[IC] Avatar: The Next² Generation

[Chickn]

Book 1: Equality

"New growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old."

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The sound of boots connecting with uneven floorboards echoed throughout the hallway. A door creaked open, allowing a dim light to flood into the hallway. "Evening, ma'am. You'll be glad to know that we successfully gathered the five Waters, ten Earths, and twenty Fires that you requested. The guards are ready to use them at a moment's notice," a voice called into the old, decrepit room. Inside, the only light source was a dusty lamp sitting on the edge of a wooden desk, whose legs had rotted to a musty green color. Sitting at the desk was a woman, no older than 30. She reached for a syringe resting on the desk, its contents white and nearly translucent. She flicked the tip of the syringe, allowing the air bubbles to travel to the top.

"Perfect. Tonight is the beginning of our revolution, Zhen. It's the moment our ancestors had waited for so long to see, only to have the Avatar bring it all crashing down. Speaking of which, have you confirmed that the Avatar will be present at the theater? She, above all others, must be there." The woman squeezed the syringe in order to remove any excess air.

"Yes, ma'am. The Avatar is confirmed to be present at the theater tonight. Everything is in order, all you have to do is say the words, and we will execute your orders."

"Thank you, Zhen. That will be all. If you'll excuse me, I must prepare for tonight." She dismissed him with a simple hand gesture. He bowed his head before leaving the room. The woman twirled her hair around, staring deeply into the mirror in front of her. "After all these centuries of plotting, I am finally the one to do the honors of bringing true equality to the world. If only you could be here to see me, father." A single tear rolled down the woman's face. "I will not fail you."

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Rinzen

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"Step right up! Get your tickets to the vintage premier of 'The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South'! At a price of only 25 yuan, you can see the very first mover to ever be created! This showing is sponsored by Cabbages Incorporated."

Rinzen walked up to the man who was seemingly on autopilot. He started into his rehearsed line again, but cut it short as Rinzen approached him. "I'd like to buy a ticket, please."

"Why, hello there, little lady. The ticket will be 25 yuan." Rinzen handed him the money, in exchange for a ticket. The ticket had a picture of Nuktuk and Juji printed on the front.

Rinzen thanked the man and walked into the theater before her. She found a seat near the back, sitting at the very edge of the row. The room dimmed until the only light being produced was from the projection screen in the front.

"Whose gonna fight for friends and freedom? Nuktuk!" The mover began playing, causing a wave of silence among those in the theater.

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@HushedWhispers@jumpadraw@Aquaknight@Raijinslayer

[Raijinslayer]

Jian

Jian was already inside of the theater, dressed in rather casual clothes as he watched from near the back of the room, shaking his head with a soft sigh.

These things are so cheesy. . . I'll never understand why people still like watching stuff like this.

He was only here because his mother had come over to his apartment and told him to, wanting him to get out of the house and do something besides rotting away in his house. 'It's not good for you, physically or mentally. You need to go out meet somebody, make friends, do something else' and so on and so forth. His mother didn't seem to get that, thanks to the papers, the radio, and even these goddamn movers, he was basically hated where ever he went. It had been around two years since the incident, and since he had stopped doing anything to draw attention to himself, people had begun to finally leave him be, but he doubted that anyone would ever want to be around him without spitting in his face. Already he'd gotten a dirty look from one of the ticket people, and just walking through the crowd had been an ordeal, as he just figured that someone would come forward to scream at him, call him scum, a degenerate, and so on and so forth. Every venture outside into the world was immensely draining due not only to what people say or do, but also anticipating the hatred from nearly everywhere he looked. He could never let his guard down, lest one wrong word cause him to breakdown into either tears or anger-fueled attack.

Li always loved these stupid things . . . wonder if he'll come by or not.

[jumpadraw]

Chen

Chen approached the theater, a feeling of actual relaxation flowing through him for the first time in weeks. True, he was here officially to document the proceedings of the night for the United Daily News, but that didn’t stop the mover from being fun. The last several articles he had written for the UDN had been covering rioting and violence between Nats and Arties, but for once he had been given an assignment that wasn’t all doom and gloom. In all honesty, he could hardly wait to see who would show up tonight. Besides, he had always been a sucker for the classics.

Chen approached the man selling the tickets to ‘Nuktuk’ happily paying for one and exchanging a nonchalant greeting. As he entered the the theater, the excited chatter of the crowd filled him with anticipation. Chen sat as close to the center of the theater as he could. He pulled out his notebook to take notes, and as the lights dimmed and the crowd began to quiet down, Chen cast one last glance around the theater for any VIPs before locking his gaze on the screen

[Aquaknight]

Anik

Anik approached the Mover Theater with a relaxed smile on his face as he walked past all the excited Mover goers lining up to get their tickets to see a Mover Classic. Nuktuk. Its still a classic even if it was propaganda at the time it came out. When Anik walked up to the Mover Ticket stand he had to stand on his toes to look the seller in the eyes without the stand blocking half his face.

After getting his ticket Anik sat himself close to the front but not to close so that he would need to crane his neck to watch the mover. While Anik waited for the mover to start, Anik's thoughts went back to all the stories about the conflict between the Arties and Nats. Anik himself is squarely on the side of the Nats since he is one, but he wondered if his dear sister would ever side with the Arties, he would like to think not, but you never expect somethings until it happens.

Anik's morose thoughts were cut short when the Mover Started, so he instead of focusing on current events he decided to focus on the past of Mover.

[Inertia]

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@Chickn

Kazuki eyed the rather grandeur theater, a sense of distraught plaguing him. During his traverse to the theater, his clothes were prim and proper, tightly holstered all over his body. When he arrived though, everything had mysteriously come loose and lazily draped over him. He was never really one for discomfort, so now he looked like a normal person, unbefitting of what the Avatar should look like.

"Crap." he thought outloud, "I think I'm late."
Kazuki had also gotten a bit lost during the commute, and had to ask a random passerby for directions, who then pointed opposite of where he was actually meant to go. With an embarrassed expression, he bowed and started walking the opposite direction.

Standing infront of the ticket vendor, howling at the people in the hall to buy tickets to the play. Kazuki patted his clothes, and with a raised eyebrow, he actually forgot his 'VIP' pass. With another exasperated sigh he walked up to the rebroadcasting man,

"... Ticket please." he said, now fishing for 25 Yuans in his pocket. As soon as his money was handed in, the man eyed the money, as if he thought it wasn't real. After glancing back and forth towards Kazuki and the Yuans, he handed him a ticket whilst giving him a stink eye, saying

"Enjoy the show."

Man was Kazuki not suited for things like this.

As soon as he entered, he accidentally closed the doors a bit too hastily, the resounding thud making a few heads turn back at him. A bead of sweat flowing down his forehead, he bowed once more,

"Sorry."

The once quiet theater was replaced with some light whispering,

"That guys is so rude."
"Doesn't he look familiar?"
"Is that the Avatar? No way, he would be in the VIP seats."

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my pass, Kazuki thought to himself, slightly embarrassed again and now trying to find an open seat. He eyed an empty seat near the edge, with a woman taking the edge of the row. Fighting himself, he finally lightly tapped her shoulders,

"Uhh, hey, is this seat taken? he whispered, giving her a light, fraught smile.

[Chickn]

???

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A crackle of lightning could be heard from behind the giant cloth screen. Several members of the audience rose from their seats, all adorning masks resembling those used by the Equalists during the First Revolution. As these individuals rose as one, a bolt of lightning burned a whole through the screen, striking the projector in the back of the theater. The room fell under a blanket of darkness. Quiet murmurs among the audience soon grew into panicked cries for help, however, it was no use. The soundproof room had deafened any sound attempting to escape.

The darkness was soon pierced by small balls of fire, lining either side of the front of the theater. Behind each ball of flame was a masked face. Each of these Firebenders stood still, acting as ominous lights. A row of Earthbenders stood in front of the giant screen.

From behind the curtain stepped out a tall, slender woman. She wore a black cape, and a mask that covered her entire face, only leaving small slits for her mouth and eyes. It looked old and worn, and appeared to have been originally fitted for a man. The woman walked with a purpose, and that purpose was to draw all eyes to her. She stopped once in the front of the room, turning to address the entirety of the theater.

"My fellow citizens of Republic City. As you all know, a certain serum has been developed to artificially reproduce bending. This has long been a source of conflict among our city. When on their own, the four elements are strong. When combined, they are unstoppable. The Avatar is a living testament to that fact. For thousands of years, the Avatar has lived hundreds of lives promoting balance, peace, equality. The Avatar simply used their superior abilities to bully others into submission. History has proven that the Avatar simply intervenes when it is fortunate for them. Unfortunately for us non-benders, we now pose a serious threat to the Avatar's sacred 'balance.' Today, I am here to show you all that we need not be afraid of the Avatar anymore, for we have leveled the playing field a bit.

"I believe the Avatar has graciously made himself present today." The woman paused to search the crowd, spotting the Avatar. "Yes, there he is. Avatar Kazuki. Capable of bending all four elements, yes? Previously, the Avatar had been the only one able to accomplish such a feat. As of today, this is no longer the case." The woman demonstrated, throwing a fireball into the air, followed by a wind blast. She bent a puddle of water from a canister on her side, letting it fall before her. The earth quaked as a section of the theater's ground was tossed to the side.

"My brothers, sisters, the Avatar has come to Republic City in order to put a stop to us gaining our equality. Do we not deserve it? Are we lesser beings simply because it is not our birthright to bend? Join me as I lead us into a new age. An age of true equality. The revolution has begun!"

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Rinzen

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Rinzen looked up, noticing a tap on her shoulder. "Huh? Oh, yes- I mean, no. It's not." She pulled her knees up to allow the boy into the seat next to her. The boy had come in several minutes late, and the seat next to her was about the only one available. She returned her attention back to the mover.

Rinzen jumped as the lightning shot through the projection. She sat there, frozen as the mysterious woman revealed herself and began her speech. She watched in awe as the woman demonstrated her capabilities that rivaled the Avatar's own, who was apparently in the theater at the moment. She could hear a mixed response of cheers and boos coming from the crowd around her. Surely, this was not natural. The theater soon erupted in chaos. Rocks, ice, fire, and a whole myriad of other elements were being thrown around the room. Dozens of people ran from the theater in a panic. Rinzen stayed behind. She defended herself from stray rocks as the theater emptied out, eventually leaving less than a dozen others in the room.

The mysterious woman stood at the front, watching the chaos. It was impossible to decipher her emotions, given the mask that she wore. Was she content to just sit and watch as the theater fell into chaos? Perhaps that was her plan, after all. Rinzen rose from her seat in order to leave the theater, and found that it was entirely blocked off by the masked Earthbenders. She was trapped inside, along with several others.

[Raijinslayer]

Jian

"Fuck!"

Jian cursed as the mover was suddenly ended with a bolt of lightning blasting the the screen and into the projector, trying to sink into his seat as things only went from bad to worse. Then some woman appeared, spouting some drivel about equality and whatnot before singling out the Avatar, who was here apparently, and making a show of power by bending all four of the elements right then and there. Well then . . . this couldn't get any worse.

Jian looked around, noting how the masked freaks surrounding them were preventing anyone from leaving, making them a captive audience as it were. As people tried to get out, only to be blocked by some masked earthbenders, he laid low, taking out a syringe filled with red liquid from his pocket. Taking off the protective cap, he slid it slowly into his arm and pressed down on the plunger, taking a breath as he felt a burning pain flow throughout his body, heating him up from the injection point as the serum spread through him. After a few more seconds, it subsided, and he quickly recapped the syringe before putting it away again, rising up with a dangerous look directed towards the woman in charge of all this.

"Sorry lady, but threatening people isn't a good way to get them on your side. Case and point." No sooner had he finished, Jian entered an Earthbending stance, slamming his foot down to lift several rocks up around him before launching a barrage at several of the masked men, each one being cloaked in a veil of flame as they hurtled towards their targets for a rather explosive, but non-lethal, finish. He gave a look at the others in the theater, telling them with his eyes to get moving through the opening he made. More rocks rose up around him as he prepared to launch more flaming rocks at anyone who made a move towards the fleeing civilians. [color=Jian]"Now then, how about we settle this without a bunch of collateral around to get in the way. If you really do care about the people, you wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, right? I'll even give you a chance and ask the Avatar to not get involved. From what I've heard of him, he probably jump at the chance to avoid dealing with someone as bothersome as you."[/color]

While Jian sound confident, anyone who took the time to study him could see that he was shaking ever so slightly, and his breathing was erratic. While putting on a bravado was easy enough, right now he felt that he was digging his grave deeper and deeper with every word. The masked men he'd hit earlier were already getting up by now, more dazed than anything else. As a Pro-bender, he had it engrained into his being to hold back when using his bending against others, and that habit had only gotten stronger after the incident. If these guys were meaning business, than he wouldn't be able to stand a chance on his own, but he wanted to give other people a chance to run if they had the chance. That way, if he got died or was injured terribly, he would have accomplished something to help redeem his worthless self, if only a little bit.

[jumpadraw]

Chen

The moment the lighting broke through the screen of the mover, Chen let himself drop the the ground and slide under a few chairs. He had spent so much time writing about the chaos in Republic city that this action almost came as instinct to him. Maybe he was over reacting, though. Sighing, he spared himself a glance over the seats around him, cursing as he saw several masked men and women standing up.

Not overreacting.

A woman began to talk, speaking of equality and balance, and Chen quickly noted every word he heard, albeit in his head. If he survived, his article would probably be on the front page of the UDN. While he knew that the situation would only get worse, he couldn't help but feel a slight relish at this fact. All of this soon fled from his mind though, as chaos began to erupt. Huge masses of people began screaming, running for the exits. While normally Chen was void of such emotions, the fear of the crowd around him seemed to seep into his soul.

Emptier and emptier the theater became, and still Chen remained hidden in his place. Part of him was screaming for him to stand and run with the rest, but he wouldn't let himself leave the story behind. He had to see how the scenario was going to play out. The Avatar was here. Would he face off against the Neo equalists and survive? Would he flee from the conflict? Even with the apparent danger he was in, Chen felt anticipation and excitement well up within himself. Slowly, he drew a dagger and placed his hand on his throwing knives. If it came to it, and he was sure it would, he would be ready to fight.

[Aquaknight]

Anik

Anik absentmindedly kept watching the Mover even when people around him started to put on strange masks. It was only when people started to stand up that he started to take notice of the heavy air in the theater, Anik yelped then dove under his chair when a lightning bolt punctured though the Mover Screen. Anik covered his head for a moment worried the lightning bolt was still going on but to his surprised it seemed to have only happened once and a voice echoed out throughout the theater a voice of a woman, she spoke of the evils of the benders and of the Avatar whose apparently here in the theater with the Artie terrorists. Anik lift his head over the seat and watch as the Terrorist started bending all the elements, which shocked Anik since the bending Serum kills anybody who used more then one element, this woman is totally a freak of some sick experiment, or she's something different.

When the bending Chaos started, Anik stayed hidden until the fight thinned out and he could use his full waterbending capability to defend himself from the terrorists. An earthbender was throwing his weight around at the Masked people, this was when Anik decided to attack. He twisted off the cap to his water holder and started to bend the water underneath the now slowly rising people and when it covered up enough ground with help of scattered fallen drinks Anik raised from the cover of the seats and raised his arms so all the water and drinks raised high up into the air and encased the masked terrorist in a giant icicle covering them from head to toe which would at least give some of the people time to defend themselves while the terrorists are trying to get out. Anik himself got ready to attack again.

[Inertia]

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@Chickn@Raijinslayer@jumpadraw@Aquaknight

Kazuki's eyes began to widen as the lightning thundered and burnt the screen of the play. A slender woman came speaking out, and much like the others equalists that the past avatars had dealt with, she was crazy. His eyes came to a deadly glare when the lady had started bending all four elements, as if the Avatar was just some sort of gimmick, and apparently she just attacked this place because he was here, Kazuki was not very pleased.

"You speak of equality, yet you attack those that cannot defend themselves?" Kazuki spat out, his eyes still wearing the same expression, "You not much different from your predecessors, Equalist." at this point, Kazuki has gotten up, and was making streaks of fire with enough power to defend himself and the panicking crowd from the flying debris of different elements. There were a few stuck between them and the masked equalist who were now blocking the entrances.

One of the more 'braver' Earthbenders got up and had attacked the masked individuals defending the entrances, to let people leave, however, his coarse breathing and hands lightly quivered said otherwise, he would otherwise applaud his bravery against adversity but now wasn't the time. Another seemed to follow, encasing the terrorists in ice, that would atleast slow them down as they could most probably bend fire.

Kazuki followed up by rising the Earth on a few of them, effectively immobilizing them for majority of the fight as they could not access their stance. He glanced back at the woman, the pseudo leader, and waited for her next action, whilst simultaneously taking note of the panicking crowd.

[Chickn]

???

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"I do believe you and your fellow benders were the first to attack. Me and my followers merely stood up here, and your lousy Earthbender friend took it upon himself to strike first." The woman gestured to others in the room. "To those of you still remaining, what does that tell you about the Avatar and the benders that follow him? It shows that, just like the Avatars before him, he seeks to oppress us."

"Now, if you think that merely demonstrating power is equal to attacking defenseless people, then you should be imprisoned for life, Avatar. Your entire existence revolves around subduing others through fear," she said.

The cloaked woman released those captive by the floating earth, and unfroze those still trapped in ice. "If you don't mind, we will be going now." She turned on her heels and left the theater through the way she entered. Her equalist followers left the same way.

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Rinzen

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Rinzen took a moment to understand exactly what had happened, but after recovering from the shock, she rose to her feet and began helping citizens out of the theater. She approached one of the exits that had been blocked by earth, and easily moved the rock using the power of air.

"Hey, Earth boy, could you move that other rock? We should probably get these citizens out of here." Rinzen called to the Earthbender that had stood up to the mysterious woman. She continued guiding others through the aisles and out into the afternoon air.

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@Aquaknight @Raijinslayer @jumpadraw @Inertia

[jumpadraw]

Chen

Chen had half a mind to throw a knife between the shoulder blades of the woman as she left the room, but quickly dismissed the idea. That would only prove her point. Chen quickly stood up, adding a few notes to his notebook before putting it away. The equalist did have a point, that is, if destroying a theater screen with a giant bolt of lightning didn't count as attacking. Still, it was a rather crafty plan that the woman had assembled. She had goaded the benders into attacking her, into making the first move of violence. She hadn't even given her name before the fighting started. He cursed the hastiness of the benders, but he couldn't help but understand why they did what they did.

Speaking of which, he could figure out why they did what they did! The only problem he now faced was determining whether he should talk to the earth and water bender who had stood and fought or the Avatar. Well, that was a no brainer. The attack (or protest) was directed at the Avatar. Why not talk to him?

Chen walked over the the Avatar, trying to appear casual. He would rather not have the Avatar realize that he was nothing more than a journalist scrounging around for details. Instead, he decided to first play the slightly concerned citizen approach. He gave Kazuki slight grin as he walked towards him.

"Not exactly how you expected your day to go, is it?" Chen said casually, "Who was that woman anyway? More importantly, what are you going to do about it? It seems like she means business, and I doubt that's the last we'll see of her."

[Raijinslayer]

Jian

Jian didn't respond to the woman as she spoke, simply watching her and her lackeys as they left. Once they were all out of sight, he let out a quick sigh, all of the bravado that had been put on display leaving him as he held up his own shaking hands, the burn of the firebending serum in his veins seeming to flare up again as he tried to calm himself down. Small flames appeared in his hands for a second before soon dispersing as he steadied himself with a few deep breaths. So focused was he on this activity that he didn't realize he was being addressed at first, though it quickly came to him as he looked up for a bit, his long hair seeming to fall over his face a bit more than before as he turned in direction of the air nomad.

"Huh. . . Oh, y-yeah. No problem. He cursed his stutter, as he quickly took a stance, quickly bending the rock out of the way and making way for the moviegoers to leave, noting that a few were giving him and the others who'd taken action a few dirty looks. It seemed that their were a few sympathizers in the crowd, seeing their actions as tyrrannical instead of what any sane person should do when faced with people who introduced themselves by blasting lightning and holding a captive audience. After the others had left, he broke the big rock into a bunch of smaller pieces before letting them fall to the ground, turning to talk to the air bender girl if she was still around.

"All of this just because of some stupid serum . . . I don't even see the problem with it being made. Shouldn't we be glad to share our gifts with others? *sigh* This is just too much for me . . . I'd rather not leave my room if I have to worry about these new masked 'revolutionaries' prowling the city."