Sorry for the long delay of posting the first chapter of this sequel to "Blood in The Shadows", me and Countconiine had written alot of it, but some stuff happened and there was, like I said, delays. BUT, while this was posted on Ao3, now we're getting to posting it on here! Hope you all enoy, review and watch this for more chapters!
Also, there is a BIG Trigger warning, not just for this chapter, but for the entire story as there is some VERY dark content in this fic that will more than likely trigger some readers, so best just to give you guys the heads up.
That noted, the trigger warning in this chapter is due to the amount of violence in this chapter, including the implied death of a child, some similarities to recent events involving certain hate groups, and a brief reference to sexual assault. So just a heads up.
"That's it, Korra!" Tonraq chuckled, holding his arms out as his young daughter took her first steps. The toddler wobbled, before clumsily putting one foot in front of the other, waving her arms to regain her balance. "You can do it! Come on, one more!"
The young Avatar had a look of utmost concentration, brows furrowed and tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she struggled to get control of her other foot. She stumbled and fell forward, before her dad caught her in his arms.
"You were so close this time!" He encouraged her.
"Honey, dinner's ready." Senna walked over, laying down a bowl of steaming broth on the table, before smiling at their daughter. "You're getting stronger each day, aren't you?"
Korra giggled, holding her arms out towards her mother as the woman picked her up from Tonraq.
The water tribe Chief stood up catching a whiff of the delicious broth, his stomach rumbling.
He was interrupted by a loud crash.
He spun round. The wall of their hut was blown straight off and he gasped. Standing in the gaping hole was a dark figure, shadows dripping and whirling around them. The darkness seeped all around them, and they seemed able to be able to control it.
"SENNA! Get Korra away from here!"
The woman clung tightly to the toddler, trying to shush her cries as she made a run for it.
Tonraq weaved water around him before throwing it at the figure. A shadow tentacle rose from the darkness and dispersed his water away. His eyes widened. He had never seen shadowbending before.
Senna had nearly made it to the door, when a shadow hand rose up and grabbed her by the leg. She screamed, trying to escape its grip but it was no use.
"Senna!" The Chief ran to his wife, but before he could make it he dropped to his knees, his voice nothing more than a whimper. A spiked shadow jutted out of his chest as blood stained his clothes. He took his last breath as his lungs were punctured, and he fell on the floor in a pool of blood.
Korra wailed and Senna yelled for her husband but there was nothing else she could do as more shadows held her in place.
The dark figure approached. She could just about make out what they looked like around the darkness. It… It looked like someone familiar, but just as Senna realized who it was, she covered in ethereal shadows.
The figure said nothing as the shadow tentacles wrapped themselves around Senna's neck. The woman gasped for breath as they tightened. She struggled against them but it was no use. As her body was shutting down, her arms dropped young Korra, who fell to the floor with a thud, clutching at her mother's ankles and wailing for her.
Senna went limp against the shadows, and the dark figure stooped down, prying the toddler away from her mother's body.
The young Avatar screamed, pounding her small hands against the figure, crying out at what it had done to her parents with her eyes closed, the toddler kicking and screaming as her eyes opened, having turned into a glowing white.
Just then, the shadowy figure grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and lifted her up high, seeming to cause the small child's Avatar state to cancel out, as Korra saw behind it was the hole on the side of the hut it came through.
Her small cyan colored eyes saw many bloody corpses laid out in the snow on the other side, including the nice lady who had been told she'd be teaching her waterbending.
"Wow, even when I was little, I was such a fighter…"
That snapped Korra's attention back to the evil figure, realizing it spoke with a female voice.
But it was what she said that got her attention the most as she got a good look at the face of her family's killer as the shadows looked to vanish.
Even for her young age, Korra realized she was looking at an older version of herself, whose eyes were filled with malice as she held up her hand as it began to glow red…
As did both of her eyes as she gave an evil grin.
"Too bad it's not enough."
The last thing the young Korra saw was the glowing hand come towards her forehead, thumb out as she gave a loud scream.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Korra awoke, eyes widened in shock. She sat up in her bed, dripping with cold sweat.
"Korra? Are you ok?"
She looked to her side. Asami's hand was on her shoulder, looking at her worriedly. She must have woken her up too.
The Avatar took a few breaths to calm down as Fumi made her way on their bed, curling up in her arms, seeing her owner needed some caring as Naga too slandered over, nudging her arm with her nose. "Y-Yeah. Bad dream." The images of her parents being killed flashed in her mind. "V-Very bad dream."
The engineer rubbed her back. "It's ok. It's gone now."
"Yeah…" Korra gulped, petting both the wolfcat and polar bear dog for comfort. "It's gone now."
It had been half a year since the end of the Equalist Ripper, now known to be a former Equalist who was deceived by a shadow spirit into hunting down those who caused him to accidentally murder his family before his own death.
All in the goal for the spirit to take over the man's body to prevent going back to the spirit world and to reign chaos upon the world.
It was the Avatar who, alongside her trusted allies and even the Ripper himself, vanquished the evil spirit for good, but at the cost of the unexpected ally who gave his life to save the Chief of police.
While certain details of his past remain unknown, with only a select group of people knowing the truth, the man known as Hattori Hanzo has gone into history as a good man broken by monsters, both in human and spirit form, forced to redeem himself in death.
But even after his death, he remains a polarizing figure among the city, not just due to how he dealt with his victims or what he had done to come back from the dead, but for his quest of revenge against the select group of Equalist's inspired a movement against the extremist group as a whole.
One that the deceased himself had gone on record for despising for taking his goal and warping it to fit their own twisted ideas, considering anyone who opposed their views against Equalists as part of the anti-bender group themselves, bender or not. Comparisons to the bender supremacist movement of Cranefish Town many years before was not lost on anyone with a functioning brain.
And the group, who'd become known simply as the "Universal Elements", were causing a riot in the middle of the city, one that was currently being taken care of.
"We are the ones who expel the unwanted, the ones who will not be replaced-" One member tried to yell out among the frenzied group as various metalbending police tried arresting them, a large flame rising from his hand, only to get metal wrapped out his mouth, shutting the zealot up before being dragged through the air and kicked hard in the chest by the Chief of police.
"Alright, make sure we get these idiot Uem's cuffed and locked up!" Lin yelled out before stretching her arm out to the side, just in time for another Universal Elements member, or "Uems" as they have been nicknamed, to run right into it, knocking them out before resuming trying to put things back into order.
Mako glided along the ground within the crowded mess, thrusting flames from his palm towards some Uems, directing them to his brother, with Bolin using some of the stone ground to trap some by the feet, preventing them from escaping.
Opal herself created mini-air tornadoes to spin around a group of the rioters, sending them into a dizzying fit, allowing for the newest member of the crew, Thuy, to tie up her metal strings around each of their arms and legs with her metalbending, restricting their movement, both friends giving each other high fives.
Lin herself saw how things were going, better than she expected truth to be told. Then again, these "Anti-Equalist Extremists", "Uems", whatever dumbass moniker they went under, were mostly all talk, but still an issue.
They were sad pathetic idiots who placed the blame for their own shortcomings on those they hated for one ignorant reason or another, not knowing they were as bad as those they claim to be saving the city from.
While Lin knew these criminals treated Hattori Hanzo as their founding leader, she knew for a fact that the man, who unknown to most of the city was her long lost half-brother born from a one night stand between her mother and a Fire Nation Soldier, made his hate for the then unnamed movement, on the same level as the Equalists, quite known.
Usually by brutally assaulting those who followed it, or in the case of one wannabe follower who sexually assaulted a young non-bender woman in front of her own family, liquefying every part of his body except for the bones.
And if her brother were still alive today, Lin knew Hattori would be there by her side handling these intolerant pieces of trash.
"Alright, you all had enough?" The Chief asked, looking at all the different Uem's currently cuffed or knocked out at the moment, the sound of none of their incessant complaining being music to her ears.
That and some of the groans of pain as the metal bender saw her niece, Bolin, Mako and that one metal bender girl he was going out with regroup, walking towards Lin as her fellow officers began to round the criminals up.
"TRAITORS!" One voice rang out behind Lin as she turned to see a waterbending Universal Elements member look to form up an ice blade, only for a wave of water to slam him hard against a nearby Satomobile, knocking him out.
"Should have sensed him!"
The group, especially Lin, knew that voice as they turned and saw it was indeed Kya who had done it, getting out of her waterbending pose, giving a coy smirk at her partner, who knew where she was coming from
"I knew he was coming, Kya!"
"Oh, so you're not getting rusty in your old age then?" The waterbender teased as Lin strolled up to her and gave a knowing smirk as they got close enough.
"You know for a fact I still got it in more ways than one."
Thuy giggled at this. "Oh, such a lovely couple, these two is." She noted, remembering when she first met the two, giving a grin to Mako. "Thanks for giving me a heads up, love. Know I'm always set for some cranium crackin'."
"You were helping make a civilian arrest along with assisting police officers during a riot." Mako noted in a serious tone, but then gave a small smile to his girlfriend. "You just happen to be a tough and cute metal bender."
"Aw, thanks."
Bolin saw his brother's girlfriend kiss him on the lips, slightly grimacing. "And people say you and me are too lovey dovey." He said as Opal gave a mock pout.
"I think it's sweet, she brings out the best in him."
"So, why couldn't Korra join in on the fun? Little too preoccupied with getting ready to tie the knot with Asami?" Thuy asked, curious as the others looked at her.
"Apparently she's been under the weather lately." Bolin noted, remembering when he and Opal recently visited the soon to be married couple at Asami's place, seeing that something was on the back of the Avatar's mind. "Something about bad dreams."
"What, like some dream spirit is coming for her while she's dreaming?" Lin asked, trying to make some form of joke, giving a quick noting glance at Kya. "Please tell me that sounded as good as it did in my head."
"I liked it." The Waterbender said before giving a peck on the cheek before looking at the others with a more honest look on her face. "Whatever's been bothering her, I know she'll pull through. Besides, I heard she and Asami were visiting my mother over at Tenzin's home. If anyone could help Korra out, it's her."
The waterbending master took a sip of her tea before looking up at the young couple before her. She had brought out cushions for them to sit on in the courtyard, huddled around the teapot.
"So tell me," Katara started. "What are these nightmares you're talking about?"
Korra took a deep breath. "The one last night was…" she furrowed her brows and closed her eyes, seeing the gory scene play out in front of her again. She shuddered and she felt Asami rub her back gently. "I saw myself when I was young, like when I was very young. I took my first steps. Before a shadowbender killed both my parents and… did something to me. I'm not sure what." She opened her eyes. Katara's expression was still calm but her eyes were already deep in thought.
"And these dreams," the master said, "do you have them often?"
"I've had another. A few days ago, but it was… strange." She held on to her cup tightly, swishing the tea around. "I saw myself again, but grown up. I was trying to master airbending, but it wasn't Tenzin that was teaching me, it was Kya. And Republic City looked... off. But then the same thing happened. The Shadowbender fought the people around me, except this time I saw myself fight too but I wasn't strong enough. And it ended just as the other one did."
The dream played on repeat in the Avatar's mind. A distorted Republic City, and the shadowbending figure destroying it. She saw Kya by her side, airbender tattoos visible on her shaved forehead, but even her skills couldn't save them from the evil figure as it slashed her throat open with a shadow claw before seeing the figure grab herself by the throat, mocking her as it pressed it's glowing thumb against her forehead.
Katara nodded slowly. "That does sound very strange." The thought of her daughter having been an airbender instead of Tenzin took her by surprise. She couldn't understand where Korra could have even gotten the idea from.
"That's not the very strange part." Korra began, unsure if she should mention the other large detail, but sighed. "In all my dreams, the shadowbender," She gulped, her hands trembling as she put down her cup of tea, looking at both women with a scared look in her eyes. "It was me, like a different me who was the one doing all these horrible acts."
"But they're just dreams, right?" Asami said. "It's just a rough patch. Even with the whole Sha-Garou business months ago, of course we'll be scared of shadowbenders now, right?"
"If it was anyone else coming to me about this I would have said the same thing," the master said. "But an Avatar's dreams can't be dismissed the same way. You're connected to the world in a very different way, Korra, and it speaks to you in a way it can't with us."
"You're not saying these could mean something, are you?" Korra gulped. She didn't want to hear what she thought Katara was trying to say.
"I do not know the exact meaning of what's happening. But we need to stay vigilant. If something is trying to send you a message then something terrible might be happening. I would not be surprised if we hear from Sha-Garou again too. Spirits don't give up so easily. "
Korra felt her blood drain from her face. This is what she was afraid of. "So we didn't get rid of Sha-Garou after all, did we?"
Katara shook her head. "It would appear so."
"So it's not over. He'll be back." She furrowed her brows, trying to think of what her dreams could be telling her, but there was no logical explanation. "And of course this had to happen two weeks before the wedding, OF COURSE."
These dreams seemed random, like nothing more than a deep fear of the shadowbender that she had in her, especially one who looked exactly like herself. Perhaps there was nothing in the dreams themselves and it's just pre-wedding jitters. Perhaps it was just a sign that Sha-Garou would be back and that was it. "No use in trying to decipher cryptic messages now. Let's just make sure we're ready for whatever happens. Thank you, Katara."
The old woman smiled. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but if you ever need to talk to me more about this, you know I'm always around. See you tomorrow for the reception practice"
They said their goodbyes and headed back into the city. They should probably warn the others.
Later that night, with the moon full, the streets of Republic City once more vibrated with the night life as people minded their own business, not knowing what was in store…
Inside an alleyway alongside a meatpacking plant, a lone rat pigeon took notice of some raw hippo cow meat thrown out due to being out of date, deciding to take some nibbles of it, to see if it was good enough to eat.
But as it began to feast on the meat, the animal felt the wind seem to pick up slightly against the hairs on it's back, looking to slowly rise up, but it seemed to only be in the area it was at.
Then an odd purple spark near the trashcan it was perched on briefly got it's attention… before another one formed right near the rat pigeon, getting it's full attention.
Tilting its head, the hungry animal gave a tense look around before a purple light began to form, as did what seemed like a large moving ball of energy, also of the same color as more sparks came from it, now freaking out the animal enough to make it fly away.
But once the purple energy was gone, the alleyway looked as it did before, like nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the figure in an all black fighting uniform with odd metal looking gloves, standing where the ball of energy was.
The figure, whose face was hidden under both the hood they were wearing along with the darkness looked around the area, keeping themselves hidden as they peaked out of the alleyway, seeing from there the spirit portal in the middle of the city.
"If I'm correct, she's here…"
Looking at the metal glove, the figure made sure it moved just fine along with also seeing on it a unique looking crystal, the same shade of purple as the energy that had formed and vanished.
Just before the figure left, they reached into the satchel it had around its upper waist and pulled out a mask, one looking to have been modeled after the face of a female doll due to it's innocent rosy cheeks, lips painted red and the eyeliner/shadow drawn on, along with the two small buns of fake black hair on the top.
But most fetching about it were the color of the eyes of the mask, light green that shone from what light hit it, even with the two small eyeholes, not that the figure was going to have issues looking through it.
"How ironic I must wear this." The figure said to themselves before putting it on, covering their face before they began to walk out of the alleyway.
"HEY!"
The figure stopped, internally sighing to themselves as they turned around to see two men, having looked like they were roughed up, smirking at the figure.
"Looky here Xiang, don't this look familiar?"
"Check out the mask, it looks like we got ourselves an Amon fanboy, that's not good Zaki."
This perplexed the masked person, tilting their head as the two men looked to have ideas in mind, one bending what looked like gauntlets made of stone over his fists, while the other gave a whistle, a small flame forming from his mouth, moving in sync with it.
"This Equalist trash should know not to venture into Universal Elements territory, especially after that Chief of Police bitch ruined our fun earlier." The firebender, known as Xiang as he walked behind the figure, getting a look at them as Zaki, the Earthbender, stood in front of the masked figure.
Yet, the figure actually wasn't scared, more curious as they gave a tilt of the head at Zaki.
"So, there's Uem's in this one too? Why am I not surprised."
This got looks of surprise from the two extremists at what this random figure said, Zaki looking at Xiang who looked back.
"Wait, what do you mean by-"
But before the firebender could respond, suddenly the masked figure kicked backwards right near his head, only to hook them by the back of the neck with it, performing a quick cartwheel, letting go of the firebender, sending him past the Earthbender who watched his friend crash into some wooden boxes.
One he turned around, Zaki was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and pulled towards the figure, seeing the green eyes of the mask before they slammed their fist into his face before thrusting their other palm into his throat, before delivering a fury of strikes and kicks, all connecting to Zaki's face, chest, neck, stomach.
With each hit, the masked figure sent the Uem all the way down to the ground before finishing with a swift axe kick to his face.
All of which was done in just twelve seconds, something which the figure had to smile at behind their mask before hearing a yell interrupting their thoughts, seeing Xiang come rushing at them, prepared to throw a punch…
… that is until the masked figure easily grabbed the fist he was preparing to hit them with and jerked it in an 80 degree angle, easily causing a compact fracture as the firebender screamed in pain at the part of bloody bone bursting out from the skin as his intended victim let go, just to enable him to look over the damage.
"My-My-MY WRIST!" He cried out, dropping to his knees, trying not to injure it anymore than it already was. "YOU RUINED IT!"
Hearing the statement resulted in the masked figure giving a small, rather amused chuckle. "Just be glad I'm going easy on you."
Before Xiang could question what the figure even meant by those words, said figure drove their foot to the side of his head, knocking him to the ground, out of it.
With that matter taken care of, the figure with the green eyed mask turned back around at the spirit portal, thinking something to themself.
"Now to find the prime…"
With those words said, they were off into the night, knowing things were not gonna be easy from here on.