"So, where are we headed?" Korra asked seriously as she, Alex, and Mako sped through the city on Naga, following Mako's directions.
"Triple Threat Territory." Mako answered as the Polar Bear Dog ran. "Hopefully Bolin's there and nothing's gone down yet." he added grimly.
"Triple Threat Triad?" Korra asked. "I beat up some of those yahoos when I got into town." She recalled.
"Yeah, I arrested two of them. Shady Shin was the only one who managed to get out of it." Alex told the two of them.
"Why would Bolin get tangled up wit- whoa!" The Avatar transitioned into a yelp in the middle of her sentence as Naga suddenly changed directions of her own accord. "Whoa Naga!" She tried to get the beast to stop, but she wouldn't. Naga suddenly came to a stop in front of a lamp post, where a familiar, red, rodent was climbing up, her tongue hanging out of her mouth excitedly. Korra realised she'd been chasing the rodent.
"That's Pabu!" Mako gasped as the Polar Bear Dog stopped.
"Naga no!" Korra snapped at her best friend as she made to pounce on the rodent. "Pabu's a friend, not a snack." She chastised her mount. Pabu quickly jumped off of the lamp post and landed on Naga's back, scurrying to Mako's shoulder.
"We gotta hurry." The Firebender said urgently. If Pabu isn't with Bolin, something's not right. With a nod, Korra urged her friend to continue on their previous course.
Arriving at their destination, Alex, Mako and Korra dismounted Naga, noticing how quiet the area was.
"Something's not right." Mako observed. "There are usually a crap load thugs posted up front. We gotta be cautious." He said, carefully approaching the entrance. He pushed his back against the side of the door, gesturing for his friends to follow.
Korra, having a deadpanned look on her face, casually approached the door and kicked it down.
"Cautious indeed." Alex deadpanned, making Korra roll her eyes.
The trio entered the building, finding it empty. There were a couple of tables and chairs turned over, no doubt the result of someone cheating at a card game, given that there were cards scattered across the ground. Alex knelt down and picked up an empty liquor bottle on the ground, giving the tip a small sniff.
"This place hasn't been empty for too long." He said, standing up. "Alcohol smell fades within an hour in an empty bottle, even less in a cheap one like this." he explained, seeing the confused look on his friends' faces. "And the smell is still strong in here." he added, putting the bottle down. "I'd say this place has only been empty for 20 minutes, half an hour tops." he deduced.
"Bolin! You in here?" Mako called out to the room, receiving no answer.
"Let's find out." Alex spoke up, lifting his foot. Like before, the soul of his boot slid down, revealing the bottom of his foot, and slammed it down. The vibrations revealed much about the room. A hidden compartment with extra bottles of booze, one or two caches of no doubt illegal drugs around the room, and couple of knives hidden under the chairs or tables that weren't flipped over. Sadly, no people except himself and his friends. "The place is empty, but…" He trailed off, keeping his focus. Suddenly, his eyes shot open. "Outside!" he said urgently.
However, as he finished his sentence, the sound of an engine starting could be heard. The trio instantly shot out of the backdoor, finding two trucks about to leave and five motorcycles surrounding them. Each one had a rider wearing a full body black suit and some kind of strange filter mask. Anyways, as one of the trucks' rear doors was being closed, Mako, Korra and Alex noticed Bolin inside, tied up and gagged, with Shasy Shin beside him in the same condition.
"Bolin!" Mako shouted in horror. Sadly, he was too late. Both trucks instantly shot off into the distance, followed by the motorcyclists, who threw a couple of smoke bombs, surrounding the trio with strange green smoke.
"Naga!" Korra shouted through her coughing fit. The Polar Bear Dog instantly shot through the smoke and was mounted by Korra and Mako, whilst Alex shot after them on a ramp of Earth that he bent forward like a skateboard. In perfect sync, Alex and Naga shot out of the green smoke.
They turned a corner, thankful to see they hadn't lost the trucks and motorcycles. Hoping to slow them down, and make it easier to catch them, Mako swung several balls of fire at the kidnappers, truck or motorcycle, to no avail. Those masked guys were surprisingly agile on their motorcycles. Following up on Mako's idea, Alex tried to stop one of the cyclists by bringing ground underneath him up, only for the rider to use the lifted ground like a ramp and jump forward.
After following the kidnappers into an open town square, three of the motorcyclists stopped, turned, and threw a couple of bola's at the trio. Alex managed to deflect the one directed at him with his gauntlet blade, but Naga's feet got caught in the other, sending Korra flying off of the beast and into the Metalbender, sending them both to the ground, Mako sliding up to them a second later.
They were just barely able to regain their bearings before the three motorcyclists jumped off of their motorcycles and cartwheeled, yes, cartwheeled, towards them. Instantly, they shot up and avoided being kicked. Alex immediately knew who these guys were; they were Chi-Blockers, experts in fighting benders and 'leveling the playground,' so to speak.
Sadly, before he could say anything, the trio had to split up, each facing one Chi-Blocker. Korra and Mako had small, scrawny, definitely masculine opponents, but Alex's foe was more built, and had a feminine figure, though still skinny. That made her more dangerous, as the female Chi-Blockers were usually faster, and better at their art than the males, and her build meant she was strong.
Alex instantly decided it would be best to try long-ranged attacks, especially considering what he was up against. So, he did a backflip, with the help of a small Earthbending boost, and landed a good distance away from his opponent, shooting his cables at her. Unfortunately, the woman was too quick, and flipped to the side, avoiding the attack.
As Alex rolled his cable back into his gauntlet, his foe shot towards him, no doubt intent on making the fight more close range. Alex couldn't allow that, so he bent a rock about the size of his fist up from the ground and into his hand. Doing another Earthbending backflip, he landed and hovered the rock in between his horizontal palms, spinning it. In mere seconds, the rock melted into a spinning shuriken of lava.
Time to get serious.
Alex threw the shuriken at the approaching Chi-Blocker, who tried to dodge it, but the lava was too fast. It hit her right in the chest, knocking her down. Though, she recovered quickly, clearly surprised by the new development, and continued on her path to take down the Detective, who threw the lava shuriken at her again. This time, she was ready. She skid to ground, right underneath the shuriken as it flew. However, as she got back up to her feet, Alex pulled the shuriken back towards himself, the Chi-Blocker in its path. The shuriken hit the foe right in the back of her head, sending her to the ground face first, knocked out.
Sadly, Alex couldn't relish in his victory for too long. As soon as he took the Chi-Blocker down, he saw Korra and Mako on the ground, struggling to get up due to Chi-Blocking jabs, with the other two enemies approaching, spinning their bolas. Alex wasted no time. He shot towards his friends, jumped up high, and slammed his fists down onto the ground. The ground between his friends and the Chi-Blockers melted into a pool of lava, startling the enemies as they turned to face the Detective, finding him glaring at them with a spinning lava shuriken.
For about three seconds, three painstakingly long seconds, nobody moved. Then, the two remaining Chi-Blockers shared a look, nodding at each other. Before anyone could react, they jumped back and threw more of those green smoke bombs, disappearing from sight. The last thing the trio heard was the sound of motorcycles driving off, and something being scooped from the ground. Alex theorised that the other two had grabbed their comrade.
Well, at least they're loyal.
"Fuck." Alex cursed, letting the lava he'd created cool and harden. "They got a way." he sighed, turning to his friends. "You guys ok?" he asked in concern, holding his hands out.
"Yeah, I think so." Korra responded, grabbing his hand. Mako did the same. Suddenly, Korra had this awkward feeling in her arm. She tried to bend, thrusting her arm forward in an attempt to Firebend, but nothing came out. Not even a single puff of smoke. "I can't bend…" Korra said, alarmed. She tried again. Same result. "I can't bend!" She yelled, starting to freak out.
"Korra! Calm down!" Alex said loudly, placing his hands on Korra's shoulders. "It'll be fine." He told her soothingly.
"Alex is right; it'll wear off." Mako spoke up, rubbing his wrist. "Those guys were chi-blockers. Amon's henchmen." he added. Korra let out a sigh of relief as she found out it wasn't permanent. She wouldn't know what to do without her bending.
Wait, did Mako just say 'Amon?'
"Amon? That anti-bending guy with the mask?" She asked, remembering her first day in Republic City.
"Yeah. He's the leader of the Equalists." Mako confirmed.
"What bugs me is why they kidnapped the Triple Threats." Alex spoke up. "What would they want with a bunch of gangsters?" he asked, walking over to Naga, who licked him happily as he cut her bounds.
"No clue." Mako shook his head. "But whatever it is, it can't be good." he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess!" He exclaimed in exasperation and fear.
"Calm down Mako." Alex placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "We'll find him, Ok?" He said softly, in an effort to comfort his best friend. "I promise." He added.
"And we won't stop until we do." Korra added reassuringly. Mako took a deep breath and nodded. Though he still had an unsure expression on his face.
And so the trio searched the city, in hopes of finding their friend. Unfortunately, the trucks didn't leave any noticable tracks that they could follow, and Naga's tracking wasn't doing much either, as the smoke bombs messed with her nose, rendering her tracking capabilities moot. The worst part, was that three of them were starting to feel the fatigue from searching for so long, as it was well past midnight.
"We've been out all night. No signs of him." Korra said, rubbing her eyes tiredly/
"The city's too big to search in one night." Alex yawned in fatigue. "Bo could be anywhere by now." He realised.
"We have to keep looking." Mako retorted stubbornly, though not any less tired than the other two. "But where?" He asked.
"I think we should rest for a little while." The Metalbender suggested.
"Not until we find Bolin!" Mako shot back harshly.
"Mako, think about it." Alex sighed. "Say we find him right now, what good are we going to be? We're tired, haven't eaten in several hours, and are most definitely going to get our asses kicked if we go up against a platoon of Chi-Blockers." he reasoned. Mako scowled in frustration, not knowing whether to be angry at his best friend, or to accept that he was right…
Thankfully, he didn't have to, as Korra suddenly spoke
"I have an idea!" She gasped, pulling on the reigns and turning Naga around.
"So, why are we hear, exactly?" Alex asked as Korra stopped Naga in front of a fountain in a park and dismounted, the other two following as Naga bent over a started drinking from the fountain, Pabu doing the same on her head.
"The first day I got into town, I ran into an Equalist protester, over there." Korra answered, pointing at where the the protester was the day she arrived in Republic City.
"You think they'll know where Bolin is?" Mako asked, not a hundred percent certain.
"It's our only lead right now." Korra shrugged.
"She's not wrong." Alex agreed.
With a sigh, mako nodded in acceptance and leaned against a tree, getting comfortable. Korra and Alex did the same, but against Naga. Thankfully, t so so bad, not even for Mako with the tree, as the grass was rather soft, and the whether wasn't all that bad, so they wouldn't have any problems. Suddenly, Korra remembered something.
"Hey Alex?" She asked, getting the Metalbender's attention. "When we were fighting the Chi-Blockers, I noticed that you didn't get Chi-Blocked. How did you avoid them?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
Alex shrugged. "When you're in my line of work, you sometimes have to think outside the box. My Mom taught me how to fight without my Bending in case I got into a situation where I might not be able use it. Tonight was one such example." He explained. "Plus, I've come across a Chi-blocker or two since I joined the force. Best way to fight them is long range." he added.
Korra nodded in understanding. She'd never thought of that. All her life she thought that the Avatar was the most powerful thing on the planet, but she was rendered useless with just a few jabs to her arms and legs. It dawned on her that alongside the subset skills in Bending she didn't know, she also knew nothing about how to actually fight. Shaking her head, and wanting to leave those thoughts for another time, she turned to Mako.
"So, why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threats Triad anyway?" She asked him. The Fire Ferrets Captain looked away, avoiding the eyes of either of his friends..
"Well, we... used to do some work for them back in the day." He replied, albeit hesitantly. Neither him nor Korra noticed the light scowl that appeared on Alex's face.
"What!? Are you some kind of criminal!?" Korra asked, aghast.
"Calm down Korra." Alex sighed, making Korra look at him in confusion. Why was he, a Detective, not phased about his friend working with a bunch of criminals?!
"Alex is right! You don't know what you're talking about!" Mako shot back with a light glare, offended by the question. "I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the streets. I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother." He defended, still glaring. Again, nobody noticed Alex when he, this time, winced. He still feels terrible for cutting off his two best friends back then.
"I'm sorry. It must have been really hard." Korra said, regretting her words in an instant. "Can I... ask what happened to your parents?"
As soon as she asked the question, Alex slumped into Naga in exasperation. He knew that the young Avatar's social skills weren't exactly top notch, having been locked in a compound for who knows how long, but anyone with any common decency knows not to ask an orphan what happened to their parents! You never know what kind of memories you could be bringing up! The parents could have abandoned them, they could have have run away from a pair of abusive parents, or, in Mako and Bolin's case...
"They were mugged by a Firebender." Mako sighed. "He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight when that happened." he said, pain evident in his voice.
"Mako..." Korra whispered as the boy gripped his scarf, covering his mouth with it.
"Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything happens to him..." He trailed off, not quite being able to finish the sentence.
"Nothing's going to happen to Bolin, Mako." Alex spoke up. "That's a promise." he added, earning a grateful smile from his old friend.
After a little while of silence, the trio ended up falling asleep in the places they sat; Mako against the tree and the other two against Naga, who was also sleeping. Pabu slept on the Polar Bear Dog's head. At some point in the night, Korra's sleeping form had fallen into Alex's arms.
Mako yawned as he woke up with the sun. Being a Firebender, he rises with the sun, making him the very definition of the term 'morning person.' The same could not be said for the young Avatar and her Metalbending coach. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Mako noticed his old friend laying against Naga, with Korra's head on his shoulder, her hands on his chest, and his arm around her waist. The Firebender couldn't help but grin at the sight. This was going make for some excellent blackmail/teasing material.
"Morning Lovebirds." He greeted teasingly as Korra and Alex's eyes fluttered open. "Sleep well?" He asked, a shit eating grin on his face. Alex immediately noticed the position he and Korra were in and couldn't help the blush that donned his face.
"Maybe." he replied to his friend with an embarrassed huff. He's not going to let Mako get away with teasing him that easily.
Shifting slightly, Korra slowly woke up. She felt incredibly rested, and very comfortable, despite the fact that she was sleeping on some kind of hard surface. Her hands scraped across said surface. It seemed to be made of… metal? Rather smooth metal too. And there was also a pleasant feeling grasping her waist in comfortable manner.
Wait, why is Alex sleeping so close to her?
"My my, quite bold of you Korra." The Metalbender said teasingly. Hey, just because he doesn't like being teased, doesn't mean he's not above it.
"Waaaaaaaah!" Korra shrieked as she realised the position she and Alex were in. Quickly as she could, she crawled away from him with a face red a tomato.
"If you wanted to cop a feel Korra, you could have just asked." Alex teased her again, his grin widening.
"Sh-Shut up P-pervert!" Korra screeched in embarrassment, with a light stutter, as her face got redder.
"Excuse me?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm the pervert? Who was straddling whom last night?" He asked, making Korra turn redder than Tenzin does when he's angry as she remembered the incident the Metalbender spoke of.
"We were sparring!" she roared in embarrassment. At this point, Mako lost it. He laughed hard, he fell to the ground clutching his stomach. Even if they needed to find Bolin ASAP, he couldn't help but find Korra's embarrassed and angry face hilarious. Plus, it was a good way to unwind from the stress of not knowing where Bolin was.
"Equality now! Equality now! We want Equality now!" Internally, Korra thanked the annoying voice that piped up loudly before Alex could say anything else. The trio of teenage Benders turned and saw an Equalist protester standing on a pedestal and screaming at the top of his lungs into a megaphone.
"That the guy?" Alex asked the Avatar, turning serious. Korra nodded, her blush slowly disappearing. As the trio made their way to the rotester, he kept ranting on and on about his nonsense.
"Non-benders of Republic City, Amon calls you to action! Take back your city! It's time for the-" he stopped when he Alex, Mako and Korra approaching and gasped. "It's you again! You cannot silence me Avatar!" He yelled at her through the megaphone.
With a glare, Korra brought her hand up and clenched it into a fist. The megaphone collapsed in on itself as she Metalbent it, making the protester yelp in shock as Korra tossed the infernal device to the side with her bending. It shattered into who knows how many pieces.
"Fucking hell, I thought Bolin's voice was annoying." Alex groaned, cleaning his ears out with his pinky. Mako couldn't help the snicker that escaped him. As much as he loved his little brother, the boy was incredibly annoying at times.
"What do you three benders want?!" The protester snarled, spitting the word 'benders' like a filthy curse word.
"Shut your yapper and listen up!" Korra shot back, glaring at the man. "My friend was kidnapped by some chi-blockers, where did they take him?" She demanded.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" The protester looked away with a huff, crossing his arms.
"I don't believe you." Alex spoke up, taking a step forward. He used his cables to pull the pedestal out from under the protester, bringing him to the ground and sending the flyers everywhere.
"Witness the Revelation tonight at 9 o'clock." Mako read from one of the flyers he caught before sending the protester a narrow eyed gaze. "What's this Revelation thing?" he asked in calm, demanding tone.
"Nothing that concerns the likes of you three!" The man glared at Mako.
"You better believe it concerns the likes of us. Spill it!" Korra snrled, grabbing him by the collar.
"Korra, put him down." Alex said to the Avatar firmly. "There's a line. You're only proving him right." he said softly. Korra gave the protester one more glare before dropping him. With a sigh, Alex approached the man and crouched to match his eye level.
"What is the revelation, and where is it happening?" He asked with his eyes narrowed in a glare.
"N-No one knows what the Revelation is! And I have no idea what happened to your friend, but if he's a bender then he'll get what's coming to him." The man glared at Alex.
"Where?" Alex asked again. Before the protester could shoot back a response, a police officer saw the conflict and approached.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" He demanded.
"The Avatar is oppressing us! Help!" The protester spoke up loudly.
"Quiet you." Alex hissed, standing to face the officer. "Everything's fine Officer." He said, showing his badge. "This man is a person of interest in a case. Carry on with your patrol." he told him.
"Aye sir." The officer saluted. "I apologise if I interfered, Detective." He said before leaving.
"Now, where were…" Alex started speaking again, only to see the protester gone. "...we?" he finished his sentence with an exasperated sigh, shaking his head. "Let's go." He said to the other two, sighing as he grabbed couple of the flyers. Korra and Mako sighed as well, following after their Detective friend.
The trio made their way to a train station, sitting on a bridge underneath one of the bridges, with Naga and Pabu resting not too far. Once they were certain no one would eavesdrop, they started examining the flyers.
"Why didn't the Equalist put a location on these?" Korra asked, noticing how the flyers had text showing that something big was happening, but they said nothing about where to go.
"Probably because they don't want just anyone coming over to their big Revelation, whatever that is." Mako suggested.
"Especially not Benders." Alex added, examing one of the flyers closely. "I'm guessing there's a riddle to it. Check the backs." He told them, showing the map-like image on the back of the flyer he held. Curious, the Avatar and Firebender did as the Metalbender said, seeing the images on the back.
"You're right…" Mako murmured, comparing his image to Alex's.
"Four different images. Four differents pieces of a map." The Detective smirked.
"A puzzle!" Korra realised. With a nod, Alex grabbed four of the flyers and held them up in the correct order, comparing it with a map of the city on one of the walls.
"Bingo." He smirked triumphantly. "It's taking place at an old warehouse. I can get us there." He said, tossing the flyers aside. "We can make a quick pit stop at my place. I've got some clothes we can use as disguises." He told his companions.
"What do we need disguises for?" Korra asked in confusion.
"You're Avatar, I'm a Pro-Bending Captain, an he's a renowned Detective." Mako deadpanned.
"People are gonna know us." Alex added. Korra blushed in embarrassment as she realised they were right. "Like I said, let's make a stop at my place." He said, earning nods of agreement from the other two.
Having the Avatar and his old friend in his condo was… weird, for Alex. Sure, the place wasn't that bad. It was no suite, but it was decent. Korra ogled at his collection of meteorites that he had on one of his shelves, the one he'd used to teach her Metalbending amongst them, whilst Mako sat on his couch nonchalantly. Since they had time before the Revelation began, they just decided to hang out there until they left.
Alex and Korra spoke a little more about Metalbending, they brainstormed about how to get Bolin out of the mess he's no doubt in at the moment, and Alex even made them some coffee to try. He almost keeled over laughing when they spat it out in perfect sync, yelling about how bitter and gross it was. Then he added cream and sugar and Korra couldn't get enough of it. Mako said it was OK, but he's never had much of a sweet tooth. Korra however loved it.
Eventually, their little happy break came to an end. Mako donned a grey jacket that went down to his hips and a brown hat. Korra put on one of Alex's trench coats, except she buttoned it up, unlike Alex, and put on a beige hat. Alex got rid of his armour and put on his casual clothes, except he grabbed another of his trench coats, this one coming with a hood. He did keep his gauntlets though, as that's where his cables were stored.
With that, the trio made their way to the warehouse the map showed.
"This is the place." Alex told them as they approached the warehouse, pulling his hood up. "Take this." He said, pulling out one of the flyers from before.
"How come?" Korra asked in confusion.
"From what I've gathered, you need an invitation to get." The Metalbender explained. "I believe these are the invitations." He said, sending the guard a narrow eyed gaze as he let in another Equalist supporter. "To lower suspicion, we shouldn't be in such a large group. I'll go in first. You two wait 10 minutes before following me." He instructed.
"Noted." Mako and Korra nodded. Alex returned the nod and made his way towards the entrance.
"Halt. Where is your invitation?" The guard asked with a faint glare as he stopped him.
"This it?" Alex asked in a light malicious tone as he pulled out a flyer from his pocket.
The guard gave him a pleased smirk."The Revelation is upon us, my brother." he said, stepping aside to allow Alex access. Just about 10 minutes later, Korra and Mako joined him inside. The trio was awed and horrified by the amount of people that were attending the rally. There had to be a couple thousand of them.
"I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many in one place." Mako noted, clearly uncomfortable. Korra and Alex weren't faring much better.
"Damn, I really wish I had my armour." The Metalbender whispered. "I feel naked without it."
As the trio blended into the crowds, the lights above the stage turned on, illuminating the stage as a voice spoke up in announcement. "Please welcome, your hero, your saviour, Amon!" The voice announced as the floor of the stage slid open, revealing panel rising up. On it, were seven people. Five normal Chi-Blockers, another Chi-Blocker in a different outfit, and a man in a hood and mask. Amon. The crowd cheered as the stood there, waiting for them to calm themselves.
Once they did, he approached the microphone on the stage and spoke.. "My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the Firebender that extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man. But when he did, that firebender took my family from me. And then, he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since." A collective gasp echoed across the crowd at Amon's story before he continued.
"As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." Everyone in the crowd, sans the three Benders, booed loudly at the mention of the Avatar. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But she is wrong. The only thing that bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era. But that is about to change." He said.
"I know what you've been wondering: What is the Revelation? You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the Spirits have acted as guardians of our world. And they have spoken to me. They said the Avatar has failed humanity." Hearing that, Korra tensed, and her eye started twitching in frustration and anger. Alex saw this and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her. It worked, somewhat. She was still angered, clearly, but she wasn't shaking. "That is why the Spirits have chosen me to usher new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality... The power to take someone's bending away, permanently." He held up a clenched fist. Korra's eyes widened at his words.
"That's impossible! There's no way!" she whispered to her companions.
"That guy is insane." Mako whispered back.
Alex on the other hand, wasn't too sure he agreed… In the past couple of centuries, many things that were considered impossible have been proven to be possible. His own Bending was a prime example; Metalbending was considered impossible until his own grandmother invented the technique single handedly. He needed more info before choosing whether or not he believed Amon's claim.
"Now for a demonstration." Amon spoke again, gesturing to the man at his right hand. "Please welcome 'Lightning Bolt' Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad." He introduced a man that walked onto stage, tied up, and being escorted by a couple of Chi-Blockers."One of the most notorious criminals in Republic City." He added, prompting loud boos from the crowd.
"Ahhh, boo yourselves!" Zolt shot back at them as more Chi-Blockers brought in moretied up Benders, Bolin among them.
"There's Bolin." Korra gasped as she started make her way forward. Alex stopped her.
"There's too many of them Korra." He whispered. "We need to be smart."
"Then come up with a plan, Detective." Korra shot back, a little harshly.
"Shut it. I wanna see if this is real before we take any action." He glared at her.
"What!? My brother's up there, and you wanna satisfy your curiosity?!" Mako hissed in a whisper.
"Mako, we need to know what we're up against. If it's not real, no skin off any backs. If it is, one less Bending gangster on the streets." Alex reasoned. Mako glared at him, but kept silent. He knew his friend was smart; he wasn't a 19 year old Detective for nothing. Still, that doesn't mean he liked this plan...
Amon continued speaking. "Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt a chance to fight to keep his bending." he said as one of the Chi-blockers cut the Firebender's ties.
"You're gonna regret doing that, pal!" Zolt shouted with an evil grin as he shot a few fireballs at Amon, who dodged them with little to no effort, getting closer with every blast. Getting a little desperate, Zolt threw a bolt of lightning, which Amon was also able to dodge. Quickly, he grabbed the Firebender's wrist and brought him down to his knees. The lightning bolt flared everywhere as Amon brought his hand down on Zolt's head from behind, his thumb on the forehead. Zolt's eyes flickered in all directions as the bolt off lightning faded into fire, and then nothing, before he fell to the ground. He struggled to get up, thrusting a fist in Amon's direction. Nothing happened. "What... What did you do to me?" He asked, panting heavily.
"Your Firebending is gone. Forever." Amon answered, malice in his tone as the crowd went wild with their cheers. Alex noticed Korra's eyes widening in shock and the smallest hint of fear. "The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun!" Amon announced, the crowd cheering louder in response.
"Seen enough yet?" Mako snarked towards Alex, who spared the Firebender an eyeroll.
"Yeah, I have." he said, pointing to the wall to their left. "See those machines?" He asked, getting nods from the other two. "Their powered by steam. I need you two to cause a distraction, then I'll swoop in with my cables and get Bolin out of there." He told them.
"Works for me." Korra nodded.
"Me too." Mako agreed. Before they separated, he gave his friend a concerned look. "Be careful." He said worriedly.
"Will do." the Metalbender grinned and walked forward, getting closer to the crowd while Mako and Korra headed towards the steam machines.
Fast as he could without arousing any suspicion, Alex made his way to an area in the crowd where he could swing in on his cables. By the time he'd found the perfect place, Amon had already removed the Bending from three of the five Benders, and was starting on the fourth. Alex was starting to get worried that Korra and Mako had gotten caught.
"Come on guys, come on!" He begged under his breath one of the Chi-blockers finally untied Bolin and pushed onto the stage. Amon started approaching the boy, only for the explosion of steam to catch his attention. "Nice." Alex grinned as steam filled the entire warehouse. As the crowd screamed in fear, Alex shot one of his cables at the railings attached to the roof and swung towards the stage. He quickly grabbed Bolin and swung behind the stage, landing in a crouch and dropping Bolin on his ass. "You OK Bolin?" He asked, pulling his hood down.
"Alex! Yes! I love you Brother!" Bolin cheered with tears in his eyes as he stood up.
"We gotta go!" Alex said urgently.
"Oh! Right! Let's bolt!" Bolin agreed. With that they took off.
After managing to get out of the warehouse, Alex and Bolin were caught by Amon's right hand man, the Lieutenant. They tried to fight him off, Bolin with his signature Earth Disks and Alex with his signature lava shuriken. Alex's Lavabending threw the Lieutenant off a little, but he was able to recover from the surprise and managed to deliver a shock to both Earthbenders with his electrifying kali sticks.
He was about to tie them up and deliver them to Amon, but Korra and Mako intervened, giving Alex and Bolin enough time to recover and get up. The managed to incapacitate the Lieutenant by trapping him in the wall with Earthbending, before taking off. Mako and Korra were on Naga's back, Bolin was hanging by his shirt from Naga's mouth, and Alex rode one of his Earth Ramps. He heard Amon telling his henchman to let them go, saying that they would be the perfect messengers.
Anyways, after dropping Mako and Bolin and their home, Alex and Korra went their separate ways. Korra went to tell Tenzin about Amon, and Alex, begrudgingly, went to inform his mother. When he arrived at Police Headquarters, the first thing did was head to his mother's office. He knocked and entered without waiting for a response.
The events that followed were… unpleasant.
"WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN!?" Lin demanded of her son as he entered her office.
"Hang on, let me get my hearing back." Alex cleaned his ears out with his pinky.
"You think now is a time to joke!?" Lin roared in fury as she glared at him. One thing Alex prides himself on is that he doesn't fear his mother the way other employees do. Still, the way she's acting now is a little unsettling.
"No, it's not." Alex shook his head. "To answer your question, I was at an Equalist rally." he told her, making her stop. "They kidnapped Bolin." He added, giving her a reason as to why he was there before she even asked.
"Didn't you cut those two brats off?" Lin asked, crossing her arms with a glare. She couldn't arrest Mako and Bolin back then because they didn't really do anything illegal. Sure, they ran numbers for the Triple Threats and stole, but if she arrested every street urchin who stole to survive, the jails would bursting at the seams. Literally.
"We reconciled a few weeks ago, but that's besides the point." Alex waved the subject off. "The point is, I saw Amon." He said, making his mother's eyes widen.
"What?" She gasped. She's been trying to get intel on that man for weeks.
"That's not the biggest part." Alex grimaced as he remembered what he saw. "He has the ability to take people's Bending away." he reported grimmly.
"Impossible! Only the Avatar has that ability!" Lin retorted, not quite believing her son's words.
"I saw it with my own two eyes." Alex shot back. "If you don't believe me, Korra, Bolin, and Mako will vouch. Heck, if you can find Shady Shin or lightning Bolt Zolt, even better! They were victims!" Alex crossed his arms.
Lin wasn't sure what to believe. Despite the strained relationship she had with her son, he's never let her down when it comes to a case, or the safety of the city. She knew without a doubt he was the finest Officer and Detective that she had on the Force, not that she'd admit it to his face. But, this? A Non-Bender having the ability to take a person's Bending away? It was unfathomable!
"If what you say is true, then Amon's little Revolution isn't so little anymore." She said, clenching her fists in uncertainty. "It just got a whole lot more dangerous." She whispered to herself.
"More than we know." Alex agreed. "No Bender is safe." He whispered grimmly, looking out of the window, seeing Air Temple Island.
Whew! This one was tiring, I'll give you that! I may have gotten it done pretty quickly, but that's only because I stayed up all night due to insomnia about three times this week. :P
Hey! Fun fact! In Highschool DxD, the 72 Pillars were named after the 72 Demons commanded by King Solomon in the Bible. 'Amon' is the name of one of these Demons! I checked, and there's actually a house in the Underworld called the 'House of Amon' in DxD! How funny is that?
It's actually putting ideas in my head… Noatak Amon... Joins the Khaos Brigade… Preaching Equality for those who have no Demonic Power… Can take Demonic Power away… Actually has a lot of Demonic Power…
Nope! Stopping right there. I do NOT need more story ideas in my head.