DISCLAIMER: Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Legend of Korra is owned by Nickelodeon
New Iacon Chronicles: Darkness Rising
Chapter 1: Rebel Spirit
AUTOBOT JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER 91784
IT HAD BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE THE EQUALIST WAR, AND SINCE THEN, NEW IACON WAS FINALLY STARTING TO BECOME A BEACON OF PEACE THAT OPTIMUS PRIME AND AVATAR AANG HAD MENT FOR IT TO BE. WITH THE HELP OF HER NEW PARTNER PROWL, CHIEF LIN BEI FONG HAD ARRESTED THE FINAL REMAINING EQUALIST SOLDIERS THAT HAD BEEN ON THE RUN EVER SINCE THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THEIR MASKED LEADER, AMON, AND, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE STUNTICONS, SOUNDWAVE, CYCLONUS, SIXSHOT AND SCOURGE, HAD ALSO APPREHENDED THE DECEPTICONS WHO WERE INVOLVED. SINCE THEN, TEAM AVATAR WENT THEIR SEPERATE WAYS. MAKO AND ARCEE JOINED THE ELITE GUARD WITH A PROMISING FUTURE AHEAD OF THEM, ASAMI AND KNOCK OUT RETURNED TO FUTURE INDUSTRIES WITH THE GOAL OF SAVING THE COMPANY FROM BANKRUPTCY NOW THAT HIROSHI SATO IS BEHIND BARS, AND BOLIN AND BLASTER RETURNED TO THE FIRE FERRETS AND...WELL, THEY'RE NOT DOING QUITE AS WELL AS THE OTHERS. MYSELF AND MY BEST FRIEND, AVATAR KORRA, RETURNED TO AIR TEMPLE ISLAND WITH THE INTENTION OF FINISHING KORRA'S TRAINING WITH TENZIN BEFORE FINALLY LIVING A PEACEFUL LIFE HERE IN THE CITY. IT APPEARS THAT THIS WAR, WHICH HAD RAVAGED SINCE MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO ON CYBERTRON, WAS FINALLY OVER.
-RODIMUS PRIME
Far away from New Iacon, inside an underground hideout, the spirits of Azula and Starsream watched via a monitor as a purple Cybertronian bomber flew to its destination, an airfield owned by the Elite Guard. Starscream, being his usual self, questioned this decision.
"Are you certain this is a good idea Azula?" he asked. "With limited technology, and only Darksteel, Skylinx and this iron brained idiot on our side, this plan of your's reaks of disaster!"
"I would prefer it if you did not question me Starscream," Azula threatened while glaring upwards at him. "Besides, we'd have more troops if you had recruited the other three Decepticons who answered us."
"Bah! I would rather jump straight into The Pit than have Crumplezone, Ransack and Thunderblast join us!" Starscream retaliated.
"Then why did you allow this 'Lugnut' into our ranks?" Azula asked.
"Lugnut may be an imbecile, but his strength is undeniable," Starscream answered before turning back to the monitor.
Meanwhile, Lugnut continued to fly to the airfield, which grabbed the attention of Chief Bei Fong and Prowl.
"One of our's?" Prowl asked.
"Can't be, neither of us ordered for a bomber to come in," Lin answered. "Have a transmission ready to be sent."
Back with Lugnut, the massive Decepticon received a transmission from the air base.
"Unidentified aircraft, you are entering Elite Guard territory," Lin said through the transmission. "You have twenty seconds to turn your ass around or we will shoot you down." Rather than respond however, Lugnut simply transformed and plunged down into the air field, plunging his fist to the ground and resulting in a massive explosion that vaporized anything in a 200 yard radius. Lin and Prowl's eyes widened in shock before Lugnut stood up, flames surrounding him as he picked up the wreckage of an Elite Guard truck.
"For the glory of the Decepticons!" he shouted before tossing the truck into a building, causing it to explode and collapse before ripping his way underground into a series of tunnels. He quickly ran through them before coming across a safe and ripping the door off.
"Lugnut to Starscream, I have located the evidence vault," Lugnut said through a comlink.
"Good," Starscream responded. "Now, do you see nine stasis pods inside?" Lugnut then looked around the massive vault before coming across nine stasis pods that contained the bodies of nine Cybertronians. A green one with wasp parts on him, two with spider like parts around them, (one of them obviously female) and the other six, which appeared to have bits and pieces of them missing, but obviously appear to transform into a pteranodon, a velociraptor, a fire ant, a crab, a scorpion and a combination of a scorpion and a cobra.
"Affirmative," Lugnut replied.
"Excellent," Starscream responded. "Now, get them back to base at once!" With that, Lugnut grabbed all nine of them and transformed into his bomber mode with them inside, when a platoon of Autobots came in from the tunnels.
"Freeze!" one of them ordered. However, Lugnut simply fired a missile and destroyed all of them before flying straight through the ground while Lin and Prowl could only watch.
"I want wanted posters of that thing stretched from here to the Water Tribes!" Lin ordered before storming off with Prowl walking beside her.
"Fools," Lugnut said in his vehicle mode. "No matter what you do, I will forever shout Galvatron's glorious name into the high heavens!"
"Oh for spark's sake..." Starscream groaned.
*QUE BEAST WARS OPENING THEME*
Meanwhile, out at sea, a fishing boat was sailing across the water on a dark, rainy night and an old man was talking to one of the fishermen, holding a lantern on the top deck of the boat.
"This your first watch?" the old man asked.
"Mm-hmm," the fisherman answered.
"Well then, you'd better keep your eyes peeled, laddie," the old man replied. "You never know what creatures lurk in the murky depths." Upon hearing that, the young fisherman gasped and looked down at the water while the old man turned to leave, laughing quietly. Suddenly, a large, squid like creature the size of the boat swam underneath, the fisherman taking notice.
"Uh, s-sir?" he asked.
"What?" the old man answered, only for a tentacle to come to him and pull him to the water. "AHH!"
"Man overboard! Man overboard!" the fisherman said while more tentacles came in and started pulling the boat underwater.
Back at New Iacon, spotlights shined around the probending arena at nightfall, clear that a match was about to begin.
"It's probending night at New Iacon and have we got a doozy for you," the announcer said. "Fan favorites, The Fire Ferrets, are about to take on hot newcomers, The Rhino-Lions." While that was going on, Bolin, wearing his uniform was addressing two new Fire Ferrets that acted as replacements for Korra and Mako, while Pabu, who was also in a uniform, chirped and stood on a railing.
"Now we all know that our last match was garbage. Terrible. Even Pabu could have done a better job," Bolin began. "But that's in the past, because when you back a Fire Ferret in the corner, well mister, he comes out fighting! So let's get out there and bend like there's no tomorrow! Are you with me!?" However, Bolin's encouragement fell upon the ears of a firebender girl who was holding her arm and looking down nervously and a waterbending boy who wiped his nose with his arm, sniffing loudly.
The match began, and literally, just five seconds later, all three Ferrets were sent plunging into the water bellow.
"Ooh, the Fire Ferrets go down in the water and right into the record books for the fastest knockout in pro-bending history!" the announcer said while Bolin swam to the edge of the floor and Blaster came up to help Bolin up.
"Told ya this was gonna be a disaster," Blaster said.
"Where's Mako when I need him?" Bolin asked in disappointment.
Said firebender however was busy with his new police duties, and is currently chasing down a speeding truck, riding on Arcee in her motorcycle mode. The truck then opened up to reveal two waterbender criminals ready to attack the duo. One of them immediately began bending a stream of water before the other one clapped his hands together, turning it into steam and causing it to engulf Mako and Arcee while the waterbenders began pouring water onto the street before one of them turned it to ice. However, Arcee immediately transformed her tires to handle the ice before Mako threw a fireball at the ice and melted it.
"I'll take care of the engine," Mako said to his guardian. "You take care of the tires." With that, Mako lept off of Arcee and used his firebending to propel himself to the roof of the truck while Arcee transformed into her robot mode, using the tires of her motorcycle mode as skates before getting her blades out. Mako then used his lightningbending to shut off the engine while Arcee used her blades to slash the right tires, causing the truck to loose control and crash into a fire
hydrant. The criminals started to climb out the broken windshield before Mako and Arcee walked up to them, Arcee pointing her blaster while Mako removed his goggles, smirking.
"Looks like you had some car trouble, good thing the police are here," Mako remarked, to which Arcee groaned at.
"Really Mako?" she asked.
The next morning, Knock Out drove up to the Sato estate with hopefully good news that will help Future Industries from falling into the gutter. When he transforms and enters though, Asami was nowhere to be found. Searching through the entire mansion for his friend, he finally found her in her father's old workshop outside, appearing to haven't slept for days and her hair a mess. She was also working in front of a computer, and behind her were seven of the Equalist armors that were confiscated from the Equalist War. In front of her was a specially modified version of the armor she used to take down her
father, now slightly slimmed down and designed more so for her body, and also painted maroon and black.
"Enhance detail 4-19," Asami said to the voice activated computer, not even noticing Knock Out.
"Asami," Knock Out finally said, which startled Asami slightly before turning to Knock Out.
"Knock Out, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was gonna ask the same to you," Knock Out responded.
"Oh, this?" Asami asked. "I was just modifying these armors in case Chief Bei Fong ever wanted to change her mind."
"Asami, Lin made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want any Equalist technology in the Elite Guard," Knock Out replied, to which Asami simply sighed sadly at. "Asami, what's wrong?"
"Everything's wrong Knock Out," Asami answered. "I'm gonna have to file Future Industries for bankruptcy if I don't do something about it. And that's not all."
"What do you mean?" Knock Out asked.
"Ever since the Equalist War, whenever I'm able to sleep, which is rare, I always get nightmares about every time I, you and the others have come close to getting killed," Asami answered. "Hell I've even spent time upgrading the suit in front of me just in case something happens. I'm a paranoid wreck Knock Out, and I don't know if I'm fit for running Future Industries."
"Asami, listen to me," Knock Out said. "If anyone is capable of doing this, it's you. And besides, I'm always gonna be here to help you out." Upon listening to his words, Asmai smiled slightly.
"Thanks Knock Out," she said.
"Anytime kid," Knock Out responded, smiling back at her. "Now get yourself cleaned up. I've arranged a meeting over at the South Pole with someone who can help us get Future Industries back on top."
While that was going on, over at Air Temple Island, Korra and the three airbending kids were racing on air scooters, Ikki in the lead with Korra close behind. Pema meanwhile was walking through a pathway, with Rohan, an ear of corn and a radish in her hands, while Kup walked behind her, when the airbenders sped past them, making the two of them fumble around.
"Turbo reving young punks!" Kup scolded as he regained control. Meanwhile, the four airbenders continued to race around the island, Ikki giving a smirk of confidence, when Korra suddenly entered into the Avatar State and immediately took the lead, leaving a surprised Ikki behind before passing a torii gate while Bumi and Rodimus waved checkered flags. Korra then dismounted the air scooter while Bumi started coughing due to the dust that Korra produced before the other three children crossed the finish line.
"The Avatar is the winner!" Bumi declared.
"No fair!" Ikki angrily said as she approached Korra. "You can't go into the Avatar State to win."
"You did what!?" Tenzin sternly asked as he and Kup approached the scene. "The Avatar State is NOT to be used as a booster rocket! You are toying with a dangerous power that you obviously do not appreciate."
"It's the 'Avatar State,' and she's the Avatar," Rodimus argued.
"I don't think you should be the one arguing about this matter kid," Kup retaliated.
"What's that suppose to mean Kup?" Rodimus asked.
"You're suppose to be the leader of the Autobots Rodimus, yet you've done NOTHING to prove your worth so far," Kup answered.
"I saved the whole planet!" Rodimus argued.
"Well whoopdie-fraggin-do!" Kup responded. "That doesn't mean you can just take a six month vacation!" It was then that Swoop came in in his pteranodon mode and landed between Rodimus and Kup before transforming into his robot mode.
"Hey, hey! Time out guys!" he said. "Look, we have to calm our circuts. The conflict six months ago is over, and I think Tenzin's vacation is just the right thing to help us and the other Dinobots." Upon hearing the word 'Dinobots,' Tenzin's eyes widened in an overblown manner.
"Oh no!" he objected. "You are not bringing those hooligans with us!"
"C'mon Tenzin, what else do they have to do now that Shockwave's slagged?" Swoop asked. "Especially Grimlock. Big lug's been picking for a fight ever since then." Right on que, an explosion could be heard followed by Grimlock's roar.
"That's probably him right now," Swoop said with concern and transformed into his Dinobot mode before flying into the city.
"He's got a point Kup," Bumi said. "You do need to calm your circuts. You're acting worse than Tenzin over here."
"Is it too late for you to un-retire from the United Forces?" Kup asked.
"The paperwork's gone through old buddy," Bumi answered before grabbing Tenzin's head and pinching his cheek. "From now on, it's 24/7 Bumi Time!" Tenzin then made him let go and walked up to Korra.
"Clearly, you need more training to grasp the depths of your spiritual connections," he said. "Not to mention that you're still a long way from mastering airbending."
"I HAVE mastered airbending," Korra replied. To demostrate, Korra suddenly punched blasts of air at the surrounding shrubbery.
"See?" she asked. "Mastered."
"Looks pretty good to me," Bumi said, to which Tenzin and Kup simply groaned upon.
"You've mastered KORRA style airbending," Tenzin responded before getting out a map of the Earth, with the locations of the Air Temples marked, as well as a cartoonish caricature of himself with a thumbs up in the middle. "Now you need to master real airbending. Hopefully, our visit to all of the Air Temples will give you the inspiration you need to delve more deeply into your studies."
"Can we see where Grandpa Aang was born?" Jinora asked.
"How many lemurs can I have?" Meelo asked.
"I want to get tattoos, but instead of arrows, I want lightning bolts," Ikki said.
"You can't get lightning bolts, that doesn't make any sense," Jinora argued.
"You don't make any sense!" Ikkin angrily replied.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Meelo cheered while Ikki and Jinora pressed their forheads against each other, growling before Tenzin pulled them apart.
"No one's fighting!" he sternly said. "We're going to have a wonderful time! Now that Cerebros is in office and I'm not needed on the council, I can finally relax with my family and give Korra the attention she needs."
"Great. More attention," Korra sarcastically said, only to be interrupted by Bumi laughing.
"Relax?" he asked. "I'd pay money to see that. Maybe I'll tag along just to see 'Vacation tenzin.'"
"You're not invited," Tenzin responded.
"Before we go on your Dad's study trip, we're going to have some real fun in my hometown at the Glacier Spirits Festival," Korra said to the airbender kids. "They've got rides, games, and all kinds of fried food on sticks."
"YAY!" all three of the children simultaneously said before running around Tenzin, Bumi and Kup, cheering while Tenzin and Kup clenched their eyes shut a moment and Bumi placed an arm around Tenzin's shoulder.
"Yep, there's Vacation Tenzin," he said. "And you can't stop me from going to the festival, Mom already invited me."
While that was going on, on a ship heading for the Southern Water Tribe, Korra and Rodimus were standing on the edge of the deck of the ship, talking to each other.
"All I do is train all day," Korra stated. "It's like Tenzin's totally forgot how I beat Amon."
"Korra, Tenzin's just trying to help you become the best Avatar you can be," Rodimus reassured.
"I-I know Rodimus, and I appreciate it, but it just feels like I have little to no freedom, even as the Avatar," Korra replied. "Kinda like..."
"Kinda like how you spent most of your training back at home, isolated," Rodimus finished for her.
"Exactly," Korra responded with her head down, to which Rodimus kneeled down to his friend's level.
"Hey, if a rookie like me could become leader of the Autobots, then you definitely can be a great Avatar," Rodimus said, to which Korra smiled slightly at before the two of them started laughing slightly, before Rodimus looked away and frowned slightly over what he had said.
The next day, as the ship docked at the Southern Water Tribe, Jinora, Meelo and Ikki immediately ran to give their grandmother Katara a hug, while Katara's dautghter, Kya, along with her Autobot companion, a light blue femme-bot named 'Chromia,' stood beside her, all while a huge crowd waited at the docks.
"Gran-gran!" the three airbender children said simultaneously to Katara.
"Oh, you've all gotten so big," Katara replied before Jinora went to hug her aunt.
"We missed you Aunt Kya," she said.
"Oh, I missed you too," Kya responded.
"We missed you too Chromia," Ikki said as she hugged Chromia's leg.
"Aw, I missed you kids too," Chromia responded. "Your father doesn't bring you to visit nearly enough."
"Yeah, he's probably scared I'll beat him up like when we were kids," Kya remarked before lightly punching Tenzin's arm once he exited the ship.
"I'm not scared of you...anymore," Tenzin replied. Meanwhile, Korra went up to hug her father, Tonraq, while Mako, Arcee and Rodimus stood behind her and Korra's mother, Senna, stood to the side of Tonraq.
"You remember Mako," Korra said to her father.
"Sir," Mako said, offering Tonraq a handshake, only for him to cross his arms sternly.
"I hope you're not getting my daughter into any more trouble up in the city," he said.
"Uh, no," Mako nervously answered. "I, uh-no."
"Knock it off Tonraq," Rodimus said before Tonraq chuckles and shook Mako's hand, heartily.
"Man, quite a crowd just to come and see us," Blaster said as he and Bolin walked out of the ship.
"Uh, no...they came to greet them," Korra corrected, and sure enough a royal Northern Water Tripe ship docked on the other side of the pier while the crowd clapped and cheered.
"The great chief of the Northern Water Tribe comes to grace us with his presence," Tonraq said in a bitterly sarcastic tone. "Hooray."
"Just relax Tonraq," Senna responded. "He'll be gone soon enough." Once the ship docked, a man that was around Tonraq's age walked down the plank to the pier with two guards and two almost identical teenagers following behind, which caught Bolin's eyes, but what caught everyone else's eyes, was the robotic griffin and dragon that walked beside them.
"Whoa, circus in town?" Chromia asked.
"Might as well be Chromia," Arcee answered. "Those are Predacons."
"Yeah, their names are Darksteel and Skylinx," Korra added. "After Toph Bei Fong and Ironhide busted his lab, Chief Unalaq bought them from the Elite Guard to protect his children."
"And who are these lovely ladies?" Bolin asked, trying to act all cool.
"That's Eska and Desna, the chief's children," Korra answered. "Desna's a guy." Upon hearing that, things got a lot more awkward for Bolin.
"Oh, no, sure, I knew that, and which one's Desna?" Bolin asked before Unalaq and his group approached Korra and her friends, with Tenzin, his family and the Dinobots standing behind them. Unalaq then walked up to Korra before bowing to her.
"Good to see you again, Avatar Korra," he said.
"Good to see you again too," Korra replied with a bow of her own before Unalaq turned to Korra's father.
"Tonraq," he said.
"Brother," was all Tonraq said in response.
Later, at the Glacier Spirits Festival, Unalaq, along with Korra, Rodimus, Tonraq and Tenzin walked down the street through the stands, Unalaq looking on in slight disgust.
"It's a shame the Southerners have abandoned all connections to the spirits, even during the most hallowed times," he said.
"I've always loved the Glacier Spirits Festival," Korra replied. "It's fun."
"This festival used to be a solemn time of fasting and meditation," unalaq argued. "Now it's just a chance to watch some rube try to stick an entire arctic hen in his mouth." As if to prove his point, Bolin, with Blaster standing beside him, was across the others, stuffing a cooked arctic hen into his mouth, before noticing the onlookers.
"Wha-what?" Bolin asked, his mouth still full. "It's so good."
"Traditions change Chief Unalaq, even back on Cybertron," Rodimus argued. "It isn't the end of the world."
"Tell that to the sailors who are being attacked by angry spirits in Southern waters," Unalaq responded. "Some traditions have purpose."
"Wait, what?" Rodimus asked.
"Spirits are attacking ships?" Korra asked.
"I'm surprised the Avatar doesn't know about that," Unalaq said to both Tenzin and Tonraq. "Apparently you haven't been given all the information you need. It would be my honor to instruct you in the spiritual ways of the Water Tribe."
"I wouldn't mind learning about fighting spirits," Korra replied.
"Tenzin is Korra's instructor," Tonraq protested. "He can give her all the training she needs."
"So you've said," Unalaq responded.
Meanwhile, at the docks where a massive Water Tribe ship was docked and Asami, Knock Out, Bolin, with Pabu on his shoulder, and Blaster walked inside.
"I'm glad you guys came with me to this meeting," Asami said to both Bolin and Blaster. "Varrick is one of the richest men in the world, and he controls the entire global shipping business. So you're my assistant."
"Which means just stand there and don't say anything," Knock Out warned. "That goes double for you Blaster."
"No problem man," Blaster responded.
"Man, this is nice," Bolin said as he analized the scope of the ship. "I gotta get into thus whole 'business' thing."
Once inside, the group found a middle aged man sitting cross legged on a cushion, eyes closed and fingers pressed against his head in concentration, while his assistant sat beside him, writing on a notepad and surrounded by guests.
"Uh, what's he doing?" Blaster whispered before the man, obviously Varrick, shot his eyes open and grinned in excitement.
"Did ya see that!?" he asked. "Levitation! I was a foot off the ground! Is that incredible or what!?" In response, all the guests clapped and said things like 'How does he do that?,' 'That's unbelievable,' and 'That's amazing.' Asami and Knock Out too were clapping, but Bolin and Blaster simply scratched their heads in confusion.
"It looked like you were just sitting on a pillow," Bolin stated. Upon hearing that, everyone, minus him and Blaster, gasped in shock before Asami put her face in her palm in embarrassment and Knock Out slapped his forehead for the same reason. Varrick then scowled and got up, marching towards Bolin and causing him to back into the wall and for Pabu to hide in Bolin's shirt.
"Are you saying I wasn't levitating?" he asked, causing Bolin to gulp, intimidated.
"Uh...no?" he answered.
"Well why didn't anyone tell me!?" Varrick suddenly shouted to the guests. "Now I look like an idiot! Swami, your fired!" In response, the Swami he was referring to simply bowed deeply and quietly walked away backwards while Varrick slapped an arm around Bolin's shoulder, making Pabu jump away in fright.
"I like you kid, you're a real straight shooter, just like me," he said. "Miss Sato, he's with you?"
"Mmm-hmm," Asami answered before she and Knock Out sighed in relief.
"Brought your tiger-shark with you to do business, huh?" Varrick asked. "Now that's moxie." Then, Varrick's assistant, named Zhu Li, shooed away two of the guests to make room as Varrick sat Bolin down on a cushion.
"Get over here and pop a squat," Varrick said. "Zhu Li, get some tea for my guests."
"Thank you for meeting with us Varrick," Knock Out said while Zhu Li got some tea and offered it to Bolin. "As you know, Future Industries is looking for a partner to handle our shipping-"
"Sure, but first, you gotta check out my new venture: moving pictures," Varrick suddenly interupted. "Zhu Li, do the thing." Right on que, Zhu Li immediately shoved the tea tray to Bolin and ran up to a projector before turning it on, all at break neck speed.
"You're gonna love this," Varrick said as he sat Asami and Knock Out down. Then the projection came up, revealing a silent, grainy clip of an ostrich-horse running, simmilar to 'Sallie Gardner at a Gallop' by Eadweard Muybridge.
"Mind blowing, right?" Varrick asked.
"Yeah," Blaster said, impressed.
"Now, forget that!" Varrick suddenly responded. "That's the past! Shut it off, Zhu Li!" Upon hearing that, Zhu Li
immediately turned the projector off.
"Imagine watching this," Varrick added. "Ginger, come over here and do your poses." What Bolin saw next caused him to gasp audibly. An attractive red-haired woman, obviously Ginger, in a fur coat came over before throwing it to the floor and did three poses that were so exaggerated, one could almost see stylized backgrounds behind her and hear saxophone music playing in the background. The result was a drooling Bolin and a confused Blaster. Varrick then got in the way of Bolin as he tried to look around him and at Ginger.
"Spectacular!" Varrick said. "And we tell a story. There's romance, action, some funny uh animal stuff for the kids. You know, whatever. Thanks Ginger, go rest your gams." Suddenly, he came in and sat between Bolin and Asami.
"How about that, tiger-shark?" he asked Bolin. "We're gonna do big business with these 'movers,' as I call 'em."
"Okaaay...but I'm just concentrating on getting Future Industries back on track," Asami responded. "If we could hammer out a dea-"
"Stop," Varrick suddenly interrupted before suddenly pressing his face against Asami's and staring intensely into her eyes, clearly making Asami look fairly awkward. "Look me in the eye." After a few moments of a tense moment of silence, Asami stared back at Verrick with the same intensity. Then, Varrick suddenly pointed his finger at Asami and grinned.
"We got a deal!" he said while sitting up straight and pointing upwards, causing Asami to fall over and for Zhu Li to come and help her up. The guests began cheering while Varrick shook Asami's hand and Blaster scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"We'll hammer out the details at the royal feast tonight," Varrick added. "Now, who wants a rocket-boat ride!?" The guests then began cheering again before following Varrick out, leaving Bolin, Blaster, Pabu, Asami and Knock Out.
"Business usually this weird?" Blaster asked.
"From what I've heard, this isn't even half of it when it comes to this guy," Knock Out answered while Asami went up and happily hugged Bolin and ruffled his hair.
"You are a natural assistant," she said.
Later, at the royal feast, Korra, Rodimus and Unalaq sat at the head table, along with Tonraq, Senna, Eska, Desna, Darksteel and Skylinx.
"This is a wonderful feast in your honor Uncle," Korra said to Unalaq.
"This is nothing," Unalaq responded. "When this festival was founded, the tribal elders would commune with the spirits. People would watch the brilliant displays of light as spirits danced in the sky."
"Wow," Korra replied. "I've never seen that."
"And that is a shame, since the Avatar is the bridge between the material world and the spirits," Unalaq added. "That is why I want so badly to teach you, to help you fulfill your destiny."
"I thought I had made it clear that Tenzin is teaching her," Tonraq sternly interrupted.
"Every Avatar before you traveled the world to learn," Unalaq continued. "It was Tenzin and your father who kept you secluded at the South Pole."
"I thought Aang and Optimus ordered the White Lotus to keep me down here," Korra replied.
"We all did what we thought was best for you," Tonraq responded.
"Who I train with should be my decision, Dad, not yours or Tenzin's," Korra said, feeling slightly betrayed. It was then that she noticed Rodimus, looking down and not as though he was enjoying the festivities.
"Excuse me," she said before walking up to her Autobot friend. "Hey, big guy, what's wrong?" Upon hearing her, Rodimus turned his head to Korra before responding.
"I've been thinking about what Kup said back at Air Temple Island." he answered. "What if I'm not cut for being leader of the Autobots? What if I let everyone down?"
"Hey, look, who saved the entire world from Amon and Zarak?" Korra asked. "Who had the guts to take on a cyber-former head on? Who did Optimus Prime himself trust enough to pass the torch to?"
"...Me," Rodimus answered.
"Exactly," Korra replied with a smile. "I'm sure you'll make a great leader Rodimus." With that, Rodimus couldn't help but smile as well.
Meanwhile, over at the other tables, Swoop, Slug, Snarl and Sludge were busy chomping down on energon cubes while the waiters were busy trying to keep up with their demands. Grimlock however simply sat there, bored out of his skull and inching to pick some kind of fight. On one of the other tables, Tenzin sat with his siblings, Katara, who was holding Rohan, Kup and Chromia.
"Looks like someone's trying to take your place as the Avatar's stick-in-the-mud mentor," Bumi remarked to Tenzin, obviously referring to Unalaq, while elbowing his brother.
"Bumi, don't pick on Tenzin, you know he's always been sensitive," Kya responded in a semi-joking manner.
"I'm not sensitive!" Tenzin snapped while crossing his arms as Kya, Bumi and Chromia laughed, Kup simply placed his face on his palm in an annoyed manner and Katara simply watched sadly.
Soon afterward, Unalaq stood up to address the room.
"As your chief, it is my honor to speak at this festival, which was founded to bring our tribes together and restore the ancient balance between our world and that of the spirits," he said. "But I am saddened to see what it has become: A cheap carnival that celebrates greedy and trivial humans." Ironically, Varrick was busy cleaning his teeth with his fingers while using his plate as a mirror, obviously not caring about Unalaq's speech.
"I fear the time is fast approaching when the North can no longer stand idly by while our Southern brothers slip into total spiritual decay," Unalaq continued. "Angry spirits are already attacking ships in your waters. I only hope we are not too late to change course." As he sat back down, the people began muttering about what he had said before Varrick stood up to address them.
"Chief Unalaq everybody," he said, almost as if everything the chief had said just flew past him. "Always great to have him in town. Now let's have some fun with Wacky Wushu's dancin' otter-penguins!" The second Varrick walked away, Wacky Wushu came in dancing before waterbending a slide for three otter-penguins to slide in.
"Not to sound offensive, but this is one strange nation," Arcee said to Chromia.
"Ah, you'll get used to it," Chromia responded.
Soon afterward that night, back at the festival, Mako was feeding Korra some cotton candy in a traditional boyfriend/girlfriend manner before Korra did the same, Bolin standing there with an annoyed look and Rodimus, Arcee and Blaster standing behind them. Suddenly, Bolin noticed Eska and Desna, standing there with Darksteel and Skylinx in their beast modes. Bolin then cleared his throat and nudged Mako with his elbow.
"Wish me luck," he said before handing Mako the rice balls he was holding. "I'm making my move. Whee!"
"Good luck," Mako said as Bolin went off.
"Those two have always creeped me out," Korra said about her cousins. "They smell like a grandma's attic."
"Yeah, and those Predacons sure don't make things better," Blaster added.
"Am I the only one who's at least a little bit suspicious that Unalaq had Predacons assigned to protect his cousins?" Arcee asked.
"No, but Prowl told me earlier via a transmission that he had Elite Guard members sent here to watch their every move," Rodimus answered. "One slip up and they're back in their cryo-tubes."
While that was going on, Bolin had approached who he was sure was Eska. (and thankfully it was)
"Hey, I'm Bolin, a friend of Korra's," Bolin nervously said. "You're Eska, right? Wow, I'm just...I'm loving these robes." In response, Darksteel, who was standing beside Eska, turned and growled at Bolin, which almost caused him to scream and run off. Instead, he cleared his throat and tried again.
"So...you are from the North, right?" Bolin asked Eska. "Cool. That's like, you know, that's like, my favorite direction."
"I think he is trying to establish some kind of bond with you based on your geographic point of origin," Desna said to his sister in the most bored expression imaginable.
"Perhaps it would be interesting to spend time with a person whose ways are so rough and uncultured," Eska responded in an equally as bored tone before turning to Bolin. "You amuse me. I will make you mine."
"...You mean like a boyfriend or...like a slave?" Bolin asked, now starting to feel a bit intimidated by Eska.
"Yes," Eska responded before grabbing Bolin's collar. "Win me prizes." All Bolin could do was laugh nervously as Eska pulled him away with Desna following behind her, when Darksteel and Skylinx chuckled in a growly manner and transformed into their robot modes.
"Sounds like she wants him as a slave to me," Skylinx growled.
"Watching the human's misery could prove quite entertaining," Darksteel added before they started chuckling again and walked off with Eska, Desna and Bolin while Blaster took notice.
"I better follow em and make sure poor Bolin doesn't become Predacon chow," he said before following the group.
Meanwhile, Grimlock was walking through the festival, with Swoop walking beside him to make sure he didn't step on anybody.
"This is rediculous Swoop," Grimlock growled. "Why did you drag me to this slag fest?"
"Come on buddy, ever since Shockwave got slagged you've been getting more and more agressive," Swoop answered. "Just thought something like this would help calm you down."
"Well maybe I don't want to calm down," Grimlock argued. "Maybe I just want something to trash." He then started to get out his sword, only for Swoop to grab his arm.
"Whoa, whoa big guy!" he said. "Let's try something else." It was then that he noticed a carnival game where the objective was to use a fake Autobot blaster to knock down three empty cans.
"Here, try this out," Swoop said as he lead Grimlock to the stand. "All you gotta do is shoot those cans down." In response, Grimlock analized the cans before he suddenly got his massive cannon out and pointed it at the cans. The carny who was there immediately screamed in terror and ran out of the way while nearby humans also ran away right before Grimlock fired his cannon, obliterating the stand before putting his cannon away.
"I win," he dryly said before walking away. Swoop, his optics widened in shock, simply whistled and walked away from the destruction.
While that was going on, Korra and Mako were playing another carnival game that required one to shoot a water gun at a chibi cutout version of Aang, aiming for the mouth which caused it's eyes and arrow to light up and cause a cutout air blast to rise closer to a super deformed version of Galvatron, who's head was designed to pop off once the blast reached the top.
"Unalaq offered to train me," Korra said. "He says he can teach me about the spirits and my connection to them."
"Sounds good," Mako replied. "What does Tenzin think?"
"Tenzin thinks I'm his prisoner or one of his kids," Korra answered. "I'll never finish training with him in charge." Out of frustration, Korra suddenly unes her waterbending to have a huge amount of water shoot out of her water gun, hitting the target dead on and causing the air blast cutout to come up and knock off the chibi Galvatron's head.
"We have a winner!" the carnival barker said through a megaphone before handing Korra a stuffed Appa.
"I mean, you heard what Unalaq said," Korra continued. "The South is spiritually unbalanced and it's the Avatar's job to fix it but my Dad won't even let me think about Unalaq teaching me...well?"
"Well, what?" Mako asked.
"What do you think I should do?" Korra asked.
"I guess you should do what you think is right," Mako answered. "I support whatever decision you make." In response, Korra simply sighed slightly and looked down, taking Mako's words in.
Later in the evening, Korra was sleeping against Naga inside one of several huts, when the wind began to blow while the snow fell, chiming the wind chimed hanging over the door slightly. Naga then awakened and listened to something before walking outside, waking a tired Korra.
"Ugh, Naga, what are you doing?" Korra asked as Naga started to howl. "Naga, hush." Korra then walked outside to see Naga howling at the cliff's edge. Once she ran up to her, she began placing her hands on Naga's neck.
"Quiet Naga, you'll wake everyone up," Korra said to her polar bear-dog companion before Naga casually licked Korra's face and contnuied howling, causing Mako and Bolin to exit their own huts, with Rodimus, Arcee and Blaster following shortly behind.
"What's going on?" Arcee asked. Korra then turned to look at what Naga was howling over, only to see a dark, winged object flying towards them from the distant.
"What...is...that?" Korra asked, starting to become frightened.
Far away from Korra's position, the dark object continued to fly to them, soon forming the spirit of Predaking in his dragon mode.
"I, am, fire," he growled. "I, am...death." He then narrowed his wings and began to descend while picking up speed before transforming and landing in front of Team Avatar, the resulting shock wave causing them all to land on their backs. Once the snow cleared, Predaking was soon revealed to them, glowing dark purple and glaring down at them before grabbing his sword.
"Is that...Predaking!?" Rodimus said.
"How is this possible?" Korra asked. Suddenly, Predaking plunged his sword to the ground, creating an explosion that sent all six of them flying away. Predaking then snarled and set his sights on Korra before grabbing her and pinning her against the wall. Korra, vissably terrified, tried to struggle, but Predaking simply tightened his hold.
"Where is the Dinobot known as Grimlock!?" the Predacon asked. "He shall pay for what he has done to me!" Suddenly, he was hit by a blast of fire, causing him to drop Korra. Snarling, Predaking turned to see Mako and Bolin running towards him, Mako launching more fire blasts while Bolin used a rock slide to advance towards him.
"Got it!" he said before swinging his arm upward, bending a thin wave of rocks towards Predaking, only for him to transform and fly above it before dashing away from the fire blast Mako shot at him.
"Don't got it!" Bolin said. Suddenly, Predaking breathed a dark purple fire that sent Mako and Bolin flying away from him and down a hill. During the commotion, Tenzin, Tonraq and Senna came out of their huts before running to help Mako and Bolin. Then without warning, a rumbling sound was heard, and Predaking turned to see Grimlock in his Dinobot mode, charging towards him and flaring fire from his nostrals. In response, Predaking landed on the ground, transformed and let out a battle cry before punching Grimlock with all of his strength, which knocked him to the ground. He then transformed while sliding through the snow and clashed his sword with Predaking's. Korra meanwhile got up and joined the fight, launching a fire kick towards Predaking, which distracted the Predacon leader enough for Grimlock to bash his face with his shield. However, the spirit immediately grabbed Grimlock's neck and tossed him towards a cliff. As he walked towards him with his sword ready, Korra came in in front of Grimlock and airbended a massive blast at the spirit's chest, which created a hole, but the wound simply closed up, causing Korra to gasp in shock and Predaking to grin sinisterly. He was about to attack, only for massive icicles to come in and pierce his body. Both he and Korra turned to see Tonraq coming in on an elevated ice slide.
"Korra!" he said before bending ice walls to trap Predaking. As he stopped, there was a brief moment of silence, putting Korra and Tonraq in a false sense of security, only for Predaking, back in his dragon mode, bursting out violently before grabbing Tonraq with one of his claws and tossing him aside and towards one of the huts.
"Dad!" Korra shouted before she pounded the ground, sending a massive amount of rock towards Predaking and knocking him off of his feet. Enraged, Predaking transformed into his robot mode and charged towards Korra.
While that was going on, Darksteel and Skylinx watched the chaos from afar.
"Look Skylinx," Darksteel said. "One of us?"
"Indeed Darksteel," Skylinx answered. "Most likely our predacessor."
Meanwhile, Predaking continued to withstand every attack that Korra had sent to him before plunging his fist to the ground, causing Korra to be launched to the fence that separated them from the carnival grounds. Deciding that enough was enough, Korra entered into the Avatar State while Predaking charged towards her.
"Die filthy human!" he shouted while Korra began rising upward via her airbending before Predaking could use his sword to slice her in half, causing him to burst through the fence and into the festival grounds before coming to a halt. As he got back on his feet, Predaking was suddenly hit by a barrage of fire blasts from Korra as she circled around him. However, Predaking leapt upward and punched Korra to the ground, knocking her out of the Avatar State. Disoriented, Korra tried to get up, only for Predaking to approach her, his sword ready to finish her, only for him to stop as water began to circle around him. Confused, Predaking turned to see Unalaq waving his arms in a circle before the water began to glow along with Predaking. It was then that he noticed he was starting to disintegrate.
"No!" he yelled. "I will not be denied my vengeance!" However, he was unable to stop the process and soon was gone, back to the Spirit World.
"Go in peace," Unalaq said.
Back at the huts, Grimlock began to stand back up, only for him to witness Predaking disappear.
"DAMN IT!" he shouted as Swoop came up to him. "I barely even scratched that fragger!"
"Grimlock I know how you feel bu-" Swoop began, only for Grimlock to punch him in the face, causing him to fly away from him.
"Shut up Swoop!" he yelled.
Back with Korra, once Predaking was gone, she got up and went to Unalaq whil Rodimus, Tenzin and Tonraq came up to her.
"Korra!" Rodimus said.
"Are you alright?" Tenzin asked.
"How were you able to control Predaking when no one else could?" Korra asked her uncle.
"As your father could tell you, I have spent my life studying the spirits and learning their ways," Unalaq answered. "All of this knowledge is lost in the South, but I could teach you everything I know."
"Chief Unalaq, clearly you are very knowledgeable but Korra still has much to learn about airbending, and I hope that going to the Air Temples will help her connect with the past Avatars," Tenzin responded.
"Ugh," Korra said in frustration.
"The Air Temples will teach her nothing," Unalaq replied. "Only I can give her the training she needs to be a complete Avatar."
"I've told you, that will not happen," Unalaq retaliated.
"Guys," Rodimus said, gaining everyone's attention. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Unalaq is right." Upon hearing those words, Tonraq and Tenzin's eyes widened in shock.
"He said it himself, innocent sailors are being killed everyday by these dark spirits," Rodimus began. "If we're going to stop them, I think training with Unalaq is the best option right now. But I think the two of you are missing something."
"What do you mean Rodimus?" Tonraq asked.
"Neither of you even thought for a second to ask what Korra thinks of this, and you're suppose to be two of the people she looks up to most," Rodimus answered. Realizing that he had a point, both Tonraq and Tenzin glanced sadly at each other.
"Rodimus is right," Korra said. "Unalaq has proven he's the only one who knows what I need to learn. I have to go with him." Letting what Korra said sink in, Tenzin then bowed to her, to which Korra bowed back.
"It has been a pleasure serving you, Avatar Korra," Tenzin said before walking away from the scene.
The next morning, Tenzin was prepping to leave for the air temple, his family on Oogi's saddle, before hearing footsteps, looking up to see Katara walking in with Kya, Bumi, Chromia and Kup.
"I think you forgot a couple of things," Katara said.
"Mother, I think I need some time alone with my family right now," Tenzin responded before picking up a sack and turning away.
"This is your family Tenzin," Katara reminded him. "When you get to be my age, you'll be thankful for the time you had with your siblings. Besides, I think it's important that you all visit your father's home together." Tenzin, accepting defeat, simply put the sack down before Bumi walked up to him and punched his arm and put an arm around him, followed by Kya.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Bumi said.
"I'm dying to see that laid-back 'Vacation Tenzin' I've heard so much about," Kya added.
"Alright, hop on," Tenzin said before Bumi and Kya walked past him towards Oogi and he walked up to his mother to give her a hug. "I love you, Mom. We'll see you soon."
While that was going on, the Dinobots were prepping to leave with Tenzin and his family, when Grimlock came up to them.
"I'm not going with you guys," he said, which caught the attention of the other four Dinobots.
"What?" Slug asked. "Why boss?"
"The fight's here in the South with the Avatar and these dark spirits," Grimlock answered. "And the battlefield is where I belong."
"Alright then, we'll see you soon buddy," Swoop said.
"Yeah, sure," Grimlock replied before walking away.
Soon afterward, Oogi began flying away while Kup, Chromia, Swoop, Sludge, Slug and Snarl transformed and followed him.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" Korra asked Mako as she watched Oogi fly away.
"I don't know," Mako answered. "I'm sorry, but I'm not very good at this Avatar counseling thing. But I know your heart is in the right place, you'll just have to trust it." With that, Korra took Mako's hands in hers and intertwined their fingers before Unalaq approached Korra and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I know this was a hard decision Korra, but it was the right one," he said. "Now it is time to put it behind you and begin your new training. I have great plans for you."
Meanwhile, at the underground hideout of Azula and Starscream, the two of them were observing the nine stasis pods that Lugnut had returned with. Afterward, they opened up three of the pods, revealing the Predacons known as 'Tarantulas,' 'Blackarachnia' and 'Waspinator.' The three of them looked upon their saviors with confusion.
"Bzzz, you two not shock-bot," Waspinator said, finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah, what gives?" Blackarachnia asked.
"We'll explain the situation later," Starscream answered.
"Agreed," Azula responded. "For now we need to figure out a way to finish creating the others, and without that one eyed freak I fail to see how."
"Fortunately I may have a solution, but first things first, who are you exactly?" Tarantulas asked.
"Oh, how rude of us," Azula replied with a false apologetic tone. "I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation."
"And I am air commander Starscream of the Decepticons," Starscream added.
"That's impossible," Blackarachnia stated. "The two of you got slagged in the Hundred Year War."
"There's much you do not understand Blackarachnia," Azula replied. "Anyway Tarantulas, what solution do you have in mind?"
"Before being put back into stasis, Shockwave had the skills to create a Predacon into mine and Blackarachnia's minds via a cortical psychic patch," Tarantulas answered.
"Excellent," Starscream responded. "Then I request that the two of you get to work right away." With that, Tarantulas and Blackarachnia bowed to the commander and the princess before getting to work.
"What about Waspinator?" Waspinator asked. "What can gosty-bot assign for Waspinator?"
"Ah yes, Waspinator, um, I need you to stand guard at the door to the base in case, uh, the enemy tries to attack us," Starscream answered.
"Waspinator on it!" Waspinator said with a salute before transforming into a massive green and yellow wasp and flying off while Starscream and Azula smirked sinisterly, thinking about their plans for this world.
*QUE LEGEND OF KORRA ENDING THEME*
