*Maven: someone who excels at their skill, much to the jealousy of others.
Note: more POV, Like Lin's and Korra's and Asami's in next chapter.
{Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead...}
The bolt to the door opened with a squelching echo, omitting the smell of freshly sharpened steel, and the bitter scent of sweat into his nostrils. The sadistic smile on his lips was met with much admiration of the same foulness from his comrades.
"Sir," one man said, whose hair was tipped red, ear lobes hanging low from the network of rings he had pierced in them, "It is good to see you again. It was getting almost dreary here without you. Made any good kills lately?"
"Ahh," he grunted, "that I have, Maven * and gave a good scare to the so-called police in this piss-can of a city. They're playing by my rules now, whether they like it or not."
Maven laughed, grinding his sword against his sharpener, to which sparks crackled, "Oh, Abdicator, at this rate, we'll have the Avatar begging us to stop. And what's her little friend's name, good ol' number twelve?"
The Abdicator swung his chair around, and propped his blood-stained boots up on the table. He clucked his tongue, and called his servant to get him a drink, "My dear Maven, all in due time. We must be patient. Revenge is a dish best served cold, you know." he picked at the dried blood under his fingernails, absent-mindedly, "We cannot simply kill all those little abominations off in a day; we must let the fear and paranoia brew for a bit. Then we shall have them all at our mercy, including the Avatar. But," his eyes shown bright, "Especially Twelve. I'm saving my most powerful prize for last. If I wanted him dead, I would've killed him a long time ago."
Maven's eyes gleamed with admiration. He swung his sword back and forth to test it out. "You talk of this boy as if he is a maven out of all the abominations. Is he really that powerful?" Then, with one clean move, he let it soar through the air, to the target on the wall. The razor-like tip seared the very center of the bull's-eye.
"He is," said The Abdicator, "He possesses abilities he does not even know of yet. The Spirits tell me all and everything of these children. It is my responsibility to dispose of the ones who will be weak, and keep the ones who will thrive. War is coming, Maven. A war that will change the fate of the world as we know it. If we play our cards right, my little Twelve can help me. If I can get him to unleash the power inside him, it will make him unstoppable. And he will help me, whether he likes it or not," he smiled, and chugged back his drink as soon as it was handed to him, "I will leave him no other choice."
The newspapers screamed danger, and people cowered in fear. A child serial killer on the loose spreads quick threw out a city such as Republic. Lock your door, close your windows.
People on sidewalks held signs screaming "The Abominations must be stopped!" as if these children were monsters and didn't have families.
Something bad was coming, something very bad...
Mako tore down the streets on his bike, the house of the Sixth Victim on the List, coming closer as he turned the corner.
By what his brother saw, this child, and this family were about to be broken beyond repair if he didn't get the child to a safe place. As Mako parked his bike, he checked the List again, just to make sure.
Kuzon; male, 11, Fire Nation. Ability; Telepathy.
Mako sighed, and stuffed the List back in his pocket. Capture bad guys? Sure, he could do that. But tell an otherwise happy family that their super-powered son was a target of a serial killer? He could already hear their cries and accusations.
Mako ran a hand through his hair and put on a brave face. He stepped up to the door and knocked.
Once.
Twice.
"Hello? Anyone home? This is the Police!" Good job, Mako. That'll make them more eager to open up.
"Excuse me? Mr. and Mrs-" he looked at the List again for the last name, "-Lau...? This is Detective Mako. I'd like you to please open up!" Spirits, Mako could already feel himself sweating.
He waited another minute, with not even a sound to show signs of life from inside. He checked inside the windows, but no movement was seen. Their car was in the driveway, so they were home. And rich- not that that mattered. Mako vaguely wondered if they had gotten a lawyer to keep the press and Cops away.
Maybe this was the wrong house, the bitter thought crossed his mind. Maybe the monster was trying to mess with them. Maybe-
No. He was a Detective. This was his job. He was going to protect these people.
But, somehow, in the back of his mind, Mako always knew that this part of it all would come with the job; the giving-families-bad-news-parts. He couldn't let Bolin come with him, his brother was going through enough pain already. But as Mako held up his foot, ready to kick the door in, he remembered his old resentment for cops and people like him from his freshly-orphaned days, and it gnawed at his insides. He remembered Metalbenders kicking down the door to their parents' apartment when and very scared eight and six-year old him and Bolin wouldn't answer. How they both very well knew mom-and-dad-were-dead, but the cops just had to ask them questions and repeat the horrible truth. How big men in shiny, metal suits had come and dragged them away, kicking and screaming, from their home against their will.
And Mako knew he most likely was going to have to do just that to this family.
He swallowed a lump in his throat, and brought his foot down-hard-against the door frame.
A scream immediately met his ears, followed by the remains of wood and metal bits splintering onto the floor. What he saw, was not what he had expected.
Two adults-Mr. and Mrs. Lau- were huddled in the corner of the living room, with their son. The lights were all turned off, shadows casting shapes onto their scared faces.
"Please," the father said, daring to look up, "just leave us alone."
"Sir, I'm Detective Mako, and I'm here to help you." Mako inched closer, holding up his hands, his badge in clear sight. "If you will only allow me to talk to you, I can-"
"No!" Mrs. Lau yelled, "All you people want is to take our son away from us! We won't let you!"
"Ma'am, please." Mako bent down to their positions, "Kuzon is in danger. I have a List right here that says-"
"-A list. Right." the man practically breathed fire, "And does that 'list' give you permition to take away our son?"
Mako sighed. Agni, he wasn't cut out for family services. The need for Bolin was slowly growing. Maybe Bolin could convince them. Do his little mind-connection thingy and show them the real threat they were under. But he wasn't. So it was all up to Mako for now.
"Not exactly," he tried. "But your son's ability does put him at risk as the killer's next victim. See," Mako held the List up to them," He's marked as 'Number Seven', right here. I am friends with the Avatar; we can take him someplace safe."
The scoff that came from the father's lips filled Mako with anger, "Our Kuzon is perfectly normal. He doesn't have any 'freaky ability' that you speak of, Detective. If you're so worried about these child-abominations, maybe it's your own brother you should be 'protecting.'"
If Mako wasn't on duty, he might have just burnt the man's mustache off.
"Our Kuzon is special, yes." Mrs Lau said softly, "But he can not do what you are referring to."
"With all due respect, Ma'am," Mako forced his voice to be polite,"Why don't we let Kuzon speak for himself?" He turned to the fearful-looking boy, "Hey, buddy. I'm here to help. Your telepathy?" Mako pointed to his head, "I know you believe me, I know you can hear my thoughts. My brother can help you, too. He knows what you're going through. Just look into my head, and see."
"Kuzon is mute. He has never been able to speak." Mr. Lau's voice was protective like a force Mako only remembered from long ago. "He cannot 'read your thoughts' nor would he want to."
But Kuzon just flicked his eyes back and forth, looking at Mako. And Mako knew they were lying. He believed with his whole heart in Bolin that he was right about these kids, and he was willing to face angry parents, to save this boy.
Mako went with no mercy.
"I beg to differ, sir. If you love your son as much I believe you do, you'll do I say and let us take him under our care. Kuzon is going to be killed, just like all those other kids, if you don't let me take him. The Avatar and Cheif Beifong will have him under the most safest-"
"-Get out."
Mako swallowed flame, and focused his last effort on the boy in question, "Kuzon, please. Look into my head. Do something, anything with your gift. Show me that you believe me; show me a picture in my mind or something." Mako held out his hand, "At least take my hand, and come with me. You'll be safe, I promise."
And Mako swore that those shaking hands moved just a tiny but towered his own.
"Sir, I am ordering you to-
"-Kuzon? C'mon, little man..."
Just as the boy's hand nearly grasped his gloved one, Mako felt something hot meet his shoulder as he was pushed back.
Mr. Lau's eyes blazed nearly as bright at his fire that glowed from his hands. "I said, leave our house now! You and your kind, get out! Or I'll have a restraining order on you, and you put in court by this afternoon, mark my words!"
And Mako was left helpless. As much as he tried to help, in the end, if the family was unwilling...by law he had to leave.
"Don't make me call my lawyer."
Mako made one last effort. He locked eyes with Kuzon's, and Mako saw more in those eyes, heard more in those unspoken lips than he thought anyone ever could.
Mako cleared his throat, the back of his eyes stinging. "Very well. Good day."
He was pushed outside the now-broken threshold, before he even got off the porch.
As Mako trudged down the steps with defeat on his shoulders, he caught movement by the window at the corner of his eye. The big, red, curtain was pushed aside, Kuzon's sad face looking at him through the glass.
Like a voice standing right beside him, clear his day he heard it. Three simple words in his head.
I'm sorry, sir.
Then the mother came, eyes dark and angry like a bird of prey, and pulled him away from the window.
Mako felt tears the whole long ride home.
"I'm sorry, too, Kuzon."
They're endless, stretching beyond the horizon and spreading around Bolin like forever. They five of them- they heave and moan, frothing over each other, cresting and falling, making themselves known only to him, calling out his name. The pure depth and vastness of it all is beyond his comprehension, his eyes unable to focus on any individual in the blurred present when they creep along. Instead, he's drowned in their needs, their feelings (or lack thereof), pulled to them like a force. Their forms ripple and swell, their touch ice-cold, and marking their suffering on his body. Sometimes they are slow and steady, one, two, three, four, five like the ocean. And sometimes they crash onto him all at once, like a tidal wave, so overwhelming he wants to scream. They pull him and pull him, like the dead-tossed waves.
Bolin tries everything he can to get rid of the visions. And to make them go away. To make them, the five- no, now six- of them, stop whispering in his mind, popping up in corners, hiding in the mirrors. He can see them, and they know it. He at first trains himself exhausted; doing push ups and sits up, and crunches till day break, but that only served to make him more tired, and led him to wake up more than once on the kitchen floor in the morning with Mako hovering over him, concerned. He ate and ate until he got sick all over the floor and had to clean it up. He tried meditating, but his mind in that supposedly calm state, only made it easier for them to get to him. And they are one, two, three, four, five, six, their bones all intact, but shiny, blood blooming at the joints where they weren't intact before, and they all ask him to play, play, please, play, Bolin, before your turn is up. He shakes his head at them, and runs and hides, but they keep coming.
A vision crashes onto to him one day when he is in the middle of the damn cross walk. He's coming from somewhere unimportant, going to somewhere else far more unimportant, an it's his turn to walk, to mingle into the crowd like an ant in an ant farm, trying to be a normal person. His eyes slide into the back of their sockets, white static all around him, and he's Number Seven; her little body getting crushed under the fire-hot tires of a Satomile which he delicately created himself; her limbs tied down as he rolls over her again and again, ( like waves, like the dead-tossed waves) like he's trying to get mud off the bottom of his shoe. Her bones crack and the monster laughs, and a car honks, with an angry yell to get out of the damn road, kid, and Bolin blinks, people staring at him, and its all he can do to keep from passing out then and there. Instead of going to Mako's, or Korra, or Asami's like he knows he should do, he holds his aching bones in his arms to his chest, willing the feeling away, all the while going in the opposite direction.
He finds himself in the back alleys of one of his childhood torments; knocking on the dirty, cement door of the Triple Threat's HQ. Shin lets him in after he makes it clear he's not here for any trouble, or busting them. He asks, -no begs- for a pack of cigarettes. The strongest kind you have, the desperation in his voice is pathetic. Shin and them all laugh, then stare at him when they find he doesn't change his posture. Wait...your serious, kid? Bolin, not that I'm one to get all up in other's shit, but what's eating you?
Please, he holds out his wallet, I'll pay the full price.
They chew their gums, considering the odds, and sins are exchanged between sweaty hands.
In the end, he leaves with two packs of the 'blackest stuff they got' and his lungs filled with ash.
He knows( feels) the exact moment when she- Number Seven- Vatani, 13, Water Tribe- washes up on the shores of Yue Bay the next morning (found dead in the Element that used to give her life) before the Police are even notified. He makes a vague comment to Mako that he should 'get ready to head down to the bay' and leaves it at that, when a half hour later Lin calls their phone describing the disturbance found down on the shore.
Mako gives him this sad look, as he ducks back in his room.
'Seven' is supposed to be a lucky number. Bolin just thinks she's lucky enough to be fully intact.
.
The cigarettes help. Their voices can't reach through the fog, their forms blurring and fading when met with the hot, wispy smoke. He laughs at them, laughs and laughs, blowing out puffs of white at them from his lungs (Like a firebender, see! I'm cheating now aren't I?) and then feels sorry because he thinks he should be helping them ( Maybe I just can't turn my back on people, when they're down!) But he reminds himself that they aren't people, not anymore. And they are already in the dirt, six feet under, so how more far down can they go?
It's not until his present arrives does he find out that he is very bad at cheating.
They are all at the Island trying to stay sane-and that means eating, and smiling, and watching the air kids run and play in the courtyard. The annoying guy with the squeaky voice comes up to the stairs that they are sitting on, holding a big package and announcing "Package! Package for Mr. Bolin!"
His first thought is how of does the person who sent this to him, know he is on the Island, and not at home, or wherever? He doesn't verbally ask this, and neither do his friends or brother, but he can tell by the looks on their faces that it has passed through their minds.
"What is it?" his voice sounds raspy, and he has to clear his throat to ask, "Who's it from?"
The little man shrugs, "I was just told to bring this to you, and was told that the Avatar and her friends were on the Island."
"That's not weird at all," Mako comments, speaking for the group. Bolin takes the package with trembling fingers.
They all go inside and place the gift on the table. There is a card pinned to the front; Bolin rips it off, and reads it out loud;
Dear, Bolin,
I hope you find this of great use. Just had a certain 'feeling' it would make you see things differently between us.
"Oookkaayyy..." Korra raises an eyebrow. "Is there a certain someone you're not telling us about, Bolin? I mean, you know, someone- alive? 'Cause either I'd love to meet her, or this just got even more creepy."
"Um, no." the words leave his lips like salt, "No, I'd totally tell you if I was seeing someone- I mean, if I had a girlfriend. Um..."
His shaking fingers unwrap the paper, and as soon as his fingers meet the outside of the box, a surge of pain and sadness hits him full-force. He makes a choking sound as his finger hooks under the flap of the box, ripping off the tape, and then the other side. He crunches wrapping paper away with one swift move- and he doesn't know who screams first, or if it's all of them at once.
The corpse's head is yellow and shiny. The softness he felt- that was his hair, all mused with dirt. But the eyes, they are like glass balls, the gray in them sharpened to pin points, staring back at him, but unseeing.
The characters of the words ' For Dear Number Twelve' are written on each of his teeth, in red.
"Son of a-" Mako unleashes a load of curses that Bolin has not heard of in years, and pulls him back and away from the thing. Asami has since not stopped screaming, her high-pitched sobs too loud in his ringing ears. He notices Korra, her tan skin looking green, greener than the mold that Mako used to pick from their bread, and her feet run down the hall, her voice yelling, "Tenzin?! Get in here, now!"
He tries to get closer to the head, to see who it is, but Mako just holds him tighter, pulling him away, easy, Bo. He can feel Mako's heart pumping through his shirt, his arms too tight around him, and he doesn't understand. What was everyone so afraid of?
"Why is everyone so scared?" he hears his voice say, and he doesn't recognize it at all. It's too, high, too-unfazed. "Why is everyone so upset, Mako?" he asks, and Mako looks down at him, eyes incredulous.
"It's only Kuzon." he says, "He's just playing with me,"
And then he vomits all over the floor.
P.S.
The Abdicator makes the Laws, he shall be The Judge,
The List knows all, so shall be Marked
If any child goes against, they shall pay with blood.
Twelve shall come to pass, and be the Sinner of this Mass
Mako catches him in the act, two days later. (Bolin's not really surprised. He's coughing all the time, his lungs feeling like tar, and can't sit still for more than a half hour at a time before making up some excuse to leave their watchful eyes, and coming back smelling like smoke.)
He's just finished lighting his second one that morning, and the butt is nested in between his two fingers. He's breathing out a choke of white, and smiling at how they all run away. Mako should be happy that he's happy, he thinks. He hasn't had a vision or freak out since he started, and it's Spirit-damned wonderful. Maybe he can live long enough to get away, far away.
He's bringing the blackened butt back to his lips, in the middle of a deep inhale, when someone grabs his shoulders, gruffly.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
He blows out a smoky sigh right in his face, to which his golden eyes blaze. "What the hell does it look like I'm doing?"
Mako practically yanks the thing from his hand, and melts it in his heated grasp. He doesn't really care; he has two other packs.
His brother glares. "Do you want to get sick, Bolin?"
"Do you want a normal brother, Mako?" he counters, raising his brow, and pushes out the rest of the smoke from his lips. He smiles; no goons in sight. Yes, sleep tight, sleep tight.
"Bo..." he hears Mako sigh, and his fingers run through his spiky hair, "Look, I understand why you're doing this, okay? I get it. Things right now are horrifying and freakin' suck. But you know this isn't healthy for you, and it's just going to make things worse."
Despite himself, he laughs. He laughs harsh and bitterly, and Mako blinks.
"...Why are you laughing?"
"Because you don't understand anything. You think you do, but you don't. Smoking makes everything better; I haven't felt this good since before I ever got these fucking visions. They make them go away- disapeer. You should be happy, too."
Mako opens his mouth, then closes it. Bolin practically sees his brother trying to work this out in his head, going over the best possible answer.
The Firebender pinches his nose. "Okay, first off all, watch your mouth. Just because I let one slip, doesn't mean you should. And, second, this isn't the way to make things easier, Bo." he says, and looks at his brother with concern, "I-I'm trying to help, and I know I can never fully understand what it's like, and I'm sorry that I ever forced you to use your powers when you didn't want to. I'm sorry, okay? I know that smoking may make you feel better, and stop the visions, but...in the end, it's just gonna hurt your health. You've been coughing up your lungs; how do you think that's gonna affect you in the long run?" Honestly, Mako's a bit ashamed he didn't put two and two together sooner.
He shakes his head, "It doesn't matter. As long as this stops the visions, and stops me from seeing all their ghosts, I don't care."
"You..." Mako pales, "You can see their ghosts...?"
He scoffs and looks away, "Are you really that surprised? I thought you knew."
"I-I...no, I didn't know that..." The guilt on Mako's face is palpable.
He troughs up his arms in exasperation, "Who do you think I'm talking to at night? My fucking imaginary friends? Pabu? They all come to me, and won't leave me alone..."
Mako just looks at him, eyes sad, "...Kuzon, too?"
He nods. "All of them, a new one each time."
Mako shuts his eyes and looks away, "Bo..."
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Bolin shoves past him, "The cigarettes help whether you like them or not. I'll get more. I'll get as much as I need to-"
"No!" Mako yells, "I said no, Bolin!"
"Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it, Detective? Thought you'd rather have me as an ash tray, than a freak!"
"You're not a freak, Bolin!" Mako grasps his arm to stop him, "I'm just trying to help you-"
"-Well, you're not!" Bolin shoves his hand away.
"-Well, I'm trying, okay?!"
"It's not good enough!"
"Don't you think I know that?!" Mako exclaims, "I'm telling you to stop smoking, or- or else!"
"Or else what?"
"Or...or else your grounded!"
"Thanks, dad, real effective."
"Hey!"
Bolin just turns around and starts stalking off, "Just leave me alone!"
"Get back here, I'm not done yet!" Mako runs up and spins him around to face him.
Bolin words are biting. "You'll be sorry you yelled at me, when you find my body!" he yells.
Mako falters. His mouth hangs open, and eyes stinging. "Bolin..." his voice cracks. "Please don't say things like that..."
Bolin beats him to the punch, the tears coming down now fast, "Don't you see, it's like I'm cursed!" his voice is pinched, his eyes squeezed shut tight, "Everywhere around me, I'm making people die. It's all my fault. Just- just don't touch me..." he begins stepping back, but Mako is faster. Mako's arms wrap him up tight, his tears dampening Bolin's cheek.
"I won't let him get you, Bolin," Mako whispers in his ear, "I swear to you, I swear to Mom and Dad. I'm gonna protect you." he mumbles teary vows.
Bolin starts sobbing harder, "You can't. Don't you get it? You can't. He want's me, all to himself- he's not gonna stop. He's gonna use me for something horrible and we can't stop it."
"Well," Mako breathes, "He's gonna have to fight me over my dead body, first."
Bolin laughs, a tearful, pathetic nose, "Your puns are fucking terrible, bro."
"I know, little brother," Mako sighs, and wipes his face, "I know..."
He stops smoking for one day, and they come back, taking their full opportunity to connect with him.
He's in their apartment, Mako in the shower, and the seven of them circle around him, their bones all clanking. Their cracking fingernails are all reaching out, grasping at his clothes, willing their pain unto him. Their touch sends all their energy into him, and his mouth opens in a silent scream as his eyes glow a harsh green light.
He is
one: Hotah, on fire, burning away his flesh
"No, stop, please..."
two: Sasha, so numb, so cold, her heart froze solid
"N-no...Mako, h-h-help!"
three: Ling, pulling, pulling, pulling his limbs, stretching him so far
He coughs and gags, begins crawling to the bathroom door...
four: Oroza, rocks smashing him to bits
five: Nyla, Nyla, sweet, sweet Nyla, her head going crack, crack, crack
six: Kuzon, poor Kuzon, him being eating up by his dogs
seven: Vatani, her body all bound, and the tires rolling over her like a pancake, crushing her bones. Her body washing up on shore.
All of them surge into his mind and soul, and it's not just his eyes that are glowing, but his whole body now. And somehow, they've dragged him back into the living room (haha), Nyla standing right in front.
"N-nyla...Nyla..." his voice rasps," his eyes glowing, "Please, m-make them stop..."
I can't. You left us, Bolin. You tried to make us go away, you tried to break our connection.
"N-no...No, I-"
You tried to make us go away! their voices all whine at once, and he screams, clutching his head in his hands. You left us!
Why, Bolin? she asks, Why didn't you save us? You had the power to save us!
YOU HAD THE POWER TO SAVE US! they yelp, and all appear around him closer, their breath hot on his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean-"
YOU KILLED US ALL!
"NOO!" he lets out a guttural screams, and his head rolls back. All of a sudden, he feels like his body is being ripped apart from the inside out. He's forced down to his knees, as Mako comes barging into the room.
"BOLIN! What's wrong?" Mako drops down beside him, and Bolin snaps his glowing eyes open. "Bo...? What's wrong? Are they here?" Mako whips his head around the room, helpless seeing nothing, "Leave my brother alone! Nyla, Kuzon! All of you, leave him alone!"
He's grinding his teeth together, arms flailing helplessly at their forms. "N-no...go-go away..."
"Bolin, it's alright. Open your eyes, I'm right here."
"No...No, you're not The Judge..." his voice is dipped down, his body shaking.
"...What?" Mako asks.
"The-The Abdicator makes the Laws..."his lips say,"..h-he shall be...The Judge..."
"...What are you saying...? What are you...? Mako's eyes widen with realization. He remembers the bottom of the note that was in the morbid package.
Bolin's eyes snap open now, glowing brighter than before. His voice chants the eerie words.
"The Abdicator makes the Laws, he shall be The Judge-
"-Bolin, hey!" Mako shakes his shoulders.
The List knows all, so shall be Marked
If any child goes against, they shall pay with blood-
"-Fucking monkeyfeathers, Bolin! Snap out of it!" Mako rubs his cheeks, pinches him, pulls his hair-anything.
Twelve shall come to pass, and be the Sinner of this Mass,
...Twelve shall rule them all."
Then finally, the light fades, and his head dips down in exhaustion. Mako shifts him in his lap. "Bo?"
Bolin's eyes flutter open, back to normal. "M-mako...? What happened? Ughh...I just had a major creep-fest, didn't I...?" his mutters.
Mako lets out a huge breath, and rubs the hair out his eyes, "N-nah..." his voice is shaky, "You just...um, fell asleep on the couch, and I wanted you to have some dinner before you went to bed."
Mako forces a small smile, and whether Bolin believes him or not, he doesn't call him out on it.
"S-so, um," Mako clears his throat and helps them both up, "What do you want? I can make some dumplings, or whatever?"
And Mako's eyes sting when he see's Bolin smile his first real smile in weeks. "Yeah, sure. Sounds great."
Mako spends the whole night in heart attack-mode, never taking his eyes off Bolin as he sleeps.
"I won't let him get you,"he whispers, as he rubs Bolin's hair, and pulls the blankets over him tighter, "I promise you, Bo."
Three days later, they are all huddled in Beifong's office, knocking back cups of coffee like it's going out of style.
"But, what I don't get is, why he's cheating," Mako says, and Bolin winces at the expression on his brother's face. "Bolin said that he plays by a certain set of rules. Like a game- that he thinks that his victims are cheating by having their abilities. So, why's he going out of turn?"
The Abdicator had left them a note the night prior, clearly stating his boredom with things having to go in numerical order. He said that as a twist, he was going to do things randomly, and Number Ten on the List reported as a missing person as of this morning, was his way of doing just that.
"Evening out the score?" Chief Beifong suggests, "Make us more afraid because we thought we were a step ahead and now we're two steps back, probably. This was his game all along, he just used a surprise attack," and Bolin wants to scream because they don't get it at all.
"The List was made to go in order, right? That's why he numbed the victims 'one-through...'," and the way his brother's voice pinches, being unable to say 'twelve', is heard throughout the room. "So now that he's going out-of-order, anyone could be next,"
The room is silent for a few moments, the weight of all the uncertainty nearly forcing them all down.
Finally, Bolin speaks, voice deep and stubborn like Mako's never heard, "There's not going to be a next victim," he says, "I'm not 'saving me for last'. He coming to me, or I'm going to him."
The faces look at him with mixed expressions, wide-eyed and agape mouths, "What? Bolin, no! There's no way I'm let-"
"-I'm not letting anymore kids die, waiting for him to try to get to me, Mako!" steel peels back from his teeth, his eyes burning, "I mean, really, what are we waiting around here for, sitting on our asses waiting for the next kid to turn up dead next week? He wants to play-we take the game to him. I go, lead him to me, and Chief brings in the back up. It's simple."
Beifong's eye shift, the pros and cons shuffling around in her head. "It's risky, -really risky- but the kid just may have a-"
Mako shakes his head furiously, "-No."
Bolin turns to him now, "Mako-
"-NO."
"But you're not even thinking about it! You're not even-"
"-I said no, Bolin! There is nothing to think about! I'm not using you as bait for some psycho killer who's after you!" he slams his teeth together, his jaw clenching, "End of discussion."
Both brothers glare, then turn away at the same time.
Korra comes over and steps between them. "Mako, I think Bolin has a point," Korra speaks up, "All of us, and the Police would be right there. We'd get a chance to get the upper hand on him. We could finally attack."
"Don't you think that would be a little obvious?" Mako slams his coffee down on the table, "Don't you think he'd know Bolin wouldn't be anywhere without us watching? He'd never attack without making sure we weren't there!" he exclaims, "Come on guys, really!"
"Mako," Asami says, "we're running out of alternatives."
Mako through his hands up, "What, did you all secretly agree on a plan before hand? Why are you all looking at me like that? Cheif-" he turns to Lin,"Please tell them how dangerous their plan would be. Tell them we can't go after the guy like that, it's too dangerous!"
"Why," Bolin remarks, face hard, "because I'm your brother, or because I'm Number Twelve?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I just mean that, maybe, it's not right for eleven people to die, just for one. I just think that we could all solve this easier if-"
"-If what?" Mako scoffs,voice catching "We give you up as some kind of Martyr?"
"Mako..."
"Well, if you all have a plan already made, I guess you don't need my input in this." Mako throws the case file across the table, and starts going out the door
"Mako, please," Bolin steps closer, eyes flickering, "Wait..."
"I-I need a drink..." he mumbles and shuts the door.
He feels the girls beside him, thier hands on his shoulders. They smile, small little smiles of comfort, because that's all they can do.
"What am I supposed to say to him?"
"Just..." Asami considers, "Let Cheif talk to him, she'll convince him hopefully."
Bolin scoffs and plops down in the chair. He rubs his temples. "Why sometimes, does life just have to..."
"'Suck?'" Korra offers.
"Yeah," Bolin bangs his head on the table, "That."
"I guess it's because..." she looks to Asami, who nods at her to continue, "because it's like Dark and Light. Without some bad, we wouldn't know how to cherish the good."
Bolin sniffs and wipes his eyes, "Guys...?" he whispers, "I could really use some good right now..."
"Awee..."
And Asami and Korra both embrace him in a hug.
What wakes Ramishu up is a sharp course of electricity that runs harshly through his body, ( he imagines it's what lightningbending feels like) and stings every interlocked web and vein that pumps blood inside of him. He doesn't scream, surprisingly, but that's probably because his throat is so sore.
"W-where am I...?"
He tries to focus on something; anything that would confirm where he is, or how he got here, but all his mind can emphasize is the nausea and the near lack of any light. He's exhausted, and dizzy, and if his eyes don't adjust to the dark soon, he might just wet himself. He just wants to go to sleep and convince himself ( because it's slowly coming back to him) that the memory of being bound and gagged by some weird guy with red-tipped hair and a lot of earrings was the result of his third night in a row studying past midnight, and not reality.
He closes his eyes, and tells himself that when he opens them, he'll wake up in his room with his mother nagging him to wake up for school.
The sharp punch across his jaw, gives him a rather rude awakening.
"Ughh...w-what...?"
Above him is a man, with horrid, beady looking eyes. He smells like something you'd put in alcohol, and has a pattern of scars on his face.
"N-no..."
"Actually, yes." The man brings out a blade and tests it's sharpness with his finger, "Hello, Number Ten-or, should I call you 'Ramishu'?"
Said terrified boy, gulps. Yep, his pants are definitely wet now. He shuts his eyes tight, and wills his body to melt away. He gasps with nothing happens.
The man clucks his tongue. "Don't even try trying to teleport; The List knows all your tricks."
"Who are you...?"
"Me? I am The Abdicator, and I've been looking forward to killing you for some time, Number Ten."
The man- The Abdicator- walks over and nonchalantly unhooks a bolt. Inside is a cage full of pythone-acondas. One of the most poisonous snakes.
"Now, let me ask you something, Number Ten. Are you hungry? Because my friends here are starving." Inside, the snakes, hiss and slither, thier fangs protruding. Their tails shake, the purple poison pumping through the razer-spikes.
"Well, I guess, I'll let them have the first pick, hmm?"
And the cage flies open, hundreds of poisonous snakes slithering towered him. They crawl up his legs, tangle around his neck. Now, he screams, for he knows it's the last sound he'll ever be able to make, "P-please...I didn't do anything-!"
"But you did." The Abdicator says, "Your whole kind-all you Abominations bring is injustice to this world. You must be stopped. The Spirits cannot leave this realm, but you and everyone like you, can. And will."
The Abdicator makes a whistling sound with his teeth, and each snake simultaneously lifts up thier lethal tails, and stabs them into Ramishu's flesh.
The Abidcator sat and watched. Sometimes, he just didn't want to get his hands dirty. And, he had to say, it was quite entertaining.
The screams rung out, loud and desperate, until they stopped all at once. The sound of the head falling against the back of the chair, let him know his work was done.
"Oh," The Abdicator sung, "don't forget to say 'hi' to Twelve for me!" he chuckled to himself. He walked over and placed his blade right at the edge of the corpse's head,"Don't think you'll be needing this anymore." With one swift move, the head was rolling on the floor, the blood being licked up by the snakes.
"Huh," The Abdicator mused, as he held the now- decapitated head up by the hair. "Feeling a little light headed?" he laughed at his own joke, the snakes hissing in admiration.
"I think it's about time we sent our dear Twelve another warning, shall we? Or maybe even a psychic message for kicks."