Today's the day.
Toji stood silently atop the Inner Walls of Ba Sing Se as he watched the army beginning to move in, noting how the quantity of marching firebenders and tanks have gone up since their last nightly attack.
Along with that, they appear to have repaired the damaged War balloons and brought some more, the sky filled with dozens of war balloons that hovered above the army.
"Well, we can't escape through the air, can we?" Aang asked, sighing as Toji shook his head with a frown.
"Unless you want your bison to become roast beef, your only method of escape is underground."
"Uh, Appa doesn't do that well with tunnels."
"Tell Appa that it's either the tunnels or becoming meat. His choice," Toji replied, ignoring Aang as he turned to Toph and continued speaking. "You think you can handle holding up a tunnel long enough for us to get away?"
"All depends on whether or not I can force myself to, right?" she spoke with a grin, Toji nodding with a matching grin as he turned back.
"It does. For now, everyone go and make any final preparations you want 'cause you're not going to get another chance in the next fifteen minutes."
"We can see that," Katara murmured, staring at the firebenders beginning to make camp a few hundred meters away from the Inner Walls.
It was unfortunate that the people of Ba Sing Se couldn't escape with them, but then again, he didn't care much for anyone other than Iron and Toph...and maybe the Avatar given that the guy could potentially be a big ticket to a wealthy life for him.
The sound of knuckles cracking drew his attention to Toph, who tapped her foot with a grin and spoke, "I'll get started on the tunnels so we don't get caught with our pants around ankles."
"Aang, let's go and make sure Appa's ready to move," Katara spoke up and Aang nodded before turning to Toji with a frown.
"What about you? What are you going to do while we wait?"
"Well, someone's got to keep their atte-" Toph raised an eyebrow as Toji paused halfway through his sentence, following his gaze only to groan at seeing Azula walk closer.
The two beside the woman confused her as she turned to Katara and Aang, both of whom looked just as confused as she did.
"Toji, know those guys?"
"I do. You guys had about half an hour. Now, you have ten minutes at the most."
"What?! W-"
"Kid," Toji's cold tone made Aang pause, looking over at the man to see his gaze still focused on Zuko below.
"Go. Toph, make sure they do their jobs."
"You make sure you return."
"Got it," he replied before dropping down, throwing Kuruk's spear at the ground before calling it to his hand once he was just a few dozen feet away from the ground.
Catching the spear as it cancelled out his momentum, Toji flipped and landed with a roll, dusting off his clothes while looking at the smiling prince just a couple of feet away.
"Zuko, didn't expect you to crawl out from under your daddy's skirt," Toji greeted dryly, twirling Kuruk's spear with a smirk which Zuko returned.
"I could say the same for you. Where have you been all these years?"
"If you were looking for me and didn't find me, then you didn't look close enough," The mercenary replied with a shrug before continuing. "So, why has the royal brat been looking for me?"
"Because you have something that belongs to me."
"Can't say that I do."
"Come now, Toji. We've had this song and dance before."
"Yes and I seem to recall you getting your ass handed to you."
"Oh, so the scar on your abdomen wasn't made by me?" Zuko asked with a smile, surprising Azula with his words as Toji narrowed his eyes.
"That was a cheap shot by your uncle and you know it."
"It is not my fault that I am this distracting," Iroh replied with a shrug, Toji rolling his eyes at the man's words before noticing Azula glaring at him.
"Hey, you're still here. Is she usually this persistent?"
"If she wants something very badly, yes. Yes, she is," Zuko nodded, the mercenary humming in response before Azula spoke.
"Enough! Are we going to capture him or are you just here to play around?"
"Capture? No. I first wish to take back what was taken and then I wish to offer him something."
"Still don't know what I took."
"The golden egg?" Zuko asked with a raised eyebrow, Toji frowning in confusion before his eyes widened in realization and he grinned.
"So, you want to get on the good side of those guys?"
"Yes, and to do that, I need both the egg and the ring you took all those years ago."
"Oh, I'm not giving you Szeto's ring. As for the egg, I've gotten it stored...somewhere. If you want it, it's for a price."
'Wormy, don't say anything,' Toji thought to himself, knowing that the egg itself was stored inside the curse like usual. After all, it was the size of his chest and made out of solid gold with an actual red dimaion.
There was no way he was giving that up.
"Then, it appears that we are at an impasse."
"No, we're not. You made a proposal and I rejected it. There's nothing else to worry about," Toji replied, narrowing his eyes as Zuko reached up and undid the clip that attached his cloak to his armour.
"Are you sure there is nothing I can say or do to get either of the items back?"
"Not in the slighte-" Spinning Kuruk's spear, Toji aimed and threw it as Zuko flung his coat, both men immediately moving to the side before Zuko lunged forward.
A continuous burst of fire from his feet sped him up as Toji called Kuruk's spear to his hand, spinning it and deflecting a flaming kick aimed at his head.
Swinging his own kick at Zuko's supporting leg, the prince in question leapt up with a spin, punching forward and forcing Toji to duck the wave of flames that washed overhead.
Toji rose to his feet again, twirling his staff and flicking the metal tip at Zuko, who reached for the twin dao on his back. Unsheathing them with ease, he met the strike and pushed it away, waves of fire erupting from the blade and flying towards Toji.
The mercenary in question just grinned as he swung the spear upwards with a flourish, parting the flames right in time to see Zuko dashing forward.
Catching it behind his back, Toji spun and swung it at the young prince, who ducked underneath while aiming a slash at his leg. Leaping away, a burst of fire was swiftly cut in half by Kuruk's spear as he landed, narrowing his eyes when Zuko stood silently with a smirk.
"Your form's improved," The mercenary said and Zuko smirked as he lunged in.
"Yours hasn't!" he shot back with a slash, Toji parrying it with a grin before swinging low to force the prince back. Ducking under a spinning strike, Zuko launched a kick that Toji blocked with the shaft before pushing off of it with a flip.
Landing in front of his uncle and sister again, Zuko rolled his eyes when Toji stood with his arms crossed, the spear lying on the ground in between them.
"Really?"
"What? It's not like you can force me to actually try and kill you."
"I know you're stalling," Zuko replied with a roll of his eyes, Toji's raised eyebrow making him chuckle before he continued. "The last time you and I fought, it was when you were exhausted from training and trying to take care of a nuisance to you. Now, you play around and don't really go for the kill."
"And why would I not just be enjoying this?"
"You honestly think that I'd believe that?"
"Hey, it doesn't matter what you believe. I just don't really care enough to try and beat you."
"It appears that we won't be achieving the goal we set out to achieve, nephew," Iroh finally chimed in, Toji on guard as he saw the tense demeanour of the Dragon of the West.
After all, last time the two of them fought, it was not without injury and even if the man has gotten more rotund with the passing of time, Toji wanted to make sure he didn't get into any unnecessary fights.
After all, Toph would beat the shit out of him if he did.
"It appears so. You sure there isn't any way we could get those two objects?"
"Like I said, buy them and I'll hand them over with pleasure," Toji replied with a shrug, Azula gritting her teeth when Zuko sighed and sheathed his twin dao.
"Are you not attacking, Zu-Zu?" She asked, Zuko turning to look at her before he shook his head.
"That's just an unnecessary loss of life. Given that Toji hasn't tried to get past us to the army, he and his friends are most likely going to escape while Ba Sing Se's forces fight us."
"And what if he will? Will you just let him go, then? I don't see Father approving this plan of yours."
"You were already defeated once, sister. Have care for your tone," Zuko responded with a frown, Azula letting out a scoff before the prince continued. "A fight with him is foolish because he does not fight fair. He will race into the middle of the army and force me to cut down our men to beat him, something I will not do."
"Which is a shame. If you had the ruthlessness of your father, you'd be pretty fun to hunt," Toji spoke with a grin, but Zuko just smiled and shook his head.
"Needless fighting is not for me. In any case, I'm sure-" Before he could continue, Azula lunged past him, leaping into the air with a spin and a kick down at the mercenary.
Toji just grinned as he lunged forward, hopping sideways to dodge her azure-blue flames while calling Kuruk's spear up to him. It pierced through the flames and towards Azula, who ducked out of the way right as Toji appeared behind her and caught it.
Yet, as he aimed a thrust to her heart, he immediately kicked off the air beside him and leapt away, narrowing his eyes at Zuko on the ground.
"I will tolerate a lot of things, but not that. You don't attack her," Zuko spoke with a frown and Toji smiled as he dropped down, the ground immediately opening up and closing up behind him.
"I swear, Zu-Zu, you better have a good reason for this. All troops! Prepare for the siege!" Azula ordered, the soldiers glancing at Zuko who gave a subtle signal of approval.
"You held back," Iroh spoke up as the two of them walked back, Zuko looking at the man before shaking his head with a smile.
"So was he."
"Why not go for the kill?"
"I don't think I'm the type to just kill someone."
"Sure, nephew. Now, I have this delectable tea that I brought with me. It's a Water Nation blend. Would you care for a cup?"
"I would be delighted, uncle."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Underground, Toji stabbed Kuruk's spear into the side and grunted at the whiplash, dropping down as Toph opened the second hole to the tunnels they were using.
"Nice work."
"Thanks. Who got out?" he asked, looking past her to see Appa being pushed along by Momo and Iron with Aang being at his side.
"Everyone except for Zhen Yi and the other Council of Five Generals. They said they were going to stay behind and protect the throne to their dying breath, though I don't think they'll do so," Sokka explained, Kuei having a grimace on his face before Toji noticed the bear beside him.
"What kind of bear is that?"
"Oh, it's just a bear," Kuei spoke with a smile, Toji turning his gaze to the animal with a slow blink of his eyes.
"Nothing else?"
"Nope, it's just a bear."
"I know. It was weird for us at first, too," Sokka whispered to him, but Toji just continued to stare at the brown bear walking beside Kuei.
'Okay, this world has corrupted my mindset because a regular animal should NOT be here.'
"How was the fight above?" Toph asked, knocking him from his thoughts as he turned to look at her.
"Surprisingly, a lot easier than I expected, though I am not sad to say that your kingdom will fall."
"Because of their army size?" Katara asked, but everyone blinked when Toji shook his head with a chuckle before smiling as he started walking.
"No, because of the monster that's leading them."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I'd rather not do this," Zuko spoke with a frown as he stood at the top of the steps to the Earth King's Palace, Iroh at his side.
In front of them stood the Council of Five, the royal Earthbenders and the Dai Li, Zhen Yi unsheathing her jian before moving to a stance where the tip was pointed at him.
In response, the earthbenders all readied themselves and Zuko looked at them all, letting out a sigh at the resolved looks in their eyes.
"Uncle, step back, please," Iroh hummed as he did so, Zuko taking off the twin dao from his back with a flourish.
"I will ask once more. Do you surrender?"
"Until the last stone falls down, we shall not surrender!" Zhen Yi barked out, the earthbenders stomping their feet on the ground as Zuko nodded.
"Very well. Attack when you are re-" Zhen Yi stomped on the ground and opened it up, but Zuko was already soaring through the air with a spin.
Flames erupted from the blades and spread out wide, the visage of a phoenix forming behind the prince before he dove down. Rolling under a pillar of stone, his first slash burned the Dai Li agent heavily while knocking him back with a powerful explosion.
The rest moved swiftly, each one throwing out flurries of stone and rock to try and take the prince down. Yet, instead of parrying their attacks, the prince danced and weaved around them, embodying the element of water as he easily and swiftly took care of the Dai Li agents.
With synchronised punches against the ground, the royal Earthbenders made the stone at their feet shoot upwards, but Zuko already dashed around it, rushing in from the side with a trail of fire following after him.
Throwing his first dao at them, he flipped over the stone spears Zhen Yi threw at him, the dao's flames knocking the first guard back before Zuko caught the blade.
With a masterful spin, said guard soon find himself falling to the ground with deep cauterized cuts, the others trying their best to try and take the prince down.
Unfortunately, it was for naught as Zuko stabbed through the last one, letting out a sigh before letting the guard fall to the floor.
Turning to the final five in his path, he was not surprised to see four of them immediately punching the ground, Zhen Yi's eyes widening as the ground around her tightened.
"W-What?"
"While you all were delaying the army, I sent messages through to them and offered them the chance to keep their ranks as long as they helped us overthrown the government," Zuko explained, sheathing his twin dao before unsheathing them just as quickly when the four generals bowed their heads.
Their heads fell to the floor as Zuko flicked his blades, Zhen Yi frozen in place by the blades held at her neck.
"And with that, Ba Sing Se is ours."
A/N: And we end it off here~! A bit of history between Zuko and Toji that will be expanded upon later and a showcase of the demon the prince has become.
Next chapter: Plans for the Finale.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!