Chapter 44: Challenge
Zuko is currently sitting in a tent, flanked by two Fire Nation soldiers while Zhao paces back and forth with a thoughtful expression, trying his best to hide the annoying frown on his face.
"So.. a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your Firebenders" Zhao stopped pacing and stared at Zuko with contempt. "You're more pathetic than I thought."
The whole ordeal was revealed after Zhao guilt-tripped Zuko to speak, putting, in his words, his 'Loyalty towards the Fire Nation' on the line, something that Zuko would always do his best to protect... foolishly.
The Prince was angry, but his angry face sprouted a smirk. "Oh? Like you are one to talk… At least I didn't lose while commanding over a hundred soldiers and run away disgracefully, the Avatar was the one to run away from me not the other way around."
Zhao was livid, he was about to jump on Zuko when Iroh stood up and took a step forward, placing himself between them, stopping Zhao's aggressiveness instantly.
"You better be careful, exiled or not, a Prince is still a Prince." Said the old General staring at Zhao.
The man with sideburns stared at Zuko with all the anger in his heart. "I hope you enjoyed your opportunity to capture the Avatar, Prince Zuko, because you won't have another chance."
Zuko frowned more. "Like I need your permission to do that."
"You tried and failed!" Zhao walked intimidatingly up to Zuko, "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now."
Gritting his teeth Zuko stared back at Zhao. "Really? You will capture him? You? Who failed to do anything against the last kid that you fought and had to run away with your tail between your legs like a coward?"
The temperature in the room started to elevate, Zhao was beyond angry at this point, but Zuko didn't stop.
"At least my honor was taken away for standing up for what I believed, I had to face the Fire Lord because of it, but yours on the other hand? Was tossed away with your pride and dignity while you ran away from an eleven-year-old criminal!"
Even Zuko didn't quite understand what he said or why he said it, it just came to him and it felt right to say it like that, but instantly Iroh's eyebrows were raised and a gleam could be seen in the old General's eyes.
"We should leave, Prince Zuko," said Iroh, not giving Zhao the opportunity to retort his nephew.
"Our ship was not that badly damaged, and we have enough provisions to reach another Fire Nation colony, there's no need for us to be delayed here."
Zhao took a step forward but Iroh's gaze made him freeze.
"You better not force my hand, Commander Zhao," said the old General while narrowing his eyes.
Zhao stared at Iroh, then at Zuko. "My authority as Commander dictates that I can hold your ship in this harbor until it's fixed, it would be too dangerous to let a broken ship sail on the seas, it could bring a disaster towards the Fire Lord's family...." he grinned, "such are our military laws, and not even you can defy them, General Iroh… But don't worry, a couple of days at most should be enough to fix it and by then you are free to leave."
The only reaction that Zhao's speech brought from Zuko was an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "I am not holding you hostage or locking you up, as the General said, exiled or not you are a Prince and are free to go once your ship is fixed." Zhao turned away and walked towards the door.
"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command and you? You are just a banished Prince. No home, no allies. Your own father doesn't even want you." He grinned as he sneakily looked toward Zuko.
That was enough to make the Prince explode. "You are wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne!"
Iroh faced his nephew and spoke sternly, "Prince Zuko, that's enough."
But Zhao didn't allow it to end like that, he turned his face toward the teen and spoke with a victorious smirk. "If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now. Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."
"That's not true!" shouted the Prince.
"You have a scar to prove it."
The two stared at one another for several seconds, until Zuko spoke first, with wrath in every word.
"Maybe you'd like one to match"
"Is that a challenge?"
"Agni Kai. At Sunset."
"Very well…" Zhao said resuming his walk. "It's a shame your father won't be here to humiliate you, but I guess your uncle will do."
"Let's see you talk about shame after you get beaten by another 'kid', I wonder if another defeat like that will be enough to rip that proud badge off your armor."
After the Commander left, Iroh turned to his nephew.
"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?" he asked worriedly.
A dark shadow cast over Zuko's face. "I will never forget."
As the sun was setting on the horizon, a man with a long black mane could be seen walking through several high-class buildings, he wore a long black yukata with his clan sigil on the back and had one of his arms folded inside his yukata, with his hand hanging in front of his abs, in the classic 'Itachi style', while the other hand was holding a kiseru of his own while enjoying the view.
Taking a deep puff from his kiseru he stared at the red-ish sun over the horizon and exhaled smoke with a grin.
"I wonder if it's following canon, I did change Zuko quite a bit…" he mumbled to himself, "but I don't think I did enough to derail the story. If all Zuko needed was six months of intense training to capture the Avatar, then this war has no hope of ending on good terms whatsoever."
Enjoying his kiseru for a few more seconds he thought.
'I wonder who the reincarnator is… I also wonder if it's someone with knowledge of this world, or just a random person…' he sighed. 'Not that I am worried, with me around unless the reincarnator finds a way to screw with Vaatu, there's no way for him to beat me in combat, but the portals are closed and it will take almost a century before they open again…'
He smirked and joked to himself, "I really wish that just hearing my name in this world is enough to make the reincarnator shit himself in fear, or he could be a Madara fanboy…" He shivered. "I really hope it doesn't come to that…"
"Mr. Uchiha," a soft female voice could be heard from behind.
Turning around with a huge smile on his face he greeted the newcomer. "Hello there Nari, how can I help you?" she hasn't aged a day, nor did Jackie or Kaliya.
"The plans are in motion, the workers are doing their best to fit everything into the time period of one month like you requested, but are you sure about this?" She asked with a certain worry in her voice.
Madara just grinned, "Don't worry Nari, everything will be according to plan, just make sure to keep our vehicle in top condition, we will be using it to travel soon enough."
"Sigh," she lowered her head. "By the way, where is Kaliya? I haven't seen her since earlier today?"
Madara shook his head with a sigh, "I gave her a task, and now I am all alone in my house…"
Nari gave him a mischievous grin while wiggling her eyebrows. "Aww, poor Mr. Uchiha, now he doesn't have his girlfriend with him, he will be lonely and sad…"
He, in response, simply stared at her with his classic Saitama face. "Really? After a whole year of you teasing me like that you still expect me to blush like I used to?"
She in return just gave him a motherly smile. "Well, I guess not… But I will miss those times regardless."
"You know," said Madara while taking a puff from his kiseru, "Jackie really has a loud mouth…"
Her eyes narrowed and she stared at the kiseru for a second and shook her head 'if I didn't know how resistant his body is against such a meager toxin, I would never accept him smoking that poison…' but then her narrowed gaze was fixed on Madara's face.
"Yes .. and?"
He shrugged. "It seems that our Avatar awakening interrupted your couple activity yesterday morning… Poor Jackie, had to go to work without enjoying it… I bet he was all lonely and sad~" he grinned as he spoke his final words.
Nari didn't disappoint, she turned red, not only out of embarrassment, but she was also fucking livid as well.
'I bet she is more angry than embarrassed right now.. heh..'
"Oh, he did comment that to you?" he could hear her teeth grinding against one another.
"And Kaliya, she was in the room too..." he shrugged, but his evil smile grew larger.
Nari's eyes narrowed even further; he could faintly see a demonic presence around the woman.
"Good to know~, Madara dear… If you excuse me, I have some important things that I just remembered that I have to do…" She said while calming down a bit, but there was something wicked in her eyes.
"It's fin-" he was instantly interrupted by Nari.
"You will leave in one month, right?" She asked with a sweet smile, to which he just nodded as cold sweat covered his back.
"Good to know~," she said those words gently, turned around, and walked away, always displaying the proper elegance and etiquette required from a noble.
"Oh … poor Jackie… poor … poor Jackie…" he came back to his kiseru.
The sun disappeared on the horizon as he kept enjoying the view.
He was about to turn away and walk when his Sharingan, against his own will, activated. He felt a rush of energy coming from the south, it was different from the pillar of light, it was more intense, if before the boy that carried Raava had awakened, now Raava's power itself has awakened.
He was not the only one to feel it though. All across the world, in every Avatar temple, the sign of the Avatar's return appeared, from Fire Sages to Water Spiritualists.
Different from before, this time only the Temples and Statues of previous avatars showed any sign, even those attuned to spirits didn't fell it.
"So, he did reach the Southern Air Temple…" he narrowed his blood-red eyes, which glowed ominously.
A grin appeared on his face. "Isn't that nice? When the plan simply… Works perfectly?" he chuckled and walked away. 'I have things to take care of before our meeting… take care of yourself as well… Firecracker…'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello there yall, i hope you are having a wonderful day as always.
I came here to post another chapter, this week is being stressful, luckly i finished these chapters beforehand XD and quite a few more.. i'm still writing though, so dont worry.
My stress is not serious though, nothing healthy related to me, my family or my cats, nah... is very nerdy though... you see... we play Final Fantasy XIV and this week we are fighting to get a house plot for our guild... its basically a lotto to see if we get it or not x-x and i hate it because the RnG gods have forsaken me since birth.
All i can say is that everything is going well, about the fanfiction... i hope you all are enjoying the pace, i know its quite slower than the previous arc, but again the whole ATLA canon happened in less than a year, so i can't just rush it like i did before... Madara had some timeskips that lasted longer than the whole TV show in book 1: Fire XD.
Im trying my best to juggle POVs without adding that immersion breaking tag like:
---Location: Omashu---
Royal Palace - 6 PM - Aang POV:
ALWAYS HATED THOSE!
For those that might dislike the current pace, i can only say that im doing the best i can, and i am rather satisfied with it, so if you don't like it... its more like a "you" problem XD
For those who likes it, yall awesome as always, i have the best community in this website and that's something that i will always brag about, you guys make me want to keep writing this shit! XD have a great day, see you in the comments and stay awesome.
Chapter 45: Agni Kai
"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."
Zuko, who was kneeling in front of his uncle, smirked. "I've faced someone way more dangerous than this in the past."
The Prince stood up and turned around, facing his opponent who mirrored his movements on the other side of the arena.
The sky was dyed a shade of sunset red, and a few patrol soldiers are around the arena doing their job. In the big arena there are only 2 shirtless men today, the young teen with a ponytail and the middle-aged man with sideburns.
One of the Fire Nation soldiers standing on higher grounds, seeing that the duo has readied themselves for battle, rang a large gong.
Both take on Firebending stances.
Beams of fire fly through the arena back and forth as both men keep their distance. Zuko kept his overly aggressive Firebending stance, putting himself in disadvantageous positions to increase his battle prowess.
Zhao, on the other hand, was fighting steadily, almost like an Earthbender, he was stable and simply deflected every attack or dodge with minimal effort.
Zuko kept jumping and doing exaggerated movements that cost his stamina and breath, in less than five minutes of battle he was already breathing hard.
'No… This is not how it should've been!' thought Zuko, dodging a well-aimed fire blast from Zhao. 'I trained to be better than this!' he looked around and saw his uncle's mouth moving like he was trying to say something to him but Zuko couldn't hear it.
'Teacher…'
Zuko's eyes narrowed and his pupils contracted.
Abandoning his Firebending stance, he lowered his body and dashed towards Zhao.
Both Iroh and Zhao were shocked by that change.
One fire blast after another, Zhao tried his best to hit the Prince that abandoned the offensive completely.
Zuko dodged the first by sliding on the ground, and the second he managed to jump above.
'Those movements…' Zhao's eyes trembled as flashbacks came to him, he was completely out of it for a second.
'This is it!' Zuko thought as he aimed a compressed fireball directly toward Zhao's legs.
Caught off guard, Zhao retreats clumsily, which didn't escape Zuko's sight.
Using it to press his advantage, Zuko kept aiming at Zhao's legs.
Slowly Zhao lost the complete momentum he had in this duel, Zuko kept preventing him from stabilizing his stance, getting closer and closer.
When the Commander finally took the wrong step, Zuko ignited two massive blasts of fire, one from each fist, aiming for the flanks of the middle-aged man.
Zhao was forced to land in an awkward position to defend himself, spreading his arms to his sides to protect his flanks, but his eyes went wide when he saw a third and even bigger blast of fire coming out of the Prince's foot, in a straight line towards his body.
There was no time to react, no way to dodge, he was still in that awkward position that didn't enable him to deflect.
The wave of fire hit him head-on, he could feel his skin burning, and he could feel the pain that reminded him of certain events in the past that he did his all to overcome and forget.
When Zhao finally landed on the ground, breathing heavily, weakened, and with smoke surrounding his body, he stared at Zuko with wrath. "Do it… " he said challengingly.
Zuko, who stood in front of the defeated commander simply burned the ground right beside Zhao's face, there was no doubt in his actions.
"YOU COWARD!" Shouted Zhao "No wonder your father cast you out!"
Zuko simply stared at him like he was worth nothing and like he was nothing, which pissed Zhao off even more. Turning around slowly, Zuko said his parting words. "Your life is not mine to take, but don't worry… Your time will come."
As Zuko was walking toward his uncle, Zhao used all the strength he had left to lift himself and aim a blast of fire at Zuko's back.
Iroh was already on his way to intercept it, but Zuko was faster.
He lifted one of his feet behind his back, similar to how Aang would do to Ozai during their final confrontation, and made the fire spread up. One thing he learned from Madara was to never lower his guard even after achieving victory, that lesson was branded on his very soul!
Then with the same foot, he landed a heavy blow to Zhao's ribs and a loud crack could be heard as the Commander was tossed like a ragdoll through the arena.
"Disgraceful." It was not Iroh who said it, it was Zuko himself. "Even in exile, I have more honor than you ever did…" He couldn't help but grin when he finished his words. "Is this the standards of our Nation, commander?"
Iroh's eyes went wide, he trembled from head to toe. A small tear came from one of the old General's eyes and he couldn't help but smile widely.
"P-prince Zuko…" he said.
The teen turned to his uncle and gave him a gentle smile. "Let's go uncle, their tea was rather bland… I prefer the ones that you prepare yourself."
"Yes!"
As the duo left the vicinity, the curtain of night fell over the continent leading to a comfortable winter night.
...….
The next day came with bright sun early in the morning, and in a small village located on a southeastern island of the Earth Kingdom, a group of 3 foreign kids could be seen being forcefully escorted by painted girls wearing green kimonos and dark armors similar to samurais of old.
"WE ARE NOT SPIES!" A loud male voice echoed, who else other than Sokka?
"And that's exactly what a spy would say!" of course, someone from the mob in the background had to shout that.
Sokka couldn't bear it, that level of stupidity was so bad that he wanted to flay the skin off his own face! 'Come on, how can such dumb people exist in this world?!'
"You know… He is not wrong Sokka… That's indeed what a spy would say…" commented Aang cheerfully beside him.
"Aang… just… stop…" Sokka couldn't… really….
Katara could only smile wryly at that, but she was quick to think of a solution, turning to Aang she whispered. "You should reveal yourself as the Avatar, that way no one would doubt us!"
"I… I can try…" said Aang with a bit of reluctance in his voice.
"How can you guys behave like this?!" Demanded Sokka, who wasn't having any of it.
"Sokka…" Katara tried to interfere, but the boy couldn't take it.
The girl in the lead approached Sokka with a neutral expression. "This is how it is in our land. You were the ones that entered without permission…"
"We didn't know!" Katara tried to protest.
"Oh really? That's great! Everything is forgiven then," said the painted girl with a cheerful smile.
"Really!?" Shouted Sokka, with relief in his voice, but it was instantly demolished.
"No," she answered with a deadpan expression.
"WAIT!" Shouted Katara, interrupting whatever these girls were doing at the moment.
Everyone in the vicinity stared at her.
Katara, noticing that she got their attention, pointed to Aang. "He is the Avatar! We are not spies!"
"The Avatar you say?" Everyone stared at the bald boy with raised eyebrows. "The last avatar was said to be an Airbender that disappeared 100 years ago, there's no way that i would believe those words without proof…" said the painted girl in her green kimono and armor.
"And how do I do that?" Aang asked confusedly.
Sokka, being all tied up and not having his hand free to facepalm himself, simply hit his head on the wooden pole that he was tied to 'you got to be kidding me…'
Katara, trying to be helpful, whispered to him. "I think you should try to airbend, Aang. Only the Avatar would be able to airbend nowadays…"
"Oh yeah! Airbending!" Said Aang enthusiastically.
"Oh just… kill me…" Sokka kept hitting his head.
The situation passed without any issue, Aang managed to do the most underwhelming airbending ever, rotating a small coin between his hands. Everyone cheered, one tall ugly guy with missing teeth foamed through his mouth and passed out, and Suki, the current leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, couldn't be more disappointed at the Avatar's skills.
'Seriously? You are THE Avatar, and that's the best you could come up with?' Even though she didn't spend too much time with Madara, her face was getting dangerously close to a Saitama face.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Hello there everyone! New chapter here.
This one is shorter than the usual, not by much though. But back when i first started i already explained how i hate breaking scenes in half, so i simply can't take a part of the next chapter and add it here just to fill the space.
As for anything else... i have no complaints really, you all are great readers and i am always happy to publish new chapters ^_^
Gotta go back to writing though, my pile of completed chapters are dwindling D:
I hope you all enjoy the chapter, for those curious worried or whatever.. no it wont be canon rehash, its simply because the start of ATLA book 1 have way too many setups to be abandoned and skipped like that, but most of Book 1 will actually be skipped, since the Team Avatar's personal adventures that have nothing to do with Madara won't be added here.
The second arc of the fanfiction is called Book 2: Air for a reason, it's about the entire of Avatar Aang's adventure, not just season 1 2 or 3, but also the comics.
Im already setting quite a few things for a possible Korra expansion, beyond that.. idk if i will do it.. but IF i do it, it will only be to the next cicle, aka Earth, and i would follow the fan comic of Avatar Gengi for that one.
Thank you all, even today i still have people welcoming me back and it is really sweet, thank you... for real... stay awesome guys! see you on the comment section
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