Aang, Katara, and Sokka felt a pretty strong rush after what they just been through. "Did you see how we took down that Shocker guy!", Sokka exclaimed, "Aang, you were all like, Swoosh! Swoosh! Airbending slice! And Katara you were all, Chill him to the bone! And I was all, Boomerang!" Aang arched a confused eyebrow and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, Sokka, but I don't think you actually did anything." Sokka slouched at that and Katara chimed in, "So you actually like Spider-Man now?"

Sokka immediately went on the defense and replied, "I didn't say that! I just thought it was really cool...how...he took out...that...guy…" Aang and Katara both smirked at each other. Sokka clearly had an admiration that he didn't want to admit. Katara couldn't help but admire the way he threw himself into battle to save an innocent life. She also noticed the way his costume clung to his muscular body. She liked that. A lot.

"Why's your face all red, Katara?", asked Aang, causing Katara to stutter out, "N-No reason! L-Let's f-find someplace to reload our supplies!" Luckily there was a market nearby, but a lot of the stands had been destroyed in the Shocker's attack. The one they went up too was run by an old man wearing shaded glasses and a big smile. "Hi there, true believers!", he greeted, "Welcome to Stan's Stand! What can I provide you with on this fine day? I've got silly scrolls, salty snacks, and the latest Dit-Koh Village gossip!"

The trio were taken aback by the old man's energy. He looked to be almost one-hundred years old, but he had the energy and enthusiasim of a kid. "We'll just take some food, please.", Katara replied politely. "And some information!", Sokka exclaimed with a shifty expression, "What can you tell us about Spider-Man?" Stan's enthusiasm took over again as he responded, "Spidey? He's a real pal. Swings by once a week to buy something from the stand."

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by a loud yell of, "Prabhakar!" The yell came from a middle-aged man with a thin moustache and a flattened hairstyle. It was directed at an approaching boy who was running towards another stand. He was wearing robes of pure white and had a red hourglass shaped mark on his forehead. "Where've you been, boy!", the man yelled, "Work started half-an-hour ago! News doesn't write itself you know!"

The boy looked down in shame and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jinsen. There was another disturbance." Jinsen's look got even more sour, if that was even possible, and he once again shouted, "Disturbance?! The only disturbance I see around here is your tardiness and that wall-crawling menace Spider-Man! The Daily Tsungi Horn prides itself on news that's delivered on time and with nothing but the truth between the pages! When people open their morning scrolls, they're going to know that J. Jong Jinsen is the man bringing them their news!"

The trio were mortified by Jinsen's blustering demeanor. They also felt sorry for the seemingly nice looking boy who was taking it. "Who is that?", Aang asked in disbelief. Stan rubbed his forehead, as though he had a headache, and replied, "That's J. Jong Jinsen: the biggest headache ever to hit Dit-Koh Village. He's the sole proprieter of that newstand of his, The Daily Tsungi Horn. Big Spidey hater too. Keeps calling him a menace."

"Why?", Katara asked, "Why does he hate Spider-Man so much?" Stan shook his head as he answered, "No one really knows. But I think he might be jealous of him, personally. Not many of us have the courage to do what he does. To be honest, I think I can understand how difficult it must be to put on that costume and fight evil. Just because you have superpowers, that doesn't mean your life will be perfect. I don't think having superpowers automatically means there won't be any problems. No matter how powerful you get, you're still human. 'Nuff said! "

The trio were shocked by Stan's speech. He sounded so insightful and wise. Aang bowed respectfully to the old man and declared, "You're a sage in a vendor's clothing, Stan. Isn't he Katara?" But when Aang turned to the girl, he saw that she was gone. Katara had enough of Jinsen tearing into the boy, so she was stomping over right now to give him a piece of her mind.

"Hey!", she yelled at the cantankerous newsman, "You leave him alone!" Jinsen immediately bristled at that and shouted, "Who dares mouth off at J. Jong Jinsen?!" Katara got right in his face and declared, "That would be me! Katara the Mouth Off! And how dare you treat one of your employees so cruelly!"

"CRUEL?!", thundered Jinsen, "You walk up to my newstand and accuse me of being cruel?! How about I just fire Prabhakar and see how well he does getting another job?!" Katara's nostrils flared and she screeched, "YOU WON'T HAVE TO BECAUSE HE JUST QUIT!" The boy was mortified by the conflict that was going between his boss and this girl. "Excuse me, but don't I have a say in this?", he asked. What he got was a resounding, "NO!", from Katara and Jinsen.

With that, Katara grabbed the just fired boy's hand and pulled him away. "And good riddance, you waterbending floozy!", yelled out Jinsen. Katara's face turned red at the insult and she sent a torrent of water from a nearby trough at the cantankerous man. She then froze it, leaving Jinsen trapped in a block of ice. He was left shouting a refrain of obscenities that won't be repeated as Katara dragged the boy away from The Daily Tsungi Horn.

As he was dragged away by this strange and angry girl, Pavitr asked himself, What the flameo just happened?

Next Time: New Friends