Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, the ATLA universe, or the first 9 ½ chapters. Because Benthatguy did a helluva job, and I wouldn't have ruined the live-action movies.

Previously:

Just as the governor's daughter finished speaking someone swung up onto the platform behind them. Three pairs of eyes quickly scanned the intruder. Their finely-tuned threat detection instincts noticed the new person heading towards them was wearing blue armor. Blue was the good guy and red was bad, so if he was wearing blue he was probably on their side. They all lowered their guard for just a moment thinking some unknown reinforcements had arrived.

Unfortunately for them, a moment was all Percy needed. He dashed towards Katara and faster than any of them could react, swept her legs out from under her and pinned her to the ground. One knee pressing down on her back while his forearm pressed against her neck with a wicked sharp dagger held dangerously in his hand. The attacker raised his head to glare at the stunned Sokka and Aang, revealing his tanned skin, messy black hair, and piercing sea-green eyes.

"How about you give back the child you kidnapped and I don't kill her?" He said in a dangerous tone.

Sokka noticed the sea serpent symbol displayed proudly on the center of his blue breastplate. The symbol looked weird on the blue background, almost as if mocking his tribe's color. Sokka gulped. "I knew this was gonna be a trap."

( - )

Sokka hated being right. Well, scratch that. He loved being right, but right now he hated being right.

"I told you guys we would be walking into a trap, but did any of you believe me? Noooo," he whined aloud.

"Let her go," Aang commanded, trying to put as much weight behind his words as possible. While outwardly he was calm, on the inside he was freaking out. Please don't let Katara get hurt. He pleaded to any spirits that might be listening.

"Yeah, let my sister go, you jerk! And don't wear blue, that's our color." Sokka took a step forward trying to appear menacing. The two-year-old he was holding made it difficult.

"Wait a second, you guys are holding my friend's baby brother hostage, and you think I'm the jerk in this situation?" Percy asked incredulously. "Give back the kidnapped toddler then you can try and take the moral high ground."

"Hey! This kidnapping thing was totally by accident." Sokka defended.

"Oh yeah, you just happened across the most important baby in the city, and just happened to keep him until someone offered you ransom." Percy's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up! You're Fire Nation. You guys are all fiery assholes."

"Dude that's kinda racist, you can't just say everyone from the Fire Nation is like that," Percy replied.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"Both of you shut up!" Katara and Azula demanded in unison before glaring at each other. Sokka and Percy took the more mature route. Sokka stuck out his tongue while Percy flipped him the bird.

"Look we don't need to fight, we can still settle this peacefully," Aang said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Why don't you let Sokka give you the baby? Then we get Bumi and we can all go home happy." Aang said with a massive smile.

"No. You will return Tom-Tom and Percy won't kill the girl. That is the deal." Azula spoke, her voice cold and confident.

Aang, Sokka, and Katara all trading uneasy glances. This was not how it was supposed to happen. Sokka's brain was working overtime trying to think of a new plan. Come on brain, don't fail me now.

"Can we have some time to talk this over?" The tribesmen asked, trying to stall for time.

"Of course, it's a difficult choice after all. Percy give them until Tom-Tom cries. After that, start cutting off fingers." Azula smiled sweetly at them, "There you go, plenty of time and the motivation to make the right choice."

"We kind of need Katara's input, so.." Aang tried gesturing at Katara's prone form.

"I'm sure you'll manage without her cutie." The girl in the pink said with a flirtatious wink.

Aang and Sokka traded wary glances before walking a few yards away so they could whisper to each other without fear of being overheard.

"What do we do? We can't just leave Bumi, and we can't let them hurt Katara either." Aang said almost in panic mode.

"We might have to leave Bumi, Aang. I think they've got us beat."

"Come on Sokka, you're the Idea Guy, think of something!"

Sokka brightened at this comment. His mind was already turning over the situation, again and again, looking for new options.

"We could try stalling some more to see if Katara can get a chance to use her waterbending on that guy. Once he's out we can go back to the original trade." Sokka looked a little dubious about his plan, but Aang was ecstatic with the new hope of getting both his friends back. That was until Percy crushed that plan like a bug.

"I can feel you trying to reach for the water in your waterskin. If you want to stay unstabbed I would stop." Percy said calmly.

"Unstabbed isn't even a real word." Katara retorted, obviously disgruntled about getting caught.

"But this is a very real knife," Percy replied coolly, shutting up the waterbender.

"Okay, maybe that plan won't work." Sokka deflated.

"What if we trade Tom-Tom just for Katara? Then when we get her back, I'll fly up and rescue Bumi." Aang asked. Sokka was more than skeptical of the plan.

"I don't know Aang, those four aren't just gonna stand around and let you rescue Bumi. Not to mention the second you start flying they will know you're the Avatar."

"Was that Tom-Tom I heard? You're beginning to test my patience peasants." Azula remarked cooly.

"It's the only choice we've got, Sokka. I'm not leaving Bumi behind." The monk said firmly. He turned back to face the girls without further hesitation. Sokka sighed, this was not going to work.

"New trade then. We'll give you Tom-Tom, you let Katara go." Aang called out to the Fire Nation girls. Everyone held their breaths waiting for their response.

"Mai, Ty Lee, go get Tom-Tom. Percy, once they have him let the savage go." Azula commanded.

Sokka walked forward to meet the two girls in the middle of the platform. There was a tense moment as Sokka handed Mai her little brother and received a withering glare, but the handoff passed without issue. Once Mai and Ty Lee had the baby, Percy got off Katara hauling her to her feet. He also received a cold glare as Katara walked back towards her friends.

For one moment nothing happened as both sides stared at each other, waiting for the other to move. Then Azula raised her hand, signaling for unseen engineers to raise Bumi's cage back up. Predictably, all hell broke loose.

Aang dashed forward at speeds only possible for an airbender before leaping high over a blue wave of fire and unfurling his glider, flying high in the air towards his friend.

Before the monk could reach his friend, he was halted by something wet clamping down on his ankle. He looked down to see a hand made completely out of water grabbing his leg courtesy of the guy in blue armor.

Aang didn't have time to yelp before he was hurtling back towards the platform. The airbender barely managed to make a cushion of air below him as he landed on the platform. His wrap coming undone revealing his blue tattoos. The Avatar rose on shaky feet, watching as the water retracted back into a container on Percy's back. Their jaws collectively dropped.

"Y-you-you're a waterbender?" Katara stuttered out, stunned. Confusion quickly turned to outrage at the sight of the Fire Nation waterbender. "YOU!" She screamed aloud. "You're the traitor. The one who slaughtered his fellow tribesmen! You betrayed your own people! How could you? How could you turn your back on your people for these... these monsters!" She sputtered, enraged at the thought of a fellow waterbender working for the Fire Nation.

Percy's face hardened as Katara's rant continued. By the end of it, there was no sign of the carefree sarcastic teenager. Only the gaze of a trained warrior. "These monsters are my people and my friends." He hissed at her. "I haven't ever been to any of the Water Tribes and you claim that I'm the traitor? How could I betray a people I've never known?" Percy asked, furious at being called a traitor.

"But you're a waterbender, you have to be Water Tribe." Katara sputtered, "You belong with family and the Water Tribe is family." Katara said confidently in her reasoning.

"The only immediate family I've ever known is my mother, and she sure wasn't Water Tribe." Not technically a lie. "My family is with my friends and the Fire Nation. They took me in when I had nothing. I was raised and trained by a man better than any of you. I'm definitely not Water Tribe. I'm exactly where I want to be." Percy finished coldly.

Azula smirked at her bodyguards' show of loyalty, and the starstruck expressions on the peasant's faces.

"Well as entertaining as watching Percy scold you were, I believe you have something else I want." Azula fixed her predatory gaze on Aang and his showing tattoos. "Hand over the Avatar."

Aang and Sokka froze for a moment before Katara took charge. "Sokka, go get Appa. Aang and I will hold them off."

As Sokka scrambled to call Appa with the bison whistle; Katara and Aang took bending stances ready to ward off their attackers.

But before Sokka had a chance to bring the whistle to his mouth, it was knocked out of his hand by one of Mai's shuriken. "Oww! You could've hit my hand!" Sokka yelped.

"I wasn't aiming for your hand," Mai said in her monotone voice.

"Mai, Ty Lee, get Tom-Tom out of here. Percy and I can deal with these fools." Azula commanded confidently.

Percy dashed forward drawing his blade, moving to engage the Water Tribe siblings. He casually blocked a clumsy blow from Sokka's club while lazily fending off Katara's water strikes.

Azula took the opportunity to engage the Avatar with a barrage of blue fire, trying to overwhelm the airbender's defense. Aang whirled his staff around generating powerful winds to block the incoming fire. Azula darted in close to deliver some rapid strikes with her fire daggers, the Avatar only just avoiding her attacks.

Meanwhile, Percy was toying with the siblings. He grabbed one end of a water whip Katara sent at him, tearing it away from her and smacking Sokka across the face, before blasting Katara with her water, knocking her down.

Then turning his attention solely to the non-bender, Percy easily fended off his clumsy strikes while intermittently striking him with the flat of his blade. He had to admit he was enjoying this, Piandao had done the same to him at the beginning of his training. Katara rose on unsteady feet as she became furious. This guy was just toying with them like it was a game to him. He thought he was so much better than her, she would show him.

Katara gathered up all her water before freezing it into dozens of razor-sharp icicles. She took a deep breath before firing all of them as hard as she could at the traitor's back.

She was completely unprepared for what happened next. What she had thought to be a finishing blow did nothing. The ice daggers struck his back and just melted around him, forming a second skin of water. He pushed Sokka away with his free hand before turning to her.

He raised one eyebrow, "Are you trying to piss me off? Because it's starting to work." He stated cooly.

The swordsmen whirled around using his sword to bat aside Sokka's club before jabbing the tribesmen's throat with his left hand. Sokka dropped to his knees gasping for breath, clutching his neck trying to draw in air through his damaged windpipe.

Before Katara had time to react, Percy bolted towards her at speeds she thought were reserved only for an airbender. The swordsman slammed his forehead down onto her nose with crushing force. As the waterbender reeled back cradling her broken nose, Percy drove his fist into her solar plexus with more force than she thought humanly possible.

She crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath, black spots dancing across her vision. Percy leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Next time think twice before you open your mouth and insult me. Oh, also don't ever try to kidnap my friend's baby brother." He spat.

Katara watched helplessly as Percy joined Azula, ganging up on Aang. The two of them knocked the airbender back and forth between them, wearing him down. Unknown to the combatants, Katara was not the only watcher concerned for Aang.

King Bumi watched his friend struggle from high above in his metal cage. "Looks like someone needs to show those young whippersnappers what real bending looks like." Bumi cackled and snorted like the mad genius he was; he cracked his neck loudly before bending a dozen rocks into weak points into his cage with his face.

As the mad king plummeted towards the platform, he bent the earth he used to break out of his cage into heavy boots to absorb the shock of his landing. Bumi smashed down onto the platform the massive force of his fall shaking the structure and causing eyes to towards him. The old king gave an insane smile before speaking.

"How about you kids pick on someone my size." The mad king grinned, "Or I can pick on you." The earthbending master then proceeded to remove his finger from his nose and flick away a booger.

( - )

Percy was officially grossed out. Some buff grandpa picking his nose was not on his bucket list of things to see.

"Eww." Percy blanched, using Riptide to slice apart the two boulders coming towards him. "Azula, I'll take care of gramps, you stay on the Avatar," Percy yelled before charging the old man.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one giving the orders around here?" Azula huffed before returning to her fight with the battered airbender.

King Bumi surrounded himself with dozens of orbiting boulders waiting for him.

Percy gathered up all the water in the immediate area as he charged towards the earthbender. Unfortunately for Percy, the only water he could get right now was from his back container and the Water Tribe girl's pouch.

As Percy drew near, Bumi began to probe his defenses. A half dozen boulders rocketed towards the demigod. He barely slowed down, using Riptide and tendrils of water to cut through the earthen projectiles.

Bumi changed tactics once it became clear that his barrage of boulders wasn't working. He waited for the swordsman to get in close, then smashed two of his orbiting boulders together right in front of him. Percy hurdled them, leaping off his feet into the air. Bumi smirked as he sent a third boulder straight into the demigod caught in the air, sending him back several feet.

Percy rolled to his feet just as he struck the ground using his momentum to create some space between him and the king. He's a lot better than I thought he would be. Percy thought to himself as he combed through his memories of Piandao's lessons about fighting benders.

"Each element draws power from different sources," Piandao said sagely as he drew the symbol for the four elements in the dirt with his Jian. And thus the benders of each element are weaker or stronger depending on particular circumstances." Piandao lectured the 13-year-old Percy.

"Firebenders draw power from the sun. They are most powerful when the sun is high and the sky is clear." He said sketching a tiny sun next to the symbol for fire. The old swords master knew if he didn't have something for Percy to keep his eyes focused on, then he would probably forget the entire lesson.

"Waterbenders however rise with the moon. They are most powerful at night, especially during a full moon." He then drew a tiny moon next to the symbol for water.

"Wait what about air and earth then?" Percy interrupted before blushing slightly and adding a respectful, "Master Piandao."

Piandao chuckled at his young ward's outburst before continuing, "Air is at its finest when it is free. In the open sky, airbenders were said to be able to accomplish wondrous feats." He paused for a moment, hoping his student would catch his somber tone and think past the Fire Nation propaganda of the victory over the Air Nomads. Piandao once again lamented that he did not have Iroh's gift for gentle guidance of youths.

"Earth, however," Piandao continued once more, "Is most powerful at home."

"I don't get what you mean with that one master Piandao. Is this a metaphor or something?" Little Percy asked skeptically.

"Well, I suppose it could be." Piandao said amusement lacing his tone, "But I meant it more literally. All earth is different. The rocks found here are very different from the rocks found in the Earth Kingdom. So if an earthbender tried to bend a rock from my garden, he would have more trouble as opposed to bending a rock from his garden. This is because of the rock from his garden he is familiar with. He knows that rock, so it is easy for him to bend. Do you understand now?" He asked patiently.

"I think I get it now." Percy said hesitantly, "The better an earthbender knows the earth, the easier it is for them to bend it. So since they would know the earth close to home the best that's where they would be most powerful?" He questioned.

"Very good, little swordfish," Piandao said affectionately, chest swelling with pride for his young ward.

Percy almost facepalmed at the memory. Great earthbenders are more powerful the better they know the earth. And Bumi has had over a hundred years to get to know the earth of Omashu atop being a master bender. Percy resigned himself to the fact he'd probably have some painful bruises in the morning before readying himself to charge the mad king once more.

"I may be a master of neutral jing, but even I'm getting bored of waiting." Bumi cackled before lifting both hands over his head and making a face that looked constipated to Percy.

"What's wrong, old man? Forget your prune juice and steroids this morning?" Percy quipped back.

"I'll show you juice, you little punk." Bumi scolded. Percy's jaw dropped as he watched a massive house get ripped from its foundations by the power of the king's earthbending. Bumi cackled as he held the house over his head. "What was that you were saying about juice? My ears aren't what they used to be." He laughed loudly at his joke.

Bumi tensed, then hurled the house at Percy. Percy began a mad sprint away from the huge projectile. Somewhere in his ADHD brain, he noticed that Azula and Aang had moved their fight to the delivery chutes. The Water Tribe siblings were nowhere to be seen. He filed that information away for later after-escaping-giant-flying-house-of-death part in his mind.

Percy leaped off the edge of the platform and used his remaining water as a rope, latching onto the unfinished Ozai statue. He swung away from the flying house of death. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the spider-man theme song playing.

Percy swung around the statue and back at the platform to attack the earthbender. If the earthbender was surprised by Percy's avoidance of the house projectile it didn't show. King Bumi tensed before spikes of earth shot up, one cutting through Percy's water rope keeping him in the air. He quickly gathered his water before shooting a tendril at Bumi, pulling him off the platform as he fell.

Percy tucked into an expert roll as he hit the ground to keep from breaking his legs. He still got some nasty bruises from his fall. The swordsman watched as the old king landed, cracking the earth beneath him. The swordsman and the earthbender faced off from each other at the end of the narrow alley they landed in. They charged forward.

Percy fended off Bumi's boulders with Riptide, keeping the remains of his water around his legs strengthening and healing them. Percy ducked under a pair of boulders flying towards his head, and in an unexpected move, threw his sword like a javelin. Surprised Bumi was forced to break off his attack to dodge the blade. As the weapon flew past the king, Percy jumped and used the wall of the alley as a springboard. Percy propelled off the wall, sending a flying punch to the king's jaw as he turned to face him.

Bumi staggered from the devastating punch as Percy rolled forward using his momentum to reach his sword stuck in the wall. Percy held Riptide as he moved his water into his hand ready to send it at the mad king. Instead of turning to face the demigod immediately, Bumi made the earth into a sphere around him. He snapped his jaw back into place with a cackle and turned his head slightly to spit out a bloody tooth. He dissipated the earthen sphere laughing loudly.

"Whew! A few more of those and I might need dentures."

"What you need is a retirement home." Percy snarked back.

"Nonsense, I'm as fit as I was when I was a just young lad of sixty."

Percy and Bumi once again sized each other up. Both of them were desperate to finish this fight so they could help their friends. As their eyes met, a simple understanding passed between the two fighters. One more charge, one more round, neither of them had time to mess around anymore.

Percy charged as Bumi fired another barrage of boulders. As Percy fought through the string of rocks slashing and dodging, he kept a careful eye on where the rocks orbiting the earthbender were, waiting for the perfect moment.

There. Percy thought as a boulder swung into position right in front of the king's face. He fired a jet of pressurized water at it with shattering force. The boulder exploded right in front of Bumi's face.

Percy dashed forward using the opening he created to slide beneath the floating boulders, ready to swing Riptide at the king's legs cutting his tendons. It would be painful but he'd live. Just as Percy was starting to swing Riptide he saw a very dirty, bunion-covered foot approaching his face at speeds too fast to dodge. Percy flew back several feet at the massive force of the kick. His vision swam for a moment as he saw what he thought to be a giant flying hairy cow descend from the sky before he passed out.

( - )

Bumi watched as the swordsman slowly lost consciousness. The mad king rubbed his bruised jaw deep in thought.

Piandao's little swordfish my wrinkly rear. He thought to himself wryly. Iroh's went and pulled a sea monster out of the ocean and told everyone it was a baby pentapus. Bumi looked down at the teen noticing the massive foot-shaped mark developing on his face. I hope Piandao raised him right cause this kid can do some serious damage, especially with a little more experience under his belt. And what was Iroh thinking, putting this guy next to the princess? Bumi fumed silently. He didn't like it when Iroh made plans without the rest of the order.

Bumi could tell a lot about a person in a fight, and Piandao's student was powerful. A dangerous foe if loyal to the wrong person. And right now it seemed he was loyal to the princess. Bumi didn't like that, not one bit. He wasn't naive enough to think he knew what type of person the princess was after just one encounter, but he'd seen her eyes. She had a touch of madness swirling within the gold. The hungry kind, the kind that if left unchecked, burns everything around it.

The boy was different. His green eyes shone with power yes, but also determination and kindness. He could wash away such madness, but it wasn't a guarantee. Bumi didn't like the thought of Piandao's little sea monster being anywhere near her, it wasn't worth the risk. Oh, he would have words for Iroh the next time he saw him.

The earthbender looked up to see his old friend flying down on Appa to come and rescue him. He was not looking forward to telling Aang that he couldn't come with them. Bumi was almost tempted to go with the airbender. To adventure around the world like back in the good old days… but he had a duty to his city. He couldn't just abandon his home. Although he was dreading returning to his cramped cage. Bumi was a master of neutral jing, if there was anything he was good at, it was waiting for the perfect moment. After all, living over a century was one way to learn patience.

( - )

As Appa flew away from Omashu, everyone felt dejected. They had gone to the city to save a friend, and even though they beat impossible odds by escaping, they were still forced to leave Bumi behind. Aang was feeling the worst of all. It was his idea to try and save Bumi, he'd ignored Sokka's warning that it could be a trap. Now his friends were hurt. As he watched Katara finish healing her brother's bruised throat he felt even worse. Katara noticed the expression on her young friend's face.

"Cheer up Aang. We might not have been able to get Bumi to come with us, but at least we got the baby back home, and got everyone out of the city." Katara said, trying to cheer up her friend.

"It's not just that Bumi wouldn't leave. You guys got hurt, and that's my fault. I should have listened to Sokka." Aang said his voice, swimming with guilt.

"Well, you're right about that. You should always listen to me, but this time it just wasn't our day. And nobody got hurt too bad, nothing a little magic water healing can't fix." The newly healed Sokka said cheerfully.

"I can't get why a waterbender would be working for the Fire Nation," Katara said frustrated. "How could he say the Fire Nation is his family?! They're monsters!"

"He could be a half-blood." Sokka mused, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "He did say his mom wasn't a Water Tribe but he didn't mention his dad. His dad was probably from one of the tribes but he was raised in the Fire Nation. It would explain why he's such a jerk," he reasoned. Half-blooded children weren't that uncommon since the war started.

"No man from the Water Tribe would ever marry a Fire Nation girl since the war!" Katara protested hotly.

"I never said anything about marriage Katara." Her brother said grimly.

"But the Water Tribe doesn't do that!" Katara said, desperate for it to not be true. They hadn't seen any half-blood children in the Southern Tribe, but they had heard stories of it happening when the grown-ups thought they were asleep.

Sokka didn't say anything. His sister was so sure of the good in everyone, she couldn't see that in war, neither side was innocent. The siblings fell into an uncomfortable silence. The young airbender looked back at them from the front of the bison but he wasn't sure exactly what they were talking about. He decided against asking, looking at the faces of his friends. The silence stretched for a few long moments before someone finally broke it.

"How come he's such a better waterbender than you? He wouldn't have been able to get a master in the Fire Nation." Sokka asked rudely.

"He wasn't better than me!" Katara snapped. She saw her brother's disbelieving expression and blushed knowing he didn't believe her "It was just... I don't know how to explain it. It was like every time I tried to bend at him the water stopped being water." She explained weakly.

"That makes no sense," Sokka argued back.

"Look I don't know how else to explain it." She shrugged in frustration as she tried to recall the exact feeling. "Water is about pushing and pulling like the tides. When you bend it, you guide these pushes and pulls. But when he bent the water it stopped feeling like pushing and pulling, it felt wild and restless. Like a sea storm that even water benders know to buckle down for because you can't control such a force of nature. And whenever he bent I couldn't control it anymore. It wasn't like fighting with Pakku or Aang, the water only obeyed him." Katara pulled her knees to her chest, clearly disturbed at the idea of not being able to bend water.

"Look I'm sorry sis I didn't mean to come off like that, don't worry about it. We probably won't have to see him or those crazy girls ever again." Sokka said, trying to cheer up his little sister. He hoped he wasn't wrong, Katara wasn't the only one scared of how easily they were taken out. And that was with only half of them fighting. He thought grimly.

( - )

"What happened to your face?" Ty Lee chirped as Percy entered the lounge. He flopped onto one of the unoccupied couches groaning. He glanced around the room taking in Ty Lee's curious expression as she rested her head on her hands. He was unsurprised by the fact that both her legs were swinging through the air instead of supporting her lithe frame. Mai cocked an eyebrow at the swordsman sprawled out on the couch.

"Yes, Percy. Do tell me why there's a footprint on your face." She asked, amusement lacing her voice.

Before Percy could answer either of them, they were interrupted by an upset princess storming into the room.

"Um, Azula-" Ty Lee started cautiously.

"What?" She snapped at her.

"Nothing." Ty Lee quickly stammered out hoping to appease the disgruntled princess.

Percy on the other hand didn't seem to grasp the meaning of the word 'tact'.

"You look like you went through a twister and then rolled around in a dust bowl," Percy said through his laughter. Azula sent a heated glare towards him. It didn't last long before she was forced to suppress her own laughter at the foot-shaped bruise forming on his face.

"At least I don't have a footprint on my face." She retorted smirking at her friend. "What happened though?" A touch of concern entered her voice.

"What does it look like? I got kicked by a roided grandpa. I'm just glad he didn't mess up my hair." Percy quipped running a hand through his messy locks. He looked up to see an unamused Azula watching him. He sighed, "Bumi beat me. I'm sorry Azula, he got away." Percy sobered, his previous mirth forgotten. Azula had rarely seen him so dejected. Then again, Percy never lost fights it seemed, just like herself.

"Don't worry about it. This was your first time facing an earthbender and Bumi is a master with over a hundred years of training. Not to mention I was also beaten. Those two Water Tribe peasants attacked me with the Avatar's beast. They'll pay for that." Azula was furious, without their interference she was confident she would've caught the tired Avatar.

"Next time me and Mai won't be on the sidelines with a kid. We'll win for sure." Ty Lee said cheerfully.

"Yes, you're right Ty Lee. Next time they won't stand a chance. We have a new target now though. Zuko and Iroh are now our secondary objective, our priority is the Avatar." A predatory smile spread across Azula's face.

"When we win can I keep the Avatar? He was cute." Ty Lee swung her legs around and rested her chin in her hands.

"The bald kid with tattoos is your type?" Percy asked incredulously of his friend.

"No, Ty Lee you can't keep him," Azula said slightly annoyed with her friend, there was a difference between picking up strays and the Avatar.

"Princess Azula." A guard entered the room and bowed, clearly out of breath.

"What is it?" She snapped at him.

"It's Bumi, he just turned himself in. He said to tell you, "Next time you imprison an earthbender, make sure you search him for earth." The guard said fearfully as Azula barked out new orders.

"I want him back in that cage within the hour and if he has even the slightest speck of dust on him, people will burn."

"Of course, Princess." The guard made a hasty escape.

Azula pinched her nose and sighed. "Mai, tell your parents to prepare some ostrich-horses and travel supplies."

"May I ask where we're going?" Mai droned with a raised eyebrow.

"We're heading for Yu Dao. The colony should have everything we need to hunt the Avatar. No offense to your parents Mai, but this place is barely conquered. Also, I heard that war minister Qin is working on an interesting new machine in Yu Dao." Azula's lips quirked up slightly, "I would be interested to see how it measures up against the Avatar's beast." Azula looked positively giddy at the idea of payback.

Before Mai could leave to find her parents Percy piped up. "So are we all just gonna ignore the fact that there's no way Bumi's natural? I mean seriously even my abs aren't that good." Percy whined aloud.

Not one of them dignified his remarks with a response. An eye roll from Mai as she left the lounge with a laughing Ty Lee. Azula right behind them, as her mind suddenly wandered to the next time she could spar Percy shirtless to fact check his statement.

"Okay I'm being serious though, I need another guy in this group." He groaned aloud to himself.

( - )

Author Note - Alright everyone so this is the end of chapter 7 of Percy Jackson & The Sapphire Flame and I hoped y'all enjoyed it. Give it a review or follow if you'd like to stay up to date on this story. A few things I'd like to talk about.

- What are your thoughts on Percy's fight with Katara and Zuko? As explained later by Katara, waterbenders don't have a chance of fighting Percy straight up with their element. Maybe bloodbending. I wanted this fight to show the gap between them. Katara is good but she just can't match up with Percy. Sokka is not even close to a hand-to-hand combatant like Percy with his club and still won't be with his sword.

- Some of you probably hate the Bumi fight so let me explain. Bumi at this moment is the strongest earthbender alive. I'd argue Toph slightly passes him by the end when she's got metalbending but it's debatable. Percy loses this fight because put simply, he doesn't have the experience yet. He's never fought an earthbender before and his first fight is Bumi in his home city of Omashu, not the best odds.

- Finally, please leave a review, guys! A follower or favorite would mean a lot too for me. Don't flame me too hard though. I'm always open to advice on being a better writer.

Duces