Happy (very belated) birthday to Champ Lock! You're hella older than me now (by like two months, but whatever). This upload is for you!
"So, what did you create?" Champ asked, looking over Marissa's shoulder. They had decided to take refuge inside his apartment from the cold winter air after their encounter with Huan.
Marissa grinned widely. "I created a huge replica of this peanut butter and Nutella concoction I like. With a huge spoon on the side."
"Don't you usually melt it over the stove?" Champ asked, watching as Marissa took equal portions of the dark brown and tan substances from each part of the jar, putting them in a small bowl.
"Yeah, I wanted to test the properties of this. You know, the durability, if it tastes good, stuff like that."
"And if it's edible?" Champ placed a pot on the stove as the short firebender placed the remnants of the bowl into it, turning the stove on while Champ put the lid on the pot.
"Yeah, that too."
Marissa was quiet after that, her head hanging low until the aroma of the peanut butter mixed with Nutella filled her nose. Looking up, she could see that the taller bender had already taken the concoction off of the stove and moved it into the bowl. "What's wrong? You've being awfully quiet."
Marissa heaved a sigh. " It's just...I've been thinking about what Huan said. What if this person pulls another Kuvira and tries to 'unite' the entire world?' I don't think I could handle being around those ignorant people who don't know what good entertainment is."
"Well, in that case, you just have to show those ignorant people your reasoning for liking what you like. Be more open about it and tell them reasons they should be into it. Some will take your suggestion and see what all the fuss is about, and others will continue to be ignorant. And as for the 'unite the world' thing, it's bound to happen. We have to adapt to whatever the universe throws at us, just like Aang did when he found out that the Fire Nation wasn't what he remembered it to be." Champ stated, bringing the bowl with the concoction in it, a spoon for both of them to taste the mixture with.
"I guess...Wanna test this thing out?" Marissa replied, grabbing the jar, getting in a throwing stance. Champ backed up, putting both of his thumbs up while nodding. Marissa threw the jar at the wall as hard as she could, startled that she was able to even throw something as far as the jar went. The jar shattered into a million pieces, leaving a mess on the floor.
"Well, I guess it has the same properties as a normal object. But the mixture itself tastes a little bland. Guess you can't make food without it tasting off." Marissa pouted, making a move to grab the broom from the kitchen.
A low rumble caused both of the benders to freeze were there were. Champ hesitantly laughed. "Was probably just another tussle between earthbenders, I'm sure it was nothing."
Another rumble, this time louder, shook the apartment. "What is that?" Marissa whispered. The rumbling came back, this time continuing, shook the apartment violently. " AN EARTH QUAKE?" She yelled, putting her arms over her head. All around them, things began to crash to the ground, the table and sofa sliding towards the benders. Champ grabbed the firebender by the arm and pulled her towards the bathroom, stopping only to grab the animation pencils and a few bottles of water.
Champ and Marissa got in the tub, covering their heads with their arms. "THE CEILING IS CRACKING!" Marissa shouted, squinting her eyes to keep the dust out of them. As if on cue, a part of the ceiling began to fall towards them. Marissa quickly shot a white-hot fireball towards the falling ceiling in an attempt to burn it out before it got to them. When Champ saw that a big chunk was still leftover, he used most of the water to create a makeshift shield over them, using the rest of it to bubble up the falling ceiling.
Once the ceiling was no longer a threat, Marissa grabbed Champ by the collar and used fire to propel them upwards until they were flying through the air. All around them, debris and smoke was raining down, making it hard for the two of them to see. When Marissa was sure that the waterbender had collected all of the water from the makeshift shield, she flew them around until they were on a stable rooftop.
A loud crash caused both of the benders to flinch. "What's going on?" Marissa pondered, beginning to use her bending to propel herself into the air, but not before being grabbed by the wrist with one of Champ's water arms.
"We do this together." He stated, holding out an animation pencil. Marissa slowly lowered herself down, accepting the object and holding it firmly in her grasp.
The groaning of metal falling disrupted the benders from their thoughts, their eyes wide being the last thing they both saw before they blacked out.
Marissa groaned, rubbing her head as she sat up. A sharp pain caused her to wince, making her lay back down. 'Just take deep breaths, no need to get up just yet.'
"WATCH OUT!" The firebender looked up, watching in horror as a piece of a building began its descent towards her. 'Nope, time to get up.'
Just as she began to roll out of the way, she felt a hand pull her out of the way. A second later, the piece of building crashed where she was just second ago. Marissa looked up to find a disheveled Champ gasping for air. "Thanks." She said, standing up slowly until she was sure she wouldn't pass out.
"Oh for crying out loud, work, you stupid piece of junk! Why can't you work?"
Marissa and Champ looked at each other, walking towards the familiar voice in silence. Once the fog dust had cleared up a little, they found an irritated Varrick tinkering with random buttons and wires on what seemed to be a remote control for something colossal.
"Varrick? What are you doing in this part of town? And where's Zhu Li?" The firebender asked, still a little confused about what was currently going on. Another low rumble caused the trio to stumble, a loud crash following afterwards.
"Over here." Just then, Zhu Li's head popped out of a nearby alley.
"Well, I recently came up with the idea for a robot that can lift heavy objects from one place to another. The intention was for it to be used for the reconstruction of buildings, and I thought, 'What better idea than to test it out in Republic City?' After the whole ordeal with Kuvira, I thought that testing this baby out wouldn't be a hard thing to do, that is, until it completely malfunctioned and began to have a mind of it's own."
"What caused it to malfunction?" Champ asked.
"See, that's the problem - we don't exactly know yet. I tried using the the power off button the shut it down, but it wouldn't work. I need to get it to stay in one place long enough for me to go inside and inspect it." Varrick replied while pacing through the rubble.
The benders exchanged looks with each other. "Well, how about we distract it long enough for you to somehow come up with a way to rewire the controls until it shuts down? We could provide you with some extra material for you to use." Marissa offered, her hand going towards her pocket where the animation pencil was stored.
"You have yourselves a deal." Varrick stated after her pondered for a bit.
Champ and Marissa took out their animation pencils, standing a few feet a part from each other so they could do it together. "Here goes nothing." Marissa muttered.
As the pencils moved through the air with each stroke, the drawings began to materialize out of thin air, the surrounding air seeming to sparkle as the objects hardened into something shiny. Not long after, they had provided Varrick with extra wire, coil, inputs, and many other components necessary to a remote control.
"That should be enough for now." Champ sighed, twirling the pencil in between his fingers. "You ready?" He asked Marissa, looking down at her. She offered a grin.
"You bet!"
Holy fuck, this took way too long to write to the point that I decided to make it a two-part chapter. So, um, happy very, very, very belated birthday to Champ! I hope you enjoy it!