Raising my brow at Sozins words, I promptly shook my head.
"Close, Sozin, but I'm not Roku anymore. In this incarnation, I go by Aang; I wish we met on better circumstances, but one of us is quite stubborn." Remarked Aang with a shake of his head as he glanced at Sozin, who furrowed his brows while narrowing his eyes.
"Aang, huh? Well, that narrows things down." Muttered Sozin lightly as he stroked his beard while eyeing Aang, who sighed.
"Yes, I suppose by meeting you here, you've realized the Eastern and Western Air Temples no longer need to be invaded." Said Aang lightly with a slight frown as he slowly walked across the room, causing Sozin's eyes to widen slightly.
"How do you know about that?" Asked Sozin with a deep frown as he straightened his stance while placing his hands behind his back, emitting an aura of power and confidence, prompting Aang to nod.
"Roku and a bit of thinking; you desire world domination, and what proves to be your biggest obstacle is your previous reincarnated so-called friend… In other words, me, the Avatar. It would only make sense that you would invade the Air Temples in hopes of killing the next Avatar, giving you close to two decades without worrying about the next one." Replied Aang calmly as he observed Sozin's bedchamber, seemingly unconcerned about his presence, which was a few meters away.
"I see… It seems like you could be more trouble than Roku." Remarked Sozin as he squinted at Aang, who was calmly observing the painting to his right, before nodding.
"But of course, I'll prove to be more trouble than Roku; I have his guidance and many other Avatars to assist me throughout my life. The Avatar will only grow more powerful with every incarnation, and it is pretty obvious; I don't believe that to be a secret." Said Aang lightly as he glanced at Sozin, only to nimbly leap to the left, effortlessly evading a fireball.
Before I could even land on the ground, Sozin launched several more fireballs my way, prompting me to condense a large amount of wind beneath my feet, which exploded the instant I kicked, propelling me in the direction I wished to go, allowing me to completely abuse my agility to dodge all of Sozin's attack while he damaged his room. This continued for some time until Sozin finally stopped, though it wasn't because he was tired, but it seemed like he had realized trying to touch me would prove to be rather difficult.
"Fighting would be pointless, Sozin; I only came here when I was confident in defending myself against arguably the strongest firebender alive." Remarked Aang lightly as he calmly landed on the ground without a bead of sweat while he glanced at Sozin, whose face scrunched in annoyance.
"May we talk like two proper civilized people, or must we resort to violence?" Asked Aang curiously as he approached Sozin, whom he fearlessly stood less than a meter before.
Before I could get a response, Sozin suddenly stepped forward and thrust his two fingers, which danced with electricity, causing me to instantly swing my palm upwards as I hit the bottom of his hand, redirecting his fingers to the ceiling, almost immediately afterward, a powerful bolt of lightning erupted from his fingers and fired the ceiling, leaving a smoldering dent in it.
"Are we finished? Or do you plan to continue with this farce? I can get aggressive if you so wish." Asked Aang with a frown as he calmly stared at Sozin while the air in the room began to circulate at his words, knocking the paintings off his wall.
I made sure to slightly distance myself from Sozin, just enough to where he was out of reach but close enough to where I would still have enough time to react. I may have redirected his last attack, but if he managed to get his hands on me, things would turn bad quickly; after all, even if he was an old man, his physical strength was definitely higher than mine.
'Still, I didn't expect he knew how to lightning bend.' Thought Aang while internally frowning as he cautiously eyed Sozin, whose danger increased by a few notches within his eyes.
"Hmm, I suppose we can speak… For now." Said Sozin blandly with a slight frown as he returned to his previous position while Aang calmly sat on an air scooter.
Eyeing Sozin to ensure he didn't intend to pull another move on me, I cleared my throat before speaking about why I came here.
"I've come here to dissuade you from invading the world in seek of world domination; not only will it cause mass casualties on both sides, but you won't win in the end. I may not know the strength of the Fire Nation, but it isn't strong enough to wage war on the world and succeed. No singular faction is." Remarked Aang solemnly as he looked at Sozin, whose eyes showed annoyance though his expression remained passive.
"If I'm being completely honest, if I'm not able to dissuade you tonight, I will not step in to stop the war. I will simply protect my home to the best of my ability." Stated Aang firmly as he deeply gazed at Sozin, who seemed slightly taken aback by his words; not only was he, but so was every previous Avatar, including a certain spirit.
"Why would I believe those words when they're spoken from the Avatar? Your whole existence is meant to bring peace and balance; are you mocking my intelligence?" Asked Sozin with a deep frown as he sat down on his chair while leaning forward and eyeing Aang, who nodded.
"I was born the Avatar; I didn't choose it. I don't wish to spend my life bringing peace and balance to the world; that isn't what I want. Besides, who decided Avatar must bring peace and balance to the world? Just because I can bend all four elements, I suddenly have a duty to be the harbinger of peace and balance." Said Aang earnestly as he looked at Sozin while waving his hands, creating a slight gust of air.
"I also have a different view on the Avatar than most; we're supposed to bring peace and balance, but I see that as wrong. Peace isn't something one can achieve, and balance doesn't mean eternal peace. Chaos and peace are different sides of the same coin; they constantly change throughout the years and shouldn't be meddled with on a global scale because when one side lasts too long, the other side will come with even more force." Remarked Aang lightly as he quieted down before staring at Sozin, causing the room to be encompassed with silence.
"Hmm, I didn't expect this from a 12-year-old child, an Air Nomad no less." Muttered Sozin softly as he stared at Aang while tapping his chin.
"The Avatar's existence itself was a mistake; we may be seen as heroes by the masses, but we're nothing more than world dictators that enforce peace onto everyone, but peace comes at a cost as there is nothing free in this world." Remarked Aang as he glanced at Sozin, who raised an eyebrow before faintly nodding.
"You came here to stop me from following through with my plans, but your words only further solidify my desire." Said Sozin firmly as he narrowed his eyes at Aang, who simply sighed with a shake of his head.
"Like I said before, Sozin, you won't win in the end; you should know this. Besides, while I said I've got no desire to interfere as the Avatar, that will not stop me from retaliating as an Air-Nomad." Declared Aang solemnly as he stared at Sozin, causing the tension to rapidly increase, only for faint noises to resound in the distance.
Glancing at the doors, I swiftly leaped off my air scooter, dodging a fireball, though this time, it was much larger than before, causing me to frown as I wouldn't be able to envade in time. Quickly clasping my hands, I promptly removed them as I created a vacuum and sucked all the air out from in front of me, causing the fireball to rapidly dissipate from the lack of fuel, which seemed to slightly surprise Sozin, though it didn't stop him from constantly attacking.
"Seems like I've overstayed my welcome." Muttered Aang lightly as he did a swirling motion with his arms, creating a horizontal vortex that sucked in the fire before spreading it in opposite directions.
Just as the door to the room was busted open, I landed on the ground before leaping into the air and bicycle-kicking the numerous guards, launching a powerful gust of wind that flung them away; however, I was also forced to deal with more of Sozin's attacks as I swiftly raised my hands from the ground, creating a wave of air that managed to briefly overpower the incoming attacks.
Using this chance, I smashed a window before leaping out of it and taking to the skies with my glider, swiftly leaving the palace, though I suppose it couldn't have been that easy since I didn't make it far before I saw a rain flaming arrows heading right for me.
Clicking my tongue, I flipped the glider and took a deep breath before releasing a mighty breath that took care of the rain of arrows; summoning forth more wind, I swiftly left the confines of the royal palace.
Once I reached a safe distance in the sky, I reached into my satchel and blew on my bison whistle, causing Appa to come rushing towards me only a minute later.
"Despite being so large, you can really get moving when you want to, huh?" Muttered Aang with a faint smile as he gently landed on Appa's back while holstering his bo-staff onto his back.
"Yip-yip Appa." Said Aang as he snapped the reins, causing Appa to roar lightly while he flapped his tail, prompting him to soar through the night sky.