Prologue
He was hungry for power and didn't see the need to play nice with the rest of the world any longer. His father had been a fool to trust that the other nations would blindly follow Fire Nation rule. That they would allow themselves to be conquered and forced into an arrangement that made them weak but not powerless. Now he had to face the repercussions of his father's foolishness. Now he had all three of the other nations rebelling against the governors in their towns and sailing to his doorstep.
But he could fix this. He would burn the rebels to a crisp and then burn down their villages, towns, and cities. He would exert all of his power over them and break them. He would end all future rebellions he just needed to wait till the comet came. Just one more day…
From his airships, he could see the Water Tribe boats coming from the South and the North. His navy could take care of those infuriating water peasants and their wooden boats. No one knew of the power the comet gave him and every fire bender in the world. They were unstoppable.
His airships pushed forward towards the Earth Kingdom once they were over the land they began. The fire benders at the front of each airship set huge plumes of flames from their fists to the ground setting everything ablaze. There weren't enough waterbenders in the world to put out these fires or enough mud for the earthbenders who could bend it to their will.
He didn't have long but he didn't need days to restore order just hours. From his airships, he watched as the world burned beneath him. He heard the screams of villagers trying to outrun the flames. It was music to his ears. His airships continued their reign of terror over the Earth Kingdom. With the comets' help, he was able to break down the walls that protected Ba Sing Se and captured their King. His admirals followed suit in each of their given territories. The Water Tribe's Chiefs were captured as well as the Elders from each of the Air Nomad temples.
Once the comet had passed the Fire Nation army had reclaimed any lost land, killed or captured rebel forces, and reinstated order to the other three nations. Now he sat at a low round table with the other world leaders around him in shackles. These were to be peace talks but he could not take the chance that they would try to kill him. In all the talks were more of a lecture. He explained that the other three nations had lost their right to run themselves. As the man who defeated all three nations in a day, he would take control and bring order to the world and they would agree to his terms. The Fire Nation had become the Fire Empire overnight and with each of their families being held against their will, the other world leaders fell in line. They agreed to his conditions and what their countries would provide to the Empire. The Earth Kingdom would provide iron, crystals, and lumber. The Water Tribes would provide healers, animal skins and fur, leather, and meat. The Air Nation would provide fruits and vegetables.
The last demand he made was one to show that he and his descendants would never tolerate a rebellion again. Each of the four nations would have to participate in a game. The winner of the game would become a guardian of the Empire and would be called upon if there were ever another rebellion. The leaders were open to the idea until they heard would be entering this game. His grin was cruel as they all raged and yelled obscenities at him from their seats. "Only the children of our four nations will be pooled to be selected. Children ages 12-18. Four benders and four non-benders will be picked from each of your nations. The only exception will be the air nomads. All of your kind are benders. You will only give four contestants each year. You raise them all to be pacifists anyway." He watched as each of the leaders looked around at each other before one of the Water Tribe Cheifs spoke up.
"We will go along with this plan but children of the nobility and royal bloodlines will not be forced into these games. We need to continue our family lines as do you. Our children and our children's children will not take part in these games." Chief Kato stated keeping his narrowed icy blue eyes on Fire Lord Sozin.
"I will agree to those terms. Once you have all signed our treaty you will be released and sent back to your homes and families. The first Guardian Game will begin on the first day of the summer solstice next year." The Fire Lord stood from the table and left the room. He had done it. He had torn apart the rebellion, beaten the leaders of the world into submission, had come up with a punishment that would create an elite group of warriors for any future wars to come and keep the other nations in line.
Children would die but he didn't care. Children died all the time from starvation, dehydration, abuse, and murder. He was creating an arena for them to show their skills and fight to survive. They would either rise to the occasion or die trying. They would bring honor to their families and their nations. In hindsight, he was doing them all a favor. They would be grateful one day. For now, the rest of the world was licking its wounds and preparing for the first of many games.