Korra hung there, pinned the wall, contemplating what had just transpired.
What have I done? Korra asked herself.
In her rage and ignorance, had she condemned Tahni, who already experienced so much suffering in his life, to live his life alone forever? She should of helped him, not hunted him. Heck, she could of trained him. Together, as two Avatars, as a team, they could of done so much good for the world. Yet she had hunted him as if he were her enemy.
Sirens and alarms started to go off in the distance.
They're going after Tahni, Korra thought. If I can get free, maybe there's still time…
Try as she may, her connection to the elements was gone for the moment. Korra knew that she had failed.
All of the sudden, the sounds of explosions filled her ears.
They were under attack.
Several figures walked around the corner, and into the alley.
"Look what we have here! The Avatar!" one of the figures laughed.
Their robes gave them away as Red Lotus sentries. They walked up to her pinned and vulnerable form. One, obviously a waterbender, melted the ice with waterbending, then pinned her to the floor with bloodbending.
"Grand Lotus Gen'dai Bau is going to be thrilled when he learns that we killed her," one of the other sentries exclaimed.
The bloodbending sentry crouched down beside her and whispered into her ear, "you're going to be reborn into a world that even you can't save."
Korra closed her eyes, knowing this was the end.
She heard them raised a spear of ice from the water she was laying in. Then she heard another movement of water. The sentries all fell around her, deceased. She felt herself gain control again as the bloodbender died, then another person start to bend her body. This time, the bloodbending didn't constrict her, but made her feel lighter, and more complete. She had regained her connection to the elements, but how? Korra heard footsteps walk over to her. Once she had enough strength, she lifted herself up onto her knees and looked over her shoulder. She didn't know who she expected her savior to be. When her eyes focused on the figure leaning over her, she realized it was Tahni, with an outstretched hand.
She took it.
Tahni lifted her to her feet, and turned around to face the next wave of Red Lotus sentries as they charged.
It was time to fight.
Mako and Bolin watched as a squadron of Zerofire-Class monoplanes launched from the Submarine Carrier.
"Firebenders! Prepare for combat!" Mako ordered.
The Fire Nation soldiers got into position on the edges of the airship.
"FIRE EVERY CANNON WE HAVE!" Mako yelled at them.
They firebended into the barrels of the cannons, and plumes of flame shot towards the incoming squadron.
Most of the Zerofires dodged the blasts, but two were hit and their wreckage fell into the city. The surviving ten Zerofires started to head towards the airship once again. Mako knew that the airship couldn't be saved.
"ABANDON SHIP! GO GO GO!" Mako screamed.
All around Mako and Bolin, Fire Nation soldiers jumped for it, deploying their parachutes immediately. Mako didn't have a parachute, and looked to Bolin, who didn't have one either.
"Come on, bro," Mako urged as he grabbed Bolin and plunged them over the side.
The Zerofires fired on the airship above them, making it explode almost instantly. Mako held onto Bolin as hard as he could with his left arm, while firebending out a jet from his right hand in an attempt to slow their descent.
It wasn't enough to slow their descent to point of survivability.
Mako figured this was a crappy way to go out. All of the sudden, a couple airbenders caught them, and carried them onto one of the roofs below. Mako, Bolin, and the two airbenders ducked for cover as the airship plunged into the abandoned district. When Mako and Bolin looked back up after the crash, they discovered that their saviors were Tenzin and Bumi.
"Thanks for the save!" Bolin stated as he got back onto his feet.
"Anytime," Bumi smirked.
"Those Zerofires are going to wipe us out if we can't deal with them," Mako told Tenzin.
Tenzin replied, "I wouldn't worry about those pesky Zerofires."
"And why is that-"
Just as he said it, a squadron of Fire Nation Zerofires flew over, and began to engage the Red Lotus squadron in a dogfight.
Tahni raised two spikes of ice from the ground, pointing them at a 45 degree angle towards his enemies. He then grabbed two of them with bloodbending and pulled them into the spikes. There were dozens more still charging forward, unfazed, and unafraid to die. One of the incoming Red Lotus sentries sent a sweeping blade of fire at Tahni, who sent a tendril of water to clash with it, defusing both moves. Korra sent a burst of air at the Red Lotus sentry, who was thrown back a dozen feet.
An earthbending Red Lotus sentry stomped on the ground with his right foot, making a boulder rise into the air. He then spun around counterclockwise, and kicked it at Korra and Tahni with the ball of his left foot. Korra outstretched her right arm and simply caught it in her palm, then crushed it into small pebbles. She launched them at the sentry like bullets, and they tore him apart. While Korra wasn't looking, a waterbending Red Lotus sentry created a spear of ice, and threw it at her. Tahni caught the spear with his waterbending, spun it around, threw it back, and it impaled its creator.
When an airbending Red Lotus sentry began to remove the air from Tahni's lungs, he fell over onto his knees. Korra took notice and sent a continuous blast of fire at the airbender, turning him to ash. Tahni felt the air flow back into his lungs and returned to his feet just in time to see the airbender's crispy corpse plop to the ground. He gave Korra a look that displayed gratitude, then returned his gaze to the enemies that were still coming.
Tahni knew that this was taking too long. If they kept being held up here, they wouldn't be able to help Korra's friends. It was time to cause casualties.
He focused on the rain falling around him. He froze the drops of water into shards of ice, then sent them like a unending barrage of bullets at the Red Lotus sentries, cutting them down in mere seconds. Tahni fell to a kneeling position once the deed was done, as the task was exhausting both physically and spiritually.
When Korra looked down at him Tahni said, "just give me a second. When you tried to sever my connection to water, it kind of crippled me. I'm not as strong with it as I was before."
"Sorry about that, will you be okay?" Korra asked, her voice conveying guilt and worry.
"I'll be fine. My chi is just…. unstable."
Tahni looked up at the sky, the two Red Lotus airships were beginning to bombard the defenses at the Royal Plaza with their spirit cannons. He pointed at them, leading Korra's gaze.
"We're going to need to take those out if we're going to have any chance in stopping this thing," Tahni stated.
"What thing? Why are the Red Lotus attacking?" Korra asked, confused.
Tahni looked at Korra, with a look that said you're not seeing the obvious.
"They're here to kill the entire Royal Family. The Fire Nation is still a monarchy, so if the Royal Family goes down-"
"The entire nation falls apart," Korra finished, grasping the situation.
"We need to stop those airships before they get further inland," Tahni stated.
Korra gave him a puzzled look.
"And how are we going to that? You're in no condition to bloodbend yourself up there," Korra replied.
Tahni smirked and answered, "you're going to need to carry me."
Korra sighed.
Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, and Bumi were in the streets of the district, fighting their way to the Royal Plaza.
"Where is Korra?" Mako questioned as he sent a bolt of lightning at a Red Lotus sentry.
"We're don't know!" Bumi answered.
Bolin pointed towards the sky.
"I think I found Korra!" Bolin exclaimed.
Mako looked up, spotting Korra carrying Tahni as she used firebending to jet her way up to one of the Red Lotus airships.
"Is Tahni helping?" Mako asked, surprised.
"Who's Tahni?" Bumi asked as he used airbending to diffuse a fire blast.
"The Dark Avatar," Bolin replied.
"Today is one for the history books," Tenzin stated as he sent a tendril of air at the enemy.
"You can say that again," Bumi said. "Tenzin tore his clothes for the first time since he was four!"
"I TOLD YOU! The Dark Avatar did that!" Tenzin barked back, annoyed.
When Korra got to the top of one of the airships, she immediately dropped Tahni, who rolled onto his feet.
"Thanks for the lift," Tahni said.
They immediately went to work. Tahni waterbended the rain into the cracks and seams of the metal, soaking it in before freezing it and tearing it out with terrific force, sending metal fragments everywhere. Korra simply metalbended the metal frame apart, peeling it open as if it were a banana. They continued until the airship started to emit smoke, and noticeably tilt.
"Time move on!" Tahni yelled as he ran past Korra.
He jumped off the edge, and caught himself with bloodbending. He awkwardly carried himself over onto the top of next one. Korra flew over on a gust of wind. All around them, the battle in the air was chaotic as it drew to a close. Zerofires fired upon Zerofires, and debris was flying everywhere. Tahni and Korra began to tear into the airship's frame when the last Zerofire collided with the bridge of the airship, destroying all control, and sending it into a rapid fall. Out of nowhere, piece of metal debris hit Korra is the side of the head, and she started to plunge to the surface unconscious. Tahni leaped off the edge of the falling airship towards Korra, bloodbending her body to bring her closer. Once she was within arm's reach, he grabbed her and pulled her close. He started to bloodbend himself, slowing down their descent. It was exhausting, but Tahni forced his already fragile bending to the limit. When they were within four feet from the ground, Tahni let go. They both fell onto the flooded ground, but only Tahni was awake to feel the bruising fall and the sudden splash of blistering cold water.
"I'm starting to understand why bloodbending was declared illegal. It sucks," Tahni moaned to himself.
They had landed at the edge of the Royal Plaza. Tahni looked out into the harbor, to see a dozen speed boats slowly moving towards him. Their gunners aimed their spirit cannons at Korra, who was several feet away from Tahni. Without thinking, Tahni threw himself in front of the beams of spiritual energy as they flew towards Korra, and focused solely on absorbing them, unknowingly energybending.
The loud noise of the spirit cannons awoke Korra. She sat up in the water, to find Tahni's twitching body lying in front of her. She quickly stood up and stepped over Tahni body, as to protect him from their enemies.
Tahni could barely hear as he lay there.
Is this how I die? Tahni asked Vaatu.
"No," Vaatu answered, no doubt in his tone. "This isn't the day for sacrifices. The world doesn't need a martyr. We don't need a symbol, we need hope. We need a victory. We need to rise above darkness."
With that, Tahni could feel Vaatu channeling all of the spiritual energy that was running rampant in his body towards four parts of his body. He could feel the gateways that were his connection to the elements burst open with unprecedented force.
Korra prepared herself for a final stand against the Red Lotus fleet, until she realized that the spirit cannons were starting to point up. A light began to emit from behind her.
Korra looked over her should to see Tahni's form rising in the air, glowing ever-brighter. His eyes didn't glow red, but his body glowed a pure white light. Tahni continued to rise until he was fifty feet in the air.
The speed boats started to back up, so they could aim their cannons at Tahni. It would only take them a few moments to reload their spirit cannons and end this ascension. Rocks began to rise towards Tahni, and form a belt around him. As did smoke and fire from the wreckage around them. Lastly, a sphere of glowing water, formed from the falling rain, took shape around his levitating figure.
The spirit cannons fired.
This time, Tahni didn't absorb the spiritual energy, but returned it.
Tahni bended the beams as so they would converge into a single beam. They bended around him as if they were water, he reached out with his hand, moving it slowly from left to right below him, sending the beam into a path that violently disintegrated the speed boats. Tahni looked ahead at the Submarine Carrier. He reached out the ocean, and make it part away from the vessel. A whirlpool formed around the Submarine Carrier, and the water formed a tunnel around it, letting the vessel fall to the ocean floor. Tahni bended large spikes, the size of the vessel itself, to stab through its frame from all sides. The craft exploded in a violent explosions. Tahni released the oceans, letting the water reclaim it.
It was over.
Tahni slowly began to descend, and the white light started to fade away from his body. When he was ten feet off the ground and five feet in front of Korra, he completely shut down and fell into the water.