Chapter Thirty-Six:
Tetsu felt nails heading towards him. He lifted up a large slab of rock to block them. He looked in the direction and saw an Iron Assassin heading towards him. Tetsu threw the slab at the assassin and then more large chunks of rock.
With powerful punches, the assassin reduced each rock to dust. As the assassin drew near, Tetsu stomped the ground turning it into thin gravel. He sank down to his knees but kept coming at Tetsu.
Tetsu hurled more rocks at the assassin. Already struggling to move, he cracked open each rock, but sank deeper with each one. Before Tetsu could throw another rock, the assassin slammed down his fist sending the gravel at him.
Tetsu lifted up his hands to protect himself from the spray of gravel. When he put them down he saw the assassin nearly onto him, with his claws extended. Tetsu grabbed his hand and spun him around.
He released the assassin and he flew into the nearest wall. The assassin embedded himself into the wall, but quickly pulled himself out and went back at Tetsu. He dodged a swipe, and then formed a thick rock glove to block another one.
Tetsu then threw a punch at the assassin. The assassin grabbed his gauntlet with both hands, but Tetsu yanked it free and punched him in the gut. The assassin swiped at Tetsu but came short of hitting him.
Tetsu threw his head forward, slamming into the assassin's skull. He grabbed the him and threw him to the ground. Tetsu lifted up his gauntlet, but the assassin kicked his ankle. He then threw a cloud of dust into Tetsu's face.
Tetsu instinctively lifted his hand to his face, and nails embedded into it. The assassin may be much better at being blind, but Tetsu was an earthbender too, and he felt the assassin he swiped at him, hoping to catch him with the sharp nails.
Tetsu swung wildly, and blinked rapidly to get his vision back. Once he saw the assassin he threw a large rock at him. As the assassin shattered the rock, Tetsu slammed him against the nearest wall.
Pieces of rock dislodged from up above, and Tetsu quickly dodged out of the way. The assassin came at with his deadly claws, and Tetsu swung back to keep him away. When the assassin lunged at him, he grabbed his wrist and swung at his with the nail embedded gauntlet.
The assassin pulled free, but the nails grazed him. Enraged, the assassin charged again, but Tetsu swung his fist as hard as he could. The rock coated fist slammed into the assassin's head, sending him limply to the ground.
Tetsu stood over the downed man. Was he going to kill him. He knew the assassin would not hesitate if the roles were reversed. Tetsu was willing to fight, but kill a man who was unconscious was a whole different thing. He decided to move on. There was much more to do. The battle was not over.
Genji's head hit the ground. Nao stood over him smugly. A whip came at him, but he grabbed it and pulled on it hard. A resistance fighter was pulled through the air and then yanked against the wall.
Nao then casually blocked some ice shards, and begun to send them back. He formed a whip, but the water then blasted into his face. Genji looked back and saw Kaze. "Don't touch him." she demanded.
"You again." Nao replied. "You pesky kids really get on my nerves. I wanna..."
A breeze knocked Nao off balance. Genji stood up and dashed away as Nao lashed at him. After finding a safe distance, he began circling Nao to get a chance to move in. Kaze's shard windblasts kept Nao from getting his chance to strike Genji.
Nao turned to Kaze and lashed towards her. Kaze was able to dexterously move, and keep far ahead of his moves. A continually frustrated Nao lashed more aggressively. Kaze watched as Genji got closer and closer to him.
Genji tried again to tag Nao, but he dodged his swing and struck him on the back of the head. Nao grabbed Genji and slammed him into a wall. "This is going to be..."
Kaze swirled a tornado in her hands and sent it towards Nao, who glanced as it came at him. It knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. Genji opened up another grenade and rolled it to Nao.
The tornado sucked the gasses towards Nao, who clenched his hands over his face to prevent himself from breathing it. He formed a bubble of water around his hands to assist the seal. Genji ran over to him and smacked his back with the shock glove.
Nao spasmed and took a deep breath of the gas. He limply fell to the ground. Kaze glanced over to him. "I'm going to find Arata." she said to Genji. "You find your sister."
Kaze bounced up the rooftops, and Genji dashed down the street.
Even though he knew about it already, seeing it with his eyes stunned Arashi. His very own daughter, leading an invasion against his city. Kuma and Sela were just annoyances compared to her.
"Did you miss me daddy?"
Arashi threw a spout of water at Visola. She raised her hand and it splashed around her. She then gathered it underneath her, and surfed towards Arashi. When she reached him she froze the water into an ice sword and slashed at him.
Arashi dodged Visola swipes, and parried at her with a water whip. He reached high and low to get around her slashes. He backed off to get himself out of her reach, but she moved quickly to close the distance.
Arashi glanced and saw Kosuke, now backed up by a couple of his men, clashing with Kuma and Sela. He quickly looked back to Visola as she formed a whip of her own. The two circled each other, throwing out there whips when they saw the right moment. But neither could make contact as the both dodged and deflected.
Visola leapt over an low swing, and swung overhead as she came down. Arashi lifted his free hand and the whip splashed midair. Visola grabbed his hand and pulled it down, causing the water to fall and hit him.
As Arashi was stunned by the blow, Visola moved in closer. She cracked him again with her whip. "See daddy." she bragged. "This is so much fun. I'm hurting you like I hurt mommy."
Arashi lifted his hand to deflect the next blow. He blocked it, but she quickly snapped it up and struck him again. "Mommy struggled too."
The last thing Arashi wanted was to let Visola bait him, but he was furious with her comments. He threw a small splash of water under her feet and froze it. Visola briefly tripped and Arashi used the opportunity.
Arashi got up and reformed his water whip. He swung at her, forcing her onto the defensive. As she jumped away from him, he froze the water and threw ice shards at her. Visola tried to bat the down, but Arashi continued to press forward with whiplash and shards.
Arashi felt a tug on his hand, and quickly hit Visola with his other hand. "Don't you ever try to use your cursed art on me!" he declared.
Visola struck back. "Cursed. Evil." she said. "Those are all of the things you have called by bloodbending." she deflected a group of shards. "But you're wrong. We bloodbenders are superior then the rest of the common rabel. Isn't that what you always said about benders."
Arashi dodged Visola lashes. "My bending is a pure art." he said as he sent more shards forcing Visola to doge. "How dare you compare it to your vile sorcery."
"Oh that's it." Visola said with a laugh. "That's why you punished brother. Figured we both killed mommy. C'mon, you knew it was me. How could you not have."
Arashi felt anger well up in him, but he reminded himself to keep control. Anger could be useful, but it also could used against him if he wasn't careful. He dodged at Visola came at him with her whip.
"Oh really, you're still calling her mommy?" Arashi said. "Are you serious. Grow up."
He saw Visola eyes widen and she started to flail towards him. He quickly backed up, sending shards to distract her. "Shut up daddy!" she screamed.
Visola's flailing went out of control. Arashi moved faster to avoid it. He knew her movement would tire her, but he wasn't sure when. "All you ever did is take." he told her. "You would always whine when you didn't get your way."
"Stop calling me a child" she said. "I'm different now."
"But your not. You're the same spoiled brat you always were."
Visola took control of Arashi's limbs. She forced him down to his knees. He saw her flailing whips come closer. The began to strike and smack him. He gritted under the pain. She came closer and the pain grew more intense, but he still had to wait. Just a little longer.
"Just for that I'm going to whip you and beat you down until an inch of your life." she boasted" "I'm going to drag you around your stupid city and make you watch your people die, and you can't do anything about it because my bloodbending makes me better then everyone else."
"Do you want to know where you got that from?" Arashi asked.
With that, Arashi pulled himself free from her grip. He plunged and icicle into her gut. She stared at him with shock and rage. "I hate you daddy." she gasped out as she fell limply to the ground.
Arashi knew he had to kill her. He knew it was the only way. But to use such a cursed art, even on his own body. He still felt disgusted with himself. He decided this was a good thing. He was not a sadistic killer like Visola. Like Tsume. He really regretted hiring him.