Author's Note: You may want to pack a granola bar and an energy drink, because this is going to be one long-ass chapter.
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No one moved, no one blinked, no one dared to even breathe. Azula stood behind the throne, her hand menacingly close to the Earth King's neck. Smirking triumphantly, she inched the small tongue of azure flame slightly closer, "Well, isn't this touching? The four nations all gathered together in harmony, trying desperately to return to their former state of friendship and peace." Switching from a smirk to a look of disappointment, she shook her head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk I had expected better from all of you. Especially you, Zuzu, or should I say Fire Lord Zuzu?" she said, staring directly at Zuko. He didn't dare respond.
"I must admit, I knew the other nations were inferior and I knew Zuzu was a fool, but I didn't expect you to all be so naïve." She looked around, surveying the assembled representatives with distaste, "When Fire Lord Ozai was struck down, by his own son no less, what did you do? Any competent conqueror would have hunted down anyone who had opposed them and killed them on the spot, but you didn't do that, did you?" She asked, touching a finger to her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "No, you preferred to delude yourselves into thinking that it was all over; that you could go back to your children and families and live happily ever after." At this, her gaze shifted into a steel-hard and icy-cold stare. "Well, I've got news for you. The war is far from over."
As Azula finished speaking, every captive in the room was focused completely on her. Some were evaluating the odds of defeating such large enemy numbers. Some were trying to figure out the quickest escape route. Some were waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The focus of the entire room was so tightly riveted to Azula, that no one noticed that the Earth King had moved his right arm to rest lightly on the armrest of his throne. Therefore, it came as a shock to everyone when he gave a shout and jerked it up and backwards, smashing his fist into Azula's face.
The room immediately burst into chaos.
In one motion, the Dai Li launched their rock gloves at the gathered delegates. Blasts of fire and whips of water knocked several off course, but a few found their marks, pinning Chief Arnook and several of his warrior escort to the floor. Toph turned, intending to free the immobilized Tribesmen, but was promptly tackled by Sokka. A fraction of a second later, half a dozen arrows embedded themselves into the spot she had been standing. Seeing this, Aang made an airbending-assisted leap up to the balconies, twisting and dodging in midair to avoid arrows and flying gloves. Landing in the middle of the Yu Yan platoon, he spun around violently; kicking up a gale-force twister that sent the archers scattering across the room.
While Aang dealt with the archers, King Bumi freed the immobilized tribesmen, then turned and launched a tidal wave of earth at the rouge Fire Nation soldiers. However, before the wave could reach the soldiers, several Dai Li agents leapt onto it and smoothed it back into the ground. Then, with military precision, the Dai Li agents tunneled into the ground, allowing the Fire Nation soldiers to launch sheets of flame at anyone that moved.
Zuko and Iroh sprang into action, diverting and smothering the flames before they reach the gathered group. On the other side of the room, Sokka and Toph ran to assist the Earth King, who had shed his long ornate robes to reveal a more practical body suit and was twisting and dodging frantically to avoid the barrage of fire Azula was sending at him. Seeing that the Earth King wouldn't last much longer, Sokka reared back and hurtled his boomerang with all his might. The weapon shot through the air towards Azula, who noticed it out of the corner of her eye and ducked backwards at the last second. Time seemed to slow down as the boomerang's razor edge passed so close to her face that a few stray hairs were sliced in half.
Sensing that Azula was off-balance, Toph smashed a foot into the ground, causing a large pillar of earth to shoot up under Azula and sent her flying into the air. However, because Azula was no longer connected to the ground, Toph couldn't sense her recover and cast a large bolt of lighting in her direction, forcing Sokka to once again tackle her out of the way. Azula landed nimbly on top of the throne and looked around for the Earth King, only to see him running off toward the non-bender tribesmen fighting the Dai Li. Smirking with savage glee, she quickly went through the motions to send a large bolt of lighting directly into his exposed back.
At that exact instant, Zuko turned and saw what his sister was planning. With a roar, he threw himself between Azula and the Earth King, the second the lighting erupted from her fingertips. Almost without thinking, he extended his hand, caught the blazing bolt of electrical energy, guided its way down his arm, through his stomach and out his other arm, right back at Azula. Her eyes widened as the stream of electrical power turned back against her. It was only an undignified dive and scramble that saved her from oblivion.
Turning back towards the Earth King, Zuko noticed he was alongside Sokka, amidst the non-benders engaged with the Dai Li. Unfortunately, the non-benders were at a disadvantage against the earthbending Dai Li. A disadvantage compounded by the Dai Li's sheer force of numbers. Sokka's boomerang was constantly in the air, seeking out targets, while his sword flashed and whirled in his hand, cutting down any Dai Li who got too close. Within seconds though, several Dai Li agents had leapt back out of range of his sword and launched chained gauntlets, entrapping Sokka, the Earth King, and several warriors.
However, before they could drag away their hostages, they were smacked aside by a barrage of water, courtesy of Katara. Sensing that the warriors needed help, Toph ran over and began tearing off the metal chains like they were made of paper. "Now we're even, Snoozles" she quipped as she freed Sokka. Sokka opened his mouth to reply, but instead jerked her out of the way of a stray Yu Yan arrow he saw coming over her shoulder. Toph sighed, "Never mind."
Seeing that the Earth King was in no danger, Zuko turned his attention back to the battle at hand. Just as he prepared to resume his fight with Azula, he stopped cold. He hadn't seen Jin since the battle started. Whiling around and sprinting heedlessly back into the fray, he began calling her name frantically.
Jin was terrified. She had gone from a dream come true to worse than her worst nightmare in the blink of an eye. The second the battle had begun she had dove under the main table and remained there; curled up and hoping no one would see her. She didn't know how long she remained there, but eventually she heard Zuko's voice calling her name above the fierce chaos of the battle. Gathering her courage, she timidly crawled out from under the table. Seconds later a huge boulder fell from the ceiling and crushed the table into the ground, causing Jin to shriek and sprint towards the sound of Zuko's voice.
"Jin!" Zuko shouted, whirling left and right, searching frantically. Suddenly, he spotted her terrified face amongst the chaos of battle. Without a second thought, he sprinted towards her, calling her name even louder. Hearing his voice, she turned to face him. The second their eyes locked, Zuko felt a wave of relief and gratefulness wash over him. Jin was okay.
Then, without warning, Jin's image grew slightly fuzzy as his eyes refocused, almost by instinct, on the background behind her; a background into which a single Dai Li agent had dropped from the ceiling. Zuko's feelings of gratefulness and relief immediately vanished, replaced with an icy dread. The Dai Li agent drew his hands from his sleeves, then with deadly accuracy launched his stone gloves at Jin's exposed back. Zuko could only watch in silent horror as the lethal projectiles shot towards their mark.
However, Zuko's terrified expression was enough to let Jin know that something was wrong. Diving to the left, she whirled around to see the problem. Her sudden shift in position saved her life. The gloves that were intended to embed into her back and crush her ribcage missed their mark. One flew on harmlessly through space and one clipped her shoulder, sending her spinning to the ground.
The second the glove made contact with Jin's shoulder, all of Zuko's previous feelings of horror and dread vanished. In their place, pure hatred arose. Burning fiery rage spread like wildfire throughout his body until his hands smoked and his vision turned red. Leaping forward with a savage roar, he focused all of his anger into an apocalyptic wave of fire that exploded from his hands and barreled towards the Dai Li agent that had dared to assault Jin.
The poor fool didn't stand a chance.
As the massive wave of fire dissipated, so too did Zuko's hatred, only to be instantly replaced with fear once more. Rushing over to Jin's fallen form he knelt and helped her to her knees. "Are you alright? How's your shoulder? Does it hurt?" He gently probed her shoulder for injury, but jerked his hand back at her pained hiss.
"I-I'm fine…" she managed after a few breaths.
"Horse-bull." Zuko said flatly.
"Okay… you're right… I'm" ow "hurt pretty bad."
Zuko hurriedly looked around, searching for a safe place to hide Jin from the chaos of the battle. What he saw did not encourage him. The delegates and representatives, while certainly some of the best benders and warriors alive, hadn't been prepared for an assault of this ferocity. Agni, they hadn't been prepared for an assault at all! They were outnumbered at least ten to one, with only two earthbenders to fight hundreds of Dai Li. Katara, having only the water in her water skin to work with, was fighting at well under full strength. Toph and Bumi were so occupied freeing people from Dai Li gloves and blocking Dai Li assaults that they had little time for any offensive attacks. The non-benders were holding their own against the Yu Yan archers and rouge Fire Nation soldiers, but were almost completely outclassed by the professional Dai Li. Even Avatar Aang was having difficulty fending off so many aggressors at such short notice. Only the Avatar State stood a chance of turning the tide in their favor, but Aang would never risk the massive collateral damage and friendly fire that it could cause.
With his search now growing more frantic, Zuko suddenly noticed that Iroh was cutting a swath towards him. "Lord Zuko!" Iroh called out over the surrounding chaos, "Lord Zuko, we are outnumbered and under prepared! We must retreat!"
Zuko snarled and hurtled several fireballs at random enemy Fire Nation soldiers before turning back towards his uncle. Normally he wouldn't have retreated under any circumstances. Even now, against almost impossible odds and clear tactical inferiority he was loath to run. But, their chances of even a costly victory were slim to none and, more importantly, Jin was hurt. Venting off a cloud of smoke in frustration, Zuko turned and faced the general direction of Aang and his companions, "Avatar! We cannot win this! We have to retreat!"
Looking around at the situation, Aang quickly realized that Zuko was right. "Toph, I need you to root everyone to the floor!"
"I'm kind of busy, Twinkletoes!"
"Just do it!"
"Fine!"
With that, Toph stopped disrupting Dai Li attacks, then shifted into a firmly rooted earthbending stance and focused on the distinct vibrations of her allies. Once she was locked on to everyone she stomped heavily on the ground, causing all the peace delegates to sink a few feet into the earth. Seconds later, Aang leapt into the air, and began spinning rapidly. Almost instantly a huge cyclone formed in the middle of the throne room, sending Dai Li, Fire Nation soldiers, and Yu Yan archers spinning off into the corners of the room.
However, as quickly as it was conjured, the cyclone died down. Toph instantly freed everyone from the ground, and before Aang had even landed the delegates were retreating in every direction.
Scooping up Jin in his arms, Zuko sprinted recklessly towards the main exit with Iroh following close behind.
"I don't suppose you have a plan?" Iroh huffed as they sprinted through the main doors and into the courtyard.
"We need to get out of the city."
"I could have told you that! Besides, it's almost full day trip from this spot to the gates!"
Suddenly, Jin spoke up, "We could take the monorail to the gates; there's a station just a block away from here."
"Which way?" Zuko asked.
"Put me down, I'll show you."
"You're hurt, you shouldn't walk."
Jin scowled, "My shoulder's hurt, not my legs! Put me down!"
Zuko winced and complied, "Alright, there. Now, which way to the monorail?"
Jin drew a breath to answer, but before she could speak, Azula burst through the throne room doors and sprinted towards them, followed by several dozen Dai Li agents. So, instead of answering Zuko's question, Jin screamed and ran for her life towards the monorail station. Zuko and Iroh had little choice but to do the same. Minus the screaming of course.
The trio crossed the distance to the monorail station in record time and leapt into the first car available. Zuko allowed himself to relax a fraction now that they were about to start quickly moving out of the city. However, Jin soon noticed a flaw in her plan.
"Oh no! I forgot these things need earthbenders to power them!"
Zuko and Iroh blanched, "Are you saying that we can't move this thing at all?"
Jin nodded tearfully, "I'm so sorry! It's just all the danger and the Dai Li and my shoulder and… I just… I don't know, forgot!"
"Well, I suppose now would be a good time to switch to plan B, eh nephew?" Iroh deadpanned.
Zuko simply shifted into a firebending stance and faced the entrance of the car. He didn't exactly fear the Dai Li, but with no way to free himself should they manage to pin him to the floor, he wasn't very optimistic about fighting them. As the Dai Li rushed ever closer, a cackling voice spoke up from the opposite side of the car.
"I don't suppose there's room for one more?"
Jin screamed and Iroh and Zuko whirled around, ready to fight, only to come face to face with the eccentric King Bumi. Iroh immediately relaxed and laughed, "Ah, King Bumi, what brings you to these parts?"
Bumi grinned widely, "You know, I was going to make a run for it with the others, but my old bones aren't up for that anymore, so I decided to take the train!"
The monorail car suddenly jerked as several stone projectiles crashed into its side. King Bumi cackled, "I suppose that's my cue to start things up!"
Zuko, Iroh, and Jin collapsed backwards as the monorail car suddenly shot forward along its track, courtesy of King Bumi's earthbending prowess. Struggling to his feet, Zuko looked out the back window of the car, only to curse vehemently as he saw Azula and several dozen Dai Li pile into another car and immediately give chase. With several Dai Li earthbending at once, Azula's car slowly and steadily began to gain on them.
"We need to speed up!" Zuko yelled back at Bumi, who merely laughed, snorted, and increased the pace of his earthbending motions. As the cars hurtled recklessly forward along the tracks, several Dai Li agents leapt out of the inside of Azula's car and clung to its outer surface. With incredible precision, they then launched a barrage of earthen projectiles at Zuko's retreating car. Reacting quickly, Zuko sprang onto the back railing of the monorail car and shot a series of quick bursts from the tips of his fingers. The stones and flames met in midair between the two cars, annihilating each other in a shower of pebbles and smoke.
The Dai Li were undeterred however, and continued to launch round after round of earthen ammunition. In an impressive display of accuracy and endurance, Zuko continued to shoot compact balls of fire from his fingertips; pulverizing the oncoming projectiles before they could reach the monorail car. Iroh quickly grew concerned for his nephew. He knew how taxing sustaining that amount of accuracy and power would be on Zuko and regardless of how accomplished he was at firebending, Zuko couldn't keep it up forever.
"Stand aside, Zuko." Iroh shouted, while moving forward to take his place. Zuko gladly leapt down, eager for a break. Iroh then surprised everyone by, instead of resuming Zuko's tactic of intercepting the stone projectiles, inhaling deeply and breathing a massive wall of fire towards the pursuing monorail car. The wall of fire shot towards Azula's car, destroying oncoming projectiles and forcing the Dai Li agents to leap back to the inside.
Iroh grinned and adjusted his belt, "While precision and skill are enviable qualities, sometimes it's good to fall back on good old fashioned brute force." Bumi laughed wildly at the unexpected humor, Zuko gave his uncle a congratulatory grin, and Jin simply gaped at the impressive displays of firebending.
However, their brief celebration was cut short when, instead of hitting the pursuing car and damaging it heavily, Iroh's wall of fire abruptly shifted course and flowed harmlessly over the top of Azula's car. As the last of the fire moved aside, Azula herself was revealed to be standing at the forefront of her car. Almost instantly, she dove into a series of rapid-fire punches and kicks that sent blasts and bolts of blue fire hurtling towards Zuko's car.
Zuko immediately sprang back to the rear, aiding Iroh in blocking and deflecting Azula's fiery assault. As Iroh and Zuko countered jets of blue fire with sheets of orange flame, a blazing standstill was reached between the two cars; a standstill that was immediately shattered when Azula's Dai Li once again joined the battle. Zuko and Iroh could each deflect stone projectiles with little trouble, and Azula's attacks could be blocked, but a combination of them both was considerably more difficult to deal with. Soon, the car began to rock and shake with the impacts of dozens of stone projectiles and blazing fireballs.
"My, this is a bumpy road! I'll take us on a detour!" Bumi yelled merrily. Instantly the entire car jerked to the right as Bumi sent it careening far too quickly into a curve that split off from the main track. When the car settled down, Zuko looked back to see that Azula's car had been unable to make the turn and was instead traveling parallel to them on the original track. Wasting no time, he quickly launched a barrage of fire at the opposing car. Iroh immediately joined his efforts, but the superior numbers of the Dai Li and the sheer skill of Azula soon turned the tide back against them.
The two cars hurtled along their tracks with a storm of fire and stone being exchanged between them. Suddenly, Jin shrieked loudly and pointed at the opposing car. Zuko hurriedly looked to where she was pointing and saw that several Dai Li agents were clinging to the outside surface of Azula's car. Zuko's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as the several Dai Li leapt together in one motion across the gap between the two cars. Quickly composing himself, Zuko launched a jet of fire and shouted to Iroh to do the same. The flames met a few Dai Li agents in midair, sending them smoking and spinning to the ground.
However, the sudden rocking of the car revealed that several Dai Li agents had completed the jump. In an instant, one appeared in the window in front of Zuko. In another instant, Zuko sent him careening towards the ground with a fireblast to the torso. The sound of shifting rock alerted Iroh and Zuko to another attack. In one synchronous motion, the two spun out of the way of the rock gloves aimed at them from behind and blasted streams of fire at the Dai Li agents who had launched them. The Dai Li attempted to raise a shield of earth, but the flames simply smashed through it, sending both agents out the windows and plummeting towards the ground.
Suddenly, a large burst of fire from Azula rocked the monorail car fiercely, causing Iroh and Zuko to momentarily lose their balance. That moment was all that the single remaining Dai Li agent needed. The second they lost their balance, chains burst out from the window behind them and quickly immobilized them both. Stepping in from the window, the agent overlooked the two captured Fire Nation royalty. Zuko and Iroh glared hatefully back, but before either could make a move to free themselves, the agent's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumpled to the floor. Behind him stood a very angry Jin wielding a broken metal railing in her good arm.
"That was for betraying the Earth Kingdom." She spat.
With the Dai Li agent incapacitated, Iroh and Zuko shrugged off the chains binding them and congratulated Jin.
"Next stop: The outer wall!" Bumi cackled as the car again rocked with the blows of Azula and the Dai Li. Looking out a window, Zuko saw the fast-approaching massive outer wall and redoubled his firebending defense. Azula, however, was no fool and was fully aware that her quarry was close to escaping. Deciding to remedy the situation, she stepped back from the raging conflict between the cars and cleared her mind of all emotion. Then, with a circular motion of her hands and a separation of her positive and negative energy, she shot a powerful bolt of electrical energy at the opposing monorail track. The bolt of lighting tore through the earthen supports instantly and blasted a massive gap in the track. A gap that Zuko's car was careening directly towards.
"King Bumi…" hurgh "…we have a bit of a…" huah "…problem!" Iroh managed in between blasts of fire. Bumi's only response was to laugh maniacally and bend the car even faster. Zuko groaned, he had always thought that he would be killed in some grand, epic battle, not by a senile old man. As always, however, there was a method to Bumi's madness. Just before the car careened over the edge of the gap, Bumi bent a large section of the track upward into a makeshift ramp. Instead of plummeting into the gap, the car was sent soaring over it.
For a few lengthy seconds, a feeling of weightlessness overcame the passengers of the car. Then, gravity once again asserted its dominance and the car came crashing down to the tracks. Recovering quickly, Zuko ran to the front of the car and looked ahead at the fast approaching outer wall. The tracks continued on for what looked to be about a half a mile, then suddenly merged into one single track a few hundred yards from the outer wall station. Zuko hurriedly looked over at Azula's car and quickly came to a conclusion; they were going to arrive at the intersection at the exact same time as Azula.
"King Bumi, we need to go faster!" Zuko screamed, but even as the words left his mouth, it was plain that the car was going as fast as it could possibly go under Bumi's power alone.
Iroh observed the situation pensively, then smiled and addressed Bumi, "King Bumi, how thick are the walls of Ba Sing Se?" Bumi laughed eagerly, immediately recognizing Iroh's intent. "The Fire Lord is right, we need to go faster."
"Well, then I suppose Zuko and I will have make a contribution."
Zuko shook his head in confusion, completely lost. "Uncle, what are you two talking about?"
Iroh turned to his nephew, "Zuko, do you remember what I taught you about the elements being interconnected?"
"Yes, but I don't see how firebending can help speed up an earthbending-powered car!"
Iroh grinned sagely, "True, the car moves fastest with earthbending, but would a very large force pushing on it not make it go faster as well?"
Zuko paused, "Uncle, that's one of the craziest things I've ever heard…" A fresh barrage of fire and stone impacted the car, blasting violent tremors throughout its surface. "… let's do it."
In one synchronized motion, Iroh and Zuko faced the rear of the car and dropped into solid firebending stances. Then, with a spinning forward leap to gather momentum, they launched massive twin jets of fire out the back of the car. The effect was immediate, sending the already speeding car jolting into insanely dangerous speeds. Their car quickly shot ahead of Azula's solely earthbending-powered car and quickly approached the intersection.
Rocketing back onto the main track, their car sped recklessly forward towards the final station. Zuko's first impulse was relief; they were almost out of the city. Then he realized that they weren't slowing down.
"Uncle, shouldn't we be slowing down? The station is right there!"
Iroh grinned, "Just keep propelling flame, Zuko, Bumi will take care of the rest!"
Zuko gulped and looked over his shoulder. They were only a few dozen yards from the inside of the final station. Fractions of a second later, they were inside the final station, careening towards the solid stone surface of the outer wall at speeds fast enough to mash them to a pulp upon collision. Zuko closed his eyes, Iroh redoubled his bending, and Jin screamed and covered her face. Bumi, however, shifted his bending stance and thrust a fist forward towards the fast-approaching outer wall… with no visible effect. The car continued on its terminal course toward the wall, about to strike the solid stone with enough force to instantly kill everyone inside.
However, just when the front end of the car touched the solid stone of the outer wall, the solid stone ceased to be solid. Instead of smashing to pieces against the wall, the monorail car actually shot right into it, like a stone through a wall of sand. For a brief instant, the car was plunged into darkness, but almost instantly the car was through the wall and no longer in Ba Sing Se.
Seconds later, Azula's car shrieked to a stop inside the final station. Half a dozen Dai Li agents immediately burst from the car and performed a reconnaissance of the area, but the Fire Nation royals, their guest, and King Bumi were nowhere to be found. The Dai Li returned to the car and formed ranks. Extremely apprehensive ranks.
No further movement came from the car, until a solitary Fire Nation boot belonging to Azula stepped from the entrance to stand on the station floor. The boot was soon followed by another, and Azula herself stood menacingly before the assembled Dai Li agents.
"Well?" she demanded, "Report your findings."
The squad leader hesitantly stepped forward, "The quarry has escaped, your majesty. We think they have managed to tunnel through the wall and are now outside the city."
An eerie silence drifted over the station. Suddenly, Azula's knife-like voice cut through the air, "Very well, it is a small loss. We have larger matters to attend to at the moment." Turning on her heel, she strode back towards the car. Seeing that she did not intend to punish him, the Dai Li agent relaxed a fraction. He was completely unprepared when Azula suddenly spun around and sent a bolt of lightning through his chest. The remaining Dai Li stiffened visibly as their squad leader's body hit the floor and the smell of roasted flesh wafted into the air.
"However small this failure might have been, it was still a failure.:" Azula hissed. "Let this be an example of how I deal with failures." Turning on her heel once more, Azula strode purposefully back to her car. She would ensure Zuzu and uncle Iroh's demise later; the master plan took priority for now.
Meanwhile, several miles from Ba Sing Se, a ragtag group of benders, warriors, and national leaders had gathered to nurse their wounds, both literal and figurative. Around a roaring fire sat Avatar Aang, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Toph Bei Fong, Kuei the Earth King, Fire Lord Zuko, General Iroh, King Bumi, and Jin.
An atmosphere of abject despair permeated the camp. The loss of Ba Sing Se had lowered moral considerably, but the added dilemma of Chief Arnook's capture had driven many too far to be consoled. Sokka had attempted to strike up a conversation, asking the Earth King where he'd learned to fight. The Earth King had simply responded that he'd picked it up while traveling the world and the camp had fallen silent again. Eventually, Aang decided to attempt to raise the mood, "Well, at least we have somewhere to sleep." He said, gesturing to the abandoned monorail car sitting in a trench that stretched off in the direction of Ba Sing Se. The only response was a grunt from Appa.
The gloomy silence persisted for what felt like hours, until finally Katara couldn't take it anymore. "Look at all of you! You make me so angry! Ba Sing Se and Chief Arnook are in trouble and what do you do? You sit around and mope! Well, I for one plan on figuring out a way to get the city back and give Azula what she deserves!" With that, she stood up and walked off a distance from the campfire.
Several seconds passed. "She's right," Sokka said. "I'm going to start devising a recapture plan. Anyone who wants to help can come with me." Sokka stood up and went over to sit by Katara. He was soon followed by the entire group, except for one person.
The Earth King continued to sit in front of the fire, staring absently at the flickering flames. "I can't believe it." He muttered. "Ba Sing Se has fallen… again."
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Author's Note: gasp wheeze Whew! Damn, that was a big one! I have to say though, writing fight scenes is pretty fun. I listen to a little Satanic death metal while I write and the violence just flows from my fingertips. It's like a mosh pit in my brain!
I just doubled the size of this story in one chapter. I think that deserves some reviews.
