The Earth Kingdom soldiers were able to slowly and carefully lay the stiff body of their comrade from the Terra Team onto one of the beds prepared in the infirmary, Aang nodding his silent thanks to them and the others who helped him and his friends carry or escort the injured Terra Team back to the safety behind Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall as Katara quickly began tending to the soldier right in front of her.

They wouldn't have been able to pull off such a quick rescue for two dozen overly huge and heavy earthbenders without the Fire Nation soldiers being preoccupied with a certain 'distraction'.

Percy.

The Avatar narrowed his eyes at the thought of their mysterious travel-companion-cum-battle-ally. Right before the earth shook, he felt an unknown force overwhelm him. It was unlike the time he hosted La in the North Pole. But contrary to the feeling of unadulterated rage he experienced when the Ocean Spirit tore through the Fire Nation Army, it seemed that whatever that caused the earthquake was measured. As if the earth was unwilling to cause too much damage.

Could Percy really be someone who bends two elements?

But that wasn't the only thing worrying him. When they were escorting the Terra Team back, Aang caught a glimpse of the fight that Percy had drawn the Fire Nation soldiers into, and was very certain he heard a maniacal laugh which sent a slight shiver down his back.

"What's wrong with him? He does not look injured."

General Sung's question to Katara caught Aang's attention as she attempted to heal the soldier lying in front of her with water bending. The senior was not wrong to voice his curiosity, and Aang noticed that there were no physical wounds on the soldier.

In fact, all the soldiers that were lying in the packed infirmary did not spot a single cut, gash or wound on them to explain the unexplainable condition they were in.

Katara wore a frown on her face as the glowing water wrapped around her palms reached the man's shoulder. She had an uneasy feeling at the back of her head, and it was beginning to form on her chest as she continued examining the soldier's condition. Something was being cut off inside the soldier, and she was all too familiar with it.

"His chi is blocked," she explained, trying to keep her voice level. With chi being blocked, this is beyond Katara's abilities to help, but it's not entirely bad news. She turned to General Sung. "They won't be able to bend for a while, but as time passes they will be fine."

Upon seeing the General nod, she turned back to the Terra Team member, the question on the tip of her tongue as she was certain of the identity of the culprit but confirmation was still needed. "Who did this to you?"

"Two girls ambushed us," he answered with a hint of unease in his voice, probably embarrassed to have been so easily defeated by 'two girls'. "One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away."

"Ty Lee," Katara's eyes narrowed as the name of the chi-blocker sounded like it was spat out by the young waterbender. "She doesn't look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It's like she takes you down from the inside."

Sokka's sudden exclamation in excitement had her turning her head around to her brother as she stood up while raising an eyebrow at the sight of his equally excited face. "Yes?"

"What you just said!" Sokka said like it explained everything, but continued when he saw the confused looks on everyone's faces, his excitement not even dampened the slightest. "That's how we're going to take down the drill! The same way Ty Lee took down all those big earthbenders!

Toph's face lit up as she was the first to understand Sokka's idea. "By hitting its pressure points!"

Aang walked towards the large window, noticing the Drill and the tanks that were immobile and a group of people fighting ahead of it. His eyes steeled as he heard the shuffling of his friends joining him.

"We'll take it down from the inside."

He wondered how Percy was faring against the Fire Nation Army.

oOo

Puzzled.

Confused.

Disorganized.

Those are the words that would describe how the foot soldiers clad in fiery red armour would and armed with spears felt as they tried to make sense of the situation they're in.

Oh, and also: Panic.

Two soldiers eyed their comrades sprawled on the ground, their hearts slamming onto their chest when they saw that their fallen comrades were wearing the standard skull faceplates. Their eyes snapped back to attention as they carried their spears and ran in the direction of a mess of red and black.

As they got closer to the mob that was their brothers-in-arms, the sound of wincing and yelping brought chills down their spine as the pained hollers got louder. They felt their blood freeze in their veins when they heard cracks and snaps, no doubt due to broken bones and snapped joints as they watched more soldiers crumple to the ground along with the occasional clang of metal meeting metal as they surrounded and engaged with something towering over everyone in the heart of the mess.

Someone.

The man had been identified by Command as a threat following the bizarre appearance of a geyser and an even more unexplainable phenomenon of an earthquake and split earth after said man had appeared seemingly from the water, and soldiers were quickly deployed from their now broken-down tanks to eliminate the target who was standing ahead of tanks to the left of the Drill. Easier said than done.

Monster.

That's the thought that came to their mind when they stared at the giant man responsible for taking down at least a dozen of their firebenders. What else can one be called if he defeated the two squads from the fifteen best on-field, all while laughing in a manner not different to one of a mad man? But the most shocking to everyone on the scene most was how fast he disposed of them, leaving them on the floor behind him.

When the first squad engaged at the start, they failed to land a single hit with their firebending. It was as if he was a mirage, appearing at one spot but disappearing in a blur the moment a fireball was about to engulf him in flames. But as they attempted to flank him, he merely deflected their fire attacks with his strange glowy sword before getting into their face. The shock at having their attacks so easily deflected left the firebenders open and the man did quick work, using the flat of his blade to whack them across their armour hard. That left dents and hurt firebenders who grabbed the part they were hit and writhe onto the ground in pain. The second squad was a quick study.

Do not let him get close.

They kept their distance, attacking simultaneously in two separate directions. One attack was aimed at the man, while another was to his left, cutting him off an alternate escape as he was forced to dodge to the right instead. The firebenders kept up the attack pattern – one targeting him while another was just to one of his sides. It worked to their advantage at first, funnelling him into rolling into the path they want him to go. The plan had been executed so smoothly they thought they had the enemy pinned.

Until they landed a direct hit on him with their combined fireblast.

When both flames and smoke cleared, they expected to be greeted by nothing but a smouldering pile that was their target, or maybe knocked back unconscious, or running away in fear. They did not for one, anticipate seeing said target still standing and his skin a slight tinge of pink. His attention was not on them, but on his green-grey tunic that had caught on fire on his collar and he was patting the flames away.

They may or may not have heard him say "Man, I only had one set of clothes", but before they could properly process the sight in front of them, the man got into their faces and they were met with a flurry of punches and kicks along with the occasional metal to their faces, sending them toppling onto the ground at speed only comparable with the Royal Family.

Infantry who weren't gifted with firebending simultaneously swallowed a gulp as they witnessed the fight.

'Trashing' would be the proper word but Fire Nation pride dictates them to call it a fight regardless.

Speaking of Fire Nation pride, the soldiers would not allow a simple show of strength to intimidate them. Their trainers during boot camp were menacing enough, but the mere thought of Command raining hell on them for not fighting for the sake of the Fire Nation was sufficient motivation for them. So, they did what they thought was best.

They attacked.

If the man's fight with the Firebenders is recounted as a 'Trashing', then the word that suits the infantry's attempt to engage the man has to be 'obliteration'. The soldiers never stood a chance against him. There was his agility. The man moved at speed no one thought was possible, again moving like a blur. Then there was his skill with his sword. The soldiers felt like they were fighting a swordmaster instead of another fellow soldier as they never landed any blow on him, instead they were the ones to fall like leaves.

Cue now, numerous soldiers now lying on the ground either groaning in pain or unconscious. Armours were either ripped, torn or dented, while spears were snapped like twigs and swords dented in angles no one believed possible. It was somewhat a miracle that all they suffered were either concussions, some bruised or broken body parts, dislocated joints, or just water in their lungs (temporarily). Painful, yes. But it was still better compared to having fatalities. Anyone who survived that fight (namely, everyone) would recall that were no blood spilt, aside from the bloody nose here and there.

The two soldiers who were left standing stared in awe. The fight had lasted longer than anyone expected to, yet their mysterious tall waterbender-slash-swordsman-slash-Monster was barely breaking a sweat. They shared a glance with each other before charging at him with their spears, despite knowing their efforts will bear no fruit.

One cannot be faulted if they tried.

The heat must have played a trick on their eyes, for they thought they saw the man let out a tired sigh before he parried their stabs as they shoved their spears forward, spinning like a whirlwind as he closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye and knocking them out cold with the flat of his blade.

Percy took a deep breath, mentally cursing himself for not carrying a waterskin like Katara to rehydrate himself as he turned to take in the sight of the fruits of his labour. What was a mission to 'buy time', quickly turned into a one-versus-all battle as he kept the Fire Nation soldiers at bay. He still felt uncomfortable at how he enjoyed being in the thick of it once again. The laugh he let out reminded him of that fight Battle of Manhattan, and it scared him again.

Despite being a 'retired veteran' that's enjoying life in New Rome, it didn't stop Percy from actively practising his swordsmanship whenever possible, to keep himself from being out of touch with the very skill that kept the demigod alive for over a decade. Riptide hadn't been able to cut the soldiers, but he was able to make do with the blade not phasing through their metal armour, leaving dents in various places. Not the ideal situation, the son of Poseidon was used to fighting with enemies that his sword was able to hurt, but he was still able to deal damage with his limbs.

Percy turned his attention away from the 'wreck' behind him to tilt himself to his left as he was hoping to see any sign that Aang and his friends had successfully retrieved the Terra Team. Seeing no bodies strewn behind the Drill, he let the corner of his lips curve up slightly in triumph.

Mission accomplished

For a while he contemplated if he should return to the watchtower to follow up with the Avatar and his team to see if any progress had been made on the planning side of things, but he saw some of the tanks revving their engines and he was set on a course of action.

He was tired, sure, yet he had a job to make sure that the ones at the Wall had time to devise a proper plan to stop the Drill while keeping Ba Sing Se safe. If not, the Fire Nation would catch the capital, and no one will be safe. Especially not Iroh and Zuko. As far as he recalled, those two were wanted by the Fire Nation, and he made a promise to make sure they're safe before he could find his way home.

He intends to keep that promise.

He raised Riptide, then stabbed it into the bridge. The magic blade sinking to its hilt in clay. The ground rumbled once again, and the crack started extending from the crack to the sides. Underground water shot from the long crack, reminiscence of a geyser. Muscle memory took over as Percy yanked his blade and allowed the fissure to grow, and the geyser with it. Water sprinkled everywhere, dousing him as the son of Poseidon felt his body rejuvenated after a good sleep once again.

That was all he needed.

Reaching to the tug in his gut, Percy felt his demigod powers will the geyser into a large wave that crashed into the Fire Nation army. The water swept the remaining tanks away, removing all ground support to the Drill as the large mechanism was left unguarded at both its flanks, and the very machine seemed to power down once again.

Exhaustion washed over the demigod's body as soon as he saw the damage done, forcing him onto his knees as he felt his breathing turn shallow and his muscles a tad sore. It's been quite a while since he tapped into his powers at that scale. His vision started getting blurry, and there was this strong urge to just fall asleep right then and there, despite the scorching sun and the uncomfortably hard ground. He could even feel the sweat that was starting to prickle and flow on his forehead.

The heat definitely did not make him see double. Nor did it make him hallucinate dust clouds forming to his side and the sound of the earth rumbling behind him.

The heat definitely did not make him see double. Nor did it make him hallucinate dust clouds forming to his side and the sound of the earth rumbling underneath him.

Closing his eyes as he took a deep breath, Percy allowed his body to recuperate for a few minutes. The demigod opened his eyes and noticed that the dust cloud formed a straight line. Seeing an opening, he grabbed the hilt of his sword and used the clouds as cover to sneak up to the underbelly of the Drill.

He walked a bit further until he was greeted by the sight of a petite girl in green and yellow with arms outstretched, bending a spike made of earth which is used to try and slow down the drill.

"Hey there, Fish Man," Toph grunted as Percy jogged up to her.

"What kind of -"

"You said you were talking to fish," the earthbender answered hastily. Percy was about to pinch the bridge of his nose when he realized there were several missing figures.

"Where's -"

"Twinkle Toes is in that metal monster. Sokka and Katara, too. They're taking it down from the inside"

He nodded at the information, remembering that he had heard Toph calling the airbender 'Twinkle Toes' on several occasions. Not that he knew why. "I'm going in!"

"Can you hurry up?!" Toph grumbled as the demigod noted the first beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she tried to keep the spiked earth up. "This machine won't stop itself!"

Percy didn't ask or say more, instead he hopped onto the spiked earth – against Toph's annoyed warning – and started climbing towards the entrance. He should had listened to the twelve-year-old.

A few scraps and several near misses later – Yep, definitely should have listened to Toph – Percy entered the opening that the spike had connected into. He dusted himself off slightly, noting that he'll need to trouble Iroh with getting a new pair of clothes when he finds the uncle-nephew duo.

Looking around, Percy noticed a beefy masked figure encased in ice, and winced slightly when he saw the spanner that was on his foot. The buzzing in his ears had gotten louder, and his gut was feeling warmer than usual.

Most likely from the water in the pipes, tanks and behind the metal walls.

The son of Poseidon contemplated where to go, and finally decided after a few impatient seconds to follow the stairs that led upwards.

Sneaking around the Drill wasn't as hard as he thought, considering the lack of monsters onboard to sniff out his scent. The issue for him was the lighting. Everywhere was red. The water tanks, the pipes. Even the metal walls had a red hue. It hurt his eyes a little looking around, reminding him of the ship he snuck up the previous day.

The Fire Nation is really into the whole Red and Fiery theme.

He brushed it aside as slight annoyance while wondering where Aang and the others were in a mechanism this big as he turned a corner.

Most structures that are huge in scale...

Annabeth's words played in his mind as another beefy masked man appeared at the end of the corridor, oblivious to the presence of an intruder.

... will need some form of support to maintain its integrity...

He slipped behind one of the large hot tanks, playing to the shadows. Percy took a sharp breath when the figure walked past, and released it when the bulky man blissfully whistled a weird tune while disappearing out of sight by making a left turn.

... Usually, these supports come in the shape of beams or braces.

Sea-green eyes narrowed as he stepped out of the darkness and followed the sharp tune, trying his very best to make little to no sound from his footsteps on the metal floor. His feet felt hot from the warm metal, but somehow he remained silent.

He was able to close the distance between him and the engineer, and as they turned a corner into another seemingly abandoned corridor the entire mechanism started to shake and a groaning sound could be heard before the speakers came to life with the voice of an old man.

"Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!"

Realizing he has little to no time, Percy snuck up behind the man, grabbed him by the shoulder plate and used his weight as leverage to slam the engineer against the wall. He used his right arm and own weight to keep the struggling man pinned.

"How is a machine this big supported?"

The man, despite his large stature, ceased all sense of fight and started to cower in fear when he heard the growl and saw the look on Percy's face. He stuttered out a reply.

"There's t-two p-pa-p-parts. We co-c-connect them using b-braces."

"Where?" Percy wasn't sure if he heard the man yelp but kept his face close to the man.

"The brace s-side is just three hallw-ways down to your right. I t-told you what you want. P-Please d-don't kill me!"

A strong stench stung Percy's nose, and he shifted his gaze from the rambling man about having family at home to the group and despite the darker lighting was able to make out the dark patch on the top half of the engineer's pants.

Oh.

He wanted to apologize to the man for scaring the life out of him when he heard a commotion picking up about an ambushed engineer. At first he thought he had been made, but the mention of sabotage on the starboard side piqued his interest.

Aang should be there.

He turned his attention back to the man. "Which way to the starboard side?"

The man kept trembling, but raised his right arm and pointed to the opposite hallway.

Percy released his hold and started running. A few minutes, later he entered a room full of engineers manning the pipes. They paid no heed to his sudden intrusion, but raised their heads when a dust cloud and flurry of footsteps suddenly breezed past them. Percy recognized the yellow and red blur along with the flying lemur tailing behind at the end of the room.

Aang.

Another figure showed up, keeping pace behind the trail of dust Aang left behind, and the demigod realized that the airbender was trying to run from whoever was chasing him.

He let out a sigh and grumbled incoherents under his breath, before once again using his long legs to follow the Avatar and his pursuer.

oOo

Azula was adamant about one thing. If you want something done right, do it yourself.

The Fire Nation Army deployed to deal with this man who appeared out of nowhere had reportedly been taken down single-handedly. And according to some, he had not used any form of bending. Either the person was skilled in non-bending battle, or the soldiers were plainly incompetent.

Perhaps they had placed too much faith in their war machines that they have neglected their training.

No doubt she will have to deal with this nuisance later, but she has a much more pressing issue to deal with – the Avatar.

The Avatar had been a bane to her and her Fire Nation for too long. Her weak brother Zuzu had failed to capture the legendary figure after three years of searching. The Avatar was responsible for wiping out the Fire Nation fleet that assaulted the North Pole.

She had tried to capture him herself on two occasions, once when trailing his pet bison. And another at an abandoned village a day later. That particular encounter had Zuzu and Iroh working against her, showing that the two were not aligned with the Fire Nation. Not aligned with her. Nevertheless, she will handle the two later, though her brother appeared to still believe that capturing the Avatar will bring him home. But he will have no such ticket when she removes the Avatar from the picture with her bare hands.

She believed that the dust cloud that Ty Lee mentioned was a hint to an attempt to infiltrate, despite War Minister Qin's attempt to play it down. Once again, he had proved himself incompetent when they received reports of an ambushed engineer and sabotaged braces about half an hour later. Despite that, she saw an opportunity.

The Avatar would be on board.

Her prediction was confirmed – not that it was needed to – when she, Ty Lee and Mai found the Avatar and his friends trying to cut the braces. They split up when the group they pursued split, with her two most trusted dealing with the Water Tribe siblings, and she the Avatar.

Despite him using his airbending to add speed to create distance and leave her trailing behind, it wasn't hard for the Princess to find where he was headed. The corridors and lanes only led to one long ladder.

Once she made the climb to the topside of the Drill, she was greeted by the Drill shaking from the barrage of boulders raining down from the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. Steadying herself, Azula ran forward when she saw the small bald figure in red and yellow doubled over.

She didn't wait for an invitation.

Launching two streams of blue flame at the young airbender, she heard a screech from his pet lemur. It was enough to warn her enemy about her presence, giving him time to dodge both attacks.

"Momo, get out of here!"

She stalked towards the Avatar, who had entered a battle stance. She entered her own, ready to engage her target and take him down once and for all. She wasn't ready to hear someone slightly panting behind her, but she did catch the surprised look on the Avatar's widening eyes.

A shadow loomed over her, and she narrowed her eyes at the presence of the new figure

"Kids," the voice was one of an adult's as a hand was placed on her shoulder. "If you guys wanna play catch, can y'all not do it in a stuffy oversized Drill, or under the hot ass sun?"

Azula was always a calm person. Ruthless, yes. But always calm. But to have some peasant place their filthy hands on her was one of the lines she drew. Her vision turned red on the edges, and she twirled around with an overhead kick, intent on removing this unwanted intruder of personal space, only to have both her feet and flames meet thin air when the figure dodged the assault.

So, he's agile.

"Blue flames. Never thought I'd see them. Leo's still orange," the figure muttered as he took a few steps back, allowing Azula to quickly study the newcomer. Black hair, tall and clearly built for a fighter. Lean, indicating that whoever he was, this man does not rely on brute force, instead uses speed as an advantage in battle.

"Percy?" the Avatar spoke, clearly over his surprise and his stance had relaxed a little. So this man is affiliated with the Avatar.

A smile etched on the stranger's lips. It looked lopsided. "Hey, Aang. Who's this?"

"Azula. She's trying to catch me. I could use some help."

They were casually talking over her as if she was not present, as if she was not to be taken seriously. She forced herself to focus, fighting the red film threatening to engulf her vision, and struck both the Avatar and the newcomer with her flames. Both were taken by surprise, but were able to avoid the attack. One used his airbender to dissipate the fire, another just sidestepped.

"Straight to the point. And a lot better than the other soldiers. Not bad."

So, this is the man reportedly responsible for taking down the soldiers. Two birds, one stone.

She focused on the stranger first and charged at him. Being a nonbender he would stand no chance against a Royal Firebender. But somehow he looked unsurprised at the prospect of being attacked first. Again he sidestepped when she tried to land a series of punches accompanied by fire, and her eyes caught a glimpse of something gold. She somersaulted back in time when a sword suddenly slashed an arc over where her head was at a second ago.

She wasn't able to question the abrupt appearance of a sword as her ears heard a swooshing sound of water, forcing Azula to jump away again to avoid a stream of water. There was no breathing space for her when she saw the stranger – this 'Percy' – suddenly appeared in front of her and started attacking with his sword, placing her for once on the defence.

Aang was ecstatic. At first, he was (slightly) worried about facing Azula alone. Sure, he had beaten her once, but that time he had help from his friends, and both Zuko and Iroh. It took six benders to force her to retreat then. He wasn't exactly confident about his odds.

Then Percy showed up.

Aang knew the man had fought the Fire Nation soldiers as means to keep them occupied, and he saw how he was able to single-handedly beat them with just his sword. One would think that the man would be tired after being in a one against 'Roku-knows-how-many' soldiers.

There lies the problem. Percy did not look tired at all despite the layer of sweat on his head. Instead, he looked like he was having the time of his life fighting Azula, if the glow of his green eyes was any indication aside from the wild smile that Aang was certain his own grey eyes had caught sight of and not imagined. His sword fight was different from others, and the airbender was certain he could give Zuko a good fight. The unorthodox style Percy employed had him slashing and rolling, sidestepping and stabbing the entire time. It reminded Aang of a whirlwind. In fact, Aang thought he was looking at Azula fighting a whirlwind of sharp gold swords. Never once was she given the opportunity to form her own attacks or firebend her way out as the sword threatened to chop her limbs off time and time again at any sign of her attempting a counter-attack.

Azula, a firebender who had given Aang a run for his money on many occasions, was playing defence. The Avatar couldn't believe his eyes.

He considered helping Percy fight Azula, but the shaking of the Drill snapped him out of his trance. He turned his head around and he saw a boulder right next to the 'X' that he had carved into the metal with waterbending. An idea came to his head. Airbending the boulder right on top of the mark, he cut the rock into the shape of a wedge with his earthbending. Once again he contemplated joining Percy to stop Azula first, and turned to watch the fight. He noticed something wasn't quite right.

Percy's movement had started to slow ever so slightly, and grey eyes widened at the view. The airbender had no doubt that his friend was starting to tire out. And if he was able to notice it, Azula was able too for sure. She will fight back when the window of opportunity arises.

Aang tightened his jaw and started sprinting towards the wall, creating a ball of air – his air scooter – under him as he began scaling the tall wall of earth. The air scooter dissipates as he reaches the highest point, the airbender starts to plummet down towards the bottom, the earth wedge in sight.

Azula had her attention preoccupied by this 'Percy', and she was annoyed by how he was able to keep her on edge and away from the Avatar without bending. Whoever this man was, weird as his name sounded, he was good. But everyone tires in the end. And that's exactly what's happening to him. Tiring. His unorthodox sword play had slowed down, giving her the time needed to duck a slash and land a kick on his abdomen. It felt like kicking a brick wall, but he doubled over nonetheless as the air left his lungs when the fire hit him.

She turned her attention to the Avatar, in time to see the airbender diving towards an earth wedge, clearly made to destroy the Drill with pressure. Wasting no time, she stretches her arm out, ready to fire at him.

The flames never escape her fingers.

Instead, the Fire Nation Princess felt her outstretched arm restrained by a tendril of water, identical to the water whip which a certain waterbender uses. Azula, snapped her head around, expecting to see a particular girl trying to save her Avatar friend.

Instead, her eyes were greeted with glimmering orbs in shades of green identical to the sea. And her eyes widened slightly when she saw the water led to the outstretched hand of the same man who had kept her occupied from the Avatar. Completely unharmed apart from singed clothes.

He's a waterbender? And how –

Percy saw the small shift in Azula's eyes as she took in the new information. The fire she bent had stung, but it didn't lead to any physical harm apart from pinkish skin. A smirk formed on his lips, and he yanked his hand back, the tendril of water pulling Azula off her feet, throwing her into the air before she landed painfully a few yards behind Percy as Aang slams down onto the wedge. Torrents of slurry gushed out from the Drill as a shockwave knocked both Percy and Azula back.

When the gushing stopped, Aang wipes the slurry off his face as Momo perches on his shoulder and began licking off the mix of water and earth that covered his neck, a wide grin plastered on the airbender's face. He caught sight of Percy getting on his feet, grumbling in a language that he doesn't understand but was wearing a lopsided smile that matched his own despite being covered in slurry too.

They won.

oOo

"I just wanna say," Sokka pauses for dramatic effect. "Good effort out there, Team Avatar"

Percy groaned at the cheesy name as Katara argued that the name won't catch on. They had cleaned themselves off the evil slurry and were on back on top the Outer Wall, watching the sunset.

Sokka will definitely get along with Leo. That train of thought had Percy running a hand across his face whilst letting out a string of Greek curses that would make his mom wash his mouth with bleach if she ever heard it.

"How about," Sokka pulls out his boomerang. "the Boomeraang Squad! See it's good because it's got "Aang" in it. Boomeraang."

If Percy wasn't that tired, he would have appreciated the joke. But his aching body from the whole fight was in no mood for Leo-worthy jokes. He realized as he cleaned up he missed being in the heat of battle, but he enjoyed retirement more. A longer string of curses escaped his lips.

Yes, Annabeth's potty mouth is a major influence. No, it's not her fault. Blame Blackjack.

The quintet turned around and were ready to head into the city as Sokka continued suggesting weird names that Percy was sure he heard somewhere on TV ('The Ga-Aang', 'Fantastic Five') when an army of Earth Kingdom soldiers surrounded them. They were taken aback at the sight of the soldiers having their weapons ready and fist raised as they took battle stances. Percy's hand reached Riptide's pen form as General Sung took a step forward, and pointed straight at the tallest member, leaving the rest of Team Avatar in complete shock.

"Seize him!"

Ooo what's going on?

So, Percy meets Azula, and thus he completes the list of 'Percy-meets-main-characters'. I still suck at writing parts of fight scenes, many many apologies for that. And I'm sorry if the Percy v Azula fight for the first time was underwhelming. I'm not really that good at writing fight scenes. *kneels down*

I know I wrote Riptide to not be able to cut anyone in the ATLA-verse. But Aang doesn't know it. Azula doesn't know it. So it will appear to them that Percy is attempting to cut off Azula's limbs and she will have to dodge with all her might. :)

Oh, and Annabeth curses a lot. Like a lot 'a lot'. I remembered reading Percy mentioning it a few times (not directly, it's just 'she cursed in ancient greek'. He cursed too, just not that much in the series), and it's not just the common 'Di Immortales'. Sooooo.... *hehehe*