Ch 2 A leaf on the wind
"Good afternoon. My name is chief Beifong." Lin said.
"Khan."
"You're in a lot of trouble here." Lin said.
"For what? Defending my life? Killing criminals? When they approached me, everyone scattered. That tipped me off. No one should run away from a group of people, unless they knew that something was going to go down. It was in self-defense." Khan said.
Khan only smiled, as Lin seethed in anger, knowing he was right. She couldn't charge him with anything. No buildings were destroyed.
"Chief." Khan said patronizingly. "Are you going to punch me again over and over until your arm weakens? Clearly you want to."
Lin felt a shiver go up her spine. Who was this guy? Lin ran thru her options. There was no options for her to use.
"I'll give an offer." Khan said, catching her off guard.
"I'm listening." Lin said, intrigued. What could he offer?
"I have twice your strength, 5 times your endurance, triple your intelligence. I'm genetically engineered to lead others to peace in a world at war. I can offer my services. In exchange, all charges, if any, are to be dropped." Khan said.
"Okay. Seeing as you got nothing to gain, and a lot to lose. I'll take it. But you mess up, and you'll be back in the slammer." Lin said.
"Thanks. I'll release myself." Khan said, before breaking the cuffs, and tossing the table aside. He quickly advanced on Lin, who was rightfully scared.
Khan looked at her, from head to toe. Lin felt uncomfortable, like he was lusting over her. But Khan was doing something else. He was eyeballing her for any weapons. Or keys. Khan noticed a key, and took it.
"Next time, hide them inside the armor." Khan said, before opening the door.
As Khan left the station, Lin called him.
"Khan!" she said.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I have a mission for you." Lin said.
"Lay it on me." Khan said.
"You won't like it." Lin said.
"I'm a superhuman. Super-soldier in some ways. I can handle anything anyone throws at me." Khan said.
"Okay. I want you to watch over the Avatar." Lin said.
"The what?" Khan asked.
"Remember that girl who was brought in with you?" Lin asked.
"Yeah." Khan said.
"That's her." Lin said.
"What's this Avatar?" Khan asked.
"Long story short. There are people who can bend. Bending is controlling the elements. Water, fire, earth, and air. There are certain sub-elements skilled and powerful benders can control, such as metal for earth, and lighting for fire. The Avatar is a sole individual who can control all four elements at once. No-one else can." Lin said.
"So you want me to babysit a child?" Khan asked, incredulous.
"Told you wouldn't like it." Lin said.
"I'd rather be on the frontlines against whatever the police is facing. You have a library here?" Khan asked.
"We have a library in the station, yes. We also have another library in town. Here's the address." Lin said, scribbling numbers on a piece of paper, and handing it to Khan.
"Thanks, Chief." Khan said.
Khan spent hours in the library doing critical research. Mostly political, and also the main companies that ran each country. He gathered that the fire nation, and the united republic were the super-powers of this world. Strong economic and military strength. The water tribes were weak compared to those two, thanks to their geographical location. The earth kingdom, despite its massive size, was extremely weak compared to the fire nation and the united republic. Its economy was in shambles and the country was slowly being torn apart. Gathering as much Intel as he could on the leaders, he recognized that the queen was a weak and ineffective leader compared to the rest of the world's leaders.
Glad for all the information at his disposal, he left the library, and noticed it was dark. He headed back towards the station, to find Lin. He walked thru the station, walking fast. He ran into Lin, literally, sending both of them tumbling on the ground.
"Khan. What are you doing?" Lin asked, pushing him off.
"Where's the Avatar?" Khan asked.
"What?" Lin asked.
"Korra. Where is she staying?"
"Air Temple Island."
Khan headed towards the island, swimming hard against the current getting to the temple. He searched the island, running into Tenzin.
"Ooof!" Tenzin said, running into Khan.
"Where's Korra?" Khan asked.
"She's here on the island. She's going to learn airbending. Who are you?" Tenzin asked.
"Name's Khan. I've been assigned by Chief Beifong to watch over Korra. Don't know why. But it's either this, or get thrown into prison." Khan said.
"How long will you stay here?" Tenzin asked.
"I don't know. Hopefully not long." Khan said.
Next morning, Korra was training for her airbending. And she hated it. After the mindless meditating, was the dreaded airbending gates.
"What's that contraption?" Korra asked.
As Tenzin and his kids explained the gates to Korra, Khan watched them. And he watched Korra fail getting thru the gates, twice.
"Let me try." Khan said, stepping up to it.
Meelo airbended at the gates, causing them to move erratically. Khan took a breath, made a quick calculation and went into the gates. Thanks to his superhuman ability, and increased hand-eye coordination, he went thru the gates like it was nothing, surprising everyone, including Tenzin.
"I never seen anyone go thru those gates that fast." Tenzin said.
"Just comes naturally." Khan said, before leaving. He didn't want to attract too much attention to himself.
Later, Khan was going into town to get some food. He heard someone yelling some Equalist program.
Funny. Me and my augments tried the same thing back on earth. Didn't work. Not at all. But he better shut the hell up. It's getting on my nerves. Khan thought.
Khan approached the man, and grabbed a flier. It showed a man wearing a mask, and the paper said something about Amon. Khan turned the paper over, and noticed a street marking. Curious, he grabbed more papers, and put them together. The papers were a map, and one location was highlighted.
Khan ran towards said location, and found a large building. He walked inside, seeing no-one. That was surprising. Why would these equalists say 'come to this building for a meeting' and not have anyone prepare it? Khan looked at the paper again, and resisted the urge to slap himself. The meeting wasn't held today, but in some other day.
Sighing, Khan headed into town and mused about his situation. He had no augments, no friends, no family, and now riding the knife's edge. Sure, he was a superhuman, but he was also pragmatic. It didn't fit his interests to be the world's enemy at the moment. He considered siding with the equalists, and using them as his army to take over the city, then the world. But, this movement was in its infancy. And besides, he was ordered to watch over Korra.
Khan growled. It was just like Marcus. And Marcus died at his hands. He could do the same thing to Lin. And get the entire police and military on his ass. And if he ran to another country, their authorities will be alerted as well. The best course of action, is to follow the chief's orders and stay low. Besides, if no-one was going to find him, might as well try and live a life of peace.
Khan snorted at that last thought, but was open to the possibility, considering where he was at the moment, he had nothing to lose, and a lot to gain.
Next morning proved eventful.
"I think I'm doing it wrong." Korra said to Tenzin, as she tried to meditate.
"There's nothing to do. Just let your mind be at peace. Air is the element of freedom." Tenzin said.
"Freedom, my ass." Korra sarcastically said.
"Your master is right." Khan said, walking up to them.
"What do you know?" Korra asked.
"You want to be the Avatar, you need to open your mind. If you can't calm down in peaceful meditation, how are you supposed to be focused when someone's trying to kill you?" Khan asked.
"I'll kick your ass!" Korra shouted, getting up.
"We fight in the courtyard." Khan said, before jumping off the balcony.
"How can he survive that?" Korra asked, seeing Khan jump several feet and land on the hard stone.
Korra walked to the courtyard and faced Khan. Korra launched an attack of fire bending, only for Khan to quickly sidestep it. Khan ran forward and punched Korra, only to punch a wall of earth. Nevertheless, Khan broke thru the barrier and continued advancing.
Korra backed away, still fire bending at Khan. Khan quickly grabbed Korra, and threw her across the island, like a rag doll.
"What was that for?" Tenzin shouted, approaching Khan.
"Combat. She lost. If I wanted to, she'd be dead right now." Khan said.
Night came, and Korra was long gone from the temple.
"Where's Korra?" Khan asked.
"She's at the pro-bending arena!" Tenzin said, frustrated.
Khan jumped into the water, and swam towards the arena.
"Seriously. Who are you?" Tenzin muttered, watching Khan swim towards the arena.
At the arena, the round wasn't going so good. The Fire Ferrets were on the edge, about to lose. Korra was thrown into the water, and when she got to the shore, she saw Tenzin, and Khan.
"Hey guys." She said, nervous.
Khan simply grabbed her by the hair, and lifted her out of the water.
"That hurts!" Korra said.
"That's nothing." Khan said.
Korra and Tenzin argued about whether she should learn airbending or learn combat, although Khan agreed with combat.
"I'm finishing this round." Korra declared, getting up to the pro-bending field.
"That girl. I can't believe her." Tenzin said.
"Can you blame her? If she wants to learn combat, she'll learn it." Khan said.
"I won't let her." Tenzin said.
"That's stupid. She'll leave the temple, and find another place to live. Maybe here." Khan said.
"Yeah. And you'll teach her combat." Tenzin sarcastically said.
"If that's true, she'll be lethal like none other. You get the newspapers?" Khan asked.
"Yeah. I do." Tenzin said.
"You should look up the part about the police. Should mention what I did to those triads." Khan said, smirking.
"You enjoy it, don't you?" Tenzin said, as he and Khan noticed Korra dodging the incoming fire from the other team.
Tenzin only smiled in pride, as his student was using air-bending techniques to stay on foot. Korra and her teammates knocked out the other team, guaranteeing them the win.
"Impressive." Khan said.
"Indeed." Tenzin said.
Later, Korra apologized to Tenzin about her behavior.
"I'm sorry about everything I said. I was really frustrated with myself, and I took it out on you." Korra said.
"I owe you an apology too. I was trying to teach you patience, but I lost mine." Tenzin said in return.
"No hard feelings?" Korra asked.
"Of course not. You were really good out there. You were moving just like an airbender." Tenzin said.
"You watched?" Korra asked, surprised.
"Yes. Pro-bending proved to be the right tool for you." Tenzin said.
"I'll see you tomorrow for airbending practice, bright and early! And, by the way, I kinda permanently joined the Fire Ferrets and we're playing in the tournament in a couple of weeks!" Korra said.
Tenzin sighed in annoyance.