DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.
Transformers: Avatar Chronicles
Chapter 18: The Boiling Rock part 1
At the Southern Air Temple, the Gaang, the Autobots, and their new ally, Zuko, were sitting down, waiting for Zuko to finish some tea that he was brewing.
"No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully I learned a thing or two," Zuko said.
"What is tea?" Ultra Magnus asked, still not used to Earth customs.
"It's basically like the energon we drank back on Cybertron, only for humans," Powerglide explained.
"Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" Zuko asked as he passed cups of tea to the humans.
"Sure," Katara responded.
"I like jokes," Aang replied.
"Meh, sure," Warpath bluntly answered.
"Okay, well I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is: 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed!'" Zuko said, only to receive the uncomfortable silence of nobody laughing. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it."
"Maybe that's because he remembers how the fraggin thing started," Warpath responded before Zuko went back to passing tea around.
"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little," Toph said.
"Yeah, hardly ever happens," Smokescreen added. Zuko then came up to Sokka, who seemed so downcast about something.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Sokka asked him, which immediately got Warpath's attention as the two of them got up and walked to a separate area to talk in private.
"So what's up?" Zuko asked as they passed Appa, who gave a low groan.
"If, someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?" Sokka asked.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, not sure of what Sokka ment. "Who was captured?"
"When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken along with the Autobots," Sokka explained. "I just want to know what would happen to them."
"I can't tell you," Zuko answered with his head down, no doubt knowing where they might have been taken.
"What? Why not?" Sokka asked.
"Trust me, knowing would just make you feel worse," Zuko answered. He was about to turn and leave when Sokka grabbed his shoulder.
"It's my dad," Sokka admitted. "He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."
"It's not good Sokka," Zuko replied.
"Please," Sokka said before Zuko turned to finally tell him where his father might be.
"My guess is...they were taken to he Boiling Rock," Zuko responded.
"What's that?" Sokka asked.
"The highest security prison in the Fire Nation, maybe even the world since the Deceprticons came here," Zuko answered.
"What do you mean Zuko?" Sokka asked.
"Before the invasion, Megatron and my father appointed this Decepticon scientist named 'Shockwave' as the warden, and agreed to let him experiment on the prisoners as he pleased," Zuko answered, which caused Sokka's eyes to widen in fear for his father. "The prison's on an island in the middle of the Boiling Lake. Even before the Cons came here, it was inescapable. I can only imagine how the Cons have improved security."
"Where is this place?" Sokka asked.
"Why do you need to know?" Sokka asked. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing," Sokka answered, obviously lying. "Boy, you're so paranoid."
"It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation," Zuko answered. "You guys actually flew right past it on your way here."
"Thanks Zuko," Sokka said as he yawned and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Just knowing makes me feel better."
"Yeah, I'm sure it does," Zuko responded as Sokka walked away.
*QUE TRANSFORMERS PRIME OPENING THEME*
Zuko however knew that something was up, so once everyone was asleep, he got up and sneaked to Appa, only to run into Warpath.
"What are you doing here!?" Zuko asked, surprised, but quiet so he doesn't wake the others.
"I was gonna ask the same for you," Warpath responded, glaring down at Zuko. "Thought you could just take Appa and report us to Starscream, didn't you?"
"What, no!" Zuko immediately answered.
"Then what are you doing here in the middle of the night, walking to Appa while everyone else is asleep?" Warpath asked.
"Because I think Sokka is going to do something crazy," Zuko answered, which got Warpath's attention.
"Define crazy," he responded.
"Last night, when he asked if I could speak with him, he wanted to know the prison that his father was kept in," Zuko answered. "I think he's trying to break him out by himself."
"Well why doesn't he just allow me to?" Warpath asked, still full of himself despite his mood. "I can handle a Fire Nation prison."
"It's not that simple Warpath," Zuko replied. "When Megatron was still alive, he appointed this Decepticon scientist named Shockwave to-"
"Shockwave!?" Warpath exclaimed. "What's that one eyed freak doing here?"
"He's been appointed the new warden of the Boiling Rock prison, and was allowed to experiment with the prisoners," Zuko answered.
"You can't just allow Sokka to do this on his own," Warpath responded. "Shockwave is one of the most feared Cybertronians who ever existed. It was even rumored that some of the Cons were even more terrified of him then Megatron!"
"I don't intend on allowing Sokka to do this on his own," Zuko said before getting up on Appa's saddle.
"Okay, fine, but I'm only allowing this because I don't want him getting tangled with the likes of Shockwave," Warpath hesitantly responded.
About 30 minutes later, Sokka sneaked up to Appa, his gear with him, when he accidentally woke the sky bison up.
"Shhh," was all Sokka said before Appa went back to sleep and he started climbing up, only to find Zuko on the saddle.
"Not up to anything, huh?" he asked before Sokka yelled in surprise and fell off Appa, landing square on his back, while Warpath came from behind.
"You told Warpath!?" Sokka asked.
"So he WAS telling the truth," Warpath said, obviously reffering to Zuko.
"Fine, you two caught me," Sokka admitted. "I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"
"Sokka, trust me, Shockwave is NOT someone you want to frag with," Warpath replied.
"Look, I HAVE to do this," Sokka responded. "The invasion plan was MY idea. It was MY decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's MY mistake, and it's MY job to fix it. I have to regain my honor, and neither of you can stop me." With that, Sokka started to re climb Appa.
"You need to regain your honor?" Zuko asked, hearing this story one too many times. "Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."
"In that case, so am I," Warpath added.
"No guys, I have to do this alone," Sokka responded.
"And you plan on getting there on Appa?" Warpath asked. "Cause I'm not sure the Fire Nation would have sky bison day cares." Sokka, realizing he was right, stopped climbing Appa and jumped down.
"We'll take my war balloon," Zuko said.
The next morning, everyone awoke to see Momo sleeping with a note. Arcee walked up and picked it up so she could read it.
"What does it say?" Toph asked.
"The kids needed meat, gone fishing with Sokka and Zuko, back in a few days, Warpath," Arcee read. "PS, Aang, practice firebending while I'm gone. Do 20 sets of fire fists and ten hot squats everytime you hear a badger frog croak, Zuko." Aang was still asleep when he heard a badger frog croak much to his dismay.
"Nobody else has homework," Aang remarked as he got up and started doing hot squats. "One hot squat, two hot squat, three hot squat, four hot squat..."
While that was going on, Zuko, Sokka and Warpath were floating on Zuko's war balloon on a course for the Boiling Rock. Zuko was firebending into the fuel so the balloon would stay up while Sokka and Warpath just stood there. For quite some time, they hadn't spoken a word.
"Pretty clouds," Sokka finally said, breaking the scilence.
"Yeah, fluffy," Zuko responded.
"Yeah," Warpath said. Then there was nothing but silence again, until Sokka started whistling.
"What?" Zuko asked while turning to Sokka.
"What? Oh, I didn't say anything," Sokka responded, then tried to change the subject. "You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."
"No kidding," Zuko replied.
"Yep, a balloon, but for War," Sokka added.
"If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war," Zuko coldly answered while continuing to fuel the balloon.
"Guess it runs in the family," Warpath bluntly said.
"Hey, hold on, not everyone in my family is like that," Zuko argued.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you've 'changed,'" Warpath responded.
"I meant my uncle," Zuko said with his head down. "He was more of a father, and I let him down." Warpath just looked at Zuko, still not trusting him, but was capable of seeing the sadness that ran through him.
"I think your uncle would be proud of you," Sokka empathetically responded. "Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard."
"It wasn't that hard," Zuko claimed.
"Really?" Sokka asked. "You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?"
"Well, I did have a girlfriend: Mai," Zuko admitted.
"That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" Sokka asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah," Zuko asked with a grin before turning serious. "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."
"I know how it feels to leave someone you cared about," Warpath admitted.
"Really?" Zuko asked, slightly surprised.
"I had a girlfriend back on Cybertron: Flareup," Warpath responded. "Boy, she's a feisty one. One time she blew up a bunk at Autobot Boot Camp. She told me I should have seen the look on Autosanrin's face." Zuko and Sokka couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
"Then we met while taking down a Decepticon satellite dish, and it was love at first sight," Warpath added. "I don't know where she is now, but I doubt she made it here since she wasn't with the suicide attack on Kaon."
"My first girlfriend turned into the moon," Sokka said.
"That's rough buddy," Warpath responded.
Later that night, Sokka was fast asleep until Warpath came in and woke him up.
"Wake up Sokka," Warpath said, which immediately woke him up. "We're nearing the prison." Sokka then walked up to the front of the balloon to see a volcanic island with steam coming out of the center.
"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered," Zuko said. "As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught." Zuko then went up to the fuel tank and firebended the inside of it to allow them to enter through the steam. However, once they were in the steam, the burner started to loose power and the balloon starts to descend.
"We're going down!" Zuko exclaimed quietly as he rapidly firebended into the tank. "The balloon's not working anymore!" He then started firebending into the vent of the balloon in desperation.
"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, so we can't fly!" Warpath exclaimed.
"So what are we suppose to do?" Zuko asked.
"I don't know, crash landing?" Sokka answered as he grabbed into the tank. The basket then started to descend to the boiling water, some of it splashing onto Sokka's hand, causing him to flail his hand and cover his mouth, struggling not to scream before the balloon crashed onto land, tossing Zuko, Sokka and Warpath off the basket as it shatters. The three of them then got up and observed the wreckage.
"How are we gonna get off this island if the balloon won't work?" Zuko asked.
"We could try using my jetpack," Warpath suggested before he noticed the fuel gage on his jetpack was empty. "Frag! I forgot to refuel it before we left!"
"Now what?" Zuko asked Sokka.
"We'll figure something out," Sokka said. "I suspected it might be a one way ticket."
"Wait, you knew this might happen?" Warpath asked.
"My dad might be here," Sokka replied as he walked to the broken basket of the war balloon. "I had to come and see."
"Uncle said I never thought things through, but this, ugh! This is just crazy!" Zuko exclaimed.
"Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place, and for the record, I always think things through!" Sokka argued. "But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time I'm playing it by ear. So there. " He then tried to push the basket, only for it to scorch his hand and for him to withdraw. He then proceeded to kick it to the boiling lake.
"What are you doing?" Warpath asked.
"It doesn't work anyway, and we don't want anyone to find it," Sokka answered.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Zuko said as the three of them turned to face the giant prison. "There's no turning back now."
The next morning, the three of them broke into a locker room and took two guard uniforms. Sokka and Zuko changed into them while Warpath got back in his Decepticon disguise.
"I hope these disguises work," Zuko said.
"It worked while we were in the Fire Nation," Warpath replied. "Anyway, we need to lay low and find Hakoda as soon as possible." Just then, multiple guards and Vehicons ran through the corridor.
"Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard, come on!" one of the guards said before the three of them ran behind the last group to the courtyard of the Boiling Rock and saw multiple prisoners form a circle around a Vehicon and human prisoner who just stood there, glaring at the Vehicon.
"I didn't do anything!" the prisoner said. "I'm going back to my cell." He then turned to walk away when the Vehicon fired next to Chit Sang.
"Stop right there Chit Sang!" the Vehicon ordered.
"What did I do?" Chit Sang asked.
"You didn't bow to me when I walked by," the Vehicon answered.
"What!? That's not a prison rule!" Chit Sang responded.
"Do it!" the Vehicon ordered.
"Make me," Chit Sang responded. The Vehicon then fired his blaster at him, only for Chit Sang to dodge it and firebend back at the Vehicon.
"Tsk, tsk, firebending's prohibited here," the Vehicon mockingly said. "You're going in the cooler." Then a giant mechanical bat came in and transformed into the Decepticon Headmaster, 'Mindwipe.' Mindwpie then placed both of his hands together, almost as if he was praying, and started to chant something.
"ypeels yrev yreV, ypeels yrev yreV," he chanted before Chit Sang felt himself getting tired and went into unconsciousness, falling onto the ground.
"You two, assist me in taking this firebending scum into his cell," the Vehicon said to Warpath and Sokka.
"Meet back here in an hour," Sokka whispered to Zuko before he and Warpath hesitantly walked to the scene. Warpath assisted the Vehicon in picking Chit Sang up and dragging him away while Sokka walked behind them.
After Chit Sang had awakened, the Vehicon, Warpath and Sokka escorted him to a cooler.
"The warden will deal with you soon," the Vehicon said as he opened the door and pushed Chit Sang inside his cell before closing the door and locking it. "Can you believe this guy?"
"Fleshlings, am I right?" Warpath asked, trying to act more like a Decepticon.
"Ugh, tell me about it," the Vehicon replied.
Meanwhile, in the lounge of the Boiling Rock, three guards were eating their meals with their helmets off when they notice Zuko at the buffet table with his helmet still on.
"Hey new guy, I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times but this is the lounge. Relax," one of the male guards said.
"But what if there's an incident?" Zuko responded, obviously not wanting to take his helmet off, exposing who he was. "If I'm not prepared someone could strike me on the head." The guards simply responded by laughing in a slightly mocking manner.
"Give it a week, he'll loosen up," the one female guard of the three said to her fellow guards.
"Can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?" Zuko asked as he sat down with them.
"No, you can't date the female guards," the female guard immediately responded.
"Trust me, you don't want to," the male guard remarked before the female guard threw a cup at his head. The guard behind him then started laughing.
"No, that's not it," Zuko replied. "he Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals right?" The guards simply responded by nodding once.
"So what about war prisoners?" he continued.
Back outside, Astrotrain landed onto the landing platform of the prison and opened his doors to reveal Shockwave slowly walking out of him. The guards immediately responded by kneeling to him, not wanting to get on the scientist's bad side.
Back with Warpath and Sokka, Sokka couldn't help but notice that in the cooler, it was absolutely freezing inside, and Chit Sang was shivering.
"It sure looks cold in there," Sokka stated.
"Well, that's why you firebenders call it the cooler," the Vehicon responded. "Any human that acts disorderly will be sent into one of them, so they won't be firebending any time soon." Then he heard rumbling footsteps and noticed Shockwave coming their way.
"It's the warden! Look alive!" the Vehicon said before the three of them stood at attention at the cooler's door. Sokka tried his best to hide the fear that was coursing through his body at the sight of Shockwave while Warpath opened the door to allow Shockwave to step inside.
"I here that you have attempted to escape Chit Sang," Shockwave stated in his cold calculating voice.
"I wasn't t-trying to escape," Chit Sang responded, which only causes Shockwave to smash the side of his cannon arm against him.
"Attempts to escape this prison are illogical," Shockwave began. "Even before the Decepticons arrived on this planet no one has ever escaped from here, and I intend to keep that record as it is. So know this Chit Sang. If I hear of one more act of disorder from you, then you will be sent to my lab." With that, Shockwave walked out of the cooler and closed the door.
Later, back outside, after being dismissed, Sokka and Warpath stood on a balcony over the courtyard, watching the prisoners when someone came up to them.
"Hey there...fellow guards, how goes it?" he asked in a familiar voice.
"Zuko?" Warpath asked.
"Shhh," Zuko replied before turning to Sokka. "Listen Sokka, I asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners. I'm afraid your father's not here."
"What?" Sokka asked, in shock with what he had just heard. "Are you sure? Did you double check?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Zuko replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"No...No!" Sokka exclaimed.
"I'm sorry buddy," Warpath said as he gently and carefully placed his hand on Sokka's shoulder.
"So we came all this way for nothing?" Sokka asked, still in disbelief. "I failed. Again."
"Ugh, what would Uncle say?" Zuko asked, trying to think of a way to help out when he looked up at the clouds. "Sometimes, clouds have two sides, a dark and light. And a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich. So...when life seems hard...take a bite out of the silver sandwich." When he finished, he noticed that in the time it had taken him to think that up, Sokka's face had changed to a look of disbelief, but also of happiness and he had rushed to the railing.
"Maybe we haven't failed after all!" he stated.
"That's the spirit!" Zuko responded. "I can't believe that worked. I didn't even know what I was saying."
"No, what you said made no sense at all, but look!" Sokka responded before pointing to a specific prisoner. "It's Suki!" Sure enough, it was indeed the Kyoshi Warrior leader and girlfriend to Sokka, sitting on a rock.
"Prisoners! Back in your cells!" a Vehicon shouted as Suki and the other prisoners got up and started walking back into their cells.
Once the prisoners were back in their cells, Suki just lied on her bed, staring at the ceiling, when she heard the door open and saw Sokka walk in. Of course since he was disguised as a guard she assumed it was just another guard.
"What is it?" she asked as she got up. "Did I do something wrong?"
"You mean you don't recognize me?" Sokka asked.
"You people all look the same to me," Suki replied.
"Oh, then maybe you'll recognize this," Sokka replied in a smug manner before pursing her lips making smooching sounds. That of course caused Suki to grab his chin and push him to the door. It was then that Sokka's helmet fell off and Suki saw who he really was.
"Sokka!" she exclaimed happily as she ran to him and embraced him. "It's you!" Sokka responded by smiling and returning the hug.
"The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?" Sokka asked as he stood back up.
"No," Suki sadly replied as she looked concerned for her fellow warriors. "I don't know where they are. They locked me here because I'm the leader."
"Well you won't be here for long," Sokka responded as he placed a hand on Suki's cheek. "I'm busting you out."
"I'm so glad to see you Sokka," Suki said as she placed her hand on Sokka's hand. "I knew you'd come." With that, the two lovers looked into each other's eyes and leaned in for a kiss.
Back outside the cell, Zuko stood beside the door, keeping an eye for anyone that might need to go inside, when he spoted the female guard from the lounge coming his way. Zuko then knocked on Suki's cell door to warn them.
Inside the cell, the two lovers broke their kiss when they heard the knocking noise.
"'Scuse me, I need to get into that cell," the guard said to Zuko.
"No, you can't go in there," Zuko immediately replied before looking through the opening to the cell door, trying to think of an excuse. "The lights are out...the prisoner could sneek up on you."
"Step aside fool," the guard responded before trying to get inside, only for Zuko to grab her arm and throw her against the wall. "Hey, hey! What are you doing!?" As the struggle continued, Sokka easily opens the door and sneaks away without anyone noticing.
Meanwhile, Mindwipe was walking down the hallway, minding his own business and drinking liquified energon when he heard a noise and saw the struggle between Zuko and the female guard.
"Vhat the..." he said as the guard noticed him.
"Mindwipe! Don't just stand there, help me arrest him!" the guard shouted. "Argh! I think he's an imposter!"
"Vhut of course," Mindwipe responded as he placed his hands together and started chanting. "ypeels yrev yreV, ypeels yrev yreV-" Soon, Zuko felt himself getting tired and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"I'd say zat did ze tri- Uh-Oh," Mindwipe started before he noticed that the guard was knocked out as well. He then tiptoed sineltly up to the scene and dragged Zuko away, not wanting to hear what the guard had to say about this. Then a Vehicon noticed the sleeping guard.
"GET UP!" he shouted, which easily awakened the guard as she thrashed around in surprise at the loud noise.
Once the firebenders and Decepticons figured out that the imposter was actually Zuko, he was immediately placed in an interrogation room where he waited for Shockwave to come in. After a few minutes, said robotic cyclops walked through the door, his single red eye gazing down at Zuko with no emotion whatsoever.
"I must admit, I never expected for this to be the most logical place to find you Prince Zuko," he stated. "Though there is one thing I still have yet to know. Why are you here?"
"I won't talk, not even to you," Zuko responded dryly.
"I assure you, once you find out what I have been working on here, you will," Shockwave coldly responded. "Escort him to my lab." Two Vehicons then came in and handcuffed Zuko before escorting him out of the room. Zuko did nothing except wonder what horrific experiments his father allowed Shockwave to conduct here.
Once they had entered the lab, Zuko was shocked and horrified by what he saw. Blood stains all across the floor from previous test subjects, prisoners in test tubes with cybernetic parts attatched to them, and one prisoner who appeared to have glowing orange cracks all over his body and was thrashing around in pain. Shockwave then directed Zuko's attention to said test subject.
"I call this, Project Extremis," he explained. "I have successfully conducted a steroid that allows firebenders to achive firebending power equal to half of that of Sozin's Comet. The only problem I have with it so far, is that it is unstable as you can clearly see. All of my subjects have spontaneously combusted after merely a few minutes." Right on que, the prisoner was set ablaze, and after ten seconds, there was nothing left except ashes. Zuko could only watch as a look of horror emerged from his face. Then, two Vehicons brought another prisoner in and set him on the same table that the other man died on.
"I will give you some time to think about this Zuko," Shockwave began. "Tell me your purpose of being here, or you will become my next test subject." With that, Shockwave motioned for the Vehicons to drag Zuko away from his lab, passing a large cryogenic tube that read 'Inmate Zero.' All that could be seen inside was a glowing red visor.
"This will only hurt for a second," Shockwave told the prisoner as he injected a syringe filled with the steroid. "What comes next, more so."
As the doors closed in front of Zuko, all he could hear was the screaming of the unfortunate test subject.
Soon afterward, some of the prisoners, including Zuko and Suki, were mopping the floors when Sokka and Warpath walked to them. Upon seeing Warpath, Suki got in a defensive stance, but Sokka immediately stepped in the way.
"It's okay! He's with me!" Sokka explained.
"Oh," Suki responded while she went back to mopping. "Sorry."
"Not the first time it's happened," Warpath replied. "Name's Warpath by the way. I see you and Zuko have met."
"A-actually, we met a long time ago," Suki corrected.
"We did?" Zuko asked, not sure of what she was talking about.
"Yeah, you kind have burned down my village," Suki responded while shooting a glare at Zuko.
"Oh," Zuko said, suddenly remembering when he burned down a village in Kyoshi Island while he was searching for Aang. "Sorry about that. Nice to meet you again." Then the four of them moved against a wall so no one could see them.
"Okay, Sokka and I think we've come up with an escape plan," Warpath started. "We checked the coolers again, and the point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"
"Yeah," Zuko answered.
"So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in," Sokka explained. "Well to keep the cold in it also has to keep the heat out, right?"
"Just get to the point guys," Suki responded.
"We can use the cooler as a boat to get across the boiling water," Warpath explained.
"The cooler as a boat?" Zuko asked, slightly sceptical. "Are you sure?"
"I'm telling you, it'll work," Sokka replied. "I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice."
"And bing bang boom, we're home free," Warpath finished.
"But how are you going to get the cooler out?" Suki asked.
"Yeah, how are you going to get the cooler out," said Chit Sang, who was listening in this whole time.
"What?" Sokka asked, starting to panic. "We didn't...We... We didn't say that."
"Yeah, you heard wrong," Warpath added.
"I heard you hatching an escape plan, and I want in," Chit Sang demanded.
"There's nothing to get in on," Zuko said.
"Yeah, the only thing we're hatching is... an egg?" Sokka added, trying to hide the truth. Warpath, Suki and Zuko could just sigh at his poor attempt.
"Okay, well, I come with you, or Shockwave hears about this egg too," Chit Sang demanded.
"I guess we have no choice," Suki said, accepting defeat.
"Okay, you're in," Sokka said to Chit Sang before he hands a wrench over to Zuko. "Now, first we need someone to unbolt the cooler. From the inside."
"Oh, I can get you inside," Chit Sang replied.
Afterward, Chit Sang walked up to an open area when Zuko 'accidently' bumpped into him while he was mopping.
"Ugh! Hey, what are you, stupid!?" Chit Sang asked as he grabbed onto Zuko's shoulders before Zuko did the same. "Watch where you're going!" Chit Sang then lifted Zuko off the ground and tossed him into an open area.
"Hey, you watch who you're shoving!" Zuko retaliated as he pushed Chit Sang.
"I think you mean WHOM I'm shoving!" Chit Sang replied before they started a pretend struggle while the other prisoners watched and began to cheer.
"I need backup over here!" Sokka said to the other guards. Chit Sang then tried to body slam Zuko when he somersaulted out of the way and then firebended toward Chit Sang.
"No firebending!" one of the guards said as he stepped forward. "Into the cooler!" Mindwipe then came in and used his chanting to knock Zuko out before two Vehicons walked in and dragged Zuko away.
After a while, Sokka walked up to the cooler Zuko was placed in and opened the door.
"I can take you back to your cell, IF you've learned your lesson," Sokka joked in a serious manner while Zuko lifted up his head and sighed a breath of fire.
"Yes, I have. Completely," Zuko replied as he showed Sokka the bolts and nuts he unbolted.
"I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago," Sokka stated as he lifted up his visor. "They'll be waiting for us with Warpath at the shore."
"Someone's coming!" Zuko suddenly said as he pulled Sokka into the cooler and sides the door closed, listening to a guard and a Vehicon exchange small talk.
"Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn," the Vehicon said to the guard.
"Anybody interesting?" the guard asked.
"Nah, just the usual," the Vehicon replied. "Couple of traitors, some war prisoners, some Autobots, though I did hear there might be a pirate."
"No foolin'?" the guard asked. Sokka's attention however was grabbed when they mentioned war prisoners and Autobots.
"War prisoners, and Autobots," Zuko said. "It could be your father and some of the others."
"I know," Sokka replied as he looked away.
"Well, what should we do?" Zuko asked. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"
"I don't know," Sokka replied with tears in his eyes. "Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom? All of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?"
"It's your call Sokka," Zuko responded as Sokka was struggling to make a decision.
Later that night, Sokka, Zuko, Suki and Chit Sang were waiting outside when Warpath came down the cliff, pushing the cooler down to them.
"Took you long enough," Chit Sang complained as he motioned to a girl waving to him and a guy near the shore. "This here's my girl and my best buddy. They're coming too."
"Fine, just get in the cooler, everyone," Warpath responded as he moved the cooler into the lake while Sokka lifted up a rock revealing his Water Tribe clothing.
"You sure you wanna go Sokka?" Warpath asked.
"You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself," Zuko added. "Redeem your honor Rescuing your dad is your chance."
"Your dad?" Suki asked, who wasn't aware of why they originally came here.
"If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess," Sokka answered in a sad tone. "Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail."
"No, it's not," Zuko responded. "Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."
"That's suppose to make me fell better?" Sokka asked.
"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again," Zuko continued.
"Seriously, not helping," Sokka interupted.
"You have to try every time," Zuko finished as he grabbed Sokka's shoulder. "You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."
"Hey, if you two are done cuddling, can we move on?" Chit Sang impatiently asked.
"...No, I'm staying," Sokka answered after thinking about what Zuko said before placing a hand on Suki's shoulder. "You guys go. You've been here long enough."
"I'm not leaving without you Sokka," Suki reassuringly replied.
"I'm staying too," Zuko said.
"So am I," Warpath added.
"Not me, I'm out," Chit Sang said as his girlfriend and his friend jumped into the cooler. "Let's roll baby." He then pushed the cooler into the lake and jumped into it.
"We gave up our only chance of escaping," Sokka said as he watched the cooler drift through the boiling lake. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."
Later, at the crack of dawn, Chit Sang and his crew were about halfway across the lake, and it was clear that they were smoldering due to the lake's hot temperature, even though the cooler kept cool the whole time.
"Argh, this current is so slow," Chit Sang complained before he tore off a small section of the outside of the cooler. "I can use this to paddle." Big mistake. As he placed the metal piece in the lake, it immediately smeared and burned Chit Sang's hand. He immediately let go of the piece and struggled not to scream, but the pain was too much.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, and even worse, the whole prison could hear it. One of the Vehicons
noticed it and sounded the alarm.
Meanwhile, Sokka, Zuko, Suki and warpath, still outside, were pressing against the wall, trying not to be spotted.
"The plan failed!" Sokka silently exclaimed. "They're caught!"
On the prison's wall, Shockwave immediately walked outside and observed the scene.
"I count three prisoners Warden Shockwave," a Vehicon reported. "One of them appears to be Chit Sang. Shall I have the lab on standby?" Shockwave for a while stood there, thinking of the most logical way to handle this.
"Have it ready for the two other prisoners, but have the interrogation room ready for Chit Sang," Shockwave coldly responded. "In the meantime, have a team of Vehicons bring the cooler back here, then lockdown the prison. We have new prisoners arriving, so everything must be completely secure." With that, Shockwave walked back inside as four Vehicons transformed into Cybertronian helicopters and flew in to the cooler, much to the dismay of Chit Sang and the others. They then detached magnets from the bottom of their helicopter modes and attached them to the cooler before pulling it up and flying back to the prison.
Meanwhile, Sokka and the others watched for the new prisoners to arrive.
"There's Astrotrain!" Warpath stated as the triple-changer, in his space shuttle mode, flew to the platform and opened his doors.
"This is it," Sokka stated. "If my dad or any of the Bots aren't not there, we risked everything for nothing."
"We had to," Suki reassuringly replied.
"Come on, come on," Sokka anxiously said as a prisoner stepped off of Astrotrain.
"Is that him?" Zuko asked.
"My dad doesn't have a nose ring," Sokka answered in a slightly agitated manner. Then more and more prisoners walked out of Astrotrain, and two of them in particular caught Warpath and Sokka's eyes.
"Bumblebee and Ironhide!" they silently exclaimed.
"You know them?" Suki asked.
"They were with us since the beginning," Sokka responded. Then more prisoners walked out, but much to Sokka's dismay, none of them were Hakoda.
"That's it?" Sokka asked in shock. "That can't be it!"
"I'm sorry buddy," Warpath sympathetically responded.
"At least we found Bee and Hide..." Sokka said, trying to think of the positives, but trying to hold back tears, when he heard a guard shout to someone.
"Hey you, get off Astrotrain!" he ordered as they looked back up at Astrotrain, and Sokka's expression turned from one of sadness, to one of joy when out came his father, Hakoda.
"Dad..." was all he could say as his eyes widdened.
*QUE AVATAR ENDING THEME*
YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT A LOT OF MY EFFORT WENT TO SHOCKWAVE'S SCENES. WELL, SHOCKWAVE IS MY FAVORITE TRANSFORMER SO THAT MIGHT HAPPEN ON OCCASION. ALSO, ANY GUESS AS TO WHO THIS MYSTERIOUS 'INMATE ZERO' IS? I WON'T SAY ANYTHING YET, BUT I'M CURIOUS TO HEAR WHO YOU THINK IT IS.