The Legend of Korra
Book One
Air
Chapter Three
The Equalists
"We're ready to move in, Amon," Lieutenant, Amon's second in command, said as he walked into Amon's office. Lieutenant was a tall man, standing about six-foot-eight, towering over most of his cohorts and even Amon himself, who was only six-two. He was a deadly combatant, who used two electrified kali sticks to augment his battle prowess.
As always, the mysterious head of the Equalists was staring intently at his gigantic map of Republic City that was plastered against the wall. When he heard Lieutenant, he turned around and nodded.
"Good." His voice was dark and sounded scratched.
"What do we do now?"
"Now, we wait. We know where she's staying. We'll move at nightfall."
"Why not now?"
"I do not wish to create a scene in the middle of the day. We must maintain a low profile. We'll move"—he paused to make sure Lieutenant heard— "at nightfall."
"You're the boss. We'll be ready."
Then Lieutenant backed out of the room silently, and Amon sighed deeply. He found Air Temple Island on the map and placed his hand over it.
"Here I come, Avatar."
Korra was running. It was dark, and tall trees and dark brushes hindered her frantic movement. She ran through a stream, and tripped over a rock. When she looked up, a man was standing over her, wearing a hooded cloak and a mask. He reached down to grab her, and she woke up.
The first thing she noticed was that she was sweating. In fact, her sheets were soaked. She groaned.
"Another nightmare?"
Korra jumped, but it was just Jinora, Tenzin's eldest daughter. In her hands, she held a saucer with a teacup on it. She offered it to Korra, who took it while still eyeing the girl.
"What do you mean another nightmare? How do you know this isn't my first?" She began to sip the tea.
"Korra, I only sleep across the hall. And you talk in your sleep. Pretty loudly." Jinora put her finger to her lip thoughtfully. "But now that I think about it, not all of it was nightmares. I think you might have had one good dream; something about some guy named Mako…"
Korra's tea came spraying out of her mouth. She looked at Jinora with shock.
"You heard that?"
"I think everyone did."
"Okay, thanks for the tea, Jinora. Anything else?"
"Yes. Dad says that you were supposed to meet him for training six hours ago."
Korra looked up at the clock on the wall. She shrieked when she saw the time. She leapt out of the bed and shoved past Jinora, frantically ripping through her drawers to find her Airbender garments.
"Where are my robes?" she asked Jinora.
The little girl smiled, clearly amused by Korra's frustration. "In the wash."
Korra cursed under her breath and continued to rummage, until she found a set of her water tribe clothes and put them on. She ran down the stairs and burst outside into the garden, only to find Pema, Tenzin's wife, happily watering some tulips. When Pema saw Korra, she smiled.
"Hello dear. How did you sleep?"
"Where's Tenzin?" Korra asked, almost before Pema had finished her sentence. Then she remembered her manners and calmed down. "Uh, sorry. Good morning, Pema. I slept well, and you?"
"Oh, fine. The little one kicked a bit, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. As for Tenzin, he went into town when you didn't meet him. I think he was pretty hurt."
Korra felt her heart drop. She had made a commitment to meet Tenzin early, and she'd missed an opportunity. Now when he got back, he was going to be in a sour mood.
"Oh," she said. "Well…do you need any help watering?"
"Hm? Oh no, I'm fine. I need to do this myself, help keep my body conditioned. But you can help by making lunch for the kids. They'll eat anything you give them."
"But I—"
"Oh but make sure it's nothing too sugary. It's only three o'clock, and I don't need Ikki and Meelo bouncing around just yet."
Korra made as if to argue again, but decided against it. She figured that if she couldn't wake up early to train after she'd promised she would, she could at least make a meal for three children.
"Okay, Pema! Sure thing!"
With a broad smile, Korra swept back into the kitchen and called the children:
"Jinora! Ikki! Meelo! Lunchtime!"
They were downstairs faster than Korra could open the refrigerator. Meelo was levitating on an air sphere, spinning about the dining room.
"Yay! Lunchtime! What're we having, Korra?" he asked.
Korra peered into the fridge and gulped.
"I…don't know."
"So, bro, how about that Korra?" Bolin asked his brother, Mako, as he sat reading his book. Bolin himself was lying down on his bed, facing the ceiling.
"What about her?" Mako said, obviously disinterested.
"You know exactly what I mean. She digs you, man."
Mako rolled his eyes and sighed. He turned to Bolin.
"I'm not doing this with you." He turned back to his book.
"Doing what?"
"You're trying to set me up."
"What? No I'm not! I'm just saying it's obvious she likes you."
"No, she doesn't."
"Uh, ya she does."
"No. She. Does. Not."
"Dude…"
"No! Okay? No! I'm not—I'm not getting into this with you. Not again. First, it was that girl in seventh grade, what was her name—"
"Tara."
"Yes. Her. And then there was, um…the girl in the dorm right above us…"
"Oh, yeah, Nieda. Yeah, she was an ace."
Mako shook his head. "You are missing the point, entirely…"
"No, you are." Bolin leaned over the edge of the bed. "Dude, you wouldn't realize a girl liked you if she came up to you and told you she did. And this girl, the freaking Avatar, was clearly head over heels for you, and you wanna play clueless. I'm telling you bro; you really need to take advantage of this opportunity. Before I do."
Mako slammed his book shut. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to take a shower."
He stormed out of the room. Bolin laughed.
"You know she's a Waterbender!"
"Shut up!"
Korra phewed as she watched the kids finish their meals. Though originally panicked by the unfamiliar contents of the refrigerator, she remembered what Pema had told her, and decided to pick the thing that looked the least unnatural. It appeared to be roasted polar bear dog leg. Immediately, she had thought of Naga, and began to falter. But the children pleaded with her to let them eat that, so she heated it up with some fancy Hot-Airbending (which was just blowing hot air from her mouth onto the leg) and split it up amongst the three children. While Ikki and Meelo dug in voraciously, Jinora expertly carved her piece with her fork and knife and slid the meat into her mouth, occasionally dabbing at her lip with a napkin. Korra smiled and leaned on the bar.
"You guys really love this stuff, huh?"
"It's our favorite! But Mom barely ever lets us eat it," Ikki said, but then clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Ikki!" Meelo punched his sister in the arm.
"Hey, hey, it's fine!" Korra said. "I won't tell. This'll be our little secret. 'Kay?"
The children all nodded. Then they heard the door open, and they rushed out of the kitchen.
"Daddy!" They screamed. Korra followed them slowly out of the room and heard Tenzin's breath briefly knocked out of his chest as his children barreled into him. He laughed.
"Hello, children."
"Hi, Tenzin." This was Korra, bashfully stepping into the hallway where Tenzin stood with his children. When he saw her, he sent his children off, telling them to go to their bedrooms.
For a while, he merely stood there, staring at Korra. She rubbed her arm nervously.
"Tenzin, I—"
Tenzin held up a hand, silencing Korra instantly. He frowned.
"I am very, very disappointed in you, Korra."
Korra lowered her head, waiting for the lecture she was sure to receive. But then, Tenzin said something that took her by surprise.
"You didn't leave any polar dog leg for me."
Korra looked up, and Tenzin was smiling warmly.
"You…aren't…mad at me?" Korra asked.
"On the contrary," Tenzin said. He placed his hand on Korra's shoulder. "What kind of teacher would I be if I shunned my student on their first offense? And besides, I cannot punish you for being tired. We'll try again tomorrow. For now, rest yourself."
"Okay. Thank you, Tenzin."
Tenzin patted her on the shoulder and walked to the garden to greet his wife. Korra breathed a sigh of relief and went up to her room to follow up on Tenzin's suggestion.
"Amon, it's time," Lieutenant said. Amon, still standing in front of the map, turned around. His mask glinted ferociously in the moonlight.
"Indeed it is," he agreed. "Assemble the Equalists. No more than fifteen. This won't be hard."
"You got it."
Amon picked a piece of lint off his shoulder.
"Let's go capture ourselves an Avatar."
When Korra woke up again, it was ten o' clock. She'd slept through the whole day. She hopped out of her bed and went out onto the beach of the island, sitting on a rock and watching the lights of Republic City, listening to the waves lap softly onto the shore.
Suddenly, something rustled in the grass just a few feet from her. When she turned to look, she saw no movement. She shrugged, figuring that it was probably just a raccoon badger or turtle skunk. She turned back to the sea. But then the grass rustled again. She stood up and peered into the moonlit shrubbery.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
"Meelo? Ikki?"
Still no answer.
"Stop trying to scare me, I know you're there. You guys should be in bed."
But there was still no answer. Finally, Korra turned back around towards the shore, and in that moment, she felt an evil presence lunging for her. She stomped her foot on the ground and a huge rock shot out of the ground, knocking into the air a figure clad in black ninja garbs and wearing white, luminescent goggles. On his back were two long sticks. He fell back to the ground on his feet, appearing not even phased by the attack. Korra bent into a Firebending stance and locked her eyes on her opponent.
"Who are you?"
Of course, the Shinobi did not answer.
"Okay, fine. I've been looking forward to a good fight since I got to this place."
She punched twice, and two massive fireballs shot out from her fists, aimed at the ninja before her. With unnatural grace and flexibility, he dodged both missiles, leaping through the gap between them and landing safely on the sand. Korra gasped, and then narrowed her eyes with determination. She switched to an Earthbending position and stomped onto the sand, sending a tidal wave of rocks at the man. Once again, he evaded the attack, running right into it and surfing on the top of it.
"Okay, enough," Korra snarled. She reached her hands out toward the ocean and pulled a massive stream into the air, before sending it speeding towards the ninja. Still attempting to get down from the rockslide, he couldn't move fast enough, and the water engulfed him and slammed him onto the shore, where he lay still.
"Yes!" Korra fist-pumped. "Score one for—"
She stopped as the air shifted around her, and several more ninjas appeared, all of them clad in the same black garbs as the first. Korra sighed angrily.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Just beyond the ninja closest to her, the air shimmered again, and two more men appeared, but they were clearly of a different status: one, a tall, muscular, serious-looking man, was dressed similarly to the ninjas but wore green instead, and his mouth and the skin of his arms were visible, for his mask did not cover his entire face and his shirt was short-sleeved. In front of him, a shorter man stood. He was wearing a black chest-plate, in the center of which was the Chinese ideogram meaning "equal." Underneath, he wore a hooded black robe. And he had a pale face mask with black, endless holes for eyes, a triangular slot for a nose, and a smiling gap for a mouth. A thin red line outlined a pattern along the mask, and on his forehead was a large red circle. Somehow, he looked familiar. When he spoke, Korra's spine tingled.
"Take her."
The ninjas rushed Korra. She clapped her hands together, sending a wave of flame at the oncoming tide of enemies. But it didn't hit any of them; they all leapt into the air and evaded the fire. Quickly, Korra launched a volley of boulders into the sky, attempting to knock them down, but they moved like shadows, quickly dodging the rocks.
"What are you guys?" she called out angrily. Suddenly a massive gust of wind scattered them to the ground like leaves, and Tenzin appeared beside Korra.
"They are the Equalists," Tenzin said in response to her question. "A group of anti-bending revolutionists, they seek to destroy all benders."
Then Korra remembered; the first day she had arrived in Republic City, she was passing by a group of people listening to a public speaker, and behind him had been a picture of the same hooded man standing near the water.
"Well, if it isn't the great Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang, our glorious liberator."
"What do you want, Amon?"
"I want the Avatar. Alive, for now, but eventually, dead."
"Well I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Tenzin crouched low, prepared to fight.
"You want me to handle this, Amon?" the tall, green ninja asked.
"No." Amon held up a hand, signaling his men to retreat. Then he stepped forward.
"Is this guy an idiot? You really think you can take us alone?"
"Are you familiar with the art of chi-blocking, my dear?"
"Chi what—?"
But Korra didn't get to finish that sentence. Amon lunged for her, with his fingers stuck together and shaped like a spear, aimed for her arm. Tenzin shoved her out of the way and took the blow himself, crying out in pain. His arm suddenly became limp and flaccid.
"As you can see, I can shut down any bender, regardless of their skill, with a simple touch." Amon kicked Tenzin in the shin, and the Airbender toppled to the ground, twitching slightly. Amon turned to Korra.
"Now, my dear, do you still wish to fight?"
"LEAVE KORRA ALONE!" shouted a high-pitched voice, and Tenzin's three children jumped out of the brush, followed by Naga, who rammed into a nearby Equalist and roared ferociously. They began to attack the Equalists; Jinora and Ikki expertly blowing the ninjas away, while Meelo expelled air from his mouth in a fashion not unlike the wind gods of Greek myth. Naga tromped about knocking the men over, her tongue lapping around happily. Korra joined the fight with renewed vigor.
But the Equalists quickly overcame their initial surprise. They closed ranks around the three Airbenders and grabbed them. When Naga attempted to rush to their aid, the tall green-clad man frowned and released one of the sticks on his back. It appeared to be some sort of electrified weapon. He slapped Naga across the snout with it, and she toppled into the sand where she lay still.
"I HATE meddling urchins," Amon said, approaching the struggling children.
"LEAVE MY CHILDREN OUT OF THIS!" Tenzin shouted, but he was still unable to move.
"Perhaps they'll learn better if they too are paralyzed."
"Don't touch them!" screamed Korra, and she leapt at Amon with her leg extended, intending to kick him. But Amon merely grabbed her leg, reeled her in, and punched her across the face. She landed harshly on the ground, and before she could recover, she felt a hot pain enter her back and spread through her whole body. Amon had paralyzed her.
"Let them go, but make sure they don't complicate our departure."
The men holding Jinora, Meelo, and Ikki each pressed a point in the children's necks. The children fell to the ground beside their father, unconscious. Then they proceeded to pick Korra up. Amon walked over and knelt in front of Tenzin.
"The paralysis will wear off in about a half-hour. Of course, we'll be long gone by then."
He laughed as Tenzin began to fade away and finally fell into the deep abyss of unconsciousness.
To Be Continued…