Youth Wars Part III: A New Age

Chapter 3

Klink

"To victory." Aang said as the trio pushed their cups together.

"To victory." Exar and Jo agreed before taking a sip of their non-alcoholic drinks.

"Even after all we went through, we still manage to come out on top." Exar said.

"At what cost?" Jo asked quietly.

"Well," Aang and Exar looked at each other. "I'm unaware of a 'cost', but we've almost achieved galaxy-wide peace."

        "We were like brothers when we started this journey; but recently, I noticed we've been falling apart. Exar knew of the existence of the sith, yet kept it from us and caused our trust in him to be shaken; now, my trust in you guys has been shaken. The things you've done without me, all these... times off you've had, while I had to stay behind. To be honest, I think you guys don't want to be around me as much. I'd like to know why."

...

"We were different." Exar started. "All that, was before we started going through these life-changing experiences. We weren't as selfless as I think we are now; today, we wouldn't consider going without you."

"That's... a little encouraging. But Aang," He turned to Aang, "What the heck man? I thought you of all people would remember. You're like, seventy years old."

"As smart as I seem, my mind isn't what it used to be." Aang shrugged with a softened -yet slightly saddened- expression on his face.

"At least your skills haven't corroded." Jo mumbled.

The trio finished their drinks and started to leave, but were stopped when Aang's wrist comm buzzed. He looked down to see a message on it.

"It's Master Viran. He wrote, 'Check out the news. Channel 8.' "

Suddenly suspicious, the team slowy made their way back inside the bar and approached the counter.

"Jho." Aang called.

"Aang. What's up?" Jho III asked.

"Could you turn on the news on Channel 8 please?" Aang asked.

"News, huh? Sure." Jho pressed a button underneath the counter, which then turned on the TV.

On the monitor, they saw a news man against a wall, seemingly hiding from something. And whatever it was, the team thought it was loud.

"The storm here is building up, the sky has darkened, and lightning is spewing everywhere-"

"Where is this?" Exar asked suddenly.

"It says... a city away." Jho replied.

        Exar looked outside and saw a clear blue sky, with no clouds. Confused, he looked back at the screen and saw the camera turning to face the crux of the storm. There, the team recoiled as they saw a tornado-like pillar of black clouds. It reached up to the sky, and touched the ground, from what they could see (it was in a spaceport). Lightning was spewing from the pillar in no specific direction or pattern; as if it wasn't bad enough, fireballs began to rain down from the dark sky with the lightning.

"What is this?" Aang asked quietly.

To their convenience, two big, distinct yellow flames opened up, like a pair of awakening eyes.

"Erk." The team mumbled.

        "Citizens of Lothal." Erk's voice boomed loudly, creating a buzzing sound on the TV as he spoke. "Your lives are in your own hands; I am on a mission to retrieve three individuals. One, a human cyborg; one, a Besalisk; and the third, a Zabrak. They will be seen together, so it shouldn't be too hard for you. You have until dawn, tomorrow to give them over. In case the said team is watching, I have one warning: come alone." Then the TV went black.