Chapter 28 The War comes Home
The sun wasn't up yet as Avatar Aang sat on the unknown island, he knew he had only a few hours left before the comet came and he still had to find a way to defeat the Fire Lord without harming him. He had talked to the previous Earth Kingdom Avatar Kyoshi however she had only said that the fact that she had killed the great warlord Chin that she brought an era of peace. Aang had even talked the last avatar from the Northern Water Tribe Kuruk however he had only told him that he had to shape his own destiny and when he failed to shape his own destiny cost him the love to a the face stealing spirit Koh.
"None of them seem to understand." stated Aang as he looked at Momo before he realized what he needed to do. He closed his eyes as once again the spirit of a past Avatar appeared before him. This one was a fellow air bender with long black hair.
"You have called on me Avatar Aang." said the spirit Avatar
"Yes, Avatar Yangchen I need your help." Stated Aang "I have to stop the fire Lord from destroying the world but doing so mean killing him which goes against everything we as Air benders believe in."
"Avatar Aang while it is right and true to honor the beliefs of the monks you fail to see what it is in front of you." said Yangchen as Aang hung on every word "You fail to see that because you are the Avatar that you must put your believes as a Monk aside and do what is needed for the world."
"What are you saying?" asked Aang
"As the Avatar and not as an Air monk you must kill the fire lord." stated Yangchen "If something stands in your way you must remove it. I hope I have been helpful."
With that Yangchen disappeared leaving Aang alone with his thoughts; a fellow air bender had just told him to kill the fire lord.
Back in the Fire Nation as Naruto's head finally broke the surface of the water as he took a deep breath as air filled his lungs for the first time in hours. Thanks to the healing waters which made up the large lake home of the Painted Lady he hadn't drowned.
"It is done." said the Painted Lady as Naruto couldn't help but smile, for the first time since he the day he was born he was free of the Kyuubi. Naruto then took a deep breath as he turned his thoughts to what he had to do next.
"No now the hard part begins." said Naruto as he turned to look at the Painted Lady "I know I don't have the right to ask for your help again but I need to get the fire Nation Capital by sunrise."
"Will it end the war?" asked the Painted Lady
"Not sure how it will end but it will end." explained Naruto
"Then you have my help." said the Painted Lady
Miles away Azula lied in her bed trying to get some sleep but knowing that tomorrow at sunrise the comet would come and the end of the war with it. Tomorrow she would end her brother and his friends however one thing dominated her thoughts over all other things. That event only happened a few hours ago when her lips meet the black haired ninja from another world. She couldn't help but smile at that memory. She was about asleep when a knock at the door caused her to sit up.
"What is it!" yelled Azula
"Princess Azula we received an urgent message from your father, the air fleet has been destroyed by an unknown force and they are returning to defend the capital." explained a general from the other side of the door as Azula jumped out of bed and moved toward the door.
"What was that?" ordered Azula as she threw open the door only to come face to face with half a dozen generals. The generals themselves seem to have just gotten up somewhere still in their sleeping robes while others had their uniforms partly one.
"We don't have a clear image of what is going on but it appears that twenty of the twenty five airships we sent on the attack have been destroyed." explained a highest ranking General "All we know is that there is a direct threat to the Capital, we have sent orders to nearby military forces to come to the Capital. They should arrive by sunrise."
"Very well make sure you have Sasuke look over all of your battle plans." ordered Azula
"My Princess is it wise to trust him with such information, he isn't Fire Nation." stated the General
"True but the moment I become Fire Lord I will name him Chief Minister." explained Azula as the generals tried to hide their hateful glares. They all knew Chief Minister was the most honored position in the Fire Lord; normally it was given to a family member or a close friend of the Fire Lord. As Chief Minister he would be the third most powerful member in the government after Ozai and Azula. They also knew that the last time there was a female Fire Lord she gave the position of Chief Minister to her then future husband. "Now I recommend you follow my orders."
"Yes, Princess Azula." stated the senior general.
Meanwhile onboard Appa, Zuko and the rest of the Avatar gang was nearing the red island.
"So what is the plan?" asked Sokka
"We attack and hold them long enough for Aang to arrive." explained Zuko
"No offense but you normally have a plan." explained Katara
"I know." said Zuko as he lowered his head before looking back at Katara "But it's the only thing we have, we stop the fleet then we move to take on my sister and Sasuke."
"What about Naruto will he wait at the meeting area for us?" asked Suki
"Hopefully." answered Sakura "Naruto-kun isn't well known for waiting."
"What is that?" asked Sokka as he noticed a lot of flames coming from below.
"I don't know." said Zuko as he guided Appa down toward the flames only to have his eyes widened. He wasn't alone as everyone apart from Toph looked down at the scene of pure destruction below.
"What is it?" asked Toph as her friends looked down at the remains of twenty fire nation airships all of which were partly sunk in the shallow water which surrounded the small island. Some of the parts which remained above water was on fire and human shapes could be seen floating in the water.
"It seems like the airships which were going to destroy the Earth Kingdom are destroyed themselves." explained Suki
"Well that is a good thing isn't it?" asked Toph
"Normally yes, but the question is what destroyed them?" asked Sakura "Because I don't see Aang killing all these fire benders."
"Who do you think?" asked Katara as Sakura thought about it.
"Maybe Sasuke did this?" asked Suki "He is cold hearted enough to do this."
"Why? Why would he do it?" asked Sakura "It wouldn't make sense for him to destroy them? No it had to be someone else."
"I don't see another bender apart from the Avatar doing such damage." explained Sokka "Maybe another ninja."
"A highly trained ninja could do this with ease but the question is how would they get here?" asked Sakura "I mean we had Avatar Roku's help getting here and without that we would have never gotten here."
"It doesn't matter now." Said Zuko "What matters now is that we head to the Capital."
"Why?" asked Sokka
"I don't see the royal airship down there and if a fleet is gone they have to protect the Royal family by returning to the Capital." Explained Zuko
"It could have sunk in deeper water?" offered Katara
"If that is the case then I still have to get to the capital to establish myself as Fire Lord." explained Zuko
"But the attack on the Earth Kingdom is off now right?" asked Suki
"Yes, it should be." said Zuko as they headed toward the Fire Nation Capital.
The sun was rising over the fire nation as Sasuke along with dozens of fire Nation commanders walked around the airship landing area. They could already see the Royal Airship along with the other four airships coming in for a landing. Over the course of two hours hundreds of fire nation soldiers had marched into the city from the dozens of bases and outposts which surrounded the capital. The addition of hundreds of soldiers in the streets didn't go unnoticed by the civilians.
"We have over 700 extra soldiers already in the city with another 600 due to be here within the hour." stated a commander as Sasuke nodded his head. As he noticed Azula walking down the street along with Mai, Ty Lee and over a dozen guards.
"This isn't how I expected today to be going." stated Azula as she stopped right in front of Sasuke.
"Do you have anything about the threat?" asked Sasuke he didn't like not knowing what he was going to be up against.
"No." answered Azula as suddenly she stopped and closed her eyes as a smile formed over her face. Sasuke looked around and noticed that all the fire benders had their eyes closed. High over their heads the massive fireball which is Sozin's comet entered the atmosphere providing fire benders with the strength of a thousand suns.
"That feels amazing." stated Azula as she felt the rush of energy fill her body. "This comet is a gift from the spirits."
"You have no idea." Stated a voice as Azula looked toward the platform where just the day before her father had stood as he crowned himself Phoenix King. Standing there was eight figures dressed in black cloaks with red clouds on them. Six of the eight all had orange hair and the same metal studs coming out of their skin. One of the other two was a woman with deep blue hair and the last was a man with black hair with a mask covering most of his face.
"So it's you all." said Sasuke as he glared at the figures.
"You know them?" asked Azula
"Akatsuki, a group of the nine strongest ninjas in the world." explained Sasuke "My brother was one of their best."
"The third best actually after the six paths of Pain and myself." said the masked man as Sasuke looked at the man, his eyes focusing on the small hole near the center of the mask. Suddenly Sasuke pulled his sword.
"You're a Uchiha aren't you?" asked Sasuke as the man laughed a bit as he shrugged "Your Madara Uchiha."
"Yes, I am." said Madara as Azula smiled knowing that this was the other guy Sasuke had to kill so once he was taken care of Sasuke wouldn't have to leave her.
"Well I am assuming that you are the ones who destroyed our airships." stated Azula as she moved from behind Sasuke, her eyes locked on Madara.
"Yes, I have to admit those airships are interesting machines but overall too easy to destroy." explained Madara
"Well it will be the end of you." said Azula as she threw her fist toward Madara, a giant stream of blue fire shot out of her hand and headed straight for Madara. The blue haired girl and the six others stepped aside as Madara just let the flames engulf him. Everyone just watched as the fire streamed on for a while before Azula ended her attack. Her and everyone's apart from Sasuke's eyes widened as the figure remained standing there without a mark on him.
"Nice try." said Madara as he flicked his wrist and sent a small almost invisible needle forward. A sound of clattering filled the air as Sasuke blocked the needle attack with his sword. The Akatsuki members just looked at each other, the move by Sasuke made no real tactical sense.
"Konan, are you thinking what I am thinking?" asked Madara as the woman eyes Azula and Sasuke.
"Yes, I would have to agree with what you are thinking." said Konan
"Interesting." said Madara as he placed his hand under his chin "This may prove to be troubling. But if he can't make it though this he isn't what I expected him to be."
"You can't win against all of us, I have an army and with the power of the comet we are unbeatable." Stated a general not knowing what they were up against.
"The comet you say." said Deva Pain as he looked up "The comet that you have used to bring war upon this world will bring your downfall."
"What are you talking about?" asked Mai as everyone watched as the one of the orange haired men started to fly upward while the others disappeared in puffs of smoke.
Meanwhile on a small rocky outcropping on a small island located just outside the capital city Naruto Uzumaki stood waiting for his friends to arrive so that they could begin the assault on the fire Nation Capital. From this position he could see the five airships heading into the city and the bright comet as it moved across the sky. A roar filled the air as he turned to see Appa coming in for a landing, he couldn't help but smile as he saw the pink hair of his long time crush now turned girlfriend. Appa hadn't even landed as Sakura jumped down and ran to him wrapping her arms around him.
"I am alright Sakura-chan." said Naruto with a smile "Everything went as planned."
"So that means?" asked Sakura as Naruto nodded his head.
"Well looks like we got Naruto back but we are still missing Aang." Said Katara
"Aang is missing?" asked Naruto
"What is that?" asked Suki as she pointed toward the Capital City, everyone's eyes widened as they saw a small figure flying up over the city.
At that same moment Aang was walking around the island, as he moved though a grove of trees he noticed a city in the distance and it was getting closer.
"What is going on?" asked Aang as he ran to the edge of the island only to see that the island which had been in open water was now near the coast. He knew the city from the day of the black sun and the failed invasion; it was the Fire Nation Capital City.
"Momo I think I know where we are." said Aang as he dove into the water only to see a giant foot moving though the water. Aang broke the surface and smiled "We are on a Lion Turtle."
Aang smiled as he swam as fast as he could until he came to the front of the legendary island size creature. Aang stopped mid swim as two giant pairs of eyes opened up in front of him. Suddenly he felt something lift him out of the water followed a second later by a giant lion like face. For a moment the two of them just looked at each other.
"I know you have helped me by letting me contact my past selves but I still need your help." said Aang as the Lion's Turtle's other hand moved toward Aang. The Avatar stood still as the finger of the giant ancient beast began to glow, the moment it touched Aang's forehead as some of the knowledge of thousands of years was transferred to Aang. Aang opened his eyes as he realized what needed to be done.
"I thank you." said Aang as he bowed to the Lion Turtle, however the Lion Turtle wasn't looking at the Avatar instead it was looking upward. Aang flowed the ancient beast's eyes only to see a figure floating over the city.
Everyone in the fire Nation Capital was looking up at the strange figure which was now floating over their city. Suddenly a load booming voice filled the air, a voice that was cold and unfeeling.
"You of the Fire Nation have never felt the touch of war; you know only how to cause Pain." stated the Voice of the Deva Path of Pain as he stretched his arms out toward the comet "You will be made to feel the true meaning of Pain. Almighty Pull."
Screams filled the air as everyone looked on as the comet which was going to provide them with so much power began to move down world. There was no time to escape as the comet the source of the strength that was going to provide them with the strength to give them victory crashed straight into the Capital of the Fire Nation. All over the city people were either to stun to move, or they ran for their lives or tried to shield their loves one from death. It took less than a second for the city to be removed from the face of the earth replaced with a giant fireball which was hotter than the surface of the sun as smoke blocked out sky. A city which had stood since before the Fire Nation was unified was gone leaving only death and destruction behind.
Well I hoped you liked this chapter, I felt that if Pain could destroy an entire city he could pull down the meteor and destroy a city. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75