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.

3. Chapter 3: Headband

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: Now about that question, it mostly deals with the concept of me doing What If…? episodes. I'll ask my question at the end of the chapter.

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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…

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."

Zuko walked into his sister's bedroom and questioned, "Why did you tell Father that I was the one who killed the Avatar?"

While thinking of what to do for the Invasion Plan since Aang had run off, Katara spoke up by saying, "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.

"I'll go." Peter Parker volunteered by raising his hand.

"Oh, please, Zuko." Azula scoffed while stretching a bit. She turned to face her brother and asked, "What ulterior motive could I have?

"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.

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Book Three: Fire

Chapter Three: The Spider's Headband

The night was quiet in the city of the Fire Nation capital. But while everyone else was sleeping peacefully, one soul found it quite hard to relax. Within his bedroom of the Royal Fire Nation palace, Prince Zuko fossed and turned in his bed. When sleep wouldn't come to him, the young prince opened his eyes as thoughts weighed heavy on his mind. Getting out of bed, Zuko quickly got changed and grabbed a cloak from the hook next to the door. Putting the cloak on he walked out the door.

After some time navigating through the streets of the Imperial City, Zuko found his way to the path that would lead away. He glanced back to see if anyone was following or had noticed him, but when he didn't see anything he continued on his journey. But unbeknownst to the prince, he was indeed being followed. The shape behind him slowly followed after him through the rocky trail.

Half an hour of walking, Prince Zuko found himself before a large round building that had been built against the side of a mountain. He stopped just before the bridge and looked up to a particular window. But before he could try to go in, he saw movement on one of the lower levels. A guard to the tower walked in from the right and noticed him standing there. The guard looked down to him and shouted, "Who's there?"

But instead of answering, moving closer or revealing himself, Prince Zuko just turned around and walked away. The guard watched him go before continuing on his rounds. But as the two were leaving, a small dim light appeared to reveal Loki. The prince of Asgard looked to the retreating form of the prince of the Fire Nation and wondered what was going on. Deciding to find out, Loki moved off to where he could get ahead of the Firebender.

As he was walking back to the capital city, Zuko heard movement from ahead. Taking a defensive stance he questioned, "Who's there?"

"Now, why should I answer that when you didn't answer that guard?" A familiar voice asked as Loki stepped into the light. This made Zuko lower his hands and he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The God of Mischief returned with a shrug. Prince Zuko scoffed before walking around Loki, "It's none of your business."

"You were trying to visit Iroh, weren't you?" Loki asked as he turned to the prince. It made Zuko stop in his tracks and he turned back to the Asgardian. He then asked, "What do you want?"

"A lot of things, to be honest." Loki chuckled from his own humor. But then he shook his head when he said, "But from you, nothing.

"And I won't tell anyone about you sneaking out. I'm very good at keeping secrets." The Asgardian promised him. While a little cautious, Zuko knew that Loku could somewhat be trusted.

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The next morning, along one of the many islands of the Fire Nation, a lone cloud was making its way across the sky. If one were to listen, they could hear slight growling and the sound of an intergalactic engine coming from it. As it approached a crescent island. As they got closer to the island, a voice said from within the cloud, "I think I see a cave below us."

"Shh! Keep quiet." Another voice said while a few animals watched the cloud move closer. When the cloud lowered itself close to the cave, a wave of airbending caused it to disperse and scared some birds while revealing Appa and the pod from the Milano. The birds look over to see the group of heroes descend close to the cave. Both the small vessel and the bison landed on the ground. While some were removing themselves from Appa or exiting from the pod, Sokka was quick to jump down and quickly move behind a nearby rock. The Water Tribe teen glanced around before looking to his friend and crossed his arms, "Great job with the cloud cover and the engine muffler.

"But next time let's disguise ourselves as a cloud that remembers to keep it's mouths shut as we're sneaking around in the sky." He commented and earned some stares from the others. Rocket placed Baby Groot on his shoulder and retorted, "Relax, beanpole. We're a few miles from the nearest town."

While a little ticked off about the nickname, Sokka chose to ignore it as he glanced around the rock again. But as the group walked up to him, Toph agreed with Rocket by saying, "He does have a point. Are you worried that some bird will give us away?"

"Hey! We're in enemy territory." Sokka exclaimed, making most of the others slightly jump. The teen pointed up to a group of birds over his head and said, "Those are enemy birds."

"Remind me, was he this paranoid the last time he was in the Fire Nation?" Natasha asked when she looked to Steve. The super soldier shook his head, "I don't think so. But then again we weren't here for very long."

"That's true." Natasha nodded to the thought. One of the birds that looked almost like a toucan jumped down and landed in the middle of Sokka's head. It gave a small caw while the teen had an annoyed look on his face. However, it made the rest of the group laugh at the sight. With that over with, everyone started to walk towards the cave. But just before they could go inside, Sokka jumped over everyone's heads and laned with a crash against the sand. When he got up onto his knees, the Water Tribe teen looked about for a moment before rushing forward into the cave. This made everyone behind him look to each other with questioning, annoyed or worried looks. Katy looked to Shang-Chi and said, "Is it too late to go back to the others?"

"I think it is." Shang-Chi said before they and the others walked in. Appa was the last one into the cave while Sokka inspected the inside. He turned to the others and said with a grin, "Well, this is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave…

"After cave…" He said, his previous excitement starting to wane. His head fell when he finished with, "After cave."

"That sounds very depressing." Mantis commented at the thought when she looked around their current dwelling. Bruce looked to the rest of his friends and asked, "Please tell me that there's a silver lining to this?"

"There might be. I mean, we don't have to become cave people." Katara said while Toph moved to go sit by the cave wall. Looking to her brother she suggested, "What we need to do is find some new clothes."

"She does have a good idea there." Katy nodded in agreement. Aang backed it up by saying, "Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out."

"If we were to get us some Fire Nation or Hydra disguises, we have a higher chance of being much safer just as much as hiding in a cave." Tony added when he thought of the probability of them doing that. They all looked to Toph when she pitched her two cents, "Plus, they have real food out there.

"Does anyone here want to sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers?" She asked before slamming her right fist against the wall. With a little help from her earthbending, she scared a few of said critters from hiding. While others cringed from the sight and other stayed standing where they were, a couple of them seemed to be quite delighted. With a grin on his little face, Baby Groot hopped down from Rocket's shoulder and started chasing after one. Momo rushed up and caught one of the last few cave hopper's with his hands before eating it kind of like it would be his last meal.

The lemur stopped and looked back with a leg in his mouth while the rest of it was in his hand. The sight alone was enough to make a good number of the group grimace. Sokka then said to the lemur, "Looks like we got out voted, sport."

"Yeah, by a landslide." Clint said while Bruce shuddered. With an eager grin Peter clapped his hands and said, "Well, let's get some new clothes."

"As much as I want to see the town, the four of us should stay behind here." Rocket said when he gestured to him, Nebula, Mantis and Baby Groot. Nebula agreed with him by saying, "He's right. We'll stand out the most."

"Don't worry. We'll bring something back for you guys." Steve promised and the rest of the group headed out to go find something.

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After a bit of walking and searching, they came up to a house near the beach. The large group peeked over some rocks to see what they had. Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulders to get a look at what they were seeing. Their eyes widened when they saw that the people living here had a large assortment of clothes from uniforms to fancy dresses hanging on clothes lines. Katy looked to the others and questioned, "Just who lives here? Cruella Deville?"

"Who exactly is that?" Toph asked in confusion as she, Sokka, Katara nor Aang have heard of such a person. Shang-Chi was quick to say, "Not the best time to explain. Let's just pick something out for ourselves."

"I don't know about this. These clothes belong to someone." Aang shook his head, feeling that this was wrong. Natasha looked to the Airbender and reminded him, "Hey, we all agreed that this was the best way to try and avoid any trouble."

"Yeah, but-" Aang tried to argue. They all slightly became tense and looked to her when Katara excitedly said, "I call the silk robe!"

"Hey!" Both Natasha and Katy shouted in unison. The spy huffed while the younger archer said, "I had my eye on that."

But Katara was already up and on the move to the clothes lines. She picked a few pieces from the line and moved to go hide and change. Barton looked to the Airbender and said, "If we're able to, we'll be sure to give them their clothes back."

"Oh, I see a nice dress for me." Katy said and noticed that the spy of the group also looking at it. They glared at each other before they both jumped out from their hiding places. They comically ran for the same piece of clothing and both fought of over it when they grabbed it at the same time. After thinking it over, Aang knew that they had a point, "Well, if it's essential for our survival, then I call one of the suits."

"I call the other one." Peter called as he and the Airbender got up to make a rush for them. Momo jumped off of Aang's back while the two made their way across the yard. The others were quickly yet quietly behind them as they picked something out for themselves.

The last one to pick something out was Sokka as he remained at one of the clothes line. He was greatly uninterested in a shirt he thought was too big, one that he thought was way too small, probably a girl's shirt and moved on to the next one. A smile formed when he found a sleeveless shirt with six straps that was his size and looked like it was meant for a guy. Taking it off the wire, he rushed to go and get changed with the others.

Steve, Tony, Clint, Bruce and Thor were all wearing nice looking Fire Nation robes over their more suits while Natasha and Katy were all wearing their silk dresses instead of their suits. Sokka changed into the shirt and a pair of shorts while Toph dressed in a more common Fire Nation girl's outfit. Peter put on his new suit while Aang tied the belt of his around the arrow on his forehead. The Airbender turned around and smiled as he wore the suit, "Ta da! Normal kid."

"I can't believe your choosing to wear shoes, Toph." Clint said in surprise as he joined her, Aang, Peter and Sokka. The blind Earthbender shrugged when she said, "Yeah, I thought a barefoot Fire Nation girl would draw some attention.

"But the only problem with this is that I won't be able to see very well." She commented. Sitting down she raised one of her feet and grabbed the sides of the shoe and said, "Guess I better improvise on this plan."

"Sorry, shoes!" She said before forcing her foot to tear off the soul of the shoe. The piece ended up flying and smacking into Sokka's face and everyone looked to him. The shoe piece peeled off the annoyed teen's face and revealed a red shoe print on him. Toph sighed in relief, got up off the rock and tested them out as she said, "Finally! A stylish shoe for the blind Earthbender."

"Gotta say, love how you were able to turn that around." Katy nodded with a grin. Bruce walked up and said, "I managed to find a few cloaks for the others. We'll figure something out before we go into town."

"Sounds good." Steve nodded as he adjusted his disguise a little. They all looked to the Waterbender of the group when Katara walked up and asked them, "How do I look?"

The young girl was wearing a two piece outfit with the silk robes around her waist and a piece of cloth around her chest. On her wrists were a couple of golden bracelets and just below her shoulders were two golden rings. She had undone the loops in her hair while having tied some of it in a bun. While everyone nodded that she was looking like she was going to fit in, a blushing Aang pointed out the one flaw in her disguise, "Uh, your mom's necklace."

"Oh." Katara said as she remembered it. This made the other's faces fall as they knew how much the necklace meant to her. She reluctantly took it off, "Oh, yeah. I guess that it is obviously Water Tribe, isn't it."

She looked at it before putting the necklace away for the time being. Natasha walked up to the girl and said, "Don't worry. It'll be back where it belongs in no time."

"Yeah." Katara nodded with a small smile. Tony then suggested, "Let's go and grab the Spacers. I'm sure that they're just as hungry as we are."

Everyone nodded in agreement before heading back to the beach.

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In the Hydra base just outside of the Fire Nation's capital city, movement was abuzz in the complex. In his office, Johann Schmidt was sitting at his desk, looking over some of the paper work that he had received this morning. He looked up when the door opened. Stepping in were a couple of Hydra agents. The Red Skull set what was in his hands down on the desk and commanded, "Report."

"Things are progressing in our favor, sir." The agent on the left nodded. Then he said, "Zola's island facility is being set up and will be complete in a week's time."

"And for the other projects?" Johann questioned as he rose up from his chair. The agent on the right told him, "Thanks to the generous offer from the Fire Lord, the samples regarding the young teen and the Mutate have been transported to the island prison.

"Test subjects will begin to arrive shortly after as per Zola's instructions." He finished. The Red Skull seemed pleased by the news and said, "And the preparations for the invasion?"

"We're beginning the preparations." The one on the left said as they both nodded to their leader. With a nod, the leader of Hydra commanded them, "Go."

The two Hydra agents bowed to their leader before turning to the leave. Next to enter was agent Rumlow. His leader questioned him, "Any news on the Avengers?"

"Other than what happened to a patrol ship near the Serpent's Pass, not much." Rumlow shook his head. The Red Skull sighed before turning to where he faced away from the other man. Without looking back Johann Schmidt decided, "Perhaps we need to bring out Hydra's greatest asset: The Winter Soldier."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Rumlow asked, thinking that it wasn't a great idea. Turning his head upwards the leader of Hydra said, "The rest of us must help the Fire Nation begin the final preparations in the waning days of this war and begin the plans for the coming invasion.

"But for the Winter Soldier, we will need to wipe his mind for this mission." He ordered. Looking to Rumlow he said, "Keep an eye on Prince Zuko. Should he prove our fears. Get the Winter Soldier ready for deployment."

"Yes, sir." Rumlow nodded and left the room. When he left, Johann Schmidt glanced back for a second before turning back. His eyes narrowed and he said, "Things must be remedied before we try to strike the rest of this world and our Earth.

"We cannot let the likes of the Avengers and the Avatar to stand in our way. Nor will we." He vowed with a clenched fist.

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Back on the small Fire Nation island, the now fully disguised group made their way into the town. The Guardians of the group, minus Groot were wearing robes with Rocket's being the shortest. The robes managed to conceal their faces while Groot was hiding within Rocket's robe. As they entered, Rocket stumbled a bit. When he righted himself he looked up to the others and griped, "Do I really have to wear this? It keeps making me trip?"

"We'd say to make it a little shorter, but then everyone would see raccoon feet." Katy pointed out. Rocket pointed a clothed hand to her and growled a little too loudly, "How many times I gotta keep tellin' ya! I'm not-"

"All right, that's enough!" Steve firmly said as they walked up to a group of shops. Natasha then said, "Let's find what we need to finish our disguises."

"Says the one with a much better disguise." Rocket grumbled as they entered a shop. Clint looked down to the cyborg raccoon and questioned, "Would you rather be walking around on all fours with a collar and a leash?"

"Would you want those things stuffed up your-" Rocket started to shoot back. Bruce turned to them and said, "Okay, stop it."

The two became quiet as they entered the store. The girls picked out either a necklace, a head piece or some earrings while the guys didn't need as much stuff. They all turned to Aang who was holding Momo before stuffing him into his uniform. Peter looked to his friend and asked, "Won't the two of you be uncomfortable like that?"

"I honestly think Momo would prefer to be under a hat." Thor recounted from the party back in Ba Sing Se. But Aang just waved it off as he closed his vest, "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"So what now?" Mantis asked, wondering what the plan. Tony looked to Aang and asked, "Got any tips on how to blend in?"

"Yeah, I do actually." Aang nodded with a grin. Then he told them, "I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago.

"So everyone just follow my lead and keep cool." He advised with a wink. Then he added while trying to sound cool, "Or as they say here in the Fire Nation, stay flaming."

"I don't think anyone has said something so ridiculous in a hundred years." Nebula commented as he walked around the corner. They followed after the Avatar. They came across a local who wore a black tunic, pants with a dark red belt tied around his waist. The man was eating a piece of meat on a stick but was thrown for a loop when Aang passed by and said, "Greetings, my local hot man."

"Uh, hi." The man greeted as they all passed by. Some just gave a light shrug to the man as they walked on. The local could only shrug as he didn't fully understand, "I guess."

"I don't really think that's a saying anymore." Tony observed with a raised brow as they walked away from the man. Shang-Chi even threw in when he leaned to Bruce and Thor, "If it ever was one."

They came across a place to eat. But when Aang saw what they were serving, he grimaced, "Oh, we're going to a meat place."

There were multiple pieces of meat on sticks. Some looked like sticks and others were spirals of meat and others looked like chicken nuggets.

"Come on, we're hungry." Katy groaned as she tried to pull Shang-Chi into the shop. Sokka tried to get Aang in by saying, "Come on, Aang. Everyone here eats meat.

"Even the meat." He pointed to something across the courtyard. They all looked to see a large cow-like creature standing before a few large pieces of meat. The cow opened its mouth wide to reveal that it had fangs. The cow creature then ate the pieces of meat. A few in the group had wide eyes to this while Aang stuck his tongue our and shuddered at the sight. Pointing away from the shop Aang said, "I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage."

"Ew, don't do that." Katy said as it was their turn to grimace from the thought. Peter volunteered by saying, "I'll keep an eye on him. You guys go on ahead in."

"You sure?" Shang-Chi asked, wanting to make sure. Peter nodded and the rest of the group walked into the shop. The two boys waved to Katara and Mantis as they walked through the flaps of the shop. When they were gone, Aang and Peter turned away from the shop. More people were starting to walk by and Aang greeted to one of them with a wave, "Hot man.

"Hot man." He waved to another and continued with each one that passed by. Peter noticed the stares they were getting and leaned to the Airbender to say, "Okay, it's not a thing anymore and you should stop saying it."

"But why-" Aang started to ask when they noticed a couple of people if Fire Nation uniforms walk up to them. These outfits weren't anything like what they were used to seeing. These were sleeveless, didn't have helmets and they all wore rings on their upper arms. They both looked to each other, growing nervous with how this was starting to look. The man at the front, a balding man with grey hair said to the two of them, "It's over. We caught the two of you."

"Who us?" Aang asked as he and Peter looked to each other, thinking that their cover might be blown. The man crossed his arms, "It couldn't be more obvious that you two don't belong here."

While Peter moved his hand to get ready for a fight, Aang had a comically looking guilty face. They were both surprised when the constable said, "The next time you boys want to play hooky, you might want to take off your school uniforms."

"School uniforms?" Peter quietly asked as he and Aang looked in confusion. They then looked to the three officers with sheepish grins. But they didn't save them entirely when the two guards behind their leader grabbed the boys by their shoulder. They gave startled gasped when they were pulled away.

From inside the shop, the flap opened up and Rocket stepped out of the meat shop. His covered head was facing away for a second as he started to ask, "Hey, Web boy! We forgot to ask ya…

"What you wanted?" His question died down when he saw that Peter and Aang were being led away by a trio of officers. Thinking that the two had gotten into some kind of trouble, the cyborg raccoon rolled his eyes and looked down to his feet with a sigh, "Looks like we have go and save those idiots, Groot."

"I am Groot." The little tree man said from within Rocket's robe. The two friends quickly followed after their companions.

The seven disappeared around the corner when it was Bruce's turn to step out. He started to ask, "Hey, Rocket. You find out what he wants yet?"

But he became confused when he didn't see the cyborg raccoon, the little tree man, the Airbender or the spider powered teen anywhere. With a sigh he said, "Not even twenty minutes and we're already getting into trouble."

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A little while later, Aang and Peter had been guided by the officers to a building that had been built on a cliffside. As they walked through the main gate, Peter glanced to Aang and said, "Guess we're going to school."

"Never really been to a school like this before." Aang said as they continued walking. From behind, Rocket snuck up to the gate. He opened his robe to let Groot out for a bit. The tiny plant man stuck close to his friend as they peeked around the pole and watched the boys walk through the door.

They were escorted to a room where there was a view of the ocean outside the window. Both boys were shoved into the room and they stumbled a bit. They were able to keep themselves from falling and looked about the room. They found a group of students kneeled down at their individual desks who were staring right back at them. The teacher, a woman dressed as elegantly as she could, stood with a stern face to the boys with a pointer in her hands. She looked between them and looked unimpressed as she said, "Oh! Are these two new minds ready for molding."

"Yes, ma'am." Peter nodded, love to learn but not really wanting to be at this school. Aang nodded too and tapped his head with his fist, "That's right. Let the molding begin."

The officers turned and started to leave. But the teacher's eyes suddenly narrowed when she looked the two boys over, "Wait a minute!"

This made the boys nervous while the two officers turned around. Out in the hall, both Rocket and Groot moved to where they stood against the wall. They leaned a little closer to listen. The teacher gasped as she said, "You two are not from the Fire Nation."

This made the two officers behind the boys look to Aang and Peter with suspicious looks. The boys just crossed their arms and tried to keep it cool to avoid trouble. Out in the hall, Rocket started to reach for a weapon to help bail them out. But they all calmed down when the teacher walked up to them and assumed, "Clearly you boys are from the colonies."

Rocket gave a sigh of relief while the officers relaxed a little. The two boys relaxed and played along as Aang said, "Yeah, the colonies. Of course.

"The Fire Nation colonies over in the Earth Kingdom." He said when he looked to the other students. Peter turned to the teacher and said, "And we're late because we were having a hard time trying to find directions."

"Hm." The teacher raised a brow to this. The two officers on the other hand, turned and left the room. They closed the door behind them and turned to walk down the hall. Rocket managed to hide out of view. When they were gone, Rocket and Groot pressed the sides of their heads up against the door to hear what was going on. Then they heard her say to them, "Your etiquette is terrible.

"The both of you." She sternly said as she walked around the two of them. They straightened up a bit when she walked back to her desk, "Here in the home land, we bow to our elders."

The teacher stopped between them and her desk. Turning to them she demonstrated, "Like so."

She placed an open palm above her fist and bowed her head. Both Aang and Peter said in unison, "Sorry, ma'am."

They both bowed forward to show respect. But while Peter had copied the teacher in the way that she had done it, Aang put his fist against his palm like he had always done. The teacher leaned forward and lightly tapped Aang's fist with her pointer. They straightened up while Aang had a look of confusion on his face. The Airbender looked to a girl sitting in the front row and she put her hands like Peter and the teacher had. Leaning closer to the Avatar, Peter quickly suggested, "You might want to hurry up and do it like them. Less attention ourselves."

"Right." Aang nodded and mimicked the actions of his friend, the girl and the teacher with a smile. They were both caught off guard when the teacher pointed to Aang's headband and sternly said, "And we don't wear head coverings indoors."

"Uh, he would take it off-" Peter started to say, trying to think of a good reason. Aang was able to think of one and touched the headband when he said, "I have a scar. And it's really embarrassing."

"Very well." The teacher seemed to buy it with a slight nod of her head. Then she asked them, "And what are your names?

"Or should we just call the both of you, Mannerless-Colony-Slobs." She suggested. It earned a chuckle from Aang who got a weirded out look from Peter. The Airbender then said, "Just Slob is fine for me."

"Really?" Peter asked with a small deadpanned look. But he became surprised when Aang then took the name, "Or, uh, Kuzon."

He turned to face the classroom with a smile. Peter's attention was captured when the teacher asked him, "And you, young man."

"Uh…" Peter tried to think. His brain racked through so many names until he just blurted out, "It's Ping!"

"Ping?" The teacher asked with an unconvinced look. The teen with spider powers glanced around the room to see that they and Aang were looking at him. Turning back to the teacher he said with a nod, "Yes. My name is Ping."

"Very well." The teacher said again. Pointing to a couple of empty desks with the pointer she ordered, "Go and take your seats."

"Yes, ma'am." Peter and Aang said at the same time. They quickly hurried to take a seat.

Outside in the hall, Rocket breathed a little easier before taking a look around. Baby Groot looked up to him and started to say, "I am-"

"Shh!" The cyborg raccoon shushed him to keep it down. With a small wave of his hand, Rocket quietly suggested, "Come on, Groot. We're gonna have a look around this place."

Picking up the little plant man and placing him on his shoulder, Rocket looked around again before running down the hall.

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Back at the hideout, the rest of the team had returned, all of them were worried sick about their friends. Sitting on the ground next to Appa, Katara looked up to Steve, Thor, Nat and Clint as they were keeping watch at the opening of the cave, "Do you think that they're okay?"

"I'm sure if Rocket were in some kind of trouble, we'd be hearing explosions long before now." Mantis shrugged. Nebula opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she knew that her teammate had a point. From his spot across from Katara, Tony assured them, "We just have to trust that they'll be okay. And if they're not back by sundown, we'll send a search party for them."

"You better hope not that they're in some kind of trouble." Katy countered as she stopped leaning on Appa. Then she pointed out, "If anyone from this island finds out who they are, then this mission will be a total bust."

"Let's just calm down and keep waiting." Shang-Chi suggested when he placed a hand on her shoulder. They all seemed to relax a little and continued to wait for their friends.

\_|_/

Back at the school when the final bell went off, the doors to the school opened and the students walked out after a day of learning. Both Aang and Peter walked away from the collection of students and carefully started to make their way to the front gate. On the wall that looked out into the ocean, Rocket and Groot poked their heads up to keep track of the two.

As they walked, Aang started to open up his vest a little to let Momo breath. Peter looked to him and glanced around when he asked, "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"So long as I'm being careful." Aang shrugged, not feeling that its dangerous. Changing the subject a little, Peter said, "You looked like you were having a good time in there."

"Well, we made it through the day. And I got to admit, it was pretty fun." He smiled, like being able to do something that a normal kid would do. Peter smiled that his friend was able to enjoy himself. They were both startled when a voice said from behind, "Don't let the Headmaster catch you with that monkey."

"What monkey?" Aang asked when he closed up his vest and quickly turned around, trying to act innocent. From his spot on the wall, Rocket glanced to Baby Groot and commented with a shake of his head, "The kid's gotta work on trying to play it cool."

"I am Groot." Baby Groot nodded in agreement. They looked again to see how this would play out. The girl laughed a little before walking up to them and saying, "Don't worry. I'm not a tattle tale.

"My name is Angi." She introduced herself. She complimented Aang by saying, "I like your headband by the way."

Aang just smiled while Peter glanced back when he saw someone approach. A bigger kid roughly moved between the two and walked up to the girl. While Peter looked at the kid in annoyance, Aang just looked a little confused. The kid hooked his arm around the girl and said, "Angi, you don't have to babysit the new kids."

"Hi there." Aang greeted and bowed while Peter just gave a small nod of his head. The spider teen looked to Aang in surprise when he said, "You must be one of those popular kids we've been hearing about."

"That's right. Name's Hedai. Now you had better listen, friends. I know that you guys are from the colonies, so I'll say this slowly so you can understand." The boy smugly said while Angi rolled her eyes to this. The boy removed his arm from Angi and walked up to them. Looking between Aang and Peter Hedai said, "Angi is my girlfriend.

"Don't forget it." He added while poking Aang in the chest. The touching made Momo squirm inside the vest. While Aang was quick to place a hand to keep Momo still while nervously smiling at the bigger kid, Peter spoke up when he moved between the two, "To be fair, we were just talking to her. And I think she can talk to whomever she wants."

"Hm?" Hedai asked when he looked to Peter. This surprised both Aang and Angi while the bigger boy seemed to not like how Peter was standing up to him. The boy then warned him, "You better watch yourself, pal."

While Peter looked like he wanted to punch the kid, Aang was quick to stop him with a hand to his shoulder. The boy stepped back to Angi and placed his arm around her again. He gave the two the I'm-watching-you look when he pointed to his eyes to them. He and Angi then turned to walk away. As they left, Aang waved goodbye to them, "It was nice meeting you."

"Really?" Peter asked when he looked to his friend with a questioning look. This just made Aang look to him with slight confusion. When they were gone, Aang and Peter breathed a tad bit easier. Another boy came running up to them and said with an amazed look, "I don't believe it. He didn't beat either of you up. Not even a little."

"Yeah, but you gotta watch guys like him." Peter said as he turned away from Angi and the boy. He shook his head, "They like to cause trouble for no good reason."

"Ugh, tell me about it." The new boy groaned at the thought. But he perked up and glanced back when some friends of his gathered behind them and offered, "We were on our way to go play Hide-and-Explode.

"You guys want to come?" He offered the two. Peter and Aang looked behind the boy to the others. One was a fairly plump boy, a skinny young man with long hair on the sides of his head and a girl with long pigtails. They all smiled to the two heroes. Peter was about to respectfully decline when Aang accepted, "Sure. We'd love to."

"Uh, Aang." Peter started to say as the four took off. But the Airbender was already following after them. He chased after his friend and when they reached the main gate he grabbed the Avatar's hand. When Aang and Peter didn't follow through the four kids looked back to them. Aang raised a hand and told to them, "We'll catch up."

The four kids nodded before continuing towards the main gate. Aang looked to Peter as the teen with spider powers said, "I think we should be heading back.

"The others will be really worried about us. We've been gone all day." He said when he looked about. Aang realized that he had a point. They were startled when a familiar voice said, "I gotta agree with the spider boy on this one."

They looked back to see Rocket leaning against the outer wall of the school. Baby Groot poked his head around the cyber raccoon's leg and waved to the two. Aang glanced around before he asked, "How long have you been there?"

"And it's Spiderman." Peter grumbled under his breath. Rocket told them, "I've been watching over the two of you all day.

"And I do think it's high time we got back to the others." He added while jabbing a thumb behind him. This caused Aang to give a small groan and he pleaded, "Please, Rocket. This is one of the few chances that I'll get to be a normal kid."

"Tough break, kid." Rocket shook his head. Jabbing a finger at the Airbender he said, "Because we have a job to do. Now let's get going."

"But-" Aang tried to argue, but a firm look from Rocket made him stop. They all looked to the little plant man when Baby Groot said, "I am Groot."

"What do you mean, let them go play?" Rocket questioned to his little friend. But it seems that Groot was firm on this decision when he nodded, "I am Groot."

"Do I have to go and give you the same explanation again?" He questioned while crossing his arms. The two continued to argue with one saying, "It's not that I don't want him to go and have fun. But I don't want to have to tell-"

"I am Groot." The little tree man cut him off. This caused Rocket to groan as he placed his paws on the sides of his head and massaged his temples a little. Then with a sigh he said, "Alright, I guess I can tell the others."

"Wait, what?" Peter asked in slight confusion. Rocket turned to the two boys and waved them off, "You can go and play with them."

"Really?" Aang asked with an excited look in his eyes. The cyber raccoon turned away and said, "Just go before I change my mind."

"Thanks, Rocket." Aang said before taking off. Peter opened his mouth to say something, but Aang's hand reached back to grab his wrist. The spider themed hero yelped when he was pulled after the Avatar. As they watched them go, Rocket looked down to Groot and said, "You better hope that we, and I mean I, don't get seriously grilled for this.

"I will tell them that this was your idea." He added as they turned to head back to the hideout. Walking beside him, Groot then said, "I am Groot."

"Oh, I guess that works too." Rocket nodded, thinking Groot's idea could work.

\_|_/

It was around sundown when Aang, with Momo on his shoulder, and Peter returned to the cave that they were hiding in. The two boys slid across the rocky structure before landing on the sandy beach at the bottom. They walked into the cave to find everyone sitting around a fire. In the middle were Katara, Shang-Chi, Sokka, lying on the ground, Katy, Toph and Mantis while the others were leaning against the walls of the cave or up against Appa. Katara was the one to notice them walking in and asked, "Where have the two of you been?"

"Rocket said that you guys were out, but he wasn't specific on the details." Shang-Chi said from his corner of the fire. The cyber raccoon then said, "Hey, I said that they were together and that they were fine.

"And they are." He added when he gestured to the two. Natasha disagreed a little by saying, "Judging from the fact that they're covered in soot, I feel like I should say otherwise."

"Oh, that's just from the game we were playing." Peter explained, though a smile was on his face from the fun they had. Arching a brow, Katy then asked, "You guys were out playing a game?"

"Yeah, we were invited to play with some kids after school." Aang told them as he removed his headband while Momo jumped off of his shoulder. This news surprised a great deal of the team. The most shocked of all was Sokka when he mysteriously rose to his feet with his hands behind his head. The action surprised a lot of the group when they looked to the Water Tribe teen. Sokka removed his hands from behind his head and shouted, "After what?"

"We were enrolled in a Fire Nation school." Aang explained what had happened to them when they were separated. Looking to Peter he said, "And we talked about and we're gonna go back tomorrow."

"Enrolled in what?" An overly dramatic Sokka questioned as he could not believe his ears. The teen suddenly straightened up before falling over on his back. This earned some questioning looks from Katy, Shang-Chi, Bruce, Thor and Clint as they all looked down at the teen. Nebula looked to his sister and commented, "He really needs to dial it back."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Katara agreed while closing her eyes and turning her head to the fire.

\_|_/

Back at the Fire Nation capital, or more specifically the prison tower, dusk was stating to fall again. Walking through the halls was Prince Zuko as he was once again dressed in his robes to disguise himself. He made sure that no one, not even Loki was following him tonight. As he walked through the dimly lit halls, he came across the guard from the previous night. The guard heard him approach and turned with the spear pointing to him. The guard recognized the robes and questioned, "You again?

"Stop right where you are." He ordered. Zuko lifted his head to reveal his face. The guard became surprised and relaxed his stance, "Prince Zuko?"

He was caught off guard when Zuko grabbed him by the tunic and shoved him against the wall. He then told the guard, "I'm going in for a visit. You're going to stand guard here.

"And no one is going to know about this." He ordered before releasing his grip on the man. The guard stumbled before watching Zuko carry on his way. Zuko finally came across the door he was looking for and reached for it.

Inside the cell, a disheveled Iroh sat within a cage of iron bars. He looked down at the ground as many a thought ran through his head. The door to his cell opened and Prince Zuko stepped inside. Approaching the bars he said, "Uncle."

"It's me." Prince Zuko then removed the hood from his head. But instead of turning towards his nephew, Iroh turned to face the wall. This action slightly surprised Zuko as he stood there.

\_|_/

Back at the gang's cave, some of them were still in shock form Aang and Peter's decision. They had all sat down together and heard the two out. While some were contemplating, others decided to go ahead and speak their minds. One being Sokka as he said, "Aang, Peter, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down you guys' idea.

"But it sounds really terrible." He voiced his opinion. Natasha looked to Thor and said, "At least he wasn't screaming it at the top of his lungs."

"Aye." The Asgardian nodded in agreement. Toph agreed with Sokka by pointing out to the two, "Yeah, we all have our outfits.

"What do the two of you need to go to school for?" She asked as she didn't understand. Gesturing to Peter Aang said, "Well, he feels quite comfortable since it kind of reminds him of home."

"Though kind of on a middle school kind of level." Peter admitted with a shrug. The Airbender then said, "But every minute that we're spending in that classroom, the more we're learning about the Fire Nation.

"I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." Aang said when he brought out a portrait of the man they're trying to beat. Then he lifted something else for them to see, "And here's one I made out of noodle art."

"Wow." Katy said as she was really amazed by that. They all looked to Sokka when he placed a hand to his chin and said, "Impressive, I'll admit.

"But I still think it's too dangerous." The teen insisted. Tony spoke up by saying, "Well, I don't think it's going to be that bad."

"You do have a point." Natasha agreed with him. This earned a look of surprise from Sokka. She then explained, "They're just a couple of kids going to school. Nothing too weird about that.

"Plus, we're going to leave soon anyway." She reminded him. Katara looked to the super soldier of the group and asked, "What do you think, Steve?"

"I'm not sure." He shook his head, unclear of what to do. He wanted to keep the team safe, but he also didn't think Peter and Aang attending the school was such a terrible idea either. They all looked to Aang in surprise when he said, "Well, if we do leave, I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then. It goes straight to the Fire Lord's palace.

"We were supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow." He said with a sneaky grin. Peter started to say, "But Aang-"

The Airbender was quick to cover his mouth with a hand and looked over to Sokka. Everyone looked to the Water Tribe teen as he looked deep in thought about it. Though they all had a feeling that what Aang just said was entirely untrue. But Sokka seemed to buy it when he said, "I am a fan of secret rivers.

"So, I guess I won't hurt to stay for a little while longer." He conceded. While this earned a few questioning looks to him from a majority of the others, Aang was super happy as he lifted off his seat, raised his arms in the air and shouted, "Flame-O, Hotman!"

He grabbed Peter by the wrist again and rushed them off to get some sleep for their next day of school. But his strange words made everyone look to each other in confusion. When he looked to his sister Sokka asked, "Flame-O?"

Katara just shrugged as she didn't get it either. Katy looked to the Water Tribe teen and cracked with a smirk, "You know, I never realized how gullible you were until now."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed at the comment.

\_|_/

Meanwhile at the prison near the Fire Nation capital, things were still silent between Prince Zuko and his uncle. Deciding to break the silence, he said, "You brought this on yourself, you know. We could've returned together.

"You could have been a hero." He said, trying to get his uncle to turn around. But all Iroh did was shuffle a little as he still wouldn't look at his nephew. But Zuko thought he was in the right when he said, "You have no right to judge me, Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se.

"And you're a fool for not joining me." He added, though it was just met with more silence. Confused, Prince Zuko questioned, "You're not going to say anything?"

When he still didn't say anything, it only frustrated Zuko even more. With a yell he kicked a wooden stool up into the air before punching through it with a fiery fist. Turning back to his uncle he shouted, "You're a crazy old man! You're crazy!

"And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in the gutter!" He bitterly shouted before turning to the door. He walked through it before slamming it shut behind him. From where he was sitting, Iroh just sighed as he hung his head.

\_|_/

The next day at the school, both Peter and Aang walked onto the school grounds. As they entered one of the doors, the spider themed hero leaned to the Airbender and said, "I'm thankful that the guys allowed us to do this again, even if it is for one more day."

"Me too." Aang nodded in agreement as they walked through the hall to find their classroom. Glancing back to the open door he said, "Though I do have a feeling that Rocket's not too thrilled about coming with us again."

Said cyber raccoon and Baby Groot were in fact following after the boys. The two once again clung to the shadows or did their best to remain out of sight to avoid being spotted by the staff or other students of the school. With Baby Groot holding on to his shoulders, Rocket dashed for one of the doors into the building.

Walking inside the classroom, they took a seat like all the other kids did. But the other students didn't stay sitting for long when the teacher walked into the room and all stood up. Wanting to keep up the act, Aang and Peter stood up too. Moving to her desk the teacher greeted her students, "Good morning, class.

"Recite the Fire Nation oath." She instructed as she sat down. Outside in the hall, Rocket and Groot leaned against outside the door for a moment to make sure they were okay. After a little confusion on their part, Aang, Peter and the students all turned towards a large portrait of Fire Lord Ozai, assumed the bow to their elders and all but two recited in unison, "My life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and forefathers."

"Fire Lord, forefathers." Aang tried to copy. Even Peter was a little lost when he said, "Fight for."

"With my mind I seek ways to better my country." The other children continued. But they all became distracted when Aang and Peter said, "Firebenders. Fire Lord…

"Wah-bah-blah-blah." Aang finished and it earned some laughter from the other students, even from Peter. Outside in the hall, Rocket couldn't help but give a little smirk to this. This earned a questioning look from the teacher at the head of the room. All the students turned around and sat down while facing the teacher. The last two to sit down were Aang and Peter. They were all a little startled when the teacher slammed her pointer down on her book. With an unamused look in her eyes the teacher said, "Since it's obviously hilarious to mock our national oath…

"We will begin with a pop quiz on our Great March of Civilization." She said, earning a multitude of groans from the other students. Everyone picked up a brush to begin and listened for the teacher's questions. She started by asking, "Question One: What year did Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation army?"

While the students started to write down their answers, the question made Aang, Peter and Rocket all think about it. And while one could only listen and the other try to think of an answer even if he didn't know, the third couldn't just sit there and let this falseness go unquestioned. Aang raised his hand to get the teacher's attention, making a number of students look to him in surprise or confusion. The teacher, with her same look as before, noticed him and called, "Kuzon?"

"Is that a trick question?" Aang asked while rising up on his feet. The boy's question made a lot of students look at him with wide eyes. Peter tried to get him to stop and sit back down, but the Airbender continued by saying, "The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military.

"Sozin defeated them by ambush." He told them, earning a lot of surprised looks from everyone, including one from the teacher. The only who wasn't looking at him surprise was Peter as he had his head in his hands. Out in the hall, Rocket facepalmed at what he thought to be Aang's stupidity. In the classroom, the teacher was flabbergasted when she said, "Well, I don't know how you could possibly know more than our national history book.

"Unless you were actually there a hundred years ago." She inquired with a skeptical look. Seeing his error in judgement, Aang panicked a little before sitting down as he quickly said, "I'll just write down my best guess."

Picking up his brush he started to scribble in his book. He happened to glance over to Peter who was giving him a what-were-you-thinking kind of look. Aang could only give a sheepish shrug as they all continued with their pop quizzes.

…

After history class, the boys found themselves in the symphony hall. Like every other room in the school, there was a large portrait of Fire Lord Ozai hanging on the all. Or in this case, hanging over their heads. Unlike most of the rooms, the symphony hall's roof was supported by a multitude of columns and there were even a few seats for others for concerts. The music teacher tapped the music scroll on the podium with the wand for the students to get ready. A moment later, he was waving his arms and the students began to play. While there were an assortment of instruments for this band, Aang held a Sungi horn around him while Peter lightly tapped on a drum sitting on his lap with his hands.

Everyone, including Peter, were a little startled when Aang started wildly play the Sungi horn while moving his feet about. While most of the students looked to him in wonder, the teacher looked up to him with an unamused look. He called to the Airbender by his cover name, "Kuzon?"

When Aang didn't stop playing, Peter lightly tapped him on the shoulder. The Avatar stopped his playing and dancing to see that the others had stopped. He hung his head in slight embarrassment, "I know. I'm a terrible Sungi horn player."

"No, child." The music teacher shook his head. With the wand he pointed to Aang's feet and questioned, "That erratic motion of your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?"

"I was just dancing." Aang said with a grin when he looked down to his feet. He looked between a couple of students and asked, "You guys have dances here in the homeland, right?"

"Not really. No." A boy shook his head with a shrug. They all looked to the teacher as he stepped away from the podium, "Dancing, is not conducive to a learning environment.

"Young people must have rigid discipline and order." He said when he looked back to Aang. The Airbender then questioned about an idea of freedom, "But what about expressing yourself?"

"I know sometimes that we're so moved by our love for our nation…" He softened his attitude as he gave his answer. The music teacher moved back to the podium as he finished, "That we can't control our own bodies."

During the teacher's answer, one of the boys started to play an instrument like one would a sad violin. Everyone, even the teacher looked to the boy. With a questioning look he said, "That's enough."

This startled the boy out of playing and the teacher sighed while placing a hand against his forehead. Turning his attention back to Aang he said, "if you must, you may march in place quietly the urge hits you."

With that said, the music teacher started to wave the wand and the students started to play again. While Peter lightly tapped on the drum again, Aang started to march in place quietly while blowing into the horn. But no longer feeling any joy, Aang slowly stopped playing and marching. Quickly noticing that Aang was not having fun anymore, Peter lightly tapped the drum with one had while patting Aang on the shoulder with the other.

\_|_/

Elsewhere in the building, Rocket and Groot were carefully making their way through the halls. They came across one where the door was slid open a little. He could hear voices coming from inside. The cyborg raccoon leaned a little closer to hear what was going on. He recognized the boys' history teacher as she said, "I still find Kuzon to be quite disrespectful. And I have a feeling so is his friend Ping. I'm pretty sure that's not even his real name.

"I disagree. I find them to be quite charming." Another feminine voice said. But the history teacher scoffed, "Please, just this morning, Kuzon was questioning one of the questions of our nation's greatest moments in history.

"And the answers to his quiz is most concerning as well." She added, making Rocket's eyes narrow to this. Becoming quite curious, he decided to go and find out some stuff about the school.

\_|_/

Later that day, most of the students were gathered outside in the courtyard for a little breather from their studies. Both Aang and Peter walked out into the yard and noticed the stares coming from the other students. This just made Aang hang his head in confusion and sadness. Seeing that his friend was still down about the music class, Peter said, "Look, things are just a little different since you were last here.

"Maybe there's a chance that it'll turn around." He offered with a shrug as they stopped in the middle of the yard. Aang nodded that he could be right, "Yeah, I guess it could."

"Hi, guys." A familiar voice greeted them. They turned to find Angi walking up to them. She was the only other student who smiled at them as she said, "I did like the crazy dancing you were doing, Kuzon.

"I kind of found it to be inspirational." She chuckled. Seeing her being so nice to them, Aang especially, made Peter like having her around. But suddenly his sixth sense started to warn him about something as Aang started to say, "Thanks, Angi. I could show you a few moves if you'd like."

It was at that moment when Peter sensed something coming at him from behind. He quickly pushed Aang back as he moved out of the way of an incoming fireball. They all yelped in fright when the fire burned away Aang's book. They looked back to see the boy claiming to be Angi's boyfriend in a firebending stance. And Hedai didn't look too happy when he questioned, "What'd you say, colony trash?

"You're going to show her something?" He demanded when he walked over to them. Aang was a little nonchalant when he repeated, "Just some dance moves."

"And there's nothing wrong with her trying to be friends with us." Peter interjected when he moved between the boy and Aang. Pointing to the ashes that were once Aang's book he said, "What's wrong with this picture, is that you're overreacting for no good reason."

"Just shut up! I've had it with the two of you!" The Hedai shouted as he brought his arms together. Peter pulled Aang out of the way when the Fire Nation boy tried to shove them. Hedai was startled with how quickly they moved out of the way and tried to land a high kick. The two ducked down to avoid the sweeping leg.

The other students started to form a ring around the three to watch the fight. Up on the roof of the school, Rocket and Groot poked their heads out a little to see what was going on. Seeing that Peter and Aang were in a bit of trouble, Rocket kept his voice down when he said while waving his fists around, "Give him a left. A right. An uppercut."

"I am Groot." Baby Groot said when he looked up to his friend. But all the cyborg raccoon could do is shrug with a bit of a bored look, "Right now, either side. There's not much going on."

Down in the courtyard, the two moved out of the way when Hedai tried to punch them. The bully growled in irritation to this before turning around and wildly swinging his fists at them. But he was moving a bit too slow for the two as they were able to effortlessly dodge any punches or kicks he sent their way. They managed to maneuver to where they were standing behind the bully and he tried to turn to where he could see them. But they just moved to where they were still behind him. Aang did a slight bow and bump from his rump sent Hedai stumbling a bit forward. The bully gritted his teeth to this humiliation and kept trying to swing at the two. But the Airbender and the spider themed hero just kept managing to move out of the way of his attacks. On a wild punch from the bully, Aang and Peter managed to move out of the way of the fist. But it ended up making Hedai stumble and fall. The boy rolled across the ground before stopping at the edge of the crowd of students. It was then that a new face appeared. An older man wearing a more distinguished robe than that of what the teachers were wearing. Having a feeling of whom this was, Peter uttered, "Uh, oh. This isn't good."

Hedai picked himself up off the ground and looked to the Headmaster of the school. The bully sniffled and rubbed his nose, earning an eye roll from Peter. The Headmaster looked between the two boys and questioned, "Picking fights on your second day of school?

"We need to have a conference to discuss what to do for your punishment." He said. The large group of students looked like they were wanting to say something to defend them, but the stern gaze from the Headmaster made them silent. Hedai rose to his feet and moved back to stand with the Headmaster. The man then ordered the two boys while dusting off the bully's shoulder, "I want the two of you to bring your parents after school."

"Parents?" Aang started to question while looking to Peter. Knowing that there was a little trouble with that, Peter tried to explain, "But sir-"

"Don't be late." The Headmaster cut him off with stern look to the two. He then turned to walk back inside the building. Hedai looked to the two young heroes with a smug smirk on his grin before turning to follow after the Headmaster. Leaning close to Aang, Peter said, "The others aren't going to be too thrilled about this."

"I know. We just have to hope that we can get out of this mess." Aang agreed as he glanced around. Up on the roof, Rocket and Baby Groot had witnessed the whole thing. He glanced down to a brown bag that he had swiped from the school and looked a few books that he had managed to take as well.

…

Later that day…

After going back to the cave and giving a quick version of what was going down, the boys managed to have someone, or a few someones, play the roles of their parents. The six soon came back to the school and were escorted into the Headmaster's office. In his office, just like every other room in the school, there was a painting of Fire Lord Ozai hanging over the wall above the Headmaster. They all moved to where they sat with Aang and Peter in the middle of the two sets of 'parents'. The man looked between the six of them and greeted them, "Thank you all for coming in…"

"Fire. Wang Fire. Father of Kuzon Fire." An even more disguised Sokka in a deep voice announced while twiddling the left half of a mustache. The Water Tribe teen had put on a bushy beard and mustache. He even made his eye brows a lot more bushy. He gestured to Katara on the other had tied her hair back into buns and readjusted her dress to appear as if she were pregnant, "This is my wife, Sapphire."

"Sapphire Fire. Nice to meet you." She greeted with a nod of her head, going along with the act. While questioning the last names, the Headmaster turned to the other set of 'parents' to ask, "And the two of you are…?"

"I am Wu Pyre." An even more disguised Tony Stark introduced himself with a dramatic bow while in his seat. The wearer of the Iron Man armor used a wig to cover his head. Gesturing to Natasha, the woman pretending to be Peter's mother, who had her hair tied back a little while letting the rest flow behind her shoulders and had somehow made her dress look more elegant, he started to introduce her, "And…"

"Dear, I can speak for myself." Natasha interjected with a fake smile, earning a few glances from the other five. Placing her hand against she said to the Headmaster, "You may refer to me as Lady Pyre."

"Very well." The Headmaster arched a brow. Then he said to both sets of 'parents', "The reason that you are all here is because your boys have been at this institution for two days and they're already causing problems.

"Kuzon here has argued with his history teacher and disrupted music class." He said when he looked to Aang. Turning to Peter he said, "And young Ping had the audacity to help him rough up one of my star pupils."

"My goodness." Katara gasped as she placed a hand to her lips. She made it sound as if her 'son' would never do something like this, "This certainly doesn't sound like our boy."

"And this is the first we've heard about something about our own son." Natasha said while glancing to Peter. The teen gave a sheepish look back to her. The Headmaster had heard it before when he said, "Those are what any mother would say. Nonetheless, you all are forewarned.

"If they act up once more, then I'll have no choice but to send them to reform school." He warned then he clarified, "To which I mean the coal mines.

"Are we clear on this?" The Headmaster questioned, wanting his point to get across. Sokka leaned forward and spoke up, "You don't have to worry about our boy, Mr. Headmaster.

"I'm gonna straighten this boy out something fierce." He added when he turned to Aang. He startled the others when he leaned close to Aang and shouted, "Young man, as soon as we get home you're going to get the punishment of a lifetime!"

"Uh, what he said, just a little less crazy." Tony said while placing a hand on Peter's shoulder. This made the kid relax a little. Their answers seemed to satisfy the Headmaster as he sat back and crossed his arms, "That's what I like to hear.

"Thank you again for coming." He said and ended the conference. All six friends stood up from their seats and walked towards the door. Though Sokka was kind of oddly marching to the door.

\_|_/

Elsewhere in the Fire Nation, Prince Zuko and Mai were enjoying a date between the two of them. They sat on a blanket on the rim of the volcano outside of the capital city while watching the sunset. They had enjoyed a brief picnic just for two people. As she leaned against him, Mai smiled as she said, "Orange is such an awful color."

"You're so beautiful when you hate the world." Zuko chuckled from her view on everything. Mai meant it when she said, "I don't hate you."

"I don't hate you too." He said back and the two moved their heads to where they could kiss. But the kiss lasted for only a second when a familiar voice cleared her throat. The couple broke from the kiss and looked up with a glare. Standing before a path that lead back down into the city, Princess Azula was standing there. She looked to her brother when she requested, "Zuko, could I have a word with you?"

"Can't you see we're busy?" He questioned, telling her to go away with his look. The two turned towards each other again to keep kissing. While rolling her eyes at her brother's attitude, Azula had another trick up her sleeve when she said, "Oh, Mai, I just remembered. Ty Lee needs your help untangling her braid."

This made them stop again and Mai got the hint from her friend. She rose to her feet, "Sounds like it's pretty serious."

She walked past Azula and shot her friend a glare without showing it for ruining her time with Zuko. When she was gone, the sister looked to her brother and said, "So, I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower."

"That guard told you." Zuko angrily said when he stood up. But Azula just shook her head, "No. You did, just now."

"Okay. You caught me." Zuko conceded when he sat back down. Glancing to her he questioned, "What is it that you want, Azula?"

"Actually, nothing." Azula shrugged, looking the opposite. She looked a little worried when she said, "Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people, especially certain people, find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him.

"Just be careful, Dum-dum." She said, making him look to her. He looked away as she turned to walk away.

Zuko sighed as he leaned against the rock as he didn't know what to do. He was surprised when he heard a familiar voice ask him, "Mind if I chat with you?"

The Fire Nation prince looked to see Loki standing where Azula had once been. The god of mischief moved to sit down on a rock. Narrowing his eyes, Zuko asked, "Now what do you want?"

"I just heard you talking with your charming sister." Loki said, though his face was saying otherwise. He shook his head, "I know what it's like to grow up with a sibling who can really get under your skin.

"But I feel that it's mutual between me and my brother." He nodded at the thought. Not really interested, Zuko got up and asked again, "What do you want?"

"I want to go with you next time you visit Iroh. Since you went without me the second time you snuck out." Loki shrugged when he gave his answer. Feeling a little ticked off with him, Zuko questioned, "What makes you think there's going to be a next time."

"Knowing that you're liable to do it, I'd say there's a pretty good chance." Loki pointed out to him. Then he added, "Plus, I'm just liable to follow after you again."

Prince Zuko growled in irritation to this. Crossing his arms he muttered, "Bucky was never like this."

\_|_/

Back at the hero's hideout as the day started to end, things seemed a little quiet as a trio of birds were searching for food by the entrance. From behind a rock, Momo peeked his head out. With a chitter he leaped at the birds but missed when they quickly took off. The lemur sat up and shook the sand off of him. From inside the cave, Sokka was keeping his word to the Headmaster as he shouted, "That settles it!

"No more school for the two of you!" He declared before stroking his beard. The six had told the others how the meeting with the Headmaster. Katy gently moved the Water Tribe teen back and raised a hand when she said, "Cool the breaks there, Papa Bear."

"Mm." Sokka groaned to the nickname but did take a step back. Clint spoke up by saying, "Craziness aside, Sokka does have a point.

"You guys, mostly Aang, are drawing too much attention to yourselves." He added, earning a slight look from the Airbender. Aang stood up and said, "But I'm not ready to leave yet."

"This isn't like…" Bruce started to ask. The Airbender shook his head, "It's not like the time on Kyoshi Island or anything like that. Honest. Quite the opposite in fact.

"I'm enjoying just being a normal kid." He said as he walked over to Appa and kicked a rock. Looking to the others he said, "You don't understand what it's like, Sokka. You get to be normal all the time."

"Ha-ha." Toph mockingly said and earning a glare from the Water Tribe teen. Aang then looked to the heroes from another universe and asked, "And just about all of you got to enjoy a time of being normal, right?"

"There was such a time." Nebula spoke up as she looked down at her cybernetics. It caused a lot of the heroes to think about it and knew that their friend had a point. They looked back when they heard Rocket say, "I may not have started out as an ordinary Joe like the rest of yas, but I did uncover something."

They all looked back to see the cyborg raccoon walking up with Baby Groot on his shoulder and the bag on his back. Shang-Chi was the one to ask, "What did you find out?"

"I'm glad you asked." Rocket said as he removed the bag. He tossed it to him and the wearer of the Ten Rings caught it. Opening it, he pulled out a history book. Aang immediately recognized it, "I had one of those."

"Yeah, before that jerk Hedai burned it up." Peter reminded while Shang-Chi opened it. A surprised Bruce asked, "You can read this?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me ad Xialing while we were growing up." The teen explained while looking through the book. His answer surprised a good deal of the group. He became a little confused as he read through it. Katy walked up and asked, "What is it, Shaun?"

"This doesn't make any sense." Shang-Chi shook his head. Looking to the others he said, "It mostly tells of battles when the war started. Of how the Fire Nation apparently tried gifting the world with their kindness and that the other nations retaliated."

"But that's not true." Katara shook her head. Sokka agreed with her by saying, "Yeah, they came at us first."

"Someone must be screwing around with how kids learn around here." Tony deduced, not liking this. Aang spoke up when he said, "If we want to set these kids, the future of the Fire Nation, on the right path, we need to do something. Like show them a little taste of freedom."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Thor asked, wondering what Aang had in mind. With a shrug Sokka questioned, "What could you possibly do for a country of depraved, little fire monsters."

"I'm gonna throw them…" Aang started to say with an excited grin on his face. He did a little dance and struck a pose when he revealed, "A secret dance party."

This answer really made everyone look to him with surprised or questioning looks. The first to break out of the silence was Sokka when he pointed in a random direction and say in a deep voice, "Go to your room."

\_|_/

After the sun set the next day, Zuko was once again planning to go back to the prison tower. He gathered his cloak and carefully made his way out of the palace. After a few minutes of walking, he was once again on the rim of the volcano that surrounds the city. But just before he could go any further, a voice made him freeze up, "It's a little odd how right I can be."

Zuko turned around to find Loki sitting on a rock behind him. The Asgardian prince gave a small wave with his fingers and had a bit of a cheeky grin on his face. Looking around, Zuko questioned, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you that I wanted to come." Loki said as he got off of the rock. Gesturing towards the prison he said, "After you."

"How do you know that's where I'm going?" Zuko questioned, getting a little fed up with him. Loki pointed to something and asked, "Whose that pack for and why does it smell delicious."

Zuko opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. With a groan and facepalm, he started to walk towards the prison. When he walked past the Asgardian Zuko said, "Let's go."

"Very well. If you insist." Loki chuckled and walked after the Fire Nation prince. As they walked down the hill, Zuko threw over his shoulder, "And yet I didn't."

\_|_/

Back at the cave where the heroes were hiding, they were getting ready for the party. The boys had returned for a third and final time to invite everyone to attend. Just about everyone helped with lining the cave with a large number of candles. Nebula had taken it upon herself to move the pod out back when it was time to leave. With a stomp of her foot and raising her hands, Toph raised four platforms for the band the two boys managed to book. Then she repeated the action to create a few tables in case someone wanted to sit. While Katara used her waterbending to mix up some punch for the students, Aang placed his headband over his arrow. Sokka, still wearing his disguise from the night before, finished placing a few candles on one of the tables and looked to the others when he said, "I can't believe we're actually throwing a dance party.

"I just feels so… silly." He shrugged when he turned to them. Aang disagreed by saying, "Don't think of it as a dance party.

"Think of it more as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork." He added while doing a little jig. Mantis spoke up next to Appa, Nebula, Rocket and Baby Groot, "I wish the rest of us could join in."

"I know, but we need to keep a low profile." Natasha understood and walked over to her. Offering the girl with the antennae, "Tell you what, when the war is over, we'll try to have another dance."

"Eh, sounds good." Mantis shrugged, willing to wait a little while.

Outside of the cave, numerous students from the school made their way along the beach towards the cave. They all talked amongst themselves as they came closer. Inside the cave, Toph sensed them coming and pointed to the opening she warned, "They're coming.

"Everyone stop bending or setting up." She said as they all moved into position. Seeing that it was time to leave, Rocket turned to Appa and said, "Well, let's get on out of here, Big Guy."

Appa just groaned to this before walking out the back end of the cave. The four Guardians of the Galaxy walked after the bison. From where she stood, Katy leaned towards Aang and said, "Gee, Appa sure seems bummed about leaving."

"Yeah. He would have been the life of the party." Aang said as they disappeared. Then he added, "He's got fancier feet than anybody. And six of them."

The group then all turned to greet their guests. The children started to file in and Katy and Shang-Chi directed the musicians onto the platforms. Two boys started beating on a couple of drums, one played a guitar-like instrument, one played a Chielo-like instrument one blew into a horn with a pair of horns at the end and one played a tambourine. Aang moved in front of the platforms as he introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Flame-Os!"

"Hopefully this'll get people moving." Peter said when he walked up to the Airbender and Aang gave a nod in agreement. They looked around and were a little surprised that no one was dancing. They were all standing on the sides of the cave, looking a little unsure of what they should do. One boy spoke up by asking as he walked through the crowd, "Now what do we do?"

"This is when you start dancing." Aang told them, wanting them to get into the groove. A bigger kid shrank into his uniform when he said, "I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave."

"Yeah! What if someone sees?" A paranoid looking boy asked as he moved in front of the group. He glanced around before running off to hide. A sweat drop appeared Peter's head while Aang rubbed the back of his own, "Oh, boy."

"Oh, boy." Tony said as they were watching from the side. Steve leaned to the others and asked, "Think we should jump in and help them?"

"Not yet. Let's just see how they do." Natasha said, wanting to see how it plays out. Aang then said to the students, "Listen you guys. Dancing isn't something that you think about."

"Yeah, it's a form of self-expression that no one should take away from you." Peter added with a downward wave of his hand. A third boy spoke up by saying, "Kuzon, Ping, maybe it was different back in the colonies.

"But we don't do that here." He shook his head. Peter chuckled when he said, "I don't think that's entirely true. Perhaps once upon a time."

"Yeah. It's been around for generations." Aang agreed with his friend. He moved a little away from Peter and told them, "It just so happens that I know several classic Fire Nation dance moves.

"A hundred years ago, this was known as the phoenix flight." He demonstrated by running in a circle while lowering his upper body and sticking his arms behind him. The students were greatly awed by this. Even the others as they watched from the side. When Aang righted himself again, he then said, "And this is was the Camelephant strut."

He demonstrated when he moved side to side while moving his hands and feet in different positions to resemble tusks of the forementioned animal. He then dropped down and rolled across the ground. When he rose up and got close to a couple of girls. They giggled as he backed away and dropped down with another roll across the ground. Aang finished the dance by leaping into the air and landing on one leg while moving his arms to the right. A round of applause echoed through the cave while a few of the boys were astounded and even a little jealous of their friend at the moment.

At one of the tables for the party, Toph, Katara and Katy were sitting around and enjoying some of the punch. Thanks to her being able to feel the vibrations in the earth, even Toph was surprised when she said, "Who knew Twinkle Toes could dance?"

"Didn't you once mockingly ask him about that or something?" Katy asked, trying to remember what she had been told of the group's adventures. Toph just shrugged with a grin before taking a sip of her punch. Katara turned her gaze from the two and back to the assortment of students. A smile grew on her face when she saw how much fun Peter and Aang were having.

\_|_/

After some walking, Loki and Prince Zuko made it back to the prison tower. Once they were in Iroh's cell, the Asgardian shut the door behind them while the Fire Nation prince walked up to the bars. Lowering himself to the floor, removed the pack from his back and took out a basket filled with food for his uncle. Sliding it through the bars, Zuko told his uncle, "I brought you some Komodo chicken.

"I know you don't care for it, but I thought it beats prison food." He added, trying to lighten the mood a little. But it didn't seem to work as Iroh didn't turn around to face them. Zuko took a deep breath before saying, "I admit, I have everything I always wanted.

"But it's not at all how I thought it would be." He said while Iroh continued to stare at the wall. Loki walked up to the bars and questioned, "Is that all you're going to do? Just stare at the wall until we leave?"

Iroh answered this question by not turning around. Growing a little agitated he said, "Will you please say something?

"Say something!" He shouted when they were met with more silence. Prince Zuko was able to get him to back away with a slight motion of his hand. He then lowered his head when he told his uncle, "The truth is, I need your advice.

"I think that the Avatar's still alive. I know he's out there somewhere." He glared when he griped the bars. But with a shake of his head he felt lost, "I feel like I'm losing my mind."

The boy was confused and a little hurt when Iroh didn't turn to face him. Zuko pleaded with him, "Please, Uncle! I'm so confused and I need your help."

But Iroh didn't turn around. Growing agitated by the silence, Zuko stood up and shouted, "Forget it! I'll solve this myself.

"Waste away for all I care!" He said as he turned to leave the cell. Loki was greatly surprised by the teen's words. When Zuko reached the door and opened it, he looked back for a moment before walking out of the room. Behind the bars, a tear rolled down Iroh's cheek. Loki was the last of the two to leave as he turned back to Iroh. Stepping a little closer to the bars he said, "I know that it won't make much of a difference, but I'll do my best to keep an eye on him.

"Two eyes, as often as I can spare them." He nodded and turned to the door. When he reached it, the Asgardian stopped when he heard a faint thank you coming from behind him. A small smile on his face, he kept going after Zuko.

But as the two were leaving the prison tower, the guard that Zuko ad Loki kept running into stepped around the other corner. He glared at the two as they disappeared around the other side. When they were gone, he looked down and turned the gauntlet on his arm around to reveal the insignia of Hydra decorated on it. Lifting the gauntlet up, he spoke into it and reported, "The Avatar is alive. Alert the Red Skull."

"Hail Hydra." He said before lowering the gauntlet.

\_|_/

Back at the party in the cave hosted by the heroes, things were really starting to pick up a little. Everyone started to applaud again when Aang and Peter jumped into the air and landed with a pose. Over on one side of the room, a boy gently nudged Angi to get her attention. She looked up to see Aang walk over to her and offer her a dance when he extended his hand to her. Angi blushed a little as she took it. He led her back out on the dance floor. When they were in the middle of the crowd, he let go of her hand, "And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se."

He demonstrated by rotating his arms while swaying his body. Peter and Angi looked to each other before copying the Airbender's moves.

At the table where everyone was gathering, they were impressed with how well the two were dancing together. Sokka let his voice be heard when he said, "Wow, they look pretty good together."

"Eh, if that's what you like." Katara shrugged when she thought her brother meant Aang and Angi, trying to act like she didn't care. Bruce leaned close to her and kept his voice down when he asked, "You're not jealous 'cause a certain Airbender hasn't asked you to dance, is it?"

"No." The Waterbender bluntly said as she turned away from him. But a small smirk grew on the Gamma scientist's face when he saw her glance over to the two dancers.

Back with the three, some other students stepped up and started to dance like they were. Aang nodded when he saw this, "Yeah, that's it. You guys are getting the hang of it."

"I do like the sound of happy feet." Peter laughed as they all started dancing. And as the growing group continued to dance, more either rushed forward to try it or others stayed in place to give it a go. Even with the group, Shang-Chi and Katy started moving like how Aang had shown them.

Seeing that things at this party were starting to pick up, Aang felt like it was time to kick it up a notch. Raising his hand into the air he shouted, "All right, everyone! Let's go freestyle."

The school kids seemed to get the idea as they started wildly move their bodies around. Some shook their arms and legs in crazy ways while others just kept dancing the way of Ba Sing Se. Over with those a little shy, one of them started to wave his arms around while the boy to his left started moving his head from side to side in a groovy way. As they danced, Peter leaned over to Aang and said, "Hey, I think someone at the table's feeling a little left out.

"You should ask her to dance." He gestured over to the table with their friends. Aang looked over and saw Katara just sitting there. Deciding to take his friend's advice, the Avatar walked over there. As she was feeling a bit bored, Katara looked up to see Aang extending his hand to her. He smiled to her and with his eyes he invited her to dance. Getting the hint, Katara fiddled with her hair as she said, "I don't know, Aang. These shoes aren't really made for dancing. And I'm not so sure that-"

"Oh, come on." Natasha grinned as she gently helped the girl to her feet. Seeing that they were serious, but not being too pushy about it, Katara smiled as she took his hand, "Okay."

Aang pulled Katara in the middle of the party. He then leaned to her and she listened closely to what he had to say. She nodded when he finished and the two bowed to each other. The two then assumed a firebending stance and crossed their left arms while keeping their hands flat, like that of an Agni Kai. They started moving in a circle and when they reached about halfway they turned and moved the other way while crossing their right arms. This caught the attention of the other kids and they stopped dancing when they turned their heads. They moved a little back to give the room as Peter stood with Angi. Aang and Katara repeated this a couple of more times before going a full circle. The Waterbender glanced around as she moved around and said, "Aang, everyone's staring at us."

"Don't worry about them." The Airbender said to help her relax. Aang then added, "It's just you and me right now."

Katara blushed as they kept dancing with each other before taking a deep breath. Over with the others, Clint leaned to the others and said, "Their first date seems to be going well."

"Date?" Sokka asked with a weirded out look to the archer. But Natasha shook her head as she thought about it, "No. This wouldn't be their first really."

"More like second or third?" Steve asked when he looked to it. The spy snapped her fingers as she said in irritation, "Man, I wish that I had kept better check."

"What do you mean by date?" The Water Tribe teen questioned as he looked between the older heroes. But they remained silent as they watched the two dance.

After turning a full circle, Aang grabbed her arm and they moved to where they stepped around each other. They stepped back and moved a few feet back. He threw his leg up and she bent down to dodge it before the two moved around each other. But Aang grabbed her hand again and moved to where they traded places again. They spun around before leaning forward. The two were but a few inches apart when they stopped. Their smiles grew a little wider before they moved back. Katara took a swing of her leg and it was Aang's turn to duck down. The two moved in sync with each other as they did a cartwheel before pushing off with their hands. Everyone watched in amazement as they were practically flying past them. The two then went a little wild with their next moves. After dancing the way of Ba Sing Se, they ran in a small circle before jumping across the ring of students. When they landed, Aang grabbed her hand, spun her around once before swinging her to where he could dip her with his other arm. The music ended and everyone, student and hero, started to applaud their performance.

…

At the back of the cave as they were hiding with Appa and the pod, the four Guardians could hear the applause from where they were. They had exited out the back of the cave and were waiting on the beach. Groot looked up to them and said, "I am Groot."

"Yeah, it does sound like they're having a pretty good time." Rocket nodded. Nebula just shook her head, "I honestly don't get the concept of a dance party."

"Why? Afraid no one will ask you?" The cyborg raccoon cracked with a grin. Nebula just shot him an unamused look. Mantis then asked her, "If you had a better disguise would you partake?"

"Please, the only way to further my disguise is a long dress and a wig." Nebula scoffed. With a shake of her head, "And I wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that."

It earned a chuckle from Rocket and Groot. Then the cyborg raccoon's ears twitched when he heard something. Appa apparently heard it too when he gave a low growl. The five carefully made their way around the cave to where they could see. They all saw movement coming towards their hideout. Backing up, Nebula turned on her comms and tried to hail, "Steve, we have incoming.

"Looks like some locals from the Fire Nation. You need to get everyone out of there." She warned them. They got a response from him, "Roger that."

…

At the front of the cave, the Headmaster and a group of constables walked up and could hear the commotion coming from the inside. Narrowing his eyes, he wasn't too pleased when he said, "It is a dancing party.

"You did the right thing by telling me, Hedai." He commended when he turned around to the boy behind him. The boy had a smug grin as he bowed to him, "Anytime, Headmaster."

The Headmaster and the constables moved to break up this party. Hedai looked a little too excited as he rushed to keep up with them.

…

Inside the cave, Natasha managed to make her way through the crowd and find Peter. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he looked to her. She placed a finger over her lips, "Stay calm. We've got trouble coming in."

"Right." The spider themed hero nodded, knowing that it was time to go. He started to make his way through the crowd while the rest of the team carefully made their way to the back exit. Natasha poked her head up and looked around for the other instigator for the party but couldn't see him. She gasped when she saw the Headmaster coming in. Ducking back down, Nat quickly made her way through the crowd before coming out to the exit. Steve was waiting for her and asked, "They close?"

"Yeah, a little too close." She nodded and looked back. Steve looked around and said, "Ah! I can't see Aang anywhere."

"Well, we can't leave without him." Natasha shook her head. She gave a sideways glance when she muttered, "For more reasons than one."

Back out on the dance floor, the students were still enjoying the party as they continued to dance. As he was waving one of his hands while the other was behind his head, one boy said, "This is incredible. It's like all my inhibitions just disappeared."

The Headmasters and the constables stepped into the light. The dancing and music ceased when they saw the adults at the entrance of the cave. The same boy's eyes were comically surprised when he saw the Headmaster's unamused look. Shrinking down into his suit, he said, "Okay, now they're back again."

Everyone else looked a bit worried too. The only one who wasn't worried was Aang when he danced onto the scene. But he stopped when he heard the Headmaster say, "He's the one we want.

"The boy with the headband." He pointed to Aang. Having a feeling it was time to go, Aang uttered, "Uh oh."

The music started again as he quickly turned and ran into the crowd as the constables started chasing him. Everyone in the crowd moved to make room as they zipped past them. But some of the students looked to each other before nodding in agreement to something. Aang managed to take a small turn past some kids and dived down. One of the constables made his way through before coming upon Aang as he was facing away from them. The man grabbed Aang by the shoulder and turned him around, "Gotcha!"

But he was surprised when it was a different boy who had a headband tied to his head. The boy greeted, "Looking for me?"

The constable looked around for any signs of the boy with the headband.

"That's not the one. He's here somewhere. And I know his friend is too." The Headmaster said as he and Hedai were looking pretty ticked that Aang hadn't been caught. They both pointed as he ordered, "Don't let either of them get away!"

A couple of the constables, a man and a woman, were sticking together as they searched for Aang. They scanned through the collection of students before the man spotted someone with a headband. With a grin he rushed forward and grabbed them by the shoulder. But he was surprised when a young girl looked back to him and said, "Yes?"

The constable woman kept looking around and soon saw two boys facing away while wearing headbands. Figuring one would be Aang, she rushed forward and grabbed a hold of them. But she became surprised when she turned them around and they weren't the one she was looking for. One started picking his nose, "Hi there!"

"How we doing?" The other asked her. She backed away while starting to get confused. Over with the Headmaster, he was really growing annoyed by this as he started to scan the group of students. He saw someone hiding behind another student and when they saw him they ducked down to hide. The Headmaster rushed forward to catch whom he believed to be Kuzon.

…

Hedai was about to charge in there too when he heard something whispering outside the cave. With a curious look he turned and cautiously walked out of the cave. When he stood in the dark, he heard someone whispering on his left, "Hey, kid, come here."

"What?" Hedai questioned as he carefully stepped closer. But just as he raised a fist to launch fire at whomever was speaking to him, a shape dropped down onto his face. The boy screamed as Rocket clung to his face and whispered, "Boo!"

Hedai screamed much higher this time and Rocket jumped off his face while the boy turned and ran into the cave. The cyborg raccoon laughed to himself as he turned to run back to the ship to get out of here.

…

Back inside the cave, the Headmaster pushed past a few students and reached down to grab whom he saw. But when he lifted his hand, he was surprised to be holding the collar of a little girl. She looked up to him and asked, "Looking for someone?"

The man was greatly confused about all of this. The group of constables walked backwards to where they were standing with the Headmaster as they were now in the middle of the students who were all wearing headbands. And each student asked them, "Who are you looking for? Do you need something? Over here."

They were all startled when they heard a high pitched, girlish scream coming the entrance of the cave. They looked to see Hedai running in with his arms flailing wildly over his head and a waterfall of tears were comically coming out of his eyes. The group of students moved out of the way as the boy kept running. Hedai ended up crashing into the Headmaster and the constables resulting in them crashing to the ground. A good deal of the student body started laughing from this or the look on Hedai's face.

At the back of the group, Aang finally managed to slip out of the crowd and rushed to join Natasha, Katara, Steve and Peter. As the three moved to make their escape, Aang looked back while Peter quickly joined him. One of the boys turned around and gave the two a wink. Peter and Aang waved goodbye before running after their friends. When they disappeared deeper into the tunnel, it was sealed shut by earthbending. A little dust was kicked up as the halves of earth came together. This caused the boy to look in utter shock and surprise.

Back in the middle of the group, Hedai, the Headmaster and the constables had all gotten back onto their feet. The music continued to play and it seemed to reach the two female constables as one was slightly moving to the beat. The Headmaster took notice and ordered her to, "Stop that!"

The woman stood straight with wide eyes. The man looked to his left and noticed the other constable woman tapping her foot to the beat. He pointed to her and commanded, "Stop that!"

She stood at attention as well.

…

Outside the cave, Rocket powered up the pod while Appa lifted off into the air. They flew from the cave and soon were flying high into the air. Sitting in the saddle were the Aang, Katara, Toph, Peter, Sokka and the founding Avengers and Momo while the others were in the pod. As they all started to breathe a little easier, Katara looked to the front of the saddle and said, "We're safe now, Sokka. You can take off the disguise for your disguise."

"No, I can't." Sokka shook his head as he stroked the beard. He found that he quite liked it when he said, "It's permanently glued to my skin."

"Okay, if he gets really annoying, I'm gonna rip it off his face." They heard Rocket say over the comms. This made Sokka look to the cyborg raccoon in the pod with a bit of a glare. As she held onto the saddle, Toph commended Aang and Peter, "Way to go, you two. I think you guys really did help those kids.

"You taught them to be free." She said when she turned her body to him. With a gesture of his head, Peter said, "It was honestly Aang's idea that we do this. And it was a pretty good one too."

"Aw, it was just a dance party, you guys. That's all it really was." Aang sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his head. Steve grinned as he said, "Well, either way, guys, you did do some good here."

"Even if it was just a dance party." Katara said before moving a little closer to him. Aang blushed as she kissed him on the cheek. Sokka started clapping as he commended, "Flame-O, sir. Flame-O."

"And yet you still don't know what that means." Bruce said when he looked to the teen. Sokka just shrugged like it didn't matter.

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Unknown Location…

In an industrial location somewhere close to the capital city, smoke billowed from tall towers. While it was a place for manufacturing, it was also a place to do other kinds of business. Walking into a yard of the place, Prince Zuko in his cloak stopped before a shaded spot that even the torches weren't reaching. The Fire Nation prince had managed to get away from Loki for a while so he could do this. A flock of birds cawed as they flew by while he removed his hood from his head. The sounds of something loudly stomping made the prince look around. A figure appeared behind the prince and he turned around to face him. Prince Zuko asked the man in the shadows, "You're sure that you weren't followed?"

The figure gave a slight shake of his head. The prince then said, "I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do.

"And more importantly, even better at keeping secrets." He said, liking that prospect. Prince Zuko gave the man a mission, "The Avatar is alive. I want you to find him.

"And end him." He said with a serious look. The man stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself to be a tall fellow. While having a short beard and mustache, the man was bald on the head. He was missing his right hand and foot, having replaced them with metal appendages. But his most striking feature was the tattoo on his forehead. It looked like a sideways turned eye with three long markings on the side of it. The look on the man's face didn't change as he accepted the job.

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Hydra Base…

In the small Hydra facility just outside the capital city of the Fire Nation, the Red Skull was currently making his way through the halls with two agents on both sides of him. They stopped before a door with Rumlow standing guard. The leader of Hydra looked to him and questioned, "Is he ready?"

"Unfrozen and his mind's been scrambled yet again." Rumlow informed him. Johann Schmidt nodded to this, "Good, good.

"Let us go and greet our comrade." He said and walked into the room. When they all entered, they stood a distance away from a group of agents surrounding a figure. The agents moved out of the way to reveal the Winter Soldier. Stepping forward with no fear, the Red Skull stopped a few feet from him and the Winter Soldier said with no emotion in his voice, "Ready to receive orders, sir."

"Good, good." Johan nodded to this. Then he said, "You have a new mission.

"The Avatar is alive and in the company of the Avengers. We know that they are either heading for the Fire Nation or are already here." The Red Skull told the Winter Soldier. He then ordered, "You are to find them and terminate them. And anyone else that gets in your way.

"Understand?" He asked to see if Hydra's assassin was up to the task. While his mind was practically blank, the Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, showed little emotion when he said, "Understood."

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This story's dedication to:

Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018

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Author's Note: I do apologize for the delay from this story and the others, but hopefully I can continue working. And yes, the Winter Soldier is back. As for what I want to say about What If…?, I will consider doing some every now and then. However, I must speak my mind about something. While I have seen the cartoon on Disney Plus, I must say that I'm not going to do it like that. Nor will the What If…?s be cannon to this series in any way. Sorry if that makes people kind of mad, but it's just how a feel about it. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong. See you next time.

P.S. Just wanted to let you know that I just saw Deadpool and Wolverine. And I got to tell you folks that I loved it. Takes the number one spot away from Guardians Volume 3, but these two will remain my top favorites for Phase 5. So looking forward to Captain America 4. Anyways, nice chatting with you all.