Chapter 25

"At once!" The corporal saluted, marching off to alert his fellow soldiers that they were starting. Because of their large number, they couldn't exactly move in one group, not if they wanted to avoid suspicion from others even if they were dressed in Earth Kingdom military garb, so they were spread out along the wall.

Another part of this was the disguises, as the Fire Nation forces had traded in their standard uniforms for the more accepted Earth Kindom Military tunics.

Azula herself for example wasn't wearing her customary black and maroon armor. Instead, she had swapped her normal attire out for a beige armored tunic, covering it with a wide belt, a dark green shawl, a beige hood, and the customary rounded green hat with a spike that all Earth Kingdom soldiers wore.

She would have worn the bracers and boots that had come with the outfit, but none of them had fit her, probably because she was 14 and had the body proportions of a 14-year-old girl. Even the slenderest of adult men were larger in size than she was, so none of the scavenged equipment had fit her.

As for her soldiers, they were scattered around in groups of 5 to 10 dressed in a similar fashion to Azula, having purloined all of the spare outfits present in the outer wall barracks to dress up like they had, managing to walk past the scores of guards spread through the outer ring without notice.

If Azula was their commanding officer, she would have torn them a new one for such incompetency, but as she was not, it was only to her benefit, and now that they had all reached the middle wall, they could implement phase 2.

Phase 2 wasn't that different than phase 1, or at least Azula didn't think so. It boiled down to performing the same actions in phase 1, which was to send up an advanced force to take command of the top of the wall and send the rest up the helpfully present stairs afterward.

Unfortunately, unlike the outer wall, there were plenty of civilians who could spot them doing this, so they had to wait for the opportune moment to strike.

A cruel smile graced Azula's face as she glanced at her gathering forces, knowing that the opportune moment was now, because the longer they waited, the more likely it was that their forces covering the outer wall would be discovered, and thus their own presence as well.

"Princess Azula," The Corporal greeted as he rushed back towards her in a slightly awkward fashion due to not being used to his armor, his face flushed, "The forces have been informed. We move on your command."

"As you should," Azula smirked as she stared up at the wall in front of her, not intimidated in the least. After all, why should she be? She was the crown princess of the Fire Nation. Conquest was in her blood.

Today wouldn't be any different.

"Start the climb," Azula ordered, earning a nod from the man as he gestured to another man in his squad, the designated climber for the group who had a slightly different load out than the rest. He still possessed the green tunic the others, but because of the full weight of the full outfit, that was all.

Instead, underneath the tunic, the climber wore only a black body suit, one that was lightweight and allowed for easy movement of the attachments on his hands and feet, metal contraptions that allowed him to create footholds with the spikes on his feet while the claws on his hands let him gain purchase to pull himself up.

Hearing the order, the man charged forward to the two men standing at the base of the wall, both of them crouched down with their hands held together. Picking up speed, the climber jumped into the waiting footholds of the other soldiers who then heaved their arms upwards to send the climber almost 5 meters up the wall, where he latched on with only the subtle sound of metal piercing earth giving away his presence.

All along the wall, other soldiers did the same, the designated climbers all being given a small start before they kept going, moving in a crawling fashion straight up the wall, moving steadily in a way that both moved quickly while also preserving the climbers' energy.

Azula couldn't help but admire the men as she watched them move up the wall, her golden eyes sending an appreciative gaze at their hard-working forms.

"You did good work with them, Ty Lee," Azula complimented, turning her head to the disguised girl standing behind her right shoulder. She was dressed in the same military garb as Azula but looked far less comfortable.

"Thanks," Ty Lee grinned, her eyes shining as she looked at her little gophers. "It was fun teaching them how to move up vertical surfaces, even if they did complain an awful amount. Like, seriously, they joined the Military, they should be willing to at least put some work in."

"Yes, but we were scraping the bottom of the barrel with them," Mai snorted, giving her friend an amused glance, "they aren't exactly veteran soldiers. A short time ago they were civilians with civilian work ethics."

"Ladies, ladies, as much as I like to hear you complain, we do have a job to do here, so if you focus on the mission?" Azula interrupted, earning an embarrassed smile from Ty Lee and an uncaring one from Mai.

"Yeah yeah, focus on the mission, buts it's not like we have to focus on it right now or anything, our part doesn't come to an end."

"Be that as it may, we could still get noticed on the ground level, so make sure to keep an eye out for anyone who seems to be getting suspicious. I trust your eyes far more than I'd trust theirs," Azula replied, gesturing towards the guards surrounding them with a tilt of her head, uncaring of the annoyed looks that appeared in the soldier's eyes.

Taunting the guards would never get old, Azula decided with amusement. It's not like they could speak up for themselves, and they'd never rebel against her, not if they knew what was good for them.

…

"Hah…hah…hah."

Jun didn't know how he had gotten stuck with this job, only that he had. Well, that's a lie. He knew exactly why he had gotten the job. He'd been just a bit too good at scaling the walls while training with that Ty Lee chick and hadn't thought about what that might mean.

He hadn't known that it'd get him saddled with the frankly ludicrous job of wall climber. Even right now, while he was only climbing, one misstep could send him plummeting to his death now that he'd reached a little over three-quarters of the way up the sandstone wall.

All it would take was a particularly harsh gust of the wind whistling in his ear, and that'd be the end of dear Jun. All of 22 years of age with nothing to his name.

Why couldn't he have held back? A number of the other soldiers had managed to do so, only slowing themselves slightly to not be caught. But no, those bastards hadn't let him in on the plan, because at the end of the day someone needed to do it, and they hadn't wanted it to be them.

Bastards, the lot of them. If he had the breath for it, he'd be cursing them out now.

"Hah…hah…had."

But he didn't. Instead, his lungs desperately heaved in the air his muscles so desperately burned for, his arms and legs quickly tiring as he continued his ascent. He wasn't the only one though, he was just one among a hundred poor unlucky souls, each of them forced on the orders of the Crown Princess to ascend the wall like they were spider cats.

And she hadn't even cared when two of them fell earlier on the main wall, the soldiers below not even making an effort to catch his poor screaming brethren as they plunged to their untimely death.

Jun didn't particularly care for the princess, and he had no intention of dying for her, so he made sure to place his hooks and spikes carefully as he put one hand in front of the other, heaving his body weight up with one foot after the other.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Jun made it to the top, slightly ahead of his compatriots. So, while being careful to keep his breathing below a certain level, Jun just let himself rest, attempting to recover from some of his fatigue.

But it seemed like no time at all had passed when he was forced to move again, looking towards the signal climber in the center of their little formation, this guard possessing a black bodysuit in comparison to their maroon ones.

Jun wished that the Corporal didn't have to start the attack. He wished that'd they just be able to go home and that no one else would have to suffer this blasted war. But he wasn't that naive. He knew that it wasn't up to them. Any of them, really.

The only one who had any control over the war was down below, watching them with cruel eyes, and even then, she didn't truly have any power. Only the Fire Lord did. Damn him and his ancestors. But as much as Jun didn't like it, he was a soldier, and soldiers obey orders.

Always.

So, when the Signal Climber started moving over the edge, Jun moved as well, latching his claws over the lip of the wall and pulling himself up as fast as he could. Less than a second later, he scanned the area around him while stumbling to his feet.

It seems that he was fortunate, as there was no one standing beside his part of the wall. There were, however, quite a lot of Earth Kingdom guards on the wall, perhaps 200 all up. That meant that they were outnumbered two to one, but at least they had one advantage.

Surprise. And, because they were so high up, they didn't have to worry about the sound of battle reaching anyone it shouldn't. Thus, Jun didn't hesitate as he leaped forward, toggling the switch to extend his claws to full extension as he leaped towards a guard too busy staring in shock to defend himself, Jun's blades making quick work of his neck.

If he could say one good thing about the armor the Fire Nation favored, it was that they didn't leave the neck so exposed as the Earth Kingdom Military did.

"Invaders! Invaders on the wall! Defend yourselves!" An Earth Kingdom Captain yelled, quickly taking stock of the situation as he punched the ground, sending two of the close-by climbers soaring off and over the edge, screaming.

"Crap, they've got Earthbenders up here!" One of his shocked squad mates yelled.

To be honest, they shouldn't have been that surprised, there had been plenty on the first one, which is why they were lucky that they'd brought a few benders of their own, the man beside Jun thrusting a hand forward to send a stream of fire at the guards in front of them.

Jun moved in to back him up, ducking beneath the stream of fire to hook the defending guards by the ankles, bringing one of them down to the ground while leaving the other unbalanced. Sure, if it had been just Jun the merely unbalanced guard would have been in the position to end him, but it was enough for Jun's teammate to envelop the guard in fire, leaving him screaming as he collapsed to the ground.

Jun himself wasn't a bender, but it didn't stop him from stabbing his downed foe in the chest, the elder-looking man gurgling helplessly as he started Jun in the eye, clutching at his chest as a shocked look appeared in his eyes, seemingly unable to comprehend his death.

Jun did his best to not let it affect him, as he knew that the guard would have tried to kill him as well if he'd been given the chance.

Although a small part of him said that maybe he'd have just taken him as a prisoner.

Jun squashed that thought ruthlessly, as it was thoughts like that that led to soldiers getting depressed. His father had warned him about it from his time in the military, and Jun himself had already begun to see signs of it in his fellow soldiers.

Already some of them were turning to distractions, like women and drink, while a few poor soles just seemed to be shutting down. Why did the Avatar have to disappear until now? Maybe if he had been around, he wouldn't be forced to do this.

"Fire!" The Earth kingdom Captain ordered, the small form of the soldier he was guarding lighting a firework behind him, funnily enough, using a lit wooden stick from a Fire benders attack. The firework was quick to light as it streamed away, evading a fast but thin stream of blue fire as it released a high-pitched sound as it zipped through the air. Moments later, it exploded in a giant shower of red that would be visible for miles.

Jun felt his heart lurch at the sight, just knowing that that wasn't a good sign.

"Hahahaha! You guys are in for it now!" The Captain shouted gleefully, holding steady against 5 Fire Nation soldiers even as he began to get pushed back.

Yeah…not a good sign at all.

…

Azula couldn't help but feel annoyed as she ran up the stairs. Yes, she was doing so voluntarily, but it was still annoying that she needed to climb them so quickly if she wanted to be a part of the battle.

She would not be denied this, however, so she continued to push herself, forcing one leg down after another to drive her upwards until finally, she came up and over the edge, leaving her on the top of the wall with a set of burning legs and a pair of heaving lungs, but also an eager grin.

Taking in the sights and sounds of the battle, of the sounds of pain and death, Azula decided that the Captain of the forces would be her first target as she went to move towards him, staring at him with unveiled superiority as she watched him defend one of his fellow soldiers.

If they couldn't defend themselves, they shouldn't be in the military, to begin with, Azula thought harshly. It was no place for such weakness. At the last second, however, Azula took a closer look and noticed that the smaller guard was messing with something, taking a lit stick and holding it against the base of an object hidden by his body.

Why would he need to light it, she couldn't help but ask herself, but her eyes widened in shock as she put the pieces together, a scowl crossing her lips as she thrust a hand out, sending a thin but powerful burst of fire exploding from her two outstretched figures as she tried to catch what she now knew as a signal rocket before it could go off.

Alas, she was too far away and had a hard time leading the shot because its initial trajectory was hidden from her, so her last-minute attack missed. It was close of course, Azula wouldn't allow for anything else, but she still failed.

"Hahahaha! You guys are in for it now!" The Captain shouted in victory even as he continued to defend himself, his spirits buoyed by having gotten the message off as he raised another couple of earthen shields.

"Dammit!" Azula cursed, annoyed at both herself for missing, and for the Captain gloating in his victory. She'd have to spend some time practicing quick shots later, but for now, she could expel some of her annoyance upon him.

Harnessing her will, Azula brought her fingers together as she grasped onto the metaphysical forces of the universe, pulling them apart with practiced ease as the thrill of lighting began to roll down her spine, the cackling blue energy collecting around her as the eyes of those close by were drawn to her.

"The one who is in for it is you!" Azula snarled, thrusting her arm forward to release the blinding stream of energy, the Earth Captains' eyes widening in shock and fear as he desperately tried to lift a thicker shield of Earth in front of himself.

It formed just in time, but the result was for naught as Azula had focused her negative emotions on the attack, making it hit all the harder as it exploded through the first shield, and then the second as her lightning crackled against the captain's body, lighting him up as he screamed in pain, and then in death as he fell over the edge, his twitching limbs unable to save himself from his plummeting demise.

Smoke floated off from her fingers as Azula smirked, staring at the rest of the Erath Kingdom soldiers as they looked upon her in fear. The momentary pause of battle ended swiftly however as her side went back to taking out their enemies, the Firebenders no longer holding back now that they knew they'd been found out.

Azula was no different as she harnessed her powerful bending style to dispatch her enemies.

"Well, things seem to have become derailed," A voice behind Azula said, making her look over her shoulder to see Mai staring disappointedly at the battlefield.

"Yes, thank you for your commentary, Mai, it's quite helpful," Azula sighed as she let the freshly arrived soldiers go back up their brethren, the ones that Azula had started with but had rushed ahead of in her lust for battle.

"What? I was just stating the truth." Mai played innocent as she shrugged, but the smirk present on her face says otherwise. She didn't make any moves to join the battle, however, not that Azula could blame her.

Their presence was really unnecessary at this point, as while some of their own soldiers had been taken down, most had not and they now outnumber the Earth Kingdom guards 3-to-1, which was not an enviable position especially when they had an abundance of Firebenders on their side.

"As much as I don't wish to, yes, I have to agree. Things have become derailed because I highly doubt that signal that annoyance sent of said everything is fine," Azula sighed as her mind went over the plan again, thinking how to change it to represent the new state of the battlefield.

"It was always going to happen at some point," Mai shrugged, "there were just too many points it could have gone wrong. We could have been stopped before we even made it through the first wall, and we could have been spotted on our approach to the middle wall. At least this way most of the soldiers are behind us, at least until we make it to the palace."

Those words cheered Azula's mood up slightly as she considered them, tilting her head in thought. Yes, most of the soldiers were behind them, stuck in the outer ring to be ready to repel any Fire Nation assault.

News of their infiltration would quickly bring them closer to the city's center, however, which meant that speed would be of the essence if they wanted any hope of pulling this off. Just the sheer number of soldiers rushing in like ant's in a disturbed nest would overwhelm them, and Azula didn't particularly feel like getting captured.

"Agreed. Once we finish the battle, we'll move double time toward the palace. No rest breaks, no attempts at hiding."

"If that is what you wish," Mai bowed sarcastically, earning a snort from Azula. That did remind her though. If Mai was here with her, where was Ty Lee?

"I'm sorry, what was that on you're face?" Ty lee questioned from a little ways away, making a confused-looking Soldier point at his face in confusion.

"It was me!" She cheered, bounding forward and under his clumsy strike to wrap her legs around his throat, circling around to flip him onto the ground as she remained standing. When the guard groaned, she simply poked a few points in his chest to force him unconscious before looking for another target.

"Nevermind," Azula sighed, feeling a wave of tiredness overcome her at the amount of energy the girl was exhibiting. It was quite frankly exhausting to put up with her when she got like this, so at least she'd be tired after they were done.

Not that it would help Azula any, as she was already tired from so much planning and training. Not to mention dealing with her appearance. It takes effort to look as good as she did.

"Well, I guess we better go help," Azula complained as she shook out her legs, relieving a bit of the tightness in them. "The sooner this is over, the sooner we can move forward."

"If we must," Mai agreed as a brace of knives poked out of her sleeve, ready to be thrown at a moment's notice as the pair of them looked for targets that weren't already occupied.

There wasn't anyone to Azula's left, but on the right, it was almost 1-to-1 Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

They would do.

…

"Come on, where are they?" Aang asked himself as he steered Appa, peering over his large friend's head to stare at the ground below for the signs of fire and battle. They hadn't seen any on the way back over the outer ring, but the collapsed forms and scorch marks above the middle Ring wall had been an easy clue that the Fire Nation was indeed inside the walls.

Again.

For the third time.

Maybe Ba Sing Se's walls weren't as impenetrable as he thought?

"We'll find them when we find them, Aang," Feng snorted from beside him, his gaze also locked on the ground below.

They were the only two currently not in the saddle as they were the only ones who wouldn't get blown away by the strong winds currently flowing over the flying bison's head, Aang having pushed his buddy to travel at max speed.

"But the longer they get away, the more people they'll hurt, the more people who'll…"

"Yes," Feng nodded, the remnants of the large burn making his frown look even more serious than normal, "and we'll stop them once we can, but there's no use in trying to change what we can't control. Trust me, I've experienced enough pain and anguish myself over the years to know. Instead, focus on what you can do, like steering Appa, and keeping an eye out for any signs. That way, when we reach them, we can react appropriately by not panicking."

"I…I guess," Aang sighed, closing his eyes for a second to rub them. This whole situation just made him so frustrated. For all of his power and skill, and he had a lot of it, people were still getting hurt under his watch.

Aang took that personally because he might have been able to stop this whole war going on if he hadn't fled so long ago.

"But are you sure I couldn't just enter the Avatar state? I'm sure I'd be able to make things move faster if I do."

He may be imagining it, but Feng seemed to flinch slightly at his statement. Why would he do that?

"I'm sure, Aang. We don't really want it getting out that you can enter that state on command if we can help it because if it does, the Fire Nation might change their plans to wait out for Sozin's comment. If they brought all of their forces together in a barricade, even you wouldn't be able to get past them. Instead, we'll do this slowly, because slow is steady, and steady is fast. Why do you think walking is the predominant method of getting around when running is faster?"

"It is?" Aang blinked, earning a puzzled frown from Feng before understanding appeared on his face.

"Right, you've mostly traveled by flying bison you're entire life. Well, just take my word on it."

"Alright." Aang shrugged, allowing the sound of the wind to fill his ears as he straighten his head to go back to looking at the ground in front of them.

They shared a comfortable silence for a while before a new question popped into existence in Aang's mind, but before he could voice it he saw a bright flicker of light, a mixture of white, red, and yellow.

"I think I see them. Hang on guys!" Aang yelled, using his bending to send the message to those in the saddle.

Hearing his words, Katara, Toph, and Sokka all grabbed the sewn-in handholds even tighter than they had been, their hands turning white due to the pressure.

Feng for his part just placed his hands at his side, still relaxed, but ready to draw his fans at a moment's notice.

As the seconds passed the distant flames became more distinct, with the Fire Nation's forces gathered around the Upper Ring wall as they fought a battle against the desperate Earth Kingdom guards. They seemed to be evenly matched at first, but a closer look revealed that Azula's forces were slowly pushing back the Earth Kings through a collection of Firebenders closely packed together as they traveled up the wall, sending intense blasts of flame to ward off any and all attack.

Mixed in with this spearhead were also swarths of blue, which Aang put together that Azula was actually leading the fight, and that probably meant her two companions weren't far behind.

"Alright guys, this is it! I'll take us in for a fly-by over the top of the wall, but I won't slow down much so be ready for a rough landing when you jump off!"

Aang received a thumbs up from Toph, Sokka, and Katara, and a calm nod from Feng, meaning that everyone was in on the plan.

Just before their final approach, even as both sides of the battle began to point at them, Aang leaned down closer to Appa's ear.

"Appa, once we jump off keep flying further in and find a place to rest. We may need you and I have my Bison whistle, alright buddy?"

"Graaaghhhh!" Appa groaned loudly in agreement, making Aang smile as he patted his old friend's head. He could always trust Appa to never let him down.

…

The instant Aang brought Appa close, Feng didn't wait any longer to jump off, not hesitating to use his bending to make a smooth landing on the top of the wall, only needing to bend his legs slightly as he did.

Toph did something similar by bending the earth to soften just before she landed, and Katara bent the water out of her water pouches to create a small ramp for her to roll down, tumbling over her shoulder smoothly as she came to her feet.

Really, the only one who didn't land smoothly was Sokka, who while he performed an expert-looking roll similar to his sister, just with more force behind it, when he stood upright, he tripped, face-planting under the stunned eyes of the Earth Kingdom guards.

Who were no longer quite as impressed. Thanks, Sokka.

"How are things going?" Aang asked a couple of seconds afterward, having made sure Appa was on his way before using his glider to smoothly fly back towards them, closing it in a snap of air as he turned to the closest-looking Earth Kingdom Guard, a serious expression on its face.

He was dressed in the standard Military garb with a green and beige tunic combined with a belt and bracers, but they were unusually stained, even for an Earthbender as denoted by his bare feet. There were clear signs of damage on his outfit, and if the way his chest was heaving was any indication, he was clearly tired.

"Not well, to be honest," the Guard rasped, his voice dry as he stared down at the battle below where his fellow guards were defending the stairway with vigor. "It's good that you're here, Avatar, 'cause if you'd been here much later, I fear we'd be overrun."

"But don't you guys have the defensible position?" Sokka pointed out in confusion, looking at the various battlements scattered around. Some were polished, clearly having been here for a long time, while others looked ram shod, temporarily raised battlements by the stationed forces.

"We do. It didn't help," The guard replied with frustration and fear as he stared down at his enemies. "It doesn't matter what we do, they just keep fighting, unrelenting in their approach. In all the time of my service, I have never seen them fight like this."

The Guard then broke out into a coughing fit, his eyes watering as he sought to clear his airway. Without being told to, Katara held a glowing hand to his chest, running it up and down his esophagus until his breathing eased, the guard nodding in thanks.

"In the past, while Fire Nation forces would stick together, they'd tend to spread out in wide battle lines, that way they could best unleash their Firebending. Not here, not with the stairway funneling their forces. When we designed them, we thought it would be easy to defend with Earthbenders."

"I take it judging by your tone of voice it wasn't?" Feng pointed out calmly, staring at the Guard with concern.

"Nope," he laughed bitterly, his voice still sounding raspy, and it was only now that Feng noticed he smelled like smoke. "Instead, it forced their best Firebenders to concentrate together shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. Any time we tried to knock them over with a boulder or something they just destroyed it with concentrated blasts of fire. Maybe if we had some Elite Earthbenders with us we could have done something, but they're all at the palace. Have been since the blasted firebreathers broke through the wall some weeks ago."

That didn't sound good to Feng, who shared an uneasy glance with his fellow members of Team Avatar. Still, it sounded like they weren't going to get any more information out of the man who just looked tired and bitter, a fact not helped by his clearly peppered hair, a sign of his age.

"Right, well as bad as that is, you don't have to worry now, because we're here, and these kinds of conditions favor us," Aang smiled, trying to reassure the man as he placed a hand on his shoulder, the guard looking down on it in confusion before he shrugged it off and gestured to the entrance of the stairway.

"If you really want to go down there, be my guest. Me? I'm just going to stay here and try not to die."

Aang opened his mouth to reply, but a soft shake of Feng's head stopped him. Feng knew from experience that soldiers who made it so long in the military fell into only a few categories, and this man clearly fell into the cynical one.

Nothing they said would change his opinion, so they shouldn't bother. Like he had said to Aang earlier, control what you can, and don't worry about what you can't.

"Well, you heard the man, the entrance is there, but he was right on one thing. The Firebenders are concentrated at the tip, so it's going to be hard to approach," Feng mused as he looked down, watching the bright spurts of red and orange fire push back the newly raised earth walls, with spurts of blue appearing fairly often as well.

He straightened as he cracked his neck and fingers.

"And it looks like Azula's there as well, so we can expect lighting to make an appearance at some point today as well."

"Azula?" Sokka parroted with a frown, hesitantly reaching to his hip to hold onto the handle of his boomerang. "That can't be good, the last couple of times we fought her it took both Aang and Toph to disable her, and she's got help this time."

"Now hold on a second there Sokka, I'd like to point out that I defeated her by myself, thank you very much."

"Yes," Sokka snorted as he gave Feng an irritated look, "and remind me, what happened to you afterward? Did you A, come out unscathed, or B, get a permanent injury that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life?"

"It wasn't her that did it, but point made," Feng sighed as he looked to the others, accepting that they'd need to work together for this one. "Any of you care to weigh in? You all know what it's like to fight her. Any ideas?"

Katara opened her mouth to reply before hesitating, closing it after a second as she grimaced and reached down to her green hip pouches to check the water levels before sighing.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that, I've got an idea that should cut off the pretty princesses plot down at the knees, and it's even something Aang taight me," Toph smirked as she leaned down to pull up a pile of dirt, rubbing it between her palms to give them a light coating.

"I did?"

"You did," Toph nodded as she stamped her foot, tilting her head as she thought over the image she received back. Feng just stood patiently, knowing that she had a plan of some sort and trusting her to say if she needed help.

Which she luckily did as she turned towards first Aang, and then Feng.

"Right, I got a plan, but it's going to require the two of you. Well, if we don't want them to suffer grievous injury and/or death that is."

"I'd prefer that, yes," Aang drawled with a touch of sarcasm.

"I thought so," Toph smiled. "Anyway, even if they're exploding all the earth in their path, they still have to walk up the staircase, yeah?"

She waited to receive a series of nods before continuing.

"Well, what would happen if they lost their footing? For instance, what if someone, I don't know, forced their section of the wall beside them to shoot out, pushing them off the edge of the ledge to plummet down towards the ground?"

Silence dawned from the gang even as the listening in Guard started cracking a smile, a mischievous gleam appearing in his eye.

"…Well, it'd certainly stop them from fighting." Feng mused, a twitch of a smile appearing on his face even under the disapproving looks from Katara and Aang. "But you said you had a plan to not kill and/or gruesomely injure them?"

"Yeah, it's a bit harder but I think It'd work. Basically, when I do this, if Aang could be at the ground level to soften the earth, all of the soldiers would land in what was effectively a swamp, and he could then wait a few seconds before hardening the earth for them to stand up so that they can breathe."

Toph smirked at the surprised expressions of her friends.

"A few might escape, but they should pretty easily be mopped up if the rest are kept restrained."

"Yeah, I think I can do that if I enter the Avatar state," Aang smiled, looking on in approval, "good plan Toph. Although that does leave what Feng is going to be doing."

Instead of answering, Toph pointed down at the ground below, specifically, at the still stationed soldiers who had still yet to make it on the stairs and were instead keeping back the Earth kingdom forces gathering around them.

"They'll need to be distracted long enough for Aang to put them in the ground as well, and if I remember right…Feng loves to make an entrance and is awful good at keeping attention on himself."

Feng deadpanned at the impishly smiling girl, looking at her as he snorted, considering her words. They may not have been completely accurate, buutttt…there may have been an element of truth in them. He did love making his entrances, so he guess he could let it slide.

"Alright, that sounds fine. Are you guys ready? Cause once we start, everything's going to happen pretty quickly."

Hearing this, Aang spent a couple of seconds entering the Avatar state, opening his blank, blue eyes to look upon the rest of them.

"I am ready."

"Good," Feng nodded, trying to ignore the weird feeling it gave as he turned his attention to Toph, waiting for her nod of approval.

She gave it.

"Right then, here we go." Feng sighed as he looked towards the wall's edge and walked closer, turning his head back over his shoulder.

"Either of you wants to give me a push?"

"Your wish is my command!" Toph grinned as she rotated on one foot, slamming her foot into the ground as a pillar of rock shot up beneath Feng, sending him soaring through the air as Aang followed him, flying down in a smoother arc as Toph concentrated, focusing her attention on splitting the section of the wall that contained the Fire Nation forces from the section that contained the Earth Kingdoms.

This left Sokka and Katara just standing there quietly, both of them looking down on the battle as they stood there.

"You ever feel unnecessary sometimes? Like they don't need our help?"

"Not really," Katara shook her head, "I'm still healing everyone basically every day, even if they don't need my help to fight. It's kind of nice, to be honest."

"Well as long as your happy," Sokka snarked as he sighed, feeling slightly useless as he watched his three powerful friends deal with the invading Fire Nation forces.

…

He had to time it just right, otherwise, there was a not-so-small chance that Feng would hurt himself. Not from the fall, of course, he had done that far too many times to mess up the timing on that one. But if the Fire Nation soldiers had enough time to react, even his newly worked defense might fail.

Which is why he wouldn't mess up the timing.

Focusing on the wind flying on either side of him, Feng straightened out of his free fall to put his feet towards the ground rather than his head, holding out a fan on either side of himself as he gathered his chi on them, waiting.

One second, then two, then three. The ground drew closer and closer, its brown maw hungry for his death, but he wouldn't let it. Not now, not ever.

A second before he landed, a few of the Fire Nation soldiers looked up at him in surprise, detecting his presence through the whistle of the wind around him, but that didn't matter to Feng, because he simply swung his arms in arcs toward the ground while emitting air out of his feet.

This served the double purpose of cushioning his landing and creating an enormous wave of wind that knocked over everyone within 15 meters of himself, which while not all of them, was enough.

"Gah!"

"Ahh!"

"Not Again!"

Letting the dust settle, Feng smirked as he was greeted with the stunned expressions of over 300 individuals. Standing up, Feng held one fan above his head and one out in front of him, ready to react to the faintest provocation.

"Hello gents, nice breeze we're having, eh?"

AN: Not much to say. Another day, another doll-chapter, I meant chapter. Peace.