Toji didn't say anything as he slowly spun Szeto's ring on his finger, admiring its golden form. His gaze moved up to the army that surrounded him, each in their opening stances while Azula and her friends stood at the back of the army.
"To all of you here, I'm sure you know who I am, yes?" Toji began with a smirk. "I'm the type to mercilessly kill you all without very little remorse, but I am trying to be less kill-happy.
Therefore, I will ask of you all once and only once. Lower your fists, step back and you'll be able to see your families again. Decline to do so and I will have the time of my life taking yours. Decide."
"Anyone who surrenders will be dealt with personally by me," Azula spoke up and the men all paused before Toji sighed as most of them steadied their stances.
He could see a few that looked a bit hesitant, but as he expected, none tried to give up.
"Hah, fine. I did give you two chances-" Toji vanished mid-sentence, reappearing behind a firebender while the spear of Kuruk dropped slowly at his previous location. "-so let me take your lives away from you."
The fans of Kyoshi crushed the skull of the firebender in front of him as he whipped one out towards them, pulling the other end and sending the first one flicking towards him.
At the same time, he called the spear of Kuruk to his hand, stepping to the side with a spin and letting it sail past. It pierced through the first firebender and curved towards him, but Toji just smirked as he whipped Kyoshi's fans out to the side.
Grabbing the middle part, he pulled it back in, spinning and twirling the two fans to push back some of the firebenders.
The first actual wave came forward moments later, flames erupting from their fists as they punched streams of fire at him from all angles.
Yet, he smirked as he crouched and leapt upwards, spinning Kyoshi's fans above him as the flame streams crashed into each other.
With a grunt, he turned and threw the heavy fans towards the deck of the ship, taking off Yangchen's staff before thrusting it forward.
The extra burst of wind boosted the fans and sent them barreling towards the ship, the fans piercing right through the deck and nearly making the bow fold in on itself.
Still, it was enough to knock everyone's footing from under them and Toji took advantage, kicking the air behind him and bringing Yangchen's staff down upon the cracked deck with a grunt.
A shockwave of pure wind erupted from the staff, sending firebenders flying before Toji lunged forward. Kuruk's spear curved through the air as he lunged to the side, piercing through a trio of firebenders as Toji swung the staff out.
It snapped into the side of a firebender, but Toji ignored their flailing body as he thrust the staff forward. A wind pulse shot from the tip, impacting another firebender before he turned his head to see more firebnders punching at him.
Snapping Yangchen's staff back onto his back, Kuruk's spear flew to his grasp as he spun and swung up. The flames and the benders behind it were split in two by the shockwave, the others stumbling back as Toji twirled the staff with a smirk.
Vanishing from his position, he appeared in front of a firebender with Kuruk's spear thrust forward, the weapon pierced through a firebender's chest and out his back.
Ripping it free, he kicked the boy at another firebender trying to attack before leaping back just as an arc of lightning missed him.
Narrowing his eyes at Azula as she prepared another lightning bolt, he aimed and threw Kuruk's spear, but as she went to shoot at it, he recalled it and made it spiral around her attack.
At the same time, he unsheathed the Split Soul Katana from his waist and cleaved straight through a firebender's arm, Toji racing past him as the decapitated body fell behind him.
Screams filled the night air as Azula felt the first sign of fear settling in, Zuko grimacing as they watched Toji expertly take down their entire army with ease.
Sheathing the Split Soul Katana, he raised a hand and called the spear to him, catching it with a twirl while the bodies around him fell to the ground.
Half of the army were in pieces and the other half stumbled back in terror, Azula gritting her teeth when Toji stopped and pointed the spear at her.
Azula replied by thrusting another lightning bolt at him, but her eyes widened as Zuko grabbed onto her fingers and redirected her fingers up into the sky.
Before she could cry out her outrage, a sharp pain in her back brought her to her knees, another one removing all mobility from her body.
Mai herself looked surprised as Zuko held a sword to her neck and the Fire Nation navy around them looked stunned when the prince spoke.
"All of you! Stand down now!"
"I knew you were a traitor, Zuzu!" Azula exclaimed, but Zuko ignored her as he and Toji stared at each other.
"Please, let us live."
"I gave you all numerous chances. If anything, I'm being a saint not just attacking while you all are distr-" He vanished mid-sentence as a firebender attacked him from behind and Zuko's eyes widened as the same firebender was split in two.
Toji didn't say anything as he walked over to Kyoshi's fans, wrapping them around Yangchen's staff before throwing it as hard as he could.
"WORMY! TIME TO PLAY!" he shouted and Zuko's head snapped to the side as a deafening bellow erupted from the darkness of the waters.
Moments later, Wormy tore through the surface with a vengeance, devouring both weapons that were thrown at him while Iron announced his own entrance atop the spirit's head with a roar.
"Wormy! Destroy their ships!" Toji ordered and the spirit went to work, Iron himself helping out where he can as he leapt onto the ship with a grace not befitting that of a komodo rhino.
His hide helped him ignore the flames from the firebenders and his horn tore through everything in his path. Wormy himself was a menace as he wrapped around the ship like a snake, crushing it with his body.
As his head moved to the back of the ship and into the water, Iron leapt from the deck to his head as the spirit fully crushed it into a pulp.
Zuko's gaze snapped back to Toji to see him unsehathing the Split Soul Katana, a soft chuckle escaping the bounty hunter's lips. As he looked up though, Zuko realized the danger they were in when he saw the bloodlust and anger dancing in the man's eyes.
"We need to run now!"
"Where are you going?" he asked as he appeared in Zuko's path, Ty Lee standing eerily still as the Split Soul Katana was held to her neck.
Mai herself didn't dare move as Toji had a foot on Azula, who couldn't move yet as he kicked her over and looked down at her.
"Now then, I gave you not one nor two but four different chances to just let me live in peace. Most people don't even get one," Toji spoke as he moved the Split Soul Katana from Ty Lee's neck, but a gasp escaped her lips and Zuko felt his heart drop as Toji stabbed down.
Azula herself looked stunned at the blade stabbed through her chest, Toji immediately leaping back and over the railing as Zuko punched a vicious storm of fire at him.
The prince leapt after him and Toji kicked the surface of the water as he landed, skating across it with a furious Zuko chasing after him.
"You harmed her!"
"She didn't listen!"
"You harmed her!" he roared as he shot up into the air and Toji gave a low whistle as the prince swiped his hand down with a chop.
What followed after it was a giant stream of fire in the shape of a dragon and Toji slid across the water while sheathing the Split Soul Katana at his hip again.
His breathing slowed as he looked at the fire approaching, grasping the hilt with a firm grip. The fire dragon slithered through the air towards him, but the next moment, Toji vanished and rocketed up towards the dragon.
"Iaido," the air distorted as he swung the blade, the shockwave from the swing cleaving straight through the flaming dragon with ease.
Zuko immediately spun to the side as the shockwave travelled past him, but his eyes widened when Toji appeared in front of him. A pained gasp escaped his lips as the spear of Kuruk stabbed through his abdomen, Toji pulling it out while grabbing onto his neck.
Toji hopped from foot to foot towards the ship, dropping Zuko next to his bleeding sister as Ty Lee rushed over.
"To you four, there's only one thing I'm going to say," Toji began as he crouched beside them, Kuruk's spear resting on the back of Ty Lee's neck. "I don't care for your throne, your war or your family drama, but I will begin to care when you fucking start bothering me with armies again, okay?
Call off your ship, pull your forces back and I swear if I see another Fire Nation soldier in my vicinity tomorrow, I will march over to your capital myself and the only person that will have Fire Nation blood left in their veins will be me. Am I clear?"
Zuko didn't say anything as he stared at Toji, the serious look in the mernecary's eyes showing him that he was ready to act on that threat.
"I...understand," Zuko gritted out, ignoring the pain in his stomach before Ty Lee relaxed as Toji took his spear away from her neck. However, he gasped as Toji swung his spear to Mai, stabbing through her neck as her eyes widened in horror.
"That's your first warning. Next, it will be this one," he whispered before vanishing, reappearing on Wormy's head as the last of the ships were slammed into the water.
"Mai! Mai!" Ty Lee rushed over to her friend, unable to do anything but watch as blood poured profusely from the hole going through both sides of her neck.
Mai held her hand tightly and for the first time, Ty Lee saw her smile in regret before her body stilled, the light in her eyes dimming away.
Zuko struggled to sit up as he tore a piece of his shirt off, placing it against Azula's wounds as she looked pale from the blood loss.
"Ty...Ty Lee, listen to me. Get a steam cruiser. We need to get out of here," he spoke, but gritted his teeth when Ty Lee had a dazed look in her eyes. "Ty Lee!"
That knocked her from her thoughts as she turned to him with wide eyes and he sighed.
"Listen, we need to go. If my father catches wind of our failure, we're all dead. Go and get a cruiser now!"
"R-Right," she nodded, taking one final glance at Mai's body before making her way towards the holding docks on the ship's lower floors.
Zuko narrowed his eyes as she disappeared towards the lower floors, still holding the makeshift bandages against Azula's chest.
"Keep breathing, Zula. Please, keep breathing."
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"Think we should have killed them?" Toji asked with a frown, glancing at Iron and Wormy. He snorted as the spirit they rode on nodded in agreement while Iron gave a snort as if he was asking a ridiculous question. "Yeah, I should have."
He didn't know why he didn't. In all honesty, he was about to just use Kuruk's spear to kill them all when Toph's face came to mind. Then, all hostility faded from his mind and the urge to kill them was no longer there.
'Urgh, she's changing me just like her,' he thought with a frown, thinking back to the first person he truly loved in his past life.
How long has it been since he's thought about her? Her smile that lit up his days, her giggles that were melodic to his ears. She was the light in the world of darkness that hated him and she was taken away by it.
With his entry in this new world though, he couldn't help but compare Toph to Hana. She wasn't as compassionate or as caring, but she was a lot more direct and challenged his mental strength a lot more than Hana did.
Toph also didn't care for shit like Hana and the fact that she didn't care for his bullshit either just like her was such a turn-on in his eyes.
'However, we're gonna have a lot to talk about when we next meet,' Toji thought with a smirk, remembering the offer that had been made to him by her in exchange for Kyoshi's fans.
It wasn't like he was going to say no either since Kyoshi's fans and the chains attached tot hem weren't as good as the Chain of a Thousand Miles or the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
'Kuruk's spear is just as good as the latter and Yangchen's staff fit his fighting style a lot more compared to the chains,' Toji thought with a hum, tapping Kuruk's spear as he looked out at the waters in front of them.
Right now, they were making their way from the shore where they destroyed that royal fleet to the Wulong forest that was their rendezvous location where Aang, Toph and Katara would meet up with them.
It was still some time before they were going to meet up since Aang was busy with his chakra training, but that was okay. He'd have some time on his own to train and get ready for the big war.
"Iron, you think you could need some armour for the final fight?" The komodo rhino let out a pleased growl at that. "Glad to hear. We'll see if Sokka could make you some."
He then looked forward, pleased to see that no Fire Nation ships were following after them. He was most definitely looking for a reason to go after them, but since they weren't, he was going to stay his hand for now.
Taking a deep breath, he leaned back on his hand as the shore came into view and nodded.
'First, get to land and then we're going to get everything for the war.'
A/N: And we end it off here~! Toji killed Mai, almost killed Zuko and Azula and now we're finally going into the final arc of the story.
Next chapter: Preparation.
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Ba-Bye~!