Trigger warning ahead of time due to the amount of violence, gore and some PTSD related issues, some involving animals, in this chapter. So just a heads up.
The crew were expecting each universe to be different in their own way, first the one where Sami was from where her Korra ended up becoming the host of Sha-Garou, only to give into his corruption, resulting in this new adventure.
Then there was the one where it was the airbenders who tried to end the firebenders to find Aang, who was one of the latter in the universe, with everyone's bending abilities different from how they were before, along with a firebending Asami. Certainly out there, but nothing game changing.
The most recent universe they were just in was more simpler, yet most drastically different with it's Korra having been successfully kidnaped by the Red Lotus when she was younger, resulting in her becoming their most powerful member.
But already the eight travelers were thrown a curveball as they looked around this new universe, seeing that every single person in the city were animals, like they walked, talked, interacted with others, drove around and more like humans…
But they were still animals, all sorts of breeds, while the heroes were not.
"We may have a problem." Sami noted as the eight quickly rushed into the nearby alleyway to hide themselves from the populace.
"WOAH, you called it…" Bolin whispered as he and Opal looked out at the sight of the animals walking around. "Animal universe."
"I know, I'm surprised too." She said back as Lin paced back and forth, trying to get a hang of things.
"Okay, how'd this happen, how is there some universe where everyone is an animal?"
She expected an answer from the shadowbender who tried coming up with a reason, but only one answer came to mind.
"... I got nothing, I'm just as stumped as you are."
Lin gave a loud sigh as she sat down next to Kya on some wooden crates. "Okay, we're not out of it yet, clearly nothing crazy has been happening here, so Dark Korra hasn't arrived yet." The Waterbender explained.
"Right, but how are we going to know where to find this universe's Korra," Mako began, moving his hands up and down his body. "We don't even know what breed of animal she is, or any of us for that matter!" He explained.
"Yeah, and us being all… human will make us stick out like a sore thumb." Asami noted before noticing Korra at her side thinking and looking up at something, which she looked in the direction and saw.
It was the statue of Avatar Aang near Kyoshi Bridge, but instead of his human form, he looked to have been a Red Fox in this universe.
While the mental image of a Red Fox Aang riding along on an airball was amusing, Korra tried to think what move would Aang make in this situation before a simple idea came to mind. One that if she was still linked to her past life, he would approve of.
"I got it…" Korra began, turning to the others. "We go to the Future Industries building here and talk to this universe's Asami and by extension, be introduced to animal me."
There was a slight pause as the others looked at her.
"... that's it?" Thuy asked to which Korra nodded.
"Yep."
"But wouldn't the people here notice the..." Bolin began before realizing what horrible animal pun he was about to make and regret. "Elephants in the room?"
"Yes, but that's why we go by the roofs and travel there." Korra explained, pointing up at a fire escape that led up to the roof of the building they were next to. "If memory serves right, Future Industries isn't far from here. So we go in, talk to this universe's Asami, get in contact with her Korra and warn her about evil me!"
The others looked at her, thinking how wild the plan was, but Sami was the first one to shrug at the idea.
"What other choice do we have?"
"I'm fine with it." Asami too agreed.
"Of course you two would agree, she's your wife, fiancé, both!" Lin said, mixing up the last term before sighing. "But yeah, it'd be weird for all of us to be walking around on the streets, I say we do the roofs."
With the other four agreeing, the crew began making their way up the fire escape and towards the Future Industries building, which thankfully was nearby and didn't look any different.
Once nearby, the crew got back down on the ground and approached the front entrance of the building, where they saw behind the counter a young looking sheep receptionist taking notice of them.
And now Korra felt her plan falling apart, just now remembering they had to get past her.
"Ah, hello humans, are you lost?"
"Lost?" Lin asked in a confused manner as the receptionist adjusted her large glasses, not just that the animals spoke their language, but also wasn't questioning how they knew it.
"Yeah, you trying to find your companions?" She asked for even more confusion from Lin.
"Wait, companions? You mean like we're considered pe-" The Chief began only for Bolin to suddenly swoop in, covering her mouth with his hand, just hoping she wouldn't bite, giving a silly smile.
"Why yes we are. And don't mind her, she gets cranky if she doesn't get her treats."
Now Bolin was really hoping Lin wouldn't bite his hand, but kept up the act.
"Ms. Sato has recently just adopted all eight of us, she wants to make it a wedding gift surprise for the Avatar, so she's told the guys who sold us to drop us off here and meet with her in her office. She wouldn't happen to be in, yes?"
Both human Sato women looked at each other as were the others, there was no way this was going to work.
The receptionist gave a curious look at Bolin before giving a smile, looking at a notepad. "Yes she is, though if I were you, I wouldn't enter her office yet, Avatar Korra herself is in there spending some time with her during her lunch break."
"Oh, we'll be nice and quiet, don't wanna ruin the surprise." Bolin replied back just as the sheep began ruffling his hair.
"Such a cute little human, you all go on ahead, the elevator is on the second right of the hall. I'll keep silent."
With that, the crew made their way over and hit the button for the elevator to come on down, which was good as it looked like it was already coming down.
It was then Bolin just noticed the surprised looks on the faces of everyone at how they were able to get past the receptionist.
"... what? I figured I'd put the acting I learned doing Varrick's movers to use." The Earthbender simply said, shrugging. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Where was this acting in your movers?" Mako asked his brother who gave him a look before everyone noticed the elevator was just about there.
"Okay, we'll go up and talk to animal me and Asami…" Korra began as the elevator was heard stopping. "They'll have to believe…" She kept saying until the doors opened and she trailed off as she and the rest of the crew were slack jawed at what, or rather, who they saw inside the open elevator. "Us…"
In it were two animal people having just finished kissing each other, but it wasn't the act that caught the crew off guard, but it was who they clearly were.
In clothes exactly like Korra's was a canine girl, looking to have fluffy brown, black and white fur, cyan colored eyes with long brown hair tied up exactly like the Avatar's, her ears poking out from them.
The other was a feline girl with long flowing black hair also with her ears coming out, matching her black coat of fur with beautiful light green eyes, and she too was in the same clothes as Asami, her and her lover's tails moving around.
Just then, the animal couple took notice of the group currently staring at them, especially the two humans who looked like them, along with the other female human who looked the same as the black haired one.
Both groups didn't know what to say, though the human Korra did make note of something out loud.
"... huh, always thought I'd be the cat and you the dog Asami."
The feline engineer frowned, looking at the humans in front of them. "Whose owner do you belong to?" It took her a moment to notice their clothes. "And why... why are you dressed like us?"
Sami took it upon herself to try and explain things. "We're you from another universe. I know it sounds crazy, but you need to listen to us. You don't have a lot of time before Dark Korra makes it to your world too."
The panther and the husky looked at each other, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.
"You have to believe us. I'm the Avatar from another universe, human you." Korra said. "I can prove it."
The canine Korra chuckled. "Humans can't bend, you are so cute."
The Avatar's narrowed, almost offended. She held her hand out and produced a small flame in the palm. The two animals froze for a moment, staring wide eyed at the little flame in her hand.
"I... I may have been wrong," the Husky said.
Korra swirled her fingers around, bending the air around them and creating a tiny gust of wind. "Believe me now?"
"You make a compelling argument," Husky Korra said.
The feline Asami looked around them, making sure no one saw what had just happened before turning back to the humans. "What was it that you were saying about not having much time?"
Sami let out a sigh of relief that they were willing to hear them out. "There's a corrupt Avatar Korra that has the ability to shadowbend, travelling through the dimensions trying to steal the power of the other Avatars."
"And we think she's going to come here next and we need to be prepared." Asami added.
The panther nodded. "Then you should come with us. We'll find everyone else and let them know. Except..." she looked the humans up and down. "Humans aren't taken so seriously in our world."
"Noticed." Lin rolled her eyes.
"It's fine," Bolin said. "I told your receptionist we're your new companions."
The two anthropomorphic animals chuckled. "That works," Korra said.
As they headed through the city, the humans stayed close to the two. The more they walked, the more they realized they were being looked at like cute little beings. One lady owl even stopped, asking the animal Korra and Asami what their names were while making cute noises trying to get their attention. The crew tried laughing it off after she passed, while Lin was growing more irritated by the minute.
"Can't we just leave this universe, I'm sure they can handle themselves," the Chief mumbled quietly.
"You know we can hear you even when you whisper, right?" Husky Korra said, motioning towards her ears, shaking her head. "Humans," she tutted.
They finally reached their meetup point. The crew recognized this place - it was the same noodle bar that they enjoyed back home too.
"Oh great!" Bolin said. "I'm starving! We've been fighting all day!"
They hurried inside. The waiter that greeted them was a tall mongoose, and he eyed the humans for a few moments. "We don't usually permit companions in the establishment."
Bolin's jaw dropped. He was so hungry he was about to complain before Feline Asami jumped in.
"Oh, not to worry. We've made prior arrangements."
The waiter gulped, looking from the CEO to the Avatar. One powerful figure next to another, the ultimate power couple. He just bowed his head and muttered quickly, "I apologize Ms. Sato, Avatar Korra, right this way." He showed them to their seats around a round table. "I'll be back with your food shortly," he said, before walking away, pulling at his collar. He hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for letting them in.
"So where are they?" Sami asked.
The panther looked at her wrist watch. "They should have gotten the message. They should be here any minute."
Just as if she had spoken them into existence, the rest of the animal crew walked through the door. The humans stared at the strange assortment of species wearing the same clothes they were wearing.
The brothers walked over first, linking arms with their girlfriends. Mako seemed to be a grey wolf, while his brother of the same species had a darker, brown coat. Thuy was a brown furred rabbit, and she walked gingerly next to the firebender, while Opal was an adorable panda next to Bolin.
"Oh no... that means..." Lin said as she noticed her, looking at the door as the alternate version of herself walked in. "Dammit."
Kya couldn't help but chuckle as she saw her lover walk in as a panda too, complete with the scars on her chin.
"You look so cute in black and white," she joked.
Lin rolled her eyes. She then saw that the universe's Kya was there too, and it didn't come as a surprise to her that she was a splendid looking arctic fox. Something that Kya herself took delight in.
The animal crew hesitated before sitting down, looking around the table and trying to understand what was happening.
"You're never going to believe this," Husky Korra said, re-telling everything Sami and Korra said.
Of course it came as no surprise that panda Lin was skeptical again, but her Korra and Asami talked her into trusting them.
The waiter came back with their food, and Bolin lit up as he saw him put down the steaming bowl in front of him.
"Thank you!" He said, before hurrying and grabbing his chopsticks, digging into the dark colored noodles. It was only after he bit into them that he realized. Why are they so dark? The taste didn't hit him immediately, but it slowly built up. It was bitter. And salty. "What is this?" he mumbled. The noodles crunched in his mouth as he chewed.
His wolf self looked up, mouth full of noodles also. "Fishbone noodles!" He said, taking a big gulp. "Made from dry fish bones!"
The humans looked down at their bowls, their stomachs turning.
Bolin on the other hand shrugged. "Food is food, and I'm starving." He took another mouthful, crunching on the salty bones. "Actually, the taste does grow on you by the second bite."
As the animals ate, and the humans pretended to, they talked over their plans. Overall, the animals seemed keen to join their alliance, which was like a breath of fresh air - much needed, as the noodle shop was quickly starting to reek of the fish bones.
Seeing an alternative self sitting across from her, Lin couldn't help but wonder a few things. She bit back her questions for most of the meal, but now felt like she just had to ask.
"So, Lin," she said, getting the panda's attention. "You, me, Panda me…" She felt herself stumbling before asking at least one question on her mind.
"In this universe do you possibly know... Hattori Hanzo?"
The panda stopped eating for a moment. "Yes, I do."
Lin held her breath. "And... how is he?"
"He's fine. He's under house arrest for the murders, but he's taking it in stride."
Hearing that he was still alive in this universe made Lin smile.
The question was a little suspicious to the panda Chief. "Why? What happened to him in your universe?"
"He didn't make it."
She was silent for a few moments. Even if it was in a different world, hearing of her brother's death wasn't pleasant, even after Lin explained that he died protecting her from Sha-Garou's attack. "You can meet him, if you'd like. I'll convince them to let him out. Avatar business."
Lin knew he wasn't the same Hattori she knew, but she accepted anyway, giving her animal self a nod of her head. "Thank you," she said. "That would be nice."
They finished their food, or in the humans' case, left most of it in the bowl, except for Bolin who actually ended up enjoying it in the end, before heading out.
Telling the humans of what she and her human self spoke of, Panda Lin led them to the apartment this universe's Hattori was confined to for the time being. Outside the building, watching the perimeter, was a police dog, standing straight and nodding as the Panda Chief approached.
"We're here to see Mr. Hanzo." she said.
"Ma'am, you know he's under house arrest."
"I know that, but this is Avatar related business. He has permission."
The dog took a moment, before nodding. The crews headed up the stairs before Panda Lin knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a confused looking black furred bobtail cat with white spots opened up the door.
"Lin? What are you doing here?" He asked in the same voice Lin remembered of her half-brother's, seeing the strange ensemble of humans behind her. "And who are they?"
"May we come in?" the panda said. "There's a lot to explain."
Cat Hattori nodded, letting the crowd of people into his cramped apartment as they congregated together in the living room.
Panther Asami and Sami gave him a quick rundown of what was going on, and Cat Hattori barely followed along. Then, Panda Lin stepped forward.
"Hattori..." she said, motioning towards human Lin, "This is me, from another universe."
The cat, in a white sleeveless shirt and dark pants frowned, his one gold eye looking at the human. "What? Really?"
The human Chief nodded. She was obviously a little nervous, but tried hard not to let it show. "Hi, Hattori." she said. It was a little strange, seeing the brother she only found about six months before as a cat.
Lin also noticed that his facial wounds were still here in this universe too, though he was only missing his eye and part of the area around it. He hadn't covered it with bandages, and instead seemed to have just accepted that part of himself. Lin felt like he was accepting a lot of his past, feeling some form of pride for him.
"H-Hi." The one eyed cat stuttered a bit. While he was surprised to see the others he now considered allies in human form, seeing Lin in human form was quite a sight.
Panda Lin considered telling him why she wanted to meet him to begin with, but decided it was best that he didn't know he was dead in another universe, for his own sake. He already had a lot to deal with, being under house arrest and still getting over his own losses. She looked across at the mantelpiece. He still had the old photo of Ula and Karai there on display.
Human Lin noticed it too. Karai was a cute little kitten and Ula a lovely polar bear in the photo.
"So you're my human sister then?" Cat Hattori said, a smile spreading on his face. "Can't say I ever expected to say those words to be honest!"
Lin smiled back. "And I never expected my brother to be a cat either."
She wasn't one for hugs, but as Hattori held out his arms out she couldn't help getting pulled into one.
The gold eyed feline, born from a one night stand between his Panda mother, the greatest earthbender of all time in the universe, and a brave Bobtail cat Fire Nation soldier who died in the line of duty, could tell there was some sort of sad reason this human version of his sister wanted to visit him.
But as much as he wanted to know about his human self, he decided not to push it so as to not ruin this Lin's happiness.
The crew watched this heartfelt moment, feeling happy for the Chief. Sure, this wasn't the Hattori she lost, but maybe his soft fur made up for it. Almost reminded her of Toshi, sans the feathers.
As if on cue, they felt the floor beneath them shake and a loud crash outside.
"Bloody fuck!" Both the human and bunny Thuy said at the same time, both versions quickly noticing that and giving a knowing look at each other.
"Ohhhh, don't tell me..." Cat Hattori droned out, not wanting this moment to end.
Sami rushed over to the window, trying to see what was going on, seeing the police dog that was on guard laying dead on the ground. "She's here!" she said.
The crews gulped.
"Then I'm with you on this one," Cat Hattori said, him and Lin breaking the hug. "Let me help, I already know how that shadow spirit bastard works."
"We'll need all the help we can get," Korra said as she looked at the others.
Panda Lin nodded. "Fine. Let's go." She then gave her brother a smirk as she threw to him a satchel, which he grabbed, knowing fully well what was in it. "Gonna need this, brother."
"I take it back about that one "Air Nation, Fire Temple" universe…" Dark Korra heard Sha-Garou hiss, as she snapped the dog cop's neck with ease with a shadow hand. "THIS is a more interesting one!"
As much as the damn Shadow Spirit got on her nerves at times, the evil Avatar had to agree with him there.
Ever since she woke up back in the temple after the few hours of sleep she got, her dreams thankfully not as nightmarish as the first one, she got out and the first thing she saw was a couple who were checking out the caves for a date.
Something which wouldn't have surprised her, if not for the fact that the female was a white and black colored horse standing on it's two legs, as was the male, who looked like a squirrel.
Adding more to both Dark Korra and Sha-Garou's confusion was the amazed reactions the animal couple gave, one asking if she was a human spirit and the other asking if she lost her animal companion.
Once she got away from the two, by sinking and moving through the shadows to the freaked out reactions of the couple, it was then both realized they weren't that far off from this universe's Republic City.
And just like the two before, the shadowbending Avatar realized the whole city was full of different bipedal animals living about their lives in the city, adding more to the theory that this was a universe where it was animals in control, while whatever humans she saw were either considered pets, or "Human Companions", or wild ones living off the street without a care in the world.
Dark Korra had to admit, the universe was rather amusing, remembering once telling her Asami before… that day, of an idea for a story where it was like their world, but with animals living in the city, and that there was a cute dog Asami and a badass cat her.
Her wife, while finding the idea silly, did like the sound of it.
As she moved along the shadows of the city, she sensed the energy of her universe's self was nearby and decided to strike, following the lead.
And after a few more moments, she seemed to have found the area, but was unsure which building her animal self was.
While Dark Korra looked around, a sight had caught her eyes, getting her attention.
It was two women walking down the street together, holding each other's hands. One was a tall calm Lynx lady while the other was a rather small and hyperactive bear, yet both looked happy in each other's presence.
Dark Korra tilted her head at the sight as a young girl animal came up to them, looking like a white duckling, with the Lynx picking her up while the bear tickled the girl's feet, all three laughing.
Then it hit her, they were the ducklings' adoptive parents.
Before the shadowbender Avatar could focus more, she heard Sha-Garou call out to her, bringing her attention to a nearby apartment building where a police dog was standing in front of.
Now that she had focused on the building, Dark Korra realized there were two energies that gathered from the building, one her target… and the other being of the Prime's.
Realizing that her goody-two-shoes self and her allies already beat her there, Dark Korra wasted no time, slinking over to the shadow of the police dog on guard, killing him swiftly and began making her way up, crashing through the apartment complex and running up the various floors and stairs, heading towards the apartment she sensed the energies.
But once she entered the right one, smashing through it's door, Dark Korra saw the small cramped apartment was empty.
"Where are they?!" She asked out loud before hearing noises being heard on the fire escape near an open window, smirking.
They wanna take the fight on the roof, fine with her.
Making her way over and up the metal steps, the dark Avatar got up onto the roof, seeing the crew waiting for her, among them was a single animal person of the universe.
Her clothes certainly tipped the shadowbender who she was.
"There you are, must say not the breed of animal I was expecting myself to be…" Dark Korra smirked as she formed up her Shadow Claw, raising it up.
"Can't disagree with you there." Korra responded as husky Korra got by her human selves side as she got into a fighting pose as her evil human self began slowly slinking over towards them.
"Now, I don't wanna be cruel and harm an animal…" She said before lunging at the group, almost hitting husky Korra, just barely missing her, her eyes turning red. "But with you, I'm willing to make an exception!"
With a yell, Dark Korra rose her hands up, bringing forth various shadow tentacles and hands towards the heroes, only for a large burst of lightning to blast through them, rendering them back to her.
That confused the fallen Avatar as it came from the side, and she saw Mako right in front of her.
As if that wasn't confusing enough, suddenly she felt water hit her hands and freezing instantly from the other side as her attention was on the three waterbenders, in her sight, Korra, Husky Korra and Kya!
It was then she looked at her left that it all made sense.
On one side were animal people she wasn't familiar with for a second until she realized she was looking at Wolf versions of Mako and Bolin and a Panda Opal.
And on the other side was Panda Lin, Fox Kya and Bunny Thuy as she saw a Panther looking Asami join Canine Korra at her side, all three groups surrounding her as she was against the ledge.
"OH, I get it, you laid a trap! Clever…" Dark Korra said, not happy at this turn of events before smashing the ice off her hands and suddenly jumping towards the wolf brothers and Panda Opal with a snarl, all three getting out of the way of the attack as the shadowbender Avatar formed up more tentacles and hands to keep the others busy.
She dodged some fire kicks from Wolf Mako, only to almost fall right into some done up by the human Mako, but fell into some shadows just in time to avoid the attack, coming out of human Bolin's to try grabbing him, when his Wolf self grabbed her and threw her away from him.
Then both earthbenders moved their hands quickly, taking some pieces of a nearby brick chimney and were able to heat them up quickly with their lavabending, thrusting out small projectiles that the Shadowbender had to raise up a shadow Shield to take the damage, one just gazing her hand, making her grunt in pain.
"OWW, ASSHOLES!"
She then just heard the electric surge behind her and dodged an electric glove strike of Asami's, ready to come at her when another rang out behind the evil Avatar, forcing Dark Korra to turn and fall back onto the ground, just avoiding one done by Feline Asami's own electric glove.
Rolling away on her back on the side to avoid the attacks, Dark Korra noticed her own shadow moving as a spiked shadow tentacle JUST missed her face as she laid on the ground, forcing herself up to see Sami having done it, her eyes as red as her former lovers.
"OH, this just keeps getting better!" Dark Korra hissed at all three Sato women, slashing out towards them, almost getting Panther Asami, who kicked out the enemies leg.
Before the evil Avatar could react, water and liquid metal came at her from all sides, forcing her to drop into her shadow and out another against a wall, noticing both liquids still coming at her, forming another shadow shield to stop it.
Turning her head as she panted, she saw both human and panda Lin, along with human and fox Kya all working together to form up a water/metal tornado to send straight at her, to which Dark Korra belted out a large blue flame from her mouth to melt the metal and turn the water into steam.
Then the evil Avatar felt herself rise up, quickly looking down to see the human Opal, alongside her Panda self, had bended up a large gust of wind under her feet, launching her into the air.
But before Dark Korra could bend the ground under both airbender's to drop them down some floors, her wrists were suddenly tied up with tight wiring, realizing human Thuy was to blame before a Rabbit's foot drove down onto the back of her head, its owner, Bunny Thuy landing next to her human self as they high-fived each other.
After hitting the floor of the roof hard, the shadowbender Avatar screamed loudly, using her shadow claws to break apart the wiring before pounding the ground. "ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT!" She yelled, pointing at both Korra and Husky Korra. "You get over here and FIGHT ME!"
Both the human and canine Avatar looked at each other and shrugged, Korra holding her hand out towards Dark Korra looking at Husky Korra. "After you…" She said in a polite manner before her animal self did the same.
"No, please, after you."
"Hey, it's your universe."
"Yes, but you're our guest."
"HOW ABOUT YOU TWO BITCHES FIGHT ME INSTEAD?!" Dark Korra roared out, getting tired and enraged at these mocking gestures before seeing the two drop the act, giving the now confused evil Avatar toothy grins.
"Well, if you insist." Both Avatar's said at the same time before rushing towards Dark Korra, Korra coming with a fire punch while Husky Korra came towards with ice around her fists, forcing their opponent to regret her decision as she rolled under them to avoid the attacks.
Just then, she saw the Prime wave her arms towards her, causing waves of air to fly towards her, forcing the shadowbender to use her own airbending to stop the attack.
But then she heard a stone wall from behind her, noticing Husky Korra thrust it towards her, though the evil Avatar turned and ran up the approaching wall, jumping over it just in time to avoid being squashed against one of the walls of a nearby building.
As she landed, suddenly a large hook slammed down onto her shoulder, it's tip just digging into her flesh as she screamed and turned to see it was connected by a long metal chain.
And saw its feline owner with a single gold eye holding it.
"HATTORI, YOU'RE ALIVE!?" Dark Korra yelled out in shock, realizing who this animal person was as she watched him grip the chain before suddenly being swung into the wall face first, then was dragged over as the feline metalbender flowed her over into his paws as he gave a not-so-happy nod.
"YEP. Also…" He said before taking the hook out and socked the shadowbender in the face back over near the wall, giving a rather smug smirk at this.
"Fuck you, Sha-Garou."
As Dark Korra tried to regain her footing, both of the good Avatars took the chance to thrust their fists at her, sending out large waves of water and flames at her before quickly letting out more stone and air attacks too, forcing the almost tuckered out villain to raise up a shadow shield as large as she could make it.
But the combined power of both Avatars, and the stress of having to deal with not just one version of the crew, but also their animal selves, was too much for the shield to handle and all the attacks smashed through it, sending Dark Korra back into the wall hard, landing face first on the rooftop.
Everyone watched amazed, seeing how easily they had done this, especially as Dark Korra didn't get up. She was breathing, but in pained breaths.
"Holy shit, we did it!" Wolf Bolin howled out, patting his human self's arm, accidentally hitting him in his sore spot, making him grimace as he saw Opal come to Bolin's aid, the wolf's own Opal couldn't help but chuckle. "OH, oh, sorry!"
"Nicely done." Mako said to his wolf counterpart who gave a simple nod.
"Thanks." The wolf said with a respectful smile before his bunny girlfriend appeared at his side and hugged him.
"You did great love." Bunny Thuy smiled, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, which human Thuy did the same to her Mako.
"You too."
"Nice Technique." Panda Lin said in a matter of fact way to Lin, who responded in a similar manner.
"Thanks, have a good partner." She said, her hand grabbing a smiling Kya's as Panda Lin gave a smile.
"As do I." She said as Fox Kya knew what she meant and gave her a kiss on the lips, which the human couple looked on.
"Is it wrong to find this kind of attract-" Kya began to ask before Lin herself put her hand over Kya's mouth.
"Quiet you." Was all Lin said, with a slight playful smile before noticing that Cat Hattori approached them, bending the hook and chain back in the satchel. "Good to see you're still a metalbender."
"Thanks, I'm still learning." He said, giving a smile back before noticing Panda Lin and Fox Kya having finished. "When my sister isn't busy sucking face!"
"Oh, hush up!" Panda Lin said back to her brother, who gave a little laugh.
As Korra was about to give credit to her canine self as was Asami and Sami to Feline Sami, they all noticed the shadows around them vibrating.
"Oh no..." Sami realized.
"Oh YES…"
Everyone turned their attention towards the still lying down Dark Korra, whose fingers began to move as did the rest of her body until her head suddenly jerked up…
As her cyan colored eyes turned bloodshot red with yellow outlines.
"Enough of this!" Sha-Garou hissed out, pounding the floor as hard as it could, causing the building to shake, making everyone else fall over their feet as he forced Dark Korra's body up. "Time I handle things!"
And with a loud disgusting roar of anger, multiple shadow hands ripped out from the shadows, grabbing everyone in place, the grips tighter than ever as some rose both Korra and Husky Korra in the air.
"While my friend is taking a nap, I'm going to have some fun with you both before I take your energy…"
"NO YOU WON'T!"
Before Sha-Garou could register a move, Sami rushed at Dark Korra's body, having escaped and formed a shadow tentacle over her own arm, slashing it at her, almost hitting the skin as the evil shadow spirit knew whose voice it was coming out of Sami's mouth, giving an evil chuckle.
"Hello Khu-Shui, finally decided to play amongst the meat puppets for once in your existence, huh?"
"Long as it allows me to ruin your stop your madness, can't complain." Khu-Shui said, her host's eyes the same as Dark Korra's, showing she had indeed taken control of Sami's body.
"What did you offer her? The bride of the Avatar…" Sha-Garou hissed, tilting Dark Korra's neck with a smirk. "Clearly more than just saving her life…" He said before looking at the struggling others, especially Korra and Asami. "Did you know before this Korra stole part of the Uchū Crystal, all of your friends and family tried to stop her?"
Sami's mouth shouted as Khu-Shui's voice yelled out. "Sha-Garou, NO!"
"SHUT UP!" Sha-Garou's voice echoed out as he bended a spike of shadows out of his own shadow and threw it at Sami's body, almost hitting her as she dodged the projectile, making it almost hit Hattori, it just missing his face against the wall.
"AH, SHIT!"
With that distraction, Sha-Garou was able to sucker punch Sami in the stomach, driving Khu-Shui to drop down, holding her stomach in pain as she felt the air punched out of her, the evil spirit couldn't help but giggle at that.
"Sorry about that Hattori, I was aiming for your sister. ANYWAY…" The evil spirit continued, walking Dark Korra over to the other Avatars and Asami, raising up her gloved left hand. "The crystal, found by Mrs. Sato's company after it crash landed near the Southern Water Tribe's home, around the time I found Hattori amongst those flames. Turns out it's able to transport matter, even large scales, to other universes. Including people."
He then made the Avatar take off the glove, showing in her palm, wedged into it, was a piece of the purple crystal.
"I just knew I had to get a piece of it for myself…"
Then the evil spirit turned to a still pained Khu-Shui, kicking her in the stomach, rolling her around as she groaned in pain. "But I needed Korra to finally give in to my influence, and nothing seemed to just tick her off enough, funny thing..."
"Ple-Please…" The spirit heard Sami's voice come out, tilting Dark Korra's neck down as the shadowbender rolled over, looking up with tears in her eyes, having been forced back into control, not wanting him to continue talking. "DON'T."
"UNTIL GUAN BROKE FREE." Sha-Garou said with a cackle in his voice, amused by how much Sami was practically begging him to stop, kneeling and lowering Dark Korra's lips to her ear. "Don't worry Mrs. Sato, I won't mention to them about…"
Korra and Asami then watched the evil spirit whisper… something into Sami's ear, neither of them, or any of the humans were able to hear what he was saying, but judging by the look of something flashing in her mind, causing Sami to cry out, her tears making her makeup run, it must have been something REALLY horrible.
But Husky Korra could due to her better hearing, her eyes having gone wide in shock at what she was able to hear.
Something that Feline Asami noticed, which her fiancé turned and shook her head, as if telling her to keep quiet.
"Afterwards…" Sha-Garou resumed out loud, wanting to keep that certain detail a surprise as he turned back around at the others. "I gave my Korra my offer, to get her revenge on Guan for what he did, to use my gifts to her benefit… and in her weakest moment, she agreed."
He saw the crushed look on Korra's face, getting some form of pleasure from it. "With that, Guan was dead and I told her about the other universes, that she not only had to protect her world, but the others, to prevent the same thing happening again. And to do so, she needed the energy of each one's Avatars, all the many you's, to which in her fragile little mind, was the perfect idea. If only she knew that just gives me more power to fully take over this body."
The spirit then looked at the crystal literally in Dark Korra's hand.
"But to get there, we needed the Uchū Crystal. And with so many people in the way, little ol' Korra had no other choice left to make but one…"
The shadow tentacles holding everyone in place then moved up their grips, right into the back of their heads, suddenly forcing visions of horrific images into their minds as each of them felt themselves in their respective bodies as Dark Korra came at them in Future Industries.
Mako watching himself engulfed in blue flames…
Bolin and Opal both impaled together up against a wall with a stone spike…
Kya having multiple ice spikes thrust into her back and one through her throat…
Lin being sliced into three pieces at the waist and upper chest area with sharp pieces of metal...
Thuy being strangled with her own metal wiring…
More and more of those Korra had met in her journey, friends, family, all suffering horrible deaths by the hands of her fallen self…
And then, Asami trying her best to stop Korra, only for the corrupted Avatar to slash her wife in the back deeply with a shadow claw, driving her into the ground and leaving her for dead as she took the part of the purple crystal…
Korra gasped out, eyes widened in shock at the images she and everyone had seen this version of herself do, looking at Sha-Garou, who was making Dark Korra smile at her.
"My personal favorite was seeing you slashing into your wife's back, soon to be wife, you get what I mean…"
As the shadow spirit put the glove back on, Sami struggled to stand, looking at what the shadow spirit was doing.
"Or it would have been, if not for Khu-Shui deciding to leave the spirit world for once in her pitiful existence and save her, all in some misguided chance to try helping Asami save her love, even if she's already lost to me."
With that, Sha-Garou rose up Dark Korra's other hand, letting it glow red as he looked at Husky Korra.
"But going back to business, first I'm gonna drain her energy…" He said before looking back at Korra. "Then I'm gonna drain you, THE PRIME."
But before he could turn Dark Korra's head towards Husky Korra to begin the process, a shadow tentacle stabbed into the shadowbending Korra's upper right shoulder, sending the spirit into a screaming fit before being dragged and thrown into the air, landing directly behind Sami, whose red eyes burned with rage, taking Dark Korra by the neck and began laying down punches onto her face, screaming without even giving the spirit a chance to fight back.
"YOU THINK I WON'T HIT HER! THAT I WON'T DO IT! HUH?!"
With every punch connecting, a shadow tentacle vanished back to its source, freeing each of the crews as they watched Sami wail on Dark Korra.
"YOU STOLE HER FROM ME! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Sami's voice echoed out, bringing Dark Korra's face to hers. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BRING UP WHAT HE DID TO ME! NO! FUCKING-!"
"ASAMI!" She heard Khu-Shui yell out.
"SAMI!" Asami herself cried out in distress, to which her shadowbending self looked back at her, seeing how caught off guard they were before noticing some blood on her hands, turning to see Dark Korra's lip and nose was bleeding, along with the bleeding back wound.
"Oh Raava…" Sami muttered, getting off and crawling away as she realized just what she had done as everyone noticed Dark Korra seeming to get on her knees, looking at Sami herself, showing she was not only back in control, but surprised at this turn of events before grasping her hand with the crystal in it before vanishing in the purple light.
The crews took a moment to catch their breath. What just happened was slowly sinking in and Asami looked down at the shadowbender cowering on the floor, knees against her chest.
As she borrowed her face in her arms, the engineer walked over, squatting down next to her. She put her hand on Sami's shoulder but she shrugged it away.
She knew how to take a hint. "I'll give you a moment," Asami whispered, walking over to the others.
"So that was it? Did she disappear?" Husky Korra asked. "Am I safe?"
"For now," Korra replied. "If she didn't get you now, she'll come back for you after the others. That's why we need as much help as we can get. We need to defeat her once and for all." She gulped, before correcting herself. "We need to defeat him. Sha-Garou."
The furry Avatar nodded, looking back at her crew. They were a little shaken up, but they seemed in agreement still.
"Then we're on your side," she said. "Consider us in - whenever you need us again."
Korra smiled. It was a relief after being rejected by those in the Red Lotus universe. Also, they had finally saved an Avatar, and she couldn't help feeling good about it after two consecutive losses.
"Thank you," she said with a bow to her furry self, who returned it with her own.
The two Kya's looked after people's bruises, but for the most part, everyone was fine. The animal healer then looked out at Sami. She was staring into space off to the side and hadn't joined them yet. Fox Kya readied her healing water as she approached her, hesitating before sitting down next to her.
"Let me," she offered.
Sami didn't say anything, but she did look at the healer and opened up, letting her use the water on her.
Fox Kya worked the water onto her head, and to her surprise, her thoughts felt softer, quieter, and the overwhelming guilt and sorrow dulled. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it - she was trying to understand her rage. She always said she was mad at Sha-Garou - not just mad, but furious - for taking her wife away from her and turning her into a monster. But now, she was afraid of realizing she was also furious at Korra. She hadn't realized it, but deep down, she was angry that the Avatar had given in to his coaxing so easily.
It hadn't been her fault. They were both devastated after what happened that day.
But all those thoughts, all those feelings, felt like they were being washed away with the warm water against her temples, and her mind started to clear.
The animal healer knew what she was doing.
As the two crews chatted, talking strategies, or just asking questions about each other's universes, Cat Hattori walked up to the human Lin.
"I think that whole thing interrupted something," he said. Although she hadn't told him, he started to get an idea of what must have happened to him in Lin's universe that warranted her reacting the way she did.
He himself barely survived in this universe after saving Panda Lin's life since the wound wasn't as deep compared to his human self. The thought that in some other world he died doing that was sad, but also somewhat heartwarming one. To know he at least died protecting his little sister. "I was busy meeting my human sister!" He still chuckled at how funny that was to him, pushing the sad thoughts to the side.
She smiled. "It was good seeing you again, in a way," she said. "I'll buy you some catnip if you visit us."
His eyes widened. "Lin! Keep your voice down! Aren't you a cop, how do you have access to drugs anyway?"
The Chief furrowed her brows. "Drugs? It's not. It's... It's just a plant." She took a moment. "Though so are actual drugs, actually."
Cat Hattori shook his head, laughing. "Oh Agni, you humans are crazy! I'll take you up on the offer though. Never thought I'd get high with my police chief sister."
Panda Lin frowned. "Who said anything about getting high?"
"Nothing, nothing." Cat Hattori said, before turning to human Lin and winking his single eye at her.
Human Lin wanted to refute, but decided against it. This universe was... growing on her. She wondered how her mother would take to have a son from an alternative universe who was a cat. Heck, the image of her mother meeting her panda self would be worth it.
Sami finally stood up as Fox Kya put her healing water away.
"Thank you, Kya" she said to her, forcing a small smile.
"There's no need. You can come to me any time for that…" Fox Kya began, as her human self, came over, knowing what was up, but agreeing.
"Or me, either of us will be there."
The shadowbender nodded slightly. She looked up at the animal and human healers, with so many things in her mind that she wanted to talk about. It must have been the comforting energy around the waterbenders that reminded her of the Kya from her own universe. The memory of her talking to her and Korra when they came out was still fresh in her mind, as though it happened yesterday. To think how much things had changed was overwhelming yet again, and she pried her thoughts away from it.
As the two Kya's joined the others, she loitered around the edge of the group.
"Stay focused, Asami..." she heard Khu-Shui say in her head, trying to be as soothing as she could with her voice. "Don't let him get to you. Sha-Garou will want to get in your head, and losing control like that only turns things out in his favor."
She knew that. She knew.
"It wouldn't be called losing control if I could have helped it," she whispered back.
Strangely, she spotted Cat Hattori walking up to her.
"So you've got crazy shadows that talk to you too, huh?" he said. "Guessing Khu-Shui finally decided to come out of the spirit world then?"
Sami smiled, almost feeling the shadow spirit eye roll.
Cat Hattori's expression turned serious though. "Listen, about what Sha-Garou was saying..." He felt terrible for Sami, he really did. "About Guan. I am so sorry." He looked back at everyone else, realizing she probably didn't want them to hear this so he leaned and whispered his condolences for what he believed happened to her.
The shadowbender was moved that he cared, despite never having met her, but he got the wrong impression. "Ah, it wasn't what you think," she said. "I promise it wasn't that. But thank you Hattori for saying that."
The cat was both relieved that his suspicions were wrong but also worried in case the real event had been worse. Either way he smiled and nodded. "Anytime kiddo," he said.
"Wait, I have a question…" Sami realized and said as the one eyed feline listened, ready to answer. "I know you had to deal with Sha-Garou, but… was it worth it? Becoming a shadowbender?" She began asking, holding her hands up slightly, both seeing the shadows shiver around them.
The former shadowbender gave it thought, remembering all those he targeted and killed, some whose blood was innocent, and how he almost lost control of his mind, body and soul. "You and I both have different reasons for becoming shadowbenders. I had sought revenge, to take the lives of those who caused me to accidentally murder my family before doing the same with me. More or less, I was all set to sell my soul to some evil spirit just to get it."
The cat closed his eye, licking his paw before rubbing it on his forehead. "But it took me having Tarkik right where I wanted him to realize all shadowbending, this goal of mine, had brought me was nothing but pain and regret." He then opened his eye, taking note of Panda Opal gushing over Human Lin, while the human airbender was doing the same with her Panda aunt, both Chief's seeming both annoyed, yet amused.
"It wasn't until I was freed of that damn spirit that I was truly able to move on with my life, with a family I never knew about, yet turns out to be exactly what I needed. To be freed of all my rage, my hate… my regrets."
The image of his wife and daughter came to mind before Cat Hattori looked at Sami, who had been listening to every word. "But you, I can tell from the start you didn't choose to become a shadowbender because you wanted to end Sha-Garou, though you may as well consider that a bonus." He said, trying to give a forced chuckle which he knew wasn't landing, even if Sami knew what he was trying to joke about before getting back to topic.
"No, you allowed Khu-Shui to save your life and make you a shadowbender, because deep down, even if you think your Korra's too far gone at this point and you might give into the rage… You still care for her, you still love your Avatar, and you want to free Korra from that fucker's influence. Your reasoning is more noble than mine ever was. So in your case, perhaps being a shadowbender is worth it."
Hearing these words from someone who had experience with this form of bending and shadow spirits, even if he was a cat version of the one shadowbender from her universe, Sami felt at ease, if just briefly.
Sami herself, despite the many times she's said Dark Korra was too far gone, realized she wasn't sure if that truly was the case. Maybe it was possible to save her, maybe it wasn't. But she had to try, she just had to, even at the cost of her own life.
"Maybe you're right… thank you Hattori Hanzo." The shadowbender said, giving a small hug to the surprised feline.
"It's ah, Hattori Beifong, and you're welcome." The animal man said, patting her back as he gave another quick look at his panda sister and niece.
Seeing the scene of Sami busy talking to cat Hattori, Husky Korra addressed the rest of the crew. "Did she ever tell you guys what happened? With Guan?"
The crew shook their heads.
"It must have been pretty bad," Asami said. "She didn't want to talk about it."
"Oh," Husky Korra said. "I see."
"Why?" Bolin whispered. "What did you hear?"
The furry Avatar considered whether she should tell them, looking at the shadowbender, making sure she wasn't listening. Perhaps she didn't want them to know. But perhaps knowing would help them understand her pain better.
"It was an injury she had gotten when Guan and some loyalists attacked Republic City apparently," she said. "At the time it happened, I think..." She gulped. Spirits, it was difficult to even tell it, let alone live it. She didn't know if she should finish.
After the last few preparations, the crew was ready to hop into the next universe. They said their goodbyes to the animal crew, before gathering around Sami, waiting for her to take them into the next world.
"I… I'm sorry for what you saw." The shadowbender said, wanting to put them at ease as she prepared to begin the jump. "I just… felt so much… hate and anger being being built up and-"
But her reasoning was hushed when she felt Korra and Asami put their hands around her's.
"It's okay, if anything, you helped save me and canine me." Korra responded with, not wanting the other version of her soon-to-be wife saddened over her actions.
"And we're all thankful for that." Asami said to her shadowbending self, who took a deep breath and managed to give a smile, not forcing it, but a calm one.
"Thank you."
With those words as the crew grabbed each other's hands, Sami activated the crystal and they vanished once more into the purple energy.
Having witnessed that, Panther Asami looked at her own soon-to-be canine wife, curious at what she witnessed she tell the others earlier.
"I heard you Korra, you didn't tell them the truth." She said, pointing to a surprised Husky Korra's tail. "When you lie, your tail repeatingly moves in a half-circle."
The Husky Avatar sighed, feeling a sense of sadness come over her as she pictured what she heard Sha-Garou say to Sami as she begged him not to.
"I was going to, but… I couldn't." Husky Korra said, lowering her canine nose. "What I heard Sah-Garou say, it… it's bad. What Guan did to Sami…" Husky Korra explained, having the mental image of the same happening to her Asami, feeling her fists clench. "Just even thinking of it happening to her, happening to you… I… sorta see why Dark Korra gave in."
Panther Asami stood there shocked to hear her fiancé admit that, seeing how horrible Husky Korra felt for saying that last part. "I hope to the spirits that we never have to face that situation, because if we do, I don't…" She trailed off, remembering what the Sha-Garou of her universe showed her doing to Guan, closing her eyes, not wanting to relive the memory of seeing herself rip the metalbending tiger to shreds with her teeth and claws.
"What did he do to Sami?" The Feline engineer asked the Husky Avatar, who realized what she had to tell before looking into her love's eyes and finally told her what she heard the dark spirit mock the Shadowbender with.
The panther's light green eyes widened as she heard the truth, feeling a slight pit in her stomach as she felt it.
"... no, he didn't..." was all Panther Asami could say.