“You have nothing to worry about, uh... Miss Yara. As long as we get him in the next five hours or so, we should be all good.” Mark spoke up, earning looks from everybody.
“Is that so,” Yara narrowed her eyes, and Mark wilted under the attention.
“As impulsive as he might seem, your grandfather doesn’t seem like the type to act without thinking several moves ahead,” Zuko said to Aaron. “I think there might be an angle we’re not seeing.”
“He might just want an overpowered body to defeat the Fire Nation with” Mark offered, but Aaron shook his head.
“True, but there’s something more to it. I’m convinced,” Aaron insisted. “I think he might be battling or attempting to negotiate with whatever deity or system provides you with your powers. Something tells me he’s not eager to die 12 hours after he just gained the most powerful vessel in the world.”
“Hopefully, he’ll be distracted when we face him,” Wang said. “That’ll certainly take the sting off our defenses. Remember, the only way we can win is to not give him any breathing room. And don’t hesitate to create another sub-mind if your first crumbles.”
Everybody gave stiff nods, and Aaron held his breath as they came up to the camp. Given what little time they had to come up with a defensive plan, Aaron thought their plan was well put together.
Everybody infected with a One-mind parasite ripped it out the moment they realized that they’d be facing an even more powerful version of Paku.
Next, those charging to fight him learned Parallel Mind at Mark’s feet. Aaron had hoped to see that happen eventually but under different circumstances. All it took was four hours.
The extra mind was in place to take the burden off the main mind at a critical moment, but it was not the only reason they had it.
With Aaron’s spotty memory and wang’s expertise with spiritual energy, they were able to cobble together a technique based on what Paku used on Samir, except without the mind-rapey elements
It was more of a mind dart now, and it was nestled inside the sub-mind and their first and most powerful defense against a mental assault.
Aang, the children, and the ghosts had stayed behind, even though some of them had been able to pick up on the skill. They would’ve just gotten in the way if they’d come.
Before the attacking party, the combined armies of the Fire and Earth and Water Nation Coalition waited with tanks, balloons, and catapults. They could’ve opened fire a long time ago, but they waited for them as if taunting them to charge.
"He knew we were coming," Zuko said, staring out at the sea of unmoving soldiers.
"Get a grip, Zuko," Aaron said. "We already knew that. Don't let it shake you."
Wang scanned the field with a critical eye. “Remember the plan,” he said, and at those words, the attack team and they all prepared to burst into motion. Before they set off, however, Mark raised his voice.
“Wait,” he said to Aaron. “I have something for you.”
Aaron gave him a suspicious look.
“Look, I get that you hate me, and you have every right to, but I might very well die today,” he swallowed, “And I don’t want to do that without setting things right between us if I can help it.”
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He raised his hand and summoned something from the ether like he’d done a thousand times before.
In his hand, he held a long, curved blade with a silver cross hilt guard and a dark metal body.“This is a sword I made from the best metal. I planned to learn how to use it in the next world I turned up in, but with the way things are shaping up, you need it far more than I do.”
Aaron received the strange blade and weighed it for balance, surprised by its quality. Aaron gave Mark a begrudging nod of appreciation and returned it to the sheathe that came with it, but Mark was not done.
He pulled potions, handing over 6 to each person. “Hopefully, I will see you all on the other side,” he said. “But if I don’t, I want to say thank you for putting up with me so far.”
There was a tense moment of silence before Bumi broke it with a laugh and a snort.
“Of course, Mark. It has certainly been an experience.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Yara said, leading the charge forward, and everyone followed suit.
Aaron fell behind the main strike team, following behind Wang and Yara. Both had the most experience with Samir’s mind-warping abilities. Aaron and Mark were, ironically, the most protected, by virtue of their parallel minds.
Heads, limbs, and torso flew every which way as they fought. The uniforms they wore did not matter. They came at them with the same fury and anger, and Aaron put his new blade to use. He maintained a steady burn of Wind flow to boost his speed and a constant edge of buffeting wind around the edge of his blade to make each cut a little bit faster.
Aaron could barely see five paces in front of him, and even though he was barely using any chi techniques, his chi was bottoming out at a prodigious rate.
“Get ready,” Wang yelled, and all three airbenders released a powerful air blast that sent dozens of soldiers reeling. It drew more attention to their team, giving Jon jon and Zuko the chance they needed to pick up surrounding balloons with fire lances.
With the aerial opposition taken care of, their team took to the skies, using air and their gliding suits.
Ren kept Mark aloft with air bending as they beelined for the command tent where grandfather’s energy signature was.
They came to an abrupt stop when they saw dozens of Dark Fire soldiers waiting for them. They fired streams of lightning and concentrated fire, which they easily maneuvered through.
“Let me down!” Mark yelled, and Ren obliged. He came down with a crash that sent a wave of earth that sent several benders flying in all directions. Mark also shoved his hand forward generating a dust storm that blanketed most of the tent and the areas surrounding the battlefield. With a slow wave of his hand, the dust started circling, creating a dust storm that had Aaron in awe.
“He has grown,” Ren said with a begrudging respect, and Aaron agreed.
'Shame, the only thing he did with all that power was betray and backstab us. I suppose it doesn’t really matter anymore,' Aaron thought.
Relying on one with the world, Aaron and the rest of the phantoms touched down at the entrance to the tent and took out the rest of the dark fire stragglers.
Needles, stingers, and windblades fanned out, mushing them. They kept going until nearly everyone at the center of the mini tornado they were raising was dead.
Aaron nodded to Mark, giving him the signal, and the storm abated briefly, letting the secondary team rush into the eye of the storm.
So far, everything was going mostly according to plan.
“Quite the earth-bending display, young disciple,” Bumi greeted as he strode into the eye of the storm with Zuko and Jon jon behind him. Mark's forehead was a little slick with sweat, but he did not need any movement to maintain the technique. Instead, he summoned two gauntlets that automatically attached to his arm, a shoulder pauldron, a floating metal sword and spear, and gripped two metal batons in his bare arms.
“Your destiny awaits young one. Allow me to take over.” Bumi stretched his hand forward, feeling the flowing earth whirling around them, and almost casually, yanked control from Mark. The boy nearly pitched over, seemingly from relief, and he summoned a potion from his inventory and chugged it. His Chi shot up miraculously, far faster than Aaron had seen it happen with his other potions. It earned him an incredulous look from all present except Zuko.
‘Even after all that, it seems you still have some secrets up your sleeves.’
“Aaron, you know what to do,” Wang said, and the young Airbender nodded, bolstering King Bumi’s effort by channeling his Spirit and Chi. Slowly, he took control of the gathering air, supercharging it and expanding its size. Once it ballooned out of proportion, it stabilized, and King Bumi took over once more.
Zuko blinked numbly at the display. “Once again, you remind me how out of my league I am.”
“Be careful,” Aaron said in response. “Just because you’re not going in doesn’t mean there’s no danger. Somebody might make it through, and you need to take care of them.
“I’ll be.” Zuko nodded.