Double Bender

Part 23

We fought our way closer and closer to the city and I had a really good feeling about this because I thought the Fire-Nation had no idea about the eclipse or the invasion. Someway up the mountain, we stopped for a planning session. Sokka, Bato, and I looked at a map while the earth-benders defended the tanks, and us. At that time, Katara came back with Hakoda, who was still clutching his side. "Glad to see you're back on your feet, Dad," said Sokka. "Thanks to your sister," Hakoda said. "I'm in no position to fight, but there may be some way I can help." "Everything's going smoothly," Sokka said. "And the eclipse hasn't even started yet!" I added happily. Katara looked off into the distance like she was distracted or something. "Katara?" Hakoda asked. "Are you alright?" She didn't answer. I looked out to where she was looking and saw something flying towards us. "Is that... Aang?" I asked. The thing kept gliding towards us; It was bald with a blue arrow on it's head. It was Aang. He landed right next to us. "Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a giant wuss and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down," Sokka pleaded. Aang looked up. "He wasn't home," He said. "No one was." We all looked at each other. This was going to be harder than we thought.
"They knew!" Sokka said angrily. "It's over!" Aang said miserably. "The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse." Sokka thought for a moment before saying, "No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't have gone too far. Something tells me he would have a secret bunker. Some place where he'd be safe but where he could still run the country during a siege." Toph grinned. "If it's an underground bunker you're looking for, I'm just the girl you're looking for." Sokka took a small device out of his pocket. "The mechanist gave me this timing device," he said. "It looks like we have ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord." "We can still do this," said Aang. "We can still win the day." "Wait," Katara said. "If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely," Hakoda spoke up. "Everyone who's here today was willing to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's a chance, there's hope. I think they would want Aang to go for it," "What do you think?" Sokka asked, looking at Aang. "You're the one who's got to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." "Me too," I said. "I've got to try," Aang said. Sokka nodded. "Geo!" he said. "Sir yes sir!" she joked. "We need you, Toph, and Tatiana to help us find this bunker." "Let's go!" she said.
We flew up to the base of the abandoned palace and Toph put her hand on the ground. "You feel anything down there?" Aang asked. "Yep," said Toph. "There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the volcano." "Anything else?" Sokka asked. "Like a structure?" Toph paused and then said, "There's something down there. Something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano." "Sounds like a secret bunker to me," said Sokka. Toph thrusted her hands forward, bending a hole into the side of the mountain. "Everyone in," she said. Geo jumped in first, followed by Sokka,, followed by Aang, followed by Toph. I stayed where I was for a minute. I knew that that one minute might have cost us absolutely everything, but I didn't care. I leaned my head back and looked up at the huge palace and thought of all the hurt the people that lived there had caused. I couldn't even comprehend how angry I was at them. I was angry at them for causing this war, I was angry at them for killing so many people, I was angry at them for ripping my life apart. But all I could do was just stand there and look at that palace looming over me like a storm cloud. Mocking me, saying that I couldn't do anything. It was taunting me, I was so angry that my vision hazed and I didn't even remember why I was there for a second. All I could do was just stand there. But, I suddenly remembered where I was; at the foot of the palace. I quickly bent down, picked up a large rock, and threw it as hard as I could at the palace. It sailed through the air for a little and then flew out of sight. The air was silent for a few minutes, then a loud crash echoed through the air. I had broken a window of the palace. I stoop there for a second. I had just broken a window of the palace. Ozai was gonna see that and wonder who busted his window. I smiled for a second. It kind of reminded me of where we were right now and what we were doing; breaking the order. Ozai had commanded us with the war and kept us down and for a hundred years, we let the war go constantly, smooth and undisturbed, like glass. But only a few people, just a few, the least likely amount of people were able to stand up and break that glass. "Hey!" Geo yelled. "I heard a crash. What happened?" I smiled again. "I just threw a rock at the palace." I said proudly. Geo grinned. "That's my girl." She said, patting my head jokingly. "Now come on. We're not gonna stop the Fire Lord by standing out here, vandalizing." I walked over and we both jumped into the hole.
"This way!" Toph said, pointing in one direction. "The other way's a dead end." "What would we do without you?" Sokka asked. We passed a river of molten lava. "Perish and burn in hot magma," she said casually. "The tunnel continues to the other side and that leads to the bunker." "Okay," said Sokka. "We have to be fast and careful," We all broke into a run and as we rounded a corner...we stopped dead in our tracks. If we didn't we would have fallen into a huge pit full of lava. Sokka nearly lost his balance and Aang had to grab him. "How was that careful?" he asked. Sokka shrugged. "I was wrong," said Sokka. "We have to be fast, careful, and lucky." Sokka looked in front of us and said, "The floor's just a pit of lava." "We can see that, lame brain," Geo said snidely. "So how do we get across this?" I asked. Aang took out his glider. "Hang on," he said. "No way!" Geo said. "Geo," said Sokka. "We only have-" "I don't care," she said. "I'm not flying like that. There is no way Aang would be able to hold all of us without dropping one of us." "I'll just take two of you over and come back for the other two," said Aang. "That'll take too long," I said. "Well, what are we supposed to do?" he said, getting annoyed. "Wait," I said. "I have an idea. It's a long shot but it might work." I stepped forward and opened one of the pouches Katara gave me and bended some of the water out. I spread out the water as much as I could. As soon as I couldn't spread the water anymore, I threw my arms down and the water splashed onto the lava. A huge fit of steam started rising from the lava. "Aang," I said hurriedly. "Bend as much air as you can onto the lava so it'll harden." Aang swiveled his arms in a circular motion and held a huge ball of air in his arms. Then, he threw it onto the lava. As soon as the air collided, it cooled the lava so much that the lava turned solid. "Hurry," I said as we ran across the now solid floor and I swung across using my whip. What? It was efficient but it was still awesome. Sue me, I gotta have some style. We ran down another hallway and as we ran, I noticed we were running through a stone hallway with metal beams supporting them, instead of just a plain old hallway. We suddenly stopped in front of a huge metal door. "That's some door," said Sokka. "Not a problem," said Toph breezily. Toph brought her arm back, then thrust it forward, crunching the metal and pushing a hole into it. She crawled through the hole and pointed down a specific hallway. The rest of us came through. "I am so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka said whimsically.
We ran down another hallway, passing several forks along the way. But, coming up the first tunnel was a war minister. He saw us coming and tried to run but we cornered him. "The Fire Lord's chamber is down the left tunnel. You can't miss it!" he confessed. "Thanks!" Aang said happily. We followed the left tunnel just as the war minister said. Sure enough, there was another door to a chamber. I could feel someone on the inside. Sokka took out his watch again. "Only thirty seconds 'til the total eclipse." Aang closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up and said, "I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord." Aang picked up his staff, spun it around, then thrust it towards the door. A blast of air flew from his staff, knocking the door off it's hinges. We all ran inside but instead of the Fire Lord we found... "Azula?" I said. Azula smile evilly and nodded. Then she looked at Aang and said, "So you are alive after all." She grinned. "I had a hunch that you survived. It doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months." We all didn't know what to do.


SUSPENSE! Hehe, I know you all hate them but cliffhangers are really fun to write. Leave a comment, pleeeeeeaase? Luv u!