Chaos in the colonies

If you're interested, the first six chapters have been updated with the help of my Beta. There is no new content there, just a couple of new jokes and overall, slightly more enjoyable writing.

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Michael froze the water in the river, creating an ice bridge. Without losing a moment, Ty Lee ran across the ice in the hope of reaching the city faster. Michael, on the other hand, lingered for a couple of seconds and raised as much water as he could in the air behind him. If there was a fire in the city, then he could put it out, especially since he was not going to show his face.

Pulling bandages out of his bag as he ran, Michael wrapped his face around and looked like a copy of Zabuza from the Hidden Mist. He also wrapped his arms and torso to somewhat disguise his clothes. 'If I need a name, I'll use Zabuza. If I stole his getup, I might as well steal his name.' All this time, Ty Lee didn't look back and continued to run as if lives depended on it. For all they know, they did.

The trees flew past at lightning speed, and Michael barely had time to finish his preparations before they reached the city. It was still the same city where the traveling circus had stopped, but now is was much more colorful than usual.

Michael broke the huge ball of water that followed him into dozens of smaller balls and hid them on the rooftops where no one would notice them. He couldn't give out his main weapon right now, where people might notice him.

Splashes of paint were visible everywhere - on houses, on roads, hell, even on some people - crushed cabbage lay in the alleys, all kinds of things lay in strange places where they definitely should not be - who puts pots on the roofs? - and for some reason Michael thought that he knew the culprit. But the biggest change was a huge fire on the main street, around which a crowd of people gathered.

"Former citizens of the Earthen Kingdom!" Barked a Fire Nation General from the platform in front of the fire. "I demand that you give us the man named Zabuza and his accomplices!" Michael stumbled and almost fell, 'It couldn't be a coincidence' he thought. "Do it now, and no one gets hurt! Fail to do so, and we'll start throwing your posessions in the fire, and when there is nothing to burn, we'll start throwing people." He growled and nodded to his soldiers.

Michael and Ty Lee stood at the back of the crowd with wide eyes. Michael, because he couldn't understand how his drunken brain could come up with the idea of ​​taking the name Zabuza, and Ty Lee because it was the first time, she'd seen the Fire Nation's brutality. Of course, she saw people being taken prisoner and sent to work in camps all over the country, but she never even thought that soldiers would kill civilians just to find one person. Especially since all the prisoners fought against the Fire Nation soldiers, but civilians? In an occupied city?

"Well? Nothing to say?! Soldiers, start!"

As Ty Lee stood in shock and Michael thought about his life, the soldiers had already started throwing things into the fire. Some screamed, some cried, and one brave soul tried to run up to the fire to save at least some of their belongings, but it was all in vain.

People were whispering among themselves about Zabuza, the man who caused it all. Many saw him last night, but almost no one remembered his face, it was simply too unremarkable. Of course, people knew that he had different colored eyes, but where can they find him now? He might already be on his way to the next city and no one will know about it.

"No! Don't touch it! It's the only thing left of my mother!" Michael, hearing the woman's scream, finally snapped out of his stupor. He immediately broke a couple of balls into steam and began to slowly cover the area with a thick white mist. People started screaming as they saw the rapidly moving fog, and Michael took the opportunity to get closer to the fire.

When he was sure that he had closed the entire main street, he summoned a couple more balls and dropped them on the fire, which immediately went out. And again, people screamed, but after a second, they fell silent, hearing a voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

"Eight points." The voice was emotionless, as if he had repeated this phrase a thousand times already. "Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular, Subclavian artery, Kidneys, Heart." Everyone heard his heavy steps, but no one knew where they came from. "Usually, when I hunt Fire Nation soldiers, I hit those places. A single blow of the sword is enough to kill."

The mist quickly began to gather in one place, in the center of the street where there were most of the soldiers. "But we don't want people to wash your dirty blood off the stone, do we? They've had enough problems with paint." Michael chuckled, sensing the soldiers' panic. There were no Firebenders among them, they were needed on the front lines, so they had little chance against a Waterbending Master.

Grabbing the general by the throat, Michael snatched the sword from his hands and threw it into the dead fire. The man in his arms was much shorter than him, but ten kilograms heavier, so that he immediately began to choke. "General, I advise you to order your people to stop this clowning before it's too late. After all, I can be less forgiving."

Michael dropped the General to the floor and started collecting mist in his right hand. The crowd gasped in shock as they saw the vortex of mist that quickly became a long ice claymore in the hands of the man who was no doubt Zabuza. But this ice was compressed much more than normal ice, which no one except the Waterbender himself knew.

At that moment, Michael was reminded that he was much taller than almost all the people in this world. He towered over the cowardly form of the general, who was coughing and trying to crawl away from him as soon as possible. The soldiers, seeing the threat, immediately surrounded the podium and a few of the bravest stood in front of their General. Michael let them do it and didn't even move a muscle as he continued to play his part.

Fear and worry could be seen in the movements of his opponents, but they took confidence in their numbers. Now they saw him as a simple Waterbender, not as a threat. 'Well, I just need to fix that.'

"You're surrounded-" The General yelled, but paid for it immediately as a wave of pain hit his throat. "by the fifteen of the best soldiers in this city! I make condition here!"

Michael looked around lazily, counting the soldiers, there really were fifteen of them. The civilians quickly began to leave the main street so as not to become an accidental victim, but some people remained, they wanted to know how this clash would end. Ty Lee was among them. "All I see is fifteen idiots ready to throw themselves at my blade and die. Cities like this don't get professionals, only sissies who have never been in a real fight."

The city they were now in had long been under the control of the Fire Nation, and few could even come here to try and take it back. If someone was sent here, it was only to fulfill their duty to their homeland without threatening their lives.

"Surrender, criminal!" The young soldier shouted, but his hands were trembling. The spear in his hands went in all directions, like a kite in the storm.

Michael didn't answer, only raised his right hand to the sky. Fifteen balls of water immediately gathered above him and began to slowly circle over the heads of the soldiers.

While everyone was looking up, a thin needle of ice broke off from Michael's sword and immediately flew to the shocked General's right shoulder. The fat screamed and felt his hand lose all sensation. This caught the attention of the rest of the soldiers, who immediately focused on the main threat, occasionally glancing at the water.

"Just because I don't want to kill anyone on my vacation doesn't mean I can't cripple you." He pointed his claymore at the General. "I pierced the bundle of nerves that governs the movement of your right arm, without proper treatment you won't even be able to even wipe your ass anymore."

The balls in the air broke into hundreds and thousands of thin needles that hung menacingly over the battlefield. Seeing the fear on the General's face, Michael continued. "Of course, I'm a little rusty and could've missed, in which case once the senbon melts, your arm will be just fine. But what do I know? I'm not a doctor, just a murderer."

Something began to rise in his memories at those words, but he suppressed the feelings that threatened to resurface at any moment. Previously, he didn't receive memories while he was conscious, so Michael decided to proceed very carefully.

He brought the ice claymore down and felt the splinters hit his feet. The soldiers jumped at his unexpected action and gripped their weapons tighter. "You know, I'll do you a favor. You have five minutes to get the hell out of here, and only then will I start hunting your asses." He folded his arms across his chest. "Time started two minutes ago."

The soldiers looked at each other, at their General who was looking at his hand in horror, and nodded to each other. They threw their weapons where they stood and ran into the loose. "Stop! This is treason-!" An ice senbon was thrown between the General's legs, dangerously close to his manhood.

Michael took the claymore and dragged it across the hardwood floor towards the General. "I don't see you running, General."

"You're dead, Zabuza! The Fire Lord will kill you!" The General shouted hysterically as he rose to his feet. The man turned and ran after his soldiers.

Michael suppressed the urge to sigh and collected the ice behind his back. He glanced towards Ty Lee and was surprised to see her in the alley, he thought she had already run away while everyone was distracted. 'Though my cruelty is unlikely to frighten her. Azula did worse than me.' He imperceptibly gave her a sign to follow him and went towards the forest. Michael wasn't going to stay in town after his stunt.