Alright, and now we get into the last chapter of Spirits and Shields. Suffice to say, with Amon dead, the Red Lotus are on the run, and unfortunately for them, Robbie is on their trail. What will happen next? Read on to find out.
Disclaimer: I do not own the MCU, Legend of Korra, Dead Space, or anything else that appears in this chapter.
Once they reached their hideout, Zaheer, P'Li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua ditched the stolen truck and the Earthbender opened up the hidden entrance, sealing it behind them as they entered through it.
Inside, more of their Red Lotus agents had gathered, along with the few of these Unitologists that had supplied the anarchists with support, including the Darkhold page that brought P'Li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua back to life.
No one said anything, instead letting the four of them pass by unhindered as they reached the main control room. Standing inside was the leader of these Unitologists, who was busy looking over a control pad.
"So, judging by Amon's absence, I'm guessing the mission didn't go well?" He drawled, turning to address them.
"No." Zaheer growled. "He was killed by something we've never seen before. Someone with a flaming skull."
"A man with a flaming skull?" The Unitologist's eyes widened slightly, but his expression remained otherwise unchanged. "The Ghost Rider. That would explain it."
"You knew about him?" Ming-Hua asked, disbelief and anger tinging her voice.
"It was a suspicion." He admitted. "The massacred Triads were distinct, but we couldn't confirm it, at least until right now."
"He said he was after this." Zaheer pulled the Darkhold page from his pocket. "But we gave him the slip." Their benefactor's next words sent a chill up all of their spines.
"No, I don't believe you did. In fact, I can almost guarantee that he has tracked you here already."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Partially because he can track the Darkhold." The Unitologist leader switched on a screen. "But mostly because something big just tripped the motion sensors."
The Hell Charger appeared on the screen, the black car clearly highlighted against the rocky outcroppings. The car came to a halt and the driver stepped out, looking distinctly human for the moment.
"What do we do?"
"All units pull back from the door." The lead Unitologist ordered, his voice drifting through the intercom. "We have someone to draw in right now."
Robbie's car ground to a halt outside the cliff wall. He could sense the Darkhold page behind the rock, and exited the vehicle to take a look around. Very quickly, he determined that the wall wasn't very thick. In fact, Robbie could punch through it with his bare hands. And that's exactly what he did.
As soon as he was through, he walked down the passage, confused at the lack of guards. He knew that it was likely a bad idea to go alone like this, but the Spirit of Vengeance was determined to get what they came for before it could slip away again.
Still, it wasn't like they couldn't find him: SHIELD had placed a tracker inside his car, one which could easily locate him once they zeroed in on the signal. They would almost certainly be here before long.
His musings were interrupted when he entered a large cavern. Metal supports were all around the walls and ceiling, along with clear fortifications to repel any attackers. And yet all of it was unmanned.
Narrowing his eyes, he looked around carefully. The lack of people around indicated that either everyone here had fled, or they were preparing an ambush. Considering he could feel the Darkhold page was in the next room, the latter was more likely.
Still, it wasn't like there was much these Red Lotus could do to him anyway. Nevertheless, he proceeded at a cautious pace as he entered a small sub-cave just at the far end of the main cavern.
Standing right at the far end of the cave was exactly who he was looking for. Zaheer and his Red Lotus were watching his approach, trying and failing to keep their expressions calm instead of terrified.
However, there was a fifth man standing at a far too advanced control console for this world, which was positioned on the wall beside them. He barely looked at Robbie as he stalked forward, tense and ready to strike.
"You know what I'm here for."
"Indeed we do." It was the fifth man who answered the Rider's host. "You've come a long way for a single page."
"Then make this easy on yourself." Robbie stepped into the cave proper. "There's nowhere for you to go."
"Funny." The Unitologist (since that was the only person this man could be) smirked. "I was about to say the same."
Too late, Robbie noticed the unusual metal disk above him as a cylindrical shield of blue honeycombed patterns surrounded him. Almost immediately, he was beset with nausea and pain, almost exactly like the kind he felt when he had entered Eli's device.
The machine had 10 times the amount of quantum fluctuations and radiation as the device Eli Morrow had created, and it was a testament to the presence of the Spirit of Vengeance that Robbie was even alive, let alone conscious right now.
"Now, I know that the Ghost Rider could break out of that." He said, even as Robbie's flesh slowly started to glow and flake off. "So, let's keep him quiet, shall we?"
A spear of energy materialized from the shield, breaking his concentration, and keeping the Spirit from taking full control. The device was capable of adding as many energy spears as necessary as well as increasing the fluctuations and radiation levels.
"Will that hold him?" Zaheer asked, hesitant to approach.
"It will." The leader nodded. "Though I recommend you get everyone ready. I believe we'll have company shortly."
The four Red Lotus members left the room, the airbender leaving the Darkhold page on the control console as he did so. Once they left, the Unitologist sealed the room, before summoning the rest of their tiny squad.
"What's our plan now?"
"Get the containment field mobile. We're scrubbing this op." He said. "Get the portal ready."
There was a flurry of movement as the four men did as they were told, gathering up what equipment they needed, while one of them made to remove the containment device originally meant to help kill the Avatar permanently. However, the portal operator brought everything to a halt.
"Uh sir." One aide called. "The portal frequency is being jammed. I think the Republic may have found our staging area."
"Shit." He cursed, looking to the device holding Robbie. "Then we're stuck here."
The one major drawback of the device was the vulnerability to external threats, something the Red Lotus should be able to help with during their inevitable fight with the Avatar. Of course, should they or SHIELD break the Rider out, the Unitologist didn't have much hope of surviving. For that matter, neither did the Red Lotus present.
"Prepare yourselves." The leader ordered. "We're going to have to fight."
The small convoy didn't take long to find the Red Lotus hideout. All they had needed to do was follow SHIELD's GPS tracker in Robbie's car, which admittedly took longer without a network of satellites, but Fitz had managed a way around that.
When they arrived, it wasn't hard to notice Robbie's Charger parked right outside, along with the hole in what looked to be a barren cliff side. Of course, the Red Lotus didn't want anyone following them, as a solid metal blast shield had been erected just inside the hole. The metalbenders tried to move it, to no avail.
"It's solid platinum." Lin growled, frustrated. "We can't bend it open."
"I've got it." Daisy walked up to the door and raised her hand.
Platinum in this universe, Daisy noted, was much stronger than it was on their Earth, considering how much harder it was for her power to break through. But despite the metal's strange toughness, it was still blown through by the vibration, shattered pieces falling to the ground with a loud clang.
"So much for stealth." The Inhuman muttered as the rest of the team moved in, while four metalbenders remained outside to keep the entrance secure.
The tunnel wasn't narrow, but it wasn't very wide either, having enough room for maybe five people standing shoulder to shoulder. Conscious of the lack of cover, the group was eager to get into the open cavern ahead, and get some room to move.
Which was just what the defenders were hoping for.
Energy bolts and fire bursts lanced through the tunnel, creating a chokepoint. Bolin and Korra attempted to create a stone barrier, but the energy rounds easily punched through the rock, forcing everyone to get into what little alcoves existed for cover.
That was when Lincoln noticed the metal support structure all over the roof of the tunnel, keeping the whole thing stable. The metal struts were connected to each other, stretching right to where they standing.
"I've got an idea."
Hands sparking, the Inhuman sent a current of electricity coursing through the tunnels, right over the gunners. Of course, their platforms weren't connected to the metal, but that didn't mean Lincoln couldn't hurt them.
Bolts of electricity lanced out from the ceiling, striking the obvious Unitologists in the back. The energy was somewhat dissipated by the distance and their armor, but it still hurt enough to distract them, causing Daisy to lean out of cover and collapse the support pillars of the platform they were standing on.
With the distraction done, everything dissolved into chaos, as benders engaged each other while the non-powered individuals fought to the best of their ability, catching many by surprise.
May and Coulson approached the two Unitologists, one of whom had their weapon in hand and pointed at them. The bolts were absorbed by Coulson's shield, while May was quick to shoot him down, then they dealt with the other one.
As the battle raged on, Korra saw Zaheer and his cronies retreating into a side passage as they hurried away. At a glance, it looked like a trap for her her (and it probably was) but it also seemed like they had something they wanted to keep secure. And considering who they hadn't seen so far, it was pretty obvious as to what.
Or more specifically, who.
"Guys, come on!" The Avatar called. "I think Robbie's this way!"
...
Despite the pain he was in from everything, including the seven energy spears in different parts of his body, Robbie couldn't keep the grin off his face as the sound of fighting drew closer to him.
Korra burst into the room, flipping and kicking a burst of fire at the Unitologists present. She was quickly followed by Mako, Bolin, Asami and Opal, who quickly took stock of the room and the shielded cell containing Robbie.
"Are you alright?" Korra asked, horrified at the sight of him like this.
"I'm still standing." He groaned in reply. "Though it'd help if you could get this unlocked."
Team Avatar didn't have much time to try before they were beset upon by the main four Red Lotus leaders who attacked from all sides. In the ensuing melee, bursts of fire and rock struck the control console, causing several systems, including the quantum device, to shut down.
The damage wouldn't unlock the shield, but it kept the systems stable, which would be enough. And just in time, as it seemed that Korra and her team were going to need help, as the Unitologist leader brought the fighting to a halt, with a burst from his energy rifle.
"This was supposed to be a simple operation." The man growled. "Now, you're going to tell your allies to surrender, Avatar." His aim shifted to Asami, then drifted over the other three. "Or you can watch your friends die right now."
"It's over, Korra." Zaheer said.
"I wouldn't count on it." Bolin said, with a smile that Zaheer didn't like.
"Yeah." Opal agreed. "This definitely isn't over."
Amused and somewhat smug grins appeared on the face of everyone in Team Avatar at this point, which definitely confused the Red Lotus, considering they had cornered them. Then a loud shattering sound revealed why they had to be so afraid.
In all the chaos, Robbie was free to transform into the Ghost Rider, who immediately started slamming his fists against the shields. It didn't take much longer for him to break free, and by the time he had, Korra was clearly watching with a vindictive grin on her face.
With a brief moment to send his chain through the machine controls, the Rider turned his full attention to the Red Lotus and the Unitologist, who had just realized his freedom and the Rider's barely contained anger.
The latter dropped his weapon and quickly attempted to run, but the Rider's chain put a stop to that, and the Unitologist screamed both from the pain, and the realization that this death meant he wouldn't become one with all. That was the last thought that went through his mind before it turned to ash.
Then the Rider spotted the Darkhold page sitting on the desk top, and immediately grabbed it. The demon promptly pocketed it, and turned towards the Red Lotus, his eye sockets narrowing.
The battle between the Avatar, her allies, and Zaheer's gang had briefly restarted, with the former using the distraction of the latter to put them on the defensive. Ghazan attempted to alter that by hurling large chunks of earth at Mako and Asami, but a fiery chain shattered them in mid-flight.
With the changing tide, the four of them burst past the Avatar and her friends, narrowly avoiding Ghost Rider's chain in their rush to get into the main cavern. Of course, once they did get there, it became clear that their underlings weren't doing very well either.
The four of them rushed into the fray, Ghazan holding back to seal the tunnel behind them with lava, temporarily keeping the Avatar and her friends contained. By the time they got out, the Red Lotus leaders were caught up in their own fights.
Their unique abilities allowed them to deal with most of the police and the few White Lotus members present, but Lin, Kuvira, Coulson, May, Daisy and Lincoln were entirely separate matters.
Ghazan and Ming-Hua worked together, while P'Li and Zaheer did the same, doing their best to push them all back. The former pair had managed to toss May aside before pinning Coulson down, when a loud sound became noticeable to them.
The Hell Charger burst through the walls of the cavern, heading directly for Ming-Hua and Ghazan. The former was able to use water tentacles to avoid it, but the latter was still thrown from the pillar he created when the Charger drove right through it.
Rolling away from the car as it attempted to run him down, Ghazan turned the ground underneath it to lava, which failed to damage or even slow it down. Turning the lava back into stone however, managed to halt it, but the Earthbender couldn't celebrate yet, as he summoned a pillar to absorb Bolin's attack.
Nimbly avoiding the next stone, Ghazan retaliated with a rock from the wall, which Bolin narrowly ducked under before punching another rock at him, followed by a disc of lava.
Ghazan leapt over it before retaliating with his own jet of magma, aiming directly for his rival. But in mid-flight, the lava abruptly dispersed, thanks to one of Daisy's shockwaves, which kept going and threw Ghazan into the nearest wall.
"You can't win this Ghazan!" Bolin shouted. "Just surrender!"
"Not a chance!"
Incensed, Ghazan growled as portions of the wall behind him cracked, with lava leaking out before he gathered up portions of the magma and started hurling it towards them.
...
Meanwhile, Ming-Hua was by the water, using it viciously against the White Lotus and police, as ice shards and water jets flew through the air, quickly and efficiently removing them from the fight. A surprise burst of fire threw her off balance, and she blocked a second one with her arms, before turning to the source.
"Give up, Ming-Hua!" Mako shouted. "It's over!" He suddenly leapt to the side to avoid the barrage of ice daggers.
"I beg to differ!"
Ming-Hua gathered more water, unleashing a wave while careful to avoid actually connecting her own body to the liquid. A fear that was well founded as a large blast of fire dispersed the wave before Mako unleashed a bolt of lightning into the water.
Leaping away, she absorbed a large amount of the water into her arms, giving her tentacles to keep off the ground. Then she jumped back, narrowly avoiding a bolt of electricity from Lincoln.
Angered, one of her tentacles lashed out, striking him hard enough to send the Inhuman flying. Unfortunately, unlike Mako, Lincoln could control and generate electricity from anywhere on his body, and when Ming-Hua hit him, a surge of energy traveled through the tentacle and electrocuted her.
It wasn't powerful enough to kill her, but it did hurt, causing both her and the water to hit the ground painfully. She managed to backflip away and summon her arms again, pushing away as another burst of fire impacted where she had been a second ago, forcing her on the defensive.
She leapt around, avoiding Mako's flames and Lincoln's electricity as best as she could. Unfortunately, her panicked path to avoid the Inhuman and firebender led her to make a fatal mistake, as a length of metal wrapped around her waist.
As her momentum was arrested, she instinctively attacked her assailant, but the water promptly turned to steam when it touched the Ghost Rider. Then the length of metal ignited.
Ming-Hua's screams were mercifully brief, but still haunting to the Red Lotus. In seconds, ash and steam were all that remained of the waterbender. Ghazan, who was closest, was horrified, but that terror quickly turned to anger as the Rider turned to him.
Using his Earth and lava bending, Ghazan created a chasm underneath Ghost Rider's feet, catching the demon and pulling him below ground, before sealing the gap. Unfortunately, that still left the Avatar and her cohorts, which they couldn't beat, not like this.
To that end, Ghazan sent a wave of lava at them, which Bolin was quick to redirect. This played right into Ghazan's hands, as Bolin unknowingly sent the molten rock towards the central pillars that provided structural support for the cavern.
The Unitologists had pre-placed charges to destroy this place if necessary, which they wouldn't get a chance to use. Now though, several of the lower explosives were set off, shaking the ground around them.
"Ghazan stop this!"
"Not a chance!"
He hurled more lava, igniting the rest of the charges, while simultaneously creating a stone barrier to protect himself and launching the rock pieces to keep everyone distracted and helpless. Eventually, the cavern began shaking as the metal structures became insufficient to hold it up.
"This ends now! We're going down togeth- HURK!"
Ghazan coughed blood as he felt a stab of burning pain. Looking down, he saw a length of the Ghost Rider's flaming chain sticking out of his chest, a sight sickening for the others and inadvertently bringing back memories of Lash's death for Daisy.
She shook out of the memory, watching as Ghazan was disintegrated from the Rider's hellfire, who had broken free of the lavabender's attempted trap. Unfortunately, Ghazan had already done what he had intended, destabilizing the main columns that held this cavern up.
Seeing the danger, Korra broke off from her fight with Zaheer and activated the Avatar State, increasing her power in order to hold the facility up. He tried to retaliate then, but an airbending kick from Opal followed by a shockwave from Daisy sent him flying elsewhere.
Meanwhile, P'Li struggled to her feet, shaking off the jolt from her fight with Asami. She had fought against Kuvira and Lin, managing to keep them off balance and eventually knocking them out of the fight with her fire and combustion bending.
Unfortunately, Asami had used the distraction to come up on her flank and shock her senseless the second P'Li had tried to shoot Opal out of the sky when she attacked Zaheer. Now though it didn't take long to register what had happened.
Ghazan and Ming-Hua had been reduced to ash on the ground while Zaheer was nowhere in sight, but judging by the Ghost Rider's absence, his odds weren't good. Blinking back tears, P'Li focused on what was happening below the outcropping she was standing on, as Korra in the Avatar State struggled to keep this place stable.
In those seconds P'Li knew what she had to do. The Avatar was vulnerable, and with one combustion blast, she could end the Cycle forever, fulfilling the Red Lotus' purpose to bring the natural order to the world.
It was her best chance to make something out of this, even if she died as well. She gave her life to the cause once, and she would do so again, if necessary. P'Li inhaled, her gaze on Korra as she exhaled, unleashing a combustion blast right at the Avatar.
At the exact moment the Ghost Rider grabbed her forehead from behind.
Her death at least was quick, albeit rather messy, with what was left of her head now scattered all over the place. The demon incinerated what remained of her corpse, as Korra finally stabilized the cavern with the help of Daisy, Lin and Bolin.
Meanwhile, Zaheer had recovered and flew into the cave just in time to see the skull-headed monster incinerate his lover. A brief moment of shock overtook him as tears fell from his eyes and rage gripped his heart, but his mind remained focused enough to realize the futility of attacking him.
Instead, he flew towards Korra, punching her hard before grabbing her prone body, flying away into the upper caverns before anyone else had a chance to react. The sounds of her allies shouting her name echoed behind him, which he ignored as he prepared to stab Korra in the heart.
But a breath of flame sent him flying backwards as he barely recovered, while Korra got into a ready stance, the glow fading from her eyes. Furious, Zaheer flew forward to meet her in battle once again.
...
"We've gotta go after her!" Asami all but shouted.
"We will." Coulson promised. "But we need to get everyone out of here."
"And we're not out of danger yet." Daisy said, turning to the Earthbenders. "Can't you feel the vibrations?"
They did as she requested, and found that Ghazan had done far more damage than they had realized. The charges had gone off in a chain reaction below, and slowly the entire facility was shaking itself to pieces.
"This place isn't going to hold much longer." Lin shouted. "Everyone out, now!"
The Earthbenders still standing created platforms for those that couldn't walk, rushing them back through tunnels that led outside. Meanwhile, the Rider's car opened and let in Coulson, May, and the two Inhumans, driving through the hole it created with Ghost Rider himself standing on the hood.
...
The battle between Korra and Zaheer kept raging as the airbender struggled to get her to the surface. Of course, unlike last time, with no poison, there was nothing keeping Korra in the Avatar State, as well as keeping her focus without the pain she had previously, confidently keeping pace using airbending and jets of fire from her hands and feet.
They broke into the open sky, Zaheer using the new freedom to keep the Avatar on her toes. Of course, Korra wasn't short of ways to go on the attack, and almost effortlessly countered him, switching the Avatar state on and off to gain more power and control while minimizing Zaheer's chances to kill her.
In a lull, she paused briefly as the mountain below began to collapse, feeling a moment of horror before noticing the tiny figures below, just outside the now destroyed cliff. Zaheer tried to capitalize on her distraction, but she flipped in mid-air before hitting him with an air burst.
"It's over Zaheer!" Korra shouted, trying to get through to him. "Don't make this mistake again!"
"The Red Lotus will not be stopped! Not now, not ever!" Zaheer's loss of his friends and lover a second time had clearly taken its toll. "We will be rewarded, and all will be returned to us."
"The Unitologists are using you!" Korra spun around an air current, before hurling a chunk of rock. "You're just puppets to them!"
Unsurprisingly, this went nowhere, as Zaheer sent her flying. Slowing her descent, she landed in a lake, raising herself up on a pillar of water before sending more ice at him, followed by air, fire, and then earth.
It was the ice combined with the stone that finally did him in. She froze his arm in place, messing with his sense of balance as he struggled to stay aloft, leaving Korra to wrap bindings of stone around his other arm and his leg.
Zaheer slowly fell to the ground, which Korra only sped up by activating the Avatar state, then grabbing and flip kicking him, sending him hurtling towards the ground. He created a cushion of air to minimize the damage from his fall, but still hit hard enough to leave an imprint in the rock.
Groaning, Zaheer struggled to rise from his crater, before a hand grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up so that he was eye to flaming eye with the Ghost Rider. He tried to fly away, even bending wind into him, but the demon's grip was unrelenting, and Zaheer was forced to his knees.
"Kill me then!" Zaheer shouted, tears in his eyes. "You took my friends away! Send me to them!"
The Ghost Rider raised his hand, flame gathered in his palm, seemingly ready to do just that before pausing for a second. The smirk that appeared on the skull sent a shiver down the airbender's spine before the flame vanished and the demon pressed a single finger to Zaheer's head.
Searing pain traveled through his body and seemingly beyond, as he felt something wrong he couldn't place. When the pain had mostly passed, he was surprised to find himself still alive.
Seeing that he was free of the Ghost Rider, who had transformed back into Robbie Reyes, he tried to fly away, only to foolishly fall back to the ground when he leapt into the air.
"What have you done?!"
He didn't get a chance to try again, as pillars of rock appeared, trapping him in a tiny hill of stone. Zaheer thrashed around angrily, trying and failing to break loose as Korra landed beside him.
"What did you do to him?"
"Burned his spirit." Robbie said. "He won't be able to fly or meditate into the Spirit World ever again."
"I'm surprised you didn't just kill him."
"I thought you'd want him alive." He shrugged.
The three of them were then joined by the others. Korra and Asami embraced, followed by Bolin pulling them, Mako and Opal into a large group hug while Lin looked on with a smile. Robbie meanwhile just walked up to the four SHIELD agents still here.
"Well... this was fun." The demon's host simply said.
"I guess you'll be leaving again?" Daisy asked. Robbie nodded, pulling out the Darkhold page.
"I have what I came for, and I've still got a deal to complete."
The reunion was interrupted when another portal appeared out of nowhere, and everyone tensed, ready to fight if more Unitologists or worse came out. Instead, it was Tamara who emerged, clad in her Republic issued armor.
"Alright, just gotta shut this operation down..." Tamara noticed the destruction around them, the surprised group and the struggling and restrained Zaheer. "So, I'm guessing I missed a bit?"
...
It was time to leave. After explaining what happened to Tamara (and her calling retrieval teams to sift through the base wreckage), Robbie had insisted he needed to depart, to ensure that all of the Darkhold was safely away from anyone who would misuse it.
The Republic agent offered use of their dimensional teleporter, but Robbie explained that he didn't need it. Swinging his chain around him repeatedly in a circular motion, a portal encircled by flaming edges appeared in the air, large enough to fit the Hell Charger through.
With a thought, Robbie sent the car in ahead of him, then turned to the rest of the gathered SHIELD agents and the Avatar's allies. They had various looks of surprise and amazement on their faces, even the Republic agent's eyes had widened.
"It was good to see you guys again." Robbie said to the four SHIELD agents still present. "You'll keep looking out for my brother?"
"Of course." Coulson nodded.
That was actually enough to get a smile on Robbie's face. With a brief nod to all of them, Robbie turned back and vanished into the portal, which promptly snapped shut behind him.
And that's the end of Spirits and Shields. Wow, this is definitely the fastest I've ever gotten a story fully published on this site. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Still, I definitely enjoyed writing this, and I hope everyone here enjoyed reading it as well.
I know the ending was kind of abrupt, but I couldn't really think of anything else to add that wouldn't just be padding. Though maybe I'll edit something else in later or add an epilogue, but not now.
So with all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this quick story and reviews are always welcome.