Chapter 31: Hardened Steel
Jinshu Kuangmai did not smile often, but as he saw the labors of his soldiers and the "volunteers" from Zaofu who were benders in the morning light, he could not help it. Zaofu had been gutted of all civilian comforts, replaced with different things in the various sections. Kuvira had already started some of the work, making sure to leave room for the residents who chose to stay, for some emotional reason. He had just kicked them out, having his soldiers create living quarters for them inside a nearby mountain, except for the bender "volunteers" now helping him in his own undertaking.
Suppressing a snicker - he had always found emotional attachments baffling and slightly funny, even Kuvira's weak ones - he returned to his thoughts. Turning away from the actual more than slightly sunken city and the tamed river, he looked at the blueprints he drafted the night of Kuvira's betrayal of the Earth Empire. He had made sure to make a show of them to his troops, to much applause.
I regret showing them so soon. I should have just choked the idealists when I had the chance.
Shaking his head violently, preferring to not think anything and only admire his work. One former dome was now a basic science lab, another, a manufacturing facility for minor but necessary equipment such as uniforms and boots. Two of the remaining former domes were devoted to a combination of training and breaking of "recruits", as well as training of loyal soldiers, making sure to mix the two. A lot of his most ardent supporters did his work of instilling fear for him, relishing the chance to yield power themselves. The thought of soldiers and power gave him a fierce scowl, dragging back what he had brushed aside just a minute ago - a whole company's worth, maybe more, of metalbenders had managed to escape while he was admiring his completed plans for Zaofu on the train, having torn a hole in the back of the train carrying himself and those who were loyal towards their new stronghold.
The nerve of some people.
The sneer vanished when he remembered who they were - idealists, fools, like that naïve Bolin yuckity-yuck who betrayed Kuvira a good time ago.
What a gullible idiot. "Nuktuk"…
As far as he was concerned, Kuvira or the remnants of the Earth Kingdom were welcome to them, and none of them had paid his blueprint much attention anyways.
This last thought brought to mind something that made him so mad he wanted to use his special skill on someone, and not to choke them - something far nastier. The fact that most of the northern Earth Empire had declared itself independent through actions in Ba Sing Se had infuriated him. Before he even had a chance to contact Kuvira's troops in the city, a bedraggled lot of loyalists had appeared on the tracks while he was in transit to Zaofu. They told him of how Kuvira's conscripts and citizens of the city had destroyed all military-grade radio equipment in concert and then attacked, taking those relative few elite soldiers stationed in Ba Sing Se by surprise. His mood only darkened further when he remembered how the soldiers told him some random peasant girl had given a "stirring" speech, causing everyone but the soldiers who had come to him to defect!
For being so weak, certain emotions sure manage to make a lot of trouble, love being one in particular.
If he were a powerful spirit, he'd destroy every emotion except for one - fear. Taking his anger out on an annoyingly cute creature that had landed on his blueprints of the new Zaofu, he felt better as he watched the life leave its eyes, tossing its slightly bloody corpse away, again using his special talent to do so.
As he looked up, he saw a shimmer in front of him - that of a three-year old boy crying. Dismissing it as a trick of the light and ignoring a small voice in his head he had thought he killed long ago through his actions, he returned to his study of the blueprints.
Some little nagging goody two-shoes isn't going to break me. Not after this long.
As he looked at the blueprints, he thought of one upside of the destruction of the military-grade radio equipment in Ba Sing Se - they would not be able to contact the outside world. Given how he had not heard of the Avatar visiting the area, he knew his assumption was right. Shaking his head to regain focus and swat away the annoying gnat of a voice in his head, he looked at the blueprints once again. The final smaller "dome" was to be used to store supplies, especially food - the stockpile Kuvira had left behind would only last so long, and he would need to "acquire" food from the surrounding lands soon. As he closed his eyes in anticipation of the peasant's fear, he saw a glimmering medal - in the shape of his accursed mother's family crest, a flying boar.
He imagined crushing it with his metal bending, and to his surprise, the vision crumpled, letting a single drop of blood fall and making sad, almost human groan as it did so. Laughing to see his mother's symbol crushed, he opened his eyes again, loving what he saw in front of him. The central portion of the city, which he had personally gutted himself the first day in Zaofu along with some of his most enthusiastic soldiers, was to be a manufacturing facility for much larger pieces of equipment. Only things like tanks, mechasuits, basic spirit weapons and parts to war balloons were to be manufactured there. Turning his gaze to the portion of the blueprint in which he was standing now, after restless nights of work from himself and the soldiers he felt feared or respected him the most, a tear came to his eye in admiration. In the base of the largest mountain near Zaofu, he had constructed a large, sprawling secret complex using a combination of bending, spirit weapon blasts and explosives. It was intended as his command center, reservoir of water, vault for spirit vines, research facility for the next generation of Earth Empire weaponry, as well as a place to manufacture said equipment in secret. He had even sensed deposits of various metals during construction, removing them and setting the precious resources aside for later. Thinking of metal, he smiled as he remembered that platinum had been found near the civilian's quarters. Flipping to a relevant blueprint, he looked, erasing and re-drawing portions of what was on the page, smiling at its slightly different form.
This is far superior to Kuvira's version. I always hated those stupid, long feminine legs - weak physically and emotionally! Just like her, in the end.
When the next model of the Colossus was complete, he would have to assemble it outside, of course, but he feared no mortal - not even the Avatar. His only "fear" was that his underlings would not perform, or worse, soften or defect.
Remembering that the work outside was not done and that he had a conference to spy on later in the day, he went outside to alternatively "inspire" the "volunteers" and actually help in the sinking of Zaofu, though not out of any sympathy. As he closed his eyes and struck the earth to better sense where the next crack should be created to insert explosives, he saw the same three-year old boy from earlier again. This time, the boy spoke, asking, "Why?" He barely suppressed raucous laughter - he recognized the voice as his own! What did his conscience hope to achieve exactly - all it was doing was providing him entertainment!
You've lost. Go bother someone else.
Later, as he savored the scent of fear in the camp, he once again closed his eyes, blocking out distracting visual stimulus. When he did, the same young self appeared, but it felt as though his own older physical body was locked in place. When he tried to move, he saw a metallic hand move as though it were his own against the blackness. Liking what he saw, he said, "All right - I always wanted to live up to my name! To what do I owe the honor, you little pest?"
A white-haired girl appeared beside his younger self, who had an odd teapot around her neck. Feeling repulsed by the energy of this being but attracted to that inside the teapot, he said, "I don't want to talk to either of you - you both look like you just want to yammer at me endlessly about how horrible I am. I'd rather talk to whoever is in that thing around your pencil-thin neck, girl." The girl's eyes opened wide in shock, and she began to cry at the same time his younger self did. As the comfortable presence within the teapot let out a deep laugh, he saw an orb he hadn't noticed before flash, with a thin red line appearing that eventually formed the shape of yin and yang, except there was no white present. The little girl said, "I think he's hopeless. I haven't seen a human attracted to that scumbag's energy since Unalaq. You're on your own, I'm afraid, Tonga Beifong." Before he could yell "Don't call me that, you little insolent whelp!" both the girl and his younger self vanished, and so did the vision.
I hate unnecessary delays. What is up with this crap today?
The time in between this half tantalizing, half annoying vision and the start of the conference went by in a blur of hard work, intimidation, and solid progress on the other, physical efforts. As long as they could work without anyone knowing, he would have his perfect base.
Of course it's perfect. It's built out of that traitor Kuvira's home! They won't even be able to earthsense it once we're done with that platinum coating. Shiro Shinobi better not spill his guts. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but I didn't know anyone else competent enough with radio who was expendable to run the relay boat.
Anticipation running high, he joined Chief Intelligence Officer Jang in the radio room, with no one else present. Knowing his deliberate assignment of an incompetent to the physical spying job, he oversaw the direction of the operative and his radio feed, while Chief Intelligence Officer Jang used his skills to monitor the listening wire the spy had placed on a plant in advance of the conference. Over the past days, he had noticed Chief Intelligence Officer Jang no longer trembled in his boots, but respected him instead, detecting no signs of lies or fear when Chief Intelligence Officer Jang spoke to him.
More power can do that to people. Just look at how happy the elite metalbenders are with their "recruits". I still have to be sparing with any level of trust or power sharing, though - those idealists taught me a painful lesson, as did those elephant rats in Ba Sing Se.
While the original plan had been to monitor the conference itself, Chief Intelligence Officer Jang had suggested that the lunch be monitored as well. Apparently, there was some sort of issue in the kitchen, and after the Avatar left, there was idle chatter in the room. Muting the feed to the spy, he listened as Chief Intelligence Officer Jang said, "Some of the chatter is mildly interesting, though most is idle conversation. I hear a young male voice intermittently, talking about some drawings he made of a 'Ferocious Lemur' and 'Flying Hogmonkey', but a stern adult female shushes him before he can continue. No great loss - it's not as if a boy could design weapons." Chief Intelligence Officer Jang scoffed a short time later, saying, "Sir, it appears that the Avatar and her boyfriend can now make blue flame, according to someone who just spoke. The trademark of your favorite firebender, I might add." Jinshu Kuangmai scoffed, "I'd have to see it myself to believe it - both are far too weak willed and soft to yield Azula's fire." Chief Intelligence Officer Jang nodded his head in agreement.
Some time passed before Chief Intelligence Officer Jang heard some sort of commotion from the kitchen, saying with a confused look, "I heard something indistinct about Zuko's uncle after an old man offered to help with tea, though I don't understand his relevance." Jinshu Kuangmai said with a laugh, "Just some irrelevant, long dead, weak-minded fool who stood in the way of Azula." Glad to see Jang smile at mention of his favorite firebender, they both waited a bit longer. Jang snickered after a while, saying, "It sounds like the Avatar is… cooking? Maybe she really can make blue flame. There was a round of applause from the kitchen for the Avatar after she gave some sort of show, given how a cook said 'I guess we need to hire some metalbenders' loudly after. Whatever, cooking is woman's work, and I wish she'd stay in the kitchen instead of bothering the Earth Empire."
Jinshu Kuangmai burst out laughing, saying, "I wish she'd come close enough for me to splatter her blood across our current holdings. I have to say, Jang, I never thought you'd rise to fill your station so well." Seeing Jang smile, he could tell this had the intended effect - he could feel Jang's heart beating fast in excitement through the metal chairs they were both sitting in front of the massive radio controls .
Given my own feelings for women - especially my accursed mother - that wasn't just a test. I meant that gesture.
As he placed a hand on Jang's shoulder, he thought to himself, Jang is no longer the fearful and loyal young man he was when I promoted him - just loyal now. He's even begun to admonish "volunteers" properly - though there are none of their ilk anywhere near us. We're in my secret lair, after all.
Jang continued after the strong hand left his shoulder, saying, "Apparently, I was right - I heard the Avatar say 'Food's ready!' followed by a bunch of plates hitting the table in a remarkably controlled manner." Listening for another minute, he finished, "Not that you or I care, but I heard people complimenting her cooking and use of the Avatar State to serve sake, tea and appetizers. Such a blatant waste of power - it disgusts me." Jinshu Kuangmai nodded his head in agreement, saying, "It's a pity she wasn't killed by Amon and a proper Earth Avatar born into what was once the Earth Kingdom. But then, if she had died, we wouldn't be sitting here today - that foul Queen would still rule the Earth Kingdom, the events that put our formerly great leader Kuvira into power never occurring." Jang nodding in agreement of his own, he returned to listening, yawning in boredom, "The chatter is insipid now - just pleasantries and the sound of people eating. I don't particularly care about whatever moronic plan Eska and Desna talked about before the Avatar left to perform her proper role in the kitchen. The twin Water Tribe barbarian chiefs talked with Tenzin before the Avatar brought lunch out." Laughing hysterically, Jang continued, "It's apparent that somehow, homosexual marriage is important to the Avatar. Whatever the blazes that could mean." Snickering, he added, "Surely, she isn't even weaker than we thought? A lesbian Avatar who uses her endless power to serve food - what a joke."
Jinshu Kuangmai made to start laughing hysterically, but Jang held up a steady hand, saying, "Wait. That fool President Raiko is speaking, and it sounds important." Surprised he didn't immediately blood-iron bend Jang, switching on the spy's feed again instead, his subordinate gave the console in front of him a confused look. "Sir, if what President Raiko just said is true, it appears that somehow, the original Iroh is attending the conference. Even more puzzling, the Avatar has created a glowing shield around the Republic City Spirit Portal - as though to keep something in." Shaking his head with a smile, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Maybe the Avatar thought it looked pretty. I just heard the last part - she put the four elemental symbols on it for decoration, I guess." Jang used his metalbending to switch on recording of his own feed and Jinshu Kuangmai's - he had no time for anger at the slight by his underling.
He didn't like the long pause, much less the Avatar's tone as he heard her say "Just a moment - I need to fix my shoe." He had to work very hard to suppress an angry scream as he heard the operative say a very short time later, "Oh gosh, I have to use the bathroom - I've been holding it until I needed to take plates back to the kitchen. Be right back." Given how Jang slapped his forehead, he shared his own frustration. As they both listened, Jinshu Kuangmai made no move to let his operative know he had been compromised - he was a skilled bender, but a very disposable spy. Jinshu Kuangmai thought to himself, Especially after that horrible performance. Given Jang's intense face, he must have anticipating some good information, and after getting the order, he flipped a switch to make the sound from the wire audible to both himself and Jinshu Kuangmai.
He had given the order just in time, given what he heard said next. Jinshu Kuangmai felt like reaching through the radio and choking the Avatar, old fashioned style - apparently, she knew of the spy. This late bloomer could earthsense and truthsense now, like his accursed mother and himself! He heard a door close in a controlled manner, along with the noises of metal being bended. Remembering what Jang had said earlier about the Avatar and her boyfriend's blue flames, he barely avoided smashing the console. He wouldn't put it past her to use Azula's blue flame, even though the Avatar was unworthy of doing so. His rage only intensified when the Avatar said, "Given the fact that he said he needed to use the bathroom at the exact same time my earthsense reached him, I'm pretty sure who he is a spy for - Jinshu Kuangmai."
How does she know my name, much less who I am? His eyes opened wide in anger, saying, "Kuvira must have ratted me out!" Jang shook his head, saying, "You better listen to this - apparently, the Avatar had another dirty trick now too." Jinshu Kuangmai listened to the Avatar's description of "infobending" and saw fit to take a quick break, telling his operative quietly, "You are to not allow the Avatar to make physical contact with you. She has some weird new technique she calls 'infobending', and it sounds like she could use it to rip the secrets from your skull. You got that?" The operative gulped so loudly it was audible through his vest, saying, "Yes, Glorious Leader," knowing full well what his new order meant. When Jinshu Kuangmai was done, he noticed that Jang had used metalbending to write "Korra suspects listening wire" on a stray piece of paper with a metal pen.
Silencing his link with the spy, Jinshu Kuangmai yelled, "This conference just keeps getting worse and worse! Damn it! Curse her stupid 'infobending' - I wish I could choke her over the radio! GAAAH!" Jang actually gave him an angry look, saying, "With all due respect, sir, we need to be quiet - your yelling meant I could barely hear, and only managed to barely hear the Avatar say something about something meant to 'yank you around.' I couldn't hear what they planned to talk about before that. We'll have to listen to the recording later." As Jinshu Kuangmai listened to the audio feed, he was too stunned to slap Jang for his insolence. Apparently, one of Azula's traitorous friends, Mai, was still alive, at the conference, and even worse - the Avatar's comment confirmed his worst fear that she could now take information from people with "infobending". She could even take experience and skill, making them partially her own, given how she had laughed when she said, "I infobended more than just physical combat knowledge from Mai - her experiences with 'cloak and dagger' during Aang's time were very useful."
Shortly after, he heard the sound of creaking metal from the spy's feed, and began cursing loudly - the fool had opened a door that slammed shut earlier using metalbending. He had half a mind to yell into the spy's earpiece, "Even if you succeed, you're going to a 're-education' camp - you obviously need to work on your spying skills, or else!" but stopped at the last moment, remembering he needed to be kept in the dark as much as possible. He could chastise him later. Though, given the lame excuse the spy gave for his absence and why he needed to stay, Jinshu Kuangmai was half tempted to just choke him slowly as the spy forced him to listen to his own ineptitude.
His ears perked up when he heard the Avatar say, "We may as well start the conference." Although it interested him to know what his enemies were up to, he groaned loudly as he heard the first topic of discussion - what they planned to do to the northern half of the Earth Empire, as well as any other traitorous lands. Jinshu Kuangmai didn't know whether to smile or frown when he heard the name Zhao - he was another firebender after his own heart, but he was nowhere near Azula, making his association with the 100 Year's War sour him in the end. As he listened to the Avatar and her foolish friends laugh like children, he recognized another name - Aang. He began to say something, but stopped short in confusion. Jang said with perplexion, "Sir, it appears that somehow, the Avatar can contact Avatar Aang - as I am sure you heard, given your look, she plans to use his help to tell people who Admiral Zhao is later. Such a childish waste of power."
They both listened half-heartedly to the foolish plan Wu had in mind, laughing hysterically when he got to the part about Zaofu. That plan would never work, and Jang said, "They have no idea of the depth of the irony. Zaofu is ours now." Jang resumed laughing, saying, "That's Su's voice, I believe - I heard her voice plenty when the Earth Empire did not yet rule Zaofu." He stopped laughing quickly as Su talked about Kuvira's armies, and Jinshu Kuangmai felt his own expression sour. Before he could finish thinking, I really need to not underestimate these adversaries. Together, they are str - his eyes widened as he heard Su say, "Especially considering what everyone else knows about Ji - Ow, Lin, stop that!" followed by a light slap from what must have been Toph's other accursed daughter. Feeling an odd tug, he dismissed what was probably his younger self, wanting to lecture him on family. The little insufferable pest. He realized with relief that it was Jang, saying, "I think the game's up, in many ways. We're going to need to make sure we're ready for an attack, although as long as Shiro Shinobi doesn't spill his guts, they won't know where we are."
Although he had serious doubts about the secrecy of their location, given those idealist's defection, Jinshu Kuangmai wasn't about to admit it to Jang - Jang instead of "Chief Intelligence Officer" or not. They both returned to listening to the deliberations in half boredom, half disgust at what those fools had in plan for the Earth Empire. Both himself and Jang jumped slightly when they heard a female voice that was completely unfamiliar yet intimidating say, "You forgot Kyoshi Island, Prince Wu - don't forget about my homeland." Before either could puzzle through who this was, some foolish woman said, "Oh wow - was that Avatar Kyoshi's voice?" Jinshu Kuangmai let out a sigh, saying, "So I guess it's confirmed then - the Avatar's past lives are back. Our spies had reported some odd happenings in the Swamp, and that the Great Banyan tree had regrown. One even told me he could see white spots and lines on the tree's trunk, seemingly glowing."
Nothing interesting was said for a while - just more blabbering - but after Wu said the name "Minister Wong", Jang's face took on an evil grin that would have been at home on his own face. Jang said, anticipation in his voice, "From what I have heard of this 'Minister Wong', his only allegiance is to power, although he is unfortunately rather squeamish. I wouldn't be surprised if he contacted us at some point - those Republicans may have the Avatar on their side, but we've got iron will, manpower and spirit weapons. The choice should be obvious." Laughing, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Yes - all the other nation's militaries are pathetic compared to even our reduced strength. I heard the soldier's descriptions of their version of mechasuits - those things are practically relics. They rely far too much on benders - if it weren't for Varrick's and Future Industries' assistance in the form of those hummingbird suits, I'd be sitting with Kuvira in Republic City right now, planning our campaign of scorched earth against the Fire Nation." A particularly pleasing image came to mind, and he continued, saying, "The Avatar would be dead, having had some unfortunate trouble breathing, and you would be searching for the next proper Earth Avatar. Or should I say, Earth Empire Avatar."
After some soft-voiced old man had given what those fools thought to be a good suggestion, a while later, both Jinshu Kuangmai and Jang put their hands to their ears, not wanting to listen to Wu, lest he begin actually singing. Both laughed as they heard a blast of air, followed by a whump - at least some of those idiots shared his distaste for singing. After who Jang said was the Avatar's boyfriend, Mako, laughed like his idiotic brother might have, Jinshu Kuangmai started laughing himself when he heard Kuvira say, "I believe we can now move on to my sentencing." After a "Shhh!" from Jang - Jinshu Kuangmai wasn't used to this, and vaguely wondered if that insufferable three-year old self was winning somehow, Jang pulled on his hair in frustration. Jang said quickly, in a low voice, "President Raiko said something very puzzling. I'm not sure what to make of it, but apparently there is a human spirit at the conference with a partially physical form." Jinshu Kuangmai heard out of his other ear that the earthen barrier was made strong enough "to contain Vaatu himself." From what Kuvira had told him of world events that happened while he was locked up by his "parents", this did not sound good.
He saw a brief flash of a pitch-black sphere with red lines on it and felt the comfortable energy from the teapot around the girl's neck around his heart. What he could have sworn were red characters that said "I am not powerful enough. No Dark Avatar. Maybe in ten thousand years, Jinshu Kuangmai - I did love your energy from earlier today, and how you made Raava cry," flashed above the now-visible orb again for quite some time, then everything was normal. Remembering what Kuvira had said about the Dark Avatar and Unalaq, he felt honored - the little pencil-necked girl must have been Raava, and the teapot's occupant Vaatu.
Apparently, this had taken real time, as when he came to, Jang was laughing hysterically. Seeing that his superior was "awake" again, he said, "Oh man, whatever that was, hopefully it was awesome, because you just missed something hilarious. Remember my quip about the Avatar being a lesbian?" Jinshu Kuangmai chuckled, saying, "Yes, it was very awesome. Now tell me more." Jang could barely control himself as he said, "It appears that the Avatar is a lesbian! Apparently, after Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding, Avatar Korra and Asami ran off into the spirit world together on a 'vacation'. They met 'their' Uncle Iroh, who prattled on and on about love and yin and yang, then Asami started telling some sob story about her childhood, which she is finishing now. We should take these tapes and distribute an edited version to our forces - it'd do wonders for morale, and would make the elites and officers howl hysterically. It might even inspire the conscripts and volunteers, and not in the 'usual' way." Though he did not usually care for laughter, he said through stifled laughter, "Sounds like a good idea - we'll have to edit and splice the tapes ourselves for maximum effect."
After some sappy exchange between Asami and President Raiko, even Jang had difficulty following the next bit. All Jinshu Kuangmai got out of it that Raava had given her little pet a gift in the form of an unnatural child and that this made a lot of other spirits very angry, including a "Long Yumao the Opportunist." Jang said, "Wait… one of Iroh's prophecies. It talked about what was essentially a Spirit Civil War, and it sounds like Long Yumao the Opportunist is the likely leader, given Korra's description of his eyes. The yellow is associated with Dark Spirit's eyes." Putting this together with the earthen barrier, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "I think we know the reason for that barrier. Given how strong it sounds, Long Yumao must have gotten more powerful - powerful enough to cause concern for the Avatar." Rapping his strong fingers together, he said, "This will provide the perfect distraction for our own forces to consolidate, perhaps even expand to the point that we rule the southern portion of the continental mass outright - beyond traditional Earth Empire lands."
President Raiko and the Avatar confirmed his suspicions, given that she did not want to discuss anything about Long Yumao, but rather, only infobend about the issue. As he thought Damn that stupid ability of hers, he listened to what must have been Tenzin blather about some Air Nomad Decree, causing him to laugh out loud and say, "Typical Air Nomad weaklings. Maybe once we eradicate the Fire Nation, we'll finish what Sozin failed to do - and given how few they are now, it should be quite easy."
Both he and Jang howled when the Firelord started her piece, but something she said made him stop cold. In a voice of disbelief, he asked Jang, "Did the Firelord just say what I think she did? Somehow, Azula is connected to her decision to approve of these unnatural relationships? Surely, Azula wasn't…" Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Jang said, "I wouldn't worry about it - remember how the Avatar said she wanted to yank you around? I'm guessing this is one of her ploys. Perhaps she 'infobended' the plan to the Firelord." Something told Jinshu Kuangmai this wasn't right - there had been genuine surpised reactions to the Firelord's new decree. After he told Jang as much, he said, "I noticed too - I just didn't want you angry enough to take it out on the nearest person, which would be me." Jinshu Kuangmai sighed deeply, needing a short time to recollect himself.
Given both he and Jang missed the other leaders following in Firelord Izumi's footsteps, Iroh's voice and advice, Jinshu Kuangmai had taken a lot longer to recover than he thought he would.
Jinshu Kuangmai heard a familiar voice, and given how Jang turned to the controls up from the floor, he recognized it as well. The "Great Uniter" said, "That was certainly unexpected. I cannot imagine that a certain individual in the Earth Kingdom will be along with this change, however - he never struck me as the loving type." Jinshu Kuangmai cursed loudly, saying, "I guess you were right, Jang - they are toying with us! Gah! But we can't just quit listening either…" Taking a deep sigh, he returned to the conversation on Ember Island, and for once found himself agreeing with the Avatar as she called Kuvira "the Great Flipflopper," though he found it not the least bit funny.
He certainly was not smiling after President's infobending request. That cursed ability the Avatar had was making this spying mission a huge failure, and he couldn't even threaten someone back into line to fix it. He found Zuko's comment about a metallic Kuvira inspirational, however - he remembered his earlier vision and his own metallic hand.
Looks like I am winning the internal war after all.
Nothing of note happened for a while, except President Raiko apparently being able to feel the Avatar's thoughts while she infobended him. Kuvira's laughter at that pathetic fool Wu filled him with disgust, which turned to confusion when a young woman talked about a 'Sudden Death' option. Confusion gave way to frustration as the Avatar apparently used her infobending to communicate Kuvira's sentence, with some part of it she did not see fit to say in front of his spy.
When the Avatar said, "Now, to another important item of business," he could feel his heart start to beat faster in anticipation. Jang said cautiously, "Sir, this could be a trick, but we'll have to see. Let's just listen." Given Jang's expression as he listened to what the Avatar had to say about the Great Banyan tree, he had abandoned all sense of caution. Those fools thought that all stockpiles of spirit vines were gone, and not only that, the Avatar had confirmed his spy's report on the Swamp. Apparently, whatever energy had re-grown the tree had infused it with great power - enough to wipe the Fire Nation off the map if used properly, much less Republic City. He ordered Jang to call for five war balloons and 100 elite metalbenders once they were finished to begin harvesting the Great Banyan tree's much more powerful vines. Jinshu Kuangmai said to the spy carefully, "If you can get out alive, you might have just earned yourself a promotion! Be careful."
About five seconds passed before a massive crashing sound came through both the listening wire and the spy's feed, and the conference went from horrible with a ray of light to abysmal. The operative had seen some reason to flee, and an older woman yelling, "Stop him! Use your bloodbending, Korra - it's the only way!" sent Jinshu Kuangmai into a small panic. He said through gritted teeth, "If she can somehow bloodbend in broad daylight, my one advantage over her is practically worthless!" Jang said, in a defeated tone, "It's not like we could make special armor to counter bloodbending either - I doubt even platinum could block Avatar State bloodbending, if my hunch is right." Jinshu Kuangmai suddenly had a horrible image of a glowing Avatar Korra's eyes thinning to slits as she yelled, "This will teach you to call me 'unnatural'! Now DIE!" and moved her hands in sickening movements, unlike any form he had ever seen.
As he faded to black in the vision, he was greeted with a familiar, pesky visage and red-lined orb. Pointing out a massive metallic hand at his younger self in anger, annoyance and hatred, he said, "I don't have time for this! Now be gone!"
Apparently, he must have made some physical noise, as he heard Jang say, "Sir - are you all right?" Jinshu Kuangmai just let out a growl, saying, "After this, I have something else I need to kill - aside from Shiro Shinobi's family, should he fail." Turning his link to the spy back on, he asked the fleeing operative, "Can you see the Avatar, and if so, is she using blue flames?" The nameless spy responded in a panic, "No, I cannot, though I did see Mako making one before lunch, shortly before he and the Avatar went to cook." Suddenly realizing the spy had gotten a chance to tell him this information, he screamed, "You stupid fool! You should have told me that while you were 'going to the bathroom'! Now try to escape, and if you can't, take the pill I gave you!"
Before the "spy" could answer anything but a stunned "What the… jets of blue fire?", he heard a strong female voice say about 10 seconds later, "Game's up!" followed by an alarming tumbling sound. Apparently, the Avatar was using blue flame propulsion, and quite skillfully - even that bumbling oaf of a "spy" should have gotten far away from the conference by now. Jinshu Kuangmai was pleased to hear his spy remain loyal to what he thought was the end, but he knew it was not to be - the Avatar had stopped him from taking the pill. Jang's conjecture had been right after all, and the Avatar confirmed that their listening wire had been discovered, though the fact that they heard the older woman talk about bloodbending through it meant they still did not know its location. Not entirely sure what the Avatar had to help her infobend the spy or why she thought he'd send reinforcements to a doomed mission, Jinshu Kuangmai cursed into the spy's earpiece loudly, saying, "Why didn't you take the pill as soon as you saw the flame jets, you stupid fool! No matter - you were disposable, you're dead to me anyways, and I hope she freezes your blood solid!" While the spy was still a miserable failure, at least he knew so, given what would probably be his last words.
After about five minutes, he heard the Avatar say, "Mai, I need your help! Give this rat a paralyzing dose - I need him conscious!" Jang took a gasp, saying, "Shirshu poison!" as the spy screamed "Wait, NO! No no no!" pathetically. The spy's feed let out a faint "Ffft" after the Avatar had talked of what he had said, then talked of finding a way to spare his life - she really was soft. After a light thump, he heard static from the spy's feed - apparently, the Avatar had taken that information first and crushed the receiver. Shutting it off himself so the static would not distract Jang, given his subordinate's reaction to an odd loud noise from the listening wire and sounds of chatter, the listening wire had been the next to be found.
Kuvira's voice rang clearly through the last remaining source of sound, the traitor saying, "I guess you figured we were going to be talking a long time, didn't you, Jinshu Kuangmai? You should just give up, and stop fighting your conscience, if you have one. I did, and it's the best thing I've ever done! I feel so much lighter - Mother Suyin considers me her daughter now." He let out a string of curses, not appreciating the reminder of his annoying brat three-year old self. His curses only grew worse as he heard loud, raucous laughter. Who Jang said he recognized as the nine-year old boy and his "Flying Hogmonkeys" and "Ferocious Lemurs" said, "See, mom? THOSE are the words I want to learn!" After a slight pause, the gratingly adorable voice came back, saying, "I may be a nine year old airbender who designs weapons, but your blood-iron bending is just sick!"
The only thing Jinshu Kuangmai could manage to do is curse even louder - the nerve of that little boy! Suddenly connecting "Flying Hogmonkeys" and "Ferocious Lemurs" and forgetting that the spy's feed had been crushed, he screamed to the spy, "What weapons, TELL ME! Do your job, you fool! I don't care if you're paralyzed." He heard the Avatar laughing as she said, "I think Meelo has something else to say to you," and then the little brat's voice returned, saying tauntingly, "I'm not gonna tell you, Jinshu Kuangmai! And I'm not gonna call you Mister either - only good people get that honor!" After an adult snickered, a voice Jang recognized from earlier as the man who wanted to help make tea said, "Can't you just end this already? It's not nice to toy with people, even if they are your enemies. And I don't think you should kill this spy, either - we can always make him a wooden prison like Kuvira and Baatar Jr. were in." Before Jinshu Kuangmai could laugh at the image of that nonbending wimp in a wooden cage, the voice continued, "Though, I don't see why Baatar Jr. needed a wooden cage - he's no bender."
After a pause in the exchange, Jinshu Kuangmai said in his best intimidating, condescending voice, "Whoever you are, I need none of your sympathy or pathetic mercy. That spy is a failure, and deserves death, as he knows." Taking a breath, he finished, "You should have heard about my special talent, and if we ever meet, I'll be sure to choke you real nice and slow - I love making weaklings suffer. Ah, the fear in their eyes…" A sad voice said slowly, "Whoever you are, you must have a lot of hurt inside you. My other nephew, Princess Azula, was like that. She never trusted anyone, and eventually, she went insane." What this old man had said enraged Jinshu Kuangmai and made Jang yelp, "The human spirit at the conference - it must be Iroh!" Not wanting to betray that he knew his Royal Kookiness' identity, Jinshu Kuangmai howled in pure fury, "You know NOTHING about true power, old man! Azula was a genius! When I choke the life from Avatar Korra, bloodbending or not, then we'll see who's crazy!" He stood up straight and screamed in anger while using his metalbending to crush the feed to the spy's earpiece, finishing by crushing the feed from the listening wire once it produced nothing but static.
Knowing what would likely come next as the Avatar pried the secrets from that spy's feeble mind, he radioed for Shiro Shinobi's family to be brought out in shackles into a nearby room. He could see Jang looking at the partially ruined console in anguish, so Jinshu Kuangmai said, "It was outdated anyways, and we can tear out the crushed pieces. Better some metal than one of my only competent underlings - that was some good work, identifying that old man as the original Iroh. Immortal human spirit…" Jang, curiously not nervous, made a deep bow in front of his own, much larger body, saying, "Thank you, Supreme Resistance Commander Jinshu Kuangmai. It is my honor and pleasure to serve - and that's not just a pleasantry. I hated how Suyin Beifong just stood by while the Earth Kingdom burned, but I did not get a chance to leave Zaofu in time to join Kuvira." Jang sighed, saying, "Those three years were some of the longest in my life - Suyin knew of my desire to leave and my talent with intelligence, so she assigned me to guard duty instead, apparently telling the other guards to keep an eye on me."
Before he could tell Jang what he thought of the whole Beifong family, a panicked call came through the more sophisticated piece of equipment Shiro Shinobi had set up before leaving in a different location. The elite metalbender was yelling, "Sir, we've got incoming, and it appears it's the Avatar! We managed to get one spirit cannon shot off, but she's dodged everything we've thrown her way so far with her blue flame jets! Wait - what's this? My men are grabbing their necks, and my throat is killing me!" The apparent officer let out a yelp, saying, "She must be bloodbending us! Can't - see - vision - fading - gaack!" The radio still on, Jinshu Kuangmai heard the sounds of ice forming close by. Jinshu Kuangmai cursed loudly as he listened to the Avatar speak - she had found Shiro Shinobi!
As soon as he said, "There's a lot I need to tell you - some of the people who were handling us were careless, and we saw things we shouldn't have," Jinshu Kuangmai bent the microphone for the ship's loudspeaker to his mouth. He said, trying to instill as much fear as possible, "I know I said I'd kill your family if you failed, Shiro Shinobi, but now we have a new 'deal'! Take the pill I gave you, or your family dies!" Given the silence that followed, Shiro Shinobi appeared to be taking his new deal seriously, but much to his displeasure, another speaker that he knew was linked to Shiro Shinobi's personal transmitter let out a loud clunk. After a wet splat, it continued, "I talked about this with my wife, if either one of us should be threatened with death. She said not to do anything like your order! I don't know who you are, but you certainly don't understand love! I'm not helping you and your horrible plans anymore!"
Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Very well - I see you have made your decision. I look forward to their looks of terror and their final gasps." His mood was slightly ruined by failing to get the last word, with Shiro Shinobi making one final jab before crushing the microphone, given the static that followed. Jinshu Kuangmai said, "We're done here - I have an execution to carry out." He strode quickly out of the room towards where the Shinobi family should be by now; he wanted to take out his frustrations on human targets instead of that insipid critter he killed this morning.
When all three members of the Shinobi family were lined up in front of him, Shiro's wife did indeed spit at him, saying, "Your mother must be ashamed of you - at least Kuvira had a national crisis on her hands! You - you ARE the crisis!" Jinshu Kuangmai let out a deep laugh, saying as he pointed at the two children in front of him menacingly, "Yes - I am the crisis, and I will soon be the ruler of the new Earth Empire!" intending to scare the two brats at her side. To his surprise, the little boy said, "My father told me he loves us, so you can't scare me! You're weak - you have no chance of beating the Avatar!" Disappointed to see his sister sticking her tongue out at himself, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "Enough! It's time for you weaklings to join that furry critter I killed this morning! All three of you, annoying pests! Now, stand witness to my true power!" Much to his chagrin, the little girl managed to get out most of a yawn before all their bodies stiffened and they began to float in mid-air, gasping for breath.
Just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, his eyes shut and he was engulfed in pitch black darkness. He saw a three-year old self on the other side of a familiar orb that was pulsating with energy, the red lines that formed the shape of yin and yang on its blackened surface throbbing beautifully. He saw his fleshy doppler crying bitterly, saying, "The only reason Toph abandoned 'us' is because 'we' became unstoppable. She loves 'us', Tonga - I don't understand why you find Vaatu's energy so appealing." Jinshu Kuangmai screamed, "DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME! I AM JINSHU KUANGMAI!" His three year old self looked down at the "floor" sadly, saying, "I guess you really are 'Metal Veins' now. Just look at your awful body, shimmering. I guess that means I am Tonga Beifong then, and it's time I used my mother's trademark on you."
Tonga moved with surprising speed, making to strike his foot into his own metallic appendage. As he dodged Tonga's strike and the little boy landed on the floor, he noticed something odd - he had a heartbeat. Moving his hands, he said, "That was pathetic. Now I'll show you my specialty - and no one else's." As he made the motions to begin blood-iron bending Tonga, he noticed that his smaller self was susceptible to his technique, but not completely. Frowning as he realized he couldn't just choke Tonga, he came up with a different plan.
Holding Tonga as still as he could - which was not very - he formed a large blade with his left arm, using his right to maintain his bending hold. When he got close enough to slice the brat's head off, he cursed as the blade deformed when it got close to Tonga, apparently able to metalbend even while in a partial hold. He asked Tonga, as he approached the orb extremely slowly, hopefully such that Tonga would not notice, "How did you do that, you little scumbag! I put a lot of energy into that!" Tonga broke his hold enough to stick out his tongue and say, "Love is more powerful than hate, you know. Kuvira's metal form didn't put up this much of a fight, if what Raava told me is correct." Himself laughing at the mention of the little girl, Tonga continued, "Humans have a dual nature - yin and yang, dark and light, Vaatu and Raava. Since the current Tonga Beifong is so dark, I am going to fight to the death. If I win, you go insane, just like your horrible idol Azula did, and if I lose, then I hope that Avatar Korra dispatches you mercifully. I know that would make you the angriest - a quick death."
Jinshu Kuangmai laughed, saying, "Well, if a quick death would make me angry, I don't know why you are holding back so much." Distorting his left arm into a long, needle point that was almost invisible to the naked eye, he made to touch the orb. Something told him it was the key to victory. A black mass hit the point, partially shattering his left arm, forcing him to drop his hold on Tonga and re-form his now slightly smaller left arm. His eyes widened as he saw what Tonga was trying to do - touch the orb.
The small child's hand of flesh and his own massive hand of metal hit the orb at the same time. Even though he was significantly bigger than Tonga, the little brat was somehow not losing what little ground he had against his much bigger foe. Jinshu Kuangmai could feel a small sliver of light inside the sphere, and to his horror, it was growing. A sudden flash appeared above the orb, a familiar metal medallion left in its place - a very darkened flying boar. Jinshu Kuangmai could feel all sort of vile emotions - love, happiness, everything weak - leaving Tonga's being, growing the size of the sliver of light inside the sphere and lightening the metal medallion.
Knowing what he must do, Jinshu Kuangmai let loose a torrent of proper emotions into the sphere - hatred, violent intentions, love of power and control, spite, malice, everything strong and destructive. Opening one metal eye, he began laughing as the Beifong family crest began to shift shape into a more pleasing form, his deep laughter accelerating the process. Where there had once been a flying boar, there was now an insignia of the Earth Empire - with a single drop of blood in the center. He began laughing hysterically, relishing the look of absolute horror on Tonga's face. He could feel Tonga's weak heart pounding wildly, and the shard of light inside the orb begin to rapidly shrink. He could feel his form hardening, as though being tempered in a furnace of hatred.
Feeling power coursing through him and seeing the pitch black orb's lines glowing a bright red, he said, "Look at the medal in front of you, Tonga. Look at my body, and the tempering of hatred's effect upon my metal flesh." As there was a pathetic hissing sound from the orb as the last of the light inside it faded, Tonga tried to bend his arm away, but cried when he couldn't. Smiling, Jinshu Kuangmai said, "You must have felt the light die inside the orb, Tonga." Laughing maniacally, he finished as he removed his own hands from the orb, "There is no Tonga Beifong now, aside from your own, soon to be destroyed, pathetic little form." Picking up his three-year old self, he yelled, "Now, there is only JINSHU KUANGMAI!" Something happened that he'd never seen before, not even when he took out his frustrations on the smallest creature. His younger self turned into a beautiful, fine red mist, quickly dissipating before he could relish it.
A large, dark, undulating form appeared behind a now violently pulsating orb, which was itself slowly moving towards his heart and shrinking. A serpentine voice said, "I've not seen evil win very often - usually, the weakling goes insane, or the good side wins. A pity you're so attached to the idea of ruling yourself, and not serving a mightier individual such as myself." While this individual's energy strongly reminded him of Vaatu's, something was amiss - no chaos, replaced by a desire to rule with an iron fist. Not finding anything wrong with this change, quite liking it, Jinshu Kuangmai decided to try his luck, saying, "I can sense you are much like Vaatu, but just like me, you want to rule with an iron fist instead of allowing chaos to reign. I have an army of loyal soldiers, and I can sense you might just have an army as well. I hate the Avatar and all her friends, especially my mother's relations. Want to help me take over and rule the world?"
He jumped back when a massive beak pierced the darkness, followed by long, oddly colored feathers, and then the strong yellow eyes that opened beneath them, surrounded by a pulsating black and purple hide that had small "eyes" of a familiar red inside the constantly moving patches. As the spirit opened his beak to speak, a mane on his back pulsed between the yellow of his eyes and a familiar red. The spirit closed his beak, somehow sensing that Jinshu Kuangmai recognized him as the spirit the Avatar was trying to keep out of the physical world - Long Yumao the Opportunist. Jinshu Kuangmai said, "You're Long Yumao the Opportunist, aren't you? The spirit that weak excuse for an Avatar wants to keep locked in the Spirit World with that barrier?"
The spirit said, in a dry voice, "Let's be clear on the answer in which I am answering your questions. The second set first - yes, I am Long Yumao the Opportunist, though hopefully it will be Grand Dark Spirit Long Yumao after I strip that fool you seem to like so much, Vaatu, of his title. Even you, a human, display enough common sense to despise chaos, unlike that Zaheer fool and his Red Lotus cult." The spirit showed his long, massive body as he said, "Which brings me to your first question. No. Hah! I have my own designs on absolute power! No Earth or Metal Vein Empire for you, 'Jinshu Kuangmai'." With that, the spirit whipped a powerful tail, sending him flying back to the physical world, cursing.
When he came back, he was surprised to see Jang standing with a bloodied blade extended from his arm, who saluted him and said, "Sir! I noticed you were in some kind of trance, and given the noises you were making, it was not a whitewash victory for you, but you killed whoever 'Tonga Beifong' is - or was, given your smile." Jinshu Kuangmai was glad he hadn't betrayed his ancestry, but noted the Shinobi family was absent, and when he asked Jang about it, he said, "Given what we learned at the conference, especially that Shiro Shinobi has given our position away, I ordered the airships and elite metalbenders halted, and re-directed them to finishing the submersion of Zaofu, along with all available explosives and spirit weapons." Jinshu Kuangmai, feeling charitable after his victory, said only with mild annoyance, "Given the blood on your armblade, you disposed of the Shinobi family for me. Good, I guess. I would have liked to do that myself, but got to kill something far more annoying instead." Jang shook his head in confirmation.
Jinshu Kuangmai did not rest, nor did his soldiers, "volunteers" or even civilians, until all of Zaofu was sunken into the earth. The combination of bending, spirit weapon beams and explosives let them cut into the earth deep enough to finally allow them to lower each former dome down below the landscape using bending. It greatly helped speed the effort along that his forces did not need to coat the sections in platinum - if the enemy already knew of their new use for Zaofu, the precious metal could be used for more important projects, such as the new Colossus model. After he ordered the spirit weapons re-loaded and hidden along with a stockpile of spirit vine capsules in the surrounding mountains, he did something very atypical - he threw a massive feast, for civilians and soldiers alike. Maybe, just maybe, through fear and some positive reinforcement, he could get more people to serve him willingly and zealously, as his elites and officers did. As he walked around, eating plenty of food himself, he smiled slightly. At first, he told himself it was because he liked seeing the soldiers happy, but it dawned on him he was glad to see the civilians happy as well.
Surely, that little brat didn't win after all? No, no - the civilians earned their share. Tonga Beifong is dead.
As he drifted off to sleep at some ungodly hour in the morning, his forces having finally covered the tops of the former domes - no, bases - with metal sheets and earth, he saw a very dark, small feminine figure in the darkness that was enveloping him. A strange though occurred to him: Light cannot be extinguished, nor can dark. One can subsume the other, but never truly destroy the other - it is the way of the world, yin and yang, as my mother tried to teach me. The figure looked happy somehow, but that changed when he continued to think: That means I need to be on my guard against softening at all times.
The last thoughts that went through his brain were not his own, but that of the figure: "And even still, a sliver of light remained."
End Part 5