The news spread through the Fire Nation Capital like wildfire, just as Ozai intended. He made certain that every citizen, every noble, every soldier knew about the treacherous son of Admiral Lung, a mere child who dared strike the Crown Prince, insult the Fire Lord within his own council, and top it all by challenging him to an Agni Kai. The Fire Lord wanted this humiliation carved into the memory of the nation. Let them see the price of rebellion. Let them witness what happened when a boy refused to bow.
He wouldn't just destroy Tai Lung. He would disgrace his name, tarnish the legacy of his family, and break their pride.
The center of the capital was flooded by the time the sun neared the horizon. A massive dueling ring had been prepared open, spacious, and surrounded by tiers of seated citizens. Most had come for blood. They expected to see the Fire Lord burn the arrogant noble's son to ash. The boy had overstepped every line imaginable, and now only death could atone for his sins.
Yet, in the crowd, scattered among the eager and bloodthirsty, were those who didn't cheer.
Among them stood a woman with tear-reddened eyes, Tai Lung's mother, trembling but proud of her son's bravery. In some other section, sat Ty Lee and Mai, their faces grim and anxious. Not far off, Zuko stood silently, his jaw clenched, guilt written plainly across his face. Iroh beside him looked down, ashamed, the weight of inaction and guilt painted on his face. The boy chose to stand up instead of accepting injustice.
Admiral Lung stood still. His eyes were fixed on the ring, his face tight with concern. Yet, beneath that surface, a glimmer of hope flickered. He remembered Tai Lung's words. That presence. That eerie chill. His instincts screamed that his son was no ordinary boy, there was something dangerous within him. Something he didn't feel before.
And then, the duelists stepped forward.
The sun was just brushing against the edge of the horizon as the combatants entered the ring. A heavy silence fell across the crowd.
Both wore the traditional ceremonial shoulder garments of the Agni Kai, crimson, gold, and black, symbolizing the honor of battle. They knelt on opposite ends of the ring, bowing their heads in silence.
Then, as one, they stood. With a smooth motion, they pulled off their shoulder garments and cast them aside.
Tai Lung stood tall, taller than what a twelve-year-old should be. His body, though still in the early stages of youth, bore the signs of intense training. Defined muscles beneath his skin like tempered steel. But it was his eyes, sharp, golden, and glowing with power that stunned the crowd. Murmurs rippled. He was… impressive. Clearly talented and well trained.
Some even began to pity him. Such a gifted boy. He could have been a war hero… a symbol of pride. Instead, he would die here, beneath the Fire Lord's flame.
On the other end, stood Fire Lord Ozai.
Tall. Broad. Radiating dominance.
His every breath carried authority, his gaze burned like molten metal. He was a firebending grandmaster, the embodiment of power itself. The very air bowed around him. The difference between the two was staggering. It felt wrong for an Agni Kai to take place between them. It wasn't a duel. It was an execution.
But Tai Lung's gaze didn't falter.
He didn't even blink.
While his size was a disadvantage, Tai Lung's mastery of chi control compensated more than enough. The techniques he honed and carried from his last life gave him speed and strength far beyond what any child or even adult should possess. A discipline that no firebender had ever imagined.
He took his stance.
And it wasn't a firebending stance.
It was his Kung Fu.
The crowd tilted forward, confused.
Ozai narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "What foolishness is this? A mixed stance of earth and waterbending?" He sneered. "Which fool taught you that nonsense?"
Tai Lung's eyes narrowed dangerously at the words.
He had learned this in the Jade Palace. From Master Shifu, the only father he truly knew in that life. And though bitterness still clung to his memories of Shifu, he would allow no insult, not even an ignorant one.
"You'll know soon enough who the fool is," Tai Lung said coldly.
Ozai's gaze sharpened.
Then, with a roar, he punched forward, a torrent of searing flame erupting toward Tai Lung.
Tai Lung moved.
Not with panic. Not with effort. With grace.
He sidestepped the wave of flame, only a lick of fire brushing past his shoulder.
Ozai's eyes narrowed. "So you're the slippery type," he muttered, then struck again, a wider arc of flame rushing out like a wall.
Tai Lung walked, a dance more than a dodge. With each step, he grew closer. Each movement is smooth, refined, and unknowingly to any, a predator approaching his prey.
The crowd watched tensely in silence.
The boy wasn't just surviving. He was approaching the Fire Lord steadily.
As Tai Lung closed the distance between himself and his opponent, the crowd collectively held its breath. Ozai's eyes narrowed. The Fire Lord's leg suddenly swept outward in a wide, arcing kick, unleashing a blazing wall of fire. At such close range, escape should have been impossible.
But Tai Lung vanished.
With a burst of speed so sudden, Tai Lung slid low beneath the fire, his body grazing the ground like smoke. In the same fluid motion, his leg snapped upward, striking Ozai's planted foot.
The Fire Lord's balance shattered.
He staggered, his eyes flaring wide with surprise before hardening with fury. As he fell, Ozai slammed a hand to the ground to break his descent, his other leg igniting as it shot toward Tai Lung in a blazing arc. Flame exploded where Tai Lung had been. But he wasn't there. He was above.
In that instant, Ozai looked up, only to see a foot descending from the sky.
CRACK!
Tai Lung's foot slammed into his face, crushing his head into the stone. The audience gasped.
Supporting his weight on one hand, Tai Lung flipped again, rising with grace and power, his second foot dropping like a hammer on the fallen Fire Lord's chest with a thud that echoed across the courtyard. Ozai lay beaten, his body pinned.
And Tai Lung stood tall.
His foot pressed firmly against the Fire Lord's chest.
"How does the ground feel like?" Tai Lung asked, his voice calm and sharp. "It's quite suitable for you… don't you think?"
The crowd was dead silent. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Ozai's eyes shot open, filled with unfiltered rage. Power surged around him, an eruption of fire in all directions. Tai Lung jumped back, flipping cleanly as fire engulfed the ring.
Ozai rose, his expression twisted in fury. "You will pay for this!"
Tai Lung chuckled "Who's going to make me pay? You? The backup Fire Lord who frames others?"
Ozai roared. With a savage punch, he sent another massive wave of fire forward. Tai Lung sidestepped effortlessly and moved in, faster than before. But Ozai was ready this time, his stance firm, his body braced for the counter.
Then it happened.
Pain.
Blow after blow rained down on Ozai, his face, ribs, joints, each blow carried strength no child should possess. Tai Lung became a blur, rotating, spinning, his fists, elbows, knees landing in a merciless rhythm. It was like a storm of violence. Ozai's body jerked and twisted under the torrent, his body crumbling with each strike.
The crowd watched, mouths agape.
They had never witnessed an Agni Kai like this. This was not how Agni Kai fought. Agni Kai is a duel of fire, not whatever this is.
But more importantly, the child was winning. Dominating, without using even a flicker of flame.
Ty Lee's eyes lit up. She turned to Mai, gripping her sleeve. "These movements... they're the same ones he has been teaching me!"
Mai only nodded slowly, unable to tear her gaze from the spectacle.
Ozai stumbled back, dazed, blood at the corner of his mouth.
Tai Lung caught him by the beard.
The Fire Lord glared at him, hatred burning hotter than his flames. Tai Lung responded with a cool smile, then punched him straight in the face.
Ozai collapsed.
And his beard tore free in Tai Lung's hand.
Tai Lung stood over him, holding the severed tuft of regal hair. He looked at it briefly… then, with a flick of his fingers, ignited it in flame. The burning hair crackled as it turned to ash.
Ozai staggered to his feet, barely.
"I am the Fire Lord," he snarled, his voice trembling with pride and desperation. "And you are just a child! I will not lose to you! I was born with divine right!"
Tai Lung didn't reply.
He stood still, watching the man. Those words... that tone... they echoed in his mind.
He remembered Po.
He remembered the contempt in his own voice, his own arrogance, when he dismissed the panda as unworthy. When he believed himself to be the Dragon Warrior, when he wanted to prove himself.
[Did I look this pathetic then? No… Absolutely not] he thought.
Ozai screamed and dashed forward with reckless fury, aiming a fiery kick at Tai Lung's head.
Tai Lung tilted, the kick missing by a hair.
Then snap, a sharp, surgical kick struck Ozai's leg, precisely at the nerves and chi pathways.
Ozai crumpled, falling to his knee.
"I struck your nerves and chi paths," Tai Lung said, his voice cold. "You won't be able to use that leg for hours."
He looked down at the broken ruler before him.
"You've lost this Agni Kai. Luckily for you… I agreed not to kill you."
With that, Tai Lung turned his back.
He didn't want to look at Ozai anymore.
The Fire Lord's act, his words, his pride, they were too familiar. Too close to how he acted in his past life. He had given Ozai a beating, stripped him of dignity, and left him in the dirt.
That was enough.
He didn't want to be reminded of his failure, he dreaded the thought that he was as pathetic as Ozai. No, he rejected the thought.