Hello everyone! I am so so so so so so so sorry that this is so so so so so so so late. Things have been really busy lately but I am going to try to get better at posting on time. The last time we left off, Korra and Asami were in some trouble with the Strikers. With Tonraq and Senna down for the count, can they survive?

Only time shall tell!

(-)

Chapter 6

The one that got away

Asami noticed the incoming attackers and rolled closer to Korra.

Korra somehow landed a powerful kick right into the ribs of one of the Strikers. The man plummeted to the ground, coughing and groaning in pain. She saw Asami shift towards her and intercepted one of the pursuers at the raven's six. She blocked the blow with her forearm and pushed him away with a strong lunge forward. When the man came back, she slipped his glove and forced him into another Striker at her rear, effectively shocking him instead. While the injured aggressor fell to the ground, the original kicked Korra away from him. She slammed and bounced onto the frozen dirt before popping back up to her feet. She ignored the pain in her fresh, bleeding scrapes, as well as her throbbing abdomen.

Asami caught sight of Korra when the man made contact with his foot. She pivoted to avoid another attack and slammed her heel into the back of the man's knee. He crashed into the ground, giving her the opportunity to close the gap between her and Korra.

The pair stood back to back as they were encircled by about fifteen Strikers. Adrenaline rushed through them. Their survival instincts kicked in. It gave them strength. They moved a bit closer to each other as the Strikers inched towards them.

But then they stopped.

They halted in their tracks, some of them still making their electric gloves discharge. Others with only their hands as weapons were spread amongst them. Two of them moved apart for a moment, allowing one of the Strikers to step through. His outfit was different in color and style than the comrades at his sides. Though his eyes were still illuminated as the others were, his mask stopped just under his nose, revealing his jagged, smiling mouth. He reached behind him and pulled a baton off of his back.

Asami growled inside, shifting ever so slightly into a more aggressive stance.

That's him: the one that got away.

With a flick of the man's wrist, an electric pulse surged around the tip of his weapon.

As if on cue, all of the Strikers lunged in a pattern at the duo. Their attacks were swift and accurate, keeping Korra and Asami on their toes.

Asami made slow work of one rather large assailant that bore an electric glove. The static of the weapon whirred in her ear when she slipped his grab. She rotated around to his back and sent a raging kick into his groin. He fell to his knees by the time she swept the next Striker that charged at her.

Korra was finding it more and more difficult to defend herself against her pursuers. She was getting tired – fast. She ducked under a hand only to spin mid-dodge to avoid another. They were reading her like a book; she couldn't get a single attack off on them. She considered burying one of their hits to land her own, but she shot the idea down. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she had to avoid contact with them at all costs. She observed another pointed hand as it whizzed by her face.

Why does that look so familiar?

She didn't waste time trying to remember and, instead, capitalized on the opportunity available to her. She grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to send him flying into one of the Strikers behind her. They slammed into the ground. Only one of them got back on their feet.

The Strikers lured Korra and Asami away from each other until they were surrounded by their own separate – but smaller – circle of aggressors.

Asami took a split-second to survey. She had several more attackers around her than Korra did. She knew, in all honesty, that she had to get back to Korra; they worked better when they could play off of each other as they had been throughout the middle of the fight.

That's not the only reason.

It was true. She didn't just want to fight with Korra, she wanted to protect her. She rolled under another electric glove – thoughts interrupted – and axe kicked his extended elbow. She was sure she could hear it snap under her heel. He screamed for just a moment as she sent a spinning back kick into his skull. He dropped to the ground and tangled her feet. Before she could free her ankle, she felt something blunt slam into her back. She cried out in pain and spun around to fight off whatever it was that hit her. She met the eyes of the baton-wielding Striker.

It was too late.

"Asami?!" Korra pivoted and elbowed one of the Strikers in the face as she heard the engineer scream. She watched as three men assaulted Asami at once, jabbing her with their extended fingers all along her arms and legs. The Striker with the baton grinned as she dropped at his feet. The sound of her body hitting the ground echoed into Korra's ears. It made her heart sink into her chest.

The Strikers halted and kept their circle around the brunette. They widened it to allow the additional members in. The baton-wielding Striker entered the group and smirked.

"Look around you. The Water Benders have fallen. So have your polar bear dog and your friend, Miss Sato." He waved his arms open, sparking baton in hand – as if to motion to the defeated people around him. His voice was deep – as if purposely so – yet it held a faint sense of familiarity.

She was in too much of an adrenaline-fueled tunnel to focus on it. Korra glanced at her surroundings, her eyes touching on each of her parents, her animal companion, and finally, Asami. Her heart wrenched. Rage started to fill her. "What did you do to them?!"

"What we're about to do to you."

She shifted into an offensive stance and panted, refusing to surrender.

"Not that it will be much of an issue. If anything, you're a waste of time."

Wait.

Before she could react to her thoughts, he flicked his baton forward. The remaining ten Strikers charged towards her, hands and gloves at the ready. She gritted her teeth and analyzed their movements.

Her parents and Asami watched on with horrified eyes.

Come on, Korra.

She twisted her body to avoid the first Strike. She watched him as he flew past her, pivoting mid-attack to follow up with another. Korra crossed her wrists at eye level and sent her fists flying away from her. Her right smashed into the skull of the first aggressor, while the left forced another to contort out of the way instead of jabbing her. She used the momentum from the miss with her left arm to spin on her feet. She tucked her knee as she rotated and extended her left foot right into his face. The Striker fell at the same time that her sole returned to the ground.

Korra spun around to the sound of another Striker approaching her. She parried his double jabs with her forearms, one at a time, until she closed in on him. She grabbed his shoulders and sent a foot flying into his groin before he could react. When he weakened from the pain, she held him up and tossed him into the aggressor at her nine. The two collided and tumbled to the ground. She used this pause in their attacks to her advantage and took to the offensive instead.

She charged a Striker with an electric glove, expecting him to try and grab her.

He did just that.

She stole a move from Asami and rolled underneath him. Korra anchored her toes into the dirt and lunged at him. She grabbed onto the back of his coat and spun her body around, forcing the Striker to follow. He, too, smashed into an incoming pursuer. They crashed into the ground but rose by the time she shifted to the next attacker.

This one was fast. Faster than any she had seen yet.

Korra slipped into the defensive – as if she really had a choice. His jabs – fingers extended – were quick. She could feel the wind on each attempt as it missed by mere inches. She heard footsteps behind her and the hum of a charged electric glove.

Shit.

She was getting cornered and she knew it. There were still six Strikers left, three of which who were within striking range. The main attacker moved closer and closer to her, enough that she could see a small crack in his helmet in the dim light of the camp.

Just wait for it. Wait for it.

I don't know what it is!

Korra shut her thoughts down; they were much too distracting and she didn't have the patience to deal with them at the moment. Once she did that, everything seemed…

Simpler?

Perhaps the man was getting tired. Or perhaps her dodges were becoming more effective. Either way, the blows were easier and easier to evade. She took a step to her right to avoid one of his jabs and landed a powerful punch square in his face; it felt like the strongest hit she had ever landed in her life. Her stance was solid, her breath was under control. She was focused.

The Striker dropped, hands cradling what could only be a broken nose. Two more – the ones she tossed prior – charged her flank.

She heard them before she could see them. And it was all she needed.

Korra ducked under their arms and took a simultaneous step backwards, forcing them to move in front of her. Their spines were exposed. This was her chance. Her hands rose above her head at the same time. They expanded in a large circle to gain momentum. Once they were together at her base, in the chamber by her waist, she sent them bursting out of her. Her fists slammed into the center of their backs. They groaned and spun around to fight her.

They were too late.

She had already sent a spinning back kick their way. A powerful one. It collided the instant they faced her, hitting both of them in the skull at different points. They cried out in pain and crashed into the ground, debilitated. She didn't stop. The second her toes touched the dirt, she jumped. Using the momentum from her last kick to accelerate her through the air, she rotated her body and landed another painful heel into the approaching Striker.

He dropped.

Three down, she pivoted to the final group, as if this was all just some sort of training simulation to whatever part of her that was controlling her actions and mind, three to go.

Despite what they've witnessed, the Strikers didn't hesitate to attack. They charged her at once from different angles, trying to get her to slip.

Unfortunate for them, Korra was nowhere near slipping.

She dodged their attacks with several dips and contortions of her body. She used one particular evasion to get behind the pursuer and front kick him into another. Their momentary collision was just the time she needed. Korra spun to the third man – who was coming at her with an electric glove – and lifted her leg up to the height of her head, her fists as close to her ankle as possible. She brought everything down at once, slamming the heel of her worn boot into the man's skull. Her successful axe kick rendered him unconscious on the spot.

These moves… they're familiar…

She didn't bother wasting time on the thought. This was her fight. She was the last one standing and everyone's only chance of making it out of this thing alive. She kept her natural flow as the remaining two Strikers attacked.

One of them went high with an electric glove while the other went low with quick, powerful jabs.

Korra flipped as the pair got closer to each other. Not forward or under, though, but backwards. She flew and arched her back until she was completely horizontal to avoid both blows at once. She caught herself on her hands, but instead of completing the rotation, she pushed herself towards the attackers. She shot her legs out mid-air once she was horizontal again. Her feet slammed into the center of the Striker with the electric glove.

He plummeted to the ground, fighting for air from the blow to his solar plexus.

The impact and angle forced Korra into the frozen dirt as well. She slid several feet – acquiring new scrapes and bruises that she would deal with later – before she spun back up, ready for another attack.

Where the hell did that come from?

Who the fuck cares? That was awesome!

A flying jab broke her right out of her momentary pause. She slipped it and parried another. She continued dodging his advances, sweat dripping down her face. She was sick of waiting for an opening. Once he was close enough, she sidestepped one of his blows and sent her knee right into his abdomen.

The man stumbled, but kept on his feet.

This was a huge mistake.

Korra took onto the offensive, an aggressive offensive. Her foot slammed right into his face – her side kick perfect – by the time his eyes made contact with hers.

He flew onto the ground, his head smacking the hard dirt.

He did not get back up.

She turned to the Striker with the baton, who seemed to be the ring leader of this whole fiasco. She kept her stance offensive, though she was taken aback by the appearance of the man.

He stood still, electricity racing around one of the ends of the baton. He didn't look afraid or worried at all. In fact, he looked almost amused. There was a grin on his face that was a mixture of excitement, evil, superiority, and perhaps a small bit of rage. Perhaps.

What the hell? Did he enjoy watching all of his men fall?

He brought his weapon up to the ready and shifted his stance. He was prepared for this moment, and in all honesty, hoped for this moment. Though the Water Tribe girl had proven to be a better combatant than he would have first pegged, he felt nothing but glee at the thought of murdering this woman in front of one of the most influential Water Benders in the world – when it came to the Southern Water Tribe. He wanted to make the horrid Water Benders suffer, to make all Water Benders suffer.

Or…

Perhaps he would do it the other way around. Let the brunette watch as he stabbed the necks of her parents with his baton and shocked them to death. He would make her watch as he did the same to that damn Sato child, too. Hell, he'll even kill the polar bear dog, just to watch her writhe, just to make her beg for mercy or death. Either way, he would kill her last, and it would be the most pleasurable kill he's had in months, perhaps years.

His grin grew wider at the thought. "It looks like I'll have to take care of you myself."

(-)