"The Emerald Dragon," Ryu sneered as he stood up, glaring hatefully at Harry. "We meet again."
"Let's not make it a habit," Harry said in an amused voice before he glanced back at Zuko. "Prince Zuko, go, now."
"I don't have to do anything you say!" Spat Zuko as he stood up.
"Zuko," Harry said, his voice quiet but firm. "Go." He ordered, Zuko hesitated before growling and running away.
"Aw, he cares for the boy," Ryu taunted.
"He's worth ten of you," Harry replied. "And that's with a discount."
"Mock me all you want, Dragon,"
"Gladly,"
"But don't for a moment think that I am intimidated by you," Ryu continued, ignoring Harry's interruption. "I'm stronger, faster, I'm more of a man than you'll ever be."
"Hardly," Harry smirked, for those that are not in the know, that was the British equivalent of 'Bitch Please'. "Your not even half the man your mother is."
"Mum jokes? Really?!" Ryu growled before sending a quick fire blast at Harry who lazily sidestepped. "You're an immature brat!"
"I know you are, what am I?" Harry said mockingly, making himself sound purposefully childish before he thrust both of his palms out and sent two streams of fire at Ryu who just about managed to block them both with a conjured firewall.
"I will end you!" Ryu sent several kick-powered fire blasts at Harry.
"Give me a sec, I'm trying to imagine you with a personality," Harry smirked as he dodged and blocked all of Ryu's attacks.
"Don't play mind games with me, Dragon!" Ryu punched up in the air, a fire blast shot out from his fist and shot through the air before it curved down and headed down towards where Harry was standing. Harry quickly reacted and sent two streams of water from the river to intercept the attack. "Waterbending? How low have you fallen?!"
"Shut it," Harry replied, before sending a water blast from the river to Ryu who rolled out of the way. "If I wanted to hear from an asshole then I would have brought your father back to life."
"You son of a bitch!" Ryu roared before sending a massive blast towards Harry who leapt off the bridge before it was destroyed, Harry waved his arms and the water underneath him solidified into ice. Once he landed upon the ice he waved his arms and sent several ice spikes toward Ryu who managed to dodge and burn most of them with the exception of the one that slipped past his defences and crashed into his armour's chest plate. It wasn't damaging enough to pierce or even cause significant damage to his armour, but it did succeed in knocking him back long enough for a water whip from Harry to grab his leg and pull, sending him on his back.
Harry jumped off his ice float and use fire propulsion to send himself up so he landed in front of a downed Ryu who was now staring hatefully at Harry.
"I thought of you, earlier today," Harry informed him. "It reminded me of violence." He added before he sent a fire blast at Ryu.
Ryu took in a deep breath before he pushed himself up into the air by using the fire that shot out through his hands and feet, causing him to fly over Harry's attack. Ryu twisted in mid-air and managed to kick Harry across the face, Harry stumbled back just as Ryu landed on his feet. Fortunately, for Harry, he recovered in time to dodge Ryu's right hook and counter with a left hook to his ribs, taking care to avoid hitting Ryu's chest plate and hitting him in the spot between his armour. Ryu grunted and jumped back to avoid Harry's right hook before he aimed a left-handed, two-finger strike at Harry's eyes, Harry tilted his head, allowing Ryu's fingers to go past him. Ryu tried to pull his hand back but Harry quickly opened his mouth and bit both of Ryu's fingers, causing him to yelp in pain.
Ryu threw a right hook at Harry's face, hoping it would cause him to let go, unfortunately for him, Harry had anticipated that happening. Harry raised his left hand and activated his shield, lifting it in front of his face in time for Ryu's fist to collide with it. Ryu had barely managed to gasp in pain before Harry released his fingers and tackled him to the ground, Harry quickly straddled him and raised his left arm with the intent of bashing Ryu's head in with his shield. Harry brought his arm down and was about to permanently dent Ryu's skull when he fell something hit against his shield and knock it out of the way, causing it to miss Ryu. Harry had just enough time to pot the arrow on the floor before he felt Ryu punch him across the face, knocking him to the ground.
Ryu quickly straddled Harry and pinned his shield arm down to his chest before he pulled out a knife and tried to stab Harry in the eye, only to be intercepted by a shield popping out of Harry's other arm. Harry took in a deep breath before sending a burst of air out from his mouth which crashed into Ryu's chest, knocking him off of Harry. Both fighters jumped up to their feet and took their fighting stances, Harry prepared to attack when he noticed something coming toward him.
Harry quickly raised one of his shields and was able to block an arrow that bounced off his shield, though it did cause him to grunt out in pain as he still felt the impact from it.
"Archers." Harry huffed.
"Not just any archers," Ryu grinned widely. "I brought a group of Yuyan archers here."
"Shit," Harry muttered under his breath. The Yuyan archers were a secret weapon of the fire nation, a group of archers capable of shooting nearly anything.
"Don't worry, they won't kill you, that particular pleasure is reserved for me," Ryu laughed. "But I never told them they couldn't hurt you," Ryu added just as another arrow shot past his ear and at Harry who barely managed to step to the side and avoid it. Harry turned his shields back into gauntlets and glared at Ryu. "What? Have you given up?" Ryu taunted.
"I'll deal with you in a minute, wait your turn," Harry told him.
"What are you babbling about? You..."
Harry didn't bother listening to whatever Ryu was about to say and instead dived headfirst into the river next to him, he was submerged for about three seconds before an eruption of water shot him high into the air, once he was far enough in the air Harry used his airbending to keep himself up high enough to glance around and spot several archers on rooftops. Harry stopped airbending and switched to firebending while gravity started pulling him down. Three beams of green fire shot out of each of Harry's palms and curved towards his intended targets. Four of his beams managed to hit his targets while the other two missed.
Jets of fire shot out from Harry's hand and feet, propelling him forwards until he landed on one of the ice rooftops, he saw two archers standing on two separate buildings in front of him along with a third on his right. Harry quickly jumped up in the air and performed a wide roundhouse kick that sent a massive wave of fire towards the two in front of him, they made a feeble attempt to shoot at him but their arrows were not able to penetrate his fire and the two quickly found themselves knocked off the buildings and falling to the iced street below. The third archer attempted to shoot him but Harry was able to dodge before he lifted his arms and sent a wall of water up into the air, with a quick bit of ice bending Harry was able to turn the water into lots of small ice spikes and sent them towards the archer.
"Hey!" A voice called, Harry turned away from the fallen archer in time to see Ryu land on the building next to his. "I'm not through with you!" He roared before sending a high-powered fire blast at Harry.
"I'd tell you to get a life but that would just be bad timing considering what I'm going to do to you," Harry growled before sending a blast of his own to intercept.
"Hello," Aang called out as he wondered about the spirit world. "Where is everybody?" He wondered as he looked around, not able to see even a single spirit. The world was definitely beautiful, very pretty, but he couldn't find anyone.
"I fear that that might be my doing," A voice said, Aang blinked and spun around and saw a black, leathery horse with wings. "They seem to not like my presence." The horse added.
"Wait a sec," Aang said suddenly. "I know you! You're that 'thestral' that Harry had met, aren't you?" He asked.
"That is correct, young Avatar, it's a pleasure to meet you," It said, bowing its head slightly as it greeted him.
"You too," Aang said, bowing back. "I'm Aang." He introduced himself despite the fact that he knew that it already knew who he was.
"And I am Death," It said simply.
"W...what?" Aang blinked.
"I am Death," It repeated. "Or rather, a representation of death." It added.
"Oh," Aang let out a heavy breath, not sure what to say. "Um...nice to meet you, I guess. I...um...I need some help."
"Oh?" Death asked curiously.
"Yeah," Aang quickly nodded his head. "You see, there's a battle going on and the water tribe needs help."
"Trust me, I already know about that battle." Death snorted.
"You do?"
"I know whenever anyone or anything dies," Death told him, causing Aang to frown. "For the record, you might be pleased to know that the Fire Nation is losing, though not for long if they don't get help."
"Exactly, that's why I need your help," Aang replied. "Or any other spirit willing to help, please. I need to stop this."
"I think it might be best if I summon the ocean and moon spirit to help you," Death hummed. "Yes, that will send a message to the Fire Nation and make your group look more favourable in the eyes of the Water Tribe."
"Really?! That's amazing! Thank you!" Aang said gratefully.
"It's no problem, I don't mind helping out a little, especially since my friend is fighting with you."
"Your friend?" Aang repeated.
"Give up!" Ryu yelled.
"Fuck you!" Harry yelled back as he ducked under a fire blast before he responded with a fire blast of his own that Ryu dodged.
The two were currently fighting near the now-damaged ice wall/barrier of the Northern Water Tribe. There was a great many Water Tribe and Fire Nation soldiers battling around them, during his fight Harry couldn't help but notice that some of the Water Tribe warriors were in fact women and they were holding their own against the Fire Nation. If he wasn't so focused on fighting then he would have wondered what Pakku's reaction to it would be.
The battle had been going on for quite some time, Harry wasn't sure how long, but he knew it was now nighttime judging by the darkness of the sky and the fact that he could see the moon.
Harry stepped back to avoid the kick that nearly connected with his jaw, Ryu tried to go lower and kick Harry in the legs but he didn't succeed as Harry jumped up in the air and managed to knee Ryu in the face, causing the warrior to stumble back. Harry was about to capitalise when he noticed one of the female Water Tribes warriors knocked to the ground and the Fire Nation soldier aiming his hands at him. Harry quickly reacted and sent a fire blast that took out the soldier. He turned his attention back to Ryu in time to block a fire blast.
As Harry batted away the fire blast, Ryu capitalised and leapt forwards whilst pulling out a hidden blade. He ducked low to avoid Harry's wild punch with his free hand before he thrust his knife upwards and sent it straight into Harry's neck. Harry let out a quiet gasp as the oxygen escaped his body and the pain filled his mind, he felt the blood pour down his neck as he dropped to his knees.
"YES!" Ryu cheered so loudly that those nearby glanced in his direction and then stopped fighting when they saw what was happening which in turn led to those around them doing the same until everyone was looking at them. "They doubted me!" Ryu laughed loudly as he pushed the knife in harder. "They all doubted me! No more!" Ryu pulled Harry to his feet before blasting him with a fire blast that sent Harry flying back several meters before he fell into the river and started sinking to the bottom.
"Do you see?!" He called out to those surrounding him.
Everyone from the Fire Nation to the Water Tribe stared at Ryu with various levels of shock. The Fire Nation was used to hearing tales of the legend of the Emerald Dragon and found it a bit hard to believe that he was able to be taken out. At that moment they realised that Ryu was right, despite all of his achievements, the Emerald Dragon was still human. The Water Tribe were just as shocked, by now it had come clear to them that Harry was truly fighting on their side and that he was one of their most valuable fighters in this battle, and now they had lost him.
"I, Ryu, defeated of the Emerald Dragon, claim this land in the name of the Fire Lord!" Ryu laughed loudly. "I beat the most feared warrior of our time! Me! Do any of you truly think that you can stand up to me and the Fire Nation?! No, NO! You can only delay the inevitable! You cannot win! There is no force that can stop me!" Ryu chuckled, enjoying the looks on everyone's faces. He could already picture what would happen when he went back to the Fire Nation. He would be welcomed back like a hero, the Fire Lord would reward him greatly, and his name would be in the history books! Women would be throwing themselves at him, it was even possible that the Fire Lord would gift him with Princess Azula. "Nothing can stop me!"
Ryu would have continued, he really would have, but he found himself cut off when all of a sudden the ice ground began shaking. Gasps filled the air as the sky darkened even more and the moon suddenly began shining brighter than anyone could ever recall it doing so. Everyone felt the water underneath them shifting and before any of them could recover enough to question what was happening, an event that nobody would ever forget occurred before their very eyes.
Originating from a small lake at a point that the Water Tribe kept as their sacred grounds, a thin stream of water had shot into the air and expanded as it continued going up. Bigger and bigger it got until it was well over a hundred feet tall, the water began shifting from the top and briefly took the shape of a giant fish before it shifted once more and took on the shape of a horse with wings, or more specifically, a thestral. And inside the centre of it was a ball that contained Aang whose eyes and tattoos were glowing brightly.
"What the fuck?!" Ryu blurted out as he took a step back, only to stop when he suddenly saw the river in front of him start to shift.
"You're a wizard, Harry."
"I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley."
"My name is Hermione Granger."
"Gryffindor!"
"He's the 'Heir of Slytherin'!"
"Lord Voldemort is my past, present and future!"
"Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban!"
"I did my waiting!"
"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad...your dad would have spared me...would have shown me mercy!"
"Harry Potter, your name has come out of the goblet of fire!"
"Tonight, Lord Voldemort rises!"
"Crucio!"
"I want you to look at me so that I may see the light fade from your eyes!"
"I want you you to write, 'I must not tell lies.',"
"Deep down, you know you deserve to be punished."
"Legilimens!"
"Sectumsempra!"
"Severus, please."
"You don't know how this feels! Your parents are dead!"
"You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter."
"The boy who lived, come to die."
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
A pair of eyes snapped open, revealing an emerald green set of orbs that glowed as if they were on fire.
Harry spun around in the water before he shot upwards and out of the water and landed on the ice, scaring the hell out of the surrounding Fire Nation and Water Tribe warriors. They all took a step back as they looked at him, he was not a pretty sight. Wet blood on his neck and clothes, a knife still lodged in his neck and his eyes were glowing so bright that one could not even see the white parts of them, not to mention the absolute look of fury on his face.
"N...no," Ryu took several steps back, looking paler than the moon hanging above him. "...That...that's not possible! That's not possible!" He shrieked, stumbling back and nearly falling down.
Harry growled lowly before he yanked the knife out of his neck, water rose from the river and began covering the wound, those closest were able to watch as the wound began healing near instantly. He tossed the knife away before he aimed his hand at Ryu and raised it upwards, water shot out from the river and charged toward Ryu who was too petrified to even think of fighting back. The tentacle of water went to his face, sliding up his nostrils and mouth and travelling through his body. Once inside of him, it pulled him several meters up into the air until Harry closed his fist and pulled his arm down.
All nearby witnessed the horrifying sight of dozens of ice shards blasting out of Ryu's body, ripping him to shreds, leaving a bunch of blood and ripped-up meat to fall to the ground and cause a big splatter. The water from the river picked up Harry and carried him right to the edge of the broken ice wall.
Harry pulled back both of his arms before he thrust them forwards, sending out his dreaded fiendfyre towards the closest Fire Nation ship, the fire started burning the ship, getting bigger as it did so before it started engulfing the nearest ship as well which also added to its size. From behind Harry, the water thestral let out a large roar before it started moving its wings as if using them to direct a band. The water under the ships began pulling the ships closer to the fire, one by one despite the soldier's best attempts to stay away.
Everyone who had been battling previously was now watching Harry and his fiendfyre in the same way that one would find themselves unable to turn away from watching a car crash. They watched with growing horror as the fire got bigger and bigger as ship after ship was consumed.
Pakku was watching the whole thing, as frightened and worried as every other person here, though he was the only one who was calm enough to notice that the ice that was melting from the heat was quickly being restored as soon as it melted, he guessed it was likely due to that winged horse behind them which he was pretty sure was the ocean spirit or at least something to do with it. He was fairly sure that he was also one of the few that noticed the small fog around them which he suspected was what was also protecting them from the heat. As Pakku watched the fire continue to grow, he came to a realisation. The Emerald Dragon truly had been forced to fight for the Fire Nation like he had claimed, because if he had actively been trying to fight the Water Tribe along with the Fire Nation army then Pakku doubted that they would have survived. He had heard tales that that boy was not fully human, he never truly believe it, until now that is.
More and more ships were pulled into Harry's fire, causing it to grow bigger and bigger until it roughly matched the size of the thestral, the fire changed shape and suddenly transformed so that now it was in the shape of a dragon. The dragon raised its head and roared into the sky, actually roaring, loud enough that it caused everyone to wince and cover their ears before it descended downwards and flew over the water to attack as many ships as it could. By the time half of the Fire Nations' ships were swallowed in fire, an order was sent out for them to retreat.
While the Fire Nation ships began doing their absolute best to turn around and run as far away as possible, the fire dragon suddenly let out a large screech as it started feeling itself be pulled away. Its height began decreasing and it turned its attention to the one that had summoned it, it stared down at the small human and let out another screech as it started battling him for control. The human was stubborn but it was also pretty big and powerful so it was a hard fight for both sides.
The now-stunned fighters watched as a tentacle of water rose and headed towards Harry before it placed its tip against his neck. Harry's eyes glowed even brighter for a brief second before he started pulling even harder, the fiendfyre screeched as it felt itself lose control shortly before it was pulled downwards, it grew smaller and smaller until it was pulled out of existence. Harry let out a sharp breath as the tentacle retracted from him, he gasped for several seconds while the glow of his eyes dimmed until they were back to normal. He turned around, his gaze shaky and blurry, he was just able to spot all the people staring at him before darkness claimed him.