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14// After the Makapu skirmish is over, Sneers, The Duke, Pipsqueak, and all the now homeless villagers are headed towards the Hideout. Upon arrival, they are quickly processed either to the infirmary if injured, or to temporary lodgings. Skillet is doing a million things at once to help get everyone in order, and at the same time, looking for Sneers, The Duke, and Pipsqueak, begging the spirits for them to be alright. She spots the Duke first (who has Meng with him ^_^) and then Pipsqueak (with Oto on his shoulders), greeting them thankfully, but asking where the [censored] is Sneers. He trails along behind the herd of folks, watching the rear for followers, and Skillet threatens to beat him senseless for scaring her like that. But he grabs her up before she can, and doesn't let go for an awkward amount of time. One of Skillet's assistants calls for her to come help with something and the bizarre but decidedly amazing moment is cut short.

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15// After fleeing Makapu, Pipsqueak 'adopts' Oto, Meng's assistant, as his new shoulder gremlin.

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16// As they make their way back, Longshot and Smellerbee are also headed back as fast as they can to report what they encountered. They arrive shortly after the refugees from Aunt Wu's village do and Jet decides to prepare for the inevitable attack on the Hideout.

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17// When Bee, LS and 1-Up arrive at the hide-out, Jet is there to greet them; as soon as he and Nikko bump into each other, Jet purses his lips, because the Water Tribe man is familiar, but he can't really place where he's met him. So he asks, "Do I know you…?" 1-Up, in response, pauses before saying, "My mom wanted me to check up on you, to make sure you'd recovered." Jet then has an "…oh!" moment, and all is well.

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18// Following the battle at Makapu, long after the town had been evacuated to the forest, Baifa Shi arrives at the now-devastated village and wonders if he's in the right area. Suffice to say, Meng never takes his test.

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~Chapter 10: "Bishamonten"~

This is it...the final battle.

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1// The Freedom Fighters regroup and prepare to take out the remaining threat once and for all. 1-Up establishes a clinic on the floor of the forest, close to the front lines.

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2// Smellerbee discovers that she's pregnant, a physical impossibility due to being barren (which is why there have not been any Smellershot babies up til now), and tells Longshot.

This ties into the "funny-tasting water that made her stomach tingle" that Bee was given during her stay in the tanks; it's water from the Spirit World, which has healing properties. It repaired Smellerbee's insides and kept her alive despite the fact that she hadn't had any food in months.

Suddenly Longshot becomes overprotective - telling Bee that she needs to stay behind, to keep their kid safe. Smellerbee won't hear anything of the sort, though; she refuses on the grounds that, without her, the Freedom Fighters lose the edge of having their best fighter in the fray. She'd rather go out and fight so their kid has the chance to grow up in a world free of Bish's control, and refuses to let Longshot go alone without her to cover for him. She doesn't want the child to go through life without a father - much like most Freedom Fighters. Longshot eventually consents, because he doesn't want that future either, and begrudgingly  admits that without Bee, they probably would lose the fight.

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3// Before the battle, Wan Shi Tong will have taken to the skies in the natural world; this way he can observe the FFs still debating what to do in the context of Bishamonten's proposition. While he goes mostly unnoticed, he'll be spotted by a young FF as Skillet leads them to the fallback hideout (and dismissed by Skillet as urging her on, saying, "There's no time for bird-watching"), and (for comedy's sake) by Bones.

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4// The Duke shares a tender moment with Meng.

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5// Pipsqueak has a conversation with Oto, talking about how she reminds him of The Duke when he was young.

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6// Skillet attempts and fails to convince Sneers to allow her out on the battlefield, resulting in passionate, desperate, last-minute Snillet:

With all the ruckus of dealing with a rush of refugees, the return of Longshot and Smellerbee, trying to figure out the identity of the attackers at Makapu and the enemy in the giant tank that imprisoned Bee, Sneers has no time to talk with Skillet at all, much less explain himself for earlier, until Bishamonten is practically on their doorstep.  Skillet goes into uber-maternal-protection mode and demands to be allowed to fight, donning her hand-made fighting uniform (almost cosplay-ish ). Sneers intercepts and tells her she's being stupid and will only be killed. Skillet however is dead set on whacking some enemy heads and tries to push past Sneers, only to be grabbed by the arm, to her shock at his grip, and dragged into the kitchen closet/pantry. There, she is forced to listen to him…

Sneers: "You are not going out there. You're going to go be with the kids where you're actually needed-"
Skillet: "Don't you dare tell me that. I've been waiting on the sidelines all my life, not once have I been able to avenge my sister, and now the biggest threat to my new family is out there and I will not be cowering in the-"
Sneers: "Absolutely not, you have no experience whatsoever to-"
Skillet: "I don't care!"
Sneers: "You're insane! You want to die?!"
Skillet: "For the Freedom Fighters, Ye-!"
Sneers: [grabs her shoulders] "Listen, if you go out there right now an needlessly waste your life at the hands of these demented monsters the entire Hideout will suffer from your selfish stupidity. All the people you feed, all the kids you teach, and your incredibly brilliant mind would be lost and I could scarcely be tolerated if you weren't there to make up for my sorry excuse of a proper human being."
Skillet & Sneers: ... *passionate make-out*

So Skillet stays with the younger Freedom Fighters and Sneers goes off to fight the big fight.

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7// Spatula proposes to Pestle:

Scene: Bish is knocking on the FF's doorstep - the time to act is now...but Spatula needs to sort out one last thing before he enters what could be his last fight. The entire scene takes place inside Pestle's house.

Pestle: [Trussed up in her battle armor; she's applying one stripe of red war paint beneath each eye.]

Spatula: [Standing in Pestle's door, armored up and ready to fight] Red stripes, huh? [Head crooked, wearing a warm smirk]

Pestle: [Turns to face Spatula, rolls eyes] I like the color, and I suck with war paint. We can't all be Longshot or Smellerbee.

Spatula: [Walks inside, crossing over to Pestle, grinning sheepishly] Come on, Pest, I was kidding.

Pestle: [Blushing, flustered] Sure. [Reaches over to another pouch of war paint, yellow, turning it over in her hands and staring at it distantly - though her focus is clearly elsewhere] I'm...scared, Spatch. I have been for a long time, ever since Jet announced that stupid conference and...I'm not used to it. I mean, a demon? We're kinda outta our league. Reality is screamin' a pretty clear picture to me. What if...[drifts off]

Spatula: [Lays a hand on Pestle's shoulder] Hey...we're Freedom Fighters. We don't bother with the "what-ifs" and "what-could-have-beens;" if reality screams at us, we scream back. Besides...some things are worth the risk.

Pestle: [Sighs, rubs pointer finger in paint; turns to Spatula and points at the red stripes on her face] Red for Fire Nation. [Rubs streaks of yellow beneath the red] Yellow for your eyes.

Spatula: [Blushes, genuinely touched; turns to Pestle's war paint and picks up two pouches - green and brown; applies green] Green for Earth Kingdom. [Applies brown]. Brown for your eyes.

Pestle: [Blushes, grins] Let's rock. [Turns to leave - Spatula's hand appears on her shoulder and pulls her back]

Spatula & Pestle: [Long, passionate, epic make-out happens here]

Pestle: [Pulls away, blushing heavily, stunned and kinda dizzy (@_@ face)] ...Whoa.

Spatula: [Also blushing heavily, beaming] A gift, before the fight. Because...[glances away, solemn again, doesn't quite say 'because we may not have another chance']. Hey, if we...if we both survive the next few hours...[Meets Pestle's eyes]...let's get married.

Pestle: [!!!!] What...? I - I, uhm - I - [Gives up, helpless smile, hugs Spatch tightly] Yeah. Okay. Let's get married. [Starting to tear up]

Spatula: [Smiles, hugs back, also tearing up] Just consider it incentive.

Spatula & Pestle: [Lean back from each other, though still hugging - meets each others' eyes, smiling, before turning and heading towards the door]

Pestle: You're a real jerk for springing that on me now, of all times. I ****ing hate you. [Grin, laugh, slugs Spatch in the shoulder]

Spatula: [Wince, grin] I wouldn't have it any other way.

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8// Bones approaches Jet, telling how Jet had become Bones' new father figure in the absence of his real father, giving Jet a knife that had Bones' father had passed down to him.

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9// Before the final battle with Bish - for everything Bones put Sheen through in the Reaction side-story, they will have eventually developed a mutual respect for each other. In the face of what could be their final battle, that respect blooms, becomes permeable; while Sheen is confessing his fears to Pepper, Bones will appear near them as if to say the time to fight is now, but doesn't actually (need to) say anything. Sheen looks up at him, nod, and take the initiative (Bones being the more forward one, thus giving Sheen more power in the moment) and says, "Right. Let's go, Bones."

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10// Most non-combatant Makapans and Freedom Fighters are sent to the group's 'fallout shelter,' a series of caves behind the stables near the far edge of the forest.

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11// The combat-ready Freedom Fighters have assembled at the forest's edge. In the near distance is what was left of the tank army, and the squad stationed by Makapu prepare to attack the Hideout from both sides. Smoke from the tanks covers the area.

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12// Bishamonten emerges and walks out from the enemy army, standing half-way between the tanks and the Freedom Fighters. Jet understands the significance of the motion, and goes to meet the demon:

[Bishamonten appears out of the smoke, towering over Jet, decked out in his full armor, and wielding a spear the size of a small tree. After Jet shakes the amazement off, he says,
Jet: "Are you the one who-"

Bish: "I have done nothing. I merely watch."

Jet: [trying his best not to be shaken by Bish's inhuman voice] "Who are you?"

Bish: [Smiles and kneels to Jet, but still much taller] "Bishamonten, the Spirit of war. And you have earned my favor, Jet."

Jet: [backs up slightly] "I don't see how. The war is over."

Bish: [stands back up] "Oh? Then why do I still smell blood when I visit this world?"

Jet: [darkly untrusting] "Maybe you can tell me."

Bish: "I'm glad you ask. You should know who I am granting you victory over, but I'm surprised you do not already see."

Jet: "…?"

Bish: "The Fire Nation."

Jet: "The Fi- you think I'm a fool? Why did my men see demons among the enemy troops? And why would the Fire Nation attack their own colonies?"

Bish: "Not all demons are loyal to me.  In the Spirit World, they have no choice, but here in your world, my power wanes and some of the bolder ones are drawn to individuals, nations, with whom they have… an affinity."

Jet: [angrily] "What do you mean?"

Bish: "The people of the Fire Nation have an unquenchable thirst for blood. They cannot simply lay down their swords and surrender. They fight to the death, and if they cannot conquer this world in all-out war, then they will do it piece by piece, one innocent life at a time. They are demons who would destroy even their own…you, of all people, should know this, which is why I have chosen you, Jet. You have fought the Fire Nation at every turn, with every fiber of your being. Even now your conscience cannot accept the fact that the world has made peace with them when they are still wreaking destruction upon the weak."

Jet: [Just looks down, thinking hard on his words.]

Bish: "For your undeniable strength and undying will, I give you the demon army before you, and a promised victory. Go, destroy the Fire Nation completely."

Jet: [thinks] "(Destroy the Fire Nation…that has been my vow, ever since they took my parents from me. [Insert flashbacks and such] That's what the Freedom Fighters are, after all…to rid the world of the fire-benders. We all learned at too young an age what true pain was, because of them…But the war, it was over wasn't it? We won, and yet…why am I still so full of hate? Is this Bishamonten right? How could he be wrong? He's the war god…the world could be on the verge of an overthrow. This could be our last chance. We could be the world's last hope…But if that's the case…why should he care? [Looks up at Bish suspiciously] It seems like, if he were behind anyone, it would be the Fire Nation, the ones who had the world by the throat for so lo- [His eyes widen in realization.]

Jet: [darkly] "You're not on our side at all."

Bish: [startled by this remark] "I offer you victory and you accuse me of treachery?"

Jet: "You're the Spirit of war, right? Why didn't you hand us victory a hundred years ago?!"

Bish: [says nothing but wears a calm frown.]

Jet: [now furious] "You could have prevented all the suffering and death this world went through, but you didn't! You didn't because you need war. What is the war god without war?!" [Now points his hook-sword at Bish who stands there perfectly still.] We are just your pawns!"

Bish: [after a brief, blood-curdling glare] "Yes, Jet, you will be the pawn that sets this game in motion…" [Bishamonten raises his hand and strikes Jet to the ground before he can react, then screams in his face…]"Yes, pawns.  And you, Jet, will set the game in motion … if not by your will, by mine!"

[Bish is suddenly struck in the neck by one of Longshot's giant long-bow arrows and Bee gives the command to attack. Bish, one hand holding his neck, signals for his army to attack with the other. Bish falls back, slowly disappearing into the spirit world, but never takes his eyes off Jet…]

Bish: [as he disappears] "I'll return for your body when they're all dead."

[Smellerbee rushes out ahead of all the FF's and goes straight to Jet to help him up. Jet is completely dazed and still staring at the place where Bishamonten vanished, even as the enemy army approaches. Blood is streaming from his nose and forehead]

Jet: "We need Aang…"

SB: "There's no time! He could be anywhere! We have to fight! Get up!!"

[SB tries to drag Jet away before the enemy reaches them. Longshot signals for the archers to fire, and they take out the first wave, while the rest of the FF's rush by SB and Jet to take on the next wave. SB finally gets Jet on his feet and helps him stagger back to the tree line where the healer (Nikko? "Huzzah!") and nurses are on stand-by. Jet is finally coherent, but still dizzy and loosing blood.]

SB: "Don't worry Jet; I'll fight for you till you can stand!"

Jet: "Give me five minutes!" [Smirk] (he would totes say that, too.  XD)

SB: [smirks back and rushes off to battle]

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13// Herein, the battle ensues.

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14// Distantly, Aang senses that he's needed, and departs from the Southern Air Temple with Appa, hurrying towards the forest.

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15// Smellerbee carries Jet off the battlefield, where one of the waiting medics carries him to the clinic; Jet is absent for the first leg of the fight.

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16// Upon his return, Jet will save The Duke from taking a hit by throwing his hook swords at the enemy's chest. The action leaves Jet open to attack, and another baddie knocks him prone; in response, Jet whips Bones' dagger out and uses it against whatever's got him trapped. It buys him enough time to get back on his feet and recollect his weapons.

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17// Longshot kills the blue demon in charge of Bish's tank armada, using a longbow made of saber-tooth moose-lion antlers.

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18// Wan Shi Tong, who has been observing the battle from afar, comes to a decision: he dive-bombs Bishamonten, distracting him long enough for Longshot to take a shot at the demon.

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19// Bish is forced to retreat into the Spirit World and uses the water there to heal his wounds. He returns to the natural world by dropping down through the surface of the pond.

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20// During the fight, Smellerbee will discover that one of Bish's men was a Freedom Fighter - clearly, the non-demonic soldiers in his army are the citizens of the towns Bish had destroyed, as well as any other bystanders (FFs included) that happened to be on the scene. Jet gives the order to fall back, preventing any more innocent deaths; non-fatal combat means are used against these soldiers, including Ty Lee's pressure-point combat and Sneers and Spatula's unarmed techniques, providing higher risk to the Freedom Fighters and fighting Makapans.

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21// As hard as she tries to convince Sneers to go out into the fight, Skillet at least deserves some combative action. Enough that she could handle, anyway. Since she holds seniority and works closer to the core than...Mama Marlin is the only one older than Skillet if I remember right...and because she's so durn maternal, Skillet is in charge of making sure everybody gets to the fallback hide-out and all sorts of related jobs. This includes keeping track of everybody, from Makapans to non-combatant FFs...she has a very accurate head-count down. So when two or three young FFs come back to her with a final number, and they all report being short one, Skillet freaks out, and finds out that the missing one is Pepper.

Now, Pepper can only be in one of two places: her house, in which case she should be relatively safe as it's up in the trees, or the kitchen, which was the last place she'd been seen. Skillet's not about to force any other noncombatants to put their lives on the line, and she can't send away the two or three FFs that can fight and are charged in protecting those who can't. (Sort of a super-last-line of defense). So Skillet sets out on her own, determined to make it to her kitchen regardless of what happens.

Cut to the kitchen - Pepper is curled up inside, obviously scared; she hears the sound of a door opening and footsteps, and jolts - but it's Skillet, who managed to make it without incident. After a reassuring, motherly speech about how it's okay to be scared, but they need to be strong for those who are fighting, the two are about to get up and leave - when a stray villager under Bish's control manages to find them. Despite their best efforts, the FFs on the field can't stop everyone from filtering past, and this one has homed in on Skillet and Pepper. Skillet stands up and spreads her arms out, blocking the villager from getting to Pepper - and the villager pauses, unsure, before lunging. Skillet reaches for the nearest cooking tool - a skillet, of course - and takes a wild swing, whiffing but making the villager recoil anyway. Unfortunately, this is where Skillet's clumsiness factors in: she spins, trips, and falls flat on the ground, the skillet skittering away, just out of her reach. The villager, knowing he's at an advantage, moves in - but Pepper, sly, clever girl that she is, managed to sneak around behind him and trips him up. She clambers onto his back and puts him in a headlock (not very effectively, but she's doing what she can - instilled with bravery by Skillet's speech); the villager climbs up to his feet and tries to shake Pepper off, eventually throwing himself backwards into a wall, dislodging her. Skillet has recovered by this point, though; she picks up the skillet and thwocks him across the face with it. He goes down, but he's still moving - so another good whack to the back of the head knocks him out for good, and she gathers Pepper up (without putting the skillet away) and rushes back to the fallback hide-out.

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22// By this point, Bishamonten has mostly separated himself from the center of battle, going after the main cast of Freedom Fighters.

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23// The Duke will throw a bomb at Bish's face - this will cause him to go feral. Another set of eyes appears on the ridge of his brow.

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24// Pestle will get punched into the ground while attempting to Earthbend at him; her arms are broken and Spatula is forced to abandon her to pursue Bish.

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25// Sneers latches onto Bishamonten's leg in an attempt to break it; Bish, being more tenacious, flings Sneers away. Although Pipsqueak manages to catch Sneers, the latter man's leg was broken (ironically) when kicked away, and he is thus permanently out of the fight.

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26// The Duke will set off a bomb too close to himself, disabling him for the remainder of the battle.

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27// Jet, Bee and Longshot will perform hit-and-run attacks; eventually, Longshot will be disabled by a chunk of tree being lodged into his shoulder.

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28// Bish has disabled four of the strongest and most skilled Freedom Fighters in personal combat in a matter of minutes; Jet, Bee, Pipsqueak and Spatula are the only ones left. They manage to inflict some serious damage on Bishamonten, but the demon is still rampaging, showing no signs of slowing down, and the remaining four FFs are being pushed to their limits.

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29// Aang will show up on Appa just in time; Appa head-butts Bish, but the demon grabs the bison by the horns and flings him away. Aang's tattoos glow as if ready to go into Avatar State.

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30// Bish will attempt to retreat to the Spirit World after taking heavy damage from the Freedom Fighters, but Jet will latch onto him and follow.

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31// Bee, Pipsqueak and Spatula, exhausted and desperate, aren't sure where to go from here; Aang tasks them with guarding his body as he uses the forest as a conductor to chase Bish and Jet into the Spirit World.

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32// In the Spirit World, Jet and Bishamonten are engaged in a ferocious battle. Jet finds himself at an advantage, as Bishamonten has been weakened and his spiritual powers are muted while in the Spirit World (similar to how Bending doesn't work). While victory without reinforcements is certainly possible at this point, Jet can still very realistically lose.

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33// Enter Aang. He finds Jet and Bishamonten locked in battle. Bish taunts the two humans, claiming that even if they manage to strike the demon down, another war will eventually break out and he will return, just as powerful as before.

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34// This revelation causes Aang to man up, and with Jet, lands the final blow, killing Bishamonten. Shortly after, a horrified Aang will ask Jet what they'll do in the event Bishamonten returns, to which Jet replies that by the he does, Jet will be dead and Aang will be a different person.

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35// Jet and Aang return to the human world. With Bishamonten dead, the rest of his army has vanished, leaving the Freedom Fighters and Makapans to pick up the pieces.

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36// A 'moment of silence' will permeate the battlefield. Bee, Spatula and Pipsqueak, relieved of their duty guarding Aang's body, take to the field to find their friends and loved ones. Spatula will be wandering the field, trying and failing to find Pestle before passing out from exhaustion; Bones and Hunter can be seen carrying Skins' body away into the forest; Aang, who had mostly been coddled during what he knew of the Hundred Year War, will see the carnage, broken by the true nature of war.

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37// The Duke comes walking out of the smoke up to Pipsqueak with a dazed look on his face.

PS: "Oh, The Duke! I'm so glad to see you're alright! I was getting worried for a minute there and- The Duke? "

The Duke: [just looks at PS confusedly.]

PS: "The Duke…you ok?"

The Duke: [takes off his helmet; a stream of blood seeps from both his ears. Pipsqueak remembers The Duke being blown clear of the battle by one of his own bombs.]

The Duke: "Pipsqueak…I can't hear anything."

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38// Spatula wakes up in the infirmary, with someone next to him going, "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." and kicking him in the shin following that rhythm; he opens his eyes, sees Pestle lying next to him with her arms bandaged up, and he's relieved to see that she's alive.

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39// Skillet will find Sneers trussed up not too far from Spatula, Pestle and The Duke, and chew him out for scaring her; epic face-sucking ensues.

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40// The Duke will ask Meng for water; when she's gone, he accidentally sees Snillet happening and is scarred for life. On a more serious note, he says that "Longshot is the only one he can hear" when the other Freedom Fighters are gathered around him.

We never quite figured out to what extent The Duke's injuries would be. We entertained him being permanently deaf, or deaf in one ear, or eventually making a full recovery. I was partial to deaf in one ear, personally. >_>

And on a side-note, we also considered Sneers' leg too injured to be repaired, in which case he would get a peg leg. Yarrrr.

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41// We discover that Sheen was one of the casualties in the battle; Pepper, Shine and Bones share a moment of civility over his death before Bones retreats to the wilderness.

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~Epilogue~

This happens some time removed from the final battle, varying from two to nine months.

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1// Spatula and Pestle marry.

When everything comes to order with the battle's end, Spatula approaches Jet and tells him point-blank that he'd asked Pestle to marry him (rather than asking Jet's permission, because he's gonna do it whether Jet approves or not), and that she'd said yes. Jet smirks, throws an arm over his shoulder and tells him that they can pick out the booze, and he'll arrange its delivery; this is Jet nonverbally telling Spatula that he fully accepts Spatch as an FF, and that he considers him part of the family, the past tension between the two fully dissipated. Sio also entertained the thought of a custom: when two Freedom Fighters get married, the husband has to build their new house. But since Spatula's a complete disaster when it comes to hammers and nails, and, you know, it's kinda Pestle's job to plan out and build things, they invert the tradition just this once.

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2// Another conference is called in which Jet and a few other Freedom Fighters attend; the presence of the Earth Kingdom soldiers, Ty Lee and especially Aang gives credibility to the Freedom Fighters' story.

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3// Bones removes himself from the main body of the Freedom Fighters, living in the wild in a distant part of the forest, regressing even further into his animalistic nature.

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4// Turtle is born.

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5// The story of the Freedom Fighters is recorded by one of the Makapans that chose to stay with the Freedom Fighters - Poi Poi, who has taken the name Doo-Rag. And so, their legacy will live on through the ages...

:D (Big Grin) — Description
14// After the Makapu skirmish is over, Sneers, The Duke, Pipsqueak, and all the now homeless villagers are headed towards the Hideout. Upon arrival, they are quickly processed either to the infirmary if injured, or to temporary lodgings. Skillet is doing a million things at once to help get everyone in order, and at the same time, looking for Sneers, The Duke, and Pipsqueak, begging the spirits for them to be alright. She spots the Duke first (who has Meng with him ^_^) and then Pipsqueak (with Oto on his shoulders), greeting them thankfully, but asking where the [censored] is Sneers. He trails along behind the herd of folks, watching the rear for followers, and Skillet threatens to beat him senseless for scaring her like that. But he grabs her up before she can, and doesn't let go for an awkward amount of time. One of Skillet's assistants calls for her to come help with something and the bizarre but decidedly amazing moment is cut short.

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15// After fleeing Makapu, Pipsqueak 'adopts' Oto, Meng's assistant, as his new shoulder gremlin.

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16// As they make their way back, Longshot and Smellerbee are also headed back as fast as they can to report what they encountered. They arrive shortly after the refugees from Aunt Wu's village do and Jet decides to prepare for the inevitable attack on the Hideout.

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17// When Bee, LS and 1-Up arrive at the hide-out, Jet is there to greet them; as soon as he and Nikko bump into each other, Jet purses his lips, because the Water Tribe man is familiar, but he can't really place where he's met him. So he asks, "Do I know you…?" 1-Up, in response, pauses before saying, "My mom wanted me to check up on you, to make sure you'd recovered." Jet then has an "…oh!" moment, and all is well.

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18// Following the battle at Makapu, long after the town had been evacuated to the forest, Baifa Shi arrives at the now-devastated village and wonders if he's in the right area. Suffice to say, Meng never takes his test.

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~Chapter 10: "Bishamonten"~

This is it...the final battle.

- - -

1// The Freedom Fighters regroup and prepare to take out the remaining threat once and for all. 1-Up establishes a clinic on the floor of the forest, close to the front lines.

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2// Smellerbee discovers that she's pregnant, a physical impossibility due to being barren (which is why there have not been any Smellershot babies up til now), and tells Longshot.

This ties into the "funny-tasting water that made her stomach tingle" that Bee was given during her stay in the tanks; it's water from the Spirit World, which has healing properties. It repaired Smellerbee's insides and kept her alive despite the fact that she hadn't had any food in months.

Suddenly Longshot becomes overprotective - telling Bee that she needs to stay behind, to keep their kid safe. Smellerbee won't hear anything of the sort, though; she refuses on the grounds that, without her, the Freedom Fighters lose the edge of having their best fighter in the fray. She'd rather go out and fight so their kid has the chance to grow up in a world free of Bish's control, and refuses to let Longshot go alone without her to cover for him. She doesn't want the child to go through life without a father - much like most Freedom Fighters. Longshot eventually consents, because he doesn't want that future either, and begrudgingly  admits that without Bee, they probably would lose the fight.

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3// Before the battle, Wan Shi Tong will have taken to the skies in the natural world; this way he can observe the FFs still debating what to do in the context of Bishamonten's proposition. While he goes mostly unnoticed, he'll be spotted by a young FF as Skillet leads them to the fallback hideout (and dismissed by Skillet as urging her on, saying, "There's no time for bird-watching"), and (for comedy's sake) by Bones.

- - -

4// The Duke shares a tender moment with Meng.

- - -

5// Pipsqueak has a conversation with Oto, talking about how she reminds him of The Duke when he was young.

- - -

6// Skillet attempts and fails to convince Sneers to allow her out on the battlefield, resulting in passionate, desperate, last-minute Snillet:

With all the ruckus of dealing with a rush of refugees, the return of Longshot and Smellerbee, trying to figure out the identity of the attackers at Makapu and the enemy in the giant tank that imprisoned Bee, Sneers has no time to talk with Skillet at all, much less explain himself for earlier, until Bishamonten is practically on their doorstep.  Skillet goes into uber-maternal-protection mode and demands to be allowed to fight, donning her hand-made fighting uniform (almost cosplay-ish ). Sneers intercepts and tells her she's being stupid and will only be killed. Skillet however is dead set on whacking some enemy heads and tries to push past Sneers, only to be grabbed by the arm, to her shock at his grip, and dragged into the kitchen closet/pantry. There, she is forced to listen to him…

Sneers: "You are not going out there. You're going to go be with the kids where you're actually needed-"
Skillet: "Don't you dare tell me that. I've been waiting on the sidelines all my life, not once have I been able to avenge my sister, and now the biggest threat to my new family is out there and I will not be cowering in the-"
Sneers: "Absolutely not, you have no experience whatsoever to-"
Skillet: "I don't care!"
Sneers: "You're insane! You want to die?!"
Skillet: "For the Freedom Fighters, Ye-!"
Sneers: [grabs her shoulders] "Listen, if you go out there right now an needlessly waste your life at the hands of these demented monsters the entire Hideout will suffer from your selfish stupidity. All the people you feed, all the kids you teach, and your incredibly brilliant mind would be lost and I could scarcely be tolerated if you weren't there to make up for my sorry excuse of a proper human being."
Skillet & Sneers: ... *passionate make-out*

So Skillet stays with the younger Freedom Fighters and Sneers goes off to fight the big fight.

- - -

7// Spatula proposes to Pestle:

Scene: Bish is knocking on the FF's doorstep - the time to act is now...but Spatula needs to sort out one last thing before he enters what could be his last fight. The entire scene takes place inside Pestle's house.

Pestle: [Trussed up in her battle armor; she's applying one stripe of red war paint beneath each eye.]

Spatula: [Standing in Pestle's door, armored up and ready to fight] Red stripes, huh? [Head crooked, wearing a warm smirk]

Pestle: [Turns to face Spatula, rolls eyes] I like the color, and I suck with war paint. We can't all be Longshot or Smellerbee.

Spatula: [Walks inside, crossing over to Pestle, grinning sheepishly] Come on, Pest, I was kidding.

Pestle: [Blushing, flustered] Sure. [Reaches over to another pouch of war paint, yellow, turning it over in her hands and staring at it distantly - though her focus is clearly elsewhere] I'm...scared, Spatch. I have been for a long time, ever since Jet announced that stupid conference and...I'm not used to it. I mean, a demon? We're kinda outta our league. Reality is screamin' a pretty clear picture to me. What if...[drifts off]

Spatula: [Lays a hand on Pestle's shoulder] Hey...we're Freedom Fighters. We don't bother with the "what-ifs" and "what-could-have-beens;" if reality screams at us, we scream back. Besides...some things are worth the risk.

Pestle: [Sighs, rubs pointer finger in paint; turns to Spatula and points at the red stripes on her face] Red for Fire Nation. [Rubs streaks of yellow beneath the red] Yellow for your eyes.

Spatula: [Blushes, genuinely touched; turns to Pestle's war paint and picks up two pouches - green and brown; applies green] Green for Earth Kingdom. [Applies brown]. Brown for your eyes.

Pestle: [Blushes, grins] Let's rock. [Turns to leave - Spatula's hand appears on her shoulder and pulls her back]

Spatula & Pestle: [Long, passionate, epic make-out happens here]

Pestle: [Pulls away, blushing heavily, stunned and kinda dizzy (@_@ face)] ...Whoa.

Spatula: [Also blushing heavily, beaming] A gift, before the fight. Because...[glances away, solemn again, doesn't quite say 'because we may not have another chance']. Hey, if we...if we both survive the next few hours...[Meets Pestle's eyes]...let's get married.

Pestle: [!!!!] What...? I - I, uhm - I - [Gives up, helpless smile, hugs Spatch tightly] Yeah. Okay. Let's get married. [Starting to tear up]

Spatula: [Smiles, hugs back, also tearing up] Just consider it incentive.

Spatula & Pestle: [Lean back from each other, though still hugging - meets each others' eyes, smiling, before turning and heading towards the door]

Pestle: You're a real jerk for springing that on me now, of all times. I ****ing hate you. [Grin, laugh, slugs Spatch in the shoulder]

Spatula: [Wince, grin] I wouldn't have it any other way.

- - -

8// Bones approaches Jet, telling how Jet had become Bones' new father figure in the absence of his real father, giving Jet a knife that had Bones' father had passed down to him.

- - -

9// Before the final battle with Bish - for everything Bones put Sheen through in the Reaction side-story, they will have eventually developed a mutual respect for each other. In the face of what could be their final battle, that respect blooms, becomes permeable; while Sheen is confessing his fears to Pepper, Bones will appear near them as if to say the time to fight is now, but doesn't actually (need to) say anything. Sheen looks up at him, nod, and take the initiative (Bones being the more forward one, thus giving Sheen more power in the moment) and says, "Right. Let's go, Bones."

- - -

10// Most non-combatant Makapans and Freedom Fighters are sent to the group's 'fallout shelter,' a series of caves behind the stables near the far edge of the forest.

- - -

11// The combat-ready Freedom Fighters have assembled at the forest's edge. In the near distance is what was left of the tank army, and the squad stationed by Makapu prepare to attack the Hideout from both sides. Smoke from the tanks covers the area.

- - -

12// Bishamonten emerges and walks out from the enemy army, standing half-way between the tanks and the Freedom Fighters. Jet understands the significance of the motion, and goes to meet the demon:

[Bishamonten appears out of the smoke, towering over Jet, decked out in his full armor, and wielding a spear the size of a small tree. After Jet shakes the amazement off, he says,
Jet: "Are you the one who-"

Bish: "I have done nothing. I merely watch."

Jet: [trying his best not to be shaken by Bish's inhuman voice] "Who are you?"

Bish: [Smiles and kneels to Jet, but still much taller] "Bishamonten, the Spirit of war. And you have earned my favor, Jet."

Jet: [backs up slightly] "I don't see how. The war is over."

Bish: [stands back up] "Oh? Then why do I still smell blood when I visit this world?"

Jet: [darkly untrusting] "Maybe you can tell me."

Bish: "I'm glad you ask. You should know who I am granting you victory over, but I'm surprised you do not already see."

Jet: "…?"

Bish: "The Fire Nation."

Jet: "The Fi- you think I'm a fool? Why did my men see demons among the enemy troops? And why would the Fire Nation attack their own colonies?"

Bish: "Not all demons are loyal to me.  In the Spirit World, they have no choice, but here in your world, my power wanes and some of the bolder ones are drawn to individuals, nations, with whom they have… an affinity."

Jet: [angrily] "What do you mean?"

Bish: "The people of the Fire Nation have an unquenchable thirst for blood. They cannot simply lay down their swords and surrender. They fight to the death, and if they cannot conquer this world in all-out war, then they will do it piece by piece, one innocent life at a time. They are demons who would destroy even their own…you, of all people, should know this, which is why I have chosen you, Jet. You have fought the Fire Nation at every turn, with every fiber of your being. Even now your conscience cannot accept the fact that the world has made peace with them when they are still wreaking destruction upon the weak."

Jet: [Just looks down, thinking hard on his words.]

Bish: "For your undeniable strength and undying will, I give you the demon army before you, and a promised victory. Go, destroy the Fire Nation completely."

Jet: [thinks] "(Destroy the Fire Nation…that has been my vow, ever since they took my parents from me. [Insert flashbacks and such] That's what the Freedom Fighters are, after all…to rid the world of the fire-benders. We all learned at too young an age what true pain was, because of them…But the war, it was over wasn't it? We won, and yet…why am I still so full of hate? Is this Bishamonten right? How could he be wrong? He's the war god…the world could be on the verge of an overthrow. This could be our last chance. We could be the world's last hope…But if that's the case…why should he care? [Looks up at Bish suspiciously] It seems like, if he were behind anyone, it would be the Fire Nation, the ones who had the world by the throat for so lo- [His eyes widen in realization.]

Jet: [darkly] "You're not on our side at all."

Bish: [startled by this remark] "I offer you victory and you accuse me of treachery?"

Jet: "You're the Spirit of war, right? Why didn't you hand us victory a hundred years ago?!"

Bish: [says nothing but wears a calm frown.]

Jet: [now furious] "You could have prevented all the suffering and death this world went through, but you didn't! You didn't because you need war. What is the war god without war?!" [Now points his hook-sword at Bish who stands there perfectly still.] We are just your pawns!"

Bish: [after a brief, blood-curdling glare] "Yes, Jet, you will be the pawn that sets this game in motion…" [Bishamonten raises his hand and strikes Jet to the ground before he can react, then screams in his face…]"Yes, pawns.  And you, Jet, will set the game in motion … if not by your will, by mine!"

[Bish is suddenly struck in the neck by one of Longshot's giant long-bow arrows and Bee gives the command to attack. Bish, one hand holding his neck, signals for his army to attack with the other. Bish falls back, slowly disappearing into the spirit world, but never takes his eyes off Jet…]

Bish: [as he disappears] "I'll return for your body when they're all dead."

[Smellerbee rushes out ahead of all the FF's and goes straight to Jet to help him up. Jet is completely dazed and still staring at the place where Bishamonten vanished, even as the enemy army approaches. Blood is streaming from his nose and forehead]

Jet: "We need Aang…"

SB: "There's no time! He could be anywhere! We have to fight! Get up!!"

[SB tries to drag Jet away before the enemy reaches them. Longshot signals for the archers to fire, and they take out the first wave, while the rest of the FF's rush by SB and Jet to take on the next wave. SB finally gets Jet on his feet and helps him stagger back to the tree line where the healer (Nikko? "Huzzah!") and nurses are on stand-by. Jet is finally coherent, but still dizzy and loosing blood.]

SB: "Don't worry Jet; I'll fight for you till you can stand!"

Jet: "Give me five minutes!" [Smirk] (he would totes say that, too.  XD)

SB: [smirks back and rushes off to battle]

- - -

13// Herein, the battle ensues.

- - -

14// Distantly, Aang senses that he's needed, and departs from the Southern Air Temple with Appa, hurrying towards the forest.

- - -

15// Smellerbee carries Jet off the battlefield, where one of the waiting medics carries him to the clinic; Jet is absent for the first leg of the fight.

- - -

16// Upon his return, Jet will save The Duke from taking a hit by throwing his hook swords at the enemy's chest. The action leaves Jet open to attack, and another baddie knocks him prone; in response, Jet whips Bones' dagger out and uses it against whatever's got him trapped. It buys him enough time to get back on his feet and recollect his weapons.

- - -

17// Longshot kills the blue demon in charge of Bish's tank armada, using a longbow made of saber-tooth moose-lion antlers.

- - -

18// Wan Shi Tong, who has been observing the battle from afar, comes to a decision: he dive-bombs Bishamonten, distracting him long enough for Longshot to take a shot at the demon.

- - -

19// Bish is forced to retreat into the Spirit World and uses the water there to heal his wounds. He returns to the natural world by dropping down through the surface of the pond.

- - -

20// During the fight, Smellerbee will discover that one of Bish's men was a Freedom Fighter - clearly, the non-demonic soldiers in his army are the citizens of the towns Bish had destroyed, as well as any other bystanders (FFs included) that happened to be on the scene. Jet gives the order to fall back, preventing any more innocent deaths; non-fatal combat means are used against these soldiers, including Ty Lee's pressure-point combat and Sneers and Spatula's unarmed techniques, providing higher risk to the Freedom Fighters and fighting Makapans.

- - -

21// As hard as she tries to convince Sneers to go out into the fight, Skillet at least deserves some combative action. Enough that she could handle, anyway. Since she holds seniority and works closer to the core than...Mama Marlin is the only one older than Skillet if I remember right...and because she's so durn maternal, Skillet is in charge of making sure everybody gets to the fallback hide-out and all sorts of related jobs. This includes keeping track of everybody, from Makapans to non-combatant FFs...she has a very accurate head-count down. So when two or three young FFs come back to her with a final number, and they all report being short one, Skillet freaks out, and finds out that the missing one is Pepper.

Now, Pepper can only be in one of two places: her house, in which case she should be relatively safe as it's up in the trees, or the kitchen, which was the last place she'd been seen. Skillet's not about to force any other noncombatants to put their lives on the line, and she can't send away the two or three FFs that can fight and are charged in protecting those who can't. (Sort of a super-last-line of defense). So Skillet sets out on her own, determined to make it to her kitchen regardless of what happens.

Cut to the kitchen - Pepper is curled up inside, obviously scared; she hears the sound of a door opening and footsteps, and jolts - but it's Skillet, who managed to make it without incident. After a reassuring, motherly speech about how it's okay to be scared, but they need to be strong for those who are fighting, the two are about to get up and leave - when a stray villager under Bish's control manages to find them. Despite their best efforts, the FFs on the field can't stop everyone from filtering past, and this one has homed in on Skillet and Pepper. Skillet stands up and spreads her arms out, blocking the villager from getting to Pepper - and the villager pauses, unsure, before lunging. Skillet reaches for the nearest cooking tool - a skillet, of course - and takes a wild swing, whiffing but making the villager recoil anyway. Unfortunately, this is where Skillet's clumsiness factors in: she spins, trips, and falls flat on the ground, the skillet skittering away, just out of her reach. The villager, knowing he's at an advantage, moves in - but Pepper, sly, clever girl that she is, managed to sneak around behind him and trips him up. She clambers onto his back and puts him in a headlock (not very effectively, but she's doing what she can - instilled with bravery by Skillet's speech); the villager climbs up to his feet and tries to shake Pepper off, eventually throwing himself backwards into a wall, dislodging her. Skillet has recovered by this point, though; she picks up the skillet and thwocks him across the face with it. He goes down, but he's still moving - so another good whack to the back of the head knocks him out for good, and she gathers Pepper up (without putting the skillet away) and rushes back to the fallback hide-out.

- - -

22// By this point, Bishamonten has mostly separated himself from the center of battle, going after the main cast of Freedom Fighters.

- - -

23// The Duke will throw a bomb at Bish's face - this will cause him to go feral. Another set of eyes appears on the ridge of his brow.

- - -

24// Pestle will get punched into the ground while attempting to Earthbend at him; her arms are broken and Spatula is forced to abandon her to pursue Bish.

- - -

25// Sneers latches onto Bishamonten's leg in an attempt to break it; Bish, being more tenacious, flings Sneers away. Although Pipsqueak manages to catch Sneers, the latter man's leg was broken (ironically) when kicked away, and he is thus permanently out of the fight.

- - -

26// The Duke will set off a bomb too close to himself, disabling him for the remainder of the battle.

- - -

27// Jet, Bee and Longshot will perform hit-and-run attacks; eventually, Longshot will be disabled by a chunk of tree being lodged into his shoulder.

- - -

28// Bish has disabled four of the strongest and most skilled Freedom Fighters in personal combat in a matter of minutes; Jet, Bee, Pipsqueak and Spatula are the only ones left. They manage to inflict some serious damage on Bishamonten, but the demon is still rampaging, showing no signs of slowing down, and the remaining four FFs are being pushed to their limits.

- - -

29// Aang will show up on Appa just in time; Appa head-butts Bish, but the demon grabs the bison by the horns and flings him away. Aang's tattoos glow as if ready to go into Avatar State.

- - -

30// Bish will attempt to retreat to the Spirit World after taking heavy damage from the Freedom Fighters, but Jet will latch onto him and follow.

- - -

31// Bee, Pipsqueak and Spatula, exhausted and desperate, aren't sure where to go from here; Aang tasks them with guarding his body as he uses the forest as a conductor to chase Bish and Jet into the Spirit World.

- - -

32// In the Spirit World, Jet and Bishamonten are engaged in a ferocious battle. Jet finds himself at an advantage, as Bishamonten has been weakened and his spiritual powers are muted while in the Spirit World (similar to how Bending doesn't work). While victory without reinforcements is certainly possible at this point, Jet can still very realistically lose.

- - -

33// Enter Aang. He finds Jet and Bishamonten locked in battle. Bish taunts the two humans, claiming that even if they manage to strike the demon down, another war will eventually break out and he will return, just as powerful as before.

- - -

34// This revelation causes Aang to man up, and with Jet, lands the final blow, killing Bishamonten. Shortly after, a horrified Aang will ask Jet what they'll do in the event Bishamonten returns, to which Jet replies that by the he does, Jet will be dead and Aang will be a different person.

- - -

35// Jet and Aang return to the human world. With Bishamonten dead, the rest of his army has vanished, leaving the Freedom Fighters and Makapans to pick up the pieces.

- - -

36// A 'moment of silence' will permeate the battlefield. Bee, Spatula and Pipsqueak, relieved of their duty guarding Aang's body, take to the field to find their friends and loved ones. Spatula will be wandering the field, trying and failing to find Pestle before passing out from exhaustion; Bones and Hunter can be seen carrying Skins' body away into the forest; Aang, who had mostly been coddled during what he knew of the Hundred Year War, will see the carnage, broken by the true nature of war.

- - -

37// The Duke comes walking out of the smoke up to Pipsqueak with a dazed look on his face.

PS: "Oh, The Duke! I'm so glad to see you're alright! I was getting worried for a minute there and- The Duke? "

The Duke: [just looks at PS confusedly.]

PS: "The Duke…you ok?"

The Duke: [takes off his helmet; a stream of blood seeps from both his ears. Pipsqueak remembers The Duke being blown clear of the battle by one of his own bombs.]

The Duke: "Pipsqueak…I can't hear anything."

- - -

38// Spatula wakes up in the infirmary, with someone next to him going, "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." and kicking him in the shin following that rhythm; he opens his eyes, sees Pestle lying next to him with her arms bandaged up, and he's relieved to see that she's alive.

- - -

39// Skillet will find Sneers trussed up not too far from Spatula, Pestle and The Duke, and chew him out for scaring her; epic face-sucking ensues.

- - -

40// The Duke will ask Meng for water; when she's gone, he accidentally sees Snillet happening and is scarred for life. On a more serious note, he says that "Longshot is the only one he can hear" when the other Freedom Fighters are gathered around him.

We never quite figured out to what extent The Duke's injuries would be. We entertained him being permanently deaf, or deaf in one ear, or eventually making a full recovery. I was partial to deaf in one ear, personally. >_>

And on a side-note, we also considered Sneers' leg too injured to be repaired, in which case he would get a peg leg. Yarrrr.

- - -

41// We discover that Sheen was one of the casualties in the battle; Pepper, Shine and Bones share a moment of civility over his death before Bones retreats to the wilderness.

- - -

~Epilogue~

This happens some time removed from the final battle, varying from two to nine months.

- - -

1// Spatula and Pestle marry.

When everything comes to order with the battle's end, Spatula approaches Jet and tells him point-blank that he'd asked Pestle to marry him (rather than asking Jet's permission, because he's gonna do it whether Jet approves or not), and that she'd said yes. Jet smirks, throws an arm over his shoulder and tells him that they can pick out the booze, and he'll arrange its delivery; this is Jet nonverbally telling Spatula that he fully accepts Spatch as an FF, and that he considers him part of the family, the past tension between the two fully dissipated. Sio also entertained the thought of a custom: when two Freedom Fighters get married, the husband has to build their new house. But since Spatula's a complete disaster when it comes to hammers and nails, and, you know, it's kinda Pestle's job to plan out and build things, they invert the tradition just this once.

- - -

2// Another conference is called in which Jet and a few other Freedom Fighters attend; the presence of the Earth Kingdom soldiers, Ty Lee and especially Aang gives credibility to the Freedom Fighters' story.

- - -

3// Bones removes himself from the main body of the Freedom Fighters, living in the wild in a distant part of the forest, regressing even further into his animalistic nature.

- - -

4// Turtle is born.

- - -

5// The story of the Freedom Fighters is recorded by one of the Makapans that chose to stay with the Freedom Fighters - Poi Poi, who has taken the name Doo-Rag. And so, their legacy will live on through the ages...