Sorry I haven't updated as recently as I said I would. But this is a really long chapter to make up for it or something!

Disclaimer: I don't own any ideas from Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor Watchmen. They belong to their respective creators. But any original characters and ideas belong to me.

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"No! We'll never surrender!"

Some flaming daggers shot out of Zuko's hands, and his firebending soldiers did the same. Before they could attack though, Azula brought the blue fireballs she was holding closer to Aang's head.

"That's a pity. But of course, I don't think you realized that I'm standing right on top of your precious Avatar, and that I could kill him before anyone of you could reach me. It would be a shame to lose him, especially since he's one of the few that can stop us."

The Firelord faltered a bit, realizing that what she was saying was true. None of them could attack her without risking the Avatar's life. And they would've been stopped by the corrupt guards and Dai Li agents anyway.

"You know, I think I'll be nice and ignore your last answer. So tell me again. Will you surrender?"

Rorschach at this point had recovered from the fall. He could hear every word being exchanged, and knew that Zuko's side was in a bad position. And unless he helped, it would be her and the Dai Li that would win the impending fight.

They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice he was conscious again, fortunately for him. While the room was silent save for the cackling fire, he inched forward so slowly it seemed that he wasn't moving at all.

"I'm still waiting Zuzu. The option of burning the Avatar is getting more tempting by the minute." Azula let a small jet of flame lick his cheek.

At that moment, she was knocked over when Rorschach lunged at her feet. It didn't take very long for her to get up, but he was also standing when she did and ready to strike at her again.

"You… I thought we would be in this together!" She hissed. "We have much more in common than those people, why are you siding with them?!"

He didn't answer. He just threw a punch at her jaw, which connected and made her stumble back. And he would've attacked her again if she didn't release a burst of flame at him.

"Now's our chance!" Zuko shouted. "General How, Sung, protect the Earth King and get him out of here! Everyone else, focus your attacks on Azula! Don't let her get away!"

"Who put you in charge?" One of the Earth Kingdom soldier sneered before launching himself at a Dai Li agent.

"Is this really the time to argue?" Zuko replied back. Seeing as whoever asked the question wasn't paying attention anyway, he blasted several enemy guards with fire and made his way closer to Azula.

Seeing that everyone was ganging up on her now, she launched another fireball at Rorschach to keep him away and jumped on some flailing guards' shoulders to keep herself out of reach. While she was leaping about on the crowd of people trying to catch her, her allies were flinging stones and spears at them as they weren't being bothered by anyone. On top of that, not all the soldiers were aiming properly, and they hit each other by accident.

Rorschach wondered why he was still here. It was the perfect time to escape, since everyone was distracted by Azula and her soldiers.

But like he told himself before, he had to help them fight against the Dai Li. He wasn't the person that would stand by and let evil rule the streets.

That didn't mean that he had to like the Fire Nation soldiers, or the Earth Kingdom guards that remained loyal. They were sloppy, inefficient, and in his way. He was bombarded by the wayward flame and stone projectile so much that he had to take a shield from an unconscious soldier.

He still managed to plow through more enemies than the two armies combined however. It seemed that they underestimated him, since they figured out that he wasn't a bender of any sort. Their mistake was fatal when they let him get close enough to break their arms, jab out their eyes, snap their necks, and make other severe blows.

The others that kept their guards up didn't fare much better. Though he had to suffer some bruises from the rocks being thrown at him, he started to anticipate their moves the more he faced them and could dodge most of them.

It helped that after seeing what he did to some guards, a bunch others were shaken up to say the least. They knew that he was human, but they also knew about the rumors concerning him and certain spirit. The brutal way he battled almost confirmed them, and as the fight dragged on, more and more people were less willing to be in his way, friend or foe.

"Don't huddle all around Azula! Spread out!" Zuko commanded his troops, but only some of them heard and obeyed him over the chaos. He did notice the masked stranger that Toph also punted into the room, but he wasn't attacking him so he had no qualms with him being here.

The only thing that was important was his sister. Who was impossible to hit when she was bouncing on top of everyone and burning everyone she touched. What's worse was that he thought that he saw a smile on her face, like this was a game and she was winning.

"Are you afraid of challenging me face to face?" He shouted, still trying to hurl fireballs at her. "Why don't you come down and fight me like a man?"

"But Zuzu." She touched the ground and turned to face her brother. "I'm a woman. I can't fight you like a man."

Before he could say anything else, her smirk grew bigger as she shot a bolt of lightning at him.

Zuko easily redirected it at an unfortunate Dai Li agent nearby, but it still left him a little wobbly. The split second that he took to rest, many rocks and stone gauntlets flew towards him and clasped around his hands and feet so he couldn't move an inch.

"No!" Toph earthbended two large pillars out of the ground and slammed them and anyone that was near them against the walls. Then, making her way towards the trapped Firelord, she attempted to pry the stone off with bending while keeping the barrage of rocks away at the same time.

But every time she got one off, another took its place. Even when she tried to attack the agents and guards that was keeping him in place, it was no good. There were just too many of them to deal with.

Azula tsked as she stepped closer to the struggling girl, wielding balls of lightning in both hands. "Yes. It's true. Your little gang is finally going down, and it wasn't that difficult to do."

The crackle of lightning speeding towards her was hard for Toph to interpret. When she realized what was thrown, it was too late to move out of the way.

Luckily, an old man stepped between her and the lightning and reflected it back at Azula. She was able to dodge the bolt, but not without it searing her shoulder. Clutching her wound, she hissed at him and hurled blue fireballs at the two.

"We still have to work together, or else we'll never turn the tide!" Iroh caught the flaming spheres and threw them at some enemies closing in. "How much fire can you handle, Toph?"

"Uh… just as long as my feet don't get burned?" She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that question.

That was enough for him. Taking in a deep breath, he swung his arms in a wide circular motion and conjured a wall of fire around them.

"There! Work on freeing Zuko, I'll take care of anyone or anything incoming."

Even though she was starting to sweat already, she nodded and yanked off the stones one by one.

"That's not going to be enough to stop me! I'm not afraid of a little fire!" Azula seemed to have forgotten her troops around her that were thinking otherwise. She brought her hand upwards to create a hole in the fire wall, which was promptly closed by Iroh.

Scowling, she tried doing so again. And again. Then, seeing as that wasn't going anywhere and she was just wasting time, she took a step back and dove through the wall of flames.

The move took Iroh by surprise and left him unprepared for the next one. Though he barely managed to duck under her high kick, he was struck by some low ones and fell over.

The attacks broke his concentration and the fire wall dissipated, enabling her soldiers to imprison him with Earthbending. They also resumed their assault on Toph and Zuko, who was almost free before she was interrupted.

"See? Even together, you still lose. I applaud your efforts though." Azula smirked and threw a fireball at Toph's feet. Like with lightning, she couldn't sense what was heading towards her and this time, there was no one to block it. She fell backwards, no longer able to stand or see because of her scorched feet.

After extinguishing some flames on her that she got from rolling through the fire, she turned to the general crowd that was still battling around her.

"Guess what everyone? The Firelord is captured and your best benders were defeated. I suggest that you all surrender now, and maybe we'll make you our servants instead of killing you on the spot."

A pause, then the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers dropped their weapons and raised up their hands. Most of them. A few didn't give up yet and pointing their spears, fireballs, and blocks of earth at their foes. And one man, who was busy dealing with all the mooks, turned away from his current fight and charged at Azula.

"I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to fight." She said almost nonchalantly. Numerous soldiers stepped in his way but he took most of them down without blinking. The rest were told to keep away, which confused Rorschach but that didn't stop his rampage.

"Let him come. I'm going to enjoy this more than the duel with Zuzu and his friends." Azula stretched her legs a bit, waiting for him to come closer.

When he was in range, he reached out and tried to grab her neck. But she swerved away at the last second and tripped him with her foot.

He didn't fall to the ground like she expected though. He only stumbled forward and whirled around for another attack. This time, she didn't stand idle while he was charging and shot out a rain of fire at him.

To the masked man, they were just bullets. Only larger, slower, and made out of fire. He wouldn't be in this profession long if he wasn't able to dodge them. Though it was still a surprise to Azula when he grabbed both of her arms, twisted them, and slammed her into the ground.

"Nice." She sputtered out, tasting blood from dislodged teeth. "Though, I don't know if you have noticed, but I don't only firebend with my arms."

To prove this, she kicked her legs upwards onto Rorschach's back, a blazing trail following it. He was forced to let go in order to not get burned, and was pushed further back by more fire launched at him.

It was harder to dodge the great flaming scythes that Azula made with her foot. He could see that his attack had affected Azula though. Her arms hung limp on her side and she relied soley on her legs to firebend.

A flame almost seared the side of his face. He was getting close to her, and she realized that. So she quickened the rate at which the fire came out, and they were started to look almost white.

His fingers brushed against her side before she jumped up, with fire blowing out from her feet. There was a visible winces when she used her arms to steady her landing, but that faded quickly. A split second after she stood up, she lifted her hands again and, with her feet stomping once on the ground, hurled a large blade of fire in his direction.

It looked like he was going to die again. The flame was too big to dodge, and it would most definitely burn him into a crisp if it enveloped him. Yet, as he watched Azula created the fire with those specific motions, some part of him knew what was happening. Some part understood not just the moves she used, but the fire the moves caused.

Acting completely on instinct, Rorschach closed his eyes and mimicked the hand waving and feet stomping that she did moments ago. And though he couldn't see the results, he could feel it. He could feel the heat that was so close to him being turned away, back at its sender.

"... I did not see that coming." Was the only thing she had to say. Flicking her hands, Azula pushed the reflected flame to the side where it harmlessly scorched the wall. She then cradled her arms, which were still obviously in pain, and examined her opponent curiously.

"Think you can do it again though? Firebend THIS!"

Her face was twisted in perfect fury as she did the same thing again. Only this time, everything was concentrated in the lower half of her body. And it seemed... manical. Convoluted. He somehow knew that he wouldn't be able to do whatever he did again.

He reacted too slowly. The flame scorched his left arm while he was trying to dodge it. He had to bite his tongue in order to not scream out in pain, but he emitted some sort of grunting sound as he fell to the ground.

"Ok, now you can deal with him." Azula told the earthbending guards beside her. They immediately wrapped Rorschach in earth, binding his legs and arms close, and brought their weapons close to his head.

"Finally, I win." She stood over him, smirking. "I must admit, you were the one that fought the best. That's because you didn't hold back at all. You didn't care for your enemies' lives. Not even your friends' lives. They're going to hate you for that."

She indicated the fallen bodies of Iroh, Toph, and Zuko. "They're a bunch of merciful fools. And that's what got them defeated. Even if we lose somehow, they won't accept you into their gang. You're too ruthless. You would never fit in.

"But why don't you join us? We all try to achieve the same goal. We all want the criminals off the streets. We just employ more direct methods. Like you. So why do you fight with them, against us? Why? WHY?"

Azula was panting at the end of the rant, but her eyes still had the energy it had during the battle. They were looking for his defeat before, now they were looking for his answer.

"Because." Rorschach spoke up, glaring at the menacing figure above. "You're an evil bitch."

She didn't say anything at first, then she roared and brought blue flaming daggers close to his neck.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S A BITCH!"

Before she could slice or burn his throat though, a gust of wind knocked her and her guards away from him and the other defeated fighters. A second later, the stone around them sunk back into the floor and he could stand up and see who saved him.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Azula screamed. "WHY DID NO ONE BOTHER TO RESTRAIN THE AVATAR BEFORE HE WOKE UP?!"

The Dai Li agents stuttered out a response that no one could understand. She ignored whatever they said and threw the nearest person at Aang.

"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"

She pushed more stammering bodies out of her way as she ran towards the doors. It wasn't easy, since not only was he throwing all manner of projectiles in order to stop her, but the other soldiers, including Iroh, Toph, and Zuko, regained their strength and helped in the attempt to capture her.

Rorschach noticed that the boy was glowing again, much like during the prison breakout. And that he wasn't trying to detain him either. If there was a good time to escape, it was now.

Instead of leaving through the door like Azula, where he would be bombarded with rocks and fire, he raced towards a hole in the wall that had been made by... something. Miraculously, he wasn't seen at all, at least, not until he took a step outside.

"No one is leaving this room until I say so." Aang's voice had a strange echo-y quality when he said that.

A stone wall suddenly bursted from the ground and covered Rorschach's exit, and knocked him backwards in the process. The door was also blocked by a wall, and Azula whirled around to glare at him.

"Too bad!" She snarled and commanded her soldiers and agents to attack everyone else, but mainly the Avatar, with just a glance. She then, gratefully, turned and sprinted away while jumping over the earth that tried to grab her feet and dodging the fireballs thrown by the soldiers and her relatives.

Though they didn't have the advantage in strength, they still had the advantage in number. Many Dai Li agents and Earthbending soldiers dogpiled Zuko, Iroh, Toph, and especially Aang. They were easy to blow away, but they were replaced just as easily.

Aang got everyone off of him by surrounding himself with a sphere of air, and then helped the others with their swarming enemies. When he was done with all of them, he glanced around the room and found that... she was gone. Even though he had blocked off all escape routes except...

"The windows!" His voice was back to normal by the time he and everyone else raced to the railing. There was no sign of any crazed Firebender below in the streets or on the wall of the building.

"She's gone. I can't feel her anywhere." Toph placed her hand on several places and shook her head.

"Really gone? You can't even feel her body down there? A fall like that would kill someone." Zuko commented and brought his head away from the long drop down.

"Really gone. It's like she disappeared, somehow..."

While the others were puzzling over Azula's latest trick, Rorschach tried to leave by pushing aside some stones blocking the way out. They were stuck firmly in place though, and his burnt arm didn't help at all. He continued trying anyway, and was only stopped when an invisible force pushed him backwards into the wall.

"At least we caught one lousy scum today." Aang muttered and pointed his staff at him. "Take this man down to prison, where he belongs." He told the remaining guards around him.

"No! He saved our lives!" Toph rushed over to him after hearing his orders, wincing at every step she took. "You were unconscious for most of the battle, but he stood his own against Azula! AGAINST! As in, he's on our side."

"That doesn't mean anything." He retorted, not taking his eyes off of him. "It could be another part of her plan for all we know. He's too dangerous to trust!"

"Just because he broke... her arms doesn't mean that he's bad, if that's what you're thinking." Zuko said quietly. "He was desperate. People do horrid things when they're desperate."

"Why are you all taking his side? It's ridiculous!" Aang threw up his hands in frustration.

"Because he saved our lives, if you didn't hear that the first time." Toph grumbled.

"Just because he saved us once, doesn't mean he's good!"

"And just because he did a bad thing once, doesn't mean he's bad!" Zuko was sounding more annoyed by the minute. "What we're trying to say is that why can't you give him a chance? He deserves one for helping us!"

"He did get a chance, and he wasted it." Aang scoffed. "And he did plenty of bad things, like killing people, and I don't think he regrets it. At all."

"We're in the middle of a war, Avatar." Iroh spoke up suddenly. "A smaller war than the one several months ago, but it's still a war. And in a war, people kill. Like him, and me. Do you think that I'm bad because I didn't regret killing people back when I was a general in the Fire Nation army?"

"Yeah." Zuko nodded at what his uncle said. "And am I bad because I chased you for the longest time ever, and even tried to kill you sometimes?"

"Well... no." The boy sighed and glanced at the two of them. "But you guys did feel sorry afterwards. He didn't."

"That's because it takes time. No one changes overnight." Iroh didn't seem fazed by anything. "And it takes many chances, not just one. I already see some goodness inside him. It may be hidden by all the blood he has on his hands, but it's there."

"... What?" Everyone stared at him with a skeptical look, but Aang was the most confused by what he just said. "But you just met him now, as far as I know."

"I've known of him for some time." The old man replied. "And have been aware of his presence even longer."

Rorschach was a little peeved on how Iroh wasn't revealing much about what he knows about him. And how everyone kept on talking about him like he wasn't there. Then again, what could he do? Anything he said would make the situation worse. For example, he didn't regret breaking the Avatar's girlfriend's arms.

"Ok, so if we don't send him back to jail, what do we do with him? Let him run around and hurt people under our noses like what he's been doing already?" Aang was also irritated by this conversation, but for different reasons.

"I'll keep him under surveillance. You wouldn't have to worry about him breaking any laws. Or the bones of any of your friends." Iroh managed to sneak a wink at Rorschach.

"No offence, uncle, but that doesn't sound smart at all." Zuko saw his subtle eyewink and raised an eyebrow. Then something dawned on him and his own eyes grew wider. "Oh no you didn't..."

"Yes. I did. And seeing as my restaurant wasn't burned down yet, my idea is safer than it sounds."

"Wait, what are we talking about now?" Toph chirped up after her period of silence. "Was Iroh suggesting to take this guy in himself?"

Whatever else the group was blathering about wasn't an interest to him any longer. It looked like he was going to spill the beans on his secret identity soon, and he would rather not stay. Even though he had no clue how the old man knew who he was from when he picked him off the streets...

When he took a step forward, he realized that some of the injuries he got from the battle must have been more severe than he thought they were. Including the burn that he swore was still smoldering. He couldn't help but groan a bit, and to his annoyance, everyone heard it.

"See? Can't you at least give him time to heal before sending him back behind bars?" Zuko felt dirty, trying to appeal to Aang's sympathetic side, but he wouldn't feel right if he was locked away after everything he did.

"He can heal in jail." Aang didn't budge, though his face grew softer.

"No, not really. He got a really nasty burn from Azula. Which, you should know, hurts a lot, and is beyond the reach of prison healing. And you're just going to stick him back there after he saved your sorry ass, where he could die?" Toph said.

Please. He dealt with worse things than burns and bruises in jail. Or places similar to jail. There was no way he could die, though he didn't speak up since this could be the way he'd stay out.

"... If you REALLY think that he deserves a free pass for saving me, and you REALLY think that he shouldn't be there for the sake of healing, and you REALLY REALLY think Iroh can control him, then..." He rubbed the arrow on his forehead, like he couldn't believe what he was going to stay next. "Then he can stay with him. Only as long as he needs to recover. Then he'll be back in prison."

"Or, if he's behaved himself, he'll be allowed to help us." Iroh suggested hopefully.

"... He better have changed by then quite a bit. I'm not going to let him kill people anymore."