Binas: Sorry it took so long. Junior year sure does zap the brain pretty good. Now let's get into the fundamentals that need to be played. Here's a field day for a certain someone... Let's cross our fingers... Sorry if this chapter seems a bit not right but I wanted to try my hand at dark humor and stuff... Also I wanted to test Katara and Deidara's friendship a bit. We know he has tested it to an extent already, but what's wrong with a little more? Besides I unfortunately see Deidara doing this.
Also don't judge me. How would you react if Deidara did what he did to you? I know MAJORITY of you would be down right ticked. Besides, he's good at it as we have seen in the Kazekage Arc. Sorry, not spoiling what he does in this chapter but I will give a hint, he does it to Katara! O.o Sorry if it starts becoming a cop out/something from a butchered B-movie. I am new to this kind of situation/drama. So please consider this more character development and stuff like that. And sorry for any rushed parts. I was admittingly tired and wanted to get to the point.
I think I need a safe house now...
Also remember, don't feed the trolls! ;)
Review time!
Kuroyuki the Ryu: Awesomeness is the key to many things on Fanfiction, my friend.
ultima-owner: I had to make it a bit original so no one thinks I am ripping off 17stepsdown (I like her past arc cause it was cute an everything before Jiro attacked (bad Avatar reference)). Besides, from what we know, Deidara doesn't like having things, like Itachi's Sharingan, being more beauty than his own art. Then there is the fact he nearly killed Tobi for calling his artwork a rip off. So in turn, I don't think he would take criticism well at all. So I think that was one part of his past since he was indeed a highly praised artist.
Guest 1; Chapter 13; September 19th: Oh I got something planned and let's say... It will be twice as humorous... -Evil smile- As for the girl for Deidara, I think it's going to be a close friendship/sibling-like more than anything. Like I said, I suck at romance. As for blending, I can make almost anything work from what others say. One friend even said in response to one of my first, yet deleted, stories was 'it just fits so well'. I guess it's a natural knack for writing (same goes for drawing). Art and writing does run in the family. I am glad you like that one too. We all need a bit of luck sometimes, even if it doesn't seem needed.
Guest 2; Chapter 13; September 24: I don't plan on this dying soon. If that happened, I would be saddened that my greatest story had meet the grave.
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Sokka hovered over his maps, refining his strategies for the battle that was to come today. As he rubbed his eyes, Katara took one of his hands and placed a hot cup of tea in it. She gave an encouraging smile to her older brother before checking her supplies.
Toph and Deidara sparred in the background, exchanging blows. With it purely being hand to hand combat, Toph didn't need to worry about Deidara's new dirty tricks. As for Deidara, he won't be doing splits caused by Toph's Earthbending any time soon. His manhood still was a bit stretched from the spar four days ago, but he was able to ignore it completely.
Toph went in for a low swinging kick with her right leg. Deidara put the appropriate leg into position and caught Toph's. This caused the blind Earthbender to blink in surprise.
"Pretty good, Hot Fuse. You're getting better at catching that move.", Toph said.
Just as Deidara smirked, he crashed to the ground in a heartbeat, feeling a bit dizzy. Toph had pulled a really dirty trick by interlocking her leg with his and spinning herself. As Deidara spit the dirt of out his facial mouth, Toph gave her own smirk.
"But not good enough to see the possible counter attack.", Toph finished and lent her hand out to Deidara.
Deidara took the help Toph gave and got back up. He dusted the dirt and grass off his clothes. He had a small pout on his face, not very pleased that he once again fell into another one of Toph's sneaky traps.
"No need to be such a sour puss, Deidara. It was just a spar. Besides, the battle that really matters is in the Fire Nation. If you can help us beat them, one day you might beat me.", Toph said, "Just might, nothing else."
"And one day you just might see me, hm.", Deidara mocked with a grin.
"Don't you dare pull that one on me!", Toph said with a playful grin and Earthbended mud all over Deidara.
Toph then began to laugh in amusement. Deidara then made a clay ant with less than half the Chakra that he typically uses for C1 and blew up some mud onto Toph. It was Deidara's turn to laugh at Toph's expression.
"I'd like to see you do better than that.", Deidara said with a cocky grin.
That started a mud fight between the two immature, bad tempered kids. Mud went flying everywhere with every Eathbending move and every explosive made. The mud splashes got bigger and bigger until mud went not just flying onto Deidara and Toph; it started fly onto the sleeping Aang. Aang woke up to mug hitting him in the face. He looked up and saw the mud brawl above.
"What are you two doing?", Aang asked with a yawn.
Deidara and Toph stopped that instant. Toph was within Deidara's headlock, reviving a nuggie. Both looked at Aang before separating from each other.
"Nothing...", Both said innocently.
"Why is there mud all over the place?", Aang asked.
"He/she started it, (hm)!", Both Deidara and Toph yelled as they pointed their fingers at each other.
Katara rushed over to see that the camp site was covered in mud, including the bed they made for Aang. She blinked a few times before turning to Toph and Deidara.
"Clean up this mess you two. Now.", Katara said as she pointed at the globs of mud.
"Who made you Tsuchikage, hm?", Deidara asked.
"Nobody, I don't know what that means. But all I know is, that mess needs to be cleaned up. We can't prepare for the invasion with dirty equipment.", Katara said sternly.
"Make us, Sugar Queen.", Toph challenged.
A few moments later, a pair of water tentacles dropped Deidara and Toph into the filthy camp site. After them followed some rags and a few pails of water. Both Toph and Deidara gave annoyed looks at Katara. Katara grinned and waved as she left the duo in the dirty camp site.
"Looks like Sugar Queen won that argument...", Toph said with a shudder.
"I never seen her get that way before...", Deidara mused, "Must be that time of month."
The two of them began to scrub the camp site. It was no easy task, especially when it came to salvaging the still edible food from the muddy food. Toph even sneaked some Earthbending in to help remove some of the more stubborn dirt and mud stains. It took an hour to clean the entire camp site from the mud. By the time they were done, a fog began to settle in the horizon.
"Great...", Deidara said sarcastically, "Bad weather has to set in at the worst time possible, hm."
"Deidara, while don't you just use that thingy on your left eye?", Toph asked, "Or are you too stupid that you forgot how to use it?"
Deidara frowned at Toph before lifting up his bangs. After making a few adjustments to the scope, he could see into the fog. It turned out it wasn't a natural fog. It was made by Waterbenders.
"Wasn't expecting that...", Deidara said.
"Expecting what?", Toph asked.
"A bunch of leaf covered naked guys-", Deidara said, sweat dropping at his realization.
"Okay, on second thought, I don't want to know.", Toph said, holding her hand out to signal Deidara to stop.
By the time Deidara and Toph arrived, the leaf covered Waterbenders graced Deidara with their near nakedness. Deidara covered his eyes, cursing the horrifying sight before him. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. This was easily comparable to the worst art work he had ever seen. That also included that wretched stone monument, which was absolutely NOT art.
'Why does it have to be worse up close?!', Deidara thought.
Three leaf wearing Waterbenders came up to Deidara, gracing the bombing artist in their near naked glory. Deidara jumped up in surprise as they nearly touched him with their swamp filth covered bodies. He yelped in disgust and immediately recovered his eyes after distancing himself from them.
"Is somethin' wrong, kiddo?", The tallest, skinniest of the two leaf wearing Waterbenders asked, "You can always tell your good old buddies Due, Huu, and Tho anything!"
Deidara became very uncomfortable. He cringed as Due spoke, wondering if they knew there was a thing called 'introducing yourself'.
"Yeah, there is! CAN YOU PLEASE PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, HM?!", Deidara yelled as he kept his eyes covered.
"Clothes are just an illusion.", Huu said scratching his girth that the leaves failed to cover, "So is death, young boy."
Deidara winced for a few seconds before turning his back. He crossed his arms and huffed his bangs up as scowl settled on his face.
'Idiots.', Deidara thought.
After spending several minutes of trying to avoid the Swampbenders, Deidara finally found a seat. The speech was rather interesting in the beginning. If Sokka were given a speech test, he would have failed it with flying colors. Everyone could see hoe nervous the poor guy was. Sokka was so nervous, he began to retell the story from the very beginning. Deidara blinked at how fast Sokka could speak. At some points he was questioning if Sokka was rambling or if he was broken from the pressure he put himself under.
Eventually, Hakoda came to the stage, and let his son go sit down. Hakoda managed to give the speech with clarity and an appropriate amount of detail. There was no unnecessary details thrown in. No history definitely no fluff. It was all information on the key points, and barely lasted five minutes. Hakoda managed to fill everyone in on the locations of importance, why they needed to be half way up the mountain before the eclipse, and moral encouragement with the war going to be ended finally.
By the time the speech was over, everyone went off to don their armor and battle gear. Katara put on four Waterbending pouches, all of which were filled to the brim with water. She also once more wore her Water Tribe clothes. Sokka also once more wore his Water Tribe clothes, along with the matching armor. He placed his boomerang and Space Sword in convenient locations for easy and quick access. Toph placed on her Earth Kingdom robes along with a large, green metal umbrella hat and arm guards with studs. Deidara put on his old shinobi attire (counting his slashed Hidden Stone Forehead protector), along with the addition of spiked knuckles that he requested Sokka to make him. He even had a medium sized super conductive rod strapped to his side, also made by Sokka. Sokka had no idea why Deidara would want a rod, but no matter what plans the blonde terrorist had for it, Sokka thought the idea of carrying it around was ridiculous.
"Deidara!"
Deidara turned around to see Katara standing behind him. He gave a questioning look.
"What do you want, hm?", Deidara asked.
"Are your bags full?", Katara asked.
"I am sure the amount I have is just fine.", Deidara said, not giving any concern to possible later situations.
Katara walked up to Deidara, and took a look into both of Deidara's water-proof clay pouches. She frowned at the sight of the bags being barely a sixth full.
"Deidara, these bag are nearly empty. This won't last long enough in a battle.", Katara said.
"So what?", Deidara asked.
"Go and fill those bags up or we will leave you behind.", Katara said.
"What? Come on, hm!", Deidara whined a bit in frustration.
"Look, that's not even enough to defend yourself. We can't risk you getting hurt for being unprepared for battle. This is the capital of the Fire Nation we are talking about. There is bound to be a bunch of strong Firebenders like Azula.", Katara said.
"I know, un.", Deidara said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh really? Why don't you fill those up right now, with me watching.", Katara said, crossing her arms.
Seeing how Katara won't budge until she was satisfied. Deidara huffed in irritation and took out four large globs of the extra clay he had made. He stuffed them in both of his clay pouches, before crossing his arms.
"Happy now?", Deidara asked.
Katara gave an irritated sigh at Deidara's insolence. None of the less, she nodded before walking away holding her forehead.
Later on Water Tribe Boats...
Deidara kept looking around for the famed Gates of Azulon. Apparently, he only did it to see if their craftsmanship was worth blowing up. He got water smacked by Katara for that. She told him had to save his clay for the battle. Deidara huffed as he continued just being one of the look outs. Eventually, Hakoda spotted something through his telescope.
"There it is. The Great Gates of Azulon." Hakoda said.
Deidara and Katara looked at where Hakoda had spotted the gates. All they saw was three shiny gold plated statues.
"Those are statues, un.", Deidara deadpanned.
"Where are the gates?", Katara asked.
Hakoda looked towards Katara.
"Katara, make a fog cover with the Swampbenders.", Hakoda said.
With that, all of the Waterbenders on board made a large fog cover. It was reasonably dense and large enough to cover the entire perimeter of the fleet.
"We will sneak past them statues like how we got past those Fire Nation Blockades!", Tho shouted.
The ships crept towards the statues for a few minutes ever so slowly. It was painstakingly tense.
"We are almost through! Keep it up!", Hakoda said.
And that's when the sirens blared. Everyone looked to Hakoda for orders.
"Everyone, get below deck!", Hakoda ordered before turning to Sokka, "Let's hope your invention works."
With that, everyone went below deck. By the time the Fire Benders got onto the boats, the invasion force had been long gone. The invasion force had already snuck past the gates without warning.
Traveling by submar-whatever was the most boring way to travel ever. Nothing but water could be seen through the windows, with the exception of schools of fish. Other than that, he had to sit next to Toph, who looked very sea sick, and a tiny snot nosed kid by the name The Duke. From what Deidara learned, The Duke and Pipsqueak, who was tall and large and not small and stout, were part of Jet's Freedom Fighters.
Hakoda placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder, filling his son with pride.
"You really out done yourself this time.", Hakoda congratulated.
"Yeah... Good job... You just invented a way of traveling that's worse than flying...", Toph said as she moaned in discomfort.
"Other than Toph being sick from this way of traveling, I find it boring, un.", Deidara said.
"Helmet?", The Duke asked after removing his helmet and handing to Toph.
Toph took the helmet and proceed to barf in it. The sound disgusted Deidara and The Duke, but they couldn't blame her. The Duke began to rub Toph's back to ease the discomfort.
"I only came up with the idea. The mechanist did all the work to make them real.", Sokka said.
"Now don't be so modest, my boy. It was you who came up with the idea of using Waterbending to make the submarines sink and float. Outstanding!", The mechanist said and pulled out Sokka's plans for the subs, "Your blueprints were hard to decipher in the beginning. But unfortunately, there was one problem that could not be fixed. The submarines have a limited air supply. We will need to resurface before we set foot on the beaches."
Deidara stretched a bit, glad that he was out of the submarine. He took in the fresh air, letting it fill his lungs before exhaling. It felt way better than the air he was breathing in the submarine. He looked back and forth and out of impulsive, he stuck his right hand into one of his clay pouches. He quickly made it look like he was not doing anything 'suspicious' as he let his hand mold a few birds. After he was done, he hid the bird in a pocket, ready to use with no prep time.
Deidara went over to where the rest of Team Avatar was. Sokka and Toph followed the suit from their locations on the roof of the submarine.
"So this is it, isn't it?", Aang asked.
"Yup. The day where the Fire Nation cowers in fear, regretting the day it waged war on the world, un.", Deidara said, smirking.
Aang leaned in towards Katara. He made sure Deidara couldn't see his lips moving, fearing Deidara might be able to read lips.
"Make sure he doesn't go overboard...", Aang whispered.
Katara nodded as Sokka stepped forward with a determined look plastered to his face.
"Ready to show the Fire Nation the Avatar is still alive?", Sokka asked.
"I'm ready.", Aang said and shook hands with Sokka.
Toph walked over and patted Aang on the back.
"Kick that Fire Lord's butt real good, Twinkle Toes!", Toph said.
"Don't worry, he will.", Deidara said as he backed away ever so slowly.
"Everyone, the next time we surface, we will be on the beaches. Stay alert at all times, and fight intelligently.", Hakoda said, "Break time is over, back in the subs."
With that Hakoda and everyone else who was on the roofs of the submarines, with the exception of a few, went back inside. As Aang and Katara began having an awkward moment, Deidara quietly slipped into the water and swam beneath the surface. He went up to one of the windows and waved at Sokka. Sokka waved back when he saw him and went back to what he was doing. After a few seconds, Sokka turned around seeing Deidara swim away. Deidara snickered in his head at how priceless Sokka's face looked.
Sokka rushed up to the roof and spotted Katara standing on the edge, looking at the direction where Aang flew off from.
"Katara! We got a problem!", Sokka shouted.
"What is it now?", Katara asked as she turned around.
"Deidara decided to take a swim!", Sokka shouted, "I think he's going to go against the invasion plan!"
"Oh no...", Katara said.
Team Avatar knew Deidara wouldn't betray them, but Deidara did do something behind their backs. Some of his actions did annoy them, but this time, Deidara could put himself and a bunch of other people in jeopardy with his reckless and impulsive behavior. Katara felt they needed to stop him before things even got to that point.
"I will go after him. Stay safe Sokka.", Katara said.
"You too.", Sokka said.
With that, Sokka got back into the submarine as Katara hopped onto Appa. She bended water around Appa's head and went under. The hardest part came next, finding and catching Deidara.
Deidara's bird rose out of the water, with Deidara standing on it's head. He smirked as he thought about which parts should go out with a bang first. There was that school area that was still being rebuilt. Wouldn't hurt revisiting them to send in another 'present'. Then there was that town where they scammed. That town still had a bunch of scamming going on, no foul in putting the scamming industry there out of commission. Deidara had a bunch of choices and decided to settle on dropping a few Shadow Clones off and having them help him do all of the choices.
"DEIDARA! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Deidara looked below and saw Katara standing on Appa's head. She look furious as ever.
"I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING?!", Katara yelled.
"Of course I do. I am just giving some parts of the Fire Nation a little homecoming gift, un...", Deidara said.
"SEVERAL PEOPLE COULD GET HURT, EVEN YOU! WHY CAN'T YOU EVER STICK TO THE PLANS?!", Katara shouted.
"I won't get hurt, I will be staying on my bird while chaos rains on the Fire Nation.", Deidara said.
"I DON'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I MEAN SOME OF THE PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE COULD GET INJURED TOO!", Katara yelled.
"Then it will be their fault for getting in the way, not mine, un.", Deidara said.
"YOU ARE SO IMPULSIVE, YOU KNOW!", Katara yelled, "IF YOU WON'T COME DOWN ON YOUR OWN, I WILL MAKE YOU!"
With that Katara shot a large water pillar at Deidara's bird. Deidara's bird dodged at the will of it's master. That water pillar was not something that was all bark and no bite. It was full of both bark and bite. Deidara saw another incoming pillar, and dodged again.
"Watch were you are aiming!", Deidara mocked, "Someone could get hurt with those!"
Two more water pillars came at Deidara. Deidara saw his only other option and flew his bird at Katara. At the last moment, Deidara jumped off, leaving a clone in his place, and dove into the water. The bird went over Katara's head, annoying the Waterbending Master. As the real Deidara swam away from the scene, the clone kept demanding Katara's attention by taunting. Pillar after pillar, water whip after water whip, Deidara's clone didn't seem to know when the stop dodging. Deidara never wanted to hurt his friends, but he found no rules against hurting their egos and sometimes feelings. The clone was going to do just that. Deidara was going to be the worst arsehole he could be.
As Katara's anger boiled to the surface more, her Waterbending became more and more violent. She made a large water pillar again, but this time it launched icy needles at the bird along with high pressured water. The water slammed into the bird, throwing it off. The needles barely missed the clone, but the water pressure nearly knocked out the clone. Now came the clone's job. The clone quickly took a needle and stabbed itself in a pressure point in the neck.
Appa swam towards 'Deidara'. Katara made a water bubble underneath the clone, lifting him up and setting him down in the saddle. When she took the clone's pulse, she gasped in horror. She took out the needle that she saw imbedded in the clone's neck and began trying to heal him. The clone didn't budge.
"No, no, no!", Katara said as tears seeped out of her eyes.
She had 'killed Deidara'. She shuddered at the thought of it. With watery eyes, she took the clone's 'dead' body and dropped it over the side with a mournful look. She bowed her head down in sorrow as the clone's body floated down into the deep. Under the water, the clone opened it's eyes and smirked in victory. It's job was done. Without another thought, it dispersed into a puff of smoky bubbles.
"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to...", Katara sobbed, "Let's go Appa. We have to tell the others of what happened..."
Appa roared in sadness as Katara bended another bubble around Appa's head. With that, they went to go find the submarines to share the news.
By the time Katara found the submarines, one of the submarines was grappled by a hook as the three subs swam through the gates. Katara and Appa quickly rushed over the helpless submarine. Katara used her Waterbending and slashed the chains dragging the submarine up. The sub splashed back into the ocean and continued it's merry way to the coast.
*BOOM!*
Katara looked up to the skies. She hoped that by some stroke of luck, Deidara was still alive. However, she didn't see any white birds that didn't belong in the air. She realized that it was just a torpedo being launched and looked to the ground in sadness.
"KATARA!"
Katara looked to Sokka, who called her name. He was obviously looked concerned.
"The invasion is going on! Come on!", Sokka called out.
At that moment, Appa landed near Sokka. Sokka looked up at his sister to see tear stains littering her face. His eyes widened and he realized something bad happened.
"Don't tell me... Deidara got eaten by a giant sky serpent and you failed to save him in time.", Sokka said.
"No... It's worse.", Katara sighed.
"He went even more insane than he already is and blew himself up?", Sokka guessed.
"He's not that selfish!", Katara said then paused, "Actually, he might be that selfish... But he didn't blow himself up."
Sokka opened his mouth.
"If you think he got attack by a swarm of Buzzard Wasps, the answer is no.", Katara said.
"Then what happened! Just spit it out!", Sokka said, "We can't play twenty questions in the middle of the invasion!"
"You are the one who started it.", Katara said, "But anyways, I think I might have accidentally killed him..."
"Okay I get it, you're trying to mess with me. Nice try.", Sokka said.
"I am serious Sokka. He wouldn't come down and kept taunting. I didn't mean to... I tried to knock him down but he wouldn't let me. I am so sorry...", Katara said.
"No your not. He's right behind you.", Sokka deadpanned and pointed behind Katara.
"Don't be stupid! How can he be here if he's dead?!", Katara snapped.
"Don't be stupid Katara!", A voice mocked, "How can I be dead if I'm alive, un?"
Katara turned around and came face to face with a smirking Deidara. She had a ton of mixed feelings. The most prominent? Angry. Scratch that, she was down right ticked off. She slugged him right in the face, sending him a good few feet back. Deidara's right cheek now was black and blue and was red all over. He rubbed the bruise as the pain stung through it.
"YOU INCONSIDERATE JERK!", Katara screamed.
"If you need me, I will be knocking on some Fire Nation heads...", Sokka said and dashed off.
Deidara looked up at Katara's raging face and gave an awkward smirk. Katara loomed over him and with her Waterbending, placed Deidara into a stationary suit of ice from the neck downwards. It bounded him to the ground and restricted his movements. Katara's eyes raged with fire. More flames than he had seen in any shinobi before. He gulped as Katara's rage soared through the roof.
"HOW COULD YOU?!", Katara screamed, "HOW COULD YOU MAKE ME THINK THAT I KILLED YOU?! WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE WAS THAT?! THIS IS THE WORST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE!"
"Uh... Calm down, un... You should watch your blood pressure.", Deidara said, hoping to worm out of his current mess.
"OH NOW YOU WORRY ABOUT ME! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE PULLED THAT NASTY TRICK IN THE FIRST PLACE!", Katara yelled, "YOU SHOULD HAVE COME DOWN WHEN I TOLD YOU TO! BUT NO YOU HAD TO STAY UP THERE AND BE COMPLETE JERK!"
"Kat-", Deidara started.
"DON'T TALK TO ME!", Katara yelled and ran off.
"Can you at least get me out of here, un?", Deidara asked.
No answer. Deidara sighed. He had blown it big time. And it was all for a stupid joke. Maybe he had to start thinking on what he was doing. He had no idea she would be this mad at him. Of course he did expect to be lashed at, just not this much. He decided to watch everything from his icy prison, wait for someone to let him out or for Katara to come back and yell at him some more.
As time passed, Deidara grew more bored every minute. His only source of something to keep him occupied was the Swampbenders who used a giant 'seaweed monster' to fend off the Fire Nation, preventing them from coming even near the submarines. Deidara sighed. Was what he did to Katara really worth it? Sure, he enjoyed toying with his friends, but this time he had to question it. Did he really want her to be like this? Maybe he wanted her to be a bit ticked off for enjoyment, but never that much. All the stood out was that this time he took it way too far by faking his death and making Katara look like a murder. It was both cruel and selfish.
A bunch of seaweed splashed into Deidara's face. Swampbenders weren't exactly the cleanest people to be around. Especially when a battle was raging. Deidara itched to fight in the invasion, but he couldn't. Katara put him in his icy prison for, possibly, good. The ice would not not completely melt in the time frame Deidara knew was promising for escape. At this rate, Deidara would be captured by the Fire Nation again. He bet Katara would just love that so that she could get rid of him for that trick.
"Figures.", Deidara muttered, "I doubt I could even be considered a friend to any of them after today, un."
Deidara yawned, growing sleepy from his lack of activity. Courtesy of the ice prison made by Katara.
'A small nap wouldn't hurt anyone...', Deidara thought a drift to dreamland.
Deidara's dreamland was more less nothing but darkness all around him. No images played before him like typical dreams do. Just nothing. It was like a void. One that existed in his own head. But he didn't care at all about it. Sleep was sleep and this would help make time go by faster.
*SMACK!*
Deidara's eyes snapped open as his left cheek throbbed. He realized the ice was partly melted now. Right in front of him on the ground was a large stone, what he felt hit his cheek, and Katara hovering over her injured, resting father. Sokka was in the distance, appearing to be leading the invasion forces.
"When did he get hurt?", Deidara asked.
"None of your business.", Katara snarled.
"I get it that your mad at me! What do you want me to do? Go turn myself in for a joke, un?", Deidara said.
Katara immediately turned around. Her face showed all of her emotions. Rage and frustration.
"What gave you that idea?!", Katara snapped.
"You obviously since you can't stand to see me!", Deidara threw back.
"That's because you tricked me into thinking I killed you!", Katara yelled, "You are worse than Zuko!"
"You're comparing me to that scar face, un!", Deidara said, "Ha! How rich!"
"Shut up right now! I don't even want to talk to you!", Katara shouted as she turned her back on the loud mouthed blonde.
"Be glad I am not backstabbing you! I could do that any time at this point, you know.", Deidara said.
Katara turned her head.
"What are you suggesting?", Katara snarled through her teeth.
"I am saying unlike scar face, I actually want to be around you guys. I'm not be the apologetic guy, but I am not such a bad guy. So to speak, un...", Deidara said.
"So you won't say you're sorry? Well I don't need it then if it's going to be an empty one!", Katara snapped, using Waterbending to increase the pressure being applied by the ice already in place around Deidara.
'But I am truly very sorry...', Deidara thought has he moped.
"Oh don't you dare make me have sympathy for you!", Katara snapped and slapped Deidara across the cheek.
"I am not asking you to pity me! I don't even want it!", Deidara snapped, "Heck, I wouldn't even care if you tried to threw me into a cage fight against a Tailed Beast!"
"Why is that?", Katara asked with a raised eyebrow, not amused with what Deidara was pulling.
"Because my art would beat it, un!", Deidara said with pride.
*SMACK!*
"Can we lose some of the slapping?", Deidara asked as another bruise formed on top of previous bruise on his left cheek.
Katara ignored Deidara and went back to tending for Hakoda. Deidara sighed. Obviously Katara would never forgive Deidara for the 'small' joke. He narrowed his eyes at Katara, 'knowing' she would make sure the Fire Nation had his head. Without a second thought, he began letting his palm mouths lick the ice they were encased in. After a few tedious minutes, Deidara's hands had some movement. Now came for the 'fun' part. He channeled some Explosive Chakra to his hands and with a tiny but powerful jab to the ice with both hands, the ice became shrapnel as it went flying.
Katara ducked as the icy fragments went flying. By the time she looked up, she saw Deidara walking away without a care. She groaned in anger and sent a water tendril at Deidara, grasping nothing but air as Deidara dodged it.
"If you wanted to keep me, you could have just said so, un.", Deidara said and dodged another tendril.
"Get back here!", Katara shouted.
"I think not. You said you never wanted to see me again, so why not just do that?", Deidara said, "If you don't mind, I got a one of a kind show to put on, un."
With that, Deidara ran to the absolute worst part of the battle field, making him seem almost suicidal in Katara's mind. He ignored Katara's voice as it faded with distance. Back behind, Katara was still mad at Deidara, but was questioning if Deidara was even sane in the first place. Thinking about it made her head hurt. He thought faking death was a joke. It seemed as if he was almost driven to such craziness before she meet him. She realized at that moment, even though she would chew him out again at some point, she had to drag his hide out of there before anymore damages to anyone's mental health could be done.
With that she ran after Deidara. By the time she found him, he had an insane grin as he threw clay bombs all around himself without any care where they landed. Many of the Fire Nation soldiers were trying to escape but kept getting caught in the hastily made, yet quality and very disturbing/gruesome traps. Many of the Fire Nation men were blown into pieces. Literal chunks. Her eyes widened at how gruesome and cruel the sight was. She figured, Deidara must have held some power back in the past. And she could see the reason why he did. He practically made some of the Fire Nation Soldiers vegetables. Sizable craters were in the ground were smoking hot and had moaning victimized enemies in them.
"Deidara stop this now!", Katara shouted.
"Why should I? I am doing what I am good at by myself! I could end this whole mess on my own, un!", Deidara said and threw another clay bomb at a guy that tried to sneak up on him.
'Besides, I am doing this for a good reason.', Deidara thought.
Katara grabbed Deidara's arm forcefully. Deidara was shocked how much strength Katara could muster as the Water Tribe girl dragged him away from his personal disaster zone.
"This has to stop! You being selfish again!", Katara snapped.
"How am I being selfish! I took out a good chunk of the enemy!", Deidara said.
"That's not what I meant! You went charging in there like an idiot!", Katara snapped, "Are you that suicidal?!"
"I don't give a crap about my own life, un!", Deidara said, struggling in Katara's grasp, "So why do you give one about mine when you hate my guts!?"
"I don't hate you! I am angry about how selfish you have been lately! It concerns me that you might even be insane!", Katara shouted, letting loose her bottled up, true feelings.
Deidara looked at Katara like she grew a second head. He blinked for a few minutes, processing what she said.
"Wait a second... You care about me? And you think I am insane, right, un?", Deidara asked, seeming a bit uncomfortable, "You must be trying to get revenge for that joke I did earlier."
Katara face palmed. She sighed seeing as Deidara had her point then took it the wrong way. She took out a bit of water with bending and let it coat her hands. She approached Deidara with her arms out stretched. Deidara began to sweat a bit as he eyed the water intensely.
"Okay what are you doing? Is this part two of the revenge?", Deidara asked as he backed away slowly.
Katara touched Deidara's head with the water. The water began to glow a bright blue as it made a humming sound. She was try to heal his head.
"Um... You do realize you are healing my head for no reason, un.", Deidara said.
Deidara at that moment felt slightly relaxed and less like some hormonal preteen who had more than a few screws loose. He was confused as he felt being drawn back to his senses a tiny bit. He looked at Katara who was putting effort into the healing. When she was done, she put the water back.
"What was that?", Deidara asked.
"I figured you needed that. You were acting insane and I didn't realize it sooner.", Katara said, "I have to say, you are quite the convincing actor with that jerkish exterior."
"I'm not insane!", Deidara denied, "I'm artistic!"
"Just do yourself a favor and try to see a therapist when you can.", Katara said, "Until you do, I have my eyes on you."
Deidara grumbled under his breath, continuing to deny his insanity that was truly there. He did his best to hide it for years with a wagon load of effort. And Katara was the first person to see through it, despite her earlier claims of hating him.
"So you don't hate me, un?", Deidara asked.
"I didn't like what you did, but now that I know some of your underlying problems, I have a feeling you are going to need a lot of sessions. I am not sure if I can heal insanity, but I think I can at least calm you down a bit.", Katara said.
"So what now?", Deidara asked, "Should I got back to my art show?"
"I want to go finish healing dad.", Katara said, "I wasted enough time as it is chasing you."
With that Katara dragged Deidara behind her. Deidara was utterly confused. One minute Katara was chewing him out for his brash actions, and helping him the next. He saw no logic behind Katara's actions. It was as if her hurt feelings were doing the talking and not herself earlier.
'I have said this once, and I will say it again... This world is weird.', Deidara thought, 'Is this what a true friend is like; always by your side despite you being a complete arse?'
.
Binas: Yes, DOUBLE CHAPTER! Let's hop to it! You guys deserve it! A nice juicy super long chapter to make up for the wait. Mainly caused by the complex development that I wanted to perfect as much as I can to my growing ability.
Just remember readers who are also writers, you will never get better if you keep giving up! Don't let anyone tell you that your stories are terrible quality when they aren't. They could be jealous that you have the integrity to push yourself forward when the odds are stacked against you (that or they don't know how to correct you properly and are failing at doing so)! Just like in Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger: What Doesn't Kill You":
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller!
Doesn't mean I am lonely when I am alone!
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter,
Footsteps even lighter!
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone!
That part of that song has been very inspiring for me. Especially with everything I go through on a day to day basis at school. Trust me, everyday I go through it, I feel like I survived an invasion, in a sense. I really need to work on when and when not to use hyperboles...
Translation note: Māfī no Hōsoku - Hōsoku Māfīno - Murphy's Law
To tell you guys the truth, this was the HARDEST part. I needed to make changes that would seem perfect, especially where Azula gets involved.
.
Katara had finished patching up Hakoda. He was able to stand up with only minor pain. Majority of the pain went away when Katara healed him. Katara was happy that she knew her father was going to be just fine. With support from Katara and Deidara, he was able to stand on his two legs without the worry of straining his freshly healed injuries.
The sun had begun to come into view as it prepared its fated track across the sun. It was only visible as a large black circle in the sky, threatening to cover up all the light. It gradually moved little by little with time.
Sokka, who was with a few other men, sat behind an abandoned tank with a map. They plotted out their next phase. Where would be the best place to strike. Toph was nearby, ready to protect them at all costs.
Katara and Deidara approached Sokka and Toph with Hakoda in tow. Sokka's face lit up at the sight of his father on his feet.
"Dad!", Sokka shouted gleefully, "You are walking again!"
"All because of your sister.", Hakoda said with a smile and sat down, trying not to strain anything, "I am unable to fight right now, but maybe there is something I can do to help."
"So far, everything is going perfectly!", Sokka said, "The eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet."
"Let's hope that Hōsoku Māfīno doesn't rear in anytime soon, un.", Deidara said.
Katara began walking forward, looking into the distance. She squinted her eyes as the glaring sunlight hit her eyes.
"Katara, you seem distracted. Are you okay? Did something go wrong?", Hakoda said in concern for his daughter.
"I am okay but something isn't right. Aang's flying back.", Katara said.
Everyone looked up, minus Toph. Aang was indeed flying back to them, dodging fireballs with ease. While everyone should be glad he was unharmed, but it worried them. This aroused an unsettling pit of uncertainty and wariness in everyone's stomachs.
Aang landed on the ground with a look that confirmed that something went wrong. Horribly wrong.
"Please tell us that the Fire Lord was a wimpy old man and you didn't need the eclipse to get rid of him!", Sokka begged.
"He wasn't home. In fact no one was. The whole entire palace city was like a ghost town.", Aang said.
Those words made everyone learn that the worse case scenario was in play. Cold sweat and anxiousness chilled the air. Sokka broke the silence with two solemn words that summed the entire mess they were in now.
"They knew...", Sokka said.
"It's over. The Fire Lord has probably left ages ago, to some isolated island for safety.", Aang said.
"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't be too far away. He needs to be close enough to still give directions to everyone, yet still be safe during the eclipse.", Sokka said, "Some place like an underground bunker."
"For once your instincts are correct.", Deidara said.
"No time for picking on Snoozles, Deidara.", Toph said nudging Deidara before giving her attention to Sokka, "If we are looking for an underground bunker, then I am the right girl for the job!"
Sokka pulled out a timer that was specially made for eclipses. He studied it for a few seconds.
"The mechanist gave me this timer. From the looks of things, we have about ten minutes until the eclipse.", Sokka said, "Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."
"After that, we will have another ten minutes to beat the Fire Lord then get out as quickly as possible, un.", Deidara added, "It is possible he put his best Firebenders in the bunker as a safety precaution, so we will need what ever spare time we have left to make it out alive. One thing for sure is that I would make it out, un!"
Toph and Sokka whacked Deidara upside the head, a little insulted that Deidara didn't include the rest of Team Avatar in the list of very likely survivors.
"We can still win today.", Aang said and stood up.
"If they knew we were coming, wouldn't they have a trap laid? We should use the time we got left and get out of here safely.", Katara said.
"What are you, chicken, un?", Deidara asked then made chicken noises.
"Shut your mouth.", Katara said.
"Everyone who came to invade the Fire Nation with us came prepared to risk everything for the mission.", Hakoda said, "They know what could happen if things began to fail. If there is still a chance, there is hope. Everyone would want Aang to take that chance."
"What's your decision? You are the one who is fighting the Fire Lord.", Sokka said, "I am with you on whatever you decide."
"I have to try.", Aang said getting up and faced everyone.
A few minutes later...
Appa landed on the slope of the volcano. Toph landed on the ground and began to feel into the volcano.
"Do you feel anything underground?", Aang asked.
"There are natural intersecting tunnels within the volcano.", Toph said.
"Is there anything else? Like a construct somewhere in there.", Sokka said.
Toph gripped the volcano's slope with her Earthbending to extend her 'sight' of the inside.
"There is a huge and very dense metal-something in the heart of the volcano.", Toph said.
"Sounds like a bunker to me!", Sokka said.
With that conformation, Toph made a tunnel into the volcano with her Earthbending. Heat radiated out of the tunnel. Obviously the volcano was still active. After saying bye to Appa, Deidara, Sokka, Toph, and Aang went into the tunnel.
The tunnel Toph made came to a fork with two available passages. Toph ran down the path on the right.
"This way! The other one leads to a dead end!", Toph said.
Sokka, Aang, and Deidara followed Toph, not wishing the visit the dead end anytime soon.
"What would we do without you, Toph?", Sokka asked.
"Die in super heated magma.", Toph said nonchalantly.
"Pretty much...", Sokka said as he eyed the magma flows in embarrassment.
"Only Sokka would drown in magma, un.", Deidara said.
"Shut up!", Sokka said as his face became redder.
After passing through the tunnel, they came to a large chamber filled with magma geysers. Everyone stopped as some of the geysers released high pressured hot air with a column of magma in the center of the mini eruption.
"The chamber is connected to tunnel on the other side, leading straight to the bunker.", Toph said.
"We need to be quick and careful.", Sokka said.
Sokka rushed right into the chamber just to be nearly vaporized by a geyser. He ducked as Aang blew out the geyser, solidifying it.
"You call that careful?", Deidara asked, "It's more like 'let's get suicidal' if you ask me."
"Okay, I was wrong. We need to be careful, fast, and lucky!", Sokka said then turned to Deidara, "And you don't have the right to pull that card!"
"Yeah whatever, un...", Deidara said and rushed ahead of everyone, dodging the erupting geysers as they erupted.
"Wait for us!", Aang called out as he, Sokka, and Toph tailed behind Deidara.
By the time Aang, Toph, and Sokka caught up to Deidara, Deidara was skidding to halt as he neared a ledge. He fortunately stopped before going over the edge. His legs hung over the edge as several small rocks fell into the magma filled abyss. Deidara scrambled away from the unstable ledge.
"We told you to wait!", Toph said, "If you hadn't caught yourself, you would have been dead within seconds."
Sokka looked over the edge with Aang taking a peek soon after.
"It's nothing but a river of magma!", Sokka said.
"I would make a bird but I haven't have even experimented how my clay reacts with magma, un.", Deidara said.
Aang opened his glider, giving a good idea of what was to come. Deidara backed up a bit, not really trusting the sturdiness of the new glider.
"On second thought, I will experiment right now.", Deidara said.
Taking out a tiny chunk of clay, he used that small piece to make a small insect with wings. He let the insect take flight near the magma. After many breath held seconds, the insect proved that the clay would hold up as long it didn't get hit by magma or anything else that could prohibit the functions of the animated sculptures. With that, Deidara took out one of his pre-made birds and enlarged it. He scooped up a relatively started Toph and placed her securely onto the bird. Without any warning or time for Sokka and Aang to stop him, Deidara was already off, heading for the other side.
Sokka got the bumpiest ride. Riding on the back of Aang's glider is the sure way to wet yourself before an least the heat of the volcano would cover that up.
By the time everyone was on the other side, they came across a large curved door. It made the Earth King's fancy door seem like a normal sized door in size.
"That is one impressive door...", Sokka mussed.
"I see nothing special about it. It's nothing but a hunk of metal, un.", Deidara said with a bored look.
"Let's see if I can make it look better then.", Toph said and knocked on the door before taking a few steps back, "Too easy."
Toph slammed her fist into the metal surface, causing a large dent to form. After that, Toph ripped the door in half by some of the welded pieces. This caused a large hole to form to replace the now mangled door's welds.
"I am so glad we added you to the group!", Sokka said
After that, the quartet ran down the last natural tunnel into a series of man made ones. At that moment, they ran into an official. They gave their best intimidating looks to the official. It was extremely easy to get information on the Fire Lord's chamber from the guy. A little too easy. Deidara showed a slight bit of suspicion as soon as the group moved on from the official.
Sokka pulled out the timer as he ran with the others.
"Only twenty seconds until the eclipse starts.", Sokka said.
The quartet stopped in front a large set of doors. Aang eyed them with pure determination.
"I am ready to face the Fire Lord.", Aang said.
"Let's kick his butt!", Deidara and Toph shouted.
With that, Aang sent a huge gale force wind into the door. The door broke off it's hinges as they flew inwards on the room. Team Avatar entered the room to spot not the Fire Lord but something worse...
Azula.
Azula sat on a chair in the middle of the room. She was proud as ever from the smirk on her face. This caught everyone off guard. The plot twist stunned them. Deidara was the most shocked by this. He expected the Fire Lord in here, but no, his cynical daughter had to be. He was going to strangle that official if they ever crossed paths again.
"So you are truly alive. I had a feeling that you survived that attack.", Azula said, "But it doesn't matter, I knew about the invasion for a few months now."
"YOU WITCH, UN!", Deidara shouted and went forward with killer intent.
Azula side stepped Deidara and tripped him. That trip was all that Deidara needed. He planted a small piece of clay inside her armor. It wasn't enough to blow her up, but it Chakra to track. If he lost Azula, he would know where she was as long that piece of clay remained on her or said clay piece didn't lose all of its Chakra.
"Watch where you put those filthy hands, peasant!", Azula said in disgust and slapped Deidara across the cheek.
"Oh I will, un.", Deidara said, smirking inwardly.
Aang stepped forward next, unamused by the turn of events.
"Where is the Fire Lord, Azula?", Aang asked in annoyance.
"Am I not good enough for you and your friends? Why that hurts my feelings.", Azula mocked.
"It should. You are not worth it.", Deidara spat.
"So we have an artist turned critic here? How lovely. I was hoping that you would be less harsh.", Azula shot back.
"WHY I OUGHTA-!", Deidara yelled and threw a clay cricket at Azula.
Azula dodged the cricket with a simple tilt of her head, infuriating Deidara to no end.
"Stop wasting our time and tell us the information we need!", Sokka snapped, "You are powerless so you have no choice but to give us what we want!"
"And stick with telling the truth! I will know if you trying to lie!", Toph said.
"Are you sure? I am a very talented liar.", Azula said, "I am a four hundred foot tall platypus bear with purple fur, silver wings, and pink horns."
Toph was dead silent for a minute.
"Okay, I'd admit you are a good liar.", Toph said and trapped Azula with her Earthbending, "But you should consider sticking with the truth."
The Earthen trap crumbles, surprising everyone. Azula pulled another cocky/cynical smirk.
"Oh by the way, before I left Ba Sing Se, I picked up a few pick me ups.", Azula said, "Dai Li Agents."
One after another, Dai Li Agents came out of hiding. A total of four appeared. Team Avatar tensed, this was going to take a huge chunk out of their time.
"No time to settle this your way guys, un.", Deidara said, "I will keep them busy, you go after Azula and suck as much information as you can get from her as possible! Now go!"
With that, Deidara launched towards the Dai Li Agents as Toph, Sokka, and Aang chased Azula down the corridor. The Dai Li Agents groaned at the fact Deidara prevented them from protecting Azula.
"Oh you're ticked at me for being poorly trained body guards?", Deidara asked, "You should redirect that anger to the idiot sensei who taught you guys."
Deidara formed two clay centipedes and had them wrap around two Dai Li Agents. As soon as two of the Agents were restrained, one of the other two tried to bend the clay off. To Deidara's surprise, he could manipulate it only a little bit. It wasn't enough to completely remove it, but it was enough to keep it from constricting their prey.
The fourth Dai Li Agent launched rock gloves at Deidara. Deidara dodged them left and right. Thanks to the spars he had with Toph, he learned to read some of the possible outcomes of certain Earthbending moves, kinda like how reading hand signs hinted at what kind of Jutsu was being used. It was very handy as Deidara dodged four pillars that came flying at him.
Deidara at that moment, under the cover of the pillars that were being launched, sent several clay spiders towards the Dai Li Agents from the shadows. Due to the poor lighting in the direction the spiders were sent, they would only be noticed if the opponent had Seismic Sense or certain tracking abilities.
'The trap is in place. The spiders are now surrounding them. When they go off, the Dai Li will be forced near the clay centipedes. After that, they will be art.', Deidara thought.
"KATSU!"
The spiders blew up one after another by the millisecond. The explosions forced the Dai Li Agents near the constricted agents for safety.
'Phase two.', Deidara thought.
Deidara made the hand sign again, causing the centipedes to explode. The Dai Li Agents were blown across the room, with the constricted ones with the worst damages. Their torsos were practically like noodles that was burnt to a crispy black color on a stove top. One of the constricted Dai Li Agent had his head completely unrecognizable. You could say he looked like an alien. It was a gory sight to see.
Deidara laughed slightly, enjoying how strong he got. The two remaining Dai Li Agents struggled to get up, but were in so much pain from the third degree burns and broken bones from their hard landing. It only took him a short while, but it was worth it.
'I guess it wouldn't hurt to play with them a little more.', Deidara thought and sat on one of the fallen Dai Li Agents, 'I am not keeping anyone important waiting by doing so. Not that I care anyways.'
Deidara smirked as he saw the infuriating glares from the two Dai Li Agents that were still alive.
"See what happens when you get crappy teachers, un?", Deidara said, "Your teammates die left and right."
"Y-you wr-ret-ched k-k-kid!", One of the Dai Li Agents spat in pain.
"Wretched isn't the word I would use. Too risque.", Deidara said, "I think enlightened is a better term."
The Dai Li Agents groaned as Deidara toyed with their heads. Their life was going to end with a kid taunting and messing with their minds. They underestimated Deidara just like their other fellow Dai Li Agents. Only one of the ones who fought Deidara came back. He had said the kid was an incarnate of an insane monster and shouldn't be taken lightly. They laughed it off as the poor man being paranoid. Now, they regretted it.
At that moment, Deidara heard fire echoing from the nearby tunnel. His eyes narrowed.
'Now I can have that rematch.', Deidara thought.
Azula rushed into the room to see Deidara smirking. She smirked back as well.
"Why isn't it the coward who was afraid to follow me.", Azula taunted.
Deidara took out the metal rod he had on his back and stabbed it into the ground. He smirked at Azula's confusion.
"What good is a stick going to do here? Are you afraid to lose so badly you had to bring it?", Azula asked.
"Heh... You won't be smirking for long, you ugly tyrant, un!", Deidara shot back with a smirk.
Azula shot a death glare at Deidara. She drew her fingers in the air, creating lightning. Once it was at her desired voltage, she released it. She gave a large smile as the lightning headed straight for Deidara. Deidara gave the lightning a nonchalant look as it approached him. When the lightning was only a few inches away from Deidara, it took a new and unexpected path. It headed straight for the metal rod that Deidara brought. As Azula stared dumbfoundedly at her now grounded lighting, Deidara gave a large and rather smug grin.
"Metal conducts and attracts electricity. Your lightning is useless!", Deidara said.
Azula groaned in anger and began punching fire at Deidara. Deidara casually side stepped them all with a yawn. He even kicked the body he was sitting on towards Azula, making the princess screech in disgust.
"Are you done yet? I want to get to the fight.", Deidara said.
"You want a fight?! What do you think we have been doing?!", Azula asked with rage.
"Having a tea party with a platypus bear, un.", Deidara said in a bored tone.
Azula launched at Deidara and delivered a solid punch into Deidara's stomach. The punch sent him flying across the room. Azula smirked as Deidara made an impact on the cave wall.
"Not so tough are you? I was expecting you to be unmovable with that attitude of your's.", Azula said.
Deidara smirked at Azula before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Azula was shocked to see it wasn't the real one at all. During her moment of confusion, the real Deidara popped out of the ground and kicked Azula across the cave. Azula landed right on top of one of the dead Dai Li Agents. She screeched again in disgust as it's mutilated head stared right back at her.
Azula set her eyes on the rod in the ground. If she could get rid of it, she could fry Deidara as much as she want. Or better yet, tie him up to it. Deidara noticed her looking at the rod and smirked.
"Oh you want it? Sorry, it's custom made, so it can't be replaced.", Deidara said, "I can give you the wooden stick model though."
Azula glared at Deidara and sent a fury of fireballs at him. Today the tables had turned and Deidara was having his fun with mocking and taunting the opponent.
Deidara made a centipede and sent it at Azula. Azula dodged the centipede, but however she couldn't dodge the explosion. She went flying into the wall, thus being knocked unconscious from the blow. Deidara smirked in victory, grabbed his lightning rod, and ran out of the chamber to go find the others.
By the time Deidara found them, he had realized they had taken another way out of the volcanic cave. Turns out, Toph had sensed his battle and wanted the others to avoid getting caught in it in case if Deidara accidentally erupted it. With that, they continued out of the volcano. Once out of the volcano, the quartet rushed to Appa and quickly fly away on him to the battle field.
As they flew over the capital, they saw the damages that the invasion had done. It was rather impressive for a small army in Deidara's eyes. He looked back and forth as he scooted to the edge. Once he had clear sight of what appeared to be an economical looking part of the capital, he pulled out a good chunk of clay and hoped that his palm mouth could quickly get what he wanted made. When the mouth was done, it spat out a figurine that looked like a stacking doll. He smirked and dropped it on his target. The figurine enlarged as it fell.
"KATSU!"
The figurine blew up as it made contact with the economical part of the capital. That section of the Royal City was swallowed by a fireball and smoke. Deidara smirked as Aang sighed, unamused by Deidara's self congratulations that followed. What caught Aang's attention next was the airships that displayed the Fire Nation Insignia. Aang, Sokka, and Deidara gaped at what flew before them.
"That's bad news...", Sokka said.
"Oh crap...", Deidara said.
Appa landed, causing some of the warriors and Katara to flock to Appa. Katara saw Aang's sad look. She automatically knew something bad had happened.
"What happened?", Katara asked.
"I was a trap! Azula knew we were going to be here and plotted every single move!", Sokka said.
"Not entirely every move. Let's say I gave her a much needed slap to the face, un.", Deidara said with pride.
"Save your boasting for later, Hot Fuse.", Toph said.
"All that matters is that we get back to the submarines as quickly as possible!", Sokka said as he ignored the peanut gallery, "If we can, then we all might get away safely."
"They may have air power, but so do I! I will try to slow them down.", Aang said.
Aang flew away on his glider, towards the airships. Katara hopped onto Appa and followed. Just as soon as Deidara rushed to pull out a clay bird, Sokka and Toph stopped him. Well mostly Toph by using her Earthbending to trap Deidara's feet.
"Oh no you don't! You had way too much fun today, especially when we realized you decided to take your time.", Sokka said.
"And don't deny it. You did challenge Azula.", Toph said.
"You did what?!", Sokka screeched, "Are you insane?!"
"I might be if Katara is correct. But I doubt it, un.", Deidara said casually.
Sokka face palmed, leaving a large red imprint on his forehead. Toph just laughed at Sokka's frustration at receiving an unclear answer.
"Why must you find everything like this so funny?", Sokka asked dryly.
"Sorry Snoozles, you just make it way too easy!", Toph said with a grin as she released Deidara from his foot prison.
"Let's just get back to the subs so we can go argue some more! Okay?", Sokka snapped.
With that, Team Avatar and the entire invasion force rushed for the submarines. Just as one of the airships passed over head, its hatch opened up.
"Take cover! I think they are going to drop bombs on us!", Sokka shouted.
At that moment, Toph quickly made an earth dome over head. Her head perked up when she noticed something.
"Get back in here Deidara!", Toph shouted.
Hakoda rushed forwards and dragged the squirming Deidara back under the dome.
"Aw come on! Can't you let me admire the fleeting art outside?", Deidara complained.
"And you possibly losing your life. Not a chance.", Hakoda said, wondering what got into Deidara's head.
At that moment, Appa landed nearby. Toph lowered the dome, signaling it was safe to come out. Katara looked to the distance, noticing something off.
"Why aren't they coming back to attack?", Katara asked.
"They are heading to the beach...", Aang said and realized something awful, "They are going to blow up the submarines!"
"How will we all escape?", Sokka asked.
"We won't.", Hakoda said.
"Then our only chance is to stay and fight!", Sokka said.
"We can take them!", Deidara said.
"With the Avatar, we could on another day. You kids need to leave on Appa.", Hakoda said.
"What?", Katara asked and hugged her father, "We won't leave you behind!"
"Listen, you are our only hope in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang and Deidara to somewhere safe.", Hakoda said.
Katara gave sad looks to everyone, she didn't want it to end this way. Bato stepped forward.
"The youngest should go with you while the adults stay a surrender.", Bato said, "We will be prisoners, be we will all survive this."
Tyro came up next. He was the one who Katara had mentioned a few times in the past when they were in the early days of the plan.
"I have experience with different Fire Nation prisons. It won't be easy, but we will make it through."
Sokka turned to the beach and had an alarmed look on his face.
"THEY ARE AT THE BEACH ALREADY!", Sokka yelled.
"Why am I not surprised?", Deidara asked.
Appa came forward and lowered himself for the kids. Toph helped the mechanist get Tao onto Appa with an earthen elevator. Pipsqueak lifted the struggling The Duke up onto Appa. Haru and Deidara then got on Appa with ease.
"We lost today, but we have never came this close. We got a taste of victory.", Hakoda said as he rested his hands on his children's shoulders.
Sokka and Katara gave Hakoda a good bye hug. Both wishing they could bring their father with them.
"We will miss you, dad.", Katara said.
"Bye, dad. We won't be separated for long this time.", Sokka said, "I promise."
Hakoda closed his eyes as he embraced his children back. He was heartbroken to have to be away from them again. He knew that he would be with his children again soon.
Aang watched the sight with tears streaming down his face as he sat on Appa's head. Katara noticed this and gave Aang a hug. Aang accepted it with open arms and hugged back. As soon as the hug was done, he wiped his eyes and stood up.
"Thank you everyone for being strong and very brave today. I will make it up to you.", Aang said to everyone.
With everyone on Appa, Appa took off for the distance. Deidara tried to block out as much of the crying as he could. The poor bomber however was next to The Duke who kept sniffling in his ear. Deidara sighed as he plugged his ears with some wads of cloth.
"I know where we all will be safe for awhile, the Western Air Temple.", Aang said and began steering Appa in the direction of said Air Temple.
Unknown to everyone on Appa, Zuko was trailing behind in a balloon. His objective was just as well known as his presence.