Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the ATLA universe because I'm a broke-ass college student. Sue me, you won't get anything.
There's a poll on my profile about Percy. Go vote on it! It's on my profile page at the top of the screen. It will determine whether or not I will use it during the catacomb fight scene.
Previously:
"Mai, Ty Lee, you follow the peasants. Percy, you're with me, the Avatar isn't getting out of our hands this time," she ordered as she took off down the left hallway with Percy on her heels.
They sprinted into a room with lots of engineers, "The Avatar, where did he go?" she demanded panting. They pointed to the long ladder leading up to the topside of the drill. She raced over to the ladder before beginning the climb. The Avatar couldn't run forever, he'd have to fight her and win to stop her drill from taking down Ba Sing Se.
( - )
The only warning Aang got was a screech from Momo as he turned around, hastily dissipating the blast of fire with his airbending. He set himself in his stance as he watched two people walk towards him atop the drill.
"I don't want to fight you, Percy," he called out.
Percy grimaced, "I don't want to fight you either, Aang. You're supposed to be in Ba Sing Se."
Aang snorted, "It's kinda hard to take some time off when there's a giant drill about to enter the city."
Percy shrugged halfheartedly, "Surrender, Aang, you know you can't beat us."
"You know I can't do that, Percy," he said grimly.
Azula attacked, sending two streams of fire towards the Avatar from her hands. Aang countered by sending a large air slice at the pair. Percy and Azula both jumped over it easily as it went by them. Azula attempted to send more blasts of fire, but was deterred by Aang's waterbending.
Percy quickly ripped control away from Aang, sending a large water whip strike at him. Aang ducked underneath it smoothly and began dancing away from Azula's blasts of fire she sent at him. He tried sending a powerful gust of air to knock them off but Percy stepped in front of Azula, creating a tall, pyramid-like water spike that parted the air around them.
Then they advanced on the Avatar. What was a fight before became a battle of survival for Aang. Percy and Azula were unstoppable on the attack. Years of training together showed through as they moved as a single, cohesive, well-oiled unit. Percy and Azula seamlessly transitioned between attacking and defending as they battered Aang, passing him off like a baton between attacks as the Avatar quickly collected a bevy of small injuries. A burn on his arm, a cut to his leg, a blow to the midsection. It was only his airbending agility that saved him from any major blows so far, but he was tiring quickly.
He was saved by the earthbenders atop the walls sending down another barrage of boulders as he scrambled to put some distance between him and his opponents. Percy erected a water dome, holding strong as a boulder ricocheted off his makeshift protection. Azula moved out of the safety of his dome and towards Aang once more, but she nearly got her head taken off as he redirected a boulder at her, dropping into a split to dodge as the boulder missed her by inches.
She stood back up and sent another blast of fire from her palm at the Avatar. Aang created a makeshift stone wall for protection and began firing pieces of stone at Azula who batted them away. Percy moved in, bringing a large wave down on the stone wall, while Aang made the same mistake Katara had before, trying to redirect Percy's water like a normal waterbending opponent. He realized his mistake after one second, but it was too late. Percy brought the water crashing down, wiping Aang's stone wall out, and sweeping the Avatar off his feet.
Aang tried to rise, but Azula quickly pinwheeled into a powerful fire kick, catching Aang directly, blasting him back into the stone wall that he'd been pushed back towards throughout the fight by the pair. His head connected painfully with the wall as he collapsed forward into unconsciousness.
( - )
Azula eyed Percy as they walked towards the Avatar's prone form.
"What?" Percy asked, seeing her stare.
"You said you traveled with the Avatar, you didn't say anything about not wanting to fight him," she said slowly.
"Azula, did I not just help you knock him out? The last time I checked, this guy is one of the strongest benders alive, and we just beat him handily. I don't think you could've done that on your own," he defended, crossing his arms over his chest as he came to a stop.
She sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything, I was just surprised."
Percy shrugged his shoulders, "He's chill."
Azula nearly rolled her eyes, Percy calling someone chill was about as good as his compliments came, which meant that not only did he tolerate the Avatar, he liked him. Hopefully, Percy wouldn't stop her, as the Avatar's death guaranteed Fire Nation victory.
She was shaken out of her thoughts as the entire drill shook beneath them, rumbling ominously.
"Something's wrong," Percy called out to her as he knelt, placing his hand on the drill.
"What is it?"
Percy looked up at her with alarm, "All the water pipes are being backed up, they must've plugged the waste port."
"Shit, if the pipes burst, it'll flood the entire thing," Azula cursed, "You gotta get back there and stop them."
"On it," Percy nodded as he prepared to take off towards the tail end of the drill before pausing, "Wait, what about—"
"Percy, the waste port," she said commandingly.
"Azula…" Percy pleaded.
"Percy."
He nodded, a brief look of pain flashing across his face before he was off, using his water to create an ice bridge as he moved towards the back.
( - )
Percy grimaced as he slid over the ice. He liked Aang. Truly. The boy had probably endured just as much, if not more loss, than himself. He was strong and funny, but also deeply caring for his friends and family. Percy saw a lot of himself in those traits.
He closed his eyes briefly and sent a prayer to his father. He had to admit, it felt weird to pray to his father so he kept it short. Just a brief plea that Aang would find peace in the afterlife before he refocused on the task at hand.
The Water Tribe siblings had evaded Ty Lee and Mai, he'd bet money that Katara was responsible for the water problem. He couldn't forget Toph either, she was around somewhere. He would be outnumbered, but Sokka and Katara wouldn't provide much of an issue, just be on the lookout for Toph.
He reached the edge of the drill before he jumped, tucking and rolling to the ground. He was right, all three opponents stood just 20 yards away. What he wasn't expecting, however, was to see Ty Lee choking on the sludge as Katara and Toph kept her trapped. He exploded.
( - )
Azula frowned as Percy made his way towards the back of the drill to deal with the stoppage. Despite what others may think of her, she didn't like killing. Nothing inside her leaped in joy at the thought of killing the Avatar. Ending the war? Yes, but not killing for the sake of killing. However, the fact remained that it was necessary. Wars were not won by pacifists, they were won by soldiers, and Azula was more than a soldier, she was a general, and she understood the meaning of life.
She despised many of the nobles and advisors of the Fire Nation. They were cowardly and always attempting to curry favor with the Fire Lord. She would never hesitate to engage in combat alongside the army, she welcomed any who thought they could challenge her on the battlefield. She respected many of the loyal soldiers who laid down their lives for the Fire Nation.
However, Azula would admit that she had laid down some of the harshest punishments for failure in battle. Failure was a weakness, an imperfection, and it needed to be cut out. Besides, as her father liked to say, fear was the only reliable way.
She shook herself from her thoughts and strode towards the Avatar who was still face down atop the drill. She picked him up, placing him against the walls of Ba Sing Se as the Avatar let out a small groan.
She sighed, the Avatar was just a teenager like her, fighting in a war that should be fought by grown men. "Percy is going to be disappointed in me," she said aloud, "But, he's already used his favor for the day when he asked me to spare your bison. Besides he knows as well as I do, with you gone, the war ends much sooner. It's nothing personal."
She lit a flame in her hand before she brought it down towards his neck, but it never got there. The Avatar awoke, hastily blocking her attack with a hand of stone before pushing her backward atop the drill.
She growled as she'd possibly just blown the easiest shot she'd ever get at the Avatar. She sprinted forward, intent on finishing what she'd started, fire trailing behind her. Suddenly, an explosion of water, rock, and mud burst forth from the hole drilled into Ba Sing Se and she lost control as she slid into the Avatar. Bouncing off him, she began to fall down the side of the drill before digging her steel-toed shoes into the side, slowly coming to a halt.
( - )
The sludge wasn't pure water or earth, somewhere in between, more like a mud substance which was tricker to bend. However, Percy didn't care as with a roar he ripped control from Katara and Toph, expelling the sludge-like it was shot out of a cannon.
He directed it towards the stunned teenagers who panicked as 10 tons of mud barreled towards them at 100 mph. It was only thanks to Toph's quick thinking they weren't buried beneath it. She raised an earthen dome, groaning as the flood of water rushed against her.
Small streams of water began to crack through her dome before she switched tactics, quickly dropping everyone into a hole in the ground and closing it above them as the sludge washed over the spot they'd been standing.
Percy raced over to Ty Lee's pink form on the ground, sliding through the mud to her side. He put his hand on her chest, expelling all the mud-like substance she swallowed. She coughed loudly as her lungs cleared and air entered her body. Her eyes flickering as she saw Percy above her.
Percy growled in anger as he turned, sweeping over the rocky ground around them for any sight of the teenagers. He found nothing to take his anger out on, and quickly turned back to Ty Lee, scooping her in his arms as he made his way back towards the inside of the drill.
( - )
Azula continued her treacherous climb upward, finally cresting the side of the drill. She turned towards where she'd last seen the Avatar looking for him. It was only when she looked upwards at the towering wall that she spotted him, racing downwards towards the drill at incredible speeds.
She ran forwards and blasted a powerful burst of blue fire at him, but missed. The Avatar made contact with the drill and a powerful shockwave radiated outwards. She was hurled backward, off her feet, with a yell of frustration at her failure.
The Avatar's handiwork was soon easily able to see. The support beams were fractured, splitting off from the base. The pipes burst as sludge spilled throughout the drill. The mechanics stopped quickly, as the mighty Fire Nation machine was reduced to a useless heap of metal in just a few minutes.
Percy felt his feet shake beneath him on Aang's impact with the drill. He quickly moved away from Ty Lee's bedside, out into the halls. He diverted all sludge flow away from the sleeping and eating quarters in one of the back sections of the drill. He pulled water from the air as well as his pack to freeze giant columns of ice, stabilizing the section from collapse.
( - )
"I don't get it! How'd he do that? Nobody gets through my defenses!" Toph raged in the darkness.
"Now, you know how I feel," Katara muttered aloud.
"No, you don't get it. That sludge was made of both earth and water, it's why we were both able to force it back inside the drill. You've said that he's much stronger than you at waterbending but he not only did he get through my defenses, I couldn't get control over the rocks in the sludge. He shouldn't be able to do that, he's not an earthbender!" she yelled.
"Toph, he used the force of all that sludge being backed up to aid him, when is he gonna have that much water at his disposal all at once again?" Katara reasoned.
"Besides, I thought you like badassery," Sokka chimed in.
Toph growled and Sokka wisely shut up. "I know this is gonna sound crazy," Toph started, "But, it didn't feel like he was bending."
"Toph that doesn't make any sense—" Sokka started.
"I know that Sokka! I've sparred with Katara before, and when she attacks with water, it feels controlled because she's bending it. When he attacked it didn't feel like that, it felt wild and angry."
There was a long pause as Toph calmed down a bit before Sokka spoke up, "Things are not going well—"
"Gee, you think?" Katara and Toph said in sync.
"No, I didn't mean about the drill, I meant about Percy," Sokka defended himself, "I saw his eyes. He was angry, pissed off. You guys nearly drowning Ty Lee… let's just assume he might not be as merciful as he has in the past."
Katara flinched, "I wasn't trying to kill her… I just, I didn't want her to take away my bending again," she trailed off.
"I know I didn't mean it like that sis. Just from Percy's perspective, he won't know that" Sokka paused looking upward, "I just hope Aang was able to destroy the drill because we're not going much help right now."
"Percy's up there with a steady supply of water and he's pissed off now. We have to wait or we risk all getting taken out." Katara pointed out.
Sokka sighed in frustration, "We need Aang to master the Avatar state…" he trailed off quietly as he finished the rest of his thought in his head: because Percy doesn't seem beatable.
( - )
Percy was waiting with Ty Lee as Azula and Mai scouted around the rest of the drill to see what was still intact or usable. Ty Lee was asleep, she seemed fine and said she was, but Percy's big brother instincts had kicked in and he nearly forced her into bed. Seeing Ty Lee choking on his element like that unnerved him. If he hadn't left Azula to go back and check…
He was shaken from his thoughts as the door to Ty Lee's room opened and a sullen Azula and Mai walked inside sitting down.
"How bad is it?" he probed cautiously.
Azula huffed in frustration, "It's pretty bad. The front three sections of the drill are completely collapsed; we couldn't even get inside them. Any engineers and soldiers in there are gone. The midsection hasn't collapsed nearly as bad, but it's been completely ruined by the flooding when the pipes burst. The far end of the tail is pretty good, a little flooding but usable. Otherwise, it's just the section you saved from the inside. There's our chambers, the kitchen, and the prison brink."
"The prison brink is untouched?" Percy asked.
Azula let out a short bark of laughter, "Yep. If it wasn't for you, the Avatar and his friends would've killed all his fangirls with their attack on the drill."
Percy hummed in acknowledgment, "What about War Minister Qin?"
"Dead. He and the others in the control room fell when the support braces snapped and the entire thing came falling. Nobody made it out."
Percy winced, "What about the tanks outside? Can you make contact with one of our bases?"
"Already done. One of the soldiers had a war hawk with them so I wrote a letter explaining the failure of the drill. I'm sending our surviving soldiers and the prisoners back with the tanks. They're useless to us now."
Ty Lee stirred as Percy turned his attention towards her as she sat upright in her bed.
"How're you feeling?" he asked her.
Ty Lee shrugged, "I told you, I felt good before, and I'm good now."
"That's good because we're not going back with the rest of the attack force," Azula said calmly.
"What's the play, Zula?" Percy asked seriously.
"Well, I got the idea from our very own prisoners in the brink. They're allies of the Avatar, so we use that to our advantage. We disguise them to get into the city. We'll wait a few days to let the heat settle down but even without a failed attack, we were just minutes away from invading. They'll welcome us with open arms to help quell their fears."
Percy chewed on Azula's plan for a minute before addressing the most obvious flaw, "I'm not putting on a dress and makeup Azula."
She rolled her eyes, "Of course, you're not."
"You're not going to make me?" Percy asked puzzled.
"Percy, you're 6'2. Mai is the tallest out of the three of us at 5'8. There's no way that even for a second with all the makeup in the world you're passing for a girl at that height. The guards would have to be old, blind, and deaf to let you through."
"So, what am I gonna do?"
Azula smirked, "Well, you're wearing blue armor, aren't you?"
Percy eyed Azula's smirk narrowly, "Yes, but there's a slight problem with that," he said tapping the Fire Nation symbol in the center of his chest.
"So, we get rid of the symbol," Azula said confidently.
"How? It's a metal breastplate, you can't just color over it or take it off."
"No, but we can burn it."
Percy's eyes went wide, "I'm sorry, but it sounded like you just said that you wanted to burn my armor!"
"Well, no, just the Fire Nation symbol actually," Azula retorted.
"No way, Azula. This is my baby, I clean her every night before bed, you can't hurt her like that," Percy pleaded.
"It's just armor Percy, it's supposed to be damaged."
"Just armor?!" Percy's voice rose an entire octave, "This is a top-of-the-line steel breastplate, modified by me to allow more maneuverability, and the only blue-tinted armor in the entire Fire Nation, not to mention, my 17th birthday present."
Azula rolled her eyes, "I'll get you a better one, now hand me the breastplate," she ordered.
Percy went to the baby seal face, eyes big, head tilt, lip pout. It worked every time on Azula.
"Nope. N-not going to work," Azula called even as she refused to meet his eyes.
Percy looked for allies around the room. Mai smirked at his suffering while Ty Lee laughed aloud.
Percy nearly cried as he unbuckled his chest plate, handing it carefully to Azula.
"The rest too," she said with a smirk.
"The rest?" Percy cried out in alarm.
"Well if we show up and the only burn spot is in the center of the chest, it's gonna look suspicious isn't it," Azula said.
Percy groaned, putting his face into his hands for a long minute before gingerly unbuckling and handing the rest of his armor to Azula and Mai.
"Now Percy, I'll make it up to you," Azula said smiling at Percy's antics.
"Fine, but you owe me. Also, you better not do it in here, I can't watch," he moaned weakly as he collapsed on the bed.
Azula's laughter rang out as she and Mai exited to go damage his armor.
( - )
A Week Later
"In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!" King Kuei proclaimed loudly, unaware of the vipers he'd welcomed into his city.
Azula hid a smirk as she looked up from her kneeling position, "We are the but Earth King's humble servants."
( - )
Author Note - Alright everyone so this is the end of chapter 13 of Percy Jackson & The Sapphire Flame and I hope y'all enjoyed it. Give it a review or follow if you'd like to stay up to date on this story. A few things I'd like to address.
- So close to the Crossroads of Destiny part now and I can't wait to write it. The next chapter will be about Azula taking over the Dai Li and Percy & the girls capturing Zuko.
- So this is a shorter chapter because it's just the drill fight scene mainly. It didn't vary a lot from the canon because Crossroads of Destiny is a big finale and I want to write the catacomb scene.
- As usual, I want to say thank you for the support y'all give. If you have any questions just send me a PM I'm pretty good at getting back relatively quick.
- There's a poll on my profile about Percy. Go vote on it! It's on my profile page at the top of the screen. It will determine whether or not I will use it during the catacomb fight scene.
- Finally, please leave a review, guys! A follow or favorite would mean a lot for me too. I'm always open to advice on being a better writer and I'm looking forward to entirely new chapters from now on.
( - )
B/N: So, glad you guys are enjoying it, no Netflix recommendation this time. I think I'll start doing story shoutouts, for all you avid readers. However, I'll leave the super big boi's for later, because I need a few cards up my sleeve. For now, go check out Unconquered Sun, by SoloMafia. Chapter 8 is out, and I'm looking forward to Ch. 9. Welp, enjoy, and I'll see you all next time!
( - )
Duces