Wandering Firebender

Sixty Nine: An Intense Test

Koda was not too thrilled about being woken up at sunrise.

As a matter of fact, she wasn't even planning on being up so early in the morning. She was woken up by an attendant knocking on her door. Koda didn't wake up until, after several repeated attempts at gently waking her, the female attendant firmly knocked on her door.

"Koda! Please, wake up!" She called through the door.

"Huh?!" Koda lifted her head up suddenly, her hair falling over her face, "Wh-What? Who is it?!" She called out in confusion.

"The Fire Lord has requested your presence on the training grounds!" The attendant said.

"Me? O-Okay, yeah, I'm coming." Koda said sleepily before laying her head back on her pillow. She grunted sleepily and rubbed her face, trying to muster up the urge to get out of bed. She sighed and closed her eyes, and this was already enough to start lulling her back to sleep.

"Right now!" The attendant urged her, banging on the door again. Koda flinched in surprise and threw her covers off.

"Ugh! Alright alright, I'm coming!" She grunted irritably, getting out of bed and rushing to get ready. Once she was freshened up enough, she opened the door and found the attendant still there waiting for her.

"Are you all set?" The attendant asked.

"Yeah, kinda. What does the Fire Lord want with me so early in the morning?" Koda asked, still rubbing some sleepiness out of her eyes.

"I don't know. He just asked me to fetch you right away and escort you to the training grounds." She explained.

"Alright. Well lead the way then, I guess." Koda shrugged.

So the attendant led Koda through the palace to the training grounds. The light patter of Koda's feet hitting the floor every time she took a step echoed lightly through the halls, reminding her of just how small she felt inside the palace.

The attendant opened a door for her. Koda walked through and found herself stepping outside, out onto a paved walkway underneath an awning. She followed its path until she reached a sidewalk that led to the flat arena in the center of the pavilion.

4 other people were standing in the arena already: Elio, Marx, Nezu, and Fire Lord Zuko. Marx, Nezu, and Elio looked just about as tired as she felt. Zuko, however, didn't look sleepy at all, meaning he probably planned this in advance.

"Good morning. I hope you're well rested." Zuko said.

"Not as well rested as I could have been, but all things considered, I'm doing alright." Koda said in response.

"I'm right there with you, Koda." Elio said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you up so early without warning, but it had to be done in order to test you properly. We spoke about training before, but this isn't just training - it's a test of your ability to work together, adapt, and overcome." Zuko explained.

"What do you mean?" Marx asked.

"The test begins now. Elio, are you ready?" Zuko asked him.

"Yep. I'm ready when they are." Elio nodded and shook his arms out.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Nezu asked.

"Your challenge," Elio answered, walking to the other side of the arena. "You three are going to fight me."

"What?!" They all exclaimed.

"Elio will evaluate each of your skills. One by one, I want each of you to fight him; don't hold anything back. The challenge ends when one of you takes him down." Zuko explained.

"Jeez, that's hardcore!" Nezu exclaimed.

"We just gotta take him down once?" Koda asked, turning towards Elio.

"We'll say yes for now. But this isn't a 3 on 1 fight. You will take turns; take some time to decide who will go first and begin when you're ready." Zuko instructed before stepping out of the arena and going a short distance away to observe. Elio walked away from them and waited patiently on the other side of the arena.

"What do we do, guys?" Marx asked.

Koda, Nezu, and Marx all looked at each other then at Elio, who was standing still and waiting to see who his opponent would be. Koda motioned for the three of them to huddle up so they could discuss their strategy.

"I'll take the first shot at him." Nezu volunteered. The other two looked at him in surprise.

"Are you sure? Elio is a very experienced fighter; you do know that, right?" Marx reminded him.

"I know that, but obviously we just gotta go straight in. The Fire Lord's looking to see what we can do. And Elio's thinking right now about how he can take us down. We can't give him time to think. We just gotta hammer him." Nezu explained his thinking.

"Yeah you're probably right about that. Just don't be hasty. Fight smart." Koda advised him.

"Got it. Let's do it!" Nezu exclaimed.

The trio broke the huddle. Koda and Marx stepped behind Nezu and backed away until they were no longer standing on the arena. Elio nodded when he realized that Nezu would be his first opponent.

"Hope you're ready for me, Elio! The Fire Lord said don't hold back, so I'm gonna come at you like we're enemies. It's nothing personal, I promise!" Nezu said with a little smirk, getting into his fighting stance.

"None taken. And don't worry, I won't use any chi-blocking on you. We wanna keep this fight fair after all." Elio chuckled and got into his fighting stance.

Nezu was quick to make the first move. He shot a fireball directly at Elio. When Elio sidestepped it, Nezu went for a stronger fire kick. Realizing Nezu's feint, Elio brought his hand up sideways and used it to chop through Nezu's attack.

"Nice one!" Elio said.

"Shut up!" Nezu shouted back.

"I'm serious!"

"Oh...thanks!" Nezu replied before the fight resumed.

Nezu attacked again, sending out a larger fire blast. Elio jumped up and did a spinning fire kick, using it to create a safe opening for himself. When he landed on his feet, he moved to his left and met Nezu's attack with one of his own. Nezu did his best to awkwardly block it.

As Nezu blocked the attack, Elio came in closer. He threw several fire punches to keep Nezu off balance. Nezu got hit by the first one in the right arm and stumbled back, but then he was able to regain his footing and swat aside Elio's other attacks.

Elio came in close and threw a punch at Nezu. He dodged Elio's punch and threw a kick to Elio's stomach. Elio took the hit but caught his leg. He proceeded to punch Nezu in the nose then sweep his other leg out from under him.

Nezu grunted out in shock and pain as he fell hard onto his back. Elio pushed his leg aside and stepped over him, grabbing him by the collar and raising his fist up for another punch. Nezu brought his arms up to block, but Elio didn't attack.

"I suggest you yield now." Elio said. Nezu grunted in irritation and brought his hands down.

"Man, did you have to end it that quick? It's embarrassing." He complained. Elio chuckled and offered his hand, helping Nezu stand up.

"Sorry, haha. You can step off to the side for now. Let someone else give it a shot." He said, patting Nezu on the back and letting him walk off.

"Alright," Nezu sighed and went back to the other two. "Either of you wanna take it?" He offered to Marx and Koda.

"Uhh...I guess I'll go." Marx reluctantly volunteered.

"You sure? I can go too." Koda offered.

"No no I got it. Now that I know Elio's approach, I'm a little better prepared for it." Marx said, stepping onto the arena. Elio stood up straight and nodded.

"You ready, Marx?" Elio asked, taking a step back and getting into his fighting stance again. Marx swallowed and nodded, getting into his own fighting stance.

"Honestly? I'm not sure." He admitted.

"Never be unsure. Trust your instincts." Elio said to reassure him. Marx took in a deep breath and nodded.

Marx made the first move, sending out a volley of fireballs that came at Elio much faster than Nezu's initial attack. Elio got into a wide stance, swirling his hands around to redirect the fireballs away from him. This allowed Marx to advance.

When Marx got close to Elio, he extended both his hands out and sent a huge plume of fire directly into Elio, who responded by doing the same. The two waves of fire crashed into each other and exploded outwards as the two pushed against each other with continuous blasts.

Marx started to move in a semi-circle around Elio, pushing himself to keep his fire blast going. Elio was forced to awkwardly adjust his stance so that he could counter Marx's adjustment. Marx pushed in closer to Elio and sent a quick fire shot out with his foot.

The shot hit Elio in his right knee, causing him to drop down to one knee. Elio grunted in pain. He extended his hands out, dispelling his fire blast. Marx's arms dropped down and he took a moment to catch his breath before shooting off another fireball.

This momentary pause was just long enough for Elio to get back to his feet. He deflected Marx's fireball then proceeded to raise his other hand up. He created a whip out of fire and snapped it at Marx. It flashed right by Marx's face, causing him to stumble in surprise as the heat slapped him on the cheek.

With a loud grunt, Elio shot a fireball from his fist that crashed right into Marx's chest and knocked him off of his feet. His back hit the ground roughly. He groaned in pain as he let his limbs relax, "Oh! Ahhh..." Marx let out a dry wheeze.

"That was good, Marx. You did good!" Elio said, walking up to him and offering a hand to help him stand.

"Doesn't feel like it." Marx grumbled as he took Elio's hand and got to his feet.

"Heheh, you showed some smart thinking. Where you messed up was not conserving your energy. But you can fix that just by working on some breath control, you know?" Elio explained, tracing his hand up the center of his chest.

"Is that your secret?" Marx asked in a half-joking way.

"One of them," Elio answered with a smile. "Let Koda know that it's her turn." He said, patting Marx on the back and sending him on his way.

Marx made his way back to the others, stepping out of the arena. Without him even having to say anything, Koda stepped forward and took her position as Elio's opponent.

"What is all this about, Elio?" She asked. Elio took a moment to loosen up his wrists before responding to her.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he took his position across from her on the other side of the arena.

"Why are we being tested like this? If you want to see our skills, why are you beating us so quickly?" She asked. Elio shrugged and smiled a little.

"It's not a challenge if I let you win now, is it?" He said in a way that sounded almost playful.

"Hmph." Koda scoffed at this and got into her fighting stance. As soon as Elio got into his stance, Koda went on the attack.

Koda threw several kicks, sending large arcs of fire his way. Elio had to duck and weave to dodge the attacks. He jumped to avoid the last one then landed on one foot. He turned his body and threw a fire kick back at her. Koda sidestepped his attack and countered with her own fire punch.

Although he was a little off balance, he was able to deflect Koda's fire. He stumbled back and regained his footing just in time to counter another fire blast from her. Koda started to advance in on Elio as he redirected Koda's fire blast to either side of him with his hands pressed together.

Now close enough to reach him, Koda jumped up and attempted a downwards fire kick on Elio. He stepped to the side to dodge it, spinning around and shooting fire as he tried to backhand her. Koda blocked his hand and stopped the fire from hitting her.

She grabbed his arm with both hands and tried to kick him in the back, but before she could hit him, Elio used his fire to propel himself into a jump. He flipped over her and grabbed her arm at the same time, pulling her and causing her to fall onto her back.

Elio brought his fist up, ready to get Koda to yield just like he had with Nezu. However, she reacted quickly by twisting her arm and pushing herself to spin on her back. She shot fire out of her feet, and this forced Elio to take a few defensive steps back.

"Nice recovery, Koda!" Nezu shouted to encourage her.

Koda slid onto one knee just as Elio shot a large blast of fire at her. She brought her hands up to block it, but the force of Elio's attack was enough to push her onto her back again. She slid awkwardly a little bit as Elio started stomping back towards her.

Seeing that he was coming towards her again, Koda kicked her feet up and shot fire at him with her feet. Elio blocked the attacks and continued to advance. She scrambled to her feet and threw several more fire punches, which Elio deflected quickly.

"Come on!" Koda growled in frustration, throwing another punch directly at Elio.

Elio leaned back, letting the fire pass in front of him. He then brought his foot up and kicked Koda, pushing her back. Koda stumbled back but caught herself. She was getting ready to attack him again, but she stopped when she noticed that the ground underneath her feet had changed.

Elio had pushed her out of bounds.

"W-Wait wait, did I just lose?" She asked quickly.

Elio nodded and, without saying anything, returned to his starting position. Koda threw her hands down angrily.

"That's not fair!" She said as she returned to the other two. They patted her shoulders consolingly.

"Hey, it's alright, Koda. You did really good!" Nezu said.

"I couldn't even get a hit on him. You're the only one that's actually done anything, Marx." Koda pointed out.

"You still lasted longer than I did." Marx pointed out.

"Yeah, I really sucked." Nezu said with a little chuckle.

"I think we need to change our approach. Obviously none of us can beat Elio on our own; not without a plan." Koda suggested.

"Are you coming?" Elio called out to them.

"One second," Koda shouted back to him before continuing what she was saying. "What do we know has worked against Elio so far?" She asked.

"I was able to catch him by surprise with that one hit." Marx pointed out.

"Okay, so misdirection. What else?" Koda asked.

"You're the one that lasted the longest against him! You were doing a whole bunch of moving around and he was working to keep up!" Nezu added.

"Yeah, but I didn't hit him like at all." She argued.

"So we combine strategies: your movement, my misdirection, and a general sense of power. If we keep switching quickly, we should be able to tire him out." Marx suggested.

"Alright. That's the best we got right now. Let's do it!" Koda nodded. All three of them clapped their hands before Nezu walked out onto the arena.

"Ready for round two, bud?" Elio asked, raising his arms up.

"Yeah, yeah! Come on, let's go!" Nezu said, getting himself pumped up as he got into his fighting stance. Elio shook his arms out and got into his stance.

This time Elio made the first move, shooting a quick fireball out of his fist. Nezu aggressively swiped it aside and broke into a sprint, running straight for Elio. He was surprised to see Nezu taking such an offensive strategy, but he was ready for it nonetheless.

Nezu came in close and created fire sticks in his hand, trying to slice Elio with one. Elio sidestepped the attack and aimed a fireball at Nezu's side. Nezu awkwardly deflected it and shot a quick blast of fire into Elio's face. The flash was enough to temporarily blind Elio and make him stumble back.

"Ah!" He exclaimed in surprise, covering his eyes with one arm. Nezu smirked and threw another fireball at Elio.

Elio brought a hand up and sent out a widespread burst of fire. It didn't completely nullify Nezu's attack, but it gave him some much needed time to recover his vision and get his bearings. Nezu took a step back and sent out a much more forceful attack.

"I'm sick of your counters, man!" Nezu growled, shooting out a volley of fire before switching to an onslaught of fire punches. He tried to advance on Elio again.

Elio brought his hands out to spread his fire out further. He took in a deep breath, brought his hands in, then pushed them forward to create a vortex of fire. He made it spin in a circle, increasing its ferocity. Nezu's eyes widened as his fireballs disappeared into Elio's swirling wall of fire.

"Crap...not again." Nezu shook his head. He took in a deep breath and jumped into the air, trying to copy Elio's jumping technique. As Elio sent his attack forward, Nezu awkwardly flew through the air and landed on top of Elio.

Both of them crashed to the ground and groaned in pain. Nezu created fire sticks again and slashed across Elio's chest. He yelled out in pain before balling his fist and punching Nezu in the side of the head. Nezu's vision immediately got blurry from the impact.

While Nezu was still dazed from the hit, Elio bucked him off and pushed him to the side. Elio turned his body and pushed him with his foot, making him roll out of bounds. He huffed and caught his breath as he stood up. Meanwhile, Nezu got back to his feet.

"Man, you punch really hard." Nezu grunted, holding the side of his head with his hand.

"Sorry if I went a little hard. That was just an instinct thing." Elio quickly apologized.

"Nah it's fine." Nezu said before going back around to the others. He had barely turned the corner before Elio's next challenger stepped forward.

"Alright, Elio! My turn again! Get ready!" Koda shouted to him, stepping onto the arena and getting into her fighting stance.

"Yeah? Alright...I'm ready." Elio took in a breath and nodded in her direction. Koda could already see that he was beginning to wind down as it took him longer to get into his fighting stance.

She didn't hesitate to initiate her offensive attack. She took in a deep breath before starting to throw a few fire punches. Elio took a wide stance and swirled his hands around to redirect Koda's attacks. Koda came in close and threw a series of fire kicks.

Elio adjusted his stance and blocked her kicks to prevent them from connecting. Elio brought his back hand up and did a quick spin, shooting a fire arc at her. Koda ducked underneath it, shifting her weight and throwing several more fire punches, which Elio had to sidestep to dodge.

After dodging a few punches, Elio stopped and caught Koda's arm mid-punch. He turned and threw Koda over his shoulder, causing her to flip forward and land on her chest awkwardly. She slid on the ground, her legs briefly going up before falling back to the ground.

Elio stepped in with his fist pointed towards Koda, expecting her to yield. However, Koda stubbornly forced herself into a spin again, shooting fire out of her feet. She slid onto her knee and glared at Elio angrily; a little blood was oozing from a scrape across her chin.

Seeing the blood made Elio hesitate for a moment. That's when Koda shot a strong fireball at him with one hand. She stood up fully, throwing aggressive fire punches at him. Elio felt the fire licking at his arms as it took him a while to start successfully blocking them again.

Finally, Elio came in close again, grabbing both of Koda's arms one after the other. She tried to headbutt him. Elio leaned his head back awkwardly and kicked her left leg out from under her. Koda awkwardly slid into the splits position, causing Elio to fall on top of her.

They both hit the ground. Elio's weight fell on Koda. She cried out and growled again, creating fire sticks in her hands and trying to hit him. She cut across Elio's shoulder and stomach. He yelped in pain and grabbed her wrists again, pinning her down.

Koda kicked her feet at him to try and force him off. Elio brought his legs up with his knees to his chest. He pressed one knee down across her chest. With his weight over her now, she was stuck in place. She only struggled a little more before accepting that she'd been beaten.

"Agh! I almost had you!" She groaned angrily.

"You did," Elio acknowledged, taking a moment to catch his breath before getting off of her. "Are you alright?" He asked, offering his hand to help her up. She smacked his hand away and got up on her own.

"Pride's hurt but I'll be fine. It's just a scrape," She muttered before looking at him. "You're bleeding." She noticed that blood was trickling down from where she'd hit him with her fire sticks.

"Huh? Oh I guess I am...yeah, it stings but I didn't notice that 'til now." He said, running his finger over the wound and glancing at the blood.

"Do we stop?" Koda asked.

"No. It's Marx's turn now." Elio said, stepping away from her and taking his position again. Koda stepped off of the arena.

Marx quickly took his position and got into his fighting stance. He had nothing to say this time. Elio sighed tiredly and signaled that he was ready to begin.

Marx brought his hands together and sent out a huge swirling vortex right off the bat. Elio was surprised by this; he had to take a step back before creating a protective circle around himself. As the fire passed around him, Elio forced himself to take a deep breath.

Marx stepped in closer and discontinued the attack, switching to shooting out a series of arcing fire shots with his hands. Elio knew he wouldn't be able to block these, so he started dodging them by ducking down and jumping to the side.

Marx seemed to expect this though. As Elio jumped to his right, Marx responded by jumping into the air and sending an arcing fire kick directly his way. Elio's eyes widened and he tried moving back to the left to dodge it, but it struck him in the right shoulder and made him spin awkwardly.

In a desperate attempt to avoid losing the fight, Elio sent out a wild arcing shot in Marx's direction. Marx crouched down low, feeling the heat singe the top of his head before passing over him. Then Marx pounced on Elio, forcing him to the ground roughly by grabbing onto his tattered clothes.

Marx wrestled Elio to the ground and forced him onto his back. He slammed his knee down on Elio's chest and pointed his fist at Elio's face. Elio groaned out in pain and, as soon as he saw Marx's fist in his face, he opened his hands in surrender and laid his head back on the ground.

"Alright, Marx, you did it!" Nezu cheered for him. Marx got off of Elio as Koda and Nezu ran over to congratulate him.

"I only won because he was tired. You're a way better fighter than all of us, Elio." Marx acknowledged as he extended an open hand out to him. Elio sat up tiredly and took his hand, letting Marx help him get up to his feet.

"I wouldn't say that. You all have your strengths and weaknesses. There's some stuff we'll work on today, but I think you've all proven that you're capable fighters." Elio said.

"Are you all okay? I can call a physician over if you need it." Zuko offered as he walked over to them.

"I, uh, don't think that'll be necessary...a-at least not for me, Mr. Fire Lord, sir." Nezu stuttered.

"I'm fine," Elio said. "But I think I've reached my verdict on these three." He said to Zuko.

"A verdict? What do you mean 'a verdict'?" Marx asked.

"This whole thing was a test, remember?" Koda reminded him.

"Yes: a test of your skills, but also your ability to work together and show honor in battle. What I really wanted to see is how you would behave when presented with a real obstacle." Zuko explained.

"And you three passed," Elio smiled. "We have some work to do as far as your strategies and your temper, but we'll spend the rest of today's training discussing meditation and proper breathing techniques; which is good, because I am spent." He said with a laugh.

"We all are," Koda agreed. "Sorry for, you know, going all savage on you." She apologized.

"It's alright haha I didn't take it personally. We have a lot to work on today, but my hope is by leading your training, you three will soon be ready to lead your own crew." Elio revealed.

"Our own crew?" Nezu repeated, not understanding.

"Elio's airship already has a complete crew, I'm afraid. However, he offered up the suggestion that you three be trained to lead your own airship," Zuko explained. "Is that something that would interest you?" He asked.

"You mean like...we get our own missions?" Koda asked slowly.

"Yes." Zuko confirmed with a nod.

Koda, Marx, and Nezu all looked at each other, smiling a little and nodding in agreement. They all turned to Zuko and did a Fire Nation bow.

"It would be an honor, Fire Lord Zuko." Marx spoke for the group...