Summary: Amon is not a waterbender, and Korra must face the consequences of what that means for her fight against the Equalists. If she fails to defeat Amon in Republic City, the masked chiblocker will begin equalizing the rest of the bending world, just as he promised.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story except for any original characters that appear in only my stories. The rights to the Legend of Korra go to the people who own them.

Mako and Korra slowly made their way up the ladder and into the attic of the main tower on Air Temple Island. Mako pushed the wooden trap door open and climbed onto the attic floor, Korra close behind him. He looked around the spacious interior to check for anything suspicious.

"Good, we're all alone up here," he said, turning to close the trap door.

"All we have to do now is wait for Amon to return to the temple. Then, when he's directly below us, we'll smash through the floor and take him out."

"Good plan, Korra. The only hard part is waiting for him to come back. Amon's lieutenant said that they were having a rally at the arena…what if he doesn't show up until later? Maybe we should go to the rally instead."

Korra mulled over Mako's words for a few moments. "No. There'll be a lot more Equalists at the arena then there are here. We're already inside the temple; if we lay low for awhile, we'll have the element of surprise. Besides, this is Amon's new headquarters. He's bound to come back some time, and when he does, he'll have his guard down."

Mako nodded. "I guess you're right. Still, taking Amon down in front of his supporters would be a lot more powerful of a message."

Korra plopped down next to the wall. Leaning against it, she reached onto the top of her head and pulled off the Equalist mask she was wearing. Immediately she felt the refreshingly cool air of the attic against her sweaty face.

"These things do not breathe well! I bet my hair's a mess."

"Your hair looks fine," Mako chuckled, pulling off his own mask. "I'm surprised any Equalist can see with these green lenses. They totally distort my vision. It'll be a lot easier to fight with this off."

"Yeah, I was afraid we'd have to fight Amon's buddy in these when we were spotted down there earlier."

"Yeah, I felt the same, but it looks like the Equalists are getting pretty cocky. Enough to where Hiroshi is giving speeches on the streets. They think you're on the run, but they've got another thing coming." Mako slammed his fist into his palm for emphasis.

Korra grinned at Mako's attempt to boost her confidence, but a rising tide of guilt slowly pulled the smile off her face.

"They've got good reason to be cocky. They took over the entire city without so much as a serious fight. I basically ran away. And for what? To regroup with the United Forces and General Iroh? Yeah, that went great. Amon wiped out half the fleet in a single hour, while I looked on helplessly."

"Hey, that's not fair. You tried your best to help, but Hiroshi's flying machines were too powerful. You had no way of knowing. You may be the Avatar, Korra, but you can't be expected to do everything on your own."

"Maybe if I had stayed on Tarlokk's task force, we could have found Amon's base in time to prevent the Equalist revolution. But instead I resisted him, and Republic City ended up fighting itself, rather than the Equalists."

"Korra, you're not serious, right? Tarrlok was an evil man. He was a bloodbender trying to oppress nonbenders. All he did was make Amon's words more true, he turned the city against benders. You saw what he did to those poor people in the Dragon Flats' district. He was going to throw all those people away just for protesting their electricity shutting off. Is stopping Amon worth sacrificing all the good that came from exposing Tarrlok as a bloodbender?"

Korra breathed heavily. "No, you're right. I just…feel so helpless. And Amon took out Tarrlok anyway, not me."

"You rescued Iroh and warned Tenzin's brother Bumi about the flying machines. Now you're laying a trap for Amon. We're going to get through this Korra. We're going to bring down Amon."

Korra smiled warmly at Mako. "Thanks Mako, I really needed the encouragement. When I was at the South Pole…I thought I was unstoppable. I thought I could be the best Avatar of all time. But ever since I came to Republic City, Amon's always been one step ahead of me, running amok and making me feel like the worst Avatar ever. But I can't let that get me down. I'm going to prove to Aang that I can be just as good as he was, by saving the city he founded!"

Mako grinned. "Now that's the Korra I know and l—"

Mako frowned as Korra looked at him in surprise. "Er… the Korra I like."

The two sat in hushed silence awkwardly as a blush spread across Mako's face. After a few minutes of this, Korra decided to break the ice.

"So, about that talk we had the other day…"

"Look Korra, can we not talk about this right now? I'm still in a weird place with Asami, and I don't think it's a good idea to have any distractions before we face Amon."

Korra slowly nodded. "Yeah…I guess that's a good point. We should do that."

Her chin fell to her knees as her body posture dissolved into brooding disappointment. Mako tried his best to ignore Korra's pout. After about an hour or so, the wind outside began to pick up, causing the beams supporting the attic roof to creak and groan. On the wind's shoulders came the faint sound of cheering. Korra's mood turned even sourer, and a pit slowly began to form in her stomach.

"Why do I get the feeling I should have gone to that rally?" she asked, as the feeling in her stomach continued to lurch.

"Don't worry. I know it'll be fine. The rally will be over soon and Amon will be back. We should probably psych ourselves up for the confrontation."

"I guess…"

"If you've got any jitters or second thoughts, now's the time to put them out of your mind."

Korra thought toward what it would be like to actually fight Amon. The mere thought of his mask in her mind caused her to shiver. His face had haunted her dreams for weeks, but it was time to bring Amon's reign of terror over the benders of the city to an end. It was time to stop waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. It was time to stop Amon's chilling voice on the radio from exacerbating her anxieties and fears. She was going to set things right and prove to the city, and the world, that the Avatar was back.

After another hour or so, the looming hum of an airship began to slowly pick up near the temple.

"He's here," Mako pointed out. Korra felt her entire body tense up, as butterflies swarmed inside her. Was she ready for this? Amon had promised to destroy her. He was so sure of it. But Korra couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let down the world. She couldn't let down herself, either. This was an important, pivotal moment for herself as a person and the Avatar.

The whirring sound of a platform lowering stirred Korra from her introspection. She steeled herself for what could very well be the most important battle of her life. Turning to Mako, she said simply, "It's time."

Mako nodded in comprehension and moved to the center of the attic, crouching in a bending stance, ready to pounce when Korra gave the word. A window opening in the room below and the thud of an even gait of booted feet struck a chord somewhere inside Korra's body, and years of training alerted her that the time to spring their trap was now. Instinctively, she lifted herself up and whispered to Mako, "Now."

Mako firebended hard at the floor, causing it to wrench and burst into flames. Korra leapt down the hole it left behind and let out a torrent of fire, knocking down a number of chiblockers. Dropping into a defensive stance, Korra braced herself for a counterattack. Mako soon jumped down from the attic himself, and together they scanned the scene.

About six or seven chiblockers lay squirming on the floor, the lieutenant was propped up against the wall, steadying himself and trying to regain his balance. Amon was low to the ground, knees bent, hands outstretched to dodge and counter anything that Korra might throw next. Before Mako had the chance to knock the lieutenant out for good, to allow him and Korra to focus solely on Amon, the masked revolutionary's gravelly voice snaked its way through the air.

"So, Avatar. We finally meet again. I was so disappointed that you were not able to join us at the rally. I had been so certain that you would try some manner of feeble rescue."

Korra's eyebrow shot up. "What do you mean?"

Amon straightened himself out of his defensive stance and turned his head toward the lieutenant, who smirked back as he joined his leader's side.

"Oh, lieutenant, it appears the Avatar didn't know that we captured some friends of hers. It really is such a shame. I always did hate to bear bad news, even though it is to the Avatar."

"What are you talking about? Are you talking about Bolin and the others?"

The lieutenant laughed, "No. But I'm sure we'll find them eventually. Assuming you two are the only ones here, they must be out there somewhere doing some other important job, right? There's no way they'll succeed."

Korra's eyes narrowed, her left eyelid twitching with rage.

"And our friend Hiroshi is on his way right now to wipe out the rest of your reinforcements before they even have time to arrive." Amon's voice was filled to the brim with smugness. "Your luck truly has run out, Avatar."

"No! How did you know about Bumi's fleet?"

"Simple," interjected the lieutenant. "We intercepted the telegram you sent to the rest of the fleet. Our scout planes picked up their location and relayed it by radio to Mr. Sato."

"It doesn't matter, by the time Hiroshi gets back, we'll have taken you down, Amon."

"Are you sure? I don't think you'll have the morale left to stand, let alone fight when you hear that the world is now blissfully devoid of airbenders." Amon was barely able to contain the glee from seeping into his otherwise menacing tone.

Korra's entire body, on the other hand, from head to toe, was consumed in the grip of an icy cold. Her heartbeat slowed to a crawl and she went totally numb. "W-what…?"

"You never asked what friends of yours we captured. The reason I was sorry you missed the rally is because you weren't able to witness me cleanse the last airbenders of their wretched bending. This city, Tenzin and his family, airbending: every trace of Avatar Aang's legacy has been equalized…except you. You, Avatar Korra, are all that remains."

Korra's knees gave and she nearly fell over, had Mako not caught her in time. Hot searing tears flowed steadily down her face, as a horrible moan of disgust escaped her quivering lips. She felt sick; sicker than she had ever felt in her life; cold, empty, devoid of purpose. The person she had come to trust most next to Katara, the person who had been counting on her most, she couldn't even protect. Through mangled sobs, Korra forced out the only response she could. "T-that's not true! It's impossible. They escaped, you lying bastard! We saw them escape."

"Heh. I almost feel sorry for her," admitted the lieutenant, yet the greasy sneer on his face could not conceal his amusement.

"Oh, Avatar. It's not the end of the world, you know," came Amon's jeering consolation. "They're in perfectly good health and completely unharmed. All I did was remove their capacity to use their unnatural powers to oppress the rest of the citizens of Republic City. Once the United Republic has been completely secured, they and the rest of the city's former benders will be released, able to live out their lives as ordinary citizens, just like the rest of us."

"But they were airbenders! They were completely peaceful! Tenzin would never have oppressed anyone! He was Tarrlok's most vocal opponent. He was the one fighting most for nonbenders. They may be alive, but you destroyed their culture. Bending is how we identify who we are as people. Taking that away is like destroying a piece of who we are. It's despicable! The airbenders barely survived being wiped out by the Fire Nation, only to have their gifts stolen by some maniac like you."

"Avatar, some day you will realize how painful your words sound to people who aren't a bender like yourself. Why should bending keep airbenders above everything and everyone else? It was their meditative, hermitic lifestyle that left them vulnerable during the Hundred Year War. They cut themselves off, expecting the rest of the population to fend for themselves. Just like benders all over the world do every day. You benders use your so-called "gifts" to secure your position in society, to obtain the highest positions of power, to gratify yourselves with the highest paying jobs, perfectly content to let normal people fly about helplessly like leaves in the wind. Even when a man like Hiroshi Sato rises above the double-standards, the discrimination pervading this society run by benders, he becomes a target for the riffraff who would use their power over others to steal what they cannot have themselves. Your arrogant attitude makes me thoroughly sick to my stomach."

"When will you learn Amon? Benders help people, they protect them! Earthbenders sheltered innocent civilians during the last war, waterbenders kept the Fire Nation fleet at bay. Do you think the Fire Nation could have been stopped if it weren't for benders?"

Amon turned his head slightly, gazing sideways at Korra. "Do you honestly think that war would have even begun had Fire Lord Sozin not used the enhanced firebending of his army to launch his campaign for world domination? Do not delude yourself, Avatar. Earthbenders may shelter Earth Kingdom citizens, but they build high walls to keep them down, waterbenders leverage their invaluable positions to help their tribesmen survive in order to dominate their culture. They kept them isolated from the world. They are a crutch, preventing real progress. Technology has reached a point at which nonbenders can finally live in peace without greedy, oppressive benders taking all the spoils for themselves. And you, Avatar, and all your previous incarnations, have done nothing to allow benders and nonbenders to live together in peace. You came to this city not to help its citizens, but to protect the status quo, to protect the bending oppressors ruling Republic City. The Avatar cannot protect the world from benders; nonbenders must do that for themselves. Your era is over."

Without so much as a warning, Amon catapulted himself headfirst into Korra, driving the wind out of her immediately. Mako rounded on him with a firekick, but Amon deftly ducked and used his foot to knock Mako's supporting leg out from under him. Korra regained her bearings and sent a flurry of firepunches flying at Amon. But her masked foe did a series to skillful turns and pivots that would have done any airbender proud, had there been any left to appreciate such dodging. However, Korra had succeeded in driving Amon against the wall. Before she could press her advantage, though, the lieutenant leapt into action to protect Amon, coming at Korra with a quick series of chops with his electrosticks. Korra was forced to disengage from Amon and do a well-timed back flip out of the lieutenant's range. Popping back on her feet, she remembered that though they were in a wooden room, the temple itself was composed of stone. Widening her stance, she used a quick pulling motion to rip a large stone block from behind the wooden wall, right into the lieutenant, knocking him out.

Mako came back to his feet, ready to distract Amon and prevent him from attacking Korra. He lauched a large fireball towards the Equalist leader, who was able to dodge it easily. Amon's fingers flew out like lightning barely grazing Mako's pressure points on his dominant shoulder and midsection. Korra noticed the commotion to her side, and turned to use another earthbending blast on Amon. She grounded herself firmly, took a stomping foot forward, and thrust her left arm out, sending a boulder crashing through the wall and jettisoning towards Amon. The chiblocker barely had enough time to fall backwards, catching his balance with his hands, his back a few inches from the ground. In this position, solid as a rock, but as helpless as a upside-down table, Mako moved to make a finishing blow, hurtling another blast of fire at the defenseless Amon. As triumph swelled in Korra's chest, it was instantly deflated when Amon's seemingly helpless form flipped like a sideways drill, spinning the fire harmlessly away from him and landing on all fours, a quick leg shooting out from under him to again remove Mako's footing.

Mako was a quick learner, however, and jumped just in time for the kick to miss. Korra launched another boulder at Amon, who grabbed the rock and vaulted over it like a zebragazelle. Before she could earthbend the wall behind Amon to take him by surprise, one of the collapsed Equalists came to, catching Korra's foot with her hand, breaking the Avatar's bending stance in the process.

"The era of tyrannical bending is over!" she cried. Irritated and scared that Amon would turn the tables on Mako, Korra angrily used her caught foot to stomp on the Equalist's goggles, smashing them.

"Shut up! Benders aren't through yet." Turning to see how Mako had fared in the few seconds she was distracted, Korra saw Amon circling Mako like a lionshark, dodging a series of fireblasts. Amon suddenly ducked and rolled across to the other side of Mako. The young firebender pivoted immediately, instincts honed from years of probending, but against a seasoned chiblocker, it was too slow. The back of Amon's left hand caught Mako's counterattack and redirected it towards the roof. Not wasting an instant of momentum, a quick jab to Mako's other shoulder left that arm useless. Korra was about to bend at Amon when the mastermind slipped his leg in between Mako's legs and flipped him over, catching him with one arm and twisting Mako's good arm behind him.

"Let him go! There's no honor in hiding behind one of your enemies like a shield, Amon."

"Oh, you misunderstand my intentions, young Avatar. I have no intention of using your friend here as a shield, merely as leverage. Allow me to demonstrate." And with that, Amon's arms left Mako's side and arm, clutched his shoulders, allowing him to pull himself up on top of Mako. Korra watched in dumbstruck fascination at Amon's gymnastic ability, as her chiblocking enemy balanced himself upside-down on top of Mako's shoulders. Mako too was unable to react in that split second; Amon's vice-like grip on his shoulders somehow rendered him completely immobile. Amon switched shoulders and turned, now face towards Korra, flipped his legs down into Mako's torso, sending Mako crashing into the wall. The force of his kick gave him enough distance to reach Korra. The Avatar grabbed Amon's hands to stop them from making contact, then stuck her leg out at an angle to block a sudden kick from Amon. Switching his footing, Amon lurched forward, running at full speed. Unable to stop him, Korra was forced to backtrack in order to avoid falling over. When her back slammed into the wall opposite Mako, Amon wrenched one hand free of Korra's grip, and jammed it hard into her left side. Korra let out a pained exhale, gritting her teeth in pain as an all-too-familiar numbing sensation spread across the left side of her torso. Seizing all her willpower, Korra tucked her head under Amon's other arm and used her shoulder to knock him away from her. Amon caught himself and did a backturn, swinging a hard backhand into Korra's face. Stunned, Korra was unable to stop Amon from jabbing quickly into her right arm and torso. With a final jab to her right leg, Korra fell over, useless. She still had the use of her left arm, but unable to even prop herself on her knees, it was of little benefit.

Suddenly, she felt herself pulled up off the floor, then roughly put down in a kneeling position, a cold cobra-like grip on the back of her neck holding her in place. Incomprehensible fear tore through Korra's insides, gnawing at every part of her being. The moment she had been dreading for nearly two months was finally upon her. She had lost, and she would now lose her bending, a complete failure as an Avatar. Korra's head fell back lamely, as she stared up at the remorseless mask of the man who had defeated her. Amon raised his hand up above his shoulder, in a position that Korra had seen once before, and many more times besides in her nightmares.

"I told you I would destroy you."

Amon's muscles twisted and coiled, the tension building in his arm like a snake as he prepared to make the strike, when an alarming noise forced him to drop Korra and spin around, startled.

"LET HER GO!"

On his legs again, barely conscious from being thrown around like a ragdoll, Mako had built up enough energy in his body to send one last firebending move at Amon. The Equalist leader may have had reflexes like lightning, but against the real thing, he had only a split second to move, but was caught so unprepared that he found himself unable to.

The bolt of blue electricity caught Amon directly in the chest. Amazingly, one might even say inhumanly, Amon was still steady on his feet, his body vibrating intensely, but still on his feet. Korra watched in astonishment as Amon actually leaned against the blast, forcing his body forward a few inches, before suddenly flying back across the room and crashing into an antique shelf full of priceless Air Nomad pottery. The weight of his body smashed the shelf to pieces, causing the contents to fall on him in a heap.

Overwhelmed with relief, tears filled Korra's eyes. Mako slowly made his way over to Korra.

"Mako, I'm so grateful," lip quivering, Korra was barely able to express her sentiments in words. "I was so scared…you did what even the Avatar couldn't do. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."

"Korra, don't sweat it. You were amazing. I've never seen anyone fight like you did. But you were only able to use two elements. I'm sure if you had some water with you, you would have kicked that freak's ass."

The tears continued to fall. "Mako, I can't tell you how much you mean to me."

Mako felt his heartbeat accelerate. Somewhere inside him, he was happier than he had ever been, just hearing Korra say that. He smiled down at Korra, and offered her his only good hand. He eventually got her on her feet, though with difficulty.

"We need to get you out of here before more Equalists show up. I'm going to hold you with one arm, can you walk?"

"Not really. Amon took out my other leg. I'll only slow you down."

"Well, it's not like I'm going to leave you here. Maybe we can get into the airship outside. It's probably empty."

"Good thinking."

Mako gradually lugged Korra across the room to the window that the Equalists had converted into a makeshift docking area for the airship.

"When we make it back home Korra…there's a lot I want to say to you," Mako admitted. He hadn't felt like this before and seeing Korra safe, having been able to rescue her from the clutches of her most feared adversary…he hadn't felt so valued or important to any single individual besides his brother as he did to Korra today.

"I think that's a good idea…I have a lot to say to you too," she responded, as cheer slowly returning to her heart. She had lost a lot that day: Tenzin and his family had lost their bending, Korra had lost her self-respect, and who knows what Hiroshi was doing at that moment to Bumi's fleet. But at least she had finally gotten one thing she didn't before, and that was Mako.

Just as Mako was about to set his foot on the disc that would bring him and Korra up to Amon's airship, a familiar twirling sound came from behind them. An Equalist device snapped itself around Mako's feet, making him lose balance. He put as much force as possible on his heels to send himself and Korra falling backwards, so he wouldn't drop her out the window. The low thump of boots on wood, meticulously making their way across the room Mako and Korra had almost escaped, caused both of the benders' hearts to drop. A cold hand wrapped around the back of Mako's neck, wresting him up from the ground.

"I must admit, young firebender: I'm impressed. No one has ever gotten the better of me like that."

"How?!" begged a disbelieving Korra. "How did you survive? You were hit directly with lightning!"

"Foolish Avatar. You think that bending is the most powerful thing in the world. But I have spent years training my body, carefully mastering the ability to shift my chi and protect my own vital points, shielding them from any bending attack. Your groundless faith in the bending arts has cost you everything. As much as I would like to equalize you right now, I'm afraid your friend requires some special attention, wouldn't you agree? I'll get to you in due course."

Amon roughly put Mako into position, pulling his head back to allow access to Mako's forehead.

"It is almost a shame to take the bending of someone so talented…almost."

Korra tried to summon as much movement as her body would allow, but for all her trying, she was too exhausted and hurt to lift herself up. As she watched Amon press his finger to Mako's head, the last spark of hope she had in her chest died. She stretched her arm out in vain, as she watched the love of her life succumb to Amon's power, tears blurring her vision as he did. What she did not expect was the enormous burst of air from her palm, a gust of wind so powerful that it seized Amon by the shoulders and threw him straight through the ceiling and into the attic above. Wide-eyed, Korra looked at her palm, then at the fresh hole in the ceiling.

"I can airbend…?" she asked herself incredulously. Korra clenched her fist, and turned a heated gaze towards Amon, whose head creepily peered over the hole in the ceiling like a crouching wolfspider, ready to pounce once again. "I can airbend!"

"Impossible…" Amon whispered.

Korra braced herself against the wall next to the window and hoisted herself up onto her good leg. Raising her fist up, she hurled blast after blast of air at the ceiling above. She wasn't much of an airbender, but she would bend as best as she knew how. Amon had little experience against airbending, if any, and it was the only element that would get Korra and Mako out of this temple with their bending intact. The ceiling ripped open from the force of Korra's attacks, Amon's helpless grunts and groans from impact clearly audible over the sound of splitting wood and falling debris. Whenever she thought she saw movement from the attic, she launched another volley of air at him.

When Korra thought she had bought herself enough time, she bent down next to Mako, holding his head up.

"Funny," Mako managed. "I thought that I would be the hero, saving the beautiful Avatar from danger. But here you are rescuing me."

Korra smiled. "Thanks, Prince Charming, but this princess can save herself…at least now that I can airbend, haha."

Mako returned Korra's smile. "Korra, I don't think he took my bending. I still feel like I can firebend."

"Really?! That's awesome, Mako! I was crushed when I saw him touch your forehead."

"I guess he didn't have enough time to finish whatever he needed to do…but we don't have any time to lose, we need to get out of here."

Korra looked outside the window, hearing the clacking of Equalist boots on the cobbled courtyard below. Shit, there goes our only out. They must know we're here. Though to be honest I'm surprised it took them this lo—

Before Korra could complete her thought, she noticed that the Equalists were running away from the Air Temple, not toward it. Peering out of the window, she saw three ships on the horizon.

"BUMI!" she cried out ecstatically. "Mako, I think we found our way out. If we take the airship, they'll probably just follow us wherever we go, just like they did with Tenzin. If we're getting out of Republic City, it's by sea."

"If you say so, but how are we going to get down? There's bound to be Equalists at the base of the tower, and you and I can barely move, much less fight."

Korra slowly started to get nervous, thinking of the masked menace who would undoubtedly regain consciousness any minute. Then suddenly she had an idea. Turning towards Mako, she asked, "Mako, do you trust me?"

"Do I what?"

"I said, do you trust me?"

"Well, considering how I feel like you're about to do something stupid with airbending, I'm going to have to say n-AHHHHH!"

Korra had grabbed Mako and flung both of them out the window, and they were now falling rather rapidly towards the ground below.

"Korra, what the hell were you thinking?"

"To be honest, not much. Now hold tight!"

Korra threw out her arm and sent as large a blast of air as she could muster, slowing the rate of their descent, but not as much as she had hoped. Physics and Korra quickly became reacquainted, as did Korra with the ground. The two of them came down hard into the bushes, but Korra's airbending had broken their fall for the most part.

"Korra, is it too early to break up with you?" Mako groaned from next to Korra.

"No, silly, you have to date me first, then you can break up with me. Not that I'd let you! Now come on, we've got to get to the ship."

The island was in turmoil; Equalists swarmed to defend it from the three ships that had now aligned themselves parallel to the land. Firebenders were sending continuous volleys of fire at the hapless chiblockers. United Forces soldiers had begun landing on the island, and were in a desperate fight with their Equalist foes. In the midst of the chaos, three Equalists came running towards Korra, but she knocked them flat with her airbending.

"I am really digging this new element," she declared to Mako, who only nodded vaguely, more interested in the heated battle unfolding in front of them. One of the soldiers noticed the airbending and turned towards them.

"Korra! I'm so relieved to see you." A man with wild brown hair in a uniform like Iroh's came running up, escorted by two earthbenders and a firebender. The man's face looked as happy and innocent as a puppy.

"You must be Bumi!"

"Yeah, I came as fast as I could. We had a little trouble with some of those loony flying contraptions, but there weren't as many as we were expecting."

"Asami and the others must have grounded the rest of their machines."

"Is Tenzin with them?"

Korra's heart sank. "I'm sorry, Bumi…Tenzin and the others…didn't make it. Amon captured them and took their bending away. I didn't even know about it until it was too late."

Bumi's face fell faster than Bolin's when he found out he had missed breakfast. His eyes closed as tears peaked out from under his lids.

"Tenzin was dad's only hope of restoring his lost culture…and now that's gone." Bumi's face clenched and he wiped the tears from his eyes. With a renewed courage and determination that surprised Korra, he looked her straight in the face. "I can't let personal feelings get in the way of duty! I'm under strict orders from General Iroh to escort the Avatar to safety. And the Avatar is you! So let's get the hell out of here! I'll find Tenzin and my nieces and nephews later. This way!"

Bumi and the firebending soldier put Korra's arms around their shoulder and carried her towards the beach, while the earthbenders took Mako. Other soldiers provided cover for them as they made their way down to the shore. Once they were in the landing rafts, Bumi bellowed to the oarsmen. "Alright, troops! This is a special rescue operation! We're talking serious Code Blueberry Spicecake stuff here, so let's get moving!"

The sailors rolled their eyes at Bumi's eccentricity and pushed off the beach, manning the oars and taking Korra towards Bumi's ship as fast as possible.

From a window high atop the tower of Air Temple Island, a hateful gaze scanned the tumultuous battle below, then panned over to see the Avatar getting farther and farther from his grasp. A fist clenched uncharacteristically in anger was enough to alert the lieutenant to the fact that his normally calm and collected boss was seriously teed off.

"Should we send the airships after her?"

"No," Amon answered placidly, slowly recomposing himself. "We need every available resource to find Hiroshi and restore the airfields to functionality. If Commander Bumi is here, then that means Hiroshi failed to take out the Republic fleet…"

"Meaning his hangers were located by the Avatar's friends."

"Precisely. We need to brace ourselves for the next wave of reinforcements that the Avatar might find to send against us. We must accelerate production of the mechatanks and biplanes. If we are to consolidate our gains and expand our revolution to the other benders of the world, we must better equip ourselves with the means to defend our newfound equality."

"And the Avatar?"

"She is no longer our concern…for the moment. Harmonic Convergence is only a few months away, after all."

"Right, I had forgotten. Do you think this spirit friend of yours will be able to take on the Avatar, then?"

From under his mask, a grim smile of satisfaction settled itself on Amon's lips.

"Absolutely."