Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four

In the face of what was obviously a Spirit, and not one I remembered from the show, its statement implying that we would not leave the mountain made Iroh grimace, casting a worried look to his nephew, and then us. "Do you mean we shall not have your permission to leave, but may do so anyways?" the Dragon of the West inquired hopefully.

~You Shall Not Leave At All.~ it rumbled, not speaking with sound, but understood regardless. ~You Sought The World Spirit. You Have Only Found Your Graves.~

"Sparky?" Mina asked, glancing my way.

"Apparently the locals are restive," I remarked, looking over it, its body layout odd, a bit like a lung dragon, but squatter, more terrestrial, more solid, and less majestic. "Though don't worry, we've got this."

The Spirit didn't care for that, as it Growled, and a wave of something crashed out from it, blasting the mist back, but, while the two of us took combat stances, whatever it was passed us by without doing more than ruffling our hair, our Defenses ringing, the lizards that Zuko and Iroh had been riding went down, hard, seemingly crushed by something.

Iroh, meanwhile, sighed, and smoothly dismounted, standing straight. "Ah, I see that, regrettably, words and politeness mean very little to you." Looking to his nephew, a flash of worry crossed his uncharacteristically placid visage as the young man had slumped in his saddle. "Prince Zuko, take a deep breath, and center your Chi. Your spirit can bear this weight, of that I have little doubt."

And, sure enough, the young man was struggling to rise, but, with a deep breath, shoved himself up and away from his downed mount, landing with a stumble, legs shaking, as he jerkily fell back into the same basic stance he'd shown me. With another breath, he dropped his arms, only to, more smoothly, bring them back up to a ready position, yet he still faltered slightly, looking at our foe, which watched us with what I could only call malevolent confusion. "U-Uncle, what…?" the scarred teen questioned, unsure.

There was pride in the old man's eyes, "To stand before an angered Spirit is not easily done, especially within its domain." The warmth in his gaze cooled, as he turned to regard the stone dragon. "But we will need to do more than face it."

"So, I'm familiar with the top dogs around here, but, um, what is that?" I questioned, gesturing towards it.

~Your Death.~

"Wasn't asking you," I snapped back, the feeling on me redoubling, but, while the grass around me flattened, I only felt my Defense being active, and looked to Iroh expectantly.

"It is a Chi, a Spirit of the Earth Kingdom Mountains," the elder Bender stated. "I am not aware of this one's name, nor do I believe it will grant us it."

Mina frowned, "Wait, like the Chi you were teaching us to move?"

Both the dragon of stone and the Dragon of the West paused, confused, the latter reassuring her after a moment, "Ah, no, completely different. I am not aware of why they have the same name. I might be old, but it was before my time when such a thing was decided."

"Uncle, why hasn't it done anything?" Zuko questioned tensely.

"Because we have not yet given offense," he stated, glancing my way, "though some of us are closer to doing so than others."

"I'll stop being rude when it does," I declared. "Though it seems to have taken offense at us just being here."

"Ah, but now we are discussing things," Iroh pointed out. "And Earth Spirits very much put stock in discussions, those that engage in them at all, that is. It is only when the arrangements are over, and the deal has been struck, that it will move."

Mina frowned, "But it wants us dead." The old man nodded. "What if we don't make a deal, then?"

"In that case, it shall strike one with itself, and attempt to eliminate us," Iroh smiled. "How exciting!"

"Uncle!" the prince hissed, before faltering. "What, what do we do? I, this wasn't covered by my lessons."

I Created a rod of superdense magnetic Support-grade metal. It was only as long as my hand, my limit having expanded, but not by much, an action which got Iroh's attention, but, oddly, not the Chi's.

Nodding sagely, pretending he hadn't noticed my move, the ex-prince declared, "I have been deficient in this aspect of your education, but I thought, given our task… Regardless, I will be sure to address it in the future." Glancing my way, he added, "For both of you. As for what we do now, that is quite simple! We flee!"

~You Do Not Have Permission To Leave,~ the Spirit declared.

Smiling genially, the Dragon of the West declared, "Ah, but you see, we are not of your people. We are Children of Fire, Spirit. And the Flame asks no one's permission when it Burns."

And, taking a purposeful step backwards, the way we came, Iroh turned his back on the creature, who, with a ROAR, launched itself towards him, leaping into a pounce to-

Crack-BOOM!

Get caught right in the side of the head by my railgun shot, the backblast forcing my hands apart, but the Spirit's skull was obliterated, as it crashed into the side of the misty pseudo-ravine we were in, with a sound like a landslide.

"Well," I smiled, "That wasn't so ba-"

"RUN!" Iroh commanded, taking off at a dead sprint, grabbing his surprised nephew's arm and dragging the teen along with him, leaving the lizard's stony corpse behind behind, twitching, though while I thought it was in its death throes, the Firebender's reaction suggested something else.

Not hesitating, I moved to follow, loping after the royals, Mina following on a trail of acid, my partner asking, "But didn't Sparky kill it?"

Sending a confused look her way, Iroh shook his head, letting go of Zuko as they both hauled ass. "No! The Spirit of a place is more than just the body that you see. Any moment-"

~IMPUDENT INTRUDERS!~

The call rang out through the valley, and, glancing back, the Spirit was staggering to its feet, its destroyed stone skull still reforming, showing the mass of energy within that was quickly covered up, until it looked completely unharmed.

"It will revive without issue," the elder Bender finished. "Thus, we flee!"

And they were hauling ass...

At least for normal people.

Both Mina and I slowed, keeping pace, as I glanced back at what the pair rode in, the large lizards still motionless on the ground. "And the mounts?"

Again, a look that told me I was missing something important, though, from Zuko's expression, he didn't know either. Iroh grimaced, "The Mountain's Weight keeps them immobile. With luck, they will be unharmed, and return, as trained." The heavyset man took a couple deep breaths, struggling, as was his nephew. "Your Chi must be strong indeed to repel it so easily."

From Mina's look, she, too, understood that it was our Defenses that were at work, and, trying to put it in terms of local lingo, I stated with as much confidence as I could fake, "We reject its authority."

"Would that such a thing were so easy for the rest of us," Iroh declared, as they continued running, the man starting to get out of breath.

~YOU SHALL NOT LEAVE!~

From behind us, the Chi leapt, landing with a Roar, as something shot forward, underground, in a swift wave, Iroh and Zuko reflexively jumping right before it hit us, so Mina and I did the same, only for it to pass us by, before, in front of us, the dirt exploded upwards into a wall of rock, fifty feet tall, filling the ravine, and blocking our way.

The two firebenders, without a beat, hit that wall and started climbing.

The Spirit, meanwhile, charged once more, intent on catching up to them, and, with it's long body, could likely still reach them by the time it arrived, if we did nothing.

Looking to Mina, she nodded, and, with a wave of her hands, covered the ground with Acid, in a torrent, stretching out towards the stone dragon, while I, in turn, shifted my legs to lightning, and using my pointed feet as picks, started running up the wall myself, reaching out and grabbing both Fire Nation Royals by the back of the shirt, only to discover that both of them had tripled in weight, but while I no longer had OfA, I'd not used its strength enhancement as a complete crutch, and, while hauling them up did slow me down, straining muscles both flesh and electric, I was able to rise up far faster than they could climb, making it to the top of the enormous obstruction right as the Chi hit the leading edge of my partner's Quirk-Created substance, clearly thinking it could just splash through.

It was incorrect.

I wasn't sure if it was Mina's skill, the Acid, connected to her, sharing in her Defenses, or something else entirely, but it hit the slick and slid, stony eyes opening in panic, backpedaling and slipping even more, looking nothing so much as a giant concrete cat, as I leapt off the top, moving forward, extending lightning legs to cushion our landing as-

CRASH!

The mountain itself seemed to shake as it certainly slammed into its own obstruction, a pink-haired shape launching itself over the top a moment later, a mass of clear fluid gathered around it, before Mina somersaulted in the air and, in defiance of physics, launched herself forward, using her acid as a launch platform, leaving most of it behind as she moved to rejoin us as I fully landed, dropped the pair, roughly, not strong enough to keep carrying them, but the Firebenders rolled with it, both clearly trained for this kind of thing, and kept going.

Mina, creating acid from her feet, hit the ground and slid, catching up to us.

And, in a blast of rock as the Chi barreled through its own wall, the chase continued.

Spoiler: Music

Barreling down at us like an avalanche, the Spirit was undeterred. I looked to my partner, and gestured to the other two, the woman grimacing but nodding as she swept behind them, while I turned, and faced it, flicking my arms to extend my new gauntlets, charging right back at it, the Spirit Snarling and trying to bite me as we met, but I leapt, passing right over its head, electric hands shooting out and letting me hook into its stone body, which shifted, a mere covering for the glow within, as I reached deep.

And Electrocuted it.

Over a million volts, done in the whip-crack which would've instantly killed anyone that touched it, boomed like thunder as it split the air…

And did jack shit to this Spirit.

Thankfully, it at least flinched, and, realizing it was fine, stopped chasing the two long enough to turn and attempted to bite me in half once more, as I leapt off of it, cycling lightning through my now-covered palms, through the ionic array, sending me flying forward, as it tried to rear up and try again, following me upwards with its bulk, but unable to move fast enough before I rose out of range.
Undeterred, the creature turned, and, with a flick of its tail, sent a flurry of stone dart my way, which, had I merely been jumping, would've been deadly, but a twist of my hands, a fluctuation of energy, and I spiraled through the volley, one about to hit my arm, so I shifted it to Lightning, allow it to pass throw me harmles-

It struck me, somehow, sending me tumbling, but my training with Hawks kicked in and I righted myself, another Ionic Blast, pulling on the techniques I'd copied from Bakugo, sending me back on-course to the others, as twin circles of crackling yellow light appeared around my palms, the updated design from Mei allowing an expanded resonance to both improve thrust and decrease overheating.

Landing at a run, I checked my arm, which smarted, but other than maybe some bruising later, I was fine, the impalement those spikes clearly meant to inflict not working on my electric flesh. Hitting Mina's Acid, I reached out with my own copy of her Quirk, which meshed with her own control, as she dragged me backwards, away from my foe, accelerating towards them, until I was almost upon them, reaching the beginning the high-altitude ravine, which dropped down, and to the right, into the mountain path we'd climbed to get here.

"Okay, I can't do shit," I declared, moving along with them. "Anyone got a plan?"

"Alley-oop?" Mina suggested, gesturing towards the rapidly approaching opening, with a flinging gesture.

"Works," I nodded, the two natives, not understanding, but focused on escape, slow as they were, though, with whatever the Spirit was doing to them, they were making good time regardless.

~You Shall Not Escape!~ the Chi announced, redoubling its efforts, but its movement, at least, seemed to be physics based, not using its Earthbending to make itself faster, which let me crunch the numbers, and… yes.

My partner started dumping Acid, and I flicked my right hand to retract that gauntlet, freeing up my hand to do the same, not able to make nearly as much, but enough to create a long liquid strand that connected to the whole, my much more limited control connecting with hers, to reinforce what she was going to do next.

"It's coming, Uncle!" Zuko warned, glancing back worried, catching sight of what I was doing, and frowning, but not saying anything else.

"I am aware, but it appears, our companions, have it covered!" Iroh wheezed, starting to limp a little, favoring his right leg.

We crested the small ridge that was the ravine's entrance, immediately heading to the left, the Chi seconds behind us, as Mina announced, "Get Ready, Sparky!"

Glancing her way, I moved to slide to a stop, only to see the pink skinned girl throw herself into a blisteringly fast spin, body parallel to the ground, her Acid strand spinning out around her, as I felt, through our connected Quirk, something akin to a spring coiling, while, at the same time, there was a hint of something else that I felt, not through my Quirk, but through my Firebending.

Regardless, I grounded myself, and gripped the enormous mass of Acid she'd left behind as best I could, watching, as the Heroine hit the ground, popped up into a roll, and then suddenly stopped, as the force of her spin travelled back through her connection, and, seeing where this was going, I added my own strength, the best I could, teeth grit, only able to do a tiny fraction of what she could, but helping however I could.

And then the Acid surged, pouring out of the mouth of the ravine like a dam had burst, flying out into the air, and carrying the Chi with it.

~No!~ It screamed, as it flailed, trying to hit the ground, but I could feel Mina denying it, pushing with her all her might, up and through, twisting about the same way the Kyoshi Waterbenders had; I could feel the Bending's effects through her Quirk, while, to my Firebending, there was just a muted sense of something happening.

And then the monster was gone, falling off the cliff, and disappearing into the trees far below, though several of them, in turn, came crashing down, crushed by the Spirit's falling mass.

My partner staggered, and I was there instantly, catching her, as her muscles shook, having strained herself, hard, to pull that off, but damn if it hadn't been impressive!

"We should not tarry," Iroh, breathing deeply, bent over himself, urged. "As long as we stay upon its mountain, we are in danger."

I didn't hesitate, moving to sweep Mina up into a princess carry, the girl giggling at the move a little, as I nodded, directing, "Lead on."

As the other two started jogging forward, I noticed that they were moving easier, and, yes, that constant pressure on my Defenses was gone.

"Uncle," Zuko said, after a couple minutes, quietly, and angrily, but also sounding oddly hurt. "Why, why did you not teach me of such things? You said something about my task?"

My girlfriend perked up in my arms, and I did as well, interested in the explanation, as, well, the bus-sized killer stone-lizard was something that seemed… important.

The Dragon of the West didn't say anything for several long moments, before remarking, still breathing a little heavily, "Your father, the Fire Lord, gave you that task. You are following his will. You are acting in accordance with the Will of the Spirits. As such, they have let you work. Until now."

Speaking up from my arms, Mina pointed out, "But Aang was in an iceberg."

"Indeed," Iroh nodded, as we jogged down the mountain, entering the middle forest level of the range, but still very much on its slopes. "Perhaps it was the uselessness of such a task, though none could know it as such, that saw the Spirits content to let the prince search in peace. Until you arrived."

"And now that I can actually do so, they seem to stop me?" the scarred teen demanded, anger taking the fore once more. "They can try. They will fail!"

However, the older royal shook his head, looking around. "Prince Zuko, the Spirits are not so easily denied."

"The Fire Sages do so. I'll learn how to as well!" his nephew declared. "If they try and stop me, then they are enemies of the Fire Nation!"

"We shall discuss this later," Iroh declared, looking around. "It seems our respite is coming to an end."

"What?" I questioned, and, eyes squinting, Iroh pointed forward, in front of us, as we threaded our ways through the trees, and…

Crack!

Ahead of us, the dirt exploded upwards, as the Chi clawed its way out of the ground, which made… no sense, but, right, Spirit, as it roared in anger.

~You Cannot Escape!~

Coming to a stop, looking to the girl in my arms, she nodded, and I set her down, the Heroine still tired, but having recovered, as the Spirit started to stalk towards us. "Alright, I'm kind of out of plans, Mina's tired, looks like you're up, Uncle. What do we do?"

Iroh frowned, breathed in deeply, stood up straighter, and then, in ways that were hard to describe, seemed to become subtly… More.

Not visually, but, through my Firebending, the man Burned, in a way he hadn't a moment ago, and, from the prince's surprised look, this wasn't normal.

"I had sought to settle this without true violence," The Dragon of the West declared, calmly, walking forward, as the Spirit, which had started stalking forward, paused. "It seems I sought such a thing in vain. Very well. If this is the will of the Spirits, who am I to disagree?"

~Then You Shall Die?~ it questioned, unsure.

"Ah, no," the Ex-Crown Prince replied. "I merely shall engage you in combat. Prepare yourself," he advised, taking several short breaths, until embers burned in his exhales, and his sense of Presence only heightened. "This will serve as a good lesson for my Nephew."

Spoiler: Music

~He Shall Perish As Well!~ the Chi declared, charging, only for Iroh to shift his stance, and, with a swirling move that lit up my Marital Talent like a Christmas Tree, blasted a fireball directly for the creature's head, back foot swinging around as he pushed, the attack growing, and speeding up, until-

Boom!

It hit the Spirit's head.

And the Spirit howled in pain.

Staggering back, it was taken by surprise, as Iroh started to run forward, bringing both hands down, up, and forward, creating another pair of blasts, twin crescents of flame that, as it tried to dodge one, merely put it in the path of another, causing it to let out another hurt bellow.

Rallying, it twisted about, sending a dozen stone spikes at the old Bender, who, bare-handed, parried the attacks with seeming ease, a few twisting steps getting him closer, ducking under a paw-swipe, and standing tall in a rising attack that extended a pillar of flame upwards, catching the Chi under the jaw, and sending it falling backwards.

~Know Your Place, Mortal!~ the creature yelled, hitting the ground and twisting, the earth around it shoving forward in an array of stone spikes, which Iroh mostly dodged, catching one in the side, but on his armor, as he was shoved backwards.

"Uncle!" the prince shouted, and leapt forward, throwing out a fireball of his own, which, impacting the Chi, did seem to hurt it… a little.

"Zuko! No!"

his Uncle responded, but the Spirit had already shifted targets, charging the younger royal, and, while looking to Mina, she nodded, we both moved to help, we both knew we couldn't do much.

We passed by the Prince, my partner throwing down more acid, but the Chi leapt over the forward edge of the wave, coming down hard enough in the middle of it that she couldn't dislodge its footing, and I was of even less use, forming a fist-sized projectile, two-thirds of my reserves now gone with it, and tried to fire it off, but, as my arms turned electric, it recognized what I was doing, and turned its head as I fired, the shot deflecting off its skull instead of hitting its glowing eye, the creature's bulk so massive that I just couldn't move it through brute force alone on anything less than a direct hit.

Zuko threw another fireball, but it was of… limited effectiveness, and we all dodged, as I re-engaged my right gauntlet, and, while it jaws missed the teen by inches, its claw would've hit him had I not gotten in the way, taking the hit on my vambrace, thrown back and away, but the move gave him enough time to get away from the beast, as I twisted about to not hit a tree and land, running back to the fight as the Chi went for the prince once more.

Shitshitshit I thought, having started to discount it, based on how we'd handled it so far, but it was a bus-sized pissed off regenerating statue, of incredible toughness, and that was something we were not equipped to deal with.

Mina threw a lash of high intensity Acid, the substance sizzling and smoking as it hit the Chi's leg, doing seemingly no damage, and Zuko threw a flurry of fireballs at it, trying to fend it off, which the Spirit took on the shoulder, undaunted, though, maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like one glowing eye-hole tightened in pain. Regardless, it didn't stop, as the monster spun, in a move I'd seen before, sprinted forward, Zuko was able to deflect two of the stone spikes it sent towards him, but he was out of position of the third, and while he would've been out of reach, my reach was a variable thing.

Latching an electric hand to the back of his collar, I pulled, yanking the scarred teen backwards, and out of the path of the spike that would've caught him in the head, tossing him behind me as the Chi moved to dodge a fireball from Iroh, and sent another volley of shards, which I tried to deflect, but, with someone behind me, I couldn't dodge, and-

Thuck.

I got a stone spike in the guts for my trouble.

"Sparky!" Mina cried out, as I stumbled, and the Chi was on me, the Spirit slamming its right paw down on me, driving me to the ground, unable to breathe, shoving the spike deeper, ribs cracking.

I was trapped.

I was stuck.

I was in a position of opportunity.

Because while I had my phone, my ability to use Hagakure's Photokinesis was such that I didn't trust myself to control the Hungry Light that emanated from its recall enough to not hit my teammates.

But, covered up, that wasn't an issue.

"Thanks!"

I grinned, trying not to cough up blood, pulling my smartphone out of my jacket pocket as I dismissed the device, and pulled.

And the Spirit Screeched in agony, a fireball slamming into the knee right above me, its leg giving out, a rush of Acid passing over me and, as the pressure gone, I was yanked out, shoving myself up and to my feet, glad I'd finally done something to hurt the fucker, but, unfortunately, my phone was on a bit of timer, as I'd found out messing about with it during my personal training, and it wouldn't be another minute or so before I could do that again.

Stumbling a little, the Chi glared at me poisonously, and, while it limped a little, color was already returning to its crumbling stone paw, quartz that had been drained and rendered as strong as chalk already being replaced, which… wasn't good.

~Foreigner!~ it declared, voice dripping with Hate.

"Tourist," I corrected, but, looking at the others… we weren't going to win this one. Maybe Iroh alone could've, and if Mina and I play keep-away, but Zuko was too slow, too reliant on his Firebending doing something, and too aggressive to make this work, but I'd already gotten hurt, and while I could regen, my partner had only started to learn how to heal, and… no. Leaping over to Zuko, I ordered, "Climb on my back!"

"What? No!" the teen shot back, confused, and offended.

"Fair enough," I agreed, grabbing the teen as the Chi started to charge, and was set back a step by Iroh, but it had found the weak link, and it was going for it. "Mina! Catch!"

Zuko frowned, "Wait, Wh-aaaah!"

Because he was wearing steel armor, and I had gloves that let me do magnetic fuckery, so I fired that bitch at speed.

Swirling up, creating weak acid, she caught the boy, as I myself leapt away from the Chi, ordering, "Take him and run! We'll meet up, but we're too much faster!" The pink-haired girl hesitated, looking at my chest, where the spike was embedded, having missed my heart. "I'll be fine, go!"

Nodding, the Heroine threw the prince over her shoulder, in a fireman carry, and took off, the Chi starting to follow, but both Iroh and I had the same idea, as he sent a wave of fire forward that cut it off, while I, retracting a gauntlet, darted forward, and, as it turned to take a swipe out of me, shoved my hand forward and filled its mouth with foam.

Red foam.

Not understanding, it tried to snap at me again and again, as I poured out almost all of my remaining Creation reserves, until, the fluid expanding, its jaws stuck together, the substance forcing its way through the cracks in its face, not having a digestive system, unfortunately, but this worked too.

Leaping backwards, towards Iroh, toggling the gauntlets, I sent forth a wire, like that we put into Ochaco's kit, and it hit the Spirit's head.

"Fuck off for a moment," I commanded, and sent a wave of electricity down the connection, which wouldn't do anything to the Chi.

It's new addition, however…

BOOM!

Shrapnel flew out, shredding the trees behind it, the blast wave harmlessly passing by us, as the now headless construct slumped to the ground, twitching, rocks already starting to crawl back up its smoking neck, which was just… so bullshit.

Turning to an appreciative looking Dragon of the West, I told him, "We've got less than a minute, time for us to leave, do you mind climbing onto my back?"

"Not at all, if it gets us away faster," the old man responded immediately, quickly moving to clamber on as I bent my knees, the Firebender's 5'5" height making this a little more difficult, but still doable, though, with the man's Spirit-enhanced weight, my first plan went out the window, but Plan C worked too.

Looking at the source of my problems, I revised the time we had down, as it was already starting to reform its skull, so advised, "Hold on tight, Iroh."

Spoiler: Music

Pushing my hands to my side, palms down, I concentrated, building up a charge in them, the metal starting to crackle, more and more, as the Chi's thrashing became a lot less random and, slowly, it staggered to its feet.

"If we're going to go, we should do so soon," the old man urged, a touch of nervousness entering his tone.

"Hold on tighter," I advised, and the royal did so, his legs coming up to grip around my waist, as I built up more and more of a charge, stray bolts starting to hit the ground.

~You Shall Die Here, Intruder!~

Smiling, feeling the gauntlets hit the lower-limit of what could they could take, as the monster once more charged us, I informed it, "I reject your reality, and substitute my own!"

Taking the built up energy, I wrenched it into position, blossoming outwards.

Fwash-BOOM!

Twin glowing golden rings spread out, lightning crackling so harshly it drowned out the sun, wide enough we stood in the middle of both of them, my arms locked and made of electricity itself to handle this, as, with a loud whine, the Ionic Blasts went off, and we rocketed into the air, flying hundreds upon hundreds of feet straight up, and, as I'd thought, once we'd gotten far enough 'off' the mountain, by being over it, Iroh's weight suddenly lessened to what he actually was, taking this from beyond the reach of my capabilities well into doable.

Shoving another charge into my gauntlets, as we slowed, a trickle let me re-orient, until we were parallel to the ground, the camp the other soldiers had set up barely visible in the distance, and, letting loose another blast, with twin cracks as we were fired in their direction, my shoulders sore, both from trying to handle the forces involved, and from dragging a half-ton weight up here with me, but the pain was already starting to fade, and, mentally un-locking my arms, I stretched them out, then stretched them out, turning them into pseudo-wings, my hands untransformed at their ends, a constant trickle of electricity providing thrust, even as the gauntlets shimmered with heat, but pulling, just a little, on Todoroki's Quirk cooled me off, with the side-effect of leaving a vapor trail from that side of my body.

From my ear, surprised and delighted laughter rang out, and, glancing back, I saw Iroh, still clinging on, was looking around with a wide grin. Catching my look, he explained, "I had never expected to fly like the Airbenders of old, and I must say, it is quite the experience."

"My method's a bit more violent," I agreed, "but fair enough. I'll head for the soldiers we left behind."

"What of your companion and the prince?" the older man questioned.

Looking at the path she took to leave, and, considering how we'd been trained to move in a forest… "She's gonna keep going until she hits the shore, though I can go meet up with them and direct them back?"

"That is over twenty miles away," Iroh noted. Giving him a look that hopefully conveyed 'And?' he chuckled, looking down, and corrected himself, remarking, "Though, given how fast we are travelling, that means less than it would normally."

"Yep. We'll be back with the others in…" Looking down, guesstimating distances, tree-size not a good measure but I'd walked by them so assuming the big ones were the dozen-feet across I'd seen…. "Three minutes and twelve seconds, give or take four. So enjoy the ride, and don't let go."

That got a chuckle from him, which I could feel on my back. "Oh, trust me, I will not."

Starting to descend, we passed the previous threshold of lightening without it re-engaging, telling me the effect was probably in relative distance to the Chi's avatar, I ran the numbers, counting my own two-thirty-ish pounds, counting gear, plus Iroh who'd I'd peg somewhere the same and, with the descending vector…

Shifting my arms from wings back to braces, we dropped the last hundred feet, before I let go with a carefully measure Ionic Blast, which wasn't quite enough, making me hit the ground at a jog instead of landing lightly, but as the camping soldiers hurried to put away their cards, put out the fire on the teapot, and otherwise rushed to be presentable, they didn't really notice.

"General!" the leader of the group questioned. "Where's the prince! And, are you hurt?"

"Prince Zuko is with Ms. Ashido, taking an alternate route," Iroh stated, displaying a level of command I hadn't seen from him before. "And…" he glanced down, seeing the blood on his armor. "This is not mine, it is Mr. Kaminari's."

I blinked, having mentally ignored the pain of the spike in my chest. "Right, probably should take care of that." It had pierced under my right pectoral, and the Spirit had shoved it deep, but, with electrical fingers, I could reach in, get a good grip, grit my teeth, and with a very wet sound, pull.

It hurt.

A lot.

But… honestly, probably didn't even make it into my top five.

"Gah, that smarts," I groaned, toggling open a glove to more easily spray Containment Foam into the wound, my Creation reserves having recovered enough for that at least, as one of the soldiers turned and vomited, several of the others looking pretty green. "Oh, shit, sorry, should I've gone behind a tree or something?"

Iroh hesitated, asking, "Do you… require assistance, Denki?"

"Huh, nah, I'll be fine. Least I'm not regrowing a limb this time," I replied, waving away his concern. "That sucks. I'll go get Mina…. Actually," I paused, as, while it made no sense, that had kind of been this day. Summoning my phone, not fucking with it, the air around my hand warped and it dropped into my waiting palm, as I selected her from my contacts, and just called her.

She picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, Sparky! You okay?" my lover questioned, sounding worried.

Zuko's "Put me down!" could be distantly heard as well.

"Got away without getting hit. Again. Are you being pursued?" I asked back.

"Nah, we're fine," she reassured me. "Makin' good time. We'd be better if someone wasn't bein' a grump!"

"I am the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation!" her cargo declared.

"Doesn't stop ya form bein' a grump!" she replied.

Trying not to laugh, I advised her, "Stop for a sec and put him down, Mina." Looking over to Iroh, as the other soldiers finished getting ready to go, I told him, "They're fine, only his pride is injured."

"A Firebender's pride can be quite important," the old man intoned seriously, before smiling, "but I am glad my nephew is otherwise whole."

"Mina, put your phone on speaker, I'll do the same," I directed. "We need to figure out how to meet up."

"If ya let me borrow your phone, we could pop out and you could bring us to you," the girl suggested, which, actually, would work, but…

"Not unless we have to," I told her, almost reflexively. "But thanks, didn't think about that."

"Here ta help!" she replied, and I could hear her grin. "Puttin' ya on!"

Hitting the same button on my own interface, hearing the Prince declare, "-idn't need protecting!"

"Zuko?" Iroh questioned, confused, staring at the device I held out.

"Uncle? Where are you?" the teen demanded, voice shifting in volume, as if he were turning towards and away the phone. "Do you know what this woman did?"

"I am with the soldiers we left behind, Nephew, and she did what I would've asked her to, had I thought of it," the Dragon of the West declared, gaze intent on my own device. "Do you believe you can join us as we return, or would you rather head to the shore so the Wani can come to you."

There was a long moment of silence, Iroh frowning, but I held up a finger for him to wait.

"I, I don't know where we are. We were going too fast. And off a cliff. And I was doing so backwards," he groused.

"If ya weren't tryin' ta fight me I coulda flipped ya around," Mina pointed out.

"I was…" the Prince started to snap back, before he went silent. "Uncle, could we have defeated it?"

"No, not as you currently are," the elder royal stated gently. "As I said, Spirits are not so easily defeated."

"Spirits?" the lead soldier questioned, glancing my way.

Nodding, Iroh stated, "Indeed, an Earth Kingdom Spirit did not care much for us walking all over its mountain. It wished us harm, but, with the help of Mr. Kaminari and Ms. Ashido, we… convinced it otherwise, and made a swift tactical retreat."

"But did you need to carry me?" Zuko whined.

"Until you get fast enough to outrun a charging dragon, yes," I replied.

That made the men even more nervous. "A, a dragon, sir?" one of the other soldiers stated. "But, General Iroh, didn't you kill the last dragon?"

"It was a Chi, a spirit which looks a little like a dragon, if you squint, and have never met an actual dragon," the elder Firebender noted. "Though, thankfully, without their ability to fly, or else we would be fighting it still! But, still, we should be off. If I could borrow a Khomodo-Rhino, I've had enough of running to last me a week."

"Of course, sir!" the lead soldier nodded, turning and gesturing, having one brought over while two other soldiers doubled-up.

"Uncle?" his nephew questioned, sounding unsure, and Iroh paused, as if he'd forgotten the phone was there. Which, given its status as a 'magic' device, made sense.

"Go with Ms. Ashido to the coast, and, if the Chi begins to give chase, allow her to carry you, Prince Zuko," Iroh ordered, with the softer tones of a suggestion. "This is a fight that is won by avoiding it, and remember your true goal."

"The Avatar," the teen replied, hesitating, before asking, "Will, will he have Spirits defending him? He didn't before, but-"

"No," the older royal declared. "While he is the bridge between our world, and that of the Spirits, the records state that all but the most powerful find it… uncomfortable to be around him." And, yeah, the glance my way wasn't missed. "It is his power, and that which allows him to correct rogue Spirits, as need be."

"Oh. Good. I will still need to learn how to deal with them," Zuko declared.

"And you will," his Uncle declared, pausing, looking at the smartphone. "I, we should leave, both of us, before the Chi arrives, and…"

"See you in a bit, Pinky," I wished my partner.

"See ya soon, Sparky!" Mina wished back, hanging up, and I dismissed the device, which vanished into the air.

Looking to the others, I nodded, stating, "Well, let's go!"

That got everyone moving, though, half an hour later, as we started to approach the main Fire Nation Camp, Iroh, looking at my long, electric legs, suggested I ride along with him. Doing so, the man quietly commented, as we passed through the encampment, "It is strange, Denki."

"What's strange?" I questioned, looking around.

"It is just… Most Spirits can instinctually recognize each other on sight," he mused. "Even if they have not met each other before, they still know what they are. Yet you did not. And neither did it know you."

… Shit.

Then again, given the spike through my chest, I was clearly not 'Human', as they understood it.

"Like I said, Mina and I are sightseeing. Because we're… not locals. But, well, my boss told me to take a vacation here, so I'm not going to tell him no," I shrugged.

Considering that, Iroh slowly nodded. "In that case, I am grateful for your presence, if only in motivating my nephew!" he smiled, though it faded slightly. "I wish to help, but there is only so much I can do. As someone not part of the Fire Nation, you have certain freedoms I lack, though, I am sure, are bound in your own ways."

"Glad to be of help," I smiled, glad I'd managed to bullshit my way through that, though I was still left with the vision of that Spirit, because, if that existed…

What else did?

Music
The chase continued. - Yuyan Archers theme (Extended)
Prepare yourself. - Agni Kai - Avatar The Last Airbender | EPIC VERSION
Hold on tight, Iroh - 20 Bakusatsuou! - MY HERO ACADEMIA 2nd OST 1

AN: So, yeah, THAT's a Spirit. As usual, the next four chapters are up on and Subscribestar!