What if Kuvira had Rabies?
Introduction: Kuvira has been defeated and sentenced to life in prison. All is well, until doctors discover that she has rare strain of Wolfbat Rabies, a disease usually found in Earth Kingdom orphans. Most do not make it past age six, but for some, the virus remains dormant until they reach their adult years. This...is exactly what happened to Kuvira. The Avatar and her gang have been called in an attempt to fix, or at least slow Kuvira's deteriorating state.
Korra glanced at Mako and Bolin as they silently trudged under the dark entrance to Cabbage Corp's prison. A set of metal gates creaked open upon their arrival, leading them into a large, gray courtyard. A man in a crumpled, yellow uniform detached himself from a group a people and rushed over to them.
"Korra! Glad you could make it!" he said hurriedly.
Korra raised her eyebrows. "Where is she?" she asked bluntly.
The man froze, taken aback by her forwardness."Ah yes, t-this way," he stuttered.
He led them through ivy covered doors and into a gloomy hallway. A rogue breeze passed through the empty cells on either side of them, arousing a low moan that echoed throughout the halls.
"This place is so creepy…" muttered Bolin as he shifted his eyes from floor to the empty cells.
"Ah well, this building was originally built by the Fire Nation almost a century ago as a prison for Earth Benders. They used the most gruesome tactics on their prisoners, which included turning their own bending against them," said their guide matter-of-factly.
Bolin's eyes widened. "How do you turn your own bending against-"
"Trust me my boy," the man said abruptly cutting off Bolin's sentence. "You don't want to know."
Bolin's shivered as their guide continued on.
"While we originally planned to destroy this building, Cabbage Corps saw it as an ideal prison for serious Earth bender criminals. The walls have a thick layer of platinum within them, making it impossible to break out. Firelord Ozine knew what he was doing when he ordered the construction of this place. But it was when we were excavating the prison did we truly find the shock of our lives."
As he said this, he came to a dead end at the end of the hallway. Korra and her friends stopped behind him as he turned to face them.
"This."
He then reached to his left and pulled what seemed to be a hidden lever, so perfectly blended in with the framework of the walls that it had gone unnoticed to Korra and her gang. Suddenly, the wall beside them creaked and slowly swung open. Their guide glanced at Mako who immediately concurred a ball of fire in his hand. They proceeded down the steps, their shadows illuminated by the light Mako carried.
"We found this room by accident, a simple mishap. We believe that Firelord Ozine did not even know about it. Whoever built this part of the prison knew exactly what he was doing and had only one goal in mind."
As they got closer and closer to the light at the bottom, Korra felt her hair standing on the edge. She was getting a strange vibe as they proceeded down into the dank, dark room.
They arrived at the bottom of the stairs, and Korra couldn't help but gasp at what she saw.
"This…is where they would have kept the Avatar."
A circular room surrounded by glass presented itself to them. Inside, two beams of light shone down on a small shape huddled in the corner. Korra could only assume it was Kuvira.
"Hmm….doesn't look to bad," said Bolin as he reached over to tap on the class.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" shouted their guide as he rushed to block Bolin's hand but it was too late.
Bolin's knuckles just barely grazed the glass before he pulled back his hand screaming. His hand contorted awkwardly, as if electricity blazed through it.
"BOLIN!" Mako and Korra shouted together.
Unexpectedly, Bolin froze before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted.
Mako rushed to catch Bolin then glared at their guide.
"You better start explaining before I light your eyebrows up," he snarled.
Their guide sighed and said, "This room is infused with energy. We are still trying to find out what kind, but it is dark. The glass your brother touched is actually holding back most of it. The energy inside the room is not designed to kill its victim, but to control them. It attacks the central nerves, and forbids the body to do anything but push itself to its limits to survive. As a result the victim falls in and out of consciousness. However, even in sleep the energy continues to slither through the victim's mind in an effortless battle to control them. If they had imprisoned the Avatar here, it would have kept him or her from ever entering the Spirit World through sleep or meditation. As for food, we had to use water benders to transfer nourishments into the prisoner from a distance."
He paused for a moment to breathe.
"It's honestly a cruel device," he murmured.
He abruptly felt a heavy hand on his shoulder spin him around, before coming face to face with a very furious Avatar. He cried out as Korra picked him up by the front of his shirt so that his feet were almost off the ground
"And why in the world…would you think…of putting…KUVIRA….IN AN AWFUL PLACE...LIKE THIS?!" Korra basically spat out the last of her words, her rage threatening to throw her in the Avatar state.
"Please, please I can explain!" the man hurriedly said. Turned out…he didn't have to.
A sudden, muffled tapping sound caught Korra's attention. She looked up toward Mako who was staring wide-eyed behind her. She slowly set down their guide who trembled with both relief and fear.
Turning around, she came face to face with Kuvira's unnaturally angled smile.
"Hello Avatar…"
End Chapter 1