Disclaimer: I don't own anything out of this.

From the minds of Myevltwin and TheHumanWiki.

Chapter 25

Fire sprayed into the air and mixed with earth and water in a crashing effect of utter destruction. Molten earth fell to the ground while steaming air hissed at the unprotected skin of those close to the benders. A dance of clashing steel formed as bodies fell.

The Fire Nation had never seen soldiers like these before. They fought like possessed people. The Non-Benders broke their ranks, snapped limb, stabbed them full of holes, and with captured weapons, tore through every wave that came there way until a river of blood and gore lay on the ground. Bodies so mangled and broken rested next to fallen comrades and enemies as the battle waged on. The only place that was for the Fire Nation was the towers where the battlements were. They fired ballista after ballista down on them with explosive contents strapped to them.

The battlements took out scores of troops that failed to notice them until it was too late. Those that ran for cover realized it was hopeless. They were running down a narrow lane with no cover unless it was created through steady Earthbending. The battlements, should they remain standing, would destroy them utterly. They had to be taken out.

This was why Sokka, Hakoda, and Katara were riding Appa. To give the invasion a chance they were going to take them out. What few Earthbenders there were that could help did so by either yanking the earth out from beneath them or by plugging them up with large chunks of earth.

Sokka hung onto Appa's horn as he drew his sword. The Flying Bison moved within inches of the ballista and Sokka cut off the tip of it. The tip, laced with explosives, flew backwards when Appa flapped his tail once. It detonated inside the tower, killing or wounding the occupants. The next tower was taken out by Hakoda. He threw in a few explosives that blew most of the tower apart. His two explosives triggered secondary detonations in their explosives and blew it to pieces. The ball of fire and molten metal rained down on the troops below. The next one was taken out by Katara. She used Waterbending to freeze the people inside and the tower as well.

Appa turned and landed between the last two towers.

The team of three dismounted and looked to each other.

"You two take out that battlement. I've got this one." Hakoda informed them as he made a charge for it. He didn't want the enemy to know he was on his way just yet.

Katara and Sokka moved to their tower and began their attack. Sokka cut the lock holding the doors shut. They knew they were coming. They weren't stupid. The door broke open with ease and Sokka lowered himself into a crouch as his sister threw what water she had left at the enemy. It froze them in place, giving Sokka the chance he needed to destroy the oversized bow and arrow set. Before leaving he killed the people inside that were frozen and then moved to his sister. She didn't bother asking why he did it. Even she would have done it.

The siblings moved outside and watched as their father dealt with his own tower. He had scampered up onto the roof and used their only opening to get in. Smart idea but stupid as well. A fight waged inside before an explosion rocked the tower. Smoke billowed out in waves and the two teens waited for their father to walk out. Alive. But wounded.

Hakoda pushed the doors open and staggered outside. His left hand held his side while the other hand held his weapon. He took two steps before collapsing.

The two teens rushed over to him, calling out his name. By the time they got to him a small puddle of blood had formed on the ground. Hakoda was smiling too. Sokka called for Appa and loaded his father up. They'd give him medical treatment back at the boats.

(-)

It was time for the invasion to start. Aang was supposed to arrive just as soon as it started. With the Fire Nation in disarray and confusion over what was happening, Aang would sneak in and destroy the Fire Lord. Sound plan but nothing was going right. When Aang showed up after being called down by Zentrai, the teen had done what any normal confused teen did. He started asking questions.

"Why aren't you guys with the invasion force? You're supposed to be helping!"

"No. We're supposed to be guarding you, Aang. Big difference here. Use your head for once. We've been ordered to protect you. Not the invasion force. If we were ordered to help out in the invasion we would have been down there right now rather than up here helping you. Besides, do you have any idea on how valuable you are?"

"Yes. If I die the war is over and the Fire Nation wins. I won't be able to bring balance to the world."

"Not just that, Aang. If you die, the cycle might officially be broken." Naruto sighed and scratched his head. "If you die than the Air Nomads vanish for good and the cycle will end, Aang. That's why you're important and not expandable. You will become expandable once an Airbender has come into this world. If it were up to me, I'd just take you back to the village right now and force you to have sex with all of Rehka's girls just to increase the chance of their being more Air Nomads in the future. But I can't do that because you're a pussy. No offense."

"I take great offense to that."

Naruto decided that being silent now would save him in the long run. With nothing else to say they began their decent into the mouth of the dormant volcano that was the capital of the Fire Nation.

Aang flew while the three Assassins ran through the quiet capital. There was absolutely no one inside its protective walls. That alarmed everyone including Aang. Something was up. But they continued regardless of the current situation. With the whole place turned into a Ghost Town they were able to easily make their way to the Fire Lord's palace.

Zentrai stopped them before they reached the first door and growled.

"We're turning back. No one's in there. The place is empty. We have to get back to the others and evacuate before something happens. This, mind you, seems highly likely since they saw this coming. They had to know that we were coming if this place is deserted. There's no other explanation."

The Avatar snorted and charged the doors anyways. Lyra stopped the two older teens before they could stop him and merely shook her head. They knew what he'd do. He'd head back to the others and inform them of this. They'd depart soon after. There was no other choice. The battle was already lost.

(-)

Azula marveled at her own brilliance. Her plan was working just like she thought it would. She had told her father her ideas on the matter shortly after Zuko had left. She didn't trust him. She knew he didn't trust her. That in itself was a sort of twisted sense of trust they had for each. They trusted each other enough not to trust each other. But that was a good thing.

When the invasion was brought up at the war meeting she made sure to inform them that there was a chance the Assassins would come. She had no proof, but the threat was very real to everyone. Anyone who had ever seen or heard about them and lived to tell their tales were often seen as heroes for surviving a fight with one. And if you survived a fight with one of their Elites you were instantly crowned as a Conqueror because you not only survived against one, chances were high that you either fought it to a draw or slew that Assassin. And since Azula had survived her bout with three, they looked to her for guidance when it came to dealing with them.

Her plan was simple. You simply lure them into an area where you had the advantage. So far the Assassins had fought and won battle on their terms. It was time to shift that to their favor. They needed a victory here to show the world that the Fire Nation was superior in every way, shape and form. They would make them see there error by destroying them here.

But the invasion was a different story. She had a feeling that told her the Avatar was alive. How do you approach that? With an eclipse coming, he had the ultimate advantage. He had his other forms of bending to aid him in battle while they were near helpless. And of course her father would have the greatest of guards, but they too would be powerless under the power of the eclipse. The only option was to have the actual bunker turned into a decoy. She'd be in the original bunker so that when the enemy shows up, which she knew they would, she'd be able to detour them long enough with her agile grace and cunning mind to stall them long enough for the eclipse to end.

Azula wasn't worried about this part. She could handle that. What she worried about were their troops. Only those with a high enough rank were informed of the eclipse. This was to give some false information that they didn't know about the eclipse when in fact they did. Their troops would slowly but surely pull back so that the invading force could get into the heart of their city. When they were close enough in and the eclipse was over, they'd unveil their greatest surprise ever: the airship fleet they had assembled.

Surely that would be enough to stun them not only long for them to be killed or captured, but to also wreck whatever means they used to get here. And when their transportation was destroyed they'd have their victory.

But something was nagging at her. She felt like she had forgotten something but couldn't put her finger on it. It was nerve wrecking to say the least. But she was determined to see this through to the end. All she had to do was buy her father time for when the eclipse started and was over. Once it was finished he could go down and dispose of the people that had dared to rise up against them, or deal with the Avatar and the Assassins. Either way, she'd win.

(-)

Sokka braced as another explosion shook the ground. His first time in a major battle and all he could think about was his father bleeding in the arms of his sister. He laughed at that. Here he was neck deep in a war that had turned out to be a lot bloodier than what he had imagined it would be, and he was thinking only of his father. When he had originally tried to figure out how his thoughts would go it had been along the lines of when he was going to die and how he was going to die. It wasn't this. This wasn't what he had expected.

"We need to reinforce the East side to prevent a collapse." He looked at the map of where his forces were supposed to be. A scout that had found a perch high on the tower they had taken over had been sending him information every few minutes on where his troops where and what they were doing. "Have twenty of our freshest warriors with ten Earthbenders go to that area. That should allow them to hold that area long enough for us to push through the center. And have our right flank pull back. We don't need them rushing in just yet."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea?" Bato asked. "They're making great time in getting through that area."

"It's gotta be a trap. They're letting them get through."

Sokka looked over the new map that was brought to him. A few more minutes and that side would be too far out and trapped. He needed to pull them back right now. He was lucky that Bato had faith in him and ordered five men to go have them pulled back. But there was still a lot of problem to deal with.

Another explosion shook the ground.

"Felt that one in my bones," Toph said quietly.

Sokka didn't bother looking up or replying. He was too focused on the map. He needed a way in and he needed it now. He wasn't a miracle worker. But he could make some miracles when he needed to.

Another explosion. That was a bit too close for his comfort.

He finally glanced up and looked at their current fort. They took this spot well over ten minutes ago and turned it into their frontline outpost. The tanks that had come with them were wrapped around them to form a protective wall. It had been Sokka's idea. It was better than a wall of earth. They tried that already and they lost it just as quickly as they put it up. He didn't want to die here and he wanted his wounded to be well secure for the time being. This was their outpost and medical field.

He breathed deeply and continued going over the map. Bato was offering advice when he could and telling him the latest news when he got it. They were both heavily relying on each other.

Another explosion and Sokka winced. He felt the flames from that one. They were getting better with their catapults. That wasn't a good thing. But it did offer him one good thing. He saw his father back on his feet with Katara helping him walk. Upon seeing his smiling face, Bato glanced over his shoulder and spotted their chieftain.

"Dad! You're on your feet again."

Hakoda nodded as they made their way to them. Toph brought some earth up to form a chair and protect them from harm with a wall of earth.

"Thanks to your sister. I'm in no condition to fight. But maybe there's some other way I can help."

"The battle is going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet."

"Let's hope our luck holds out." Katara glanced up at the sun and blinked. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah… Is that… is that Aang?"

Through all of the fireballs that were shot and connected with earth that was thrown to intercept them was Aang. He flew high over the battlefield, almost as though he was surveying it before he landed next to his friends. The sunken look on his face told a tale that neither of them was prepared for, but it was always best to assume that the best had come to them.

"Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?" Sokka hoped for a better answer than what he got.

Aang shook his head with his eyes closed. "He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city was abandoned."

Fear spread across their features. Their biggest advantage was lost. The entire invasion had been a set up. They had been deceived from the very beginning when they made it ashore.

"They knew," Sokka growled out. He felt like punching something. His biggest and brightest idea ever had been all for nothing. Already they had lost well over a hundred lives to this invasion and many more were currently missing. He knew there'd be death, but now it had been a pointless death. He felt ashamed for risking their lives this way.

"It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone… Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go and be safe during a siege, but be close enough to lead his nation."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for… I'm just the girl to find it!" Toph cheered.

They were getting a plan together to counter the Fire Nation's plan. They could still do this. And Sokka already had the perfect weapon in mind. Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a small flat object with a bunch of hash marks on it and a small needle.

"The Mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."

"We can still do this! We can still win the day!" Aang added.

"Wait!" Katara cut in. "If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."

The Avatar sighed. Two great options and each with their risks. He really didn't like this part about being the Avatar. Both of them felt like the wrong choice.

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance… if there's still hope… I think they'd want Aang to go for it."

"What do you think?" Sokka asked. "You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

Aang thought about and then stood up. He had to take a stand. "I've gotta try."

Sokka smiled. "Alright, dad, I'm giving command back to you. I got them this far. Now it's your turn to get them the rest of the way. But, we need an opening. Riding on Appa is good and all, but they might just shoot us down before we can get away from them. They're getting pretty good with those catapults of theirs."

Another explosion tore through the entire battlefield. This one was different. It felt further away and yet closer at the same time. That meant that is a bigger one. Something large had gone off with a lot of force. That got their interests quickly. And having most of the fighting stop would do it as well.

The explosion that tore through the battlefield was sickening in its aftermath. Bodies were mangled and some were torn so horribly apart that they would have no idea on the death toll it caused. Four of their sixteen catapults were out of commission while eight others were unmanned because their crew was dead. The explosion had left a smoking crater in the ground that was eighteen feet wide and four feet deep. The ground center was pretty obvious. It had happened just under a half a kilometer away from them. Too close for comfort.

"Push in and-"

"Wait!" Sokka shouted. He didn't care about archers now. He wanted to see this for himself. He shoved men aside and got to the second row that was up front providing them with shelter. He could see it now through the haze of smoke and burning remains. Three figures stood at the back of the remains of the battlefield and were rather happy by their current appearance. Sokka laughed. "They sure had me worried for a moment."

Sokka turned and rushed back to his friends and family. They understood what they had just been given. They had been given a shot to escape this and get to the volcano to check for the underground bunker. They would most likely remain behind to ensure that they got to the place safely.

(-)

Naruto coughed blood and groaned as his body began protesting to moving. Zentrai was already at his side helping him up, much to the displeasure of his own body.

"Okay, next time I wanna send a clone to blow something up, tell me to never do it again."

"Would you be surprised if I told you that you've told me that before?"

"Not really."

Naruto spat out a small blob of blood and wiped his sleeve across his mouth. It was agitating to him to have to taste his own blood. He hadn't done that in what felt like years even though he had done it once at Ba Sing Si.

Through the smoke and flames Naruto and Zentrai spied Aang taking off on Appa with Sokka and Toph in tow. The two gave each other a glance before getting ready to move out. They had to follow him and protect him from harm.

"Assassins? Kill them!"

The two Assassins glanced in the direction of the voice and sighed. They were already surrounded. They had to be off their game for that to happen. Either that or they had just gotten disoriented by the blast that had been set off by Naruto deciding to just blow a hole in their formation.

Even though the threat was real, a good two hundred Fire Nation soldiers armed with spears and swords, meaning that they were None-Benders, the two were focused more heavily on the fact that they couldn't see Lyra.

"Where's Lyra?" Naruto asked rather strangely. The commanding officer was taken back by his comment.

The ground erupted upwards and sent the men into a panic. Two men were instantly killed by the sudden rise of the earth and the rest scattered for a better place to fight Earthbenders.

"Right there." Zentrai said with a smile. It was good to have some normalcy at the moment.

Naruto and Zentrai were on them before they had a chance to get to a safe place. Dozens of bodies were broken in a flash. Naruto tore through them with ease, killing each and every one of them in a simple fashion. He twisted neck till they snapped, broke limbs, and with captured weapons, cut a path of destruction that left tens of dozens dead while Zentrai cut through them with his knives. The bodies were stacked high for the world to see like some monument to the damned or as a warning for things to come.

The Fire Nation troops began to back off as the invading force began their march towards them. Naruto paid the invading force no mind. He broke the will of the enemy. That was enough to give them an edge for the time being. They had to get to Aang and protect him. They knew things he didn't. Zentrai had already filled him in on what they had learned just prior to leaving the Palace City. It wasn't abandoned. Not quite. A few people remained behind to protect it. But they weren't the threat. This had been well planned.

"Zentrai, we're moving out." Naruto shouted at his friend. The mute gave no sign that he heard him.

Lyra appeared with soot on her face. She didn't look very happy with the outcome so far.

Fire flew between them. The three dropped into fighting positions and charged the enemy. Fifty Fire Nation soldiers stood their ground.

Naruto exploded forward with amazing speed. He was on them before they could react. He killed five and then a sixth one before they were ready for him. By that time Zentrai had gotten close enough and began cutting a path of destruction through their ranks. They dropped faster than they could count. Lyra finished what was left and growled at the two when they began running again. She could take the running. What she couldn't take was how they were doing this. They were moving away from the main force and towards the mountain. She knew why, but it just irked her to know that she was playing follow the leader with them.

(-)

Zuko was ready for it. He had made the final preparations for it. He had the letter to Mai in one hand and his bag in the other. He'd leave her with a letter stating this was it until the war either ended or he died in combat and was hopefully allowed to see her again. He didn't know which would come first, so he told her he'd see her again when the war was over and his nation was safe. Sure she'd probably see this as an act of betrayal after his words to her, but he had very little choice. He needed to do this. He knew his destiny. He knew why he was always so angry. This was all he could do. He was the Fire Nation's last true hope after Fire Lord Ozai was gone.

"I'm sorry Mai." He whispered her name before leaving.

He had one last thing to do before he could leave. Once it was out of the way he was free.

The prince grabbed the doorknob and turned it lightly before leaving. He knew where Mai was and he was happy she was away from this. It had been his wish that she be away during this. His sister agreed if only for her own ends. Mai had been sent to Ember Island for her own safety. She'd probably kill him later for doing so. He laughed at the irony of that. Trying to protect the woman he loved, even from herself, and she would probably hate or kill him for it. That sounded just about right in his mind.

Zuko made his way through the hallways of his home before reaching his room. He carefully opened the door and entered without alerting anyone. Not like it really mattered. Everyone had been evacuated. If his father learned he was here he'd be mad at him for being so foolish as to stay and fight an army of this size. He was royalty after all and his blood would be on the line.

At the foot of his bed was a painting. It was a painting of his mother. He loved her. She loved him. He hadn't seen here in years. It felt like a lifetime since he had last seen her. It probably had been.

The scarred Firebender took to his knees and lowered his head in shame. "I know I've made some bad choices. But today I'm going to set things right."

He gave her image one final look before rising up and taking his gear. He only packed his clothes and some food for this trip. He wasn't even sure he'd survive it, but it would do for now. He dawned his cloak and strapped his gear to his body. He gave the painting one final glance before departing. It was time to face his father.

Zuko considered going and getting Iroh out first, but soon decided against it. The guards might be better without their bending to deal with him. He needed every advantage he could get. So he'd put it off until after he dealt with his father. Besides, Iroh would talk him out of this. He knew he would. And then he'd scold him for not having an exit plan. Not like he really needed one. The Fire Nation would be too busy dealing with the invasion to care about his escape plan. And hopefully they would be too busy to notice him breaking out his uncle.

So much was riding on his hope.

(-)

The Boulder raised his arms and summoned earth to defend him from a wave of wave. It was blocked effortlessly and allowed him a chance to go on the offensive. With Hippo at his side, the two slapped the earth and brought down a single battlement that was trying to snipe the advancing forces. It crumbled into dust as it tumbled down the sloop. Its own momentum had destroyed it.

A blast of fire from the top forced him to evade. He jumped to the side, raised some earth for a quick defense, and blasted it outwards shortly after it blocked the attacks. It sailed high above the entrenched enemies and forced them to scatter when it punctured through the worn out metal. Boulder watched two people fall down with half of their heads crushed in. They had probably been standing too close to his attack or were just unlucky and got hit by metal shrapnel. He favored the latter option. Sounded better.

Bato gave a cheer and they were on the next part of the road that led to the palace.

Boulder and Hippo used Earthbending to scale the wall that was before them and link back up with the advancing troops. When they reached them they were quickly put back into action. They brought down two more battlements before noticing something strange. The commander that was opposing them was checking the sun. He wondered what that meant but decided against it. The battle was happening right now and he needed to stay focused.

Moving with Hippo and a few other Earthbenders, they brought down more battlements and provided protection for the others as they made their way to the top of the volcano.

Fire spewed forward. Before Boulder could react someone was in front of him and blocking the shot with a shield. The Warrior turned and threw his spear at the attacker. It stuck with a loud crack as it tore through Fire Nation armor and punctured flesh. Boulder jumped forward and blasted the lone attacker with all the earth he could push out. The body was destroyed on impact and thrown off the cliff. The soldier that saved him flashed him a smile and then continued on her way. Boulder blinked and then smiled. It was good to know how far people were willing to go to keep him alive as well.

"Stay focused," Bato ordered as he charged up the hill.

Boulder nodded and continued on his way. He couldn't get distracted right now.

The famous wrestler moved up the mountain of earth and got to the front of the line where the other Earthbenders were. They were so close to the top of the volcano when fire rained down on them. Shields were snapped into place and formed a phalanx of overlapping shields to protect everyone from frontal attacks. Earthbenders raised earth and too shelter behind it. Those that were fast enough or clever enough to dodge did so. Boulder watched those that were unable to find shelter or bring up some sort of protection get cut down.

The hail of fire stopped and Bato did a body count. Eighteen dead. Too many for his books, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. They had been too far out to get back and had gotten themselves killed. He was responsible for leading the charge, but they had it coming. A lesson had just been learned again. Stay focused and follow orders to the letter. If you could do that you'd come back alive.

The shield formation collapsed and the troops continued their fast charge. The eclipse was only moments away from starting. It was time to end this war once and for all.

(-)

The white haired youth sighed as he waited for the boat to get him ashore. It wasn't irritating or anything just waiting for the boat to get there, but it was annoying on some level. He wanted to get ashore now because he had something to do. He wanted to get there now before something happened. This was his last chance at getting out of the place. It was the final step to being free. And he wanted freedom.

"We'll be arriving in a few minutes."

He turned his eye to the speaker. It was a tall man with a cloak that covered most of his form. His face was covered by a black mask that was devoid of any openings for him to see. He was flanked by another person, one that wore Fire Nation robes and was covered in armor. He couldn't discern anything about either of them.

The white haired male gave them masked man another glance over before turning back to the land that was coming up. This land was part of the Fire Nation but had also been the home of the Air Nomads as well. Everyone was heading towards the outlying colonies where the Fire Nation had set up villages. They had put them there because they had needed to expand and it was their own land.

Because of the battle that was being wagged right now everyone from the Palace Capital had been sent to the colonies for their own protection. Most of the people had just decided to go to Ember Island and take a vacation because they felt like they had deserved it.

"Thank you for sharing." The masked man announced. He gave a glance in the direction of their white haired man and nodded curtly towards him. He was shocked and did the same before looking away. "Let me ask you something, old friend. Why do people kill?"

"I'm not sure I understand, sir."

"Why do we, as humans, kill other humans? I know it is an old question we all want answered. But have you ever stopped to consider why it has never been answered?" The other man sighed. "It is because humans are evil creatures and we ourselves are incapable of answering such questions. It is because we simple aren't smart enough to answer them on our own."

"Is that what you believe in?"

"It's what we all believe in. Though, I for one believe in a great many things." He turned back to the white haired youth only to see him gone. He shrugged indifferently and looked out at sea. There were dozens of Fire Navy ships all heading out to help in the fighting. "For instance, I believe in the order of Chaos. I believe that if you want results, chaos is the first step to achieving your goal."

The escort ships that were loaded with Fire Nation troops detonated into a ragging inferno. Screams echoed from the destruction before being drowned out by the crew of the ship they were on began screaming. Mass panic ensued as everyone fought to get below deck or to get answers. What few guards were on the ship were left in a daze as they tried to figure out what to do.

The guards began to force people below deck while secretly killing the other guards that didn't have a white insignia on the back of their armor.

The white haired man jumped over onto the side of the boat and clung to it like his life depended on it. He hadn't expected that the ships would come under attack. He had thought that they'd be left alone. Who were these people and why were they targeting them?

He took a quick glance back into the boat and saw the two men he had seen before. They were standing calmly on the deck with their hands behind their back. The masked man removed his hood, showing off his black hair while the other kept his mask on.

"And that's just one easy way to cause panic and to get your more torture victims, Den. Never underestimate the power of fear."

"I'll keep that in mind, Calamity. But what are we going to do about the passengers? Most of them have no clue on anything I actually need. Only the wife of General Bujing is the only one here worth mentioning. The others are of little concern to me. Besides, our orders from our mute friend were to get to Legacy Corrupted for an update on the war. We weren't ordered to capture these people."

The white haired youth ducked back down closed his eyes. What? Mute friend? He sighed. That made no sense unless it was a cover name and noticed that the ship hadn't changed course yet. Are they heading towards the former Air Temple as well? Naruto… where are you?

He sighed and dropped down into the water. He could swim the rest of the way. He was happy he had great lungs and endurance or it might have been suicide. But staying on a captured boat could also lead to death as well.

(-)

Forward positions were lost. Nothing was left to stop the invasion force from getting into the Palace City. They quickly surrounded the city and dealt with any all resistance inside. Firebenders were quick to give up when they realized that they had lost their ability to Firebend. What might have taken hours to take over took only minutes. In less than two minutes they had the entire place secured and under their control. But no one outside of what little guards remained stood in their way. Those that were captured were quickly dealt with by those that were ready to show no mercy.

(-)

From his perch high above the Palace City, the commander and soon to be Airship Commander watched as the invasion forces took over their land. He felt disgusted to know that they had allowed this to happen. They should have pushed them back with these things the very moment they had arrived. But Fire Lord Ozai heeded the words of his daughter. They wouldn't engage them in combat until the eclipse was over. It was hard to believe that they had managed to figure out just when it would happen.

The man sighed. That just proved to him which side the Spirits were on. He wouldn't voice it, but he knew this war was a joke right from the start. They were disrupting the balance of the world and the Spirits were taking a side. They were siding with the resistance. Those that would oppose them the hardest, in his mind, weren't those of flesh and blood, but of a power so beyond them that they could destroy their way of life with but a thought. It scared him to know that they might have this power, even if it was only a legend. But to be tempting their wrath was another thing all together.

"Sir, the invasion forces are surrounding the Palace City. Are we to assume our next part of the plan now?"

He nodded grimly.

This was the part he didn't like at all. Not because he would see this as a senseless slaughter, but because they would be dropping bombs on their own land. That just didn't sit right with him to do. But it was for the best. A pest had taken root on their land and it needed to be taken care swiftly and mercilessly. Historians might look back at this day as a day of despair that the Fire Nation turned its own weapons against their own land, but what other choice was there? Engaging them in a ground battle with so little forces was suicide right now. They had no other choice.

"All hands are to get to their battle positions. Prepare for combat."

The troops moved and the man looked back at the troops. He didn't feel bad for them. He felt bad for his land. Not for them.

(-)

Ozai wasn't ready for everything. He hadn't planned on this.

The invasion force was being dealt with, but the Assassins had definitely appeared on the battlefield and at other locations. They had been hit at more than a dozen other spots, all of them crucial in their daily lives. But the enemy had also begun attacking people at Ember Island where he had sent more than a dozen of his most important officials under the promise that it would safe for them there.

He might have seen this as a loss on his end but he saw this more as an opening move in a bigger game that was in play. He had never liked some of the people that were probably now dead. They had always been a hindrance to him. They asked to govern some of the captured land. He gave it to them. They complained that it was unruly after it was captured and that people were rising up against them. He told them that more troops were on the way. They never listened. They grew infuriated with him until they decided to take measures into their own hands. Needless to say, he would be happy with their deaths.

But the threat of the Assassins was too great. They had resources like that of a fully grown Nation. They were a complete Military Nation with the ability to deploy a moment's notice. They had spies everywhere just like they did, but better. They were the greatest threat to him and his rule. That was why he had wanted Naruto and Zentrai to join him. Their added power would not only bolster his forces but he might also be able to keep the other Assassins off his back. Years of fighting and being forced to sleep with one eye open had been a major downer for him.

His guards twitched and his fear grew. Was one of them in the room right now?

The door to his chamber opened up and Zuko stood in the doorway. The look in his eyes told him that his son wanted to speak with him about something important.

(-)

Zentrai grabbed the strongest of the men and stared at him. He was rather bored at the moment, another way of knowing that this was normal for them. He had never been in a full scale battle like this. He had done these sorts of things with usually his small team where they had the advantage. Nothing was ever thrown out to the unknowns. All unknowns were covered.

But a battle such as this left a lot of unknowns. He didn't like them. He thought that those would change him. He was grateful they did not.

"Tell us how to get to the Fire Lords' secret bunker." The man gasped as Zentrai tightened his grip on him and then released him when he thought about the route to get to it. "Thanks for telling me. Now I'll reward you." A knife entered his throat and killed him.

Zentrai looked back at his two comrades and smiled. He showed them the route that the man thought about and began his run towards the Fire Lords' bunker.

Naruto took his time. The eclipse was about to be over in a matter of minutes, but things had already gone wrong. They knew about the invasion. They also seemed to know about the eclipse with their battlefield tactics if that was any clue. So even though the entire thing was a wash, Naruto had a feeling that the worst wasn't over and he wanted to take his time. Besides, they were closer to the bunker than what he was willing to enjoy.

The three got to the bunker just in time for it to be official to the small Avatar Team. Azula had known about the invasion for months and was now talking down to them as she was captured by Toph's Earthbending.

The Avatar Team stared at the Fire Nation Princess as she suddenly smirked.

Lyra glanced at the ceiling and smirked. Two Dai Li Agents were on the roof. They broke her restraints and Lyra threw more earth forward as if to announce their presence. The two Dai Li Agents moved to intercept it and were stopped by Zentrai as he pointed a few swords at them.

"Azula," Naruto cooed. "It's been too long."

She hissed a curse as her composure was lost for a moment. The Dai Li Agents were at a loss. They knew they couldn't win in a fight against them. But they had orders to protect Azula from the princess herself. And she was currently powerless to defeat them.

The mute moved up to the front of the pack and stared at the two agents. "Get out of the way or else." They looked back at their princess and then to the mute. He waved a hand and they dropped with blood squirting out of their necks. He sighed and raised the other hand towards Azula. "I'm not one for torture or information gathering. I'm not really good at it. I'm been one to enjoy watching people get tortured though."

Azula snarled at the fallen and then smirked at them.

"Thank you for doing my job for me, Zentrai. I was aiming to kill them after this. Seeing me at my weakest isn't acceptable."

Lyra sighed. "This isn't getting us anywhere." She threw a punch into Azula's face, knocking her out of the earth prison that she had put her in. With her one arm she grabbed Azula up by her hair and slammed her into the wall. "Start talking. Where is the Fire Lord?" A knife appeared in Azula's hand and was quickly taken away. The price was a hard palm thrust into her back. "Don't do that again. It's not very good for your health."

"You're not allowed to kill me, anyways. You do want what's best for me, right?"

"Not really." Naruto patted Sokka on the shoulder. "You guys did good to get here on your own. Now get out of here, Sokka. You have to link back up with the others and get off the island as fast as you can. She knew about the invasion and there's not enough time to stop the Fire Lord before the sun comes out. We're sunk. We'll be right behind you guys."

"You were sunk from the very beginning. You never thought about the fact that we had spies as well."

Naruto laughed.

"We're not as sunk as you are, Azula." The mute stepped closer to the captured princess and grabbed her hair. "Leave now. We've got this."

Sokka sighed and then agreed. They were sunk.

The sword wielding teen turned and began running. Toph and Aang began to follow not too much later. When they left Naruto turned to Azula and smirked. He had won inside of his loss.

"Now, Azula, you're going to tell us everything we want to know."

"Not happening."

Lyra's grip tightened and the woman hissed in pain as she was forced to take a knee.

"Don't worry. I've got a friend that would enjoy torturing someone like you for information, Azula. In fact, I can think of a few methods he'll probably use. Of course he'll rape you for the information and I don't blame him. I'd rape you too, but I don't have the time and you are beneath me."

Lyra grunted as Azula began to fight her. Zentrai placed a knife at her throat and she stopped struggling. "Azula, where was the airship fleet built?" He smiled. Thoughts raced through her mind faster than what she could have stopped. He knew the location. "Thank you, Azula. You've been a big help to me. Though, I doubt that is the only location."

She spat at them.

Naruto sighed and kicked her in the stomach. Her armor shattered from the impact. She coughed and then began to scream. Her pride wasn't on the line. Pain was pain. Naruto grabbed what remained of her armor and tore it away, leaving her naked from the hips up. She tried to cover up but Naruto and Lyra tore her away from her attempts and pinned her to the wall.

"Do you remember listening to the other argued with Zentrai about rape and how it's a serious thing? Would you like to experience it?"

She smiled.

"If you rape her, we'll be taking her back to the village." Zentrai informed him. A victory ran through Azula's mind. She would win even if she was captured and she'd be able to bear Naruto's child and gain his power for the Fire Nation. Bastard child or not, his power would be welcomed with open arms, even if she was threatened to be taken to their village. "Besides, we can make use of her blue flame. We can use her as a breeding stock for more Firebenders with Blue Flames. Even if the blue flame is rare, we can still have Assassins that are Firebenders, even if the chance if having a Blue Firebender is one in five."

Azula lost her composure. Zentrai smirked. She was fully aware of her situation now. Panic was slowly setting in and she would soon lose all of her composure.

The other two Assassins noted her calm composure had gone away and began getting ready for anything. Her blood being used for furthering their abilities and prowess as Elite Assassins of the Dark disturbed her and hit her on a level deeper than her pride.

The mute smirked as the woman began to get desperate in her thoughts. She was fully aware that the mute was reading her mind but she didn't care. She was trying to find a solution to getting out of this. Part of her told her there wasn't one. Another part screamed that there was a solution and that she could escape with little to no injuries.

Azula continued to try and devise a plan of action before a single thought raced through her mind. Zentrai cringed and she felt it.

"Ty Lee is dead."

Naruto blinked, but not out of a shock. He blinked because he was confused. His confusion passed and he smirked. "Still trying to buy me off, huh, Azula? That didn't work last time. Why do you think it would work this time?"

"I'm not trying to buy you off. I'm letting you know that she's dead."

"Most likely by your hands," Naruto retorted heatedly. He grabbed Azula by her hair and began dragging her. "We're not going to sit here and chit chat all day long. We have a time limit here. And rather not deal with Firebenders on the way out if I can avoid it."

Azula let herself get dragged after Naruto got angry about her fighting him and decked her twice in the face. She was knocked out on the second blow but awoke a few minutes later with blood draining from her nose and mouth. He had busted a tooth out and broke her nose in the process. He wasn't very happy either if his constant tugging on her was proof.

Eventually he got fed up with tugging on her to make her keep up and bound and gagged her to keep her quiet and shoved her up front.

"Walk," Lyra announced as she took over. Zentrai flanked the princess and watched as Azula stiffened in protest. "I said move, whore!" Lyra backhanded her with all her might. Azula hit the ground and blinked tears out of her eyes. For a one armed woman she hit pretty hard.

Lyra grabbed her up and shoved her forward. With a gag in her mouth, much to Zentrai's amusement since it was shutting her up; Azula had little fight in her. She was calculating her escape. They were being too lineate with her, but none of them really cared. They wanted to see what she'd do and see just how long it might take for her realize she was well and truly screwed at the moment.

Two minutes of walking and they were finally outside. The eclipse was officially over and the Airships had finally taken to the sky. Azula felt that victory was assured until Naruto looked to his friend gave him a nod.

"I'll go protect the Avatar. You take are new whore to Legacy Corrupted and deal with here there. I think I know where we'll be going to get away. And if all else fails, just use Shibaru to find Rai. Those two could find each other on separate ends of the world."

Azula began to squirm again and was quickly put down by Zentrai. He struck a pressure point and silenced her before she could start trying to speak. With a crack of his neck he threw her over his shoulder and departed. He had a way out of here.

Naruto gave Lyra a glance and nodded. "We're sprinting this. Don't fall behind."

(-)

Zentrai moved with great speed towards his exit point. His goal was to commandeer a ship and depart with his prisoner in tow. Of course it was never easy for him. He was a man of few words when it came to stealing stuff he wanted. He never knew when to stop. He never knew when the give it a rest and just let it go. For him, bigger was better in every way. If it wasn't big, it wasn't worth his time. If it wasn't mean, it wasn't worth his time. If the stakes weren't high enough, it wasn't worth his time. For him it was the thrill of the hunt and the chase. It was the fear of knowing you were on the edge and so close to death that you thought it was over and that all hope was gone. That was why he enjoyed things never being easy.

Of course things were easy this time around and he was easily carrying a prisoner that everyone would fight to protect and take back without actually fighting him. They'd negotiate or try to sneak attack him from behind.

The only problem now was that no one was here. They were all on their floating ships and raining down death on the invasion force. He was all alone and left with little resistance as he sped towards the dock where the ships were located.

From his perch high above the dock he spied movement and smiled. Twenty men were stationed down at the dock to guard the only remaining boat. The others had been deployed to look for survivors after some strange explosions out at sea. Zentrai wondered who was responsible for it. He could think of a few people, namely Ghost and Reaper, being the case, but that didn't there M.O. Yeah they liked to do new things, but blowing up boats at sea, even for no reason other to watch them burn, was beyond them.

He figured on a dozen people that might be involved in it, but decided that he could do that later. After all, he had a job to do.

Shibaru licked her lips at the promise of fresh meat. She was rather hungry. He wondered if her hunger and desire to eat would actually allow her to kill of the men down there without a problem. While he would have liked to know if that was possible, he decided against it.

Jumping down the slope with Azula in tow, he skidded until the enemy spotted him. A dozen thoughts race through their minds before figuring out who and what he was. He smirked and threw daggers at them. The closest went down without a fight. The ones in the back began to rush him after noticing he had their princess. Shibaru jumped up out of nowhere and began biting the enemy to death. In a matter of seconds the battle was over and Shibaru was left eating the dead, armor and all.

The mute glanced around and took over the boat. He couldn't sense anyone onboard it and took over the controls. He glanced out the window and sighed. Shibaru was trying to stack up the dead into a pile so she could have something to eat on the way. Normally he would have helped her but they were on a time schedule.

"Shibaru, get over here. We've got to go."

The large beast whined but soon complied. She understood how serious of a situation they were in. That didn't mean she wouldn't take her time either. With her large maw she grabbed two bodies with one bite and hauled them into the ship before going back for seconds. Zentrai shook his head as she came to a stop over Azula. The young woman was in the process of waking up again. He considered knocking her out again but was quickly against it. She was too weak to do anything at the moment and with Shibaru dropping the dead bodies on her it only served to humiliate her even more.

The mute sighed. Things had been too easy for him. He didn't like it and he had a feeling that it was set up.

"You will see what others refused to see…" Azula's mind raced with those words.

Zentrai looked up and blinked. The ceiling was covered with writing. He recognized it almost after two minutes of starring as he made sense of the meaning behind it. Calamity had done this. He had staged it all. He had forced this boat to be here and had killed off everyone inside say for the guards that were outside and used their blood to write the message. It was very cleaver on his end, but also very disturbing to know how far he could think ahead.

The door slid open and Zentrai felt the presence of another mind that was very confused. He turned and spied a lone guard looking at them with blinking eyes. Zentrai killed him with a dagger to the throat and shook his head. Azula was fully awake now.

"You're guards and soldiers are nothing but jokes." He set sail and began making the course corrections before grabbing the princess up and taking her to the lower levels of the ship. He bound and gagged her before putting a meat sack over her body to keep her from Firebending. If she did that now she'd end up burning herself rather badly. And with the gag in her mouth she couldn't bit her tongue to kill herself. She was too prideful to do that anyways. Once she was fully secured he smiled. "I should rape you just for the hell of it, Azula." She panicked. "Don't worry though. I'm not going to. I'll let the others do that once you're secured at our village. Now rest well. You're going to be very busy tomorrow morning." He patted her check through the bag and left. Azula began to cry.

(-)

"Try to find some cover! I think we're about to see some bombs!"

Sokka stepped back and allowed Toph to bend the earth over them to form a shield for the potential of bombs. Others did the same and waited for the bombs. Those in Earth Tanks tried to continue down the path to get to the beach where the submarines were located and were knocked around.

Aang sighed and gulped nervously as the bombs began hitting the ground around them. Their shelter grumbled and buckled under the explosive force of the bombs. Toph raised some earth to keep their cover up and fully supported before it could fall on them. Appa growled in protest as he felt the earth slowly begin to fall around him. Aang and Katara worked together to keep him calmed down.

The explosions stopped and the airships began moving on.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara asked.

"They're heading for the beach." Aang thought about the situation before it hit him. "They're going to destroy the submarines!"

"How are we all going to escape?"

"We're not." Hakoda informed his son.

Sokka punched his fist into his palm. "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar. We could still win."

"Yes. With the Avatar we could still win on another day. You kids have to leave. You have escape on Appa together."

"What? We can't leave you behind. We won't leave any of you behind."

"You're only chance in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive."

"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll survivor this battle." Bato informed them.

"They're at the beach already!"

A duel explosion tore through them. One happened at the beach where the Swamp Folks were dealing with the bombs that were dropped. The other came from above where a group of soldiers were destroyed by twin fireballs. An avalanche ensued and forced the Earthbenders to make cover for everyone to be safe. When the dust settled, Naruto and Lyra appeared.

"We're leaving, Aang. The battle is lost. You cannot win this fight anymore."

"I know." Naruto looked to the others for a moment and noted their reactions. They had already fallen into the idea of surrendering. He had no problems with that. "We're going to load up the youngest of our group and take them with us. They're too young to be in a Fire Nation prison. Can you give us the time to do that while we get ready to depart?"

"Yes and no." Lyra stepped over to those that were coming and shook her head. "Naruto can cover you guys, but only Toph, Sokka, Naruto, Aang, and I will be leaving. You all knew that this might also happen and yet you brought kids to the battlefield. I'm sorry, but they either stay or we kill them. It's that simple."

Teo and The Duke seemed hurt by her statement but accepted it. They had known the risks and came anyways. It was there fault.

The Elite Assassin turned and created his clones in silence. "Take out as many Fire Nation troops as you can. I don't care how you do it. Just buy these people some time to rest and get ready for what is to come. If you can, survive and stay hidden. Find out where they're going and stay hidden. When you learn something of importance, notify me." They nodded. Two rushed off in a different direction while three pushed forward. Naruto turned back to face the others as they mounted Appa. "My clones will take out as many of the Fire Nation soldiers as they can. Surrender if you wish. But my clones will fight on until they have fallen."

Naruto crawled on top of Appa and didn't look back.

They departed as the fighting started between Naruto's clones and the Fire Nation troops.

(-)

The three clones eyed their opposing enemies with neutral eyes. They could have easily already gone into hiding and blended in with the approaching Fire Nation troops as their own warriors but decided against it. Two on the inside was better than five on the inside. So they chose to fight.

"Niga'toka Shi, lord of hunters and mother of blades, grant that my hands be steady and my mind sharp. Grant me aim that will remain true and never falter. Guide my feet with swift winds and warm shadows. Should the worst come to pass and I lay dead, grant me forgiveness for my times past." They chanted together as they readied their weapons.

The head clone looked to the two behind him and gave nods. "I am the Alpha." He readied his clawed blades and jumped towards the closest group of enemies.

"I am the Omega." The clone readied a large spear captured from the ground when the fighting had gone uphill.

"I am the End." The clone readied a chain-sickle and moved to the side.

Alpha moved with near blinding speed. He cleaved a path of destruction up the hill and landed between a group of ten that spread wide to face off with him. He glanced around them for a moment before moving in for the kill. Two men raised their arms to Firebend and were killed before they could do so. The others fired. He jumped. Avoid it their attacks. Landed and began killing them without mercy.

Three remained and moved forward to engage him as others poured out from over the hill to take him down. Alpha spun, cleaved the air with his weapons and severed heads from necks. The dead dropped and he moved on.

The troops focused on Alpha and were speared from behind as Omega got in behind them with his captured spear. They noticed him too late in the fighting and were brought down by his hit and run tactics. Omega smirked as he speared dozens of troops with ease and left them on the ground dead or dying.

Eight moved up from behind and caught him off guard. They attacked a moment too late. He dove to the side and avoided their attacks. Popping up and throwing the spear he skewered two with one shot and began throwing whatever knives and sharp objects he could find on the ground.

Fire raced down from the sky and pinned him down. He was cornered and left no escape route. They Fire Nation troops closed in and began attacking without mercy. He took out dozens of troops before he finally brought down.

Alpha watched as his clone brother was destroyed and rushed in with berserker fury. The troops were stunned as he dropped down into their faces and began cleaving them apart. One pushed him down but was suddenly without a head as End came in and saved him with his blooded chain-sickle. They stood back to back as the Fire Nation troops circled around them.

"A little over a fifty dead, maybe more, and now they get smart." End commented as he noted their stances and how far they were from them. They weren't taking any chances now. They were keeping their distance. "So what now?"

"We fight until we die." Alpha rushed forth and began his slaying anew.

End sighed and began his slaying again. They parted and began their gruesome task that was already completed. The Avatar team and the Assassins were already off Fire Nation soil. They were most likely already so far gone that they wouldn't be tracked for months.

Four Fire Nation soldiers threw explosives at End and began their attempt to deal with him. Punching the earth, End shattered the ground he was walking on and fell. Their attacks missed him. End smirked and jumped onto the wall of earth as he fell and stopped before running straight up it. He jumped with all his might as he reached the top. The four troops opened fire on him in an attempt to stop him before he touched down.

End spun his weapon and blocked their attacks. He hit the ground slicing off one of their arms from the closest one as the other three scattered. One reached for a sword on its side and took a swing at him. End deflected it with his sickle before another one grabbed him from behind. End elbowed that one in the gut and knocked him into another one that was in the process of Firebending at him. He dodged it with minimal effort as the man was knocked to the ground. He grabbed his foot and dodged another fire blast before spinning and throwing the man into his three companions.

The sword wielding soldier jumped forward and stabbed its sword into End's chest. End smirked before dying in a cloud of smoke.

The sword wielding soldier smiled at his victory before a look of fear crossed his companions faces. He turned and was killed when Alpha stabbed his blades into his eyes and exited out the back of his head.

Alpha dropped the body and stared at the troops that were surrounding him. He shook his head in sympathy for them. They would fight until they were either dead or he was dead. A lot of pointless deaths would ensue at this rate and he knew it.

Even if he had been created to aid in the escape of the Avatar, he felt different from the others like he was his own person. The survival instincts to live and see tomorrow pushed him forward to fight. His death wouldn't be avoided.

He charged head long into battle and fought until he had killed all of the troops. More showed up to take their place. A single clone that could die at one hit stood tall until it finally gave up and was hit. It smirked through all the blood and grim that covered its face just before the killing blow was struck. Its memories were transferred to the original that grimaced when he took them in.

(-)

The white haired youth gasped for air as he climbed ashore. He pulled himself closer to the rocks and settled down on the beach. His swim hadn't gone as well as what he had hoped for, but it had gone about as well as he had expected: Completely and totally not to his liking. Much like how everything else went in his life, this was just further proof that his actions might be the death of him.

After two hours of resting he was ready to move out again.

He walked for miles before coming to a town that was owned by the Fire Nation. He sighed and went in. He had to get something to eat and a fresh set of clothes if he could.

(-)

"What do you mean my daughter is missing?"

The Black Ops commander snorted at his tone. Ozai wasn't very happy and he wouldn't hold that against him. He had seen it a many times in the past when political leaders lost their loved ones. They became insane with grief until they became total insane and forgot how to run their country. But he needed him to focus right now.

"Sir, understand that we'll get her back. But you need to focus on running your nation. Let me and my people do this." He fiddled with his cloak and sighed. "Trust me to get the job done, sir. Just as I trust you to run your nation."

"You said you had everything taken care of! You said this would be easy and that the invasion would be quickly dealt with. You even said that my daughter would be perfectly safe with her option to face the enemy head on. You said that you could deal with the Assassins! And you failed me!"

"You're wrong, sir. I never failed you. I did my job to the highest of my abilities and to my promise. I never said I would protect you daughter. Out of all the things I had prepared for, the absence of the Assassins wasn't one. And even then, we never had confirmed reports that they were even here."

"That blond headed demon showed up and slaughtered four hundred men! He slew more men than anyone else! He pushed back an advancing line with three clones of himself! And you're telling me that the Assassins weren't spotted?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I hadn't planned on his appearance! We never knew what he was capable of either. What we do know right now is that he is gone and that he wasn't responsible for the capture of your daughter. Just because we haven't found her yet doesn't mean she's not here. Now, I will focus on finding your daughter. You focus on running your nation."

The man turned without a word and left the Fire Lord behind. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

"You seem… agitated." The Black Ops commander narrowed his eyes to the left and stared at the shadows. "Not that I blame you. You have to deal with him breathing down your back."

"It is hard." He closed his eyes and smiled. "Did you find anything?"

"It seems that our primary target took her." He paused and red eyes stared out of the darkness. "He's out there. He's alive and he has Azula. If we can find her, we can find him. Just give us the word and we'll take care of him."

"No. Let him continue to grow. We have all the time in the world. Now remain hidden and take care of whoever speaks out just like you always have."

The Black Ops commander continued his path down the hall. This meeting had never happened.

(-)

Calamity sat in his throne. He called it his throne because he was the leader of this area. Throughout the entire world the Assassins had set up bases in key parts of the world. They had set them up in the hopes of keeping the peace when the Avatar couldn't and to continue gathering information on all battle plans that the other Nations might use against each other.

Of course it was also used for other things. This place had been used as a means of capturing high value targets and interrogating them for further use. Some were even brainwashed and turned back to the world to serve as their personal puppets for later use. Of course this was very seldom used during times of peace. But it was something they did quite often as of late. With war they used it almost regularly.

But today he was happy. He was happy because things were finally about to get interesting. A new piece to the already large board had just been added. Some people would view this time as a game changer. He didn't. He viewed it as a chance for the greatest of possibilities. If they could turn Azula into one of their slaves then he'd be set for life. He'd turn her on the Fire Nation and just watch the world fall around them.

The door opened and he smiled behind his mask. Zentrai stepped in with a neutral expression. Without a word he sat down at the table and waited for his masked friend to speak.

Calamity removed his mask; his eyes closed as he did, and sat it down on the desk. Zentrai closed his eyes and opened them just as Calamity did the same. Calamity's cyan colored eyes stared blankly into Zentrai's and shown with wisdom far greater than what anyone would have suspected of him.

"Did you enjoy my miracle, Lord Zentrai?"

"To be honest, I hated it. But you've proven to me that you're a capable leader." The mute looked away. Looking into his eyes was a scary thing. Zentrai had never been able to fully look him in the eyes. It was the whole reason that he wore a mask. No one could do it for some reason. "I trust you've already gotten the idea of what I want done?"

"Naturally." Calamity took a deep breath before speaking again. "You want me to break her and gain all the information I can from her. But that won't be as easy as you're expecting it to be."

"I'm not expecting it to be easy. That's why you brought Den with you, isn't it? You knew that not only would I be given a chance to get her, but also where I would go. It's scary that you're that smart."

"No. What's scary is that you're predictable."

The mute rolled his eyes for a moment before returning to the topic at hand. "I will be staying here for a few days to rest and get back to full strength. Shibaru will need something to eat, but I'm pretty sure you already worked that out." He nodded happily and the mute sighed. "Do you ever have a moment when you're not prepared for anything?"

"All the time. I just choose to never show it." He shrugged and pulled his hood up. "We've got more pressing matters to attend to. I'm sure you know what I'm referring too?" The mute nodded grimly. How he found out would forever haunt him. "I'm honored that you're selecting me for the village leader and all, but my skills would be put to waste there and it wouldn't keep me very entrained. We both know what happens when I get bored."

Zentrai nodded regrettable. Calamity was prone to random acts when he was bored. If he got bored it was trouble. Lucky for him that being leader was never boring when you were in charge of not only the village but also the entire Assassin Ranks, missions, and wellbeing. There were a lot of things to do that would keep him occupied, but he could still get very bored.

"I'm not going to ask how you found out about what I was aiming to do. But that doesn't matter to me. What matters right now is that you continued to make your miracles. I'll be sending you back out as soon as I can get Rehka to start using you more often in battle. I know she doesn't like you because of how you treat others and use them on the battlefield, but it is because of those reasons that I nominated you to be our new leader. It has nothing to do with Rehka. She's a stand-in and she knew it right from the beginning. We needed to run a selection process to choose the real leader for what might be ahead. In times of peace, should it happen as Iroh believed it would in his dream, we might be in for a lot trouble."

Calamity nodded grimly. He had already begun planning strategies for when the war was over. He had come up with a dozen scenarios where rebellion took the place of war. Those that only knew how to fight would continue until everything spiraled down into nothingness and the world ended. In his mind it was better to have the war continue going. But that was just his personal opinion since peace would be a long way away and have war continuing would be better for everyone. His reason was simple. When one power vanished, another would come in and take its place.

"We'll face your idea later when we have more time. For now we need to stay focused on the task at hand. Go begin torturing Azula anyway you can. I need to speak with Den before he begins."

The mute rose and left before another word could be spoken. He had more pressing matters to attend to anyways.

Calamity sighed. "Never a dull moment." He rose and followed a moment later. He had to make a theatrical entrance as always.

(-)

Den eyed the prisoner as she was thrown into her cell and left for the day to heal up. She needed it for what was to come.

Zentrai motioned him over and ordered him to follow him. There were procedures for this kind of an event. Den once thought it was strange that they had events planned for moments like these. Getting a political leaders' daughter, in this case Azula, was so rare that it never happened. But they had things planned for it and they were to follow them to the letter. Failure to do so would get you thrown in jail or executed. It was a shame that they couldn't do it to her. But she had a set of orders placed around her that protected her from death by them. Anyone else could kill her so long as they weren't from their organization.

The orders around Azula were the key in a lot of things right now. The fact that they couldn't kill her just gave them more operating room to work with. It gave Den more room to work with as well. Den could find a million different ways to work the rules in his favor. He'd use them here as well.

The mute lead him out to the entrance of the hidden village and began starring down at the water. They were behind a waterfall. Not very secure, but it was pretty impressive. They had taken over the village to ensure that the place remained secure. As long as the village was theirs they had no fears of anyone finding the place. And the few the waterfall provided from behind it was very amazing. No one would have ever thought that looking behind a waterfall down into a pound was an amazing thing like this.

"I want her to be brought here to help in torturing Azula." Den nearly did a double-take. A million thoughts ran through his head and the mute nodded. "You're right. Bringing her here now would be dangerous. But Azula can't stay here forever. We can keep her secure for only so long. And Calamity never took into account that the General he's after doesn't care about anyone or anything. Let alone his wife. He'll sacrifice her just to get a chance to kill us."

"He did plan for it. He even told me. That's why he's sending an advanced unit out to the rendezvous place to set up an ambush. He wants you to lead it, though."

"I know. But I don't have time. I'm only going to be here for a few days and I'm not spending it doing his stuff. I have more important things to deal with. And yes, I got the message that I've been put in charge of the Avatar's safety. I can't believe how long that took to go through."

"In Rehka's defense, she wasn't expecting the outcome of the battle to be so disastrous. But then again, the Avatar and his team haven't had a real command structure. They've gotten by on their own without one, but because the invasion fell through, which we figured it would, they can't take any more chances. They would have been safer to have not had it and kept the Avatar from being discovered. But that's not what's important to me now. You really want us to bring her here? Are you insane? If she's found out by anyone they'll bring hell down on us?"

"I don't really care. I already sent a letter to Rehka requesting it. It is part of the guidelines we have to follow anyone. Break Azula by any means necessary and then send her back after getting what we want from her. If Iroh's plans falls apart then we have a backup plan in motion. She'll tear the Fire Nation apart from within and all we have to do is sit back and watch and then go capture her. That will leave them without a leader and we go in and finish them off. Simple."

"Things are never that simple, Zentrai. But I'm not going to argue over what has the better outcome. Genocide isn't something I like to think about."

The mute nodded and began speaking again when he sensed another set of thoughts in the area. Normally he wouldn't have bothered but the thoughts were strange. He had felt them before. And they were confused. He latched onto them and gave Den a smile that was his clue to start looking at the mute continued to pretend to talk to him in his normal fashion. Zentrai did often times speak while moving his hands around. It made you understand that he was the one speaking and not someone else.

"Got him," Den said through the mental link. Zentrai nodded as he continued to talk in his own way. He wasn't really even talking. They were both looking for the person. "He's in the rocks next to the trees."

Zentrai looked in the direction without truly looking. He could see him right there. He was pretty well blended in with the rocks. His outfit matched them perfectly almost.

The mute ran a hand through his hair. The thoughts of the person remained transfixed on him. He didn't think twice. He threw a dozen knives at the person. The thoughts of the person turned strange and he didn't bother with them. He raced down with Den and got over the person. He had managed to pin him to the ground with ease. Only one knife had entered the body and that had been at the foot. He wrestled the person to their feet and began binding them when the thoughts of the person went strange. He had never seen the white man before but the thoughts were very familiar to him.

"How much of that did you hear?" Den asked slowly.

Thoughts formed and Zentrai paused. Before the person could reply he yanked him around and tore his shirt and robes off. He was actually a she and she was a very familiar woman now. Without her hair covering up one of her eyes and the mask away from her face, along with her chest revealed, there was no mistaking who it was.

"Ty Lee."

A/N

We are not Azula bashing so you all know. The method that was used here was actually used in Feudal times of Japan and China when dealing with captive soldiers. If a captive woman was still alive that was a strong warrior or a political assist, they were often nursed back to health and used a breeding stock under the idea of strong warrior gives birth to strong warriors. And if they were political assists, they were brainwashed and used as puppets.

If you don't like this, I'm sorry, but this is how things were done in the past and if you don't like it, sorry.

Now, I must say that I am amazed that no one figured out that the white haired man was actually Ty Lee. His very first appearance was his ultimately give away. We had it set just so you could figure it out and yet no one figured it out. Then again, we did have her not speak and her death did seem pretty realistic, so no hard feelings. Though I am a bit amazed at the fact that someone you hated on me for "killing" her when the pairing is Naruto X Ty Lee. I don't do someone loving someone else that just died and never moving on.