Avatar: Bounties

Showdown Forest

A couple days had past but our heroes had been asleep for all that time. Da-Yong and Duncan awoke from their slumber to find that they were in some sort of mini cavern in a forest that they were not familiar with. Da-Yong noticed that his torso had been bandaged and healing; Duncan felt much better after a nice long rest. Not too far from them was Nilay who was still unconscious from the sting of the beast. The two heroes who were conscious were in a small discussion over what had happened during the battle. “If you had just kept going, Nilay wouldn’t be in this condition!” Da-Yong yelled. Duncan replied, “If we didn’t turn back then you would be the one like that!” They bickered for a good minute or two before being interrupted by the stranger. “You know, I preferred it when you two were asleep.” Da-Yong and Duncan quickly turned their attention to the mysterious man who had saved them. He was still wearing that ragged cloak but they could now see his face. The only problem was that they still had no idea who this man was. They knew he wasn’t an enemy because he was the one who had treated their wounds and brought them to this place.

“What is your name?” Duncan decided to ask. The mysterious man told them that he had been called many names but he preferred to go with Eric. He handed them both a bowl of soup to drink and told them that it would heal their wounds faster and give them more energy. They both took a huge sip and spat out most of it in disgust. “I said it was good for you, never said it would taste good.” He laughed. They were intrigued by this man’s goofy demeanor; was he really the same guy that had defeated the Scorpion Tiger with ease? As they stared at each other to figure out the mystery, Eric intervened: “Your friend over there got hit with the Scorpion Tiger’s venom. According to what I know he has about 3 more days before his condition grows beyond healing.” Duncan and Da-Yong were on high alert and immediately asked where they could find an antidote to save their friend. Eric in a calm voice replied, “Oh don’t worry about the cure, I got it!” The two breathed a huge sigh of relief, “But you have to beat me in order to get it…”

The two were caught completely off guard. They thought Eric was their ally but now appeared to be their foe. They jumped up into battle stance but Da-Yong still felt discomfort from the wounds. “A battle between us wouldn’t be fair now; I’ll give you 2 days to prepare in this cavern.” And he began to make his way out of the cavern. Duncan quickly ran after Eric to demand a fight now. “He will live, remember, he’s still got 3 days.” and he left without a trace. Da-yong and Duncan were left baffled but they didn’t have any other choice, they trained as hard as they could those two days in preparation against an opponent they knew nothing about.

The day of the battle arrived and the two young fighters were as prepared as they could be for the challenge that awaited them. Eric appeared out of the forest and it seemed like he was completely unarmed for battle. He held out a small vial with liquid in it to let them know what they were fighting for. Before they were about to begin, Duncan wanted to go over a few things. “Ok Da-Yong, let's recap the plan, you go right and I’ll go to the left…” Before he could finish, Da-Yong already ran towards his opponent. “OH COME ON! WHEN CAN WE USE ONE OF MY PLANS?” and he rushed in for reinforcement. Da-Yong came from the right side and Duncan followed up on the left side as they both went for a simultaneous punch to try and trap Eric. However, Eric easily dodged both their attacks and as a result each of their punches got exchanged to each other’s face instead. “If you want this vial you have to do much better than that.” He taunted. Da-Yong jumped up into the air to do a fire kick right at Eric, and once again he evaded and before Da-Yong could land on the ground, he dropped a stone right below where his foot would land and Da-Yong slipped onto the ground. Duncan began to throw water puck projectiles to create some space between them. Eric jumped away from Da-Yong and went straight at Duncan for a frontal assault. Duncan anticipating the attack used his water shield technique to defend himself. Right when the shield came up Eric sensed that Da-Yong was attempting a sneak attack so he waited for the perfect time before leaping up into the air and Da-Yong’s sucker punch hit Duncan’s water shield.

Duncan and Da-Yong refused to quit and continued to press the attack. Da-Yong charged towards Eric once again but instead of attacking, he shifted to the side and allowed Duncan to fire a torrent of water right at Eric. Eric dodged the attack but Da-Yong used his fire bending and directed it right at the water in order to create a fog of steam. “Excellent, changing it up by concealing your attacks.” Eric said in the midst of battle. He was surrounded in the mist but it didn’t seem to faze him. He couldn’t see but he could hear someone approaching him and right when Da-Yong appeared out of the cloud, Eric tossed a wooden bowl right at Da-Yong’s gut stopping him in his tracks. Eric then sensed a water jet heading towards him and as he dodged the water he threw a cabbage into the fog and stuck Duncan right in the face. The steam began to fade away and out of it Da-Yong was favoring his ribs and Duncan was rubbing his face.

As the fog cleared, Eric came in for the final pummeling with both his fist heading towards the two youngsters. Duncan and Da-Yong were wide open to take the full force of his punches but nothing happened. Eric’s right and left fist were right in front of Da-Yong and Duncan’s face but the sound of a kettle boiling began to sound. “Oh look at that, the tea is ready!” Da-Yong and Duncan couldn’t believe it; they were saved by a time limit!

Relieved that Eric had no intention of ever landing the finishing strike, they realized in that small bout they were up against no original fighter. “Here you can have this!” Eric throws the vial towards them but neither Da-Yong nor Duncan was ready for it and the vial dropped to the floor and cracked open. The two were left in panic, wondering how they were going to get another antidote for their friend. They were sweating and running around in circles. “HAHA, you guys are so gullible, I already gave your friend the antidote when I saved you all. It will take a while to heal but he should be fine now.” Eric explained as he walked away. Da-Yong and Duncan looked at each other as they had been made a fool of again by this trickster. But they also knew there was more to this person than meets the eye, his fighting skill was on another level and they knew he never fought at his full capacity. However, they had more pressing matters at hand and rushed to Nilay.

Nilay was out of his slumber and the three heroes were reunited. Duncan gave Nilay a sped up version of what had happened while he was in his mini-coma. It came to the point where the three of them agreed that they needed to ask Eric to help train them to prepare them for other troubles ahead. Eric denied anything about knowing how to fight and that he was just a friendly wanderer just passing. Of course, none of them bought into his terrible joke. Eric knew they were serious about learning so he changed his tone and gave them a crucial talk. He went over all their strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths: Da-Yong had the highest battle instinct, Duncan had the most flexibility and adaptability during battle, while Nilay had the greatest raw power.

Weaknesses: Da-Yong was too rash and predictable in his movement, Duncan waited too long before attacking, and Nilay was too passive and also had food allergies.

But most of all, their greatest weakest that they all shared, was their mind. If they were going to handle the dangers that awaited them further along in their journey, they need to increase their mental capacity.

For the next month, the three heroes trained under the guidance of Eric. Da-Yong was forced to do daily meditation in order to focus his energy. Meanwhile, Nilay and Duncan were doing basic exercise drills and practicing combat against each other. Da-Yong would attempt to sneak into their combat training sessions but he would always get caught by Eric and get thrown into a nearby pond. In their combat training, Eric wanted Nilay to focus more on being offensive. In contrast, he wanted Duncan to respond to any attacks that could come his way. Usually it would be Nilay attacking Duncan but occasionally when Eric noticed that Duncan would have his guard down, he would lob a coconut in the air and it would hit Duncan right in the head! If Nilay ever hesitated to attack when there was an opportunity, Eric would throw a cabbage right into his face to wake him up.

After a couple weeks had passed, and it felt like they weren’t making much progress they were starting to get frustrated and doubted themselves. They were thinking that Eric was probably holding some great mysterious secret from them. Regardless, they were getting up and still preparing for their daily training but something was different about today and all three of them sensed that something was approaching their way. Out of the bushes flew a few arrows that the trio dodged with ease. The trio prepared themselves in battle stance and out of the trees emerged their familiar foes. It was Nase, Sitkar, and Tsuejin.

“Looks like you two survived and you have a troublesome airbender added to your rag-tag team. We made the mistake of letting you go last time but that won’t happen again.” announced Nase. Immediately, Nase fired arrows at Duncan but he quickly formed an ice shield to block the attack. Sitkar and Tsuejin then followed up charging at them with their katana and spear. Nilay immediately blew a huge air blast to slow down their movement and Da-Yong fired a volley of fire shurikens causing Tsuejin to use his shield to protect him and his partner. From the short exchange that they had, it was very clear that this battle was going to go very different than the one back in the forest. Sitkar came rushing in again with his katana ready to strike. Da-Yong used his firebending to conjure a weapon in the shape of a light-sabre that was glowing orange/red. It was awesome looking but it wasn’t completely refined and under control yet. “Sitkar is mine!” Da-Yong said with confidence. Nilay and Nase selected each other as opponents and that left Duncan versus Tsuejin!

Each battle looked even-matched: Sitkar and Da-Yong ‘s weapons clashed against one another without either one gaining the upper hand. Nase kept firing arrows at Nilay but he would just use his air blade technique to redirect any arrows headed towards him. Nase would switch up to throwing bolas to tangle up Nilay’s feet or hands but Nilay was too nimble and evasive. Tsuejin looked to have the upper hand on Duncan with the reach of his long spear but Duncan learned a new waterbending trick as well. He used his ice bending to form a hockey stick as his weapon of choice! And so the two combatants clashed with their long-reach weapons without either one giving an inch.

The hunters eventually decided to turn up the intensity. Sitkar used his kunai chain and wrapped it around Da-Yong’s left arm pulling him onto the ground. Noticing that Da-Yong was in a bit of trouble Nilay tried to make his way towards Da-Yong but once Nase knew Nilay lost a bit of focus, he threw a bola and got Nilay’s legs and arms all tangled up. And finally Tsuejin pulled out a short spear on his off hand, catching Duncan off guard and throwing him off his balance. But the battle was far from over, Nilay used his mouth to blow Sitkar away from Da-Yong. With that amount of space, Da-Yong used his firebending to melt the chain of the kunai and he rushed towards Tsuejin and knocked him down. Nase was about to fire an arrow at Da-Yong but Duncan noticed and threw shards of ice pucks at Nase causing him to misfire.

It was clear that the hunters were having more trouble than intended and the three heroes were actually enjoying themselves. “This is a waste of time, he would not be pleased let’s just send her in!” Sitkar told Nase. The three heroes were confused as to what they were talking about. Who were they talking about and sending in who? Tsuejin also agreed with Sitkar and Nase reluctantly fired an arrow into the sky that was similar to a flare signal. “I really wanted to finish the three of you off myself but it looks like that won’t be happening.” Nase spoke to the three of them. Once the flare reached the air at its highest point a fighter approached from the trees. She looked like a regular human but her posture and moment were animal like. She carried no weapons except for two metal gauntlets on both her fists. Her name was Nespade.

Without hesitation Da-Yong made the first move by charging towards the new opponent. Duncan and Nilay tried to pull Da-Yong back but to no avail. As Da-Yong was about to connect his fire-sabre against the gauntlet fighter, she retaliated with the speed of a leopard and grabbed Da-Yong by the chest and threw him to the ground. Duncan and Nilay were stunned at what had just happened. In the midst of their confusion the brawler rushed towards the both of them and kicked them both to the ground. The trio sprang back up to their feet and attempted to counter-attack. Da-Yong and Duncan advanced toward the enemy with DY’s fire-sabre and Duncan’s ice-hockey-stick. Each of their attacks were either dodged or parried by the enemy’s gauntlet. From a distance Nilay was getting ready to blast a gust of wind towards his target but the fighter could sense his presence. Right before Nilay could release his attack the brawler kicked a pile of dirt right into the eyes of Nilay causing him to blast the gust of air right at Duncan knocking him to the ground. Da-Yong thought he saw an opening so he swung full force with his weapon at his target but she dodged and countered by grabbing his arm and throwing him at Nilay.

This battle hadn’t gone on for long but the heroes were beginning to feel the effects of their previous battle against the three hunters. They could still get up but Nase fired 3-bolas at their legs and they fell back down. Nase gave them credit for being able to last this long but it looked as if this was the end of the line for our heroes. Nase gave the command for the brawler to finish them off. She walked towards the three teenagers who were struggling to get out of their binds. As she was cracking her knuckles to finish them off, a coconut from nowhere was lobbed into the air and hit her in the head (like a basketball shot!). Then 3 more coconuts flew up and hit each of the three hunters on the head as well! They were not amused and felt they were being made a fool out of. Nase spotted the coconuts coming from a tree nearby so he fired an arrow into the leaves and out flew a flying monkey squirrel! Nase fired another arrow, confident that this time it was a bullseye but as the arrow was about to land its target someone intercepted the arrow and threw it right back at his feet. The person landed in between the three heroes and the enemy brawler wearing a bamboo hat and his back turned against the enemies. The hunters and the fighter were clueless to who the person was but the three teenagers recognized that Eric had joined the battle.

The heroes had a couple of mixed emotions going as they were happy to see Eric but they also realized the situation they were in. Even with the extra help how could they possibly fight back in the condition they were in? “Eric be careful! Those are the 3 most wanted hunters on the board of bounties! And they have some kind of secret fighter who took us all out!” yelled Nilay. Eric smiled and replied, “Ok.” as if Nilay’s warning meant nothing to him. In the middle of their conversation, the Brawler tried to land a preemptive punch at Eric but he side-stepped the attack, elbowed her in the gut then threw her back at the 3 hunters’ feet. The hunters quickly ready their weapons again and Tsuejin charged right at Eric. Tsuejin lunged with his spear but Eric jumped in the air to avoid it and hopped over his shield to get right at Nase. Sitkar threw his kunai to stop Eric but he evaded the kunai from wrapping around him and grabbed the chain to pull Sitkar to him. As Sitkar was being pulled towards him, Eric punched Sitkar in the chest. Behind him, he noticed Tsuejin charging towards him again so he grabbed Sitkar and threw him at the charging spearman, telling him to catch! Tsuejin moved his spear to avoid hurting Sitkar allowing Eric to sweep his leg and knock him against the ground. Nase saw this as a perfect opportunity to fire the finishing arrow at Eric but as the arrow was released, Eric noticed just in time and used Tsuejin’s shield to protect himself. Nase kept firing arrows to keep Eric at a distance but eventually Eric threw the shield towards Nase. Nase dodged the incoming shield but then Eric pulled up Sitkar’s kunai and chain from the floor and used it to grapple Nase and bring him to the floor.

The 3 hunters and the brawler recollected themselves but Nase was furious and demanded to know who Eric really was. In their history of fights, only the Avatar had beaten them and no one else had even come close to matching their skill level. At that moment Tsuejin and Sitkar got Nase’s attention and through the look of their eyes he began to understand what they were sensing even though he could not believe it. “No way, you can’t possibly be him…” Nase spoke in doubt. “Rice the rampage!? You can’t be him, the ruthless hunter who hunts animals and humans alike and leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes?!”

Nilay, Duncan, and Da-Yong were also confused as they have heard many tales about this Rice the Rampage character.

Nilay: Wait, Rice the Rampage isn’t a ruthless fighter. He is a swift and fleet-footed ninja warrior who’s speed and stealth cannot be matched. Anyone who sees him never lives to tell the tale because he leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes.”

Da-Yang: No, Rice the Rampage isn’t either of those things. He is like the raging dragon who strikes fear and terror into the heart of any warrior because of his incredible strength and relentless attacks. No man or beast that has ever encountered him has lived to tell the tale because he leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes.”

Duncan: “No no no, what are you talking about? Rice the Rampage is a masterful tactician and a fighter who calculates every battle before it even happens. No man or living thing lives to tell the tale because he leaves a path of destruction wherever he goes.”

It was clear everyone had a very different idea of who this Rice the Rampage was but to believe that Eric was the legendary Rice seemed like a stretch for everyone. In the midst of all the talking, Nespade attempted a quick strike towards Eric but before she could land an attack, her shoulder began to act up and she fell to the ground holding her shoulder in pain. The three benders were confused as to what happened to the brawler as she screamed in agony. At the same time, the ground began to rumble like an earthquake. A volcano not too far from their battle was erupting.

“Looks like it’s happening sooner than expected.” Eric said out loud toward the 3 hunters. The hunters got ready to re-engage the battle but Eric signaled the trio to perform operation STEAM! Nilay conjured up a huge windstorm to add to the messy situation of the earthquake and the volcano. As the enemies were heavily distracted, Duncan released a stream of bubbles towards the enemies and Da-Yong followed up with a huge fire blast causing an explosive steam cloud around the area. They used the opportunity to cover their escape.

Once they had some distance away from the enemy Eric gave them instructions on the next part of their journey. He told them that they were to head to Marvel Mountain; it was there that they would find answers as to what was happening to the world and the increasing aggression of the wild animals. He introduced them to Monkey Joe, their new flying monkey squirrel companion who would be a temporary guide on their journey. Eric was about to leave and keep the three hunters busy but the trio still had so many questions left unanswered: what did he mean when he told the hunters that it was happening sooner than expected? And was he really Rice the Rampage? The earthquakes grew more violent and the eruption was becoming even more unstable. He told them that there was no time to explain, he rushed back towards the enemy and with that, the trio knew that they had to press on toward Marvel Mountain!