disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!
The Impenetrables vs the Penetrables
The grim sight of the long drill with a Fire Nation insignia on the top of its back left her just the slightest bit unnerved; sure Uncle Iroh had tried getting past the Outer Wall long ago, but he had up and mothballed the mission because of the untimely death of his son, Lu Ten.
"…It is an honor to welcome you to the Outer Wall, young Avatar. But your help is not needed." The esteemed General Sung, a graying man whose air was something she found she disliked automatically, proclaimed haughtily.
Mariko jerked her gaze away from looking out at the oncoming drill, amber eyes sharpening. "Sorry; how is his help 'not needed'?" She asked curiously, a catty edge rising to the tip of her tongue.
'Not needed'… What kind of fool was this man? If the Earth King was employing men like General Sung to such an esteemed rank, she might have to owe Fire Lord Ozai an apology.
"Yes, 'not needed'. I have the situation under control; I assure you, the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall. Many have tried to break through it, though none have succeeded." Sung answered confidently, rising from his seat to showcase the supposed strength of the Outer Wall, leading the teens on a mini-tour.
"So the esteemed feat of the Dragon of the West is just a fairy tale, is it?" Mariko drawled cattily, quirking a brow. Toph chimed, "Yeah, what about the Dragon of the West? He got in."
Both girls' barbs left him flustered, confidence slipping through his fingers, "W-well, uh… technically, yes. But he was quickly expunged!" He shot back hastily, leaving the teenagers unimpressed, "Nevertheless, that's why the city is named Ba Sing Se: it's the impenetrable city. They don't call it 'Na Sing Se'." He laughed weakly at his own joke before clarifying, "That means 'penetrable city'."
"As mundane of an anecdote as it was, there's still the matter of the drill." Mariko pointed out blandly, subconsciously showcasing the calculating and bold admiral's daughter she often tried to brush under the rug.
"Not for long! To stop it, I've sent an elite team of earthbenders called the Terra Team." Sung stated proudly, confidence returned, gesturing to the specks of dark green below that were getting into attack formation on the drill.
"You'd have to be drunk to come up with such a piss-poor name like that…" Mariko murmured under her breath, but Toph (who was standing closer to her) snorted amusedly.
Sokka, on the other hand, seemed to think it sounded good, "That's a good group name… very catchy." He winced when both earth- and firebender slugged his arm from either side in bemused chiding.
Letting her eyes observe the rebellion the esteemed Terra Team made against the drill, she was only mildly amused when they took out a handful of tanks and didn't prevail against laying a scratch on the hulking drill. Her gaze sharpened when seeing two specks hop out of the drill and she recognized the two specks of maroon and pink to be two of her most favorite people in the world…
"Damn it." Mariko hissed even though she had had a sinking feeling they were behind the attempt at another conquest; at earning a reproving scowl from Katara she ignored it, exhaling through her nostrils. "So much for that confidence in rock-chucking meatheads." She muttered, watching Ty Lee topple the last earthbender with some well-placed jabs at his chi points.
"We're DOOMED!" General Sung wailed as his panic attack seemed to seize him at full-force; Sokka slapped him hard across the face and exclaimed, "Get a hold of yourself, man!"
"You're right," he said weakly, rubbing his cheek, "I'm sorry."
"Maybe you'd like the Avatar's help now?" Toph wondered cheekily.
Groveling didn't suit the man well; General Sung shuffled up to the boy, bowing his head in shame, "Yes, please." He said timidly.
Taking the drill down from the inside-out seemed a brilliant plan… y'know, from afar. Now actually inside the damned thing, well, it seemed more intimidating.
But she brushed the feeling away, scowling at her feelings toward such a giant hunk of metal and backing up as Katara and Aang took a break from cutting through one of the braces, earning a baffled look from Sokka.
"Um, Mariko, what're you doing…?" Sokka blinked owlishly at her before the girl bolted and leaped off the brace, landing nimbly on the left brace.
"What'd you expect me to do, stand there and look pretty?" Mariko scoffed, summoning a thick whip of fire into her hands, shaping it to form into an identical whip to that of the water Aang and Katara were using, starting to hack at the brace infront of her, smirking proudly when it started to dissolve and be cut through with her flame-saw, bouncing the saw between her hands outstretched at an arm's length as she helped them cut down the braces.
Several braces later and all three benders were getting winded; the firebender gave her brace another sharp lashing before she clapped her hands together to dissipate the saw, flopping back onto the sturdier part of the brace and panting. "Please tell me we're almost done." She would murder the dumbass who had come up with making this damn contraption if she ever got back home.
A low mechanical groan sounded as the drill seemed to skid to a halt, and she had to wonder if their efforts hadn't been in vain…
"Did you hear that? We took it down! We better get outta here, fast," Sokka declared as Mariko dropped down onto the original brace from leaping back to them, leading the way to the exit.
"Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se… Start the countdown to victory!" A man's voice cut through the intercom overhead, his words resounding throughout the middle level they were in.
"Seriously!?"
::::::::dOb::::::::
"Great job, Team Avatar! Now Aang just needs to… DUCK!" Sokka cried as he narrowly avoided a blast of azure flames from a brace higher up.
Mariko deflected the next blast of fire, a fiery whip on hand as she cracked it and struck at their footing, gritting her teeth slightly when the whip was cut off with a slap of the hand from the princess.
"Wow, Azula, you were right! It IS the Avatar… and friends." Ty Lee chirped, smirking at the older boy present.
Sokka smiled lazily, starting to greet back when Katara grabbed his arm and the quartet sprinted down a path with Mariko and Aang bringing up the rear.
"Guys, get out of here; I know what I need to do!" Aang barked as they came to a fork, the trio skidding to a halt as he started running in the opposite direction.
Katara tossed the water pouch at him, "Wait! You need this water more than I do."
Sokka, Mariko and Katara skidded to a halt at the apparent dead-end of their path infront of what appeared to be a sewer hatch.
"Oh no, no way in hell…" Mariko began.
"It's either that or get your chi blocked!" Katara argued, enduring the scathing look from the older girl.
"I'd risk it… H-hey, Sokka!" Mariko yelped an expletive when she was shoved into the murky depths of the nausea-yellow rock and water concoction by said boy's shove, Katara and Sokka following shortly, closing the hatch before a dagger from Mai narrowly hit the covering, missing the trio.
"If we get out of this alive, I'm GOING to kill you for that, Sokka!" Mariko shouted, the tomboy exterior fleeing right from under her as a very girly yelp of surprise escaped when their ride in the river of sludge was brought to a halt and all three teenagers landed face-first in the pooled sludge at the back of the drill.
Both Sokka and Mariko spluttered and gagged on the yellow mud-like liquid, the former yelping when the latter slugged him hard. Katara rolled her eyes at the scene and perked up as a fourth voice gave a surprised cry from the sludge, and a flash of pink showed that Ty Lee had followed them; she straightened quickly and extended her right hand out at the sludge, stockpiling it and sending it to roll back into the edge of the back-exit.
"Nice one," Mariko commented from her position having Sokka in a head-lock with his right cheek pulled out, yelping when said boy rammed an elbow into her ribs and punted her off, letting her fall into the sludge.
"Why don't you try blocking my chi now, circus freak?" Katara spat bitingly at the caught acrobat, keeping her stance even as Sokka got back up near her.
"Katara, keep that up! The pressure will build up in the drill, and when Aang delivers the final blow, it'll be ready to pop!" Sokka urged excitedly.
Mariko bumped his hip with hers pointedly, making him yelp as he fell back into the sludge, shaking her head of the disgusting stuff. "Don't you think we figured that out already, genius?" She said sarcastically.
"Good technique, little sister; keep it up! Don't forget to breathe…" Sokka was back up again, and his coaxing was riding on both girls' nerves.
Katara glared back at him annoyedly, "You know, I'm just about sick and tired of you telling me what to do all day! You're like a chattering hog-monkey!" She snapped.
"Just bend the slurry, woman!" Sokka yelled, his voice cracking, before she summoned some sludge to knock him on his backside, distinctly hearing Mariko snickering.
"You guys need some help?" Both girls blinked and smiled in relief as Toph came forward from under the drill.
"Toph, help me plug up this drain!" Katara instructed; together, both girls sent the river of sludge jolting back into the hull of the drill, and Mariko could practically hear all the pipes groaning mechanically as they were backed up completely.
"You did it!" Mariko beamed when hearing loud popping sounds coming from the four sections of the drill, a further sign they'd taken the hulking mechanism down.
"Here it comes!" Toph barked, lifting their footing up with a gesture so they towered over the river of sludge that poured out from inside the drill.
Mariko looked at the exhaust smoke rising up into the twilight from the wreckage and she smiled grimly. If Uncle Iroh couldn't breach the wall, then what makes you think you could, Azula?
A/N: oi there's a long chap coming up, so many things to cover... but am i going to tell you about it? pssh.. no. feel free to leave some feedback; it goes a long way in these parts~
preview of the next chapter:
'Neat and single-file, keeping the strays out of the picture... just like home.'