The Monsters We Create

by Orca2015

The Fire Lord is defeated. The war is over. But a hundred years of conflict has taken its toll. As the world takes its first tentative steps to peace, ancient things have begun to awaken to wreak their vengeance. For the Avatar, the war is won. For the Princess of the Fire Nation, the war is lost. Both are now faced with things they could not believe. A world ruled by monsters.

23. Realm of the Storm King

Avatar: The Last Airbender and all associated characters are owned by Paramount Global. Godzilla and all associated characters are owned by Toho Studios. Please support the official release.

---

Somewhere in the Territory of Unique Risk

Kiriko's flame was the only illumination they got as they ventured further into the cave. More and more, what little light the sun offered from the entrance faded before vanishing altogether. Now all they could see around them was cold rock and stone.

For a long time, nobody said a word for fear of breaking the fragile silence they had. They'd already escaped one predator, they did not wish to alert another. Indeed, the very first thing that they feared to find was the signs of one. Deep gouges on the cave wall. Nesting material. Maybe even a discarded bone here or there. Perhaps they were being paranoid, but one couldn't be paranoid enough if you weren't sure of your place on the food chain.

Yet further they delved into the tunnel, regardless of what lay in store. Whatever lay ahead couldn't be worse than what lay behind. And as they progressed, their nerves slowly relaxed. Aang was the first to calm down a little, his shoulders relaxing and Momo comfortably resting on his shoulder. So far there wasn't any sign of danger. They probably would've seen some sign of it by now.

Course, they weren't lulled into a false sense of security. That's why Suki kept a low voice as she pulled up beside Kiriko. "You saved me back there. Why?" she asked. It was an honest question for a Fire Nation soldier. The Kyoshi Warrior had heard countless horror stories of what they had committed during the war. And while she could attest that some of them were wildly untrue, there had to be a fire if there was smoke.

The deep voice of Kiriko whispered back. "Way I see it, we're in this together. And I don't know about you, but getting crushed to death is a pretty nasty way to die. For anyone."

"Well, can't argue there," Suki commented. Yet, there was something she couldn't put her finger on. "I don't get it. Out of all the soldiers I met, it seems like you're more honorable than most."

"If you call not doing anything stupidly malicious 'honorable', then yeah, I can go with that."

"Then how come you don't surrender to Fire Lord Zuko? He'll treat you and your men with the dignity you deserve."

Kiriko sighed deeply, her flame pulsating as she did. "Listen, kid. We don't exactly have clean hands either. The problem is either we do some pretty heinous stuff, or we'd get our faces burned off by our superiors. If we're going to follow anyone, I'd rather it be somebody who won't get us killed just to get their chance at glory."

Her harshness put a stop to Suki's words. A part of her wanted to argue back that the older woman's assessment of Zuko was unfair. That he'd changed. But there was another part that remembered the burning ruins of her village, and how it was only on Aang's word that she trusted him. Admittedly the word of the Avatar meant a lot in her heart, but she had to admit it was still a shaky foundation.

Instead, somebody else vouched for the young monarch. Katara caught up to them and said, "That's not fair! Zuko's trying his best! He-"

"-is never going to live Yu Dao down," Kiriko cut off. "Look, you guys might like him just fine, but that doesn't mean he's shaped up for the rest of us. Trust me, I'd like to see him be better. Until that happens though, we're not bending our knees to somebody who treats his people like prisoners or pawns."

With that, the firebender trudged on further into the dark. And for a little while longer, nobody wanted to say anything. Partly because they didn't want to make too much noise for fear of possibly alerting whatever was waiting for them, and partly because there was something true in her words. Everyone there (sans Mongke and Imana) was hurt in some way by Zuko. Yet that didn't mean he didn't better himself to them, or at least tried to. And it wasn't as if they didn't know some of his issues were still affecting him…

"You know you've got to give him a chance sometime, right?" Aang said after a little bit. "Can't go on running forever."

"...no. We can't." Kiriko didn't say anymore, her shaky and quiet voice telling them all the rest of the story.

Again, silence descended on the group. Only their footsteps and the rustling of Kiriko and Suki's armor filled the void. It was probably best for all that they kept their thoughts to themselves lest they betray themselves. Suki's thoughts were turning over again and again in her mind. Fire Nation soldiers who had honor but didn't bend their knees. Truth be told, there was something almost admirable about them. She wondered if there were more of them in the Fire Nation army. No doubt there were the truly wretched, but surely not all of them were monsters.

Yet how do you fight for them when they served an evil tyrant? Suki wondered. She couldn't ignore who they served. And it was as Kiriko said, they weren't innocent either. So what does one do for that?

"Hey. Check out the walls."

Her attention was drawn outward when Sokka pointed to the walls of the cave.

Except, it didn't exactly look like a cave right now.

Where there was once natural rock was now carved stone. All along the wall, strange sigils and symbols ran down the length of the tunnel. "Imana, any of these look like writing?" Sokka asked.

The priestess of Infant Island stepped closer to the wall, running her fingers along them. "I don't think so. Looks more like decoration than anything else."

"...I knew that," Sokka said, trying to save face. His pathetic attempt though brought a smirk on Suki's lips. How could somebody be that smart yet so dense?

On the other hand, Mongke just snorted with derision. "I wouldn't be so flippant. We're in their territory now." And once again, silence descended upon the group. They didn't say a word as they ventured further into the hallway, with stony bricks replacing the natural rocks of the cave. Suki kept her mouth shut, inwardly making sure that all her weapons were on hand in case of conflict.

Still, the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. Especially when she looked up and saw the zigzagging pattern on the wall as they walked. There were crisscrossed etchings in the pattern that reminded her of the scales of a slithering snake.

…she decided it was best not to think about it too deeply. Dread was already running through her veins. She didn't want to be seized up by it as well.

---

Earth Spirit's Pass

The Earth Kingdom called it Earth Spirit's Pass. According to legend, the Earth King in the time of Sozin led a retreat with his forces through hidden tunnels dug out in the mountain range separating the beachhead of the Fire Nation advance and the interior of the continent. When Sozin's forces advanced into the dark caves to overrun their forces, the king prayed to the spirits to deliver them.

A spirit answered. The whole mountainside collapsed on the Fire Nation army. Their losses were so great, that they had to call the offensive off to recover. And it took even longer to find a way around the mountains since no general worth his salt wanted to squander his honor on another disaster. Sure they didn't exactly respect the spirits as the Earth Kingdom did back then, but they did respect the dangers of an unstable mountain range.

It was an event of celebration for the Earth Kingdom and a dark day for the Fire Nation. Azula scowled at the pass, remembering how the long delay gave the Earth King time to dig in and prepare a grueling decades-long defense that would plague Azulon's reign. If she had to give Uncle Fatso anything, she could respect he was the only one who managed to break through their lines. Course then he got drunk off his own success and tried to siege Ba Sing Se for 600 days, ushering in another black mark.

One natural disaster had such a shadow over the war. And now it was the site of conflict again. Looking out at the mountainsides flanking the pass, Azula saw the Earth King's forces already weakening and readying the mountains for another collapse. This time, their target was a massive dark worm just waiting for them on the other side. If Battra wanted a fight, he'd have to come through here.

That's if he wants a fight, mother's voice rather unhelpfully quipped. Yet Azula couldn't argue against the specter. He had all the time to advance on them, yet he kept holding back and let them take the initiative. Was he trying to draw them away from the city? Or was there some other play going on? There had to be a reason Rodan woke him up after all. Yet what was it?

Azula wasn't sure. Still, she found it rather ironic. There was no doubt in her mind that the Earth Spirit in question was indeed Battra. Now his trap would be turned on him.

Of course, it wouldn't be enough. One obviously couldn't turn the earth against the Lord of the Earth after all. That's where step two came in. In the shadow of the pass, Zuko's demolition crews were at work filling great craters (dug by Earthbenders) with whatever ordinance they were able to lug with them. Barrels of explosives. Bombs. Spare artillery ammo. Anything that would blow up when you ignited it.

It was a favorite defensive tactic of the Fire Nation. Just on a much bigger scale with Earthbending. On the ridge alongside them, artillery crews stood at the ready. When it came time, they'd aim their catapults and siege weapons at the pits. So when Battra would try to tunnel through the ground, they'd be ready to light them up.

Simple. Effective. Hard to screw up. Though as the Earthbenders covered up the ordinance, she couldn't help but wonder if it would be enough. Forcing the battle above ground would let the tanks and artillery do their work. Yet looking around, the Princess saw that they didn't quite have the numbers of the Yu Dao disaster. Their numbers were bolstered by a few Earth Kingdom catapult emplacements further along the mountainsides, but they didn't come anywhere near the quality one would expect from Fire Nation ordinance.

"Maina. You sure Mothra's going to show up?" Azula asked her friend, standing by her side on the ridge. Her tone was quiet and controlled, not wanting nervousness to turn a simple ask into wishful begging.

The priestess of Infant Island nodded in affirmation. "She'll show up. We just need to give her room."

Indeed, they already did. There was a sizeable gap in their lines upon and going down the ridge. Big enough for a gigantic worm to crawl through.

Also, it was big enough to cause some problems. "I hate to break it to you, but the War Council isn't exactly happy with a huge hole in their lines. And letting you run things," Mai deadpanned. Azula's back shivered. It felt so alien to hear that familiar emotionless tone only one of her best…

No. She didn't want to think about it. Didn't even want to look back. What was done was done. "I'm not asking to make friends. I just want to see tomorrow's sunrise," Azula carefully said, expecting a knife in her back at any moment.

Instead, she heard Mai's robes rustle from one of her characteristic shrugs. "Whatever you say."

Well, at least I know where she is, the Princess silently mused to herself. She hasn't seen Ty Lee for ages. Ordinarily, that would be fine since she didn't want to see that fake bubbly smile just as much the acrobat probably wanted to avoid her. Yet she couldn't ignore how close her former friend was to her during the confrontation with the Iron Maws. Wouldn't put it past Uncle to keep her in the shadows to paralyze his least favorite family member at just the right moment.

Speaking of, Iroh plodded up next to her, stroking his beard. "I pray for all of us that this works. If not, yet more blood will be senselessly spilled. Surely you know how many lives you are gambling with, do you?"

Azula bit her tongue. It took every muscle to resist throwing those words into his face. How dare he. Must've been so easy for him to stand on a pedestal and lobby all of his vices on her. The only reason she didn't spit something back was she had a thing called "manners" around speaking to one's elders. Somebody in this messed up family had to try and have an ounce of respect for their own.

Instead, she flatly stated that, "I know better than most people. It's not me you should be worried about." With that, she turned back to the horizon and the gap. Even from this distance, she could see flocks of birds flying around from the jungle. No doubt disturbed by the giant right underneath their feet.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," said the other reason she held restraint. Zuko walked to the front of her, all clothed in his royal robes. The Princess didn't look away from him. If there was anybody she could stomach to see, it would have to be the Fire Lord. It was as tradition demanded after all.

Even still, it surprised her about how he was looking more like her father. His hair was starting to grow out a bit. Given time, they could grow into long dark locks. Still, he had the smooth skin of youth and the scar that robbed his innocence. Not that she cared about the scar. Everyone had to learn sometimes that carelessness carried consequences.

He sighed, grimacing a bit as if regretting his next words. "Azula, I've heard from General Mak that troop morale is low. Very low. We're even worried about desertion when Battra shows up if we don't do something to rally their spirit."

"You're asking them to die for their country. Of course, they're going to be moody," she said flippantly.

"I know, but I don't want to just order them to their deaths. I want them to believe in what they're fighting for. But I don't think I'd be able to reach them if I don't know what they want, and I doubt they'll open up to me. You on the other hand…"

Azula raised an eyebrow. "You want me to talk to your troops?"

"You'll go under escort-"

"Obviously."

"-to a tent where we've picked out some soldiers from our ranks. Including the Iron Maws. Figure out what they're worried about and we'll go from there. I've got to stay here and oversee the preparations."

"...you do realize you're trusting me with this, right?" Azula asked.

Her brother shrugged. "We've got to start somewhere. Besides, this isn't an order. This is me asking my sister for help. You don't have to if you don't want to. We could always get somebody else."

Something warmed up a bit inside of her. Was, was this real? Was he asking this of her? Not an order, just a request?

She stammered a bit before coughing. "As you command, Fire Lord," she said, falling into the old rhythm.

"No, just…Zuko's fine. Really."

"Okay. As you command Fire Lord Zuzu," she corrected with a smug smirk.

"...you know what? I walked right into that one."

"That you did," Mai commented.

"Okay, time out for a second," the priestess of Infant Island said, getting in the middle of everyone. "Getting everyone on board with fighting Battra, I get. But what about the Council? You honestly think they're going to stand by and let this happen without trying anything?"

"Maina, the council is the least of our problems. Fire Lord Zuko is keeping a close eye on them. If they try anything-"

Iroh was cut off when the native turned her attention to him. "With all due respect Grand Lotus, but when you've got a bunch of old guys with several battalions worth of ordinance that you don't see eye to eye with, that's a recipe for disaster," she flatly stated.

One of Mai's signature sighs only helped cement the point she made. "She's right," the gloomy girl said. "Trust me, Zuko. I've been to faaaaaaaar too many meetings with these guys when I was either with my dad or Azula. The only reason they haven't done anything before was because…well, your dad's your dad. Simple as that."

The Princess drummed her fingernails on her vambrace, trying to focus on her breathing. Of course they'd do something! Did her idiot of a brother think a few vague threats were going to reign them in? No. This was what they'd been waiting decades for. A soft, weak-willed Fire Lord was on the throne. He may as well left it vacant for anyone with enough brains to waltz in, plop themselves in, and practically break the dynasty their forefathers strove to secure for generations. Oh yes. And they'd be stupid enough to see the crown on their heads first, an incoming crisis second.

And you want this IDIOT on the throne? This is your chance. Play your cards right, and you'll be the one with that crown on your head. As it was always meant to be.

Azula grimaced. It was those voices again. They were soft, but their words were sending shivers down their spine.

She could've ignored them easier if they didn't have a point…

Zuko on the other hand was not exactly focused on her (thank Agni). "Okay, so what do you want me to do? I've got too much on my plate coordinating with Kuei, and I don't exactly have any spies on them."

"Then I'll go." Maina stood confident before them all, staff at the ready. "One thing you know when surviving on an island where everything wants to kill you is to stay hidden."

It wasn't long before Mai sighed before standing next to her. "I'll go too, I guess. Probably a lot more interesting than whatever goes on around here."

"...alright. Okay. You two scope things out with the council. And you," Zuko said, turning to Azula. "Stay with your guards. I'm taking a big risk with you walking around amongst the troops. So don't blow it."

Dutifully, Azula bowed. "As you command, Fire Lord." Again, she grimaced. Taking orders? From HIM? He could pretty it up all he wanted, but there wasn't any choice for her to say anything but yes. This was her purpose after all. Serve the Fire Lord. She just wished it wasn't him.

And she certainly didn't want to think about how natural it all felt to her.

No. It's not an order. It's a request. Take the chance, her mother's voice gently reminded her.

Right. Request. She had to keep that in mind. This wasn't Father. It was Zuzu just asking for a favor. Azula dealt with that before. Get this right, and she might have a bit more leeway in the coming days.

So she didn't say a word about it as she bid farewell to them all. Especially Maina. Mai? Well, that was a struggle to look her in the eye. The sooner she got away from her, Zuko, and Iroh, the better.

Then she let Ming and Lee lead her away into the men below. Her thoughts were all kept to herself. Both the hopeful and the despairing. One was a distant hope of someday returning to her home country as a hero. Her failures had finally been forgotten and her honor restored. The other, a more likely one, was her in chains, locked away in a dark asylum to rot for the rest of her days.

Yet she kept them to herself lest her hope vanish and the despair consume her. Yes, she was the only one who knew.

Her and the voices in her head.

---

"...you know she's thinking about betraying you. Right?" Iroh whispered to him.

Zuko grimaced. "Yeah. I just hope we didn't give her reason to."

"I pray you're right."

The Fire Lord wished he was right too. Still, it was a simple mission. Just talk to some soldiers. How could she spin that around to stab him in the back? More importantly, how was he going to convince Iroh she could be trusted?

Suddenly, he got an idea. A risky one, but one that could work if he played it right. "I think I have a way of proving her to you."

---

Unknown Ruins

After what seemed like wandering in the dark tunnel for hours, Team Avatar stumbled into a much larger room. "Well, the air's a bit better in here," Imana observed, trying to keep everyone's spirits up and find something worth mentioning outside from how dark it was.

Her little quip didn't exactly go appreciated though with Mongke. "Could we keep ceaseless chatter down to a bare minimum? I'd rather not have those savages on us from somebody pointing out the obvious." Imana bristled a bit but kept her mouth clamped shut.

Aang shot a nasty glare in the Colonel's direction. Needless to say, he was starting to get a little fed up. It was one thing to have a nasty attitude with him. He's the Avatar. Getting yelled at by people was practically his job. But taking it out on somebody who was trying to lighten the mood? Now he was getting annoyed. And he hadn't forgotten that little tirade thrown at Sokka. If he was going to be angry at somebody, at least be angry at somebody who could take it. Or rather, actually ADD something to the conversation instead of tearing everyone else down.

Still, tempers flared down as Kiriko added more strength to her flame and walked around the room. The shadows lengthened along the walls, making it difficult to fully see everything. Here, the symbols changed into something a bit more legible. Aang walked alongside some of them, brushing them with his finger. They seemed…oddly familiar. Not in a "past Avatar life recognizing this" sort of way. Some of the symbols seemed to be reminiscent of the Air Nomad language. A bit distant, but it was there.

"Imana. Can you read any of these?" Aang asked the priestess.

Imana strained her eyes in the dark, trying to make out the writing. "Not…sure. They do resemble the language in Mothra's Temple a bit. I could use a bit more light though."

Nodding, Aang held out his hand and bent to life a brilliant ball of fire.

Revealing a serpentine monster carved in the stone.

A gasp went through the group as they took a few steps back to take the depiction in. Getting a good look at the carving, Aang's mind immediately went to a dragon coiling around some kind of stone structure. A pyramid to be exact, yet it didn't look anything like the ruins of the Fire Warriors at all. As for the beast itself, it had the serpent body of a dragon. Yet there were no whiskers. No wings. Instead, a hood almost like a cobra expanded from its neck while its mouth was wide open, showing off its fangs.

Now, Aang knew cobras. They had a special place in Air Nomad architecture, so he knew they only made such a display when they were threatened. This thing though wasn't threatened. Instead, a crowd bowed in reverence before it, unwilling to look it in its piercing eyes. This was a display of dominance.

What was most curious was the tempest surrounding it. Those high winds seemed to come from the kaiju's gaping maw.

"I'm…guessing we know who this is?" Sokka asked, taking a big gulp.

To confirm, Imana leaned forward to read the inscription underneath the carving. "This is a little rough but, 'All hail Axor, the Storm King. Builder of Empires. Master of the Tempest. Scion from Heaven Above.'"

At once, Aang's eyes were pulled above, where there seemed to be a glowing orb in the heavens above Axor. He winced just looking at it, a pang of fear running through him. His mind flashed back to Infant Island where he saw a similar image above the mural of kaiju. And again, this didn't feel like one of his past lives reacting. Neither did he recognize it as something the Air Nomads carved.

It was something deeper. And a lot darker.

He wasn't the only one. Everyone was a bit stunned at the mural. In time though, Imana shook her head free and translated the last of the inscriptions below. "'Let it be known that the Storm King is the architect of all civilization. And that his work will be completed.'"

"That…doesn't sound good," Sokka said, voicing the obvious. Granted none of this sounded too good, but if it were a choice between oppressing darkness and voicing what was on everyone's mind, they'd rather choose the former.

Thankfully it was the last of the writing, so Aang and Kiriko stepped away from the mural. Shadows consumed it once more, just now barely illuminating the carving. Unfortunately, their efforts only served to make it more menacing. Now they saw the obscure outline as if at any moment, Axor's image would come lunging out of the dark.

Nervously, the two scouts rose out their hands and lit their fires, illuminating most of the room. All around them were more images, though none as ghastly as the first. Some things did repeat between them all. The same style of architecture for what had to have been the kaiju's "civilization". People were depicted in each, laboring away to create monolithic bricks that formed the stones of what had to have once been a grand city.

They weren't alone. Great beasts lugged up these heavy materials along spiraling ramps up the pyramids. Their bodies were huge and held up by trunk-like legs. By contrast, their necks and tails were long and serpent-like. Alongside them, people brandished savage-looking whips at them and some of the other workers.

No. Not workers, Aang corrected himself.

Slaves.

All the while, there was a steady breeze going through the room. It wasn't a caressing, secure breeze that Aang was used to though. This was a much colder, almost biting air. He shivered despite both himself and the fire he held in the palm of his hand. Whatever this place was, it was wrong.

It didn't help that a question nagged at the back of his mind. The people being whipped. Were they his and Imana's ancestors? Were they distant kin? Was this a place the elders would've considered part of their history?

Glancing aside at the priestess, he saw her making a silent prayer to the suffering slaves, somehow trying to assuage their pain. The Avatar decided not to ask then. He already knew the truth.

Above them all was Axor, the great serpent (if you could even call it that) overseeing all. Deep down, Aang now knew this wasn't a kaiju one could reason with. That just added more weight to his heart. What could they do against such evil? He only ever managed to barely draw with Godzilla.

"Over here!" Katara said, standing before another mural. The group moved closer to further illuminate the mural. This time, another kaiju dominated the scene. A great reptile with flames spewing from its mouth incinerated the ruins around it, while its thrashing tail crushed the pyramids.

The spines gave his identity away. "Godzilla," Aang muttered.

What he saw next took his breath away. The once-oppressed slaves were fleeing on the wind. Some of them were flying, others were riding on the backs of what had to have been Sky Bisons. Amidst all the pain and suffering, this was almost an inspiring scene. The only sign of Axor was the tyrant cowering in what had to be his greatest temple.

Imana stepped forward, translating the inscription below. "'The dreaded Chaos Bringer, God of Destruction. He who smote the sun and tore civilization apart. May the Storm King's masterpiece bring this beast to heel.'"

"...please tell me that means Godzilla's going to go after him instead of us," Sokka practically pleaded.

All he got in response was a sigh and a less than reassuring, "I don't think it's going to matter who's on who's side when kaiju like these do battle," from Imana. Her words sent a shiver down Aang's spine. Anguirus, no matter how destructive he was, at least fought Old Iron to protect Yu Dao.

Godzilla? What would happen when two kaiju who didn't care about collateral did battle?

Once again, the cold breeze made him keenly aware of how deeply in danger they were all in. "Alright. I think we should head back. No matter how bad that thing is, it'll probably be better than facing a kaiju without help-"

It was then that Aang noticed something which caused the words to die in his throat. He looked around hurriedly, his eyes widening when he looked over the group.

Or rather, who wasn't in the group.

"Guys. Where's Mongke?"

All at once, everyone started snapping around, trying to find the war criminal. Aang, Kiriko, and her scouts intensified their flames to illuminate the room as best they could. The shadows fled into two corridors: the one they came from and another where the winds seemed to be coming from. Mongke was nowhere to be found.

"Son of a - must've slipped out while we were all admiring their handiwork," Kiriko snarled before flipping down her skull mask. "Alright people! We've got a rogue element on the loose. I say we pack things up and head back to camp. No telling who that guy's going to blabber our position to."

"Wait a minute lieutenant!" Sokka hurriedly said, getting in front of the armored firebender. "He couldn't have gotten far. If we find him, we can get him, tie him up, and drag him home before he squeals."

Kiriko just looked down at the comparatively scrawny boy, crossing her arms. "And where exactly would he have gone? He could've gone down either path for all we know."

Scratching his chin, Sokka scanned the ground beneath them. Aang saw the gleam in his eye. Somedays the airbender forgot he was a tracker back in the South Pole.

And there was something on the floor. Or rather, all over the floor. Dust, and a lot of it. They must've been the first people to have been in this chamber in years. The only places that weren't covered in dust were where they were standing and-

"THERE!" Sokka exclaimed triumphantly, pointing to a trail through the dust to the path they hadn't gone down. "We have somebody follow those tracks while the rest of us stay here. That way we can secure our escape route!"

"And if we don't find him?" Kiriko questioned, still not liking the odds one bit.

Aang got his staff ready. "I can scout a little ahead. If I don't find him before running into trouble, I'll come right back. Plus I've got a second pair of eyes." Momo, his second pair of eyes, puffed out his chest and spread his wings.

"Count me in," Katara declared, standing right beside him. The Avatar felt a bit bashful (and indeed a bit safer) with his waterbending master of a girlfriend watching his back.

"...alright. Okay. But the moment you run into trouble-"

"Hey, we made a career about running from you guys. Just keep the fires going till we get back," Aang teased, carefully leading the way through the dark tunnel. With Katara behind him, they should be able to get their rogue war criminal in no time. Even still, it did worry him about how easily Mongke was able to slip away from them without anyone noticing. Nobody's that stealthy.

Nobody human at least.

Still, Aang would rather deal with one questionable human with a monster that considered itself a tyrant. He just hoped they'd be able to catch one monster before he alerted the other.

---

Yu Dao Jail

Kori glowered at the armed men that lined the hallway. Normally she wouldn't be that disturbed by the presence of guards. Every prison had them after all. Rather, her problem was the people behind the cells they were guarding. Some of them were hardened criminals, but a lot more were just regular people like her. In fact, she recognized quite a few of them. They were protestors from the Coalition. The same as her.

"We're just trying to defend ourselves," the noble girl commented, the weight of all those stares bringing her heart down.

A heavy hand patted her on the back. "They made their choices, now we make ours. Besides, less of the rabble on the streets means less violence. Right?"

"Depends on your definition of rabble." Kori didn't have much else to say to her father on the matter. She couldn't count the number of times that they had arguments over whether these people constituted the definition of "criminal". Right now, she just didn't have the fight in her. Nothing she said was going to change his mind. Her only hope for her allies was that they were safer here than out in the streets.

Luckily, some of the cells were empty or being emptied. She saw several prisoners being led past under guard. Must be evacuating to the tunnels below, Kori thought. There was a rather noticeable lack of people on the way here through the city. Not that it was bustling at the moment, but now it was a ghost town. And now and then, she felt a subtle shake in the ground. Just reminding her of the Earthbenders hard at work below. Hope her father would appreciate their efforts.

As for now, the mayor of Yu Dao led her through the corridors before they came to a guarded door. The two armored guards saluted before opening the heavy door, leading them into a cell behind. Despite all the fortifications and extra protection though, the man behind the bars was surprisingly plain. His robes were perhaps a bit better kept than the rest of the prisoners, but they were still simple and earthly in hue. The man himself was fairly thin but with a dignified mustache and beard that were graying.

Kori recognized him on sight and bowed in respect. "Saki! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, child," her leader said with a reassuring wave of his hand. "Honestly it's the guards here that are a bit on edge." Saki leaned forward and looked the mayor straight in the eye, which caused the latter to bristle. "Is it true you've been keeping something inhuman within these walls?"

Inhuman? Kori's brow furrowed. Azula did mention something about a rather disturbing prisoner that Zuko spoke with. Her father on the other hand remained unmovable. "The business of the city shouldn't be the concern of a criminal like yourself."

Saki shrugged. "Criminal I may be, but my hands are much cleaner than yours. How many people did you imprison here on faulty charges? Does every protestor count as a terrorist in your eyes?"

"You certainly turned them that way," the mayor snarled. "My daughter here told me that a new leader has taken control and has been dragging this city deeper and deeper into anarchy. You're the one who gave them thoughts of rebellion."

His barb caused Saki to stand right up. Kori stood back as her two teachers sized the other up. "I intended to guide them. Violence would only be a last resort. If you wish to point the finger at anyone for creating a nest for true chaos, how about you look in the mirror? Or look up and see the flag that you hoisted above the smoldering ruins of the people who lived here for centuries. Only then can you preach about who taught the world violence on such an unimaginable scale."

"Ah. And I suppose that's grounds for insurrection against all? Don't act surprised. I know you've been fighting for independence from Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Otherwise, you'd have to be a massive hypocrite to go from one tyrant to another."

Such words of what was unthinkable hung in the air. Saki did not say anything, causing Kori to shudder. She knew that independence was what so many talked about, but it was only a whisper. A hush. Nobody knew how people would react when they realized they no longer had a king. Even the mere mention was done in low whispers as if it would incite violence amongst friends.

What surprised her was that her father didn't mention this to Zuko. Did he simply not want things to sound even worse than they already are? It would sound a lot like him.

Saki certainly wasn't impressed. In a hushed voice, he asked. "Why is it that my people and I are the object of your hate when there's a madman on the loose? Or when there are much bigger things in this world than either myself to worry about?"

"We do what we can with what's important to us," Mayor Morishita answered.

"Hmm. So what's important to you is the illusion of control. Quite interesting."

Finally, the mayor just threw up his hands. "Forget it. The only reason I even came here was to bring my daughter since she cares about you far more than you deserve." With that, he stepped back and frustratedly gestured for Kori to get a move on with what she had to say.

And she did. She walked up to Saki and told him everything. About the recruits from the Fiery Raptors. About Azula. He raised an eyebrow at that last bit. "A tyrant's daughter is our ally while the son aids the Avatar. We live in strange times indeed," he muttered.

Most importantly, she told him about the Abomination. His eyes darkened as he nodded to himself. "Well, best you keep safe out there. Stay out of trouble and get to safety as quickly as you can."

"I can't just-"

"You don't have to make a martyr of yourself. Stay safe, and stay alive. That way, you'll be there when another life needs saving." Saki proceeded to reach through the bars and embraced her in a hug. "Remember. Stay alive and help those who need you. This world needs more young people like yourself."

"I will. Thank you." Thus, with a reluctant step back, Kori waved goodbye as her father led her out of the cell. Those were the words he had repeated over and over again in those meetings with the Coalition. They made her feel strong. Like she could take on the world and do good.

Yet there wasn't much she could do for the people still behind these bars. Nor could she do much to convince her father about the Abomination.

All she could do was heed her mentor's advice and watch her back. Amongst the growing shadows of the jail though, that was easier said than done.

---

Earth Spirit's Pass

The guards led Azula to a good-sized tent in the backlines. When on the battlefield, it was doctrine that only high-ranking officers like generals or the Fire Lord had access to a tent. Everyone else had to make do with simple mats or just find someplace comfortable to hunker down.

This tent was mostly a storage for supplies by the looks of it. Crates of food, water, and basic building supplies were stacked up all along the interior. Thankfully there was still room to maneuver so men could actually move around to gather supplies. Plus the open space meant it was a lot less stuffy.

It also meant one could shuffle a small group of soldiers in here. Six in total from the looks of things. And like any good soldier, they gave a respectful bow when she entered the tent. Not that she had much authority given the escort Azula had outside, but it was appreciated nevertheless.

She looked around. Four men and two women with a fair range of ages between them all. From what she heard, three were from Zuko's forces and three were from the Iron Maws. All in all, a pretty diverse group by Fire Nation army standards.

Satisfied, Azula clasped her hands behind her back. "So, you are all aware of why I'm here. Yes?" A wave of dutiful nods indicated that yes, somebody had told them why they were there. Good. This will be easier than she thought.

"Your Fire Lord has heard a lot of worrying news from your ranks." She had to fight down the gag reflex applying the title to Zuko of all people. "Apparently, you all have been exchanging letters and various farewell notes. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds like a very good way to kill morale."

The youngest cracked. A teenage boy by the looks of things knelt forward with his head to the ground. "Forgive us, Princess Azula! It's just-"

"Relax. If I wanted to reprimand you or ship you off for punishment, I would've just handed you off to General Shugo for discipline. As it stands though, none of us have anything to gain from that happening." In a rare but calculated gesture, she knelt to his level and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I just want to know what you are thinking. If it matters to you, it's got to be important."

She gently scratched his shoulder to better coax it out. Sometimes one had to apply a gentle touch to get something.

And it worked. One of the older men cleared his throat. "We're just convinced we're…all marching to our deaths. Like, dying in battle's one thing. But throwing lives into the grinder like this? I thought the Fire Lord said things were going to be different now."

"Ah yes. Hope was given but then quickly dashed away. A shame how he seems to be an expert in doing that," Azula mused. Now this was the truth, and she could sympathize with them. The Princess felt she could afford to be sentimental on this occasion.

"And what's the point?! Everyone's afraid Zuko's going to start throwing people into jail for doing their jobs! By Agni, half of us Iron Maws are afraid he's going to purge our ranks because we had the stomach to do what we had to do for our nation!" one of the women vented. Azula let the breach of conduct go unpunished. It felt odd, but it wasn't like the soldier wasn't speaking the truth.

Azula sighed, rising to her feet. "Well, we might have to disagree there. The fact is that some of us have done some pretty heinous things by the standards of the other Nations. Not saying any of you are going to the slammer, but Zuzu needs to pay his pound of flesh. Best it be people that deserve it."

"We don't have any doubt about that Your Highness," another man said. "There's guys that deserve to go to jail. But what about those generals? What about Nojon? I get respecting authority and all, but I don't see any of them on the chopping block! If the Avatar's willing to put Ozai on the stand, why aren't any of them joining him?"

The hairs on the back of her neck bristled at the mention of her father. Still, she kept her cool. This was their chance to speak, and she was going to give it to them. Besides, she couldn't exactly defend the Phoenix King now of all time. "As painful as it is, without them the whole army would fall apart. You'd have to purge the entire leadership and there's no guarantee whoever's replacing them is going to be any better."

Inwardly she was starting to get a little frustrated. She understood their concerns, but this wasn't stuff she could bring to Zuko. He'd just say the war council was "a necessary evil" and "sacrifices needed to be made" and blah blah blah. All that honorable crap he always preached about but never backed up. No, she needed something substantial. Something Zuko could use to practice what he preached.

"...my brother died in the Ash Fields."

Her eyebrow raised as the youngest soldier spoke up. "Oh?" she mused, kneeling again to his level.

"He was a tank crew member. …his name was on the list of the confirmed deceased. The only reason I'm here is because…well, we lost so many…"

A hush descended on the group, the memories smoldering inside them all. Guess that was another thing Azula shared in common with these grunts. This time though she didn't curse fate for bringing her this low. Seemed like Godzilla had brought her entire nation to its knees. The Avatar may have humiliated them all, but that monster crushed their spirit. Well, that's how she saw it anyway.

"...we did. And you feel as though you're being thrown to your deaths once more. Is that correct?" Azula asked in a gentle manner, which wasn't entirely an act.

The teenage grunt looked up before gloomily nodding. "All our sacrifices. All the family members we lost just so the Fire Lord can be the hero. Why? How come we're the ones who have to pay every time someone 'important' screws up?! It's not like any of us asked to be here! A lot of us just want to go home!"

He went silent after he vented, shakily gathering his breath. "The whole world hates us already and we've got to live with our shame remembering the ones we lost. Can't they at least have the decency to let us go home so we can mourn or vent or SOMETHING?"

Finally, he couldn't hold it back anymore and he started sobbing. One of the older soldiers took him by the shoulders and led him back, but they all were looking as forlorn as he was. Azula…wasn't sure what to say. What could be said? It was like he took the words out of her mouth. Well, maybe not to the same degree as he said it. Ultimately it was their responsibility to serve their Fire Lord dutifully. If he failed, that meant they failed.

I failed, Azula lamented. She remembered the threat Father gave her when Zuko ratted her out on the Day of the Black Sun. "Bring me his head, or I will take your future," he had growled. If only she hadn't brought him back. If only she had finished the job in Ba Sing Se…

But no. She got sentimental. And now, they all paid the price.

Still, she couldn't afford to be weak. Not now. Not when she had what she was looking for. Swallowing her guilt, Azula rose. "You're right. The disaster at Yu Dao should never have happened. I'm not even going to spin it as some kind of victory. All I can say is I did everything I could to prevent it from happening, but my brother wouldn't listen. It was a battle where lives were wasted. And there ARE battles where lives are thrown away needlessly.

"...this isn't one of those times."

Everyone looked up as she made her declaration. "Battra is coming for us unprovoked. And if we play our cards right, we can avoid any more bloodshed. But we must stand firm. We falter here, and there's no telling what other horrors will chase us when we run for the hills. If battle is to come, this is a battle worth fighting. Behind us stands not only Yu Dao, but every man, woman, and child in the Fire Nation. Believe me, it won't just be Battra that comes for us. We fail here, we fail them."

Azula began to pace back and forth in front of them, making sure they were watching and listening. "DON'T fight for Fire Lord Zuko. I know he never meant for that massacre to happen, and I know you won't forgive him. So don't fight for him. Fight for your families. Fight for your homeland. Fight for your honor. Perhaps too many lives were needlessly spent in the war. But I tell you, this is a battle worth fighting."

She stopped before kneeling before the distraught teen. "When you get back home and look on this day, you'll be proud to have fought here. You'll be proud to say you took one look in the face of annihilation and stood for something far bigger than yourself. Cause this? This will be a battle worthy of a legend."

With that, her speech was done. It was done at the spur of the moment with little prep time, but the Princess felt she nailed it. You had to do some things on the wing after all. And it wasn't like she was starved for material. She only had to look into her own thoughts, twist them to make it sound like she was talking about them, and an inspirational speech was born. Pretty easy to do once one has the basics down. Father used to do them all the time back when he was in power.

Course he'd probably vomit if he saw her kneeling to a peasant's level like she was doing right now. Might chide her for letting her guard down and giving this so-called wretch an opening to stab her in the back. Yet no weapon came. Just a sniffle from a broken teen as he wiped his tears. "I…I understand, Princess," he muttered.

"Good. That's all I need to know. You'll do great out there," Azula encouraged. Then she stood up and said, "You ALL will. No matter what happens, people are going to remember tonight as the day you all defied the darkness this thing spews. I'll make sure you're all remembered."

Around the tent, the soldiers grimly nodded and gathered themselves, looking more like warriors than dead men and women talking. Satisfied that her words struck a chord, she gave a polite bow before heading out of the tent. Wordlessly, Ming and Lee began to lead her back to the Fire Lord.

Inwardly she prided herself. Finally she had done some good for her people. After how many weeks of running and being an outcast, she truly had come back.

Yet…she couldn't deny how much of what she had said back there was true. How easy it was. Didn't even have to wrap it up in a lie or anything. It made her a little unnerved. Was she getting sentimental? If she was getting sentimental, then she was going soft at the worst time possible. If all else failed, those words weren't going to mean anything when they were crushed to death by a rampaging kaiju.

No. No, she couldn't falter. Not now. What she said back there was necessary. One had to show a little bit of compassion if she got what she needed. Now she wouldn't have to do that garbage again. Right?

Yet why did you see so much of yourself in them? her mother's voice asked.

Azula couldn't answer. The sooner this mess was over, the better.

---

Unknown Ruins

Suki nervously thumbed the pommel of her sword while staring into the dark. This was the passage where Aang and Katara disappeared. She had no way of telling the time, but it certainly felt like a good while. The only thing that was coming through was that cursed cold wind.

Her nerves were on high alert that she nearly jumped when she felt a heavy hand pat her on the shoulder. "Hey, kid. How about you let me take over for a while?" Kiriko asked. Once she got over the shock, Suki took a deep breath and silently agreed. The two warriors switched positions, allowing Suki to join Sokka at the center of the room. It was a bit more lit now since he got a few torches out, letting the firebenders light them up. Yet it still wasn't light enough to completely chase away the shadows.

"How are you holding up?" Sokka inquired when Suki knelt next to him in a dignified pose.

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors let out a sigh. "About as well as you can expect. What about you?"

He shrugged. "Keeping my mind busy." Sokka then proceeded to lean forward with the wheels turning in his brain again. "Okay. So we can't hurt that Servum thing. Right?"

"I mean…yeah. I'd rather NOT get myself nearly killed again if that's what you're asking. You want to go at that thing again?" Suki grilled. This was ridiculous and infuriatingly typical. Give Sokka an obstacle and he'll spend all night trying to figure a way around it.

"Relax. It's just like the Drill. Every big thing's got to have a weak spot, right?"

"Pfft. That thing was an overdesigned mess," Kiriko grumbled. "They made it sooo indestructible on the outside that they didn't think maybe once you get inside it crumples like a rhino having some kind of stomach infection? It was a good thing you destroyed that hunk of metal. At least now that idiot of a war minister couldn't waste any more of our funds on stupid projects."

"Okay, this is getting scary. I want any of you to say ONE good thing about the Fire Nation. Just one!" Sokka demanded. Suki snickered. She was just about to wonder when one of them was going to question all the Fire Nation mudslinging by the Fire Nation.

Sure enough, the lieutenant and her scouts on the other side of the room just kind of looked at each other for a second. "Uh…I've got family there?" one of them said, stating the obvious.

"...ugh. I guess that's good enough for now." Sokka then slumped his shoulders and began thinking to himself. His brow furrowed in deep concentration, but his lips snarled as he couldn't come up with an answer to their Servum dilemma.

This was enough for Suki to reach out and rub his shoulder. "Everything okay there tough guy?"

Sokka sighed. "No. I…well…you ever wonder if you're doing anything useful in the long run?"

She raised an eyebrow over his assessment. "I mean, yeah. But we made it this far without anybody dying. That's got to count for something."

"No! That's not…" he got up and began to anxiously pace, trying to collect his thoughts. "Like, in the grand scheme of things are we going to matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…Aang's the Avatar. Zuko's the Fire Lord. Everybody's this badass bender. What about us?"

"What about us? Last I checked, you were the one who came up with that plan to crash the Fire Lord's fleet during the Comet," Suki pointed out.

"Fire Lord's one thing! We're talking about giant monsters here. And so far I haven't been much good," Sokka paced back and forth, taking deep breaths as he attempted to collect his feelings. "It was my plan that resulted in a slaughter by Godzilla. And I wasn't even able to save you from that Servum. I mean, I was raised to fight soldiers! Not monsters!"

He slumped down to the ground, hugging his legs. "What am I supposed to do with those? If an ARMY couldn't even put a scratch in one of them then…what chance do we have?"

Suki was silent. It was true. All of it. And that's all she could say. "You're right, Sokka. I've…been having the same questions that are going around your head right now. I still haven't figured out what part I have to play in this, and I doubt any of us knows. All I know is that we have to make do with what we have. Me? I'm a warrior, so I help people and be their shield. It's not much in the big picture, but that means there are people out there who are alive because of me. And every time I go into battle, I can save just a few more people by being brave.

"As for you? You're selling yourself short. I get that you're beating yourself up over the disaster of Yu Dao, but you did what you thought was right. And you DID help set up the defenses in Cranefish. You saved everyone there, and that whole village owes you thanks for what you did. I think you just need to know how to pick yourself back up. And that, I know you're good at.

"Otherwise, you never would've become such a good Kyoshi Warrior in the first place," she teased. That finally got a chuckle out of Sokka as they reminisced on the old memory. Yes, they had come such a long way since Kyoshi Island. Once, Suki just saw him as a sexist pig. Now, they're dating.

Or, trying to, anyways.

Sokka sighed. "Thanks, Suki. Look, I'm sorry if I didn't come looking for you when Azula-"

"Don't. You had no idea I was alive. Besides, we'll have plenty of time to talk over those things in the coming days," Suki interrupted with a sly smirk, causing Sokka to be a bit bashful. She made a mental note to try and find some time to catch up. They'd been away from each other for so long, that it was high time for a change in their fortunes.

"...hang on. What did Kiriko say? About the Drill?"

"Huh? You mean about how it was easy for it to be destroyed on the inside?" Suki answered.

Sokka beamed, which brought a spark of warmth to Suki's heart. "THAT'S IT!" he declared triumphantly. "I KNOW HOW TO-"

He stopped when he realized that Suki and he were the only ones in the room.

"...Kiriko?" he nervously asked.

A stiff wind blew through the room, blowing out their light. At once, Sokka and Suki got into a defensive position with weapons drawn and eyes gazing into the dark. Deep within, they heard the faint rustle and shuffling of feet. Yet they couldn't tell how close.

"How'd they sneak up on us?" Kyoshi whispered.

"I don't know. They must've-"

Sokka's voice suddenly went silent. Suki was about to ask what he saw when she felt a dart hit her neck.

Before she had time to figure out what was going on, she collapsed to the ground. Unable to move, she watched helplessly as her vision faded. And men in dark clothes stepped from the dark, surrounding them…

---

Earth Spirit's Pass

For a good while, Maina and Mai walked in silence as they weaved through the tents and dugouts of the ridge. The air was alive with the sounds of men digging, fortifying, and readying their machines of war. High in the sky, the sun was beginning to make its descent to the distant east.

Yet no sound was more deafening nor sight more demanding than what the Priestess felt towards the other girl. There were so many things that needed to be said that she didn't know where to start. The only clear thing was this tense air between them couldn't last forever. Especially not with a certain Princess weighing on their minds.

It wasn't the thought of Azula that caused one to talk. Rather it was the command tent of the war council.

The empty command tent of the war council.

"Well, they just made things a bit more interesting for us," Mai observed.

Maina looked inside the tent. The plans they all knew were laid out, but there was not a single person in sight. Not even a guard. "What kind of general just packs up their things and leaves right before a battle?" she asked no one in particular.

"The kind that doesn't want the Fire Lord to know what they're doing. Duh."

"I…okay, point taken." The native girl proceeded to look around the rim of the tent, realizing there might be a trail of some kind to follow. Then it dawned on her how stupid that was in a camp full of soldiers rushing to do their duty. The whole ground was littered with tracks that they could've gone anywhere.

An annoyed sigh came from the gloomy teen. "Look genius, how about we try looking for the guys that don't want anybody eavesdropping on them in an area where not a whole lot of people could eavesdrop on them." Mai pointed in the distance to a grove of trees, surrounded by large boulders.

"Ah. Good call," Maina complimented, letting her companion lead the way. However, they didn't take the most direct way. The approach was an open field. Anybody who wanted to come up that route would easily be spotted by guards hidden in the foliage up ahead. No, they'd have to try a different approach.

Which is where the noble girl came in. Mai weaved her way through the chaos, making sure to keep as much cover between the grove and them as they could. She was looking for a place where the camp would deposit them in an area as close to their destination as possible.

"Wow. You really seem to know what you're doing," the Priestess complimented yet again.

Mai shrugged. "You grow up with how many daggers aimed at your back, you sort of learn to stay hidden. That means hiding in plain sight and all."

Seeing as they still had some way to go, Maina decided maybe it was time to chat a bit before they got to business. "Geez. You had to worry about your parents getting on your case that much?"

"...not just my parents," Mai muttered. She paused, the air almost chilling as she did so. After a moment of stillness, she said, "Look, I'm not going to tell you what you should do. Just be careful around Azula. She has a habit of treating her 'friends' more like soldiers."

Maina bristled at the accusation. "With all due respect, but I grew up on an island where everything wanted to kill you just by looking at them funny. I know caution."

"You don't know Azula." Mai stopped, turning around right in the Priestess's path. Her cold gaze demanded attention, and her words were hard in truth. "She pretends to be your friend before asking you to give everything just so she stays good in her father's graces. And if you try to say, 'I can reach her,' let me tell you that she was willing to let Ty Lee and I rot before she could admit that she was wrong. Trust me, this is years of knowing her talking here. The best thing you can do is cut her off while you still can."

Those measured words were carefully chosen. Maina had heard such a tone when she was younger, about how the village elders told her the dangers of the jungle around them. About how one wrong step could lead to your death. Growing up, it was a warning not to venture out before you were ready.

Now? She was ready. "I appreciate the concern, but I know what I'm doing. If she gets too much, I'll consider it. But she hasn't thrown me into a pit of vipers yet."

"She will. Give her time."

"...do you believe that? Or is that Zuko talking?"

…Mai froze, staying silent. That was a sign the Priestess wasn't going to miss. "Here's my advice: you can be angry at her all you want. That's fine. Just make sure it's your anger, not someone else's. Otherwise, you're just another puppet."

"If you think Zuko's using me-"

"I'm not. You just need to figure out how you're feeling before it's too late."

"Too late for what? She burned down that bridge, so why even cross it?" Mai said, a slight snarl creeping into her mirth.

"How about if she dies tonight? You're going to spit on her corpse just so you can feel a little better?"

…the noble girl was stunned silent. She stood still like a rigid statue as if the accusation had paralyzed her with snake venom.

Deep down, Maina hated what she had to say. Hated that she had to pull this. Yet she didn't have any choice. This anger, this rage. The priestess had to cut through it with a simple, cold question that would stop anyone in their tracks. One couldn't fight fury with fire.

Indeed, it seemed to be working. Mai stood there, her lips moving but no words coming out, as if she was struggling to muster any response.

Maina wouldn't give her the chance. "There's a real chance everything's going to the pits tonight. And people will die. Now I don't know if you know this, but Azula has a nasty habit of finding herself in the thick of things where kaiju is concerned. So for all we know, she's not walking away from this one."

She sighed, collecting her breath and rallying her calm. "I get you don't like her. But if she dies, you won't ever have the chance to tell her what you feel. What you really feel and how she hurt you. Both you AND Ty Lee. If she gets out of hand, I'll stop her. You deserve that much."

…the gloomy girl said nothing. All she did was turn around and mutter "I'll think about it," as she led them to the edge of the camp. Not a word was spoken, the mission taking precedence over what personal issues any of them would've had.

Finding the closest point was easy. As soon as nobody was looking, the two girls made a mad dash across the open ground. They weren't out in the open for long though before they ducked amongst the shrubs of the brush. Silently, they crept through the cover, hugging every rock and skulking in every shadow possible. The sun aided them in that regard, lengthening the shadows as it sunk in the east.

It was from the shadows that they saw the guards patrolling amongst the perimeter of the grove. All wearing the elite and ornate armor of the council's guard. Their eyes were all trained to the camp out from beyond the trees, meaning the two girls could sneak their way through the brush and to the largest circle of rocks in the center.

It was within the shadow of one of these large boulders when they halted, hearing the words, "...yes, but can your men be trusted, Captain Nojon?"

They hunkered down, their ears on high alert as they listened to the conversation beyond. That was the voice of General Shinu.

A much huskier voice sighed. "They can. Trust me, they all hate the brat as much as I do. And if they get cold feet, I could always just use the old Nojon charm on them."

Maina mouthed, The Iron Maws are in on this?

The gloomy girl rolled her eyes, highlighting the fact that they should've seen this coming.

Nojon continued. "My question is, which one of them do you want me to fire on? Battra's a given, but what about this Mothra that freak talked about?"

"Doesn't matter. Just get them to fight. They'll trash the whole battlefield along with the Earth Kingdom and the Loyalists. If what happened with Aso is any indication, they'll do more than enough damage to cripple them both." There was the measured voice of War Minister Qin. Which seemed odd. Neither teen pegged him being this assertive out in the presence of the Fire Lord.

"Aso, right. That idiot Ryuui screwed us there, didn't he Admiral? So much for getting the Princess on our side," Nojon growled.

"She's not out of the picture yet. You saw the troops. They like her more than they like that idiot in charge. All we have to do is invoke her name, and they'll come scurrying on over. So what if she denies it? We can just chalk it up to her insanity once the marriage comes through." The "admiral" speaking had to have been Admiral Chan. Seemed like the whole of Zuko's war council was here.

Qin sighed. "It's necessary, but our arrangement hasn't changed just because Ozai's out of power. She wants the throne so bad? I'm her only route to it. Just need to give her the offer once this whole mess settles."

"We want to be relying on that nutcase for this long? She couldn't even keep the crown out of her BROTHER's hands for Agni's sake. So much for Ozai's pet."

"Once we're married, I'll just toss her in the asylum. It's not like anybody's going to back her on this. Why do you think none of the noble houses showed up to her coronation after all? No. We'll get rid of her as soon as possible. Now an Ozai who can't bend. There's somebody we can do something with. Restore him to power, let him know we hold the strings, and the throne is back in the hands of the clans without the Royal Family messing it all up."

Oh, this is just getting better by the minute, Maina mentally growled. She knew those guys couldn't be trusted. She just didn't think how deep their treachery was.

Across from her, Mai's neutral expression took on a dark turn. After a moment, the two girls locked eyes, nodded, and snuck away just as the men were discussing the logistics of how their betrayal was going to work out. To say this was bad was an understatement. This was a full-blown disaster in the making. If they didn't put a stop to this, a lot of people were going to die.

Maina just hoped Zuko was willing to listen to reason.

---

Azula felt satisfied that for once, Zuko was actually listening to her. Guess he just needed a crisis to realize she WASN'T the worst thing to happen in his life. Who knew?

"In short, they feel as though you're throwing them under the bus for their failings and transgressions in the war. If they don't die here, they're going to be butchered in the upcoming tribunal. Either way, they're seeing this battle as a punishment," Azula summarized. Yes, it was easy for her to read between the lines. Able to see the truth where others fall for the lie. That's what Father always used to say to her.

He also would've said that Zuko was a complete idiot for allowing things to get to this point. And maybe chastise her for allowing the failure to wear the crown of the Fire Lord, pace around the tent with their loyal Uncle and her so-called "friend" Ty Lee beside him. She certainly wasn't happy about it either, but she could stomach it for now.

Besides, it was fairly easy to do once she delivered exactly what they had sent her to find. A wave of satisfaction at seeing Iroh contemplating in thought and not immediately plotting to throw her into a pit. Even the face of Ty Lee was bearable given that she hadn't given any reason for the acrobat to chi-block her.

Ty Lee. Now there was a puzzle. She hadn't been hanging around ever since they set out on this little field trip. Guess she wanted to keep as much distance from the so-called "Mad Princess" as much as possible. Or she wanted to cut the last few ties the two girls had with each other.

Either one or both was possible. And it's not like Azula was going to force her to say something. If nothing else, she could respect the warrior for holding back and waiting for the go-ahead instead of just looking for any opportunity to humiliate her further. At least have a good reason to dress her down.

No, Ty Lee was focused on something else. "Zuko, I don't mean to act like I know how to be Fire Lord or anything, but I think they're seeing you in the same way they did…know."

"Yeah, I know," Zuzu grimaced. Oh, how pitiful. The monarch was feeling the weight of the crown he wanted for so long. Good. If Father's shadow was crushing him, it was almost worth it to sit on the throne. Azula had to admit that watching him squirm was fun.

Oh, how the tables turned, she thought to herself. Inwardly she was gleeful. Outwardly, she kept a neutral expression. If they wanted a reason to imprison her, they were going to have to work a little bit harder.

Zuko straightened himself out. "Well, I guess I could have my speech raise their spirits. Maybe make them NOT feel like garbage. I mean, that's what you did for me while we were in exile. Right Uncle?"

Uncle Fatso shrugged. "I mean, this is a whole army we're talking about, but I think it could work. They need a Fire Lord that's looking out for them. And they need a real reason to fight. Perhaps this is what they need to realize they were in the wrong."

Silently, Azula restrained the urge to scoff. There he went on about how "only when we're at our lowest, we can change" garbage. Easy for him to say when he only had to lose a single child and not everything else. Would Lu Ten, the heir apparent to the throne, even accept what he was saying?

So many things she wanted to say that she was almost grateful when Mai and Maina burst through the flaps of the war tent. "We're back, and we've got a lot of news!" the Priestess announced.

Everyone listened as the two girls relayed everything they had heard. Azula grimaced. Of COURSE, Ryuui was somehow involved with the council. It didn't take even the most simple-minded sycophant a lot of mental power to take advantage of all the warbands running around. She just wondered why she hadn't seen it before.

Oh right. The kaiju business. Ordinarily, she would've been impressed at their gall. Taking advantage of kaiju and their behaviors to further their own gains. If only she hadn't been so thoroughly enraged that toying with such destructive forces was only going to end in disaster.

"Well, that settles it. They're traitors. Every last one of them. Are you really going to let them get away with this?"

"Azula, hang on a minute," Zuko said, holding his hand out. "We arrest them now, we'll only have the testimony of who are, essentially, spies. Realistically, we'd be locking them away without any charges."

"You're Fire Lord. It doesn't matter if we have proof or not. Everyone else will fall in line once they get the message," Azula explained. See. THIS was the reason those general were a problem. Father wouldn't have let them walk all over him like this. And he especially wouldn't have let the marriage with Qin go through he knew this was how she would be treated.

She hoped, anyway. The thought of being arranged with such a dishonorable weasel rat still made her stomach lurch…

"We do that, we'll be no better than your Father," Iroh warned with that hard voice he hated using. "This is supposed to be a new era for us. So we'll do this the right way. We'll draw them out into making a mistake with little to no loss of life. Simple as that."

Maina sighed. "Iroh's right, Azula. I hate agreeing with him, but we can handle these guys without dirtying ourselves. That's not who we are."

"Not who you are," Azula muttered, not wanting to be lumped in with the likes of these soft-bellies.

"She's got a point though," Maina reworded, turning towards the Fire Lord. "We've got to do something to prevent this from happening. If those idiots fire on either of Mothra or Battra, I can't guarantee we're going to make it out of this alive."

Zuko paced the room, thinking to himself. "What if we switch the officers around with some loyal to us? If Nojon gives the order to fire, they could belay that order. He'd have to circumvent the chain of command, and they would be able to stop him." Iroh beamed at him, obviously approving of this scheme of theirs.

A scheme that had no chance in the Frozen Pits of succeeding. "Did you even hear what I just said?!" Azula exclaimed. "Even your own troops aren't fond of you. If it's a question between a Fire Lord they don't like and a captain who has the guts to stand up to you, they're going to choose the latter. And that's assuming you can even ensure Nojon wouldn't just threaten them! No. Pull Nojon out and have somebody else in charge. You can even put ME in charge if you want!"

"Oh yeah. Put the Princess who made herself a warlord in charge. That's a brilliant idea," Mai snarked, pointing out the big gaping hole in Azula's logic.

"Azula. I'm only going to ask you this once." Zuko then strode up to her, his Fire Lord regalia resplendent and terrible all at the same time. "What are you getting out of this? All of your suggestions are either putting my war council in chains or giving you power. You can't tell me this is purely just so we can get through the next few hours alive."

A chill ran down Azula's spine. With his lengthening hair, all he needed was a goatee to complete the spitting image of Father. What's more, she was trapped. Her heart began to race. Already she began to feel Mai and Ty Lee flank her if she made one wrong move. "I…what's there to say? We give those nobles an inch, they'll run roughshod all over us. Trust me, I know exactly what I'm talking about. So what if I get a little something out of this?"

"You'd be removing people who abandoned you in the past for one," Zuko pointed out. "And you'd make it so you're the only voice I'd be listening to. So again. What are you getting out of this?"

This tone was hard, but there was…something in his eyes. As if pleading for her to be honest and to tell the truth. She blinked. Was this a trick? Was Zuko testing her? For what? Everyone knew she wanted the throne no matter what. So why give her a test?"

"I…"

She was about to say more before she felt a pressure up against her chest. Her breathing quickened, and she felt her composed stance begin to falter.

"Azula? What's wrong?" Maina asked. She wasn't the only one concerned. Zuko was carefully reaching out a hand as if to reassure her that she was among friends-

No.

Her hand jerked out of her own free will, slapping Zuko's away. The Princess's legs backed up, feeling her body begin to move against her will. She wanted to cry out. Wanted to say that something was wrong. But no words would come out. The pressure against her chest tightened every time she tried to say a word, forcing her to remain silent.

One more sensation coiled around her legs, forcing Azula to her knees. All around her, she could feel them, squeezing. She tried to reach for the Medallion hanging under her armor, but the invisible force around her arms kept her paralyzed.

Slowly, her mind was conjuring up the force. At first, steel chains wrapped themselves around her body. Yet it wasn't long before the chains gained scales and transformed into three hideous-looking serpents binding her in golden coils. Tears were brought to her eyes with the scars of bondage aching.

She felt one of the serpents slither up to her ear and whisper in a mocking tone.

Let's loosen your tongue a bit. Give them what they want.

Then, she felt a jolt of agony as the viper sunk its fangs into her neck, jolting her nerves filled with electricity.

The laughter was forced up from her. A deranged, pained cackle of an invisible presence taking over. Everyone took a few steps back from her delirium, seeing her descend further into her madness.

Amidst her inhuman laughing, she got a feral grin and spoke in a voice not entirely her own. "Really?! After all this time, I'M still the bad guy?! Even when you have traitors in your midst, you want to put me down just because you can. Well, guess what? This IS a ploy for the throne! Don't act surprised dear brother. You knew this was coming. You can't expect to keep screwing up and not expect me to pick up the pieces. So yes. All I have to do is keep prying and exploiting every screw-up you make!

"Treat me like an animal all you want. Bind me and claim you're being merciful. But when all is said and done, YOU'LL HAVE NO ONE BUT TO BLAME FOR YOURSELF WHEN THE WORLD DROWNS IN-!"

She would've said more, but her muscles seized up when she felt a series of punches strike her nerve points. Azula slumped over, her chi being blocked.

"Sorry 'Zula. But I couldn't take any more of your bull," Ty Lee coldly warned, standing over her.

Azula was too shocked to respond. Even more so when Maina stepped in and pushed Ty Lee away. "Get away from her! ALL of you! Can't you see she's unwell?!"

"By Agni, did you even listen to her raving? This is what blue fire does! It distorts and corrupts!" Iroh argued back, pointing to Azula's broken state as proof.

Groggily, Azula looked up in horror at Zuko standing over her. Giving her the same blank expression he gave her during Sozin's Comet.

"Zuko…that…that wasn't me. I swear…" She told the truth. Even if she wanted the throne, she wouldn't come out and say all those hateful things.

Zuko just looked back and took a deep breath.

"Azula always lies…" he whispered.

"Zuko, I'm not lying-"

"Maina, take her away to her quarters until she's recovered. Then bring her to me. She's not to be out of her tent. Understood?" Zuko's composed yet stern voice brokered no argument.

The Priestess picked up Azula and slung her over her shoulders, glaring at Zuko all the while. "I hope you're happy with this," she snarled, both at the Fire Lord and Ty Lee. Then she stalked out of the tent, carrying the broken Princess all the while.

"You'll be okay. I know it wasn't you," Maina reassured.

Azula said nothing. All she thought about was the asylum. And those serpents that nobody but her could see.

---

Zuko breathed in and out.

"Well that could've gone better," Mai bluntly stated.

"Yeah, it could've." His resolve strengthened, and he turned to Iroh. "As soon as she's recovered, we'll take her into custody."

His uncle blinked. "Nephew. I merely suggested we keep her out of the battle. Are you sure this is what you want?"

The Fire Lord grimaced. "No. But it's what needs to happen." That reassurance to himself made all the difference. He'd given her the chance she needed to prove herself. She failed. And now, he dared to face what he needed to do.

Taking a deep breath, he thrust out his fist and brought forth a brilliant burst of flame. He wasn't happy about this, but the dragons did teach him one thing: focus your anger and passion on what will preserve life. And what he's doing now will do this.

"I…hope you know what you're doing," Ty Lee muttered, looking shell-shocked at what she just did. The guilt was written on her face from her outburst, but that was her. Him? This was a time that he had to be merciless. Guilt for him would have to come later.

"Don't worry. I will," Zuko declared, feeling his firebending return to him. The Fire Lord had a feeling this wasn't going to end before she was put into custody.

She was going to snap and lash out again. Become feral and mindless. When she did, he was going to put her in her place. Again.

For good this time.

---

Unknown Ruins

Aang and Katara didn't say a word all the time they spent in the dark. Their ears were alert for even the slightest hint of movement. Thankfully, theirs was a silent trek through the black hallway. The only sound that graced their ears was that howling of wind.

Thankfully, they finally came out to an opening. A grey light greeted them as they stepped out into the open. Yet even here, the atmosphere was not any less gloomy. They stepped out into a stony street, overrun by vines and foliage. All around them were grand buildings, crumbling due to the passage of time and the march of the dark jungle. Yet these weren't the old magnificent buildings of old Tienhaishi. These buildings were harsh. Jagged. The openings were fashioned into gaping maws lined with teeth, and the image of fearsome cobras were everywhere running down the sides of the walls.

What they stepped out into was a wide boulevard. The effort to build and maintain such a place must've been extraordinary. In its heyday, it may have rivaled even the likes of Ba Sing Se. Now though, jungle and ruin had claimed their prize.

High above, the skies were dark apart from the occasional flash of lightning. The clouds swirled in a gigantic vortex that smothered the heavens, before centering in above a vast pyramid out in the distance.

"...Momo. Just be careful, alright?" Aang whispered. The flying lemur nodded before he spread his wings and took to the air. As he climbed higher, he became a distant speck far above.

Not, Aang and Katara were alone, and they walked down the lonely street. Even with the wide roads, the great buildings and walls closed in all around them. What little they could see above them were massive trees that seemed to block any hope of escape.

"They were building all this thousands of years ago?" Katara observed in awestruck horror. Aang couldn't say anything. Either about the inherent grotesqueness in those gaping maws and piercing dark eyes, or the amount of people that were enslaved to build such a monstrosity…

For a good while they had walked when they heard something. A low, distant rumble. Up ahead, they saw Momo circling around a particular spot in the sky above. Cautiously, the duo moved forward, hugging the walls as if the shadows could protect them. In time, they came out into a wide opening, with giant pillars that resembled stone teeth. There were five of these monoltihs, all arranged in a circle wide enough for an army to pass through. Curiously, the inner side of these teeth were lined with massive chains.

Yet those alone didn't catch their attention. What did was a massive animal leaning against one of them. Aang's eyes widened. It was one of the biggest animals he had ever seen. Maybe even a bit bigger than Appa if he could believe. Course against one of the kaiju it was still miniscule, but it was still impressive in its own right.

What's more, it was familiar. Standing on four trunk like legs with a long, bulky tail held horizontally behind it. Its comparatively small head was held by a mighty neck as long as the body itself. This has got to be one of those beasts we saw back on the mural, Aang thought.

Momo was hovering along aside it, yet it didn't seem to pay the lemur much mind. Instead, it groaned as it pushed itself from the monolith and took a few ponderous steps. A low grunt of pain though forced it to its knees, collapsing with a heavy thud.

There it lay for a moment, its breathing laboured. Seeing that it wasn't an immediate threat, Aang and Katara emerged from the shadows and cautiously approached the giant. It regarded them for a moment, raising its head to eye them warily.

They wisely decided it was best to give the animal some space. Yet as they approached, Aang could see a series of scars and gashes along its side. "It's hurt," he observed.

Slowly, Katara turned to look at him. "Aang. We can't stay to help. Mongke could be anywhere!" She knew how much animals meant to him, but they couldn't afford to waste any time.

"I know," the Avatar said, yet he looked around. Momo had taken up to the sky again circling their perimeter. "Would…it be too much to ask if you could ease and clean his wounds a bit?"

Katara sighed, hearing the innocent tone in his voice. "Alright. Okay. Just a little bit."

Cautiously, they approached the giant. Katara had conjoured a glob of water, realizing that she didn't have enough water to do the entire job. She'd have to limit herself to the deepest cuts. If they could even get close that is since their would be patient lifted its neck and let out a deep rumble from its chest.

"Easy boy. We're not here to hurt you," Aang consoled, reaching out with his hand. If he knew anything about animals, it was how to calm them down and not appear as a threat. So he spoke softly and reassuringly.

Slowly, the beast lowered its neck but still looked at them waringly. Especially as Katara walked up to its side and began covering some of the wounds with her waterbending. It grunted from the pain before letting out a sigh as the water began to glow from their healing properties. The muscles relaxed as it laid its head and neck on the ground.

"Huh. Seems like he's a lot more used to humans than I thought," Aang observed.

"Wounds don't look bad either," Katara added, seeing some of the cuts lining its body. "I mean they look bad, but considering how big he is, they're probably a lot more superficial than anything. Could be more exhaustion than anything else. This'll help take the edge off his pain a little bit."

Nodding to herself with having done all she could, she rinsed out the blood in her water. The beast seemed to relax, its pain having been subdued. "Good. Now lets get out of here."

Aang and Katara were about to leave and follow after Momo when the beast suddenly got up on its feet. Its head swiveled around nervously, sniffing the air. On instinct, Aang and Katara broke into their bending stances, looking at the animal's agitated state.

"We're not alone. Are we?" Aang asked a bit nervously. Inwardly he began to chew himself out. Of course this was a bad idea. There were too many places to look and too many places to hide. And now they just exposed themselves to whoever's out here.

Katara broke out a wiry smile to calm him down. "Hey, it's not like we've been through worse before-"

She was silenced when a dart had hit her neck, followed by several more hitting her arms and legs. The once graceful waterbender drooped her eyes and slumped to the ground.

With horror, Aang lept forward and catched Katara in his arms. "Katara? What happened?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"She'll be fine. The poison will wear out shortly."

Aang whipped around with his staff at the ready. All around him, from every crevice and every opening, men and women approached with weapons drawn. To his surprise, they were dressed as both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers.

What caught him was the eyes. They all had the same, blank, milky white glaze.

"Stay back!" Aang warned, not wanting to leave Katara's side. He got her into this mess, he was going to get her out of it. Already he was looking around for Momo, trying to spot the lemur and maybe get off some kind of signal.

The crowd around them stopped, before parting to allow a procession of men through. At their head was a trio of figures. One distressingly familiar.

"Mongke." The Avatar couldn't bother to disguise the spite in his voice. He knew that war criminal walking alongside these strange people was bad news, but he couldn't imagine he'd turn around and betray them like this.

All he got was a shrug from the Colonel. "The High Priest and I had an arrangement. I deliver the Avatar to their king, and they would refrain from invading the colonies. Surely you can understand the needs of the many."

Aang just glared back into those blue eyes. Mongke (if he could even be called that) wasn't even bothering to hide his true nature anymore. As if this was one more insult to add.

The so-called 'High Priest', dressed in rather primitive shamanistic robes, then stepped forward. "I would not worry about the waterbender, Avatar," he consoled, or whatever his version of a console was. "The venom will wear off once we arrive to His temple. He is most insistent that you arrive in a timely fashion."

"...and what if I say no?" Aang warned. Deep down, he felt his past lives begin to call out for violence. If he could lead these people away from Katara, he would be able to go into the Avatar State without having to hurt her. It pained him that he had to consider this route, but it wasn't like he had much choice against this many enemies.

His hopes were dashed as the third man, also dressed up in shamanistic robes but much less ornate, waved forward a group of guards. Holding up Aang's drugged up companions with knives to their necks "Then He will have less sacrifices this night."

…reluctantly, Aang lowered his staff. He stood by and watched helplessly as Katara was dragged away into the procession. Then he allowed himself to be jostled by soldiers into the crowd, thoroughly disgusted with himself.

Mongke summed up his feelings as he was pushed past. "It seems your compassion was your downfall."

Feeling something spark inside, Aang glared up at Mongke. Or rather, the thing that was using Mongke's face. Right then and there, his resolve was inflamed and set in stone. The Avatar was going to get his friends out of there.

He just hoped no sacrifices had to be made in this dark place.

---

Yu Dao

Kori peeked out from the curtain of the palanquin, watching as they marched past the deserted streets. Stores and homes were shuttered and abandoned with all the essentials having been stripped. It was a somber sight. To see the city she had lived in all her life be reduced to a mere ghost of itself over the course of a month.

The hand of her father gently pulled her back into the safety of the palanquin. "Don't look, dear. These streets will be alive again soon" the mayor reassured. Yet his words rang hollow.

It'll all start again once we emerge from hiding, Kori thought to herself. That's if they emerged at all. She couldn't help but feel that from every abandoned building and every dark alleyway that they were being watched. Her bow rested on her lap just to be on the safe side.

Now it was only a matter of waiting when the silence broke.

She didn't have to wait long.

Suddenly, the palanquin roughly came to a halt. Up ahead, they could hear the captain of the guard give orders and his men rush into position.

The Mayor of Yu Dao looked outside the curtain. "What's going on out there?!" he demanded.

"It's those Coalition rats!" the captain barked back. "They cut off the street in front of us!"

"WE JUST WANT TO TALK WITH THE MAYOR!" a familiar voice cried out.

Kori blinked. "That sounds like…Father. Let me go out and talk with them! They're not that much older than me!"

Her father balked. "Kori I forbid you to-".

She didn't hear him as she grabbed her bow and quiver before leaping out of the palanquin. There was a sharp "KORI!" but she didn't listen. Not this time. No, she strode past the bewildered guards and stood in front of the protestors. There wasn't a whole lot of them, mostly just kids and a few guards. Not enough to truly stop the procession, but enough for there to be problems if things got violent.

At the head of the group was a familiar short girl with a bowlcut. "Kori?" Smellerbee asked, looking rather surprised.

"What are you guys doing?" the heir to House Morishita asked. "You know you can't exactly stop us from passing, right?"

Smellerbee gave a nonchalant shrug. "No, but we can at least get you to talk to our leader. He just wants to have a chat is all."

The mentioning of their 'leader' caused Kori's eyebrows to furrow. "If he wants to talk, he can talk to me. I'll speak for my father." Her bow gripped as her eyes darted to the peripherals of her vision. There were a lot of alleyways and corners an attack could come from.

"Relax. We just want to talk. Nobody has to die here," Smellerbee said, obviously trying to placate and ease the building tension. Yet it didn't work as the guards began to approach with weapons drawn and bending stances taken.

Deep down, Kori began to panic as she saw some of the older members of the blockade begin to get into their own combat stance. "Smellerbee, I'm being serious here. That 'Master' isn't who you think they are. There's something going on, and I don't think it's going to end well for any of us."

Yet her words did nothing to deter the rebel standing across from her with arms crossed. "Listen. I appreciate the concern, but we can handle ourselves. Now your dad better get out here or - WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

It was Smellerbee's sudden panic and the beat of massive wings that gave Kori her only warning. Suddenly, a gust of wind barrelled her over to the ground. From behind she heard guards shouting and fire being flown at…something. She wasn't sure what.

Still, it was between her and her father. Whatever issues they may have, it wasn't enough to break the bonds that deeply. Hastily, she grabbed her bow and readied an arrow before turning around to face their attacker.

It was beyond anything she could've imagined. The fire being thrown washed against greenish gray skin. Their intense heat did nothing to burn through its tough exterior. A snake like head upon a sinewy neck rearing and shrieked before its toothy maw devoured a guard while a similarly long tail thrashed a group of advancing guards from behind. Its multiple sets of red eyes regarded them all ruefully as its taloned foot dug into the palanquin.

Dragging out her screaming father. Kori buried her panic and aimed carefully. Holding her breath, she let her arrow fly through the air. It struck home, drilling into one of the glowing red eyes of the monster.

A howl left its toothy maw, but it refused to let go of its prize. The captain stomped forward and let forth a brilliant torrent of flame, but the thing just blocked it with one of those massive bat-like wings.

Kori was about to get into another position for a better shot, but then a group of figures lept from the buildings. They landed in front of the guards and began to beat them down with almost inhuman strength. Not even fire seemed to do much outside of singe their clothes. To her horror, she saw that they were all in various states of mutation, with claws, spines, and tails protruding from their bodies.

The most mutated of them all landed in front of the captain. He gave out a defiant yell and attempt to stab at the monstrosity with a fire dagger, but it just grabbed his fist and clamped down with a bone-chilling crunch. The yell turned into a cry of agony as the firebender was tossed to the ground.

Then the thing looked up at Kori. She only stared back in horror.

It was the Abomination. Now though? It wasn't even trying to pass off as human. It just grinned at her with a smile that was far too wide and toothy to be natural.

"And thus, the new era begins," they mocked.

Her father had only one thing to say to Kori. "Forget about me! RUUUUUN!"

Breaking out of her stupor and realizing she was far outmatched, Kori finally obeyed her father and ran. Didn't look back as the carnage continued or as she heard the beast fly up into the air with her panicking father in its clutches. She, and the protestors that were still human, ran as far as their legs could carry them.

There wasn't any distinction between loyalties now. They were ALL prey.

---

Earth Spirit's Pass

Azula grimaced as Maina placed her on her mat in their tent. Inwardly she was kicking herself. Of all the times she had to lose it, she had to lose it in front of her brother and everyone? She would have immolated herself if she could actually move her arms or bend.

But no. She had to endure Maina's gaze as she knelt beside her. "It was the Voices again, wasn't it?"

The Princess numbly nodded. "I didn't do myself any favors, did I?"

"Nope. No you didn't," Maina flatly said. "I mean, I think we could do more to stop this thing from blowing up, but what you suggested was taking things too far. We don't have to stoop to their level."

A defeated sigh left Azula's lips as she sunk into her matt. "Well that's it then. We're screwed."

"Azula, you don't know that. We…", the Priestess trailed off, clearly wondering how to spin this in a way where they DON'T end up in chains.

Gloom crept into Azula's heart, as if the gravity of the situation couldn't get any worse. "...I'm a bad person. Aren't I?" she stated as a matter of fact.

Maina grimaced. "I mean…you could have thought of something a bit better than just a flat out arrest."

"No. I couldn't have because there was nothing better I could think of." The words came out as lifeless and dull. Azula felt the fire in her soul die out as her fate was being set in stone. Might as well get it out before they brought the chains. "There was no other ending for me. I was just running on borrowed time. Try to convince me all you will, but that's not going to change the fact that I'm…I'm a monster. Probably better if I rot somewhere before I ruin everything for his perfect world."

Yet the fire that was extinguished in her voice reignited something in Maina. "Listen. You don't have to take his crap. Just because he thinks you're a lost cause doesn't mean you ARE one. Why do you let him browbeat you like this? He's not going to see you as his sister until you start standing up for yourself."

"...what's there to stand up to when he's right?" Azula turned her head so she wouldn't have to look at Maina anymore. Agni she was pathetic. Was that her problem? Expecting her brother to come around if she stayed quiet? Hoping that whatever scraps of sympathy was thrown her way was enough to sustain herself?

A sigh came from Maina. "I'll stand guard outside," she said, before stepping outside of the tent. Leaving Azula alone.

The Princess snapped her eyes shut. This, this had to be a joke. How can he stand there and think he can just decide if she's worthy of dignity? Of being treated as human when he was just as guilty of what she stood accused of? How could ANY of them try and do this when they were in the same boat as she was?

Such thoughts infuriated her. They drew up feelings of pure rage.

That's when the images flashed through her mind. Paintings of dragons being slain she saw as a child. The mosasaur skull trophies back at Yu Dao. That mural of Sozin conquering Godzilla.

Was that all she was to them? A monster for them to imprison so they can be heroes? Was every scrap of sympathy really meant as a way for them to pat themselves on the back? Oh it wasn't their fault Azula was gone too far. They gave her soooo many chances to prove she could be a good, obedient little pet.

That…she wouldn't stand for that.

Deep down, a blue fire blazed through her soul and pulsed through her veins. It blazed and roared, filling her heart with strength.

Suddenly…feeling was restored to her arms.

Groggily, she propped herself up. Her eyes widened from what she had done. Did…did she just overcome the chi-blockages?

Her fists clenched, relishing their restoration.

And now, the inferno in her heart was craving retribution.

---

Unknown Ruins

Aang did not say a word as he was marched through the ruined streets. Gradually, the rest of his companions were jostled awake one by one. Not that they could do much with weapons drawn to their backs. They kept quiet as well in case any of their sentinels got a little bit too pushy with their blades.

In truth, there was something more unnerving about their captors. The soldiers just kept marching along the boulveyard in unison. Perfect unison in a way that was almost unnatural. And those ghoulish eyes. For some reason, Aang kept getting flashbacks to how that old waterbender effectively puppeteered him and Sokka. His spine shivered from the bad memory.

Yet their present situation wasn't any better. Looking to either side brought only more grotesque buildings and more soldiers. Among them were more of those long necked beasts pulling along massive blocks of stone. And there was a change in the scenery too. Lush foliage was slowly being replaced by repaired buildings and torn stumps.

Then there was the pyramid. It only loomed larger and larger as they approached its shadow, with the eye of the storm high above. The details became more defined as they approached. Snarling serpents and monstrous visages ran down the abominable structure.

What was most ominous was the huge opening at the pyramid's base. It was fashioned in the shape of a massive maw, with fangs barred and a gaping darkness within. Before it, an altar was built as rows of worshippers bowed in reverence. Aang gulped as they approached, feeling a dark presence watching them as the procession stopped.

Team Avatar, Imana, Kiriko and her scouts were practically dragged at the base of the altar and forced on their knees one by one. Aang gulped, seeing the High Priest, Mongke, and the individual named "the Seer" ascend the steps to the altar. It was explained to him that those two were the only ones worthy of names.

The High Priest bowed reverently before the gaping darkness leading to the center of the pyramids, the winds blowing his robes in dramatic fashion. "LORD AXOR!" he called. "After so long, our preparations are finally complete. What's more, we have brought you new acolytes worthy of your name! Amongst their number is the Avatar, who I assure you will make a fine servant!"

"WE DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY JUST TO BE SOME OVERGROWN SNAKE'S LAPDOGS!" Sokka shouted before he got smacked in the head by his guard.

"With these new initiates at your side," the High Priest continued, "we are certain to wipe clean the upstarts at our door. Now we await the arrival of the Chaos Bringer, who shall be the sacrifice to sanctify the rebirth of our empire. AND THE STORM SHALL CONSUME THE REST WHO DARE DEFY US!"

A loud chant erupted from the assembled soldiers and worshippers. Satisfied, the High Priest turned towards Colonel Mongke. "You have delivered the Avatar and his companions, Devourer. As promised, Yu Dao shall be spared. And you will have the God of Destruction's corpse for your feast."

Aang exchanged a glance with his companions. The Devourer? What was that?

Only Imana's eyes seemed to widen as she silently mouthed something.

As for the Devourer, they just crossed their arms and glared at the High Priest. "And how can I assume that the Storm King will honor his bargain?"

Without a word, the Seer rushed behind him and drew a long dagger from his robes. Before Mongke could move, he plunged it deep in the Colonel's back.

Colonel Mongke, his face not even moving a muscle, didn't even seem to react to the weapon. He just glared as his body began to transform. Bones were rearranged. His nails turned to claws. And he barred his now razor sharp fangs at the High Priest.

The zealot just leaned forward just out of range of the man's fangs and growled, "There is no bargaining with a God."

Just then, a sharp hiss filled the air. Aang's eyes widened as he heard something massive moving within the depths of the pyramid.

Then, from the dark, a pair of great golden eyes peered out.

It slithered out at first. A dark-blue body long and scaly. A pair of clawed arms reached out from the dark to pull itself out from the pyramid. Freed, it raised its head up and spread out a spiked hood around its neck. As more of it emerged, it began to rise up on two massive legs with a long powerful tail thrashing behind it.

Axor hissing the air, lowering his long neck towards the altar.

All at once, the High Priest and the Seer grabbed the wounded Mongke and shoved him towards the great serpent. The Colonel let out a strangled cry, as if some semblance of the man that was forcibly dragged back into reality.

His cry lasted for a moment before Axor struck forward, greedily devouring the man in a few monstrous bites. Thus ended Colonel Mongke, leader of the Rough Rhinos. Or what was left of him.

With that business ended, Axor turned towards Aang and his companions. Staring into those golden eyes, the airbender felt a sharp pain in his skull. Various images played out in sequence, telling of this once grand empire at its peak in an age long ago. Perhaps even older than the Avatar Spirit itself. For he couldn't recongize any of the images from his past lives.

Then, his guard pushed him forward. Scrambling to his feet, Aang grabbed his staff and got into an airbending stance. "Axor!" he called. "I am Avatar Aang! You release these people from whatever spell you have them under or suffer the consequences!" He spoke with the authority of countless lifetimes, millennia of experience, and the might of the Avatar Spirit at his back.

Axor regarded him before hissing in derision. "You are in no position to bargain Avatar," the High Priest spoke. Though Aang was dead certain that the voice that came out of the zealot was not his own. "Only by tapping into the Avatar State will you be able to stand a chance against me. And would you be willing to hurt your friends if you take such a dangerous route?"

Aang was about to ask what the kaiju was talking about before he heard water spiral from a sealskin. He turned towards Katara who had a whip of water at the ready.

Aimed directly at him.

With blank white eyes frozen in horror.

"...Katara?" Aang asked, before he turned towards more movement. His companions circled around him, standing in combat positions. Sokka with his boomerang at the ready. Imana with a crude airbending stance. Kiriko and her firebenders prepared. All with the same blank eyes as the rest of Axor's minions.

Aang gulped, before hearing a dark chuckle from Axor's speaker. "Now you know the true might of the Storm King," he hissed. "All are made equal in my eye. All are slaves. And with the end of the war comes the dawn of a new age. MY age. For all will bow in reverence to their new God. Those who oppose me will be sacrifices for my new world, until all that remains is reverence for the one true King."

…

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM.

The Storm King's rantings were interrupted by heavy footsteps. Axor hissed the air, and barred his fangs at the distance.

Aang turned, and had to cover his ears from the deafening roar.

SKEEEEEEEEEERRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNK!

A mountain of pure muscle had come, cased in charcoal scales with great spines running down its back. A mighty tail trashed behind it, crumbling ruins as it walked towards them. The newcomer gave another challenging roar towards the city's ruler.

Axor returned the roar, a shrill hiss enhanced by a swirling vortex coming from its maw.

Aang paled. Before him stood Axor.

Behind stood Godzilla.

Both kaiju readied for battle. With Aang and his friends in the middle.

---

A/N: Taking bets for the upcoming fight. Plaaaace your bets in the comments below.

Ugh. Sorry this is late. Again. Honestly, the past few months have been…kind of crazy, but I managed to get this out. Hopefully the next chapter is going to be a lot better. I DID write some scenes of a future chapter already, so I did get some progress out.

Plus this chapter was hard to write itself. Grinding Azula down and having Zuko's issues flare up with her again wasn't pleasant to write. Again, I'm trying to keep my view of Zuko as neutral as possible. It's just Azula and the throne was some of the weak points in his morality in the series proper. I just don't want to reward him for inadvertently dragging this farther out than it needs to be.

Same thing with Mai and Ty Lee. Again, they've got all the reason to hate Azula for how she treated them. But…well, I don't think anybody in the Fire Nation has a healthy outlet for rage. For Mothra's sake, the Fire kids tore apart a whole house to vent their frustrations. That's not exactly a sign of a healthy mindset.

Yeah I know it was Chan and he's the dumbest, but still.

In other news, we've arrived in the court of the Storm King. I got a lot of the city's inspiration from Peter Jackson's King Kong, particularly the video game adaptation. Basically Skull Island was filled with these massive ruins that were overgrown by jungles with ghoulish statues. I'd highly recommend taking a look at some of the artwork if you're interested. It's really foreboding stuff.

As for the beast Aang and Katara, it was a sauropod. One of the giant longnecked dinosaurs like Brontosaurus or Mamenchisaurus. Going again with the lost world vibe, they act as a sort of beast of burden. A good comparison would be the film 10,000 BC where the villains use enslaved mammoths to build their city. The pyramid at the center is actually a reference to the Hanna Barbara Godzilla cartoon where Axor enslaved people to build this massive pyramid which gave him power.

Speaking of, we finally get the Storm King himself. I made his design to be a bit more serpentine than the vaguely saurian build he had in the cartoon. Got the inspiration from Vertigo, a huge snake goddess from Primal Rage who basically had the same role Axor has here (except being a goddess of sorcery and madness instead of being an enslaver). The armored hood was inspired by Buraki, a huge snake kaiju from the film Dragon Wars (not the best film but the monster scenes were good).

He had similar wind-based and hypnotizing abilities in the cartoon. It's based on beliefs that snakes could hypnotize their prey into submission. Which isn't true. Cuttlefish do that. Not snakes.

And at long last, Godzilla has arrived for battle. That should be a decent appetizer for the next chapter which I hope to get out in good time. Thank you once again for your patience and support. They really do mean a lot. And thank you for reading. Make sure to leave your thoughts and remember to favorite/follow if you want to see more. Thank you all for reading, have a great day, and see you all next time.