Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. Again, I'm really proud on how fast I've gotten these out. But I couldn't do that without your guys' support. And now, on with the show:

"So what's your favorite food?"

"You mean from here or back home?"

"In general."

"Double bacon cheeseburger." Alex was sitting cross-legged on his cot in his hut alone. His hat and jacket hug on a nearby chair while his boots sat unlaced by the side of the cot. Ever since they had returned from the South Pole, Alex had found the port city under military lock down. The military patrols wandering the streets combined with Alex's temper was simply a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.

So he'd retreated here, dedicating his alone time to getting to know the new voice in his head. Tessa, to his horror, was by far the most stubborn person he'd ever met. She made Korra look like a passive modest schoolgirl by comparison. He'd tried everything he could think of to get her to leave, even subjecting himself to six hours of straight white noise in an effort to dislodge her. It got so bad that he'd even vomited, and at one point had turned the noise up to the point that his ears literally started to bleed.

Tessa's retaliation to this had been to blare Miley Cyrus music in his head for a solid three hours. In the end, he conceded defeat. Or to be accurate, he'd wound up in the fettle position in the middle of the floor begging for mercy.

Tessa had made up her mind and made it abundantly clear; she was here to stay. With that fact out of the way, the two had dedicated their time to getting to know each other. Alex was surprised to learn that despite her having been present for the past six months, she actually knew very little about this new world. Her form had been very difficult to maintain, and as a result there were several instances where she had very little interaction with the world around her other then just floating.

"Wow, the vegans must have hated you."

"You think that's bad, you should see how I offended the Air Acolytes." With Alex now accepting that Tessa wasn't going anywhere, he took the time to fill her in on what she had missed in the past six months as well as informing her what was going on in this new world. She had a basic grasp of benders and the nations, but beyond that it was mostly non existent. He'd filled her in on the Equalist Revolution, but had used very broad strokes when describing it and making sure to leave out his actions during the fighting. The less she knew in that regard, the better. Not that she couldn't go digging for the memories and see for herself, but it was less likely to happen if she believed that his involvement in the whole thing had been as dull as dishwater.

"I can only imagine."

"Like hell you can. If you got access to my memories like you claim you do you can just watch what happened."

"Oh yeah!" Alex sat in silence as he waited for the other presence in his head to return. He still hadn't told any of the others about Tessa yet, mainly because if she refused to cooperate then he would look like he'd gone completely insane. The only other person who had seen Tessa had been Korra, and that was before she had been rejuvenated by the energy from the portal. As far as the Avatar was concerned, what she had seen at the South Pole was just another Spirit that had vanished when the portal had been opened.

"Tessa, we need to tell the others about you," Alex said.

"Why? I kind of like watching you squirm, trying not to make it seem like you've gone completely ape shit."

"Well, for starters, Lucy might be happy to know that you're alive."

"Okay, yeah, I'll give you that point."

"And the more people know you're around, the faster we can find you your own body," he added.

"Getting tired of me?"

"It's weird to have a female presence watching my every move, yes."

"Aw, Someone's a wlittle shy."

"Look, I've got a girlfriend, and we've got a physical relationship. Do you really want to watch that?"

"You offering? Sure! Why not?" Alex groaned before rubbing his temples. This girl, who from what he could tell was good friends with his sister, was almost completely unfazed by anything he threw at her. If she was friends with Lucy, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

"I'm just messing with you. If you want some alone time with your girlfriend I'll leave you alone."

"Wait, really?"

"Duh. I might be a bit of a bitch, but I'm not a total perv. Your sister on the other hand..."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get me started on her."

"Listen, Alex, I know I'm a pain in the ass, but I really am grateful for this."

"That's the closest thing to a thank you I've gotten since you started riding along."

"Ride along, you make it sound like I'm an AI or something."

"Well you do look like Cortana, only with clothes," he said. Alex couldn't help but smirk as he heard her snort.

"You don't think I know that? Cosplay was my main hobby back home." At that moment the flap on the front of the hut opened and Lucy stepped into the hut. She stamped her feet and rubbed her hands together in an effort to get some warmth back.

"Hey bro, everyone's wondering where you're at," she said.

"I've been here, just me and my thoughts. You know, when I played Halo I thought that having another person in my head would be beneficial. It's been a major pain in the ass," Alex replied. Lucy looked at her brother with a puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Alex held out his hand as if he was offering it to her.

"I found something at the South Pole," he replied. A full sized Tessa appeared just beyond the tips of his fingers. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her lips were curled into a smirk. Lucy's eyes bugged so wide Alex started to wonder if they would fall out.

"Is...is that Tessa?" she asked.

"Well who else would it be?" came the retort. Lucy's mouth hung open as she tried to form words, but only a croak managed to escape her throat. After a moment, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fainted. Tessa looked down at her fallen friend while Alex hopped to his feet.

"That could have gone better."


"So...this is what we saw at the portal?" Korra asked as she looked Tessa's form over. Lucy, Asami, Korra, Tessa, and Alex all stood or sat around the hut. After Lucy had come to her senses, they had called the other two in and showed them Tessa as well. Korra, because she had actually seen Tessa before and deserved to know what she had seen, and Asami because she deserved to know that Alex had a female presence clinging to his mind that he couldn't get rid of.

"I helped save your lives, even if you didn't listen to my warning of keeping that thing closed," Tessa said.

"There's nothing wrong with the portal being open, in fact I'd say its been beneficial. The Dark Spirit attacks have completely stopped," Korra said.

"Yeah, except Mercer now has access to an unlimited source of Rift energy," Alex added. The guy had returned to his position on cot, sitting with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. He looked exhausted, like he wanted nothing more then to curl up and sleep for a month.

"So what do we do now?" Asami asked. Lucy shrugged.

"Only thing we can do, wait and watch. Until we know what Mercer is up to it's not like we can act," she said.

"And Tessa?"

"What about me?" the electric woman asked.

"I mean what do we do about you? I don't know about Alex, but the idea of someone else constantly being in my boyfriend's head isn't something I'm thrilled about," Asami said.

"I'm not overly keen on the subject either," Alex added.

"Honestly, he's already on the verge of insanity as it is. Another voice in his head can't be healthy." Alex frowned.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, sweetheart," he said. Asami flashed him a smile, showing that she was only teasing.

"I'm sorry Asami, I really am, but Alex is the only one I've been able to actually ride along with. And no one else is volunteering for the job," Tessa said. She sounded like she was genuinely upset about the position she had put Alex in.

"I could do it," Korra said. All eyes turned to her in an instant.

"Seriously?" Lucy asked. Korra nodded, showing she was serious.

"Yeah, I'm the Avatar, it's my job to help people. So long as you behave yourself I wouldn't mind having you tag along for a little while," she said. Alex, however, was shaking his head.

"I don't think this is such a good idea," he said.

"See, I knew you'd start missing me," Tessa said with a grin. Alex's frown showed he wasn't in the mood to joke.

"That's not what I'm worried about. Frankly if this works I'll wish you two all the luck in the world. What I'm worried about is a little detail that you two seem to be forgetting," he said before pointing directly at Korra, "YOU might not be able to take it."

"You calling me weak?" Korra asked, cracking her knuckles as if she had been issued a challenge.

"Korra, look at Tessa. She's made of electricity. We know that I can handle having her ride along with me because I'm IMMUNE to electricity. Despite your status as the Avatar, your body is still a normal human's. She could very easily fry you on accident," he argued. Korra looked at Tessa, who had taken to looking at her feet, or the floor beneath her feet as she was floating. The electric woman looked like she was having second thoughts.

"As the Avatar, that's a risk I'm willing to take," she said before offering her hand out. Tessa looked at the hand, and then looked into Korra's eyes.

"Thank you. And if anything goes wrong, sorry in advance," she said. Korra gave her a smile of reassurance before Tessa reached her hand out and placed it over hers. In a flash, the electric woman vanished. For a moment, nothing happened, and then Korra doubled over. Her arms were clenched to her sides as she sucked air in through her teeth.

"Korra, you alright?" Alex asked as he hopped to his feet. Lucy. Asami and him all raced to her side. Korra's face was flush, and beads of sweat were starting to appear on her cheeks and forehead.

"It hurts," she hissed.

"Shit, I knew this was a bad idea. Tessa? Tessa, abort! You're hurting Korra!" Alex said, raising his voice. Korra fell to her hands and knees and dry heaved, but thankfully managed to keep the contents of her stomach down. Her head suddenly snapped up, looking Alex dead in the eye. Only it wasn't the bright blue he was use to seeing.

It was the white of the Avatar State.

"Oh shit." The Avatar slammed her palm outward, sending a blast of air into Alex's chest. The electric user was launched backwards through the wall of the hut and into a snow bank outside. He found himself staring at the sky, gasping like a fish out of water as he tried to force air back into his lungs. The pain that followed was some of the most agonizing he'd felt in a while. Without a doubt the blow had broken a few ribs at least.

"What is she doing?" Asami asked.

"It's the Avatar State. Tessa is causing enough damage that Korra's body is trying to defend itself," Lucy replied.

"Then why is she going after Alex."

"He's the closest thing that resembles Tessa."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but she's all but ignoring us so it's a running theory." A shadow fell over Alex as Korra appeared above him. She looked down at him with an unholy wrath, her eyes glowing. Raising her hand above her head, Korra brought her hand down in a chopping motion. Fire slammed down toward his head, and Alex dove out of the way.

Ignoring the pain in his midsection, Alex was on his feet and running as fast as he could down the ridge toward the city. Or to be more specific he was hobbling and trying not to lose his balance. Reaching the edge of an icy cliff, he looked down at the space below him. A chain link fence ran just below him, serving as the fairgrounds boundary.

Looking back, he saw an Avatar State fueled Korra bearing down on him while riding atop a funnel of air. Jumping from his perch, Alex landed on top of the fence and began to race down the metal beam as fast as his powers would allow. He didn't get far, as Korra sent a slash of air forward, smashing a section of fence in front of him.

Alex was launched through the air again before landing in a snow drift. Coughing, he tried to push himself up but his arms gave out and he fell back into the snow. He was in too much pain to go on. Alex felt a breeze kick up as Korra landed and began to advance on him. Reaching down, the Avatar grabbed him by the throat and picked him up, easily lifting him over her head.

"Korra, please," he said, struggling to talk. His injuries made breathing an effort. Getting words out was a herculean effort. The Avatar said nothing, but rather raised her free hand which promptly burst into flames. Alex knew that unless he did something, this would be his end. Raising his hand, he barely brushed his fingers against her cheek, pushing some strands of hair that had fallen back into their place.

"Please," he gasped again. The light faded in Korra's eyes, and she let out a yelp of pain as she dropped Alex and bent over, clutching her midsection.

"Tessa. Out. Now," she growled, her eyes flickering with white light as she threatened to go back into the Avatar State. The electric woman instantly appeared beside Korra, who promptly gasped and fell to her knees in the snow.

"Are you alright?" she asked, focusing on the Avatar first. Korra nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Alex?"

"Someone just kill me," came a moan of pain.

"Tessa, help him," Korra said as she began to get to her feet. Tessa's eyebrows went up and she raised her hands in confusion.

"Okay, how?"

"His body heals when it absorbs electricity." Tessa gave the Avatar a long blank look before she strode over to Alex's head. Kneeling down next to the electric user, she raised her hand and held it over his forehead. But at the last second, she hesitated.

"Sorry, but I'm told this will help you," she said before pressing her hand to his forehead. In a flash, the electric woman vanished, and Alex's back arched in pain as his ribs repaired themselves. After what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes, he sat up gingerly.

"Ouuuch."

"Well, that's a handy thing to have."

"And we're back to this," he sighed. A hand appeared on his shoulder, and he looked up to find Korra's concerned face looking down at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah. I guess we chalk this up to number four, eh?" he replied with a tired grin. Korra gave him a small smile. The fact that he was joking showed that he held no ill feelings toward her for what had just happened. Suddenly, he shivered and rubbed his hands up and down his arms.

"Fuck it's cold out here without a coat on!"

"Not use to the cold?" Korra asked as she began to support him on her shoulder.

"I was in the desert before I came back to Republic City," he replied, "I'm surprised the drastic shift in temperature hasn't killed me."

"Macho manning much?"

"Shut up, Tessa."

"Well, you're back to having another voice in your head I see," Korra said.

"It's expected I guess," Alex replied, "Let's just get someplace warm. I got a feeling I'm gonna need a new place to crash."


"You're just going to write it off like nothing happened?" Lucy asked.

"No, we're going to file away what we learned for future reference and move on with our lives," Alex replied. The small group had retreated to a small bar and grill, where they were currently sitting at a table in the corner. Korra and Asami had bowls of noodles sitting in front of them, while Lucy and Alex had glasses of amber colored liquid.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I can handle someone trying to kill my little brother and then just 'move on'," Lucy said.

"Okay, first of all that wasn't Korra, that was the Avatar State lashing out trying to defend itself. And secondly, this is hardly the first time Korra has tried to kill me," Alex replied. Korra looked like she was going to be sick as she stared down into her bowl. Lucy looked like Alex had just told her that he had the ability to grow a second head. Disbelief, mixed with shock.

"This has happened before?"

"Well not this exactly..."

"What? What aren't you telling me, Alex? How many times has this happened before?" Lucy asked.

"Three," both Asami and Korra said.

"Three?! What the shit? The Alex I knew would have left her in a puddle of blood and piss after the first time!" Lucy snapped, jabbing a chopstick in Korra's direction. Alex glared at his sister.

"People change, Lucy. Yes, Korra and I have had our differences, but I've managed to forgive her and MOVE ON. You gonna take a page from my book or be a dumbass about this?" he asked, leaning forward on the table slightly. It was clear from his posture that if Lucy gave the wrong answer, he wouldn't hesitate to throw the table aside and tackle her.

Lucy pierced her lips and crossed her arms. She clearly wasn't happy, but Alex's opinion still mattered to her. If her brother had forgiven Korra, she could learn to as well. Finally, she sighed.

"Alright. If Alex can forgive you, then I can too," she said to Korra. The Avatar gave her a grateful look, but still looked like she was going to be sick. This didn't escape Asami's notice, or Alex's for that matter.

"Hey, you alright?" Alex asked. She nodded, but the look still remained. Asami put her hand on the Avatar's shoulder.

"Come on, you look like you could use some air," she said.

"Go on, I'll catch up later," Alex added. Korra nodded again before she and Asami stood and walked out. Lucy slid Korra's unfinished bowl in front of her, taking a whiff of the food.

"You think she's contagious?" she asked.

"She's more torn up with guilt over almost incinerating me," Alex replied. Lucy shrugged before picking up a pair of chopsticks.

"You know her better then I do. If I get the stomach flu, I'm kicking your ass," she said before she began to dig in. Alex cocked his eyebrow at her as he took a sip of his drink.

"Is that really necessary?" he asked.

"I'm hungry and it's gonna go to waste otherwise. Besides I've already swapped spit with her so it's not like it's anything new." Alex ran his hands down his face and groaned.

"Still blunt as ever I see. Wait, she kissed Korra?"

"Not the time, Tessa."

"Wait, have YOU kissed Korra?"

"NOT THE TIME, TESSA!"

"Arguing with the voice in your head?" Lucy asked when Alex slammed his head down on the table.

"I'm seriously doubting my sanity's chances for survival." Lucy snorted.

"It never stood a snowball's chance in hell, little bro."

"Gee, thanks."

"No problem. So, regarding the elephant in the room, what are we gonna do about this whole Water Tribe thing?" Lucy asked.

"Keep our heads down and our noses clean?" Alex proposed. He really didn't want to get involved with all the problems this Unalaq thing was stirring up. He wasn't Water Tribe, hell the only reason he was still here in the South was because the Northern military had put a temporary ban on travel.

"Yeah, like that will happen," Lucy said. Alex sighed and then turned his hands palms upward.

"It's like you said back at the hut, the only thing we can do until Mercer acts is wait and watch," he said. Lucy, however, leaned forward with a knowing look in her eye.

"Waiting and watching has never been your style, Alex. I know you, and I know what you did in Republic City," she said.

"Wait, what's she talking about?"

"I gave that up for a reason, Lucy," Alex replied.

"And how many military patrols beating up on civilians will it take before you put on that hood again?"

"Seriously what is she talking about? Were you a superhero or something?"

"Superhero? Seriously?"

"Well you do have powers and abilities that no one else seems to have."

"Vigilante, the term is vigilante."

"You say potato, I say vodka."

"This isn't my fight, Lucy," Alex said.

"That argument never worked on you all those times I tried to talk you out of fighting some bully at school," Lucy replied, "It's a classic story of David vs Goliath, Alex Chambers vs the current bully. Only this time it's an entire army." Alex sighed before he stood. He downed what was left of his drink in one go before slamming the glass down on the table and throwing a few bills down to pay.

"I'm done arguing the past with you. I'm gonna go see if Korra is alright," he said before putting his hat on his head and walking up to the bar. He bought a bottle of the strongest local stuff as his usual drink, the ruby red Dragon's Bite, was out of stock thanks to the blockade. The local drink was, as far as Alex could tell, was some kind of moonshine that had been aged for a month in a steel barrel. It tasted, smelled, and burned like paint thinner, but it got the job done. Paying for the bottle, Alex tipped the bill of his hat before slipping outside.

"Why are you so against doing this vigilante thing again? You've seen the way the patrols have been acting, people could use some help."

"Memories are there for a reason, Tessa, try using them." The electric woman's voice fell silent, and Alex stuffed his hands in his pockets. It was still absolutely freezing outside, so much so that he was surprised that the people down here were even able to use satomobiles without the machines locking up from the cold. Then again, to have not just an outpost, but a fully functional city in the Antarctic was a sign that these people were defiantly resourceful.

As he wandered through the streets, Alex let his mind wander as well. First to come to mind were Mercer and Cross. At the very least, Alex needed to know what their abilities were order for him to fight them, and Lucy had been frustratingly tight lipped in that department. Charged, in terms of combat, were more resilient and far more unpredictable then your average bender. He could easily wipe the floor with a bender off the streets. A Charged, on the other hand, took forethought and planning if you didn't want to wind up a cripple in the hospital.

Then there was the whole Vigilante fiasco. Alex blamed himself, and the fact that he had taken up the vigilante mantle for Kelly's death. No matter how many people he had helped, no matter how many he might have been able to help, the fact that someone close to him had died on his watch outweighed it all. Could he become a vigilante again? Odds were, unless something changed, he highly doubted it.

Turning the corner into an alleyway, Alex picked up the pace a little. He was using this as a shortcut to get back to the huts a little faster. Glancing up, however, rewarded him with a sight that caused him to come to a grinding halt. He blinked, blinked again, and then again in an effort to test and see if his eyes were fooling him in someway. Tessa, noticing the sudden change, returned.

"Hey, what's going...oh." There, a few yards away were Korra and Asami. And they were kissing. Alex was beyond stunned, he was full on dumbstruck. Forming a sentience, a word, hell even a thought was all but lost on him as he started at the sight before him.

"Dude, you have got to be like the luckiest guy on the planet." Asami was standing with her back against the alley wall, while Korra was directly in front of her. The Avatar had her arms around her neck, while the heiress had her hands on Korra's waist. Both of them had their eyes closed, and were too deeply involved in what they were doing to realize they had an audience.

"Seriously, not a reaction at all? Don't you find this a little attractive or something? I'm a straight woman and I'M finding this attractive." As if to respond, the bottle slipped from Alex's grasp and shattered on the ground just before his feet. The noise alerted the two young women, who immediately separated.

"Alex, this isn't what it looks like," Asami said, her eyes going wide when she saw her boyfriend.

"Don't really know what else it would be," Korra muttered to herself. Alex, however, continued to stand there with a thousand yard stare. For several moments this continued on, with the only noise coming from the electric user being a croak as he attempted to form words. Then, Tessa's blue form appeared in front of him.

"Way to go, love birds, you broke him!"

"Tessa...this...this isn't," Asami stated, her face turning beat read as she realized the electric woman had seen her and Korra as well.

"Whatever, don't care. We got like a plug in or something for him?" Tessa asked, gesturing over her shoulder to Alex, "Cause he blue screened of death big time."

Southern Portal.

"All recorded symptoms are present. It appears to be working," Cross said with his arms crossed over his chest. In front of him and Mercer was a man in a Northern soldier's uniform. He was chained to a metal post, which was anchored in a block of ice. They were standing in the middle of the forest, less then ten yards from the open portal.

The soldier chained to the post was moving his head about like he was dizzy, and blood was flowing freely from his nose and ears. Stepping forward, Mercer looked at the man closer, his mask hiding any sigh of his face at all.

"Close proximity exposure may not be enough. Put him in," he ordered. Two soldiers on either side of the post assumed a bending position before raising the ice beneath the post off the ground. Then, slowly, they moved it backwards. Both the post and the man slid into the pillar of light and vanished from view.

After a minute, the soldiers reversed their stances. Just as slowly, the man and the post reemerged from the portal before being lowered to the ground again. His head was dropped, and had it not been for the chains he would have collapsed completely. Mercer stepped forward until he was close to the man hanging from the pole.

"Private Chun, can you hear me?" he asked. Chun raised his head, his eyes glazed over slightly.

"What...what did you do to me?"

"I've saved you, Private," Mercer said, "I've given you a brand new future."

"What...what?"

"I need you to listen carefully now, Private Chun. I have a very special mission for you."

And cut. Not a lot of action in this one, but plenty of talking. Now a lot of you had stated that you were getting a TFS vibe from Tessa. While I can't deny the similarities, I feel that I must point out that Tessa's original inspiration comes from Cortana. Her appearance, her snarky comebacks, all of that inspired by the beloved AI of Halo.

So what do you think of Tessa? What about the new developments between Korra and Asami? Or how about Mercer and Cross? Drop a review, leave a PM, ask a question or two and state what you think is gonna happen, and I'll see you all in the next one.