Ok gonna be honest here...did not expect this chapter to be this long XD
It's the longest chapter of the story so far but it was worth it!
Lots of stuff going on in this one and you're not gonna wanna miss it.
As usual thank you to Qazse, Petrus, and Yellowpikmin88 for going over the chapter first for me
So we all hope you enjoy.
"Aang hurry up and land already!"
"Just give me a second Luffy I can't just have Appa drop down!"
"Luffy just hold it in for a few more seconds!"
"Ah! Watch it you almost pushed me off!"
"Stand still dammit!"
Despite the chaos that was happening on his saddle, Aang was able to safely land Appa on the ground, thankfully nice and close to their current destination. "Gotta go! Gotta go! Gotta go! Gotta go! Gotta go!" And as soon as he could Luffy jumped off the bison and gunned it to the nearest tree to take care of some urgent business. "Aaaaaaahhh…"
"He…He knows we can see him…right?" Aang, with Momo on his shoulder, asked with a cringe as Zoro just stared unamused at the sight while Sokka looked disgusted as he covered his sisters' eyes. This was definitely gonna haunt Sokka for the rest of his life. "He could at least go behind the tree…"
"Just try not to look," Zoro told them as he pushed them all to the other side of Appa so they wouldn't have to look. He was gonna have to remind himself to clobber Luffy later for that. "So where are we now kid?"
Aang then smiled as he walked forward and gestured for the others to follow him. Heading up a nearby hill, once the reached the top Aang pointed forward at exactly where Aang led them. "Behold everyone, the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" In the distance was a city that was set up in a similar manner to a pyramid with a large and thick wall all around it. "I used to always come here to visit my friend Bumi."
"So this is Omashu huh?" Zoro asked as he looked over the city with a hand over his eyes. "And here I thought people were exaggerating about how it looked."
"I take it you've never been here before?" Katara asked as she looked up at Zoro.
"Don't really make it a habit of touring around the nations, for obvious reasons," Zoro explained as Katara and Sokka nodded in understanding. When those parts of the world have been part of a 100-year war then it doesn't exactly make it too appealing to visit. "Usually only end up getting involved with those fire bastards, and unlike with pirates you can't really earn bounties for slicing them down."
"Why does everything you say have to sound so violent and brutal?" Sokka asked he rose a brow at Zoro and put his hands on his hips. "Though I'll admit this city is pretty cool looking, think it might just be as big as the marine base town."
"Trust me you guys are gonna love it," Aang said as he looked over the city, a sense of nostalgia running over him. 100 years and it hasn't changed at all. "We just gotta wait for Luffy to finish peeing and we can have some real fun inside the city!"
"Actually Aang, I've been thinking," Katara brought up a worthy concern to the crew. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."
"Yeah that's right," Zoro nodded his head in agreement as he looked down at Aang. "The entire fire nation is hunting you down, and now that they know you're around they probably put a bounty on your head,"
"You're gonna need a disguise," Sokka told the young Avatar with a serious tone. "The second people find out you're the Avatar they're gonna be all over you, and probably not in the fun way like in Kyoshi island."
"So what am I supposed to do then?" Aang asked before laughing a bit and saying in a sarcastic tone. "Grow a mustache?"
"…Yes! Exactly!" Sokka smirked as he pointed at Aang. "Give me a second!" Sokka then climbed up on Appa again and grabbed a rope before hopping off the bison again. They then watched as Sokka grabbed some fur off Appa before going over to Aang. Katara and Zoro watched with raised brows as Sokka got to work with his ideas and after about a minute Sokka moved away from Aang, revealing Aang now wearing a tall wig as well as a patch of fur in the shape of a mustache under his nose. "Ta-da!"
"Ugh. This is so itchy." Aang immediately started complaining as the bison fur quickly started to make his face and head start itching like crazy. "How do you live in this stuff Appa?" Appa turned towards Aang and snorted at the airbender, almost like the bison was scoffing at him.
"Great!" Sokka grinned as he dusted some remaining hair off his hands as he looked over his work. It was a quick job but it should be good enough. "Now you look just like my grandfather."
"Technically, Aang is 112 years old." Katara pointed out with an amused smirk.
"He's just missing the wrinkly skin," Zoro said with his own amused smirk. "And the old man smell."
"Aaaah, alright guys I'm all good!" Luffy had finally finished taking care of his business he came back to the group with his signature grin on his face. "So what's up with that weird-looking city?" But as Luffy asked this his eyes suddenly fell upon Aang. Luffy's face become blank as he looked over the now hair covered monk. "Hey what's with the old guy? Where's Aang?"
Almost immediately everyone else fell down with comedic thuds. Even Momo face palmed at Luffy's pure idiocy. "So is my disguise just that good or is Luffy just that dumb?" But Sokka face palmed right after he said that. "Nevermind, I know which one it is."
"Luffy it's me, Aang." Aang rose up his wig to show his arrow tattoo to Luffy to show it was him. "Sokka just made this disguise for me to hide the fact that I'm the Avatar from everyone."
"Oooooh, hahahahaha!" As soon as Luffy realized it was Aang he quickly started to point and laugh at the 12-year-old boy. "Wow, you really do look like an old geezer! Hahahah!"
"Well that's good! It's what I'm going for!" Aang then grinned as he takes out his staff and spins it around a little bit before using it as a walking stick and hunches his back and leans heavily on his staff to further look like an old man, even speaking in an old man voice. "Now let's get to skippin', young whipper-snappers. The big city awaits!"
"Hahaha! Aye-Aye Geezer!" Luffy continued laughing as he followed Aang, followed soon by the others as well.
"Just you guys wait, you're gonna love Omashu." Aang told the others as he smiled widely under his bison fur mustache. "The people here are the friendliest in the world."
But right as Aang said they walked up to the walls of Omashu where there were three guards in front of it and confronting a merchant who had a cart of cabbage next to him. "Rotten cabbages?!" The first guard yelled in outrage as he looked over the cabbages in the cabbage man's cart. "What kind of slum do you think this is?!"
The guard then crushed the cabbage in his hand, knocked away the two cabbages in the cabbage man's hands, and then, using earthbending, makes a large rock shoot up from the ground right under the cart and making it fly high in the air before dropping down in the chasm below. "No!" The cabbage man yelled as he watched his beloved cabbage cart fall into the chasm. "My cabbages!"
"…What's exactly your definition of friendly kid?" Zoro asked with a raised brow as Aang, Katara, and Sokka flinched at the sight with Luffy simply blinking a few times.
Momo let out a squeak of fright as he quickly hid inside of Aang's wig. "Just keep smiling…" Aang whispered to everyone nervously as the two from the water tribe smiled nervously as well, Luffy just put his usual smile back on, and Zoro had his usual serious look on him as they walked up to the entrance of the city.
As soon as they walked up to the gate the first guard immediately glared in a hostile manner and brought up a large boulder from the ground and rose it above Aang's head. "State your business!" The guard demanded to know.
Zoro immediately brought his hand to one of his swords in case trouble started, but before anything could happen Aang ran up to the guard, getting right in his face and harshly poking his chest. "My business is my business, young man, and none of yours!" Aang yelled in his old man voice, making the guard flinch and drop the boulder he was levitating. "I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!"
At first, the others, aside from Luffy who was just laughing at the sigh, were worried that Aang might have just pissed this guy off. But to their surprise, he actually seemed to calm down as he looked down at Aang. "Settle down, old-timer!" The guard told Aang, his tone no longer aggressive. He always forgot how the elderly can be sometimes. "Just tell me who you are."
"Name's Bonzu…Pippinpaddle…opsicopolis, the Third," Aang thought of a cover name on the spot as he gestured to the others behind him. "And this is my son," Aang gestured to Zoro, "My grandkids," He then gestured to Katara and Sokka before gesturing to Luffy. "And my Grand Nephew!"
"Hi. June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis." Katara played along as she stepped up to the guard and sent him a friendly wave. "Nice to meet you."
"Sorry about my old man," Zoro played along as well as he walked up next to Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "He's getting to that age where he's starting to lose his marbles. Luckily we already picked out a coffin for him."
BONK!
Zoro grunted a bit as Aang whacked him on the head with his staff. "Now who are you calling old young man!" Aang yelled at Zoro while smirking under his fake mustache. "I'll have you know I have plenty of years left in me that you gotta deal with!"
"Heh, you poor bastard." The second guard smirked at Zoro as he spoke up. "Lucky me my old man already passed away a couple of decades ago, though we had him cremated instead."
"Thinking I might just do the same." Zoro growled out as he glared at Aang, making the young Avatar flinch a bit. He was clearly gonna have to teach the kid a lesson later.
"Well, you two seem pretty responsible." The first guard said as he looked at both Zoro and Katara, nodding in approval as he looked over them. "Make sure the geezer stays out of trouble." The first guard then looked back past them at Luffy who was looking down in the chasm. "And him as well, don't know why but he seems like a troublemaker."
"You have no idea," All the straw hats sans Luffy said in unison.
"Hey what's that mean?" Luffy asked as he looked up at everyone.
"Exactly it means," Sokka told Luffy as he grabbed his wrist and pulled Luffy forward, though making sure not to stretch his arm out by accident. "Now come on already."
"Enjoy Omashu," The guard said as he and the other guards stepped back and, using their earthbending, opened up the gate leading to the city. But as the group was walking inside, the guard grabbed Sokka's shoulder tightly and glared at him. "Wait a minute!" Everyone turned to the guard and thought they had been figured out. But thankfully that wasn't the case the guard pointed to Sokka and said, "You're a strong young boy! Show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag!"
"Good idea!" Aang grinned and threw his bag at Sokka, which bounced on his head and landed in his arms. Sokka sent Aang an annoyed glare as he and the other made their way into the earth kingdom city. But as the guards were closing the gates, the first one witnessed Momo's ears suddenly springing up out of the wig. The guard blinked a few times in shock but was unable to question the disguised Avatar as the gates fully closed.
ZUKO'S SHIP
Currently, many miles away from Omashu, Zuko's ship was sailing through the sea. But despite being after the Avatar, it seems that the course Zuko's ship was taking was leading them away from the Earth Kingdom, where the Avatar and the pirate crew he was with currently were. But Zuko was aware of this as he looked over the map he had in his navigation room and was going over the current course with his ship's navigator.
"Are you sure this is where you want to go Prince Zuko?" The navigator asked the scarred prince with fear in his tone. "That leads to-"
"I'm aware of where we're heading," Zuko said with nothing but seriousness in his voice. Ever since Kyoshi island, Zuko has been oddly quiet, even for him. But it was easy to sum that up to his pride taking a massive blow after he and pretty much their whole crew were forced to retreat after getting their ass handed to them by the Avatar, the straw hat, and the swordsman. But now, to the navigator at least, it seems that Zuko went from quiet to losing his marbles due to where he wants them to head next. And with most of their crew in the infirmary no less! "But if we're going to capture the Avatar while he's traveling with his new friends...then we need the same kind of help he has."
"Y-Yes Prince Zuko…" The navigator nodded, knowing there wasn't gonna be any arguing with Zuko about this. He was just gonna have to pray to the spirits that this trip wasn't gonna cost them their lives.
As the navigator got up and went to the steering wheel of the ship, the door to the room opened and Iroh stepped inside. "Everyone has been treated, and they should recover good as new," Iroh informed his nephew of the firebenders currently in the infirmary. While most were able to walk away from their last battle with just some bruises and scrapes, the ones that were at the mercy of that three-sword style user had to get some serious treatment for their wounds. "However, it is going to take some time for them to heal, they're going to need plenty of rest."
"I know," Zuko told his uncle as he continued to look over the map. "That's fine."
Iroh's eyes widened a bit in surprise. He wasn't expecting that response from his nephew. "You are calmer than I thought you would be given the situation," Iroh said with a skeptical look. While he was happy that his nephew was allowing the time their crewmembers need to rest, he was expecting his nephew to be more aggressive and moody…well moodier than he usually was. "Given how powerful the Avatar's allies are now…it would be most difficult to try and capture him now."
"I know uncle, that's all I've been able to think about for the last few days," Zuko explained to his uncle, how could he not think of that. He's seen the power the Straw Hat Pirate possesses with his Devil Fruit powers, and that swordsmen who used not just two but three swords was a sight he'd never thought he'd see and Zuko was easily able to figure out that he was an incredibly dangerous and deadly man. "Which is why I've decided on something."
"And what would that be?" Iroh asked with a raised brow.
"…If we're gonna be dealing with people from neutral territory…" Zuko then pointed to the spot on the map that they were currently heading in the direction of. "Then we're going to need help from neutral territory."
Iroh's eyes widened as he looked at the spot on the map. They were heading right towards an area belonging to neutral territory, a place even the Fire Nation tries to avoid going through if they could at all cost. "You know Prince Zuko…" Iroh wanted to make sure Zuko thought this through completely. "Neutral territory is much like the sea itself. It can either be calm and friendly, or it can be dangerous and unpredictable. Are you sure about this?"
"I am Uncle," Zuko nodded his head, not a single doubt about this decision in his head. "I must capture the Avatar at all cost, but his allies are too strong for our firebenders to handle, but there should be mercenaries and bounty hunters just as strong if not stronger than that Straw Hat and Swordsman. This is the only way."
"Very well then," Iroh respected his nephews' decision. But he did make sure to give him a warning about something. "But you must try and control your anger while there. If you enrage the wrong person, you might end up opening a can of worms you won't be able to close."
"The marines." Zuko knew what his uncle was talking about. The power the marines had was known throughout the entire world, even in the Fire Nation. His uncle was right in that it was wise not to draw their ire. "We'll do our best to avoid them, we'll find the help we need, and then we'll get out. We should be able to make it there tomorrow morning."
"Then I am going to put on a cup of tea," Iroh turned around and headed towards the door. "You are more than free to join me Prince Zuko."
"I'll think about it." Iroh bowed at Zuko before leaving. Zuko simply narrowed his eyes at the map, staring at the place they would be arriving at. "Just you wait Avatar, I will capture you. And I will restore my honor."
OMASHU
BONK!
Luckily Momo jumped out of Aang's wig in time before Zoro gave the Avatar a good bump on the noggin. "OW!" Aang let out as he rubbed the bump that form on his head. "I said I was sorry! And I didn't hit you that hard!"
"It's called getting even kid," Zoro stated as he glared down at Aang.
"Hehehe, sorry Aang but you kinda had that coming," Katara told the monk with a bit of a teasing grin. Aang pouted a bit in response as Katara looked forward and took in the sights of the city. "So what is all this stuff anyway?" What Katara was referring to were the various stone chutes that were all over the city.
"And what are those earthbending guys doing with it?" Luffy pointed at some earthbenders who seemed to be putting some sort of stone-like crates on the chutes before sending them down.
"This is the Omashu delivery system," Aang explained to Luffy and the others as he gestured to the various chutes. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Earthbending brings the packages up, and gravity brings them down."
"Great so they get their mail on time." Sokka said in an unamused tone. Did Aang seriously just bring them here to check out a mail system?
"They do get their mail on time!" Aang suddenly put on a mischievous grin as he turned to everyone. "But my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes."
"Like what?" Luffy asked with a head tilt.
"…The world's greatest super slide!" Aang told everyone with a giant grin on his face. Suddenly the siblings and Zoro's eyes widened as Luffy's own grin became bigger.
A few minutes later Aang had led the group to one of the upper parts of the city…the perfect point to start sliding down. "Lucky there was one large cart left we could all fit in!" Aang smiled as he got in the front of the stone cart. It was a bit of a tight squeeze but they were all able to fit with Aang in the front, Luffy behind him, Katara and Sokka behind the rubber man, and Zoro in the very back. "You guys ready?"
"So are we just gonna stop whenever you want to have some fun and games kid?" Zoro asked Aang with a bit of an irritated tone. Aang was a kid yes but he was also the Avatar and he had to get to the North Pole so he could learn how waterbending. "You're supposed to be on your way to the north pole. Plus we're supposed to be pirates not damn tourists!"
"Come on Zoro don't be such a buzzkill!" Luffy told his crew's swordsman, making a tick mark appear on his head. As soon as they found a crate that could fit all of them on, Luffy was the first to jump in and eagerly await the ride. "This looks like fun!"
"It is fun! Trust me!" Aang told everyone with a big grin on his face. "And don't worry Zoro, I promise after one ride we'll be on our way to the North Pole. Airbenders honor."
"Um, I-I-I don't know about this anymore Aang." Katara spoke up with uncertainty in her voice. Looking down…she noticed they were up pretty high. And these crates seemed to move very fast on these chutes. "It sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second-" But as Katara was speaking Aang leaned forward and tipped the crate forward in the process and sent them down the chute. "THO-O-O-O-O-O-OUGHTS!"
Thanks to the combined weight of the five of them, six if you count Momo who was holding onto Aang's wig for deal life. "YEEEEEEEAH!" Aang cheered as they went down, gaining speed by the second. Luffy was also cheered and grinning incredibly wide, even raising his hands up into the air. Meanwhile, Katara and Sokka were holding onto the cart for deal life with Zoro gritting his teeth as he held on tightly as well.
The chute they were going down then pulls up next to a parallel one that had a cart carrying a rack of six spears on it. They managed to race past it as the two chutes merge into one causing the cart with the spears to start racing towards them. "Shit!" Zoro cursed as he managed to duck in time before the back of his head was impaled. This was not how he was gonna die dammit!
"I'm on it!" Aang yelled as he started to rock the cart they were on, causing it to fly off its chute and onto a roof of a house blow. The roof was torn up as the cart continued its descent.
In a training area in the city, a soldier was instructing his men about something incredibly important. "Men, you'll be going off to combat soon." He informed his men as he tightened his fist and looked them all in the air. "It's important that you be prepared for anything."
But perhaps none of them were truly ready for the rage of war as, surprising them all, the Straw Hat crew passed by them riding a cart. They all gasped in surprise as the card sped past them and went over another series of chutes, knocking a bunch of other carts down and throwing that series of chutes off completely.
After tearing up another roof the cart they were riding found itself going down another chute yet again. "Aang do something!" Katara yelled out as she tried desperately not to pee herself while on this death trap of a mail system. Aang's friend had to be absolutely insane if he thought this was a good idea! "Use your airbending!"
"Good idea!" But Aang didn't seem to get what Katara meant by that as he had a different plan in mind for how to use his airbending while on the ride. "That'll make us go even faster!"
Aang then waved his arms out and created a gust of wind behind them to use a speed boost, causing them to go down the chutes even faster than before. "YE-E-E-E-EAH!" Luffy cheered as he continued to raise his hands in the air. Aang's friend had to be some mad genius to figure something like this out! This was fun! "THIS IS AWESOME!"
"What the hell kind of lunatic was this Bumi guy Aang?!" Zoro yelled as he continued to hold on tight to the cart so as to not risk being thrown off. He was starting to regret taking the back seat of this thing.
As they continued to race down they saw an earthbending soldier station at the end of the chute. He was waiting for carts to be raised but to him before sending them down through the chute in front of him. Aang, Katara, and Sokka scream as a cart filled with scrolls was brought up in front of them, but thankfully the earthbender then that on its way before they could hit it…unfortunately another cart was brought up that they did crash into.
The cart they were on was sent flying into the air with the Straw Hats being knocked out of it. But Luffy was quick to stretch his arms to grab everyone and pull them towards him before stretching his arm again to grab the cart and pull it towards them, allowing everyone to hop back in. "Hey wait a minute…" Sokka quickly started panicking as he realized something. "Why am I in the back?!"
"Because I was sick of being back there," Zoro said bluntly as he smirked a bit at Sokka's predicament. "Better hold on tightly ponytail!"
"Nice work Luffy!" Aang told the rubber boy behind him as they landed on top of another roof and started sliding down it, leading to another roof that they tore up. Eventually, they started to slide past houses and even a poor man's pottery shop with his latest piece becoming pottery roadkill as the crew crashed right into it. "Sorry!" Aang yelled to the man as he and the others just kept going. Passing by another house a cat ended up getting caught into Aang's wing with Momo and the feline quickly started to hiss and fight with each other and Momo through the cat off his territory.
"Brace for impact!" Zoro yelled as they started sliding through a balcony and before they could try and stop, ending up crashing through a parapet and ended up falling down below.
On the streets of Omashu, despite what happened at the entrance, the Cabbage Merchant had found a replacement cart for his prized cabbages and was currently cuddling one of the heads of cabbage. But suddenly he heard the sounds of screaming coming from above, deciding to investigate he set his cabbage down into the cart and stepped away from it to see what was going on and-
CRASH!
Watched as his new cart and cabbages were crushed by the cart the crew was riding on. "My cabbages!" The Cabbage Merchant yelled in despair before glaring at the Straw Hats with intense rage. "You're gonna pay for this!"
"Hahahahaha! That was so much fun!" Luffy laughed, not concerned at all as earthbending soldiers started to surround them. "Let's go again!" Before they were arrested both Zoro and Sokka made sure to give Luffy a good punch to the head.
After taking the five of them into custody, the soldiers took them to the highest authority in the city. The king of Omashu himself. The king appeared to be an elderly man with wild gray hair, bushy eyebrows, and a bushy beard wearing royal robes colored in various shades of green with a few yellow highlights. The soldiers walked the Straw Hats up to the King, with Luffy's arms restrained in stone as he tried to fight back earlier and forced them to kneel before the King. "Your majesty," One of the guards spoke up while gesturing to the Straw Hats. "These juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages."
"Off with their heads!" The Cabbage Merchant yelled as he jumped and down while waving his fist around. "One for each head of cabbage!"
"Silence!" The guard yelled at the Cabbage Merchant, making him flinch and stop doing what he was doing. "Only the king can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, sire?"
"Grrrrr, let me out of these things already!" Luffy yelled as he tried to free his arms of the stone restraints the soldiers earthbended onto him. "I'll kick your asses!"
"We better get ready to fight our way out of this…" Zoro muttered to the others with Sokka and Katara nodding in agreement as Aang only looked worried with Momo simply blinking at the King.
The King was silent at first as he overlooked all the Straw Hats. Examining them from top to bottom before finishing on Aang, the King starring right into the airbenders eyes and made Aang nervous. But it was strange, Aang could feel a strong sense of Déjà vu coming over him as he looked at the King. "Throw them…" The King finally started to speak up. Everyone was ready for anything. Zoro and Sokka were ready to draw their weapons, Katara was ready to take Aang and Momo and make a run for it, and Luffy was still trying to free himself. "A feast!"
There was a brief period of silence after the King declared the "fate" of everyone with a goofy smile on his face. Most of the group and the guards looked at their king in surprise, Momo's ears perked up, and the Cabbage Merchant cursed the unfairness of it all. "Alright!" Luffy instantly stopped his struggle to escape after hearing the word feast and jumped up with an excited grin on his face. "I'm starving!"
ZUKO'S SHIP
"Prince Zuko! Prince Zuko! Prince Zuko!" Zuko growled in annoyance as his breathing exercises were broken by one of his crew bursting into his room with a panicked look on his face. This had better be important, his crew knew better than to come into his quarters without permission. "We got some trouble!"
"It had better be important," Zuko said as he glared at his crew member.
"It is!" He told the prince as he took some rapid breaths. "A marine ship! We spotted one and it's coming up to us!"
"What?!" Zuko instantly stood up as the candles he was controlling the fire of with his breath erupted, the wax almost instantly melting completely. "Cut the engines! Let them come up to us and do not engage!"
"Yes, Prince Zuko!" The crew member didn't need to be told twice before he ran up to do his job. "Everyone! We got Marine ship coming up!"
Zuko wasted no time in exiting his room and heading towards the deck of his ship. Luckily he and his uncle already discussed a plan while having tea earlier incased this happened. As long as they didn't start any conflict then they could get out of this situation easily and stay on course. Once he reached the deck he saw his uncle already there and looking at the incoming Marine ship. "Any cannon fire yet?" Zuko immediately asked his uncle as he stood next to him.
"Thankfully no," Iroh shook his head as he kept his eyes on the incoming Marine ship. "They are not being aggressive, hopefully they will let us pass after explaining our business."
After a few minutes, the Marine ship stopped in front of Zuko's ship. It would've halted their way through had the engines not already been cut so they could get this through peacefully. Zuko and Iroh then watched as two Marines with rifles strapped to their back walked forward and looked down at them. "Alright Fire Nation, explain your business here." The first Marine cut right to the chase and demanded to know why Zuko was in their waters. "What are you doing in neutral territory?"
"We're hoping to get some medicine from town north-west of here," Zuko gave the Marines the story he and Iroh agreed on. "We ran into some pirates the other day and some of our men got injured."
"This was the closest place we could think to do," Iroh followed up on his nephews' words. "We would rather be safe than sorry and get it as quick as possible, we don't mean you any inconvenience."
"…Ok, hold on." The second marine told them as he reached into his pocket and pulled out…a snail? The marine held it up to his mouth and spoke into it. "Captain, they say they're on their way to the nearby town. Getting some medicine for some of their men that got hurt fighting pirates."
"Uncle, what is that?" Zuko asked as he looked at the snail in the marine's hand.
"It is a transponder snail." Iroh explained. "They are used to communicate with other people through long distances, quite extraordinary."
"Alright, you can let them pass." Suddenly the snail spoke up in a gruff voice, its eyes narrowed. "But keep an eye on them, just in case."
"Sir!" The two marines said in unison to the snail before the second one put it away.
"Alright, you can go through." The first Marine said as he signaled the helmsman to move out of the way. "But stay out of trouble, keep our territory out of your war."
"You have my word," Iroh bowed to the marines politely. "We will treat your land with the utmost respect." The Marine nodded in satisfaction as they moved out of the way, allowing Zuko to continue his course with no more questions asked.
OMASHU
Just like the King said, he had decided to throw the Straw Hat pirates a feast despite their crimes of cabbage vandalism. The crew was sitting with the kid and was presented with a table full of various delicacies, desserts, and drinks. As usual, Luffy was devouring a plate filled up as much as possible with meat, Zoro had a large mug of booze, thankfully this was much better than the booze back on Kyoshi island, and Momo purring as he helped himself to whatever he could get his greedy little paws on.
"The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts," The King informed everyone as he stood behind Aang's chair and held up a drumstick to the monk. "So I hope you like your chicken with no skin."
"Thanks but I don't eat meat," Aang politely turned down the drumstick the King offered to him and-
SLAM!
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" As soon as Aang said that Luffy swallowed the meat he had in his mouth and slammed his hands on the table, making Momo fly up in fright, and looked at Aang like he was absolutely insane. "You don't eat meat?! What the hell's wrong with you?! You can't just not eat meat! I'd starve to death if I couldn't eat meat!"
"Hehehe, well you're certainly someone that likes meat. Here boy, fetch." The King grinned in amusement as he tossed Luffy the drumstick with the straw hat pirate catching it like a dog. As Luffy calmed down by munching on some more meat, the king went to the other side of the table and sat down in his chair. "So tell me, young bald one, where are you from?"
"Um, I'm from…" Aang struggled to think of an answer as he tried to keep it a secret that he was the Avatar and an Airbender. "Kangaroo Island!"
Everyone but Luffy proceeded to give Aang a blank look. That was seriously the best thing he could come up with. "Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh?" But the King actually seemed to buy. "I hear that place is really hopping!"
"…Pfft, hahahaha!" After a moment of silence, Luffy started to laugh at the pun with Sokka soon joining in. "I get it! That's pretty funny!"
"Hehehe, hopping," Sokka laughed out. "That's good."
"Idiots," Zoro muttered as he took a drink of his booze. But as he did so he narrowed his eyes at the King. 'Just what the hells up with this guy? It seems like he's just some nutty old geezer…but I can feel there's something more to him.'
Meanwhile, the King yawned as he lazily stretched his arms out. "Well, all these good jokes are making me tired." The King said as he rubbed his eyes as he leaned against his chair. "Guess it's time to hit the hay." But as it seemed he was about to get out of his chair to leave he suddenly threw a drumstick towards Aang, the young Avatar was barely able to react as he caught the drumstick…in a small ball of air. "There's an airbender in our presence and not just any airbender. The Avatar!"
The guards gasped in surprise as Aang quickly stopped airbending with Katara and Sokka looking nervous, Zoro narrowing his eyes at the King, and Luffy and Momo continuing to eat without a care in the world. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself," The King began asking with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Mr. Pippinpaddleopsicopolis?"
Seeing as how the jig was up now, Aang just stood up and admitted it. "Okay, you caught me. I'm the Avatar. Doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out." Aang then started walking back towards the exit while also pulling Sokka and Katara out of their chairs. "No firebenders here. So, good work, everybody! Love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time! Come on Luffy, Zoro, it's time we hit up the high seas again!"
"But I'm still eating!" Luffy said with his mouth full.
But before Aang could attempt to leave the guards held up their spears to block their way. "Hey!" Katara yelled as she glared at the king. "You can't keep us here! Let us leave!"
"Lettuce leaf?" The King said as he picked up a lettuce leaf from his plate and ate it slowly.
Zoro finally decided he had enough of this crazy old geezer. "I don't know what game you're playing here old man but we're not gonna be a part of it." Zoro then made a grab for one of his swords…but soon noticed that they were gone. "Huh?! What the-where'd my swords go?!"
"Oh, you mean these things?" To everyone's surprise, the King suddenly reach under his chair and pulled out Zoro's swords, a mischievous smirk on his face. "That's what happens when you don't pay attention young man."
"Tch, dammit…" Zoro cursed and gritted his teeth. When did the old man have the opportunity to take his swords? And how did he not notice it until now?
"Guys were in serious trouble," Sokka muttered to everyone with a worried look on his face. "This guy is nuts."
"Luffy do something!" Katara yelled to the rubber man. With Zoro no longer having his swords Luffy was their best shot at busting their way out of here. "Get us out of here!"
"Huh?" Luffy let out as he looked up from his piece of meat…only for one of the earthbending guards to once again restrain both of Luffy's arms and sent him flying off his chair. "Hey! Not again! Let me go!" And for the second time today, Luffy tried to escape his restraints. "Grrrrrr, what the hell?!"
"Tomorrow, the Avatar will face three deadly challenges." The King announced to everyone as he pointed at the guards. "But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber."
"My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" One of the guards next to the King's chair asked.
"The newly refurbished chamber." The King said.
"Wait, which one are we talking about?" The guard needed a more specific answer.
"The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing, that is. Of course, we've been calling it the new chamber, but we really should number them." The King cleared his throat awkwardly as he pointed forward with the guards beginning to take the straw hats to their chamber. "Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"
As the guards pushed everyone out of the room, or pull them out in Luffy's case, the King ate another letter leaf as he watched his guards follow his orders. And so the guards took the Straw Hats to a large pair of metal doors, opening them up the guards pushed the Straw Hats in, or throwing in when it came to Momo, before closing the doors and freeing Luffy of his restraints. "Hey! Let us out!" Luffy quickly turned around and started punching the metal doors to an attempt to open them up and bust out. "Come back and fight us! I'll kick your asses!"
"That doors solid steel Luffy, you're not gonna be able to break through," Zoro told Luffy before looking over the prison cell they were in…if you could even call it that. "Wait, this is our prison cell?"
"It looks so nice," Katara commented as she looked over the chamber. It was…rather well furnished. Five nice and soft beds with clean sheets, blankets, and soft-looking pillows. There were also a few rugs on the floor and some luminescent crystals attached to the walls and lighting the room as well as a table in the middle of the room with a fruit bowl in it. "Looks more like a guest room than a prison chamber."
"He did say it was newly refurbished." Aang pointed out as Momo grabbed an apple from the fruit ball before laying down on one of the beds and started munching on it.
"Nice or not, we're prisoners!" Sokka yelled as he crossed his arms and looked towards Luffy who was still trying to punch the door open, though his fist was becoming red and swollen due to his repeatedly punching. "Come on Luffy can't you get that thing open?"
"I'm trying!" Luffy grunted before finally stopping after a few more punches, wincing as he looked at his fist. "Owww, that hurts."
"Just stop Luffy, there's no getting out of this so we might as well accept that," Zoro said calmly as he looked down at Aang with a serious look on his face. "Better get ready for tomorrow kid, no telling what the crazy old kings gonna put you through."
"There's gotta be some way out of here," Katara looked around the room trying to find some opening in the chamber there were in. "Come on guys let's think."
"The air vent!" Aang smiled as he pointed to a small hole in the wall that led to the outside.
"If you think we can fit through there you're as crazy as that king," Sokka pointed out, but he and everyone else rose their brow as Luffy quickly ran to the air vent. "Uh, Luffy what are you-"
"I can make it!" Luffy yelled before he began attempting to push his head into the hole. "Come on…I've almost got it!" Luffy grunted as he struggled to hit his head into the impossibly tight space. "I'm gonna make it guys! Raaaaaahh!"
Everyone just watched with a blank expression as Luffy continued to try and fit in the hole with pretty much no success. "I was…gonna suggest Momo…" Aang slowly said as he looked to his lemur…who was laying down in bed licking an apple and sporting a large pot belly. "But looks like he's busy…"
"We better just get some rest," Zoro said as he jumped onto the bed and let out a yawn. If there was one plus side to getting arrested, the beds in this "prison cell" were pretty damn comfy. "Especially you kid, be ready for anything." Aang let out a sad sigh but nodded in his as he joined Momo on the bed and laid down, the only sound being Luffy's grunts as he continued to try and fit in the vent.
THE NEXT MORNING
"Hey, are those two from the fire nation?"
"What do you think they're doing here?"
"Check out that guy's scar?"
"They better not cause any trouble."
These are among the many whispers that Zuko and Iroh heard as they walked through the neutral town, which they found out was called Naha Town, with Zuko taking the lead. He may not know much about this place, but when it came to what he was looking for there was bound to be one place where there were people like that. "Perhaps we should have dressed a bit more casually," Iroh commented as he stroked his beard, overhearing the whispers of the people they based. "We are drawing a lot of attention to ourselves Prince Zuko."
"We're fine, it doesn't matter," Zuko told his uncle as he kept his face forward. Thankfully the place he was looking for was easy to find, it was easily the loudest place in town. "Once we find someone to come and help us, we'll leave and we'll get back to Earth Kingdom Waters." After a few more minutes of walking, Zuko finally arrived at the location he was looking for. A bar by the name of the Salty Roger. Even outside they could smell the strong scent of alcohol coming from the inside, as well as the music being played. "This is the place."
Iroh took a sniff of the air coming from inside the bar and immediately covered his nose as the intense stench of alcohol hit his nostrils. "Blech! Are you sure this is the place Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked as he took out a fan and tried to move the beer-scented air away from him. "Isn't there somewhere more…refreshing we could go look?"
"Stay out here if you want," Zuko aggressively told his uncle as he went inside the bar. "But I'm doing what we have to do." Iroh sighed as he plugged his nose and went inside. He may not be able to stand the smell of alcohol, but he didn't want his nephew alone in a place like this.
As they entered the bar they witnessed everyone inside drinking their weight in booze, laughing, yelling, with a band on a stage playing a song, or rather finishing a song as they picked up their instruments and left the stage as another person went up to the microphone. "Alright, folks the bands gonna take a quick 20-minute break and then they'll be taking request," The person announced to everyone with a satisfied smile on his face. "And hey only one death and one dismemberment today not bad for a Wednesday everyone."
Zuko and Iroh just decided to ignore that as they walked in, but not long after heading inside Zuko felt a hand being placed on his shoulder and turned to see an 18-year-old woman with light red hair looking at him with a flirty smirk and her outfit certainly didn't leave much to the imagination as it consisted of a sparkly red strapless red gown with a leg slit, along with red heels and black arm-length gloves. Her gown completely exposed her back and struggled to contain all of her impressive bust and in her right hand, she had a mint ice cream cone. "Hey there stranger, what's a handsome guy like you looking so tense for?" She asked as Zuko roughly pushed her hand off him. "Take a load off, I can help with that if you want~"
"That won't be necessary." Iroh quickly told her with a firm look as he pulled Zuko away from her. "He is only 16."
"Hey that's old enough for a lot of stuff around these parts~" She told them as she crossed one leg over another to show them off to the scarred prince. But Zuko didn't reply as he and his uncle walked away from her and towards the bar counter. "Oh, I love it when they play hard to get~" She then snapped her fingers and suddenly another scoop of mint ice cream appeared on her cone.
Walking up to the bar counter, Zuko got the attention of the barkeeper as he was wiping down a glass. "Tell me, anyone in this place that can give me a hand in someone?" Zuko asked in a dark tone as the barkeep glanced a single eye at the prince. "I need help capturing a target."
"Target eh?" The Bar Keep asked before pointing at a nearby table. "Over there."
Zuko and Iroh looked…and their eyes widened as they saw two people carrying away a dead body. "Someone say he shot first, but I could have sworn it was the other guy." One of the men carrying the body said as they took the corpse away.
Zuko looked back to the bar keep and rose a brow. "My bad," He apologized before pointing at another table. "I meant there."
Zuko and Iroh then looked to the table next to the one that had the dead body on it and saw a table that actually had live people on it. Two of them to be exact, and they looked like 17-year-old boys. One of them had long grayish-silver hair, lightly tanned skin, and heterochromia eyes with the left being red and the right being purple. He wore black fingerless gloves, a short dark purple jacket with a black sweater with pink highlights, dark purple shorts, and black flat-soled boots along with a necklace that had a single large tooth on it. He also appeared to have some strange-looking techno weapon on strapped to his back.
Sitting next to him was a boy with pale skin. His most distinguishing feature was the various small cut-like scars over his face. He had ash-blond hair done up in a mohawk, brown eyes, and he was wearing a leather jacket with spikes around the collar, some basic blue jeans, and leather boots with spikes on the tips of them.
The silver-haired boy was a few inches taller than the ash-blond boy and the ash-blond boy was about as tall as Zuko. "Hehehe, well, well, well, what do we have here brother? Looks like these shmucks are coming up to us," The silver-haired brow rose his head but kept a stoic expression as he looked up and saw Zuko and Iroh walking to their table. "This should be interesting."
The ash-blond boy gave a cocky grin as he looked up at the two fire nation people in front of him. "We don't see many nationers around these parts," He spoke in a town that tried to make him sound intimidating, but instead he just sounded like one cocky bastard. "Whatever can me and my brother do for you gentlemen on this fine day?"
"Would it be ok if we joined you two," Iroh politely asked the two boys. "We have a manner we wish to discuss with you two."
"Very well." The silver-haired boy nodded his head. Zuko and Iroh then sat down at the table with the two but made sure to keep a good distance between them and the supposed bounty hunters. "What is it?"
"I've been hunting someone down recently." Zuko got right to the point and told the two what was going on. "But that's proven to be a challenge due to some friends of his. So…I need some help. Are you two strong?"
"Are we strong? Hahahah, do you hear this person brother?!" The ash-blond laughed extremely arrogantly while the silver-haired boy kept his stoic expression and didn't react to his brothers' words. "You won't find anyone stronger than us around these parts, believe me."
"Well, that's certainly good to hear," Iroh smiled as he looked at the two boys. "What would your names be?"
"Our names?! We should be asking you that question!" The ash-blond looked as if he was offended as he narrowed his eyes at the two. But then he smirked again as he pointed at himself. "We are the invincible duo! The ultimate mix of skills! The brothers feared by people all over the world! The hunters who-"
"I'm Aaron," The Silver Haired boy introduced himself to Zuko and Iroh before looking at his brother. "And this is Onyx."
"I was getting to that!" Onyx snapped at his brother with an annoyed expression as he turned to his brother, or as Onyx sometimes liked to call him the Buzzkill. "Why do you always find the need to his Aaron! I was on a roll here!"
"You were wasting time," Aaron told Onyx bluntly. "And you were over exaggerating."
"It's called adding flare brother!" Onyx pointed out, putting emphasis on his last word as he got right into Aaron's face. "If we want to get people's attention we need to hype ourselves up! So they know not to mess with us! It builds a reputation!"
"The bounties we collect build our reputation, not needless theater drama," Aaron told Onyx causing the ash-blond to growl in irritation even more. "Don't worry about him, he's like an angry poodle-monkey. Lots of bark but unless you're a target, no bite."
"Hmph, that so?" Zuko asked as he sent Onyx a smirk as Iroh just let out a small chuckle.
"I AM NOT!" Onyx suddenly stood up from his seat and slammed his foot on the table. Just then both of his arms transformed and, along with the sleeves of his jacket, turned into gravel. Zuko and Iroh's eyes widened as he punched his gravel fist into each other. "I am a vicious warrior that will take down all who get in my way! And don't any of you think otherwise!"
"You have Devil Fruit powers?" Zuko asked with a serious tone. If that was true…then he might have gotten the jackpot when it comes to finding people to help with his hunt for the Avatar.
Onyx saw this as an opportunity to talk himself up some more and gave Zuko a cocky smirk. "Why yes, I do," Onyx held up his transformed hands as he explained his powers to the prince and his uncle. "I've eaten of the Gravel-Gravel fruit! It allows me to turn my body into gravel and manipulate gravel and small rocks to will! And yes, you can be jealous. There's no shame in it."
"A logia-type fruit," Iroh commented as he stroked his beard. "I've heard those are even rarer than most normal Devil Fruits."
"Indeed they are," Onyx further bragged as he sat back down in his seat. "I'm practically invincible, like I said, it's fine to be jealous."
"…Is he always like this," Zuko asked Aaron with an incredibly annoyed tone. Maybe he was wrong about striking the jackpot.
"Unfortunately, but you get used to it," Aaron nodded his head, getting another annoyed look from his brother in return. "So what's in it for us if we help you? And who are you even hunting for?"
Zuko looked around to make sure no one was listening in before leaning close to the two brothers and whispering to them. "The Avatar." Both brothers' eyes widened in response after hearing this. Even Aaron's stoic expression was lightly broken for a split second before he went back to normal. "He's teamed up with some pirates, they might have bounties on them you can have. And if any other pirates give us trouble along the way you can have their bounties as well."
"…" Both brothers were silent at first as they looked into each other's eyes with Onyx soon smirking as he looked at Zuko and Iroh. "Alright fire boy, consider us in!"
"Wonderful," Iroh smiled as he clapped his hands as Zuko shook hands with both Aaron and Onyx. "I'll put on a pot of tea back on the ship for celebration."
"Do you have jasmine?" Aaron politely asked the retired general. "It's my favorite."
"…Oh you and me are going to get along famously." Iroh gave Aaron a friendly smile as he nodded his head. Nothing made Iroh happier than meeting a fellow lover of tea. "Come, we'll show you our ship."
"Very well then," Onyx smirked and crossed his arms as he stood up. "Let us make our way out to se-OOF!" But as Onyx was leaving the booth he ended up slipping on a small puddle of beer that was on the ground, making him trick and land right on his face. As Onyx got up he blushed in embarrassment, especially once everyone in the bar started laughing. "I-I-I meant to do that!" Onyx quickly yelled as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Just…lighten the mood! Yes, that…let's just go!"
And so Aaron, Zuko, and Iroh followed Onyx out of the bar, all the while someone was watching them. "The Avatar huh?" The woman who talked to Zuko earlier said with interest in her voice as she licked her ice cream cone. "This sounds interesting." And so the woman began to follow them as well, making sure to stay a fair distance away.
But when the group of now four people made their way back to Zuko's ship, but when they got there they encountered a little problem...
"Hey! Fire Nation!" A new voice spoke up as Zuko and the others were about to board the ship. Looking to the source they saw what seemed to be a group of pirates approaching them, their captain being the one to speak up to Zuko. "What are people like you doing in our territory."
"Just leaving," Zuko told the pirates aggressively. "So get lost."
The pirates all chuckled in response, the captain putting on a cruel smirk. "I don't think you know how things work around here," The captain told Zuko as he narrowed his eyes at the prince. "We don't take kindly to outsides around here, but tell you what, I'll let you off the hook…if you hand over all your valuables and supplies."
"…Hey," Zuko spoke up to Onyx and Aaron. "You told me you were strong…but why not give me a demonstration."
"Heheheh, I thought you'd never ask," Onyx smirked as he eyed the pirates. He was itching for a fight right now and these pirates should suffice. "Let me show you the power of the Gravel-Gravel fruit! Gravel Geyser!" He then punched forward, aiming at the pirates, and turned his arm into gravel, and shot out a large flurry of gravel at the pirates. None of them saw it coming and many of the pirates were swept away by the gravel.
"Woah! He's got Devil Fruit powers!" One of the pirates yelled after seeing their fellow pirates get swept away and buried in gravel."M-Maybe we shouldn't have messed with these-"
SLASH!
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Aaron then sprang into action as he unsheathed the weapon strapped to his back. Pressing a button on it, he activated it and revealed it to be a sword with a blade made of orange energy. Slash it at the pirates, he downed a few of them with a single slash.
"You've made your choice, now pay the consequences," Aaron told the pirates as he narrowed his eyes at them. He gripped the handle of his blade with both hands and started to split his weapon apart. "Now…Gear Change: Dual Crossbows!" Upon splitting his weapon into two they began morphing and changing into two crossbows that attached to his wrist. Aiming them at the pirates, Aaron began firing arrows of orange energy at the pirates.
Meanwhile, Zuko just watched the two bounty hunters fight, seeing if they were really all they were cracked up to be.
OMASHU
"Now Avatar, for your first test...tell me what you think of my new outfit. I want your honest opinion." Out of all the things Aang was expecting to go through for the Kings test…he wasn't expecting to be asked his opinion on the King's new purple outfit. "I'm waiting."
"I…guess it's fine." Aang slowly answered as he scratched his head.
"Excellent!" The King clapped his hands in delight. "You passed the first test."
"Really?" Aang figured the test was gonna be harder than that.
"Well, not one of the deadly tests." The King explained with an upbeat tone. "The real challenges are much more, uh, challenging."
Aang quickly started to frown as he dashed by the two guards that were escorting him and appeared right in front of the king in less than a second. "I don't have time for your crazy games!" Aang yelled right into the King's face. "Give me my friends back! We're leaving!"
"Oh, I thought you might refuse," Bumi then looked towards the nearby wall as the stone making it up was bended down into the floor revealing Luffy, Zoro, Katara, and Sokka to be restrained by some of the guards. "So I will give your friends some special souvenirs."
The guards all then took rings out of their pockets and put them on each of the Straw Hearts. A light green ring for Katara, a dark green one for Zoro, a red one for Luffy, and a blue one for Sokka. As soon as the rings were on the guards let the Straw Hats go as they quickly tried to pull the rings off…to no avail. "Hey! What the hell is this thing!?" Luffy yelled as he tried with all his might to remove the red crystal ring only for his finger to simply stretch out. "Why…won't…it…come…off?!"
"They aren't just normal rings, they're rings made of pure jennamite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast." The King explained in a more sinister tone. "By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible thing, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."
"Ah!" Sokka screamed as the crystal on his and the other's fingers already started to grow around them. "It's already creeping!"
"Tch, cheap trick to get the kid to go along with your little games," Zoro said as he glared at the king. "If I had one of my swords I could cut this off easily!"
"…Ok then!" The King decided to humor Zoro as he reached into the sleeve of his robe and pulled out one of Zoro's swords and tossed it to the swordsman. "If you can cut it then you're free to go! King's honor."
"Hmph, this will be easy," Zoro smirked confidently as he unsheathed his sword and rose it above his ring. Zoro let out a yell as he swung it down and-
CLANK!
The sword failed to even scratch the crystal. "What?!" Zoro yelled in shock as he failed to cut the ring. Zoro tried a few more times but still failed to do any damage to the ring. "How hard is this stuff?!"
"Sorry sonny, but a swords not gonna work on creeping crystal," The King told Zoro with an amused smile. It was a good effort at least. "That stuff is harder than steel!"
"Fine then…" Zoro's expression became more serious as he thought of another solution to this. "I'll just cut off our fingers."
"WHAT?!" Katara shrieked as she, Aang, Sokka, and even Luffy had fearful looks on their faces. And given his tone and expression, it seems Zoro was completely serious about this.
"But I need my finger!" Sokka yelled as he held his hand behind him to try and protect it.
"You're not chopping off my finger!" Luffy yelled at Zoro as he did the same thing as Sokka. "I need it to hold meat and punch people!"
"Wait! Zoro! You don't have to do that!" Aang quickly ran up to the swordsman and grabbed his wrist before he could go through with it. "I'll do his challenges! I'll have him free you all! I promise!"
"…Alright then." After a moment of silence Zoro sheathed his sword and set it on the ground, allowing for one of the guards to take it and return it to the King. "You better succeed kid."
"I will." Aang nodded with a serious look on his face before turning to the King. "What do I need to do first?" The King gave an evil grin in response as he got ready to test the Avatar.
NAHA TOWN
"Uuuugh…" Utter decimation was the best thing that can be used to describe the state the pirates that tried to steal from were in right now. Zuko had wanted Onyx and Aaron to show off their skills to them and they certainly did so. The pirates were either buried in Onyx's gravel or were all cut or shot up by Aaron's special weapon.
"That was incredible," Iroh commented with an amazed look on his face. He knew the neutrals were strong but it was still an amazing sight to behold.
"We know," Onyx smirked as he put his hands to his hips as he and Aaron, who turned his weapon back into a sword before sheathing it, stepped up to Zuko. "So fire boy, how was that for a demonstration?"
"Don't call me that," Zuko ordered as he narrowed his eyes right at Onyx. But Zuko soon smirked as he nodded in approval. "But, looks like you weren't just exaggerating when you said you were strong. Looks like I made the right choice in acquiring your services."
"We'll do our best in helping you track down the Avatar," Aaron told Zuko as he crossed his arms. "Dead or alive?"
"I need the Avatar alive." Zuko instantly responded. He couldn't have the Avatar killed, he would just be reborn and then there's no way he'd be able to find him then. "But the other's he's with you can do what you wish with."
"I think that's manageable." Onyx nodded as he began to head towards the ship. "Now then what will our sleeping-"
"GET READY TO DIE YOU BASTARD!" Cutting Onyx off was a single pirate that had managed to get away from Onyx and Aaron's beating. He stayed hidden and looked for a perfect opportunity to strike, and once he did he jumped up with his sword aimed right at Zuko's neck.
"ZUKO!" Iroh yelled out as he got ready to fire bend at the pirate and protect his nephew as-
"Cookie Dough Ball!" Suddenly striking the pirate that was attempting to kill Zuko was…a giant sphere of ice cream? Cookie Dough specifically by the looks of it. It was attached to a chain that looked like it was made of incredibly hard-looking black ice cream. "Well, looks like I arrived just in time.
"Huh?" Zuko looked and, much to his surprise, saw the girl he encountered at the ball smirking at him. She pulled the giant ice cream ball back to her and twirled it around like it was nothing and the prince watched as she carried it in her hand and started to shrink it. "It's you…how did you do that?"
"Gravel boy over there isn't the only one who has Devil Fruit powers you know," The woman informed them as she took out an ice cream cone from…somewhere and put the now shrunken ball of cookie dough ice cream onto it. "I ate the Frost-Frost fruit, and in case it wasn't obvious it allows me to create and manipulate ice cream any way I please, even making it as hard as steel."
"You can ice cream from nothing!?" Onyx asked with sparkles appearing in his eyes as his mouth instantly started to water. But after seeing everyone giving him strange looks he quickly shook his head and started to glare at the woman. "I mean, WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU WITCH?! ARE YOU TRYING TO START SOMETHING?!"
"Aw, he really is like an angry poodle-monkey, how adorable." The woman giggled at Onyx, who only stomped his foot on the ground in irritation, before turning back to Zuko. "And I didn't hear a thank you by the way handsome."
Zuko…choose to ignore that comment as he narrowed his eyes at the woman suspiciously. "Why exactly did you save me?" Zuko knew this was more than just some random act of kindness. She wanted something. "You want something from me. What is it?"
"Well isn't it obvious," The woman said as she gave her ice cream cone a long lick as she walked up to Zuko. "I want to join you on your little hunting trip."
"And what's in it for you?" Zuko was tempted to say yes and get another Devil Fruit user on his team, but he wanted to make sure she didn't have any malicious intent. "You a bounty too?"
"Not really. I just think it'll be fun to finally get out of this boring old town." The woman's answer seemed simple and believable. "There are some nice folks but eventually you want to move onto something new ya know. And it's always better with nice company~" The woman then sent Zuko a flirty wink that he tried to ignore.
"I couldn't agree more," Iroh nodded his head at the woman's words, understanding where she was coming from. "The world is full of amazing and beautiful places and people. There is no greater treasure than being able to see all of it for yourself."
But Zuko was more concerned about catching the Avatar than sightseeing. What he cared about most is that this woman could help him capture his target. "So what do you think uncle?" Zuko asked as he turned to his wise uncle. "Think we can trust her?"
"That decision is not mine to make Prince Zuko." Iroh shook his head as he looked his nephew in the eye. "One of the most important traits of being a leader is deciding who you can trust and rely on, and that is a decision only you can make."
"…" Zuko was silent at first as he took in his uncle's words. After thinking about it for a bit, he looked at the woman and looked her in the eye. "Alright. You can come. But you have to do everything I saw got it?"
"Aye aye captain." She said in a playful tone while giving Zuko a salute that only served to annoy the prince. "By the way, the name is Bonnie. I'll eagerly await your orders~" She then sent another wink towards Zuko as she went on the ship, followed soon by Aaron and Onyx.
"Well, our ship is certainly going to become more lively," Iroh said with a small smile on his face. "I'll go put on that pot of jasmine for everyone. Hmmm, I wonder if Bonnie can make tea flavored ice cream."
Zuko was the last to begin walking up to his ship, a serious expression on his face. "You better get ready Avatar…" Zuko let out as he glared into the distance. "Because I'm coming for you."
OMASHU
The test…were not anything Aang was expecting. The first one was retrieving the King's key to his lunch back as it hung over a waterfall. Aang was able to pass the challenge by using his airbending to shoot a stalagmite at the chain the key was hanging on.
The second challenge was finding the Kings pet Flopsie. But when Aang tried to chase a rabbit he thought was flopsie, he ended up being chased by a large goat gorilla. At first, Aang was worried that the beast was gonna tear him to shreds…until Aang realized the goat gorilla was Flopsie!
And now, with his friends close to being completely covered in the crystal, Aang was ready for the third and final challenge which was taking place in an indoor arena. "Your final test is a duel." The King explained to Aang. The final challenge was just a simple fight, nothing too complicated…hopefully. "And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent." Two strong-looking men then walked up to the king one wielding a long sickle and the other wielding an axe. "Point and choose."
Aang gulped a bit in nervousness as he looked at the two men. Aang was gonna have to fight one of them…but the Avatar's eyes widened in realization. "So...you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?" The King grinned in nodded as Aang smirked, thinking he outwitted the king. "I ... choose...you." Aang pointed at the King himself.
But instead of looking worried, the King simply started to laugh. "Wrong choice!" Everyone watched as the King straightened up and removed his rope, showing that he had an incredibly strong and built body rather than an old and frail one.
"Woah!" Luffy, whose entire body other than his face was now covered in crystal, yelled out in surprise. "That old king dudes buff!"
Aang let out a squeak of fright as the King stomped on the ground, causing a crack in it, and used earthbending to launch Aang into the air and down into the area with a thud. The King then jumped high into the air and landed right in front of Aang while cackling wildly. "You thought I was a frail old man." The King said with an amused smirk. "But I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see?"
"Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?" Aang quickly regretted his decision.
"There are no take-backsies in my kingdom. You might need this." The King then snapped his fingers and signaled a nearby guard to throw Aang his staff, which the young Avatar quickly caught. "But tell you what, I'm nothing if not a fair king. Choose one of your friends and I'll free them and let them help you."
"Really?" Aang smiled a bit. Ok, maybe he could actually do this with some help. Looking at his trapped friends, he quickly started looking in between Luffy and Zoro as they were his best choices. While Zoro was strong, Aang didn't want to risk the chance that the King wouldn't give him his swords so he went for the safer option. "I choose Luffy!"
"Very well then!" The King then rose up his hand and Luffy found himself floating up into the air. The King then thrust his hand forward and threw Luffy towards the arena at high speeds, and once he landed on the ground the red crystal entrapping him was broken off.
"Alright! I'm free!" Luffy cheered and quickly started to laugh and dance around for a moment before jumping to Aang's side. "Now let's teach this guy a lesson for messing with our crew!"
"Get ready boys!" The King then brought up multiple rocks from the ground and shot them at the two pirates.
Aang was quick to evade each one thrown at him, but Luffy instead started to take a deep breath. "Gum-Gum Balloon!" Luffy then inflated like a balloon as all the rocks thrown at him hit him and were soon deflected right back at the King.
"Nice trick." The King smirk as he held out his hand and caught the rocks in midair before they hit him. "Your body can reflect them, but your head still looks like a weak spot!" The King then aimed the rocks at Luffy's head and, before Luffy could deflate, launched them right at the straw hat's head.
"GAH!" Luffy yelled out as he released his breath as the rocks all hit him in the face, which combined with him deflating ended up launching him all the way back to the arena.
The King then rose up more rocks from the ground and sent them toward Aang but whatever was sent at him the young Avatar kept avoiding and evading. "Classic airbender move," The King pointed out with a smirk. "I hoped the Avatar would be less predictable."
"RAAAAAHHHH!" Luffy then ran forward and charged at the King as fast as he could. "Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy then stretched his arm towards the King and attempted to hit him in the face, but the King easily stepped to the side to dodge before grabbing Luffy's arm and yanking him towards him. Luffy body was then sent launching towards the King as the earthbender reared his other fist back and, "ACK!" Punch Luffy in the gut, causing the Straw Hat pirate to cough up spit.
"Willy nilly attacking won't either." The King told the two as he threw Luffy forward. "Earthbenders excel at both offense and defense, you're gonna have to be more creative than that Mr. Pirate."
"Luffy, are you ok?" Aang asked as he helped the straw hat pirate onto his feet.
"Yeah, but this guy is really pissing me off!" Luffy yelled out in irritation as he glared at the King, who only had an amused grin on his face. "I won't let him beat me!"
"Taking a break already boys? Aw you must be tired. Don't worry I know just the thing to get you active and moving!" The King then started a series of foot movements and every time he slammed his foot on the ground he would cause a sharp stalagmite to rise up from the ground around the two boys, making them yell out as they quickly scrambled to avoid the constant rock spikes from hitting them. "Hehehe, careful you two don't end up becoming shish kabobs!"
Aang gritted his teeth as he quickly formed an airscooter and started riding it to better avoid the stalagmite barrage. Aang then rode up on the wall and closed in on the King and, once he was close enough, waved his hand forward and shot out a powerful blast of air at the King. But the earthbender was easily able to react as he brought up a stone barrier that easily stopped the air attack. "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here." The King said in a mocking tone. "Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"
"Gum-Gum…" The King then looked forward and saw Luffy hold onto two of the stalagmites he made with each hand back up as far as he could, causing his arms to stretch out with his head lowered and aimed right at the King. "ROCKET!" Luffy then let go of stalagmites and launched himself headfirst right at the King.
Luffy was successfully able to break through the rock barrier the King brought up…and was quickly sent face-first into the ground as the King head-butted Luffy right before the rubber boy struck him. "Oof." The King grunted a bit as he rubbed his head, letting out a chuckle as he looked down at Luffy was now indented into the ground. "That's a hard head ya got their sonny."
"Luffy!" Aang called out in concern as he quickly ran towards his captain and the King. But the King used slammed his foot on the ground and launched Luffy up into the air before breaking up the area around him and sending a wave of rocks toward Luffy and Aang and sending them both to the back of the arena.
"Hehehe, now how do you two plan on hitting me from the way of there?" The King asked with a grin on his face.
Luffy and even Aang glared and growled in anger at the King as they both ran at him together. But the King easily slammed his foot on the ground and softened the area the two were running on into quicksand, making them both sink and get stuck in it. "Grrrr, I'm not getting stuck again!" Luffy yelled as he was quickly growing sick and tired of constantly getting stuck or restrained in this place.
The King then rose his hands as he rose up two massive boulders from the floor and then brought his fist together and causing both boulders to go flying toward the two trapped in quicksand. Both gasped as they saw the boulders coming at them and when the two large rocks smashed together it created a large cloud of dust. But emerging from the dust unharmed was both Aang and Luffy as they managed to free themselves right before they could get rushed.
"I'm won't hold anything back!" Luffy yelled as he jumped up high into the air and glared down at the King before stretching both of his hands backward. "Gum-Gum Gatling!" But the King stood his ground and simply crossed his arms in front of him defensively and took the barrage of Luffy's fist rapidly striking him.
When Luffy's attack ceased…the King didn't move an inch and didn't even have a bruise on him. "While I do appreciate the massage," The King said with a chuckle. "We're supposed to be fighting you know."
"What?!" Luffy screamed in complete shock. "That didn't do a thing to him?! How strong is this old guy?!"
The King then rose his hands and pulled them towards him making a boulder raise up from the back of the arena and flying towards Aang from the behind. Aang let out a gasp but, using some airbending to assist him, managed to backflip over the boulder before kicking at it and sending out a powerful gust of air that sent the boulder rocketing at even fast speeds towards the King, but he was easily able to punch the boulder as it came at him and reduced it into pebbles.
Grunting, the King then proceeded to tear the entire balcony of the arena wall and was prepared to launch it right at Aang and Luffy. The two eyes widened as they saw what was coming and Aang acted quick and started running in tight circles and began conjuring a tornado in the arena. Luffy struggled to stay on the ground but managed to hold out as the King through the balcony only for it to get caught in the tornado and get whipped right back at him. The Kings eyes widened as he raised his hands and bends the balcony into the sand before it hit him. But when the dust and sand cleared he heard Luffy and Aang yell as they both landed in front of the King with Luffy raising his fist towards him and Aang holding his staff up at him and ready to strike.
The Kings arms are raised as if he's surrendering but a small peddle hits both Aang and Luffy's heads. Upon looking up, both of the pirates' eyes widened as they saw the King holding up a large boulder above them. It was clear who really won this battle. "Well done Avatar, you fight with much fire in your heart. Same goes for you Straw Hat Luffy, you have so much determination burning inside of you." The King then threw the boulder to the side before leaning falling down to the ground and, using his bending, emerged up like a mole back up on the part of the balcony that Katara, Sokka, and Zoro were on. "You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question."
"That's not fair!" Aang yelled as he and Luffy glared at the King. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests."
"Yeah he's right!" Luffy shouted as well. "Give me back my crew!"
"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" The King chuckled a bit with Sokka complaining in the background. "Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What ... is my name?" Everyone blinked a bit in surprise at this. Now that they thought about it…the King never really told them his name. "From the looks of your friends I'd say you only have a few minutes."
As the King left, Aang and Luffy jumped up to the balcony and stood in front of their friends as they were only minutes away from a crystally doom. "Hey kid," Zoro spoke up to Aang, not looking as distressed over the situation as Katara and Sokka were, as he looked down at the monk and nodded at him. "Not bad, you fought well out there."
"Oh, well, thanks Zoro." Aang briefly smiled at the compliment before putting on a look of concern. "But how am I supposed to know his name?"
"Think about the challenges," Katara said as she thought quickly so they could make it out of this in time. "Maybe it's some kind of riddle."
"I got it!" Sokka shouted, getting all eyes on him. "He's an earthbender, right? Rocky...you know, because of all the rocks."
"Hey yeah!" Luffy seemed to agree with the logic as he nodded his head. "Or maybe Dirt!"
"…If I wasn't encased in crystal right now I'd slap both of you." Zoro deadpanned at the two's stupidity.
"Okay. So back to the challenges." Aang quickly got their thinking back on track. "I got a key from the waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel."
"And what did you learn?" Katara tried to keep Aang's trace of thought going.
"Well, everything was different than I expected," Aang put a hand to his chin as he thought hard about everything. "They weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would." Suddenly Aang broke out into a giant grin. That's it, there was no one else it could possibly be. "I know his name."
A few minutes later, the group made their way to the King's throne room where he awaited them. Aang smiled up at the King and stepped up to him as he got ready to answer. "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." The King begins laughing in response, snorting as he did so. "Bumi, you're a mad genius."
Aang immediately ran up to the King, now known as Aang's old friend Bumi, and embraced him in a hug that Bumi happily returned. "Oh Aang, it's good to see you," Bumi told his old friend before they separated. "You haven't changed a bit. Literally."
"Uh, over here!" Katara called out, still trapped in the crystal.
"Little help!" Sokka yelled out as his face was almost completely covered.
"And give me my swords back too!" Zoro demanded.
Bumi rose his hand and, similar to Luffy, used his earthbending to break the jennamite covering the three of them, with sharps of it going all over the room. Bumi then used one hand to throw Zoro his three swords and used his other hand to catch one of the smashed crystals and, to everyone's surprise, put it in his mouth and started to eat it. "Jennamite is made of rock candy," Bumi told them with a smile. "Delicious!"
"Rock candy?!" Zoro shouted with a pissed-off look and expression. "I couldn't cut through damn rock candy?!"
"I told you it was harder than steel didn't I?" Bumi told the swordsman before laughing and snorting again. "Ain't nothing harder than some high-quality rock candy."
"Aaaaaahhh! I could have just eaten my way out!" Luffy yelled out as he realized he could have easily escaped his prison had he realized it was edible. But right after Luffy said that he fell to his knees as his stomach let out a loud growl. "Uuuuugh…I haven't eaten anything all day…" Luffy then looked out for any form of meat in sight…and found Momo licking a piece of rock candy. Before anyone could react Luffy grabbed the lemur's tail and shoved Momo into his mouth.
"LUFFY NO!" Katara quickly went to Momo's rescue as she repeatedly slapped the back of Luffy's head. "LUFFY SPIT HIM OUT RIGHT NOW!" After a few slaps, Katara managed to get Luffy to spit out Momo, with the Lemur now covered in Luffy's spit and his entire body shocking in shock. After letting out a sigh of relief, Katara looked at Bumi and asked. "So this crazy king is your old friend Bumi?"
"Who are you calling old?" Bumi asked with an offended look on his face. But this charade instantly fell apart as Bumi simply shrugged. "Okay, I'm old."
"Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka asked with a very annoyed expression on his face. "I had crystals going up my butt!"
"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people," Bumi explained with a laughing snort as Aang and Luffy grinned and laugh and the others deadpanned at him. "But I do have a reason. Aang, you have a very difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. Not only has the Fire Nation gained more power, but pirates are sailing all over the seas with many having Devil Fruit powers like your captain here. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the four nations by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius." Bumi smiled as he looked at Aang's friends and gave them a nod. "And it looks like you're in good hands. Wasn't expecting the Avatar to join a pirate crew but I think it'll do you a lot of good, you'll learn plenty in the neutral territory and learn things none of the previous Avatars even knew. And I'm sure Luffy's crew will just get bigger with time, and when the day comes you'll have plenty of friends to help you defeat the Fire Nation." Momo, after shaking off Luffy's spit, then climbed onto Aang's shoulder. "And you'll need Momo, too"
Aang smiled at Bumi and bowed to him. "Thank you for your wisdom," Aang then gained a mischievous smirk. "But before we leave, I have a challenge for you."
"WOOHOO!" A few minutes later Bumi, Aang, and Luffy were all laughing as they were riding down the mail chutes in a stone cart.
CRASH!
"My cabbages!"
And chapter complete!
Yep, Zuko's got some backup now and they are not to be trifled with!
So to clear up some information on them
Onyx has the Gravel-Gravel Fruit
Type: Logia
Abilities: The user can turn their body into gravel that they can split apart and reassemble at will, as well as control nearby pebbles, gravel and all nearby small rocks. As well as maneuver the area in quick session, and even levitate their gravel state to fly. They can also fire the gravel at high speeds at opponents causing severe puncture wounds. After training to enhance their control, they can focus to turn just parts of they body to gravel, such as they arms and reform it into weapons like spiked maces, hammers or axes. They can even absorb large quantities of gravel to make themselves a large hulking monster, like Marvel's Sandman.
And Bonnie hast the Frost-Frost Fruit
Type: Paramecia
Abilities: Lets the user control and create any form of ice cream or frozen treat. Able to make any kind of ice cream, and any flavor. As well as control its temperature, to making it cold enough to cause frostbite, or freezing steel to make it shatter. Even able to create weapons by making the ice cream cold enough to be as hard as steel.
Both of these fruits were made by Qazse and believe me, we've both made tons of our own original fruits.
Also when it comes to Bonnie she's based on Jessica Rabbit while Aaron is based on Yozora from KH3, and his weapon is very special too. Believe me it can more than just turn into dual crossbows but you just gotta wait and see.
So with all that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Make sure to favorite, follow, leave a review a stay tuned for the next chapter...
"Imprisoned"
