Hello everyone. Here I am finally back to continue Unknown Book: Titans, following now with its next part…Volume 3: Ghidorah (also known as Volume 3: King Ghidorah). You better get ready because this one is going to be full of action, especially when it comes to our fellow Team Avatar encountering both new unexpected allies and gigantic threats, as well now facing and fighting some ancient and evil three-headed Titan alongside their new ally, the ancient alpha predator Godzilla. So let's get starting.
1- Hard Restartings.
(Godzilla's roar)
Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom. The day that would be known as G-Day.
For thousands of years…Ba Sing Se, the capital city of the Earth Kingdom was known not only as the biggest city of the nation, but also the most impenetrable city in the world. Not even the Fire Nation could penetrate its great walls in its 100 years of war (well, except nearly the final days of it, but that one doesn't count because was from the inside out. And the time when the White Lotus did it neither because it was in order to free it from the invaders). Nobody would think that the day would come when the walls of Ba Sing Se would be crossed by someone from outside, or something, as well of anyone or anything capable of doing such thing…until that day finally came when some of the world's most ancient, forgotten and powerful megafauna awoke and decided to set foot beyond those walls. Those creatures were so mighty that the walls that kept the city and its inhabitants protected for so many generations collapsed in the blink of an eye as the Mutos entered the capital city's terrains followed nearby by their natural enemy, Godzilla. The place that was once the largest and marvelous metropolis in the world became immediately reduced to rubble, ashes and dust with the Titans fighting their battle for survival or duty, turning it into its own chaotic battleground in the process. In middle of the fiery havoc under the dark stormy night and while the rest of the survivors ran for the lives there was a family near the wreckage of their house. They looked scared, but also worried for someone that wasn't there with them, one of their own. At the same time the growls of a certain giant reptile and some giant flying and terrifying insect-like parasite could be heard from the distance, but the place was such a big mess and there was no idea where the sounds came from.
"Andrew! Andrew!" The father shouted, calling his older son and waiting for him to respond at him, but no answer came. "Andrew!" The man kept trying, starting to feel desperate by seeing how hopeless things began to look like, fearing the worst. "Andrew!"
The mother stood there still without moving even a finger with her eyes widen in shock in that place surrounded by flames everywhere around, like if she was paralyzed or petrified of fear, and it was as she began to realize that her beloved son was gone, becoming another victim of the fallen city.
"No!" The remaining teenage daughter of the couple shouted, searching through the wreckage of their former home for her brother while trying her best to not let tears come down her face.
In that moment, the three family members heard and felt some giant footsteps and snarls coming from behind them and when they turned around and looked up they got speechless at watching the mighty Godzilla appearing from a big reddish brown dust cloud while one of his clawy feet passed through a damaged building, demolishing it like it was made of sand. The woman hugged her daughter tightly without taken their eyes out from the giant prehistoric amphibious reptile that emitted another mighty roar of his, one that resonated in her mind even some time after that sight. The woman opened her eyes in sadness while a tear went down her face, revealing that everything was just a sad memory of hers from Ba Sing Se. She stood sat on the bed of her bedroom from her new house, which had some map on the wall with some mysterious photos and some books all over the bed. Outside the house sunrise hasn't yet started, although it was nearby. Some weeks had passed since that tragic day, now known by the entire world as the G-Day. After the battle of Ba Sing Se, the secret worldwide scientific organization known as Monarch that searched for these giant and prehistoric creatures (the MUTOs, also known as Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms, Superspecies and now Titans too.) all around the globe, studied them and kept them secret from the rest of the world was exposed to the four nations, but not only to their leaders as its existence had become public knowledge as well thanks to them. Then people of the nations began blaming Monarch for what happened regarding the Mutos and Godzilla on Ember Island, the towns of the Earth Kingdom and Ba Sing Se, but not everyone, this thanks to the survivors and others that supported Godzilla, seeing him as the hero that defeated the Mutos, the real culprits of the tragedy and saved everyone else back in the city. So all the people of the world was now in conflict when it comes to believings and what has to be done at the moment: One group demanded the leaders of the four nations to force their armies and Monarch to exterminate the now so called Titans, the most notable group of the ancient creatures discovered and studied by Monarch, and the other group stood against the first group demanding the leaders of the nations to ignore those protesters and not take actions against Godzilla or any other Titan that could be a potential protector like him and let Monarch decide what to do with the Titans, said options being supported by Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko and the other members of Team Avatar. All this issue had this woman, Dr. Emma Russell, one of the most important members of Monarch's crew very worried, knowing how humans could react at this kind of things and the drastic measures that could be taken by the governments of the four nations agreed to see the Titans as a new threat for the world and wanted to get rid of them, or something worse. And she knew that from first-hand, like when the Fire Nation invaded her family's home in Ba Sing Se when the Dai Li betrayed their own people for keeping themselves in power with someone better than their previous leader, who was also unworthy. Emma let out a discouraged sigh as she looked at a painting of her family that now became broken before turning her sight at some newspaper that she received recently and took it to read it, which written content was related with the current issue that everyone talked about: in one page said "Thousands gathered in Lake Laogai area last night to honor the victims of the capital. Part of a wave of memorials and protests demanding that the secretive monster-hunting coalition known as Monarch be held accountable." Other page had written on it "The recent spike in conflicts between masses with seek-and-destroy parties and military groups and fleets all around the world could be caused by efforts to locate and track Godzilla, who hasn't been seen since Ba Sing Se." while on another was written "Top brass at the mysterious Monarch organization will face another intense grilling as the also now know Order of the White Lotus and some of the leaders of the four nations continues to push for extermination of the Titans. And rumors persist that Monarch may be hiding even more creatures discovered even before the return of the Avatar and the end of the now known Hundred Year War or since the attacks to Ba Sing Se. A historic tragedy that changed the world as we know it forever. The day the world discovered that monsters are real." Emma lifted her sight out from the news, like she didn't want to keep looking at them, as she turned at some kind of strange dark grey briefcase that had the Monarch insignia on it on some table near to her bed. After looking at it for a few seconds she decided to keep reading at what the newspaper had more, and the next page really got her attention. It was written on it "The Avatar and his friends refuses to talk about the current situation. Has the Avatar changed his purpose with the world?". This was followed by more curious articles regarding this subject, like "Team Avatar intercepts and arrest a group that planned to find and hunt down Godzilla. The heroes of the war on Monarch's side? With whom is really the last airbender?" or "Is the Avatar trying to find Godzilla before anyone else? Avatar Aang supporting Monarch's mission and keeping Titans safe. Protecting nature or turning his back on the world? The keeper of balance of the world choosing Titans over humankind?". Emma couldn't believe both these revelations: the Avatar and his friends refusing to have anything to do with taking any actions against Godzilla and the other Titans, taking Monarch's side and people believing because of these rumors that he has turned against everyone else, betraying his kind and duty after everything he did to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and put an end to the war. How could people be so crazy, selfish and stupid? She didn't show it, but inside she was infuriated with all this, although it was nothing new for her. The only thing she did was putting the newspaper aside and low her head while covering her face with her hands in disappointment. In that moment, she heard some knocking on the door.
"Yes, come in." Emma called from inside. Then someone opened the door and went inside, her daughter still in pajamas like her. "Ah, hi Maddie. Sorry, I was gonna wake you up right now."
"It's okay, mom. I was already wake." Madison assured before realizing that her mother seemed being troubled by something. "Mom? Are you alright?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Well, you seem…you know, affected." Madison said, trying her best to not go directly.
"Oh, it's…it's nothing Maddie. I'm alright." Emma reassured, trying to look normal but her daughter wasn't convinced by her words, having seeing her like that already before.
"No, you're not." Maddie insisted, sitting at her side on the bed. "I know that face. You're worried about something. Tell me. Maybe talking about it can help you feel better."
Emma sighed in defeat, knowing that her daughter was really smart and was right about her suspects. "It's just…I don't know what is going to happen from now on. Everything seems so uncertain that I don't know if what I'm doing will help some way in the end. After Ba Sing Se, everything changed. Everything became harder. I didn't want any of this to happen, to happen to us. Our family." Emma confessed at the merge of letting tears coming down her face.
"Mom, that wasn't your fault and you know it. What happened back there was not your fault. Not yours, not dad…not even Andrews's. Bad things happen sometimes and we cannot avoid them. You and dad told me the same long ago, remember? But we're still here, so we've to keep going for the ones that aren't with us anymore. For Andrew." Madison said to her mother, making her to look at her, still with tearful eyes but now smiling too.
"You're right, Maddie." Emma said grateful with her daughter as they shared a lovely and warm hug. "No doubt that I've raised you very well. You've become a strong young woman."
Madison chuckled at hearing this. "Hey, I'm still a teenager. I've still a long way until becoming like you." Maddie corrected.
"What's that supposed to mean? You're calling me an old hag already?" Emma asked in a joking way, making mother and daughter to laugh together. "Thanks, honey. I really needed it."
"Well, that's why kids are for." Madison affirmed proud.
"Here, take a look at this." Emma said giving the newspaper to Madison, which left her wordless like her mother once she saw what it said. "They went after Aang too. It's like they're trying to get him involved with all this, and making public opinion believe that he has abandon them by siding with us."
"I can't believe it." Madison said in disbelief, understanding the gravity of the situation and why her mother has so worried. "This is nonsense! Aang and his friends would never do that. How can people being so…? After everything they had done for them, after saving the world. Ugh! They're so selfish, so ungrateful, so…those are the real traitors! I can't believe it!" Madison expressed really mad, almost shouting. And why this? Because she admired the Avatar and his friends after hearing by her parents and other people all their adventures and experiences in their fight against the Fire Nation. And that also includes their part they played in the fight against the Mutos, especially after hearing of how Aang fought alongside Godzilla.
"I know, honey." Emma confirmed, calming down her daughter. "You see? When people face something like this they don't know exactly the best thing to do, because they don't understand it and they respond at it by the way they usually do. Something similar of how the Fire Nation used to go in their hundred years of war. That's why Monarch has worked so hard for thousands of years to keep everything we know as a secret, to protect both us and them. But now…we don't know if we're gonna succeed in convincing everyone that we're the ones that know better about this matter and all we've done in our history was always for a greater good."
"Well, knowing that the Avatar and his friends agreed with you is some great support." Madison reminded, trying to cheer her mother up.
"Yes, that's some big help indeed." Emma agreed with her daughter before changing to some other but interesting matter. "Which reminds me of some other very important thing. Do you remember that special promise I made to you time ago? What you chose as your birthday gift."
"Really?! You mean it?!" Madison exclaimed really excited.
"Yes. You wanted to meet your heroes and now it's time to fulfil your wish." Emma confirmed, revealing that they're going to meet Team Avatar, something that Madison really wanted to do. "Besides, our future new house is on Republic City, as we're going to be some of its future first inhabitants. And I guess you wanna make sure to let them know which place you'll live on so they can visit you by surprise once you all become friends."
"I…don't know what to say." Madison could only say, still overwhelmed by the big surprise. "Thank you, mom."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Put on some normal clothes and get ready." Emma encouraged her daughter, as they're going to leave very soon.
Madison went back to her room in a hurry in order to prepare herself for meeting her heroes as her mother turned again at the strange briefcase with a certain thinking in her mind: the determination of keep believing in her mission and purpose and keep going forward, no matter what problems, setbacks and obstacles could appear in the path.
Air Temple Island, Yue Bay. Former territories of the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom, now reformed as the United Republic of Nations. Republic City in construction.
Meanwhile, very far from there stood the land that was before where the colonies that Fire Lord Sozin established 100 years ago, but not anymore. Avatar Aang and his friend Fire Lord Zuko wanted to undone what Zuko's great-grandfather did back on his days before the war commenced, also one of the things that Avatar Roku, his other great-grandfather couldn't achieve on his lifetime and they decided to transform the Fire Nation colonies into something new and better for the new era of the world. They called it the United Republic of Nations; the new fifth nation of the world, a land and society where benders and non-benders from all over the world could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. This became one of the most important and desired projects in order to rebuild the world after the war and restoring balance, maybe even making it better, and all Team Avatar agreed with this plan. They named the capital of this new great land Republic City. In fact, the people of Monarch also expressed their support with this project and were allowed to contribute by helping with the construction of the city, what would allowed them to become co-owners of the city and aid on maintaining the future metropolis order, besides of granting a new home for all and each one of the survivors and people that got harmed by the Titans. Thanks to the organization's unique technological advances the construction of the city went faster than it was expected, almost having the exact same image that their founders had visualized: a brand new city unique in the world, even most majestic than Ba Sing Se or Omashu. At the current time, the city would be inaugurated much sooner than expected, without even a year having passed, something incredible indeed. The bay near the future city had at least 2 islands. The smaller one was decided to hold a very huge statue of Avatar Aang, a memorial and monument on his honor, some kind of gift for him from the city and its inhabitants for saving the world, while the bigger one would become the new home of Aang and Katara, something the couple planned for themselves for some time ago, the perfect place for starting a family in the future once they grow up and married. Also, a new temple with the same architecture from the original air temples was built in the island as the new house for Aang and Katara's future family and friends, giving it the name of Air Temple Island. Almost everyone thought that Aang and his friends were attending to the planning and modeling of the new capital city. But actually…Team Avatar were way much busier after the Battle of Ba Sing Se. Thanks to their aid in the fight against the Mutos, helping the people that was threatened and even the supporting role of Aang with Godzilla by siding with him on his fight with the prehistoric parasites, the young heroes became honorary members of Monarch. Since then, the organization gave them some kind of special secret assignments related with Titan pursue cases that got unsolved for a long time in different places of the planet, even from the time when Godzilla awoke, trusting that them could resolve those unfinished mysteries and maybe find some hidden Titans or superspecies that could be related to them, and it turned that way indeed as they faced a few extravagant, peculiar and dangerous creatures; like in some remote and unknown part of the North Pole with some big burrowing animal (Frost Vark) as they found and closed up an entrance to the Hollow Earth, on some remote and isolated forest place of the Earth Kingdom nearby some abandon village that was over a former natural radioactive deposit and dealing with some giant millipede-like creature and its offspring (Endopede and Endoswarmer) and going inside one of the tunnels made by it, later finding some bizarre and highly aggressive florafauna boar-like animal (Brambleboar) and some species of giant wyvern which was the culprit of the case of the Lawton Flagship Incident that happened thousands of years ago (Ion Dragon). And not only that, as they also had a few encounters with Godzilla on the way, including the time when Aang aid him again against the Ion Dragon on some strange and enigmatic place called Axis Mundi, a realm that acted like a nexus or waypoint between the surface world and the mysterious Hollow Earth. And things didn't ended there, everything became more serious and alarming when after all that Team Avatar learned that Azula not only returned and freed Ozai from his prison, but also gathered the remaining forces of the Fire Nation still loyal to both Ozai and her and gained some information about Monarch regarding Skull Island where the remnants decided to travel hoping to find there something that could allow them recover all their former glory and might, but all it became one big mistake because what all of them found there was their tomb…thanks to a new awakened Skullcrawler pack; including a new and bigger Skull Devil that leaded them against the new foreigner aggressive humans besides of the unexpected arrival of some ancient aquatic cephalopod-like Titan to the island's shores from the nearby sea who wanted to challenge the island's king for dominance, the Kraken. Not even Ozai and Azula could stand against neither the giant reptilian beast nor the giant sea monster and met their end in the reptilian creature's jaws. But thanks to the united efforts of Team Avatar and King Kong, who was now a full grown adult, they managed to defeat the new alpha Skullcrawler, its pack and the Kraken, saving the island and its natural balance. But that wasn't everything for Aang and the others. Once they're returning back home the group found another unpleasant surprise when another threat called MUTO Prime reemerged to the surface and unleashed a series of devastating earthquakes, forcing Godzilla to return and deal with the new menace that also left him as the last of his species. And if that wasn't enough a fully regenerated Shinomura, the ancient hostile creature that got awakened in the long past alongside Godzilla and was believed of being destroyed back on its day, resurfaced once again after centuries of slowly feeding, regrowing and restoration on residual radiation. Team Avatar helped Monarch in giving Godzilla much advantage as possible over both Shinomura and Muto Prime: first making them fight each other and weak both ancient beasts before the god of the dinosaurs could fight them better one after another, ensuring their destruction by the apex predator. Those encounters, battles and discoveries made them realize that their world was not what they and their people believed it was all that time and Aang's suspects were correct: the fact that they don't belong there, that the planet was not made for beings like humans, spirits or others they knew. It was made for the megafauna and similar creatures besides ordinary wildlife. The world was scaled to their dimensions. Human beings were like ants crawling through their living rooms, insects compared to the true rulers and owners of that world since forgotten eras; true gods forged by nature in infinite ways and forms. But for now things were very quiet and calmed, a perfect chance for the heroes to rest and recover by each their way. Back to the new and recent Air Temple Island, the entire place was illuminated by the light of sunrise. On the backyard of the house was Aang sat on the floor in meditation position and his eyes and tattoos glowing in white with the light of the Avatar's power. He was in a trance, just like when he went to the Spirit World looking for help back in the Northern Water Tribe when the Fire Nation attacked its icy city, but this case was different. The reason of that was because Aang decided to dive inside his bond within all his past lives like he had never done before in search for something really crucial: the Avatar's origins and its history. And he achieved it. In fact, he was finishing already as his eyes closed and then opened back to normal.
"Wow, now that was something you don't learn every day." Aang expressed amazed after learning the origin of the first Avatar. "This time I've really surpassed myself."
"Aang?" A female, sweet and familiar voice called, making the airbender boy to look at his right and saw his beloved girlfriend Katara crouched at his side.
"Oh, hey Katara. I didn't know you're here too."
"You've been in trance for a while." Katara began explaining. "I thought whatever were you doing was important, so I decided to not interrupt you until you're done with it. What do you mean with 'surpassing yourself'? You're meditating again?"
"Not like the other times. I wasn't in the Spirit World this time." Aang clarified. "Let's say I dove within my past lives like I've never done before and I found something intriguing: The history of the first Avatar."
"Wow, really?!" Katara asked surprised and excited by hearing this. "I didn't know you could do that. But of course it's something you could also know as the Avatar. Although…I've never heard anything about the first Avatar."
"Well, that's because it happened like ten thousand years ago." Aang revealed. "So you see, that's a lot of time."
"So, how was him? Or it was a her?" The waterbender teenager began asking curious. "From which nation was from? And how became so powerful?"
Aang couldn't avoid to chuckle at his girlfriend enthusiasm. "Well, his name was Wan. And…maybe you wouldn't like it, but he was a firebender. But there wasn't Fire Nation yet." Aang began telling. "And he wasn't a firebender in the first place. Nobody was."
"What do you mean?" Katara asked confused.
"Remember when I told you about my encounter with that giant lion turtle?" Aang recalled, with Katara nodding in affirmation. "It happened on that time: in the era before the Avatar lion turtles were the protectors of humankind, which cities built on top of their shells. And they bent not the elements, but the energy within themselves. That was their main power: energybending."
"Just like how you took away Ozai's firebending?"
Aang nodded at her. "That's how they managed to give the power of the elements to people, but it was only temporary."
"But why people lived on their shells? What kind of world they lived on?" Katara asked next.
"One roamed by spirits." Aang revealed.
"What? I don't get it. I thought the Spirit World was their homeworld."
"Yeah, that's true. The thing is that back then lots of spirits came to our world and got scattered all around it, making it a very dangerous place for humans to go and adventure in search for food."
"And how they came there from their own?"
"By portals." Aang responded.
"Portals?" Katara repeated stunned.
"Spirit portals, one at the North Pole and the other on the South Pole." Aang specified.
"But Sokka and I have been living in the South Pole since all our life and we've never seen anything similar like that. The only close thing was the light that you emitted when you got free from the iceberg." Katara pointed.
"Well, and you're right on that part." Aang agreed. "That's because the portals were closed by then."
"I see. So, what happened with Wan?"
"He got the power of firebending from the lion turtle where his town stood on and tried to used it to dethrone the current unfair leadership of the town where he and his poor friends lived, but he failed." Aang continued retelling. "He got banished from his home and forced to wander into the spirit wilds alone, but the lion turtle allowed him to keep his power of fire to survive in the wild. At first that looked very hard and hopeless for him, but in the end he managed to befriend spirits and found a good place among them. He even improved his firebending by learning from a dragon through the same movements that Zuko and I learned with the Sun Warriors: the Dancing Dragon."
"So that makes him the first true firebending master in history." Katara deduced, with Aang nodding at her.
"After some time spending with spirits, Wan decided to travel in search for some other human populated places. But shortly, he encountered the two alpha spirits engaged in a big fight. The most powerful spirits of them all: Raava and Vaatu."
"Raava…and Vaatu?" Katara repeated intrigued.
"Raava is the spirit of light, good and peace." Aang said describing both spirits. "And Vaatu is her equivalent and opposite counterpart: the spirit of darkness, evil and chaos."
"The spirit of darkness, evil and chaos? That doesn't sound good." Katara expressed worried, with her boyfriend nodding with a serious face.
"Indeed. You see, he's the Avatar's original, first and most ancient enemy." Aang confirmed. "The reason why Wan became the first of the dynasty in order to help Raava to defeat him."
"She couldn't defeat him on her own? Why?"
"Because Vaatu couldn't destroy light, the same as Raava couldn't destroy darkness. Both elements cannot exist without the other." Aang explained the complexity of the matter, just like Raava explained to Wan on their time. "Even if Raava defeated Vaatu, darkness would grow inside her until he emerged again. And the same would happen in case Vaatu defeated her."
"Well, that doesn't sound so bad. Even if Vaatu won, Raava would come back." Katara opined.
"Yes, but until that happened Vaatu would have destroyed the world as the people would know and darkness would have covered Earth for ten thousand years." Aang clarified how bad the consequences of Vaatu's victory could be. That left Katara shocked.
"And which was Wan's role in all this? How he managed to change that eternal fight?"
"Wan found them fighting while Raava finally seemed to kept Vaatu at bay, but the dark spirit tricked him seemed to be bullied by the light spirit, so Wan got them separated with his bending." Aang continued telling. "Wan later realized that what he did was a big mistake as Vaatu began corrupting the other spirits, turning them into dark spirits, so he allied himself with Raava in order to make things right and together traveled through the world in search for the other elements for him to learn and master before the Harmonic Convergence arrived."
"The Harmonic Convergence?" Katara repeated.
"I know you would ask." Aand said smiling. "It's some kind of cosmic event that happens every ten thousand years thanks to some huge planetary alignment, which channelize a huge amount of energy pinpointing to our planet. It was when Raava and Vaatu had to fight for the fate of the world. Wan and Raava had until a year before the next one could happen…and things were not going very well for them, with Vaatu growing in power more and more. He became a colossus while Raava got tiny and weak. Really, not joke. She got smaller than even a cabbage. Almost."
"Yeah, I can get the picture." Katara supported. "What happened then?"
"The day of the convergence they traveled to the Spirit World through the portal of the south, just when Vaatu was waiting for the final battle. Wan tried to fight him on his own, but it was futile. Wan decided to combine his own spirit with Raava so was he able to stand more against Vaatu, but even with that boost it wasn't enough. Only by absorbing some of the energy of the portal, which got overflowing by the Harmonic Convergence and combining himself with Raava were the two of them able to overpass Vaatu, trap him inside the Tree of Time and defeat him at last with a new found mighty power: the Avatar State. It was then when man and spirit were bonded forever and the brave Wan really became the Avatar: master of all four elements and the bridge between his world and the Spirit World."
"Wow." Katara said amazed.
"With Vaatu inside his new prison, Wan made all spirits return to their home world where they belonged and then closed the portals to ensure that no human could enter the Spirit World physically and release the evil spirit. Meanwhile, as the new protector of balance in the world, Wan swore to teach humans to respect both themselves and spirits and prevent them to keep fighting between them, guiding the people of every part of the world to peace and prosperity. And that's how a new age for everyone in the world began, as well the cycle of the Avatar."
"Unbelievable." Katara could only say, still astonished by the tale. "So that's the reason why you can enter into the Spirit World by yourself and deal with them, and your great power. It's all thanks to Raava."
"Yeah. Neither now can I still believe yet that all this time I've had a spirit within myself." Aang confessed while touching his chest with his hand. "At least one other than my own, but now I know the cause of my connection with Roku and all my Avatar predecessors and this great power of mine."
"And just thinking that it all began with one young man. That Wan guy was really someone admirable." Katara complimented. "So brave, so wise."
"Well, remember what I told you. He wasn't a big deal at the beginning." Aang said, feeling a little annoyed. Something that Katara noticed.
"Wow Aang. Are you jealous of your first past life?" Katara asked smirking at Aang, making him to turn around his head while blushing.
"Of course not! Why would I feel that way from the one who started everything?" Aang denied, making his girlfriend chuckling because…well, he was clearly not good at hiding it. "Although I've to admit that Raava also was a good partner from what I came to know." Aang teased, now him the one smirking.
"Don't be ridiculous! She's just a spirit, so doesn't count!" Katara defended doing like Aang but crossing her arms too. "She is not even corporeal, or at least having some human-like appearance."
"I wouldn't say that if I was you, Katara." Aang continued teasing. "Do you realize she can see and hear everything that I do, right?"
That got the teenage girl nervous and alarmed, realizing of what she had done.
"Wait, that wasn't in purpose!" Katara started apologizing, looking at Aang's torso as she seemed talking to Raava while waving her hands nervously. "I'm so so sorry, Raava! I didn't mean to disrespect you at all! Please accept my apologies, almighty Spirit of Light!" Katara pleaded bowing at her boyfriend on her knees.
Aang couldn't contain the laugh by seeing Katara's reaction, leaving her in disbelief.
"Relax Katara. Raava is not the spiteful type. After all she had seeing a lot of things through more than ten thousand years." Aang reassured. "But it was worthy of seeing that reaction of yours. Oh my, it was so hilarious. Too bad Toph wasn't here to watch it." Aang confessed wiping away his tears of laugh.
"Oh, very funny Aang." Katara responded a little annoyed, regaining her composure. "But I guess this is also my fault for starting it."
"It's okay, Katara. At least we had a good time." Aang added, making his partner to smile and chuckle again.
"That's something that I also like about you, Aang. Your decision of seeing and keeping the positive fact of anything." Katara said before giving Aang a kiss on the cheek, making him to blush in red all again. "So, you can talk to her?"
"Well, the thing is I've never done it before for I can remember because I didn't even know of her existence. So yes, this is the first time that I ever talked with Raava." Aang admitted. "But now I know she's here, so I can talk to her if I need it." Then he turned his sight to the sun rising in the horizon while something else came to his mind. "Although…even with knowing this unexpected revelation, it's not as much compared with what we already discovered shortly. You know what I mean." Aang said now with a serious tone, changing the subject to another more intriguing and shocking.
"Yeah." Katara agreed looking at the morning sun too. "The fact that our world was not what we thought it was. It's so much bigger and vast than anyone could believe. Just thinking that this world never belonged to us…that there are more creatures out there like the ones we recently witnessed and faced…that this world never belonged to us, but to those things and many others. I…I don't know what to say. It's like we've been living an entire big lie all this time without knowing. All of us and our people."
"This is Godzilla's world. We just live in it." Aang could only say, convinced it was that way.
"That reminds me of something else. Do you know if spirits knew about him and other creatures like the Mutos or those Titans?" Katara asked next, turning at her younger boyfriend.
"I don't know, but I know this thanks to Serizawa." Aang answered looking at his girlfriend. "From what he and Graham said, it looks like spirits fears those creatures. I don't know why but they seemed terrified by the Titans and run away from them always."
"It doesn't surprise me at all. After everything we passed through, it's obvious that those beings are a force to be reckoned with."
In that moment Momo appeared from nowhere in the sky and landed on Aang's bald head, grabbed and nuzzling on it.
"Oh, don't worry Momo. I'm sure not all Titans are like the Mutos or the Skullcrawlers." Aang assured while patting Momo's head gently. "Like Godzilla and Kong, remember? Those ones always stand against the real monsters and protect everybody, just like we do. They're our allies, our friends. You and Appa had nothing to be afraid from them."
Momo calmed down and leaped on Katara's shoulder.
"Aang's right. We had seen how they truly are. Just like Monarch said." Katara supported.
"Now that you mention, it's great to know how much Monarch is contributing with Republic City." Aang recalled. "They really are the good guys and not just because I say so."
"Indeed. Their organization has done a lot for helping people, especially the ones who suffered the most from the attacks of the Mutos." Katara added. "And the new Republic City will be a fresh start for all of them. Oh, have you heard of the new thing on Ba Sing Se?"
"No, what is it?" He asked curious again.
"It looks like much of the city has now turned green. Lots of plants, bushes and trees had grown everywhere much faster than normal. Even animals had appeared in the place in no time. It's like an entire forest grew inside the city, appearing from nowhere." She explained from what she heard.
"That happened on Ba Sing Se? The place of the fight? Now cleaned and in reconstruction?" The last airbender asked surprised and confused, with Katara nodding.
"It's odd. It's like if after that huge disaster life boiled all over the place, spreading out of nowhere. And not only there, but also on other places: Ember Island, the Si Wong Desert, the Misty Palm Oasis… I don't know how to explain it. It's like some kind of miracle of nature."
But Aang noticed some crucial fact of what Katara said. "That's all places where Godzilla and the Mutos went and passed through. It cannot be a coincidence, and not just that. It's also like how it happened back on Ignus Janjira. It was like nature had the place restored to a former glory, even better."
"But the former colony ended that way after 16 years and barely a month had passed after what happened in Ba Sing Se and the other places. It…it's impossible for this kind of changes to happen in such short time." Katara insisted, with no idea for an explanation for such phenomenon.
"Hum, maybe the Titans have something to do with it. Their own radiation seems to be different from the one known, boosting life all around like some kind of magic fertilizer that regenerates everything that was damaged or destroyed or that transforms an entire infertile wasteland into a prosperous plain, forest or jungle." Aang theorized.
"Wow. That sounds…really good. The way of nature: creation followed by destruction and leading to everything restarting by rebirth and resurrection. It's the circle of life." Katara expressed surprised and relieved.
"That's the same I thought when Serizawa and Graham told me about it. Even after defeating his foes and returning back home, Godzilla keeps healing the world with his great power. I wish my powers could do that too."
"Now that you mention them, I've noticed you becoming closer to Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham all a lot lately." Katara said next, looking at Aang with an interesting look.
Aang smiled as her comment made him felt some sweet and comfortable feeling in his heart. "I guess you're right. You see, I've been learning a lot from both of them two about Monarch and its history, the Titans and other strange and impressive animals recently, including Godzilla. I feel really fine when I'm with them, which it's a weird feeling. It's something…that I've never felt before, but it reminds me of my time with Monk Gyatso."
Katara smiled at Aang's words. "Perhaps you think that they are like some new mentors for you, and you're maybe right. But…I also think that it's something more than just that alone. Probably they became like some father and mother figures for you. And I'm glad for that, because it makes you happy."
"I think you're right, Katara. Maybe that's the way I see them, like a father and mother for me. I cannot explain it but…that's what my heart tells me." Aang agreed smiling with total sincerity. "Similar to Zuko and his uncle."
"That's okay, Aang. Anyone who gets that feeling is lucky, even if it's not your real parents." Suddenly, Katara got a little ashamed and regretted of saying that as she could possibly have touched a dedicated subject. "But that doesn't mean that your real parents weren't good. What I mean…"
"It's alright, Katara." Aang interrupted. "As I told you, I never met them, but Gyatso told me about them. They were great airbending masters and the ones who gave me my name. But that's really obvious."
Katara chuckled at the last part. "Surely it is."
"Some odd thing is that they didn't want me to be raised by monks. They wanted me to stay with them, like every parent would prefer, but they had no choice, and…that's sad." Aang kept telling, feeling a little sad on the last part. "But it was Gyatso who insisted on being the one in charge of me, promising my mother and father to raise me just like they would have wanted, with support and love. And he did."
That left Katara without words, with her eyes widened and almost letting out some tears.
"That's so sad. It must have been very hard for your parents, giving up his own son because such tradition." Katara confessed affected, having no knowledge of that part of Aang's past. "Even if that was one of your people's traditions…forgive me for saying this Aang, but that is nonsense." Katara said a little mad. "It was no fair for your parents, they had their right to choose. The monks had no right to take that kind of decision. Not for you or any other child of the Air Nomads, just like they had no right to choose over your life as the Avatar."
Aang got stunned at hearing his mate getting angry, even if it wasn't that much. Suddenly, Katara thought that maybe she overstepped with her reaction and felt ashamed of her words.
"Aang, I'm sorry. I was only…" The waterbender began apologizing, but then Aang hugged her by surprise.
"I know, and I'm grateful that you feel that way. Because I feel it too." Aang confessed, trying to hold some tears, feeling glad that she knew how he really felt more than anyone else in the world. Something that never changed since he met her for the first time.
Katara felt both touched and relieved and returned the hug, with Momo joining them too. "You know? Maybe it's about time for some changes in your nation's traditions."
"You mean it?"
"Sure. If the Northern Water Tribe did by allowing women become waterbending master just like how it was done in my tribe, I don't see why a similar thing cannot happen in the Air Nomads." Katara insisted. "Besides you're now the biggest authority of the airbenders and the Air Acolytes, so you have the power to decide what is right and wrong."
"We could do that for our family too." Aang added.
Momo screeched softly at the couple.
"Even Momo is okay with that. He knows better than the monks too." Katara said, making her mate and herself to have some laughs.
"Thank you, both of you. You see, another reason of why I meditate isn't because Gyatso, Guru Pathik or the monks taught me or instructed me to do it, but because my parents did it. That's what Gyatso told me too, so it's my way to feel them close to me." Aang revealed, getting another smile from Katara. "That besides inner peace."
"Inner peace? It's that something you learned from Guru Pathik on your training with the Avatar State?" Katara asked.
"No, it's one of my last lessons from Gyatso, which also my parents knew and wanted to make sure him to teach me." Aang revealed, but then his belly began to growl, making him to blush embarrassed. "But it seems of no use to avoid the necessity and desire of eating."
"I'll go to pick you something from the fruit trees for a bite." Katara said getting up and heading for the orchard zone.
"Okay."
Aang returned to his next special meditation session, practicing in achieving his inner peace. Momo looked how he was done it and tried to imitate it.
"Inner peace. Inner peace." Aang repeated with eyes closed while breathing slowly and steady in order to deepen more and more. At the moment a little petal floating in the air landed on his nose, which began to bother him a little. "Ugh, itchy nose." Aang moaned without losing the smile on his face and his composure.
Aang blew the petal off to get it off him, although that also caused it to release some pollen onto his nose and a caused him to slight sneeze, but nothing more.
"Finally, inner peace." Aang said happy again and returning back to his meditation.
But then something else happened that interrupted his meditation. Aang felt a little breeze upon him, but it was what came carried away by it what gave the little airbender an unexpected surprise. He felt something covering up his face, something not so big made of paper that made him gasp, like if something tried to grab his face.
"Oh wow, wow, wow! What's happening?! Who took out the lights?!" Aang exclaimed alarmed, almost falling backwards before touching his face and feeling the thing of paper. "Eh? What's this?"
Aang grabbed what was glued to his face and took it out, seeing that was only some newspaper and took a look on what was written on it. A few seconds after he began reading the main matter of the pages Aang got shocked of what it was telling about and then mad, really mad. He got so angry that he crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it not so far from there.
"That's it! Inner peace, no more!" Aang exclaimed mad and stood with his arms and legs crossed without moving only with Momo looking at the newspaper ball and touching it a bit with his paw.
In that same moment Katara arrived with a bowl full of fruits of different kinds.
"Here they are. I think I got the ripened ones." Katara announced smiling until she saw the mood her partner was, concerning her. "What's wrong, Aang?"
Momo took the newspaper ball and gave it to Katara, who put the bowl on the ground, unwrinkled the newspaper and took a look on it. A few seconds after reading a little her face became upset as well.
"Oh, I see." Katara said not very mad but neither happy of what the pages said. "This explains it all I guess."
"I can't believe people are really doing this. What are they thinking? This is all wrong!" Aang expressed upset. "Monarch and Godzilla are NOT the bad guys! Why cannot they see it?!"
"Actually, this is something that could possibly happen. We talked about it before." Katara reminded him.
"I know, I know! But I hoped it to not happen in the end." Aang insisted lowering his head. "Those guys are saying lies. It was the Mutos who caused all that. Godzilla only came to stop them and protect us. He saved us all, both us and everyone else. We're there and saw it by ourselves." The Avatar reminded looking at her.
"I know, Aang, and so our friends. We all know it." Katara supported as she crouched at his side and put a hand on his shoulder. "But not all people shares our point of view, we already know that too. And not everyone knows what really happened there back then. We cannot prevent this kind of things. Besides, that crisis got everyone by surprise, just like us."
Aang looked at her a little dejected and worried before lowering his head again. "I know. It's just…I don't want anything bad happening to Godzilla. The world needs him, the same it needs the Avatar. More than everyone believes."
"And that's why we're now working with Monarch. They're the ones that know what it needs to be done, and they need our support in order to get progress. And once people see us on their side they'll realize that deep down they were wrong." Katara encouraged. "At least the majority, and that's something."
"You really think so?" Aang asked still doubtful.
"I'm certain. We just have to be persistent and not give up. That's how we managed to bring peace to the world, remember?" Katara assured smiling at Aang, pulling out a smile on his face too.
"Alright Katara. I believe you."
And so the young air-water couple shared a kiss, trusting that things will take a better way lately. After their romantic and supporting moment the couple saw two men wearing some outfits of the White Lotus approaching at them in front. Those were White Lotus sentries, the new security guards of the island.
"What is it?" Katara asked to the guards.
"We hope to not disturb you in any way, Master Katara, Avatar Aang." One of the sentries spoke. "But you had…an unexpected visit."
"A visit?" Aang repeated.
"Yes." The other sentry confirmed. "It's Dr. Emma Russell and her daughter, from Monarch."
"Oh, then that's good. Let them come." Aang authorized.
"Yes, sir." The other sentry nodded as he and his partner went back to bring the guests.
"You know? I'm still not used to being addressed in that way." Aang admitted to Katara.
"Well, me neither. Maybe we'll get used to it once we grow up." Katara opined.
The young ones saw the sentries coming back and escorting the visitors, who were a blonde woman with short hair and a teenage girl with short brown hair, who looked a little younger than Katara but a bit older than Aang. After that Aang ordered the guards to dismiss, leaving the four of them alone.
"It's a real honor and privilege to be received here in your island by both of you, Avatar Aang and Master Katara. I'm Dr. Emma Russell, member of Monarch's scientist crew." The woman introduced herself before she and her daughter bowed before them.
"Hum, I think I know you. You're the one who helped us against Muto Prime and Shinomura." Katara swore, as she heard of her before.
"Yeah. That sound thing of yours fooled the giant bug beast very well." Aang added as he got up on his feet, making the woman to chuckle.
"Well, it was some determined frequency from a prototype device of mine, but yes, you're right. That was me." Emma confirmed. "And this is my daughter, Madison."
"Hi there. It's so really nice to meet you." Madison saluted, trying her best to be formal and not let her nervousness and enthusiasm to not take over her, which was not something easy for her having her heroes right in front of her.
"You see, my daughter here is a big admirer of you and she wanted to meet you from the beginning." Her mother told the young benders.
"I've heard about all your adventures and feats against the Fire Lord and his forces, especially your battle on the day of the comet." Madison expressed excited, making Aang and Katara flattered. "And let me tell you that you guys must be the most impressive and marvelous people in the world."
"Well, we're just doing what anyone should have done and what it had to be done back then." Aang answered sincerely.
"We're glad that you find it amazing, Madison." Katara thanked.
"Please, call me Maddie. In fact, we're going to move here in Republic City and I was hoping that we could become friends." Madison confessed nervously as some kind of friendship proposition.
"Sure. We could visit each other from time to time." Aang supported, making Maddie to smile in happiness.
"Really?! Yes! Thank you!" Maddie celebrated.
"Hey. If you want I can give you a tour of our island." Katara offered. "If that doesn't bother your mother anyway."
"Of course not. You can go. Have fun." Emma encouraged her daughter.
"Thanks mom." Madison said. Then Momo flew toward Madison, landed on her shoulder and started licking her on the cheeks and cuddling, making her laughing by the tickles. "Hi, little fella. You must be Momo." Madison greeted caressing him back.
"It seems Momo likes you a lot. And that's something it doesn't happen to many people." Aang complimented.
"Then you should meet Appa as well. He may be look big and fierce, but deep down he is a gentle giant." Katara proposed, signaling with her hand to Maddie to go with her and begin the tour of their home, leaving Aang and Emma alone.
"Your daughter seems someone cheerful and strong." Aang said to her mother as they saw the two teenagers walking away. "You must be proud of her."
"Yes, but…things haven't been easy for her lately." Emma responded with her voice sounding sad now while the pair also took a walk near a cliff. "Back on Ba Sing Se where we, her father and her brother Andrew lived before, she and Andrew couldn't make friends because of the worrying situation the city was going through months ago. We all had to be very discreet and careful because of the corrupted Dai Li. Things became much worse when the Fire Nation got inside and invaded the city, so we had to extreme the precautions."
Aang got stunned and regretful of hearing this from her, feeling that part of that was his fault as he couldn't stop the Fire Nation for taking the capital city back then.
"But on the day of the comet we witnessed general Iroh and the White Lotus high-ranked members fighting the Fire Nation and setting the city free." Emma kept telling from what she remembered. "And then we heard of your victory over Ozai and with it the war ending, the best news that we could ever heard. We thought things would get better since then…but everything changed drastically when the Titans appeared."
"You were there on that night? When Ba Sing Se was attacked?" Aang asked slightly surprised, with Emma nodding at him.
"It happened all too fast for us, and…we lost Andrew there. He didn't survive."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Aang said feeling bad for her. "I know how you feel. I know what it's to lose someone important and miss it so much that it hurts by just remember it and wish that things could have happened on a different way. That's something that unfortunately some of my friends and I share." Aang expressed lowering his head, knowing that kind of hurt on his heart. "And I know what it feels of losing everything that I knew, and having nothing more than the knowledge of my culture and my memories."
"I know, and I feel sorry for you." Emma said, putting a hand on his shoulder empathizing. "No child should suffer what you passed through. Not even you."
"And now…with lots of people wanting their leaders to do something regarding what happened in Ba Sing Se and get rid of those creatures, it's unbelievable." Aang said annoyed, changing to another matter.
"Oh, you've read the recent news, don't you?"
Aang sighed in frustration. "Yes, but it's not what they say about me what it infuriates me. Those people insist that the only solution for all this is the destruction of the Titans and I know for experience that that never solves anything. They're an important part of nature and I want them to understand that and there is a better way, but they won't listen. It's getting into my nerves." Aang said grumbling a little.
"It's okay, Aang. Don't let their words get into you." Emma responded, trying to cheer him up. "You and your friends managed to achieve the impossible for many ones by ending the war. I'm sure you can handle this too. Monarch is so lucky to have you on their side. Really, all of my colleagues say it often."
Aang returned the smile at her after hearing that. "Thanks. We're also lucky of having you as allies, and so Godzilla. I'll do everything in my power to help him and keep him safe, just like I did before."
"Yes, Serizawa and Graham told me about it." Emma recalled hearing that impressive fact previously. "Got to admit, that must have been something amazing."
Aang chuckled while blushing a little for her compliment. "Thanks again."
"If you let me tell you, it must be amazing being the Avatar." Emma complimented. "Having all that great power and combined skills, all the knowledge of your past lives, the potential of becoming the greatest of heroes…it has to be the dream of almost every person in the world."
"Well, it sounds very good when you say it that way, but…it wasn't always like that for me." Aang expressed a little down.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"When the monks told me that I was the new Avatar I felt that my life was gonna change on a way I wouldn't like at all, and I was not wrong." Aang explained recalling on his past regarding the beginning of his time as the Avatar. "Since then, after everyone knew who I was they began treating me differently than before of knowing such new, and I didn't like it. And not only with my people. Even after returning to the world since 100 years inside the iceberg many people though that I was special, unique in the entire world…but for me that Avatar status was more like a burden on my shoulders. I didn't choose that, I didn't want that. All I wanted was being like everybody else: a normal boy, like the rest. Why has to be me? I didn't wish to be the world's guardian no matter how amazing it sounded. All that responsibility and such big duty…sometimes it felt like too much for me to handle by myself. And I felt lost and scared, not sure of what to do. I'll never forget how it was feeling all that pressure, like…if it limited my freedom and how I wanted to live my life." Aang confessed lowering his head. Emma felt sorry for the little airbender boy.
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how bad would be for a child to go through such experience. It must have been so hard for you." Emma apologized putting a comforting hand over Aang.
"It's okay. You didn't know. Besides, in the end and after some time I managed to get the hang of all this Avatar stuff and also the importance of it for myself regarding the situation the world was passing through, so I accepted it and embraced it with all my determination of helping all the people that I could and restoring balance in the world." Aang said turning his face at Dr. Russell with a new smile on it, reassuring the scientist woman.
"Glad to know. No doubt you became stronger despite all, both in body, mind and spirit."
"Well, I didn't do it alone. I got a lot of help along the way: my past life, Avatar Roku, Guru Pathik and my friends…like Katara. She is the one that has been by my side since we met first and always supported me every time on my path, and many ways." Aang said without noticing of blushing on his face.
"Yes, obviously she cares about you a lot, the same as you for her." Emma said with a teasing smirk alarming the young Avatar.
"Oh no! No! Not that! What I mean is, hum…" Aang responded very nervous trying to deny it, as he was caught talking on something very personal and intimate. Very intimate, and private too.
"Come on, Aang. I've been married so I know of these things too. And I don't need my scientific skills for noticing it. There's no point trying to deny it." Emma insisted. "Besides, it's all over your face."
"Is it noticeable from me that much?" Aang asked embarrassed, making her to chuckle again on the airbender kid's innocence.
At that same moment Katara and Madison returned.
"Hey Dr, Russell. What's so funny?" Katara asked curious.
"Oh, nothing. Just only your partner expressing how special and supporting are you for him." Emma answered simply.
"Please! Stop that!" Aang yelled embarrassed, making the female ones to laugh at it.
"Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you go to our house?" Maddie proposed.
"Wow, really? That sounds good." Aang started. "If we could."
"Yeah. Unfortunately we have to go to the court that Monarch is going to have with both the leaders of the nations and the White Lotus, which is going to take place in a few hours." Katara reminded. "Some people that we know are gonna be there, but we're not sure how things would go."
"That's true. That's why we have to be there as well, to ensure things don't end on anything regretful. So…I'm afraid we'll have to leave it for another time, Maddie." Aang lamented.
"Or…we could do it this way. Maybe Suki and Sokka can go with you while Aang and I go to support Serizawa and Graham in the court alongside Toph and Zuko." Katara proposed as an alternative.
"I think is a good idea, Katara." Emma agreed. "What do you think, Maddie?"
"Sounds good enough. Not how I visualized it, but it will be okay anyway." Madison accorded.
"Then everything is alright I guess. I'll send Hawky to give messages to the others. In the meantime, it would be best for us to prepare for departure sooner or later." Aang advised.
And so the group went to the main temple-like house to discuss the remaining details of the preparations inside. Things seemed to go a little more stable with everything planned, but some of them had no idea that others already had their own plans, as well that the non-bender couple didn't know that they were going to find on the Russell's home much more than they would expect. But neither of them and/or nobody else knew that the forces that moved the world had already set something else in motion, something much bigger than what happened in Ba Sing Se. Something that even the Mutos could not compare. Something that would make the fate of the world to hang uncertainly in the balance once again, and this time for real.
Postdata: In this story I'm gonna put more Titans than appeared in the original KOTM. A few of them will be original ones of mine (OC Titans), some of them will be alternative versions of certain already know Titans that will go with the original ones and others will be monsters that got unused, unmade or scrapped from the Monsterverse, but I won't say which ones are. You will have to wait and see them by yourselves as the story advances. And yes, I know what some of you are already thinking. Are some known giant animals of the Avatar World considerate Titans? Like the Unagi, the sea serpents or the sand sharks among others? Well, the answer is easy: no, they're not. And why? Because said creatures are known by the people of the four nations and even from long ago (let's say since long before the beginning of the Age of the Avatar), so said creatures are part of the actual world of theirs. On the contrary, Titans were not known by people until the battle of Ba Sing Se and until that only Monarch was aware of their existence and covered in secret. Another important fact about the Titans is that said creatures and similar ones are more ancient than the Avatar World and before (Age of Raava), many of them prehistoric creatures. Well, I guess that goes enough to clarify any doubt.