Fighting Fire - Part 2
Fighting Fire
Written by ocelot_l
Rated PG-13
Warnings: Bad Language, Violence, Violence Against a Minor
Pairings: Hints of Linkara/Spoony
Summary: TGWTG/Avatar: The Last Airbender Fusion; Born as a prince of the prosperous Fire Nation, Critic should be living a charmed life filled with every comfort he could ever desire. His twin brother, Guy, feels otherwise.
Word Count: 13, 115
Based on a piece of art by obnoxiousamy
A/N: I adored Amy's gorgeous art of Critic and Guy fighting! The colors were so vibrant and cheerful that I couldn't help gazing at it several times a day as I wrote! I knew where in the story I wanted to place the battle, so I wrote that first and then the rest of the story. I hope Amy and all of you enjoy it! :)
“Alright, Linkara, get your butt up and over here!” a tall man dressed in grey robes decorated with green patterns and bronze edges called out as he stomped his bare foot upon the ground. He also wore a black mask across the top of his face that completely covered his eyes, but despite this seeming hindrance, he walked confidently across the ground until he reached the side of a gigantic brown bear, which was sleeping peacefully. Atop the giant bear was a slightly chubby, tattooed teenage boy dressed in robes of brown, gold, and red.
“Alright, Todd, I’m coming. No need to get annoyed.” Linkara waved his hands in front of him to create a small ball of swirling wind that he promptly jumped atop of and rode around on as if it were some sort of vehicle. He circled the slumbering bear a few times before performing a loop-de-loop in the air and finally landing gracefully in front of Todd.
Todd seemed less than impressed, mostly because he couldn’t see anything that had just occurred. “I wouldn’t be annoyed if you spent less time playing with your giant teddy bear or trying to hit on your waterbending teacher and more time actually learning about an element you haven’t mastered yet.”
“Shut up, I am not hitting on anyone,” Linkara replied, though his reddened cheeks seemed to imply that he was not being entirely honest.
“You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?” Todd asked, pressing his foot more firmly into the ground. “I can feel vibrations in the ground that tell me-”
“Yeah, yeah, you can feel frigging vibrations and know everything about everything,” Linkara snarked, trying to overcome his embarrassment with annoyance. “Look, Todd, I promise I’ll work harder with earthbending, so please don’t joke about that again. I’m afraid he might overhear you and get the wrong idea.”
“I’m pretty sure he has the same idea about you wanting to jump his bones that the rest of us have.”
“Todd!”
“Okay, fine, I won’t bring it up again.” Todd sighed and adjusted his mask before he moved his body into the proper earthbending formation. “Copy me, Linkara, and then shut that big trap of yours. Today’s lesson is about listening to the earth and learning what she has to tell you. You can find out anything you need to know by letting her speak to you.”
“Okay.” Linkara copied Todd’s stance and he closed his mouth, as well as his eyes. The two stood like that for some time in relative silence before Todd abruptly shifted positions so that he was now facing Linkara.
“Pop quiz time! Listen to the earth and avoid the huge chunks of it that I am going to be sending your way!” Todd instructed as he stomped loudly upon the ground, sending large pieces of it into the air before him. “Oh, and in case it wasn’t obvious, don’t open your eyes, Linkara. If I sense you peeking even just a little bit, I’m shaving that bear of yours so it stops shedding on me every night.”
“You leave Bearra alone!” Linkara demanded before instinctively ducking as a chunk of earth zoomed directly toward his head. “Holy Gyatso! I did it!”
“Yeah you did,” Todd said with a snicker as he kicked three more chunks of ground toward Linkara. “Now do it again, or I’ll mess up that pretty face of yours, and no one will let you jump their bones.”
“Damn it, Todd!”
“Hey, I thought monks weren’t supposed to swear.”
“We’re also not supposed to kick peoples’ asses, but I’ll do that too if you don’t shut up!”
Linkara continued to dodge, swivel, duck, and dive for cover as he avoided every obstacle Todd sent his way. It was a very impressive feat to witness. So impressive that the two Water Tribe brothers, who had finally returned from the nearby river with pouches of water and baskets of fish, stopped in their tracks to observe them for a few moments.
Eventually, the younger brother smoothed out the front of his bright blue robes and started walking toward the campsite. “Looking good, Linkara. I think you’ll master earthbending much faster than you did waterbending.”
“Spoony! I didn’t know you were back!” Linkara’s eyes shot open as he whirled around to gaze happily at the black-haired young man. His gaze was in fact so intent, that he completely missed the last small boulder hurtling toward the back of his head. “Ow! Damn it Todd!”
“Todd, what the fuck are you doing!” Spoony dropped his baskets at once and hurried over to Linkara’s side.
“I told him I’d know if he tried to peek,” Todd replied, plopping onto the ground and crossing his arms like a petulant child. “It’s not my fault he can’t follow his teacher’s rules.”
“A normal teacher wouldn’t bludgeon his students and potentially give them life-changing head injuries!” Spoony snapped. His eyes quickly widened when he saw a few drops of red fall onto the ground from the back of Linkara’s head. “Oh shit! You’re bleeding!”
“I-it’s okay, Spoony, it doesn’t even hurt that much,” Linkara said, trying to sound casual despite having a somewhat gaping head wound. “It was just an accident, so please don’t get too upset.”
“After I know you’re okay, I’m going to murder that earthbending idiot,” Spoony muttered as he uncapped the water skein he always carried at his side. After a quick flick of his wrist, he manipulated a small ball of water out of the pouch and into the air before slowly maneuvering it toward the back of Linkara’s head. “Move your hands, Linkara,” he requested in a calmer, gentler voice. “I’ll patch you right up so you can get back to saving the world and all that good shit.”
“Thanks, Spoony.” Linkara lowered his arms and sighed softly as the water pressed against his wound, closing it almost instantly “You’re a lifesaver, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know.” Spoony gave a gentle stroke of his fingers to the newly healed patch of skin on Linkara’s head, seemingly not noticing how the Avatar shivered at the touch. “Has this stopped hurting, Linkara?”
“It has. I’m good to go again.” Linkara glanced down at his blood-stained fingers then. “Well, I will be after I wash up. Let me just take a quick air-scoot to the river and-”
“That’s pointless,” Spoony interrupted as he reached out to grab Linkara’s hands. “It’s much easier to just let me do this.” He bended another small ball of water around Linkara’s fingers while still holding onto his wrist, though he needn’t have done that, since Linkara was so entranced by the whole interaction that he wouldn’t have had the strength to move his arm at all if he’d wanted to.
The two remained like that, almost frozen in place, until a cackle from next to the campfire made them both jump.
“Honestly, can’t you lovebirds take those come-hither looks into the tent, so you don’t cause the rest of us to lose our lunches over them?” The young man who’d called out wore matching blue robes of the Water Tribe, but he also sported spectacles with swirly lenses and a cloak as white as snow. He seemed very pleased with himself as he sat on a log and fiddled with a long, thin metallic device of some sort.
“Shut the fuck up, Insano, or I’ll smack your ass all the way back to the South Pole!” Spoony cried as he manipulated the ball of water into a thin whip, which he promptly lashed in the direction his brother was sitting.
“Ahh! Stop it, Spoony!” Insano cried toppling over backwards in his attempt to avoid being struck. “It’s unfair to use your freaky waterbending on a normal human like me!”
“What’s wrong, Insano?” Spoony teased as he recalled the water into his skein and capped it once more. “Haven’t you invented something yet that will let you fight on the level of a bender?”
“Actually, on that count you are correct!” Insano continued fiddling with the metallic device for a moment before he held it into the air triumphantly.
“Behold!”
Linkara and Spoony approached Insano, and his device, bearing expressions of curiosity mixed with skepticism. “What is that thing?”
“It sure looks weird.”
“I think it looks fantastic,” Todd called from his position a few feet away. Insano turned to grin at him.
“Thank you! At lease someone around here appreciates true genius-oh.” Insano’s smile fell when he realized Todd was chuckling and his face turned very red. “Stop pretending you have the gift of sight, damn you!” he snapped before turning back to the others. “Be properly amazed by my metallic grabby-thingy or I will not support you during your venture tomorrow, Spoony!” Insano squeezed down on his end of the device as he spoke, causing the other end to open and close in a similar manner to a crab’s claws.
Spoony’s eye twitched but he forced himself to smile. “Okay, Insano. This is a very impressive invention you’ve got here,” he said, gingerly petting the item with his fingertips. “I’m sure you’ll be able to snatch many things from our enemies with this, and cause them to become distracted enough to defeat them. We are all very amazed by your genius.”
Linkara looked away and covered his mouth so he wouldn’t start laughing out loud. Insano didn’t seem to notice and was suitably pacified by his brother’s words so he nodded at him and lowered the grabby-thingy without further incident.
“You really know how to calm him down,” Linkara told Spoony as they walked back toward the training area.
“I’ve been doing it since I was little,” Spoony replied with a shrug. “It’s no big deal.”
“So, what’s this venture Insano was talking about you wanting to do tomorrow?”
“Along our way to the river, Insano and I passed by a village where several of the buildings were charred or destroyed, leaving nothing but ashes behind,” Spoony explained, his face tightening as the memory returned to him. “It was supposed to be a neutral area but the Fire Nation attacked it anyway and a lot of its citizens are badly burned and fucked up and shit. I thought it might be nice if Insano and I visited them tomorrow. I don’t know how much we can do, but my waterbending should be able to help some of those poor bastards, and Insano might be able to fix up some of their broken things too.”
Linkara gazed at Spoony with eyes that glowed softly with pride and affection for him. “That’s a great idea, Spoony. In fact, we should all go and see if we can help the villagers.”
“But what about your training, Linkara?” Spoony looked to him in concern. “If you plan to master earthbending, you have to keep working at it every day.”
“Eh, one day off to help out some people in need won’t hurt me,” Linkara replied with an air of confidence.
“Yeah, but your asshole of an earthbending teacher might.”
“I heard that, sugar lips! Prepare to eat dirt!” Todd leapt to his feet and started chucking balls of dirt at Spoony.
“Shit! Damn you, Todd! Prepare to eat mud!” Spoony unleashed his skills once again, allowing small spheres of water to collide with the dirt balls, which formed mud explosions that splattered all over not only the warring benders but Linkara and Insano as well. In no time, the four travelers were engaged in an all-out mud war and laughing their heads off.
From his position atop a rock a few miles from the Avatar and his companions, Critic watched their actions through the binoculars he’d purchase after saving up a month’s tips from the last tavern he’d worked at. He watched them, his fingers curling tightly around the barrels of the binoculars, watched them laugh and run and play as if they hadn’t a worry in the world. Critic quickly seethed at their carefree existences with anger and jealousy.
“Ah, youth,” the Other Guy sighed from his position resting against a large boulder three feet away. Despite not having moved from that spot for hours, he had the inexplicable ability to determine exactly what was happening in the Avatar’s camp. “Friendship, innocence, young love. A toast to those who have learned to treasure such transient joys.” He lifted his sake glass, clinking it against the air, before tossing it back with a satisfied gulp.
“They’re not much younger than we are, Brother,” Critic muttered with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention back to the group. “But they are infinitely dumber than we are. Look at the way they go about their little lives without even thinking to worry about the danger they could be in! The Avatar’s just screwing around down there, out in the open, practically helpless with only those three numbskulls for protection. That makes it the perfect time to launch our attack and capture him for good!”
“Isn’t that what you said two weeks ago at the Kolau Mountains?” the Other Guy asked as he brought the glass to his lips once again. “And what you said a month ago at Full Moon Bay? And two months ago at the Great Divide? And-”
“Okay, I get it!” Critic snapped, his eyes still trained on the travelers. “I’ve fucked up a lot because I’m a giant fuck-up! Are you happy now, Brother?”
“Stop that, Critic. I’ve never considered you a screw-up.” The Other Guy set his glass down before reaching over to gently lower Critic’s binoculars. Critic noticed his unhappy expression and automatically lowered his head as well, feeling guilty over upsetting him. “You should know that too by now. Think about your life and all the things you’ve accomplished. You are a wonderful firebender, an amazing artist, and a skilled writer, especially when it comes to critiquing the works of others.” Critic blushed at his brother’s words while simultaneously feeling surprised, because he’d always tried to keep his artistic talents a secret. Undeterred by his discomfort, the Other Guy reached into his mud-brown robes and withdrew three items that stole Critic’s breath away.
“How did you get these?” Critic took the paintbrush, with a handle of bamboo and soft bristles of lop-eared rabbit fur, and the small pot of fine black ink, and held them carefully in his hands, worried that even the slightest bit of rough treatment could damage either.
“You didn’t think I spent all of my earnings on booze now, did you?” the Other Guy teased, his eyes twinkling. He held up the third item, which Critic hadn’t taken, and revealed two white pieces of parchment with thin, black writing upon them. “I’ve also bought us two tickets to the Coal Dust Theater tonight. There’s a production of ‘DragonMan’ playing and I thought you might like to attend it with me. I’m dying to know if this production will be any better than the one we saw when we were kids.”
“They’re performing ‘DragonMan’?” Critic asked, looking puzzled. “But that’s a Fire Nation story. Why would it be performed in this mud hole?”
“I’m not really sure why, but it might have something to do with how most of the actors, while claiming to be Earth Nation citizens, would find themselves more at home on Ember Island,” the Other Guy said with a wink. He always seemed to know the latest goings-on, no matter where the two ended up. “So what do you say, Critic? Shall we head back to the stables and make ourselves presentable?”
Critic gazed at the tickets longingly, a strong yearning for the comforts and familiarity of his home country taking hold of him. Then he glanced back at the campsite below. “But the Avatar… he’s right there.”
“And he’ll still be there tomorrow,” the Other Guy countered, tracing the edge of the tickets with one finger. “We can take one night off to enjoy ourselves. Come on, it’ll be like when we were younger and you and I skipped out on history tutoring so we could go outside and play.”
“That was fun,” Critic admitted, smiling as he thought back upon the memory. “Especially since Guy never came, not that we could have dragged him away from those lessons anyway.”
“I’m sad to say you’re right about that,” the Other Guy said, a frown slowly forming upon his face. He set down his tickets, as Critic did his ink and brush, and pressed his hands together. “Guy was always entranced by details of the atrocities the Fire Nation committed in the name of spreading our prosperity. I’m afraid he stored up every piece of information about weapons and battles he could while missing out on how many people’s lives were forever changed because of us. Whenever I hear about his advances upon the Earth Nation nowadays, I feel sickened knowing that he is the general all other Fire Nation soldiers look up to.” The Other Guy’s hands had now tensed into fists, but Critic was too stunned by his words to notice.
“Mother has made him a general with that much power?” he asked, unable to comprehend this notion. “But Guy is so young! He doesn’t have the battle experience the other generals have!”
“He instead possesses some traits that most of our soldiers lack,” the Other Guy grimly confessed. “A cunning mind and a lack of conscience that gives him the potential to achieve anything he wants to. Guy is strong and ruthless not when he needs to be, but when he wants to be. I’m sure Mother could not be any prouder of a son than she is of Guy,” he said softly, his tone bitter.
“He’s not so great.” Critic twisted the binoculars around his fingers, his shoulders tense, his forehead creased with worry. “If he was so powerful, he would have captured the Avatar himself and wouldn’t have begged me to do it.”
“I’m sure Guy knows that trying to capture the most powerful being in the world is a fool’s errand,” the Other Guy said, reaching for his sake bottle and pouring himself another small glass. Critic’s eyes narrowed as he felt a warm flash of something pass through his chest.
“Are you calling me a fool, Brother?”
“What?” The Other Guy’s eyes widened and he turned to Critic, setting his alcohol aside for now. “No, of course not. That’s not what I meant, Critic.”
“So what did you mean?” The warm flash inside his chest pulsated and grew into a moderate ball of heat that quickly spread through Critic’s veins. “Because it sounds like you think trying to reclaim my honor is a foolish idea. Actually, I think you’ve been thinking that ever since we left the Fire Nation, so you must have thought I’ve been acting like an idiot for years!”
“Critic, stop that,” the Other Guy commanded. The look in his eyes seemed angry but also very tired. “You know I don’t think anything like that about you. I just don’t like that you’re pinning all your hopes and dreams for the future to the act of capturing the Avatar. You can’t just place all your feelings of self-worth into achieving only one goal in life, Critic. That isn’t healthy. What if you never manage to capture him? Will you never feel fulfilled because there was one thing you weren’t able to accomplish?”
“It’s not just one thing, Brother!” Critic snapped. His heart was racing and the blaze inside his body was growing hotter the longer he thought back upon his life. “I’ve failed to accomplish so many things! I never did well during my lessons! I skipped out on important meetings to run around like a fucking idiot! No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I faced him, I could never beat Guy with my firebending! You said it yourself, I could never be the son Mother wanted!” Critic’s lip quivered slightly at this admission, but he maintained his composure. “I’ve… I’ve failed her.”
“No, Critic. She failed you.” The Other Guy’s expression was calm, but behind his tired eyes, Critic could see a darkness, a hatred that he had never witnessed inside him before. “She failed as your mother, by making you feel so inferior, and she’s failed as a leader of the Fire Nation. Her plan to spread the glory and wealth of our homeland across the world has only succeeded in hurting innocent people, destroying cities and homes and families in the process. Fire Lord Hagan is a failure, Critic. She will be remembered throughout history not as our powerful ruler, but as the woman who ruined countless lives and who almost killed her son for the pettiest of reasons. The world will see her for the monster she is one day.” The Other Guy sighed and looked down, spinning his sake glass around his fingers. “I only pray that the next heir to the throne does not share in her desire for power and chaos, but I know in my heart that Guy will be the strongest, most terrible firebender of all. I fear no one will ever be able to stop him.”
“Shut up, Brother.”
The Other Guy’s eyes widened in confusion when he heard the coldness in his brother’s words. He looked to Critic, blinking slowly as he tried to comprehend why he seemed to be staring at him with such venom in his gaze. “Critic, I-”
“You’ve always thought Guy was better than me,” Critic interrupted, small flickers of fire starting to burn from his fingertips. “You’ve always thought he was stronger, smarter, more powerful than me. I know it, and I’m fucking sick of it!”
“Critic, please listen to me,” the Other Guy begged, his eyes darting toward the ever-increasing flames encircling Critic’s fingers. “You know that’s not true. I’ve always supported and encouraged you-”
“You’ve always sheltered me because you think I’m weak!” Critic snapped, rising to his feet as the air around the two grew uncomfortably warm. “Even when you were still a kid yourself, you made sure to always come to your pathetic little brother’s rescue because he couldn’t fucking do anything for himself!”
The Other Guy vigorously shook his head. “Critic, no, you have it wrong-”
“You just said yourself that Guy will become the strongest firebender of all!” Critic raged. “You clearly believe I have no chance of ever beating him, no chance of ever being considered for the throne!”
“Critic, please!” Now the Other Guy was standing, his hands at his chest, fingers outstretched, palms facing Critic as he tried to calm him down. “I’ve never thought you were unworthy to rule the Fire Nation! I just don’t understand why you’d want to… you should feel relieved to be free…”
“Don’t tell me how to feel, Brother!” Critic raised his hands and shot out a medium sized fireball high into the sky before aiming at the Other Guy. “You don’t know how I feel! You don’t care about how I feel! All you care about is your stupid fucking sake and doing chores for ungrateful mud-monkeys who think you’re a fucking joke! You don’t care about restoring your honor or about capturing the Avatar, so why are you even here? Just go back to your fucking hole in the wall and drink yourself into a stupor, Brother, since we both know that’s what you’d rather be doing!”
“Critic!” But Critic refuse to hear anything else his brother had to say. He ran down the hill, toward where they’d left their ostrich-horses, untied his, and took off at a gallop in the direction of the Avatar’s camp.
----
Many hours later, when the sky was ink dotted with slivers of light, Critic limped into the stables he and his brother had been calling home for the past week. He tied up his just as tired ostrich-horse and groaned as he rubbed at his aching shoulder.
“Fucking Avatar. Why the hell did he have to practice his new earthbending skills on me?” Critic took a swig of the water in the drinking trough before hobbling over to the last stall in the structure, where an enormous stack of hay served as a bed for himself and the Other Guy. It was pitch dark inside the building, so Critic groped his way into a comfortable position before closing his eyes and sighing. He didn’t hear a sound from the other side of the stack and assumed his brother had either drank until he’d passed out, as Critic had earlier predicted, or was too upset by said earlier prediction to say anything to him. Either way, Critic was thankful for the silence and easily drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning arrived much too quickly for Critic’s liking and he groaned as he sat up, feeling even more soreness in his shoulder and ankle. He was even having trouble standing this time, so Critic swallowed his pride and opened his mouth.
“Nnngh… Brother… please come help me,” he called, wincing slightly as the sun shone into his eyes. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Please forgive me.”
His pleas were met with only silence. Critic sighed and tried once again to stand, but his ankle buckled under his weight and fell back onto the haystack, whimpering pathetically.
“Please, Brother. I fucked up again, really badly. The Avatar did a number on me and I don’t know if I can walk. I’m sorry for hurting you, but I really need you right now.”
Again, Critic’s words were met with silence. Critic took in a few labored breaths before forcing himself upright once more. He managed to stay standing this time and hopped on his uninjured foot around the edge of the haystack. “Brother! I really… really need you now.”
Critic’s expression drooped when he realized he was talking to empty air. The Other Guy was nowhere to be found and, to Critic’s greater confusion, neither were his clothes, scrolls, and traveling bag. The only thing left on his side of the stall was a single scroll of parchment bound with one of the Other Guy’s hairbands. Critic hopped toward it and thankfully managed to snatch it up without falling. He eagerly undid the scroll and read the brief message it contained.
Critic,
I am sorry for everything that has happened. I believe it would be best if we parted ways for a while. I will be gone before you wake. Don’t try to find me.
The Other Guy
Critic’s fingers started to shake so badly that the scroll almost slipped through them. This couldn’t be happening, couldn’t be real. His brother couldn’t be gone. He was never gone, never far from Critic.
“He said-he said he wouldn’t leave me,” Critic murmured, his eyes starting to water. “I know I said some awful things to him, but I never meant them. I never wanted him gone. Brother, please… come back.” Critic lowered his head, sniffling softly as the tears started to slide down his cheeks. His grip on the edges of the scroll tightened, wrinkling the paper until it was ready to tear. Critic was glad for this. He opened his eyes and stared down venomously at the message, wishing he could erase it with his eyes as he started to rip it apart, not wanting to look at it ever again. Then he noticed something peculiar about the bottom right corner of the scroll. The very tip of it was charred black, as if someone had held a lit match to the edge of the paper for a moment. Or not a match, but maybe… a finger. At once, Critic’s eyes darkened and he gritted his teeth as he tried to hold back his rage.
“Guy. I won’t let you get away with this!”
----
Insano yawned and stretched his arms out over his head. It had been a long night filled with more fighting than sleeping, and he knew that none of his traveling companions would be at their best for a while. Since they were still dozing at the moment, Insano had decided to use this free time to scout the area for any materials he might use for future inventions. He had a few ideas in mind that might prove useful if only he could get his hands upon a set of handcuffs, some spark rocks, and a bottle of dried nettles.
Before Insano could take a single step outside the camp, however, he was assaulted by a figure that popped out of the bushes and tackled him to the ground with a mighty roar that shook the still, morning air.
“Ahhh!” Insano shrieked, flailing at the assailant in a rather pitiful manner as he tried to grab his metallic grabby-thingy from his pocket. “Unhand me at once, you cretin! Hey! Someone with freaky bending powers! Your assistance is needed at once, you abominations of nature!”
“Insano, what the fuck are you yelling about now?” Spoony complained as he walked out of his tent rubbing his eyes. Eyes that quickly widened when he saw his brother on the ground under an attacker. “Hey! Leave him alone!”
“What’s happening?” Todd asked, also peeking out of his stone-tent, while Linkara hopped off the back of Bearra and rode his swirling ball of air over to where Spoony was struggling. He growled softly when saw what was happening.
“It’s Critic again.”
“What, really? I can’t believe he’s still trying to attack us after the ass-whooping we gave him last night,” Todd said as he started towards the struggling figures as well. “I guess that means he’s ready for round two.”
Spoony and Linkara arrived at Insano’s side just in time to watch as Insano escaped out from under Critic and managed to shove the firebender face-first into the dirt.
“Get back, Insano!” Spoony commanded as he lifted his arms high into the air, water swirling around his fingers menacingly, but he lowered them when he felt a hand descend upon on his shoulder.
“Spoony wait,” Linkara told him before pointing to where Critic lay, still in the dirt, softly panting. “He doesn’t look like he’s in the mood for a battle. Actually, he doesn’t look very good at all.”
Linkara squatted down to peer more closely at Critic, who by now was very pale and covered in sweat.
“Please,” he gasped out, swallowing thickly as his dry throat ached for moisture. “Please… help me…”
“Help you? After you tried to strangle me?” an incensed Insano called out from his new position, safely behind Spoony. “I don’t think so!”
“No… tripped… didn’t mean… strangle…” Critic panted before wincing and rubbing against his aching shoulder. “Sorry… sorry…”
Linkara watched him a moment before standing and looking to Spoony. “Can I borrow your water skein?”
Spoony looked at him as if he’d asked for blubbered seal jerky. “Are you seriously going to help him, Linkara? After what he did to us last night? After what he’s been doing to us for over a year?”
“Spoony, he’s in pain right now,” Linkara said, shooting his best puppy-dog eyes at the waterbender. “Please?”
“Tchh, fine, do whatever you want.” Spoony looked rather grumpy as he handed the pouch to Linkara, but his expression softened as he watched the Avatar help Critic into a sitting position and push the pouch to his lips.
Critic drank greedily until the skein was half-empty before he pulled back and panted once again.
“Thank you… thank you…”
“Yeah, yeah, send him a greeting scroll later if you want to thank him,” Todd said as he crossed his arms and glared down at Critic. “But for now, why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here, hot lips?”
“What is it with you and lips?” Insano muttered, but a kick to the shin from Todd promptly silenced him.
“I came,” Critic began, having recovered his breath at last, “because I need to ask for something. I need your help, Avatar.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Spoony cried, incredulous that Critic could even dare to think such a thing let alone ask it. “After all the shit you’ve put us through, after all the pain and headaches you’ve caused us, you want Linkara to do you a favor?”
“I know,” Critic said, nodding slowly. “I know that sounds crazy, because I’ve been trying to capture you for so long, but I’m serious right now. I’m desperate. My brother is missing and I need to find him before it’s too late. I-I would do anything to earn your trust for even just one day.” Critic stared Linkara in the eyes for the first time in his life and clutched his hands together. “Please Avatar… please help me.”
Linkara closed his eyes and bowed his head for a minute. Critic wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing-praying perhaps, since that seemed like the type of spiritual thing the Avatar would do-but he kept his gaze trained upon his face until he saw Linkara look up and turn to each of his companions. Todd nodded without saying a word, Insano shrugged, and Spoony sighed before also nodding. Linkara’s lips curved up into a smile and he looked back to Critic.
“Okay, Critic. I don’t know what we can do, but I will help you as best I can.”
Critic unleashed a shuddering breath and reached out to rest his hands upon Linkara’s. For the first time in his life, he felt truly grateful to someone who wasn’t the Other Guy, but the flame of appreciation inside his chest burned just as strongly. “Thank you.”
-----
Critic stood atop the hills overlooking the ocean, watching as waves gently lapped against the sands of Ember Island. This had been a destination he’d visited often in his childhood, making it almost a second home to the former prince. It had seemed so big back then, with its magnificent playhouse, always offering a new show for the boy to enjoy, its beautiful beaches, lush vegetation, and charming towns. Critic stood there a moment, letting the memories wash over him, before he set them back into the storage box of his mind. This island was actually quite small when he looked upon it now, and this wasn’t the time for pleasant nostalgia.
Critic heard the familiar footsteps behind him. He turned without a word and stared into the face that had once long ago been his mirror image. There was nothing identical about Critic and Guy now, though.
Guy stood proudly before his twin, his body decked out in shining royal armor, his hair held up with the ruby royal headpiece, a gorgeous trinket in the shape of a flame. His body was muscular and ready for battle, and his eyes shone darkly as he gazed at Critic.
Critic knew he looked pitiful in comparison. He was wearing shabby robes he’d managed to snatch from the trunk of a Fire Nation citizen several months ago and his thinning hair was covered with a black bandanna that made him look shabbier still. Of course, there was his face, permanently scarred thanks to the heated fist of their mother, but Critic had long stopped feeling ashamed about this. Besides, he rather liked the fact that his brother could no longer be mistaken for Critic, nor Critic for him.
“Why, Critic, what a surprise to see you here,” Guy remarked, not sounding surprised at all.
Critic remained stock-still, staring intently at his twin. “Where is he?”
“I hope you’ve brought the Avatar with you, because otherwise your banishment still stands and your honor remains lost to you. I’d hate to have to alert the guards and tell them that you’ve disobeyed Mother’s ruling.”
“Where is he?”
“Because that would be treason, Critic, and you know what Mother does to traitors.”
“Where is he, Guy?”
“But I suppose the Avatar must be here,” Guy continued, tilting his head and looking skyward, as if he hadn’t heard Critic at all. “He’s the only one who’d be stupid enough to ride a flying bear so close to the Fire Nation.”
“Damn it, Guy!” Critic roared, several sparks shooting from his trembling fingertips. “I’m asking you a ‘very good question’ here! For fuck’s sake, where is my brother?!”
“He’s my brother too!”
Critic paled and barely managed to jump out of the path of a bluish bolt of lightning that burst forth from Guy’s right palm. He gulped down a breath and leapt away once more as Guy continued to shoot crackling bolts in his direction. Guy’s face was more terrifying than Critic had ever seen before, his lips pulled back in a twisted smile of pure sadism as he chased his brother down the hill and toward the front of the Ember Island Playhouse. As he blasted, Guy laughed and screamed and cursed at Critic.
“He’s my brother too, Critic, you stupid piece of shit! He’s mine and he will acknowledge that! He will acknowledge me, after all this time, he will he will he fucking will!”
Guy only stopped his blabbering when a barrage of fireballs zoomed directly at his head. He growled and waved his arms, sending lightning bolts into the flames and causing them to explode in midair. The air grew thick with smoke and it was difficult to see, but Critic refused to waste this opportunity. He forced the flames sprouting from his palms into long, thin vine-like formations and, when the air started to clear, charged madly toward Guy.
“You won’t beat me!” With speed that seemed almost inhuman, Guy manipulated his lightning bolts into long, vine-like formations as well, and the two started to whip their respective fire-based weapons at each other’s bodies.
“You will tell me where Brother is!” Critic spat, before crying out as a thin line of bluish light struck his left forearm.
“I will do whatever I fucking please!” Guy screamed, hissing as an orange blossom of flames crashed into his shin. “I am the crown prince of the Fire Nation! I am the successor to the throne! I am the one Mother has chosen to lead this country into our glorious future!”
Critic stopped dead still then and Guy, always curious, did the same. “You might be all those things, Guy.” Critic pressed his fingers together and formed a ball of fire that spread in front of his body, larger than any he’d ever created before. “But despite all those achievements of yours, you’ll never have what I do. I might have been banished from this land and disowned by Mother, but I will never be replaced in the eyes of Brother as the most honorable and the most worthy member of this family.”
Guy threw back his head and unleashed a dog-like howl of rage and pain.
“Rrrrrrrragggghhhhhhhh!” He lifted his hands high, filling the air around him with blue fans of flame and sparks of electricity, and started to charge at Critic.
If it weren’t for the rocky ground they were standing on suddenly opening up and wrapping itself around Guy’s ankles; it if weren’t for the waves of water that quickly became ice and permeated the air, extinguishing the blazes he’d formed, and soaking into Guy’s skin; if it weren’t for the blast of air knocking Guy over and onto his back like an upended turtle; if it weren’t for all those things, then Critic might never have gotten his chance. Critic launched himself onto Guy, punching him repeatedly in the face with knuckles that smoldered, again and again and again, until he heard another howl pass through his twin’s lips, one that finally convinced Critic to stop.
Guy lay limply upon the stone tiles leading up to the playhouse, his face a collage of bloodied cuts and soot-lined bruises and charred bits of skin. And even then, despite the overwhelming amount of pain he was in, Guy’s mouth twisted into that sickeningly sweet smile that once upon a time made Critic’s skin crawl. He felt nothing when he saw it now.
“Have you really…” he wheezed, breathing labored thanks to the cold air still filling his lungs, “fallen so low… as to allow the… the Avatar to assist you… in an honorable battle… between brothers?” Guy glanced down with the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut at the rocks still entwined around his ankles and made a weak attempt to free them.
“There is nothing honorable about you or this battle,” Critic coldly replied. “What you’ve done to Brother is all I care about right now, so if you see me as lowering myself by asking for help, well than I don’t really give a fuck. I’ll do whatever I need to for his sake, even if it means becoming the Avatar’s personal concubine.”
Guy chuckled and coughed up something black and sticky. “Okay, little brother. You’ve amused me enough for today… so I’ll answer your very good question. I’ll tell you where Brother is.” Guy paused to lick the fresh blood from his lips before he grinned in a demented manner up at Critic.
“I just hope… you like my answer.”
Written by ocelot_l
Rated PG-13
Warnings: Bad Language, Violence, Violence Against a Minor
Pairings: Hints of Linkara/Spoony
Summary: TGWTG/Avatar: The Last Airbender Fusion; Born as a prince of the prosperous Fire Nation, Critic should be living a charmed life filled with every comfort he could ever desire. His twin brother, Guy, feels otherwise.
Word Count: 13, 115
Based on a piece of art by obnoxiousamy
A/N: I adored Amy's gorgeous art of Critic and Guy fighting! The colors were so vibrant and cheerful that I couldn't help gazing at it several times a day as I wrote! I knew where in the story I wanted to place the battle, so I wrote that first and then the rest of the story. I hope Amy and all of you enjoy it! :)
“Alright, Linkara, get your butt up and over here!” a tall man dressed in grey robes decorated with green patterns and bronze edges called out as he stomped his bare foot upon the ground. He also wore a black mask across the top of his face that completely covered his eyes, but despite this seeming hindrance, he walked confidently across the ground until he reached the side of a gigantic brown bear, which was sleeping peacefully. Atop the giant bear was a slightly chubby, tattooed teenage boy dressed in robes of brown, gold, and red.
“Alright, Todd, I’m coming. No need to get annoyed.” Linkara waved his hands in front of him to create a small ball of swirling wind that he promptly jumped atop of and rode around on as if it were some sort of vehicle. He circled the slumbering bear a few times before performing a loop-de-loop in the air and finally landing gracefully in front of Todd.
Todd seemed less than impressed, mostly because he couldn’t see anything that had just occurred. “I wouldn’t be annoyed if you spent less time playing with your giant teddy bear or trying to hit on your waterbending teacher and more time actually learning about an element you haven’t mastered yet.”
“Shut up, I am not hitting on anyone,” Linkara replied, though his reddened cheeks seemed to imply that he was not being entirely honest.
“You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?” Todd asked, pressing his foot more firmly into the ground. “I can feel vibrations in the ground that tell me-”
“Yeah, yeah, you can feel frigging vibrations and know everything about everything,” Linkara snarked, trying to overcome his embarrassment with annoyance. “Look, Todd, I promise I’ll work harder with earthbending, so please don’t joke about that again. I’m afraid he might overhear you and get the wrong idea.”
“I’m pretty sure he has the same idea about you wanting to jump his bones that the rest of us have.”
“Todd!”
“Okay, fine, I won’t bring it up again.” Todd sighed and adjusted his mask before he moved his body into the proper earthbending formation. “Copy me, Linkara, and then shut that big trap of yours. Today’s lesson is about listening to the earth and learning what she has to tell you. You can find out anything you need to know by letting her speak to you.”
“Okay.” Linkara copied Todd’s stance and he closed his mouth, as well as his eyes. The two stood like that for some time in relative silence before Todd abruptly shifted positions so that he was now facing Linkara.
“Pop quiz time! Listen to the earth and avoid the huge chunks of it that I am going to be sending your way!” Todd instructed as he stomped loudly upon the ground, sending large pieces of it into the air before him. “Oh, and in case it wasn’t obvious, don’t open your eyes, Linkara. If I sense you peeking even just a little bit, I’m shaving that bear of yours so it stops shedding on me every night.”
“You leave Bearra alone!” Linkara demanded before instinctively ducking as a chunk of earth zoomed directly toward his head. “Holy Gyatso! I did it!”
“Yeah you did,” Todd said with a snicker as he kicked three more chunks of ground toward Linkara. “Now do it again, or I’ll mess up that pretty face of yours, and no one will let you jump their bones.”
“Damn it, Todd!”
“Hey, I thought monks weren’t supposed to swear.”
“We’re also not supposed to kick peoples’ asses, but I’ll do that too if you don’t shut up!”
Linkara continued to dodge, swivel, duck, and dive for cover as he avoided every obstacle Todd sent his way. It was a very impressive feat to witness. So impressive that the two Water Tribe brothers, who had finally returned from the nearby river with pouches of water and baskets of fish, stopped in their tracks to observe them for a few moments.
Eventually, the younger brother smoothed out the front of his bright blue robes and started walking toward the campsite. “Looking good, Linkara. I think you’ll master earthbending much faster than you did waterbending.”
“Spoony! I didn’t know you were back!” Linkara’s eyes shot open as he whirled around to gaze happily at the black-haired young man. His gaze was in fact so intent, that he completely missed the last small boulder hurtling toward the back of his head. “Ow! Damn it Todd!”
“Todd, what the fuck are you doing!” Spoony dropped his baskets at once and hurried over to Linkara’s side.
“I told him I’d know if he tried to peek,” Todd replied, plopping onto the ground and crossing his arms like a petulant child. “It’s not my fault he can’t follow his teacher’s rules.”
“A normal teacher wouldn’t bludgeon his students and potentially give them life-changing head injuries!” Spoony snapped. His eyes quickly widened when he saw a few drops of red fall onto the ground from the back of Linkara’s head. “Oh shit! You’re bleeding!”
“I-it’s okay, Spoony, it doesn’t even hurt that much,” Linkara said, trying to sound casual despite having a somewhat gaping head wound. “It was just an accident, so please don’t get too upset.”
“After I know you’re okay, I’m going to murder that earthbending idiot,” Spoony muttered as he uncapped the water skein he always carried at his side. After a quick flick of his wrist, he manipulated a small ball of water out of the pouch and into the air before slowly maneuvering it toward the back of Linkara’s head. “Move your hands, Linkara,” he requested in a calmer, gentler voice. “I’ll patch you right up so you can get back to saving the world and all that good shit.”
“Thanks, Spoony.” Linkara lowered his arms and sighed softly as the water pressed against his wound, closing it almost instantly “You’re a lifesaver, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know.” Spoony gave a gentle stroke of his fingers to the newly healed patch of skin on Linkara’s head, seemingly not noticing how the Avatar shivered at the touch. “Has this stopped hurting, Linkara?”
“It has. I’m good to go again.” Linkara glanced down at his blood-stained fingers then. “Well, I will be after I wash up. Let me just take a quick air-scoot to the river and-”
“That’s pointless,” Spoony interrupted as he reached out to grab Linkara’s hands. “It’s much easier to just let me do this.” He bended another small ball of water around Linkara’s fingers while still holding onto his wrist, though he needn’t have done that, since Linkara was so entranced by the whole interaction that he wouldn’t have had the strength to move his arm at all if he’d wanted to.
The two remained like that, almost frozen in place, until a cackle from next to the campfire made them both jump.
“Honestly, can’t you lovebirds take those come-hither looks into the tent, so you don’t cause the rest of us to lose our lunches over them?” The young man who’d called out wore matching blue robes of the Water Tribe, but he also sported spectacles with swirly lenses and a cloak as white as snow. He seemed very pleased with himself as he sat on a log and fiddled with a long, thin metallic device of some sort.
“Shut the fuck up, Insano, or I’ll smack your ass all the way back to the South Pole!” Spoony cried as he manipulated the ball of water into a thin whip, which he promptly lashed in the direction his brother was sitting.
“Ahh! Stop it, Spoony!” Insano cried toppling over backwards in his attempt to avoid being struck. “It’s unfair to use your freaky waterbending on a normal human like me!”
“What’s wrong, Insano?” Spoony teased as he recalled the water into his skein and capped it once more. “Haven’t you invented something yet that will let you fight on the level of a bender?”
“Actually, on that count you are correct!” Insano continued fiddling with the metallic device for a moment before he held it into the air triumphantly.
“Behold!”
Linkara and Spoony approached Insano, and his device, bearing expressions of curiosity mixed with skepticism. “What is that thing?”
“It sure looks weird.”
“I think it looks fantastic,” Todd called from his position a few feet away. Insano turned to grin at him.
“Thank you! At lease someone around here appreciates true genius-oh.” Insano’s smile fell when he realized Todd was chuckling and his face turned very red. “Stop pretending you have the gift of sight, damn you!” he snapped before turning back to the others. “Be properly amazed by my metallic grabby-thingy or I will not support you during your venture tomorrow, Spoony!” Insano squeezed down on his end of the device as he spoke, causing the other end to open and close in a similar manner to a crab’s claws.
Spoony’s eye twitched but he forced himself to smile. “Okay, Insano. This is a very impressive invention you’ve got here,” he said, gingerly petting the item with his fingertips. “I’m sure you’ll be able to snatch many things from our enemies with this, and cause them to become distracted enough to defeat them. We are all very amazed by your genius.”
Linkara looked away and covered his mouth so he wouldn’t start laughing out loud. Insano didn’t seem to notice and was suitably pacified by his brother’s words so he nodded at him and lowered the grabby-thingy without further incident.
“You really know how to calm him down,” Linkara told Spoony as they walked back toward the training area.
“I’ve been doing it since I was little,” Spoony replied with a shrug. “It’s no big deal.”
“So, what’s this venture Insano was talking about you wanting to do tomorrow?”
“Along our way to the river, Insano and I passed by a village where several of the buildings were charred or destroyed, leaving nothing but ashes behind,” Spoony explained, his face tightening as the memory returned to him. “It was supposed to be a neutral area but the Fire Nation attacked it anyway and a lot of its citizens are badly burned and fucked up and shit. I thought it might be nice if Insano and I visited them tomorrow. I don’t know how much we can do, but my waterbending should be able to help some of those poor bastards, and Insano might be able to fix up some of their broken things too.”
Linkara gazed at Spoony with eyes that glowed softly with pride and affection for him. “That’s a great idea, Spoony. In fact, we should all go and see if we can help the villagers.”
“But what about your training, Linkara?” Spoony looked to him in concern. “If you plan to master earthbending, you have to keep working at it every day.”
“Eh, one day off to help out some people in need won’t hurt me,” Linkara replied with an air of confidence.
“Yeah, but your asshole of an earthbending teacher might.”
“I heard that, sugar lips! Prepare to eat dirt!” Todd leapt to his feet and started chucking balls of dirt at Spoony.
“Shit! Damn you, Todd! Prepare to eat mud!” Spoony unleashed his skills once again, allowing small spheres of water to collide with the dirt balls, which formed mud explosions that splattered all over not only the warring benders but Linkara and Insano as well. In no time, the four travelers were engaged in an all-out mud war and laughing their heads off.
From his position atop a rock a few miles from the Avatar and his companions, Critic watched their actions through the binoculars he’d purchase after saving up a month’s tips from the last tavern he’d worked at. He watched them, his fingers curling tightly around the barrels of the binoculars, watched them laugh and run and play as if they hadn’t a worry in the world. Critic quickly seethed at their carefree existences with anger and jealousy.
“Ah, youth,” the Other Guy sighed from his position resting against a large boulder three feet away. Despite not having moved from that spot for hours, he had the inexplicable ability to determine exactly what was happening in the Avatar’s camp. “Friendship, innocence, young love. A toast to those who have learned to treasure such transient joys.” He lifted his sake glass, clinking it against the air, before tossing it back with a satisfied gulp.
“They’re not much younger than we are, Brother,” Critic muttered with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention back to the group. “But they are infinitely dumber than we are. Look at the way they go about their little lives without even thinking to worry about the danger they could be in! The Avatar’s just screwing around down there, out in the open, practically helpless with only those three numbskulls for protection. That makes it the perfect time to launch our attack and capture him for good!”
“Isn’t that what you said two weeks ago at the Kolau Mountains?” the Other Guy asked as he brought the glass to his lips once again. “And what you said a month ago at Full Moon Bay? And two months ago at the Great Divide? And-”
“Okay, I get it!” Critic snapped, his eyes still trained on the travelers. “I’ve fucked up a lot because I’m a giant fuck-up! Are you happy now, Brother?”
“Stop that, Critic. I’ve never considered you a screw-up.” The Other Guy set his glass down before reaching over to gently lower Critic’s binoculars. Critic noticed his unhappy expression and automatically lowered his head as well, feeling guilty over upsetting him. “You should know that too by now. Think about your life and all the things you’ve accomplished. You are a wonderful firebender, an amazing artist, and a skilled writer, especially when it comes to critiquing the works of others.” Critic blushed at his brother’s words while simultaneously feeling surprised, because he’d always tried to keep his artistic talents a secret. Undeterred by his discomfort, the Other Guy reached into his mud-brown robes and withdrew three items that stole Critic’s breath away.
“How did you get these?” Critic took the paintbrush, with a handle of bamboo and soft bristles of lop-eared rabbit fur, and the small pot of fine black ink, and held them carefully in his hands, worried that even the slightest bit of rough treatment could damage either.
“You didn’t think I spent all of my earnings on booze now, did you?” the Other Guy teased, his eyes twinkling. He held up the third item, which Critic hadn’t taken, and revealed two white pieces of parchment with thin, black writing upon them. “I’ve also bought us two tickets to the Coal Dust Theater tonight. There’s a production of ‘DragonMan’ playing and I thought you might like to attend it with me. I’m dying to know if this production will be any better than the one we saw when we were kids.”
“They’re performing ‘DragonMan’?” Critic asked, looking puzzled. “But that’s a Fire Nation story. Why would it be performed in this mud hole?”
“I’m not really sure why, but it might have something to do with how most of the actors, while claiming to be Earth Nation citizens, would find themselves more at home on Ember Island,” the Other Guy said with a wink. He always seemed to know the latest goings-on, no matter where the two ended up. “So what do you say, Critic? Shall we head back to the stables and make ourselves presentable?”
Critic gazed at the tickets longingly, a strong yearning for the comforts and familiarity of his home country taking hold of him. Then he glanced back at the campsite below. “But the Avatar… he’s right there.”
“And he’ll still be there tomorrow,” the Other Guy countered, tracing the edge of the tickets with one finger. “We can take one night off to enjoy ourselves. Come on, it’ll be like when we were younger and you and I skipped out on history tutoring so we could go outside and play.”
“That was fun,” Critic admitted, smiling as he thought back upon the memory. “Especially since Guy never came, not that we could have dragged him away from those lessons anyway.”
“I’m sad to say you’re right about that,” the Other Guy said, a frown slowly forming upon his face. He set down his tickets, as Critic did his ink and brush, and pressed his hands together. “Guy was always entranced by details of the atrocities the Fire Nation committed in the name of spreading our prosperity. I’m afraid he stored up every piece of information about weapons and battles he could while missing out on how many people’s lives were forever changed because of us. Whenever I hear about his advances upon the Earth Nation nowadays, I feel sickened knowing that he is the general all other Fire Nation soldiers look up to.” The Other Guy’s hands had now tensed into fists, but Critic was too stunned by his words to notice.
“Mother has made him a general with that much power?” he asked, unable to comprehend this notion. “But Guy is so young! He doesn’t have the battle experience the other generals have!”
“He instead possesses some traits that most of our soldiers lack,” the Other Guy grimly confessed. “A cunning mind and a lack of conscience that gives him the potential to achieve anything he wants to. Guy is strong and ruthless not when he needs to be, but when he wants to be. I’m sure Mother could not be any prouder of a son than she is of Guy,” he said softly, his tone bitter.
“He’s not so great.” Critic twisted the binoculars around his fingers, his shoulders tense, his forehead creased with worry. “If he was so powerful, he would have captured the Avatar himself and wouldn’t have begged me to do it.”
“I’m sure Guy knows that trying to capture the most powerful being in the world is a fool’s errand,” the Other Guy said, reaching for his sake bottle and pouring himself another small glass. Critic’s eyes narrowed as he felt a warm flash of something pass through his chest.
“Are you calling me a fool, Brother?”
“What?” The Other Guy’s eyes widened and he turned to Critic, setting his alcohol aside for now. “No, of course not. That’s not what I meant, Critic.”
“So what did you mean?” The warm flash inside his chest pulsated and grew into a moderate ball of heat that quickly spread through Critic’s veins. “Because it sounds like you think trying to reclaim my honor is a foolish idea. Actually, I think you’ve been thinking that ever since we left the Fire Nation, so you must have thought I’ve been acting like an idiot for years!”
“Critic, stop that,” the Other Guy commanded. The look in his eyes seemed angry but also very tired. “You know I don’t think anything like that about you. I just don’t like that you’re pinning all your hopes and dreams for the future to the act of capturing the Avatar. You can’t just place all your feelings of self-worth into achieving only one goal in life, Critic. That isn’t healthy. What if you never manage to capture him? Will you never feel fulfilled because there was one thing you weren’t able to accomplish?”
“It’s not just one thing, Brother!” Critic snapped. His heart was racing and the blaze inside his body was growing hotter the longer he thought back upon his life. “I’ve failed to accomplish so many things! I never did well during my lessons! I skipped out on important meetings to run around like a fucking idiot! No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I faced him, I could never beat Guy with my firebending! You said it yourself, I could never be the son Mother wanted!” Critic’s lip quivered slightly at this admission, but he maintained his composure. “I’ve… I’ve failed her.”
“No, Critic. She failed you.” The Other Guy’s expression was calm, but behind his tired eyes, Critic could see a darkness, a hatred that he had never witnessed inside him before. “She failed as your mother, by making you feel so inferior, and she’s failed as a leader of the Fire Nation. Her plan to spread the glory and wealth of our homeland across the world has only succeeded in hurting innocent people, destroying cities and homes and families in the process. Fire Lord Hagan is a failure, Critic. She will be remembered throughout history not as our powerful ruler, but as the woman who ruined countless lives and who almost killed her son for the pettiest of reasons. The world will see her for the monster she is one day.” The Other Guy sighed and looked down, spinning his sake glass around his fingers. “I only pray that the next heir to the throne does not share in her desire for power and chaos, but I know in my heart that Guy will be the strongest, most terrible firebender of all. I fear no one will ever be able to stop him.”
“Shut up, Brother.”
The Other Guy’s eyes widened in confusion when he heard the coldness in his brother’s words. He looked to Critic, blinking slowly as he tried to comprehend why he seemed to be staring at him with such venom in his gaze. “Critic, I-”
“You’ve always thought Guy was better than me,” Critic interrupted, small flickers of fire starting to burn from his fingertips. “You’ve always thought he was stronger, smarter, more powerful than me. I know it, and I’m fucking sick of it!”
“Critic, please listen to me,” the Other Guy begged, his eyes darting toward the ever-increasing flames encircling Critic’s fingers. “You know that’s not true. I’ve always supported and encouraged you-”
“You’ve always sheltered me because you think I’m weak!” Critic snapped, rising to his feet as the air around the two grew uncomfortably warm. “Even when you were still a kid yourself, you made sure to always come to your pathetic little brother’s rescue because he couldn’t fucking do anything for himself!”
The Other Guy vigorously shook his head. “Critic, no, you have it wrong-”
“You just said yourself that Guy will become the strongest firebender of all!” Critic raged. “You clearly believe I have no chance of ever beating him, no chance of ever being considered for the throne!”
“Critic, please!” Now the Other Guy was standing, his hands at his chest, fingers outstretched, palms facing Critic as he tried to calm him down. “I’ve never thought you were unworthy to rule the Fire Nation! I just don’t understand why you’d want to… you should feel relieved to be free…”
“Don’t tell me how to feel, Brother!” Critic raised his hands and shot out a medium sized fireball high into the sky before aiming at the Other Guy. “You don’t know how I feel! You don’t care about how I feel! All you care about is your stupid fucking sake and doing chores for ungrateful mud-monkeys who think you’re a fucking joke! You don’t care about restoring your honor or about capturing the Avatar, so why are you even here? Just go back to your fucking hole in the wall and drink yourself into a stupor, Brother, since we both know that’s what you’d rather be doing!”
“Critic!” But Critic refuse to hear anything else his brother had to say. He ran down the hill, toward where they’d left their ostrich-horses, untied his, and took off at a gallop in the direction of the Avatar’s camp.
----
Many hours later, when the sky was ink dotted with slivers of light, Critic limped into the stables he and his brother had been calling home for the past week. He tied up his just as tired ostrich-horse and groaned as he rubbed at his aching shoulder.
“Fucking Avatar. Why the hell did he have to practice his new earthbending skills on me?” Critic took a swig of the water in the drinking trough before hobbling over to the last stall in the structure, where an enormous stack of hay served as a bed for himself and the Other Guy. It was pitch dark inside the building, so Critic groped his way into a comfortable position before closing his eyes and sighing. He didn’t hear a sound from the other side of the stack and assumed his brother had either drank until he’d passed out, as Critic had earlier predicted, or was too upset by said earlier prediction to say anything to him. Either way, Critic was thankful for the silence and easily drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning arrived much too quickly for Critic’s liking and he groaned as he sat up, feeling even more soreness in his shoulder and ankle. He was even having trouble standing this time, so Critic swallowed his pride and opened his mouth.
“Nnngh… Brother… please come help me,” he called, wincing slightly as the sun shone into his eyes. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Please forgive me.”
His pleas were met with only silence. Critic sighed and tried once again to stand, but his ankle buckled under his weight and fell back onto the haystack, whimpering pathetically.
“Please, Brother. I fucked up again, really badly. The Avatar did a number on me and I don’t know if I can walk. I’m sorry for hurting you, but I really need you right now.”
Again, Critic’s words were met with silence. Critic took in a few labored breaths before forcing himself upright once more. He managed to stay standing this time and hopped on his uninjured foot around the edge of the haystack. “Brother! I really… really need you now.”
Critic’s expression drooped when he realized he was talking to empty air. The Other Guy was nowhere to be found and, to Critic’s greater confusion, neither were his clothes, scrolls, and traveling bag. The only thing left on his side of the stall was a single scroll of parchment bound with one of the Other Guy’s hairbands. Critic hopped toward it and thankfully managed to snatch it up without falling. He eagerly undid the scroll and read the brief message it contained.
Critic,
I am sorry for everything that has happened. I believe it would be best if we parted ways for a while. I will be gone before you wake. Don’t try to find me.
The Other Guy
Critic’s fingers started to shake so badly that the scroll almost slipped through them. This couldn’t be happening, couldn’t be real. His brother couldn’t be gone. He was never gone, never far from Critic.
“He said-he said he wouldn’t leave me,” Critic murmured, his eyes starting to water. “I know I said some awful things to him, but I never meant them. I never wanted him gone. Brother, please… come back.” Critic lowered his head, sniffling softly as the tears started to slide down his cheeks. His grip on the edges of the scroll tightened, wrinkling the paper until it was ready to tear. Critic was glad for this. He opened his eyes and stared down venomously at the message, wishing he could erase it with his eyes as he started to rip it apart, not wanting to look at it ever again. Then he noticed something peculiar about the bottom right corner of the scroll. The very tip of it was charred black, as if someone had held a lit match to the edge of the paper for a moment. Or not a match, but maybe… a finger. At once, Critic’s eyes darkened and he gritted his teeth as he tried to hold back his rage.
“Guy. I won’t let you get away with this!”
----
Insano yawned and stretched his arms out over his head. It had been a long night filled with more fighting than sleeping, and he knew that none of his traveling companions would be at their best for a while. Since they were still dozing at the moment, Insano had decided to use this free time to scout the area for any materials he might use for future inventions. He had a few ideas in mind that might prove useful if only he could get his hands upon a set of handcuffs, some spark rocks, and a bottle of dried nettles.
Before Insano could take a single step outside the camp, however, he was assaulted by a figure that popped out of the bushes and tackled him to the ground with a mighty roar that shook the still, morning air.
“Ahhh!” Insano shrieked, flailing at the assailant in a rather pitiful manner as he tried to grab his metallic grabby-thingy from his pocket. “Unhand me at once, you cretin! Hey! Someone with freaky bending powers! Your assistance is needed at once, you abominations of nature!”
“Insano, what the fuck are you yelling about now?” Spoony complained as he walked out of his tent rubbing his eyes. Eyes that quickly widened when he saw his brother on the ground under an attacker. “Hey! Leave him alone!”
“What’s happening?” Todd asked, also peeking out of his stone-tent, while Linkara hopped off the back of Bearra and rode his swirling ball of air over to where Spoony was struggling. He growled softly when saw what was happening.
“It’s Critic again.”
“What, really? I can’t believe he’s still trying to attack us after the ass-whooping we gave him last night,” Todd said as he started towards the struggling figures as well. “I guess that means he’s ready for round two.”
Spoony and Linkara arrived at Insano’s side just in time to watch as Insano escaped out from under Critic and managed to shove the firebender face-first into the dirt.
“Get back, Insano!” Spoony commanded as he lifted his arms high into the air, water swirling around his fingers menacingly, but he lowered them when he felt a hand descend upon on his shoulder.
“Spoony wait,” Linkara told him before pointing to where Critic lay, still in the dirt, softly panting. “He doesn’t look like he’s in the mood for a battle. Actually, he doesn’t look very good at all.”
Linkara squatted down to peer more closely at Critic, who by now was very pale and covered in sweat.
“Please,” he gasped out, swallowing thickly as his dry throat ached for moisture. “Please… help me…”
“Help you? After you tried to strangle me?” an incensed Insano called out from his new position, safely behind Spoony. “I don’t think so!”
“No… tripped… didn’t mean… strangle…” Critic panted before wincing and rubbing against his aching shoulder. “Sorry… sorry…”
Linkara watched him a moment before standing and looking to Spoony. “Can I borrow your water skein?”
Spoony looked at him as if he’d asked for blubbered seal jerky. “Are you seriously going to help him, Linkara? After what he did to us last night? After what he’s been doing to us for over a year?”
“Spoony, he’s in pain right now,” Linkara said, shooting his best puppy-dog eyes at the waterbender. “Please?”
“Tchh, fine, do whatever you want.” Spoony looked rather grumpy as he handed the pouch to Linkara, but his expression softened as he watched the Avatar help Critic into a sitting position and push the pouch to his lips.
Critic drank greedily until the skein was half-empty before he pulled back and panted once again.
“Thank you… thank you…”
“Yeah, yeah, send him a greeting scroll later if you want to thank him,” Todd said as he crossed his arms and glared down at Critic. “But for now, why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here, hot lips?”
“What is it with you and lips?” Insano muttered, but a kick to the shin from Todd promptly silenced him.
“I came,” Critic began, having recovered his breath at last, “because I need to ask for something. I need your help, Avatar.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Spoony cried, incredulous that Critic could even dare to think such a thing let alone ask it. “After all the shit you’ve put us through, after all the pain and headaches you’ve caused us, you want Linkara to do you a favor?”
“I know,” Critic said, nodding slowly. “I know that sounds crazy, because I’ve been trying to capture you for so long, but I’m serious right now. I’m desperate. My brother is missing and I need to find him before it’s too late. I-I would do anything to earn your trust for even just one day.” Critic stared Linkara in the eyes for the first time in his life and clutched his hands together. “Please Avatar… please help me.”
Linkara closed his eyes and bowed his head for a minute. Critic wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing-praying perhaps, since that seemed like the type of spiritual thing the Avatar would do-but he kept his gaze trained upon his face until he saw Linkara look up and turn to each of his companions. Todd nodded without saying a word, Insano shrugged, and Spoony sighed before also nodding. Linkara’s lips curved up into a smile and he looked back to Critic.
“Okay, Critic. I don’t know what we can do, but I will help you as best I can.”
Critic unleashed a shuddering breath and reached out to rest his hands upon Linkara’s. For the first time in his life, he felt truly grateful to someone who wasn’t the Other Guy, but the flame of appreciation inside his chest burned just as strongly. “Thank you.”
-----
Critic stood atop the hills overlooking the ocean, watching as waves gently lapped against the sands of Ember Island. This had been a destination he’d visited often in his childhood, making it almost a second home to the former prince. It had seemed so big back then, with its magnificent playhouse, always offering a new show for the boy to enjoy, its beautiful beaches, lush vegetation, and charming towns. Critic stood there a moment, letting the memories wash over him, before he set them back into the storage box of his mind. This island was actually quite small when he looked upon it now, and this wasn’t the time for pleasant nostalgia.
Critic heard the familiar footsteps behind him. He turned without a word and stared into the face that had once long ago been his mirror image. There was nothing identical about Critic and Guy now, though.
Guy stood proudly before his twin, his body decked out in shining royal armor, his hair held up with the ruby royal headpiece, a gorgeous trinket in the shape of a flame. His body was muscular and ready for battle, and his eyes shone darkly as he gazed at Critic.
Critic knew he looked pitiful in comparison. He was wearing shabby robes he’d managed to snatch from the trunk of a Fire Nation citizen several months ago and his thinning hair was covered with a black bandanna that made him look shabbier still. Of course, there was his face, permanently scarred thanks to the heated fist of their mother, but Critic had long stopped feeling ashamed about this. Besides, he rather liked the fact that his brother could no longer be mistaken for Critic, nor Critic for him.
“Why, Critic, what a surprise to see you here,” Guy remarked, not sounding surprised at all.
Critic remained stock-still, staring intently at his twin. “Where is he?”
“I hope you’ve brought the Avatar with you, because otherwise your banishment still stands and your honor remains lost to you. I’d hate to have to alert the guards and tell them that you’ve disobeyed Mother’s ruling.”
“Where is he?”
“Because that would be treason, Critic, and you know what Mother does to traitors.”
“Where is he, Guy?”
“But I suppose the Avatar must be here,” Guy continued, tilting his head and looking skyward, as if he hadn’t heard Critic at all. “He’s the only one who’d be stupid enough to ride a flying bear so close to the Fire Nation.”
“Damn it, Guy!” Critic roared, several sparks shooting from his trembling fingertips. “I’m asking you a ‘very good question’ here! For fuck’s sake, where is my brother?!”
“He’s my brother too!”
Critic paled and barely managed to jump out of the path of a bluish bolt of lightning that burst forth from Guy’s right palm. He gulped down a breath and leapt away once more as Guy continued to shoot crackling bolts in his direction. Guy’s face was more terrifying than Critic had ever seen before, his lips pulled back in a twisted smile of pure sadism as he chased his brother down the hill and toward the front of the Ember Island Playhouse. As he blasted, Guy laughed and screamed and cursed at Critic.
“He’s my brother too, Critic, you stupid piece of shit! He’s mine and he will acknowledge that! He will acknowledge me, after all this time, he will he will he fucking will!”
Guy only stopped his blabbering when a barrage of fireballs zoomed directly at his head. He growled and waved his arms, sending lightning bolts into the flames and causing them to explode in midair. The air grew thick with smoke and it was difficult to see, but Critic refused to waste this opportunity. He forced the flames sprouting from his palms into long, thin vine-like formations and, when the air started to clear, charged madly toward Guy.
“You won’t beat me!” With speed that seemed almost inhuman, Guy manipulated his lightning bolts into long, vine-like formations as well, and the two started to whip their respective fire-based weapons at each other’s bodies.
“You will tell me where Brother is!” Critic spat, before crying out as a thin line of bluish light struck his left forearm.
“I will do whatever I fucking please!” Guy screamed, hissing as an orange blossom of flames crashed into his shin. “I am the crown prince of the Fire Nation! I am the successor to the throne! I am the one Mother has chosen to lead this country into our glorious future!”
Critic stopped dead still then and Guy, always curious, did the same. “You might be all those things, Guy.” Critic pressed his fingers together and formed a ball of fire that spread in front of his body, larger than any he’d ever created before. “But despite all those achievements of yours, you’ll never have what I do. I might have been banished from this land and disowned by Mother, but I will never be replaced in the eyes of Brother as the most honorable and the most worthy member of this family.”
Guy threw back his head and unleashed a dog-like howl of rage and pain.
“Rrrrrrrragggghhhhhhhh!” He lifted his hands high, filling the air around him with blue fans of flame and sparks of electricity, and started to charge at Critic.
If it weren’t for the rocky ground they were standing on suddenly opening up and wrapping itself around Guy’s ankles; it if weren’t for the waves of water that quickly became ice and permeated the air, extinguishing the blazes he’d formed, and soaking into Guy’s skin; if it weren’t for the blast of air knocking Guy over and onto his back like an upended turtle; if it weren’t for all those things, then Critic might never have gotten his chance. Critic launched himself onto Guy, punching him repeatedly in the face with knuckles that smoldered, again and again and again, until he heard another howl pass through his twin’s lips, one that finally convinced Critic to stop.
Guy lay limply upon the stone tiles leading up to the playhouse, his face a collage of bloodied cuts and soot-lined bruises and charred bits of skin. And even then, despite the overwhelming amount of pain he was in, Guy’s mouth twisted into that sickeningly sweet smile that once upon a time made Critic’s skin crawl. He felt nothing when he saw it now.
“Have you really…” he wheezed, breathing labored thanks to the cold air still filling his lungs, “fallen so low… as to allow the… the Avatar to assist you… in an honorable battle… between brothers?” Guy glanced down with the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut at the rocks still entwined around his ankles and made a weak attempt to free them.
“There is nothing honorable about you or this battle,” Critic coldly replied. “What you’ve done to Brother is all I care about right now, so if you see me as lowering myself by asking for help, well than I don’t really give a fuck. I’ll do whatever I need to for his sake, even if it means becoming the Avatar’s personal concubine.”
Guy chuckled and coughed up something black and sticky. “Okay, little brother. You’ve amused me enough for today… so I’ll answer your very good question. I’ll tell you where Brother is.” Guy paused to lick the fresh blood from his lips before he grinned in a demented manner up at Critic.
“I just hope… you like my answer.”