Four Margatian Brothers

Four Margatian Brothers is the origin story about EPF Agent Nick and his three other brothers, Chris, Alex and Jared. When danger strikes, Nick must utilise his newfound abilities to control the element of water, to stop a plot to eliminate all elemental benders and overthrow the Margatian government. Will he succeed or succumb to failure?

Prolouge
"Bring him in."

The guards, big and strong High Penguins, dragged the yellow feathered Zhouese-Peletonium penguin in. He struggled, but all his effort was futile and meaningless as the guards smirked.

Kneeling, he looked up, trying for a smile to hide his pain, his fear. "Lord C-cae-s-sar," he stuttered, "what an ho-"

"Don't try to flatter me. You know why you're here." Caesar was clearly not happy with him

The penguin nodded his head, fear now evidently in his eyes, his face.

"Yang Keng, do you remember the objective of your mission?"

Yang Keng nodded slowly, and began to speak. "To eliminate the chosen among the elite."

"Very good," although Caesar did not seem the slightest bit happy, "It so happens that these chosen are always among the upper classes. It irritates me, and yet it is the truth. We need to destroy all of them. They pose a threat to our goal and our vision. Yet you have failed time and again. This is something I cannot accept."

"No, please! I promise you, one last chance! I'll find them and bring them to you!"

"ENOUGH! YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO THEY ARE AND WHERE THEY LIVE AND WORK! YOU JUST DON'T HAVE ANY COURAGE TO DO ANYTHING!!!! YOU FEAR THE GOVERNMENT MORE THAN YOU FEAR ME, SO IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN THIS!"

Caesar's hollering frightened Yang Keng even more, and he tried even more desperately to plead, which only annoyed Caesar to no end.

"GET HIM OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

The guards dragged the sobbing yellow-feathered penguin out of the room, and a gunshot was heard from outside.

Caesar was clearly not in a good mood, but he somehow managed to compose himself for his next visitor

"Send Abel in."

A white feathered penguin walked in with an arrogant expression on his face. He knelt at the Caesar's feet.

"Lord Caesar, it is an honour."

Caesar studied him. Too proud for his own good. But he would certainly be able to do the job, at least for now.

"Abel, you know what to do. Bring them all to me, and I will kill them one by one. We will send a message to the leaders that we are in charge now. You have a month to do so. Failure to comply, and well...you know what happened with him out there"

There was no fear on Abel's face, only his usual arrogance.

"Certainly, my lord."

Chapter One: Out of the Blue
It's another day, as students stream into the parade square of Wachenburg High School for morning assembly. A large square, surrounded on all sides by the campus buildings, packed with over three thousand students over six years. I slowly squeeze my way through, and join my classmates just in time for the flag raising ceremony. It's been six months since I entered high school, and it was always the same monotonous routine. The anthem begins to play and the penguins in the square falls silent.

"The gates of Margate, standing proud and free..."

The anthem is barely on its first stanza when the PA suddenly shuts down and crackles. As expected, we have to pick up where we left off and sing the anthem on our own.

"United as one, we-"

BANG!

A single gunshot in the air sends everyone into mass panic and hysteria. There are some moving away from the sound, trying to get away from whoever shot it. I start to make a move, but all of a sudden-

BOOM!

Two sides of the classroom blocks facing the square explode, sending debris and dust everywhere. The staff and lecturers try to calm us down and gather us, but the fire alarm drones them out, and more gunshots are heard. Screams are heard everywhere, everyone is lost. I run to a corner and hide, peeking out a little. I can't run anymore, there are masked penguins running in, firing shots into the air, pointing them at the students. There must be at least a hundred of them. The screams are getting louder, the lecturers putting themselves in front of the students to protect them somehow.

What is going on? Why is this happening?

A white-feathered penguin in a white suit picks up the microphone on the flag-raising stage. He smirks, and his voice booms across the square.

"SILENCE"

The square falls quiet.

"Among all of you, there are several whom we want. You know who you are. If you want for the rest of your friends and teachers to die, go ahead, and maybe you'll survive the crossfire. Surrender yourselves, and we'll release all of them. Come up to the stage, and don't even think about trying anything funny.

One walks out, slowly, his facial expressions neutral, as if afraid of showing his fear. A few more come out. They number about fourteen, a mix of guys and girls. The white suit guys smirks in satisfaction, watching.

Alex and Jared, my two other older brothers, walk up solemnly as well.

What do these people want with my brothers?

The stream of penguins finally slows and he frowns, and bellows.

"THERE ARE TWO MORE OF YOU! COME OUT NOW OR ELSE!"

All of a sudden, a guard grabs one of the teachers, and shoots him in the forehead.

BANG!

The deafening ring of the shot echoes through the square, as the grey-haired professor drops dead, still with that same expression of shock in his eyes. The guard lets go of him and he drops to the ground, motionless.

What is going on? Why are they killing penguins? What do they want from those few?

"There you are! What are you doing?"

Chris, my brother, is five years older than me and much more grounded, much more aware, much more ready. I breathe a sigh of relief. He could definitely get help.

"You and I have to go up there, onto the platform."

My expression of relief turns into horror

"What?!? Why?!?"

"Everyone is going to die if we don't want to surrender ourselves to these intruders. I know you're scared, but you have to trust me. Nothing's going to happen to you-"

"THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM!"

Chris' reassurance is cut short and guards flow in, surrounding us within seconds. Two of them grab and and march us up. I struggle to no avail, but my brother does nothing but glare at them, and the white suited penguin.

As soon as we were marched up onto the platform, the sirens of the police fill the air. Help was here. We were saved.

But it was not to be.

Thirty men grabbed us, two to each of us. I tried to struggle, but it was to no avail.

"You see, they're smart. They don't mess around. So you'd better jolly well cooperate or else," one of them, tall and muscular, sneers at me, spitting at the ground, too close to my face.

"Hands in the air! Freeze!"

The police apprehend the other masked men, but they are merely a distraction so the fifteen of us can be taken away in time.

Is there no escape?

Why are none of them trying?

Smart, confident, brave, popular, some of them are. They could try and still stand a chance.

But what's making them lose hope?

The muscular guy whacks me on the head along with everyone else. I'm not unconscious as they intended, only dazed.

Throwing us into the truck, the last thing I we is two of them throwing a big bottle of sleep gas and it releases open, sending the cloudy white gas towards me, drawing me to sleep.

As I sleep, my dreams haunt me.

"FREE USSS!"

"HELPPPP!!"

Voices of my friends, my classmates fill my head. I look up to see all of them, each tied to a pole, struggling but unable to break free.

"BANG!"

One voice is extinguished

"BANG!"

And another

"BANG!"

And yet another.

Voices that are so familiar, yet I can't identify who they are. My heart rate rises as I realise they're going to kill every single person and leave us here, to rot in the dense jungles. I struggle like the rest of them, but to no avail.

Several more gunshots indicate several more die. The screams and pleas for help become louder and louder.

I imagine a knife, cutting me free and I'm released from my binds. It's not a knife, but rather, water. Somehow, I willed the water from the puddles around me to cut me free. And without knowing what I was doing, I sweep the water to the assailant. Mid-air, it changes to ice and hits him in the head.

The ice shatters and returns to liquid, spilling all over a body, gun in hand, lying on the floor. Before I can realise what I had done, someone shoots me from behind.

Chapter Two: Escape
I am awoken by a bucket of ice-cold water, but that still doesn't explain the stabbing pain in my back. Still disoriented, I somehow realised I am tied and bound. Kidnapped.

"Alright, this is the last one."

As my vision slowly clears, I see two of my captors standing in front of me. They looked tired and frustrated, but still managed to put on a scary impression.

"Okay kid, if you cooperate, I can guarantee you you will not be killed. For now at least. Do you understand?"

The largest guys holds me by the collar of my school uniform, now slightly tattered and dirty.

"Where is the temple?"

I look up at them, confused. "What temple?"

"Don't act dumb kid," the second captor growls, "you know where it is. NOW TELL US!"

I look around. I am alone, confused and facing imminent death.

"I SAID, I DON"T KNOW!"

The two of them turned to each other, clearly displeased with my attitude and lack of co-operation. They were still convinced I was hiding something, even though I was clearly not.

A remote was pulled out, and in an instant, I was flipped upside down, the floor below me opening.

"AAAH"

Oh, a shark tank. How nice.

"Now, we'll give you one more chance. TELL US WHERE THE TEMPLE OF THE ELEMENTALS IS!"

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS TEMPLE!" The desperation in my voice is clearly distinct, but my interrogators don't seem to believe me.

The rope holding me is cut in one swift motion, and I fall into the tank.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!"

I squeeze my eyes shut and await my imminent death in fear, but as soon as I hit the water, the sharks back off, and in an unexpected moment, a force takes control of me. My hands are moving on their own, and I have no control, as I watch myself burst out the shark tank and slamming my two captors with bursts of water, knocking them unconscious.

As soon as it began, I regain control of my movements and run out of the room frantically, hoping that somebody can help me.

The corridors are dimly lit and I have no idea how I was going to be able to get out of this place. It is deathly quiet, my footsteps thudding against the floor and my ragged breathing being the only things I can hear. I realize, that from being totally drenched, I am now completely dry. I stop to catch my breath, and reassess my surroundings

"Okay, now we need to find Nick before we can bust out of here..." Chris' voice echoes through the maze of corridors, giving me hope and some sense of direction, none of which existed a while ago.

"Chris? Is that you?" I speak softly, hoping that my voice would reach them instead of any guards looking out.

"We're coming for you! Stay put!" Chris' voice, although more muffled, comes through. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"There he is!"

Without thinking, I begin to sprint down the hall, turning past corners, hoping to shake these guards off. I knew that if I was caught, I would suffer a much worse fate, and this time, there wouldn't be any water or whatever magical thing that was to help me.

RATATATATATATA

These guys were clearly more armed than whoever interrogated me. Their semi-automatic machine guns looked state-of-the-art, and on their clothing and in their pockets I could see a series of knifes and daggers, as well as a pistol. Clearly, they were prepared, and I stood no chance of beating them. All I could try to do is run.

A bullet flies past my head, narrowly missing me. I twist into a corner, and it was a dead end.

Turning around, I see the four guards pointing their rifles at me.

"Kid, you better not move or try anything funny, or we will kill you. Put your hands in the air."

I stopped looking them in the eye, and bowing my head, I surrendered. They had cornered me, what else could I do?

All of a sudden, giant boulders of concrete come flying at them, striking them square in the head.

TO BE CONTINUED!!