Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven

"That… makes no sense," I observed, looking forward at the shapes that slowly trawled across the horizon.

"It's a blockade," Zuko stated.

"In the middle of the fucking ocean?" I shot back, tracing the ships arrayed in front of us, counting over a hundred. "It's like some child's idea of a blockade, where they're using the methods needed for blockading a port and extending it to the entire nation?"

Clearing his throat, Iroh noted, "I am a general, not an admiral, but, now that you mention it, that seems… odd. Perhaps we should go around? We are, technically, still in Earth Kingdom waters, and thus you have not yet violated the terms of your Exile."

"I'm chasing the Avatar, Father would understand," the scarred teen declared.

"You mean like he understood you 'speaking out of turn'?" I replied, giving his scar a significant look.

Grimacing, the older royal added, "I know my brother, and he would not be as forgiving as you think."

Zuko frowned, looking between the two of us, before casting an expectant look towards Mina who shrugged, offering, "I don't know anything about the guy, PZ. But, uh, if the wording is really specific, maybe they're right?"

With a snarl, the prince turned back around, and looked at the slowly growing blockade, which extended horizon to horizon. "The Fire Nation navy isn't large enough to encircle the islands, they must have known we'd be coming, but… how?" A suspicious look was sent to the guard nearby, who shuffled uncomfortably.

"Well, we're headed to the last Avatar's temple, right?" Mina questioned. "Kinda weird having a temple to him. Like, are there temples to all of them? Like, individually?"

"There are for Kyoshi, and Kurik," Iroh offered. "But they are in Ba Sing Se and Agna Qel'a, to the north. The Air Nomads did not believe in such things, and Avatar Szeto's is in Caldera City."

"It is?" Prince Zuko frowned. "Why haven't I heard of it?"

With a shrug, his uncle replied, "It is only attended to by Sages, and, before your exile, I doubt the topic of previous Avatars held much interest. And after, well, you were exiled, so there was no need to bring it up. But we have more pressing things to talk about. Like the blockade. But, Ms. Ashido, I believe you might have an idea?"

"Oh, right!" my girlfriend smiled. "So, like, if the solstice is super-important, it's not here for us, it's here for Aang!"

There was a moment of silence, as we all considered that.

"The boy does ride a ten ton flying bison," I mused. "And he's not… subtle."

"That very well might be the case," Iroh agreed, "But then what is your plan for this blockade, Prince Zuko?"

Looking at it, the ships becoming ever-clearer, he grit his teeth. "We'll just have to run it!"

I coughed theatrically.

Turning, the scarred teen demanded, "What?"

"Is it the Wani that can't enter Fire Nation waters, or just you?" I checked.

Glancing my way, the Dragon of the West inquired, "You wish for the prince to hide? They very well may check the ship, and there are not many places to hide upon it."

Summoning my phone, I opened a portal, and waved a hand through it. "I've got one place they won't check."

My offer took all three of the others aback, Mina asking, "Sparky, are ya sure?"

"No reason why not, I trust Zuko to act honorably," I replied. "We step out for an hour. Open it in the cargo hold and prop it open with a bit of wire or something so it doesn't auto-close, and head back out. You could even put a sign or something down there that you don't remove until the coast is clear, in case it takes longer. I'd say we just close it and open it again, but twice so far doing that led us to Aang, and, while useful, it'd probably go better if we get there before he does."

"I shouldn't have to hide away!" the prince snarled, fist raised, with a burst of fire, but, before anyone could say anything, he dropped his hand, and looked away and to the side, continuing, "But it's more important that the Avatar survives."

"Zuko?" the older Firebender questioned.

"At least I know who it is," his nephew replied. "If he's reborn, he could be any number of girls, in the North or South Pole!"

"Or Kyoshi Island," Mina mused.

The scarred teen blinked, nonplussed. "What? No, the next Avatar is going to be a Waterbender. Not an Earthbender."

Nodding, the pink-haired girl replied, "Yeah, but there's Waterbenders at Kyoshi. They helped me with my Bending after ya ran off after Aang. Their, uh, sages were kinda antsy 'round Denki, for… reasons, but they were cool enough. They've got Earthbenders too, just further inland, or that's what they said, at least."

"Two elements in one country," Iroh mused, though, and I couldn't say why, but there was something… off about it. Almost…performative? "We certainly are living in interesting times! However…"

Turning to me, all joviality disappeared, and he questioned me with deadly seriousness, "You promise you will bring the prince back?"

"Of course," I replied, almost offended, before stories I knew from my world of people visiting 'spiritual realms' rose to mind. "Right, no, I'm not gonna Rip Van Winkle him. Don't worry."

"Who?" Mina questioned.

"Dude accidentally wandered into a Fey party where one night equaled twenty years in the real world, and then, when he got dumped back out, they all hit at once," I summarized. "Absolute dick move, but… Fey," I shrugged. "They're universally known as tricksy bastards for a reason."

Looking back to a now very wary Iroh, I stated, with equal formality, "My house is set at a one-to-one of this place, and, even, if for some reason, we still end up with the Gaang, I'll personally make sure Zuko is returned to you. You have my word."

The Dragon of the West stared at me for a long moment, before, like a flick had been switched, he smiled, and was relaxed once more. "Well, this is quite the opportunity, if you wish to take advantage of it, my prince. What say you?"

Considering it, the young royal demanded, "You're helping to protect the Avatar?"

"If The Avatar dies, things will likely go very, very badly," I replied. "And I will not hesitate to eliminate those who would kill a twelve-year-old boy for what he was born as."

"And after?" Zuko pressed.

"After he's escaped the trap he's likely even now flying towards, and you're both out of Fire Nation Territory, feel free to continue your hunt," I stated formally. "You don't need to accept my help, and know that, at least this time, there are no strings attached. Though, in the future, if there are conditions, I promise I will make them abundantly clear. Fucking hate that post-facto debt bullshit. So, are we doing this, or are we doing something else? I could probably hull those ships, or we could just try and run them normally, or we could be stealthy about it, but you need to choose before they can get a good look at you on the deck of your ship."

There was a moment of silence, as the scarred teen stared me in the eye, looking for something, and he either found it, or didn't, but either way he nodded, striding for the entrance, and ordering, "Follow me. We'll use my quarters, not the cargo hold. We can arrange the decorations to leave the message."

We all followed him, Iroh musing, "A chance to visit the Spirit World! It is something that many would wish to experience, though most would likely not like what they found, but they do not have such hosts as you, Prince Zuko."

"It'll just be my domain," I corrected. "Separate from anything else, I won't be taking him anywhere else."

Nodding sagely, the Dragon of the West noted, "Probably for the best. Still, it will hopefully be a learning experience, my nephew!"

Heading to his room, vaguely remember it as the room that Zuko tried to trap Aang in, originally, only to discover that the only thing worse than fighting an Airbender in the sky was doing so in an entirely enclosed space.

"Where…" I asked, and, as he pointed, I opened the portal where it needed to be, Creating a bit of transparent adhesive and slapping it on the wall right next to the opening, and continuing to create a thin line that I continued creating as I stepped through to go Home.

It was only as I moved that I realized that crossing the divide might cause a problem, and my Quirk did hiccup a little, however while my Creation paused, it didn't cut the line, allowing me to continue on the other side, using a bit of adhesive to connect it to the portal-frame on the other side.

Stepping back through, I thrummed the line, and the slack pulled without an issue, the hair-thin strand effectively invisible, but, technically, intact.

I had no idea if this would work, but… worst case scenario, I'd fly the Prince back to his ship.

Seeing Zuko had flipped the dao that rested against the opposite wall, so the blades were pointed upwards instead of downwards, I offered him hand, the royal hesitating, before grabbing it with nearly crushing strength. He allowed me to lead him to the others side, though he stopped right before the portal's event horizon, as I told Iroh, "Check back in an hour?"

"Make it two," the older man advised, Zuko having put his other hand through the gate, and pulled it back, examining it closely. "I foresee there being some problems with our being sent back to the Fire Nation for resources without the Prince on board, but I'm sure we'll be able to clear them up by then." Looking past me, he added, wistfully, "Perhaps, another time, I could be the one to see where it is that you call home."

"I don't see why not," I replied, surprising him. "We'll check back then. Come on, Zuko."

With a bit of a tug, the scarred teen followed me through, Mina following us a moment later, as I let go of the royal's hand, and he stumbled to a halt, rapidly looking around the space, frowning, before he turned around, his one good eye going wide with shock as he took in the massive edifice that was the Gate mechanism.

I didn't blame him, as the interlocking rings of dozens of materials, some clearly magical, all of them covered in arcane sigils, was quite a sight.

"Come on," I prompted after a few moments, the look of almost childish awe on Zuko's face reminding me that, for all that the hardships of a less-advanced society meant kids grew up faster, that same lifestyle left them a lot less prepared to truly handle the strange and the unknown.

It's why people like me were recruited, after all.

… Wait, what.

My thoughts crashed to a halt, because, what?

Recruited?

I wasn't recruited, I was, I…

Feeling that niggling feeling in the back of my head, part of me knew that, just like when I'd talked to All Might, I could probably grab that fluttering tag of incongruous thought and pull, but not only did it hurt like a bitch, as Mina had pointed out, I might be doing myself injury if when I tried, which, as I was doing it to myself, my Defenses wouldn't protect me from.

And, also, curling up and bleeding from every orifice was not what I wanted to do right now.

At least while I had guests over.

"Hey, PZ, why don't we go grab a bite to eat!" Mina questioned, and, as I glanced over at her, I saw her very carefully not looking my way.

She's covering for me, I realized, smiling, glad, once more, that she was mine, just as I was hers, and, let that errant, alien thought go, as it disappeared, likely going wherever it came from.

"Yeah, this is just the Gate room," I agreed, striding forward, and heading for the stairs. "Since you're gonna be hanging out, might as well give you the tour."

MHA

Three hours later, when I poked a head out of the Gate, which, thankfully didn't have any kind of hard-time limit, like the stargate it resembled, the swords had been flipped, and I waved Zuko through, the somewhat shell-shocked boy, with great care, but also relief, striding through it without a moment's hesitation.

The general shape of the Sweet Home was something he could understand, even if all of the devices within it were beyond him, but then Mina had decided to help him relax by making some popcorn and showing him her favorite movie.

Alien.

My hurried explanation of it as 'a way to see other worlds, in some ways like his and in some ways very much not the same,' had helped him contextualize what was happening on screen, as Mina hadn't run this by me, and she'd started to disagree, before she paused, and realized that I wasn't bullshitting, given the nature of the Infinite Multiverse, and watched the horrors of what Ripley and the rest of the crew of the Nostromo went through with a new perspective.

Giving her a significant look after the royal left, she smiled, though it was one full of cringing embarrassment.

"Sorrrry!" she whined. "I, uh, he, it really made the time go by?"

I groaned, shaking my head. "Well, at least we've got a cover for how we know what we do, just, you know, maybe keep in mind relative tech levels?"

"Will do, Sparky!" my lover saluted. "Uh, should we go?"

I sighed, "Yep, we've got an Avatar to save."

Heading out, it was easy enough to find the Royals, Iroh giving me an accusing look.

"We've got a way of looking into other worlds, we use it for fun, Mina thought it would help pass the time," I explained. Other than humans, there's no overlap between here and there, and even that's kinda iffy, as it was a world with no Benders.

"Those, those things aren't here?" Zuko demanded.

"Trust me, if you had a Xenomorph infestation, you'd know, as they eat worlds," I reassured him. "That was a one-off, encounter, but their Queens are… not subtle."

"Queens… a type of insect?" Iroh questioned.

"I, kinda?" Mina replied. "Huh, guess they are. 'Cause of the exoskeletons!"

I nodded, "They are, and they parasitize mammals of sufficient size as part of their reproductive cycle. Including humans. But," I continued, looking out the window, seeing nothing but clear seas, "that's not important. We through the blockade?"

Going with the topic change, the Dragon of the West nodded, "We are, and, Prince Zuko, you'll never guess who we ran into! None other than our old acquaintance, Admiral Zhao!"

"What?"

the younger royal snarled. "What's he doing here?"

"That's the thing, he does not know," Iroh smiled. "However, if Mr. Kaminari's warning is correct, he will see The Avatar soon enough, and follow him to Roku's temple. In order to deprive you of your quarry, my nephew, I could see the man wishing to slay the boy as well."

"Which is why we're here," I stated. "Those ships looked bigger, can we outrun them?"

Mina frowned, "Wouldn't bigger ships be slower?"

I shook my head, "No, it comes down to the length of the ship and the wavelengths it creates by its passage. Smaller ships can hit Plane speed, but they both need special hulls and," I glanced towards the back of the ship, "I'm not sure the Fire Nation has the force generation tech needed to make it work. But the longer the ship, the faster it can go before you hit the Hull and Hump speed thresholds. So," I turned back to Iroh, "can we outrun them? If we need to?"

"We can," Zuko answered for him. "This ship's old, but it's fast. It needed to be, if I was going to chase a sky bison."

"Our, erm, 'force generation' is not yet powerful enough to move a ship of war like one could a riverboat, if that is what I think you meant," the ex-General explained. "To think one could though…"

"Uncle, there are ships that go through space!" the prince gave, striding out of the room, and onto the deck.

"All ships move through space, nephew," the grey-haired man pointed out.

"No, I mean…" Zuko stated, pointing upwards. "Above the sky!"

The Dragon of the West paused, and glanced back at us, asking, "What did you show him?"

"Another world," I shrugged. "Give it a few hundred years, maybe a millennia or two, and your people might go there themselves, Iroh. Or give me, like, a week?"

Rolling her eyes, Mina replied, "Sparky, what'd you say about making spaceships?"

"Not until we graduate?" I replied. "But-"

"Nope!" my lover teased. "Not without Mei!"

I considered that, and all that implied, and… "Okay, fair."

"Another spirit?" the older man inquired.

"One of Innovation," I agreed. "But, Zuko, this is your mission, so you're taking lead. What's the plan?"

The plan was for the Wani to head past Roku's Island, towards Datare island, like it was using the first as a navigation aid for the second, a common enough practice for the eastmost island of the Fire Nation, and, once we were out of sight of the island, we'd drop its tender, and keep going. The smaller ship, meant to go ashore at shallower ports and navigate rivers, wasn't rated for deep oceans, but would be more than enough to get us ashore.

The Wani would continue, to Datare, and the trading town of Tazuka. That port worked as a resupply point for the Fire Navy and first point of contact for Earth Kingdom merchants, which, despite the hundred-year-war, came and went through civilian checkpoints, because trade never stopped. The Wani would go close enough to be spotted, before swinging wide, seemingly heading south to follow the island chain, and, once out of sight, come back to the tiny slip of rock that Roku's temple was on.

By then, the entire debacle at the Temple would be over, one way or another, and we'd take the tender boat back out, meeting up with Wani after night had fallen, whereupon it would high-tail it out north, out of Fire Nation waters and avoiding the blockade, allowing Zuko to escape without his violation of his Exile ever being noticed, while heading in the vague direction that Aang surely would be as well.

"Okay, so, real talk, there's a non-zero chance that Roku's gonna bury his own temple with a volcanic eruption," I stated, as we looked over the map, along with Lieutenant Jee, the actual Captain of the ship despite the prince being nominally in charge, and the three Marines that'd man the river steamer.

"Who?" the shipmaster questioned, disbelieving.

"It's an Avatar thing," I stated. "In places that resonate with their past lives, they can manifest themselves. Sort of like, possessing themselves, or something? I don't know the mechanics. Which," I added, sending a look Zuko's way, "is why this is a rescue mission, not a capture one."

"I know," the prince growled, pausing, brows knitting. "But, if that's true, then at Kyoshi Island…"

"Why didn't we get a pissed off Earthbender?" I guessed, the teen nodding. "Aang wasn't in mortal danger, and Kyoshi Village was a place that honored Kyoshi, not that special for the woman herself. The place where she created Kyoshi Island, however, would be."

With a grunt, Zuko noted, "Only an idiot would go to Chin Village, so that won't be a problem."

Tilting her head Mina asked, "Why?"

"Because they boil people in oil there," the prince stated. "For accidentally ending up in their harbor."

"And, like, you let them?" the Heroine demanded, horrified.

Clearing his throat, Iroh noted, "Chin Village is in the Earth Kingdom, and has been deemed a low-value location in terms of the war-effort."

"Because no one will trade with them, because they boil people in oil," Zuko reiterated. "Once I've captured the Avatar, and I become Fire Lord, I'll make sure they see justice. But for now, we don't have the force required to handle them, short of putting them all to the flame. And, with the Avatar back, we don't have the time either."

From the way that Jee shifted, it was clear that he didn't think Zuko would actually succeed, and, well, he was right, but it was interesting to know that. The older man noticing my gaze, and clearing his throat, stating, "In that case, you might have, to say, a hot evacuation?"

It was a terrible pun, but an unintended one, from the pained expression the professional seeming man gained at Iroh's grin hearing his statement.

"If that happens, pull the ship back. We'll swim to it, if we need to," Zuko instructed the soldiers, one wearing the helmet of a Firebender, the other two men looking unsure, but, looking to Jee, the older man nodded, and they relaxed a little. "Anything else?"

"All but one of the Fire Sages will try and kill the Avatar on sight," I stated, getting alarmed looks from the enlisted men, the one with the face-mask shifting uncomfortably. "That's why it's just going to be the three of us going in."

"Do you know who the other is?" Iroh questioned, and I had to shake my head.

"Sorry, no. He's, uh, younger, I think? Like, middle aged?" I offered.

"And the Sages, you are Spirits," the general questioned, trailing off.

Mina grinned, "Don't worry, Uncs! We've run into 'em before, and whatever they tried just bounced right off us!"

For a moment, it seemed like he'd say more, before he nodded, "If you are sure. We should be there in a few hours."

"Ohhh, that's long enough to watch the sequel!" Mina perked up. "Hey, PZ. Wanna come watch?"

"… sequel?" the boy questioned, warily.

"They don't get the warning from Ripley, and decide to colonize the planet," I informed him.

Eyes narrowing, "But, they needed diving suits to stand on its shores."

"They put down a device that changes the weather to make it survivable. Terrible storms in the process, which, also, hides the crashed ship full of eggs the Nostromo's crew found until after the colonists have settled in," I explained.

Blanching, and turning a little green, the younger Royal quickly replied, "No. No, I, have duties to attend to. Need to make sure everything is in order."

Iroh looked like he wanted to say something, so I instead asked him, "So, like, three hours?"

"Closer to four," he replied.

Nodding, I turned to Mina. "Okay, let's go. I'll make lunch."

"Ooohhh, can you make Takoyaki?" my girlfriend questioned, clapping her hands together. "And can ya make 'em look like Alien eggs?"

Trying not to laugh at the horrified look Zuko turned her way, and failed, reaching over to tussle her hair affectionately. "Sure, but next time we have someone from here over, let's stay away from sci-fi, okay? Maybe something with a bit of magic, and a lower tech level?"

"Oh, like Pirates of the Caribbean?" she questioned, Zuko perking up at that.

I wasn't sure a movie about criminals thumbing their nose at the English Empire would be his thing, but then again it was better than a horror movie. "Sure, next time. See you guys later!" I told the others, heading back to where our portal was.

While I would've liked to have gotten to things right now, 'Hurry up and wait' was the order of the day, and it wasn't like the ship would get there early.

"Special Edition?" my lover asked, as we stepped through the Gate, and headed up the stairs into our Home proper.

"Of course," I agreed.

"Hey, Sparky," the horned girl questioned, slowing slightly. "The movie, that really happened, didn't it? Somewhere?"

The look she sent me was concerned, and I sighed, putting a hand on her back, as I gently pushed her to continue heading up. "So, yes. Technically, every incarnation of everything is happening somewhere. It's the Infinite Multiverse."

Frowning, the Heroine asked, "Could we, could we save her? Save Ripley? Save Newt?"

…Ah.

"So, yes, technically, but really, no," I responded, getting a grumpy look from my lover. Shaking my head, I explained, "Mina, it, it isn't a single instance. It would be like asking if we could save Komori by going to a different version of your-" she poked me in the side, "-our world," I corrected. "That Komori would be fine, but ours would still be gone. Short of Resurrection magic, which is rare, and often comes with a lot of conditions, or time travel, which is even more complicated, you can't come back from that. In terms of Ripley, and Newt, we could save one version of them, once we've done enough in Avatar to open up a new Jump but there'd be an infinite number of them that we didn't."

"So," I repeated, "yes, technically we could, but really, no, we couldn't save 'them' in that sense, because the way things work, there will always be versions of them we didn't save."

We reached the top, and Mina followed me to the kitchen, which, as it did, knew what I wanted to make, the equipment out and the base ingredients ready, either laid out on the counter or at the front of the refrigerator. Heating up the pan, grabbing the butter to run over it, filling the divots, she finally spoke up.

"We save who we can."

Glancing over to her, she frowned, and was looking down at her clenched fists. "We can't save everyone. It's, it's too big. Like, tryin' ta save everyone in Japan, or even Tokyo, just on my own," she declared. "And, like, even All Might, when he was All Mighting everywhere, couldn't save everyone. So, we save who we can. But, if we ever can, like, go places without having to stay there, can we save Ripley and Newt?" she questioned, as I poured the mix into the sizzling pan, tossing pre-prepared octopus chunks into each depression, getting started on lunch.

"If we can, we will," I agreed. "But, remember, it's more than just what's shown in the movie. There's universes where they listen to Ripley, ignoring Ash, keep Kane under isolation, and when the chestburster shows up, they use the medbay's protocols to kill it with fire, solving the problem outright, while finding out that Ash would've gotten them all killed, and, hell, in one set, that discovery sets off societal change as they realize there's secret androids among them working for their corporate overlords. There's other worlds where the chestbursters gets ganked as soon as it shows up, others where it gets taken out by Dallas and his flamethrower, and still others where that first guy dodges the facehugger completely and they retreat without anyone dying at all."

Flipping the spheres, doing so dripped batter from the half-cooked middle parts to fill in the now-empty parts of the pan.

"Infinite wonder, and infinite horror, both exists out there, and what we can see is only the smallest glimpses of the Multiverse," I mused. "Hell, there's almost certainly some kind of sexy Xenomorphs out there."

Glancing at my girlfriend, she raised wiggled her eyebrows, while hefting her boobs, getting a chuckle out of me.

"No, not like that," I laughed, shaking my head, knowing she was trying to deflect away from the seriousness of the conversation with humor, which I could respect, as I often did the same thing. "And while you're certainly my Alien Queen, Pinky, that's not what I mean. So, yeah. Save who we can, get stronger, save more people, rinse and repeat."

Rotating the balls of dough once more, to get complete spheres, I grabbed a knife and sliced them open to resemble Xenomorph eggs. A spoonful of sauce in each would hopefully dry but still give it that shiny, wet look.

"So, queue up the movie?" I requested.

Springing over to me, Mina pulled my head down for a deep kiss, giving me a hug, and telling me, "Thanks Sparky."

"For you, anything," I replied, smiling, hugging her back, as we stood there for a moment, enjoying each other's presence, before she pulled away, and I let her, as she headed into the living room.

Looking at lunch, it wasn't the best, but it was an attempt.

And, at the end of the day, that's all we could do.

AN: Mina's enthusiasm often outstrips her wisdom, but she means well! As usual, the next four chapters are up on Pat-reon and Subscribestar!