.
.
.
.
The next morning, Korra woke up to the feeling of Naga licking her face. The Avatar giggled as she sat upright. Her smile quickly faded upon seine the body of her younger sister laying on a bed beside her own. Korra didn't want to leave her alone and she did all she could the night before in keeping her body well. The longer her spirit was away form her physical body the more changes she had of dying completely. The spirit world was not the afterlife, it was another dimension with magical creatures that lived longer than most, but still perished when their time came. If something was not done, Jinora really will be gone, and even her spirit won't be on this earth anymore.
She gently placed the young girl in a healing tub filled with water. Moving her arms, she began healing the child, the heavenly glow illuminating the room while Naga sadly watched beside her. A knock on the door was heard and Korra allowed the stranger to enter.
It was P'Li. The combustion woman looked down sadly at the sleeping child while Korra continued healing her body. "You know it's not going to make her come back." she said.
"I know. But I can't lose her." Korra was practically on the verge of tears. "Why would she do this?"
"Because she loves you. When you love someone, you will do everything in your power to save them."
"Love is sacrifice." Korra said, "Placing someone else before yourself."
"Exactly."
Korra let out a light chuckle, "Whoever said love was all rainbows and kittens was either oblivious or never loved."
"Well, sometimes it can be that way. Just, not all the time."
"Forgive me for saying this but, I don't think that's the reason you're here."
"No, it's not." it was then, the young Avatar noticed the folded cloths the woman had in her arms. "I figured if you're going to stop your uncle, you don't want to do it while looking like a jungle girl."
Korra smiled at her gift.
(~)
"As soon as we reach the Southern Water Tribe, we'll blast through the blockade at the main portal." said Tenzin. He, and the rest of the group were gathered around a table organizing a plan of attack. On the table stood a map of the south pole and various chess pieces the group used to represent themselves and their plan of attack.
"Then we can rendezvous with Bumi, Kya and the troops, crash through the defenses around the portal, and enter the Spirit World."
"Whoa! Since when do you wanna crash or blast through anything?" Lin said, arching an eyebrow while sitting on her chair. She wore her signature police uniform.
"I'll do whatever it takes to save my daughter." said the air nomad. Normally, he was the most rational and level-headed of the group, but his family was on the line here. He couldn't afford to play nice.
"We all want to save Jinora." said Asami, "But, with all due respect Tenzin, I think your plan might be a tad…over-aggressive."
"Not to mention, there's only ten of us and one battle ship." said Varrick, "I mean, how many more men do you think Unalaq has? I can guarantee, they're way more than ten. A lot more."
"Really? And what do you suggest, mister captain of industries?" The air nomad narrowed his eyes at the rich man, who raised up his hands in defeat.
"Hey, don't look at me I'm just trying to be realistic."
"As much as I hate to admit it, the man's got a point." said Lin, standing up form her seat, "Unalaq has an entire army at his disposal. The minute they see us they'll attack without mercy."
"Not to mention the number of dark spirits he could already have at his command." said Zaheer, "We need to have a strategy if we're going to have a fighting chance."
"Wait, I got it!" Bolin raised his hand, suggesting an idea, "I'll disguise myself as one of the southern guards, then I'll distract the rest of the troops with my bird calls, "he placed his hands near both sides of his face and began mimicking bird-like noises, "That will be the single and P'Li can blast the troops with her combustion, Lin can knock em down with her earthbending while Korra gets in through the portal!"
Mako arched an eyebrow, "Bird calls? Really? I'm pretty sure there aren't any birds in the South Pole, Bolin."
"Well, I don't see you offering any suggestions."
"The disguising as a troop idea does have promise." Asami said.
Bolin smiled, "Thank you, Asami." the group diverted its attention from the plans to Korra and P'Li who walked into the room.
The Avatar was now wearing a more water tribe inspired outfit. A dark blue sleeveless top with a high neck hugging collar with white outlines, a fur pelt around her waist, dark blue slim pants and a pair of high snow boots along with a pair of darker blue fingerless gloves that reached up to her shoulder. Her pendant still remained.
"How is she doing?" Tenzin asked the Avatar with great concern.
"Good news, she's still holding on." Korra replied, "Bad news is, we just got a distress signal from the southern troops." the Avatar hung her head in despair. "There's a problem."
(~)
The south pole looked like a barren wasteland of ice and snow. The skies were clouded with darkness with not even the slightest hint of sunlight to be seen. Houses were locked up, the streets were empty without a shred of life anywhere. Evidence of ruthless battles were seen all around, from broken shards of ice to the destroyed areas of houses. Korra had never seen her home this way. She was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt over this, but she quickly shook her head back to her senses. She couldn't allow these negative emotions cloud her mind again. This wasn't about herself, this was about her family and her home. That was all that mattered right now.
Tonraq's eyes widened upon seeing his homeland in such a state. He hadn't been here in so long, and to see it this way was just heartbreaking. He felt his daughter place a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." he replied as he placed his hand over hers. "We'll fix this. You'll see."
The bison flew lower once it spotted the healing hut, safely placed within the walls of the White Lotus compound, away from Unalaq's reign. Katara's eyes widened with relief upon seeing the familiar sky bison soaring through the skies. Oogie landed safely onto the snow just as Naga came to a stop. Korra leaped off of the polar beat-dog's back and rushed to hug her grandmother.
"Gran Gran!"
"I'm so happy you're here!" said the elderly woman as she embraced her eldest granddaughter and wiped away the tears that managed to escape from her eyes.
"Where are Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi?"
Katara's gaze fell as her granddaughter her her steady. The poor woman looked as if she would faint from heartbreak. "Unalaq wiped out the entire resistance. Your aunt and uncle barely escaped with their lives."
Now it was Korra's turn to feel heartbroken. Her aunt and uncle were injured, as were so many others, and it was all because…no. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again.
It was then, Tenzin brought forth Jinora's body, and Katara gasped. "What happened?"
"Her soul is trapped in the spirit world." said Tenzin as he offered his mother the body of his eldest biological daughter.
"Oh my goodness! Now long has she been?"
"Seven days." Korra replied. "A week. I've tried to keep her energy flowing, but I can feel her slipping away. You're the only one who can help her now, Gran Gran."
"Come inside. All of you." the group followed the elderly woman's orders and slid the doors of the hut open.
Korra gasped at the sight before her. She couldn't turn her head without seeing one or two men and woman injured, laying in beds with bandages around nearly every inch of their body. Her very uncle did this to them. She then spotted her aunt and uncle. Kya has her arms wrapped in bandages and Bumi was walking on crunches with his leg in a cast. His left eye was terribly bruised and Kya has cuts on her left cheek. Their weakened faces brightened the moment they saw Korra approach them. They sacrificed their pain for a moment in order to embrace the young Avatar.
"Kido, you're here!" Bumi said as he wrapped his good arm around his niece.
"I'm so sorry!" the teenager weeped, "You're hurt and it's all my-"
"No, sweetie!" Kya interrupted, wiping away the tears from Korra's eyes. "This wasn't you. We agreed to do this, we don't blame you. Nobody does."
"Well, I came back."
Bumi smiled proudly, "You came home."
"And, I'm loving your new hair." Kya said, feeling eth short silvery locks. She then spotted her mother placing Jinora on a healing pool and began to bend the waters around her, making it glow.
"How much longer can she survive like this?" Tenzin asked his mother.
"I don't know. But she's very strong to have lasted this long."
Korra turned back to her aunt and uncle, "Guys, I know you've been through a lot, but you have to tell me everything that's happened."
Kya and Bumi shared the saw concerned glances before Kya responded, "Unalaq has the southern portal surrounded by guards and dark spirits. Every attack we threw at them they came out winning with their new pets."
"The only way you could get through the enemy lines is if you could fly over them and get the higher ground." Bumi said, "Which reminds me of a similar situation once back when I was still in the United Forces. My platoon had crawled through the desert with no water for a week! But when we finally located the only oasis for a hundred miles it was surrounded by angry sandbenders. I realized the only chance to get to the water was to drop in from above. So I fashioned a catapult, and with the help of a few well-trained hog monkeys…"
"Bumi! This isn't one of your old war stories!" Kya exclaimed, already annoyed by her brother's constant jibber jabber. Even when injured Bumi never lost his sense of enthusiasm and charisma.
"Actually, I think he's onto something." Korra said, a smile growing on her face. She had an idea.
(~)
"You sure about this?" Asami asked her childhood best friend as she, and the rest of the group stood outside.
"I am." Korra replied, "We may not have a catapult and hog monkeys but we do have a sky bison and there's a plane on Varrick's ship. Maybe we can attack from above."
"You got all that from your uncle's crazy story?" Bolin said in disbelief.
"He may be eccentric, but he's not without smarts of his own."
"So, what are you thinking?" Tonraq asked.
"Asami can fly the plane with Mako and Bolin. You guys create a distraction, and scatter some of the defenses while me and my dad fly on Oogie when we see and opening." she turned to Lin and P'Li, "P'Li, I know you haven't used your combustion powers in a long time, but we really need them now. Think you can handle it?"
The woman nodded her head, "Of course."
"Hold on! I'm supposed to team up with the combustion lady who tried to kill you when you were a baby?" Lin said in disbelief.
"Unless you'd rather go through the spirit portal with us."
Lin's eyes darted from left to right before replying, "Fine."
"Aright, let's get moving!" Varrick said as he placed his airplane cloths on…surprisingly fast.
"Varrick, maybe you should sit this one out." Korra said, trying her best to sound as sympathetic as possible. This man wasn't exactly a warrior type.
"Hey, it's my plane and I gotta make sure you bring it back in one piece!"
"Alright, fine. Let's move it out!"
(~)
Unalaq sat inside his tent, patiently waiting for Harmonic Convergence to begin. He tried his best to suppress the memory of his brother. He still couldn't believe he was actually alive. Alive, and well. He still had his family…but they had betrayed him. Try as he may he just couldn't ignore the guilt inside his heart.
A figure entered the tent, and looked down at her chief. "Unalaq, you need to get a hold of yourself. Don't forget our mission."
"I know, it's just…"
"No, don't say it. You are stronger than this, I know you are. This is our time to show the world the Red Lotus was right. We will restore true order to the world. You have to remember why we are here!"
Two more figures entered the room, reavealing to be the twins. Yuki immediately scorned upon their arrival.
"What are we still doing here father?" Eska asked her father. While she was normally emotionless and stern, this time she looked more irritated and impatient. She was already sick of staying at the South and wanted nothing more than to go home.
"The invasion was completely successful and the southern tribe s under control." said Desna, not nearly as impatient as his sister, but he wanted to leave just as much as she did. "The spirit portals are open."
"You've restored balance." said Eska. "Now we would like to go home."
"You don't understand." said their father. "Everything I've achieved so far will pale in comparison with what I'm about to accomplish."
The twins were very confused by this. "What else is there?" Desna asked, slowly growing impatient. "The Water Tribe is united."
Unalaq smiled wickedly, "After today there will be no more Water Tribe, no more nations of any kind. The world is about to be transformed into something magnificent, and new. And I will lead this glorious revolution. Now go outside and get the troops ready to defend the spirit portal."
"From whom?" Eska asked. "We've already beaten everyone."
"The Avatar will be here soon. She will have no choice."
(~)
With Asami piloting the plane, and Varrick sitting on the back, Mako and P'Li stood side by side on the left wing of the plane, while Bolin and Lin stood on the right one. Asami gave Tenzin a thumbs up, and the air nomad nodded. The two groups dispersed, ready to take on the northern troops.
Zaheer send his wife a kiss and she returned the gesture. He prayed she would come out safely. He had faith she was strong enough to handle herself.
"You sure you up for this?" Mako asked the combustion woman, who was roughly two feet taller than he was.
"I'm a little rusty, but I've got a lot of pent up rage. After what Unalaq did to these innocent people, I'll do all I can to help stop him."
"You guys ready?!" Asami called out from the cockpit, stirring the plane as the Unalaq's compound came into clear view from down bellow.
Bolin clung on to the wing for his dear life. "You know, I think I much rather prefer the flying white dears!" he shouted, trying to compete with the roaring sound of the rushing winds.
"Don't worry, there's no way they'll be expecting this." Lin replied. They all saw Unalaq's compound coming into view. It looked vaguely similar to the White Lotus compound, minus the tall building, were various tents and huts were placed all around, encircled by a silvery colored wall around it, with a single opening to serve as an entrance of exit, as well as various watchtowers. Spirits encircled the portal to the Spirit World above like moths to a flame. The beam of light shoot straight from the ground up into the sky with no end. Mako's eyes shifted to down bellow, where they saw a large party of Northern Soldiers ready to attack them.
"I think they were expecting it!" Bolin shouted.
The plane flew overhead, where various troops rallied together, bending the snow around them, transforming it into ice shards which they then sent flying at the plane. Asami stirred the plane, managing to dodge the incoming projectiles.
"ASAMI!" Bolin screamed in terror.
"Get ready!" Asami stirred the plane forward, avoiding more projectiles. "Fire!"
Mako began shooting fire blasts down at the compound below, with P'Li taking in a deep breath, her browns narrowing and her eyes widening in fury as the eye symbol on her forehead began to glow. Once she exhaled her breath, a beam shoot right from her third eye directly downwards at the compound, creating a powerful blast that knocked more than twelve troops down on their backs. None of them were injured, but the impact definitely left from damage to their bunkers.
"Guess you still got that spark!" Mako said to the woman, who smiled in return.
The plane made a pass around the compound while avoiding even more projectiles. Bolin and Lin both earthbended the ground bellow in order to knock more of the troops down. Varrick pulled something out of his bag and tossed them to the two.
"Catch!"
The two realized these were explosives, for which they earthbended into the mecha tanks the troops now possessed, which was regrettably thanks to Asami when she was under that rotten to the core spell. Pressing the button of a remote control, Varrick triggered the explosives which blew up the machines down bellow. The man smiled proudly.
"Yeah! I still got that Varrick touch. Take that, Zhu Li!"
(~)
While the group on the plane was distracting the troops, the others on Oogie flew closer to the portal.
"There are spirits everywhere." said Korra, her silvery hair dancing against the winds. "I don't see an opening."
"Let's circle around and see if we can find a way in from the other side." Tenzin suggested.
"That might not be so easy. Look!" Zaheer pointed forward towards the portal, where various dark spirits ceased circling around the portal and instead were making their way towards the group.
Tenzin quickly stirred Oogie closer to the ground, diving away from the spirits, which were now encircling Oogie. Some of which had already managed to attach themselves onto the sky bison, making him roar in anger. Another spirit jumped on, but was quickly airbended away by Korra. Tonraq waterbended the creatures away but they were already attacking themselves more and more around Oogie, who groaned as his body began to feel heavier and heavier.
"The spirits are weighting Oogie down!" Tenzin exclaimed, "We're loosing altitude."
One of the spirits attacked itself to Oogie's tail, and Zaheer began kicking it with his foot. "Get off of him, you creature of darkness!" he shouted right before being tripped by one of the spirits, but managed to grab hold of before falling. The extra weight caused the spirit to let go of the bison and fall to the ground, with Zaheer already entangled in its sticky body and unable to free himself.
Korra and Tonraq leaned over the side of the saddle, watching helplessly as their friend fell down to the ground bellow.
"Zaheer!"
(~)
The troops sent more projectiles at the plane, some of which managed to tear open two holes onto the plane's wings. Mako and P'Li both responded by sending their blasts of fire at the troops, both creating a wave of fire around the compound as the plane took another run. Bolin and Lin bended more explosives down and blew up the rest of the compound.
Bolin cheered in victory, "Oh yeah! That's what you get when you mess with Team Avatar!"
Down bellow, Eska and Desna witnessed the events unfold. The twins slid on the snow, using their waterbending, and unleashed a powerful wave of water which destroyed the tail of the plane, which started to fall out of the sky.
"Brace yourselves!" Asami shouted as she tried to get better control of the plane, which was futile. Varrick hugged her from behind, quivering in fear as the plane made its rough landing. The flying contraption crashed into the snow, catapulting the group off of it and land hard on the snow.
(~)
The sky bison couldn't handle the weight anymore. His body came crashing into the snowy ground with the rest of the ground now laying on the snow, unconscious.
Korra's eyes briefly opened and saw a very faint image of people approaching her. Before she knew it, everything went black.
(~)
A groan escaped her lips as Korra struggled to get herself back up. Her vision was blurry before becoming clear once more. She saw her father tied up to a pole, his head hung in despair, Korra felt a heavy weight on her wrists and saw that she had on a pair of shackles. But these weren't just any shackles. They appeared to be giving a strange purple glow and the silver platting appeared to be rippling like the ocean. She struggled to break free from them and even attempted to create a fire to melt them, but the fire only came out as a tiny flame before vaporizing into mist before her eyes.
"Don't bother." a voice said, making Korra turn her head to see Yuki leaning against the doorway of the tent they were in. Her smug smile made Korra's face red with anger. "Those shackles are embrued with the essence of the dark spirits we captured. Your bending won't save you now."
"So that's how you turned Mako and Asami against me." the Avatar stated, her blue eyes narrowing at the woman, who clapped her hands slowly. "You're using these poor creatures for your own personal gain!"
"Very good, little Avatar. Took you long enough to figure it out."
More groans were heard from behind Korra, where Tonraq and Tenzin were also tied up with the same dark shackles. The ten's tarp was opened and more people were thrown onto the ground before Korra. Mako, Asami, Bolin, P'Li, Lin and Varrick were all captured, shackled and badly beaten. P'Li had a metallic plate on her forehead, which prevented her from making a combustion blast. With the shackles, none of Korra's friends could bend their way out of this.
Mako looked up at the Avatar with hurtful eyes. "We tried." was all he could master to say. The look of defeat in his eyes broke Korra's heart. Another figure entered the tent, revealing to be Unalaq and his two children.
"Congratulations, everyone." the man said to the group, "You've all got front row seats for the beginning of a new world order. My order."
"Uncle, please! You don't know what you're doing." Korra pleaded as a last resort. "Freeing Vaatu won't make you powerful, it will only make you a traitor to everything good that's happened over the last ten thousand years."
"You think what Avatar Wan did was good? Driving almost all the spirits from this world? The Avatar hasn't brought balance, only chaos. You call yourself the bridge between the two worlds but there shouldn't be a bridge: we should live together as one."
"I understand, but you're not really doing this for the world you're doing it for you! You think by becoming a dark avatar you'll finally feel whole again, but you won't. If anything, you'll only be more alone than ever."
"Quiet!" Unalaq shouted, spit flying from his lips and his eyes widening in anger, a vain popped from his neck and his eyebrows twitched as they narrowed. "You're era is over, Raava."
Tonraq looked up at his younger brother with regret, "Think about what you're doing. I know you've always had a connection with the spirits, but you're still only a man. I love you once brother, I don't want to lose you again."
"Enough!" Yuki exclaimed as she stepped forward, "You've said what you had to say. Chief, we have work to do."
"Yes." Unalaq turned to his children before leaving with Yuki, "Keep them locked up. After Harmonic Convergence, I will come for Korra."
"Yes father." Eska said as her father walked out, but grabbed Yuki's arm. "Don't think this changes anything." she said with a scowl at the dark haired girl. "No matter what, you are still-"
"Still what? Your personal chamber maid? That's not what your father thinks." she smiled as she removed her arm away from the princess, "Don't feel too bad about loosing the game, princess…you were never even a player." with that, she walked out, leaving Eska to angrily clench her hands in furry.
"I failed in every way." Tenzin said, his head hunting in sadness. "We've lost Jinora forever."
"There's still a chance." Korra said to her adopted father, "They didn't get Zaheer. He won't allow himself to be captured so easily."
(~)
After the fall, Zahhek managed to kick his way out of being buried in the snow. He looked at his surroundings and saw no trace of the others. He looked up at the sky and saw no bison or plane anywhere in sight. His only theory was that they might have already been captured. He prayed it was only that and not the worse. Now was not the time to be negative.
As he stood up from the snow he spotted something only a few feet away from him. It was a dark spirit, the same one who had fallen with him, its glowing purple body floating before him with its piercing yellow eyes. The man stood his ground, but remained calm.
"Okay, I know we got off on the wrong foot here, but in my defense you did try to kill me and my friends."
The creature shrieked at it aimed towards him, but Zaheer numbly moved aside, allowing the creature to collied into the snow.
"Look, my fight is not with you. Don't you see? You're only feeling this way because of Unalaq. His actions are making you this way." The spirit hissed angrily but Zaheer remained firm. "I'm not afraid of you. Deep down, you know I'm telling you the truth."
But even his attempts proved to be in vain. The dark spirit jumped forward and tackled the man to the ground, opening its mouth to reveal its razor sharp teeth. A drop of sweat fell from Zaheer's brow.
Suddenly, the creature ceased its growling wince it heard what sounded like…chirping. Chirping in perfect melody.
To Zaheer's surprise, one of Korra's dragon bird friends, the pink one, flew on over and was chirping a lovely tune that got the spirit's attention. To Zaheer's surprise, the spirit calmed down and floated away, listing to the bird's chirping singing.
In her own language, Pinkie Pie was singing, "All I really need is a smile, smile, smile! Yes I do. It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam. Yes it always makes my day!"
The spirit's dark body began to change color, from dark purple to a light blue while it bobbed its head to the music.
"Hmm…Looks like we've got ourselves a music lover." Zaheer said as he watched the spirit dance to the dragon bird's song. He had no idea this is what it took for the creature to calm down and cease its animalistic behavior.
Once the song ended, the spirit hugged the dragon bird with glee, which made Pinkie Pie giggle. The heard of paw prints hitting the snow made its way to Zaheer's ears and he spotted not only Naga, but with Pabu and the rest of the dragon birds as well. The man petted the polar bear dog's snout and she licked his face.
"Guess you guys couldn't stay away from the action could you? Alright, let's go get the others."
(~)
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow…"
"As nice as that song is, I grow tired of it." said Eska. She wanted to amuse herself with the prisoners, so she made Varrick sing a song. If he refused, she would threaten him with a ice shard o the throat. "Perhaps you could try something with a little more…bounce to it."
Varrick opened his mouth to sing a familiar jingle, "It's a small world after all!"
"Too bouncy."
"A dream is a wish your heart makes…"
"Too sentimental."
"Let it go, let it go!"
"No! No, anything but that!"
Varrick pouted before coming up with another song, "Heigh Ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go." he whistled a tune before singing the next verse, "Heigh Ho, heigh ho, heigh ho, heigh ho! Heigh ho-oy, what's taking that Zaheer guy so long?"
"He won't be coming fro any of you." said Desna to the group, "We will make sure of that. And even if he did survive, our troops would not show him any mercy."
"Eska, Desna, listen to me." Korra said, looking up at her two cousins. "You've got to help us stop Unalaq. I know he's your father, but Vaatu has made him completely crazy."
"We will never turn on our father." said Eska.
"Not even after Yuki practically stole him from you?" Asami said to the princess in amusement.
"She has not replaced me! I am the Princess of the Water Tribes, and she is nothing more than a filthy street-rat my father took pity on."
"Really, cause she's out there with him plotting to take over the world and you're here keeping an eye on the prisoners. Doesn't seem very fair to me."
"She's got a point." Bolin said, catching wind of what his girlfriend was trying to do. "Pretty sad, actually."
"Silence!" the princess ordered the earthbender, "You will not disrespect me in such a manner!"
"But he's right." Korra said, "Haven't you noticed Unalaq's been paying less and less attention to you? That he's more than willing to sacrifice his own humanity for the sake of his twisted idea of a perfect world? Once he fuses with Vaatu he won't even remember your names. His dark heart will consume him to the point of death. You'll lose him forever, is that what you want?"
For a moment, Eska and Desna were silent. Eska's eyes shimmered as if tears would fall from them. Was this true? Was their father really pushing them away, not only from his plans…but from his own heart? Were these two so blindly following him that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. Eska began to question her decision in still trusting him, but Desna was in complete denial.
The prince walked forward to his cousin, angrily shouting at her. "You don't know what you're talking about! Our father is the wisest man in the world. If he says what he is doing is right, I believe him."
"Is that what your heart is telling you?" Korra asked.
"Yes. It is."
"Well, my heart is telling me you need to wake up. I refuse to leave you two behind."
Desna was speechless upon her words. Just who was this girl and why did she still show love for him and his sister despite what they were doing.
"Just who do you think you are?"
"I'm your cousin. And like it or not, I care about you. That's what my heart is telling me."
"Your heart is foolish."
"How is it any more foolish than yours?"
With that, Desna was silent.
(~)
Zaheer and his companions hid behind the walls of the compound, while soldiers repaired the damage caused by the intruders. One of which walked pass the hiding man, not taking notice of his presence. Moving quickly, Zaheer covered the man's mouth and pulled him to his hiding spot, where he knocked him out cold. With the dragon bird's help, Zaheer placed the uniform on himself, adjusted the hat and walked on ahead. The seven dragon birds hid in his pockets while Naga and Pabu sat and waited for their moment to trike, while also keeping an eye on the unconscious soldier.
Zaheer causally walked into the compound, his eyes scanning the area. Not only was it filled with soldiers but also dark spirits. Dark spirits who hovered around them like guard dogs. His heart broke for the poor creatures, being forced to result to their animalistic behaviors all for the benefit of one cruel hearted man. Taking in a deep breath, he made sure the dragon birds were safe inside until he walked on closer to the spirits. His plan was simple; find the group and set them free without being caught. However, there was one thing he wasn't expecting.
The dark spirits weren't easily fooled by his disguise. Their scent was superior to that of any animal and could sense when there was a threat, in this case, a threat to their dark master. Beyond their own conscious control, the creatures swooped down and circled around Zaheer, snarling and hissing, signaling to the other troops he was an impostor. To make matters worse, one of them yanked his hat right off of his head, revealing his identity to the other troops.
"Intruder!" one them cried out and a group of soldiers ran after Zaheer.
The dragon birds flew out of his pockets and started flying around the soldiers, pecking their heads, scratching their faces and pulling their cloths with great force. Twilight chirped at Zaheer, and since he couldn't understand them the same way Korra or Mako could, he took it as a sign to go after the others. Zaheer complied and did just that.
"Come and get me, fellas!" Sunset Shimmer flew underneath the soldiers, causing them to try and grab her, only to trip themselves over on their rears.
Rainbow Dash flew at top speed, bypassing seven, to ten, to twelve soldiers, tearing apart their cloths with her beak, and cutting them in the process. "Over here!" she called out, which to them sounded more like chirping to the men. They tried to snap the creature away with their waterbending, but Rainbow proved to be too fast for them, not to mention Applejack who managed to make them all trip and fall on their backs by tying rope around their feet.
"Come and get me!" Pinkie Pie flew from place to place, pooping in and out from the men's pockets and, in their attempts to hit her, ended up hitting themselves in the process. The grown men cried out in pain like whining children. Even Rarity managed to yank the fabric from their hats and spin it around, blinding them from attacking.
While the dragon birds were taking care of the guars, Zaheer tried to outrun the dark spirits. Spotting one of the mecha tanks, Zaheer quickly jumped into the cockpit and closed the lid. He scanned the controls, his eyes widening in horror.
"I hate technology." he said to himself, right before one of the dark spirits managed to phase its was into the machine and causing the controls to malfunction, electricity came out and the machine itself started to go haywire. The tanks' tread activated and the mecha tank began to drive into the tents. The soldiers ran and cooked for cover while the machine came charging like mad.
Frantically, Zaheer activated a lever, which fired off a grabbling hood that latched onto the electric tower and the tank began swinging around it, destroying tents as it went as the dragon birds watched in surprise as the tower came crashing down, destroying even more tents and frightening several dark spirits away. Zaheer's hand accidentally touched the ejector lever and the chair from which he sat on was propelled out, with him ridding on it.
The man slid across the snow until reaching the one tent that remained unharmed. Which just so happened to be the tent where the heroes were kept inside. The chair knocked over an unsuspecting Eska and Desna and Zaheer finally managed to take a breather.
"Hey, guys. Miss me?"
"Zaheer!" P'Li exclaimed with great joy, "I knew you'd come for us."
"Ha! Told ya!" Varrick cheered at Lin's face, much to her annoyance, "You own me dinner, Beifong."
"Crud."
The two royal twins stood back up, glaring angrily at Zaheer, only to be knocked down again when Naga came bursting into the tent and knocked out the surprised twins. The polar bear dog came up to Korra and liked her face, making her giggle.
"I missed you too, girl." she said. Zaheer approached her and examined her shackles. "How are you going to break them?" she asked her friend, "They're made out of the same dark essence Yuki used on those poison apples."
"And in both of those cases, an act of true love broke them." Zaheer said with a reassuring smile. "If that's the case, then…" by placing his hands over the shackles, and in a flash they broke apart. One by one, the shackles around everyone broke apart, freeing them at last. Mako created a small flame in his hand. His bending was back as well. Once P'Li was free, she and her husband lovingly embraced.
Varrick literally leaped for joy, "Oh, that feels good! I'm free! I'm free at last!"
Tenzin stepped outside, shocked to see the damage done to the compound as well as the broken tower now crushing several mecha tanks.
"Zaheer, how did you manage to take out this entire encampment on your own?"
"Well, I had some help." right on cue, the dragon birds hovered around Korra, chirping happily.
"We had a great teacher!" said Twilight as she nuzzled Korra's cheek.
Varrick stepped forward, bending his right knee a bit while pointing straight forward with his left hand and having his right hand on his hip, giving a dramatic explore's pose.
"And now, onwards to the spirit portal!" he exclaimed dramatically…only to have Mako walk over and turn his hand in the other direction, mainly right, to which Varrick readjusted his pose to match the new direction.
"Now, onwards to the spirit portal!"
(~)
The group ran as fast as they could to the southern portal, which Korra had opened the last time she was there. They made their way across the forest, which was now practically melted with trees growing leaves on their branches despite it being cold and snowing. Once they made it, Korra turned to face everyone. Standing tall and firm like a true leader should. The light of the portal illumination her body from behind her.
"Alright, we'll split into two groups. Zaheer, Aunt Lin, Varrick and dad will go find Jinora, the rest will take care of Unalaq and Yuki while I close the portal so Vaatu can't escape."
Bolin raised his hand, "Wait, which dad are you talking about?"
Korra turned to her adopted father, who looked at her with worry. "Zaheer will lead you both." she said, "He's been to the spirit world before. Please bring her back safe."
"I will. Just promise me you'll be safe."
"I will." the Avatar hugged her adopted father, "I love you, dad."
"I love you too."
Tonraq couldn't help but smile. Anyone else would feel envious, but he didn't. He had watched this young girl grow up into an amazing young woman her mother would have been proud of. He was grateful to Tenzin for being such a great father and for raising her right. He just hoped he would allow him to be a part of Korra's life as well. He knew he had some issues when it came t letting go, but he knew he was a good man.
Once the hug ended, Tenzin approached Tonraq. For a moment, the two stood there in silence until Tenzin bowed to him in respect. This was his way of saying he would not try and push him away. Even though he was the one who had raised Korra for most of her life, Tonraq was still her father, and he loved her. He wasn't in her life out of selfish reasons, if he could he would have swam a hundred oceans to be with her again if he knew she was still alive. Now that they could make up for lost time, Tenzin swore he wouldn't stand in the way of that.
In a strange way, both men were an important part of Korra's life, and of course…that made them smily.
Touched by his gesture, Tonraq surprised the air nomad with a great big bear hug. He was most definitely Korra's father, wanting to just cut to the chase instead of trying to be too subtle of professional. Tenzin smiled at the gesture, despite it being a bit hard for him to move. Now he knew where Korra got her incredible strength from as well. Once the hug ended, Tonraq patted Tenzin on the back.
"Awww!" Varrick smiled at the scene while hugging Lin, much to her annoyance. She punched the man's gut which caused him to release her.
"Let's go and stop Unalaq." said P'Li, only to be stopped when Bolin spoke again.
"Wait a second." he said to the Avatar, "Worst-case scenario: so we're fighting Unalaq and Yuki, and you close the portal and let's just say something happens to you. Are we going to be trapped in there for eternity?"
Korra once again addressed to the group, "If everything goes as planned, we'll all walk out together after Harmonic Convergence. If not…"
For a moment, she was silent. She didn't know how to finish that last sentence. Realistically speaking, anything could happen. There was no guarantee if they would make it out alive or not. But, she knew she couldn't let that fear of the unknown keep them from fighting. She took in a deep breath before finally speaking again.
"Let's go."
One by one, the group entered the portal, ready to face the final battle. Once inside, Lin, Tenzin and Varrick were astonished to see the spirit world for the first time. It wasn't as beautiful as they had expected it to be, and they knew why. The location looked like a wasteland with stones and a flat surface with the two portals facing in the opposite direction. In the very center, was the tree of time itself, and where Unalaq and Yuki stood with several dark spirits. With a wave of his hand, the creatures flew off to attack the group.
Korra quickly turned to Tenzin, "Go find Jinora!" she said. Tenzin nodded his head and left with Lin and Varrick and Zaheer leading the way. Korra immediately entered the Avatar State and dashed forward, unleashing a wave of air at the creatures, who were all rebuffed by the attack. Unalaq leaped off the shadow he was on and started waterbending at the young girl.
Tonraq ran forward and began countering his brother's attacks with his own waterbending. Yuki then began earthbending the ground, levitating various chances of earth and hurled them at the group, only for Bolin to counter her attacks with his own by lifting up rocks and hurling them at the girl. Mako ran forwards and started firebending at her. P'Li inhaled and created a combustion blast to knock both Unalaq and Yuki off of their feet and slide backwards on the ground.
"Give it up!" the combustion woman said, standing before them, "You're out numbered."
Seeing her chance, Korra rushed towards the portal, placing her hands onto the surface of its light and entered the Avatar state, both her eyes and hair were glowing brightly. She grunted as she tried to close the portal, but for some reason she couldn't do it. It felt as if something was blocking her from finishing the job. As much as she hatted to admit it, she knew why.
Asami saw her chance and leaped forward, doing a flying jump kick at Yuki right on her stomach. "That was for making me evil!"
She stood up once more and bended a rock from underneath the heiress, who summersaulted out of the way. Yuki placed both her hands onto the ground, clenching her fists when the group suddenly felt the ground shake. The earth bellow them began to crack and open, revealing a bright red color followed by a sense of heat. They ran out of the way just as the ground shifted, the rocks turning black as coal as the unmistakable color and heat of magma formed before their very eyes, creating a river which separated them from Yuki herself. The girl looked up at them, her eyes sparkling with wicked glee.
Bolin's jaw dropped. "No way, she can lavabend! That's awesome…ly not good for us."
"Like father like daughter." said the dark haired girl before rising her fists up and sending streams of lava at the group, from which Bolin shielded them with his own boulder, but even that wasn't strong enough to hold Yuki off for much longer.
Korra tried as hard as she could to close the portal, but her attempts remained in vain. From the tree, she could hear the dark spirit speaking. Taunting her with his voice. "You're running out of time, sister. I know you feel it coming."
Sadly, he was right. Harmonic Convergence was approaching and there was nothing Korra could do to stop it. From space, the planets aligned and the portal released a pulse of energy, knocking Korra backwards and away form the portal itself. The two portals released bright golden lighting before bending over, the tips colliding with one another, releasing a powerful shock wave all across the globe and a powerful energy spread across the entire planet, wrapping it in a blanket of purple energy. From Republic City, Pema and her children could see the sky turning an abnormal color of green, blue and purple. The moon and stars had disappeared, then source of light now were the green iridescent light that resembled the northern lights. They looked like something from another world.
The two portals released more lightning that hit the tree of time. From inside, Vaatu screamed in agony at the immense power coursing through him. The opening of the tree started to crack like pieces of a broken mirror, releasing beams of purple energy from within. Eska and Desna entered through the portal and witnessed the events unfold before their eyes. In a blast, the shards of the opening broke apart, the group shielding themselves from the impact until something emerged from the tree itself.
The creature was larger than anything they had ever seen, with a body as black as night, markings around his body that resembled the color of blood, and long octopus like appendages moving all around as if he were underwater.
The spirit of darkness was free at last.
Unalaq tossed his brother aside and approached the horrifying beast, bowing before it. "Vaatu, great spirit of darkness, you are now free!"
"Yes, I am. All thanks to you, Unalaq."
"Now, we can restore the world as it once was."
"Indeed. But, in order for me to do so, I will need a new body. One with a heart as dark as mine."
"Then so be it, great one." Unalaq extended his arms, ready for the dark spirit to merge with him. Korra quickly got up, preparing to attack once the dark spirit came swooping down, only it flew right pass Unalaq, surprising him.
"What? What are you doing?!"
"I said I need a heart as dark as mine." Vaatu said, "One who has not shown any mercy towards anyone, even her allies."
"Her?"
Using his appendages, Vaatu slapped the heroes out of his way, causing them to roll onto the ground, including Korra. The only one he didn't knock over was Yuki. The woman looked at the creature with horror in her eyes.
"What…what do you want with me?" she asked, "Unalaq was the one who freed you!"
"Yes, but his heart still carries hope in his heart. You, on the other hand…are perfect."
"What?! No!" Yuki ran away as fast as she could, away from the creature. This wasn't what she had planned. She didn't want the power, she only wanted to free the world. She wanted Unaalq to succeeded where her parents didn't. She wanted a parent she could be proud of. It was this selfishness, this greed, this lust, it was like a meal for Vaatu.
Yuki screamed in terror as the creature wrapped its coils around her, lifting her upwards. As she screamed, Unalaq took the opportunity to release a purple smoke from the center of the markings of his face, which then began to sink into Yuki's mouth, slowly silencing her screaming as her mouth hung open, allowing the smoke to enter her mouth. Her eyes began to glow purple and blood red markings began to form around her face. Slowly, Vaatu's form began to disappear into a patch of red smoke, which wrapped around Yuki's body, enwrapping her in a red cocoon. Her hair was lifted upwards as the smoke rapidly circled around her before merging with her body. She now hovered above everyone, her body emitting a sinister red glow, her clothing now replaced with a full body black dress with a high collar around her neck. The dress was cut to the side, exposing her leg, and revealing she was wearing blood red long slim pants and a pair of black high heel shoes on her feet. Vaatu's markings were spread across her arms and bare back. Once she opened her eyes, which glowed a sinister red along with her markings.
Unalaq only watched in horror and confusion. The girl he had raised like a daughter was the one Vaatu had chosen as his new vessel. His ambassador for the new world order. None of them were expecting this, not even Yuki. The fear she once had was gone. She could feel the incredible power coursing through her. How could she had not seen this before. The now posed woman released a sinister laughter as she looked down upon the mortals bellow.
"You pitiful, insignificant fools!" she spoke in the most menacing voice they had ever heard. It was a combination of both her own and Vaatu's. Her left hand glowed brightly before releasing a powerful ray of dark energy at the group, who quickly ran out of the way.
"Now I shall rule all of creation! The earth and all of its inhabitants shall bow to my power!"
Yuki emitted a powerful burst of energy from her body, creating a powerful stormy wind all around the group. Unalaq struggled to stand up, only to be knocked down by Yuki herself with a powerful blast. Tonraq rushed to his brother, shielding him from the creature as if he were an infant once more. Korra tried to stand her gourds but found the winds far too powerful for evener herself. Her hair glowing brighter than before. Bolin held Asami close while P'Li shielded them from the impact and Mako rushed to Korra, keeping her steady.
Two dark spirits were suddenly overpowers by Yuki's strength before tossing both creatures at the twins, Eska and Desna. The two tried to run away, but the dark spirits managed to stuck themselves to the twins, suddenly merging with their skin before merging their bodies together. The now conjoined twins began to grow in size, growing a large scaly body with talons, a long tail and two extra long necks. Finally, their faces emerged, which were reptilian in nature, with the twins faces still present in details, with their hair still present and their eyes now in slits like that of a snake.
Unalaq watched helplessly in hour upon seeing his children turning into monsters right before his eyes. As the group watched the now hydra turned twins and the wicked Yuki embracing her dark powers, with an army of dark spirits behind her, Unalaq shed a single tear.
What had he done?
(~)