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The plan is set in motion. Tango’s group is preparing to head off into the silent hallways further underground where the generators lie. While the other three gather what they need, Tango stands beside Jimmy, both of them nervous about leaving the other and what disastrous consequences this mission might have. Tango’s fiery hair flickers and pops, making his anxiety impossible to hide. Silently, Jimmy reaches down and wraps his hand around Tango’s.
Skizz steps closer to Tango, eyes glancing at the open doorway. “Are we ready to go?” His eyes flick to the Ranchers’ hands and up at Tango’s twitching hair.
Tango sucks in a deep breath and turns to face Jimmy. He parts his lips to say something, anything, but no words come out. His heart hammers in his chest. Whatever he says now could be the last thing he ever tells Jimmy. After a moment of heavy silence, Jimmy smiles, nods, and draws Tango into a tight hug. Tango lets out a sharp exhale and wraps his arms around Jimmy in return. Slowly, they pull away and Jimmy steps back.
“Ready,” Tango says determinedly, turning to Skizz. “Let’s go.”
With one final look at his Rancher, Tango sneaks out of the hideout and into the corridor bathed in glowing lights from bulbs attached to the walls and ceiling with Pearl, Impulse, and Skizz on his tail. Before this, the three of them and the other Listeners had studied the blueprints showing them the way through the compound towards the staircase leading to the generator room. Impulse can guide them to where the hidden entrance is with the help of his earthbending sight.
The first thing they have to do is get through the hallways without being caught by any Watchers. It goes by fairly easily, especially when the booms and crashes of the other groups causing chaos fills the air behind them. The only time they really need to do anything is when a gaggle of Watchers rushes by either to assist their comrades or run in terror from the other survivors.
By the time Tango’s group reaches the location where the blueprints showed the generator room, it sounds like the others have created quite a storm of mayhem in the various areas of the compound. Both Lizzie and Martyn’s groups should have left the hideout by now, leaving Jimmy’s group alone waiting for Tango’s to cut off the power.
“Do you see the entrance, Impulse?” Tango whispers under his breath, turning to look at the earthbender.
Impulse breathes in deeply and nods. Without a word, he steps forward, widens his stance, and pulls his arms apart. Sliding to the side with a scraping sound, the rock disappears into the floor surrounding it, revealing a staircase leading further underground. The hallway beneath the entrance is lit by flickering bulbs hung on the top of the walls and grated vents cover the ceilings.
Pearl moves to stand next to Impulse in front of the staircase and glances at him. “Is anyone down there?”
Impulse is silent for a moment before answering, “I don’t think so.”
Skizz nods. “Okay. Let’s go in and get this job done.”
With that, the group heads down into the hallway filled with the sound of buzzing lights. It’s deadly silent in such a way that sends a shiver down Tango’s spine. It’s ominous, like a graveyard in a way. Pearl flips open the cap on her waterskin preemptively and Skizz slowly pulls the stun glove onto his right hand. They’re all expecting some kind of ambush.
At the end of the hallway, a door waits on the left leading into a room filled with rumbling generators. A metal door blocks their path, but with earthen walls on either side it isn’t too difficult for Impulse to carve their way in, even with the tight squeeze between the entrance and the warm generator. Inside, the right and left walls are lined with three generators each. Wires snake across the floors and walls leading towards the rest of the compound to power the machinery.
“Alright. Let’s get to work,” Tango instructs, lighting a flame in his palm.
Turning to the left, Pearl draws a long string of water from her pouch and bends it into a large pool, sending it to seep inside of the generator. Across from her, Impulse picks a boulder up from the ground and smashes it strategically into the most sensitive parts of the machine. Meanwhile, Tango approaches one of the middle generators and uses his fire like a blowtorch, burning the metal and wires until the machine sizzles and pops angrily.
Suddenly, pounding footsteps rush down the hallway towards them. The escapees have mere moments before the beeping sound of a keycard being accepted on the other side of the metal door plays.
Tango instructs, “Pearl and Impulse keep destroying the generators. Don’t let anything stop you. Skizz, you and I will handle the Watchers. Do whatever you have to to keep them away.”
Skizz nods solemnly while Pearl and Impulse leap into action, attacking the remaining three generators as quickly and viciously as they can. They will not fail this mission. Even if they don’t make it out, none of the others have any chance of getting out of the compound alive without the coordinates that Jimmy’s group will only get if the hallways are doused in darkness. All four of them know what they have to do. They will succeed if it’s the last thing they do.
The metal door swings open and roughly a dozen Watchers pour inside, wielding elements and stun batons. Tango narrows his eyes at the blank purple masks staring back at him. Skizz flexes his hand, electricity zapping between his fingers. Behind him, Tango can hear the sloshing of water, pounding of earth on metal, and shocks from machines begging for mercy.
With a shout, Tango launches into combat with a mighty clap of his hands. Burning flames pour forth from his pale skin in a tidal wave, pushing their enemies up against the walls, their jumpsuits and masks singed and burned. Skizz doesn’t have any hesitation rushing forward with a whoop of exhilaration at Tango’s attack, running up to the closest Watcher and pushing his open palm onto their melting mask. Electricity shocks their entire body until another pulls him off and shoves him back.
Tango turns his attention to the Watchers approaching him. A dagger of ice swings out at his arm, but he holds his burning hand towards it. The ice melts and merely splashes against his dirty vest. Tango pushes his fist out and sends a flaming bolt at the offending Watcher.
A group of five Watchers surround Tango from all sides, but instead of attacking him they just stand there, blocking him from escape. That’s weird. Still, Tango doesn’t have the time to wonder. He narrows his eyes, glancing around at his enemies, before quickly spinning in a circle. The Watchers only have a moment to look at each other with confusion before Tango sends fierce flames whirling from his body. The Watchers cry out in shock and pain, stumbling away and holding their hands up to their crisp masks.
More Watchers have piled into the room, cutting off any exit. Impulse is crowded against the far right wall, throwing rocks at the surrounding enemies while still frantically attempting to finish off the final generator. Pearl is in the centre of the room, only a few feet away from Tango. She fires whips of water and throws Watchers into each other, but it’s not enough to keep them from trapping her in place. Skizz is pressed up against the far wall, punching out at the dozen Watchers that never stop coming and zapping them until they fall. Every time one collapses, another takes their place.
Are all the Watchers in the entire compound here?!
Tango pushes past the Watchers around him, slapping them with hands as hot as coals, in a desperate attempt to reach Impulse. If he can just help and they can get this final generator taken care of then Jimmy’s group will snap into action. That’s all that matters right now.
“Impy, duck!” Tango shouts.
Impulse immediately ducks down just in time to avoid the wave of fire that emanates from Tango’s fingertips, burning the backs of at least thirteen Watchers. Tango launches himself over the smouldering figures and lights his fingers ablaze to help in destroying this machine.
“Well,” an empty voice cuts through the chaos. “This was much more interesting than we had previously thought.”
Tango freezes. He knows that voice. Slowly, his head turns to look at the doorway into the generator room. The three cloaked Watchers stand just inside the entrance, their faces concealed by white masks printed with a purple symbol Tango will be afraid of for the rest of his life. Beside him, Impulse is shaking, the boulder he had been using to smash the generator frozen above his head.
Tango snaps back to Impulse and shakes his shoulder. “Finish it. You have to finish it.”
Impulse swallows and nods, returning to the task at hand, though his body continues trembling. All the Watchers’ henchmen have stopped attacking and are instead standing like guards keeping them from any possible escape.
Tango pushes past the henchmen crowding Impulse into the corner and stands strong before the cloaked Watchers. “You won’t win, you know. Jimmy is going to stop you.” He knows they’ve lost this battle. There’s no way Tango’s group gets out of here victorious. But that doesn’t matter because he knows as long as Jimmy is alive he’ll stop at nothing to save every single one of them.
The left cloaked Watcher laughs emotionlessly. “What will the avatar do when he has no idea where his favourite firebender is?”
Tango growls, his hair sparking dangerously. Before he has the chance to do anything else, dark gas begins to seep from the grated vents lining the ceiling above them with a terrifying hiss. Tango’s eyes widen and he immediately dashes back to Impulse, slams his hands into the generator, and hits it with as high a temperature as he can manage. The majority of the metal melts under his palms. As soon as the gas reaches their faces, all four of the escapees cough for a single second before dropping to the ground, paralysed.
The right cloaked Watcher says, “Carry them to the final room. The test will commence shortly.”
Tango’s eyes widen, meeting Impulse’s frightened brown eyes. He needs to leave a clue for Jimmy, just something so he can find them. Desperately fighting to move any part of his body, Tango’s fingers twitch ever-so-slightly. He slowly turns his palm to the cool stone floor and brings a flame to his fingertip. Out of his peripheral vision, he can see Impulse doing the same. With a grunt, Tango manages to trace out a single word: ‘test’. Beside him, Impulse carves ‘gas’ into the earth.
The Watchers don’t notice as they gather themselves and drag the escapees to another dreadful test. Jimmy will find them. Jimmy will save them. He won’t stop until all of them are safely out of here.
A tear slips down Tango’s cheek.