A/N: I'm back and here's another chapter of Five Elements. Let me just say that I am super sorry for taking this long come up with another chapter, I've been trying to make time to work on my fanfictions but life doesn't go the way you usually plan and with all the good ones I've written it can be hard to figure out which one to continue writing at a certain time; while I think of future ideas for one story I'm also thinking of ideas for another, then I have to choose which one to work on first. But I'm working on them and doing my best, so please be patient with me, this is story and the others are still in progress and I'll get to whenever I can. Now with that out of the way, hope you enjoy this chapter…

Disclaimer – I own nothing

Chapter 28 – The Library

When we last left the Gang, the Avatar had picked up on earthbending after the bitter work Toph put him through, bringing him one step closer to mastering the elements; from all their traveling and training the teens had decided to take a few vacation breaks. Gohan and Goten had gone off to do their daily sparring sessions, leaving the others to enjoy Aang's vacation; Katara, Sokka, and Toph stood in barren landscape with some shoots of grass and many holes while Aang sat down cross legged in front of them holding a flute. "What's out here?" Sokka asked.

"A lot actually." Toph replied as she put her hand on the ground. "There's hundreds of little-"

"Shhh! I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." The monk quickly shushed her and started to play. He played one note and in response a prairie dog comes out of the hole and mimics the note. "Heheheha, yeah!" he cheered and played again, getting another critter to come out and sing. "I'm putting an orchestra together."

"Orchestra, huh? Well la dee da." Sokka replies though not interested. Aang continues to play and more prairie dogs come out to sing; Katara laughs as Momo tries to catch the critters but fails as they sink back into their holes. The tribesman then went up to Aang and put his finger the flute to silence it. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations." Toph said.

"There's no time for vacations." Sokka argues before looking around and groans. "Where are those two knuckleheads?! They should've been back by now!" His question was answered when multiple cloud dusts started appearing in the distance; the Sons of Goku threw multiple blows at each other as they brought their fight over to their friends. They ended their duel with one final double face punch before stepping back and bowing to each other. "Nice of you to join us guys," Sokka said.

"Sorry, we were having too much fun." Gohan apologized. "Did we miss anything?"

"Just Sokka being Sokka and ruining our mini-vacations." Toph replied.

"Am I the only one who remembers that we're in the middle of a war that the Fire Nation has been winning for a hundred years?! We have to do something to turn the tides in our favor!" Sokka reminded his team.

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard everyday with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrows off." Aang reasoned.

"Yeah. What's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" Katara asked her brother.

"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" Sokka questions before furthering his point with a gesture. "Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war."

"Is he always this pessimistic and paranoid?" Goten inquired.

"Most of the time, though he does have a point…in his own sarcastic way," Gohan commented.

Aang plays one more note, getting a prairie dog to pop out and sing from the hole in between Sokka's legs before leaving as Momo jumped after it, making Katara giggle. "Alright, we'll finish our vacations, and then we'll go look for Sokka's intelligence." She joked making Aang laugh after getting up.

The Airbender opens up their map and holds it out for the Waterbender. "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?" He asked her.

She points to a location and says "How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"Oh yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." Aang tells her. Moments later the Gang found themselves at the Oasis that looking different than it did on the map; it's palm trees were gone, the giant iceberg in the center was reduced to a tiny piece and the old homes looked close to ruins. "Must have changed ownership since I was here." Aang said while laughing nervously. As the teens entered the Oasis, the sign nearly fell onto them.

"What was this place like a century ago?" Goten asked his brother.

"Peaceful, and much cleaner," Gohan answered. The group walked over to a bar where some Sandbenders were hanging out by the entrance; one of them shot out lugi at Sokka's feet and smirked at the tribesman. "Definitely a lot cleaner." Gohan repeated. Sokka glared at the Sandbender but his sister quickly brought him inside before the conflict could escalate. Inside they saw a few people just lounging around like the had nothing better to do with their lives; a man wearing white clothing and a straw hat was standing at the counter ordering a drink. "One mango, please." He requested. The bartender complied by using his two swords to cut an ice sphere in half to form the cup, chopped up many fruits into bit before placing them in the cup, pouring water then adding a straw and tiny umbrella to complete the beverage. He handed it to the man and received a gold coin for payment.

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." Sokka said before pushing past his to the counter. "Excuse me!"

The man with the drink turned to leave but bumped into Aang, accidentally spilling his drink on the monk's clothing. "No worries, I clean up easy." He told the man before creating a gust of wind to dry his clothes.

"You're a living relic!" the man said, amazed.

"Thanks. I try." Aang replied.

"An Air Nomad, right in front of me." The man says before introducing himself and bowing to Aang who owed back. "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He then grabs the Air Nomad's hand and starts to examine his tattoos. "Tell me, which of the Air temples do you hail from?" he inquired.

"The Southern temple." Aang replied.

"Oh, splendid! Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" the Professor asked as he used a pair of calipers to measure Aang's head.

"Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?" Aang asked though was unsure.

"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal." Zei said before bringing out his journal to write in.

"So professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated." Sokka inquired.

"Certainly," Zei replied before handing his map to the team. Sokka opened it and examined but still could not find what he was in search of.

"What, no Fire Nation? Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?" Sokka complained.

"I don't think anyone outside the Fire Nation has ever really been there in a long time, there's no one who'll have a map of that place." Gohan said.

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara stated after observing the map.

"All in vain, I'm afraid." The Professor admitted a little frustrated. "I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel... Wan Shi Tong's Library."

"You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asked.

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady." Zei explained. "It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge... is priceless."

"Mm, sounds like good times." Toph said sarcastically.

"Oh, it is. According to legend, it was built by the great knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers." Zei continued.

"Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?" Sokka asked.

"I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka." Katara said.

"You're both right. Handsome little creatures." The Professor then brings out another scroll and opens it to show a large castle. "Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read, so that we might better ourselves."

"Wow! There must be hundreds of books in this place," Gohan said.

"Thousands even," Goten added.

"No one can ever really know for certain, but it's believe that it contains more knowledge than any man could possess in his lifetime." Zei said.

"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map maybe?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"I wouldn't know, but if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library." Zei replied.

"Sokka thought for a moment before facing the Avatar and saying "Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!" he shouts while pointing upward dramatically.

"Uh, hey? What about me and Goten? When do we get to pick?" Toph asked.

"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time." Sokka replies and she slams her drink on the table and pouts.

"Of course there's the matter of finding it." The Professor tells them with depression. "I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert, and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross."

The boys look at each other with smiles. "Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" Sokka asked.

"A sky bison? You actually have one?" Zei asked astonished.

"We also have a Dragon," Gohan said. Outside, the Sandbenders were eying Appa and Icarus; the Sky Bison growled and scooted away from them while the Dragon stood his ground, prepared to attack. "Sandbenders! Shoo! Away from the bison!" the Professor ordered them. The desert wanderers stared at the Professor before backing off. The Gang came outside in time to see the Sandbenders mounting on their gliders; one particular person caught the attention of Gohan and Goten. The person's face was covered by the mask the Sandbenders wear but their outfit was different than theirs. They wore white harem pants, a low cut black tube top, and the same bandages on their wrists and ankles as the other Sandbenders. As the Sandbenders sailed off into the dessert, Aang and Gohan watched them suspiciously. Pretty soon, the Gang along with the Professor were abroad the flying beasts and sailing high over the dessert, on Appa's saddle was Katara, Toph and Sokka who had tied his shirt over his head and was scanning the desert with a telescope, the Sons of Goku road on Icarus, and Aang sat on Appa's head with Zei. Then Professor then went over to the Bison's face and asked "Tell me, sky bison. Are you the last of your breed?" the Bison gave its usual growl which excited the Professor. "Oh, delightful! I only wish I spoke his tongue. Oh, the stories this beast could tell." He began rubbing Appa's head before Momo came beside him and starts to chatter. "Shush, chatty monkey." He says to the Lemur.

"Wow, shouldn't be too hard to find a place like this out here." Aang says after seeing the Library design. The search however was longer than anticipated; the desert seemed to stretch on as the Gang scanned everywhere they went, but there no sign of their destination yet.

"Aw, does this place even exist?" a frustrated Toph questioned.

"Some say it doesn't." Zei replied.

"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" Toph moaned. The group continued flying and searching for some time before the Earthbender suddenly shouted "There it is!" her friends come over to see it but only saw the empty desert before glaring at their blind companion for playing them. "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." She says before playfully waving her hand in front of her face reminding them that she's blind. The search though growing a bit tiresome continues on.

"It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant ornate building from the air." Katara states.

Sokka looks through his telescope and spots a tower in the distance. "Down there. What's that?" The monk steers Appa over to the tower and the Gang land right in front of it.

"Forget it. It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous." Katara points out after inspecting the tower. Just then, the groups spots something coming their way, a fox carrying a scroll in its mouth.

"What kind of animal is that?" Sokka asked.

"I think it's a fox." Gohan said.

The Gang watch as the fox goes to the tower, walks up it vertically with ease, and goes in through the window entrance. "I think that was one of the knowledge seekers. Oh, we must be close to the library!" Zei says with hope.

Aang, Gohan, Katara, and Sokka glance at the drawing before the tribesman says "No, this is the library. Look!" he points to the tower, seeing that it matches the library top on the drawing before looking to see that the rest of it must be underneath the desert. "It's completely buried."

"The library is buried! My life's ambition is now full of sand." Zei says sadly as he falls to his knees in front of the tower; he immediately gets over it and pulls out a small shovel. "Well, time to start excavating."

"I think that might take a while," Goten says.

"Actually, that won't be necessary." Toph tells him as she places her hand on the tower, allowing to see inside it. "The inside seems to be completely intact, and it's huge."

"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look." Sokka suggested.

"I say you guys go ahead without me." Toph said.

"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked.

"I've held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me." Toph explains.

"Oh, right. Sorry." The Waterbender apologizes.

"Let me know if they have something you can listen to." Toph says.

Sokka tie his boomerang to a rope and throws it into the window where it hooks onto something so that the others can climb in. "Don't worry buddy. I'm not making you go underground ever again." Aang told his bison while petting it. "You can stay out here with Toph."

"Stay here Icarus. Get some rest and keep an eye on them for me, okay?" Gohan told his dragon who licked him in response. "Good boy."

The flying beasts sit beside the Blind Bandit and after a moment of awkward silence she speaks to them. "What's up?"

Gohan goes after his friends when he notices his brother waiting behind. "You're not coming bro?" he asked him.

"No thanks, I've done more than enough reading for a while back when Toph's parents wanted her bodyguard to be well educated." Goten replied.

"Didn't like it?" Gohan asked.

"Let's just say that reading was okay, but reading so much just to be her eyes was not, no offense Bandit," Goten says to Toph.

"None taken Soldier, you were kind of boring to listen to anyway," she replied.

Gohan shrugged and followed the others inside the tower; as the climbed down the rope, they observed the inside of the library. "Oh, it's breath taking. The spirits spared no expense designing this place." Zei commented on the library's design. "Just look at those beautiful buttresses!" The teens immediately started giggling to each other. "What's funny?" the confused Professor asked.

"Nothing. We just like architecture." Aang answered.

"As do I." Zei replied. The five had made it to the floor as the Professor continued to admire the architecture. "My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol..." he started to say before he noticed the Gang staring at him in confusion. "Eh, nice...owl."

Just then, Gohan sensed something and turned. "Guys, someone's coming." They all soon heard feathers rustling; they quickly hid themselves, Gohan and the water tribe behind a right pillar, Aang, and Zei on the left. A giant owl walked through the archway and onto the bridge where it spotted the rope that was used to climb down; it then turns its head three hundred and sixty degrees to face the pillars where the Gang was hiding.

"I know you're back there." The owl said to them.

The Professor immediately came out and went to greet the spirit. "Hello! I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He said with a bow.

"You should leave the way you came, unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology." The owl warned him while glancing at some stuffed animal heads on a pillar. Zei saw the heads and rubbed his neck nervously.

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked as he and the others came out from hiding.

"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things." The owl introduced himself. "And you are obviously humans, which by the way are no longer permitted in my study."

"What do you have against humans?" Aang questioned.

"Hmm, humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans," Wan Shi Tong answered as recalled the time a young Firebender (Commander Zhao) came to his library. "Like that Firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy."

"Knowledge is power and we are in the time of war; so naturally more knowledge means more power to anyone." Gohan thought.

"So, who are you trying to destroy?" the owl inquired as he stared directly at Sokka.

"What? Oh, no, no, no destroying, we're not into that stuff." The tribesman denied.

"Then why have you come here?" the spirit continued to question the teen.

"Um, knowledge, for, knowledge's sake." Sokka replied nervously.

"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it." Wan Shi Tong advised.

"I'm not lying. I'm here with the Avatar, and he's the bridge between our worlds, he'll vouch for me." Sokka assured as he pulled Aang in-between him and the owl before nudging him.

"Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." Aang promised as he and the others bowed to the spirit.

"Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection, on one condition." Wang Shi Tong told them. "To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

Professor Zei knelt before the spirit and humbly presented his piece of knowledge. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library." He said.

"First edition, very nice." The owl complimented as he swiped his wing over the tome, making it disappear.

Katara then stepped forward and did the same. "I have an authentic waterbending scroll."

"Oh... these illustrations are quite stylish." The owl pointed out as he accepted the scroll.

Gohan then came with his own scrolls. "These are some airbending scrolls I gathered from the abandoned temples." He said.

"Ah, such knowledge was thought to have been lost for decades; they shall be safely stored away in my study." The owl said as he took the scrolls from the Energybender. "You seem special boy."

"Thanks," Gohan said.

Next was Aang; the monk thought for a moment before saying, "Uh, oh, I know!" He then reaches into his shirt and pulls out the fire nation wanted posters of himself and Gohan. "Ha!"

"I suppose that counts." The owl replied as he accepted them.

Finally, Sokka was up; the tribesman approached the spirit librarian with a piece of rope and said, "Oh, great spirit, check this out!" he swiftly ties it into a butterfly shape. "Ta da!" Wang Shi Tong just stares at the tribesman in disbelief. "It's a special knot! That counts as knowledge."

"You're not very bright, are you?" the owl comments though accepts the knot. "Enjoy the library." The owl the flaps his wings swoops down the palace below.

As the others go, Sokka stops and looks down to mutter, "Bright enough to fool you." Then followed his companions.

Outside the Library, Icarus was napping beside Appa while Goten was performing fighting moves for training as Toph attempted to make small talk with the bison. "So, you like flyin'?" she inquired and Appa responded by scratching his ear. "Of course, I'm more comfortable on the ground, where I can see." She explained while playing with the sand. "Well, I don't see the way you do. I feel the vibration in the ground with my feet, but this sand is so loose and shifty, it makes everything look fuzzy." Appa gives a loud yawn. "Not that there's anything wrong with fuzzy."

"Aw, how cute." Goten teased her. "You're talking as though he actually understands any of what you just said. You must really like him."

"Shut up!" Toph shot at him. "It's just better to talk to this guy out of the three animals I'm stuck here with."

"Your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me," Goten joked.

"What can I say; it's one of my redeeming qualities." Toph said smugly.

"You can leave out the redeeming part," Goten replied and the Earthbender threw sand at him.

Back inside the Library, the Gang and the Professor were browsing through shelves and reading whatever scrolls, books or tomes they can find while the knowledge seekers were placing the pieces of knowledge they collected away; Zei was holding a stack of books while more adding more, Gohan was sitting comfortably with numerous heaps of books around him as he read one in his lap, Sokka was taking out scrolls and putting them in his bag, Katara was leaning against a bookshelf with a book and Aang was sitting on the ground flipping through the pages. He stopped at a specific page and smiled. "Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things." He said as he showed the picture of an enormous beast standing before a man to friends.

Sokka glanced at the picture. "Eh, I've seen weirder." He commented before walking off.

Katara then came over to the Avatar and said. "Aang, did you know in a past life, you were left handed?" she told him.

"I always knew I was special." Aang replied.

Gohan was looking through a certain interesting book, browsing through different Ki techniques. "Destructo Disk, Evil Containment Wave, Multi-Form…so many new techniques for me and Goten to learn, I gotta show this to him. Hmm, they all seem kind of familiar to me…" he flipped through another page and spotted a two more techniques that really seem to grab his attention. "Kaio-Ken…Spirit Bomb…I know I've seen these techniques before." He thought before reading some more. "The Spirit Bomb is a martial arts technique that requires great discipline and focus which will allow you to borrow spirit energy from grass and trees, from people and animals, from inanimate objects and the atmosphere, and then to concentrate that pure Ki and release it into an attack. If one could learn to master this technique, they could tap into the astounding powers of the Sun'...now this sounds like a useful technique to learn."

Sokka continued to wander around while putting more books and scrolls into his when he came across a case with a glass cover resting on a pedestal containing a scorched piece of paper. "The darkest day in Fire Nation history." He read. "It's got a date at the top, but it doesn't say anything else." He looked around before using his machete to pry the glass open and take the paper out. He then starts to wander off just as the rest of the group came to see him.

"Sokka, where are you going?" Aang asked.

"I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising." Sokka answered as he hurried off. The group went all the way to a doorway a with the fire symbol on a large red tapestry; as they entered it, they saw a room burned down from the inside, only damaged bookshelves and ashes remained.

"Oh no," Gohan muttered.

"Firebenders." Aang said.

"They destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation." Katara stated.

"That's so unfair! Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago." Sokka yelled as he fell to his knees in frustration. "I need to know what happened on the darkest day." He then looks behind him to see one of the fox spirits whimpering to get his attention. "Hello, little weird fox guy."

The fox took a pointer position with its noise facing somewhere down the hall. "Seems it's trying to assist you." Zei said.

"Um, sure, I'll guess I'll follow you." Sokka said and the fox immediately started running off. The Gang followed the spirit to an enormous round entrance with a sun symbol that was locked. The fox entered through small hole in the wall as the others waited. After a few seconds, the door rolled open to show the knowledge seeker at the other side. It then led them into a dark dome where there was a stone pedestal with a lever beside it. The fox pushes the lever, and the ceiling began to rotate, switching from a morning sky to nighttime one. Everyone looked up to see a false sun and moon revolving with their respective skies.

"This room is a true marvel. A mechanical wonder! It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving." The professor said with amazement.

"Uh, this is beautiful, but, how is it helpful?" Sokka inquired.

The benders then looked at the pedestal and noticed three layers containing date symbols with a yin-yang symbol in the center. "Maybe these dials represent dates and times. Sokka, try entering that date from the parchment you took." The Waterbender suggested to her brother.

He quickly shushed her. "Shh! Katara! Not in front of the fox, he's with the owl." The spirit drooped its ears in depression from the tribesman's distrust and walked off. The tribesman cautiously pulled the burnt paper out of his bag, examines it, and enters the date on the tablet. He pushed the lever, reactivating the planetarium; the ceiling continuously went from day to night as everyone watched.

"Wow, I gotta hand it to you Sokka. You picked the best mini-vacation, for sure." Aang commended his friend.

As they continued to watch, Gohan felt something nudge his right leg. He looked down to see the saddened knowledge seekers placing two books at his feet. "Aw, it's okay little guy, don't mind Sokka." He comforted it while petting its head. "So, Whatcha got there?" He picks up the books and looks at the title of the first one. "Groundbreaking Science, by…wait what?!" he pulls the book closer to his face and read it again. "By Son Gohan? I didn't even know I had my own book. What could it be about?" He then glances at the second book title. "Hmm, Legend of the Dragon Ball by Bulma Briefs. Why does that name seem familiar to me?" His attention was taken off the books when the light in the dimmed down a bit. "What happened?"

Everyone looked up to see the fake sun was gone now. "Hey wait, what happened to the sun?" Katara asked.

"Great, you must have broken it." Aang said.

"It's not broken," Sokka stated as he took a closer look. "The sun is behind the moon, it's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Now I get it! Something awful happened on that day, I don't know what, but I do know why!" Sokka started to say excited as he shook the monk. "Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse! Sorry." He apologized after he released him.

"That makes sense. I mean, think of what the lunar eclipse at the North Pole did to the Waterbenders. This is huge." Katara said.

The fox whimpers at Sokka's feet while in a begging position. "Fine, you earned it." He said as he tossed it a treat that it caught before running off. "We've got to get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. We'll wait for the next eclipse, then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless." As the cheery tribesman spoke, he failed to notice a certain enormous figure slowly creeping behind him.

"Uh Sokka…" Gohan tried to warn his friend.

"The Fire Lord is goin' down!" Sokka exclaimed. His expression changed from excitement to uneasiness as he felt something looming over him. He turned around to see the giant owl standing there.

"Mortals are so predictable." Wan Shi Tong stated as he stared down at the terrified group. "And such terrible liars." Sokka gulped, as he knew they were in trouble now. "You betrayed my trust! From the beginning you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes!" the spirit said accusingly.

"You don't understand. If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information." Sokka argued.

"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified?" the Owl shot back. "Countless others before you have come here, seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies!"

"We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love." Aang pleaded.

"And now I'm going to protect what I love." Wan Shi Tong declared as he started flapping his wings, creating an enormous gust of wind that shook the planetarium.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked.

"I'm taking my knowledge back! No one will ever abuse it again!" The Owl answered as he continued to beat his wings.

Sand started pouring into the library as it began to sink. "He's sinking the building! We've gotta get out of here!" Katara shouts.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that!" Wan Shi Tong tells them as he extends his neck and the feathers on his head shift to look like horns. "You already know too much!" He tries to peck at them but the group avoids him and starts to run out of the planetarium with spirit librarian chasing after them.

Outside, Goten, Toph and the animal friends were just chilling when the library started to quake; Appa and Icarus notice this first and roar to get the others attention. "I already told you, I don't want to snuggle." Toph moans before they move and she flops on the sand.

"What's the matter guys?" Goten asked before the two look to see/feel the tower go into the sand. "Oh, no!"

"Library sinking. Library sinking!" Toph yells frantically as she and Goten rush to the building; they pressed their fists against it in the hopes of stopping it's decent but were soon being dragged on as well.

"Toph, the sand's too soft! We'll be pulled in too!" Goten said.

"Hold on!" Toph says as she touches the sand and shifts the density to create a hard spot for them to stand on. The two grabbed the tower again and grunt as they hold it in place.

Back inside, the group continued to run from the angry spirit as it smashed through pillars and chased after them; as they ran past the shelves onto the bridge, Zei stopped and attempted to plead with the giant owl. "Great knowledge spirit, I beg you, do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes!" Wan Shi Tang seemed to ignore him as he prepared to attack but the professor was saved when the Avatar used an air current to pull him to the water tribe sibling. The Energybender then unleashed a Kiai blasted the owl and sent him tumbling down the library.

"We've gotta get back to the surface!" Aang said. The group ran off before stopping when they noticed Sokka wasn't running with them.

"Sokka, let's go!" Katara called.

"But we still don't know when the next eclipse is gonna happen." Sokka said.

"Don't be stupid, we'll find out later!" she told him.

"No, we won't. If we leave this place we'll never get the information." He argued. "Aang, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover. Gohan, take everyone and get out of here!"

"Got it! Be careful guys!" Gohan told them. "Let's Go!"

"But-" Katara was about to argue before Wan Shi Tong burst through the shelves separating the groups.

"Go!" Sokka orders as he and Aang run off.

"Hurry, Sokka!" Katara tells him as she and the others flee from the owl again who chooses to chase after them. As they ran, Professor Zei took a different turn and ducked between the shelves, hiding safely as the knowledge spirit flew past him, he then pulls out another book to resume happily reading while the others are still running for their lives.

Outside again, the benders were still attempting to keep the castle entrance above sand when something was coming towards them. The pets made noise to alert them. "What is it now?" Toph groaned.

Goten glanced behind and saw numerous sand sailors. "We've trouble! More trouble!" he said. The Sandbenders launched waves of sand at Appa and Icarus before surrounding the two beasts.

"Who's there?!" Toph demanded to know.

"It's the Sandbenders again!" Goten said.

Aang and Sokka had managed to make it back to the planetarium and approached the calendar device. "Why are we doing this?!" the monk questioned.

"Because if this calendar can tell us about eclipses in the past, then maybe it can project when the next one will be." Sokka answered.

"You can't possibly check every single date." Aang said.

"I don't have to. We just have to check every date before Sozin's comet arrives, because after that... Well, try not to think about that." Sokka told him as he turned the dial.

The two get work at finding the next eclipse. Sokka sets the date and Aang pushes down the lever; they searched date after date but did not get what they sought and kept looking. After five tries (A/N: Don't really know, that's all I could count.) Aang pleads "Come on, eclipse!" and pushes the lever down one more time. The machine goes and the sun and moon intersect and the sky darkened, they found their date.

"That's it, the solar eclipse! It's just a few months away." Sokka states as he jots the date down. "Got it. Now, let's get to Ba Sing Se." the two smile and run off to regroup with their friends.

The Sandbenders got off their rides and surrounded the flying creatures; they threw multiple ropes onto them, trying to tie them down. Appa and Icarus roared as they fought back as the benders wrapped sand around their feet to keep themselves grounded. "Don't make us put this down!" Toph warned the desert travelers. She was ignored as the Sandbenders continued to restrain the beasts. Icarus fought back hard by snapping the ropes with his horns and jaws but they just tossed more ropes to tie them.

"The Sandbenders are attacking Appa and Icarus!" Goten yelled. "What are we going to do?"

"We're not exactly in a position to do much Soldier!" Toph said.

"We can't let them do this, they're our friends!" Goten argued.

"Your friends, Aang's friends, Gohan's friends! Not really my friends!" Toph said.

"They're like family! We have to do something!" Goten yelled.

"We can't do anything! But you can Goten!" Toph said. "You have to stop those sand jerks! You should be able to handle them on your own!"

"What about the sinking library?!" Goten asked.

"I can hold it up for now til the guys come out or til you're done kicking their butts!" Toph said.

"Are you sure Toph?" Goten asked.

"Don't you want to help them?!" Toph asked. "If so, then don't argue and just do it! That's an order Soldier!"

Goten looks at her and nods before releasing the tower, which went down a bit again but stopped as Toph held it in place. The Son of Goku jumps at the Sandbenders while grabbing his power pole. "Let them go!" Goten shouted as his staff extended and swung it, knocking away one of the Sandbenders. He charged at another one and smacked it on the head knocking him out. He looked around and saw the Sandbenders placing attempting to muzzle them and the flying beats still resisting. "I said let them go!" He rushed at the placing the rope around the Sky Bison's mouth. He brought his pole down on the Sandbender but he was intercepted by the particular desert traveler wearing a different outfit than her peers, using a sword intercepted him. "Get out of my way!" Goten said bitterly. The Scavenger did not listen as she swung her blade at him; Goten blocked the slash and backflipped away before sticking his hand out and using a Kiai. The Scavenger managed to withstand the blast but her mask was torn off in the process, revealing the face of a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Y-You're a girl!"

"You're an Energybender too!" the girl said.

"Too?" Goten asked. The girl answers by using the same move on him, blowing back a bit. "Okay, wasn't expecting that. Look, I don't care who you are but let our friends go!"

"Your friends are going to pay us a hefty sum, so I'll have to say sorry but no!" the girl replied.

"I'm not asking you to let them go, I'm telling you! Now let them go!" Goten said again. "I won't say it again!"

"What's taking so long Soldier?!" Toph inquired.

"I'll be right there Bandit!" Goten assured her before facing his opponent. "Your move Miss…"

The girl pointed her sword at the Son of Goku and replied "Cǎoyào, and I'm afraid words aren't going to be enough to stop us."

"Fine, then you leave me no choice!" Goten said as he drew his staff. He charged at her and brought his weapon down on her; Cǎoyào blocked it with her sword and swung back at him. After a few strikes and counterstrikes, Goten backs away and says, "This is getting us nowhere!" He then puts his staff back and takes a fighting position.

"So you wanna dance hotshot?" Cǎoyào asked as assumed her own stance. After they stared each other down for a few seconds, the woman charged at the Z Fighter; she started off with a spiral kick to the head that Goten easily evaded. She continued her assault by throwing multiple strikes and kicks that were blocked or dodged. Goten jumped up in the air and she jumped after him and proceeded to attack him. "Not bad, but you'll have to do better than that." Cǎoyào told him as they landed back on the ground.

Goten glanced at the Sandbenders still struggling to restrain Appa and Icarus. "She's right. If I wanna save them, I've got to fight back." He thought. He then reared his fist back and threw it forward, creating a gale force that knocked Cǎoyào off balance before rushing at her; he threw multiple punches and kicks that the Scavenger blocked but then he managed to elbow bash her, palm strike her, flipped her over his shoulder and kicked her away. She bounced off the ground before back-flipping back to her feet. "Had enough yet?" Goten asked. "Now let our friends go!"

"Sorry hotshot but we're just starting to have fun!" Cǎoyào said as she started as she entered a specific beast like stance. "Now, get ready to taste the Wolf Fang Fist!" She charged at the Son of Goku, moving with the kind of motion and speed of a wolf. She threw numerous strikes very rapidly; Goten managed to block the first few strikes but was eventually hit with a palm strike to the face, jabbed multiple times and kicked in the chin. He tried to hand chop her but she ducked the strike and jumped into the air. Goten looked up and was blinded by the sun, allowing her to come down and kick him multiple times before finishing with a double palm strike to his chest that knocked him onto his back. Goten glared at the female Energybender and yelled "Burning Blast!" as he fired a Ki blast. Cǎoyào dodged it but kept on firing; she jumped to attack him but Goten managed to blast her, sending her away from him.

"Nice trick hotshot. Now, I've got a trick for you." She said. Cǎoyào then held up her right palm and conjured up a yellow-orange sphere of Ki. "Speeding Chi Bullet!"She threw the energy ball at the Z Fighter; Goten braced himself for the blast but was surprised when instead of hitting him, it dove into the sand. Cǎoyào moved her pointer and middle finger in many directions before the Ki blast came out and pelted him in the chin. Goten rubbed his jaw just as the blast nailed him in the back. The process continued as Cǎoyào pointed her fingers in every direction, directing her attack through the sand to strike Goten before he could react. Eventually, she finished her assault by throwing the energy blast into his chest where it detonated and blew him into the sand. The Z Fighter groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet. "You just don't know when to quit huh hotshot?" Cǎoyào asked.

"Man I wish those guys would hurry up, this girl's tough." Goten thought. "Alright then, time to give this everything! For my friends!" He then cupped his hands together and chanted "Ka…Me…Ha…Me…" as he concentrated his Ki in between his palms.

Cǎoyào raised an eyebrow before giving a wicked smirk. "Well looks like you're about to give me a little surprise, then please let me to return the favor." She said as copied his stance repeated the chant. "Ka…Me…Ha…Me…" A sphere of blue energy formed in both their palms and started to expand. "HAAA!" they shouted as they fired blue energy beams at each other; the beams collided with each other and formed ball energy in between. They pushed against each other appearing to be evenly matched at first but then Goten's blast started to overwhelm Cǎoyào's blast. The Scavenger gritted her teeth as she struggled to stand her ground. "I can't hold out much, guess hotshot's stronger than he looks." She thought before closing her eyes. "Sorry Pa, but there's no other choice." Her body started emitting a fiery red aura and her blast started getting stronger; both fighters poured more energy into their blasts til eventually they exploded, creating a large wall of smoke that blinded Goten's field of vision. Before he could recover, Cǎoyào emerged from the smoke still channeling the red aura while carrying the ferocity of a wolf. She struck Goten even more rapidly than before, hitting every critical point multiple times before finishing with a Ki enhanced double palm strike to his stomach that knocked him into the tower wall and face flat on the ground.

"What was that?! What's going on Soldier?" Toph questioned.

Cǎoyào took a few short breaths before turning away from her fallen opponent and regrouping with her comrades who had succeeded in restraining Appa and Icarus. "Cǎo, are you alright?" one the Sandbenders asked her.

"No worries babe, just a few bruises but I'll recover." She replied. "Now that we have what we came for, let's get out of here."

"W-Wait, you're not going anywhere!" Goten declared. "I'm not letting you take our friends!" The Z Fighter was breathing heavily as he stumbled getting back to his feet.

Cǎoyào raised an eyebrow at the spiky haired teen before scoffing. "You're a lot tougher than I thought hotshot, in this desert it doesn't matter who you are or how tough you are; if you want something you gotta be able to take by money…or by force!" she said while taking her stance again. "Since my usual technique wasn't enough to put you down, let's how you handle this one. Just pray it doesn't kill you. Neo Wolf Fang Fist!" She charged at the weakened fighter and unleashed a devastating barrage of blows.

As she heard the repeated grunts of pain from her childhood friend and the cries of distress from their animal companions, the Blind Earthbender could do nothing as she focused on making the others escaped the sinking tower; all she could do was sadly utter a few words. "I'm sorry guys,"

The vengeful spirit was still pursuing Gohan, Momo and Katara when the Energybender got a feeling of uneasiness. "Something's wrong!" he thought just before he and the Waterbender hid behind a bookshelf; Wan Shi Tong glanced around until he spotted the lemur bat's tail.

"At least I'll have one specimen to add to my collection." The Owl as he steadily approached them.

Gohan quickly grabbed Katara and Momo before jumping to evade the owl's attack. The three fled again until they made their way to the bridge; Gohan released his friends and yelled, "Keep going!" before turning to face the knowledge spirit. "I hate to do this…Masenko, ha!" He fired his signature blast at the giant owl. Wan Shi Tong just stopped and spread his wings out; he body started emitting a white aura, getting the blast to stop right in front of him, condense into a small size and disperse into tiny particles of energy. "How'd you do that?" Gohan inquired.

"Foolish child, I've studied everything there is to know about Ki, as well as every known form of martial arts." the Owl replied. "The very book that I learned it from is in this very library, and you are the author."

"You mean Groundbreaking Science?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, quite a fascinating book, I never thought I would meet the one who wrote." Wan Shi Tong said. "You were a great scholar in another life boy. So while it is an honor to meet you, you are still with those distrustful humans! Perhaps when you're trapped here, you can be one of my knowledge seekers."

"Sorry, not interested!" Gohan said.

"Pity," the Owl said as it lunged towards the Energybender. Gohan fired an energy blast at the ground, allowing him to flip over Wan Shi Tong and land behind him.

"Let's see if I can cause more damage to your library than the Fire Nation did!" Gohan exclaimed before firing energy blast at two bookshelves nearby, setting them on fire.

"NO! My collection!" the owl cried as it flew over the shelves to put out the flames with his wings before they spread.

"I'm sorry," Gohan said before running back to the bridge. As made it halfway, he stopped when he saw the knowledge seeker from before in his path with something round in its mouth. "Look boy now's really not the time to play fetch!" The fox just placed the object down and nudged it to roll towards Gohan, letting him see that it was a small gold orb with three stars in it. "Another Dragon Ball! Guess that makes four, thanks boy!" He was so focused on the mystical orb he didn't sense Wan Shi Tong coming at him from underneath; the giant owl burst out from under the bridge, and grabbed onto the boy's left leg with his beak. The surprise attack made Gohan dropped the Dragon Ball as he flung around and tossed into a wall. He grabbed his leg in pain just as Wan Shi Tong snatched him with his right talon and pinned him to the wall.

"You'll pay for that stunt boy!" Wan Shi Tong said.

"Let him go!" Katara ordered as she brought water from her pouch.

The knowledge spirit was not intimidated "Your waterbending won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern Water Style, Southern Water Style, even Foggy Swamp Style." He told the Water Tribe girl. At that moment, Aang flew over the spirit and dropped Sokka; the tribesman yells and slams a book on the owl's head, knocking him out.

"That's called Sokka style. Learn it!" Sokka tells the giant bird.

The Gang head over to Gohan and helps him up. "Gohan let me see your leg." Katara tells him.

"I can manage, just get going. I'll catch up after I get something!" he replies before going to the edge of the broken bridge where the Dragon Ball landed. He grabbed the shiny sphere and went back to his friends who were climbing to the unconscious spirit to the rope they used to get in; as they went up, Sokka stopped having remembered something, the professor.

"Wait!" he says before spotting Professor Zei sitting at the side surrounded by piles of books and scrolls. "Professor, let's go!"

"I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on Earth." Zei declares as the sand pouring into the library fills up around him. "I could spend an eternity in here." He gives them a smile, assuring them that this is what he truly wants.

After a few seconds, Katara shouts "Just Go!" but before they can go any further, Wan Shi Tong awakens and pulls down the rope. Aang and Gohan catch Katara and Sokka respectively and begin fly upward. The spirit librarian takes flight as well and pursues them again; the owl stays right on their tails as they approach the exit.

Outside, Toph is still holding the tower up when her companions fly out with Aang and Gohan landing on their feet and the Water Tribe siblings land hard on the sand. With her fingers dug into the stone building, the Earthbender forcefully lets go and falls backwards as the library rapidly sinks into the sand. The sinking creates a giant dust cloud that passes over the group; when it does, all that is left of the great library is a large crater. "We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble, now!" Sokka says excitedly as he and his sister embrace. Aang and Gohan start looking around when they notice their animal companions aren't around.

"Where are Appa and Icarus?" the Avatar asked the Blind Bandit when they see her sitting with her hands to her ears, looking depressed. She doesn't respond and simply shakes her head. The brothers then spot the second son of Goku lying on the sand in front of Toph, covered in cuts and bruises.

"Goten!" Gohan cries as he rushes to younger brother and knells beside him. "What happened?"

"Gohan?" Goten says weakly as he looks at his older brother in shame. "I'm so sorry,"

"Where are they bro?" Gohan asked though he already knew the answer.

"They're gone." Goten simply replies. Hearing this made the young monk's face shift to one of shock and hurt as tears fall down his face.

A/N: There, another chapter done! Hope it was good enough. How'd you like my OC? You've all probably already figured out who she is by now. Just to be clear, she won with speedy tactics and skill as those can sometimes determine the winner in battle not just strength alone, and that technique she used was not the Kaio-Ken, unless you guys want it to be, but I prefer it to be the technique Chi-Chi used in DBZ and Super; it's really up to you guys. Stay tuned, more chapter coming as soon as possible. Until then, TTFN AntiHero out!