Zukaang Week 2013: Day 3/4 - Spirits/Future
Zukaang Week Day 3/4: Spirits/Future
Title: Avatars of the Elements - Future Plans
Type: AU Fanfic
Characters: Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Jet
Rating: T
Warnings: long chapter, jumping narrative, changing POVs
Summary: Aang is a magical girl again. And Zuko and Jet finally do something villainous.
Of course returning to normalcy wasn’t going to be as simple as Aang expected. However, the Avatars did get a couple of weeks of normal life before the bad news came. When Sokka let the three heroes know he wanted to share some new information with them, Aang already started to have his doubts.
“I’ve been doing some scouting around town,” the otter told the trio once they’d gathered at Aang’s house. “And there’s been a slow increase in the dark energies here throughout the entire last week.”
“So you think there are some straggler spirits we need to beat up?” Toph queried, already sounding eager for a bit of a workout.
“I fear it might be worse than that, in fact I’m sure of it. I can feel it in my whiskers.” Sokka nodded his head to himself. “I suspect there might be another Phoenix General in town.”
“Another?” Katara repeated incredulously. “Are you saying someone’s going to try and…avenge Zhao or something?”
“I can’t be sure of their intentions but I definitely sensed a similar magical pattern to Zhao’s,” Sokka replied. “It could be we might have to fight through the Second and First Generals too to make the city completely peaceful again. If we’re lucky it’ll be the First Phoenix General himself.”
“How so?” Katara frowned thoughtfully. “You sound like you know a thing or two about these Generals.”
“Well, who do you think turned me into an Otter?” Sokka shot back defensively. “I wasn’t always cute and adorable; I used to be downright handsome and rugged. Indeed, girls would just flock to me.”
“I bet those girls weren’t all that special or numerous,” Toph said as she reached out to scratch Sokka under his chin. “If you ask me, this has to be an improvement. Humans are overrated.”
“I’d rather have opposable thumbs,” Sokka huffed. “Never mind that I was quite important back when I was human.”
“Oh.” Aang tilted his head, wonderingly; Sokka had never told much about what he used to be before becoming the Avatars’ guide. “What did you do?”
Sokka puffed out his chest self-importantly. “I used to be the Keeper of the Oldest Wisdom in the Halls of Wan Shi Tong.”
Aang stared at the otter in silence for a moment. After a while he finally admitted: “I have no idea what that means.”
The sound Sokka released was a mix between an incredulous snort and an offended scoff. “Trust me,” the otter insisted, “where I come from, it’s really impressive.”
“But what about the growing darkness you mentioned?” Katara suddenly reminded them all. “What can we do about that?”
“For now not much, since we have no idea what’s causing it or where it’s coming from,” Sokka frowned thoughtfully. “It might be best to just spread out and search the town for anything that looks or feels funny.”
“Yeah,” Toph punched her palm, clearly getting pumped up. “We already know their MO. They like to put up some new attraction to draw in lots of people to drain of life force, so we’ll need to be on the lookout for any new attractions.”
“If they’re still gathering life force,” Katara fretted. “What if they’re gathering an army to attack us with?”
“Then we need to bust down that army before it gets big enough!” Toph insisted confidently. “And make all other dark spirits think twice about going up against us.”
Katara still didn’t look entirely convinced. “I hope it’ll be that easy.”
“The sooner we find them, the lesser their forces will be, right?” Sokka piped in helpfully. “So let’s get to work and do our best so that we can be at peace again.”
“Not just for that,” Aang added, looking at Sokka. “We will undo whatever the First General did to you, Sokka. I promise.”
“Thanks, Aang, but you don’t have to promise me that.” Sokka wiggled his little paws playfully. “I’ve been this way a while now; I’ve gotten used to it. And I still draw in the ladies.”
“No, we won’t leave you like this.” Katara stood straight and tall, clearly ready for battle now that she saw a friend in need. “We’ll save the town and you too.” She glanced to her side to check on Toph, who nodded her head in agreement.
“What she said.”
“Well, if you put it like that…” Sokka titled his head to the side, regarding them all. “Then I’m all for it. Let’s get this show on the road!”
So they had a plan. For the first time since they had started this they all felt like they knew what they were doing.
--
Republic City by itself was actually a rather large city, but fortunately all of the Phoenix Kin activity had been stationed in the same prefecture. It did make sense that the Phoenix Kin would favour the area, however, as it was abundant with spiritual energy. The high spirituality of the area was also the reason all the Avatars had been found there.
The preoccupation the Phoenix Kin seemed to have with the place made it simple to divide the prefecture into sectors the heroes could individually cover. Still, the prefecture was large enough that a precise sweep of the area would take more than simply one afternoon. Especially since the dark energy in the air had gone completely unnoticed by the Avatars until Sokka had pointed it out.
The feeling wasn’t anything tangible, but there was a distinct sense of danger that permeated Aang’s senses as he searched the town for anything suspicious. He couldn’t find any discernible source for it even though he was spiritually rather sensitive. Of course, Aang was no where near Toph’s level in his sensitivity, even though the girl had been coaching him in using his magical senses.
Aang still hoped Toph’s training was enough as he picked a direction to follow, unsure if it would lead him to the source of the dark energy signature or if his unused senses were giving him wrong signals.
The ominous feeling strengthened when Aang neared the construction ground at the front of the shopping mall. They were putting in a fountain, so the place was covered in all sorts of machines and other clutter. Because of the ruckus the construction caused, the mall was a lot emptier than normal, but that day the place seemed practically deserted, Aang noted as he moved past the heavy machinery and through the doors.
Focused completely on locating the source of the darkness he was sensing, Aang completely missed someone coming up on him until a voice spoke from right beside him: “You shouldn’t be here, Aang.”
Aang jumped at the sudden voice and whirled around the see Zuko regarding him with a surprising amount of worry.
“Zuko?” Aang hadn’t expected to meet Zuko here of all places. Book-handling college student or not, Zuko should have been able to sense the darkness in the air. It was certainly causing all the other curious observers to clear out. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you outside your uncle’s bookstore.”
“Is this a crack about me being a hikikomori?” Zuko planted a hand on his hip, looking decidedly unimpressed. “If it is, don’t go into comedy. You’re clearly terrible at it.” The young man glanced around, clearly annoyed by something. “This place is no good right now, with what a mess it is. You’d be better off going downtown if you need to shop.”
“I’m not here to shop,” Aang blurted out before he realized that Zuko probably wouldn’t be amused to hear his real reasons for being there. “I just wanted to see how the construction was going.”
“Slowly.” Zuko was standing stiffly, on edge. Maybe he could feel the danger in the air. He pursed his lips in thought before releasing a sigh, apparently coming to a sort of decision. “Are you busy right now? I feel like getting to know the city better.”
Aang was startled by the suggestion. Zuko had rejected Aang’s suggestions for them to go out together, preferring to stay in the comfort zone of the bookstore. Aang considered his options. He would have preferred to have a peek into the pit the machines had dug to set the pipes for the fountain, he was almost certain the dark energy was coming from there, but it would be easier to do after nightfall when he had Katara and Toph as backup.
Smiling up at Zuko, Aang conceded: “That sounds like fun.”
--
The three Avatars and their otter sidekick did all come by at night fall and as they neared the construction site, Sokka told them that as far as he could tell, this was very likely the source of the darkness that had been slowly growing its influence in the city.
“It’s weird, though,” Sokka admitted as they studied the area from behind the corner. “I don’t see any Phoenix Kin prowling around despite this place being really thick with their energies by now. Never mind the fact that there isn’t anything here that should interest them.”
“So they aren’t gathering life force?” Katara specified and Sokka nodded his head in confirmation. “Then what are they after?”
“My guess is, it’s a trap.” Sokka’s tail was twitching, probably due to their proximity to the darkness. “I suggest you guys transform a safe distance away before going in.”
“To make sure they don’t notice us until we’re ready to punch their spying faces in, got it.” Toph grinned, clearly the one of them most pleased with the situation.
“Just be careful,” Katara told them all as they prepared to transform into their Avatar selves. “If these guys are targeting us instead of sources for life force, we need to work harder to keep our identities a secret.”
“Got it.” Aang nodded his head in agreement.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Toph huffed.
The three Avatars called forth their elements, the magic forming not only their battle gear but also the shroud that kept even people who were familiar with them from recognizing them. However, before they could head off to the construction site, Sokka stopped them once more.
“I almost forgot: you should probably have this, just in case.” The otter used his limited magic to conjure up a decorated armband. Sokka was capable of storing magical objects away from prying eyes and call them back with ease. This one it took Aang a couple of moments to recognize.
“That’s Zhao’s fire band,” Aang noted, hesitating a bit before grasping the item. “Why would you even want to save this?”
“So that no mortals get their hands on it,” Sokka answered easily, somehow not bothered by the source of the artefact. “This is a magical weapon, and so it’s infused with Zhao’s magic. If you find yourself in need of it, I’m sure you can use it to misdirect your enemies’ fire magic or even produce your own fire blasts in a real pickle.”
Aang regarded the band for several moments, indecisive. He remembered this golden armband. The way Zhao had brandished it had been the reason they had paid so much attention to his hand and noticed his phoenix tattoo to begin with. Could he really just go around using a dead man’s, a dead enemy’s weapon? It seemed just a bit too morbid.
“Let’s go.” Toph’s voice jolted Aang out of his thoughts and the Avatar of the Air turned to see his companions already heading off, Sokka having perched himself on his usual vantage point on Katara’s shoulders. Hurrying to catch up, Aang slipped the armband on without another thought.
When they neared the pit at the front of the mall, they immediately spotted the source of the dark energy. It was a large dark spirit that seemed to coil around its own dark energy. It was round with six limbs protruding out of it and it moved my rolling off one set of limbs to the other. Its face in turn rotated into the opposite direction, constantly staying the same way and scouting the environment. It was effective too, as the thing immediately noticed the heroes once they came out in the open.
“Look sharp, gang,” Sokka called out. “If this thing is the source of all that darkness we’ve been feeling, it’s most likely really strong.”
“I prefer them that way,” Toph declared with a wide grin before performing a boisterous swing with her arms. “Opal Barrage!”
The loose ground of the construction site was an ample source for earth-elemental attacks and Toph formed stone spikes effortlessly and stuck them right in the middle of the spirit. However, the spikes went right through the creature but didn’t seem to damage it.
“What the-“ Aang released a surprised yelp when the creature simply rolled out the spikes, apparently intangible. “We can’t touch it!”
“That’s so unfair!” Toph cried out in outrage. “All my attacks need contact!” She might have added something less polite but the spirits chose that moment to attack, spitting out a stream of bubbles. Toph tried to get out of the way, but even with her speed one of the bubbles popped against her arm.
“Augh!” This time Toph sounded hurt instead of upset. “They burn!”
“Away from it!” Katara ordered. “Lazuli Crust!” The stream of frost Katara blew at the creature was also ineffective, doing little but slightly scattering the dark energy, which quickly gathered back together. Apparently the energy couldn’t be frozen.
“You need to disrupt its energy field!” Sokka called out. “That’s the only way to hurt it!”
“Aang!” Katara called. “Let’s try a joint attack!” It was a good idea; Katara’s magic had almost had an effect on the monster, so adding Aang’s magic to it could be just the thing they needed to weaken the creature.
Positioning himself beside Katara, Aang readied his spell along with the girl. They both circled their arms into opposite directions until they were in synch before releasing their spells.
“Diamond Gust!”
“Sapphire Roil!” The wind vortex and water whorl hit the monster at the same time, tearing at its smoke-like form and pulling it into different directions. The creature ended up scattering into slivers of darkness that immediately started to seek out each other to form together again.
“Now, Aang!” Sokka yelled from Katara’s shoulder, straight into Aang’s ear. “Purify it while it’s weakened and send it packing!”
--
“You picked a very exceptional spirit to be their opponent,” Zuko commented as he and Jet observed the battle from his vantage point on the mall roof. “They have no idea what to do with her.”
“I actually picked her because she can’t mask her energy at all, being all she’s made of,” Jet confessed. “Although it’s working out really nicely. They won’t be expecting anything after such a hard battle and we’ll get to see them transform back into their unshielded forms.”
They watched the battle a few moments more and when the combined water and wind scattered the Kin creature, Jet noted that the Avatars were skilled to combine their magic in such a way. But then he felt the new spell in the air. And, judging from the way Zuko stiffened, the other did as well.
“Wait, you said that she’s made of energy.” Zuko turned to face Jet. “Did you mean entirely?”
“Yeah.” Jet nodded, not entirely sure why it was important suddenly. “Why do you ask?”
“Then if they purify her energy she’ll fade away!” Zuko snapped in outrage. “They’ll kill her!”
“It’s little more than an animal, Zuko,” Jet answered evenly. “It’s not big deal.”
Zuko’s eyes steeled; it was easy to see with the bright color of the eyes, even though the mask Zuko wore hid away most of his face besides the sharp golden eyes. Jet instantly realized what the other was about to do.
“Wait!” Jet reached out to stop Zuko but the other Phoenix Kin had leaped into the fray before Jet was halfway done executing the action.
“Stupid fast jerk…” the man growled to himself. “I’m sure that whole ‘never leave a man behind’ act is charming to some, but me it just pisses off.” The last words were punctuated by Jet readying his legs and also springing into action, following after his headstrong companion.
--
Aang was about to use his Crystal Purification when Toph suddenly crashed into him.
“Look out!” the girl cried out just as a new form joined them on the battlefield. The two Avatars twirled from the force of the girl’s rush but Aang eventually came to face the new arrival.
The first thing Aang noted was how blue the stranger was. While most of the outfit was dark hues, almost black, the man’s mask was a startling bright blue, smooth and blank outside of the eyeholes that revealed a pair of glowing golden eyes that marked the man as Phoenix Kin.
“That’ll be enough, Avatars,” the man spat harshly. “I won’t let you wipe out any of the kin.”
A second man landed on the ground beside the first one, this one dressed in earthy browns and greens. He grabbed the first male’s sleeve and breathed out: “Chill out, Boss.” The green-clad man also wore a mask, a green one with a golden crest on the forehead. The masks somehow gave Aang the impression of expressing rank, although he wasn’t sure how, exactly, since the blue one was apparently the one in charge.
This ‘Boss’ was completely different from Zhao, Aang realized. Maybe he could be reasoned with.
“I was just trying to send him back where he came from,” Aang explained. “That’s what happens when their energies get spent.”
“Yeah, yeah, fascinating,” the green Phoenix Kin spoke, before lifting a hand, palm up. “Forest Cage.”
Suddenly all three Avatars and their furred companion were enclosed inside a wooden cage that grew around them from the ground in a flash. They’d all become packed together when Toph had barrelled into Aang, making them easy to trap.
Toph immediately tried to beat the cage into pieces, encasing her fists in rock to make her hits more effective. However, the assault produced no result, the wood seeming alive as it grew and recovered where ever Toph managed to break it.
“See?” the green Phoenix Kin said to his companion. “This is why you keep me around. I’m the reasonable one.” He nodded towards the cage. “Use your Focus on them.”
Ready to take his comrade’s advice, the Boss lifted a hand with an armband decorating it, a blue stone glowing with a soft light in the night. Aang heard Sokka hiss out an expletive at the sight of the thing and Aang was struck with a recollection.
“That’s it!” The Avatar of Air gasped, lifting his hand and the golden armband wrapped around it. “Fire Blast!”
It worked. Aang paused for a moment in disbelief at the fire band doing what he wanted it to. But he was snapped back into action when Sokka called out: “We need to retreat! Now!”
The cage in front of them was ablaze, while the parts of it that hadn’t caught fire were quickly retreating from both the flames and the Avatars. They only had seconds before their enemies were right back on top of them. Aang whirled around to flee.
“No way!” Toph yelled out. “We can take these posers!” She didn’t get a chance to prove her words true or false, however, as Katara grabbed her arm and yanked her along as they fled into the darkness of the night.
“I have an idea!” Sokka had leaped off Katara’s shoulders and was rushing through the streets with incredible speed, tail shimmering lightly to guide their way. “Follow my lead!”
There were no further complaints from any of the Avatars and they all fled together.
--
“You know,” Jet said between coughs through the heavy smoke; magical wood always did burn rather messily. “This wouldn’t have happened if you still had your magic core.”
“Our leader required it,” was Zuko’s stiff response and Jet steamed silently. Why couldn’t Zuko see that their leader was utterly insane? Of all the people to send on this mission he chose Zuko, the one with the least magical power at the moment, what with the way their esteemed commander had pulled most of it out of Zuko’s soul with his own hands.
“Come on.” Zuko rushed off, knowing exactly what direction the Avatars had taken to despite the fire having stopped them from seeing their escape. “We can still catch them.”
It was obvious Zuko didn’t want to return to the long-exhausted topic, so Jet decided to let it lie for now as well as took off after his companion. They could sort through Zuko’s mess together after they stopped this additional stressor from causing Zuko more grief.
Zuko was the better tracker of the two, so he led the chase through the city, giving Jet an opportunity to think about their opponents. So far Jet wasn’t impressed with what he had seen of these Avatars. They didn’t seem like much of a challenge; they were sticking together instead of scattering, focusing on fleeing rather than fighting back. This was going to be a very short mission and foray into the human realm; soon they would have to return to their own shadowed world again. It was really disappointing, since he hadn’t even gotten a chance to see the entire city yet.
Jet watched Zuko rush through a small park ahead of him and scale over a wooden fence with speed and agility mortals could never imitate. However, on the other side of the fence, Zuko suddenly came to a stop, freezing in place and glancing around like he the trail had somehow gone stone cold in a second.
Following Zuko’s lead, Jet leaped over the fence and landed on the ground on the other side and instantly realized why Zuko had lost the trail. “Wow, they are tricky.”
Zuko stood with his arms akimbo, clearly more annoyed than impressed with the ingenuity. “Shut up.”
“No, seriously, that’s a brilliant move.” Jet grinned, enjoying the challenge he now saw these Avatars as. Not everyone would realize cutting through spiritually rich ground would hide any human presence.
Zuko merely growled unintelligibly, not appreciating the cleverness of their opponents. Then again, Zuko had never allowed himself to enjoy the chase despite his skills in tracking.
“There’s no way we’re going to find them now.” Jet still kept grinning, only spurred on by the way they had been foiled and not about to let Zuko’s surly nature ruin the game for him. He glanced around the tiny buildings and well-tended grounds. “The Avatars probably changed shape here and left in their normal forms.”
“Masking their magical essence in the process,” Zuko concluded, releasing a frustrated grunt. “I didn’t expect this level of impertinence.”
“Impertinence?” Jet glanced around the shrine grounds again. “Yeah, I guess it’s kinda impertinent, tracking through sacred ground like that. Genius too, though.”
“We’ll need a better trap for next time,” Zuko said and Jet shrugged.
“You’re the Boss, planning is your job.”
--
“That was brilliant, Sokka,” Katara gasped out once they were done catching their breath.
“Heh.” Sokka visibly preened. “Just proves to you I can do more than just stand still and look pretty.”
“Why did you insist we run away?” Toph queried sulkily. “That trap just caught us off-guard; we would have been ready for it a second time.”
“It had something to do with that armband the leader had, right?” Aang commented. “You panicked a bit when they whipped that out.”
“It was another artefact,” Sokka answered, climbing up Katara’s arm to the girl’s shoulders when she offered him her hand. “Like Zhao’s, it has specific magic imbued in it, only the nature of the magic is different.”
Reminded of the armband, Aang pulled it off his wrist, feeling a sense of freedom spread within him when he was rid of the thing he hadn’t wanted to carry in the first place. He held the item out towards Sokka, who made it vanish with a twirl of his tail.
“Zhao’s armband holds Fire Magic within it,” Sokka continued. “But that wristband this new guy had, it had a blue stone of Truth in it.”
“What does that mean?” Katara asked, to which Sokka replied: “It means it would have forced you instantly back into your real forms if it’s glow had touched you.”
“Wow,” Aang breathed out. “That’s…that’s a really powerful weapon.”
“That guy can strip us of our powers whenever he wants to,” Toph said, clearly dreading the thought of such powerlessness.
“And he could reveal our true identities,” Katara added. “We need to be extra careful around this new foe.”
“You’re right.” Aang nodded. “We’re going to need to be a ot more careful, and a lot more prepared in the future.” Or the new chapter of their adventure might end too soon and on a far too bleak note.
--
Author’s Notes: A couple of things about the chapter this time. Firstly, the spirit battle was originally supposed to be for the Spirits theme, but then I noticed that not only didn’t I know how to get the story to fit the Future theme, this thing was also growing too long to finish on time. So it’s now basically two themes in one, introducing the reader to the spirits in this universe as well as paving way for the future of the series. Haha, so clever.
Second thing, I really wanted to have them call out something akin to the “Make Up”s in Sailor Moon. However, after staring at my screen for nearly an hour without coming up with something suitably silly and catchy, I decided to leave their transformation phrases out. At least for now. I do accept suggestions on that front, though, in case this story ends up growing out of the Zukaang Week and into a proper series.
Title: Avatars of the Elements - Future Plans
Type: AU Fanfic
Characters: Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Jet
Rating: T
Warnings: long chapter, jumping narrative, changing POVs
Summary: Aang is a magical girl again. And Zuko and Jet finally do something villainous.
Of course returning to normalcy wasn’t going to be as simple as Aang expected. However, the Avatars did get a couple of weeks of normal life before the bad news came. When Sokka let the three heroes know he wanted to share some new information with them, Aang already started to have his doubts.
“I’ve been doing some scouting around town,” the otter told the trio once they’d gathered at Aang’s house. “And there’s been a slow increase in the dark energies here throughout the entire last week.”
“So you think there are some straggler spirits we need to beat up?” Toph queried, already sounding eager for a bit of a workout.
“I fear it might be worse than that, in fact I’m sure of it. I can feel it in my whiskers.” Sokka nodded his head to himself. “I suspect there might be another Phoenix General in town.”
“Another?” Katara repeated incredulously. “Are you saying someone’s going to try and…avenge Zhao or something?”
“I can’t be sure of their intentions but I definitely sensed a similar magical pattern to Zhao’s,” Sokka replied. “It could be we might have to fight through the Second and First Generals too to make the city completely peaceful again. If we’re lucky it’ll be the First Phoenix General himself.”
“How so?” Katara frowned thoughtfully. “You sound like you know a thing or two about these Generals.”
“Well, who do you think turned me into an Otter?” Sokka shot back defensively. “I wasn’t always cute and adorable; I used to be downright handsome and rugged. Indeed, girls would just flock to me.”
“I bet those girls weren’t all that special or numerous,” Toph said as she reached out to scratch Sokka under his chin. “If you ask me, this has to be an improvement. Humans are overrated.”
“I’d rather have opposable thumbs,” Sokka huffed. “Never mind that I was quite important back when I was human.”
“Oh.” Aang tilted his head, wonderingly; Sokka had never told much about what he used to be before becoming the Avatars’ guide. “What did you do?”
Sokka puffed out his chest self-importantly. “I used to be the Keeper of the Oldest Wisdom in the Halls of Wan Shi Tong.”
Aang stared at the otter in silence for a moment. After a while he finally admitted: “I have no idea what that means.”
The sound Sokka released was a mix between an incredulous snort and an offended scoff. “Trust me,” the otter insisted, “where I come from, it’s really impressive.”
“But what about the growing darkness you mentioned?” Katara suddenly reminded them all. “What can we do about that?”
“For now not much, since we have no idea what’s causing it or where it’s coming from,” Sokka frowned thoughtfully. “It might be best to just spread out and search the town for anything that looks or feels funny.”
“Yeah,” Toph punched her palm, clearly getting pumped up. “We already know their MO. They like to put up some new attraction to draw in lots of people to drain of life force, so we’ll need to be on the lookout for any new attractions.”
“If they’re still gathering life force,” Katara fretted. “What if they’re gathering an army to attack us with?”
“Then we need to bust down that army before it gets big enough!” Toph insisted confidently. “And make all other dark spirits think twice about going up against us.”
Katara still didn’t look entirely convinced. “I hope it’ll be that easy.”
“The sooner we find them, the lesser their forces will be, right?” Sokka piped in helpfully. “So let’s get to work and do our best so that we can be at peace again.”
“Not just for that,” Aang added, looking at Sokka. “We will undo whatever the First General did to you, Sokka. I promise.”
“Thanks, Aang, but you don’t have to promise me that.” Sokka wiggled his little paws playfully. “I’ve been this way a while now; I’ve gotten used to it. And I still draw in the ladies.”
“No, we won’t leave you like this.” Katara stood straight and tall, clearly ready for battle now that she saw a friend in need. “We’ll save the town and you too.” She glanced to her side to check on Toph, who nodded her head in agreement.
“What she said.”
“Well, if you put it like that…” Sokka titled his head to the side, regarding them all. “Then I’m all for it. Let’s get this show on the road!”
So they had a plan. For the first time since they had started this they all felt like they knew what they were doing.
--
Republic City by itself was actually a rather large city, but fortunately all of the Phoenix Kin activity had been stationed in the same prefecture. It did make sense that the Phoenix Kin would favour the area, however, as it was abundant with spiritual energy. The high spirituality of the area was also the reason all the Avatars had been found there.
The preoccupation the Phoenix Kin seemed to have with the place made it simple to divide the prefecture into sectors the heroes could individually cover. Still, the prefecture was large enough that a precise sweep of the area would take more than simply one afternoon. Especially since the dark energy in the air had gone completely unnoticed by the Avatars until Sokka had pointed it out.
The feeling wasn’t anything tangible, but there was a distinct sense of danger that permeated Aang’s senses as he searched the town for anything suspicious. He couldn’t find any discernible source for it even though he was spiritually rather sensitive. Of course, Aang was no where near Toph’s level in his sensitivity, even though the girl had been coaching him in using his magical senses.
Aang still hoped Toph’s training was enough as he picked a direction to follow, unsure if it would lead him to the source of the dark energy signature or if his unused senses were giving him wrong signals.
The ominous feeling strengthened when Aang neared the construction ground at the front of the shopping mall. They were putting in a fountain, so the place was covered in all sorts of machines and other clutter. Because of the ruckus the construction caused, the mall was a lot emptier than normal, but that day the place seemed practically deserted, Aang noted as he moved past the heavy machinery and through the doors.
Focused completely on locating the source of the darkness he was sensing, Aang completely missed someone coming up on him until a voice spoke from right beside him: “You shouldn’t be here, Aang.”
Aang jumped at the sudden voice and whirled around the see Zuko regarding him with a surprising amount of worry.
“Zuko?” Aang hadn’t expected to meet Zuko here of all places. Book-handling college student or not, Zuko should have been able to sense the darkness in the air. It was certainly causing all the other curious observers to clear out. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you outside your uncle’s bookstore.”
“Is this a crack about me being a hikikomori?” Zuko planted a hand on his hip, looking decidedly unimpressed. “If it is, don’t go into comedy. You’re clearly terrible at it.” The young man glanced around, clearly annoyed by something. “This place is no good right now, with what a mess it is. You’d be better off going downtown if you need to shop.”
“I’m not here to shop,” Aang blurted out before he realized that Zuko probably wouldn’t be amused to hear his real reasons for being there. “I just wanted to see how the construction was going.”
“Slowly.” Zuko was standing stiffly, on edge. Maybe he could feel the danger in the air. He pursed his lips in thought before releasing a sigh, apparently coming to a sort of decision. “Are you busy right now? I feel like getting to know the city better.”
Aang was startled by the suggestion. Zuko had rejected Aang’s suggestions for them to go out together, preferring to stay in the comfort zone of the bookstore. Aang considered his options. He would have preferred to have a peek into the pit the machines had dug to set the pipes for the fountain, he was almost certain the dark energy was coming from there, but it would be easier to do after nightfall when he had Katara and Toph as backup.
Smiling up at Zuko, Aang conceded: “That sounds like fun.”
--
The three Avatars and their otter sidekick did all come by at night fall and as they neared the construction site, Sokka told them that as far as he could tell, this was very likely the source of the darkness that had been slowly growing its influence in the city.
“It’s weird, though,” Sokka admitted as they studied the area from behind the corner. “I don’t see any Phoenix Kin prowling around despite this place being really thick with their energies by now. Never mind the fact that there isn’t anything here that should interest them.”
“So they aren’t gathering life force?” Katara specified and Sokka nodded his head in confirmation. “Then what are they after?”
“My guess is, it’s a trap.” Sokka’s tail was twitching, probably due to their proximity to the darkness. “I suggest you guys transform a safe distance away before going in.”
“To make sure they don’t notice us until we’re ready to punch their spying faces in, got it.” Toph grinned, clearly the one of them most pleased with the situation.
“Just be careful,” Katara told them all as they prepared to transform into their Avatar selves. “If these guys are targeting us instead of sources for life force, we need to work harder to keep our identities a secret.”
“Got it.” Aang nodded his head in agreement.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Toph huffed.
The three Avatars called forth their elements, the magic forming not only their battle gear but also the shroud that kept even people who were familiar with them from recognizing them. However, before they could head off to the construction site, Sokka stopped them once more.
“I almost forgot: you should probably have this, just in case.” The otter used his limited magic to conjure up a decorated armband. Sokka was capable of storing magical objects away from prying eyes and call them back with ease. This one it took Aang a couple of moments to recognize.
“That’s Zhao’s fire band,” Aang noted, hesitating a bit before grasping the item. “Why would you even want to save this?”
“So that no mortals get their hands on it,” Sokka answered easily, somehow not bothered by the source of the artefact. “This is a magical weapon, and so it’s infused with Zhao’s magic. If you find yourself in need of it, I’m sure you can use it to misdirect your enemies’ fire magic or even produce your own fire blasts in a real pickle.”
Aang regarded the band for several moments, indecisive. He remembered this golden armband. The way Zhao had brandished it had been the reason they had paid so much attention to his hand and noticed his phoenix tattoo to begin with. Could he really just go around using a dead man’s, a dead enemy’s weapon? It seemed just a bit too morbid.
“Let’s go.” Toph’s voice jolted Aang out of his thoughts and the Avatar of the Air turned to see his companions already heading off, Sokka having perched himself on his usual vantage point on Katara’s shoulders. Hurrying to catch up, Aang slipped the armband on without another thought.
When they neared the pit at the front of the mall, they immediately spotted the source of the dark energy. It was a large dark spirit that seemed to coil around its own dark energy. It was round with six limbs protruding out of it and it moved my rolling off one set of limbs to the other. Its face in turn rotated into the opposite direction, constantly staying the same way and scouting the environment. It was effective too, as the thing immediately noticed the heroes once they came out in the open.
“Look sharp, gang,” Sokka called out. “If this thing is the source of all that darkness we’ve been feeling, it’s most likely really strong.”
“I prefer them that way,” Toph declared with a wide grin before performing a boisterous swing with her arms. “Opal Barrage!”
The loose ground of the construction site was an ample source for earth-elemental attacks and Toph formed stone spikes effortlessly and stuck them right in the middle of the spirit. However, the spikes went right through the creature but didn’t seem to damage it.
“What the-“ Aang released a surprised yelp when the creature simply rolled out the spikes, apparently intangible. “We can’t touch it!”
“That’s so unfair!” Toph cried out in outrage. “All my attacks need contact!” She might have added something less polite but the spirits chose that moment to attack, spitting out a stream of bubbles. Toph tried to get out of the way, but even with her speed one of the bubbles popped against her arm.
“Augh!” This time Toph sounded hurt instead of upset. “They burn!”
“Away from it!” Katara ordered. “Lazuli Crust!” The stream of frost Katara blew at the creature was also ineffective, doing little but slightly scattering the dark energy, which quickly gathered back together. Apparently the energy couldn’t be frozen.
“You need to disrupt its energy field!” Sokka called out. “That’s the only way to hurt it!”
“Aang!” Katara called. “Let’s try a joint attack!” It was a good idea; Katara’s magic had almost had an effect on the monster, so adding Aang’s magic to it could be just the thing they needed to weaken the creature.
Positioning himself beside Katara, Aang readied his spell along with the girl. They both circled their arms into opposite directions until they were in synch before releasing their spells.
“Diamond Gust!”
“Sapphire Roil!” The wind vortex and water whorl hit the monster at the same time, tearing at its smoke-like form and pulling it into different directions. The creature ended up scattering into slivers of darkness that immediately started to seek out each other to form together again.
“Now, Aang!” Sokka yelled from Katara’s shoulder, straight into Aang’s ear. “Purify it while it’s weakened and send it packing!”
--
“You picked a very exceptional spirit to be their opponent,” Zuko commented as he and Jet observed the battle from his vantage point on the mall roof. “They have no idea what to do with her.”
“I actually picked her because she can’t mask her energy at all, being all she’s made of,” Jet confessed. “Although it’s working out really nicely. They won’t be expecting anything after such a hard battle and we’ll get to see them transform back into their unshielded forms.”
They watched the battle a few moments more and when the combined water and wind scattered the Kin creature, Jet noted that the Avatars were skilled to combine their magic in such a way. But then he felt the new spell in the air. And, judging from the way Zuko stiffened, the other did as well.
“Wait, you said that she’s made of energy.” Zuko turned to face Jet. “Did you mean entirely?”
“Yeah.” Jet nodded, not entirely sure why it was important suddenly. “Why do you ask?”
“Then if they purify her energy she’ll fade away!” Zuko snapped in outrage. “They’ll kill her!”
“It’s little more than an animal, Zuko,” Jet answered evenly. “It’s not big deal.”
Zuko’s eyes steeled; it was easy to see with the bright color of the eyes, even though the mask Zuko wore hid away most of his face besides the sharp golden eyes. Jet instantly realized what the other was about to do.
“Wait!” Jet reached out to stop Zuko but the other Phoenix Kin had leaped into the fray before Jet was halfway done executing the action.
“Stupid fast jerk…” the man growled to himself. “I’m sure that whole ‘never leave a man behind’ act is charming to some, but me it just pisses off.” The last words were punctuated by Jet readying his legs and also springing into action, following after his headstrong companion.
--
Aang was about to use his Crystal Purification when Toph suddenly crashed into him.
“Look out!” the girl cried out just as a new form joined them on the battlefield. The two Avatars twirled from the force of the girl’s rush but Aang eventually came to face the new arrival.
The first thing Aang noted was how blue the stranger was. While most of the outfit was dark hues, almost black, the man’s mask was a startling bright blue, smooth and blank outside of the eyeholes that revealed a pair of glowing golden eyes that marked the man as Phoenix Kin.
“That’ll be enough, Avatars,” the man spat harshly. “I won’t let you wipe out any of the kin.”
A second man landed on the ground beside the first one, this one dressed in earthy browns and greens. He grabbed the first male’s sleeve and breathed out: “Chill out, Boss.” The green-clad man also wore a mask, a green one with a golden crest on the forehead. The masks somehow gave Aang the impression of expressing rank, although he wasn’t sure how, exactly, since the blue one was apparently the one in charge.
This ‘Boss’ was completely different from Zhao, Aang realized. Maybe he could be reasoned with.
“I was just trying to send him back where he came from,” Aang explained. “That’s what happens when their energies get spent.”
“Yeah, yeah, fascinating,” the green Phoenix Kin spoke, before lifting a hand, palm up. “Forest Cage.”
Suddenly all three Avatars and their furred companion were enclosed inside a wooden cage that grew around them from the ground in a flash. They’d all become packed together when Toph had barrelled into Aang, making them easy to trap.
Toph immediately tried to beat the cage into pieces, encasing her fists in rock to make her hits more effective. However, the assault produced no result, the wood seeming alive as it grew and recovered where ever Toph managed to break it.
“See?” the green Phoenix Kin said to his companion. “This is why you keep me around. I’m the reasonable one.” He nodded towards the cage. “Use your Focus on them.”
Ready to take his comrade’s advice, the Boss lifted a hand with an armband decorating it, a blue stone glowing with a soft light in the night. Aang heard Sokka hiss out an expletive at the sight of the thing and Aang was struck with a recollection.
“That’s it!” The Avatar of Air gasped, lifting his hand and the golden armband wrapped around it. “Fire Blast!”
It worked. Aang paused for a moment in disbelief at the fire band doing what he wanted it to. But he was snapped back into action when Sokka called out: “We need to retreat! Now!”
The cage in front of them was ablaze, while the parts of it that hadn’t caught fire were quickly retreating from both the flames and the Avatars. They only had seconds before their enemies were right back on top of them. Aang whirled around to flee.
“No way!” Toph yelled out. “We can take these posers!” She didn’t get a chance to prove her words true or false, however, as Katara grabbed her arm and yanked her along as they fled into the darkness of the night.
“I have an idea!” Sokka had leaped off Katara’s shoulders and was rushing through the streets with incredible speed, tail shimmering lightly to guide their way. “Follow my lead!”
There were no further complaints from any of the Avatars and they all fled together.
--
“You know,” Jet said between coughs through the heavy smoke; magical wood always did burn rather messily. “This wouldn’t have happened if you still had your magic core.”
“Our leader required it,” was Zuko’s stiff response and Jet steamed silently. Why couldn’t Zuko see that their leader was utterly insane? Of all the people to send on this mission he chose Zuko, the one with the least magical power at the moment, what with the way their esteemed commander had pulled most of it out of Zuko’s soul with his own hands.
“Come on.” Zuko rushed off, knowing exactly what direction the Avatars had taken to despite the fire having stopped them from seeing their escape. “We can still catch them.”
It was obvious Zuko didn’t want to return to the long-exhausted topic, so Jet decided to let it lie for now as well as took off after his companion. They could sort through Zuko’s mess together after they stopped this additional stressor from causing Zuko more grief.
Zuko was the better tracker of the two, so he led the chase through the city, giving Jet an opportunity to think about their opponents. So far Jet wasn’t impressed with what he had seen of these Avatars. They didn’t seem like much of a challenge; they were sticking together instead of scattering, focusing on fleeing rather than fighting back. This was going to be a very short mission and foray into the human realm; soon they would have to return to their own shadowed world again. It was really disappointing, since he hadn’t even gotten a chance to see the entire city yet.
Jet watched Zuko rush through a small park ahead of him and scale over a wooden fence with speed and agility mortals could never imitate. However, on the other side of the fence, Zuko suddenly came to a stop, freezing in place and glancing around like he the trail had somehow gone stone cold in a second.
Following Zuko’s lead, Jet leaped over the fence and landed on the ground on the other side and instantly realized why Zuko had lost the trail. “Wow, they are tricky.”
Zuko stood with his arms akimbo, clearly more annoyed than impressed with the ingenuity. “Shut up.”
“No, seriously, that’s a brilliant move.” Jet grinned, enjoying the challenge he now saw these Avatars as. Not everyone would realize cutting through spiritually rich ground would hide any human presence.
Zuko merely growled unintelligibly, not appreciating the cleverness of their opponents. Then again, Zuko had never allowed himself to enjoy the chase despite his skills in tracking.
“There’s no way we’re going to find them now.” Jet still kept grinning, only spurred on by the way they had been foiled and not about to let Zuko’s surly nature ruin the game for him. He glanced around the tiny buildings and well-tended grounds. “The Avatars probably changed shape here and left in their normal forms.”
“Masking their magical essence in the process,” Zuko concluded, releasing a frustrated grunt. “I didn’t expect this level of impertinence.”
“Impertinence?” Jet glanced around the shrine grounds again. “Yeah, I guess it’s kinda impertinent, tracking through sacred ground like that. Genius too, though.”
“We’ll need a better trap for next time,” Zuko said and Jet shrugged.
“You’re the Boss, planning is your job.”
--
“That was brilliant, Sokka,” Katara gasped out once they were done catching their breath.
“Heh.” Sokka visibly preened. “Just proves to you I can do more than just stand still and look pretty.”
“Why did you insist we run away?” Toph queried sulkily. “That trap just caught us off-guard; we would have been ready for it a second time.”
“It had something to do with that armband the leader had, right?” Aang commented. “You panicked a bit when they whipped that out.”
“It was another artefact,” Sokka answered, climbing up Katara’s arm to the girl’s shoulders when she offered him her hand. “Like Zhao’s, it has specific magic imbued in it, only the nature of the magic is different.”
Reminded of the armband, Aang pulled it off his wrist, feeling a sense of freedom spread within him when he was rid of the thing he hadn’t wanted to carry in the first place. He held the item out towards Sokka, who made it vanish with a twirl of his tail.
“Zhao’s armband holds Fire Magic within it,” Sokka continued. “But that wristband this new guy had, it had a blue stone of Truth in it.”
“What does that mean?” Katara asked, to which Sokka replied: “It means it would have forced you instantly back into your real forms if it’s glow had touched you.”
“Wow,” Aang breathed out. “That’s…that’s a really powerful weapon.”
“That guy can strip us of our powers whenever he wants to,” Toph said, clearly dreading the thought of such powerlessness.
“And he could reveal our true identities,” Katara added. “We need to be extra careful around this new foe.”
“You’re right.” Aang nodded. “We’re going to need to be a ot more careful, and a lot more prepared in the future.” Or the new chapter of their adventure might end too soon and on a far too bleak note.
--
Author’s Notes: A couple of things about the chapter this time. Firstly, the spirit battle was originally supposed to be for the Spirits theme, but then I noticed that not only didn’t I know how to get the story to fit the Future theme, this thing was also growing too long to finish on time. So it’s now basically two themes in one, introducing the reader to the spirits in this universe as well as paving way for the future of the series. Haha, so clever.
Second thing, I really wanted to have them call out something akin to the “Make Up”s in Sailor Moon. However, after staring at my screen for nearly an hour without coming up with something suitably silly and catchy, I decided to leave their transformation phrases out. At least for now. I do accept suggestions on that front, though, in case this story ends up growing out of the Zukaang Week and into a proper series.