Kuvira hated to admit it, but she was afraid. No, she was terrified. She wasn't terrified of the man sanding behind her. She wasn't terrified of losing her life. What she was terrified of, was what that would mean.
I'll never see Korra again...
For nearly two decades she'd done everything in her power to get rid of her fear. But now, in just a few moments, it all came flooding back. She could tell Asami was also being controlled, otherwise she wouldn't hesitate to try and fight the man who had kidnapped her.
"I'm sorry to just drop in like this, I really should've called first." Jeong Shu said with a laugh, finally walking around in front of her and revealing himself. He was almost unrecognizable to her. Gone was the thin, deceptively handsome young man she'd met as a child. The man who now stood before her seemed much older than he could've possibly been. A grizzled, leathery face covered in scars. Almost too large muscles, rippling with every movement. His left arm had been cut off at the elbow, a smooth, shiny pink stump in it's place. She tried to speak, to stall him in the hopes that help would arrive. But all she could managed was a strangled gasp, it felt like she was being choked.
"Oh I'm sorry my dear, what was that? You're going to have to speak up." He said, followed by maniacal laughter that chilled her to the bone. In all these years, the one thing that hadn't changed was his sickening laughter.
"My my, how forgetful of me." With a slight hand movement, the sensation of being choked was gone, as if she'd cleared her throat.
"How the hell are you alive?" She finally said, spitting the words like acid as if she hoped they could hurt him.
"I was locked away for a very long time, little Kuvira... Left alone with nothing but my imagination and time to practice my talents. It's truly remarkable, all the things you can do with blood. I could even stop someone's heart if I wanted to." With that he clenched his fist, and an excruciating pain shot through her body. It was if her veins had begun swelling, ready to burst. And for one, terrifying moment, she felt her heart stop beating in her chest. It was over as soon as it began however, her blood continued flowing as her heart began pumping again.
"All I had to do was slow my pulse... Control my breathing... Just long enough to fool that BeiFong whore into thinking I was dead. The man charged with burying me quit his job and left Zaofu the next day as far as she's concerned. But in fact... Well, let's just say my grave isn't empty." He finished with a smile, flashing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"And what do you want with Asami Sato? What do you want with me for that matter?" She demanded. Fear, hatred, and frustration all mixing together to make her words sound more like a snarl than anything else.
"I thought you were supposed to be smart, Great Uniter." He said with a sneer. "Fine, I'll spell it out for you. I took her to get to you of course. I knew you'd come running if someone you cared about was in danger, just like your fool of a father. From what I could tell, you've only got two friends in the whole world. This little bitch-" he said mockingly, gesturing over his shoulder at a clearly enraged Asami. "-and The Avatar. Now tell me, which one do you think would be easier to kidnap?" That ugly, blood curdling laugh ripped itself from his throat once more.
"As for what I want with you, I thought that was obvious. I promised your father I would take good care of you, I'm going to fulfill that promise..." He slowly began walking towards her, the pain in her chest increased as her heart struggled to beat faster. His hand slowly began reaching out, as if to caress her face. Try as she might she was unable to recoil in disgust, but thankfully she didn't have to. Just before his fingers could make contact with her pale skin, an icy spike imbedded itself in his wrist. He cried out in pain, instinctively pulling his arm back in to his chest.
"Get away from her you monster!" Korra yelled, thousands of gallons of water from the canal running through Republic City rising into the air behind her. His concentration was broken, and he lost his hold on the two women. As soon as she felt herself regain control, Kuvira pulled back slightly before punching him as hard as she could in the stomach. He doubled over, dazed from the pain, making it easy for her to grab two handfuls of his greasy gray hair and bring her knee up into his face. She felt his nose shatter, an audible crunch cutting through the air. It was almost satisfying enough the make her smile. Reeling from the blow and screaming in pain, he was too distracted to realize that Asami had moved in place behind him until it was too late. He spun around to face her, but before he could do anything she punched his already broken nose and swept his legs out from under him. He simply lay there, stunned, as the three young women surrounded him.
Kuvira felt triumphant. Finally, finally, she was going to get her revenge. She was unable to revel in her triumph for long however, as Jeong suddenly began laughing once again.
"Very impressive ladies... Very impressive. Clearly I've underestimated you. That won't happen again." He said before thrusting his arm out in an arc, throwing all three women through the air. Korra and Kuvira both pushed off the ground with their hands and back flipped onto their feet. Asami was weakened however, having had no food or water in days. She landed hard, head-first onto the stone street. She rolled a few feet before coming to a halt and laying still, unconscious.
Seeing this, Korra became enraged. Her eyes started to flicker with light as a gust of wind encircled her body. She began slowly rising into the air, her eyes now glowing a bright white. Jeong Shu's own eyes widened in shock before narrowing again, that sickening smile crossing his blood stained face.
"Oh, now this... This is going to be fun!" He shouted, laughing again.
"Korra! Korra stop!" Kuvira yelled, her voice cutting through the Avatar's rage. She blinked slowly, her eyes returning to normal as she touched back down.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked, clearly confused.
"Nothing's wrong Korra. It's just that I've been waiting for this day my entire life and I don't want anyone getting in the way." She said. Her voice was steady and determined, her once crippling fear replaced by hatred, by rage. Her eyes locked onto those of her father's killer as she fell into a metal bending stance.
"He's mine."