CHAPTER 19: THE AVATAR SPIRIT (I)
"Are you sure we hid him here?" Katara asked with a confused look.
"Of course I am," Sokka answered proudly. "I remember the exact shape of the mountain where he hid. I distinctly remember a tall ugly mountain with lots of green and tall trees."
Suddenly everyone except for Sokka stopped. They were joined by a group of elite guards that helped them carry their supplies till they reached Appa. Everyone turned to Sokka with an exasperated look.
"What?" Sokka asked in a slightly annoyed voice.
"Every mountain here is ugly with lots of tall green trees!" Katara revealed and pointed to the magnificent view.
"Trust me everyone," Sokka insisted. "I know exactly where it is."
Everyone simply gave up and followed him. Soon their movements halted again as they heard a rustle in the trees. They each got ready for an ambush and readied whatever weapons they had. Then suddenly a flying lemur came out flying and headed straight for Aang.
"Momo!!" Aang called in laughing voice.
"Momo, you see I was right!" Sokka boasted. "Appa must be just ahead!"
"What an adorable reunion," a voice suddenly called from the trees. "If I had tears I'd cry!"
Everyone looked up to see Zuko standing on a tree branch looking down on them.
"How did you find us?" Aang demanded.
"I was there when you hid Appa!" Zuko revealed.
"I fucking had a feeling you'd show up here!" Sokka also revealed.
"I assume by your shocked face you still had doubts I would show up," Zuko said. "I was being the nice guy to you all. I even resisted my urges to return to my homeland but it was all for nothing. Now I think I should embrace the role I have been given."
Zuko leaped down from the tree branch and landed in perfect form infront of them all.
"Avatar Aang!" He began. "Either you come with me now, or there will be consequences."
He glanced over to Suki and Katara by those words. Even Aang knew what he was implying. It was the same technique he used in the southern water tribe but there was just one small problem. This was not the naive Aang who had just awakened from his long sleep. He had somehow grown in the fortnight since.
"That won't work on me this time," he answered and walked up straight to Zuko and faced him face to face. "If you want me you have to kill me!"
The sudden forwardness surprised Zuko but only slightly. He had suspected that his presence had altered even the mentality of Aang. This was within his expectations.
"So be it," Zuko answered and delivered a powerful burst of flames at the chest of Aang. The blast sent him and his package of supplies flying into a nearby tree trunk.
The escort guards quickly dropped their packages and charged at Zuko. In perfect formation they started to send rocks at Zuko. Suki and Katara ran to Aang who laid agonizing on the forest ground. Sokka meanwhile joined the pair of escorts in attacking Zuko.
Their combined attacks proved fruitless as Zuko effortlessly dodged them without having to use his bending. Eventually though, their attacks started to line up with Sokka so he had to get some distance between themselves. He used his bending to boost his jumps to the tree tops.
Just as he landed he was however met with a concussive stream of wind that send him right into a tree trunk. He quickly dust himself off and dodged another flurry of air attacks that came at him. Each one was dangerous and fast he could barely catch his breath.
Aang however continued to bombard him until Zuko trapped himself in a corner of thick trees. The young Avatar started to fire streams of high pressured air at him. After half a dozen blasts Zuko dropped to the forest ground as his breathing went fast.
"You're not as strong as you might believe yourself to be," Aang taunted him. "This will be your last time to threaten those close to me."
Zuko looked up at the boy infront of him. The very same boy he watched growing up. He couldn't help but appreciate the moment for what it was. If he told 14 year old him that he would one day be actually fighting the Avatar, he would been thought of as crazy.
The feeling of nostalgia quickly faded and was replaced by a smirk befitting of Satan himself. It sent shivers down the spine of Aang. Even though he appeared to be in the ascendancy.
The smirk only lasted a moment as Zuko lowered his head back down. For a moment he looked at his hands with bruises all over. He closed his eyes and concentrated on everything he knew about firebending from watching the series. Everything he knew about firebending from Zuko's memories. The overflowing and almost limitless chi he felt coursing through his body.
Aang was met with absolute uncertainty. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what was happening. All he knew was that the real fight was just about to begin. His prediction proved true as Zuko silently stood up and faced him. Aang calmed his nerves and glared back at the young Prince.
*BOOOM!!* *WOOOOSH!!!*
Both attacked each other at the same time. Aang attacked with another stream of high pressured air. Zuko threw his right fist forward of which came out a burst of fire. They both caught themselves and landed in perfect form however. Their feet didn't even touch the ground for a second as they charged at each other.
They were no longer using bending but their martial arts. Each kick and punch was either blocked or dodged and than countered at an immense speed. They only used their bending for boosts of speed with each attack. The sequence lasted what felt like forever but only 3 minutes passed. They were both reaching their limits of stamina, Zuko especially.
Eventually Aang proved the more endurable and finally gained the upper hand. He landed a devastating drop kick to the chest of Zuko that pushed the air out of his lungs.
Zuko pushed himself to counter by clapping his hand together. As a result a wave of fire shot out and expanded towards Aang. Aang simply pushed out his hands and created a layer of air that barred him from the flames. As soon as the wave cleared Zuko came dashing forth boosted by flames from his feet. He pushed his hands forward with great force and released a massive flurry of flames that enclosed Aang.
Zuko knew Aang would block and was proven correct when he saw a glimpse of what appeared to be a dome of air encasing Aang. He maintained the dome by continuously rotating his arms from left to atop his body to right to bottom and back to left. As a result the dome was compossed of strong air currents that stood up to the intense force of the flames.
Zuko saw this as an opportunity to use a much more powerful attack. He charged an incredible amount of chi. Building it up to an insane level until he was satisfied. He proceeded to hold his hands infront of his chest like holding a beach ball. A ball of fire the size of a tennis ball formed inbetween his hands. He started to twist the outer layers of the flames in different directions until the ball started to compress more and more until it got to the size of a ping ponk ball. Satisfied with that he started to pump it full of the charged chi which enlarged the flames even more but still retaining the spin. The ball of fire was the size of a football (soccer ball) by the time he couldn't control the spin anymore.
He didn't wait for Aang to get ready and threw the fire ball straight at Aang who was still encased in the dome.
As Aang watched the ball got stuck on the outer layer of his dome but its immense spin was acting as a drill that continued to penetrate the dome. Eventually it got to to the last layer which was the hardest. Even Zuko had to use his abilities to started pushing the ball of fire against the wall of air. The fight turned into a show of strength. Zuko pushing from the outside while Aang pushed from the inside.
Suddenly the eyes of the young Avatar started to glow. His tattoos followed soon after. The dome started to get larger and larger until Zuko couldn't hold on anymore. His special attack was spun far away by the air currents.
Zuko (Victor) knew exactly what this meant and started dashing away at a fine speed. He used his firebending to boost his jumps until he got far away enough to stop and turn back. The Avatar was nowhere to be seen which gave him a happy smile.
"Looking for me!?" A myriad of voices suddenly spoke.
Zuko slowly turned back to look at the Avatar standing infront of him in all his glory.
"Victor Krane!!" The many voices of one began. "Your soul does not belong in this world! As the keeper of balance between the four nations! It is my duty to eliminate you now before you become a threat of the highest order!"