Chapter 1: Spirits and fish?
"Come on, Aang! We can't let them get away after what they did!"
"Don't worry. I'll make sure they face Zuko for what was destroyed!"
Aang and Katara sprinted through the forest after the large group of firebenders trying to escape. At least three dozen men were attempting to flee from the incoming avatar and waterbender hot on their trail. It had only been two days since the defeat of Ozai, and many of the fire nation forces refused to surrender underneath the new rule. Droves inside the earth kingdom went on sprees of destruction in retaliation to the news of their leaders demise.
The leader of this group of firebenders turned and faced his pursuers, all of his men stopping as well. "This is the end for you, avatar!"
Both Aang and Katara stopped and prepared themselves for a fight. Katara opened the canteen on her side and bended out a large water whip over her shoulders. "You will pay for what you did. That village was filled with innocent people and you burned their homes down!"
"Those peasants don't deserve to live in the world of the phoenix king! All for Fire lord Ozai!"
"Ozai is done for, I defeated him myself." Aang stepped forward and readied his glider staff. "Come on, give up already!"
"He is still the true firelord, not that traitorous prince of his!" The leader and his men prepared their own fire and stepped forward. "That false lord will never be our ruler. Attack!"
All the soldiers began shooting fire balls towards the two. Aang slammed his hands into the ground and created a large stone wall blocking all of them. "Katara, now!"
"Right!" Bracing her legs, Katara felt her body launched up from the rising dirt beneath her and fly up above the wall. She used her water whip and lashed out to grab several of the soldiers and fling them out of the way into several nearby trees. With her free arm she shot more water out and swung along the hanging branches to get behind the group of firebenders. "You'll be sorry for ruining those homes!"
Some of the firebenders turned to face the young water tribe girl. "You think you can take us all on with that little bit of water? You don't frighten us, little girl!"
"You should be frightened…" She smirked as her hands began squeezing the air in front of her and crushing the trees around her. Their bark began to splinter as the water was drained out from them.
"What the…" One of them exclaimed in shock. "what is she doing!? She's just a water bender!"
"No…" another muttered as he watched the water gathered around the girl. "She removed the water from inside the trees. She can create more than what she has."
"Exactly." Katara smiled as the massive water ball above her shot out multiple arms and grabbed three more of the soldiers. She lifted them back and threw them behind her, instantly freezing their bodies to the trees as she went back to facing the others.
"Damn it! What kind of a bender is she!?" one of the soldiers frozen yelled out.
"She can use not just normal water, but the water in the vegetation…" Another one said as he watched their pursuers continue to pick off the other members of their group. "She has an endless supply of water at her disposal."
Growling, the other two soldiers began using their own bending to melt their ice prisons, steam rising from the dissipating ice. "How are we supposed to fight them if they have water everywhere around them? It's as if we are fighting on the ocean then!"
Once free, the first officer huffed as he shook off the water from his armor. He looked around to the massive trees all around them and saw there was no end to this girls bending. But then his mind thought back to the firelord's plan for Sozin's comet, and a sinister grin spread across his face. "If that is the case, then we should destroy the fuel for her bending."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we torch this damn forest and burn everything here to the ground, the avatar and his little girlfriend included."
The other two watched their comrade light the fire in his hands, both of smiling as well. "You're right. Let's torch this place!"
The three soldiers all ran in separate directions, igniting every tree and shrub they passed. They began shooting fire off into the canopies, leaves igniting like paper and instantly rising up into the sky. After several more ignitions the fire began to spread on its own as it grew larger and larger. They laughed in unison as they looked up to see their work beginning to grow outward, soon the blaze now engulfing the entire area around them.
"Now let's see you bend this, girl."
The bright light behind her forced Katara to turn, her eyes widening in shock to the massive inferno behind her. "Oh no! Aang, they set the forest on fire!"
Aang looked up to her call, his eyes filled with anger as he listened to the fire benders cheer on to their work. "How could you do this!? The forest has nothing to do with your war!"
"Everything in this world is for the fire nation to take! You will regret standing in the way of the phoenix king!" their captain cheered on as the other men rallied behind him.
Grinding his teeth, Aang spun his staff around and launched an airblast at the soldiers knocking a large number of them down, but the gust of wind hit the burning trees and increased the flames size. "Shoot, I can't airbend with the fire everywhere!"
Looking up to the trees, Katara knew she had to do something. "Aang, you take care of the fire benders. I'll deal with the fires."
"Got it. I'll help as soon as I can!" Aang went back to the group and redirected the fires they shot at him with his own bending.
Running towards the inferno, Katara winced from the wave of heat coming from it. She frowned as she looked to the diminishing water over her arms. "I don't have near enough to stop this. Why couldn't there be a river nearby?" She grunted and looked to the nearby trees not burning. "Don't have much of a choice."
Waving her hands out and clenching her fists, she ripped out the water from several trees at once causing them all to dry and splinter. The growing water ball over her burst outward, dousing a large number of engulfed trees in her area. She ran forward and repeated the process to the next set of burning stumps, the loud hiss of water against flames overtaking the air. After doing this twice the water she had diminished too much to work anymore. She grimaced and ran up to the trunks of other untouched trees. "Sorry, but I need to do this." she whispered to the tree as she ripped the water out it as well.
Katara continued this act over and over, extinguishing fire and destroying the nearby greenery to gather more water. She never truly enjoyed ripping plants apart for water, but she knew if she didn't do this the fire would destroy everything else. Her eyes then met the group of fire benders causing the blaze in front of her, fueling the anger in her body. "There you are. Get back here now!"
The three soldiers turned and grinned as she ran their way. "You want to get burned? Then come on over!"
The earth beneath all of their feet began to violently shake, their feet struggling to keep balance. "Woah! What the hell is that!?" one of them yelled out.
Katara herself began stumbling back and forth from the sudden tremor and caught herself on a nearby tree. "What the… is Toph here?"
The ground between them suddenly fractured outward, a massive glowing creature bursting up from beneath. The four benders watched in terror as the great creature emerged, it's green fur shimmering and giant clawed paws crashing into the dirt beneath it. It's bear like head bared fangs as it raised thirty feet up, turning towards the fire benders.
"How dare you destroy my forest, you heathens!" a deep voice burst out from the creatures throat.
"AHH! What the hell is that thing!?" one of them screamed out while backing up.
The other group of benders turned around in shock at the monstrous creature that towered over the treeline. Many of them began backpeddling in fear to what it was, but Aang had a large smile across his face to what he saw. "It's the forest spirit that lives here. You all really messed up now." he grinned knowing full well what an enraged spirit would do.
The large bear stepped forward towards the three of them, it's great feet shattering the ground. "For years this forest has suffered from the acts of you fire benders. So many times I restored it's trees. But now you burn down what I have replaced!"
"No, w-we are sorry! Please!" one of them cried out as its giant paw rose up. "Wait!"
BOOOSH!
The three soldiers were smacked across the ground and crashed into the large tree bases to their right. They dropped down in agony from the pain running through their bodies, even their armor had cracked from the intense force of the spirits paw.
Katara smiled and looked up to see the bear turn her direction. "Thank you great spirit. The fire nation came through and did this to…" Her smile vanished as the spirit raise it's paw once again. "… wait, what are you doing!?" The giant paw came crashing down towards her in an instant. Her own reaction speed barely let her escape as she jumped to the side before the claws shattered the ground where she was standing.
Aang felt terror run through his body as the girl he loved was nearly killed. "Katara!" he bolted off towards her, not caring about the fleeing soldiers behind him anymore. "Stop! Don't hurt her!"
Katara crawled off the ground and backed away from the incoming beast. "Stop! What are you doing? The fire nation is the one who burned-
"The fire nation isn't the only one destroying my forest. You were also responsible for this destruction!"
Aang jumped in between Katara and the enraged spirit to try and stop them. "Please listen to me spirit. I'm the avatar, and we were here to stop the fire nation."
"I know who you are, boy. And you are fool if you do not punish this girl as well as the fire benders."
"Katara was stopping the fires. How can you blame her!?"
"They burned them, but they can still grow back. She herself was killing them with your bending too!"
Katara's mouth dropped open as her eyes went over to the many trees she had drained for her water. Their shriveled trunks could barely stand up, shattered in many places and for certain never growing back. "I-I had to use their water. If I didn't the fire would spread further!"
"So one good deed makes up for a bad one? All you wretched creatures say that whenever you wreck the land!"
Aang stomped his foot in anger to the spirit. "The fire nation is to blame! They came through and burned down the nearby village and-
"That village has been destroying my trees for years. All you humans are the same to me! Destroy and cull! None of you care for my forest! And I won't stand for it any longer!"
The furious bear reared up and roared at the two before bringing it's paws down. Both of the benders jumped out of the way just as the claws ripped into where they stood. Katara launched her water up into the bears face, but that only seemed to enrage it even more. "You are no avatar to me!" It bellowed out and rushed towards Aang.
Realizing he didn't have a choice, Aang stomped the ground and punched forward. A Large column of earth burst forward and collided with the bears chest. To his shock however the beast was breaking through the attack like nothing. "His anger is making him stronger!" He yelled out before ducking out of the way. He spun around and was met with another swinging paw striking him.
"Aang!" Katara screamed out as she watched him flying backwards through the trees. She was about to chase after him before a massive shadow suddenly came over her. Her blood ran cold as she turned around to see the great beast above her. "Please spirit, I didn't mean to ruin your trees. I was doing what I thought was right."
"It is always right for humans and I am tired of hearing that! No one will hurt my forest any longer!"
Aang rubbed his head while standing up from the hit, his eyes suddenly seeing Katara about to be hurt. His eyes and tattoos began glowing as his anger grew. "Get away from her!"
Aang launched forward in his avatar state and formed a large air bubble around his body. The forest spirit glared up and collided with the boy stopping him in is rush. The entire forest shook from the two forces colliding into each other, forcing Katara back as they tried overcoming the other. Her eyes then noticed the spirits mouth opening up and a bright glow beginning to form. "Aang, look out! It's about to do something!"
The young avatar couldn't hear her inside the wind storm around him, before suddenly feeling his body being shoved out of the way and to the ground. He turned back and his eyes lost their glow from the shock of seeing the gathering energy inside the spirits mouth into what he could tell was some form of energy blast.
And Katara standing where he was below the spirit.
"Katara, NO!"
His voice was drowned out by the high pitched beam of light shooting out of the spirits mouth and engulfing the area beneath it. The entire area was blinded by the blast as ground below was ripped apart. Aang shielded his eyes while trying to move forward. "Katara, get out of there!"
After several seconds the beam slowly dissipated until vanishing. The young airbender quickly pushed out a gust of wind to move the large dust cloud blocking his view. After he did, however… he had wished that he hadn't. "No…"
There sat a massive crater beneath the great spirit, the earth disintegrated and burned up from the power of the energy. And nothing else.
She was gone.
"Katara… KATARA!"
Darkness.
Emptiness.
Cold.
Those were the first things that ran through Katara's mind as the energy had hit her. She thought she would have burned from it, and yet when she was struck, those were the things that she felt. It happened so fast she couldn't even process what had happened after she pushed Aang out of the way. All she knew was that he wasn't hit by the spirits attack and that he was unharmed. That alone was enough for her to be happy.
'I hope that you will forgive me one day…' she thought to herself as she sat in darkness, her closed eyes blocking out everything around her. Thoughts of her other friends and her brother began coming into her head, the pain of regret beginning to grow as she realized they would never see her again. 'Sokka. Zuko. Suki. Toph. I'm sorry.'
She began sliding her legs across the ground to her chest and…
"Ground?"
Shifting her legs, she could feel the hard surface scrape beneath her. But how… she was dead… right?
She was hesitant to open her eyes in fear of what she would see, but her curiosity began to take over to what the hell was going on. Very slowly, she opened them up, only to shoot wide open a second later. "What.. Where?"
Katara found herself in a side alley on what she thought was gray rock, but it was all in one giant piece and perfectly flat. She sat up and stared to the two very tall buildings on each side of her. And these weren't just tall… must have been as high as the earth kingdom palace! Not only that, the walls higher up had strange metal balconies all across the sides going to different entry points.
"What kind of building is that? I've never seen that before." She said to herself as she stood up. The now dark sky was illuminated by a half moon, giving at least some light for the confused girl. She looked to expect burns or blood on her body, but she was in complete disbelief that not only was her body completely uninjured. Not just that, her clothes didn't even have a scratch on them as well. "I could have sworn that spirit hit me with it's attack. Or… was it an attack?" Her hands clutched her head as she tried to think. "What the heck is going on?"
She felt something on her hips and looked down, sighing in relief to her water canteen still full on her waist. "At least I have something with me." Her ears suddenly heard chatting down the alleyway around a corner, causing her heart to jump in excitement. "Wait, if I got sent here, maybe Aang did too!"
She sprinted down the strange stone road and turned to the source of the voices. "Aang! Aang, where are…" her voice came to a stop along with her feet as she exited to the open, "...you?"
Her eyes were overwhelmed with the suddenly bright lights of the bustling street, but it was unlike anything she had seen before. Buildings rose high into the sky, taller than the ones she was standing by and lit by strange fires that… didn't seem to burn at all. Multiple Shops lined the area she was in and showed off strange outfits and weird trinkets she had never seen before. There were food carts with strange pink puffs attached to sticks and drinks that were in small, clear canteens. Strange sandwiches were on pictures, but she could read the word 'burgers'. But then her eyes noticed…. The people.
"what in the…"
People wasn't even the word she wanted to use as a man with a dog head walked by her. She walked out of the alley in shock as she stared at him go by before her eyes noticed a woman with bat wings go the other way. She weaved through the crowds of clawed hands, purple colored skin, and a child with what she thought were snakes growing out of their head instead of hair. Then there were ones who had multiple limbs coming out of their bodies, or even some who didn't grow out animal parts at all. There was a boy who had what looked to be strange wheels instead of legs, and another woman who had a wooden head.
Her confusion grew even more as no one even seemed to notice or even care to the fact these people were all growing odd things from their bodies. They almost seemed more annoyed that she was the one staring at everyone going by.
"What the hell is this place?" She whispered out as she wiggled her way through the walking crowds. She stood at the edge of the people and heard a loud, vibrating voice.
"Looking to escape your troubles?"
Katara spun around thinking there was someone speaking to her but saw no one. Her eyes then caught the massive picture on the side of one of the buildings. It's bright and colorful glow captivated her like rare jewelry to a royal. It showed a blonde woman with yellow eyes and snakes in her hair holding a pink bottle in her hand. But there was something about this picture that made her stare as if it were the last thing in the world.
It was moving.
The woman in the "picture" lifted the bottle up and sprayed it onto her neck. The woman smiled and looked towards Katara.
"Let your senses escape with the all new Jasmine fragrance. It will set you free."
Katara stared at the bright image, her eyes unable to leave it. "It's… pretty." she mumbled as she stepped off the curb. She walked towards it like a moth drawn to a flame, not even looking around her surroundings any longer. "How do they make a picture move, or look so real?"
"Hey, get out of the road!"
The sudden scream broke Katara from her stare. Her eyes shot to the side and locked onto something screeching towards her. "Is… Thats a…!"
The strange vehicle was all metal except for the clear glass in front. It rushed through the road with no creature pulling it. That meant it moved on it's own power. Just like…
"A fire nation tank!" She sneered out and flipped open her canteen. She bended out the water and enshrouded her arm. "So some of you followed me here, didn't you!?"
Rushing forward, the angry waterbender lashed outward and sliced the front of the small tank off. One of it's wheels bounced across the road and made the rest of the machine come to a screeching halt. Several people screamed from the sudden act happening out of nowhere. Smiling, Katara pulled the water back to her body and prepared herself for more to come as they opened it's side doors. "Don't think you can get me that easily you evil… fish?"
The man climbing out of the car had a red fish head staring out, it's massive bugged eyes glaring at her. "What the hell!? You wrecked my car you stupid bitch!"
"Uhhhh…" Katara sat frozen at the sight of the yelling fish man stomping his feet towards her. "Sorry I thought you were fire nation."
"Fire what? What about my car? You better have insurance for this!"
"Hey, what's going on here?"
Katara turned around to see two men walking her way, both of them with purple skin and matching dark outfits. The crowd around began cheering as they walked forward.
"Hey, the twin ninja heroes are here!"
"Yeah, they will get that trouble maker!"
"Heroes?" Katara said as they came closer.
"Is there a problem?" One of the two asked.
"Yeah, there is a problem…" the fish man yelled out. "This girl just walked into the road and destroyed my car with her quirk!"
"My what?" Katara yelled out in confusion to what was going on.
The two heroes stared at her curiously and cautiously as her water was still out. "She has some kind of water quirk obviously, and quite strong to cut through a car." one pointed out.
"Yeah that is pretty dangerous. But the question is… who is she? I've never seen that costume before on anyone around here. She obviously isn't a pro, and she's too young to have gotten her license yet." the other asked.
"Could be a villain. Either way…" The first one reached into his pouch and pulled out several shuriken, "We have to take her in for unauthorized quirk use."
Seeing them draw weapons caused fear in Katara. "Wait, I didn't mean to do that!"
"Come with us now and we won't have to hurt you, kid." One of the heroes declared as he readied himself.
"No, I didn't mean…" Katara back stepped away from them as they got closer. Her already heightened adrenaline made her panic and raise her water up. "Stay back!"
"Don't resist!" One yelled and leaped into the air above her. He threw down multiple shuriken towards Katara, but her speed was too much as she quickly rolled out of the way. Grunting, the hero grabbed more from his belt and launched them downward.
Whipping around, Katara used her water arms and redirected the incoming blades away from her body and into the street. Her body in full flight mode kicked in as she sprinted down the road, more of these tanks… er cars stopped as the two heroes chased after her. "What is going on? What is this place!?" she yelled out in utter disbelief. She looked over his shoulder as the two ninjas started catching up. She then noticed a giant fountain coming up on her right. "Perfect."
She reached out and bended out all of the water onto the street and shoved it behind her. Both heroes stopped in their tracks at the massive wave rushing towards them. "What the hell!? AGH!"
They yelled out as they were blown backwards from the sheer force hitting both of them. The turbulent waters bounced the heroes around for several seconds before slapping them down on the road. They coughed a few times before looking up to see the young girl gone and out of sight.
"Shoot, we lost her." one of them grunted out as he stood up. "That is a powerful water quirk she's got."
"She won't be getting away." The other answered before pressing on the earpiece he was wearing. "Calling all nearby heroes in Hosu city. We have a suspect that escaped our sights and is loose in the city. Young girl in blue robes and dark hair. Caution, suspect has a powerful water quirk. Repeat, suspect has a powerful water quirk."
Running down one of the nearby alleyways, Katara stopped behind one of the nearby corners to catch her breath. Panting, she looked back around the wall to make sure she wasn't followed, "What is this place? Is this in the fire nation somewhere?" She asked herself. "It can't be, but… those machines. Only the fire nation has that kind of technology, but nothing like those things on the road."
Was this somehow in the future? Or something else?
"Hey you, Stop right there!"
Katara spun around and saw another man walking towards her, this one in a blue and white outfit and what looked like a helmet with a fish fin on the top. 'oh great. Another one after me.' she pouted internally.
"I would rather not hurt you, and I order you to stop this now and come peacefully." The hero Manual dropped a large container on the ground in from of him and flipped open the lid revealing water. He then lifted his hand up, the water flowing upwards and out above his body. Katara's eyes sparkled at the scene she saw before her.
"You're a waterbender!? Oh thank goodness!" She yelled out in excitement. "Please, can you tell me where I am?"
Manual raised his eyebrow in confusion. "A what? Waterbender?"
Katara's smile faltered at hearing what he said. "But… you are bending water. You have to be one."
He could see the troubled look on her face and tried to use this to his advantage."I'm not sure what you are talking about, but how about we just go to the police and straighten this out." His eyes noticed the two ninja heroes creeping up behind the girl, so he continued keeping her distracted. "I'm sure you didn't mean to do what you did earlier, so how about we go talk to the others and get this all sorted up."
While he thought he was sly, Katara had dealt with situations like this before and sensed others around her. She whipped her own water out and lashed it out behind her. The two heroes barely evaded the incoming whips and dashed towards her.
"Manual, hit her with your quirk! We will restrain her!"
"Right!" Manual shot the water forward towards Kataras back, only for her right arm to reach into his own water and pull it all towards her. "She took control of my water!?" He exclaimed in shock.
Glaring out, Katara created multiple water arms and shot them in all directions, snatching all three of the heroes and lifting them off the ground. They all tried to flail around to escape but to no avail from the strong grip around their waists.
"What the hell! Who is this kid?" Manual yelled out as he tried to rip through the water around him. "My quirk isn't working. She's overpowering it!"
"I Don't know what's going on here, and I don't want to hurt you." Katara explained to them. "But I can't let you follow me anymore." All of the heroes were suddenly pushed up against the nearby walls and felt the water around them suddenly lock up into ice sticking them to the concrete.
"Ice!?" Manual screeched in panic, "You said her quirk was only water!"
"She didn't use ice earlier, how were we supposed to know!?" one the ninja sneered out. He tried with all his strength to break free from the ice around hid body but couldn't even budge it. "Shit, we aren't getting out of this anytime soon."
Manual gritted his teeth and looked back where their captor was standing, only to see she had vanished once again. "Great, she's gone again."
"Manual, come in! Where are you?"
The earpiece in Manual's helmet crackled in his ear, making him sigh out. "I'm off the corner of Shinji Himota street. I'm in the back alleyway with two others."
"Have you found the suspect?"
"We did but she got away. Hey listen…" his face turned a bright red from embarrassment. "Can you… come unfreeze us?"
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
The streets through Hosu became filled with gossip of a possible villain running through the streets. Word began getting out that multiple heroes were taken down with ease from this person, and now the city was being put on alert. More and more heroes began showing up and searching through the crowds trying to find the mysterious girl that showed up. As they rushed around the streets, a single girl in blue ran down the side alley further away from the loud crowds.
Peeking around the corner of the building, Katara looked around and ducked back as several of the odd black and white vehicles drove passed her. The high pitched sirens and flashing lights were so bizarre to her and didn't make sense. "If they were looking for me why wouldn't they try to be more quiet about it? I can hear them coming."
Shaking her head, she looked out again and noticed a break in cars on the road and very few people at this moment. "I don't get what's going on or where the heck I am, but I'm out of this place." She said to herself before running from cover across the road. "If I can just get to the edge of the city, I can make my way to a smaller village and figure out what this place is."
A massive blast of fire scorched the sidewalk in front of her cutting off her pathway. "What the!?" She screamed out and stepped back to avoid the intense heat from the flames.
"So you are the one causing all of this trouble."
Katara turned around and felt her heart rate double as the figure made its way towards her. The massive man in blue had fire enshrouding his boots and most of his face, giving off a terrifying sight for the young girl. Through all of the battles she had been in, she could instantly tell this man was different than the few who tried to stop her earlier.
"It's quite the coincidence I was doing patrols in this town today, but it turns out to be pretty unlucky for you, criminal." The burning man smiled as his fists lit up in a bright ball of fire.
Katara felt sweat drip down her forehead from the intimidating vibe she was receiving from this man, somehow feeling even more frightened than when faced against Azula. "You're… a firebender aren't you?" she shakingly asked.
"Firebender?" The hero Endeavor questioned before smirking, "I haven't heard my quirk called that before. Either way, I'll be the one taking you in."
Chapter 2: A Helping Hand
Katara could not believe her luck. First she found herself in some strange nation, or future… whatever it was, with none of her friends and family to help her. And if that weren't a bad enough situation already, she just so happened to run into a gigantic man who also happened to be a firebender. His massive frame and built even made the intimidating Combustion man look small in stature. Either way, her instincts prepared her for a fight and pulled out all of the water she had of her canteen.
"You can tell every other fire nation soldier they are not going to be capturing me!" she declared and lowered into her guard.
Endeavor chuckled as he looked at the girls defensive posture. He didn't even process what she had said since she looked serious about taking him on. "Please, little one. I'm not sure where you are from, but you obviously don't know who I am."
"Why, are you a general or something?" She sneered at him.
"A general? HAHA!"Endeavor threw his head back and couldn't contain himself. "You must have hurtyour head recently, girl if you don't know who I am." he stuck out his hand trying to coax her to come towards him. "Now, how about you just walk this way and make it easier for me."
"How about you get out of my way!" Katara swung her arm forward and shot a column of water encasing his hand. She prepared to yank backwards to pull him off balance, but before she even could his arm released a blast of fire outwards vaporizing the water on his body.
Her eyes went wide as her water steamed off of him and back towards her. "What? How did…"
"Come child, I would rather not have to hurt you. It won't look good for me if I have to actually use force on a kid. Especially a young girl like you."
Those words sent a sting of anger in Katara. 'Does he think a girl can't handle herself?' she growled internally and pulled the water over her shoulders.
Seeing she didn't want to surrender, Endeavor frowned and ignited both of his hands. "You really want to make this difficult? Then fine." Bright white knives of fire formed in is palms as he walked towards the waterbender. "You asked for this, so don't complain when you get burned."
Gritting her teeth, Katara began launching her water whips towards him, but watched as he casually ducked and dodged both of them like they weren't even there. 'For his size, is speed is incredible.' she said to herself as the flame hero seemingly danced by her attacks. 'Looks like I won't be ending this fast like I had hoped.'
The two thick arms of water she manipulated then broke out into a mass of tendrils extending from her hands. She began waving her arms over her head creating a spinning whirlwind around herself and walked forward. Endeavor didn't try to evade from the incoming spiral of water however, simply using his flame knives to begin slicing through each of the small whips like they were butter. After a few more spins, Katara stopped and looked up to the incoming man with her worry beginning to grow. "He's just… the water is nothing to him."
Gritting her teeth, she formed the water all back into a single column around her and thrust her arm forward. The thick stream rushed towards Endeavor like a locomotive. But once again the fire hero simply held his hand up and shot out a powerful blast of fire back towards her. The opposing attacks collided in a burst of hot steam erupting outward. Katara pushed as hard as she could to gain some ground, but her panic grew as her water began to dissipate at a frightening rate. She looked passed the two elements to see him casually stand there, not any form of strain on his face. She could tell not only was he unphased by her techniques, but that he wasn't even trying between their standoff.
As the two of them engaged, crowds began to form along the sidewalk as the fire and water crashed in the streets. The spectators watched in awe as the number two hero battled this mysterious girl, whispers going through the citizens as they stood back and took in the show.
"Check it out, Endeavor's at it again! He's so cool!"
"Look at how powerful he is. His quirk is destroying hers."
"Yeah she should just give up. I'd hate to see a young girl get hurt."
"Oh come on, she's obviously a villain if Endeavor is after her!"
Seeing her water nearly vaporized, Katara pulled back what she had left and jumped out of the way of the still incoming flames. She covered up her neck to help block the intense heat running passed her body before it dissipated. Her eyes rose up to see the burning boots of Endeavor standing right in front of her face. She slowly looked up to the man staring down at her with a cold look that even Toph could have felt despite her lack of sight. She could feel the sweat drip down her forehead not just from the heat from the large man, but from the fear growing inside of her chest.
"Come now, let's end this little act of bravery now…" Endeavor taunted as his hand went towards her face. "I'm not in the mood to-
"Rah!" Katara whipped up a ball of water and encased Endeavors head. The flame hero stumbled back in shock as his face was suddenly covered in wetness before feeling it freeze solid. With him backing up, Katara used this moment to quickly get up and run down the road passed all the shocked bystanders. She looked down and saw her canteen was nearly empty and knew she had no chance if she kept fighting with what water was left on her. She needed two things right now; either a new source of water to challenge this man, or to simply escape this city. Her sprint came to a stop when she sensed a massive amount of water hidden underground to her right. She looked back and forth until her eyes came onto a hydrant on the street corner and grinned.
"Now there is the water I needed." She reached forward and began pulling at the air in front of it, straining at the pressure holding it inside. After a few moments, the top burst off and released a massive geyser of rushing water high into the air. "Now let's see who has the advantage now." she smirked.
Endeavor stopped clawing at the ice and clenched his fists. The ice glowed red before a burst of flames erupted out from his face and shattered the encasement. The flame hero turned in fury towards the waterbender. "Alright you little brat! I was trying to be nice for you, but now you pissed me off!" His glare dissipated when he saw the thirty foot wall of water behind his target. "Oh… so you do have quite the quirk like they said."
Not caring to hear him speak, she stepped forward and threw the great wave at her pursuer. The water burst down the street and fully engulfed Endeavor in a great crash, swirling around him in a spinning mass. Katara continued to wave her hands back and forth and made the water constrict tighter before clenching her palms together and slapping them down into the water passing her. In a quick flash, the water near her froze instantly and chased up the stream before spreading out over the large water prison. The cold sheet instantly rushed throughout and froze all the water encircling Endeavor. Once completed, the ice ball sat over thirty feet around and nearly engulfed the whole street.
Katara dropped her hands and fell to her knees. She took several deep gasps to catch her breath, somewhat exhausted from the massive prison she created but also relief she finally ended this small conflict. "Now I just need to get out of-
"Flashfire Fist…"
An immense glow began to form within the ice formation, growing so bright the street itself became illuminated. Katara quickly stood back up in terror as she watched the red light slowly turning blinding white. "No… there's no way."
"JET BURN!"
A fiery beam obliterated the frozen formation, massive pieces of ice flying through the air and smashing into all of the buildings above the terrified onlookers. Katara felt the intense shock wave blow her back several feet and knock her off her feet. She crawled back away from him before turning to face where she had encased the hero, only to find him standing there with a bright glowing fist. "He just… destroyed it like it was nothing…" She muttered out in shock.
The entire ice prison had been shattered like it was nothing more than a box of tissue paper. and whatever ice was left not only melted, but the water on the ground had evaporated into nothingness. Katara had never seen such a powerful use of fire in her life. Not even Azula empowered with Sozin's Comet had power to this level. And once again, he looked like he still wasn't going all out against her. He wasn't just better than any firebender, he was leagues passed them. Her heart sank when she now saw the inevitable truth.
There was no way she could beat this man.
Endeavor slowly walked towards the terrified girl, a large smirk across his face. "I must say child, you have impressed me. You have a very unique quirk and yet you have completely wasted it by being a villain. And now that you have no more of your water now, lets be done with this game, shall we?"
Katara crawled backwards in terror as the massive man came her way, but she hadn't the courage to try and run anymore. The water in her canteen was near empty, and the rest of the water all around had been vaporized. She came to the realization that running at this point was useless and would only make matters worse. But to surrender to this meant-
"Hey, watch out!"
Both Katara and endeavor looked back to the sudden cracking of concrete, the sections of buildings hit by the exploding ice beginning to fracture and break apart. Chunks of cement began falling down and smacking into the ground near the terrified spectators. Endeavor sneered and ran towards them. "Everyone get clear! It's collapsing!"
The panicked citizens panicked and began running in all directions to evade the chunks of wall falling around them. Using his fire, endeavor melted some of the smaller pieces of rubble dropping before they could hit anyone. As a larger portion dropped, He burst forward and grabbed a few of the stragglers and jetted them out of the way. Katara watched in awe at how fast he reacted to the situation, her own mind just processing the situation. But then she saw a small child standing petrified in the crowd, and a large piece of building falling down towards him.
"Look out!" she screamed and ran as fast as she could. The took out whatever water she had left and rushed it out to enshroud the bottom of the falling wall. It wasn't enough however and it began forcing through the small pool. The young boy screamed in fear and ducked down as the stone came closer. Katara quickly jumped underneath the stone and pushed back up against it to freeze the ice on the bottom. After a few moments however the ice began to crack from the weight.
Wincing, Katara used all her strength to try and move the stone, but with so little water she had now her bending wasn't enough to redirect it. Her heart raced in terror as the ice began breaking off and the stone coming closer. She shut her eyes in fear and dropped down to cover the boys body, waiting for the wall to fall onto her. Before it did though, she felt her side grabbed and yanked off the ground in blinding speed. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and saw the one who saved her.
The six foot man was wearing white armor over his whole body. She couldn't see his face due to the forward protruding helmet he wore. And from his elbows were strange golden protrusions sticking out, small smoke trails flowing from the top. She then noticed the boy she tried helping was being held in the mans other arm, his own eyes looking up in awe to the new hero before being set down and run to his parents. She then felt her body lowered allowing her to stand on her own. She sat silently as the tall hero stood tall and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"That was extremely brave what you did there. Are you alright?" He asked her in a kind tone.
"Y-yeah. Thank you for saving us." Katara stuttered out to him.
"Hey, Ingenium!" Endeavor yelled in anger as he walked up. "That one is my capture. Don't be trying to sneak in and take my prize!"
The named hero Ingenium turned and faced the fire hero. "This has nothing to do with who's capture it is or not. This girl is not a threat."
"Not a threat? She took out three others and caused damage to the street here." Endeavor shouted out. "I am the one who stopped her."
"And this destruction is all her?" Ingenium pointed up to the damaged building. "I saw the explosion you created is what launched all the ice into the walls."
Endeavor frowned and turned his head. "I'll pay for the damage!"
"And I heard the reports myself…" Ingenium continued, "She restrained Manual and the others without injuring them. They said she seemed confused to where she was, therefore she was panicked. And she just risked her life to save that child. No villain I've ever encountered would have dared do something like that."
Katara felt a warm feeling of relief there was someone who was giving her the chance to finally let her explain her situation. She looked back and forth between her former opponent and her rescuer, definitely choosing to side with the latter as he turned back towards her and removed his helmet. The man appeared to be around thirty with dark blue hair and eyes. He had a kind look to his face as he placed a hand on her shoulder. At first she shifted back, but the reassuring look he gave calmed her and made her more comfortable.
"How about we stop this fighting and I promise I'll help you figure out whats going on, alright?"
Some part of her wanted to shove him off and sprint away from here, not wanting to be taken into custody. She knew however it would only make matters worse and ruin the trust she had from the first person that showed any compassion yet. And even if she did run, she knew there was no way she could escape from that bender she had just engaged.
Realizing she had no better choice, Katara gave a small nod towards him.
"Okay, this is really not what I was hoping for." Katara frowned at the handcuffs on her wrists.
The walk towards the police precinct had only been a few minutes, but to the waterbender it felt like she walked for miles. She was willing to talk, but she still never felt truly comfortable with Endeavor beaming down at her from behind. Ingenium had walked beside her the whole time with a hand on her shoulder. He gripped soft enough to keep her comfortable, but just hard enough to if she tried to run she couldn't. She sighed realizing there was no other choice though and did not resist. Her eyes then were met with the large blue doors of the station opening up, revealing a big room loaded with men in matching blue and black uniforms with badges.
'This must be those police they keep mentioning.' Katara thought as they walked through the crowd of staring officers. Most were in awe that two big named heroes were here at once, but the fact they were both here for this young girl. All the looks she received made her more uncomfortable, clutching her hands together while they made there way into the back. After walking down another hallway they reached a door and opened it, revealing a small bright room with a single table inside. While hesitant to go in, Katara obliged the small push from Ingenium and walked through the door and sat down in one of the chairs.
"Sorry about the cuffs, but that is protocall." Ingenium stated before sitting in the chair across from her.
"It's okay. I understand." Katara responded.
The loud sneer from Endeavor made both of them look up and glare as he shot back the same look. "Apologizing to a criminal. You really are too soft."
"How about we let her tell her side of everything when the chief arrives, alright?" Ingenium shot back. "She's just a young girl frightened who-
"Who happens to have an extremely powerful quirk by the way…'' Endeavor interrupted, "...Lets not forget she is responsible for a considerable amount of damage."
"Hey, I'm not the one who almost got those people killed." Katara shot back. "You were the one who blew up the ice."
Endeavor's vein pulsed on his forehead. "Excuse me!? You smart ass little-
"I see you are conducting this talk without me."
All three in the room turned to see the police chief walk through the door. The very tall man matched Endeavor in height, but not as large built overall. The one thing that Katara noticed right away though was the brown and tan dog head sticking out of the suit. 'jeez, can't I meet one normal person?' she sighed to herself.
"So you are the one who caused the disturbance tonight, woof."
'Woof!?' her mind yelled at her for the odd pun that she almost didn't process the question. Shaking her head clear from the shock, she slowly nodded her head. "I didn't mean to, sir. I was thrown out of place when I arrived here and-
"So you take out three heroes just because you didn't know where you were?" Endeavor sneered and walked towards the table, "You really must think we are stupid or something to believe that."
Katara pulled back in her chair from the menacing man, but she glared and stood back up to face him. "Hey, they were the ones who attacked me first."
"After you destroyed a car in the road!"
"That tank was trying to attack me too!"
"A WHAT!? That was a Honda civic!"
"How about you both take it down a notch, why don't you?" The chief grumbled as he walked passed the flame hero. "Let's take it back a step. I am Kenji Tsuragamae, chief of the police force. And you are?"
Katara rubbed her thumbs together debating to use something fake, but with everything going on, the truth was the best option. Sitting back down, she sighed and looked up to him. "My name is Katara, sir."
He waited a few moments before raising an eyebrow. "Katara… what?"
it was Katara's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"
"What is your family name?"
Katara sat silent for a few moments, since only noble families ever had last names like her friend Toph. "I… don't have a family name."
The chief and Ingenium looked at each other for a moment, all while Endeavor simply pouted behind them. Ingenium looked back towards her. "I'm sorry. What orphanage did you grow up in?"
"Excuse Me?"
"You don't have a last name. That means you didn't grow up with a family-
"I have family, but we don't have a family name unless you are royalty."
"Okay… um…" Ingenium scratched his head and looked back to the chief with a confused look. "Is there a new thing lately about that I missed?"
"Definetely not…" Kenji scratched his chin and stared at the young girl. "It's quite obvious you are not from around here, so where exactly are you from?"
Katara looked at the dog and let out a small sigh. "I'm from the southern water tribe."
The room went so silent even the minuscule hum from the light seemed loud to the ears.
"Uhhhhh…. What?"
"Okay, I need a coffee after that shit." Endeavor grunted as he stormed out of the room. "Call me when she actually makes any sense."
After he slammed the door behind him, the chief scratched the top of his head and grunted. "I am not as bad as him, woof, but I do need a better answer than that."
"That is the truth, sir..."Katara pleaded, "I am from the southern water tribe that lives near the south pole. I don't how to explain it in another way, but that is the truth. I was with my friends and my brother…" She paused and took another deep breath, "It's going to be a long story."
While leaving out the minor details, Katara explained to the two of them everything that she could; the nations she came from, the hundred year war, and the 4 forms of bending. All of it led to the spirit incident that had led to her being here only a few hours earlier. While she assumed the two of them would have simply shut her up and assumed she was making it all up, they allowed her to keep going. They sat there, most of the time with puzzled looks and no idea what she was talking about, but they listened nonetheless.
After what felt like ten to fifteen minutes, Katara finally finished her summary. "And that's everything I know of how I got here."
Ingenium leaned back in his chair and rubbed a hand through his hair. "I have to say Katara, That's… quite the story."
She noticed the confused look in his eyes and felt defeated. "So… you don't believe me, do you?"
"Actually, that is the troubling part…" he revealed a genuine smile on his face. "I actually do believe you."
"As do I." The chief exclaimed behind him.
Katara's heart fluttered in excitement at finally seeing hope in her dark situation. "You do?"
"I've been on the job so long child, And I have seen quite the number of stories…" the dog cop paused as he popped his neck. "Either you have the most convoluted lie I've ever heard, or you really did come from some other place and just had no idea where you were when you woke up. And you seem truly genuine when you speak."
Katara let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you sir. Now that I've told you everything, could you is there a way to get these off now?"
The chief looked down to her raised hands showing off the cuffs, his blank expression not changing. "And who says that you are not under arrest any longer?"
The smile on her face melted off to his cold words. "What? But you said that you believed me and that I-
"Does that excuse you from breaking the laws of our country?" He cut her off.
"Sir, hold on…" Ingenium turned and looked to him in confusion. "It was very obvious she had no idea what was happening or where she was. You cannot blame her for this."
"If a person doesn't know how to drive and they cause a car accident… does that excuse them from the crash? Whether you knew them or not, the law is the law here."
"But chief!" Ingenium stood up to face the stern captain. "She didn't know where she was. By what she told us about where ever she came from, she thought that car was a weapon of war. You can call that a case of PTSD."
"PT what?" Katara asked him.
He looked back to her and glared. "You're not helping."
"So you are asking me to lie for her and to create a story to cover up this situation?" The chief snorted to the young hero. "Young Ingenium, you are notorious for helping many heroes who have struggled through graduation as sidekicks, even offering to taking some without licenses to work for you."
Ingenium closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I have always wanted to be a hero sir, but there are others who do not have the opportunity to do what they want. I have always wanted to give those who need help the chance to do the best they can to help others."
"And with her using her quirk in public without a license. She still caused the damage to that car and hydrant."
"I will cover the damages sir. You can bill my agency."
Katara sat dumbfounded to the kindness this random man was showing her. He didn't even know who she was, and he was willing to go through all of this to help her. "No, you don't need to do that. I did do what he said, so I should be responsible for that."
"I must agree…" The chief stared at the good samaritan curiously. "Why are you offering to do all of this for her?"
Ingenium smiled and looked up. "Because I can see the potential of her being a true hero, sir."
Both Katara and the chief looked at him in surprise as he turned back towards her. "When I saw you risk your own life and try and save that boy, I was shocked. You didn't even hesitate to jump in there to do the right thing. Only a true hero would ever do something like that."
Katara let out a small blush to his kind words. "I was… I couldn't just let him get hurt like that. I didn't really think about it. It just happened."
"And that is why I can see the great things you could do."
The chief hummed as he listened to his words. "I see you have taken a soft spot for the girl, and you have made some interesting points. However, there is still the situation of what to do with her…" He stepped forward and looked down to the young waterbender. "With no family here and no home, I can't simply let you free on the streets."
Knowing he was telling the truth, Katara felt the cold feeling of loneliness wash over her. What was she supposed to do, go back to the alley she showed up and live there? Ingenium rubbed his chin thinking of the same problem, but then his mind clicked with an idea. It may have been crazy, but it was the best he could think of.
"Sir, if I may… I will take full responsibility and let her stay with me."
Both Katara and the chief's eyes bulged out of their heads to the sudden offer he made for them. "Wait, what? You are offering me to live with you?" She exclaimed.
"I must agree, that is out of the question." The chief raised his paw hand up, "You are asking me to-
"I am asking this favor to help everything in the situation sir." Ingenium pointed out. "She needs a place to go and someone to show her the laws and how this place works. I will take on that responsibility and teach her the ways of our society." He bowed down to show his respect. "Please sir, I can see the potential in her, and she should be given this chance to be able to make up for the small mistake she made."
Katara's mouth hung open in disbelief from what she heard. A place to stay and someone offering to cover everything she ruined felt all to real for her, and yet it was happening. "This is… I can't..."
The chief gave a small smile to her stuttering words and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well I can't say this is protocol, but I can't deny the logic in your offer. I'll put something in writing so you can take all responsibility for the damages and for her actions from here on out. This is for sure a situation I have never experienced so I won't push this out to the public. Just remember, If anything else happens after this, I will not be letting it slide, got it?"
Ingenium smiled and bowed again. "Thank you sir! I'll make sure she learns the laws and will do her best from here on out."
While they talked, Katara sat silently in utter shock from the events that just happened. Even as the chief walked over and released the cuffs off of her, she still couldn't believe what was happening.
"Technically, you don't have a name to find and identify you here, so processing you would simply take too much time for me." The canine cop chuckled to his own joke. "Now it would be best if you go out the back to get less attention your way. It will take a few days to straighten everything out so have her stay indoors until it's all settled. And by the way, I would keep your story of how you got here to yourselves. The less questions the better." The chief stated as he opened the door for them.
"Thank you chief. I won't forget this." Ingenium nodded as he walked towards the door before pausing and holding his hand out for her. "You ready?"
Not wanting to waste this chance, Katara nodded and snatched his hand and followed him out the door. She shot a quick glance and smiled back to the large dog. "Thank you, sir."
The chief nodded back to her as they made their way down the empty hallway and around the corner out of sight. He watched until their footsteps vanished before he huffed and scratched his nose. "Well this is a case I won't be forgetting, woof."
"Oi!"
The chief turned to see Endeavor stomping back towards him carrying a large cup of coffee. "Oh, you didn't drink your coffee yet?" the dog mocked.
Endeavor's facial fire expanded out in frustration and his eye twitching. "This is my third damn cup! What's taking so long with this girl!?"
"Oh we finished our talk with her, actually."
"What!?" Endeavors hand began growing hotter, boiling the coffee inside the cup. "And you didn't tell me? Let me talk to her, I have some things to say!"
The chief shook his head. "She's not in the room anymore, so you can't talk to her."
Endeavors forehead vein twitched several times, his temper and the caffeine not mixing very well. "And where the hell is she?"
Sighing, the chief grabbed his walkie talkie and clicked it on. "Sergeant, activate the fire sprinklers in fifteen seconds."
making his way through the back door of the precinct, Ingenium glanced around to make sure there wasn't other officers around to question what he was doing. The less he had to talk to other cops the better. Once he knew it was clear, he signaled his new companion to follow him out into the parking lot. Katara slipped through the opening and ducked behind the nearby car.
"Alright, let's get out of this area before someone recognizes you and calls the police again." He said and walked towards the side street.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?"
Both of them turned to the loud scream when a sudden bright flash illuminated the entirety of the police station, followed by the high pitched fire alarm inside. Ingenium felt his brow sweat and turned back forward. "Oookay, let's go before Endeavor decides to follow us."
"Uhh, yeah." Katara has ecstatic she wasn't made to stay with a guy like that. She looked forward and noticed her helper was already down the sidewalk. "Hey, wait…" Katara yelled out and ran by his side, "Why did you do all of this for me?"
The hero smiled as they walked together. "I have a brother who is around your age, and he is aiming to be a hero just like me. Seeing what you did to save that boy made me think of him and what he will have to do soon. I can't help but want to see you do the same."
She looked back to the road as she rubbed her neck. "Well I don't really understand all this talk of heroes or stuff, but I can't thank you enough for helping me Mr. Ingenium."
"Please, Ingenium is my hero name. My real name is Tensei Iida." He turned and bowed towards her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Smiling, Katara followed his act and gave a small bow back. "Katara, pleasure to meet you too."