[IC] Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

[Engel]

The uniform on her bed wasn’t Avani’s style at all. She’d jumped at a real chance to interact with spirits, learn more about them and maybe even visit their world. It just happened to be that the best opportunity to do so was if she was officially sanctioned by the mayor. She’d never wanted to become anything like a police officer, member of a taskforce or work for the government. If anything, she had been more of a joker and petty criminal in her youth. She and Ryuu had more fun bending the rules than obeying them.

It may be odd that they’d ended up as a taskforce to deal with the spirits taking that into account, but they certainly had the skills for it. Avani with her knowledge of stories regarding spirits, Mi as an airbender was the most attuned to them and Ryuu… Well, he could handle himself in a fight no doubt. Avani had been allowed to pick her own team. She wondered if anyone thought they’d be able to do much difference anyway. The Avatar hadn’t apparently.

She did put on the coat, but left it open to reveal her crop top and midriff, then rolled up the arms. Avani hadn’t spent all those years getting a muscular physique to brag about only to hide it under a uniform. She went barefoot as usual to better feel the earth against her skin.

After checking her home one final time, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door. Ryuu had said he’d meet them where they’d been told to go, but she had promised to pick up Mio. Avani locked after herself, got on her motorcycle and drove off in the direction of Mio’s house.

The airbender did wear the uniform they’d been given when Avani arrived, and didn’t seem to mind. She greeted her, did a twirl to show off the uniform and smiled before getting on the back of Avani’s motorcycle. She waited until she felt Mio’s arms around her then she drove towards the new vine forest that was filled with spirits.
As he said he would be, Ryuu was waiting there for the two of them, but he wasn’t the only one. Avani stopped close to him, turned off her motorcycle and let Mio get off first.

“I didn’t know we’d be babysitting.” ‘Avani said loud enough for everyone to hear, after looking over the other woman and two men.

“Aw, don’t be like that. I’m sure they’re more competent than they look.” Mio said and blushed, like she hadn’t meant to say that at all. Yeah, right.

Ryuu just shrugged his shoulders. He wore his usual jacket with the hood up over the uniform itself, probably not particularly fond of the thought of wearing a uniform either. “I believe we’re on the same side either way.”

[The Kraken]

Kasai had risen early, used to her usual routine of a hot morning tea and some light bending exercises before heading off to work. Except today, she was headed for a new adventure, one far different from her job at the PD. She put on the uniform, it's fit and style wasn't much different than her police uniform. After pulling her hair back and making sure her orders were in place, she walked outside to her Satomobile and fired up the engine. She headed to pick up her long-time friends Barron and Kieron, whom roomed together in an apartment a few blocks away. Barron was a fellow police officer, and when he had heard about the new task force that was being commissioned for handling the spirits, he brought it to the attention of Kasai. Sure, at first she thought he was crazy. Who wanted to have to deal with the spirits, wasn't that the Avatar's job? But after he explained it to her, she realized that it was just another way that they could protect the people of Republic City and do their job as law enforcement. Rounding the corner, she honked the horn of the vehicle and awaited her comrades. They both rushed out and raced towards the vehicle, but Kieron landed the shotgun seat after he launched himself forward with his earthbending. "Hey! That's totally cheating." Barron said as he climbed into the back seat. Kieron smirked as he strapped on his seat belt. "Eh, I like to think of it as 'creative.'" He flashed a wide, goofy smile and chuckled a bit as Kasai shook her head and accelerated the car forward. When they arrived at the meeting place for all of the task force teams, there was only one more person there waiting: a firebender male who seemed to want to keep to himself, with his hood up to cover his face for the most part. Kasai motioned for the boys to follow her and then she checked her watch. "Looks like we still got a good 20 minutes. Make yourself comfortable boys." Several minutes later, a motorcycle pulled up and produced two women, one of whom seemed thoroughly dissatisfied at the fact that she was not alone with her friends. Kasai scoffed at her remark about babysitting and rolled her eyes. "With an attitude like that I'm sure you'd make a lovely babysitter." She pursed her lips together and checked her watch again, "Alright, the leader of the whole operation should be here soon to give us more detailed instructions, let's try to keep it civil." Mere seconds later, another Satomobile pulled up and out emerged a tall, grey-haired man with matching facial hair. He wore a uniform that identified him as being from the office of the mayor, the head of security to be exact. He cleared his throat and looked over the two teams. "Nice to see you all. My name is Roni Teko, head of Republic City security. You've volunteered for this assignment under your own free will, remember that. However, there is a clear mission here." He moved closer and pointed into the spirit vine forest, towards the spirit portal. "As you know, the spirits have become reckless and have begun to disrupt the public. Your job is to infiltrate the forest, and if need be, the spirit world, to find the source of the disturbance among the spirits and do anything necessary to quell it. You may work jointly, or as two separate units. But you mission remains the same." He pulled two radios from a case that one of his deputies held. "This will be your means of communication between each other, on channel three. And if anything dire should happen, you can contact the headquarters through channel five." He handed Kasai one radio, and the other was given to Avani. "We wish you the best of luck." He turned back towards his vehicle, leaving the six there to process their mission and prepare themselves. As Roni opened up the car door, he turned back to them. "Oh and one more thing, here is a crate full of some basic, yet essential supplies. Help yourself to whatever is inside." Two officers grabbed the crate from the vehicle and placed it before them, then turned on their heels and returned to the Satomobile.

[Engel]

“I’m sure you’d know all about it.” Avani said with a grin while staring at the other woman. “Did your parents sign your permission slip for this?” She didn’t say any more snide remarks after the woman said the leader should show up soon. She didn’t want to get fired on her first day. Maybe she could remain civil until they’d worked a few days at least. That way she’d know if this mission was worth her time or if she should try to break off on her own with her friends. It turned out to be a good thing she’d stayed her tongue, as another Satomobile belonging to someone working for the mayor pulled up right then. He introduced himself as Roni Teko, Head of Republic City Security. After repeating what she already knew, he handed her and the other woman each a radio. “We work better alone, sir.” Avani said to the suggestion that the two teams could work together and even communicate with the radios. She pocketed the radio anyway, since it may come in handy to be able to call headquarters for help. Roni headed back to his car, but before they left two officers picked a crate out of the car and placed it on the ground. He said it contained useful supplies, but not what such supplies were. Avani had to assume it was food, water and tools? “Thank you, sir.” Avani saluted, while a grin spread across her face once more. Well, a leopard can’t change its spots. She waited for the Satomobile and the officers to leave before she did anything. Ryuu lit one of his cigarettes by channeling a flame between his fingers. Mio was about to head over to the crate with supplies to check it out, but she was stopped with a gesture from Avani. “I suppose introductions are in order.” Ryuu said, pulled the hood off of his head and walked over to the other team. The B team, as far as Avani was concerned. “I’m Ryuu Akane, firebender.” He said, created a short flashy display of fire, and then stretched out his hand in a polite greeting to the female leader of team B. As Ryuu created a distraction by introducing himself, Avani shifted the earth beneath her feet until she had a large rock sliding along the ground on which to stand on. She slid over to the supply crate, got it onto the moving rock and sped up as she headed into the spirit vine forest. Mio was left standing, still unused to the intricacies her team had when it came to their teamwork and what she was supposed to be doing herself. It was as if Avani and Ryuu could read each other’s minds at times. She decided to introduce herself as well to the other team as well, as it would be rude not too and her team leader could handle herself, probably. “I’m Mio.” She said, throwing her arm around Ryuu’s shoulder and waving. Avani tried to be sneaky about stealing all of the supplies for her own team, but she doubted it would go by unnoticed for long, if at all, so she sped up as much as she dared too. It was a forest, not an open plain. Her line of view was much more limited here. She remembered the radio, turned it on and called channel 3 when she thought she was safe enough. “What’s the expression again?” Avani spoke into the radio, believing the other leader had answered. “Catch me if you can, baby?” She realized that what she’d ended with could be mistaken for something else than what she’d meant. “Kid, child. You big baby!” She shouted and blushed, then turned the radio off. “Well, it was nice meeting you.” Ryuu said. “No time to waste though, eh?”

[The Kraken]

Kasai and her team watched as the crate was unloaded and offered to them by the head of the operation. As he and his other officers disappeared, she let out a sigh, turning her attention back to the other team. It appeared as though working together was out of the question, which was perfectly fine with Kas, as she was already used to functioning as a team with both Barron and Kieron. Yet to her surprise, the male member of the other team offered himself in introduction. Perhaps not all of them were as sarcastic and cynical as their leader seemed to be. When he announced himself and stretched out his hand in greeting, Kasai returned the gesture with a flame in hand as she shook his with the other. "Kasai, firebender as well." She held a firm handshake with steady eye contact, something she had picked up after a few years on the police force. Kas raised an eyebrow at the fact that the leader of the other team had not come over to introduce herself, rather the other female member of the team came over and joined her comrade. Barron and Kieron both gave the pair a nod, and outstretched their hand in greeting as well. "I'm Kieron, earth bender. Nice to meet you both." He juggled a few rocks with his hands before letting them drop to the ground near his feet. Kieron was usually the friendliest one of the three, more trusting than Kasai and Barron had grown to be, but that was mostly due to their line of work. "Barron Iko, Republic City police officer, water bender." He kept his eyes low and narrow and his handshake short. Never one to be overly friendly to strangers, he preferred to keep an air of authority about him, even though Kasai was usually the one who called the shots. Nevertheless, he was the eldest of the three and tended to act like it. Kasai looked around and was about to say something to the effect of 'I see manners are not part of your friend's style,' but she was stopped short when she noticed that behind the two, the earthbender woman was hastily making way with the supply crate. "Hey! What the hell?!" The radio emitted a static noise in her hand and she raised it up, hearing Avani's sarcastic remark as she tore through the forest with the supplies. A low growl escaped Kasai's throat and she gritted her teeth together, looking to the opposing teammates. Barron stepped forward and threw his hands up, "Are you serious? Who are the children now?" He took the radio from Kas and prepared a response in his brain before Ryuu interrupted his train of thought. With his last expression, he and his little friend were soon off chasing after their leader. Kieron stepped forward and shifted his feet on the earth, channeling his bending in an attempt to try and trip up the accomplices as they entered the forest. Kasai let a blast of fire grow in her hand, but she tamed it before letting it fly off. "Dammit! C'mon, let's go." She waved on her team and they all took off into the spirit vine forest, which quickly became thicker as they trekked deeper into the forest. Soon enough, all Kasai was able to make out was the sound of footsteps and the earth moving, but was unable to see her targets through the thick vines. She grit her teeth again and let flames fly to the nearest tree, where Barron had to extinguish them before they spread too far. Kasai grabbed the radio again and switched it on. "Listen here, kid. If I get my hands on you, you're going to wish the Avatar herself would come save you from perdition. Now you have two choices: One, you can take what you want and be so kind enough as to leave us enough supplies to survive; or two, I can hunt you down and take everything you have and leave you to the spirits." She put the radio in her pocket and stomped forward, not saying another word as she wrestled through the forest towards the last place she saw them disappear to. Kieron put a hand on her shoulder, "Cool down Kas, we have enough stuff to make it through a couple of days. We'll get to that crate sooner or later." Kasai shook her head and continued on. He didn't understand that that wasn't the point. The point was someone was challenging her, and damned if her personality wasn't going to let her just watch it happen.

[Engel]

Mio evaded the shifting of the earth beneath her feet by jumping and using air to fly into the spirit vine forest. Ryuu couldn’t fly in the same way, but he’d had more than enough experience fighting Avani that he could remain on his feet while the earth shook, even if it took quite a bit of concentration to do so. They both made it into the spirit vine forest before the other team, and ran to catch up with their leader. Ryuu figured she’d find them when she wanted too rather than the other way around, but since the other team was pissed off now he’d prefer to not stop and wait for her. At least not until they’d shook them off their tail. Avani came to a halt when the spirit vine forest got too thick for her to continue surfing on a large stone. She was fairly sure she’d lost both her own team and team b. Thankfully, she should be able to feel their location through the earth when they were this close. She stepped of the stone with the crate on and searched for Ryuu by putting her barefoot against the earth, since he’d be the easiest to recognize and Mio might be in the air, not on the ground. Once she’d found him she just needed to meet up with her team somewhere. They were heading in her general direction, so it didn’t take long for her to run into them. She moved silently as she didn’t know if they were being followed by team b or not. Avani whistled to them, much like a bird might sound, and when they came straight for her she assumed they weren’t followed. “Well done, team!” Avani said, and gave them each a high five. “Let’s go check what was in that crate now.” “Maybe you should cool it with antagonizing the other team leader, Ava.” Ryuu commented. “Never know who may be useful to us later.” “I’m just having a bit of fun.” Avani snorted. “Besides, this way we get first pick on everything in the crate. If we decide to give them whatever’s left after that, I don’t mind. “They’d have done the same to us if given the chance.” Mio commented. “Exactly, Mio. We just got to it first.” The three arrived at where Avani had left the crate, but while they were about to open it the radio crackled to life again and team b’s leader threatened Avani. She waited a while before she responded to team b’s demands. “Whoa girl…” Avani didn’t finish telling her to calm down and that threats were overdoing it, because she had a better idea and had to stifle a laugh. “I don’t even know you yet. Maybe at least a dinner before you put your hands anywhere.” Ryuu shook his head, pulled his hood back up and started to look around the area. Mio just smiled as she finally got to open the crate and discover what was inside. Avani had to focus to stop herself from laughing. “Hmm, I don’t really like either of those options. How about…” Avani paused for dramatic effect as if she was thinking up a third option. “We keep the crate, and you leave this mission to the professionals?” Avani had planned to make sure her team got first pick on the supplies, but after being threatened she didn’t feel all that eager to give up anything to this woman’s team. She picked up a sandwich from the crate that Mio had opened, and began to chew on it loudly into the radio. “This food is delicious.” She said with her mouth full. “Too bad you won’t get any of it.” Avani kept chewing loudly with the radio turned on, sighing and moaning as if it was the best freaking sandwich she’d eaten in her life. It wasn’t really. She could make better food than this herself. It was food you’d eat for the nutrition, not the taste. Ryuu thought Ava’s behaviour was beyond petty at this point, but he didn’t comment on it. She’d probably get what was coming to her for this, then he would be there to tell her that he told her so and to help her get back on her feet. It was what friends did after all. He was more curious why they hadn’t seen any spirits yet. Maybe their loud entrance into the forest had scared them away? Mio inspected what was in the crate. There seemed to be double of everything, so they’d probably assumed that the teams would get along better than they currently were. Mostly food, but some tools that may come in handy too, Mio took half of the stuff in the crate and moved it into backpacks she’d brought with her.

[The Kraken]

Kasai led Barron and Kieron through the entangled vines, the whole time she held in the irritation that was building in her chest. The radio was gripped firmly in her hand as her feet pounded the soft dirt of the forest. She focused on her breathing and drew in several deep breaths, exhaling slowly and feeling the tension leave her body with each vanishing breath. The radio came to live again when the other team's leader decided on her response. Just as Kasai had began to calm down, her frustration was mounting yet again. With the first comment, Kasai blushed and narrowed her eyes before opening her mouth to speak. Before she could formulate the words, however, Avani was already at it again. This time, Barron placed his hands on Kasai's shoulders and gave her a squeeze, reminding her to keep a level head. Kieron let out a laugh at the word "professionals." He contained himself and looked to Barron and Kas. "Pros, really? They're probably just a couple of street benders." He laughed again before noticing Barron's raised eyebrow. "Uh, dude. You're not exactly what I would call 'professional' either." Kieron narrowed his eyes at Barron and stuck out his tongue. "Yeah well, at least you two are cops. I mean, c'mon. Doesn't really get more professional than that." He stood up straight and gave them both a salute, "Thank you for your service to this great city." He was only able to hold the posture for a half of a second before his wide, cheesy grin snuck in again. He chuckled and shrugged, "No, but seriously, you two are way more qualified." Barron smacked Kieron in the arm, and then turned to listen again when the radio crackled out another response. Soon enough, the sound of lip smacking and food being pulverized lit up their ears. Kasai rolled her eyes and leaned against a tree, waiting to see if she would ever get a break. The chewing sounds lasted all too long and the three grew increasingly annoyed. The thing about those radios... they were one-way only. So as long as the other team's line was open, they couldn't say a thing. In the mean time, Barron pulled off his pack and motioned for Kieron to do the same. The two rummaged through the sacks and laid out their supplies, consciously rationing their water and food out to equal two days worth for all three of them. "Well, I would've come more prepared had the guy not told us before hand to pack light." Barron remarked. Finally, the smacking sounds ceased and Kasai was able to get a thought in. She grabbed the radio again and closed her eyes for a moment, remembering to be the bigger person and keep her cool. Pressing the button, she talked with a more even tone this time. "Alright, kid. While I will have to disagree on your level of qualification," she licked her lips and drew in a breath, "I must say it was rather clever of you to run off with all of the supplies. So you know what? Keep it." At that, Barron and Kieron both stood and advanced towards Kas with raised hands and angered faces. She put up a hand and tilted her head to the side, raising her eyebrows. They both stopped and looked at her with puzzled expressions. She continued into the radio, "We don't need it anyways, we have a mission to finish. Have fun with that government-issued sandwich." She released the button on the radio and looked at the boys. "Let's see how a bit of reverse psychology works, boys." She smiled and turned on her heels, ready to head deeper into the spirit vines to begin their mission.

[Engel]

Avani was slightly annoyed that this government tool thought she was better than her at anything, but she decided to listen while she talked and think of an answer afterwards. She was surprised to hear that team b was willing to give up their share of the supplies. “Huh.” Avani said to no one in particular. “I guess they don’t want any of the supplies, Mio, so pack all of it into our bags. Leave the crate here.” Mio nodded, but couldn’t fit much more into her own two bags, so she had to take Avani’s and Ryuu’s bags as well. Avani had to wonder why team b had given up the supplies so easily. Had they gotten another crate by calling headquarters, maybe? She certainly wouldn’t hold it above them to rat her out to their superior, just because they lost the crate fair and square. She felt like she’d won too easily though, especially when team b’s leader had just threatened to beat her moments ago. Eventually Mio got finished packing everything in the crate into the bags, and they could set out in search of the solution to the city’s problem. Avani was strangely quiet for her, but picked up her own bag and lead them further into the spirit forest. Ryuu could tell something was gnawing at her, but he was more interested in the spirits that he thought he could see following behind them. They kept their distance from them, but he was fairly certain they were spirits. “I think we’ve probably got enough supplies to last us a week, more if we ration it.” Mio said to break the silence. “I doubt team b has enough to last them that long, so even if they do continue they won’t be able to do it for as long as we.” “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d called headquarters for another crate.” Avani responded with a pout. “She’s probably a real suck-up.” “She?” Ryuu commented, getting a clue as to who had caused Avani’s current mood. “Team b, whatever.” The silence returned. Avani was brooding. She fingered the radio in her hand, almost expecting and waiting for it to crackle to life with her voice begging them to give them food. It was silly, obviously they’d survive the first day at least, even if they hadn’t begged headquarters for a new crate. It annoyed her nonetheless. She’d been brushed off like nothing, like if she was a kid too dumb to take this task seriously. All she’d done was have a bit of fun at the other team’s expense. She understood the mission was of importance, but saw it more as an adventure. If they truly thought her team was unable to complete it, they wouldn’t have sent them. Perhaps this was a test for them too, and if they failed she wouldn’t get any more chances to help with the spirits. “Well, if you’ve already begged your masters for more food I guess we can keep this crate.” Avani said into the radio after they’d been walking for a while. “I would have shared once I’d had my fun, but it seems you’re just oblivious to the meaning of the word. I’m disappointed in you…” It occurred to Avani then that she didn’t even know the woman’s name. They hadn’t been introduced. “Hmm, so what’s your name anyway, girl-who’s-to-stiff-for-her-own-good?” Ryuu sighed loud enough for Avani to hear, to let her know what he thought about what she was doing.

[The Kraken]

There had been several moments of silence since the last radio conversation, and Kasai began to grow curious as to if the other woman would ever respond. She twiddled the radio in her hand as she led Barron and Kieron through the tangled vines and under looming branches of the forest. Every so often, a rustle could be heard and the group would stop to listen. "Weird, for being a spirit forest this place doesn't seem to be too active." Kieron remarked after they had paused to listen a moment. Barron took a step forward and pushed a limb aside as he tilted his head to listen. "Oh, they're here. They just don't want us to see them yet." The group picked up walking again, now a good way into the woods. "Probably all that ruckus Kas and her little rival managed to stir up while they were bickering." Kieron cheesed a large grin and prepared for whatever punishment would come his way, but he ducked behind Barron and pretended to shield himself. Kas turned and narrowed her eyes at him, the "death glare". She turned back around and kept on moving until soon enough they came across the crate that had been taken earlier by the other team. "First of all, she isn't my rival. She's an immature kid and I'm obviously far more skilled than she is." She advanced towards the crate and opened it up to reveal it was empty. "Yeah, that's why they got the crate and we got nothin', right?" This time, Kas sent a flame at Kieron without even turning her head to look his direction. His shirt smoldered and he quickly patted it out with frantic hands. "Geez, okay, okay!" Kas smirked and closed the crate lid, looking at the two and giving a shrug. "Well, it could be worse." As the words left her mouth, the radio buzzed again in her hand and the other woman's voice came through. Kasai let out a sigh and pulled the radio up so they could all hear. Kasai rolled her eyes as the woman spoke. All jokes with this one... she thought to herself. Sure, Kasai knew when to have fun. But she had a mission, and when she was in that mentality, she didn't have much room for tricks and third grade humor. Barron had resorted to looking around for any scraps that were left over from the crate, not finding much more than a few granola bars and a half eaten sandwich. Kieron listened with Kasai and raised an eyebrow when the other team's leader asked her name. Kasai clicked on the radio and spoke. "We've got plenty of food, thanks. Try not to gorge yourself, would ya? And the name's Kasai. And if we're being formal, it's Sergeant Kasai Inoshi." She was never one to pass up on an opportunity to throw her full rank out there, as she was proud of how much she had accomplished in so little time at the PD. Plus, titles are cool, right? "How about you, trickster? What's your name?" Kasai didn't have time to let go of the button before a dark figure flung itself towards Kieron. He promptly yelled and fell to his back, punching at the figure to get it to release its grip on him. "What the hell?" Barron turned around and hastily waterbended the liquid from inside the pouch than hung from his hip, turning it to ice around the dark figure. Kieron yelled and stood up, running a few steps and then turning around, stomping his foot to the ground and flinging a large hunk of earth straight at the spirit. The spirit became sandwiched between the rock and a tree, and it grew limp. Kasai looked around frantically and began to notice more dark figures appearing all around them. "Looks like we've got company boys." She shifted one foot back and prepared herself for a fight, finally realizing the radio was still in her hand, she released the button and shoved it in her pocket. The spirits wasted no time in traversing the small distance between them, and soon a half dozen were among the three. "We've gotta fall back, there's too many!" Barron yelled as they all battled together in unison. They each began to back pedal as they threw their bending, but soon they had to run to avoid being overwhelmed. They threw shots over their shoulders as they retreated deeper into the forest until they could find enough of a clearing so that they could fight back.

[Engel]

Avani couldn’t help but giggle when Kasai mentioned being formal. “Oh, I’m such a stickler for formality.” She turned to her group and said, mimicking the way the woman talked. Mio laughed, Ryuu smiled briefly. The radio was still transmitting, so she didn’t get a chance to respond to Kasai before she heard sounds that she assumed had to be fighting. “I’m so skilled I can’t even avoid getting ambushed.” Once the radio stopped transmitting, Avani and her team still heard the fighting in the distance. It had to be nearby. She had to decide whether to go help team b and their boring leader, or if they should continue ahead alone. She had wanted to do the latter since the beginning of this mission, but it wasn’t like they had any idea of where to go yet. She wouldn’t like it if Kasai got all the cred for fighting off whatever they had been ambushed by either .”Let’s check it out, at the very least.” Ryuu suggested. “Yeah, yeah. I suppose we better.” Avani responded. The three began to move in the direction that the fighting could be heard from. It didn’t take long for them to spot team b fighting a number of dark spirits in a clearing. Avani dropped her bag on the ground. “Mio, hide the bags. Ryuu and I will go assist them.” At the order, Ryuu handed his bag to Mio who took it with a smirk. She may not be as experienced as the rest of them at fighting, but that was only because they’d had their entire lives to train their bending and hers had manifested itself recently. “We can’t let them have the food just cause they can’t handle themselves.” Avani said, noticing Mio’s mood and aversion to being put on the bench, so to speak. Mio shrugged, but did take the bags anyway. Avani created a smaller rock to surf on this time, then she sped into the clearing. Ryuu ran after her, and as soon as he entered the clearing he began to fling fireballs at the dark spirits to assist his fellows in the other team. Avani on the other hand, was more interested in Kasai. She moved up to her, and began surfing around the woman. She came to a temporary stop in front of her, bowed in a silly and overdone way. “My name’s Avani Shailesh. Your pleasure, Lady Sergeant.” She said and stuck out her tongue at her, then returned to surfing in circles around Kasai. “Too hungry to avoid being ambushed?” Avani put her hand on her bare stomach and patted it. “I think I’ve eaten enough for the moment, personally.” One of the spirits lunged at Avani, but she noticed it in time, picked up her speed and dodged it. In the next moment she’d thrown a boulder at the spirit. The boulder hit it and sent it flying through the spirit forest, causing loud noises as twigs and trees broke. “Told you to leave this mission to the pros, didn’t I, Kasai?” Avani grinned, but now she began to make more erratic surfing patterns through the clearing, while hurling smaller rocks at the dark spirits. She didn’t want to be an easy target to attack. She watched Kasai fight when she wasn’t too busy herself. The firebender moved much like Ryuu did when he fought, but well, in a more feminine and controlled way Avani supposed. It was an impressive display, far from unskilled like she’d implied when calling her team the only professionals. Avani took a hit to the face as she stared, lost her balance and tumbled into the underbrush. She hadn’t seen any spirit in her path, and felt almost too embarrassed to get back up. It would undoubtedly look worse if she didn’t though, so she stood up and surfed back into the clearing. “Totally meant to do that.” She said, and came to a stop where the rest of them were. Avani could use more power to attack with if she didn’t move as much. These spirits were rather large targets too, and they didn’t move too much either. She began to spawn rock walls to defend and attack with. They pinned the spirits in place, allowing her to crush them or for someone else to steal her kill. Ryuu was pretty sure that Avani hadn’t been attacked, but simply surfed into a low hanging branch which sent her rolling. He hoped for her sake that no one else had noticed that part of it, but they seemed busy enough. “Nice distraction, boss.” He mumbled when she joined them and began to fight at his side. “Just keep fighting, Ryuu. We’ll easily beat the other team in defeated spirits, with just the two of us.” Avani said, keeping her cool and not looking at any of team b’s members again.

[The Kraken]

The three had finally entered a clearing where they were able to stand their ground against the spirits that seemed to be manifesting out of thin air to attack them. Kieron shifted his feet on the ground and stomped to a constant rhythm, shoving up pillars of earth at the incoming spirits and knocking them back a bit. Barron was more restricted with his bending, as there was not a source of water nearby for him to draw from. All he had to pull from was the pouch that hung on his side, which was reduced in amount anyways from the earlier attack where he hadn't had time to retrieve the then icy water to his pouch. Instead, he flung ropes of water like whips from his hands, repelling the incoming attacks with quick, sharp motions. Kasai was shooting explosive flames to cover those spirits that avoided Kieron and Barron's attacks, knocking them back with singed flesh. She paused for just a second when she saw an incoming fire attack that she did not send from her own hand. She turned to see the man from earlier, the one who introduced himself as Ryuu. He was launching attacks with the same fierceness she was. "what the-?" it was not half a second later that the other woman was moving around Kasai on a rock, blocking her view of the attackers in a constant interval. Kasai grit her teeth and continued to launch fireballs in between circles from the girl, stopping for a few seconds to avoid blasting her with white hot fire. When she stopped in front of her Kas let out an unpleasant sound and narrowed her eyes to the woman. After a snarky introduction and a showing of her tongue, the woman, now known to Kasai as Avani, continued to move in laps around her. Kasai returned to launching fire at spirits in between rounds and grunted with each attack. "Do you mind? Kind of trying to fight off evil spirits at the moment." She had to flip back after a spirit launched at Avani and she dodged it, sending it towards Kas. She ducked when a boulder flew overhead to squash the same spirit. "Sure all that food hasn't slowed you down? I mean you are using that big ass rock to move around." She smirked and continued fighting the spirits, which somehow seemed to replenish in numbers at astounding rates. Kasai ignored Avani after she had moved along to do her own attacking. Flames launched from her feet and hands as she did a combination of moves to chain her attacks together in greater strength. Finally, the numbers seemed to be dying off, though the five were still immensely outnumbered. At least they were not attacking in great waves like they had been before. Barron saw something go flying out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to make sure it was not an incoming spirit. A moment later, Avani emerged from the bushes and continued on with the attack. He smiled to himself, but said no more as he started launching ice crystals towards the spirits. Kieron, Kasai, and Barron all worked in unison to quell the attackers. It was an unspoken rhythm that they had learned after years of training together, and for Kieron and Kasai, the Pro Bending League taught them even more about working together. Now that they were not overwhelmed with spirits, Kasai could see for herself the "skill" Avani claimed to have. Slightly to her displeasure. she was an impressive earthbender. It seemed that she had a better understanding of her footing and the motion of the enemy than even Kieron. Kasai sighed when she admitted to herself that the other team was quite impressive in tandem. Finally. after several more minutes of fighting, there were no more spirits to quell. Kasai took in a deep breath and wiped her brow, where sweat had begun to bead around her face. Kieron and Barron both loosened their stance and looked around, not giving anything the chance of a sneak attack. Kasai looked at Avani and Ryuu, "Isn't there one more to your team? The little air bender, right?" Kasai looked around, realizing she did not notice her during the fight. The officer in her grew concerned for a moment that the woman had been ambushed in the spirit attack but she straightened her expression again. "I hope for your sake she's alright." Kasai looked at her team and paused a moment to listen to the forest. It was quiet... but it was too quiet. "Alright boys, we need to find out what triggered that attack. Let's get moving." She turned to Avani and Ryuu and gave a half-hearted wave. "Thanks for the backup, but we got it from here. Try to lay off the snack cakes, yeah?" She smirked and gave a wink, then turned to her team to get their bearings and decide on a direction to take.

[Engel]

The dark spirits were all defeated in due time, but where they’d come from was the real question. Kasai didn’t spare any time to throw more threats around her once they’d stopped fighting, like she was really worried for Mio. Yeah, right. “Miow, Miow is fine.” Avani said calmly, and created smaller rocks for each foot this time since Kasai seemed to think size mattered. She made circling motions around the clearing and Ryuu. “We simply agreed that you shouldn’t get any of the food, just cause you can’t handle yourselves. I mean, how do you not notice an ambush.” Avani snorted, surfed up to Ryuu and elbowed him in the side. He raised an eyebrow, not acting much as if he agreed or understood. Oh right, she was the one who had sensed others approaching during their time on the streets. “Besides, we figured we didn’t need more than two to save you, Kasai.” Avani grinned, but it quickly subsided when she heard Kasai’s last two comments. Avani was the most fit person in both teams as far as she was concerned. She’d trained hard to achieve her figure and athleticism. She certainly didn’t appreciate comments that implied she was on the fat side, or getting fat by eating too much. “Oh, yeah!?” She shouted at Kasai’s back. Ryuu knew Avani well enough to know why she was now angry, and likely to attack the other woman. He reacted quickly and picked up Avani off of the ground, holding her up so that her bare feet didn’t touch it anymore. “I bet this is the first time you’ve been outside this year! Did you break a sweat because you’re in such bad shape!?” Avani struggled in Ryuu’s firm hold. “Let me down. I can take her blindfolded.” Ryuu didn’t doubt that Avani would put up a better fight than anyone else he knew if she was blindfolded, but he certainly didn’t want her to do something all three of them would come to regret. However, Avani was both stronger and heavier than him, even if it was mostly muscles it was strenuous to constrain her for long. He dropped her, and she was ahead of Kasai before he knew it. “I could take you down like nothing, little innocent cop.” Avani said, then began doing her surfing around the clearing in circles again, faster and faster, while incorporating spins of her own body and a jump. She slid to a halt in front of Kasai. Ryuu was glad she’d decided to show off instead of straight up attacking the woman. Most would likely see such an attack as unprovoked, but they didn’t know Avani like he did. Kasai had hit a soar spot, no doubt, but he had hoped Avani would have gotten used to such comments by now. “I’m faster and more mobile. You would never see me coming.” There was a threat in Avani’s voice as well now. Kasai wasn’t the only one who could throw those around, but instead of acting on her anger she began to move past team b and towards the forest where Mio would be waiting for them. When she was right next to Kasai, she made a lightning fast motion, picked the woman up and span around with her on the rocks while she held her as if they were dancing. Avani dipped her once they lost speed and came to a stop. Avani’s grin replaced her anger when she saw the look on her face. She burst out laughing, then dropped her to let her fall to the ground or catch herself. “Come on, Ryuu. These people are blind and deaf to anyone who’s not a cop like them.” Ryuu breathed a sigh of relief. He’d felt his heart skip a beat there. They didn’t need to attack a sergeant of the police, no matter what their personal feeling about the police were. He began to walk after Avani. “I know how to find you, Kasai!” Avani said and held the radio up above her head.

[The Kraken]

Kieron sent a palm to his face when Kasai egged on the other woman with more snide comments. Barron simply took the map that he retrieved from his pack and turned to determine their location and the direction they should head next. He knew better than to think the two's conversation was over just like that, but he figured Kas would have to lie in the bed that she made for herself. Kasai had paused a moment, still facing away from Avani. She closed her eyes and drew in a breath before turning back to the woman. "How could I notice my own thoughts with your voice filling the air waves?" She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together in a thin line, holding her posture strong and steady. She let the hot headed woman have her word, then watched amusingly as her companion tried to restrain her. Kasai wasn't too worried, she wasn't looking for a fight anyways, that would only result in injury for both parties. Instead, she waited until the woman had had her fill of spewing words, and then turned away again. "With a temper like that, I might almost peg you as a hot headed firebender." Kasai took a step forward, but her path was disrupted when suddenly she felt the earth moving underneath her and the scenery spinning around. A bizarre look donned her face as her brain raced in an effort to find out what had happened to cause this phenomena. She suddenly became aware of Avani standing right next to her, twirling her around as if they were two figurines in a music box. When they slowed, Kas was tipped back and then released, sending her on her ass. She let out a humph as she hit the ground, but she swallowed hard and stood up calmly, wiping off her trousers and straightening her coat. She watched as the woman began to walk away, and she gathered a ball of flame in her hand, letting it grow in intensity until it glowed with a white hot fierceness. Barron quickly shot Kasai a look, and she shook her head at him. He took a step forward and she reared her arm back to launch the fireball towards Avani, but she stopped short, letting the flame die out in her hand. Kasai let out a hard sigh and spoke under her breath, "All I need to do to find you is follow the trail of half eaten food..." She turned on her heel and walked towards Kieron and Barron. "Don't let her get to you, Kas. She's trying to get in your head and psych you out." Kieron put a hand on Kasai's shoulder and gave her a goofy grin. She rolled her eyes at him, but he was persistent and began to poke her. "Okay, okay." She let out a light laugh and returned his grin. "Okay, let's focus on the mission, get the job done, and we can be out of here and relax." Barron opened up the map and pointed to a spot with a small clearing, "I think this is where we are." He shifted his finger, "This is where we came from, the spirits are pushing us towards the center of the forest. Maybe we should head there and see if that's also the center of the trouble here." Kasai nodded and picked up her back pack, slinging it over her shoulder and heading in the direction suggested by her comrade. She focused on trying to clear her mind and stay on task, but she had a nagging feeling that she would be running into Avani sooner or later.

[Engel]

Avani gritted her teeth and did consider turning around just to respond to the cop once more. Ryuu stopped her by putting his hand on her back and pushing her in the direction of the forest. They probably would have been sitting in that clearing for the rest of the day if she had continued the argument with Kasai at that moment. Instead, they met up with Mio who had apparently followed them, but hid in the forest with the food. “I suppose we know what direction to go now, so we should just try to get there before team b.” Avani said, and took her own bag again. “No time to waste.” Ryuu took his bag from Mio as well, and then they were off on a small jog to keep up with their leader’s pace. They did get a moment of peace and silence. Team b didn’t call them, and Avani was too busy making sure she got a good amount of exercise after what Kasai had told her. “Can we take a breather, boss?” Mio asked, trying to catch her breath. Avani kept her pace though. It wasn’t until Ryuu spoke up that she stopped and slowed down. “Avani, come on. She’s just another loudmouth.” “Fine! Five minutes, and we can walk the rest since I doubt the other team moved faster than at a walking pace.” Avani sat down, pulled the radio back out of her pocket and played with it while thinking about something new to say to annoy Kasai. A part of her didn’t feel like it anymore though. She didn’t want to continue fighting with someone who couldn’t take a joke, turned mean and threatening without much provocation. “I bet…” Avani said into the radio after she’d pushed the button. “Oh for crying out loud.” Ryuu muttered, then walked over to Avani to take the radio away from her if she couldn’t stop playing with fire. Avani hindered Ryuu from advancing to close by shifting the earth, and sending a rock wall towards him that he had to dodge. “I bet she’s only into older fat men like those in the police, so she can’t appreciate beauty when she sees it.” Avani had to dodge an incoming fireball to her surprise. Mio used her air bending to stop the flame from starting a wild fire. “Shame, since she’s cute when she huffs and puffs trying to seem threatening.” Avani laughed loudly into the radio, but it was quite clearly faked and forced laughter. She threw the radio to Ryuu who catched it. “There, I’m done. No more with this one… for now.” Avani mumbled the last part, hoping her team members wouldn’t hear her, but she still got a sour look from Ryuu who pushed the radio into his own pocket. “I said nothing.” It didn’t take much longer for Avani and her team to arrive at what had to be the center of the forest. She could feel a stronger presence of something here. It had to be spirits, right? They couldn’t see anything yet, but judging by Mio’s and Ryuu’s sudden caution she wasn’t the only one who felt it. “I’d say we found the location of our source of trouble.” Mio said, presumably she was able to feel the spirits in a different way than Avani and Ryuu since she was an airbender. Avani wasn’t sure what it was like. Ryuu had tried explaining what being a firebender was like once, but she’d barely understood that. “Probably.” Ryuu said, and lit a cigarette. Avani didn’t want to waste another moment, so she stepped forward and was about to keep on walking, when she noticed something a bright light coming from in between some of the trees.

[The Kraken]

Pushing forward, the trio walked in mostly silence, keeping a steady pace as they navigated through the varying forest. The radio sat at Kasai's hip, and she wondered when it would speak to her again. Kieron noticed her hand subconsciously resting on the radio every now and then, so he walked up beside her and grabbed in, placing it in his waistband behind him. Kasai turned around with a confused expression. "You need to focus on something else, Kas. So, this is mine for now." He waived the radio at her and placed it back in his waistband. Barron couldn't help but smile when he saw Kasai's expression, and as she went to take the device back from Kieron, he intervened. Picking her up, he placed her over his shoulder and walked forward several steps. "Alright, let's play a little game. We used to do this back in the Southern Water Tribe all the time during the spiritual events." He placed her down and turned her to face away from the two. "Okay, close your eyes and listen. Not to the trees, or the wind, but to the things that lurk within." Kasai rolled her eyes, but closed them anyway. She took in a deep breath and then sat silent for a second. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at Barron. "I didn't hear anything." She raised an eyebrow towards him. He sighed and closed his eyes, remaining silent. Kieron stood to the side, trying his hardest not to make any sound. After a moment, Barron opened his eyes and pointed to the right. "There are two spirits over there, friendly ones, don't worry. You can't see them, but you can sense them." As Kasai had just closed her eyes to try again, the radio muffled from beneath Kieron's shirt. He quickly pulled it out and saw Kasai headed in a bee-line towards him. He shot himself up on a pillar of earth and pressed the button to respond. "I'm sorry, Kasai can't get to the radio right now, but I'll be sure to relay the message to her. Minus the cackling though, I don't cackle, I chuckle." He grinned and placed the radio behind him again and remained high on his column to avoid Kasai retrieving the radio. Barron turned Kasai around again and made sure she did not get to Kieron. "Try again, clear your mind and open it to them. If you do that then maybe we can better judge what is bothering them so." Kasai let out a huff, but reluctantly closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. Soon, she could sense the two spirits Barron had mentioned. He was right, all she felt was light coming from them. But then, a different feeling became known to her, and her expression turned. She could sense a heavy presence, one not too far away. She opened her eyes and looked at the two, Kieron had finally lowered himself. Both the boys held a stern expression, and she followed their gaze until she saw it. A light emanated in the distance, and without speaking, they all moved forward towards it. Soon enough, they were upon it, and each of their mouths gaped with awe. In the ground was a crater, at least 20 feet in diameter. From it, an eerie glow escaped and bathed the surrounding vegetation with its light. "What the...?" They all stood, unsure of what this thing was or what to do about it. "I'm getting a bad vibe from this..." Kieron spoke up and shook his head with discontent. Barron looked forward and nodded to himself, "It's a spirit portal. There must be something sending out the disturbed spirits from within..." "Within? As in... we have to go in there?" Kieron swallowed hard and looked at Barron, who in return gave a shrug and a nod. "If whatever is disturbing them lies within... then we must go in to quell it. We can't do anything from right here." Kasai and Kieron both looked questionably at the portal, each gathering the courage to enter it. What if they did not return? What if it was a one way ticket? What if they found something beyond their capacity within? The questions raced through their minds as they stared into the ominous light.

[Engel]

“What if she’s too chicken to enter? What if she forgets she couldn’t survive for long without me, because I got all the food?” Avani said and stepped up behind team b. “I was wondering when you’d show up, Kasai.” As entertaining as it might be for the guys to watch their two female leaders focus on arguing with each other, it was beginning to annoy Mio. There weren’t two people here. There were two teams lead by two large egos apparently. “You do realize there’s more than one person on the other team, boss?” Mio muttered. “Besides, it seems petty to put them all in danger over your rivalry.” Mio threw one of the bags of food she’d been dragging around through the forest at the feet of the other team. “I’m not carrying that anymore.” The airbender walked over to the crater, and began to air-jump down the side of it to reach the spirit portal. “When we get back from this excursion into the spirit world, I can introduce you to another female earthbender.” Ryuu let out a long whistle, as if he was both impressed and surprised by Mio’s sudden outburst. He was, but he still kind of saw it coming. He’d expected her to do it when they were alone though. This had embarrassed Avani. He doubted she’d react calmly and rationally to it, no matter what the intention or the anger behind it was. When he looked at Avani, she seemed unsure of how to respond. “Let’s go, Ava.” Ryuu said, nodded to the other team and then followed Mio. “Well, I…” Avani was drawing a blank. She figured she may have treated Mio unfairly by leaving her out of the last fight cause of her own personal rivalry, and because she’d let the airbender carry most of their belongings while she bragged about how she was the most physically fit. She bent down and was about to pick up the bag that Mio had thrown away, when she noticed it was lying right at Kasai’s feet. Avani stopped herself, because she didn’t want to create an even more awkward situation for herself. In her head, she saw it ending up with the two of them fighting over it, more harsh words, blows exchanged and touching. Avani straightened her back, blushed and looked at team b, but never directly at Kasai. “I guess it’s your lucky day, Lady Sergeant.” She created another rock and was soon surfing down the walls of the crater. “I’ve heard stories about the spirit portals.” She said when she reached Mio and Ryuu who’d arrived at it first, pretending like nothing had happened. “It’s the gateway to the spirit world, filled with undocumented wonders. According to some stories airbenders could enter it by meditating, but if you want to bend inside you have to enter it in the flesh. If I remember correctly anyway.” Avani was excited now. She’d actually get to enter the spirit world and explore it, for the first time in her life, but hopefully not the last. “I suppose if it’s throwing out dark spirits something must have been corrupted within, but I don’t think we need to worry about entering it. We probably defeated the group guarding the entrance earlier, or there should be some on this side still.” She put her hand through the portal after a moment of brief hesitation, and then pulled it back out unharmed. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” She said to herself, then stepped through the spirit portal and disappeared. Ryuu and Mio looked at each other, before Mio followed her boss into the spirit world. As a firebender with little knowledge about spirits or any advantages in the area like an airbender, he felt a bit overwhelmed at the thought of entering an entirely different world, but he couldn’t leave his friends in case they’d need him. He took a deep breath and followed them.

[The Kraken]

Kasai wasn't really surprised at this point to see Avani emerging from the forest, since they were all headed to the same place anyways. What she wasn't expecting, however, was the sudden outburst from the rather quiet and reserved companion behind her. She sat there in silence as the young woman finished her outburst and laid the bag of goods at her food. She raised an eyebrow when Avani was left short for words, but she remained quiet. She may be too prideful, but she knew when to speak and when to remain silent. When Avani bent down to retrieve the bag, Kasai intended on letting her take it, but she stopped short. She raised an eyebrow as she parted ways with them again, and picked up the bag to reveal its contents. She smirked for a moment and handed the bag off to Barron, who quickly took an inventory of what they had and placed it in his pack with their other supplies. Kieron peered over the edge of the crater and looked down as Avani and her companions stepped hesitantly into the portal, the firebender being the most hesitant. He swallowed hard, and looked at his friends. "We gotta go in there don't we." He made a pouty face and looked back down the crater to the glowing portal. Barron was the first to climb down the slope, slowly descending towards the portal. Behind him followed Kasai and a hesitant Kieron, who kissed the solid ground as he stopped short of the portal. Barron shook his head and slowly entered the portal, followed again by Kasai and then Kieron as he placed a hand in first, then a foot, and finally his whole body. Within the portal, a whole new world opened up to them. Beside them, they could see the other team also taking in the strange new world. Brightly colored plants and creatures lurked around, but the beautiful scenery was soon interrupted by a dark, ominous, overcasting essence that soon turned the bright scene dark and purple. "That must be it..." Kieron noted, and stared at the strange source of energy not too far in the distance. The three did not speak to the other team, but instead stared at the scary scene before them and each evaluated the situation before them with careful detail. They had made it this far, and much to Kasai's surprise, she was not as terrified as she thought she would be. Instead, she was more in awe of the place. Sure, she had heard stories of the spirit world, and seen glimpses of what the spirits were like after the Avatar took care of Tarrlok and his intervention with the spirits. Could this be some left over negative energy from his ventures? Kasai was busy taking in the surroundings and formulating a plan, so Barron turned to the other team and spoke to no one in particular. "We need to be careful in here. It's a strange place, uncharted territory. As exciting as it is, this is also a dangerous venture. Remember the radio if you run into any trouble, and we shall do the same." He gave a single nod and turned his attention back to his team. There was no point in getting hurt over pride and bitter rivalry, and they all needed to remember that there was a chance of danger with this new enemy. Kieron checked to make sure the radio was still in his waistband and he handed it off to Barron. "Better if you keep hold of it." He nodded and Kasai looked at them both, with an unsure expression on her face. "Ready, boys?" Kieron gave a shrug, "Ready as I'll ever be." The three drew in a deep breath and stepped forward. Kasai looked over her shoulder at the others and gave a nod of mutual respect towards them, "Good luck." With that, they turned and began walking towards the dark object.

[Engel]

Avani was the first in the spirit world, with Mio shortly after and Ryuu too eventually. Kasai and the other team showed up as well, which almost resulted in a comment about how she was surprised they hadn’t run home like chickens. Her own embarrassment was fresh in her memory though, and she doubted Kasai would remain quiet if she said something. Avani would have to repay Mio in time, by coming up with some kind of fitting revenge for what she’d done and said. “You too, Lady Sergeant.” Avani said with a smile, when Kasai acknowledged that they were even around. The way that Avani smiled when Kasai wished them good luck and showed them a new kind of respect, made Ryuu realize that Mio might be right. Heh, he could help Avani as well once they were done with their mission and back home safely. He’d never thought of Avani being that way, but if she was truly this awful at flirting it would explain why he never picked it up. No, he honestly thought it was likelier she disliked team b. Maybe it was more complicated. Neither he nor Avani had any reason to respect or like members of the police. Avani rolled her eyes at the guy though when they had left. “Oh too bad, I came here with a deathwish seeking adventure, but now I better be careful instead.” Once more team b was talking to them like they were children, but he did forget one important aspect with the radios. “Not to be the one to crap on his suggestion, but we are no longer in republic city. We have no idea where we are exactly, so who is to say the radios will even work here?” She snatched the radio out of Ryuu’s pocket to check if it was still working. Avani switched it to headquarters’ channel and only received static as expected. Next she turned it to team b’s channel. It seemed to be working, no audible change from before in the spirit forest. “Testing. Kasai is a tool.” She grinned. “I repeat, Kasai is a tool. Copy?” She thought she could hear their radio crackle to life with what she’d just said, so at least there was that. “Well, I guess we still got team b for support then, but I bet they are going to need us more than we need them.” She put the radio back in Ryuu’s pocket. “Just like before. I don’t know if that would count as support for us.” They began to follow behind team b, since they were both heading in the same direction anyway and if some kind of enemy was here it would be likelier to attack those walking in the front. Then Avani could come to Kasai’s rescue again and rub it in her face. Besides, if team b couldn’t be their support they could be their bait. The area was beautiful even with the visible corruption in the distance, Avani thought, and she wondered how large this world was. It appeared massive from what she could already see. The horizon was far away when she turned her gaze behind them, past the portal. “I wish we could have come here under different circumstances.” Avani said to her team. “Who knows what we could find here if we weren’t under orders from Republic City…” “I’m not sure I would have wanted too, to be honest.” Ryuu replied. “I like danger when I know I can handle it, but spirits and a whole other world? I don’t know.” “I’d be up for it, Avani.” Mio said. “But if it’s true that airbenders can meditate and enter this world, maybe I wouldn’t need too. I’d do it with you though.” She tried to repair the rift she’d doubtlessly caused earlier. Avani didn’t reply, no surprise there.

[The Kraken]

The radio cackled and Avani's voice rang through their ears double time as she tested out the radio's range and reliability here in the alternate universe that they seemed to be in. Barron put his hand on the radio in his pocket and tried to muffle the sound, which had a resonating echo due to the other team's close proximity to them. Kieron looked at Kasai and waited for her to formulate a response, but instead she said nothing. Her eyes were aimed forward and her feet kept a brisk pace as they marched forward to their destination. "Uh... not that I'm complaining, but..." Kieron held a curious expression and he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while he looked at Kasai. She did little more than glance his direction, "We have a task to complete, we know nothing about the spirit world or its dangers. I can't be distracted by her right now. If I give into it then I am admitting that she is a distraction, and that is not the case." Kasai didn't even blink as she continued forward. Barron looked past Kas to Kieron and shrugged his shoulders, wondering the same thing as he was. "Well... alright." He was a bit lost for words on the situation, as he didn't want to pry and cause Kasai to become even more irritated that she probably already was. Or was she? That was the thing, she was acting... strange. Kasai ignored the silent conversation occurring between her two companions and fixated on the dark matter that lie just a few hundred yards before them now. She was trying not to worry about Avani anymore, but all she could think about when she tried to ignore the teasing was Avani dancing around on a moving slice of earth, showing off her earthbending like she was so advanced she need not worry about combat. Soon, a thick, black liquid became present on the ground as they approached what now appeared to be a large, festering... egg sac? Roots of dark goop shot out from a center that held a large, broad orb-like sac that seemed to be pulsating with energy. "Ho-lee shit." Kieron gulped. The three of them stopped and gazed up at the thing, which was spurting out black goo and threatening to explode any second now. Barron knelt down and dipped a single finger into the liquid, finding that it had a tar-like consistency. However, it did not harm him in any way. He curiously tried to water-bend the stuff and discovered that while he could bend it, it took an incredible amount of concentration and strength. Kasai watched as Barron wiped the substance off of his finger and give them a shrug. "Well, that's reassuring... what the hell do we do now?" The... thing was almost appearing to grow more active and boisterous just since they arrived at it. Each of them looked at each other and then shrugged, all the while they were oblivious to the fact that the small vein of liquid that Barron had dipped his hand into was now slowly inching its way to his feet...

[Engel]

What team b had found seemed like taken out of a nightmare, and Ryuu was cautious about approaching as close as they had at first, but then he noticed how the thing was creeping closer to the waterbender. He jumped in, burned the black tar till it retreated and patted the waterbender on the back. “Careful there, mate. I think we better re…” He didn’t get a chance to voice his suggestion before Avani shouted. “Goo fight, Kasai!!” She’d picked up some of the black stuff without a second thought, figuring it was too weak to do any harm to her, and was about to smack it on the Sergeant’s back. However, Kasai did turn before she managed to do it, resulting in Avani’s hand ending up in the middle of her bosom instead. Avani’s playful grin turned to embarrassment, blushing and soon horror when she realized her hand was quite stuck in the goo on Kasai’s chest. She pulled it away by applying a lot of force, but a ripping sound was heard as she did so. She’d managed to remove her hand and the goo from Kasai, but part of the sergeant’s uniform had come with it. “I really hope you were wearing something underneath that coat…” She whispered, flustered, while feeling her cheeks burned hotter than ever. Avani didn’t dare look herself to see if she had been, but who wouldn’t wear a shirt or something below their coat!? She didn’t get a chance to sink into the ground and disappear out of sight, which she wished to do, as the goo was now crawling up her arm and trying to engulf the whole limb. Avani tried her best to remove it, but nothing worked and in the end she had to punch her arm deep into the earth, using her bending to tear the goo off of her. Her arm came up scarred, wounded and bleeding, but the black goo was removed. She cried out and stepped away, pulling off her own coat to use it to stop the bleeding. Mio opened her bag and was about to take out the bandages that had been in the crate, but that was the moment the rest of the black tar entity decided to attack them all in unison. It shot out long tentacles at them and spurted goo as if it was using it as a projectile weapon. Mio’s clothes were stained as she had been unprepared to defend herself. Ryuu did manage to avoid the goo and fight back, but it was clear that he would only be able to defend himself. This monster was beyond anything he’d even seen before. He had no idea how to counter it, fire seemed to work for a short moment and then it attacked with even more tenacity shortly after. Avani’s arm was bleeding, but she’d tried her best to quickly tie her coat around it to stop it from getting worse. She could feel she’d done a bad job at it when she fought off the goo spirit. She was able to momentarily push it back with large walls of earth, but she felt her energy fading faster than it should be allowed too. “We need to fall back.” She meant to shout, but her voice didn’t carry that much strength at the moment. “Oh really, Ava!?” Ryuu shouted angrily. “I was just about to suggest we retreat before you decided to grope Kasai.” “It was such an opportune moment, bro. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.” She laughed, coughed, then remembered that Kasai was right there and shut up. Ryuu had lowered his guard too much by getting angry at Avani, and he felt something impale him from behind. One of the black tentacles was sticking out of his stomach. Avani could only look on with fear. Mio acted by cutting it in half with concentrated airbending. The severed tentacle fell apart into more of the black substance.

[The Kraken]

Kasai had turned towards the other group after Ryuu had scorched a patch of goop that had somehow made its way towards Barron. She opened her mouth to thank the man, but before she could get the words out, a hand came flying out of nowhere and smacked right onto her chest. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped as she realized that Avani's hand was planted firmly between her breasts. "WHAT IN THE SPIRIT'S NAME IS YOUR PROBLEM." Kasai returned the effort to remove her hand by moving backwards as Avani pulled the other direction. Much to her horror, a loud ripping sound resonated in her ears and she looked down to see the top half of her coat was now glued to Avani's hand along with the goo. Kasai's face grew red and the fire inside of her headed her face to a point where it seemed as thought she could shoot laser beams from her pupils. The only thing now that could be seen was Kasai's black sports bra and her upper abdomen. She had only worn the bandeau style bra because of the warm summer air outside, and as a woman of the police, she knew that taking off the coat would not be an option during the mission. Kieron and Barron both looked on in shock, preparing for the embarrassment to cause their boss to implode and release the fire held within. Kasai didn't have the time to wring Avani's neck because she was busy trying to remove the substance from her entire arm now. And while Kasai was thoroughly embarrassed, she wasn't without reason. Instead, she waited until she was done so that she could drag her back a safe distance and then proceed to kill her, but her face turned from awkward shame to concern as Avani cried out and pulled up her arm to reveal it, scarred and bloody. "What in the...?" She didn't have time to question it any further, because out of nowhere barbs and spurs of black goo shot at the entire group. Kasai had to do a flip just to avoid a tentacle that flew directly at her, but in the air, it latched onto her foot and she cried out. She quickly drew in a breath and then shot white hot flames out of her foot, causing the limb of liquid to retreat. Regaining her feet, she quickly began to shoot off shots at the incoming webs, but the number was growing exponentially. "We can't handle this much, we need to move back!" Barron spat as he tried desperately to freeze the stuff in its tracks as it came after them. Kasai could hear Avani and Ryuu arguing a few feet away, and at Avani's last remark, she turned towards her after sending a wall of fire at the black tar. "What?! Listen here, don't count on-" She was cut off, the energy draining from her voice as the other firebender was impaled by a spear of black energy. Kasai could see that Avani was stuck in shock, and from the corner of her eye she saw more of them coming in hot. Kasai grit her teeth and jumped towards Avani, shooting fire from her feet to propel her forwards. She got to her at the last second and grabbed her, both of them falling to the ground. Before Kasai hit the ground, the goo hit her same foot again, and this time when she got it back, her boot was missing and her foot was visibly torn. She grunted and stood up, grabbing Avani and getting her to her feet also. "We all need to move back, now!" she shouted over the sounds of combat.