Book 1: Discovery

Chapter 1: A New Finding

Jeremy kicked the stone down the street as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He had been walking to school for the past five minutes, and he had been kicking this stone along the ground for that entire time. He gave the stone a solid kick, causing it to shoot across the street, and down a sewer drain. Jeremy sighed, and crossed the street.

A few minutes later, Jeremy entered the parking lot of his high school. Aside from a few cars owned by the staff, the lot was completely empty. This was pretty normal; students usually didn't start showing up until about 7:45. But Jeremy had always been one to appreciate solitaries, and arriving at school 15 minutes before everyone else gave him exactly that. He walked up to the main doors, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open.

Putting his backpack into his locker, Jeremy grabbed his folders, and closed the door as he began walking towards the library. There he would hide out until he had to make his way to his first block class.

"Hey Jeremy! Wait up!" Called a voice from down the hall. First block had just ended, and Jeremy was now heading to his gym class. He turned around to see a familiar face behind him.

"Hey JB." Jeremy said, turning back around. JB was Jeremy's best, and only friend. Despite Jeremy usually acting isolated, and JB always having a very confident demeanor about him, the two always seemed to get along. Neither person was very popular, but they didn't care. Sometimes it only takes one friend to know that you're not alone.

"Dude! Did you catch the season finale of Korra last night?" JB questioned. "It was awesome, and I need to talk to someone about it!"

"I have it recorded. I'm going to watch it tonight." Jeremy responded. The bell rang right as the two boys entered the locker room next to the gym. Walking past the other kids getting ready for class, the two headed to their own lockers.

"Oh man, it was so cool!" JB continued. "Ok, so, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi get out of the spirit world, and when they come bask, they see that-"

"Hey, hey! No spoilers!" Jeremy cut off his friend, with a slight chuckle. "We can talk about this AFTER I watch the episode, ok?"

JB squinted at his friend. "That is too long of a time to wait. Skip class. Go home. Watch episode. Now." He said with a smile. The two friends laughed. Avatar was one of the main things that made these two such good friends. The two had both started watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" when they were eight years old, and immediately fell in love with it. And now, seven years later, they still were enjoying, "The Legend of Korra" just as much. Each friend was also an active member in the fandom, doing everything from writing Fan Fictions, to having shipping preferences. (Jeremy followed Zutara, while JB was a firm believer in Kataang) And while other people tended to make fun of the two for still watching that "kid's show", they refused to get rid of a main ingredient for the glue that held their friendship together.

"What are we even doing today?" Jeremy asked his friend, as they headed out of the locker room, now in their gym uniforms.

"I think we're playing soccer."

"Uhh...again? Doesn't the teacher know that no one here is good at soccer?"

"Apparently not."

The ball sailed towards the net, and was blocked by the goalie just before it went in. Jeremy and JB's gym class was playing soccer outside. And while everyone would much rather play dodgeball inside, it did feel nice to be outside in 75 degree weather.

"But that's the thing." Jeremy continued. "Why didn't Katara offer to heal Zuko's scar again? After the war ended, they could've gone back to the North Pole to get more water from the Spirit Oasis." He and his friend were standing off to the side of all of the action that was happening on the soccer field. And they were, of course, talking about Avatar.

"Maybe Zuko just didn't care about having the scar anymore." JB jokingly suggested, then chuckled. The soccer ball quickly rolled in front of Jeremy and JB, into the possession of a player on the other team, who began kicking it towards the goal.

"Hey nerd-benders!" A kid shouted at Jeremy and JB from across the field. "How about you at least try helping us out here?"

"I would, but you smell bad enough over here, thank you very much." JB muttered under his breath. 'Nerd-bender' was a common name other students used to make fun of the two.

"I don't get why he constantly make fun of us like that." Jeremy complained. "I mean, what does Micah get out of it?" JB looked slyly at his friend.

"He's just jealous that he's not a bender."

Jeremy looked confused. "Dude. We're not benders, either. Bending doesn't exist." He said, chuckling.

"I know." JB responded. "But mark my words; one of these times, I'll try the water whip, and SOMETHING will happen!"

Jeremy just laughed. "Alright, man. You keep doing that. I'll keep trying the air-scooter then." He stated sarcastically.

JB turned around. "Ok, I say it's time we show these jerk-benders how a nerd bender plays soccer! Come on!" He started to jog towards where the soccer ball currently was. Jeremy began walking behind him.

JB arrived at where the ball was, and began running around to try and get in the game. The scoreboard displayed that the teams were tied, with two points each. He ran around as much as he could, but he couldn't manage to get near enough to the ball to kick at it.

"I try to help the jerk-benders like they asked me to, but they still don't let me do anything!" He thought, clearly irritated. Finally, a teammate kicked the ball towards JB, giving him an opportunity to kick it downfield, and away from his team's goal. Winding up, he delivered a swift kick to the ball right as it rolled in front of him. Flying off of the ground just slightly, it seemed to be heading right towards the opposite side of the field. But just before it did, a player on the opposing team launched out in front of the ball, headed it back towards the other goal, and set up an assist, allowing one of his teammates to score a goal against JB's team.

JB stared in dismay.

"Hehe...oops." He began to walk back towards his friend.

"All right, that's it, kids! Let's head back inside!" The gym teacher announced to the class. The students began walking back towards the high school. Jeremy began walking towards his friend, so that he could regroup with him. But as he watched, he noticed something strange.

"Hey nerd-bender." JB heard a voice behind him say. He turned around to find a group of about three of his teammates standing behind him. "You just lost us the game, y'know?"

"Hey Micah." JB responded, not dropping his confident demeanor in the slightest. "Yea, you had said I should come help, so I did."

One of the boys that was standing to the side of Micah quickly walked up to JB, and punched him, right in the gut. Micah slumped down to the ground, holding his stomach in one hand, and supporting himself on the other.

Jeremy watched in shock as his best friend lurched, and threw up on the ground in front of him. Micah slowly lowered himself down towards JB. "You call that helping?"

Jeremy arrived at the scene of the fight. "What are you doing?" He shouted, enraged.

"Teaching your little friend a lesson, that's what." Micah responded coldly. "The idiot doesn't know how to play soccer; maybe this'll be the motivation he needs to get better."

"It's just a gym class soccer game!" Jeremy yelled at him. He dropped down to his knees, next to his friend, and put his arm around him to help comfort his injured ally. "This isn't going to matter in the long run!"

Micah walked up to where Jeremy was kneeling on the ground. Grabbing him by the back of his collar, he hoisted him up, holding him at eye level.

"Stay out of this." Micah growled. He then released his collar, throwing him back down to the ground. But the time Jeremy spent in midair at that moment out on the soccer field lasted incredibly long to him, as if someone had suddenly put the world in slow-motion.

In an automatic action, Jeremy kicked his leg out, in an attempt to make contact with his attacker. However, as he did so, the unbelievable happened; a pillar of dirt shot out of ground, following the path of Jeremy's foot. The three-foot tall column shot upwards, making contact with Micah's stomach, with such force, that it launched him about three feet backwards.

Time returned to normal as Jeremy made contact with the earth. Both he and his target let out a solid "Oof!" as they landed. But, after that, the only sound anyone could hear in that moment of shock and amazement, was the light brush of the wind. No one made a sound. Jeremy was dumbfounded. In a panic, his eyes darted back and forth from the newly formed column of dirt sticking out of the ground, and the teenager who was lying motionless because of it. Without thinking, his mind gave way to an automatic response; run. Stumbling to his feet, he ran, determined to get as far away from the scene of the incident as possible.

JB looked up. His stomach still hurt, but he had stopped throwing up, and that alone helped. As he now took in the scene that was around him, he began putting together the pieces, and came to the unbelievable explanation.

"No way..."

Jeremy found himself in a back alleyway, where he finally stopped running in order to catch his breath. Stumbling around, he managed to make his way over to a pile of boxes along the side of the alley, before falling to his knees, attempting to catch his breath. His chest heaved, it's breathing uneven and labored. Multiples times, Jeremy gasped for breath, unaware that he had been holding the air in.

'I just killed.' His mind thought. 'I just killed Micah. I'm a murderer.' At this thought, his head began to spin again, causing him to fall to the ground. Images of Jet being killed because of a simple earth pillar strike from Long Feng flashed through his mind, but this time, Micah was the Freedom Fighters leader being assassinated. Turning himself around, he rested his back against the side of the building behind him.

"Jeremy?" JB called out, walking down the sparsely populated street of downtown Doyle City. The streets of the seemingly futuristic metropolis were usually filled with countless numbers of commuters, but being that it was currently the middle of both the school and work day, both the roads and sidewalks were practically bare. He turned off of the sidewalk, and continued his search down a side alleyway.

"Where are you, man?" Jeremy heard a voice call out. Turning his head, he spotted his friend at the entrance of the alley. Slowly, he managed to pick himself up and walk his way over to JB.

"Hey." He said quietly. JB turned around to see his friend standing in front of him. Noticing that he was feeling guilt and stress, JB managed to flash a small smile to his friend for comfort. Pointing to a nearby box, he motioned for his friend to sit down. Taking a seat next to him, the two sat in silence for some time.

"Is Micah ok?" Jeremy asked, finally managing to break the silence. He already knew the answer, but he was still holding onto the slim chance that the blood on his hands was not really there. JB looked over to his best friend.

"He's doing alright. He got the wind knocked out of him, but he managed to stand up on his own power before I came looking for you." He said softly. Jeremy was not expecting that answer. He didn't believe his friend, but he didn't feel like arguing at the time, and forced himself to accept that what he had just heard was true. "That seemed to put him in his place, though." JB continued, trying to comfort his friend. "When he asked me where you had gone, he actually used my name, and not 'nerd-bender'." He chuckled. His friend didn't laugh, but he could tell by the subtle look in his eye that relief had just rushed over him.

The silence returned.

"I'm an Earthbender." Jeremy exhaled deeply. "I can bend the earth. Just like in Avatar."

"Yea," JB replied. "I guess you can."

Jeremy stood up, feeling a little bit better now that his friend had shown up. Jeremy and JB rounded around the corner of the alley, turning onto the street. Despite almost definitely being late for their next classes, they knew that they had to at least show up for the class. Stepping up to the stop light pole, JB pushed the button for the crosswalk.

Looking down the street, Jeremy noticed a large black car start its engine, and pull out onto the street, heading towards the two of them. The cross light changed, and the two stepped forward. But before they could, the car quickly switched lanes, and slammed on its breaks in front of them, inches away from the two high schoolers. Taken by surprise, they took a couple of step backwards, away from the vehicle.

The driver's door opened up, and a man, whose long trench coat and mirrored sunglasses matched the paint on his car, climbed out. He turned to the two boys, his face remaining emotionless.

"Jeremy Michaels and JB Callihan?" The man in black asked bluntly. The two quickly looked at each other, both of them equally dumbfounded and nervous.

"Yea, that's us." JB responded cautiously.

"My name is Jared O'Donnell." The man said, taking a badge out of his coat pocket, and held it out towards the teenagers. "I'm going to need you two to come with me."

Now the two were suspicious.

"We-we can't." Jeremy stuttered. "We actually have to get back to school. W-we're already really late for class." Discreetly, he began nudging JB in the arm, urging him to begin walking away.

Jared stepped around the car, cutting off the two teenager's escape route. Reaching up and over his shoulder, he grabbed a handle, and, pulling upwards, produced a long katana, which he held at his side in front of the teens.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice."