A/N: ARE YOU READY TO FEEL SAD? BECAUSE SHIT'S ABOUT TO GET SAD
Assume Korra heard Tarrlok's story and reacted exactly as she did in canon because we are skipping right over that shit.
TW: Mentions of attempted child trafficking in this chapter. No actual trafficking/molestation/rape/etc. Nothing graphic.
Still naming inconsequentials!
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The crowd wasn't even that big. Of the millions of people in Republic City, only a couple hundred stood before them – before Hiroshi Sato – as Amon was spoken of like the deity the world had been waiting for.
Did any of them even think? The city was overrun with mecha-tanks, the benders were being hunted down and rounded up like livestock, even the rally before them was surrounded by chi blockers lying in wait for any dissenters to show themselves. The citizens were not equal. The nonbenders were not free from their oppressors. They had simply traded their old cage for a new one, one they felt better about. One some of them might not even see.
The two slipped away, no one paying any mind to the two guards leaving, and made their way to a large rock. It was bent away and the two slipped into the tunnel inside.
Grammy was right, Bolin thought. It is thrilling to break the law.
And what a stupid law. What would the Equalists do to the kids who had no control over their bending? Had they slipped so far they would maim a child? What would they do when they ran out of active resisters? Begin rounding up the benders who obeyed the new laws? Rip them apart for the fun of it?
And what about Hiroshi? Bolin had spent time with him, joked with him, bonded with him. Had the man hated him all along? Were the things they'd shared – the exasperation at Mako and Asami, the terrible puns, the dinners and pai sho tournaments and trips to the zoo – worth anything to the older man? Had he been plotting to hurt them from the moment Asami and Mako had met? Hiroshi had been a friend, an uncle, a brother to the Beifong family. Had even an iota of that affection ever been returned?
Bolin looked to his companion. Asami didn't speak. Bolin didn't make her.
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Korra was doing another healing session on Mako. His injuries ran deep, deeper than she could see, down into clogged and distorted chi pathways, but she was the only one available with any experience to help him. What Elite healers there were were out on scouting missions and the few homeless healers in the camp knew only the most basic techniques.
Master Katara had once told her of how she'd shunned her own healer's training to learn combat, how her disdain for Master Pakku's sexist ways had almost robbed her of such a useful skill that had saved her loved ones' lives over and over again, how she hoped Korra would learn from her mistake.
Korra hadn't, or Mako would've been healed by now. But his injuries – they were too severe for how they'd been made. Asami said the electrocution from the mecha-tanks were made to disable, not to maim. Mako shouldn't have been so broken.
"Are the others back yet?" Mako asked as Korra swept her water-covered arm across his bare chest.
"I saw some more Elite bring down some refugees but I haven't seen Bolin or Asami yet," Korra told him. "I'm sure they're fine."
"Of course they are," Mako agreed. "They can take care of themselves."
Korra couldn't tell if he really believed it or if he was trying to convince one of them, but she appreciated it. She only wished she could have gone with the two on their reconnaissance mission, but she needed to stay with Mako until he was on his own feet again. Well, for more than thirty minutes at a time, at least.
So much had changed.
"It's crazy," Korra said, barely registering her decision to speak. "A few months ago, I was taking my firebending test and now I'm in the middle of an all-out war."
"We didn't even know each other back then," Mako said, chuckling weakly. "When I met you I thought you were the most selfish, obnoxious person I'd ever spoken to." He grinned at her, taking the sting out of the confession.
"I thought you were an uptight jackass," Korra said, smiling back.
"You were so demanding."
"You were so condescending."
"I thought you were spoiled."
"I thought you were frigid."
They both let out a breathy laugh, and Korrra wondered why, why now that there was a chance one of them could be killed, were they deciding to get along. Why not weeks ago or months ago or years ago. Why hadn't Korra met these people before? Why had she had to wait until she'd fled the compound and entered a warzone to make any friends outside of Naga?
"You know that jackass thing you and Asami do?" Korra asked. Mako looked at her questioningly. "Can we do that, too?"
"Have you talked to Bolin?"
"…I don't think he wants to deal with me right now."
"Talk to him, then get back to me."
"That's fair."
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"Coast is clear."
Too clear, Asami thought. The skies were empty. The streets were bare. Where were the mecha-tanks? The airships? Where was the Equalist army? Why hadn't Asami dug more into her father's blueprints when she'd had the chance?
The ships crept through the fog.
Bolin stomped twice on the deck. Six Elite appeared from nowhere and leapt into the bay.
"Bolin?"
"Our sources tell us Hiroshi has something special planned for the United Forces," he explained. "We just received word an hour ago. The water has been cleared of mines, but we haven't been able to find out anything other than that. The Elite are going to warn Iroh and his men to brace themselves."
Mines? Her father had put mines in the water?
"Can you think of anything Hiroshi might've mentioned for long-range combat?" Mako asked Asami. "The mines would keep the ships from the docks, so the Equalists would need something to reach them from the shore."
"I… I don't–"
"Think, Asami, please," Bolin urged her. "Anything you can come up with."
The United Forces came closer, close enought for Asami to make out figures roaming across the decks without the aid of their telescope.
"Dad…. He would wonder about ways to make the airships faster," Asami finally said. "More aerodynamic, so they could dodge attacks."
"Korra, give me a light." Mako pulled out a small mirror as Korra made a flame. He used the reflective surface to send a signal to the ships, then turned his face to the skies. Asami and the others did as well.
There was nothing for a minute, then a low buzzing was heard, and aircrafts cut through the clouds.
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It was messy. It was loud. It was terrifying.
Mako had rarely felt so useless as he watched Korra redirect bombs, as Bolin sent metal through the aircrafts' wings, as Iroh shot thick ropes of fire at anything even vaguely close enough to burn.
Asami gripped his hand tightly, and he wondered if she felt the same helplessness as he did. Like him, she was a close-range fighter, better suited for the times before Ji the Mechanist and Master Sokka had swept through the nations with new ways to hurt people. His blades couldn't penetrate the mecha-tanks, her fists couldn't reach into the skies or below the seas. What could they do in this situation? What use were they to the people around them?
Mako sat. His endurance wasn't fully returned yet and it wasn't as if he could do anything else. Almost all the aircrafts were gone; almost all the ships had sunk. He watched as a bomb flew straight at Iroh, as fire erupted and a single figure flew into the bay.
What could he do?
"Mako, look." Asami pointed to the tunnel the four of them had crept through. Elite were helping soldiers on to land before diving back into the water to gather up more. Less injured soldiers gathered up their comrades in arms and pulled them deeper into the tunnel to make room.
"Let's go."
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"I was prepared for mecha-tanks, not these new aircraft," Iroh said as Korra worked on his arm. The rest of the United Forces were being looked over by the other available healers, the homeless tending to broken bones and burns, the Elite healing head injuries and taking care of –
"No, please! PLEASE! DON'T–" The voice cut off, and the sickening sound of saw through bone was heard.
– that.
Korra stubbornly forged on.
"Every time we think we have the upper hand, Amon is already three steps ahead of us," she complained.
"Every time we have a plan, he has a better one," Bolin added unnecessarily as screaming began anew. Mako began to twitch and Bolin sent a pulse to the healers to tell them to enclose their area. Walls flew up and the sounds were muffled.
"Amon may be winning so far," Iroh said, standing up as Korra stepped away, "but we're not out of the fight yet."
"I like this man's confidence!" Bolin cheered. Distract. He had to distract. There were terrible things happening, and no one could be allowed to focus on them yet. Not until things were done. So he had to distract. It was what he did. "And his biceps. Seriously, Iroh, do you like live inside a gym? You should not be allowed to wear a shirt."
"Shut up, your arms are as thick as my head."
"So how are we not out of the fight yet?" Mako asked, desperate to cut off Bolin's flirting.
Mission accomplished.
"There's another wave of reinforcements on their way," Iroh said. "I just have to get a warning to them."
"We can send an Elite," Mako offered.
"No," Iroh said. "Only a waterbender could get there fast enough and we need them here."
"I know just the man for the job," Korra interjected.
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Gommu is a very resourceful man, Asami thought as the message was sent out to Commander Bumi. And so much smarter than people would give him credit for. When everything was over, she was going to offer him a spot at Future Industries.
"Now comes the hard part," Iroh said once Gommu had left, laying a map out on the table. "We have to take down those aircraft before the second wave gets here or Bumi won't have a chance."
"They flew in from this direction," Mako said, pointing to a section of the map. "The airfield must be somewhere over this mountain range."
"Everyone, get ready," Iroh said. "We leave at dawn."
It's time to take down my father.
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"I'm not going with you tomorrow." Excuse me?
"You've been gearing up for a fight since we had to take shelter down here and now you're not going?" Mako asked incredulously.
"Why not?"
"I'm sick of hiding!" Korra shouted. "I'm sick of lying in wait and reacting, I wanna do! I need to. It's time I face him."
"That's not a good plan," Iroh tried to reason with her. "We need to stick together."
"I'm not waiting for him to hunt me down anymore."
"This isn't a mission you can handle alone."
"She won't be alone. I'm going, too," Mako said.
"You don't have to do that," Korra insisted.
"Yes, I do."
Mako blinked and the vision faded.
"My gut is telling me I have to face Amon now, on my terms."
"My grandfather would trust the Avatar's instinct," Iroh said. "So will I."
"That is a filthy filthy lie and you know it," Bolin shot back. "Great Uncle Zuko never trusted Aang's instinct on anything–"
"That is not true."
"–and even if he did, your decision-making needs to be called into question–"
"Why does–"
"You punched a bomb."
"That was one time–"
The group walked away, leaving Mako behind.
Korra didn't know what she was getting into. None of them did.
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"Bolin!" The earthbender stopped and let Korra approach him. "Before we leave, I just…. I know things got messed up between us and I know that's my fault."
"Korra–"
"Let me finish. I know I screwed up and I'm working on fixing that, and fixing myself. I know I was wrong and I'm gonna make it so I don't ever do something like that again."
They hadn't spoken – not really, not with so many more important things to deal with – since she'd woken up. Bolin didn't know how to talk to her anymore. He hadn't been sure he even wanted to, and yet here she was.
"So before we head out, I want you to know I'm sorry. I am so sorry things got so awful between us and I'm sorry I was such a terrible person and I'm sorry I hurt you."
This was more than Bolin had gotten from a lot of the people who'd misgendered him. Mostly, it was sorry but you have to get over it or what's the big deal anyway or apologies so excessive it became him reassuring them they're not a monster instead of them actually regretting what they'd done.
"I just…. I wanted you to know," Korra ended awkwardly.
This was the part where Bolin was supposed to say apology accepted or I forgive you. Royal tutors had told him so, back when he was learning the rules of court; you always accept an apology given, even if you plan to completely annihilate the person later. Bolin never liked that rule. Neither had Mom.
(Mako was the only one who followed it, but no one ever believed him because he was always planning annihilation. His apology accepted had quickly become get your affairs in order. And what about Mako? Korra had saved him, had been healing him for weeks. It really had nothing to do with her transphobia, but Bolin felt she should get some type of credit for that.)
"…Apology acknowledged." That worked, right? Gave him time to think about it and whatever. Korra took a deep breath and nodded.
"That's fair."
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Korra was convinced to take an Elite pair with her – Dark and Light, an assassin and a lightningbender – and offered Naga to Bolin, Iroh, and Asami for their trek through the mountains. Mako, meanwhile, would be leading his own small team of two other Elite members – Time and Money, a sandbender and a legendary-level swordswoman – on a sabotage mission to a mecha-tank warehouse the Elite had discovered the day before. He still wasn't at one hundred percent, still felt just a step slower, a sliver off-balance, but he refused to just lay around while he was so much more capable than other injured parties.
"I love you, little bro."
"Love you back, big bro."
It had been a simple good-bye and good luck rolled into one, all they really needed to say to each other – be safe, be strong, come back to me – in a few simple words.
Mako regretted not keeping that promise.
The chi blockers had come from no where, decending on the small team as they crept through the city.
"Go!" Mako had ordered them. "Don't worry about me!" They hesitated. "That's an order! Move!" Their training took over and they obeyed, fleeing over the sides of the nearby buildings.
"Poor boy, all alone," one of the Equalists mocked, binding their new prisoner and stripping him of his blades. "Abandoned by his little allies."
"Don't pretend you're here for something other than me," Mako spat out, glaring up at one of his captors. He swore he knew them.
"Oh, we won't." He was slung over a shoulder and brought to an armored truck.
"Let's go," one of the Equalists – the leader, Mako supposed – said. "Amon wants to speak to this one personally. We shouldn't keep him waiting."
Mako was tossed carelessly into the back and left in darkness. He tried to calm himself, going through breathing exercises and meditation techniques his mother had taught him, but he didn't feel any better.
It was finally time.
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"Move! Run! Hide!"
There was fire everywhere and a stench that wouldn't fade.
"Dad! Mom!"
He was pushed away, hard asphalt scraping at his palms when he fell.
"Don't worry about us!"
He fled. They screamed. When he found them again, they were gone.
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It had been two years since Mako and Bolin had lost their parents. Two years since they'd been left on the street to rot, fighting to make it through even one more day intact.
Mako tried to spare Bolin from the worst of it – had done a good job, going by how cheerful the little earthbender managed to be – but sometimes wondered if it was even worth it, trying so hard to survive. Maybe, if Mako wasn't there, Bolin would go to an orphanage, somewhere he'd have food and shelter and warmth. He was cute and sweet, he'd be adopted in no time. But no, Mako wouldn't rob him of his last bit of family. Mako would persevere. Mako would work until he broke to get his brother a better life, a good life, away from hunger pains and ratty clothes and that little voice that constantly asked what's the use.
Mako made his way back to the spot he'd told Bolin to wait for him. He usually brought the younger boy along with him, too afraid to leave him alone, but Bolin had been feeling ill and Mako didn't want to make it worse. He decided he'd made a good call when a couple of thugs managed to herd him into an alley.
They spoke to each other, pretending not to pay attention to him, pretending he had a chance of escaping.
"We found a pretty boy, huh?"
"Bet he'd fetch a nice little bundle."
One lit his hand while the other began raising walls around Mako, trying to make it slower, trying to increase his fear.
"You're gonna be a popular one."
Do it. You have to do it. You have to escape. You have to get back to Bolin and get him off the streets. You have to you have to you have to you have to use it you have to–
The men crept closer and Mako raised a fist, wishing desperately for any other way, when the men dropped. Two figures dressed in black stood above them. Mako looked at them in awe.
"What the fuck–!"
One of the figures – the shorter one – kicked the thug and he fell silent. They kicked the second thug for good measure.
"You ok, kid?" the taller figure asked.
Mako nodded numbly.
"You better get out of here," the shorter figure said, helping Mako out of the box the earthbender had made around him. "They'll get their bending back soon."
Bending… back…?
The two disappeared over the side of one of the surrounding buildings, Mako staring blankly after them.
He looked down at the knocked out thugs. The knocked out, bending-less thugs.
That was Mako's first run-in with the Equalists.
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Bolin got better after Mako "liberated" some tonics from a drug store. The thugs who tried to abduct him were caught in a police sting. The two figures weren't seen again.
Mako was obsessed.
Two mysterious people had taken out two criminals – one of them a firebender! – without a single weapon between them. Two people had stopped someone's bending.
How? he thought, night after night, day after day. How was someone able to take away another's bending? How long did it last? Did it only work for some people? Did it only work on some people?
The streets were a terrible place to be, but you heard things. You heard everything out there. Mako listened and he waited and he learned of Amon.
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After two straight years of practice, Mako had learned how to go about unnoticed. After spending months tracking him down, it wasn't much of a hassle to finally find a way to sneak in to speak to the leader of the 'Equalists'. It was much more of a hassle when he actually tried to speak and ended up with three different people ready to take him down.
"Stop." The voice was commanding and deep. There was no threat in his tone, no cruelty, but he was obeyed without question. The people who surrounded Mako stepped away. "What are you doing here, child?" the man, Amon – for surely it could be no one else – asked.
"I…." Mako swallowed nervously. Just say it like you rehearsed. "I heard you can take someone's bending away."
Amon looked at him, his mask concealing any hint Mako might find of his thoughts.
"I can."
"For good?"
"No."
Mako clenched his fists and his jaw, distantly registering the blood in his mouth, unaware of the way the people around him stared. He only knew all his work had been wasted. Time he could've spent hustling or dumpster diving or pickpocketing, time he'd dedicated to track down this man – this solution – was all gone.
Amon continued to stare, and Mako felt the weight of it in his silence.
"Whose bending did you want removed?"
"…Mine."
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The truck made its way closer closer closer and Mako tried so hard to breathe. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to do this.
but you used to want to you used to love it you loved helping you loved it loved itlovedit
he lied we weren't helping so many people got hurt
you got people hurt
I didn't know better
but you should've known better you were old enough to know better why didn't I know better why didn't I stop him why didn't I speak up why didn't you why why whywhywhy
The truck stopped.
"Special delivery," the driver said. Something opened. The truck drove on.
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"What is your name, child?"
No one used real names and Mako wouldn't either.
"Sozu."
"And why do you want your bending removed?"
"I don't wanna be a firebender. Firebenders hurt people."
Mako had been led into a private room. He'd heard the stories of what happened to little boys in private rooms with strange men, but he had no means of escape anyway, so he'd followed and hoped.
"Did firebenders hurt someone close to you?"
"...I don't wanna talk about it."
They gave him tea and bread and sat him down.
"I can help you, Sozu, if you will help me."
"Help you how?"
"My friends tell me you are the same boy they saved a few months ago."
"So?"
"You appear non-threatening. You can help my friends capture bending criminals so I will have someone to practice on."
"Practice what?"
And Amon spoke;
"A spirit came to me in a vision. It told me the Avatar was not doing enough to maintain the balance of this world. It gave me the power to take a person's bending away for good, but said I must figure out how to control that power on my own."
He kneeled in front of Mako's seat, their eyes at the same level. His were blue.
"If you help me, I swear to you, I will learn this power, and I will heal you."
And Mako listened.
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"You know, not everyone gets to meet Amon in person," the Equalist in the passenger's seat said, apparently deciding the silence was boring. "I mean, sure, all the benders do, but that's because they have to, you know? And it's not really a meeting. But everybody knows Lord Mako ain't a bender. So why does Amon want you?"
"I do not presume to know the inner workings of that man's mind."
"'That man' is our savior and you'd do well to act like it."
That man used a ten-year-old boy to catch triad members.
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It was work. It was grueling, filthy, dangerous work. And he was good at it.
A smirk here, a defiant look there, and suddenly Mako would be surrounded. He might not have been able to pull off cute and helpless like Bolin could, but the Avatar Spirit knew he could piss people off.
Equalists would appear from nowhere and the criminals would get taken away, never to be seen again. Mako didn't know what happened to them. He didn't care, so he didn't ask. They were gone, they couldn't hurt anyone, that was what mattered.
Rumors flew through the boroughs, tales of a demon spirit stealing people away in the night. No rhyme, no reason, just suddenly gone. The triad members started moving in larger and larger groups, so Mako started luring them in larger and larger groups, and with each new disappearance, the rumors grew.
Mako thought it was funny. The Equalists started calling him Little Demon. Mako thought that was less funny, but they couldn't be persuaded to stop.
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It was eight months in and things were great. Mako was helping fight crime and the Equalists were helping him feed Bolin. Not that they knew about Bolin, of course. Mako didn't want him dragged into this. As far as the Equalists knew, he was alone. As far as Bolin knew, Mako had made a deal with a restaurant staff – free food in exchange for doing the cleaning duties the staff didn't want to do.
(Bolin asked if he could come along to help, but Mako said he'd told the staff Bolin was really ill so they'd feel bad and give him more food. He then had to spend nearly twenty minutes convincing Bolin that he wasn't actually ill and Mako had kept it from him, Mako had just lied for sympathy.)
(Bolin then lectured him about how lying is bad. Mako pretended to agree with him.)
Then someone got wise. A boss who didn't believe in the spirits set a trap, putting a bigger group of men outside the group of Equalists, and when the chi blockers decended, the bending reinforcements did too. The fight was long and hard, but the Equalists were outnumbered. Many were captured. Mako was one of them.
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Who will take care of Bolin? Not the most productive prevailing thought, not like trying to find a weak point or manipulate a jailer, but it was all Mako could focus on. He was scared and tired and bruised and bleeding and so very very alone. He'd been secluded far from the Equalists, not even able to hear their screams anymore. It was quiet. It was so so quiet.
And then the screams began again.
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Mako woke up back in the Equalist base, almost able to convince himself his ordeal had been a nightmare were it not for the ache in his skin. Nurses hovered around him, checking machines and making notes. No one spoke, which was fine because Mako wasn't sure if he'd have been able to listen just yet anyway.
Everything hurt: his bones, his teeth, his eyes. Mako wiggled what was left of his toes. Seven was a good number, he supposed. He still had his big toes, that had to count for something.
"You are missing three toes and two permanent teeth. You have fourty-seven stitches across your body. It will be a miracle if your eye functions properly again," Amon listed off as he entered the room. "You fared better than many of our Equalist brothers and sisters. I suppose your age made the monsters go easy on you."
Mako did not want to know how anyone else was.
"How did I get here?" he asked instead.
"When I was told what happened, I and another group of chi blockers located the rest of you," Amon answered, stepping closer to the bed. The nurses had left already, the only sign of their presence the fresh bandages holding Mako together.
"Thank you," Mako said. "For finding me. For coming to save me."
"I will always come for you," Amon vowed.
"Promise?"
"I promise."
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Mako told Bolin the truth – he was captured by a triad. Bolin didn't let him out of his sight for ten days.
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There was no underground hideout, no hidden tunnel, no secret passageways. There was no need for that, anymore. Mako was openly grabbed from the truck, shoved up the steps, and forced into the courthouse.
His captors chained him to the floor and stepped away.
"Lord Mako."
"Amon."
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Mako is ten years and nine months and he asks for chi blocking lessons.
He is ten years and ten months and he is a natural.
He is eleven years exactly and he finally feels like he's accomplishing something with his life.
He is eleven years and four months and he is learning to twist words.
He is eleven years and seven months and he has successfully manipulated a police officer.
He is eleven years and nine months and he has successfully completed a solo mission for the first time.
He is twelve years and two months and he has aided and abetted in the capture of seventy-four triad benders. He has personally captured an additional thirteen.
He is found by Police Commissioner Lin Beifong.
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"How long has it been?"
"Oh, four years, give or take."
"Far too long."
They stared at each other, or at least Mako assumed Amon was staring at him. The man hadn't removed his mask.
"I was hoping you and I could talk," Amon said.
"Like old times?"
"Yes, like old times."
"Then I'll try to be less abrasive than usual."
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Mako is twelve years and three months and he finally has a way to get his brother off the street.
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"I don't suppose you'll send your cronies away?" Mako asked, a politician smile carefully adorning his face.
Amon snapped his fingers and the guards left.
"Honestly did not expect that."
"You know I always try to honor your requests." Amon stepped closer, circling him threateningly. The proximity didn't scare Mako. Mako knew Amon didn't need to be anywhere near him to cause pain. "Your chi blocking training, your decision to leave, your justice."
"That was revenge."
"Not as I recall," Amon said calmly, still circling.
"Well, you're very good at lying to yourself, aren't you?"
It's a talent we both share.
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Mako is sixteen years and three months and he is poisoned.
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"I am not the one lying to myself." Amon finally stopped in front of the chained noble. "Though I suppose you do lie more to others. Fighting my Equalists. Opposing my doctrine. Acting as if you no idea of our inner workings. Your mother's Elite wasted so much time obtaining information you could have simply given them, but you said nothing."
I couldn't say anything you said not to I didn't know what you would have done if I'd talked you would have hurt them would have burned them would have emptied them and dropped them down down down where I'd never see them again
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Mako is sixteen years and three months and his mother has ordered a bloodbender to bend out the poison. Ze lines razors along the bloodbender's tendons, barely a millimeter away from skin. One blade draws a pinprick of blood in warning.
"You do anything out of line and I will skin you."
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"You risked the lives of your subjects for the sake of your own secrets."
"They were bending subjects, what do you care?"
Mako felt out of his depth. He'd been playing politics for years, but Amon had been playing for years longer. Amon had been playing him for years longer. Mako didn't think he could keep his head on straight.
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Mako is sixteen years and his body is on fire.
He is fourteen years and his body is on fire.
He is twisting twisting twisting and something is pulled from his skin
from his eyes
from his soul
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"Does your mother even know you were once a firebender?" Mako says nothing. "I could ask zir instead, if you prefer?"
"What did you do to zir?"
"Nothing. Yet."
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Mako doesn't know how many years he is as his spine bends back back backback
as the man's spine bends backbackbackback
as all the warmth is leeched away and his body feels so empty
"My power is realized."
"Kid, hold on!"
why won't his hands work why won't they work they won't move they won't move theywon'tmove
"Your justice is complete."
"Why is he reacting like that?"
"I don't know, I swear!"
he is trapped in his body and his body is not his own
when will it end
will it ever end
justletmedie
"Are you ready?"
"Fix it!"
"Don't kill me, please!"
why won't it end why won't it end whywon'tit endwhywon'titendwhy
he goes limp
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"You betrayed me," Amon said, his voice neither angry nor threatening and somehow much much worse than either. "You betrayed your Equalist family. Did you really think I would let that go?"
"Do you really think this is sustainable?"
Mako had not meant to say that.
"Explain."
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"You can try and take control of me all you want, but without knowing the forms to get my knives away, I'll have you dead on the floor before you can blink."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"Now get that poison out of my son."
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He was off his game but he could salvage this.
"Master Katara, arguably one of the greatest waterbender in the last one hundred years, was born decades after the Souther Water Tribe had been stripped of benders," Mako said, building his reasoning as he went. 'The key to a good lie is to stay near the truth.' Thanks, Mom. "Neither of my biological parents could bend, yet they produced two benders."
It felt so wrong, mentioning Bolin to this man after spending so many years trying to keep them apart. Just keep talking.
"Even if you 'equalize' everyone, bending will come back. It's inevitable," Mako said. "And what will happen then? You'll die eventually, of old age if nothing else. Is this 'gift' of yours one the spirits are willing to pass to another? Is it something you can teach? Or will it die with you?"
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The man – the monster – just lays there. Lays there as Mako's parents had done when they had finally passed from the smoke inhalation. Lays there as Mako had for hours, curled around their charred bodies, desperately waiting for them to come back, before finally dragging himself up for the sake of his brother.
The monster lays there – his body broken from Amon's powers, his spirit broken from Mako's visits – he seems no more a monster than the corpses of his victims.
"Are you satisfied now?" Amon asks, never acknowledging the hallow shell he had just created.
The monster would never hurt anyone again.
"Your justice is complete."
Maybe now his nightmares could finally stop.
"Are you ready?"
Was he ready? It had seemed so simple before, but now that the time had come, now in the face of all he had worked for, he was hesitant. Was this what he wanted? Did he really need to go to such extremes? He hadn't used his bending in over six years, was all of this really necessary?
He looked down at the monster.
"Is it painful?"
He didn't want to risk ever becoming like him.
"This may hurt. I will try to keep it to a minimum. I am sorry."
"Let's do this."
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"You were doomed from the start."
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Mako kneels. Amon steps behind him. Mako's spine curves. A touch. A pull.
He is ripped in half.
He is cold.
He is weak.
He is free.
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"Why did you leave us?" Amon asks after a long silence. Like Mako, he has opted to ignore unpleasant questions, but also like Mako, they are sure to linger.
"Why did you start taking kids?"
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Mako woke up in the medical wing once again. He doesn't remember being carried to it, but he remembers the horrible cold that even then twisted inside of him. He tested his legs, wrapped a blanket around himself, and walked.
He had to get back home. Home. Such a wonderful concept. Such a wonderful word. It had been nice of the Equalists to let him return for the punishment of his parents' murderer – nicer still that they let him play with the monster for a few days before he was presented to Amon – but Mom had to be worrying. Mako hadn't meant to stay out so late. He needed to get to Mom before ze called for a manhunt.
Mako wandered down past the cells. They were on his way, technically, and he wanted to see the monster one last time. Helpless. Weak. Like Mako had been.
He found the monster's cage. And then he found more.
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"Homeless? Prostitutes? Runaways? When did you start scooping up anyone the world wouldn't miss? When did it go from stopping criminals to stopping everyone? They were just trying to survive – we all were – and you think your special fucking gifts mean you get to decide–" Mako cut himself off, felt something writhing inside of him, too overwhelmed with the memories of the people he had been forced to leave behind. They had been there too long, were too past help.
He'd recognized some of them.
Amon stared, and Mako felt the weight of it in the silence.
"For the greater good, sacrifices must be made."
"Whose greater good?"
Amon did not answer.
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Mako was escorted by four Equalists to the holding cells. He was approximately half-way there when he chi blocked the nearest guard and started a fight in the corridor. They had weapons and none of them seemed to be recovering from a debilitating injury, but Mako had pure desperation and a desire to not be there so deep-seated he wondered if any amount of therapy would ever shake it loose. And, as it turned out, he also had an Equalist on his side.
"…Sands?" he asked incredulously once the other chi blockers had fallen. She pulled off her mask.
"There isn't much time," Sands replied. "Knock me out, steal a uniform, and get out of here. Most of the security will be at the stadium for the rally, you won't have any problems."
"Do you know where my weapons are?"
"No. Now hurry!"
Mako hit the points on her back, took the uniform from the Equalist closest to his size, and made his way out. He had to get to the stadium; he'd bet anything Korra would be there.
Amon had been right about one thing – Mako had placed his secrets above the welfare of others. It was time he warned Korra she was up against a bloodbender.
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A/N: This was a lot harder to write than expected.
So, to clarify/brief summary; Mako worked with the Equalists to bring in criminals when he was 10-12 years old. He was then found by Lin Beifong, and when ze offered to adopt him and Bolin, he left the Equalists to give Bolin a better life. The Equalists did not know he had been adopted by a high ranking metalbending officer because Lin keeps zir shit private and Mako is very introverted so none of the Equalists saw him with zir.
When he was 14, the Equalists found the man who murdered Mako's parents and offered him the chance to come back for a while so he could torment the man and see him be equalized. Mako mentally tortured him for several days before he is equalized, and Mako is equalized as well by his own request. The day the man and Mako are equalized, Mako discovers that the Equalists had begun kidnapping innocent benders for reasons unknown to him and leaves the Equalists for good.
Years later when Mako was 16, he was poisoned in an assassination attempt. Lin, in a desperate bid to save him, ordered an imprisoned bloodbender to bend the poison out of him, using carefully directed blades against major arteries to keep the bloodbender in line. Mako recognized the sensation and realized Amon was a bloodbender. Amon does not know Mako knows he is a bender.
I know things got a little jumpy in this chapter but it was fucking difficult to get all the information in. I could've written an entire second story with all the shit Mako went through. It was really hard deciding how much was relevant to the story and how to fit it all in without ruining the flow.
Anyway, ONE CHAPTER LEFT (after another brief interlude)
Stay tuned!