Work Text:
"You've had to struggle, and connive, and claw your way to power. But true power, the Divine Right to Rule, is something you're born with."
The voice of Princess Azula was echoing off the walls of the Earth King's Palace as she stood above Long Feng, arms calmly laid behind her back, golden eyes thick with distain. Stood before the jade throne, encrusted by gold, she looked every bit the part of a monarch. Strong, assured, regal and calloused.
Long Feng's hands were shaking at his sides; his usual composure lost in silent rage. He didn't tear his eyes away from Azula, partly because the enemy had to remain within his sights, and the other because the Dai Li were behind him, and he didn't need a reminder that he stood on his own. He had to retain some sense of nerve.
As she spoke those wretched words, Long Feng clenched his fists and seethed. This was unexpected. Not the fact that Azula would attempt to stab him in the back, he'd expected that already. Counted on it. He was far from blind on the happenings of what occurred outside his city, and was at least somewhat aware of the Fire Lord's situation, and that of his heirs- one a banished prince, the other a prodigious, cunning, conniving princess.
So yes, Long Feng had expected her betrayal. He just hadn't expected this much... audacity.
'This brat...' He barred his teeth as she continued. Long Feng had devoted his life to remaining on top of the totem pole, to amassing power. He'd turned the Earth King into his puppet, along with the rest of the nobility. He'd ruled the largest city in the Earth Kingdom for decades, largely uncontested. He'd plotted, and cheated, and, much as he hated to admit Azula was right, clawed his way to the very top.
And now, this... this child stood before him, threatening to undo his life's work.
"They don't know which of us is going to be sitting on that throne, and which one will be bowing down... but I know, and so do you." Azula said, voice light with assured confidence, as she turned and walked to the jade throne. She sat upon it and crossed her legs, arms clasping its arms with casual ease. "Well?"
The amount of haughtiness packed into that single word(that smirk) had Long Feng bowing his head. Above him, the Princess' lips stretched, likely assuming this to be an action of submission, but no.
He just couldn't have her seeing how much raw anger her actions, on sheer principal, lit in his chest.
He'd underestimated this girl's arrogance. He'd been expecting something more subtle, more deadly, and honestly, more underhanded. This was not underhanded. This grab for power was as blunt as a hammer trying to smash through his life's ambitions, and worst of all, it had taken him off-guard enough that it was on the edge of actually succeeding.
But it hadn't succeeded. Not quite yet.
Calming himself, he glanced over his shoulders, at the Dai Li. The traitors. For as much as she might've thought they'd bowed, Azula hadn't taken control of the Dai Li just yet. At best, she'd pushed them into tentative neutrality under his nose, but fear and loyalty were two very different things.
'There's still a chance...' Long Feng thought as he walked forwards. Despite everything, there remained a way for him to salvage the situation, and as he bent the knee, he decided to grasp it with two hands.
"You've beaten me at my own game." He said, eyes closed, playing the part of the despairing fool as he shifted his arm.
"Don't flatter yourself." Azula said, razor-sharp smirking giving to distain. "You were never even a player."
The next moment was long and heavy. Those words ricocheted in Long Feng's mind, again and again, back and forth. He considered them from a dozen different angles.
He thought of all his years spent in the deepest depths of the Lower Ring's slums. Of the people he'd conned, the people he'd tricked, the people he'd threatened. The people he'd killed. He let the dozens of adversaries and obstacles he'd faced in his decades of life pass through his mind, each of them tougher than the last, then he stared up at Azula. At the teenager, who thought she could undo all of that in one breath.
Long Feng couldn't help it. He laughed, much to Azula's agitation and confusion.
"Is something funny, peasant-?!" She started, then his laughter ended and he slammed his fist onto the ground, splitting the earth open.
-----------------------------
Azula scrutinized Long Feng as his bald head bowed, letting herself relax, then her gaze wandered past the insect onto the Dai Li- the elite squadron of Earth-benders who now rested safely under her thumb, and a neat little capstone to her latest and greatest conquest. Their services would do the Fire Nation well. True, having benders of other elements under the crown's thumb could be deemed uncouth by some, but propriety came after efficacy, not before.
She rested on the throne and shifted, enjoying the view. It was almost too easy. The Avatar and his friends still had to be dealt with, but with dozens of Earth-benders at her back, she'd likely not even need Mai and Ty Lee. Of course, there was still the matter of Uncle and Zuko, but she knew her brother well. Inept as he might've been, his loyalty to their father was absolute, no matter how unrequited it might've been.
Everything was coming together.
And then, Long Feng started to laugh, and she wondered if he'd cracked under the weight of her actions. But as she started to call him out, to ridicule him, his fist slammed into the earth with such force that it rapidly fissured and a shockwave followed, aimed for the throne which she sat upon.
Her body thought for Azula over her shock as she leaped, dodging the shockwave just in time for it to slam into her throne, smashing it into a million golden pieces. She landed uninjured, blue fire igniting in her fists, and regarded Long Feng with a glare that would have men at home grovelling for mercy on their knees. He met it without faltering, green eyes coated with distain as his lip curled.
"And what might you hope to accomplish with this?" Azula asked lowly, rising on broken earth. She hadn't expected the old peasant to pack quite that much punch. "Your resistance will only make your fate less gentle."
"A fate you won't get to deliver." Long Feng shook his head, looking infuriatingly unafraid. "I would never bow to a pathetic little girl like you."
"You insolent little nothing!" Azula injected venom drop into her voice, then turned to the Dai Li, who stood impassively. "Kill your old master!"
A second passed as the stoic agents exchanged glanced but didn't move to intervene. Fine. She glanced over to Mai and Ty Lee on the side and, reliable as ever, they quickly moved to support their princess, only for a dozen Dai Li to suddenly spring out in front of them with stone gloves raised. None of them moved to attack, but the gesture was clear.
"What are you doing?!” She shouted.
"It's as you already said, Azula." Long Feng disrupted smoothly, and she noticed he was wearing a mocking smile. The nerve. "They're waiting to see which of us bends the knee, and I don't see either of us kneeling."
Azula narrowed her eyes and caught onto the message of his words. It seemed a proper demonstration of what happened to those who defied her was in order.
"I suppose I'll just to force you to your knees, then." She said with a voice colder than the colour of the sweltering flames she was currently palming.
"I bow to no one, and you were a fool to think a tiara and a bloodline would be enough to cower me." Long Feng sneered. "You were right, child, some are born with the right to rule, handed the universe on a silver platter, and I was never one of them. I didn’t need to be. Being born with something doesn’t make it yours, it can be taken” His face morphed, like he was disgusted with her on a higher level. “And I’ve been stealing this right to rule you seem to relish so badly from people like you since before you were a spec in your father’s eye.”
Azula couldn’t help it, she waved a hand and sapphire flames engulfed the palace ground, hurdling towards Long Feng and drowning him from view. The inferno fell and revealed a wall of earth, partially melted, which endured the brunt of the attack.
“Hiding behind walls seems to be your signature move.” She mocked.
“I’m hardly hiding.” Long Feng jumped atop it, unbothered, and ripped off his bureaucratic robes in a swift motion, casting the silk aside to reveal a surprisingly developed form hidden under a cloak of finery. Standing tall, broad and muscular shoulders rolling and flexing as though relieved to be freed of their confines, a warrior laid where she first assumed a mere politician lied.
“Colour me surprised that you actually know how to throw a punch.” She tried to mask her surprise with words.
“No matter how much soft power a person holds, it’s useless in hands that aren’t equally hard.” Long Feng said shortly, then entered a bending stance.
Punching forwards, he sent a dense slab of stone rocketing at Azula. Another three followed, and she responded by blasting them to shards, one by one, closing the distance and acrobatically weaving through the air, pulling a leg back. She threw a mighty kick and an arc of fire followed, forcing him to stomp and create another shockwave to match it, but a stray line of fire broke through, grazing his cheek as he grunted.
Her mocking remark was ended when he pulled his arms up. Rows of stone walls emerged, and with a flourish, he thrust his arms forwards and they were pushed towards Azula. Meeting them as she fell, she caught one with the heel of her boot and jumped, punching and sending azure balls of fire at Long Feng which failed to meet him as he raised another stone wall.
Luckily, she was counting on that. She landed and swiftly drew an arc in the air, causing lightning to crackle into existence. She pointed, and a bolt of lightning met his stone wall with an echoing clap. Rock exploded into dust and Long Feng was blown back onto the palace wall, wounded. He had nowhere to run. She prepared to fire again, taking aim, then Long Feng’s fell back, merging into the wall a split-instant before the lightning struck and annihilated it.
He emerged just to the right of where she’d struck, covered in rock armour with crossed arms. He opened them widely, causing the rock armour lining his body shoot off him and at Azula. She engulfed them in a wave of fire, melting most to slag, but one managed to sneak through and she grunted as one flew past her cheek, grazing it, and pain bloomed.
‘He hurt me?’ She thought, faintly, and brushed her cheek. Sure enough, blood came off, and the very sight of it was enough to draw a snarl. ‘That filthy peasant actually managed to hurt me!’
“Did you come into battle expecting not to get hurt, princess?” Long Feng mocked as he thrust an arm up, and the ground underneath her feet followed. “Are you losing your composure over one wound, your highness?”
Azula growled and summon fire from her heels, barely avoiding another flying stone slab. She couldn’t use this technique as well as her father, but she still boosted herself through the air and towards him. She sliced her arm down, sending a sharp crescent of blue fire right at his chest, aiming to slice him in half. Long Feng was too close to fully dodge. It clipped his shoulder, burning through his tunic and drawing a cry she relished as his skin was seared.
She smirked, but even as puss dripped down his arm, Long Feng’s stance didn’t waver. He cleanly dropped and hit the palace floor with his palms. Dense, solid earth rippled like water. Only when Azula landed did she register what he’d done as, instead of solid stone, she found slick mud.
“No!” Azula gasped out and, without traction, could only try to regain balance. She failed.
Crashing into mud, she struggled to find traction and squirmed, the earth-kingdom clothes she’d garbed being dirtied as her hair came loose and became entangled with the filth as well. It was a humiliating position; one she had no doubt was entirely intentional.
‘That worm!’ She silently raged.
Acting with lightning speed, she exhaled fire, turning mud to solid clay, then used the explosive force to escape to more solid ground. Once stable, she looked over to Long Feng, clutching his burnt shoulder. He was the more injured of the two of them, but they both knew Azula’s pride had taken the bigger hit.
A smirk, large and infuriating, lined his face.
“I didn’t realise.” Long Feng said slowly, his chest rising and falling. “That the Fire Nation’s royalty was partial to playing in the mud.”
-----------------------------
Standing on the ruined palace grounds, melted and cracked from his and his opponents’ bending, Long Feng watched his opponent seethe and huff and glare. Mud was leaking off her hair and clothing, and though she laid uninjured asides from the barest of cuts across her cheek, he considered his own condition referrable to hers.
Covered in mud from head-to-toe, Azula certainly didn’t look the part of a princess.
For all her arrogance and haughtiness, Azula’s power, skill, and agility were extraordinary. If it weren’t for the fact they were battling in the Earth King’s Palace, with walls carved using all the thick, dense, well-made stone an Earth-bender could ever wish for, their battle would have been a quick one.
Craning his head towards the Dai Li, he watched them closely as they blocked Azula’s servants from assisting, and he couldn’t help but hone onto their focus on letting the battle play out undisturbed. That action alone told him there was a chance to bring them back to his side. If they truly had abandoned him, they’d have had no qualms about aiding Azula in ending him, or even simply letting Azula’s aids join the fight and outnumber him.
He smiled, long and wide.
“Tell me, Dai Li, is this girl the one you seek to follow?” He thrust his unwounded arm at a mud-covered Azula. “Is this spoiled foreigner truly worth your loyalties? This little girl who tried to conquer our city through raw audacity? The heir to a foreign nation?”
Azula’s nostrils flared, then she fired another attack using those strange blue flames. There was no precision or grace in the attack, it was a forceful thrust which he blocked by raising another wall.
“Silence!” Azula hissed, then blasted more fire at him. “Shut your mouth!”
“For over thirty years I’ve ruled this city!” He bellowed, speaking over the chaos as he blocked Azula’s assault. “That’s more than twice as long as this girl has been alive. For three long decades, I’ve kept a stable rule, snuffing out any sign of rebellion!”
He stomped, carving more stone out of the earth, and thrust forwards to block Azula before continuing. “I’ll admit it, my rule hasn’t been perfect! Insurgents have escaped my notice in this vast city, and mistakes have been made!”
“Ha, so you admit you’re an incompetent leader!” Azula jeered, sending blades of fire at him from above, carving through his defences. He didn’t escape unburned. “You’re nothing, Long Feng!”
“That’s where you’re wrong!” He countered as he stomped, creating shockwaves to dispel the flames. “Nothing in this world is absolute! Perfection is a myth. My reign hasn’t been perfect, but my grip has been steady nonetheless.”
Azula’s face did a spasm when he mentioned ‘perfection’ but he wasn’t speaking falsehoods. Nothing in this world was perfect and, much as it stung his ego, Long Feng was no exception. The Avatar unveiling the truth to the Earth King was one of his biggest errors, but the situation was by no means unsalvageable.
The Earth King wasn’t as stupid as he sometimes acted. He’d discovered the war with the Fire Nation before. Of course, it never lasted. That was what Lake Yaogai was for.
“Dai Li, I realise you’ve had your doubts, but this is the time for you to choose! At the very least, I care for this city! It is my home just as it’s yours.” Long Feng paused and hissed as he endured another inferno. “But this girl can make no such claims. She cares nothing for this city or its people, only the approval she’ll gain from her father for conquering it!”
Azula’s eyes widened minutely, and Long Feng knew he’d struck the nail on the head. He was honestly uncertain if that was actually her goal in all this. The need to seek approval from one’s parents wasn’t something he could truly understand. A childhood as an orphan in the slums meant he sadly couldn’t relate.
But, in the end, children were predictable, and that's all Azula was at the end of the day. A child. A brat who barged into his city with a mere army of two and thought she could claim his life's work before the sun came to set.
The very thought was enough to curl his lip.
“She is unworthy of this city and unworthy of your loyalty!” Long Feng, declared then, to the shock of everyone watching, lowered his hand and let the stone wall protecting him fall.
With nothing between himself and Azula, he opened his arms wide, ignoring the pain of his burns and staring his opponent down.
"Make your decision."
This was the moment of truth. Without armour, without a stone wall, without any protection whatsoever, he'd die in one strike. Blue fire was already pulsating in Azula's hand, eyes glinting with malice as she reeled back. If that fire blast struck him, he'd be burned to ashes.
Unless, of course, the Dai Li realised the error of their ways and saved him.
It was a gamble with his life on the line, but he had little choice. If the fight dragged on, he'd gradually lose to Azula's superior strength and everything he'd built would fall into Azula's hands. If he fled and escaped into the city, everything he'd built would fall into Azula's hands. If he surrendered, everything he'd built would fall into Azula's hands, and he'd never have a hope of getting it back. But if his words and actions managed to reach his former agents, then maybe, just maybe, he could take back control of the situation... and if not?
Well, at least he'd die on his feet, resolute and strong, rather than on his knees.
Closing his eyes, the heat on his face intensifying, burning his eyelids, he felt the burns on his body sizzle in protest. As they did, he wondered with a drip of fear if this was truly the end. If he'd lost his empire to a little girl. If these were the last breaths that Long Feng, common-born and usurper, would get to take of sweet life. If this was the end.
Then a gasp rung out. He opened his eyes to see a stone glove restraining the Fire Princess' arm, and Long Feng knew his gamble had paid off.
He smiled. It seemed that fate wasn't quite finished with him yet.