Tai Lung's golden eyes never left the Avatar, gleaming with a predator's hunger.
"I was right," he said, voice low and full of certainty. "With every element you master, your chi grows stronger. Your chi is much greater than before, at least a few times. It makes me wonder…" His smile widened, dangerous. "How strong your Avatar State must be now."
Aang said nothing. He only stared, chest rising and falling with measured breaths, every muscle taut, waiting for Tai Lung to make the next move.
Tai Lung did not mind his silence. He lunged forward, both arms stabbing out like spears. Fire erupted from his fists, it was more powerful than before, a searing tidal wave, a dozen times more massive than his attack earlier.
Aang's eyes narrowed. He spread his arms wide, palms straining against the air before clenching his fists with all his might. In a grinding loud rock of stone, two enormous rock columns tore themselves from the earth at his sides. He quickly brought his fists together and with them, the two columns smashed together before him, fusing into a single towering wall. The inferno slammed into the rock face, firelight spilling around its edges, but the Avatar's barrier held.
Drawing a steadying breath, Aang thrust both fists forward. The monolithic wall shuddered, then shot across the ground like a battering ram aimed straight at Tai Lung.
Seeing the incoming massive rock, Tai Lung soared aloft in an instant, a trail of fire flaring from his feet as he rose above the onrushing rock. Glancing down, he let loose another torrent of blazing fire, searing downward toward the avatars.
Aang's arms spun, wheeling in circles like a watermill. Below, the river surged upward in a towering column to meet the flames. At the same time, he inhaled sharply, then exhaled a gale of air following the path of water. The three elements collided mid-air, a blinding eruption of steam exploding outward and clouding the battlefield in a choking white veil.
Aang stared at the fog looking for traces of Tai Lung. The next moment, Aang's eyes widened as Tai Lung burst from the fog like an arrow, his fist ablaze with eerie blue fire. Aang leapt back just in time, the attack missing him by inches.
Tai Lung's fist slammed into the column where Aang stood with a deafening crack. Jagged azure fissures spread outward in an instant, glowing like veins of lightning, before the entire stone burst apart from within, shattered utterly by the force.
Still airborne, Aang swept one hand, summoning another pillar of water from below. With a second motion, he hurled it forward, a glistening serpent rushing toward Tai Lung as he fell.
But Tai Lung merely flicked his arm upward. A roaring wall of fire surged from the ground upward to clash against the water. Steam hissed violently, flooding the air once again.
Aang braced, alert for another sudden strike, but instead, a blazing sphere of blue flame tore through the fog, hurtling toward him.
With a sharp motion, Aang thrust his palm forward. A piercing blast of air shot out, lancing the fireball. The orb ruptured in mid-flight with a thunderous crack, scattering sparks across the sky.
Landing lightly upon a nearby column, Aang scanned the battlefield for his foe. But then, too late, he sensed the opponent. Tai Lung had used the mist and the fireball as nothing more than a distraction.
From the right he came, silent as a stalking leopard, surging across the ground and up the stone. Aang spun, desperate, his fist igniting in a burst of fire as he lashed out, but Tai Lung caught the blow with an iron grip. With a savage yank, he dragged Aang forward, their faces inches apart. Then, with his other fist, he struck.
The blow sank into Aang's gut. Pain exploded through him, the air leaving his lungs in a strangled gasp. His knees buckled, and he fell forward, gasping, while Tai Lung loomed above him, smiling coldly.
"Avatar," Tai Lung's voice ran "You can't beat me like this. Enter the Avatar State, and give it your all."
Aang looked up, clutching his stomach, breathing shallow and ragged. His eyes burned with defiance. With a sudden jerk of his arm, he hurled a blast of fire toward Tai Lung, leaping back to a neighboring column in the same motion.
Tai Lung swept the fire aside with an almost lazy move of his hand, letting the Avatar retreat and gather himself. His golden eyes glinted with anticipation.
Aang staggered upright, his body trembling but his gaze fierce. He inhaled deeply, steadying his breath, then closed his eyes. For a long heartbeat there was silence, then his eyes snapped open, glowing white, the tattoos across his skin igniting with the same brilliance. The air itself howled, whipped into a storm around him.
The ground shuddered. Dozens of towering rock columns cracked and tore themselves free of the earth, levitating in a wide circle before collapsing inward into dense, compact stones. They spun around Aang as though caught in an invisible orbit. From all around him, the water surged upward, curling to join the orbiting storm of earth.
Flame burst from Aang's limbs, from his very mouth, twining itself into the cyclone of water and stone. His small frame hovered above the ground, suspended by the furious wind that tore at the surrounding, snapping stone and lifting dust in violent swirls.
Tai Lung watched in silence without interruption. Tai Lung could feel the Avatar chi was much greater than when he faced him in Ba Sing Se during the drill invasion, it is almost as if he was someone else now.
The wind roared louder, tearing rocks from their roots, cracking cliffsides. Even those watching from far-off felt the ground shake and the wind blow. Many had seen the Avatar State before, but never like this.
Aang raised a single hand. One of the orbiting stones shot forward with such speed it tore through the air like lightning, aimed straight for Tai Lung.
Tai Lung twisted, avoiding the strike, and countered at once with a surging wave of fire from his fist.
The rock slammed into the ground behind him, erupting with an explosion that rattled the forest floor. Tai Lung glanced back, eyes narrowing. If that had struck him, even he would not have escaped unscathed.
But the Avatar didn't even flinch at his fire attack. Aang allowed the flames to engulf him fully. When the blaze dissipated, his glowing form emerged untouched, the shield of elements swirling tighter around him. Tai Lung's eyes widened slightly. Ordinary fire would never pierce the fourfold barrier that encased the boy.
Then Aang spoke and his voice was layered by hundreds of souls. "Your arrogance ends here. I will not allow you to disturb the balance any longer."
Tai Lung only smiled, sharp and amused. "Talking is easy."
The Avatar surged forward with terrifying speed.
Tai Lung leapt aside, springing from the rock just as the Avatar crashed through it, shattering stone into dust. Flame erupted from his legs, propelling him into the air as he hurled a stream of fire backward.
Through the cloud of rubble, the sphere of elements burst forth with the Avatar still at the center. He swept his hand, and a tidal wave of water and boulders struck against the fire, smothering it in a violent clash. The small broken rocks turned into bullets charging toward Tai Lung.
Tai Lung shot through the sky, dodging left and right as the Avatar pursued. More rocks fired like arrows from the orbit around the Avatar, slamming into the air where Tai Lung had been moments before. The waters below churned upward, pillars of liquid lashing toward him.
It was as though the world itself had risen to fight him. Stone, water, fire, and air bent to the Avatar's wrath, attacking from every angle. Tai Lung twisted, rolled, spun, but still the strikes came nonstop.
Getting Overwhelmed, Tai Lung chose to soar higher, blue fire bursting from his arms as well now to propel him faster, desperate to escape the storm behind him. But the Avatar followed, relentlessly.
At last, Tai Lung reached high into the sky. He wheeled around sharply, one hand outstretched. Flame erupted from his palm, spinning violently before condensing inward until it became a crackling, rotating sphere of pure blue fire then hurled it down toward the Avatar.
The Avatar halted mid-flight. With both arms raised, Aang summoned rock and water alike, a shield of mountain-size proportions forming before him. Water turned to ice, fusing with jagged stone until it loomed vast as a fortress wall.
The blue fireball struck.
A deafening explosion shocked the world. A great eruption of blow fire filled the world as the shield fractured at once, cracking from within before crumbling into avalanches of stone and ice. And along with it, a shock wave was unleashed that hurled Tai Lung back like a ragdoll, flames sputtering around him as he tumbled through the sky.
With a fierce growl, he twisted, catching himself, and landed hard upon a towering stone column. His chest heaved as he looked on at the devastation he had wrought. Dust, fire, and shattered earth filled the air where the Avatar had stood.