Chapter 3-The Declaration
As the afternoon went on, and the sun started to set, Akira, Jade and Hua decided to spend the boy's birthday the typical way they spent the nights before the weekend-hanging out at a restaurant and drinking themselves silly.
The trio sat in a booth Akira reserved for the three of them, eating their worries away with their favorite dishes. Akira just had himself some steamed elephant koi and spicy ramen noodles, Jade went straight for the roast duck and bison steak (for an airbender, Jade was a natural born carnivore), and Hua just got some komodo chicken with a dozen sweet dumplings (she loved her dumplings). The three friends were halfway through their lunch when they talked about random things that didn't involve Akira being the reincarnation of the world's most powerful being.
"No, I'm serious. The guy actually wrestled with a sky bison. A fully grown one." Akira said. "They showed it on TV, I don't know what's so hard to get about that."
"It's because no one can safely handle a wild sky bison with their bare hands without getting a couple of broken bones, if not get outright killed." Hua said, sipping her jasmine tea. She made a little face at the taste. It wasn't bad, but compared to the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se, this wasn't up to snuff.
"And a nonbender? Please, Akira, you should know better than that." Jade said.
"No, I'm serious. I mean, it wasn't as if he was some ordinary dude. He was a martial artist who founded a school based around this new martial art. It's, um…damn, I forgot the name."
"Shows how interesting it was." Jade muttered. Akira pinched her cheek with one hand while feeding some smoked komodo-dragon to Kiki with the other. "Stop pinching me!"
"I'll stop when you stop dissing your boyfriend." He replied. "All I know about the style is that it uses chi to enhance the body or something. I was eight when I saw it, get off my back."
"I do remember hearing of a sect of monks in the Fire Nation capable of breaking stone with their bare hands. They're very secretive of their techniques, though. I don't know how much of those stories is true." Hua said.
"See? It's not fake." Akira smirked.
"It's also not real." Jade said.
"Well I'm not wrong, so ha!" Akira started pulling on her cheek again, making Jade growl and yank at the sides of his mouth.
"I told you to stop pinching me!"
Hua shook her head and calmly scarfed down an entire dumpling without pause. Her cheeks puffed out as she ate her dumpling, and some nearby customers couldn't help but giggle discreetly at the sight. Hua didn't pay them any attention. She had her dumplings and all was right with the world.
"So, Akira," Jade gave her boyfriend a cautious glance as they settled down. "Have you put some thought to your…situation?"
Akira made a face and stopped eating. Kiki gave a little meow in his lap and he scratched at her ears. "I…I'm thinking about it. Not exactly something I can drink away with some fire whiskey."
"Being the Avatar is not something you can run away from." Hua said, looking at Akira with her cool gaze. "Sooner or later, someone or something is going to come for you. That spirit attack last night was just the first of it."
"I know, damn it!" Akira growled. He immediately calmed himself down. "I'm sorry, Hua, I'm just really stressing out about this. All I wanted to do was work my way up in the Iron Fan. Be like Jian, you know. Now this crap comes up and I've got everyone from White Lotus agents to nasty spirits looking to get a piece of me."
"Well, maybe you should dive into it on your own terms." Jade suggested. "I mean, if you learn the other elements, few people will want to screw with you."
"Right, because that worked for Korra." He drawled. Jade placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head so that he was looking at her.
"Akira, I don't like seeing you act like this. You never worry too much about things. You said it gives you gray hairs faster." She said. "So you're the Avatar, that's big, I get it. But no one said that you had to be some goody two-shoes, law-abiding savior of the world. Put your own spin on being the Avatar."
"My own spin?" He hummed.
"Avatar Kyoshi didn't become famous for being merciful. Her body count is probably the largest of any Avatar within the past 400 years." She grinned.
That…actually sounded pretty good. Akira smiled as he ran the idea through his head; put his own spin on being master of the elements. Just keep being himself, but with a lot more power.
"Yeah…yeah, you're right, Jade. Why should I let these guys toss me around on how to be the Avatar? I'm Fa Akira, son of Fa Xuan of the Iron Fan. The greatest gang in the entire Earth Union!" Akira nodded and stood up from his seat. "Ain't no one gonna punk me around, friend or foe!"
"Hell yeah!" Jade hollered and grabbed his shirt to pull him down into a deep kiss.
"I'm so glad I have you as my girl!" Akira breathed as they broke apart. "You're hot, babe!"
"I know I am, babe!" Jade shot back and they resumed kissing.
'I'm surrounded by psychopaths.' Hua thought as she sighed. Honestly, how was he related to two of the most stoic men in the triad?
Their fun was cut short when a man wearing a green jacket with the Iron Fan's symbol ran up to their table, looking out of breath and panicked. "Mr. Akira, sir!"
Akira looked at the poor man. "What's wrong? Does my dad want me back?"
"It's…" The messenger struggled to catch his breath. "It's your aunt and cousin…there's been an attack…"
Any good feelings Akira felt were blown away like leaves in a hurricane.
XXXXXX
Akira never had a good relationship with his aunt. He knew that when they were children, Xuan and Maya were as close as twins could be, growing up in a crime family that grew to great heights thanks to their great grandmother, who was supposed to have been an officer in the defunct Earth Empire (or so Maya bragged). As they got older, they drifted apart somewhat, but things really snowballed when Xuan met his wife, Himiko, who was from the Fire Nation.
Being a strong nationalist, Maya saw Xuan marrying Himiko as "tainting" their noble Earth Kingdom bloodline, and Xuan promptly gave her the finger on many occasions. Maya probably would've mocked Himiko's passing had Xuan not threatened to sell her to a backroom human trafficking ring and make sure that she was little more than a shell of herself when the dregs of society were done playing with her (he would've done it too. Heaven help the poor souls who mess with Xuan on a personal level).
She disliked Jian and really disliked Akira, but the real insult to her personal honor was that her daughter, who was an earthbender who couldn't even walk, loved her cousins. Akira could only imagine the rage she must have felt upon learning that his second born was the Avatar. Akira grinned at the thought of her gnashing her teeth in anger at the news.
But seeing her in a coma in the hospital didn't feel very victorious at the moment. Somehow Maya survived the explosion, but her entire body was covered in serious burns. She was wrapped in bandages from head to toe and hardly looked like the typical beauty who strutted along downtown promising younger men a good time and lighter wallets. She looked weak, vulnerable.
'Still looks better than Zuko, though.' Akira thought with a grimace. Or at least he hoped so. With the amount of burns on her body, Maya would've been blessed if all she had was sensitive pink skin instead of rugged burns that felt like leather to the touch.
He was sitting on the bench outside of Maya's hospital room, with Jian leaning against the wall next to him. Jade and Hua sat on either side of the brothers, discreetly keeping an eye out on anyone who walked by them. This gave Akira and Jian room to talk.
"The worst has passed, though she'll be out for at least a week, if not longer. Her ear drums are damaged, though it isn't clear how affected her hearing will be until she wakes up. The less I say about the severe burns, the better." Jian said.
He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yukino's helper, Yui, died in the explosion. She took the brunt of it to protect her. She was dead before any help could come."
"And Yukino?" Akira whispered.
"Gone. There was no sign of her at the store, no blood, no body, nothing. All that was left was a mangled wheelchair." Jian replied. "Father is looking into it with the police, but it'll take some time before we get any answers."
"A kidnapping." Akira ran a hand down his face. "Who the hell would have the sky bison balls to attack a member of the Fa family in broad daylight like this?"
"We don't have a name, and he's a new face around these parts. All we can gather from the footage is that he's a firebender." Jian said. "A combustionbender, to be precise, though not a very powerful one considering our aunt is still alive. We approached Maya with a purpose, and that purpose is clearly to kidnap Yukino."
"For what? Ransom?" He asked.
"Maybe…or maybe it has something to do with another event that occurred not long before this." Jian muttered. Akira glanced up at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Our White Lotus friends were attacked at their hotel this afternoon. Their assailants are unknown for the time being, and their doing a good job resisting my interrogation methods, but they were well-equipped to combat two master benders such as them." Jian looked at his brother. "They might have an idea on what we're dealing with."
"Good." Akira said darkly and stood up. "Because I'm losing my patience with these bastards running around in my city."
XXXXXX
"You didn't have to destroy the entire store, you nimrod."
"For heaven's sake, Kra, get off my back." Kran groaned. "We got the girl, that's enough, right?"
His sister, Kra, shook her head in exasperation and focused on healing the paraplegic girl her twin brother snatched up. The girl had survived the initial explosion with relatively light wounds, namely burns that might scar but weren't overly damaging to her condition. Just a few sessions of healing would be enough to take care of the worst of her injuries. She was still in one piece and that's what mattered.
"Now all we have to do is send a note to the Avatar and he'll come running to us." Kra said once she was done healing the girl.
"You make it sound so easy." Kran said. "The guy's a master earthbender and a metalbender."
"Both of which can be solved by dragging his ass up into the air. Come on, bro, I know it's impossible for you, but use your head." Kra grinned at her brother's growing aggravation. "He's a good fighter, but without those little airbender harlots that hang on his arm, he's nothing."
"Tell that to the five men his brother burned alive." Kran muttered. He had no idea that Fa Jian was a lavabender, and seeing that man engulf a group of men in lava without a second thought honestly disturbed him.
"I wasn't counting on those bozos to score a kill on the airbender and her Fire Nation bodyguard. But of course they didn't bother listening to my warnings, stupid bastards." Kra muttered. "They got what was coming to them for being so cocky."
Kran rolled his eyes at her ranting and walked over to the phone. "I'm going to call up the airship. You gonna sit there muttering to yourself all night or are you going to send the note?"
"Huh?" Kra blinked. "Oh yeah, right. I'll get on it."
Kran left her to her business and left the room to get a drink. Checking the time, he saw that it was almost night. This plan had phases to it, but all this waiting was getting him impatient. He wanted to capture the Avatar and get the hell out of this cursed city before the entire Iron Fan came down on them in vengeance.
'If we manage to score this mission, then we'll be living big in the organization.' Kran thought. 'Yeah, maybe I'll even get a handshake from the Grand Lotus himself. That'd be neat.'
Kran sat at the table chugging down his soda pop while waiting for the main event to start, lost in his dreams of glory.
XXXXXX
Genji and Malu were sitting in the Fa family mansion's living room, having been escorted from the hospital after Malu got her arm patched up. They had spoken at length with Xuan on the attack, but he suddenly had to attend to other matters that sprang up. Judging from the erratic way the servants were acting, it wasn't anything minor either.
"Why do I get the feeling something else big just happened?" Genji murmured.
"Our arrival in this city is just rife with excitement, isn't it?" Malu sighed. Her keen ears heard loud footsteps marching down the hall from the front door and she took a deep breath. "Brace yourself, Genji. We have company."
The doors slammed open and Akira marched into the room, his face marred by an angry scowl. He made a direct path straight for Malu and stood over her as he made his intentions clear.
"My aunt and cousin were attacked by a combustionbender earlier. My aunt's in a coma and my cousin was kidnapped by the ash spitting bastard." Akira said. He didn't raise his voice, but that only made his anger more tangible. "This mess started when you two came into my city and start throwing your stuff around like we were supposed to adhere to your commands. First the spirit attack, then the bombing, and now this. Someone wants me, and they definitely want you two dead, so you better tell me who the hell I'm dealing with before I start getting impatient."
Malu calmly looked up at Akira before nodding and getting to her feet. "Very well, Avatar. We'll come clean." She said. "First, do you know of the Red Lotus?"
"Of course I know about them. They're the closest anyone's come to killing Avatar Korra." Akira said. "They're a bunch of anarchists that broke off from the White Lotus years ago. They fell off the radar after that Earth Empire business."
"Correct. The Red Lotus has been largely inactive in the following years after their fight against Avatar Korra, but they've begun making their move in the years after her death. Part of the reason the White Lotus has hurried to find the next Avatar is because of the fear that the Red Lotus will get to him or her first and kidnap the child. The last thing this world needs is an Avatar that seeks to eliminate the status quo by killing world leaders and abolishing nations." Malu said.
"Get to the point." Akira growled.
"There has been a rise in Red Lotus activity in the past few years, and this year they've been particularly active. Just a few days ago there was an attack at a White Lotus compound on Air Temple Island, and I'm sure you've heard about the recent assassination attempt on Chancellor Kayabuki in Ba Sing Se." She went on. "The Red Lotus is making their move, and it's clear that they know you're the Avatar."
"How did they know? It was only revealed to everyone at the party." Jade said. Hua looked at Malu.
"Unless…you think that there was a leak. Someone told the Red Lotus that Akira was the Avatar and now they're making their move." She said.
Malu nodded silently. "Yes, and the bombing at the hotel was an attempt to stall for time by killing Genji and I while they made their move on Akira."
"That's impossible. No one would dare sell me out like that without dad knowing." Akira said.
"Not if they think they can get away with it by being anonymous." Jian supplied. "Attacking our aunt and kidnapping our cousin…this is no doubt a plan to use her as bait to lure you to them, Akira. That firebender is probably one of their agents."
"We should probably expect a response from your cousin's kidnapper anytime now." Genji said. "They'll want to move as fast as possible to act on the advantage they have."
"Like hell I'm waiting for a response." Akira growled. The metal bands on his arm shivered in response to his agitation. "I'll hunt those people down and gut them myself!"
"Hold up there, Akira. We don't know where they are or how many Red Lotus members will be there." Genji cautioned. He tried to put a hand on Akira's shoulder, but it was smacked off. "We could be outnumbered and walk right into an ambush."
"I'm already having my men comb the city. Father is working on it as we speak as well." Jian said.
Malu looked at Akira and saw that just waiting wasn't going to be good enough. His muscles were tense, as if he wanted to punch something but was restraining himself, and those metal bands were shaking as if possessed by an unseen force. And his eyes…they seemed to get darker the angrier he got.
"There may be a way you can find her, Akira." Malu said, gaining his attention. "How close are you to your cousin?"
"Very close. I love Yukino like a little sister. We've known each other since we were kids. She's always loved being with me from the moment we met." He replied.
"Then you have a strong connection. That's good for what I want you to do." She said. "As the Avatar, you have many unique abilities. One of them is the ability to sense people separated from by distance by focusing on their chi."
Akira blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"It's a technique that my mother taught me. All living beings have chi within them, no matter our race, nationality or gender. It is what connects us, despite our differences. As the Avatar, this ability is stronger for you, due to your inherent spirituality." Malu instructed him. "I'm not saying that it always works, but if you share a strong connection to Yukino, then you should be able to sense where she is. All you need to do is focus."
"Focus." He muttered. Akira had an idea on what she was talking about, but he had doubts on whether or not he'd be able to do this on the first try.
"Come on, Akira," Jade urged him. "You can do this. For Yukino."
She took his hand in hers and gave him a supporting smile. Jade wasn't one to show affection in this manner, but she knew he was in a tough position right now. He needed her support. Her faith. Akira took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay, I'll try it." He said to Malu. "But I'm going to need to be alone for this."
XXXXXX
Akira sat under his mother's tree in the family garden, alone and separated from friends and family. As the sun set, the garden was completely enveloped under a cloak of darkness that was barely staved off by the few candles that were lit around the area.
"Focus on the connection, she says." Akira mumbled as he sat cross legged at the foot of the tree. "Clear your mind and let your spirit fly free to rejoin her, she says. Next she's going to tell me to be the freaking leaf…"
Akira looked up at the tree, its branches looming above him, visible even through the growing darkness of the coming night. If there was any place that brought him peace, it was this place. Sitting under it gave Akira a feeling that he rarely felt anywhere else in Xian.
"Please let this work." He whispered and closed his eyes. He placed his fists together in his lap and inhaled through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. He steadied his breathing and focused on his body's center, the dantian, within his stomach. Then he pictured Yukino's face within his mind.
For a couple of minutes, nothing happened. All that he felt was the warm breeze of the evening air on his bare arms. Then something happened within his mind. Something just…clicked, and that connection he had with Yukino became something more than an unseen feeling. It was like a tether that pulled his mind to where Yukino was, and Akira let himself be led away from his body to his missing cousin.
It was an odd but slightly familiar experience. His energy sought Yukino's and a spark flared up within him. His sense extended outside of the city, deep into the forests that surrounded Xian, where spirits roamed far from the noise and blinding lights of human civilization, and into the sky.
"There she is," Akira smiled and opened his eyes. "Found you."
XXXXXX
"An airship?" Jade exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's the feeling I got. When I located Yukino, I sensed that she wasn't anywhere on the ground." Akira said to the group. He went straight to them after finding Yukino's location. "They have to be on an airship."
"Seems like our little terrorist is better equipped than we thought." Jian said, adjusting his glasses. "How far outside the city are they?"
"Not too far. We can probably make it there within an hour if we go by car." Akira said.
"Wait a minute, you aren't planning to actually storm the airship, are you?" Malu asked. Both Fa brothers gave her eerily similar blank looks.
"What did you think we were going to do?" Akira shot back. "Sit here and wait for them to ransom my cousin?"
"You're the one they want, Akira. If you run headfirst straight into their airship, you'll be playing right into their hands." She said.
"We're well aware of the risks, Master Malu, but this attack on us is a personal insult to our family's honor. We can't let this stand, and we certainly don't negotiate with terrorists." Jian said. "That being said, we definitely won't be going in without a plan."
"And we're going whether you like it or not, sister." Jade said, crossing her arms.
Genji stepped in before the conversation evolved into an argument. "Okay, that's fine. But keep in mind the Red Lotus has ways to deal with metalbenders. Plastic guns and ammunition, on top of airships that are mostly made of platinum."
"Dude, we know what we're doing." Akira said, looking at Genji. "You wanted me to trust you earlier, well I'm asking you to trust me on this one. We can get out on top, but only if we're all on the same page. You two in or out?"
Genji looked at Malu, who sighed through her nose and nodded. "We're in."
"Good." Akira grinned and looked at the assembled team. "Now let's bust some heads."
XXXXXX
Considering they had no idea how many Red Lotus members were still hiding in the city, Genji suggested that their little strike team be as small as possible. Which was something that the Fa brothers agreed with. Jian would have a couple of his own guys, most of them firebenders, follow him on the ground, driving to where the airship was supposedly sitting. They were for extra support in case the airship went down during the fighting.
Akira and Genji would rely on the flight capabilities of the airbender ladies to get them into the air. Malu may have had a wingsuit, but Jade and Hua had their very own, custom-made gliders (loving recreated with a bit of Earth Union flare to make them look cooler than the gliders of old) that allowed them to carry the guys on their backs as they flew to the airship.
Now that he had done his "Avatar sight" on the airship, Akira found that it was actually easy to locate it once they had flown out of the city limits. He still had the path in his mind's eyes, and he directed their mini-squadron of air-ladies to the airship that was hovering several feet off the ground.
"There, I see it." Akira said, pointing straight ahead at the large shape hovering above a certain area of the forest. He cursed when the glider he was clinging onto wobbled a bit and glared at its pilot. "Hey, try to fly straight, lady. I'm nervous enough as it is."
"Get bent." Jade grumbled, making her glider sway precariously in the air again, earning another curse from Akira.
"Focus, children. We're almost there." Malu said. "Hua, Jade, raise your altitude so they don't spot us. We'll drop down onto the airship from above."
The three airbenders flew higher into the air, slowly rising until they were a few feet above the stationary airship. As they got closer, Akira saw the dark red and black airship that camouflaged well against the dark forest and night sky. Looking down at the ground, he knew that Jian's group were making their move to go under the airship, but it'll take some time for them to make it up the road. That was Jian's concern; Akira just had to focus on finding Yukino and beating down whoever started this mess.
They descended onto the airship. Akira and Genji landed first, with Jade, Hua and Malu landing behind them. Akira ran over to an entry hatch and unlocked it with a flick of his wrist. He hopped down into the hatch, with Hua and Jade following behind him. Genji and Malu took up the rear.
"So what's the plan?" Jade asked.
"You and Hua go look for Yukino. This airship isn't that big, so you shouldn't have any problem finding her." Akira said.
"What about you?" Genji said.
"I'm going to find that bastard who took Yukino and send him back to his boss in pieces." He said darkly.
"We're coming with you." Malu said. Akira gave her a look, but she didn't back down. "Our duty is to protect and train the Avatar, we're not letting you stop us from doing our jobs."
"Fine, welcome aboard the vengeance express. Please leave our morals at the entrance." Akira grumbled and nodded to the girls. Giving Jade a kiss, he said, "Be careful and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"But you'd do anything to get this done." Hua pointed out.
"Exactly." He nodded. "Now move out!"
XXXXXX
"Hey, Bo?"
Bo looked at his partner, Zhang, who was lazily leaning against the metal door to the room that they were supposed to guard. Kra had given them explicit instructions to watch over the hostage until she came back for her. It was going to be a dull time for them, though, and Bo had the unlucky chance of having the slacker for a partner.
"Yes, Zhang?" Bo sighed.
"Why are we here?"
Bo looked at him. "Huh?"
"Why are we here?" Zhang repeated.
"I…I don't know. I mean, isn't that a question everyone asks themselves? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Is there some higher power that created the world? Were we made in some god's image? So many questions and no one has the answers to them." Bo shrugged. "I think about why we're here too, sometimes. It keeps me up a night, knowing that I'll never get those answers in my lifetime. That's the sad truth of the world."
There was a moment of silence as Zhang looked at Bo strangely.
"Um, no, I meant why are we here, on this airship?"
"Oh! T-That's what you meant." Bo coughed into his hand and looked away. "Sure, sure…"
"What was all that stuff about gods?"
"Nothing."
"…You wanna talk about it?"
"Nope. I'm good."
Silence again.
"Why did we volunteer for this mission?" Zhang asked. "We could've been in someplace nicer, like Ba Sing Se or the Fire Nation. Preferably someplace that doesn't have a notorious crime family ruling over it."
"Grow a pair, Zhang, we're not going to be here long. We get the Avatar, ditch the girl and head back with our heads held high and street cred for days. Think of the glory, the recognition…"
"The girls!" A female voice yelled.
"Yeah, and the girls…wait." Bo blinked. "Who said that?"
Bo turned his head and saw Jade grinning at him. "Hey, there."
Her fan unfolded and her arm shot up, slicing across his neck in one swift motion. Bo stumbled back, blood gushing between his fingers as he slowly died.
"Bo!" Zhang's fist shot forward to shoot a fireball, but a sphere of air surrounded his fist and snuffed out the flames. A hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around, right into the kick that slammed into his throat and smacked him into the wall.
"Sloppy security for the Red Lotus." Hua said, pushing Zhang's body to the floor. "I'm almost disappointed."
"Don't jinx it, Hua." Jade snatched up the keys and unlocked the door.
Jade slammed the door open and ran in, looking for anymore enemies. When she saw none, she quickly ran over to the bed. Yukino was sleeping peacefully, with bandages along her arms and neck, and her head. Jade could see some pink burns on Yukino's fair skin, but she surprisingly looked better than her mother.
"They must have healed her when they brought her aboard." Hua said. "There must be a waterbender somewhere around here."
"Well, that's not our problem." Jade wrapped Yukino up in a blanket and picked her up. "Let's call it in and-"
"Hey!"
The girls froze and turned around to see another guard standing in the doorway. He clearly noticed the dead bodies of his comrades and saw the hostage in Jade's arms, so he wasted no time in demanding their intentions. His gaze turned to the big red button that was definitely the alarm and Hua acted without hesitation.
A needle slid out of her sleeve and she threw it, propelling the tiny projectile with airbending. The needle shot into the man's exposed throat as he reached for the button and his body fell as he choked on his own blood. Jade and Hua's eyes widened as his body fell toward the button.
"Hua, we got to move!" Jade said, sprinting for the door. "It's about to get loud!"
XXXXXX
"Dear Avatar, we have your cousin. If you don't come by sunrise, we'll kill her. Sincerely, your worst nightmare." Kran read. He crumpled up the paper and burned it to ash. "That's your best ransom letter?"
"Yes, that's all that I needed to say. What'd you want me to write, how we're going to wear the girl's skin as a coat or something?" Kra sneered. "It's a ransom letter, Kran, it's not supposed to be fancy."
"But it's gotta be threatening or they're gonna drag their feet!" Kran said.
"You write it then if you think you can do a better job!" She yelled, shoving a piece of paper inot his face.
Their argument was cut short when they heard the airship's alarms go off. Both siblings got up and looked at each other.
"What's going on?" Kran questioned.
"The alarm…there must be an intruder on board." Kra said.
"But who would…" Kran's eyes widened. "You don't think…"
"I don't think, I know." Kra grabbed her two water skins and slid them onto her back. "Let's go before our noble Avatar tries to bring the airship down on us."
XXXXXX
"Damn it, I didn't think those girls would trip the alarm." Akira said as soon as he heard the alarms.
"What do we do now?" Genji asked.
Before Akira could reply, he got a call on the radio. "Akira, we've got Yukino, but one of the guards tripped the alarm. We're heading back to the entry hatch." Said Jade.
"Good. Regroup with Jian back on the ground. We'll be with you shortly." Akira said.
"Okay, stay safe."
"Wait, we're staying? But they've already rescued your cousin." Malu said. "We have no reason to be here anymore."
"Correction, you have no reason. I'm here to settle the score and teach a lesson." Akira said. "Better to wipe them out here before they come after me again."
Akira led Genji and Malu through the long hallway and into the atrium, where they found themselves facing over a dozen Red Lotus members waiting for them in the heart of the airship. In the lead were Kran and Kra, standing beside each other.
"The Avatar." Kra growled.
"'Sup?" Akira said. He looked at Kran. "You the hobo that put my aunt in the hospital?"
"Yeah, what're gonna do about it?" Kran asked.
"You don't want to know." Akira said.
"Well, since you've done us a huge favor by coming here yourself, we don't need to send a ransom note anymore. Makes things easier." Kra said, uncorking her water skins and bending the water onto her arms. "Surrender, we outnumber you and you'll find no impure metal to bend this deep into the airship."
"Then it's a good thing I brought my own."
Akira's black shirt exploded from his body as multiple shards of metal plates shot out at the Red Lotus members. Three men had metal collars wrapped around their necks and choking them, while another three were unlucky enough to have the sharp plates stab into their throats instead. Akira tore away the remains of his shirt to reveal that his torso was covered in armor plating composed of metal strips. Solidified mercury clung to his forearms and sharpened into blades at a single thought.
The remaining firebenders unleashed combined fire streams at the trio, but Malu created a spinning air dome that deflected the flames away from them. Genji moved forward and shot a lightning bolt at the firebenders, causing them and the twins to scatter.
"Come here, brat!" Kran flanked left and waved his hand. Akira felt the air heat up near him before an explosion rocked the catwalk and almost knocked him off his platform.
Kran flipped over to Akira, aiming flaming kicks at his head, which the Avatar ducked under and slashed at Kran's exposed legs with his metal blades. The firebender was smart enough not to get too close to Akira, but it was futile as Akira bended the mercury to extend just far enough to leave cuts along Kran's face. Kran attacked him with a barrage of flaming punches, but Akira deflected his fists before they could make contact with them, never breaking eye contact with his opponent. Kran was finally forced to back away when Akira nearly impaled him with one of his wrist blades.
Kra charged at him with her arms encased in large volumes of water. She thrust her arm forward, shooting a water jet at him that separated into two tendrils that came at him from opposite directions. Akira dodged them and shot two metal plates at her, which she blocked with her other water arm.
'Okay, time to flex my Avatar muscle.' Akira thought, blocking a fire blast with his mercury.
He leapt up and stomped the floor, creating a large vibration that reverberated throughout the area. Most of the ship may have been platinum, but not all of it, and it just so happened that some of the support frame of the airship had just enough earth in them to bend. They may have been too far away for a regular metalbender to bend in the heat of battle, but not for the Avatar.
Akira pulled on whatever earth he could sense and yanked hard, raising his arms sharply over his head. The result was the floor suddenly ripping apart as large metal wire frames and beams tore through the floor and curled in the air like metal snakes. Akira spun his body in a rather odd mimic of waterbending moves and the thin metal frames spun around him in a tight spiral. Kran jumped away on jets of flame spouting from his feet, but Kra took a hit to her arm and crashed into the wall.
"Sis!" Kran tried to run to his sister, but got his foot caught in a metal wire. He was pulled off his feet, but was able to twist his body to fire a weak beam of heat at Akira, which exploded close to his face.
"Keep your eyes on me, asshole." Akira grinned, his mercury blades sharpened over his hands. Kran growled and charged at him, flames trailing from his clawed hands.
XXXXXX
Kra leapt to her feet, wincing at the sharp pain in her arm and ran to aid her brother, but a strong air blast pushed her back. Malu softly landed in front of her, air lightly spinning around her body.
"You're here already," Kra growled. "How did you-"
"One of airbending's applications is widespread attacks. Really, girl, you should've known that throwing a bunch of people at me of all people wasn't very smart." Malu admonished.
"Oh shut up." Kra lashed out with a barrage of ice bullets. Malu surrounded herself in an air funnel that blew the ice bullets away and ran at Kra.
Kra launched a water blast at her face, but Malu spun around the blast and punched forward, releasing a spiraling air blast that hit Malu hard enough in the chest to knock the breath from her. A bit dazed, Kra swung a water-coated fist at Malu's face, but the older woman quickly dodged and got behind her, wrapping her arms around the girl and throwing Kra over her shoulder face first into the hard metal floor.
"You bitch!" Kra snarled, her nose bleeding from the impact. "I thought airbenders were supposed to be nonviolent!"
"They are, but my dad lived on the streets and made sure to teach his little girl some dirty tricks to defend herself when airbending wasn't an option." Malu said. Kra tried to lash out, but Malu grabbed her arm and twisted it hard behind her back. "Don't try it, girl."
"You'll never leave this ship alive." Kra growled. "My brother will still have the Avatar, and he'll make it out of here before you pacifists will realize it."
"That's a bold claim considering your brother is barely holding his own against Akira."
XXXXXX
Akira had the upper hand on Kran and that was being made increasingly evident as they fought in close quarters combat. Kran tried to gain some distance, but Akira was always hounding him, using his metal plates to block the flames as he landing hard punches to Kran's face and chest. He let Kran take the lead, retaliating every flaming kick and punch with one of his own and never let the firebender gain enough distance to perform some of his more powerful moves or use his combustionbending.
"Stand still and fight properly!" Kran roared and exhaled a large plume of flames from his mouth. Akira created a square metal shield from his mercury and shoved it in Kran's face, killing the fire breath.
"Like that's supposed to work!" Akira punched Kran in the throat to stagger him, before wrapping his fists in mercury, hardening it, and began assaulting Kran's face with rapid fire punches that slowly brought the boy to his knees.
Through the haze of pain, Kran launching a blazing kick at Akira, who weaved under his leg and gave a hard palm thrust right into his knee. With a sickening crack, followed by Kran's agonizing cry of pain, the joint broke and left Kran's leg bent at an odd angle. Akira punched him again in the nose and began another barrage of rapid punches to Kran's chest, not stopping even as the firebender fell to the floor.
"Akira, stop!" Genji yelled.
Akira did so, but only because he wanted Kran alive. The boy laid on the floor at his feet covered in bruises and cuts, his breathing slow and raspy. Akira stood up and steadied his breathing before looking at Genji.
"You two alright?" He asked.
"Yes we're fine." Genji pointed to the groaning men that were strewn about the room in various states of pain. "We took care of the extras."
"Nice, looks like you two aren't too bad after all." Akira smiled. He looked at the restrained Kra and flicked a metal plate at her wrists, pinning them together. "Now, what was that about capturing me?"
"Go to hell." Kra snarled.
"Hell? Girl, I should be saying that to you." He wrapped a plate around Kran's neck and lifted him until he was standing on his toes. "And as for you, ash-spitter, I'm going to have a lot of fun making you cry."
"Akira, we've won. There's no need to go this far." Malu said.
"I'm not going to kill them, Malu. They'll wish I did when dad's done with them though." He grinned and walked to the door with his choking prisoner in tow. "Come on. Let's give big bro a call and commandeer this airship before we crash or something."
Malu rolled her eyes and pulled Kra to her feet to drag her over to the door. This was going to be a long night.
XXXXXX
Taking control of the airship thankfully didn't take as long once the pilot saw that most of the crew's fighters were restrained or dead. Getting back was another story entirely, and by the time they flew the airship back to Xian City, it was early morning and they had to deal with the entire city police department. For all the influence the White Lotus had, it certainly did jack against the temperamental police officers that wanted to put Akira in jail out of spite (the arrival of Jian cut that line of thought short before it even took flight).
The Red Lotus members Malu and Genji took into custody were passed over to the police, but Akira handed Kran and Kra over to Jian. Malu's hands were tied as the Iron Fan caught the pair of siblings who had committed a heinous crime against the triad. Genji knew better than to try to convince them otherwise.
"On behalf of the Fa family, I thank you for helping my son rescue little Yukino. She's a sweet girl, too sweet for the line of work our family is involved with." Xuan bowed to Malu and Genji back at the mansion.
"And I apologize for dragging our conflict into your home. We didn't mean for anyone else in your family to get involved." Malu said. "But, if I may, Mr. Fa, the Red Lotus won't stop here. Now that they know your son is the Avatar, they'll keep coming. He is the greatest threat to their goals and they won't stop until he's dead."
"Then we better get started on my training then." Everyone turned to Akira, who just came back from putting Yukino to bed. "Yukino's a bit stressed right now, but she went back to sleep after I told her about what happened."
"So…you'll work with us?" Genji asked, his face brightening. Akira nodded.
"Yeah, I'll train, but we'll do it here, in Xian. I'm not leaving my family behind yet, so don't get your hopes up." Akira said.
Malu made a face at that, but nodded. "I guess we can have masters travel to Xian. But keep in mind that the Red Lotus-"
"Let them come. They started this fight, but I'll make damn sure I finish it." He said darkly. Akira thought about something for a moment and asked, "Speaking of which, tomorrow morning, can we head to city hall? I want to announce this whole thing as fast as possible."
Xuan raised an eyebrow at his son. "What do you have in mind?"
Akira grinned. "Oh, just a little message to the world…and whoever's listening."
XXXXXX
The next morning Akira, Malu and Genji went to city hall to speak to the mayor, announcing his status as the new Avatar. There were many aids and public officials who didn't want to believe it, but they relented when Akira began stomping the ground so hard that the building actually shook. They plastered smiles on their faces and shook his hand congratulating him saying it was an honor to meet him.
Mayor Yang had called up a press conference for the Avatar, and as expected people flocked to the heart of the city wanting to see the new Avatar, who was to the Iron Fan, who managed Xian's criminal underworld. It was unbelievable to many, but when the White Lotus backed the claim up, it was hard to really denounce it as some ploy for them to gain power.
Akira stood at the podium in front of city hall, in front of hundreds of people clamoring to see him in person. Malu and Genji stood behind him, making sure everything went smoothly. The flashes of cameras and the mutterings of reporters were an assault on the senses, but it didn't bother Akira. He had a message to say to the world, and he was going to do it.
"Citizens of Xian City, and people of the world, I am Fa Akira. Most of you know me as the second son of Fan Xuan of the Iron Fan, but I stand before you today as your new Avatar."
Cheers erupted from the crowd and reporters were yelling their questions at him, raising their hands like eager school children waiting to be picked on. Akira gave a little smirk and raised his hands for them to quiet down.
"I know you have questions, but please, let me say this." He said. "I know I have some pretty big shoes to fill, and a name to live up to. Rest assured I will aspire to be the best Avatar the world needs. But I am not Korra, and I am not Aang. I'll learn from my past lives, but ultimately, I'll be doing things my way. If you don't like that, then I hear there's a lot of open space in the Spirit World."
When it was time for questions, Akira pointed to the first hand he saw. A female reporter, all dolled up in makeup with a fancy hair style that was all the rage these days, stood up and gave her question.
"Avatar Akira, given the recent Red Lotus activity that's been going on all over the world, was last night's airship wreck connected to them?"
"My White Lotus friends might not like me saying this, but yes, it is connected. They injured my aunt and kidnapped my cousin to get to me. My friends and I made short work of those people, and my family is currently interrogating them as we speak. That's all I can really say on the matter." Akira said.
Another hand went up. "Avatar Akira, do you have any plans on handling the Red Lotus terrorists? Will the White Lotus be collaborating with world leaders to get this conflict under control?"
"I don't know, considering I just found out I'm the Avatar two days ago, but I'm sure I'll be meeting with a lot of high profile people to get this mess under control. Which brings me to this," Akira made sure all the cameras were turned to him as he said his next piece. "I know they're probably watching the news right now, plotting to kill me in some grand way to assert their backwards ideology over the world. That's good, because I want them to hear this.
"To whoever's leading the Red Lotus, your little trick failed. I've massacred half of the people you sent to capture me and have the survivors begging for mercy under my family's thumb. Messing with my family was the biggest mistake you could've made, because now you'll have the entirety of the Iron Fan hunting each of you animals down, and we won't stop until every last one of you is rotting in the ground. You're welcome to fight back, it'll make things more fun." He said, his green eyes flashing. "So go ahead, keep trying to kill me. Make another go at my family. I'll keep on snuffing you insects out one after the other, until all that's left is the ring leader, and then you'll know why no one messes with the Iron Fan. You people better watch your backs, because I'm coming for you."
XXXXXX
'Well, well, looks like we've got a fighter.' Thought the woman as she watched the breaking news on the TV. It was on all the news stations, and now this little speech was going to be talked about for weeks. She couldn't wait to see the fallout of this little polar bear dog and ostrich pony show.
Crossing her arms, she hid a smirk as she turned to the man sitting at his desk behind her. He was clad from head to toe in crimson and black armor, not an inch of skin exposed to the dim green light of the ornate lamp sitting on his desk. She couldn't see his expression thanks to the iron mask covering his face, but she could tell he was amused…and eager.
The man leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers together. "Challenge accepted."
So that's the end of the "pilot" for The Lotus War. I'm still trying to get the hang of writing an Avatar story, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'll be taking a break from this story for a little while, but I'll still be working on the next chapter every now and then. Up next, Akira begins his firebending training as a very special woman arrives to Xian...a woman known by all as the "Demon Baby". Thanks for reading and please leave a review.