Accidental Avatar 3.5: The Burn Book

Ninja Boi gets a spook

Mangetsu peered around the corner, careful to avoid notice.

"Why are you here?" the Fire Lord sounded like he enjoyed the sound of his voice, which made it better for Mangetsu to hear, so he wasn't complaining.

Yet.

Also, Zuko was far enough away from the Fire Lord that shouting was probably a necessity.

"I'm here, to tell the truth," Zuko basically yelled back.

"Wow, if you need to tell the truth now, he must be a stand-up dad," Mangetsu muttered, watching carefully.

"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse? This should be interesting," the Fire Lord said, waving his hand.

Mangetsu took this opportunity to slip into the room as the Fire Lord's eyes flickered to the guards that marched out the room through doors on either side of the chamber. He darted behind a pillar, crouching into the shadows.

"Wow, that was really well done!"

Mangetsu stared at the blonde girl with wide eyes for a moment, trying to get his racing heart to calm down.

"You scared the crap outta me," he whispered harshly.

"My bad," she giggled softly.

"Shh!"

"First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me," Zuko spoke.

"Why would she lie to me about that?" the Fire Lord questioned.

"Because the Avatar is not dead," Zuko said calmly. "He survived."

"What?!" Fire Lord sounded alarmed.

"In fact, he is probably leading this invasion," Zuko continued. "He could be on us right now."

The Fire Lord leapt to his feet, pointing at Zuko and shouting furiously. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"That's another thing," Zuko remained calm, and Mangetsu noticed that Amaya had returned to him. "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

"You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!" Fire Lord was seething.

It turned out, Mangetsu wasn't the only one able to get authority figures to turn that shade of red. He recalled his few Fire Nation teachers with a fond smirk, barely containing a snort.

As the Fire Lord began to move towards Zuko, the boy drew his broadswords, brandishing them at the Fire Lord with a firm shout.

"Think again! I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen!"

The Fire Lord hesitated a moment, then slowly sat back down. He glowered at the boy while Mangetsu made a mental note that the Fire Lord thought twice about approaching his son when said son had swords.

"Note to self," he muttered to himself. "Princey boy is probably very skilled with a sword. Use surprise if planning to win."