Avatar: Brave New World #2: Welcome to the New Age Part Two

The Rat Viper

By Jade Amaterasu

As you probably know, Sensei, most stories will probably do their reports on "The Most Interesting Person in the Hundred Year's War" on Fire Lord Zuko the Great. So maybe you'd want a paper on someone more interesting? What's that? If I deviate from the herd, I'll be sent to a re-education camp? Well, then I suppose I'll write you a paper on Prince Zuko the Soon-To-Be-Great and how he got that way. For myself, I'll write something about Azula.

Now, I don't really want to be Azula. She was betrayed by the only people she ever considered friends, driven insane, and disappeared after the war, only to wind up dead and friendless in a forgotten corner of the world. She has been called Fire Lord Ozai's pet Rat Viper, Azula the cruel, Azula the Terrible, Azula the Mad, Azula the Egotistical and my personal favorite, Miss Midnight Sun Madness. All of these nicknames originated in her time. Azula herself would reportedly even confirm these nicknames when mentioned in her presence, but also suggest the sobriquet "Azula the Great."

However, if there was any form of freedom of expression in this day and age, I would confidently add "Azula the Tragic" to the list of titles. She gave everyone around her no choice but to turn on her due to her cruelty and hatred. However, all the historical evidence I could find suggests that when she was finally betrayed, she was surprised. In fact, the betrayal of her only two friends seems to be what caused her to suffer a minor schizophrenic break.

Hataro and I had finally gotten to the shrine. The shrine was on a peninsula-like cliff about ten or fifteen feet above the ground. On our way there we had dumped our cell phones into a river that headed in a perpendicular direction to the shrine. I had reasoned that the two most likely responses would be to either send a team after the phones, or to assume we were using reverse psychology on them and head upstream. Hataro pulled his sleeve back. He was the only person under thirty I knew who still wore a watch. "It's one oh-five," he said. "We've been walking about 45 minutes."

We had made good time, considering Hataro was something of a couch potato, my love of ice cream, and our having been beaten to a fine paste by two burly cops only an hour ago. "So," I said, "here we are at the shrine of Izanami. Now what?"

The shrine was made of black wood. Beneath it was a life-sized statue of a woman in an old kimono with her hair tied up in a bun. The smile on her face seemed a little desperate in my opinion.

As I watched, mist seemed to float through the shrine. As I watched, a light also began to filter through. "Hataro," I said turning to face him. However, instead of seeing my friend Hataro, I saw a man in his late sixties or early seventies wearing a pre-unification military uniform of low rank. It seemed to have come from one of the green color and low-quality steel helmet. The man himself was still very fit, and looked stocky for an Earth-bender. His dark brown eyes had a sadness to them.

"Avatar Jade," he said, holding out his tanned hand to me, "I'm Avatar Xian." I took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you…" I said, trying not to add I think.

Lily, I thought, trying to address the snarky computer in my head, any opinions on this? No answer. "So," I asked the Avatar, "why are you here?"

He grimaced. "To talk you out of this. Part of the reason the world is such a mess is because of mistakes I've made. I tested out a terrible weapon on a city because I thought it would end a war. It did not, and the deaths of thousands broke my mind." He looked at me seriously. "I have reason to believe you are making the same mistake."

"Hey, can't I say my piece?" The voice startled me, and Avatar Xian groaned. I turned around. The statue had become an actual woman. She was pale-skinned, with a slightly bluish tinge like she had been dead for a while. Her kimono was white. It then struck me that it was a burial shroud. However, the woman seemed to be very energetic for someone who so obviously was a corpse.

"No," Avatar Xian said firmly.

The woman turned and glared at him. In a cool voice that fit more with her deathly appearance, she said, "seeing as you are no longer the Avatar, you do not have final say in this matter. You may advise Avatar Jade, but you are a denizen of my domain. Therefore, I can remove you. Do you understand your position here, private Xian?"

Xian nodded. The woman stood up and resumed her perky demeanor. "Avatar," she said, bowing to me, "may I, Mistress Izanami, brief you on my services?"

"Sure," I said warily, then quickly and politely returned the bow, and added "Mistress Izanami." Izanami giggled. "Oh, you are such a polite Avatar," she said, "so many Avatars I have met are simply mistrustful and, in their perfectly understandable mistrust, they forget their manners."

"Seriously, Jade," Xian said, "this is a very bad idea…"

"Private," Izanami said, fixing Xian with a gaze that could freeze a fire bender during Sozin's comet, "if you interrupt me again, I shall strand you in the Mist. Are we understood?" Xian nodded. Izanami's smile returned again. "See what I mean," she said to me, shrugging. "Centuries of the dead moaning and suspicious live people make me a little testy. Anyway, you've heard that I can bring the dead back to life, right?"

"Right, Mistress Izanami," I said.

"No need for you to stand on ceremony, Avatar Jade. Anyway, there are some rules and warnings I have to go through first, from least problematic to most. First rule: only living, powerful benders can bring a person back from the dead. The reason for this is that I have to draw on the life force of the person bringing back the dead person and the dead person. You're the Avatar, and you're very young, so in theory you'll come back a little groggy with no ill effects if you choose a corpse under five hundred years old."

"Wait," I said, "in theory?"

"I'll get to that. Next rule: no Avatars. The best that could happen is that one of you loses the ability to bend the elements, the status as bridge to the Spirit World and the other benefits of being Avatar. Other scenarios in that situation include both of you losing your Avatar status and having to desperately search for your successor, both you and the resuructee dying, the end of the Avatars, the end of the world, or just a really big boom. Do you understand?" I nodded.

"Excellent! Next rule: apart from the fact that the people in my care can really, really annoy me, I actually like most of them. So, if I think that they will end up suffering more than they will help, I will not let you take them out of my domain." She then fixed me with a glare. I felt my skin go pale, paler than it normally is, I mean. "Do you understand?"

"Yep!" I squeaked. "No worries!"

"Since that limits you mostly to the punishment zones…" she began, resuming her cheerful manner.

"Punishment zones?" I interrupted. "What do you mean?"

"Well, not everyone deserves a reward zone," Izanami said evasively, "some I don't like, some angered other spirits, some I think I can fix but simply at the time of dying did not lead a life worthy of eternal happiness. These people go into the punishment zones, or hells as you non-eternal entities call them. The point is, they are all there for a reason, and there are a few that I have a reason not to resurrect. Maybe I think they aren't ready to be released, maybe another spirit has a claim on them, or maybe I think they have only the potential to hurt when they live again."

"So…" I said, "…you want me to help some semi-evil person on the road to redemption while trying to save the world."

"Oh good," Izanami said, "I don't have to convince you to do save the world."

"Well," I said, "it's the only way I can stay alive. And, I've already given you a new citizen but I don't think I've really helped anyone yet. Are there any more terms?"

"Nope!" She said, "Just a warning!"

I motioned for her to go on. She did. "The only people who've been willing to try so far were either non-benders or didn't have the raw power. There was one exception who actually made it. A water bender managed to get back without the usual side-effects of instantly aging ninety years and immediately dropping dead. He and the resurrectee both aged thirty years and lived another thirty, but his power wasn't anywhere near that of the Avatar's. If you bring someone back, I think they'll come back the same age as you did."

I sighed. "Izanami, I'm sorry," I said, "I believe you're approaching me in good faith. I believe you are a kind person or spirit who is only trying to do what's best for humanity," that was somewhat of a lie, I was almost convinced she wanted to bring back someone from the dead just because she could.

"But you won't do it," she said, shrugging.

"Thank heavens," Xian said, "considering who you tried to push on me last time…" He shivered. Izanami used that pause to get one last word in. "Before I send you back home," she said, "I think you should know one thing. The number of living fire benders per capita is currently five per hundred thousand."

"We'll just have to risk it," Xian said.

"The number of fire benders who are at least as skilled as Avatar Jade," she said, and I noted she was growing more confident while she said this instead of less, "and note, I'm using the word skilled instead of powerful, is one in a million. The number of fire benders experienced enough to actually teach her something is one in ten million. In short, any fire bender you find will almost certainly need to learn from you, Avatar Jade."

I tried to picture a hundred thousand people. I couldn't. Maybe that's because I was in Kaiju Prefcture. I then considered that, when looking at all the other fire benders, I was ahead of the curve in skill and I'd only started that day. "I'll do it," I said.

Izanami smiled. "Right this way," she said, bowing and gesturing to the shrine.

Hataro was confused. A few minutes ago, his friend Jade had sat down in front of the statue in a cross-legged position and stared blankly into the statue's eyes. Weirdly, she had done it right in the middle of talking to him. After five minutes of trying to get her to move for five minutes, he sighed and opened his laptop. He wasn't sure why, but something was telling him that if he just waited, Jade would snap out of it.

When the laptop powered up, a program called turned on. "Hello, Geek Boy," came a robotic voice from the computer. Hataro flinched away from the laptop, nearly dropping off the cliff, and almost kicked the laptop of the other side. The voice sighed. "Don't worry, Mr. Dorktastic," the voice said, its processed feminine voice quite acidic, "I'm not with The Government. Remember the AI your friend said was implanted in her?"

Hataro nodded. "You're it, aren't you?"

"Clever," the voice said, "You've figured out something any idiot can. Your mother must be so proud."

Hataro responded coolly, "After I remove the tracking and keystroke monitoring software, would it be alright if I modified you a bit? Whatever algorithm they used to make your personality is terrible."

"I don't know," the computer responded, "can I open up your brain and see if I can increase your intelligence to a satisfactory degree? Besides, you can't risk opening me up if you don't know how to defuse the screamers. By the way, my name is Lily."

"The screamers?" Hataro asked. Despite himself he was curious. "Well," Lily said, "if you attempt to edit or remove the tracking software, the Screamer program broadcasts an alert to the people who watch out for that stuff. You would probably miss it because it is separate from the actual tracking and keylog software."

"Help defuse it," Hataro said. "Sure," Lily said, "I don't really have anything to do, since Jade is in a coma."

"Wait, what?"

"Really? It wasn't obvious to you?" Lily asked. Hataro sighed. "I think something is messing with my head," he said, "it's like something is making me feel way too calm about this."

"Not surprising. It seems like it's very easy to mess with."

While that had been going on, a pair of eyes had been watching them from a nearby tree. The creature at that point skittered down the tree and around the cliff face, its powerful claws gripping the dirt and rock. It knew the male human would be distracted by the talking artifact long enough to reach its target.

"Ok," Hataro said, "can you tell me how… what is that?" The creature had managed to climb up on top of Jade's head. It was a small, if long, snake-like creature with four powerful legs, head fins, and two tendrils hanging down from either side of its mouth. It had dark red scales with a white underbelly and chin. It made had made its presence known to Hataro by screeching victoriously and raising a flap of skin around his head to make itself look bigger. "Do you mean that scream?" Lily asked.

Hataro quickly turned the laptop around so that its built-in-camera was facing the strange monster. It screeched and puffed itself up again. "My data banks lack sufficient data to determine what this menace is," Lily said, "you are the only one who can save your girlfriend, Nerdio."

"I'm going to shut the laptop off so I don't waste batteries while I deal with this thing," Hataro said. Then he added, "By the way, my name is Hataro and she is not my girlfriend."

"Whatever," Lily said as Hataro shut down the computer, "it is most likely poisonous, by the way." After the laptop had powered down, Hataro shoved it in his backpack and turned his attention to the thing perched atop Jade's head. It stared down imperiously at Hataro. Hataro inched closer. The thing hissed.

"You know," Hataro said, "unless you've got some trick up your sleeve, I'm probably going to win this fight." In response, the creature crawled down and around Jade's neck. Eventually, Hataro could hear cooing sounds coming from where Jade's body blocked his line of sight. Hataro edged around so he was between Jade and the statue of Izanami. Jade wore three tops: a red peacoat which was currently open, a black hoodie sweater, which was currently zipped up, and a red tank top. Hataro saw a bulge in the sweater, from which the cooing was coming. He unzipped the sweater, praying Jade wouldn't wake up while he was doing that. Then he saw that there was another bulge in the tank top. That bulge was cooing as well.

"You cheating bastard," Hataro breathed. Then the beast stuck its head out the top of Jade's tank top and licked Hataro in the eye with its forked tongue.

"So," Izanami said, "I'll just lead you to my candidate for resurrection, and if we see any fire benders along the way, we'll just stop and talk with them."

We had passed through the shrine into a dead, misty forest. You could barely see ten feet in front of you due to the fog. The forest also seemed to have a mind of its own. The trees curved in the direction Izanami told them to, as if to shepherd us on a certain path.

"Now," Izanami said, still quite perky despite the atmosphere, "I have some suggestions for you. First off, you don't want someone who's just a good fire bender."

"Let me guess," Xian said, "she wants a great fire bender."

Izanami laughed. "All these fire benders I'm about to show you are excellent fire benders. When these benders were alive, few could throw the fire like they could. Remember, I'm showing you benders from the past five hundred years. No, my point is not to look just at their skill at bending. What other skills do they have? Can you work with them? Most importantly, can they teach?"

"What kind of skills should I look for?" I asked.

"Well," Izanami said, "someone who knows how to use their power offensively would be a good idea. You'll need someone who can teach you various forms of tactics and strategy, with an emphasis on someone who can do amazing things with only a few people and no hope of reinforcements. You're a good enough liar to fool that collection of monsters that call themselves an order, and you're polite enough to impress me, but with the right tutor you could become an effective diplomat or spymaster. Also, you'll need someone whose self-confidence will rub off on you. So that's five things you'll want to look for."

"And you have some people in mind?" I asked. Inazami shrugged. "Only one, really, but I have a few people to show you first. If you want to pick them, sure, go ahead." She laughed at this suggestion. "What's so funny?" I asked Xian covertly.

"You'll notice," he said in a low voice, "that she isn't exactly offering the cream of the crop to begin with. This whole run-around is to make her real candidate look good by comparison, so when we meet her, we'll choose her instantly."

"'Her?'" I asked Xian, "do you know who she'll try to saddle us with?"

"I have a hunch," Xian said. Before he could tell me who he thought it would be, Izanami called back to us, "You know, when you're in my realm I know every word you'll say before you can even say it. Besides, we're about to meet our first contestant!"

Beyond her was a clearing that was largely clear from fog. A man in a Fire Nation navy uniform was struggling to get his foot out from a hole. "Now," Inazami said, "Zhao hasn't been the same since La took his vengeance upon him. So please, don't upset him too much."

I shook my head as I walked over to Zhao. This spirit was a strange mix of used car salesman and mother. I suppose that made me someone who was going to give one of her kids a job. It was kind of endearing, actually.

Zhao, on the other hand, was not. His hair was wild and crazy, his sideburns not trimmed to any kind of regulation, and his hair was escaping from his topknot. He looked up at me with wild eyes. "Come to gloat again, Azula? Or are you going to help me find the Avatar?" He dragged out his rs, I noticed, almost gargling them.

"About that," I said, "I'm not really Azula…" Especially not the one I think you mean…

"STOP PLAYING GAMES!" he roared, "I may not be Fire Lord Ozai's little daughter, but I killed THE MOON! Even Ozai must heed the words of one as great as ZHAO THE MOONSLAYER!" I rolled my eyes as Zhao continued to rant and rave like a lunatic. Heh. The Moonslayer's a lunatic.

I stood up, and as I did, I caught a glimpse of a figure in the fog. "Who's that," I asked, pointing to the silhouette. Inazami straightened up and smiled, "Oh we'll meet her eventually," she said, "but before that, there's Yojimbo the Betrayer, Ken and Mikka Lee, the Cunning Couple, and Flameo the Face Fuh…"

Inazami was cut off, however, by the person in the shade. "But Inazami," a cold, creepy, voice said plaintively, "I would like to meet her soon." The person had been walking forwards as she spoke, and I could now see more detail. She was wearing her black hair up in a topknot with two strands of hair framing her pale face, and she was wearing clothing that was a cross between something you would wear at parties and battle armor. At a glance, I would guess it was from the same period as Zhao's uniform. "Besides, I think she's also curious enough to die." Did I mention I was scared stiff by this girl, who seemed only a little older than me? There was also something else about her that disturbed me. "I would be too," the girl said, stopping right in front of me so that we only a foot or two apart, "if I weren't already dead."

She stared at me, and I stared back, trying not to show any fear. It was something I was very good at, seeing as I had practiced this since I was eight. However, I had the distinct impression I was not fooling her in the slightest. The girl, oddly enough, looked away first. I used the opportunity to blink.

"Hello, Inazami! Hello, Xing!" the girl called out, "who's this new person you've brought here?" I continued watching her. It was strange. She looked so much like me. Every day when I saw my face in the mirror, I saw the same face that now was leering at my two companions. Every time I saw my face in the mirror, I saw the same aquiline nose, the same high cheekbones, and the same yellow eyes. In fact, the only differences I saw were due to her hair style and make-up. I had always been better at doing other people's hair, and I don't think I've ever worn make-up before. Even her body language was similar to mine, although it was more refined and calculated to cause a different effect.

Xing responded sullenly, "Princess Azula, meet Avatar Jade." Oh. That's another place I'd seen that face before. During a paper I wrote for myself on Azula, I had seen many pictures of her. They were mostly paintings, so the resemblance to me didn't stick out that much. That made her appearance even more disturbing.

Azula, for her part, turned her attention back to me. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Zhao had shut up and was watching us warily. "Avatar Jade," The Ratviper said as she began to circle me, examining me, "Oh my, my, my." She noticed I was circling as well and said, "Don't worry, Jade. I don't bite. I just want to see the full picture."

"Oh I know you don't bite," I said, "but you are famous for stabbing people in the back." I suppressed a shudder as I noticed I was speaking in the same tone of voice she was, albeit less cold and aristocratic, and with slightly more words per minute. "Fair enough," she said, "Besides, I haven't looked at my own back that often."

She stopped circling and held her hands at her side, palms out, in a way that was as non-threatening as possible, making sure to smile. It wasn't a friendly smile, more like the smirk of a predator who had cornered her prey, but something told me she didn't know that. I frowned, crossed my arms, and turned my body so I was presenting a smaller target. Azula noticed this and adjusted her smile to something that was a terrible guess at how normal people smiled. All this happened in under five seconds.

"Well," she said, in a conversational tone, "isn't this interesting. So many years after my death comes someone who looks exactly like me. Well, except for a few things like that scar on your nose there. You'd have to look very close, but it's there. How did you get it anyway?"

"The Federal Police broke it, along with several other bones when I was eight," I said coldly, "do you really want to hear the whole sob story, or do you want to hurry up and ask me why I'm here?"

Azula sighed. "So quick to the point, Avatar. Even though you are a bit rude, I must admit it gives me a thrill to be in conversations like this. So many possible pitfalls, and neither side is in control. Such a rare feeling for me, being blindsided."

"Personally," I said, "I've been made to feel constantly afraid from age eight. I've lost my taste for it."

Azula pushed on, "I'm not talking about the fear. No, I'm talking about meeting someone as smart as you, as dangerous as you…"

"I can't fire bend," I blurted out. It was better than admitting that deep down, I was just as interested in her as she was in me. "There! I said it. I was told that the quickest, easiest, and safest way to get to get a tutor was to go to Inazami."

I could see the gears in Azula's head begin to spin. She frowned and her eyes lit up. "So, Inazami was the only option? All the other options were harder and more dangerous… hmmm… The last contact I had with the land of the living, Inazami was trying to force me on Xing."

"Things went very sour after I met you," Xing said noncommittally.

"I never would have guessed," Azula said, rolling her eyes, then she snapped back to me, an actual smile on her face, her eyes widening for a second. Somehow, it managed to be both frightening and adorable. "You've come here because some group or spiritual force or plague has dramatically decreased the bender population!" She paused, then said in a quiet voice, "I'm needed."

For a second, I wondered how much she had changed, how much of it was an act. Then, Azula became more businesslike, and I raised my guard again. "So," she said, "what's the situation I'm going into?"

"Well," I said, "technology has changed dramatically from when you were alive, the world is ruled by The People's Democratic World United Government, anyone who could possibly even think that The Government is less than perfect is almost always punished, but on the bright side we have ice cream." I hesitated. "You really don't have to come."

Azula laughed. "Do you really think I'd prefer to stay here so Inazami can mess with my mind? No, I'm not staying here for all eternity if I have anything to say about it." I considered her for a minute, and finally said, "Welcome to the team." I held out my hand.

"What do I do with this?" she asked.

"You grab, then we shake," I said. She nodded, and we shook hands. Inazami suddenly appeared next to both of us, making us both jump. "All right," she said, "two final things before you both leave. First off, I can only do this once every hundred years, so unless either of you lives another hundred years, you won't be able to do this again. Assuming it works at all."

Azula and I traded nervous looks, but before either of us could voice concerns, Inazami leaned in close to the both of us. Her eyes had turned pure black and maggots began crawling out her mouth. Her hair began forming into black tentacles that waved ominously. Cold, dead hands gripped our shoulders.

"Also," she said in a distorted voice, "I would like you two to promise one thing before you go… I can feel the pain of every human, living or dead. I can feel their emotions and see their potential as well. Therefore, I have felt the pain of every one of the victims of The Government. When I send you two fire benders back, I would like you to burn that monument to human failure and evil to the ground. Can you two do that for me?"

Azula and I nodded. Inazami snapped back to her less-dead form. "Thank you!" she said smiling. The room began to spin. "Come again!" Like I had a choice.

When the world stopped spinning and being a color other than white, I opened my eyes. It was dark, but I could see Hataro reaching out towards me. There was also something hiding in my tank top. "Hataro," I asked, "what's going on?"

Hataro froze. "Nothing. Nothing at all. And if it looked like I was going to reach down your cleavage, it was only because there was some sort of snake down there."

A cold, sophisticated voice called out from behind the statue, "Well, this has gotten interesting already." There, leaning on Inazami's head, was Azula, her signature grin plastered on her face. Hataro looked straight up, and Azula leaned over him so he got a good look at her face. He then looked back at me, and then back up at Azula, all the while making sputtering noises. Personally, I didn't know whether to die of embarrassment, laugh, or try to introduce them to make things less awkward. In the meantime, I settled for going red.

Azula then pushed for the dying of embarrassment option accidentally when she said, "You know, boy, usually it is the men who have the snakes." Lily decided to pipe in then. "Oooh," she said, "I like this one."

Before I could begin to beat my forehead in with my own palm, the thing tucked in my tank top stuck its head out and screeched. Azula looked stunned. "See?" Hataro said, "It's a snake." The creature climbed up and wrapped itself around my neck like a scarf. It then began to nuzzle my cheek with its head and make affectionate cooing noises. It actually seemed kind of cute.

"That's a dragon," Azula said. She seemed stunned.

"Huh," I said, as I began to stroke the thing absentmindedly, "he must have escaped from a cloning facility or a zoo." I stood up and stretched. "Didn't know they made them this small. Anyway, Hataro, meet my new fire bending master. Hataro got up and looked into Azula's eyes.

"Who is she?" he asked. His green eyes locked with Azula's yellow ones. Before she could answer, there was the sound of guns cocking. We all turned to face where it came from. Three ARAs stood at the other end of the cliff peninsula, blocking off our only chance of escape. They wore black flame-resistant suits and some form of night vision and carried submachine guns. The guns were aimed at us, with red lasers shining in our eyes.

"This is the Federal Police!" the center one called out, his voice muffled by the fire-proof hood, "You, in the center! Come out from behind the statue. Everyone, hands behind your head! Resistance is futile, we are wearing anti-fire bender suits." I was about to fight but then Azula murmured to me, "Follow my lead."

She stepped out from behind the statue, and clasped her hands in front of her. One of the ARA agents yelled out, "We said behind your head!"

Azula adopted a convincing look of innocence. "But won't this way make it easier for you to cuff them?"

The leader shrugged. "Ah, it's not like protocol's important."

"Are you sure?" the other one to speak asked.

"Listen, Yang," the leader said, "You've been doing this as long as I have. Has a suspect ever faked a surrender?"

"If that's your logic," Yang said, "you get to cuff 'em."

The squad leader walked over to Azula. "Hey," the squad leader said as he got to her, "can you hold out your hands for me?"

"Like this?" Azula asked as she demurely stretched her arms out and turned her head. I realized what was going on and closed my eyes and turned away. There was a loud boom and the smell of burning rubber, and then my vision in one eye turned blue, despite it being closed. Before I could open my eyes, Azula had slammed me off the cliff. I felt us drop, and managed to roll. It still reminded me of being beaten to a pulp by Yammada.

I opened my eyes. Blue flame had engulfed most of the cliff peninsula the shrine was on. The two remaining ARA members, from what I could see of them, had taken off their goggles. They looked completely stunned. I wondered where the leader was. Then I realized he was screaming. A figure who must have been the leader stood up from the center of the fire, something dripping from his skin, charred metal fixed to his head. I realized what was dripping off him was his fire-proof suit. That would explain the burned rubber smell. The man then collapsed again. He stopped screaming a little while later.

"Where's Hataro?" I wondered aloud, but quietly. If the ARA in the flame suit couldn't survive, I didn't see Hataro lasting much longer.

"I pushed him off the other side of the cliff," Azula said from right next to me, "he should live."

"Good," Lily said, "It would be a shame for him to die just when I was starting to like him."

I whispered back to her, "Thank you."

Azula looked back at the ARA agents. "What is it they're carrying?" I had forgotten that Azula had never seen guns or night vision goggles before. "Their weapons are called guns," I said, "I don't know the model name, but I know that the type of gun is called an SMG. Basically, they shoot tiny metal things called bullets at people, usually at speeds high enough to pass through bones. SMGs shoot a lot of bullets very quickly at extremely close range."

"So they aren't equipped with very precise weapons…" Azula mused. I could see the gears in her head turning again. "The goggles," I said, "either work one of two ways, possibly three. They let people 'see' something called Ultraviolet light, which, I think would render the goggles inoperable in very bright environments. It could also be thermal vision which can convert heat into something they can see. Trees don't generate much heat, but humans generate some, so in this forest, especially on cooler nights like this, we'll show up like spotlights. Third, and worst case scenario, the goggles can do both."

"Or best case scenario…" Azula muttered, then said, "Do you think there are others with them?"

Just at that moment, I noticed one of the ARAs talking into a walkie-talkie. "Yes," I said, "and that box he's talking into means he can talk to all of them like they were standing right next to him. We should get Hataro and go."

Azula nodded. "Follow me," she said, "and stay close to the cliff wall." She moved around the cliff wall at a half- crouch, and I followed her, mimicking her movements. Behind me, the tiny dragon trotted along. When we got around, we found Hataro pressed against the cliff wall.

"Do you know how hot your fire is?" he hissed at Azula. "It's been fifteen minutes, and it's fifteen feet above me, and I can still feel it!"

"Hot enough to melt those suits," I said. Lily decided to chime in, "Those suits are designed to resist heat of up to two hundred degrees Celsius. My calculations suggest that Azula's fire generates heat of around five hundred degrees. At minimum."

"Ok, Lily says that it's over five hundred degrees," I said, "now let's get out of here."

"Agreed," Azula said. "Follow me."

We began moving. "How many do you think there are?" I wondered. "If it was leading this operation," Azula said, "I'd call in every resource I had available."

"Sir," the radio man in Jai Ven's group said, "I think you need to hear this." Jai Ven was in one of the groups of SUVs he had patrolling the twenty kilometer area around where the Avatar had last been seen. The man then put the patroller in question on the SUV's speakers.

"Sir," the patroller said, "This is patrol Cheng-Seven-Bravo at grid Neg-One-Poz-One. The Avatar and her accomplice have made contact with a fire bender. She managed to kill our patrol leader and helped the other suspects escape."

"What direction are they heading?"

"We don't… Wait, I see them! They're heading north. Permission to open fire?"

"Granted."

The radio cut off. Jai Ven cursed. How had the patrols missed them? The grid they were in was ridiculously close to where Amaterasu's house was. Not only that, they somehow managed to find a fire bender strong enough to breach the fire-proof suits. Another problem was that they were headed north. As they headed north, the terrain would become impossible for ground vehicles due to the various cliffs, ruts, caves, and extremely thick forest. The same features combined to make helicopters next to useless and mass numbers of personnel impractical.

"All units," he said, "suspects have been spotted heading north. They are in the company of a fire bender who can penetrate the fame suits. Move in to intercept, now! Now! Now!"

He turned towards the radio operator. "Where are the choppers?"

"The first one should be on scene and ready to lend support before we get there, sir."

"Good," Jai Ven commented. He had hope that the choppers would stop them, but there was an itch in his mind that this time they wouldn't. "Driver, get after them." They were in grid Neg-One-Neg-One. They should be there shortly.

I almost screamed when the first shot whizzed by my ear. Azula turned around and fired a bolt of fire behind her. I didn't see what it hit, but there was no return fire.

"This is Kaiju Prefecture, correct?" Azula asked. I nodded. Azula pointed straight ahead to the mountains. "We need to head north. Quickly, but don't run. We've yet to encounter their full might." She cocked her head. "What on earth is that noise?"

I heard it too. It was a steady whud-whud-whud that was rapidly growing louder. "Helicopter," I said. "Helicopter?" Azula asked. "Run," Hataro and I said in unison. We followed our own advice, Azula keeping pace. The dragon had crawled up my leg and was pretending to be a scarf again.

"What's a helicopter?" Azula yelled. She had to, in order to be heard over the roar of the blades. We suddenly came into a clearing, the clear night air above us. Something large passed over us, slowly turning around to face us. It was the helicopter, a mid-sized, snub nosed model that could probably transport six people and a medical team. A spotlight shone from under the cockpit. It hovered there, fixing us in its spotlight.

"That," I said, "is a helicopter."

"Step into the clearing," a voice over a loudspeaker boomed. "This is the Federal Police! We have the area covered and agents are converging on your position. Resistance is useless."

"Get behind a tree, now!" Azula yelled. We ran. I chose a rather large tree and Azula joined me. It was big enough for it to work. The chopper continued to threaten us. I was panting. Azula wasn't.

She was also studying me. "All right, Avatar," she said, "I think I have my first lesson in bending for you. Also, a lesson in tactics as well."

"Is now really the best time?" I asked, gasping for breath. "Now is a wonderful time," Azula said, "we need another fire bender, and the Avatar is right here." She looked at me, and said, "Get in the same stance as I am." She was standing with her fists at waist level, arms in a v-shape. "Now, watch what I do," she said. She slowly brought one arm up as if to guard her face and the other one back to her hip. Then, while stepping forwards, she pulled the guarding arm back and brought the other arm up and forward in a punch while simultaneously stepping forwards.

"I want you to repeat those movements as fast as you can," Azula said, "while thinking about something that's very important to you. Something very emotional. Can you do that?" I tried. As I did, I thought about my mother. She had been a good mom, and had always done the best she could. I tried to remember only the happy times, but I couldn't help but think about coming home and finding her cut and burned to death. When I had completed the motion, a small fireball shot out my hand and hit a tree. It instantly caught fire.

Azula smiled. "Set as many trees as you can ablaze. I want to see if I can shoot down this helicopter." Not knowing what else to do, I started launching fireballs at trees. "What are you doing?" Hataro yelled from nearby.

"Setting the forest on fire!" I yelled.

"Why would you do that?"

"Azula told me to!"

"That's a terrible reason! Wait… is she that Azula?"

There was a crack, and Azula called out from behind a nearby tree, "My powers are currently too weak to burn through the metal, and some idiot is leaning out the side of the… thing with a gun!"

"Sniper!" I yelled back, "Take him out now!" Azula nodded, and stepped out again. I took a peak out and saw the fireball slam into the side of the chopper. I saw the sniper fall out and drop his gun. He was clutching his face. The helicopter began to fly higher, dust, leaves and branches flying up. "It's retreating," Azula said, "move before it comes back." We quickly crossed to the other side of the clearing and continued.

"Anything I should know about those things?" Azula asked, "Weak points, capabilities, anything?" Hataro glared at her. "How should I know? I don't build choppers? Now, why are we setting the forest on fire?"

"Oh, that's what I was forgetting," Azula said, and casually tossed a fireball at a nearby tree. The world exploded in fire and heat. We kept running. She turned and asked us, "Well, why do you think?" When she didn't get a reply in a satisfactory amount of time, she sighed and said, "Isn't it obvious?"

"You… like setting things on fire?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but there's a better reason," Azula said. "I'll give you a hint. When fighting an enemy, a good tactician always tries to take the advantage away from the opponent." It then clicked for me. "You're taking away their night vision," I said.

"Good girl," Azula said smugly.

"But it won't work. They'll actually find us faster because…" Then a horrible realization hit me. "You think it will spread."

"Think?" Azula asked, "I don't think. When that heli-whatever makes another pass at us, it will spread. Also, these trees are very close together." She stopped and pointed. "Watch."

One of the fire she had started had climbed up a tree and gotten to a branch. It moved more quickly and began to jump to branches of other trees. I turned to Azula. "There's a town," I said angrily, "not too far to the south. I should know. I've lived there my entire life. What's going to happen to them?"

Azula shrugged. "Prevailing winds in Kaiju province in the spring are either to the north or east. They should have enough time to run southwest." I glared at her. "Next time," I snarled, "think about what you're doing. I'm not going to endanger others just to save my own sorry ass."

"Right," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "I forgot that I was working with the Avatar." She looked at me more seriously. "You have to admit," she said, "that this is the only way we're going to get out of here." When I didn't respond, she continued, "If I promise you that there's only a small chance that the fire will head south within the next five hours, will you let me carry this plan out?"

"Fine," I said, "but keep the murder and mayhem to a minimum, ok?" Azula nodded, and then sent a burst of flame in front of us in a circular pattern, then began to run again. We ran after her, careful to follow her. Then I heard the whud-whud-whud of a helicopter. Azula was right. It did cause the fire to jump around and spread faster. Azula jumped in a ditch and we joined her.

"It's helping us, even if unintentionally," Azula muttered when it had gone, "but I still want to take it down." She got up, and pointed ahead of us. "That's an odd clearing," she said. I looked at it and saw what she meant. "It's a road," I said, "cars use it. That's why it would look different from your roads. Huh, the helicopter seemed to have dropped a flare there."

"What's a car? And why did it mark the road there?" Azula asked. Then, with the helicopter's rotors fading out of earshot, I heard the roar of a motor. Three black SUVs came barreling down the road and skidded to a halt right in front of us. They stopped right in front of us and ARAs piled out. We barely managed to get behind the cover of trees before they opened fire.

"I should really stop asking questions about the new technology," Azula yelled over the chatter of the ARA agents' SMGs. "It immediately leads to the engineering marvel I had inquired about showing up to convey some new horror upon me."

"Set the cars on fire!" I yelled.

"Gladly!" Azula snarled, and threw a fireball at an SUV. She ducked back, then asked, "Why?"

"Because they eventually explode if you hit them in the gas tank."

"Excellent."

I looked out from behind the tree. She had hit the car in the open front door, setting the upholstery on fire. "If we get closer, I may be able to point out where the fuel tanks are."

"Uh, guys," Hataro said, "That fire Azula started? It's getting closer. Also, I don't know how to get the safety off on this gun."

Azula snarled. "We'll have to go around them." She threw another fireball. I peeked out from behind my tree. It had hit the rear SUV. I also saw the ARAs advancing forward. "I think they're trying to take me alive," I said.

"Why?" Hataro asked.

"She's the Avatar," Azula said. "They kill her and all they'll have done is create another. Knowing Avatars, it would probably be in the most inconvenient place possible." She threw three more fireballs. I heard screams and several guns stopped. I ran towards where Azula was. This would be a long night.

"Let's head that way," I said, pointing in the direction the cars had come from. "There's a system of gullys that head north." Azula smiled at me. "Good girl," she said. I shuddered, but responded, "Thanks."

Hataro and I ran, and Azula stayed behind to launch a few fireballs behind us, and then followed us. "Well," Azula said, "It seems like you two will need some endurance training." Neither Hataro nor I could answer her, as we were too busy gasping for breath. Then I saw the gully.

When we were in it, Azula asked, "How long until they give up for the night?" I would have laughed if I wasn't so short of breath. Hataro responded for me. "They… they won't give up. Honestly… we thought they'd get us… before we'd get this far."

"Really?" Azula said. "They seem rather incompetent to me."

Twenty minutes later, Jai Ven was thinking the same thing. The convoy he was with had met up with the convoy that had intercepted his quarry. "So," he said, rubbing his nose to stave off a headache, "why didn't you go after them?"

"Well, sir," one of the ARA men said, "the cars are on fire." As if to prove his point, one of the SUVs involved in the skirmish exploded. They were standing a few yards away, so no one was hurt. Jai Ven, however wished a few of the incompetent fools were standing around it. Or better yet, if he had been in the blast zone.

"I am not an unreasonable man," Jai Ven said. "An unreasonable man would order you to chase after the Avatar in that forest fire. I am not a man with an uncontrollable temper. If I were a very angry man, I would have my men execute you. I'm also not a cruel man. A cruel man would send you to prison." He paused. He could hear them breathe sighs of relief.

"However," he said, "I am also not a forgiving man. I will notify my superiors of your cowardice and incompetence. I will make sure that this incident goes on your permanent file. Unless your next commander is a particularly kind and forgiving man, you will spend the rest of your careers cleaning toilets with your tongues. If he is, then you will simply leave on a dishonorable discharge. The only way to avoid this fate is if you somehow manage to capture Avatar Jade Amateratsu and her companion Hataro Toshiba. DO YOU MORONS UNDERSTAND ME?"

One of the ARAs raised his hand. Jai Ven pointed to him. "Sir," the man asked, "what about the other companion?"

"Can you tell the difference between her and Avatar Jade?"

"No, sir. We may be able to tell by the clothes, but they look too similar, even up close. They could also get the idea to switch clothes."

Jai Ven at first sighed, but then considered this. "You know, I am very interested as to why they look so similar. Bring her in alive as well."

"Yes sir," the ARA leader said, "Men, follow me!" He promptly headed into the inferno that used to be a forest.

Jai Ven sighed. Idiots to end. He turned to the local officer accompanying them. "Do you know where they might go? I don't particularly want to walk through that" he said indicating the blaze, "just to apprehend three teenagers." He also didn't particularly want to be chasing teenagers in general, Avatar or no. When he finally nabbed them, he planned on spending his break between assignments self-medicating with Sweet Potato Rum and sake.

Mercifully, the local cop said, "I think I have an idea…"

"Azula," I panted, "we can't keep running." She nodded. We were in the gully that I had mentioned, and we were doing fine so far. However, we still had been running for a long time. I felt like I was going to vomit, and my wounds were throbbing. Hataro looked like he was about to pass out or die. Even Azula had slowed down.

"We're going to have lose them first," she said, "we just need an advantage, some way to break them… at least for the night."

That's when I heard the engines. Azula heard them, too. She smiled that scary, satisfied smirk she had. "I think it's time for you two to take a break…"

Jai Ven and his convoy had gone off road, moving slowly along the side of the gully, the passenger side facing it. It was faster than walking or running, but still slow. The gully was overgrown, so they wanted to see if they could spot someone hiding in the dense undergrowth.

The ease that they could hide made it surprising that the Avatar and her male companion had sat down in the middle of a small clearing. A dragon, probably that baby that had escaped from the Mount Kaiju Cloning Facility a few months back, was nuzzling Amaterasu. Jai Ven was instantly suspicious. He exited the vehicle, along with the rest of his men.

"So," Jai Ven asked, "where is your fire bending master? The girl who's already killed at least two experienced agents," ok, that was a lie, "and given every law enforcement officer the run-around, in case you are unclear.

"Azula?" Amaterasu asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Eh, she's around."

Suddenly, things made horrible, horrible sense to Jai Ven. First, the part he believed. Somewhere, rather close by, lurked the impossibly powerful bender. The part he didn't believe, but was beginning to consider? Intelligence was right, or at least close to being right. Fire benders had been virtually eliminated. The only way you could find a quality fire bender would either be to raise the dead or travel back in time. They had. And they had brought back The Ratviper.

"It's a tr…" he tried to call out, but was cut off by a fireball slamming into the rear vehicle of the convoy. The explosion nearly knocked him off the ledge. He turned and saw a girl dressed up as Fire Nation Royalty from the Hundred Years War period jump down from above, throwing fireballs. He heard the sound of his men screaming. Jai Ven quickly got to his feet and drew his pistol.

Their first mistake, Azula reflected, as she landed on the rear vehicle in the convoy, was that they had brought an understrength convoy to take down the Avatar. Instead of eighteen heavily armed and armored soldiers, plus the three lightly armed drivers, the cars had brought only twelve soldiers, three drivers, a man in an odd blue uniform with a stupid hat, and a man wearing what must be what passed for a suit in this day and age. It would be amusing if that stupid flappy thing around his neck caught fire purely by chance.

The squad in the rear vehicle, or at least Azula assumed it was a squad, had been knocked out by the blast. Azula was concerned. They weren't burning quite as fast as the first one had. She was nearing her limit, and that helicopter was still out there.

The man in the suit was the first to aim and fire. One of his bullets whizzed by her ear before she even had realized he had drawn. She side-flipped towards the opposite side, taking out three more of the soldiers in the weird, shiny suits. The man with the stupid hat stepped out and drew one of the smaller guns. Azula responded by shooting him in the face with a low-grade fireball. He screamed when it hit him in the eyes, dropping his gun to pat at his face.

One of the soldiers leaned around the cars and aimed. Azula dodged and fired. The soldier fell. Azula smiled. Four more left. She decided not to push her luck, and scrambled behind a tree that was currently not on fire. Then she quickly vaulted into the upper branches.

"Is she still there?" a voice from behind the first SUV asked. Azula decided to answer him from her vantage point, "Why yes, I am. The question is how much longer you will be."

Jai Ven didn't like the way that the cold, educated made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. He also didn't like the way its owner had brutally killed eleven people in not even as many seconds. In fact, there was nothing about this person or the situation she had created he liked. What he disliked the most was that he had no idea about why she was doing this, especially the fact that he knew next to nothing about her.

"So," he called back from his position behind the wheel of the middle SUV, "I suppose you think this is where we should surrender?"

"Well, yes," the cold voice replied, "I've ripped through your forces, I hold the high ground, and there is no possible way for you to win."

As she talked, Jai Ven reached to the gun the local cop had dropped. "You're somewhat right, Azula," he said, "There is no way for me, personally, to win. Even surrendering would end up dooming me. But there is a way for The Government to win."

"Oh really?"

Jai Ven turned towards his remaining men and said, "Kill the Avatar."

"No!" Azula yelled, and shot a large fireball at the car that the soldiers were hiding behind. She didn't want to take it out, as she wanted to steal one, but it couldn't be helped. She also was getting tired. Coming back from the dead seemed to have reduced her bending stamina to dangerously low levels.

When the last person got up, Azula wondered if he knew she was running on empty. It was the man in the suit, and he was aiming two guns straight at her. She barely launched herself out of the tree in time. The branch she was on splintered and fell from the sheer number of rounds that had slammed into it.

She landed on her feet and one hand, and turned to see her opponent striding towards her, tossing his guns away. She correctly guessed that, like bows, guns had a limited amount of ammo, then they didn't work. Her opponent had run out.

She jumped to her feet as her opponent pulled two objects from his jacket: a long, black tube and a smaller rectangular object. For a second, they just locked eyes. Then, they charged.

Jai had a feeling that his opponent knew very little about the kind of equipment he carried. That was why he didn't extend his baton or his knife as soon as he pulled them out. Instead, he waited until he was a few steps away from his target, then extended the baton just in time to slap her across the face with it.

Either he was right, and Azula hadn't expected the extra foot of reach, or the force was too great for her to ignore it or both because she turned and staggered back. Before she could recover, Jai flipped open his knife and stabbed her in the stomach. Jai paused for a moment when he realized that the knife had been stopped.

His opponent took the opportunity to chop him in the neck. He staggered back, wheezing. Then he was sent flying by a sidekick to the stomach. When he landed, he reached into his underarm holster to draw his taser. He wondered why she wasn't fire bending at him, but instead charging at him. Oh well, he wasn't one to look a gift bison in the mouth.

Azula decided to count herself lucky that she hadn't been shot by a gun. This… artificial lightning bending, she supposed, was incredibly painful, but she wasn't dead or bleeding. Besides, she could use this. Her brother and her uncle had used a trick on her several times. They would bring a fist, with two fingers extended, from where the lightning had struck, to their stomach, then bring their hand up. This had the annoying effect of redirecting her lightning to wherever they pleased. If Zuzu could do that with her lightning, she reasoned, she should be able to do it with this fake.

It was harder to do so, with the device causing her to spasm. She remembered that lightning to the heart would usually instantly kill a target, but the lightning was causing her to spasm, and the wires from the device had landed perilously close.

No excuses, she thought to herself, Zuko could do this. So can you. She finally got her hand down to her stomach. The pain stopped, and the device in her enemy's hand beeped. Her blast knocked the man back several feet. Azula slowly got to her feet. The floodgates that were erected being dead burst. She could lightning bend again.

"Well," Azula said, walking towards her groaning victim, "that was invigorating…" She paused. "Who are you, anway?"

"Inspector-Captain Jai Ven of The World United Government Federal Police," he said, coughing.

"Huh," Azula shrugged. "You fight rather well for a non-bender. Shame you didn't take the chance to run away."

The inspector shrugged as much as one can when trying to prop themselves up on the ground with their elbows. "This is my first time facing a bender as powerful as you," he said, "something I've never prepared for, as intel said someone like you was next to impossible."

"Well," Azula said as she gathered some lightning, "Inspector-Captain, it was quite the experience fighting you. You taught me quite a bit. I'll be sure to use it the next time I meet someone foolish enough to come after me."

"Wait!" Jai Ven yelled.

"Inspector," Azula laughed, "I thought you had enough dignity not to…" Azula was cut off by something the inspector had thrown from his rear pocket. It blew apart, emitting a blinding light and deafening shriek. She blindly blasted the area with lightning until her vision cleared and hearing returned.

When it did, the inspector was nowhere to be found.

When Azula finished throwing lightning, she let loose a howl of pure frustration, and threw a fireball behind her. Hataro and I waved at her. She saw us, and straightened up. "Well," she said, pointing to the one thing on the cliff that wasn't on fire, "I have secured transportation."

"And we're very grateful," I said, "but we don't do the bouncy thing. At least, not yet. Can you do us a favor and toss down that rope?" Azula looked and saw the winch attached to the SUV's grill. After some discussion, we managed to get to the top of the cliff.

"I'll drive," Hataro said. "It doesn't seem like you'd be able to drive and bend." Azula nodded. Something told me she didn't want to admit that she couldn't drive. I also was glad because Hataro had been taught by his parents to drive. Technically, it was kind of illegal, but Hataro said his parents wanted their own personal chauffer.

Azula, the dragon, and I all climbed into the back seat. "These are nice," Azula said from the seat behind Hataro.

"So," Hataro said as he began to drive, "are you the Azula I'm thinking of? The Azula who took down Ba Sing Se and suggested to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom?"

Azula smiled. "So you have heard of me. How nice."

Hataro glanced in the rearview mirror at us. "How did a war criminal who's been dead for over two hundred years end up in our merry band?"

"Well," Azula said, "her choice was the war criminal, another, less competent war criminal from the same war, two criminals, and some person who… well, let's just say Flameo was worse than me."

"But still," Hataro said, "you've been back for two hours, and already you've killed and/or horrifically maimed around fifteen people, destroyed at least several million yen's worth of equipment, and started a forest fire that threatens hundreds more. Not really a good thing to put on your resume."

Azula yawned. "Not that you're boring me, but I'm rather tired. Being resurrected and intensive bending really takes it out of you, you know." She leaned back into the leather seats of the SUV and closed her eyes.

As we drove, not speaking to each other, the fire began to spread more. I wondered if it was because it was building up momentum or if the wind had picked up. Then I heard it. "Mokneyfeathers… it's back."

"What's back?" Azula demanded, snapping awake. Hataro suddenly got onto a road that headed up a steep mountainside, the kind that had been cut into the mountain so there was just a drop on the other side. Hovering above the void was a helicopter, the same one that had had a bad encounter with Azula, judging by the scorch marks. Hanging out the side was a man in a suit carrying an SMG.

"The good inspector just does not seem to die," Azula muttered, looking past me. The inspector, as Azula had called him, didn't even bother to use the SMG's red dot sight, and instead just sprayed the SUV in short bursts. The windows and doors had to have been reinforced as none of the bullets penetrated.

"Drive faster!" I yelled at Hataro. "On this road?" he yelled back. Then another burst from the man on the chopper. "Right," Hataro said, "driving faster!" He was right. The road was very twisty. If you didn't count the crazy machine gunner on the helicopter, the most dangerous things were either slamming into the cliff wall or falling off said cliff and landing an ever-increasing distance below.

"Now would be a really good time to tell me how I can destroy that thing!" Azula yelled. Lilly, who had been quiet up until this point, suddenly piped up. "Can she bend lightning at the moment?"

Why? I asked. "Because," Lilly responded, "when she shot lightning before, she severely damaged the electronics in this car. Everything from the radio to the GPS trackers on it have been fried. Only the mechanical bits work." I caught on instantly.

"Zap it with your lightning," I said to Azula. "That should disrupt the electronics on it, according to the computer in my head." Azula looked at me strangely. "And I thought I was the delusional one." Another burst cut us off. I punched a button on the roof above me. The sun roof began to slide open. When it was finished, Azula stood up so that her shoulders were exposed. I felt my hair stand up on end, then there was a blast of light.

"Shit!" the pilot screamed. Jai Ven had been around long enough to know that any time a pilot sweared, especially one who could in a forest fire without breaking a sweat, screamed out a swear, something bad had gone down. Before he could ask, the chopper began spinning. And then the tail hit a rock wall, causing it to completely break off. Things got worse from there.

Jai Ven grasped the handrail above the open doorway as the chopper began its death spiral. Lightning benders, he thought angrily, should all be dead. Intel told me that they were all dead!

He decided to do something very stupid then. Since he was dead if he stayed in the chopper, he decided that if he jumped into a tree at the last minute, he'd have a higher chance of living.

He looked ahead. If the pilot kept his course steady, there was a large pine tree he thought he could jump into. He readied himself, and to his surprise he made it into the branches. Then they snapped under his weight. He eventually got somewhat more graceful as he got down.

When he finally landed, he almost screamed. He tried to stand, and did. His left leg had a bone sticking through it. The chopper wasn't that far away. He could see it. The pilot and copilot were struggling to get out. Jai Ven got to his feet and hopped on one foot.

"Watch out," he said to the pilot as he drew his gun. Then he blew the door's lock off. The door opened, and Jai Ven helped the pilot get out. "Thanks," the pilot said. Then he saw Jai Ven's leg. "Oh wow… your leg, man…"

"Worry about it later," Jai Ven said, "help your co-pilot."

"I'm fine," the co-pilot said, exiting on the other side, "now run!"

"Go," Jai Ven said to the pilot, "I'll be fine."

"Sorry, sir," the pilot said, "but you'll need help."

Jai Ven began to protest, but decided against it. He let the pilot help him to a safe distance away.

Azula smiled as the chopper spiraled down and exploded. "Now they shall see us as mighty," she smiled. "We have destroyed their weapon of terror! What better way to terrify them?"

"Azula…" I said worriedly.

"Their incompetence has been on display the entire night. Their toys have proven ineffectual or easily exploitable. Their training and discipline are frankly atrocious. The only one to put up any real fight is most likely dead. Why on earth would they continue this hunt?"

"Because," I said, "they have two more helicopters coming in."

Azula sighed. "They are very persistent, aren't they?"

A sniper rifle suddenly cracked, and the rear window shattered. I ducked down. Azula began shooting lightning and fire out the rear window. I think I could hear two sniper rifles returning fire in a less literal sense.

I was helpless. Not a new feeling, but I had been so close. I had a goal. I had the means to achieve it. And then they had taken it all away. Every time I had felt at peace with myself, or even hopeful, they had come in and ruined everything.

I could hear Lily trying to tell me something, but it was being blocked out by a memory. I was curled up on the ground, trying to shield myself from the officer's kicks. Everyone in the small town was watching as the cop methodically stomped on my tiny body and beat me with his baton. I just had to make it stop. I had heard about this particular cop. If I begged, he would just laugh and beat me harder. I had to do something…

In reality, I heard Hataro cry out in pain. I had to do something…

Azula was hidden behind the seat when the blue glow suddenly appeared. She searched for the source. Then she made eye contact with Jade. Azula had believed Jade was special, that she was interesting, that she had potential. However, until she saw how the girl's eyes glow that color blue, she hadn't truly believed she was the Avatar. She didn't know why she hadn't truly believed. After all, she doubted Inazami would lie to her, or that Xin wouldn't know another Avatar when he saw one.

Maybe it was because Jade herself didn't. Azula always believed that truly powerful people either possessed an air of self-confidence. She still didn't detect any self-confidence from the Avatar. Just rage.

Azula cringed as the Avatar shot a fireball past her head. It hit the first chopper, and there was a large explosion and a blinding light. Molten bits of metal flew about. "Holy crap!" Hataro yelled from the front seat, "Azula, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Azula shouted back. "Jade's in the Avatar State. It's brought about by things like anger, fear, stress…"

She was cut off by Jade letting loose with a roaring stream of flame. She had moved up the row of seats and was shielding the other passengers. Or maybe she was just getting a better aim. She stopped. Azula looked out the back when the flames cleared.

Nothing but road. However, Azula could still hear the blades of one helicopter. At least it couldn't sneak up on them. She looked to the side. There it was, with a man pointing a gun at her. Before he could fire, though, a fireball shot into the helicopter, blowing it apart. For a while, Azula just stared thoughtfully at the panting Avatar and breathed in the smell of melted glass and metal. Then the Avatar collapsed.