First Firebending Subskill Part 6
(Aden's P.O.V)
I stood before a barren island, floating in the sky while gazing down on the very familiar landscape. A long stretch of land that was made up of huge outcrops of rock and coral reefs along it's banks. I tightened my hand on the blade I had in my hand. Was this some kind of cosmic joke? The Island was a carbon copy of the same place Aang fought Fire Lord Ozai. It was also the sane place we fought. Silent tears streaking down his face, will broken by the futility of his existence and then me…dealing the final strike. I didn't try to hide from the memories. I let the feelings wash over me. I had accepted my actions. It was frankly speaking, the worst thing I had ever done but…I had triumphed over that. And by god I wouldn't stop moving forward.
Back to the Island, There were no animals or plants, any kind of vegetation really. The most prominent difference between the Island and Aang vs Me battlefield, was the absence of the long river flowing through the center, around some of the pillars from North to South. Everything else was Flashback inducing. Which is why, I was planning on destroying this symbol of my past deeds. To truly embrace my full self through forgiveness and getting rid of the small smidgen of guilt still weighing heavily on my shoulders.
I looked at the blade in my hand. This had initially started out as a way to test the power of the blade but, now it was more than that. Now it was a sort of mini-beginning for me. So, many things had recently happened and it didn't feel like things would get any quieter soon. There was so much to do…but that's my lot in life and I can hardly complain. None of this would be worth it, if it wasn't tedious.
I twirled the blade as best as I could in my hands, adjusting the grip to the point it felt… comfortable to use. I had no expert skills in weapon handling. There were some set moves I could perform with a glider from my Air-bending side of elemental manipulation but that was about it. It didn't mean I was a complete novice however. A sword was three main moves with different combos and angles of infliction. Basically, slash, pierce and block. That could be further split into sub-sets, hack/cleave, slice, parry and many more.
Fortunately I could slash.
I took a stance while in the air and looked down at the ground. The whole Island was about 40 square kilometers. So not too big and not too small. I wanted to first of all test how sharp the blade was. I lost control of my flight and fell down towards the island. My body was aimed at a trajectory where I would fall on top of one of the taller pillars of rock. A death sentence to anyone else but it was exactly what I wanted.
I raised the Rapier above my arms and grunted in exertion. There was a sudden downward action and the rapier bit into the pillar. Like a hot knight through butter, I barely slowed down in my descent, the sword in my hands being so sharp the hard rock had offered no resistance. I slammed onto the ground and bent my knees slightly to stabilize myself. The ground cracked underneath my feet and a cloud of dust rose up.
There was a groaning sound and the pillar infront of me, separated into two huge pieces like a spring onion cut right down the middle, the whole structure fell, each piece to the opposite direction. I slashed out the rapier and the humongous dust cloud was blown away, then with a sudden small twist of the wrist holding the sword, the air changed.
A huge draft of wind, monster tornado to be precise was born, standing at 20 meters and more from the barest of efforts I put in. It hit the closest rock boulders and they shattered, completely worn down. I had unravelled it before it could cause more damage. I had two more tests to do after all and I needed the island for that.
My legs spread out a little while I bent my upper body down, leaning forward. The sword was held close to my hip. I breathed in and then exhaled. Steam escaped my lips, as I accessed my firebending. The familiar warm tug above my groin, growing prominent as I pulled from it. Letting the energy of life and sun and fire fill me from within. Then in a motion that was as fast as I could do, I slashed out.
The sword screamed as it cut through the air, flames appearing along it's surface, dying the blade in a dark orange glow. The fire extended from the tip of the sword into a sickle and then grew longer…and longer. Vwoooop!!! Armageddon descended.
A monster flame cut through the whole island. Slashing down the rocky formations and cleaving apart the pillars and hills. There was 2 minutes where all I heard was the continuous crash of stones on stones. I looked at the blade in my hand… channeling enough power to do that would have probably burned my arms. This…this blade was fucking powerful man.
I flew up for one final test. Looking down on the Island, I couldn't believe it was the same place I was observing a couple of minutes ago. The once barren but rocky stretch of land was cut down to size. All through a single fire slash from my blade. Now to completely get rid of it. I held the sword up and closed my eyes. A huge cloud gathered above me, streaks of lightning and a roiling wind tornado appeared at my beck and call.
Wind gathered before the blade, forming into a massive sphere with sharp air currents all rippling for some action. I pointed the sphere down and then channeled flame into the wind sphere carefully maintaining the shape. The sphere turned blue with licks of flames around it's form.
"Boom."
I intoned softly and released it. Like a missile, the blue ball shot off and slammed onto the island. Judgement day had come.
The whole island disappeared. And with it the last of my guilt.
A whole hour later, I was back at Sanctuary, in my newly created Gazebo. The Sword was sitting on my lap innocently. Giving no indication to how powerful it actually was. I held the blade up.
"I name you Equity." I felt something slot in and became aware of the blade even more clearly.
"For your edges will strike equally. Balance is your construct and I am the agent to enforce it. Equity, the Sword of Order."
(Congratulations!!! Man oh man. You're on fire these days dude! (Sometimes literally) For giving your sword such a cool name, you have unlocked a few more additional skills)
Name:- Equity.
Title:- Sword of Order and balance.
Skills:-
1. Severing Links- Equity has the unique skill to cut off a being's access to their personal energies, granting the user a universal resistance nullifier up until the link is restored once more.
2. Elemental Channelling- Equity can safely and easily channel the user's elemental skills up to and depending on his level of mastery efficiently.
3. Soulbound- Basically, Mjolnir on steroids. You can never lose Equity. And Equity can never lose you. Equity can fly back to it's owner, breaking through the dimensional cracks and universe spanning distances while singing, ' I'm coming home…' You get the gist.
4. Form Shift- Equity is made solely for the Avatar. And the Avatar is a master of ALL the elements. That means, equity should step up too and match that level of power. The Sword has the ability to shift into any suitable weapon form, to better channel each element because every element is innately different.
P.S.- The Sword was made from the brief touch of divinity accessed by the Avatar, The strongest material present to the Avatar State's manipulation and creation and lastly a mental imprint. The Sword can never have another owner. It will follow you even to death and beyond.)
Those additional skills were amazing. I held up Equity and smiled in appreciation at the way it's sharp edge gleamed in the sun. I concentrated and the Rapier in my hand changed into a Katana. The aesthetic was maintained though. A simple design but with the blade glowing red in the light. I willed it to change and laughed in surprise when Stormbreaker, Thor's second hammer/axe appeared. Then Mjolnir. It was missing the familiar rune inscriptions of OG Mjolnir but still my weapon was way cooler.
I tried another iconic form. The Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza's, the demon of the mist' Sword. And because I was testing out sword forms, it wouldn't be complete without Vergil's Yamato from Devil May Cry. The funny thing was just how similar in abilities Equity was to Yamato. They could both cut through space. In Equity's case it was to get back to me but still and secondly they were also fucking powerful. So Yeah. And this is not me trying very hard to make them seem alike. Nope. No sir.
I tried Dante's Alastor which was cool, I looked like a badass Wargod. But my disappointment was immeasurable and my day ruined when I couldn't shift Equity into either Ebony or Ivory. Equity wasn't at a high enough level to shift into anything else other than cold weapons…but the good thing about starting from the bottom was that the only way to go was up. Not a very appropriate analogy but we already established I suck at those.
(General P.O.V)
A portal opened up in the skyline of Metropolis and out of it came a sword. It fell and the handle slammed on top of Superman's head while he was flying, making the Man of steel wince.
"Ow. What the…"
He said, spotting the gleaming and beautiful Katana that was now hovering in the sky.
He curiously flew forward, trying to study the strange blade. He reached out his hand to catch it, but the blade pulled away at the last second, teasingly. Superman frowned. The blade was probably sentient. He used his X-ray vision and balked at how pure the metal used to make it was. It had no impurities and judging from the way a bruise was forming on his forehead, it could also hurt him. What an exceptional weapon.
Come to think if it...he had always wanted a weapon. Ever since he had seen Diana bisect an Appellaxian with minimal effort, Clark had thought blades were cool. He decided to try and catch the sword. Which...proved to be easier said than done. Everytime Superman reached out for it, the blade would evade his grip. It made for a comical scene when The blue boy scout started moving at Supersonic speeds trying to catch a blade that stubbornly refused to be caught.
After Aden had had a laugh, watching from an open Boom tube, he closed the boom tube and wished for the blade to come back to him. Back on earth, Equity pulled away from Superman and in Supersonic speeds made like a shooting star and left the planet behind. Superman didn't follow it. Too embarrassed at what had happened. Equity left the Earth's atmosphere and infront of it a blue shimmering portal appeared. It plunged inside, crossing dimensions and portalling out right before Aden's open palm. The handle first.
"Ok...best sword ever."