Korra stumbled back, her teeth rattling in her head from the impact. Her opponent charged in, his stone-encrusted fist raised above his head. "DIE!" he screamed.
Shaking herself back to awareness, Korra stepped to the side and blasted a bolt of fire at her assailant. The earthbender merely twisted in place, raising a wall of earth to block her attack. Before Korra could react, the earthbender slammed the wall into her, knocking her off her feet and sending her sailing into the wall.
A roar went up from the crowd. "FINISH HER!" A woman screamed from the front row.
The earthbender pulled a massive boulder from the arena floor and bent it at Korra. Recovering, Korra thrust her hand forward, sending a burst of flame into the oncoming projectile. The boulder melted instantly, sending droplets of lava flying in all directions.
Out of the lava appeared the earthbender, having charged after the boulder. Before Korra could react, his fist slammed right into her face. Korra flew backwards, feeling one of her teeth detach and come flying out of her limp mouth. Her head collided with the area wall, and she fell to the ground, unmoving.
"KNOCKOUT!" The announcer declared. The earthbender pumped his fist victoriously before looking over at Korra's limp form. Hey, are you okay?"
Moments later, two of the bouncers dragged Korra out of the ring. Opening the back door, they threw the Avatar into the alley.
Korra stirred as she felt her broken body land on a pile of wet garbage. As the sound of the slamming door reached her ears, she tried to force her damaged limbs to move, but to no avail.
Nothing mattered anymore. These long years after the defeat of Zaheer had dragged by without thought or purpose or meaning. As Korra wandered the distant places of the world, there came more and more days when it was hard to feel anything. On more than one occasion, she had even forgotten the name she had left behind so long ago.
She knew even less of her friends, or the people she had once called friends. Tales of their actions rarely reached her anymore, but she was not completely ignorant of them. Two years ago, she had glimpsed a newspaper stating that Asami had regained control of Sato Industries. Korra had browsed through the article, learning that Asami had pledged to use the technology to help the world recover from all the damage it had endured in the previous years. She certainly looked determined enough in the picture some photographer had taken of her. On her right stood a man Korra had never seen before. The caption had said that his name was Dian, and he was Asami's new personal assistant. Upon reading this, Korra had silently wished the man luck before shouldering her pack and continuing on her journey.
It hadn't been easy getting used to living without the Avatar State. Before, Korra had been able to rest easy in the knowledge that, if she needed to, she could call upon a tremendous reserve of energy and annihilate her foes with ease. But now, unable to access the state, the feeling of helplessness and worthlessness preyed on her every moment of every day.
"What is wrong with me?" she whispered to herself.
"That, my dear, is a very good question."
Korra sat bolt upright, her hand raised as she searched for the source of the voice. "Who's there?"
"Fear not, Avatar. I come in peace." Out of the alley slinked a large grey-and-red spirit. The spirit resembled a tiger-scorpion, except that it possessed four barbed tails instead of two, and the gills on its neck glowed with unearthly energy.
"Who are you?" Korra demanded.
"One who sympathizes with your plight," the spirit hissed softly. "Why do you throw yourself to these dogs?"
"What do you care?"
"You once helped my people," the spirit replied. "We are indebted to you."
Korra lowered her hand. "I left that life behind me. Find someone else."
The spirit flicked its tongue like a snake. "Peace, young Korra. I know how precious the Avatar State was to you, and I am here to offer you hope."
"Hope?" Korra asked. "What do you mean?"
The spirit leapt onto a garbage can so that it and Korra saw eye-to-eye. "What if there was one who could help you?"
"No one can help me."
"Not so, young Korra. We of the Spirit World are many and powerful. And there is one who may be able to make you whole"
Korra looked into the spirit's glowing golden eyes. "What? There's someone who can do that?"
"Indeed, young Avatar. There is one who knows many things, and if there is any help in all the worlds for you, it will be found there."
Korra picked herself up off the garbage pile, brushing some rancid cabbage from her arm. "Who is this spirit, and how do I find her?"
The spirit drew back its lips, revealing two sets of emerald-green fangs. "She is called… Synaster."