Dark Avatar: Boiling Point
"Azula!" Neither Toph or Zuko expected to find her in the open like this. She was dressed in rags and looked to be worn out, no doubt from being on the run.
"How are you doing, Zuzu? It feels like forever since the last time we've seen each other. I mean you were busy becoming the King of the Fire Nation while I was rotting away in a mountain!" She paused before taking a deep breath. "We have so much catching up to do!"
"Does she seems more loony than usual?" Toph followed with a humorless chuckle.
"Oh, you brought the blind earth bender with you as well. Great, I always wanted to get my hands around her neck too." Zuko just stood there in awe. The fear that had been plaguing him for so long just seemed to vanish. Instead it was replaced with sadness.
"Azula?" He opened his mouth but nothing else came out. He was left speechless from how he felt. With one foot on the ground, Toph could read the situation, but with some difficulty. It was like trying to focus with one eye close as rapid movement happened around you. She could feel the uneasiness coming from Azula. It must have been the excitement of seeing her brother again. On the other hand, Zuko seemed to be calm. This was not the same Zuko that was freaking out about Azula escaping earlier.
"What's wrong, fire ferret got your tongue?" Azula mused. To see her brother there looking so dumbfounded was surprisingly comforting. It brought her back to the days when she would tease him and Mai, and her mother would always come to his rescue, always. The comforting thoughts turned into waves of anger. "Where is she now, Zuko?" She screamed.
"Who are you talking about?" She smiled. She moved in closer which caused both Zuko and Toph to tense up. She was too unstable to read, neither one of them knew what she was going to do next.
"Don't play coy with me!" She yelled. The anger that she felt only caused her to burn up more inside. Before she knew it, a blast of flames exited her mouth towards Zuko. Zuko quickly tossed the fireball aside making sure that none of it hit Toph.
"Zuko are you okay!" Toph was trying her best to keep up with what was going on.
"I'm okay!" He yelled back. "Azula, I do not want to fight you. Can we just talk?" Maybe if he reasoned with her they could settled things without anyone getting hurt. Though he tried to deny it in the past, he would like to rebuild some kind of relationship with his sister. Unlike her father, there might be some hope left for her.
"Zuko, I know you're the Fire King now, but this is not a good time to be all diplomatic." Toph warned, but Zuko quiet her.
"Listen, I know that we have had our issues in the past but I don't want to continue down this road. You're my sister and I am your brother, isn't it about time we end this feud between us?" Maybe he could appeal to her logical side. For so long their relationship consisted of hate, fear and jealousy. When did they stop seeing each other as family?
"What?" Azula said stunned.
"Azula, return with me and I will do everything in my power to reduce your sentence." He tried one last time to get through to her. It seemed to work as her body loosened up.
"Really, Zuzu?" He nodded as he approached her. Toph listened to what was going on, and like before, she couldn't tell if Azula was being truthful or not.
"Zuko, don't!" Toph yelled but it served only to be a distraction for Zuko. When he turned around to check on Toph, Azula went for a flaming neck chop. Zuko could feel the heat from the attack before he could actually see it. He ducked down rolling to the side to create some distance between him and Azula.
"Damn it!" He cursed as he was seconds from losing his life. If she had connected with that attack his head would have been the only thing rolling. How could he be so careless to let his guard down.
"I will never bow to you! I am the rightful Fire Lord, and I'll prove it to the world by taking your life." She had fallen so far into her own insanity that Zuko finally realized that there was no saving her. She would not be happy until he met his end by her hands and that still might not be enough for her. He stood up facing his sister knowing that words weren't needed. He braced himself and settled into his fighting stance.
"I will destroy you!" Azula gathered all the energy she could muster and released to streams of fire in Zuko direction. The few people that were still in the area ran for cover as the street was covered in blue flames. Zuko did his best to try and redirect the flames away from the innocent, but this left him open. Azula ran in for an attack delivering two quick jabs into Zuko's ribs ending the combo off with a spinning round house kick. Zuko was able to block the last attack that would have taken his head off. The force of the attack pushed him back into a stack of crates. Zuko gripped a piece of the broken crate tossing it towards Azula to stop her approach. Azula smacked the crate piece away, but that was all the time that Zuko needed. Zuko hopped onto his feet, and jumped over Azula. While jumping over her, Zuko blasted two fireballs down upon her.
"You'll have to do better than that, Zuko!" She taunted him as she dodge both of them. Once again Azula played into Zuko's hand. Zuko needed to get Azula away from Toph, as he knew she would try to use her if things got bad. He continued to push her back with easy to dodge attacks. "This is fun, Zuzu! This reminds me of the old days!" She teased jumping out of the way of another attack.
"Oh really?" Zuko let loose a stream of fire that was powerful enough to blow Azula off her feet. She fell onto her back rolling onto her stomach as she turned in pain. Her forearm was burned and she could tell that her back was cut open from the fall. She opened her eyes through the pain to see Zuko standing over her.
"Do you think you've won!" She yelled. Zuko said nothing. "I'm better than you! I have always been better than you!" There it was. Her sanity was slipping once more. She jumped up trying to go for a surprise attack but she only surprised herself. Zuko grabbed her by the wrist, and tossed her back on the ground. She cried out in pain as the air was knocked out of her. She rolled onto her side as her vision was uneven.
"You're not better than me Zuko!" She cough. Anger built up in her stomach to match the tears in her eyes. In one last ditch effort to defeat him, like her uncle Iroh, she released a stream of flames from her mouth. Zuko did not flinch as he had seen his uncle demonstrate this technique many times. Like lightning bending, it never came natural to him. But he was prepared for this, just like he was prepared for lightning. He planted his feet into the ground and pushed all the air out of his lungs. As Azula's attack was about to reach his face, he took a deep breath, absorbing her attack. The flames traveled into his mouth like a stream until the was nothing left. Smoke expelled from Zuko's mouth and nose giving him the appearance of a dragon.
"How ironic that in a battle between brother and sister, the victor is determined by their uncle's technique?" Azula couldn't believe. That was her best move, her last shot at correcting the wrong in her life. All of her anger and pride becoming nothing more than smoke."I don't hate you anymore, Azula, and I don't fear you. Honestly, I just pity you now. You have been driven mad by your pride and jealousy of me. I know because I was almost driven mad because of my pride and jealousy of you. When I saw you today, I thought that maybe we could put this petty feud behind us, but I was wrong. I had Uncle to lead me off my dark path. You only had our father, and for that I'm sorry."
"I am so sorry to cut in on such a touching sibling moment!" Both Zuko and Azula turned to see Brock sitting on a crate.
"Leave now! This is official Fire Nations business and this woman is dangerous." Zuko ordered.
"Oh, I know how dangerous the Princess is." Zuko eyed the man feeling that something was off. "Guess how dangerous I am!" Brock stomped the ground causing the road to unearth and throwing Zuko off balance. Seeing an opening, he kicked up a large piece of the road and spin kicked it toward Zuko. Zuko only had enough time to block as the large piece of earth came slamming into him. He went sliding across the ground past Azula.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing!" She screamed as her brother went flying past her.
"Doing what you cannot!" Brock screamed running past her. He propelled himelf into the air while doing the same to Zuko who was still reeling from the first attack. His body flew up as Brock landed a kick to Zuko's stomach sending him crashing back into the ground. His moves were so fast and so savage, that Zuko wasn't give much time to think. At least one of his ribs was broken and this would hinder him.
"I'm not seeing what all the fuss is about with you Fire Nation brats. Both of you are nothing but smoke and mirrors." Brock laughed but the laugh turned into a growl. "At least I will be able to put an end to one of you tonight. Brock was just about to put the finishing touch on Zuko when he was blindsided by a ball of earth.
"Who?" He looked around after rolling onto his feet.
"You know, there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing the face of a man that I am about to embarrass." Brock follow the voice until it landed on Toph.
"Toph Beifong? Well I'll be a spider-monkeys uncle." Brock chuckled. "What is it about this little dirt town that brings out all of the stars. We have the fallen Princesses, the current Fire Lord and one of the best earthbenders to ever live."
"Correction, the best!" Toph gloated.
"Hm, is that so? Allow me to prove you wrong." Right as Brock was about to go for an attack, Toph tightening the metal bands that Brock wore around his neck. He dropped down to his knees as he tried to rip off the bands around his throat.
"You call yourself an earthbender? What earthbender in their right mind would face me with metal on their body?" Zuko looked on as Toph had taken control of the fight. "Zuko, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He lied.
"Okay, I need some answers. Why are you trying to protect Azula and were you the one that helped her break out of jail?" Being at the mercy of Toph, Brock was about to spill the beans. He wasn't willing to risk his life over Takara or Azula. If Toph wanted answers, he would give them to her.
"Okay, I'll talk!" He cried. Toph was about to loosen up her grip, when something swept her off her feet. She landed hard on the ground and quickly tried to find out where the attack came from.
"Don't waste your time on trying to figure out where I am. As Fire Lord Zuko can tell you, Toph, I am out of you line of sight." Takara hovered on a ball of air similar to Aang's. Zuko realized who he was as soon as he saw his face. It was the same man he bumped into at Ba Sing Se.
"You're the airbender?" Zuko said in disbelief
"No Zuko, I am so much more than that!" Takara grinned as now both Zuko and Toph was at his mercy.