Author's Note: A prologue has been added to story as of 22/04/2021
"Eyes front!"
Korra clenched her fist as the Captain stood in front of them. A throng of Equalists paused amidst checking their gear.
"We're heading out," the Captain told them. "Clear all security personnel. Stay low, stick to the plan and keep your masks on. The trucks are in place."
He started to move amongst them, splitting the Equalists into groups.
"Where's your shock-glove?"
Korra turned – it was the woman who stepped into the turnstile directly before her.
"Broken," she said.
"Captain won't be impressed," the woman said as he neared them, ushering off a group of Equalists to the steps leading out of the gym.
Korra shrugged. "You're not a snitch, are you?"
The woman scoffed her laughter, slapping Korra's arm.
"You two," the Captain said, pulling together a unit of five Equalists, "you're up next."
"Yes, sir!"
Korra tugged at the breathing apparatus under her mask as the woman snapped to attention.
"I said keep that on," the Captain said, slapping Korra's hand away from her face. "Get ready to move."
"Damn thing won't sit still," she grumbled.
"Sounds like you borrowed it," the woman beside her said.
"...Yeah."
The woman fingered the cracked lens of Korra's goggles. "They won't be happy about this."
"Rather them than my eyes."
"Well, don't be the next idiot who suffocates on a temporal mission. Get yourself a proper fitting once we're done tonight."
"We're not done?"
The Equalist laughed. "All the excitement's given you amnesia?"
"Just not used to all this," Korra said quickly.
The woman shook her head. "Memorial Island's our last stop. Imagine the newspapers tomorrow after we take out both of the benders' idols."
Korra's eyes grew behind her goggles.
"Go, go, go!" the Captain shouted.
Their unit pounded up the steps and out of the gym.
"Come on!" the Equalist yelled.
Asami leapt over the splayed out form of a security guard, chasing after the masked man leading the way. They sprinted towards the entrance of the Arena, bursting out into the plaza beyond.
A trio of large trucks were parked in front of the causeway, engines roaring.
A man leaned out of the middle truck's window, wielding a thick baton.
"MOVE!"
Tyres squealed as the truck sat heavily on its rear axle, starting to lurch forward. The Equalist in front of her jumped into the back, the truck's rear doors swung wide open. An array of hands grabbed onto him.
Asami reached out with hers as rubber spun under the truck. The man turned and caught her hand. The truck racing forward pulled Asami off her feet and into his arms.
"Got you!"
Asami gasped into her mask. She pressed a hand to her ribs as a stitch blossomed into being.
The back of the truck was packed like a tin of sardines. Equalist goggles glinted in the semi-darkness. Asami sat opposite one with a cracked pair.
The body of the truck rolled as the vehicle blasted down the causeway. The sound of engine pushed right to the red line rattled Asami's bones. The driver's gear change was like smashing a square brick through a barely fitting hole.
"Watch it!"
The truck jerked hard to the right. The Equalist opposite Asami was thrown out of their seat, crashing into her lap.
"Shit!" someone cursed.
"Are you trying to kill us?" another man railed at the driver.
The back of the truck was a chaotic pit of bodies. Asami jammed her hands into the chest of the Equalist on top of her, pushing them off.
"Steady!" the Captain called from up front.
The Equalist Asami shoved away raised their hands, palms out as she breathed hard. Asami's boot was raised and ready to lash out. She lowered it slowly as the truck steadied itself. The Equalist – a woman, she saw – brought their hands to their mask, fidgeting with it.
Asami stared at her.
When the truck finally rolled to a stop, the Equalists at the back pushed open the rear doors. Asami ducked her head and peered into the night, seeing low-rise buildings with flat roofs stretching densely into the distance. She frowned under her mask.
Where were they?
The movement of Equalists at her back carried Asami out of the truck. As the oily grumble of its engine died, she heard the lapping of water.
Yue Bay melted into the midnight horizon as Asami approached the water's edge. She stared out across it, to where the statue of Avatar Aang stood tall.
"Load up!" the Captain ordered.
Boats were tied up for them. A hand at Asami's back pushed her forward; it was the Equalist she escaped the Arena with. She stepped down into the motorboat and found herself looking into a cracked pair of opaque goggles once more.
Asami tilted her head when the woman opposite lifted hands to adjust her mask again.
The boat's outboard motor kicked into life, joined in chorus by several others. Asami held on tight as the nose of the motorboat rose and its engine dashed white spray behind them. They skimmed across the bay, curved hulls slicing through the surface of the water.
Memorial Island drew closer, its proud monument pointing into the night.
The golden glow of the Pro-bending Arena filled the cracked goggles of the Equalist opposite her. Asami turned and looked over her shoulder. Airships floated overhead, pulled backwards through the dark sky. Her eyes narrowed.
One of them, in the present, harboured the masked men and women she now rode with across Yue Bay.
The boats came to land at Memorial Island. Asami alighted as hers floated up to the pier. Equalists around her moved with purpose, lashing the boats up with twists of rope. She found the Captain standing off to the side, a smaller figure at his shoulder. Several more Equalists joined them. Their attention was pointed towards the Arena.
"It's still standing," the man beside the Captain said.
"We haven't done our job yet," he replied.
"But how do we know it worked?" said a woman.
"If it didn't," the Captain said, "if we somehow failed or were stopped, we would have witnessed it in the moment."
He turned to the Equalist who asked as Asami moved closer.
"What's happened, has happened. Understand?"
The Equalist shook their head. The Captain settled his hand on their shoulder.
"You can stay behind and observe it then." He looked to the group gathered around him. "Any other volunteers?"
Two more hands shot up. One of them wore a pair of cracked goggles.
"Me too."
The Captain turned around and found Asami. She swallowed, her hand raised high. The man nodded.
"Seeing is believing for some. Everyone, down to the museum!"
An elbow dug into her ribs. "Really?"
It was the man who called down into the basement, distracting Asami long enough that Korra could escape into the turnstile. She had disappeared into the present.
"Why not?" Asami told him. "Do I owe you something?"
"A drink for not leaving you behind."
"Put it on my tab."
She turned away as the Captain strode their way. "What's the plan?"
He paused, regarding her. "You've forgotten?"
Jabbing his finger up at statue of Aang, the Captain's voice was laced with venom.
"We're tearing it all down tonight."
Asami scanned the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, hoisting a rucksack over her shoulder. A procession of Equalists walked ahead of her. The two directly at her back were also carrying a bag full of explosives.
Click-clunk-click
The turnstile at the end of the tunnel eagerly accepted each Equalist offering. When the machine rotated back to face the single file of masked men and women, its innards were cold and empty.
Soon enough, it was Asami's turn.
She took a deep breath, lungs filled with cool, artificial air, and stepped forward…
...into the present.
The gears of the turnstile whir deliberately as it turns to face a chamber.
Asami's eyes grow round behind her goggles.
She steps out of the turnstile like a zombie. Sticks of bright, burning light are cast into the corners of the chamber, illuminating it in red. Equalists are filing through the entrance up ahead, where a bulky statue has been pushed aside.
The Captain is waiting for her.
"Take this," he says, presenting a detailed sketch to Asami.
She carefully sets her rucksack down at her feet and takes it, tilting the paper towards the light offered by the flares.
"A building plan?"
The Captain nods. "Here are the museum's structural weak points," he says, pointing them out.
Asami swallows. "Got it."
"Set the explosives off once the Arena goes up in flames. The benders won't know where to look."
The turnstile spits out the last of the reverted Equalists at her back. Asami glances over her shoulder and sees cracked goggles.
"And make sure this chamber is rigged properly," the Captain tells her. "The turnstile needs to be scrap metal, understand?"
"Yes, sir."
The Captain puts one hand to her arm, and points to a bag next to the wall with the other. "Use those flares for light. See you back at base."
He takes the rest of the Equalists with him. Asami turns to the three women gathered behind her.
"What's that?" the tallest says, jutting her chin at Asami's hands.
She folds the paper and tucks it away. "Second part of the plan. Let's get the explosives set up in here first. Captain's orders."
"Fair enough."
Two of the Equalists set down their rucksacks and start unzipping them. The third one doesn't move.
Asami's heart pounds in her chest. "Problem?"
The woman shakes her head. She kneels down, slowly, slipping the rucksack off her shoulder.
"Can we get some light over here?" one of the other Equalist says.
Asami takes a step backwards, clenching her fist. It's missing the weight of a shock-glove.
"Sure…"
Three Equalists. One of her.
Her gaze is fixed on the tallest. She is about Asami's height and build.
She needs to drop first.
Asami squeezes her fingers into her palm.
Now, or never.
"Hey," the woman calls, peering into her rucksack "where's that li -?"
Asami's boot smashes into the side of her face.
Almost.
Movement in her periphery makes the Equalist flinch. Her hands come up in time to catch the brunt force of Asami's kick.
It sends her to the ground nevertheless.
The other Equalist jumps up, startled. "What the fuck?"
Her answer is the chamber wall ejecting a slab of rock between her shoulders. The woman hits the ground face-first and skids to a stop.
Asami stares at the Equalist behind her, goggles cracked, fist outstretched and her legs spread in a strong horse stance.
They pull their fist back to their side, pointing it straight at Asami.
She reaches up and tears the Equalist mask off her head. "Wait!"
A leg scythes into hers, just below the knee. Asami crashes to the ground. Pain shoots through her forearms when her hands fly out to catch herself.
The tall woman pounces on her.
Nearly.
A compressed spiral of air slams into the Equalist's side, throwing her into the wall. She doesn't move after hitting the ground.
"Asami!"
Korra is there in the next moment, throwing aside the Equalist mask. Her hands squeeze Asami's face between them.
"You're always showing up where I least expect it," Asami says.
Korra laughs, beaming. Asami hugs her tight.
When they release each other, the Avatar looks around the room.
"This seems all too familiar."
Asami sits up. "Korra...we've been here before. Remember?"
"The chamber…"
Korra looks around, and her eyes fall on the unconscious Equalists.
"And the uniforms."
Asami points to the bag sitting against the wall. "And the flares."
Standing to her feet, Korra offers her a hand. "Asami...what's going on?"
She dusts off the front of her uniform. "You're not going to like my answer."
Korra raises an eyebrow. "What's happened, has happened?"
"And we need to play our part," Asami replies, nodding.
Korra frowns. "But what -?"
"The hell?"
Asami snaps around. A man stands in the chamber entrance.
An Equalist.
Green goggles turn from Korra to the women knocked out cold at their feet, and back to Asami. They linger on her for a long moment.
Then he runs.
Tries to, at least.
The earth shifts under his feet, catapulting the man into the chamber. Asami hooks her fist into the chin of his mask.
The Equalist crumples to the floor.
Asami leans down and unmasks him. "Hmm."
"You know him?" Korra asks.
"By his voice," Asami says, dropping the mask. "Apparently I owe him a drink."