Hey fans. Sorry this has taken so long. It's been a bit busy here, what with having so many stories at once, life in general, work, renovations and Destiny coming out. I must confess I also had a bit of trouble figuring this chapter out beyond 'Alex goes into Blackwatch base to find Asami, tears it apart like a boss'. In the original idea, the ending wasn't even as badass as it will be.

So enjoy.

Chapter 6: 00-Asami: Die This Very Day

She stood up for us. Alex was still having a hard time comprehending that. He was a virus, a living weapon of unparalleled destructive power. Humans were selfish, greedy and petty creatures cared only about their survival. In many ways similar yet different from each other. And yet Korra believed there was enough good in him to save him. To defend him to the others.

She only saved us because she knew she couldn't stop us. Greene whispered in his head. He shook her away. While that may be true, she… she saw more than a monster. She saw potential. A part of him, a part based on good people, didn't want to abuse her trust.

Korra's pulse started racing under his hand as she jerked in her sleep. Alex concentrated, and his skin secreted relaxants to calm her down. After explaining some –not all, they didn't need to know all – of what made her change her mind, she passed out from exhaustion. The others were unsure as to why she went into shock, but Alex managed to calm her with a mere touch. Mako thought it was a trick of his, a way to keep himself around. But no matter what he believed, Alex was the only one on the island keeping her in check. All the other doctors were busy dealing with the victims of his attack. When Alex thought about that, he experienced an unusual pain. It was… The best analogy he could think of was that someone was striking him across the face, and he felt hurt. Not at the act, but at what he did to get hurt.

Guilt.

Yes, guilt. He felt guilty. Those doctors were busy because of him. But he never felt guilty before. He didn't feel anything for those he hurt during his attacks. They were his enemies. He had to destroy them for good reasons. What did it matter if some people got hurt along the way?

Korra wouldn't do that.

His musings were interrupted as Mako came stomping in, a frown adorning his face. Alex was never really bothered by others' emotions. When you've been 'killed' three times already, an expression wasn't going to be dangerous.

"She's still stable." He said aloud. "She had a few nightmares, but I think she's through the worst of it." Mako ignored him, shoving him aside to check her himself. Alex moved more because he didn't want to fight right on top of Korra. Once Mako made sure she was still alright – a difficult thing to do when you don't have any medical knowledge – he reached out to get her a drink. "I've already hydrated her. You overdo it and she'll be busting for a piss." Once again, Mako ignored him. Now secure in the knowledge she was safe, he finally turned to face Alex.

"If she's through the worst of it, then you can leave." He said angrily. Alex smirked and shook his head.

"No can do, Emo. I like it here. It's pretty peaceful here. And at least I'll know if anyone's a part of Blackwatch. Besides, Korra wouldn't be too happy to find out you kicked me out."

"What makes you think she'll want you here? You're a monster. As soon as she wakes up, she'll realise how stupid it was to let you stay. To let you live. No one here likes you."

"Oh I know that. The thing you seem to have trouble with understanding is that I don't care. Your opinion doesn't matter at all to me. In fact, the only reason I even acknowledge you is because Korra knows you. But don't think for one second I won't knock you six ways to next week if you keep being an annoyance. And we both know I could easily do that." Mako kept glaring at him, but didn't rise to the challenge. "Korra's my…" Friend? Ally? Associate? "she's someone I don't feel like fighting. So why don't you take your attitude out of here before I do something you'll regret?"

"…Korra will see reason soon enough. Then I'll get you out of my city one way or another." He replied as he left the room. Alex didn't care. He heard that enough times that it lost all meaning. People like him weren't even a problem anymore. Sticks and stones and all that.

"You can stop pretending. I know you're awake." He detected the change in her breathing patterns a few minutes ago. Mako hadn't even realised that she heard them arguing. Korra opened her eyes blearily, looking at Alex with… what exactly? Fear? Anger? Hatred?

Pity.

"That right there is something we need to work on." She whispered hoarsely. "You can't keep threatening to kill people when they keep pushing you."

Alex shrugged. "His words don't bother me. And he can't really push me around."

"Words do bother you. You may try to hide it, but whenever you go ballistic over Blackwatch you're being bothered by them. And I don't mean pushing you around with force. You run from things that you don't want to talk about."

"It's a weakness. You should just push through your problems."

"That's not how people act." Alex was getting… antsy about this conversation. A part of him wanted to leave and ignore her.

But that's what she meant. He was trying to avoid things he never thought about before.

"Alright then. So I can't avoid problems, and you say people don't just push through them. So how do I act around my problems?"

"Confront the source of them. Mako's afraid of you because you have no compunctions about killing anything that gets near you. Show to him that you have self-restraint."

Alex frowned. "I thought I already have. Isn't the fact that you guys are still alive weeks after I got here enough?"

"No, it isn't. Normal people don't immediately kill anything around them. They don't think like that. Your problem is that you've been acting like you've been hunted for so long that you've forgotten how to function without it." Had he? He tried to remember a time where he wasn't being hunted by something, or hunting after a threat that needed killing.

Nothing came to mind.

"So what do you want me to do? They've already decided I'm a monster that needs putting down. I doubt I can convince them otherwise."

"You can. It'll just take time. Once you show them you can be a normal person, they'll come around. Just ease up on the whole 'ripping people apart' thing. That'll smooth things over." She closed her eyes, her breath slowing down as she fell asleep again. Alex sat back down and mused over what she said. All his minds and memories told him that people showed they were friendly by helping others. Was that what he should do?

Hardly. Helping others. The strong grew stronger and the weak faltered. If one wasn't capable of helping themselves, then they deserved to be crushed, consumed to power the strong.

But Korra… Korra was different. He couldn't explain why, but she was.

And so he kept sitting by her side, watching her. And thinking.

"Ikki, where did you put my book on Airbending meditations?" Jinora called out.

She hid it under her pillow, wanting to see what was so interesting. But Alex didn't answer her. He just listened as they both argued about it.

"Meelo, have you seen my list of baby names?" Pema asked.

Third list on your kitchen shelf.

"Hey Mako, I can't find my belt." That was Bolin.

It fell under your bed.

"Where's Korra? I need to talk to her." Chief Beifong. Alex stood up as she entered the room, and watched as she started. "You." She had more venom in her voice than even Mako.

He ignored it, like everything else. "Korra is still resting." He told her. "Whatever you need to tell her about can wait."

"No, it can't. The city's in utter shambles thanks to you. We're all one spark away from exploding. Blackwatch and the Equalists are actually taking to the street. I hoped that Avatar Korra could placate them."

"Those problems aren't her concern. You should be doing your job properly, not trying to get us to do it." She wanted to hit him. He could see it in her expression, in her stance. She was standing lower to the ground, almost primal-like as she readied herself. It would be no trouble to smack her around the walls a few times and throw her out.

Normal people don't think like that.

It took a few seconds – an eternity to people like him and Beifong – but she got her breathing back under control. She then looked him dead in the eye. "I am doing my job. But no amount of training could prepare anyone for that walking abomination you turned into. Half of the district ended up missing during the attack. Most are probably dead. And Tenzin and the others are too busy debating what to do instead of doing it. Having Korra show up and calm people down could work wonders."

"Calm down the bending citizens you mean. 'Have no fear of the Equalists. Avatar Korra is here to kick them down'. The non-benders, the people the Equalists are rallying, see her as the epitome of their oppressors. Find some other idol." She looked like she was going to keep arguing, but then Mako came into the room.

"We've wasted enough time Chief Beifong." He said immediately. "Asami's been with the Equalists for a whole day. We need to get her out of there."

"As I already told you Mako, we don't even know where that is. She could be anywhere right now. Spirits, she could even be in whatever place they all came from."

"Maybe, but they'd need a forward base to operate from. We find that, we find out where Asami went." If they were all for hunting down Blackwatch, then he was up for it. "We just need somewhere to start."

"What's this 'we'? You're not coming with us. If Korra's really as 'indisposed' as you say, then shouldn't you stay here?"

"I said she's still resting. Her body's fine now, and she's most likely through the worst nightmares. Right now what she needs in a chance to rest and recover."

"Or maybe you're keeping her under to keep her from getting rid of you." Mako was right in his face now. He hated people getting right in his personal space. A leftover from the original Alex. He so wanted to rip that head clean off.

"Or maybe she's right here and tired of everyone arguing right over her bed." Korra said angrily as she looked at them. Alex checked her bio signatures. Still good, still well. This isn't causing her undo stress.

At least, not yet.

"Mako, I know you don't like it. But Alex knows Blackwatch better than anyone. He'll know the general layout, the defences, and the number of men. And he's good at tracking. These people aren't going to do things halfway. If we enter their base, we need all the muscle we can deliver."

"But they also know more about him than we do. If they think he's dangerous enough to try and destroy a whole district just to kill him, then maybe we shouldn't trust him. At the very least they've got to have ways to spot him. I'd feel better if you came along to help."

"Out of the question." Alex interrupted. "She's still too weak to fight. She's going to stay right here, and I'm going instead." His tone made it clear there was no arguing with him.

"I don't want you there monster." Mako persisted. "I want people I can trust."

"And I thought I already told you that I don't really care what you want. Korra's staying right here, and I'll go in her place."

"Enough." Beifong stood between them. "It doesn't matter who's going if we don't know where to start. We need a point to go from or else we'll just go around the city willy-nilly. Mako, you said you lost them somewhere in downtown. Point out on a map where exactly and we'll start from that point."

"Right." Mako replied, stopping only to glare at Alex. The boy was rather thick-headed if he honestly thought that would work. In fact, he mused, the boy was probably thick enough to think that Korra could fight with him. A stupid idea. Was it just because Alex said she couldn't? He looked back at her to find her sleeping again. To have fallen asleep again so soon, she must still need a lot of recovery. There was no way she was in any condition to assault a heavily armed fortress.

Times to make plans of his own.

"Jinora, Ikki." He called out. "Can you both help me with something?"

They had their plan. Beifong believed that Blackwatch was probably set up underground, explaining why they never found them before. There had to be tunnels not too far from where they lost Bolin that first night. The one where Alex probably killed those guys on purpose. He was a threat to all of them, but apparently he was the only one who understood that he needed to be stopped. The others were content to just try not to provoke him, and Korra and Bolin were trying to act like he was their best friend. But Mako remembered that monster he became. His real form.

There was no way he was letting Korra stay with him any longer.

He snuck through the hallways back to Korra's room, peeking round the corners. As he rounded the last corner, he nearly stumbled into Alex himself. He was stretching, walking off towards the dining room. Guess he needed to eat still. Good. That got rid of his biggest worry. He was under no illusions that he could beat Alex in a fight. Quick as he could, he moved into her room to find her snoozing away peacefully. After he got Asami back, he was going to try and get her to somewhere Alex would never find her. He grabbed her carefully, noting how hot she felt against his hands. For a second, part of him wondered whether he should be doing this. He shook it aside. Even if Korra wasn't actually capable of fighting, he should still get her to a real doctor. He looked out to see that the coast was still clear. With as much stealth as he could, he snuck back down the hallway to the boat back to the mainland. He got to the stairs before Korra started stirring.

"Wuh? What's going on?" She asked, wriggling a bit. "Mako? Is that you?"

"Don't worry Korra. I've got you."

"Are… Are you abducting me?"

"No. I'm rescuing you. Can you stand?"

"I think so." He stopped, letting her off by the base of the stairs. Her footing was shaky, but she managed to stand by herself. He knew Alex was lying. "Why…? Asami." That wasn't a question. "I can't believe you. You're so worried about her that you were going to take me into a dangerous situation? What if I wasn't able to stand?"

"Then we'd get you to a doctor. I'm sure that there's got to be someone out there not too busy dealing with Alex's rampage."

"That's what this is about. You don't want my help. You just want to get me away from him. I can't believe you. Really can't believe you."

"And I can't believe that you're still sticking up for him. Have you seen the damage he caused yesterday? He tore through an entire district and the whole Metalbending Police couldn't make a dent."

"All the more reason to not, you know, make him angry. His biggest problem is that he doesn't work on the same morality scale that we do. He doesn't really understand right and wrong. I'm hoping that I can teach him."

"Teach him? Teach him? He's not a pet, he's not a friend. He's a monster that can look human." Understanding dawned on him. And it shocked him to the core. "But he's more than just a friend, isn't he? You do care about him."

"You… you care about friends, Mako. That's what makes them friends. People you care about who aren't related to you by blood."

"That's not what I meant. You're in love with that thing." That stopped her. She was so shocked that her face literally froze up. Even the sway of her hair had frozen.

"…Love? You… You think I'm in love with him? Why do you even care? You've got Asami." A light gleamed in her eyes. "But she's not who you really love, is she? You have feelings for me. You're pining for me when you've still got a girl. I can't tell if that's just wicked or selfish."

"Hey, you were the one who kissed me." He retorted hotly. He didn't want to admit it. Asami was his girl. He loved her. But the flame of Asami was a candle compared to Korra.

"And you kissed me back too, remember?"

"Uh hey, Mako?" Bolin tried to interrupt. But Mako ignored him.

"You're avoiding the question. I think you're so willing to overlook all Alex's faults because you're in love with him. What, do you have fantasies about his tentacles or something?"

"Hey guys."

"And what if I am? What does that even matter? Last time I checked I'm not your property. Not to mention that a girl can love a monster that looks like a guy without it being all about sex. I think you're just jealous of him."

"Guys."

And I think that you're risking everyone in Republic City just to try and train a killing machine." Mako retorted hotly.

"Guys!"

What?" Mako asked hotly. Korra smirked at him, before pointing back up the stairs. Mako turned around to see Korra sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Jinora and Ikki. She was awake. And she was looking at them all in shock.

A cold pit formed in his stomach.

"I thought I made it clear Mako." Korra – No, Alex – whispered into his ear. "I'm going with you. One way or another." He waved at the kids. "Ok, take her back to her room. Make sure she gets plenty of rest and water. Hopefully, we'll all be back by nightfall."

"What if you're not?" Jinora asked as they started wheeling the real Korra away.

"Then I'll be back by nightfall. C'mon, Emo. Let's go and get the girl you don't love and tell her the good news." He hopped onto the boat, humming some strange tune as he went.

He never even realised who it was. Who else was secretly this guy in one form or another?

Well, that had been informative. So Mako was so worried about Korra because he was in love with her. He recalled hundreds of memories about loving someone who wasn't his girl/wife/spouse/other. It quickly taught him that love was overrated. Just a bunch of chemicals convincing someone that the person thy saw had the right genes to create their children. Hardly worth the time. But what was worth it was the fact that Mako was unfaithful in the first place. Maybe he should use that if Mako got too annoying for him.

Annoying. Mako was annoying him. Maybe he was getting to him more than Alex cared to admit.

"This was the place." Mako said as they entered the large square they fought in so many weeks ago. Alex still could vividly remember where everyone had been on that day. The truck had gone straight through, vanishing behind the buildings. He clicked his teeth, enacting his 'sixth sense' again, not really expecting to feel anything.

So imagine his surprise when he got a response.

To his eyes, an orange wave pulsed outwards from him, before returning somewhere to his left. Without saying a word he quickly ran up the side of the nearest building, jumping as he reached the top. He clicked his teeth again, watching as the pulse moved outwards again. As it reached a nearby drainage embankment, it quivered before racing back to him. A very faint trace, almost too faint to be detected. But she had gone down there. He found the others glaring at him as he slid back down the side of the building to them.

"There's an embankment not too far from here. Looks big enough for a small fleet of cars to go down without hitting each other." Beifong gave him a look, before removing the sole of her boot and slamming it down. Again, he felt the sense ping off himself, while it also reached out to the metal drainage cover at the embankment. She opened her eyes and nodded at him. They all made it there quickly, Alex noting the tire treads left in the piles of snow. Without missing a beat, he relaxed his biomass enough to move around the bars blocking the massive pipe without slowing down. Many of the people inside him wanted to try that for ages. He didn't stop as Beifong bended the turnable bars up. Odd. Maybe that was a feature, to go in and clear out any blockages. He clicked his teeth again, but the traces here were even weaker. The pulse raced away, but didn't return. Looks like he was going to have to rely on the others. A cheating boy, a hardnosed hag, and Bolin.

Fun.

It didn't take them long to reach a large junction of pipes, each lined up like the lines of a clock. Alex tried one more pulse, but he got nothing. So he decided to use his more 'normal' senses. His nose was assaulted with a variety of smells. Oil, waste, heat, sweat. His ears heard the creaking of metal pipes, the scurrying of rats, and the heartbeats of the others.

And he also picked up the very faint traces of Asami's shampoo.

"That one." He pointed down the 3 O'clock tunnel. "We should start there."

"Well I think that we should try this tunnel." Mako retorted, pointing down the 10 O'clock tunnel. Alex checked it out, but all he got was refuse and rats.

"Look. As I have reiterated many, many times, you don't like me. And I get why. But acting like an idiot for the sake of arguing with me is stupid."

"Well then what made you choose that particular tunnel?" Beifong asked him. Points to her, she was willing to put the mission first.

"I smelled motor oil, human sweat, and picked up a bit more heat than what should be normal. I heard the sounds of metal clanging in rhythm, a few heartbeats and murmured conversations. But mostly I got a whiff of Asami's hair scent. Good thing for us she like her hair all perfumy."

"Well, that's good enough for me. Lead the way, O hunter of women." Bolin said jovially as he went to go down the tunnel. Alex rolled his eyes at that. 'O hunter of women'. Who speaks like that anyway?

They hadn't been going for long when Alex noticed that the sensations he noted seemed to be coming through the wall. That was a problem, considering how smooth and seamless they appeared. He could always smash his way through, but that would most likely notify Blackwatch that he was down here. No, there had to be a way in. But how? As he pondered that, he picked up the sound of an engine. The others heard it too. They had already gone to hide behind a pillar, leaving Alex out in the open. And he could already see the lights of a satomobile approaching. Still, there was a trick he wanted to try again for a long while. He stepped back against the metal wall, shifting as he pressed against it. His body became larger and flatter, taking on the appearance and texture of the metal beneath him. True, it wasn't a perfect replica – he always had a bit of trouble mimicking non-organic materials – but as long as no one touched him it would do. He also formed tiny light-detecting senses so he could see what was happening. If a satomobile was all the way down here, then it had to be Blackwatch. He longed to consume them.

Wait till they enter the base. They don't know we're here just yet.

The satomobile passed without a shout, slowing down as it reached a straight area of the wall. The wall hissed as it lifted up on hinges. And once the jeep had passed on through, they all moved out of cover. Alex slithered his way over as Beifong used Metalbending to activate the door again. A brightly lit tunnel welcomed them.

"Damn. I was looking forward to tearing a hole in the wall."

Asami felt horrified as she learnt just how big Blackwatch really was. She first thought that this underground base she was in was a small outpost with only a few dozen people. But she quickly learnt that it was a sizable fortress, with nearly a hundred men both Equalists and Blackwatch. This must be their main base. The odds of her getting rescued were getting slimmer with every moment. And the odds of her getting captured were getting more likely too. Her heart leapt as she stumbled into the Blackwatch barracks. All the soldiers turned to look at her, only noting her uniform before going back to whatever they were doing. They were so… alien. Their skin ranged from pale white to darker than even the Water Tribes. Their hair was a rainbow of colours, colours she thought couldn't be natural. Even their language was bizarre, sounding both flute-like and guttural at the same time. As she watched a bunch of them were watching a strange little box with a moving picture and sound coming from it. It was beyond bizarre.

"Got turned around again, new girl?" Another Equalist, Seraiki, said to her. She had been assigned to be like her babysitter, making sure she knew where everything was. And it went unspoken that she was also meant to make sure she didn't go anywhere she wasn't allowed. "It can get a bit confusing at times. Just remember: the good guys are on the right, and the creepy dudes in black are on the left. Stay away from them."

"Stay away? I thought we were all working together." Asami said as they left. Maybe she could try and find somewhere they could start a rift.

"Doesn't mean we have to like them. Just the other day Chong was sent to the sick bay because he put his bag in the wrong spot. They're not interested in equality. They just want to break things. Hell, I'm pretty sure some of them are benders."

"Benders? But we're against all benders. Why would we work with them if they're benders?"

Don't know. But I think I might have an idea. You see all that advanced tech they've got? Radios that fit into your helmet? Strange staffs that shoot metal at people? Whoever these guys really are, they're a lot more advanced than we are. And as far as I can tell, all they want in payment are those we debend. And then those guys just vanish. Weird, right?"

"This… This doesn't sound right. I mean, I'm all for equality. But no one said anything about abducting people." An idea came to her. It was likely a long shot, but she could still use it. "I just remembered something. You remember that massive monster that attacked Republic City?"

"Remember it? I bet there isn't a kingdom out there that hasn't heard of it by now. And I also remember how the bending society's finest couldn't even stop it. Blackwatch were the guys that finally took it down."

"And you don't find it the slightest bit strange that they managed to get some really heavy weapons up and running so quickly? You could probably level the city with what they had." Seraiki looked like she was interested, so Asami kept talking. "I was there when Avatar Korra accidently went into that monster's mind. She said that Blackwatch made it as a weapon. It got loose, and now they're here to grab it again, heedless of the people that get killed in the process." She was about to continue when the third member of their group came running up to them. Hoi Tong was a cheerful guy that reminded her so much of Bolin. The young man was nice, thoughtful and generally meant well. He even had a good reason to dislike benders, unlike some other people. His grandparents were taken by the Dai Li back in Ba Sing Se, forcing his mother to flee to the Fire Nation Colonies. After the Hundred Year War ended, and Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko formed the United Republic of Nations, she ended up living in Republic City. When Hoi was a child, The Red Monsoons tried to rob them, and killed his folks when they tried to stop him. All he really wanted was for non-benders to have someone on the Council looking out for them besides Councilman Tenzin.

"Hey guys." He said cheerfully. "Have any of you seen Wan Ton recently?"

"I think he was assigned to the tram station by the entrance." Seraiki mentioned. "Why?"

"The chief wants us all to learn how to use that Blackwatch tech being handed out. Figured it'd be good to learn how to use it right?"

"Good idea. I don't want these guys having a monopoly on this tech. We'd better go grab him." They headed off as quickly as the cramped halls would allow them. As Asami passed more Blackwatch men, she was annoyed as she felt several of them checking her out. She got that the outfit covered her whole body and didn't have anything dangling to grab hold of, but did it have to be so tight? Luckily, they all stayed behind as they got on the tram. It was easy going once they reached the station area, and then they were redirected to the entrance. Along the way, they grabbed some hoods and gloves just in case. It was a rule for anyone going to the entrance. They found Wan almost falling asleep at his station, flicking his shock glove on and off.

"Better be careful Wan. Old Glovehead would blow a gasket if he knew you were lazing about on the job." Hoi joked as he gave their teammate a head rub. "Having fun right now?"

"Nah. The only interesting thing was one of the groups coming back in. And these weird pictures of theirs look stupid. Who wants to look at grey paintings all day long. I mean, the Blackwatch dude told me that they were important to security. As if." He and Hoi started laughing, but they looked in confusion as a strange device nearby started beeping. It was built on a short tower, with two curved arms pointing upwards. Right now, those arms were spinning around as it started leaning.

"Hey Wan. What is this thing?" Asami asked. Maybe if she knew what it was, she could stop it and get out. Or let help in.

"Don't know." He shrugged. "All I got told was that if it started spinning to sound the alarm."

"Hold on." Seraiki stopped him. "You mean the one that alerts the whole base if sounded? Why would they need that? Does it detect people?"

"Doubt it. It didn't do anything when the last guys came through. And I highly doubt Blackwatch's got good enough tech to detect benders approaching." As they were talking, the device was starting to spin faster and faster. It was now pointing almost directly into the tunnel, and the beeping was almost continuous. She was starting to get nervous. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it by ourselves. Just think, we could get medals or something if we pull this off."

"Your orders were to sound the general alarm if it started going crazy, and that's what you should do." Seraiki moved to go and push it, but then there was a short hiss sound. She suddenly keeled over as a dark liquid splattered over the instruments.

"What the hell?" Wan squeaked, moving over to check on her. He barely got within a few steps before another hiss sounded. He spun around before falling to the ground, a black spike sticking out of his eye. Hoi and Asami started backing away.

"Asami, get to the tram and warn the others." Hoi ordered her, sounding deadly serious. She hated having to do this, but she had to.

"I'm sorry Hoi." She whispered, before sticking her shock gauntlet against his back. He jerked suddenly as she shocked him, before falling to the ground in a heap. As she did so, she looked up to see Mako, Bolin and Chief Beifong walking out of the shadows. And right behind them was…

Alex Mercer.

"Well that was an easy rescue mission. Our girl's already waiting for us out here." He smirked as he got closer. She noted that his arm was changed, made of black armour with a thicker part on top. On the front were a series of holes. That must be how he fired that spike. And he was getting closer to her. The monster was getting closer to her. Oh spirits.

"It's alright Miss Sato." Beifong consoled her. "For the moment at least, he's on Korra's side. We need to get you out of here immediately."

"Wait. What about the others?" She was worried. As much as she hated to admit it, a monster like Alex could tear this place apart in seconds. "This place is important. It's probably the main base."

"Doubt it." Alex said, standing over Hoi. Asami rushed over and started pulling him away from Alex. The monster frowned, but didn't go after her. "Standard orders are that you don't show the main fortifications to anyone you don't fully trust. And there would be at least a few dozen guards out here instead of four newbies. What did you see while you were playing Equalist?"

"I… saw a few mecha tanks. But they seem to be getting upgrades. Blackwatch were installing shells of some kind to the outside. I think they said they were 'neigh-pom' or something."

"Napalm. A highly combustible material. Anything struck with that is going to burn long and hot. Even me. Guess they really are learning from their mistakes. Geez, Helicopters. Napalm. Thermobaric tanks. Makes me wonder what else they brought over to here." He stopped musing. "We need to tear this place down."

"No." Mako growled. "We came here to rescue Asami. We've got her, we can leave. I'm not risking our lives to take on an entire base."

"Who said you were helping? I've got all the fire power I need. Bolin and Beifong can help out. And I know Beifong at least wants this place shut down."

She nodded. "I saw what was left after their attack on Mercer. If it's capable of hurting him, then we can't let it go. Who knows how much damage they could cause with it."

"I'm staying. I know this place and people know me." Asami wanted to see this through. Maybe if Alex was being more… agreeable, she could direct him away from people. "But you guys stick out like a sore thumb." And the device was still going. Only now it was pointing towards Alex. He smashed it apart with his elbow, a spike growing out of it. "And I think there are a few more of those lying around."

"I've got experience hiding from those. I'll be fine." He looked over at Wan, grabbing him by the head as tendrils slithered over his body. Wan disappeared into his hand, while he changed to look exactly like him. "But yeah, you two will cause us problems. Give me a sec." Tendrils shot out of his hands, wrapping around Bolin before he could react. As Beifong moved to fight him, Alex dropped Bolin. He was now wearing an Equalist Suit of his own, one that hid the slight paunch he had normally. Alex removed his mask long enough to give Beifong a smug smirk. She glared at him, but didn't move as his tendrils reached out to her. As soon as she was covered everyone looked at Mako. "Sorry, pretty boy. Asami was part of a four-man squad. You'll stick out like a sore thumb. Go back home."

"Not without Asami." He replied, looking sterner than ever. Alex looked at him before rubbing his chin.

"Actually, I think I do have a use for you."

"Eyes forward bender." Alex said in Wan's voice, cuffing Mako round the head. Mako glared at him, but kept walking. Soon, they were in the main station with about a dozen other Equalist and Blackwatch members. "Hey guys. Look at what I caught. A bender trying to rescue his 'girlfriend'. Must be pretty stupid to wander in her all on his own."

"Good job Wan." Guess you weren't sleeping on the job for once." One of the officers said. "Get him to the detention cell and we'll ship him off to Amon later. Right now though, I think a certain someone has been waiting for you lot to finally report back." Oh right. The training. Asami had completely forgotten about that. She was worried that the longer they were in here, the more likely someone would notice something.

"Tell the old man he can wait until after we get this guy in lock up. Who knows what kinds of shiny, expensive and highly flammable stuff Blackwatch brought with them." He cuffed Mako over the head again. "Hey, those staff things they got. Who wants to bet I can make this kid dance with them?"

"Don't bother Wan. The higher ups will throw a fit if you waste 'ammo' on that sort of thing. Just get him moving." Alex nodded, letting Asami take them to the right tram. Once they were on it, Mako glared at him again.

"Will you stop hitting me over the head? It's really getting old."

"Oh quit whining you big baby. It's barely a love tap."

"And why did you ask for a gun? If they're as dangerous as you say then I don't want it anywhere near me."

"As tempting as it would be, it wasn't going to be for you. With a full cartridge I could've wasted the whole room before they reacted."

"No. We want to sabotage this stuff without blowing our cover." Beifong said sharply. "Not all of us are immune to damage."

"Here's our stop." Asami interrupted a they pulled close to an access tunnel. Alex grabbed all of them and literally stepped off the tram, landing lightly to the ground. They followed the tunnel to the Armoury area. But once they got there, they saw a group of Blackwatch soldiers standing around, talking to one another. Alex moved on ahead as the others backed away. She heard the soldiers say something before there were several thuds and snaps. Alex tapped on the wall and they came out to find the place empty. She shivered as she imagined what Alex did to the bodies. Like what he did to Wan.

She liked him. He might've been planning on hurting her bending friends, but he was nice.

"Holy motherload." Alex whistled as he opened one of the containers lying around. Inside it were strange lumpy black staffs with a large barrel in the centre. "That'll do nicely." He grabbed one and threw it at them, ignoring their outbursts. He also seemed to have forgotten that Mako was actually handcuffed to make it convincing. "Now, the lever on the side is the safety. Flip it up to use, and down to lock it. Point the end at anything you want to see in a few dozen pieces, but wait till I get things rolling. Beifong, help me mangle these things first. Pull this front bit away from the handle." Beifong used her Metalbending to twist the weapons apart, while Alex just tore them by hand. "Ok then. Now that we've gotten some goodies, let's go and tear this place apart." Alex touched their uniforms and the layer he made changed to become black and white. Blackwatch. He wanted them to pretend to be Blackwatch. And given that she and Mako weren't so protected, this was going to go horribly wrong.

Surprisingly, it didn't go quite as bad as she thought.

"The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire." Alex was singing as he threw another shell around the room, forcing Equalists to run and hide. "We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn. Burn motherfucker, burn." He finished this by firing a powerful blast of fire at everything in sight.

Bending was never the problem. It was people like Alex who were the problem.

"Wow, these mecha tanks aren't doing all that well once you learn how to aim this thing." Bolin said cheerfully as he blew up another mecha tank. After Mako learnt the hard way that they had only so many things to fire, the rest decided to conserve their shots and only use them against the tanks. As they kept firing, Asami noted that Alex had gone missing. Probably trying to find more things to destroy.

"Ok. We've scared them off, and we've practically ruined this base. We need to move out before we get barbequed." Beifong said as she threw down her empty staff. The others nodded – she doubted any of them would shed tears over Alex if he didn't make it – but before they could start running something big leapt at them. They all dodged as it landed, revealing it to be a giant man in a pure black uniform. As they watched, he grabbed a large sheet of metal and tried to smack Beifong with it, only for her to bend it out of his grip. Taken off-guard by her manoeuvre, he was wide open as Bolin opened fire with rocks. The others used that time to move out of range so that Asami could fire her last shot at the giant. The explosion was pretty big, but he came stomping out of the smoke just looking angry. Mako, Bolin and Beifong started moving around him, barely keeping ahead because the others were attacking him. And Asami couldn't really help. She wasn't a bender, she couldn't do these cool tricks.

Well, now she had her own trick.

Ignoring every sense telling her otherwise, she moved towards the giant, activating her shock glove as she ran. She placed it against the giant's back, shocking him with the powerful charge. But despite roaring in pain, he reached back and grabbed her by the hand. Stupid. This was so stupid. Now she was going to die in his thick paws. Mako was yelling, but he couldn't attack without hurting her. It was all over.

Which is why she was surprised when his arm fell apart.

He yelled again, clutching his severed socket in pain as Alex jumped high overhead. When he landed on the giant, he somehow pushed his down hard enough to dent the metal floor. The giant flung out his other arm to try and catch him, but Alex grew a spiked shield and pierced it on the spikes. He then ripped it off and absorbed it. His fist grew bigger and spikier, until it was like someone had tied rocks to his hands. He slammed them into the giant's face until it was completely gone. Then he sliced him right down the middle with his giant blade arm.

"Well, that was fun. But I think that's our cue to leave." Something blew up in the background, bringing metal raining down. "Don't want to be here when the generators explode."

"Wait. Where's my father?" Asami knew her dad was somewhere in the base before the attack happened. He wanted to stay with her to make sure she was alright. Did he run into Alex again?

"Don't know. My best guess is that he and the other scientists legged it when the alarms went off. Best thing to do when I'm around. And as I already mentioned, we should do the same." They ran off, trying their best to ignore the explosions happening around them. It was getting too hot. Way too hot. There was no way anything could survive in this heat. Yet Alex still looked as calm and collected as ever. As they passed by some rooms, he suddenly vanished in one of them and came racing with a rectangular black box of some kind. They reached the station, only to find the tracks had been severed by falling rubble. The explosions had gotten all the way here? Now how were they going to escape in time?

"Asami, hold this." Alex said as he passed her the box. "Whatever you do, do not drop it. Everyone get in the tram."

"But the tracks are blocked. How are we going to get out?" Bolin asked as they all jumped in. Alex merely smiled before crouching down. They all yelled as the tram was lifted into the air, before moving incredibly fast down the crumbling tunnel. The wind rushed blindingly fast as the roof grew closer, forcing them to duck down. They all jolted as Alex dropped it onto the tracks, before moving even faster than before. Oh god, he was pushing them. At this rate they were going to run out of track. Asami peeked over the edge to find a massive pile of rubble where the entrance was. Forget running out of tracks, they were running out of tunnel!

"Hold on kids!" Beifong shouted, as she used Earthbending to tear a hole in the roof. They were suddenly flying as she made a ramp underneath them, Alex's strength pushing them high over the buildings. Beifong grabbed Mako with her cables, while Alex jumped up and grabbed Bolin and Asami with tendrils. They all landed on a nearby building as the tram fell to the ground, Alex cracking the roof as he landed. They looked back to see cracks forming all over the street, an earthquake rumbling as smoke erupted from the cracks.

"Alex Mercer. Saving the city one act of random destruction at a time."

That. Had been pretty fun. It had been ages since he got to use a grenade launcher, having been happy enough using his powers instead. Sure blowing people up with explosions was cool, but he thought it was even cooler to make things explode with big black spikes that covered the floor. And making things explode by throwing their massive tanks and oil drums at them was even better.

He blamed Blackwatch for that. Pyromaniacs, the lot of them.

And of course, none of the others were happy about what he did. He wasn't too sure why. He helped get Asami back safe and sound, he destroyed a Blackwatch base and factory, he even didn't get around to killing Sato. By all accounts they should be pleased with what he did. So why weren't they?

Property damage in the thousands. Major loss of life. Blood splatters everywhere. While we did what was asked, we still acted like a monster.

Trying to please people was hard.

"What is that thing anyway?" Asami asked him, looking at the laptop he recovered. He had been pretty pleased when he realised that Blackwatch brought one of these back with them. Having few accesses to knowledge was starting to get frustrating. Maybe he could kick-start the information age after all this.

"This is a laptop computer. Where we come from, we've managed to make machines capable of holding entire libraries worth of information. I'm hoping that I can find something useful on this, or at least get things from their bigger systems onto this." Knowing how to use guns was useful, but here knowing how to build them was even better.

Hey, Korra's up." Bolin shouted, pointing at the top of the stairs. Indeed, Korra was standing there looking a lot better than when they left. She still looked a bit tired, but at least she was walking on her own. And she was smiling at them. Strangely, she could still look Mako in the eye. Maybe the fact he loved her instead of Asami made her happy. He couldn't get love in the first place. He'd be better off not thinking about it at all. "Korra, Korra. You won't believe what happened. We found Asami straight away, but the Equalists were making some kind of really powerful explosives, so Alex and Asami got us into the base, and then we got these weird staffs that shot explosions, and it was all 'boom, boom, boom'. And then this really big guy showed up and started giving us trouble, but then Alex just dropped on him and smashed him into little pieces. And… and it was actually kind of gross, you probably don't want to hear the details."

"I get it Bolin. Alex fought people, Alex won." Korra really did understand. She got that it was a part of his nature.

If it's a part of your nature to destroy and kill, then why are you trying to change?

Because Korra said so.

Korra was his tutor. She was teaching him right from wrong. Killing was wrong – if you got the wrong target.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"You won't believe how much property damage he caused out there. An entire district is ruined. Again, I might add. He needs to answer for his actions." That was Beifong, acting like he was the problem.

"You wanted to destroy the depot too, remember? How exactly is it my fault?"

"When I wanted it destroyed I thought it would be limited to the production line itself. Instead, we've got all that mess that I have to clean up. He's done the crime, he needs to do the time."

"Alex? Doing time?" Korra looked at Alex. "How long could you sit in a cell before you got bored?"

How long? How long could he sit in a place where he could escape from? How long could he deal with seer boredom while fun and excitement was waiting for him out here? How long could he wait while Blackwatch were doing who-knows-what out there?

"Probably a day at most." He answered. Beifong looked angry at him. Did she dislike the fact that her cells wouldn't be able to hold him? Tough. A day was all he could stand. Maybe when things cooled down he might – might – serve a sentence. He's never done that before. But until then, she could just deal with it.

"I just got some… interesting news from Tarrlok." Tenzin said as he walked down to them. He gave Korra a look of worry. He… worried for her. Cared for her. That… That's what friends do. Friends? Relatives? Family?

Family. She was like his family.

"He found out that Alex was spotted throwing a tram out of the ground just before the whole place started rumbling." He looked around for explanations.

"Blackwatch depot has been destroyed." Alex replied. Quick, easy, to the point.

"Well despite the damages, he believes it would be better to drop the charges. Pretend it never happened."

"What?" Mako shouted. "We're just going to pretend that he didn't just ruin a street and a half for no reason? Or what about his monster attack? Does Tarrlok know about that?"

"I have reason to believe that he does. And I'm betting that's part of why he wants Alex out here. His 'official' reason was that as an Avatar, Alex is a beacon of hope for all benders against the shadowy might of Amon and his Blackwatch allies. Unofficially, he probably imagines a several story monster could do some serious damage to the Equalists. As shown by today's mission." None of the others looked all that happy. "You know the other councillors vote with him. It's out of our hands." He turned to Alex now. "Well, thank you Alex for bringing Miss Sato back unharmed. I must admit, I expected so much to go horribly wrong."

"I get things done." Alex replied before walking up to Korra. "And how are you? Feeling better?"

"Yeah. I feel like I'll be back to normal by tomorrow morning." He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, noting her pulse, blood pressure, muscle density. She was alright.

She was alright.

"Good." He said, before walking off to find a place to rest. His old quarters were kindling now.

But he was sure he could manage.

So yeah. Alex was not originally meant to cause a minor earthquake. Or fight an Orion soldier. It was all a bit low key, until this all popped into my head. I included the Orion fight to show why Blackwatch was so scared of him and how badass he was. He consumed plenty of people during the attack, which was why he crushed the guy. Sure it made things more interesting to have Alex fighting at like only 50% health/biomass. But sometimes you just want to give him a boost and cut loose. As for everyone getting guns, that probably won't happen until the war for Republic City for our heroes, and Season 2 for everyone else.

Oh yeah, that 'saving the city, one act of destruction' line was borrowed from Harry Dresden of the Dresden Files. I'd like to think that someone Alex has consumed has read it.