Element Academy: The Light of the Avatar

Let's Get Down to Business...Crystal

"So your dad is a business dude," Mahoney remarks to fill the tense silence in the elevator.

"Stepdad, but totes." Talula then leans against Jacob and flashes him a playful grin. "What's your story cutie?"

Jacob blushes deeply, a bit uncomfortable from the sudden closeness. "I um- I'm Jacob."

"We can have a proper interrogation once we get to a board room or something." Crystal pulls Talula away from Jacob. "Give him some room to breathe, alright?"

Talula crosses her arms and pouts. "Fine."

They carry on in silence for a while until pop music cuts through the air. Talula whips out her phone and answers the call. She listens to the voice with a light-hearted air before answering back in rapid Chinese. She hangs up the phone and slips it back in her pocket.

She asks one of the body guards to take them to floor 43 in Chinese. She turns to everyone and announces that her father is caught up in a last minute meeting so they can head to 'interrogate' Jacob in the secondary board room.

The Elevator dings and they step out onto a marble lined floor. Cream colored walls with crimson and gold accents line the top of the wall. Crystal eyes the gold lined mirrors and black tables set along the hallway.

"Is this a business or a hotel?" She whispers to Page. Page holds back a laugh as they follow the bodyguards to a set of large black double doors.

Next they inside staring at the massive oblong oval table lined with plush leather chairs. Crystal squints at the sunlight streaming through the ceiling to floor window that makes up the wall on the opposite side of the room. This place is huge.

"Can this be our Situation Room?" Mahoney asks, plopping himself in one of the large chairs towards the end.

"Am I really going to be interrogated?" Jacob asks as he sits down next to Mahoney.

Crystal sits down across from the pair. Page then sits on one side of Crystal and Talula on the other. "You're the only one who really knows anything about the Underground. You've actually been with them, so you know a whole lot more than any of us."

"Start from the beginning," Demetri offers, sitting on the other side of Jacob. Crystal has a feeling that him being surrounded is no accident.

Jacob twiddles his thumbs from where his hands rest on the table, eyeing the bodyguards standing in front of the door nervously. "Well, I um- I'm Jacob. I'm a chef. One day I was working with fire when it uh- reacted. Some bender saw me and brought me to the Underground to learn. It's not that bad really. There are a bunch of people who just want a place to practice bending and do it openly. They taught me how to control the fire so I won't hurt anyone; they even gave me a job as one of the chefs for the community restaurant."

"Do not really bad people kidnap people then start a huge fight underground?" Page challenges.

"Not everyone thinks the way those crazy people do!" Jacob insists. "Sure, some people are mad at some bending camp for turning them down, but most people get over it and move on. It's just this sort of small group that kept trying to cause trouble, but no one ever really pays them much attention. At least that's how it was until maybe a few weeks ago."

That statement peeks her interest. "What happened a few weeks ago?"

Jacob shrugs. "This girl came in, started saying how the camp taught their students to hate Undergrounders and to think they're superior to us. The small group of radicals started growing and growing. She just kept making people super angry."

"Way to go Jane," Page grumbles. "Can't believe I actually looked up to."

The others chat and continue to ask Jacob about the Underground; Crystal tries to listen but her thoughts trail back to Jane. Is she really so angry that she's going to all this trouble to bring down the entire bending community in the U.S? There has to be a way to stop her and bring back peace, right? But how? How do they bring back the light to this ever darkening situation?

"Can I stay?"

Crystal looks up at Jacob to see him staring intently at her. Crystal looks around to see the others also looking at her. She peers at him for a moment. Jacob frowns. "I get it if you don't trust me, but I shouldn't trust you guys either from what I've heard...but I think we should trust each other. I want to learn about you guys as much as you want to me. We can help each other."

"It all starts with one," Crystal murmurs. They all look at her. "My foster mom always says that to change the world it always starts with one: one change, one person, one act of kindness. You can stay Jacob, I'm the Avatar for everyone not just the Campers."

Jacob smiles widely and thanks her for giving him a chance. Crystal smiles in return. If there really are people like Jacob in the Underground then maybe it won't be so hard to help them. She just needs a chance to talk to them, to explain both sides of the coin.

"Okay Jacob, so here's the story of Element Academy and the Avatar..."