Chapter 20
Air Temple Island
As the early morning sun begins to brighten the sky, it's rays of light doesn't disturb the rather peaceful slumber Tenzin finds himself in with his wonderful wife Pema and his rambunctious son. But as always, nothing good lasts as the ringing of their phone ruins the morning serenity. Meelo is the only one who is awakened by it though and he tiredly rubs his eyes while roughly climbing over his fathers face to answer.
"Who is this? It's 6 in the morning! This better be important!"
Tenzin, having been awoken by his son stepping on his eyes, takes the phone away from Meelo and answers himself.
"Councilman Tenzin here…What!? Oh spirits no! I'll be there right away!"
Tenzin hops out of bed and dresses himself in his robes with a fervor. Pema is left uneasy from how frantic her husband had reacted. She grabs meelo and rocks him back to sleep and covers his ears before asking in a whisper,
"What's going on, did something happen?"
Her anxiety rises as Tenzin fearfully says, "Korra has been kidnapped by the Equalists!"
Pema's hand covers her mouth to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape, remaining calm so as to not alarm her child. "It happened at city hall last night, I need to head there now to find out more."
Just as he leaves Pema pleads, "Please be careful."
Tenzin nods and gives her a gentle kiss before hurrying to depart to city hall. His mind is racing with worry so much that he doesn't realize the passage of time and finds himself at the scene of the crime. Tenzin searches through the chaos, looking for one person in particular. He lets out a relieved breath when he finds Karnak, whos crouched over one of the craters left behind what looks to be an intense battle. He was about to speak with the young CSI but Karnak subtly nods to Tarrlok who is being tended to by a healer. Confused Tenzin goes to speak with his 'fellow' councilman.
"What happened? What was Korra doing at City Hall?"
Tarrlok grunts as his arm is being healed, the angry red marks from where he was shocked by the Equalist glove is still prominent. "As I told Chief Saikhan, Korra came to my office late last night. She was upset that I arrested her friends. She asked me to release them and… that's when the Equalists attacked. I tried to protect Korra but we were outnumbered. When I came to, the police had arrived, but Korra was gone." He drops his head in shame. "I'm so sorry. Chief Saikhan, mobilize the entire police force. We have to find the Avatar."
"Right away sir."
Chief Saikhan doesn't waste time and he starts yelling orders at his police officers. Tenzin wants to ask more questions but he is shooed away by the healers. Which was alright, he had someone else to talk to anyway.
"Any clues Karnak?"
"hh… something doesn't feel right about what Tarrlok said."
"what do you mean?"
"There was a battle here that much is true I mean these enormous craters in the ground are clearly Korra's doing. But the only signs of Tarrlok's involvement in the battle are only in his office and yet, he was found unconscious at the peak of the crater." Karnak explains. Tenzin does a quick scan of the room and true to his word, there doesn't seem to be any ice blades or spikes or any wet areas from where they could've melted. All eh really sees are the telltale signs of earthbending.
But he doesn't want to jump to conclusions yet, "It could be that he was thrown from the crater to the ground here."
"True but I've seen Korra fight, she may be aggressive but she always bcks up whoever's fighting with her regardless of their differences. And I checked that electric glove. It does have scratches and dents from a battle, but they all look old, too old to be from last night. That and the bolas hanging on that pillar at the far end of the room, it just feels a little out of place. When Korra fights she normally attacks from above. Unless she fought near the entrance and they rbought her back to the center of the room, then it looks like they just threw it in the opposite direction of the battle."
Tenzin pays attention to Karnaks every word. Eveyrthing he said was true, at first glance it just looks like a chaotic battle. But Tenzin has fought with the Equalists himself. Even when they strike in a massive attack as they did in the Arena or the secret lab of hiroshi Sato, the Equalists are always organized and fight with precision… So why does this all seem too sporadic?
"Could it be that Tarrlok is lying? If so then what would be the reason?"
"I have a suspicion and I wanted to ask some questions myself. But Saikhan is rather protective of Tarrlok. Threatened me with disciplinary action for further traumatizing the victim of a heinous crime." Karnak explains through gritted teeth.
The airbender shakes his head in frustration, of course Saikhan would. Ever sense he was named Chief he has done nothing but answer only to Tarrlok and further his goals regardless of how much it has risen the tension in the city.
"I can bring this to the attention of the council but with how much the council supports Tarrlok I myself may face suspension form my responsibilities if I don't have substantial evidence."
"I wouldn't ask you to either. But still we have to consider any possibility and since I can't rule out the Equalists just yet I have to still assume that they may have Korra… I will find her Tenzin, trust me."
The olderman bites his check, "It's not like I have any other choice."
Karnak rolls his eyes but notices a scrawny little man timidly observing the investigation from above. Karnak narrows his eyes. I think I have a potential witness.
Equalist Hideout
The Lieutenant bows respectfully upon meeting with Amon. "Sir, i feel compelled to inform you that we have been recently falsely accused of kidnapping—"
"I have heard the report my friend."
The Lieutenant nods, "Of course. How would you like to proceed?"
"I am already aware of the whereabouts of the Avatar. We will depart to retrieve her tonight."
His right hand man is stunned, "How did you know?"
Amon chuckles, "councilman Tarrlok's aide has been one of our most important sleeper agents. He has been instrumental in our plannings thus far. He notified me of the councilmans battle with the avatar and the exact location of where he is holding her. We will be able to kill two birds with one stone."
"The Avatar and the councilman?"
"no… the Red Spirit."
"how can you be so sure that he'll be there?"
"He is as brilliant as he is brutal, I have no doubt one way or another he will deduce the avatar's location and once he arrives, you my firend will finally be able to finish your battle."
The Lieutenant puffs his chest out and smiles excitedly, "It will be my pleasure."
"for the Revolution my brother."
Later that night
Tarrlok's aide finally finishes cleaning his office from the debris when he feels a shift in the atmosphere. His blood pressure spikes and his breathing becomes a frantic pant as he slowly turns around. He is greeted with the horrifying sight of the Red Spirit looming over him. He squeals and stumbles onto his butt but he still tries to scurry away.
"No no! Please stay away from me! I'll-I'll call the police!"
"Do you think they'll be able to get here in time to save you from what I'm about to do?" the lethal protector asks darkly.
The aide pulls his knees up to his chest and whimpers, "what are you going to do to me?" he barely squeaks out.
"That depends on how well you answer my questions."
"I'll tell you everything! Everything!"
"Why are you here this late? There isn't anyone else in the building."
"Tarrlok always forces me to work all night. I haven't slept a full eight hours in 5 years, I haven't been laid in 7!"
Karnak rolls his eyes and smacks the aide, "Don't test my patience. Only things relevant to Korra Got it?!"
He nods rapidly as he holds his cheek.
"Were you here when Tarrlok and Korra were attacked?"
"Yes! But they weren't attacked. Well they were but just not by Equalists. I mean they were attacked but by each other. Tarrlok was the one who kidnapped Korra, not the Equalists!"
Karnak's rage flares, that motherfucker! " You knew all this time and you never said anything?!"
"I couldn't! I was afraid of him because- because he bloodbent her!"
What?
The Red Spirit grabs him by the collar menacingly, " It wasn't a full moon, how would he have been able to do that?"
"I don't know but I know what I saw! He bloodbent her and took her away on a wagon."
Khan gently sets him back down. " I knew that bastard was dirty and yet I let him live this long." He looks at the guy, " is there any place you know that Tarrlok could've taken her?"
"The only place he could've taken her was a cabin he has a few acres in the mountains just outside the city. It's where he normally has me keep all of his most confidential accessories like blackmail material. I have the map in my pocket cause I still get lost sometimes."
He timidly hands it to Karnak who nods in satisfaction.
"I expect you to tell the police everything by morning, if not, well, I think you can guess."
He doesn't give him any time to answer as the Red Spirit makes his leave. Karnak rises to the roof of City Hall and opens the moment seeing the exact location. Even with my speed it's gonna take some time for me to get there. Damn, just hold out a little while longer Korra, I'm coming. He's about to leap off the building when he notices a motorcycle parked nearby with no one around… it'll make going up the mountains a lot easier. And so he commandeers the motorcycle, weaving through traffic without any deceleration. He expertly rides through the concrete jungle of Republic City and is quickly on his way out of the city limits. A few minutes later he finds himself 3 miles away from the Cabin where Korra is being held. He turns off the motorcycle, not wanting to alert anyone of his presence. He goes off the worn out road and into the cover of the forest, not wanting to be out in the open as an obvious target. He makes it about a mile closer before the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Feeling like he might not be alone, he focuses his hearing. Pushing away the noises of the wind rustling the leaves until the world was almost completely silent. Except for the sounds of rapid foot steps and the snow being crushed beneath them. Equalists. Said Equalists get closer and closer to their target, a small circle is formed where he should be. As Quietly as possible they all stay in the cover of their terrain once they're within a hairs breath of the Red Spirit. They all share a silent order to attack and they jump out all at once… only to find that they're surrounding an empty space. They look at each other in confusion, unaware that above them on a tree was the Red spirit glaring down at them. He lifts his legs and jumps off from the tree into a backflip, as he's landing he stabs two Equalists in their skulls, killing them instantly. One falls back in surprise and The Red Spirit stomps his sternum in, shattering the surrounding ribs and puncturing his lungs and heart.
The other Equalists start attacking, some throwing Bolas while others throw knives. Karnak slips out the way of each and every projectile and catches one of the bolas and throws them to two Equalists who end up tied together and electrified from it's discharge. Karnak grabs one Equalists and lifts him, using him as a human shield to protect him against the knives thrown. The poor equalist yells in agony as each blade sinks in but Karnak doesn't care and he uses the Equalist body as a blunt instrument, holding him by the leg and swinging him like a bat, brutally smashing two more equalists together before throwing the body against a tree, crumpling them in a broken heap. Karnak then sprints into the woods and uses the grapnel to reel him in above. He lands just over another Equalist and the Red Spirit uses his grapnel to lower him down and grab the Equalist by the throat. He reels them both back up despite his prey's muffled screams and impales his victim in a rather sharp tree trunk above. Blood pours from his mouth as his guts spill from his wound.
The red Spirit sails throw the trees above finding the last two Equalist sentries and descending upon them like a wraith in the night. His feet land squarely on their heads and the momentum of his drop and solidity of his body and weight shatters their skulls down their spines and even their pelvis breaks apart. Now having dispatched the welcoming party, The vigilante continues his journey to tarrlok's cabin. Obviously a truck that can only be owned by the Equalists is parked next to it and so Karnak silently creeps in and is able to witness Amon confronting Tarrlok.
"Amon?"
"It's time for you to be equalized." As Amon says that, his followers prep their bolas, though strangely the Lietenant isn't there.
Tarrlok tries to hide his fear behind a shaky chuckle. "You fool. You've never faced bending like mine."
He raises his arms and as the Equalists advance on him, he bloodbends them to the ground and into unconsciousness. Amon walks towards him as though he is not affected. This surprises both men. How is he still up? He should be face down on the ground right now! Tarrlok seems to share his thoughts and adds more pressure to Amon, who falters slightly, then continues as if Tarrlok's hold was broken. "What- What are you?"
"I am the solution."
Karnak knows what's about to happen, he knows that Tarrlok will be the next victim of amon's. And yet… he doesn't find it in himself to care or try to change it. He watches almost giddily as Amon prepares to take away Tarrlok's bending.
Amon twists Tarrlok around and despite the councilman's struggle, he press his thumb at the base of his neck and the other in the center of the waterbenders forehead. Seconds later Tarrlok's eyes roll to the back of his head and he falls unconscious. Amon lifts Tarrlok up and orders his men to kidnap the Avatar. Having heard enough Begins to come out form his hiding spot but a strange case of vertigo overtakes him. W-what the fuck?!
"And we meet once more." Amon may be wearing a mask, but Karnak can tell he's smirking smugly under it.
"What did you do to me!" Karnak demands to know as the vertigo gets worse as he struggles to stand up, his muscles feel sluggish, his limbs feel extremely heavy.
Amon tilts his head in curiosity but Karnak doesn't understand why.
"This is your own doing. I gave the chance to work with me, your abilities and my gift, we could've prevented all this death and destruction if you only you hadn't let your pride take over. You set the terms so you brought this on yourself."
The vertigo feeling worsens and karnak falls to one knee, a hand is on the ground to keep him balanced.
"I would never work with a monster like you." Karnak says with unyielding rage swirling in his voice.
"A monster like me? (chuckles) Quite the hypocrite you are. How many people have you killed in your journey to finding me? How much destruction have you caused to further your mission? You probably tell yourself that it was for a just cause. That these were bad people and the world would be much better without them. You lie to yourself because you know deep down, you are just like me."
"Shut up!" Karnak pushes through the vertigo and runs forward and attacks with all his fury. "I (swing) AM (swing) NOTHING (swing) LIKE YOU!"
None of the strikes hit home however, as he is too blinded by rage to focus and whatever is affecting him is making his every movement lethargic and weak. And Amon knows it, because unbeknownst to Karnak, amon is using his bloodbending. It's taking a lot of effort and Karnak is stronger than he thought, instead of being paralyzed, the Red Spirit seems to be weakened by it. But nonetheless it still gives amon an advantage and he makes full use of it. When Khan swings his fist again, Amon grabs it throws the Vigilante over his shoulder onto the ground.
Karnak slowly rolls onto his hands and knees when suddenly a metal boot smashes into his face, launching him through the wall behind him. The Lieutenant smiles as he unsheathes the blade from his power suit.
"I believe now is the time to finally end this particular thorn in our side, wouldn't you agree Lieutenant?"
"Absolutely sir." With that, the Lieutenant begins attacking The Red Spirit. Karnak is able to parry most of the slashes with his dagger but he is still experiencing the affects of Amon's bloodbending and as a result is slashed across his chest and oblique. The assassin throws a kick but misses as his opponent ducks and bounces back to his feet. His foot in turn swings up and Knocks karnak to his back allowing the The Lieutenant to stab downward but Karnak catches it and pulls the arm closer to him and rolls backward with one foot at the suits midsection. He uses the momentum to launch the Lieutenant into the air behind him. Karnak gets up and tries to sprint to Amon but screams in pain as a harpoon is shot through his thigh and electrified. His body seizes making it easier for the Lieutenant to drag him back to his armored foe who straddles Karnaks midsection and ground and pounds him. But Karnak does a mount reversal and gets his feet on the ground and lifts his opponent up and slams him back to the ground, cracking it and somewhat destabilizing the area. Amon notices this and begins to slink out of the house in order to be out of danger.
The force of the slam does cause the lieutenant to release Karnak but he kicks upward, catching Karnak in the chin then spinning back to his feet. He slashes the vigilantes midsection just as he closes in, blood begins to spew as the pain brings his masked opponent to his knees. The Lieutenant sheathes the blades because now, he wants to enjoy this. And he brutally smashes his armored fist into the Red spirits face followed by a nasty kick at the same wound he had just inflicted and another one to his ribs, breaking them.
Karnak writhes in agony but still tries to get back up which impresses the Lieutenant.
"I will say one thing, you were a worthy opponent, you can die knowing you have my respect." He unsheathes his blade and prepares to decapitate the Red spirit but a blast of fire interrupts him and pushes him back.
Karnak turns his head and sees a battered Korra sending more and more blasts of fire to his would be killer. He sees the Lieutenant beginning to sweat from the heat of the fire despite his suit protecting him. This gives Karnak an idea. Before he can do anything though, Korra stomps her foot on the ground in an attempt to earthbend, but the destabilized floor caves in instead, dropping all 3 of them to the basement below them. Karnak Takes in his surrounding as the Vertigo feeling has now vanished and he notices the pipes on the walls. Korra is nearby him and is almost to her feet while the Liuetenant is still on his back.
He calls for Korra, "The pipes crack them open."
She's momentarily confused but does so anyway, using her waterbending to burst opens the pipes and allow the steam to come out. Karnak does the same for the pipes near him and soon enough the entire Basement is full of steam. The Lieutenant is back on his feet but is sweating profusely from his doesn't see either the avatar or the Red Spirit who are huddled nearby.
"What's the steam for?" she asks.
"That suit protects him from everything but it's not breathable for the rest of his body, just from one blast of your fire and he was already sweating. So the more heat we have around him the more he'll suffer from heat exhaustion. Get behind him, I'll attack from the front, you go after the battery on the suit." She nods and slinks intot he fog.
Karnak grits his teeth and gets back up despite his body screaming in pain. He rushes the Lieutenant who's beginning to feel the effects of heat exhaustion and ducks under the bladed swing and Karnak stabs the area of the shoulder that's exposed between armor plating resulting in the arm losing function and the weight dropping the arm. The Lieutenant tries to attack with the other arm but Karnak blocks it and strikes his arm at the elbow breaking it backwards as well as the arm underneath the armor. At that moment Korra attacks from behind, using the moisture in the air for her waterbending and has it crawl into his armor and freezing once it reaches the battery and then rips it out short circuiting the suit.
With that the lieutenant falls at the mercy of the heat around him. Karnak all but falls to his knee but Korra grabs him by the arm and helps him up, they both make their way up the stairs and out the cabin but amon is there waiting for them. He and Korra lock eyes, hers filling with fear. Amon begins to move but the Red spirit, with a burst of energy, throws a flashbang pellet near Amon, stunning him. Korra then doesn't waste time and bends the snow beneath their feet to rapidly slide them down the mountain slope. Korra navigates as best she can but she is still hurt from the battle she partook in as well as dehydration from her time imprisoned. Her foot hits a rock and the two tumble down the mountain until the land at the base of a tree. Snow covers them both and all Karnak wants to do is let the sweet embrace of unconsciousness to take him. His vision is practically darkening and he's still bleeding freely. He almost lets himself go but the groaning of Korra snaps him back to reality. She's already looking worse than before. No, agh! I can't-can't let her die!
With strength he didn't know he had left, he pushes himself off the ground. He takes off his trenchcoat and drapes it over Korra in order to give her a source of warmth. He then picks her up bridalstyle and limps his way to the general direction of Republic city. As he's walking he feels her stir in his arms and her eyes blearily open. She looks up at him but her eyes begin to droop again. Just before she falls back asleep she almost imperceptibly whispers, "thank you."
This gives him more strength and he perseveres no matter how much it hurts. Soon enough he hears the sound of approaching heavy footsteps coming from in front of them. He stops and lowers himself down with Korra. Even if he may die, he wont let whoever it is hurt her. When the footsteps get closer it turns out not to be from a person, but actually Naga, Korra's polar bear dog. She sees Korra in Karnak's eyes and though she growls she takes a moment to sniff him before licking him.
He sighs in relief. "Good girl, take her!" and he gently places Korra on Naga's back, too delirious to care that he left her with his trenchcoat. Naga then goes ahead and runs out the woods back to the safety of the city. Leaving behind Karnak who then promptly collapses in the snow.
Tenzin rides on his air bison with Korra's friends and Lin on his back. They've spent the whole day searching for the missing Avatar but to no avail. Tenzin's heart grows heavy with each passing moment, his worry becoming fear for the Korra's safety as once it was proven that Tarrlok was a bloodbender he had attacked all of them. Now that his secret was out, there's no telling what he'll do or who he'll hurt. He's broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a loud howl echoing through the night sky.
"That sounds like Naga!" Mako exclaims.
Not needing any more motivation, Tenzin steers his bison towards the source of the howl. True to his word, it was Naga! And they land beside her.
"Korra! Oh thank goodness!" Tenzin cries. As he helps her down form Naga. He hugs her tightly, so happy that she's now safe.
Lin goes up to her as well, "Where's Tarrlok?—" she notices the trenchcoat and how familiar it is, "That's- is that who's I think it is?"
Korra smiles slightly, "Yea, he was pretty helpful back there."
Lin and Tenzin share a worried look, "is he still al—"
Mako pushes them out the way, "Give her some space!" he picks her up bridal style and takes her to the air bison.
Lin takes a closer look at the trenchcoat and notice that though inside it looks alright, the outside is marred with blood, from cuts inflicted on it. Tenzin and Lin look at each other again, realizing that the Red Spirit might not have made it out unscathed.
Author's note: thank you for everyone who had reviewed my story! i really do aprpecoate it and I'm always happy to hear what you all think of my story.
Guest #1: thank you for your excitement i hope that this chapter lived up to your expectations!
Guest#2: Thank you so much! Yea Red hood and Batman were the inspirations for Karnak though wolverine was another inspiration at least when it comes to his PTSD and personality traits. I hope to continue to lvie up to your expectations!
ex555: That is an interesting arc, that is one of the arcs i had written for book 2 but I'm not sure if i'll go down that route because i had already seen other fanfics where they have their OC fuse with Vaatu and it feels like i would be stealing from them if i go down that route. I do have alternatives to that that i may go with but i won't say anything else from there because spoilers.
Anyway next chapter will be up soon!