After a while of searching for clues and asking people, Team Avatar and friends gathered again to share the information obtained so far.
"Any news?" asked Aang.
"No. We've asked everyone, but they haven't seen or heard anything strange lately." said Zuko.
"I've been trying to see if there was any suspicious movement out of the sight of anyone normal, but nothing was happening and no one was lying. So, either this is like Ba Sin Se or they really know how to hide." said Toph.
"Wait a minute, where's Azula?" asked Katara.
"And Lord Rimuru?" asked Suki.
"You don't think Azula has escaped, do you?" asked Ty Lee.
"We can't rule out that possibility." said Mai.
"But Lord Rimuru is with her and he is 10 times stronger than Aang or even more. I highly doubt Azula would have been able to escape with him by her side." said Sokka.
"I agree. They're probably slowing down a bit." said Aang having confidence in the human slime.
"Guys!"
They all turned to the side to see Azula running towards them looking worried.
"Good thing I found you." said Azula.
"What happened?" asked Zuko.
"I know where our father is." said Azula, much to everyone's surprise.
"Are you sure? How did you find out?" asked Katara.
"I ran into someone who turned out to be a Fire Nation soldier." said Azula.
"He's probably one of Ozai's loyal followers." said Sokka.
"I thought so too, that's why I followed him to a hidden cave on the side of the volcano." said Azula pointing to the volcano.
"And where is Lord Rimuru?" asked Aang.
"He was with me, but when that guy entered the cave, he decided to follow him before asking me to inform you about what happened." said Azula.
"Do you know if he's telling the truth?" asked Mai to the blind earthbender.
"Hard to say. She may be lying or telling the truth." said Toph.
"Whether it's true or not, it's our only lead to find Ozai and stop him." said Aang.
"Lead us to that cave." said Zuko.
"Yes, it's this way." said Azula leading the others to their destination.
A while later, they all reached the side of the volcano, where Azula pushed aside some bushes to reveal a secret entrance.
"This is where I saw that guy go in." said Azula.
Toph stomped her foot hard to analyze the terrain.
"I can see that tunnel leads to a series of paths. Some lead to nowhere while others lead to some subway chambers. And I can sense several people in there." said Toph.
"Do you know if my father is among them?" asked Zuko.
"Hard to say. I'd have to get closer to check." said Toph.
"But one thing is clear and that is that we have found their hideout." said Sokka.
"And Lord Rimuru is in there." said Aang.
"I know he's strong enough to take out an entire army, but I think it would be a good idea if we all went." said Katara.
"Then let's not waste any more time. Let's go." said Zuko as they all entered the tunnel.
For a few minutes, they were touring the various paths inside the volcano.
Fortunately, thanks to Toph's eyesight, they were able to orient themselves properly.
"How far are we from that place where those people are?" asked Mai.
"Not very far. Just a couple more turns and we'll reach our destination." said Toph.
"I find it strange that Lord Rimuru hasn't met us on the way." said Ty Lee.
"Maybe he's hiding among them to catch them by surprise." said Azula.
"I just hope he leaves me some fun." said Toph.
"Stop. I see an exit." said Aang as they all stopped to see that, ahead of them was an entrance to a brightly lit room.
"All right. Everyone get ready. We don't know what might be in there." said Sokka.
They all prepared themselves with weapons and everything in case something bad happened.
They walked slowly and calmly until they reached the other side of the exit and saw that they were in a subway chamber that had a raised walkway and no other exits, but most notably there was no one else.
"Huh? There's no one here." said Aang.
"Didn't you say there were a lot of people here?" asked Katara to Toph.
"And there were, just now, but they all disappeared quickly." said Toph.
"But they can't just disappear." said Ty Lee.
"Unless…" began Sokka before looking up at the ceiling which had fluorescent gems illuminating the chamber.
Suddenly, several ropes came down from the ceiling and down them slid many Fire Nation soldiers who quickly surrounded the group.
"It's an ambush." said Sokka.
"A little late to find out."
Everyone turned their gaze up the high road to see Ozai showing himself to everyone.
"Part of me was hoping you could figure it out given your war record, but I see I was wrong." said Ozai.
"Ozai." said Aang.
"Father." said Zuko.
"Surprised to see me?" asked Ozai.
"Not very. After all, underground is where vermin like you are found." said Toph.
"How dare you? I was the Fire lord! Destined to be the Phoenix King who ruled the world! But you had to step in and ruin everything! Especially my own son!" said Ozai.
"I was never a son to you! To you I was just a burden you wanted to get rid of! It's because of you and your ancestors that the Fire Nation is so frowned upon in most of the world, but that's going to change now that I'm the Fire Lord!" said Zuko.
"Not for long. Once I'm done with you, we'll take back what rightfully belongs to us." said Ozai with a mischievous grin.
"Us?" asked Aang in confusion.
"Why don't you leave this strange group and come with me, Azula?" asked Ozai.
They all gasped in shock when they realized the truth as they looked at Azula who had her head down.
"Azula, tell me it's not true." said Zuko hoping it wasn't true.
In response, Azula looked away, which was enough for everyone.
"So it's true! I should have suspected it from the beginning!" said Katara with a frown.
"We saved you, we let you come with us, and this is how you repay us?" asked Ty Lee.
"I guess some people never change." said Mai.
"I thought you might actually do it, but I see I was wrong." said Aang.
"I'm surprised you did after everything Lord Rimuru did for you." said Suki.
"Where is he by the way? What have you done with him?" asked Toph.
"Enough talk." said Ozai waving his hand, which made some soldiers move aside to leave a clear path for the princess who started walking with her head down.
"Wait!" said Sokka trying to chase after her, but the soldiers formed the wall again to stop her.
Azula kept walking until a staircase formed in her path, allowing her to climb the elevated walkway until she was next to her father, the stairs unraveling shortly thereafter.
In view of the situation, no one noticed that.
"Azula, don't do it! You mustn't trust him!" said Zuko trying to convince his sister.
"Why wouldn't I? After all, we are family. She belongs where she belongs." said Ozai putting his hand on her shoulder as she kept her head down with a guilty expression.
"You won't get away with this, Ozai!" said Aang.
"We'll see about that… if you survive this. Take care of them. Make sure none of you get out alive." said Ozai before he and Azula took off down another tunnel.
"Halt!" shouted Aang opening his glider to follow them, but a burst of fire blocked his path.
"Let's take care of these guys first. Then we'll go after Ozai." said Sokka readying his sword.
"And Azula. When I catch that traitor, I'll hose her down." said Katara.
"Get in line, little princess. I'd like to have a little word with her in private." said Toph slamming her fist into her palm.
It was then that more people fell from the roof and positioned themselves next to the Fire Nation soldiers and everyone was shocked, for those people were soldiers of the Dai Li.
"The Dai Li?! What are they doing here?" asked Ty Lee.
"It's not possible that Ozai and Long Fei have allied, is it?" asked Mai.
"Well, since we ended up with both of them, it's only natural that they formed an alliance." said Sokka.
"Wait, didn't Long Fei have a score to settle with Azula? If he and Ozai have allied then…" began Aang starting to understand one thing.
"Azula!" shouted Zuko with concern for his sister, for if what the Avatar was implying was true, then she was in trouble.
"By the way, where has Lord Rimuru been?" asked Katara seeing that the human slime hadn't shown up for a while now.
Ozai and Azula were walking through a tunnel
While Ozai was smiling at his possible victory in getting revenge on the Avatar, Azula remained with her head down, still feeling guilty about what she did and wondering if she did the right thing.
"You did the right thing, my child. After all, you can't trust anyone but yourself." said Ozai.
"Yes, I know." said Azula.
"Don't worry. It will all be over once we reach our destination." said Ozai.
They walked a little further until they came to another chamber as large as the previous one.
"What are we doing here?" asked Azula.
"Thank you, Azula. You did a good job." said Ozai turning around to look at her.
Azula was confused before she felt the ground beneath her shift, causing her to fall to her knees.
Before she could get up, the ground shifted so that her legs and hands were buried.
"Father, what's happening?" asked Azula.
"Oh, he's just closing a deal we had."
Azula was taken aback when Long Fei arrived on the scene with a smile of victory.
"Surprised, aren't you? That's normal." said Long Fei.
"I-I don't understand, what are you doing here?" asked Azula.
"Didn't they tell you? Your father and I made a deal. I would help him get his throne back and he in return would let me rule Ba Sin Se and give me something I wish to have. You." said Long Fei.
Azula was shocked after hearing that.
"Father, tell me it's not true. What about what you told me? About getting back together as father and daughter." said Azula in despair.
"Daughter? No daughter of mine would have failed the way you did. I molded you in my image to be the perfect weapon, to rule the Fire Nation as I would, but you failed. You are nothing but useless just like your brother." said Ozai.
At that moment, Azula felt the greatest pain she could have ever imagined.
Everything she said before, everything she thought was true, wasn't.
It was just a trick to use her and she was easily fooled.
Rimuru was right.
To him she wasn't his daughter, but a weapon to be used and thrown away as soon as she was no longer useful.
Now, she had ruined everything he had done for her, she had condemned her brother, her former friends and Team Avatar to death, all because she was stupid enough to believe the lies of her cruel father who had no love for anyone.
She immediately began to shed tears of utmost grief and sadness.
"Ha. I would have liked to have seen the look on the Avatar's and the others' faces when they saw that you had betrayed them. You must be stupider than I thought. Anyway, as much as I would love to see you suffer…" began Long Fei before creating an earthen spear which he raised into the air. "It's time for revenge." said Long Fei before throwing the spear towards her.
As she continued to cry, Azula closed her eyes in anticipation of her end.
"Yes. This is what I deserve for my crimes. I don't deserve to live. I'm sorry, Zuzu. I'm sorry, Mai, Ty Lee. I'm sorry… Rimuru. I wish I could have heard you. I wish I could have seen you one more time." thought Azula as she waited for her death.
Suddenly, something stood in front of her and with one punch, destroyed the spear completely.
Ozai and Long Fei were shocked, but not as shocked as Azula, for in front of her was Rimuru Tempest, who had come to her rescue.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I won't let you kill her in my presence." said Rimuru with a smile.
A fire soldier fired a series of fireballs, but Ty Lee dodged them with acrobatic moves.
That's when she had to jump high to avoid a stalagmite caused by a ground trooper.
However, she used the stalagmite to propel herself toward the earth trooper and kick him in the face, knocking him down.
She then had to dodge more fireballs, but she dodged them as she charged towards the fire soldier.
When she got close enough, she landed a few blows to various parts of his body, causing him to fall to the ground unable to move his limbs.
Mai quickly dodged several stones thrown by an earth trooper before throwing several kunais at him, but the earth trooper put up a wall to block it.
However, Mai quickly ran, jumped over the wall and kicked the man which knocked him down.
She then had to duck to the side when a fire soldier nearly slashed her with a sword.
She tried to attack her with a knife, but the fire soldier blocked it with his sword and started to apply force to crush her, but then, Mai took advantage of that to slide her leg through his, tripping him and after a blow to the back of the head, knocked him down.
Suki used her shield to protect herself from a fire soldier's fireballs before throwing her fan at him, hitting him in the head and knocking him down in the process.
Then an earth trooper threw a pair of earthen fists at her, but she rolled to the side to dodge it.
Next, the earth trooper stomped to throw an earth wave, but she jumped to dodge it before throwing her sword at him.
The earth trooper moved to dodge it, but the sword caught on his suit, preventing him from moving and giving Suki time to close in on him and knock him down with a punch.
Zuko threw fireballs to neutralize the fireballs of a fire soldier.
He then had to create a fire whip to destroy an incoming rock thrown by an earth trooper.
Before he could act again, Zuko lashed his leg with the whip and sent him crashing into another soldier.
Reacting quickly, he drew his swords to block the attack of the fire soldier from before, who had drawn his swords.
The two entered into a sword fight, but then, the fire soldier, with a kick, launched a wave of fire that Zuko almost managed to block with his swords.
As he breathed heavily from exhaustion, looking at his swords, he remembered something Rimuru said long ago.
"Benimaru can infuse his fire ability into his sword to make it stronger." said Rimuru in Zuko's memory.
"If he can do it, so can I? There's only one way to check." thought Zuko before closing his eyes and concentrating despite the fire soldier charging towards him with his swords ready to attack.
The fire soldier was poised to deliver the coup de grace when suddenly, his blades were cut like butter.
The fire soldier was shocked when he saw that the cause of it was that Zuko had covered his swords with fire.
Before he could react, Zuko performed a sweep with his two swords, thus launching a pair of X-shaped waves that hit the fire soldier, knocking him down in the process.
After that, Zuko looked at his fire swords in amazement.
"I have to remember to thank Lord Rimuru after this." said Zuko.
Toph found herself completely surrounded by fire and earth soldiers.
"Haha. It's over little brat, you're locked in here." said the fire soldier.
Toph fell silent before bursting out laughing slightly.
"What's so funny?" asked the ground trooper.
"Oh, you are so wrong. I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me" said Toph with a smile.
(AN: I've always wanted to write that sentence).
Quickly, Toph extended her hands out to either side, causing a pair of massive pillars to erupt from the ground, hitting several soldiers in the process.
A pair of fire soldiers launched a large flare, but she threw up a wall to protect herself before launching it at them, knocking them both down.
The earth soldiers moved quickly around her as they threw rocks and stalagmites, but Toph was able to predict each of the projectiles as well as see where each soldier was.
So, with a flick of her feet, she made the ground around her move like rings, causing the soldiers to lose their balance and then used metalbending to manipulate the metal from the fallen fire soldiers' weapons and turn them into a ribbon that he wrapped around the ground soldiers, trapping them all.
Once he finished, Toph shook his hands off with a winning smile before putting his hands on his hips.
"Who's the little brat now?" asked Toph.
Sokka moved back and forth to dodge fire attacks from the fire soldiers before jumping to avoid falling into a hole created by an earth soldier.
Moving quickly, he approached the fire soldiers and swung at them with his sword, knocking them down in the process.
After that, he felt something coming behind him and moved out of the way to dodge an earthen fist.
As the earth trooper continued to throw earthen fists, Sokka dodged them before throwing his boomerang to the side.
The boomerang flipped in midair and managed to hit the earth soldier from behind, giving him enough time to close in on him and knock him down with the hilt of the sword.
Katara formed a water shield to extinguish the incoming fireballs before hardening it into ice and turning it into projectiles with which she countered the stones thrown by the earth soldiers.
She then created several water tentacles with which she attacked the soldiers while blocking their attacks.
One of these tentacles grabbed a fire soldier and sent him crashing into an earth soldier, knocking them both down.
Another grabbed an incoming stone and hurled it at the fire soldiers, knocking down several.
Aang created an air scooter with which he sped around the site while dodging attacks from the fire and earth soldiers.
As he rode around, he set about launching fireballs, knocking down several soldiers in the process.
Suddenly, an earth soldier created a huge pothole that caused Aang to stumble and undo the scooter before managing to land on his feet.
With some water from his canteen, he covered the ground before freezing it, trapping several soldiers, which he took the opportunity to throw a series of stalagmites rising from the ground in their direction, hitting them and knocking them down in the process.
It wasn't long before he found himself surrounded again, but then, he began to spin his staff horizontally, forming a helix that ended up creating a tornado that swept away all the soldiers around him.
Shortly after, he undid the tornado, causing them all to fall to the ground and end up unconscious.
As much as he wanted to help his friends stop these guys, he knew there were more important things at the moment.
"Guys, I'm leaving you in charge of this! I'll go get Ozai!" said Aang.
"Understood, Aang. Don't worry about us." said Katara before giving a water whip to a soldier.
"Yeah, we can manage." said Zuko before launching, from his fire sword, a wave of fire that knocked down a couple of soldiers.
"You just try to give that guy a kick in the ass for me." said Toph who was about to be attacked from behind, but she raised her fist, causing a pillar to pop out of the ground and hit the soldier in the jaw, knocking him backwards.
Aang gave them a nod before opening his airbender staff and taking flight towards the exit where Ozai and Azula left.
Several soldiers were about to attack to stop them from leaving, but Sokka, Suki, Mai and Ty Lee managed to shoot them down before they could.
Once he reached the path above, Aang closed his airbender staff and started running down the tunnel, hoping that he could stop Ozai before he managed to escape and hopefully save Azula before Long Fei found her.
Ozai and Long Fei were surprised, not only by the unexpected appearance, but also by the fact that he had shattered that earth spear as if it were made of crystal.
"So you are the former Fire Lord, Ozai and the former advisor to the Earth King, Long Fei. I must admit I didn't expect to meet you both in one place or under these circumstances." said Rimuru with a smile.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ozai annoyed that someone else was intruding.
"Me? I'm just a guy passing by." said Rimuru with a shrug, not wanting to drag out the conversation by telling them who he really was.
"Then you just made a mistake in doing so." said Long Fei before erecting a column that went straight towards the human slime.
But then, Rimuru stopped the column with his bare hand, something that shocked both adults.
"As I said before…" began Rimuru before squeezing the hand, destroying the earth column in the process. "I won't let you hurt her in my presence." said Rimuru with a serious expression.
It was then that everyone noticed Aang arriving on the scene.
"Lord Rimuru?" asked Aang surprised to see the human slime.
"Ah, Aang. I see you were able to join us." said Rimuru.
"This is getting worse than we thought." said Ozai, as a guy who clearly strong and the Avatar could pose a huge problem to their plans.
"I wouldn't want to call me or you a coward, but… cowards do survive." said Long Fei before throwing his palm to the ground, generating a brief tremor that caused a smokescreen.
Reacting quickly, Aang launched a wind wave that quickly dissipated the smokescreen, revealing two new tunnels, but no sign of Ozai and Long Fei.
"They're getting away!" said Aang.
"Not if we split up. You go get Ozai, I'll take care of Long Fei." said Rimuru pointing to the tunnel through which the former Fire Lord had most likely fled.
"Understood." said Aang knowing that the human slime could take care of the earthbender on his own.
With no time to waste, Aang went running down the tunnel he pointed out, which was the one Ozai had gone down.
Rimuru was about to go his way when…
"Why?"
Rimuru quickly stopped and turned around to see Azula on her knees with her head down, as, when Long Fei escaped, her bindings were undone, freeing her completely.
"Why did you save me?! I deserved to die! I betrayed the others! I betrayed you! I don't deserve to be saved! Go away! Go away and leave me alone! Abandon me like the others will!" exclaimed Azula with her head lowered.
"I can't do that!" said Rimuru.
"Why?!" asked Azula.
"Because you're crying." said Rimuru, causing Azula to raise her head with a gasp, showing that she was crying her eyes out.
Rimuru knelt down to be at her level.
"I know you did something horrible, but if you're crying it's because deep down you knew that was wrong from the beginning. The only thing that was wrong was that you didn't know who to trust. In that case, you can trust yourself. I brought you on this mission and saved you because I trust you. Right now I have something to do." began Rimuru before getting up. "But before I go, I'll ask you a couple of questions. Who are you and what do you want?" asked Rimuru before running off, leaving Azula alone.
Azula stayed in her position, shedding tears as she thought about the human slime's words.
All her life, she had been told who she was, but she never thought about what she really was or better, what she wanted and she wasn't talking about riches, land or titles, but to something she really wanted more than anything.
Ozai kept running while mentally cursing his bad luck.
He was supposed that, with his huge army and alliance with Long Fei, things would work out well for him, but then, that mysterious guy had to appear who, although he didn't look like it, he could feel that he was powerful at first sight and on top of that, the Avatar had managed to escape and get to his side.
Right now all he could do was try to escape and think of a better plan so he could take revenge on everyone and get his throne back, no matter how long it would take.
He was about to enter through another tunnel when suddenly, a wall of fire prevented him from advancing.
Turning around, he found his bitter enemy.
"It's over, Ozai. You have no escape." said Aang.
"And what are you going to do if I refuse? Snatch my powers back? I know you aren't capable of doing what is necessary and that will be your biggest mistake." said Ozai.
"I know. I know there will be times when I have to cross the line and kill someone." began Aang remembering what Rimuru told them about the kingdom of Falmouth. "But I also know that it's not always the best option. Someone very special told me that I must follow my heart and make the best decision, not only for myself but also for the whole world."
"Well, you can now tell that person that he was wrong when I end up with you one way or another." said Ozai.
"How do you plan to do that?" asked Aang believing that he wasn't that strong without his powers.
"Do you really think firebending was all he had?" asked Ozai before accelerating towards the Avatar, who was shocked by his speed, which served Ozai right as he closed in on him and punched him in the stomach knocking him back. "Do you think this body is just decoration? I've been for years training myself physically and today I'll be able to work out a little with you." said Ozai before charging back towards him.
Aang reacted quickly and threw a blast of wind, but Ozai quickly dodged it before continuing his charge.
He tried to punch him again, but Aang managed to dodge it, before launching a vertical fire kick upwards to hit him, but Ozai managed to block it with his arms before grabbing Aang's leg and throwing him against the tunnel wall.
Ozai ran towards him ready to kick him, but Aang moved out of the way in time, causing the kick to impact the wall, causing a small crater in the process.
Aang created several icicles of ice which he threw towards Ozai, but he dodged most of them while destroying the others with his own fists.
Next, Aang stomped on the ground to cause a series of stalagmites to emerge from the ground in Ozai's direction, but he dodged it before using a stalagmite to propel himself towards him and kick him in the face.
Aang rubbed the bruised part in pain before getting up and creating an air scooter with which he accelerated towards Ozai directly.
Ozai tried to stop him by punching him, but Aang managed to dodge it before wrapping his fist in air and slamming it into Ozai's chest, sending him flying until he hit the tunnel wall.
"You're good, but I bet you're nothing if you were in my situation." said Ozai before quickly moving towards him and delivering several blows to various parts of his body.
Aang quickly backed away and when he tried to use his bending powers, he wasn't able to, which left him very worried and nervous.
"How did you…?" asked Aang as he realized what he had done.
"My grandfather, Sozin, learned it after annihilating your nation. He taught it to my father and he taught it to me. He told me I could use it in case I was to face the Avatar, but I never saw the need for it. Until now. Now we'll see how the Avatar copes without his bending powers." said Ozai before charging towards him with his retreating fist.
In view of his speed, Aang had no choice but to put his arms in X position as a shield, managing to protect himself from the punch, but not from the pain caused as he backed up a bit.
With no other choice, Aang grabbed his staff and charged at Ozai who tried to kick him, but Aang dodged it before hitting his other leg with the staff, causing him to stumble, something he took advantage of to hit him with the staff, knocking him down a few seconds before he quickly got up.
Aang twirled the staff in a propeller fashion before positioning himself to fight.
"You're not the only one who has trained the body." said Aang.
"Maybe, but unlike you, I was trained to kill." said Ozai.
"Yes and that will be your mistake." said Aang before both opponents charged towards him the other.
Ozai first started by directing his fist at him, but Aang deflected it with his staff.
He then tried to kick him, but Aang quickly retreated before delivering a palm strike to his chest, knocking him back.
Aang kept swinging his staff to hit him, but Ozai caught it in time and knocked it out of his hands before giving him a side kick that pushed him quite a bit.
Aang groaned from the pain caused by the blow before taking a deep breath to concentrate and position himself with his eyes closed.
Ozai didn't waste a second in charging towards him with his fist at the ready.
However, just as he found himself within striking distance of him, Aang's tattoos began to glow and as he opened his eyes, he revealed them to be as bright as the tattoos.
Before Ozai could react, Aang used energybending to divert it to his palm and deliver a palm strike to his chest that was so powerful it sent him flying until he crashed hard into the wall.
Ozai fell to the ground and raised his head with a groan to see the Avatar standing in front of him.
"How… How did you do that? I overrode your bending!" said Ozai.
"You only overrode the bending everyone knows about, but you didn't override the one I discovered the day of the comet." said Aang.
"If you're not going to kill me, lock me up! Do it! You know very well that there will always be people who will still follow me no matter what! Someday, I'll be released and we'll make you and your friends all pay! All because you're not capable of mowing down a life!" said Ozai.
"It may be true that you won't stop until you die, but my friends and I will be there to stop you whenever you rise up. If I ever cross the line, it won't be because you or anyone else says so, but because it will be necessary." said Aang.
Ozai let out a slight grunt before falling unconscious.
"I wonder if Lord Rimuru is done with Long Fei." began Aang before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, considering his power, I just hope he doesn't kill him."
Rimuru moved like lightning through the various tunnels, using his detection abilities to locate Long Fei.
He kept running until he spotted him entering another subway room.
Long Fei kept running until then, Rimuru appeared in front of him.
"Are you going somewhere?" asked Rimuru, startling the earthbender who was surprised by his speed.
"I don't know who the hell you are, but I advise you to get out of my way." said Long Fei.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go after what you were going to do to Azula." said Rimuru.
"What I was going to do to her? Do you even know what she did to me? What she did to a lot of people? She's not a saint to protect!" said Long Fei.
"She may not be a saint, but she doesn't deserve to die when she was only a psychological victim of her father and the circumstances surrounding her." said Rimuru.
"Enough of this. If you're not going to step aside, I'll do it myself." said Long Fei before erecting a huge stalagmite with which he impaled him directly.
Long Fei smiled as he thought he had killed him, but then, he was in total shock as he saw Rimuru melt back into his slime form.
"Wow. Impressive speed of action." said Rimuru.
"W-What… What the hell are you?" asked Long Fei.
"I could tell you all about it." began Rimuru before returning to his human form. "But I can't waste my time telling stories."
Long Fei really didn't know what that… thing was, but what he did know was that, if he didn't get rid of it soon, the Avatar and his friends would arrive and his plans would be ruined again.
He started throwing rocks at full speed, but Rimuru was able to dodge them all by moving swiftly.
Then, Long Fei tried to catch him by throwing a stone gauntlet at him, but Rimuru simply hit him and smashed it.
After that, Rimuru charged towards him intending to hit him, but Long Fei erected a wall of earth to protect himself.
However, Rimuru jumped over the wall, but when he reached the other side, there was no trace of Long Fei.
"Dumb. He thinks I can't detect him." thought Rimuru pretending not to notice that Long Fei emerged from inside the ground in front of him and tried to impale him again with several stalagmites.
Before he was even touched, Rimuru returned to his slime form so that he could quickly dodge the stalagmites that crossed at the tip before returning to his human form.
Rimuru ran towards him with his fist recoiled, but just as he threw it towards him, he managed to jump away in time, causing the fist to hit the ground and leave a crater that left the earthbender in shock.
"Oh, wow. And that I held back." said Rimuru seeing that his strength was greater than he wanted it to be.
That left Long Fei more in shock as he had said he had been holding back despite proving to be very strong.
Rimuru was about to advance towards him, but then, Long Fei overcame his shock and quickly created a dome of earth around him which he covered with several more domes, enclosing him in a heavily fortified trap.
Long Fei gasped from exhaustion for a moment before calming down.
"I was really curious about what you are and I see that you are too dangerous to let run free. So now it will be the end of you." said Long Fei preparing for an execution attack, but then before he could take a step, a lightning shot straight towards him, forcing him to back up to dodge it quickly.
"Don't you dare do anything to him!"
Long Fei turned his gaze toward the entrance he passed and saw Azula with steaming fingers pointed at him.
"I should have ordered those guys to kill you as soon as they got their hands on you!" commented Long Fei annoyed at the princess's interruption.
"Listen to me, Rimuru! You asked me before who I was and what I wanted, didn't you?! Well, now I'll give you the answer! I… am Azula of the Fire Nation and… I want…!" began Azula lowering her head, feeling difficulty for confessing what she wanted to say. "I want…" began Azula as a drop of water fell from her face. "I want to start over!" shouted Azula raising her head to show that she was crying. "I want to be with Zuko and my uncle and my mom again like a real family! I want to be friends with Mai and Ty Lee again! I want to apologize to Aang and the others for what I've done! I want to… I want to change! Change for the better!"
Silence flooded the room except for Azula's sobs.
Long Fei was just about to say something when…
"That's what I wanted to hear." said Rimuru from inside the earth domes.
Suddenly, the dome trap went off in an explosion, forcing the princess and the earthbender to cover their eyes from the dust and when they opened them, they were left with their eyes and mouths open, for where the domes were was Rimuru who had his hand extended upwards, but the most shocking thing was that above the hand was a huge tornado of black fire.
"Black fire?" asked Azula in shock, for she never thought she would see a fire of any other color besides her own which was blue.
"Impossible! What kind of monster are you?!" asked Long Fei.
"Monster?" asked Rimuru undoing the tornado of fire. "I guess that's the correct term. As for your question, I'm just a slime." said Rimuru before shooting a blast of black flames at him, who quickly erected a wall of earth to protect himself, but the flames easily burst the wall.
Rimuru immediately came out of the smoke and punched him hard in the face, sending him flying to the other side of the room and leaving a large crater as he hit the wall. A second later, he fell to the floor and didn't get up.
"I didn't overdo it, did I?" asked Rimuru.
"Analysis. The force used was at the level of a normal human of this world." said Raphael.
"What a relief." thought Rimuru with a smile.
As he turned around, he saw Azula approaching him.
"Why didn't you tell me you could use black fire?" asked Azula.
"You didn't ask." said Rimuru.
"Well, you should have said so!" said Ty Lee.
The two turned their gaze in one direction to see Aang, Zuko and the others entering the room, with some carrying the unconscious Ozai.
The two turned their gaze in one direction to see Aang, Zuko and the others entering the room, with some carrying the unconscious Ozai.
"Yes. That was the most mind-blowing thing I've ever seen, and I'm blind!" said Toph.
"Are you done with the soldiers yet?" asked Rimuru.
"It was a little tricky, but we managed to take them all down." said Katara.
"Although we would have finished sooner if someone had given us a hand." said Mai looking harshly at the human slime.
"Hehe. Sorry, but I knew you could take care of everything on your own and I had to take care of Long Fei." said Rimuru with a nervous smile.
"Right. They may have been bad, but we didn't want you to do something like the kingdom of Falmouth." said Sokka.
"There was no need to mention it, you know?" asked Suki.
"By the way, I see you've already taken care of Ozai, Avatar Aang." said Rimuru looking at the downed former Fire Lord.
"Yes, it was a bit difficult, but I was able to take him on." said Aang.
"Wait, you were here the whole time? How much did you see?" asked Azula.
"Long enough to ask you one thing. Was everything you said before true?" asked Zuko.
Azula looked at everyone there, including Rimuru.
A part of her still had her doubts about whether that was right, but as the human slime had said before, she had to trust herself and she trusted what she had decided.
"Yes. I really want to change. I know I've done horrible things and it may take me a while to make amends for all of them, but I hope that someday you can accept me back as part of your family." said Azula.
Suddenly, Zuko lunged towards her and gave her a hug.
"You were always part of the family. All of us will stand by you no matter what, because that's what family is." said Zuko.
Azula was taken aback by the hug for a few seconds before bursting into tears and returning the hug.
As everyone watched the touching moment between siblings, they didn't notice that Long Fei had managed to wake up and was getting up.
"Ugh. I'm not going to let it end like this." began Long Fei before stomping his foot loudly, causing the entire room to start shaking violently. "If you survive this, rest assured that we will meet again" said Long Fei before heading towards an exit tunnel.
"He's getting away!" said Sokka.
"Not this time." said Rimuru before shooting a spider thread from his hand that wrapped around Long Fei, trapping him and causing him to fall to the ground, hitting him in the head knocking him unconscious in the process.
"Gotta hurry! I can feel the whole subway system collapsing!" said Toph.
"Wait, what about the soldiers in the back?" asked Aang.
"They've disappeared! All of them!" said Toph using her 'eyesight' to find out.
"They must have escaped by taking advantage of the situation." said Katara.
"In that case, let's not waste any more time. Let's get the hell out of here!" said Zuko.
They all took off running towards the exit, but before they could move any further, several pieces of debris fell from the ceiling, blocking the exit completely.
"Oh no! We're trapped!" said Ty Lee.
"What are we going to do?" asked Suki thinking it was the end.
"I'm going to have to use the Avatar State to escape." said Aang determined to use his ace up his sleeve.
"That won't be necessary. I have an idea." said Rimuru.
From the outside, it could be seen that both the volcano and the town were shaking from the subway collapse, causing panic among the townspeople.
Finally, the shaking stopped, to the relief of the people.
Meanwhile, at the entrance through which Rimuru, Team Avatar and the others entered, it could be seen that it was completely covered by the rocks, with no way for anyone to escape from there.
Suddenly, out of the gap between the rocks came some sort of blue goo, which when it fully emerged from there, it was revealed to be Rimuru in his slime form.
"Phew. Good thing I was quick. Now, for the last thing…" began Rimuru before spitting at the others, including Ozai and Long Fei. "Are you all right?"
"Ugh. Next time let us know before you eat us alive!" said Sokka.
"It was terrifying. It was like being in endless terrain. It was almost like I was really blind." said Toph.
"I'm sorry, but it was the only way to get you all out without hurting you, since, well, I'm indestructible." said Rimuru before Ty Lee grabbed him and hugged him.
"And I'm very grateful to you for that. Thank you so much for saving us." said Ty Lee before giving him a kiss.
"Hehe. It was nothing." said Rimuru blushing as he rubbed the back of his body.
"Now I understand why Roku sent you to help me. If it wasn't for you, we all would have died in there." said Aang.
"Yes. We owe you a lot." said Zuko.
"You really are a box full of surprises." said Azula as Rimuru returned to his human form.
"Well, you don't get to be the leader of a nation and a Demon Lord with some cheap tricks." said Rimuru before they all burst out laughing lightly.
"Mission accomplished then. We've managed to catch, not only Ozai, but Long Fei as well. They won't be hurting anyone anymore." said Sokka pointing to the two bad guys caught and taken down.
"Yes, but their followers are still out there on the loose." said Katara.
"That doesn't matter. After all, we've caught their leaders and we're alive." said Aang.
"I agree. That way I can kick their asses again if they decide to act up again." said Toph.
"I couldn't agree more." said Rimuru.
They might not manage to wipe them all out, but the fact that they had defeated their main targets and survived was a point in their favor and they would use that point to keep moving forward.