Arrival of the Azure Princess

Deep into the evening. Azula was walking by herself in the East Forest, deciding that she needed some time by herself. As much as she suggested they stick together, she couldn't stand Jiahao, and as much as she wanted to burn him, she needed his help.

Though when she got close to a river, she saw a very familiar figure. In front of her was Aang and he looked like he was feeding Momo. Given that her goal was right in front of her, she wanted to savor this. "Well, well, well… Looks like you couldn't hide forever."

"H-huh?! You!?" Aang said with a shocked expression as he turned around to face Azula.

"Yes me. You know, people went through a lot of trouble, tracking you down, fighting, and losing to you. But here you are, licking your wounds in this 'Earthland' world. I won't bother bringing you back to my father. He already got to burn the entire Earth Kingdom, so why should he have all the fun? I'd rather finish the job myself!" she charged up a blast of lightning and shot a powerful arc with two fingers. Aang had quickly jumped up and he ran into the forest, the bolt of lightning struck a large rock. "You can't keep running Avatar!" she unleashed sharp jabs of blue fire that Aang narrowly avoided.

She leaped up to a branch and she saw the branch he was going to jump towards. "Gotcha." She shot a sharp fire jab that made the branch fall of the tree. Aang had landed on the ground and he rolled forward and turned around only to see arcs of electricity surrounding Azula's arms. "Goodbye." She shot her lightning and it hit struck Aang in the chest. She smirked as she watched him fall to the floor as blue sparks were shooting off him.

However, when she got close, her triumph was replaced with confusion as she found that it wasn't the Avatar that she had struck. "Ty Lee!?" she gasped. "What are you doing here!?"

Ty Lee didn't give a response as she lay motionless in the dirt with a burn mark on her chest. *"Does this mean Ty Lee, Mai and that Kyoshi Warrior were taken to Earthland too?"*

"Guess you really are cold-blooded…" Azula heard Mai's voice behind her and after turning around, she could see Mai herself standing behind her and was pointing a knife to her. "All she ever did was look up to you, and look what happened to her."

"She had this coming, she… both of you betrayed me!" Azula yelled, justifying the murder of her apparent friend.

"Betrayed? Don't kid yourself. We were never your friends, to begin with, were we? I saw through you, Azula. Ty Lee and I were just pawns to you, a means to an end. The sad thing is, Ty Lee actually trusted you… well right up until you were about to take me on."

Azula smirked. "And so what? Both of you had your talents, it was nothing personal, I happened to hang out with two talented girls from my youth, I just took advantage of connections, that's all."

"Glad to know that's all we were to you. Now I know for sure that there is no coming back for you, you have nothing."

"*Nothing*!" Azula exclaimed feeling insulted. "Excuse me, but I am your Fire Lord. How dare you insinuate that I have nothing?"

"What exactly are you Fire Lord of? Huh? It's not like you're calling the shots anymore, your father is. It's not like your reign as Fire Lord actually means something."

"Shut up!" Azula exclaimed.

"Face it Azula, just like you used Ty Lee and I. Ozai is just using you."

"SHUT UP!" Azula screamed and she blasted a long blast of consuming blue fire that had incinerated the area that Mai stood. That section of the forest was on fire, oddly enough by blue fire. "I-I'm not being used… no… F-father needs me… They were fools, what do those two peasants know about me?"

"How well do you know yourself Azula?" she saw the ghostly apparition of her mother Ursa.

"Not you again, stop haunting me!" Azula yelled.

"Azula, what do you want out of all of this?" Ursa asked.

"That's easy! I want the head of the Avatar and complete domination over the Earth. Maybe even this lousy world too."

"No, that is what Ozai wants. What do *you* want Azula?"

Azula had enough and glared at Ursa. "I've had enough of you! Why won't you leave me alone!?"

"Because I am your mother, Azula."

"Don't say that *word*… you *hated* me… liked *Zuko* more than me… Well, guess what, I don't need you! I don't need anyone! Especially not someone who thought I was a monster!"

"Azula, you are not a monster."

"Says you! Clearly, you haven't been following recent events. You've been following me around, well look at me. I am the monster you clearly hated."

"I never hated you Azula. I lo-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!" she screamed. "I. DON'T. NEED. ANYONE!" she angrily let a consuming blast of fire and ghostly Ursa had disappeared. Azula was panting to herself.

"AZULA!" a chill ran up her spine and she looked behind her and saw a towering image of her father, looking down at her. "Where is the Avatar?"

"I-I… just got here, Father. I'm doing the best I can." Azula said with an almost pleading-like tone.

"Fail me, and you shall suffer your brother's fate!" Ozai then shot fire from his mouth and it was looking like it would engulf Azula.

"No, no, no, NOOOOOO!" the flames had crashed into her, making her feel the intense heat of her father's flames.

Azula shot up and she woke up to find herself still in the forest that she and Jiahao set up camp in. She was panting, her whole body was sweating and she was burning as if her whole body was on fire. Her whole body was shaking, her hands wouldn't stop jittering.

She stood up to see that the sun was slowly rising. "*Relax, it was just a stupid dream… all will be fine once the Avatar is finally in my grasp.*"

It wasn't long before she heard the bushes rustling nearby. Azula was prepared to defend herself, she was clearly not in the mood to be messed with. "Who's there!?"

The figure revealed itself to be Ultear and she had a smirk on her face when she saw Azula. "Relax, I am an ally, let me be the first to welcome you to Earthland."

"W-wait… there are two Pings!?" Hen asked as Kobu was talking with both Chun and Hen while they were walking in the streets of Magnolia.

"You want the whole town to hear you?" Kobu said, shushing the earthbender. But yes basically that's what happened, it was thanks to this magic called Nirvana. Because of it, there are now two of her, a good one and a bad one."

"So why are we stuck with this evil version?" Hen asked.

"Well, I can guess its because the other one got arrested… It gets complicated but basically, we're stuck with Ping, and all you need to know is that she is worse than before… She threatened to take her anger out on us if we don't capture the Avatar soon."

Chun got scared. "Y-you mean she'll…"

"Yeah, and I don't think she's messing around this time… which means only one thing… we've got to take her out before she takes us out." Kobu said.

"Finally, something we can agree on!" Hen said.

"Guys… I-I um… I don't know if we should do that." Chun nervously said.

Kobu gave a sigh. "You must be the most spineless firebender I've ever met. Jeez, we're talking about someone who threatened your life on more than one occasion… and she's become worse… now you want to give her a pass? Trust me; there is no good in her, literally. She's a time bomb and when she explodes, you don't want to be anywhere close by."

"I-I'm not a killer, and I don't plan on being one…" Chun replied.

"You're useless, honestly. You need to get off that moral high horse of yours and take a look around. Those dark guilds, heck even *your* people had no qualms about killing people, they do it on a daily basis, even commit mass genocide from time to time."

"Knock it off will you?" Hen said. "If she doesn't want to do it, that's her choice. It's not our place to tell her how to act."

"Not our place…?" Kobu repeated. "Alright fine, defend your girlfriend. Do whatever you want, I don't care." Kobu started to leave them. "But you two better sleep with one eye open. Cause Ping's unstable and she could pop at any moment." With that Kobu left them and was on his way back.

Hen growled slightly. "Hen what are we going to do?" Chun asked.

"Well, we're going to have to plan this perfectly, we can't run right now because Ping might find us… and when she does… We're just going to have to go along with this for now, but if you ask me… Ping is not the only one unhinged."

"What do you mean?"

"Kobu could do something rash… and when that happens, those two are going go crazy and fight each other. Hopefully, then we'll be able to slip away."

Chun looked down. "I wish things hadn't ended up this way. Maybe if I worked harder, we could have captured the Avatar by now and we wouldn't this deep in this mess."

"Don't start blaming yourself, Chun."

Chun then thought about it and she gave Hen a serious look. "Hen… I think it's time you knew…"

"Knew what?"

"What Ping has on me. Why I'm *really* here to hunt the Avatar."

He then jerked his thumb to a pastry shop. "We'll talk there, we're less out in the open and I feel like I'm going to need to sit down for this."

Chun had looked down and let out a sigh. "Well, you're not wrong about that."

After Wendy's tiring big job, she still had a lot on her mind. Though she was still overjoyed with Carla's kind words, and her riding Appa, she even earned a lick from the bison after they landed. An action that Carla was not happy with and she even tried to reprimand the large mammal, though it was likely her words fell on deaf ears cause Appa turned away right as she started talking. Maybe this was the bison's way of tuning her out.

She and Carla had walked into the guild and everyone was present, and they were either talking or enjoying their favorite past times. Though she did have a nagging thought on her mind, she remembered Zuko talking a lot about his family, but not about his supposed sister. She was only mentioned once and Zuko never spoke of her again.

"Who are you looking for Wendy?" the motherly tone of her partner Carla had broken Wendy from her thoughts.

"What do you mean, Carla?"

"You've been looking around for a while," Carla said.

"I'm looking for Zuko, but I don't see him yet." Giving up on that she decided to walk to the table where Mai, Ty Lee and Suki were sitting. Of course, as soon as Wendy got in Ty Lee's peripheral. The acrobat leaped out of her seat and she engulfed Wendy in a huge hug, even managing to lift her off the ground.

"Hiiii Wendyyyy!" Ty Lee squealed.

"H-hi Ty Lee…" Wendy said, running out of breath.

"Put her down Ty Lee, she's not a toy!" Suki said. Once she put down the smaller girl, Wendy took a deep breath. "I hope you're okay."

"I am, don't worry."

"Seriously, what's wrong with your friend?" Carla questioned.

"I just like cute things a *lot*." Ty Lee answered.

"Well now that the crazy period had ended, what brings you here Wendy?" Mai asked.

"W-well after talking with Zuko yesterday, he told me a lot about the Fire Nation. But he didn't tell me much about his sister."

The three girls had gasped. Why Zuko decided to even mention Azula around Wendy was a mystery…

"Azula…" Mai growled under her breath.

"W-what did you sa-"

Ty Lee was quick to cover Wendy's ears. "It was nothing… haha…" She glared at Mai. "You're going to say the '*A*' word while she's here!?" she angrily whispered.

"How immature are you?" Carla asked. "Who exactly is this person?" Ty Lee had uncovered Wendy's ears.

Mai stood up. "Well, I'll tell you, but I'm not sure you really want to know."

"Really want to know what?" Natsu was suddenly beside Mai and she was instantly startled.

"Gah! Natsu!?"

Suki frowned at Natsu's actions. "It's rude to eavesdrop on others, you know."

"Natsu thought Mai was talking about someone powerful, so obviously, Natsu got curious." Happy said while he climbed over Natsu's shoulder.

"Well, there is no harm in telling you of all people… if it came down to it, you're probably the best person in the guild who could beat Azula."

"Who is Azula?" Natsu asked.

"Hold everything!" they saw Toph, Gajeel, Gray, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Lucy approaching them. "You're talking about Azula?" The earthbender asked.

"We were until you guys interrupted us." Mai said.

"Hurry up and get to the good parts!" Natsu exclaimed. "Is this Azuza powerful?!" Natsu asked.

"Well yes, she is also crafty as hell." Toph said. "Like seriously, she's her lies could even get past me! *ME!*"

"Alright, I'll give you the abridged version." Mai said. "Azula is… or *was* the Fire Nation Princess, she's the new Fire Lord. She's probably the strongest Fire Bender of the Fire Nation. Second only to Ozai."

"Strong Firebender!?" Natsu said. "Now we're talking, where is she!?" he asked with a growing fire in his mouth.

"She isn't here, Natsu." Katara said. "It's likely that she is back in our world."

"Well, we should hope that she stays there." Ty Lee said. "Last time we saw her, she almost killed us, almost killed me." Ty Lee said in a sorrowful voice.

"So she's that bad huh?" Gray asked.

"Bad right to the core." Mai said. "You would hardly tell that she's related to Zuko, but unfortunately she is."

"Hold on guys?" Lucy said. "We're only talking about one girl here, is she really that scary?"

Mai sighed. "She's just… really convincing, plus I'm pretty sure she's a psychopath."

"Whatever, I can take her!" Natsu confidently said.

"She's doesn't sound that different from flame breath over here," Gajeel said.

"What ya say metal head!?" Natsu asked bashing his face into Gajeel's.

"Get out of my face!" Gajeel growled.

"Everyone…" they saw that both Makarov and Mira had approached the table. "Uh, Aang… I'd like to speak to you about something."

Aang was slightly confused, but he complied none the less. "Um, alright…" When Aang was inside Makarov's office he saw Zuko, Erza, Iroh and even Porlyusica waiting there. "Oh, hi guys… what is this about?"

"Porlyusica, tell him what you told us."

"I saw some suspicious people around the forest. They were riding what looked like a rhino and they were wearing red robes and armor." She described. "They are looking for the Avatar, you." She said pointing at Aang.

Aang's eyes widened. He honestly didn't think that the Fire Nation would still come after him considering he wasn't in their world anymore. "I never thought they would try to find me after I disappeared."

"Well, you can stop thinking, cause they are here," Zuko said.

"If they find out I'm here, they will stop at nothing to capture me. They'd be willing to fight through Magnolia." Aang said. "They have no qualms about taking hostages."

"How despicable…" Erza growled.

Makarov had a thought. "Well, I can make some arrangements with the mayor about a possible attack from a 'Dark Guild' that way we can have the town be evacuated if they do come here."

"What about the others, should we tell them?" Aang asked.

"We don't want to get everyone pumped for a fight, we don't know for sure if the Fire Nation could attack."

Erza then spoke her plan. "That is why we should plan an assault on them before they attack. That way, no innocent people will get hurt." Aang then felt slightly guilty. The only reason the Fire Nation came was to deal with him. Plus he was getting Fairy Tail dragged into it. Erza laid her hand on Aang's shoulder. "Don't think that any of this is your fault. No one is blaming you, we would never let the Fire Nation get to you, and we would fight them to the end if it meant keeping you safe."

"Thanks, Erza… everyone…" Aang genuinely said. "Right, so about that plan…?"

Ultear was stood facing, Azula, Jiahao and her scouting Fire Benders. "Ah, so we have finally met a local," Jiahao said.

"Call me crazy, but I doubt you came here on a whim," Azula said. "Something tells me you knew we would be coming here."

"Oho sounds like someone is a bit paranoid. However, with someone in your position of leadership, I'm not very surprised."

"Alright, you are testing my patience!" Azula angrily said.

"Calm down would you?" Jiahao said. "My apologies for the Fire Lord's… unsightly behavior."

"Excuse me!?"

"Now if could please answer a few of my questions. Firstly we are looking for a child, he calls himself the Avatar."

Ultear smirked. "Trust me, we know *all* about that little messiah."

"We?" Azula questioned.

"Yes, me and my master, Master Hades. We are a part of a Dark Guild, Grimore Heart. We have been watching the Avatar and he has definitely impressed us."

"Impressed?" Azula questioned.

"Tell me, that boy is something special. He possesses the ability to move mountains, create hurricanes and maelstroms, and create endless fires. He wields so much power and you people want him dead, tell me, why is that?"

Azula scoffed at Ultear's question. "Do you have to ask? The Avatar is the one obstacle that stands in the way of the Fire Nation's path to world domination."

"Pardon me for saying this, but one could consider that short-sightedness."

"What?" Azula said, her angry tone slightly rising.

"From where I am standing, it looks like you people are letting that power go to waste. Have you ever considered the possibility of, say, trying to convince him to join you?"

"Oh, I see where you are coming from. But trust me; the Avatar was against us from the start. That child would never want to help us. And the Avatar before him had gone against his Fire Lord as well. I hope that answers your question." Jiahao said.

"Almost, you see. Here in Grimore Heart, when someone wields great power, we don't destroy them right away, we incorporate them, bring them over to our side. Had the Fire Nation did the same, you could easily take over your world with his power and your military strength."

"Answer me, why would you ask this?"

Ultear smirked. "Oh, I am just curious is all, I happen to know some people who can help you fight against the Avatar."

"And how can we trust these people?" Azula asked.

"Oh, I think you will be very familiar with them, Fire Lord." Ultear ended in a slightly mocking tone.

Ultear started to walk in front of them. "I *don't* like her," Azula muttered.

"Really? I find her delightful." Jiahao said in a mocking tone as well. "If she will help us, then I see no reason to not trust her. Plus I am pretty sure we can take her if she tries anything."

It was just past noon, Hen and Chun had walked out of a pastry shop and Hen had a shocked look on his face as he followed Chun out of the shop.

"Hen, are you alright?" Chun nervously asked.

"It's not me you gotta worry about. After everything you just told me… are you alright?"

Chun slightly looked away. "Still slightly trying to get through it, I figured this was the best way to go about this…" Hen clenched his fists. "Hen, please whatever you're thinking… just don't do it… please calm down."

"It just, those *monsters* did that to you… and Ping, that monster, she knew… I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!"

Chun stepped in front of him. "Hen please don't! I don't doubt you, but what if Ping… if you got yourself killed because of me…" she gazed to the floor and looked away from him. "I couldn't live with that…"

Hen's angry glare softened and he thought about what Chun said. "Okay, but I don't like it. That Ping has got to go."

Chun looked down. "Maybe you're right… I just don't know anymore…"

"Why do you want to fight her so badly?" Chun recognized that voice as it belonged to Lucy, meaning she was close by. But considering they were on opposite sides, they needed to get out of there. They saw that Lucy was with Natsu, Sokka, Katara.

"We've got to get out of here!" Chun said. But Hen being curious had launched the two of them to the ceiling of the pastry shop in order to stay out the sights of Natsu, Lucy, and Sokka.

Natsu replied to Lucy's question. "I wanna see what the big deal is with this Azula chick, Mai and Ty Lee seemed pretty scared of her."

"Well, you should be!" Sokka said. "She cold and calculating, she's like Erza if Erza had an evil twin." Sokka described.

This comparison only excited Natsu even further. "Like Erza!? Now I *have* to fight her!"

Katara sighed. "I'm pretty sure Erza could beat her."

Chun and Hen were listening to him. "Fight Azula? What does he even mean, Azula isn't even here." Chun said.

Natsu's nose started twitching; a scent of familiarity was in the air. "Hey, I've smelled this scent before."

"Scent… what's he talking about?" Chun asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Hen replied.

Natsu then looked up and he saw both Hen and Chun but really only recognized Hen. "I remember you."

"BUSTED!" Hen exclaimed. He quickly made a dome that covered Natsu, Sokka, Katara, and Lucy. "Get outta here, Chun I'll hold them off."

"But Hen, maybe we can…"

They both heard a loud crash and they saw that Natsu broke out of the dome and his hands were on fire. Katara had a water whip stretching from her water skin. "Yeah, they're probably too pissed off to want to talk, just go! I'll catch up!"

Chun proceeded to make a run for it.

"Chun wait!" Lucy exclaimed, she looked to Natsu. "I'm going after her!" Lucy chased after her.

"Lucy, wait!" Katara had run after Lucy to help her get to Chun.

Hen jumped down to the ground and stood in front of Natsu and Sokka. "So it's me against Natsu and some guy with a sword."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's a *magic* sword, thank you!" it started to glow. "In fact, let me show you how it works!" he swung his sword and a light arc was flying over to Hen. He made a wall to block it, but the light beam sliced through it like it was nothing.

Hen narrowly avoided getting sliced by it. "Whoa… light sword… gotta remember that…" Hen could see that many of the citizens were gathering around them. *"Crap… okay, I've got to end this quickly!"* He closed his eyes and he heated up the earth below Natsu and Sokka.

"Why is the ground getting so hot?" Sokka asked.

"Sorry bout, this… you guys seem pretty cool, but things are complicated right now." Hen waved his arms forward in a more fluid motion and suddenly the ground in front of him had shifted to hot lava and he made a lava wave that was heading for both Sokka and Natsu. This move really surprised the two of them. The lava wave had surrounded them and it quickly solidified around the two of them. Making a black sphere around them, Hen then surrounded the dried lava sphere with an earth pyramid. "That'll keep you back for a bit." *"Now I just have to get to Chun!"*

…

The young firebender was still jumping from building trying to get away from both Lucy and Katara. "Chun please stop, we just want to talk!" Lucy pleaded.

"*I'm sorry Lucy I can't… not right now…"* she could see Katara's water whip stretching towards her and she shot a bright purple fireball to keep the water from getting to her. She leaped down to the ground. But after landing on the ground a hand shot out of the ground and grabbed her wrist.

"Princess, I got her. Now is it time for my punishment?" Virgo asked.

"Gah! Where'd you come from!?" Chun had kicked herself off of Virgo and this managed to separate the two. "I-I don't want to fight you!"

"Then we can just talk!" Lucy said.

A purple illusion katana landed on the ground in between Lucy and Chun.

Almost instantly, Ping shot down from the sky landed on her feet, next to the disappearing sword. "Interesting, and what were you going to talk with her about?" Ping asked with a sick smirk on her face.

"N-no… we can't fight here… not with all these people here!" Chun said.

Ping chuckled. "It's funny that you think I care." She saw Hen running towards them and she smiled. "About time you got here!"

"Ping! What the hell are you doing here?"

"You've got some nerve, talking to me like that… but I'll let it slide." She turned to Lucy, Katara, and Virgo. "As for you three." She mercilessly slashed right through Virgo, and she disappeared into gold particles almost instantly.

"Virgo!" Lucy yelled after she had seen Virgo so easily beaten.

"Now you're next!" Ping threatened, she turned her deadly glare to Lucy. However runes appeared on the ground in front of Lucy and when Ping ran towards the celestial mage, she bounced off an invisible barrier. "What the!?" She eyed the purple glowing inscriptions on the ground.

"Zuko had a feeling that you people would show your faces." Freed appeared next to Lucy and Katara with runes disappearing off his body.

"Who's the green haired guy?" Hen asked.

"I don't care… he's just a target to me." Ping shot forward but Freed had blocked her sword strike with his. "So what's your thing? Being an annoying fly?"

"Hey, psycho!" Hen exclaimed. "You really want to start this now? Without a plan!"

"You forget, Hen. I *am* the plan! I will mow down these peasants until I can kill the Avatar myself."

They heard an explosion further downtown. They could see that Natsu had broken out of the dried lava sphere and earth pyramid. He had fire surrounding his fists as he charged towards everyone.

"Aw crap! He escaped the quickly!" Hen exclaimed. "Ping we need to run!"

Ping's eyes lit up and after seeing Natsu, suddenly something changed in her. She remembered the two times that Natsu had beaten and humiliated her. When Natsu had shattered her heirloom katana with his teeth as well as him launching her into the sky in their second battle, her eyes turned purple and her hair stood up and there was an explosion of dark energy surrounding her. She took off, ran onto the buildings that were on the sides and when Natsu saw her, he was surprised.

The two of them had literally butted heads. "Remember me, Natsu Dragneel!?" Dark Ping asked with a smirk.

"I remember kicking your ass!" Natsu said with a snarling tone.

Natsu threw his fiery fist and Ping shot her hand forward, it had a Graviton orb at the end of it. When their hands clashed, there was a giant explosion. And when this happened, Ping had leaped above Natsu and her hand was aimed at him. "Goodbye, Dragon Slayer!" she created a multitude of piercing graviton bullets around her and she shot them to the ground. But they ran into an explosion of flames that had shot through them and into the sky. Ping landed back in front of Hen and Chun. They saw that they were outnumbered, but that didn't matter to Ping. "Heh, outnumbered. What else is new? Well, we will stand and fight!" Ping declared.

"Yeah… screw that!" Hen said. He made an earth wall that separated the two factions and he threw a punch to Ping's gut.

"How. Dare. You…" Ping fell unconscious and Chun was comically shivering.

Hen sighed. "Yeah… that was probably a bad idea… and she's going to be *pissed.* But we've got to get out of here, we can't do this now."

"B-but Hen…"

"Until… Ping and Kobu are dealt with… then switching sides and running away isn't an option right now!" Hen picked up Ping and held her over her shoulder. "Quick, let's get out of here!"

Chun nodded and she used jet propulsion from the balls of her feet to boost herself out of the city while Hen was launching from earth pillars that he made.

Freed had slashed through Hen's wall and watched them escape. "They escaped… but once we go after them. They won't have many places to run." He said.

"YOU IDIOT!" Kobu was berating Hen for knocking out Ping; she lay on the grass when a horrified Kobu had a furious look on his face. Chun was kneeling by Ping to make sure she didn't have any horrible injuries.

"What? We couldn't have won that fight and you know her, she wasn't going to run."

Kobu started pacing. "You know we're all dead right? When she wakes up, she's going to take us out and she'll most likely make us suffer while she's at it!"

"Stop being melodramatic." Hen said. "If anything, we can just waste her now."

"We shouldn't, even if she is the way she is… we can't just… kill her." Chun said. "I don't care about what either of you thinks… I want no part of it."

"Ugh… are you serious!" Kobu exclaimed. "You really are a naïve girl aren't you?"

Hen scratched his head. "Uh, okay I guess we can figure something out… we don't have to permanently bury her yet."

Kobu folded his arms. "Alright… I see what you're doing." He said pointing at the two of them. "For whatever reason Hen, you've decided to pity this girl, I don't know why, and quite frankly I don't care. So I'll end this crazy bitch myself."

Suddenly a dark energy was surrounding Dark Ping's body and her eyes shot open. She slowly got up and she turned to both Hen and Chun. "I. Have had. Enough. Of you two!" She generated both her phantom blades. Chun fearfully stepped behind Hen.

"Chun, stay behind me!" Hen exclaimed.

"Trouble in paradise?" Ping turned to her right, and they saw Ultear leading Azula, Jiahou, and their scouting firebenders.

"Who said…?" her eyes grew wide when she noticed Azula walking behind her. "Oh my goodness." She fell to one knee. "My apologies Fire Lord Azula, I wasn't aware we would be meeting."

"You weren't. We got her because I was becoming impatient. I haven't heard from you in months."

"My sincerest apologies… it is a bit difficult to find a way to get messages across these worlds." Ping said. "Unfortunately, the situation has become very complicated, Fire Lord." She then glared at Ultear. "And *you* weren't you in league with Jellal? Siegrain? Whatever the hell he calls himself!?"

"I *was* but I had nothing against you. Jellal was the one using you, not me." Ultear said, hiding the fact that she was, in fact, using Jellal way back at the Tower of Heaven.

"Moving on, I am glad you are all in one piece, now that I am here. We shall figure out a plan to finally rid ourselves of the Avatar once and for all." Azula said. "So the first thing we should do is collect all the information we have on this world." She looked at Hen and saw Chun was standing by him, though she slightly hid behind him when Azula turned to the pair. "Is there a problem, Chun?"

"N-no!" Chun panicked and bowed in front of her. "I-I'm sorry… just a lot on my mind is all."

"Hmph." Azula looked away, not sounding impressed by her response.

Jiahao stepped forward. "Ahem," he cleared his throat. "General Jiahao, I shall be leading our mission, so any information you have on this world shall be referred to me."

"Excuse me!" Azula said, preventing Jiahao from fully stepping on her toes. "But I am the Fire Lord, so I shall be leading our plan."

"No offense, 'Fire Lord' But I am pretty sure your father has more faith in me, that his brat of a daughter, "Azula growled but she held back.

Ping, on the other hand, didn't, and eight phantom blades had appeared in a loud boom, surrounding Jiahao's neck. Jiahao is immediately silenced, and so was Azula, but she was more shocked. Ultear only looked on with a slight smirk. "How dare you!" Ping started. "Mocking the Fire Lord in such a tone can be considered a treasonable offense. And you know what the Fire Nation does to traitors!" the blades got closer and Jiahao was sweating. "If you mock our Fire Lord again, I will kill you without hesitation!" Jiahao gave Ping a frightened nod, and the blades disappeared. He fell to the knees and started breathing deeply.

Azula was shocked at this display of power. *"What happened to her… she seems… different. More deadly… What could have happened to bring about this?"* She put that question to the back of her mind, as she already was thinking about how to defeat the Avatar, she was hoping the information they would provide her would give anything that would help her capture of finally end him.

They saw Ultear leaving them. "Where do you think you are going?" Azula asked.

"I have places to be, but I'm sure you have everything handled, Fire Lord Azula." Ultear mockingly bowed while she had a slight smirk on her face. Azula had seen this and she immediately suspected Ultear of being up to something.

"We should have gone after 'em!" Natsu was shouting from inside the guild.

Sokka who was sitting at the same table with Aang, Katara, Lucy, Cana, Toph, Gray, and Mai had agreed with Natsu's plan. "Not a bad idea, with our numbers we could crush them. Plus Natsu has a great nose, so we could track them down!"

"One problem there with your plan there," Toph said. "While we could obviously beat them because we're awesome. I'm pretty sure the council would be watching us, considering how reckless we are."

"Wow, Toph showing restraint?" Lucy closed up to her. "Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?"

"We're friends… since when?"

"Never mind…" Lucy said with a sweat drop falling from her face. "Though they didn't really attack us, we just happen to run into them. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that something bad could happen."

…

At the same time, Iroh, Makarov, Zuko, Erza, and Mira were at the bar. Makarov was standing on top of it. "If what Porlyusica said is true, then Azula *is* here and it won't be long before she makes her move," Iroh said.

Makarov nodded while he held a large mug of brew. "I would rather we not have a fight in the streets if we can avoid it. We don't want a repeat of what happened with Laxus."

"What are you thinking Master?" Erza asked.

"Like I mentioned earlier. We have to strike them first before they hurt anyone."

Zuko had his fist clenched. "You all leave Azula to me. I'll be the one to finally end this." He darkly said.

"*Zuko…"* Erza thought, showing clear concern for what Zuko's words truly meant.

"Fairy Tale?" Azula repeated. Kobu was currently sharing all the information they had gathered with Azula and Jiahao, it was late in the day and it was heading for the evening. "As in like a story or fable?"

"Not exactly, it's Fairy *Tail*… apparently, its cause Fairies can have tails or some crap like that. Anyway, despite the name these guys are no joke. They can possibly take down any nation in our world if they wanted to."

"That powerful huh?" Jiahao asked.

"You don't know the half of it. I've spent the last couple of months gathering as much as I could." Kobu handed them a list of all the members he knew were in Fairy Tail. "We know for sure, that the Avatar and his friends are part of this wizard's guild. They don't exactly keep secrets very well, what with them all over the magazines here."

"Heh, even Zuko?" Azula chuckled. "Looks like it will be a family reunion after all."

"Well, there is really only one name you need to concern yourself with. Natsu Dragneel." Ping had flinched and tightened her fist at the mention of his name. "He's a Dragon Slayer."

"This person killed a dragon?"

"Probably not, he just has magic that was meant *to* kill dragons. But that isn't important, what you need to concern yourself with is that he can spew flames just like you guys."

"So…?"

"The catch is that Fire isn't going to hurt him. He *eats* fire!"

Azula and Jiahao both had twisted looks on their faces, they couldn't possibly comprehend the fact of *eating*, much less consuming fire.

"Oh yeah, I saw that in action, it's pretty badass!" Hen said.

"So sending an army of *fire*benders after him probably won't be a good idea. Plus the Avatar can also use magic. So he's even stronger."

"If you came here to tell me that I came all this way just to lose, then I'll be very disappointed in all of you."

Kobu sighed. "Since you're dead set on marching into hell, if you get a big enough army, we *might* have a chance. But we have to take the Avatar out of the equation."

Jiahao had something in mind. "We need to find out what they are planning to do, once we do that we can better take them down."

Kobu looked to Jiahao. "Don't worry. I already have a plan to draw them out."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Azula asked.

"We send them a request. A job request to be specific; we set up the place and ambush whoever comes. They won't send everyone, just a few members. If we mention ourselves in the request, then no doubt the Avatar and a few of his allies will come. Considering we've lost to them numerous times, they'll likely underestimate us. Then we strike them, plan A will be to eliminate the Avatar if that can't be done. Then I have a backup plan that involves your army." He said looking to Azula.

"Hehe, I'm impressed," Jiahao said. "If you were Fire Nation, I am sure you'd be on the fast road to becoming a General by now."

"Well I'm not interested, I've already sold my soul to the devil already, and I'd hate to permanently work for him!" Kobu said, obviously referring to Ozai.

Ping got up. "If you will excuse me, I have some training to do." Ping bowed to Azula and she left. "Hen a word…" Hen decided to begrudgingly follow her.

"I forgot to ask, what is up with that girl? She's definitely changed."

Kobu glanced to Ping. "Oh right, repeated defeats to Fairy Tail have slowly been driving her insane, then there was a whole thing with some magic that made her worse. I won't go into it, but she's lost every sense of morality, hesitation, and maybe even her humanity. It's dark magic that's controlling her right now, so she's become incredibly hostile."

Azula looked slightly freaked out. *"If that is true… how long will it before she lashes out at even me? That just makes it even more important that we win."* She noticed that Chun was missing. "Where is Chun?"

"Oh right, that girl likes this town for some mysterious reason, so she likes to take evening walks."

Azula sighed. "As long as she can do her job, I couldn't care less what she does. And this plan of yours better work Kobu. For your sake." Azula left him by himself and Kobu only glared at her.

"*Well if this works… it will only hasten the destruction of the parasitic Fire Nation!"* Kobu angrily thought.

…

Hen was taken to the area close to the forest. "If you're here to throw down, then I'll be happy to oblige."

"While resisting the urge to slit your throat is… taxing on me… your brawn and lavabending are useful to me."

"You want something?"

"Right to the point I see. I just wanted to see if you're still on our side. You don't plan on running do you?"

Hen laughed for a bit. "Well, I've given that a lot of thought. Maybe I'll start a new life in this world if we are permanently stuck here. Anyway, now that Azula's here. I've got no reason to fight for you psychos."

Ping had an evil smile on her lips. "Very interesting that you'd say that you have no reason to fight for us… So I'll give you one."

He didn't like the smile that Ping was giving him. It showed that she was up to something; he knew he had to tread carefully. "What are you getting at?"

"Foolish Hen… I'm talking about Chun. I see how much you care about her, even though you keep quiet about it. So it would be so sad if she were to just… Disappear."

There it was, the threat he feared. He didn't mind if Ping would threaten him. If anything, he expected it. Hen figured he could handle it, but Chun couldn't and Ping was making threats about taking her life. Both his fists clenched, but instead of fear, he showed anger. "Why you… You leave her out of this! I swear if I find out that you even so much as flicked her I'll-"

"You'll do what?! I have the power here and don't you forget it. I can easily kill you in a fight. So let me make this *VERY* clear. If you don't fight with us or if you're beaten by those Fairy Tail fools. Chun dies, understand?"

Hen's fists remained clenched, Ping knew that she had gotten him and he couldn't back out of this. Chun's life was in Hen's hands, and he wouldn't do *anything* that would put her life at risk. So he made the only choice he could. "Fine… understood. But after all of this, Chun and I are done with all this! Got it!?"

Ping mockingly smiled. "Of course. I'm a woman of my word." Hen looked away while Ping had walked away into the forest. A satisfied smirk was on her face.

He quickly took off into Magnolia to find Chun.

Chun meanwhile was walking by herself with a hooded cloak covering her. She liked walking around Magnolia, especially at night. It was definitely different from any other towns and cities in the Fire Nation. While the Fire Nation had its exotic locations, none of them couldn't really match Magnolia, mostly because merchants and people didn't care where anyone came from, and everyone was just so nice to each other. Plus ever since she saw the Fantasia festival, it was one of the few moments that she truly enjoyed herself.

"*I regret starting fights here… I want to live in a place like this… if only that were possible."*

As she thinking, she kept moving without thinking and a voice called out to her. "Chun?" she looked forward and saw Lucy walking home with Katara and Plue. She stood there frozen for a while, Katara prepared to attack in case Chun made a move. "That is you? Isn't it?" Lucy walked closer to her and Chun only backed away.

"L-Lucy…?"

Lucy put her keys on the ground in front of her. "I won't hurt you, I just want to talk. My house is not far from here. We could talk there, let me help you!"

"Lucy… I-I can't…"

"Why not…?"

Chun really wanted to tell Lucy everything, she knew Lucy was being genuine and not leading her into a trap… but something was holding her back. "I… I can't say…"

"Then it will just be the two of us. I'll listen to what you have to say… I know you don't want to fight for them. So why are you?"

Chun really thought about telling Lucy right then and there, the whole reason why she was fighting. The whole reason why she traveled to Earthland to find the Avatar in the first place, "L-Lucy… I." Chun watched Lucy slowly walking to her.

Suddenly an earth pillar had exploded in an angle and it only shot to Lucy's left, comically scaring her. "KYAAAAA!" she screamed.

When the dust cleared, Hen was protectively standing in front of Chun in an attacking stance. "H-Hen?" Chun said.

Katara had a water whip out, anticipating a fight. "There is a whole lot more going on than you know. So if I were you, I'd mind your own damn business Blondie." Hen said with an angry glare, he remained in his earth bending stance. "Make no mistake, as much as I like you guys. We're enemies, and I have someone to protect. And I'll fight till my last breath to protect that person! So the next time we meet, it will be as enemies and I won't hold back, I can promise you that!" Hen stomped hard on the ground, creating a huge dust cloud giving both Hen and Chun the chance to escape.

Both Katara and Lucy shielded their eyes and they lost sight of the two. Katara returned her water to her water skin. "What was that all about? He looked serious… nothing like earlier today…" Katara noted

Lucy started to think. "You think it could have something to do with Azula?"

"It could *only* have to do with Azula. He mentioned that he is protecting someone, she's probably blackmailing him. It's Azula, so I wouldn't put it past her." Katara said.

Lucy though had a worried frown. "Maybe Chun isn't the only one I should be worried about."

Hen and Chun were hiding in an alley that was far from where Lucy and Katara stood. The pair were panting. "What did you do that for!?" Chun exclaimed. "They could have helped us!"

"That ship has sailed for now. Ping is onto us, and she said that she'll kill the both of us if we run." He lied. Well, it was only a half-lie; Ping would only go after Chun. But Chun would feel bad and start blaming herself had she been aware of that fact, so he left that out. "We have to find another way… but if we do run it has to be when Ping's attention is nowhere near us… So now is not even close to being a good time," Chun looked back and thought of Lucy.

"I know you have a soft spot for that Lucy chick. You think I didn't see her wink at you during the Fantasia festival?" He had a mocking smirk on his face.

Chun blushed in embarrassment. "Y-you noticed?"

"You'd be surprised how many things I notice, but still if Ping or hell even Azula finds out you were persuaded to leave, and they find out about Lucy. Guess who their new target is?"

"If Lucy got hurt because of me... I'd never forgive myself."

"We just can't take a risk right now… but I promise… I'll think of something…"

Chun looked away and blushed before asking her next question. "We'll still be together, right? You *are* really the only person I can rely on right now."

"Of course, no matter what, you're not gonna get rid of me anytime soon. Now come on, we have to get back before something happens."

Chun wordlessly nodded. The two of them ran through Magnolia to meet with Azula and her growing attacking force.

Ultear was back on the ship of Grimore Heart. She walked into the moonlit spotlight and looked to the darkness covered throne that her Master Hades sat at. "So Master Hades, I did what you asked. I predict it won't be long before the Fire Nation brings an army here."

Hades chuckled while being cloaked by the darkness. "Those short-sighted Fire Nation ingrates will discover what they are really dealing with. I'm sure Fairy Tail will crush them."

"And if not?" Ultear asked.

"We won't hesitate for a second to obliterate them."

Ultear puts on a malevolent smile. "I for one am looking forward to seeing what will happen.