One Week Later in Front of the Fire Nation Royal Palace as the Sun Was Setting
With his dao swords in his hand, Zuko, along with a unit of imperial firebenders and all of the Gaang save for Katara, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee, was standing in front of the palace gates waiting for "they" to start their assault.
And why weren't Katara, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee with the rest of their friends? Well, because they, along with the Kyoshi Warriors, were in the throne room with Michi, Tom Tom, Mura, Ursa, Noren, and Kiyi so that in the unlikely case that "they" broke through the palace's defenses, they could help Zuko and Mai's loved one escape, or at least protect them.
This was because there was no one else who Zuko trusted to protect them considering Katara saved his life during his Agni Kai with Azula for the throne, Suki had been protecting and saving his ass for years now, and Mai and Ty Lee were the best non-bender fighters in the world (in his opinion).
And thankfully for Zuko, the four of them agreed since if you can't protect your family, what are you fighting for then?
(No, Zuko did not move them out of the palace since the palace, for better or for worse, was the safest place for them to be for right now.)
Meanwhile, the servants were going about their normal business, oblivious to the threat made by "they" since they think their Fire Lord is just engaging in a training exercise.
And yes, the Gaang failed to tell the servants, or anyone outside of their circle and the imperial firebenders for that matter, about the threat posed by "they".
For they mulled over the decision for a long time, but the Gaang ultimately decided to not go public with the mysterious threat since not only would it inspire panic or worse in the Caldera City masses, but also because the mysterious group might possibly change their plans if they caught wind of the steps Zuko and company were taking to prepare for their assault.
And even if the Gaang dreaded the possible confrontation, they wanted to get it over with so that they can at least make the world a little bit safer, as well as be able to finally leave the Fire Nation so they could deal with the other crises in the world, or in Zuko's case, project force into the former New Ozai Society controlled areas before they fell into complete anarchy like the Earth Kingdom.
Though the Gaang was not completely heartless, and so they had imperial firebenders scattered around the palace.
And so Zuko, his friends, and his soldiers waited several hours for any attacker to show up, but nothing materialized.
Thus around midnight, Sokka told the Gaang members that were with him after stretching his arms and yawning, "Guys, I know this might be premature, but I think the threat is an empty one, or maybe even just a prank. So if it is fine with you guys, I am going to go inside and get some shut eye after checking up on Suki and Katara."
"Snozzles is right, maybe we got conned, so I am going to clock in if that is fine with you Twinkletoes and Sparky." Toph said while affectionately punching Sokka in his right arm, eliciting a groan from the young swordmaster.
"Yeah, I don't want to say we were tricked, but I am going to check up on Katara and get some sleep so we can head out to Cranefish Town first thing in the morning in order to get a handle on things there before dealing with the Earth Kingdom if that is fine with you Zuko." Aang sheepishly told Zuko.
Zuko quickly then told Aang, Sokka, and Toph, "It's fine you guys, you can leave. But my men and I are not going to retire until the sun has risen, thus making sure that the letter was just a bluff."
"For I would rather deprive myself and my men of rest than be wrong and deprive ourselves of our lives." Zuko told his friends, who affirmatively nodded before they started walking towards the palace proper, though not without muttering amongst themselves about how stereotypically Fire Nation Zuko was for taking everything seriously.
Though they acknowledged that as a constantly beleaguered monarch, he wasn't necessarily wrong to take any threat seriously, especially after finding his father's head decapitated with an identical scar to his.
However, the trio quickly stopped talking after they started finding bodies of dead servants and imperial firebenders laid about the palace, bodies that had a residue of smoke on them.
Thus, the trio broke out into a sprint, with their worry that their friends in the throne room might be in mortal danger clouding their judgment, thus preventing them from doing the smart thing and altering Zuko to the situation they found themselves in.
Worry that was all but confirmed once they reached the palace gardens and were treated with a ghastly sight: Kemurikage spirits, or more specifically, humans using the visage of the Kemurikage spirits, shrouded in smoke killing people using their fire and lightningbending.
So the trio engaged the Kemurikage in order to stop them, however, the Kemurikage quickly turned their attention to the trio, using their lightning to separate them before engulfing them in a thick cloud of smoke.
And while Sokka and Toph fought valiantly, they soon fell like the rest of the servants and imperial firebenders in the garden.
Initially, Sokka was able to ward off the imposters using his (remade) space sword and boomerang thanks to his training with Piandao and being able to draw upon his experience dealing with Azula and her lightning to anticipate and dodge the imposter Kemurikage's lightning despite not really being able to see anything, or breathe for that matter.
But fighting a mad Princess who only saw you as an obstacle in the way of killing her own mother was not the same as fighting well-trained fighters whose only goal was to kill you, even if they lacked Azula's instant lightning.
And so Sokka was unceremoniously killed as he got tagged by several bolts of quick charge lightning.
Meanwhile, while the smoke made it hard to breathe, it did not limit Toph's vision, though the limited amount of metal in the palace gardens forced Toph to mostly rely on her earthbending in order to try to stop the murderous half-rate cosplayers, who kept using fire jets to avoid her seismic sense.
"Fools!" Toph thought to herself, for while it might have been an exploitable weakness just a couple of months ago, let alone during the war, Toph had diligently worked on improving using her other senses to compensate for her lack of (earthbending) sight when it came to airborne opponents.
And so the Kemurikage were not able to break through Toph's defenses, though in the end it did not matter whether or not Toph could see airborne opponents.
This was because after Toph got lulled into a false sense of security after she thought she had seen through the Kemurikage's tactics, her assailants suddenly attacked the very ground she was standing on, thoroughly burning her feet, and thus rendering her completely defenseless as she shrieked in pain.
Though not for long, for as soon as she hit the ground, the Kemurikage quickly took advantage of Toph's weakness to pump her full of lightning, thus killing the greatest earthbender in the world.
So what was Aang doing as his friends were dying alongside the remaining palace servants and imperial firebenders?
Barely managing to survive.
And this was because, due to being targeted by the Kemurikage, the especially thick smoke made it really hard to see or breath, thus limiting his ability to use airbending or firebending to just short bursts.
And getting constantly targeted by multiple streams of lethal, quick charge lightning meant that it was nigh impossible for Aang to focus enough to feel out any water sources while also making nigh impossible for him to earthbend with or without using his seismic sense.
That and forcing Aang to use his only extra-sensory ability that wasn't affected by the Kemurikage's bending or tactics, his ability to perceive subtle shifts and vibrations in the air around him, solely for dodging, instead of using it for counter-attacking.
And while he could enter the Avatar State, Aang feared that the spilt second he needed to activate his trump card would be all the murderous sprit imposters needed to kill him, thus not only ending his life, but also that of the Avatar Spirit as well.
Especially since him generating an air sphere of the strength and size needed to ensure that the Kemurikage's lightning wouldn't hit him before he cleared the air would likely harm his friends, as well as the remaining palace servants and imperial firebenders.
Though it was suspicious that, for all the attention they focused on him, they didn't dare engage him beyond constantly inundating his personal space with smoke and lightning.
But before Aang could try to understand the Kemurikage's tactics, the smoke surrounding him vanished along with his assailants, leaving behind a wake of badly burned and lightning scarred bodies, bodies that included Toph and Sokka's much to the Air Nomad's horror as he surveyed the scene in silence.
However, before grief could set in, the young Avatar saw smoke coming from the throne room, thus causing him to hurry to it using an air scooter.
For he had already lost so many friends and allies tonight, and he wasn't going to lose anymore, not when he could do something about it.
Meanwhile in the Throne Room
"Mommy, I'm scared." Tom Tom told his Mom, who responded by lying to him, telling him, "It's ok dear, Zuko and his friends will take off the attackers. And if they don't, we have the Kyoshi Warriors, Master Katara, Ty Lee, and your sister will protect us." before hugging him in an effort to calm down herself and Tom Tom.
As a fearful Michi and Tom Tom embraced each other as Mura hugged them both, a confident Kiyi, displeased by the fact that her parents were hugging her tightly, especially since her mother's cold hands had returned, told her parents, "Why are you guys so scared?" with Noren quickly responding, "Because the noises keep getting closer to the throne room."
After scoffing, Kiyi then told her worrywart father, "But Daddy, Zuzu and his friends are going to kick all the bad guys' butts." causing Ursa to pat Kiyi's head and tell her, "You are right, Zuko and his friends will beat the attackers, so we have nothing to worry about." though Ursa's fear was evident in her tone, causing Kiyi to pout.
For Zuzu and his friends were super powerful and knew bunch of awesome techniques, like the Dragon Dance Zuzu had been teaching her after she had learned she could bend fire just like her big bro after accidentally lighting one of the curtains on fire after getting angry at Mommy for not letting her get some mochi after dinner.
So why did they think they were in any real danger?
Meanwhile, just a couple of feet in front of Michi, Tom Tom, Mura, Ursa, Noren, and Kiyi, Ty Lee and Mai had their weapons ready while the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors and Katara were just a couple of feet away from the steel barrier that Toph had erected just before she headed out to the front of the palace, ready to attack whoever was foolish enough to break it down.
And yes, Mai and Ty Lee were not with the rest of their friends because after they heard the sound of multiple lightning generators fighting and killing the servants and imperial guards, Suki ordered Mai and Ty Lee to stay with the non-combatants so that if they were attacked, they could escort them to safety.
And while Mai and Ty Lee protested Suki's order, telling their friend that they were not going to watch their friends sacrifice their lives if it came to, Suki got them to comply by pointing out that they knew the palace better than anyone else in the room, and that they had the power to literally defeat anyone short of the greatest living masters in the world, and so they were best equipped to make sure her charges survived if everything went south.
So everyone in the throne room quietly waited for the sounds of lightning, fire, and death to subsidize, or at least be countered by the sounds of reinforcements, preferably the rest of their friends.
However, not only did the sounds not subside, with reinforcements failing to materialize, but also the steel barrier suddenly started being assaulted, causing all the warriors in the room to ready their weapons, or ready her water pouches in Katara's case, so they could attack however was trying to get in.
And soon enough, the barrier was blasted open after a flash of lightning, with a Kemurikage nonchalantly stepping into the room like they owned the place. And before anyone could react, the Kemurikage with its right hand shot a massive blast of blue fire that would shame even Sozin towards the Kyoshi Warriors while at the same time shooting a massive bolt of instant lightning at Katara with its left hand.
The Kyoshi Warriors managed to get into shield formation while Katara was able to get her water shields up, but their shields could not save them in the end. For the Kyoshi Warriors' shields could not withstand the volume of superheated flames directed their way, and thus melted, causing the Kyoshi Warriors to burn to death.
Meanwhile, the lightning unexpectedly split into two, avoiding Katara's water shield, before striking her in the back, thus killing the waterbending master the same way Aang had been killed in the catacombs all those years ago.
After pausing for a second to seemingly appreciate the carnage it had created, the Kemurikage then slowly walked towards Ursa, Noren, Kiyi, Michi, Tom Tom, Mura, Mai, and Ty Lee, who were all shaking in fear, though the later two also had anger, confusion, and sorrow welling up inside them as well.
For how could she have survived?
How could she have built up a small army of elite benders, benders who also knew lightning? Especially since more likely than not she would have had to teach them how to generate the cold fire, and thus give up a lot of her potential leverage over them?
Were the rest of their friends dead? Or if not, how come they did not intercept her before she reached the throne room?
But before the duo could ponder any further, the Kemurikage then told them in a dark voice, "The tunnels girls, the tunnels." causing them to gasp in horror as they realized that the ongoing massacre was their fault.
For when they had been young, they used to play hide and seek with Azula, with the princess avoiding them for hours on end using the palace's secret tunnels, something that annoyed them to no end until one day they figured out the activation method, thus allowing them to find her in a timely fashion.
However, instead of doing the responsible thing and mentioning the existence of the tunnels and their activation methods to Zuko and/or Suki, they failed to do so since they forgot the existence of the tunnels until Azula mentioned them just now, thus leaving a massive security vulnerability that was exploited by the pyscho and her new henchmen/women.
Thus, realizing that she was responsible for the deaths that had occurred today, Mai snapped and started throwing knives at Azula in an effort to avenge those slaughtered by the psycho and her vile accomplices.
But Azula gracefully dodged them as she jumped in the air, and before Mai or Ty Lee could react, she kicked Mai's right ribcage with a powerful burst of fire generated from her left foot before using her dead body to backflip over Ty Lee and land just a couple of feet in front of her family and Mai's with her back turned to Ty Lee before Mai's corpse fell to the floor, causing them to shriek.
Ty Lee at this point wanted nothing more than murder Azula. But she also knew that she had only one shot at disabling Azula, and so instead of using her katana, fans, and/or shield to assault the monster in front of her, Ty Lee instead decided to use the quickest weapons she had at her disposal, her hands.
But unfortunately for Ty Lee, even her hands were not quick enough to touch Azula, for as Ty Lee lunged at Azula in an effort to chi-block her, Azula casually dodged Ty Lee's right hand before forming a fire dragger in her left hand and slicing Ty Lee's face with it, thus instantly killing the former circus acrobat.
After taking a moment to take in her handiwork, Azula then started to menacingly walk towards the other remaining people in the room who were alive with lightning crackling from her fingertips as smoke emanated from her body, people who were all sobbing at the massacre that had just happened in front of them, as well as the fact that they were all seemingly going die to die soon.
Ursa knew who was behind the mask, and therefore was horrified by her long-missing daughter's monstrous actions.
But the part of Ursa who still loved Azula overrode her fear, anger, and disappointment, causing her to ask Azula as she sobbed, "Why? Why? Why?!"
But Azula ignored her mother's pleas and continued walking towards them the same way a predator sized up their wounded and trapped prey…
A Couple of Minutes Later
As soon as he entered the throne, Aang jumped off his air scooter, ready to fight the Kemurikage imposters. However, instead of being greeted by the imposters, Aang was instead treated to the sight of the corpses of the Kyoshi Warriors, Mai, and Ty Lee, causing Aang to start crying as he clasped his head in horror of the sight in front of him.
But Aang soon enough heard the sound of gagged people crying, thus causing Aang to venture further into the throne room and discover Ursa, Noren, Kiyi, Mura, Michi, and Tom Tom gagged and tied to one of the pillars in the room, though was someone wearing water tribe clothes lying face down in front of the pillar, with there being two lightning scars on their back and lightning exit wounds on each of their palms.
So Aang quickly leapt to the body, turning it over and seeing Katara's lifeless eyes wide open, causing Aang to start cradling her body as he openly wept into her left shoulder, with his sorrow apparent to everyone in the room.
Though Aang's sorrow quickly turned into self-loathing and hate, for as he repeatedly told Katara he was sorry for failing her, he came to realize that it was his adherence to his people's beliefs that had cost him everything.
For if he was willing to kill and people knew about it, then no one would have been foolish enough to commit the Cranefish Massacre, let alone the other mass murders that ended with all his friends and allies save for Zuko, Appa, and Momo, if they were even still alive at this point, dead.
(Appa and Momo had been staying in the Fire Nation Royal Palace's stables like they always did whenever Aang traveled to the Palace.)
So Aang decided to forsake his people, and in his rage entered the Avatar State, completely ignorant to everything except his rage, pain, and overwhelming desire to slaughter the Kemurikage imposters before violently restoring balance to the rest the world, even though Ursa, Noren, Kiyi, Mura, Michi, and Tom Tom had been shaking and eeking out muffled screams in a desperate attempt to get his attention before it was too late.
Though their efforts were futile, for just as Aang's tattoos and eyes glowed with the familiar blue-white glow, but before he could generate an air shield, Aang was suddenly electrocuted to death by a current of lightning that had not been generated by hands, but instead psychically.
Thus, after confirming that the young Avatar, and by proxy the Avatar Spirit, were defeated for good, Azula fire jetted down from the rafters with her hands behind her back before menacingly walking towards towards Ursa, Kiyi, Noren, Mura, Michi, and Tom Tom with blue flames in each of her hands as smoke emanated from her body, thus causing her future victims to start violently thrashing against their restraints, but to no avail.
As he valiantly fought his way inside the palace using his swords and firebending, Zuko hoped that it was not too late, and that it was all his fault that people died tonight since he should have accounted for the fact that the palace had a myriad of secret passages, a lot of which he didn't know about, and therefore should have accounted for them when making his plans for tonight.
For after seeing smoke come from the palace proper, the young Fire Lord had realized that not only did "they" somehow enter the palace through one of the secret passages, but also that he had been had.
So Zuko ordered his men to make haste to the throne room so that they could get to his family before it was too late, as well save as many palace servants as they could while also helping the other imperial guards and his friends put an end to the Kemurikage imposters.
And yes, Zuko realized that "they" were in fact Kemurikage imposters due to the lightning and fire they shot at him and his men.
And speaking of his men, the imperial firebenders that were with him, along with the palace servants, Toph, and Sokka, were sadly slaughtered by the Kemurikage, who on average were just as strong, if not stronger, than his sister was during the war, especially once you took into account their apparent ability to smokebend, as well as their ability to quickly generate lightning.
Not to mention the fact that there were, for some odd reason, just fighting to occupy him, something that Zuko would normally notice, but failed to do so due to fearing for his family's wellbeing, as well due to his anger at seeing his dead friends' and servants' bodies.
Especially after seeing lightning leave the throne room not once, but twice within a short period of time.
But regardless of the dead bodies and the Kemurikage's efforts, Zuko made his way to the throne room, and after sheathing his swords, collapsed to the floor at the sight the bodies, especially that of his baby sister's, who had a gnarly fire dragger slash across her throat.
Though before he could come to terms with (the rest of) his friends' passing, and what it meant for not only for his rule, but also for the world, a Kemurikage walked out from behind one of the pillars carrying a crying, gagged, and bound Ursa by her throat, causing the young Fire Lord to jump to his feet and scream, "Let her go!" Whatever you want, please let her go! I'll do anything!"
But instead of letting Ursa go, the Kemurikage psychically burned the rope gagging Ursa, causing the mother of three, well now two, to scream at Zuko, "Run Zuko, run!" before the Kemurikage then lit Ursa's head on fire just like she used to light dolls on fire before then callously dropping her.
Instantly recognizing the Keumirkage, Zuko saw red and tried to kill his demonic sister on the spot with a massive double-handed rainbow fire blast that would have shamed any blast ever made by Sozin.
However, Azula casually matched Zuko's furious blast by generating multiple bolts of lethal instant lightning with just her right-hand, with the resulting blowback knocking Zuko to his feet while lighting most of the throne room on fire.
But not Azula, for she used her psychic firebending to make sure the blowback didn't knock her down or touch her otherwise.
Zuko was slow to get up, but when he did he started screaming at sister, "Why?! Why?! Why?!" before his grief, shock, and anger caused his speech to devolve into guttural screams.
And how did Azula respond to her brother's questions and pain? By telling him in a dark voice, "Zuko, we both know that you can't beat me in a bending-only fight, not when I am not slipping. So why don't you use your swords to better your chances of beating me?"
"Though to be fair, it was never like you were any good with them, so maybe I was wrong in suggesting that it would improve your lot."
Hearing his sister mock him for the nth time reawakened Zuko's fighting spirit, thus causing him to charge at Azula with his swords in order to coat them with her blood.
But sadly for Zuko, he failed to spill any of her blood, or even touch her, for she causal dodged all of his attacks for a minute or so before she disarmed him and kicked him to the floor, melting his swords with her psychic bending in the process.
Zuko at this point knew that all was lost, and that Azula was going to kill him sooner than later in order to get rid of the last person standing in the way between her and the throne.
For Zuko had realized that Azula's plan all along was to eliminate him, father, and all their allies so that she could take the throne uncontested.
But Zuko was not a quitter, and so he would not give up with a fight.
Thus, Zuko got up in order to bum rush Azula in a last ditch effort to catch her off guard so he could kill her, even if she killed him in the process.
However, before Zuko could start charging, Azula told Zuko in her real voice, "I am going to avenge my defeat during our Agni Kai by striking you with lightning so powerful that even Uncle's parlor trick can't save you." before then generating the strongest lightning she could, lightning that would have made Ozai jealous if he was still alive and had his bending.
Hearing Azula's desire to punk him with charged lightning caused Zuko to smirk before he eagerly prepared himself physically and mentally to redirect Azula's lightning like he would have if she hadn't targeted Katara like the dishonorable bitch she was.
For Azula may have called him a Dum Dum countless times during her wretched life, but she was the Dum Dum now.
And this was because lightning redirection was based on letting the energy flow through your chi paths, and so there was no limit to how much lightning you could redirect other than your ability to focus so that the cold fire didn't pass through your heart.
Though Zuko struggled to keep his head clear since he knew none of this would have happened if he and his friends properly dealt with Azula after the war.
For him or Katara should have killed Azula after Katara chained her to grate.
Aang should have de-bended her once he arrived with his recently de-bended father so Zuko could jail him.
Zuko should have jailed Azula and thrown away the key instead of sending her to an asylum to heal.
Zuko should not have interpreted that Earth Kingdom scholar's words to mean that he needed to repair his family in order to send the right message to the world and his subjects.
He should have never agreed to allow his father and Azula to speak alone, or wheel Azula in her wheelchair by herself.
He should have never agreed to Azula's terms when it came to searching for their mother, even if it meant he never found her again or never got to meet Noren and Kiyi.
He should have never continued to keep her free and unbound after her erratic behavior endangered innocent people and their search party several times over.
He should have used her lightning to kill her, if not at the pond in the Forgetful Valley, then in Noren and Noriko's home after she almost killed their mother if not for her madness stopping her.
He should have chased after her as she ran into the Forgetful Valley, instead of staying with his mother.
And he should have expanded every single resource available to him to find her, instead of keeping it a closely held secret that she had escaped his custody.
But, even though he had a lot of regrets, he was able to focus by reminding himself that he could stop her from victimizing more people by killing her. And so when Azula shot her fully charged lightning at him, Zuko easily redirected it at her, confidentially telling her in the process, "You know I can redirect anything you–?"
However, Zuko paused as he watched the redirected lightning hit her outstretched left middle and pointer fingers before then exiting her right middle and pointer fingers, which were pointed directly at… him.
And so, not expecting that his chauvinistic sister was open-minded enough to incorporate waterbending derived techniques into her bending, Zuko froze, mind empty as he got electrocuted to death.
And as the super-powerful lightning exited the now-dead monarch's body, it caused a massive explosion as it hit the ceiling, thus causing even more of the throne room to to catch on fire while also creating a massive hole in the ceiling.
And so, now that she had eliminated the last obstacle in the way of her remaking the world to her liking, Azula walked to her brother's corpse, which was lying face down, with his crown inches away from his undone topknot.
The throne room at this point was a raging inferno, with the only places currently not on fire being where Azula stood and where Zuko's body laid due to her using her psychic bending to make sure the flames and heat did not burn her or her fallen brother.
But why did Azula stay in the throne room instead of fire jetting through the hole in the ceiling in order to meet up with the rest of the Kemuriakge? Well, because she wanted to-, no, she needed to give Zuko, her most hated enemy, one last soul crushing speech.
For there was nothing more Azula loved than breaking people's spirits.
And even if she had to deny herself the pleasure of sadistically breaking people with words or with her bending in order to make sure that no one escaped or managed to pull one over her again, now that everyone who was an enemy of her's or could oppose her was dead, she felt free to give into her sadistic impulses.
And give in Azula did, for she told her brother, "Ozai used to call you weak while praising me for being his strong and perfect prodigy. But if anyone was weak, it was me. For all my life, I tried to get both of our parents' love like my life was meaningless otherwise."
"And while I managed to get Ozai's approval by embracing my sadistic nature in order to become the perfect conqueror and Fire Lord-to-be, I alienated our mother due to my monstrous nature, which caused me great anguish, anguish that I alluded to during our stupid little campfire, though no one picked up on it."
"Or maybe you guys did, but didn't pushback since you rightfully feared the consequences…"
"Anyway, I thought everything was fine as long I had our father's approval and Mai and Ty Lee were under my thumb, especially after I had conquered Ba Sing Se and brought Mai and Ty Lee back into the fold."
"But everything was not fine, and in fact I had made several miscalculations and errors along the way that ended up being my undoing, starting with bringing you back home as a war hero, instead of in chains like the worthless traitor you always were."
"For you correctly guessed that I brought you back in order to serve as insurance in case that the monk survived, but there was more to it."
'For I had spent three years alone with dear old dad without you being there to remind him that me make a rare mistake did not mean I was worthless. Moreover, like a child, I had grown to miss messing with you, as well as the entertainment you provided me with your antics."
"So I brought you back not only to serve as insurance, but also to take pressure off me, as well as have you back in my life, a grave error, especially since I should have seen your hesitation in joining in me, as well in leaving Ba Sing Se, for what it was: proof of your wavering loyalty."
"Not to mention, in retrospect, you visiting Uncle Fatso in prison was massive red flag, especially after you kept doing it after I told you stop doing it since it made you look suspect at best."
"But it was not the only error I made, for I not only mistakenly allowed Mai and Ty Lee to form a bond with each other, but also allowed Mai to form an bond with you as well, a bond that I mistakenly encouraged in order to bring you home."
"Moreover, I did not see that Mai's bond with you was stronger than her fear of me, or that Ty Lee's bond with Mai was stronger than her fear of me, until you had escaped the Boiling Rock with your gang of misfits while I laid on the ground limp after getting betrayed twice over."
"But my miscalculations in regards to you, Mai, and Ty Lee paled in comparison to the miscalculation I made in regards to Ozai. For I foolishly thought that even though I had alienated mother, you, Mai, and Ty Lee, at least I had our father's love."
"But once again I was wrong, for Ozai made it clear to me as he departed to raze the Earth Kingdom that I might have been his prized general, his only heir, his most cherished conqueror, and his favorite monster, but I was never his daughter, let alone someone he loved, if he ever was capable of loving anyone but himself."
"And so, realizing that I had no one in this world, and that none of my tactics could prevent those "loyal" to me from turning on me on a moment's notice, my paranoia got the best of me and I banished everything in the palace save for the Fire Sages, who I needed to crown me."
"But even after getting rid of everyone save for the Fire Sages, Mother showed her ugly face and told me that it was my fault for alienating everyone with my fear mongering before telling me she loved me after I pointed out that trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable way."
"And while I was able to make her temporarily disappear after destroying her current vessel, the mirror in my room, she kept messing with me to the point that only did I foolishly accept your Agni Kai challenge, for I thought killing you would cause her to view me as thoroughly irredeemable, thus causing her to leave me alone for good, but also lost to you before losing to the Avatar's snow wench and loosing consciousness immediately after she healed you, thus assuring your accession and my defeat."
"And things got even worse when I woke in the asylum you sent me to to "heal", even though we both know you sent me there to discredit me without having to stain your reputation by throwing me, your younger, war hero sister who stayed loyal to the Fire Nation to the bitter end, in a jail cell next to Ozai's for life."
"For the next year or so I spent my days: in a straightjacket all alone in a cold cell with Mother telling me that everything would be alright as long as I took off my mask of fear and intimidation, even though we both knew she was lying; having the healers chi-block me before forcibly feeding me or cleaning my body like I was a helpless baby; or in mandatory group "therapy" sessions with my similarly mistreated fellow inmates in an effort to fix what was wrong with me, like my problem was that I was a madwoman, instead of woman constantly attacked by her mother for no good reason."
"But my time in the asylum was not a complete lost, for the days and nights I spent in my straightjacket forced me to not only learn how to perfectly modulate the strength of my lightning, as well as generate it with minimal to no movement, so I would not lose any precious muscle mass, but also focus on firebending breathing techniques in order to make sure I did not forget how breathe while firebending, which increased the temperature of my flames."
"Moreover, the group "therapy" sessions helped me realize that the Fire Nation asylum system was home to legions of powerful firebenders who were disowned and abandoned by their family and friends, and therefore had no bonds tethering them to anyone in this world."
"Or in other words, they would not only leap at the chance to escape the asylum, but also would pledge their loyalty for all of time to their benefactor without any hesitation."
"But soon enough, you came to me like I expected you would once you realized that father would never give up the last piece of leverage he had over you, Mother's potential location, without getting to talk with the last person in the world who was both loyal to him and powerful enough to take you down: me."
"And like the foolish girl I was, I leapt at the chance to redeem myself by using that letter to overthrow you. Especially since I could also use the letter to finally get rid of Mother's constant prattling by destroying her physical tether to this world."
"But in the end, mother was too strong for me to overcome, at least at that point. For I managed to get her physical coil in my hands, but I could not kill her, not when she told me that she was sorry for not loving me enough."
"So knowing that I didn't have the strength to kill Mother, and knowing that you and your friends would spare no mercy towards me once they caught up to us, I ran, dropping that letter in order to distract you in order to build as big of lead on you guys as I could."
"I then spent the next couple of weeks wandering in that forsaken valley, ending up on death's doorstep due to starvation and dehydration, with my clothes dirty and tattered as I was constantly berated by Mother for failing to take off my mask of fear and intimidation, when I finally realized what I had always known about myself, but kept denying in a futile effort to be "better": that I was a monster."
"For I was born heartless, ambitious, arrogant, insidious, and without shame or empathy. Moreover, I had no issue with killing friend or foe, and in fact, I was a murderer on top of being complicit in attempted genocide."
"And that all of the problems in my life were caused by me denying my monstrous, self-serving, true nature in order to gain friends and the love of my family."
"Well, no more! For I vowed to myself that I would live my life from that moment on with only one goal in mind: the acquisition of power!"
"And so with my resolved strength, I made my way out of that nasty valley while also coming up with my plan to subjugate the world under my yoke, even though Mother constantly told me that I was on the wrong path just like she is doing right now, and has been doing ever since I realized my true nature."
"So what was my master plan you ask? Well, after getting out of that valley, I spent a couple of weeks recuperating and training on the outskirts of a town near that sprit infested valley, stealing food and clothes like a common thief, before seeking out and killing that bounty hunter and her shirshu so that not only would you be unable to use them to find me, but also to prevent them from interfering with my plans."
"And yes, it was during this time that I developed smokebending, as well as figure out the secret behind Uncle's parlor trick, a secret that is mine and mine alone to know now that you and his royal kookiness are gone. For I had spent the past year reflecting on how the Avatar's snow wench had managed to completely freeze us in a solid block of ice before manipulating it with just her mind in order to chain me to the ground like I was nothing more than a sewer rat."
"But with the mental clarity that my realization about myself gave me, I finally had an epiphany: that everyone is constantly surrounded by energy."
"So, if benders manipulated their internal chi to outward in order to manipulate the elements, then what difference, other than taxing your chi-reserves and concentration, would it make to outwardly bring forth your internal chi using just your mind to manipulate the elements, cutting out the need for any limb movement?"
"Thus, I attempted to psychically generate fire and lightning, only to find out that I lacked the chi reserves and concentration needed to do so, and thus I could only bend smoke with my mind, which was useful since not only was it the perfect tool to disorient opponents, but also because it could be use in tandem with my fire and lightningbending."
"Meanwhile, in regards to Uncle's parlor trick, once I realized that analyzing the Avatar's wench's bending helped improved my bending, I hunted down and read any waterbending scrolls I could find in order to see if waterbending had anything more to teach me."
"And in the process, I figured out that lightning redirection worked by letting the lightning first flow through one of your arms, then through the stomach, and then through your other arm."
"Though I shouldn't give all the credit to the scrolls I appropriated, for it was not you showing me the technique multiple times, I don't think I would have figured it, or at least figure it out as quickly as I did."
"But enough bending theory, let's get back to my plan, shall we? Besides, it is not like you would care for it considering you never did paid attention our bending teachers and tutors."
After pausing to make sure Zuzu was still "listening" to her, Azula then said, "So, after eliminating the bounty hunter and her pet, I started to break out my fellow asylum inmates, or more specifically, the most powerful firebending asylum inmates, out of the asylums, starting with the one you threw me in after the war."
"For the girls I broke out from my asylum were my "test subjects" so to speak, and so I needed to make sure that not only could I properly train them to an adequate standard, but also make sure that I did not draw any attention to the missing girls."
"For I know this might shock you Zuko, but the asylum healers knew about the missing girls, but didn't report that they were missing since they didn't want to lose face. That and they knew that no one cared about whether they lived or not, only if they were menacing society."
"So if it appeared that they had ran out of the asylum and died due to being unable to take care of themselves, they wouldn't report it."
"And in regards to training, it was harder than it seemed, for I not only had to make sure that the gap between them and me remained the same at all times, and thus I could only teach them certain techniques like quick charge lightning once I learned how to make lethal instant lightning for example, but also because I had to make sure they didn't form any bonds with each other, only me."
"But I succeeded, and so I began the next part of my plan: growing the New Ozai Society into a real threat. For after my fall into madness, I became a pariah to not only every major political faction in the Fire Nation, but also to the world at large. Thus, I knew no one would willingly rally around me unless they had no other options like my fellow asylum inmates."
"But you know who they would rally around? Dad. Especially since Ukano had already formed the New Ozai Society before I ever escaped your custody."
"Moreover, helping the New Ozai Society to takeover large parts of the Fire Nation would not only destabilize your rule, as well as destabilize you and your friends after your inevitable, but ultimately futile, attempts at putting them down failed thanks to our efforts, but also, once they served their purpose and we eliminated them, create a power vacuum that I could easily take advantage of."
"For people may talk of peace, balance, and harmony, but there is one language that governs human relations: power. Therefore, if there was no one left to exert power in the Fire Nation, or, spoiler alert, in the world for that matter, except for me and my followers, then they have no choice but to speak my language and submit to my will, just like the rest of the world."
Thus, me and my girls not only broke Ozai out, but also gave the New Ozai Society money and intel in order help them to stay one step ahead of you the whole time, as well break out members of their society who got caught and eliminate threats to their continued existence like Mai's temporary boy toy."
"All while continuing to break out and train more asylum inmates while also pushing the limits of my bending, eventually learning how to psychically bend fire and lightning just before the all the world leaders save for you gathered in Cranefish Town, thus allowing me to move on to the next step in my plan: eliminating all major political and economic players in the world except for you and your gang of misfits."
"For your comment about the why the Earth Kingdom continued to resist the Fire Nation after we had conquered Ba Sing Se and disposed of that soft-handed fool Kuei had taught me a valuable lesson, even if it took me years to realize it, namely that as long as people have alternatives, they will never stop resisting."
"So in order to prevent a repeat of what happened during the closing months of the war, I knew that I had to remove all alternatives to my rule. Thus, after learning of the meeting, I had the Kemurikage descend upon Cranefish town and kill off the relevant players who were in town, thus throwing the world into chaos."
"Chaos that caused Uncle's little boys club to reunite in that dirt man's palace so they could do so something about it, which was all that I needed to ambush them, thus not only getting rid of more threats to my eventual rule, but also allowing me to enact the next step in my plan: eliminating you, Ozai, and all of your allies."
"For I know how Ozai thinks, and I knew that once he learned of your emotionally weakened state caused by Uncle's death, along with the deaths of all of your other allies, he would attempt to attack Caldera City through the tunnels."
"So I, along with a strike team of my strongest girls, attacked Ozai and his men, while I had the rest of my girls eliminate his allies across the Fire Nation, making sure to leave their bodies in nearest body of water in order to send you a message."
"A message that strengthened by me sending you our father's head, along with a letter stating a half-truth: that we were going to attack the palace in a frontal assault."
"And so you prepared, thinking you were ready, but you left yourself completely vulnerable by falling to account for the secret tunnels and by splitting your gang of misfits up, thus allowing my girls and I to pick you apart like the worthless maggots you were."
"So now that I have defeated you for all of time, what I am going to do? Well, after making sure Zirin and her strike team killed the Avatar's bison and his lemur, we are going to bring everyone in the Fire Nation under my yoke using the New Ozai's Society's money and connections along with our intel before subjugating the rest of the world using the same methods."
"For you want to know why I decided to appropriate the Kemurikage's visage? Well, partially to fuck with Mai considering she had nightmares about them coming to snatch her after I convinced her to steal some mochi, partially because the Kemurikage are sprits born from fear, anger, and revenge, just like my ladies and I, and partially because they helped secure the First Fire Lord's position."
"In fact, it was that last reason that drove me to adopt the Kemurikage's visage, for the Kemurikage were sprits of dead mothers who took revenge on a warlord, Toz, and his followers for kidnapping and killing their kids by kidnapping and killing Toz and his follower's kids, thus ruining Toz, along with anyone who sought to follow in his path, and clearing the way for our ancestor to unite the Fire Islands, thereby creating the Fire Nation."
"So once again, the Kemurikage have risen to eliminate those who stand in the way of the rightful Fire Lord, me. And this time, the Fire Lord won't just unite the Fire Islands, but instead will unite the whole world under them."
"For just like Toz, you and your friends were the last remnants of a chaotic and weak old order that prioritized the weak over the strong, an order that has been replaced by a new and better order that will bring stability and order to the world by allowing the strong to rule over the weak like they should have from the beginning, one that will stand for ten thousand years!"
"So go to your grave knowing that you have failed everyone and everything that you ever believed in, and that in time, no one will remember your name, let alone your legacy, outside of your missteps and failures." Azula told Zuko, then kicking him in the shin once last time before she fire jetted out of the inferno, let it turn Zuko's body into ash along with the dreams and hopes of a world free from tyranny and oppression.