Chapter 49: Superman

Sozin's Comet arrived, lighting up the night sky. It left a trail of fire in its wake as it skimmed through the atmosphere, providing power to all firebenders. It would have been a wonderful sight, if it wasn't going to be used for mass destruction.

The Fire Nation airship fleet had taken off from the base near the Earth Kingdom, on its way to begin burning down the continent. Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had stowed away before they took off, and searched for a way to bring down the ships. As the airships flew Sokka found the way to the control room of the ship he was in.

Fire Lord Ozai was standing on a platform beneath the lead airship. He took in the comet's power, ready to begin burning the world. He was about to unleash his fury when the entire airship suddenly shook, and started to fall. Ozai couldn't see it, but a massive tear had been made in the roof of the airship, releasing the hot air that allowed it to fly. As the ship fell it suddenly slowed down, and the change in momentum threw Ozai off his platform.

Using jets of fire to slow his descent, Ozai safely landed on one of the many pillars of rock in the Wulong Forest. He looked up at his airship, and saw a vague figure at the front of it. The airship fell in a controlled descent, slow enough to ensure the survival of everyone inside it. It crashed into the ground with minimal damage. Then Ozai saw the vague figure move away from the ship and towards him, stopping in the air above Ozai.

Ozai couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was Kal El hovering in the air without wind or fire to keep him there. He was wearing a blue suit with an S in a diamond symbol on his chest, red boots, and a red cape flowing in the wind.

"I'm only going to give you one chance" Kal El said. "Turn back now while you can still walk away."

"No" Ozai said. "This is my world now, You have no place in it. Prepare to die!" Then he sent a massive fireblast at Kal El, but he flew out of the way. He saw Kal El fly towards him for an attack, and suddenly fall from the sky and crash at the bottom of the pillar Ozai stood on.

Why must Kryptonite be everywhere? Kal El wondered as he got up from where he crashed. It was far enough away from Ozai for him to recover from the Kryptonite, and then he flew into the air and kept his distance from Ozai. Looking through Ozai's uniform he found a small patch of green below Ozai's neck.

"I see you have a new toy" Kal El said. "A piece of green rock, courtesy of Azula."

"A last minute gift I'll admit" Ozai said. "And it would seem to be protecting me from the strength of yours."

"I don't need it to beat you" Kal El said. Then he took a deep breath and blew, the wind forcing Ozai off the pillar of rock. Ozai stabilized himself in the air, just in time to block Kal El's firevision with his own fire. His enhanced firebending was enough to overpower the firevision, forcing Kal El to move out of the way.

Kal El flew to the ground and ripped a pillar of rock from its base and threw it at Ozai. On a pillar of fire he flew out of the way and sent a fireblast at Kal El. He flew to the side and blew at Ozai, sending him tumbling through the air long enough for Kal El to hit him with a narrow stream of fire. It burned away Ozai's shirt, revealing the amulet of Kryptonite hanging around his neck.

Realizing that Kal El was after the amulet he possessed, Ozai started shooting lightning at him. Kal El was able to dodge each strike, but doing so prevented him from taking another shot with firevision. One shot of lightning was too close to dodge, forcing Kal El to use Iroh's redirection technique to divert the lightning. He sent the lightning into the sky, not wanting to risk repeating the accidental power transfer that happened the last time he was hit with lightning.

Ozai was shocked that it was possible for Kal El to redirect lightning. He hesitated just long enough to give Kal El an opening. With a very narrow stream of fire he hit the amulet Ozai wore, shattering it and sending fragments of Kryptonite falling to the forest floor. Ozai's expression turned to terror as he realized he was vulnerable now. Kal El flew forward and slammed into Ozai, then threw him away.

After tumbling through the air Ozai stabilized his position with fire jets. He saw Kal El flying towards him and defending with a sphere of fire around him. But Kal El flew through it and grabbed Ozai's fist, stopping his bending. Then Kal El threw his knee into Ozai's chest, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to collapse.

Still catching his breath, Ozai said "Do it. Strike me down, or we'll have to do this all over again."

"I won't kill you" Kal El said. "I'm sending you to a place where you can never hurt or threaten anyone ever again."

OOOOO

Two days ago…

After Aang's concern over the need to kill the Fire Lord, Kal El wanted to see if there was a way to imprison him. No prison in the world would be able to hold him, but maybe a prison from another world could. Kal El flew to the Fortress of Solitude, hoping to find something to use there. Once inside he told the Fortress to transport him to the record chamber.

"Fortress, what did Krypton do with its most dangerous criminals?" Kal El asked.

"Criminals were banished into a prison dimension."

"How would I send someone there?"

Suddenly Kal El was transported into the armory, where he found his ship lying among the weapons and armor kept there. At the wall next to Kal El was a crystalline chest, which was opening. Inside was a small crystal that would fit in Kal El's hand. It was shaped like the symbol of the House of El, including the S on the front.

OOOOO

Present Day…

Kal El took the crystal from the Fortress out of his pocket and aimed the S on it at Ozai. "Give my regards to the Phantom Zone" he said.

The crystal fired a beam of light at Ozai, which created a blinding flash of light on contact. When the flash was over there was a pane of glass hovering and rotating where Ozai was, each side showing Ozai struggling to get out. Then the pane of glass flew up and into the air, where it vanished into the heavens.

With Ozai gone, Kal El turned his attention to the airship fleet. He saw that Sokka and Katara had already gotten to work on destroying the ships, using one of them to ram the others. Half of the ships were destroyed, the rest working on setting the Earth Kingdom on fire. He was about to help bring down the airships, when his hearing picked up something very strange coming from Ba Sing Se.

OOOOOOOOOO

Meanwhile, the Order of the White Lotus was ready to take Ba Sing Se. Iroh took in power from the comet, and used it to blast through the wall with a single massive fireblast. With the way open, Bumi earthbended platforms of rock under the Order's members, quickly carrying them into Ba Sing Se. Jeong Jeong used his enhanced firebending to fly on pillars of flame, then brought down a fiery death from above onto the Fire Nation troops. Pakku and Bumi used their bending to disable more soldiers, their experience beating their raw power.

After fighting their way through the streets of Ba Sing Se, the Order approached the palace. Iroh burned down the tapestry of the Fire Nation covering the Earth Kingdom symbol, then entered the palace with Piandao. Several Dai Li inside tried to stop them, but stood no chance against Iroh's enchanced firebending and Piandao's skill with a sword. Within minutes they entered the throne room, and found Azula sitting on the throne. Lachlan Luthor stood in front of her, in position to fight.

"Give up" Iroh said. "Ba Sing Se will be free again."

"No it won't" Azula said. "Luthor, you deal with the swordsman. Uncle is mine."

"I've got another idea" Luthor said. Then he turned around and earthbended the floor around the throne, encasing Azula in rock.

The rock didn't hold, and exploded in Azula's rage. "How dare you betray me!" Azula yelled.

"While I ruled in your name I realized something" Luthor said. "I'm more of a businessman than a dictator, and supporting the losing side is very bad for business."

Enraged Azula filled the room with blue fire, which Luthor was barely able to block with a rock wall. He knew it was time to leave, and earthbended the floor underneath him to send him out the door. Those old men will deal with her he thought as he left.

Azula was about to pursue Luthor when a wall of fire blocked the exit. Iroh wasn't going to let Azula escape. He was about to attack Azula when the roof suddenly collapsed, sending debris crashing down between Iroh and Azula. When the dust settled Iroh was surprised to see Aang jump in through the hole in the roof.

Aang had come to Ba Sing Se after being left on the Earth Kingdom's eastern shore by the giant Lion-Turtle. He had decided to deal with Azula while Kal El fought the Fire Lord. Taking advantage of the White Lotus's attack he reached the palace undetected. Hoping to catch Azula off guard he destroyed part of the roof with earthbending and jumped inside.

Immediately Aang threw his strongest windblast at Azula, pushing her into the back wall. She retaliated with a massive blue fireblast, which Aang blocked with his own fireblast. Aang shattered the floor with earthbending, then sent the pieces flying at Azula, who jumped to dodge them. Using pillars of fire from her feet Azula launched herself onto the roof of the palace, and Aang followed her. Both of them sent fireblasts at the same time, creating a massive wall of fire where they collided. Then they sent airblasts at each other, creating a brief tornado in between them.

Realizing this fight was going nowhere, Azula charged a lightning blast. She fired it at Aang, who used Iroh's redirection technique to send the lightning into the sky. Azula sent another fireblast at Aang, but was surprised to find him gone when the flames passed. Then Aang appeared behind her, earthbending the roof to emerge from below. Then he earthbended the roof again, using the rock to encase Azula's hands and pull her down to her knees.

Aang walked around to Azula's front, where she attempted to breathe blue fire at him. He blocked with wind, then placed one hand on her head and one on her chest. He remembered the words of the Lion-Turtle: "In the era before the Avatar, we bended not the elements, but the energy within ourselves." Using the technique the Lion-Turtle provided, Aang reached into Azula's spirit. He looked for the source of her airbending so he could take it away.

While Aang tried to remove Azula's airbending, he couldn't do it. It was tied to the Red Kryptonite inside her, and would have to be physically removed in order to remove the airbending. While still in Azula's spirit, Aang took an alternative and decided to remove her firebending instead. Aang found the source of firebending in her spirit, and cut her off from it.

Suddenly Aang saw a flash of Gold in Azula's spirit. In an explosion of energy Aang was forced away from Azula, tumbling along the roof and nearly falling off the edge. He saw Azula break her bonds like they were nothing, uncertain what just happened. She punched the air to firebend, but nothing happened.

"What did you do to me!" Azula yelled. For a moment her eyes flashed red.

"I took away your firebending" Aang said. "You can't use it to harm or threaten anyone else ever again."

Azula screamed and charged at Aang. She was surprised to find herself moving at impossible speed and slammed into Aang. Her momentum carried them off the roof and into the palace courtyard. The ground cracked where Azula crashed, and Aang was knocked out when he hit the ground.

How did I just do that? Azula wondered. She saw Aang unconscious with a large bruise on his chest, and decided to finish him. However she saw Bumi throw a large boulder at her, and jumped to dodge it. She screamed as she found herself launched into the air from her jump and then falling towards the middle ring. She hit a building and demolished it in the impact, but found herself unharmed.

"What's happening to me?" Azula cried out. Then she heard a boom noise in the air, then found Kal El hovering over the ruins of the building. "You!" she screamed. "This is all your fault!" Then her eyes glowed red and fire emerged from them.

Kal El was surprised at this kind of attack, and just barely got out of the way. He didn't see Azula jump into the air and slam into him, sending both of them flying across the city and into the lower ring. This is bad, very bad! he thought. He saw Azula rush towards him in a blur, blocking just in time. The impact broke the ground beneath his feet, pushing him back thirty feet. Kal El pulled back his arm and punched Azula's face, sending her flying into the wall dividing the lower and middle rings, leaving a crater in the wall.

Climbing out of the crater, Azula was surprised she was still alive after that hit. I'm moving very fast, withstood attacks what should have killed me, shot fire from my eyes she thought. I have Kal's powers? How? Then she saw Kal El fly up to her, and leaped to attack him. Kal El saw her coming and caught Azula, then threw her hard enough to send her out of Ba Sing Se, landing near the Lake Laogai.

Kal El was about to fly after Azula when he heard Aang struggling for breath. He flew to Aang, who was just barely conscious. "What happened to Azula?" he asked.

"I removed her bending" Aang said weakly. "But something went wrong, a flash of gold."

A flash of gold? Kal El wondered. Before he could say anything he heard Azula running towards the city. He flew away from Aang and intercepted Azula, hitting her hard enough to send her flying to the outer wall and break through it. Then he flew to the other side where Azula stood up.

"What are you going to do now that I have your power?" Azula yelled.

"I'll thank you" Kal El said.

"Come again?" Azula said.

"All my life I've had to hold back" Kal El said. "But you can take it now, can't you? What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose and show you how powerful I really am."

Kal El flew in and punched Azula, sending her flying through the air. He caught up with Azula and brought down both fists, sending her plummeting into Full Moon Bay. Just before she could hit the water Kal El flew in and kicked her upward, towards the Si Wong Desert. Over the sands Kal El rammed Azula, running her into the ground outside of Gaoling. Then he grabbed Azula's leg and threw her hard enough to send her flying over the Foggy Swamp, then with another punch sent her past Omashu.

Landing on the ground, Azula readied herself for another attack. She saw Kal El fly in, and moved to punch him as he came near her. Her fist hit Kal El's, the combined force creating a shockwave that shattered the ground between them. Azula tried to kick Kal El, but he caught her leg and threw her into the air towards Kyoshi Island. Kal El flew above Azula and rammed into her, slamming them into the center of Chin Village, the impact creating a shockwave that destroyed all of the buildings in it.

The impact left Azula struggling for breath, barely able to get up. "How are you still stronger?" she said weakly.

"Because you're only one eighth Kryptonian" Kal El said.

"What!" Azula shouted.

"I'm not the first of my kind to come here Azula" Kal El said. "One of them broke the law by having a child here, who was Ursa's father. If not for my kind, you wouldn't exist."

"No, that's not true" Azula said. "That's impossible."

"Believe what you want, I really don't care" Kal El said. He picked up Azula and flew back to Ba Sing Se. Hovering above the city he looked through the rock for anything green. Finding a small patch of green near the outer wall Kal El used his firevision to burn away the ground over it. When a small amount of Kryptonite was revealed he dropped Azula over it, letting her crash into the ground next to it.

When she hit the ground Azula felt intense pain, as if her skin was on fire. She could barely move, only able to watch Kal El fly away. Lying in pain she could only watch as the comet finished its journey across the sky and leave the world behind, its red glow giving way to the light of the setting sun.

A/N: When I wrote this chapter I realized there was something missing from the entire story. A good old fashioned superpowered beatdown against an enemy that can actually take a punch from Superman. I also liked the idea of turning canon's Deus Ex Machina (spiritbending) into a Diabolos Ex Machina, something to make the situation worse.