Chapter 22
1 week later
Since Amon's attack, Republic City has fallen. Throughout the streets, mecha tanks are patrolling the streets while airships in the sky keep an ongoing surveillance. On Aang's Memorial Island, a large Amon mask is fastened to the face, with Equalist banners hanging from the staff desecrating the memory of the beloved Avatar. For those who oppose the Equalists, it is truly a sad and dreadful day, a day without hope. But for those who are aligned with them, it is a time to rejoice, which is exactly what a large crowd is doing, gathered in front of City Hall with Hiroshi Sato addressing them.
"It is a glorious day my Equalist brothers and sisters! Amon has torn down the tyrannical bending government! He has declared bending illegal and he has the Avatar on the run and he has killed the traitorous bender sympathizing vigilante known as the Red Spirit! Our great leader has a vision for the future. One day soon, bending will no longer exist and we will live in a world where everyone is finally equal! The United Forces are on their way right now to try and stop that dream. But we will prevail!"
The crowd erupts into a thunderous applause while all the way in the back, two Equalists standing guard, one male and one female, share a look before slipping away from the crowd without gaining any attention. They arrive at the Republic City Park and, after pushing away some shrubbery; the female Equalist earth bends a large rock, revealing an opening. Both slip inside and the rock is moved back into place. Walking down the corridor that leads to the underground city for the homeless, the two chi blockers remove their masks, revealing themselves to be Mako and Korra.
"Can you believe Hiroshi? 'The Avatar is on the run', I'm not running from anyone! Let's go back up there and knocks some heads. They'll never know what hit him," She said and begins to stomp back, clearly pissed. But Mako stops her.
"Relax. General Iroh's coming with an entire fleet of battleships. Then Amon will be the one who's on the run." He says, but only gets a frown from her in return. She sighs, "I hate this 'being patient' thing."
They meet up with Bolin and Asami, who's watching in amusement as Bolin plays with Pabu. She notices Mako and Korra coming and frowns. "You two were gone a while." She crosses her arms over her chest. Sensing the slight harshness from her tone, Mako answers back in kind,
"We were doing reconnaissance."
"Whatever." Before an argument can erupt, they're interrupted by Gommu who pops up outta nowhere to greet them.
"Welcome back! Hope you worked up an appetite because, dinner is served!" He stirs soup in a pot for a little then serves some in each bowl.
"Thank you so much for letting us hideout with you in the past few days." Korra says graciously.
"Honored to oblige. My associates and I heartily oppose Amon's so called 'Equalist' policies." He replies as he pours Bolin some soup.
"We have benders and non- benders living together down here but do you see us fighting? No, sir-ree! We've figured out how to harmoniously co-exist." He emphasizes this declaration by wrapping himself in a hug. While Bolin and Gommu converse a bit more, Korra plays with her food for a bit thinking about a the missing member of the group. Gommu notices;
"He's healed up pretty well if that's what your wondering."
She looks back at him surprised and everyone turns to look at her. "Oh, yea I know, I helped him heal." Gommu scratches his head for a second then breaks out into a smile.
"Oh yea that's right! You used your waterbending on him!"
She gives him a weak smile then asks; " Is he still here?"
She jumps as she hears the answer from behind her, "I'm right here."
Everyone is startled by the sudden appearance of Karnak who sits at the empty space next to Gommu. Korra settles herself from the shock and levels Karnak with a calm gaze.
Bolin though is exicted, "How do you keep doing that!? You're like a ghost! Or-or a ninja or something!"
Karnak smirks slightly, "Something like that."
"How you feeling today?" The Avatar asks.
"I'm back at a 100%, I already heal pretty quick but your waterbending really upped the ante." He notifies her as her pours himself a bowl of the soup Gommu made. Asami tries not to gag at the contents falling into the bowl. She decides to distract herself by asking Karnak,
"How do you heal so quick?"
Mako chimes in, "Matter a fact how do you do any of the stuff you do? How're you so strong and fast?"
Karnak is uncomfortable with the questions he's being asked but does notice everyone leaning in, including Korra. They're all curious and he aadmits to himself, there's no real danger in letting them know.
"It's a perk of being deemed the best in the 'Business'," he says with distaste, "I ended up earning the chance to take a special kind of herb, one fertilized by the contents of a meteor similar to that of the metal Sokka's sword is made from."
Korra's eyebrows scrunch up "Wait so you ate a plant from outer space."
Karnak rolls his eyes but doesn't correct her, "yea anyway it normally kills anyone who eats it but whoever does survive end up like me. I can lift a truck over my head, I can keep up with a motorcycle on foot, and it takes a lot more effort to even bruise me let alone pierce my skin."
"wow so you're like a full blown super hero!" Bolin exclaims with Asami smiling along impressed.
But Mako looks at him worriedly, "Wait so, if you got that from an herb. Does that mean there are more like you?" the thought of people with abilities like Karnak, of his caliber of skill running around in the word is nothing short of alarming.
Korra's eyes widen at the implication, but she's more frightened of the idea of Amon or someone like him getting his hands on something that could make him so powerful. Thankfully Karnak is able to reassure them,
"When Tenzin lead the attack on my former masters all the remaining herbs were destroyed an razed, no one will ever be able to get their hands on that kind of power ever again."
The group all let out a collective sigh of relief, thankful to not have to worry about that kind of disaster. Karnak decides to steer the conversation away from him.
"So what's the timetable on the reinforcements?"
"Tomorrow morning General Iroh is arriving with a fleet of battleships to take back the city. We got the job to clear up the ports enough for them to safely dock." Korra informs him and struggles to say the next sentence, " I was hoping, (against my better judgement), that I could count on your help."
He scoffs; " You have better judgment?"
She glares at him, "don't make kick your ass."
"bold of you to assume you could."
Korra stands up threateningly and Karnak does the same, not backing down. Asami jumps in between them.
"Guys if we can please remember that the entire city is in civil war?! Dealing with that is a lot more important than stroking your egos!" she looks at each of them meaningfully until they both sit down.
Korra crosses her arms and looks away, "He started it."
Karnak rolls his eyes with a groan, "Would you please grow the fuck up already?"
Before she can say anything Mako cuts in, "So can we count on you backing us up tomorrow?"
The vigilante is grateful for the change of aubject and answers, "You have my word."
"Can we also have your word that you won't kill anyone? Aside form the people you already killed." Korra states.
"Need I remind you, Lin killed her fair share in order to defend Tenzin's family, your pseudo family so unless you plan on judging her for doing right by you, keep it to yourself!" [AN]
Korra is left speechless by that and Karnak can see that he's going too far, "Look… can we talk in private?"
She nods slowly and they both walk away from the group. Once they're away from prying ears she crosses her arms and cocks her hip, tapping her foot.
He sighs, "I'm sorry about that. You do have a right to feel like you can't trust me. But if we are gonna take down Amon and save Republic City, we're gonna have to put our differences and issues aside. I'm willing to do that and after all this is done, I'll let myself be at the mercy of your judgment."
The avatar stares at him for a long time without blinking, carefully considering what she's gonna say next, "You're right. I'm sorry too I guess, I've been pretty antsy with being forced to stay put and you pretty much gave me the perfect outlet for my frustrations."
"I get it, I do."
"Alright so once we kick that douchebags ass, I can go ahead and kick yours, Raggedy man." Korra smirks.
Karnak can't help but chuckle, "You really aren't gonna stop calling me that are you?"
She laughs and starts walking away and shouts over her shoulder, "Consider it an early punishment."
The next morning, thick fog blankets the entirety of Republic City and the Yue Bay as well. Korra and her group position themselves at the edge of a drainage pipe to be the welcoming party for their much needed military support. Mako checks for danger before telling everyone the coast is clear. They climb their way to the observation deck and continue to check the horizon for the United Forces to arrive.
"They're here!" Mako exclaims once he finally spots them. In the distance, they make out the battleships coming through the fog. Karnak appears next to them. Dressed in his Red Spirit garbs, including his repaired trenchcoat, with his mask being held in his hands. "This doesn't feel right." Everyone one jumps then look at him.
"What do you mean?" Mako asks wearily.
"The Equalists have to be aware of the fact that the United Forces were on their way… So where's the greeting party?"
An uneasy feeling sweeps over them when they notice that there were no airships or mech tanks waiting for them. Karnak warily dons his mask in preparation. Suddenly an explosion rocks one of the battleships from underwater. Team avatar see that the battleships are being damaged by mines under water! Korra doesn't speak a single word, she simply launches herself into the air and uses her waterbending to propel her towards the mines. Curses the fact he has no means to join the fray but still waits, ready to provide back up however he can. But then his enhanced hearing starts to pick up on a strange buzzing sound that's getting closer and closer. He sighs, I gotta give hand it to Amon, he sure does plan things to a T. Everyone looks to where the sound is coming from and see an armada of flying aircrafts soar through the City skyline and begin assaulting the battleships.
"Where does Hiroshi find the time to keep inventing new evil machines?!" Bolin cries out.
The planes rain torpedoes down in the water and into the hull of the ships. Karnak pays as much attention as possible, analyzing their flight and attack patterns. He quickly notices they dip low before banking upwards to turn around and begin their assault anew. And that gives him an idea. "Asami, if I can get us onto one of those things, would you be able to fly them?"
She stares at him like he grew another head. "Um, I don't know maybe."
"That's good enough for me."
He wraps an arm around her waist and takes out his crossbow. She blushes; "Wait how are you going to AHHHHHHHH!"
She screams as they are shot up into the air thanks to the Red Spirit shooting his grapnel onto one of the low flying planes. Rappelling themselves up, The Red Spirit quickly grabs the pilot and throws him out of the plane, said pilot parachutes himself to safety; and he places a rattled Asami into the pilot seat while he hooks one arm onto a steel beam as she tries to gain control of the plane. Asami has some trouble for a bit, but soon gets the hang of it and she expertly flies them near the other planes. Karnak takes out a crossbow he brought just in case it was needed and had it armed with explosive arrows. He uses the crossbow to shoot the engine of any plane that flies within his shooting range. Unexpectedly, another plane flies near them and tries to side swipe them. Asami does a barrel roll and narrowly evades the attack, Karnak safely keeping a good grip on the plane. He gets another idea,
"Asami! Try to get as close to that aircraft as you can!"
She gives him a thumbs up and sets their plane side by side to their attacker. She slowly closes the gap between their wings as safely as she can and the vigilante wastes no time and runs onto the other one's wing. The pilot tries to shake him off and lifts the plane into the air. Karnak tumbles back and barely catches onto the edge of the panel, Asami flying nearby.
The pilot does a nosedive then abruptly brings it back up, the sudden change of direction and force cause Karnaks grip to slip and he starts to plummet towards the water. Acting quick, he shoots his grapnel onto the plane and is now dangling behind the plane. Growing frustrated, the pilot spins the plane then beings it down near the water, dragging his unwanted passenger along the bay, but he doesn't lose his grip this time. He rappels closer to the plane and they are once again being flown up into the air. This time Karnak is close, and throws two knives into one of the engines and a shoots an explosive arrow into one of the wings. The plane instantly starts to lose control. Karnak looks behind him and sees Asami gaining on them. He releases the hook and starts to fall again but Asami catches him in time. Their small victory is cut short as a blast of fire hits their wing. Damn they didn't know we were friendlies! He hastily gets a hold of Asami and jumps out.
She screams as they fall towards the water. Just before they make contact, The Red Spirit twists them so that he takes the brunt of the fall. They resurface and they both spit out water from their mouths. They take a look around and see that, though they were able to take down a few planes, the battle is still lost. They swim towards the drainage pipe and met up with the others plus General Iroh.
Later in the hideout, Korra tends to Iroh's wounds. "I was prepared to deal with mecha tanks but not these new high speed aircrafts."
"Every time we think we have an advantage, no matter what our plan is, he always has a better one." She removes the water from his wounds and he stretches his shoulder to test it out.
The Red spirit walks into the light from the shadows. "We aren't out of the fight just yet."
Iroh's eyes widen a bit when he sees the rather large vigilante, "you're the Red Spirit aren't you? I've heard of you. Heh, didn't think you were real."
"I'm real when it's useful."
"Well I've had worse allies. If there's any truth to your legend, you'll be a tremendous help."
Bolin raises his hand, "Quick question, what's the weirdest thing you've heard about him?"
Mako pinches the bridge to his nose. "Bolin, time and place."
"He's right," Iroh says, now in full General mode, "A second wave of reinforcements is on the way. But I need to warn them about the traps waiting for them." He turns to korra, "Do you still have a way to get a message out?"
She smiles, "I know a just the man for the job!"
She leads the group to Gommu who quickly assembles a makeshift radio capable of sending messages via Morse Code. Finally, they stand around a table with the map of Republic City, trying to pin point the origins of the aircrafts. As they walk out, Asami stays behind a bit gazing at the map sadly; " it's time to take down my father." She's shocked out of her depression by a comforting gloved hand on her shoulder coming from the resident vigilante.
"Your father fell into the abyss of grief and he allowed it to poison his heart. there was no way that you could've known what was happening or do anything to save him from himself. It's not your fault." He tells her sincerely. She gives him back a small smile with teary eyes.
"Thank you, I-I didn't know I needed that."
He gives her shoulder another comforting squeeze and they join the group just as Korra announced that she would be going after Amon. "I'll go with her." Karnak announces.
Mako was about to object but is cut off by Korra, "Alright."
"I know that you won—really? Just like that?" Karnak asks confused.
"This is your chance to you prove me right or wrong in trusting you." She declares.
The next morning no jokes were made, no smiles were worn. The seriousness was palpable. Today was the day, they either defeat Amon and his forces or let the world collapse in their failure. Korra and Mako meet Karnak in the bay, al of them wearing their respective uniforms, Mako and Korra wearing their Equalist disguise and Karnak in his vigilante armor. They say nothing as Korra waterbends an air bubble for them to safely walk on the floor of the river. They safely make it to Air temple island and this is where Korra allows Karnak to take the lead.
"So how do you plan on getting us in without getting catching anyones attention?"
"Just follow my lead and do exactly what I do."
He leads them to a drain pipe off the side of the island and opens it, shuffling them inside. He then follows the pipe to a manhole where, if memory serves him right, will be nearby the courtyard but with easy access to trees that can provide cover for them. He opens the manhole slightly, just enough to take a look. He sees quite a few guards and signals for his companions to wait. About 2 minutes later the guards are about to be relieved from their post and while they're distracted, Karnak silently opens the manhole and hurries his companions to get out and behind the trees. He closes the manhole cover and ducks for cover just in time to be out of sight of the new guards.
Mako loks up to see Amon entering an airship. "There's Amon! We need to get into the temple. Then when he returns,"
"We ambush him." Korra finishes.
Karnak signals to them to hope onto the roof of the pagoda nearby and to use that to silently move over their unaware enemies. They follow the master assassin as he deftly moves through the terrain, no one the wiser to his presence. As soon as they are within reach of the tower, Karnak uses his grapnel and latches it to one of the ledges, he rappels himself upwards to one of the windows and hangs on by his finger tips. He uses his enhanced hearing to check for anyone residing in the room and is satisfied to see that it is empty. He climbs in and waves for Korra and Mako to follow suit. They in turn use their firebending to boost themselves up to the window much to Karnak's disbelief.
He can't help but chastise them once they get in, "We're trying to not to draw attention to ourselves and you both decide to light up the whole island?!"
"What else did you expect us to do, we needed to get up here!" Korra retorts.
"I was gonna throw down a rope for you to climb with!"
"what's done is done, lets move!" Mako says, ending their bickering.
They trio then continue their infiltration and reach the attic when Mako stops, "Uh, we're not alone up here."
They're all shocked to see Tarrlok being held prisoner. He looks at them bitterly, "I don't suppose you're here to rescue me?"
"We had no idea you were here!" Korra explains, "Are there any other prisoners on the island?"
"No. I'm the only one."
Karnak here's a sound from the other room and everyone tenses but he raises a hand to calm them, "I'll deal with it, you have a chat with the Councilman."
He leaves the room and presses his back against the wall, taking out a knife in preparation to take down any threat in the other room. He reaches the doorknob and slowly opens the door, not stepping in the doorway though so as to not be in the way of any attack. He waits a second then rolls in ready for a fight, but is surprised to only see a bedridden lieutenant.
Said Equalist is obviously not pleased to see him, "So you survived. Figures."
Satisified that they're alone Karnak sheathes the knife. "Surprised you're being taken care of, would've thought Amon wouldn't take failure kindly."
The Lieutenant looks away resentfully, "He doesn't. I've been stripped of my rank."
"Huh, guess he's not as friendly as he makes out to be."
"You here to gloat?"
"no, here to pay your boss in kind for what he's done."
"He's saving this world!" the injured Equalist bites back.
"By destroying it? This war he started has caused casualties on both sides. Are you really gonna lay there and say that the loss of innocent like is a necessary step for your vision of equality?"
He growls, "I don't like it anymore than you do but sometimes we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good!"
"A victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all. You're just adding into the cycle of violence you accuse the benders of nurturing." He accuses.
The Lieutenant has the decency to look ashamed at that accusation and Karnak presses on, "This needs to end, I'm ready to fight if I have to. But I'd rather end this as peacefully as possible."
The bedridden man just gives him a rueful smile, "It already is gonna end."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you really think Amon would let the only airbenders in the world to escape?"
The Red Spirits blood runs cold and he pales under his mask, "You have them."
He nods, "And Amon will cleanse them."
He starts laughing as Karnak quickly gets out the room in time to almost run down Korra.
"What happened?" she asks.
"Amon has Tenzin!"
She gasps, "No! that's impossible! They escaped!"
"They didn't and Amon plans to remove their bending!"
Her eyes light up, "At the rally!, " she deduces, "We can save them and at the same time expose Amon!"
Karnaks confused, "Expose him?"
"Tarrlok told us that Amon is really his brother and a waterbender! He's bloodbent people in a way that takes their bending!"
Flashbacks of the fight in Tarrlok's cabin rears itself to the forefront of the Red Spirits mind. The sluggish feeling and vertigo he experienced, he knew it felt familiar in some way. Amon was subtly bloodbending him!
"It all makes sense now! And it gives me an idea!"
The Probending Arena
The crowd roars wildly, every seat is occupied as they all gaze at the still partially destroyed arena that has been remade as a stage with Amon rising from the center. He raises his arms, basking at the attention he's receiving from his followers.
"Thank you all for joining me on this historic occasion! When I was a boy a firebender struck down my entire family and left me scarred. That tragic event began my quest to equalize the world."
Suddenly feedback blares through the speakers as the Red Spirit announces, "That's a lie Amon. Or was it Noatak?"
Amon's eyes widen as the voice of his enemy he thought was dead rings throughout the arena. The crowd looks around questioningly at each other, wondering who Noatak is?
"Citizens of Republic City. I am the one you have dubbed as the Red Spirit. The news of my untimely demise has been greatly exaggerated. But it is not the only lie that has been told to you. The man you have hailed as your hero, Amon, is not who you think he is. Amon is the son of the infamous mobster Yakone. Guilty of murder, guilty of manufacturing and distributing narcotics, and guilty of using bloodbending to tighten his grip on our city. A dangerous power that he had passed on to his two sons, Tarrlok and Noatak. Heh, imagine my surprise Amon, when we found your brother secretly held prisoner on air temple island. Even though you took his bending away, he still felt healthy enough to give us a little incite into your past. I must say, you both may have went about it differently, but you made still made your father proud. You too k control of Republic City. And wouldn't you know it, you did it with its own citizens full support."
Amon doesn't show any signs of distress, but underneath his mask he is beginning to sweat. He knows what he is doing. He's taunting him, getting him emotionally compromised. Possible trying to get him to make a mistake and use his cursed bending. But he will not succeed. He has spent decades perfecting his control, even at his most angry, he kept himself from using his bending. The Red Spirit has to know that, so why is he still trying? His answer, unbeknownst to him, is in the form of two Equalists who use the distraction the Red Spirit is providing, to cut the Airbending family free without the other Equalists knowing. What amon does notice is the change in atmosphere. The murmuring in the crowd. Sure if it was the Avatar speaking, they would've reacted defensively, who would listen to a bender? But The Red Spirit, it's well known that he isn't a bender and though he is deemed a sympathizer, he still is more connected to them they the Avatar. He can even hear the question among his own subordinates. What if The Red Spirit wasn't a sympathizer… what if he was right about Amon?
"You're a smart man Amon, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I suspect you even thought about painting the wounds on your face in case your mask was ever removed. But I wonder… is it water proof?"
Before Amon can even wonder what he means by that, he is blasted by a stream of water and knocked head over heels. The Avatar is here! Damn it, he knew I wouldn't use my bending while being accused of it, and for that I didn't allow myself to sense the avatar in my midst! Before he can even get up a blast of air knocks him into two of his followers and he sees that Tenzin ahs been freed as well. From the shadows above The Red spirit emerges from the darkness and lands directly behind two Equalsts who's heads eh smashes together, knocking them out. Amon dodges a blast of fire from Korra and redirects her kick and elbows her behind her head then kicks her knees out, he tries to go for removing her bending but Mako comes in and tries shooting him with a blast of lighting but once again Amon evades it and is almost upon Mako before a brutal punch to the mask knocks him off his feet and into the pole he had Tenzin tied to. His mask is shattered and falls into pieces on the ground and Korra follows it up with a blast of water right to his face which throws him to the center of the stage.
The crowd of people had already begun running out of the arena so all that was left were the reimaging Equalists soldiers and their enemies. But the fighting stopped as all eyes fall on Amon who stands hold still holding his face after that hit. Once his hand is removed a resounding gasp is heard as the his followers faith is broken once they see that the wound that Amon had told them was branded onto his face was nothing more than paint.
"He was telling the truth."
"The wound is fake."
"Does that mean he really is a bender?"
Cold fury takes Amon over. No. No! this can't be! I had everything planned out perfectly! I would've won, my dream would've been made real… until they took it from me! With a ferocious roar of pure rage, Amon bloodbends everyone, even his own followers into the air and violently throws all of them away from him, some of his followers even hit the walls with a sickening 's eyes scrunch up in pain and she is very woozy while trying to get back up. Tenzin is there to help her up,
"Korra are you ok?"
"I'm fine, where's Amon?"
"He must've ran for it while we were distracted, he couldn't gotten far though."
"You go after him, I'll clear the way for Tenzin to get his family out of here." Karnak suggests and they all break and start heading to their respective destinations. Karnak knocks out one of the few Equalists that wasn;t very affected from the bloodbending and opened the doors for Tenzin to guide his family through, seeing that the coast was clear he waves them through but Tenzin stops him,
"I can take care of my family from here, go help Korra, even with her friends help Amon is too dangerous now that his secret has been revealed."
"You sure?"
"Yes, now go!"
Not needing to be told twice, Karnak rapidly sprints to the direction that Korra had gone when they went after Amon. It didn't take that long for him to find them but the scene before him frightened him. Amon had Korra on her knees, his thumb ready to be placed to her forehead. Acting fast Karnak leaps and tackles Amon off Korra. He throws him into the air and grabs him by the ankle and smashes him to the ground. Suddenly the feeling of vertigo Karnak gets when Amon bloodbends him returns and he groans clutching his head. Amon gets up and lifts Karnak in the air before smashing him through the far wall. The Red Spirit slides on his back from the force of the throw and Amon bursts through the whole he made.
"I should've killed you long ago."
But Karnak leg sweeps him and grabs him by the clothes throwing him into the ceiling then hard against the wall beside him. He grabs him by the throat and starts squeezing. "A mistake you won't live to regret."
Karnak starts squeezing harder but then something happens. His left arm goes numb, a cold sweat seizes his body and a painful tightness emerges from his chest. Karnak lets go and clutches the area his heart is.
"What're you doing to me?" he asks quietly as he drops to his knees, struggling to breath.
Amon massages his sore throat and smiles cruelly, "I gave you a heart attack." And he kicks Karnak in his face.
He starts stomping on the younger mans face, who weakly tries to protect himself but is struggling as his heart stops supplying blood to his body. Korra emerges form Amon's left and tries to hit him with fire but is trapped in Amon's bloodbending grip. He positions her in front of him and she starts begging.
"NO!NO! NO! Please don't!"
Karnak watches in horror as Amon callously takes Korra's bending away.
"No!" Mako screams as Korra faints. Amon turns his attention to him and bloodbends him to his knees. Mako struggles against the pain and little by little positions his fingers as if he were to bend lightning. Amon just shakes his head and puts more effort into his bloodbending. Mako groans in pain but still he musters up his strength and shoots lightning. Only he wasn't aiming at Amon. He aimed it at Karnak.
The lightning hits him right at his chest and he grits his teeth as the electricity courses through his body… and restarts his heart! Karnak laughs as his heart begins to pump again and he begins attacking Amon anew. This time he doesn't give him a chance to think and redirects Amon's punch and elbows him in the face breaking his nose. He throws a haymaker, making Amon spit blood and kicking his legs out from under him. Amon is still in the air when The Red Spirit sidekicks him, the force breaking his ribs and flinging him through the wall and into the hallway. He's barely back on his feet when The Red Spirit smacks both his ears, disorienting him, and grabbing him by the hair to forcefully knee him in the face then backkicking him head over heels. Karnak drops a knee onto Amon's chest and when Amon tries to grab him, the vigilante grabs his wrist and breaks it, eliciting a pained yell. Karnak starts to choke him again.
"I should kill you for what you did!"
Amon, though he has been beaten, still gives Karnak a bloody grin, "Go ahead. Kill me and make me a martyr. There'll be more after me. And one day, someone will finish what I started."
Karnak wants to kill him, he really does, but Amon is right. Even though they exposed him, if he dies by his hand now, then any who still had faith in Amon would be incentivized to continue his legacy and cast doubt into the truth.
"You're right. But that just means if you live, you'll get to watch as everything you worked for tumbles down. And that is a punishment more befitting than death."
The Grin drops from Amon's face and is replaced by fury once more. He attacks Karnaks heart once more but this time does the reverse, he leaves it beating. Kanrak clutches his chest as he writhes in pain. "You insolent little shit! I think you just woke up my curiosity. I wonder what would happen if I compress all the blood in your body into your heart. Why I think it may just burst right out of your chest!"
Karnak continues to scream in agony but it suddenly stops as a blast of air knocks Amon off his feet. With wide eyes, Karnak turns to where it came from and just sees Korra who's staring at her hand.
"I-I can airbend? I can airbend!" she yells triumphantly.
Amon shakily gets back up, "That's impossible!"
But it is. And Korra continues her assault, sending punches of air blasts straight into Amon who finds himself being thrown all over the place from the invisible attacks. He tries bloodbending Korra again but she is able to break through it.
"No!...You!... Don't!" she exclaims while Sparta kicking a final blast of air into A ons chest breaking him out of the window and into the bay below.
Karnak helps Korra to the window and they watch as Amon burst from the water standing on a geyser that he's controlling with his own waterbending. The crowd watches in disbelief as they witness the irrefutable evidence that Amon is a bloodbender. Seeing that it truly is over, Amon dives back into the water and using his waterbending to propel him fast under the water. Korra looks at Karnak,
"We won."
Team Avatar is reunited on air temple island where a newly released Lin arrives in time to hug Korra as comfortingly as she can.
"I can't believe Amon got to you too." She says with sorrow.
But bolin tries to help by saying, "Hey but at least you unlocked you airbending!"
Everyone sans Korra glares at him in return, "Bro, not the time."
Finally reading the room Bolin smiles sheepishly, "Right right! I'll just stand over here… Quietly. In Silence."
They all watch as the united forces fleet finally arrives, the commanding ship shining brilliantlyin the sunlight. Tenzin takes his spot next to Korra and tries to cheer her up, "You aved Republic City."
"But Amon got away."
He pulls her into a hug, not knowing what else to say. His kids though are happy to see who's arriving. "Yay! Uncle Bumi's here!"
They can all hear the wild yells of said uncle and Tenzin face palms. "OH great, now I have to entertain my brother."
He turns around but sees the Red Spirit perched high above on a ledge watching over all of them. HE simply nods in thanks, which the Red Spirit politely returns. It Takes a few days for things to settle somewhat, sure there's quite a few pockets of Equalists still trying to regroup, but the united forces are able to quill most of them. That's what is being stated officially. But if one were to ask any citizen of Republic City they'd tell you the truth. They'd tell you that it was the Red Spirit who's really restoring order.
2 weeks later at the south pole
Karnak sits anxiously on the chair provided to him by one of the white lotus sentry. Truth be told he was rather surprised when Tenzin informed him that the White Lotus leaders asked for an audience with him. When asked what it would be about, Tenzin told him that he wasn't sure, he was not given much more information. It was a very mournful trip as Korra was being taken to the south pole as well, hoping that Katara's mastery in waterbending healing would be enough to restore Korra's bending.
Tenzin emerged from the room and simply stated, "They're ready for you."
Karnak sighs and enters the room, where the White Lotus leaders are seated in a half circle table similar to the council in Republic City. Karnak decides to stand confidently in the center. The Delegate with the long white beard is the first to speak,
"It has been brough to our attention that you have found a new, nightly activity in Republic City. Do you deny any of the claims that you have partaken in acts of vigilantism?"
He lifts his chin, "No."
The White Lotus members share a look but continue, "Do you deny the claims made that you have dispensed your own form of lethal justice?"
"No."
"I think it's safe to say that there are many of us who believe, given your service record against the four nations, you belong in a penitentiary at best."
Karnak nods, "I'd be inclined to agree."
"…However Master Tenzin was took it upon himself to make a case in your defense."
Karnak's does a double take a looks at Tenzin who smiles slightly and nods at him to pay attention.
"He has made it clear how instrumental you were in aiding in the struggle against Amon and his Equalist revolution. Though this one right does not wipe away a lifetime of wrongs, it is worth considering. So though we should send you off to rot in prison, you will still be allowed to stay in Republic City on the condition that you do not take another life again. We will reconvene in one year to review your case again."
The former Assassins jaw drops as the white lotus members leave the room with Tenzin remaining. "You do know that was just a power display right? They can't throw me in jail without revealing their hand in covering up the Red Lotus."
Tenzin rolls his eyes with a sigh, "Karnak just appreciate this win without being so childish."
He smiles but gets serious, "Thank you though, I really didn't expect that from you."
Tenzin claps his back, "You've proved me wrong on lot of my assumptions about you. It's only fair I do the same for them."
They both return to the hut where everyone including Korra's parents have convened, awaiting for katara to return from healing korra. It took another 30 minutes of waiting with baited breath before Katara exited the room. But her grim expression confirmed everyones worst fear.
"I tried everything in my power," she shakes her head sadly, "But I couldn't restore Korra's bending."
Senna starts to cry into her husbands chest as Lin says, "But you're the best healer in the world! You have to keep trying!"
"I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do. Korra can still airbend, but her connection to the other elements have been severed."
Every shares a look of depression, even Krnak is saddened by the news but the Korra exits the room wearing an unreadable face. He doesn't at her though, he knows what she's feeling. Her entire world, her whole life has revolved around being the Avatar. Having her bending taken away, it's done more damage than everyone believes. It's robbed her of her identity, her purpose. He tells Tenzin to stop when he says it's going to be alright.
But it's too late. "No Tenzin. It's not going to be alright. It never will be alright."
She leaves the building and Mako tries to follow after her. Tenzin tries to go as well but Karnak stops him, "nothing you can say will make her feel better. Let her have her space."
Tonraq looks at him questioningly, "Who even are you?"
"I'm… (sigh) just some asshole."
Tonraq is broken out of his sadness by that answer and both he and Senna just shrug, not even knowing how to reply. It doesn't matter though, Karnak leaves the house as well and starts walking aimlessly around the compound before finding a lone White Lotus sentry sneakily sipping on some Sake. Said sentry jumps and tries to hide the sake when he sees Karnak but he just asks, "If you share some with me I won't tell anyone you're slacking."
He shrugs and lets Karnak sip some and they just share the drink in silence for a while but then Karnak notices some commotion happening near the entrance of the compound. As he gets closer he sees Korra actually smiling?
"What the fuck happened?"
His answer came in the form of her placing her thumb on Lin's forehead. He eyes glow a blinding white and seconds later she releases lin who in turn earthbends once more! "Holy shit."
Meelo sees Karnak and happily rides his air scooter in circles around Karnak, "Korra got her bending!"
"I see that," he says with a chuckle and he gets to Korra.
"How?"
She smiles brightly, "I finally connected to my spiritual side!"
He turns to Lin who gives him an expectant look. "So, I guessed right."
"Heh, yea you did. Gonna arrest me now Chief?"
She stares at him for a long time, "You asked me that a few months ago, I would've given you an instant yes. But after everything that's happened… I can't be too sure that's necessary."
Ikki and Meelo jump onto his shoulders, "Of course not! He's a superhero!"
Tonraq and Senna are once again confused, "Did-did we miss something?"
Pema just smiles and shakes her head, "Oh you have no idea!"
Lin continues, "you really started something you know? Ever since I and the rest of my police force lost our bending I thought that'd be it for Republic City. But you happened. You maintained order and even kept your promise to me and didn't kill anyone while doing so, along with the help of the united forces of course."
Karnak rolled his eyes, "Yea right."
She smirks, "Bent cops are still running scared, but what truly caught my attention is that you did something I never thought would be possible. You've brought hope to the streets of Republic city. I even feel inclined to thank you for that."
"So what do you want to do now?"
"Well I know I can't arrest you thanks to the White Lotus and Tenzin informed me of the conditions you have in order to remain free. There's still a lot of work to be done and once the United forces leave, I'll need all the help I can get. I think I can tolerate your presence for a little while longer."
She gives him her hand to shake and returns it. But she grips his hand tightly, "But know that if you step out of line I will take you down."
"I'd let you." He replies with a smirk.
And he turns to Korra who smirks as well, "I think I can give you a chance too, Raggedy Man."
He glares at her, "You really gonna keep up with that?"
"Damn right!" she crosses her arms and grins.
Bolin pulls them all into a hug, "Alright new team Avatar!"
"I did not agree to that shit." Karnak grumbles.
"Have you reconsidered my proposal to be your sidekick?!" he asks with hopeful eyes.
Karnak just turns to Lin pleadingly, "Please just arrest me."
Authors note: And there you have it everyone, the end to book 1! I hope you've all enjoyed the ride as well as some of the changes i made. In case anyone was wondering, Gommu is the homeless mad korra meets in the first episode. and i wanted to clarify that LOK is pretty famous for being a little more accepting to killing enemies like suyin did to P'li in book 3 and since Lin is an officer i went with my own headcanon that she's been forced to kill people in the line of duty and has karnak call that out. Again i hope i stayed in character when it came to everyone's reactions and interactions with my OC and i hope you're all excited for the next adventure which as i stated before is set between Books 1 and 2 so as to establish the friendship between Korra and Karnak. I'd also like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story so far.
Guest: Yea i didn't want to drag out Korra finding out about Karnak's identity because that is what really sets them on each others paths and a starting point for their connection. I hope you like Lin's reaction to Karnak's identity, with the experiences shes had since first meeting Karnak, i knew eventually she'd warm up to him, similar to how Lin warmed up to Korra in Book 1. Karnak will still be the Red Spirit but soon enough it'll start to blur the lines of what separates that identity with Karnak's. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
rainfallMyth: Yea Bolin is always able to find some way to be optimistic no matter what's happening in the world lol, i hope you liked this chapter!
Stay tuned for the next update though i may take a little while longer since I'm still adding the final touches to the next adventure.