Counterattack(4)

Most of the people present left, leaving Iroh, Lin, Nya, and Korra with me in the tent.

"Chief Ethan, it's a great honor meeting you!"

"Commander Iroh, it's great seeing more people coming on our side in this fight, also there is no need for such honorifics. I find using them a waste of time, besides it's only an honorary title."

"HAHAHA! A man of actions, fearless in his pursuit for justice, I think we will get along nicely."

"Thank you! Is there something that bothers you Iroh about the plan?"

"No, I quite like the plan. I just wanted to talk with the man of the day, I heard a lot of things about you from Master Tenzin and his family, at the time they seemed quite far-fetched but now, now I can see that they weren't fairytales. There aren't many people like you in this world, fearless people that fight for what's right. I asked around and found out that you are quite the inventor, a respected scientist, and an amazing strategist. It's hard to find people nowadays with such qualities, to have both moral integrity and extraordinary wit."

"HAHA, I'm not that great, I'm just more level-headed than most people, nothing much."

"Don't listen to the kid, he's a monster in human skin, there isn't something he can't do if he puts his mind to it. I'm sometimes frightened looking at what he does."

"Thank you, captain, I've always known that you liked me, but to flatter me with such compliments, it truly touches my heart."

Everybody laughed, while at the beginning the atmosphere was a bit awkward, in a few minutes we talked with each other like we were old friends. I didn't stay long, I wanted to get a good night's sleep since tomorrow was a busy day as well so I left after talking with Iroh for about fifteen minutes.

"Ethan, after all of this is over, let's grab a drink."

"Sure, if things work out nicely, I'll even pay the first round in apology for your fleet."

I walked out with Nya following closely behind, as I walked to my house I could see people staring at me and talking with each other. It didn't bother me at first since I didn't find it weird for them to be like this, after the display I gave today, I was sure that most people suspected that I was part of the Equalists at one point. Could I blame them? No, if I saw a person wearing a giant symbol, the same as my enemy, I would become be skeptical of that person's motives as well, especially in those trying times. But of course that things did a complete one-eighty from what I was expecting.

I continued my way when a person came in front of me and bowed yelling.

"I thank the Undying Mechanical Terror for saving me and my fellow comrades!"

Before I could bend down and pick the guy up to tell him that it wasn't necessary, the people around me were inspired by his example and did the same, their combined voices made everybody in the settlement come check what was happening. With the addition of more people I thought I could sneak away while everybody was confused, of course, I couldn't... The more people came the people went on their knees thanking me. At one point I didn't know what to do anymore, my voice couldn't be heard due to them being so loud.

What could I do? I tried to bend the energy in my body to go to my lungs and vocal cords.

"You want to thank me? Then thank me by doing what's right, by fighting the ones that try to destroy the balance, the ones that try to destroy the peace we've been working so hard to maintain. Fight alongside me to bring balance back to this city! Fight alongside me so we can forge a better tomorrow!"

My attempt was successful and my voice was heard across the tunnels. It was so loud I was sure that everyone in the Underground City heard. The people near me almost went deaf, making it have the desired effect, leaving everyone bewildered and letting Nya and me make our escape.

I got inside my house and quickly closed the door. I go straight to bed to lie down and ask Nya to tell me what the hell happened outside.

Because of the fight, the soldiers were deeply moved by my bravery, fighting with the enemy while I was on fire just to give them more time to escape. They asked around about me from the people already there, learning about my heroic deeds, they also found out how injured I got after each one of those fights, especially the one inside the police station, the same one that made me look like a dead man walking. Finding out that I went straight to my house and didn't come out for hours they probably thought that I've been badly injured. Also, the meeting lasting only a few minutes made them believe even harder that I was heavily injured.

What made my head spin was how they came up with my nickname, while I understood the last part, where did they take the first part from? Nya told me that some rumors were going around about me that I could come back to life no matter how I died. The thought the reason why I fought with such ferocity was that I was invincible.

This baffled me, how could people believe such crap? But if this meant they would follow onto the battlefield who was I to destroy their dreams?