Chapter 109: The Serpent Strikes
It was around midday when the Asset struck.
Aang had gone into the back garden to tell Zuko and Iroh that Katara had finished making lunch when Jet appeared behind him, wrapping an arm tight around his throat and pressing the tip of a knife into the side of his neck. A small pinprick of blood escaped the boy's neck, even as he froze in the older boy's grip.
Jet manoeuvred the Avatar outside, so that no one was at his back. Iroh and Zuko immediately fell into combat stances, flames flickering around their hands.
In a monotone voice the Asset said, "One wrong move and the Avatar is dead."
The two Firebenders dropped out of their stances, the flames dispersing and leaving only smoke around their fingertips. Sokka was at the door, boomerang outstretched but still firmly in his hand. Toph and Katara was at his shoulders, Toph with a grim expression, and Katara with one that spoke of icy murder.
Sokka demanded, "Why are you doing this, Jet?"
Jet tilted his head to the side, gaze settling on the Tribesman. In that same flat tone he said, "I am the Asset. I serve the Dai Li. We protect Ba Sing Se from corrupting elements. Like all of you."
Iroh commented in a low tone, "You control Ba Sing Se and her people. Through fear and manipulation, you bring her to her knees."
A thread of Jet's personality shone through as he retorted, "So says the Dragon of the West."
Iroh nodded. "So you know me."
"We do. The Dai Li has known who you are from the moment you entered our city. Just as we knew when you went looking for your friends."
Iroh's expression was sombre. "I assume they are gone."
The Asset smirked. "They are as I am. We serve the Dai Li and the Great City of Ba Sing Se."
Iroh's eyes momentarily closed and he breathed deeply. Then he opened his eyes and there was fire there.
He said, "I may be precisely what you believe. But the boy is not. Let him go."
The Asset shook his head. "The Avatar is the greatest threat to peace in Ba Sing Se. He brings chaos and disorder. He disturbs the citizenry with his talk of war in the outside world. There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
Katara snarled. "That's a lie! Aang would never—"
The Asset cut her off. "He has. He sows seeds of doubt and brings entropy to order. He is a threat to the peace within Ba Sing Se. There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
Zuko met Sokka's eye meaningfully. Zuko raised his eyebrow. Sokka gave a tiny nod.
The Firebender moved a half-step closer to Jet.
The former Freedom Fighter's attention was immediately on Zuko. "Stay where you are, ashmaker. Or I will slit the Avatar's throat."
Zuko stopped moving.
Katara snapped, "What's the plan here, Jet? You can't possibly think that you can take us all on alone?"
The Asset smiled and it was all Jet; a combination of smugness and cocky charm.
"Whoever said I was alone?"
Entering the city had been… complicated. Not difficult, though; nothing had ever truly posed a challenge to Azula in her fourteen years of life. It had simply required patience and careful thought, two things that she had in abundance.
Taking on the identities of the captured Kyoshi Warriors had been a masterful idea, even if she said so herself. She'd taken the uniform of their Captain herself and adorned herself with the traditional war paint.
It gave her the opportunity to do something her ancestors had only dreamed of. She'd already gained access to the Earth King's pitiful excuse for a Palace, and she'd started to pick apart his advisors. Long Feng, in particular, believed himself to be a player in the game of politics. Azula would teach him the error of his ways before long.
Crown Princess Azula smirked behind her makeup; she was going to bring Ba Sing Se to its knees.
The ground rumbled below them and Toph's sightless eyes widened in horror.
"They're underground!" She yelled, just as a retinue of Dai Li agents emerged from the soil all around them.
The Asset reiterated, "Any sign of struggle or resistance and I will kill the Avatar where he stands."
The group remained where they were. Sokka even lowered his arm, letting his boomerang rest at his side.
"You win, Jet." He said with a growl. His eyes screamed hate at the other boy, along with any Dai Li agent within his eye-line.
An agent stepped forward; the stripes along his sleeves marked him as a commander.
He ordered, "Suppress the benders and shackle them all. Prepare them for transport to the Catacombs."
There was a low, dangerous growl that emerged from Appa's throat. The commander continued, "And muzzle the bison. He is still property of the Dai Li, and evidence against the Avatar and his associates."
The agents moved as one to follow his commands.
A pair of agents approached Zuko and Iroh, each holding a syringe. Zuko could see an agent slip a similar needle into Aang's neck, even as the boy struggled in Jet's arms.
He glared at the agent approaching him and snarled, "Don't you fucking dare!"
The agent smiled and remarked, "Then the Asset will have to dispose of the Airbender. Your choice, ashmaker."
Zuko felt a hand on his arm and met his Uncle's gaze. The older Firebender shook his head and said quietly, "Do as they say, Nephew. We will find a way out of this."
Zuko snarled lowly but forced his body to relax, allowing the Dai Li agent to approach and to inject the bending suppressant into his neck.
It burned as it entered his veins and he could feel his chi trying to fight off its effects. It was to no avail though, as his inner fire diminished from a roaring fire to a small, flickering flame within his stomach.
When they were all drugged and bound, the commander said, "Open the way."
An agent fell into an Earthbending stance and a passageway opened in the ground, leading deep, deep underground.
They were forced below, the passageway sealing up behind them.