"Speed up!" Toji grunted, Iron accelerating as the komodo rhino raced across the Agrarian Zone. Behind them, Toji narrowed his eyes at the air balloons and handed the reins to a surprised Toph.
"Get the castle and tell them to get ready for a battle near the Inner Wall!"
"Wait, what the hell are you going to do?"
"What I do best: Take out armies," Toji spoke with a smirk before he hopped off with a spin, Kuruk's spear in hand as Wormy poked its head out from his cloak.
"Yangchen," Toji spoke, Wormy spitting up the staff of Yangchen as he dropped Kuruk's spear to the floor. Twirling the staff around him, the wind began to pick up and Toji smirked when he saw the firebenders in the air balloons notice him.
With a flourish, he held the staff out to the side and unleashed a burst of wind, shattering the ground below him as he shot forward.
"It's the Phantom Menace!" One of the firebenders roared right as Toji leapt through the air, flicking his hand up and Kuruk's spear responded.
It was like a bullet as it tore through the air, Toji spinning and letting the spear pass before kicking off of it towards another air balloon.
The first was greeted by a spinning spear that sliced right through its envelope and out the other side, Toji grunting as he swung downwards.
A gust of wind blew one firebender over the side as Toji landed on the side of the carriage, dodging to the side to dodge a burst of fire from the second bender in the balloon.
Swinging up and boosting the flames, he hopped off before kicking off solid air, surprising the air benders as they watched him rocket through the air.
With a feral grin, Toji aimed and threw Yangchen's staff, tearing through a third balloon before calling Kuruk's spear to his hand.
Catching the spear with a spin, he swung and cleaved right through the wooden frame of the fourth balloon, the two firebenders on it screaming as one of their flames turned and set it ablaze.
In front of the remaining eight, Toji drifted in the air with his hands outwards, relishing in the looks of horror of the remaining firebender air balloons.
"Wormy, your turn," Toji whispered as the worm unravelled from his body and lunged forward. Within the span of a few seconds, the firebenders found themselves staring into the gaping maw of a giant Wormy.
The cursed spirit let out a wail as it bit down, swallowing an air balloon whole as Toji ran along the length of his body. With a grunt, he leapt down and caught Yangchen's staff, kicking off the air as Wormy twisted.
The firebenders were firing torrents of flames at Wormy, but they all passed through it as the spirit turned and let out another deafening shriek.
Screams echoed as the firebender balloons fell one by one to the serpentine spirit falling to the ground, Toji raising his weapons to the side while tilting his head back with a blissful smile.
"Wormy!" The falling spirit looked down at Toji, who looked back up with a grin before he threw Yangchen's staff into his mouth.
Eating it as the spirit landed, Toji launched himself into the air, landing on top of Wormy's head as the spirit began to slither towards the wall.
With ease, Wormy scaled up the side of the Outer Wall, Toji standing tall with Kuruk's spear and Yangchen's staff in his hands as he heard panicked shouts from below.
He could see the hundreds upon hundreds of firebenders gathered below in formation, their tanks now at the forefront and aiming up at them.
"Army of the Fire Nation!"
"It's the Phantom Menace!"
"All men in formation! It's the Phantom Menace!"
"The Phantom Menace is here!"
"I guess I'm more popular than I expected, Wormy," Toji whispered to the cursed spirit, who rumbled as they watched the army immediately rush to make a new formation.
The tanks were now closer to the army, who were standing closely together with their fists at the ready.
"Army of the Fire Nation! Lend me your ears for a moment!" He called out again, his voice carrying over the roar below before he smirked.
"You're all about to die," For a single moment, silence reigned, no one daring to say anything before the roars came as one.
"FIRE!"
"OPEN FIRE!"
"FIRE!" In the blink of an eye, flames surged upwards in a synchronised barrage, Toji's smirk widening at the wave of red-orange fury rising towards him.
"Now, that's more like it," He murmured, Kuruk's staff slowly falling towards the ground as Toji vaulted high into the air.
"Yangchen!" Wormy spat the staff from his mouth like a cannonball, Toji's outstretched hand meeting it midair.
The moment his fingers wrapped around it, he spun with a grin and a roar, the wind around him exploding outwards in a spiralling dome that reflected the flames back down.
In the blink of an eye, a swirling cyclone of fire and wind crashed down upon the front of the army, ripping metal apart and flinging the tanks into one another like toys.
Further back, the army braced themselves and blocked the flames, letting the wind pass before they froze as Toji landed in front of the army.
"See?" With one step, he was gone, standing in the centre of the army with a smirk.
"Now, you're all going to die," Kuruk's spear turned and flew to his hand, Toji swinging Yangchen's staff with a spin and unleashing a burst of wind that pushed the flames away.
Grasping Kuruk's spear, he vanished, screams filling the air as the mercenary tore through their ranks.
"Split Soul Katana!" Toji shouted and Wormy spat it out, falling alongside the katana and landing around Toji with a roar.
With nothing more than grace and finesse, Toji was a blur as he juggled the three weapons. Staying close to his master, Wormy let out distorted wails that made the weak-willed fall to the ground as their spirits quivered in terror.
However, Toji narrowed his eyes when he saw most of the forces retreating, holding out a hand to stop Wormy as the spirit went to pursue.
"Don't. They're planning something," He spoke, watching as the hundreds of firebenders that were still left kept running away.
Normally, he would relish in his glorious victory, but something told him that this was just the beginning.
'No, not the beginning. What i-' He spun on his heel as he heard an series of explosions, Wormy eating the weapons and shrinking down before Toji called Kuruk's spear back to his hand.
"Let's go," He spoke as he picked up Wormy, letting it curl around his body before he launched himself through the air.
With each step, the air popped as he scaled the wall in the blink of an eye, grimacing at the sight of dozens more air balloons approaching from the west and the east.
Along with that, he could see the walls on those sides crumbling down, an army nearly five times the size of the one he had to face approaching from each side.
'They were there to distract me,' He thought as he landed on top of the wall, immediately hopping over to the other side and throwing Kuruk's spear far behind him.
Calling it back, Toji spun and landed atop the spear, skating and surfing the spear through the air towards the ground.
Landing with a roll, he picked up the spear and lunged forward, shattering the ground with every step as he raced towards the Inner Wall.
'Hopefully, Toph got there in time.'
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"You believe that you are allowed to ask me to forgive an assassin simply because of the fact that you're the Avatar?" The Earth King Kuei asked with a frown, Aang having a shaky smile on his face as he saw the stern look in the young man's eyes.
"I mean-"
"No, I will not. He killed my most trusted advisors and Long Feng, a man that was a dear friend and ally of my family for years. I will not allow him to walk around as he pleased."
"What if he served like...a prison sentence?"
"A thousand years in the sewage pits underneath Ba Sing Se. That is the minimum prison sentence I will propose in place of his execution," Kuei spoke with a scoff, Sokka giving a hopeless shrug as Aang looked at him.
"Hey, I tried."
"You give up too easily."
"Well, you try and convince the king, then."
"I don't like Toji that much to do so," Katara responded, Sokka rolling his eyes before Aang spoke up.
"What if...he returned the artifacts of the past Avatars and did community service for free for as long as he lived? As little as I know about Toji, Toph told us that he hates the idea of doing stuff for free. Would that be better?"
"I...am inclined to agree to that, my King," Suki spoke up with a frown, Kuei looking at her as she looked back.
"You agree with his proposal?"
"I simply wish to have the fans of Lady Kyoshi back where they belong. As long as that happens, I care very little for what Toji Fushiguro has to do."
"...Very well," Kuei nodded, Aang having a pleased smile on his face before he flinched when the doors were thrown open.
"Oi! Tell these bastards that I'll rip their skulls off the next time they block my path!" Toph grunted as she walked into the throne room.
The Dai Li and Zhen Yi moved immediately to protect the King, who frowned when he saw the young woman walk in while dragging a pair of his guards by their skulls.
"What is the meaning-"
"Oh, shut up and listen, you prissy piece of shit!" The three members of the Gaang palmed their faces with groans as Toph cut off Kuei, who looked affronted by her words.
"While you're trying to decide if you wanna kill Toji or not, he's out there fighting an army of firebenders!"
"That's not possible. The Fire Nation wouldn't dare attack Ba Sing Se from the front," Zhen Yi spoke with a frown and Toph stomped on the ground, opening holes on the walls of the throne room.
"Then what the fuck are those?!" She exclaimed, their eyes widening as they saw the red war balloons with Fire Nation insignias on the sides in the distance.
"You! You're the king, right?! Well, start being a king and start ordering your people!" Toph spoke as she pointed a finger at Kuei, who blinked before the woman huffed and turned around.
"Wait, where are you going, Toph?" Aang asked as he hurried after her, Katara, Sokka and Suki not too far behind as Toph rolled her shoulders with a grin.
"What else? I'm going to go help my man."
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"Well, how am I going to deal with this?" Toji murmured as he ran along the Agrarian Zone, his gaze flickering between the two armies that were approaching from both sides.
He was sure he could handle one on his own, but that would leave the other to fight against the walls of the Inner Wall. From the looks of it, the walls were not fully manned yet, which means that he'd have to hold back both armies in order to give them time to prepare.
'Look at me being the hero. If only Hana could see me now,' Toji thought with a smirk, which widened when he saw Appa's form slowly flying to the west.
A moment later, his smirk turned to a grin as he watched Toph riding Iron onto the Inner Wall with Suki seated behind her, the two of them riding to the east
'Well, I guess the Avatar and his group can handle the west,' Toji thought as he turned, taking off while twirling both the staff and spear he had in his hands.
A grin spread across his face as Iron ran down the slope made by Toph, giving a mocking wink at Suki as she turned and glared at him.
"Toph!"
"What?!"
"Hailstorm!" He shouted and she nodded, Suki taking the reins as Toph leapt off. Landing with a grunt, her fists slammed into the ground and it erupted, shooting hundreds of stone shards high into the air.
They flew overhead in an arc before raining down upon the army, who unleashed waves of flames in turn to block the fragments. The tanks on the ground fired bursts of flames at Toji, who just grinned as he twirled Yangchen's staff in front of him.
Gusts of wind pushed the flames away as Iron caught up, Toji throwing both of his weapons forward before Wormy spat out a long chain along with Kyoshi's fans.
Attaching the fans to the chain, Toji raised forward as Toph skated beside him, both leaping into the air before crashing down onto the army.
Chaos ensued as the couple fought against the army, Toji twirling and spinning the chains around the walls Toph made to block the flames.
In turn, she unleashed a flurry of iron marbles past Toji, who swung the fans and bounced them in different directions.
"Not bad, princess!"
"Stop calling me that!" Toph grunted as she stomped, sharp spires of rock skewering the front line of the tanks as Suki leapt from Iron's back.
"Here!" Toji grunted as he threw the Kyoshi fans at Suki, who caught them even as she blinked in surprise.
"I want them back or I'll kill you!" Toji spoke as he vanished, reappearing beside Yangchen's staff and picking it up with a spin.
Flipping over a torrent of flames, he slammed it down onto the skull of a firebender, the man's head bouncing off the ground before he kicked him at a group approaching from the side.
Calling Kuruk's spear to his hand, he spun Yangchen's staff and slammed the butt of it against the ground, a burst of wind rippling outwards and pushing the wave of flames away.
With a spin, he caught Kuruk's spear before chucking it at a war balloon, watching as it tore through the one he threw at as well as the few that were behind it.
The spear returned with a thought as he swung Yangchen's staff upwards, a wall of wind shooting outwards to divide the wave of flames coming at him.
"Wormy!" He shouted and the cursed spirit lunged forward, devouring scores of firebenders while growing to his gigantic side with a cursed wail.
"Toph! Skies! 1, 1:30, 2, 3:45, and 5 o'clock!" Toji barked out, Toph nodding as she stomped on the ground and unleashed a bombardment of stone bullets up into the sky.
Reappearing beside her, Wormy coiled around Toph to block the sea of fire coming at her, Iron letting out an enraged bellow as he charged through the flames and skewered a firebender.
"What the fuck?! How the hell is a komodo rhino doing this?!" Iron roared as he charged forward, Toji running beside his mount with a grin as the two tore through the army.
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'This...this is chaos,' Kuei thought to himself as he looked down, watching as just three people, a cursed spirit and a komodo rhino tore through hundreds of firebenders like it was nothing.
On the other side of the wall where the Avatar and the rest of his friends were fighting the other half of the army, he watched as gargantuan amounts of wind and water snuffed out flames with ease.
'Five people, one spirit, a komodo rhino and an air bison. What is the world coming to?' He thought, looking back up to see Toji's spear tearing through another air balloon and bring it down.
He watched as the few that were still in the air turn around, deciding to keep themselves safe. It was not just them as what remained of the firebenders and the tanks decided to retreat as well.
"Iron!" He looked down as he heard Toji shout, watching as both he and Toph leapt onto their komodo rhino and charge after their foes.
The worm spirit was not too far behind, Suki clinging onto it to try and get back the fans that the spirit was currently eating up.
"General Zhen Yi?"
"Yes, sir?" Zhen Yi asked, though she couldn't hide her shock as well as she turned to her King who let out a sigh.
"Tell Toji Fushiguro that he can come into Ba Sing Se."
"What of his punishment?"
"Do you want that to be pointed at us?" The King asked while pointing at the sea of bodies below, nodding when he saw even some of his Dai Li looking a bit wary.
"I understand, sir," He knew that Zhen Yi wanted to say otherwise, but as he looked back down, he could only shake his head before leaving for his palace.
That type of glee for killing...he'd rather not deal with that at all.
A/N: And Team Gaang take on their first siege army! I wanted to have Toji be the only one who fought, but I decided to just have them all show off.
But is that the only siege or will there be more? Find out next time.
Next chapter: Aftermath of Day 1.
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Ba-Bye~!