"So, let me see if I understand this correctly," Azula said as she sat on the ground in a circle with Ty Lee, Mai and their newest addition that went by the name of 'Copycat' or Kat for short. "You're a Zodiac Knight and you came from another world?"
"Judging by the fact that I had never heard of the Fire Nation, or Earth Kingdom or even the Water Tribe before, that would be the most logical assumption," Kat responded. Her time with Slade had taught her that, with all the facts collected and even if the conclusion was completely ludicrous, and if they were the facts, than the conclusion must be true, despite the idea being crazy. "So, tell me, who are you all?"
"I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation," Azula spoke matter-of-factly. There was no sense in putting any particular emphasis on her words, this Copycat would not know the importance of her title anyway.
"Call me Mai," Mai said, bored.
"And I'm Ty Lee!" Ty Lee beamed enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you!"
Kat blinked at the pink clad girl. She reminded the Cat Knight a lot of Starfire with her bubbly personality, Mai reminded her a bit of Raven when she was being gloomy and Azula…for some reason, Azula kind of reminded her of herself.
"So, what does being a Zodiac Knight mean, exactly?" Azula inquired. She was… intrigued by their strange visitor, and resolved to find out as much about her as possible. If nothing else, she could provide valuable insight about this other world she came from, and whether or not that world might be a threat.
"Alright, here's the story," Kat said and she began to tell them what she knew. For some reason, if she wanted to travel in this strange world and go home, she would have to trust these people…for now.
Appa landed near a river stream to get a drink of water. Also, it was getting late so they needed a place to set up camp. Katara and Sokka carried their unconscious guest off Sokka as Aang took Appa to the river. Toph was just glad to feel the earth under her bare feet.
"Why do we have to carry him?" Sokka complained.
"You're the strong warrior," Katara teased. "Think of this as a test of your strength."
"Katara!" Sokka yelled out as they placed the young man down on the ground, gently. "We don't even know who he is and how do we know he won't attack us whe he waked up? Besides, that armor he was wearing was kind of freaky!" He then saw Katara still holding the rectangular case in her hand. "And throw that away!"
"I can't, Sokka," Katara replied, "It's his. We don't have a right to do that."
"But his armor came off when you took that thing out of his belt!"
Momo curiously looked at the unconscious boy and began poking his face. He stirred.
"Um, Guys?" Toph said.
"It doesn't mean we should throw it away! He might need it!" Katara reasoned with her brother. Momo continued to poke.
"Guys?" Toph repeated.
"It's dangerous! What if he uses it and then uses that armor to attack us? What then? He looks like Fire Nation!" Sokka shot back.
"GUYS!" Toph shouted as she stomped her foot down, causing the ground to shake. The two water tribe's people turned to look at her. "He's waking up," she pointed.
Sokka and Katara turned to watch as their red haired 'friend' began to wake up. His eyes slowly fluttered open. They were the most brilliant green that Katara had ever seen. He sat up and looked around. He rubbed his eyes and then yawned, stretching his arms. "Where am I?" he asked himself. "Who are you all?"
Aang came back with Appa and he said, "Hey, you're awake?"
When the red haired boy saw Momo and Appa, he shouted out, "KAWAII!" and went to hug the little lemur. Everyone sweat dropped at this.
"O…kay…" Toph began, feeling uncomfortable.
"Um, excuse me? Sir?" Katara approached him and tapped his shoulder. He turned to look at her with a big smile and his eyes looking like upside down U's.
"Hai?" he said.
"Who are you?"
He blinked and then let go of Momo. "Gomenasai." He bowed. Katara bowed back. Aang also bowed in respect. "My name is Ryuki Leonard Hasuma. However, I am often called Leo or Ryuki by my friends. Who might you be?"
"I'm Aang," Aang introduced himself and then introduced the others, "That's Katara, Toph and Sokka!"
"And, Aang-san, where are we?" Ryuki asked.
"Somewhere in the Earth Kingdom," was Sokka's response.
Ryuki blinked, "Earth Kingdom?"
"And that's everything," Kat said, finishing her explanation.
Azula, Ty Lee and Mai had listened. The story sounded crazy but the way Kat spoke of it and the evidence provided from the armor she had worn, there were a lot of things that they didn't know.
"So, basically, there are 26 Knights?" Azula asked, making sure she had the facts straight.
"Well, there were 26 of us, but the weaker ones already got eliminated. I'm not sure how many of us there are still around, though, to be perfectly honest," Kat answered, playing nice with these people. She was in a foreign world and she needed some companionship until she returned to her world. "But because we were chosen, we are also destined to fight one another until only ONE of us remains since in the End there can be only One. Also, we must fight in order to survive."
"Interesting…" Azula mused. By what Kat had told her, the Knights each possessed a unique power and all the powers Kat had listed were very impressive. Some of them could manipulate the elements while others could change themselves. Also, defeated Knight's power would go to the victor. It was an interesting and justifiable system. It was about survival of the fittest. "So, tell me, what it YOUR power?" Azula asked. This Copycat could prove to be a very valuable ally indeed.
"One of them is to bring to life inanimate objects but my original one is…" Kat smirked. "Well, have you ever heard the phrase 'anything you can do I can do better'? My power works that way too."
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee asked.
"I'm a Mimic. I can copy the abilities of anyone I see."
There was silence.
"Anyone?" Azula inquired, her mind already churning with the possibilities. Meeting this Copycat had truly been the greatest of windfalls.
"Only as long as I get a good look at the person's abilities," Kat further explained.
"Well, now Kat," Azula purred, "We know about you so it's only fair that you know about us." Azula had already resolved to make Copycat one of her allies. And the first step to doing so would be letting her know exactly whom she'd be working for. Power was a strong motivation for many people, and she sensed Copycat was one of them. Once she knew the strength of the Fire Nation and how much of that strength was directly available to Azula… well, then the game could start in earnest.
"What are you doing?" Mai whispered to her friend.
Azula held back a flash of annoyance, whispering back while watching as Ty Lee and Kat conversed about braiding hair, "She might be useful to us and can help us capture the Avatar."
If Mai had heard the impatient bite in Azula's tone, she chose to ignore it. "I don't trust her. Did you hear what she said? She can copy anyone's abilities, mine and yours included," Mai warned.
Again, Azula stopped herself from biting the head off her least obedient ally. They were friends after all… And Mai's caution was a commendable aspect of her personality. "True, but I believe the benefits outweigh the risk. She seems more desperate to return to her own world than anything else, and I might be able to provide her with that."
"Can you?"
"Maybe, maybe not, but we'll still get a powerful ally on our side," Azula finished, in a tone that brooked no more argument. One day, she really would have to do something about Mai's inclination to disobedience. She then turned to Kat, "Copycat!"
"Yes, Azula-Ojousama?" Copycat responded.
Azula raised one eyebrow. Considering that the girl had dropped into their world only a few hours before, she was amazingly astute to comprehend the reality and politics of her situation so quickly. "Ojousama. I like that. How about we help you as long as you help us?"
"With what?" Kat asked. Azula smirked. She could hear the eagerness in Kat's voice. This could be easier than she'd expected.
"Do you know about the Avatar?"
"So the world, THIS world, is divided into 4 nations?" Ryuki inquired.
"There were 4 nations," Aang said sadly.
"The Air Nomads were completely destroyed by the Fire Nation 100 years ago. Aang's the last one," Katara said depressingly.
"My condolences," Ryuki said, nodding his head. "So there are only 3 Nations left, correct? The Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe?"
"Yeah," Katara said.
"Okay, I can't take this!" Sokka shouted out, frustrated. He pointed accusingly to Ryuki. "Are we supposed to believe that this guy IS even from another world? He could just be crazy or a spy!"
"Sokka, look at his clothes," Katara said to her brother. "Have you ever seen clothes like his? And…these?" Katara pointed down at Ryuki's rectangular case as well as his communicator and phone.
"Okay, so he has some fancy toys! Can he really prove that he is from another world?" Sokka demanded.
"I believe him," Aang said.
"WHAT?" Sokka exclaimed.
"So do I," Toph added, crossing her arms and leaning against a tree. "His heartbeat hadn't changed much since he began talking. It either means he's a really good liar or he's telling the truth."
"Or he's crazy," Sokka supplied.
"A possibility too."
"So, what should we call you then?" Sokka asked.
"You may refer to me as Leo, Sokka-san," Ryuki said respectively. "But Ryuki works just fine as well."
"I think we should just call you Ryuki," Katara said smiling. "So, what's your world like?"
"And where did that armor come from?" Aang added.
"And what about those cards?" Sokka asked as well. Katara and Aang stared at him. "What? I want to get to know him too!"
Ryuki smiled as Toph joined them. "Alright, but you just have to keep your mind open."
"So a twelve year old kid is giving you trouble and your job is to capture him for the Fire Lord?" Kat asked.
"He is no mere twelve year old," Azula told her. "He's the Avatar and-"
"And master of all 4 elements," Kat nodded, after hearing it already the first time. "Please," she snorted. "Back in my world there are a lot of guys who've mastered more than 4 and there's this Knight called Libra who's mastered 10 elements." Kat saw the shocked look on their faces.
"T-ten?" Ty Lee stuttered.
"That's ridiculous!" Mai protested. "There are only 4!"
"Let her finish, Mai," Azula said firmly, interest swiftly replacing her initial annoyance at having been interrupted. She then turned to Kat, "Ten elements, you say?"
"Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness, Metal, Wood, Thunder and Ice," Kat listed. "Yeah, those are basically it."
"Impressive. I would very much like to meet this Libra," Azula mused, her eyes gleaming.
"Maybe I can show you around my world like you show me yours," Kat suggested. "How does that sound?"
"Hmm…Maybe sometime later." Azula easily dismissed the topic now that she'd gotten what she'd wanted. "In the meantime…we should get you a change of clothes."
"What's wrong with the way I dress?"
"So there are a lot of people with powers in your world?" Aang inquired.
"Hai," Ryuki nodded. Momo was perched on his shoulder.
"As ridiculous as all that sounded, way cool," Sokka said.
"Especially when you talked about that Superman guy," Toph added, impressed, wanting to test her skills with the Man of Steel.
Katara then said, sympathetically, "Ryuki…"
"Hai, Katara-san?" he responded.
"You seem pretty calm about all this," she said carefully. "I thought you'd be panicking once you've been stranded in a strange world."
Ryuki sighed. "A few years ago I would've," he admitted. "But let's just say that I've gotten used to it. Let me tell you about ONE really crazy adventure we had."
"We?" Aang asked.
"The Teen Titans," Ryuki said, smiling proudly.
"Time to make camp, ladies." Azula ordered. "I want you all fresh for tomorrow." She added, getting up. "We'll get new clothes for Copycat, later."
"Welcome to the team!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she glomped Kat. Kat felt herself blushing.
Kat then remembered and thought sadly. How was everyone back home holding up with her disappearance? What about Rose and Cathy? Grant could take care of himself but what was Slade doing now?
She blamed her brother. He had activated the Hyper Inzecter and sent her here. She then paused in her thoughts and considered the facts.
He had been caught in the blast too, that meant…
Kat's lips curled into a malicious grin. If she was here than her 'dear little twin brother' wasn't too far behind.
Oh, this was getting more fun by the minute.
This is the second chapter. So far so good with the introductions. Don't worry. The action will come soon. Do you want a scene with the Z-Titans or Zuko and Iroh? Anyway, they're on their way to Ba Sing Se. Hopefully, Ryuki can help out. You think Kat will betray Azula and her friends or remain loyal as it seems fit? Ideas, I need ideas. My first Avatar fic. Takes place somewhere between the 5 months when the Titans are fighting the BoE so Ryuki hasn't changed his appearance.
