Mi-Dved cut through another sand man as the day continued. How many is it now, two hundred three hundred? Honestly, he lost count. He looked at the axes in his hands, both of them were painted red but otherwise sharp as new. It was another little thing he liked about them, besides the obvious power ups. A weapon will get dull after a few good slashes, he knew it from experience, but those babies stayed as sharp as ever. He had no idea what the axes were made of, but he liked it.

The day was starting to end, and the sky was beginning to show signs of twilight. Which meant that they will soon move back to the camps that they managed to build. A shame, but there will be always tomorrow.

Looking around, he saw many more sand people laying unmoving on the ground, in various poses. Mi-Dved happily noted that he could barely spot fire soldiers among the fallen, so far it was a good day.

Which of course meant that something was going to screw them over.

As he turned his back to head to camp, there was a sudden blast of wind that knocked back many of the soldiers. Mi-Dved himself stayed in place thanks to his mass, as well as the fact that he was fast enough to hook himself to the ground with his axes.

It took a few very intense minutes for the sudden sand filled wind to stop, or at least to be bearable. Looking around, the fire army was in complete disarray. Soldiers thrown aside in various uncomfortable poses. Some groaned, some did not.

Looking back forward, Mi-Dved prepared his axes for a battle. From the obscurity of dust that followed the wind, came a figure. Mi-Dved was a big guy, he knew that. When people had the guts to look him in the eyes, they always looked upward. But that man… he was truly massive. Even Mi-Dved, who was well over six feet, barely reached the chest of the figure.

"Mi-Sha…"

It couldn't be anyone else. The size, the power, the authority, only one fits the bill. The man was dressed for the occasion as well. The giant's massive chest was covered in some kind of an armor, that if Mi-Dved had to guess was made from the shell of a big armadillo turtle. The rest of the body was as well covered in various kinds of protective gear, all of which had no metal in it. Seems like someone doesn't want to get shocked.

The places that weren't covered in armor, mainly the thick arms, were covered in bandages. Either to farther protect himself from lightning or to hide his injuries was uncertain. A look to the hands told Mi-Dved that the big guy had knuckled gauntlets made of the same material as the plate. No doubt to punch through arcs of lightning.

Suddenly Mi-Dved felt very, very, heavy. It was as if an adult komodo rhino was suddenly on his shoulders. It took tremendous effort to stay on his legs, but he knew that it couldn't last. Something had to give up, and Mi-Dved was afraid that it would be his spine.

The one responsible was clear, and so was how to act. A lesser fighter may have been too focused on the pressure, but Mi-Dved knew that the best way to get out of it was to break the concentration of the one responsible. He threw his right hand axe with all the power he had in his muscles and his bending, straight to the figure of Mi-Sha.

The axe spinning and flew. Even with the pressure wasting much of the throw's energy, it was still strong enough to tear through metal. Mi-Dved bended the rock inside the axe to pinpoint on the head, to make a decisive blow that would end it once and for all.

Mi-Sha caught it with his bare hands a dozen centimeters from his face.

By all accounts, it shouldn't be possible. Mi-Sha wasn't an earth bender who could counter-bend the axe to stop, nor was it humanly possible to react so fast. Yet, apparently his sperm donor didn't get this message. Worse, Mi-Sha seemed to slowly but surely get the axe away from his face and hold it in his hand. All while Mi-Dved bended the axe to tear through the face.

There was no bending involved, just pure physical strength so massive that it overcame direct bending of a power bender. And Mi-Dved knew he was the most powerful earth bender around here, cheating blind girls notwithstanding.

The only good news Mi-Dved got were that the pressure on him considerably lessened. Actually, it lessened enough for Mi-Dved to throw his other axe. Unfortunately, like the previous one, Mi-Sha caught it. But at least the pressure once again lessened.

They stood there, battling for dominance. Pure strength and resolve battled against each other, and each knew that a loss would mean death. To make matters worse, Mi-Dved could see the many figures of enforcers coming from behind their lord.

"N-no!" Was all Mi-Dved could do as they bypassed him and started to slaughter the still downed and disarrayed fire soldiers with brutal efficiency.

Two walked at his direction, even their lifeless inhuman masks couldn't hide the gleam of a cold blooded killer. So this is it, heh. This is how he dies? No, he refused to. He had too much to live for. A sister he had to protect, a friend he can't disappoint.

"No." A single clear commanding word came from the lips of the lord of the sand, halting the enforcers at once. "He's mine."

The two enforcers ran at once to join the bloodbath behind him.

Mine? What did he mean? Was it an acknowledgement of the blood bound between the two? A simple declaration of ego? Was Mi-Dved overthinking it?

Mi-Sha took a step closer.

"I must say." The giant spoke in an event tone, as if he was in a comfortable office and not at all in a deathly game of tugging war. Was Mi-Dved's attempts so insignificant? "You came much earlier than expected. And better prepared too."

"Not… thanks… to you… old man." Talking was a real struggle now, but it set things straight. They both knew, and they both knew that they both knew.

"A shame you're a sand bender." Mi-Sha sighed in a seemingly real disappointment. "You had potential, a great potential. Far better than anyone else so far."

"Others…?"

"Oh, yes." The sand lord answered dismissively. "Disappointments, all of them. Average at best and not a single air bender among them. No one to even consider from that lot, your ma was always the best stock."

Mi-Dved could only grind his teeth.

"You know." Mi-Sha continued. "It really came as surprise when I heard the girl was an air bender. A shame really, she is a breeder, not a fighter. Hopefully, being a woman, her rate of birthing air benders is higher."

Mi-Dved's blood ran cold.

"It's unfortunate that Amir is probably dead now." Mi-Sha lamented. "Don't get me wrong, the boy was an idiot with way too much piss in his head, but his mother at least knew how to raise him right physically. Now I will have to find another bull. I would have just done it myself, spirits know that an air bender is almost a grantee this way. And she looks just like her mother to boot, but the risk of genetic malfunction is just too high."

"You get away from her!"

Putting even more protectiveness/desperation fueled power, he managed to get Mi-Sha to take a step back.

"Right, enough chitter chatter."

With some effort, Mi-Sha managed to hold both axes in his right hand and pulled his free left hand forward. With a clench of his unbelievably big fist, something happened.

His breath, something happened to his breath! Mi-Dved could no longer inhale air, but he clearly felt how life giving oxygen was leaving his lungs. His vision started to get blurry and in his oxygen deprived mind, he could swear that he saw the wisps of air as it was being stolen from him. As well as countless other wisps that he couldn't find the strength to think about their origin, all concentrated into a ball around the free hand of the monster in front of him.

No! He couldn't give up now, Mi-Sha would kill everyone if Mi-Dved doesn't stop him right now!

With tremendous effort, Mi-Dved pulled everything he got into the twin axes. Now the risks were even higher, as well as the resistance. Mi-Sha had to hold double the force in one hand, all while fueling a storm, putting pressure on the entire neighborhood, and bending away the air of the entire company. Mi-Dved, in contrast, had to deal with the pressure and being forcefully choked. This wasn't even an apt description. When someone is choked, they still can hold their breath and save some air, here he couldn't do even that.

One of them had to give up and break, and things didn't look good for the smaller man. Mi-Dved had his vision turning darker and darker, his muscles giving up. Mi-Dved was getting weaker every moment while Mi-Sha seemed to be as strong as ever.

So that's how it ends, heh… even the adrenalin and whatever fumes he was running on are all exhausted. The earth bender could no longer stand on his legs, the muscles simply lacked the oxygen to work. Even then, he stubbornly bended the axes in whatever small and desperate way he could.

This was it, he felt consciousness leaving him. This is how he dies. At least Jasmine is away and safe now. Even if he falls now, she will be safe with Zuko. Yes… this, maybe this wasn't so bad at all…

Those were his final thoughts as his senses started to fail him and eternal blackness was taking over.

Zuko shot like a meteor to the eye of the storm as said storm raged and devastated whatever was left from the city. Zuko couldn't get a clear picture of the damage, having to focus on flying and all, but it couldn't be pretty.

"Pressure levels on ground are being raised and lowered to dangerous levels seemingly at random."

Zuko knew exactly what Sai was referring to, having a person experience.

"Mi-Sha plays with the pressure again?" Zuko asked without really needing an answer. "What are the estimated casualties?"

"Bad." Sai said in a way that put Zuko at unease. "Life signatures indicate a fall of a soldier every second and a half."

"No!"

Zuko flew even faster through the storm. How could he be so stupid, of course Mi-Sha would use every dirty trick he had. Zuko himself had Sai to provide the means to counter the (quite frankly ridicule) abilities of the bandit, but the regular soldiers didn't! Zuko should have thought of a solution before. And now his people pay the price for it.

"Get a hold of yourself. It's impossible to arm an entire army to take on just one man, who isn't even the avatar, while fighting a war at the same time. We had not the time nor the resources to make preparations for a single moment while hindering the entire campaign in the process."

Right, game face. He had an air bender to fry.

Zuko tore through the storm, but not before losing a great deal of speed. He finally saw his target. Mi-Sha was right above a downed Mi-Dved who was terrifyingly unmoving on the ground, a hand holding two axes about to deal retribution.

He yelled as he released an explosion right in the mass center of the big man with full force, attempting to end him then and there. The bandit, however, sent forward the fisted arm and two explosions collapsed on each other. The result was that everyone flew backwards. Mi-Sha became lost and half buried in a cloud of sand, Mi-Dved luckily was just thrown to the side relatively unharmed bar a few scratches, and Zuko landed backwards with both legs on the ground as Sai balanced the fall.

Immediately, Zuko flew towards his downed friend, checking for a pulse.

"Mi-Dved! Answer me!"

No result.

"Wake up, please!"

Still nothing.

Zuko also couldn't feel the pulse.

'I-Is he-'

"Not yet, but you need to be quick and do exactly as I say. Now put a foot on his chest."

Zuko immediately did as Sai ordered, not thinking twice. He then felt his foot produce electricity that went straight into the chest. Once… twice… in the third time his friend finally got up as if awakened from a nightmare and took greedy breathes of air.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Zuko greeted his friend as Mi-Dved continued to breath heavily and calm down from his ordeal.

"What… How…" the earth bender slowly rose up to his feet shakenly.

"Doesn't matter right now." Zuko waved it off, mostly because he himself wasn't sure what happened. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm back from the dead." Mi-Dved gave his rather apt description.

"I will take care of Mi-Sha, I need you to take care of the enforcers right now." Zuko put on his overlord mask back. "Can you do it?"

"I… yes, give me a minute." His sand native friend did a deep inhale and exhale before summoning back his twin axes. He immediately threw one at an enforcer, spluttering the man's head like a balloon. Mi-Dved then used his earth bending to throw his other axe in that direction, with Mi-Dved still attached to it.

Zuko immediately turned to the direction which Mi-Sha was blasted to and shot a concentrated beam of fire, which was intercepted by a powerful gale of wind. The two forces battled each other for dominance as the two opponents held their ground, the dust cleared from the power of their blows.

Usually, in situation like this, Sai taught him that the air benders had an advantage. An air bender could use the entire atmosphere around them for their attack in contrast to the fire bender who could only use their inner chi to create the flame. In addition, around half of the energy of the fire bender would go to the heat of the flame. Meaning that to counter an air blast, the fire bender would have to use twice as much energy as the air bender.

Zuko, however, had the advantage of having Sai. With the unliving thing's help, Zuko's flame grew hotter and stronger. Enough to slowly push the admittingly powerful air blast of Mi-Sha. It was slow, but it was there, and Mi-Sha had to concentrate all of his power in this blast to push back to a standstill. Meaning, that the storm and the pressure caused by the sand lord disappeared for good.

The two of them were blind to everything around them, focusing in their show of force. And this was more then a mere attack. It was the first time where the two had their attacks clash head-on and both used their full force, their battle in the sky was more of a hit and evade. Whoever won here was the stronger bender of the two, and both knew it. This was a wasteful show of dominance, but one that had to be won.

Here Zuko had another advantage. While Mi-Sha had his face and fatigue shown, Zuko's face was obscured under the helmet, fatigue unknown. And with Sai's machine like mentality, any pain and fatigue caused from Sai's part of the blast was nonexistent.

In the end, this mask of invulnerability won as Mi-Sha decided to cut his losses and air bended himself to the side to avoid the fire. The bigger man quickly sent an air blast strong enough to shutter a small hut and immediately changed direction. Zuko jetted away with his fire bending and gave chase, he wouldn't allow Mi-Sha to escape.

Azula was sitting on her makeshift throne in the commanding bridge of the ship her father had given her to transport Zuko. She pondered on all the ways to accomplish her mission as she sat cross legged and read documents of her brother's supposed achievements.

Things were going well so far. Father gave her a fast ship befitting both her status and the mission's demands, the crew that came with her was personally picked for their loyalty and ability by her father, and even the spirits seem to smile at her as the weather was clear.

In the end, Azula thought to herself, she should have expected this. Her brother could never do something right, he was Zuzu for crying out loud. You can always count on him to mess something up, especially when father was involved. It was just like him to shoot himself in the leg just when he was finally gaining father's favor.

Oh well, the more for her, she supposed. It also meant that she wouldn't be able to do what she planned for her birthday, but you know, no harm done. This situation pleases her much more.

Back to business at hand, she read the file and all the abilities her brother used. If even a quarter of it is true, she would eat her lipstick, but even than Zuko proved to grow much.

Explosions.

"Ha!"

Zuko yelled as he sand a barrage of explosions towards Mi-Sha. The big man flew away and escaped a collapsing building by the hair of his neck, while sending another bone shuttering air blast in Zuko's direction.

Flight.

Zuko jumped away from the blast and used his legs and armor to jet to a safe location, before jetting straight to the sand lord to get close and personal.

Lightning.

Zuko put electricity in his right fist, which held a sword as well, and sliced at the bandit with a wave of steal and lightning.

A strike which Mi-Sha broke through with a punch form his insulated gauntlet and caught Zuko's arm, preparing a follow-up high-pressured hammer punch to bury the prince in the ground.

Thinking fast, Zuko shot his legs to the bigger man's face and gave a strong donkey kick that created a shockwave with electricity. This blow stunned Mi-Sha temporary and Zuko managed to gain a few meters of distance, from which he shot lightning at a sturdy outlaw.

There was some nonsense about Zuko developing a shield made of lightning.

Mi-Sha yelled in agony as he was hit with the lightning. His insulated armor and clothes, as well as his iron will and impressive physique, allowed him to have enough resistance to put his hands up and hit the ground with force. What followed, was a well of pressure so thick that there was a carter with a diameter of a hundred feet around the giant.

Zuko himself was caught inside the well, and even with Sai's help, the sudden pressure was enough to break the concentration for a second. Thus, ending the lightning strike. Zuko faltered a little on unsteady legs as a big blast of wind, carrying with it a dozen or so ton of sand, headed straight towards him.

Instinctively, a ball of electricity surrounded the prince just before the wind hit. There was a continuous sound of something melting as well as the usual static sound of electricity, before in was silenced by the wind. When the attack ended, Mi-Sha saw a ball of glass around the place where the prince was. The glass itself had to be at least a few feet deep.

And there was even a ridicule statement that her brother had unnatural physical strength and could use his swords as some kind of bending equipment

Truly, it's just ridicule how the peasants could alter the story with their wild imagination.

The ball of glass was broken from the inside as Zuko bashed his way to Mi-Sha's direction. He then threw his swords at two points behind the sand lord, the power of the throw was strong enough to have them buried in the ground by hilt. Once in the ground, a curtain of fire came to existence between the two.

In addition, the angle of the swords made the fire curtain block the sky above Mi-Sha.

With a strong stamp on the ground, Zuko caused it to shake a little. It also released a cloud of dust around the sand lord, blinding him for a second even if he created a protective shield of wind around himself.

Zuko used this opportunity to use a supportive beam made of marvel the size of Mi-Sha as a bat. With a yell, Zuko used the heavy weapon to swat away his foe. The air shield may have buffered the blow for the big man, as well as the flames of the curtain, but Mi-Sha still flew a good dozen meters to the air.

Zuko threw aside the now broken beam and flew after the sand lord after he collected his swords.

Azula put aside the document after a deep review of the content, formulating different courses of action for different scenarios.

"Captain." Azula called with an even voice. "How much longer until we reach our destination?"

"Spirit will it, we'll reach Gaoling harbor by the end of the day." The man answered. "With a good transport, it may take a day or two until we reach Amora."

"That's… acceptable." Azula decided. The time will help her prepare, and she wasn't too worried about Zuzu running away.

Suddenly, a man came up to her with a scroll.

"A latter for you, your highness." He explained as he bowed. "With a royal seal."

Azula showed no emotion, but inside she was very curious. Did father had more demands?

"You may leave." She said in the same emotionless voice as before.

After the man left, she broke the seal and began to read the content of the latter. All while making sure that no one else was trying to read. She was sure that none of the people on board were stupid enough to try to spy on her, but one can never be too causes with those sorts of things.

As she continued reading, it became harder and harder for her to maintain neutral expression.

"Captain, double the speed." She ordered as she burnt the piece of paper. "I need to in Amora by tomorrow noon."

Zuzu will have a lot to answer for.

Iroh huffed as he rested his hands on his knees for a moment, this day was full of running for the dragon of the west.

First, he heard the soldiers (as well as getting a message from his friends at the white lotus) about the attack on the tent and his nephew's arrest. Immediately, he ran from the field he was in to the camp. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, his nephew was already gone. He began his search at his nephew's tent only to find it empty, then he ran to the area where the girls slept.

Once there, he had seen two soldiers guarding the door, or at least where to afraid to enter. When asked, they replied that his nephew had already left with his group and that he ordered them to bring food to his bedridden hound. He asked them if they knew where the teenagers went, but they didn't know. He bid them luck and went away.

Lucky, he found (or rather had been found by) someone from the white lotus who told him that his nephew flew to the front again because the men spotted Hadoka. Saying nonspecific words to nonspecific people in his head, he ran to the front yet again.

Only to yet again be left by his nephew as the young prince flew again to the base. Oh nephew, why do you hate your uncle so? Is it jot enough that you cause him mental heart attack, so you try to cause him a literal one two?

He once again ran to the base. Luckily enough, he managed to catch the Kyoshi warriors and that Suki lass.

"Wait!" He called the girl as he breathed heavily for a much needed air.

"Prince Iroh?" The girl asked as she handed him some water. "Are you okay?"

"Huff…" He drank the water eagerly, the girl was truly a guardian spirit. "Thank you kindly, I needed that. As for me, don't worry. I just had a very long walk, those old legs aren't what they used to be."

"Careful there, uncle Iroh, Zuko would hate to lose you and so do I. Please, rest a little." She said as she guided him somewhere he could sit. "Now please, how can I help you?"

"You have a kind heart, lady Suki." Iroh said before continuing. "I afraid that I must see my nephew, support him in face of recent events. Unfortunately, I seem to always miss him. Do you know where he may be?"

"Well, last time I checked, he is fighting in the city. Gone with the assault bell." The girl tapped her chin in thought. "He should be there for the rest of the day, I think. His flames are hard to miss when he's flying."

"Oh… this kid is going to be the death of me." Iroh lamented his old legs. "It seems that in my haste I missed the bell."

"It's fine." Suki smiled. "Rest for a bit, Zuko isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon."

"Thank you, I may do just that." He return the smile.

"So…" Suki spoke after a few moments of silence "What's going to happen with, you know… all the arrest thing?"

Iroh sighed again.

"It's hard to tell." He said honestly, the girl deserved that at least. "My brother is harsh in the best of times, as the scar on my nephew can attest, but he also isn't a fool. I will do my best to lessen the punishment as much as I can, but I lost too much influence in court to defend Zuko completely. Ozai may banish him for life this time, avatar or not."

"If worse comes to worse." Suki fiddled her legs, looking down and blushing a little. "Zuko will always have a place in Kyoshi island, he's more then welcome to stay with me-my village."

Ah… The first admirer of his nephew, one of many if his nephew was anything like his father and uncle.

"I'm sure my nephew will be delighted to hear it." The dragon of the west smiled knowingly. "My nephew speaks highly of you, you know?"

"R-really?" She played with her hair, blushing a bit more. "W-what does he say?"

"Oh, it's not my place to say." He evaded slyly. "You should ask him yourself once you see him, preferably with only the two of you."

"A-ah." Iroh allowed himself to chuckle at the girl's response. Ah, to be young again… He did, however, became serious afterwards. There was something that needed to be addressed.

"Miss Suki." He said seriously, the sharp contrast in his tone caught the young woman by surprise. "There is something else I would like to talk with you."

"Sure, what is it?" She asked in confusion.

"I know what happened today." He said as he looked her in the eyes. Lin's death happened today, right? Or was it yesterday at night? It was hard to know exactly."

"W-what are you talking about?" The girl became more guarded and… blushing for some reason?

"It's fine." Iroh said reassuringly as he put a calming hand on the girl's shoulder. "The war causes us to enter situations that we would have never thought possible. I truly sorry that you had your innocence taken away in such young age."

"W-wha- no, we d-didn't- I mean- wait, how did you know?! Did Zuko tell you?!" Oh my, the girl is becoming a mess from trauma. Iroh really should defuse the situation.

"Nonsense." He waved off her concerns. "I was searching for my nephew all day, how could I have talked to him?"

The girl sighed in relief.

"I heard it from the soldiers on the way."

"What?!" Okay, he didn't expected the loudness, nor did his poor ears.

"Well, it's not like you were keeping things quiet, people heard you loud and clear. By now I think that everyone at camp know."

His poor old ears weren't prepared for the shriek that followed as the girl hid her tomato colored face in her hands.

With a sigh, he put a little pressure on the girl's shoulder. "Listen, as brush as in may sound, I have experience in this situation. If you need help in anything, and I mean anything at all, I will gladly help you."

"Ohlookanonspecificexcusegottogoburymyselfinaholehaveanicedaybye!" The girl left running as if Koh itself was after her.

Iroh sighed, perhaps he pushed too hard. For all the knowledge he gained in his spiritual journey, as well as his younger life, he was still blind to the world's greatest mystery. Women.

A sudden tornado from the center of the city brought him back from his musings.

"Prince Zuko!"

He ran with all his might, old body forgotten for the moment.

Things got… intense, Zuko had to admit. Mi-Sha is much harder to fight on land than in air, go figure. Zuko once again flew to evade another high pressured blast that was strong enough to turn a komodo rhino inside out. The armor may be strong enough to withstand the force of the hit, but his body underneath still shook. And it hurt.

It also seemed like Mi-Sha had learnt from their last battle. The sand lord was dressed to resist his lightning as much as possible, while maintaining mobility and protection. The big guy also favored sand attacks to blind Zuko, attacks that indirectly made his lightning shots much less effective. A screen of sand really, really, didn't help the course of electricity.

Right now, he returned an explosion of his own in retaliation, no lightning included. He has to conserve his energy for now, and lightning is too wasteful for too little gain. Hate as he is to admit it, he couldn't just overpower and blitz his opponent before his energy runs out. And the guy hits hard.

That doesn't say that he has the lower hand here, far from it. Mi-Sha was breathing heavily, bruised, pieces of his armor were missing, and he had a few scratches on his face from glass shards that were created from molted sand. He favored one leg over another, and his hits were a bit slower and weaker than before. He was getting tired.

Zuko sidestepped another fist that was strong enough to punch through metal by brute strength alone, and returned a fist in kind. This one had electricity.

Unfortunately, Mi-Sha anticipated this and caught Zuko's fist with his own, much larger, hand. The electricity dissolved by the insulated gauntlet. Mi-Sha threw him into a building as Zuko stabbed him with an extending wrist blade, causing the blade to merely graze a three inches deep cut at the side instead the fatal blow it would have been.

Zuko broke through the wall from the force of the impact right into the middle of the semi-standing building. It was immediately crushed from up by some unseen force, pressure most likely, and left Zuko buried there.

Zuko tried to get up, but a few tons or so of rock was making it difficult. After a bit of growling, he managed to move along the wreckages to a less buried place. It was then, that Sai warned him of an incoming object. Zuko could only mentally prepare himself as something heavy landed with force on top of him.

Praying a thank you for the hardness of his armor, Zuko managed to get out with just his body feeling like a one big concussion. He was pretty sure that his kidneys switched places with each other from the force of the blow. He was raised up, and then again slammed to the ground before he could react.

"When I done with you, not even your mommy will recognize your corpse." Mi-Sha said above him. "I am going to enjoying this very, very, much!"

Zuko trashed wildly and used fire bending and lightning in all limbs, but the grip of the gauntlet was just so strong. It must be enforced by pressure of some kind, because he could swear that he heard a sound of metal bending from his armor. Then again, that could just be the concussion ringing in his ears.

Sai helped him a little as in the next time Zuko was smashed into the ground, his armored sabatons extended spikes from the feet and planted itself to the ground. The act didn't help Zuko escape, as he was almost immediately unplanted, but the surprise was good enough to loosen the grip for Zuko to spin and deliver a deep cuts from his extended wrist blade right on the sand lord's cheek and nose.

The giant of a man roared in pain as he released the prince. Zuko intended to continue his assault, however it was proven a mistake as Mi-Sha immediately tackled him to the ground. Zuko found himself barley avoiding being choked by the much, much, bigger man. It was only thanks to the armor that he was still in one piece, and it was only thanks to whatever Sai did to him that his hands could struggle against Mi-Sha's own, if barely.

The man on top straggly placed his open hand at a point above Zuko's head. Sai told him that the brute was trying to steal his air and choke him like that, but with the helmet hermetically close to both high and low pressure such a thing was basically pointless.

"Why. Aren't. You. Choking!" The bandit yelled through the process, undoubtedly this has never happened to him.

"The helmet is hermetically closed both from inside and outside." Zuko said with a filtered voice that hid just how hard he was struggling to keep Mi-Sha at bay. "Now die."

Zuko then release a powerful beam of fire from his mouth. The attack was powered by Sai's energy reserves as well, so Zuko could feel his head pressured to the floor from the power of the blast. He was pretty sure that a person could see it miles away, especially in the darkening sky.

He felt Mi-Sha trying to escape but didn't let him. The same hands that were battling for dominance now reversed their rules, Mi-Sha tried to break apart and get away while Zuko held the hands in place. In the end, the force of the blast pushed the sand lord out of Zuko's reach.

Zuko stopped his ray and allowed himself to rest, there is no way anything could survive that hit head on. Immortal gargantuan centipedes and ridiculously huge Unagi excluded.

"Get up."

'Argh… what?'

"Get up, now!"

With an adrenalin rush injected by Sai, Zuko rose to his feet. Much to his carnage, he saw that his foe was much less dead than needed. Half of Mi-Sha's face was literally melted, much worse than what Zuko had after his agni kai. The rest of him was fine, more or less, but it was clear that the man was in agony. Death will be a mercy at this point.

The sand lord must have bent his head backwards to evade the burnt of the blast, but even still the damage was severe. The most frightening and impressive thing was that the giant was in the process of standing up and continuing to fight. By all accounts, this man should be dead ten times over, it's only through the titanic depth of his will and strength that he refuses to die.

Suddenly a familiar voice was heard.

"Prince Zuko!"

"Uncle?" Zuko asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The man looked as if he ran to Gaoling and back.

"Nephew…" His uncle huffed. "Please, never make me chase you ever again. My heart wouldn't live it through."

"Well, I'm glad you could join the party." Zuko said before turning back to Mi-Sha. "Now let's finish it."

Zuko had lost his swords somewhere during the battle, but it didn't matter. He was with his uncle now, victory is all but assured. The problem was that Mi-Sha was a dead man walking, and he knew it. Even if by some miracle he escapes, the injuries will see it that he wouldn't see the next day. He was a cornered animal with nothing left to lose, and therefore at his most dangerous.

The final showdown begins now.

"You go there."

"Hell no, you go in."

The two soldiers argued with each other in front of the door, the only thing that separated them and the from the den of the beast. A den that they were duty bound to enter and face the beast within.

"Spirits no!" the first one exclaimed. "I got a family back home!"

"Well, so am I!" The second one retorted. "My wife is also expecting to boot. Besides, I carried most of the food, now man up and open the door."

They argued with each other for a bit before deciding to sort this out with the old and honorable tradition of rock paper scissors.

"Damn it!" The loser grumbled as he headed to face his fate.

They opened the door and the man got in. The room was clearly a girl's room, but he paid it no mind. No, he cared more about the over a half ton beast that slept on the floor as if it owned the place. A claim that the man has no will to disapprove as the thing snort smoke with its snores.

He snakingly made his way around the creature that quickly became infamous all around the camp ever since he was brought here. Its tales of butchery of all kinds of animals spread through the camp like a wildfire in a dry field. Praying to Agni all the while seemed like the only right option, but he couldn't disobey a direct order from the prince.

He put the food in front of the maw of the sleeping hound. He yelped when the animal opened its blood red eyes and ran out of the door. It closed immediately behind him.

"You got it?" His partner asked.

"Yeah, no let's get the F out of here! It just woke up!"

The two man didn't waste time running. The beast may be under the sway of the prince, but they didn't want to test its loyalty when hungry. They could here the thing tear through the food all the while.

Xing was famished. The smell of cooked meat had woken the hound from its slumber. Sparing no mind to the imitation as it fled, Xing began to feast and make up for lost time. It happily noticed that most of the injuries it sustained had been healed for the most part, even if Xing still felt weak from the confrontation.

The thought about the battle made the dog pause a little from devouring the food. It had been close, far to close. Xing knew only by smelling now that those of importance have gotten away and are in their way to their respective homes. Such a disgrace can't ne repeated.

Now, with time to reflect, Xing saw that many times chance played too much in his conflict. It was luck that Xing not only unlocked just the right ability, but also mastered it almost immediately. It was luck that Xing managed to run at the right corner just when the time was right.

No more. Xing had to learn and do better next time, and there will be a next time. Shameful as it is, alone Xing could not defeat it. It was only thanks to the master's possible mating partner killing the head of the goat that Xing had any chance at all. And it was only thanks to the environment that Xing was able to get the upper limb.

Yes, the environment was Xing's greatest advantage when they fought one on one, therefore Xing will use it. A beginning of a plan started to form in the hound's head. On its own, Xing's attacks were just too weak against the enemy, but there were other things around that could hurt it. Xing used the environment to his advantage before, but now it will go a step further and remake it to his will. Yes, this will work.

There could be only one king of the monsters.

Fire and air battled each other as the sand lord and the princes put their all in this one final attack. Zuko's flame was much weaker after that ray from before, but so was Mi-Sha. Besides, he had his uncle for support. Firepower wasn't an issue here.

What was the issue was the rabid behavior of their enemy. Is seems like the sand lord had thrown caution to the wind as he disregarded the burns he got. Caring only to inflict as much damage as possible.

Back to their attacks, like the first time, the fire was gaining ground on the air. However, instead of fleeing like before, Mi-Sha ran towards the fire. It was only thanks to Sai that Zuko noticed at all, the fire perfectly hid the giant. What more bewildering was the fact that the big guy created a small tornado around himself as a shield from the flames as he ran.

It worked until Mi-Sha was a few meters away from them. Then, the fire was just to strong and overwhelmed the shield, having the man inside face the burn head on. And the guy still got through. Burnt whole and looking more dead then alive, but he got through.

"Left!" Zuko yelled at his uncle as he himself stepped right. Just in time for the both of them to avoid a hammer punch that would flatten a grown man to a fine pesto.

From there, the three traded blows in close quarters as the sand lord was surrounded from two sides.

One time, Zuko slashed with his wrist blade and cut through about a third of Mi-Sha's arm as the later held his hand to protect himself. Uncle used this distraction to hit the bigger man with some kind of move that most likely should have done something, but either because of the sheer mass of Mi-Sha, the burns, or any other reason, the giant didn't even feel it.

Uncle could only let out a look of surprise and shock as he was swept aside by a massive hand. All that was while Zuko's blade was still inside the man's arm, mind you. Zuko gave another slash, and Mi-Sha caught it this time with his gauntlet. The two now battled for dominance.

"You will die soon enough. You know that, right?" Zuko addressed his foe. "If not here then in an hour or two."

"After… I… kill… you!" The sand lord grunted through his teeth. "Besides… you can't kill me. Father… and son… it's always… father and son."

What kind of nonsense was he blubbering about now Zuko didn't care, his only concern was to overpower his fading foe. Then, in the middle of their face-off, uncle got again and kicked Mi-Sha in the knee. Again, the sand lord showed no reaction.

Suddenly, as the two stared murderously at each other, there was a sound and Zuko saw an axe sticking out of his opponent's skull. A very familiar axe at that.

The giant lost all strength and Zuko let the now lifeless body fall to the ground as he stared at the kill stealer- his friend Mi-Dved. He let his feelings being known as he did a 'bro, really?' pose to the earth bender.

"The man needed a killing." Mi-Dved shrugged in a 'what can I do?' manner. He was right, but still… uncool, man.

His largest friend looked tired as well, with blood staining all kinds of places. Mostly of the enemy, but Zuko figures that the large earth bender had his fair share of injuries.

Shaking his head, Zuko looked at the now deceased sand lord. After all this time and hard work, it was finally done. He could hardly believe it, a part of him still expected Mi-Sha to rise up and attack him. But no, it was finally over.

Another two warriors found their way to his clutches, two out of many today. Sensō sighed inside his thoughts. Two souls, two hearts, two mortals awaiting judgement that none of them would ever know happened. He had to admit that those two souls burn brighter than most, especially the second one.

He looked at the first soul of the two to reach him. A righteous soul who did everything it could to guide and protect those close to it and those that not. Hunted by mistakes and shackled by guilt, this soul will stay here for a while. A prison of its own making, the worst kind of prison there is. If it still had conciseness, it would think "Surly, I deserve no better".

There is no need to mourn it, for it will finally find peace. Sensō will keep it in a warm place, where it can melt the guilt in time.

The spirit looked now at the second soul. A bold soul who fought its way tooth and nail from nothing to the top, using any and all instruments in its disposal to reach its goals. Burning with resolve and self righteousness, as well as stained cruelness and greed, what could have been a diamond in the rough transformed to something else. If it still had conciseness, it would think "No, I refuse. I will uplift myself anew".

There is no need to mourn it, for it had achieved its dreams. Sensō will damn and use this soul, for there is much resolve in it, and it will have its uses soon enough.

Two done, infinity to go. The spirit of war felt its realm is once again starting to reach its limits, expansion will soon be needed.

Wither others like it or not.

AN

And I'm back!

There you have the final battle with Mi-Sha, hoped you liked it. Next chapter will have more about the aftermath of the battle and actions and reactions of different people.

Anyway, for the reviews:

J4M35W1NZ :

Thank you!

I hope the chapter was for your satisfaction.

02cjd :

Thank you!

Don't worry, his father figures will set him straight!

With the smoke, yes I have considered it, and Zuko will use is. Here, however, he had little chance. using smoke against an air bender isn't very effective.

I will follow your suggestion when the need for modern warfare will arrive. And thank you, Disney hades was inspiration for the flaming hair. For the rest, I'll leave as spoilers.

Engineer1869 :

Thank you!

Yes, I think that we all can agree that that men had enough adventures, time to go home. Things will be... interesting there to say the list. The place they will come will be different from the one they left. Of course there will be happiness, but also the question of "what now?". And Aang is another can of worms entirely, You can be sure that I will write on that plenty when time comes.

Thank you, I was watching a documentary about Japan before I wrote that. I couldn't help myself but to add this.

With all the focus on Zuko and his adventures, it's easy to forget that there is an entire world besides them. Sai's objective is to advance humanity, and I felt the need to show it.

Glad you liked that bit with Suki. Poor Sai, being the captive audience of a soap opera can drive anyone mad. And wanted or not, Sai has a lot of experience here.

deniswanheda :

I know, easy choice right?

Yeah, Katara and Kya will have an interesting conversation, that's for sure. As for Jasmine's reaction, let's just say that it's in Zuko's best interests to keep what he had with Suki very very quiet.

I will say nothing about shipping as to not do any spoilers, and besides, the ship can still sail. it's not as if no one ever changed his mind after making a decision

As for Hadoka returning home with his man... Yeah... there will be a lot of things everyone need to figure out. and it's not like there is an avatar in their backyard to magically fix all their problems.

If he decides to, sure, he could easily enough escape his sister. The problem is that this will only cause him more trouble down the road. And as much as the soldiers would hate it, if they are ordered to fight Zuko they'll do it. The order came straight from the fire lord, to not follow it is treason. Ozai's and Zuko's standings are far from reaching the point where the soldiers will consider betrayal.

Glad that you liked the kiss, I tried to write it as realistically as possible. And yes, Sai has to suffer through it all, again.

Lord Lelouch :

Don't worry, we haven't seen the last of Suki, not by a longshot.

By all accounts, Zuko can easily avoid capture. Even with his own small group (Iroh and the siblings) they could escape without too much trouble. The problem is that it will only make things harder in the long run as Zuko still doesn't have enough strength or support to go against his father, nor the will in this point of time. As for the army, the orders came directly from the fire lord, there is nothing they can do about it. They are far from turning their back to their nation for Zuko.

Xpparda :

Thank you. Overlord I, number one romcom in the spirit world. hosted by Sai.

There would be some changes in the next arc alright, I promise you that.

Don't worry, there will be enough mother/daughter bonding, and that what I was thinking about when writing Sai's reaction. Besides, Zuko is a teenager, like many of the cast. Expect some drama and misunderstandings in the future. And you worry about Iroh? Zuko has Sai inside his head for crying out loud. Ignoring the fact that Sai has a lot of experience being inside someone, it also was an unwilling participant when all the overlords did the birds and the bees. If combined, Sai spent more time in it then Iroh is even alive.