DISCLAIMER: TRANSFORMERS IS OWNED BY HASBRO AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS OWNED BY NICKELODEON
Transformers: Avatar Chronicles
Chapter 10: Sokka's Master
"You were right Bumblebee, this is amazing to watch," Katara commented as the Gaang and the Bots lied on the ground, watching the meteor shower above them.
"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times," Toph remarked, obviously incapable of seeing the beauty of the shower above them, when suddenly one of the meteors started to descend towards them.
"Oh man, you've NEVER not seen anything like this," Sokka said as him and the others, minus Toph, stood up as the meteor flew past them and crashed close to a small village. The kids all went on Appa to the crash site with the Autobots close behind as a fire started to blaze.
"That fire is gonna destroy that town!" Katara claimed.
"Not if we can stop it!" Aang responded as Appa landed next to the fire and everyone but Katara jumped off.
"There's a creek over here," Katara claimed as she jumpped on Appa's head. "I'll bend the water onto the fire." With that, she signals Appa to take off and the sky bison does just that.
"Toph, you, the Bots and I should make a trench to stop the fire from moving any closer," Aang said as he, Toph and the four Autobots move off, leaving only Sokka with nothing to do.
"What should I do?" Sokka asked. Aang and the others stopped to respond and tried to think of something for him to do when Momo flies by.
"Keep an eye on Momo," Aang answered. Sokka just stood there, not believing that Aang had given him such a small task, as Momo lands on his shoulder.
"So what, I'm just a lemur sitter!?" he asks before petting Momo and sarcastically saying to him. "There, there, feel better?"
Meanwhile, Toph and Aang started to earthbend a trench with the Autobots assisting them by digging through the ground to help make the trench longer. When they finished, Toph and Aang successfully pushed the fire back, but not without some of the flames reaching Sokka and Momo, landing on the ground near them. Sokka responds by trying to use his machete to put out the fire, but Momo ups him by putting five flames out at the same time, much to his dismay.
While that was going on, Katara, still on Appa, grabs some water from a river and returns to the crash site, where she begins to waterbend the flames out. Toph in the meantime used her earthbending to put more of the fire out. Sokka however, unable to assist, just sat there and watched along with Momo.
"Sokka, stand clear!" Aang warns as Katara gives him some water to waterbend.
"Right, staying clear, got it," Sokka responded as he picked up Momo and slowly walks away, but not before Aang uses his waterbending, along with his airbending to put the rest of the fire out, the water hitting Sokka, and the blast making it snow.
"Good work everybody," Aang compliments as the rest of the group formed back up, except for Sokka, who emerges from a pile of snow, and Momo, who was busy sliding across the icy surface.
Meanwhile, the Decepticon base had received an incoming transmission and Astrotrain was the first to report it.
"Lord Megatron," the triple changer said to his master. "We have received a report of a meteor landing near the town of Shu Jing."
"Why should this be of concern Astrotrain?" Megatron asked.
"There might be a possibility of it containing energon," Astrotrain answered.
"Interesting," the tyranous war lord responded. "Starscream!" Right on que, the seeker walked in, wondering what his master needed with him.
"Assemble your team of seekers and investigate this," he ordered, much to Starscream's delight.
"With pleasure my liege, I shall have Thundercracker and Skywarp ready in no time," he responded, before Azula walked in with Ravage, hearing everything that Astrotrain, Megatron and Starscream had just said.
"If I may interupt, I think this would be an appropriate occasion to bring Mai and Ty Lee along with you Starscream," the Fire Nation princess suggested. Megatron thought this over and concluded that it wouldn't hurt much to allow these two fleshlings to assist Starscream.
"Very well," Megatron answered. "I'll allow your friends to accompany Starscream and his seekers." With that, Azula bowed slightly before leaving with Ravage and Starscream left to find Thundercracker and Skywarp, leaving only Megatron and Astrotrain.
"I'm confused my liege," Astrotrain claimed. "Why are we allowing ourselves to work with these primative flesh creatures?"
"Because Astrotrain, we still need materials to return to Cybertron, as well as the energon on this planet to power ourselves," the Decepticon leader answered. "And besides, if they were foolish enough to turn against us, we would send them to their dooms without even trying."
*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*
At the same time, at the capital city prison, Iroh was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, drooling, and seemingly looking like a broken, old man. Suddenly, the door opened, and the prison warden walked to his cell, dropped a bowl of mush, and kicked it to Iroh, spilling it. Iroh responds by crawling to it, desperate and gasping for breath, and proceeds to eat it like an animal.
"Look at you," the warden said, cold heartedly. "You're just a fat, disgusting old man. You do nothing, you say nothing, you just eat and roll around in your filth like a pig. You're a disgrace." With that, the warden spitted down on Iroh's food, then left the room, slamming the door shut in the process. Once he was gone, Iroh smiled and picked up the bowl, eating the mush in a much more dignified manner, revealing that his behavior before was just an act.
Meanwhile, Aang, Toph and Katara were seated at an outdoor table at a local resturaunt, each with trays of food, while the Autobots stood close to them, listening to their conversations.
"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," Aang said.
"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore," Toph added while eating a dumpling.
"I understand," Warpath said. "I miss being recognized."
"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Sokka remarked sarcastically as he sat on the edge of the floor by himself, a tray of smoked sea slug next to him.
"What's wrong Sokka?" Warpath asked. "You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."
"It's just...all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff, and the Bots, well, they speak for themselves," Sokka answered. "I can't fly around. I can't transform. I can't do anything..."
"That's not true," Katara claimed, trying to cheer him up.
"Yeah, no one can read a map like you," Ironhide added.
"I can't read at all!" Toph added.
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time?" Aang asked before grabbing a lock of Katara's hair and gesturing to it. "I mean, look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?" Unfortunately, Katara didn't get the joke.
"What!? What's wrong with my hair!?" Katara asked while looking left and right nervously, trying to cover her hair.
"Nothing, I was just trying to-" Aang started before being inturupted by Sokka.
"Look, I apriciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is SO amazing and SO special, and I'm not," he said. "I'm just the guy in the group who's regular." Seeing his friend so down, Warpath went up and sat down next to Sokka.
"Hey, buddy, I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but none of us see you that way," Warpath said reassuringly. Still seeing Sokka down, the rookie Autobot got another idea. "I know something that's gonna make you feel better."
"You do?" Sokka asked. Warpath nodded in response.
"Shopping!" Sokka exclaimed excitedly in the doorway of a weapons shop while clapping his hands like a teenage girl before running forward, examining various weapons displayed on the racks, the rest following him.
"Maybe a little something to reinvigorate my battling," Sokka suggests before pulling a nunchaku from the rack and starts twirling it. "Hey, how about these? Ho-ya! Smack-a-dacka-do!" But then he hits himself on the head with the nunchaku and falls over, knocking a few of the poles weapons on the rack. Toph reacted by flinching slightly.
Meanwhile, Katara was trying on a pair of gloves and Bumblebee was looking around when Aang came in wearing...what I can best describe as a samurai armor created by Michael Bay.
"Whadya think?" Aang asked. Katara and Bumblebee's reaction was to be slightly alarmed. "Pretty slick, huh?"
"(Uh...)" was all Bumblebee could say.
"All I need to complete the outfit is a wind sword," Aang said.
"What's a wind sword?" Katara asked as she and Bumblebee shielded their eyes from Aang's glorafied armor's shine.
"It's where I get a sword handle, and then I just swing around and bend air out like a blade," Aang answered before raising a sword handle and swung it around, making air noises.
"Yeah...nice," Katara responded. Then the armor started to creek and fall over. Aang started to panic, being unable to move anything except his right arm. Katara and Bumblebee tried to catch Aang, but failed to do so and Aang and the armor hit the floor with a loud thud.
"I'll just stick to what I got," Aang said.
While that was going on, Ironhide was observing a liquid nitrogen hose he bought in the Cybertronian weapons section when Warpath came over holding a weapon that almost made Ironhide scream like a little scraplet in fear.
"Hey 'Hide, I found a cosmic rust gun!" Warpath exclaimed.
"Put that thing away before you kill someone!" Ironhide shouted.
"Oh come on, imagine it, if any Cons wanna try and start something ugly, we'll just grab this bad boy and POW!" Warpath claimed, though accidently firing the weapon at one of the shelves, unleashing cosmic rust on some of the Cybertronian weapons, causing them to rust and decay away.
"...Whoops..." was all Warpath could say.
Sokka in the mean time tried out more weapons. He tried a pole weapon, but when he started to twirl it over his head, it flew up to the cealing like a helicopter. Then he tried a metal club, but he couldn't even pick it up because it was so heavy. He then tried two swords, a chain, and a wobbly spear, but all of them didn't appeal to him. (Well, the chain more or less wrapped around him as he spun it over his head) Then, as he uses a sai as a toothpick, something catches his eye. A sword that was on the wall, with a dragon depicted on the scabbard.
"Ooooh..." was all he could say as he walked up to it, feeling the scabbard. "That's what Sokka's talking about!"
"You have a good eye," the shop keeper said as he and the rest of the Gaang walked up to the sword. "That's an original from Piando, the greatest sword master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here." With that, the shop keep walked away.
"That's it, that's what you needed all along Sokka!" Aang claimed.
"A sword?" Sokka asked, slightly confused.
"Not the sword...a master," Aang corrected as Sokka pulled the sword off the rack. "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Piando."
"That's a great idea," Katara said. "I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Pakku."
"And without Optimus Prime, us Autobots would've lost the war eons ago," Ironhide added. "Everyone needs a teacher.
"I learned from badger moles," Toph added. "They don't talk, but they're still good teachers." Sokka took what his friends said into consideration while pulling out the sword and examined the blade before coming to a conclusion.
"It would be nice to be a master sword fighter," he said. "Alright, I'll talk to him."
"WHAT HAPPENED!?" the shop keep shouted as he discovered the broken shelf and cosmic rust from when Warpath accidently fired the cosmic rust gun. The rest of the Gaang just glared at Warpath, who had his hands behind his back and whistled, trying to act innocent.
Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was laying on a straw mat in the corner, his hands behind his head. Then, he started doing a series of sit ups, grunting as he does so.
Back at the town, Sokka and Warpath walked up to the home of Piando, located on the top of a large bluff.
"Thanks for coming here with me Warpath," Sokka said to his Autobot companion. "I don't know if I could have done this alone."
"No problem Sokka," Warpath responded as they neared the door. Sokka grabbed a knocker and tapped it against the door a few times, but no one answered. Frustrated, he knocked on the door again, but again, no answer. He looked over to Warpath who just shrugged. Even more frustrated, Sokka grabbed both knockers and pounded them against the door loudly and frantically before the right door is opened by Piando's butler, Fat, frightening Sokka.
"Can I help you two?" Fat asked, rather apathetically. Sokka quickly composed himself and assumes a more mannered position.
"I've come to train with The Master," Sokka answred.
"And you?" Fat asked Warpath.
"I'm a friend of his," he answered. "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Fat just nodded and turned back to Sokka.
"You should know The Master turns almost everyone away," he said before holding his hand out. "What did you bring him to prove your worth?" Sokka's eyes widened slightly when he realized that he had nothing to prove himself.
"Well, uh..." he said as he feels around his clothes to try and find something to offer.
"Right..." Fat said as he shook his head slightly. "Let's get this over with." He then gestured Sokka and Warpath to enter the castle.
Once they were inside, they walked to a large room where rows of candles were placed on both sides of the tall windows, and Piando sat at a small table in front of the windows, writing something as Sokka, Warpath and Fat walked inside the room. Sokka then stepped forward.
"Master, my name is Sokka, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword," he said.
"Sokka, that's an unusual name," Piando said, which obviously frightened Sokka and Warpath, scared that Piando knew about them.
"Oh, uh, really?" Sokka asked. "Uh, where I'm from, The Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name, for Fire Nation colonials."
"Let me guess," Piando started as he wrote calligraphy on a piece of parchment. "You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town, and you think you deserve to learn from The Master."
"Well, actually, I've been all over the world," Sokka corrected.
"Yep, here we go," Piando responded in a slightly knowing tone.
"And I know one thing for sure," Sokka added before getting on his knees and hanging his head. "I have a lot to learn."
"You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself," Piando said as he glanced at him.
"I know," Sokka responded. "Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth, but the truth is...I don't know if I am worthy."
"Hm...I see," Piando said, thinking about Sokka's humble nature, smiling and picking up his sword. "Well, then, let's find out together how worthy you are." He then walked up to Sokka, who looked up at Piando as he slammed his sword's scabbard onto the floor.
"I WILL train you," he said, which caused a huge smile to spread across Sokka's face.
Meanwhile, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were waiting for Mai and Ty Lee so they could begin their mission.
"Could these humans be any slower!?" Thundercracker exclaimed.
"I agree, what's taking them so long?" Skywarp asked Starscream. Right on que though, Mai and Ty Lee walked up to the three seekers.
"Let's just get this over with," Mai said, clearly not excited about going on this mission.
"Yeah, let's," Skywarp said as the three seekers turned into their Cybertronian jet modes. Mai got on Skywarp and Ty Lee got on Thundercracker before the seekers took off and headed to Shu Jing.
Back at the town, Sokka and Piando stood outside the castle in a sword fighting ring while Warpath watched from the sidelines. Sokka was now wearing an outfit similar to Piando's.
"The first thing you must learn is that your weapon is an extension of yourself," Piando said to Sokka as he unseathes his sword and started to perform a sword form. "You must think of it as another part of your own body."
"Like a second head," Sokka assumed.
"Well...more like an extra long, really sharp arm," Piando corrected as he continued his sword form. "The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master, it becomes the most versatile of weapons." He theh seathed his sword and assumed a stance. "And just as the imagination is limitless, so too are the possabilities of the sword." Sokka smiled and nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, back with the Gaang and the other three Bots, Aang, Katara and Toph just laied down and looked at the sky, bored out of their minds.
"What should we do today?" Aang asked.
"I'm tapped out," Toph responded. "I already picked my toes, twice."
"Twice?" Ironhide asked.
"The first time was for cleaning, but the second time's just for the SWEET picking sensation," Toph explained.
"Sokka's been in charge of the schedule," Katara said. "I'm not sure what we should be doing."
"Plus, it's so hot today," Toph added while picking her nose.
"How hot is it?" Aang asked, trying to tell a joke.
"Uh, 97.238 degrees?" Breakaway said, confused.
"It's so hot, it's so hot..." Katara said, trying to think of a punchline. "Momo, is shedding like Appa." She then petted Momo and he shedded slightly. "Huh? Huh?" Aang just scratched his head and no one laughed at Katara's joke.
"I guess the jokes don't run in the family, huh?" Ironhide remarked.
"Oh, everyone's a critic," Katara responded, to which Appa grunted in response.
Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was hanging upside down from the cell's cealing bars and doing crunches, panting with effort.
Back with Sokka and Piando, the two of them stood in front of a table inside the castle, and on the table was a calligraphy stationary.
"The warrior practices a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and fluid," Piando explained as he flattened a piece of paper on the table. "The first you will learn is calligraphy. Write your name." He then delicately handed a brush to Sokka, who took it and messed with the bristles with his thumb.
"Writing my name will make me a better swordsman?" Sokka asked, slightly skeptical. Piando responded by taking the brush and positioning it correctly in Sokka's hand.
"When you write your name, you stamp the paper with your identity," he explained. "You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on a battlefield." Sokka then dipped the brush into the ink and prepares to write his name, only to be interupted by Piando.
"Remember, you cannot take back the troke of the brush, or the stroke of the sword," he explained, which only made Sokka nervous. He scratched his head and placed the tip of the brush on his chin, thinking of what to do.
"Uh Sokka, you got some ink on your face," Warpath said.
"I do?" he asked before looking at the brush. "I am. So this is about putting my identity on the page, right?" Piando nodded in response, which caused Sokka to smile and brush ink all over his face. He then pressed his face on the paper and rolled his head around. Once he was done, Sokka picked up the paper and showed it, smiling cheerfully. On the paper was an inkblot that barely resembled a face. Piando simply closed his eyes in response.
Back outside, Sokka and Fat were in training equipment and held wooden swords, facing off at the ring. Piando and Warpath both stood at the top steps, watching. Sokka immediately made his first move and thrusted his sword at Fat, but he effortlessly parried the attack and knocked the sword from Sokka's hands, resulting in Sokka running away as Fat chased him, whacking him with the rear of the wooden sword.
Then Piando, Sokka and Warpath walked to an area in the countryside. Sokka was wearing a blindfold and was being guided by Piando.
"Landscape painting teaches a warrior to hold the lay of the land through his mind," Piando said before the trio stopped and removed Sokka's blindfold. "In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in." Sokka smiled with excitement as he observed the majestic landscape, only for Piando to grab his head and turn him away from it, making him sit in front of a table with a piece of paper, paint, and paint brushes.
"Now, paint it," Piando said. Sokka just gaped in disbelief, wondering how he was capable of painting a landscape he only saw a few seconds ago. He tried to look back at it, but Piando turned his head back.
"And no peeking," he added before walking away, as Sokka begun to paint the landscape, while Piando silently meditated. A few minutes later, Sokka was done.
"I'm finished," he reported Piando opened his eyes and looked at the painting Sokka presented, which was a childish, colorful, inaccurate landscape, which included, of all things, a rainbow and a sun with a smiling face.
"You added a rainbow," Piando said.
"And last I checked, stars don't smile," Warpath added.
"Is that okay?" Sokka asked in a slightly worried manner. Piando just sighed and shaked his head.
Back at the ring, Sokka and Fat sword fought again in their training gear. Sokka fared much better as he parries a strike and attempted to swing his sword down, but-
"Sokka," Piando suddenly said. Sokka looked over to him, giving Fat an opportunity to circle behind him and kick him in the back, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Concentrate on what you're doing," Piando explained. Sokka reacted by frowning and dropping his head, giving a half hearted thumbs up.
"At least he's learning," Warpath said, trying to defend his friend.
Then the trio walked to an empty area of the courtyard.
"Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and uses them to his advantage," Piando explained.
"Hm, manipulate them to my advantage," Sokka said, while placing a hand on his chin and thinking carefully. "Oh!" Then he ran down to the area, Piando watching with a look of worry coming over him. Sokka then rolled a huge stone across the ground, groaning at the strain of it. Then he examined a sheet of moss before throwing it on the huge rock and then lays down on it, sighing in relaxation. Fat, who walked up to the trio, gasped in shock at the sight, mainly due to the mess Sokka had created.
"Hey, would you mind having a cold drink for me?" Sokka asked him. Fat simply gasped and turned to Piando, only to get another unexpected request.
"I'll take a slice of lemon in mine, please," he said.
"You guys have energon?" Warpath asked. Fat simply groaned in resignation, hung his head, and walked off to fetch the drinks.
Back at the ring, Sokka and Fat dueled again, only this time, Sokka gained the upper hand, using all of the techniques he learned, and soon slipped the blade of his wodden sword under Fat's hand and flung the sword from it. A shocked Fat raised his hand in defeat as Sokka placed the sword on the side of Fat's neck, ending the duel. With that, Sokka then placed his hands together and bowed to Piando.
"Alright, way to go Sokka!" Warpath cheered.
Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh was doing push ups, clapping his hands at the apex of each push, when the warden, who was sitting down, eating a piece of bread, heard the clapping and got up to investigate. He reached the cell door and looked through the barred window to see what was happening.
"What's going on in there?" he asked. He looked and saw Iroh, sitting lazily against the wall, clapping his hands from side to side with a delirious expression.
"Crazy old man," the warden said before leaving. Iroh then smiled when he was sure the warden was gone, ceasing his act.
Back with the Gaang, Aang, Ironhide and Katara were looking over a map of the Fire Nation.
"So where are we going next?" Katara asked before pointing to an area on the map. "We're starting from here."
"No, we're over on this island," Aang corrected as he pointed to a different spot.
"No, we're over here," Ironhide argued before pointing at another area.
"You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing," Toph remarked. "I miss Sokka."
"Ooh, I got one," Katara said, thinking of another joke. "If you miss him so much, why don't ya marry him?" Once again though, nothing.
Back with Sokka and Piando, the two of them sat on the ground in the fighting ring outside.
"You've had a good first day of training," Piando said.
"I have?" Sokka asked, slightly surprised. "But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on."
"You mess things up in a very special way," Piando claimed. "You are ready for a real sword." Those words made Sokka grin with excitement.
"Are you giving me one of yours?" he asked.
"No," Piando responded, to which Sokka groaned disappointingly. However, what Piando said next made him more excited than ever.
"Your sword must be an extension of yourself," Piando reminded. "So tomorrow, you will make your own sword."
They both went back inside and into a weapons storage area. Standing in front of them was a table with several bricks on it.
"Choosing the correct material is the most important step in crafting a sword," Piando explained. "You must trust your steel with your life. Choose carefully." Sokka then observed the materials in front of him, taking two bricks and weighing them in each hand. He then took another brick and sniffed and bit on it to test its quality. Then he set it down, placing a hand on his chin and thought carefully, when suddenly and idea came to his mind.
"Master, would it be possible for me to leave and bring back a special material for my sword?" Sokka asked.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Piando responded with a smile.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Gaang was asleep while the Bots were on guard when Toph suddenly sits up, sensing something.
"Sokka's coming!" she exclained, which got Aang and Katara to wake up gasping, smiling excitedly. Sure enough, Sokka and Warpath walked up to the campsite.
"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Sokka asked, when suddenly, the rest of the Gaang jumpped at him and gave him a group hug.
"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed.
"You're back," Toph said.
"We've missed you so much," Katara said.
"Uh, we were only gone for a few hours," Warpath said, confused at the kids' nature.
"Say something funny," Aang requested.
"Funny how?" Sokka asked. Aang and Katara's reaction was to laugh heartily while Toph just crossed her arms and smiled slightly.
"What's their deal?" Warpath asked Toph, still confused.
"I don't know bucket head," Toph answered. "They missed Sokka or something. I didn't care." She then turned away, blushing and smiling.
"Thanks guys, that warms my heart," Sokka said. "Anyway, I need some help."
"What for Sokka?" Breakaway asked.
"Piando said that Sokka was ready to make a sword, and he came up with a great idea to get some material," Warpath responded.
The group then walked up to the crater created the night before, staring down at the meteorite. Toph then earthbended it open so they could get the material inside. What was revealed caused the Autobots' optics to widen.
"Is that..." Warpath asked.
"It is...energon!" Ironhide responded.
"Is that good?" Aang asked.
"Good? This is great!" Breakaway responded. "With this material in Sokka's sword, that means-"
"We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world," Piando said as he examined the energon brought to him by Sokka and the rest of the group.
Back at the Capital City prison, Iroh begun to put his head on the floor of his cell, his legs rising in the air, and begun to perform hand stand push ups, sweating heavily.
The next morning, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp, with Mai on Skywarp and Ty Lee on Thundercracker, were closing in on the town of Shu Jing. Mai just sat on the cockpit of Skywarp, bored out of her mind, while Ty Lee curiously looked around the cockpit of Thundercracker. She then curiously pressed one of the buttons and accidently fired his lightning cannon, which would have hit Skywarp had he not teleported behind Thundercracker. Even Mai's eyes widened slightly in fear.
"Thundercracker, what the frag was that!?" Skywarp shouted.
"It wasn't me, it was the human!" Thundercracker shouted back.
"Sorry, I didn't me-" Ty Lee said, trying to apologize before Starscream interrupted.
"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" he shouted.
"Remind me again why we're doing this," Mai said, now back to her bored state.
"We are heading to this little town to investigate a meteor landing to see if there is any energon inside the meteorite," Starscream explained before the trio of seekers landed close to the meteor, allowing Mai and Ty Lee to get out before transforming to their robot modes.
"Looks like somebody beat us to it," Skywarp said, seeing the now open meteor.
"Doesn't look like there's anything in there," Mai added, not seeing anything inside.
"No, but there WAS," Thundercracker said, kneeling down and investigating closer to the meteor. It was there where he saw a few bits and pieces of energon. "There was energon in this meteor, but now it's gone."
"What!?" Starscream exclaimed.
"What are we gonna do!?" Ty Lee asked, scared out of her mind. "If we don't get that energon, Megatron's gonna kill us!"
"We'll have to find who took the energon and terminate them, then take the energon and bring it back to him," Starscream said.
Meanwhile, after a full day of hard work and sweat, Sokka's sword was ready, and he was ready to receive it. Inside the castle, Sokka was seated in front of a standing Piando and Fat, who was holding the sword, which was glowing blue as a result of the energon used to produce it. The rest of the Gaang and the Bots were seated behind Sokka.
"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure," Piando began. "You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something inside you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big, and as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me, no, it certainly wasn't your skills." Fat then kneeled to Piando and gave him the glowing sword. "You showed me something beyond that." He then unseathed the sword, shining in all its glory. "Creativity, versatility, intgelligence...these are the traits that define a great swordsman, and these are the traits that define you." Then he kneels down, seathing the sword, and giving it to Sokka. "You told me you didn't know you were ready, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained." Sokka then looked down at the sword, but his face wasn't that of pride or acomplishment. No, it was instead a look of shame.
"I'm sorry, Master, you're wrong," Sokka said. "I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm no from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe." All the rest of the group could do was gawk at Sokka with shock and disbelief that he had just said that. "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry." He then held up his sword for Piando to take. Piando just frowned and turned away, about to say something, when the wall suddenly exploded, knocking everyone to the floor, and out of the smoke emerged Dreadwing, holding his sword and with his gattling gun on his back.
"That was all I needed to hear," Dreadwing growled.
While that was going on, Starscream and his team were searching the town for the energon when they heard an explosion. The five of them quickly turned to see Dreadwing standing outside Piando's castle. Starscream gawked at the sight.
"Is that, Dreadwing!?" he asked.
"What's he doing here?" Mai asked. " I thought he was suppose to search for the Avatar."
"Only one way to find out," Thundercracker responded before running up to the castle, the others following him.
Back in the castle, the Autobots' optics widened when they saw the attacker.
"Dreadwing!?" Ironhide exclaimed in shock. "What's he doing here!?"
"I am here to exact my revenge on all of you!" Dreadwing proclaimed as he charged to the Autobots before Toph earthbended a wall to protect the Autobots, giving them time to get out their weapons. Dreadwing was quick to act however as he threw a bomb at the wall, causing it it explode and collapse.
"Kids, get out of here!" Ironhide shouted to the Gaang.
"We're not leaving you!" Aang proclaimed as he and the others got ready to fight Dreadwing.
Meanwhile, Starscream's team had arrived at the castle, and what the seeker saw in Sokka's hands made his optics widen.
"The Water Tribe boy has the energon!" he exclaimed. "Grab it!" With those orders, he, Mai, Ty Lee, Thundercracker and Skywarp joined the fight.
"Well, this sure has went from bad to worse hasn't it?" Warpath asked before dodging a blast from Thundercracker's lightning cannon. He and Ironhide then moved in, trying to keep Dreadwing away from the kids.
"Starscream, what is the meaning of this!?" Dreadwing demanded, confused as to why he and his seeker team was here.
"Never mind why I'm here Dreadwing, all you need to know is that we need that sword!" Starscream answered, pointing to the sword Sokka had.
"You'll have to get past my cold, offline servo first!" Ironhide exclaimed, getting his liquid nitrogen hose ready while Warpath deployed the tank barrel from his chest.
"If you insist Autobot scum," Dreadwing responded, getting his gattling gun ready while Starscream readied his null rays. Warpath was the first to attack, using his chest cannon, but the two seekers dodged the blast and Dreadwing started firing his gattling gun. The two Autobots ran for cover before Starscream joined in, firing his null rays.
"Keep em busy kid!" Ironhide commanded.
"You got it!" Warpath responded before comming out and firing his cannon at the seekers. "KA BLAM!" Starscream and Dreadwing quickly dodged them, but then Ironhide came out while they were distracted and used his liquid nitrogen hose to freeze one of Starscream's arms, then ran up and ripped it off.
"GAH! My arm!" Starscream exclaimed before trying to use his razor sharp claws to jab at Ironhide, but was too slow as Ironhide quickly dodged it. However, he wasn't quick enough to see Dreadwing charging to him, and was knocked to the ground.
While that was going on, back at the Capital City prison, the warden was once again delivering Iroh his supper.
"You use to be the pride of the Fire Nation, our top general, the Dragon of the West," the warden said. "Now, look at you." He then dropped the bowl of fruit and Iroh rushes to grab a green piece of fruit from behind the bars. "Look what you've become." With that, the warden walked out of the cell, slamming the door shut, before Iroh placed the fruit in his mouth and held it with his teeth. He then untied his belt and revealed his once obese stomach was replaced with a more muscular pysique, before jumping to the cealing bars, taking a bite of the fruit, and started doing one handed pull ups.
Meanwhile, the kids, Breakaway and Bumblebee were busy with Mai, Ty Lee, Thundercracker and Skywarp. Thundercracker was the first to attack using his lightning cannon, but Toph quickly created a barricade of earth to block it. However, Skywarp teleported behind them with, Mai on his hand, and Mai used her knives to pin Toph to the wall with her feet off the ground, blinding her. Katara tried to go on the offensive, but Ty Lee jumped in and used her chi blocking to paralize Katara. Bumblebee, seeing this, tried using a stun blast to take her out, but she quickly dodged it and Thundercracker moved in, firing his lightning cannon at Bumblebee, putting him in temporary stasis. Aang quickly retaliated, using a chunk of earth to knock Thundercracker to the ground, allowing Breakaway to assult him, but before he could, Skywarp teleported in front of him and tossed him through the cealing. Breakaway quickly transformed into his jet mode, but so did Skywarp as he flew upwards to go after Breakaway, and a dogfight ensued.
Sokka, meanwhile, just stood there, unsure of what to do before seeing Warpath tossed to the wall, knocked into stasis, with Dreadwing slowly walking to him, his sword ready to finish the Autobot rookie.
"Dreadwing, what are you doing!?" Starscream exclaimed before getting tackled by Ironhide. "Forget him and get the sword!"
"I came here to make the Autobots pay, and pay they shall," Dreadwing coldly responded. Sokka looked upon this sight, concerned for his friend, when Piando awakened from being knocked unconsious and spoke to him.
"Sokka, remember what I taught you, the warrior only has a second to take everything in!" he reminded him. Sokka thought about what he had said and observed the environment, when he noticed Dreadwing's bombs strapped to his back. If he could somehow get them to malfunction and detonate, Dreadwing will have been beaten. First however, he needed to get him away from Warpath, so he ran up to Dreadwing and jabbed his sword into his leg, hopping it would get his attention. Thankfuly, Dreadwing felt a slight jolt of pain from his left leg, and looked down to see Sokka jabbing his sword into him. Agrivated, Dreadwing swung his sword down to Sokka, who quickly dodged it. He then quickly ran outside with the mammoth seeker chasing him, when he spotted two containers of flammable objects. He then dragged his sword across the ground to create sparks, which caused the containers to explode once Dreadwing was close.
"Good! Use your surroundings to your advantage!" Piando encouraged as the fight continued. Dreadwing was momentarrly blinded by the smoke, and when it faded, Sokka was nowhere to be see.
"You cannot hide forever flesh creature," Dreadwing coldly stated as he walked through the courtyard. "I WILL find you, and I WILL end you." Sokka however was still nowhere to be seen. He was on a ledge that assended to about Dreadwing's height, hiding in a bush. Then, once Dreadwing wasn't looking, Sokka saw his chance and leaped off the ledge, impaling his sword into Dreadwing's bombs, causing them to malfunction, much to Dreadwing's shock. As he quickly tried to reach them, Sokka jumped off Dreadwing's back and ran from him as fast as he could before the bombs exploded and knocked a now wounded Dreadwing onto the ground.
While that was going on, the fight was tipping towards the Autobots' and the Gaang's favor. Breakaway had blasted Skywarp out of the sky, Aang had knocked Thundercracker to the ground, Katara regained her strength and Bumblebee had awakened from stasis, incapacitating Mai and Ty Lee, and Ironhide was busy pummeling Starscream with his own arm.
"Gah, retreat! RETREAT!" Starscream commanded as he broke free of Ironhide while Thundercracker and Skywarp turned into their jet modes.
"Hey, wait for us!" Ty Lee shouted as she and Mai quickly got on Thundercracker ans Skywarp before they and Starscream blasted into the sky. Dreadwing then weakly got up and glared at the group before transforming and flying away, causing Sokka to grin, knowing he just defeated a Decepticon.
"Excelent work Sokka!" Piando said as he got up and walked to him. Instinctively, the Gaang got into a battle stance, not trusting him after he knew of Sokka's origins.
"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar," Piando said as the Gaang stepped forward, which shocked them that he knew who Aang really was.
"How did you know?" Aang asked.
"Oh, I've been around a while, you pick things up," Piando answered. "Of course I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. You might wanna think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try 'Lee.' There's a million Lees."
"But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?" Katara asked.
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation, knowledge of the arts belongs to us all," Piando answered before turning back to Sokka. "Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you'll become an ever greater master than I am." With that, both Piando and Sokka bowed respectively to each other before the Gaang departed.
Outside the castle, the Gaang and the Bots were leaving when Fat ran up to them.
"Wait!" he said, which caused the group to stop and allow Fat to catch up to them. Fat then gave a small bag to Sokka.
"The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by," he explained. Once Sokka was given the bag, the group bowed to Fat before he walked back to the castle. Sokka then opened the bag and pulled out a small tile of stone.
"It's a pai sho tile," he said.
"The white lotus," Aang said as he observed the symbol on the tile.
"What does it mean?" Breakaway asked.
"I have no idea," Sokka answered as they heard Fat close the gate to the castle. They looked and saw the same symbol on the tile on the gate, surrounding the Fire Nation symbol.
"Ooh, that reminds me," Sokka said as he put the tile back in the bag, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bit of energon before giving it to Toph. "Toph, I thought you might like this since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before."
"Sweet! Check this out!" Toph exclaimed as she grabbed the energon and started to bend it into various shapes, including what looks like the Nickelodeon 'splat' logo.
"I don't really understand that term, 'space earth?'" Ironhide said as they started walking. "If it's from space, then it's not really earth."
"Must you ruin everything?" Sokka asked.
"I can't believe I missed you," Katara remarked.
Back at the Decepticon base, Megatron was furious when he heard what Dreadwing and Starscream had to report once they were repaired.
"Let me get this straight," he said as he paced back and forth in front of them, his hands behind his back. "Not only did you allow the Autobots to escape with the energon, but a human, WHO CAN'T EVEN BEND, DEFEATED ONE OF MY STRONGEST WARRIORS IN COMBAT!?"
"My liege, had Dreadwing not attacked Piando's castle, we might have gotten the energon using stealth!" Starscream said, trying to put the blame away from him.
"You DARE to claim that this was my fault!?" Dreadwing shouted at Starscream before turning back to his master. "My liege, allow me to go after them again. I will ensure that they pay for this!"
"You have done enough damage Dreadwing," Megatron responded before turning to Airachnid. "Airachnid, I am putting you in charge of finding the Avatar."
"It will be done Lord Megatron," Airachnid responded with a wicked smirk on her face, where as Dreadwing had a look of shock on his face.
"If you allow this my master, Skyquake will have died in vain!" Dreadwing shouted.
"Stand down Dreadwing, that is an order," Megatron replied. Dreadwing just clentched his fists and started glaring at his master before suddenly pulling out his gattling gun and shot at Megatron, causing him to fly to the wall.
"One that I cannot follow," Dreadwing said before transforming and flying away from the Fire Nation. Megatron meanwhile got up with a scowl, furious at what had just happened.
"Airachnid...your bounty has just increased..." Megatron said.
*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*