Avatar: The Vindicated Avenger

It is early in the morning; the sun has not emerged yet. It is around 10 Celsius (50 Degrees) outside. Four Fire Nation troops pound the door of a home with a battling ram. They hit it repeatedly until it is pounded until it is thrust open. Soldiers storm the area and immediately start trashing things. 

Fire Nation corporal, "OUT!! OUT!!! I SAID GEEETT OUT!! I want everyone out!" An elderly man, his wife, and a few children hurry outside.

Older man: "What are you doing? We are good people; we haven't committed any crimes?" 

Fire Nation corporal: "You are of reasonable suspicion of harboring fugitives. As the owners of this city, we have a right to search your home because it is state property. Everything in Jeyuln belongs to the Fire Nation crown!! Get used to it."

Elsewhere, a random home is burnt down by local officials for "indignation". Likewise, three men are nailed on wooden logs that are planted upright into the ground. People watch as archers take aim. Fire Nation captain: "READDDDYYY, FIRE!!" The men are impaled as metal arrows are launched through their bodies.

Fire Nation captain: "Let that be a lesson to anyone else who entertains fugitives. The Overseer has decreed that the wages of insurrection are blood and DEATH." Two shirtless men are forced to hauled Fire Nation troopers while they are whipped for tax evasion. 

Fire Nation soldier: "Go, go faster you beast!!" Three other soldiers watch in the distance giggling and eating spicy grits. Moriana watches from afar with Tyson. 

Moriana stomps left to right before throwing her hands in the air, "We have to do something. This is unbelievable, how can they be so evil?"

Tyson answers, "Their greed, they have been given everything they ever wanted at the expense of others. At this point, they have shut down their ability to emphasize and reason. They are simply on a war path, a mindless crusade."

Moriana pouts, "And Kett and Sada want us to wait for the right moment to strike."

Tyson: "That's right, they are planning some grand attack and don't want to draw too much attention just yet." 

Moriana: "What do you say we get some early justice?"

Tyson shrugs, "What do you mean?"

Moriana taunts, "Step aside." The earthbender runs and launches herself off the ground on a rooftop. 

Tyson looks down then back up, "Hey wait?!" Tyson leaps after her and the duo sprint across roof after roof as Moriana jumps from one building to the next.

Tyson: "Mori, slow down. Please, relax! We don't know where we're going." Moriana halts a woman crying. 

Woman: "STOP!!! PLEASE, JUST STOP!!! Give me back my daughter." Two firebenders grab hold of a young woman while a drunken Fire Nation soldier draws a sword at her. 

Drunken Fire Nation Swordsman: "Hush woman. We need someone to accompany us on our tour of the city, we will bring her back in a week."

Woman: "Noooo, release my daughter!! She's all I have." The woman runs at the man, but he pushes her down, but not without stumbling himself. 

Drunk Fire Nation Swordsman: "Stay down if you know what's good for you." The lady weeps.

The young lady screams, "MOM!!" The men toss her in a carriage with wolverine-bunnies. An enraged Moriana flips down before Tyson can catch her and down kicks a stone block into the duelist. Blood stains scatter across the floor and the woman looks up. 

Tyson gets a closer look at the woman. She has wavy light brown hair, yellow skin, olive green eyes, a round nose, and long lips. Woman: "Please, benders, free my daughter." 

Tyson pats his chest, "I'm Tyson, what's your name lady?"

Woman: "Monda."

Tyson: "Alright Monda, what's your daughter's name?"

Woman: "Esther."

Moriana inquires, "Do you know where they might be taking her?"

Monda: "No, but you can follow the tracks."

Tyson: "Don't worry Monda, I'll find Esther. I will make sure her is unharmed." Moriana swiftly walks and Tyson keeps pace with her.

Moriana walks and talks, "See, I told you have to do something."

Tyson: "Fine, you did right. Let's go." Meanwhile Esther's arms are tired together by a cloth material and she is tossed in a room. The door is locked behind her while the two men joke. The door is flung open, and one is immediately knocked over. The other trooper stomps his left foot down and jabs a flame at Tyson.

Tyson crosses his arms and puts out the fire. Moriana emerges from the ground and directly behind the man as she launches herself through the floor. The man turns and Moriana pounds him in his jaw with a double legged kick. The earthbender lands gracefully.

Tyson: "Well, that was fun." Tyson kicks the door open, and Moriana sets her loose by slashing her cloth free with a downward swing. Tyson comments, "You know, you could have just untied it."

Esther immediately hugs both of them. Esther asks, "Is my mother ok?" 

Tyson nods. Moriana: "I saved her from that brute."

Esther: "You both have my thanks, is there anything I can do in your service?"

Tyson: "Spread the word. Tell everyone the Fire Nation's reign here is coming to an end. I don't care how many people they abuse; they are gonna get theirs real soon." The woman smiles and storms out. 

Fire Nation troops begin searching local homes without just warrants. Often simply going off "reasonable suspicion" based on who people talk to. Administrators begin making yellow lists of citizens who could potentially be terrorists. These citizens likewise become monitored by secret police. 

People on the orange list are immediately brought in, questioned, and/or interrogated based on how troops feel. Individuals on red list are immediately ordered to be imprisoned or even killed for the glory of Ozai. Moriana and Tyson visit the older couple Pallo and Horsha. 

Tyson drops a brown wooden chest before kicking it open. Moriana points and the duo see 3,500 copper shekels. Horsha jumps in excitement, "How did you come up with all of this?"

Moriana comments, "The dunes don't talk." The duo leaves and Tyson salutes them. 

Pallo raises an eyebrow, "I wonder what those youngsters are really up to?"

Horsha shrugs, "Who cares, we need the money. They are good kids."

Pallo sighs, "That is terrible advice, but I'll take it." Later in the day, a young man and his brother walk the streets of Southern Jeyuln. One is just seventeen with wavy black medium-length hair, a thin mustache, a light goatee, grey-greenish eyes, long eyebrows, small ears, beige skin, a thin frame, and medium lips. His name is Zorlan. 

His brother, Nurron is twenty-one. He has caramel brown skin, black straight hair, lime green eyes, a large nose, long ears, long eyebrows, broad shoulders, and medium lips. Zorlan holds a basket of apples and oranges that he purchased at the city market. Three Fire Nation soldiers stand patrol as they cross by. 

One is a full-bearded middle-aged swordsman who is getting early grey hair and the other two are younger firebenders. One of the firebenders points and laughs at two people walking down the street. Zorlan gives the man a harsh stare, Nurron notices and taps his brother in his back. 

Zorlan breaks his stare but a slick brown-haired firebender in the group gets agitated. The firebender taunts, "Hey, who do you think you are? Do you want trouble earth boy?" Zorlan moves quickly as he prepares to defend himself, but he is too slow. The firebender drops him with a wide left hook. 

The wide hooks leaves him open enough for Nurron to counter with a right overhand punch that knocks the soldier to his feet and sends his helmet flying off. Firebender: "You dunce!!" The man punches a flame from the ground that Nurron blocks by stomping his right foot and raising a thin block of earth to meet it. 

The block crumbles to dust. The man slaps his hands together and a swirling cascade of bright orange flames glides at him by another pale skinned and black haired soldier. Nurron leaps right and forward before blasting the man with sand. The sand briefly startles him while the other firebender gets up from the ground and snatches Nurron from behind in a headlock. 

The duo wrestle on the ground until the Fire Nation duelist starts kicking Nurron while he's down. Zorlan rubs his face and gets up while shaking sand out of his hair. The other fire wielder blasts himself off the ground with a spirt of fire before nailing Zorlan in his chest with a superman punch.

Zorlan tumbles in the sand, briefly holding his chest from the blow and widening his eyes. Zorlan: "Ugh!!"

The firebender smirks and squares up, "That's how we show our hospitality." 

Moriana flips from a roof and lands a few feet between the swordsman and the firebender. The duelist rotates his blade and runs at her but is immediately dropped by a brick that the young woman back kicks into him. Moriana opens her right palm and blows the black haired firebender the window of a nearby store.

Moriana apologizes, "Sorry, I'll pay for it. Eventually..." The brown haired firebender rages and pounds two sizeable explosive fireballs at her. Moriana diagonal flips away from danger while Tyson emerges from the ground two inches behind the soldier. Chills fly down the firebender's back, but he tries to reverse kick the earthbender.

Tyson grabs his leg and throws him against a wall. The brothers rise. Zorlan: "Thank you both, those guys sure had us in some trouble." 

Moriana gives him a thumbs up, "No worries."

Tyson cracks his knuckles, "If anyone else gives you problems, just let us know."

Moriana adds, "But we're not just here to be extra muscle against injustice, we are going to take the Fire Nation out of this city once and for all.

Zurlan crosses his arms, "Well, we'll be down to help out."

Tyson: "Not yet, if you want to help us, you've got to get trained first. We don't want to risk random people getting themselves hurt or killed, at least not easily."

Zurlan shouts, "I'm ready to DIE for liberty! I'm sick of these fire nationals taking EVERYTHING from us and treating us like second-class citizens."

Tyson nods, "Just be patient, your time will come." Meanwhile, Calveko and Sada do some undercover work. 

Calveko looks around, "These people are nearly broken, the Fire Nation is driving them mad. I'm so impressed that they keep trying to have fun in their spare time."

Sada: "Sadly these are the effects of colonization and imperialism."

Calveko points, "Hey, look at those guys." 

Sada pulls his hand down, "Don't point, you'll give us away and it can be seen as rude." Three men march proudly in green, red, and grey armor. Their eyes are green, revealing their Earth Kingdom origin. 

Sada questions a local man, "Who are those people?"

Man: "Those are the Orb Owls, Desku Pho's trusted followers."

Sada: "Who is Desku?"

Man: "A guy of Earth Kingdom origins who is now the voice of assimilation. He's telling people all over conquered Earth Kingdom lands and colonies to join the winning side. His followers get extra shekels, better food, and nice jobs. The catch that he doesn't mention is they get it at the expense of other Earth Kingdom people."

Calveko: "That sounds like a lousy deal to me."

Sada: "Well, it certainly doesn't to them."

Man: "I guess they just want to spread the pain around and get their fix."

Calveko asks Sada, "Should we say something to them?"

Sada swiftly answers, "Of course not, we have nothing to gain from them. But I feel we'll run back into these vermin soon enough."

Calveko: "Until then I guess." Calveko and Sada, Tyson and Moriana, and Kett and Kashen meet later that day in the abandoned building.

Kett crosses his arms, "How did your scouting go?"

Moriana: "Great, we saved some locals."

Kett points his finger at her, "Don't you two get in unnecessary conflicts or I'll have to change who I pair you with."

Kashen adds, "We saw the Fire Nation refinery. They had this massive structure with tons of greasy, dirty, and rusty metal machines. Locals worked like slaves in scolding conditions while the conquerors sat in their chairs, drank tea, and ate doughnuts."

Tyson: "Well, at least their out of shape. Should make it easier for us to take them out of the picture."

Moriana asks Kett, "I heard that you were able to change your eye color to blue for a moment, but I can see they're gold now. What happened?" 

The Vindicated Avenger scratches his head, "Aw yes, that was an interesting turn of events."

Lying Eyes

Sada, Calveko, Kashen, and Kett celebrate their recent victory at Endinga by sipping on champagne in a Water Tribe village called Penholi. Kett sits in a folding chair, Kashen stands, and Calveko sits in the sand near the shore of a lake. Sada smiles, "Congratulations team, another mission accomplished."

Kett stands up and Kashen looks at him, "You going somewhere?"

Kett responds, "Just getting some fresh hair, I think I need to clear my head for a bit." Kashen nods and Kett strolls off. He starts thinking of Kanna Foloki, his long time crush. Kett wonders, Ah, I miss Kanna, she made every situation cheerful. She is so goofy but that's what I loved about her. Now she's still fighting with imperialists.

Kett hears a low mysterious growl. It is just low enough that he is not certain he picked up anything. Kett looks around but notices nothing. He ignores it and continues his walk. He steps closer to the water and looks at his reflection. He immediately notices his now blue eyes.

Kett: "Now eyes, new team, new me... It's time to leave the past behind." As Kett turns his back, a green tentacle stretches from the lake and wraps around his midsection. Kett's eyes widen, and he shouts for the most reliable member of his team, "SADA!!" 

An instant later, he is whipped into the lake. Water splashes around his body and he holds his breath as oxygen bubbles soar above his head. Kett finds himself surrounded by dark blue water and a massive pacific blue octopus with bright green pupils stares him in his eyes.

The creature speaks to him through its mind and directly into his brain. Kett's head has a shaking sensation as he hears the thunderous remarks of the animal which has a powerful voice. Octopus: "I am the Marine Keeper, rival of the Spring Rodent that amplified you."

Kett attempts to wiggle himself free, but the monster tightens its grip. Octopus: "I will ensure you remain identifiable as a firebender. The eyes of our people cannot be earned after generations of lineage." The animal opens its mouth and spits white mucus over Kett.

His eyes sting and he quickly blinks. The pain goes and his pupils are gold again. Marine Keeper: "Now you will suffer the affliction of allying with my foes!" Kett presses his hands against the keeper's tentacles and burns the creature with convection heat. It starts to loosen its grip, so he digs his legs into it before launching himself free. 

The animal swings two of its tentacles at him horizontally. Kett performs an upward swimming flip over one strike and exerts extra energy to fire a burst of superheated water/energy that could not metabolize enough to turn into fire into the other tentacle. The octopus storms closer to him but Kett launches himself backward with a steam of heat. 

Kett raises his head just above the water as he was beginning to lose his breath. Kett turns his body around as he flows closer to the shore and rapidly strokes toward the shore. Calveko, Kashen, and Sada run to the shore. Calveko yells, "Why did you shout for Sada and not me?! You think I'm not capable?!"

Calveko trips over a pebble and falls face first into the sand. Kashen and Sada rush past him to the shoreline. Sada shouts, "Come on Kett, you can make it!" Kett gets just inches from the shore when two arms from the octopus latch on his knees. Kett is about to plunge when Kashen lunges and grabs his arm. 

Kashen starts to pull but the Octopus is stronger. Calveko immediately grabs Kashen and the two hold on. Kashen: "Ugh, we got you Kett!!" 

Calveko: "Ahhhhhh, it's TOO STROOONNNGG!! SADA, DO SOMETHING!!" 

Sada chuckles, "I thought you said you could handle this?"

Kashen: "Now's not the time to joke girl, I thought you were the mature one." Calveko and Kashen start to get pulled into the lake.

Sada's eyes open fully, and he concentrates. The young woman steps into the lake and latches onto the spirit. Marine Keeper: "What is the meaning of this? You are the worker of this iniquity!! Unhand me!!" 

Sada replies through her mind, Then punish me. He is not to blame. The Western waterbender grabs a hold of all the animal's tentacles and forces it to reverse its grip. Water rotates her right backward and flings her three companions out of the lake onto the sand. 

Sada follows up by generating a long ice diamond and flinging it into the creature's mouth. The animal descends deeper into the lake and Sada launches herself out of the body of water. The octopus spits out the diamond along with some purple blood and glares at her with its green eyes. 

However, Sada has gone too far away and bested it. Kett rises to his knees. Calveko lays on the floor and looks up at the sky. Kashen gets right up, "What the arctic was that?"

Sada glances at him, "I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen."

Kett immediately jumps up, "I'll say, for now on, we DON'T USE MAGIC!! Or if you do, do not count me in."

Sada answers, "You've used magic before, magic just means spiritual abilities."

Kett replies, "Well, I'm not working with witches or asking random water spirits for amps. How about that?"

Sada looks back at him, "Agreed."

After hearing the story, Tyson and Moriana look at Sada at the same time, "DON'T DO THAT TO US!!" 

Sada: "Well, it worked for Kett going undercover. But I made a mistake. At least we're all alive to tell the tale."

Tyson pokes Moriana, "See this deal is getting worse all the time."

Kett: "We're not the bad people, I promise."

Moriana crosses her arms, "Are you sure about that?"

Kashen: "Well considering we saved your lives, you might as well believe that."

Tyson: "Villains do that to, to draw people in."

Calveko becomes edgy, "But you know we could just kill you to, since we saved you if we wanted to."

Kett grabs Calveko's shoulder, "Don't joke like that." Calveko stops.

Tyson sighs, "Now I want a nap."

Moriana gets up out of her chair, "Me too, I need some rest." 

As they leave Kashen states, "This is why we shouldn't tell guests stories like that or tell bad jokes like that!"

Kett: "I just told them the truth. If they can't handle it, they need to get out now while they still have time."

Sada: "I get a weird feeling they'll stick along and get used to this."

Calveko: "Sure hope so, we could use a few more helping hands."

Kashen: "And benders..."

Calveko presses his right hand against his chest, "BENDERS?? We are fully capable as nonbenders. It's not about them being benders. Have a little faith Kash."

Kashen sighs, "Oh Cal, you are too much!! Seriously, I just stated an obvious fact. But YES, we can handle ourselves."

Calveko: "It's not about the powers someone has, it's about what you do with what you have."

Kett claps, "Well, I'm going to bed."

Sada agrees, "Me too. You two have fun chatting it up."

Calveko exclaims, "Well in that case, I'm GOING TO BED TOO!"

Kashen teases, "You freaking idiot, go to bed then. I'm STAYING UP!"

Kett shakes his head, "You're both idiots." Kett walks off. 

Sada waves, "Goodnight guys." Calveko runs upstairs. 

Kashen ponders, Now what am I gonna to do? Oh, I know. Imma read Sewer Delicacies. I wanna know how people find food out there. Not that I would eat it.