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Odo Island
They shoved her roughly into the office, her arms bound behind her back in chains to prevent any form of resistance. Chained once more. It almost made her want to throw up.
Not that she had expected anything less when she arrived at the island fort, demanding to speak to the one in charge. Proper Fire Nation protocol demanded that any threat be neutralized by any means necessary before even thinking of negotiations. She knew that going in right down to her bones, so at least the dent to her pride was a depressingly familiar pain.
As such, she let two of the three guards kick her legs, forcing her to kneel before the desk of Commander Maoso, who didn't even deign to give her a glance from the other side of his war table.
"So…the runaway princess has decided to turn herself in…" he drawled, overlooking what she guessed was a map of the whole region. "And here I was thinking I'd have to burn down a few huts to smoke you out."
Typical. A thug after all. His type Azula knew how to handle. One of the misfortunes of being a part of her father's inner circle was running into a depressing amount of these thickheads. Must have been one of the things that was carried over despite the regime change.
"Very well. If you don't want to know what's coming, then who am I to stop you all from marching to your deaths." A pair of weathered eyes looked up from the table right at her. Good. It had taken a while to get the voice of casual disinterest down perfectly.
Rising to his full height, Maoso folded his arms across his armored torso. "You were on the prison boat last night, weren't you?"
"I was."
"That means you can tell me what's running around my waters."
"I can."
The Commander walked around the table, never breaking eye contact. He stopped right in front of the kneeling Princess, looking down at her humbled state. "Very well. Let's hear it."
Azula looked back at him directly in the eye. Just because she was beaten didn't mean she was going to sacrifice her last ounce of dignity to someone who got posted here because they couldn't cut it on the front. He had a weathered look but that seemed mostly from age Maoso was middle-aged, but had no scars or any signs of having seen combat. Made himself look big and threatening when in reality he probably was so low on the totem pole that Father probably wouldn't have known his name.
Yeah. Azula knew his type well. So she spoke of what she saw that night. Of things far beyond his comprehension and control.
Of something far bigger and meaner than he ever could hope to be.
And looking at him, she wondered if she got to him. That threat of an overwhelming force you couldn't hope to fight. It was a fear they all knew as soon as they were enrolled into whatever academy you proved worthy of. Something that was cemented every time they looked upon a statue of Phoenix King Ozai or any of the Fire Lords of old.
"You can't fight this on your own. Your only chance of survival, your only way is to retreat. Pull out your forces from Odo Island so you can kill it with the entire Fire Nation army at your back."
Azula let the words hang in the air, challenging the Commander to prove her wrong. The people of Odo could survive in their caves. If the military was going to fight this monster, they'd do it as their forefathers would've wanted.
"...you don't think I don't know anything about this Godzilla?"
Her ears perked up. He knew?
"Yes I know," he said, reading her mind. "That thing's the reason I got assigned to this rock. I know all about the legend. Godzilla is just an animal that the locals were so intimidated by that they decided to make up legends about him. There's nothing special or unique about it, it's just one of those backwater myths they embellished."
"But I saw-"
"You were locked away in an asylum. How exactly am I supposed to trust the judgment of a woman who lost her mind?"
Maoso leaned down to glare at her right in the eye. "You're not Ozai's favorite pet anymore. And I'm not risking this critical position just for some delusions those natives decided to form into reality. Even if it decided to crawl out of the sea right now, we'll show it why we're known as dragonslayers.
"As for you…"
With a single gesture, he motioned the guards to drag Azula into the middle of the room, her mind stunned at how she had lost control so quickly. The Commander began to walk out of the room but stopped right as he was about to leave.
"I believe your brother sent the Avatar here to fetch you. He'll be pleased to know that you're in my custody. And if you get any funny ideas of escape…"
He made a cutting motion with his neck, signaling for the third guard to draw his sword and hold it precariously close to Azula's exposed throat. With that, Maoso strolled out of the room as two more guards shut the door behind him.
Azula sighed. She had a feeling this would happen but didn't realize that the Commander was so stupid as to regard what she saw as just another delusion. No matter. She took a controlled breath, eyeing the guards around her.
It would take some time for the Avatar to get here. Plenty to formulate a plan of escape. She just hoped she had enough time to get a headstart before the chase began in earnest.
Aang took a steady breath, feeling the weight of the staff on his shoulders. They were hot on the trail. When the ritual ended, they started asking around, getting to know several of the villagers. Yet when asked if they saw anybody strange in the area, they just said "Not counting the ones we fished out of the sea, no".
Good thing then that they had a pretty skilled lie detector on their team. Toph had a pretty smug look on her face once she told them she'd sensed quite a number of liars amongst those they'd asked. This meant that there was a stranger unaccounted for on the island. And chances were, that stranger was a certain firebender they'd been looking for.
Now the question was where exactly she was hiding. Sokka had it figured out seeing the crowd of people heading away from the village. It was a good portion of the village, including many families, children, and the wounded that were able to survive the morning. He guessed from the shrine maiden's invitation to a place called "The Dragon's Cave", that there was some kind of shelter that the military base wasn't aware of. A perfect hiding place.
The Avatar didn't like it. Azula had used hostages in the past, and there was no telling what someone like her would pull when cornered. Particularly in the mental state she was in, if Katara's warnings were any indication.
They were all prepped up for an ugly fight ahead. So when they heard rapid footsteps behind them, everyone turned, with weapons and elements at the ready.
"WOAH! I'M JUST A MESSENGER!"
Seeing the…rather panicked-looking lieutenant, everyone relaxed. Straightening himself up and taking as dignified a posture as he could, the young man bowed respectfully. "Commander Maoso has just apprehended Azula and is keeping her in the fort as we speak."
Everyone stood gobsmacked. "She's…she's caught?" Sokka mouthed, flabbergasted.
"Yes. She came to us with a message and that's when we captured her."
All eyes turned towards Katara. "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't think she'd be crazy enough to do something that stupid."
Toph shrugged. "Hey, it makes our job a bit easier."
Her optimism didn't ease Aang's anxiety as he snapped his glider open. "I'm going to go scout ahead and figure out what's going on. I'll let you guys know if it's some kind of trap."
"And we'll follow you from a distance in case you get ambushed," Sokka added before turning to the lieutenant. "Do you know anything about what the message was?"
The young man thought for a moment. "She said something about warning the Commander to recall the forces here because she thought Godzilla was coming. I didn't catch the whole of it though."
"She must be getting them to abandon this island so one of those rogue army groups can take over!"
"Well, she won't get the chance!" Aang declared to Katara as he leaped into the air and bent a gust of wind to push him toward the army base. The rest of Team Avatar followed in pursuit, not willing to give the Princess any breathing room.
They left Lieutenant Kazuma in the dust, running after them, yelling frantically. "WAIT! I THINK SHE'S TELLING THE TRUTH! HE'S COMING!"
Okay, this was taking a little longer than Azula thought. There were three guards in the room and at least two more outside the door. While she was confident she could take a few of them, there was no way she could fight her way through a whole base.
She looked out the window. The building wasn't exactly that high up from the ground. Maybe she could jump out, run along the rooftops, then jet her way over the fort walls. Would keep her…well, not safe from the guards, but would at least let her avoid the majority of them.
Course now the problem was getting out of this predicament. All eyes were on her, waiting for the slightest twitch of movement. She also felt the sharp edge of the blade against her neck. If she was going to do something, she'd have to make it snappy.
Still, she found it odd. Zuzu wanted her alive, and now they stood ready to slit her throat at the first sign of trouble. If only he could see what his precious new future looked like right now.
CRASH!
Her thoughts were interrupted when a huge gust of wind smashed through the window, knocking everyone down to the ground. Azula hit the floor hard, causing her to see white.
When she came to though, she saw Maina knocking the dropped sword away from a downed guard with one end of her staff and smashing the other end right into his face. She proceeded to bring the staff around and swipe the guard off his feet before slamming it right down onto his armored chest.
It was then that another guard got back up onto his feet, a fist of fire aiming right at the distracted native. Instinct kicked in, and Azula breathed a blast of blue fire from her mouth, cutting the guard off from her would-be savior. She then sprung from her kneeling position and slammed the guard right into the wall.
The final guard came at her with a fire blade, most likely not wanting to hit his companion. As he slashed down though, Azula arched her back in such a way that-
SNAP!
She felt heat graze past her now free hands as the blade sliced through her chains.
Her assailant probably had about half a second to realize her mistake before Azula performed a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. As he spun around from the impact, she quickly turned and fired a small blast of blue fire into his back, sending him plummeting to the wooden floor. Without even needing to think about it, she turned once more and kneed the last guard in the groin.
Azula didn't give him any pity as he leaned against the wall in agony before she slammed another kick into his helmet, causing him to join the rest of his group in both shock and pain.
Maina proceeded to thrust her staff under the war table and knocked against the door, Azula quickly shoving it to keep the entrance barred and the guards outside. She…did find it odd that a girl was able to flip a heavy piece of furniture like that so easily.
What she found even more odd is why on earth she was here in the first place. The Princess looked at Maina, unable to put the pieces together. "Why did you-?"
"Cause even a filthy peasant knows you shouldn't do something as stupid as walking into a military camp. Now come on!"
The native didn't give her a moment to rest, but for once Azula wasn't complaining. She promptly followed her savior out of the room and into the cool night.
They ran along the rooftops, keeping out of sight of the guards below. Azula had to admit that her agility was…impressive. She lept easily from rooftop to rooftop, almost reminding her of Ty Lee. The thought alone almost made her send a blade of fire toward Maina's legs. After all, you didn't just break a high-value prisoner out of a military base unless you were going to get something pretty good from it. Maybe the girl wanted the glory of handing the Princess to her brother herself.
Well, it was either somebody who might hand her over to Zuko or the guards who would hand her over to Zuko. For the moment, she was comfortable with the former.
The two of them made good progress across the base, only stopping in a large area in front of the wall. This must've been the mustering area, and it was too big for them to just leap across. Azula would have to jet both herself and Maina across. Hopefully, her muscles were up to the task. They were already starting to ache from the sudden burst of energy. Oh well. She could complain about the bad shape she was in once they were safely away from this island.
She was about to take Maina in her arms when she spotted something in the sky. An awfully familiar winged figure who just closed his glider and sent a blade of air right towards her.
Before Azula could bring up her own hands to return fire though, she felt herself being shoved to the side by Maina. The girl whirled her staff in an arc and slammed on the rooftop, causing a wave of wind to come from nowhere and collide with the blade, smashing through and sending the Avatar spiraling. He managed to regain his focus though and summoned an airball beneath him, letting him land gently on the other side of the rooftop.
Azula's eyes went wide though.
Maina had summoned air.
"You're…you're an-"
"We'll talk about it later! I'll hold him off!" the stranger and stranger-seeming girl cut off, bringing her staff up to face the Avatar. Coming to her senses, Azula nodded and leaped off the rooftop to jet her way across the expanse. The airbender…the airbender she'd known about just stood there just as shocked as she was.
It was impossible! The Air Nomads were extinct! How could an airbender other than the Avatar possibly still be alive?! True, she didn't look like an Air Nomad, but Azula's ancestors had made sure to take every possible measure to wipe out every last airbender off the face of the earth, Air Nomad or not.
What was going on?!
Aang stood gobsmacked, gawking at the strange girl across the rooftop.
Another airbender.
"But…how?"
The girl just took a stance and glared back. "Let's just say the one I serve wouldn't allow her people to be wiped out."
Her people? She wasn't an Air Nomad, and her stance didn't look like any of the traditional airbending styles. Of course, Aang knew there were other airbenders aside from his people, but nothing he knew of indicated that any were still alive.
He had so many questions. The first one being, "Why…why are you helping Azula?!"
She shrugged. "I'm not exactly one to stand by and let someone who's unwell be taken by the Fire Lord."
The Avatar was going to snap back, saying that Zuko was different. About how he was going to restore the Fire Nation's honor. There were so many things that might get her to stand down from a confrontation. Whoever she was, Aang wasn't going to fight the first airbender he had seen since before he went into the glacier.
There were so many things he could've said, but a familiar shriek interrupted him before he did.. From above their heads swooped the familiar form of Momo, who landed on Aang's shoulder, chittering hysterically.
"I know! Azula's here and there's another airbender, but we're not gonna let her stop us!" he told the frantic animal. It didn't do too much good as Momo kept panicking, jerking his head towards the ocean again and again. No matter what Aang said, though, the lemur wouldn't calm down. He'd never seen Momo this freaked out before.
"He's not panicking about Azula…"
Aang could almost hear the color draining from the strange girl's face. Indeed, she looked positively afraid after hearing the lemur's shrieks. "I think he's sensing something else coming."
Now that the Avatar thought about it, Momo's panicking did seem at least a little familiar. He knew animals, and the frantic pitch of the lemur's screams suggested that he sensed some kind of predator on the prowl…
Before the realization could hit him, he heard the familiar sound of an earthen wall being bent from the ground. Looking towards the village, he saw the ongoing chase and snapped open his glider to join in. He took to the air, telling Momo to go hide in the jungle till this was all over. The lemur willingly obliged.
Leaving behind the other airbender in his wake.
…another airbender…
Azula's mind was torn in two directions. The first, seeking an answer to the burning question, "How in the hell had an airbender managed to survive Sozin's hunts?" It was unreal. Sure, the Avatar managed to survive, but he was the Avatar. Being the most powerful person on the entire planet meant that unless you found their body, you never could quite count out the possibility of them surviving.
The second direction was putting as much distance between her and the fort as possible. She felt a strange pain about leaving Maina behind to face whatever the Avatar had planned, but it wasn't like either one of them could take him on. Especially not with Azula in her current weakened state.
For now, the best chance she had was running. Perfect. This must've been what Zuzu felt when he was on the run in the Earth Kingdom. At least she was going to build up her strength and recover from whatever that asylum did to her, instead of cowering with her tail between her legs. Every humiliation she endured, she'd pay back tenfold.
She'd make them pay. She'd make everyone pay…
Her thoughts ran as fast as her legs carried her through the streets, turning from corner to corner. The village was virtually empty, with signs of evacuation all over the place. Typical peasants. First sign of trouble and they head for the hills.
Almost as if in response to her thoughts, a massive wall of earth shot up from the street in front of her, cutting off her escape route. Snarling, she blasted a jet of flame behind her, launching herself just clear of the rocky formation. Seemed the rest of the Avatar's cronies had caught up with her.
Once she landed on the other side, she cut through a side alley, hoping to shake her pursuers. That didn't work too well for her either; her sharp ears picked up the sound of something being unsheathed. Instinct caused her to jump in mid-air and perform a fiery kick, knocking the incoming boomerang back toward its wielder, beaning him on the head.
Azula couldn't help but smirk a little as she turned the corner. At least her precision hadn't dulled in her time locked up.
Naturally, fate decided to wipe that smirk off her face. he was about to hit the docks, when she saw a huge wave of seawater rise to meet her. Not wanting to deal with getting frozen again, she thrust out her arm and sent forth an enlarged fire blast to rip the wave apart.
Azula then dug in her heels and wheeled around to kick a blade of fire through the air and at her assailants, causing her pursuers to stop and backpedal lest they avoid getting scorched. Taking a defensive stance, she counted three: the blind earthbender, that Water Tribe boy who was the brains of the group, and the waterbending girl.
Three. Where was-?
Almost on cue, a fireball came right at her from the sky, forcing her to bat it away and return a blast of fire of her own at the airborne Avatar. The momentary distraction allowed the earthbender (Toph if she remembered correctly) to launch a boulder at her, forcing her to duck to the side.
Rolling up to her feet, she was about to launch into another assault before that boomerang and some sharpened ice came right at her feet, forcing her back. She glanced behind her and She kicked herself for not seeing the trap she'd fallen into. There was a whole bay of water behind her, plenty for the waterbending peasant (Katara, that name she knew) to freeze her solid. A chill went down her spine at the memory of the chill and inescapable grasp of those smothering tentacles.
To make matters worse, a Fire Nation cruiser had blocked the only way out of the harbor and off the island. Honestly, now that she thought about it, she didn't have much of a plan outside of "escape the fort".
"Give it up Azula! You're surrounded!" Boomerang Boy hollered out; the others along with the now-landed Avatar began to close in. Azula could feel her options slip away from her as well as her stance. She felt her legs and arms begin to shake from all the exertion, the dull pain from where she was restrained making her body feel heavier and heavier.
No. She wasn't going back in chains. And if she couldn't fight her way out, at least she could take some of them down with her.
Defiantly, she thrust out her arm, only for Katara to bring up one of those water tentacles that nearly had her back in Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately, exhaustion and lack of practice had dulled Azula's reflexes; the tendril lashed out faster than she could summon up her fire.
Suddenly, a blade of air cut the water tentacle in two, before a gale of wind knocked everyone back. Into the melee rushed Maina, who got in between both parties and faced the Avatar with her staff out. "I am Maina. High Priestess of Infant Island, and the Princess of the Fire Nation is under my protection. Come no further or suffer the consequences," she demanded in a steely voice.
"...High Priestess…anything else I need to know about you?"
"What part of 'can we discuss this later' do you not get?" Once more, Azula was half-tempted to put a fire-blade to the girl's neck. First, she was an airbender. Now she was some kind of priestess from…wherever this "Infant Island" was. What's next? She'd reveal that she's some spirit incarnate? At this point, she wouldn't be too surprised if she was some assassin her mother had hired to kill her. And what did she mean under her protection?
Thankfully Boomerang Boy (or Sokka or whatever) began to ask the questions first. "Hang on! You're an airbender?!"
"Yes, I am. It's a long story but-"
The heavy rumble of tank treads rumbling their way through the village cut their conversation short. Each tank was accompanied by a squadron of soldiers, all of them converging on the docks and reinforcing the Avatar. No doubt they, along with the ship out in the harbor, were mobilized by Commander Maoso. Azula did recall a group of them having mobilized already when she came forward to the base. Guess they really were expecting some kind of attack from hostile forces.
Well, there goes our last escape route, Azula bitterly noted. Even with someone else at her side, there was no way the two of them could possibly win against such overwhelming force.
Maina didn't seem too bothered. "Look. I understand the Princess has done some pretty bad things-"
"That's the understatement of the century," Katara spat out.
"But you're taking this too far! I mean, she can barely walk or fight for spirits' sake!"
"Well, it's not like we can just let her go free either! What's your big idea then?" Sokka snapped. Maina though stood her ground.
"I'll take her with me to Infant Island. She won't harm anyone and-"
"THAT'S IT!"
Everyone looked surprised at Azula's outburst, even herself for that matter. But between all that had been going on, she'd had it up to here with this so-called "friend" of hers. "You've been keeping a lot of secrets from me, and now you're saying you're going to take me to some island I've never heard of? Forget it. I've put up with you for a while now, but this is where I draw the line," Azula spat at Maina, the rest of Team Avatar forgotten.
"Look, you have to trust me on this," Maina stammered out. "I can help-"
"I don't want your help. Why would I want help from somebody who I can't trust? You keep dangling my condition over my head like I'm some kind of lost pet that can't take care of herself. I know how you see me. Like I'm something broken that needs fixing. Well, I have had enough of people trying to fix me." Azula let all the stress of the last day spill out in a stream of bitterness, caustic and burning hot as any fire breath.
"And I've had enough of people treating me like I'm some animal that needs to be chained up or tossed in a hole or whatever you're planning on doing with me!" she continued, directing her ire towards the Avatar and his cronies. "I'm done. I'd rather die on my feet than groveling before you and your flunkies. And if this is where I'm to die, then so be it."
With that, she brought her fingers together and went through the motions to split the positive and negative energies within her body. Feeling the charge generate and spark to life, waiting to be born. Her very last nightmare she had to offer the world. She was…oddly at peace. For once, she was in control. For here was her final stand. And that gave her a shred of comfort. That and the panicked expressions on everyone's faces at seeing her determination to meet her end.
Finally. People feared her again.
But at that exact moment, she heard an enormous explosion.
The ship's captain looked through his spyglass at the commotion at the docks. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he and his crew were needed since it wasn't like the mad princess could get too far out to sea without going even madder from starvation and dehydration.
"Seems like the Avatar has everything under control," his first mate mused. "Glad thing he's on our side." Inwardly, the captain was a little relieved. Quite frankly, the last thing anyone wanted to deal with was Ozai's daughter. Especially if any of the stories were true.
"...sir?"
Lowering the scope for a moment, he turned toward the man who wanted his attention. "What is it, Private?"
His crewman didn't say anything. He just pointed out to the dark seas.
At the huge swell in the water heading straight for the fort.
Honed training kicked in as he gave the order. "Trebuchet crew! Aim for that rogue wave before it swamps our ships!" He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but wave or not, something of that size could easily scuttle or damage the ships they had in the harbor. And he knew well enough that a well-placed shot could disperse or at least weaken it.
His crew got to work, quickly lowering the trebuchet, loading it with a boulder covered in oil, and the attached firebender setting it alight. And with the snap of a rope, the weapon fired, flinging its fiery payload right into the path of the swell.
A cheer erupted from everyone as the boulder hit its mark right on the money. The captain was a bit reserved because he knew he had to face the commander to address why they had just fired into the sea for no reason. But at least his men had something to do other than man the fort all day.
The cheers stopped when the swell suddenly changed direction, barreling right towards them. Behind it, the captain could just make the shape of something lashing out of the water and generating waves as it did.
He swiftly ordered his men to ready another shot, but the swell that he wasn't even sure was a swell was coming too fast. Some of the crew knew this and started to blast bursts of fire at the incoming wave.
Any hope that this was a wave though vanished as the tops of jagged formations began to jut out from the water, aiming right at them.
Frozen in fear, the captain faced the oncoming doom with an awful realization. One that was crystalized when he heard an awful moaning sound coming from beneath the waters.
The lightning died before it could leave her fingertips. Turning behind, she saw the Fire Nation ship go up in flames. Azula watched as the vessel, its silhouette the same one she'd seen countless times as an enduring symbol of her nation's pride, was cleaved in two.
All at once, the color drained from her face. Flashes of screaming and death raced through her mind. And for a moment…she couldn't move.
Especially not when the swell charged from the wreckage, its emerging spines cutting through the water as it headed straight for the harbor.
Her frozen state was shattered when the tanks from behind fired their ordinance, all aiming at the incoming mass. She could hear the boulders detonate upon hitting their target, each one powerful enough to set a whole village ablaze.
But not one of them did anything except illuminate the huge mass charging right towards them. In fact, it almost seemed to quicken in pace as its thrashing propelled it faster and faster.
All with that all-too-familiar moaning.
The next one to spring into action was Sokka. "IT'S GONNA BEACH ITSELF! AANG! KATARA! FREEZE IT IN THE HARBOR!"
Coming out of their own stupor, Aang and Katara rushed to the docks and began to get to work. The thing was big and fast, and one bender alone probably wouldn't be able to generate enough ice to freeze it in place. Two benders on the other hand…
Both of them went through the motions in sync, feeling the power of the moon strengthen their connection to the harbor. At once, a thick sheet of ice began to spread from the docks and started to encompass the surrounding waters. The spines, though, just kept coming, practically slamming into the ice sheet and cutting their way through. Aang and Katara strained with all their might, focusing all of their energies on not only freezing the waters surrounding the thing but thickening it so it was trapped. Sweat formed on their brows, but they didn't stop. They couldn't stop. Too many lives were at stake.
Just when they thought they couldn't hold the thing back anymore, the approach of the spines began to slow down. The ice surrounding them began to solidify, making it more difficult for the charging being to continue. Eventually, its progress stopped entirely, with Aang and Katara solidifying the ice around it.
The two let out a breath of both exhaustion and relief. Another second, and the…whatever it was, it would've beached itself and crushed both it and everyone under its weight.
"Sokka…it was close enough with Azula…" Katara panted out.
Aang on the other hand shot a cheeky smile. "Hey, it worked. Didn't it?" He flinched a little when the waterbender shot him an annoyed look, but it wasn't like he was wrong either.
"Well, that's one problem dealt with. Time for the other," Toph declared, turning towards Azula and Maina. The rest of Team Avatar once more got into positions, remembering just why they were there.
CRACK!
Everyone stopped as they heard the ice behind the spines began to split apart.
And their hearts dropped when a massive gray tail rose from its frozen prison high into the air. It hung there thrashing for a moment, before plummeting back down into the ice sheet. The impact caused great fractures in the ice to form, each one with a bone-chillingly loud crack.
In the center, the jagged spines wretched themselves back and forth, splitting apart their confinements as they, too rose high into the air.
Higher.
And higher.
The full body of the beast arose inexorably from the vaunted trap with great chunks of ice clinging to its back. It was everything Azula remembered. Tons of seawater spilled over charcoal grey scales. Great arms and claws slashed themselves free.
With great effort, the monster brought its leg up clear of the water…
Maina tackled the dumbstruck Azula to the side and out of the way. Team Avatar followed suit, but even they couldn't stay on their legs as the reptilian foot came slamming down. The giant foot pressed down, cracking the earth and splintering the docks. The very force of its impact caused the houses in the nearby village to collapse into shattered piles of rubble.
For a moment, everything remained still.
Then it lifted its other foot, slamming it to the ground and forcing everyone once again to fall to their knees before its awesome might.
Slowly…very slowly…Azula looked up at the mountain shaking its back, sending huge chunks of ice to falling into the village below.
She looked around. Maina. The Avatar. His friends. Everyone. They all saw it. This was no delusion.
This was real.
They all watched as the titan reared its head back, throwing off the last chunk of ice and revealing a saurian face twisted with fury.
With a sound that could only be described as pure, primal rage, Godzilla roared to the heavens, announcing his return.
SKEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOONK!
Everyone had to cover their ears and crouch. That roar was practically a wall of solid sound, buffeting their senses. Azula had to fight the primal instinct to curl up into a ball, to do anything that would keep that sound from ringing in her skull and rendering her deaf.
It seemed to last an agonizingly long time, but eventually, another sound joined it. The more familiar roar of Fire Nation fury.
The tanks unleashed a disciplined wave of projectiles slamming missile after missile into his rocky hide. Shakily pulling herself back up to her feet, Azula watched the bombardment. Her only exposure to the crescendo that brought terror and awe to all the world had been through stories her father and uncle told her. By the time she joined the war, it was practically over and she preferred to fight behind the lines. So the sight of flaming projectiles sailing through the air was…it was something else.
Her awe of the display crashed along with the bombardment as it did absolutely nothing. The charcoal scales remained unscathed, the smoke and embers falling harmlessly as all they accomplished was to create an ostentatious but useless show for any hapless onlookers.
High above, Godzilla snarled in contempt and lifted its massive foot once more. The closest tank and squadron had maybe a few seconds to return fire in some last-ditch effort at resistance before the monster brought it down. Steel and men were crushed under its massive weight as effortlessly as a man steps on a twig.
The screams…Azula froze as she heard the screams and…how quickly they were silenced…
They didn't stand a chance…
Something that wasn't made clear to the other tanks when they began to hurriedly backpedal, yet still kept firing all the same. It could've been considered admirable if they had an actual chance of doing something substantial. But all they succeeded in doing was drawing the ire of the monster, who snorted at the pitiful act of defiance.
It lunged forward, far faster than Azula would've imagined an animal of its size to move. Far faster than one of the tank crews expected before their war machine was seized in Godzilla's powerful jaws. It moved that huge mouth to trap the tank comfortably in its jaws, before crunching down. Fire Nation steel turned out to be little defense against powerful fangs each the size of a person.
It wouldn't be long, though, before the wreckage of the tank was virtually flung into the air with a quick jerk of Godzilla's head. The sight of a Fire Nation tank being tossed around like a toy was almost surreal, even more so when it collided with another tank. Such a collision caused the two of them to disappear in a fiery explosion, ignited by the onboard munitions suddenly being smashed against one another. A plume of flame incinerated all that stood near it, men and buildings alike.
In a matter of mere moments, the tank force was gutted and the docks were reduced to rubble. The last two tanks began to retreat into the village, firing as they pulled back. This in turn further enraged the great reptile, its heavy feet forming craters, and trampling huts with every step in its charge. Behind, its gigantic tail smashed apart any wooden structures still standing, and kicking up plumes of dust and fire in its wake.
Azula, Maina, and Team Avatar staggered to their feet amidst the rubble, standing in awe at the sheer amount of destruction. Amidst the wreckage, they could see the bodies of both soldiers and a few villagers who were brave enough to stay behind. Nobody wanted to imagine the state they were in.
Now, the Princess was no stranger to death and destruction. She killed the Avatar. She knew that sometimes you needed to tear something down to build something better. Yet this…this was something else. This was death on an unimaginable scale. And Azula could just barely keep herself up under the sheer weight of it.
Someone else though managed to bounce back with a surprising amount of authority. "Katara! See what you can do to put out those fires!" The waterbender leaped to action from her brother's leadership, already moving to get into position to try and douse the fires with seawater. "Aang! Get those soldiers out of there! Toph, see if you can slow that thing down!" The Avatar and his earthbending master nodded, already running to their objectives.
She wasn't sure what came over her, but Azula started running after the Avatar towards the two remaining tank crews. Granted she fell a bit behind both due to the amount of rubble and the aching in her muscles. But something seemed to suppress it, as if somehow she had gotten her second wind.
And she wasn't alone either. Maina had joined Katara, trying to keep the fires from spreading with her airbending. From a distance, Azula could tell it wasn't quite up to par from what she saw from the Avatar, but the native certainly knew enough to at least redirect the air to prevent it from fueling the flames.
Katara for her part wasn't too bothered with the strange girl's appearance. She just gave orders on where the fire should be directed while bending large amounts of water from the harbor and onto the burning ruins. Just because she was winded didn't mean she didn't have enough strength to stem the tide of destruction.
As for Toph, she was having significantly less luck trying to slow down a multi-metric ton giant. Finding it with her earthbending was easy enough. And her usual method of sinking the earth around its feet was a tried-and-true maneuver. Every time she tried to entrap those feet though, the monster just crashed right on through. She broke out into a sweat from the sheer force she needed to even put any form of resistance against it. Stopping that drill back at Ba Sing Se was hardly any effort when compared to just trying to slow this thing down.
Up on the roofs, Azula and Aang were running as hard as they could to the nearest tank crew. Agni bless them, they were still firing, but a part of Azula wanted to scream at them to just stop since all they were doing was making Godzilla angrier and angrier.
Not that it would do her any good as the monster swiped its clawed hand at the tank, cleaving it in two with a single strike. She and the Avatar stopped, watching the surviving crew scramble for cover, as the cloven wreckage was thrown into a wooden hut.
That left one tank and squadron left. Luckily for them, they were farther away than the others and had realized the real fact that they may as well have been throwing pebbles rather than bombarding the beast with explosives.
Aang and Azula looked at one another, before nodding and racing towards the final tank. Enemies they may have been, but both understood that those men needed their help. As they ran, they started shouting, "GET OUT OF THE TANK AND OFF THE STREETS!" The squadron seemed to get the message as the tank stopped, everyone scrambling to get the crew outside as fast as possible.
Behind them, Godzilla glared down as it brought its body and massive tail around, trailing debris as it did.
The two unlikely allies used their respective elements to boost forward towards the crew. Aang with his air, Azula with her fire. Rapidly, they closed the distance just as the last of the crew abandoned the tank. Aang swung his staff forward and created a gentle push of air to get one-half of the crew away. Azula broke into a sprint and grabbed a soldier who had fallen while barking out "Move like you've got a purpose!" to the others, which did wonders in getting them to run as fast as possible.
She and Aang had just gotten a good distance away from the tank when the great tail came crashing down, utterly flattening both the machine and everything around it from the impact.
Azula grunted with effort to get the soldier back up on his feet. "I…thank you…Princess…" he stammered.
"Don't thank me! Just get out of here!" she urged, pushing him towards his squadmates who promptly took their comrade and ran. Her chest heaved from effort, trying to regain her breath. It almost felt like she was going to collapse from all the strain.
Heavy footsteps from behind shattered any respite she might have had as Godzilla thundered past, trampling everything in its path under a cloud of dust and flame. Azula looked ahead at where his path of destruction would take him and had her breath snatched away from her. Up ahead was the fort, all decked out in the flag and regalia of the Fire Nation. She could see that it was manned, no doubt the commander standing on the battlements in some futile show of bravado.
A whole lot that did when the rampaging giant monster was charging straight for you.
"I…thanks Azula…" she heard the Avatar say when he landed right next to her.
Before she could give some snarky reply about how they weren't through the woods yet, Toph ran straight up to the Avatar's side. "I can't slow him down on my own. I'm gonna need you to help me out with this one Aang!"
Aang wiped some of the dirt off his face, racing alongside Toph in the air as she surfed on a ridge of earth to get in front of Godzilla's way. Up ahead, fiery boulders and missiles raced through the sky, slamming into the monster's hide. A roar erupted in response, for the beast's new target had just made themselves known.
It charged forward, bringing with it the wave of destruction that had come to consume the entire village. For anyone else, it would've been suicidal to get in its way. For Aang and the world's self-proclaimed strongest earthbender, it was a job only they were cut out for.
Both of them stomped the earth in a horse stance, feeling the very rock and soil bend before their will. The ground in front of the charging monster opened forth a crack, deep enough to easily swallow even its gigantic foot. Godzilla bellowed with surprise as he stepped into the crevice. Not wasting a moment, Toph and Aang thrust out their arms and closed the crevice around the foot, trapping the monster in its place.
With the great beast immobilized, Aang snapped his glider open. This monster was unlike anything he'd ever seen, wading through bombardment after bombardment like it was nothing.
Bitter memories of La bubbled up in his mind as he looked upon the raging beast. Would…he need to go into the Avatar State? It wasn't like the situation could get any worse than it already was.
A crack interrupted his thoughts as Godzilla smashed his foot through the earth, freeing himself from imprisonment and continuing his charge. Aang and Toph were right in his path.
It wasn't long though before a familiar bellow reverberated through the sky, and the form of Appa flew in front of them both. Aang promptly grabbed Toph by the arm and bent a gust of air beneath them to get on the Flying Bison's back. Just in time too as Godzilla thundered right where they were standing.
Aang let out a sigh of relief right before he felt a weight on his shoulders and Momo frantically nuzzling his face. "Hey, it's okay buddy! I'm alright!" he reassured. Honestly, he was just grateful to see a friendly face.
Relief turned to panic though as a mighty crash could be heard. Turning around, Aang saw that Godzilla had smashed his way through into the fort, crushing all in its path. Screams of terror were drowned out by his furious roars. All semblance of order and cohesion were lost as soldiers were either buried under falling debris or trampled in its wake.
Those who still had enough sense fled to the boats, hoping to escape the wrath of the monster. Within the fort, fires and smoke raged out of control as Godzilla smashed the foundry, the castle that housed the officers, and anything that was standing. Those furious roars echoed all over the island, the ghostly image of the feared god standing amidst the smoldering ruins and rubble of the Fire Nation's hold on the island.
Down below, Azula ran through the crashed gates, seeing far too many bodies all along the way. No doubt Maoso was among them, but she didn't have the stomach to look.
Rather, her focus was on the great monster in front of her, trampling everything to the ground. This…this wasn't an animal acting out of instinct. The look in its eyes…there was an intelligence behind it.
Godzilla bellowed with anger, almost as if even this destruction would not sate its fury. It turned its head, towards the boats beginning to leave the dock, and sneered. Claws flexed, for its new target had been found.
Azula watched the monster begin to move…and her hands seemed to move on their own.
She'd seen too much death…too much devastation…she couldn't take it anymore.
So she wouldn't allow it to continue.
At peace with her purpose and her fate, she split the negative and positive energies within herself and brought lightning to her fingertips. Getting into the familiar stance, she shot a bolt of lightning right at the dorsal spines of the monster. An expression of her precision, and focus.
All it did was spark futilely against the towering dragon. So insignificant, that Godzilla didn't even turn to notice.
Something in Azula snapped. Who was she to defy a god its quarry? It was as if fate decided to take the choice away from her. To make her watch more death being thrown in her face.
She…she couldn't take it.
Azula ran behind the monster, just out of the range of its thrashing tail…and screamed.
A brilliant blue breath of fire erupted from her mouth and high into the air. Any sense of restraint and control was lost. The only thing she wanted right now was for the thing to look at her.
…and suddenly, it stopped.
"COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" she screamed, breathing every last ounce of power into her fiery breath.
Slowly…very slowly…Godzilla turned and looked right at her.
Her heart was pounded, her energy nearly spent, and yet…she couldn't turn away from the beast. It stood there. Almost as if sizing her up.
A realization came to her as she thrust her fist in the air and let out a plume of blue fire.
High above, Godzilla watched her generate the blue fire. What was going on in that mind of it, she couldn't tell. By all regards, she felt like prey. She was being examined by the largest thing she had ever seen. And yet…she couldn't turn away. Not now.
Defiantly, she glared back into the eyes of the beast.
Godzilla growled...and his back dorsal spines seemed to flash with blue light.
Azula's skin crawled, watching the display. Inwardly, she felt as though a great fire was being exerted from the monster's breath. A display of power not unlike her own.
The blue light flashed several times…before dimming entirely. Godzilla almost seemed to nod, as if satisfied before turning back the way it came.
Azula stood there amidst the rubble and bodies of the fort, seeing the beast trudge back to the sea through the ruined remains of what was once the village of Odo Island. She fell to her knees, in awe of the power. All of this destruction it had caused almost effortlessly. And nothing, nobody had anything that could stand against it.
Above, she saw the Avatar and the friends he picked up on the Flying Bison observe as Godzilla made its way to the bay.
She heard a shuffling as Maina staggered to her side, spent and barely able to keep herself up.
All anyone could do was watch Godzilla dove into the harbor, its great mass sinking beneath the waves as it swam out to the ocean beyond.
Seeing the great dorsal spines disappear beneath the dark waters, Azula only had one thought.
This wasn't the end. Not by a long shot.
A/N: He has arrived.
To begin, Maina being an airbender. I would personally like to put out an open season for me IF she starts becoming too Mary Sue-ish. Just notify me in advance so I can give this fic to somebody else. As for why she's an airbender, I actually based her character off of another of the same name from the Godzilla anime trilogy that acted as one of the twins who worshipped the kaiju Mothra. Who in turn, are part of a series of successive characters who serve basically the same role and have had mystical powers and abilities.
Long story short, I am going somewhere with this. Nor am I going to try and invalidate Aang's status as the last Air Nomad here. She's part of a different culture that practices airbending so she doesn't necessarily hold the same beliefs. After all, there have been various bending cultures in the series that aren't technically part of the four nations like the Foggy Swamp Tribe or the Sun Warriors.
Another one of the big challenges for this chapter was writing the conflict between Azula and the Gaang. She's at the very very start of her redemption arc so she's still technically a villain. Yet I didn't want her to be entirely in the wrong either. The Gaang don't know what she went through at the asylum and…they are kids so it's not like they're going to be all-knowing gurus here. Basically, I didn't want either side to be entirely in the right or in the wrong if that makes any sense.
And at last…Godzilla has made his grand entrance.
He's one of the most iconic characters in media and has made regular appearances for nearly 70 years. I wanted to give him the gravitas he deserved and the level of destruction worthy of his name. Obviously, he's not going to appear in every chapter from here on out, but I want every moment he shows up (or any kaiju that shows up) to feel like an event. I can only pray I did him justice.
Thank you all for reading. This chapter is one I've been excited to write down. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my beta reader Selpharia. She has been a big help with this one. Make sure to leave a comment to give some feedback. Make sure to favorite and follow if you want to see more. And I'll see you all next time.