Settlement
The iron fortress that imprisoned the earthbenders and many others divided the crystal tunnel into two paths and also acted as a location to guard others against traveling through. Which was a little weird because this fortress was quite far from Phoenix City and the only thing closest to this location was a giant lake and that, too, was many kilometers away.
The walls of the fortress reached the ceiling of the tunnel and had many levels. Just the amount of guards, both normal and benders they had encountered was too much but Nik didn't just consider recycling the entire fortress into Authority Points. No, Toph just made it clear that she could shape metal and so could he... in time. This large fortress could be used for so many things in his personal space.
Fire bending guards weren't that useful to him but Dai Li is the cultural 'police' of Ba Sing Se and its foundation was laid by none other than Avatar Kyoshi. Not only that, their bending style was precise and they only lost out because Nik and Toph were overbearing and ruthless with their attacks. Learning Dai Li's developed bending style would prove useful and Mai could interrogate them proficiently later, too... although, it would get messy... ugh, thinking of it made Nik cringe slightly. He wasn't thrilled by the idea of men ejaculating with Mai cutting and flaying their skin... but hey, better them than him.
Most of the information about Dai Li came from the library and King Bumi himself. But getting a first-hand account from the Dai Li members themselves would prove effective and may allow them to find more prisons. What Nik truly wanted to know, however, was their mind-altering trick. Whether he liked it or not, his situation in the homeworld was much worse than here. Here, Nik had truly established himself as a... powerful rebel. Alright, not that great of identity, but still. Back there, Nik was still a man without a clue about how the basic technology worked... but he had a higher chance of learning everything quickly now. And with the mind-altering trick, maybe he can make some troublesome situations disappear in their entirety.
Nik looked at the fortress. There was no entrance to it. You either patrolled the wide tunnels on either side or within. There were few spots not layered with iron from the inside of the fortress which made Nik conclude that the earthbending Dai Li members used to transport inventory and people through earthbending.
"Let me tear it quickly!" Toph huffed and patted the thick iron-plated wall as Nik ruffled her hair, "Haven't you done enough? No, we're entering this place a bit normally. Alright, you girls know the drill. Strip!"
"Huh?" The 'new' members were slightly stunned as Suki sighed and explained.
Understanding that they were about to change into the outfits of their opponents, Azula couldn't help but snort.
"I refuse to wear someone else's—"
"Wear it," Nik looked at Azula seriously. For a moment, the two of them continue to glare at each other until Azula eventually faltered, "... fine. But this isn't the end."
Actually, Nik realized last night that dealing with Azula was the easiest... if you have 'it' over her, then she would do as you ask. All the token resistance would prove futile. But that didn't make her less complicated. She was one of the most delicate individuals Nik had met with and strangely, she could swing to a mode so sadistic that even Mai would fail to reach upto that level.
Once they entered his personal space and changed themselves, Nik didn't let them out. Instead, he shackled the unconscious guards and Dai Li members with earthen slabs and a few iron chains they had that were used on the earthbenders and finally stripped one of the Dai Li members.
Humming thoughtfully, Nik pressed his hand on the ground, and soon, small pieces of earthen plates covered his hand and covered his hand in a way that the sections of his fingers were left uncovered allowing him to bend his fingers. The Dai Li uses such an earthen glove to capture the opponent by controlling this as another hand but it was clear that it took a lot of practice and precision. Nik had trained in precision with Mai but again, he couldn't hope to cover their years of experience with training that barely lasted a few months at best. He also had to fashion rock shoes for himself that the Dai Li wore to seamlessly slide themselves on land.
The only way he could hope to cover the gap was by practicing various things at all times so that he may have greater versatility and ability to adapt to various situations.
Tunneling himself into the ground, Nik emerged from one of the protected regions as his face hid under the green conical hat as he looked around. From the observation through seismic sense, Nik had found that the fortress had multiple cells around the empty hollow spot in the middle spanned across multiple levels. It was clear that even THIS much must have been quite the cost-consuming task to build the fortress. A good thing Nik was liberating it under a righteous cause... or else, he would have felt guilty for a minute or two.
Looking around, Nik nodded at the guards and stepped away from the square earthen spot when one of the two Dai Li agents stationed there suddenly shot his rock gloves at Nik.
'Hmm?'
Nik frowned, dodging the blow and easily finding out that the other one attacked his feet as he flipped backward while a storm of wind emerged with Nik as an epicenter that shot them both back.
'Was there some kind of secret password?' Nik wondered. Granted they didn't have enough knowledge of how these specific agents worked so Nik finally let out the heavy hitters from his personal space. The outfits they wore proved useless this time because their cover was already blown... but this wasn't their first rodeo and just because there was only metal didn't mean an earthbender like Toph couldn't display her entire strength.
She could make use of metal, yes, but the large boulder Nik took out of his personal space worked wonders.
---
Forced to view the metal sky for years after their capture, a rather substantial crowd of prisoners found themselves under the view of a wide blue sky as a shimmering dome surrounded an are average to a slightly developed city or a large town. Although beaten and bruised and weakened to the point of despair, the men and women in washed-up rags looked towards the man who led them here. The sweet scent of the fresh fruits and grass filled their nostrils and worked the heal them at the most basic and emotional level.
One thing to note about them was that most of the prisoners were older and there were only a few young souls. A large portion of the crowd happened to be deprived middle-aged men and women who had bones sticking against their flesh.
Their once bright and healthy complexion was now sickly pale and dusty.
Sensing their gazes and not shying away from them, Nik looked at them with a hint of resignation himself. Of all the prisons they had broken into, this fortress was the largest and the most well-equipped which meant that these people were subjected to the most advanced manner of tortures and whatnot just to break their will and make them obedient.
Nik didn't even have to persuade them to come here. They looked so tired that they easily agreed to enter his personal space just out of gratitude.
So, Nik didn't expect them to just make their own lodgings and he knew better than to use their prison as their new homes. It would simply be too cruel.
"Do any of you have family members out there?" Nik questioned. Many of them were seated, unable to keep standing for a long time unless the motivation of a whip was utilized.
"Young'n," A rather thin middle-aged woman with her cheekbones sticking out of her sunken face smiled as her wrinkles felt even more pronounced and thus more terrifying. Yet, Nik nodded at her and waited for her to speak, "We all know one 'nother, and a family we are... lads and lasses were lost in numbers in that damned war... maybe some are out there, but the world is wide and most of us are from villages of ashes and blood under the flames of the Phoenix King... we got no-one but ourselves."
"I'm sorry," Nik stated softly but used airbending to spread his voice far into the group as their expression softened.
"My name is Nik... and others will soon introduce themselves at their own pace, too. Right now, I just hope you can settle here and if you wish to leave, I will not stop anyone at any time. This is no prison for anyone aside from my enemies."
"Nik, eh... this here is your land?" An old bald man questioned from the side, "Good lad, fertile land you have here. The scent of the earth is nothing like I've ever smelled."
Nik nodded and looked over at everyone. It would take time to introduce everyone and help them set up temporarily but then again, they had a day to themselves and while Nik stayed inside his personal space Mai and others were outside with all the guards imprisoned on the ground floor in the iron chambers. The fortress was yet to be plundered of its rations and weapons but Nik only had to directly bring the fortress into the personal space.
*Gah*
*Ghhh*
*Mnnghh*
Everyone near the prison cell had a darkened expression and felt that Nik must have known what this interrogation would entail before escaping. There was a stark difference between interrogating a woman and a man and call her a discriminating person if you will but Mai would NEVER interrogate a man using this ability... Never.
"Oh, the stink," Katara scrunched her brows as Mai stepped out with an expression gloomier than ever as her other 'partners' gave her a wide berth and Azula broke into chuckles, "Serves you right, Mai. I wonder if Nik will even touch you after this... hey, in fact, who knows what you did in there. Did you fuck them? Wouldn't be beneath you!"
Mai merely glanced at Azula but was in no mood to enter into a banter with her. Taking a deep breath to calm her irritation, Mai smiled, "Your rebellion is fucked, Azula. You have traitors left and right... congratulations. A Princess of your caliber is the only one capable of fostering traitors."
Azula frowned and scoffed but she wanted to know what Mai had to say yet the master of hidden weapons did not speak any further and looked at Katara, "Would you the honor of drowning me... my eyes are burning because of the stink..."
"Ugh... fine," Katara agreed reluctantly but kept her distance from Mai... and didn't even dare entertain the thought of entering the interrogation chambers for the time being.
"Let's wait for Nik to come out and guard this place," Suki spoke up and looked at Toph, "Can you keep a lookout outside? You're the best person for the job."
"As long as you guys are aware," Toph shrugged.
***
Alternative Title: Cursed Interrogation
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Shoutout to Pierre-Louis, Andiya Bolds and Zeno Jin!!
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