[Let's Write!] An Avatar/X-Over Adventure!
|
[Let's Write!] An Avatar/X-Over Adventure!
|
Three responses?
... EDIT: I'm really not feeling this installment so seeing as it is the end of the week anyway I will pick this up again on Sunday, giving everyone another day to log any votes. ------------ Epsilon /wonders what he is doing wrong  Epsilon Wrote:Three responses?It's "summer vacation" time - a lot of folks are away from their computers... -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
[x]Follow that feeling, maybe prevent something horrible from happening.
Disturbances in the force are worth investigating. 
[x]Follow that feeling, maybe prevent something horrible from happening.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
[X]Follow that feeling, maybe prevent something horrible from happening.
Sorry for the extreme delay, an electircal storm kept knocking out my internet connection most of Sunday evening so I never got a chance to do the update. I will be doing it around noon.
----------- Epsilon
Day Forty-Three, Ruins of Omashu
“Where are you going?” Zuko asked as I dashed towards the entrance we had come out of. “Down,” I said. “There's something happening here and I have to stop it.” “Are you nuts?” Zuko called, falling into step behind me. His long looping strides easily matched my own. “This place is crawling with soldiers and you're saying something bad is happening, we should get out of here.” “You never struck me as a coward,” I told him. His face stiffened. “I am not a coward,” he snarled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Then come on.” I paused at an intersection. Was the way down to the left or right? Honestly Zuko had been doing most of the navigating. “We have to act quickly. In fact... this will take too long.” I slapped my hand down on the floor and in a flash of alchemy a chute leading downward opened. “Come on.” I leaped into the chute, which was smooth enough thanks to alchemy that I could slide down it easily. My arms cradled Ed's leg as I let gravity have control. Then I landed on the next floor down, wincing at the impact on my legs. I ignored that and moved aside as Zuko came down the chute after me. “I can't believe I'm doing this,” he said to me. “But I need you alive if I want answers.” He looked at Ed's leg. “You should drop that, it will just weight you down.” I glanced at it. “No, I'm not loosing it.” I held it out in my palm and alchemy raced across its surface. With a few twists of my arms I looped the rapidly transmuting metal around my waist, forming a steel belt. I gestured with my free hands. “No slow down.” Zuko grunted in grudging acceptance. “Where now?” “Down more,” I said, forming a chute to the next floor down. “If you don't close these up, the soldiers will notice.” I considered telling him I didn't care but had to admit that some caution was perhaps advised. A few seconds to close up the chutes in our wake was not a terrible burden after all. Plus, it gave him a victory after that insult earlier. As we travelled downward the feeling in my guts increased. It was like a terrible itching inside my body, as if my organs were covered in gooseflesh. Finally we came to a stop much lower than we had gone to before. The air here was moist and I could hear the rush of a waterfall somewhere close by, but the echoes made pinpointing it impossible. “Where to-” I held up a hand to silence Zuko. “Listen,” I whispered. Zuko strained himself, cupping his good ear and turning it this way and that. “I don't hear anything,” he whispered back. “Voices,” I said. “Not screaming like before. But in pain all the same.” “Right...” Zuko frowned. “How close?” “Close enough I don't want to use alchemy, the noise might give us away.” I glanced at him and at the swords he was carrying. “Step lightly. No noise.” I held up my hand. “We communicate with our hands. Stop. Go ahead. Look.” I made some simple signs and Zuko nodded in understanding. We moved quiet as mice after that. I was surprised at how lightly Zuko could move when he wanted to. It was like he vanished the moment I took my eyes off him. Our soles didn't so much as make a scuff on the stone floor as we carefully made our way towards the source of the voices only I could hear. Zuko stepped in front of me and held up his hand for me to stop. I looked at him and he gestured to his good ear and then down a side passage. I frowned in that direction but couldn't hear anything. I gestured for him to go ahead. He nodded and started walking in front of me. Every now and then he would glance back at me, as if confirming I was still there. I felt inordinately proud of that, being at least as good at sneaking around as him. Finally I could hear the new voices too. They felt more real, more immediate than the ones that had led me down here. It was like those pain filled voices were in the back of my skull, echoing in the dark places where I slept, while the new ones were echoing in the empty halls. It didn't take long to recognize them, Azula and the two other girls. Finally we exited near the top of a large amphitheatre like chamber. It was built as an inverted bowl, with a flat circular centre. We came out on a circular walkway near the top and I could see two more below us, each separated by arched walls. In the centre of the room were three young women, a man and... something that could only be a homonculus. The thing was huge, at least two metres tall and probably taller than that by a good ten centimetres. It was also built like a brick wall, with arms as thick as tree trunks and a chest as broad as a doorway, all muscle with not a hint of fat. It's face, if you called it that, was square jawed and covered from the nose up in some sort of black mask that somehow looked more like rubbery skin than a covering. Thick strands of rubbery hair fell out of the mask in a manner that it was hard to tell where the mask ended and the hair began. It was also crucified to the ground, thick metal rods, partially melted by some intense heat, where thrust through its palms and feet leaving it spread eagle against the ground. I could see the flesh around those wounds trying to regenerate, hissing and sparking with red light as it tried to reconstruct around the holes. The three young women stood near its head and they were a study in contrasts. The one that immediately stood out was the girl in front. She wore black shoulder armour over an immaculate red silk outfit that. Her hair was perfectly styled, with two bangs that framed her face and an elaborate topknot held in place by a small gold ornament. She also had a scar running down her left cheek and her left eye was hidden beneath a soft black eyepatch. She had a menacing smile on her face. As I watched she gestured with one hand towards the prisoner, flame springing from her fingers and grounding into the metal spike in his arm, which hissed as it glowed red hot under her ministrations. The monster on the floor barely reacted, just groaning something about 'effort'. To the girl's right was a severe faced woman in a silk robe a slightly darker shade than the leaders. Her hair was also elaborately styled, but lacked a topknot or ornaments. Her hands were hidden in her long sleeves. She was glaring at the homonculus pinned to the ground, her expression cool but infuriated. To the left was the real odd one out, dressed in a bright pink acrobatics outfit that left her midriff exposed. Her hands were playing with her braided ponytail as she looked around, her eyes wide and obviously frightened. The man was taller and older than the three of them, with a long slick and glossy mustache that fell to his shoulders. He wore a small red cap and robes in the same shade as the severe faced girl, though in a more masculine cut. He wasn't paying attention to any of the girls, and instead seemed to be running his hands across the walls and floors. I realized with a start that it was an array, some insanely complex array etched into the stone walls and the floor of the chamber. I had no idea what it was meant to do, there were symbols in there that seemed impossible. “This thing?” the severe faced woman said, glaring at it. “This is what killed my father and everyone in the city?” “Ultimately he is responsible,” the leader said. She shot another stream of flame to another spike, causing the monster to groan and shift as if in mild discomfort. She walked over and placed her hand on the creature's broad chest, smiling down at it without any humour. “Though it is less the cause and more the consequence.” “I don't like this Azula,” the nervous pink clad girl said. She had backed up nearly to the wall and looked like she wanted to push herself against it but kept glancing at the marks on the wall in suspicion. “That thing makes my skin crawl just being near it.” “Oh, don't be a baby Ty Lee. He's harmless.” So that was the mysterious Azula? I could see why Zuko was afraid of her. There was something about her that set me on edge. Some primitive instinct part of my brain recoiled at her voice, which even when talking to her companions had an edge of barely restrained malice. “I can keep him under control long enough to finish what we need to do,” Azula said. “How do we kill it?” The severe faced woman stepped forward. Her hands had dropped to her sides and I could see several glittering knives in her hands now. “Kill it?” Azula looked at the young woman in mock surprise. “Why would I do that, Mai?” The name seemed to cause Zuko to shift uncomfortably, making a small noise. I saw Azula starting to look up and grabbed Zuko, pulling him down over the edge of the stone railing. He glanced at me in apology. So he knew more than one of these girls? “It killed thousands of people,” Mai said, her voice cold fury. “Including hundreds of your troops and my family.” There was a long pause. “Azula? Answer me.” The demand was given with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Hmm? Oh, sorry, Mai. I thought I heard some rats.” There was a clack of shoes against floor as Azula moved. I glanced over and saw she had all her attention on the cold voiced girl now. I gestured for Zuko to rise up, slowly. “I suppose I should be more to the point,” Azula began. “This man did not kill the people of Omashu, this thing is the people of Omashu.” Mai stared at Azula for several long seconds. “Explain.” Azula shrugged casually. “I barely understand the specifics myself,” she said. She reached up and her hand hovered near her eyepatch. “Ever since that night at the palace when Father...” She trailed off and started again. “I've learned as much as I could in the time I've had. Suffice it to say that this thing was created using the people inside Omashu as its components.” “Components?” Ty Lee moaned. “I don't like the sounds of that.” Mai's face paled, which was an impressive sight given how pale she was. “You mean... someone murdered everyone in this city to make...” She looked at the pinned monster. “That's... that's...” “Monsterous?” Azula tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose it is.” Mai was staring at the homonculus. Her hand blurred and a knife virtually appeared in the things forehead. Three more bounced to the ground, having been deflected by the creature's hide.The monster grunted and blinked one eye. “Now look what you've done,” Azula said as if she was reproaching a child for spilling ink over the floor. “Every time it has to regenerate, it uses up more of its Stone.” She clucked her tongue and looked in the things face. “You're not going to heal that,” she commanded. “Healing is... too much... effort...” the thing grumbled in a deep bass voice I could hear in my bones. “You there, have you finished examining the array?” Azula said, turning to the man who was still running his hands over the wall. “Hmm?” He turned and stroked his moustache with one hand. “Ah, yes, Princess.” Princess? I glanced at Zuko, who was staring down intently. One hand was on the hilt of his swords. “I believe I understand the workings of this array now.” “Can you make it work?” she half asked, half demanded. “I'm not as good as that foreign boy, but I should be capable of activating the array.” “Excellent.” Azula clapped her hands. “Come on girls, out of the circle. We wouldn't want to be caught in this.” “What are you doing?” Mai asked as the three moved towards a ground floor exit. Azula smiled. “Rendering that thing useful to my plans.” She turned to Ty Lee. “You probably won't like what you see,” she said offhandedly. “Go up top and get some air. Mai and I will take care of this.” The girl in pink stared at Azula, her body shivering. It took me a second to recognize that she wasn't afraid of the monster on the ground or the array on the wall nearly as much as she was afraid of Azula. She recoiled back when Azula moved towards her, as if Azula was made of something foul. The girl nodded mutely and ran from the room ahead of the others. “What's her problem?” Mai asked evenly. Azula's hand hovered over her eyepatch for a second. “She's just confused. Soon enough she'll understand what I am hoping to accomplish.” “And that is?” Mai glanced at her. “Something wonderful.” Azula chuckled, a sound full of disturbed joy. “Don't worry, Mai, I won't leave you out. I plan to share everything with my friends.” They finally vanished out the doorway. The moustached man nodded to himself and walked to a circular void in the array that had been carved. He knelt and placed his hands on the floor, his eyes closing. Red sparks began to travel along the lines of the array, across the floor and up the walls. One passed within centimetres of my nose. A few arced across the supine homonculus. “...okay...” It said. “Living is... too much... effort.” “What's going on?” Zuko hissed at me. “I don't know,” I whispered back. “This is way beyond me.” “Can you do something about it?” he asked softly. “Maybe...” I glanced around. “I could certainly alter the array, but that might stop the reaction or cause it to backfire.” “And backfire is bad?” “Very.” “Are we safe here?” “Probably not,” I said. [ ]Try to stop/control the reaction by changing the array. [ ]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something. [ ]Forget stopping anything, let's just get the hell out of here. [ ]Attack the alchemist activating the array. Updates in te afternoon this week, voting open until 1PM EST. --------------- Epsilon
[X]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something.
[X]Try to stop/control the reaction by changing the array.
[x]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something.
And if that doesn't work, you've got a head start on [x]Forget stopping anything, let's just get the hell out of here. -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
[X]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something.
Going with Rob here:
[x]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something. And if that doesn't work, you've got a head start on [x]Forget stopping anything, let's just get the hell out of here.
Crap, for the first time in this, I don't see an obvious choice.
Yeah, I suppose Rob's is the best course: [x]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something. And if that doesn't work, you've got a head start on [x]Forget stopping anything, let's just get the hell out of here. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Same here
[x]Hey, one of those girls went off on her own. Follow her, maybe she knows something. I would suggest trying to sabotage the circle, but I can't see how that could be done without being caught. ----- Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea. "Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
Day Forty-Three, Ruins of Omashu
I gestured to the exit and Zuko followed me out. Once we were safely out of the effect range (I hoped) of the array I spoke up. “That girl who went off on her own, let's see if we can catch up to her.” “Ty Lee?” Zuko frowned and crossed his arms. “Why?” “She might know something.” He snorted at that. “You drag me down here to check up on that feeling, and then run away from it?” “Listen, I'm just trying to do my best...” He held up a hand to stop me and shook his head. “Whatever. Let's get this over with.” I frowned and started moving quietly through the halls. Locating the girl was going to be difficult, the corridors down here were like a maze, with lots of dead ends and blind turns. When in doubt I headed up, since she was supposed to be heading for fresh air. Plus it put us closer to the exit. I will admit, seeing the homonculus bound up like that had freaked me out. I was about two seconds away from choosing to bolt from this place. Only Ed kept me here. I had to know where he was, if he was okay. The amount of death that was happening around this city made me feel on edge for his safety. I stroked the metal belt around my waist. Zuko held up his hand. I glanced at him. “Ahead, someone moved through the corridors.” “Good as anything.” I gestured him forward, trusting his vision to follow a distant target more than my own. He moved in front of me and started stalking through the halls. His motions were smooth and quiet, his footsteps sure. He was a natural hunter, his expression intense. Even with his scar there was something almost primal and compelling about his movements and the shifting of muscles under his loose shirt. Of course, if I said anything, he'd probably punch me. Great, now I was worried, freaked out and depressed. Time passed slowly in the silent corridors, until eventually even I could see the occasional flash of pink ahead of us. I was tired of waiting, so once I saw the woman turn a corner I sprinted ahead. Zuko paused and then followed me quickly. I spun around the corner, just in time to see the girl spinning to face me, her expression wary. The corridor continued behind her, and there was a doorway to her right. No sense letting her escape. My hand snapped against the wall and the floors and walls reconstructed to seal off any route but the one that led straight through us. “Wha!” The girl stared. She glanced left and right to see her escape routes sealed off. “An earthbender?” “Worse than that,” I said. I grabbed the belt and reconstructed it into a boardsword which i pointed at her. “An alchemist.” “Alchemist?” She stared at me, then over my shoulder. “Zuko?” “Ty Lee,” Zuko returned in a controlled voice. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “We're asking the questions,” I pointed out, stepping forward. She turned to me, and her face firmed up a little. Her stance loosened and her arms rose up. “There are two of us.” I snapped my free hand against the wall and the corridor sealed up behind us. “And no escape. No one will even hear you scream.” “I don't want to hurt you,” she said. I paused and raised and eyebrow. “Think about what happens if you win. You've knocked out the only person who can lower these walls. Are you willing to do that?” She blinked twice, her head tilting to the side. “Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Just cooperate, Ty Lee. He won't hurt you.” I glared at Zuko. “Not helping.” I turned my attention back to the girl. “First question, where is Ed?” “Ed?” “Looks like me,” I gestured to my face. “One leg. Loud.” Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “I don't know.” “You know something,” I said. She shook her head vigourously. “Nu-huh!” How old was she? “You've seen him before, I can tell from your eyes.” “No you can't!” she insisted. I resisted the urge to rub my face in annoyance. “I just want to know where Ed is,” I said. “Tell me that, and I'll let you go.” She took a deep breath and put a comically exaggerated frown on her face. “No. I can't betray the Princess.” “So she does have him,” I said. “Wah!” Her frown dissolved. “How did you know that!” “...this is getting us nowhere,” I said. I stepped towards the wall. “I'll leave you an airhole, I'm certain someone will find you eventually.” I laid my hand against the wall behind us but before I could do the transmutation Ty Lee called out. “Zuko, wait!” “What is it?” Zuko sounded annoyed. “That man... why are you with him?” “...because he can help me avenge my father.” “But his aura...” I stiffened at her words. “It's not... its weird.” “Weird?” “It's just like-” At that point the wall under my hand exploded. I remember screaming in pain, but not much else. Time flickered in and out, then slowly resolved back into a world of coherent pain. I was covered in bits and pieces of rubble, which I shifted off myself with a groan. My ears were ringing and my vision was clouded with dust. I climbed unsteadily to my feet, using the broadsword as a makeshift crutch, as the dust settled and the ringing in my ears lowered to a persistent keen that only partially dulled all other sound. My hand was numb and I looked down at it, seeing that the metal gauntlet had been shredded and cut into the skin beneath it, leaving blood dripping to the ground in pools. “Azula,” Zuko snarled. As the dust cleared the young woman stepped through the hole that had been blasted in my wall. Behind her was the pale-faced Mai, her eyes scanning through the dust until they latched onto Zuko and narrowed. “Ah, Zuzu, so good to see you again.” Azula crossed one arm behind her back, the other raised to the side of her face. “See? Get it. I made a joke.” Her smile was cold. “How is Uncle?” “He's...” Zuko was shaking. “He's dead,” I stepped in. Zuko jerked his head to face me, his eye widening. “His injuries became infected.” Azula was staring at me, her expression unreadable. She finally turned back to Zuko. “Is this true?” “...yes,” Zuko said slowly, not taking his eyes of her. One of his hands was on the hilt of his swords, the other was raised up before him as he assumed a fighting stance. “Well, one obstacle down, one to go then.” She smiled at him. “How can you refer to Uncle that way?” Zuko spat. “Oh please, he was old and broken. The Fire Nation needs someone young and powerful, with conviction to follow in Father's ideals.” She smiled at him. Her good eye flicked to me and then back to him. “Though I think maybe you do have that conviction. Who is your friend?” “His name is Nin,” Zuko said. “He's a foreigner. He knows how to defeat the homonculi.” “You really have no clue what you stumbled across, do you?” Azula laughed. “Oh, little Zuzu, always trying so hard and never quite understanding what is going on around him.” She smirked at the both of us. “I'm feeling generous today,” she said. “So I will give you both one chance to surrender.” All good cheer vanished from her face, her eye narrowed dangerously and her voice became cold. “Do not tempt my good will. I do not need you alive.” [ ]Demand to know what she did to Ed. [ ]Try to escape, even though your stone transmuting gauntlet is destroyed... [ ]Surrender. [ ]Fight. --------------- Epsilon
[x]Demand to know what she did to Ed.
-- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
[X]Demand to know what she did to Ed.
Of course, if she should fail to be forthcoming on that topic, we can skip straight to... [X]Fight.
[X]Demand to know what she did to Ed.
And if need be: [X]Fight.
[ ]Surrender.
But, only on one condition: [ ]Demand to know what she did to Ed.
Gah. Azula is Kodachi with a built-in flamethrower, only worse. There's no reasoning with her.
[x]Fight. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
[X]Fight.
Sorry for the delay, had a job interview thingie this afternoon which prevented writing the update in a timely manner and didn't get back until like, three hours ago, for various reasons. Update will be done in an hour or two, tops.
Day Forty-Three, Ruins of Omashu “What did you do with Ed?” I demanded, rising to my feet with a bit more effort than I would have liked. “Ed?” She looked at me. “Oh, you mean the foreign boy.” She smiled. “I don't really know. After melting his leg off I lost all track of him. I don't imagine he survived.” The expression for a going berserk is 'seeing red' and until that moment I had never quite understood what it meant. But as she spoke those words I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my throat, I could feel my temples throb, and yes, I witnessed a red tinge fill my vision. My hand snapped up, carrying the broadsword with it. I remember yelling something, but not rightly what. I have no illusions that it was coherent, much less inspiring or pithy. Azula barely even twitched. Her body slid just far enough to the side to avoid my clumsy overhead chop. Sparks cracked off the ground. I roared and dragged the blade back up, trying to take her legs out. I was looking right into her face at the time, I distinctly remember her raising one eyebrow in a mocking expression. When I regained consciousness I was slumped against the wall. My head was spinning and black stars sparked in my vision. I groaned and shifted my hand, putting my injured one down to support me. The flare of pain restored my senses. I hadn't lost too much time, by the looks of it. Zuko was dueling with Azula, a whirling dervish with his paired longswords. Azula, however, looked like she was at a courtly dance, a particularly boring one. Her feet barely shifted, her body barely bent and she somehow evaded every one of Zuko's cuts and thrusts. Her lips were curled in a mocking sneer. Still outside the 'room' I had created was the robed girl, Mai. She was holding up a brace of throwing knives with one hand. Her expression was conflicted however and she kept lowering and raising the hand. She probably didn't want to risk hurting Azula while Zuko was still in melee with her. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have noticed that I was awake and thus a fair target. The pink-clad girl, Ty Lee, was staring at Azula with wide and frankly scared eyes. Her body was trembling. “Damn you!” Zuko finally shouted and hopped forward into a scissor kick. My jaw dropped as a curtain of fire exploded from the soles of his slippers, creating crisscrossing streamers of red flame. His flames had Azula completely boxed in, at that range there was simply nowhere for her to move to evade the attacks. She never even tried. Her hand simply snapped up and the flames bent around her, leaving her in a cocoon of safety. Yet she wasn't done. Her other hand came up, cupping the air, and the flames twisted around her in a spiral, collecting in front of her. Zuko was just coming down from his jump as the fire spun around her palm, concentrating into a ball like a miniature sun that compressed tighter and tighter with each second. The flames burned first red, then blue, then blinding white. Zuko didn't even have a chance to fully regain his footing before she opened her cupped hand towards him. “Bang.” It was like a grenade going of. All sound in the room ceased and the pressure wave pushed me against the stone. Zuko flew backward like a cannonball. Ty Lee had to bend over backwards to avoid him smashing into her, and rolled away as he slumped to the ground. From the way he shifted he was still conscious, but not happy about it. There was no time for me to be shocked. I had to act. My eye spotted my fallen sword and I pushed myself off the wall towards it. Mai spotted me and sent five knives spinning in my direction. I got to the sword first. In a flash of transmuting light the sword reshaped itself into a thin hemisphere around me. The knives smashed into and through the metal, but not all the way. One quivered to a stop in front of my nose. I rolled to my feet, transmuting the metal again. The knives were just part of the mass this time around, giving me more to work with. Mai looked offended as her weapons vanished into the signature of my alchemy. She pulled out more from her long sleeves. “Don't bother, Mai,” Azula said, stepping between me and the pale-skinned girl. “You'll just give her more ammunition.” I hopped backwards. I'd need range to deal with her. My hand spun the sword around, blue sparks running off it. “You shouldn't have hurt my friend,” I told her. “Oh, why not?” She looked amused. “Because I can control more than just metal.” I slammed the blade pointfirst into the rock, sinking it in a few centimetres. The array I had etched into the metal glowed, sending blue lightning into the ground at my feet. Rods of rock erupted from the walls, floor and cieling, forming an interlacing web with Azula at the centre. Somehow she shifted her body so that absolutely none of them hit her. For the second time my jaw gaped open. I'd transmuted over fifty rods with that stunt, and none of them had done more than flutter her hair or ruffle her clothes. “Yes, I'm aware.” She gestured with one hand, and a blast of fire shattered all the rods on her right side, allowing her to step sideways into the gap. “Though you're not nearly as versatile as the other one.” I growled and swung the sword up, transmuting it as I moved. It uncoiled into a chain, each link forming as it stretched out toward her. She jerked her head to the side, avoiding the constructing chain, and then ducked down as the chain swung back around towards her. I snapped my hand out and the chain hissed with light as it deconstructed and reconstructed again and again. My attack did not have to follow the motion of my hands, it didn't even have to obey most of the laws of physics. I could reverse its motions, split it in two, or even move its location entirely in an eyeblink. It never touched her. Just like with Zuko she only ever moved just enough that the chain missed. Her feet barely shifted and her body bent and wove. Her eye never left my face and her smirk never slipped for even a moment. Her arms were laced behind her back. “Is this the extent of your powers?” She sounded disappointed. “I was expecting more from the supreme being.” “Shut up,” I snarled. “You can't dodge forever,” “Really? You want me to burn you alive?” She snapped her hand up, a trial of white flame erupted from the edge of her fingers. Half my chain went spinning off, clattering to the ground. The metal had been melted like wax. “Well, if you insist.” “Nin, stand back,” Zuko said, stepping forward. I breathed a sigh of relief. My attack had at least given him time to recover, though his shirt had been ripped to shreds and the skin underneath was sorched and bleeding. He assumed a stance, right foot leading and one hand held in front of the other. “Only another firebender can beat her.” “I'd love to put you in your place, brother, but the adults are talking. Ty Lee, if you would?” Zuko had just enough time to widen his eyes before a pink blur came at him from behind. The girl bent her body in a way that was almost unnatural, her hands jabbing out seemingly at random. One blow came into the pit of his arm, another just above his elbow, a third his shoulder. Zuko flinched and jerked with the hits, stumbling back. His arms dropped limply to his side. He tried to kick at the girl, but she was already inside his movement. Her fingers danced across his extended leg and it flopped uselessly. Then she bent nearly double, doing the same thing to his remaining mobile limb. He dropped like a stone, cracking his chin against the ground. “Sorry, Zuko, but its for your own good.” Ty Lee said. “If you kept fighting, she'd kill you.” I grimaced and shifted my feet. “Ty Lee, move!” The array I had carved into the ground at my feet during my first attack exploded with light. However Ty Lee was already moving, bouncing towards the wall. The great stone fist that rose from the ground to catch her missed by a heartbeat. She ran along the wall for a second then bounced off it and started rushing towards me. I snapped my hand up, the half of the chain still in my hand started to crackle with light... and a spear of white-fire as thing as a pencil passed just in front of my hand, sending the transmuting steel spinning away. I gaped and stared at Azula, who was raising a smoking finger to her face, where she adjusted one of her bangs back into an immaculate state. Taking my eyes of Ty Lee was a mistake, however. I felt blows rain down on my limbs and before I knew it, I was flopping to the ground, my arms and legs numb. Azula clapped, slow and mocking. “Good job.” She walked over to me and placed her foot on my chest. “You know, I could save myself a of trouble just by killing you right here. But unfortunately I don't know if it would stick, or if they could just make another one of you.” She kicked me lightly in the chin, snapping my head back. I slumped back, barely able to think. Azula walked over to her brother next, who was glaring up at her in impotent rage. It was hard to tell if he was snarling, or just desperately trying to hold back tears. “Oh don't look at me that way, Zuzu. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so back at the dock.” She crouched in front of him, dangling her hands between her legs so she could toy with his hair in a disturbingly affectionate manner. “Oh! You're just so cute when you're in despair. Just like the night Mother went away!” “Don't you mention Mother!” Zuko roared with far more force than I thought him capable of. It was enough for Azula to drop her hands from his head. “If you're going to kill me, just do it?” She slapped him lightly. “Zuko, I just told you I don't want to kill you. What happened between me and Uncle Iroh was purely politics. With Father dead, the line of succession had to be clear and absolute. Now, with him dead, there is nothing to prevent you from taking the throne.” Zuko's good eye widened and his mouth opened and closed like a beached fish for a few moments. “You want... you want me to...” “We can discuss this later,” she said, standing up. “For now, you've been a bad boy and need a time out. Some place you can think about how you have hurt your sister with your cruel words and actions.” She turned to me. “Mai, strip him down.” Mai jerked her head towards Azula, a tinge of pink appearing in her cheeks. “Excuse me?” “He could have an array etched anywhere in his clothes or his belongings.” Azula tilted her head to the side and tapped her cheek with one finger. “And remember to bind his hands and feet so they can't touch anything when you are done. Remember, unlike a bender he doesn't have to move to perform his art, but he does apparently have to touch an array.” “Why are you keeping us alive?” I asked. She stared at me for a long moment. “You're bait.” “Bait?” “Yes.” She grinned maliciously. “So long as I have you, the homonculi will have to come to me.” “How did you even know we where here?” I said. “I wasn't certain,” she admitted. “So I set a trap. Ty Lee certainly looks so harmless and vulnerable, doesn't she.” She looked at the acrobat with a grateful smile. “Thank you for that as well. You certainly have proven yourself useful.” Ty Lee blushed a bit and backed away with a nervous smile. “As for you.” She reached down and grabbed my head. “I need you alive, but not in one piece. So don't push my generosity again.” Then she slammed my head against the ground and all I experienced was darkness. * The cell I awoke in was loud. It took me a moment to realize why. The sound was a waterfall, crashing down nearby. I was hanging in a cage suspended from a chain in the ceiling, below me was a deep drop into a lake whose depth I couldn't guess at. Spikes of stone rose out of the water like spear pointed at me. In the centre of the room a great pillar of water feel straight down. The cage was barely big enough to fit me standing upright. My shoulders ached and a glance up confirmed that my hands were held in a metal disk, positioned so that I would have no chance of touching it. The metal showed the telltale rectangular marks of alchemy. A glance down showed my feet where in a same contraption. Looking around me at eye level showed I wasn't alone in the room. Zuko was in a similar cage, though he was unbound. His cage, however, was close enough to the waterfall that the spray was getting all over him. He was shivering and trying to rub warmth into his shoulders. Another glance to the other side and... “ED!” I screamed, joyously. “Ugh, not so loud...” Ed groused. He was in the same kind of cage, and like me was bound hand and foot (though only one foot in his case, for obvious reason). He did not look good. His body was covered in dark burn marks and his face was bloodied. I really didn't care. He was alive. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. “Oh god, I thought you were dead,” I gasped out. “Azula told me...” “Azula lied, what a shock,” Zuko snarled, his zoice barely audible above the roar of the waterfall. “She probably told you that to trick you into attacking instead of trying to run away.” “Azula?” Ed asked. His voice was strained, and I realized he'd probably been hanging like I had for much longer. It was already uncomfortable for me, and I found it too easy to imagine what it would be like in a few hours. Or a few days. Or a few months... “Crazy lady, nice hair, shoots fire,” I said. “Burned off your leg?” “Oh, her.” Ed grunted. “I played dumb when she tried to question me, pretended like I couldn't understand what she was saying.” I nodded, took a deep breath and then yelled, “And what the hell were you thinking, running off on your own like that!” I was panting now. “You stupid impulsive idiot, you had me worried sick!” Ed had the grace to look away, shamefaced. “I had to try and get here in time,” he said. “I couldn't wait for you to recover. The reaction we saw, I've seen it before. I know how to stop it, how to reverse it. If I could have gotten here in time...” He looked down, squeezing his eyes shut. “I was too late,” he choked out. “So the transmutation destroyed the city?” I asked. “No, that was done afterward,” Ed admitted. “There was some... some little kid floating above the city, in this ball of wind... it was like nothing I've ever seen. Even father couldn't fly.” Ed shuddered. “He was glowing and his voice... it was like a chorus of screams, nothing but pure rage. Then he just exploded and this huge tornado of fire came down from the sky all around him and ripped the entire city to shreds. I was almost killed right then, I think I lost consciousness. When I came to, it was just in time for psycho-fire-chick to find me.” “What are you too talking about?” Zuko asked, irritated. I explained. Zuko frowned. “The Avatar,” he said. “He could really do that?” I asked. “He sunk over a hundred Fire Navy ships at once, and melted an entire island into magma. I know, I saw him do them both.” I shuddered, making my bindings clatter. The confrontation, no, the total defeat at the hands of Azula had left me shaken to my core. I was just beginning to think, after our success with Lust and the bounty hunters at the pier that I was getting to the point I could take care of myself. She had never been in any danger at all. The thought that there was someone out there even more dangerous than Azula made my stomach do acrobatics that even Ty Lee would have been impressed with. Still, I was alive, and so was Ed. As far as I was concerned, those were both mistakes on Azula's part. The only question was, how to exploit them? [ ]If all three of you work together, you can make a daring escape! Right! Right? ... [ ]Zuko held things back for two long, time to drag out the truth from him. [ ]Wait for rescue. [ ]I'd rather die than be a hostage for that woman. Do something foolishly dangerous! ------------- Epsilon
[x]Zuko held things back for too long, time to drag out the truth from him.
Once that's done, [x]If all three of you work together, you can make a daring escape! Right! Right? ... -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
I suppose it's time for:
[X]Zuko held things back for two long, time to drag out the truth from him. After think, brainstorm: [X]If all three of you work together, you can make a daring escape! Right! Right? ... And wait for an opportunity to exploit. Of course, that could turn into [X]Wait for rescue.
[X]If all three of you work together, you can make a daring escape! Right! Right? ...
|
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
