Distractions are a thing. So is procrastination. One or the other is to blame for the delays :)
Opal leapt out of the window, the shards of glass scattering behind her as she hit the ground running. She bound past the disorganised guard, leaving the various white Lotus members for dead as she sprinted past them. In no time at all she was at the shore line, ready to fly off the island.
That was all Bolin, all anyone could see as her figure faded into the distance, and the shattered outline of the window gave way once more to the Avatar, hot on her heels and determination set in her mind.
After such fervour, after such action, for a moment there was only hollow silence. Everyone seemingly looked to Bolin for his reaction. He was the man with the most to lose right now.
And there was anguish on his face all right. Worry lines creased in his forehead. His lips trembled and his breath stuttered. But still he said nothing. He just watched as the two figures turned into dots on his vision.
"Bo..." Mako said. He was the first to speak. "She's going to bring her back. She's going to bring her back and she'll be fine. Okay?"
Bolin didn't respond. He just continued to stare out the window.
"You can trust Korra," Asami tried, seeing Mako's lack of success as an invitation. "All it takes is a quick knock on the head. Opal won't be of any use to him after that."
Bolin turned back to face them after another long, unblinking sentinel. His gaze was unfocused, his eyes shifting from one thing to another. The floor, the ceiling, their shoes, his own hands. Anywhere but their faces.
"No..." he said simply, turning back to the wall, putting a hand out to support himself as he leaned against the wall. "No."
"It will be okay, Bo," Mako reassured him. "Any moment now, Korra will be coming back up that hill with Opal and everything will be fine."
The earthbender cocked his head backward to look at them. They all had worried expressions on their faces, like he was made of glass and he was in danger of shattering into a million pieces. Alternatively, he felt like a volcano about to erupt. And their attempts at reassurance was the catalyst to an explosion.
"Any moment now..." he repeated, his voice haggard. "Any moment now, Shin La is going to kill her. He is going to kill Opal. And then he will taunt Korra about how she failed. And then I will visit her in the morgue, and he'll probably tell me that he warned me this would happen. That he told me following Korra would result in disaster. And right now..." he turned, to the crowd, his eyes red, filled to the brim with tears. "He'd be nothing but right!"
"Bolin..." Mako said, putting his arms out in a non-threatening manner. He looked like he was trying to placate a wild animal. "Calm down, all right? Just calm-"
"Don't tell me to calm down!" He roared in response, all the implications of what could happen hitting him at once. "Shin La is going to kill Opal! He tried to kill her in the warehouse and now he's going to finish the job! And... Oh Spirits... There's nothing I can do to save her!"
"That's not true," Asami interjected. "We're on the island. Jinora and Tenzin have the flight suits. They can go after them. And Korra won't let anything happen to-"
"Korra!" Bolin spat, his words equal part devastation and contempt. "What on earth could she possibly do? She couldn't save either of you, she couldn't save Lin and she won't save Opal! You're all so blind!" he shouted, the rage and the emotion ripping through him. "Always so willing to believe she'll save us. So lost in your own infatuation with her that you can't see a thing!"
"You don't mean that," Mako said, his own voice starting to rise. "You're not thinking straight. And I get what you're going through, believe me, I do!"
Bolin snorted in utter derision. "Do you know what Shin La just whispered in my ear? 'That's what you get when you trust the Avatar'. And now... now..." he stammered suddenly, all the anger seemingly leaving him. "Now he gets to say I told you so. Now he gets his wish. Now he rips us apart from the inside."
In an instant, Mako was onto him. Bolin half expected a thump. He wouldn't have been surprised.
What he got instead were two firm arms around him in an embrace.
Bolin slowly got over his shock, before finally he pitched forward into Mako's shoulder, the tears threatening to pour but staying resolutely behind his eyelids as his breathing became even once more and his heartbeat stopped beating so anxiously. Mako stayed there, rubbing his back. Through the muffled sounds of Mako's shirt Bolin could hear Tenzin and Jinora suiting up to go after them.
"Sorry," he said, wiping his eyes when he pulled away. "It's just... I know what he wants to do to her. And I know what it's like being stuck screaming inside your own head as he seizes control."
"Don't you apologise," Mako said, pulling his brother up to his feet. "We're getting her back. Together."
Bolin nodded his head, still recovering from his outburst. "We're getting her back," he repeated.
"We're getting her back."
Shin La took a moment to admire the cresting waves of the ocean. The rich blue cascading against the sand, pulling in and out, in and out. The natural push and pull, the wind rustling his borrowed body's hair. It reminded him of the Spirit World.
A burst of air cut into his thoughts as the demon made full use of the airbender's agility, somersaulting over the strike and sending a blast of his own at the attacker. An earth wall erected before Korra just in time to block the hit, before the Avatar catapulted herself towards the spirit. Opal rolled under her lunge and turned around with a flourish and another strike.
Korra had the same idea. Two forces smashed into each other as they fought for supremacy. A year or two ago, Korra would have won the clash, no contest. But Opal had been grown into more than a capable airbender. In her time training she had become quite formidable, and with Shin La augmenting her strength, she was able to match the Avatar's blast.
Both girls were thrust back as the two strikes collided. They picked themselves up immediately, Korra's focused stare meeting Shin La's malicious glare. Both combatants took a fighting stance. Fists raised, legs moving teetering on the balls of their feet.
Everything else suddenly became irrelevant. They didn't hear the crash of the waves against the sandy shore or the sharp whistle of the wind. Chins down, hands up, they encircled each other.
"I apologise for not being able to entertain you," Shin La said first. "But I have somewhere to be."
"You're not going anywhere," Korra replied. "I'm not letting you hurt Lin again!"
Shin La stood amused, as always. Her words forever seemed to bring a sarcastic smirk to his face. "And how will you stop me? Stand guard over her frail body day and night? Forever staying vigilant? I do wonder when you will finally realise that you cannot save your friends, no matter hard you try."
He turned away from the Avatar to spring away into the air, but before he could, he felt the rock encasing his feet. He pulled at the imprisonment but the earth stood firm, locking him in. Shin La looked at Korra through Opal's eyes with a hint of annoyance.
"I said," Korra repeated with a determined stare. "You're not going anywhere."
"How little you know," Shin La responded, the earthly shackles already starting to budge as he flexed his might, imbuing the young woman with his strength. "And how quick you are to presume you know it all. But in the grand scheme of things, you know nothing at all."
And as he spoke, Opal started to rise, but not in the conventional way. Shin La did not command her arms to move. No whipping wind nor roaring hurricane came to her aid. Yet impossibly, her body moved upward. The rock encasing her feet, cracked and fell away, unable to hold her back. And there Opal floated, standing in the air.
Her arms were crossed. She casually rose into the sky slowly, smirking down at an utterly gobsmacked Korra, who was unable to fully take the sight in. Opal was flying. Not with a glider, nor with a wind suit. She stood in the air, nothing but the sheer blue of the sky behind her.
"Knowledge is such a precious resource. And yet once you find it, it starts to lose value. Once something is discovered, everyone starts to take it for granted. And something that took decades to decipher can be learned in seconds. How long do you think it took for Zaheer to understand the power of flight?"
Korra opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She stood still in absolute shock at a sight she hadn't seen in three years.
Shin La threw his arms out wide in a display of confidence. "I know every move you can make. I know every trick you can pull. And at no point will you ever be anywhere that isn't exactly where I want you to be. You talk instead of acting, speak instead of moving. And while you stumble and stutter, I grow in power and knowledge," he said, Opal's face not matching the booming voice resonating across the shore. And then she smiled, the black eyes cutting into Korra's soul. "And now, if you don't excuse me, I have a patient to kill."
Before Korra could react, Opal shot into the air, rising effortlessly into the sky above. The Avatar finally shook herself free from her shock and burst into action, firing herself into the air after her.
It was different before. When Korra had fought Zaheer she'd had ledges and mountains to find purchase. She could leap from canyon to canyon in a blind rage, crossing back and forth in an effort to destroy the anarchist airbender. But this was another ball game completely.
Open water stretched out in front of them. Opal bobbed and weaved in the air, floating effortlessly above the field of blue, free to strike Korra with blasts from afar. The Avatar was far more restricted. While the lithe airbender could just ignore the pull of the earth, Korra could only avoid it. Only the use of her fiery abilities as stepping stones, propelling herself higher into the air kept her air born, if only for a limited amount of time. And it was costing her dearly.
She propelled herself forward, rising with a fiery uppercut but Opal just swooped underneath her, blasting her from behind and knocking the Avatar out of her rhythm. Korra recovered quickly, shooting downward with her palms to avoid free falling. But it was clear who had the upper hand.
Korra spun and kicked at the airbender, sending a hurricane in her direction. Opal simply crested the wave, rising higher to avoid it before crashing down to tackle her. Korra caught her attempt and reversed it, spinning in flight to throw her downward, but it was of no use. Shin La only needed to right himself and he was back in the fray.
He attacked from beneath first, grabbing Korra's leg as she attacked downward and throwing her off balance. The Avatar fell upside down as the demon landed an elbow to her knee, slamming his borrowed muscle into the joint. With a backhand blast, Shin La sent the Avatar hurtling downward.
She was in free fall, unable to turn or take a good position as the ocean rushed up to meet her. It had been a while since she'd looked down, so concentrated on the battle before. It hadn't struck Korra that a fall from this height without a good landing could spell doom.
So focused on spreading herself wide to maximise the force of drag that Korra didn't notice the figure of Opal following her descent and striking at her from the side. The attacks were impossible to defend as Shin La criss-crossed, striking from above, behind, underneath, everywhere. A fist lodged itself into her ribs before it was withdrawn. A flying knee landed in her abdomen, disrupting her diving pattern and sending her crashing down towards the sea. And all the way down all she could hear above the roar of the wind was the gloating laugh of the phantom.
The noise of his booming laughter became murky as finally she hit the water, her back connecting with the cool, thrashing blue. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she breathed, but instead of disorientating the Avatar, the ocean invigorated her. Her senses became sharper, her mind more acute. No matter how many elements she wielded, the first one she ever learned was water. She knew it as well as she knew herself, like the streaming coolness around her was a second skin. Kicking her heels, she rose to the surface.
Shin La stood hovering in mid air, the wind jostling Opal's jacket, spreading out behind her like a cape. With her stony expression and crossed arms she looked like a super villain from the comics Bolin read when he was younger. "I am not even at the height of my powers and still you wilt under the slightest tad of pressure. That is why you will fail."
Anger flashed in Korra's eyes, but she kept her cool. Inside she should have been raging, frustrated, angry. But instead she just felt tired. Tired of being talked down to, tired of being treated like she was nothing. Tired of playing by his rules.
Time to show Shin La what she was capable of.
Korra rose out of the water, the currents beneath her feet obeying her silent will and lifting her onto the surface, cascading around her ankles and locking her in place as Shin La made to fly off again. This time, she didn't let him.
A whip of water wrapped itself around Opal's foot as she took off, and Korra could see just a glimpse of surprise from her before she slammed back down, straight into the ice that the Avatar created as she grabbed the demon with one hand and controlled the battlefield with the other.
Opal's head elicited a heavy thud that could be heard over the whipping wind. Shin La pressed the airbender's hands to her forehead in pain, unable to stop the instinctive motion. Korra gave her no rest however. Using some airbending of her own she kicked out, sending Opal skidding across the ice, right before the Avatar unclenched her fist and the unsteady footing they were standing on gave way.
The sound of hurt made from the girl was a sharp reminder to Korra that although Shin La dwelled within, she had to be careful. Opal was a fine bender, but she was no match for her on her own. If Shin La chose to play fast and loose with his possession of her, she could cause serious damage. Permanent damage.
She had to coax Shin La out of her. And the only way to do that was to knock her unconscious.
As Opal fell into the ocean Korra plunged after her, wrapping her body around the airbender and holding her down, keeping her contained as Shin La realised the Avatar's intention. Korra gritted her teeth and held her breath as the airbender's form quickly grew violent.
Korra clenched her muscles as Opal started to thrash uncontrollably, sending wild elbows and kicks in any direction as the bubbles started to stream out of Opal's mouth. There was no finesse in her actions, just a desperate, uncoordinated battering as Shin La sought to escape. But still Korra held on.
She heard a crack in her ribs, her chest and her abdomen reeling from the unanswered assault. Korra willed the currents around them to hold, to keep the demon isolated in the endless exapanse of the ocean. Opal, in one last desperate attempt, reared her crown forward and smashed the back of her head into Korra's face.
She connected with the waterbender's chin, finally breaking the seal Korra had imposed on herself. Breath escaped her mouth and with it the precious oxygen she needed to survive. Opal struggled to escape the Avatar's grip but she held firm, even as she took a lungful of water down her throat. She coughed and retched, swallowing before clamping her mouth shut.
It was a battle of wills. Shin La's increasingly desperate thrashing versus Korra's indomitable will to save both herself and Opal. Streams of white surged in the blue, created by the maelstrom of motion as they fought for supremacy. Both of them were nearing the end of their endurance.
And then nothing. The frantic action stopped. The small bubbles from their mouths rose slowly and one by one, a stark contrast to the flurry just moments prior. Korra slackened her grip on Opal, but the airbender made no attempt to escape, instead floating harmlessly in the water.
Bringing her arm around her, Korra rose to the surface, gratefully gulping down the prized oxygen she needed. Their struggle had lasted so long that they'd run ashore on Republic City. A small crowd of onlookers were starting to gather as they realised who she was.
She smiled. She'd done it. She had defeated Shin La.
She exhaled thankfully, allowing her heartbeat to come back down to normal. Opal still hadn't stirred from the position the Avatar had left her in.
As Korra took breath after heaving breath, she started to wonder. The noise felt empty, solitary. Like she was the only one making it. She cautiously crawled over to the girl lying face down in the sand.
She didn't know what she was expecting. Opal to slowly open her eyes maybe, perhaps cough and sit up groggily. Maybe Shin La would reveal that it was a trick, that he was waiting for her to lower her guard.
She would have preferred it to the actual reality.
A horrible creeping feeling of dread pooled in her stomach, dawning in her mind like an oncoming wave of doom. Realisation struck quickly, but not as fast as it took for Korra to flip Opal round and check her heartbeat as the thought settled. Korra didn't even hesitate with what she had to do next.
Opal wasn't breathing.
Korra frantically tried to remember the classes on resuscitation she had taken so long ago. Every water bender knew the basics. It was their way of life and an all too real danger. She strained to remember Katara's words as she laid her right hand over her left and pressed down onto Opal's chest.
Thirty compressions, she reminded herself, frenetically pumping her shoulders to maximise the amount of force she could give. She stuttered on one compression. Work with the shoulders, not the arms, Katara's voice chided. You need to be straight, concentrated on one particular part. The victim could die otherwise.
Her victim. Her doing. Her death by her hand. Korra tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut as she continued to compress.
Don't, she thought in her head, more of a plea than a command. Please don't.
When she pressed her hands on her skin she could feel the water streaming through her windpipe. She tried to bend it out but something was blocking it. In an act of utter desperation, she covered Opal's mouth with her own.
Come on, she thought. Come on, Opal!
She exhaled for as long as she could, until her lungs were sore and her throat hoarse. And still no sign of life flickered within the airbender.
She tried one last time, giving it everything she had and more. She couldn't let this happen!
Nothing. No response. No breathing. No life.
Oh Spirits... Oh Spirits...
I've... I've...
I've killed her.
For a second there was nothing. Just the empty sound of remorse from an accidental killer. And then a rasping, throaty sound brought the airbender back to life.
Her cough was guttural, almost vomit inducing, but it brought whatever was blocking her windpipe. Opal retched and gasped for air, finding her lungs full of water. She looked to Korra, frightened panic evident. Opal looked at Korra. There was no demon in her eyes. Just plain unadulterated fear.
Quick as a flash, Korra curled her fingers and the water inside duly abided to her will, surging out of the airbender in a solid stream.
Opal lay there for a moment, dazed and confused. Her eyes fluttered open, before she shut them again like she was warding off a headache. "Korra?" she said, her voice throaty and rasping. "Korra?"
"Yes?" the woman in question replied, laying down on her back next to her. "What is it?"
Opal turned onto her side, her own grateful eyes looking at her, clear as day. "Thank you."
Korra laughed. "Any time."
Opal joined in her laughter, hers a bit more of a cough. "It's funny," she noticed, her tone becoming more prominent, the colour returning to her cheeks. "You just can't let me go."
In an instant, Opal coiled round and grabbed Korra's neck, the Avatar's laugh caught in her throat as the look in her eye turned from joy to shock to dreadful realisation as the black veins bulged on Opal's arms. Taking advantage of the Avatar's momentary slip Shin La reared Opal's limb back and punched Korra right in the middle of her face, slamming Korra into the ground as she did so, with her iron grip still coddling her neck.
Korra attempted to blow Opal off her but the airbender rolled away in time, letting go of the waterbender's neck. Korra pushed one arm into the ground to raise herself up but she failed to see Opal wrapping her legs around the back of her knees. She tried to stand but found herself falling face first into the dirt as Shin La kicked out from behind her.
Shin La caught her arm as she was going down, grabbing her wrist with his left hand while pushing his right into Korra's elbow, effectively locking the Avatar in place. She couldn't use her legs to stand and she could only use one arm to escape. Korra made to flee her grasp but the phantom was having none of it, pushing forward on the back of the Avatar's elbow as she squirmed.
Immediately a cry of pain broke from Korra's lip as Shin La began to dislocate the joint. "Shush," he muttered under his breath, liking he was chastising an animal. "Let's just calm down a bit, shall we? You are going nowhere for the moment. If you would be so kind to indulge a few words, I shall refrain from causing the immense pain a dislocated elbow shall bring. Deal?"
"So what?" Korra gritted her teeth, grunting in pain from the steady pressure being applied. She was stuck for the moment, no doubt about it. Any movement she made would result in her arm becoming nothing short of mangled. "You can taunt me again? Regale me with tales of how you're going to kill all my friends?"
"So do you learn!" he cackled, swiping his borrowed lips with his tongue. "But not quickly enough. You brand me as the biggest threat to your friends, yet you fail to see that I am merely the hand that guides you. In the end, while they will hate me, they will despise you also. Out of the both of us, we both know who that will hurt most."
"More talk," Korra ground out, careful not to twist her arm too far as to avoid Shin La noticing. "No action to back up the words."
"You don't understand," Shin La said, studying her as he began to ease up the pressure. "But that is fine, that is okay. I'm sure you will start to see it after what is about to happen."
"After what?" Korra asked, hoping to buy enough time to slip out of his grip.
"After this," he said tonelessly. Right before he pushed forward with all his might on Korra's exposed elbow.
CRACK!
Korra tried to control her scream but she couldn't. Pain exploded from the point where her bones cracked and try as she might to contain it she couldn't. She could merely toss back her head and scream.
She risked a glance down, then immediately recoiled at the sight. Her arm was bent the wrong way, flopping at an obtuse angle as the bone pushed up into the arm, tearing her ligaments and rupturing the muscle inside. Korra tried to grit her teeth and bear it but it was of no use.
She kicked wildly into the sand, rolling side to side and clutching her injury like a man gripping a ledge over a cliff. A litany of swear words and incomprehensible grunts and growls left her mouth as she struggled to cope with the pain. All the while Shin La stood over, just smiling at her distress.
"Your endurance is admirable," he said, bending his knees to lean down and study her as she continued to writhe in unabated torment. "But there is so much more power within you. I want it all, Korra. And if you will not fall into it willingly, I shall give incentive."
With that he reared his foot back and stamped Korra's knee, instantly bruising the skin covering her kneecap. Her first response was to cry out at the new agonising sensation. Her second was to kick a volley of air out from under her, sending Shin La flying back into the dunes.
Clawing at the ground she rolled onto her front. Propping herself up on her good arm, she attempted to rise, hearing the clicking response from her knee as a result. Shin La shook the sand off of Opal's body and smiled in contemplation. He could hear the gasps of pain coming from her, the torturous motions flowing through her body. She was losing control.
Just a little more.
He flew straight towards her as she started to crawl. Lining up his target, he planted both feet into the small of the Avatar's spine and crunched down.
They both heard the loud crack of her vertebrae. Korra's body almost seemed to go into shock as a response. She stopped twisting and shouting and her limbs went limp. Her head slumped forward into the sand and her body lay still.
For a second there was nothing. No sound. No reply. "Oh, do get up, Avatar," Shin La mocked. "Surely I couldn't have done that much damage-"
In the instant the words left his mouth Korra rolled onto her back, her good arm bringing an aggressive motion as a wave erupted from the tides and slammed into Opal, throwing her across the shoreline.
Immediately, a sandy cast started to form around Korra's left arm, stretching from the curve of her bicep to her wrist. The same thing happened to her knee. Power started to stir from within.
Shin La picked himself up from the ground. He noticed Korra's eyes were closed.
Her left arm jerked upward, bursting out of the cast. An audible crack echoed around the beach, her elbow firmly back in place. Her knees bent before straightening again, as the tides began to rise from underneath her, almost supporting her to stand. Wind funnelled from behind her.
Korra stood, her hair whipped into a frenzy, her limbs healed. She clenched her fist. And she opened her eyes.
"SHIN LA!" Korra screamed, a thousand voices lending her strength as a mini hurricane formed behind her and the earth and sea started to mould itself around her. The whites of the Avatar's eyes gleamed as a brilliant glow emanated from Korra, the awesome power of the Avatar State shining from her body. "YOU HAVE HURT ENOUGH PEOPLE. YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL DIE!"
The tides crashed with venom against the shore. The clouds over head started to gray and crackle with electricity, like even Mother Nature was being bent to the Avatar's command. And Shin La, in Opal's body, stood against the behemoth that was the Avatar State.
"Finally," Shin La smirked. "A proper challenge."
The very Earth seemed to shake as the Avatar and the demon collided.
The first strike would have broken Opal's ribs if her body wasn't so dexterous. Instead of crippling herself against the wall she used it as a stepping stone, stopping herself from slamming into it head first just in time, flying over it to get away from the raging monster screaming bloody murder that was the Avatar.
She vaulted over the wall and flew into the city, using the sprawling buildings scattered around the terrain to mask her path. She didn't have to look behind to know that Korra was hot on her heels. She could tell by the noise of the tornado.
It had been a while since he was the lesser being in a power struggle. He'd underestimated her strength. When she gave in to the pain, gave in to her instincts and stopped fighting the inevitable, the power emanating from her felt different. Ethereal, stronger. Like her past lives had seemingly returned to lend her their prowess once more.
But Shin La was nothing if not adaptable. The thrill of manipulating people to his will was matched only by the cat and mouse excitement of being stalked by a more formidable foe. It forced him to think, to utilise only what was available to him.
But the best thing of all? There was no consequence, even if Korra happened to catch him. Opal was his shield and sword. If Korra hesitated, he would reward her mercy with an opportunistic attack. If she didn't, Opal's body would take the brunt of her wrath. And once all was said and done, Shin La would slink away for another day.
She crawled up the side of a building, peeking out across the city, there was a square not a hundred metres from her position. She could see Korra coming from any direction in where she was situated.
So where was she?
Opal scanned the horizon, looking through so many bodies and not finding one that belonged to the Avatar. She closed her eyes and focused her hearing, the pitter patter of normal civilian feet the only thing reaching her ears. No rushing boom of an angry deity. No harrowing wind signalling her arrival. Nothing.
Shin La barely reacted in time as Korra burst from the ground beneath his feet, rock and earth flying in several different directions as the ground shook from her emergence. Opal rolled forward as Korra fired forward, continuous heat billowing from her palms as she didn't let up, a stream of fire bathing the narrow alleyway in flame and forcing Opal out into the light.
Shin La had been surprised at the lack of restraint. With the rest of her elements there was some semblance of control, a modicum of command. She could control the flow of water, lock her in with earth. Even the air alone wouldn't deal any lasting damage.
But fire would burn. Fire would cook the flesh, scar the skin. Fire was dangerous, hard to control. And so lost was she in her god fuelled rage, the waterbender had forgotten that.
Korra would pull her punches, attempt to keep Opal alive. The Avatar State would not.
Opal landed out in the centre of the square, trying to maintain enough distance so she could catch her bearings for a second. The Avatar gave her no such quarter. In a single bound, Korra jumped forward and blasted Opal right in the chest, sending her flying into a building.
Shin La heard the crack of Opal's spine. Her shoulders hurt too from the assault. He tried to ascend from his position but another leap from Korra intercepted him. She grabbed the airbender's arm and pressed it against the brickwork, locking her in. Opal struggled against her grip but against this opponent she stood no chance of escape.
Korra leaned her other arm back and thrust her hand forward. Shin La barely twisted his head in time to avoid the blow, feeling the rush of air hit the side of Opal's face as the Avatar's fist connected with the building and reduced the brick to rubble.
If it hurt her she didn't show it. With her left arm still grappling Opal she pulled the airbender forward and pitched her across the square before she propelled herself above her and smashed her against the ground.
The civilians caught up in the middle of such chaos had no idea what to do. Some decided to run, cling onto their loved ones and leave the scene of destruction. Others stood in shock, unable to do anything but look on in terrible awe at such a brutish display of power. But what shocked them most was the sheer disregard the Avatar had for everything other than the foe she was determined to defeat.
There was no rest for Shin La. Korra picked him up like a rag doll and threw Opal's body over her shoulder and into the ground. The airbender's chest heaved. Shin La had come to his realisation, to the last part of his plan.
He'd lost. Opal had lost. And now all that was left was to submit.
The black eyes vanished. The dark veins bulging just beneath her skin faded. Shin La receded further into the airbender, allowing her control of her senses once more. And Opal opened her eyes to see Korra smashing her into the earth.
Opal hit the ground so hard she bounced back up, her sternum cracking with the force of the beating she took. Her head shook slowly, as she stumbled, dazed and confused, trying to keep her feet from crumpling underneath her. She didn't understand what was happening. "Korra," she made out before the woman in question blasted her into a shop's window.
Glass pierced her back, shredding her clothes and her skin. Blood weeped from the wound. The walls around her collapsed, burying her inside. She looked to the right, and then her sight recoiled painfully. Her arm was bent at a funny angle, nearly crushed by the rubble. She could feel it jutting against her skin. And without Shin La's nourishment, all the wounds and cuts she'd sustained were starting to take their toll. But she was powerless to help herself. All she could do was lay there.
She heard a crash. And she looked up to see Avatar Korra staring down at her.
She was breathing heavily. The white eyes still gleamed. Right now they resembled a monster.
Korra took one step forward. Opal winced, almost in dreaded anticipation. She knew what would happen next. "Korra," she said weakly once more. "Korra..." she whispered as her eyes rolled to the top of her eyelids as she passed out from the pain.
One step. One flick of the arm. That's all it would take. That's all Korra would need to do to end this.
After fighting her for such a prolonged period in the Avatar State, that was all she could see. An enemy. A being who would do her harm. What was on the surface did not, would not register. The only thing that mattered was the evil demon that dwelled inside.
A demon that would continue to hinder her. Continue to make her life and her friends lives a living hell. Who wouldn't stop, who would never stop. Who had already possibly killed Lin. Who had to be stopped, once and for all.
Justice. That is what the Avatar State demanded. And it would not leave Korra's body until it was satisfied.
Korra took that one step. She raised her arm, almost as if she was calling down the heavens to take her victim's body as soon as she was done with it.
She raised her arm and-
In the instant she felt her arm being seized she jerked her fingers , turning her entire body in a fiery blast and launching it at her new opponent. He evaded the attack with a lightning quick maneuver, one only the quickest of airbenders could have pulled off. And he was still holding onto her arms.
She pulled him into her closed space, making sure he would have no escape for her next attack. But something was different this time. A voice was cutting into her focus. "It's me," it seemed to say.
It was like trying to listen to someone underwater. The words floated in her mind, encircling her conscious yet not quite being strong enough to break through to her. But as the haze lifted, her hearing became clearer. The murky vision, the dark seal her senses had been slave to filled with light.
"Korra!" Tenzin said urgently. "It's me!"
She opened her eyes. Tenzin was standing before her, gripping her elbows. His expression was part relief, part horror.
She looked back. A trail of destruction lay in her wake. All leading to..
Oh Spirits...
Opal lay down before her, the airbender's form strewn across the ground. Her eyes were closed, her breathing uneven. Her right arm was crushed by a block of rubble. Her clothes were dusty and her body looked brittle, no, fragile,no...
Broken. That's what she looked like. Completely and utterly broken.
"Oh dear," Shin La emerged from the darkened corner of the cavern she'd created. "What have you done?"
Korra sat there as still as a statue. Nurses and doctors and benders ran past her, either tending to patients or requesting medicine or whatever it was they were doing. Korra hadn't been paying any attention. All she could focus on was the image of Opal's frail body after she'd been through with it.
Maybe it was the fact that she'd recently got her past lives back. She knew she'd never felt quite that powerful before. She'd also never felt that detached, that unfeeling. She didn't see the innocent person being used as a shield. All she had seen was the evil within that had to be punished for his sins.
Hospitals. She was getting too fucking used to hospitals.
Tenzin had told her she should receive treatment too, but she'd declined. Let the pain of the elbow start to creep in once the adrenaline wore off. In a way it would make her feel better. A reminder of how she'd lost it. Gone and lost control and someone else had paid the price.
So, she just sat down on one of the chairs and waited. Waited for the others to come and compound her guilt.
Any moment now, she thought. They'd all arrive from the island and rush in to see the damage. The damage she had inflicted.
Shin La's words echoed inside her head, refusing to get out. If she closed her eyes she could re-imagine the scene perfectly.
She was still in shock, still in disbelief at the devastation she had wrought. Korra just watched the two medics come in and take Opal away on a stretcher.
At least she'd cleared the rubble off her arm. That fact didn't bring comfort though.
"I don't know why they're taking her away for examination," Shin La shrugged. The light was seeping in through cracks in the debris, so instead of his form she was treated only to his voice as he avoided the light. But she could tell what his demeanour was like. "You and I both know the extent of her injuries. Punctured lung. Cracked sternum. Dislocated elbow, one I'm sure you're familiar with," he chuckled.
She looked away from the medics taking her, away from Tenzin and Jinora helping to lift her off into the ambulance. "You... You..." she said, struggling to find the words. "You evil bastard. You evil, evil bastard."
"A label I wear," he replied. "A label I own. I did warn you, Avatar. I said that I would tear your little network apart from the inside. I fought you today, and you won. Congratulations. But we both know who really loses from this encounter."
"Opal obviously will suffer the physical injuries. She may have lasting mental scars as well. Most of the others will probably be shocked at the sheer ferocity you showed in your endeavour. Mako and Asami might start to doubt their never ending feelings for you. And Bolin... Oh Bolin! He will have words, I am sure. I do wonder how you shall explain this to him."
"I..." Korra made to reply, before she shut her mouth. She had no idea what to say.
"Maybe it is best I speak," Shin La smirked. "Their love will turn to hate. Everyone has a weak spot, a pressure point that will make them implode upon impact. I am simply revealing them to the world. I am showing how strong your ties of friendship really are. And if you take away nothing else from this day, Avatar, take this. A final warning, if I may."
"I will not stop now. I will continue to hound you, continue to systematically rip your life and the lives of everyone close to you apart until the day you drop dead on this Earth. And the next time I decide to show up, the next time I am inclined to visit one of your loyal little followers, there will be death. Mark my words, Avatar. The unfortunate soul I take a trip to will see their life flash before them. And there is nothing you can do to stop me. So, go forth and find Koh. Whatever you learn will not be worth it."
There was silence. Korra knew Shin La had not vanished. She could feel his presence, the lingering smell of death and destruction. She waited a bit longer to see if he would speak, but it appeared he was done talking. And so was she.
She walked out of the ruins and into the light.
She jolted forward. The scene felt too real, like it was a pattern that she was doomed to repeat. And she would, if she didn't stop him. Now more than ever, the first few lingering doubts starting to encroach on the borderline of her subconscious.
What if he was right? What if she couldn't stop him?
The first thoughts of panic were summarily shut down as the door to the hall swung open. They were here.
She could tell Mako and Asami had attempted to calm him down, but she knew any efforts that they could have made were in vain. She stood up. Any venom in his words she would deserve.
She stood face to face with the earthbender. "Bolin..." she began.
He brushed past her, not even looking her in the eye. She heard the vicious tug of the door open and then she heard the slam of it close behind her as Bolin raced to the healing room where Opal was being kept. She couldn't blame him.
Tired and dejected, she turned back to the other two. They were eyeing her meaningfully.
"We weren't told much," Asami said, looking at Mako who nodded his head in agreement. "What... What happened?"
Korra looked at them before, inviting them to sit down. She sank back into her own seat as they took the two across from her.
"Something bad," she replied. "Something very, very bad."
Yes, I'm late again. Hope this is worth the wait :)
As always, read and review peeps. I am going to try to write quicker, but now that I have an actual job and the fact that college is coming back, I don't know how quickly I'll be able to pump them out. Just putting that out there.
If you've any questions, be sure to put them in your reviews. I'll make sure to answer them to the best of my ability :)
Peace.