Alright, this chapter will contain a very brief epilogue for Spirits and Shields, as well as a couple of deleted scenes that I had half-baked ideas for, but I didn't really get around to making them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra, the MCU, or any other franchise that may be referenced in this story.

First, the Epilogue...


In a dark room, one man sat at a table, his fingers clasped together. A moment later, a door slid open on the other side of the room, and a younger man walked into the room, standing on the opposite end of the table.

"Status report."

"The Red Lotus base was discovered and our staging area destroyed."

"And I assume the Ghost Rider was able to recover the Darkhold page?"

"From all reports, it seems likely."

"Disappointing, but not unexpected. It doesn't matter, we were able to get what we needed."

"The master was satisfied?"

"Indeed." The speaker stood up. "You're dismissed. Send in our visitor, will you?"

The younger individual nodded and exited the room. A moment later, another man walked in, with an expression that was a mix between awe and anxiousness. His clothes definitely didn't match the rest of the individuals, as his red and black robes stood out.

"Please, have a seat." The new arrival did so. "Now, I'm afraid I have some bad news: the Avatar and her allies have located your base, which means you can't go home for the foreseeable future. However, we do have a mission for you, if you desire." The Red Lotus firebender was silent for a long moment.

"What do you want from me?" He asked finally.

"It's very simple." The Unitologist pressed a button, and a small four-pronged statue appeared in the center of the room. "Your organization's help has been invaluable to us. To the master. You will help spread our wisdom to the rest of the multiverse."

"I live to serve."

"Yes you do." The older man smiled. "And besides, you will be the first person from your world to see things you could've never imagined."


So, that's the epilogue portion. I'll admit, it was rather quick, but I will pick up more on this in another story. Suffice to say though, the Gravemind didn't give the Darkhold page to the Red Lotus just so they could revive Zaheer's friends.

Anyway, the next segment will be a quick deleted scene. It takes place in the Spirit World, just after Robbie and Korra lost Zaheer, but before they met up with everyone again.

...

They walked through the wilds of the Spirit World, on their way back to the portal. Through it all, Korra was distracted, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other three, especially considering that they didn't just go to the portal in the blink of an eye.

And the fact that Korra was muttering to herself.

"Is this really the best time?" She whispered fiercely. "I don't think they want to talk right now."

"Something we can help you with?" Coulson interrupted, drawing Korra's attention.

"Uh... sorry." Korra rubbed the back of her neck. "Raava's pestering me; she wants to talk to the Ghost Rider."

"Raava?"

"The Avatar Spirit." Asami answered for Korra. "She's the one who is responsible for the Avatar Cycle."

"Well, as interesting as that is, I think we should-"

"He'll do it." Everyone turned to Robbie. "He agrees to talk to Raava."

"Your... demon wants to do this as well?" Korra asked.

"Well, his exact words were 'let's get this over with,' so I wouldn't say 'wants,' but he's willing to do so."

"Don't we have more important things to be doing right now?" Asami pointed out.

"Apparently, it'll only take a few minutes." Robbie replied with a sigh. "How do we do this?"

"Well, we're in the Spirit World, so it shouldn't be too hard." The Avatar replied. "Just follow my lead."

Korra's eyes turned blue-white and Raava's pattern appeared on her chest, while Robbie's eyes simply gained the same fiery glow he always had. A pillar of light raised the two of them off the ground, before increasing in intensity, blocking their view from Coulson and Asami.

...

Raava's representation appeared in the plane of light, blue and white light emerging from her as her avatar took its form. Her visitor's appearance was far simpler: it was a skeleton composed entirely of fire, no doubt representing the Spirit of Vengeance, and he crossed his arms in a very human gesture.

"You wished to speak to me?" The voice was deep and demonic, unsurprising considering its origin.

"You are a Spirit not of our world." Raava said. "I admit, I am curious to learn more about you."

"That's not the only reason." The Spirit's eye sockets narrowed. "You're afraid of me."

"Fear is not an accurate description." Raava's tone deepened. "What you did to Wan Shi Tong was... difficult to witness."

"He's too far gone to be saved." The Spirit growled. "And I doubt there's anything that could make you feel at ease around me."

"It would help me if I knew your name. Not your title, your true name." He was silent for a long moment.

"Zarathos." The Spirit finally said, with a primal growl. "A name you will never repeat, for your own sake."

"Interesting. How about an exchange, I show you my existence, and you show me yours?"

As Raava spoke, images appeared around the two spirits; Raava's constant cycle with Vaatu, her bond with Wan and her subsequent lives as the Avatar, culminating in Korra, the latest of a long line. Their second fight with Vaatu and their rebirth was also shown, which was where the images vanished.

"I am well aware of your exploits." Zarathos said after a moment. "You want to see my existence? You won't like what you see."

He wasn't lying; images appeared again, this time showing a dimension of pain and suffering of the likes that even Vaatu would balk at. She saw the Spirit of Vengeance fleeing his home and taking refuge on Earth. She saw his previous host before Robbie, a man name Johnny Blaze.

She saw the demon offer his deal, possessing Robbie, then later Mack when Robbie was dimensionally displaced. She watched as the Ghost Rider, whole once more, deep in the fires of Hell, fighting and destroying so much. Her unease towards the demon and his power grew, as did her anger.

"And I know what you've done." Raava's anger became prevalent in her voice. "You offer deals to your hosts and take their lives away, using them to fulfill your own ends."

"At least they have a choice." Zarathos snarled. "You take away the lives of your Avatars the moment they are born to the day they die, forever enslaving them to you."

"You know nothing!" Raava shouted. "Your hosts are discarded and forgotten, while those who have come before live within me." Raava's voice dropped in sad remembrance. "They used to live within me."

Zarathos' essence burned even brighter with fury.

"Don't claim to understand me, when you don't even understand yourself." His voice was cold in contrast to his body. "You resurrect within Vaatu and he within you, yet you can do so much more."

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen beings like you before." Zarathos said. "In some ways, your power is even greater than my own. Your past lives still live within you. Korra is the first of this new cycle, but she doesn't have to be alone."

"How?" Raava asked sadly. "Vaatu and Unalaq destroyed Korra's connection to them through me."

"Except they're not beyond recovery." Zarathos said. "They were part of you once, and they can be again. But you have to remember them. You have to bring them back." The two spirits were silent for a long moment after that.

"You are a curious one, aren't you?" Raava noted. "Vengeance, hatred and pain sustain you, but you don't enjoy them."

"You may have seen my existence," The Spirit of Vengeance growled. "but you do not know me."

"Perhaps not." The Spirit of Light agreed. "But your actions say much; on this world alone, you could have easily killed so many for getting in your way, but you didn't. You refuse to harm the innocent, even though it would be so easy for you. You know suffering, and yet there is still light inside you."

"We're wasting time." Zarathos turned away. "I believe we have work to do."

...

It only took a few minutes, just like they said. After that, the light receded and Korra and Robbie stumbled back, falling to the ground before they fully regained their senses and stood up.

"Well that felt weird." Robbie groaned. "Did it work?"

"I think so." Korra replied. "Raava seems satisfied."

"Good to hear." Coulson resisted the urge to tap his foot. "Can we go now?"


And that's one deleted scene. I don't know if the Spirit of Vengeance is called Zarathos in the MCU, but it's a relatively safe bet. Another deleted scene takes place after the story, and is a bit more light-hearted.

So after Robbie left, the SHIELD team stuck around for a bit longer, so I thought, what would happen if the members of SHIELD were to go through the airbender obstacle course? Well, this aims to answer that.

...

"It's quite simple." Tenzin explained, releasing a gust of wind through the gates, which all started spinning. "Get through to the other side."

"So who wants to go first?" Ikki asked. No one moved at first, then May shrugged.

"Let's see how difficult it is."

She took position right in front of the gates. Taking a deep breath, she entered the gauntlet. The airbenders were impressed; May wove her way through the spinning panels, at some points even halting on a dime and heading the opposite direction. When she got out, she wasn't even breathing very hard.

"It's not so bad." She had a smirk on her face. "It should be a breeze for you, Phil." He sighed.

"Let's get this over with."

Once the airbenders brought it back up to speed, Coulson entered into the obstacle course. It didn't take very long for him to come flying out, having made it about halfway before being caught by the doors.

"Ouch." Daisy commented.

"I thought this would be easy for you, sir." Mack laughed.

"Alright, Agent Mackenzie, I think it's your turn then."

"Aw hell." Mack's smile died as he took position at the beginning of the obstacle course.

The mechanic managed to make it slightly further than Coulson before he was thrown back by the gates. He was knocked out of the obstacle course and sat up, rubbing the areas he'd been hit at.

"Well, that looked like it hurt." Yo-yo commented.

"Why don't you take a shot at it, then?" The Inhuman walked up to the spinning gates and stood there for a second. She twitched slightly, then turned back to the gathering with a smug look on her face.

"Done."

"But you just stood there..." Jinora pointed out.

"Oh, shall I do it again?" There was a slight twitch from her again. "I don't know what you're all complaining about, it's fairly easy."

"Well not all of us have super speed." Mack chuckled.

"And I'm pretty sure that's cheating." Lincoln added. "It's supposed to be done without your powers."

"No one said that." She pointed out. "And if you're so adamant, you can go next."

Lincoln looked around and saw the others staring at him. He sighed, taking his position at the beginning of the obstacle course. "This is gonna hurt." He muttered before running through.

Whether through skill or blind luck, Lincoln actually made it three quarters of the way through before stumbling into one of the doors. The resulting chain reaction caused his powers to flare up for a moment and he stumbled back out.

"Oh yeah," The energy manipulator groaned. "that hurt."

"I guess I'm next then." Daisy shrugged.

She entered into the obstacle course, moving as gracefully as possible. That said, she had another advantage; any time it seemed like she would be hit, she sent a brief pulse of vibration, reversing its direction long enough to get out of range. Unfortunately, when she finished, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"You cheated!" Mack complained.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She gave her best 'sweet and innocent' tone. No one bought it.

"We could feel the vibrations." Coulson replied.

"Well Yo-yo had a point." She crossed her arms. "No one actually said we couldn't use our powers."

"She's got you there." May deadpanned.

"When the Air Nation designed this exercise," Tenzin interjected. "it was intended to train one in the ways of airbending, and using one's ability was not in the spirit of the course."

"But we're not airbenders." Yo-yo pointed out. "I doubt these elders had Inhumans in mind."

"So you admit that you cheated, then." Coulson deadpanned.

"Hey, if it's not in the rules, then it's not cheating." Daisy said, then shot her boyfriend a glance that said 'help me out here.'

"I'm staying out of this." Lincoln held up his hands.

The arguing continued for a few more minutes before they agreed. In the end, May was the only one outside of the two Inhumans who made it through, and the only one who actually did so without using any superpowers.


And that's the end of that. If anyone's wondering, the plot line at the top will be continued in my story Shadow of Order at a later date, though it may take a while to get there.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this story and reviews are always welcome.