We're back on the next chapter.
REMINDER: I DO NOT OWN LEGEND OF KORRA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.
A cliffside punctuated by a narrow cleft. Through the crack, a flock of birds scatters as, in the next moment, a massive Earth Empire airship appears through the void in the rock, cutting through the air close to the ground.
The closed parts of Zaofu were sitting in the foreground at the head of its narrow valley; Kuvira's airships, in the distance, round the bend in the valley and steer toward the city.
As the ships advance on the city, a guard outpost, where one of the guards were seeing the force bearing down on them, whirls around and rushes to a radio, picking it up and speaking urgently.
"We have an emergency!" the guard said.
Suyin was riding on a train; facing away from the front window as the train rushes through a tunnel. Her twin sons are with her; Baatar walks up to her, grasping a bar for balance as he speaks.
Baatar was concerned. "I'll contact President Ichiro. He'll send the United Forces."
The train emerges into brilliant sunlight as it exits the tunnel. The four of them look into the distance; Kuvira's forces were massed in the valley, both airships and ground troop.
Suyin stands up and looks at the army. "Call whomever you want, but they'll never make it in time. Kuvira's already here and she brought her entire army. And Meldora."
At the train. Baatar Jr. was standing in front of the map of the Earth Kingdom, fixes his cufflinks before turning and joining Kuvira and Meldora at the window. They look out at the world flying by as the train moves through the countryside.
"By this time tomorrow, my mother will have signed the treaty, and the Earth Empire will finally be united." Baatar Jr. said.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Securing your hometown won't be like every other city." Kuvira said before she walks over to the map, leaving Baatar Jr. and Meldora at the window.
"Zaofu. What a lovely place. If my good friend Ch'rell would have seen it." Meldora said.
Baatar Jr. turns toward Kuvira, pausing briefly before he speaks; bitter: "Zaofu stopped being my home long ago. I'm ready to take it by force."
"No. The eyes of the world are on us now. We must do this right. That's why we need Bolin." Kuvira said.
"Do you really think we can rely on him, my friend?" Meldora asked.
"Su trusts him. She'll listen to him." Kuvira said.
Meanwhile, Pepper was flying through the air. Jinora was piloting the bison while Korra, Ikki, and Meelo sit back in the saddle.
"Are you sure we should be going to Zaofu? Dad wanted us to bring you back to Republic City." Jinora said.
"If Kuvira and Meldora are heading to Zaofu, so am I. That space alien needs to know that the Avatar of the Balance is back." Korra looks to her left, away from the others. "The world needs to know."
"I can't believe Meldora's back after three years." Raava's imprint said.
"Are you sure you can do this, Korra?" Vaatu's imprint asked.
Meelo jumps to his feet, yelling as he balances himself on the saddle. "Woo-hoo! Avatar fight! This is going to be awesome!"
"Meelo, there's not gonna be a fight. Kuvira saved my dad. She was a captain in Su's guard; I think she can be reasoned with. But Meldora is up to something."
"What? No fight? Why did we go through all that trouble to save you if you're not going to beat someone up?" Meelo asked in disappointment.
Kuvira's train was gliding through the mountains on its track. In Varrick's laboratory in the rear car of the train; Varrick himself has his head shoved into the frame; he looks confused.
"Zhu Li! Is this thing on?" Varrick was withdrawing his head, taking his position in front of the camera."
"We're rolling, sir." Zhu Li said.
"Okay. I'm Varrick, of Varrick Industries, International and this is Spirit Vine Experiment 3-02. Hand me the thing!"
Zhu Li walks into the frame from the right, carrying a glass tube, within which was a fragment of spirit vine. While Zhu Li, dressed in a white lab coat and protective observation goggles, carries the tube easily, Varrick staggers under its weight as she gives it to him.
He waddles over to the machine behind him and places the tube in the machine as Zhu Li checks an electrical connection in the wiring on the floor.
"In this stasis capsule is a preserved spirit vine sample weighing approximately two 'Zhu Lis'." Varrick said.
Zhu Li casts a glance at the camera as the view cuts away from the camera's point of view; Varrick walks to the right side of the machine and pulls a lever.
As he walks back toward the camera, the machine begins to hum, and the vine in the capsule was enveloped by electric pulses of purplish power.
"I have postulated that these spirit vines are a form of pure energy over God that's unstable in what we call 'typical earth conditions'. This machine should transfer the energy from the vine into a battery using electrical currents, reverse magnetic polarity, and a little-known phenomenon I like to call the Varri-Effect!"
The point of view moves out of the camera as Varrick moves to observe his machine. The vine crackles with energy, a high-pitched hum permeating the room, then a separate glass tube above it begins glowing with the same purplish light.
"It's working! It's registering five 'Varricks' of power." Varrick said excitedly. The glow increases. "Now seven Varricks!"
As soon as the words leave his mouth, the power conduit leading to the glowing battery overloads, and bolts of energy begin to arc along its surface as Varrick stares at it, dumbstruck.
The energy dial suddenly shoots to the top of the scale; the light bulbs on the side of the machine shatter as alarms sound.
"Whoa! What the hell is this? What's going on?" Varrick wondered.
As the hum of the machine rises in pitch, a sudden arc of energy flares from the machine, knocking Zhu Li against the wall with a cry; the point of view jumps back inside the camera as Varrick dives away from the machine.
The camera falls onto its side as Varrick yells, climbing toward the camera.
"Zhu Li! Shut it down! There are too many Varricks!" he shouts.
As the point of view leaves the camera once again, Zhu Li rushes to the lever and pulls it, looking up at the arcing battery. Since nothing happens, she pulls the lever a few more times, to no effect.
As she stares, panicked, at the intensely glowing battery, it explodes, sending a focused blast of pure energy through the back wall of the train. A quick outside shot shows the entire rear car of the train being thrown into the air by the shock of the blast.
Varrick and Zhu Li are both thrown, toward the gaping hole in the car. While Varrick hits a piece of wall and crumples to the floor, Zhu Li tumbles through the hole, screaming as she dangles over the tracks flying by in a blur.
"Sir!"
Varrick crawls to the hole and, grabbing both of her hands, tries to pull her back into the train, groaning.
"You're too heavy! You know, you could stand to lose a few Zhu Lis!" Varrick said.
"I think you're just weak, sir! Pull harder!" Zhu Li said.
With one last great effort, his eyes bulging with the exertion, Varrick pulls Zhu Li back onto the train. He falls backward as Zhu Li, off balance, falls on top of him.
As they realize how they were lying, chest to chest, they look at each other for a moment. Zhu Li, a tiny smile on her face, moves her safety goggles onto her forehead as Varrick looks back into her eyes.
"Varrick... you saved me." Zhu Li said softly.
Varrick puts a hand to her face, speaking softly as well. "Of course I saved you."
As he puts his free hand on the other side of her face, he directs her face toward the wreckage of the car, a sudden change in his demeanor from romantic to his eccentric self.
"I can't clean this place up by myself! Grab a broom!"
As he sits up, Zhu Li leans away from him, looking put out. Kuvira, Baatar Jr., and Meldora were having felt the shock of the explosion, enter the room.
"What happened? Were we attacked?" Kuvira asked.
Varrick was getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "No! We were spirit-vined! But don't worry! I'm putting the kibosh on this project."
He slides a lever on the wall down and the greenish light bathing his samples, set into notches in the wall, lessens and goes out.
Meldora smiles as she gets an idea. "No, you're not. Do you realize what we could do with this kind of power?" she asked.
As Varrick goes around the room, shutting off the glowing green lights one by one. "Yes! I do! And that's why we gotta put an end to it! What if it fell into the wrong hands?"
"Since when does that matter to you?" Baatar Jr. asked.
"I know, it's not like me, right? Usually I look at a project like this and think, 'Wow! I could make a ton of money off this!' But recently, I've been having these strange feelings... inside. It's like I'm... concerned with others. And there's this nagging voice in my head constantly telling me what's right from wrong!"
Zhu Li was sweeping the floor next to Varrick. "I believe that voice is your conscience, sir."
"Well, I'm the other voice in your head, and I'm telling you that you will continue with this project." Kuvira said unwavering.
"Sorry, no. I just really gotta stand my ground on this one… Whoa!"
The metal plates that make up the shoulders of his outfit have slid up and tightened around his neck, lifting him into the air.
Kuvira was shown metalbending. She begins walking him backward, toward the hole in the back of the train.
"And now there's a voice in my head telling me to drop you on the tracks." Kuvira floats Varrick out into the emptiness as he yells. "Should I listen?"
Varrick was pleading for his life. "No! No! Head voices are liars, what do head voices know? I'll work on the project! Please don't drop me!"
Kuvira smiles. She pulls Varrick back inside the train and he tumbles to the floor in a heap.
She steps over his body as she and Meldora leaves, Baatar Jr. in tow. Zhu Li rushes to Varrick's side and they both watch their superiors leave, anger etched into their faces.
Meanwhile, at the Republic City prison building. A stack of letters, their wax seals unbroken, sitting in front of a pair of folded hands. Asami Sato was sitting at the table, looking down at the letters. A voice breaks the silence and she looks up and sees her father.
"Asami, you came." Hiroshi said.
Hiroshi pulls out the chair opposite his daughter and sits, the shot showing a bespectacled, somewhat downfallen face; his hair has gone grey. A moment of silence passes between them as they sit facing each other.
Asami was ushing the stack of letters across the table toward Hiroshi. "I came to return these."
Hiroshi looks at the letters, saddened. "You never opened them."
"Stop writing me. I never want to see or hear from you again." Asami rises to leave.
"Please, just let me say one thing, then I'll never contact you again." Hiroshi said desperately.
Asami stands still for a moment, then sits back down, not looking her father in the eye.
"I can't forgive myself for all the horrible things I've done when I joined Amon. And I never expect you to forgive me. I tore our family apart, and destroyed our good name. But in a life of regret, you're the one thing I look back on that makes me smile. I just want you to know I'm so proud of you, Asami. You are the greatest thing I ever created."
Asami averts her head even more. She was tearing up. The tear that threatened to spill while Hiroshi was talking, breaks through and rolls over her cheek.
Asami quickly rises and runs from the room without saying a word. Hiroshi watches her leave before hanging his head in sadness.
At the train, that was still speeding through the mountains. Bolin sits in a chair, facing Kuvira, Baatar Jr. and Meldora. He seems apprehensive.
"Am... I in trouble?" he asked.
"No. In fact, I have good news. We want you to be a part of our inner circle." Kuvira said.
Bolin was excited. "Inner circle? No way! Yes!" Bolin catches himself; he clears his throat; serious tone. "That is a great honour. What does it mean, exactly?"
"It means you've proven your worth. We're so close to uniting the Empire, but Su has some resentment towards me, Baatar and our new recruit that might cloud her judgment and stop her from making a wise decision. We believe you can help her see clearly."
"I can do that! By the time I'm finished telling her all the great things we've done, she'll be begging to join! And I'm honestly glad that you turned to the good side, Meldora." Bolin said eagerly.
"Yes, yes. Thank you." Meldora said.
"Good. Because we're here." Kuvira said.
Kuvira metalbends the shades on the windows up, letting outside light pour into the car. Sitting in the bottom of the valley below were Kuvira's forces. Bolin looks at the massive army for a moment before turning back to Kuvira.
"Aren't all these troops gonna send the wrong message?" Bolin asked.
"The army is here to project strength. You're here to present peace." Kuvira said.
The train moves on its elevated track toward Zaofu.
Inside the city; a set of double doors opens wide and Kuvira, Baatar Jr., Meldora and Bolin enters the room.
Baatar Sr., Suyin, Wei, Wing, Huan, and Opal were facing the intruders. Opal, who was sitting on the large table in the center of the room which carries the scale model of Zaofu, stands upon their entrance, her hands on her hips.
"Opal! You're here, too!" Bolin said happy, trying to embrace her.
Opal turns away from him, crossing her arms. "No! You've chosen your side."
"Sides? There shouldn't be sides! I know, why don't we all stand in a circle, huh? Maybe hold hands?" Bolin asked.
"I'm not giving up Zaofu. I don't care if you brought your entire army." Suyin said.
"Su, I didn't bring my army to threaten you. I wanted to show you all that your son and I have accomplished."
"You must realize what you're doing goes against everything your father and I tried to teach you." Suyin said to her son.
"Son, you belong here." Baatar Sr. said.
"Why? So that I could go on living in your shadow?" Baatar Jr. asked bitterly.
Baatar's look of astonishment and Suyin's visible anger.
"Don't say that! Can't you see she's brainwashed you!" she said.
"Kuvira didn't brainwash him. She set him free! Free as a bird. And now he's accomplished more with her than he ever could with you." Meldora said.
"Okay, guys, obviously, there's a lot of personal, painful history here, so what do you say we just all forget about that stuff, huh? I mean, that's the past! Right Wing? Right Wei? You guys know what I'm talkin' 'bout, right? High five!" Bolin stands between them, offering said high-five to them both for a few seconds before giving up and sliding smoothly out of frame. "All right. No, that's cool." He walks back to the center of the room.
"You know what I think we need to do? Focus on the future! And the future is bright, let me tell you! I've seen it! Yeah! Saw it last month! We went to this town that had nothing. Most of the people there had never seen a Satomobile before. Now, they have two Satomobiles, running water, and a magnet train that goes right through their town! I mean, how awesome is that?"
"Really awesome, Bolin." Meldora agreed.
"They might have been happy when you first arrived, but I've seen what happens after you leave. Citizens are forced to work as slave labour, dissenters are sent off to who-knows-where!" Opal said.
"You're wrong, Opal! Now, I don't know what you think you've seen, but I am giving you the one-hundred-percent Bolin guarantee that we're making the Earth Empire a better place to live!" Bolin yelled.
"I can't believe you brought Bolin here to try and sway us. Leave! Zaofu will never accept you as their leader!" Suyin yelled.
"Then you leave me no choice. You have twenty-four hours to agree to join the Empire, or we take the city by force." Kuvira said bitterly.
Bolin looks astonished by Kuvira's sudden ultimatum.
Pepper was still airborne. Korra and Meelo, the latter perched on the front of the saddle, were looking into the distance with the aid of a spyglass. He cries out suddenly.
"I see it! Zaofu! We made it!" Meelo said before the bison crosses over the ridge into the valley and the army of the Earth Empire unfolds beneath them. "And a bunch of other people are here, too."
Korra was staring down at the force. "Oh, no. I hope we're not too late."
At the same room, where Korra opens the door, followed by the airbender kids. The family in the room looks at her silently for a moment.
"Korra? I can't believe it, where have you been? You disappeared; everyone was so worried!"
"I'll tell you the whole story later. Right now, I want to help you stop Meldora. What can I do?" Korra determined.
Meanwhile, at Kuvira's tent in the encampment in the valley. Inside, Kuvira sits at her desk, while Baatar Jr., Meldora and Bolin stands in front of her. Bolin seems a bit on edge.
"You were just bluffing, right? I mean, you're not really gonna attack Zaofu... are you?" Bolin asked.
"When people don't cooperate, we must find other ways of convincing them to join." Kuvira asked.
"Other... ways? How many times have we used these 'other ways' in the past?" Bolin asked timidly.
"It's not for you to worry about." Meldora said.
"So, uh... what does happen to all those towns and villages after we leave? I just realized I'd never really... gone back and... checked on them." Bolin said.
Kuvira rises and walks around the table to face Bolin. "Those people are my loyal subjects, and they contribute to the Empire however I see fit. Now that you're in the inner circle, you're going to have to accept some hard truths."
"Maybe... I'm not really an 'inner circle' kind of guy. Or-or maybe, we don't take over Zaofu!" Bolin said. "Maybe we can just let them be on their own, and then, 'Yay! The Empire's united! Congratulations to us!' Right?"
Bolin falters, cowering as Kuvira advances on him angrily.
"I didn't know your personal feelings for Opal were stronger than your loyalty to me. Zaofu will join us. The only thing I'm second-guessing is my decision to bring you along. Maybe you need to spend some time in a re-education camp."
"I... thought that's where we sent people to learn new trade skills." Bolin said.
"Hard truths, Bolin." Baatar Jr. said unsympathetically.
"Your loyalty seems to be wavering." Meldora said menacingly.
Bolin panicked. "No, no, I'm totally on your side, completely, one-hundred-percent loyal."
Bolin gives a hearty salute, while Kuvira, skeptical, glares down at him.
Meanwhile, at the Zaofu metalbending courtyard, where Korra and Suyin stand in darkness.
"How did things get so bad between you and Kuvira?" Vaatu's imprint asked.
"I thought she was your protégé." Raava's imprint said.
"She was more than that. She was like a daughter to me. I took her in when she was eight years old and nourished her talents. Kuvira was smart, a natural leader, and quickly rose through the ranks. I saw myself in her." Suyin said.
"What happened?" Korra asked.
"Three years ago, after the fall of the Earth Queen, Sheng, Tenzin, Dallas, and Phil came to see me. They said the Earth Kingdom was in chaos. There's a vacuum of power, and they're concerned about what will happen if someone doesn't take control of the situation. The world leaders trust me, and, as a Beifong, I have credibility in the Earth Kingdom, but I wasn't interested in imposing my ideals on an entire nation. I couldn't help you. Kuvira said that this wasn't her place, but she thought that I should do it. I told her I was still not interested. I didn't realize it at the time, but that moment put a rift between us. Kuvira turned my own son against me, and together they plotted behind my back. They were going to Ba Sing Se to help bring order back to the Earth Kingdom. I told her and my son to stay but Kuvira said when she choose to return, it'll be on her own terms. Kuvira and Baatar left that day with Varrick, my security force, and a few of Zaofu's wealthiest citizens. After Kuvira proved herself by stabilizing Ba Sing Se, Sheng and the other world leaders made her the provisional head of the Earth Kingdom. When she refused to step down, I knew it was only a matter of time before she made her way back here."
"I want to fix this." Korra determined.
"You can. Go into the Ultimate Avatar State and demolish her entire army. Scare that alien back to her planet. Remove Kuvira from power once and for all." Suyin said darkly.
"Damn, that's dark." Raava and Vaatu's imprint said.
"Fighting is something the old me would do. That always made things worse. Let me talk with Kuvira. Maybe I can reason with her and convince her that Meldora is obviously using her." Korra said reluctant.
"Kuvira doesn't listen to reason." Suyin said adamant.
At Avatar Korra Park in Republic City; a variety of different people were doing exercises on mats, walking and talking, or sitting under the statue of Korra which stands in the center of the area.
Asami sits on a bench, alone. Hunched over, she sits up straight and looks at the two people at a stone table in front of her. A young girl, dressed in green, was playing Pai Sho with her father.
She makes a few moves with a tile, then sits back and smiles at him. The man reaches over and takes his daughter in his arms. Asami smiles softly.
At Varrick's workshop, where Varrick was leaned over the railing on the upper level, as Zhu Li stands behind him, making tea.
"I can't believe Kuvira and that Witchlian, or Witchvanian, or whatever her alien race is called, locked me in here like a prisoner! I'm not feeling well! I think I'm running out of air! Zhu Li, hold your breath!" Varrick said angrily.
Zhu Li was calmly pouring tea. "I'm not holding my breath."
"Great! Now we're both gonna die!" Varrick said exasperated.
As Varrick hangs his head, a noise of creaking metal and a whisper permeate the room; Varrick lifts his head.
Bolin was whispering: "Varrick? Varrick?!"
"Ahh! And the head voices are back!"
Varrick was looking at Zhu Li, who points a finger up at the ceiling. Varrick turns his head up and sees Bolin's head poking through a hatch in the top of the car.
"Oh. Bolin! Thank goodness you're here! Where did that hatch come from? Forget the hatch! There's something important I gotta tell ya!" Varrick said.
Bolin Well, there's something important I gotta tell you, too!
He falls through the hatch, landing on his feet, and as he turns to Varrick. They both take each other's shoulders in a fervent panic.
"Kuvira's crazy!" Varrick and Bolin said simultaneously to each other.
They stare at each other for a split second, then talk frantically.
"How'd you find out?" Bolin asked.
"When I refused to build her a superweapon, she threatened my life!" Varrick replied.
"She threatened me, too! And she's threatening Zaofu and it turns out, she's been threatening villages this whole time!" Bolin said before he and Varrick let each other go. "We gotta get the hell outta here."
"I couldn't agree more, kid." Varrick said.
Varrick motions to Zhu Li with a finger. As Bolin watches, she mounts a table next to the wall and jumps up through the hatch. Varrick walks toward Bolin, his hands raised.
Zhu Li's hands appear above Varrick, grasp his hands, and pull him upward in a flash. Bolin promptly mounts the same table Zhu Li used and makes his own escape through the hatch.
Meanwhile, at the encampment where Korra, who was walking with Baatar Jr.
They stop, and Baatar Jr. speaks: "We have an unexpected guest. The Avatar of the Balance is here to see you."
Inside, Kuvira and Meldora were standing with two soldiers. She nods to them and they leave her. Meldora then turns and walks over to Korra.
"Korra! It's so good to see you!" she said before she hugs Korra and kisses her cheek. "Here, let's have a drink and make up with our old times." Meldora conjures a table with two drinks.
"What are you up to now, Meldora?" Korra asked.
"Nothing. After three years, I got kicked out from Witchvainya, so I joined the Earth Empire." Meldora explained.
"Korra, it's such an honour to see you again. The last I heard, you were on a honeymoon in New York." Kuvira said.
"Well, I'm feeling much better now." Korra said.
"That's wonderful news." Kuvira said.
"I remember being in New York. I had a business deal with a… certain friend of mine." Meldora said.
"A terrorist?" Vaatu's imprint asked bluntly. "An alien like you?" Vaatu's imprint asked bluntly as well.
"Terrorist, sorta, alien, yes. And no, not a Witchvanian. What he is, that's private, darling." Meldora said.
"I'm here to ask you to back down. Please. Take your army and leave." Korra begged.
"I think we both know that's not going to happen." Kuvira said.
The two women exchange a long, inhospitable stare.
"I can't let you take Zaofu." Korra said.
"Now, listen, Kuvira. Whatever Meldora promised you; it won't happen. She's trying to manipulate you. That what she did to Zaheer and Azula." Raava's imprint said.
"I was wrong, Raavy." Meldora said in a lie. "I was trying to do something to help my people."
"Yeah, like invading our planet?" Vaatu's imprint asked bluntly again.
"Look, Meldora really has changed. She's helping me. I was tasked with bringing stability to the Earth Kingdom. Zaofu is the last holdout. Why should I treat it differently than any other state?"
"What you're doing isn't right!" Korra said.
"Come one, Korra. She's helping her people." Meldora said.
"I understand you're just trying to do Su a favour, but you can't come to me as I am on the verge of reuniting my nation and tell me to stop. The world was descending into chaos while you were gone. In order to fix it, I had to make some tough decisions." Kuvira said.
"I know what that's like. I've had plenty of people mad at me about decisions I've made." Korra said.
"And I was evil ten thousand years ago. When I merged with Korra and Raava, that taught the true meaning of love. I had help Korra with her decisions." Vaatu's imprint said.
Kuvira walks up and puts a hand on Korra's shoulder. "Exactly, if you really want to help, go back to Su and try to talk some sense into her. Let's call a temporary truce. I won't make any moves until you talk to her and get back to me."
"Maybe that will be for the best." Korra said.
Meldora clapped her hands. "Oh, good. Now, we're starting to get along."
Meanwhile, at the platform, where Baatar Jr. walks up to the door of Varrick's cart, guarded by two soldiers.
"Have you seen Bolin?" Baatar Jr. asked.
"He came by to see Varrick, but we turned him away." the first guard said.
Baatar Jr. gets a suspicious look in his face. "Open the door."
Inside the cart, where Baatar Jr. and the two guards stare at the still-open ceiling hatch.
"We have some fugitives to catch." he said darkly.
At the mountains, bordering Kuvira's camp, with the army and Zaofu. Bolin, Varrick and Zhu Li in three mecha tanks walk uphill, away from the army. One of them stops and turns around, watching over the camp, and tries to come up with a strategy.
"Okay, I say we go up and around the mountains and sneak into Zaofu from the rear." Bolin said.
Varrick and Zhu Li also stop, turn around and open their helmets.
"We're not going to Zaofu, that place is doomed! We gotta head to Republic City!" Varrick said.
"What? No, no, no, no, we gotta help here." Bolin determined.
"We'll be helping by warning the world about Kuvira's potential superweapon!" Varrick said.
"Well, that's helping, but it's a completely different type of helping." Bolin said doubtful before he brings the arm of the mecha tank up to his chin. "Hmm. Let me think about this."
He suddenly got zapped by lightning and tumbles off his feet. Three mecha tanks were charging down on them, one of them piloted by Baatar Jr.. He lunges toward Varrick, who lets out a yell and ducks back into the safety of his cockpit.
Zhu Li steps in front of him, arms raised. A massive cloud of dust rises as Baatar Jr. lands with crushing force. As it clears, Zhu Li stands firm, holding his fist back with both hands, having caught Baatar Jr.'s attack. He was tackled by Bolin, leaving Varrick and Zhu Li free to fend off the other two tanks. With a ferocious snarl on her face, Zhu Li's helmet slams shut, before boxing with one of the other mecha tanks and knocking it backward.
She shoots a bola and catches the other tank off guard as it was charging at Varrick, who was lying on the ground, his helmet opening and closing quickly.
Varrick was lamming a metal hand against the helmet, trying to get it to work. "Good God, that's not the flamethrower! What idiot designed these things?"
"You did, sir!" Zhu Li said.
"Less lecturing, more saving my life." Varrick said.
She turns just in time to catch a punch from a tank in the head, hard enough to make her fly backward a good distance. To stop sliding, she jams a spike into the ground and uses her momentum to swing around on one leg, kicking the other tank in the chest with enough force to throw it into a tree.
Baatar Jr. was throwing Bolin's tank around. Baatar Jr. uses the hand piston to punch Bolin's tank onto its back temporarily. Bolin was slightly groggy from the blow, but quickly regains his senses and sees Baatar Jr. leap for him.
He opens the tank, rolling out a split second before Baatar Jr. lands and completely crushes the suit. Bolin earthbends at Baatar Jr., but the former uses cables to jump out of the way of the flying stones. Twisting in midair, Baatar Jr. retracts one of the cables, allowing his free arm to operate the flamethrower. Bolin rolls out of the way of the stream of fire and bends up some cover for himself.
Zhu Li was holding off the other two pilots on her own, while her boss was up in a tree, struggling with the controls of the mecha tank.
"Hey! I think I figured it out!" Varrick said.
Zhu Li throws away one of her attackers and Varrick aims to shoot him with lightning, but shoots Zhu Li instead, knocking her over.
"Sir, you're making this very difficult." Zhu Li said tiresome.
"Sorry." Varrick said.
Zhu Li was picked up and thrown around, while Bolin, who was still covering from Baatar Jr.'s flamethrower. Bolin launches the boulder at his former boss, giving him time to roll away and uproot a big tree, bringing it down on Baatar Jr.
Meanwhile, Varrick was forced to flee his tank as it was entangled by a bola and in the clutches of an enemy tank. As he tumbles out, the other pilot throws Varrick's abandoned suit down and gives chase.
Zhu Li was gaining the upper hand now that she only has one opponent. She punches him back and launches cables into the ground around him, reeling herself in to kick her opponent hard.
She opens her helmet and sees that Varrick was being chased up a mountain by the other mecha tank. She shoots a cable around a boulder, launching it at the mecha tank attacking Varrick, successfully knocking the suit off the cliff.
Zhu Li moves in to knock him out permanently, but a bolt of lightning strikes her, knocking her down. Zhu Li's former opponent was charging at her while Varrick's aggressor gets up as well.
Bolin, who was on higher ground, jumps off a small cliff, yelling angrily, and uses his lavabending to trap the two other tanks who were fighting Zhu Li. Zhu Li manages to jump out of the way of the wave of lava in the nick of time and her opponents are forced to abandon their vehicles as they melt into the lava.
As Bolin traps them with earthbending against the wall, Baatar Jr. was standing on the cliff, the visor of his tank down, holding Varrick by the head over the edge of the cliff.
"Stop! Turn yourself over, or else..." Baatar Jr. said.
"Thanks a lot, Zhu Li." Varrick said angrily.
Zhu Li's face contorts in anger as she averts her gaze, gritting her teeth.
Meanwhile, at Republic City, at the prison where Asami was sitting at a table; a guard was escorting Hiroshi into the room. He sits at her table.
"You came back." Hiroshi said.
"When I first came here, it was because I wanted to tell you face to face that I never wanted to see or hear from you again. I wanted my words to hurt you so that you would know how you hurt me."
"I'm so sorry." Hiroshi said.
"But when I saw you, it wasn't anger I felt. It was sadness. You tainted our past and destroyed our future together." Asami said.
"I want to make amends." Hiroshi said.
"I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive you. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try." Asami said.
She reaches down to her bag and pulls out a small Pai Sho board.
"I thought we could play some Pai Sho. Like we used to." Asami said.
"Nothing ... would make me happier." Hiroshi said with a smile appears on his face.
They start their game.
At Kuvira's camp, where Baatar Jr. leads Varrick, Zhu Li, and Bolin through a doorway. The troopers push them through the entrance and they find themselves, to their horror, facing a furious Kuvira.
"I have no idea what the hell happened to you guy. You swore your loyalty to the Great Uniter, and, my God, you've got some second thoughts." Meldora said disappointed.
"Don't torture us." Bolin said terrified.
Kuvira stands up and leans on her desk. "Send these three away on the next train. Bolin and Zhu Li will be going to the re-education camp for our most severe dissenters."
She walks up close to Varrick. "And you will continue work on the spirit-energy project, under close, armed supervision. I want it weaponized immediately." Kuvira turns her back on the three deserters, walking back to her desk.
Zhu Li walks forward and falls on her knees, begging. "Please! Have mercy on me! Don't send me away! Take me back!"
Meldora was pleased with Zhu Li's begging. "And why?"
"Because my only mistake was being loyal to the wrong person. I was blindly devoted to Varrick, and I looked past all the times he ridiculed me, or ordered me around, or made me clean his disgusting feet because I thought he possessed the most brilliant mind in the world. But when I met you, I realized I was wrong. Compared to you, Varrick's a fool."
"Ouch." Meldora said with a smirk.
Varrick was insulted. "Hey, come on! I'm right here!"
"I believe in everything you've done, and I believe in your vision. I want to devote my life to you. I pledge my allegiance to you, Great Uniter." Zhu Li said.
Kuvira stares at Zhu Li before addressing Varrick and Bolin. "You two could learn something from her. Rise, Zhu Li. I'll give you another chance."
Varrick was astonished to Zhu Li. "Think about what you're doing! We're partners! We have history!" he said.
"I did everything you ever asked of me, and you never appreciated it! Guards, do the thing!" Zhu Li ordered angrily.
The troopers grabbed Varrick and pulls him outside. "No! Not the thing! Zhu Li! Please!"
The door slams shut as Varrick and the guards exit.
Meanwhile, at Suyin's garden in Zaofu, where Baatar was anxiously pacing back and forth. Korra runs up to him.
"Where's Su? I have to talk to her." Korra said.
"She's not here. She took Wing and Wei. They're going to sneak into Kuvira's camp and put an end to this." Baatar said worriedly.
"No!" Korra, Raava and Vaatu said in worried.
Next chapter will come soon.
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