A wild Zuko appears - E

Michael watched his hand pass through the doorknob with a strange feeling in the back of his throat. He tried to open the door again, but this time his hand went through the metal as if he weren't there. Whatever he tried to do, he couldn't open the door.

After a couple of minutes of useless panic-filled attempts to open the door, Michael realized his situation.

'I was able to force my spirit out of my body and now I'm an Astral Projection. I thought that only Masters Airbenders who are not tied to anything mundane are capable of this! Oh, wait, Korra was also able to achieve Astral Projection... Is it just a genetic skill? Like the ability to Bloodbend without a full moon. Hmm. Return to the body now, think later.'

He had a couple of obvious reasons to believe that he was not in the Spirit World. Firstly, he did not feel the earth under his feet - he did not feel anything at all - and in the World of Spirits, one should feel as in an ordinary world just without Bending. Second, he was still on Kyoshi Island.

So, his flight to his body was pretty fast, he could only thank Loki for not being followed by the Spirits. He returned to his body - which was a surprisingly easy task - and tried to get up, only to realize that his body was sore all over. Was it from his first journey as an Astral Projection or simply the aftermath of today, he didn't know. So, the normal trip back to their assigned house was pretty difficult for his legs.

As soon as he reached his bed, he immediately fell without even trying to undress. Unfortunately, his fall awakened the "mother" of the group.

"... Michael?"

"Yeah?" He muttered into the pillow, not even trying to lift his head to look at Katara.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, if you need to talk, I'm always here."

This time he lifted his head to look at Katara. The girl seemed actually worried about his wellbeing, which was a pleasant change from his usual life. He gave the girl a close-eyed smile and nodded.

"... Thanks."

Despite everything, he slept much better than usual.

---

The next morning, Michael woke up much later than everyone else. He got out of bed feeling that today would be a little different than usual. Enough time had passed for Zuko to hear about the appearance of the Avatar here, so the Dual Bender began packing up his things. He noticed that his clothes were neatly folded in the corner of the room - thanks Katara - so he had no problem packing up.

He put on his trusty black sleeveless T-shirt with black sweatpants - he really needs to steal more clothes - and came out to face the music.

A small interesting fact, in Russia his clothes would be called an alcoholic outfit because of his T-shirt and sweatpants. But since he was in the Elemental Nation, he only got a couple of stares. He made no attempt to hide his bandaged hand, so that was to be expected. He'd heard rapturous talk about the Avatar going to ride Usagi - the giant underwater serpent Michael wanted to eat - so this confirmed the teenager's thoughts about Zuko's arrival.

Without thinking twice, Michael came to the beach to control the situation, he didn't need a dead Avatar on his hands. Walking past Appa, Michael did the smart thing and left his bag in his saddle so he wouldn't worry about it later. The Bison looked at him with a silent question in his eyes, but Cordato just shrugged his shoulders and walked on.

After a while, he already heard a pleasant crunch of sand under his feet and felt the cold wind from the sea. Halfway down the road, he met Katara, who was walking to the coast with furrowed brows. He jogged to her side, deliberately giving his steps more strength so that she could hear him. The girl turned and gave him the same tired smile that he had given her the previous evening.

"What happened while I was sleeping?"

"Well, Sokka got his butt kicked a second time and Aang got a big head from the fans following him like a lost owl cat."

"Huh." 'So everything followed the canon. That's good.'

They continued walking in silence for a couple of minutes until Michael spoke up again.

"Well, that's to be expected. Aang's a goofy kid first and an Avatar second. I'd also try to get as much fun as possible before fighting in a war at twelve."

Katara said nothing, but Michael thought she began to think about his words. He was able to mentally breathe a sigh of relief, Katara was a good person, but sometimes she forgot the most obvious things. Not that he could blame her.

Together they reached the beach, from where several girls were leaving with disappointment written on their faces. Aang sat in the water and blew bubbles, rethinking his choices in life. His thoughts were postponed for a further date as soon as he saw Katara and Michael in the place of his fans.

"Katara! You showed up! Michael, you too! I didn't know you were awake."

He jumped halfway out of the water and waved happily to his friends. Michael waved back and stepped aside; he didn't want to interfere with their moment.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe. You really had me worried."

"Back there you acted like you didn't care..."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too. I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk."

"Well, get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!"

"On my way!"

Michael watched Aang swim towards the shore, not even knowing that Usagi was following him. Katara drew a sharp breath in horror, noticing danger too. Suddenly, Aang was thrown upward in a huge wave, but Michael was ready for this and used Waterbending to send the wave towards the shore. He waved his staff and the water followed his movements, throwing the Avatar ashore.

Usagi jumped out of the water and roared in anger, but had to hide under the water when a fireball crashed into him. A ship with a red flag and a bunch of problems on board was approaching the shore. Fortunately, the three teenagers were able to hide behind a rather large rock and escape the sight of the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Zuko!"

This was the first time Michael had seen the banished Prince. A bald skull with a black ponytail on top of his head, a scorching scar on the left side of his face, and red Fire Nation armor on his body. He would've looked menacing if he hadn't been so short...

"Katara, Aang, warn the residents of the danger, I'll hold them off."

"What?! You can't face them alone! I won't leave you here!" Aang whispered.

Michael looked at the two children with blank expression on his face, but they saw the fire in his eyes.

"Go."

Katara and Aang exchanged glances but ran to the village, but before that Avatar left his last promise.

"We'll fly after you, so be ready."

Michael just nodded and gripped the staff in his right hand. He knew that he would have to fight with fire, so it would be best to beat it off with something made of metal.

As soon as Michael stepped out from behind the rock, the ship's walkway was lowered. Three riders mounted on komodo rhinos, with Zuko in the lead descended from the boat.

"I want the Avatar alive."

This served as a signal to Michael. He walked confidently towards Zuko, twirling the staff in his right hand.

"And why do the soldiers of the Fire Nation need an Avatar? What dark things are you going to do with a twelve-year-old child?"

Zuko and his soldiers looked down to meet Michael's gaze. General – sorry – retired General Iroh looked out from the ship, hearing that someone decided to confront the Fire Nation.

"You dare to stop me?! Who are you, peasant?!"

Michael met Iroh's gaze and gave him a sympathetic look. The General was surprised at this development but nodded in gratitude nonetheless.

Iroh had tried for several years to show his nephew the way to calm down, but the prince's hatred was too strong. Michael understood how he felt, his father also tried for quite a long time to calm an angry teenager thirsty for revenge.

"It doesn't matter who I am, it matters who you are, Prince Zuko. I heard your story; do you think your father will welcome you with open arms after you caught the Avatar? He gave you the impossible task of capturing someone who hasn't been seen in a hundred years. We both know that this man did not show love to anyone but himself."

With an angry shout that could compete with Usagi's roar, Zuko shot a giant fireball towards Michael. The Dual Bender gathered water from the ocean and spun the staff in his hands, creating a water shield. He didn't want his enemies to know that he could collect water from the air, not yet at least.

A fireball slammed into his shield and created a curtain of steam. Michael took temporary cover and sent a wave between him and his enemies. The teenager raised the water wall in front of him and froze it. Several fireballs slammed into his wall the next second.

"We press forward. Take him to the ship and throw him into the cage."

Michael chuckled at the prince's confident tone and smashed the ice wall. He directed the shards at his enemies, but Iroh melted them before they could harm anyone. The steam disappeared immediately and Zuko saw Michael, completely unharmed, leaning confidently on his staff.

"Prince, it seems to me that you are not used to defeat? No, that's not the case. You are simply not used to defeat at the hands of a stranger."

Cordato heard Appa scream in the air and looked up at the sky. The Bison quickly descended to his level, frightening his enemies.

"Huh, that was fast... Well, it's time for me to leave you. Good luck on your mission, General Iroh!"

Michael gathered water under his feet and pushed himself into the air, closer to the Bison. Several fireballs and screams immediately flew after him, but everything was blocked by water. When Michael was close enough, Aang caught him in an air sphere and tossed him into the saddle on Appa's back.

Michael chuckled and looked down to see Iroh wave goodbye to him, so the teen waved back. Zuko turned to his uncle and started screaming in exasperation.

"Uncle! We just missed the Avatar again, why are you waving at them?!"

Iroh just shrugged and pointed at the Bison.

"This new member of Team Avatar was pretty friendly, don't you think?"

Zuko's body exploded in a wall of fire.