AUTHOR'S NOTES: It was revealed somewhere that the Red Lotus operation against Korra was busted up by Tonraq, Sokka, Zuko, & Tenzin, as Unalaq washed his hands of the whole deal. That much remains the same in this story, except with a few additional factors in play. So strap in, because this chapter and the one that follows are pretty crazy.
Happy Reading!
BOOK ONE: POWER
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: THE AVATAR BREAKER
There was chaos and confusion, and neither Zaheer, Ming-Hua, P'Li, Ghazan, Kwan, or Nakkoa even realized that Unalaq was nowhere to be found. Four of them were too busy holding back the onslaught of attacks from Zuko, Tonraq, Senna, Kuvira, Tenzin, and even Sokka, whose trusty boomerang-arm was as good now as it was back in his prime. It was only after Nakkoa made a break for it that they realized what was happening. Nakkoa had snapped, and in a moment of paranoia and fear for her life, had taken Korra. Kwan knew what this meant, and none of the outcomes were good.
"Nakkoa!" She called out, "Naki… SHENZI!" she screamed, betraying her sister's real name, "We've been over this a dozen times! Don't do this, Shenzi!"
Nakkoa did not turn around, however. She was already in the air with a dizzy and unconscious Korra slung over her shoulder, the flames from her feet and free arm keeping her off the ground. "I do what I must… Ikiza."
"Damn it all to oblivion and beyond…" Kwan swore as she launched herself from rock to rock with her own bending, remaining in hot pursuit of her sister.
"She's got Korra!" Kuvira shouted. Tonraq and Senna briefly exchanged looks as they avoided an onslaught of ice and lava from Ming-Hua and Ghazan. None of them had heard any of the exchange apart from Kwan screaming her sister's name.
"You're stronger," Senna turned to her husband, "I'm going after them!" The situation was too tense and fast-paced for any debate, and so she curved around the two Red Lotus benders before taking off straight after Nakkoa and Kwan. Ghazan and Ming-Hua tried briefly to slip her up, but pressured attacks from Tenzin, Tonraq, and Kuvira made them reassess their priorities.
Kwan was swift, and was also grateful that her sister had to deal with Korra's weight alongside her own. Unhindered, there would have been no way to catch up.
However, as if Kwan's problems weren't already stacking high enough, a quick glance behind her indicated that a furious waterbender was in hot pursuit of her now, with speed that was terrifyingly similar to that of Korra's speed in the Probending arena. With a drawn-out sigh, she stopped to try and explain that she was not in fact trying to kidnap Korra, but was trying to prevent Nakkoa from doing exactly that.
Once Senna came into view though, it was clear that there was not going to be any diplomacy. Huge tendrils of water and ice came at her from every direction, forcing her to pull up thick slabs of rock, all of which were reduced to rubble within seconds. A massive wall of water appeared between them, and the next slab of rock Kwan brought up to defend herself was immediately peppered in thousands of sharp, icy daggers.
"Lady!" Kwan snapped, now defending herself with lava, "I ain't tryin'a kill your kid! I'm the one tryin'a stop the woman that IS tryin'a kill 'er!"
"I know you enough, Red Lotus." Senna growled, drawing more water from the snow and ice of the mountains around them, "I can dismiss Desert Storm, but I am here to politely inform you that you are to Never. Touch. My. Child. AGAIN!" Each word was pronounced with a vicious water strike that kept Kwan on her toes. She sighed again, realizing that there was no way she'd be able to catch up to Nakkoa at this rate.
"Fine," she cracked her knuckles after climbing out of a significant hold in the cliffside that she had been smashed into. "You want another fight, lady? I'll give you a fight!"
A moment later, Senna's waterbending was met with very fluid movements from Kwan, who used lavabending to great effect. Senna knew that Kwan would not let her pass, and so for now she focused on the enemy she had in her grasp. If Nakkoa had wanted Korra dead, she could have just thrown her from the sky and let her become little more than a stain upon the jagged rocks below. Not that it was much of a reassurance, but Senna was also secretly banking on Korra being powerful enough to fight off her captor. She just hoped that she was right.
Nakkoa and Kwan might have been able to tip the tides in favour of the Red Lotus had they stuck around, although the Avatar would have inevitably tipped the scales. Unalaq's disappearance was not doing them any favours either, and but even when outnumbered 4 to 5 (or perhaps four plus Sokka), they held their own. Zuko's abilities made it clear why he had been such a formidable leader back in his Firelord years, and Kuvira, who was significantly younger than everyone else present, proved to be a prodigious metalbending expert who used small, swift projectiles to strike and disable her foes.
Even when cornered though, the Red Lotus was not defenseless. Zaheer was swift and elusive, even without any bending, and had a tendency to rush the men attacking him. Ghazan and P'Li were slinging lava and combustion beams in every direction, but with precision rather than haphazard attacks. Ming-Hua served as the hybrid between melee and ranged fighting, with her long tendrils giving her plenty of distance, but still also needing to stay close enough to not require overreaching. After Ghazan surrounded them with lava, it became clear that this was going to be a long stakeout. Nevertheless, Tenzin and the others pressed on.
Korra woke to find herself completely restrained against a wall. Her arms were spread on either side, and even her legs were apart at a roughly 60-degree angle. Her toes could not touch the floor, but she couldn't turn her head to see what she was being restrained against. It was metal for sure, but she couldn't bend it; it had to be platinum or one of those other metals deemed "too pure" to bend.
She also realized that she had been stripped of most of her clothing apart from her shirt, pants, and headband. She tried to shout, but it came out as little more than a gargled mutter due to a metal cord that was wrapped around her mouth. She spewed a fireball, although realized right away that this would be dangerous to try too much because the metal in her mouth started to heat up, and if Korra continued, it would undoubtedly permanently sear the flesh around and inside her mouth. Her forehead still stung, and so she'd much rather not risk trying to fire off a blast from her forehead. P'Li had done a good job at drilling it into the young Avatar's head that even the slightest lack of focus with this dangerous ability could be lethal.
All in all, Korra's expression made it clear that she was terrified. For what seemed like eternity, she remained there, motionless, just trying to control her somewhat frantic breathing. What had happened to her? Why was she here, and who had brought her here? What were they going to do with her, and where were the others?
Eventually, however, these questions were answered, and Korra's eyes widened as Nakkoa stepped back into the room.
"So, you're awake," she frowned. "I'm sorry, Avatar. I cannot allow this to happen." There was something off about her too—her posture was slouched and her expression was manic.
"Hrr?" Korra muttered through her bonds.
"We don't need another Interregnum Cycle…" she brandished a kunai, walking slowly towards Korra, "and so I'm here to prevent that from happening. Months of lies and reassurances were not convincing enough to fool me. You're a danger that needs to be… removed."
Korra suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach as a deft flick of Nakkoa's arm had launched the blade straight into her gut. Korra screamed, her body tensing up. Metal or not, that pain translated to fury, and Korra spewed a stream of flame so powerful that it actually reached Nakkoa and caused her to stagger back, singing her hair. Korra's muscles tensed up to the point where it both forced the kunai right out of her stomach, and the brace on her right arm looked about to give way—and she was not even in the Avatar State.
"You're cute when you're angry." Nakkoa licked her lips, suddenly face-to-face with Korra, "and I'm going to make you scream."
One of Nakkoa's hands moved to Korra's wrist, the other moving to tightly grip her neck. She could feel the Avatar's power surging through her as her body tried to pull herself free of her restraints. If there was anything Nakkoa had learned about Korra in the year and a half of being with her, it was that the teen loathed being restrained above nearly all else. Zaheer had definitely succeeded in drilling the idea into her head that she was unrestrainable.
Korra's breath was too frantic for her to try breathing fire again, which was fortunate for her mouth considering the heat of the metal. Beads of sweat formed on her exposed face, arms, feet, and lower legs, and it was clear that barring her bleeding, something else was wrong.
"The knife was poisoned, by the way," Nakkoa quipped, her grip tightening against Korra's wrist and neck, "nothing too deadly, especially if those stories about your interregnums willing it out of them are true… but it's going to hurt—a lot. You decide how long you want to live, girl."
Nakkoa followed this remark up by channelling flames from her hands. Korra could feel the searing heat against her right wrist and on the left side of her neck; an eerie sound of sizzling flesh and sharp pain that soon dulled as an acrid smell that Korra knew was hers filled the air. The scream that escaped her lips was a much higher and more agonized one. The burns wouldn't kill her, but they were still extremely painful. The water that congregated in her eyes was a direct result of that pain.
Unfortunately for Nakkoa, this seemed to be what set the Avatar off. Korra's eyes flickered, and after a moment she tensed up again as she mustered her strength. Avatar-State Korra was starting to break the unbendable restraints in a way regular Korra could not.
"By the spirits, you're cute when you're furious like this." Nakkoa grinned and slapped Korra's face repeatedly, suddenly showing a rather blatant disregard for her own safety, "But come; come at me with every fibre of hatred in your being. Throw safety to the wind, and let your fury consume you… Accept death's embrace, and know as you take your last breaths… that you do not belong in this world."
Whether it was Nakkoa's sharp words or just a coincidence, Korra channeled her strength into ripping herself free from the metallic constraints. Her right arm came first, and so furious was she that she hardly noticed the gash she got on her upper forearm as she tore herself out of her bonds. She ripped her left arm free and then used her arms to tear her legs out before immediately springing at Nakkoa with some of the swiftest and fiercest attacks Nakkoa had ever seen a single individual perform. Korra had demonstrated during her time at the training compound as well as at the Probending Arena that she was extremely fast, and none of the other Red Lotus members had ever come up with a proper explanation for how the short, athletic Water Tribe girl had attained a speed worthy of making an airbender blush. Right now, however, Korra was fixated on Nakkoa, who fired up her hands and feet, and fled. She zigzagged through the small maze as Korra smashed through every barrier between them, with Nakkoa heading for the surface. If she could reach the sky, she might be able to escape.
Incidentally, the stunt between Nakkoa and Korra wound up costing the Red Lotus the defensive edge they had. Everyone paused as they heard a loud blast from one of the distant mountains. A streak of flame was shooting westward through the sky, but there was another much larger one in hot pursuit (for it had been Korra who had smashed through the mountainside). It only took a moment for P'Li, Ming-Hua, Zaheer, and Ghazan to turn around before Zuko and Kuvira subdued them, with Tenzin and Tonraq joining in a split-second later. P'Li nearly freed them as she focused a combustion blast at the center of their assailants, but Sokka's swift throwing arm let his boomerang strike her in the forehead. There was a slight crackling sound, but fortunately for everyone there (both Red Lotus and their enemies), no one got blown up that day.
"Right then," Zaheer's eyes darted around, the realization that they lost finally sinking in. "Cage us if you must. Nothing is permanent in a world where order is so delicate. Humanity meticulously and caringly props it up, hoping it will last, not realizing that chaos is the natural order. One does not simply instigate chaos; it will happen on its own."
"Perhaps if you make your intentions a little clearer," Zuko threatened, "your sentences will be lighter. More cooperation means more freedom, Zaheer."
"39 years instead of 40?" Zaheer laughed, "No; We have done what we need to do. The Avatar—assuming she survives—is on a better path to creating a new world. Jail us if we must, but we have already succeeded—while you now have a weaponized Avatar on your hands."
"Transporting these hooligans is going to be a nightmare," Sokka warned, and it was no mystery why. "Now that they're subdued though, I think we can handle 'em, eh, Zuko?"
"I would be honoured to assist in any way I can as well," Kuvira requested. "Let Chief Tonraq go after his daughter. We've got this."
"There are two more to apprehend anyways," Tonraq growled, watching as the two streaks of flame continued shooting off to the west. "One of them is in the sky, and the other's likely in an altercation with my wife."
Tonraq had been only half-right in this regard. Senna had put up a remarkable fight that Kwan could not help but be impressed with, but the little lavabender was almost overwhelming with her fierce bending skills, and Senna really didn't want to get half her face or body burned off. To her surprise and shock, they had actually not been far from where Nakkoa had taken Korra, but both of them were caught off-guard when Nakkoa had slipped through the a small fissure in a nearby mountainside. Even more shocking was when a furious Korra smashed through the rock as well, her eyes glowing and her flames appearing with an almost purplish hue as she shot after Nakkoa. Kwan was the one to recover from the moment first, and in that moment she surrounded Senna with large earthen spikes that removed any chance of movement.
"Now listen here!" she growled, pointing a stone knife to Senna's neck, "You've done screwed up and prevented me from beatin' some sense into my sister, and now there's no telling what the hell she's done to your kid. If you'll excuse me, I've gotta hunt 'em down now!"
"You lay so much as a finger on her and so help me I will rip out your entrails and bathe in your blood!" It war rare for Senna to lose her cool like this, but the horrifying reality that she could very well outlive her only daughter was not a kind thought for any loving parent to think about, especially when they were trapped and helpless to do anything about it.
Kwan did not reply to Senna's warning, however, and instead launched herself over the cliffs, and took off in hot pursuit of the flying firebenders, leaving Senna alone in the middle of nowhere.
The only individual in these mountains that had not engaged in any combat thus far had been Naga. She had taken off into the mountains shortly after she saw Nakkoa kidnap her master, and then by extent, after Kwan and Senna. The terrain was hellish to navigate for people or creatures without bending abilities, but after several minutes of silence, Naga had followed Korra's trail to Senna instead.
"Naga!" Senna was no Korra, but she had had to put up with the polar bear-dog for over a decade, and had apparently done a good enough job that Naga trusted her.
"Hey girl…" Senna whispered, her exhaustion finally catching up to her as her adrenaline started to face, "get me out of here… we need to find dad…"
'Dad', of course, referring to the name by which Korra referred to Tonraq. Fortunately, it seemed that it was enough for Naga to go after, and so they managed to return shortly after the rest of the Red Lotus had been apprehended.
"Well…" Tonraq muttered as Naga and an exhausted Senna came riding into view, "that saves a lot of searching… but it presents a lot more problems." He raced towards them as they approached, putting his arms around Senna as he helped her down from Naga's back. "Are you okay? What happened to Kwan? Where's Korra?"
"Kwan went after them," Senna glanced to the west, "one of those blue comets you see out west is her. Naga's the only reason I'm here at all, and Korra is out of our reach."
"The only thing out that way is the Wulong Forest," Tonraq mused.
"What better place for an amped-up Avatar running on pure hatred to have a battle with a psychotic firebender that's trying to kill her?" Senna quipped. "That's where she'll be."