土
City Hall.
Ling averted his gaze, looking away from the streets thick with violence that fed into the great square. Reminded him a little too much of Ba Sing Se.
Heading up the steps as fast as possible, his eyes narrowed to slits and a hand always hovering near the hilt of his scimitar. The other he kept free and at the ready by his side, ready for any surprise visitors the Director might send his way.
Ling knew that he most likely would have done so anyway, taking advantage of the distraction the strife the city was experiencing at the moment was something he wouldn't pass up.
Having climbed the steps with no interruptions to slow him down he quickly jogged towards the main pair of thick doors allowing access into the storied building.
He rested his gloved hand on it for a moment, the pebbles covering the glove shifting and moving around to open a gap for the palm of his hand to rest against the doors.
Concentrating he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, breathing out through his nose before opening them again. He nodded, thinking he now had a good grasp of the buildings layout which meant he could find his uncle in much less time.
Taking a deep breath to steel himself he gripped the edge of one of the doors and pulled, already starting to sweat with the effort of just dragging the giant slab of wood and stone out enough for him to slip inside. As soon as the space between the doors widened enough he inched his way through, his foot catching on the edge of the door. He stumbled inside, the door slamming shut behind him and sending a cavernous echo throughout the dark hall.
Leaning forwards for a moment to catch his breath, he looked around the room for a bit before breathing out a deep breath and smirking at his own lack of muscle. "Alright. Where are you uncle?"
Under Celestial Square.
Tarrin snapped his foot forwards into the chain link door, breaking the rusted through hinges and denting a few of the links as it fell with a sharp crash onto the metal flooring. He shot a glance behind before heading through, making sure he didn't scrape her against anything.
He ducked through, eyes searching the gloomy space for a place to set her down. His eyes fell on a nearby workbench, dusty and cobwebbed, but much more serviceable then anything else in the room. His breathing slightly frantic he went over to it, gently pulling her off of his shoulder and sitting her up so her back was supported by the wall.
Yem groaned and opened her eyes with a sharp intake of breath, blinking wildly for a few moments before her eyes found him. A shudder wracked her as she touched a finger to the bloody jagged mess that was her shoulder. She labored for each breath as she dry swallowed and bit down on another scream trying to rise up.
"Don't- don't move" his hand squeezed hers as she slowly nodded, a pained expression on her as she slowly tilted her head to look down at the wound. Her face paled as blood continued to ooze out of the rent in her shoulder, her breathing going faster. His hand shot down, scrabbling around the pouches on his belt before he found the right one and pulled out a few rolls of gauze.
"This'll-"
"Just do it." she muttered.
Tarrin nodded, looking down at the roll before holding it over her shoulder, unwinding a length before stopping and running it under and over her shoulder. She groaned, just barely stopping herself from clamping her hand down over the wound and getting in his way.
"How long was I out?" she mumbled, not having the strength to speak normally.
He held eye contact with her. "An hour. But we're far away from him, now." Tarrin jerked his head at the nearby wall, indicating a large poster with thick black and grey lines running all over it, with blue lines travelling in between them as a interconnected web.
She managed to focus on the map, spotting a thick red dot near the center of the web with with a arrow indicating it. She mouthed the words next to it. "City- City Hall? That's-"
"At least fifteen blocks between us and him." Tarrin finished for her, continuing to wind the last of the length around her shoulder, before tying it off and stepping back with a concerned look.
Yem closed her eyes for a moment and heaved a breath, before opening them. Through gritted teeth she managed a few words as she closed her eyes with a relieved gasp. "Went straight through. Clean cut." she said, finishing his words for him.
"We're near a slip tunnel going straight to the Hospital, we'll-"
"And the drop-off?"
Tarrin sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head firmly. "I'm dropping you off at the hospital. I'll handle the rest-"
"Your capacity for stubbornness seems familiar." Yem's narrowed as she pushed Tarrin away from her, twisting to grab a canister from her belt before crying out and clamping it on her shoulder instead. Breathing heavily she glared at the hooded figure as he stood in the doorway, his sword undrawn.
As for Tarrin he immediately drew both sabers and ran at Telei, stabbing forwards with a growl. The old man stepped around each jab and thrust he tried, before a grunt forced out of him as Tarrin reversed the handle and slammed into his blocking forearm. Telei's hand shot forward and grabbed Tarrin's collar.
Tarrin quickly shot a look at her. "Eyes!" she quickly shielded herself from a blinding white light, the old man hissed in pain and annoyance as Tarrin went over to her and looped his arm around her shoulder, urging her through the opposite door and out into another tunnel.
He practically pushed her down the tunnel ahead of him, a sabre in his other hand as he constantly threw glances around them as their hurried footsteps echoed all over the place.
She glanced over at him and offered a tired smile. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to face him on your own."
Tarrin chuckled through his frantic breaths as he stopped in the middle of a intersection. "I don't have that much of a death wish." His hand squeezed hers before he nodded and took off again, taking her down one of the tunnels, its end coming into view abruptly.
"A dead end, what-" She saw a nearby door, smaller than the others she had seen and hidden in the very corner in shadow. Tarrin made his way to it. "Brace against the wall. I need to get this open."
She nodded, moaning as she moved her shoulder the wrong way before pressing her back against the wall with all her strength. Her breathing started to grow heavy again and her head felt too light as he put his shoulder against the door and slammed into it, again and again.
With a shrill squeal it came free and the door swung inwards, opening up a steamy tunnel going down at a angle with a channel cutting the floor in half. Tarrin rubbed his shoulder and guided her over. "Okay, just keep going and you'll reach the hospital soon enough."
"You-" Footsteps echoed on the walls, cutting her off as Tarrin glanced behind him.
He nodded quickly before leaning in and landing a kiss on her forehead. "I will not let him get past."
Before she could react he had moved her into the small tunnel, shutting the door with a resounding boom. Yem growled and banged on the door, shouting and raging and losing herself as he turned away and drew both of his sabers to face the approaching hooded figure.
Republic City.
They had lost sight of Tenzin over a hour ago.
Naga constantly panted as her mighty muscles worked, the Polar-Bear Dog's ears whipping about as she constantly watched for obstacles or distractions that would slow her down.
Korra's gaze listed over her surroundings, numbly taking the sight of a wrecked store with its front wall completely blown apart just a few meters away, its insides smoking and scorch marks visible everywhere inside its walls.
Before it was too far behind them for her to pick out, she managed to make out the shape of a Koi fish above the entrance, its once illustrious golden surface covered by dust and char.
Suddenly Naga barked a warning and she looked up, her mind being snapped back to what was happening in front of her as a Satomobile swerved to avoid the lumbering Polar Bear dog and her riders, its occupants clearly terrified.
"Watch the road!" Tai hissed behind her, eyes narrowed as he scanned their surroundings for any dangers.
Swallowing past a dry lump she nodded, not saying anything as she took a firmer hold of the reins and kept her eye on the road and the maze of satomobile wreckages ahead.
Suppressing a cold jolt down her spine she guided Naga towards the first part of the wreckage, keeping a tight hold on Naga as she hopped onto a wrecked satomobile's roof, crushing it even further with her weight before springing off and hopping back onto the ground on the other side.
Once the road had cleared up again she urged the Polar-Bear dog back to the pace she ran before, each bound clearing a few meters at a time and quickly getting them towards the end of the side street, where it turned into Avatar Road.
The ground rumbled and the air itself seemed to vibrate. Korra made Naga skid to a halt in the middle of the T junction, going numb at the sight of the broken airship crashed on top of the apartment complex ahead. Its skeletal structure quickly being revealed by the fire wreathing its entirety.
Screaming, sounding quiet and distant, reached her ears. A shiver went through her body and her fingers tightened on the reigns. "Korra? Hey, snap out of it!" She turned slowly at the faint sensation of his hand on her shoulder, all of her concerns about him leaving the city completely gone, paling next to the devastation in front of her right now.
"There's people inside it… trapped inside." She whispered. Her eyes wide as she looked at Tai. "I'm the Avatar. This shouldn't be happening-"
"KORRA! You want to stop this? We need to catch up to Tenzin, we need his help." Tai's eyes locked with hers for a second, hard and uncompromising.
"I-"
Tai growled as she fell silent with listless look. He took action. "Naga, keep going! Find Tenzin!" He knocked the Polar-bear Dog's sides with his feet, urging her to go even faster.
The mess of gnarled and broken satomobiles Naga navigated through ended, with completely empty road replacing it.
Naga barked in alarm at the sight of a lone figure standing in the middle of the road ahead.
"Whoever that is better get out of the way." Tai muttered darkly as he urged Naga down the road, the Polar-Bear Dog turning her head slightly to look at him with a quizzical light in her eyes.
He didn't notice her wrinkle her lips and bare her teeth with a growl, tensing up her entire body and slowing down slightly.
The man up ahead still didn't move, even at the sight of such a large and imposing creature like Naga bounding towards him at top speed. Instead the only movement he showed was a lift of his forearm, and a snap of his gloved finger.
The sharp and loud crack of the man snapping his fingers sounded off to Tai's ears, and before his very eyes he witnessed the tiniest spark, crackling a bright orange, whiz through the air towards them.
Shouting came from all around them as crimson-clothed figures just appeared out of nowhere from every part of the road.
Alarm bells rang in his head as he reached back to draw his sword when the road underneath them shuddered and roared upwards at the urging of a gigantic billowing mass of warm orange originating from underneath them.
Naga howled in alarm as the explosion lifted her off the ground and sent her flying forwards, tumbling over and over with her riders being thrown from the saddle and sent sliding on the asphalt, soon coming to a painful halt.
Her head was in shambles as her vision fluttered. "Avatar. I've always wanted to meet you." A groan lifted from her and she looked up, hearing Naga's roaring somewhere behind her and people shouting, and even worse, the whoosh of flames.
Korra's breath caught as she looked up and found herself staring straight into a pair of gleaming eyes, colored a predatory almost snake-like gold. They looked like they were infused with the essence of fire itself. The man blinked once, his pale skin making a striking contrast to his eyes and lending him a lithe and deadly appearance.
He wore a simple tunic, sleeveless and its edges embroidered with golden trim. He made no attempt to hide his muscular arms, rather he seemed to relish in showing them off.
"I am Kazon. I have always enjoyed watching your exploits in our beloved city. Your martial skills and ability to guide fire by your whim...I find it absolutely remarkable that you are able to do so without being pure. I can only hope that I one day will be able to reach a level like your own- something that hasn't been seen since Ozai himself."
A screaming Agni Kai flew through the air past Kazon, tumbling into a dumpster in front of the nearby building. Kazon sighed to himself but didn't budge or change his expression, still focusing those predatory eyes on Korra.
"Korra.." Tai's strained voice reached her ears and snapped her out of her daze. She glanced at him as he tried to recover and get up, only serving to make the feeling of helplessness within her grow.
Kazon cut himself off, a dangerous flash showing itself in his eyes as he looked at the boy next to her. He looked back at her, and clasped his palms together and bowed. "Lady Avatar, forgive me while I deal with this creature." He straightened, his hands by his sides as he calmly addressed the boy. "Are you really certain that you should test yourself against me, whelp?"
She hissed as a lance of pain shot up her side, stopping her attempt to get up and use her bending to surprise Kazon. She could only watch as Tai charged him head-on, grey eyes blazing with anger and his blade extended.
Flames started to lick the length of his blade as he let his anger out fullbore, directing a mighty slash towards Kazon and the look of glee on his face. Tremors ran down his hands when his blade connected with the firebender's bracer. Kazon stepped forward and swung a kick into his stomach, making Tai double over and allowing him to easily wrap his hand around the boy's neck and start to squeeze.
"S-stop it-"
"He interrupted me, Avatar. It is only right." The calm way he said that sent chills down her spine as he choked the boy, not even a hint of emotion or expression on him.
"Stop it, now!"
Surprisingly, he did.
Kazon's grip lessened just a bit, enough so that the boy could draw in small amounts of air but still make escape impossible for him. "Strange, I recognize you." He pulled the boy closer, tilting his head and looking him over. "No. Not you personally. But I know that look. That fire in your eyes. Anzo was your father."
"Wha-" The questions running through Tai's head stopped when the firebender's grip on his neck increased.
"I never thought he would have settled down. And breeded with a foreigner no less." Kazon shook his head as he continued to squeeze his hand, resuming his choking. "Time to snuff you out-"
Whatever he said next was replaced by a roar of pain. Korra watched from the ground as Naga roared, and someone grunted before hitting the ground.
She closed her eyes just as something lifted her into the air and started bounding towards the side-alley nearby.
Shōu Kǒu General Hospital.
"Just through this alley. Mako?" She loosed a short grunt while shifting Sensha to a better position on her shoulder, cautious not to drop her. Asami glanced back at him, knowing where she had seen that dark look on him before.
"They'll pay."
She looked down at her feet for a few seconds, silently agreeing with him. But there wasn't time for that now, they had somewhere to be. "I know how you feel, but we need to get them to safety first. Okay?"
He didn't answer.
Asami released a pent-up breath when he passed ahead of her, walking towards the exit to the street ahead. Even just suggesting that they do anything that didn't involve going after the ones who did this to Bolin and Sensha... to her mother and his parents... It put a sour taste in her mouth, like she was running away from what felt natural.
She ignored the primal sounding thought and stomped down on it, setting her gaze on the street ahead, filled with noise and lights cutting through the smoky haze.
Her eyes started to water a little as the smoke irritated them, forcing her to reach a hand up to rub them. "Wish Korra or Tai were here to blow the smoke away."
No answer came from Mako as he continued further out into the street, now making his way across the road to the other side.
Asami stuck to taking in short breaths as she made her way after him, going a little slower across the road to keep Sensha balanced on her shoulder. Something beeped, making her heart leap into her throat for a few terrifying seconds as a large shadowy object loomed to the side of her, its headlights cutting through the smoke with ease.
Luckily it turned down a unseen road before it got too close to her, its wheels squealing and engine rumbling the entire time. It stopped not long after, and she head doors being thrown open and people shouting in coordination with each other.
Recovering from her fright she quickly moved towards the spot where she had last seen Mako, nearing what sounded like a massive crowd of people up ahead.
She didn't even see the pair of hands that tore at her out of nowhere, pulling her forwards. She struggled to keep balance as she tipped forward, unable to stop Sensha from slipping from her shoulder. "Equalist trash!"
The unknown hysterical voice roared in her ears, its owner shaking her violently and leaving her vision spinning as she struggled to figure what was going on. "You and your father caused this! I hope the Agni's burn you alive!"
Whatever the unknown hysterical voice was about to say next didn't come when the owner grunted, their grip on her lapels disappearing as they thudded onto the ground.
Asami scrambled in the opposite direction from where the voice had came from, scared and confused when something touched her leg. She whipped about, fists closed and leg ready to lash out before she spotted Sensha's tired eyes looking up at here and her hand loosely extended upwards. "Sensha!" She released a relieved gasp and immediately bent down to help her up, looping a arm around her waist.
"Where are we?" The girl said, her voice barely reaching a whisper and almost unintelligible.
"Hospital. Safest place." She answered, gasping in between each breath, still unable to tear herself away from what that man was shouting at her just before. Sensha settled for a nod as her eyelids drooped and she nodded off.
"You need to be more careful Asami." Mako barely glanced at her, a unconscious Bolin still draped over his shoulder. Mako didn't even look strained or tired after carrying him all the way from the docks a couple blocks back. He turned away from her and stalked forwards towards a approaching medic.
"What's the commotion, everybody needs to stay calm while we- urgh!" Mako's hand shot out and wrapped around the thin man's neck, and the firebender growled as he pushed his face in towards the terrified young man's.
"I need help for my brother here. Go get it."
"Mako stop it!-" She pleaded, just wanting all of this to end. But he didn't look like he was going to let go, his dirty yellow eyes darkening with each passing second as sparks began to flicker between his fingers.
The young medic whimpered in fear at the sight of-
"Kid, you won't help your brother by threatening my staff." A water whip snapped at Mako's hand, forcing him to release the young medic with a growl towards the offending waterbender.
A very welcome sight interrupted Asami's protest, and she sighed with relief to see Kya running out of the smoke and haze towards her along with a group of blue-capped medics trailing behind. "Asami, what-"
"Kya. Sensha needs medical attention. Bolin too-" Asami screwed her eyes shut, feeling a dull ache surfacing in her arms and shoulders. One of Kya's aides moved to take Sensha away from her. Automatically she rolled her shoulders and sighed, before opening her eyes again. "What's going on Kya?"
"That was my question to you."
"It's all still a blur-"
"Kya, get these people inside the hospital!" Asami watched as Commander Makei ran up to the waterbender, dressed in his full armor with a blade extended over each arm. "Agni Kai's are coming down the road."
"Damn it..." She muttered, pinching her nose in frustration before looking at Asami. "This'll have to wait, okay?"
"Ye-yeah. Okay- Asami nodded uncertainly, watching as the famous healer moved off towards the large crowd and started beckoning towards the hospital doors while directing her medics around.
"Look out!" someone screamed.
The air warmed to a unbearable level around her, and she turned around to see a large firestorm consuming everything further down the street, everything from storefronts to abandoned satomobiles to the tiniest specks of dust were immolated instantly by the large fireball, she squinted and spotted several blurry figures performing short and aggressive movements on either side of the street.
Renewed shouting and screaming intensified around her as the firestorm moved closer and closer towards the hospital, dwarfing the metalbender barricade that blocked off access to the hospital from the road.
And suddenly, just like that in front of Asami's eyes the roaring of the fire subsided to a small keen whine, and the angry inferno quickly shrank until it tore itself into small wisps of flame, leaving behind smoke and ash in the immolated street.
The crowd near her had gone quiet for a second. She knew why at the sight of the Agni Kai members now distributed among the crowd, only visible because of being the only ones dressed in full crimson clothes or old-style fire nation armor.
Whole sections of the crowd immediately rushed to get away from the dangerous criminals, only to be stilled by the threat of a fireball or whip.
"Kya, what's-" A hand wrapped around her mouth and something slammed into the back of her head. Stars exploded in her vision and she tasted something coppery in her mouth as rising levels of panic threatened to consume her.
Whoever had their hand over her mouth began moving backwards, dragging her further away from crowd and Kya under the cover of the thickened smoke cloud enveloping the area.
Asami felt her thoughts grow sluggish as the smoke started to seep further into her lungs, forcing her to cough and hack violently. Before she lost the thought she quickly hid her hand with the discharger glove behind her back. Her captor didn't seem to notice, still roughly dragging her away from the safety of the hospital and away from anyone who could help her.
She had a long time to study the inner workings of her father's discharger gloves, probing their circuitry, examining the casing over the palm, determining the type of material the discharge core consisted of. But none of that was the true genius of what her father had created, what was truly genius was that the little round sphere could be mounted on almost any kind of surface or harness and still retain to ability to hold and contain a charge until coming into contact with something.
Suddenly they stopped completely, giving Asami a quick opportunity to regain her footing and 'struggle' a little, trying to loosen their hold before applying a counter move that would leave them out cold.
Her captors hand quickly put that idea out of the question by wrenching her long hair backwards painfully, twisting it into bundles and pulling sharply towards themselves, getting a gasp of pain from her. "I suggest you not use those fancy moves old daddy Sato told you. Could cost something even you can't afford." The voice of a young woman, haughty in every possible way and devoid of every type of warmth whispered in her ear with a hiss.
All she could reply with was a strangled squeak as the young woman's hand pushed against her mouth and covered her nose, robbing her of any chance to breathe properly.
Asami managed to catch a glimpse of whoever held her, seeing the dangerous flash in her pure golden eyes that came with being unhinged and a firebending fanatic. "Oranis-"
"Shut it!" Asami bit down a cry when the girl's hold on her hair disappeared, only to be replaced by a searing touch on her arm seconds later that made her nearly drop the recently liberated discharge core and its harness. The harder she struggled to get away from the fire covering Oranis's hand purely out of instinct alone, the more the heat over her arm increased. "Your father wouldn't shut up either-"
Asami's eyes widened. "Wha-" Oranis's hand flew into her stomach again, shutting up her question.
"Hey waterbender!" Kya halted in her tracks, eyes narrowed before she turned around and moved through the haze, pushing past several groups of terrified people until she made it to the streetside, hearing Asami's panicked gasps and breaths before she could see anything.
As they got closer, the smoke thinned out enough for her to spot two figures standing in the middle of the road, looking like one of them was being held by the other, their body limp. "Asami..." She whispered, a growl to her voice as she waved her hands and moved them outwards from her body. The shark-tooth caps on the twin bottles on her hips popped open as the water inside lifted out in thick streams.
The streams gathered to her hands and then coiled up towards her shoulders, crawling up her arms then flattening to form a complete layer over them. Her mother's patented water tentacles. She leveled a reassuring glance at Asami before turning her attention to the exceedingly confident firebender. "You've got three seconds before I snuff you out."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, little miss rich girl here might get burned. Third degree? Or maybe a nice first just to soften her up?" Asami fought the urge to roll her eyes, making sure that the Agni Kai was distracted by her own boasting before slipping the discharge core and harness over her bare hand as quickly as possible before she could notice.
"Out with it. What are your demands?" Kya's eyes narrowed as she slowly worked her fingers inside the streams, already having a few ideas in mind of how to quickly dispatch of the Agni.
Oranis's pearly white teeth gleamed as she smiled cheerfully. "Well, I see you are certainly no stranger to hostage situations, lady Kya. I'll be brief: Bring me the Fire Ferret and his pet little brother and I'll let ms Sato here go. Clear enough for you?"
Asami caught the brunt of the stench of ash coming from her mouth as she spoke. Her gagging caught her a swift kick to the ankle for her trouble. Instead of being cowed by the blow, it only gave her a satisfaction of sorts: she was about to unleash tenfold of the same on the Agni Kai.
The firebender tilted her head and smiled as a blue flame winked into existence above her index finger, and Asami watched out of the corner of her eye as the tip of the flame danced against the hollow of her throat. She resisted the urge to gulp, instead taking a deep breath and working on calming herself down.
Kya's fingers flexed as she took a step forward with a growl on her features. "You hurt her and I'll- Mako?"
Oranis's eyes practically gleamed with glee at the sight of him as he walked past Kya and onto the road, making his way alone towards the firebender. "You've already hurt my brother. Do you really think it was a good idea to see me so soon?"
Seeing that Oranis was too engaged in what Mako was saying at the moment, Asami took the opportunity to flex her hand to activate the charge inside the core. Nothing happened and Asami started to silently panic before calming herself down, realizing that the core just needed a charge from a outside source.
Her eyes settled on Mako's. His quickly flitted to hers, and he gave the slightest of nods.
The Agni Kai chuckled. "Do I have your attention now that she's in danger Fire Ferret?"
Mako withdrew the arm he had hidden behind his back the entire time, the bright blue light from the electricity arcing and crackling in the palm of his hand reflecting against his golden eyes. "You've got it."
A massive jolt rampaged through Asami's hand, and the discharge core instantly went from a dull grey to a incandescent bright blue. It hummed as she snapped her head back and caught Oranis on the chin, before twisting her palm backwards and thrusting it into the firebender's chest with all the force she could muster.
Orani's hand whipped up and propelled a flash of fire into her back, knocking her to the ground while grabbing the discharge core with her other hand.
Instead of dropping to the ground like a ragdoll, Oranis was blown down the street by the energy discharge, smoke curling from her hand where she had absorbed the majority of the charge. Screaming with rage she quickly got up and ran down the street away from the hospital.
Asami groaned and held a hand to her head. Kya rushed to her, hand covered in a sheathing of softly glowing water. "Are you alright?"
She nodded, the faint sound of a motorcycle engine starting up reaching her ears at the same time Lin came to a stop nearby.
"Mako!" Lin called out, frustrated at the kid's idiocy. "Kya, tend to Asami while I-"
"Commander Beifong!" Lin whipped around to see one of her officers standing there, the radio in his hand blaring unintelligible words. "Patrol ship just crashed nearby. In between here and City Hall. Councilman Tenzin had been sighted in the airspace nearby."
Lin narrowed her eyes. She nodded, raising her arm and launching her cable at the roof of a nearby building by the road. "I'll bring him out of there."
Near City Hall.
She quickly skidded to a halt and ducked back behind the corner of the building, raising her hand and extending her cable just a little as a pair of Agni Kais ran down a nearby alley, fire wreathing their hands and excitement on their faces as they chased after someone.
Sensing that they had passed, she ran around the corner and made her way the open courtyard on the other side. Her foot knocked a jagged shard of metal into the front of a nearby dumpster, making her stop for a moment. Up ahead she could pick out bits of burnt metal and shards of splintered wood that had slammed into the ground from above.
Up ahead she saw that the entire wreckage had landed right on the edge of the building's roof. She swore under her breath and started pumping her arms, breathing in and out steadily as she came out of the alley and into the open square before the building.
A grinding noise cut through the air, and the entire wreckage started to shift and move, being dragged off the edge of the roof by its own weight. She doubled her pace, just before reaching the steps leading to the apartment's lobby she extended her arm, keeping it pointed at the edge of the roof as she quickly gauged a rough estimation before launching her cable.
As it flew up she closed her eyes and focused on changing the shape of the metal making up the cable's head, forming a four pronged claw instead of the smooth featureless surface it defaulted as.
A tremor travelled down her arm, signaling that the claw had just hit the edge of the roof, without a moment to spare she flexed her wrist to activate the spool on her back.
The cable retracted, pulling her off of her feet and and lifting her up the side of the building to where the cable claw had gotten a purchase. The entire building lurched as the wreckage continued shifting about and breaking apart on the roof, pieces of the steel beams forming its superstructure dropped towards her, forcing her to slacken the cable and swing herself out of their way to avoid being swatted like a fly.
Lin closed her eyes and got her breathing back on track after hearing them slam into the steps below, before reaching the lip of the roof. She stopped the spool with a thought and got a grip on the edge with both hands. With a grunt of effort she pulled herself up and over, getting to her feet near the wreckage's side.
Trying to use her eyes to find Tenzin in that mess of welded steel and hardened wood was pointless, so she closed her eyes and raised a foot above the ground. The underside of her boot slid back to reveal the smooth sole of her foot. She stomped down on the roof, breathing in sharply as her foot made contact with the earth inside the roof's cement.
She opened her eyes, to see a world dipped in dark grey paint. A bright white ring representing the vibrations made by her foot expanded outwards, running over the wreckage and a short distance after that before disappearing. In its wake a human-shaped mass of light appeared out of the dark grey murk, trapped inside the section of wreckage right next to Lin.
Wasting no time she extended the metal in her bracers, forming thick metal blades over her hands as she walked towards the side of the wreckage, ignoring the flames nearby and focusing on tearing the scrapheap apart until she found her old friend.
A shrill noise like that of a drill came from within the reaches of the wreckage, and something broke through the section she was about to lay into with her blades and metalbending.
Tenzin tumbled out of the rough hole he had just made, the coiled spiral mass of air in his hand disappeared into thin air as a small sigh escaped his lips. He coughed and sputtered, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily. He noticed her. "Lin..." whatever he said next was drowned out by a massive shudder going through the wreckage. Lin immediately recognised the sound of the pressurized fuel tank's integrity being compromised, and acted.
Without stopping she scooped up Tenzin and threw him over her shoulder, before running towards the other side of the roof and firing a cable down into the cement. She grunted as she dropped off the roof into the open air, the wire trailing up above them and the spool on her back spinning furiously as they fell.
At the right moment she forced the spool to stop and hold in place. Their fall was abruptly arrested and Lin cried out, gritting her teeth as her arm started to throb heavily.
With a growl she grew a small blade out of her bracer and moved her arm up and down, ignoring the burning pain in her shoulder as she sawed through the metal cabling.
Seconds later the cable snapped and deposited the two of them on the footpath running the road on the other side of the building. She laid there to catch her breath, before looking over at Tenzin to check if he was okay. Her old friend gave her a smile as he coughed and sputtered. "Th-thank you, Lin." He swallowed and then looked at her again. "My family are they-"
While gaining her own breath back she glanced at him and nodded, returning his smile. "Safe and sound back on the island. Jinora wanted to rush out to help me find you, but I managed to calm her down. Don't thank me. You'll be answering to Pema when all this is over."
Through his coughs he managed to laugh, although quickly it subsided into a fit of more coughing and sputtering. "And Saikhan?"
"We got him out of the wreckage. He's out cold though."
He nodded, taking a few deep breaths as he looked over Celestial Square towards City Hall. "Telei got the drop on me." He looked over at her. "I need to get to City Hall. There is something being held there that he wants. He engineered this entire catastrophe just to get a chance."
"Tenzin, I need to get you to a Hospital, I can go after him-"
"No Lin." He got to his feet, wiping a hand across his mouth and taking in a deep breath of air. "I need to fix my mistake. He has done enough damage and it needs to stop."
She fell silent, studying her feet for a few seconds before letting of her sigh. "Fine. But I'm sticking with you."
Knowing that she never took no for a answer he nodded. She stood up and went over to him, looping a supportive arm around his waist while grabbing a radio out of the holster on her belt. "Mak, its Lin. I found Tenzin, how is the situation at the arena?"
Tenzin glanced at her with a look of worry as static came back on the radio, before Makei's voice managed to break through. "Lin? The arena's secure and we've rounded up a majority of the Agni Kais involved. Turns out there were fewer of them than we assumed. Rin and the Chief assisted with the evacuation of civilians and are out in the city now, assisting wherever they can. And the hospital is now secure. Is Tenzin alright?"
"He managed to get caught underneath a airship as it crashed into a building. A few bruises but luckily his scrawniness worked out for him." A smirk tugged at her lips at the exasperated look on Tenzin. She just couldn't help getting in those digs. "We're on our way to contain the situation up at City Hall. Tenzin thinks this entire attack was a smokescreen to gain access inside."
"Smokescreen for who?"
"The so called 'Gray Man'." She answered with no small amount of distaste in her mouth.
"Him again. Be careful, you two. I can't do much more than point a squad in your direction, what with Saikhan-" Lin closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped as she heard Mak's voice trail off for a few seconds before coming back. "Just get the bastard and don't get killed. Makei out."
"Will do, Mak. See you soon."
Lin placed the radio back in her holster, just as Tenzin's hand touched hers. "I think I can walk on my own now." She nodded, not saying a word as he moved a short distance away from her and took a deep breath, steadying himself as he stood before the pair of double doors leading into the building. "Are you ready?"
She quickly buried her concern for him and nodded, growing out a metal blade over her forearm. "Lead the way, old friend."
Nodding, he reached towards the door but stopped as a stray thought crossed his mind. He took a deep breath and adjusted his mantle, making sure it sat square on his shoulders again. Lin made a irritated grunt but didn't comment. He squared his shoulders and used a stream of reversed air to pull the heavy door towards him, slowly swinging it open and making the gap between each thick slab larger enough to get through.
Steeling himself one last time he headed through the other side.
The entirety of the hall was dimly lit, barely enough for him to see by as he surveyed the benches ahead and the council table at the far end. He stood still, waiting until Lin had stepped through before advancing further into the space.
Just as the two of them reached the first of the long benches the doors slammed shut behind them, and the sound of a blade being drawn and heavy labored breathing caught their attention.
His vision adjusted enough for him to notice Telei standing at the far end of the hall in front of the steps, his arm wrapped around the neck of a young man with a ponytail and shifty eyes and a blade held out by his side, pointed down at a kneeling old man.
"Tenzin-" Ling stopped as the arm around his neck squeezed harder, making it hard for him to breath. He breathed heavily as he looked down the hall, one eye closed shut by a hefty bruise. "Its you this freak wants. Get away from here!"
"Telei, release him! This is between you and me!"
"I am here for a altogether different reason, Tenzin... as the Earth Kingdom Councilman here can confirm. Stand." His grip on Ling tightened a little as Shizu nodded and got to his feet, his back turned to Tenzin and Lin.
"You'll pay for what you've done, you monster!" Lin extended the metal on her bracers into thick blades and ran down the length of the hall before Tenzin could stop her, boots echoing in the empty space as she readied her blades and uplifted the section of floor underneath her back foot. Propelling into the air she lunged towards Telei, both blades extended and ready to end his life-
"Metalbenders." He shook his head as his grip suddenly tightened on Ling's throat. The boy cried one last gasp before slackening. Telei let him drop to the floor and waited until Lin was just in arm's reach before slashing his sword towards her. She cried out in alarm as the keen edge sliced cleanly through her own blades, lopping off the tips and sending them flying before her stunned eyes.
He smirked as he lifted his palm and the air shimmered between them. A overwhelmingly solid mass of air slammed into Lin with everything it had, winding her, beating down on her senses until everything was muffled and sending her flying back down the hall, sliding along the floor towards Tenzin.
"Lin!" He reached a hand towards her, stepping forward to loose a short burst of wind at Telei before stooping down to grab her, without warning a strong grip clung onto his collar and propelled him into the air, forcing him watch helplessly as Lin crashed into the wall head on with a loud crack.
A sigh eked out of Shizu as he slumped to the floor again, now unconscious.
"Excellent. That leaves us in peace." A voice whispered in his ear.
Celestial Square.
He opened his eyes, hissing and immediately clamping a hand down on his side as he tried to regain his bearings. Quickly he noticed with no small amount of surprise that he was leaning against the fountain at the center of the huge square in front of city hall.
"Hey, you were out for a while. You okay?" Tai blinked away the blurriness and saw Korra nearby, her hands covered in healing water as she ran them over Naga's sides and chest.
Tai winced at the burn marks marring the Polar-Bear Dog's magnificent white fur. And winced at every whimper and growl coming out of her as she rested on the ground, panting heavily. "Is she-"
"Naga managed to scare them off, that's how we got away. She got a few burns."
He nodded. "Thanks, Naga." The polar-bear dog looked at him and barked once, before laying her head back down on her paws. He looked down at his feet. "I think that was the leader of the Agni Kai's back there. He knew my dad."
"I'm glad we didn't stick around long enough to find out why." Korra moved over to him and offered her hand for him to take. "Come on, City Hall's waiting."
She pulled him up, hovering nearby just in case. He rolled his shoulders and nodded, showing her a thumbs up. Squaring his shoulders he started walking, hoping that he wasn't too badly injured for what faced them inside the building up ahead.
Korra caught up to him, leading Naga by the reins and keeping a constant hand on the polar-bear dog's side. For her own peace of mind or to calm down her longtime companion, she wasn't sure.
Once again, the far off squeal of police sirens and people shouting in the distance started getting to her. She tried blocking them out but didn't succeed. She glanced at Tai, thinking that any conversation was better than no conversation.
"What was your dad like?"
He arched a eyebrow as he looked at her, but didn't stop walking. "He always had time for Tarrin and me." Despite himself he chuckled, realizing that he just did something that his dad always hated. "He also hated it when I said stuff like that. Made it his mission in life to teach me and my brother to speak properly."
"He sounds nice."
"He'd go bananas if he ever met you. He knew Aang, but a lot of the time they never saw eye-to-eye."
She stopped for a moment, giving him a incredulous look just as they neared the steps to City Hall. "How come?"
"Don't know." He shrugged, and looked up the steps. His eyes narrowed. "We're here."
Korra nodded, moving towards Naga's ear while scratching the side of her nose. "Stay here girl, don't get into any trouble." She patted Naga's flank, watching as Naga laid down near the steps, she watched Korra follow Tai up the steps and made a sharp and short bark.
It wasn't long before the two of them stood in front of the double doors. He found he was clenching his hands, and had to focus on relaxing them. Expelling a deep breath he glanced at Korra and gave one curt nod, ready for round two.
She gripped the edge of the door and pulled, grunting a little with the effort before managing to pull on it enough for the door to fully swing open with a loud grind as it scraped against the stones underneath, never designed to be opened like that.
Together, the two of them headed inside.
Tenzin could barely keep his eyes open, let alone stop the swirling in his vision and focus on Telei. Amidst a mess of broken benches and chunks of stone that had been taken out of the nearby stone columns lining the room he faced him down. Despite all that he had his arms up, hands and fingers loose and stance wide, ready to dodge another onslaught from that blade at a moment's notice.
Still even he had to accept that he could barely stand, let alone keep up a pitched fight against the broken man in front of him. "I'm surprised you managed to last this long. Those sparring matches only lasted up to a minute at most. You know coming here was a mistake."
"Maybe. But I couldn't let you threaten the world again. With whatever your plan is."
"Your father and his friends interrupted my attempt last time. Now that they're all gone and buried I hardly think you will be able to do anything about it."
"I can still try. The least I can do is protect Korra and Tai from you."
Telei tilted his head. "Hmm? I think that might prove difficult if they came to me." The swordmaster smirked at the sound of the heavy doors to the hall being opened.
Tenzin's breathing grew ragged as he heard footsteps running down the hall towards where he stood. He swallowed and scowled, forcing himself to stay focused on his opponent.
"Tenzin!"
"Stay... back." He warned, his voice tired and strained as he took a few steps towards Telei, standing straight with his blade drawn. He would protect both of them no matter what.
Telei's eyes flashed dangerously as they fixated on the boy, and the air around him shimmered.
He just couldn't keep track of his former friend as he bore down on the boy, his blade extended and about to plunge into the stunned Tai's chest.
Summoning up all the last dregs of his strength he had left he concentrated and focused on the space in between him and Tai, whipping the air behind him into a frenzy and catapaulting himself towards where his student stood.
A sigh escaped from Tenzin's lips as he halted the stream and shielded his student, having used a jetstream to intercept Telei. He coughed once and grunted as something cold and hard ran through him, sending lancing shocks all across his system.
Telei grunted and planted a foot on the wounded man's chest, kicking him back and pulling his sword out of Tenzin's stomach.
"No!"
Somewhere behind him Korra screamed, but everything sounded muted to him as Telei advanced on the boy. His vision blackened as Korra's terrified shout repeated itself in his thoughts. He pitched forward and slumped to the floor.
"Tenzin!"
Celestial Square.
Rain bucketed down as the three metalbending officers crossed the onto the road separating the square from the hall, sprinting flatout with their eyes set on City Hall.
"Sir, you didn't have to come with us-" Nisha looked back at her commander, seeing the look of grim determination on him as he pumped his arms, easily keeping pace with her and Hei as they slowed down a little, now going at a jog across the flat open parade ground just before the building itself.
"Everywhere else has been secured. City Hall is all that's left." Hei added in between breaths.
"Tenzin would do the same for me." Makei stated simply.
"Y-yes sir." She understood instantly, glancing over at Hei for a moment and agreeing with what he said.
"Is that the Avatar's Polar-Bear Dog?" Hei asked in surprise at the sight of seeing the large creature laying near the steps.
Makei's eyes narrowed as he got closer, now able to see the dark brown burn marks visible on the Polar-Bear Dog's side. "Yeah. Looks to be."
Naga looked up and barked at the three of them, getting to her feet and bounding up the steps of City Hall before they got closer.
"That's not good." Nisha murmured.
"Be ready for anything, lieutenant." Makei answered back, extending the bracers on his arms into thin claws and moving up the steps to follow the creature.
A curious whining noise greeted them as they reached the top of the steps, watching Naga standing on her hindquarters and trying to push the double doors with her paws, barking in fury and frustration. She stopped and landed back on her four feet, stepping back from the door and noticing the three of them as they carefully approached.
"Nisha, the door." Makei whispered, keeping a careful eye trained on the nervous creature.
She nodded and move forward, launching a wire and sinking it into the edge of the door. She activated her spool and retracted the wire, digging her heels in and grunting to swing the doors open.
As soon as they had opened up enough Naga sped through, her frenzied barks echoing throughout the hall along with each thunderous step she took on the formerly polished and uniform stone floor, now cracked in many places.
The Polar-Bear Dog kept going until she skidded to a halt, looking around and howling as she searched for her owner.
"What happened-" Hei began to ask, stopping himself as he stepped through with his wires up, Nisha doing the same. She glanced at him as he spotted Lin on the floor nearby, beginning to stir and move around. "Commander Beifong!" Nisha cried in alarm, the two of them immediately moving to assist her.
Makei stepped in, sparing a worried look in Lin's direction before noticing Korra sitting against the wall to his side, her knees drawn up and shoulders shaking. "Avatar, what happened-"
She looked up at him, her eyes wet.
He watched as she lifted a arm and pointed further into the hall. "I couldn't do anything." She whispered.
Makei followed her finger, feeling the sinking feeling in his gut grow when he noticed Bumi and Kya standing rooted to the floor up ahead in the dimness. He grimaced and moved forwards and spotted Tenzin lying on the floor, his normally orange robes soaked in blood. A boy; his student, knelt over him, holding a bundled up bunch of dark clothing over his stomach and pressing down as much as he could while, grunting with each press.
Nisha and Hei helped Lin up, her face a stony mask as she turned away from the horrible sight behind her and walked straight towards Korra. Without a word she knelt down in front of her, gently clasping her shoulders. The girl shuddered as she tipped her head against Lin's chest armor, crying and gasping and shuddering.
Of their own accord Makei's fingers found the radio in his holster, bringing up to his lips. "We need a medical team down at City Hall." He spoke quietly into the speaker, voice devoid of any emotion or inflection.
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