CHAPTER 24: THE AMBUSH (I)

“You have grown stronger since we last met,” Manori teased. “Pity it doesn’t change the outcome of this fight!”

Zuko glared daggers at her but she remained calm and and composed. Infact she even looked confident despite the trickle of blood coming out of her forehead. The same place Zuko had delivered the devastating kick. He couldn’t understand how she could be so confident even after witnessing the gulf in their abilities. Yes she might be a very good fighter and flexible and fast. She might have all the martial abilities in the world but it still did not change one single fact, she wasn’t a bender.

For him all that mattered was that he was a firbender and she wasn’t. Her physical abilities might be extraordinary but his bending still gave him the edge. With that thought he charged at her. He started with quick fire jabs. Small burst of fire that she easily dodged. Each attack he tried to anticipate her movements and follow through with an attack. The problem was that his body just couldn’t keep up with his mind.

He could see her dodge or evade and in anticipation he tried to widen his fire or attack her where she would be but the attacks were either too slow or not strong enough. The fire attacks were simply wasting his chi so he started to attack her using his martial arts. He was once again met with the same problem. He just could not keep up with her speed and agility. Her ability to simply contoured her body while he tried to cover her escape.

Five whole minutes passed by and their fight continued. She would try to counter with a stab from her dagger or simply a kick or punch but Zuko was also an agile fighter. His agility and manly physique blocked off most of her physical attacks but he still dodged the dagger.

Five more minutes passed and something interesting started happening to Zuko. His body started to catch up with his mind. He could now react to the anticipation of her movements. She started blocking more often instead of dodging. Thanks to her training she could take an attack head on but her stamina was starting to reach its limits. Each attack she blocked he became faster and started aiming for vitals. His manly strength also showed through as one powerful punch came at her chest.

She crossed her arms at her chest and blocked but the sheer force of the punch send her sliding backwards and almost falling over. Zuko capitalized on her imbalance and did a quick swiping ground round kick. Extending out an arc of fire so close to the ground it started to burn her feet. While she started jumping one foot after another he started charging massive amount of chi. After being satisfied with the amount he extended out the fingers of his right hand. A small flame formed on the top of his fingers so he proceeded extend out his other hand behind. Standing on one right leg he twirled like a figure skater to build momentum before shooting his right hand to the sky. A massive twisting vortex of flames shot up from the extended fingers. He proceeded to suddenly kneel down and brought down his fingers to the ground. The vortex of flames followed the path of his hand like a sword and descended upon the young woman who couldn’t help but watch in absolute horror. At the last second she stepped to the side and only half her body was caught in the fire. The attack wasn’t done however as it expanded to twice it’s original size as soon as it touched the ground.

With her clothes burned and her skin about to start melting she jumped away from the flames and started rolling in the ground while screaming in absolute agony. Zuko simply glared at the young woman screaming in pain. He had no sympathy for her whatsoever. She harmed his woman and she deserved to pay was all he thought.

“You were saying something about the end of this fight?” He teased back with a vicious smirk.

Manori continued to roll in the dirt for a while until the burns started to cool. With smoke eminating from half her body she looked up at Zuko who was watching her with a satisfied grin.

“My statement still stands Zuko,” she said and willed herself to stand tall. “You have absolutely no chance of winning this fight. You are simply out matched and… outnumbered.”

An evil smirk formed on her blackened face. Suddenly the bushes surrounding them started to rustle as silhouettes walked out. The shadowy figures revealed themselves as a group of 12 highly capable looking assailants. Each carried themselves with an air of confidence and strength. One of the twelve walked over to Manori with a worried look.

“You made it just in time as always,” Manori revealed.

“Well we were planning on raiding a fire nation village but we got your message and hurried here,” the young man answered in a tone of carelessness but still somehow sincere. He continued to chew on what looked like a tooth pick or some sort of branch. He had high messy hair and had with him a pair of swords.

“It’s been a while Jet,” Manori continued.

“Indeed it has,” the young man agreed. “So is this the Fire Nation Prince you mentioned?” He got straight to the point as his face suddenly twisted into one of pure hatred and anger. An aura of bloodlust suddenly spread throughout.

Upon hearing the name Zuko immediately recognized the young man. He wondered if he would meet the freedom fighter but figured it would never happen with how much he changed the story.

“Yes, that’s him,” Manori answer with no hesitation. “The exiled Prince of the Fire Nation! The former heir to the Fire Lord!”

“Exiled huh?” Jet said. “Well that would make this quite simple than wouldn’t it?”

He drew his swords and took a fighting stance.

“Manori you stay behind,” he continued. “You have done enough. Live this to the freedom fighters!”

With that declaration he immediately charged at Zuko with his swords. Swinging them with a ferociousness and speed that Zuko could barely dodge. Each attack was aimed right at a vital point with relentless intensity. Even without bending he continued to push Zuko back. So much so that Zuko got to the point where Katara and Aang lay unconscious.  He couldn’t withdraw anymore so he instead punched out a massive blast of fire from his left hand. Using the same momentum he did a swinging back kick. An arch of flames shot out of his feet that forced Jet to quickly retreat to a safe distance. Zuko wasn’t done however. He ran after Jet. Suddenly the rest of the freedom fighters decided to join the fight so he instead used fire from his feet to launch himself into the sky. While ascending to the sky he held his hands up and gathered stream after stream of fire in-between his hands. Until it got so large that it got to the size of a wrecking ball. With that size he threw the fire ball at the dozen fighters all dressed in a similar black and blue colour. As the attack hurdled for them he continued to pour as much chi as he could into the ball. So much so that the fire ball enlarged to five times it’s size. By the time it hit the ground it was the size of an Olympic size swimming pool. Everything within it was burnt to cinders including the trees, grass, bushes and every creeter wondering the forest.

Zuko descended down from the sky. He dropped to his knees with absolute exhaustion. He could barely catch his breath due to the sheer fatigue he now felt.

“Now that is a fire bending attack!” a familiar voice suddenly provoked. “I was underestimating you for a while there but you certainly are a fire nation royal!” the very same voice continued.

From his panting Zuko looked up to the trees to see that everyone was not only unharmed but they didn’t even look exhausted. They all looked like they could still take another attack of similar calibre. The only other attack he could still do was when he showed off on Kyoshi. The problem was that it had too many draw backs. His stamina was already dangerously low after the fighting with Aang and than the Avatar Spirit. His chi reserves were still plenty but his body was still not used to it. He wasn’t sure how much of the attack he could do but it didn’t even matter. There was no way that Jet would allow him the time to charge the attack. Perhaps if he had some one who could act as a distraction but he was all alone. He could try to run for it but he also didn’t want to live Katara. If it was just Aang than he would make a run and live him. There was just one way left for him to get a chance. He would have to buy some time for his stamina to recover a bit.

“So Jet of the Freedom Fighters,” he began. “Exactly what sort of freedom are you fighting for? The financial freedom or the freedom to live your life however you want it. Do you really think that’s possible in a civilization like ours.”

[A/N: Read 5 to 10 chapters ahead on my patreon available now. 

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