Northern Air Temple

It was early one night at the group was among others as they sat around a campfire in front of a gazebo. Some folks were sitting on benches while others sat on the ground with their hands in their sleeves. Katara and Sokka had once again put on their heavy coats as the air was getting colder the closer they got to the North Pole. And Momo sat on Aang's shoulder as they listened.
"And so travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange, large bird talking, take a closer look. It might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man, a member of a secret group of airwalkers, who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it." The man said.
The man went around the campfire to collect money from telling the story. Momo chittered as Aang looked to his friend.
"Aren't Airbender stories the greatest?" Aang asked. 
"Was it even realistic? Is that how it was back then?" Lucy questioned, unconvinced.
"Are you kidding, I laugh at gravity all the time. Gravity." Aang chuckled.
"I don't see what's funny about that." Natsu admitted. The storytelling man came up to the gang.
"Jingle, jingle." The man said as he jingled his hat in front of Sokka, asking for money.
"Oh right." Sokka began to feel through his pockets. When he thought he had something, the teen held closed hands and lifted them. When he uncurled them, he revealed to only have a few crumbs and a twitching bug that chirped as it moved.
"Sorry." He apologized.
"Aw, cheapskates." The man said as he turned and walked away.
"Hey!" Aang said as he got up and ran after the man. He came up to the man who was with an older man.
"Thanks for the story!" Aang shouted.
"Yes, it was actually interesting." Erza said.
"Tell it to the cap." The story teller said as he showed Aang the cap without looking at him. He jingled the cap and the coins inside and one fell out. Aang rifled over himself as he searched while Wendy picked the coin up.
"Um, you dropped this." Wendy told the story teller and dropped it into the hat.
"Aw much obliged, little girl." The man said.
"It means a lot to learn Airbender stories. It must have been a hundred years ago your great grandfather met them." Aang said.
"What are you talking about? Great Grandpappy saw the Air Walkers last week." The story teller said. He pointed to the man behind him.
"Yeah." The old man said as he raised a hand.
"You mean there are other Airbenders?" Lucy asked.
"If so, where?" Aang asked, excited.
The next day, Appa flew high over the clouds with ShineGreymon and Omnimon by his side as they headed towards the Northern Air Temple. Aang sat at the reins while Lucy, Katara, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Ray and Sokka looked around the area. 
"We're almost at the Northern Air Temple. This is where they had the championships for sky bison polo." Aang told them.'
"Do you think we'll really find Airbenders?" Katara curiously asked.
"You want me to be like you or totally honest?" Sokka asked, not looking up. 
"Are you saying I'm a liar?" Katara questioned as she crossed her arms.
"You're an optimist. Same thing, basically." Sokka looked down and continued. Erza proceeded to punch him in the head.
"Imbecile! She asked you a question! Next time answer her instead of being a oaf!" Erza shouted.
"Sorry." Sokka said as he rubbed his head.
"And being an optimist is better than being a pessimist." Natsu added.
"Aye." Happy nodded.
"It's also better than being an idiot." Gray muttered.
"Well, I hope some Airbenders survived the war. I look forward to seeing another one." Wendy said.
"I'm actually interested myself." Gray added.
"Hey guys! Look!" Aang called out from the front.
He pointed at a mountain with a structure on top.
It was almost similar to the Southern Air Temple except the design of the place was much different and the tiles were a different color. Something was flying around the temple.
"They really are Airbenders!" Katara gasped in excitement.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but they aren't Airbenders." Ray looked at Katara. 
"They're actually using gliders." He continued.
"That boy seems pretty spirited." Lucy said pointing at a boy sitting in a oddly shaped chair flying above the gang, laughing.
The kid flew past them and back to the temple. The boy looked back at them with a smile. Aang looked to him before a grin grew on his face. Aang then jumped off of Appa's head and spun his staff really fast over his own head. Then opening his glider he took off after the boy. 
Everyone looked to see that the people gliding had them and Appa completely surrounded. Two of them flew in front of Appa and made him jerk back with a startled groan. 
"We better find some solid ground before it finds us." Lucy said.
"Good idea." Erza said as she took the reins of a groaning Appa. She began to guide him to what looked like a landing platform. Appa growled as he turned and landed on the temple grounds.
The boy continued to laugh as he soared throughout the skies ahead of Aang and flew a little higher. Soon, Aang caught up to him and moved up higher into the sky behind the kid. Aang had a serious look as he was beginning to catch up with the boy.
"Go, Teo!" One of the children on the landing platform shouted as they watched. 
"Show that bald kid how it's done!" Another shouted.
The two flew high in the air before doing a couple of loops. They then glided over a cloud before Teo maneuvered his special glider for another loop and then flew close to the temple with Aang right behind him. The two then flew towards the ground while facing each other, more or less. They continued to fall in a winding pattern.
"Hey, you're pretty good." Teo said, looking to Aang.
"Yeah I know. But I can do more than just fancy gliding." Aang stated. To emphasize his point as they came around each other in a crisscross Aang looped around before heading towards the temple. He flew underneath a bridge while Teo watched from above. As he came around a curved wall, Aang let go of his glider and ran along the wall with his glider not too far out of reach. As he continued to run, Aang quickly jumped into the air and formed an Air Scooter before using his airbending to stay on. Aang rode it until reaching the end of the wall and jumping back to his glider.
"Wow, I don't think I can do that. But here's a good one." Teo said, smiling.
Then pulling on a string, a small ball of gas opened and a stream of fog blasted out of it. Teo then began moving through the sky as the stream poured out. Then rotating his special glider he passed over and around some clouds as he formed a shape with his smoke. He did a few loopy loops before turning skyward again. When Teo started falling towards the ground again, he then started to fly over another cloud. Then he swerved through the air before going up again. Then he put a finishing touch by making an image of a cut-eyed looking Aang. The kids on the ground started cheering while the real Aang looks exactly like his sky portrait.
"What do you think?" Teo asked as he came up next to him.
"It's great." Aang said as he looked away. 
The two began to land where everyone else was and Aang touched down first. Teo then came in for a landing.
"Hey, you're a real Airbender. You're the Avatar! That's amazing. I've heard stories about you." Teo shouted.
"Thanks. I think." Aang sheepishly rubbed his head.
"Wow! This glider chair is incredible." Sokka said, excited.
"If you think this is good, just wait until you see the other stuff my dad designed." Teo said, turning his chair.
Everyone followed the boy inside. As they walked through the corridor, they looked up to see large metal pipes protruding from the walls. One of the pipes even went into the floor. But as they came into the room on the other side of the hall, Aang's face fell as he saw what happened to the temple. Metal pipes and machinery ran all over of the place, and it somewhat overshadowed the room's original design. Steam hissed as an elevator of some sort lifted higher into the room. Aang looked around to see that so much has changed om his people's absence. He looked over to an Air Nomad statue to see that pipes ran around and behind it. Then he glanced up at all the machinery as a giant wheel turned.
"Wow." Sokka said.
"Yeah. My dad is the mastermind behind this whole place. Everything is powered by hot air." Teo said with pride for his father before explaining. They looked to see a woman boarding an elevator.
"It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when we're gliding." He said.
"This place is unbelievable." Aang said.
"Yeah. It's great, isn't it?" Teo asked as he looked to Aang.
"No. I mean, it's just unbelievable." Aang said he glanced to a confused Teo and walked away.
"Aang used to come here a long time ago. He's just a little shocked that it's so...different." Lucy explained to Teo.
"So better!" Sokka said from where he stood, not really seeing that it made Aang feel a little worse. Erza punches him in the gut to shut him up.
Lucy and Katara walked over to Aang as he looked at another section of the wall that was covered in pipes. Inserting the pipes had caused the cracks that were already there to grow. 
"This is supposed to be the history of my people." Aang dejectedly said. Lucy and Katara place a hand on his shoulders.
Aang walked away and towards a fountain in the middle of the room. The statue at the top was of a bison that held something and green water flowed through it. Aang walked up to the bubbling water with a grimace before looking up to the bison statue. Smoke erupted from the bison's mouth and Aang jumped back with a yell. 
"I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same." Katara said.
A little while later, the group walked across an arched bridge to another section of the temple. When they made it to the other end, they could see many doors aligning the walls. 
"It's nice to see one part of the temple that isn't ruined." Aang said.
Then he sees one of the statues being knocked down by a wrecking ball and everyone covers their heads as dust came from the statue. Everyone coughed from the dust before looking at the newly made hole with wide eyes. Five men walked out of the rubble. They were led by a man with a bald spot and two pointy sides of hair. 
"What the doodle? Don't you people know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse." One of the six men said. Aang had a angry expression on his face.
"Uh oh." Wendy said.
"Do you know what you just did?! You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" Aang angrily yelled.
"Well, people around here are starting to stink." The man said in his defense while fanning his hand in front of his nose.
"This WHOLE place stinks!" Aang shouted. He jumped into the air with his staff raised. Then bringing it down he sent an air wave that knocked the wrecking ball off it's support. The machine fell off the mountainside. A giant dust cloud drifted from the dorm room.
"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it like this! I've seen it when the monks were here! I know what it's supposed to be like!" Aang angrily said.
"The monks? But you're twelve." The man asked, confused what he was talking about.
"Imbecile!" Erza yelled.
"Dad, this is the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago." Teo explained.
"What are you doing here? Who said you could come here?" Aang asked.
"Hmm, doing here. A long time ago, but not a hundred years. My people had become refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Teo was badly injured and his mother..." The man stops for a minute and sniffs. "I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. I couldn't believe it! Everywhere! Pictures of flying people, but it was empty. No one was home. Then I came across these fan-like contraptions." The man explained.
"Our gliders." Aang said.
"Yes! Little, light flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone will be on equal ground. So to speak. We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here." The man finished explaining. Lucy, Wendy, Katara wipe their tears away. Natsu wiped his on Aang's shirt. Sokka tried to hold his in while Gray and Erza just nod. Ray just gave the man a blank stare. He's heard stories like Teo's throughout his long life.
"After all, isn't that what nature does?" The man asked.
"Nature, however, knows when to stop." Aang said as he walked up to the man.
"I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us." Teo's father admitted.
He then looked to another spot in the courtyard.
"Look at the time! Come! The pulley system must be oiled before dark!" Teo's father looked to the other five men.
"Wait. How are you able to tell time on that thing?" Gray asked.
"Indeed. The notches all look the same." Erza pointed out.
"The candles will be able to tell us. Watch." The mechanist assured them. 
He, Gray and Erza kept watching until the flame popped four times.
"You put spark powder in the candle." Sokka deduced.
"Four flashes. It's exactly four hours past mid-day or as I like to call it: four o'candle." This caused Sokka to start laughing. Erza and Gray look at him.
"What? It's funny." Sokka said.
"For you, loser." Gray commented. Sokka frowned and crossed his arms.
"If you three like that, wait until you see my finger-safe knife sharpener." He held up his left hand which revealed that three of his fingers had been cut off.
"Only took me three tries to get it right." The Mechanist then removed the fake fingers and casually tossed them to Erza.
"I would be disgusted, but not bad." Erza said. Gray and Sokka looked horrified.
"Grow up, fools." She stated.
"You three should follow me, I have something to show you." The mechanist said before leaving. Erza followed him, but turned and saw Gray and Sokka standing there.
"Let's go you two! I don't have all day!" Erza commanded.
"Yes, ma'am!" Gray and Sokka nod and then follow her.
"Hey, Aang I want to show you something." Teo said, looking to the Airbender.
Teo began to wheel himself out of the dorms with Aang, Lucy, Katara, Ray, Natsu and Wendy following behind.
They came through a dark corridor that had pipes in it as well.
"I just can't get over this. There's not a single thing that's the same." Aang said.
"I don't know about that. The temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones who lived here a long time ago." Teo explained as he stopped and looked back. Reaching down he picked up a small black and white crab before handing it to Lucy.
"I think you're right. They're kind of keepers of the temple's origins." Lucy said as she turned and allowed Aang to hold the little crab in his own hands. He smiled as the crab curled up in his left palm.
"Thank you for that Teo." Katara told him.
"Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all." Teo stated.
"Really?" Aang asked.
"Yeah. C'mon." Teo answered.
The five had followed Teo down another corridor to a familiar looking door. 
"Hey, it's just like the one at the other temple!" Katara said.
"Yeah. That door took us to that sanctuary with the Avatar statues." Lucy pointed out.
"Only an Airbender can open this door so it's completely untouched. Just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it's like in there." Teo said.
"Aang?" Wendy called out.
"I'm sorry. This is the last part of the temple that's the same as it was. I want it to stay that way." Aang said.
"I understand. I just wanted you to know it was here." Teo said, disappointed.
"Thanks." Aang respectfully said.
"I really feel bad for the kid. His home and his temple are different." Natsu whispered.
"Aye. I hope he feels better." Happy nodded.
"Let's just go." Lucy said. 
All of them turned to go back down the hall. 
In another section of the temple the Mechanist, Erza, Gray and Sokka walked down a flight of stairs underground. All four held a lantern to see where they were going. 
"These lanterns are terrible! I can't see." Sokka said.
"What a nightmare. You want your diaper changed too?" Gray asked sarcastically. Sokka shot him a glare. Erza opened the top of her lantern and discovered it was filled with fireflies before closing it.
"May I ask why there are fireflies being used for light?" Erza questioned.
"Fireflies are a non-flammable light source." The mechanist answered.
They kept walking down the stairs.
"Cover your noses and hold your breath." He told the three.
All four pinched their noses and took a deep breath. Then turning back to the door, he slid the little window on the door open and they were all able to look in. 
"Okay...so you brought us down here just to see an empty room?" Gray asked.
"Wrong. It's filled to the brim with natural gas. Came across it my first time here. Unfortunately, I was carrying a torch at the time. Nearly blew myself and the whole place sky high. Thought my eyebrows were never going to grow back. Anyway, there's a vital problem that needs solving. From time to time, we have gas leaks and they're nearly impossible to find." The mechanist explained.
"So you're saying that this place is an explosion waiting to happen." Erza deduced.
"Yes. Until I figure out how to locate something I can't see, hear, smell or touch." The mechanist said.
Back up top, the group had come back to the platform to glide. 
"The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you. Something even lighter than air and that something takes over when you fly." Teo told them. Lucy, Katara, Natsu and Wendy held their gliders as they stood at the edge of the landing platform.
Katara and Natsu set their gliders to the side as they looked at those already gliding.
"I've changed my mind." Katara said.
"Yeah. Me too. I think I was born without that something." Natsu added.
"Impossible! Everyone has it." Teo said.
"Spirit." Aang continued.
They all looked to him.
"What?" Teo asked.
"Spirit. That's the something you're talking about." Lucy said as she came closer.
"Yeah. I suppose you guys are right." Teo said as he thought about it a little.
"C'mon guys. Give it a shot." Wendy insisted.
"Yeah, guys. Be a man." Lucy declared.
"Please don't quote Elfman." Natsu said.
"Well, I guess we'll have to try." Katara said as she opened her glider and Natsu followed her example.
"You guys ready?" Teo asked.
"Yes." Wendy answered.
"Yeah." Lucy nodded.
"No." Katara and Natsu answered at the same time. They all jump off causing Katara and Natsu to scream.
"Let's soar." Ray stomped his bare feet on the platform and ignited the soles of his feet.
The six fall downwards, but Lucy and Wendy start to fly forward. Then Katara and Natsu fly straight as well making them stop screaming and then laugh.
"I can't believe it! I'm flying!" Katara exclaimed.
"Yeah! This is AWESOME!" Natsu shouted.
"See? I told you guys you can do it." Lucy told the two.
"It's easy once you get the hang of it." Wendy added as Carla flew with her. Aang, Momo and Happy weren't far behind.
"Good job, guys. Just be sure to keep your mouths closed so you don't swallow a bug." Aang advised.
"Got i..." Happy cut himself off as he swallowed something and began to cough.
"That's a bug." Carla said.
"Teo was right about the air." Natsu said.
"Yeah. All we had to do was trust it and let it carry us." Katara added as she looked to the boy.
"Even though Teo's not an Airbender, he has the spirit of one. Right, Aang?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, you're right." Aang said as he and Lucy joined Teo back on the landing platform.
"I've been thinking. If you want to see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you." Aang said to Teo.
"Great." Teo said with a smile.
"Wait!" Katara called out as she flew by.
"How do we land this thing? What if we land over a ack-ack-ack! Bug! Bug!" Natsu shouted as he swallowed a bug.
"Aang di..." Happy cut himself off again as he swallowed another bug.
"Not another bug!" He complained as Wendy, Ray and Carla land beside Aang, Lucy and Teo.
"Hopeless." Carla shook her head.
Meanwhile the Mechanist, Erza, Gray and Sokka were in his quarters as the man went over a blueprint of some kind. Erza was watching him. Gray and Sokka were looking over a few things on a shelf when he caused something to fall off with a crash while catching a few of them. 
"What is wrong with you?! You shouldn't be touching anything!" Erza shouted as she started picking things up with Sokka and Gray. The mechanist assisted their clean up effort.
"Don't worry. That hot air balloon experiment's old and that egg was just part of last week's lunch." The mechanist said.
"UGH! Week old egg smell!" Sokka complained.
"Disgusting." Gray added plugging his nose.
"Quick, find that egg." The mechanist said as he set the balloon project down. Sokka followed suit and dropped what he had. The three crawled around the floor to look for the rotten egg.
"Imbecile. While you're searching for the egg Gray, you should find your clothes as well." Erza said.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH! NOT AGAIN!" Gray shouted as he began searching for his clothes.
Meanwhile Aang, Lucy, Katara, Natsu, Ray, Wendy and Teo return to the room with the windowed door.
"I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside." Teo said, excited.
Aang took a deep breath and spread his arms out in front and behind him. Then turning two circles, he had a determined look on his face as he sent two air blasts from his palms into the pipes. Like in the Southern Air Temple, the mechanisms moved as one of the blue swirls turned over and caused the first lock to spin. Then the second swirl turned and made the lock turn as well. Then the final swirl shook a little before turning over. 
Meanwhile, back in the mechanist's workshop a few minutes earlier, he and Sokka were still searching for the rotten egg that had gotten away from them while Gray tried to find his clothes.
"How can something so small that you can't even see make such a big stink?" Sokka questioned.
"Wait! That's it! That's the solution to our problem!" The mechanist said.
"Yes, indeed. If you put a whole mess of rotten eggs in the cellar where the gas seeps up..." Erza stops talking.
"...The gas will mix with the smell of rotten eggs!" The mechanist said.
"Then, if there's a leak..." Erza stops talking again.
"...You'll smell rotten eggs! Then, you just follow your nose to the place where the smell is coming from..." The mechanist said.
"And plug up the hole where the gas is escaping!" Erza finished.
"You're both geniuses!" Sokka said.
"Wow, that's pretty cool knowing this." Gray added.
Just then, a little bell started to ring.
"Something's wrong. I need to go." The mechanist said quickly heading for the door.
Back with Aang the doors creaked open. When they all went inside, their eyes went wide at the sight. Weapons of different kinds lay about the room. In the middle of the room was a war balloon with the Fire Nation insignia. 
"This is a nightmare." Aang said.
The mechanist, Erza, Gray and Sokka came up behind them.
"You don't understand." The mechanist said.
"You're making weapons for the Fire Nation?" Wendy asked.
"Why are you making these weapons for the Fire Nation?!" Erza demanded.
"I can answer that." Ray intervened. "The Fire Nation threatened to destroy this temple if he doesn't cooperate." 
"Exactly. It was a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this, Teo. They were going to destroy everything! Burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them, I begged them to spare us! They asked what I had to offer. I offered them...my services." The mechanist explained, shocking everyone including Teo.
"You must understand. I did this for you." He said. Teo looked away from him. He then turned his wheelchair away from his father.
The mechanist then looked down in shame before turning and walking away from the room. 
A few minutes later, the mechanist was fiddling with his balloon project. He had just given the word to fill the cellar with rotten eggs and it wouldn't be long until they could find the leak. Placing a candle in the basket with two eggs he released the balloon. He didn't even look up as the balloon floated up to the ceiling. The door behind him opened and he looked back. Lucy, Aang and Teo walked into the room.
"When are they coming?" Lucy asked.
"Soon." The mechanist answered. He looked to a candle on the side and it sparked.
"Very soon." He said.
"You can't give them more weapons." Aang said in defiance.
"If I don't give them what they want, they will destroy this place." The mechanist argued. The small balloon project burst into flames and fell to the floor in the middle of them. He quickly managed to put the fire out.
"How can I be proud of you when your inventions are being used for murder?" Teo asked.
"I need some time to think." The mechanist said when a bell rang to the side.
"You need to leave. Go!" The mechanist ordered.
"We're not leaving!" Teo defiantly said.
"Then hide! Quickly!" He said.
The three hid behind a giant paper prototype. The mechanist then pulled on a rope, a wheel next to the rope turned and a trap door in the middle of the room opened up. Steam hissed as an emissary in Fire Nation robes was raised into the room by a platform. 
"You know better than to keep me waiting. Give me what you owe us so we can be on our way." The emissary said as he walked off the platform.
The mechanist looked down as he thought. 
"Well? Is there a problem?" The emissary asked.
"No. Right this way." The mechanist said as he gestured to the door.
But before they could leave the room, Aang used a kick to blow the table in front of the door while spinning through the air on the top of the table.
"The deal's off." Aang said with a glare.
"The Avatar!" The emissary said completely surprised.
"Aang, don't get involved in this." The mechanist said as he stepped between Aang and the Fire Nation emissary. 
"If I don't get what I came for, the Fire Nation will burn this place to rubble!" The emissary said.
"Get out of here." Aang shouted as he shot a slash of air at them.
"You're leaving empty-handed." He declared.
"Then the destruction of this temple will be on your head." The emissary said as he pointed at the Avatar. He then walked back to the trap door and stepped on it. The platform lowered itself back down and Aang twisted using his airbending to close the trap door.
Later the gang stood on a bridge, worried.
"This is bad." Teo said.
"REALLY bad!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Aye." Happy added.
"Aang, what are we going to do?" Katara asked.
"How can we possibly keep them all away?" Lucy questioned.
"I'll tell you guys how. We have something they don't. We control the sky." Aang said as he pointed to the people on gliders.
"You're right. That's something they can't do." Wendy nodded in agreement.
"We can win this fight." Carla said.
"Well then, let's get started." Ray told them as fire surrounded his body.
"Yeah!" Sokka exclaimed.
"I want to help to." A voice said.
They looked to see the mechanist walking up to them.
"Good. We'll need it." Aang said.
After gathering everyone in the temple into the mechanist's office, the mechanist and Erza came up with a plan for dealing with the enemy troops.
"We finally got the war balloon working thanks to Erza. This woman's a genius!" The mechanist said.
"So are you." Erza replied.
"Why thank you, ma'am." The mechanist said.
"The problem with the old war balloon was you could get it air-borne, but once you did it just kept going." Erza placed a candle in the basket and the top half of the balloon over the candle and then released it.
"You could put a hole in the top, but then all of the hot air would escape. The question is, how do you keep a lid on hot air?" Erza asked.
"It's really quite simple, the lid is the solution. It would keep the hot air trapped inside and allow the war balloon to be controlled." Ray answered her question immediately.
"That's pretty smart." Sokka said.
"We also have four different kinds of bombs: smoke, slime, fire and..." Erza stops talking.
"Stink. Never underestimate the power of stink!" The mechanist said.
Later everyone gathered outside of the landing platform. The mechanist and Teo's friends readied their gliders while Appa stood at the back. Soon the sounds of marching feet could be heard. 
"They're coming!" A girl looked back and alerted the others.
"Are we ready?" Teo asked.
"Yeah, but where's Erza with the war balloon?" Gray questioned.
"Guess we'll start without it." Aang decided. He got on Appa's saddle as everyone else readies their gliders. 
The gliders flew off to meet the enemy soldiers as they came marching up the mountain path. 
Legions of soldiers continued marching up the pass, unaware of Aang and his friends soaring above them. Aang and Teo looked down to see the location of the soldiers before looking to each and nodded to the other. Then turning their gliders to descend, all of the gliders went down to engage the enemy. Each of the gliders dive bombed into the cloud bank surrounding the mountain. The soldiers looked up as the gliders descended on them. Both Hydra and Fire Nation alike grunted when they had a slime bomb dropped onto them. The Hydra soldiers that didn't get hit raised their weapons and fired upon the gliders. The gliders were able to swerve out of the shots way before dropping their own attack at the enemy forces. A Fire Nation soldier grunted as he was struck in the face by a slime bomb. Another glider let loose a smoke bomb that engulfed a section of the path and snow dropped down the mountain. The gliders circled in the air before coming around for another run.
"Take them out of the sky! Now!" A Fire NaLtion soldier yelled to his comrades.
The gliders fly up through the clouds to receive more bombs from Lucy, Katara and Wendy. Hooks emerge from the clouds, almost hitting Appa before latching into the cliff as tanks used them to climb up the mountain wall. Lucy and Aang flew down and remove the hooks from the mountain wall, but more tanks scale the wall. The gliders dropped bombs on them but they ended up doing nothing. When the tanks got up onto a small plateau they began to blast fire out at the gliders. 
Lucy, Aang, Wendy, Natsu and Gray flew down to try to stop them but were having a difficult time trying to fight them off.
"They're unstoppable!" Katara exclaimed.
"I think I know how they work. I remember my dad tinkering with the counterbalacing system. Something to do with water. Works great, huh?" Teo told Katara, smirking.
"In that case, can you get me close to one?" She asked.
"No problem." Teo said as he moved closer to Appa.
While Lucy, Aang, Natsu, Gray and Wendy continued engaging the tanks Katara assumed her stance and froze them with her Waterbending. Gray assisted her with his Ice-Make magic. More tanks close in but Aang and Wendy swat away incoming fire balls that Natsu sucked into his mouth. "
"We're out of bombs!" Teo told Aang.
"Great." Gray said sarcastically.
"C'mon Erza where's that war balloon?" Lucy asked. Everyone on the landing platform saw the war balloon floating past them.
The war balloon passed over the invading army, but the enemy soldiers didn't do anything to them.
"Hey, why aren't they shooting at us?" Sokka asked.
"It's the insignia." Erza said, pointing to the Fire Nation symbol.
"Indeed! They think we're on their side." The mechanist added.
"Then I bet they won't see this coming." Sokka said.
"Go for it." Erza told him as Sokka takes his knife out and slices the ropes to the bombs. 
"Bombs away!" The mechanist shouted. The bomb splattered against the ground, soldiers and a few tanks. The soldiers caught in the substance yelled as they were pushed back.
Erza cuts another rope and released the other two bombs and they splattered on the enemy soldiers as well.
"Oh no, that's the last one!" Sokka said.
"Curse this!" Erza yelled.
"Wait a second. You two smell that?" The mechanist asked.
"Rotten eggs!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Yes! That's where the gas is escaping!" Erza pointed at a crevice.
An idea then began forming in her mind. Moving to the engine, she began on dislodging it.
"Erza what're you doing?" Sokka asked
"That's our fuel source!" The mechanist yelled.
"It's the only bomb we've got." Erza said as she looked at them. 
The metal hardware clanged as it bounced off the sides of the crevice walls and down into the abyss. While the enemy soldiers continued to advance towards the temple, Aang and everyone watched to see what would happen next. An explosion went off around the bottom of the temple, followed by a series of two more when a massive explosion created a massive blast. Everyone had braced themselves as smoke covered the entire mountaintop.
"Look! They're retreating!" Aang shouted.
Everyone started to cheer for their victory when the balloon passed them.
"No good! We're going down!" Erza shouted.
"Oh no!" Wendy gasped.
"Erza! Sokka!" Katara yelled.
Their fall was stopped when a large white hand extended outward. ShineGreymon carried them back to the landing platform.
"You know what, I'm really glad you guys live here now." Aang said as he picked up the hermit crab. 
"I realize it's like the hermit crab." He stroked the shell, making the little creature come out. 
"Maybe you weren't born here, but you've found this empty shell and made it your home. Now you protect each other." Aang said.
"That means a lot coming from you." Teo said as Aang lowered his hand.
"Aang, you were right about the air power." Lucy said. 
"Yeah." Sokka nodded.
"As long as we've got the skies, we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" Katara exclaimed.
"Got that right!" Natsu yelled.
"Aye!" Happy nodded and everyone cheered.
"The Fire Nation won't stand a chance against us." Erza said.
"We'll be more than ready for them." Wendy declared.
Down at the bottom of the mountain, the emissary who had come to collect the weapons that Teo's father had promised stood by a few soldiers while Firebenders used their bending to inflate the balloon. While not getting all of the weapons, the emissary had a satisfied but malicious smile on his face.
"This defeat is the gateway to many victories." He said.