Zuko sneezes from the cold having been convinced by Aang to wear the attire of an air nomad, it gives him little protection from the chill of the wind. The snow crunches beneath their feet as the group trudges their way up a snowy hill somewhere in the main continent of the earth kingdom. As the wind blows harder, Zuko grunts in annoyance and breathes some fire into his hands to keep warm. Sokka mocks him for not being able to stand the cold but is smacked by his sister who then offers the avatar a parka to wear. As they reach the top, Aang announces their arrival to their destination.
"The earth kingdom city of Omashu!" He announces as miles in front of them sits a gigantic city on the top of a mountain, the city itself built upon what seems to be giant pyramids of moved stone with hundreds of houses and buildings dotting the sides. In the center of the main pyramid sits a grand castle with a door so large it can be seen for miles around. "I used to always come here with my friend Bumi!"
"Wow… we don't have buildings like this at the south pole." Katara says in awe of the giant city.
"They have buildings here that don't melt." Sokka rejoices in an envious tone.
"It's big." is all Zuko says, getting the three of them to turn around and arch an eyebrow at him.
"Well, there's no point in dallying around here, the real fun is inside the city! Come on!" Aang says as he takes off with his glider lacking the foresight to bring the others with him.
"I knew he would leave us behind, come on let's just get on Appa. My feet are killing me." Zuko complains before sneezing and shivering even more.
"Mrooaaahhhh." Appa bellows as Zuko climbs up his fur and into the saddle.
"Wait! Aang comes back here!" Katara calls out, causing the air bender to bank right and fly back to them. "It can be dangerous, if that Zhao guy thought you were the avatar maybe they will be too. You and Zuko need a disguise."
"Well what am I supposed to do, grow a mustache?" Aang asks sarcastically.
"Plus, it's not like I can hide this all that well." Zuko says, pointing to the obvious scar over his eye.
Moments later, Aang is twitching his nose having been put in Appa's fur to make a full head of white hair and fake mustache. Meanwhile, Zuko has been given an eye patch and a change of clothes now wearing Sokka's extra set that he has yet to sew down to his size. "Ugh this is itchy, how do you live in this Appa?" Aang questions getting the bison to snort in his general direction.
"At least you can see where you're going. With my luck I'll probably walk into so- Oof." Zuko says as he walks face first into a boulder before falling over. Sokka and Katara both laugh at this before ushering them to come on and helping Zuko off the ground.
"Perfect, now you look like my grandfather." Sokka says sarcastically with a sly grin on his face.
"Well… technically, Aang is 112 years old so it is believable." Katara responds as Aang picks up his staff and spins it very quickly then slams it into the ground to use as a rudimentary chain.
"I have no idea what I'm gonna say so I'll just stay quiet and try not to walk into anything." Zuko says as he tries to walk in a straight line.
"Now let's get going you whippersnappers, the big city awaits." Aang says in an attempt to pretend to be an old man. Katara and Sokka look at each other slightly concerned before they start the walk to the massive city.
Hours of walking go by as the quartet make their way up the road to the city, Sokka having to direct Zuko the entire time due to his lack of depth perception. Along the way Aang recounts stories of when he used to come to Omashu over 100 years ago. "Don't worry about this place, the people here are the friendliest in the world." Aang says just in time to see the gate guards throw a poor man's cabbage cart off the cliff due to them being rotten. "Just keep smiling." He says jovially as he walks up to the guards. The center guard bends a large boulder over Aang before questioning his business.
"State your business." The guard snaps before Aang rushes up to the young looking guard and poking him in the chest.
"My business is my business and none of yours, I have half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddling your backside!" Aang rants pretending to be an ornery old man and foisting his finger in the guard's face. This deception works as the guard drops the boulder on the road, which causes Katara, Lee and Sokka to be bounced off the ground due to its weight. In his defense the guard puts his hands up and tries to question him.
"Settle down the old timer, just tell me who you are." The guard questions, Aang goes back to leaning on his staff before answering.
"The names Bonzu Pippinpaddle Oppsokopolis… the Third. And these are my grandkids and my granddaughter's husband." Aang feigns. Katara quickly goes along with this scheme and introduces herself.
"Hi, I'm Jin Lee, and here is my husband Lee Lee." Katara says as she grabs Zuko's arm and pulls him forwards slightly. The guard scratches his chin for a moment before turning to Katara and Zuko.
"Lee Lee huh? Bet you lost that eye fighting a fire bender, thank you for your service. You seem like a respectable young woman Jun Lee, be sure that you keep your grandfather in line. Enjoy Omashu." The guard says as he lets them inside the city. Just as Sokka passes by them, the guard stops him. "Wait a second, you seem like a strong young man. Show some respect for the elderly and battle wounded and carry your grandfather's bag."
"Good idea!" Aang cheers on as he hits Sokka in the head with the bag he was carrying, which conveniently lands in Sokka's hands. As the three enter into the massive city, the earthbenders on the walls part the three layer gate to the city allowing them inside. Just in time for Momo to peek out of Aang's wig and look around which confuses the guard. "You see this? This is the Omashu delivery system, miles and miles of shoots and slides. It's propelled up by earthbending and gravity takes it back down."
"Great so they get their mail on time." Sokka says in an apathetic manner to the impressive delivery system.
"Oh, they do get their mail on time but my friend Bumi found a better use for these shoots." Aang grins reflecting on when he and his friend had used the shoots as little kids to glide around the entire city like it was a giant slide. "One ride down this thing, then it's off to the north pole. Airbender's honor."
"I was excited about this earlier but now I'm having second thoaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Katara screams as Aang pushes the cart down the giant slide system.
Going down the hill at blinding speeds the three of them scream, but Zuko merely sits in the back with his arms folded completely unimpressed at this. The wind nearly takes off Aang's wig as they speed down the almost vertical drop from the top of the Mail headquarters towards the lower districts. As they are flying down the slide, another cart comes alongside them, this one has a stand with several razor sharp spears attached to it. Soon the lanes merge into a single slide with the spear stand gaining on them, Zuko and Sokka both duck seeing the stand get way too close for comfort and Katara beckons Aang to get them away from it. In a swift motion, Aang rocks the cart back and forth before sending it airborne and onto one of the stone roofs below. It destroyed the stone shingles before continuing to glide down the hill. Below them a sergeant is lecturing his men saying "Men, you'll be going off to combat soon so it is important that you expect the unexpected." On que, the cart with the four in it speeds past them putting a dent in the stone and ricocheting away.
The cart bounces off the ground, across some more roof tops and through the guard rail of a transit for packages. It derails a cart full of pumpkins before continuing off the other side and down more roofs before landing in another slide. As this one turns to a vertical drop they see one of the workers moving packages and panic as they are about to crash into one, they breathe a sigh of relief as it is pushed away by the worker but scream as another one is lifted up. The carts collide with each other and the four are sent flying through the air. Thinking quickly, Aang air bends them safely back into the cart, only to crash into some poor vase maker's home and destroying a vase he is making. Aang quickly apologizes as they go flying through his other window. The hit another ledge before sliding through someone's home, which prompts their cat to attack Momo the two chasing each other around Aang's wig before Momo pushes it away. The barrel through a final railing before dropping into the city below. There they crush an horribly unfortunate man's cabbage cart.
"My Cabbages! You're gonna pay for this!" The man screams as Aang and the group get up from the wreckage, Zuko's eye patch now gone and Aang's fake hair having blown away.
"2 cabbages please." Aang asks, trying to defuse the situation as they are arrested by the guards nearby.
The four are escorted to the throne room of the king of Omashu by the guards, even Momo is being held by one of the guards as he tries to fly away. As they enter the lavish castle of Omashu, they look around at all the tapestries on the walls. The long elegantly crafted carpet leading through the palace itself. Soon they are brought before the king, an elderly old man with wild hair and an interesting fashion sense who arches an eye seeing the four of them, Aang in particular.
"Your majesty, these four juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages. What do you want us to do with them?" The guard says to the king, meanwhile the cabbage owner is ranting and raving about a death sentence for his cabbages. He is then hushed by the palace guard. "Silence! Only the king can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, your majesty?"
"Throw them…" He pauses as the four tense up fearing his answer. "A feast." he says which confuses everyone as to why he would suggest something. Not long after, a massive spread fit for a king and his entourage is given to the four. From entire Cornish game hens to fish and elegantly made tea and crumpets are just a mere fraction of what has been provided to them. Momo makes it a point to steal several small nuts for himself while the king is talking. "You see, the people of my city are fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin."
"Thanks, but I don't eat meat." Aang protests, turning the chicken drumstick the king is waving around like a baton. "How about you, tough guy? Do you eat meat?"
"I love meat." Sokka says before the king shoves the entire drumstick in Sokka's mouth and wraps his way back to his seat at the head of the table.
"So tell me young bald one. Where are you from?" the king asks as Aang takes a moment to think of an answer.
"I'm from… Kangaroo Island." He responds.
"Kangaroo Island hmm? I hear that place is really Hopping!" This pun only prompts Sokka to laugh. "Well… All these good jokes are making me tired. Seems like it's time to, Hit the hay!" The king yells as he beams a chicken leg at both Aang and Zuko. As an anergic reaction both of them lean back in their seats and air bend the chicken leg to catch it, however Zuko accidentally creates a bit of fire as he does so. "There's an airbender in our midst, and it seems that the other one is the avatar." This statement gets all four in the group to gasp. "Now, What do you have to say for yourself. Mister Lee Lee." He snickers at this name as he grins widely.
"Alright. Alright. You caught me. I am the avatar." Zuko says as he stands up from his chair and motions for the others to do the same. "Now if you'll excuse us, I believe we've overstayed our welcome... so we'll be going now." Zuko stutters as he ushers Aang, Katara and Sokka towards the exit. However their escape is blocked by the palace guards who cross their staves to prevent them from leaving.
"You can't keep us here! Let us leave already. We have to take the avatar to the north pole." Katara pleads.
"Lettuce leaf?" The king questions before picking up a single leaf and biting into it.
"This guy is nuts." Sokka whispers to both Aang and Zuko.
"Tomorrow, the avatar will face three deadly challenges but, for now. Guards, show them to their chambers." the king commands but one of his attendants has a question regarding that order.
"Which chamber is that? The good chamber or the bad chamber?"
"The newly refurbished chamber."
"Wait, which one was that again?"
"The one that used to be the bad chamber but up until the new refurbishing that is. We should call it the new chamber, the refurbished chamber. We really should number them… Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad." The king demands as the four are escorted out of the room.
Zuko was spooked awake by the sudden sound of the stone walls moving on their own. As he gets his bearings, the first of the red flags goes off in his mind. The others are missing, including Momo. Turning towards where the sound is emanating from, he sees that the wall has opened revealing one of the guards of Omashu standing there. Zuko blasts a small burst of fire off of the stone bed as he jumps to his feet. He assumes a fighting stance ready to face off against the guard.
"What have you done with my teacher?!" He yells, creating daggers of fire protruding from the back of his fists. The guard ignores this shout and posture from Zuko and ignores his display.
"Your friends are fine, but the King wishes for your audience, Avatar." The guard explains before turning and walking down the corridor he had opened as they entered the refurbished chamber. Zuko groans as he breathes some fire from his mouth before marching out of the room clearly agitated that he had been both rudely awoken and ignored.
Coming back to the royal throne room, Zuko sees Aang, Sokka and Katara being held by three guards. Aang and Sokka have had their staff and weapons confiscated by the guards and are now being held in shackles by them. Zuko gives Aang a questioning look wondering why he just doesn't air bend his way out of the Guards grasp but notices that his shackles bind both his ankles together and cover the majority of his hands leaving only his fingers exposed. Turning to face the deranged king he notices that the garb he is dressed in has now changed, instead of the typical earth kingdom green, it is now a vibrant purple set of robes with an extravagant feather adorned headdress.
"Ah, welcome young Avatar Lee." The king greets with a half crazed laugh as Zuko gains his attention. "I bet you're wondering why I've summoned you this early."
"Get to the point old man. If anything happens to them I'm going to burn this whole city to the ground!" Zuko exhales fire from his mouth to emphasize his displeasure with what's happened.
"Now that is something I'd like to see. How hot would your fire have to be to set rocks and stone on fire? That would be interesting, but no. No harm will come to them, that is if you can pass my deadly challenges." With a nod of his head the guards holding the rest of the gaang pull their arms forwards and place a ring on their outstretched pointer fingers. Aang's is a soft red color, Sokka's is purple and Katara's is green. "Those, young Avatar, are rings made from the 'creeping crystal'. You'll have to complete my tests in order to save your friends."
"Ah! It's already creeping!" Sokka girlishly screams seeing the crystal glow slightly before growing up his finger. "Zuko you better get these done quick man!"
"So much for keeping my identity a secret. Thanks Sokka, you idiot." Zuko responds sarcastically as Katara manages to smack her brother on the back of the head before being restrained again.
"Oh, I was aware you were the runaway son of the Fire Lord, Prince Zuko, that changes nothing. You complete my tests and you and your friends are free to go. Now, test number one. What… Do you think of my robes?" The mad King questions getting Zuko to tilt his head and give him a bewildered half mouth open stare at the insane question.
"What?"
"Come on, I'm speaking the common language around here, what do you think of my outfit?" The King repeats himself, Zuko still stares at him as if he's looking at a madman, granted he is but he stares on anyways.
"Uh… it's very… purple." If Sokka could, he would smack himself in the face with his own palm at this response from Zuko, however the King's laughter interrupts this thought.
"Isn't it? Purple is a royal color around the world, very expensive indeed, now let's go to your first trial."
"Aang, if we get out of this, I'm going to kick your ass." Zuko growls at his airbending teacher as he's led down the corridor towards the first test.
Entering a large open space, the gaang gaze in awe at the deep cave that surrounds them. A beautiful waterfall adds a touch of serenity to this otherwise dangerous place, filled to the brim with sharp spires of stalagmites and stalactites protruding from every surface. Sokka peers over the ledge of the platform he's standing on before the creeping crystal on his arm suddenly grows and throws his balance off, nearly making him fall into the pit of spikes. Aang and Katara are quick to grab him and pull him back onto the platform, whilst the King and Zuko continue forward.
"Oh dear, It appears I've misplaced the key to my lunch box, and I'm terribly hungry. Would you be so kind as to help me find it?" The mad King calls out from atop the observation booth overlooking the underground cavern.
"Look for it yourself you old coot." Zuko groans before seeing the glint of the key within the torrents of water in the center of the room.
"Oh! There it is! Inside the waterfall. How did it get in there?" The King questions scratching his chin. "Well it doesn't matter, I just need you to retrieve it for me. Shouldn't be too hard."
Deciding that the frontal approach would probably be the easiest, Zuko takes off running through the stalagmites. With a blast of heated air from his feet he jumps up towards the waterfall, as he enters the water, the sheer quantity overwhelms him and he's quickly ejected from the water. He's forced to blast as much fire as he can from his feet in order to melt a sharp pointed stalagmite aiming towards his crotch. It melts just in time for him to be able to land on the heated rock. Thinking for a moment, he uses a compressed blast of air to usher himself off the ground and towards the roof, spreading his arms and legs spread eagle style in order to support himself on the roof, he creates a massive fireball on his right arm in hopes of boiling off enough water to grab the key. Launching the fireball ahead of him he once again jumps towards the water, this time from above. The fireball is almost instantly extinguished by the water and Zuko is hit by a torrential downpour of water sending him back towards the ground.
"That's more like it, attacking the problem head on! I'm sure you'll get far that way." The King snides as the creeping crystal grows slightly on Zuko's friends causing the entire arm the ring was placed on to be covered in the jagged crystal.
Picking himself up off the stone floor, Zuko takes in his surroundings trying to come up with another idea. Blasting off once again he flies over towards a larger stalagmite on the opposite side of the King's observation patio. Seeing the thin chain holding the key gives Zuko an idea and with a wind blade kick he snaps off the top of a stalagmite before catching it. Tipping it over in his hands, he aims towards the chain holding the key. Throwing the stalagmite up in the air for a brief moment, Zuko creates a knife-like compressed air blast from his arm quickly followed by a small burst of fire as the stalagmite comes down due to gravity. With his other hand he punches the base of the stalagmite with a burst of fire and air sending it spiraling towards the water. The compressed air current and wave of fire part the water long enough for the stalagmite to fly through unabated by the water and pierce the chain holding the key. Snapping the link on the chain it continues on its flight path before slamming into the roof above the king and the others. The key jiggling on the chain coming to rest right above the King's head.
"There's your stupid lunch key. Now give me back my friends." Zuko declares now standing on the broken stalagmite he had launched into the waterfall.
"Well done, just two more challenges to go." The King says gleefully before turning and walking down the hallway that leads to his little patio. Zuko however was running increasingly thin on his patience.
The group are soon taken to a hollowed out sphere of a room, intricately designed as some sort of natural terrain you'd find in an open savannah. Tiered platforms of rock line the outer walls of the room, allowing for ample free movement and an array of high vantage points.
"What are we doing here?" Zuko gazes around the seemingly empty room with a quirked eyebrow. Something doesn't feel right about this trial.
"I need your help tracking down my long lost pet, Floppsy. He hasn't come out of his playroom in weeks and I'm worried he's forgotten about me. Can you find him somewhere in this room and bring him to me?" Zuko stared at him again wondering why he's wasting time with the old geezer to begin with.
"Ugh, Let's just get this over with." With a groan, Zuko jumps into the pit to begin his search.
Once again Sokka wishes he could facepalm as he watches as Zuko looks all around the enclosure completely ignoring the long eared rabbit in the center of the pit that he's in. He checks under rocks, looking in crevices and even a large cave that could be a bedding area for the pet. Zuko continues to search around, completely ignoring the rabbit. It's only when he nearly trips over the poor thing does he become aware of the rabbit. Aang resists the urge to laugh as Zuko starts chasing around the floppy eared rabbit, calling after it before lunging trying to catch it. Zuko ends up jumping face first into the wall trying to catch the rabbit as it jumps into a hole in order to evade the Avatar. "Well that's just great. How am I supposed to get him now?!" Zuko groans before an idea pops into his mind. Reaching into the hole as deep as he can go, he starts to firebend into it in order to flush the rabbit out. Suddenly from another hole in the wall comes the rabbit, screaming with the end of its tail on fire. Just as Zuko retracts his arm to go and chase after it again, the ground beneath his feet trembles. Suddenly a large thud happens behind Zuko causing him to deadpan up at Aang and Katara. "He's right behind me isn't he?" Zuko questions as the two nod in affirmation. "You wouldn't happen to be Floppsy would you?" He questions awkwardly turning to face the large slobbering maw of a goat gorilla.
"Zuko run!" Sokka shouts from the balcony overlooking the pit but stares as Zuko just stands there in front of the beast before he's licked on the face. The goat gorilla's slobber soaking his bald scalp and dripping off his face causing him to recoil in disgust.
"You're Floppsy?" Zuko asks in shock, seeing the wagging tail of the goat gorilla. The large creature leans forwards and tackles Zuko to the ground before licking him covering the poor prince in slobber.
"Oh Floppsy! Daddy's missed you." The mad King announces dropping into the enclosure for the goat gorilla, this causes the large creature to come bounding over to its master to embrace him.
"Ugh. I'm gonna need a bath after this." Zuko complains dripping in animal drool.
"Thank you Zuko for finding my dear Floppsy. Now there's just one last challenge, but this one is the deadliest." Zuko is practically at his boiling point with all these challenges and it is visible in both his expression and the steaming fury that is literally boiling off the top of his head.
"Calm down Zuko, it's the last one then we're out of these stupid crystals and out of this city." Sokka says, trying to calm down the fire Avatar. "Maybe we can even get some meat before we leave."
"If this isn't the last one I'm going to lose my mind." Zuko grumbles as he's escorted from the pit up a set of stairs that were created by the earthbender guards. "Let's just get this over with."
"Follow me through here." The King requests as the guards earthbend the wall down, creating a pathway for them to follow through.
Internally Zuko is grumbling about having to even participate through this, the frustration being palpable off of the young firebender. The guards stay close to him in case he tries to do anything to the King. The distrust he's being given for no reason increases that annoyance as he glares at the back of the King in front of him. Katara and Aang both attempt to calm him down with their words but Zuko is in his own little world at the moment. He impatiently presses onward trying to get them to go faster to end this stupid challenge as soon as possible. The earthbend hallway opens into a larger corridor which opens into a large stone and sand arena. The King comes to a stop at the front of a set of three balconies overlooking the arena and motions for Zuko to walk ahead of him and take a look.
"This will be your last challenge. A duel, and as an added bonus, you get to choose who you're fighting." Almost immediately as the King stops speaking the thud of an iron boot on the stone floor alerts Zuko to the presence of his combatants.
The man to the right of the King is dressed in leather armor with a curved khopesh sword in his hand. Two more swords are sheathed behind his back along with a bandoleer of different bladed throwing weapons and trinkets across his chest. Iron and brass gauntlets and boots fit his body with two large scars from a clawed animal of some kind over his right eye. Zuko glares daggers at the smiling armored fighter before feeling the ground thud as the next walks up behind the left side of the King. The second man isn't as armored as the first but he makes up for that in bulk, the incredibly buff man in a green battle kilt and mask is only wearing boots and shoulder pads wielding a large polearm ax with both hands. The veil of an Executioner in front of his nose and mouth but it's clear that he's scowling at the young Avatar by the furrowed brows on his bald head. His shoulder pads the brass skulls of two bears with their fangs pushing onto the bulging muscles of his shoulders.
"Point and choose." The mad King declares, but Zuko has had more than enough at this point.
"I'm not fighting either of these idiots. I'm tired of this stupid challenge. Let them go already!" Zuko declares as he suddenly attacks the two men, The King merely grins as twin fireballs fly harmlessly past him and slam into the armored warriors at his sides. Forcing them to slam into the arch of the hallway. Sokka, Aang and Katara look on in shock at the fact Zuko defeated both fighters before they could even react.
"Wrong choice." The King smiles as he clenches both hands, the creaking of his ancient bones echoes through the hall behind him as he straightens his back. His height increases as the large hunch from his crouched posture straightens out. His right foot slides out from under the robes as he casts them off his shoulders revealing a muscled physique of the ancient earthbender King of Omashu. "Ha!" Aang, Katara and Sokka stare in awe at the bulky old man who suddenly lifts his left foot forwards and slams it on the balcony.
"As if this day couldn't get any worse." Zuko complains before being hit in the gut by an upturned rock that suddenly protrudes in front of him. The force of the strike sent him flying off of the balcony and to the arena below. The Avatar landed flat on his back on the dusty arena and slid a few feet before coming to a stop.
"Zuko look out!" Sokka shouts as the earth-bender King jumps from the balcony and lands before Zuko just as the Prince picks himself up from the fall.
"It's a bit late for that, Sokka." Zuko spats as he tries to get to his feet, finally succeeding and staggering slightly as the pain radiates through his body.
"I fooled you didn't I? You thought I was just a frail ancient man." The king booms through his laughter. "That's not the case, Prince Zuko. I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever meet."
"I don't suppose I can fight the guy with the axe can I?" Zuko questions the grinning King.
"There's no take backs-ies in my Kingdom young prince, but you might need this." With a snap of his fingers, one of the guards behind the trio of crystal encased teens throws Aang's staff into the arena.
Zuko bursts some fire in front of him through his hands, gaining distance from the King before catching the staff in his hands. Just as he catches the glider staff, the mad King slams his foot on the ground causing large stones to levitate up from the floor before being punched towards the young Avatar. Zuko quickly dodges the first one before blasting as much fire as he can to destroy the second rock sent his way. The third is smacked from the air by the staff with Zuko having created a gust of heated wind at the front end in an attempt to air bend.
"It seems the young airbender has taught you to avoid and evade, how typical of those monks. I had hoped you, being a firebender, would be more aggressive in your fighting style. You're quite predictable." The King emphasizes his last word, bending another stone from the floor and sending it towards Zuko. The prince Avatar gasps in fear as the rock comes careening towards him, deciding to jump out of the way, Zuko jumps a clear 15 meters in the air. Aang watches on with slight pride as a teacher seeing Zuko utilize what he's taught him so far. "Come on, get angry, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation should be a better fighter than this." The King taunts. Zuko in mid air is spinning the staff furiously with both hands acting as a helicopter to hover over the ground. Seeing the Prince in the air, the King lifts another boulder from the ground before delivering a jumping dropkick to the boulder, sending it careening towards the Prince. Zuko watches as it seemingly flies past him but suddenly has rubble fall on his head from above as the boulder smashes the ceiling above him. The rubble causes him to fall from the air knocking the staff from his hands.
Zuko slams hard on the ground again having the wind knocked out of him, he spits out some blood from his mouth before grinding his teeth together and scowling at the earthbender. Jumping from the small crater he created on impact with the floor, Zuko retaliates blasting fireball after fireball at the King. Punching and kicking the air to generate the blasts. The King counters by merely walking around the blasts of fire creating pillars of stone to attack Zuko back as he advances on the King. Zuko in his flame fueled fury is blind sided by a rock pushing him upwards with him on top of it. "Come on, I've fought plenty of firebenders, you have to be more creative than simple fireballs."
Jumping down from the pillar that had speared him in the gut, Zuko sprays fire out of his feet propelling himself along the ground similar to how Aang would use an air sphere. The King continues his assault creating obstacles in the Prince's path. Getting off the ground, Zuko angles himself with the fire to be blasting off against the wall closing the gap between them. Increasing the output of his flames, Zuko pushes off the wall and towards the King, spinning and slashing his arm in front of him. The blade of air is sent much faster than his fire towards the King who merely lifts a wall of rock to defend against the attack. "Oh, it seems I've left the windows open, it's quite drafty in here." He taunts once more. "Do you want me to catch a cold?" He presses toppling over the wall he's created. Now standing on top of it, the mad King creates a landslide of boulders underneath his impromptu platform before pushing them towards Zuko. The Avatar attempts to jump over the wall of rocks coming his way, using both airbending and firebending to increase his height. He's countered as the King controls the rocks to lap up and smack him from the air, sending him towards the other end of the arena once more.
Just as he recovers from once again bouncing off the floor, Zuko is forced to evade a series of attacks from the King. The ground in front of him cracking apart and moving towards him, Zuko jumps to the side with another gust of air before running and picking up Aang's staff from the ground. "How do you expect to get me from way over there?" The King questions, he's left unanswered however as Zuko sprints directly at him from across the arena. With a simple twist of his foot on the stony floor, the ground beneath Zuko turns to sand as he's running. The quick thinking Avatar uses the staff to pole jump out of the sand and push off towards the lifted pillars the king had created earlier. He easily evades two large boulders, lifted and sent his way before jumping and flipping, generating another blade of wind along the length of the staff sending it towards the mad king. The gust of air actually causes some damage as it forces the wall the King was standing on to be sent flying back slamming him against the wall. Zuko's eyes widen as he sees the King change his stance, turning behind him he sees a massive boulder being pulled towards him. The Prince expels a massive amount of fire from his hands and feet as he barely manages to jump over the attack from the King, the rough stone grazing against the hair of his pony tail in the process.
The King is almost impressed by Zuko's ability to evade his attacks but quickly lets go of that thought to destroy his own boulder that continues past Zuko and towards the sender. Deciding to pull out all the stops, the earthbending King widens his stance forcing the ground beneath him to change to give him more stability. Besides the crystal trio on the balcony the booth beneath them to their right suddenly starts to shake as the wall begins to crack. Suddenly the entire structure is lifted away from the wall. Zuko almost screams in fright seeing the massive structure being lifted by the obviously straining king. Looking to Aang for inspiration Zuko spreads both arms along the length of the staff before sprinting around counter clockwise. The apprentice airbender creates a massive updraft and swirling it around himself in order to generate a controlled tornado. The dust from the arena is pulled towards it as Zuko runs faster and faster inside, heating the air with his breath stabilizing the funnel of the dust devil he's creating. With a grunt of physical exertion the King launches the structure at the tornado that Zuko is creating. His audience of Aang, Sokka and Katara watch in horror as the massive structure goes flying towards the Avatar. Both watertribe siblings flinch fearing the worst but Aang watches on as the balcony is picked up by the tornado and spins around it. This surprises even the King as it is sent flying right back at him after being ejected from Zuko's tornado.
With surprise and fear on his face, the King is forced to strike his own attack once again, splitting the massive structure in half with both hands. The dust created by this act clouds his vision for a moment but the creation of two fire daggers by Zuko through the dust illuminates the Avatar. Zuko propels himself along the ground with fire through his feet before coming to a stop right in front of the earth bending King. The heat of a flaming dagger licking at the hair on his bearded chin. Zuko smirking triumphantly before the mad king with the staff being held by his off hand across his back. However to the prince's surprise the King smirks, confusing him for a moment, that is until a small pebble drops on his head. Looking up he sees a large rock being held up by the king who was feigning defeat by holding his hands in the air.
"Well done young Avatar, I'm impressed." He congratulates before tipping the rock over letting it fall harmlessly to the side. Zuko turns and watches it fall away before turning back to the King. The madman folded his arms in front of him and fell backwards into the soil earthbending it out of the way to move him back up to the balcony where the onlookers were watching the entire event. "Well done indeed, you've finished all my tests now you must answer one question."
"That's not fair, You said you'd release them if I completed your stupid tests!" Zuko protests.
"Oh but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" The King counters.
"Oh come on." Sokka groans just as a piece of crystal grows once more now almost covering his face.
"Answer this one question and I'll let your friends go free." The king says, pausing to motion at the three who are now almost completely encased in crystal. "What… is my name? Oh and by the looks of these three I'd say you only have a few minutes." He says happily before walking off allowing them to discuss.
"Oh great. How am I supposed to know his stupid name?!" Zuko roars in anger and frustration. "I'm gonna try to just melt you out." He suggests walking over to Katara's crustal structure and applying heat with his hands. However the opposite of what he wants to happen happens as the crystal glows a brighter teal green before growing faster.
"I don't think that's a good idea, you're making it worse. But we need to get out of these soon," Katara stops him after seeing it get closer to covering her face. "Let's start with the challenges, there had to be a hint there."
"I got it! He's an earthbender so Rocky! You know because of all the rocks."
"We're gonna keep trying but it's a good start."
"Ugh! All I did was get his stupid lunch key, find that gorilla goat thing and then fight him how does any of that make sense?" Zuko complains before punting a stone bucket across the floor and clutching his foot in pain.
"Well what did you learn from them? There has to be a common theme here." Aang chimes in.
"Well they weren't exactly what I was expecting, each of them were different and I had to think outside of the box. The rabbit was his pet's food, the waterfall was impassable taking it head on and I wasn't expecting him to be that damn strong." Zuko lists off, putting his hand to his chin in a similar fashion to how his uncle would think. "He did seem kind of familiar though…"
"Wait. I know his name!" Aang says as he runs off down the hallway causing the others to chase after him.
"Aang, he asked me if I knew his name." Zuko protests but the young airbender is far too quick for him.
"Just let me do the talking alright!" Aang declares just as they arrive at the throne room, there the mad King is seated now wearing a green version of the crazy robes from earlier. "Zuko might not know your name but I do, Bumi. You're a mad genius." Aang declares, causing the elderly king to start snorting and laughing in response.
"I had figured that you would remember me, Aang. It's good to see you again." Bumi responds by raising his hand up causing the crystals around the three of them to explode away. "It has been a long time indeed. Although I would have been found out much sooner had your sister been here rather than you."
"Wait wait wait. You had a sister?" Sokka questions along with a very perplexed Katara.
"I did. She was my twin sister, and the last thing I remember seeing of her was her using the avatar state to save me." Aang responds sorrowfully before Bumi hugs him. "Her name was Fa Yen."
"Your sister lives on through Prince Zuko. She never truly left." Bumi consoles the last airbender before turning to face Zuko. "As for you young Prince. The world has been in ruins since the death of Avatar Roku. The other Avatars before you have all been destroyed by your nation. It falls to you to bring peace and end this hundred years war." Bumi says walking over to the young fire nation prince. "You must master the four elements and defeat the firelord. Only then can you put an end to this war."
"Then you wouldn't mind coming with us and teaching Zuko earthbending?" Aang asks hopefully but the King shakes his head no.
"No, I have a kingdom to run, you however would work better with a earth bending teacher who is as stubborn as you are." Bumi responds. "Besides if I left now, this place would really come crashing down."
"Hey Bumi, before we go, there's One thing I wanna do." Bumi grins knowing exactly where Aang's thought process is going. The mad king leads his friend and Zuko through the palace before entering his private mail room. Behind him the two watertribe siblings follow along wondering why they just wasted this much time with the mad man.
"What were those creeping crystals anyways?" Sokka asks, watching as Bumi grabs Zuko by the head and plops him into the mail cart before hopping in behind Aang.
"Jennamite is Rock candy, it's delicious." Bumi responds before taking a bite out of a piece he had caught. "I've waited a hundred years to do this again. You ready Aang?" Bumi asks as he shoves his hand backwards causing the cart to begin to move.
"Heck yeah! You're gonna love this Zuko!" Aang cheers quickly, he grabs Zuko by the back of his airbender clothes keeping him from escaping the cart as it nears the incline.
"Why don't I get a say in Thiiiiiiiisssss…..!" Zuko screams as the cart falls down the near vertical drop of the chute system.
"Yeah, let's just take the stairs." Sokka says as he watches the three fall down the mail chute and blinding speeds.