Chapter 44: Twilight of the Old Regime
Trouble in the Fire Nation! As if Amon's new Equalist revolution striking the Fire Nation at it's heart wasn't bad enough, now Azula has returned intending to take back her family's throne for herself! Elsewhere, Republic City descends further into chaos as cultists and equalists run rampant, but Lin Bei-Fong has gotten her bending back, and is looking to turn the tide! Finally, Zaheer and Yao have freed Ming Hua and Ghazan, and now Zuko fears they're coming for the still imprisoned P'li next!
-X-
No sooner had Azula and Yanwu's Elite shown up did dozens if not hundreds of spectators suddenly, seem to lose all interest in the stand-off between Korra, Amon, and Tarrlok, at least going by how they took off as fast as their legs could carry them. For those that remained, they saw Azula move forward more so that she was closer to her niece and the rest of her estranged family.
"Good afternoon, everyone." Azula remarked in a deceptively friendly tone before turning to face and speak to Fire Lady Tianshang directly. "Now that I've gotten that insipid and obligatory introduction out of the way, all of you leave my palace at once."
"Your palace?"
"Yes, don't you know royalty when you see it?" Azula asked condescendingly. "…or has the once proud bloodline of my family become even more diluted in my absence than I thought?"
"What do you want, Aunt Azula?" the Fire Lady demanded.
"What is rightfully mine. The throne you sit on."
"That will never happen. Not while I and my heirs still draw breath."
Azula let out a chuckle as warm as a blizzard. "I'm so glad you feel that way. Otherwise I'd have brought them for no reason." As Azula said this she cocked her head to the side to indicate the arrival of several men and women clad from head to toe in black, gold, and violet attire, with their faces completely covered by stylized golden helmets made to resemble a human face, with all of the masks showing the same face regardless of the wearer's gender.
"Who are they?"
"Oh you want to know, do you? Let's just say they're...'insurance', of a kind. Namely, insuring that I take what is rightfully mine. After of course, I pry it from your cold, dead hands."
"You dare?" High General Ying snarled in response to Azula's threatening his wife. He turned to several of the firebenders. "Seize her. She's a traitor to our Nation."
Azula let out another soulless laugh. "A traitor. Oh that's rich." She shook her head before turning to the men in black, gold, and violet. "Kill them all."
The gold-masked men nodded wordlessly before running forward. Some shot out torrents of fire that Korra, Amon, and Tarrlok all moved to one side to avoid, as others still caused huge chunks of earth to burst forth out of the ground and ripple upwards. Yet more shot out water-whips, and others still even let out gusts of wind.
"That's not possible…those men are airbenders."
The multi-elemental assault these men and women unleashed was responded with a flurry of firebending attacks of all kinds from the Fire Lady's retinue, with Bolin also doing what he could against the assailants. Soon the yard had descended into complete chaos, with elements of all types flying in every direction, and people screaming and shoving at one another to get out of the way of whatever was being sent towards them.
Seeing that the tide of battle had now turned against him and his followers, Amon shouted out to the Equalists to hold fast and rally to him. A whole surge of people made their way towards him and away from the intense bending battle, as all the while the Fire Nation forces backed up by Korra, Bolin, and Tarrlok did what they could to keep back the men and women in the golden masks. Once he got his forces consolidated, Amon had his followers charge towards all of the benders in a bloodthirsty surge, smashing into both Yanwu's forces and Tianshang's men and adding a third fighting party to the already chaotic conflict as all around more and more of the crowd continued to run away.
As Korra exchanged attacks with one of the airbending men, all the while incredulous as to how he could airbend in the first place, Bolin found himself coming under heavy fire from two of the golden-masked men, one shooting fireballs, and the other chunks of Earth. Bolin re-directed what he could of the latter, but as he sent one of his own attacks in the direction of the firebending one, the man surprised Bolin by not only sliding and ducking under the projectile, but then sending out a gust of wind that blasted him backwards. As he went tumbling, the one whom Bolin had taken for a fellow earthbender was now shooting fireballs of his own in Bolin's direction. Bolin kept himself rolling, also sending up chunks of raised earth to block the fireballs. As this was happening, the still-panicking crowd continued to flee in different directions, with several of them nearly trampling Bolin underfoot before he was able to get himself back on his feet. All the while, he was thinking: These guys can bend more than one element! These guys can bend one more element! How can they do that?
Korra had since caught on to this as well, her opponent weaving fire and waterbending attacks into his otherwise mostly airbending assault. When he began mixing some earthbending moves into his fighting style as well, Korra knew what it meant.
He found a way to make his own…
As Korra, Bolin, Tarrlok, and numerous firebenders all continued to square off against Yanwu's Avatars, Azula and her Elite made their way to the Fire Lady herself. The crimson clad elite put themselves between the Fire Lady and Azula, but Yanwu's Elite dispersed them without too much trouble, their punishing amethyst fire forcing the royal procession back more and more, as Azula continued on straight for her niece.
What she got in response was a bolt of lightning that she saw coming in time to make use of a little technique she'd lifted off of her brother and late uncle, the one thing they had ever been good for in her mind.
Tianshang's eyes widened in shock as Azula kept the lightning at bay and then after outstretching her other hand sent it arcing off in a different direction, purposefully aiming at still fleeing civilians just to be spiteful. "You didn't really think that I couldn't learn any technique my simpleton brother and uncle picked up, did you?" Her lips stretched into a wider smile. "You're such a disappointment."
Glaring darkly, Tianshang shot out a blast of fire the color of the summer sky, as she did shouting at her husband to fall back and protect their daughters. Ying nodded in acknowledgment and ran off with several more of the royal procession. Most men in his position would have objected or resisted, but he did not. He was confident that his wife could handle herself against Azula.
The exchange of cool-colored fire continued between the two women, streaks of blue and indigo dancing across the sky and painting the pair's vision in those same colors. Burning webs, arcs, and jets of fire were thrown about continuously, as all the while the two women also leaped and spun about with the grace, agility, and reflexes of people half their age. For a moment, it seemed as though Tianshang was getting the upper hand, forcing Azula back more and more with the same sky colored fire she herself had once used.
"Don't recognize your own trademarks, Aunt Azula?" The Fire Lady asked contemptuously. Azula rolled her eyes in response, but said nothing. Instead, she merely charged forward again, her indigo embers becoming streaks, waves, jets, and balls of flame when needed as time and again the Fire Lady kept her aunt's attacks at bay.
Back down in the yard, Bolin found himself continuing to struggle to keep back the multi-element assault of Yanwu's small army of Avatars. The masked men and women usually telegraphed their change in bending styles right before they unleashed a new element, which proved to be the one critical weakness in their otherwise relentless fighting styles. Bolin did what he could to exploit this weakness, shooting out bits and pieces of rubble with as much speed and power as he could at the villainous Avatars, but there were over a dozen of the masked men and women that could all command all four elements, and only one of him.
And I'm not even a metalbender either. Bolin lamented, for the first time in a long while taking note of this limitation. I'm just a plain old regular earthbender.
Bolin dared to shoot a look over at Korra, and could see that she too was struggling to keep back the merciless hailstorm of different elemental attacks single-handed. Defeating one bender, or even several at once, was of course nothing new to the Avatar. But with her foes bending one element one moment and then another the next, fighting off any one of Yanwu's Avatars felt more akin to facing down four separate benders at a time, all of them at least a little bit skilled.
A large rock struck Korra in her back. She yelled out in pain as it smashed to pieces against her body and knocked her forwards. She went tumbling but rolled with the knock-down and recovered, as she did launching out her own earthbending attacks along with blasts of airbending and jets of fire. If her opponents were going to take full advantage of their multiple elements, Korra saw no reason not to do so herself.
There's only room for one Avatar. She thought. And it's me.
Yet another attack managed to hit her, this one a gust of wind that sent her briefly into the air. Korra recovered and sent a large, sweeping arc of flame out at Yanwu's Avatars to keep them back. As Bolin made his way to Korra's position, all the while under fire from rubble and fireballs both, he put his back to hers, the two nervously looking out at the four golden masked men and women encroaching towards them as meanwhile the other eight or so continued to tear through the Firebenders and overwhelm their defenses.
"Uh, Korra, this may be a bad time to lose my optimism, but I think we're kind of out of our league here."
"You're right." Korra admitted, for once swallowing her martial pride and admitting when she was outclassed. "We can't beat all of them, not by ourselves."
"Then I think we may want to bail."
"We're not leaving the Fire Nation in the hands of that maniac Azula."
Bolin's eyes darted back and forth nervously between the different golden masked men and women as they got closer and closer, with one having raised bits of earth floating about his person, a second with a sphere of air in her hands, and the third and fourth with water-whips over their arms.
"…I'm thinking we may not have much of a choice."
-X-
No sooner had Zuko's dragon descended on the Northern Water Tribe and touched the snowy ground, did Zuko disembark and go straight for the throne room. The guards all parted ways and stood to the sides when they saw that it was Zuko coming towards them. Upon reaching the doors, he needed only to knock once to get them to open and give him admittance. On his throne, Unalaq raised an eyebrow upon seeing him.
"Lord Zuko. This is certainly a surprise."
"Finally, something exciting happens." Eska remarked in a tone that did little to express the joy she was supposedly feeling at Zuko's arrival. "I've found life to be so dull without my turtle-duck Bolin at my side to amuse me..."
"This isn't a social visit, I'm afraid." Zuko said bluntly. "We need to check on the…'special' ice prison in the western tundra."
"You can't possibly…"
"You must not have heard." Zuko said, cutting Unalaq off. "Zaheer, Ghazan, and Ming Hua have all escaped from their cells. I don't have a single reason to believe they won't come for P'li. We need to make sure they don't free her too."
Unalaq sighed. "Very well, if you insist. And along the way, I want to know everything you know about the other break-outs. Starting with how they were able to escape."
"Well for starters, Zaheer's an airbender now."
-X-
"You're slowing down..." Azula remarked as she and her niece continued to exchange attacks before adding: "...but I still have stamina to spare!"
The Fire Lady said nothing in response, instead leaping backwards to avoid her aunt's next attack. The back and forth seemed to continue with no end in sight, the two firebender's fight being an impasse. Unfortunately, her retinue were not as skilled, most of them having by this point fallen against Yanwu's Elite and Avatars and their bodies sprawled out and littering the ground along with many of Amon's followers. Some of Yanwu's Avatars had fallen as well, but the majority were still standing, still hurling all four elements at what few foes of theirs remained, including Korra and Bolin.
A lucky chunk of rubble managed to hit Bolin in one of his legs, and that one attack finally succeeded where the others had failed in bringing him down. Korra caught Bolin as he fell, even though this left her open to a fireball to the back that knocked her down as well.
Seeing the Avatar in danger, Tianshang broke off her attack on Azula and darted towards Korra and Bolin's position, as she did launching ball after ball of blue fire to get the attention of Yanwu's Avatars. When several of them began zipping towards her, Tianshang briefly cleared herself of emotions, extended an arm, and shot out another blast of lightning. Unlike Azula, the pseudo-Avatar she struck did not know how to redirect the lightning, and the bolt struck him square in the chest, piercing armor and then flesh. The man gave a gasp of pain as his life left him and he fell down backwards into the ground. With this display of power, Tianshang now had the attention of all of Yanwu's Avatars, who wasted no time pummeling her with elemental attacks from all sides. This did cause them to turn their attentions away from Korra and Bolin however, something Tianshang had been counting on.
The last of Tianshang's retinue charged forward into Yanwu's Elite and Avatars, unleashing all the fire they could muster on them to draw their attention away from their ruler.
"Go, my lady! We'll hold them off for as long as we can!"
Fire Lady Tianshang nodded. "You will be honored for your sacrifice."
As the last of her retinue continued to do what they could to keep Yanwu's Elite and remaining Avatars busy, Tianshang rushed to Korra and Bolin's side. "This fight is not ours to win. Follow me."
Helping Korra to her feet, who in turn continued to hold onto Bolin and help him along, Tianshang guided the pair through the fleeing crowd, which even now had still not fully left. Azula shouted at Yanwu's Avatars to pursue, but Tianshang, Korra, and Bolin were swiftly swept up by the surging tide that was the fleeing crowd, and lost amongst the dozens of other people that made it up. Azula cursed loudly at how two of her most hated enemies had slipped her grasp, but her mood brightened considerably when she saw how the Fire Lady's retinue had now been completely defeated down to the last man in red. As Yanwu's Elite and Avatars stood over their foes bodies triumphant, Azula also looked out at the fires that were left behind.
Flashing a wicked smile as her golden eyes lit up with a feral madness and sadistic cruelty, Azula whipped around and shot out a torrent of indigo fire at the statue of her brother that stood proudly in the area overlooking the yard. She smiled as she saw her indigo flames dance across it's surface, the same cruel smile she'd had when she'd seen her brother be mutilated by their father, the sight reminding her of those fond memories and how his scream of pain still filled her ears as a sound sweeter than any music or melody.
"Everything burns." Azula noted happily.
By this point, Amon had decided to fall back as well, recognizing that the day was not destined to be his with so many of his followers already bested and more and more falling under the ruthless mutli-elemental assaults from Yanwu's Avatars. Seeing them, Amon found a bile rising to the tip of his throat as he saw what were in no uncertain terms the personification of everything that was evil with bending.
I will enjoy de-bending them the most. He thought as he, his son, and several dozen of their remaining followers fell back along with everyone else. As they ran though, Tarrlok ran after them, his eyes now back on Amon and able to catch sight of him before he vanished amidst the crowd.
Oh no, Amon. Tarrlok thought. You're not escaping from me again. One way or another, this ends today.
-X-
Lin breathed in and out deeply and slowly as she relaxed her body's muscles. In front of her various objects she wouldn't mind smashing or breaking had been set up. She may have shot out a metal whip at the one cultist, but she didn't take that as any kind of proof that her bending had returned in full. For all she knew that had just been a one-time thing. She had to be absolutely sure that she had in fact regained her power in full.
After a few moments more of mentally preparing herself, Lin entered a fighting stance and from there acted purely on instinct, using the same moves she had used over and over again for so many years it had become ingrained into her mind. That was something Amon could have never taken away.
And as it was, the results of these motions was the same as it had ever been. Metal whips shot outwards, disintegrating the vases they struck. Shards of metal decapitated other vases or else embedded themselves in targets Lin had set up, most of them landing right on the bullseye. Slamming her foot into the ground and heaving her arms, Lin was pleased to see columns of stone rise up and completely level whatever objects Lin's metal whips and shards hadn't already destroyed.
As Lin looked out at the large row of stone columns she'd raised, and then at all of the other damage she'd managed to do with her metalbending, her mouth formed into a rare smile.
Looks like I've got it back after all. Now to get back to business.
-X-
"Why didn't anyone tell us we have a secret prison we could have been throwing people in?" Eska demanded as she, her brother, father, and Zuko all entered the "special ice prison" Zuko had been referring to. Behind them, a fierce blizzard raged outside, which Zuko for one took as a grim presage of what was likely to come next.
"I'd like to put my tailor in here." Desna noted, adding on to his sister's comment. "He never gets my cuffs right. They're so…crease-y."
The group of four kept moving until they came up to the lift. A fence-gate opened, allowing the group to walk onto the lift. Once they were all on, the lift descended.
"We built this place secretly with your father here to hold a very special prisoner. She's a powerful firebender named P'li who can create explosions with her mind by firing out blasts of channeled chi that superheat the surrounding air and explode on impact. Ironically, I hired a guy with a similar ability to kill the Avatar once…" As Zuko said this, Unalaq's two children both looked at him with both interest and just a touch of surprise at how he of all people had once hired someone to kill Avatar Aang.
"…didn't work obviously." Zuko said.
"Oh, don't feel bad. I considered killing Korra after she convinced Bolin to break up with me. It happens."
"Let's just focus on keeping our friend in prison." Unalaq said, interceding. As he said this, the lift came to a stop and the door opened. Walking out, the group kept going to the icy tundra where P'li's prison was. A retractable bridge extended towards her cell. As they got on it and made their way to the prison, Zuko elaborated: "The intense cold prevents her from firebending."
"Well, there's certainly no way anyone's breaking out of here." Desna noted as he looked around the tundra.
"That's what we thought about the other three prisons too, and look what happened. We're not taking any chances."
Finally, the group of four closed in on P'li's cell. The woman's dark colored hair had grown out quite a bit, and loose unkempt locks of it hung in front of her face. But even with that her distinct "third eye" was still plainly visible, one that was identical to the mark of the infamous Combustion Man from the Hundred Year War whom Zuko had mentioned moments ago.
"There must be something exciting going on." P'li noted in-between fits of shivering, the long brown cloak draped around her body and the multiple layers of clothing behind that doing little to keep back the cold. "No one interesting has visited me in, oh, I think it's been thirteen years now? Yes, thirteen years. Long time to see anyone worth seeing."
"Don't get used to it, scum." Unalaq said coldly. But P'li had already deduced the reason for their visit.
"It's begun, hasn't it? The others are out and about again. And they're coming for me, aren't they?" P'li made a weak smiled and moaned contently. "I'm feeling warmer already."
-X-
Chief Saikhan looked up from his desk in surprise to see Lin Bei-Fong standing in his office decked out in her full armor.
"Bei-Fong? What are you doing here?"
"I can bend again." Lin said bluntly before adding: "And you know as well as I do that you need me back now more than ever. So to put it simply, I want a job."
Chief Saikhan raised an eyebrow before standing up. "You do realize of course that I cannot just allow you to pick up right where you left off as Chief of the Police. Especially since as I recall, you did resign prior to losing your bending."
Lin nodded. "I know. But I'm a bender again, and just as good as I've ever been at that. I know because I've tested myself. I haven't lost a thing. It's all there. And between that and my experience you know you could use me out there in the field. People are being attacked in their homes, Saikhan. People can't even step outside without fear of being attacked by equalists, cultists, or what's left of the three gangs. I'm not backing off on this."
Saikhan considered this for only a moment before nodding: "Very well. I'll see what I can do as far as getting you a place on the force goes. Considering some of my officers have quit recently on the grounds that it's 'the end of the world', I could probably use some new ones, and you are as a good a choice as any, I'll admit."
"That's more like it. Don't take too long wondering though. At the rate things are going the world might just be going to hell."
-X-
By the time the crowd had dispersed to any real degree, Korra, Bolin, and Fire Lady Tianshang were stuck in the middle of a street that was still densely packed and filled with people running off in all directions.
"So…any idea where we are now?" Bolin asked weakly, his leg injury still having not fully healed and Korra unable to take the time to heal him with their surroundings being as chaotic as they were.
"Shocking as this may sound, I actually don't know every street corner in my nation by name." Fire Lady Tianshang remarked in a deadpan before looking around. "…but I do think we may be close to a little failsafe of mine. Follow me."
Korra and Bolin did as they were told and followed Fire Lady Tianshang as she ducked through a few alleyways and down another street corner until at last she, Korra, and Bolin came upon a bald man. Upon seeing the Fire Lady, the man showed a tattoo on one of his arms before using firebending to open a complex-looking gate that then in turn revealed a tunnel.
"After you." Tianshang said.
Korra and Bolin made their way through first followed by Tianshang, with the bald firebender closing the gate behind them.
"My father conceived of this tunnel system, but I was the one who actually implemented the idea." Tianshang explained as she, Korra, and Bolin kept walking through the tunnels. "…even made a few improvements here and there, like having the entrances being hidden and only accessible via firebending like the doors to the main room of Avatar Roku's temple. In case we were ever invaded by an Earth Kingdom force or some other enemy for whatever reason. It meant that only we could access these tunnels."
"And you guys have them here because...?"
"In the event of a war or plague citizens could be shuffled through them to safety. My family will have gone through any one of the tunnel entrances installed in the palace by now. We'll meet up with them in the main hub."
"I take it that's where all the tunnels meet?" Korra asked.
Fire Lady Tianshang nodded. "Yes. It's big enough to house well over a third of my people. Took my entire reign to build, along with a good bit of my grandfather and great-grandfather's accumulated fortune. I wasn't sorry to see it go. Most of it was blood money anyway."
"You know, Miss Fire Lady, I just want to say you're already one of the absolute coolest people ever." Bolin said with a weak smile as he continued to limp along with Korra's aid.
Tianshang made a slight smile. "Heh, I'm glad you think so. I've long strived to make up for the legacy of atrocities that over half of my family have to their name. Even my father and uncle had their bad moments, you know. I intend to be the exact opposite of my grandfather and aunt."
"Well, I'd say you're doing a pretty good job of that." Korra remarked frankly. "I like you much better than your aunt too."
At this Tianshang couldn't help but laugh. "Music to my ears." she admitted. She turned to look at Bolin. "It's still a bit of a ways to the main hub. We can stop so you can heal your friend if you want."
Korra nodded. "Yes, thank you." Korra set Bolin down and began using waterbending healing on his leg. The injury was such that the process didn't take long, and soon Bolin was back on his feet.
"Ah, that feels so good. I will never get tired of your waterbending healing."
"Let's hope you won't need it again for a while." Korra remarked before adding sadly: "Although at the rate things are going, I don't know what to expect. I just hope the others back at Republic City are having better luck than we are…"
-X-
"So much for retaking my factory." Hiroshi said bitterly as he nervously looked out through the blinds on the window again.
"Your brat put up more of a fight than we thought." One of the chi-blockers admitted. This one dressed differently from the others, his attire mostly a violet purple with black boots, dark gray gloves, and small bits of armor of a steel gray on his chest. His mask was also purple, with the opaque lenses in the goggles an orange instead of red.
"…and she had her boyfriend with her too. We weren't expecting that kind of resistance."
"Evidently not." Hiroshi noted contemptuously before turning to face the chi-blocker again. "And how dare you speak of my daughter that way! Asami is—"
"The enemy." The purple masked man said darkly. "Just like all others who stand against the righteousness of Amon's cause. It's time you remembered that. Otherwise me and the others might come to regret going to the trouble of busting you out of prison."
"Oh believe me, if I ever give you cause to regret freeing me, you'll know it." Hiroshi said in a tone to match the masked man's, his eyes boring into the blank orange opaque lenses of the chi-blocker's goggles.
The man reached for one of the many knives he had in sheaths attached to either his hips or his belt. "Try me."
"Both of you shut up." Another Chi-Blocker said, this one dressed more like all the others as opposed to the more individual appearance of the one Hiroshi was butting heads with. "The less noise we make right now, the better."
"They'll find us soon enough anyway." The purple one noted. "When they do, we need to be prepared to fight them off. To the death if need be."
"Without my mecha-tanks I'm of little use in a fight." Hiroshi pointed out. "I need to get access to at least some of my notes and schematics, as well as some halfway decent resources. Otherwise, none of you will ever get a single mecha-tank or shock-glove out of me."
"Dully noted." The purple one said sarcastically before adding: "I guess it's time you and I went on a little side-trip."
"We?"
The masked man nodded. "Yeah. You go in the direction you need to go in, and I make sure you don't get killed or arrested along the way."
Hiroshi nodded. "Very well. We're not too far from one of my smaller factories, but just to be on the safe side we may wish to go after one that's further away from our current position. If we're spotted it will be harder for the police to trace our steps."
"Good point." One of the other Chi-Blockers noted before adding: "Fine then. You and Zhen go to whichever factory you want."
Zhen twirled one of his knives about as this was said. "Alright then. Let's get moving."
Author's Note: Man, talk about an action-heavy chapter! Had to squeeze in so many different players into the big fight, which was hard to do. Still, it made for a nice action set-piece though. And I can promise you all that the situation in the Fire Nation will get much, much worse before it gets better. In fact, the next chapter is going to be pretty bleak period. But we will also get more action scenes for Amon, so that's good.
Truth be told, this is one of those times where I really wish I had some official art to go along with my story. With the Fire Nation soldiers in particular I imagine them looking like the post-WWII soldiers of East and West Germany, since I see the 100-Year War era Fire Nation as being kind of like the Nazis, it would be fitting if their post-war counterparts looked like the post-WWII German military, both East and West. As for Yanwu's Avatars, I definitely had a certain vision for how they would look as well. Would've been nice to have gotten to show that with art. Ah well. Can't do everything.
