*Opens the door to my Vault, blinking with bleary eyes as I step into the sun* I'm finally released from cryostasis! I'm free to update my stories yet again! How long was I out? WHAT YEAR IS IT?! Robin Williams jokes from Jumanji aside, it really has been far too long. You may be asking yourself this: "MultiHydralisk? What the heck were you doing this entire time?" The answer is simple! I was dealing with post-college graduation life and getting therapy for issues that I've been going through in real life. I realize this is a very poor explanation but I respect you all too much to even BEGIN to make any kind of elaborate excuse. *bow* I hope you can accept my deepest apologies for the inconvenience I've caused you. I never once stopped thinking about my stories and you wonderful people who have supported me.

*Large axe is thrown and lodged in the wall directly above my head* Message received! Now on with the show! The Legend of Korra and Fallout 4 are the property of their respective owners. Please support the official releases!

Chapter 3

"So wait," Nate asked. "You're seriously telling me that there are ENTIRE COUNTRIES of people with super powers where you come from?"

Korra laughed at the question. "It's called 'bending' but yeah. You've got the general idea."

After leaving the Memory Den, the duo had taken a trip to the Third Rail for a bite to eat. There was only so much strange stuff a person could deal with on an empty stomach, after all. Korra looked around the establishment with mild interest clear on her face. The patrons looked worn from the world outside but the atmosphere managed to feel fairly comfortable. Her eyes were drawn to a singer in a beautiful dress that was performing on a stage near the bar. Every note that came from her lips seemed perfectly tuned, and the Avatar found herself wondering what Asami would think of-

She stopped herself. Ever since arriving, Korra had been careful with thoughts regarding home. Travelling to the Spirit World was one thing, but wherever she had found herself felt more alien than any place she had journeyed to before.

Nate, noticing her sudden mood shift, guided her to the bar to sit them down on some of the bar-stools set up. 'She seems like she needs this more than me at this point.' He thought to himself.

"Hey, Charlie! How's it hanging, buddy?" Nate cheerfully called to the bartender. Korra stared as a strange spherical….thing…floated over to greet them. It was propelled by a powerful flame underneath it and had three separate arms that looked more equipped for fighting than for serving beverages and food. The eyes were also…disconcerting. The way that every rotation of the body swiveled one of three eyes to watch her made Korra feel as though it was studying her and not just looking at her.

"You've got some nerve coming back here all chipper." His flat response made Korra raise an eyebrow at her companion.

"I take it you two aren't best friends?"

Nate laughed. "He's like that with everybody. I don't even know what he's on about now."

Charlie made a huffing noise, which impressed Korra since he didn't have an obvious mouth that she could see. "He broke one of my tables after he ruddy well threw a man into it."

"We both know that jerk started it after he had too many. AND he pulled a pipe pistol on me!" Nate exclaimed. "I didn't want to get shot again, thank you very much!"

Korra smiled. "Sounds like you attract trouble like a picnic attracts ants."

Nate put on a theatrical hurt tone. "You're siding with him now? Consider yourself officially uninvited to my birthday party, Korra."

Charlie took this moment to interject. "As fascinating as this is, you know I don't allow loitering in my establishment. Order something or get out."

"Two Mirelurk steaks and a couple of Nuka Colas." Nate ratted off, putting a handful of bottle caps on the counter. Charlie reached down with a claw to quickly pick up the payment and floated off to fix the order.

"So…are you going to tell me what's up with the bottle cap collection you've been carrying around? I mean, last time I checked those aren't money."

"Oh ye of such little faith." Nate grinned. "I'll have you know this fine nation was FOUNDED on bottle caps! The finest example of resourceful financing to ever be brought into the modern age."
Korra crossed her arms. "Really?"

The man out of time sighed. "Actually, no. Believe me, I thought it was the weirdest thing too when I first woke up." He rubbed his eyes. "I mean, I get it. They're freaking everywhere. But why bottle caps specifically? I never knew being Rip Van Winkle would suck this much.."
"Rip Van who?"

"Never mind."

"Order up!" Charlie returned and set down two meals in front of them. "And just a reminder. If you HAVE to start a fight, drag the bloke outside before you start bashing heads."

"Can do, Charlie." Nate took a whiff of his plate. "Ahhh.."

After taking a bit from her own plate, Korra's eyes lit up. "This is so good!" Eager for a decent meal after trekking through the Commonwealth, she began to eat like her life depended on it.

"He may be wound tighter than a clock, but Charlie does take pride in the place." Nate kept his tone low in case the Mr. Handy in question was listening. "As long as you don't cause any trouble."

Both finished their respective meals and let out content sighs.

"Now that we aren't being attacked by every idiot in the Commonwealth, maybe it's time we got formal introductions out of the way." He put out his hand. Nathan Williams. But you can call me Nate."
Korra rolled her eyes but shook it anyway. "You've told me that part already."

"Yeah, but this time I get to be all formal about it. I aim to impress after all." He snarked in return.

That got a laugh out of her. "Fair enough. My name is Korra."

Nate looked at her. "Korra…..?" He made a 'go on' gesture with his hand.

"Just Korra."

"Ok then 'Just Korra', I'm glad we've gotten the most awkward part out of the way." Nate stretched his arm before he stood up. "How about we walk some of this off?"

The two stepped outside before Korra finally decided to speak up about something that she had been wondering for some time now. "So you've heard a bit about what I can do. Care to do the same for yourself?"

"Hm..that's going to take some time to really get through all the details." He shrugged. "I'm afraid I'm a bit complicated."

Korra smirked in reply. "Trust me. I know how that gets."

Nate thought for a moment before finally giving his answer as best as he possibly could. In all honesty, he was a bit concerned about breaking the news that he was possibly one of the oldest if not the oldest person he could think of in the Commonwealth who was still just a normal person. Robots could rival him due to their lack of physical aging apart from needing maintenance checks, and ghouls were basically a middle finger to the entire concept of mortality before they would apparently lose their minds to the radiation that gave them immortality.

"Well….here's the thing. I'm kind of old."

Korra blinked at the anticlimactic answer he seemingly spat out. "What..that's it? I mean you don't look that old to me. Or do I have to call you Gramps now?" A smile formed on her lips as she began to imagine all the potential nicknames she could create for him now.

"Oh ha ha. It's a barrel of laughs." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess we need to get this part out of the way. I'm more than two hundred years old."

Korra blinked at that. "….This is about the 'Gramps' joke isn't it? Look, I'm sorry if that was too much. Can you give me a serious answer?"

Nate frowned. "I AM being serious. A long time ago, I was put into a special machine that would keep me alive and safe at the cost of being a frozen TV dinner for a while." His eyes look at nothing while his tone becomes more thoughtful. "They were supposed to keep us safe if the worst came to pass…and then I wake up to see my entire world destroyed. And that was before I even got to leave the Vault."

The temperature seemed to drop as the conversation continued. Korra could almost feel it despite the sun still shining overhead.

"I was a soldier. Served my country as part of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment. United States Army. I fought in the Sino-American War, but life changed for me the day I met the most incredible woman I've ever known."
Nate reached up to his neck and ran a thumb and forefinger over a small necklace that Korra noticed he was keeping tucked under his shirt. Upon pulling it out, she saw that it was a wedding ring fastened around his neck with a length of thin cord knotted in the back.

"Her name was Nora. She was a lawyer." A brief but sad smile lit up his features. "We used to joke that while I fought the bad guys on the battlefield, she would take the fight to the ones back home." He tucked the necklace back under his shirt again. "We even had a son together. Named him Shaun.

"Wh-What happened to them?"

Nate's expression hardened again. "This world fucking took them from me." He let out a shaky breath. "God, I still remember the sirens blaring in the air. People panicking and screaming, taking to the streets like headless chickens. We ran to the Vault, desperate to save ourselves." His fists clenched. "The bombs fell. The country that I fought so hard to protect was dying right in front of my god damn eyes and it was all I could do to get my family into a glorified hole in the ground."

The duo walked in silence for a time, out of the front gates of Goodneighbor and into the ruins of the once sprawling metropolis.

"I woke up to see someone opening the pod where my wife and son were taking refuge, trying to take our son from us. I tried to scream at them to get away from her, but my lungs felt stiff from the cold. I felt as weak as a kitten…helpless."

Images flash in Korra's mind. A declaration that she could take on Amon and his Equalists. An ambush at the monument of her predecessor. Lashing out desperately against enemies that seemed to know what she would do before she could even defend herself. Looking up into the white mask of the man who had crushed her confidence like a sandcastle against a tsunami.

Helpless.

"I let someone I love down already. I'll be damned to hell and back if I can't at least save my son."

The duo walked in silence, the atmosphere tense from a bad topic.

"Your friends." Korra finally said. "They really look up to you."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I guess I've done what I can to help them out." He paused as he rummaged through his pack for a Nuka Cola, popping the top and taking a sip.

The Avatar let out a frustrated huff. "No, it's more than that. From what I've seen, people seem to want to focus on themselves around here. If not that, maybe a group mentality kind of thing."

Nate proceeded to chug the rest of his soda before tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder. "The end of the world tends to do that to people. Your point being?"

"Where I'm from, my role is to be a kind of protector. Something passed along from person to person for generations, no matter the distance between the nations they could be born in."

Nate snorted. "You sure you aren't from the funny books? I'm getting reminded of some cheap action comics I used to read way back in the day."

"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here for a minute!" Korra felt her eye twitch at Nate's attitude. He had been through a lot, but there was a fine line between being reserved and just trying to make people angry.

"Maybe I don't wanna be serious if I don't have to, Magic Lady!" Nate made a wide sweeping motion with his arms to the ruins around him. "Maybe in a world where everything is completely fucked, I want to be able to enjoy myself before the next god forsaken abomination tries to RIP MY HEAD OFF!"

A splash of fetid water crashed into his face, leaving Nate stunned for a moment.

"Did you just-?"

The ground shifted beneath his feet before he was unceremoniously launched through the air, a stone pillar growing right under the Lone Survivor and hurtling him into a nearby pool of murky water.

Korra laughed to herself as she kneeled down at the edge of the water. "Feeling cooled down enough to talk? If not, I can make it even colder in there for you."

Nate sputtered as he broke the surface and glared at Korra. "That was a really dirty trick."

"You're just jealous that I can bend and you can't."

"Bite me."

After a pause, Korra held out her hand to help him out of the muck-filled water.

"As I was saying, the Avatar is suppAAAAHH!"

Instead of climbing out, Nate had decided to even the score by pulling down sharply on her wrist. In her squatting position, this caused Korra to practically fly nose-first into the water next to him.

Nate took this time to climb out of the pit and sit at the lip, removing his boots and idly kicking the water. When Korra did break the surface, only her eyes were above the surface and shooting a glare his way.

"Oh come on, fair is fair."

As Korra rose up, a wide smile soon formed on her face. A smile that Nate didn't like the look of one bit.

"Hey, no no no no WAIT-!"

The water rose around the Avatar, forming cords as thick as a snake that pulled the Lone Survivor back into the water.

For a brief few minutes, the two began what could be described as a childish splashing match not unlike one would see between children at the local pool. Korra using her bending to attack Nate with water from every angle while he retaliated with his own limited abilities. Magic or not, he wasn't going to let himself be outdone! Their laughter echoed through the broken environment as the empty streets were filled with the sound of joy for the first time in ages.

When they were thoroughly exhausted, both Nate and Korra hauled themselves out of the deep pool in the ground and sat on dry land.

"So. Bending." Nate looked at his new companion. "Can you break it down for me? I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it."

"Didn't that memory thing give you an idea what it was like?" Korra asked.

"Yeah but I need to make sure I wasn't high on chems when I was watching whatever the hell it was showing me."

"You joke a lot, you know that?"
"Sister, it's one of the only things keeping my sanity in this freaking world. Now please." He gestured to her. "Proceed."

Korra sighed. "I was born in the Southern Water Tribe originally. We have a settlement in the South Pole where-"

Nate held up a hand. "Stop."

Korra glared. "You wanted to know, you jerk!" She gave a gentle punch to his shoulder.

"Are you telling me that there are people with super powers in the South Pole?" He scratched his head. "I swear I didn't use any Jet today..."

"For the last time, it's called 'bending'!" She cracked her knuckles. "Or do you need another demonstration?"

"No no no, I believe you. Just…continue."

Korra sighed. "Like I was saying before, there are four nations with benders specializing in different elements." As she was saying this, she used a scrap piece of paper and pencil that she plucked from Nate's bag to sketch out four symbols. Thankfully, it hadn't fallen into the water during their impromptu water war.

"The Water Tribe uses waterbending to move water with smooth motions that mimic the natural tides of the ocean." She tapped the first symbol. "It can be used for everything from healing to creating ice but that really depends on the skill of the bender in question."

Nate considered asking if this could be taught to anyone. Maybe if he could use this 'bending' stuff, he could save a damn fortune on stimpaks. Or just use it to prank Preston. Both were equally appealing to him. "I kind of feel like I'm back in school, but go on."

Korra grinned. "Master Korra does have a nice ring to it."

"Not happening."

The Avatar shrugged. "Well, I'm not sure I would have the patience to be a teacher anyway." She pointed out a symbol that reminded Nate of a campfire of all things. "Next up is the Fire Nation. As you can probably guess, firebending is the practicing of manipulating and controlling flames.

Nate leaned in closer, interest now in his eyes. "So they're walking flamethrowers? That sounds awesome!"

"There's more to it than that but I get why you would think so." She held up a hand and formed a small ball of fire. "Firebending can be powerful but also hard to control if you aren't careful with it."

Nate watched the flame, enraptured by it. As he did so he recalled the first time he tried to use an old pre-war flamethrower he dug out of a munitions pile. The good news was that it burned down the group of ghouls that were chasing him throughout the old building he found it in. The bad news was that it burned the entire building to the ground along with them. "I can see why it would be that way."

"More advanced practitioners can also control and direct lightning but –"

"Get the hell out of here!" Nate's eyes seemed to sparkle at this. "How is that not the best thing ever?!"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Because if you mess up, you can electrocute yourself with the power of a lightning bolt?"

That seemed to get through to him. "Point taken."

Korra pointed at the next symbol she had sketched before she stood up. "This is the symbol of the Earth Kingdom." She stamped a foot to the ground and, to Nate's relief, the resulting pillar of stone didn't emerge from underneath him this time. "Earthbending is all about strength and standing your ground. Not just about having a strong offense, but a good defense."

Nate thought about this for a moment. "I guess it would be hard to fight someone who could turn the landscape itself into a weapon or shield." He took a moment to stand and walk around the pillar. It was smooth on the sides where it had been pulled from the ground. 'Unreal. Really cool, but unreal…' He thought to himself.

Korra nodded. "That's definitely true. And as I so masterfully demonstrated on you earlier, it can catch your opponent off guard."

Nate gave a playful punch of his own to Korra's shoulder. "You got lucky, Magic Lady."

The Avatar grinned. "Keep telling yourself that, Old Man." She then pointed to the final symbol she had made for him, which Nate decided look more like a bunch of curly spirals than anything else. Maybe a cloud?

"The Air Nomads…specialized in airbending. It revolves around being free like the wind, and emphasis on graceful movements. A bit like a breeze."

Nate picked up on her hesitation. "You said 'specialized'. Did something happen to them?"

Korra looked down at the symbol. "The air nomads were hit hard during the war my predecessor stopped. The Fire Nation feared the power the Avatar wields and…and they nearly killed every single one of them."

Nate put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. It seems no matter where we're from, war never changes."

Korra smiled at him a bit. "It's ok, Nate. They aren't entirely gone though." She leaned back a bit and looked upward, lost in thought. "There's a temple not far from Republic City where I stayed for a while. The air nomads there…well they aren't exactly like typical monastery." She laughed a bit to herself. "More like a family that lives in a monastery."

The Lone Survivor pictured it for a moment. "Sounds like they must have been a hell of a group to be part of."

"You're telling me! Tenzin was in charge of my airbending training while I was staying there." She rubbed the back of her head subconsciously. "I swear he was trying to humiliate me more than teach me anything."

Nate grinned. "I had drill sergeants like that back in the day. Tough sons of bitches, but being the best meant going through the worst."

"I can respect that. I'd hate it, but I get it." Korra stood up, wringing out her hair to get some of the water out of it.

"So…airbending. That's what I saw you using against that giant robot in the Memory Den, right?"

"That's right." She stretched her arms upwards for a moment before facing him. "And for my next trick!" She took a half step forward before bringing her open palms together, forming a gust of wind that blasted Nate dry.

The man out of time looked over himself. "Huh. So you're a super powered hand dryer as a bonus?"

Korra crossed her arms. "Do you WANT to take another bath, wise guy?"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "I get it, I get it. No annoying the Avatar." 'Much' He added to himself.

The two took a few moments to just enjoy some peace and quiet. A genuine rarity in the Commonwealth.

"So with all of this bending stuff, what makes the Avatar such a big deal?" Nate looked at his new…friend? He supposed they were at this point. Much better than the alternative considering what she was capable of. "I mean, entire countries doing this magic stuff kind of makes it hard to stand out from what I can see."

Korra looked proud. "Not just anyone can be the Avatar, Old Man. You're looking at the only woman alive who can bend all four elements and kick all kinds of butt!"

"'Nate the Wanderer and Korra the Avatar, The Commonwealth Dynamic Duo'. "He laughed. "If only Drill Instructor Barnes could see me now!"

"Hey, why do YOU get top billing?" She gave him another playful punch in the arm.

"Because I'm older than you. By a lot, in case you forgot." He put on a mock sad expression. "So sorry, but age before beauty."

"Oh, so I'm beautiful?" She teased.

"Shut up!"

The sound of their laughter rang in the ruins of the city once more. In that moment, the world felt a bit lighter in tone. No direct and imminent threats, no bombs going off, and no damn settlements in need of help. Just two friends enjoying the moment.

In the distance, a single figure watched them. A man with a cold demeanor stared at the two, having seen the strange phenomena surrounding the young woman and her manipulation of the elements. 'Who is she?' He thought to himself. 'An anomaly like her could be a danger to everything the Institute has planned…' He rounded the corner to ensure that he was hidden properly. 'There is only one thing to do with an anomaly' He concluded. 'Remove it.'

In a burst of energy, the man vanished. Whisked back to the hidden technological marvel that was the Institute. Plans needed to be made to deal with this anomaly. By any means necessary.

Kuvira had been wandering for hours at this point. The creatures of this strange land were relentless in making a meal out of her, but she yielded no ground to any of them. She had come across strange insects the likes of which had never graced her imagination as well as enormous men with skin the color of briny sea water. It was one of these creatures that attacked her with….something. It was like the main cannon of the mechanical colossus that she had so fully believed would bring a new age of glory to the Earth Kingdom. The beam this strange device shot out was a burning red, moving too quickly for her to bend a shield around herself. Impacting her in the side, the armor in her uniform diffused enough of the energy to ensure it didn't kill her outright. The burning pain nearly drove her to her knees, but she she swung her arms together in front of her, her metalbending sending two shards from her shoulder plates to skewer her opponent's throat. More had come in retaliation, wielding weapons that made sharp cracking noises. Small projectiles were being launched, forcing the would-be conqueror of all nations into cover.

Then, everything had changed when one of the green men hurtled a round object at the shell of the metal car Kuvira had hidden behind. Everything seemed to erupt in a flash of light for a single second.

The resulting blast left a sharp ringing in her ears while the world swam in her eyes. Kuvira was thrown back from her cover. Standing up, a white-hot pain seared through her arms while a dull burning echoed in the bones of her legs. 'Broken.' She concluded mentally. 'My arms…damn it!' Looking behind her, she could see the explosion had a chain effect, detonating a car next to her attackers. She noted with some dark satisfaction that the fools had managed to end their own lives in their haste to end hers.

That was hours ago at this point. She couldn't move her arms properly, electing to let them simply hang at her sides for now. She was stronger than this. Her plan was simple. Get somewhere defensible. Attend to wounds. Figure out where the hell she is. Don't die.

Finally, she found something. It looked like a shelter of some kind. It was built directly into the side of a small hill, the sharp edges and steel door contrasting badly with the environment of the valley. Kuvira took a shaky step forward and was nearly killed yet again. Buried under the ground was an explosive that knocked her back. She felt the muscles in her legs scream at her while her arms continued to feel as if magma was poured into them. In a burst of rage, she stamped the ground. A shock-wave of stone rippled toward the bunker while flinging most of the remaining traps to the sides. Some impacted with the walls of the shelter and some with the door itself, scarring the faces of both. She took a few more steps closer. Blood loss, broken bones, and dehydration were finally getting the better of her.

'In.' She numbly thought. 'Let me….IN!' With a scream of rage and pain, Kuvira managed to force her arms forward in a gripping motion, placing her open palms against the cold steel of the door itself. Slowly, she drew her stance back in a weak pulling motion. The metal began to buckle and bolts began to break free of it.

The strain was too much. Her reserves were finally depleted. She fell to her knees just as the door began to creak open. A figure seemed to cautiously walk out, holding another of those strange weapons at the ready. Kuvira had fallen to the ground at this point. One eye still open, she moved her gaze upwards at her potential executioner. Even now, she did not flinch. She would look death in the eye, but she would not beg for any kind of mercy from it.

The man had shaggy white hair, matted and unkempt from years of neglect. A bristly beard covering his face completed the look of some kind of strange hermit. His attire was a stained jumpsuit that had clearly seen better days with a single noteworthy feature covering his chest. An armor plate depicting a sword thrust upward with metal gears and wings proudly emblazoned across it.

Before she lost consciousness, the last thing she heard was a single question from this bizarre old man.

"Who are you?"

Whew. This chapter has been rewritten so many times, even I can scarcely believe it. Nate and Korra are starting to open up to each other and build a solid friendship while remaining unaware that someone in the Commonwealth is monitoring them at a distance. As for Kuvira? Her first real human contact has been made with a man who has gone without it for several years at this point. Anyone who has played Fallout 4 can probably guess who it is. Exactly how will their conversation go? Only time will tell. Until next time, everyone. Keep being amazing!