And here's a new chapter. I'm really enjoying this story, and according to the reviews, so are plenty of other people. I thought I was going to get to the part I've wanted to write, but I didn't quite get there. In fact, I almost didn't finish this part, on account of being busy watching the latest episodes of Korra. Still a good show.

Now let's see what Alex and Korra are up to after the attack.

Chapter 3: The Monster Wearing the Mask

Alex was busy meditating, keeping his souls in line after last night. They were all in turmoil over Blackwatch and the Equalist War. They all remembered what they did to New York during both outbreaks. Or at least they shared the memories of what happened. The very few Republicans he had consumed were horrified at the scale of their attacks; the New Yorkers were enraged at the damage they caused and tried to justify; and the Blackwatch members were defending themselves against the accusations. They said it was thanks to them that there was a New York in the end to live in. But he shut them down, as the outrage at such statements nearly caused him to fall apart. He cursed himself as he recalled the events of last night. Stupid. He let his emotions and his ego get in the way, and so he was vulnerable for Blackwatch to attack. With his limited biomass, he had to be more careful around them. Still, it was nearly worth it to see Tahno's face after he cheated his way to victory. Most alarming though was the D-Code. Unless they had several of them here, it had to be the same one he 'killed' back at the rally. Clearly, he was tougher than Alex gave him credit for. But the next time they fought, he was going down for good. But now that he got his souls under control, he needed some more time to check the seals in his mind. He needed calm, peace, quiet…

He nearly flinched as the sound of a newspaper broke through his concentration. He opened his eyes to see Korra standing over him, clearly very angry. Or was it upset? Whatever it was, she wasn't happy to see him. He made a big show of picking up the newspaper and opening it at the front page. Most of it was about the Equalist attack, and how the Council may respond. But a bit at the bottom was about him. How people thought he was the Avatar instead of Korra. They argue that while Korra could bend three elements, the fact he could bend all four and his bending was far stronger could mean that he was the real thing and Korra was an anomaly. He had to resist snorting in derision. Korra wasn't an anomaly, he was. He was a monster that cheated the rules. If they knew what he really was…

"Are you here because you feel threatened by my presence, Korra?" He asked her as he dropped the newspaper. "Cause just so you know, I don't really care what people think of me. I'm not interested in popularity."

"Actually I'm here to get the truth from you." She retorted angrily. "The Avatar holds the spirit of the World. Everyone knows that. There is no way there could ever be two of them. I think Mako was right. I think it's pretty suspicious that you just happened to show up to learn Airbending, after coming from an island no one's ever come across, and where people have more advanced tech than us benders. I think it's pretty suspicious how you know all about this Blackwatch group despite the fact that no one even saw them until the arena attack. And I find it pretty suspicious how you apparently don't have many benders back home and yet you can bend all four elements without being an Avatar." She leaned in closer, fists ready to fight. "So talk Alex. Where are you really from, and how do you know Blackwatch so well?"

Alex got to his feet, his internal biomass clenching up for a fight. This wasn't something he really wanted to deal with right now. "And what if I don't talk. Are you going to try and beat the knowledge out of me?"

"If I had to. If I can't trust you, then I don't want you anywhere near Tenzin and his family." His biomass stopped moving. She knew that she could never beat him. Hell, she was probably aware that he could kill her with ease. But instead of backing down, she was standing up to him. Not because she wanted to reclaim her title as Avatar, but to protect the people she cared about.

He supposed he could tell her a bit of the truth.

He sighed. "Ok, ok. Fine. You're right. I haven't told you the truth." He still couldn't tell her everything, but if he worded it right… "I'm not from a small island called America. I'm actually from another version of Earth. One where we never had the bending arts, spirits were seen as superstitious nonsense, and there are far more than just four nations."

Whatever she was expecting to hear, this clearly wasn't it. He kept going before she could interrupt him. "My world created inventions much sooner than your world, to make up for our lack of special powers. I don't know if our timelines are synched, but we invented the 'Satomobile' 240 years ago. The first concept of it was even older, having been thought of 97 years before that. By my time, we had progressed to far more adventurous devices. We've even had someone on the moon."

"You're completely full of it." Korra retorted. "Anyway, even if I believed you were from another world, it still doesn't explain how you know Blackwatch."

"I was… a scientist working for Blackwatch." She just looked at him in confusion. He sighed. "My job was to study the world and everything in it, and figure out new things about it so we could manipulate it better. A good analogy would be when Toph Beifong discovered earthen elements in metal through her earth-sense, and created Metalbending from that.

"So what were you 'scientisting' for them?"

"I didn't find anything for them. My father, Alex Mercer Senior, created a super-soldier serum for them." She sighed again as he saw her blank look. This was what happened when he explained experimental technology to a backwater world. "A drink that makes you stronger. The first batch was highly lethal, but 'dad' still tested it on me. After that and his 'disappearance', I had a look into the guys I was working for. I found out some pretty nasty stuff, and got the hell out of there. They chased me, I got cornered next to some experimental technology, and then the next thing I know I'm on another world and bending all for elements."

"Really?" She scoffed. "You got force-fed something that made you so much stronger, and then you end up running to this world and getting all four elements? And all this after apparently being some kind of genius? I'm not buying it. It sounds like someone's bad literature to me." Typical. He should've just gone the whole way and told her he was a monster.

"Yeah well, it's the truth."

"Why should I even believe you? You've always been hiding things for us. For all I know you haven't told me everything."

"Well I don't care about what you believe." He stood up to leave. "I'm going off to hunt down some Blackwatch bastards. You go and do whatever inane stuff you've got planned."

Even having run to the docks, he could still hear her yelling in anger.

Lin wasn't feeling much better as she looked over the wreckage of the arena ring. The papers were tearing her to shreds after the Equalists managed to attack despite all her efforts. She had to find something to get the Equalists and their allies with, or else they'll be on her like a catgator on a chicken. As she turned away from the destroyed ring, she thought she spotted something abnormal over by the stands. She moved in quietly, ready to knock some heads together. She thought she caught a glimpse of something black and slithery, but as she crept round the corner of the seat she nearly walked into Korra. The young Avatar tensed up, her hands ready to attack, until she realised who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Lin asked angrily. "This is a crime scene. Civilians aren't allowed. At all."

"Sorry Lin." Korra's tone seemed more hostile than usual. "I figured I could try and find out something to help. It couldn't hurt to have another set of eyes, right?" Lin glared at her before sighing. She then turned around to look at several groups of her men. They still hadn't found anything. "How did the Equalists get in here? Didn't your men search them or something?"

"You can't search a few hundred thousand people without reason, and we didn't expect those gloves of theirs. At least I can explain how they slipped past us. But what I'm most concerned about it how that big fellow got in. There's no way someone that big could've just sneaked past us like that."

"He could've if he killed some Metalbenders. You should check if any guards are missing." Korra was looking around like an Eagle-hawk, her eyes almost glowing. She wasn't usually this aggressive and blunt. As much as Lin didn't like it, Korra was more vibrant and adventurous. But then she remembered the paper this morning, and the other article that had everyone talking.

"I see you heard that people think your friend is the real Avatar." Lin said. "That must be difficult."

"Maybe. Alex doesn't seem to really care about that stuff. After people see how cold he is, they'll leave him alone." She started, looking closer at a nearby seat. She crouched below it, and Lin thought she could hear her sniffing like a polar dog.

"You think you found something?" If Korra could help them get a lead, then her career might be saved. She wasn't interested in saving it just to make her more important. But she couldn't protect her men or her city to the best of her abilities if she was relocated to a dead-end job. And what would Toph think of her?

"False alarm." Korra replied, standing back up. "I thought I spotted some oil. But it was probably just grease from some food. I should probably leave before I 'contaminate' the crime scene. And you should remember what I said about missing guards."

"Alright. I'll look into that Korra. What'll you do now?"

"I'm going to look somewhere else. Maybe someone in the poorer districts might know something."

"Just don't go overboard. People are just going to be less likely to talk if you beat them up for information. But I hope you find something."

"Sure." Korra left past the guards, who looked surprised that she managed to get past them. As they looked at each other in confusion, Lin could've sworn she saw her double over for a moment, her skin getting darker. But then she straightened up, and looked back to normal. Lin took her mind off the girl and back onto the job. She still needed to find a clue. Any clue.

"Chief." Officer Kwong said to her. She remembered him because his cousin started up Kwong's Cuisines. "We just got a tip about an Equalist supporter. Apparently Cabbage Corp may be housing Equalist materials."

"Right. We're on our way."

"…And in other news, Future Industries rival Cabbage Corp has been suspected of Equalist ties, with many Equalist related items found inside one of their warehouses." A reporter said over the radio. "When asked about whether they have been found guilty, Chief Beifong had this to say."

"The evidence points in that direction, but the investigation is ongoing." Lin said. "For the time being, we have frozen Mr. Gan-Lan's assets and are closing Cabbage Corp." Mako turned off the radio as the four friends drove back to the Sato mansion. They had just been out to the Future Industries race-track, where they test the satomobiles to make sure they worked perfectly. Korra was still feeling the rush of high-speed driving. It made her wish she knew how to drive.

"Good riddance." Mako said. "Now the Equalists can't use that as a staging ground anymore."

"Dad's going to be pleased." Asami agreed. "Not only are we stopping the Equalists, but his biggest rival is out for the moment." They drove a bit longer before Asami spoke up again. "So… Korra. I was just wondering something."

"What about?" Korra asked in a confused tone. She wasn't really sure what to think of Asami. The dark-haired girl had stolen Mako from her. Sure, she hadn't exactly told him before they met, but everytime she saw them together her blood would start burning. But Asami was too cool to hate. She was really nice. She didn't look down on someone because of their social class. Plus, she was tougher than she looked. Korra just decided to leave romance alone and like Asami for who she was.

"How exactly does… Alex manage to bend… all four elements?" Ah. No wonder she was so hesitant. She was probably worried that Korra was going to break down because she wasn't sure she was the Avatar anymore. Truthfully, she was worried about that too. Despite what she told Alex, she did feel threatened by him. He was better than her in almost every way.

"I asked him that, and he doesn't really know. But you were right Mako. He's not from some lonely island. He says he's from another world."

Mako snorted. "That's his excuse? He's from another world? At least the island fib was believable.

"So, is that why he got back up after having his face explode?" Bolin asked. "Cause I kinda wondered about that."

"Maybe." Korra wasn't sure whether to tell them about his 'association' with Blackwatch. It sounded like he was against them completely, even to the point of murder. She shuddered as she remembered the poor man he squashed flat. "All I know is that he makes me look like an amateur."

"You're not an amateur." Mako replied. "You're really good at what you do. It sounds a bit to me like he's just coasting along on some weird ability. I don't trust him."

"That makes two of us. I'm still getting a feeling he hasn't told me everything. Just enough to answer my questions. And I don't know why, but he has a lock on his bedroom door. I think he might be keeping an animal in there or something, cause there are claw marks everywhere."

Bolin gasped. "Or maybe he is the animal. I mean, do you see him with an animal? Maybe at night he turns into a ferocious creature, and he locks himself away to avoid harming anyone." Mako and Korra looked at him in stunned silence. Even as weird as it sounded, he wouldn't think that Alex cared about anyone if they saw what he did.

"Maybe not." Korra replied as Asami pulled up at the mansion. As Bolin exited the satomobile, he suddenly doubled over slightly and held his hands over his crotch.

"I gotta go. Emergency, emergency." He started running up to the front door, nearly bowling over the butler as he ran in." Beep, beep. Need the little boy's room."

"Hey, is there another bathroom here?" Korra asked as she came in. One of the last places you realise you need to go is when you're on the back of a polar bear dog.

"Sure." Asami replied. "We have a lady's powder room upstairs, first door on your right. You can freshen up in there."

"Thanks."

Korra felt nervous as she met up with Tenzin and Lin, Mr Sato's phone call still playing in her head. She knew she was walking on a tightrope here. If she was wrong, then it was likely that her friendship with the guys was over. And she and Asami had been getting along so well. Not to mention it would mean the only one that would talk to her was a crazy moody rival. But if she was right…

Asami was going to be hurt either way.

"Alright Korra, what did you call us both here for?" Tenzin asked her as she approached.

"I overheard a conversation Mr Sato was having over the phone. He was saying that everything was going to plan, and that the Cabbage Corp investigation was buying them enough time. And then he said that by the end of the week they would be ready to strike. And I also heard him say they would be ready for Zeus, whatever that was."

"So, you think Mr. Sato manufactured those gloves for the Equalists then framed Cabbage Corp?" She saw Tenzin and Lin give her a dubious glance.

"I know, I don't have any proof. But I know what I heard. Sato's up to something." And the fact that he referred to something she'd never heard of could mean he was talking with Blackwatch.

Tenzin looked thoughtful. "Well, he certainly has the means to manufacture all that stuff."

"And the motive." Lin blurted out, an idea hitting her. Tenzin looked like he realised something too.

"That's right."

"A motive? What is it?" Korra was confused.

"Twelve years ago, the Agni Kai Triad robbed Sato's mansion. A Firebender killed Sato's wife during the break in. It was a dark day for him."

"And it may have created anti-bender feelings. Perhaps we should have a closer look at Mr Sato." They all nodded, before Lin spoke again. "What about the poorer districts? Did you have any luck there?"

"Wait. Poorer districts? What do you mean?" Korra asked.

"You told me that you were going to check out for any information there, when we talked at the arena this morning."

"I haven't been to the arena since last night. And I haven't talked to you until now."

"But if that wasn't you, then who did I talk to this morning?" Korra felt worried. Could the Equalists somehow disguise someone as her? Or was it Blackwatch? Her friends could be in danger.

"What did this 'other me' talk with you about?" She had to know. Maybe they could head her off or something.

"She showed up to try and find any clues to help capture the Equalists. Or at least find out how they got in. She said she found something, but that it was a false alarm. Probably was removing important evidence for her master." Lin looked very angry.

"Anything else?" A faint voice kept calling in her mind, trying to get her attention. She ignored it.

"Well, I thought her sharpness was because you were upset about that man being thought of as the 'real' Avatar. You said you weren't worried because Alex doesn't like the spotlight and he's too cold for people." Everything clicked together now. The quiet voice was a crowd shouting. Only one person could ever know so much about Alex.

I knew he was still lying to me.

"Alex." She said aloud. "That who she was. It was Alex in disguise."

"Korra, I know you're upset about how people are thinking of him instead. I know you're upset that he can bend air when you can't make a gust. But there's a big step from that to being able to pretend to be you. It's impossible."

"For us maybe. But Alex has been hiding stuff from us. He's been lying ever since he got here. And he's dangerous."

"And what makes you think that?" Korra could see that Tenzin wasn't going to believe her if she told him the truth. Until now, she thought Alex had been lying still. Heck, he probably could've been still lying.

But it was all she had.

"Alex isn't from some island in the middle of nowhere. He pretty much told me that he and Blackwatch are from another world. And he and his family used to work for Blackwatch." They looked at her in surprise, but she had to keep going. "According to him, their world is exactly like ours, except that they don't have spirits and bending. They became more advanced to make up for that. And his dad made some kind of liquid that would make people stronger. It-it did something to him, and gave him crazy strength. I don't think that cable he used was normal. And how could he have survived the damage he was given?"

"Korra, listen to yourself. Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds? You've got to stop changing facts to suit your own theories." She was losing him. She didn't want to do this. But she had to. They had to understand. "And this still doesn't make him dangerous. Fire Lord Zuko was the son of Ozai, yet he made all this. Just because your family has something to do with a bad group doesn't make you bad too."

"…Do you both remember the murder in the park?" They both looked a bit concerned that she brought it up. The Police wouldn't let the papers show the damage that was caused.

"Remember?" Lin said. "I was on the case. It was nasty stuff. I nearly lost my lunch seeing it. The poor guy was driven into the ground so hard we ended up having to remove the whole crater to get him out of there. And all the witnesses had different descriptions of the murderer. Why, do you think Alex did it?"

"I know he did it. Because I was there."

"You were what?"

"That guy was a member of Blackwatch. Alex took one look at him and flipped. It was like he was possessed. He grabbed the guy with one hand and well, you saw the damage."

Tenzin looked livid. As bad as the time she destroyed the Airbending course. "What!? You're telling me that Alex murdered someone, and you didn't tell us? He's been with my kids this whole time. He could've killed them!"

"I know. That's why I didn't tell you. I… I was scared that if I told you, he might decide to… well…"

"You were afraid he'd silence all of you." Lin finished. "And you didn't think my Metalbending Corp could take him?"

"Actually, no I didn't." Korra sighed. When had this conversation gone from Sato to Alex? "And now that he can do more with the elements than I ever could, I'm even more certain. What do you think we should do?"

Lin thought it over for a bit. "Part of me wants to have him arrested for murder, but I'm not completely sure we could take him. For now, we'll just watch him and see how he fights. In the meantime, we still should investigate Mr Sato."

"Won't you suffer a backlash if you do that? Your position is very precarious." Tenzin asked.

"My post as chief of police will be over if I don't turn up something. I don't have any other choice." Korra sighed as they continued arguing. There. She told them about Alex.

Now she had to live with her choices.

The underground tunnels hissed and creaked as steam blew from pipes. Several large doors designed to stop speeding trains were now wrenched wide open. Sparks spluttered from broken cables. There were a few lights, but most of them didn't work.

The ones that did showed bloodstains everywhere.

Alex hummed to himself as he went through what was left of the systems. As soon as he smashed his way in, the Blackwatch guys in charge had set up the computers to scrub themselves clean. Then they killed themselves once he was smashing through their door with someone's corpse. They were good. Very good. But even with a scrub, he could still find out stuff if he moved fast enough. The really smart thing to do would be to just blow up the whole thing.

"Guess they forget I can pick a computer's brain as easily as I pick theirs." He muttered to himself as he looked through what was left. According to this, they were planning on launching satellites if they couldn't find a way back home. But there wasn't much else there. Even though he got something, he still had to admit that they did a good job scrubbing. He was about to shut it down when he noticed something. Something they missed.

Apparently, after Amon was done removing bending from people, they would be given to Blackwatch so they could study them and compare them to normal people. But at the same time, there was a half-ruined sentence about how they would abduct people that still had their bending. So that must mean that either Blackwatch had their own benders, or they were trying to find a way to turn people from back home into benders.

"Interesting." He said as he ripped the computer in half. One of the subroutines he found showed that the rest were notified if a system was scrubbed. He guessed they'd want a warning when something happened to an off-site. But there was not much else here, except weapons and trucks. He systematically smashed them all to smithereens, including the rockets. Now that he can Firebend, they just weren't needed at this rate.

It didn't take him long to leave the base, hopping out of a nearby sewer entrance. He noticed a lot of police trucks nearby, but he decided to ignore it all. Until he heard a familiar voice.

"No, I'm not! I don't care how cooperative Hiroshi is being, I know he's lying." Korra argued with Mako not too far away. Alex quickly changed into a mousy man with a weak moustache. He didn't have time to deal with Korra's arguing. But what she was saying intrigued him.

"Why are you doing this?" Mako asked angrily. "Are you that jealous of me and Asami?" Korra gasped in shock of the statement.

"What? Don't be ridiculous! That has nothing to do with it!"

"If you don't drop this, then consider our friendship over."

"I'm sorry Mako. Hiroshi is not the man you think he is." Mako glared at Korra, before leaving with Asami. Alex was very intrigued now. Hiroshi Sato, the Fire Ferret's supporter, was lying about something? Maybe he knew more about the Equalists than they thought. He watched as the Metalbending police left, and nearly missed a man slip a note into Korra's hand. She looked up wildly, but the man had already left on a truck. Alex got closer as she walked over to Beifong and Tenzin.

"I think you guys should hear this." She said before reading the note aloud. "If you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the Silk Road Bridge at midnight." She kept looking at it as Alex got a bit closer, before turning to face him and grabbing him. "Alright pal. You've been watching me for way too long. What do you want?"

"I'm delivering a message for Avatar Alex." He lied, watching as her eye twitched from his new title. "He says that if you are up to it, he would enjoy working with you against the Equalists."

Korra stared at him for a while longer, until her eyes lit up and she glowered. "Save it Alex. I know all about your 'meeting' with Beifong at the arena."

Clever girl. She figured out it was him. He was going to have to be more careful around her. "Fine." He said in his normal voice. "You've had a poor track record against Equalists. And I heard about your ambush at Aang Memorial Island. Surely you remember how my last fight went?"

"Which one? The one where it took a massive man to beat you down? Or the one where you 'accidently' killed three people? I don't need your 'help' Alex. All I want is for you to stay away from me."

"Now Korra, calm down." Tenzin said trying to smooth over the angry mood. "If Alex's up for helping us, then I see nothing wrong with it." His glances seemed different now. Whereas before they were filled with pride, now they seemed wary. Maybe Korra told him about his fights. If so, then Beifong might know too. And she would likely want his arrest. As he contemplated killing them all, he stopped. Was this going to be his life? Acting paranoid, killing people he suspected, and then running off to another city? It wasn't a life. Hell, he escaped that back home. He could do it here.

"Now then. Let's see what our new friend wants to tell us."

Corporal Daniels looked up as the man he wanted to see entered the room. He had been in here since he heard over the radio about the search of Future Industries warehouses for Equalist contraband. "Why search?" He asked in his broken Chinese. They had at least 4 guys that knew the language, but teaching all their men to speak the language took time, even with them focusing on higher ups first. Luckily, the natives of the Equalists understood them still.

"Avatar Korra overheard me talking to your boss over the phone." Mr Sato replied as he mopped his brow with a handkerchief. "But they won't find anything. As soon as we framed cabbage Corp, I had all Equalist items moved to under my mansion."

"Still risky." Daniels replied. "Not heard first in place. Eliminate."

"If I remember correctly, Amon said we weren't to touch her until the end. We don't want that bimbo becoming a martyr now do we?"

Daniels hesitated as he remembered his orders. "No." Still, he was a bit annoyed that Sato piled up names like that on the Avatar. She actually looked pretty stunning. If it wasn't for the fact that she was hanging out with Zeus and that Blackwatch was allied with her enemies, he might try to ask her out in his civilian identity.

"You know, I think this would be a good time to test out my newest invention. We lure the Avatars, Councilman Tenzin, and Chief Beifong out to somewhere they can't escape, show that benders are no match for us, and then we hold them until the end." The mention of Avatars got Daniels' attention.

"Went blueprints. Good, but work." Sato stared at him a bit until he understood.

"You think my weapons need some work? Hardly. My creations are already the best around. You grunts might carry more advanced stuff, but it's clear that none of you invented it."

"Staff. No, Gu-un." That's what happens when you speak in a language that already had the word 'gun' for something else. They compromised with a longer sound to mean their guns. "Rocket. Boom. For Zeus."

"We've been over this. We need the support of the people. If your weapons are as dangerous as you say, then we can't use them without scaring people. Besides, your 'Zeus' isn't going to be a threat. Mercer's going down."

"Many say that. None come back."

"He is a man. A mere man, not some monster you think he is. He will fall, and fall hard." Mr Sato walked off in a huff, no doubt going to talk with Amon. While he did that, Daniels got out his radio.

"General. I just spoke with Mr Sato. He plans on luring several targets to an ambush to show his latest weapon."

"I see." General Redcliffe replied. "Does that include Zeus?"

"Yes sir. The fat idiot doesn't understand that Zeus isn't human. He won't add the modifications I suggested."

"Hmm. I don't think they'll do much good against Zeus anyway. But then again, not much seems to last against him. Have a back-up team ready to bail our 'genius' out. Tell them that they can use whatever ordinance they need, as long as Sato escapes."

"Yes sir. Should we organise Cell 14 to watch Zeus?"

"Regrettably, we just received confirmation that Cell 14's systems were wiped." They all knew that a system-wipe meant they ran into Zeus. He was the only person apart from them that knew how to work a computer, or even what one was. "He will pay for their deaths. But we should at least let Sato realise he should listen to us. In the meantime, start working on new blueprints. We need every advantage we can get."

"Understood."

Alex smiled as he booted the front door off its hinges. They all agreed to let him do the smashing, since being antisocial was one of his best skills. The Metalbenders behind him fanned out, holding their arms like they were using guns. Even on another world, some things never change.

"What are you doing here?" Asami asked angrily. Clearly everyone expected him to talk.

"We learnt that there's a factory right under you house, princess." He said, pushing past her. Asami merely scoffed at him.

"I think I would've noticed a secret factory right under my own house. The lies you people come up with just to persecute my father…"

"Oh spare me. You think you're the first person to find out their dad's a monster, or a crook? Now then, we'd like to have a 'chat' with him. Still, as I'm not a member of the police you're quite within your rights to refuse me. But then I can't guarantee the safety of all the fragile stuff in here. Ornaments, pictures, furniture. The walls."

"Get out." Mako growled at him, standing in front of Asami. Alex responded with a cold laugh.

"You think you can beat me? Haven't you heard the news?" He spread his arms in a grandstanding manner. "I'm the new Avatar."

"Look, we heard from an ex-Equalist that your dad made the gloves. And we know he's building a new weapon. And it involves something called Zeus." Alex's whole body went cold at that. Zeus. His codename. The one Blackwatch gave him when he started, to make him less human.

Enough being nice.

"You've caught me in a good mood, Miss Sato." He growled, pushing past Mako. The fool grabbed him by the shoulder, until he flicked him away. He kept going, subtly growing in height to tower over her. "So I'll ask you once. Where is your father?"

"I-In his workshop." Asami replied nervously. She led them through the mansion to it. He was going to have some very choice words with Sato. If he and Blackwatch were somehow making more of him…

"Well Zeus obviously means something to you Alex." Korra said as she got walked with him. "So spill. What is Zeus? Sato said his weapon would be ready for it, but we don't really know what that…"

"Hold on." Alex interrupted her. "You said his weapon involved Zeus. You didn't say anything about it being ready for Zeus."

"Well, that's because we don't know if it's meant to be used by Zeus unless you tell us what Zeus is." Dammit. She got him there. Now he at least knew that no one was releasing Blacklight. But still…

"Zeus was their codename for me. Sato probably thinks he's got a weapon ready to kill me." They entered a large building hiding behind the mansion. No one was inside, and the door was the only way out.

"Dad?" Asami called out, looking confused. As they looked around, one of the officers approached Beifong.

"Chief, we've covered the whole property. No one's gone in or out of this room before us."

"Maybe we just didn't see him leaving." Beifong replied, moving into the center of the room. She raised one leg and slid away the metal to reveal her bare foot, before stomping the ground. Alex could feel the vibrations moving up and down him slightly as she did that. And by following them, he noticed an oddity in the back floor. Before anyone could react, he grabbed hold of the floor, revealing the metal panel it was made of, and threw the whole thing aside. Everyone stared at the downward-sloping tunnel he revealed.

"Do you think your dad knows about this?" Bolin asked Asami as she stared in shock.

"I… I don't understand." She stammered. "There must be some explanation."

"Maybe you don't know everything about your father." Korra said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Beifong was all business. "Officers, with me. Tenzin, Korra, Alex, you too. You three," she pointed at Mako, Bolin, and Asami, "you're to wait here with Officer Song. Move out." They walked down some stairs to find a massive elevator platform. You could fit a battalion on this. And it was sturdy enough to handle his weight. He pushed a nearby button, and the whole thing moved with a smooth jolt. It went straight down for nearly a minute before reaching another station. They moved in quickly and quietly, with only Alex appearing at ease. Considering the other weapons of this world, he was highly doubtful that Sato could accomplish what all of Blackwatch failed to do. They soon entered a brightly lit room big enough to be a Blackwatch carpool. There were humanoid tanks standing in rows not far from them, and giant posters of Amon hanging overhead.

"Looks like we found his real workshop." Beifong said, before turning towards one of the tanks. "And this must be one of the new weapons." They all took a closer look at it. It appeared to be made of steel, riveted into place. It had a head like an old-fashioned fiver's suit, and two arms with three grippers each. Instead of feet, which would be very impractical, it had two large treads instead, along with a smaller third behind it. All in all, it looked even more fragile than the ones back home.

"Well, Hiroshi was lying alright." Tenzin said. "But where is he?" Suddenly, a massive wall of metal rose and blocked off the entrance back up. The room went nearly dark, save for some lights still around the place. Beifong stood in front of the wall and tried to move it, but somehow it resisted her attempts.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to metalbend that wall, Chief Beifong." They heard Sato speak through a radio as green lights turned on. The mechas started moving, the pilots clearly having been inside. "It's solid platinum. In fact, my mecha tanks are platinum as well. Not even your renowned mother could bend a metal so pure."

Korra stepped forward, looking even more pissed than usual. "Hiroshi, I knew you were a lying no-good Equalist. Come out here and.."

"And do what, False Avatar? Face the wrath of your bending? No. I think I'll stay here, where my odds are a little more… equal."

"This was a set-up." Beifong realised. "You meant for us to find this place."

"Guilty as charged. And you, Alex Mercer. I don't know what's so special about you, but my allies seem to think you're some kind of 'boogieman'. They even give you a pretentious title. What does Zeus even mean? Well, no matter. Once I bring you all in, then they'll realise that my technology will soon outpace whatever they brought from their homes."

Alex smiled as he heard Sato say that. They hadn't told him the truth. Oh sure, they might've told him how strong Alex was. But they didn't fully explain what he was capable of. Or maybe they did, and Sato was just too arrogant to listen. Well, that will be his downfall.

"Where we come from, there is a pantheon of gods. And their king is called Zeus." He laughed as his skin hardened into armour, claws growing on one hand and tendrils danced on the other. "A fitting name, as I was their greatest creation. And everything about me was a pure accident." He fired off his tendrils, wrapping a tank until it started crumbling under them. Then he pulled himself closer as the tank drove backwards. While the pilot tried to dislodge him, and the others started fighting, he drove his claws through the glass windows. The pilot gurgled as his claws went through bone, before he used them to devour the brain and the soul. He quickly crushed it down before skimming through all the knowledge he just obtained. Now he could drive one of these, but that would be like a soldier using a toy gun to kill someone. It wasn't worth the effort. He quickly looked back to see how everyone was doing. The police officers had grabbed two of them with their cables, trying to hold them in place. Beifong was using daggers to stab another mecha, while Korra and Tenzin worked to knock Sato around. He also saw Mako and Bolin crawled out of a hole they made.. Alex smiled to himself behind his face. Time for some more fun. He formed a blade, before jumping high overhead and slicing through a mecha limb. The officers fell over as they lost the tension, and the mecha spun around wildly as it lost purchase. As it passed bay him, Alex spun his whole body in a circle, slicing the mecha in half along with the pilot. He then rushed towards the next one just as it grabbed the Metalbender cables and electrocuted them. Alex yelled as he felt the electricity course through him, while the officers fell unconscious. But Alex wasn't going to fall from that. He reformed his hands into his hammerfists, and the unlucky pilot learnt quickly what happens when over 500 kg's of mass is slammed into your mech multiple times. By the time Alex was done, the mech was a pile of scrap leaking blood. He quickly looked to see Beifong was helping the others with Hiroshi, who was trying to attack Korra. But the Avatar was far too fast for him, dodging his blows. But none of them seemed to be able to stop him. Alex fired off his whipfist, using it to pull himself towards Sato. The mecha crumpled under his weight, and he pulled out the dazed inventor. It would be so easy to just kill him and consume him. To take his knowledge. Such a high-ranking member of the Equalists might know where Blackwatch was situated.

"No! Stop!" He heard Asami scream. He saw out the corner of his eye her running towards him along with everyone else still conscious. "Please Alex don't."

"He tried to ambush us and give us to the Equalists. I think he deserves this."

"No he doesn't." Korra said. "Alex, you don't have the right to just kill someone like that. He's defenceless now. Or are you just so obsessed with Blackwatch that you're willing to kill anyone to get to them."

"Do you know what Blackwatch are planning Korra? They're abducting as many people as they can. Mostly benders and former-benders so they can see how they do it. We're never going to see them again, and I don't doubt that Airbenders and the Avatar are high on their list of people to grab. And don't think they'll leave Pema alone just because she's pregnant. They'll probably pull out the baby just to dissect him." He could see Tenzin getting angrier by the minute.

"Sato is not a member of Blackwatch." He said with difficulty. "He's just a part of the Equalists. We can take him in for questioning, find out where they are that way." But Alex was unmoved. Everyone could see that.

"Korra told us about the man you killed in the park." Beifong said to him. Looks like his paranoia was right. But he probably scared her so much she got over her caution. "How about a deal then? If you give Sato to us, alive and unharmed, then I'll… I'll…" it seemed to physically hurt her to speak. "…I'll 'misplace' the file on the man's death. And the part where Korra gave an eye-witness response."

"…Agreed." Alex replied. While it wouldn't be hard to break out of jail, it was a waste of time and effort. It would be far better to just avoid it all together. He moved to drop Sato, when a large sword sliced through his arm. The armour was thick, but even it had limits. He grunted as it fell, before hearing the click of guns. He barely got a large shield in place before bullets pounded against it, shaving off biomass with every round. He forced more biomass until the shield covered everyone, looking through it to see Sato running away. His arm sneaked back and joined up again, but that was moot. He could chase after him, but then everyone else would be dead. Most of the souls were screaming at him to save his allies.

Being in charge of the biomass was great. But he had to listen to the majority, or risk losing control.

"Everyone back to the hole!" He shouted. We need to get out of here!" They all stared, before moving to grab the officers that were still out of it. He gritted as they took so long to move, his biomass getting thinner with every second. That pilot had been a good pick-me-up, but it wasn't going to last forever. As everyone but Korra had gone down, he took another peek. And saw a soldier with a rocket launcher.

"We're out of here!" He said as he pushed Korra down before following her. The rocket slammed into the shield he left behind as they made their escape. He could hear them burn it to ash. Luckily, that should take some time before they could follow them. He made it thick enough to last a while.

If they had rockets ready, then he was going to have to wait another day. One where he was more certain he could escape if he had to.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Korra." Mako apologised on the air flight away. "It's just so hard to believe, even now."

"I hurts, knowing that someone you trusted wasn't who you thought they were. Believe me, I know." Alex told him. Memories of Flint threatened to overwhelm him. And…

Don't think about her.

"I'm sorry this all happened." Korra said. "Especially to Asami."

"So ... does your offer to live in the Air Temple still stand?"

"It does. And Asami's welcome to join us."

"Thank you." Mako turned to leave, but Korra placed a hand on his shoulder.

"After everything she's been through, she's going to need you Mako." He nodded, before moving to comfort his girlfriend. As Alex watched, he was besieged by images of people's lovers, their friends, their spouses. It threaten to overwhelm him.

He hoped he wasn't losing control.

Yes, I know that some people are going to complain because Alex showed mercy to Sato, or because he ran instead of fighting. Yes, I know he could outrun the soldiers inside that massive room. But Alex prefers fighting when he thinks he knows everything. The fact that he didn't know how big the squad was, or where another exit would be, meant he was forced to act more cautious at the end. Plus, he was running low on biomass. All the damage the night before and during the shield burnt up a lot of biomass. And as I mentioned, Alex would prefer to not be on the run from the law constantly. He's worried that if he isn't Alex Mercer most of the time, he might lose control of his body. And I hope the democracy thing helps explains some things. He can only suppress the other souls for so long. It's in his best interest to not rile them up.

And for those of you wondering, I'm planning to go through all four books when they're done. Some things will change, but others won't. it all depends on what ideas I come up with.

Also, by now everyone should know that Hiroshi was an Equalist, so I included a small scene where we see another Blackwatch member. Not all of them are complete monsters. Some of them are just willing to do anything for their mission. So Daniels' against Korra more because she hangs out with Zeus than the fact they're enemies.