Hi everyone.
Here we are with another chapter. As usual, I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed since the last update.
And as always, if you find the story worthy please consider to do so as you read along.
The Pursuit of Chaos – Chapter One Hundred Two
"You should be able to find your belongings in the storage rooms ahead…as well as a supply of emergency winter clothing. I suggest all of you bundle up for arctic weather and escape back to that gateway as quickly as you can." Cynthia advised in a businesslike voice while the team nodded their heads as they followed along behind her.
"What about you?" Elle asked in a soft voice from where she stood beside her friends while Azula gazed back at the woman with cold amber golden eyes.
"This is as far as I can go with you. I cannot risk my treason being discovered. Reinforcements will arrive and when they do you will all be overwhelmed." Cynthia stated in a factual voice while the highborn women listened with wary looks in their eyes.
"I suppose we'll just have to see about that. Thus far I am unimpressed with the combat prowess of your people." Azula spoke in a haughty voice with a wave of her hand while her childhood friends sighed heavily behind her.
"You don't understand. Reynolds only had a few meager squads at his disposal. When they come here, they won't bring just foot soldiers. They'll bring tanks and heavy artillery aircraft, a literal army. I don't care how strong your powers are. You'll get wiped out." Cynthia replied in a dead serious voice while Elle listened with rising anxiety in her sensitive amber eyes.
Mai and Ty Lee exchanged an unnerved look over the thought of finding themselves back in that gas chamber.
And this time there won't be anyone there to save them!
The two firebenders stared ahead with proud looks in their eyes that conveyed their refusal to openly admit that the other woman was right.
"W-we need to hurry minasan. I almost lost all of you. I can't bear for that to happen a second time…" Elle stammered with an emotional expression in her eyes while her companions gazed at her in an appreciative silence.
"That isn't going to happen Elle." Ty Lee assured in a tender voice as she placed a comforting hand on Elle's shoulder while the girl relaxed under her touch.
Mai adorned her usual scowl as she quietly nodded her head in agreement.
"Where is the gateway in proximity to this fortress?" Azula questioned in a rigid voice with her amber golden eyes staring hard back at the woman's nervous face.
"It is approximately four miles north in the ice caverns. That's about all I can tell you. I haven't been there in person myself. But this map should help you find your way." Cynthia answered as she handed the princess a folded map while the team exchanged looks with one another.
"Understood. We can figure out the rest from here." Zoi commented in a stoic voice as she nodded her head.
She gazed at the woman with composed golden eyes.
"So be it. Do as you must. I have no further use for you anyhow." Azula remarked in a callous voice as she pocketed the map while Cynthia curtly nodded her head in understanding.
"I guess that's it then. Good luck to you all." Cynthia concluded while the Fire Nation women momentarily gazed back at her before she turned to walk away.
"Wait. You never told us your name…" Elle trailed off as she gazed after the woman with kind amber eyes while Azula rolled her eyes over her.
Before the woman paused in her step as she turned to glance back at her with a slight smile on her lips.
"It's Cynthia." Cynthia responded with something akin to remorse in her voice while the young girl smiled back at her.
The four older girls stared on with mild interest in their eyes to finally learn the name of their mysterious ally.
"Arigatou Cynthia." Elle called out in a more upbeat voice while she watched the woman nod her head as she turned her head away once more.
And then the group observed the woman swiftly stride away down the long halls of the fortress while the siren still rang out overhead.
Until Cynthia vanished down the hall at long last.
Two minutes later.
Team Azula opened the door into the storage facility.
Only to find themselves gazing down in surprise to see that their items were hastily scattered about in a pile on the floor.
Almost as if the soldiers had dropped their belongings in a panic after receiving word of Naoki's escape!
"My backpack!" Elle cried out in an overjoyed voice as she leaped to reclaim it.
The highborn women watched with shared looks of fondness in their still angered eyes.
Azula gazed down at Elle's back with her ruthless amber golden eyes flashing in a lethal protective instinct.
'Those bastards got what they deserved.' Mai thought as she retrieved her weapons cache with her lips pursed into a hateful scowl.
Just thinking of how the foreign soldiers had tried to dehumanize the innocent girl was enough to make her blood boil.
"From the looks of it…Naoki interrupted them before they could dispose of our gear." Zoi stated in a stony voice as she wrapped her utility belt around her waistline.
She slipped her grappling gun in its holster on her left hip.
And then soon after she hung her sheathed sword from the other end of her belt.
"Good. I hope their deaths were agonizing." Azula sneered with a cold smirk on her lips as she picked up her sheathed blade in her clenched fist.
She hung the weapon at her hip while she turned to keep a possessive amber golden eye on her naïve pet.
"Is it all there, little sister?" Ty Lee inquired in a supportive voice while she watched the petite girl peak in her bag.
"Yes, oneesan. It is." Elle spoke in a heartfelt voice as she hugged the bag against her chest while Ty Lee stood behind her.
"We may as well take her advice and dress for cold weather while we're at it." Zoi stated as she removed a thick coat from a rack while Azula scowled in displeasure.
"I hate the cold." Mai complained in a moody voice as she took a coat in hand.
"For once I agree with you." Azula huffed in a foul tempered voice as she glared down at an unsightly looking coat with annoyed amber golden eyes.
And with that the girls kept a close watch on the doors while they each tried on a winter coat.
"This coat seems rather big on me…" Elle trailed off in a bashful voice as she stood in a baggy coat while the four older girls turned to glance back at her.
Only for the highborn women to gaze on with amusement in their eyes to find their young friend wearing an oversized coat that looked almost comical on her.
Yet strangely adorable all the same.
"That's because you're tiny Elle." Azula taunted with a conceited smirk pulling onto her beautiful crimson lips while her young girlfriend pouted in the lovable manner that she has come to adore.
Before Ty Lee slapped her hand against her shoulder while the other two noblewomen watched in entertainment from the sidelines.
"Now Azula. What have I told you about making fun of Elle's height?" Ty Lee scolded in a joking voice while Azula just smirked back at the young girl's reddened face.
"I do as I please Ty Lee. Especially…with this one." Azula remarked in a voice of practiced coldness that hid her fondness for the younger girl while she turned back to the coat rack.
Ty Lee now cracked a grin at her turned back.
"Oh Azula-sama! I found supplies that will be of use to us!" Elle cried out from behind her friends with her head buried in a box while her friends turned to gaze back at her.
"Really? Is it weapons of war?" Azula questioned in an eager voice with her cruel eyes agape with delight at the prospect of obtaining more foreign tools of war.
"Even better than weapons of war! It's a stash of candy!" Elle exclaimed in a gleeful voice while Azula rolled her brilliant amber golden eyes.
And the three noblewomen just gazed on fondly as they slipped into their respective coats.
"Of course, it doesn't surprise me that the one poor person among us would say that." Azula snorted in a playful voice while she ignored the chiding looks that her childhood friends sent her way.
"Elle isn't poor anymore Azula. She has us now!" Ty Lee stated in a loving voice while the princess pretended to scowl back at the innocent girl.
"Let's be honest Azula. There is nothing that any one of us wouldn't buy Elle if she asked for it. And that includes you." Mai commented flatly in a factual voice with her cold tawny eyes thawing ever so slightly in her adopted sister's direction.
The mighty princess just turned to glare at her through the corner of her proud amber golden eye.
And even the captain adorned a small smile on her lips that showed that she agreed with her fellow noblewoman's words.
All four of them closely watched their young servant friend as the girl explored the other end of the storage room.
Only for the princess to turn her head yet again while she sighed when she heard the girl release another squeal of joy.
"Azula-sama! Come check out what else I found!" Elle hollered with a beaming expression on her face while her mistress released a heavy sigh.
"What is it now Elle?" Azula sighed in a tone of seemingly endless patience while she gazed back at her pet with bored amber golden eyes.
And yet even though she wouldn't openly admit it.
She couldn't help but be pleased to see that the girl was slowly returning to her usual cheery spirits.
"I found a handheld camera!" Elle announced in a voice of great excitement as she held up the camera while her four friends now stared at the item in unhidden fascination.
"That's…a camera?" Azula inquired with her voice masking her curiosity while her companions gazed on in amazement beside her.
"That's so Azula-sama! I wonder if I brought it back if we could find a way to power it with bending. Then we could take lots of photographs of each other!" Elle chirped with childish enthusiasm in her voice while the older girls listened in astonishment.
"That's a wonderful idea Elle!" Ty Lee exclaimed with an approving grin on her lips.
"It really is. We would love to be able to take photographs with you Elle." Mai stated as she found herself unable to resist cracking a small smile at the beaming girl.
Only for the powerful princess to roll her arrogant eyes back at the smiling girl.
"Speak for yourselves. I have no interest in such commoner toys." Azula scoffed in a cold voice as her frozen eyes stared back at her handmaid's pretty face.
The three noblewomen gazed at their leader with unconvinced looks in their eyes.
"Of course, you don't Your Highness." Zoi commented with a smirk on her lips while her princess turned to cast a cold stare her way.
"I-is it bad if I take this stuff back with me? I mean that's stealing isn't it…" Elle trailed off as she bit her lip with the camera in hand while her highborn friends turned to gaze back at her in disbelief.
The eyes of the four Fire Nation women flashed with marvelment that the young girl was actually concerned with taking belongings from people that tried to execute them.
It was just another stunning reminder of the girl's lovable innocence.
"Ugh. Servant. They are dead. And the dead have no need for toys. Take whatever your little heart desires." Azula commanded in a callous voice with her possessive amber golden eyes staring back at her serving girl's timidly nodding face.
"The princess is right Elle. They were going to experiment on us. They no longer warrant consideration." Zoi remarked with her hardened golden eyes gazing ahead while her fellow noblewomen nodded their heads in affirmative.
She clutched her new rifle in hand with her focused eyes sweeping about the storage facility in search of any further useful eyes that they could collect.
"Okay. If you two say so. Princess. Captain." Elle responded in a devoted voice as she put items in her bag while the two firebenders stared at her back in approval.
"Finish up subordinates. And then we need to get going." Azula declared in a tone of effortless authority while her imposing eyes gazed back at her four followers.
And then she gazed on in satisfaction when all four girls quickly nodded in comprehension.
Mere minutes later.
Team Azula now rushed down the halls of the vast fortress while the alarm continued to blare in their ears.
All while they still struggled to run straight with their limbs still having yet to shake off the effects of the drugs that they had been under.
Just as they saw that a large open section of the military base was coming up ahead.
Before the team emerged through a set of already open doors.
Only to find that that they were now standing in an expansive area with a long staircase arising above them and descending even further into a lower level of the base below them.
And the distinct smell of gasoline now wafted into their noses.
And that was when the highborn women immediately halted in their tracks when they heard familiar laughter coming from up above them.
And just like that Elle's amber eyes instantly lost their look of recovering joy.
Elle could only stare up with a transfixed look of fear in her eyes while the older girls tensed up in their renewed anger beside her.
And laying on the steps at the top of the staircase was the slain body of a man.
The sound of footsteps joyously sauntering down the stairs now resounded into the air.
And then the loud sound of a barrel rolling down the steps loudly clanged into their ears.
The team glared up as they watched the drum of gasoline crash to a step halfway down the steps.
As the odor of fuel continued to mingle into their nostrils while the gasoline now dripped down the staircase.
"Felix." Elle muttered with her amber eyes staring up in paranoia while she wearily watched the gasoline drip down the steps.
All of their eyes were now glued to the man emerging into view high up on the staircase.
The young man's long coat flowed over his shoulders as he made his way down the steps.
He gazed back down at the team with a demented smile pulling onto his lips.
Just before he jumped over the stair rail and down onto the lower level below.
A resounding metallic clang echoed into the air while the group glared up above them at man whose face they could now see clearly.
And then in that very moment Felix excitedly leaned onto the overlooking railing while he gazed back down at his uncharacteristically scowling sister.
"There you are dear sister. I have been looking all over for you." Felix called down in a seemingly mischievous while Azula and her teammates glared a hole through his skull.
"How did he escape? There's no way that she let him out." Zoi remarked with her golden eyes staring upward while her princess stared frigidly up at the man beside her.
"All the better. It saves us the trouble of hunting him down." Azula commented in a cruel voice while her callous eyes glared up at the girl's brother's gratingly smiling face.
Ty Lee and Mai both stared up at the young man with equal disdain in their narrowed eyes.
And yet at the same time they couldn't help but find themselves feeling wary of the man's erratic behavior.
Elle stood silent beside her friends with her amber eyes never once leaving her brother's sadistic face.
Just as they all gazed up with uncertain looks in their eyes when they heard more gasoline spill onto the staircase above their heads.
It continued to drip down overhead with the young girl's eyes growing increasingly wider in mounting fright.
"I said that we should get to know each other. And as you get to know me. You'll find that I don't need fancy tricks to start a fire." Felix declared in a dangerous voice while his laughter echoed down into the ears of the older girls still furious ears.
"Please. Any fool can do that. That is nothing compared to what a real firebender can do." Azula scoffed as she took a step forward while her amber golden eyes stared imposingly up at the gas-soaked staircase.
Only for her cold eyes to turn to glance behind her when she felt her young girlfriend tug on her sleeve.
"Azula-sama. Please don't firebend. If you create even the slightest flame. This whole room will detonate and kill us all." Elle advised in a mousy voice while her princess scowled over her before turning her terrifying gaze to her maddened brother.
"I already knew that Elle." Azula spoke in a glacial voice as she let out another scoff while her childhood friends and her captain scowled up at the seemingly unhinged man.
"It's time that we picked up where we left off Elle." Felix commented in a delighted voice as he took a step over the man's corpse while his sister's friends sent death glares his way.
He gazed out from underneath his glasses down at his little sister's haunted face as she shook with her eyes now lingering upon the slain man.
"That man. He…he doesn't look like a soldier. Who…who was he?" Elle questioned in an apprehensive voice with her amber eyes remaining on the man's deceased face while her brother waved her query off.
The princess rolled her amber golden eyes with her companions closely watching the two siblings.
"Oh him. Just some other prisoner that had the misfortune of running into me." Felix answered in a dismissive voice while his little sister's eyes grew with horror.
And even the highborn women were struck into an unnerved silence while their eyes now gazed back at the man's lifeless face.
Elle's hands fell to her hips as she trembled with her mouth agape in an expression of realization.
"We weren't the only ones imprisoned here Azula." Ty Lee stated in a tone of discomfort while the princess just gazed on with very little concern in her callous eyes.
"And you…you killed him. Why?" Elle asked in a deeply emotional voice with her amber eyes shaking in anger while her highborn friends listened in a taken aback quiet beside her.
"There was something that I needed to test out. But never mind that sister. We have more important things to discuss." Felix responded in an emotionless voice with his cruel eyes staring down at his sister's wide emotive amber eyes.
Mai and Ty Lee could only stand there with their eyes filled with revulsion over the man's complete lack of reasoning.
Even Azula doesn't take a life for no reason what so ever!
Only for all four of the Fire Nation women to turn to their young friend in surprise when they saw the girl's amber eyes narrow in an unusual show of anger.
"That's it!? That's the only reason you have! He was like us! They were holding him captive and you killed him for nothing!" Elle shouted with unnatural rage in her voice while her shocked friends listened behind her.
Only for her brother to simply ignore her as he chuckled while taking another step down the stairs.
"The woman that Mother spoke with on the radio on that day was her best friend from her medic years. She spent many years trying to find you. She even sent you a letter that I burned." Felix announced without warning while his little sister's eyes widened in sudden incomprehension.
"W-what? She…did?" Elle stammered with a tear streaming down her cheek while her fists shook at her hips.
"You have some nerve to admit that you sabotaged Elle from being rescued from your abuse to our face!" Mai snapped with her tawny eyes narrowing into murderous slits while she tightened her fist at her hip.
Ty Lee silently glowered with her facial expression overflowing with uncharacteristic rage.
'Just for that alone…I am going to crush him.' Azula thought with her nostrils furiously exhaling plumes of fire while she glared icily up at the smirking man.
"She is just one more connection of many that you once had to Mother and her naïve philosophy that is now gone. And soon dear sister, you will be severed from her for good." Felix spoke with a twisted smirk upon his lips while his amber eyes gazed down into his sister's deeply mortified eyes.
The older girls listened with their eyes now shaking in wrath.
Only to find themselves taken by surprise yet again when their young friend's face once more became overwhelmed with fury.
"Is your contempt for Mother's beliefs supposed to be your excuse for just doing whatever you want! Just because the world is horrible doesn't give you any justification to be as cruel as you please!" Elle exclaimed with her amber eyes flaring with profound emotion while her friends listened in an affected silence.
Only for her brother to let out a dismissive scoff as he rolled his eyes in a way that sent a shiver down Ty Lee's spine.
"Haven't you learned anything since the fall of Rosa? I would have thought that it would have taught you the futility in blindly holding onto such sentimental beliefs. Just give it up Elle. Just let it go. Embrace your inner cruelty." Felix stated with a ruthless smile on his lips while tears still dripped down his little sister's cheeks.
The Fire Nation women stared between their pacifistic friend and her demented brother with protective looks in their eyes.
Just before they were once more taken aback when Elle stepped in front of them while she furiously shook her head.
"I will never let it go! I may have been through more pain than I can ever put into words but I am not the only one that has suffered! People all over the world have experienced great pain since the great war! It doesn't give me the right to be cruel!" Elle screamed in a passionate voice while her companions stood in an amazed state of silence behind her.
"Elle…" Ty Lee whispered in a moved voice with her brown-gray eyes gazing at the younger girl in marvelment.
Azula let out a sigh under her breath as she shook her head in an almost fond fashion.
"No one has the right to take the life of another! And that's the truth!" Elle hollered as she panted with her hair clinging to her emotional cheeks while her highborn friends listened with stunned looks in their eyes.
The princess gazed on with her cold eyes flashing with another flicker of long buried emotion.
And for a fleeting instant she felt her frigid heart twist with conflict over her growing fear of what would happen when loyal servant found out that she has been lying to her.
Only to find herself torn from her thoughts when she heard the girl's older brother scoff in disgust while she glared back at him with monstrously narrowed eyes.
"Even though you have grown older you still are and always will be a pitiful child!" Felix snapped in a dangerously aggravated voice with his amber eyes turning to stare down at his little sister's outraged face.
And then before the four older girls could react.
He withdrew a semi-automatic shotgun from behind his back while Elle's face paled in returning fright.
And then the sound of a roaring gunshot exploded into the air while the highborn women were already springing into action to protect their young friend.
Elle cried out as she stumbled to the ground in fear when her brother purposefully shot a hole through the floor not even a foot away from her!
She lay on her back with her heart pounding rapidly in her chest with her frightened amber eyes lingering on the gaping hole in the steel flooring.
All while she listened to enraged big sisters rushing up behind her to defend her.
Just before she felt Ty Lee protectively take her into her arms.
"She's our little sister now! And we're not going to let you hurt her!" Ty Lee shouted in a furious voice as she pulled Elle back while the older brother simply laughed madly in response.
"Damn right! You don't get to do that shit to her anymore!" Mai snarled with her tawny gaze staring coldly back at the man as she threw one of her recovered knives at his head.
Only for the deranged man to quickly duck out of the way with the throwing blade ultimately ricocheting harmlessly off the wall.
The princess's amber golden eyes shook with tremendous rage as she bounded into the air with her captain following closely behind her.
"Mai…Ty Lee…oneesans." Elle murmured in a touched voice with her amber eyes peering up at her two big sister's scowling faces.
Only for their attention to be regained when they saw that the princess descending above the man with a look of merciless wrath in her amber golden gaze.
The young man laughed raucously as he aimed his semi-automatic shotgun up at her.
Just as the princess's amber golden eyes flickered with frustration when she felt her limbs become heavy.
And that was all it took for the sound of another gunshot to pierce the air.
"Azula-sama!" Elle cried out in alarm with her eyes wide with fear while the two noblewomen watched in worry behind her.
Before the princess safely evaded the gunfire by rapidly rolling along the metal ground.
The princess clenched her teeth together as she seethed with her amber golden eyes boiling in returning rage over her earlier paralyzation.
"Something wrong Firecracker? Are the drugs slowing you down?" Felix taunted in a sadistic voice while the princess's amber golden eyes penetrated his forehead.
Only for a grappling line to wrap around the barrel of his gun while he turned to see the mighty captain glaring back into his eyes.
"Don't get too overconfident Felix. We can still move just fine." Zoi spoke as her line withdrew the gun from the man's hands while he smirked back at her.
And then not another moment later the sound of a pistol firing rapidly resounded into the air.
Before the sound of the shotgun clanging upon the floor resonated into their ears.
The stoic captain swiftly backpedaled with her broken line recoiling into her gun.
Just before she landed on her booted feet beside her princess while Azula still glared back at the man's entertained countenance.
Felix now held his pistol before his face while his cackles echoed in all of their ears.
"Keep laughing you fool! It will only make your eventual screams all the sweeter on my ears!" Azula hissed with her lips smashed together in a predatory glower while her captain nodded in affirmative beside her.
"Leave my friends alone Felix!" Elle hollered in a panting voice while she clutched a hand over her still healing chest.
"That's fine by me sister. You're the one I came here to see anyway." Felix replied with a smirk on his lips as he sauntered down the steps while the highborn women all glared his way.
And the eyes of Team Azula were now filled with suspicion after hearing the man admit that he intentionally came to the fortress in anticipation of their young friend getting captured!
"You stay away from her!" Azula snapped with her teeth ground together like a protective dragoness while she stood with her fist gripped at her womanly hip.
Elle trembled on the floor in Ty Lee's arms as she watched her demented brother stalk towards her with a savage smile on his lips.
And then not a moment after that the highborn women were completely taken by surprise when sparks of chi abruptly exploded from their young friend's body!
The four highborn women stared on with their eyes growing wide in shock.
It was just like before with the Avatar and when they passed through the Spirit World!
And most unnerving of all was the fact that the girl's twisted brother was smirking in satisfaction as if that was just what he wanted.
"W-what's going on? Why is my power turning on?" Elle stuttered in a confused voice as she lay on her back gazing down at her glowing palms in confuddlement.
Ty Lee and Mai gazed on from over her shoulder with their eyes agape in bafflement.
"You wanted to know how I know. I have always known. Ever since you were little." Felix announced in a fiendish voice with his ruthless eyes gazing back at his little sister's stunned face.
As the older girls listened with bewilderment and rising concern for their young friend's wellbeing in their eyes.
"Y-you knew about the Component all this time? How did you know Felix?" Elle asked with a confounded expression in her amber eyes while Ty Lee's arms held onto her from behind.
"This is our family gift dear sister. It's only natural that I would know about it." Felix revealed in a smug voice with his cruel eyes as he stepped closer while his sister's eyes welled up with even greater confusion.
The Fire Nation women gazed on in a state of frustrating confusion over the young man's increasingly ominous words.
'This power…it belongs to Elle's family?' Azula thought with her elegant brows furrowing in intrigue.
Her fascinated amber golden eyes stared back at her young girlfriend's chi covered body.
"T-the family gift?! What does that mean Felix! Answer me!" Elle cried out in a panicked voice while her big sisters stood in a stunned state behind her.
"Did you think that this power belonged to her? It isn't to be used to serve some princess! It belongs to us!" Felix declared with his arms excitedly held out at his sides while he watched his little sister's energy continue to spark before her shocked face.
And the three noblewomen gazed on with still bewildered looks in their eyes.
As the princess in question stared back at him with infuriated amber golden eyes that were now burning with the fires of war.
Only to find herself taken by surprise yet again when her young servant shouted back to her brother.
"It belongs to me! Not you! And regardless of what anyone says I serve Azula-sama! And that will never change!" Elle exclaimed in a faithful voice as she lay on her back with her amber eyes staring defiantly back at her brother's amused face.
Azula listened with her amber golden eyes gazing on with a rare sense of appreciation in her cold stare.
The nobles still watched in amazement while the girl's chi continued to crackle before their eyes.
"You are too weak and naive to hold such a power sister. Just as Mother was. There is so much more that I could do with it." Felix remarked in a malevolent voice as he took another step closer while Elle's amber eyes widened in horror.
And the entire team could only turn to gaze back at the young man with their eyes widening in furious realization.
They quickly recalled the words that the words that Mava had told them earlier.
In most circumstances power transfers are fatal.
And now it was clear to all four of them just what Felix intended to do to their young friend!
'He intends to take Elle's power for himself!' Zoi thought with her golden eyes widening in understanding while she tightened her grip on her blade.
Under no circumstances could they allow that to happen!
The princess's callous amber golden eyes flickered with a sliver of long buried emotion as she pursed her enraged lips into a terrifying glower.
She ground her teeth together with fire exuding from her seething nostrils.
'I will not let him take it!' Azula thought with her wrathful eyes narrowing into bloodthirsty slits while gripped her fists at her hips.
Only for her icy eyes to turn back to young love interest in surprise when the girl's chi sparked with even greater ferocity than before.
"I-it's not yours Felix. The wise sage told me that I was chosen to complete a great task and that is what I intend to do." Elle insisted with her usual innocent stammer while her brother just smirked as he walked towards her.
As she shook with a familiar intimidation flowing through her veins while her big sisters stared hatefully at the man from over her shoulder.
"Take one more step closer and I'll kill you!" Mai stated in an utterly frigid voice with her enraged eyes glaring back at Felix's sadistically smirking face.
"I am afraid you won't be doing that sister! I have much better ideas in mind!" Felix yelled with a maddened gleam in his amber eyes while he clenched his fist before his face.
And then just like that Elle released a startled yelp of alarm while she gazed down at her body with widened amber eyes as chi swept over her from head to toe.
The four Fire Nation woman gazed on with indescribable bewilderment in their widened eyes as the powerful energy flared before their stunned eyes.
"W-what's happening!" Elle shouted in a distraught voice as glowing lines began to rapidly spread across her body.
While Ty Lee gazed down from over her shoulder with dumbfounded brown-gray eyes.
"Elle!" Ty Lee hollered with her eyes wide in incomprehension while Mai stood in bafflement behind them.
As Azula and Zoi stared on at the girl with eyes agape in surprise.
"And now sister! Let us embrace the power of our heritage!" Felix called out in a deranged voice with a sadistic smile pulling onto his lips while his little sister cried out with panic in her eyes.
All while the older girls stared back and forth between the two siblings with a look of rage in their eyes.
"Elle! Take control of your chi!" Azula advised with a regal scowl on her crimson lips while the panicking girl flailed about before the worried acrobat.
"I-I'm trying Azula-sama!" Elle stammered with her arm held up over her head as her fretful amber eyes watched chi gather in the palm of her hand.
"This power doesn't belong in your hands Azula. All you care about is conquest and material power. You have no appreciation for wickedness for the sake of wickedness. But I do!" Felix shouted in a violent voice with his hands at his sides while the princess just glared back at him with a murderous amber golden gaze.
Mai and Ty Lee gazed on with their eyes widening in disbelief over the sheer depths of the young man's depraved logic.
'What a monster! He thinks that Azula isn't wicked enough because she doesn't hurt people without purpose!' Ty Lee thought with revulsion in her eyes while she held onto her little sister's shoulders.
Before she gazed back down at the girl with worry in her eyes while Elle's cries resonated into the air as energy continued to gather in her palm.
The captain watched as she stood rooted on her booted feet with her golden eyes flashing in amazement.
"I couldn't care less if you enjoy making children cry. But the girl is mine and you are going to die an agonizing death!" Azula snarled with palpable rage in her regal voice as she stomped forward with her merciless eyes glaring back at the laughing man.
She turned her strict eyes back to her pet's panicked face while she watched with a sliver hidden concern in her eyes as the girl cried out while she struggled to control her energy.
'To think that this little servant girl of mine is capable of such power!' Azula thought with her full lips parting in a slight expression of surprise while the young girl's body continued to glow.
"W-what am I supposed to do with this!" Elle yelled in an overwhelmed voice as she held her arm above her head while beads of sweat trailed down her forehead.
Her hair blew in her wide amber eyes just as her energy sparked before her frightened face.
As her four highborn friends stared on from behind her with indescribable perplexity in their eyes.
The unsettling sound of the deranged brother's laughter continued to carry into the air.
Before all five girls turned their eyes back to the man as he grinned as widely as can be.
"Now Elle! It is time that we show the world the power of the Turner family! Let us show the entire world a new class of terror as we embrace the life of chaos!" Felix declared with a malicious expression overtaking his face while his sister gazed back at him in shock with her energy sparking before her widened eyes.
As the Fire Nation women gazed back at the man with expressions of great anger in their eyes for trying to involve their innocent friend in such depravity!
"N-no!" Elle protested in a terrified voice as her eyes were blinded by her power while her brother's menacing eyes gazed back at her.
"With this power we can collapse the walls of society and introduce unparalleled chaos forever!" Felix roared in a maddened voice with his amber eyes alight in cruelty while he pointed his pistol back at his little sister's petrified face.
Team Azula stared on with stunned looks in their eyes as they closely observed their young friend cry out with her arm held up over her head.
As the teenage girl stared back at her brother's madly laughing face with a look of unprecedented horror in her amber eyes.
And for the briefest of moments as she watched him cackle, she felt as if she was gazing into the eyes of a demon!
And then before the highborn women could get a chance to decide their next course of action.
They could only watch in fright as their young friend cried out at the top of her lungs with her chi sparking before her wide amber eyes.
And then Elle gasped with her hair sticking to her face as she gritted her teeth while she turned her palm of energy away from her taken aback friends.
And pointed it right back at her brother's cruelly cackling face!
"I said no!" Elle bellowed in an unnaturally enraged voice as she panted for air with her gathered chi now sparking before her brother's sadistic visage.
"Are we really going to play this game again? We already know how this game goes Elle." Felix spoke in an almost bored voice as his laughter calmed down while his sister's amber eyes glared back at him.
The older girls watched from behind with a shared look of approval in their angered eyes.
"You're nothing but a psychopath that wants to see the world burn! I don't need you! I don't want you! I'll…I'll find Mother's lost friend without you!" Elle yelled in a frenzied voice with her amber eyes gazing back in defiance at her older brother's scoffing face.
While the team stood in their spots with expressions of support in their eyes.
"You tell him kid!" Mai called out with her tawny eyes glaring back at the young man's heartless face while Ty Lee hurriedly nodded her head.
As the princess stared on with her ruthless amber golden eyes now taking on a pleased gleam.
"You don't have the guts to do it. All you are is a gutless little girl!" Felix taunted in a depraved voice while his amber eyes took on an increasingly mad stare while he gazed right back into his little sister's angered eyes.
The group glared on with ever rising looks of fury in their narrowed eyes.
Only to find themselves gazing on with surprise in their eyes when a faint chi began to emanate from the young man's body.
Elle still stared furiously back at her brother's cruel face with her amber eyes still trembling in rage for each trauma that she suffered at his hands!
"You pathetic-" Felix shouted on to find himself cut off when a wave of energy slammed into his unsuspecting face.
And with that Felix was thrown back while the force of energy barreled right into his stunned face!
Elle's roars split into the air as she cried out with an expression of righteous anger in her eyes.
As the highborn women covered their blinded eyes as they gazed on with their eyes wide in shock.
"I have accepted my destiny! I am the Component!" Elle roared as she fully discharged her energy right in her brother's disbelieving face.
And then the ball of chi impacted with the maddened young man!
And in the far distance a bright light was now emanating from above the location of the ancient portal.
All the while as her friends watched with looks of fascination in their widened eyes.
"Elle!" Felix screamed in a violent voice as he was sent hurtling in the air while the wave of light swept throughout the fortress corridor.
And then not even a moment later an explosion rang out into the ears of the stunned team.
Felix was swiftly thrown down the staircase and to a lower floor below.
As they listened to the sound of glass shattering as the young man flew through a broken window.
Elle now stood panting with her hair clinging to her exhausted eyes while the older girls still stared at her in shock.
'How did she do that!' Azula thought with her amber golden eyes agape in bewilderment while she gazed at the girl in disbelief.
"I am done taking your shit!" Elle shouted in a resolved voice as she shook a small fist in the air while her friends blinded in surprise behind her.
Just before she felt backwards in exhaustion.
Only to find herself being quickly caught in Ty Lee's loving arms.
"You go little sister!" Ty Lee cheered in a tender voice with a smile returning to her lips while she caught the panting girl in her arms.
Elle now blushed with the back of her head pushing into the noblewoman's breasts.
As the other three highborn women still gazed on with looks of awe in their eyes.
"Yeah kid. That was incredible." Mai agreed with a small smile on her lips while Elle turned even redder as Ty Lee crushed her in a suffocating hug.
"Yes, that's the spirit Elle. Well done." Zoi spoke with a look of respect in her golden eyes while Azula's lips were now curving into an approving smirk.
"Indeed. You did good Elle." Azula remarked in a sophisticated voice with her cold eyes staring possessively back at her pretty serving girl's emotional face.
"A-Azula-sama. Oneesans." Elle stuttered in a return to her timid voice as she blushed while Ty Lee helped her stand.
All four of the older women stared back at the girl with unanimous looks of recognition in their eyes.
In the eyes of the four powerful Fire Nation women there was no doubt about it.
The girl was one of them and she always will be.
Only to find themselves turning to gaze down below when they heard the sound of glass crunching underfoot.
That was when all of their eyes widened in shock when they saw chi overflowing from the young man's body!
Felix pushed himself off the wall with his glasses now shattered to pieces.
As he let out a tired laugh with his maddened amber eyes now staring right back up at their stunned faces.
"Impressive strike sister! But you aren't the only one endowed with powers." Felix stated in a taunting voice while he staggered forward with his coat swaying behind him.
"What…does that mean? He…he has powers of his own?" Elle asked with her amber eyes gazing down in confusion.
"It would seem so. And I can only presume that is how he escaped their custody." Zoi commented in a stony voice with her golden eyes glaring coldly down at the man's bloodied face.
Only to find herself turning to gaze back at her princess when she heard Azula release a dismissive scoff.
The princess now stalked forward with her callous eyes taking on an utterly tyrannical stare.
"It makes no difference. That will only make his torture all the more pleasurable." Azula announced in a baleful voice with her fists alight while her amber golden eyes narrowed into intimidating slits.
As the three noblewomen clenched their fists as they glared down at the stumbling man in agreement.
"That sounds good to me." Mai growled with hostility dripping from her cold voice as she gripped a knife in hand while Elle trembled in gratitude.
"Yes, it sounds very pink." Ty Lee spoke in a furious voice with her hands holding onto Elle's shoulders while her brown-gray eyes glared intently down at the remorseless man.
"This is the part where we fuck you up." Zoi agreed in a hardened voice with her golden eyes having already taking on her signature focused stare.
Elle still panted for air as she glared back down at her brother's sinister face.
And then not even seconds later all but Ty Lee sprang forward on the attack.
The three highborn women charged forward in a rapid sprint with expressions of vengeance in their enraged eyes.
As Felix let out another laugh with his sadistic amber eyes gazing up at the three attacking women.
And then in that very moment the very floor of the fortress began to shake while the Fire Nation women gazed out of the corners of their eyes in alarm.
Just before the sound of another explosion rocketed throughout the ominous base while they dropped down above their smiling target.
"Azula-sama! Naoki must be detonating the fortress!" Elle called out in a fretful voice while Ty Lee glanced around in worry.
The three attacking highborn women listened with looks of aggravation in their eyes.
Before they turned their gazes back down to the smirking man while their eyes once again flashed with fury.
Just as all three of them sprung at the man with immeasurable expressions of rage in their eyes.
Only for Felix to casually withdraw a cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other while he goadingly gazed back into the eyes of his attackers.
"Farewell little sister! It was a pleasure meeting you Firecracker! We'll have to resume our game another day!" Felix shouted in a joyous voice before he threw down the lit cigarette onto the gasoline-soaked floor.
That was all it took for the princess and her subordinates to widen their eyes in outrage.
And then an explosion of flames rained into the air while they leaped away with their eyes now as wide as can be in rage of the man's audacity.
"Get back here maggot! I am not through with you yet!" Azula boomed with her imposing voice ringing throughout the steel walls of the fortress.
Her amber golden eyes seethed down into the inferno as she clenched her fist at her hip.
"The bastard got away!" Mai snapped in an infuriated voice as she too glared down into the blaze.
She glanced around her as she listened to the sounds of many explosions going off in the distance.
"We could pursue. However, given that our limbs have not fully recovered. We risk getting caught up in the fortress explosion." Zoi remarked as she dropped down beside her glowering princess while Azula glared into the flames.
"Azula! We need to get out of here!" Ty Lee yelled as she ran with Elle darting alongside her while Azula scowled in her anger.
"Damn him!" Azula snarled as she sprinted towards the exit while her companions ran after her.
She gazed out of the corner of her callous eye at her girlfriend's face from where Elle ran beside Ty Lee.
Even after all of this time, she still can't believe that Elle was the holder of such a power!
Elle gazed back into the flame with a newfound look of resolve in her amber eyes.
"That's right you run Felix!" Elle hollered with a scowl on her lips while her friends gazed back at her in surprise.
And yet as strange as it was.
Team Azula couldn't help but find themselves feeling oddly proud over their young friends' new bolder side.
'He has only delayed the inevitable.' Azula thought with her amber golden eyes taking on the stare of a ruthless conqueror while a puff of fire blew from her nostrils.
Elsewhere.
The sound of an elevator opening up with a ding resonated into the air of the exploding fortress.
Felix stood with his coat hanging over his shoulders before he lit a cigarette while a depraved smile graced his lips.
He took a content drag of his smoke while he stepped out of the elevator before it closed behind him soon after.
As he made his way out with a twisted grin still adorning his features.
Only to find himself gazing out of the corner of his entertained eye at another person that was departing the destroyed base.
Naoki wordlessly walked towards the exit with her machinelike brown eyes staring ahead.
She momentarily met the young man's deranged amber gaze.
As she stared back at him with an emotionless gaze.
Only to say nothing when the madly laughing Felix pranced past her with his cigarette between his grinning lips.
He pushed open a door while he happily danced down the staircase with his laughter echoing throughout the military garage bay.
'I wonder Elle…if you'll be able to stay alive until we meet again.' Felix thought with a look of cruel curiosity overtaking his amber eyes while a smirk still adorned his lips.
And then ten minutes later a stolen military truck sped out of the flame torched base while smoke flew high above the frigid horizon.
Naoki stood above ground in the burning ruins as she gazed up into the air with her inexpressive brown eyes.
She quietly watched military reinforcements approach from far away across the landscape.
"There he is. So, I was right after all. Nero has Katsu." Naoki spoke in an almost mechanical voice while her brown eyes gazed up into the skyline.
She turned to silently walk through the blazing remains with her scarf wrapped around her neckline.
Until she soon vanished into the smoke with the soft sound of her footsteps carrying into the air behind her.
AN:
Alright, so I hope that everyone enjoyed that chapter and Elle's big moment standing up to her brother.
If anyone is wondering about the wave of energy that Elle fired from the palm of her hand and how she did it.
That isn't something that she can do just anywhere, because the Component is able to cut through energy connected to the spiritual plane. The closer the Component is to the Spirit World, the stronger the Component becomes.
Elle's powers were in heavy fluctuation because of how close they were to the World Gateway. In a sense, the World Gateway responded to Elle's presence and allowed her to gather more energy than normal.
So, that basically means that Elle becomes more dangerous when she is near portals to the Spirit World, and the World Gateway. I hinted at this when we saw that her power repeatedly flare in the Spirit World.
As for Felix's mysterious power, and what that entails. That will be revealed at the end of this arc. For now, let's just say that Felix like Elle is inexperienced using it.
Felix isn't a warrior, and if not for the lingering drug effects on Team Azula that Reynolds subjected them to. He likely would haven't have approached Team Azula in the first place. He was confident because he knew that their movements would be slowed.
If not for that, Azula or the others would have very likely overwhelmed him with their elite training. Like Elle, he isn't as skilled in athletics as they are.
However, he is incredibly cunning, as we saw by how he poured gasoline throughout the entire area below the staircase. This ensured that if Azula or Zoe had used any firebending, that it would have resulted in an explosion that may have killed them all.
And even if the firebenders had survived the blast, their nonbending companions likely would have died.
This also shows that Felix has no problem pulling stunts that endanger his own life just as much as the people he is toying around with.
Also, we saw that Felix will kill people for no reason at all or if he has a reason it is really just an excuse to kill, as seen by that stray government prisoner that he slew just to test his power.
This is something that deeply enrages Elle, because she despises how her brother literally has no regard for the lives of people that he encounters.
We also got a closer look at Felix's deranged desires this chapter, he loves the thrill that comes with chaos. And he wants to use his powers to destroy what little improvement people have made since the end of the destructive world war. Essentially, he wants to plunge everyone including himself into an even more chaotic land where depravity rules.
He also has disdain for Lana's beliefs, and he would love nothing more than if Elle abandoned their mother's peace, and joined him in delighting in causing chaos together. The way that Azula and Zuko teamed up at the end of book two against Aang and Katara, is more or less what he wants. He torments Elle because he hopes that she'll snap and let go of her kindness.
In his twisted mind, he wants her to become like him. He would love it if they could become a duo of brother and sister that terrorized everyone they met.
But Elle is too stubborn to let go of her mother's creed, and Felix is one of the only people that she truly hates. His attempts to discourage her only strengthen hr resolve.
This was a significant turning point for Elle's character, where she showed that she is willing to stand up to Felix and that she isn't going to take it anymore.
Anyhow, Felix will have a few brief appearances in the rest of this arc, but this was by far his biggest moment.
And finally, Nero and Katsu are going to make their first full appearance next chapter. Up until now, they have only appeared in brief appearances here and there, and now we are going to learn more about them.
That will be all for now though.
Stay tuned for next time.
For chapter one hundred three! The Sadistic Scientist and the Emerald Bomber!