With a Chi-infused wind blade, Aaron decapitated the first guard before he fully entered the tent, his severed head and confused body stumbling forward.
"No!" Aang screeched, and Aaron closed the distance between himself and Zhao, burning Chi as air gathered in his palm, ready to deliver the killing blow. Zhao caught a glimpse of it and dragged the Avatar in front of him, which Aang consented to, determination burning in his eyes.
At the very last moment, Aaron shifted targets and went for one of the central masts instead of the Avatar's head. It burst into a thousand splinters, some peppered everybody in the room, but most of it rocketed back, ripping out the back of the tent.
Zhao stumbled back, eyes wide before he yelled to his last guard. "Don't just stand there; go fetch other soldiers. They cannot escape."
The soldier bolted out of the room, and Mark had a conflicted look about him until he raced after the soldier, leaving Aaron, Zhao, and Aang in a three-way stand-off.
"You killed him!" Aang yelled, his blue eyes burning.
Aaron snapped back. "Of course I did. What do you think would happen if the army found us."
'Fuck Fuck Fuck,' Aaron internally screamed.
Why hadn't he been burning One-with-the-World?
Aaron would've seen the young Avatar from miles away. He could've struck himself, not giving Aang a chance to interrupt him in the first place.
Anything was better than what was about to happen. There would be no coming back from this.
"Airbender monks don't kill."
"Where have you been the last 100 years!" Aaron said.
Zhao burst out laughing. "A phantom who wants to kill me on one end and the Avatar who wants to protect me on the other. This will be a battle for the ages."
Zhao settled into the Sozin imperial style with a smirk, eyes subtly shifting from the Avatar to Phantom. He shot a lightning-quick jab at Aaron, who side-stepped it and unleashed a wind blade with his singular drawn sword.
Aang countered with a powerful wind blade generated by his glider and returned a soft air blast at Zhao. The commander ducked and closed in with a victorious laugh, and Aaron foresaw how the next few minutes would play out.
Aang would play gatekeeper, wasting his time, and they'd be inevitably captured because he refused to let things be. After the conversation at the camp, he'd hoped they'd gotten through to him at the very least. But it'd appeared the Avatar was more resilient than he accounted for.
If Aang didn't want to listen to reason, then he'd remove him from the conversation entirely.
Aaron channelled Chi, boosting his usual airflow technique that sped up an Airbender's natural speed. He flashed in front of Aang before he realized what was happening and brought down his blade in a blinding blur. The blade stopped inches from Aang's bulging face, stuck in his thick glider. A kick followed, launching the Avatar backwards, and a twist of his blade snapped his glider in half.
Aaron refused to pander to him; he refused to be captured.
The flat of Aaron's blade up in time to block an Axe kick that brought a flaming arc that set his fire Nation army uniform on fire. Zhao flipped back, leading with another arc aimed directly at Aaron's face this time, but quick thinking and even faster reflexes allowed him to wave back in time.
He shot out a jet of concentrated air that caused the fire to rapidly expand and fizzle out before it touched Aaron.
Blinded by the haze and on fire, he almost didn't catch the supercharged uppercut that nearly took off his head. It exploded in a bright flare, and on instinct, Aaron's hand whipped forward, delivering a weighty jab at the commander's exposed midriff that sent him skidding several paces back.
Aaron bent a small gust to surround him to chase back the smoke, eyeing the commander the entire time.
Aang landed beside Zhao a second later, favouring his stomach. Aaron hoped he hadn't broken anything, but the Avatar needed a reality check before he got them all killed.
The world stilled, and the three met in an explosive frenzy of fire and dancing swords.
Aaron dodged, flipped, kicked, cut, and struck Zhao with the intent to kill while reigning himself back each time he collided with the Avatar, falling into the prolonged dance he feared.
They traded gusts while he swiped at Zhao, who, on occasion, tried to take out the Avatar and vice versa.
For nearly a minute, they fought until Zhao suddenly stopped and took off toward the rest of his army.
"Get back here," Aang yelled. "You're my prisoner!"
Seeing his opportunity, Aaron flashed in front of Aang and unleashed a gust so powerful it sent the Avatar spinning and flipping through the air.
With the boy momentarily dealt with and his Chi reserves nearly halfway empty, Aaron lanced forward, searching for Zhao. He wheezed past abandoned tents and workstations until he stopped in front of a great host.
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Hundreds of benders lined in tight formations.
Mark stood in a corner, trapped and bloody, with over two dozen men dead. The prisoners were still in their cages, and he even spied the bounty hunter watching with grim indifference.
They were going to die here, of that Aaron had no doubt.
The children would be suicidal to try to rescue them, and he hadn't trusted his Grandfather enough to tell him what was happening. He only hoped the man's morbid curiosity would help them now.
The only thought that brought him solace was Avatar's removal from what was to come.
"The guest of honour is finally here. The delusional Phantom who thought he could get away with killing my nephew," Zhao roared.
"He was My Brother's Son! His Father and I always had our differences, but the boy was a good kid with a bright future. And you took that away from him."
Zhao's eyes grew wide with a feral rage. "But don't worry, I'll pay you back a thousand times over. I'll start with that obnoxious student of yours, and then I'll earn my weight in gold by claiming your bounty, but not before dragging the Avatar back in chains. How does it feel to know that you're the cause of the greatest pain your friends and family will ever have to face?"
Aaron pondered his word and found himself partially agreeing with Zhao. If he hadn't killed Chen, none of this would've happened, but he hadn't a choice at the time. Or so he told himself.
If he hadn't overstayed his stay at Senlin, he would've never fought those fire benders, and maybe Igi would've been alive.
But maybe Mark would've killed him either way. He couldn't completely control what strange Outer beings did or did not do.
What he could've controlled was how he responded to the Village Elder's request. Waking his Father would've ensured this fight would've turned out entirely different, but he was beyond regret now.
What mattered was ensuring the children's survival; if he couldn't manage that, the least he could do was not give Zhao the benefit of being right.
So, he answered his question with a roar.
"Nothing. I would've killed Chen ten thousand times over if it meant furthering the phantom's goals. I did what any would've done in my place, and it's nothing you fire Nation scum don't deserve!"
"How many did you kill in your crusade to hunt me? How many families have you put to the sword? Don't get self-righteous with me. If you want your revenge, Zhao, take it—no need for speeches and moral grandstanding."
The square was so silent that Aaron could hear his heart thump with fear, unlike he'd ever felt before.
It robbed him of his good sense and instilled enough rage to fight an entire army. He snapped on Chi reinforcement, and his eyes glowed crimson as his rage turned vapour sky-rocketed. Aaron could already feel the wave of exhaustion coming, but he hoped the strength he had would be enough.
It had to be.
Zhao's face flushed as red as he stepped forward in slow, deliberate steps, feeding a fireball in his hand that only seemed to get larger and larger.
A roar ripped from his throat, and as he broke into a full stride, winding up to chuck the fireball at Aaron when suddenly, his chest folded inward.
Blood burst from every orifice. Zhao's eyes widened in pain and understanding as his string was cut, and he slumped forward.
Aaron stood across from him, fingers extended, eyes burning red. Yet, he stared at his hand in disbelief. He'd gambled and won, executing an empowered Air stinger for the first time.
"What the fuck, Aaron!" Mark yelled. "What did you just do."
Aaron's eyes slowly drifted from Zhao to a camp held captive by shock and his power. A man pissed himself, and Prince Zuko, who'd hung back the entire time, was a shade of white he hadn't thought possible.
Although, the look that surprised him the most had to be from General Iroh. He seemed terrified; his eyes locked on him. He seemed more afraid of the idea of Aaron than Aaron himself.
Maybe he hadn't needed his Father after all.
A closer look at them all revealed what he'd secretly suspected.
They were lambs. All of them, and he'd been too stupid to realize it.
Aaron growled.
Why should he run? They should be the ones who should be afraid.
"Don't you all just stand there!" somebody yelled, finally breaking the spell. "Charge him, now!"
A wave of nervousness swept through the crowd, but they were too slow to react.
Aaron's hand blurred again, and the second in command to Zhao exploded.
A scream ripped through the entire camp. Grown men were reduced to blubbering messes. Soldiers fled in all directions, and Aaron unsheathed his blades with a cruel smile.
Channelling air, he flashed in front of a large fire bender holding a spear and lopped his head off with a casual swing of his sword, no wind blade required.
Aaron recognized not coating his blade would do horrendous damage to his sword, but he was past the point of caring.
The more men he could kill, the easier it'd be for the soldiers of Omashu to repel the Fire Nation.
And once rumours of his strength spread, Samir would tremble in fear and rethink crossing him. After all, tracking down a prey that was afraid was far more entertaining.
Aaron ran towards a second man, who met one of his blades with a sword of his own. The clash shoved him back, and he roared, leaning into the strike. Aaron disengaged with a smirk on his face, turned and slashed him in the hamstring, crippling him.
He let out a surprised scream before Aaron buried his second sword in the back of his neck.
Aaron's grin turned feral as he leapt at his next victim, and like wheat at harvest, the soldiers fell.
His muscles began screaming at him, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to rip and tear and hurt. The pain felt so good, it energized him. He watched himself lose his mind, and he didn't care.
His body and mind would recover like it always did. And he'd have their entire journey to the North pole to recover. More importantly, Omashu and the people of the Earth Nation needed this.
Yes, that made sense. He was doing it for them.
He needed to make the Fire Nation afraid, put the fear of the Phantoms in the Travellers that looked down on them, and his Grandfather who didn't trust or respect—
A blinding surge of pain broke through his haze, sending Aaron spinning out mid-tumble. He'd been swinging, intending to eviscerate a fire bender.
The past few months flashed before his eyes. From the moment he'd first found Mark until the second he'd been struck.
Spasming on the floor, all sounds bled out from Aaron's world. Across from him, past Zhao's dead body, he saw him standing there, General Iroh, sparks flashing on his fingers.
His mouth moved, and Aaron's trained mind automatically interpreted his words.
"…to lose another to the madness." His hands began to gather lightning once more. "…I am sorry, but I will not let you kill my nephew. I will put a stop to the monster you will become…."
"F…uck Y…ou !" Aaron croaked.
General Iroh was two-faced, just like every other Firebender!
He'd been stupid to believe the old man would live up to his side of the deal.
Aaron's mind screamed, urging his body to respond, but his muscles only jerked and spasmed in response. He forced his teeth together, flooding his body with Chi again, but the pain only doubled.
Aaron, Son of Ren and proud Phantom of the Air Nation, was about to die for the second time that day and at the hands of the Dragon of the west no less.
And there was nothing he could do but watch it happen in excruciating detail.
General Iroh's finger whipped out, and Aaron shut his eyes to die, but the pain never came.
He heard a crash instead.
Blinking, he saw a half-collapsed wall in front of him that'd risen at the last possible moment and Mark standing to the side with his hand outstretched and his breath heavy.