Cadence Chapter Sixteen: Showdown
Mako spun, his set of kali sticks slicing through the air, driving themselves into the stonewall, an inch past Zolt's bruised cheek. After a threatening moment, he pulled his kali sticks out of the wall, bringing them to rest by his side.
"You won't be able to beat me with physical strength alone," Zolt commented.
"Then use your bending and try to kill me now!" Mako challenged.
"My Fire bending has a unique characteristic," Zolt said as he made his way towards Mako.
Mako's brow furrowed. What the hell was this? Zolt had challenged him, practically slapping him in the face by abducting Korra to use as a bargaining chip and so far, all he had done was lecture him and, as far as Mako was concerned, sprout nonsense.
"From the day it is activated, the user begins to weaken. The more you use it, the faster the process occurs."
Mako made note of that information; it seemed complete loss of the ability to bend was the eventual price the user paid for their gift.
But frankly, he had more pressing things to discuss. "What kind of 'characteristic'?"
"Like Princess Azula, my Fire Bending, though only recently, has become blue. This makes my bending a lot more powerful than your own."
Behind Mako, Korra tried to curl her fingers and was rewarded when she felt the muscles in her arm twitch. The end result wasn't anything close to actual movement, but it was something.
"There's more to Fire bending than the colour of the flame, Zolt." she could hear Mako retorting.
"Mm. Perhaps," Zolt replied, his palms becoming engulfed in blue flames.
Mako wondered if he should feel something. An increase in fury, in hate but he only felt unnaturally calm.
He shed his black cloak, giving his body room to maneuver quickly if needed.
It was time to end this once and for all.
His resolve waned when he heard Korra make some kind of muffled sound, but he didn't dare turn his back on Zolt to check on her though he desperately wanted to.
Instead, he ran his fingers over his dagger, conjuring electricity to his fingertips and letting it course through the dagger. Using the kali sticks as a projectile, he sent the lightning shooting out through the metal blades and towards Zolt. He wasn't in the slightest bit surprised when Zolt countered it exactly, the crackling electricity fizzling out mid-air, leaving the room sizzling, the occasional spark radiating off the ground.
Mako conjured more energy, this time calling forth a storm of lightning bolts. Sending each one towards Zolt only to have them countered by one of his Zolt's own. It was difficult to both keep his eyes on his opponent and ensure that no sparks could fly past him and hit the incapacitated Korra at the same time.
Zolt lunged, and Mako lunged too. Zolt aimed for his face with a small knife in his hand, and Mako's fingers shot out and caught Zolt's wrist as he swept his kali sticks towards Zolt's side. Zolt's hand gripped Mako's forearm, jerking the blade to a halt.
For a moment, the stalemate held until Zolt, taking advantage of Mako's slight hesitancy, sliced the small knife across Mako's face.
At the cutting of his flesh, Mako instinctively released Zolt's wrist, placing his hand over the new wound upon his skin. Hissing, Mako ignited his Fire bending, the flames reminiscent of snakes, its body twisting around him to inspect its prey before going in for the kill, lunging for Zolt, fangs bared. The older Fire bender leapt back, away from the flames licking at his heels. Mako wasted no time in following up in his initial attack.
The flames receded, vanishing in a burst of smoke, and Mako charged his kali sticks with the power of lightning once more before he sent them hurtling towards his opponent. Zolt tried to counter it with a burst of flames, but the power of the lightning ensured it sliced through the flames like a hot knife through butter, carving into the body beyond...
That was Mako had expected however was taken off guard when, from behind a blanket of smoke, Zolt emerged, slamming him into the cold stone wall, driving a fist into his gut and pinning him against the stone with one hand twisted over his head and a heavy foot nailing his own to the floor.
'Move!' Mako told himself firmly. 'Move!'
"I'm sorry, Mako," Zolt intoned as greedy fingers reached for his left eye.
'Move!'
Mako's chants were halted by the blast of searing, white-hot pain that ripped through him as Zolt sent a surge of lightning through Mako's body. For a moment, Mako forgot how to breathe; he forgot everything but the agony.
He might have screamed; he wasn't sure.
"I warned you," Zolt said, sounding as though he were scolding a child that had been playing with something dangerous. "Against me, you don't stand a chance."
'Move,' Mako screamed at himself. 'You have to move!'
"You know you can't win," Zolt whispered.
Trying to focus on anything but the searing pain coursing through his body, Mako lashed out, knocking Zolt, who had been leering over him, to his knees.
'Move!' Mako coached himself, watching in horrified fascination as Zolt got to his feet.
'For Spirit's sake Mako, move!'
"This is it, Mako," Zolt, who was approaching the semi-conscious Mako, said as his fingertips began to sizzle once more. "I'll take your life. And, perhaps more importantly, I'll take Korra..."
That was it. With a burst of raw fury, Mako finally found the strength needed to get to his hands and knees. A sense of vertigo swamped him, sending him reeling to his knees once more, the pain in his torso having caused him to black out for a few seconds. After a few more moments, he came to and managed to pull himself up from the floor.
For a moment, the Fire benders held each other's stare, the tension broken by the loud sound of flesh smacking hard against stone, and a soft hiss.
Though loathed to turn away from Zolt, Mako jerked his head to the side just enough to glimpse at the mocha skinned woman behind him.
Korra was no longer on her side, but sprawled on her belly, one hand braced against the ground as she slowly, painfully, endeavored to push herself upright.
It was as though she could barely move.
"What did you do to her?" he found himself snapping despite his now raspy voice.
"Just something to make her more, cooperative, so to speak," Zolt told him, turning his hands to face palm upwards, revealing to Mako a long gash that scored his palm, identical to the one across his collarbone. "She is extremely proficient in the use of energy scalpels, and not at all hesitant to fight to defend herself. I'd expect nothing less of the Avatar, even if she knows it will be a losing battle."
Zolt watched the muscles in Mako's jaw clench violently, feeling his gaze skim the bruise on his face, his split lip, knowing Mako would be picturing the circumstances in which they were inflicted.
"But don't be so greedy with your little toy, Mako, I'm sure your mother would have taught you to share."
Mako's throat trembled with the urge to shout at him. To shriek that he had no right to speak of his mother, to scream that Korra wasn't a plaything.
Zolt knew his words were like flint against tinder; he could see it in Mako's amber eyes, so much like his own. There was the rage, yes, and the hatred that had always been there but now they were so much darker. Mako's yearning for revenge had been made vivid and sharp, given new life and strength, by this fresh betrayal.
By Zolt's rape of the woman Mako loved.
Mako took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to banish the grotesque mental images that Zolt's words had splattered through his mind like blood. He hadn't allowed himself to think of what Korra had endured; he couldn't. He had spent years harnessing the rage he had felt at the death of his parents, turning it into the sort of cold fury that would allow him to face Zolt with a clear head.
He might almost say the wound had scabbed over somewhat.
But this, what had been done to Korra, it was like tearing open that injury once more and grinding salt into it.
'Don't think about it!' he told himself. 'Not now, focus on Zolt, focus on killing him!'
He wouldn't think about what Zolt had done to Korra; he couldn't. He knew that if he even allowed himself to contemplate it, he'd collapse in despair.
If Korra had been capable of flinching, she would have done so when she heard the clapping of lightning against lightning. Her trained ears told her it was the sound of specialized Lightning bending, and for several moments she was afraid she was suddenly going to feel the electricity course into her body.
But there was nothing, and this time, when she tried to move her arm she was rewarded with a slight shift. It wasn't much, but it was enough for her to slowly, painfully curl her arms under her body.
Her muscles felt as though they were gripped by numb cramps; painless, but uncooperative. It took some time to ease them under her, and when she tried to lever herself into something of an upright position, she rose perhaps three inches before her limbs buckled and she fell to the ground again, smacking the side of her face against the stone.
Attempting to sit up mere seconds after first regaining control in her paralysed limbs might have been a little too ambitious.
Korra hissed in pain as her cheek stung, but never one to give up easily, she braced one trembling arm against the floor and tried to at least turn herself over.
She could hear Mako and Zolt speaking once more, but this time she ignored them in favour of struggling with her obstinate muscles. She tried to swear, but her face still wasn't quite obeying her, and all she could let out was a vicious mumble.
Stupid collar. Even broken and useless, it was still making her life difficult.
Zolt suddenly shut his eyes, focusing in conjuring what Mako guessed was Zolt's unique fire bending technique; the blue flame. The younger Fire bender reached for his kali sticks, now rigged with wire. He charged them with lightning, unleashing one at the height of Zolt's neck, the other at his ankles.
Zolt moved in a way that Mako was quite sure would be impossible for any non-bender, somehow managing to duck and jump at the same time to avoid the weapons. For a moment, his body was almost horizontal in the air as the kali sticks passed above and below him.
Mako tugged on the wires in his hand, causing the kali sticks to fly backwards towards Zolt.
Even as one of the blades drove into Zolt's thigh, Mako was watching the flight path of the other, ensuring it didn't stray close to Korra.
Zolt was on his knees again, this time pulling the blade from his mutilated leg.
Mako gave him no time to recover, and sent a fireball roaring through the air towards him. The elder Fire bender leapt into the air to avoid the flames and Mako followed, lightning crackling at his fingertips.
He wasn't aiming for Zolt however; he was aiming for the ceiling.
His lightning hit the roof, blowing a large section of it to pieces. Zolt threw himself through the hole and into the open air, sending a fireball back at Mako as he followed.
Mako made it onto the roof of the building before the fireball hit him.
As one, both Fire benders unleashed another spurt of fire. The flames mingled in front of them like clashing swords, and Mako felt a surge of triumph when he realised his flames were pushing Zolt's back.
But without warning, Zolt released his blue flames.
Korra felt a fierce grin pull at her facial muscles when she finally struggled into a semi-upright position. She'd needed to use the wall for support, somehow having managed to drag herself over to it while Mako and Zolt were having their duel of flames. She was now at least sitting up, in semi-control of her limbs and finally able to see what was going on.
It seemed that in the time it took her to gain control of her muscles, the pair of Fire benders had moved their battle to the rooftop. A definite advantage for her as now she probably wouldn't have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire.
Korra seized the tattered collar and ripped it from her neck, throwing it to the ground with a surge of primal satisfaction. She actually had the childish urge to go over and stomp on it a few times.
Under normal circumstances, Korra might have indulged that urge but these were hardly normal circumstances, and she had more pressing concerns at that moment.
She pressed her hands against her torso, channeling energy to where it was needed, trying to purge the chemical from her body as swiftly as possible.
The blue flames consumed Mako's fire, swallowing it whole, like a predator devouring its prey.
Despite it's power, Zolt's technique was not without cost; Mako could surmise as much from Zolt's heavy breathing.
Mako watched and waited, ready for the moment when Zolt would surely try to use his blue flames again, slowly but surely wearing himself out. Zolt would hardly be a threat; assuming that was the way he planned to fight.
And that was what Mako was counting on. The technique he needed to use to escape Zolt's onslaught would consume a large amount of energy, leaving him in a worse off state than Zolt.
The blue flames spread across the rooftop and towards Mako. He turned and ran, because it would have seemed suspicious if he hadn't at least tried to evade, but the flames caught up to him, catching on his right arm and moving quickly to smother his body.
Cloaked by the flames, it was easy to use a lightning charged technique to split the roof beneath him, giving himself a bolthole. And so he did so, ignoring the stench of partially burnt flesh, Mako squeezed himself through the hole and dropped to the floor inside the stone room once more.
"I've got to admit, that was kind of cool," came a weak voice from behind him.
Mako turned, surprised to see Korra propped against the stonewall, one hand clutching her mutilated bindings to her chest, prompting another surge of rage to rise in Mako's chest, the other pressed to her abdomen, energy glowing between her fingers. Her back was braced against the wall and she seemed rather unsteady on her feet, but her eyes were bright and clear.
Mako chose not to examine the feeling of relief that swamped him at the sight, and instead turned his attention back to the battle with Zolt. He allowed his Fire bending to gather, changing and warping it, providing him with new power as he sent a swift succession of fireballs into the roof, splitting the ceiling apart until half the chamber was exposed.
Mako grimaced as he felt his flames retract; he was practically out of energy. But it didn't matter; everything was in place for his final attack.
Korra stared at Mako, wondering what he was planning on doing. He looked like he was barely capable of standing; he couldn't have much energy remaining.
She was surprised when rain suddenly began to pour from the sky. Lightning illuminated everything in brilliant light for a moment, before thunder cracked right overhead.
Mako raised his hand, a small amount of lightning crackling through his fingers, too small to really do any damage and that's when Korra realised what he was going to do.
He had used the fireballs to warm up the atmosphere and create a powerful rising current that would form thunderclouds within seconds.
This storm was Mako's creation. He was low on energy, so instead of exerting himself, he was going to channel the energy of the lightning above. She'd heard of benders who used the power of nature but never anything like this.
If the attack hit, it would completely obliterate the building.
"Hey, if your attack kills me, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life," Korra told him. "I mean it; rattling chains, creepy moaning, the whole deal."
Mako didn't brother replying; he raised his hand, judging the static in the air to be the amount he needed. Confident that Zolt was too weakened to try for another direct attack, he moved to Korra.
He knew he couldn't leave her alone; this attack had a good chance of demolishing the entire building, and she was in no condition to get herself out of the way. He didn't know if she'd welcome being touched after what she'd just endured, but there was no other way.
He slipped the hand that wasn't charged with lightning around her waist, pulling her in front of him. "Put your arms around my neck and hold on."
She did as he instructed, her movements slightly laggy, as though she had to force herself to do so. Mako tried not to think about that and sprang onto the rooftop again, the highest point of the rooftop, more specifically, Korra held tightly against him.
Korra spluttered and coughed a little as rain suddenly began to stream into her face. She was feeling a little embarrassed at being pressed so closely to Mako while in her state of undress, but if he could ignore that fact that all she had on was a torn bindings and a pair of crumpled underwear, then so could she.
Mako raised his hand and the lightning in the clouds above crackled menacingly, the long forks and bolts warping and twisting, shaping themselves into a hideous creature with claws and fangs, made of what seemed to be solid electricity.
"Whoa," Korra whispered.
Mako brought his hand down, leaping into the air as he did so and disconnecting both he and Korra from the ground.
The lightning descended, aimed squarely for Zolt. It hit in an explosion of stone shards and humming electricity, and Korra shut her eyes against the searing light and sudden wash of air pressure as the smell of ozone burnt into her nostrils.
When she opened her eyes again, she and Mako were standing in a sea of rubble. Zolt was lying on the ground, facedown and completely motionless.
'Is he dead?' Korra wondered.
Mako began to waver on his feet, and Korra suddenly found that he was leaning on her more than she was leaning on him.
The rain was petering out; she supposed a technique of the magnitude Mako had just used was only good for one shot. But it was a pretty formidable shot.
There was a soft cough and Mako suddenly tensed. Korra gritted her teeth and tried to coax her neck muscles into movement once more, turning her head slightly around to see what had him so alarmed.
Zolt was slowly clambering to his feet. There was blood dribbling from his mouth, and he was obviously badly injured, but he was still alive.
"Korra, get out of here," Mako said in a low voice, his Fire bending ignited once more.
But his flames seemed different somehow. They were sparky, as though they weren't quite formed and then Korra saw it. The flames were turning blue.
"Korra, go!" Mako shouted.
"Going," she muttered, making her slow, painful way across the rubble. Her muscles were moving as though they had to thaw first.
She just needed to reach a relatively safe distance, and then she could heal herself, hopefully pulling the toxin from her body in one go.
She glanced back, blinking when she saw ghostly, translucent flames, Zolt shielded within them.
"This is the last weapon in my arsenal," Zolt said grimly.
Mako stared as the flames suddenly fleshed out, taking on the form of some never before seen creature, its transparent muscles and tendons flowing over the ethereal skeleton, ghostly flesh following after it.
A sudden, sharp pain in his temple sent Mako lurching to his knees; clearly an after effect of exerting so much energy. His body flared up in pain, and he had to fight the urge to scream.
Korra stared, horrified, as Mako doubled over obviously in a terrible amount of pain. She could tell instantly that this wasn't simply because of over exertion; this was something much worse.
Mako lost all control of his Fire bending in that moment, his flames whirling in all directions. As if instinctively, most of the flames lunged for the strange, demonic-looking entity sheltering Zolt, but the creature of flames was undeterred by Mako's onslaught. It was all Korra could do to hobble away from the chaos as she mentally re-judged her approximate 'safe distance'.
With Mako's demise fast encroaching, the remains of his flames vanished, leaving him on his knees, panting and gasping, obviously drained of energy and with barely enough strength to stand upright as Zolt slowly approached him.
Thinking fast, Korra decided to forget about the safe distance and clapped her hands against her side, trying for a quick purge.
A purge expelled most of the toxin that Korra was targeting very quickly, forcing the cells to metabolise it where they could, and expel it where they couldn't. It wasn't pretty, and Korra would have liked to avoid using it because of the drain it caused on her body, on her energy, but it was undoubtedly efficient.
Korra's body began to scream as every cell protested the abuse she was putting them through. But Korra wasn't afraid of pain. She held the technique for one moment, then two, before she released it, wiping at the sweat that had collected on her brow, pleased when there was no sluggish drag to the limb's movement.
Whatever had paralysed her was gone now.
She channeled her energy, feeling it hum through her body, flooding her limbs with power. Korra clenched her fists and started to make her way back to the Fire benders.
She saw Mako send bursts of fire towards Zolt, but they blew out against the ghostly creature that was protecting him, leaving him completely untouched. Mako tried again only to end up with the same result.
It seemed that bending was useless against the creature, so what about raw physical attacks?
Mako watched his flames disintegrate into smoke and ash against the creature's shield while Zolt kept up his slow, halting progress. Mako felt his first flicker of real, genuine fear. Nothing he was doing was working; Zolt just kept approaching.
He saw a flash of brown behind Zolt and realised that Korra was flying towards Zolt, raising her fist, apparently aiming for his head.
The demonic creature surrounding Zolt smashed itself against her, driving her back against a large piece of rubble. Korra's body struck the stone with a nauseating crack, leaving her to tumble to the ground like a lifeless doll.
For one sickening heartbeat, Mako thought she was dead; she wasn't moving. Before he could make his way over to her he saw her get to her hands and knees, rising slowly as she coughed, blood dribbling from her lips and staining her teeth red.
With an incoherent shout of rage, Mako drew forth the last of his energy and charged at Zolt.
His attacks rebounded, the force of the deflection slamming him into the ground. Though his body felt as though it was weakening by the moment, he struggled to his feet again.
Korra gasped, coughing up blood as she doubled over in agony. The blood in her mouth suggested one of her lungs had been punctured. She coughed again, more blood splattering onto the ground in front of her. Despite the searing pain in her upper body, Korra knew she had to start healing her lesser injuries if she were to have any chance in healing her punctured lung.
She counted herself as lucky that she at least had the energy to do it.
Mako stared at Zolt, wondering what on earth he could do. His attacks didn't work; none of them could breach the barrier Zolt had placed around himself.
What could he do?
Mako had thought himself equal to the task of killing Zolt, but he found that he was still far, far behind the elder Fire bender in skill.
He had abandoned Republic City, Asami, his brother, Korra; for what? He had trained himself to exhaustion for almost two years; for what? He was completely powerless, he couldn't do a thing; Zolt was going to win, he was going to take his life, and then...
'I'll have Korra...'
Zolt had already raped her once; what would he do to her once Mako was dead?
Mako's amber eyes narrowed, quelling the urge to put some distance between him and Zolt as he stood his ground. If Zolt was going to try to take his life, then at some point, he would probably have to drop the shield. Or at least expose some part of his body to attack. And once the shield was set aside, Mako would make his move,
And in all likelihood, seal his own demise immediately afterwards. Mako was under no illusions, not anymore. He'd gone into this fight thinking he might be able to kill Zolt and survive but he knew better now. The elder Fire bender was too strong; all he could do was figure out some way to take Zolt down with him.
He wasn't even sure he could kill him, but at the very least, he could give Korra a chance to get away. He could tell she was already healing herself. He just needed keep Zolt occupied long enough to let her slip away...
And frankly, Mako didn't care what happened to him after that.
Zolt watched as resolve erased the flickers of fear in Mako's eyes, replacing them with grim purpose.
And judging by the way Mako's lit amber eyes had skimmed to Korra's crumpled form, Zolt had a good idea of what that resolve might be.
"What are you thinking of?" Mako quipped.
"My death, obviously," Zolt continued, blood bubbling down his chin. "But why?"
Mako's eyes widened almost comically, and Zolt thought his point had been made. The one thing he was ever going to teach his son, and perhaps the only true thing he could ever have taught him.
A warrior was always stronger when he fought for another's well-being and safety, rather than his own goals.
Mako was startled to realise that there was no thought of vengeance in his head; at this moment in time, he was facing down Zolt because it was the only way to protect Korra.
Zolt reached towards Mako, fingers outstretched towards his face, and Mako abandoned his tangled thoughts and stretched his own hands forward, reaching for Zolt's neck…
But before he could take action, Zolt's bloody fingers lay upon the crown of his, ruffled his hair like his father had done all those years ago.
"Sorry, my son," he whispered.
Then his body buckled, the burning fire dwindled and Zolt crumpled in a heap on the ground, eyes clouded over.
Zolt was finally dead.
Aaaaaaaaaand that's it. The massive showdown. Lots of injuries to be had by all involved and a lot of healing to come, both physically and mentally. I had a hard time writing out the fight scene (because I suck at fight scenes) but hope the chapter wasn't too bad. Review.
Bonami27.