Chapter 36 The Earth Queen
Its been a few days since the group decided to go looking for new airbenders to rebuild the air nation after nearly 200 years.
Right now they were heading to Ba Sin Se to find new airbenders that were reported.
Sean and Korra were up top watching Bumi spar with Kai.
"You did a good thing for him by bringing him with us." Korra said as Junior snored in her arms making her smile.
"Ah. I understand why he did what he did. Being alone like gives him too much freedom and all. Still I think we can make a good airbender out of him." Sean said before Kai knocked Bumi off his feet. "HAHAHAHA!" Sean laughed with Korra before Bumi looked in his pockets.
"Did I drop my wallet?" Bumi asked before seeing Kai with it. "Give me that you little Thief!" Bumi yelled chasing him making them laugh more.
"I guess some habits are hard to break." Sean said before Tenzin approached them. (I found this amusing)
"It's so exciting to be on a diplomatic mission to Ba Sing Se. What's the Earth Queen like?" Korra asked Tenzin.
"I've never met her, but I've heard she can be quite demanding." Tenzin said.
"Oh great. Another bad ruler." Sean said thinking of Unalaq. (God she was even worse by a thousand times over!)
"I'm sure she's nothing like him." Korra said reassuring him.
Thats when Bolin rushed to the rails.
"This is it, Mako! We made it!" Bolin yelled.
"Calm down." Sean said.
"I wonder how many Airbenders are down there." Korra said.
"Reports indicate at least a few dozen." Hudson said.
Passing the first ring however they saw how bad it was seeing the poorly built houses.
"Ugh. The lower ring looks terrible." Korra said disgusted.
"Bloody hell." Joseph said disgusted.
"Eww." Fiore said holding her nose.
"Oh." Kalder said. "Is there any chance I can make it rain to wash away the smell?" Kalder asked.
"Don't even think about it." Sean said.
"Yeah thats not gonna help." David said.
Soon they made it to the middle ring.
"HELLO MIDDLE RING!" Bolin yelled.
"Now this is more like it." Korra said appreciating the clean streets and houses.
"Hmm. Reminds me of a district in Japan for nobles." Hitomi said.
"By the way whats whats the symbol on your forehead mean?" Korra asked.
"It's the Kenji symbol for Wind. In my family my mother made it a tradition to write the Kenji of the element we represent in our family on our heads. Of course she only had me so I didn't have other siblings." Hitomi said.
"It looks nice." Korra said making her smile.
Thats when they made it to the upper Ring and found the palace made of gold.
"You gotta be kidding me." Sean said annoyed.
"Someone is trying to compensate for something." Takina said.
"No shit." Woods said.
"Now this is more like it." Kai said before Sean bonked him on the head. "OW!" Kai yelled making most laugh.
"Don't go back to your old ways kid." Sean said as they landed. (Couldn't resist)
Getting off they were greeted by a servant. "Avatar Korra, Avatar Kruger and Master Tenzin, It is a pleasure to welcome you and your party to the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. I am Grand Secretariat Gun." Gun said bowing.
"Thank you." Korra said bowing.
Thats when Bolin and the animals appeared before he sniffed the air.
"Ahh, it's got that upper ring Smell." Bolin said.
"Oh, no. The Queen hates animals. We've got to get them out of sight." Gun said.
"Well, I can stash Pabu in my shirt. These two are gonna be a little tougher." Bolin said as Lizzie shrunk before running to Korra's shoulder and croaked making her smile.
"Come with me, hurry. I'll take you to your quarters." Gun said leading them away. "Now, when you meet the queen, make sure you bow low enough. That's very important. And don't look her in the eye, she can't stand that. If any food is served. don't eat before she eats. Oh, actually, I have to taste her food first, Then she eats, then you can eat. Better yet, just don't eat." Gun said. (My good god)
"Seems like an awful lot of rules." Korra said making Gun sigh.
"Oh, you have no idea, and I'm the one who gets in trouble when people don't follow them, so Please, Please, for my sake, just try not to upset her majesty." Gun said leading them into a house. "Now. go in and make yourselves comfortable and keep those animals out of sight in the backyard. If you'd like to meet the Earth Queen you should follow me." Gun said.
"Fiore can you keep an eye on Junior for me." Korra said handing him to her.
"Don't worry he's good hands. Isn't that right sweetie?" Fiore asked making Junior burst out laughing making them smile before they left.
Soon the three approached the Earth Queen who was observing some construction.
"Your Majesty, May I present Avatar Korra and her Husband Avatar Kruger." Gun said.
"Your Ruining the Koi Pond! It's completely overshadowed by the topiaries! Guards, Take that Buffoon away and get me someone who knows what they're doing!" The Queen yelled making Sean and Korra look at each other.
"I take it back. She's WAY worse than Unalaq." Korra whispered.
"Mmm." Sean said in agreement.
"So I finally get a visit from the Avatars. Let me guess, you want something." The Queen said.
"Well, as it happens we were hoping you could..." Korra tried to say.
"I hardly think you're in a position to ask me for favors after everything the last Avatar did to the Earth kingdom." The Queen said.
"Meaning what exactly? From Korra told me Aang helped your father regain his kingdom shortly after the war was finally over." Sean said.
"True but I'm referring after the war. He and Fire Lord Zuko took advantage of my father's weakness, and stole our lands to make their own little empire. The united republic is Earth Kingdom territory." The Queen said.
"Thats like a small patch of land the size of Hawaii compared to this place." Sean said making her scoff.
"Well, I'm not sure what I can do about that." Korra said uncomfortable.
"Not that you care. But whats left of my kingdom is falling to ruin." The Queen said. (Gee I fucking wonder why)
"Hmm?" Sean said.
"Roving bands of Barbarians are raiding villages in the countryside, and now, some of my subjects are refusing to pay their taxes." The Queen said. (Wow I just...Fucking Wow)
"We're very sorry for your troubles, But actually..." Korra tried to say.
"That Topiary is supposed to be an Eel-Swan, not a turtle-Duck!" The Queen said.
"This is fucking bullshit." Sean said to his wife who nods.
Meanwhile
"Hey, Has anyone seen Kai?" Turok asked before they looked around.
"Kai?" Tenzin asked.
"He's not in here." Bumi said.
"I don't think I've seen him since we landed." Asami said.
"I knew that kid was no good." Kalder said.
"Cut him some slack. He's only just trying to be someone new. Some of his habits are clearly difficult to get rid of." Joseph said.
"I can't argue with that. When you live alone for so long bad habits are to be expected." Tenzin said
"We'll go and find him." Mako said sighing as he and Bolin left.
Meanwhile
"NO TO YOUR LEFT! YOUR OTHER LEFT! Do you have these problems with your servants?" The Queen asked.
"We don't have servants." Sean said getting annoyed more by the second.
"Listen, the reason for our visit is that we're trying to gather all of the new airbenders who are popping up in the Earth kingdom, and we'd like your help finding the ones in Ba Sing Se." Korra said.
"Airbenders in Ba Sing Se? Where did you hear that?" The Queen asked.
"The CIA has reasonable intel that suggests the place has a large number of them here." Sean said.
"Hmm. Well, before I even consider helping you, I'll need you to do something for me." The Queen said.
"And that would be?" Korra asked.
"I have a vault full of Tax money sitting in a town south of here. Barbarians have stolen my past two shipments. Go collect my money and bring it back here." The queen said making them frown.
"Very well." Sean said as they left.
"I hate her." Korra said.
"I know the feeling." Sean said as they made it back to the others.
"Where are Mako, Bolin and Kai?" Sean asked.
"Kai vanished and we think he's up to his old ways again." Tenzin said making him sigh.
"Figures. I help him out of a jam and this is my thanks go bloody figure." Sean said making Korra giggle. "Asami we need you to fly us to somewhere to pick up a tax shipment." Sean said.
"Sure." Asami said as they left.
Meanwhile
Zuko's dragon flew with Tonraq on the back to the Northern Water Tribe.
Arriving at the palace they saw Makarov giving instructions to some of the Northern troops and his own men before spotting them.
"Tonraq, Lord Zuko. I was informed you were coming." Makarov said.
"We need to check on a secret prisoner." Zuko said.
"I checked all the prisons here and none of them had a match to the description you sent me." Makarov said.
"Then you don't know about the secret prison that was built before you took over." Tonraq said.
"Secret prison? How many inmates are inside?" Makarov asked curious.
"Just one." Zuko said making him raise an eyebrow.
Meanwhile
Sean, Korra and Asami got off the airship and headed for the bank.
"What the hell is wrong with this place?" Sean asked seeing it was in bad shape.
"I don't like this." Korra said before they made it to the bank before it was opened.
"You here for the Tax Shipment?" A guard asked.
"Aye." Sean said before they started loading it up and went to the airship.
Thats when a flare went up.
"Hmm?" Sean said before seeing the bandits arrive on bikes making the guards run away. "Guards my ass." Sean said before his foot smashed into the ground creating a quake that made the bandits fall off their bikes before seeing who he was and ran away in fear.
"Your on the wrong side Avatar. The gold belongs to the people not the queen!" The Leader yelled.
"Why do I feel like he's right?" Korra asked.
Meanwhile
Fiore smiled as she held Junior as he slept peacefully in her arms.
"You are just so adorable." Fiore said enjoying the nice moment.
Thats when a group of men barged through the windows making her blink.
"Hand over the son of the Avatar of life. Or face death."
Fiore frowned at this.
"I'm gonna count to three...And if you idiots aren't gone by then I'm gonna kill you. And I REALLY don't want to do that in front of a baby...One." Fiore counted.
"We will not say it again. Hand over the son of the Avatar of Life."
"Two." Fiore continued.
"You had your chance.
"THREE!" Fiore yelled before opening her mouth before a bright light came out and they screamed in pain as they were reduced to dust save one who looked in horror before bolting. "HMPH!"
"The hell was that?" Mason asked rushing down.
"Just some idiots after Junior. Don't worry I took care of it." Fiore said rocking him to sleep.
"At times like this she really scares me." Will said to Woods.
"No shit." Woods said.
"She can be all smiles and shit for one minute but you piss her off and she turns into that." Adler said.
"You realize I can hear you." Fiore said annoyed before Sean, Korra and Asami walked in.
"The hell?" Sean asked seeing the windows broken before seeing the dust on the ground.
"What happened here?" Korra asked taking Junior back who yawned in his sleep.
"Fiore turned a bunch of punks to dust when they came after Junior." Mason said.
"What!" Korra said alarmed.
"Don't worry I took care of it." Fiore said waving it off.
"This is the reason she's one of the most powerful Avatars in the food chain. She can use the power of light in many ways including using it to superheat an enemy to the point they turn to dust." Sean said as she grins.
"Wow. What place would you put her?" Korra asked.
"Uh probably 7th. Remember Every Avatar of Old hold an essential aspect of existence like the elements. Some are very powerful like her others not so much but they are important." Sean said.
"You know I find it very strange after you guys go to collect money these guys show up." Joseph said.
"What are you getting at?" Hudson asked.
"Think about it? Shortly after we arrive these guys show up and try and take the kid? Who gains from that?" Joesph asked making Sean frown.
"The Queen." Sean said narrowing his eyes.
Meanwhile
"You have a secret prison here and yet you only have one prisoner? I find that a major waste." Makarov said as they entered the prison in question.
"It was built by Unalaq years ago before he freed Miraak from his prison." Zuko said.
"So why only one prisoner? Is she that dangerous?" Makarov asked.
"Very." Tonraq said as they took an elevator down.
"Her name is P'li. And she's a unique firebender who can cause explosions with her mind...Ironically, I hired a with a similar ability to kill the Avatar myself once." Zuko said making Tonraq and Makarov look at him. "Didn't work." Zuko said.
"Clearly. Though I find it strange the UN wasn't made aware of these people to begin with so we could add extra security." Makarov said.
"At the time we thought they could never escape until Zaheer got airbending." Tonraq said.
"I see." Makarov said as they made it to the bottom.
"The intense cold prevents her from fire bending." Zuko said as they walked to her cell.
"Theres certainly no way anyone's breaking out of here." Makarov said as a bridge extended.
"Thats what we thought about the other three prisons." Zuko said.
"Must be something exciting going on. No one has visited me in 15 years." P'li said.
"Don't get used to it." Tonraq said making her chuckle.
"He's out isn't he? I'm feeling warmer already." P'li said grinning.
Meanwhile
"Your majesty, Lord Kruger has returned with the Tax payments." Gun said to the Queen.
"Finally. Secure it in the Vault." The Queen ordered.
"Now...About what we discussed before." Sean said.
"The Dai Li throughly searched the city, but it seems your reports were incorrect. There are no airbenders in Ba Sing Se. So you can gather your little band and be on your way." The Queen said.
"Yeah I don't fucking think so." Sean said glaring at her making her frown.
"Who do you think you..." The Queen tried to say
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sean roared shocking her. "While we were gone our son was targeted by some Earth benders. Now how would they know where he was and that we weren't there?" Sean asked as he his wife and Joesph glared at her while Tenzin frowned.
"If your trying to say I had something to do with this I assure you I did not. What I want with some..." The Queen tried to say.
"Some...WHAT?" Korra asked glaring at her making her gulp.
"The reason you kingdom is falling apart is because you're more interested in your own selfish interests. Let me make myself clear. If I find out you had anything to do with what happened while we were gone...I'll kill you far worse than I did Norris." Sean threatened making her tremble in fear.
"In all my years, I have never met such a greedy monstrosity of a human being, besides Cinder and her associates, such as yourself!" Joseph growled as he got ready to walk up to the Earth Queen and deck her in the face.
"Joseph, please! You wouldn't hit a woman, would you?" Tenzin said as he tried to stop the Avatar of stone.
And he did stop, but then slowly looked at Tenzin with a look of shock and disgust as he pointed at the Earth Queen with his thumb.
"THAT'S a woman?" he asked incredulously.
Sean widened his eyes before sputtering in laughter as did his wife while Queen looked royally insulted pun intended.
"I wouldn't know." Sean laughed (SaurusRock625 gets Credit for this)
Meanwhile
The prison was heavily fortified with some of the best within the UN along with the White Lotus.
Makarov had an assault riffle in hand as they waited.
"You took them down before haven't you?" Makarov asked Tonraq.
"Me, Tenzin, Zuko and Sokkka did 15 years ago when they tried to kidnap Korra. We still have no idea what they were up to though." Tonraq said before Zuko landed in front of them.
"Any sign of them?" Makarov asked.
"The only thing I saw was a snow storm heading our way." Zuko said before they saw it.
"Thats no snow storm. That's him." Tonraq said.
Inside the storm was Zaheer using his airbending to mask their approach in a truck before they appeared before he and Ming-Hua dashed at them before they did the same.
"I put you away once, Zaheer, and I'm going to do it again!" Tonraq said before using water bending against him.
Makarov and his men laid down cover fire as they shot at Ming-Hua who dodged most of their attacks while blocking the rest with Ice before she took a bullet in the leg making her grunt in pain before sending a large wave of water at them forcing them back.
"I hate guns." Ming-Hua said pissed off before taking the bullet out and then used water bending to drill down to free P'li.
P'li waited patently before hearing the White Lotus guards scream in pain before the door was frozen before breaking down showing Ming-Hua.
"Ming-Hua." P'li said.
"Lets get you out of here." Ming-Hua said getting her restraints off.
Tonraq and Zaheer continued to fight before Zaheer nearly got hit with snipper fire from Makarov's men.
Thats when Ming-Hua and P'li came out before the later used combustion bending on them all.
Using this as a distraction the four left making Tonraq growl.
"They were toying with us." Makarov said.
"We should have called Taylor's team down here." Tonraq said.
"Their looking for new airbenders right now." Makarov said as Tonraq frowned hoping his daughter and grandson would be safe.
Meanwhile
"Are you sure the Earth Queen is responsible?" Hudson asked.
"More than sure. I think she wants to turn Junior into a living weapon. I don't need to remind people about Norris and Dragovich. Even the Children of Avatars of old are extremely powerful even if they don't become the next Avatar. Look at David." Sean said looking at his brother.
"He's not wrong on that. After all Children of the Avatars are the only ones who can have battle spirits and that alone makes them powerful." David said.
"He's got a point." Adler said.
" I think she's also keeping the Airbenders for her own personal army. Something is just wrong here." Sean said.
"What is she trying to do? Start a war?" Takina asked.
"I think so." Mako said as he and Bolin walked in.
"There you are. Where have you been?" Woods asked.
"Chasing Kai. That little punk stole our money and left us in the lower ring." Mako said.
"But we did meet our lost relatives and our grandmother so it wasn't that bad." Bolin said making Sean chuckle. Even in bad moments Bolin saw the good things which is what made him fun to have around. (This is why I keep using Kai since his actions led them to finding their family in the lower ring)
"Now what are you talking about?" Sean asked.
"The Earth Queen's been secretly taking Airbenders and forcing them into her army." Mako said making Sean glare.
"If she's doing that than she definitly sent those thugs after Junior." Sean said.
"Wait what?" Mako asked.
"While you were gone some Earth benders showed up and tried to kidnap Junior." Korra said holding her son.
"I can't believe the Earth Queen is conscripting Airbenders." Tenzin said.
"Those people should not be forced to join her army." Korra said.
"Well, technically, the Earth Queen has a right to conscript her citizens." Bumi said making them glare at him. "What? It's true." Bumi said. (I'm not sure about that)
"If she's going after Airbenders Kai must have been caught doing it and got caught." Joseph said.
"Hmm. Ok so if she's training them she would need a secret base in order to do so. Where would she send them?" Sean asked.
"I bet they're under Lake Laogai." Jinora said.
"What the hell is that?" Turok asked.
"It's where the old Dai Li agents used to have a secret fortress." Jinora said.
"Wasn't that during the hundred year war though?" Korra asked.
"Yes." Jinora said.
"Meaning they got be somewhere else since that place must be totaled by now." Gideon said.
"Worth investigating at least." Sean said.
Arriving at the site before Jinora did an out of body spirit experience to search the underground before she came back.
"You were right the place is deserted." Jinora said.
"Thats to be expected since it's been over 70 years since this place was last used." Hudson said.
"Shit now what." Sean said before someone whistled.
"Need a hand?"
Sean turned and saw a girl with bright red hair and blue eyes and tan skin wearing Grey clothing.
"Sara?" Sean asked seeing the Avatar of mind.
"Long time no see." Sara said.
"Let me guess another Avatar." Korra said.
"The Avatar of Mind. What are you doing here?" Sean asked.
"Decided to show up and help since clearly you need all the help you can get." Sara said.
"So what can she do?" Asami asked.
"She can look into the mind of the Earth Queen and find the location of the Airbenders." Sean said.
"From here?" Korra asked surprised.
"Hey I've had a lot of practice with this." Sara said before she got into a meditative state before she entered the mind of the queen and groaned in disgust. "Ugh this woman is disgusting." Sara said.
"Shocker." Sean said.
"Found them." Sara said grinning.
Later
Arriving back at the house they discussed what happened. It turned out they were under her temple.
"I can't believe that old hag had them right under our noses the whole time." Korra said.
"We have to get into that compound tonight and get those airbenders out." Tenzin said.
"All right, we go in under the cover of darkness. Two small insertion teams and a third on the outside. Then all we'll need is 12 tons of blasting jelly..." Bumi tried to say before someone knocked on the door.
"That better not be the queen." Sean said before opening it but to his surprise it was Lin.
"Lin? What are you doing here?" Tenzin asked letting her in.
"We need to get Korra out of here immediately. Her life's in danger." Lin said.
"Huh? From what?" Sean asked.
"I just got word from Lord Zuko and Tonraq." Lin said.
"Why is Lord Zuko with my dad?" Korra asked holding her son close.
"Zaheer and the others have escaped." Lin said.
"How is that possible?" Tenzin asked.
"Because Zaheer is an airbender now." Lin said.
"No." Tenzin said in shock.
"HEY!" Sean yelled getting their attention. "Will you two idiots stop ignoring us! What is going on? Who the hell is Zaheer and why is Korra's life in danger?" Sean asked concerned for his wife.
"Yeah I'm confused too." Korra said.
"Your father said he told you the truth about why you were kept in the South correct?" Tenzin asked.
"Yeah. Some people tried to kidnap me a month after I was found out to be the Next Avatar. What of it?" Korra asked.
"Zaheer and the others were those four who attempted to take you." Tenzin said shocking her.
"Korra told me about this when we left the South when Unalaq started that civil war. Why the hell did they come after her in the first place?" Sean asked.
"Thats something we've been trying to figure out for 15 years. But they never broke." Lin said.
"And now they're after me again." Korra said holding her son protectively.
"That ain't happening. I lost one family 17 years ago I ain't losing another by some low lives." Sean said holding them close.
"We should head back to the states." Hudson said.
"No. I think the best option would be to stay on the move. They'll find a way into the states somehow and cause trouble. The best option we have is to remain on the move until we find a better place to keep Korra and Junior safe." Sean said.
"We should go back to Republic City." Lin said.
"You mean to where Raiko is? He'll sell us out to get even for his current issues. Forget it." Sean said.
"I agree. Raiko can't be trusted in his current state of mind." Tenzin said.
"For now though we need to secure the airbenders the Queen has captive." Sean said.
"Fine. Where are they?" Lin asked.
Later
A couple Dai Li agents walked around the palace to keep it secure.
However suddenly the groaned as they held their heads before they exploded due to Sara using her abilities.
"Never gets old." Sean said as they rushed in.
Korra right now was on the airship with Junior in her arms as he snored softly.
"Are you ok?" Asami asked.
"Yeah it's just...Every time we take down the bad guys a new one shows up." Korra said.
"Thats to be expected. Even back during the old days before Altair and his generation vanished there were still people who caused problems. It's Human nature. But they always kept order. When this generation finally master all their abilities people like them will be a lot less common." Hudson said.
"I hope so." Korra said.
Sean and the others rushed out with the new airbenders before a large number of Dai Li agents appeared making him growl.
"So you discovered my elite army. I see their loyalty still needs some work." The Queen said.
"You sent these men after my son didn't you?" Sean asked glaring at her.
"Guilty as charged. Having airbenders in my army was good enough but the powers of The Avatars of old would make things perfect for my plans to take over the other nations and then the whole world." The Queen said grinning.
"Oh not this again. What is with the world domination scheme? It never works." Takina said.
"We're giving you one warning. Get out of the fucking way or suffer the consequences. And believe me with this many Avatars you don't stand a chance in hell." Sean said making her scoff.
"Oh please. You're all only Avatars in training. My men are experienced. Capture them." The Queen said turning to leave but stopped when her men started screaming making her turn and saw them holding their heads before they exploded making her shriek in horror.
"He warned you." Kalder said before large storms began to appear above her home making her whimper in fear before strikes of lightning began hitting everywhere including her men who screamed in horror before Sean turned into his Godzilla Battle Spirit and roared into the air making her whimper in fear before the spikes on his back glowed before blasting her palace to rubble.
"Oh shit he is pissed." Woods said chuckling.
Sean roared loudly before blasting the rest of her palace making her shriek in horror as the others destroyed her home without a second thought.
Looking at the Queen Sean roared at her loudly as she fell on her back before crawling away.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" The Queen screamed in fear.
"Will you let us leave now?" Sean asked snarling at her.
"FINE! TAKE THE AIRBENDERS! JUST GO!" The Queen screamed in fear. (I greatly enjoyed this)
After that they got on the airships and left.
"Sean?" Korra asked getting his attention. "Are you gonna be ok?" Korra asked.
"Of course. I promise everything is gonna be fine. I won't let them get to you or Junior." Sean said holding them close making her smile.
Soon the two airships departed with Tenzin taking the Airbenders to the Northern Airtemple with Jinora and Turok while Sean and the others went to look for more airbenders.
"Lin?" Sean said getting her attention. "You said you spent 15 years interrogating them right?" Sean asked.
"Of course. We tried our very best but they didn't break. If we had handed them to the CIA though maybe things could have been different." Lin said.
"Tell me everything you know about them." Sean said.
Authors Note: Oh boy things are really getting tense now. I greatly enjoyed this chapter seeing the queen squirm like a little bitch. Now Next Chapter we head to the Metal Clan and meet someone Lin would rather avoid. Read, Review, Fav and Follow. REVIEW MY LOYAL FANS FOR THIS AMAZING CHAPTER!