The Storm: Part 2

Okay, first a quick apology to all those who recieved false updates before. It was a formatting error that I needed to correct. And was caused by me. Let's never mention it again. Anyway, here is the next chapter of the story, hope you enjoy it!

Beta'd once more by Vandenbz

As he raced across the rooftops of the city, Naruto allowed a distant part of his mind to process everything that had just happened. He had to admit, if he hadn't experienced it himself (well, not literally, but close enough) he would have been more than a little skeptical. Someone else in this world actually knew about the Shadow Clones? Not only that, but their side-effects as well? While he supposed that he should be relieved, or maybe even elated, that this might mean that he wasn't completely alone here, something about that trench-coat guy just felt dangerous. Naruto had had that feeling before, and it had saved his life on more than one occasion, so he had learned to listen to it when it popped up.

Then there was whatever was happening to his Sage Mode. Somehow, the two Shadow Clones he had created seemed to gather nature chakra before they were destroyed. While that was by no means anything new, they hadn't done it on their own accord like this before. It was still active from the last Clone, and Naruto was able to perform a scan around a good portion of the city as he made his way forward.

That was odd too. For one thing, he couldn't find a trace of trench-coat, even though he had still felt Asami and the others, so that meant the guy had either left or had found some way to totally conceal his chakra signature, which was supposed to be impossible. And provided Naruto with yet another reason keep his guard up around him. But that wasn't what concerned Naruto the most right now.

Naruto could also track the positions of the others, and found that they were about where he would have expected them to be. But what he could sense around Lin was… worrying. Lin herself was fine – Naruto knew from first-hand experience that she could take care of herself – but there was something else there, something that set all kinds of warning bells off in his head.

Naruto could honestly say that he had never encountered anything like it, which was cause for concern in and of itself, but something about it just felt wrong. That was the only word he could think of to describe it. If he had to gauge its size, Naruto would say that it was maybe humanoid, but that was as clear an idea as he could get. Whenever he tired to focus more on it, his head would start to ache.

Naruto forced his thoughts to the side as he reached his destination; Republic City's power plant. What little he'd been able to pick up here had not been encouraging. He could sense one signature that flared like a star near the power plant's center. While there was a small scattering of other signatures there, which he could only guess were the employees, and their numbers had been steadily dwindling as he made his way. Naruto knew exactly what that meant, and he grit his teeth in fury at the thought.

Following Tarrlok through the city streets, Korra tried to keep herself focused, but was finding it difficult. She just couldn't get what had happened at Tarrlok's office out of her head.

She had just seen eight dead bodies, people killed by a man she may not have trusted, but at least held some respect for. Shouldn't she feel something? Shock? Horror? Anything?

Korra knew she should have, but instead, she only wished that Tarrlok had killed the last Equalist as well. It… worried her.

What, exactly, did that mean?

Tarrlok clearly caught on that something was bothering her, but hadn't brought it up. Korra was grateful that he had decided to leave her to herself.

Why was she taking all of this so calmly? Korra had never even come close to killing someone else—she hadn't even seen a dead body before! Well, unless you counted the ones she had seen in her vision of Naruto (which Korra didn't). Okay, so, there were also those gangsters Amon had killed during his Revelation, but it wasn't like she'd had a front-row view to it or anything. Which brought her back to the question that bothered her the most; was there something wrong with her?

Korra wasn't a psychologist or anything, but even she knew that her reactions were not normal. Hadn't she been having nightmares about killing Amon just a few days ago?

She scowled, forcing the borderline-panicked thoughts to the back of her mind. This was not the time or the place- she could freak out later!

For now, she just wanted to focus on finding Beifong.

If only she could stomp out the lingering worry in the back of her mind…

Lin held back the growl in her throat as she gazed at the city skyline.

She would perform her duty, and the prisoners would be secured, but she was still very tempted to get in the fight herself. She managed to resist the urge though; she knew her people could handle it. But it would just be so easy…

She shook her head, returning her attention back to the people with her at the moment.

"Ma'am?" She glanced to the metalbender who had spoken, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Yes?"

His discomfort only seemed to increase under her gaze, but he didn't back down. "If, uh, you wanted to go, we can take care of things… here?" The last bit of his question ended a little high-pitched.

Lin smirked, and she didn't need any sensing abilities to tell the man instantly relaxed. "I appreciate the offer, but my place is here. You should see to your duties as well."

He gave a crisp salute and returned to the rest of the squad.

Lin hadn't lied, she did appreciate what her people—there was no way he had been alone—were trying to do, but as she had pointed out, orders were orders. No matter how much they might irritate her.

She turned her attention back to the rest of her people, still escorting the prisoners. Despite the Equalist attack, which she had to presume was meant for this, the metalbenders were doing their jobs admirably, showing a far better amount of restraint than she herself had. That gave her confidence. No matter what the Equalists would try tonight, they would never succeed.

She really should have known better.

Taro was getting bored. He wasn't really sure why, but for some reason he'd expected a better fight than this. Sure, even he was somewhat impressed by the reactions of the firebenders near the power plant, choosing to try and fight him rather than run, but none of them were even strong enough to dent him.

That's what I get for getting my hopes up, he thought sardonically as he allowed another poorly-thrown firebolt to impact against him, dissipating harmlessly once it met his Conditioning. A quick thrust, and the firebender was pulverized by the bowling ball-sized rock as it hit his chest, crushing his ribs and slamming him to the ground.

It was still a bit of a let-down though.

He wasn't quite sure what happened next. All he knew was that one minute he was standing there, raining hell on anyone who tried to fight him, and the next he was barreling across the area, actually bouncing off the ground a couple feet as he impacted against it, slamming through the wall of a building and actually skidding across the floor at a fairly good pace until he collided with yet another wall.

Taro growled as he raised himself up. What the hell was that?

Taking a few deep breaths, Taro quickly checked his reserves, only to almost drop to the floor again in shock. Whatever it was that had hit him had also seriously damaged his Conditioning. Granted, said Conditioning was still there – if barely – but that fact that he had taken any damage at all was worth noting.

But instead of getting angry like he might have otherwise, Taro grinned. He was sure that he'd noticed a blur of blond hair. And if that meant what he thought it did…

Taro grinned, preparing himself for another fight. Maybe this wouldn't be so boring after all.

With Sage Mode dying down - he'd have to look into that, too – Naruto moved, pumping more chakra to his legs and charging towards the building that the earthbender had crashed into. Naruto could see that there were still people scattered around the area, and there was no way he'd put any of them at risk if he could help it.

Naruto leapt through the opening that the earthbender—Taro—had unintentionally created, landing near the back of the building just as the huge man gathered himself. Naruto tensed, deciding for now to let him make the first move.

Taro grinned viciously. "Well, what do you know? Just when I was getting bored, you show up. Must be my lucky day," he finished with a chuckle.

Naruto's glare didn't' let up.

Taro kept chuckling. "Oh, don't tell me you're pissed about this," he gestured around the ruined building, clearly indicating the further destruction outside. "It was nothing personal."

Naruto still said nothing.

Taro's humor stopped abruptly. "You know, I've still gotta pay you back for that last fight." He started to move forward.

Naruto grinned, deciding to try and get under his skin. "What, you mean when I totally kicked your ass?" He was answered by a growl, along with a sudden, raging fury appearing in Taro's eyes. "You know," he started casually "most guys can't pull off the whole 'walk of menacing death' thing so well."

Taro charged forward, furious, intending to kill the blond before he could use any of his little tricks. "I'm gonna grind you to dust, kid!"

He launched a punch, in a similar manner to the way he had the last time they'd fought. But this time, he had a good deal of momentum built up as well, which only added to the already impressive power behind his hard-as-steel fist. There was no way the kid would be able to—

His fist connected solidly with an outstreched palm.

Taro paused, actually having difficulty comprehending what had happened.

Naruto, for his part, couldn't help the satisfied smirk that made its way to his face- he was back, baby!

He tightened his grip on the massive fist, enjoying the somewhat stupefied look on his opponent's face. Naruto wasn't normally one to gloat, but he'd make an exception in this case. "You're on." As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto threw the arm to the side, performing a backflip on the spot and slamming a chakra-enhanced kick to Taro's chin, staggering the massive earthbender. Naruto continued the motion, pumping chakra to his arms and pushing himself away from the center of the room and towards some fallen debris from Taro's crashing entrance.

While Taro recovered, Naruto grabbed what he had wanted – a steel pipe that had been ripped apart, one of its ends forming a jagged spear. Naruto gave it an experimental twirl in one hand, trying to determine how well he could maneuver it. Deciding that it would do, Naruto turned his attention back to Taro, who had just recovered. The big man was glaring at him, all traces of his earlier good mod erased. "You're gonna pay for that," he growled slowly as he went into what Naruto could only assume was a fighting stance.

He smirked again, before launching himself back into the center of the room.

He jabbed the broken pipe, aiming at Taro's ribs, but the attack was quickly deflected by the earhtbender's arm, grazing harmlessly off.

Now Taro smirked. "Still not enough," he taunted before lashing out with another punch.

Naruto dodged it – though he may have gotten better with his chakra control, he still didn't want to take any unnecessary risks here – and launched another attack, which was also deflected.

The two fighters continued like this for a while, neither gaining any real lead. While Taro was strong – and damn near invincible – he was slow when compared to his blond opponent, and just couldn't move fast enough to tag him. While Naruto was faster, and had infinitely more endurance this time than when they had first fought, his current strength was lacking. He was by no means weak, but using the jagged pipe against Taro was like trying to pierce pure steel with a butter knife.

That said, Naruto still had other tricks that he could use. He just needed to buy himself enough time to get them ready.

Bracing himself, Naruto caught Taro's punch again. But Taro wouldn't be so surprised now, and retaliated with a follow-up that forced Naruto to fall back. Taro was about to give chase when he heard a strange, fizzing-like sound. Curious, his eyes temporarily drifted to the source – the same fist that Naruto had caught – and caught sight of what appeared to be a small piece of paper. A small piece of paper that was… smoking?

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the paper exploded, bursting into flames and creating a small smokescreen. The blast wasn't enough to damage him, but it did buy Naruto the time he needed.

Naruto smirked as Taro burst out of the smokescreen. Now he just had to keep the asshole busy…

He weaved between Taro's attacks once he had gotten close again – apparently Taro had decided to forego earthbending completely for some reason – making an effort to smirk in a confident way that he knew infuriated the man. "So, why are you with the Equalists anyway?"

Taro snorted, lips curling upwards in a sneer. "What, you gonna show me the 'error of my ways?'" He started forward again.

Naruto made a show of frowning before the earthbender came too close. "I'm just saying, a group like the Equalists doesn't really seem like your thing."

Evidently, this was the wrong thing to say. "And how would you know anything about me?" Taro growled as he slowed. "Alright, kid, I'll tell ya. Really, I'm just in it for the fight. An actual challenge is rare for me, and if a few weaklings have to die to give me one, well, too bad for them." He finished with a malicious sneer as he attacked again.

Naruto had stopped short at Taro's words, almost missing the punch to his face. Though it was quickly dodged, Naruto's mind was at another time and place, flashing rapidly through all the opponents he had ever fought.

Simply put, when compared to all the others, this Taro's reasons for fighting were absolutely pathetic. All of the people Naruto had fought – with the possible exception of Orochimaru – had been fighting for some kind of cause, regardless of how misguided it may have been. This guy was only fighting for himself, and taking a great deal of pleasure in it. Hell, even Madara had fought for something more than him!

This is the price you pay for your weakness…

All of this went through Naruto's mind in an instant, though it seemed to be longer. When he finally snapped back, finding the earthbender charging towards him again, Naruto growled, a familiar rage building up within, and for a brief instant, his royal-blue eyes flashed a deep, crimson red. This asshole was going down!

Naruto caught Taro's next punch again, this time countering immediately with his own punch to Taro's stomach, sending him skidding back a few good yards. Naruto blurred into motion, reappearing right in front of the stunned earthbender. "It's over."

Naruto rammed the pipe at Taro again. But this time, it was not deflected. Instead, it seemed to hang suspended in the air just a small fraction above Taro's flesh. Naruto strained harder, pushing every ounce of his physical strength into the effort. He was rewarded with what sounded like glass starting to crack. Naruto tapped into his reserves, gathering energy for one final push…

The sound of shattering glass filled the room as the last remains of Taro's conditioning were broken through.

Taro himself was thrown across the room as if he had been caught in a tornado, slamming so hard into the wall that cracks formed around him on impact. He surged to his feet, ready to fight again. Far from being stunned into immobility or furious beyond all comprehension, Taro was wearing a full, face-splitting grin. "You know, kid," he cracked his knuckles as he spoke, and Naruto wasn't quite sure if it was just for dramatic effect or not, "I've really gotta thank you for this."

Naruto was briefly stymied when the ground around him started to shake, but his senses caught up with him and he jumped, moments before vicious-looking spikes jutted out from beneath his feet.

Taro was still grinning. "Before we fought on that island, I'd forgotten what a real challenge was like!" Naruto dodged another boulder was thrown at his direction, demolishing the wall it collided against. He scowled; what the hell was happening here? That weird barrier of his was gone, yet Taro seemed to get even stronger!

Whatever. It just meant that Naruto would have to work a little bit harder to kill him.

Naruto felt that same rage swelling again, but it was different, focused now. Whatever this earthbender could throw at him, Naruto would throw back tenfold!

Taro, for his part, still wore that grin that Naruto was starting to find infuriating. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" He chuckled before taking a fighting stance similar to the one he had seen Korra use when they had their first spar, twitching his fingers in a 'come here' gesture. Naruto did nothing, simply waiting for his opponent to make the next move. Taro sighed, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. "Have it your way then."

Before he could do anything more, two Shadow Clones burst from the ground, latching onto Taro's arms and pinning him in place. Taro snorted. "Oh, come on! You really think I'd fall for this little trick again!?" He stomped on the ground, creating what looked like a small explosion, demolishing the Clones as they were caught in the debris.

"I'm not—" he was cut off as Naruto reappeared in front of him again. Taro briefly wondered why the kid's eyes were now red, before Naruto's fist slammed into his chest, sending him flying once more across the building.

While he was still in the air, Naruto blurred forward in a burst of speed, delivering a massive kick to Taro's unprotected abdomen and slamming him into the ground.

But Naruto still wasn't done. His eyes returning to normal, he began to gather chakra to his hand, preparing for one last attack. Taro, meanwhile, had risen again, somewhat shakily taking a battle stance again. Whatever else this freak was going to throw at him, Taro would be damned if he went down without a fight.

He charged forward at the blond, summoning every last bit of energy and strength he still had.

Naruto remained where he was, allowing the earthbender to get into range while he finished preparing the jutsu that he hoped would finish the fight. The chakra coalesced around Naruto's open palm, gathering into a solid blue-white orb larger than his head.

He saw Taro's eyes widen as he realized his mistake, but by this point it was far too late.

Naruto surged forward as well, rearing his arm back and flinging it forward just before the two collided.

"OODAMA RASENGAN!"

This time, Naruto's attack was not underpowered. This time, Naruto's jutsu was backed by his improved control, and was at the height of its awe-inspiring power. Taro never stood a chance.

Taro could do nothing as the attack engulfed him, taking the Shadow Clones holding him with it. He still had no idea what had happened, nor what this attack was. All he was aware of was feeling the most intense pain he had ever felt in his life.

Then, he felt nothing at all.

Panting, Naruto wobbled as the adrenaline from the fight left him, falling to his knees and bracing himself on the ground. Well, that went well.

And it had. Not only had he utterly demolished the same asshole who had seemed so strong when they had first fought, but he had also confirmed that all the effort he put into re-learning his abilities had paid off.

Naruto couldn't help but grin a bit; it was good to know that he wasn't weak anymore.

He didn't even bother checking on his opponent—once those bizarre defenses he had had been broken through, he was just like any other human, and there was no way he'd survived that. Besides, considering how much chakra he had poured into the attack, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a body left to check.

Once he'd recovered, Naruto stood again, taking a real look at his surroundings for the first time. He winced; well, this place had definitely seen better days. He wasn't sure what its condition had been before the fight, but now, it would take a massive amount of effort to fully repair.

Naruto could only hope that the people in charge of this place wouldn't place all of the blame on him.

But for now, something told him that he should head over to Lin's location (or at least where she had last been) soon. She was strong, but she might not be able to fight that thing heading towards her by herself.

Naruto groaned- at this rate, he'd run across the entire city before the night was over!

Asami had no idea what had happened. All she knew was that one minute, she and the others were facing down the man in the trench coat, and the next Clone Naruto was gone, the man along with him, leaving her and the others with the dead Equalists.

Her stomach was still queasy by the thought. Okay, don't freak out, she tried to calm herself, just… focus on Mako or something!

Yeah, that would work. But where was he?

"Hey, guys! You might want to see this!" Well, that answered that.

Asami and Bolin hurried over to where Mako's voice had come from, at the end of the alley. They also had to pass through a great deal of the strewn bodies along the way, and Asami really had to fight down the bile in her throat.

She began to relax a bit when they finally reached Mako, before she noticed he was staring at something intently. Following his gaze, Asami had to pause herself, not sure about what she was seeing.

There was some kind of symbol carved onto the ground, and she could only assume that it was put there by the Equalists before they had been killed. Whatever the symbol was, she couldn't recognize it, though it looked very similar to the kanji used in the language she shared with Naruto.

But there was something else, and it made Asami wonder if her eyes were playing tricks on her. They weren't.

The symbol was glowing.

The metalbender strode towards her, coming to a stop and giving her a crisp salute. "We're almost done, ma'am!"

Lin nodded, having expected nothing less. "Carry on. Report to me once the… transaction is complete." She couldn't really think of a better word to describe what they were doing here. The metalbender saluted again before he departed.

Lin sighed, again feeling the urge to leave her men the task and join the fight herself. Sometimes she wondered why she had accepted her position in the first place.

She forced the thought away. Now was not the time. The metalbender was right, they were almost finished with their assigned task, and maybe she could rejoin the rest of her people afterwards. But she was aware that the final phase of a mission could also be the most dangerous- confidence tended to be high, and people could miss things that they might have otherwise noticed. Lin had learned this long ago, and she had sworn that she would never allow it to happen to her.

In one swift motion, Lin unlocked the metal plates in her boots, slamming her foot down and activating the sensing technique that her mother had taught her. Lin had made her scan with just enough time to sense a single presence heading her way, before she prepared herself for the fight that was sure to come with it. First, though, she made sure to create a wall behind her, at the very least blocking the quickest way to her people.

The wall had just formed before Lin was aware of something heading right towards her. Something very fast.

Lin turned, tilting her body slightly as a small knife whizzed right through where her head had been only seconds before. She snorted, positive that the thrower was able to hear her. "After everything that's happened already, I was expecting something bigger."

She was answered by a chuckle that made her jaw clench. "Rest assured, Chief, this is only the beginning." Lin didn't reply, instead opting to try and sense Amon's—it couldn't have been anyone else—presence. She was taken aback when she came up with nothing.

"Your tricks will not help you here." Amon's voice called out again, somehow managing to sound as if it was coming from everywhere at once.

Lin growled. "If you're so damn confident, then show yourself and fight me!"

"Very well."

Lin's instincts screamed at her, and she managed to leap back just before Amon landed on the ground, sword in hand.

Lin countered, reaching into her core and feeling the earth around her respond. The area around Amon's feet began to shake, and he barely moved in time to avoid the massive spikes of rock that shot out at him, skillfully weaving through and around them with a natural grace. But as he was being pressed forwards, he was also drawn closer to Lin. He took advantage of this, lashing out with a sword strike aimed directly at her throat.

Once he got in range, with another thought, she summoned her wrist-blades, blocking his opening strike with one arm while she retaliated with the other. Amon didn't dodge the blade so much as lean back, causing her weapon to miss severing his head by the slimmest of margins.

Amon broke away, and the two clashed again in a flurry of sparks. Though Lin was loath to admit it, she was impressed with her opponent. She was using both her weapons and wasn't holding back, yet Amon was still able to match her while using only one. She'd read the reports of his phenomenal speed, but actually seeing it for herself was something else.

Well, it was a good thing she didn't entirely rely on speed then, wasn't it?

She drew back and retracted the blades—while she was skilled with them, they weren't he best weapons—and prepared to use one of her more… unique abilities.

The ground beneath her feet started to shake, but in a controlled way, deliberate. Amon paused, and Lin felt no small measure of satisfaction at his sudden caution. It wasn't as if it was unwarranted. Amon was about to learn exactly why she had been chosen to command the Police Force.

Lin focused again, taking whatever advantage she could get from Amon's hesitation. The rumbling stopped, small cracks forming in a vague oval shape. And a small segment of the ground that she was standing on broke away from the rest of the land, before slowly rising into the air.

Her mother hadn't been the only Beifong to do some 'experimenting'.

Amon seemed to have recovered from whatever it was that had given him pause before, and now charged towards her once again. Lin wasn't really sure what he intended to do, but there was no way she'd give him the chance. She focused on the metal cables that were stored within the plates on her arms. She thrust an arm forward, the cables blasting out soon afterwards, acting almost like whips. Amon dodged again—not that she'd really expected anything else at this point—and continued his course.

"Try THIS!" Lin bellowed, kicking at the back of her perch, causing the rock to rotate upwards. Lin braced herself and kicked off, sending the rock flying straight towards Amon, now too close and too fast for him to dodge completely. He didn't even try, instead leaping right towards it, somehow managing to land on the rock itself and leaping off of it, angling himself so that he was flying through the air straight towards her. Lin smirked; perfect!

A wall of solid earth sprang from the ground, hitting Amon while he was still flying through the air. The two impacted with a thundering crash, with a force that had to have broken some bones. Lin let the wall drop abruptly, and Amon plummeted to the ground, his sword fallingfrom his grasp. But she still wasn't done, sending the earth up one more time, but instead of hitting him with it, Lin used it to encase the Equalist leader, trapping him in a prison of pure rock.

Lin paused, keeping a wary eye on her new prisoner. Was that really it? She'd expected something more…

"You think you've won." Amon still sounded as confident as ever, despite the earth surrounding him.

Lin frowned. He had to be planning something. But what? "It's over. You are under arrest."

Amon only chuckled. "I beg to differ." And in that moment, he somehow seemed to… change. Lin couldn't explain how, but she just knew there was something different about him. His body seemed to coil within the limited space available to him, almost as if…

He flexed, and the rock encasing him shattered.

Lin could only stare in shock, knowing what had just happened but unable to process it. Impossible…

Amon simply kneeled on the ground for a few moments, before rising to his feet. He turned to her, and even though she couldn't see past his mask, Lin would have sworn that she could see an unnatural glow through the eyeholes.

"Now," he drew out mockingly, picking up his blade once more, "shall we try that again?"

Korra nearly bumped into Tarrlok as he lurched to a sudden stop in front of her.

Scowling at the near collision, Korra muttered, "What's the hold-up?" She hadn't been in the best mood before, and the fact that she was standing so close to Tarrlok that his back obstructed most of her view didn't help.

"Take a look for yourself." The slight growling quality to his tone alerted Korra that maybe this was a little more important than she had thought.

Stepping aside, Korra quickly saw what the problem was. "I'm guessing this giant wall isn't supposed to be here," she stated dryly.

"Certainly not." Tarrlok's response was just as dry.

Korra nearly smirked before she forced it down. "What do you want to bet that Amon's behind the wall?"

Tarrlok glanced at her. "There's another possibility?" Korra did smirk at that. Well, back to business.

"You want me to get rid of this?" she gestured to the wall. Tarrlok didn't even bother replying and settled raising an eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, Korra turned back to the wall. She was tempted to make a big show of taking the thing down, but instead settled for tapping it. As soon as her knuckles made contact, the wall collapsed.

She and Tarrlok were ready to move again, but they wholly unprepared for the sight of Amon staring down a stunned Lin. Naturally, the sound of the wall collapsing drew both fighters' attention to the newcomers.

For a short instant, Korra locked eyes with Amon, even though she knew it was impossible because of his mask. She couldn't explain why, but simply staring into the holes in mask sent a chill through her spine. It just felt wrong, somehow.

And then, all she knew was pain.

Korra had thought that what she experienced on the balcony when Amon first started speaking was painful. Now, it felt like her head was splitting open from the inside. There was too much pain for her to scream, and she could only let out a small gasp. The next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the ground, feeling as if her hands were barely able to support her weight. She was distantly aware of involuntary tears rolling down her cheeks.

All of this was overridden by the scenes flashing through her mind's eye in a near-endless montage. Just like before, it was difficult for her to grasp most of what she was seeing, but at the same time a small handful of the images seemed more vivid than they had before. It almost felt like she was experiencing them for herself.

—His master—his mentor, his friend, the closest thing he would ever have to a true father—shook his head, a heavy frown forming on his face. "Your insanity will doom us all!" He would have expected his master's harsh words to feel like a physical blow, but instead, they only served to strengthen his resolve. Still, he could not help the regretful sigh that escaped his lips as he drew his blade—his master's blade. "So be it."—

—"I look forward to working with you, Mr. Sato." The businessman nodded solemnly, fully aware of the hard road that lay ahead—

—But now, he had true power. Now, his goal, his dream would be achieved, no matter how difficult it might become. He was going to erase bending from the world.

And with the power of the Dírén, nothing would stand in his way.-

For her part, Korra had lost all awareness of anything besides what was happening in her own mind and the almost unbearable pain that now seemed to spread throughout her entire being.

Naruto…

A single tear landed on the ground, and the rest of the world seemed to fade away.