Gaang POV(Aang & Katara):

Katara marveled at the fact that they hadn't gotten caught yet. There were so many times that Katara thought they'd be seen, but most of the crew members were rather lax in their duties. Like they were already sure of victory.

"This should be it," Aang said, looking up at the nondescript metal door. He and Katara worked together to turn the giant metal wheel and to push the heavy thing open."

They found themselves on a narrow walkway, the only thing barring them from the seemingly endless drop was a low railing, and the only thing that allowed them to know where they were going, was the same dim red light that the Fire Nation seemed to use for everything they built.

Aang ran forward without hesitation down the walkway toward the nearest beam, leaving Katara struggling to catch up. The waterbender looked around at all the shadowed corners warily, as if waiting for a platoon of imperial firebenders to emerge. "Why do you think there're no crews around here?" she asked when they finally stopped.

"Probably don't need much maintenance," Aang shrugged, "You know, since you can't really maintain giant metal posts..." He looked up at the structure in question. "...We have a lot of work to do, don't we?"

Looking out at the seemingly endless row of metal beams they'd have to go through, Katara couldn't help but agree.

Gaang POV(Sokka & Matthew):

Sokka stopped to catch his breath as Matthew took care of the last guard with a kick to the knee and a hard, openhanded hit to the side of the man's head. He went down, leaving the duo relatively incognito again.

"Wow, lots of guards back here," Sokka noted. "You should probably pick up a weapon..."

Matthew bent down and took a spear from one of the fallen men. "This is good?" The guard groaned, and earned a casual kick in the ribs from the usually mild-mannered blond for his trouble.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "That works..." He studied the map, tracing their route. "The command center should be around the corner and just down the hall. I hope for both of our sakes that you can keep this up."

The blond's answer was cut off with a rumble that shook the drill. Sokka looked around. "Did they finish with the braces already?"

"Attention crew, I am pleased to announce that we have made contact with the Outer Wall without a hitch. Good work, everyone!"

Matthew shook his head. "I do not believe so. And for that, we should hurry."

Zuko POV:

"I'm so happy you all decided to take the job. I was severely understaffed for a long time...it made my business suffer because I just couldn't keep up with demand," Pao the tea shop owner happily stated. He surveyed them expectantly. "How do you three feel now that you're all official tea servers?"

Alfred, not knowing what had just been said, simply looked down his new apron with mild amusement. It quite frankly looked out of place and too short on his frame.

"Ridiculous..." Zuko muttered truthfully, pulling at his own assigned garment. Really, when was the last time this thing was even washed?

"Um, would you happen to have one of these in a bigger size?" Iroh inquired, trying and failing to force the strings to tie around his back.

Pao inclined his head. "I think I have some extra string in the back that you can use. Please have some tea while you wait." He disappeared into the storeroom.

"I think I will," Iroh said, reaching for the filled teapot and cups on the nearby table. He filled his cup, and took a sip. His contented smile quickly became an intense frown. He spit it out. "This isn't tea!" the ex-general cried out in dismay. "This is lukewarm leaf juice!"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Uncle, all tea is lukewarm leaf juice."

"How can someone from my own family say such a thing?!" Iroh lamented.

The scarred teen couldn't help smirking at the irony of such a statement.

"Oh, we're going to make some changes around here," the elderly man promised, grabbing the teapot and dumping it out the nearest window.

Alfred looked around at the assorted teas and tea pots. He chuckled lightly as something occurred to him.

The owner still hadn't returned, so Zuko felt safe to ask. "What?"

The blond snickered some more. "I hate tea."

Gaang POV(Aang & Katara):

"There...is no way," Aang panted, "...for us...to do them all. How many have we done?"

Katara felt close to collapsing herself. "I know. But we have to keep going, Aang! We've only finished one!"

"There has to be another option," the airbender insisted. "'Cause I don't have enough energy for the next one."

The two wracked their brains over how they could break these thick braces. The structure rumbled, reminding them of how little time they had. Aang snapped his fingers. "I have an idea! Okay, so Toph was telling me abut how speed could be more effective than strength with bending. So how about instead of forcing our way through the metal, we slice it across really, really fast?"

The drill rumbled again. Katara bit her lip. "It's worth a shot, I guess." She drew out the water from her pouch again, and they set to work.

Slice, slice, slice, slice...the waterbender was surprised to find Aang's crazy idea actually working. The brace didn't stand a chance. They completed the final cut, and it shifted off balance. They moved to the next one. Slice, slice, slice, slice...another one finished. The same went for the next five.

The drill began to groan and shudder under it's own weight. Katara finally bid them to halt, wiping sweat from her brow. "Okay, that should be enough."

"Let's get out of here before someone notices," Aang urged. They ran off.

Gaang POV(Sokka & Matthew):

Matthew kicked the metal door open. Sokka followed closely with his war club. The Water Tribe teen clouted and head and ribcage he could find, leaving Matthew with the honor of spearing the most official looking man in the room. No one here looked especially threatening or overly competent. A couple of enlisted men with swords at best-easy to fight and quick to retreat.

Then things went wrong. An arc of blue fire sizzled through the air, nearly cutting their heads off. Knives whistled past his shoulder, and an out of place giggle echoed in his ears. Sokka's eyes widened.

Matthew quickly ducked under the path of a thrown knife. Sokka clumsily dodged Ty Lee's quick jabs. "Matthew, let's go!" He turned and ran for the door. The way was clear, he could make it-

He was met with cruel gold eyes and a cold smile. He wheeled back to avoid the roar of blue flames. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matthew get pinned to the wall with a well-aimed knife.

"If it isn't my favorite Water Tribe peasant boy," Azula smirked. "Mai, Ty Lee, go take care of his friends who are undoubtedly running about the place...but leave the Avatar to me."

"Aw, but the new guy is so cute!" Ty Lee cooed.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can play with him later."

They left, leaving Sokka and Matthew alone with Azula.

Azula appraised Matthew like one would a product in the market. "Hm...Ty Lee has a point. Your new friend is rather cute. I think I'll keep him."

"No!" Sokka snarled. He got to his feet and charged, and found himself disarmed and on the ground again.

The princess's smirk grew colder. "Oh, don't stop on my account, peasant. I like an opponent who dies trying."

Matthew dislodged the knife from his clothes, and threw it at Azula. This caught her by surprise, and gave Sokka a chance to bowl her over with a head butt to the stomach. He scooped up his club and ran, Matthew on his tail.

And the now irritated Azula was right behind them.

Zuko POV:

Zuko tapped the tall blond's arm. "Alfred."

Blue eyes travelled from broom to Zuko. "Hm?"

The scarred teen pointed to the three sacks of garbage Pao had placed by the back door. "Garbage."

Alfred blinked. "'Garbage'?"

"Yes. Garbage. Out," Zuko gritted. He reminded himself that Alfred still didn't know Common Language, something that they really needed to remedy. The tea shop now had customers, some of them even City Guards. Zuko didn't know how long he could keep up the visual cues. He pointed at the sacks, and then at the door. "Garbage. Out."

"Oh," Alfred realized. "Garbage out." He leaned his broom against the nearest wall, and went to take out the trash.

Gaang POV(Aang & Katara):

Aang sucked in a breath and pulled Katara back into a shadowed corner before she could even yelp. A moment later Mai and Ty Lee walked right past them.

"I wonder where they could be..." Ty Lee mused aloud. "Why would they hide from us? It's almost as if.." She gasped. "Oh, what if they don't like us?"

"You'll live," Mai answered drolly. "It's a big place, so..."

The moment their voices died away, Aang and Katara emerged from their hiding place and ran the opposite direction.

"Why are they here?" Katara asked breathlessly. "If they're here, then..." She trailed off fearfully.

Aang bit his lip. "I know. Let's just find a way out of here before she appears."

They turned another corner, then another, and another, then-

"Oh, hi! We've been looking all over for you!"

Katara and Aang looked at each other. Aang blasted the two girls back down the hall. They ran the other way and turned yet another corner. Katara's eyes caught a hatch, and the welded characters above it. 'Slurry Pipeline'... "Aang, look!"

They stopped. Footsteps down the hall indicated that they'd been spotted. Katara wrenched the hatch open, and jumped into the unknown depths below. Aang followed without hesitation.

Gaang POV(Sokka & Matthew):

"Did we lose her?"

Matthew looked around at the seemingly deserted hallway. "...Maybe?"

Sokka took a deep breath. Good enough, for now. He studied the map in his hands for what seemed like the millionth time. "Okay, I have an escape route...but it's back the way we came. There's an emergency escape hatch in the Control Room."

The blond winced at the thought. "It is our only option? I do not like this...Azula."

"No one does," the Water Tribe teen sighed. "And yes, it is our only option. We have to get out of here, and fast. The other ones are too far away."

The drill rumbled again, reminding them of how little time they had.

"Then we go now," Matthew said decidedly. "And try not to get caught, yes?"

With that, they turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

Jet POV:

He'd had the perfect plan. Find one of them alone. Ambush them, and drag them to the guards. Quick, clean, and easy. He simply hadn't accounted for the fact that on might be ready for him.

Jet wasn't sure what had happened, exactly. He'd seen one in the alley, carrying three sacks of garbage towards the larger disposal container. He pounced just as blue eyes alighted on him. Then something clamped onto his throat. Now he was pinned against a wall and facing those same blue eyes, less than a foot from his own.

"Let me go, you damn monster!"

Alfred's head tilted in confusion. Jet would've facepalmed if his hands weren't pinned as well. He'd forgotten this one was deaf.

Then he felt himself being dragged deeper into the alley.

"Oh, no. No, no, no! You are not going to silence me, Fire Nation scum!" Jet exclaimed, struggling and kicking with all his might. The blond, predictably, didn't respond. He stopped at the garbage disposal container. "Wait, what are you-"

Alfred bodily tossed him into the garbage. The three sacks of trash followed closely after, one of them spilling the foul waste all over Jet's clothes and armor. The lid was closed, entrapping the understandably miffed Freedom Fighter in darkness.

Gaang POV(Aang & Katara):

After being almost drowned in sludge, the two found themselves ejected out the back. Aang stood up, relishing in the sunlight for a moment. Katara stood up as well, waterbending the slurry away from her clothes. Just before they could celebrate, however, the Water Tribe girl caught a flash of pink in the slurry.

She acted without thinking, raising her hands and imposing her will against the disgusting substance. The thing abruptly stopped flowing, trapping Ty Lee in the sludge before she could land.

Ty Lee let out an affronted, "Ah!" as she tried in vain to get free.

Aang looked towards the front. "I'm going to go deliver the final blow!" He rushed off, leaving Katara to struggle against the constantly building pressure of wall sludge.

Gaang POV(Sokka & Matthew):

Azula was no where to be found, which both relieved and worried Sokka. What if she'd found the others, instead?

Matthew opened the Control Room door, and found it occupied.

"Oh, great," Mai sighed as she leaned casually against a control panel. "I love company." She flicked her wrist almost effortlessly at the two.

Sokka ducked the knives that flew at him, his eyes to the ground as he searched for the escape hatch. Matthew caught the one aimed towards his face, and threw it back at her. Mai jumped aside in what was almost surprise as the knife lodged itself into the control panel.

"I found it!" Sokka cheered, diving for the hatch. He turned the handle and the thing popped open to reveal the earth below. "Matthew, come on!"

The blond stopped playing knife-catch with Mai and followed Sokka out of the hatch. They fell gracelessly to the ground. Sokka got his feet under him and ran as far away from the hatch as he could, expecting knives to begin whizzing past his ears any second. Matthew wasn't far behind.

Zuko POV:

Alfred returned after a longer interval than expected, looking rather pleased with himself. Zuko was immediately suspicious.

"Garbage out," the blond said, his amused smile indicating that there was much more to the story.

Zuko promised himself to find out later.

And another chapter! Yaaay! Huzzaaaah! I'm super not sure about this oneeeee! Yaaay!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs, guys. I know that Zuko's and the Gaang's sections are moving at very different paces at the moment, but such things cannot be helped. They'll equalize soon. So review, and tell me what you thought?

Later dudes. ^J^