Chapter XXXIV: Confrontation
Jin and Rei stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, Jin lowered in his bending stance, Rei still upright. Jin waited, ready to block any attack Rei might throw at him. Rei smirked, and suddenly shot a jet of fire at Jin- he raised a wall of stone from the ground, blocking the stream. He punched the wall several times, launching several stones at her. She punched her fists together, creating a sphere of wind that deflected the stones. Jin slammed both hands against the wall, sending it sliding toward Rei, but without hesitation, she rooted herself, drew back her arm, and punched the wall, blasting it apart.
Jin swung his arm then made a sweep kick, sending out two air swipes. Rei slid under the first, but failed to avoid the second, and was thrown onto her stomach. She twisted her hand against the ground, and an earth spire tore from the ground and headed directly toward Jin. With a blast of air, he jumped over the spire, and launched two large jets of flame at the downed Rei. She brought up a shell from the bricks of the wall, and the two jets struck, scorching it, but leaving Rei otherwise unharmed. He was about to land a blow to split the shell open when spikes suddenly shot out- Jin launched a blast of air to propel himself away from the spike-coated shell.
When he landed, the shell suddenly exploded into thousands of tiny projectiles. Jin spun his arms, creating a shield to divert most of the stones. Before Rei could launch another attack, he focused, trying to gather as much moisture as he could from the air. From the dust around where Rei had been, a vortex of air shot toward him; with a swing of his arm, Jin raised a rock wall, and the vortex slammed harmlessly into it. All the while, Jin never took his focus off gathering the water. He sent the wall toward Rei with a kick, but Rei easily jumped over it. But Jin had gathered enough moisture- he lashed out his arm, a water whip shooting forward. Rei swung her arm, sending out an air swipe that sliced through his water whip and headed straight toward him. He jumped back to avoid it, but suddenly, the earth wrapped around his foot, knocking Jin onto his back.
Rei set on him instantly, straddling his chest. She brought up her fist, a flame igniting an inch from her knuckles, and punched down toward him. He caught her wrist, the flame only inches from his face. She pushed down; Jin's muscles strained, but the flame inched closer and closer. Then, with a powerful shove, he forced Rei's arms to the ground next to his head, missing by only a few inches. Then, he drew back his right arm and punched Rei in the face as hard as he could. The blow hit dead-on, sending Rei reeling. He thrust out his arms, hitting Rei one last time with an earth column to the chest. Jin quickly got to his feet, while Rei staggered to hers. "How could you?" she asked mockingly. "I'm a lady!" She spat up a small amount of blood, but instead of falling to the ground, it hovered in the air for a few moments. Then Rei thrust out her arm, and the blood shot toward him, hardening into a long, sharp needle. Jin swung his arm in a very wide arc, creating a massive torrent of air that deflected the blood needle and headed straight for her. She drove her heel into the ground, raising a rock wall that easily blocked the wind.
The wall began sliding directly at him. He jumped over it, only to be met with Rei. She delivered a powerful axe kick, which knocked Jin, too surprised to defend himself, to the ground again. He landed on his back. Rei fell toward him, coating her fist with the numerous small stones that were strewn along the top of the wall. Jin rolled out of the way, as Rei's fist impacted the ground where his head had just been. Jin kicked his legs out, knocking out Rei's feet from under her and bringing him back onto his feet- with an airbending-assisted backflip, Rei landed on her feet as well. She charged, drawing back her arm for another punch- Jin blocked it with his metal prosthetic, and quickly pinned Rei's arm with his own.
"You know, you should've surrendered while you still had the chance," she said, as she tried to pull her arm free. "At least then you could have lived."
"I'd never surrender to you."
"Suit yourself." The rock fist suddenly crumbled away under Jin's arm, allowing Rei to pull hers free. Without stopping, she drew her arm back and hit Jin right across the jaw. The blow caught him completely by surprise, almost knocking him off his feet. He quickly crossed both arms, bringing up a shell so he could recover in relative safety. But mere seconds after he brought it up, a fist punched through the wall of his shield. "You can't hide from me!" Rei called out to him in a mocking voice. "Come out and fight like a man!" Another fist punched through the wall. Jin thought to himself, Maybe I can hide, and quickly set to work.
The wall blasted open, with a massive jet of fire shooting in immediately after. Rei slowly stepped in, and looked around- the shell was empty. Just then, she felt something wrap around her ankle- she looked down to see a hand sticking up from the ground, gripping her ankle. The ground Rei stood on suddenly softened, quickly hardening once she had sunk up to her neck. Jin tore himself up from the stone and got back onto his feet. Rei struggled against the stone but failed to break through. Them, she locked eyes with Jin for a moment and smirked before suddenly disappearing into the ground. Jin's jaw dropped- moments later, Rei burst from the ground behind him, hand swathed in fire. Just in time, Jin spun and brought up his prosthetic, blocking the blow. She swung with her other arm- Jin blocked this as well. She threw several more fire-enhanced punches, and even a few kicks, that Jin blocked with his prosthetic. But each swing gradually became slower than the one that had come before. And Jin's blocks slowed down as well. Eventually, both barely had the strength to raise their arms. They staggered away from each other, both trying to catch their breath- Jin fell to his knees; Rei bent over. Sweat dropped from the two of them like rain.
As subtly as he could, Jin began to gather the sweat that fell to the ground. Then, his arm snapped forward, the sweat hardening into a long, sharp needle of ice. Rei's arm shot up, and she caught the needle between her fingers. "Nice try," she said between breaths, before breaking the needle in half. She rushed toward him- Jin began to create a wind drill in preparation. When she was in range, he shot forward and swung the wind drill at her- she slid under it, but not before the very tip caught the side of her face, making a long, shallow cut. Only now, with Rei right under him, did Jin realize how serious of a mistake he made- he had left himself wide open to a counterattack, and there was no possibility that he could defend himself. Rei must have realized this as well, because as soon as she was under him, she shot a fireball directly at his chest. Jin tried to jump back- there was no hope of avoiding the fireball completely, but at the very least, he could try to avoid being hit in such a sensitive area. The fireball hit Jin dead in his left shoulder; he cried out in pain, the scorched skin burning in the open air. He dropped down to one knee, trying to cradle his burn, but already preparing his next move. Rei began to advance slowly toward him; again, as subtly as he could, Jin extended the index finger of his right hand and began to focus all his energy there. Rei held up her arm, a flame igniting in her hand. She was only a few feet away; at that moment, Jin swung out his arm in a wide arc, creating a wind scythe. Instantly, a rock wall shot up from the ground, but the wind scythe cut straight through it. In the small gap that the wind scythe created, he watched as Rei's eyes and mouth widened in shock as the wind scythe formed a very long cut across her face.
A bloodcurdling scream sounded as the wall crumbled into dust. Jin quickly got to his feet; Rei's attention snapped toward him, eyes burning with pure hate, blood pouring down her face. "That's it," she growled, "I'm gonna end this right now." She took a familiar looking stance, and as fast as she could, began drawing a circle in the air, lines of electricity following her movements. Then, she thrust out her arm, a massive bolt of lightning emerging. It arced toward Jin, who was readying himself. Ignoring the pain, he shot out his left arm, taking in the bolt as he traced a line with his right hand down from the tip of his arm to his shoulder and down to his stomach. He could feel the raw power of Rei's lightning coursing within his body- just like the first time he used energybednding those many weeks ago, he felt as though any movement would cause the energy inside him to beak free and destroy him. For one brief instant, he considered firing the lightning right back at Rei, but dismissed the notion- instead, he shot his arm out to the right, and the bolt fired out over the city. In spite of himself, Jin said to Rei, "You're going to have to do better than that." He began focusing his own energy, electricity beginning to crackle in the palm of his hand. His arm lashed out, and a bolt of electricity whipped out at Rei. She was far too stunned to even try to avoid it.
The moment the bolt made contact, she let out a cry of pain, her entire body convulsing uncontrollably. In her stunned state, she staggered and tripped over her own feet, falling on her back. Immediately, the stone floor closed over her hands, pinning her down. Jin strode over to her, arm outstretched, preparing to charge another bolt of lightning; when he reached her, he glared down at her, arm outstretched. But something felt… wrong. His arm began to shake- he gripped it with his other hand, trying to steady his aim, but his trembling grew stronger, until his entire body began to shake.
He couldn't do it.
He couldn't kill Rei. In his mind, he screamed to fire at her, but his body simply refused to obey. He remained locked in that position, arm outstretched, his other arm gripping it. He was suddenly brought back to reality when Rei let out a short laugh. And another. And another. And each time, her laugh became a little longer, and a little louder. Eventually, it grew to a manic pitch that unnerved Jin greatly, before it abruptly stopped and she said, "I knew you couldn't do it." She kicked out her leg; a rock spire then shot out of the ground and hit Jin directly in the chest. The blow knocked him right off his feet and onto his back, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Rei broke out of her restraints, and before Jin could recover, pinned his arms and legs to the ground. "You want to know what the difference is between you and me?" she asked as she strode toward him. She immediately answered her own question, "You simply don't have what it takes to see things through to the end." Jin felt an earth column push against his back, pushing him up into a sitting position. "You know Jin, I was planning to keep you alive after this, but I've decided that it's more trouble than it's worth." She ran a hand over Jin's face; the act brought back many uncomfortable memories, and tried to pull away, in vain. Rei turned and began to walk away. "It's a shame. I had so much in store for you. I guess I'll have to make do with someone else." She stopped some distance away and turned back toward him. "I think I'll start with that earthbender. Let's see… first, I think I'll take her other eye. Then, I'll--"
Jin didn't hear anything after that point. White light began to pour from his eyes and the gaps in his prosthetic; seemingly without effort, he tore his way out of his restraints and was quickly on his feet again. But Jin was hardly aware of what he was doing. His mind was completely blank, save for one thought- the searing need to protect Toph. He could see Rei creating another bolt of lightning. He charged her, using a technique that, until that moment, had been not only unknown, but inconceivable- he moved so quickly that for a brief instant, he completely disappeared from Rei's sight. It didn't matter to him that his attack didn't use any bending. He would protect Toph if all he had left were his own two hands. He'd already let her be hurt once, and to him, that was already one time too many.
A pained gasp escaped from Rei's throat. Her vision was filled by Jin's face, eyes glowing, face twisted into immeasurable fury. The lightning bolt fired right past him, dissipating only a few feet away. A pain unlike any she had ever felt in her life coursed through her body, concentrating in her midsection. She looked down- Jin's prosthetic arm had buried itself deep into her stomach, blood trickling down from the wound onto the ground. Then, Jin tore his arm out, and blood began to leak from Rei, falling like rain. "You…" she growled at him between gasps of pain, "I'll… I'll show you!" She thrust out her arm, but rather than the jet of fire she expected, all that emerged were a few weak sparks. She tried to take a step forward, but her legs refused to obey, and she fell forward onto her face. She couldn't see, but there was another hole in her back, lined up directly with the one in her front. She got up on her elbows, and began to drag herself to where Jin stood. She only moved a few feet when her arms gave out- try as she might, she couldn't move. All she could do was lie, helpless, her breaths shallow and weak.
Then, for reasons that Jin would never be able to adequately explain to himself, he approached Rei, bent down on one knee, and cradled her in his arms. "…you're a fool," She said weakly to him. "Don't you know…? I could kill you at any moment." Jin didn't call her bluff; he knew she was dying. He had no way of knowing how long she had left, bit it couldn't be more than a few minutes. She coughed violently, blood splattering against Jin's face before she said, "If you're expecting me to repent… then you're wasting your time."
Jin responded to this by saying, "I don't."
"Then why are you still here?"
Jin was silent for several moments. "…I don't know." He fell silent again
Rei shivered. "It's… cold." Her voice was a whisper, and almost inaudible. Inexplicably, he pulled her close to his body, and began taking several deep breaths, feeling his body warm internally. Rei's shivers faded, and he heard her ask, "…why?" Again, Jin had no answers, no explanations, no possible way to justify why he was comforting an enemy in her dying moments. He almost knew for a fact that if their situations had been reversed, she would not be doing the same for him.
Suddenly, Rei grabbed Jin's hand and pulled it against her chest. "No… it's too soon… I'm not ready…" she breathed, her voice so faint he could barely hear her. Jin gripped her hand, and replied in a voice that wasn't quite his own, "We rarely are." Jin felt her breathing slow and weaken, her pulse fade gradually, until, all at once, her breathing hitched, and she clutched his hand as tightly as she could. Then, her body slackened. Her hand slipped out of his and fell against the ground. He continued to hold her for several moments; then, as gently as he could, Jin laid Rei against the ground. He looked down at her face for a moment, pondering the lines of tears around her half-closed eyes. Were they tears from the pain? Or were they from fear- the fear of dying, of the unknown? He would never know.
He bent down over the body. He felt as if he had to… say something- it didn't feel right to just leave her without paying some sort of last respect. His eyes glowed for a brief instant, and some words were imprinted in his head. They seemed… cliché, but still appropriate. He said to the body, "Do not be afraid of the darkness, but welcome its embrace." He brought his forefinger and thumb up to Rei's eyelids, and with a little assistance from waterbending, pulled them closed. "May you rest in peace… Rei."
He stood up. Rei might be dead now, but the battle wasn't over yet. There was still one last thing he had to take care of.
The water in the air hardened around Kohta, encasing him in armor of ice. He charged toward the man in front of him, creating a blade from his armor. He swung furiously at the man, but each time, he was able to evade. The man spotted an opening, and without hesitation, shot a rock spire at Kohta. The spire struck hard, knocking Kohta back and shattering his armor. The man turned, sending out an air swipe that knocked Nina on her back. From her downed position, she fired a stream of flame at the man, but he created a rock wall to block it. Then, Nina was thrown into the air by a column of earth, only to be slammed into the ground again by a spiraling pillar of air.
"I would certainly hope that the Avatar's mentors would be stronger than this!" Rao called. His forces had been able to force a path through the White Lotus's defenses, and now, they stood in a thoroughfare just inside the city. Then, he saw someone gliding straight toward him- the person repositioned themselves, and swung the glider, creating a massive air swipe. Rao easily avoided the attack, landing a few feet from where he had stood. The other landed several yards away. He recognized him right away- the Avatar. Even from his distance, Rao could see blood splattered against the Avatar's face and arm. He knew what it meant.
His daughter, in spite of her strength, had fallen.
He took a deep breath; there would be a time to mourn, but now was not that time. Sorrow welled inside him, but seeing this boy, this boy who had taken his daughter away from him, caused the sorrow to ignite into hatred. "Avatar," he said, his voice more calm than he felt. "I was hoping you would show up."
"Give up, Rao," the Avatar said. "Rei's dead. You don't have any chance of winning."
"Your army is on the run. My forces stand at the cusp of taking this city. I've come too far to turn back." He could see the Avatar lower himself into a bending stance- firebending, specifically. "I'll give you one last chance. Surrender now and I won't have to hurt you."
Rao widened his base, and dropped into an earthbending stance. "Do your worst."