Chapter 25 Operation Republic City
I got out of the room and Kirika led me over to her radio. I picked up the microphone to speak with the woman that I knew could only call me to intimidate me. "Hello Chiharu. How's your wound holding up?"
Chiharu spoke with an even more raspy and gravelly voice than last time. At this point she sounded like she was gargling nails. "It's fully healed Avatar. I'm challenging you and your friends to one final fight in the city that never sleeps and is always filled with excitement!"
She can't be serious. That's the most drastic plan I can think of. "You don't mean..."
"Oh I mean it sister. I'm challenging you to a fight to the death at Republic City! You can bring everyone and anyone to join you. Trust me when I say that you're going to need all the help you can get Avatar. After all, I've killed a previous Avatar life before."
She's got to be bluffing. There's no way she killed Korra. "Oh really? You killed one of the most physically powerful and resilient Avatars in history. That's a laugh. If you weren't making this up I'd have you tell me how you killed such a powerful woman."
"Well I'll tell you all about it. Korra was way past her prime at the age of eighty two but she still decided to face me when I first entered Republic City to conquer it when I was sixty years younger then her. I sent an entire army of soldiers after her but it seemed that I underestimated her. She was so powerful that she was able to blast her way through all of them with very little effort. It was like I was sending all of my mercenaries to certain death. I could see the looks on their faces. They were terrified of this old Waterbender. She still looked in shape despite her elderly age and she was so destructive with her power that she looked like the waterbending equivalent to King Bumi! With all of my men and women dead around me I saw the murderous rage in Korras eyes, I saw her capacity for killing to save the ones she loves. I couldn't bear to look at her face any longer and I blasted her again and again with my third eye but her defenses were too great for my attack to have any effect. She launched me into the air and crashed me down with a gust of air. As I barely got up after that I realized that the one thing I could use to gain the advantage is her friends. I saw that per usual Korra brought Mako, Bolin and Asami to the battle. They were occupied with saving civilians so I took my opportunity to strike! I blasted Mako and Bolin together with one shot! Their screams of agony echoed in my ears as the brothers stomachs were pierced by my beam and they exploded into gory chunks right before my eyes. Korra got quite a bit angrier with me and entered the Avatar State! I was hit with an endless barrage of almost unavoidable rocks, flames, air gusts and water, so much water. I didn't want to just end the cycle right then and there so I had to think of something else that could weaken her. But then I saw a bus in the distance. It was a bus filled with Republic City's schoolchildren and who was the one evacuating the kids? Why it was Korras best friend! The one she married and the one who I needed to finish her off. As Korra prepared to squash me with a metal statue I stared intensely at the bus. I shot my beam and... Well you can tell what happened."
No... No... She couldn't have... No one is that cruel or that heartless. "You're saying you destroyed a bus full of children and killed Asami along with them just to throw Korra off of her game? That's revolting!"
"Call it whatever you'd like it worked. Korra snapped out of her Avatar State and rushed over to her fallen wife. She was able to let out a few last words before succumbing to her wounds. Then she started to cry the most emotionally charged cry that I've ever heard in my life. I tried to use this opportunity to just escape since I knew that the city couldn't be conquered now. All of my hired guns had been dismantled! But then I looked behind me and I saw Korras death stare. It looked like she was harnessing all of the hatred, pain and torment that she's had in her life and she was going to hold onto it long enough to massacre me. But she had another thing coming. She flew towards me at full speed with fire jets on her feet and with a clenched fist covered in the blood of Asami! I fired my beam directly at Korra's head and I watched it explode into a million pieces as her body crashed into me and the explosion sent me flying away! The explosion was just a mere few feet away from my face which caused me to undergo reconstruction surgery but when I saw the headless corpse of the former Avatar I couldn't be happier!"
She's really getting on my nerves. She's not just a terrorist, she's downright insane! "You're starting to see pictures aren't you Nami? Your previous life dying emotionally and physically? Her shaking, her crying? While I was just laughing? That's exactly what I'm going to do to you!" So that's why my parents didn't let the White Lotus know that I'm the Avatar. They wanted to protect me from Chiharu! It all makes sense now. I'm sorry mom and dad but I've got a job to do and if that means risking my life to save others then that's just what I've got to do.
"If you think I'm going to let you kill me in the same way you killed Korra you're sorely mistaken. I'll face you to the death and trust me when I say that people may die but Raava lives on forever. As long as I have her inside of me I know I can win."
"Good luck then. I'll be waiting near the city limits. Get ready for the last fight of your life." Well if her plan was to intimidate me then it worked. I walked back over to Kirika to tell her my plan.
"Kirika. I need you to contact Yosuke, Rin, Natsume and my mom. We need to assemble as a unit if we are going to stand any chance against Chiharu."
"Understood. Should I also contact the United Forces? I mean they were at the battlefield when Korra faced Chiharu."
That seems fairly obvious doesn't it. "Obviously yes. I need their support too. Trust me Kirika I'm doing this to avenge not only my previous life but your mother as well."
Kirika started to get teary eyed. She must be remembering the news she got about her mother dying. "I'm sorry. It's just that I remember that day so vividly. I wasn't in the city when the attack happened but when I heard the news that Korra and Asami were both killed I thought I wouldn't be able to live with myself. When you defeat Chiharu just know this. She deserves to die for everything she's done."
"I'll see to it that she gets her rightful punishment. By the way do you have a father? This was a question that I meant to ask Takuma but I never got around to asking it."
"No. Korra and Asami are my parents, we were both adopted. Asami taught me how to become an engineer and a businesswoman and Korra taught Takuma how to fight and maintain spiritual balance."
Okay that's good to know. Kirika made the call to my friends and the United Forces. They arrived at our location, the Future Industries Pyrotechnics Division building. I of course had a heartwarming reunion with my mother and my friends.
My mother ran over to me with a gorgeous smile on her face as I jumped into her arms. "Hello mother. I'm fine you don't have to worry about me anymore."
"Nami. I'll never stop worrying about you! When I saw you without your left arm I was shocked beyond belief. I hope you've gotten used to controlling your metal arm."
I wiggled my metal fingers and softly touched my mom's cheek with the prosthetic hand. "I'm getting pretty good at controlling it."
"You understand why your father and I kept you away from the White Lotus right? We didn't want you to face this psychopath especially at your age. We just wanted you to live the way a child should live. In peace, with her mother and father away from a woman without mercy."
"I completely understand. You were scared that if the White Lotus located me then Chiharu would rip apart Kiyoshi Island and kill everyone in her path in order to find me and brainwash me. I'm stronger now and I will avenge Korra. Thanks for arriving." My friends Natsume and Yosuke were also present so I decided to welcome them too.
Yosuke noticed Meng once she crawled out of the medical bay I was in. Meng put her tiny paw on his foot and Yosuke picked her up and kissed her duck bill causing Meng to chirp happily. "This is a cute platypus bunny. Is she your pet?"
"Actually I just got her so we haven't had time to become full companions yet. But every Avatar had an animal with them so I think Meng will be mine."
"Meng?"
"Yeah that's what I decided to call her. It means cute."
"Fitting. It's nice to see you fully healed. I hope you can find a way to beat Chiharu this time."
Yosuke handed Meng over to me as Natsume gave me a fist bump and led me over to the United Forces. "These soldiers are total professionals so just tell them what you need from them and they'll deliver. Chiharu is a disgrace to firebenders everywhere. She needs to be stopped."
"I agree. I'll just say a few words to the troops." I walked over the formation of soldiers and there was a podium in front of them with a microphone. I decided that a speech is what they needed from someone like me. I got over to the microphone and made sure it was on before I started.
"Hello United Forces. My name is Avatar Nami. I know that some of you might be wondering why my good friend Kirika called you here. It's because my past life lost her life and the life of her dearest friend to this monster that we face the terrorist Chiharu. She's a combustion bender who only seeks to weed out the weak in favor of the strong. She sees us all as cancers of society when we all know that we're better than that. This is a day where we protect our most distinguished city but it's also a day of redemption. Avatar Korra stood for peace and balance just like all of the Avatars before her. Today we shall honor her memory and her ideals by showing Chiharu that we will not falter in our mission, we will not pause in fear and we will win this day for the citizens of the Four Nations or we will die trying! So who's with me?"
The soldiers saluted me and prepared their airships for the ride to Republic City. I brought along all of my friends that could fight. Yosuke, Takuma, Kirika, Natsume, Haruka my mom and my companion Meng. I need a bit of comfort before my big battle anyways. The airships headed toward the city limits at full speed. Chiharu I think we both agree that violence breeds violence and vengeance begets vengeance. In the end it has to be this way.