Chapter 37: The Coup
Azula was a very unhappy princess at the moment. After defeating the Kyoshi Warriors she and her friends had seized their uniforms and used them to infiltrate Ba Sing Se. One of the Avatar's friends had foolishly vouched for them without bothering to check who they really were. The guards had led her and her friends directly to the Earth King, where she introduced herself as the Earth King's servant.
Then she found herself moving at insane speeds, everything passing by in a blur before being dropped in a metal cell. Kal El had seen through the deception, and demanded to know what she did with the real Kyoshi Warriors. What Azula didn't understand was how he did it, because Kal El had been nowhere in sight when she met the Earth King.
Now Azula was stuck in a cell with the door welded shut. While it would be easy to melt the door with firebending there were guards constantly watching her. She also couldn't rely on Ty Lee or Mai to deal with the guards, since Kal El likely found them as well. Azula was trapped, and she knew it.
How could he have known? Azula thought. Kal's smart, but not omniscient. The more she thought about it the less Kal El made sense. Could he have heard me? She had been taken away mere seconds after she spoke to the Earth King. That's impossible, no one's hearing is that good. Then again Kal El had a knack for making the impossible possible.
Azula was taken out of her thoughts when a Dai Li agent knocked on the cell door. When he had her attention the agent forced a metal blade through the welds on the door and slowly cut the door open. The agent took Azula to another cell, which currently held Long Feng.
"What is this about?" Azula asked.
"Princess Azula of the Fire Nation" Long Feng said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"What do you want?" Azula asked.
"I want to make a deal" Long Feng said. "It's time that I regained control of Ba Sing Se. And you have something I need."
"And that is…?" Azula said.
"Knowledge of what Kal El is truly capable of" Long Feng asked.
"Why should I help you?" Azula asked.
"Because I know his weakness" Long Feng said.
That got Azula's attention. "I'm listening" she said.
Long Feng explained his plan to take Ba Sing Se. Azula would organize a coup to remove the Earth King and the Council of Five from power, and replace it with Long Feng as ruler of the city. The only obstacles at the moment were Kal El and his friend Toph. Azula told Long Feng everything she knew for certain Kal El could do, and Long Feng told Azula about his weakness to meteor rocks.
That weakness didn't make any sense to Azula, until Long Feng explained that the meteor rocks came from the meteor shower that destroyed the old outer wall. It was the same meteor shower that Uncle Iroh found Kal El at all those years ago. Suddenly everything about Kal El made perfect sense to Azula.
He's not human Azula thought. He's from another world, wherever the meteor rocks came from. She didn't know or care why Kal El was sent here, just that this finally explained how Kal El was always better than her. I'll make him pay for interfering in my world.
When she was out of the prison Azula gave a speech to the Dai Li, inspiring them with her words. Then she gave them handwritten instructions for the coup, just in case Kal El really could hear from a distance. With the plan in motion Azula left to deal with Kal El personally.
Kal El had been discussing the invasion of the Fire Nation with the Council of Five for hours after capturing Azula. The attack would be launched from General Fong's base on the Day of Black Sun, and the Fire Lord would fall. Then General How gave Kal El a scroll to bring to King Kuei for final approval. He blurred to the throne room, received the seal, and blurred back to the General in minutes, impressing him.
With nothing else to do today Kal El walked to the palace library. While he could speed-read everything in minutes he found reading more enjoyable at a normal pace. He was sitting next to a table and reading a nice book about a former Earth King during the afternoon when he heard someone approach him.
"Catching up on history?" Azula asked.
Kal El put the book down and got up from his chair. "So you got out of that cell" he said. "You should have left Ba Sing Se when you could have."
"You know I don't give up that easily" Azula said.
"You don't give up at all" Kal El replied. He walked towards Azula to take her to a new cell, when he suddenly felt weak and fell against the table.
"So it does weaken you" Azula said. She took a green rock bracelet out of her pocket and held it up. Azula took pleasure in seeing Kal El's eyes widen, realizing that she knew his weakness. Then Azula punched him with the bracelet, sending him to the floor.
"So what now?" Kal El asked, struggling against the Kryptonite. "Going to kill me?"
"Not yet" Azula said. "You're going to suffer for a while. Then I'll kill you."
Azula put Kal El inside a metal box with more meteor rock inside it. The Dai Li carried it into one of the prison cells while Azula retrieved Ty Lee and Mai. During this time other Dai Li carried out the coup, imprisoning the five generals and the Earth King. The only remaining loose end currently in the city was the blind girl Toph, who had been tracked to a brand new tea shop in the upper ring. In that tea shop Azula learned that Zuko and Iroh were there as well.
Toph had decided to talk with Iroh for a while at The Jasmine Dragon. The shop was busy, so Toph volunteered to help. She would place the orders on the trays and put them on a counter for Zuko to deliver to the customers. When the shop closed for the evening Toph had a long chat with Iroh and Zuko, which she enjoyed. During a conversation about the name for the shop Toph felt a messenger approach the front door.
They let the man inside, and he stopped in front of Iroh. "A message from the royal palace" the man said, handing Iroh a scroll.
"I can't believe it" Iroh said while reading the scroll.
"What is it uncle?" Zuko asked.
"Great news" Iroh said. "We have been invited to serve tea to the Earth King, tonight."
"Excellent, you'll love the guy" Toph said.
Iroh, Zuko, and Toph walked to the palace and arranged the tea set in front of the throne, and waited for King Kuei to arrive. Then Toph felt several Dai Li approach, and warned the others about them. When over a dozen of them circled the tea servers they saw Azula walk in.
"Azula!" Zuko yelled.
"Have you met the Dai Li?" Azula asked. "Their earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so firebender. I just love it."
"You do realize Kal will be here any second to beat you into the ground?" Toph asked.
"I've already taken care of him" Azula said, showing the green rock bracelet. "He's in no condition to come here and save the day."
Toph immediately earthbended a boulder out of the floor and threw it at Azula. Dai Li intercepted it and threw it aside and then launched their rock gloves at her. Toph blocked with rock walls while Zuko and Iroh sent fireblasts at the Dai Li. Then Azula sent a stream of blue fire while Dai Li threw boulders, which were almost too much to hold back.
"We have to get out of here" Iroh said.
"On it" Toph said. She earthbended the floor beneath themselves and went down. On a lower floor Toph sent the rock they stood on down a hallway towards the wall of the palace. When they reached the palace wall Toph earthbended an opening and they escaped into the palace courtyard.
However the Dai Li had the palace surrounded. Dozens of them saw the improvised exit and moved to intercept. They launched rock gloves with metal chains attached, but Toph was ready for that trick this time. She earthbended the ground beneath herself into a shallow crater and ducked beneath the chains. Then she sent a wave of earth in all directions, tossing the Dai Li off their feet.
Before more Dai Li could arrive Toph lifted up the ground beneath her and sent it forward, carrying Zuko and Iroh with it. She stopped at the wall between the upper and middle rings and rested. They waited for Aang to come back with Sokka and Katara, needing all the help they could get to rescue Kal El. In the middle of the night Zuko spotted Appa flying towards the upper ring, and signaled for him to land.
During Aang's visit with Guru Pathik he had been trying to master the Avatar State by unlocking his chakras. He had been about to unlock his final chakra when he had a vision of Toph being attacked by Dai Li. Unwilling to risk losing Toph again Aang left, and locked the chakra in the process. On his way back to the palace with Katara and Sokka he spotted a signal flare coming from one of the walls.
After Appa landed Aang was relieved to find Toph alright. But the good news was followed by bad news, as Toph explained that Azula knew about Kryptonite. She had Kal El imprisoned somewhere, and they needed to rescue him. They needed to reach Kal El before the Kryptonite would kill him.