Note: I'll make this note quick. Later in the story, the story perspective is going to switch from Hitomi's point of view to Yuko's. I just wanted to give you a heads up. ENJOY!

The White Lotus War

Chapter 6: A Shocking Discovery

Hitomi and Chao hid behind the dumpster in the alleyway as the night became older with each passing second. They patiently waited there, watching the police station with great eagerness, until a massive truck pulled up and stopped in front of it. Hitomi and Chao watched as a mouth covered Yuko was forced into the back of the truck. As the truck engine roared, Hitomi and Chao quickly raced across the street and jumped on the side, holding on as the truck moved toward its destination.

The truck began to head out of the village and over the hills just a little ways south. When the truck reached the peak of the hill, they could see a giant dome made out of steel surrounded by barbed wire. Guards were patrolling it and every entrance had security forces ready to attack if something went wrong. Whatever the Chief had inside that dome, he didn't want anyone else to have it.

"Has the dome always been there?" asked Hitomi.

Chao answered, "No, the people in the village have always told me that there was nothing out here except wildlife. That dome must've been built after the Chief took over. It must've taken a while to build though, that fortress is huge."

"Okay, you go and gather the rebels. I'll sneak in and see what this guy is up to. We'll rendezvous back here and plan an attack."

"Be careful." Chao jumped off the truck, hid in the bushes, and waited for the truck to be a little farther away before rushing back to the village.

As the truck made its way closer and closer to the dome, Hitomi decided to hide underneath the truck so there would be a less likely chance of getting caught. She knew that she'd have to abandon the truck before it entered the dome so she could enter it from above and see what was going on. As the truck slowly stopped in front of the dome, Hitomi gulped and hoped that the guards wouldn't check underneath the truck. Luckily, all the guards did was check that Yuko hadn't escaped and they let the truck through. As the massive garage door started to open, Hitomi checked both sides of the truck to make sure that there were no guards. When she confirmed it, she let go of the truck and fell to the ground with a gentle thud. The truck passed and Hitomi immediately hid herself behind a crate that was lying next to a big pile of others.

Hitomi decided to check inside the crate to find out if there was a clue to what the Chief was up to in it. She bended a thin piece of rock from the earth below and used it like a crowbar to open it. Inside, there were massive bits and pieces to some sort of machine. She didn't have time to ponder what it could've been because two guards were slowly coming her way. She put the lid back on and waited behind the crate until they passed. When they were out of her sight, she shot her hands up in the air and the ground beneath her sharply rose, sending her flying through the night sky. She landed gently on the top of the dome, so nobody knew she was there.

But then a problem caught her by surprise; there was a guard patrolling the rooftop! Luckily, he didn't know she was there. The only earth she had to bend with was the thin rock, but would that be enough? She saw the guard change his view more towards hers and decided that she had to act quickly to avoid blowing her cover. She raced up to the guard, who saw her coming and was about yell, but she launched her piece of earth and hit him in the throat. He fell backwards, covering his injured throat, and tried to scream even though he knew it wouldn't work. Hitomi jumped into the air and came down with a direct punch to the face, knocking him out!

Hitomi turned around to find the rooftop entrance, which she took with great caution. As she slowly went down the steps, she entered what appeared to be the staff lounge. Luckily for her, the room was empty. There was a table in the middle of the room with cards all over it and an icebox that was left open revealing a few bottles of some kind of drink. The cool thing about the room was that the wall to her right was just a giant window overlooking…

Tanks. Huge tanks being constructed by slaves of the village. Hitomi could barely move and the horrid sight she saw. The men of the Chief watched as their slaves constructed massive killing machines. Men, women, elders, even small children were being forced to make weapons of mass destruction that could begin another war.

Move, Hitomi told herself, you have to get out of there and get back to Chao so you can stop this! Hitomi was finally able to snap out of it and she got out of there as quickly as possible.

[Yuko]

Yuko was forced out the truck by two large men who forced her down onto the steel floor. Yuko was worried about the floor being made of steel because she knew that Hitomi couldn't bend metal. But that worry was massively outweighed by her surroundings. She saw tanks being built by the enslaved citizens of the village. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing and wanted to punch someone so badly.

Still, she managed to stay calm as another man approached her. He looked like an ogre with his massive muscles and even more massive stomach; his Earth Kingdom style steel armor barely managed to fit him. His face was like looking at a pile of vomit; he had no hair, his eyes were an unattractive yellowy green, and when he smiled, his teeth were the same color as his eyes. She could even smell his wretched breath as he looked at her. She couldn't believe she didn't throw up after just a few seconds of looking at him.

"Chief," one of the guards holding her said to the monster standing in front of her, "This woman is friends with the Avatar. What do you want us to do with her? Should we put her to work with the rest?"

"Nah," the Chief said in a deep voice, "We've already got enough worthless morons working on the Boss' toys."

"Then what should we do with her?"

The Chief pondered about what to do with the girl, and then asked, "Is the Doctor still stationed nearby?"

"Yes sir, but he's planning to leave for Republic City later tonight."

"Still, send him a messenger hawk asking if he wants to use this girl as one of his test subjects. If he says no, we'll just kill the girl."

Yuko shivered in fear. She thought that she would be kept prisoner until she was useful against Hitomi or forced to work for him. But instead, he's just going to kill her?

"B-But it's the Avatar's friend sir. She could be a useful pawn in our…"

"I honestly don't care. If the Doctor refuses the offer, just kill her and return to your posts."

Yuko didn't know what was more frightening, the fact that he was going to just sentence her to death if a note from some doctor said "no thanks", or the way he casually said, "just kill her" as if it were something he did as a hobby. Did he kill people as a hobby? Yuko was suddenly drowning in fear and despair.

Pull yourself together, she shouted in her mind, Hitomi is going to save you before that happens and you'll be out of these restraints and kicking some major butt! Just hold it together…

[Hitomi]

Hitomi explained everything she saw to Chao as they raced toward the metal dome with their forces trailing behind them. Chao and a few others almost tripped from hearing that tanks were being built just outside their village. Chao was on the verge of losing it when she told him the details of the men, women and children being forced to create these things, but Hitomi told him to snap out of it and relay the plan to his troops.

Chao nodded and said, "Listen up! We're going to run in fast and hard from the center to spread their forces in half! Don't let up for one moment and make sure that everyone inside the dome is out of harm's way! Fire benders, take up the front and don't let up on any of your attacks! Water benders and non-benders, stay behind the fire benders and get as many people out as you can before entering the fight! Earth benders, except for you Avatar, stay outside and take out the security forces! We're almost in the dome's sight! Get ready!"

They managed to get just a few yards away from the dome before one the guards called out, "Intruders! An entire mob is coming right at us!" When that was said, fire and earth benders from both sides began the battle. Fortunately, their forces held up while they continually burned their enemies or knocked them unconscious with a rock. They stormed through the front entrance while security forces tried to surround them.

Chao ordered, "Earth benders, put up your defense and take down that door!" The earth benders from the sides raised their hands to form rock walls, protecting them from the security forces. Hitomi and a few other earth benders in the front kicked the ground in unison and punched upwards, causing huge rocks to shoot at the massive garage door and knock it down, revealing the tanks and the enslaved citizens building them. Hitomi saw Yuko in the center of the dome being looked over by some kind of huge beast.

Chao led the fire, water, and non-benders into the massive battle where fire and water was blasted all around them. Many of the slaves were freed and were told to leave while the fire benders charged at the Chief's fire and water bending forces. Many of their forces were knocked down, but even more of the Chief's forces were knocked down thanks to Chao's brilliant leadership and tactics.

Hitomi earth bended a few rocks from the outside before she charged at the huge beast holding Yuko prisoner, but she wasn't sure if just a few rocks were enough to take the thing down. Though as she ran closer toward it, the beast looked more and more like a human. Then she realized it was a human. She could barely tell by how he looked. Still, she figured that must've been the Chief and was ready to take him down.

She threw all but one of her rocks at him at full power hoping to take him down easily. Instead, he shot the rocks away by bending some fireballs. Seeing her defeat, she turned the last rock into a sharp lance and threw at Yuko after shouting, "Go!"

Yuko swiftly got back up and kicked both of the guards holding her arms in their guts, sending them flying in opposite directions! She jumped up and grabbed the earth lance. She charged at the Chief and was ready to smack him with it, when he grabbed the other end of the lance and kicked Yuko in the gut, launching her back a few yards. Anger building inside her, Hitomi ran up to the Chief and was ready to punch him in the jaw, but he shot fire out of his hand and burned Hitomi's left side and arm. She fell to the ground in great pain. The Chief walked over to Hitomi and looked down at her with a huge smile.

He said to her, "I never would've guessed that the great Avatar could be beaten so easily. It even seemed like your little attack on my fortress would've succeeded if you weren't so weak. I think I'm actually disappointed. Oh well, time for you to die."

The Chief began to charge a bolt of lightning in his fingertips. Hitomi tried to get up, but she knew that she wouldn't get up in time before the Chief was done charging his lightning attack.

But then, the old man with the cane ran up and kicked the Chief right in his stomach making him step back a few feet! He then reached into his pocket, took out a piece of metal that he apparently took from one of those boxes, crushed it into a ball, and shot it right in the Chief's face, knocking him to the floor! He helped Hitomi up and said, "Looks like you could use some help."

Hitomi asked in amazement, "You're a metal bender?"

"Proud and retired after sixty great years of service in Republic City. Now I know you can win this fight, so show this thug you're not someone to mess with!" He then stomped on the metal ground and pushed his hands forward, causing a section of the metal floor in front of them to tear off revealing the earth underneath! He slowly closed his hands into a ball, turning the large sheet of metal into a ball. He saluted Hitomi and said, "Now finish this fight Avatar!" He then proceeded to knock out one of the Chief's water benders.

Getting her second wind, Hitomi bravely stared down the Chief, who had just gotten up and was ready to fight some more. The Chief shot fire from both his hands and Hitomi clenched both her arms together, raising a stone to protect her from the blast. She then shot the wall at the Chief who readily charged a bolt of lightning to destroy it. Before the bolt reached her, Hitomi launched herself into the air, dodging it, and stomped on the ground, shooting a rock pillar from under him, and it uppercut him and knocked him down! The Chief kicked his foot into the air, sending a vertical trail of fire at Hitomi. She dodged to her right, while the Chief stood back up and shot another fireball at Hitomi with his hand. Hitomi hit the ground and a rock shot up from the earth. Finding all of the strength inside her, she hit the rock toward the Chief; it annihilated the fire ball, and hit the Chief in the face, knocking him to the ground! He appeared to be unconscious.

Hitomi was thrilled at her victory and was about to race over to make sure Yoku was okay, but then the Chief's eyes shot open and he shot fire at her, burning her leg as she ran past him. Hitomi cried in pain and just barely managed bend a rock out of the earth before she fell to the ground. The rock hit the Chief on the back of the head and he fell back down too. Both Hitomi and the Chief struggled to get back up and finish the fight, but both of them were in a massive amount of pain. The Chief was the first one to stand up and proceeded toward Hitomi, wanting to end this battle. Hitomi saw that he was greatly injured, weak, and exhausted from fighting, so she struggled to her knees and tried to put up a defense, though her arms fought her thanks to the Chief's burns and her own exhaustion. She couldn't find the strength to bend.

At that moment, a messenger hawk swooped down and landed on the Chief's shoulder. It dropped a rolled of paper from its beak and the Chief began to read it. When he finished, the Chief smiled his most evil and disgusting smile that almost made Hitomi hurl.

He said, "Listen to this Avatar, before you came here I sent a little message asking someone if he wanted to have your friend as his pet. Apparently he refused my offer. So, before I finish you off," He found enough strength in him to run up and kick Hitomi in the face. He held up her head toward her injured friend and said, "I'm going to let you watch your friend die instead." The Chief began charging another lightning bolt, but this time he aimed it at Yuko.

No, Hitomi pleaded in her head, not Yuko. She was the only one who was there for me when I needed someone. She was the only person I cared about and the only person who cared about me. She was my best friend.

I don't want her to die.

I couldn't let her die.

I'm not going to let her die!

Hitomi's eyes suddenly turned a bright light blue that nearly blinded the Chief when she looked at him. She pushed both her hands at him and air bended him into the ceiling! The Chief started to fall and Hitomi launched herself up into the air above the Chief and shot another gust of wind from her fingertips and sent him crashing onto the metal floor below! Hitomi stretched out her hand to summon a giant rock from earth and held it in her hand, crushing it into a long spear! Yuko was still injured and unable to yell loud enough for her friend to hear her. This time, Yuko couldn't stop her. Hitomi launched herself at the Chief, ready to end him in a split second.

At that moment, Hitomi's bright blue eyes turned red and red lightning was seen coursing through her veins! She screamed at the top of her lungs, the pain she was feeling was unbearable and she felt as though she would die in seconds! Her right arm began to glow red and a word was starting to form on her arm! The word which glowed bright red on her body was the word "DELETE"!

After what seemed like years of pain, the word on her arm disappeared, the red electricity flowing through her veins finally stopped and she slowly came out of the Avatar State. She fell to the floor and saw several blurs silently calling out, "Are you okay?" to her. The blurs became less and less focused until she went into complete unconsciousness.

"So Hitomi, you're beginning to break free of your Deletion. I'm glad. Now I'll be able to have a little more fun."

The next day, Hitomi found herself in the base where she was being treated by a water bender who was slowly healing her wounds. Everyone else was there too; Yuko, Chao, the old metal bender with the cane, and everyone else that fought in the battle. Most of them had injuries covered by bandages, Chao looked especially beaten up with almost his entire upper and lower body being covered in bandages, but everyone seemed okay. Everyone smiled brightly when Hitomi woke up and they all gave off a slight gasp when they saw her trying to sit up.

Yuko and Chao approached her, Chao saying, "Easy Avatar, you took quite the fall after the Chief electrocuted you."

Hitomi tried to gather her memories about what happened after she entered the Avatar State, but she couldn't find any memories of what happened. She asked, "I was, electrocuted?"

Yuko answered, "Yeah. We're not sure how he did it after taking that fall, but everything's all right now. The Chief and his men have been put under lockdown in their own dome and Chao sent a messenger hawk to Ba Sing Se about what happened."

"That's right," Chao said with more enthusiasm, "Today, you helped us win back our village and now no one will ever have to live in fear again! Long live the Avatar!" Everyone cheered at his statement and Hitomi smiled as Yuko hugged her.

Everything was okay. At least for right now, everything was okay.

Chapter Six has ended with a bang! Thank you all for reading this, I hope you loved it, and please leave a review telling me how much you loved it! See what happens next time when the story continues! Bye!