Hey guys, I'm here with the start of the next installment of the Tempest series. Alex Chambers' story continues and begins to grow more intense as we enter into the events of Book 3.
I do not in any way, shape, or form own Legend of Korra.
Korra sat with her legs curled up into her chest as she looked out over the Republic City skyline. It had been two weeks since Harmonic Convergence and her decision to keep the Spirit Portals open. Some in her group of friends, such as Tenzin, had welcomed this with open arms. For the first time in ten thousand years, Humans and Spirits would be allowed to coexist side by side. Others hadn't taken the concept as well as the Airbending Master had.
Some, such as President Raiko, had been upset with the overgrowth of spirit vines which infested many of the city's districts. They displaced people from their homes, they blocked roadways and infrastructure, and in general they made traveling around the city that much harder. Those concerns she could understand, and in fact she had been working to try and find a solution to that problem.
Then, there was Alex.
Alex Chambers, the young man who's very existence had brought her more headache, heartache, and general annoyance then almost anyone else. A little over a year ago, Korra hadn't even known the dirty blonde haired teen. In fact, he technically hadn't even existed in this world in the first place.
Alex came from some other world, a place which to Korra sounded like some kind of sci fi fantasy compared to Republic City. He had told her stories of a world in which technology that was about a hundred years more advanced then anything this world had. She'd often found these descriptions hard to picture, but usually kept trying because she found it interesting.
When he had first come to Republic City, Alex had been just another teenager prepared to graduate from high school and strike out into the world on his own. Then he, his friend Kelly Masters, and a scientist named Doctor Leon Tannan had been transported here by an experiment of Tannan's that had gone wrong.
Although the trio survived the trip between realities, it couldn't be said that they emerged from the event unscathed. Each one of them wound up developing special abilities, activated by being exposed to the Rift Energy that exists between worlds. Kelly had developed magnetism, Tannan had developed the ability to absorb another person's chi, and Alex had developed the ability to control and manipulate electricity.
At first, Alex had struggled to control his newfound powers. However he was soon able to master them and decided to use his powers for good by becoming a vigilante, protecting people from the ramped Triad crime wave. This was around the time Korra and Alex first met. Their first meeting was...less then stellar, with Korra being shipped off to jail and Alex managing to slip out of police custody.
Over time, however, with the growing Equalist threat, Korra and Alex found themselves working more and more together, and their anger toward each other mellowed out into a banter based friendship. Eventually, Alex's heroic tendencies won out, and the Avatar found herself falling in love with the electric user. She wasn't able to fully express these feelings though, as Alex was already in another relationship with Asami Sato.
With the downfall of Amon and the end of the Equalist Revolution, Korra finally admitted her feelings to Alex. The young man, however, was barely a shadow of the young man he once was. Tannan in a literal thirst for power had gone insane and killed several people in order to steal their bending abilities. He'd also claimed Kelly's life in the process, causing Alex to kill him in revenge. Then, Alex had left the city, searching for his sister Lucy as well as answers behind his powers.
When he came back about a month ago, Korra had been more then angry with Alex. He'd gone off for selfish reasons, and had nothing to show for it. She had been forced to deal with her pent up feelings alone, at first. Then she started talking with Asami. It had started off as conversations that went into the night, and from there it had escalated into feelings both for each other and Alex.
Despite her anger at his departure, Korra found that she couldn't stay mad at him forever, and her feelings for him still burned rather brightly. So when the truth came out about Asami and her, Korra found herself entering this experimental three way relationship with the other two. Lately though, she had a feeling that the relationship was over.
Alex had been against keeping the Spirit Portals open from the very beginning. They allowed an untold amount of Rift Energy to pour into the world and thus ran the risk of creating more people like Alex. The electric user was highly against this, believing that people should have the choice on whether or not they wanted these kinds of powers and responsibilities. So when Korra told him of her choice, to say that Alex lost his temper would be an understatement. He had stormed off with little more then a change of clothes and some cash, vanishing into the Earth Kingdom.
"Korra?" The Avatar turned her head to find Asami standing a short distance away. In the past few weeks, the heiress had taken to wearing fingerless gloves as a means of protection for other people. Asami had been exposed to Rift Energy during their initial visit to the South Pole and as a result had developed the ability to absorb the energy out of a spot. This resulted in the moisture in the air around the spot to flash freeze, thus giving off the illusion that Asami could control ice. An unfortunate side effect of this was that she still had little control over it, and could easily give someone frostbite by accident when touching them.
"Chief Beifong just called, there's a situation in the Dragon Flats Borough."
"What? More vines going crazy again?" Korra asked rather glumly. Ever since the vines had started growing, people had taken to trying to tear them up and reclaim parts of the city that had been lost. The problem was, the vines were sentient. So when some random firebender decided to try and burn his way back into his apartment complex, chances were the vines would react violently, and then Korra would have to be called in to try and figure out a solution.
"No. There's someone there who just started doing things out of nowhere. Beifong and Mako think it's a Charged," Asami said, sending a chill down Korra's spine. Alex had warned before he left that Charged would start appearing, but she had disregarded his warning due to her anger. Now it seemed her short sightedness was going to come back to bite her.
"Let's not keep the good Chief of Police waiting," Korra said as she got to her feet and picked up her new airbending staff.
Dragon Flats Borough.
The apartment complex wasn't anything out of the ordinary. A little rundown, but that wasn't unexpected given the neighborhood it was in. It also wasn't anywhere near the districts that were effected by the vines. Still, that didn't stop all the people who were crowded outside the front entrance from muttering amongst themselves in angered tones.
Asami and Korra pulled up in Asami's black racer, looking over the scene with concern. Standing between the crowd and the entrance were a line of metalbenders, blocking the people from going back inside. From the crowd emerged Lin and Mako, both of them making a bee line for the two young women.
"What's going on?" Korra asked with concern as they climbed out of the car.
"We've got a situation. The suspect has barricaded himself in his apartment and won't open up, claiming he'll hurt anyone who gets close to him," Lin said.
"Does he have a hostage or something?" Asami asked, noting the way the police were handling the situation.
"Oh, no I don't mean he's threatening anyone. He's terrified, keeps ranting that he sets anything and everything he touches on fire," Lin explained. The Avatar and the Heiress shared a glance. That was exactly how Asami's abilities had first developed, with her accidentally freezing the entirety of her office.
"So what do we know about this guy?" Korra asked as she folded her arms and looked up at the building.
"His name is Shun Khan. Recently graduated from High School and works at a local newspaper. We got a call from his roommate who was hysterical, claiming that Khan was setting everything he touched on fire. By the time we arrived, most of the building had been cleared and he had barricaded himself alone in his apartment," Mako answered.
"How are we gonna talk him down from this?" Asami asked.
"For now, we're just trying to get a look at him. See if he's still setting things alight," Lin said, gesturing up at the face of the building with her thumb. Sure enough, there were a few metalbenders hanging from their cables around a single window, trying to peer inside.
An explosion suddenly destroyed the window, sending the officers swinging away on their cables in a dazed manner. Debris rained down as the crowd screamed and ran in all directions in terror. Looking up, Korra spotted a young man hurdling toward them like a rag doll. She quickly deployed her staff and jumped into the air, catching him before he cratered a satomobile sitting by the curb.
Despite the sudden shift in weight and balance, Korra managed to keep the two of them in the air and glide them back to the street. The landing was a lot rougher then she would have liked, but at least they weren't splattered all over the pavement.
"Hot, hot, HOT!" she yelped before managing to separate herself from the young man. Shun was of Water Tribe decent, dark skin, dark hair, and green eyes. The heat that was rolling off of him was enormous, so much so that the air around him shimmered like he was a blazing campfire. Yet, strangely, he didn't have a drop of sweat on him.
"I'm sorry! I was just trying to get the stove going and make some ramon and..." he gestured toward the flaming remains of his apartment.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down. Your abilities are affected by their emotions," Asami said, holding out her hands in front of her. Shun took a deep breath and tried to do as she instructed. Sure enough, the heat that was radiating off of him lowered in intensity as well.
"O..okay, I'm calm. I'm calm," Shun said, mainly to himself more then those around him. Mako stepped forward.
"Mr. Khan, this is Asami Sato and Avatar Korra. They're going to help you figure out what's going on with you," he said. Shun looked surprised.
"Really? You guys have dealt with stuff like this before?" Korra and Asami shared a look.
"A time or two, yes," Asami answered.
"Oh. Well, my name is Shun. I'd shake hands but the way things have been going..." he trailed off, holding up his hands in a shrug.
"Don't worry, Shun. We'll get this all figured out," Asami said, putting her hand on his shoulder without so much as flinching. Korra figured this was due to her powers off setting his. As they started to walk off, Mako caught Korra by the arm.
"Where the hell is Alex? He's the main one who usually deals with this kind of problem," he said, keeping his voice down so Lin didn't hear.
"I don't know, Mako. No one has seen or heard from him in weeks. He could be anywhere right now."
Eastern edge of Si Wong Desert. Earth Kingdom.
The Earth Kingdom military train was sprawled out in the sand dunes in the shade of a large stone formation. It had derailed, and was now resting half buried in the sand with the cars scattered about like a toddler playing with it's toys. However a closer inspection of the tracks would have revealed that this had been no accident. Explosives had been planted, destroying the rails and insuring that the train would end up in the situation it was now.
Several Earth Kingdom troops were standing around the wreckage, guarding it as they waited for a clean up crew to arrive. The various sandbender tribes which wandered the desert were known to scavenge anything and everything off of wrecks that were left unattended. Of course, the fact that the tribes were currently engaged in a state of war against the Earth Queen's government didn't help matters. That also put them at the top of the list of suspects who were responsible for this act.
A jeep pulled up in front of the wreckage, and a well dressed officer stepped out of the passenger side. He had a shaven head and fair skin with a dark green uniform. Strangely he was lacking a hat, despite the intensity of the sun. A sergeant quickly came up to the officer in question and saluted.
"Sir, we've secured the train," he reported.
"Any signs of the local rabble?" the officer asked, seemingly board with the situation.
"No sir. No movement in any direction." The officer gave the sergeant a look of patience.
"Open the armored car."
"Sir?"
"Open the armored car, sergeant. Or do I need to repeat myself a third time?" the officer asked, his tone making it clear that the sergeant should not. Turning on the balls of his feet, the sergeant began shouting orders to the men around him. They all focused on a single car near the center of the wreck. It was armored with platinum, and still relatively upright and intact compared to some of the other cars around it.
Two privates grabbed the door on the side of the car and slid it open. Standing inside was a single person, a man wearing a long leather duster with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was wearing a dark gray shirt, gray trousers, black combat boots, an olive green patrol cap resting on his head and had a samaugh pulled up over his nose and mouth so the only thing visible was his storm gray eyes.
At sight of the intruder, several of the soldiers raised their hands in preparation to bend. He quickly raised his hands, holding them aloft over his head in surrender. The officer stepped forward with his hands clasped behind his back and a smug smile on his face.
"You know, you really are a one trick poodle pony. This is the fourth train you've derailed. Did you really think we wouldn't catch on, Jason of the Si Wong?" the officer asked. The man suddenly clenched his fist without lowering his hands. In an instant, all of the soldiers except the officer in question cried out as crossbow bolts struck them down. The officer looked around in shock and surprise as his men fell to the ground, replaced by people in sandbender garb holding autocrosses.
"Actually, I was depending on it," came a new voice from the top of the car. The man in the rail car lowered his hands while the officer raised his. Standing on top of the rail car was a young man wearing desert garb like the rest, however his face was uncovered, revealing a young man with fair skin and blue eyes. He jumped down into the sand, landing perfectly as he regarded the officer in question.
"Is this him?" Jason asked over his shoulder. The man in the car stepped forward, out into the sunlight while lowering his face wrap.
"That's him. Colonel Mao, Hou Ting's personal attack dog," he replied. The Colonel's eyes went wide at the sight of the young man standing before him. Jason Orou, the scourge of the Si Wong Desert was one thing, but this?
"You're a madman, working with the Demon of Republic City," he spat at Jason. The desert leader gave him an amused look.
"Funny. This coming from the man who is solely responsible for the destruction of several sandbender villages. Only history will decide which one of us is the true madman, Colonel," Jason said. The Colonel spat into the sand at Jason's feet.
"Dogs, all of you! You are lower then the scum I scrape off my boot. You are a scourge upon this land, a scourge Her Majesty, the Queen has ordered to be removed at any cost. And I, I am her loyal servant and instrument!" Mao fell silent as Alex raised his hand toward him. He didn't actually make physical contact, but rather held it close.
"Listen up, you rabid psychopath. The brain controls the rest of the body through little electric signals, telling your heart to beat and your lungs to breathe, and so on. One flick of my wrist, and I can have you pissing and shitting yourself, or stop it all in one fell swoop. So you're gonna tell us what we want to know, or it's going to get way more painful then it needs to be," he said.
"The Earth Kingdom does not negotiate with terrorists like you, Demon," the officer replied with a glare. Alex frowned before grabbing his neck and letting off a shock. Mao's body shuttered before he collapsed face down in the sand, unconscious. Two sandbenders came forward and dragged the man away while Alex and Jason turned away and began to talk amongst themselves.
"Have you been able to figure out what exactly the Queen has sent after us?" Jason asked.
"Near as I can tell, it's an armored train with a contingent of soldiers. Not very original, but nothing we can't handle if we're expecting it," Alex replied.
"Hm. We'll have to get a warning out to Colonel Shi. She should be made aware of this threat," Jason said.
"She made it out of the mountains, didn't she?"
"Yes. Our last reports had her group on the other side of the desert, near Fort Bosco."
"Do you want me to go relay the message to her?" Alex asked. Jason shook his head.
"No. I need you near here, trying to find a way into the Capital. If we can get a man inside the walls, we'll stand a much better chance on getting intel on the Queen herself," he answered.
"Hou Ting never leaves the palace. Having a list of her daily bowel movement schedule won't help us, not if we're trying to maintain order," Alex said.
"We're fighting for our very existence, Alex. You know what is at risk. If it comes to it, I will plunge this country into anarchy before I see my people wiped from existence," Jason said. Alex let out a sigh. Hou Ting had no appointed heirs. If she died, the country would plunge into chaos thanks to the resulting power vacuum. Assassinating the Queen in order to ensure the tribes' survival was a step of them were willing to take, himself included.
"Getting into Ba Sing Se won't be easy. If Mao recognized me, others are bound to as well," Alex said. Jason placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I have faith in your abilities, my friend. If anyone can get past those walls, it's you."
And Cut. That's the end of the first chapter. I included the characters Jason Orou and Shun Khan, both owned by Avatar Conner and Shadow-Proclamation8, and both of whom have been heavily involved in the development of this series. Guys, I hope I did your boys proud.
Now usually I include a soundtrack I've put together for an installment in this series in the first chapter. This time around I'm going to hold off on a chapter or two before releasing it so I can be sure it's the lineup that I want. Aside from that, I want to hear from you guys! Read! Review! PM! Smoke signal or mirror or something! Let me know what you guys liked or didn't like, and I'll see you all next time.