[removed spoilers]

Dosu's wounds were treated as best as possible by a few doctors, herbalists, and a waterbender. When he woke up, he was in a thick iron cage. It was pitch black, but Dosu knew where he was. He could hear other men coughing or moving about. He was in one cell surrounded by many others. The man in the one next to him spoke.

"Ah, so you've awoken. How are your injuries, friend?"

"Well they must have some good doctors, because I feel better."

"Nonsense. They just save the good doctors for more important combatants. Silent Walker, I remember your presence here. That felt like so long ago."

"It's been three years."

"Three, has it? Why, that's nothing to me. Every day is an eternity until the fights. I've been here for so long."

Dosu shifted back and sat up against the bars. In the darkness, he could just see the outline of his new neighbor.

"So, who are you?"

"My name's Ridge. I was a former Fire Nation archer. I eventually gave that up to be a mercanary. Not out of a moral standpoint, of course. Merely out of a point of making money."

"At least you're not Fire Nation anymore."

"Yes, I suppose so. I believe this is my punishment for those years of sin and hatred."

"The Dark Pits can warp your mind, pal. Don't start to think. Infact, just DON'T think. The Dark Pits have a feel about them. It creeps up on you, like there's something in the air about this place."

"Oh believe me, Silent Walker, I know. That feeling....is the omnipresent threat that the slavers hold over us."

"Which is?"

"If one were attempt an escape or insurrection, they go to the room down the hall. Noone ever leaves the room down the hall the same way the came in. They are mindless afterwards. The slavers won't use it all the time. It works much more effeciently as a threat. Brainwashed slaves are not very good fighters, so anyone they can't use outright usually just gets sold. They make more profit that way."

"So that's why the kids were seperated from me. The brainwashing would make their bending useless. But, I know of secret....things in Ba Sing Se, from contract work. Their....methods....are not as detrimental to one's fighting ability."

"Perhaps it is more sophisticated. A brainwashed slave is cannon fodder here. Little more. That must be why your friends were sold instead of simply brainwashed. They would be more effective traded out to places where their bending has little or no use."

Dosu wondered why he never liked the Dark Pits. Wide eyed janitorial workers who babbled about and shophelpers that seemed almost out of touch with reality. Men taking beatings on the docks like dogs for the slightest mistake. The women slaves....so submissive, as if they had lost touch with their humanity. Dosu now realized they really HAD lost touch with humanity. And everything that made them people.

"So. Noone ever tries to escape huh?"

"Noone."

"Well. How'd you like to just walk out of here?"

"Silent Walker. We are in underwater catacombs hundreds of feet below the surface. The only way to the surface is via on elevator that works soley by earthbending, which is why only willing contestants are earthbenders or waterbenders. We are watched at all times when we are not in our cells, the only time that being is when we're in the arena, where we're watched by THOUSANDS. Even then, if we somehow got to the surface, we'd have to find someway through thick, omnipresent fog possibly controlled by waterbending security, not to mention getting OFF the top of the island, which would require being able to kill hundreds of staff or workers. Then we need a boat. Noone knows we exist. Noone will come to help us."

"They don't need to. We do it ourselves.

"How? I would LOVE to leave. Really. Ten more years here to earn my freedom is not what I'm looking forward to, but how?"

"The Dark Pits has one rule for slaves: If they request a match with the top combatant and win, then they get to go free. The Dark Pits never goes against it's own rules. Ever. It's the one thing they won't do."

"Beat the top fighter? The top fighter, Silent Walker, is not someone you want to fight."

"Yes he is."

"SHE is known soley as Rev around these parts. She is a relative of the man who started the Dark Pits. She is a firebender of incredible skill. She can even create cold blooded fire."

"You mean lightning? Psh, cheap trick. I've fought a lightningbender before. We were evenly matched. Together we can take her."

"Whoever you fought was not Revy. She can do many strange things. Her powers are insane."

"Well then, I'll do it without you. Because I'm insane. I'm not staying here for nothing. Challengers for leader get whatever weapons they please."

"So?"

"It's time, Ridge, to feel at your top again."

Meanwhile, Itami had just arrived at the Dark Pits with his strange new friend.

"So, we know you've gotten new batches in. Tell me, where are they?"

"Who?"

"They."

"Who are they?"

"My insane, nonsensical ally here is looking for two young teenagers. One can waterbend and the other can earthbend. Their names are Reika and Shungo."

"Hmm....yeah, I know who you're talking about. They WERE going to be sold off, but we just got our new stuff in, so we've decided to test it out on them."

"Stuff? What stuff?" Itami asked, suddenly interested.

"Nothing a psycho like you would be interested in. We use a special contraption to make unruly slaves more uh....ruly. But it wipes their brains clean. No fighting ability or strategic thought remain, so we mostly just use it as a threat to keep slaves in line. But we just got some new contraption in that lets them keep their abilities, but makes them obedient. If it works, our slaves will own the market. No more rebellions, no more unruly behavior. Completey submissive slaves. Ones that always follow orders."

"Cool," Itami said, picking his ear. "But we need the kids. I GUESS you could try out your little machine, but we need em alive."

"We'll be willing to pay to keep any trouble aside," spoke the man called Death.

"Free of charge if you let us use them as test subjects. Besides, we don't want no Fire Nation trouble."

Itami pulled out his brother's scimitar and started stabbing the ground.

"Yeah, yeah. Boring. Kids. Where they at, chief?"

"Well they should be heading down underground."

"Feel like home, Death?" Itami asked as he casually stabbed a passerby in the leg.

Death made no response.

[removed spoilers]

*cough*

Any comments on my post?

A person who posts series finale spoilers as a gag.

Because some people are simple minded and think that ruining things for other people is a funny thing to do.

Double The Pay!

Samei-Water Bender,Assassin

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Someone was talking.Samei opened her eyes half-way.Two men were in-front of her.Samei groaned.Startled the men turned.The first man spoke "Shes finally awake.".The second man walked over to her and asked "Are you the one who brought this criminal to justice?".Samei was too dizzy to respond except to nod."In that case.." he paused to turn around.When he turned back,he had a large bag "Here is your reward."

Samei couldn't even grab the bag,her hand fell from weakness.The first man spoke to the second man,"We should probably take her to get healed,looks like she is injured.".The second man nodded,"He was a fighter.."

Samei shook her head,"No,I am Ok,just a little sore from sleeping on the floor,that's all.".She stood up,fighting the fact that she was in a very bad condition."I have to meet up with someone anyway,good bye" Samei walked out the door before the men could stop her.

"It's a good thing my master tought me how to heal myself." Samei whispered to herself.Samei took some of the earbs she had bought in the market,mixed them with water,and drank it."His special herb juice always works" she whispered.She went to the place where she was to meet the man.Sure enough,he was there.He had fallen asleep in the bushes near the tea shop.

Samei kicked the man lightly,"Wakey wakey" she said.The man woke up,blinked,and stood up."My pay.." she held out her hand.The man nodded and dropped the large bag into Samei's hand."A pleasure doing buisness with you" she said as she walked off.Yes!double the pay,and I didn't have to assassinate anyone else!