chapter 4

Maybe it was creepy to be following Katara as she took a somber, introspective walk with

another boy, but in Ryga's defense…

No. No, he had no defense. It was just creepy.

Ryga looked around again, ears burning, once again reassuring himself that nobody was

following him. If Sokka caught him out here, there was a solid 75% chance Ryga would end up

dead. But this was important.

Ryga took a second to remind himself why it was important so he didn't just throw in the

towel due to sheer discomfort and run.

They had arrived at the small Earthbending village that Ryga had never bothered to

learn the name of a little while before, and so far, things were going pretty much according to

the plot. And normally that was a good thing. It meant things were predictable, controllable.

Not this time, though. Because Katara and Haru were heading straight toward the site of

a cave-in, and Katara's moral compass would lead Haru straight into a watered-down cartoon

version of a death camp.

It would turn out fine in the end. Of course it would. But this time, maybe he didn't have

to stand back and let them suffer. Maybe this time, he could take Haru's place.

He looked ahead. Paused. Just a bit away from the cave now. If he was going to get an

Earthbending-related skill, it had to be now. And it had to be good.

Fuck, Ryga hated random chance.

Three tickets in. (He could try his luck with Grass, but that wouldn't exactly do much

good in this situation.) Spin the wheel... and…

"No way."

Max Quake.

Ryga stared at the new skill: his first 5/5. Theoretically, that was really fucking good.

Practically, though... he had no fucking clue.

It wasn't like he could Dynamax. He didn't have any other Earth skills to base Max

Quake off of. Was it just useless until he unlocked some apeshit new game mechanic, Giant

Mode or something? He clicked on the description and got back the normal, in-game one. So

that didn't fucking help.

Ryga's heart pounded. What was he supposed to do with this? Just go out there and try

to Earthbend? What if he couldn't? He'd look like a fucking idiot, and then Haru would go to the

Fire Nation camp anyway. What could he do besides just stand there and watch?

Really? That's what you're worried about? Embarrassing yourself?

Yes. Yes it was. And yes, he recognized how stupid that was in the situation he was in.

But...

But nothing. A man's life is at stake - two, actually. Are you just going to let Haru give

himself up, or are you going to do something, damn it?

It wasn't the voice of God or the System speaking to him telepathically, nothing like that.

Just the conscience he'd never actually realized he'd had.

They'll be fine, he thought uneasily. They'll... probably be fine. And anyway, when have I

ever helped anyone?

Exactly. You've never helped anyone, not because you couldn't, but because you were

too scared to try. Remember?

Ryga closed his eyes, forcing out the images that had haunted him for years. I

remember.

That was before, in your old life. Are you really going to let your second chance go the

way of your first?

That was... much more eloquent than Ryga had thought himself capable of. Maybe the

System actually was talking to him.

Well, Ryga?

Ryga clenched his fists. His eyes flew open, glaring ahead. "No. Fucking. Way."

So try.

The moment he unpaused, Ryga was running like hell for the cave. Whatever that was,

some weird psychic flare or whatever, it had been right. He couldn't let the same thing - the thing

that had led him to where he'd been before, all the sleepless nights, all the craving for lives he'd

thought he would never have - he couldn't let his own cowardice and fear keep him from

protecting the ones he loved again.

Loved?

Yes. He loved them. And he knew how creepy that was, how absolutely fucking weird.

But it was true. He had seen them, seen them in ways that no one else possibly could. He knew

them all, and he loved them all. Katara, Sokka, Aang, Zuko, Toph, and all the others. And he

was going to save them.

"Is someone there?"

Katara's voice, just a second before Ryga stumbled out of the bushes, panting and

sweating. He might have otherworldly powers, but his stamina still left much to be desired. Both

kids jumped back, staring at him. "Hey," he said weakly. Well, this is gonna be fun to explain.

"Just... out on my morning run?" he said. "Yeah, I used to do it all the time, but we've just

been so busy lately with all the world-saving stuff."

"It's evening," Haru pointed out.

"Yup!" Ryga agreed. "Evening. Out on my evening run. So where are you two headed?"

Katara looked at Haru apologetically - which, ouch, but okay. "Nowhere, really. We're just

kinda walking."

"Neat." Ryga nodded, fell into step beside her. "Mind if I join?"

Haru and Katara exchanged a look of who the fuck is this weirdo and it's okay he's

always like this respectively, which, additional ouch. Katara nodded at Ryga. "I don't see why -"

A blast, just up ahead. The ground shook. "What was that?" Ryga demanded, feeling

grateful in a way he never thought he would for a cave-in. At least this would distract them from

how fucking awkward and suspicious he was being.

Haru's eyes widened. "The mine!" He ran forward, and Katara and Ryga followed close

behind.

Ryga didn't think he'd ever really understood the word 'cartoonish' until he was

teleported into a literal cartoon.

Onscreen, pretty much anything could look harmless and silly if you simplified it down

enough. A man trapped in a cave-in, for example. Still a harrowing situation, but not nearly as

scary as the real situation.

Now, though, Ryga felt less 'oh no what will our heroes do' and more 'there is a man

about to be buried alive right in front of me'.

Haru darted forward immediately, bracing his body against the falling rubble. Katara ran

to the man's side, trying to pull him out to no avail. And Ryga... stood there. Contemplating the

consequences of what he was about to do.

Max Quake was a powerful move, and he didn't even know if he met the conditions to

use it. It could either kill the man he was trying to save or do absolutely nothing at all. If he just

followed the plot -

No. No more fear. You have to try.

There was that voice again, and Ryga was becoming more and more convinced that it

wasn't his own.

Go on, Ryga. Try. It's the only way.

Only way to what? he thought.

The voice did not reply.

"Okay," Ryga muttered to himself, "whatever." After a quick consultation of the controls,

he stood up straight, breathed in deep. Stared at the crumbling rock, pictured it looming over

him ready to swallow him whole. Stomped his right foot forward and pushed out with his arms,

feeling grateful despite the chaos that it was getting less and less embarrassing to do stuff like

this; stood, waited.

The ground rumbled, and the solid mass of falling rubble disintegrated, small chunks

flying in every direction. The man staggered forward and collapsed on the ground, staring up at

Ryga in disbelief, and Haru rushed to his side to help him up.

Katara stared at him. "How did you do that?"

Ryga shrugged, trying to act cool and probably failing. "Just did, I guess. No biggie."

"Ryga..." she said. "You just earthbended! Are... are you the Avatar? Are there two

Avatars somehow?"

"I dunno."

That obviously wasn't a satisfying answer, but after a long moment of searching his face,

Katara seemed to decide that there were more important things to worry about. "Come on, let's

get this guy back to town." She ran to Haru and wrapped her arm around the man so that they

supported him from both sides. Ryga stood there awkwardly for a second, wanting to help but

knowing there was no way he could squeeze in without making things awkward. Then he

sighed, stepped behind them, and started the long walk back to town.

The Fire Nation came for him at night, because of course they fucking did.

And he got captured immediately, because of course he fucking did.

In his defense, he actually needed to be captured to save the earthbending prisoners,

so, all part of the plan. Still, it was a little embarrassing how quickly he got taken down. Even if

he did totally let them win, because that was totally a believable excuse.

Whatever. It didn't matter anymore.

Ryga wasn't sure how long he'd gone without food. He just knew he wanted out.

Maybe he was a pussy. Maybe he hadn't realized what he was getting into. Okay,

scratch the 'maybes' there. Still, maybe it was because it was easier to survive when you had

some kind of agency, but Ryga had really thought this would be a piece of cake.

His brain latched onto the word 'cake' and refused to let go.

Ryga flopped back onto the floor of his cell, grimacing when his head made contact with

the metal floor rather than the soft-ish grass he'd become accustomed to. He smacked the

pause button, which he'd found himself doing more and more over the (hours? days?) he'd been

on the ship. Clicked over to the Summons menu. "Don't suppose you'd have any nutritional

value, would you, Chip?"

"CHEEP." Chip stared him down. Much to Ryga's shame, it worked. "Cheep," the bird

said triumphantly.

Ryga kicked at the ground. "How come you don't have to eat anything? Neither of us are

real. It's not fair."

Of course it's not fair. So stop sulking like a child and do something about it.

That voice again, the voice he was really starting to think was the System speaking to

him. "Yeah, like what? My only really strong move wouldn't even work here."

So get more.

Ryga scrolled over to his inventory. "I only have two tickets left, man, and that doesn't

buy any -"

Any Steel-type moves.

Oh fuck he was such an idiot how did he not think of this.

He frantically clicked back to Summons, checked Chip's EXP. Almost to the next level.

Checked back to the Quests menu. Level Rookidee up, for one Skill Ticket and two Summon

Tickets. Exactly enough to get him a Steel-type skill.

So, time to trust in the wheel again, he supposed.

King's Shield.

All that grinding, all that Peck-ing at the wall over and over, and it was King's Fucking

Shield.

Ryga groaned and flopped back on the ground. "Great. Doesn't even do damage. What

am I supposed to -"

Holy shit you idiot read the description.

Perfect. Even the god of his bizarre new world hated him. Ryga sighed, clicked over to

his inventory, checked the skill. "There, see? Does no damage."

And it shields you completely. And it drops the attack of anyone who tries to hit you.

Ryga stared at the screen for a moment. "Oh."

So go out there and save those people, you goddamn moron!

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan."

Ryga was a lot of things. (Or at least he liked to think he was a lot of things.) A berserker

was not one of them.

He would never charge headfirst into battle, fists swinging, screaming at the top of his

lungs. He could barely walk into a room without tripping over his own feet. But Berserker Mode

seemed like the best option for this particular situation, so... here goes.

Well. Not quite. He had to actually monitor his PP this time. He checked his stats. "Okay,

King's Shield costs 10 PP, Water Sport costs 15, and... yikes, Flip Turn is 20." Ryga frowned. "I

have a capacity of 100, and that's full now, so... yeah. This should work."

Ryga took a deep breath. Closed out of the menu. Glanced around the wall he was

hidden behind to the Fire Nation troops. And cast Water Sport.

Nothing happened. Naturally, because nobody was firebending yet. Let's hope it worked.

Ryga pushed his hand out in front of him, and although he couldn't see the barrier that formed at

his touch, he could feel it. He ran his hand over it. It surrounded him completely. Good.

He ran out into the hall that he was absolutely not supposed to be in, full of Fire Nation

soldiers with the power to vaporize him, and yelled, "Hey, assholes! Over here!"

All eyes turned to face him, and he grinned, reached his hand out. "Catch!"

It wasn't over as quickly as Ryga had hoped.

King's Shield helped. It helped a lot. Every time he got hit, the attack would just bounce

off of the air in front of him. And they couldn't figure out how the hell he was doing it, so that was

a bonus.

The thing was, though, that King's Shield could apparently only take one hit. Which

made sense; even in Pokemon, the skill only lasted a turn. Still, it was getting hard for Ryga to

keep his PP up. But their flames were weakened, he was invincible, and with his constant

barrage of attacks, he had them on the ropes.

And then.

One melee attack deflected, and in the half-second before he could cast King's Shield

again, a searing heat knocked him to the ground.

He'd had some close calls with firebenders. He'd even been trapped in a burning

building. But he'd never been burned before.

If this was what getting your back fireblasted felt like, he couldn't imagine what it must

have been like for Zuko to get his face seared. Ryga screamed, unable to stop tears from

forming in his eyes, desperately re-casting King's Shield and running, running for his life. And

yes, he was pathetic. He knew that. But he would rather be pathetic than die.

He ran out onto the deck - and a small army of Earthbenders, Haru and Katara at the

front, greeted him.

"Hey." Katara sat down beside Ryga. "You okay, buddy?" She laughed humorlessly.

"Don't suppose I'm gonna get a satisfying answer for why you can earthbend too?"

She was talking to him like he was a child. He deserved it. "No, other than 'I have

absolutely no idea'. And as for if I'm okay, not really. It still..." He grimaced. "Still burns."

The first time he had been hit, he had run away screaming.

The first time he'd been in any real danger at all, he had run away screaming.

These people, his friends - they were heroes. Saviors. And he was just a kid who ran

away, who was too paralyzed by indecision to help out when others needed him, who had to be

rescued yet again by the people who had already put their lives on the line for him.

Katara nodded, looking at him sympathetically. He hated that look. He wanted to be the

one to protect her, to make her feel safe. "I can't even imagine..." She reached out a hand to

touch his back, and he hissed, flinching away as his sensitive flesh screamed at her touch. "Oh.

Sorry."

"'Sfine," he managed, furiously willing back a fresh bout of tears. "I was... I was stupid."

"No." Katara looked into his eyes, hard and deep, and he found he couldn't look away.

"You were a hero. People needed your help, and you put yourself in danger for them." She

blushed, just a little. "Just like you've been doing all along, honestly."

Ryga finally broke his eyes away, staring out across the deck. Aang and Appa were

taking the earthbenders home a few at a time while Sokka ran around offering food and water to

people who had been so deprived of their humanity, some of them for years. "You guys have all

helped way more than me, though. I just... screw things up."

He hated himself for it, but he tuned out Katara's words of comfort and reassurance.

Because it was true. He'd only ever screwed things up. It was all he'd ever done, and maybe all

he ever could do.

Fuck the plot. Fuck canon. If he kept agonizing over everything he was going to drive

himself even more insane than he probably already was.

He stood up, still ignoring Katara as she asked him to come back and rest. He was done

resting. He'd been resting all his life.

He'd seen his stats, seen the experience bar that went up every time he used his skills.

He could level up. And if he leveled up, got stronger, he could finally, actually help.

Ryga walked slowly back into the ship, back into his cell. He needed somewhere nobody

would interrupt him. He closed the door, faced it. Reached out his hands, wrists together, right

knee forward, in a move he'd never used before.

Fire burst forward from his hands, a blazing inferno, and he screamed as the bars

melted down to goo.

SKILL MENU:

PLOT ARMOR

TYPE: N/A

RANKING: N/A

DESCRIPTION: Received upon first entering the System; grants the user the inability to die, as

well as the ability to grant the inability to die to a maximum of three others.

FLIP TURN

TYPE: WATER

RANKING: 2/5

DESCRIPTION: After making their attack, the user rushes back to switch places with a party

member in waiting.

BATON PASS

TYPE: NORMAL

RANKING: 2/5

DESCRIPTION: The user switches places with a party member in waiting and passes along any

stat changes.

RAGING FURY

TYPE: FIRE

RANKING: 3/5

DESCRIPTION: The user rampages and spews vicious flames to inflict damage on the target,

then becomes fixated on using this move.

WATER SPORT

TYPE: WATER

RANKING: 3/5

DESCRIPTION: Weakens Fire-type attacks while the user is in battle.

MAX QUAKE

TYPE: GROUND

RANKING: 5/5

DESCRIPTION: This is a Ground-type attack Dynamax Pokémon use. This raises ally

Pokémon's Sp. Def stats.

KING'S SHIELD

TYPE: STEEL

RANKING: 4/5

DESCRIPTION: The user takes a defensive stance while they protect themself from damage. It

also lowers the Attack stat of any attacker that makes direct contact.