we'd be happy to have you with us."
The whole group smiled at what he said.
"Aright! Team Avatar is back!" Sokka announced happily. "Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Fan, Sword and now Alchemy!"
"Is he always like this?" Ed asked.
"You get used to it." Katara told him as they both sweat-dropped.
The Next Day
The newly reformed Team Avatar had began to pack up to mount on Appa and head back to Amestris.
"You sure you're not coming with us? We could really use you're help." Sokka asked Suki.
"Sorry Sokka, Ty-Lee and the other Kyoshi Warriors still have duties to take care of here. Good luck over there okay."
"Thanks. See you soon."
Sokka and Suki hugged then kissed.
"What about you? You sure you don't wanna come?" Zuko asked Mai.
"Sorry, my parents say I have to stay here for a little while after my sudden trip around the world." Mai droned.
"When have you ever let that stop you?" Zuko said with a cocked smile.
"You're hilarious." Mai replied sarcastically as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
Iroh then approached Al and Zuko and said, "Take care my nephews... And watch out for one another while there."
Zuko nodded and said, "We will and thank you Uncle..."
"You guys coming? The sooner we get into the air, the sooner we get out of it." Toph said impatiently, not looking forward to flying for that long again.
Aang was at the reins as Zuko and Sokka climbed up and sat with Al, Toph, and Katara.
"Alright, everyone ready?" Aang asked.
"Wait, where's brother?" Al asked.
Fire Nation Prison
Ozai sat against the wall in his cell. He heard the door open and a guard walk in.
"You have a visitor." The guard told him.
A blonde boy in a red jacket entered the cell with a look of anger and fury ever evident on his face.
"And who might you…" Ozai began.
Before he could finish the boy clapped his hands together and placed them to the ground. On the other side of the cell a stone fist quickly rose and punched Ozai in the face, sending him to the back of his cell and knocking out a few teeth.
"THAT WAS FOR ZUKO AND AZULA YOU PSYCHOTIC BASTARD!" The boy exclaimed.
He then clapped once more and two more fist punched his cheeks making his mouth bleed and face bruise.
"AND THAT WAS FOR MY MOTHER YOU POWER HUNGRY SON OF A BITCH!" The boy screamed before leaving and slamming the door shut leaving the former fire lord in a lot of pain.
Fifteen minutes later
Ed had just climbed onto Appa with a smug look on his face.
"And where have you been?" Katara asked him.
"Just giving a certain bastard a piece of my mind." Ed replied coolly while crossing his arms.
"Okay, let's go." Aang said "Appa Yip-yip!" Aang snapped the reins as Appa took off into the air.
Line Break
As Appa soared across the ocean once again, the group failed to notice they we're being followed in an unmarked balloon that flew quietly and far enough away so they couldn't see.
The balloon only held one passenger. A certain teenage girl with gold eyes and long brown black hair tied into a loose ponytail who had just escaped from her prison during some commotion in her father's cell. She had to do it, she needed to know more about her little brothers. She couldn't explain why, it was a feeling that was all new to her, was it concern for someone else...?
Azula flew after her brothers and their friends trying to figure out the meaning behind this feeling.