The walls of Ba Sing Se were so much larger than any of the other walled cities they'd seen here in the Earth Kingdom. A massive marvel of engineering standing random and proud in the middle of a droughted cluster of foothills; so pristine that it was hard to believe that human hands had any part in their creation. For many, the last real symbol of hope and safety in a world at war.

A war that was headed right for it in the form of a coal-rolling machine that inched its way across the landscape like a giant armor-plated snake.

Katara had seen her share of strange Fire Nation war machines, but this one was by far the strangest one she'd seen so far. It looked smaller than it really was from where they were standing at the top of the wall, but neither distance nor smoke could hide the sheer magnitude of that twisting diamond-shaped head coming straight at the wall, or the dark red Fire Nation emblem pointed straight up at them like a deliberate provocation. The treads alone made the earthbending units still fighting on the ground look like ants.

Sokka was still arguing with that overconfident general that was leading the defense on the wall. Each unit he sent out came back smaller, and throwing rocks at the machine wasn't about to make a difference. The man seemed determined to ignore the obvious.

"We are honored by the Avatar's visit, truly, and appreciate your helpful sentiments." General Sung's smile was growing strained with impatience over Sokka's arguments. "But what you've seen here are simply diversionary tactics—"

"—That aren't working." Sokka interjected.

"—meant to hamper the machine long enough to assemble my most elite platoon." Sung's disdain was beginning to shine through as he waved off their help for the umpteenth time. "My lieutenants tell me that the Terra Team is mere moments from deployment. They'll make short work of this latest attempt upon our walls."

Matthew chimed in, his tone almost innocent. "They're going to throw rocks at it too?"

Sung narrowed his eyes briefly before waving a hand towards the scene below them. "Watch and learn, boys."

A neat formation of ant-sized soldiers was skating rapidly across the landscape to intercept the machine. Katara didn't know much about earthbending, but even she could see the quality of their training in how neatly they operated. They moved as one and didn't hesitate for a moment to enact their plan, which seemed to involve trying to halt the thing by ramming it with stone pillars…however this had no effect. A cloud of smoke belched from the top as it crawled forward again unhindered.

She never got to see if there was a backup plan, as two new ants–pink and red respectively–exited through some hatch up top and practically jumped directly onto the Terra Team's heads. Katara recognized Azula's tagalongs right away, watching with a sense of ongoing helplessness as the earthbenders went down without the support of the Avatar's entourage.

The General finally gained the sense to be scared. He swallowed his arrogance with a particularly bitter grimace as he turned to face Aang personally. "Avatar…I would accept your help now—if the offer still stands."

The airbender's cheeky smile did little to soothe the man's pride. "We'll take care of it."

Alfred had been staring out the window for the whole train ride, eagerly taking in the sights of Ba Sing Se. Zuko felt his lips involuntarily tugging into a small smile at the taller man's expression. A happy mixture of childish wonder and intense interest.

Then the train began to slow down…and the buildings got closer…and Alfred's expression flashed with something dismayed and grim, his excitement dimming. What brought this on? Zuko glanced outside to see what had disappointed his companion so quickly.

Slums. Poverty and filth and way, way too many people. The air looked almost dingy with the dust being raised from all the foot traffic through the narrow streets, and smoke from the fires of struggling shops slammed up against broken houses and leaning apartment buildings.

The train slowed down further as it approached the train station. From the way Iroh was gathering himself, Zuko figured that this was their stop. Zuko pushed his straw hat low over his brow and dropped a hand over his bag and sword. You kept your head down in places like this.

He and his uncle were a study in opposites, as usual. Uncle was just a jolly old ball of genial smiles and open gestures as he chatted up the passengers around them about nothing at all, which was his approach to nearly all new environments, seedy or not.

Alfred, in typical Alfred fashion, had not caught on to the atmosphere at all. Excessive energy had effectively buried his disappointment for the time being, and now his leg was vibrating hard enough to make his weird little cowlick shake as he waited for Iroh's cue to stand after their long train ride across the improbably endless fields of irrigated farmland spread out just inside of the Outer Wall.

It took a full forty-three seconds of glaring for Alfred to look Zuko's way. The glare did little to curb the behavior as Alfred smiled that irritatingly wide and perfect smile he saved only for the worst situations (the one that Zuko was half-convinced to be fake) and asked in heavily accented common language, "Whaht?"

"Behave," Zuko hissed back, forcefully placing a hand over Alfred's knee to stop the shaking. He was unsure exactly what Alfred knew of common language, but hopefully his tone would be sufficient. The train car lurched to a halt and doors began to slide open, people crowding through them almost before they were completely stopped. "Stay close."

Iroh listened in on their not-conversation with undisguised amusement as he gently pushed a way ahead of them through the crowd onto the bustling train platform. The scarred teen scowled his Uncle's continued flippancy. "He's too damned oblivious for a place like this. It's not safe."

"You worry too much," Iroh said with a chuckle. "He can handle himself just fine."

Zuko snatched the blond's arm before he could wander alone towards the statue of some significant Earth Kingdom figure standing proudly in the center of the station. It was crawling with scammers. "We can revisit that theory after he gets kidnapped by traffickers because he got distracted by a pastry shop, or something equally mundane. If only so that I can say 'I told you so'."

General Sung's forces were only able to get them within a quarter of a mile to the machine. For Toph, that was enough.

Toph quickly tunneled them down and out of sight, giving the soldiers time to use their artificial dust cloud to get out of the potential line of fire. It took only a few moments of moving through blackness to bring them out directly under the drill (as the general had dubbed it)...and it was much bigger up close.

Sokka's appreciative whistle could be heard just above the noise. "You gotta hand it to the Fire Nation–they know how to engineer stuff."

"I'm gonna hand the Fire Nation a butt-whooping," Toph snarked.

"This thing is way too big to hit from the outside," Katara dismayed, the weight of her full waterskin feeling far less comforting than it had under ten minutes ago. Like a single bucket against a whole crown fire.

Aang scanned the metal belly above them, wondering how they were going to accomplish this increasingly daunting task…and then he found it. "We'll take it out from the inside!" He blasted open the unassuming hatch as it passed over them.

"Good thinking!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Not me!" Toph declared immediately. She bent a pillar of rock straight into the metal overhead, making it screech. "I'll try to slow it down out here, where I can see."

Aang leapt up into the opening before it could crawl away from them, helping Sokka and Katara in after him. Matthew took advantage of his height, gripping the metal lip of the hatch and scrambling in.

Katara was immediately struck by how oddly quiet it was on the inside, despite how much she could only imagine had to be happening mechanically just to make this thing move at all. Their surroundings, metal pipes, vents, and gauges of indeterminate purpose, were awash in muted red light. The air was hot and dry, even more so than outside. Sokka took one look around at the metal labyrinth they were in before drawing his club and smashing the nearest important-looking device. Pressurized steam whistled obnoxiously from the newly burst pipe.

"Sokka!" Katara chastised furiously in a hushed tone. "Someone's going to hear!"

"Exactly." Her brother explained with an eager smile. "See, something like this has to have a lot of engineers. Engineers have maps, and we definitely need one of those." He turned around and burst another pipe open for good measure.

Matthew frowned, listening intently. "...Someone coming."

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the metal walkway. Through the steadily thickening steam emerged a muscular man armed with a wrench, wearing that leather mask that Katara had always associated with Fire Nation technology. The Mechanist once explained that it was some kind of safety thing for them.

Well. "Safety" clothes aside, this man was ill-prepared for the likes of her. She was the first to react, freezing the hulking engineer in place before he could so much as shout.

Aanf rapped his knuckle against the man's frozen shoulder. "Sokka, have I ever told you how much of a genius you are?"

"You could stand to do it more," Sokka smirked, already rummaging through the rolls of diagrams and maps the engineer had crammed into his satchel. "Aha!" He unrolled a specific one and studied the picture intently. His expression quickly became pensive. "Hm. Sturdy and overbuilt, typical of the Fire Nation. Everything has a back up, and I'm willing to bet this thing has a crew to match its size…" He turned the map over to find even more diagrams. "Spirits, where do we even begin?"

Matthew peered over Sokka's shoulder, taking in the maze of lines and systems with a critical eye. "Here." He tapped a specific image. "Cut the beams and make the–...outside? Ah, shell. Make the shell weak."

Katara considered the proposal. "That would focus all our energy on one section…we could make it work."

"If we weaken the structure enough, I can deliver the final blow from the outside," Aang added.

"And the whole thing goes kablooey!" Sokka finished with relish. "Alright, it's a plan! Let's go!"

As they began to move, Aang asked, "What about the guys in charge of this thing? We should get them, too. Right?"

Sokka immediately shot that down. "Not unless we want to face every security measure this thing has to offer. The control center is waaay at the back of the drill. We couldn't take out the bracers and get all the way back there before the crew was on high alert. Couldn't do it the other way either, because the Fire Nation always has someone else down the line to take over no matter how many you take out–it's just how they work. We don't have the time to waste."

"Some confusion upstairs would make it easier," Matthew pointed out. "Two to do the obvious thing and threaten the commander, two to do the beams at the same time. Hopefully distract them, or at least split their attention."

"A false direct attack to cover the indirect attack," Katara summarized. "I like it. You're thinking like a true waterbender."

Matthew looked ready to disagree, but clearly thought better of it. Katara decided this was his usual inability to take compliments. "You and Sokka will go take out the main guy, and we'll take out the bracers."

Sokka still looked dubious. "Are you sure you don't want help with the bracers?"

"I'm sure two experienced benders can handle some big metal beams," Katara assured him with a falsely sweet smile. "Question is, can a boomerang and a novice handle a few meanies in red armor?"

Blue eyes shone at the challenge. "Betcha we can do it faster."

Azula tapped her fingers contemplatively on the steel throne that dominated one wall of the drill's command center. She should've felt better about this, now that Mai and Ty Lee had already come back from thwarting Ba Sing Se's most determined offensive yet…

…something felt off. Like she was forgetting something–except she knew she wasn't. The plans had been checked, and rechecked, and stamped several times before she deigned to take her place aboard this drill. She'd never waste her time with a doomed project.

'And an expensive one, at that,' she thought wryly. Well. Whatever happened here was ultimately War Minister Qin's responsibility.

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power," War Minister Qin declared grandly. "Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall!"

Perhaps that was the problem? It wasn't her idea. This drill, this overt and rather clunky campaign. Yes, victory seemed imminent, but Azula had her doubts.

"The Dragon of the West may disagree with you," Mai pointed out blandly. Bless her for that, because the rather banal minister sputtered slightly at the mention of that spectacular failure of a military campaign, and finally went quiet.

Ty Lee amused herself with the periscope. "Hey, look at that weird dust cloud. It's so…poofy." She looked away with a thoughtful expression. "I mean, I'm not an expert or anything. It just looks weird to me."

"This drill kicks up a lot of dust," Qin said, clearly more for Azula's benefit than anyone else's. "I'm sure it's nothing."

Her carefully honed intuition whispered to her regardless. 'Something is trying to go wrong.'

Only fools left things to chance. Azula stood up, knowing that Mai and Ty Lee would immediately follow her lead. "Mm, well. We're just going to take a stroll."

From what he'd observed so far, now that he was actually walking through the Lower Ring, Zuko guessed that this area was more of a patchwork of struggling and criminal neighborhoods than simply a massive circle of miserable slums. Criminals, tradesmen, refugees and the downtrodden all rubbing elbows and trying to eke out their own livings between the walls. It was a city unlike any Zuko had ever seen–the Fire Nation capital didn't even come close to the scale of this place.

Still too many people. And it was noisy. It was almost too jarring after spending so much time with only one, and then two people for company.

Zuko grabbed Alfred's shoulder and pulled him back before he could wander into an incoming cabbage cart's path. "Uncle, can I ask where we're going, or are you going to be deliberately inscrutable?"

"I am not deliberately inscrutable," Iroh retorted mildly. "I'm enigmatic. You'll understand when you've reached my age."

Zuko groaned. "Uncle, please–!"

Iroh relented with grace and a mischievous twinkle. "We must introduce ourselves to our new employer before anything else."

"...Employer?"

"Yes, Nephew. We're hard working refugees, remember? Don't worry, you'll like it."

Zuko nodded vaguely towards Alfred, who wasn't even bothering with the conversation he probably wouldn't understand. "And him?"

Iroh made a show of sighing regretfully. "The establishment is thankfully aware of Alfred's…unfortunate muteness. And partial deafness." Followed by a shrug. "But he is uniquely strong, and which is useful to anyone. And at least two of us should be able to smile in public."

Zuko made sure to scowl a little harder for him, just in case. "Better you than me."

Sokka had to stop to catch his breath as Matthew took care of the latest engineer with almost frightening efficiency. "You, uh…you do this kind of thing a lot?" he gasped out. "Back home?"

Aang and Katara had all the maps with them, so he and Matthew had been moving as quickly as the signage would allow towards the control room. They had yet to raise any lasting alarms. None of the rooms were very heavily guarded. One man here, three men there…of course, the Fire Nation's plans here probably didn't involve enemies on the inside.

Matthew bent down and pilfered one of those large wrenches from the unconscious engineer's toolbelt. His bending was a ways off from battle-ready, and Sokka had a feeling things were gonna get nastier as they got close to the control room. "No, I am not–Well, I do not like fighting or the…sneaky fighting?" Matthew frowned contemplatively, continuing before Sokka could correct him, "But I have done it."

"Probably a good thing you have." Sokka studied the plaque situated above the next door. It was a giant freaking metal maze in here, but at least it was a labeled one. Somehow, they were still going the right way. "We get into trouble a lot."

"I have noticed." The blond's snappy reply was punctuated by a rumble that shook the drill hard and nearly knocked them both off their feet.

Sokka glanced back in the direction he knew Aang and Katara had vanished maybe ten minutes ago. "They can't be done with those braces already."

A voice echoed somewhere above them, giving Sokka another bad jolt at the suddenness of it.

"Attention crew, I am pleased to announce that we have made contact with Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall without a hitch. Good work, everyone!"

No one else was in the room! How did the Fire Nation pull that off?

Matthew was curiously unfazed by the technology, but he looked concerned. "I don't think so. We must hurry."

And so they broke into a jog, taking out personnel as they saw them with the element of surprise. Sokka would come in ahead with the club and Matthew could more often than not catch others from behind with the wrench to apologetically bestow the gift of a solid concussion. It was almost like they couldn't even see him coming.

You wouldn't think so with loud hair like that but Tui and La, Matthew could be a complete ghost when he wanted to be.

Sokka started seeing arrows pointing towards the control room. "We're close, Matt. Real clo–shgheh?!"

Things went wrong faster than Sokka could track, as he was immediately occupied with dodging the sizzling arc of blue fire that was coming right at his face. He spotted Matthew ducking under the path of a thrown knife right as Ty Lee came into his peripheral with difficult-to-track jabs. "Run, Matthew!"

He could've sworn that the hallway had somehow gotten much narrower since they'd first walked through it, because now it felt like there was barely any room to maneuver at all. But he remembered how the path split into three a while back. If they could just get there—!

Azula proved herself just as agile as Aang in closed spaces as she seemed to bounce from wall to pipe to blocking-the-exit. Sokka wheeled back to avoid the roaring wall of flames. Matthew was against the wall behind Sokka with his hands raised in surrender at Mai's knifepoint.

"If it isn't my favorite Water Tribe peasant boy," Azula purred. "Mai, Ty Lee. His friends are undoubtedly running amok somewhere nearby. Deal with them…but leave the Avatar to me."

"Aw, but the new guy is so cute!" Ty Lee cooed.

Deciding he wasn't dumb enough to try getting past Azula, Mai turned her back to Matthew and rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can play with him later."

They left, leaving Sokka and Matthew alone with Azula. Somehow, Sokka still felt rather outnumbered.

Azula's gaze slid over to Matthew appraisingly, like one would a new product in the market. "Hm…do you think Ty Lee would be terribly upset if I roughed him up a little first?"

"Don't even try!" Sokka snarled recklessly. He charged with his club, only to find himself almost immediately disarmed and fully sprawled on the ground. Azula was still between him and their escape.

Matthew's arm blurred, and one of Mai's stray knives flew out of his hand almost too fast for Azula to dodge. Her surprise gave Sokka the moment he needed to bowl her over fully with a rough shove. He scooped up his club and ran with Matthew already on his heels, and a now angry Azula not much further behind them.

It was a complete miracle to Katara that they hadn't gotten caught. There were so many times on the unreasonably twisting path to the beams they were looking for that she was certain they'd been seen, but most of the crew members they'd (nearly) run into were far too focused on their dials and diagrams to even glance up.

"This should be it," Aang murmured, staring from the map up at the nondescript metal door. He and Katara had to work together to turn the giant wheel and push the heavy thing open and then shut it behind them.

They found themselves standing on a narrow catwalk. The only thing keeping them from a long drop down was a knee-high railing, and the only thing that let them see anything at all was the same dim red light that the Fire Nation seemed to use for everything they built.

Aang ran forward towards the nearest beam, seemingly unbothered by the dizzying view. Katara jogged to catch up, glancing all the while at every shadowed corner. She half-expected a platoon of imperial firebenders to descend magically from above. "Why isn't anyone around?"

"I'm guessing that giant posts need much maintenance," Aang shrugged. "Nothing to really watch over, right? Either way, it's pretty useful for us." He took a position around the far side of the first beam. "Let's get cracking!"

Katara uncorked her waterskin and they got to work. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It was…

Absolutely grueling.

It was really too hard to get through just the first beam. Everyone knew that water was the ultimate shaping agent. It could push debris, shrink boulders, crack cliffs or even crush entire fleets of ships. But getting through this beam between her and Aang…well it must've taken several minutes, though even those felt like hours after forcing water through that much metal. These were much bigger than they'd looked on the blueprints, and they didn't have the kind of time water needed to push its way through easily.

"There…is no way." Aang was panting from the effort as they'd finally cut through enough metal. "...for us…to do them all. How many have we done?"

Katara would've smacked her own forehead if she didn't feel close to collapsing herself. "Aang, we've done one."

Aang stared aside to the endless rows of metal beams they'd need to get through, his shoulders visibly sagging. "There has to be another way. 'Cause I won't have enough energy for the third one."

They racked their brains over how these thick braces could be broken. The structure rumbled ominously all the while, reminding of how little time they had. Katara wondered how Sokka and Matthew were faring…

Aang snapped his fingers. "I have an idea! Okay, so Toph was telling me about how speed could be more effective than strength with this sort of thing. So how about instead of forcing our way through the metal, we slice it across really, really fast?"

Katara wasn't exactly sure what he meant. How was moving faster supposed to help, exactly?

"Attention crew, I am pleased to announce that we have made contact with the Outer Wall without a hitch. Good work, everyone!"

That announcement echoed ominously through the whole place–somehow–made Katara's stomach do a flip. They were running out of time faster than she'd thought. The drill rumbled again, and the waterbender decided then that trying this was better than trying nothing at all. "It's worth a shot, I guess."

They set to work again with renewed vigor. They had a lot of braces to do, and not truly enough time to do it.

Slice, slice, slice, slice…It was monotonous. For the first several strokes, there was no real effect–but the waterbender was surprised to see Aang's crazy idea actually working. Before she knew it, the second brace had shifted off balance under its own weight. It was much faster and easier than the first one had been. High on their newfound success, they went to the next one. Slice, slice, slice, slice…another one done. The same went for the next five that Sokka had marked for them on the map.

The drill's rumbles were now accompanied by shrieks and low groans as the compromised braces protested the movement. Katara finally bid them to halt, wiping the sweat that had accumulated from her brow. "Okay, that should be enough."

"Let's get out of here before someone notices," Aang said by way of agreement.

They retraced their steps to the door they'd entered through. Barely after they'd opened and shut the heavy door once again, Aang sucked in a breath and yanked Katara behind a particularly large pipe along the wall faster than she could even yelp.

"I don't doubt Azula's instincts," Ty Lee's voice bounced down the corridor. "It's just…what would the Avatar be doing up here, when Azula's back there?"

"Breaking stuff?" Mai guessed drolly. "I doubt they'd know what to break, but still…"

The moment their voices died away, Aang and Katara emerged from their hiding place and ran in the opposite direction.

"Sokka and Matthew must've run into Azula," Katara whispered breathlessly.

Aang glanced back to ensure that they still hadn't been seen. "I know. But–Matthew might surprise her. Sokka would tell us to keep with the plan, so we need to find a way out of here before this drill hits that wall."

They'd abandoned the blueprint a while ago, so now they were looking for anything with the word "exit", with no luck yet. Katara felt turned around before long. They turned another corner, then another, and another, then—

"Oh, hi! We've been looking all over for you!"

Katara and Aang exchanged a single glance before Aang blasted their pursuers back down the hall. They kept running until Katara caught sight of a hatch going down, and the characters welded above it. 'Slurry Pipeline'. "Aang, look here!"

Footsteps down the hall indicated that Mai and Ty Lee were about to catch up again. Katara wrenched the hatch open and jumped into the unknown depths. Aang followed her without hesitation.

The area they'd found themselves in was one of the cleaner areas in the Lower Ring. The little shop they stopped in front of was a step above its surroundings. Fresher paint, unchipped roof tiles, and non-battered shutters with a painted sign above it that read, 'Pao Family Tea Shop'.

The door was the most battered part of the facade, interestingly enough. Older, with curious marks on it. The frame around it had been repaired in fragments, though this had been cleverly covered by thick paint. Zuko filed this curious information away for another time. It was technically right before opening, but the owner was ready to receive them when they arrived.

"I'm so happy you decided to take the job," the owner, Pao, commented happily as he distributed faded green aprons to them all. "I've been severely understaffed for a while now…that's not good for business, you know." He paused and surveyed them all with an air of hopeful satisfaction. "So, how do you three feel now that you're all official tea servers?"

"Ridiculous," Zuko muttered truthfully, pulling unhappily at his new uniform. Really, when was the last time this thing had even been washed?

"Oh, we're very excited," Iroh effused. This sounded very, very genuine. Of course, Iroh loved both tea and people. This was probably a dream come true. He tried and failed to force the apron strings to tie around his back. "But ah, would you happen to have one of these in a bigger size?"

Alfred simply looked down at his new apron with mild amusement. It didn't quite reach his knees.

Pao ignored the younger two and inclined his head to Iroh. "I think I have some extra string in the back you can use, but I'll have to dig. Please, have some fresh tea while you wait." He gestured to the pot and stack of cups sitting on a nearby table before disappearing into the storeroom.

"Don't mind if I do," Iroh said. He filled his cup and took a sip, which turned his contented smile into an intense frown. In the bar-none most shocking moment Zuko had ever witnessed, Iroh spit the tea back into the cup. "This isn't tea!" the ex-general cried out in dismay, heedless of anyone who might hear. "This is lukewarm leaf juice!"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Uncle, all tea is lukewarm leaf juice."

"How can someone from my own family say such a thing?!" Iroh lamented briefly. Giving Zuko a briefly injured look, he gathered the teapot roughly in hand. "We're going to make some changes around here," the elderly man swore, stomping over to a window and unceremoniously dumping its contents outside.

As Iroh went to raid the store's supply of leaves, Alfred looked around at the assorted teas and tea pots and tea memorabilia with a chuckle.

The owner still hadn't returned, so Zuko felt safe to briefly switch languages and ask, "What is it?"

"Oh, it's just…I hate tea." Another chuckle, though this one was…oddly sad. "But if he could see me right now, my Dad would be so. Damned. Jealous."

"Did we lose her?"

Matthew risked glancing back at the seemingly deserted hallway. They didn't hear her, but… "Mmmaybe?"

That was good enough for now. Sokka took a few deep breaths, trying to ease his racing heart as he tried to remember the escape route he'd figured from the map. Thank Tui and La for his excellent memory. "Okay, good news. I think I know how to get out of here."

Matthew stared at him expectantly. "And bad news?"

"It's back the way we came. There's an emergency escape hatch near the control room."

The blond winced. "It is our only option? I do not like this…Azula."

"No one does," the Water Tribe teen assured him. "And yes, it's our only option. It's closest, and we need to get outta here fast before Aang takes this thing out."

Matthew grimaced. "If you say so. We should…not get caught, eh?"

Even though they'd turned back exactly the way they'd come, they never ran into Azula. Sokka hoped this was because she had gone the wrong way, though in his heart of hearts, he doubted it. She was too scary-smart for that. What if she'd found the others, instead?

They found the control room hatch with relative ease. As expected, it was occupied.

Mai leaned casually against the wide panel of switches and levers with her usual bored expression. A man that Sokka didn't recognize at all stood awkwardly nearby, looking miserable and anxious as his eyes flicked nervously between Mai and them.

"Oh great," Mai sighed. "I love company." She flicked her wrist almost contemptuously at the two of them.

Sokka ducked the knives that flew at him, his eyes to the ground as he searched for that escape hatch. Matthew, not about to be caught the same way twice, caught the one aimed towards his face and threw it back at her with half the technique and double the speed, Mai jumped aside in what might've been surprise as the knife lodged itself handle-first into the control panel.

"I found it!" Sokka cheered, diving for the hatch. He turned the handle and the thing popped open with hydraulic ease to reveal earth and dusty air. "Matthew, c'mon!"

The blond stopped playing danger-catch with Mai and followed Sokka out of the hatch. They fell gracelessly to the ground. Sokka got his feet under him and ran. Ran as far away from the hatch and the drill as he could, expecting knives to start whizzing past his ears at any second. Matthew grabbed him roughly by the hand as he passed and spurred him even faster.

After being almost drowned in what he could only assume was rocky wall sludge, Aang and Katara found themselves ejected unceremoniously out the back of the drill. Aang stood up, relishing the sunlight for just a moment as he helped Katara up. She waterbent the worst of the slurry from their clothes. It was only by chance that Katara looked up to see the flash of pink following up fast behind them.

Katara acted fast, raising her hands and imposing her will against the disgusting substance. Most of the flow abruptly stopped, trapping Ty Lee in place before she could land.

Ty Lee let out an affronted, "Ah!" as she tried in vain to free herself.

"I'm going to deliver the final blow!" Aang told her. "Keep this plugged!"

"Got it!"

Aang launched himself up, skittering to find purchase on the rounded surface of the drill before jumping into a sprint towards the weakened front panels, air at his back to propel him forward.

About halfway he paused and called down towards where he assumed Toph to be and yelled at the top of his lungs over the noise of the drill, "Toph! Katara needs help in the back!"

He caught the faintest "Got it!" in Toph's voice as he kept moving. As he got closer, he could see that General Sung's forces were still pounding the top of the drill with rocks…for some reason. Ah well, he could use the rock.

He skidded to a stop close to where the drill and Ba Sing Se's wall met, quickly marking the spot in the metal that he'd need to hit. There was plenty of sludge around to do the job. He looked up, and instantly got blue fire shooting at his face for the trouble. He jumped back, ducking under the follow-up blast and kicking a sweeping arc of air in what he assumed was Azula's direction.

The princess jumped this easily. Now that he could see her, however, Aang was able to quickly knock her out of the sky and off the side of the drill.

Aang turned to the biggest thrown rock he could find and started slicing and compacting it into a roughly conical shape that he could use to—

Azula was on him again, this time much closer, and her fist charged with fire. Aang adapted a spare piece of rock into a bulky glove to smother that hand and push her away. With a snarl, the princess tried to charge him again. This time, the sludge compromised her footing and had her slipping over the side on her own.

Aang returned his attention to the drill. Rock-cone in place over the mark, Aang formed an air-scooter to go up Ba Sing Se's fortress wall as fast and far as he could get. It dissipated almost too soon; he ran the last few steps before allowing gravity to turn him back down. He pushed himself faster as he got closer, and slammed into the top of the rock with both feet.

The wave of air that resulted from this threw a still-struggling Azula clear away with an enraged yell. Wall sludge burst from every seam all the way down the length of it, and the drill almost seemed to fall limp.

Aang collapsed in exhaustion, allowing the sludge to slide him lazily down the side of the drill as the faint sound of jubilated cheers from General Sung and his soldiers above echoed in his ears. Spirits, he was ready for a nap.

Katara was thrilled to see Sokka and Matthew stumbling through the sludge and out to meet her, Toph in-tow. They must have met up after escaping.

Sokka looked up at what she was bending, and smiled at the still-struggling Ty Lee. "She looks a little uncomfortable."

"She does, doesn't she?" Katara smirked. "Toph. Matthew. Help me out here."

Matthew stared up at the ball of wall sludge dubiously as Toph gleefully shifted into position. "Uh…how?"

"You feel the water in all this gross stuff?"

"Y-...yes?"

"Push it away," Katara instructed. "It's–well, it's the opposite of bringing it towards you, right? Just like I'm doing, see?"

"Yes." Matthew sounded more certain this time. He gritted his teeth in concentration, copying her movements as best he could. Ty Lee screamed as the sludge disappeared fully into the broken drill.

Sokka whooped victoriously. "Yes! Oooh, yes I can't wait to see that know-it-all general's face!"

Sorry for the wait, but this one took a while and I reeeally wanted to do better on the drill bit than I did the first time. Hope it shows!

Leave a review if you've got the time! I am a creature that seeks validation.

Later dudes. ^J^