Lea awoke in a daze, his vision blurred and the light offensive. For a few seconds, everything felt muffled to him. The talking – or shouting – going on before him wasn't registering in his mind, but the pain woke him up. The Metalbending captain's feet were in a bucket of ice water and he was bound to a wooden chair: his hands behind his back and his feet together in the bucket. Methodically after the shouting he would feel a burst of electricity conduct through his uniform and onto his skin, burning through him. But not enough to kill him. He woke up to the reality that he was being tortured.
Before being captured, he had found his way into the archives at the prison. On the computer database he had stumbled on lots of extremely important (and classified) information, some things that shocked even him. As he tried to leave he had been frozen in his tracks, he couldn't move, his body wasn't his own. Lea's struggling had met an end when he was thrown against the wall by nothing, he hit his head and everything from there was blank.
That would explain where the pain in his head came from. After recalling these events to himself, he was aware of his situation now. He looked up, the light no longer burning his eyes, and saw General Flynn stood before him. She was the one shouting at him.
"I'm getting impatient. I'll ask you again. What did you find in the archives?" Lea didn't respond, simply smiled and looked at her. Flynn discharged a spark of lightning into the bucket and the Metalbender convulsed in agony. "What did you find?!" Lea spat at her face, it hit her in the eye. 'Bullseye', he thought to himself.
Flynn calmly wiped off the saliva and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Well that was impolite." Flynn raised her right hand and the water dragged its way up the metal casing on Lea's shins and carried on towards his knees. It froze when it reached and suddenly everything was very cold. "Trust me. I can get very creative. Tell me what you found out."
Holding his jaw tightly to cover the chattering, he opened his mouth to speak. "I'll tell you what I found, if you answer me one question."
"I'm not playing any games, mancer. Tell me what you found."
"Very well. But I'm still going to have my fun and answer your question with a question. Were you aware that Amon, his campaign, and this whole damn government is a lie?" Flynn didn't answer. She was interested now. He continued. "In those archives, I learned that the Amon family line is a bending line. I learned that our Amon is a Waterbender whose family originates from the Northern Water Tribe at the north pole. Did you know that the Amon who started the revolution was a Waterbender?"
The general was stunned silent. She wasn't sure how to take this information. How could he be a Waterbender? This little shit must be lying, she told herself. The water thawed and retracted back into the bucket.
"Oh, I'm not done yet. Were you also aware that as a child you were experimented on? Our Amon found you when you were born, ripped you from your parents and faked your execution? That little girl killed in the video they're all forced to watch every day of their god damn lives is you, you are the avatar, Flynn. When you were a child Amon sealed your abilities in hopes of preventing you from ever fighting against us. He wanted to see if it would work. It is for that reason your powers never showed, and that is the reason why your powers burst forth at a later date. That is the reason why Ellie is dead."
Flynn was beside herself now. She turned her back on Lea and put her hand over her mouth. He must have been lying, he was trying to manipulate her. But how could he know about Ellie? He couldn't. Confusion turned her head into a hurricane, and she briefly lost her focus. That was enough. Lea bent the edges of his wrist and shin guards into blades and cut through the rope. A swift motion, he launched the bucket at her head with a blow from the point of his foot. It struck Flynn on the back of her head, knocking her forward and dazing her briefly. The metalbender jumped over her and darted out.
The General struggled to her feet, holding herself up. An injured soldier limped towards her, muttering the words 'He got away...' before collapsing over.
..
Refugees scuffled through the dirt walls of the escape tunnels, clinging to the few belongings they had brought with them. 'Pack light' they were told, and they did. This wasn't the first time they'd been on the run, they knew the score. Take only what you need, anything else was superfluous. Children clung to their mothers trying not to get lost. A nervous chorus echoed lowly from the walls, it was a sorry sight to see so many people ripped from the closest place they had ever had to a safe home. Dotted amongst the fearful crowd were operatives from the Metalbending task force, The White Lotus and a small number of Kyoshi warriors.
Two days had ellapsed since the assault on the prison. There had been no retaliation. No public announcement. No word at all. Everyone had asserted Will that no news was good news, but he was not convinced. Lea still hadn't returned, and Cathy couldn't look the Earthbender in the eye since. They had distanced somewhat and he felt totally alone.
Will stood by the entrance to the tunnel, making sure everyone got in safely. He was accompanied by Maria, now garbed in her full Kyoshi warrior attire; her hair up and held together with a fan, her face powdered white, red eye-shadow and defined eyebrows, black lips and a green robe. A gunstrap around her thigh and a radio in her hand, she spoke periodically into it as groups of refugees made it through the network. It was a long day, stood there for hours upon end just waiting. The iridescent light from the LED lanterns began to burn Will's eyes, every now and then he would blink hard to rest his eyes. He sighed as the last few refugees scuttled in. He stretched his arms and yawned, nodding to Maria he moved towards the opening of the cave.
Beep.
Maria stuck out her arm in front of her, perked her ears and raised her head.
Beep. Beep.
She turned around, staring at the clearing, then at the cave entrance.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!
The ground shook and the roofing spat out dust as an explosion resonated from deep within the cave tunnel harbouring the refugees. A seemingly never-ending silence was drowned with the screams of the benders, trapped within the structure. Will and Maria charged in, masking the airborne dust with their hands, coughing heavily. They reached the collapse in seconds. Will frantically began tearing the rocks down, trying to break through. He could make out a faint voice on the other side of the rubble.
"Mr Will!" Cried the voice. It was clearly male, quite deep. The young Earthbender couldn't make out who it was, to his dismay.
"Is anyone hurt?!" he yelled in desperation. Could she have planned everything this far ahead?! He yelled to himself; who would have access to the Haven? How could this be happening?
"No, we're all fine! I think its a trap, they're not coming after us! Be careful!" With that final line, echoing footsteps marked the end of the conversation.
Bang.
A gunshot was fired from inside the belly of the tunnel behind them – the only way from the Haven to the escape route - flying between the guardians and into the rubble. Will and Maria darted forward, hiding at either side of the tunnel entrance walls. The Kyoshi warrior drew her handgun and slowly reared her head round, peering into the hallway. A second gunshot. She drew her head back quickly as a bullet slammed the dirt wall. Looking at Will, she spat "Burrow through the walls and get them from behind. I'll distract them from here." He nodded, taking a few paces to his left, raising his hands and bringing them down slowly. The dirt wall sunk into the ground and he took a step forward.
"Good luck." He choked out. This time he'd get it right, he wouldn't lose anyone.
"Yeah. You too." Maria replied, a forced smile painted on her face to hide the fear.
Will took another step into the wall and he was out of her sight. Deep breath. Crouch. Go!
Maria jumped sideways, pointing her gun down the tunnel. She had two magazines plus the one in her handgun. Eighteen shots. They would count. The first opposing bullet flew past her head, she fired back on the same trajectory. A scream. One down. A second skimmed her right leg and she clenched her teeth, then retaliated. A scream. Two Down. She rolled as she landed on the opposite side of the tunnel wall.
..
Will burrowed as quickly as he could, pulling the earth down gently as to not alert the soldiers. A surprise attack was their only chance. He bent the clods as stealthily as he could, picking up the pace. He would make it in time. He had to. His boots caked in dirt, he carried on. 'Hold on Maria. Just hold on.'
..
Four rolls, five bullets left. She had taken down a significant number of them, but more seemed to replace them. She couldn't keep this up, she was running out of options. One final roll, back to Will's side and into the tunnel. Put the tunnel back up and get the hell out of there. She could do it. She knelt down and pushed herself off with her right foot. Flying through the air, she unleashed her final five bullets in a blind rage. Three screams, two misses.
"DON'T YOU DARE SHOOT HER, I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU SHOOT HER!" Will? No. A female voice. An authoritative voice that boomed through the tunnel and shook the walls. However it was too late. Instinct had kicked in. The trigger had been pulled. The pullet raced through the corridor, Maria's chest the target.
Bullseye.
In through the chest. Out through the back. A clean shot. Maria fell from the air and rolled across the ground, whimpering.
Flynn saw red. Rage erupted from her like lava from a volcano, she flung her arms open and sent out a wave of air in every direction. Soldiers slammed against the walls; some died as their heads' cracked against them. Others were rendered unconscious. How DARE they attack Maria. She belonged to Flynn. She was HERS, and she was going to forgive her.
..
Will burst out from his burrow and into the main tunnel, ready for a fight. But there wasn't one. Soldiers lay unconscious on the ground, bleeding onto it. Then he saw her. She was cradling Maria's body, whispering to her. His immediate reaction was assault, that Flynn had done this to her. He jumped forward and punched the ground, splitting it in twain. The schism travelled along the dirt and towards Flynn, holding Maria as her life bled away. She merely raised her head, and the earth stopped moving. The General slowly lay her friend on the ground, and stood tall. Her eyes glowing blue, she merely raised her arm and a dense ball of air exploded forward; the wind filled the earthen corridor and blasted Will back. His back slammed hard against a turn in the tunnel, and he blacked out. The last word he uttered before everything went dark was
"Cathy..."
..
In a blind rage, burning through the avatar state, Flynn laid ruin to the Haven. Carrying Maria over her shoulder, she ripped down the buildings and burned the halls. She fell friend and foe alike. They were all the same. All responsible. She flooded homes, battered the temple, and tore down the statues of the great heroes. Aang, Katara, Toph, Soka, Zuko, Kora and Lin all fell before her. She screamed in anger as the towers, erected from the ground to the roof, were torn and scattered. The tunnels collapsed. She drew in all of the air around her into a sphere around her and prepared to explode it. She would die, and she would take this whole damned place with her.
"Flynn... please... please stop..." The dying warrior on her back whispered. The blue light faded from Flynn's eyes, and the air dissipated. "Please... just leave... let's just leave..." The General could not argue. She built the air beneath herself and raised herself up with a platform. She heard Maria's final breath, and everything became heavy. The platform broke beneath her, and Maria slipped out of her grasp. She watched her friend fall as she fell herself. As her eyes slipped shut – she was so tired – she made out a wire. It wrapped around Maria and pulled her away. Into the grasp of another.
Into his grasp.
Lea caught the falling Maria and disappeared into the bruised temple. A lightning bolt shot from behind the door. Flynn pushed herself away at the last minute, and landed on her feet. "Give her back to me. Give her back right now. She's not yours! GIVE HER BACK!" She screamed frantically and desperately as she ran into the temple behind her assailants. She would get back her property.
..
Will awoke and brushed the rubble off himself. He stood dazed for a few seconds as everything came back to him. As his memory returned, he found himself running towards the temple.
And how he ran.
