The Substitute

"The Substitute" is one of the comics featured in Team Avatar Tales.
== Overview ==
While hiding in the Fire Nation, Sokka is craving some snacks and goes out in disguise to get some. While he is out, he gets mistaken for a teacher for hire at a Fire Nation school. Chaos ensues when the children begin to steal his snacks and accidentally rip off his fake mustache.
== Synopsis ==
Aang, Sokka, and Katara are in a dilapidated house in the Fire Nation. Sokka rises from the floor to tell them that he cannot take being hungry any more, and that he will "literally die" if he does not get some snacks soon. Katara quiets him, telling him they would die if he gets them caught. An equally hungry Aang rubs his stomach, wishing for snacks, and a frustrated Katara tells Sokka to get snacks himself if he wants them so bad.
Sokka tells Katara that her suggestion is the best idea he has heard all week, and she cautions him against going out as he is. He claims to be the master of disguise and fashions a fake mustache for himself. Aang responds with laughter, while Katara tells him he looks like a weirdo. Sokka rebuffs her by claiming that he will save them from starvation and departs, with Katara sarcastically wishing him good luck. Sokka breaks into tune about not needing luck when he has a mustache as he heads through the grass into town.
Sokka arrives at a marketplace and finds a stall selling food. He dons the persona of a lovable old man with a sweet tooth as he greets the confused vendor. He purchases two packs of mochi, two cartons of ice cream, two dozen cookies, and ten fruit tarts. Amazed at himself, he leaves with his purchase, while two female Fire Nation soldiers look at him with suspicion. The shorter of the two guards confronts him with an advertisement poster for a teacher for hire depicting a face that looks strikingly similar to Sokka's disguise. Startled, he affirms that it is in fact him, and the guards promptly informs him to come with them, as the local school teacher has stopped showing up. As they mention that the children could be rough sometimes, Sokka wonders what could be so bad about a couple of kids, though he quickly discovers the answer as they immediately steal all his snacks upon arrival. The guards wish him good luck as they depart, smiling.
Sokka orders them to give back the mochi and cookies, to no avail. Reminding himself out loud to play it cool to avoid the children from discovering his true identity, a student remarks that his mother says that people who talk to themselves are weirdos. Sokka rebuffs everyone calling him a weirdo, reasoning that he has a lot on his mind, while having a hunger-induced fantasy about kissing a giant human-sized piece of mochi.
Sokka stops the children's rowdy behavior by suddenly asking all of them if they wanted to learn how to sword fight, immediately piquing their interest. During a mock fight, one student manages to rip off Sokka's fake mustache with a wooden pole, causing another student to realize that Sokka is not their teacher and threaten to expose him. Fearing he will be arrested, Sokka tells the children he will do anything for them to be quiet. The student is intrigued by Sokka's notion of "anything."
Returning to the marketplace with the children in tow, Sokka and his students orders many snacks. As he pays for it, the vendor remarks that Sokka is a great teacher for spending all his money on the children, which Sokka affirms. Back at school, the children, exhausted by all the excitement they had that day, fall asleep at their desks in the classroom. When their parents come to pick them up at the end of the day, they are pleased at how docile they are, with one mother remarking that she has not seen them so quiet in years and other parents complimenting Sokka on his skill with children, labeling him to be a "miracle worker".
Upon his returns to Aang and Katara, snackless, Sokka explains to them that "children" had happened to him before removing his fake mustache and lying down on the floor of the house.
== Production notes ==
=== Transcript ===
== See also ==
* List of Avatar: The Last Airbender comics
* Team Avatar Tales
Category:A to Z
Category:Comics
Category:Real world
es:El Sustituto
ru:Замена