Chapter 14: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
It had been two weeks since Harmonic Convergence and Unavaatu's defeat. Yet the damage caused by such an event still lingered. Of course there was no way they were getting rid of the craters made when Korra and Alex slammed him against the mountains, or fix the pockmarks made by Alex's barrage. But there was one thing they could remove. The massive amounts of vines choking Republic City and cutting off entire sections of the once great city.
Or at least, that was the plan.
"Come on." Korra groaned, using her new Airbending staff to throw flames at the vines. "Work already." The vines backed away quickly from the flames and cleared from the building, but as soon as she stopped throwing fire around they went right back to covering everything. "Ugh. I don't get it. I can take down Vaatu, but I can't deal with the stupid vines he left behind?"
"Don't worry Korra." Tenzin consoled her. "I'm sure you'll find a way. You and Alex are sure to find something." They heard a strange grinding sound that ended with a sickening squelch. Alex came walking from around the building, what appeared to be an organic chainsaw imbedded in his neck. Jinora blanched when she saw it.
"Whelp. Now I know why you don't see more people using these as a weapon. Damn thing bounced off the building." He pulled the blade free, his neck healing even as the blade reformed into his hand. "Oh, by the way; chainsaws aren't doing anything to them."
"Great. Something else we can cross off the list." Korra grumbled.
"I don't see why you have to remove them in the first place." Jinora scolded them. "Korra, you changed the world. We're connected to the spirits again. This is their home."
"Yeah well I don't think the people who lived here are as thrilled as you about sharing." Korra pushed aside a curtain of vines, letting light into the wilds and revealing Republic City. A few vines crept over the walls, but for the most part the area outside was habitable. The few people watching them glared at Korra. She sighed again. "Alright. What's next on the list Alex?"
"Ok, so fire isn't working." Alex said, counting them off on his fingers. "Neither is steamrolling them, washing them away, shooting them, or cutting them with blades or a chainsaw. I think the next thing to try is blowing them up."
"Well, I don't think people want us blowing up stuff. But it's obvious that we're running out of options. We'll go and pick up a few rockets and grenades from the police." She looked up at the nearest clock. "After we go to that stupid press conference. Gonna be fun telling them that we still haven't gotten rid of the vines yet." She opened up her staff, wings springing out with a whoosh, before using Airbending to lift the frame and her along with it. Behind her, she could hear the flapping of wings as Alex followed her. Frowning, she quickly pulled ahead and took a different turn to City Hall. She was annoyed to hear Alex still following her, evidently eager to keep up with her. She huffed, but there wasn't much else she could do. And besides, they were almost to City Hall as it were. She winced as she spotted the giant tree poking out of the dome, a cold reminder of the problems she couldn't seem to deal with. And as she spotted the large crowd waiting at the podium, she recalled the public's feelings for her. And for Alex.
"Miss Korra, a few questions for you." Someone shouted as she landed, cameras flashing. "Do you regret the way you handled the Unalaq crisis?"
"Why are you forcing the integration of spirits in Republic City?" Someone else asked loudly.
"Avatar Alex, how soon can we expect to have Republic City returned to the people?" Another reporter shouted as Alex landed and shifted back to human form. He just ignored the questions, moving to stand next to Beifong.
"Have you found a way to counteract Miss Korra's unsanctified actions?"
"Miss Korra, why aren't you trying your hardest to fix this mess you've made?"
"Is this a part of your new World Order?"
"Avatar Alex, do you condone or support Miss Korra's decision to let the spirits settle here?" Alex stopped, turning to glower at the press.
"I support Avatar Korra's choice. Sometimes there isn't an easy answer to problems. Deal with it." Korra stepped forward, trying to placate the crowd.
"Listen. We're both trying everything we can to deal with the vine situation. We just need…"
"Are you admitting to sabotaging Avatar Alex's attempts to free the city?"
"What? No, I'm not sabotaging anything." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Look. It's only been a couple of weeks. We just need a bit more time to fix this."
President Raiko leaned towards the microphones. "Miss Korra has put us all in a difficult position, but my administration is…"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that stopping a giant force of pure evil and chaos from destroying the world was a bad thing. But I guess that your administration obviously had a plan to deal with that." Korra said sarcastically, anger and frustration nearly spilling over. Raiko glared at her in return.
"It's not that you stopped Vaatu that's the problem. It's that you can't seem to find a way to fix the damage he caused before he was beaten. We're all sure that Avatar Alex could've beaten him before he started wrecking everything."
"That's it. No more interviews." Beifong interrupted, forcing herself between Raiko and a very aggressive Korra. She tried to push past her, but stopped when Alex placed a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see him shaking his head. Frustrated, Korra shrugged Alex's hand off, walking away from the lot of them. Let Alex talk to Beifong about the explosives. She just needed some space, and a friendly face.
Luckily, there was one in the crowd.
"This is a disaster." Korra admitted, sitting down on the podium and sulking. Asami sat down next to her, concern all over her face. She placed a hand supportably on her shoulder. Korra didn't shrug her off.
"They're just frustrated. People lash out when they're upset about something."
"Yeah, well apparently they just lash out at me. Have you seen the polls lately? I'm stuck at a measly 8 percent approval, while Alex has got everyone practically voting him in for President. And did you hear them out there? I'm Miss Korra now." She hit the wood beneath her. "Alex isn't even a real Avatar. He's… He's just…" She sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on him. I know he doesn't want all the attention, but it's still… so… frustrating."
Asami gave her a sad smile. "It'll be ok. Between the two of you, you should come up with something. And then everyone will forget that they even doubted you."
"I wish I could forget." She stared sadly at the ground below her, tears almost welling up. But then Asami patted her on the back, and those tears seemed to disappear. Everything felt… less stressful with her at her back. Korra would like nothing more than to just sit there, just ignoring the world for a moment.
But unfortunately, the world didn't want to be ignored.
"He turns on you the moment things go wrong and tries to shift all the blame on your lap. Raiko is the perfect politician." Alex said, hands in his pockets.
"So that's what politics are? Just agreeing with what the people want and stab others in the back?" Korra asked him.
"You're also forgetting about making insane promises you have no intention of keeping."
"Politics suck."
"No arguments there." Alex agreed. Asami stood up, rubbing her arm nervously.
"So, what's the plan so far?" She asked.
Alex shrugged. "We're going for explosives next. Beifong's getting a shipment sent down to the most heavily affected areas and cordoning it off for us. If it doesn't work there, we're going to have a second test in one of the mildly affected areas to see if that makes a difference."
"And if that doesn't work either?" Korra looked up to see that Asami was asking her. Korra looked away feeling guilty.
"If that doesn't work, then we've got nothing. We're tried practically everything."
"Maybe. I've got a couple of ideas that I might try out afterwards. They're a bit crazy, but at this point we'll try anything." He looked down at Korra. "Why don't you take a break, Korra? Spend some time hanging out with Asami? Forget what all those buzzard-wasps are saying? I'll do the tests for you."
"Great idea. We could go and have dinner with Tenzin." Asami agreed. Korra nodded. It was better than dwelling on the glares people were giving her at least.
And at least Air Temple Island was free of anything crazy.
"It's not a joke." Bumi was saying desperately, waving his arms around like he was doing a terrible impersonation of an Airbender. If it weren't for what he just said, Korra would've thought that he was pretending to be Tenzin. She looked at him in confusion before turning to Bolin.
"What's up with Bumi? Is he trying to swat a bug or something?" She asked.
"Oh hey, Korra." Bolin said cheerfully, waving a stick of celery around. "Bumi said he Airbended earlier, but he can't do it anymore. Also, I think he tried to tell us that he's not good at knitting either." Bumi? An Airbender? Well, if Alex could've been an Airbender when he was moody, someone as cheerful as Bumi might be able to as well. Even if he never showed any skill before. "You know, I just love being a part of this family. It's like living in one of those radio sitcoms. We've got the grumpy dad, the wacky uncle, the put-upon mom, and the crazy kids. All we need now is for Beifong to move in and I could watch this for hours."
"Great." Korra said distractedly, noticing that a certain someone was still missing from the table. "Mako's still a no-show?"
"Yeah, he's still living at the station. You know, I think he's trying to avoid you and Alex. I try to tell him that if Alex was gonna kill him for breaking up with you he'd have done it by now, but I don't think that worked."
"Has he at least stopped pretending it's so 'he can focus on his work'?" Korra smirked.
"Eh, not quite. I don't get why he's afraid to admit he's terrified of Alex. It's perfectly natural to be afraid if you're on his bad side, what with all those cool powers and his insane bending skill." Korra's smirk slid off her face like water, replaced with a tight frown. Yeah, Alex was far more dangerous. And skilled. "Beifong's scared of Alex, though she won't admit it to anyone."
"Funny. She's told me several times that she's still concerned about me." They all turned to see Alex standing behind them. "The good news is that spirit vines aren't holding onto some of the buildings anymore. The bad news is it's because we blew the buildings to rubble." He sighed as he sat down at the table. "Another dead end."
"Alex. I've just had a brilliant idea." Bumi said excitedly. "I think my life must be in mortal danger. I need you to throw a giant boulder at me."
"Please tell me this isn't another attempt to prove how macho you are. I distinctly remember Kya saying that she wouldn't patch you up afterwards."
"He's right Bumi. I did say that." Kya said.
"This isn't a macho thing. Alex, I managed to Airbend earlier today. I must have to be in mortal danger in order to do it again. Fight or flight instincts." Alex gave him a slight perplexed look.
"If you're going to fight Alex, at least do it outside." Pema said.
"No one's fighting Alex." Tenzin said testily. "Bumi, this has gone on far too long. The joke's over." Bumi was crestfallen at that. Korra couldn't exactly blame him. The only non-bender to a bender family, and no one would believe him.
She understood what it was like to live under someone's shadow.
"Look alive, uncle Bumi." Meelo shouted, throwing a disc right for his head. Bumi, looking completely startled, waved his hands wildly in front of his face. When the plate was about to hit, it was suddenly trapped by a ball of air.
Even Alex looked surprised by that.
"…I did it. I really did it!" Bumi cheered. The plate dropped, but Bumi was too busy cheering and dancing in joy to care. Korra smiled at his excitement. "Wait till I tell Mom about this. She'll be so amazed."
"Bumi, I'm sorry I doubted you." Tenzin apologised.
The next day, Bumi worked with Ikki, Jinora and Meelo to try and learn proper Airbending. It wasn't going to well, but it made Korra feel better. It made her think of when she first arrived in Republic City, and all the challenges she faced becoming an Airbender. Her smile faded though, as she remembered that Alex arrived then too. And that he picked it up even faster than she did.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Tenzin said happily, standing next to her and watching Bumi. "My older brother has become an Airbender. Dad would be proud."
"Pretty sure Dad was proud of him before too." Kya said. "But yeah, he'd be even prouder."
"Do you think that being in the Spirit World during Harmonic Convergence did something? Maybe unlock his bending abilities?" Korra asked.
"It's possible. If so, that means it could be possible for more Airbenders to appear during the next Convergence. If Alex is as immortal as he says he is, maybe we could ask him to organise something." Tenzin said.
"Yeah. Maybe we could." Korra muttered. Tenzin gave her a look of concern.
"…You two haven't been having a fight, have you?"
"…No."
Tenzin sighed. "Korra, you know that Alex doesn't care about all that 'Avatar' business. To him, you are the only Avatar."
"I know that. But I work myself to the bone to save the world, and now everyone hates me while heaping praise on him. I hate it. And I hate that I hate him for it." Tenzin patted her on the back.
"Give it time. Things will settle down. Everyone will accept that things have changed. Then they'll change their tune." He looked up. "At least you know that Beifong still thinks of you as the Avatar." Korra looked up at that, seeing Beifong walking towards them. With Mako next to her, a bandage on his nose. As they got closer, Beifong looked in curiosity at Bumi's flinging hands.
"Invisible monster attack?" She asked them. Mako stood to attention, eyes not looking at Korra. She rolled her eyes at his awkwardness.
"No actually. Bumi managed to Airbend yesterday. I saw it with my own eyes." Beifong and Mako looked at each other in surprise.
"…I'm afraid he's not the only one." Korra and Tenzin looked at her in surprise. "Mako, tell them what you told me."
"Yes, Chief Beifong." Mako saluted. "Last night I got a call from a local store about how the owner's business partner started getting agitated, and things suddenly went flying. When I tried to get him to come out of the room he had locked himself in, he started Airbending out of nowhere."
"There's another Airbender? Where is he now?" Tenzin asked rapidly.
"We… We don't know. He knocked me over with the door and ran for it. But we've got an all-points bulletin on him as we speak. With any luck, we'll find him before he hurts himself. Or anyone else." Well, that explains the bandage.
"We'll help you look for him." Korra said. "Where should we start?"
"Oh, uh… Well, you know, you should leave it to the police. Because it's police business. It's… it's official, and stuff."
"Oh. Ok." There was an awkward pause between them. "How are you doing? You know, you're welcome to stay here instead of sleeping at the station. We've got more than enough room."
"No I'm fine. I'm fine anywhere Alex isn't."
Asami rolled her eyes now. "Alex has forgiven you for dumping Korra. You don't need to keep running from him. Besides, he's not here. He said he needed to get some stuff for his next plan of attack."
"Oh? Has he actually gone and said that he's forgiven me? Or are we going with the whole idea that he just hasn't killed me yet, like Bolin keeps telling me?"
"I don't think Alex would've left you alone for two weeks if he was mad at you." Korra replied.
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. But if it's all the same, I'm perfectly fine at the station." He rubbed his neck, seemingly easing out some kinks in it. As you were, ladies." He saluted and walked off.
"Ok. Have a great time looking for this other Airbender." Korra called out, waving at him. Asami waved too, until he was gone.
"We're gonna go look for this guy, aren't we?" Asami asked.
"Oh yeah."
"Whoa!" Korra shouted, the Satomobile practically hopping down the street as she panicked and started pushing all the pedals. Asami wasn't any calmer.
"Clutch! Press the clutch!" She shouted in a panic, nearly hitting the dash as Korra pounded down on a pedal. The satomobile sat there, the truck behind them honking his horn. "That was the brake. Well, that could've gone worse."
"I'm not sure I want to see 'worse'." Korra said, finally identifying the pedals and putting the gearstick back in gear. This time, when she started moving she managed to move the stick up a gear without coming to a stop. "I don't think I'll be doing this too often."
"Hey. You're the Avatar. The real Avatar. You took down Vaatu and managed to beat Amon with only one arm. You can handle driving, I just know it."
"Right." They drove a bit further, the other satomobiles passing them. "So how much longer do you think talking to Mako is going to be like pulling teeth with a rusty plier?"
"Don't know." Asami admitted. "Mako's never really been a feelings kind of guy. And I think that talking to us is only part of the problem."
"Then we'll get Alex to talk him down or something. It just keeps feeling awkward everytime we talk to him."
"Well he did dump me for you. And then he dumped you for me."
"And now he has nobody. Guess romance didn't work out so well for any of us."
"Eh. We're still young. Maybe in a few years we'll find someone right for us."
Korra smiled. "Well, I'm just glad that all this romance didn't come between us. I've never really had a girl friend before. In fact, before I got here, Naga was my only friend." And because I don't know if I could put up with all this crap without you supporting me.
"I'm just glad that none of us are letting this get between us. I still like all you guys. Even Alex has grown on me." Right. Asami saw Alex in the middle of a fight. She saw what he was capable of, had been stuck with people who were rightfully afraid of him. Asami looked forward, eyes widening. "Look out!" She cried. Korra turned to see a giant red thing lumbering down the street in front of them. She quickly stamped both feet on the brake, the tires skidding as they came to a halt. The beast didn't even move when they ended up close to it. "What the heck is that thing? Some kind of spirit?"
"No. I think I've seen it before. Or something like it." Korra said as she hopped out of the car. The monster was massive, easily equal to a sky bison. In fact, with its six legs it almost looked like a sky bison. But its skin was a raw red and completely hairless. It didn't have any claws or tendrils or anything dangerous. Even its face was hardly monstrous, even though it was a massive mouth filled with flat teeth.
But that still didn't change the fact that it looked very similar to an Infected Hunter.
"Hey ladies." She heard Alex call out. She looked up to see him standing on top of the creature. "Good timing. I was thinking of calling for you later if this worked out." He hopped off the creature, who didn't react at all.
"Alex." Asami said in shock. "What is this thing?"
"Something I made to try and deal with the vine problem." He noticed Korra watching it carefully. "Don't worry, it's not going on a rampage. The body isn't going to ingest or infect anyone who touches it. And the only thought in its one-track mind is to eat any plant in front of it. I made sure of that."
"Are you really sure you should be making any kind of Infected?" Korra still asked.
Alex shrugged. "Not entirely. If it makes you feel a bit better, it's not really an Infected. I think it would be more accurate to call it a monster. And I'm sticking by it until I'm certain that it won't start evolving in ways we don't want it to."
"I love how a monster is considered less dangerous than an Infected." Asami noted sarcastically.
"How has it been going? Been making some headway with the vines?" Korra asked.
"Honestly?" The monster grunted as vines started wrapping around it. Alex placed a hand against its side, and its skin crawled over the vines, severing them and causing the monster to drop down again. "It's not going as well as I'd like. See, I thought that the vines healed over when cut because the other half of it was still within reach. And so if it was, say, eaten then it might not heal back. But it just grows some more. I don't even know where it gets the energy or mass for that. And don't say…"
"Spirit World?" Korra finished his sentence with a grin.
"…I'm really hating the Spirit World right now. At least on Earth things make sense."
"You pull mass from thin air." Asami pointed out.
"No I don't. I just compress the large amount of mass I have into a very dense human shape. It's still there, just in a smaller form. These things, they're literally coming from nowhere. And that's the problem. If we can't stop them at their source, they might just keep coming."
"…So what's your plan right now exactly?" Korra asked.
Alex shrugged. "So far it's hope my pet can eat them faster than they grow." They turned to see that the monster had only moved a few feet. "It's… not going too well right now."
"Hey!" A disgruntled voice shouted. "Get this thing away from my vines!"
"And the spirits aren't helping matters." They walked around the monster to find a quilled spirit angrily whacking it on the face with a stick. The monster didn't even react, eating the spirit in a single bite. Alex slapped it on the side, and it spat the spirit back out before going back to munching on the vines. The spirit glowered angrily at them. "Hey pal, can't you read the sign?" Alex said, pointing at the monster's face. Korra leaned past him to see that he had actually tattooed letters onto its face. 'Stay away from mouth at all times'.
"Well tell your 'thing' to stop eating my house." The spirit responded angrily. "I'm trying to live here."
"And we understand that." Korra tried to pacify the situation. "But your home is in the middle of the road."
"Not my problem, Avatar. You made the world this way."
"Don't remind me." She muttered to herself. "Look, we'll find you a new home. We just have to clear this patch away so that people can move past it. The vines are causing problems for humans."
"Oh, I see. You invite us here, but you don't really like us."
"No, I don't have any problem with spirits." At least when they're not acting like morons. "But the city is having problems with the vines. A lot of people have been forced out of their homes by them. That's what we're trying to fix."
"You keep talking like the spirits and the vines are two different things. I thought that you'd know better. Now get this damn thing off my…" Alex pressed his hand against the monster again, and it ate the spirit in one gulp again. The monster stood up on it back four legs, before spitting the spirit far away.
"What? He was being an ass. Hopefully he'll stay away long enough for me to clear this up before he gets back. Now, where were you two heading for anyway?"
"Oh right, you probably haven't heard yet. There's at least another Airbender out there besides Bumi." Asami said.
"Really? Another one? Must have something to do with the whole Convergence stuff. Maybe it's like the world's reset button or something." He and Asami kept talking, but Korra was busy thinking something over. Something that was trying to be heard.
You keep talking like spirits and vines are two different things… Like spirits and vines are two different things… are two different things…
"I've got an idea." Korra said excitedly, interrupting their discussion. "But we're going to need lots of water."
Alex pulled out a roll of cloth from his jacket. Evidently, he was using it as a map of the city. "There's a couple of buildings not far from the Katara River. Be easier to work from their first before we get water everywhere else. But what's your plan exactly?"
"The vines were made by Vaatu, and the spirit said that the vines are spirits in a sense. Maybe the purification technique could work on them too."
"Well, it did purify a spirit of pure chaos and evil. Nothing to say that it won't work on the vines. Want me to help out?"
"No." Korra said quickly. "I mean, no thank you. You should probably keep going on this. Just in case my plan doesn't quite work out. And besides, two plans are better than one."
Alex narrowed his eyes. "You don't want me stealing your thunder." He noted.
"No. no, no, no, that's not it at all."
"Korra, you're not actually worried about what those idiots think, are you? You're the real Avatar. You're a lot better at this than some fake like me." Except that you can do everything I can do, and do it better. Korra mused angrily. "Once people see you fixing the city, they'll forget all about me. In fact, I don't even know how I ended up becoming so popular in the first place."
"I do." Asami called out, waving them over to a poster on the wall. They both walked over, still confused as to what she found. Korra felt her heart sink as she read the poster. It had a picture of Alex in the background, scowling at them and with all four elements in the palm of his outstretched hand. She leaned in to read the writing.
"'Support Alex, the real Avatar. He is here to save us from the false Avatar and lead us to a better tomorrow. He is a guiding light against the forces of evil threatening us, and will create a utopia. A vote for Alex is a vote for order.'" She glowered at the poster, filled with a very strong desire to torch the block to get rid of it. Alex snorted as he took a look.
"Great. Now it looks like I'm the new Diggory. At least they didn't add something like 'Korra stinks' at the end."
"No, it's there. At the bottom. In very small print." Asami noted. "You know, they really got your good side in this. There's hardly any blood on you from this angle."
"I think of any side of me without blood on it is my good side. Though I'm surprised that people would trust a face like mine. I look like I'm gonna reach out and rip your heart out." He shook his head. "Yep, there goes Tarrlok."
"What's he complaining about?"
"Eh, about how he worked his ass off to get people to like him and yet I've gotta do nothing to get better results. Pretty much what we're all thinking." He snapped his fingers at it, and the paper started burning away.
"Now, don't you have a city to make look really stupid?" He smirked at her.
Korra sat at the pavilion, where long ago she would try and fail at the meditation lessons Tenzin tried to make her do. Now, she wished that she had paid more attention to them. She concentrated deeply, trying to use the peace and silence to commune with her past lives. Sure, it felt like Unalaq had destroyed her connection to them. But she could be wrong. That was the little bit of hope she felt.
But the longer she tried, the harder it became to stay calm.
She sighed. Nothing. No response, whatsoever. Even Aang was responding to her. She was truly alone on that front. Now she felt even more worried about keeping the portals open. She should've thought it through some more.
"Hey." She heard Alex say. She turned around to see him walking towards her, sitting down next to her. "So, uh… Heard things didn't quite go as planned." There was an awkward silence. "If it makes you feel any better, my plan went horribly wrong too."
"What happened?"
"Well first, as you saw, the vines didn't take kindly to my pet eating them. And then the spirits started complaining and throwing things at me. And remember how I said that the vines were coming from nowhere?" She nodded. "Turns out that the reverse doesn't apply. They don't mysteriously vanish into nothing. So all I really got was about twenty-odd tonnes of biomass and not much else. The vines actually started growing even more from that. So there's about three or four more families kicked out of their homes thanks to me. And then my pet kept eating things in front of him. Which in this case was a person. I got him to spit the guy out, but he was still a bit pissed about it."
Korra started chuckling. "Wow. You know, that actually does make me feel better. It's nice to know that you still make mistakes too."
"I never said I don't. As a wise man back home said; 'regular men make regular mistakes. Great men make grand mistakes.' Or something like that."
"Were you trying to quote Dumbledore to me?" He looked at her in surprise. "I got some memories of reading the books. I was obviously from your world since it mentioned a lot of stuff we don't have."
"Right. That. Well, yeah. I was." Korra chuckled again, but her grin slid off her face. "Hey. A friend told me that it's a good idea to talk about problems with friends. A strong, tough, awesome friend."
She tried to smile, but it stayed mostly sad. "I feel like I messed up badly. I wanted to make the world a better place, but so far nothing has gone right. People hate me now, Spirits argue with me, vines are everywhere, and people won't even think of me as the Avatar anymore. Do you think I made a mistake?"
"You asked me that right after you gave your grand speech about a new tomorrow."
"Yeah. But now… I want your opinion from everything you've seen so far."
"I still think that spirits are weird. But they think the same thing about me." She kept watching him, and he sighed. "Korra, you changed the world dramatically. There's always good and bad things about any kind of change. Back home, when the car was invented, it became a revolution beyond anyone's dreams. From them, we made ships and planes and spaceships and god knows what else. It was one of the biggest inventions since the wheel. Trips that took days or weeks to do could be done in hours. You could see a friend in another country for the weekend and be back in time for work. You could send a letter to someone else, and they'd get it with a day or two, whereas before it could be weeks or months before they got it. Hell, we're exploring the solar system right now back home, and we could be sending people to live on other worlds within the next few centuries or something." He was getting really animated now, evidently pleased at all his world could accomplish. His smile faded. "But there were bad things too. Accidents were more common. People dying from being run over, or crashing into another car. The invention of tanks and fighter jets. A country could drop a massive bomb on their enemy from the sky. There's all kinds of pollution, there's a hole in the ozone layer, and we're almost fighting wars over the gas needed to power them. People are spending billions coming up with new sources of fuel, while the oil companies are paying through the nose to stop them until every last drop has been bought. And when it goes, society could end up crashing down around us."
"That…" Korra's throat was dry. "That sounds horrible."
"It is. But I think that it's the price we pay for what we can achieve. And besides, it proves my point. When the car was first invented, I doubt the people behind it ever considered all the problems that would come with it. They only saw the good it could do. It was later generations that started spoiling it. You have no real idea or control of what comes from the choices you make. Not on a scale like this. The only thing you can do, is decide whether you want to focus on the good things, or the bad. And make sure that something good happens for as long as you can."
Korra smiled again, a warmer smile. "Right. So, good points are…"
"The Airbenders. I don't know whether it was Convergence or keeping the portals open, but more people are Airbending. You're practically reviving an endangered society." He started mussing up her hair. "Not bad, even for an Avatar. All I can really make is a society of monsters. No way can I match up to you on that."
You could. You just don't want to. But you still could if you wanted to.
"Besides, you're not a President or a Queen or whatever. Your job isn't to please everyone. It's to make sure that the world stays in balance and doesn't fall to chaos. And make sure everyone lives long enough to complain about it afterwards, apparently. Leave the ass kissing to people like Raiko. It's what they're good for anyway."
"I know. But I've got so much responsibility and power. And I don't even know what I'm doing half the time."
"Korra, nobody knows what they're doing half the time. I don't have a clue what I'm doing half the time. Aang probably didn't have a clue most of the time. You just gotta stop worrying about that and work with what you think is right."
"I guess you're right." Korra got up. "You know, if Tenzin was here he'd probably say stuff like 'true wisdom is not knowing anything' or something."
"You want fortune cookie wisdom? I can do that." He shifted into Tenzin's robe, keeping his face and body. "'A wise man builds his house amongst the trees. A smart man builds his on a rock.' 'Beware tall dark men, unless it's night.' 'True beauty is within the mind, so fall in love with your eyes closed.'" Korra started laughing loudly at that. And when Alex made his nose twice as big and turned green and warty she started laughing even harder. "There. Feeling a lot better now?"
"Yes. A lot better now." She wiped away tears of laughter.
"Good. My grandma always said that laughter is the best medicine."
"Really? Your grandmother?"
"Well someone's granny said that." He looked like he was about to continue when they heard the sound of running feet. They turned to see Bolin running towards them, huffing and puffing. He must've run all the way from the temple itself.
"Korra, Alex. They just that Airbender guy we've been looking for. Only he's still out of control, and now he's at the Kyoshi Bridge, and he won't come down." He gave them both a look, realising that they were a bit closer than normal. "Ooh. Did I just ruin an Avatar moment?"
Korra stood back up, walking past him. "Nope. Avatar wisdom moment is a thing of the past."
"Oh. Is that good or bad?"
"Depends on who you ask."
When Bolin mentioned that he 'wouldn't come down' from Kyoshi Bridge, he forgot to mention that he meant that the guy was hanging on for dear life at the very top of the bridge. How did he even get so high? She could barely make a breeze when she started. She quickly hopped off Oogi, while Alex soared underneath the tower in a circle. She had an uncomfortable flash of a shark waiting for a meal.
"Alex, stop doing that. I think you're scaring him even more." She called out. He twisted round to face her, changing back into human form.
"There is no way I can go up there without threatening the structural integrity of that tower." He said. "Just as well though. I think you'd have better luck talking him down. It looks like he might jump."
"I don't think he means to. But you're right. Stay down here with the others and be ready to catch him if he falls." She didn't want his help, didn't want him proving he was better than her at something else. But this was no time to be stubborn about it. A man's life is in danger. If he fell and died because she wanted to save him on her own, she'd never forgive herself. She unfolded her staff and flew up towards him, watching as he accidently created a wave of air around him. The Metalbending officers trying to approach him were knocked away, but saved themselves with their cables. She altered the air around her so that she could push through the weak wave approaching, then landed not far from him. But not too close. She didn't want to startle him.
"Avatar Korra!" He shouted, obviously scared out of his mind. "Please. Help me. I don't know what I'm doing, but I don't want to hurt anyone."
"I know the feeling." She replied. "Look, I know that it's scary right now. You've gone through a big change, and you keep making things worse without meaning to. I'm going through that too. I never meant for people to be hurt because I chose to keep the portal open. I didn't mean for you to be scared. But there are people out there who can help you. Airbenders who are happy that they're not alone anymore. You don't have to deal with this alone."
"I don't want to deal with it at all. Please, you're the Avatar. Make it stop. Make all of this stop." He stumbled, screaming as he held onto the metal frame for dear life.
"I…I can't." She admitted. "I don't know how, Alex doesn't know how; this is just like with the city. But you don't have to let this be a bad thing. Things can get better if you just give it a chance. We can go to Air Temple Island. There are people there who can help you." He gulped as he looked down. She held out her hand to him. "Please. Let me help you." He stared at her hand for several seconds, fear evident on his face. But eventually, he reached out for her hand. His shaking grew weaker with every inch.
And then his foot slipped, just as she moved to grab his hand.
He screamed loudly as he fell, all control over his Airbending gone. Korra quickly dropped alongside him, hand just an inch away from her. She grabbed it and tried to unfold her staff, but the ground was too close. She was moving to blast a cushion of air for them, but they were caught in a large black net. The net grew thicker before stretching, slowing them down until they were held only a few feet from the ground. She heard metal groan as the net opened for them. They both dropped down safely, the man still looking completely frightened. The net collapsed into a puddle, reforming as Alex. A flash of irritation ran through her, but she pushed it aside. If he hadn't been there, things could've been worse.
"Daw, was it? I'd like you to meet Tenzin. He's a master Airbender. He's going to help you with getting it under control." She said to the man, gently pushing him towards Tenzin.
"Hello Daw." Tenzin said warmly. "I'm glad to meet a brand new Airbender. Well, at least one I don't have to change a diaper for."
"Actually…" Daw started saying in an embarrassed tone, but Korra wasn't listening. She just spotted Raiko forcing his way through the cordon near them. And he didn't look happy. She groaned and rolled her eyes, Alex close by as she approached him. No doubt he was going to complain again.
He quickly proved her right. "So this is the deal now, is it? We're having a crisis every day now, thanks to you and your actions." He said hotly. "And when you try to 'fix' this mess you've made, you just make things worse."
"I'm sorry about that, ok?" She said tiredly. Ever since she opened the portal, it felt like she had been apologising every day. "I know that everyone's having a tough time with the portals and spirits and all that. But I still stand by my decision. The vines and the Spirits are here to stay. I'm afraid that you and everyone else will just have to get used to that." Raiko seemed to turn even redder at her words.
"Well, you know who's not here to stay? You. I'm hereby banishing you from Republic City. You've caused nothing but trouble ever since you arrived." Korra secretly hoped that the crowd behind him would object, or complain, or just do something to voice their opinion (well, except perhaps cheering). But they were silent. As far as she could tell, while they weren't in agreement with her banishment, they weren't against it either.
"Don't worry. I was already planning on leaving."She said bitterly. She turned to walk away, but was stopped as Alex placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Well if Korra's banished from Republic City, then so am I." This time, the crowd gasped loudly. She could hear people shouting, begging him to stay. Alex raised a hand to them, his middle finger raised to the sky. She felt a bit better now. Sure, she knew that he didn't care for all that fame. But it still made her feel better seeing him reject it all.
"Now wait a moment Avatar Alex." Raiko started saying. "You're needed here, in Republic City. Only you can…" Alex interrupted him by holding his hand close to Raiko's face, his index finger curled behind his thumb. Before Raiko could even react, Alex flicked him in the nose. The force behind it sent Raiko stumbling away and falling to the ground, blood flying everywhere.
She wasn't completely certain, but she was almost sure that Alex broke his nose.
"That was also for not helping the South fight for their independence." Alex said blithely as they walked away. A few officers watched them, but Beifong shook her head. The seemed relieved to not have a reason to fight them. Or (a dark part of her thought), they didn't want to fight Alex.
Tenzin smiled at them as they approached, not even hiding his mirth. "Well, now that we've told the President off and knocked him about, how about we get ready to seek out more people like Daw before Raiko finds people willing to fight you two?" He asked.
"You really think there's more people outside Republic City?" Alex asked. "I thought that it might've been caused by Vaatu's vines in the city."
"Perhaps. But we also originally believed that Bumi gained Airbending from being in the Spirit World during Harmonic Convergence. What if it isn't that either? What if it isn't localised? It could very well be that Convergence itself was what unlocked people's potential for Airbending. We'll have Lin call the Earth Kingdom, see if there's any reports of Airbending from the colonies there."
"So, where will we stay until then? We can't live in Republic City now, thanks to Raiko."
"Luckily for us, Air Temple Island isn't officially a part of Republic City. Raiko has no power of either of you two there. If he wants to evict you, then he'll have to get my approval."
"Cool." Alex said. "But if we're going away, I need to talk to Asami about a couple of things first." He ran towards Future Industries, bending the water into solid platforms for him to run on. Korra watched him go, her thoughts on what good she could do. The Airbenders, revived from the brink of extinction. The world in balance again. She was determined to regain the peoples' trust and awe. To become known as Avatar Korra again.
She just hoped that no criminals gained Airbending. That would kinda dampen things.
And here we are, now into Book 3. This is where things are hopefully going to really start changing around. And we get to focus on someone else's character development now.
Now, during Book 3 and 4, Korra was learning how to deal with the fact that she was becoming less important, less powerful in comparison and things like that. It's rather similar here. As fans point out, Alex is unbelievably OP for the Avatar world. He's got healing and shapeshifting on top of eating people and creating weapons from his biomass. And that's all on top of bending itself. So, I decided to use that. Book 1 and 2 were about Alex learning to be more human and less of a monster, but now Korra's learning how to deal with things when her best friend is better at practically everything she can do. And the people, unfortunately, realise that too. Korra's name has become mud since Harmonic Convergence. As you probably saw, she's now called Miss Korra (since we haven't got a clue what her last name is), while Alex is seen as the only Avatar. Not good for her ego.
And yeah, Alex made a monster. I know I didn't do that much of it during the last two books, but that's because he was still wary of his creations. Worried about them going on a rampage and stuff. He's still a bit worried about that (shown by the fact that he stayed near his creation while it was working) but he's willing to experiment with his powers again.
Oh, and I threw that last line in for dramatic irony. If it weren't for the fact that nothing changes, I would've like to have shown Zaheer's escape right after them. But I can live with the fact that Korra fans will know exactly what that means.