Chapter 9: The Power of Lighting

Clockwork watched the screen impassively. Ever since Danny had been introduced to this world, countless new timelines had been born. Some with deviations that that made this world completely unrecognisable from the path that it would have taken before and others similar with key differences.

It was always a marvel how the single inclusion of one person could change history so drastically. Of course, Clockwork always understood this. He had spent countless millennia watching over time and watching as universes bent and shaped with the actions of those who lived within. This world was no different. It had countless timelines before Danny was added with countless ways the story could progress.

Clockwork smiled. Time was truly fascinating. He tore his eyes away from the screen in front of him to the other screens where other possibilities lay. In some versions of the story, Avatar Roku killed Fire Lord Sozin leading to a succession crisis in the Fire Nation, in another Aang died while submerged in the ice giving birth to a Water Tribe Avatar earlier than expected. There was one timeline where Lu Ten, the son of Iroh, never died at war. There was a reality where Sokka was the waterbender and Katara the Nonbender. There was a reality where Kyoshi hadn't elongated her life. Now that Danny had entered the world, there was a reality where he decided to fly to the Water Tribe and befriend Princess Yue. There was a reality where he ended up in the Earth Kingdom and helped the Kyoshi Warriors bring back the Flying Opera Company. There was a reality where Danny ended up defeating Ozai and claiming the throne for himself.

Clockwork smiled as he turned his attention back to current reality. He watched as his young ward sat in the Fire Nation Royal Palace with his completed invention in hand.

Despite this being the first action that would improve this world's technology by leaps and bounds, Danny seemed to be frustrated with his progress. It made sense of course. All those plans he had didn't account for one thing and Clockwork was curious to see how he'd adjust to the problem.

Another screen appeared beside the one he was currently watching. This screen showed the original timeline before the insertion of Danny Fenton.

"Everything is the way it's supposed to be," Clockwork muttered to himself.

~00000~

Danny groaned loudly as he sat in his "laboratory" which he had decided to name Fenton Works 2.0. Ozai hadn't lied when he said he would provide Danny with resources. Now Danny had a nice little place to himself where he could work and create his ghost detection machine.

And creating the machine wasn't hard at all. Yeah, as it turns out, building a radar that tuned into ecto signatures was surprisingly simple. The blueprints and plans his parents left for him were surprisingly easy to follow and with these plans, he could probably change it to create regular radar machines. But there was one glaring problem he had with his technology. He didn't have a way to power the damn thing.

Danny slumped over his workbench a felt like bashing his head into a wall. The Fire Nation had their methods of generating electricity, namely burning coal to power engines and their warships and tanks. But Danny came to realise that the power they generated was way too small for Danny's inventions. Danny didn't realise it at the time, but his parents had found a way to create stable and unlimited energy.

Sure when they first created the ghost portal, they were connected to Amity Park's power grid, but the moment the portal turned on they relied solely on ecto energy to power everything at Fenton Works. And that was amazing since a large enough canister of Ecto Energy could power most of their gadgets and inventions that usually took too much energy for traditional electricity.

This world's limited science wouldn't cut it in the slightest.

Danny sighed and placed the device away. He'd have to figure out the energy issue later. Who knows, maybe he'd create an arc reactor like the one in the Iron Man movies. For now, he had his other job to take care of. Babysitting duty. Okay maybe that was a bit harsh, Azula was just three years younger than him so she was hardly a baby. Hell, she was the same age he was when he first got his powers and became the hero of Amity Park, Danny Phantom.

Anyway, today was exhibition day at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Which meant today was also the day of the Agni Kai between Azula and Saiijin. He seriously hoped that the princess had gotten the idea into her head about keeping her emotions in check. The past two weeks had been spent with constant training so that she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of all the important adults who would be watching.

"Let's hope everything goes well today," Danny said.

~00000~

Exhibition day so far was proceeding nicely for the students, although there was a level of tension that existed among the students. By now all of them had heard what happened between Azula and Saiijin and many of the girls were eager to see who would win in a duel between the two top students at the academy. Even the older students seemed interested in the turn of events.

The instructors were told about the Agni Kai and they knew they couldn't do anything to prevent it. They only hoped that this would not result in any student fatalities. With a military academy such as this one, it wasn't uncommon for there to be fatalities among the students. Training accidents were common especially when these elite daughters decided to dual. Even among the faculty, the desire to be the best was encouraged.

One of the former headmistresses, a woman named Hei-Ran, who was the firebending teacher of Avatar Kuruk and the mother of Avatar Kyoshi's firebending master, had killed her cousin and several other women in a competition to become the headmistress at the time. So death was common but still frowned upon.

Azula stood confidently on her side of the arena that had been marked out for her and Saiijin to duel in. All around her were various noble parents as well as their daughters. It was quite the turnout. Azula spotted her father spectating with a keen interest. Of course, her father was separate from the other nobles. It wouldn't do well for the Fire Lord to sit among those who were not equal to him. The only people close to her father included the soldiers who accompanied him to the academy.

Amongst the audience, she also saw the leader of the Saowon Clan and Saiijin's father. A weak and pathetic non-bender of a man.

The audience didn't matter, all that mattered was her opponent behind her. Azula turned from the audience and faced her opponent, Saiijin. The girl had a smug smirk on her face as she got into her stance. Azula did the same as she got into her own stance. She glanced briefly to her left where Danny, Ty Lee and Mai waited in the audience.

Her eyes snapped back to her opponent and she took another breath. As her lungs filled with air, everything else faded into obscurity. Nothing else mattered but putting that rude child in her place.

Azula's eyes snapped open and she was on the offensive. Blue flames came alive at her fingertips and she began to fire a few quick blasts of fire at Saiijin. As expected, the girl began to wave and dodge between the flames as she tried to get closer. Azula smirked. She wouldn't admit this but her training with Danny had been helpful.

As Saiijin got closer, Azula changed her attack pattern from precise attacks to power shots. And suddenly Saiijin was on the defensive. The Saowon girl hadn't been expecting such forceful strikes from the princess.

Saiijin had to resort to slicing Azula's flames in half to try and find an opening but the Princess wouldn't be so quick to give her one. But just like Azula, Saiijin was nothing if not resourceful. The Saowon heir decided to retreat a few steps, which allowed her to narrowly avoid a blast before she formed a whip with her flames.

She swung her whip and it almost collided with Azula, which placed the princess on the defensive. Saiijin continued to whip at Azula to prevent the girl from advancing.

"What's the matter princess, I was led to believe that you were better than your brother," Saiijin mocked. "Perhaps he should be here instead while you search the world for pointless treasures."

Azula gritted her teeth but didn't respond. She kept Danny's lessons in mind and resolved to keep a cool head. Instead, she focused on her defensive stance while trying to find the best way to approach. Luckily, or unluckily, Saiijin decided to approach first. As good as she was at range, she was better up close after all.

Azula saw her opening as Saiijin advanced and she allowed herself to drop down to the floor where she caught herself on the palms of her hands. With a spin, she delivered a blazing sweep toward Saiijin's feet as she approached. Ty Lee wasn't the only acrobatic one in their little party.

Unfortunately, that little move meant that she'd have to recover from her lower position and Saiijin decided to use that to advance. By the time Azula was upright again, the battle had become close-quarters instead of medium-ranged. Azula cursed her luck but she wouldn't be deterred.

The Agni Kai quickly became a close fight as the two performed an intricate dance around each other with their flames coming close to searing the other. With the proximity between the two Saiijin was able to share more of her snide remarks and try to get under Azula's skin.

Azula was trying to do her best to keep her head on her shoulders but her patience was slowly wearing thin. And in trying to keep her emotions in check so that she wouldn't be at a disadvantage, she opened herself up to a different disadvantage. Her mind wasn't completely focused on the fight so Saiijin was able to knock her down.

Azula fell to the ground and stared up at Saiijin. With the dark clouds behind her as a backdrop, the girl managed to look cruel as she smiled down on Azula. Her fist was pointed at Azula's head with the silent promise that she would attack again.

Azula refused to admit defeat but in this position, there wasn't much she could do. She could feel the eyes of the audience on her and could make out the hushed whispers. She found that she couldn't help but feel like Zuko on the day he lost his Agni Kai and that feeling burned at her.

"Well it seems you've lost princess," Saiijin said. "Second place isn't that bad, I suppose."

The girl turned her back to gloat to the crowd that watched with a bated breath. She raised her arms in the air in celebration of her apparent victory over the Princess. Azula glared as she stood up and power seemed to rush through her veins.

"Saiijin, this battle isn't over yet," Azula said with a glare.

~00000~

Clockwork watched the scene from his place in the tower. When compared to the original timeline, the events of this duel were almost identical. Saiijin managed to prove that she was the more skilled fighter of the two and Azula stood up, determined to not end the challenge. All that was the same but the outcome would be different.

The master of time watched as the blue energy began to collect in Azula's fingertips as rain started to fall from the heavy storm clouds. He watched as the girl aimed her lightning bolt at Saiijin who had a look of fear on her face as she watched Azula wield the primal element.

Clockwork watched as the sudden split-second decision was made. Azula aimed her bolt of lightning just a tad too high and the lightning soared from her fingers, flying just a few centimetres about Saiijin's head and striking a tree behind her. The tree exploded upon impact, raining debris and splinters over the frightened Saowon girl.

Even among the Fire Nation nobility, the ability to bend lightning was exceedingly rare. Most people didn't even know that it was possible. Lightning was a fierce power that only the strongest could wield. And to see it be used so closely, it makes sense that Saiijin was frightened.

"Kneel and admit defeat before my aim improves," Azula said coldly.

Saiijin, now completely aware of the difference in ability between the two girls, dropped to her knees and bowed her head till it was on the floor. The girl trembled as the rain fell around her and she admitted defeat.

Clockwork smiled. In the original timeline when this event occurred, this girl was Azula's first kill. In the original timeline, Azula's anger got the better of her and Saiijin was struck down by the lighting and declared dead within minutes. With her father watching, he would have taken this as a slight and demanded justice for his daughter's passing. He and the rest of the Saowon Clan would meet a swift and bloodied end for daring to rise up against the Fire Lord.

But now the decimation of their clan would be avoided, all because Azula spent a bit of time with Danny Fenton. He didn't know why. Clockwork was many things but a mind reader was not one of them. He could make an educated guess of course.

"Everything is the way it's supposed to be," Clockwork said. "Good luck Daniel, it's your turn to prove yourself."

Azula's lightning had awoken the slumbering spirit and it was only a matter of time now.

~00000~

Danny stared at the sky as the wind picked up and the rain began to pour. He felt tense as he stared up at the sky and it wasn't because of Azula's lightning show. And though he had his thoughts about the near-lethal efficiency that she had dealt to Saiijin, that wasn't what held his attention. This storm felt unnatural. It felt violent and angry as if Vortex was here.

And then he felt it. A sudden rise of cold within his chest and a puff of blue air escaped his mouth. There was definitely a ghost or spirit nearby and it was powerful.

Danny looked up to the sky and watched as the clouds only grew darker and darker and lightning continued to flash through the skies. And then he saw it. There was a giant silhouette in the sky, briefly illuminated by the surrounding lighting.

"GET DOWN!" Danny yelled as a lightning bolt streaked out of the sky and towards the Fire Lord.

He'd get in trouble for this later but he didn't care, he tackled Ozai out of the way, just in time to prevent the Fire Lord from becoming fried by a rouge lightning bolt.

"Everyone get inside! Now!" Danny yelled as his eyes began to glow green. His voice glowed and a bit of his Ghostly Wail came through so that everyone could hear him.

Danny stood and despite the apparent danger he allowed himself to grin as he raised his arms into the air.

"I'm Going Ghost!" Danny yelled as the white rings appeared at his waist.

The rings split and travelled up his torso and down his legs, transforming the human teenager into his ghostly persona. His armour was replaced with his upgraded hazmat suit with his DP symbol on the centre of the suit. His raven black hair turned snow white and his icy blue eyes turned toxic green.

Once his transformation had concluded, Danny Phantom rose into the air and took off flying as a large and pissed-off spirit emerged from the clouds.


CyberActors15: And another chapter completed. We got to see the duel between Azula and Saiijin. You don't know how many times I repeated the Agni Kai theme while writing this chapter. It was a lot. I was a bit inspired by the Avatar Netflix show when Azula shot lightning at Ozai and I wanted to have a similar moment here. Also up next we have a big fight where Danny can shine and show off his stuff. If you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review also check out my Linktree (linktr dot ee /CyberActors15) for more of my story content. If you didn't like it, feel free to leave a review and tell me why. Feedback is always appreciated, and criticism only makes me a better writer. Until next time, peace!