Hello everyone. I'm back. Took a small vacation. Went tubing down Bennet Springs. I had lots of fun, and I got a tattoo. Airbrush; I'm too young for a real one. Picture may end up on my profile someday, if I can just figure out how to get pictures from my IPod onto my computer. Anyways, I finally got around to typing this, and I hope it get put up before the end of the month. If not, I'm sorry, and I'll try better next time to reach my deadline. Before we can continue with this story, I have a bit of an announcement to make. If you don't know this already, I am a huge film geek, and while music is my passion, I'm hoping a career in acting will help me get my start. I mean, look at Robert Downey Jr. he's an actor, and he released an album that got on the Billboard top 100's. Anyways, my agent out in LA told me to get some local representation, and I finally got it. I now have a contract with Exposure Model and Talent agency, and I will sign very soon. But, as I thought about it recently, I realized that most of you might want a glimpse as me as an actor. So, if you want to see me act, and see what I can do, on my YouTube page (which the link is on my Author profile) I have a video of my reenacting some of my favorite scenes from the web series Red Vs Blue. I really hope everyone checks it out. I'M LOOKING AT YOU THOMAS DROVIN.
Anyways, without further ado, here it is.
When Zuko awoke from the darkness, the first thing he could comprehend was how hard Azula could actually kick. His head felt like a steel drum that was being pounded on by a sledge hammer. The increasingly painful pulse in his head would not subside. He felt like he was going to burst. The second thing Zuko could comprehend was that his mouth was gagged and his hands were bond behind his back on the chair he was sitting in. Thought, the FireLord was not surprised in the least. He knew that his sister wouldn't make things easy for him in the least. But he was surprised that Azula had managed to hold herself back, and not bond him as tightly as she usually did to her victims.
The third thing he noticed was…..Aang? what in the world was he doing standing up in front of him? And why in Agni-Ki was he naked? To make matter worse, the strange candle lighting in the room provide in intense atmosphere, and it made the Avatar look like he was some male escort, who was a part time body builder from the outskirts of the city. This was just plum ridiculous. What was going on?
The third thing he noticed, was the sound of a small and weak moan. It was a tired groan; the type of noise that only a person awakened after a night of heavy drinking could produce. Or maybe it was the type of noise that a person could produce after having a massive head injury. For, when the Fire Lord turned his head towards the source of the noise, he shuttered in horror at the sight of his fair lady, Mai, with a bruise across her eye, waking up to look at the horrendous scene before her.
When she woke up, she started off slow. Anyone waking up after getting kicked in the head by Azula is always going to come to consciousness slowly. But once she noticed Aang, she freaked out. Immediately averting her gaze to the left, only to shriek in horror again as she noticed her husband, with a perpendicular black eye to match hers, staring back at her, equally terrified.
And the last thing Zuko noticed as he woke up, was the knife that came around behind Aang's back, and placed itself right beside Aang's throat, along with the commanding voice of Azula.
"You're doing fine Aang," the ghastly voice proclaimed in a whisper. "Just make sure you don't knock over the platter." (At this point, Zuko looked down and noticed a platter with a lid….sitting right in front of Aang's crotch; blocking out any sight of The Avatar's manhood.) "And whatever you do," Azula exclaimed as her voice became darker. "Don't even dare try to ignore or disobey my commands. Or I'm gonna cut you. And I'm gonna cut Zuko and Mai as well. I'm going to cut all of you."
With the tension in the atmosphere at its highest point, with anxiety so thick it could cut like knife, the demented Fire Bending prodigy finally stepped out from behind Aang. She wore an increasingly alarming, yet smug smile, along with her prisoner's attire. Covering the prisoner's attire was a cooking kimono that seemed way too big for her. Along her left arm was a towel, for no apparent reason. That was, until, she made her way around the table; passing Sokka, and Katara who were also bounded and gagged, and got between Zuko and Mai, and made her speech. Thus, she revealed the new identity of herself, as Azula, the waitress.
"Good evening madam," she said with a smug grin as she leaned towards Mai. "Hello sir," Azula stated with a self-pompous attitude as she leaned towards Zuko. "Welcome to the Grand Central Fire Lord Café. As you can tell by my attire, I will be preparing the meal tonight since I have given your chef the night off."
And with that, she immediately threw a knife towards the ceiling. A small cutting sound was heard; like the tearing of fabric. Falling from the sky, was the owner of the cooking kimono; a giant, fat, overweight chef that prepared all the meals in the palace. He collided with the floor, and the pile of broken fat man, started to bleed. Katara began to scream inside the cloth that kept her mouth shut. Aang began to tear up seeing his wife in such a state of distress. Azula, however, remained in character.
"Do you know what you'd like to order?" Azula asked Mai nicely; which sent shivers down the Fire Lady's spine. However, even in this state of crises, Mai never lost her rebellious attitude, and replied with snarl…
"Got to hell." Mai proclaimed.
Strangely, Azula didn't seem mad. Just shocked. Like she didn't understand what Mai just said. As if Azula believe Mai was asking for 'got to hell' as her main entrée. "What was that?" Azula asked politely.
"Leave me alone," Mai substituted. She breathed heavily and stared right into Azula's eyes, making sure she didn't misinterpret her words again.
Azula had discovered her old smug smile again, and painted it across her face. She shook her head and gave off small disappointed 'tsks.' And then, as she placed the gag back into Mai's mouth, she replied, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we serve that here." Then, she turned around and look towards her brother. Knowing better she didn't remove the gag while asking him for his order. "What would you like….hmmm?" she asked her brother. Zuko replied by grumbling in anger and rage. He gazed into Azula's eyes like he was staring into the pit of a black hole. Never once, while she looked back, did he avert his gaze.
Seeing as how no one placed an order, she proceeded with her master plan, and reached for the platter in front of Aang. "How about I just bring out one of the specials?" she removed the top from the platter, and Katara screamed. Sokka know fully understood why Mai wanted Aang naked, and was sicken by this sight before him. Zuko gagged and felt like he was going to throw up. And Mai just couldn't believe what she saw. "I hope everyone likes sausage." Azula proclaimed.
No wonder Aang was standing so still, and cowering with fear. His dick was on top, and surrounded by Parsley leaves, lettuce, and boiled eggs. If Aang made one false move if Azula choose to stab an egg, the Avatar could kiss the dream of having a child, 'bye, bye.'
Azula took the long walk around the amazingly wide table. Once she made It to the other side, she stood right next to Aang, who was beginning to sweat. (And who could blame him?) She picked up a knife and fork, and with the intent to taunt, tease, and strike fear into Aang's heart, she began to sharpen the blade right in front of his eyes. After a few good sharpening, she held the knife right in front of his head.
"Does that like sharp enough to cut a sausage to you?" she asked Aang menacingly. The Avatar began to drip a cold sweat. Fear tingled all over his body.
After few more good sharpening, Azula felt that she probably hd done enough to Aang….so far. So, she began to look for a new target. Her eyes landed directly on Mai. A creepy smile began to brew on Azula's face. She wondered how long it would take to break the ice queen. She walked around the table, and stood to the right of Mai. She began sharpening the blade, slowly and threateningly, until finally, Azula noticed that little rebellious glimmer in Mai's eyes began to drift away. It replaced itself with fear, and the powerful fire lady began to tremble. Panic hit her like a bucket of water. And Zuko noticed this immediately.
"That's enough." Zuko growled to his sister.
Azula was not expecting Zuko to react so soon. Sure, she expected a mild, or even over the top reaction coming from him, but she was surprised that it happened so instantly. It really didn't take much. Even just the threat of harm towards Mai was enough to get Zuko barking mad. Noticing this, she got a dirty grin, and while focusing her attention on Zuko entirely, she sharpened the blade in a much quicker pace in front of
Mai's face. Mai began to cower away, and started to lean back in her chair.
"Stop it," Zuko growled again.
Suddenly, a noise emitted itself in such a strange fashion, that it caught Azula's attention immediately. The noise itself wasn't strange. She automatically knew it was a sniffle. But the information regarding where it came from was so mind boggling that it could destroy the universe. The sound came from Mai. Mai was starting to cry.
While Zuko himself was completely shocked, Azula began to smile once more. She had planned on someone breaking down, but she never thought it would be Mai. Perfect. The plan could continue on with no resistance, and she would have her way.
"Are you acting like a chicken?" She asked with a deceiving personality. Her face sent shivers down Mai's spine. The fire lady immediately shook her head feverously. "Well that sure looks like chicken," Azula commented. Suddenly she lunged forward with the blade in her hand. Zuko jumped in surprised and almost fell forward on his face. Azula placed the blade right next to Mai's; not cutting, nor slicing, or penetrating, just making its presence known. "Chicken's not on the menu," she rumbled demonically. Suddenly she disappeared under the table. "No…if you're going to act like a chicken." She proclaimed from under the table. Immediately just a few seconds later, she stood right back up. In her hand was a mask that usually only performers in stage plays would use. And this mask just so happened to be, the mask, of a chicken. "You get to be the chicken," she complied, completing her earlier statement. Without a moment's hesitation, she shoved the mask over Mai's face, who, at that moment, returned to her senses, and remained strong. Still, however, her body produced tears, and she continued to weep. No one could tell if she was crying, however. The mask completely overshadowed her face. It also blocked Mai's vision, turning everything that was in her sights, black.
"And will say goodbye to sausage." Azula proclaimed in a simple non-chalant way. Aang's eyes widen at this statement. They were filled with even more shock; When Azula lifted her right leg for a powerful side kick. "night night Aang." Azula said nicely as her foot collided with the bridge of his nose. The sound of bone cracking was crisp and clear; frightening. Aang toppled backwards and passed out. A few eggs were his manhood once stayed at flew out of the tray as a result. The falling eggs reminded Azula of her intent. While she was 'strictly business' when it came to her duties as an agent of chaos, she was well known for her ability to get sidetracked in personal pleasure; like the torturing of Mai. So, reminded of her mission, and why she called for dinner in the first place, Azula knelt down beside her brother, and began to speak.
"As you can see Zu Zu, I've made your personal favorite; eggs." Azula began with a prowess that could only be described as maliciously political. "This begs the question. Which died first?" Azula pointed towards the terrified chicken head Mai, "The Chicken." Azula pointed back at Zuko. "Or the egg. And that question will keep you up all night, to the point where you just wanna…GOUGE OUT YOUR OWN EYES!"
Zuko snapped.
"LOOK! WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO TO ME JUST DO IT AND LEAVE HER ALONE!" The Firelord screamed. The aching in his heart to see his wife in distress was unbearable. Tears began to form in his eyes.
Azula was not grief-stricken in the least by Zuko's overdramatic performance. She simply remained as evil as ever. She simply just did not care for the well fare of others. It was all, part of the plan. And yet everyone was losing their minds. Azula turned an eyed the chicken Mai with a cocked brow.
"You really love her?" Azula blandly asked as she stared at the chicken.
"Yes," Zuko sobbed.
The trapped had been sprung, a smile so evil that it would have given demons the shakes painted itself across her face immediately. Her delicious intent had now unfolded before her. The reason for this dinner, the reason for all this, was so the traitors, those who had disobeyed and betrayed her in the past, could finally, once and for all, be laid to rest. She gave off a quiet thank you to her brother for unleashing hell.
"Then let's put that to the test shall we?" she exclaimed with delight.
Everyone in the dining room could hear Mai pronounce under her mask and through the gag, "no, no, no, no!"
"Oh yes, yes, yes, yes!" Azula cheered as she grabbed mai by the shoulder and hugged her in an evil and teasing manner. It was the first time anyone had actually seen a hug become demonic. The gang would need lots of therapy before anyone hugged anybody again.
Azula reached into Zuko's platter and grabbed the fattest egg she could find. "Here, try and egg," she suggested. Before Zuko could even comment, Azula shoved the egg into his throat. The Firelord was getting prepared to spit it back out, just when Azula had clothed his mouth again, leaving the egg trapped. "Don't talk with your mouth full." She commented. "Bad manners." Then, she unbounded Zuko's hands from behind the chair. Using a fire bending technique, she slowly heated Zuko's hands while gripping them tightly; thus, Zuko's hand would deviate from her use. She placed a chopstick in the palm of his right hand. "Always use the red wood chop sticks," she proclaimed. "Much thicker. Better use of gripping." As soon as the chopstick was placed in his hand, Azula grabbed lots of cloth from under the table, and wrapped Zuko's hand up.
The fire lord's heart rate was increasing. The tension was becoming unbearable. In fact, the anxiety had gotten so bad that Katarra just went unconscious out of nowhere, and fell against the table. She was out cold. Azula noted this and thought up some devious ways to use Katarra. But then she shook off these future plans. There was a lot more going on right now. Case in point, Zuko's eyes had widened to the size of saucers, and his brain scrambled for the answer as to what the hell was going on!
Zuko received his answer, and it almost made his heart stopped.
"Which comes first Zu Zu," she announced. "Your chicken," she said as she held onto Mai. "Or your eggs. Oh, and by eggs, I mean your eyes."
Even though the egg and the gag rendered his speech patterns inconceivable, it was clear as day that Zuko shouted in surprise, "WHAT!"
"I want you to put all the eggs, in one basket." Azula proclaimed as she pronounced ever syllable with the intent to get her intent through Zuko's cranium. She grabbed his clothed hand-cuffs, and started to push the chopstick up towards the firelord's eyes.
Zuko, as predictable as ever in Azula's eyes, rebelled. Shouting under the egg and gag, "NO!" Zuko began pushing down. Azula, however, didn't let up and instead kept pushing up. This lead into a small tug-of-war like match between Azula and Zuko; brother against sister. The sad part was, in the end, there was going to be only one victor. Zuko's strength finally overpowered Azula's and she simply just gave up trying to get Zuko to gouge out his own eyes. Zuko felt relaxed and at ease for a moment, as he saw an opportunity to catch his breath.
But then, he looked right back to Azula. Her lower lip was quivering like she was sadden or in pain. If Zuko was in the right state of mind, and not in a state of panic, he would've realized sooner that her pain was for him. What she was about to do, would make Zu Zu hate her for years. However, most of this was just a performance, and completely fake on her part. She was going to have lots of fun.
Zuko's heart sank when she turned towards Mai, and solemnly proclaimed, "Sorry Mai. I tried. Looks like its chicken then." And she grabbed the knife.
Zuko flipped. His mind now and gone a blank, and too this day, if you asked him how he reacted, due to his suppress memories, he wouldn't even remember the dastardly dinner party Azula had planned. It was documented later that the Firelord screamed so loudly that even through the cloth, his voice echoed in the palace, and on top of that, he began shaking and flopping around like dead fish when Azula held the blade up to Mai's neck. In fact, he shook so much that eventually, the chair toppled under his weight, and he fell backwards with the chair, and continued screaming.
Azula was quite frankly caught in a pickle. On one hand, she wanted Mai to pay for her betrayal many years ago, but on the other hand, Zuko's screaming was loud and, quite frankly, annoying, to the point in fact that it almost made Azula want to not kill Mai. Finally, the screaming became so pestering that Azula just gave up, and took the knife from Mai's throat, and threw it against the wall.
"FINE, FINE!" Azula grumbled loudly as she sat her head on the table, exasperated. She was angry at how her plan went askew. So angry, in fact, she took all the platters that were on the table, and threw them against the wall as well. This brought the tension to a point where Sokka passed out as well, and he joined his sister on the table. As Azula continued her rampage on the table, Zuko and Mai found that it was the best time, for both of them to finally catch their breaths. Unfortunately for them, their rewind session didn't last long.
Azula finished her tantrum by slamming her elbows on the table, and running her hands through her hair, screaming, "You people are impossible!"
Azula flashed her eyes between the Fire Lord and Fire Lady. She noted that this phase of her operation did not turn out the way she wanted it too, but for some strange reason, that was okay. The battle was lost, but the war had just yet begun. Her master plan was far from over. Even though the traitor was still living, her grand prize was awaiting her at the altar. Besides, there's always a plan B.
"Look, even though you two ruined dinner, and you did ruin it, I'm going to be a nice girl for a change. " Azula announced to the married couple. Then, much to their surprised, she hugged the both of them. As she hugged Zuko, she stared into his eyes as if she was gazing into his soul. She pointed at his chest, so her words could not be missed interpreted. "If you promise me, that you'll do everything I ask you to do tonight, and I mean everything, I'll let you see your wife again. Are we clear on that Zu, Zu?"
The fire lord nod his head quickly and hurriedly. He was willing. Fearful for what may happen; yes, but he was willing to do everything, and anything, that Azula asked him to do, as long as it allowed him to see his wife again.
"Just like any healthy marriage," Azula proclaimed. "It's got to be based on trust. Can I trust you Zuko?"
Now this sent shivers up Zuko's spine. When his sister was giving him advice on relationships that was actually, factually true, something was wrong. However, Zuko was never one for nit picking small details in a time of crises. So, instead of rebelling, Zuko complied, and nod his head yes.
Azula detached his leg bindings, and Zuko was freed from the chair. However, Azula kept a tight grip around his waist to prevent him from running away. Azula leaned in towards the frightened and distressed Mai. She noticed for a brief moment that her eyes were red; blood shot, due to her recent crying. As Azula thought about it, she noted that this might have been the first time she had actually seen Mai cry. Whatever. She proceeded with her plan.
"I'm going to have him back by midnight, okay." Azula avowed as she whispered into Mai's ear. Mai nod her head. Suddenly, Azula disappeared under the table for a brief moment, and brought back up another platter.
"Because if I don't…."Azula exclaimed, meaning to never finish the sentence. When she revealed what was under the platter, it was the completion of her sentence. It was an old device that spies from both the rebel armies and the fire nations armies had used countless times in the line of duty. 18 sticks of dynamite were wrapped together in a metal clamp. All of their fuses connected together, and ended at a base which had a strange device which could tell time and keep up with the current time using mechanical cogs. It was a time bomb.
Mai screamed.
It amazing how some people can coup with so much stress before their minds fight back and cause them to pass out. Royalty, Like Zuko, was placed under a lot of stress daily, but there no stress comparable to the type of anxiety he experienced when he saw the bomb. That just did it for Zuko, and for the final time that night, Zuko joined the group of people like Sokka, Katara, and Aang, and he followed in their footsteps, by passing out as well.
Another chapter in the bag. Woot!
Since none of you caught the Bob Dylan reference from the last chapter, I'll give you another day to look for it. Post your findings in your review. Here's a hint, 'like a rolling stone.' But what lines? How are they connected? Well, you'll have to solve that won't you?
Thanks for all the support. I'll try to add another chapter in August real soon. schools about to start. Uggh. I hate it. Anyways, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And as always…
PLEASE REVIEW!