"The Revelation is upon us, my sister," the big and burly man stepped aside, offering a shockingly welcoming smile to Korra, who offered an (admittedly) awkward one of her own. She had done what she could in the short span of time between planning and execution to muster up a disguise, with a too-big, blue-collar Republic City-style coat and an equally too-big, fur hat to tuck her hair into. To her great shame, Korra had to let down her hair, including the band that held her ponytail.
In any case, Korra made her way to a large, rectangular room, absolutely packed with people. The Avatar couldn't help but falters seeing so many people, all here because they hated benders. She pulled the collar of her coat over her mouth, trying to hide away as much as possible; I'd she was found out, then there would be an absolute mob scene.
She took a deep breath, trying to steel her nerves. In essence she was trying to emulate how Kuvira would act; calm, focused, practical. It wouldn't help her or these people if a fight broke out. Leave them out of it, get Bolin, and get the hell out of there.
She made her way into the crowd, trying to find a center spot where she could blend in, in case the Equalista remembered what she looked like.
And that worry right there highlighted a particular quirk of this whole thing. She was thinking as if the Equalista had a hive mind, that what one knew, all of then knew. And that thought was scary.
Still, it wasn't long before the lights dimmed and the spotlights came on. Korra tended when she heard the squeak of a mic coming to life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow brothers and sisters! I present your savior, Amon!" Smoke filled the stage as both the man in question and six other people rose from underneath the stage. The whole thing was set up like a play, which was fitting given the kabuki mask that Amon chose as his image. And despite how fun that word was to say, seeing his cold, dead eyes peering through and expressionless face was unimaginably off-putting. It was made even worse when he began speaking.
His tone was calm, his voice deep and commanding. There was a certain cadence to it; a slow, mesmerizing form that almost made you melt into his speech, giving it that extra amount of power.
He walked up to the mic, and started. "Brothers and sisters. The time is nearly upon us. I have spoken at length about my past to you already. Some are doubtful of my story, that a firebender mercilessly cut down my parents and took my once natural face from me. Tonight, if at all within my power, your doubts about me, and therefore our cause, will be void," he reached up to his mask, and lifted it from the chin up. "Behold. This is the result of one of us standing up to the bending oppression alone."
The mask was removed, revealing was could only be called a horror show. His face was more scar tissue than healthy skin, with a jagged burn stretching all the way from his forehead to his chin, covering most of the width of his face as well. Truthfully it was a miracle that he even kept his eyes. The crowd went wild.
"Down with benders!"
"Take them down!"
The cheers continued as Amon put his mask back on. "After I received this permanent reminded, I realized that standing alone is a fool's endeavor, if ever I would even have the willpower to attempt it. Then, as if decreed by fate itself, I was visited by the Spirits, who bestowed upon me a power; a power that will cause all benders to cower in fear, just as we have been forced to at their hands. I alone have been given the power," he spread his arms out, his voice rising into a powerful call. "To take someone's bending away. Permanently."
A mixture of gasps and cheers echoed throughout the hall, with equal parts fervor and disbelief. Amon held a hand up to quiet them.
"I understand your doubt. But fear not, brothers and sisters. I promised that your doubts would be void, and I deliver on my promises."
Just then, a group of four people were brought out, hands tied behind their backs. One of them was Bolin; Korra could only guess that the others were the Triple Threat Triad. Korra made to move forward, to get Bolin out of there, but then the Equalists did something that she wasn't expecting. They let one of them go.
Granted, he was kept on the stage by a wall of Equalist chi blockers, but his hands were free, and he could bend. Amon gestured to the man who appeared to be the leader, the one who was freed, who wore an expensive-looking coat. "This is Lightning Bolt Zolt; a notorious criminal who is known for exploiting non-benders day in and day out. He will be the first to fall."
"What the hell? You're a damn psycho, you know that?" Zolt readied himself, seeing that running wasn't really an option.
"Let us be the better men, shall we?" Amon ignored him. "He may fight for his bending."
Zolt smirked. "You're gonna regret that, pal!" he charged forward, sending out several blasts of fire, which Amon avoided handily. The masked man suddenly burst into a sprint, ducking under Zolt's fire and getting behind him. As Zolt turned, he charged up lightning on his fingertips, and fired it off. Amon avoided it by an inch, grabbed Zolt's wrist, and directed the bolt up to the ceiling, knocking out half of the lights in the room.
Amon then placed a thumb onto Zolt's forehead, and then it was all over. Zolt's lightning slowly faded back into a stream of flames, which then fizzled out into nothing. The gangster fell to the ground, seemingly numb. A few seconds later he sat up, and tried to bend fire at Amon, but nothing came out. Shocked voices filled the hall, but Korra couldn't even manage that.
All she could think about, in that moment, was how she'd feel if she was the one who that had happened to. And those feelings froze her in place for too long.
It wasn't until the second Triple Threat members got his bending taken that the Avatar managed to regain herself. "Calm, focused, practical," she reminded herself, briefly closing her eyes and blocking out the horrified screams of the Triad members. Bolin would be a non-bender within just a few seconds.
Korra opened her eyes and looked around. To her surprise (she'd never really had to plan things out before, at least not to this scale), she came up with a plan quickly. She remembered that Zolt had taken out half of the lights. If she could take out the rest, then she could pretty severely limit their ability to find her. She looked to her left to see a bunch of tanks. Whether that was steam or gasoline inside, Korra could make an effective explosion with her fire, and it was high enough up to where the explosion would be unlikely to hurt anyone directly. And if Korra had to give the Equalists one thing; they made it very easy to both find and get to the exit, which was very big in case a lot of people had to leave at once (Korra assumed this was in case the cops showed up and everyone had to get away).
With those two things in mind, Korra made a mental note of the tank's position and moved forward. The third Triad member already had his bending taken. Bolin was freed, but didn't move toward Amon. Poor kid...he looked absolutely terrified. He held his arms up in surrender, but the masked man wasn't having it, walking slowly toward the boy.
Korra then burst into action. She shot a fist upwards, sending fire up and into a light. The action caused the people around her to scatter, realizing that there was a bender in their midst. She took the extra space to lift a boulder up and smash it into the beam supporting the rest of the lights, knocking their wiring out enough to shut them off.
"The Avatar!" a man exclaimed, though it wasn't Amon. Korra would figure out later that it was his Lieutenant, who wielded electric batons as his weapon of choice. "Seize her!"
Korra readied herself for a fight, but had to remind herself that she wasn't here to beat them all. If she tried, hell if she tried to beat just one without specific training against them, she'd probably lose. So instead, she propelled herself onto the stage using her fire, completely avoiding the approaching chi blockers. She landed next to Bolin, and quickly shot a super-focused fire shot toward the tank.
It turned out that it was gasoline.
The explosion was a lot bigger than Korra was expecting. Thankfully, the majority of the force was upwards, blowing out the roof and such, but a fair amount knocked back the remaining crowd and the Equalists. Korra herself had formed an earthen barrier to protect her and Bolin.
"Oh, Korra!" bolin cried, arms out for a hug. "I love you!"
"No time!" Korra grabbed his wrist and dragged him away, knowing for a fact that she couldn't take out Amon by herself. If Kuvira were here, then...Korra shook her head. For now, it was just her. And she was the Avatar.
Soon, she and Bolin burst through the back door, onto a balcony which had a ladder leading down. Bolin went first, followed by Korra. Little did she know that they were being pursued by the Lieutenant. Just as Bolin hopped off, he rammed his batons into the ladder. Korra cried out as electricity course through her body, locking her hands onto the bars for its duration.
"Korra!" Bolin cried, acting quickly. He wrenched up a boulder. It missed the Lieutenant, but if forced him to dodge to make it do so, ending his assault. The Avatar fell right into Bolin's arms. Thankfully, she was still conscious, though dazed. She held her head as Bolin set her down.
The lieutenant jumped down to confront them, and immediately went on the offensive. He slapped and slashed with his batons, driving the two benders apart. Korra returned with a volley of fire, but the man avoided it. Bolin then shot a few boulders at him, to the same effect. The lieutenant moved in on Bolin, and the burly boy was unable to keep up. Korra charged in to help, but she didn't make it in time before he got an electric baton to the face, knocking him right to the ground.
Korra ran forward, earthen mound at the ready, she shot it toward the Lieutenant as she rolled forward, so as to avoid the inevitable strike. She did so, getting behind him and shooting a burst of fire into his back. He managed to stay on his feet and more than that recover fast enough to launch a counteroffensive. He whirled around, batons lit up. Korra did as she practiced, weaving and twirling around his strikes.
But this was when she remembered that her understanding of this style was imperfect. The Lieutenant drove her toward a wall, and pinned her against it with nowhere to go. Soon, once he had her pinned, he got a direct shot, and after that it was nothing. One strike to the gut got her feeling. Ue followed that with a strike to the head, making her vision go white, followed by a sweep of the legs, a grab of the wrist, and a throw to send her sprawling onto the ground, too dazed to stand.
She groaned and held her headz trying to regain her bearings. When next she could really focus, Korra saw the Lieutenant standing over her, batons at the ready.
"You've got to understand. There's just no place for you anymore. It's nothing personal."
"It kind of feels personal," Korra growled, defiant even when she was still helpless and reeling. The Lieutenant frowned at that, sighed, and raised a baton to strike.
Before he could, however, a strip of metal shot onto and bent around his head, blocking his vision. He cried out in shock, and turned around just in time to get a boulder to the face, knocking him away and into the nearby wall. Korra's spirits immediately lifted when she saw a familiar face with that distinct beauty mark below her eye.
"Are you okay?" The face, normally perpetually neutral or bored, was now fraught with worry. Korra grinned.
"Kuvira!" she leapt up to hug her, lifting her off of the ground. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!"
"Yes, yes, okay hey- ribs! Ribs!" She exclaimed, feeling them being crushed before Korra set her down. The Avatar then went over to Bolin and helped him to his feet.
"You okay?"
"Ah, yeah, nothing to worry about. I had it handled pretty before you, uh…" he trailed off his faux-suave speech when he saw her expression. She had a smirked, an amused one rather than a mocking one.
"Dude, it's cool. We're friends. And friends help each other out."
"Right...thanks for the save."
It was around this time that the Lieutenant recovered. He ripped off the metal slab, which Kuvira retrieved with her bending. The two of them had a bit of a stand-off. Korra looked to her watcher; confident. It was like she had no doubt that she could take this guy. Come to think of it, Korra hadn't ever seen her go all-out before.
He made to attack despite the numbers disadvantage but was stopped. "Lieutenant!" Amon called as a truck zoomed by turning to leave, along with two bikers. The man understood immediately, and turned tail to run. Already, Korra heard police sirens.
She and the others charged after them, but they'd never catch up on foot. Suddenly, a burst of fire exploded out from an alleyway, catching one of the bikers square on the face. "Mako!" Bolin knew immediately that it was him and sure enough the firebender jogged out of the alley.
"Let's get out of here," he didn't waste any time in getting to the point.
"What?" Korra crossed her arms. "What about Amon?"
"What about him? We won't catch up to him on foot, and you both are safe. Mission accomplished."
"But Amon is right there! Naga is just around the corner, so…"
As they were arguing, Kuvira had gone over to the bike, examined it a bit, and then climbed on. "Hey!" She got their attention. "Are we going or not?"
Bolin held his hand up in protest. "Uh, no. Hey, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not in a rush to chase after the scary mask- whoa!" Korra grabbed his wrist again and whistled. Her polar bear dog came running, and Korra wrenched the earthbender up. Mako rolled his eyes, but climbed on behind Kuvira.
Soon, both were zooming after the Equalists. On their way, they passed several police cars who were going towards the sight of the revelation. Korra would bet that either there were still Equalists there, or they split off in a different direction. Either way, the police had a better shot at catching them than the ones they were chasing.
On an unrelated note, Kuvira was somehow stupidly awesome at riding a motorbike. No matter what obstacles were thrown at them (that Naga just easily avoided), she expertly weaved around, almost like she were applying her bending style to her riding. Mako, however, wasn't appreciative of her fun maneuvers. He was holding onto her for dear life, and seeing that put a tinge of jealousy into Korra's gut.
Not that they had time for any of that. Bolin leaned over (showing incredible leg strength by staying on Naga) and shot rapid-fire pebbles toward the far truck. Unfortunately, none of them managed to pierce a tire, and in response the Equalists released a cloud of gas behind them. Naga's sight was excellent, even through the cloud, though Korra went ahead and avoided it when she could anyway.
Kuvira, meanwhile, was busy being a badass. In a swift motion, she made herself a ramp up onto a nearby roof, sped up, and landed right next to the truck. Mako took some potshots at the truck, to little effect. Thankfully, the benders had the overwhelming reach advantage, so if they could exploit that, then these Equalists and cho blockers wouldn't be much of an issue.
Korra joined in then, pelting the Equalists with fire and earth anytime they tried to poke out to hit Kuvira and Mako. Bolin, likewise, was doing his rock pellet thing, trying to hit a wheel.
Eventually, the road narrowed, and with Kuvira and her bike quickly losing space, the Equalists naturally saw the opportunity to take her out. With a turn of the wheel, they veered left toward Kuvira and Mako. With no other options than 'get squished' or 'move', Kuvira chose the latter, braking back, closer to Naga, who was quickly running out of stamina.
"I've got a shot," Mako began charging up lightning as soon as he started speaking. Kuvira only processed the words after it was too late.
"What? No!"
Mako shot a bolt of lightning forward, toward the back tire of the truck, and it hit dead on. The tire exploded, sending the truck into a frenzy on the road, bashing into the other bike, sending it careening and then bouncing off of the nearby wall. Kuvira certainly wasn't expecting that, and veered dangerously to avoid it, having to turn so sharply and moving so fast that both she and Mako fell off of the bike before it crashed into the wall and blew up.
They tumbled along the ground, and in that time the truck regained steering, zooming away (slower than before, but then again, so were their pursuers). Naga screeched to a halt where Kuvira stopped, licking her face as she groaned.
"By the Spirits!" Korra leapt from Naga and rushed to Kuvira's side. "Are you okay?"
Kuvira sat up and raised a hand to her forehead. "Oh…" she shook her head. "I would be better if someone hadn't gone all maverick on them."
"I said I had a shot," Mako was still sprawled out onto the ground, Bolin standing over him. Eventually, the earthbender offered and hand, which Mako took to stand. Kuvira, likewise, was soon on her feet.
Korra sighed. "Whatever. It's not a big deal, I guess," Korra knew she sounded like she was trying to convince herself, which she was. "Like Mako said; we're all safe, so mission accomplished. Plus, I'll be the police got some of them. Maybe we can find something out from them."
"How about we all just go home?" Kuvira didn't even try to hide her frustration. "I've had enough of the Avatar's 'fun' for one day, thank you," she stretched her back, feeling it pop several times. Bolin chuckled nervously.
Mako crossed his arms. "I'm in favor of that."
"Ooh, ooh, what about the match?" Korra's eyes lit up, completely ignoring her watcher's exhaustion.
"We won. Don't worry," Mako smiled. Kuvira scoffed.
"No thanks to you…" she must've thought she said it under her breath, but she didn't. All of them heard it, Mako especially.
"Alright, that's it. What's up?" he walked up to her, standing at least half a foot over her. "Do you have a problem with me?"
Kuvira didn't look very intimidated by this obvious dominant gesture. In fact, he one-upped him but raising herself up to his level with an earth pillar. "What tipped you off?" she crossed her arms.
Korra stepped in to diffuse the situation. "Vee, please-"
"No, I want to hear this."
Kuvira raised an eyebrow at that, but obliged. "This," she gestured around her, including the exploded bike and destroyed bike and charred tire remnant and wrecked street. "This is all your fault. Every little bit."
He chuckled. "You're kidding. If anything, and no offense bro, but if Bolin hadn't gotten caught like a complete idiot-"
"And why do you think he did? He agreed to help a gang that you both knew. And why did he do that? Because he doesn't know any better," Kuvira's voice never rose, and yet its intensity completely disarmed Cool Under Fire. "You acted the protective older brother because you were given a hard lot in life. You had to do questionable things, maybe take dirty money, to get by, and you shielded Bolin from all of it. You never led him experience hardship, heartache, trauma, even stress. And now look at him; he's sheltered. He's naive. He's weak-willed. You've wasted his potential as a damn human being, and if you hadn't, then maybe he would have 'gotten caught like a complete idiot'. I don't like you, Mako, because I've dealt with too many people like you. People who think they know better, who protect but never guide. And I'm through dealing with those people."
The others had absolutely no words for that little speech. Part of it was undoubtedly tiredness, that they couldn't come up with anything, even a flimsy retort. But maybe she also had a point, even if she made it in about as rude a way as possible.
At their silence, Kuvira turned on her heels and started walking away. "Where are going?" Korra pointed to the bay. "Air Temple Island is that-"
"I'm going home."
And with that, she was just gone.
xxxXXXxxx
The Fire Ferrets hardly spoke on the way back to the arena. Korra decided to help them back, just because they couldn't be sure that the Equalists would try and capture them, and they'd have better odds together. Once they actually made it back, Bolin went straight to bed; Kuvira's scathing remarks really hit him hard.
Mako just looked sullen the whole time. Well, more sullen than usual, anyway. Korra wanted to say something, anything, to try and cheer him up, but the words just weren't coming to her. She chuckled sadly as she thought of that. "What?" his voice was soft, unsure.
"Nothing," she waved it off. "It's just...I'm the Avatar, the beacon of hope in the world. But I can't even figure out how to cheer up my friend," Mako shrugged at that, and so Korra said the only thing that came to mind, whether or not it was an empty statement. She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Kuvira. She can be...difficult...to get along with, at times."
Mako shrugged again, and burying his face in his scarf. "...She just doesn't know what she's talking about," he closed his eyes, probably lost in his memories of those 'questionable things' he'd done.
"Actually, Mako, I...I think she does…" Korra inwardly cringed, knowing that it wasn't the right thing to say even as she said it. He looked at her with his incredulous face, not believing what he was hearing; Korra agreed with her. "...I guess you probably think I'm just a dog doing tricks, huh? Just believing what she says all of the time?"
"..." he chose not to respond to that. Good on him; she would've gotten offended no matter what he said.
"...I think what you did was really cool, by the way. Even if I...can't exactly agree with you on a lot of things, I guess I can compliment you on this," she put her hands on her lap, fingers interlaced in an embarrassed posture. There was a hint of red in her cheeks. "You thought about what would happen after Bolin was safe. He would've been so hurt and disappointed if he knew that he was the reason we gave up in the tournament. It was...really cool that-"
"Save it. It wasn't my idea," he buried his face deeper into his scarf.
"Well, that didn't have the intended effect," Korra thought. Then, she took a risk, hoping it would help. She leaned in and placed her lips on his cheek in a kiss. He froze, and when she leaned back, he looked at her with wide eyes. "Maybe not, but you still did it."
Mako blinked, not having words. Korra, not thinking on what she just did, immediately shuffled away, face turning as red as a beat.
"Oh, uh, I mean, uh…" she stood suddenly. "I-I should probably tell Tenzin about what happened. I mean, he is a councilman so, you know, hehe…" she just kept rambling on as she slowly backed away. Then she couldn't take it anymore, and she ran away.
Author's Note:
Hey guys! No proofreading again today. I'll try and proofread and correct mistakes over the weekend...maybe. Weekends I've kind of designated to my book, though, so we'll see. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed reading.
I wonder who Kuvira was talking about at the end, there *cough cough*
Oh, and one more thing. Just on the typo thing; I mainly write this on my phone (usually on my breaks at work), so that's why there might be more typos than some other people who write exclusively off of a physical keyboard. So...yeah, just wanted to say that.
In any case, thanks again for reading, and let me know what you thought in a review!