Avatar: Bounties

Mysterious Hideout

The five heroes were walking together silently through the corridor of the unknown area. There was something about this place that they could sense didn’t feel right or natural. The place reminded them of secret military bases they have been reading in comics. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but they all had a feeling that things were about to change the further they proceed. They came to a fork in the path and before anyone could suggest the idea to split up, Da-wei immediately intervened and told them that it would be a terrible decision. Da-Yong was teasing his little brother telling him he had been reading too many horror stories. In the end they decided to stick together to the right side.

They continued along their way and eventually found a room that caught their attention. They entered into the room that resembled that of a mad science laboratory. They were many containment cells; they were large enough to hold any animals but all were empty at this point in time. There were also many items scattered throughout the lab such as: test tubes, scalpel, scissors, and many others. They could see all the tools but there were no experiments or scientists in the room. The team began to scatter through the room in hopes to find some clues.

After about an hour later, they regrouped and found some pictures of the animals they have encountered on their journey along with some they have never seen before. Nilay also found a book that seemed like a journal of the experiments that had taken place but the writing was hard to read and some of the pages were ripped. Da-Yong was very frustrated as he couldn’t piece everything that they had gathered together and Da-Wei was attempting to calm him down. Duncan continued his thoughtful thinking to figure things out. Meanwhile, Chloe went up to tap her brother on the shoulder, “Hey bro, what’s up with this giant computer looking thingy?” Duncan not completely paying attention told Chloe to stop messing around and not to touch anything. “But bro, that thing…” but he continued to ignore her.

After another half an hour of not-much-progress, tension began to rise. The brothers began to start throwing fists at one another while Duncan and Nilay were just too exhausted to say or do anything to break them apart. Chloe was just minding her own business in her little world playing around with the science tools when she accidentally dropped some around the keyboard area. She quickly tried to clean up her mistake before anyone could notice but in her mishap she pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and nosies began to sound. “Chloe, what did you do?” questioned an unimpressed brother. “I, I, I didn’t, I mean, I did but…” before she could speak properly, the giant computer screen turned on and began to play a video. It seemed to be a recording of sorts. They began to watch and listen to what seemed like a scientist explaining what had happened in the facility:

Hi, this is scientist doctor Kutuhal speaking, and I will be keeping you updated with our daily experiments.

Day 1: My sister and I are extremely excited to be working at this laboratory for Professor Kime. He is a well respected scientist in the field of genetics, evolution, and biology. Professor has a vision to help humans elevate to their full potential and as you can see there is an entire team excited to assist him in achieving the dream. Today marks the first day of our experiments, we were told to study these animals to see their natural behaviour and take notes down on anything that could be a high survival trait.

Day 7: It has been about a week working on this project and as you can see we have done a lot of note taking on the many different wild creatures here. Some of them have been roaming around in our artificial living environments and some are kept contained for safety purposes. Nothing too crazy to report but I hear another team of scientists over there are working on creating some type of special serum. While another team has been working with some humans for some special type of test or top secret experiment. Oh well probably not very important or something we need to worry about.

Day 14: The work hours have been intense. Most of the scientists here have been working 14 hour days so far but what exactly are we working on I’m still not sure. I have been noticing some human test subjects have been injected with some of that serum I had mentioned previously. I’m still not sure what the serum is but a lot of the people have reacted very poorly to it. Some are speaking really weird languages like roars and groans, while some have been going through berserk phases. I’m not sure where these people are coming from but a lot of them have gone missing after being tested with the serums. Things are getting really weird in this place but I must press on in the name of science!

Day 30: Hey I’m back. I think it has been about a month since we began this project and now Professor Kime has made a big announcement to reveal the true vision of these experiments. He told everyone in a big speech that for many years he has felt the pain of everyday people who don’t have the abilities of a bender. It has created a huge gap in society where some benders have abused their power and oppressed some of the common folk around the world. Because of this injustice, he wanted to bridge the gap between benders and non-benders by enhancing human beings with the ability of the great wild animals. He envisioned people with the strength of an Armadillo Bison, the speed of a Mantis Panther, or the tenacity of a Scorpion Tiger.

Now, all these experiments made sense to me! He has been extracting essence from these animals and turning them into serums and injecting them into people. I know it might sound very unethical but Professor Kime has a great heart to help everyday common people become better and evolve to their fullest potential. My sister and I will press on and help make this vision come to life!

Day 60: I know it's been awhile since the last update but things have been hectic here. Actually that is a bit of an understatement as many scientists here have begun to back out of the project due to higher demanding hours and also the fact that Professor Kime might be kind of a whackjob. Many have tried to quit or sneak out of the facility but the place is guarded by bandits and hunters. I can’t exactly remember their names right now but one carried a spear and a shield, another had a katana with a kunai, and one held a crossbow. Some of the scientists that wanted to leave have been thrown into the experimentation group and we haven’t seen them since. The rest have been promised that if we do exactly as we were told that we could have our freedom and return to a normal life. I don’t know how much of that is true but right now my best option is to follow orders and keep my sister protected.

Day 75: I have lost track of the days and also how many times we tried to create a serum that would be stable on a human being. We are definitely in the hundreds by now. The creatures have been getting more restless in the cages we have placed them in. *Giant Roar in the background* Yeah that creature has the most terrifying roar I have ever heard. I think it has been causing unease to all the other animals that have been locked away in here. Oh please, I hope I can make it out of this!

Day 90: We have done it! The first person who took the serum and is stable! For the most part at least. She has been injected with a serum that has the DNA of a cheetah and is now just resting from the experiment. Professor Kime has decided to name her Nespade. We will continue to monitor her progress and see how successful this experiment was. Oh I can sense freedom now!

Day 93: *Screaming in the background* The experiment has gone horribly wrong! Nespade has gone on an absolute rampage and her speed is like that of a cheetah. She is attacking everyone in her sight, uh oh, she’s coming for me now, ahhhhhhhhhhhh! *Screen goes static*

Everyone in the room was in shock and lost for words but things began to make more sense now. Animals in the wild have grown more violent because the hunters were capturing them and bringing them to the laboratory to be experimented on. Nespade’s incredible speed seemed so inhuman because it came from the serum that Kime’s team of scientists had created and her painful withdrawal symptoms were from the instability of the serum. But there were some things that they still weren’t sure of, like why were there violent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes happening. Where did all the scientists who worked here disappear off to? and who in the world is this professor Kime? Duncan wanted to see if there were more clues on the computer but an arrow was fired into the keyboard short circuiting the entire system.

“That’s more than you need to know.” Nase spoke to all of them. Sitkar and Tsuejin appeared at the doorway as well. All five of the benders took their battle stance and were ready for another bout with the hunters. “So you two must have been the ones helping that old geezer back at the village.” Sitkar spoke out. “Would be nice to personally take care of you but don’t worry we have some people who just can’t wait to give you the special guest treatment.” Tsuejin announced while pressing a button near the entrance. Upon pressing the button, two capsules fell down from the roof and out of them emerged two fighters: one was the familiar Nespade and the other was an unknown fighter but he had a tattoo of an ant on his face. The unknown fighter picked up the giant capsule and threw it at the giant computer screen to display his incredible strength. “As you can see this person has been injected with an ant serum. He has the capable to carry over 10 times his weight.” Sitkar spoke proudly. As the five warriors prepared for the fight, the doorway entrance closed and they could no longer see the three hunters.

Duncan was assessing the situation, it was a 5 on 2 fight with Nespade possessing the speed of a cheetah and the other fighter had the strength of an ant. Da-Yong never wanting to back down from a battle had his fist enraged but before anyone engaged Nilay held Duncan and Da-Yong back in order to let Da-Wei and Chloe speak. The younger siblings decided that they should be the ones to stay behind and fight the two opponents while the 3 of them saved their strength to take on the 3 hunters and find out who this Kime person was. “What happened to not splitting up Chloe?” argued Duncan. But Nilay stood by Chloe and Da-Wei’s choice. He trusted that they were strong enough to beat the current opponents and that they would need all their strength to take on whatever lied ahead. And so the three warriors made their way to the exit, “Oh hey D-D, don’t mess up.” were the last words that came from Da-Yong to his brother. Da-Wei immediately pulled out the black meteor rock he was given and turned it into a shield while Chloe used the metal from around the room to build up armor for herself and held out her metal bracers ready for battle! That was the last image the brothers and Nilay saw as they left the room leaving their confidence in their comrades.

The trio was out of the room looking to find the three hunters. They kept going until they came down a corridor with a very large door at the end of it. They slowly approached the door weary of any possible traps that could activate. There were no traps at all and when they got within a few feet of the door, it began to open on its own. “This is totally a trap, I know it is.” Duncan spoke out loud. “Only one way to find out!” Nilay exclaimed as he rushed into the room. Da-Yong and Duncan followed the airbender inside and once they were all in the room, the doors began to close, locking them inside.

Lights began to light up the room and the three benders took a quick look around the place to find the 3 hunters on the other side waiting for them. Da-Yong ready his fists, with Duncan and Nilay following suit but before a brawl could start there was some clapping in the distance:

???: Impressive, the three of you have made it this far and you are all just teenagers.

Da-Yong: Who in the marvel universe are you?

???: My apologies we never officially met have we? My name is Professor Kime; scientist,philanthropist, and a seeker of justice.

Nilay: Hey you are that guy mentioned in the video. You are the one behind capturing all those wild animals and doing those cruel tests on both humans and animals.

Duncan: How could you call yourself a philanthropist or a seeker of justice with what you have done?

Kime: You are all so quick to judge. Let me share with you a story:

Not too far from these mountains is a village where I grew up. I was never one of the cool kids at my school and I was always more into learning about the wild animals in the forest. Most of them made fun of me and worse of all they started to push me around and used their bending powers to scare me. The airbenders would blow my classwork away, the waterbenders would drop water near my pants to make it look like I wet myself, the Earth benders put rocks beneath me to trip me up, and the worst was the fire bender who shot fire beneath my feet and made me dance. They were ruthless and it would have been unbearable if it were not for my friend who always stood up for me. He would blow away the airbenders, drop a waterfall of liquid on the waterbenders, throw boulders at the earthbenders, and burn the firebenders at their own game. Yes, he was the avatar and we became close friends. Unfortunately, as time passed, he had to leave in preparation to become the avatar that the world needed so I was left to fend for myself. I eventually grew tired of their bullying and left to live in the wilds where I learned from the animals and came up with the idea of how to bridge the difference in power and inequality between non-benders and benders. I wondered what would happen if I could give a human the sight, speed, or strength that these animals possessed. So I recruited a team of scientists who shared my vision and a team of hunters who have been rejected from the world and wanted justice for what it has done against them.

Duncan: Okay so you created a serum that you can inject into people and give them animal powers. What are you going to do now? Just get revenge on all the benders who bullied you?

Kime: Haha, oh please that is way too primitive, I am a scientist after all. I hope you are all familiar with the theory of survival of the fittest.

Da-Yong: Survival? I have the strength to survive anything you throw at me!

Nilay: True but I’m not sure you would have the brains to survive…

Da-Yong: Hey, whose side are you on anyways?!

Kime: Enough! Let me speak! I will inject these people with the animal serum and let them loose against the benders of the world then we will see who survives. Science has its way to solve everything.

Duncan: Ha good luck with that, only people crazy would take your serum willing… (Nilay taps Duncan on the shoulder)

Nilay: Duncan, the missing scientist and people the bandits have been abducting in Ruthar’s story… they're the ones who are going to be injected!

Da-Yong: Whoa! This guy is a freak! Let me at him!

Nase: Hey Kime that wasn’t part of the deal. You said you would let our people go and leave our villages out of this.

Kime: Sorry Nase, I don’t get to decide the fate of your people. The law of survival of the fittest does. As long as they are strong I’m sure they will all survive.

Sitkar: You back-stabbing…

Tsuejin: Kime after all we have done for you. You will pay for this!

*loud roar interrupts*

Kime: Well I would love to stay and chat but it appears I’m now the most unwanted person in the room.

*presses button on the side*

Kime: I will have a welcoming party come very shortly to take care of all you. Hope I never see any of you again!

*Disappears through a secret door beneath him*

Nase: We have to get to him quickly or else he will inject everyone with the serum and unleash them against the …

Many door containers began to pop up from the floor and out of those containers released some of the deadliest creatures around the land. There were all the creatures that the three benders had encountered and more. Duncan, Da-Yong, and Nilay were all prepared to fight before they could initiate the battle, Tsuejin jumped in front of them with his shield guarding them and Sitkar stepped in with his Katana ready to strike. Behind them was Nase ready with all his weapons to take on the army of creatures. “Go, and find Kime, we will take care of these creatures here.” Tsuejin announced to the three benders. Sitkar nodded in agreement and gave them the directions to find Kime. “But we can’t just leave you guys here!” Nilay exclaimed. “We will be just fine, we are after all the number 2, 3, and 4 on the bounty lists.” Da-Yong bowed his head to them in respect. “Okay thanks, we will take him out and save your people as well!” Duncan promised and they began to make their way out of the room. “Hey, we still have a score to settle so don’t go thinking we are friends after all this.” yelled Tsuejin. With that the three hunters entered the fray against the army of the world’s deadliest creatures and the three benders pressed forward to find the leader behind this whole mess: Kime!

Duncan, Da-Yong, and Nilay were running as fast as they could through the area, following the instructions that had been passed down to them. They were getting close but before they could reach their destination three human-shaped figure stood in their path with tattoos on their faces to mark what animal genes had been injected into them:

One human had the genetics of a cobra injected in him. He was a bit scaly, hissed a lot and could spit venom from his mouth.

The other human had the genetics of a gorilla embedded within him. He was the biggest of the three and had the strength of a gorilla.

The last one had the genetics of a Raven inside of him. Had the wings of a raven and his nails were extra long and sharp.

Once again the heroes ready themselves for battle but they were interrupted by a surge of lightning came thundering in and a flying coconut that hit one of the creatures. “Hey I recognize that flying coconut maneuver anywhere!” Duncan announces with joy. From behind them was Master Ruthar and the mysterious Eric who has also joined the fray. The human-gorilla charged towards them at top speed ready to slam them both to the ground. Ruthar slowed the creature down with his fire pinwheel attack allowing Eric to get on the creature’s back and pull on its fur and to steer the creature in the way he wanted. The human-snake lunged right at Ruthar with its fangs but Eric managed to control the human-gorilla and it took the venomous fangs from its fellow creature. The human-raven took flight and dove straight at Eric with its claws but Monkey Joe jumped onto the face of the creature, distracting it and causing it to miss its target. “Monkey Joe!” Da-Yong shouted happily. Monkey Joe then jumped off and allowed Ruthar to shoot lightning from his fingertips and landed a direct hit at the human-raven. All three creatures got back up, while Ruthar and Eric were ready for another round but the entire place began to shake. The earthquakes were intensifying and the heroes still weren’t sure what was happening. “What’s going on? Why are these earthquakes even happening?” Nilay asked. “Its Kime’s experiments, by disrupting the animals he is affecting the cycle of nature which are angering the spirits of the spirit world!” Ruthar informed them. “Hurry and go stop Kime! I’m not getting any younger!” Yelled Ruthar. And with that the trio pressed on to face what lies ahead.