17 Chapter 17: Azula

I was woken up early by the sun hitting my face.

I look to my side and find Toph still hanging on to my arm with a smile on her face.

She sure looks happy.

Being careful, I switch my arm with my pillow and get up. Damn, my arm is pretty numb.

Standing up and stretching, I begin doing my daily exercise outside.

I do a few hundred push-ups, squats, and biceps curls using an earthen dumbbell.

When I finished everyone else in the house had woken up.

I could see Aang through the window.

"Mornin', Lu Chen. You ready for today?"

"Yup. The general came over yet?"

"No, not yet. You better eat breakfast now, though, just in case."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

After finishing my exercises, I get up to get breakfast from a restaurant. Toph is still sleeping, so I'll get her some food too.

I get a few dumplings and egg rolls for us.

When I entered my room again, Toph had just woken up with a yawn.

"Morning, Lu. Is that breakfast you got there?"

"Yep. Dumplings and egg rolls. There wasn't really anything else I could get, so it'll have to do."

"That's okay. Dumplings are alright."

I give Toph her share, and we sit together eating and talking about the coming drill and making plans.

----------

A few hours pass and hurried knocks can be heard from the door.

A muffled shout came through the door.

"Mr. Avatar! The drill is approaching! You are needed at the wall!"

Aang comes to my room and tells us to get ready.

I then to Toph and tell her that I'm gonna change into my clothes and she should do the same after I exit the room.

Since Toph can't see, I quickly put on a change in underwear and my regular clothes and head out of the room.

A few seconds later, Toph exits the room in her usual clothes.

She sure changes fast for a blind girl.

Everyone gathers outside and hips onto Appa.

We fly to the wall and greet the general in charge of protecting the wall, Sung.

Aang approaches the general.

"How can we help, General?"

"Oh, it's the Avatar. Eh, we do not need your help. I've sent an elite team of earthbenders to deal with it already. I call them the Terra Team!"

"Hm. Terra Team. I like that. We should come up with a team name, too!"

Everyone ignores Sokka.

The entirety of Team Avatar, except me, looked at the general confused and doubtful, and looked to the drill.

We see 2 people take out all the members of the Terra Team in a matter of minutes.

General Sung holds the fence edge of the wall and bites on his fingernails.

"We're doomed!"

Sokka grabs him by the shirt and slaps him across the face.

"Get yourself together!"

"Uh, sorry."

Toph walks up to the General and puts her hands behind her head.

"So, need our help now?"

General Sung looks down sheepishly.

"Yes, please..."

We begin to discuss how to deal with the drill.

Everyone turns their heads to face Sokka.

"What? Something on my face?"

"Well, your the idea guy, Sokka. You have any idea how to deal with the drill?"

"What? How come this falls on me?"

Katara plainly responds to the complaining Sokka.

"Well, your also the complaining guy."

"... I am. Hmm... Just give me a little time."

In the meantime, we help all of the members of the Terra Team get up the wall to safety and Katara heals them.

One of the men being healed describes his attacker and how she delivered a couple of jabs which caused him to lose his bending.

"It's like she took me out from the inside."

"That sounds like that girl I fought a couple of weeks ago, I think her name was Ty Lee."

Sokka, hearing what the Terra Team member said, jumps up excitedly.

"That's it! That's how we deal with the drill! By hitting its pressure points!"

Team Avatar gathers around Sokka and praises him.

"That sounds like a good plan, Sokka, but how are we supposed to get inside?"

"Well, Katara, we can just have Toph or Lu Chen create a big dust cloud."

I step forward and volunteer.

"Leave that to me. I'll stay outside and distract any enemies while you guys head inside."

Toph looks at me with a grimace on her face.

"Again?! Didn't we talk about this? I'm not gonna leave you alone to get injured again!"

"Well, you won't have to worry this time. The only reason I lost so badly last time was because I overestimated myself. Plus, this time I have both metal and lava to use. I'll ask for some soldiers to accompany me if that'll make you feel better."

Toph looks at me angrily and grabs my shirt to bring me closer. She points a finger to my face.

"I'll give you one last chance. You better run away if you're in danger. I won't forgive you if you get injured again."

Toph lets go of my shirt and turns around.

"Let's go."

Team Avatar and a couple of earthbender soldiers get on an earth platform and we make our way down the wall.

As soon as we land on the ground, Toph earthbends a giant cloud of dust, obscuring any vision of us.

Sokka begins looking for a way inside. He finds a trapdoor on the underside of the drill and beckons everyone in.

"Come on, in here!"

Everyone except for me and the soldiers stay on the ground. I turn to face them.

"Since my team is in charge of this operation, I want you guys to deal with the Fire Nation tanks on the ground while I go on top of the drill."

""Yes... uh, Sir!""

The soldiers awkwardly salute me and head out to battle.

I make my way to the top of the drill and calmly jog to the command module. I feel the earth inside the metal while jogging.

I feel a lot of pieces of earth. It looks like they made this drill in a hurry, they didn't smelt all of the impurities away when heating the metal. That's good for me.

A few minutes of jogging later, I find the command module and hope on the window. The view from the inside is still blocked by the dust cloud.

A few seconds later the drill makes contact with the wall and with that I clear the cloud obscuring the enemy's vision.

I stand there coolly with my arms crossed and a smile on my face.

I can see workers fiddling on some controls, an old captain-like person standing up in the middle platform, and Azula sitting on a small throne in the back.

I don't see Ty Lee or May. Azula probably sent them to investigate the sliced support beam.

Once Azula spots me, her face turns into surprise then quickly to a sly smile.

Azula quickly shoots a ball of blue flame to the window, barely missing the old captain person, and smashes the window to pieces.

I jump back to avoid her blast and onto the drill's main body.

Azula steps out of the command module's window and brushes her hair back.

"Well, it's surprising to see you again... What was your name again? Rock Boy?"

"Lu Chen is the name. My fiance gave me an earful for these scars you gave me, so I'm gonna pay you back in full by humiliating you."

I point to the scar on my head with my scarred arm.

Azula just looks at me in amusement.

"Well, I think it looks nice on you. It makes you look handsome. How about you give up now and become my servant?"

Sheesh, I know my face looks good and I'm bulkier due to my exercises, but now I'm getting hit on by Azula? No thanks.

"No thanks, I already got a girl. Plus, you're not my type."

Azula twitches her brow and jumps down while sending a few blue fireballs at me.

I bring up a wall in front of me using the metal from the drill. I peak at my headband smile wide at her.

Azula looks at the metal wall in surprise.

I look at her smugly.

"Like it? I've been training, and I figure out that I can bend metal. Neat, right?"

Azula just looks at me angrily and blasts more blue fire at me.

I hide behind the wall again and punch the metal wall I made up to my elbows and pull out, covering my forearms to create metal gauntlets.

Not wanting her to be able to shoot lightning, I quickly shorten the distance and engage Azula in close combat.

Azula, surprised at my quick movement, brings a fire-enhanced chop to intercept me.

I block the attack using my metal gauntlet and grab her arm in a counter.

In her haste, Azula used her free arm to attack again, using a flame punch this time, but I do the same.

Her punch met mine, causing her to pull back her hand in pain.

I use this opening to turn her around and grab her arms together and cuff them using the metal on my arms.

I drop her to her knees and secure her legs as well.

Since I shortened the distance and made the first contact with Azula, only a few seconds have passed.

I must have really surprised Azula with my metalbending to win this fight.

"So, I've beaten you, and now your my prisoner, little miss princess."

Azula struggles to get out of her bindings, to no avail.

"Release me, you lowly scum!"

I grab her hair and force her head down to face the 'floor'.

"Lowly? Who's the one on her knees? I bet you're spoiled on the Fire Lord's praise of your skill, but what has that gotten you into? Captured and defeated. I bet once your father knows of this, he'll just say you're a failure."

Azula reacts to me calling her a failure.

"What do you know of my Father! He'll never call me that! Not like my idiot brother! He loves me!"

I know that's one of her few weak points from the show. She lives off of the little praise Ozai gives her. Such a damaged girl.

I soften my grip on her head.

"If he truly loved you, he wouldn't send you to war, no matter how talented you are. I know if I was a father, j wouldn't send my child to fight my wars. At least not until they're adults."

"... You're a hypocrite. You're fighting in this war, helping the Avatar. Your parents surely don't want that for a boy younger than me."

"That's because this war didn't give me or my friends a choice. Kids have to fight when their side is losing. Your side has that choice, the Fire Nation is currently winning, yet the Fire Lord still sends his 'precious' daughter to risk her life. I could have killed you by now, but I didn't. Because I understand that the Fire Lord is just using you for your talent."

"He does not treat me like a tool! He trusts me! He treasures me! I'm not Zuko!"

Azula begins struggling again, a few tiny tears on the edge of her eyes.

"We'll see just how much he treasures you when the Earth Kingdom sends him a ransom in exchange for your safety. For his current heir."

"Oh, he'll send someone to collect me, just you wait! And when I'm out, I'll come to kill you!"

I stay silent and pick her up and hoist her on my shoulder.

I then around to see Aang making an earth spike inside the weak spot he made.

Knowing what's to come, I quickly make my way down the drill and use earth bending to launch myself further away.

I set Azula down, making sure she can see the drill.

Aang airbends far up the wall and runs down onto the spike he made.

"Looks like your drill is done for, Princess."

Aang makes contact with the spike and a few seconds later the drill explodes, splattering waves of earth sludge into the air.

Azula looks to the drill in dismay.

"With this, you've officially lost. With this failure and your capture, your father will have no use for you. He'll treat you like you've never existed."

Azula continues to struggle in her bindings, now looking more manic. A few tears managed to escape her eyes.

"No! I will not be treated as a failure! I will not... Ugh... No..."

Her yelling is similar to how she cried at the end of the show. Albeit to a much less degree. She wasn't defeated by her brother and treated like useless baggage during the comet by Ozai this time around.

'Thanks for paving the way to becoming king of the world, now take over my now useless title of Fire Lord.' What kind of shitty father tells his hard-working daughter that?

He never loved his children. He won't even make the effort to save Azula.

"Well, with that over, let's head to your new home."

I pick up the now silent Azula and out her in my shoulder.

I changed the story for good.

Aang won't die and be brought back by Katara using her Spring Oasis Water.

Ba Sing Se won't fall and Azula isn't undercover to learn about the invasion plan.

Ozai will stay in his palace and be unaware of the attack.

We might finish the war earlier than canon.

I won't get complacent yet, though. The Fire Nation might still be aware of the eclipse.

I don't know how often an eclipse happens in this world, but they are sure to have history on the Fire Nation's 'Darkest Day'.

Or somehow, someone leaks the information. That has a low chance, though.

I make my way to the wall and create a platform to stand on.

I set Azula down and begin to earthbend the platform up the wall.

Greeted by General Sung, I set Azula to the side and create a cell made of earth around her.

"This is my prisoner, the Fire Nation princess."

The general and his soldiers gasp in surprise.

"You captures the enemy's princess?! Good job! I heard she is very powerful!"

"Yeah, but not as powerful as me. I want you to do a favor for me, General."

The general looks up from observing Azula and turns his head to me.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I want to send a message to the Fire Lord. Asking for ransom in exchange for Azula. I'd like to write it too."

"Uh, shouldn't we wait... for the higher-ups to decide...?"

"The mission to stop the drill was done under my team. The princess is the Avatar's prisoner, not the Earth Kingdom."

Luckily, General Sung is a bit inept and gullible. He sends someone to fetch a parchment and quill.

A few seconds later, a soldier brings me the parchment.

I begin writing.

[Dear, Mr. Fire Lord,

Your precious daughter has been defeated in a battle with me, Lu the Earthbender and ally of the Avatar. If you want your useless daughter, who lost in a mere 5 seconds, send us One Hundred Million gold bars. If you don't send us the gold in 1 week, your useless daughter will be sent to the spirit world.

P.S.

It might be more economical to just make another heir, in my opinion.]

I made sure to drive in the word 'useless' as much as I can so that it's all Ozai sees in his daughter. He won't comply with my outrageous demand of one hundred million gold bars, too.

After finishing the letter, I roll it up and put it in a case that has a Ba Sing Se crest in it.

I hand it to the gullible general and look at him sternly.

"Make sure this gets to the Fire Nation. Now."

I don't want the Dai Li to take custody of Azula before I can get a message out to Ozai.

General Sung looks at me and gulps down his saliva, getting afraid of my glare.

I did defeat possibly the second most powerful firebender in the world. He knows his place.

Signaling for a soldier, the general commands him to ready an ostrich horse and give the message to a Fire Nation base near the coast.

(A/N: Don't know how communication between enemy nations work in this world. It's never explained.)

After seeing the soldier disappear on the horizon, the rest of Team Avatar makes their way up the wall.

"Hey, guys! I caught something nice!"

Aang, Katara, and Toph looked at Azula in surprise.

Sokka just has his mouth wide open and his eyes look like they're about to pop out of his skull.

"You captured that crazy girl?!"

===============

In hindsight, I *kinda* regret doing this ATLA fanfic. That doesn't mean I'm gonna drop this. I'm not. I will continue publishing chapters until the end. I will not be doing the comics or Korra (since I dislike the show).

I predict this fan fic having about 50 to 60 chapters at it's end, which I think is a pretty good amount, since this fanfic started in the middle of Book 2.

If this decision makes you drop this fanfic, that's ok. I do genuinely hope you find a much better story than this piece of shit fanfic.

I also may do Marvel fanfics in the future as well.