Capítulo 10: chapter 7
Much to Ryga's disappointment, just because his new skills were more powerful did not
mean he was any better at manipulating them to actually look like waterbending.
Maybe that was fair; he wasn't, after all, waterbending. But 'mastery of water' was
literally in the description of Surging Strikes. He felt like that should at least give him something.
No such luck. Lessons had not been going well. Which had been normal in his old life,
but in his old life, he hadn't exactly been trying. Now he was doing his best, and it was getting
him absolutely fucking nowhere, and he was starting to remember why he'd never tried trying
before.
"Class dismissed. Your homework is to figure out how to avoid drenching yourself.
Ryga."
Ryga winced at Katara's laughter. She wasn't trying to be mean, he knew that, but it still
hurt. Still reminded him of before.
She seemed to notice she'd hurt him. "I'm sorry!" She jogged up to him as he stormed
away. "Just, you know, you've gotta admit it is a little funny."
"Hilarious," Ryga deadpanned.
"Seriously, though." Ryga didn't like the look in her eyes. Probing, searching. "There's
something different about you, about your bending. Are you..." She hesitated. "Are you even a
bender?"
Ryga quickened his pace, desperately hoping she would believe he hadn't heard her.
Ice Ball.
Devastating Drake.
Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom.
Ryga frowned, looking over his new skills. Ice Ball could be helpful, but he'd been hoping
for a heavy-hitter... Devastating Drake was absolutely fucking useless until he got another
Dragon-type skill, and...
"Holy shit," Ryga whispered.
Ryga had never been very good at taking action. Or doing much of anything at all.
But the moment he unpaused time, he found himself charging forward, right into the
just-beginning battle.
He wasn't sure why. Maybe he knew his new power would grant him victory. Maybe he'd
finally grown a pair after all this time.
Maybe it was just the look of terror on the faces of the people he cared about.
There were so many ships out there, so many weapons of mass destruction in the hands
of cold-hearted murderers. Ryga should have been more afraid than he ever had been. But all
he felt was calm, steely resolve.
He ran to the edge of the shattered wall, leapt forward, whipped his arms around, and
yelled.
Six beams of energy, glowing blue, shot forward from him, forcefully shoving back the
Fire Nation ships. He grinned, watching soldiers scramble over the deck in confusion, the ships'
hulls reduced to dented metal.
Ryga..." Katara whispered behind him, awed. "What... are you?"
Ryga glared ahead, cast the move again, and watched with more self-satisfaction than
he'd ever felt as the few ships remaining unsunk adjusted their course to flee.
"Ryga..."
They had driven back the troops, probably for good. But the fight wasn't over, and Ryga
was the only one who knew that.
"Ryga."
Zuko would be coming soon, and although there was no need to deal with the spirits or
the fish or anything, they would still need to protect Aang. Ryga paused quickly,
double-checking that his PP was refilled, unpaused -
"RYGA!"
Ryga jumped, turned around guiltily. "Katara. Sorry. What is it?"
Katara glared at him. "That's my line! You just pull that crazy power out of nowhere and
expect me to forget about it? That wasn't any bending I've ever seen, it was..." She shook her
head, at a loss for words.
They were standing on the bridge where Aang had gotten the idea to contact the spirits
in the show. Ryga looked out at the moon, took a deep breath. Was it really okay to tell her?
What's she going to do, burn you at the stake? And at any rate, she deserves the truth.
"Okay," Ryga sighed. "Here goes. I'm... I'm actually from another universe."
Katara stared. "You're what."
"I'm not from this world. I got transported here from a whole other life, and I was just
given these crazy powers when I got here, and I don't know why. So no, I'm not a bender." He
leaned over the railing, stared down at his arms. "I don't know what I am other than a normal kid
who got really, really lucky."
"Ryga..." Her voice was quiet. Sounded almost betrayed. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, it's not exactly something that comes up in casual conversation."
"Yes, actually," she said, tone rising, "it is. Because I kept asking over and over about
your old life, and you told me you didn't remember. You lied. Why would you lie?"
"Because I didn't know how you'd react!" Ryga shouted. "In my world, if somebody starts
showing off crazy powers that nobody else has, they get locked up and used as lab rats. I don't
know how things work here, but -"
Katara shook her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "You really had that little faith
in me, that I would just turn you in? And who would I be turning you in to, exactly?"
"I don't know!" Ryga yelled. "I'm not good at taking risks and that's one I really didn't
want to take, and... I didn't want you to see me as different."
"Why would you care?" Katara snapped. "Why would I care? In case you hadn't noticed,
our lives aren't exactly normal to begin with."
Ryga gritted his teeth. "Because I like you, okay? I really like you a whole lot, and I
wasn't going to chance anything at all that might possibly make you not like me."
Katara's eyes softened, but only a bit. "Well. You should've seen this coming, then."
She looked into his eyes for a long moment, and then walked away.
Ryga was a hero.
He had single-handedly saved an entire city from an invading army, and wasn't that
enough? Wasn't that just the pinnacle of every power fantasy he'd ever dreamed up?
Ryga walked through the streets, barely hearing as people called out to him,
congratulated him, professed their undying gratitude. He couldn't stop thinking about Katara.
He had hurt her, hurt her badly. And he knew it was all his fault. He should've told her
from the beginning, should've been up-front and clear that he was not normal. Should've done
so many things differently.
Then again, wasn't this life for moving forward, past any and all regrets? Wasn't it
wasteful for him to be dwelling like this?
Maybe. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had to make this right.
Ryga shook his head, retreating into an alley where finally, people stopped calling out to
him. He needed some time alone to think.
"So, you're the one who decimated Zhao's troops."
Ryga stopped, sighed. He honestly shouldn't be surprised at this point. "Hi, Zuko."
"Ah-" Zuko's voice faltered for a moment. "Hello to you too, false Avatar." Ryga felt a
hand on his back, felt it connect with the burn scars underneath his clothes. "I take it you've had
run-ins with our army before."
"Our army?" Ryga asked skeptically. "Thought you got kicked out." In a way, this whole
situation was a relief. He could vent his frustration onto someone who given the circumstances
kind of deserved it.
Heat started to creep up his back, issuing from Zuko's hand. "Take me to the Avatar."
Ryga snorted. Anyone else would be quaking in fear by now, but having seen the show,
it was kind of hard to be genuinely scared of Zuko. "Or what, you'll kill me?"
Ryga could feel the flames beneath Zuko's skin, just one small movement away from
being free. "How did you guess?"
"Hm..." Ryga pretended to think about it. "Well, in that case..." He spun around, cast
King's Shield just as a fireball came straight for his face. "Nah."
Zuko growled, crouching back into a fighting stance. "Guess I'll just have to make you."
Ryga put his hands behind his back, made a pulling motion out of Zuko's view. He
wanted this to be a surprise.
Zuko lunged forward, held a hand out - and water poured down from it, right into the
ground.
He stood there for a second, staring in disbelief. Tried again, got the same result.
"What..." He shook his head, staring at his hand. "What did you do to me?"
"Don't worry, it's only temporary," Ryga sighed, taking the opportunity to kick Zuko to the
ground. "In the meantime, though..." He leaned over Zuko, noting with satisfaction the way he
flinched away from him. "You are going to leave Aang and all of us alone. Got it?"
The firebender snarled. "Not a chance."
"Hey, Ryga!" Aang said as Ryga walked through the inn's door. "You've been out a while.
Did -"
He broke off when he saw the body slung over Ryga's shoulder.
"Don't worry, he's not dead," Ryga sighed, laying Zuko out on the floor. "Is Katara here?
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "If you're
here to try to apologize again -" She faltered, staring at Zuko. "You got him, huh?"
"Yup," Ryga said. "So... what should we do with him?"
"I say we let him go," Katara said immediately.
"Are you kidding?" Sokka demanded. "This guy has been trying to capture Aang since
day one. Letting him go is the exact opposite of what we should do."
"So what, you want to kill him? And what would that make us, huh?"
"No better than him," Ryga answered before Sokka got the chance. "I think she's right."
"Yeah..." Aang said reluctantly. "I mean, he's just a kid."
Sokka hung his head. "You've all gone insane."
"Sokka." Ryga's voice was firm. "We'll hand him over to the guy he's been traveling with.
I've talked to him, and he clearly cares more about Zuko's safety than anything. Doesn't even
seem too invested in capturing the Avatar, honestly. He'll take Zuko in a boat back to wherever
the hell they're heading next, and they'll leave us alone. Sound like a plan?"
"No!" Sokka shouted at the same moment as Aang and Katara nodded.
"Okay." Ryga slung Zuko over his shoulder again. "Time to go make the delivery."
"Why did you even ask us what to do if you were going to ignore anyone who disagreed
anyway??"
Ryga lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd saved the day, and soon, they would be
jetting off so Aang could learn to earthbend. It was exciting... or at least, it should be.
A knock at the door. "Ryga?" Katara's voice. "You awake?"
Ryga stirred, sighed, got up and went to let her in. "Yeah. What is it?"
"Um..." She looked away, a slight blush coating her cheeks. "I just wanted to say... thank
you. For agreeing with me, and standing up to Sokka."
"I mean, Aang did too."
"Yeah..." She trailed off. "Anyway. I've been doing some thinking, and... I understand why
you did what you did, why you didn't even want me to know. I mean, we don't even know each
other all that well yet. I get not wanting to trust a stranger with something that big."
Ryga hesitated, then took her hand. She blushed harder but didn't try to take it back. "I'd
like to get to know you better."
Katara smiled. "I'd like that too." She looked down at their interlocked hands. "So are
we..."
"Dating?" Ryga suggested. "Sure, if that's okay." He hoped she had no idea how hard he
was trying to play it cool, because in reality, his heart was pounding.
Katara's smile widened. "That sounds wonderful."
She kissed his cheek, gave his hand a squeeze, and walked back to her room.
Ryga watched after her for a long moment, then closed the door and flopped back down
on his bed, unable to keep the goofy smile off his face.
He suddenly had a strong feeling that everything was going to work out great.
SKILL MENU:
PLOT ARMOR
TYPE: N/A
RANKING: N/A
DESCRIPTION: Received upon first entering the System; grants the user the inability to die, as
well as the ability to grant the inability to die to a maximum of three others.
FLIP TURN
TYPE: WATER
RANKING: 2/5
DESCRIPTION: After making their attack, the user rushes back to switch places with a party
member in waiting.
BATON PASS
TYPE: NORMAL
RANKING: 2/5
DESCRIPTION: The user switches places with a party member in waiting and passes along any
stat changes.
RAGING FURY
TYPE: FIRE
RANKING: 3/5
DESCRIPTION: The user rampages and spews vicious flames to inflict damage on the target,
then becomes fixated on using this move.
WATER SPORT
TYPE: WATER
RANKING: 3/5
DESCRIPTION: Weakens Fire-type attacks while the user is in battle.
KING'S SHIELD
TYPE: STEEL
RANKING: 4/5
DESCRIPTION: The user takes a defensive stance while they protect themself from damage. It
also lowers the Attack stat of any attacker that makes direct contact.
SOAK
TYPE: WATER
RANKING: 4/5
DESCRIPTION: The user shoots a torrent of water at the target and changes the target's type to
Water.
SCALD
TYPE: WATER
RANKING: 3/5
DESCRIPTION: The user shoots boiling hot water at its target. This may also leave the target
with a burn.
SURGING STRIKES
TYPE: WATER
RANKING: 5/5
DESCRIPTION: The user, having mastered the Water style, strikes the target with a flowing
motion three times in a row. This attack always results in a critical hit.
ICE BALL
TYPE: ICE
RANKING: 3/5
DESCRIPTION: The user attacks the target for five turns. The move's power increases each
time it hits.
DEVASTATING DRAKE
TYPE: DRAGON
RANKING: 5/5
DESCRIPTION: The user materializes their aura using its Z-Power and attacks the target with
full force. The power varies, depending on the original move.
MENACING MOONRAZE MAELSTROM
TYPE: GHOST
RANKING: 5/5
DESCRIPTION: After obtaining Z-Power, the user attacks the target with full force.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder