Bumi secured their entrance into the chamber with the koi fish with his earth bending. Their approach was so smooth, Wang barely felt the ground shake as it opened up. It bought him the precious seconds he needed to strike before the Darkfire guarding the room noticed him.

His eyes shone bright red as he whipped the air around him, simultaneously generating four air balls around the guards. He watched them flounder as he slowly stole the very air away from their lungs until they stopped moving.

It was cruel, but it was the only way he could’ve guaranteed that they couldn’t escape and no one would see them.

Iroh looked at him with a mixed expression, while Jon Jon remained stoic, and Bumi aloof.

Iroh’s nephew was a little stiff as he approached the basin, giving the dead men wide berths as he came to the Koi fish. He easily retrieved it and secured the fish inside one of the many backpacks they brought for the operation.

“That went well,” Bumi said. “Now let’s get out of here before I jinx it or something.”

“He’s coming,” Wang announced with more excitement in his voice than he'd intended. His primary goal was to secure the Koi fish. The very world depended on their success. Yet, he found it difficult to devote himself entirely to the mission when the person he hated the most in the world was minutes away.

“Get the moon spirit out of here, Prince Zuko,” General Iroh ordered, but a streak of lightning shot into the tent before the boy could get far away enough.

A Darkfire soldier rushed into the room, his eyes determined and resolute. Several more followed him. Soon, Wang sensed hundreds more closing in on their location.

“He’s grown stronger,” Wang observed. Jon had briefed them on Samir's new abilities, yet witnessing them firsthand was another thing entirely.

It was something he would have to review with his father later, as much as he hated submitting his mind to his father.

His desire to see the boy burn gave him the strength to endure.

“These soldiers will not stop me,” Wang roared as Chi saturated his muscles and his eyes shone red through his helmet. “You have much to answer for the traveler. You have the blood of my Ghosts on your hands.”

“Get in line,” All of the soldiers in the room snorted. The sight nearly snuffed Wang’s anger. It was an eerie thing.

“Is he controlling their spirit from afar?” Iroh asked, disgusted. “I’ve never seen something so…perverse.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment General,” one soldier grinned. “If I can muscle a reaction out of you, I must be doing something right.”

“I knew you could communicate with your mind, but to think you could dominate so many,” Jon Jon muttered. “This should be impossible.”

“How’s the kid, Jon?” another soldier asked. “It’s almost a shame to make him an orphan.

“And King Bumi, you’re the last person I expected to find here. Prince Zuko has always been a goody-two-shoes, but to think you’ll came from the Earth kingdom for little old me,” he mused. “Oh, and Prince Zuko, your sister sends her regards. I’m sure she’d loved to be here to watch me rip you apart.”

At those words, the Soldiers advanced.

“Wait!” General Iroh yelled. “This is madness. You need to let us depart with the Moon spirit and bring her back to the Northern Water tribe. We need to set things right or there’ll be nothing left to rule over.”

The voices laughed as one in a discordant chorus. “Who said anything about ruling.”

“What?” Iroh looked genuinely confused, and Wang made the first move with a casual wave with his short sword. Several men dropped dead; their heads lopped off.

“We’re done talking,” Wang declared, his voice as hard as granite.

Bumi shrugged. “Well, I guess we are.”

Wild streaks of flames and lightning flowed forth like a torrential wave and splashed helplessly against a wall that King Bumi quickly raised. With an air-assisted jump, Wang cleared the wall, unleashing a wave of air stingers, exploding heads left and right. A stray streak of lightning came at him as he came down. He casually caught and redirected it, but spread the discharge, disabling half a dozen soldiers, a small smirk adorning his face. It’d taken some research, but he’d figured out how to redirect lightning. The technique worked in theory, and he'd not been disappointed putting it to the test.

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“Move it!” he ordered, but the White Lotus had already sprung to life before the word came, showcasing why they were the most formidable bending masters of their generation.

Two diagonal rows of earth burst from the ground of the tent, dividing the room into three. It sent dozens of men flying, but it carved a path out of the tent, which they promptly took.

“Protect that fish with your life,” Wang ordered, as he fired a Chi-empowered Air Blast that cleared all soldiers that blocked their path.

General Iroh manned the rear, and Jon jon their side, while King Bumi took care of safeguarding their team as they cut their way through the camp. Dozens fell with each blow Wang struck, but a hundred more rose to replace those that fell while they were bombarded from all sides.

No attack made it through, however. Jon and Iroh worked on diverting every fiery attack turning the advantage back on the attacker, while Bumi raised strategic walls, preventing the enemy from boxing them in completely, while he deliberately collapsed the walls behind them to cause maximum damage.

Wang had to draw out his second short sword and used wind blades, stingers, Chi palms, and his advanced close-quarter skills to keep them moving, but they made good time. Just when Wang was beginning to think they’d be able to make it out of the camp without casualty, the lightning benders realized the weakness of their formation.

Only Wang and the General could handle them. Even Bumi’s thick walls could not resist a concentrated lightning attack.

Dark clouds gathered ahead like some omen for a storm, and the pain descended. Bumi’s walls were nearly powdered, and Iroh and Wang were spasming messes as they redirected beams of electricity thicker than their limbs.

Wang fell to one knee, his muscles twitching. He flipped a mental switch and his Chi flow spiked. Veins broke out of his face and arms.

With a roar and two powerful jabs, his fists screeched like canons as air pureed dozens of men unfortunate enough to be in his path. “Come on, Iroh. Prepare yourself for the next round,” he said to the seasoned General who was also on his knees.

“Again!” he heard a voice roar in the background. Wang locked eyes with Samir. The voice, oddly hadn’t come from him, but a thin man that stood beside him.

The world flashed white and once again, Wang managed to divert the lightning, but at great personal cost. His muscles screamed. Without somebody to share the burden, it was almost too much.

A third attack came, but it was aimed at Zuko, not Wang. It took everything Wang had to arrive in time to divert the blast. Feeling vindictive, he pointed the bolt at Samir and his spokesman, but some brainwashed slave leaped into the shot before it came remotely close to them.

Exhausted and thoroughly burned, Wang collapsed on his knees panting.

“How the mighty have fallen,” Samir cackled through his mouthpiece, a vicious smile tugging at his lips. “Surround them,” he ordered, and hundreds of Soldiers did as instructed, eliminating all routes of escape.

“And somebody get me back my fish! I can’t believe I was afraid of you.”

“You’re a dead man walking,” Wang panted in shallow breaths. “This isn’t over.”

“Oh, but it is,” he chortled. “I don’t even have to touch you to make you one of my slaves. That’s how beyond you I am right now. You have no idea of who you’re fucking with. And when I’m done with you, I’m coming for the old man and that bitch Yara. All of you are on my list!”

A roar threatened to rip out of Wang's throat, but Samir's full might descended on him before he had the chance.

It was much greater than Yara described. Whatever happened since the fight, he’d taken great care to make sure he was able to dominate whoever he set his eyes on. Yet, Wang was not alarmed.

Paku and Wang had learned a great deal from Yara's fight and knew exactly how to deal with him. Through the tether or One-mind, Grandfather’s otherworldly presence lurched forward, riding through the connection Samir had willingly opened back into his mind, and Wang heard a shrill scream. It was like a cat had died.

Samir went wide eyes and gasped as his army of fire Nation soldiers spasm under the sudden assault of their overlord.

Blood started gushing out of Samir's nose as he toppled to his knees, and Wang couldn’t hide the grin slowly spreading across his face.

'Serves the little bastard right. That would teach him to snoop in other people’s minds.'

“What’s going on with one-arm boy over there?” Bumi asked.

“He’s getting a taste of his own medicine,” Wang said. With Paku worming through his mind, it was only a matter of time before only a husk remained. If he could momentarily take control of the army, they would have no problem getting out of the camp. Still, he didn’t want to tempt fate.

“Let’s move. Let’s get the spirit to safety before the army realizes we’re gone.”

“King Bumi,” Wang called, and the Old King grinned. No words needed to be said. They were tunneling their way out of the camp.

The floor cracked under them, and just as they descended, Wang caught it. A stray Dark fire pointed his finger at them. The flash of lightning snapped across the battlefield in an instant, past Wang, who’d been too tired and slow to move, Bumi, who was concentrated on their escape, Jon jon, who had an eye on their rear, and Iroh. It struck Zuko and Iroh screamed.

Wang felt it before he saw it.

The sky turned scarlet as the color of the moon slowly shifted. Wang rushed over to the boy and felt for a pulse. The boy was alive, barely affected by the attack. The moon spirit, however, did not survive.

As they were lowered into the darkness, Wang ground his teeth so hard, they creaked.

He’d failed…again.