Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar characters, places, items etc.

-Prologue-

The Fall of the Avatar

The door burst down, a blast of air shooting out from behind it and whipping the Fire Lord in his face, but still he remained nonchalant as he sat in his cross-legged pose. Out of the open doorframe came a man, about the age of fifteen. He was bald, clad in loose, orange clothes, and he bore a long sky-blue arrow tattoo that snaked from the crown of his head, down his back, to each of his hands and legs. But the Fire Lord knew who this was: He was Aang, the last of the Air Nomads, and the Avatar.

Aang stood ferociously, his staff pointed towards the calm Fire Lord, who slowly stood up, as if he was alone. But then, in a quick movement, an electric-blue bolt of fire was in the air, and the Fire Lord's robes had fallen to reveal a streamlined crimson set of armor.

Aang swung his staff, and the fireball spread and spun around his body, and then when the staff finished it spin, the ball was catapulted back at Ozai. Ozai flicked his wrist, and the fireball disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then with a quick circular motion, a thick stream of lightning rocketed towards the Avatar, casting an eerie electric-blue light in the long hall.

Aang stomped on the ground, ripping a wall of stone from the floor. The bolt connected with the rock wall and dissipated with a sharp crackle. Then with a sideways kick, the wall was sent shooting towards Ozai. The Fire Lord leapt nimbly to the air, and then the speeding wall of stone struck the scarlet throne.

Out of the air came bolt after bolt of lightning, all of them shooting towards the Air Nomad. Aang was amazed, it had taken him years to master lightning generation, and still he couldn't summon it at the blinding speed that Ozai could. But Aang dodged the bolts, the bright jets of lightning exploded right by Aang's feet. But then came a bolt, shooting right towards Aang, he didn't have time to dodge it, so he made a split-second decision, and pointed his fingers towards the lightning, and as they struck the tips of his fingers, he felt his arms warm up and tingle, like a million pins and needles as the energy flowed down his outstretched arms. Then he swooped downwards, the sensation spreading to his stomach, and then back out his fingers, and into the open door, an old statue exploding behind him.

Ozai landed nimbly and stood up quickly, holding a ready position. Then they began to circle. Both of them breathed heavily; sweat already pouring down their foreheads.

"I see my brother has got to you," He said, a wicked smile spread across his thin lips. "He had always prided himself with that technique."

Aang wasn't here to talk, so he pulled his arms down in the air, and a circular wall of stone fell down towards Ozai, who countered the attack by jabbing through the stone wall with a stream of blue fire that melted through the stone of wall, the rest of the circular plate landing around him with a heavy thud. With a quick step, he leapt off the rock circle and into the air, a stream of fire enveloping his leg, outstretched and flying towards Aang's chest.

Aang waved his hands in a complex move, spinning and stepping many times, and then, a thick stream of water condensed from the air, and circled Aang. As Ozai's foot passed through the watery wall, the fire disappeared, and Aang trapped his leg in a lock position, and then slammed him against the wall, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending a jet of pain down his spine. Quickly recuperating, the Fire Lord leapt off the wall, driving his elbow into Aang's chest, winding him as well.

Soon they were both on the ground, and in a desperate attempt to escape Ozai, he sunk himself under the stone ground of the palace. Ozai leapt up with blinding speed, looking around for the Avatar. Then, time seemed to freeze, the earth shook and a thunderous rumbling came from under the palace. Ozai's eyes dilated with fear and his skin paled to a deathly white shade.

Then the ground exploded.

A mass of stone, debris and bits of crimson red decoration shot off into the air. A massive explosion of air knocked Ozai off his feet and sent him spinning into the air like a helpless ant in a hurricane.

Out of the wreckage, in a ball of gyrating air, hovered Aang, his tattoos and eyes glowing more brightly than ever, casting a pale aura around him. Then he dropped to the ground, clearing the colossal pile of debris that was formerly the Fire Nation palace with a flick of his hand. Then with one stomp, he formed a circle of stone: an arena.

A few meters away from the glowing Avatar, was Ozai, who quickly jumped back onto his feet. Aang almost laughed as he saw the Fire Lord's face, it was showing, for probably the first time ever, fear. But he quickly retained his passively malevolent expression, and readied himself for the battle of a lifetime.

With lightning speed, the young teen swiped his hands, and the tiles of the ground shook up and down, disrupting Ozai's balance, and with a swift punch, a gargantuan gust of wind blew from behind him, the trees and grass of the nearby garden shaking violently, almost being pulled from the ground.

Ozai tumbled to the ground and dug his fingers into the ground, and propelled himself into the air with defiant stomp, bursts of fire shooting from the soles of his boots. But as he grew airborne, he realized how futile his attempt was, and stopped struggling, and fell back and disappeared into the background.

Surprised, Aang released his grip on the wind, the trees resuming their normal, erect position. But this short lapse of concentration gave Ozai a momentary advantage. Suddenly, the ground around the ring set ablaze with forty foot tall flames, and out of them flew Ozai, his hair sweat-slicked over his face, numerous bloody cuts adorning his alabaster face.



The air now gained a thick stench of smoke, and the heat grew unbearable. The sweat sparkled on both of the men's faces as they stood as steadily as they could. The fire crackled loudly, deafening everything else and then Ozai spun, two tendrils of fire from the behemoth of a wall enveloping his slim figure. Then he outstretched his arms, two long blasts of fire sped towards Aang. But he punched through both of them without much effort, and countered the attack by collapsing the entire wall of fire onto Ozai.

The attack was massive, the heat disappeared, and the musty air seemed cold to Aang, but Ozai had it different. The wall of fire fell on him like petals of a flower closing for the winter, and Ozai hadn't any chance of protecting himself. So he created a circle of fire, attempting with futility to survive. And then the walls of fire were upon him.

They streamed around the dome of protective fire, like a dam of water breaking they covered the entire field, excepting a small circle around Aang. Once the fire died away, the glow disappeared from Aang's eyes and tattoos. He stepped forwards to Ozai's laboriously breathing body.

He knelt over the man and raised his fist high in the air, a ball of fire enveloping the fist.

"This is for Katara…" He said, one tear streaming down his cheek. And then he dropped the fist.

But before the strike landed, Ozai jabbed his fist into Aang's gut. He felt the fire burn through his organs, and his own fire died away. The last thing he ever saw was Ozai's grinning face.