Dark Spirit Journey

"Heh, why ask, he's obviously into the little ones. A sacrifice is just an excuse," said Crusher, a smirk on his face as he ridiculed the priest.

The place suddenly went quiet as Priest Hako turned to Crusher and stared at him, his stare boring holes into Crusher's body.

"Since you asked, I'll show you," said Priest Hako, amusement hidden in his voice.

Moving the unconscious Fire Nation out of the way, Priest Hako got on his knees and began to make weird sounds with his throat.

As he made those weird sounds, he fell to his knees and clasped his hands together in the form of a prayer.

Shh…

The man and Crusher felt wind within this man-made cave. Their eyebrows rose and they wondered just what was happening.

As Priest Hako continued to pray and make weird sounds, the wind continued to grow stronger and suddenly ceased.

"Wow, that was amazing. Any more clown tricks you- gaahhhh!!"

Just when Crusher was about to ridicule Priest Hako once more, he felt diverging grab him from the back of his neck and hoist him up into the air.

"Crusher!"

Turning around at Crusher's scream, the man's eyes widened when he saw what was lifting Crusher into the air.

"W-what is that?!"

Without thinking, the man was about to begin Earthbending to attack the monster but was restrained by some water binds.

"Priest! There's a monster attacking!"

Priest Hako shook his head, his voice calm, "There's no need to do that. That's the great spirit!

The Great Spirit is on a journey like many other spirits to open up the Spirit World!"

The man's eyes widened as he turned to look at the spirit with shock, no longer caring for Crusher.

"Children who bend the elements are the best sacrifices because they contain a stronger and more pure spirit compared to the adult benders," said Priest Hako as he faced the spirit. "It's a shame that the Airbenders no longer exist, they would have been the best for their abundant spirit.

So spiritual that not a single baby born from an airbender was not an airbender themself."

"That's amazing…"

"This is why some children born from parents who could bend the other elements can't bend elements. A large majority of the non-benders are those who aren't in touch with their spiritual side to activate their bending abilities.

Just like airbenders who lose their bending when they no longer train their spirit."

"… I see. But why does it need to be the spirit that is needed?"

"To open the spirit world, the spirits need an abundant amount of strong and pure spirit energy to open the portals," explained Priest Hako.

"I heard the avatar had returned, wouldn't he be the most spiritual, even compared to the airbenders? We could use them!"

"Yes! They would," explained the priest, his voice filled with joy, which quickly turned to one filled with pain. "But the Avatar is too strong and I alone can't get him."

"I can do it! I know some strong mercenaries that would be up to fighting against the Avatar," said the man, his face filled with excitement.

Priest Hako lifted his head and nodded, "Sounds great. Here's the money for the Fire boy."

The man smiled and accepted the money for the sacrifice before turning to look at Crusher who was still being held by the neck as he continued to struggle to free himself.

"Could I…" the man pointed to Crusher, hoping to have him back.

Yet Priest Hako shook his head, "This man has insulted me and the great journey the spirit is on to opening the Spirit World. I cannot let him leave alive."

The man frowned but quickly sighed as he shook his head.

"I understand. It's just a shame to lose one of my men," muttered the man as he gripped the money bag tightly. "I'll make sure to bring the Avatar."

"…"

Priest Hako looked at the man before turning to the spirit, nodding his head to it.

"Arrggh!!!"

The man disappeared up the stairway as Crusher's yell echoed in the cave.

His skin was drying up and he was becoming skinnier at a pace fast enough to be seen by the naked eye. All the spirit and vitality was seeping out of Crusher and forming an orb filled with white light.

"Gahhh…"

Crusher's voice slowly became raspy and silent as the spirit continued to rob him of his spirit and vitality. It was like he was aging at a rapid pace.

"Ughhh…"

Plop!

Crusher's body fell to the ground with a soft thud, only bones and skin remaining, his eyes hollow and lifeless.

"Good… another Spirit orb," said Priest Hako as he grabbed the spirit orb from midair. "Now… O' Great Spirit! Please take this child!"

With a loud and reverent voice, Priest Hako hoisted up the body of the unconscious boy.

The spirit listened and approached the priest before extending its hands over to the unconscious boy in Priest Hako's hands.

Just as the spirit was about to touch the young Firebender, a spike sprouted from the ground and stabbed right through the spirit.

Tch!

"Who's-"

Priest Hako didn't get to finish his question as he dodged a stab from a staff by jumping to the side and dropping the firebending boy.

Genji effortlessly caught the kid and looked at Priest Hako.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Batman!"

"What?!"

Without elaborating further, Genji dashed forward and with the help of Earthbending, Genji shifted the land beneath his feet to increase his speed.

Shh!

The sound of water echoed within the cave along with the movements of both Genji and Priest Hako.

Two streams of water rushed towards Genji and Priest Hako before they began to waterbend the water around themselves.

Genji sent it over to the tip of his staff and turned his metal staff into an ice tipped spear.

The instant the ice condensed on Genji's spear, a strong spinning force spread throughout the spear, causing it to spin clockwise.

Shing!

With a clean stab forward, the spear that stabbed forward easily drilled through the ice shield that Priest Hako had made.

Ch-ch-ch!

"Gghhh…"

Priest Hako already sensed the danger and dodged to the side, however, he didn't take into account the attraction caused by the rapidly spinning spear. His hand was pulled in and with just a slight touch with the spinning tip of the spear, Priest Hako lost his fingers.

"You… damn you Batman!"

"You are hereby sentenced to death," said Genji as he smirked and sliced the spear at Priest Hako.

Priest Hako's eyes widened as he tried creating another ice shield, but Genji somehow moved from his spot in an instant as the spear sliced at his neck.

With wide eyes, Priest Hako watched as he was thrown into the air and saw his own body back on the ground.

[Ding! Level 2 Hidden Waterbender <Priest Hako> killed! Experience +2]

"Tsk…"

Clicking his tongue, Genji turned around to look at the spot where the Dark Spirit was just at but had disappeared.

Narrowing his eyes, Genji looked around and sensed the place before grabbing the young boy and running out of the cave.

With Priest Hako killed and the dark spirit having fled, Genji now had to get rid of the three other earthbenders.

The instant Genji got to the bottom of the stairs, he used his earthbenders and boosted his speed by moving the stairway like an escalator.

It wasn't long before Genji caught up to the man quietly before slicing at the man's neck and cutting his head off. The man's body flopped and dropped down the stairs whilst Genji continued to go upstairs.

[Ding! Level 1 Hired Earthbender killed! Experience +1]

Without any pauses, Genji continued up the stairs and surfaced back into the surface. His eyes narrowed and he focused his gaze onto the two earthbenders on lookout.

Suddenly, Genji clenched the muscles in his arms and gripped his staff with all his strength before spinning the spear clockwise.

Pulling back his arm as far as he could, Genji threw the spear towards one of the earthbenders on lookout.

Puchi!

The spear stabbed through the man and created a hole in his chest. The man didn't even know how he died as his eyes instantly dimmed and turned lifeless.

Genji didn't stop there, just when the other man on lookout reacted, Genji had already Earthbent the wall next to him.

Shhh!

The wall next to the earthbender moved quickly and silently as it shifted out and went out flying to the earthbender.

Bang!

The rock hit the earthbender roughly, killing him in an instant through blunt force.

'This is too bloody,' thought Genji as he approached and checked the pulse on the last man and his eyes, making sure that he died.

Genji nodded and stood back up before looking at the boy on his shoulder.

'His family must have been killed… unless he was kidnapped…'

Genji rubbed his chin and picked up his spear before melting the water and cleaning the staff from the blood.

Lucky for Genji, no blood fell on his new clothes.

Then, the moment he felt that everything was ready, he left the scene without saying anything else.

He carried the boy on his shoulder, waiting for him to wake up.

However, he didn't wake up even after everything that had just happened. By the time Genji arrived back with Aang and the rest, he didn't even twitch a bit.

Seeing Genji from afar, Aang noticed someone on his shoulders.

With concern, Aang jumped off Appa and made his way over to Genji, wondering what had happened. Katara also followed behind Aang, meanwhile Toph stayed behind and laid down, resting.

"What happened?" asked Aang as he looked over at the young boy curiously.

"Oh nothing much," said Genji nonchalantly as he put the child down on the floor. "I saved this kid from being sold into slavery or worse. Strange thing is, he's been unconscious since I first saw him."

"Slavery?! What did they do to him?!" gasped Katara as she looked at the boy closely. "What happened to the people selling him?"

"I turned them in to the local guards," answered Genji casually.

Aang blinked and stared blankly at Genji, amazed that Genji rescued someone from being sold.

"Will we have to stay here and look for his parents?" asked Aang, worried about the young boy.

Genji shook his head, revealing a slight sad look as he thought about his future child probably developing within Suki's womb.

'...'

Looking at the kid, Genji rubbed his face, thinking hard about what to do with the boy. He sighed the instant he knew what he was going to do.

"I will take care of the kid," said Genji, sighing once more.

"Are you sure, Genji?" asked Katara, a bit worried about what Genji was deciding on. "You don't want us to raise him together?"

Genji smirked the instant he heard Katara and teased her, "You want to raise him together with me?"

Katara blushed slightly and smiled shyly at him. It seemed as though she liked the idea of raising the child together.

"It's up to you if you wish," said Genji as he walked past both Katara and Aang, approaching Appa and Toph.

Since Genji was quite far away, Toph didn't hear Genji but she was able to sense him as he approached.

She stood up from the floor and got close to Genji, deciding to greet him, "You must be Genji, the master waterbender. My name is Toph, the strongest earthbender."

Genji smiled, and looked back at Aang and Katara who were still walking on over.

"We meet again, Ms. Blind Bandit," said Genji in a low voice.

Toph's eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'O', shocked to find out that Genji has the same voice as the man who she fighted back in Earth Rumble.

"You… you're 'Man of Steel'!" Toph exclaimed in surprise, however, her surprise soon turned into shock. "You! You can bend-"

Just when Toph was about to say something, Genji stepped forward and covered her mouth with one hand as he leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

"Shh… let's talk about this later," said Genji with a smirk on his face as he looked into Toph's shocked face.