Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
May 8 - Zuko Pov
"Big brother, hurry up! It's about to start! Big sister is about to compete!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly as she entered the room where everyone was waiting. Mom, Kiyi, Uncle Iroh, Noren, Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, Aang, Katara and Sokka. I sighed as I approached the seats. There was a spot right next to Mai where I slumped.
"She's not answering, is she?" Mom asked wearily, and I shook my head.
"She's probably busy getting ready." I tried to smile nervously. Half the people snorted at my blatant lie. I'd tried reaching Azula to wish her luck at the festival, but she avoided my calls as usual. I sighed once more. "Let's just... watch the festival and see how she and Toph do," I said simply. Kiyi bounced in her seat before turning up the volume on the television broadcasting the festival.
"Okay, okay, it's time for the athlete oath from class 1-A. Your student representative is Taylor Hebert!!" the announcer shouted loudly.
"She's from Azula's class, right?" Mom asked as she looked at the screen.
"Yes, she should be," I confirmed simply. We quickly saw the student representative take the podium. She looked terribly nervous, With her Long hair in a braid and glasses. She was the best UA had.
" And —I, Taylor Hebert!" I grimaced as her voice cracked at the beginning. "—with this oath, on behalf of all competitors, I promise that I will outperform all of you losers and place first. Thank you very much!" My eyes widened.
"What?" More than one of us asked stupidly.
"Confident? Arrogant?" Uncle Iroh asked curiously.
"I have no idea, but this is going to get interesting," Mai said next to me with a smile.
"You have to admit, at least they're not boring over there in Japan," Sokka pointed out with a smile. I rolled my eyes.
" Shhh! They're about to explain the first event!" Kiyi hushed us all. Our attention was once again drawn to the screen. The presenter, Midnight, if I remember correctly, was explaining the first event, a 4-kilometer obstacle course.
" Let's begin then... on your marks... begin!!" Kiyi was practically about to jump out of her seat when the start signal for the first event was given. No sooner had Midnight finished speaking than the entire start gate froze completely. It seemed to freeze more than half of the crowd, but some easily avoided it, Like that guy with glasses and a katana who quickly took first place, followed by the girl with a scythe and a petal quirk.
"There are giant robots!!" Kiyi squealed exuberantly, her eyes shining as she stared at the screen. And she was right; the first obstacle was a dozen building-sized robots.
"What the hell is wrong with Japan? Where did they get those robots?!" Sokka asked incredulously, something I could sympathize with. Giant robots? What kind of madness was that? To my surprise, the ones in the front position moved easily through the robots.
Even the boy with glasses cut one of them in half and kicked it to his opponent, only for a group of students to begin trying to restrain him, and they succeeded. Even Toph joined in.
"That's it Toph!" Suki exclaimed with a smile as she watched her surf with her earth quirk to the top positions, and then Azula appeared, propelling herself with her fire.
"It's big sister! Come on, sis!" Kiyi exclaimed loudly, and we all winced. Kiyi really liked Azula, and it was something no one could stop her from doing, so we ignored it and looked at the screen once more.
To our surprise, they continued showing the guy with glasses, who was trapped in the ground. Then the keynote speaker used... insects? And then she put her fingers in a V shape and stuck her tongue out at him... did she, did she just do that on international television?
"HAHA! I like it!! " Suki laughed loudly.
" T -that's obscene!" Aang exclaimed while blushing.
"I hope Azula doesn't get together with her," Mom pleaded. We looked at the screen again showing the boy encased in ice. Then, the screen changed to show the ones contesting for first place.
"Excessive?" I asked, confused. everyone was trying to stop The guy with glasses with everything they could; something strange was going on.
" Either he's angered too many people, or he's too dangerous to let win the festival," Uncle Iroh pointed out, and the others nodded. They quickly showed the second barrier; Large pits and pillars connected only by ropes that the students would have to pass through.
In first place were the rose petals girl, jumping and moving at high speed, and two people with wing quirks capable of flying over the ground. My eyes widened when the camera changed again and showed the now-freed bespectacled boy moving quickly along the pillars while cutting the ropes to prevent the competition from passing.
The camera shifted once more to show the first place finishers just approaching the final obstacle, a minefield. The first three competitors had barely entered the minefield when an air blast hit the ground completely out of nowhere, creating a massive explosion as the mines exploded, temporarily eliminating them.
The camera showed the bespectacled boy with his sword drawn in the air. He moved at enormous speed and approached the student representative, stepping on one of the mines near her before retreating and doing the same to Toph.
" Uuff!" we moaned in pain as we saw Toph flying away from the explosion.
"Come on, sister! You can do it!" Kiyi encouraged as the camera showed the first participants, and Azula was vying for first place against three others. The boy with glasses quickly caught up, and the final stretch became a seven-person competition.
It was at that moment the boy with glasses stopped, and the next, he was in front of everyone. Now, there were eight people in front.
"Fast!" Uncle Iroh exclaimed in surprise. All the other students immediately formed an alliance and began attacking him. The boy with glasses didn't seem to care; in fact, he had a massive grin going from ear to ear. He was enjoying this.
The bespectacled boy easily dodged all the attacks coming at him, even without seeing them. We could see that he couldn't get any substantial purchase on the ground, so he couldn't increase his speed, but he stayed ahead of everyone.
"Let's go Azula!" Kiyi exclaimed loudly. We were all practically on the edge of our seats. Our eyes widened when they reached the final hallway, and the boy with glasses jumped and hit the ceiling, getting the support he needed. With that, he finally got the advantage he needed to win.
"WHOO-EY!! WHO WOULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS OUTCOME WHEN THE TEST STARTED!? THE MAN WHO HAS RETURNED TRIUMPHANTLY TO THE STUDIO IS NONE OTHER THAN MIYAMURA IZUMI!!! THIS WILL BE A NAME TO REMEMBER!!
"Miyamura," I mumbled the name as if it sounded familiar. "Amazing." I simply mumbled. Kiyi groaned in disappointment before perking up once more as she spoke a thousand words an hour.
"So he's a threat; everyone knew it and tried to eliminate him," Uncle Iroh said.
"And yet they failed," Katara said grimly before snorting and a smile forming. "Seventh place, Azula." Rio looked at the screen. And she was right. The screen showed all the contestants, well, the ones who had made it so far, each time someone else crossed the finish line.
"She must hate that boy." Sokka laughed.
"Toph still got ninth place," Suki pointed out. We grimaced.
"It was that kid's fault and the mine that exploded," Sokka replied. Mai snorted.
"A Completely valid strategy. Toph started it," Mai said with a shrug.
"What do you think the next match will be?" Aang asked excitedly. "I mean! That was amazing! I didn't know UA used robots for events like this!" he added excitedly.
"I didn't think they used robots for anything. I guess they were just trying to show off," Katara said uncertainly.
"I think everyone's finished," Ty Lee said, pointing at the screen. We snapped our attention back once more.
[Human Cavalry Battle!]
My eyes widened slightly at that and Midnight's explanation.
"Ha! Your sister's screwed! Teamwork? Impossible for Azula!" Katara laughed. I frowned, as did my mother, but we said nothing.
"That's not true! Azula can be a team player!" Ty Lee argued forcefully, though she was biting her lip. She sighed. Even now, after being threatened with death or mutilation by Azula several times, Ty Lee was still defending her. I didn't know if she had genuine feelings or if Ty Lee still felt guilty about what happened with Azula, but almost everyone present winced.
"Ten million points!!!" I turned my head as I looked at the screen, and my eyes opened wide.
"They are toast," Sokka said dryly.
"Now, you're going to make me blush if you look at me that hard. Mom warned me about how rough women can be at college... I hope you don't disappoint me."
"Oh, Agni." I groaned loudly, completely in disbelief at the boy's words and his wild grin. Half the people present laughed out loud. We quickly saw the students starting to form groups.
"Wait, Azula teamed up with first place?" Katara asked in disbelief, and I was also in disbelief as I looked at it.
"They seem... they seem close," Mom said, confused. And indeed, they did. A blonde joined their group of two, followed by a black-haired girl. Even so, the boy with glasses, Miyamura, had stayed awfully close to Azula, almost glued to each other. I wish the cameras would zoom in so I could hear what they were talking about, but they stayed far away so they could strategize in secret, even from the public.
The planning time quickly ended, and there was Azula's group. Miyamura was the rider, while Azula was in the back on the right.
"…3…2…1…START!!!!" the presenter gave the starting signal.
"You can do it, sister!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly. The next few minutes were complete chaos. If an obstacle course was confusing, then the human cavalry fight was complete mayhem. As planned, everyone attacked Azula's group, which had the highest-scoring band.
The terribly surprising thing was Miyamura. He was able to completely defend himself from all attacks with extreme ease.
"He just used that girl as a shield... and she likes it?" Aang asked, terribly confused. I blushed. I knew he was a monk, but he wasn't that... innocent... or was he?
"...I'll explain later, Aang," Katara said, also slightly blushing.
Returning to the fight, it was apparent that Miyamura was powerful. He moved as if he had no problem standing on top of others, spinning in the air, or jumping while fending off all the other groups from all sides casually, always smiling as if he was enjoying being attacked by all his teammates.
"This is crazy," Sokka muttered as he watched the fight.
"That kid is amazing," Uncle Iroh said, impressed, as he looked at Miyamura. We could only nod.
"Oh no." Ty Lee muttered as she watched Azula use chi-blocking against a blonde girl with an explosive quirk. Toph was also on that team, so they could escape and keep together for the time being. The boy above them, as a rider, seemed to have a super strength quirk.
Finally, we saw the combined attack of all the teams against the rider of Azula's group. They pulled him off his horse and attacked him in a chain reaction while dragging him away from the rest of his group. He seemed lost when Azula shot out with her flames to catch Miyamura.
"Go sister! Catch him!" Kiyi exclaimed frantically. I too clung to the edge of my seat as I watched Azula dodge and pass through the obstacles and blows from the other teams. Until the representative, Hebert, appeared beside her and knocked her away. " Nooooo , stand up!"
"I guess that's as far as they go," Uncle Iroh said, sighing with emotion.
"TIMES UP!!!!!" The presenter ended the round.
"He's flying!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly as she stood up and pointed at the screen. My eyes widened slightly, because yes, Miyamura hadn't fallen to the ground; in fact, he was in the air, kicking the air as if he were jumping over nothing.
"FIRST PLACE!!! MAINTAINING THEIR 10 MILLION POINT BAND FOR 15 MINUTES AND A COMPLETE SIEGE FROM THE OTHER PARTICIPANTS AND EVEN GETTING A SECOND BAND, TEAM MIYAMURA!!!!
"They did it! Big sister did it! She came in first place!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly as she bounced with joy.
"How... is his quirk?" Suki asked in confusion as Miyamura's image in the sky still bounced in the air.
"Fighting the entire round against multiple teams without using his quirk? Incredible." Katara muttered in surprise.
"Really, UA is something else. That Hebert girl is pretty clever with her Quirk too." Uncle Iroh praised them as they showed off Hebert in second place. "And the others aren't far behind. There were a lot of Quirks and strong people. It is something else."
"I guess the individual duels are coming up next?" Noren asked, looking at the screen. To answer that question, the host began announcing the third event of the festival.
Battle 5: Kyoka Jiro, Azula
"Oh, does anyone know who that is?" Sokka asked.
"The girl with the sound quirk, Beifong was matched with that Todoroki, the one with the ice quirk," Mai said simply as she pointed at the pictures of the faces next to the names.
"Wait, recreational events? I didn't think UA had them," Katara said, listening to the presenter.
"Well, it's a festival. I don't see the problem." Aang shrugged.
As announced, the following events were more normal recreational events, as expected from a normal sports festival. After that, the individual duels finally began.
The fights were… somewhat disappointing, sometimes completely one-sided, like Miyamura's, where he basically cut his enemy down enough until his regeneration quirk ran out. As impressive as that was, the girl didn't even have a chance to attack or defend herself.
Toph's fight with Todoroki was more fierce, even though the ice girl created a massive iceberg that towered over the entire stadium. Luckily, Toph could protect herself from that gigantic, powerful attack and counterattack.
Still, she ultimately lost. She surrendered when the ring became covered in ice, making her unable to see with her Quirk. Finally, it was Azula's turn.
"AND ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE THE EXILED PRINCESS OF THE FIRE NATION! HER FLAMES ARE HOTTER THAN THE SUN, AND SHE IS ABLE TO IMMOBILIZE YOU IN 10 DIFFERENT WAYS BEFORE YOU REALIZE IT!! AZULAAA!!!"
"Crush her!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly. Just as we expected, Azula didn't need to use her Quirk. She simply walked up and paralyzed her opponent with chi blocking. The fight ended almost immediately. "YES!" Kiyi exclaimed excitedly, as if she had just won a big battle.
"She's overusing that chi block," Katara said with a scowl. Ty Lee shuddered.
"I-I'm sorry," Ty Lee apologized.
"It's not your fault, Ty Lee. No one expected Azula to be able to learn chi blocking that way," Suki consoled. I could see Mai biting her lip to keep from saying anything. And I could understand. Azula was a genius, honestly. It wasn't weird. We had underestimated her and let our guard down once she was committed to the mental institution.
That was a grave mistake.
We continued watching the duels in silence. I winced when Azula finished her second fight just as easily as the first. She didn't even hesitate when she faced her former teammate. The next matchup was between Hebert and the blonde with the explosive quirk.
I quickly paled.
"Oh Agni." I muttered in terror. The number of insects Hebert could control was on par with a biblical plague. And she didn't even seem to make an effort to use her Quirk. She was a monster. The blonde student did everything she could while exploding everything around her. But the thousands of insects she exploded, hundreds of thousands took their place. It was terrifying. They seemed to have no end.
Ultimately, Hebert ended up overwhelming the blonde and was declared the winner.
"That was terrifying," Sokka said, shuddering. "How many bugs can she have near her? What's her range?!" he asked incredulously, and I grimaced.
"The announcer announced her as an S-rank, so expect it to be a lot," Uncle Iroh said solemnly.
"Azula has to face her," Ty Lee pointed out, pale. We all shuddered slightly.
The following fights passed quickly, and finally there was Azula's fight against Hebert.
"Beat that bug girl, Sister!" Kiyi exclaimed. Azula began to move around the ring and finally unleashed the full extent of her quirk… no, she-
"She's gotten stronger," I muttered in surprise as I stared wide-eyed. Her movements were different. I could barely see them compared to what I was used to seeing in Azula.
Her perfect Fire Nation military-style movements were gone, or they were so heavily modified they could practically pass for something completely different. But even so, her fire was stronger and more intense than I'd ever seen it before.
Her fire covered almost the entire Ring, creating a safe zone against the insects, which were instantly incinerated so that Herbert couldn't gain any advantage. Herbert seemed to understand this, and after a few more attempts, she stopped sacrificing her swarm and placed them around Azula while she hid within the dense cloud of insects.
The close-quarters fight was incredible, with neither of them able to gain the upper hand. Azula was parrying Hebert's sword while Hebert parried Azula's hands to avoid the chi block. They were evenly matched.
Finally, Azula changed her moves once again. It was dazzling; her fire changed color. It returned to an orange/yellow color but somehow grew several times larger. Her fire was much stronger, covered much more ground, and was definitely much hotter if the molten ground was anything to go by.
"What the hell." I don't know who muttered that, but it could have been me as I watched the fight in disbelief. Finally, Hebert took a direct hit when a lightning bolt created by Azula hit him directly and held her for a few seconds. If it weren't for the swarm distracting Azula, Hebert would have lost at that moment.
Finally, Azula was hit by the sword and sent away from the ring. She was prevented from reaching 1st place by a flying sword to the face that had thrown her to the ground outside the ring, disqualifying her immediately.
" Noo sis!" Kiyi moaned in disappointment before her eyes lit up. "Did you see that! Big sister is amazing! Her quirk is incredible! I want to be just as cool as her when I grow up!" Kiyi exclaimed in excitement.
"I'm sure you can do it," Mom said shakily as she looked at the screen while slightly pale.
"Can someone tell me how she did that! I'm sure she was never that strong!" Katara exclaimed in disbelief.
" Believe me, Katara, we'd like to know too," Iroh said solemnly. "I don't know how, but she definitely found a way to become stronger… on her own, or she learned it at UA, but she's definitely become more dangerous."
"Great, warn me when she decides to return to the castle. I'll be on my way far away from here. I don't want to turn to ash." Sokka said dryly. I wanted to say that Azula wouldn't hurt anyone here, but I'd be lying outright. She was stronger than any of us now, except for Aang. She was already dangerous, but to think she'd somehow improved so much was terrifying.
We all stood in awkward silence as Kiyi continued chatting about the fight.