Chapter 23
A rather small boat docks on the shore of a beautiful beach. The island it belongs to was actually uncharted and untouched by modern society. That is until today as a quintet of explorers secure the boat they used and all planted their feet into the sand. The leader opens up a journal and begins to write down his excitement.
"I can't believe it! We're only on the beach and yet the beauty of the island is breathtaking." He says in wonder at the scenery before.
The last explorer to exit the boat just tightens his hold on his backpack, "Anyone else get the creeps from this place or is that just me?"
"A little back bone Jace, aside from some animals what could possibly be here to harm us?"
Little does she know, there are many dangers being held in this island. The explorers make their way through the jungle, marveling at its beauty and wildlife. There are species of vegetation and wildlife that haven't been seen in centuries and are finally rediscovered by these lucky explorers! Jace, the only one still worried about the unseen dangers of the island, cuts some vines and stumbles over a large root. He rubs his head,
"Figures, I'm the only one to fall face first in mud." He grumbles.
He gets up and cleans himself off as best he can and looks at the area he fell into. His eyes widen at the scenery.
"Uh guys! You better come see this!"
The rest of the group quickly head to his location given the distress in his voice. They all gas as they take in the sight in front of them. A rather large clearing that leads to a ruined temple, it's pillars broken down, walls busted, craters all along the floor.
"This… this looks like a major battle!" jace remarks as they all take slow and tentative steps deeper into the ruined temple.
"This doesn't make any sense. There are no records of anyone inhabiting this island and yet it clearing looks lived in, by the looks of it I'd say at the very least a thousand years. It's like it was erased from history." The lead explorer mumbles.
He suddenly hears a whisper that tells him to go and for the life of him, he doesn't understand why he feels compelled to listen to it. But he does.
"Wait wait Raza! Where are you going? You're not seriously thinking of going inside are you!?" Jace explains.
"Why not? This temple could be holding secrets long forgotten about our own history, it's our responsibility to see this through!"
"But—"
"Jace come on, if we find something big here, think of how famous this could make us, we'd be set for like!"
He doesn't feel convinced but everyone has decided to follow Raza's lead and head deeper into the temple. The deeper they get, the more unsettled they get as the signs of a battle seems worse and worse as they further travel in. They enter a room and Raza hears the voice again, "Behind the wall."
He shakes his head but still listens.
"Guys, I think there's something behind that wall." He points and they all look.
"Uh, what makes you say that? It looks like a normal wall to me."
Raza shakes his head, "Look closer lai. You see the edges? The marking are that of hinges that were ripped from the wall. Whoever won the battle that took place here must've sealed the room that part of the room."
"And you want to open it? What if it was sealed off for a reason?" Jace starts to shake as he becomes more and more nervous, the uneasy feeling that's been plaguing him has reached an all time high.
Raza gives him a disapproving look, "We're explorers, our job is to search for the wonders of the world."
Raza ignores the further cries of worry Jace gives him and tells Lai to earthbend the wall, it splits down the middle and opening it wide. They all gasp as a glowing block of ice is revealed. They all are awestruck and come closer to the block of ice. Raza, the waterbender of the group lays a hand on it, feeling its energy.
He gasps, "This… this power it's incredible, it feels ancient." He wipes the ice and sees deep inside the block is an old man.
"There's someone inside it!"
They all murmur, "What? How can that be?"
"I don't know but there is someone in there and from what I can sense, he's still alive!"
"That's impossible, only the Avatar could survive being suspended in animation." Lai exclaims.
Raza shakes his head, "Nothing's impossible in this world."
He then gets into a waterbending stance. And Jace quickly stops him, "You're not seriously thinking of freeing him are you?!"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Were you not looking on our way here?! This guy was battling someone and lost and must've been frozen here for a reason! We should leave this guy, this island now!"
"Don't be such a coward Jace! This man can provide us a unique link to our past, think of the discoveries that can be made from his knowledge, the wisdom, the treasures he may know of! This is too good of an opportunity to pass up because fo your over-cautiousness!"
Raza pushes him aside and begins melting the ice, slowly; since he's not sure what state the old man can be in. It takes almost an hour but the old man is finally released from his icy holding and tumbles to the floor. Raza quickly takes him in his arms and starts water healing the man as best he can. Despite his help, the old man is still in a very fragile condition. His eyes are cloudy and gray like as if he's blind, hair is almost all gone except for his beard which is in patches. His body is almost skeletal in appearance, not a trace of muscle on him and his skin hanging loosely and yet, he was still alive. His labored breathing is the only sound that he's able to make. Raza hears the old man try to speak.
"What? What is it?"
"I-I…n-need…" his words are barely over a whisper.
Raza holds him closer. "What do you need?"
The oldman's hand suddenly grips his face with a strength betraying his fragile body. The old man sneers as Raza feels his life draining from him.
"Your life."
He suddenly drains Raza of all his chi. As Raza withers and dries up into a husk, the old man recovers and is able to even stand.
"more… more…, need more. Need more!"
The explorers are frozen in fear, unable to even move after the horrible event that took place before them. The old man gives them a crazy look as he bends the earth around them snaking around their limbs and binding them before they can even react.
"NEED MORE!"
Their screams echo throughout the temple as their Chi is stolen from their body, feeding the old man, who laughs maniacally as his once ghoulish body begins to heal, his skin tightens, his muscles grow back, and his gray cloudy eyes clear and return to their vibrant light green color. Revitalized, he glances at one of the corpses laying at his feet and notices the map sticking from their pocket. He takes it out and he glares at it, angry as it confirms how much has changed since he was last awake. He exits the temple and reaches the shore. He looks upon the open see, taking in the wonderful sea breeze, breathing deep as he can finally taste his freedom after so long in the ice. He opens his eyes and they land on the boat his victims used.
His lips stretch into a demented grin, "Time to see what has become of the world."
2 months later at Air Temple Island
"Bring your elbows in a little more korra. Straighten your back and, yes good, you have the form now." Tenzin advises.
Said airbender and Avatar are currently circling the training area, an invisible current of air surrounding them duer to their bending. Thanks to Tenzin's earlier advice, Korra is able to connect her current with Tenzin and seamlessly, the pair continue the now connected current of air without losing a step. Korra grins ecstatically.
"I did it!"
Her mentor smiles, "Very good Korra, you've been progressing in leaps and bounds since you've unlocked your airbending!" he commends her.
They both bring their current to a peaceful stop.
"Thanks Tenzin, I just wish the rest of my bending would be back to normal." She frowns.
Despite her bending being restored, Korra found, as is now the case with all the citizens she restored bending too, her once refined skills and control has been subpar. She found this out when she tried to fry a fish stick with a small flame and accidentally set the poor cart shop ablaze with a wild blast of fire. And when she tried putting it out with her waterbending, she ended up freezing the whole cart unintentionally. After dealing with that headache, the whole city came to the same conclusion as well. With it came the true consequences of removing bending from a society that was built on it. Power plants, that were use run by lightning benders, are still shut down which has caused massive power outages since there are very few firebenders in the city who've recovered enough to shoot lightning. This has caused power to be sporadic and many are starting to become agitated. Hospitals are at max capacity with patients as waterbenders who had their bending removed are struggling to heal even minor cuts.
This has caused an increase of tension between non-benders and benders as the devastation is fully realized. Even non-benders who supported the cause have ended up resenting the Equalists since there truly was no plan whatsoever. No way to continue their lives, all they've gotten was more suffering than before.
Korra snaps out of her musings by Tenzin,
"I understand your worries, unfortunately losing your bending then having it returned is akin to a paraplegic regaining their ability to walk. Your body has to relearn everything."
Korra's shoulders droop in exasperation, "Great, I'm back at square one."
Tenin strokes his beard, "It's possible that now that you've unlocked your spiritual connection to your past lives, you can communicate with them and speed up the process."
Korra just groans, "I already have tried that, I've even tried meditating, but after that one moment, I haven't been able to conjure anyone up. The most I've gotten was just one random vision over and over again."
This piques Tenzin's interest, "Vision? From who? Is –is it from Aang?" a touch of hopefulness can be picked up from his voice.
It breaks Korra's heart when she has to tell him no, "It's from someone I don't actually recognize. He says his name is, Wan."
Tenzin's eyes widen in shock, "Wan?"
"Yea who is that?"
"That's… the first Avatar. What else does he say? What else does he show you?"
Korra shrugs, "Nothing. Everytime I try to ask, the vision ends. I keep trying to go back and continue it but my mind just never clears up enough. And meditation has never been my strong suit." She crosses her arms glumly.
Tenzin gives her a one arm hug. "I know you're worried about your bending and the city, but you must find a way to keep it from overwhelm you."
She groans and throws her hands over her head, "How!? I mean my bending is one thing but even the police are struggling to keep the city from collapsing because other then Lin and like 5 other cops, they're barely able to earthbend let alone metal bend."
"Focus on the positive Korra. There is still a measure of order in the city."
She looks at the city skyline with curiosity, "Yea. Because of a certain someone."
"Yes. Karnak I suppose." He glances at Korra and sees her wearing a mulish expression, "Have you spoken to him?"
"Sporadically since the south pole. Hate to say but guys been pretty busy doing what I can't." her face gets downcast.
"Korra—"
"Don't. It's fine, I don't hold it against him, I just hate that I allowed my bending to be taken away and because of that I feel so useless cause I can't even earthbend without causing a seismic event. Have you talked to him?"
He sighs, "no. Unfortunately, he's been busy."
That same night
A Quartet of robbers bust the doors open of the bank they just robbed only to see 2 police cruiser closing in. One of the robbers steps forward and earthbends the road. He like many others has head trouble with his bending, cuasng it to react violently and cause more destruction than it would before. But that's exactly what he wants, as instead of creating a wall in the middle of the road, the whole block rips apart with various pieces exploding up into he air. The police cruiser closest tries to swerve and dodges most of the earth that shoots up in its way but a large chunk burst from underneath them and flips the car into the air and into the second floor of the building next to it.
They chuckle together, "Haha, gotta admit I like this change to my bending!"
The four get into their getaway vehicle and immediately race off into the night, with the surviving police cruiser hot on their trail; having successfully cleared through the mess they made.
"Shouldn't we check to see if they're ok?" the cop sitting in the passenger seat asks.
But the driver shakes his head, "No time, we go back and we'll lsoe them. It's already hard enough to keep up with them!"
They zig zag through the traffic as the pair try their best to keep on the trail of the robbers, but it's getting harder and harder to keep up as the cop driving isn't as skilled with the motor vehicle.
The older officer grips the steering wheel, glaring at the car in front of him, "Damn this sucker can move!"
As they continue trailing them, the younger officer looks up and catches the sight of something moving on the rooftops parallel to them.
"The hell is that?"
"I can't exactly look right now kid!" the driver says as he narrowly misses the car that braked before him.
He sees the figure again, "I'm telling you something's up there, it's freaky!"
The driver rolls his eyes and chances a glance above, "You gonna tell me or- Holy!" Both cops stare in awe as the shadowy figure of the Red Spirit leaps off the building, his silhouette emphasized as a flash of lightning strikes behind him.
With that the cop lets his foot off the gas.
His younger partner does a double take, "You're slowing down?"
The older officer grins, "Yea. We're in for a show kid!"
The robbers shriek as the Red Spirit lands on the hood of their getaway car. They stare at his featureless red mask in horror, feeling his overwhelming glare underneath. They barely react as he punches their window with just enough force to crack it and obscure the drivers sight. They begin swerving to shake the vigilante off the hood but he holds fast until he sees that they're heading straight for a ditch. At the last second he vaults into a backflip and lands on his feet as the car crashes into the ditch. The thieves all groan as they crawl out of the wreckage only to have a large shadow cover them as the Red Spirit glares from the top of the ditch. The earthbender growls and bends the earth beneath the Red Spirit's feet, but the vigilante uses the force of the floor lifting to somersault into the air, roll and on his descent, deliver a crushing kick to the earthbenders face, breaking it in the places and shattering his jaw. He falls into a heap and his allies stare in fear.
The Red Spirit then gives them an ultimatum, "You can all surrender… or receive the same punishment as your associate. The choice is yours."
Immediately the one who was driving throws up his hands to surrender, "Yup! I'm turning myself in! I don't even like these guys!"
He quickly lays face down with his hands behind his head. The rest quickly follow suit. At that point the police arrive and the younger one gets into a stance.
"Stay right where you are! You just assaulted that man!" he exclaims.
The Red Spirit then replies, "He's young, he'll heal," then glares at his accomplices, "But they'll stay scared, won't you punks?"
They timidly nod, one of them soiling their pants as he does older cop grabs his younger partner roughly, "Cut it out kid, he's being patient with you as it is." He gives the vigilante a grateful nod, "Thanks for the assist!"
The Red spirit gives a slight nod before leaping into the air and rappelling himself back into the skyline. The young cop glares at his partner, "You're just gonna let him go!?"
His partner pays him no mind as he begins to cuff their prisoners, "You wanna end up like that guy be my guest, but I'm not biting the hand that feeds me!"
They continue their conversation as Karnak puts distance between him and them. Once he's far enough he lens his back on a wall and slides down until he sits and he lets out an exhausted breath.
"Fucking hell."
He's been running himself ragged trying to pick up the slack as the police force has been crippled by the effects of the Equalist revolution. Many people have been able to get back to their strengths such as Lin Beifong but the criminals don't care as they see the raw destructive nature of their reborn bending as a advantage which has lead to more widespread chaos threatening the city. This of course has lead to some hate crimes to people who were known affiliates of the Equalist movement as they are being blamed for societies current predicament. Many people, benders who had not lost their bending and still have perfect control as well as even non-benders with a sense of justice, have tried to do their bit by volunteering to help restore order. But it's still not enough which has lead to Karnak spending his every waking moment on the streets putting out figurative and sometimes literal fires. I think it's now been 4 days since I last slept.
Karnak has surely tested out just how much he had been enhanced. He can honestly say that his stamina has definitely been increased. Not to say that before he took the herbs he was a slouch. Quite the contrary there was at one point in his training where he spent 24 hours straight without break fighting more and more opponents during his time in the red lotus before finally succumbing to fatigue. But now he can go days before he truly tires. And he definitely is now. He closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath. Maybe I can just rest my eyes for a few minutes.
Then his sensitive ears pick up the sound of light footsteps nearby. Back on alert he surveys the area around him. He slowly gets back up but still has his guard up as he knows he's not alone. He hears the sound of an animalistic snarl and turns around just in time to dodge an a kick. He rolls to put distance between him and his attacker and he readies himself for a fight but is shocked at the appearance of his attacker. The man, if he can even call him that, Gets back on his feet that are formed like hind legs with pronounced claws extending from each too. His 6'0 tall frame seems to be covered in dirty blonde fur, with claws extending from each finger tip in a similar manner as his feet. His face is very feline like, with slitted pupils surrounded by vibrant yellow irises. He's grinning which shows his very pronounced fangs.
The Red Spirit stares in astonishment, "what in the hell are you?"
"Someone ready to cash in the check." He growls animalistically and rushes the vigilante with a speed he hasn't seen before.
Karnak throws a punch that his animal like attacker delfects with a front kick which he quickly turns into a seamlessly executed side kick, stumbling Karnak who is surprised by the speed his assailant possesses. The lion like man goes in for an elbow strike that the Red Spirit redirects and lands a perfect right hook to his attacker who groans at the hit but uses the momentum to throw a hook kick that Karnak dodges but the claws catches him in his arm. He hisses from the pain but ignores it and goes for a head then gut strike but both are blocked and the snarling fighter throws some open handed swipes, hoping to slice the resident vigilante, but each one narrowly misses, though the Red spirit does note that each strike is getting closer and closer to landing. This guy is fast and he knows what he's doing, that's not good, I need to get some breathing room.
Karnak dodges two more open palmed swipes and delivers a spinning back kick that knocks his attacker head over heels. But he doesn't go that much farther as the lion like thug uses his claws to right himself and hop into a perfect pounce landing both feet on the Vigliantes chest, knocking the Red Spirit into the wall behind him, cracking it. He recovers in time to barely move his head out the way of the razor sharp claws that cut deeply into the space his head was at. He attempts too more backhanded strikes with his claws but the Red Spirit is able to escape but not unscathed as the claws cut horizontally across his chest. This moment of distraction gives him the opportunity to jump off the wall and twists in the air to deliver a successful kick on the Red Spirits chest, right on his wound and he falls to his back. He mounts him and tries to deliver a the killing blow but the Red Spirit catches both wrists preventing them from reaching his throat. As he holds him Karnak realizes, he's faster, but I'm stronger! So I gotta make every hit count! And using his opponent force in pushing down, pulls him in and delivers a hard headbutt into his opponent's snout then launching him off. Karnak then stomps on his fingers, bringing out a pained roar as he breaks his fingers and claws. Then he blocks the spinning kick that was thrown at him and brings his elbow down on his attackers knee, breaking it backwards and then taking out a knife to deflect the desperate swipe and digging it deep into the animal's shoulder.
He rips it out roughly and goes to stab again but his eyes catches something. The wound, it's already starting to close. He hears a chuckle from the thug who grins again,
"It ain't gonna be that easy pal!"
His knee snacks back into place and be flips back on his feet in a feline position. Karnak Readies the blade before him but suddenly an inhuman screech tears through the nights sky and a blast of flames creates a fiery line between him and his foe. He looks for the source and the horrific sight of a man sized wolfbat flying down enters his view.
It lands in front of him and stands up like it's a man and screeches loudly. "HuNgRRRRyyyy!"
"not yet Tazu! You'll get your meal later."
"I HaTe WaItInG KhAn!" the wolfbat(Man?) answers in its ghastly voice.
"What type of nightmare shit is this?!" Karnak wonders aloud.
"Only the beginning of the nightmare hero! Consider this a review of the type of trouble you'll give us, Don't worry, we'll be back soon. By the end of this you'll be dead, and we'll be rich!" The lion-man, who Karnak guesses is called Khan promises with his nasty grin before Tazu uses his large clawed feet to grab his shoulders and fly them both into the night sky.
From what he was just told, Karnak can only come to one conclusion. Someone ordered a hit on me… but with most people still weak, who could it be?
Khan enters the number and waits for the ringing to end. A few moments later the line is picked up.
"Is he dead?" the voice on the other line asks impatiently.
Khan holds back an angry growl. "Not yet, from what I've heard about him I needed to test the waters before we go in for the kill."
"Does he worry you?"
The question seems good natured but the tone of voice was very condescending. Again Khan has to rein himself in.
"No, we can take him, but with his skill and ability, it might take some time. That won't ruin your time table will it?"
"No, as long as he's away from the Avatar I can get what I need and once she's dead, I'll kill him myself."
Author's Note: Hello everyone! and here it is the next adventure! like i said before this will be a adventure that'll be primarily focused on Korra and Karnak to build up their friendship as well as lay foundations for things in the future. As you see I've started making the changes i said i would make from the beginning and it'll lead to the major changes i made to Book 2. Some plotpoints i kept the same just so that the whole continuity isn't completely altered, i still am gonna have the airbending community to be reborn in the new spiritual age, but its definitely gonna be done differently on how it ends up happening.
I also wanted to point out that everything i changed, including the two hitmen i've shown so far with how they are, is all canon to the show. As we go on I'll even add the specific episodes that gave me the idea that it was possible within the Avatar universe.
I'd also like to thank those that commented, i truly appreciate any and all reviews i get!
RainfallMyth: I'm glad you're excited for what's next and hopefully what i do here will be enjoyable to you and everyone else who comes across my story.
yakirai: Thank you! yea i wasn't gonna dwell too long on book 1 although i will say that Amon could've been a big bad for longer than jsut book 1, he and the idea of the Equalists had some serious potential, maybe in the future I'll write another fanfiction about that. But in regards to Mako and Korra, yea he did go after her and they had their moment. I share the same feeling syou do regarding him and his romance with Korra. But like i said, we followed Karnak's perspective and for now, he's not gonna give two shits about their romance, but i will say that Mako won't be used often in my story though i will do my best to try to make him better in the times he does show up. And i definitely do want to do more with Asami but of course that'll be later on, which i hope you enjoy as well!
Guest: Thank you so much! XD i was very worried about thst but i'm glad you at least enjoyed my spin on things. Though when it comes to Asami, no i don't intend on making her date Karnak but she blushed because she does find him attractive and definitely isn't afraid to admit it! Plus having a big strong guy wisk her off her feet would definitely make most people blush lol, anyway i hope you enjoy this!
sortofbored: Thank you! i hope you enjoy it!
Till the next chapter everyone!