Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Last Airbender, or the Legend of Korra.
Paragon of Korra
Chapter 9: Truths and lies
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Tarrlok)
He drove far out of the city and deep into the mountains, where he had bought and maintained a hunting lodge for problems such as this. Korra and Arashi had stopped banging in the back which meant no more noise for him. That also meant they were either tired or unconscious again. It really didn't matter to him, so long as they didn't make any more trouble.
Once he reached the lodge, he parked the car, stepped out, and went for the back doors. He opened them and bent the blood of his prisoners before they could do anything to get free. Whilst still holding them against their will, he undid the ropes binding them.
When they were off, he bent the two of them up into the air and walked them into the lodge. There wasn't much in the way of furniture inside but that wasn't the point of having the lodge. The point lay in the basement, where he was going now.
As he reached the basement door, he had Korra reach out and opened it, revealing a flight of stairs. There was nothing she or Arashi could do to not go down, they were floating in midair and their own blood would not let move except on the command of Tarrlok. They moved down the stairs and saw in the center of the basement was a tall metal box that had an open door.
"What are you doing?" Korra demanded as she was placed in the box.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked back scathingly as he released control of her and slammed the door shut.
"Tarrlok!" she shouted as she tried to lunge at him, only to have the door slammed in her face.
"You're not going to get away with this," she heard Arashi say from outside the box. He was still with her.
"And do you think that I'm scared of a Firebender so pathetic that he would be better off as a Nonbender or dead?" Tarrlok asked with complete sarcasm with a hint of arrogance and disdain.
"Won't matter if I'm a Bender or not when I kick your ass," she heard the blonde reply.
"Hmph, cocky little brat, aren't you? You should learn to respect your betters. I know how to make you do that."
SNAP!
"…AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Arashi suddenly screamed with pain so loud that he made Korra jump back a little inside the box.
"Arashi, Arashi, what happened?!" the Avatar asked, fearful of what might've happened. "Arashi, talk to me!"
But all she heard screaming and she could not get a reply. That is, until the sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed out from beyond the box and the screaming stopped. "If you want it to happen again, keep screaming," Tarrlok said.
She heard no reply and she became worried that the Bloodbender had killed her friend. But when she heard Tarrlok begin walking away up the stairs, she also heard a muffled sob. "Arashi, what happened? Talked to me," she urged the blonde, looking at the side of the box she thought he was facing.
"My arm," he sobbed with a voice still full of pain. "He broke my arm."
(Location: Air Temple Island)
The sound of a telephone ringing woke Meelo up. He had been sleeping in the same bed as his parents, right in the middle, making him climb over his dad (which woke him up as well) to reach for the phone. "Who is this?" he asked into the telephone. "It's six in the morning! This better be important!"
Tenzin got up from the bed and took the phone away from his son as his wife woke up as well. "Councilman Tenzin here," she heard him say. There was a pause as he listened to the other end of the phone. "…What?!" he suddenly shouted. After listening a little more, he put the phone down and raced for the closet.
"Tenzin, what's wrong?" Pema asked him.
"I have to get to City Hall," he told her as he hurriedly dressed. "Korra was there along with Arashi and now they're missing!"
He didn't bother taking a sky bison to the mainland, instead opting to fly via glider staff. By the time he reached City Hall, it was already being looked over as a crime scene by the police. It was the sight of a battle that much was certain, as was the Equalist glove on the ground and the bola rope around the column.
On the steps leading to the table were Tarrlok, Saikhan, and a medic tending to Tarrlok's arm. The man himself looked like he had been attacked. "What happened?" Tenzin demanded, going right for them. "Why were Korra and Arashi doing at City Hall?"
The medic was pretty much done with Tarrlok and withdrew his water before walking away. "As I told Chief Saikhan," Tarrlok began as he stood up and rolled down his sleeve. "Korra came to my office late last night with Arashi. They were upset that I had arrested their friends. Korra asked me to release them and…" He took a moment to breathe. "That's when the Equalists attacked. I think they might've been lying in wait in for me, but the chance of getting the Avatar was probably better. I tried to protect Korra, but we were outnumbered. Then, I was electrocuted. When I came to, the police had arrived. But Korra and Arashi were gone. I'm so sorry." He turned his head to look at Saikhan. "Chief Saikhan, mobilize the entire police force. We have to find the Avatar."
(Location: Asami)
She hadn't slept the entire night. She was still having a hard time believing that she was being treated as an Equalist because of her father. She was trying to help and they had treated her like she was no better than a common criminal! "What's the point of helping if I'm to be treated like that?" she wondered many times during the night.
But now morning had come and with it, the opening of the door to her cell. "Come on, get up," the cop standing in front of the door told her. "You're getting out."
"What?" she said in surprise, standing up from the bed. "Why?"
"Perhaps you can save the question for when you are actually out of the cell?" her teacher's voice came from just outside the cell. "I am not above keeping you in there."
"Sir?" she called out. "Is that you?"
"Are you coming or not?"
"Coming, sir, coming," she answered, walking quickly out of the cell and past the cop to see her teacher standing there like nothing was wrong. Yue was nearby as well, her arms folded while she leaned against the wall.
"Good," he said before turning his attention to the cop. "The next cell, if you would."
"Yes, Lord Naruto," the cop replied as he turned and walked down the hall whilst everyone followed him in silence. He stopped before another cell door and opened it, revealing Mako and Bolin inside.
"Asami!" the Firebender cried as she rushed in to hug and kiss him.
Bolin, who was standing in the back facing the wall turned bright red and yelped a high pitch yelp. "A little privacy, please!" he said to them all.
"No such thing in a prison, kid," Naruto told him. "Just finish peeing." Feeling a little more than embarrassed about the situation, he did as he was told.
"Are you alright?" Mako asked Asami once they were done kissing.
"I'm fine!" she assured him. "It's so good to see you."
"You might want to hurry this along," Yue told the two of them. "But Korra and Arashi got captured by Amon."
All three of the teenagers looked at her in sudden horror. "No. No, she can't be gone!" Mako protested.
"If she wasn't, would we be having this rapidly redundant conversation?" Naruto asked. "Come on, we've got people to find. Move it." He turned around and began walking away, leaving the others with no choice but to follow him. "Kid, your fly's down," he said without turning his head.
Bolin went bright red again and quickly fixed the problem. "Thanks for catching that," he mumbled.
"Sir, I was wondering," Asami said to her teacher as she came quickly up to his side. "How were you able to get us out so quickly? It was only one night."
"It's very simple," he replied. "I went up to the front desk in the lobby and told the cop there that you and your friends were to be released immediately. When he tried to protest, I told him that it wasn't a request."
(Location: Korra)
She had been banging against the metal door of the box, using her shoulder, her foot, anything that would make a sound. "Somebody! Help! Please!" she screamed as she pounded away. But as she kept pounding, her energy began to drain away, leaving her tired. "Please," she said once more as she finally stopped and fell to the floor, her back against the door.
She felt alone in that moment. She knew that Arashi was outside the box but aside from the fact that he had a broken arm, she didn't how he was or where he was. His muffled crying had vanished a while back and she had a feeling that he was either unconscious or asleep.
Weirdly enough, as she sat there, Tenzin's words came back to her.
"I urge you to mediate on these visions. I believe Aang's spirit is trying to tell you something."
Those visions were confusing to say the least. She had a flash of them after Tarrlok had knocked her unconscious in City Hall and they didn't make any more sense than the others had. But it wasn't like she had any better options at the moment.
She settled herself into the lotus position, placed her fists against one another, closed her eyes, took a breath, and began to concentrate, focusing on what little she could remember of the visions. Her breathing settled and slowed and she suddenly could see an image of Republic City.
But it wasn't like the Republic City she knew, it was different somehow. Younger and less technological were the words she was probably looking for. There were no Satomobiles or cars of any kind in the streets and there were no airships in the air.
As she brought her attention down from the sky, she saw a man standing nearby with his back turned to her. He was dressed in the robes of the Air Nomads and she first thought that she was looking at Tenzin. She tried to walk towards him but found that she could not move from her spot. When they both heard the sound of multiple feet marching towards him, the Air Nomad turned around and Korra realized that she wasn't looking at Tenzin, but at Aang. He looked exactly like the statue of him out in the bay, with the exception of having a stronger jaw and a beard.
As Aang turned, so did Korra. They both saw a woman with dark hair leading a small squad of Metalbending police officers straight towards Aang. Even though she didn't know the woman, Korra knew that she was looking at Lin and Gāng's mother. "What are you doing here, Aang?" Toph asked the previous Avatar with a mildly annoyed tone. "I told Sokka, I told Katara, I told Naruto, and I told you that I have this under control."
"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't get involved," Aang told her. "But if what those victims said is true, we're not dealing with a normal criminal. Besides, if it was Naruto or any of the other Paragons here, you'd be taking out a corpse and you know it."
"Fine," she conceded with a small smile. "Follow me, Twinkletoes." She turned to the nearby building Aang was originally looking at and started walking towards it.
"Toph, I'm 40 years old," he protested slightly. "You think you could stop with the nicknames?"
"'Fraid not," she answered with a smirk on her lips. "I'll stop calling you Twinkletoes the same day Naruto stops calling you an idiot."
He shook his head and followed her, walking past the cops so he was by her side. "I still wish he would stop calling me an idiot," he grumbled somewhat. "I'm not a kid anymore. I've changed."
"He and the other Paragons had to sit on you when Katara was giving birth to your first kid. I think that gives him the right to call you an idiot." After that, they fell silent and walked through the building.
It turned out to be a restaurant and a fancy one at that. The waiter in the lobby tried to step in to impede their path, but Aang just gave him a look. "Son, just don't."
The waiter looked at the cops and then at him, recognition showing in his eyes. He stepped back and allowed them to walk through into the restaurant. They made their way over to the far wall, where a well-dressed man was sitting in a booth eating food. Two men stood just outside the booth, obviously acting as security. If Korra was visible, they would've seen her lurch in surprise. She had seen the eating man before, in her past visions.
"It's over!" Toph declared, pointing her finger at the man in the booth. "You're under arrest, Yakone!"
An amused smirked appeared on the man's lips at those words. "What is Republic City coming to these days?" he asked aloud, looking at the cops and the Avatar. "Used to be a man could enjoy his lunch in peace." He reached down to pick up another piece of food to eat, only to have his hands tied together by a cable from Toph, who pulled him out of the booth. "What's the big idea?" he demanded as one of the cops grabbed his arms and put them behind his back. His men were also being handled like that.
"We have dozens of witnesses and your daughters, Yakone," Aang told him. "We know what you are." Disgust was in his voice as he looked at the man.
"Take him away," Toph ordered her men.
"I've beaten every trumped-up charge you yahoos have brought against me!" he shouted as he was led away. "And I'll beat this one, too," he declared with a confidence and an arrogance that seemed natural.
"You'd better hope not," Aang said to him. "Otherwise, we'll let Naruto go at you." If Yakone had been fazed by the remark, he didn't show it.
Korra opened her eyes. "Whoa," she breathed out before looking up at the box's ceiling. "I've finally connected with you, Aang. But what are you trying to tell me?" she asked with more than a note of confusion. "A way out of this box and how to help Arashi would be nice."
"Are you talking to yourself?" Arashi's quieted voice asked from outside the box.
"Arashi, thank the Spirits you're still with me," she said, swinging her head to the direction of his voice.
"I'm pretty sure that talking to yourself is one of the first signs of insanity," he continued like he hadn't heard her.
She couldn't help but chuckle. "Technically, I was talking to myself. I was talking to Aang."
For a moment, there was silence. "I was joking, but you sound serious. I'll let you get back to it."
(Location: Tenzin's office)
He had been on the phone when Lin, Yue, and Korra's friends walked through the door, taking him completely by surprise. "I have to go," he said into the phone. "Call me the minute you find anything." He hung the phone and stood up from his desk to talk to them. "Lin? Wh-wh-what are y- What are you- You should be in the hospital! And you three!" he said, pointing at Mako, his brother, and his girlfriend. "You should be in prison!"
"Lord Naruto got us out," Asami told him. They had met Lin in the lobby of Police HQ and her teacher promptly handed them over to her.
"And I figured you could use our help finding Korra and Arashi," Lin said with a flat tone. She was wearing her police armor with a trench coat over it.
"Then why isn't Naruto with you? It is his grandson that is missing."
"It's because Arashi is his grandson that he's not here," Yue answered. "The way he put it was 'we want to keep any prisoners you take alive for interrogation.'" As she fell silent, there was a small chill in the air. The implications in his words were clear.
"Do you have any leads?" Mako asked the Air Nomad.
"I've been on the phone all morning, but nothing yet," he answered, coming around the desk.
"We need Naga! She can track Korra and where Korra is, Arashi is too."
"I'm afraid her polar bear dog is missing as well."
"Then where do we start?" Bolin asked. To him, it seemed like a big problem with no leads, period.
"My guess is that the Equalists are hiding underground in the maze of tunnels beneath the city," Lin said after giving the problem some thought.
"Underground…just like my father's secret factory. Figures," Asami said darkly whilst staring at the floor. "Just how much did they share?" she asked herself.
"Yeah! Yeah, that makes sense!" Bolin agreed, remembering when he got kidnapped alongside the majority of the Triple Threat Triad. "When those chi-blockers had me in their truck, it sounded like we drove through a tunnel!"
As he listened to his brother, Mako remembered that night as well. "I know where to start looking!" he declared. "Come on!"
He, Bolin, and Asami raced out of the room, leading the adults there alone. "Wherever Amon is keeping Korra and Arashi, I bet that's where my officers are too," Lin said to Tenzin and Yue.
"Let's bring them all home, Lin," Tenzin said to her.
"And we might want to be quick about it," Yue said. "Naruto might not be here, but that doesn't mean he has a good grip on his temper right now. If this goes on too long, we may have a repeat of that day on our hands." That thought made their feet move quickly as they hurried out of the office.
They took Tenzin's sky bison to where Mako and Korra had first encountered chi-blockers. It looked a little different in the daylight and covered in snow but that didn't matter to Mako. "The truck with took off this alley," he told everyone, pointing at the alley in question.
They started down it, only to quickly find that it lead into a four way intersection. "Which way?" asked Asami.
"Hmm. This way kinda…smells familiar," Bolin said, looking straight ahead and sniffing the air.
Lin simply raised her foot, closed her eyes, and slammed it into the ground. Everyone stayed still as she felt the vibrations of the surrounding ground. "There's a tunnel nearby," she declared, opening her eyes and pointing to their left.
They went down that alley to a large sewer ditch that had metal grates at the end. "There!" cried Mako, looking at the grate with tracks in front of it.
They all went down into the ditch and Lin inspected the tracks. "Motorcycle tracks," she declared after a quiet second.
"Korra has to be in there," Mako said. "…Somewhere." The tunnel looked like a gaping hole into nothing, making him feel like they could get lost in there.
Lin bent the grate open. "Come on," she said to them all, heading into the tunnel with them by her side. As the darkness began to surround them, Mako bent a flame in his hand to serve as a light.
They kept walking until they came to a junction of tunnels. Five separate tunnels went different directions and darkness prevented them from seeing any further. "Let's go this way," Mako said, moving towards the center tunnel.
"And what if Korra or Arashi are not down there?" Asami asked him.
"Then we pick another tunnel until we find her!" He moved forward, missing the hurt expression on her face.
As they went down the tunnel, going with the curve of it, Asami fell to the back of the group alongside Bolin. "Hey, is Mako alright?" she asked. "He seems really worried about Korra."
"Yeah, we all are!" Bolin agreed, trying to keep his voice down.
"I know, but, he's your brother. Do you think that he likes Korra as more than just a friend?"
He saw the question coming when she put her hand up to the side of her mouth. But when she asked it, he laughed awkwardly. "W-What? No! That's, just gossip, where'd you hear that? Crazy talk is coming out of your mouth right now," he told her with a finger pointing at her. She didn't buy and he found that he couldn't hold her gaze, so he turned his eyes away.
"What do you know, Bolin?" she asked, placing her hand on his shoulder (to prevent him from running away). "Come on, spill it."
"Nothing!" he instantly protested. He should've stopped there, but his mouth kept running. "I mean, there was this one time during the memorial tournament when Mako and Korra kissed, but—"
"They kissed?" she repeated in a shocked voice, cutting him off. She turned her head to look at Mako's back.
"Believe me, I was upset too, but, I'm over it," he told her. "I don't think it meant anything."
"I doubt that."
"You guys want to stop talking and keep moving now?" Yue asked the two of them pointedly, getting their attention. She had been the only one to stop for them. Tenzin, Lin, and Mako had just kept walking.
Both of them started walking again, only to stop when they heard the sound of a motorcycle getting louder. The others heard it too, coming from behind them. When they turned to look, they saw a light further down the tunnel getting brighter. "Hide!" Lin ordered everyone.
They all ran to the side and hid behind one of the support pillars against the wall, just in time to avoid two Equalist motorcycles driving fast towards them. But just as they were about to see the intruders, the Equalists veered off to their left. A part of the tunnel wall flapped upwards to reveal a new tunnel, which they promptly disappeared into.
Once the section came down, the rescuers went over to it immediately. Lin closed her eyes and placed her hand on it, feeling through the vibrations to find the opening mechanism. Once she found it, she bent it to open the wall. It did and they all went further in, ignoring the fact that the wall closed behind them.
What they found looked to be some kind of supply station for the Equalists. There were various kinds of supplies there, ranging from simple things, like food and clothing, to trucks and motorcycles. There were more tunnels in the station. Metal rails went into the various tunnels and they all originated from a central point in the station. But there was one question remaining. "What are the rails for?" Bolin asked.
"They look like something my dad came up with," Asami told him quietly. "I could've sworn they were part of a plan for an underground train system."
"Why would you want an underground train system?"
She thought about it for a moment. "I guess it would be so that mobility and space wouldn't be a problem."
Meanwhile, an Equalist was placing supplies on a tram-like car while one waited for him to finish onboard and another stood before it with clipboard in his hands. "That tram goes to the training camp," the Equalist with the clipboard said. The two onboard nodded in acknowledgement. One went for the controls and the tram sped away into the tunnel.
Out of another tunnel came another tram with only one Equalist onboard. "Everything was delivered to the prison, sir," she told the clipboard-holding one, who nodded in acknowledgement. The two of them walked off, leaving the tram just sitting there.
The rescuers had perked up their ears at the sound of the word "Prison." "That's where they must be holding Korra and Arashi," Tenzin declared quietly.
"We need to get down that tunnel," Lin said.
"Then let's not look a gift ostrich horse in the mouth," Yue remarked, looking pointedly at the tram right in front of their eyes.
"If we take the tram, they'll see us coming," Asami objected.
"No, they won't," Lin told her. She signaled the group to move out to the tram. They boarded it quickly and Yue manned the controls. The tram started down the rail into the tunnel, moving quite fast.
It was only a minute later that Tenzin said, "Alright, everyone hang on." Without another word, he bent the air to carry them off the tram and onto the tunnel ground, letting the tram go on without them.
They followed close enough to see the tram stopping at the end of the tunnel and the two Equalists looking over it. "It's empty!" one Equalist said.
"Yeah, I can see that," the other replied sarcastically.
Yue laughed, making it echo through the tunnel and around them. "Now, boys, there's no need to be rude," she said, making her voice echo too.
The Equalists swung around, arms up in defensive positions. "What the hell was that?" the second demanded.
"Does it look like I know?" the first one replied, returning the sarcasm.
Before there was a reply, Lin bent her cables at them, grabbing hold and pulling them into the tunnel. They landed hard on the ground, right in front of Yue. "What did I just say?" she asked them. She didn't bother to wait for a reply. She struck and the two fell unconscious.
Lin dragged them out of the tunnel and into the stop. She tied them up and threw them against the wall. "You two, keep an eye on them," she told Bolin and Asami as she ascended the nearby staircase, close to Mako. Again, she struck the earth with her foot to sense the vibrations of the area. "My officers are inside," she declared as she opened her eyes.
"What about Korra?" Mako asked then added, "And Arashi?"
"I don't see them yet." She, along with the Firebender, Tenzin, and Yue, climbed the rest of the stairs and walked into the prison. It was unnerving to so many prison cells that stretched out before them as they walked. What was truly also unnerving was a question in their heads: were these cells, or pens to keep the Benders Amon had gotten to yet?
As they turned the corner, they saw two Equalists at the same time the Equalists saw them. The masked men quickly drew bola ropes, swung them into throwing speed, and promptly threw them. Tenzin bent the air to repel the bolas, sending back to their owners and knocking them down against the far wall.
While Lin walked past them, Mako ran up to one of them, grabbed him by the shoulders, slammed him against the wall, and ripped off his mask. "Avatar Korra, where are you keeping her?" he demanded.
Yue reached his side and placed a strong hand on his shoulder. "Ease off, kid," she told him. "He can't tell us if he dies."
"I don't plan on killing him."
"Could've fooled me," she remarked drily.
He ignored her, focusing his attention back on the Equalist. "I'll ask you one last time," he said before slamming the guy higher up on the wall, pulling a fist back and bending fire onto, the threat clear and obvious. "Where are they?"
"We don't have the Avatar or the son of Sozin Uzumaki," the Equalist groaned out. "And the Equalists didn't attack City Hall. Tarrlok's lying."
"What?" he demanded, letting him fall back down so his feet could touch ground.
"What the hell are you saying?" Yue suddenly said, an unwell look appearing on her face.
Lin came back with her officers in tow. The fact that they were alive and had a defeated look in their eyes must've meant that Amon had already gotten to them. "I scanned the entire prison," Lin told them. "Neither Korra or Arashi are here."
Mako let go of the Equalist and put the fire out. "Why would Tarrlok make up a story about being attacked?"
Tenzin came to the important conclusion first. "Because he has Korra and Arashi," he said. "He fooled us all!"
"Oh, Tarrlok," Yue thought to herself. "You are an idiot, a complete and utter idiot. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
A siren began to wail and a red light began flashing, signaling everyone that they've been found out. They ran out of the prison and back to the tram, where Asami was already manning the controls. "Let's go, people!" Bolin shouted at them as they came down the stairs, urging them on.
They all quickly climbed aboard the tram and it began zipping down the rail the way they came. For a moment, they relaxed, thinking that they were safe. But then Mako and Bolin saw a light fast approaching from behind them. It was another tram filled with chi-blockers intent on boarding them.
Bolin raised his arms and bent the walls to break and collapse, halting their pursers. "Try to chi-block that, fools!" he called challenging.
"We've got more company!" Lin shouted from the front, where she was seeing the Lieutenant was waiting with chi-blockers and mecha-tanks. Looking up at the railing overhead, she bent it to split apart and angle the side they were on upwards to the ceiling. "Hang on!" As the tram flew up at the ceiling, she bent a hole in it large enough for the tram car to fly through.
They sailed through the air in the upper tunnel for a few seconds before landing on the floor with a hard bump, skidding the last few feet. When it stopped, they stepped off, a little dazed but alive. Now came the hard part: getting the truth out of Tarrlok.
(Location: Korra)
She mediated once again and this time, an image of the City Hall council chambers came to her. Like the image before, there was something different about the chamber. But that hardly mattered now. What did matter was the fact that the five members of the Council (including her own grandfather) sat before Yakone, whose hands were in chains. Behind him sat Aang and an audience that filled every chair in the chamber. Korra knew what this was. It was a trial.
"Yakone has ruled Republic City's criminal empire for years," a woman lawyer said to the Council. "Yet he has always stayed out of the law's reach, until now. You will hear testimony from dozens of his victims, and they will tell you, Yakone has maintained his grip on the underworld by using an ability that has been illegal for years: Bloodbending."
A small gasp echoed through the audience at those words. Korra saw his grandfather's eyes hardened and despite the fact that she knew Aang had a look of calmness on his face, he was feeling the same things the Water Paragon was feeling. They had been there when Bloodbending had first been revealed and it left no pleasant memory for them. She saw her grandfather clench and unclench his right hand yet he did not seem aware of it. It almost seemed like he instinctively reaching for a sword that he did not bring with him.
When the woman lawyer sat down, the lawyer by Yakone's stood up. "The prosecution's entire case is built upon the make-believe notion that my client is able to Bloodbend at will, at any time on any day," he began as he paced before the Council. "I remind the Council that Bloodbending is an incredibly rare skill and it can only be done during a full moon."
"You don't need to tell my grandfather that, you moron," she thought to herself while rolling her eyes. He had lived through it.
"Yet, the witnesses will claim that my client used Bloodbending at every other time, except during a full moon," the lawyer continued. "It would be a mockery of justice to convict a man of a crime that is impossible to commit."
"No, what would be a mockery of justice is if his head is still attached to his body after we're done here," Lord Naruto's familiar voice called out from the audience. Only a few people turned to look at him, Korra being one of them. His hair was less grey and he had no wrinkles on his face, but there was no doubt that was the Paragon of the Fire Nation.
People in the audience began to call out in agreement, before her grandfather banged his gavel. "Order in the court!" he shouted, quieting them all. He turned his head to look at the prosecuting lawyer. "Call your first witness."
"I don't need to watch all of this," Korra thought to herself. As if what she was seeing heard her, everything began to speed up to the point that all she saw of people moving were blurs acting very animated.
Everything returned to normal speed when the people of the Council were going back to their chairs. She knew that they had left to discuss what they had heard. "Councilman Sokka will now deliver the verdict," a man standing close to the Council table announced, making all eyes focus on her grandfather.
"In my years, I have encountered people born with rare and unique Bending abilities," he began, his tone light and easy. "I once bested a man with my trusty boomerang who was able to Firebend with his mind. Why, even Metalbending was considered impossible for all of history until our esteemed Chief of Police, Toph Beifong, singlehandedly developed the skill." He gestured over at Toph, who was standing by the side with two of her men. He turned back to face the audience and the defendant and when he spoke, his voice lost the light and easy tone. Now it was hard and serious. "The overwhelming amount of testimony and evidence has convinced this Council that Yakone is one of these Benders and he exploited his ability to commit these heinous crimes. We find Yakone guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in prison pending a decision on his execution." He banged the gavel again, making it sound final.
The audience began to speak amongst themselves as the echo faded. Aang had a look of slight surprise on his face while Naruto looked satisfied. Obviously something had happened that the Paragon had expected that the Avatar did not. Perhaps it was the announcement of the execution decision.
While all this had happened, Yakone had sat in his chair with a smug little grin on his face, like he was going to get out no matter what was thrown at him. The grin stayed on his face even after the verdict was delivered. In silence, he stood up from his chair, looking at the Council.
His eyes suddenly bulged in their sockets and Sokka screamed in pain as his body rebelled against him. A second of shocked surprise followed before the rest of the Council followed suit. Toph saw what was happening and moved to get a cable around Yakone, only to fall under his control when he turned his eyes on her.
She and the Council weren't the only ones he was bending; he had the entire audience too. Neither Aang nor Naruto could move from their spots, even though they were trying to do. And while this all happened, Yakone was laughing.
(Location: City Hall)
"Thank you all for meeting us on such short notice," Tenzin said to the other three Council members. He had asked them to meet him at City Hall so he, Lin, and Yue could turn the tables on Tarrlok and get him to reveal where Korra and Arashi were. Mako, Asami, and Bolin had come with them, wanting to get answers too (some more than others).
"Chief," Lin said coldly to Saikhan, who stood next to the Council members.
"Lin," he replied just as coldly.
"Yue," Yue added with a little grin.
"Bolin!" exclaimed the Earthbender loudly.
Everyone just looked at him. "Way to kill the mood, bro," Mako said to him.
"Have you news of Avatar Korra and Arashi?" Tarrlok asked as he approached the group from the chamber doors.
"We do," Tenzin said before an accusing finger at him. "You kidnapped them, Tarrlok!"
He reacted with a look of innocent surprise. "I am shocked you would accuse me of such an evil act! I already explained: Equalists attacked us took them!"
"But there were no chi-blockers here last night. You planted the evidence, didn't you?"
"That is a ridiculous accusation!" he said angrily.
"It's true! He took her!" a voice shouted up from the balcony above. All heads to see who it was and Tarrlok recognized the page that had been with him last night cowering behind a column. "I was here when Avatar Korra arrive alone last night, not with Mr. Arashi. Councilman ordered me to leave. I was on my way out when I saw Tarrlok bring her and Mr. Arashi down to the garage."
"That is nonsense!" Tarrlok shouted. "Everyone knows you're nothing but a squeaky-faced liar!"
Lin ignored the enraged councilman and looked up at the page. "Why did you wait until now to 'fess up?" she asked him.
"I was terrified to tell because…because Tarrlok is a Bloodbender! He Bloodbent Avatar Korra and Mr. Arashi!" he shouted for all to hear, only to turn and run when he was done.
A shot gasp of shock rippled through the group facing Tarrlok. At the front was Yue with a look of horror on her face. "You didn't," she said to Tarrlok, her voice taking on a pleading tone.
He didn't say anything and that just made him even guiltier. "Don't make this worse for yourself," Tenzin told him. "Tell us where you have Korra and Arashi." Both he and Lin slipped into attack stances despite his words.
Tarrlok just stood there with a look of outrage and shock on his face. Suddenly, he moved and raised his hands up. Tenzin and Lin tried to stop him, but their wind and cable fell short as their control of their bodies was taken away from them. They weren't the only ones. He had taken control of all of them.
Once they were in his grasp, he used their blood to knock them unconscious, letting them fall to the ground. The last person who was still conscious was Yue, who looked like she was trying to fight free. "How…could you…sink…so low?" she grated out from between clenched teeth. He didn't bother to answer, he just knocked her out.
When she came to, she saw Naruto standing over her. The next thing she heard was Lin shouting, "Wake up!" and the sound of a palm hitting a cheek. If she had to guess, she was smacking Tenzin awake.
"What happened?" Naruto asked her. Two words that made her feel like if she answered wrong, she would not like the outcome.
Fortunately for her, Bolin took care of that when he stood up with a small groan. "Man! I had this awful dream that Korra and Arashi were taken by this evil Bloodbender. So weird," he remarked.
"Bolin, that actually happened," Asami said to him from where she knelt on the ground, Mako by her side. "He knocked us out."
"Are you serious?" he demanded before he started looking around rapidly. "Where is he? Is he here right now?"
"Tarrlok is long gone," Saikhan said, answering the Earthbender and addressing everyone else there. "I'll alert the whole force."
As he the three remaining Council members left, Lin turned to look at the others. "We've only been out a little while," she said. "Maybe we can still pick up Tarrlok's trail."
"It could lead us to Korra and Arashi!" Tenzin said in agreement. "Let's go."
"Wait," Naruto said, making them all stop in their tracks. "I still haven't been told what happened here."
"Come on, is it really that important?" Mako asked, impatience coloring his voice and tone.
"I wasn't here. I was lead to believe that it was Equalists who had my grandson. Was I wrong?"
"Yes. It was Tarrlok who took them," Lin answered him. "Worse, he's a Bloodbender. He knocked us all out before escaping."
He didn't say anything. Instead, after having a small look of surprise on his face, he turned to look at Yue, who couldn't quite meet his eyes. "Alright," he finally said. "Let's go."
(Location: Korra)
She stood there helplessly as Yakone held everyone there under the control of his Bloodbending with a smug grin on his face. He turned his attention onto Toph and bent her into taking the keys off of her fellow cop. Once she had them in her hands, he forced her to float over to him and unlock the cuffs around his hands.
They fell to the floor with a sound that couldn't be heard. Yakone shook his hands like he was trying to get blood back into them. When he was done, he raised his hands and caused everyone to collapse to the ground, with one exception. After watching Sokka collapsed at the table, he turned and lifted Aang out of his seat.
"Yakone, you won't get away with this," the Avatar promised him as he felt his arms being twisted around his back without his consent.
The Bloodbender just laughed at him. "Republic City is mine, Avatar," he declared. "I'll be back one day to claim it." He threw Aang at the stairs, knocking him unconscious, and ran out of the chambers.
Korra watched him go, unable to move from her spot. She turned to Aang, who had fallen to the ground. "Aang, get up! He's getting away!" she silently shouted at him.
She didn't know whether it was because he heard or not, but his cloak began to flap in the air rather rapidly and his arrow tattoo began to glow a bright white. His head snapped up and his eyes opened, revealing that they glowed with the same white as his tattoo. For a brief moment, his face took on an ageless quality as he went into the Avatar State. Then it disappeared and he was left with a hard look on his face.
He got back up onto his feet and ran for the chamber doors, bursting through them with a blast of air. He leap into the air and bent it into the shape of a large sphere, riding it out of City Hall and after Yakone. The Bloodbender was getting away by a carriage pulled by an ostrich-horse.
To the master Airbender and Avatar, he was easy to catch up to. Rather than attack right from behind, Aang moved his enhanced air scooter (Korra had read her history. That ball he was riding could only be an air scooter) up onto the sides of the buildings. He moved ahead far enough to look like he could cut Yakone off. Instead, he bent a small and thin stream of air at the reins.
They were cut apart and the ostrich-horse broke free, running off. The carriage, on the other hand, crashed and tipped over onto its side, causing a lot of dust from the road. But Yakone was nowhere in sight. It was like he had vanished.
Aang floated down from the buildings and onto the street. He circled the carriage looking for Yakone. The Bloodbender burst out of the carriage door and bent the Avatar's blood, knocking him off of the air scooter and bringing him down to the ground. He himself leapt off the carriage onto the ground.
"This time I'm gonna put you to sleep for good!" he declared, raising Aang up into the air. He began bending the blood to twist and contort the Air Nomad's limbs, causing him great pain.
Aang screamed as his body and limbs started twisting in ways that they shouldn't be twisting. Yakone was sweating as he kept the pressure on. Clearly, he had never gone this far in attacking his victims. As Aang's head pushed backwards, trying to break his neck, it snapped forward showing that he was in the Avatar State again.
Yakone lost control of him. He landed back on the ground and bent the earth to reach up and hold the Bloodbender, leaving his upper chest and head free. He walked towards the Bloodbender, coming out of the Avatar State, placed his hands on his head and chest. "I'm taking away your Bending, for good," he declared.
As Yakone struggled and shouted, Aang returned to the Avatar State again. It was for a moment and a moment only. But in that moment, Yakone lost the power to Bend. It wasn't like how Amon did it, Korra could see that. It was quicker and less painful, but he slumped forward like Amon's victims, still incased in the earth.
"It's over," Aang declared.
As soon as he said those words, Korra found herself back inside the box. The dots connected in her head and she found herself feeling a little like an idiot. "Aang, all this time, you were trying to warn me about Tarrlok," she said to herself.
"Korra, are you done talking with yourself" Arashi's voice asked from outside the box.
"Yeah, I'm done," she answered. "I've figured out what Aang was showing me."
"Oh, good," he said, falling silent for a moment. "…Hey, Korra, since we're here alone and I can't think of any time or place to say these words, can I ask you a question?"
Before she could answer, they both heard a door opening and feet coming down stairs. "My life is a disaster now!" Tarrlok's voice said in anger. "Thanks to you two."
"So your little Bloodbending secret's out?" Korra asked him, standing up in the box. He just grunted in annoyance, so she pressed on. "And I know how you Bloodbent me without a full moon. You're Yakone's son."
"What?" Arashi asked quietly, obvious surprised by what he had just heard.
Tarrlok ignored the blonde. "I was his son," he corrected Korra. "But in order to win Republic City, I had to become someone else. My father failed because he tried to rule the city from its rotten underbelly. My plan was perfect. I was to be the city's savior. But you, you ruined everything!" he accused her.
"Tarrlok, the jig is up and you have nowhere to go," she told him.
"Oh no," he said in rejection. "No, I'll escape and start a new life. And you're coming with me as my hostage. As for your boy toy, perhaps I'll just leave his corpse here for his grandfather to find."
Horrified by his answer, she began banging on the box again. "You think I'm just gonna let that happen?" she demanded. "You're never going to get away with this!"
She didn't seem to get an answer from him. The only thing she heard outside of her banging was his feet going up the stairs. But oddly enough, she heard the pacing begin to falter before coming to complete stop. Then she heard Tarrlok say, "Amon!"
Even though she could not see what lay beyond the box, she looked up through the grill on the roof to try and see. "It is time for you to be equalized," she heard Amon declare.
"You fool," the Councilman said with a laugh. "You've never faced Bending like mine." She heard several bodies hitting the ground but she also heard footsteps above her. They faltered for a moment but kept moving.
"Arashi, what's happening up there?" she asked the blonde, turning her head to his general direction.
"I don't know. I can't really see from here," he replied.
Suddenly, they heard Tarrlok grunt in surprise, like he had been attacked without warning. Then he screamed in great pain, making Korra look up again. There was a final thumping sound, which to her meant that Tarrlok had fallen to the ground. Amon had gotten to him.
What she heard next were grunts and groans of people coming back to consciousness and getting back onto their feet, most likely the Equalists who came with Amon. "I'll take care of him," their leader said, most likely talking about Tarrlok. "You four retrieve the Avatar. Do not underestimate her. Electrocute the box to knock her out before you open it."
"What about the other one?" a voice that could only belong to the Lieutenant asked.
"Bring him too. He will be a message to his grandfather."
"I understand." Several footsteps came down the stairs into the basement, getting louder as they came closer. Korra began to panic as they came closer. She wasn't sure of what to do. She looked around, trying to find an answer. When she looked down at the band on her arm, she had it.
The footsteps stopped, making her go still as she was pulling the band off. "It's payback time," she heard the Lieutenant declare.
What came next she would later claim she felt first before hearing it. Just as she pulled the band off of her arm, she felt the balance of the box tip over, making it and her fall to the ground. She didn't know why that had happened until she heard it.
BOOM!
It had been like some kind of mixture between lightning and explosives had gone off right beside her. Even though she was in the box the sound was as loud as it could've been outside. What's more was that she heard the Equalists be thrown against the wall, so whatever it was must've been a force as well as a sound.
But that had been later when she thought about it. At the moment of happening, all she was concerned with was how her ears were ringing from the sound and how her side hurt from the fall. The next thing she knew, the door to the box was torn off.
"Korra, we have to go!" Arashi shouted down at her from where he stood outside the box, grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her out of the box.
She stumbled on the first step but quickly regained her balance and started running, pulling Arashi along just as much as he was her. Things quickly turned blurry in her vision as they raced up the stairs and out of the house, escape being paramount in her mind.
It wasn't until they burst out the door into the freezing cold that was the outside world that things cleared up for the Avatar and also seemed to slow down too. The first thing she saw was Amon standing at the back of a truck with its doors opened, Tarrlok's body already tossed in. The masked man turned at the noise they made and saw them.
Both she and Arashi went still but for different reasons. She went into a panic at the sight of Amon, remembering when he had ambushed them at Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Arashi turned angry and felt the question bubble up in his mind again. "Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?" it repeated itself again and again, urging him on.
When Amon took a step towards them, Korra acted. She bent the snow around her (little as there was, which was odd considering how hard it was snowing) into water and then into ice before throwing them at Amon. None of them struck him and he moved through them with ease.
Knowing full well that she had missed, she turned and ran, pulling Arashi with her before he could have a chance to protest. When she came to the edge of the plateau the house was placed on, she swung the blonde onto her back and jumped down the side, bending the snow to carry them.
"Hold onto me!" she shouted at Arashi as she surfed the snow. But as she finished saying those words, her feet hit a tree branch half-buried in the snow. It sent her flying forward off her feet and landing on her back while Arashi let go and landed in the snow. Her momentum kept her going, sliding down the hill until she hit a tree. The branches shook with her impact, causing the snow they held to fall on her.
She laid there, barely conscious beneath the cold snow. Then she felt a warm hand on her, pulling her out of the snow. "Hey, come on, Korra," she heard Arashi say to her. "Stay awake."
She cracked open an eye as he set her against the tree and saw something odd about him. "Arashi, you're on fire," she remarked groggily. "You're on blue fire."
"That's not important. You need to stay awake. Spirits, it's cold out here. We're…" He blushed before continuing. "We're going to have to share body heat."
She couldn't object because she felt the cold too. She nodded her head weakly. He took that as an invitation and snuggled up next to her. For a moment there, she was afraid that she would be burned. But from her still groggy sight, the blue fire all but vanished. He was still warm and she leaned on him to get the warmth. "Hey, Arashi, what was that question?" she asked.
He blushed harder and averted his eyes. "Never mind, it was a stupid question."
"Tell me."
"Forget about it."
"Arashi, tell me."
He didn't say anything at first, trying to hold onto his silence. But after a long moment, he finally spoke. "If I was older, would you date me?" He didn't hear an answer and he didn't look at her to see her face, knowing that he might see the answer on her face.
They sat there, in the cold and the wind, waiting for it to die so they could move. Neither of them was sure how long they sat against that tree. Korra came falling into unconsciousness, only to be woken back up by Arashi's firm but gentle shaking. But last time she lost conscious, a gentle and dry tongue licking her face woke her.
She knew who the tongue belonged to, having felt it many times before, and when she looked up, she was relieved. "Naga," she said to the polar bear dog. "You came looking for me. Good girl." She patted Naga's head, glad to see her. Arashi helped her onto her feet and then got her onto the saddle. Together, the three of them started walking. This time, Korra fell unconscious and was sure that she would be safe.
(Location: Republic City)
They flew through the night sky on Tenzin's sky bison, trying to find where Tarrlok had gone to. They had been at it for a lot longer than they had expected (hence, why they were flying around at night) and no one wanted to look at Naruto. He sat at the back of the saddle with a supposed air of calmness, but there was something about the way he held his sword that made them feel very, very nervous.
From out of nowhere, they heard a howl echo through the night sky. "That sounds like Naga!" Mako said from where he leaned over the saddle. Tenzin turned his sky bison in the direction of the howl, going down closer to the street. "Down there!" the Firebender shouted when he saw Naga going down the street with Korra in her saddle and Arashi by her side, holding onto her reins.
Both human and animal came to a stop as the sky bison landed on the ground. "Korra!" said Tenzin as he and the rest of everyone climbed down, waking her up.
"Oh good," Arashi said as he took in the sight of everyone there, taking his hand off Naga's reins. "The cavalry is here." He suddenly fell to his knees like the very strength holding them up had been stolen from him. While the others there had surprised to see him collapse like that, they were shocked when he emptied the contents of his stomach onto the street before falling to his side, twitching every two seconds or so.
"Arashi!" shouted a worried Naruto, pushing everyone out of the way to get to his grandson. Those who didn't get pushed quickly stepped out of the way and watched as the Fire Paragon stood over his grandson and picked him up in his arms.
"Jiji…arm move…shouldn't…broken…" Arashi told his grandfather, barely able to see him with his vision growing darker.
"You'll be fine, Arashi," he replied, holding him in his arms like he was a newborn baby as he walked back to the sky bison. "Jiji is right here." Mako walked alongside him, carrying Korra in his arms.
"How…arm…Korra…something…blue fire…" Those were the last words his grandson said before he finally fell into unconsciousness, going limp in his grandfather's arms.
No one saw anything different in how Naruto looked or moved after those words. To them, he looked like the worried grandfather that he should be. But now, there was a small seed of confusion which quickly turned into realization, doubt, suspicion, and fear deep inside him when he heard those strange and almost incoherent words.
It also didn't help that the voice in his mind he had been carrying for 87 years had something to say about it. "Well, this is interesting."
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
I know that we've seen Bloodbending has only been show to take control of people and twist their limbs around. But I don't think that it's a far off assumption that it could also be used to break bones. That's probably a method Yakone used when he was running the city.
Considering what they've been through in their lives, I don't think it would be far off to say that Sokka and Naruto would be for the death penalty regarding Yakone. A man that dangerous, you don't want to keep alive. And if you're wondering since I think that, why are we currently in this story, that will be explained by Naruto when he gives his side of the story.
I'll see you all next chapter!
