I'm sure most of you are probably sick of seeing chapters of a story that I've had a long time to try and get done. Now that I'm sticking to a schedule though, I won't keep this story under wraps any longer. I'm halfway done with this story, and the other half is gonna be done real soon!
I'll be showing my progress up on the schedule section of my forum, showing what's been outlined ahead of release and what has been released. Keep an eye out for that!
In the meantime, let's get back into "Evolution"!
BOOK FIVE
EVOLUTION
As Kuvira's escape attempts were thwarted by the combined efforts of the Metal Clan and the Omni Force, they're suddenly greeted with an attack by a giant mecha suit on Zaofu! Will they be able to stop the rampaging Colossus?!
CHAPTER FOUR
POISON
Screams of terror emanated from the heart of the city as citizens were running about in a panic amidst the streets of Zaofu. The mecha suit, which stood about fifteen stories tall, stomped around as it smashed through parts of the monorail line connecting to the Beifong estate. Everyone watching from there was stunned by the sudden development, especially as they saw the railcar heading towards the city stop to avoid falling from the collapsing tracks.
"That… is not good…" Korra finally blurted out, breaking the silence between her and the others.
"Where'd it even come from?" Ash asked as Pikachu shuddered upon his shoulder.
"From the mountains, apparently," one guard answered, catching their attentions, "We've got soldiers down there already evacuating the citizens," he continued as some of his comrades were fiddling with a radio, "but they're shorthanded if we can't get everyone in the other sections moving there," he admitted, clenching his right fist out of frustration.
"Mayday, mayday!" a voice echoed loudly over the radio, causing everyone to perk up and listen as it sounded urgent, "We can't stop this thing!" he shouted, "It's impervious to any metalbending we try!" he mentioned, shocking the others as they glanced at one another in disbelief, "Please, send any backup you can! We need-!" The call was then cut abruptly as the sound of a bang occurred along with the following static off of the speakers. Everyone looked back out to see the metal behemoth tearing down buildings, wrecking everything in its path.
"What is happening…?!" Suyin uttered out with widened eyes.
"Must be that 'true' Earth Empire we've been hearing about…" Korra realized as she stepped forward and surveyed the area ahead of them, "How long will it take for us to get there on foot?" she asked the matriarch, catching her attention.
"I'd say about ten minutes," she replied, seemingly concerned, "but by then-!" Her statement was interjected by the sound of Rex forming the Boogie Pack upon his back, putting his goggles on over his eyes.
"I can carry up to four people with me," he said, "Ash, how many can Charizard carry?" he asked his teammate.
"Uh… two, I think…" he replied, scratching the back of his head in an unsure manner, "But… what about everyone else?" he questioned with an arched eyebrow.
"We can pick people up on the way," the EVO responded quickly, "Right now, our priority needs to be evac," he told everyone, "After that, we can deal with the big rig," he finished firmly. Everyone took a moment to process his plan, with some wondering if it would even be feasible.
"You heard the man," the Avatar chimed in, catching their attentions as they saw her turn around and face them, "I'll go with Ash and the first group," she declared, "Everyone else goes on foot until we can get to you," she explained carefully.
"Su, radio the other sections and tell them to just get moving," Lin advised to her sister, "It'll make the evacuation go faster rather than trying to go by the tram system," she mentioned.
"Right," the Metal Clan leader replied, hurrying back into the estate. Moments later, the police chief and three other guards were upon the build of the Providence agent, as he hovered slightly above the ground. A Poké Ball was tossed up into the air, popping open as its light spilled onto the ground and formed. After dissipating, it revealed the Flame Pokémon, who let out a roar with a quick puff of flames from his mouth. His trainer mounted him along with the South Pole native, who wrapped her arms around her comrade. He blushed slightly, which she took notice of.
"Heh," she chuckled, "Bet before you met Mira, you wanted something like this to happen, huh?" she inquired, much to his embarrassment as his entire face went red.
"Oh come on, Korra…" he muttered ashamedly as his head drooped slightly.
"Pika pi…" Pikachu squeaked out of annoyance. With a strong flap of his wings, the Fire/Flying type took off towards the city's center as did Rex, while the rest of the soldiers hurriedly ran down from the estate. The colossal mecha giant slammed its right arm against the side of a building, rupturing it before it started to come apart and collapse. Citizens below ran off quickly before it struck the ground, causing a flurry of dust to build up and veil a good portion of the area. As the arriving reinforcements approached the scene, they looked on with widened eyes at the metal behemoth.
"Seeing it up close, it doesn't exactly seem all that threatening…" Lin admitted amidst the wind rushing through her hair.
"It's not that tall and doesn't have a spirit weapon on its arm," Ash noted as he blinked, "It's like a… Mini Colossus…" he pointed out.
"Pika…" the Electric type upon his shoulder sighed as he smacked himself in the face.
"Really, Ash?" Korra muttered with an arched eyebrow, causing him to blush in embarrassment.
"Well… I don't know!" he said aloud, "I mean… I never faced the thing when you took it down in Republic City…" he mentioned as he turned away.
"Big or not, that thing's gonna hurt a lot of people if we don't do something," Rex noted as he lowered himself down towards it. The mecha was practically demolishing everything in its path, paying no mind to the people approaching it from above.
"Why's it attacking so randomly?" one female guard asked from atop the EVO, "Are its pilots searching for something?" she wondered. Just then, they saw it start to turn around and apparently look towards them, as its glass windshield was focused on their approaching forms.
"Oh great, it spotted us!" the Pokémon trainer exclaimed in realization, sweating a little.
"How are they planning to attack though?" Lin questioned as she narrowed her eyes, "Would they seriously use debris as ammunition?" she inquired. Just then, the Providence agent took notice of an ominous luminosity emanating from the glass, widening his eyes.
"Hang on!" he yelled to those upon him, suddenly diving down as they yelped in surprise. The Avatar took notice of the light as well, gasping as a beam of it was then fired off into the sky towards her and the others.
"Watch out!" the raven haired man shouted, enticing Charizard to quickly fly away from the oncoming ray of luminosity. However, the force of it blew by strongly, knocking him off course as he spiraled towards the city below. His passengers hung on as long as they could, but Pikachu suddenly fell off along with the South Pole native in loud yells. "Pikachu! Korra!" the Omni Force member still upon the Fire/Flying type cried out. Gritting her teeth, the short haired woman quickly took hold of the Mouse Pokémon falling with her, readying her right hand and throwing it out to expel air from palm. It allowed for her to gently land her feet onto the roof of a building still intact despite the destruction about the area. The force of the blast also caused some guards to fall off of the goggled man's build. Fortunately though, the police chief hung on and bent out cables from her belt to catch them.
"Hold on, we're almost there!" she shouted down to them. They reached the ground, being released from the metal ropes as their fellow soldier and the Beifong woman came down with them, staring out at the metal behemoth. "We need to establish points of evacuation and an area for anyone that needs medical attention," the latter explained to the others, "After that, we can focus on stopping this thing," she stated.
"Right away, ma'am," the female guard responded with a nod as she and her comrades hurriedly ran off.
"Rex, hurry back to the estate and have Su send out an airship for getting any injured away from the city," Lin advised to the EVO, who looked back towards the mecha giant for a moment.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that," he responded, making her nod before she took off after the other guards. He initially flew off to go and find the other soldiers running in from the estate, but then took another glance at the mecha suit, narrowing his eyes in confusion before heading back towards it. As the police chief and the guards hurried about the city streets in search of civilians, they narrowly avoided being crushed by the left foot of the metal behemoth.
"Holy crap!" one warrior yelped as he had fallen down onto his rear end out of shock.
"It's faster than the one in Republic City…" the elder metalbender of the group concluded with widened eyes. Just then, she heard a loud roar as Charizard flew down, allowing for his master to disembark from him as he quickly jumped off and landed beside his comrades.
"Charizard, go get the others!" he called out to him, enticing him to hurriedly fly off back towards the section they had just come from. However, the metal giant appeared to have noticed him heading away, with an ominous luminosity emanating from within its glass windshield.
"Kid, your dragon better hurry it up!" the Beifong woman recommended in a panicked tone.
"Watch yourself, Charizard!" the raven haired man then yelled, catching his attention as he saw the beam of light fired towards him from the mecha's glass. He spun out of the way to avoid it, letting it strike through a tall building within the heart of the city in a massive explosion.
"Oh my God…" the female soldier uttered in disbelief as she put her hands over her gaping mouth.
"It has a spirit weapon!" another guard exclaimed, "I thought every form of Earth Empire tech was confiscated after the Republic City attack!" he mentioned aloud.
"That's what we all thought…" Lin muttered with narrowed eyes.
"Come on, we gotta hurry!" Ash beckoned quickly, enticing the others to follow him further into the city to find any civilians in need of rescuing. Utilizing her airbending, Korra created a tornado beneath her to carefully lower herself and Pikachu down to the streets below. Once they touched the ground, they felt a loud tremor and turned to see the metal behemoth using its left arm to strike another building, practically demolishing it in an instant as it collapsed upon impact.
"Pika…" the Mouse Pokémon growled as his cheeks sparked with electricity.
"Su, you better hurry with that backup…" the Avatar said quietly, running off moments later. Back at the estate, the matriarch was hurriedly making announcements over the radio to tell her citizens to evacuate the area. In the meantime, Kuvira listened on to the sounds of destruction from her isolated cell with an ashamed expression, realizing it may be too late for the Metal Clan soldiers and their leader.
X
"Ragh!" Charizard bellowed as he descended towards the city, landing beside his trainer with two more soldiers mounted upon his back. They quickly disembarked and went over to assist their comrades, who were either moving any injured persons away or guiding those that were not hurt to a safe location.
"We need to stop that thing before it gets worse around here!" one guard shouted, running off with a couple of others towards the giant mecha.
"Don't!" Lin cried out to them, "We'll worry about stopping it after we evacuate everyone from the area!" she screamed, but to no avail as the group positioned themselves underneath the metal behemoth, attempting to metalbend at its legs. They grunted loudly upon trying to do so, but were seemingly unable in even moving a piece of metal in the slightest.
"It's no good…" the female guard of the group breathed out, resting her hands onto her knees, "The joints of that suit must be platinum or something like that…" she pointed out.
"That means we can't stop it…" another realized in disbelief as he widened his eyes.
"But we can slow it down!" Ash exclaimed as he went over to them pulling out a Poké Ball from his belt and enlarging it by pressing its center button, "Greninja, go!" he cried out, tossing it up into the air. It popped open, and the light that spilled out from it formed onto the ground, dissipating to reveal the Water/Dark type.
"Nin!" he croaked as he stood up tall.
"Rah," the Flame Pokémon grunted as he went up to his side along with their master.
"Think you guys can keep that thing from causing any more trouble?" he asked the two of them. They both nodded, with the dragon-like of the two flying up towards the metal giant, while his comrade rushed at its legs, bringing forth a glowing white blade from putting his fists together.
"RRROOOOAAAAHHHH!" Charizard bellowed as he unleashed a huge stream of flames from his mouth onto the back of the behemoth, causing it to slightly stumble forward from the force of it. As it was stopped for the moment, the Ninja Pokémon rushed in and rapidly sliced at its right ankle in an attempt to break it open. However, his blade shattered in his hand to his surprise, making him realize that it would be more difficult to break through the armor of the mecha.
"Go! Go! Go!" Korra repeatedly beckoned to a group of civilians who were running away in a panic from the scene, being guided by her to where they would be safe. She looked back to see the Fire/Flying type shooting flames at the named Mini Colossus, which started to attack back as it swung its arms towards him.
"Pika, pika chu?" Pikachu asked, catching her attention as she looked over at him.
"I don't know what we're gonna do…" she responded as she placed her hand upon her head.
"Korra!" a voice cried out, causing her to perk up and widen her eyes to see Rex coming down towards them, reforming his back from the Boogie Pack once he landed on the ground.
"Rex, what are doing back here?" she asked as she approached him, "Shouldn't you be getting more of the guards?" she questioned on with an arched eyebrow.
"Muchacha was right, Korra," he replied, taking off his goggles as he continued to view the scene before them, "That Ryuto must have been re-engineering the Colossus, making it more capable than the one that invaded Republic City," he explained, narrowing his eyes.
"Capable?" the Avatar uttered in confusion, "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"Look at how it moves compared to back then," he answered, pointing towards it, "You notice how its movements seem more fluid… more human-like?" he inquired, enticing her to observe the mecha as it swiped at Charizard with its arms rather quickly.
"Yeah…" the South Pole native concurred after a moment, widening her eyes, "It's faster than the original…" she commented.
"Probably why it wasn't built as tall as last time," the EVO mentioned, turning to face her, "Listen, I need you to radio Su and have her bring Kuvira," he advised as she widened her eyes once again in shock.
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"Look, I'm gonna do what I can to try and get inside that thing," he responded, forming a machine similar to a hoverboard with glowing blue, circular ends upon his legs, "We don't have the equipment we'd need to get through that thing's metal," he continued as he put his goggles on and hovered over the ground, "but maybe she could bend it," he suggested.
"Rex-!" Before the short haired woman could even try to stop him, he flew off towards the mecha as the wind rushed by.
"Pika…" Pikachu squeaked worriedly, wondering what was to come of this development.
"Come on," Korra beckoned to him, catching his attention as he saw her start to run off, "Let's find a radio," she advised, enticing him to follow her quickly.
"ROOOAAAHHH!" Charizard roared as he spewed more flames from his mouth onto the mecha's head, striking it fiercely. However, it did not seem to faze it as it swung its right arm at him once again. He evaded it with ease though, flying off.
"Neen ja!" Greninja exclaimed as he grasped shuriken-like discs of water from the markings on his legs, tossing them out toward the ones of the metal behemoth. Upon contact though, they merely broke apart into droplets, not leaving so much as a mark upon the giant monstrosity.
"Darn it…" Ash muttered with clenched fists and gritted teeth. He looked back to see that most of the civilians had been evacuated from the area. "Okay, I guess I can use that now…" he declared to himself, holding out a Poké Ball, "Greninja, come back!" he beckoned loudly, having a red beam of light emit from the containment and hit the Ninja Pokémon, transforming him into that luminosity as it went back into its container. He shrunk it and placed it back onto his belt, followed by tapping the Key Stone within the Mega Ring around his left wrist. "Let's do this, Charizard!" he called out as streaks of golden light emitted from the solid he had, "MEGA EVOLVE!" he bellowed, throwing his left arm up into the air. The Charizardite Y upon the Fire/Flying type's tail ring released streaks of orange luminosity, connecting with those of his trainer's as they became a bright white.
"RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" he yelled out as a multicolored light overtook his form, which was undergoing significant changes. He gained three pointed horns on the back of his head; the middle of which was longer than the others. His short snout had larger fangs growing and a ridge becoming apparent on the nose. His torso and legs became slightly longer, small wings developed on his wrists, and the ones on his back became larger and now had ragged edges. On top of that, the back of his tail gained a large thorn at the base and three smaller ones near the tip, which now burned with a longer flame. A burst of wind followed upon the completion of the transformation, revealing that the Flame Pokémon's coloration had not changed in the slightest. The sun began to shine even more brightly in the sky overhead, causing the people below to perk up as they felt the raging heat radiated down onto them.
"Use Flamethrower!" the raven haired man commanded loudly. Letting his mouth build up with fire, the morphed dragon-like creature spewed out a huge stream of it onto the head of the large mecha, engulfing it in flames as everyone watched on, having to squint in order to see due to the brightness.
"Jeez, Ash…" Korra muttered from afar as she and Pikachu had just arrived at the location where the citizens had been evacuated to. To her shock though, the fire was brushed aside by the metal behemoth's left arm, which it then swung out towards its foe. He quickly flew off to evade it though.
"Ah, you've gotta be kidding me!" the aspiring Pokémon master yelled in frustration.
'Even with Drought, Charizard's flames aren't enough?!' he wondered inwardly with clenched teeth as sweat dripped down from his head. Looking on, the Avatar had her eyes widened in disbelief, followed by grabbing the receiver of a radio nearby.
"Okay, this definitely warrants a call…" she concluded, adjusting the frequency to contact who she needed to. Back at the estate, Suyin was hurriedly arranging for her soldiers to board airships that were prepared to embark for the city's center.
"Huh…" she breathed out, evidently stressed with the cataclysm at hand. Just then, she heard the static of the radio as a voice started to communicate through it.
"Su, come in!" the female Omni Force member's voice exclaimed, causing her to instantly perk up as she immediately grabbed the receiver on her end, clicking the button.
"I'm here, Korra," she responded, "What's the situation down there?" she asked, concerned that things had gone to a severe degree.
"It's bad…" the South Pole native responded through the line of communication as she looked on at the destruction, "We've gotten everybody out of the area safely, but this mecha's practically pinning us all down…" she explained. The sounds of billowing flames and the smashing of windows were heard in the background, which made the Metal Clan leader grimace a little.
"We're currently sending out more troops," she stated into her receiver, "Hopefully, they can-"
"Su, listen," the Avatar interrupted, much to her surprise as her eyes widened, "I know you and Kuvira have had your differences in the past, especially recently…" she told her as she blinked in astonishment, "but if she's capable of doing what she did to escape twice," she kept going, "then she can probably help us take that thing down…" she finished firmly.
"Korra, she can't-!"
"It's all or nothing, Su!" she interjected again angrily before abruptly hanging up, cutting off the line of communication as the matriarch put down her receiver. She now realized that a difficult decision needed to made by her; one that would decide the fate of her city. Regaining her poise, she stood up and hurried off out of the area, heading back into her estate. Within the confined space of her cell, the rogue metalbender could still hear the sounds of destruction raging from afar outside. Her eyes were tightly shut as she was fighting back the tears that were building. The blame was meant to be hers to bear, yet everyone that wanted for her to answer everything she had done was bearing her mistakes themselves. Just then, she heard the door to the room open, looking up to see her former caretaker.
"Su…" she uttered.
"I'm going to regret this…" the Beifong woman bluntly stated, bending out a blade from the armor upon her right arm. The former dictator flinched, thinking that she was about to be stabbed by her until she felt her restraints come undone with the sound of a slice, allowing her to get out of the strait jacket.
"Su… why?" she asked, evidently confused as she started to stand up.
"Get on some armor and meet me outside," the matriarch responded seriously, "I don't like that it's come to this… but…" she continued, turning to face her, "we need your help," she said, much to her prisoner's shock.
X
The ominous, light pink luminosity began to show within the metal behemoth's head once again before it fired off another powerful laser beam towards the Mega Evolved Fire/Flying type that had been attacking it. He narrowly managed to evade it once more, but was blown down to the ground by its force as he landed hard in front of his master, while a building in the distance was struck.
"RRRROOOOAAAGGHHH!" he bellowed angrily, evidently frustrated. In a flash of multicolored light, he morphed back to normal, panting heavily as sweat dripped down from his face.
"Man, there's no way your flames shouldn't do anything to it…" Ash muttered as he went up to his side.
"Ash!" a familiar voice called out, catching her attention as he looked to see Korra and Pikachu jogging up to them, "Guess you didn't have much luck stopping the mecha either…" she noted upon seeing it still raging about as its ray had dissipated.
"It can't be metalbent either…" her teammate noted out of frustration, "What are we supposed to do?" he asked her.
"Well… I got in touch with Su…" she replied, glancing off to the side nervously.
"And?" the Pokémon trainer said, enticing her to continue.
"Let's just hope she does what I asked her to…" she responded, causing him to have his mouth gape open.
"CAN'T YOU JUST TELL ME?!" he demanded angrily and loudly with a tick mark appearing on his head, making her flinch.
"Pika!" the Electric type cried out, catching their attentions as they turned to see the metal behemoth stomping towards them.
"Oh, great!" the raven haired man exclaimed with clenched teeth. All of a sudden though, the Avatar took notice of a figure heading towards the giant mecha's head from behind.
"Wait…" she began to say, narrowing her eyes until she widened them upon seeing what was there, "Rex?!" she yelped as the EVO morphed his legs back to normal from the Sky Slyder, landing upon the monstrosity and holding onto it despite the raging wind he felt against his body from being so high up.
"Ergh!" he grunted, slowly inching his way towards the windshield, "Okay, you rust bucket…" he began, transforming his left arm into a huge blue axe with a glowing blade, "let's see you tough you really are!" he shouted as swung his makeshift weapon to strike the glass, making it crack slightly upon impact.
"He's trying to break in!" Korra realized as she blinked out of astonishment.
"Is he gonna be able to hang on though?" Ash wondered worriedly. At that moment, the South Pole native began to remember a crucial detail during the battle in Republic City a long while ago. She then ran back over to area the guards were stationed, tending to any wounded civilians.
"Do any of you happen to have reinforced wire cables with you?" she asked them, catching their attentions as they glanced over at each other.
"We have them set up in spools on our airships in case of rescue missions…" one female soldier answered, pointing towards their docked airship in the distance, "Why?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow. The Avatar looked back towards the Beifong estate, seeing that two more airships were approaching the area.
"Have Su bring those spools down onto the roofs with yours," she told the guard as a response as she and her comrades blinked in surprise, "If we're gonna take that thing down," she continued, punching her left hand with her right fist, "we gotta keep it restrained," she stated.
"I like the idea," Lin commented, jumping into the conversation as she had come over, "And it might be our only way to buy ourselves enough time…" she added, "Get to it," she ordered, enticing the soldiers to nod before running back off towards the vessel. Back on the mecha, the glass windshield that Rex had been striking had cracked significantly, but had yet to fully shatter.
"¡¿Por qué esta maldita cosa no se romperá?!" he screamed angrily, landing another powerful swing. The glass panel then fell off into the metal behemoth's head, allowing him to attempt to climb inside. However, the left hand of the Mini Colossus began to reach for him, causing him to perk up as its shadow loomed over him. "Oh, crap!" he yelped, hurrying to try and get in. He was about to be ensnared in its grasp until he heard a loud creak, enticing him to turn and see that the metal appendage was struggling to move any further. He then noticed a figure in the distance atop a roof, being his ex-girlfriend, dressed in armor and with her hair braided into a ponytail. She was sticking out her arms, apparently trying to hold down the hand from grabbing him as she had her teeth clenched.
"Rex… hurry!" she shouted, grunting as she struggled to hold it down. Realizing that he needed to get going, the EVO finally climbed into the mecha, falling onto the floor on his back and reforming his left arm.
"Ow…" he muttered, standing back up as he rubbed his aching behind with his free right hand. He then looked and was surprised to see that no one else was within the behemoth's head, but saw that there was a cannon-like weapon with an extendable barrel that appeared to stop right at the center of the windshield. It looked similar to the concept of sunlight being focused through a magnifying glass. Just then, he saw it start to glow rather ominously, causing him to gasp as he knew what it meant.
"Is that… Kuvira?!" Ash exclaimed in shock, while Korra and Lin had just run over with a few guards, carrying spools of wire.
"So Su listened after all…" the former of the two who approached him noted, surprising him a little. As the rogue metalbender released her hold on the mecha's arm, she breathed heavily and placed her hands upon her knees. She then saw it try to slam into the building she was upon when suddenly, wires began wrapping around its body from above and below. She looked to see that the Metal Clan warriors bending the metal lines to ensnare the mecha's legs and arms, along with holding it down, bolting the spools to whatever ground they were upon.
"Looks like we're gonna get a good hold on this thing," the police chief noted, seemingly relieved as she grinned. A laser beam was then fired from the Mini Colossus' head, striking the docked airship in the distance and making it explode in a burst of flames and metal, much to the shock of everyone as the civilians who had been evacuated were nearby, almost struck by the beam.
"Ash, try to knock it down by going for its legs!" the Avatar quickly advised, shooting flames out from her fists to propel herself up to the roof where the former dictator was located.
"On it!" he responded with a nod, developing a serious expression, "Pikachu! Charizard!" he called out.
"Pika!" the Mouse Pokémon squeaked in reply as he got down on all-fours and let his cheeks spark.
"Roagh!" the Fire/Flying roared, shooting out a small puff of flames from his mouth.
"Kuvira!" the South Pole native cried out, catching the attention of the former Metal Clan guard as she saw her land down by her, "You think Rex is having trouble in there?" she questioned, looking up at the opening into the mecha's head.
"I don't know…" she responded as she got into a ready stance, bending up cables from her belt to the opening of the metal behemoth, "but for now, we need to get that weapon disabled," she stated, offering her hand to the Omni Force member, "You don't have to come with me… but-" Her sentence was interjected at the moment her hand was grasped by the woman standing beside her. She looked to see the reassuring smile on her face.
"Let's do this," she declared, causing the metalbender to grin herself before reeling herself and her up into the Mini Colossus. They landed down, glancing around until they noticed the EVO standing by the cannon-like weapon with his hands placed against.
"Uh… any idea as to how we can shut this off?" he asked as he turned to face them with an arched eyebrow.
"It's fueled by spirit energy, so your powers won't affect it," his ex-girlfriend answered, going over and placing her left hand onto the device, "But we can still bend it," she mentioned, causing the Avatar to perk up.
"Wait, we?" she questioned, evidently confused.
"The weapon itself is made of iron, which can be bent pretty easily by anyone," the former dictator explained as she gestured for the female Omni Force member to hurry over to her, "We'll detach it from the floor and disable it," she stated, getting into a ready stance with her.
"Hold on, what about the cartridges that get loaded into the weapon?" Rex chimed in, "If one of them gets loaded while you're trying to break it, it could explode," he pointed out seriously.
"Yeah, you're right…" Korra agreed, narrowing her eyes in thought.
"Then I have a better idea," Kuvira said, catching their attentions. Moments later, she and the South Pole native were crushing the cannon-like device's barrel as they dug their fingers into the metal and pushed it inward from both sides, rupturing it to the point where it seemed impossible for it to fire off anything.
"This seems a little crazy, muchacha…" the Providence agent noted as the two women gathered by him away from the sabotaged weapon.
"You've handled worse if I remember…" the metalbender responded rather bluntly, much to his chagrin as he glared over at her, "Look, just be ready," she advised. All of a sudden, they heard the mechanism shift a little, with another cartridge apparently being loaded as the pink glow was apparent.
"Here we go…" the EVO muttered, letting his hands morph into small metallic, navy blue gauntlets, which he immediately crossed as they then generated a light blue dome of energy as a form of barricade around him and the others.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail! Charizard, Dragon Tail!" Ash commanded from outside. The Electric type had his tail glow a silvery white, leaping out and somersaulting before slamming into the right leg of the mecha. At the same time, the Flame Pokémon cloaked his own tail in a green, scale-patterned aura and struck the left leg. Both attacks only appeared to make Mini Colossus shift just a little, even as it was ensnared in practically a web of cables. The Metal Clan soldiers bending the wires gritted their teeth and sweated profusely as they held their ground against the opposing monstrosity. Suddenly, they saw a glow emanating from the glass at its head, which was aimed towards the ground.
"Get to cover, NOW!" Lin shouted immediately to all the surrounding guards and allies, about to run. However, in a powerful explosion at the mecha's head, a shockwave reverberated throughout the city's heart, followed by smoke billowing out of its body.
"Rex! Korra!" the Pokémon trainer cried out worriedly as he remembered that they had entered the metal behemoth earlier. Fortunately, they were unharmed as the EVO brought down his energy barricade and reformed his arms.
"Well… that certainly… blew…" he joked, receiving no laughs as the Avatar rolled her eyes and his ex-girlfriend went to survey the area.
"Even with the Mini Colossus being smaller than the original, I'm still surprised there's no pilot…" the former of the two women noted, rather perplexed.
"No, there is one," the metalbender responded, catching her attention, "By destroying the cannon, we set off a chain reaction downwards and ended up taking out any remaining cartridges it could've used," she explained.
"And since the legs and arms are probably the worst places to be driving this thing," the Providence agent continued, glancing around, "that means the only other option would be…" he started to realize, noticing a hatch located just behind the remains of the weapon.
"There," the South Pole native said. In a matter of moments with the sound of creaking metal, the three jumped down onto the floor of what seemed like an empty area, except for the fact that there was a figure groaning in agony, lying upon his side. Without taking a split-second, Kuvira bent out cables from her belt to wrap around his body roughly, reeling him in.
"Hey, careful!" the short haired woman advised to her in a placating manner, "We don't wanna make things worse than they already are…" she mentioned before approaching the apprehended pilot. He appeared to be wearing a uniform similar to those from the Earth Empire soldiers, with a helmet and mask included. Korra knelt down and ripped it off, revealing his face that was bearded and wrinkled.
"Tai," the former dictator uttered upon seeing him.
"You know him?" the Avatar questioned as she arched an eyebrow, receiving a simple nod in reply.
"He was one of the top metalbenders in my forces before they were dissolved," she told her, tightening the hold on the cables around him, "Did Ryuto send you here?" she asked in a demanding tone.
"Ergh…!" he grunted, not responding to the question.
"You know… how was he able to see what was going on out there?" the South Pole native asked, perplexed as she folded her arms over her chest, "I mean… there doesn't seem to be anyone else here…" she pointed out.
"You're right…" Kuvira realized, glancing around the area to see the mechanisms and levers put into place, "It's like the operating center… but… there's no viewing window…" she concluded. Just then, her ex-boyfriend widened his eyes at the sight of something in front of him.
"Uh… was that there before?" he asked, pointing ahead. Both women looked up, widening their own eyes and gasping to see six different monitor screens in front of them, with each appearing to show a different vantage point of Zaofu.
"Okay… I've never seen this before…" the Avatar noted as she got up and stood beside her teammate, "Are they mover screens?" she inquired, going up and touching one of them.
"No…" the Providence agent as he looked at them closely, "This tech is… advanced for your world, given what's evolved over the past three years here," he explained, "Either our enemy somehow created all this tech for himself…" he continued, clenching his fist, "or he got it from somewhere else…" he stated as he looked back at their captive.
"Where exactly?" his ex-girlfriend asked, seeing him approach.
"That's what we're gonna find out," he declared, grasping the pilot's collar with his right hand and hoisting him off the floor in a yelp, "Think you can get us outta here, muchacha?" he requested as she returned her cables back to her belt. Outside, all of the guards surrounded the restrained mecha as Suyin arrived onto the scene.
"Lin!" she cried out, catching her sister's attention as she jogged up and embraced her warmly, "I got worried when I heard about the spirit weapon the mecha suit had," she mentioned as she pulled herself away briefly, "Are you all right?" she asked out of concern.
"I'm fine," she reassured in reply, "Korra and the others apparently took care of it," he pointed out, gesturing towards the defeated metal behemoth, "After that explosion, it stopped moving," she added to the matriarch.
"Hey, look!" Ash shouted, catching their attentions as they saw the gut of the mecha start to crunch and rupture before a gaping hole was made, revealing Kuvira there as she bent the metal to a point where she could walk through it.
"Is that… Kuvira?!" one guard exclaimed in disbelief, while the others gasped and widened their eyes. They then saw her jump down to the ground with the Avatar and the EVO in tow, as the latter carried their captive over his left shoulder.
"Sorry for taking so long…" she apologized as she breathed heavily, "It's… difficult to bend pure metals, let alone reshape them…" she admitted.
"Hey," Korra chimed in, catching her attention as she put her hand onto her right shoulder, "so long as it helps us save the day, it's fine," she reassured, making her blink in surprise.
"Korra!" the Pokémon trainer exclaimed, causing her to look up and see him approaching with Pikachu and Charizard by his side. He seemed wary though with the former dictator by his comrade's side, but soon grinned as his Electric type partner leapt up onto his shoulder. "Thanks for your help, Kuvira," he said in gratitude, much to her astonishment as she widened her eyes.
"Yes, thank you," Suyin chimed in graciously as she came over to them with her sister, "Kuvira… we've had our differences in the past…" she began as her former friend glanced away ashamedly, "but I'm grateful for what you did for Zaofu today," she confessed with a happy grin. Tears appeared to filling the former dictator's eyes, but she wiped them away immediately. Seeing that made all of the Omni Force members smile, glad that she was on her way to forgiveness.
"Who's that?" Lin asked, pointing at Tai.
"The guy who's gonna tell us what Ryuto's planning," Rex responded, looking over at him. He then heard the sound of something crunch, causing him to perk up. "Hey, what are you doing back there?!" he shouted, catching everyone else's attention. His ex-girlfriend then noticed the foamy saliva starting to form in her former underling's mouth, making her widen her eyes in realization.
"Rex, put him down!" she commanded, enticing him to immediately throw the man down onto the ground, seeing him twitch as foam continued to seep out of his mouth.
"Whoa…" Ash uttered, while the Mouse Pokémon gave off a sickened expression at the supposedly dead man.
"It's just like what happened with that guy in Republic City…" the Avatar recalled, narrowing her eyes.
"A cyanide capsule…" the ponytailed metalbender chimed in, catching their attentions.
"A what?" the matriarch questioned.
"Back when the Earth Empire was still rebuilding the Earth Nation, Ryuto suggested that all soldiers, whether they were on the battlefield or not, have cyanide capsules on hand in case they were captured for immediate suicide to avoid questioning," the former guard responded in quick explanation, "I was strongly against it," she mentioned as she narrowed her eyes and glanced down at the deceased man, "If he had his way in the end, you would've lost Baatar…" she pointed out, much to the shock of the Metal Clan leader.
"That's horrible…" Korra said, evidently stunned.
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Ash asked, chiming into the conversation, "If the people in this… new Earth Empire are gonna be killing themselves before talking, how can we find any leads?" he questioned while raising an eyebrow.
"By going to the only lead we have," Suyin answered, "The mines in the mountains," she stated, turning to Kuvira, who grinned a little.
"And what about the mecha?" Rex asked, gesturing towards the restrained metal behemoth.
"We should see how it differs in comparison to the last one," Lin advised as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Indeed," the former dictator agreed with a nod, "I have a feeling Ryuto's done far more than making a smaller version…" she noted with narrowed eyes. Elsewhere in the mountainside, sparks flew off of tools and equipment that were welding together five different mecha suits within a warehouse-like building. Watching from afar atop a balcony was the ringleader of the operation, adjusting his glasses as he grinned at what he was seeing.
"Ryuto," a voice chimed in, catching his attention as he looked to see Irine approaching with a clipboard in hand, "we're getting word that the mark one was disabled," she told him, "Should we wait to-?"
"No," he interjected before she could complete her question, "It'd be a shame to come this far only to wait any longer," he said firmly as he grasped the railing, "Make sure the project is completed by sundown," he advised, "I want to bring about a new era for our Neo Earth Empire…" he declared with an ominous grin.
END
Four chapters down, two to go! I know everyone dislikes the idea of me working on a schedule, but that's how it is. I've been more productive lately, but frankly, that may change once I get back into college.
It's my senior year, and I want things to go swimmingly in comparison to years prior. I've had my difficulties in the past, so if chapters aren't coming out as quickly as you'd imagine they would, that's why.
Anyways, I wish I had worked on this story ages ago. It seems like it would've been better suited for a post-Book Four fic when the series actually ended. Unfortunately, this is how things have turned out.
But hey, I'll be doing my best in this coming week to provide you with the newest chapters of "Traitor" and the previews for "Omni Force: GUARDIANS" and "Omni Force: JUSTICE"! Speaking of which, new trailers are on the way! See you later!
