AN: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Brad Wright, and Jonathan Glassner. I am sorry that it take so long for me to update this. But life is life and you have to deal with it.
Zuko&Mai
Zuko awoke in the middle of the desert, surrounded by a sea of sand. There were almost no plants here; only lone cactus stood that looked like it held sky with its huge green tops, and it seemed that something was wrong with it. Zuko's head hurt like after a good party. Being Fire Lord implies accepting noble guests, or being invited to attend or organize a ball. He remembered that the last ball, which he had attended, was Katara and Aang's wedding.
"Did I drink so much that I can't remember how I got down here?" Thought Zuko. "And where is HERE? It seems like I am in the middle of nowhere, most likely Si Wong desert. But how? "
"All right, you're woken up," exclaimed Mai happily.
That surprised Zuko as he was more accustomed to seeing an emotionless Mai. In her hands, Mai held two bowls with water, or at least that's what it looked like.
"Are you thirsty? Drink it! This will quench your thirst!" Mai said, and gave a bowl of water to Zuko. They both drank everything out of their bowls.
"As you can see we are in the middle of nowhere! Do you have any thoughts as how we ended up here? All I remember is that we were at Katara and Aang's wedding…" asked Zuko.
"Yes you are right. But then, after the wedding, Aang offered to fly us all on Appa, like in the good old times. I never flew that fluffy before and I was very excited. Then a huge storm went up and sucked everyone in it. I saw how Aang caught Katara and later Sokka with Suki and Toph and try to descend. Finally, I woke up here in this sea of sand with you. Someday we should do it again" Mai told him.
"I see. We should try to get out of dessert. Where did you find water in this forsaken place?" asked Zuko.
"The local vegetation is full of water," Mai said, smiling and speaking cheerfully.
"There is something wrong with her," thought Zuko.
"Ah, take another." Said Mai and gave Zuko another bowl of liquid.
"It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier. It's the quenchiest!" said Mai, jumping funnily while juggling knives.
Zuko drank half a bowl, but strange thoughts arrived as he was finishing drink."I have heard that somewhere before."
"What did you just say?" He asked confused.
"Oh nothing" Mai said cheerfully, handing him another bowl.
"It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier. It's the quenchiest!" said Mai, continuing to jump merrily.
Then Zuko remembered how Katara had once told him about their adventures in the desert. Without a bit of hesitation, Zuko vomited out everything he had in his mouth. "Please do not say that it was cactus juice" he yelled.
"Calm down fire boy. Nothing is wrong; even if it was cactus juice, it doesn't have any effect on me!" said Mai, laughing.
"Yeah, sure" Zuko replied jokingly, not noticing that the juice had started to take effect. "We need to go…and maybe there is more of that cactus" he added later.
...
Zuko with Mai walked laughing from one another, and somehow managed to reach the edge of desert. The landscape began to change: the desert sands gradually replaced by grass and brushes, and cacti, and then by trees and shrubs.
"Hey, Zuko, I wonder who you prefer? Me or Toph? I know that you care about her, if you didn't care about her, you wouldn't have given her that pendant with a black stone. You know, the same type you're wearing…and you never take it off." Mai asked..
"I care about both of you" said Zuko mindlessly. A bit later he added "What's wrong if like both of you. I am the Fire Lord! I can do anything I want. Take it easy little lady. I have to admit, Toph has grown into a beautiful young woman."
"Lucky for me she doesn't know and doesn't care how she looks or acts. She is still the same stubborn, straight forward, tomboy Toph that we met before the end of the Hundred Years war. If she starts to act and dress more girlish, lots of boys would flock to her," said Mai.
"Then good for them that they don't flock to her, because she would kick their sorry asses and send them home. And that's what makes her beautiful, even if she doesn't know about it."
"You know, now that you've admitted I have a competitor, I'll have to try and get rid of her" Mai joked.
"Yeah, good luck in doing so. I would like to see that." They both laughed at that.
...
After some time, Zuko spoke up. "Look! It's a strange black mushroom. Maybe he's friendly? " They both went out to look at what Zuko had seen.
Suddenly, their laughter stopped at the sound of a yell.
"Jaffa, Cre!" [And some other nonsense] exclaimed the Jaffa, and aimed his staff at the outsiders, but the outsiders did not stop laughing, most likely at him, so he fired shot at them. Zuko instinctively fired a number of fireballs and escaped his first shot. The Jaffa was stunned by the appearance and did not manage to avoid Zuko's attack.
"It was really a friendly mushroom; it even set itself on fire so it can be cooked for us. I wonder if there are any more of them?" Mai said, merrily jumping around the toasty Jaffa, who had fallen on the ground.
Mai stabbed the Jaffa armor with her knife. "It's all tough and inedible. I think we burned it! Let's go see if there are more, I haven't had a bite of food since we got here."
After a few minutes of walking through the forest, Mai noticed another Jaffa and energetically rushed towards it.
"Lunch!" Mai shouted. She jumped onto the Jaffa, but the Jaffa was fast and threw her on the ground, firing a shot at her. With lightning-quick reflexes, Mai managed to avoid fatal shot at the last second by rolling to the side.
"What an unfriendly mushroom" screamed Mai hysterically, throwing a blade at the Jaffa. The knife hit metal Jaffa armour without causing any damage to it.
"I don't think it's a mushroom" said Zuko, starting to wake up from the cactus juice. He saw the strange creature shoot at Mai and he responded with his own fire.
From sides came a couple of Jaffa and, seeing their fellow fall to the ground, began to shoot at them. They managed to hide behind a big rock, but the Jaffa were approaching from all sides, trying to surround them. Zuko knew they needed to act if he wanted mushrooms for lunch, instead of being lunch for mushrooms. He jumped up and fired a few fireballs in front of the attackers, then released a couple of fireballs as he landed, one for each side, setting fire to the bushes and creating a wall of fire. Now there was only a single spot the Jaffa could attack from—the front of the field that Zuko had a clear view of. There were no barriers for his enemies to hide behind, giving him a clear line of fire. Of course, the same applied to him as well.
"It's now or never!" He said.
Zuko saw how strange creatures tried to climb over the stone behind which they were hiding, so he grabbed Mai's hand and tried to get out of the forest.
"What a beautiful shot. It's a good idea—let's turn this entire forest into our great pan. We'll not only have mushrooms, but also meat! "
One of the nearby village's resident saw this and ran at full alert.
...
Zuko and Mai were surrounded by Jaffa who were slowly advancing towards them. Zuko threw fireballs in all directions, but the enemy was as stubborn as a rock and did not intend to fall back.
"I wonder where is Toph now, she would like to fight with these strange creatures" Zuko mused.
"She would like fight anything; she was born to cause chaos." added Mai.
Suddenly, fire began to rain from behind the backs of Jaffa, and they fell to the ground. Zuko was stunned, but stood in a defensive position and inspected his surroundings. Meanwhile, Mai jumped gleefully around the bodies of the Jaffa, stabbing them with her knives.
"They are all solid! If we find anymore of them we should find a better way to cook them."
Then, their rescuers appeared from behind the trees. Since Zuko, was still under the influence of a cactus juice, he saw people that looked like they were from the Earth kingdom, except they carried the same strange fire staves as the mushrooms.
"Since when did mushrooms start to attack the Earth kingdom?" He thought.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Zuko said in an imperious tone.
"Relax, we are not your enemies, we are your friends," one of them said.
Zuko noticed that even though most of them had strange fire shooting sticks, none of the sticks were pointing at him or Mai, so he calmed down and relaxed his guard a little.
"Note to self: Never drink cactus juice."
"So where we are? And is there more you, or this strange creature? "Zuko said.
"After such an epic battle, you're probably starving. Let's go to our town then we'll tell you everything" said the group leader.
...
Zuko Mai went with the new people they met to their city. His mind was beginning to clear from the cactus juice, but Mai still felt a strong effect and it seemed that it would not pass quickly. He didn't think it odd that he recovered first, because a firebender's metabolic process is accelerated because of their inner fire. As soon as he entered the city, all eyes were directed at him and Mai, and it was very surprising. He shook off his surprise; he was the Fire Lord, of course people would be amazed to see him unaccompanied.
Everything in the environment—the buildings, clothing, and language—gave him the impression that he was in Earth kingdom, but when he asked which Earth Kingdom city it was, no one even knew what the Earth Kingdom was. How very strange.
Zuko and Mai were escorted into a huge building in the city center. In it resided the city elders, who welcomed Zuko and Mai like kings.
"Welcome guests. We were waiting for you." Said the head elder.
Zuko could swear he looked like King Bumi, but younger version and not that crazy and no lettuce dripping from his mouth, but appearance could deceive. Relative?
"You've been waiting for us? Where are we?" Zuko asked.
"Yes, we have been waiting for you. You are in the city of Dzin Din".
Elder examined their new guests. The male looked weird, wearing strange, long red clothing. Next to him stood a hyperactive girl dressed in same manner who was fidgeting and fascinated by everything, who he held firmly by the hand.
"So, this young man is our prophesied savior? He's so young, though in his face and eyes can see that he has already experienced a lot; his clothes while very strange, show that he is an important person," thought the elder, looking at the new guests.
"I have never heard of this town! Where exactly in the Earth Kingdom is it?" asked Zuko.
"Young man, you are far from home; here, there is no kingdom of the earth. This is not even the same world." The elder replied.
"Another world? It's amazing! But what does it mean, another world? "Mai said happily surprised, jumping on the spot repeating "Another World."
Zuko watched the headman with his jaw hanging down a few minutes. Then it became much clearer. He calmed down and in a composed tone said:
"You want to say that we are on another planet?"
"Yes! Oh sorry for my gaucherie. I am the head elder of this town, Gao Bing. Who might you be, sir?" Replied the Elder.
"I am Fire Lord Zuko, and this is my friend, Mai." Zuko introduced himself.
Mai Toph Suki" Mai told him, bowing cheerfully, seeing the strange look Zuko gave her.
"Fire lord, is it? Thank you, Fire Lord, for helping us get rid of our old oppressors." The elder said sincerely.
"Oh, I should thank you, since you have saved us from those strange creatures. You can simply call me Zuko, since we are no longer in the Fire nation. Who were they?" Replied Zuko.
"As you wish, Fire lord. Those strange creatures were the Jaffa. They were the occupants of our town, and made us work as slaves for a person who pretended to be a god" replied Elder.
"Are there any more of those Jaffa?" asked Zuko.
"We got rid of all Jaffa and their tyranny with your help, Fire lord." The elder said quietly.
"From now on you will be the new ruler of our city, Fire Lord Zuko, as it was prophesied long ago." Elder added later.
The prophecy? What prophecy?" Said Zuko, surprised.
"If ZuZu becomes your new king, will I finally be queen?" asked a very excited Mai.
"Yes, my queen Mai Toph Suki" The elder bowed. He then saw a strange glance from Zuko and began to talk about the prophecy.
"A prophecy was spoken that one day our lands will be visited by a wise ruler who expels our enemies who were ruling us a long time. They will be called our liberator, our guardian, and our new ruler. But ... " the elder stopped talking, not knowing whether he should tell them how the prophecy ended.
"But ... But what?" Zuko said insistently.
Elder paused for a bit, thinking about what he was going to say before continuing with the story.
"... but its governance will be short. Sky People will come and take him away from us." The elder ended the story.
"Sky people? Who could it be?" Zuko said, alarmed. Many thoughts were spinning in his head. in just half an hour he had fought for his life, learned that he is on another planet and been declared the ruler of a city. He also learned that his governance will end soon, and that he will likely be taken prisoner by a new and unknown enemy. Or...something even worse. He needed to understand everything.
"I think that this may be the Jaffa. They claimed to come from the stars that shine in the night sky." The elder said restlessly.
"But you can worry about it tomorrow, Your Highness. Today we need to celebrate the your arrival and the banishment of our old enemy from our lands." Said the elder.
"I think you are right. An empty stomach is bad for good thoughts," said Zuko, brightening up at the thought.
...
A great feast was instituted and during it, the elder presented Zuko and Mai to the whole city, telling about their feats against Jaffa, proclaiming him king, and the fact that he is that chosen one the prophecy talked about. Everyone was happy. Zuko and Mai were put up in the elder's residence. Zuko could not believe what he saw and what Mai did. It reminded him of Sokka being crazy about food with June's movements around the hall. He also could not believe how much she was able to drink, and what happened after that. One could say that after the Ball was over the place was devastated as if there was hurricane. That Hurricane name was Mai.
...
Zuko couldn't sleep and was thinking all night about what the city elders had told him, and he was very concerned. Who were the Sky People and what could they want of him? In the morning, with the first rays of the sun, he went out into the courtyard to meditate in the open air, then started working on his fire bending. He would have to be ready to fight if need be.
"Now I understand why you are called the Fire Lord. That's an impressive sight, Your Majesty!" Zuko was surprised by these word and stopped in the middle of his training, turning to see one of the elders of the city, Gao Bing, standing there.
"Oh, it's nothing. You should see what my friends are able to do. My friend Katara can control water, no matter where it is and my other friend Toph can control the earth…and you definitely do not want to be nearby if any of them are angry, particularly at you. Believe me, I experienced this first hand. But you would be most surprised by my friend Aang. He is the Avatar and can control—or as we say, bend—all of the elements." Zuko said.
So, you're saying that the world you hail from is ruled by the Avatar and elemental masters who can control forces of nature? Asked the elder, confused.
"Not quite as you say, but we can say that it is true in some way." Replied Zuko.
"It is very exciting." Elder said with admiration. "I'm wondering how you found yourself in our world? Did you come through the Ancient's ring, the Chappa'ai?
"Chap...what? I don't think so. The last thing that I remember was the fact that Mai and I attended my good friends Aang and Katara's wedding and after that a big storm started. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the desert with Mai" Zuko told him.
"Breakfast will be served in an hour. Good day, Your Highness." Said the Elder and left; he had to think about what he just heard.
...
After returning from training Zuko found Mai digging in the wardrobe.
Mai, clad in a blue dress, was jumping in front of a mirror.
"Look ZuZu, I am Katara."
"You make one step backward... one slip up... give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your "destiny" anymore, because I will make sure your destiny ends... right then and there... permanently." Mai said, pointing a knife at him.
Zuko was startled and horrified; if he thought that Katara was scary that time, then hallucinating Mai with those knives was even worse. Lucky for him she was just playing with him without any intention to hurt him, but blade near his throat looked quite dangerous and real.
She did a few poses before the mirror simulating Katara waterbending before going to change. Zuko relaxed a little bit.
After a few minutes, she came back waving a fan and was about to say something, but she was interrupted by Zuko.
"Let me guess, you're Suki now? You know you need make-up. Go change your clothes better because you don't look anything like her."
Mai wanted to say something, but then changed her mind and went to change. After a few minutes, she came back.
"Sparky" Mai shouted, hitting him in the shoulder.
Zuko had been caught up in his thoughts and jumped in surprise. He looked around to see his favorite earthbender."How could Toph end up here?"Thought Zuko, still a bit out of it.
"Toph?"
"I am not Toph, I am Melon Lord!" Mai said jokingly.
"Oh no, she completely went out of her mind. I wonder when the cactus juice effects will wear off, or even if it will wear off." thought Zuko.
"Hey, where did you hear all that?" Zuko said, puzzled.
"Ah, a little bird told me" Mai confided with a smirk.
Then a servant came into the room, informing them that breakfast was ready. Zuko was grateful, since it drew the attention of Mai and she went out of the room, leaving behind a devastated wardrobe. He really didn't want to see who next she would personify. Although, he had to admit that when Mai acted more colorful and was enjoying life, he liked her more than the world hating and boring Mai.
...
After breakfast, Zuko convened a meeting focusing on the prophecy. It was attended by all the major players: Zuko, elders, commander of the guard and several important people from the urban population. This would have been a long and boring conversation if not for Mai, who jumped around nonstop. Someone asked if the lady Mai was always so active, and Zuko explained that it was the effects of cactus juice, and that she had been this way a surprisingly long time with no indication that it will end. Zuko was wondering how much cactus juice Mai drank, it had to be a lot. To Zuko's surprise, the others were well aware of what cactus juice was and what it could do, and then asked him if he remembered which cactus she drank from.
"I believe it was a big cactus and, seeing as how its effects still ongoing, it is possible that she drank a lot." Zuko replied after a bit of contemplation.
One of the members spoke up. "It doesn't look good. It seems that she has taken an overdose of cactus juice. The good news is that she drank from the large cacti, which have a mild and gradual effect. If she had drank from a small cactus, she would have immediately gone crazy—or as we like to call it, WACKO—and there would have been no chance to heal her. As it is now, we can try to detoxify her, but…" Zuko cut him off.
"I like Mai when she is funny and energetic. Usually, she is boring uninteresting. Now everyday is like a surprise to me. Let us return back to the prophecies." Zuko said, chuckling.
"What is the ancient ring, that you call Chappa'ai?" He said, getting back on track.
"This is a gift from God, and a curse at the same time. It is said that God led us to this place using it before he left. We have lived in peace for centuries before the ring started working again, and the enemy came and enslaved us. Now you came to our world and helped us get rid of them."
"Maybe after this meeting someone could to escort me to the ring? I would like to see it with my own eyes."
"Yes, your Majesty." The guard commander replied.
"What were those strange creatures who attacked us and enslaved you?"
"They called themselves Jaffa, and considered themselves to be the snake god's soldiers. In their armor hides are men the same as you or me, only their skin tends to be black." Said one of elders.
"Elder, with all due respect, you are wrong. They were not ordinary people. They housed snakes in their bellies, which gave them superhuman abilities." The guard commander corrected.
"So if they are the same people, and you think that they will be the ones called Sky People who, like the prophecy says, will come pick me up, I hope you do not intend to give up without a fight." Zuko said strongly.
...
The meeting lasted a long time. After the meeting (and lunch), Zuko went to see the mysterious circle, which was wrapped in legends and which could be the arrival point of their new enemies. When the guard commander with a few people escorted Zuko to the Ancients ring, Zuko felt a sense of déjà vu, like he had already seen it somewhere before; he just couldn't remember when or where.
"I want two spies hide in vicinity and monitor the Ancient's ring and immediately notify me, the elder, or you if it starts to behave strangely." Zuko commanded.
"Yes, Fire Lord; two guards will regularly monitor this location and will report if something strange happens." The guard commander appointed two guardians to monitor the site, giving them specific instructions.
...
Weeks passed without incidents. The entire town lived on standby, ready at any time to take up arms and defend themselves from an attacker. Zuko had no time to think about home and the Fire Nation–constant training and all the other important things took all his time. Mai, always fun and energetic, would constantly cheer him up and he began to think what would happen when she returned to the former gloomy and dull Mai. He secretly wanted to send someone to bring up some cactus juice, but later changed his mind. No one knew what those Sky people could be and what they could do, so he needed every combat capable person. In small pause between meetings, training and other important things Zuko thought about his friends. They were probably looking for him like crazy, but the chances of finding him was probably the same as those to find the Avatar a hundred years ago. In other words, none. He hoped that his uncle Iroh would successfully manage the Fire Nation, and that his sister would not take over the government and destroy all that he and Aang had worked so hard to achieve. However, if something were to happen to his uncle, Azula would be the only legitimate heir to the throne left and...This thought was interrupted by Mai's hilarious voice.
"Hey, what'cha thinking about, Sparky? Come, let's have an earthbending duel!" Mai said, her wacky grin lifting his spirits.
"Sure, I would love to!" Zuko said, laughing. He did not know what he would do if Mai was not near him. If he had been here alone, he didn't think he could cope.
Unknown time
ETA 6h
SGC
SG-6, SG-9, and SG-1 sat in the briefing room and listened to the mission task. PZX-197 was a planet in which Lord Yu settled, but was later abandoned and forgotten. A couple of centuries later it was captured by Apophis. According to Tok'ra intelligence, which was a few months old, they found a planet that was ruled by Jaffa who had served under Apophis, and who knew nothing about the alleged death of their false God. The planet was left with a small detachment in the town near the Stargate. SG-6 task was to go to the planet and cause a rebellion to overthrow the local Jaffa government. SG-9 and SG-1 would help if they were faced with a higher resistance than expected. According to the Tok'ra, the locals should accept them as heroes and help them deal with the Jaffa. According to the Tok'ra everything was simple and easy like a walk in the park and that from SGC experience mean trouble.
ETA 4h
A few hours before the arrival of SG-6.
Symbols on the Ancient's ring began to flash strangely, and then the entire ring shone; its center turned blue, lookingas if it was full of water. Then, near the gate, a strange machine appeared. One of the scouts ran to report this strange event.
"Fire Lord Zuko, the Ancient's ring has begun to behave strangely. A strange machine appeared alongside it." reported the guard commander.
"Call the troops. They are coming!" Zuko said."And so it begins" he thought.
Now
SG-1, SG-9 and SG-6 arrived on the planet. Colonel Jack O'Neill told SG-9 to occupy the perimeter around the gate, while his squad and SG-6 went to go and check on the Tok'ra's information.
...
When Zuko and a group of soldiers secretly approached the Ancient's ring, he saw four men who were dressed strangely and had strange weapons in their hands. They all were black. He ordered his troops to surround them and wait for the signal to attack.
...
A SG-9 member noticed someone moving in the bushes, most likely trying to surround them. He turned to his unit leader.
"Sir! SHIT HAPPENING!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the leader of SG-9.
"Look around, sir" replied same team member.
"Oh Shit!" The SG-9 leader yelled "Take cover!"
Zuko, seeing that their initial plan had failed, ordered his men to attack and try to take them alive for questioning.
They new enemy had strange and exotic weapons which sprayed bits of metal and one of the men screamed something into little black box at his shoulder that Zuko couldn't understand, but that his second in command seemed to. Zuko felt a strange feeling of déjà vu, like something he had experienced before the war's end.
"What do they say? I have not yet fully learned oppressor's language" said Zuko.
"I also didn't understand, but it appears to me that they are calling in reinforcements."
Zuko targeted the man who spoke in the strange box and fired a number of accurate fireballs. He burned the human's hand and melted the portable radio.
SG-9 was temporarily stunned by the flame's appearance.
"Since when did Jaffa start using flame throwers? This is atypical for them," thought the leader.
Lightnings crossed air and all SG-9 members tumbled to ground. Zat'ed.
...
SG-1 was forcing its way through the forest, when Jonas noticed a girl with nice features jumping through the woods and followed her, leaving the rest of his team.
Jonas wandered in the woods for a couple of minutes when suddenly a few knives tacked him to the tree. Then, out of nowhere, came the same girl he had seen, holding the blade to his throat and asking something, but he didn't understand.
"Hey there, what are you doing?" He said, but the girl did not understand.
Then she called over another local, and asked him.
"Is this the major threat the whole city was preparing for?"
"I do not know, Lady Mai Toph, but it's very possible thing." Her guard answered
"I thought that it would be harder to catch. Well, victory is boring."
...
"Fuck the Tok'ra and their 'intelligence'" O'Neill shouted." Next time I see some of them I'm going to kick their sorry ass." He looked around and asked, "Has anyone seen where Jonas gone?"
O'Neill had just learned that SG-9 slammed into an ambush, and barely kept position of the gate.
"I saw Jonas Quinn go to the left. He saw a local, and followed her." Teal'c replied camly. They all went towards the place that the Jaffa indicated.
O'Neill found Jonas pinned to the tree with knives, and next to him stood two locals: a young woman holding a blade to his throat and an older man who held a staff weapon, most likely her protector.
"Lower the blade and walk away!" Yelled Colonel O'Neill targeting the woman with his gun. The others have also aimed their guns at the locals.
"What did you say about victory? We were just caught in crime scene and ordered to withdraw from your prey." The man asked Mai sarcastically.
"Jonas, are you all right?" asked Carter.
"I'm okay…except that I'm pinned to a tree. Could you help me please?"
...
After freeing Jonas, they made their way toward the Stargate.
"So who is your new acquaintance?" Jack joked, though there was seriousness in his tone.
"As far as I understand it, the woman's name is Mai Tof, and she doesn't speak our language; the man next to her, whose name I did not hear, understands us and is her translator."
Teal'c raised one eyebrow and looked at the young woman, and then to O'Neill.
O'Neill stopped, looking at the young woman. Her eyes were pale amber, and when he looked towards the ground, he noticed that she wore shoes; he brought his gaze up and shook his head.
"No, that isn't her." He thought briefly."If it was Lady Beifong, she wouldn't have been caught in the first place."
If you said that this past month had been full of adventure for Jack, that would be an understatement. First, he had a strange vision of the fire, and then SG-1 was summoned to the Antarctic base, where they found the Ancients and the strange plague, from which he almost died. Only with a Tok'ra symbiote was he able to survive. But then the same snake got him into even more trouble than before, and death wasn't looking so bad. He knew he would die, be resurrected, and tortured indefinitely. He even waited for death, it was only thanks to his friend that he managed to escape. Now all that was needed to put the cherry on this cake would be to meet the unstoppable demolition team: Lady Toph and Zuko. Their last meeting ended pretty badly, SG-1 was left in a cave, and their only way out was to use the Stargate to return home. That time, they had to deal with children, but now those kids will probably be adults, with even more power than before.
When SG-1 returned to the Stargate, they found nothing there; SG-9 had been captured.
"Dial up, Sam." said Jack. Then he turned to the unknown woman and asked her whom she was, but she said nothing. After the gate activated, Jack leaned over the MALP, which was surprisingly left near the gate and undamaged.
"SG-1 calling SGC. SG-9 was assaulted, likely captured by locals. Requesting reinforcements. O'Neill out."
"SG- 1 we hear you. SG-11 and SG-12 will be ready in an hour. SGC out."
"What are we going to do with them?" Said Sam, pointing to Mai and her assistant.
"We're going to save SG-9, and they are going to help us." Jack Declared.
"Colonel O'Neill. SG-6 reported that they have noticed a town on the outskirts of the forest. There is a lot of commotion, and SG-9 was lead there, but they don't see any Jaffa. It seems that the locals are hostile." Teal'c reported.
"Tell them to stay away from the city, that they should try to stay unnoticed, and don't take any action. Tell them we're coming." said the Colonel.
...
SG-1 went to meet SG-6, but they did not know that they were being followed, a number of eyes intensely watching them. Fire Lord Zuko had been informed that there were more intruders with which he would have to deal with. Several scouts saw them moving to the city, so they would have to try to catch them. Once the threat was eradicated, he could begin to question who they are, and how and why they come here. Zuko and the citizens had just caught another group of foreigners, who were camped secretly near town. Everyone was glad that their counterstrikes had been completed without casualties, but then Zuko was informed that his girlfriend, Mai, had been captured by the rest of the foreigners who were coming to meet with the group he had just caught. The fact that intruders had Mai meant that Zuko needed to change tactics and act quickly. Then Zuko remembered how his sister and her friends had dressed like Kyoshi fighters to capture Ba Sing Se. If it worked there, then it could work here too; he just needed to slightly revise the plan, and if they were lucky it would end quickly and painlessly. He didn't want to get involved in a long battle when the aliens had taken Mai hostage.
Zuko and a few more soldiers disguised themselves in the foreigner's clothes and lay on the ground as if they had been attacked. The rest stayed hidden in ambush.
"I have a strange feeling that someone is watching us. Be alert!" Jack warned. Teal'c nodded agreement.
SG-1 appeared in the place where SG-6 should be a few minutes later and was surprised by the view. SG-6 was lying on ground unconscious. Well, that what it looked like, but there was something strange about it and Jack had feeling they were going into trap, so he pulled his zat and was ready to fire. Teal'c too was ready with his staff weapon and covered O'Neill's six. Samantha and Jonas went to check if everything is well with SG-6, while Jack and Teal'c watched environment and were ready to defend themselves from anyone who might attack them. Samantha came to one of the people lying and checking the pulse said that they're alive. John came to the other and confirmed it as well.
Mai's protector saw the bodies and recognized one. He quickly understood that this was an ambush and he would have to act when opportunity presented itself.
Suddenly Zuko and others jumped from the ground. Jack managed to zat several ambushers, but Zuko was lucky and grabbed Samantha, put a fire blade to her throat, and said:
"Lower your weapons, or these soldiers will die." Then he noticed that his victim was strange man—no not a man, but a woman—and his hand was...you know where.
At the same time, another soldier grabbed Jonas and pointed their weapon at him. The captured guard pushed Mai to the side and yelled at her to flee. He attacked the black man distracting him, and was easily defeated, but that was all Mai needed in order to escape. From the hideout appeared more troops, and they surrounded SG-1.
If this was a normal day, Jack might have been surprised, but today was a bad day, and it was progressively becoming, to the point that he swore nothing could surprise him now. He would be proven wrong shortly.
Jack and Teal'c kept aimed their weapons at their attackers. They were too many, and they realized that they were grossly outnumbered.
"O'Neill," Teal'c began, but was interrupted.
"To hell with the Tok'ra intelligence" Jack murmured softly. When he get out of this manure he was going to have a serious talk with them, and not necessarily with words. Jack looked around and nodded his head. He and Teal'c lowered their weapons.
"We come in peace, and we would like to leave in one piece." said Jack. Taking off his sunglasses, he looked at Carter and saw that what he first thought to be a knife was actually a knife-shaped flame. Jack looked up at the man who was holding Carter. Only one part of his face was seen, the other part obscured by Carters hairs, but when he turned Jack could see his whole face. A face with a red scar.
"Uhm…Flamethrower? I mean, Zuko?" Jack asked, puzzled. He almost resisted the urge to see if there were any rocks flying in his direction.
"It's His Majesty Fire Lord Zuko, to you" said one of the attackers.
"Well the boy has grown up nicely. Now we only need miss wrecking ball and a pair of rock shoes to make my day," Jack thought sarcastically.
Zuko looked at the man, who turned to him, and then the next to the man, who was black with a golden amulet etched into his forehead.
"Hi, ... Jack" Zuko said.
"Where is that little…beautiful wrecking ball?" Asked Jack cautiously. It couldn't hurt to throw in some compliments, just in case she was around.
"He means Miss Toph Beifong." said Teal'c, in a more respectful voice.
"Lucky for you, she isn't here!" said Zuko.
Jack felt relieved to learn that if he needed to escape, he wouldn't have to worry about the unstoppable earthquake girl. It's a bit difficult to move when your feet are dug into the ground, after all. Now he only had to talk with the flamethrower and get him to release them.
"Where is here, anyways? As far as Carter and I remember, the last time we met Toph left us in a large cave with only a Stargate for an exit. Speaking of which, maybe Your Majesty could be so generous as to release Major Samantha Carter?" Jack asked.
"Let's go to the city, we will be able to talk there" said Zuko, releasing Carter.
"Do you know them, Fire Lord?" the guard commander inquired.
"Yes. It's a long and interesting story; I'll tell you in the evening." Almost as an afterthought, Zuko added irritably.
"And you don't need to call me Fire Lord!"
AN: I would like to thank to Vladimir Zhivanevskaya for Beta chapter.
Please comment/review and let me know what you thought of it, thanks! I really want to know what you think about it.