Avenging Avatar Book 3- Fire

by TheWriterForGod42

The team must regroup after a devastating loss to the Fire Nation. With an assortment of new allies, they plan to take the fight right to the heart of the Fire Nation and Hydra. They'll face many challenges and trials if they are to overcome their enemies and save the world.

2. Chapter 2: Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: So here is chapter 2. It basically begins where Book 3 truly begins. And I do apologize for the long wait, my computer was acting up, but I'll explain that bit later.

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Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air

(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the Waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the Earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the Firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the Airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)

Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)

Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)

Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.

(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)

Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.

(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)

Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.

(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint, Toph and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)

Nickelodeon and Marvel

The Avenging Avatar

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Avatar Roku: Previously, on Avenging Avatar…

He opened his eyes and said, "So, the Avatar Spirit is gone?"

"Not quite." The Ancient One shook her head. She then informed him, "What is lost can be found. And what is made weak can become strong again."

"So, what can I do?" Aang asked her.

"Not unless it was one of their own." Steve was quick to say. They looked to the super soldier and he said, "If we could commandeer a Fire Navy ship…"

"Then they'd think that we're one of their own." Katara finished, a small smile forming.

"Perhaps Kraglin and the other Ravagers could be of assistance." Quill nodded in agreement. Gamora also threw in, "Nebula might be able to make it too. Last I checked before coming here, she wasn't too far from our current position. She can follow our trail."

Princess Azula consoled Ty Lee by saying, "Worry not. Through Hydra's science, I believe we'll have some new comrades to take his place.

"Correct?" She asked Zola. The robotic head nodded and said, "Yes. From the DNA and samples that we acquired, we will be able to replicate the abilities of these individuals or create more symbiotes."

"The rest of you, be quick in packing up." Princess Azula told the rest of the entourage. She glanced to her brother and said, "We depart for the Fire Nation soon."

Her mention of his home nation made Zuko look up and wonder about it.

As he thought about Zuko, Iroh also knew that he could not remain a prisoner for forever. A plan began to form in his mind when he opened his eyes.

"I won't let you down." Aang promised with a nod. Then without another word he walked off into the darkness. They watched him go until he faded into the darkness. Wenwu looked to Freya and said, "He'll have a lot to overcome if he's to regain the lost spirit."

"If there was an Avatar to do so, it's him." Frigga said, having great faith in Aang.

Steve then said, "Okay, now we have more man power.

"Let's commandeer us a ship." He said with a smirk. The others smirked as well before nodding in agreement.

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Book Three: Fire

Chapter Two: Awakening

Darkness was all that Aang could see after returning from the borders of life and death. But his eyes scrunched up when he felt himself waking up after so long of being unconscious. He grimaced from the pain he was still feeling in his back. Slightly opening his eyes, he thought it greatly odd when he saw a metal ceiling above him. Glancing around the room to his left he saw that the floor and walls were also made of metal. Slowly sitting up on what felt like a bed to him, the room Aang was in was looking slightly familiar to him, though he couldn't place it at the moment. He turned his body to where his legs hung over the bed and touched the cold, hard floor. Aang's vision was a little hazy and he felt a little dizzy. With a slight shake of his head, the young Airbender was able to steady himself. He then noticed some bandages around his middle. Placing a hand on his chest, Aang asked, "What happened?"

When he looked to his right he, gasped when the room started to look really familiar to him. It looked like the interior of a Fire Nation ship. Looking the other way, Aang gasped when he saw a banner with the Fire Nation insignia on it. The young boy saw his staff propped up against the wall next to the bed. Getting off the bed Aang shook his head, "Oh, no!

"Where are the others?" He questioned as he looked about the room, worried about them. He thought that if he was captured, he needed to find a way to get off the ship without causing too much attention to himself. He grabbed his staff to help him stay standing and to defend himself just in case. Carefully making his way over to the door, Aang slowly opened it to see if there were any guards around. The hallway looked empty to him and he carefully made his way out into the hall way.

Carefully and quietly, Aang made his way down the hall and tried to not make any noise as best as he could. He couldn't help but groan from the pain he was feeling in his back while walking. He slowed down when he heard someone say, "Do you hear something?"

"Maybe a little." Another voice, in an odd sounding accent, responded to the first who sounded a little familiar to Aang. Aang walked up to a corner and glanced around. His eyes widened when he saw three guards in Fire Nation uniforms standing there. There was a tall skinny one, a shorter and chubbier one and a really short soldier. Things seemed to get a little more complicated when a fourth soldier walked up to them and he heard a feminine voice say, "Any trouble down here?"

"We thought that we heard something." The first voice told her. Aang grew worried when the second voice said, "We're just about go an' see what it is."

Deciding to take a chance, Aang raised his staff a little, came around the corner and swung. He created a wave of air that caused the four soldiers to brace themselves. Seeing that they were distracted, Aang took off down the hall. Unfortunately, the four noticed him and the first shouted, "He's awake!"

"We need to catch him!" The feminine guard shouted and they started chasing after Aang. Aang came around another corner and moved as fast as he could. He heard the first voice shout, "Stop! Wait!"

"Ya don't understand, kid!" The second soldier shouted as they continued to run after Aang. The Airbender saw some stairs up ahead and kept up his pace. When he reached the stairs Aang rushed up them. But when he reached the top step, he tripped and fell to the ground. He ended up losing his staff and it slid across the deck of the Fire Navy ship. It stopped between Momo and a few soldiers who were giving the lemur some attention. They looked to the Airbender as Aang asked in confusion, "Momo?"

Momo chittered in excitement and rushed up to the Avatar. Aang sat up just as Momo flew up to him and landed on his shoulder. The happy lemur licked the side of Aang's head. He heard a familiar voice say to his right, "Twinkle Toes!

"That's gotta be you." An excited Toph said, making him look to see both her and Katara by the railing. And it wasn't just them, but Natasha, Clint, Rocket, Groot, Peter Parker and a young man with five bracelets on each arm. They all ran up to the Airbender as they were joined by the four guards when they came up the stairs. Katara sounded really happy when she said, "Aang, you're awake!"

"I'm not so sure, guys?" Aang asked in confusion. He was thrown for a loop when the guards that Momo had been with removed their face plates to reveal Steve, Thor, Tony, Rhodey, Sam, and Drax wearing the unforms. He rubbed his eyes, "I feel like I'm dreaming right now."

"Don't worry, Aang." Bruce said when he walked up to the Airbender and knelt down next to him. Katara came up and hugged her friend and assured him, "You're not dreaming!

"You're finally awake." She promised as she let him go. He was really weirded out when another soldier walked up to him and give him a hug as he heard a familiar voice from behind the face plate, "Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy."

"Sokka?" Aang asked and looked to the soldier with a questioning look. Aang groaned as this was a little too much for him. He started to lose consciousness again when he heard Rocket say, "Uh, you ain't looking too good there, kid."

"I think someone should catch him. He's gonna…" Toph warned as Aang started swaying. He felt a pair of arms catch him and he looked up into the eyes of a blue woman with deep black eyes. His eyes closed and everyone became worried for him. The woman turned her head to them and reassured them, "He's fine. Just a lot to take in right now."

"At least he's awake now." A voice said from behind her. The blue woman and the others looked back to see Gamora and Appa walking up. She suggested, "Let's make him comfortable and give it a few minutes. Next time he wakes up, we'll do our best to break everything to him slowly."

"Right." They all agreed with her. The sky bison moved closer to his best friend and laid down on the deck. He groaned as he looked down to the unconscious Aang.

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Elsewhere…

Further out to sea, another and more elegant Fire Navy ship, one that belongs to Princess Azula, sailed across the sea towards the Fire Nation. And while most of the crew and passengers were sleeping the night away, one person was wide awake as he stood on the deck. Zuko, once a prince again, looked out to the horizon. The royal Firebender was dressed in a nice Fire Nation robe, pants and shoes. He had a lot on his mind; from his uncle, seeing Bucky again. But mostly, about how he would meet his father after so long away. His attention was stolen when he heard a familiar voice to him ask, "Aren't you cold out here?"

He glanced back to see Mai walking up to him. She was a little character with a grin on her face to him. But he ignored it when he said, "I've just got a lot on my mind. So much has happened recently.

"It's been so long-" He said, making her grin drop. He looked down at the passing waters below, "Been over three years since I was last home. I wonder what's changed.

"I wonder how I've changed." He looked back in the direction of the Earth Kingdom. It mostly earned a yawn from Mai as she didn't want to hear that part. Zuko looked back to her as she clarified, "I just asked if you were cold. You know, standing out here with the wind blowing and all.

"I didn't ask for your whole life story." She said, earning an annoyed look from Zuko. He turned his head away and Mai came closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him and gently turned his face towards hers. Mai's grin returned when she said, "Stop worrying so much."

She brought them close for a small kiss. It only lasted for a second before she ended it and walked back inside. Zuko watched her go and thought about what she said. His thoughts were interrupted again when he heard another voice say from the side, "Well, that was something."

Zuko turned to see Loki leaning against the ship's tower. He threw the Asgardian an annoyed glare his way and questioned, "Do you have to spy on everyone?"

"I wouldn't call it spying, exactly." Loki shook his head and moved closer. He shrugged when he said, "It's more of me walking in at the right and watching the show."

"You do know if she finds out, she's liable to kill you." Zuko warned while pointing to where Mai had gone. Loki shook his head with a grin, "I don't doubt that she'd try. Maybe she'll come close."

"Hmm." Was all Zuko said and turned to look out to the horizon again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he couldn't help but worry about the future.

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The stolen Fire Navy ship…

After a sometime to let Aang wake up again, the Airbender sat between Steve and Katara with everyone gathered around. The Milano had returned with Quill and Mantis after they had been informed of Aang waking up. Sokka placed a blanket over him as Aang looked to each of his friends and asked, "Why are we all on a Fire Navy ship? Why is just about everyone dressed this way?

"And why am I the only who's completely out of it?" He asked the final question while gesturing to himself. While Sokka walked off to do knows what along with Toph, Johnny shrugged when he said, "Well, that last question is quite easy to answer."

"It is?" Aang tilted his head when he asked. Rocket agreed by saying, "Yeah, when you've been lying like a dead log for so long, it's not hard to not be in the now."

"Rocket." Quill groaned at his friend's lack of tact while lightly nudging him from behind with his leg. Katara cast an annoyed glance to the raccoon and said, "While it could have been said better, Rocket's right.

"You need to take it easy, okay? You got hurt pretty bad." Katara insisted. But Aang disagreed with her by saying, "But I feel fine. Except for my back and maybe a few other places."

"Well, Venom could do all that he could." Eddie promised and the symbiote showed himself by waving his tendril from his host's back. Aang then took a deep breath to calm himself while placing a hand up to his chest. Katara had a small grin as she complimented, "I like your hair."

"I have hair?" Aang asked and felt the top of his head, earning a few chuckles from the others. He was a little worried when he asked, "Just how long was I out for, you guys?"

"A few weeks at most." Steve told his friend. Bruce counted on his fingers real quick and muttered to himself. Then he said, "About three weeks, seven hours and twenty minutes at the most."

"How did you get twenty minutes?" Tony asked with a questioning look. Bruce just shrugged, "Been counting a little."

Tony just shook his head with a small grin. Sokka and Katara's father walked back over to the group and asked, "Everything okay over here?"

"We're fine, Dad." Katara said with a little attitude and turned her head away, earning some looks from just about everyone. Hakoda reached his hand out and introduced himself, "I'm Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father."

"He knows who you are. I just called you dad, didn't I?" Katara questioned as she glanced to her father while placing a hand on Aang's shoulder. A little hurt by how his daughter was talking to him, Hakoda said, "I guess you're right about that."

"It's okay, Hakoda." Steve placed a hand on the chief's shoulder. Aang gently removed Katara's hand from him and extended an arm to the Water Tribe Chief, "Nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda."

"It's an honor to meet you as well." Hakoda grinned and shook the Airbender's hand. While the rest were glad to see that Aang was being friendly, Katara looked up to her father and rudely said, "Great, great. Now you everyone's officially met, could you give us a little privacy, Dad?"

Hakoda, noticing that something was agitating his daughter, decided to humor her for the moment, "Of course.

"If you'll all excuse me." The Southern chief said with a bow of his head before turning to leave. Steve looked to some of the remaining party and they took the hint to leave. Among those who stayed behind, Katy quirked a brow as she commented, "Uh, rude much?"

"Yeah, are you mad at your dad or something?" Aang asked in equal confusion. Katara, who was slightly glaring in the direction of her father, looked to them and said, "What?

"Not at all. Why would you say that?" She asked in confusion, earning a few looks from the others around them. All Aang could do was shrug, but a slight pain erupted in his back and he groaned from it. Seeing that he was still hurting a bit, Katara stood up and said, "Maybe we should go to your room. You need a healing session.

"Ready to try again, Venom? Eddie?" Katara asked the host of the Symbiote while helping Aang to his feet. Venom emerged from Eddie's shoulder and said, "Very well." He gave a comical comment, "But this is the last time."

"Oh, grow up, you big baby." Eddie scoffed at how his friend was acting. The Symbiote turned his head to the human host and retorted, "You would not be saying that if you were the one feeling slight shocks."

Eddie just shook his head while Venom disappeared into his body. The rest of the team remained behind as they walked away. But as they walked up to the door that would take them back inside, both Gamora and Nebula walked up to them and the former asked, "The two of us need to speak with Katara for a moment."

"Can it wait?" Katara asked as she was about to go inside. But both intergalactic assassins thought differently as they placed a hand on the girl's shoulders and lead her away. She glanced to the boys and said, "Be there in a minute!"

Aang and Eddie looked to each other in confusion before heading inside the ship. Gamora and Nebula lead Katara to the side of the ship before removing their hands from her person. The Waterbender looked to the two with a questioning look and asking, "Okay, just what is up with you two?"

"Katara, we know that you're harboring negative feelings towards your father." Gamora said, not beating around the bush. Katara started to deny, "What? No I-"

"Given that you're speaking to two people out of a few here who have their own daddy issues, I'd say don't try." Nebula shook her head while raising her hand to stop her. Gamora placed a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder and said, "It's no good to keep these feelings bottled up. You should talk to Hakoda when you have the chance, okay?"

"Okay. I'll try." Katara said, knowing that they had a point. Gamora nodded, "That's all we can ask for."

Katara then took her leave and walked around the two assassins. As she disappeared inside, Nebula looked to her sister and asked, "Think she'll talk to him?"

"She will before long. I have a feeling about it." Gamora said as she stared out to the horizon.

…

After making it to Aang's room, Katara and Eddie carefully removed Aang's bandages. The scar where Azula's lightning had struck him was still pretty big, even after Venom managed to heal him. Looking to the Symbiote's host she said, "Let me try first, and then maybe Venom can finish the job."

"Sounds like a plan." Eddie shrugged, not knowing if it would work. Turning her attention back on Aang, Katara raised her arms up and lifted the water out of two small bowls. With a slight weaving of her arms, she placed the water against Aang's back. Aang grimaced from the cold and slight pain that he was feeling. Noticing her friend's discomfort, Katara told him, "Tell me where your pain feels most intense."

Aang grimaced as she moved her hands and the water a bit. When she touched a much more sore feeling spot, Aang glanced back and said, "A little higher."

Katara did that and Aang hissed from the pain that he was feeling. But the pain suddenly brought back memories of him in the Avatar State in Ba Sing Se.

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Aang had just unlocked the final chakra and entered the Avatar State. The tip of his tent of crystals had shattered from the unleashed power. The young Airbender rose in a pillar of light while the armies of his enemies were gathered around him.

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Aang took a deep breath after that. Eddie asked from the side, "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah." Aang nodded. Talking to Katara he said, "You're definitely in the right area there."

"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there." Katara sensed through her waterbending. An idea came to her and she started to pull the water from Aang's back, "Let me just try…"

But the moment the last of the water left, Aang suddenly straightened up and felt like he had that day. Eddie called out, "Aang!"

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Aang remembered himself being struck in the back by a bolt of lightning. He couldn't hear himself cry out in pain from the sudden shock. Another memory played of him laying on Appa's back, looking lifeless as a tearful Katara looked down at him.

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"I went down." Aang gasped as he calmed down. He shook his head, "The Ancient One was right. I wasn't just hurt, I really was at death's door."

"The Ancient-who-now?" Eddie asked Katara in confusion. She could only shrug since she didn't know what her friend was talking about. Aang looked back to his waterbending friend, "But thanks to you, I'm back."

"I just used the spirit water from the North Pole. And Venom was the one who helped most of your wounds." Katara shrugged, not knowing how it worked for them. She shook her head when she looked to Aang, "I don't know exactly what I did."

"You saved me." Aang said when he turned to face. Eddie nodded in agreement, "Kid's got a point. Venom can heal wounds, but he can't bring people back to life.

"I mostly just end them." Venom snickered when he waved a black tendril. Katara sighed and placed her hand on the side of Aang's head, "Bad jokes aside, you need to rest for now."

"And-" Venom questioned with a gesture of his tendril. Katara shook her head, "No, Venom. If that energy is still in there even after I tried, then sending you won't help either."

"Guess you got a free pass there, bud." Eddie said when he looked to the tendril. Venom only sighed as the tendril disappeared back into Eddie's body. The two started to leave the room when Katara looked back to her friend, "Sleep well, Aang.

"We'll get you up in the morning." She promised before walking out the door. Eddie gave a friendly wave to the kid before closing the door behind them. As the door shut, Aang's face fell as he thought about everything that recently happened. With a sigh he laid down on the cot and stared up at the ceiling.

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After having everyone join together on deck, Katara told them about what happened. From his spot on a crate next to Baby Groot, Rocket shrugged, "So, kid's still got that shock from the fire princess?"

"And it's messing with his chi, chakra, power level, whatever you want to call it." Bruce reminded. Steve looked to him and asked, "Is there any way to remove it?"

"Medically? I don't think so." Bruce denied that possibility. But Tony then deduced, "No doubt that the lightning strike somehow tangled up the kid's inner peace. Perhaps if Aang were to somehow get the chi flowing in the right direction…"

"Could work." Katy agreed. Shang-Chi looked to his best friend and asked, "Do you even know what they're talking about?"

"Not really. I'm just trying to be supportive." She admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. That caused a few eye rolls in the group. Steve looked to Bruce and Johnny and asked them, "Could what you learned from the guru help?"

"Uh…" Bruce and Johnny said while looking to each other. They both knew what the training required and knew that Aang might not like doing that a second time. The former scratched the back of his head, "It could be a possibility for someone like Aang."

"But I doubt that the kid would undergo that training again." Johnny shook his head. He shrugged, "He'd probably have to start from the beginning."

"And that could take a while?" Natasha asked from beside Sokka and Bato. The two once again looked to each other before nodding and saying in unison, "Yes."

"There could be another option." Clint guessed. Toph looked up to her former bodyguard and asked, "And that would be to do what?"

"What if we somehow drew the lightning out?" Clint asked the question. Thor held up Mjolnir and offered, "Perhaps I can pull it out of our friend."

"There might be a fifty-fifty chance of you killing him with that." Rocket said. Quill shook his head, "So that's out."

"What if it was something to ground the electrical current?" Xialing voiced her opinion. Tony shrugged, "Could work, but we wouldn't exactly know what to do with it. It's not like a car or other form of tech."

"He does have a point." Shang-Chi nodded, thinking that were true. Steve sighed and said, "We can come up with ways to help Aang later. It's been a long day and we should try to get some rest."

"Good idea." Hakoda agreed with the super soldier. Bato then offered, "I'll stay up in the tower to take the first watch."

Seeing that it was settled, everyone moved off to get some rest.

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Fire Nation…

The next morning, Azula's royal Fire Navy ship had made it into port in the Fire Nation homeland. She, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, the Red Skull and the agents of Hydra had departed from the ship and made their way to a tower that laid between the bay and a mountain. When they reached the top of the tower and stood next to a large burning flame, they could hear the sounds of cheering soldiers. Out on the balcony, they heard the twins Lo and Li speaking to the crowds. Lo started, "Your Princess Azula…

"Clever and beautiful, disguised herself and her companions as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital." She told the Fire Nation's version of the story. Li picked up where her sister left off, "In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko. And together with the agents of Hydra, they faced the Avatar."

"And the Avatar fell, and the Earth Kingdom fell!" Lo and Li shouted in unison, resulting in cheers from the armies down below. Lo started again by saying, "Azula and the Red Skull's agents quickly overtook the entire city."

"They went to Ba Sing Se's great wall…" Li took over for a moment. Both sisters shouted together again, "And brought them down!"

"The armies of the Fire Nation surge through the walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory." Lo told of the victory. She and her sister then announced to the crowds below, "Now the heroes have returned."

"Your princess, Azula!" Lo introduced to them. The crowds started to cheer as the Fire Nation princess stepped out onto the balcony and into the view of the crowds. She moved to one side of the balcony as Li then introduced, "The leader of Hydra, Johann Schmidt!"

The Red Skull was next to walk up and stood next to the princess. Li then said, "The former prince of Jotunheim and future king of Asgard, Loki!"

Wearing an elegant form of his robes and his golden helm with curved horns, Loki walked out and stood next to Abomination. He gave a small wave to the masses as they cheered. Lo then wrapped up the introductions by announcing, "And after three long years, your Prince…"

"Zuko!" Both Lo and Li shouted together, earning a large wave of cheers from the audience as the said prince emerged on the balcony. He moved to stand between both Johann Schmidt and Loki. But as he looked down at the crowds below, the young prince didn't feel quite right. Loki leaned closer while waving and asked, "Why so glum, my young friend?

"Isn't this everything that you wanted?" He asked while the prince continued to look down to the crowds. Zuko did feel that this was everything that he wanted, but he just didn't feel all that right with it.

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Back on the taken Fire Navy ship, Aang had been brought back down to the deck for some food. The ship was currently sailing through the middle of a lake in the Earth Kingdom. He, Katara, Sokka, Toph, the Avengers and some of the new arrivals sat around him as they all held a bowl of rice and chopsticks in their hands. Those with Fire Nation helmets set them to the side as they ate their meal. Steve then said, "We'll start around the beginning."

"After what happened in Ba Sing Se…" Sokka started the story, "we had to get you to safety."

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(Flashback)

Appa and the Milano flew over the darkened skies over Ba Sing Se after their defeat. The large group of heroes flew over countless miles before coming up close to the edge of a body of water, "We flew back to Chameleon Bay.

"Where we were joined by Katara and my father along with the rest of the Water Tribe men." Sokka told him as on the beach the heroes were greeted by the Water Tribe warriors. A moment later, the portal opened up and a pillar of light touched down to reveal their new allies, "Not long after, we were joined by not only some of Thor's friends from Asgard, but Shang-Chi, Katy and Xialing who were brought here by a monk named Wong."

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"Where is he? This Wong guy I mean?" Aang asked as he looked around the deck. But Katy shook her head, "Wong said that he couldn't stay due to orders from that temple place where he's from."

"He said that they've intervened enough by bringing us in." Xialing said while grabbing some of the rice with her chopsticks. Shang-Chi then said, "But it is an honor to be here to fight alongside you, Avatar Aang."

"How exactly do you know me again?" Aang asked in confusion. The teen wearing the Ten Rings gave a small shrug and said, "Well, while we don't know you personally, our father spoke highly of Avatar Roku?"

"Wait, what?" Aang asked in awe. Natasha then waved, "There'll be time for that later. Right now we're trying to catch you up with current events."

Aang gave a light huff to this before focusing on what Sokka was saying. The Water Tribe Teen then said, "As for Earth King Kuei…"

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(Continue Flashback)

"He wanted to travel the world in disguise. And he promised to find others to the cause and send them our way." Said monarch of the Earth Kingdom had a small as he comically ripped off his hat and robes for those more like a peasant's. He was joined by Fae, the Dai Lee agent and Bosco. The two humans also traded their fancier clothing for more ragged pieces of attire. The bear ripped off his hat and vest to appear a little more ordinary. They waved goodbye before turning to walk away. Kuei climbed onto Bosco's back and the four headed out together, "And thankfully, he won't be alone in his travels. Him, Bosco, Fae and Jin."

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"Jin?" Aang asked in confusion. Rhodey then explained the name, "The Dai Lee agent that we befriended back in Ba Sing Se."

Aang nodded in understanding to this new information. Peter then spoke up with a small wave of his chopsticks, "And thanks to this ship, we have just about everything we need."

"Except for a Blu-ray player." Wade cut in with a pout. Johnny and a few others just rolled their eyes while Logan advised, "Ignore him."

"Where exactly did you get this ship?" Aang asked as he looked about the vessel. Clint then said, "That one's pretty easy to answer to."

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(Flashback)

Three weeks ago…

After spotting a Fire Nation ship entering the bay, the group believed that it was time to spring into action. The enemy hadn't noticed them at the moment, but they knew it would only be a matter of time. Standing on the shore of the bay, Steve Rogers placed his helmet on his head before turning to the group. Looking to each of them he said, "Everyone remember their part in the plan?"

"A small group consisting of the more stealthier of us are to infiltrate the ship." Gamora recounted their part. Bruce then took up, "The rest of us are to wait until we have gotten the signal from the party on the ship."

"Then we have Appa fly Aang while Quill brings in the Milano onto the ship and make tracks." Sokka finished. Steve nodded and said, "All right, people. Let's move out."

The group consisting of him, Natasha, Clint, Gamora, Rocket, Xialing, Sif, Fandral, Wade, Logan Peter, Hakoda, Bato and their warriors jumped into the Water Tribe boats. As silently as they could, they rowed for the Fire Navy ship.

…

It took a few minutes, but the Water Tribe boats pulled up to the larger vessel. Captain America and a few others threw up some grappling hooks. The heroes and warriors quietly made their way up. Up on the deck, a Fire Nation soldier passed by and hadn't happened to notice the hooks. When he was gone, the stealth group pulled themselves over the railing and made their way across the ship. Captain America, Hakoda and Bato all quietly rushed towards a few soldiers in front of them. When they turned around, Cap flung his shield at them and it smacked against the enemy troops. All three men fell to the ground with thuds and when they tried to pick themselves up, the three quickly put them into choke holds to knock them out.

Gamora, Rocket, Xialing and Spiderman all moved into the tower of the ship. As they ran down the hall, a Hydra agent started to turn around the corner. Spiderman quickly acted by firing a couple of webs at them. The soldier cried out as he became stuck against the wall. Xialing was quick to follow up with a round house kick to the head. The man's head fell to the side with a droop. With that out of the way, the group split up to continue the mission.

The rest of the group went down the stairs into the bowels of the enemy ship. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Deadpool and some of the Water Tribe warriors checked each door that they came across.

When they finished, everyone met on the main deck. They took a moment to calm themselves and Cap asked, "Are we in the clear? We didn't leave any stragglers?"

"No, we made sure that there were none left." Natasha confirmed. Xialing then said, "While we put the Fire Nation and some Hydra soldiers into the brig, the rest of them used their cyanide capsules."

"We'll worry about that later." Gamora said as she moved to the railing of the boat. Looking to the shortest member of the group she said, "Rocket, send up the flare."

"One flare, comin' up." Rocket said as he took out a small pistol. Moving over to the railing, he hopped up and lifted the small gun. Holding it over his head, Rocket fired the flare up into the air. The projectile sailed high into the air before going off with a bang.

…

Over on the shore, the group waiting for the signal had waited for what felt like an hour or more. But then they saw a red flare fly up from the boat. Rhodey looked to the others, "Looks we got our ride."

"Then let us hurry and get Aang on board." Mantis said. The group nodded before moving to get Aang. A few minutes later, Drax and Johnny were carefully carrying Aang towards the awaiting bison. Both Sokka and Katara were waiting in the saddle and when they were close enough they reached down their arms to take Aang from them. Once he was nice and secure, Katara looked to the others, "Let's get out of here."

Bruce moved onto Appa's head and took the reins while Thor and Tony joined the four up in the saddle. The rest of the group rushed for the Milano just as the engines started to warm up. The gamma scientist gave a flick of the reins, "Appa! Yip, yip!"

The Flying Bison gave a small groan before taking off into the air. A moment later, the Milano lifted off the ground and flew after the bison. The rest of the heroes flew towards the captured Fire Nation ship, their new disguise for the time being.

(End of flashback)

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Sokka then brought out a map and unrolled it to show their position. Pointing to a spot within the lakes he said, "Since then we've been traveling west and passed through the Serpent's Pass a few days ago."

"We have seen some Fire Navy ships here and there, but with the codes that we were able to secure, they haven't bothered us." Tony threw in. Sokka nodded that that was true. Aang was a little confused, "Codes?"

"Transponder codes basically, they're what help us get clearance and continue to fool the Fire Nation and Hydra into believing that we're on their side." Bruce explained that bit. Aang then asked, "Hey, where are those Pygmy Pumas that you adopted, Bruce?"

"Strangest thing." Bruce shook his head. Glancing towards the northern shore he said, "While we were securing the ship, they all suddenly vanished.

"I don't even know how the one that was hurt by Blonsky even got away." He wondered while taking a bite of his food. Wade glanced to Katy and Shang-Chi next to him and muttered, "Hopefully it hasn't come back as a zombie or something."

"Will you shut up?" Natasha said as an irritated vein appeared on her forehead. Logan reached over and shoved Wade off of a crate. The Mutate cried out as he fell to the floor and spilled his bowl of rice. He then whined, "Aw, now look what you did?!

"And I wasn't even sharing with a pretty girl!" He said while getting up and walking away. While ignoring his odd ranting with a few odd stares, the others got back into the conversation. Aang glanced away for a moment before looking to his friends again and asking, "So, what now?"

"We've been working on a modified version o the invasion plan." Hakoda informed him with an impressed grin. An irritated looking Katara looked up from her bowl and corrected, "It's Sokka's invasion plan."

This earned many stares from the group. While still a little confused about his daughter's hostility, Hakoda once again humored her by saying, "Yes, right. Sokka's plan.

"We won't be able mount a full invasion without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable." The Water Tribe chief reminded. Sokka rolled up the scroll as he said, "So we're planning a bit of a smaller and improvised invasion.

"Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies across the Earth Kingdom and from the stars." He said. Gesturing to some he said, "As you can see, we already have some new recruits and we also ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke."

"Good to see you again, Aang." Pipsqueak greeted as he ate with the Duke sitting on his shoulder eating as well. Sokka then turned back to Aang and said, "And the best part is…

"The eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage." He said as if it were so obvious. Sokka leaned a little closer, placed a hand next to his mouth and quietly said, "We have a secret."

"Why are you whispering to him like an idiot?" Rocket questioned the teen. While Sokka just sent him a small glare, his grin returned when he looked to Aang, "The secret is you, Aang."

"Me?" Aang asked, greatly confused about why he would be a secret. Sokka nodded, "Yep. The whole world thinks you're dead.

"Isn't that great?!" He asked while standing up and raising his arms up. While most of the group either facepalmed or sent deadpanned looks the teen's way, a stunned Aang could only stare up at his friend in shock. Steve set his bowl down and said, "Aang, I know that this is a lot to take in, but-"

"Yeah, it's a lot!" The Airbender exclaimed as he got up. Moving over to the side of the ship, he looked out to the horizon and asked, "The world thinks I'm dead?"

"Easy there, kid." Natasha said as she started to move towards the Avatar. Aang turned to them all and asked, "Someone please tell me how this is good news? It's more terrible than anything!"

"While I know it doesn't seem like the best news." Tony began the explanation. Pointing to the ship's tower he said, "Judging from the radio chatter about your apparent passing, then the Fire Nation and Hydra seem to believe that you're six feet under."

"Tony." Bruce hissed while nudging his friend with an elbow. Sokka then added, "And this means that they won't be hunting us anymore nor will they be expecting us on the Day of Black Sun."

"No, no, no, no." Aang disagreed with a shake of his head. With a quick slashing motion of his hands he said, "This is so messed up!"

"Aang, it's going to be-" Steve started to say. But he was interrupted when the sound of a horn sounded. Sam looked and saw something. He informed, "Guys! We got company on our left."

Everyone on deck looked to see another Fire Navy ship approaching from the front. It was moving and from the look of things, it looked ready to dock with theirs. Deciding to face the enemy, Aang grabbed his staff with a determined look, "I'll handle this.

"The Avatar is back." He declared while slamming the staff against the deck and opening his glider. But the wound on his back acted up and caused him to groan in pain. But just as he was about to take off, Natasha walked up to him and shook her head, "You aren't doing anything as you're still on the mend a little."

"And you need to remember that they don't know that we're not Fire Nation or Hydra." Katara reminded him as she joined to stand with Natasha. While looking a little reluctant, Aang closed his glider back into his staff. Hakoda, Bato and everyone else with disguises started to put their helmets back on as the chief said, "Everyone just stay calm. We'll handle this."

"Best performances people. We're on in five." Wade said from the side. That just earned a few odd stares as people started to move into position. As some without disguises disappeared into the ship. Both Pipsqueak and the Duke walked over a hold opening where the smaller of the two friends was wrapped up in a tarp. With a heave of his body, Pipsqueak tossed the Duke over Appa who was hiding within the hold. On the other side was Drax who caught the boy. Together they covered up Appa the best that they could while Momo jumped under the tarp too. Rocket and Baby Groot were quick to join them underneath the tarp.

In another opening, Aang knelt down to stay hidden with Katara, Toph, Xialing, Shang-Chi and Katy. The Airbender was not happy when he said, "I hate not being able to do anything."

"You'll just have to suck it up for the time being." Xialing said when she glanced to him. Shang-Chi looked to the Airbender and said, "While that could have been said a little nicer, she does make a point."

"Yeah, so quit yakking and zip it." Katy added as the boats drew closer with each passing second. The six stayed quiet as Sokka joined them and knelt down. They watched as the other Fire Nation ship pulled up. The two ships stopped to where they were side by side and the new ship extended a ramp that connected with the commandeered one with a clank. Hakoda, Bato and the heroes walked up to greet whomever was coming aboard. The Water Tribe chief glanced back and said, "Face plates, guys."

"Right." Steve nodded and they slid their face plates to complete their disguises. A moment later five men consisting of a high ranked Fire Nation officer, two Firebenders and two Hydra agents walked across the ramp onto their ship. As they stepped aboard, Bato and Hakoda glanced to each other before focusing on the men. Hakoda then bowed to their guests and the high ranked officer questioned, "Commander, why are you off course?

"All western fleet ships are supposed to be moving towards Ba Sing Se to support the occupation." He said as if to remind them. Hakoda thought quickly before saying, "Actually we're from the eastern fleet.

"We have orders to deliver some cargo. And we did send our transponder codes just before docking." He said while glancing to Bato and the others on his right. The high ranking Fire Nation official seemed to buy it when he said, "Ah, eastern fleet, huh?

"And those codes?" He asked when he looked to the Hydra agent. The agent seemed to be holding a pad. The agent then looked up to his commander and nodded that they checked out. The man then commented, "Hmm. Well, it sure was nice enough for Admiral Chan to let us know that he was sending a ship our way."

"I'm sure that Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir." Bato said to appease the man while those in the hold behind them watched and listened. The commander of the other ship asked, "I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a messenger hawk our way?"

"Next time we'll be sure to send two hawks to be sure that you got the message." Hakoda promised as he looked to Bato with a grin. Hakoda and the Fire Nation commander bowed to each other before Hakoda's group walked away. But as soon as they were out of ear shot, the Firebender on his left leaned towards the commander and said, "Sir, Admiral Chan has been on leave for two months on Ember Island."

"Now that I think about it, it was in a small debriefing." One of the Hydra agents agreed with him. That made the commander think as he looked to his comrades and questioned, "What? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me these things?"

"I do believe you were in the restroom when we got it, sir, and that it wasn't really worth your time." The other Hydra agent reminded, making the commander look rather embarrassed as an irritated vein appeared on his forehead. Shaking his head he got back on track by saying, "But those soldiers and their commander, they should have known that ahead of time."

"I think we're all thinking it, sir." The other Firebender said. The commander nodded in agreement, "This is most likely a captured ship.

"Just stay quiet until we're safely across the ramp." He said and turned to walk back across the ramp to his ship. Then he tried to quietly say, "Once we're in the clear-

"Then we'll sink this ship. And all on it." He decided, but it was overheard by Toph whose eyes widened by what she had heard. Raising out of the hold, she pointed to the departing soldiers and shouted, "They know!"

The Earthbender slammed her hand against the deck of the boat and twisted it. The metal creaked as a small fissure was created and extended towards the ramp. All five men looked back just as the fissure reached the ramp and caused it to dislodge from their ship. The Fire Nation commander and his four comrades lost their balance and fell when the ramp did. All five screamed as they fell into the water with a big splash. Katara moved over to the edge of the boat and was about to start bending the water in the lake when Xialing shouted, "Katara, get down!"

Katara looked to see several Fire Nation and Hydra soldiers running towards the side of their ship. A few Firebenders launched fireballs while the Hydra soldiers raised guns and started to open fire. Sokka managed to tackle Katara out of the way as bullets and fire grazed the side of the ship. Steve shouted, "Someone take them out!"

"I'm on it!" Rocket shouted as he slid out from underneath the tarp. He pulled out a small blaster as he ran. Moving to the other side of the opening for the ramp, Rocket knelt down against the metal before looking around and firing a shot. The bullet managed to find its mark when a Hydra agent cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Rocket let loose a few more shots and more enemy soldiers dropped. The cyber raccoon looked to the siblings and said, "Give us some breathing room, now! I'll provide some cover!"

Seeing that they didn't have much of a choice, Katara stood up again and looked down to the lake. With a downward motion of her hands, she started to create a wave before raising her arms. The wave made the ships move a little the bigger it got. Then with a yell she launched both arms forward and the wave pushed the enemy ship away. The soldiers on the enemy ship cried out in surprise when the wave splashed on deck. While they had some distance, Tony shouted up to the tower, "Go, go, go!"

Up in the driver didn't need to be told twice as put it in full. The commandeered ship started floating away from the other. As they pulled away, those on deck threw their commander and his soldiers in the water a ladder for them to climb. As he climbed up the ladder, the commander shouted up to his loyal soldiers, "Prepare the fliers!"

\_|_/

Royal Gardens, Fire Nation Palace…

Over in the Fire Nation, Zuko was sitting alone in the gardens. He had arrived back in the capital a little while ago with his sister, her friends and their allies from Hydra. So many thoughts were running through his head. He was still worried about what his father would say, regarding his uncle and the Avatar. The prince tried to take his mind off of it by throwing some bread to the turtle ducks. He lightly smiled when a trio of turtle ducks, a mother and her hatchlings, swam up to him. But it didn't last as he was still troubled and his grin fell. And the tranquil moment was broken when another two figures approached the pond. The turtle ducks noticed the presence of Azula and Johann Schimdt. The Red Skull remained behind the princess as she said to her brother, "You seem so downcast.

"Has Mai gotten to you already?" She teasingly asked while moving to stand in front of him. But a thought did cross her mind when she said with a grin, "Though, actually, Mai seems to be in a rather good mood lately."

"I haven't seen Dad yet." Zuko said with a worried sounding voice. He glanced away, "I haven't seen him in three years. Since I was banished."

"And you are worried because?" The Red Skull asked as he moved under the shade of the tree. Zuko looked to him and said, "Because I didn't capture the Avatar. And we have no proof to show him."

"Uh, this again." Azula shook her head. With a shrug she questioned, "Who cares?

"The Avatar is dead, all three of us know it, and those that were down in the catacombs know it." The princess pointed out. Zuko looked away, having a feeling that weren't the case. Both Azula and Johann Schmidt took notice of this as the former placed her hands behind her back and asked, "Unless, you think that he somehow managed to miraculously survive?"

Zuko glanced away as he thought back to something. Something that he and Katara had talked about when they were prisoners. Something before he had made up his mind to help Azula conquer Ba Sing Se.

\_|_/

(Flashback)

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole." He remembered what Katara said when she held up the vial of water. The vial slightly twisted by the small straps that was holding it. She looked to it before turning to him, "It has special properties so I've been saving it for something really important.

(End of flashback)

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Though it was more than possible, Zuko decided to dismiss it. Looking to the two he said, "No, there's no way that he could have survived."

But the looks on both Princess Azula and the Red Skull's faces seemed to say that they weren't believing him. But Prince Zuko stayed firm with his own hard stare back at them. Deciding to drop it, Azula then said, "Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about then."

With that said, Princess Azula turned to walk back into the palace. The Red Skull remained behind a moment. He then looked back to say, "I hope for your sake, young prince, that the Avatar truly is no more.

"The proof otherwise could be quite damaging." He added before walking back in with the princess. Zuko thought on what they had said as he lifted his gaze up to the clouds.

\_|_/

In the halls of the palace, Princess Azula and Schmidt walked side by side. The firebending prodigy looked to her ally and said, "Zuko has basically confirmed our fears about the Avatar.

"No doubt that he is still alive, but in what sort of state we do not know." The Red Skull agreed with her. He looked to her and asked, "How do you wish to handle it?"

"We at least tell my father about the invasion plan, even if it won't be as big as it was supposed to be with the Earth King's help." Princess Azula quickly thought up. Then she said, "As we prepare, we'll think of a plan to deal with them all during the invasion."

"We let it happen?" Johann asked, a little lost on where she was going on this. Azula smirked when she said, "Though it may cost us men and resources, I believe that we can bring the advantage to our favor by letting them think they're winning before pulling the wool over their eyes."

"Intriguing." The Red Skull said as they continued to walk down the hall. Another thought crossed the leader of Hydra's mind and he asked, "And what of your brother?"

"Leave that to me." Was all that Azula said as the smile on her face remained.

\_|_/

Back in the western lake in the Earth Kingdom, the chase was still going on. On the pursuing ship, a number of Firebenders were preparing their flaming rocks. A number of Hydra soldiers covered their noses from the stench, but managed to keep their focus on the task at hand. In a spot behind the catapults, the floor started to open up, meaning that they were preparing something big. And on the escaping ship, just about everyone was preparing to defend themselves. While Hakoda, Bato, Steve, Tony and Quill stood at the back of the ship, Rocket came running up and shouted, "Turns out this ain't the only problem for us!"

"What do you mean?" Hakoda asked with an arched brow. Rocket pointed to the ship chasing them and said, "That ship is liable to send out a message that'll give us away to the rest of 'em."

"And that could jeopardize the whole plan." Tony guessed, not liking this. Quill then threw in, "They don't know about the kid, so that helps a little."

"Barely." Both Hakoda and Bato said at the same time. Steve then asked, "Rocket, if you and someone else were to infiltrate that ship, then could you dismantle their communications?"

"Yeah, I can do it. You'll just have to give me some time to get it done." Rocket shrugged. Drax walked up behind them and pointed when he said, "I think you had better get a move on."

"Why?" Rocket looked to his friend with an incredulous look. They all turned to see a large fireball launching from the ship and it sailed towards them. They were lucky that their aim was a little off and the projectile landed in the water on the port side. Another was soon launched afterward and it smacked into the left side of their ship. Everyone fought to keep their balance from the impact. Steve looked back and shouted, "Let's send something back at them shall we?!"

A lot of the warrior's raised their fists into the air and hollered their agreement. Toph quickly came around to the back, assumed a stance while having her arms somewhat out from her person. She then shouted, "Load the Toph!"

Pipsqueak, Thor, Volstagg and Drax all lifted large rocks towards her. The Duke moved to stand behind her to help her aim at the pursuing shape. With a stomp of her foot, the removal of her cape and a whisper into her ear, she lifted the rock with a stomp of her foot into the air before launching it with a motion of her arms. The rock sailed through the air before colliding with one of the catapult. The rock smacked into the mechanism and caused the war machine to crumble. But while one was down, the other catapult launched its load. The Duke was quick to help Toph who lifted another rock with another stomp of her foot and fired it. The rock sailed through the air and collided with the flaming projectile. It created an explosion between the two ships.

Elsewhere on the ship, Sokka and Katy had brought Aang into the tower to hide him just in case. The were standing against the wall and were a little startled when another splashed down in the water pretty close to them. Aang was about to step out and help when Sokka and Katy either placed a hand on his shoulder or grabbed his staff. The Water Tribe teen shook his head to tell his friend that it wasn't a good idea. Aang gave an aggravated groan before lighting hitting his head against his staff. After a few knocks, Katy placed her hand between his head and the staff and said, "Okay. That's enough."

Over on the other ship, another war machine was being prepared to be used. A large crossbow with a three pronged head was aimed at the fleeing ship and was fired. The projectile sailed through the air, splashed down into the lake and pierced the underside of the group's ship. The hole it created allowed water to quickly fill up. The chain started to retract and pull the arrowhead back out. The prongs of the arrowhead caused the hole to widen and more water gushed in. Seeing the problem over the side, Wade shouted, "Uh, Katara! You're up!"

The Waterbender rushed over to stand by him and looked down. Knowing that she needed to act fast, Katara waved her hands around a bit before extending them down downwards and unleashing a freezing breath. Thanks to her waterbending, she caused the hole to freeze over and prevent anymore from leaking in for the time being. Katara looked to the others and shouted, "I'm gonna give us some cover!"

"And when she does that, Sam, take Rocket over to the other ship so he can disable their communications and maybe get some new codes just in case." Steve told his friend. Falcon nodded and the raccoon jumped onto his flight pack. Everyone looked to Katara as she waved her arms a little before kneeling down against the deck. A small whirlpool next to their ship before a large mist appeared around the ship and grew in size. With an upward motion of her arms, Katara caused the mist to fully envelope both ships. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Falcon took off with Rocket hanging on tight. As they flew away, Baby Groot ran after them and shouted, "I am Groot!"

"Whoa, hold on there, Groot." Peter said as he picked up the little tree man. Baby Groot looked to him with a worried look. Patting the baby's head he said, "They'll be fine."

The winged Avenger flew through the mist with his passenger towards the ship and hoped that they wouldn't get spotted. But as the ship was sailing, everyone gasped when another fireball appeared out of the mist and crashed into Toph's rock ammo. The resulting explosion once again nearly knocked people off their feet. But just as they started to pick themselves up, they heard a new sound. Natasha looked about the mist and asked, "What the heck is that?"

"I'm guessing it's a new war machine." Wade said as everyone looked up. And he was proven right when multiple small, one man aircraft flew through the mist. They started firing upon the ship with small machine guns. Thankfully, the crew was able to move out of the way while the bullets struck the deck. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to escape with the fliers, Captain America looked to Tony and shouted, "You and Rhodey need to get up there and knock them out of the sky!"

"On it!" Tony nodded and moved to find his friend and get their armors. As the planes passed over the ship and fired another round, another fireball flew across the air before smacking on the other side of the ship.

\_|_/

Over on the other ship, Falcon touched down on the ship and Rocket jumped down. They were about to get to work when a number of soldiers ran up to attack them. Rocket took out his gun again and opened fire. While it got some of the enemy to stop in their tracks, it also allowed Falcon to use his thrusters to fly up to one and drop kick them. Quickly using his wings to shield himself from a fireball or two, he looked around and used his own gun to shoot at them. The flier looked to his comrade and asked, "How much time do you need?"

"About five minutes if we're lucky." Rocket said and fired again at a Firebender. The man grunted as he fell to the metal floor and clutched his shoulder. The raccoon dropped down on all fours and took off running. While he was running off, Falcon turned back to the gathering soldiers before blasting off into the air to avoid either bullets or fireballs.

\_|_/

In their hiding spot on their ship, Aang was starting to get really tired of sitting on the sidelines. After yet another fireball shook the ship, the Airbender decided that enough was enough. Feeling that he needed to take a stand he said, "I can't just sit around doing nothing!"

Before either Sokka or Katy could stop him, the Avatar rushed out the door. Sokka called after his friend, "Aang, no!"

The two rushed out to go and get him. Sokka managed to catch up and grab Aang's staff to stop him. Aang looked back to them with an unamused look while Sokka said, "You're still hurt.

"And you have to stay a secret for now." He added while calmly taking the staff away from him. Katy walked around and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Just please let us take care of this, okay."

"Fine." Aang sighed before snatching his staff from Sokka. Though Sokka did give him an irritated look, he did understand his friend's frustration. Katy gave a small huff as they watched him go. They were greatly startled when another explosion nearly knocked them off their feet and they comically fought to keep their footing.

\_|_/

Up in the sky over the ship, the Hydra fliers were making another run for the captured ship. But just before they could open fire once again, a repulsor blast caused them to move out of the way. Both Ironman and War Machine were flying through the air and were soon joined by Falcon. The three flew in a V-shaped formation and chased after the two Hydra fliers who had turned around to regroup. Falcon looked over to them and said, "I'll take the one on the left and pick up Rocket afterwards."

"We'll meet you back on the ship, Sam." Ironman nodded while War Machine gave a metallic thumbs up. With a game plan in mind, the three split up to take on the flying machines.

\_|_/

Down on the enemy ship, Rocket was carefully making his way to what he hoped was the communication room. A few of the wrong rooms ticked him off to where he shot a couple of soldiers while continuing through. The bodies lay behind him as he continued running. He thought that he would have to just blow the ship up. His ear twitched when he heard the sounds of a radio switching frequencies. The cyber raccoon smirked, "I finally got ya."

Making his way to the door, he saw that it was open a crack. Poking his head around, he saw a Fire Nation soldier sitting at the controls. The Firebender groaned, "I can hardly remember these controls. They have to make them this complicate-"

He suddenly screamed when he was shocked from behind. As he slumped to the floor, a smiling Rocket was holding up the blaster. Looking to the unconscious soldier he said, "Don't worry. Your technical problems are about to soon be over, pal.

"Now, let's see what all I can do." The cyber raccoon said and moved over to the console. Jumping up into the chair, he started typing away on the keys, looking for what he needed. It didn't take very long as the screen showed what he was after. His grin returned when he said, "Bingo."

The cyber raccoon cracked his fingers before starting to turn knobs and press buttons. When he finished the screen blinked green for a moment before he placed a small device on the console. The device opened up to reveal what looked to be a small detonator. Small leg-like appendages stuck to the console and a timer began. Rocket shrugged as he turned away, "Let's see 'em call to help after this, eh?"

With that said and done, he grabbed the unconscious soldier and strained as he started to pull him out of the room. As he slowly moved, he shook his head, "The things I do for people."

\_|_/

Back over the ships, War Machine and Ironman were trying their best to knock their flier out of the sky. Both armored men were firing machine gun rounds or repulsor blasts, but the pilot of the flier managed to out maneuver them. Getting a little ticked off, Tony said, "Okay, time to change tactics."

"What are you-" Rhodey started to ask when Tony put on a burst of speed. Ironman flew a lot faster than the Hydra flier. Inside the craft, the pilot was confused when the wearer of the Ironman armor shot past him, "Huh?"

After going a few yards, Ironman managed to turn on a dime and flew right for the enemy craft. The Hydra flier pilot panicked when his enemy came right at him, but Ironman was aiming for the wing of the craft. Sticking his arm out, Ironman managed to rip through the wing of the machine. Smoke started to pillow out and the small plane started to lose altitude. But just before it was to hit the water, the top opened up and the Hydra soldier inside came out before opening up a parachute. The Hydra flier landed in the lake with a huge splash. With their enemy defeated, both Ironman and War Machine flew back to the captured ship.

…

Sam was having far less luck dealing with his Hydra flier. It kept moving out of the way when he managed to aim his pistols at it. On a run over the pursuing ship, he noticed Rocket running out onto the deck. The cyber raccoon started waving his arms to get his attention. Having a feeling that he was going to be held up, he activated his comms, "Hey, Rocket's ready for the extraction."

"I'm on it!" Thor's voice came over. When he cut out the transmission, Falcon hopped, "Boy, I sure hope that the little guy can handle Thor's way of getting a move on.

"Or else he may end up hating me." He added as he continued to fly after the Hydra flier.

…

Over on the pursuing ship, Rocket noticed that Falcon was quite busy with the flier. The Guardian just hoped that he wouldn't be left stranded on the ship. Luckily for him, he heard a boom coming from within the cloud cover and saw a shape coming towards the ship he was on. Thor broke through the cloud cover and landed on the ship in a superhero landing. He lifted his head and shouted as he stood up again, "Rabbit! Hurry, this way!"

"I am not a rabbit or whatever it is you guys think I am!" Rocket grumbled before running towards the Asgardian on all fours. Thor ran to close the distance between them and noticed a few Firebenders running up the stairs onto the deck. Twirling his hammer, Thor flung Mjolnir with great strength. His hammer caused both enemy soldiers to cry out before ducking out of the hammer's path. Mjolnir crashed against the tower of the ship and a moment later it was called back Thor's outstretched hand. The moment it was in his grasp, Rocket made it to him. The raccoon looked up to him and said, "Let's get out of here!"

"Verily." Thor agreed before picking up the enhanced critter. With Rocket secure in one arm, the prince of Asgard twirled his hammer preparing to fly off the deck of the pursuing Fire Navy ship. Rocket had a bad feeling when he said, "Something tells me I'm gonna lose my lunch."

The raccoon screamed as he and Thor took off into the air.

…

Falcon stopped trying to shoot at the Hydra flier he was trying to take down and instead was chasing it. He fired a shot to get the smaller craft to veer to the right. Inside the hold, the Hydra soldier glanced back to see if the Avenger was still on his tail. He happened to notice that the winged hero was no longer behind him. But when he turned his head forward again, he cried out when he found himself hurtling towards the tower of his ship. The Hydra agent tried to veer to the left to avoid colliding with it, but his wing clipped the side of the structure. The Hydra flier ended up crashing against the side of the ship. The metal of the craft scrapped against the railing and caused metal to fall off. The craft came to a stop before exploding into a raging inferno. Above the ship, Falcon watched as the fires burned before turning to fly back to the ship.

All three broke through the cloud cover and maneuvered to where they could land on the deck. Thor set Rocket down while Tony and Rhodey opened the masks to their armor.

The two ships exited the large cover cloud with the pursuing ship coming up on their port side. The ship launched another fireball from one of the catapults. The flaming projectile sailed through the air before slamming into the engine of the commandeered ship. Flames started to grow along the engine. Thor looked to their Waterbender and shouted, "Katara!"

"I'm on it!" Katara said before moving her arms towards the lake. She managed to pull up a small stream of water and sent it onto the fire to put it out. A steam cloud rose from the mechanism, but it seemed to still be operational. From the side, Toph, who was a little in the dark about the state of things, asked, "How we doin'?"

"Things couldn't get much worse." Sokka said, hoping that were true. But things seemed to be getting much worse when a large shape burst from the water behind him. Everyone on the commandeered ship gasp to see that the lake monster of the Serpent's Pass here. The great serpent weaved its body a bit as it roared down at them. Sokka turned around and asked with a comical look, "The universe just loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it?"

"You make it too easy!" Toph shouted over to him, making him adopt an annoyed look while keeping his gaze on the lake monster. Wade leaned in next to the Water Tribe teen and added, "You did kind of jinx things for us."

"Wade!" Sokka shouted when he looked to the Merc with the Mouth. But just as the serpent reared back and lunged forward to attack them, another fireball sailed and smacked it in the face. The impact created a small burn mark on the creature's face as it roared in pain. The large serpent turned its gaze to the offending ship and dived down into the water. Those on both ships moved to the edge to see the large creature weaving through the water towards the second ship. A moment later it burst out of the water and started to coil around the vessel. The soldiers on board screamed in terror as it screeched at them.

As they pulled away from the enemy vessel as it now had a new problem to deal with, Sokka clasped his hands and looked to the sky in gratitude, "Thank you, the universe!"

"Let's get out of here." Steve suggested to which they all nodded to. The commandeered ship continued to sail away from the sea serpent and the doomed vessel behind them.

\_|_/

It was a little later when the commandeered ship pulled into a port. They had run by the new clearance codes with the Fire Nation and Hydra soldiers there so they didn't run into any trouble. Down in his room, Aang was lying on his bed and just staring at the ceiling. He could hear water dripping down from a vent, but it didn't bother him that much. His thoughts raced back to earlier that day and wished that he could have helped his friends in some way. The Airbender was pulled out of his thoughts when the door to his room opened up and some of his friends entered. They were all dressed in Fire Nation robes or Hydra gear for some reason. Toph was the first to say, "Hey, Aang. We're going into town to find some dinner."

"Supper in some places of our world." Wade cracked with a grin. It earned a few grins and head shakes. Aang's stomach gave a light rumble to the sound of food and he placed a hand over it. Looking up he figured that it would do him some good, "Well, I am pretty hungry. Maybe dinner is a good idea."

"Well, that's good." Steve nodded. Sokka reached into his robe and pulled out a headband, "Tie this around your head. It'll cover up your arrow."

"I'm not going to go out if I can't wear my arrow proudly." Aang angrily exclaimed before laying down on the bed again. Tony then spoke up, "You do realize that the arrows on your hands and feet will need to be covered up as well."

"Not helping, Tony." Clint shook his head as it only made Aang feel much angrier. Sokka then started to say, "Come on, Aang. Be-"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Natasha warned when she had walked up and clamped her hand over his mouth. She pulled him back to the door and Katara asked, "Could you guys give us a moment? We'll catch up with you."

"Sure." Steve nodded and they all left the room. The super soldier was the last to leave. When the others were through, he looked to Katara and quietly said, "Good luck."

Katara didn't say anything as he closed the door behind them. She turned to Aang who was lightly tapping the mattress with a finger. He glanced back when she placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I think I know why being a secret bother's you so much.

"You don't want people to think that you failed." Katara sympathetically said. The Airbender agreed with her by raising his head to face her and saying, "You're right. I don't.

"But the problem is, I did fail." He bitterly said and laid his head back down. She tried to snap him out of it by saying, "Aang, that's not true.

"And remember that even Steve and the others kind of have gone through similar things back in their world." She reminded. Aang started to sit up when he said, "Yeah, but they managed to come back and stop their threats."

"And yet you were all there in Ba Sing Se. I was there." The Airbender said in frustration as he stood up from the bed. He felt defeated as he turned away and hung his head, "But we lost… I lost the battle, nearly my life."

"Aang…" Katara started to say. He turned to her when he said, "And now the Earth Kingdom has fallen for good. And soon, they're liable to head for the Avenger's world and start again."

"You know that we won't let it happen." Katara disagreed as she got up from the bottom. Moving around the side when she said, "And we'll free the Earth Kingdom. Remember, the invasion plan…"

"And I hate the invasion plan too." Aang angrily said as he grabbed the banner of the Fire Nation and pulled it down. It and Aang's staff fell to the floor as he shouted, "I don't want you or anyone else to pay for my mistakes."

Katara was speechless as her friend sat down on the bed. He felt truly defeated when he said, "I've always known that I would have to defeat the Fire Lord.

"But now I know I need to do it alone. No matter who stands in my way." Aang said, a feeling that it was something that he needed to do. Katara tried to be there for him as she moved to comfort him, "Aang, I-"

"Katara, please. Don't. Just go." Aang said to make her stop. She seemed a little hurt by this, but heeded his wishes and turned to walk out the door. When she opened it, she looked to her friend and asked, "Is there anything you need?"

"I need to redeem myself." Aang said in a sad tone. He didn't turn to look at her when he said, "I need my honor back."

His words made Katara's eyes widen, but she walked out and shut the door behind her. Only when it clinked shut did Aang look back. He sighed and looked up to the ceiling.

\_|_/

It didn't take Katara long to catch up with the others. Steve looked back and asked, "How did it go? Is he coming to join us, or-"

"No, he's too distraught over everything that happened." Katara shook her head. Toph then commented, "Well, he better toughen up, because we got a lot of stuff going on."

"We can only hope." Clint said as they started walking down the hall. Bruce glanced back when he said, "We'll make sure to bring him something when we get back."

\_|_/

Back in the Fire Nation capital, Prince Zuko was walking through the halls to his father's throne room. The prince was still quite nervous to see his father again after three long years of being gone. He stopped before the doorway with the Fire Nation insignia on a drape. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment, he pushed the drape aside and walked into the throne room. He saw his father sitting on his throne, his face hidden behind the shadows caused by the flames before him as they burned. Zuko still looked quite nervous as he stared at his father. From behind the flames, Fire Lord Ozai raised his hand and gestured for Prince Zuko to come forward. Prince Zuko didn't hesitate to heed his father's gesture.

\_|_/

In the commandeered Fire Nation ship, Katara and Steve walked down the hall to Aang's room. The Waterbender held a tray of food in her hands as she looked to her friend, "Hopefully, this'll help cheer him up."

"All we can do is try." Steve said when they walked up to the door. The super soldier opened the door and Katara walked inside. She started to say, "We brought you some food, A-"

"Katara?" Steve asked and stepped into the room. His eyes became wide to find an empty room. He noticed the fallen banner on the floor and said, "His staff's gone."

"Oh, no." Katara said and dropped the tray of food. The two friends quickly rushed out of the room to tell the others.

\_|_/

A few miles out, Aang was flying over the seas towards the Fire Nation. But the pain in his back was making it somewhat difficult to concentrate. He tried to tune it and other emotions out, to keep himself occupied on his mission. He didn't look back once as he continued to fly through the clouds.

\_|_/

Back in the Fire Nation throne room, Prince Zuko stopped before his father and bowed to where his face nearly touched the floor. He didn't look up when he heard his father say, "You have been away for a long time.

"I see that the weight of your travels has changed you." Fire Lord Ozai said and rose up from his seat. With a small wave of his hands, he caused the wall of flames to move where he could walk through them unharmed. When he was but a few feet from his son, the father told the son, "Rise, my son.

"For you have redeemed yourself." His words made Zuko lifted up his head to see his father. The man before him had calm yellow eyes, long flowing hair, a goatee and elegant royal robes about him. Fire Lord Ozai then said to his son, "Welcome home, Prince Zuko."

\_|_/

Back out over the ocean, Aang continued to fly west as the landmass behind him grew smaller. A slight jolt of pain in his back caused him to lose focus and he dropped from the sky. But before he could hit the water down below, the Airbender managed to regain control and climbed back into the sky.

\_|_/

On the commandeered Fire Navy ship, Katara ran onto the balcony of the tower. Her father, Bato and a few others were talking amongst themselves. They noticed her coming and she stopped before them. When they noticed the sad look in her eyes, they could tell that something was wrong. Bato looked to his friend and said, "I'll give you some space."

"Right behind ya." Some of the others said and joined the Water Tribe warrior. When they were gone, Hakoda looked to his daughter again and asked, "What's wrong, Katara?"

"He left." She told him. A little confused, he asked, "What? Who left?"

"Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared." A distraught Katara said. She shook her head, frustrated with her friend, "He has this crazy notion that he has to save the world on his own. That it's all his responsibility."

"Maybe that's his way of being brave." Hakoda guessed with a shrug. He was taken aback when she snapped, "It's not brave! It's selfish and stupid.

"We could be helping him with all of this. And I know that the world does need him, but doesn't he know how much we need him to?" She asked, feeling greatly heartbroken by this. Then she came out with a big question, "How can he just leave us behind like this?"

Hakoda turned his head away and thought of her words for a moment. Piecing together what she was saying and from how she had been acting since she saw him, he looked to his daughter and asked, "You're talking about me, too? Aren't you?"

"How could you leave us, Dad?" Katara asked as tears filled her eyes. She wiped them away as she said, "I mean, I know we had Gran Gran and she loved us, but…

"But we were just so lost without you." She sobbed while turning away and burying her head into hands. Hakoda walked up to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Inside the helm tower, Gamora and Nebula had been informed by Steve and were about to talk to Hakoda, but stayed put not to interrupt and had overheard everything between them. Katara turned to return the embrace as she continued to cry. She took a deep breath before saying, "I know why you left. I really do. And I know that you had to go.

"So, why do I still feel this way? I'm so sad and anger and hurt." She questioned as she pressed her head against her chest, unable to move past it for some reason. Hakoda held her close as she started crying again and said, "I love you more than anything.

"You and your brother are my entire world." Hakoda told her. He remembered the time that they had been apart, "I thought about you every day I was gone.

"And every night when I went to sleep, my heart would ache as I lay awake." He said, holding his daughter tightly. Katara didn't say anything as she and her father remained in their embrace, their hair waving in the wind. They were interrupted when Gamora and Nebula walked out. They turned to them when Gamora said, "Hakoda, we're gathering to discuss what's happened.

"And we feel it best if we're all together." She added. Hakoda nodded and said, "We're coming."

The four then left the balcony. As she followed the three adults, Katara could only hope that they would come to a decision soon and go after Aang.

\_|_/

Fire Lord's Palace…

In Ozai's throne room, the Fire Lord walked around his son while Prince Zuko remained kneeled on the floor. Fire Lord Ozai started the conversation by saying, "I'm proud of you Prince Zuko.

"I'm proud because you and your sister worked with Johann Schmidt and his allies conquered Ba Sing Se." He listed the achievement. He continued to list as he turned along Zuko's left and behind him, "I am proud when your loyalty was tested…

"By your treacherous uncle." Those words made Zuko feel somewhat ashamed and he narrowed his eyes. Fire Lord Ozai continued by saying, "You did the right thing and captured the traitor."

"And I am proudest of all by your most legendary accomplishment…" Ozai said when he was right behind his son. He looked to his first born when he said, "You slayed the Avatar."

That caused Zuko's good eye to widen in surprise. Slightly turning his head he asked, "What did you hear?"

"Azula and Schmidt told me everything about the battle." Fire Lord Ozai said, a small grin forming on his face. He sounded impressed when he said, "They both were amazed by your power and ferocity. At the moment of truth.

"Schmidt even compared it to some of his top agents' work." He added, earning a questioning look from the prince. He looked away as something didn't feel right to him.

\_|_/

Out over the ocean between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation waters, Aang was still flying. Due to some small pains from his back, the Airbender slightly moved to where his glider touched the ocean before regaining control. But he soon noticed something coming and recognized the patrol of ships, "The Fire Nation blockade."

Feeling that he would need to improvise, Aang took in a deep breath and used his airbending to pull in some extra air. Before he got too close, Aang closed his glider and dived down in the water. He made sure to go pretty deep and used his waterbending to propel himself underneath the patrol of ships. The propelled bender scared away some sea life that were swimming underneath the ships. When he felt that he had gone far enough, the Avatar moved to resurface. His head broke through the surface and he gasped for breath. After taking in several, he noticed something floating not too far from him and swam over to it. When he reached it, he found out it was a log and used it to stay afloat. But a moment later, he smirked when he thought of another use for it.

Climbing onto it, Aang opened up his glider and placed one side of it into a knot in the log. Using it as a way to get across the ocean, he held on tight as he rode across the waves. Every now and then the log would jump and splash down on the water. He could only hope that he could reach the Fire Nation.

…

After what felt like a bit of time of traveling, it started to get rougher as rain began to pour down. But even with the hectic weather, Aang continued on. But after jumping another wave, it ended up falling short and Aang cried out when he and the log fell into the water. He ended up losing his grip on his staff and it fell somewhere in the water. Underneath the water, Aang struggled to get back up to the surface.

\_|_/

Back on the commandeered ship, just about everyone had been gathered for the meeting. They were all gathered around a table in the bowels of the vessel with some standing and some sitting in a chair or on a crate. Steve had his arms crossed when he said, "I think we all know why we're here."

"Yeah, Aang's flown the coop and now we gotta go after him." Tony nodded. Bruce then spoke up, "But it'll be a waste of time to bring him back, not to mention difficult."

"So, what do we do?" Toph asked from her spot on a crate, wondering about their game plan. Hakoda walked up next to Steve and said, "We're gonna continue on with the plan.

"But a group have to go after Aang. We can meet at a rendezvous point on the day of the invasion." He suggested. Thor nodded in agreement, "I believe that could work."

"But who do we pick whose going after Aang and whose staying?" Katy asked, sitting next to Shang-Chi on another crate. Katara then said, "I'm going after Aang."

"Me too." Toph said while pumping a fist. Sokka then said, "Well, someone has to keep everything on track, so I'll go."

"I think the six of you should go too." Sam spoke up, looking between the founding Avengers. Natasha looked between them all and said, "Are you sure that we all need to go?"

"If anyone can make a cross country trip go pretty smoothly with these kids, it's you." Rhodey nodded, feeling it were true. Seeing that they were already volunteered, Bruce asked, "Anyone else?"

"I'll go." Peter Parker volunteered by raising his hand. Katy grabbed Shang-Chi's arm and said, "And we'll go too."

"Katy." Shang-Chi gawked before pulling his arm away. Then with a shrug he said, "But, yeah. I'll go.

"Someone's gotta keep this one out of trouble." He teasingly said while lightly pointing his thumb at her. Katy and Xialing just rolled their eyes before the latter pushed her brother off the crate. Nebula then offered, "I can go as well."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Gamora asked her adopted sister. Nebula looked to her and said, "I feel I would be best on this mission. I can fly the pod attached to the Milano.

"And we can bring Mantis, the fox and the tiny tree with us as well." She said while looking to Rocket and Groot. The raccoon started to protest, "Hey, I've already got enough-"

"Just go, Rocket." Peter groaned with an eye roll. Even Drax seemed to agree with this by saying, "You've been whining like a little baby ever since last week about how sea life was boring you."

"I never said that!" Rocket growled at him. But throwing his paws in the air he said, "But fine, I'll go.

"Just don't blame me when something falls apart that only I can fix." He added while walking over to stand with Nebula. He gestured for Baby Groot to follow, "Come on, Groot. Let's get ready to go."

"I am Groot." Baby Groot said while running after his friend. Peter looked to Mantis and asked, "You okay to go too?"

"Perhaps I can be useful on this mission." She shrugged, somewhat feeling up to the task. She looked to her fellow Guardians and said, "I will do my best."

"We know you will, Mantis." Gamora nodded, having faith in her friend. Steve looked between the departing group and said, "Go and grab anything you need.

"We leave in ten minutes." He said. As everyone started to walk away from the table, Hakoda turned to his two children and said, "Be careful out there, you two."

"You too, Dad." Sokka said while Katara moved up to her father and embraced him. Hakoda smiled as he hugged her back while extending an arm to his son. Sokka smiled too as he joined the embrace.

\_|_/

Back at the Fire Nation royal palace, Prince Zuko was walking through the halls. After his meeting with his father, Zuko began to think about what his father had said to him. Knowing that the leader of Hydra had moved to a place that his father provided him and those that they brought back, the Red Skull was out. That only left one other person as they reached their door. Prince Zuko opened the door to Azula's room and questioned, "Why'd you do it?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific." Azula said without opening her eyes. Her brother then clarified, "Why did you tell Father that I was the one who killed the Avatar?"

"Can't this wait until morning?" Azula asked, not really wanting to get out of the bed at the moment. But Zuko was pretty serious when he said, "It can't."

"Fine." Princess Azula sighed before sitting up in the bed. Looking to Zuko as he stepped into the room she explained, "You seemed so worried about how Father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar.

"I figured that if I gave you the credit, then you would have nothing to worry about." She hypothesized. But it still didn't make sense to Zuko when he asked, "But why? And what does the Red Skull gain by going along with this?"

"We both agreed that it would help you look like the hero you've proven yourself to be when it mattered." Azula shrugged as she got out of bed. Moving to lean against one of the posts of her bed she said, "Think of it as a generous gesture. A way of thanking you for all that you had done. And we were quite happy to share the glory with you."

"You're lying." Zuko glared at her as she walked past him. She merely shrugged it off with another sigh, "If you say so."

"You and the Red Skull must have another motive for doing this." Zuko accused her. He seemed frustrated when he said, "I just haven't figured it out yet."

"Oh, please, Zuko." Azula scoffed while stretching a bit. She turned to face her brother and asked, "What ulterior motive could I have for giving you the credit of defeating the Avatar?

"Unless, somehow…" She started to say as she moved to stand next to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder she said, "The Avatar is still alive and would be now plotting with the Avengers to take us down.

"Then all that glory would turn into shame and foolishness." Azula told him as she walked back to her bed. He turned to her with narrowed eyes as she laid down and reminded what he had said earlier, "But you said it yourself that that was impossible.

"Sleep well, Zuzu." Azula said as he turned to walk out the door. She had a smile as he walked out the door and went back to sleep.

\_|_/

Lightning flashed overhead as Aang held on to the floating log in the middle of the ocean. He looked around for his glider but couldn't see it anywhere. The Airbender did his best to hold on tight when the waves started to get rough and cried out as a big one came down on him. Luckily, he didn't go down to far and kicked his way back up to the surface. A moment later, both he and the log broke through. Swimming over, he grabbed a hold and took in deep breaths again. But he was starting to feel broken as he lowered his head against the log, "I'm not gonna make it.

"I failed." He dejectedly said. He was beginning to wish that he hadn't left his friends and thought that he would die out in the middle of the ocean, with the world falling even more apart. And as the rain continued to pour around him, he looked up to see the spirit of Avatar Roku before him and Aang asked, "Roku?"

"You haven't failed, Aang." The predecessor told his successor. But Aang didn't feel that way when he said, "But everyone thinks that I'm dead again. They think I've abandoned them.

"And I'm losing this war. I'm letting two worlds down by." He sorrowfully said. But Roku shook his head, "If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me. While I couldn't prevent the involvement of Hydra, I should have still seen this war coming and prevented it.

"You inherited my problems. And my mistakes." Avatar Roku said and bowed his head, wishing that Aang didn't have to face this. But then he gave some inspiring words to the young Airbender, "But I believe that you are destined to redeem me. And save the world by avenging it."

"I don't know." Aang shook his head just as the sea started to calm down. But the rain suddenly stopped and Aang once again looked up to see another spirit joining them. Princess Yue reminded him, "You already saved the world.

"And with the help of the Avengers you will save it again." She sounded confident as she drifted down a beam of light from the moon. As she drew closer she said, "But you cannot lose hope."

"You're right." Aang agreed with a nod. Looking out to the ocean he said with newfound determination, "I won't give up. And with my friends, I can still win this."

With a wave of his hand, Aang used his waterbending to create a wave to get him moving again. As he climbed onto the log and sailed away from the beam of light, Aang waved his arms around to make him go faster. The spirit of Princess Yue decided to help as well by raising her arms and creating a massive wave. With a simple motion of her arms, the wave she created rushed forward and soon helped Aang to move even further along the ocean. When he was far out to sea, Princess Yue's spirit ascended back to the moon before disappearing.

…

It was probably hours later when Aang had managed to reach the island where Avatar Roku's temple once stood. While the ruins of the bridge still stood, multiple rivers of lava flowed from the volcano. But luckily, Aang managed to find a spot where he would be safe and laid down to rest.

\_|_/

Not too far out, both Appa and the Milano were flying high in the air. Thanks to Katara, she provided some cloud cover when they drew close to the blockade. They were fortunate enough not to draw attention as they passed over. After clearing the blockade, in the pod from the Milano, Rocket then asked, "So, do we know where the kid's headed?"

"He's liable to find a place to stop somewhere in the Fire Nation." Steve said over the comms. Sokka then suggested, "What about the island where Roku's temple once was?"

"It is close to the Fire Nation blockade." Natasha agreed with the Water Tribe teen. Nebula, at the controls then requested, "If you'll lead the way."

"Just follow us." Katara said and the bison started to pick up speed. Nebula pushed a lever forward to make the pod go faster as well.

\_|_/

It wasn't until morning when Aang woke up again. A chittering Momo came crawling up to him, stood over him and gently licked his cheek to wake the Airbender up. Aang groaned as he started to stir and Momo backed up a little. Not too far away from them as Appa and a pod started to gently settle down, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Steve, Tony, Clint, Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Nebula, Mantis, Rocket, Groot, Peter P., Shang-Chi and Katy all rushed up to greet him. Katara was the first to reach him and embraced the Airbender, "You're okay."

"You sure had us worried there, kiddo." Tony said with a small grin as he and the others gathered around them. They all came together to join in the embrace with Appa standing outside of them. They backed up when Aang said, "I have so much to do."

"Well, you're not gonna do it alone. We promise." Steve nodded. Toph then cracked, "You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?"

That caused some grins all around. But Aang became a little worried when he asked, "But what about the invasion?"

"We'll join up with my dad and the others on the day of the eclipse." Sokka told him. Bruce then said, "They're gonna have their hands full looking for any allies willing to fight."

"We just need to make sure that we get ourselves there." Peter chuckled. They all looked to Toph when she felt something, "Hey, what's-"

"Oh." She said as she picked up Aang's ruined glider from the water. She held it to him, "It's your glider. Sorry, Aang."

"That's okay." Aang said as he took it. He thought of all the memories that he had with it. But figuring that it would be risky to have it, he looked to them and said, "If someone saw it, it would give my identity away. It's better that no one else knows that I'm alive right now."

"I am Groot." Baby Groot said, like he was suggesting something. They looked to Rocket he agreed with a shrug, "Yeah, you could keep it in the pod. We wouldn't let anything happen to it."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not chance it." Aang shook his head. Steve placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, "We know that this tough for you."

"But it's something that's gotta be done." The Airbender sighed, really not wanting to do this. He turned towards the interior of the island saw a small hill. Using his airbending he jumped to a spot that wasn't covered in lava. When he touched down, Aang looked to the ruined glider in his hands. With a sigh he said, "I'm sorry."

He lifted the staff into the air before twirling a bit before plunging one end of it into the rocks. The crack was where some of the lava flowed and Aang jumped back to avoid getting burned. When he rejoined the others, they looked up and watched as fire slowly started to grow along the glider. Soon, the ancient tool of the Airbenders was incinerated.

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This story's dedication to:

Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018

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Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay, I'm trying to do a lot of stories. I'm just glad that I was able to work on this story some more. And yes, the group going through the Fire Nation will be our main Team Avatar, the founding Avengers, basically half of the Guardians of the Galaxy, our friendly, neighborhood Spiderman and Shang-Chi and Katy. Every now and then till the Day of Black Sun, I'm going to have some of the characters really interact with the chapter's that the episode's centered around. So basically, I'm mostly thinking of Peter and maybe either Katy or Shang-Chi in the next chapter. Also I have a question that I'll try to ask in the next chapter. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.