Clearing the mine's entrance was a simple matter of Earthbending, only took a second and then Aang was in. He could tell with his seismic sense that the mine had been rather large, probably going miles deep. However, several parts of it were caved in far worse than the entrance was.
Aang figured it had been decades since it was actually operational: a perfect secret base.
Aang quietly made his way through, using his feet to guide him, avoiding dead ends and cave-in sights. He made a small fire in his hand to light the way. After about five minutes 10 Dai Li agents dropped from the ceiling.
"Die Avatar!" one shouted. They all attacked.
Aang had sensed them coming. He wasn't scared. He extinguished his light so it became pitch black. Now his enemies were blind but he could still see with his feet. He had always been thankful his Earthbending teacher had been someone as unique as Toph.
Several projectiles were launched at him. He used a stream of air to blow them back at his foes. A few were hit and went down but most of them crushed the rocks before they made contact.
Aang knew heavily using Earthbending in such and unstable place could cause the ceiling to collapse and there also wasn't any water around. He would have to rely mainly on Air and Firebending.
He blasted another gust of wind. Two agents were blown back, crashing into the walls and passing out. The others fastened themselves to the floor by encasing their feet in rocks. Aang had expected this and set their robes on fire with a flaming punch. As they panicked to try to put out the flames he slid his foot back, using very subtle Earthbending to break their rock casings and force them to their knees. With one final air blast he smashed all but one remaining enemy into the wall.
He calmly walked over to the only agent he had left conscious. He lifted his fist and shot out more fire to illuminate the room. "Where is Katara? Is she ok?" he asked.
"I don't know!" the man shouted. Aang could sense he was being truthful. "And I would die before talking!"
"I was afraid of that," Aang said with disappointment. "Is Long Feng here?"
The man's cruel smile glowed in the fire. "Oh, you'll find him here all right. But you'll wish you hadn't." He was telling the truth again.
"Well at least I know he's here" Aang replied as he walked past the man. "Sorry about this; it's nothing personal." He chopped the man in the back of the neck, using Airbending to strengthen the blow enough to knock him out. He continued his way down.
Surprisingly he kept going deeper and deeper without encountering another soul. He couldn't believe Long Feng would only send that simple obstacle. But as he felt further and further ahead with Earthbending he only saw more rocks. That is until he reached a certain depth where he felt the presence of what seemed to be numerous skeletons.
As Aang felt surprised a deep familiar voice suddenly boomed, "Hello Aang! I'm pleased you got my invitation!"
Aang looked around frantically. He neither saw nor felt the presence of anyone else. His sight turned to what looked like a metal tube protruding from the wall. The sound rang from it. "This acoustic system was used to communicate orders to the miners. Quite efficient; although it did contribute to the cave-ins that put this place out of business and killed over 20 workers. This mine has been abandoned for over 50 years which makes it a perfect place for out little reunion."
That explained where the skeletons came from.
"Long Feng!" Aang shouted directly into the tube. "Tell me where Katara is right now!"
Long Feng's laughter boomed throughout the cavern. "Oh, Aang do you really think it's going to be that easy?"
Aang grew livid. "I swear if you hurt her at all…"
"Oh please!" Long Feng retorted. "It's one thing when your wife makes hallow threats but you're an Air Nomad. It's not like there's anything mildly frightening you're actually allowed to do to me."
"Oh yeah?" Aang challenged. "How would you like to spend the rest of your life never being able to Earthbend again?!"
Long Feng laughed again. "In order to do that you have to be able to touch me. Which means first you have to find and defeat me."
"Do you really think that'll be a problem?!" Aang asked. "Compared to Fire Lord Ozai you're no kind of threat to me!"
"It's not like you to sound so reckless Aang," Long Feng joked. "Surely, you who are gifted with Toph's ability must be able to tell how large unstable this mine is. It's one earthquake away from totally collapsing on itself. That would certainly kill both of us." Aang could tell what he was saying was true even if he couldn't pinpoint the location of Long Feng's body to detect lies. The way the mine felt, it was amazing any part of it was still standing.
Long Feng continued. "Besides I have constructed one of my bases right below this mine. Several of my agents, many of them the same age or younger than the boy who greeted you are stationed down here. If you unleash the awesome power of your Avatar State you could easily kill them all."
Aang grunted in frustration. "You sick coward! You would hold your own people, children, hostage to get an advantage over me?!"
"Don't blame me" Long Feng said. "Their fates are in your hands. And the clever general is careful to exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Your bleeding heart practically begs to be struck at! So, you'll have to tread lightly young Avatar. If you get carried away you could easily bring this mine down on top of dozens of young lives. I doubt a pacifist such as yourself wants something like that on his conscience."
"Damn you!" Aang growled. June was right. Long Feng had planned this carefully. Not only were Earth and Waterbending impractical in this environment but now the Avatar State was too.
"Oh and by the way," Long Feng added. "I'm not going to wait around for you all day. If you don't get down here soon you'll never see Katara alive again and you'll never hold that precious baby in your arms."
Aang roared like a tigerdillo, breathing fire into the intercom. "I'll be right there."
He was panicked now. He ran down every clear path he could find as fast as his legs would go. The ground was uneven so occasionally he would trip but he kept going the same pace. Every now and then an agent would drop from the ceiling only to be dispatched by a quick attack. He started paying less and less attention to these assaults, seeing them as no threat. That was a mistake.
Aang hadn't sensed an agent hiding in the floor covered in rock. He could have, but he had stopped perceiving anything other than how to reach Long Feng. Before he noticed a sharp spike of earth stuck out, right under his foot. He fell to the ground, a large bleeding gash on the bottom of his foot. With his hands he sensed two other agents readying to attack. He frantically tried to stand up, but had only gotten to his knees when another agent dropped down, wielding a sword, and sliced him across the right shoulder.
Aang was flat on his back, totally defenseless as the three agents closed in for the kill. Before he could think his eyes were glowing. A large wind sphere formed around him, he rose into the air and blasted the three agents away. As soon as they hit them the walls began crumbling and the entire cave was shaking. Rocks began falling. The three agents were unconscious and right in the path of danger. Aang grabbed them as quickly as he could and propelled them all forward with Earthbending. They landed just outside the edge of the cave-in. There was now a solid wall blocking the way Aang had come.
Aang was drenched in sweat and panting. "I almost killed you guys!" he said, riddled with guilt. "And I only entered the Avatar State for a second!" He stood up. His foot and shoulder were still bleeding. "If I used my full power, I really could kill everyone in here. I have to be more careful."
He found himself wishing Sokka were there. He'd probably be able to figure out an easier way to do this. Not to mention Toph would probably be better at figuring out how to get through safely. As his wounds throbbed in pain, he wished Katara were there to heal them. Maybe coming alone wasn't the wisest choice after all.
But there was no helping it now. The only safe path back was blocked. If he tried to make a new one with Earthbending he could easily collapse the mine. He could only proceed and hope he'd be able to find a new way out.
He wasn't a healer like Katara but he treated his injuries as best he could. He used Waterbending to force the blood to clot, a trick she had taught him. When he was confident the bleeding had stopped he continued on. The pain remained but at least he could move again. He left the
unconscious agents in a spot with a stable roof.
He went much slower now, careful to scan ahead for threats. He found no more though. After walking for what felt like a half hour, he reached part of the cave that was clearly not natural. The wall was polished jade and there was a decorated door with a black handle. Aang reached for the handle and turned it. The door was heavy but he heaved it open.
Standing in the center of the room wearing his Dai Li robes and an arrogant smile was Long Feng, plain as day.
Aang immediately took a fighting stance.
Long Feng wiggled his finger in condescension. "Ah ah ah" he warned. "This room is the most important load-bearing support structure of the entire base. If it gets damaged thousands of pounds of rocks will rain down to kill everyone here. Even with your Avatar State I doubt you could stop that much by yourself."
Aang stayed in his stance, but didn't move. "Where is Katara you son of a bitch?"
"Both you and your wife have become rather vulgar-lipped towards me" Long Feng mused.
"You've ignited a civil war that's ripped the Earth Kingdom apart and killed hundreds of innocent people you evil, cowardly, son of a bitch!"
Long Feng chuckled. "Don't blame me. This war is for the good of the Earth Kingdom and was unavoidable."
"That's rich!" Aang bellowed. "For the good of the Earth Kingdom?! Peace had finally been achieved and you ruined it!"
"As always you continue to think like a child," said Long Feng. "What you Air Nomads call peace does not exist here."
"What are you…?"
"Social inequality runs rampant in the Earth Kingdom on a scale the other nations could only imagine. Class divisions did not exist in your beloved Air Nation; the Water Tribes while politically being chiefdoms are largely family-based societies, and the Fire Nation's war-based economy allowed for social escalation through the military and industry. Despite having a larger population than the other three nations combined, even before the Air Nomad extermination, the majority of Earth Kingdom citizens have always been poor farmers and other peasants. Most people in the Earth Nation can't even read."
"What's your point?"
"The war exposed just how unstable the Earth Kingdom's government really was. The Fire Nation was able to push us to the brink of extermination despite being a much smaller country. Do you know why? Because their political and military systems were far more efficient. They were able to steal much of our land because the army was not organized enough towards defending poorer sections of the Kingdom. Most of our military might was focused on protecting Ba Sing Se while the rest of our nation was left to suffer."
"You're one to talk about that!" Aang pointed out. "You're the one who refused to move troops out of there! You made it illegal to talk about the war, much less help with it!"
"It was that way long before I came to power" Long Feng calmly replied. "The system was built
solely around preserving Ba Sing Se as the center of political and cultural power. If Ba Sing Se fell the Earth Kingdom would have no government to speak of as the world learned when it did.
Therefore, I had no choice but to maintain the status quo and preserve the capital. Moving out troops wouldn't have ensured victory against the Fire Nation; it only would have made us vulnerable."
"Don't talk as if you care about the Earth Kingdom! You just want power for yourself!"
Long Feng chuckled. "I guess I can't deny there's truth in that. But what I want will be good for the whole kingdom. I've given these people power and a voice for the first time in history. When we do away with the Earth Kingdom this obsolete Ba-Sing-Se-centric system will be no more. The entire continent will be under my watchful eye."
"You mean you'll control everything!"
"Of course! Who else is suited to such a task? I will bring the Earth Kingdom into a new modern age! We will become the most powerful nation in the world! No more humiliation like the 100 Year War will ever be suffered again!"
Aang felt a familiar pull in his mind. "You sound just like Fire Lord Sozin."
Long Feng seemed pleased by this comparison. "100 years ago, the Fire Nation was in a period of economic flourish. Eventually it's population would have grown so large that it wouldn't have had enough land or resources to sustain it while the Earth Kingdom had more of both than it needed. As much trouble as the war caused, I had to admit it was the only logical option Sozin had. It provided further economic stimulation and population control."
"Population control?!" Aang repeated. "You're acting like all the human life lost means nothing!"
Long Feng shook his head. "You're such a child. Fire Lord Sozin and I are of a kind. The only difference is.....