THE BALCONY.

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I woke to trembling earth around me. I looked up to see that another earthbender guard had created a doorway into the room. Alarmed, I turned to check on Katara and Sokka but they were gone! I turned toward the guard, angry, "Where are my friends?"

The guard replied calmly, "The King will free them if you complete your challenges."

He's holding them captive? And what do Sokka and Katara have to do with me completing the challenges? "And if I fail?" I glared.

"He didn't say." The guard extended his arm. "Your staff, please?"

I hesitated but ultimately kicked up my staff and threw it towards him. Two guards escorted me to the throne room where the King stood waiting for me, donned in purple robes this time.

"First, Avatar, what do you think of my new outfit?" He spread his arms out wide, showing off the fabric. "I want your honest opinion." Was he serious? Did he seriously wake me up in the middle of the night to ask me for fashion advice? "I'm waiting."

"It's fine, I guess?" I shrugged.

"Excellent! You passed the first test!"

"Really?"

"Well, not one of the deadly tests. The real challenges are more, uh, challenging." He said flippantly.

That's it. I'm done. I dashed forward and used my bending to propel me faster and stopped inches from the King, the wind from my bending passing over us. "I don't have time for your crazy games!" I yelled hostilely. "Give me back my friends! We're leaving!"

The King didn't look one bit bothered as he replied, "I thought you might refuse, so I will give your friends some souvenirs." The wall beside us opened to a terrified looking Katara and Sokka being held by guards. The guards placed crystal rings on their fingers. "Those delightful rings are made of pure jennamite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it." He shook his head almost as if he was sympathetic. "Terrible thing, really. I can stop it! But only if you cooperate."

Just then, Sokka screamed, "AH! It's already creeping!" His blue ring was slightly larger than before.

I wanted to give this lunatic a piece of my mind but, Katara and Sokka's lives were in danger. I had no choice. "I'll do what you want." I spat begrudgingly.

The crazy King led us down beneath the palace to a cave completely covered in stalagmites and stalactites and in the center, there was a waterfall. Inside the waterfall, was a giant ladder leading up to a key hanging from a metal chain. By the time we reached the cave, the jennamite rings had already covered half of Katara and Sokka's arms. What if I didn't complete the challenges in time?

"It seems I've lost my lunchbox key and I'm hungry." I glared at the ridiculous royal. My friend's lives are in danger and he's playing games. "Oh, there it is!" He pointed to the key in the waterfall. "Would you mind fetching it for me?"

Annoyed, I airbent my way to the base of the waterfall where I plunged in and grabbed the bottom of the ladder. I tried climbing up but the power of the water rushing down was too strong and pushed me out. I caught myself before a stalagmite could impale me.

"Ooh, climbing the ladder. No one's ever done that before." The King said sarcastically, and my blood boiled.

I leaped from the stalagmite up to the stalactite above me and launched myself from above into the waterfall. I reached for the key, but the water just pushed me down and out against a stalagmite.

"That's right. Keep diving head in. I'm sure that'll work eventually." I'm going to have to meditate REALLY hard after this or I'm going to lose it.

Nothing I'm doing is working. I need to look at this from a different angle. What can I do to cut through the power of the water and free the key? Then the answer hit me. Literally, it hit me square in the face when I jumped from the waterfall. The stalagmite! I can use it to cut through the water and break the chain! I broke off the tip of the stalagmite and threw it straight at the key. I sent a wave of air behind it, simultaneously speeding it up and cutting through the waterfall. The stalagmite snagged the chain and pierced the stone about the King.

"There! Enjoy your lunch. I want my friends back now!" I demanded.

"Ah, not yet! I need help with another matter." He held his hands near his chest and looked up innocently. "It seems I've lost my pet, Flopsie." Are you kidding? Another goose chase? Or in this case, rabbit chase?

The King brought us to another room, this one was well lit and had a large, sunken, enclosure in the middle. I jumped down in the enclosure and spotted a white, long-eared rabbit. I called up, "Okay! Found him!"

"Bring him to me!" The King commanded. He opened his arms wide, "Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsie!"

I started creeping towards Flopsie when something big jumped down and shook the ground behind me. I turned my head to see a growling goat gorilla. I was able to jump away just in time before it crushed me with its massive paws. Flopsie started hopping away in terror.

"Flopsie, wait! Flopsie!" I chased after him hoping to catch him before the goat gorilla caught me. Flopsie skittered right into a tiny hole in the side of the enclosure and I dove after him, my arm reaching in. I looked behind me to see the goat gorilla closing in, its long ears flopping in the…

Wait…flopping?

I stood and faced the goat gorilla charging at me. Hesitantly, I said, "Flopsie?" The goat gorilla halted in front of me, wagging its tail. It picked me and licked my face. "Flopsie!" I celebrated by giving Flopsie a hug and a pet on his head. He's not so scary! He's actually pretty cute!

The King whistled and Flopsie set me down and went running to his master. While the King was distracted, I ran up and checked on Sokka and Katara. The jennamite was almost completely surrounding them. They were running out of time.

"Guys, are you okay?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body? Doing great!" Katara's false optimism did little to cheer me up.

I turned to face the King, determined. "Come on, I'm ready for the next challenge." The King just smiled and laughed while his guards brought us to a third location, an arena.

The arena was huge and made completely of stone. We were on a balcony overlooking the arena. Sokka and Katara were almost completely encased in the jennamite, only a small hole allowed for their faces to poke out.

The King spoke, "Your final test is a duel. And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent." Two men stepped out from behind him.

One carried multiple types of blades like swords and scythes and he had scars running down his face. Okay, not him.

The other was the biggest guy I'd ever seen carrying a huge ax. Okay, definitely not him.

"Point and choose." The King said lightly, as if I was choosing an afternoon snack.

Maybe I can beat this guy at his own game. "So, you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?"

The King smiled, "Choose wisely."

I looked between the two scary looking men. "I choose…you." I pointed to the old King. I thought the King would have been disappointed or even mad, but he smiled and laughed. Not a great sign coming from a nut case.

The King snickered, "Wrong choice." He straightened his back, making him taller than he already was, and threw his robes to the side, revealing strong body underneath. Before I could even react, he sent me flying into the arena with his earthbending. I landed on the stone floor of the arena with a sickening thud. The King followed soon behind, landing directly in front of me, crushing the stone around him. "You thought I was a frail, old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see."

I just had to try to be slick, didn't I? "Uh, can I fight the guy with the ax instead?"

"There are no take backsies in my kingdom." The King pointed behind him. "You might need this."

A guard threw me my staff and as soon as my hand touched it, the duel began. The King sent several boulders my way and I dodged each of them.

"Typical airbender tactic: avoid and evade." How would he know? Was he old enough to have seen the airbenders? "I'd hoped the Avatar would be less predictable!" He sent another boulder towards me and I jumped over it, twirling my staff to keep me in the air. "Don't you have any surprises for me? Sooner or later you'll have to strike back!" He kicked a rock hitting the ceiling above me sending debris falling over my staff and sending me falling to the ground. My staff got knocked away when I hit the ground, but I didn't have time to go get it. I ran towards him, dodging his bending until one stone hit me straight in the stomach. "Oh, you'll have to be a little more creative than that." Okay, so I've got to be faster. I bent an airscooter and kept making my way towards him, dodging his attacks. I rode the airscooter sideways on the wall and sent a powerful wave of air at him. He brought up a stone barrier that protected him from my attack. "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here. Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"

Oh, I'll show him what air can do. He sent a wave of rocks towards me. I tried to jump over it, but it smacked me down, shooting me farther across the arena. I avoided another one of his attacks and kicked against the wall towards my staff. I picked up my staff ready to fight again. "How are you going to get me from way over there?" I started running using the air around me to boost myself even faster, but I was stopped in my tracks when the ground below me turned to quicksand. I was trapped. I saw two enormous boulders coming from either side of me and I twisted the air around me to propel me up in the air just before the boulders collided. I've had enough! I used my staff to send an even more powerful gust and this time it hit. My attack sent him flying backwards into the wall. He earthbent an even bigger boulder to come from behind me and I just barely evaded it by doing an air assisted backflip. The boulder would have hit the King if he didn't turn it to sand just before it hit.

All of a sudden, he widened his stance and the ground started to shake. I could see cracks in the walls of the arena behind him, and then THE WHOLE BALCONY AND WALL OF THE ARENA WAS RIPPED RIGHT OUT OF THE ROOM. If he throws that thing at me, I'm done for. Thinking fast, I started running in a circle, building up the winds around me until I created a tornado. I think this is the fastest I've ever run. He threw the, again, I can't stress this enough,

THE ENTIRE BALCONY

at me, but my tornado rotated it straight back at him. I had finally caught him off guard. While he split the BALCONY in half, I charged at him and landed at his feet, my staff poised to strike. I won. The King's arms were raised, as if in surrender, but he smirked as a small pebble hit the top of my head. I looked up and saw a very large boulder suspended over me.

The King chuckled, "Well done Avatar. You fight with much fire in your heart." He threw the boulder to the side and fell backwards. I thought he'd hit the ground, but he just sunk straight threw as if it were water. I looked up to see him on a smaller balcony where Katara and Sokka were and I glided up to join him. "You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question."

"That's not fair! You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests!" I argued.

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" The King countered.

"Oh, come on!" Sokka whined.

"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What...is my name?" What? How am I supposed to know his name? "From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes." The King then left us there alone to figure out his name. That or to say our goodbyes. The bubbling sensation I'd had since the beginning finally quieted down.

"How am I possibly supposed to know his name?"

"Think about the challenges! Maybe it's some kind of riddle?!" Katara said, slightly panicked.

"I got it!" Sokka declared.

Both Katara and I turned to him. "Yeah?"

"He's an earthbender, right? Rocky!" Oh, please Sokka. Not right now. "You know, because of all the rocks."

"We're gonna keep trying, but that's a good backup." Katara said, ever encouraging.

"Okay, so back to the challenges. I got a key from a waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel." I listed.

Katara asked, "And what did you learn?"

"Well, everything was different than what I expected."

"And?!" Katara asked with increasing anxiety as the jennamite grew.

"Well, they weren't straight forward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would. I had to…" I thought back to the familiar spirit I sensed, and I remembered something.

"…you've got to open your mind to the possibilities!"

Bumi.

"I know his name." I ran after the King with Katara and Sokka wobbling behind me. We came to the throne room where the King stood, re-dressed in his green robes.

I confronted him, "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago," I smirked, "I had to open my mind to the possibilities." The King smiled and started laughing and snorting like he always used to. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!" I ran to hug my old friend, one I thought I'd lost from my time in the ice.

Bumi hugged me back just as tightly, "Oh Aang, it's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally."

Katara piped in, "Uh, over here!"

"A little help!" Sokka whined.

Bumi shattered the crystal using earthbending, sending pieces flying everywhere. He caught a piece in his hand. "Jennamite is made of rock candy." He took a bite out of the crystal. "Delicious!" Even Momo scuttled over and started licking a piece.

"So, this crazy King is your old friend Bumi?" Katara asked.

"Who are you calling old?" Of course, the fact that she called him crazy doesn't bother him. "Okay, I'm old." He shrugged.

"Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka questioned.

"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people." Bumi snorted. "But I do have a reason." His tone turned serious, which it rarely ever does. "Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years that you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius." I smiled, a rush of affection for my friend filling me. "And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation." Momo climbed onto my shoulder, still eating the shattered jennamite. "And you'll need Momo, too."

I bowed to my clever friend and now respected elder. "Thank you for your wisdom. But before we leave, I have a challenge for you!" Bumi eyed me. "What do you say to one last ride on the world's greatest super slide?"

Bumi grinned like a mad genius.