First of all, I'd like to give a shout-out to my wonderful friend in fanfiction, Boasamishipper! This chappie would not be what it is, without her wondrous help! So do me a favor, with all your fangirl (and boy) goodness-go give her some love! Go check out some of the abundance of awesome stories she has created! I highly recommend "The Other Side of Me." You will not be disappointed, I assure you!
Once again, Boa, you never cease to amaze me! ;)
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"Days go on forever
But I have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will I"
-Breaking Benjamin
The pads of their feet slammed down on the asphalt so hard, it was a wonder they couldn't Earthbend. At first it was just their breaths that were giving way to any sound, but, like prey, they were locked upon. The yells and lights blared as they tried to dodge between them, airships chasing them through the night sky.
"Mie! Hurry! Give me your hand!" Chan yelled, the spotlight temporarily blinding him. Mie gasped, and nearly tripped over the band around her leg, that had been made to nullify her abilities. She could not turn invisible, or produce her air-shattering scream with it on, but if she could just get to Chan...
The loud voices from above boomed orders to stop resisting, or we will use excessive force!, to stay put and obey their commands. But the two friends knew that if they stopped running, they'd be met with a fate worse then death. These men in black suits promised fates of lab-rats. Where white walls caged them in and wires running into their veins showed everything about them that would be analyzed and tested. Whoever these guys were, their message was clear. Chan and Mie had barely escaped the confinements of their "freak catching truck" and hour ago, and once that band was clamped around Mie's leg, the drugs had started doing their magic.
Chan had only managed get them both out by the sheer luck that the black-suited creep had thought he was unconscious, and hadn't thought to dull his powers with the friggin shocker, and like air, he had phased them through and back into the street. Frankly, Chan didn't know whether to be happy about that, or take the lack of precaution on him, an insult. At least these guys weren't the Abdicator, but bastards come in all shapes in sizes, he knew.
Either way, he wasn't stopping to ask them their names.
Chan dared a look back at her, which slowed him down. Mie was lagging, her ember eyes glazed over with whatever cocktail they had pumping through her.
He yelled her name once more, just as she tripped and splattered, prone on the concrete. He froze in fear, and the spotlight hit him dead on.
"Mie!" But it was no use. He could only stand frozen and watch as his childhood friend, the girl he had loved enough to do anything for, be lifted up into an airship by a huge metal crane as if she were nothing more than garbage.
Chan sprinted into the dark of the alleys and found he could form no tears.
What do you have to cry for, when you are truly alone? It was then that Chan solemnly realized, that he was the only one of them left.
"Hello, Number Twelve," he whispered in his ear, his lips leaving goosebumps on his skin, "I've been waiting a long time for you."
Bolin's body was shoved harder and harder against the wall; the Abdicator's hot, horrible breath that smelled of alcohol and old cigars filling the air around him, making it hard to breathe. His hands, scabbed and scarred, pushed against Bolin's stomach until Bolin was sure that he heard his ribs crack and painpainpainkillmekillme he was pretty sure that this was the end, but no, it couldn't be, nonononononono! Bolin screamed, his voice echoing in the room—
And then the pressure stopped, the Abdicator's hands vanished, and Bolin fell to the ground with a large thud. He took a deep, staggering breath and tried to get up, nearly falling flat on his face. He could still feel the Abdicator's hands on him and shuddered, trying not to vomit. He could still smell the Abdicator's breath, remember how his lips had pressed against his own in the vision. Bolin stood up, and then his eardrums nearly popped out of his ears as a loud, screeching whistle ricocheted around the cell like a bullet in a metal box, growing louder and higher-pitched with every second. The seventeen-year-old earthbender shut his eyes tightly and clamped his hands over his ears firmly, tears streaming down his face as the agonizing sound penetrated his hands. Bolin couldn't take the high-pitched noise anymore, and he screamed and screamed and screamed until his voice was hoarse. But then another sound penetrated the ear-bleeding cry. It was the sound of the Abdicator's horrible, twisted laughter.
"Are you ready, my Twelve?" he asked, "Our plan is almost to be put into place." And with that, the madman took his blade, and made a drop of blood from his finger fall on top of a pile of ashes on a table. Instantly, a wind picked up, and the energy transformed into not eleven, but hundreds- no, thousands- of human like forms. The room was filled with them, for every one in the prison to see.
From behind, he heard Korra gasp a harsh breath of fear, and Mako say something as he rattled against the chains. Maybe his name, he wasn't sure.
Bolin blanched at the sight of all of them. Their white, wispy silhouettes, all still baring the round cheeks and shiny eyes of youthful innocence. Thousands of ghost-children, stood in front of him, who had lived across the spans of limitless years. And somehow, he knew each and every one of them by name. He knew their thoughts, feelings, their lives.
'They were kids that I once knew.'
They were all looking at him, their eyes glowing like white wholes. Lights. 'They had lights inside their eyes.' And, even though he had never seen any of them before, he knew he had been a few of them. Oh, you think the Avatar's the only one who gets reincarnated? The horrible words ran through his head, as the Abdicator laughed.
Five. Five of them had been his past lives. Everything was too much; it was all Bolin could do to keep himself standing up from the weight of all their feelings and emotions. If he looked to the back towered the left, he could remember living the life as that little boy with the two different colored eyes. How instead of being called 'Bolin', he had been 'Kazu'. He/Kazu had had a nice family, and two little sisters. He had liked to go fishing with his dad, and his sisters had always wanted him to play with him, no matter what hour. Up six rows, he is/was/ a 15 year old Fire Nation noble girl, who was the head of her class, but never let it show. Her fire and heart fouled for what she lacked in stature, and she/he had proved everybody wrong.
Their glowing eyes all fixed upon him at once, and Bolin found himself shaking. One word came from their un-moving lips simultaneously:
"Master."
Bolin's vision blurred in and out. "Y-you killed them all." he whispered.
The monster clucked his tongue, "That I did. And I'd kill 10,000 if that's what it would take to change the world."
Bolin leaned on the wall for support, wondering how in the hell they were going to get out of this. "Change the world how?"
A manic cackle came from the monster's throat, and Bolin blinked. "You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" At the earthbender's blank expression, he continued on. "You're the only one who can control them, Bolin. Together, you and I, can use them to take over and bring the Spirits down on their slimy knees. We'll use this army to subdue every Spirit, and make the human race the most powerful over every creature, normal and Spiritual alike."
Bolin stepped back until he hit the wall, but the Abdicator just kept coming closer. "I know you can feel them." he breathed, "Tap into your power, and see what you're truly made of! You'll be the most powerful human in the world, Bolin! You will rule them all; you are their Master."
"N-no..." Bolin breathed. He clasped his hands over his ears, and shut his eyes, so he wouldn't have to see any of it;shaking his head back and forth to try to will it all away. "NO! You're insane! I don't want to do any of that! If I do that, I'm not even human anymore! What makes me better than any other Spirit who manipulates humans?"
"You need to understand, to learn. In time, you will accept it." The Abdicator steps closer to Bolin, so close that he could feel his breath once more, and grazed his tongue along Bolin's cheek.
"I haven't had such fun in years," sang the twisted, degenerate piece of filth. "Oh, Number Twelve, we're going to have such a good time together with our New World…"
"Go to Hell," Bolin whispered contemptuously. "I'd rather go blind than join you."
The Abdicator blinked, looking a bit taken aback, before leering. Behind him, Korra and Mako were panting and sweating and looked scared and afraid. That scared Bolin more than anything: he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he'd ever seen Korra as frightened as that, let alone Mako.
"Oh, you will join me time. But," the Abdicator stated, and snapped his fingers, "if you must be so convinced...As you wish." The entire room disappeared and Bolin fell to his knees, rubbing his eyes, which felt like they were cemented shut. The harder he scratched at them, though, it seemed like he was making headway, but once he'd finally dug past the obscuring substance, Bolin opened his eyes, eager to tell the Abdicator that he'd beaten his little game. But he still couldn't see anything. Bolin's heart began to beat faster and faster. His hands were covered in a sticky substance that smelled horrible. He fought back the urge to vomit and failed, splattering puke all over the floor.
He'd dug out his own eyes.
A bone-shattering cry erupted from the very depths of his soul as a terrified Bolin desperately tried to curl into the fetal position. Sweat ran down his brow as he ran his fingers, unbidden, over the holes where his eyes had once been.
"NO!" he screeched. Somewhere in his agony, he heard Mako scream something, followed by Korra's muffled sobs and the Abdicator's one-noted laugh. And then sight, -beautiful, glorious- sight, returned.
Every inch of fear that Bolin had had instantly dissipated, crashing down onto the cold hard floor. He let out a long sigh of relief, taking in the cell, Korra and Mako, the ghosts all looking at him, even the Abdicator, who was laughing like this was the best mover he'd ever seen.
"Oh, Number Twelve," he practically crooned. "I don't think you should relax yet. There's plenty more to be done. Unless, of course..." he motioned with his arm to the crowd of transparent children, "you'd like to give them a little guidance. They don't seem to mind at all."
"Master...! Master...!"
Bolin ignored them and fixed his steely gaze on the Abdicator. "I'm ready for anything," Bolin said, fists clenched at his sides, because he really was. He was tired of running from this creep like a scared little child. He wasn't doing this for himself, Bolin realized. He was doing this for Nyla, sweet little Nyla who'd had her life ripped away from her so soon; for Kuzon, the little boy with so much to offer; for Ta Gee, and Ramishu, and Vatani, and Mie, and Chan, and every poor child who'd had the displeasure of being targeted by the Abdicator.
"I'm not afraid of you," he announced, surprising even himself, because even as his big brother and his best friend were chained up and obviously had been on the recipients of torture, even as he stood, panting and weak in front of the most dangerous individual since Amon, Bolin was surprised to find the absence of the fear he'd felt for so long.
The Abdicator's leer vanished, only to be replaced by something much more sinister and terrifying. "You should be," he intoned dangerously, through gritted teeth. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, Twelve."
"I know exactly who I'm dealing with," Bolin said slowly, straightening up and taking a deliberate step towards the Abdicator. "An insane, degenerate murderer who deserves to rot in Hell forever. Isn't that right, Abdicator?" He gritted his teeth and tilted his chin. "I will never join you. Do your worst, you rotten weasel-snake. Do your worst."
With a roar that could've sent the walls of the prison tumbling down, the Abdicator threw his hands in the air with a sound like a sonic boom, blowing Bolin backwards into the wall with a crash.
"Bolin!" Mako screamed, fueling Bolin's resolve. He stood up, dizzily. Bolin's gaze wavered, but he did not fall. He glared at the Abdicator—who he currently saw three of, but he was pretty sure he had the right one—and spat a wad of red saliva at his feet.
"That all ya got?" he yelled tauntingly.
His captor's smile twisted. "You underestimate me, Number Twelve."
With a snap of his fingers, a foot-long, green writhing snake appeared, hissing and twisting, in the Abdicator's hands. "One nibble is enough to kill even a healthy individual," said the Abdicator, casually running a finger down its scaly back before throwing it. And then the creature launched itself from the Abdicator's hands and landed in Bolin's hair.
Full-on terror rocked him as Bolin collapsed to his knees, slapping desperately at his head as his assailant burrowed into his thick black curls. Bolin curled into the fetal position, screeching in terror and rolled wildly around the floor. He tried to grab ahold of it, but the slippery piece of shit kept eluding his fingers.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit!" Bolin yelled, and suddenly he was back at the pet store as a young fourteen-year-old earthbender, with lanky limbs and no hopes and dreams—except for a tiny fire ferret that was about to be fed to a pythonaconda. Like all good plans with good intentions, his had gone to hell as the pythonaconda squeezed around his neck, making him unable to breath. He scrabbled at his neck frantically but the snake did not budge. If anything, it kept squeezing tighter and ohSpiritsIneedair…
His ears had started to ring and he'd begun to feel as if he'd fallen down and down a long, spiraling tunnel when the pressure released, and Bolin inhaled deeply, so deeply he was afraid he would pass out from the breath. Thank the Spirits, he thought, and tried to tune back in to the conversation around him. Mako's voice was the first thing he heard.
"Bo? Bolin, Bo, tell me you're okay, oh Spirits, please, please…" His voice was so full of panic, a deaf person could hear it. Bolin wanted nothing more than to comfort his older brother (and Korra, who had begun to whimper, tears welling up in her eyes), but he found himself unable to move or twitch or blink…Spirits, please don't tell me I'm paralyzed…please, please, please…
The Abdicator strolled over to Bolin, looming over his body. He kicked his already-cracked ribs with a boot, smiling as he screamed. "Poor Bolin." He took the knife out of his pocket and examined it closely. "If only you'd have played nice. Don't you know that cheaters never win?"
Bolin's eyes widened in fear from his crumpled position on the floor. No, this couldn't be happening! His vision couldn't come true!
"N-no..."
"Oh, yes."
And as if to punctuate his eerie statement, the Abdicator threw the knife at Mako.
Bolin could only watch as the knife sliced through the air, Korra's screams filling the room—along with his own.
"NOOOOOO!" Bolin roared, and then the knife stopped and began to flicker and twist in midair, almost a foot from Mako , who looked like he wanted to pass out.
The Abdicator looked bemused. "What—no. No!" He flicked his hands in the air, desperately trying to make the knife move forward, but it refused to move. "No!"
Korra was sweating and looked at Bolin like she'd never seen him before. "B-Bo...?"
Bolin opened his mouth to respond, but the symbols on his hands began to glow their sickly red, and what came out of his mouth was, "She-na-ski-eth," and the knife exploded into shards of metal and plastic.
The Abdicator dropped to his knees. "No! No, that's not possible! No!"
"Bo—" breathed Mako. "Wh-what j-just happened?"
"I—I don't know," Bolin admitted in shock, rubbing his temples hard as a headache nearly knocked him down again. "M-Mako, I—I just…oh, Spirits, ahh—" he winced. "Spirits, it hurts…"
"Bo!"
"Willing spontaneous combustion," muttered the Abdicator like a drunk. "It can't be." As if in fright, all the ghosts vanished away at once.
"W-willing…what?" Bolin stammered. The headache grew stronger and stronger until he had to fight not to collapse onto his hands and knees. Spirits, it hurts…oh, Spirits, damnit, it hurts…
"Spontaneous combustion!" snapped the Abdicator, who now looked like he wanted to get away from Bolin as fast as possible. "You have the Power to blow things up with your mind."
Bolin had to fight to keep from vomiting on the floor. "Spirits," he whispered. "What else?"
"That changes things. You c-can't be allowed to live," the Abdicator said slowly, beginning to leer again. "Oh, Number Twelve, this will make it so much better."
"No." Bolin was surprised at how steady and serious his voice was. "This time, Abdicator, you're the victim." He snapped his hands at the Abdicator, who actually flinched and took a step back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the flickering forms of Nyla and Kuzon, and he grinned.
Thanks, guys, he said in his mind.
You're welcome, said Nyla and Kuzon in unison, sounding so heartbreakingly young that it fueled his resolve.
"You," Bolin spoke slowly, "do not deserve this existence. You never shouldn't stolen the Spirit babies from the mother."
The Abdicator spluttered and turned a deep red. "N-no…how do—no."
"She was right to place the curse on you," said Bolin, having absolutely no idea where the words were coming from, but kept on talking. His eyes started blazing green once more. "You don't deserve to live. Humans and Spirits deserve to live together in harmony, not in fear of another. There is no better race. And so—"He paused, before giving the Abdicator a surprisingly similar leer of his own. "I abdicate you, Abdicator."
"No."
"Shi-to-reph," Bolin announced, and Nyla and Kuzon took up the chant. "Ah-to-ni, shi-to-reph, ah-to-ni, shi-to-reph—"
The symbol of Judgment forever etched on the Abdicator's face began to glow brighter and brighter, the skin around it burning and sizzling.
The Abdicator howled in agony. "No!"
"Shi-to-reph, ah-to-ni, shi-to-reph," Bolin intoned before snapping his hands at the Abdicator, "Ah-to-ni!"
The Abdicator glowed bright red, a horrible, piercing cry of agony echoing in the cell, and Bolin averted his eyes as the Abdicator exploded, his flesh flying in separate directions and sizzling into ashes before hitting the ground with an audible thud.
The power drained from Bolin at last, and he wobbled on legs too weak to stand. Nyla and Kuzon vanished. "Bo—Bolin," whispered Korra. "You—you did it! Oh, Spirits, you did it!"
"Bolin!" Mako said in alarm as Bolin began to sway. "What—what're you doing? Bo? Bo!"
"I t-think I'll sit down now..." Bolin slurred before collapsing to the ground in a dead faint, the cries of the Abdicator, Nyla, and Kuzon echoing in his mind.
To be continued...:)
Hey, guys, don't worry! There is more to come! Hope this chapter wasn't anti-climactic...I hope it didn't disappoint anyone. D: