Unnecessary Interlude

I just had to go in their place, didn't I?

I threw a blast of air at the blue flames that were sent towards me. The sender stopped, pausing at seeing that.

'Man, I'm fucked,' was all I could think as I stared at the wretched bitch before me, Azula.

"So you're the other Airbender I've heard so much about... where did you pop out from? If you're here, the Avatar can't be far, right?" she asked me, thankfully giving me more time. I needed to stall for time, but it seems my mouth had other plans.

"Your mom," I blurted out that retort unwittingly, and at this point, I realized I had spent too much time with Toph, as I always had a remark.

I saw Azula's smug smirk drop.

While satisfying, it was equally terrifying at the same time. Ty Lee and Mai both became pale, knowing about Azula's parental situation. It was so quiet that I swore I could've heard a pin drop.

'Why the hell did I have the mention her mother?!' I thought, cursing myself.

"I was going to play with you and ask a few more questions, but, now... I want to kill you," she said simply.

"Can't you pretend you just didn't hear it?" I squeaked out hopefully. Her smirk came back with a vengeance. I wanted to wipe it off her face again, but I shut my mouth tightly.

"It seems you know of me and my prowess, but that will not forgive your transgression against me," she explained to me. It's a bit irritating that she thought she could kill me so easily.

"You couldn't lighten the sentence to imprisonment?" I tried negotiating. Despite it being frustrating, she probably was stronger than me. By how much? I didn't know. Observe was being a pain in my ass, not revealing her level.

"No," was all I got back for a response. I felt something inside of me snap, and a flood came.

You know what? I. Fucking. Hated. This. Girl.

I despised her, more than anyone could possibly imagine.

We couldn't exist on the same planet, it was just NOT big enough for the two of us. I didn't care if she was vital for Zuko's redemption, or the fact that she was a fourteen year old.

She was a psycho. A psychotic demon child throwing a tantrum because nobody loves her, for obvious reasons. I hated her in the show too. An annoying pest that never shuts the fuck up.

A person who always has to have the last word. Someone who always needs their opinions heard.

I. Was. Sick. Of. It.

It didn't help with the fact that everybody seemed to love this pathetic, mentally unstable, bitch. I was going to kill her just to spite everyone of those bastards.

Why? Why the hell did I have to feel guilty towards this waste of space? I was sick of it, I hated it.

I hated myself, I hated her. I just wanted her gone, after all, my life would be so much easier if she was. No more of this, will I, won't I, bullshit!

I was going to be decisive for once in my fucking life. And, well... I doubted I would ever regret it. Not this time, at least.

Because she's dead. If not today, then sometime in the near future.

It felt as though white, hot magma flowed through my veins as my anger increased. The air distorted, heating up as if in response to my boiling emotions, becoming wavy as light passed through it. A heat mirage.

I didn't have the capacity to care about that now, as I was going to be in a fight for my life. Sweat began appearing on my face, due to the suddenly increased temperature of the surrounding air.

I continued to glare at Azula, and if looks could kill, she'd already be dead. But that just wouldn't of been as satisfying as doing it myself.

...

Azula's POV

It was strange. The glare that he sent at me... I had never seen someone hold that much malice towards myself. Especially of all, an Airbender.

Weren't the Air Nomads supposed to be peace lovers? The current Avatar from what I've gathered is certainly like that.

'Maybe I could use this information to create a rift between them,' I mused to myself. Though I would most certainly kill him right here and now, there wasn't anything wrong with being cautious.

Despite thinking this, I was indeed curious to see what his next move would be. Curious as to what an Airbender with an intent to kill would look like. I read that they would've made formidable opponents if they weren't so focused on avoiding conflict.

Then again, maybe they just weren't all that strong in the first place. Not so free if the first thing you think about is how to run away from a fight, instead of displaying overwhelming strength. With such strength, they could've easily suppressed those weaker than them, a merciful solution. Also, they wouldn't of gotten nearly extinct if they showed off a bit of their power. So it wasn't my fault that I thought they didn't have such strength to begin with.

'Hopefully he'll prove me wrong,' I thought to myself as I eyed him expectedly. Thankfully, he did not disappoint.

The moment he stepped forward, I felt the air change, it grew warmer. Which was interesting, as I didn't recall any records saying Airbenders had the ability to control the temperature of air. Then again, it wasn't that surprising if you looked at the other Bending Arts, or if you considered that Airbenders haven't been around for a hundred years. It was still something to note.

I continued to stare at him, waiting for his next move. He took a few more steps, and the air grew hotter. It felt like a sauna...

I took it in for a moment, already thinking of what ways such a move could be used on the battlefield. It would definitely exhaust everyone within it's radius rather quickly and effectively. And seeing how he wasn't sweating that much, Airbenders had a way to not be affected by heat, or maybe even the cold too, as much as other users of the Bending Arts.

'Yes, if I recall correctly... wasn't it heat regulation?' I remembered vaguely. I had read many records from the Air Temples, preparating for my inevitable fight with The Avatar.

'I guess he will do well as practice.' A smile formed on my face. This though, only made his expression frostier. I had no idea where such hate of me fostered, but it would do me well to stoke it.

I opened my mouth to provoke him, but I couldn't even get a word out of my lips before he moved. It seems he was done with talking, not that I cared.

He rushed towards Ty Lee, panicking the airheaded girl. My eyes narrowed imperceptibly, I couldn't help but think he considered her the most dangerous. While infuriating to be disregarded, it was understandable due to the fact she could disrupt a person's Chi Flow. The only question was, did he know that? And if he did, how?

He was fast, terribly fast. Faster than anyone I've ever seen, wind following behind each of his movements, enhancing his speed.

He arrived in front of her in two seconds. He redirected her reactionary attempt to block his pressure points with a palm pushing her hand to the side, showing a surprising amount of ease as he fluidly moved.

As if he had eyes on the back of his head, he suddenly swung his left arm, and a blast of air stopped the knives Mai had thrown at him from going any further, as if they hit a wall, falling uselessly to the ground. He stepped to the side, easily dodging another attempt to block his pressure points after Ty Lee had regained her balance. Seemingly done with playing around, he struck the center of her chest, sending the acrobatic girl flying into the scaffolding.

"Stop," he demanded. "If you don't, I'll kill the two of you as well," he elaborated coldly, making the two stop. His words made my smile widen.

I might just be able to forgive him for mentioning my mother.

...

Elliot's POV

"Stop... If you don't, I'll kill the two of you as well," I told them. I wasn't actually planning to kill Ty Lee or Mai, but they didn't need to know that.

"You really think you can kill me?" I heard Azula ask me.

"It doesn't seem impossible," I responded, I didn't bother to turn towards her. My entire body felt like it was burning. I wanted nothing more than to slit her throat, and yet I didn't bring out my sword.

I couldn't reveal all of my abilities to her yet, she was smart. And I still wasn't strong enough to kill her, especially considering that Mai and Ty Lee was here. All I needed to focus on was escaping.

I knew Bumi was alive and well. Thinking of Bumi, my anger nearly exploded again, but I suppressed it.

After all, Bumi did have a good reason to surrender. The eclipse was coming, and because Omashu relied on imported food since they had no agricultural sector, the war just would've starved the population. So surrendering in all cases, was just the smartest choice.

That didn't mean I couldn't be mad at Aang. I explained all of this to him, and he still insisted on trading Tom-Tom to get Bumi, which just so happened to be the reason I got into this predicament. What stupidity.

'Doesn't he know that if he dies, basically all of us are fucked?' I questioned, my head throbbing with a headache due to all my exploding emotions.

Closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath, I calmed myself. 'What are you doing Elliot? He's just a kid, and if he fails...'

'That just means I'll have to pick up the slack and kill Ozai myself,' I promised.

I then felt the air move, heating up intensly, and I jumped to the side, blue fire rushing past me. Azula finally decided to joy in on the fun. I stared at her, and she did the same.

'A stand off?' I thought.

Fuck. That.

I didn't care, and rushed towards her. She fired off a few more flames. She may be able to beat me in a battle for now, but...

She couldn't possibly catch me. Azula didn't seem to expect me to run away, her eyes wide in confusion. I dove off the edge of the scaffolding which supported us.

Landing atop of a delivery system cart, I turned around, "See ya!" I gave a small, lighthearted salute with two fingers.

Azula tried following me by doing the same, but I was already off of it and in the sewage system. Wandering the sewers, my mind wandered.

'Ty Lee and Mai were only level 95 and 94 respectively. I can't see Azula's level with observe...' I began pondering on what of my capabilities I exposed to the deranged girl.

"Airbending, and that I know a bit about them, thankfully I put my sword and everything else in my inventory. Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka's capabilities are still prety much unknown, thankfully," I murmured to myself.

What an unnecessary interlude.

I just wanted to go to sleep. All this anger and frustration really made my head hurt.