Chapter XXXIV: Swan Song
Saltrall knew that Amon was holding a rally in the pro-bending arena, it'd be hard to miss it considering there were posters everywhere and constant reminders on the radio, so he decided to start there. While flying he made sure his weapons and tools were all in place and he waited anxiously, pacing back and forth in front of the door, taking deep, calming breaths. He'd been in this position hundreds of times before, but this time it felt different. He remembered how he felt before his ill-fated rescue attempt with Giorgio and stopped pacing, holding back some tears, before taking some deep breaths as the TARDIS landed.
He stepped out into the mid-day and saw a commotion that he didn't expect. People were running all over the place and there seemed to be an exodus of people coming from the arena, so he put his hood up and made his way towards. He stopped and picked up a flyer for Amon's rally which had his stupid masked face on it.
"Alright you dickweed," Saltrall said quietly as he drew his Sonic and scanned the flyer, the face recognition activating and putting his Sonic in search mode, "time to finish this."
He walked past the hordes of people leaving the arena and went inside quietly, his Sonic tucked in his sleeve, poking out just enough for him to see the guiding light it was emitting, pointing him in the right direction. He climbed some stairs and kept walking for a bit when he saw signs of conflict and heard Korra and Mako from a room nearby. He drew his staser and practically ran into the room.
"Let her go, mask for brains," Saltrall said, pointing his staser at Amon, who was behind Korra and getting ready to take her bending away.
Everyone in the room looked at him, with Mako moving slower as he was still affected by Amon's bloodbending.
"Saltrall, go I'll be okay," Korra pleaded with him, but it was too late as Amon started to bloodbend Saltrall.
"Ah yes, the Time Lord savior, let me know well that works out for you in the end," Amon said, smugly.
Saltrall groaned and grunted as he fought with his hand that was holding the staser. Amon was moving it, trying to point the gun at his head so Saltrall would be a hostage of his own devices. Saltrall fought and strained, as the tip of the gun was put to his head. Amon forced his finger against the trigger and made him pull it. But nothing happened. Saltrall smirked at Amon.
"Safety's on, dumb- whoa!" Saltrall started to say before being thrown against the door frame and collapsing to the ground.
Saltrall groaned as the staser fell from his grip and he felt the pull on his blood lessen, but not go away.
"I know all of your secrets, Time Lord," Amon said, menacingly, "I know about your age, your ability to change your face, everything, and I will end you for your constant insolence!"
"Then shut up and kill me!" Saltrall said, glaring up at Amon, "you think you're so strong? Come on then!"
Amon let out a pitiless chuckle that made Saltrall's blood boil more than it already was before he cried out in pain as Amon tightened his mental grasp on him.
"I have more pressing matters, but have no fear, you're next," Amon said, forcing Saltrall's head into the ground, nearly knocking him unconscious.
Saltrall tried to clear his head, and everything that happened over the next few seconds were blurry. He saw Amon take Korra's bending away. He saw Amon's lieutenant attack him, but he was made quick work of. He managed to regain some focus when he felt Mako pulling at his sweatshirt.
"Come on, we need to hurry," Mako said quietly and quickly as Amon was focused elsewhere.
Saltrall shook his head, "get Korra, I'll catch up."
Mako nodded and attacked Amon quickly before picking up Korra and running past Saltrall, who rolled out of the way as Amon chased them. He stayed there for a minute, his blood trying to flow normally again as he stood slowly. He looked for his staser and saw it a few feet away. He picked it up and stumbled out into the hallway.
He saw Amon bloodbend the fleeing Mako and Korra and tried to hurry after them, groaning softly. He stopped when he saw Korra airbend.
"Atta girl!" He said softly, grinning. His grin soon faded when he saw Amon bloodbend Korra.
"Hey Amon! I'm still here!" He shouted, making Amon wheel around and let go of Korra.
"You! You will pester me no longer!" Amon shouted, putting all of his force into bloodbending Saltrall.
Saltrall cried out in pain and fell to one knee while Korra let out a gasp from behind Amon.
"Korra, stay back! I can handle this," Saltrall said, gaining his strength and forcing himself to his feet.
"What?! Impossible!" Amon said, shocked at Saltrall's movement.
"I'm a Time Lord, Amon, I've lived over 600 years," he started as he slowly walked towards Amon, whose eyes were wide as he tried to put more force into his bending, but it didn't stop Saltrall.
"I've, urgh, ripped robots apart, stared- gah! Stared down creatures whose one goal is to kill everything, but most importantly, I've stared down the leader of the Time Lords and made him blink. You think you know all my secrets, well think again, I've got plenty."
Saltrall was closing in on Amon, who was becoming more panicked with every step Saltrall took.
"You've been spying on me for months, but spies can only hear, and I've got one secret you've never heard. You focused on my blood so much, yet you never spent time to look at the sources."
"Sources?!" Amon asked, shocked, "Are you saying..."
"That's right," Saltrall said quietly, grabbing Amon's throat and staring straight into his eyes, "Time Lords have 2 hearts, which means I more blood than you know what to do with." Saltrall smirked, "surprise."
Amon let go of his grip on Saltrall's blood and Saltrall collapsed in front of him.
"Let him have it, Korra!" He said, slowly rolling aside and grabbing onto something as Korra unleashed a massive blast of air down the hallway, throwing Amon down the hall and through the window at the other end of it.
Saltrall was panting hard as Korra and Mako ran to the end of the hallway and looked out the window. They tried to stop Amon from getting away but failed. Korra hugged Mako and she turned around to say something to Saltrall but gasped instead.
"Saltrall what's happening?!" She asked, shocked as her and Mako ran over to him.
"Stay back!" Saltrall said, struggling to his feet as his hands began to glow.
"No no no no no, this isn't supposed to happen now!" He said softly to himself, "I'm fine! I've been bloodbended before! Why now?!" He said, his voice slowly growing in volume until he was shouting, looking around frantically at the ceiling, as if he was talking to some unseen force that was forcing him to regenerate.
"Saltrall... Please, what's happening?" Korra asked quietly, taking a step forward before Mako put a hand on her shoulder and she went back to his side.
"Oh just please don't be old, I can't stand the thought of being old," Saltrall said quietly to himself again, looking at his glowing hands with a hint of panic in his eyes. He didn't seem to hear Korra's question, and he kept talking, "Or blond, god, I look terrible blond."
"Saltrall," Mako said, but Saltrall kept talking, even chuckling softly.
"Saltrall," Mako said again, louder, but he still didn't receive a response.
"Saltrall!" Mako finally shouted, making Saltrall look over at them, "what's happening."
Saltrall chuckled softly before sighing, "The Saltrall you know is going away, I'm sorry guys, I guess my body couldn't handle the bending, I'm regenerating."
Korra was about to say something else but Saltrall was engulfed in a bright yellow light. Mako turned Korra's head away from Saltrall so she wouldn't be blinded by the light. Saltrall threw his arms to the side as the energy shot out of the arm and neck holes of his sweatshirt. He cried out as his face and body began to change but his cries subsided as the regeneration process died down and when it was all over he collapsed to one knee and groaned softly.
"Okay, damage check," He said, his voice a little deeper, as he shook his head and panted, "oh good, so that's one thing."
Korra and Mako turned back towards him and watched as he went over the changes to his body.
"Still have arms, good, and legs, excel-" he stopped talking and thought, "sorry," he said, it came out more like 'sorey' than 'sorry.' He smiled softly, "oh good, I'm a Canadian now, that's nice change of pace."
"Saltrall...?" Korra asked him again, her voice quiet and shaky, still unsure of what just happened, but Saltrall just turned and smiled at her.
"In the flesh, Korra, well, I assume, anyways, you aren't screaming in terror so I guess I'm not a primordial ooze or anything like that," he chuckled and rubbed his neck.
"So you regenerated?" Mako asked, a little confused by the process.
"Yep and, hey tell me, what color are my eyes and hair?" Saltrall said.
"Uh green and blond," Korra replied, a little confused.
"Dammit! I hate blond!" Saltrall said with a groan before shaking his head, "anyway, I'm sorry, I guess I never explained it to you did I? Anyway, I regenerated, that's what happens when Time Lords are on death's door, it's basically a hard reset, our faces and brains change, but we retain the memories, for better or worse."
Korra frowned a little, remembering the stories he told her in the TARDIS about the memories he's lived with through his regenerations. Saltrall noticed and smiled softly.
"Don't worry Korra, the good memories stay too," he said, making her look at him and smile a little.
Saltrall sighed and looked around, his eyes going wide before he squinted, "I guess the real question is what the hell happened to my eyes because I can't see a damn thing."
Mako and Korra laughed a little and smiled while Saltrall sighed and rubbed his face.
"Anyway, only time will tell what my personality is like, hopefully I don't turn into a broody teenage mess."
"Don't worry, your hair is too blond for that," Korra replied making all of them laugh before Korra collapsed against Mako and she whimpered.
"Shit, right, no bending, that's a problem," Saltrall said, looking around, "Mako, can you carry her, and show me where the TARDIS is while you're at it? It's outside, should look like a streetlamp that's on, even though it's the middle of the day."
Mako nodded and picked up the weakened Korra as he led them outside. Saltrall opened the door once they reached the TARDIS and Mako set Korra down on the couch while he went to the console. He grabbed his Sonic and did a quick eye test before placing it into the console and waited as a pair of black framed glasses popped out. He put them on and smiled.
"Ah, much better," he said, looking around and smiling, finally able to see clearly, "now, where do we go from here?"
"Air Temple Island, that's where the others should be," Mako said before making a realization and looking around, "actually, hang on, we need to get Bolin and Asami first."
Saltrall nodded and set coordinates to the secret airbase and pulled the lever.