The Legend of Korra - Book Two : Spirits

by pavop

Continuation of Book One. Korra, Patrick and their friends are going to the South Pole to celebrate the Glacier Spirits Festival, only to face the Harmonic Convergence. They will be referenced and mentioned other characters, places and events outside ATLA/LOK Universe and even they will appear in the story.

7. The Harmonic Convergence

On Varrick's battleship, named "Zhu Li", that was heading for the Southern Water Tribe, Korra was practicing Airbending on its deck under Tenzin's observation, while Bumi was playing the flute next to the Flying Bison they had brought with them on their journey. Mako and Patrick were also present on the deck and were also observing Korra's practice.

And while Patrick was sitting and eating some fruit, Mako was standing and watching his former/current girlfriend hit the training dummy that was standing in front of her with the air blasts, thinking about the way that he would tell her about the current state of their relationship.

From those thoughts, he was freed by the glance he briefly gave to the large backpack that was lying beside Patrick. Patrick had brought that backpack when he returned from his little detour to Air Temple Island before they sailed toward the Southern Water Tribe and ever since then Mako has been wondering what he had there. But he knew that this was not going to change the fact that he would have to tell Korra the truth about their breakup sooner or later. So, he turned his gaze back to her and started thinking again.

Then his and Patrick's attention was turned to Bolin, who was approaching them wearing an opulent purple coat with gold buckles and eating a pie.

"Where did you get that coat?" Patick asked.

"And where did you get that pie?" Mako added his own question.

Bolin shrugged. "It's a Varrick's ship; you never know what you're going to find," he answered. "There's a whole level filled with funhouse mirrors. Of course there's also the catgator deck." Bolin turned around and revealed that his newly found coat, along with his pants, had a large hole from a bite that was showing his underwear.

Patrick just shook his head. Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if here was a glory-hole room.

"I miss him; he really knew how to make a long trip interesting," Bolin lamented over Varrick's absence and then he decided to change the subject of the discussion. "So have you told Korra yet about how you two broke up?" he asked his brother.

Mako, in that moment, wanted to give Bolin a slap on the head for talking about it so loudly and in the presence of Korra, but he managed to control himself. "Will you keep it down, please?" He paused for a moment. "I'm waiting for the right moment."

"Really?" Patrick asked with a giggle. "And when that moment comes, you'll let us know, right?"

Mako turned his head toward him and gave him a look that said he should not provoke him further.

Bolin friendly placed his hand on Mako's shoulder. "Oh, Mako, you know a wise man once told me that breaking up with the girl is like ripping off a blood-sucking leech: You just have to do it fast and get it over with."

Patrick was doing his best not to laugh at what Bolin had just said to Mako. Well done, Bolin. Hahaha.

Mako sighed over the same advice that he had given to Bolin when he was trying to break up with Eska. "I should have kept my mouth shut. Alright!" And he headed over to Korra to tell her the truth.

"Unalaq will be waiting for you. You will need all of your Avatar power to stop him," Tenzin instructed Korra while still watching her practice on the training dummy.

"I'm going to close the spirit portals, lock Vaatu in for another ten thousand years and I'll make Unalaq wish that he'd never been born!" Korra announced with determination. Then, with all her strength and fury, she leaped forward and sent a fire blast at the training dummy's head, which completely blasted it off.

The blasted training dummy's head then landed in front of Mako, who watched it with a great gulp and with the image that this might be his head in the next few seconds.

Korra approached him and Mako quickly gave her back the training dummy's head.

"Thank you, Mako," she said to him and she turned around to return the head to the rest of the body so she could continue practicing.

"Um…Um…" Mako said, but before he could say more, he lost his courage and turned around, pretending like he had not said anything.

But Korra noticed it and turned to him. "Did you want something?" she asked, puzzled by his behavior, which was quite strange ever since their reunion in Republic City.

"Uhhhh…nothing. Nothing at all," he replied nervously.

So, Korra returned to Tenzin and to the training dummy and Mako groaned over the fact that he was unable to tell her the truth. He then felt that somebody had just patted him on the shoulder, and it was Patrick, who was carrying that mysterious backpack of his and smiling at him as he headed over to Korra and Tenzin. Bolin was still standing at the same spot and smiling at him as well.

"Like I said: Let us know when that right moment comes," Patrick said as he continued on his way to Korra and Tenzin.

Mako did not say a word to it; he just sighed.

Patrick sat down next to Tenzin and they both watched Korra continue practicing.

"So, when we get done with Vaatu and Unalaq, what will be done with both portals?" Patrick asked.

"They will be closed," Korra answered and turned to him. "Or you'd prefer that they be permanently open?"

"No, they should be closed forever," Patrick replied. "And it would be a nice bonus if you would stop worshipping the Spirits along with it," he added.

Tenzin sighed. "Patrick, I understand that you came from a different world with different ideologies. But here we respect the Spirits and believe that we can coexist together."

"How can I respect something that doesn't respect me back, Tenzin? As far as we know, most of the Spirits don't care if Vaatu will be freed or what damage he'll do, let alone help us to stop it, and the ones that do care have already joined Vaatu; after all, Jinora is in Unalaq's hands thanks to them."

"You can't judge them all based on the actions of several of them," Tenzin argued.

"I can if the rest are not willing to act at all."

"Why are you even asking about this?" Korra asked.

"Because something is telling me that when this matter with Vaatu and Unalaq is over, we may then have to cross the Rubicon."

"Rubi-what?"

"Rubicon," Patrick corrected her. "It's a river in my Universe in a country called Italy. In the distant past, a man named Julius Ceasar crossed that river with his army, which he was supposed to disband, and headed to the capital of the republic called Rome, which caused a civil war. It is an idiom for a decision with no point of return."

"Well… I can assure you that when the time comes and we get to that Rubicon, we'll do the right thing," Korra said.

Depends on what that right thing means, Patrick thought but he did not say it aloud. It was still too early to discuss any of this and they still had to stop Vaatu and Unalaq to even get to this part, so he decided to change the subject to something they would definitely get to. "So, tell me something about the Spirit World. I'd love to know everything about that place before I venture there."

"I'm interested in that as well," Tenzin added. "Is it exactly how the ancient scrolls and books describe it?"

"It's…" Korra tried to find the right words about the Spirit World from her first visit, but the truth was that you had to experience it to understand. "A vast place, everchanging all the time. It's a place that responds to all of your emotions, where they become your reality, so you don't want to go there angry or with fear. Trust me on that."

"Just like the scrolls and books said," Tenzin remarked.

In other words, I'm literally fucked, Patrick thought about the Spirit World that he was about to enter. If that place is responding to all the emotions of those who enter it, then he will end up in some dreadful part of it.

Sometime later, they were joined by Kya, who was using all her healing skills to take care of Jinora's lifeless body during their journey to the Southern Water Tribe while Pema stayed with Ikki, Meelo and Rohan on the Air Temple Island in Republic City. It was time to discuss their plan for dealing with Unalaq's forces in the South.

"As soon as we reach the Southern Water Tribe, we will blast through the blockade at the main port. Then we can rendezvous with Tonraq and his men, crash through the defenses around the portal and enter the Spirit World," Tenzin announced the plan.

"Woah!" Kya commented.

Even Korra and Patrick were surprised at how aggressive Tenzin had become.

"Since when does my little brother want to crash or blast through anything?" Kya asked.

"I'll do anything to save my daughter, Kya. Anything," Tenzin answered.

"We all want to save Jinora but I think that your plan might be a tad over-aggressive, seeing as there are only eight of us and one ship," Bumi said as he joined them.

Tenzin turned to him and crossed his arms, mentally preparing himself for whatever his brother was about to say. "Really? And what do you suggest?"

"An attack like this calls for a strategy," Bumi replied with a smug. "I remember when I was surrounded by pirates in the Hurricane Straits. We managed to capture them all with just a feather, two eggs and a barrel of molasses."

And with whom were you sailing? Jack Sparrow? Patrick thought, because those things that Bumi named would only work with the Captain of the Black Pearl.

Tenzin, on the other hand, had had enough of the war stories of his older brother right here, right now, when they were trying to save Jinora and stop Vaatu and Unalaq. "I don't want to hear any of your crazy stories now! This is serious!"

Bumi looked at him upset. "Sorry for just trying to suggest a better strategy."

"For a better strategy, I'll ask Patrick here!" Tenzin replied and, with his head, motioned to Patrick.

"And is he an experienced soldier who has done more than a dozen military missions?"

Patrick wanted to say something, but Tenzin was quicker.

"I don't know for certain, but I certainly know I can rely on his intellect and I saw him in action. And unlike you, he doesn't need to tell made-up stories every time!"

Bumi pouted, crossed his arms and averted his gaze like an insulted child.

A few seconds later, Bolin and Mako joined them along with Asami, who was manning the radio on the ship in case someone tried to contact them.

"We'll arrive there soon, but…" Asami started, and from her expression, it was clear that she was delivering bad news. "I just picked up a distress signal from Rokkuk. There's a problem."

After some time, when Varrick's ship got close enough to the shores of the South Pole, Naga, with Korra on her back, jumped into the sea and Korra, with her Waterbending, created a bubble around them so that they could easily reach the land. The others used a Flying Bison as a means of transportation while Patrick used his rocket outsoles. They all headed to the White Lotus compound that the rebels were using as their base of operation.

As they were heading there, Patrick wondered why Unalaq had not attacked the White Lotus compound already, but perhaps the same reason was why they did not encounter any patrols of the Northern Water Tribe during their journey. Unalaq was putting everything he had into the defense of the opened spirit portal, which also hinted that they would face a very difficult fight.

When they landed in the compound, they were greeted by members of the White Lotus and a small number of rebels, who quickly, as Korra on Naga's back entered, closed the gate.

Senna descended through the outdoor stairs of Katara's hut to greet her daughter.

Korra quickly dismounted Naga and hugged her mother as tightly as she could.

"Mother!"

"I'm so happy you're here," Senna said with sadness.

Korra then noticed that her father was not anywhere around. Rokkuk's distress signal was not saying anything concrete, only that the rebels had problems. "Where is father?"

Senna started crying. "A few days ago, your father led the attack on Wolf Cove. Unalaq beat him and captured him along with most of the rebels. Those who managed to return are now in the hut for healing."

"I'll get him back," Korra said with resolution. "And what about Ama? I hope that she's not in the capital right now."

"No. She's with Rokkuk inside the hut, treating the rebels. Even though Katara is a great healer, without Ama, we wouldn't be able to treat so many wounded at the same time."

Meanwhile, Tenzin picked up Jinora's lifeless body from the saddle of the Flying Bison and approached them.

"I'm afraid that we have one more patient for my mother," he announced.

When they opened the door to Katara's hut, they could see that the waiting area, where several months ago they had been waiting for Katara to restore Korra's elements after Amon took them from her, was now full of camp beds with wounded rebels being treated by a group of healers. Rokkuk was on the right side of the room, helping a healer with a very badly wounded rebel. Ama was just a few camp beds next to them, bandaging another rebel. And Katara was on the left side of the room, healing another rebel.

Ama, when she spotted who had come, immediately approached them. "Korra, you're back!" And she hugged her tightly.

Korra returned her hug. "I'm so glad that you're here and not in Unalaq's hands."

"We can't say the same about your father, Korra."

Korra stepped away from her so she could see into her eyes. "We'll get him back and I'll make Unalaq pay!"

Then Katara turned around to greet them when she noticed that Jinora was lying lifeless in the hands of her son. So, she quickly approached them.

"What happened?" she asked Tenzin.

"Her soul is trapped in the Spirit World," he replied.

"Oh my goodness!" Katara said with great worry. "How long has she been in this state?"

"Almost a week. I've tried to keep her energy flowing but I can feel her slipping away," Kya answered. "You're the only one who can help her now."

Katara gave another worried glance at her eldest grandchild before leading them to the back of the hut, where a healing tub with pure water was prepared. They placed Jinora in it and Katara began to use her Bending, making the water around Jinora's body glow. And while Bumi, Korra, Kya, Senna and Tenzin were with Katara, watching her attempt to help Jinora, the rest of the group was outside the hut, except for Patrick, who was standing aside in the waiting area.

Rokkuk then approached him.

"You shouldn't have attacked," Patrick commented over the wounded rebels in the waiting area.

"I know and I was telling the same to Tonraq, but we also couldn't wait any longer or else Unalaq's forces would have started attacking the civilians," Rokkuk replied and sighed. "Sadly, what we feared came true as Unalaq's soldiers burned down several houses in Wolf Cove to make the others obey."

"What about Captain Danrok? Even though I met him for a short time, I can tell that he would never allow such a thing."

"He's no longer the captain. From our men inside Wolf Cove, we learned that after our failed attack to take the city back, he was stripped of his rank, imprisoned and his position was given to someone named Seke. He was the one who started with burning down the houses."

"I met that Seke a few times. He's a real piece of work. Where are Danrok and Tonraq now? In the same prison where we freed you from?"

"That's the weird thing about it. They weren't taken there like the other captives. They were taken to that fortification that surrounds the portal."

Patrick found it strange that Unalaq would take those two there. But then he realized that he wanted to separate them from the others and keep an eye on them. "Danrok knows what Unalaq did; that's why Unalaq imprisoned him and took him and Tonraq there."

"Of course," Rokkuk agreed. "But unfortunately, while you were away, we couldn't find out why Unalaq wanted to open that portal in the first place."

"Don't worry about that anymore. We've already found out. Unalaq wants to free an ancient Dark Spirit named Vaatu and become another Avatar. If he does that, the world as you know it will end."

"That's utter madness!" Rokkuk reacted and started pacing through the little open space that remained in the waiting area of the hut. "Then where're the reinforcements from Republic City? We don't at all have enough manpower to break through that fort at the portal and stop him! And I don't even count the Dark Spirits that are helping Unalaq and his men!"

"Raiko refused to help us and rather focused all his forces on defending Republic City. But I think there was one more factor involved."

Rokkuk stopped pacing to look at him. "What factor?" And then he realized that factor might be a person. One specific person. "What did my nephew do?" he asked with bitterness.

"Well…" Patrick scratched the top of his head. "He wanted to kidnap Raiko and put blame on the Northern Water Tribe so he could force Republic City to go to war. He also attacked his own ships that were transporting help to you, so that would help him in his plan."

Rokkuk's eyes widened in shock and anger upon hearing about what Varrick had done in Republic City. Patrick had a feeling that Rokkuk was about to burst out in rage at any moment, but he just took deep breaths.

"I will kill him. I will personally kill that idiot!" Rokkuk said determinedly. "Where is he now?"

"In the jail in Republic City," Patrick replied.

"Good. Because if we survive what Unalaq is trying to unleash, I'll personally sail over there and murder him!" Rokkuk yelled and then he calmed himself down. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see if any of our men require any more treatment and then I'm going to go outside to find some more private place to vent all my anger."

"Of course."

Rokkuk turned around and headed back to the wounded rebels while repeating in whispers the word idiot and Varrick's name.

Meanwhile, Ama was bandaging one of the rebels when one of the healers approached them.

"Ama, do you have any scissors I can use?" the healer asked her. "Sarri took the last ones and I don't want to bother her when she has to take care of four wounded at once."

"Of course. I've got scissors in my bag here," Ama replied and motioned to the bag that she'd brought here, which was lying beside her on the floor.

"Thank you, Ama," the healer replied as she bent down for the bag. She searched it, and a second later she pulled out a pair of strange-looking scissors. They were made of a strange black metal that she had never seen before but she did not have the time to ask Ama about them because she had to focus on the wounded at that moment.

As she was using those scissors, she noticed that something else was different about them. While normally she would feel a little bit of resistance from the fabric when cutting, with these scissors, she felt nothing at all. It was as if the fabric was like a thin hair to these scissors. So, when she was done, she returned the scissors to Ama.

"Thank you once again, Ama, but honestly, I've never seen such scissors before and working with them was totally different. Where did you get them?"

"They're from my home and from a past life," Ama answered and she weighed the scissors in her hand. She smirked over the irony. These scissors had just been used to help heal lives, but before all this, she was using them to cut off threads, to end lives.

Several minutes passed and Katara was still doing her best to help Jinora, but even she was unable to perform such a miracle.

"How much longer can she survive like this?" Tenzin asked his mother.

"I don't know," Katara answered with a heavy heart. "But she is very strong to have lasted this long."

A few minutes later, the group gathered in front of the hut to discuss their next move.

"I talked to Rokkuk and some of the rebels. Unalaq is focusing almost everything he has on the defense of the southern portal. Plus, the Dark Spirits are fighting by his side and due to the fact that most of the rebels are wounded or captured, the Mecha Tanks we brought with us are of no use to us," Patrick announced.

"And Harmonic Convergence will begin in a few hours," Korra added. "So, we don't even have time to prepare those remaining rebels and even if we did, they wouldn't stand a chance."

"Then we have to break through enemy defenses ourselves and get to the portal immediately," Tenzin replied with resolution and with anger over the fact that the life of his daughter is getting more and more at stake.

"In other words, we're heading towards a suicide mission," Bolin commented and made everyone look at him with expressions of agreement.

Even Patrick had to admit the truth of Bolin's words. Where's Suicide Squad when you need them?

"You know, I was in a similar situation once," Bumi said. "My platoon had crawled through the desert with no water for a week! But when we finally located the only oasis for a hundred miles, it was surrounded by angry Sandbenders. I realized our only chance to get to the water was to drop in from above."

As the others were listening to Bumi's story with great disbelief, Patrick, who also had an older brother who was almost the same as him, did not wonder that Tenzin was not very sharing about Bumi's existence and was not happy that Bumi had decided to live with him and his family on Air Temple Island permanently. And by looking at Tenzin, whose eyes were twitching and he was about to burst out in rage at that moment, it was clear that Bumi was a test of the inner peace that Tenzin would never pass.

Bumi, in the meantime, continued telling the story, "So, I fashioned together a catapult and with the help of a few well-trained hog monkeys—"

"Enough of your ridiculous lies!" Tenzin snapped, interrupting him. "Can't you see that the fate of the world and Jinora's life depends on what we do here today?!"

Bumi just silently looked at him.

"Hold on, maybe Bumi's right," Asami said. "We don't have a catapult and hog monkeys but we have a Flying Bison, a biplane on Varrick's ship and Patrick's outsoles. Maybe we can attack from above."

"What are you thinking?" Korra asked.

"Bolin, Mako and I can use the biplane and along with Patrick we'll create a distraction and scatter some of the defense. You, Bumi, Kya and Tenzin can fly into the spirit portal on Flying Bison when you see an opening," Asami explained.

Everyone's gazes then turned to Patrick to hear his opinion about Asami's plan.

"Could work," he said after a moment of thinking.

"Alright," Korra said, agreeing to this plan as did the rest of the group. "Let's get moving."

"I'll teleport with Asami to Varrick's ship to get the biplane. We'll be back shortly," Patrick announced and he and Asami teleported away.

They appeared on the deck of Varrick's ship and went to prepare the biplane.

"You really think it'll work?" Asami asked with a little doubt about her plan as they made their way to the aircraft.

"Honestly, it would be better if there were more of us in the air. But with the only two of us, we'll have to fly fast, very fast, because we'll have to force them to attack us with everything, they have so Korra and the others can get into the portal."

"Of course. Let's hope that Varrick's biplane is fast and maneuverable enough for this," Asami replied and then she stopped in the middle of their way through the ship, which made Patrick also stop to turn to her. "I know… That now isn't the right time, but I'd like to talk about us. About what happened in that warehouse."

Patrick sighed. "Asami…"

"I'm very sorry for what happened there. I wasn't thinking straight in that moment and I let my emotions take control over me."

"Asami, you don't have to be sorry for that."

"So, what about us? Do we still remain friends or will we be something more?"

"Asami…" Patrick tried to find the right words but the truth was that he could not. He did not want to hurt her but he could not be with her. To share with someone his life here with his condition was not his plan at all but when he was thinking about it, saving this world twice was not part of his plan either.

"You know what? Let's just focus on saving the world for now. Do you agree?" Asami suggested.

"Agree."

"And by the way, during our trip here, I've found some of those explosives with remote control and some Earth Discs. We could combine them together and Bolin could use them during our plan."

"Good idea."

And they both continued on their way to get Varrick's biplane.

A few minutes later, the biplane took off from the battleship and with Patrick flying next to it, who was carrying his backpack, headed toward the White Lotus compound for the others.

Meanwhile, in the fortification surrounding the opened portal, Danrok and Tonraq were bound to wooden stakes, and both were beaten, with Unalaq's blessing, by members of the regiment that Danrok had commanded before Seke took over his rank as the captain, except for a few soldiers who apparently still remained loyal to Danrok. And they also had a view in the direction of Wolf Cove, where they could both see the smoke from the burned down houses.

Apart from being badly beaten, they were both given no food and only enough water to survive for the next few days because Unalaq wanted to be sure that they would not be in fighting shape, so they would not even dare to try to escape.

Tonraq raised his head and saw that one of the soldiers of the Northern Water Tribe was approaching them in a hurry, so he quickly turned his head toward Danrok to warn him about another wave of beatings. "Danrok!"

Danrok raised his head and, along with Tonraq, prepared himself for the beatings. He also recognized that the soldier was one of the other two soldiers who, together with Seke, had tried to arrest Senna. His name was Bolor.

But when Bolor was close enough to them, he did something they did not expect. He bent down and pulled out a bottle, which he opened and put its neck close to Danrok's mouth.

"Drink that, captain. It's water, nothing else," Bolor said in haste and looked around.

Danrok distrustfully took a small sip, and truly, it was water, so he started to drink. Tonraq, meanwhile, started to recognize the soldier as one of those three who had attempted to arrest his wife and Bolor noticed it.

"I'm sorry for what I tried to do to your wife. I was… an idiot back then," Bolor said. "I hope you'll forgive me that."

Tonraq's gaze turned to Danrok, who tilted his head back as a sign that he had drank enough and then he nodded to let Tonraq know that it was safe. So Tonraq turned his gaze back to the soldier.

"I forgive you. In my youth, I did and… I still make mistakes," Tonraq said, reminiscing about how his emotions and temper once again got him into such a situation. First, it was that forest at the North; if he did not destroy it, he would not have been banished to the South and if he had kept his head clear a few days ago when he was facing Unalaq, he would now not be his captive.

Bolor brought the bottle's neck to Tonraq's mouth and he started to drink.

"Bolor, why are you doing this?" Danrok asked. "You know very well that you will be punished for this."

"Let's just say I want to do the right thing, captain, and right my mistakes. And don't worry about me; I don't intend to stay here long. Besides, there are plenty of us who don't agree with the treatment you and Prince Tonraq are getting. Sadly, most of us are too scared to face the Chief's wrath or too loyal to the throne to openly criticize its decision."

"How many houses had Seke burned down?" Danrok's eyes wandered in the direction where he and Tonraq saw the smoke.

"Just a few. Me and a few others from our regiment didn't want any part of it but there was too little of us to do anything against it."

"And the other commanders agreed to that?"

"No, but they're also in the same position I was talking about a moment ago. Fortunately, it was Chief Unalaq who stopped Seke from burning down any more houses, because now he's focusing everything on the defense of the portal. The other commanding officers are also present here."

Danrok turned his head toward Tonraq, who tilted his head back as he finished drinking from the bottle. "Tonraq, if we talked to Vasro and the other commanders, we could tell them the truth and perhaps take down Unalaq with them."

"If we manage to talk to them at all," Tonraq replied.

Danrok turned his head back toward Bolor. "Could you make it happen?"

"I'll try to convince them to talk with you, but honestly…" Bolor turned his gaze to the sky, where around the beam of light of the portal and across the clouds were the Dark Spirits flying, "with those things around, it's quite hard to even whisper." He stood up. "Why do I have the feeling that they're just waiting for the right moment to attack us as well?" he remarked to himself aloud as he was leaving.

"This is all my fault," Tonraq said while he and Danrok watched Bolor walk away from them.

Danrok confusedly turned his head toward him. "What? No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," Tonraq insisted. Ever since his fight with Unalaq and learning why Unalaq had done those things, he has been reminiscing about their growing up in the Northern Water Tribe. What kind of monster would have done this to his own father!? echoed in his own voice in his head. The one you and father have created, Tonraq, Unalaq's voice replied in his head. And now he finally understood.

He remembered how, when they were little, he always looked down on his younger brother and constantly showed off that he was better at fighting, hunting and other things than Unalaq. And their father was not helping matters either. Their father always let everyone know of Tonraq's successes, while he simply ignored everything that Unalaq had accomplished. If only Tonraq would act like a true brother and support Unalaq, none of them would end up here now. Their father might be alive and Korra would be safe from whatever Unalaq was planning, just if Tonraq did not make that primordial mistake — the mistake that birthed the others.

"No, it's not, Tonraq," Danrok replied, realizing what Tonraq meant due to the conversation Danrok had overheard between him and Unalaq. "This is all Unalaq's doing, not yours."

"If I only acted as a true brother, perhaps none of us would be here at all and my father would still be alive. I failed as a brother."

Danrok sighed. "I'm the only child, Tonraq. My father died before I was born and I always desired to know him or have siblings. And you and your father fulfilled that desire for me. So, I'm telling you that you didn't fail as a brother at all. Trust me in that, as well as believe that we can still take down Unalaq and carry out justice for your father."

"Then let's hope that soldier will manage to convince those commanders to hear us out."

Meanwhile, Eska and Desna made their way through the fortification to the tent of their father to ask him what else he wanted to do in the South. Honestly, they both had enough of the Southern Water Tribe and wanted to go back home and especially Eska wanted to continue her hunt for Bolin.

The twins entered the tent and saw their father sitting on the other side, doing deep meditation and in front of him was lying that book. He looked like he was preparing himself for something.

"What are we still doing here, Father?" Eska asked when they were both just a few steps from him.

"The invasion was completely successful and the Southern Water Tribe is under our control. And both portals were opened," Desna added.

"Now we would like to go home," Eska requested.

Unalaq opened his eyes and then slowly stood up. "You don't understand. Everything I've achieved so far will pale in comparison with what I'm about to accomplish."

Both Eska and Desna were confused by this statement but also a little frightened considering the Dark Spirits that were roaming within the fortification and how they were obeying their father. In addition, there was also what happened when they were helping their father open the other portal.

"What else is there?" Desna asked. "The Water Tribe is united."

Unalaq picked up the book. "After today, there will be no more Water Tribe; no more nations of any kind. The world is about to be transformed into something magnificent and new. And it will be me who will bring about this great change." He turned his back to them. "Now go outside and help Captain Seke and the other commanders get the soldiers ready to defend the portal."

Eska and Desna exchanged confused glances with each other.

"From who?" Eska asked. "We have already beaten everyone."

"The Avatar will be here soon," Unalaq replied. "She has no choice…"

And when his children left the tent to carry out his orders, Unalaq gently touched his book, which had been his companion for so many years, from which he had learned everything and with its help he will very soon fulfill his destiny.

Biplane, Flying Bison and Patrick were flying side by side at full speed through the clouds above the frozen tundra. Bolin and Mako were each standing on one of the biplane's wings, and while Mako had no problem with his current position, Bolin, on the other hand, was strapped and holding tightly to the construction of the wing and was doing his best not to look down. On the Flying Bison, Tenzin was holding the reins of the animal while Bumi, Korra and Kya were in the back in the saddle. And due to their decision to attack the defense around the portal from the air, Naga and Pabu, despite their loud protests, had to wait for them in the White Lotus compound.

Tenzin turned his head toward Asami and Patrick, who were flying beside him. They both nodded, signaling that it was time to execute their plan. So, Tenzin directed Flying Bison in a different direction and split up from them.

"Are you ready?!" Asami asked the nervous Bolin.

"I am an Earthbender, strapped to the wing of a biplane, hundreds of feet in the air, so, no?" Bolin replied while doing his best to look at his friend instead of looking down.

"Don't worry, there's no way they'll be expecting this," Mako added in his attempt to comfort him.

As soon as the clouds in front of them dispersed, the fortification revealed itself. Around the portal, a wooden wall was built in a circle. Besides the large numbers of tents across the fortification, there were also several bunkers built from ice, of which a significant number were built in the very center at the beam of light of the portal, where the flying Dark Spirits were circling above the ground. And as they were getting closer, they could see that at least thousands of soldiers, accompanied by a few Mecha Tanks, were looking up at them, fully prepared for their arrival.

"I think they were expecting it!" Bolin reacted with fear.

Here we go, Patrick thought.

Soldiers, either outside or inside the bunkers, immediately started shooting icicles at them. Asami and Patrick began to dodge the incoming projectiles, with one flying to the left and the other to the right.

"Asami!" Bolin yelled as he was using all his strength to hold on to the construction of the wing of the biplane on which he was standing in case his straps broke due to the dodging maneuvers that Asami was doing.

"Get ready!" Asami announced, and with the use of the control stick, she made the biplane descend just a few meters above the fortification while avoiding more icicles. "Fire!"

Mako immediately started bombarding the fortification with fire blasts, destroying a few tents in the process.

Asami quickly lifted the biplane back up to the clouds, dodged another volley of icicles and then quickly turned the aircraft back at their target. Now it was Bolin's turn to attack.

Bolin used his Earthbending to launch several Earth Discs, to which Asami and Patrick had attached explosives from Varrick's ship from the backpack given to him by the rebels, at a few Mecha Tanks along with several tents and bunkers over which the biplane was passing. He then used the remote control and the planted explosives exploded, destroying even more of the fortification.

"Good aim!" Asami commented while dodging another volley of icicles.

"Thanks!" Bolin replied. "But by the way, where did Unalaq get those Mecha Tanks?"

"Propably from me," Asami admitted. "Before we sailed to the Glacier Spirits Festival, I had to make some quick sales to keep the company alive until I reached an agreement with Varick, so I took every offer. When we get back to Republic City, I'll have to check to see to whom else I sold some Mecha Tanks."

Patrick, in the meantime, started shooting sonic waves at the soldiers and at the Mecha Tanks to force them to focus on him. After all, he was smaller and much more maneuverable than the biplane, which made him a harder target for the volleys of projectiles. But even though they were causing enough havoc, he was very aware that they could not keep this up forever.

The Flying Bison was flying high above the battlefield and its passengers were looking for someplace where they could enter the portal unseen.

"There are Spirits everywhere. I don't see an opening," Korra announced.

"Let's circle around and see if we can find a way in from the other side," Tenzin replied and prayed that Asami and Patrick were able to keep Unalaq's forces distracted for a little while longer.

Then the Dark Spirits that were flying around the portal attacked them.

"Hold on!" Tenzin warned them, and with the reins in his hands, he made the Flying Bison dodge the attack.

But even though the Flying Bison successfully dodged one of the Dark Spirits, with each passing second, more and more Dark Spirits were surrounding the animal and attaching themselves to it. Korra used her Airbending and Kya used her Waterbending to get them off the Flying Bison but it was no use as the Dark Spirits were slowly dragging the animal down to the ground.

"The Spirits are weighting Bison down! We're losing altitude!" Tenzin announced and he was doing his best to keep them in the air.

Then Bumi stood up, walked over to the Dark Spirit that was on Bison's tail and started kicking it.

"Get off of him, you sticky, nasty little blob of goo!" he yelled while he was kicking the Spirit. But then he tripped and nearly fell off; only at the last moment he grabbed the hold of the neck of the very Spirit that he was kicking. "Woah!" He then quickly realized his situation and thought he could use it to his advantage against the Spirit. "If I go, you're coming with me!"

And in that moment, it was like the Spirit replied: So be it, and it let go of the Bison's tail and fell to the ground with Bumi.

"Bumi!" Kya yelled as she watched her brother disappear into the snow with the Spirit.

Asami, in the meantime, dodged another volley of icicles with the biplane and was about to make another overflight over the fortification when one of the icicles hit the biplane's tail and damaged it. Still, the aircraft was able to continue flying and so she descended with it so that Mako could send a wave of fire at the soldiers, who managed to dodge it at the last moment. Then Asami took the biplane close to the ice bunkers by the portal and Bolin used his Earthbending to throw another batch of Earth Discs with explosives at them. And as the biplane flew away, Bolin used the remote control to destroy the bunkers with explosions.

"I wish Varrick was filming this! We could call it "Nuktuk: Sky Warrior"!" Bolin proclaimed with great happiness because, thanks to Asami's elite flying, he felt invincible.

But Eska, who was standing with her brother in the middle of that battlefield and watching all that chaos, overheard Bolin's voice. Both twins then used their Waterbending to glide through the snow to pursue the biplane and when they were close enough, they together formed a massive icicle, which they shot at the biplane, destroying its tail completely.

"Brace yourselves!" Asami announced and tried her best to pilot the rest of the biplane to a safe landing. But even though she was doing her best, she still could not stop the biplane from crashing into the snow with them.

Patrick was still shooting the sonic waves at the soldiers below to maintain their attention when he suddenly spotted Varrick's biplane being hit by an icicle and then crashing into the snow. This small moment of inattention caused him to partially get hit in the left side of his chest by one of the icicles, which, thanks to the momentum of his flight speed, caused him to go into a tailspin.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly as he was trying to regain control but it was too late as he crashed hard into the snow.

Meanwhile, Tenzin was doing everything to keep the Flying Bison flying, but even they crashed hard into the snow, which threw him, Korra and Kya several meters away from the Flying Bison. While Kya and Tenzin lost consciousness, Korra was doing her best to stand up, but due to the hard crash, she could not. The only thing she could do was watch as Patrick was hit by an icicle and crashed into the snow and then a few seconds later as Unalaq's soldiers were approaching them. Then total darkness engulfed everything. They failed.

Bumi kicked his way out of the snow under which he was buried. He then slowly stood up to analyze the situation, hoping that his siblings or Korra and her friends were alright. He then spotted that the Dark Spirit he had tried to kick off from the Flying Bison, and which caused him to fall out, was standing in front of him and observing him without motion.

Bumi's first reaction was to fearfully retreat a few steps back but then he realized that he would have to fight this entity. "Oh, you want to play some more? Well, bring it on!" He then got into a fighting position, made a step forward and punched the Dark Spirit. Nothing happened. So, he made a series of punches but the Dark Spirit had no reaction at all. Let's try something else, then! Bumi thought and struck the Dark Spirit with an uppercut with all his strength. This caused some reaction from the entity and what Bumi could tell from its expression it was anger. He gulped down and prepared himself for what was about to come.

The Dark Spirit struck him very hard, so hard that it knocked Bumi several meters away and his head crashed right into the snow. Bumi quickly pulled his head out of the snow and noticed that the Dark Spirit was coming towards him.

"Oh, we're playing dirty, huh?" Bumi said, quickly turning around and pulling a dagger out of his pocket so he could throw it at the Dark Spirit.

The dagger went through the Spirit and stopped in the middle of its body, then the Spirit's body launched the dagger back at Bumi at much greater speed. Bumi barely managed to dodge the thrown weapon, and in the next second, he had to dodge another strike from the Spirit. Bumi started to quickly retreat while keeping his gaze on the enemy and thinking about how to deal with the Spirit.

Come on, Bumi! You certainly have something that you can use! he thought as he, in panic, searched through his pocket. Then he finally felt something. Finally… And he pulled out his next weapon against the Spirit. It was a flute.

Bumi, for a short moment, looked at the musical instrument in his hand that he held against the Spirit like a short sword. OH, COME ON! he yelled in spirit. But then he noticed that the Dark Spirit was observing the flute with some kind of interest. Well, at least I could give it a try. So, he began playing the flute.

A few seconds later, the Dark Spirit changed its form into a much less menacing one, which let Bumi know that he was on the right track. "Hmmm… Looks like we've got a music lover here," he noted and then continued to play his flute while dancing with the Spirit to the rhythm. As he played, he turned around and saw that some sort of white blur was approaching them through the snow. It was Naga with Pabu atop her head, who must have followed them after they left the White Lotus compound. "Reinforcements!" he announced happily and then patted Naga on the head. His small squad was quickly gaining more and more members and now it was up to them to save everyone. "All right, soldiers, it looks like it's on us to save—"

He did not finish the sentence because Naga with Pabu ran off somewhere.

"Hey, wait for us!" he called at the Polar Bear-Dog as he and the Spirit ran after them.

A few moments later, they arrived at a large pile of snow, and Naga immediately started to dig through it. Bumi watched her do it for a few seconds, and then he was about to ask her why she was doing it when he noticed a body buried under the snow. It was Patrick and he was unconscious. So, he quickly lent a hand to the work to help.

When they got Patrick out of the snow, Bumi put his hand around his shoulders to help him stand up. "Patrick! Patrick!"

Patrick's eyes opened with shock as he woke up. He was heavily breathing for a moment before he turned his head toward Bumi, who was supporting him. "Bumi… Bumi! That… you're here… that means… that means that our distraction didn't work at all, correct?"

"Tenzin was trying to find an opening for us but then Dark Spirits attacked and dragged the Flying Bison to the ground. I got lucky that one of them took me down before the Flying Bison crashed." He then noticed that Patrick was watching the Spirit that was standing aside and observing them. "This one, I've managed to calm down with this," he explained as he waved the flute in his free hand.

"That's great, Bumi. Only a few hundred of them are remaining," Patrick replied sarcastically and then he touched the left side of his chest where the icicle had hit him. There was a huge tear on his clothes in that area, but luckily there was only a little blood coming out of it, as he could see it on his palm. On the other hand, he started to feel the pain from the impact throughout his body.

"Are you alright?" Bumi asked him.

"Yeah… I just need a few minutes…" Patrick stepped away from him and took a few more steps to get his body moving and rid of the pain.

"Good then, we need a plan to free the others."

"I have a plan…" Patrick replied with great struggle as he still felt the pain from the crash.

"You do?" Bumi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of plan?"

"Same as the last one. I'll be the distraction while you go to free the others."

"I don't want to somehow underestimate you but you'll be just one man against the army from the Northern Water Tribe. Plus, they also have a horde of Spirits on their side and you're wounded."

"I didn't say I'd hold on long. I'll just provide you with a window to free the others."

A short moment later, Bumi and Patrick were standing on the top of a mountain with a good view of the fortification that was slowly rebuilding itself after the bombardment. Naga, with Pabu still on top of her head, and Bumi's Spirit were behind them, waiting for more instructions.

"Are you really sure about this?" Bumi asked with doubt. "We can still sneak into that fortification and I could use my flute to get all of those Dark Spirits on our side."

"No, Bumi. I don't think your attempt to be a Pied Piper of the Spirits will work on all those Dark Spirits. However, I'm planning to use that distraction I'll make to inform Unalaq's commanders and soldiers of what he did in the North to his father and brother, along with what he's about to do. Hopefully, they will all turn against him."

"And what if they don't turn against him?"

"Like I already said: I don't intend to beat them all; I just want to have everyone focus on me while you free the others."

"But how do I get there without them seeing me?"

Patrick rolled up his sleeve, revealing his bracelet and he tapped something on its display. The right side of the bracelet loosened and a small needle with a hollow tip protruded upward from the end of it with a very small beam of blue light coming out of it, while the left side remained on the wrist. Within seconds, the beam of light started creating a small metal thing with a small plug in the shape of a semicircle. When it was done, Patrick took the freshly created thing, the needle tucked itself back in and the part of the bracelet retracted itself back to the bracelet as if it had never loosened.

"Wow!" Bumi commented stunned. "How did you do that?"

"3D printing with nanotechnology," Patrick replied and he handed the thing he had just created over to Bumi. "Put it into your ear."

"What is that?" Bumi asked while, with hesitation, he put that thing into his ear.

"An earphone," Patrick answered and he put the bracelet close to his mouth. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes!" Bumi responded with amazement and shock. It was like he was hearing Patrick's voice inside his mind. "We could have used a few of these in the United Forces back then!"

"Good then." Patrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin metallic roll with a small button on the side and a hole at the top.

"And this is what?"

"A laser cutter. It's old and not as efficient as the one in the sonic screwdriver I gave Asami but it should do the job of making your task of freeing others easier instead of having to find a key." And Patrick gave the cutter to Bumi.

"And why did you give me that earphone?" Bumi asked as he put the laser cutter into his pocket.

"Because I'll need to be in contact with you just in case and because of what I'm about to do to you," Patrick replied. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a metallic button and placed it on Bumi's left shoulder.

Bumi felt a little tickling all over his body, but then nothing. "And what did you do to me?"

"Look at your hands."

Bumi obeyed and gasped from the shock. He could not see his hands, his legs or any part of his body. Yet he still felt them along with the cold and snow on which he was standing. "I'm invisible!"

"It's a cloaking device, but sadly, this one has no tracker. That's also why I gave you that earphone, in case something happened to you and you weren't able to respond, so I could find you," Patrick explained and activated both his gauntlets.

The invisible Bumi approached Naga and Pabu and waved his hand in front of them. They could follow the direction of his hand, but they had to use their snouts to do so, which meant that the animals could smell him. He then tried on the Spirit, but could see that it was clearly watching his moving hand.

"The Spirits can see me," he announced to Patrick.

"I was afraid of that. Still, if I manage to get the attention of them all, you can get in there and free the others."

"And why didn't you just give me the uniform of the Northern soldier? Korra told me how you were able to change your clothes into the Chi-Blocker uniform."

"Because a soldier who'd run from the same direction I'd come from and not attack me at all would raise suspicion. This way, you can easily get into the fortification without any of the soldiers stopping you and asking questions."

"I see. So, I'll wait near that wooden wall until you start."

"Exactly." Patrick took off the backpack he had been carrying the whole time, walked over to Naga and hung the backpack by its strap around her head. Even though inside the backpack was the thing he was developing against the Spirits, in this current situation, it was of no use. "Keep an eye on it and stay here with Pabu and that Spirit until it's safe," he instructed her as he stroked her head, to which Naga responded with a weak whine. Patrick then turned in the direction from which he had heard Bumi's voice. "And when it starts, you'll run like hell, Bumi." And he went down the mountain.

"You can count on that!" Bumi replied.

In the fortification several moments ago, Danrok and Tonraq were inside Unalaq's tent, where they had been moved, when someone started attacking the fortification, and they were waiting. Bolor did not show up with Vasro and the other commanders; probably due to that attack, he did not even have a chance to talk to them. They did not know who was behind that attack due to the fact that the rebels lost most of their members after a failed attack on Wolf Cove, but Tonraq strongly hoped that it was none of Korra's friends because it would mean that Korra was here. His hopes were crushed when Seke and the soldiers brought more captives, who were unconscious, into the tent: Tenzin, his sister Kya, Asami Sato, Bolin, Mako and Korra, who had completely loosened her hair and two small scratches on the right side of her face.

"No…" Tonraq proclaimed with a defeated tone.

Korra, who, along with her friends, had been shackled, woke up and sat down to look into the face of her badly beaten father. "Father…" She wanted so badly to hug him but the shackles that she was bound with prevented her from doing so.

"I am so sorry. I failed you," Tonraq said to his daughter.

"Don't give up. Harmonic Convergence isn't here yet. We still have a chance," Korra replied and looked around the tent at her captured friends, but she did not see Bumi or Patrick among them. That meant those two were still out there and could still help them, especially Patrick.

Then Unalaq entered the tent, accompanied by Seke, Eska and Desna. "Congratulations, everyone… Actually, not everyone." Unalaq's gaze focused on the awakened Kya and Tenzin, both of whom slowly sat down. "Where's your older brother now?" The angry looks from Kya and Tenzin gave him a silent answer as he smiled. He then looked at Korra. "And Patrick, the man of science and progress?" he asked with a mocking tone. "A great pity, but still, all of you who remained have front row seats for watching the beginning of a new world order."

"You don't know what you're doing, Unalaq. Freeing Vaatu won't make you powerful; it will only make you a traitor to everything good that's happened over the last ten thousand years," Korra said.

"You think what Avatar Wan did was good? Driving almost all the Spirits from this world? The Avatar hasn't brought balance, only chaos. You call yourself the bridge between the two worlds, but there shouldn't be a bridge. We should live together as one." Unalaq pulled out his book. "This book, this journal old ten thousand years, that I found as a little boy in the library, showed me everything, showed me the truth. And now I will remedy the mistake that Wan made and what you and the other Avatars who lived before you represent."

"Even if Vaatu escapes, I'll put him right back into his prison, just like Wan did and you won't become the Dark Avatar," Korra replied.

Donrak and Tonraq looked at Unalaq in utter shock when they heard what he was about to do. Even the twins looked at their father with surprise. Only Seke was keeping a neutral expression, like he was not listening to the conversation.

Unalaq smirked. "How did you figure it out?"

"From Patrick."

"And where is he now? Lying dead in the snow. It's a pity he won't be here to see me as the one who'll level the playing field for Vaatu after Raava tipped the scales in her favor when she fused with Wan. Your era is over, Korra."

"Think about what you're doing," Tonraq said. "I know that you've always had a deep connection with the Spirits, but you're still a man." He used all the strength he had left to stand up. "I know now that I failed completely as a brother, but I'm asking for your forgiveness. I'm asking you to reconsider this choice. At least consider it for the sake of Eska and Desna. Don't throw away your humanity to become a monster."

"I'll be no more of a monster than your own daughter," Unalaq replied and raised the book. "If only you could read that truth. But if I become that monster, then, as I have already told you, I'll be the monster you created, brother." Unalaq turned his gaze toward Korra. "While you barely recognize your own spiritual power, I'll be in complete alignment with mine. Vaatu and I will become one. No one will be able to stop us."

"Seke, you can't allow this to happen! This is completely madness!" Danrok urged the former soldier who had served under him.

Seke gave Unalaq one look before he turned it back to his former captain. "Unlike you, I'm loyal to the Chief and his vision, whatever it may be."

"This is not loyalty at all!"

"Be silent, or I'll make you silent, traitor."

Unalaq was then about to give orders to Seke and his children before venturing into the Spirit World to fulfill his destiny, when suddenly a major part of the wooden wall around the fortification was destroyed by a chain of explosions.

Everybody in the tent as well as outside turned their gazes to see what had happened. Danrok then spotted Vasro and the other commanders ran toward the tent to, according to protocol, protect the Chief. This was now the only chance to tell them the truth about what Unalaq had done and was about to do. When they were near them, he was about to speak when a different voice, coming from the smoke of the burning wood, stopped him.

"UNALAQ!"

They all watched as, from the smoke, a person came out and started walking over toward them. It was Patrick.

Korra, when she saw him, felt great relief; even though he looked badly beaten, he was still alive.

Unalaq smiled. "Patrick! I see you're still alive! How wonderful that you'll be able to see how this world will change!"

Patrick stopped and took a deep breath as he watched the Northern soldiers form up into formations, their Waterbending members creating icicles to attack him. Here we go, he thought. "Soldiers of the Northern Water Tribe, do you know why you're here at all? Why are you even protecting that portal at all?" Even though he could see that they were looking at him with neutral expressions, he could bet that some of them started to ask those questions in spirit. "Because your Chief wants to free the Great Spirit of Darkness named Vaatu, who wants to wipe out all humanity!"

Unalaq quickly realized what Patrick wanted to do, as did Korra and the other captives in the tent.

"Kill him now!" Unalaq ordered and turned his head toward Vasro and the other commanders. But they were looking at him with questioning expressions due to what Patrick had just said. "I gave you an order!"

"Why do you think those Dark Spirits are here with you and fighting by your side? At the first moment when Vaatu is freed, they will turn on you!" Patrick continued and then pointed at Unalaq. "Your Chief murdered his own father and engineered the scheme by which he banished his brother!"

"Listen to him; he's speaking the truth!" Korra added loudly.

Vasro and the other commanders turned their gazes to Korra and then to Danrok, who gave them a look that said: Listen to that boy. And then they looked back at Unalaq.

"KILL HIM!" Unalaq yelled at them, but he could see how they were reluctant to carry out his order, so he turned his head toward Seke. "Captain!"

"Attack!" Seke ordered his men.

The regiment that was serving under him charged, while its Waterbending members launched icicles at Patrick.

"Looks like that plan of yours had kind of worked," Bumi's voice remarked from Patrick's bracelet, indicating the fact that a small portion of Unalaq's force had charged against Patrick while the rest were still waiting for orders from their commanders.

"Yeah…," Patrick replied. "I hope you're already inside."

"I am, but for future reference, don't blow things up to make an entrance; even though some of us are invisible, that doesn't mean that we can't feel the heat and not get burned."

"Noted, Bumi, and now hurry to that tent and free the others! I'll try to keep them occupied as long as I can!" Patrick announced, hoping that his plan would really work so that the rest of Unalaq's army would not join those who were charging at him. He then noticed that the Dark Spirits were present in the center of the fortification, at the portal and were observing everything. Patrick would have to provoke them into attacking him as well, or at least make them focus on him so that they would not spot an invisible Bumi. And so, despite the still-present pain from the crash, he started running toward the charging soldiers while dodging and deflecting the shot icicles thanks to the shields on his gauntlets.

Meanwhile, Vasro approached Unalaq. "Is it true what that boy just said?"

Unalaq turned his head toward him and gave him an angry look.

"You dare to question your Chief?!" Seke asked with an insulted tone.

Vasro looked at him. "I wasn't talking to some wannabe captain who needs to burn down a few houses of innocent civilians to prove his might!" He turned his gaze back to Unalaq. "I was talking to… the Chief. Is it true?" Unalaq's silence gave him the answer, so Vasro quickly stepped back to join the other officers. "Surrender immediately!" And he, as well as the officers who were able to Waterbending, got into fighting positions along with the officers who drew their clubs and jaw blades.

A few seconds of silence and tension occurred until it was broken by Unalaq, who, with his Waterbending, made a small icicle from the snow beneath him and shot it at Vasro, who at the last moment dodged the attack and retaliated with a water stream, which hit Unalaq's shoulder and forced him to step back, which caused him to drop his book in the snow. Then the fight of Unalaq, his children, Seke against Vasro and the other officers fully began.

Korra and the others in the tent tried to get out of their shackles to help the officers and Patrick but there was nothing they could do about the shackles. Korra, at the moment, really wished that she, as the Avatar, was also able to do Metalbending or that Beifong was here now.

"Hey, look!" Bolin announced and motioned with his head in the direction of the back of the tent.

The rest turned their attention to that direction and saw the blade of a knife cutting through the fabric of the tent from the outside. A second later, from that opening, entered a soldier of the Northern Water Tribe, holding a bunch of keys.

"Bolor!" Danrok said.

"I'm sorry for the delay, captain, but when that biplane and that boy attacked, I couldn't reach Vasro and the other commanders, so I took the keys and waited for the right moment. Just give a minute to find the right key for the shackles," Bolor replied and he quickly looked outside to make sure that neither Unalaq nor either Prince, Princess or Seke had seen him enter the tent while they were fighting with the officers. Luckily, Vasro and others were able to keep them busy. However, the other problem was finding the right key for the shackles as he looked at each key and tried them on. "Why isn't the right one marked somehow?" he remarked with frustration.

"Hurry up!" Korra urged as she tried to get a better view of how Patrick was doing outside.

"Doing my best, Avatar!" Bolor replied as he tried another key to open the shackles.

Meanwhile, as Patrick was running toward the attacking soldiers, he could see that Unalaq, Esna, Desna and Seke started fighting against the other officers, indicating that his plan had fully worked. The rest of the army of the Northern Water Tribe was still standing in formations, waiting for any orders in this situation, when finally, one of the officers who was fighting against Unalaq ordered them to stop Seke's men, so they immediately started running and attacked Seke's men from the flank. Still, Patrick was about to face quite a number of the soldiers.

As he was running, he charged his gauntlets to the full, and when he was close enough to the soldiers, he slammed both hands into the ground, creating a massive sonic wave that launched the closest soldiers far back.

One of the soldiers with a spear leaped forward and tried to swing the spear's blade at Patrick's head. Patrick, at the last moment, blocked the attack with his shield on his gauntlet and shot a sonic wave at him. Then another soldier swung a club, aiming at Patrick's chest and Patrick dodged it while sending an electric shock at the soldier. And so, it went on and on. Patrick dodged or blocked the attacks from the regular soldiers, who slowly surrounded him, as well as the attacks from the Waterbenders, but it was pretty clear that he could not keep this up for long. He quickly looked over at the Dark Spirits and could see that they were all watching the chaos among Unalaq's army, not even bothering to somehow intervene, but Patrick could not risk that they nevertheless might spot Bumi running toward the tent where Korra and the others were being held, so while Patrick was trying to defend himself from further attacks from the soldiers, he shot a laser beam at one of the Dark Spirits. He was planning to repeat it, but luckily, depending on the point of view, all the Dark Spirits turned their attention straight to him.

That's right. Focus on me, Patrick thought as the big blue Dark Spirit he shot the laser beam at, along with a few other smaller Dark Spirits, rushed toward him through the fighting among Unalaq's army, ignoring the fighting soldiers or pushing them away. Patrick quickly crossed his arms to activate a large shield to protect himself from the incoming attack. When the entities arrived, the attacking soldiers that were surrounding Patrick quickly stepped back. The big Dark Spirit struck him, knocking Patrick to the ground on his back. Then the entities pinned him down with their claws that were slowly going through his shield and slowly heading toward his chest while the big Spirit's head was lowering toward his face while the soldiers, who were fighting Patrick a few seconds ago, were watching it. "Bumi…I hope that you're already inside of that fucking tent already…" But Bumi was not responding. "Bumi!"

The invisible Bumi was doing his best to run through the chaos inside the fortification toward the tent while avoiding the fighting soldiers, but truthfully, he was no longer a young man. However, he had to keep running because he did not know how long Patrick could last. As he was about halfway there, he saw that one big Dark Spirit, along with a few smaller ones, rushed toward Patrick and easily pinned him down to the ground. In that moment, Bumi knew that he could not leave Patrick and when his eyes laid on one of the empty Mecha Tanks that were waiting for their pilots, he got an idea. He quickly climbed inside it and without any experience with piloting it but with a fair amount of resolution, he rushed the Mecha Tank toward the Dark Spirits.

Patrick was using all his strength to push back and stand up, but the Spirits had much more strength than him and their claws were getting closer and closer to his chest.

"Bumi…Bumi… I need help from Korra…" Patrick said with great struggle to his bracelet.

"Hang in there, Patrick! Help's coming!" Bumi's voice sounded from the bracelet.

Patrick, the soldiers and even the Dark Spirits turned their attention in the direction of the sound of something that was coming toward them at great speed. It was a Mecha Tank and Patrick knew who was piloting it.

"Oh, shit!" he said as he activated his rocket outsoles to use the moment to thrust himself away from the Dark Spirits through the snow as they eased their pressure on him and were fully focused on the incoming Mecha Tank.

The soldiers, who were surrounding him, quickly dodged the Mecha Tank at the last moment, while the Dark Spirits were still standing on the spot and were then picked up by the still going Mecha Tank.

Patrick, when he was at a safe distance, deactivated his outsoles, sat down on the snow and put the bracelet to his mouth while watching Mecha Tank. "Bumi, what do you think you're doing?"

"I was saving your life, no?" Bumi replied while looking at the Dark Spirits from the windows of his cockpit.

"Get out of there now before they—"

But it was too late. The Dark Spirits entered the machine and it began to break down, increasing its speed and uncontrollably driving through and destroying everything in the fortification, so members of both sides of Unalaq's army had to dodge it or run from it.

"Get me out of here!" Bumi yelled in panic as he was pushing every button or pulling every lever inside the cockpit to get out.

"Bumi, use that laser cutter I gave you!"

"I forgot into which pocket I put it!" Bumi started to frisk himself but the fear that he was inside an uncontrollable Mecha Tank forced him to immediately go back to pushing buttons or pulling levers.

"What?" Patrick rolled his eyes. That's just fucking great. And he started thinking about another way to get Bumi out.

Meanwhile, Unalaq, Eska and Desna along with Seke were still fighting Vasro and the other commanders and although they were fighting with no restraints, unlike their adversaries, they were still outnumbered and all of those men were skilled fighters.

Unalaq's gaze then turned to one of the Mecha Tanks, which, for some reason, started driving through and destroying everything in the fortification as well as at the soldiers who were still loyal to him or at least to Seke, who were slowly being defeated by the traitors. He then looked at the portal and realized that very soon he would be able to fulfill his destiny and then all of them would become ants that he would crush.

"Keep them busy until I get to the portal!" he ordered his children and Seke.

"Yes, Father," Eska replied and she created a wave of ice spikes, which she launched at several commanders to cover her father's retreat toward the forest.

Unalaq ran through the forest toward the portal to the Spirit World, where most of the Dark Spirits that were in fortification or flying around the portal slowly retreated due to the upcoming Harmonic Convergence.

Meanwhile, Bumi had used almost every button and lever in the cockpit to get himself out of the Mecha Tank but sadly, nothing worked. "Patrick, please get me out of here!" he yelled as the uncontrolled machine drove through another row of tents and the heads of those Dark Spirits that had possessed the Mecha Tank appeared in front of him with growls.

Patrick was still thinking and then it occurred to him that Asami had once mentioned to him that when she took over her father's company, she discovered that some of the latest Mecha Tanks that her father made just before he and Amon had to prepare the defense of Republic City against the United Forces had an ejection mechanism built into the seats in their cockpits that was designed to get the pilot out. Certainly, it was a reaction from Hiroshi after witnessing Mecha Tanks' vulnerability to the EMP pulse that Patrick had demonstrated in the underground factory. So, he hoped that this Mecha Tank had that mechanism.

"Bumi, there should be a lever behind the seat," he announced into the bracelet while watching as the Mecha Tank started to spin around on the spot.

"Yes! There's a lever!" Bumi's voice replied with great relief.

"Pull it right now!"

The cockpit of the Mecha Tank opened and an ejected seat with an invisible Bumi flew into the snow and, thanks to the momentum, slid right into Unalaq's tent, which was among the few tents that survived the Mecha Tank's rampage. Patrick quickly stood up and ran toward the tent.

Inside the tent, in the meantime, Bolor found the right key for the shackles and managed to free almost all the captures; the only one who remained to be freed was Bolin, when suddenly, at decelerating speed, an empty seat from the Mecha Tank slid into the tent.

Everybody looked at the seat in confusion when they heard a voice coming from it.

"Wow, that was quite a ride!"

"Did that seat speak just now?" Danrok asked.

"That's Bumi's voice!" Tenzin announced.

"It's me, Tenzin. Patrick has made me invisible! Quite neat, right?" Bumi replied.

"It is!" Bolin agreed as Bolor opened his shackles.

Then into the tent entered Patrick. "Sorry for taking so long with the rescue." He walked over to the seat and reached over it to feel Bumi's left shoulder. When he managed it, he then slowly moved his hand over it until he felt the cloaking device, which he removed, making Bumi visible again. "But someone here likes to improvise."

"I saved you from those Spirits, after all, no?" Bumi replied.

Patrick, however, decided to completely ignore his remark as he took the earphone off of Bumi's ear and then pressed something on the display of his bracelet, which caused the earphone to be completely destroyed. "I see that you managed to find your own way to get out after all, though," Patrick remarked to the others in the tent, indicating the soldier of the Northern Water Tribe who was holding the keys.

"We did," Korra replied. "Where is Unalaq?"

"He was fighting his commanders but he used his children and Seke to cover his retreat into the Spirit World. The Dark Spirits started retreating there as well, probably due to the upcoming Harmonic Convergence."

Danrok, who supported a very weakened Tonraq, turned his head toward Mako beside them. "Can you please take care of him? I have one unfinished business outside."

"Of course," Mako replied and took over Tonraq.

Danrok and Bolor walked outside the tent and looked around. Everything was in complete chaos and the inside of the fortification was almost all destroyed, probably because of the Mecha Tank that was lying nearby. The soldiers of the Northern Water Tribe, who had turned against Unalaq, had almost completely won the fight against Unalaq's loyalists. Then Danrok finally spotted Vasro and the other commanders fighting Eska, Desna and Seke several meters away from them, close to the forest with the portal.

"Captain!" Bolor called and tossed a nearby spear to Danrok.

Danrok caught the weapon. "Bolor, go tell them to surrender," he ordered as he motioned his head toward Unalaq's loyalists, "and that they'll not be punished for their loyalty. If Unalaq actually succeeds in what he is planning to do, then we'll need every man and energy for that upcoming fight." He then turned his attention to Seke. "And I'm going to punish one traitor."

Meanwhile, in the tent, Korra approached Patrick. "Are you alright?" she asked, meaning how she saw him crash into the snow and the tear in his clothes on the left side of his chest. In that moment, she was about to ask Kya to lend her a bottle so she could heal Patrick's possible wound.

"I am," Patrick answered. "We should head right away to the Spirit World and stop Unalaq."

"You're right," Korra replied.

The group with a weak Tonraq headed outside, and in front of the tent, Naga was waiting for them, with Pabu on top of her head, along with the Bumi's Spirit. Patrick approached Polar Bear-Dog and took the backpack off its neck.

In the meantime, Vasro shot several water blasts at Seke, who blocked them with his Waterbending and quickly retaliated with a water stream that, just as it was about to hit Vasro's shoulder, froze at the end, creating a sharp tip that knocked Vasro to the ground. Seke then saw how both Eska and Desna retreated toward the portal after their father, leaving him alone. Luckily, it seemed that the still-standing commanders were too tired from the fight with him, Unalaq and his children to pose any threat to him, so he could easily take them down and retreat to the Spirit World to regroup with Unalaq and his children. But when he was about to execute his plan, Seke heard the familiar voice yelling at him in pure anger.

"Seke!"

He turned his head toward its source and saw Danrok standing a few meters away from him, holding a spear in his hand.

Danrok turned his gaze to the commanders who surrounded Seke and kept their distance in case he attacked them. "He's mine," he said to them and they made a few steps back.

Seke laughed at his former captain, who was barely standing. "You can't be serious. You can't even stand!"

"Then you'd have no problem with striking me down," Danrok replied.

Seke stopped laughing and he immediately formed and shot a massive icicle at Danrok, aiming for his head.

But Danrok simply dodged the icicle and started slowly making his way toward him.

Seke formed another two icicles and shot them at Danrok, who dodged one icicle and broke the other one with the slash of the spear. "What's the matter, Seke? Can't you hit a target who is aware of you?" he taunted him as he slowly sped up.

"Shut up!" Seke yelled, and with his Waterbending, he made from the surrounding snow a thousand small shards of ice and started shooting them at him.

Just a few meters! Danrok said to himself in spirit and despite the speed and how he had managed to dodge the previous attacks from Seke, he was still feeling the pain from the beating and was still weak from the starvation, but the thought that he would be able to punch Seke was making him move forward. So, he started running, dodging and ducking the volley of ice projectiles that Seke was launching on him until he was two steps from him. Danrok then used all the strength he had left to jump as high as he could and make a huge slash with the spear, aiming for Seke's head. Seke, at the last moment, jumped back, making Danrok land on his knee while the blade of the spear hit the snow, but that was what Danrok wanted as he quickly tripped Seke with his other leg. And before Seke could get back on his feet or even react, Danrok knocked him out with his fist.

When Seke was no longer a threat, the exhausted Danrok fully leaned on his spear to prevent himself from collapsing to the ground.

"Danrok!" one of the commanders said and quickly walked over to help him.

"I'm alright!" Danrok replied wearily. "I just need to have a little rest and food. How is Vasro?" He quickly turned his head in the direction where Vasro was lying.

"I'm alright too," Vasro replied as the other commanders helped him stand up, and one of them, who was Waterbender, used his Bending to turn the frozen shard that was sticking out his wound on the shoulder into the water, with which he then began to heal it, making him growl in pain. "So much for the cushy rank, eh?" he added with humor.

"I want to apologize to you for that. I was a fool to look down on you back then."

"Apology accepted." Vasro motioned toward the portal. "Unalaq escaped into the portal and his children went after him."

"He really wants to do that thing that boy was talking about?" one of the commanders asked Danrok.

Danrok turned his head toward him and nodded. "Yes, I heard it from him in the tent. He wants to become a Dark Avatar. We must help Avatar Korra and her friends stop this madness of his."

"And what about those who were helping him?" another commander asked, referring to the soldiers who had served under Seke and were fighting for Unalaq and who had now surrendered to the other soldiers.

"If they'll be willing to help us, then we'll forgive them for their loyalty to Unalaq. We'll need any manpower for what's about to come." Danrok's eyes then focused on the lying Seke. "Except for him. He'll definitely be put in jail."

When the fighting was over, Korra and her group of friends headed toward the portal, leaving behind the destroyed fortification and all of the Northern soldiers who were reorganizing under their commanders due to the turn of events. Unbeknownst to all of them, a mysterious person was walking through the ruined fortification with ease toward the book, the journal that Unalaq had dropped due to the fight with Vasro and other commanders.

The person picked up the journal, and in the next moment, he vanished with it.

A short moment later, Korra and all her friends were a few meters away from the portal, and while Bumi's Spirit had entered the portal to join the other Spirits, they stopped so that they could leave Tonraq to rest somewhere. But he was determined to go with them to stop his brother from destroying the world.

"Let's go," he said as he made a step forward to the portal, but due to the beating and starvation, he was unable to go any further.

"No, you're too hurt; you need a healer," Korra protested and she approached him to stop in case he was about to continue to the portal.

"Korra… I can still fight…"

"Listen to her, Tonraq," Rokkuk's voice sounded.

They all turned their gazes to the source and saw Rokkuk approaching them, accompanied by a few rebels and a few healers, along with Danrok and the Northern soldiers.

"We've been watching what you did with the fortification. Good job," Rokkuk said to Patrick when he was at them.

"Well, that thing with the Mecha Tank was actually Bumi's work," Patrick corrected him, earning a satisfied nod from Bumi.

"The army of the Northern Water Tribe is here to help you, Avatar Korra," Danrok said as he stepped forward while the healers that Rokkuk brought with him started treating Tonraq.

"Thank you for your support but bringing such a large force could affect the Spirit World a lot," Korra replied, fully aware that it was much safer if only she and her friends would enter than an army of men at once. "Rather, stay here and protect the portal in case some of the Dark Spirits that are still out here try to get back in."

"But if we do need help, we'll let you know immediately," Patrick added, not wanting to reject the possible military help in any case.

"How will we know if you've succeeded in stopping Unalaq?" Rokkuk asked.

"Our goal is to close this portal or the other one leading to the North Pole in the Spirit World and keep it closed until the Harmonic Convergence ends. Then he and Vaatu wouldn't be a threat on such a scale anymore. So, you'll have to wait and hope for the best," Patrick explained.

Rokkuk nodded. "Understood. Godspeed to you all."

Asami, Bolin, Bumi, Korra, Kya, Mako, Naga, with Pabu on her head, and Patrick ran into the portal.

In the Spirit World, Unalaq was standing in front of the Tree of Time, Vaatu's prison, and watching how the Dark Spirits started circling the sky above the tree. Just a few minutes and the destiny he had longed for and prepared himself for all his life would be his. Behind him were both of his children, waiting for his orders. Then Unalaq instinctively turned his head toward the portal through which they entered, expecting Korra and her friends to show up and indeed they did.

As Patrick made another step after entering the portal, the light from the beam he had stepped into with others dispersed and he could now see the Spirit World. From first sight, he could see that they had entered a large field with rocks and streams of water in formations that surely created some sort of pattern with a multicolored sky. All of it, as well as the whole place, certainly deserved careful study from him but there was not time for that. Now the main focus was to stop Unalaq, who was with his children at quite a distance from them, in the middle of that field, standing in front of a huge tree in which hollow was some kind of red-black being, which had to be Vaatu.

The group was about to go into action when suddenly Bolin yelled in an alarming tone, "Patrick…"

They all turned their puzzled gazes to him and then to Patrick. Patrick, for the first few seconds, did not understand what Bolin meant but then he felt something on his wrist where he was wearing his bracelet. With a very bad feeling, he quickly turned his gaze to check on the device and he could see that its display had started going haywire.

Oh, fuck, I thought I fixed that! Patrick thought with realization what was going on and quickly attempted to take the bracelet off before… He teleported himself away.

"Patrick!" Korra yelled into the empty space where Patrick had been a second ago.

"Where is he?" Tenzin asked.

"He's…" Korra focused. "Still in the Spirit World. Just like Jinora's spirit."

"How do you know that?" Bumi asked.

"It's like a feeling… like tickling on the feet. In the moment, when we entered the portal, I'm, probably thanks to the fact that I'm here physically, able to sense all of you, including Jinora and Patrick. I can even sense Unalaq, Eska and Desna," Korra explained.

"So, what are we going to do?" Bolin asked nervously.

"We'll still continue with Patrick's plan: One group will close the portal and keep it closed while dealing with Unalaq and Vaatu and the other group will look for Jinora," she replied.

"Let's go!" Tenzin said to his siblings and he ran with them deeper into the Spirit World to search for Jinora and Patrick.

At the portal, Asami, Bolin, Korra, Mako, Naga and Pabu now remained and they noticed that Unalaq, with several Dark Spirits and his children, was charging toward them. So, Korra quickly entered her Avatar State to create a massive air wave to push them back. The air wave successfully repelled the Dark Spirits, but Unalaq and both twins dodged it and continued on their charge. Bolin and Mako rushed forward and started bombarding them with their elements, while Asami, along with Naga and Pabu, was standing aside with her Equalist's gauntlet ready, preparing to attack Unalaq or the twins if they passed through Bolin and Mako. Korra quickly ran back to the portal and, with her Avatar State, tried to close it.

Meanwhile, Patrick appeared in the middle of the quite dark, desolate forest as he took off his bracelet.

Fuck! Patrick thought as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong in fixing a bug he thought he had fixed long ago. It was his software in his bracelet that was not working well with the attached dimensions. His teleportation technology worked by constantly updating his location with a constant mapping of the surrounding area, so if Patrick entered the attached dimension, the software in the bracelet, due to the bug, considered it like he had entered the second floor of the house, which according to the software should only have one floor. Thus, again through the bug, the software thought that Patrick was in a non-existing space, which automatically triggered a protocol that was supposed to teleport into a space that the software considered to be existing. However, the bracelet could only teleport Patrick to the same space he was currently located, which again triggered the protocol over and over again, so in the end, Patrick would be teleporting without end.

He sighed and scolded himself for not being faster at taking off the bracelet. Luckily, he had teleported only once but that did not mean it did not teleport him far away from the others. He could only hope that he would be able to find them soon.

Meanwhile, Korra was doing her best to close the portal but it was much easier to open it than to close it. Why is it so hard now? she thought.

Bolin and Mako, behind Korra, kept fighting with Unalaq, Eska and Desna. And while both twins kept their distance because they noticed Asami and Naga, their father, on the other hand, began pushing forward more and more furiously through Bolin's and Mako's defenses in order to reach Korra and stop her from closing the portal.

"You're running out of time, Raava," Vaatu announced from his prison. "I know you feel it coming."

And Korra had to admit that he was right. She could feel the planets aligning and how the spiritual energy was preparing itself to unleash. She increased her efforts to close the portal. She almost had it.

But then, against the almost closed doors like a huge and strong current of water, the spiritual energy burst out and threw her away.

It was too late. The Harmonic Convergence has begun.

She and others watched as the beams of both portals started to join into one, creating an arch above the Tree of Time.

"Yes!" Unalaq proclaimed victoriously.

Then the color of the beams changed to green for a second and then to yellow, along with the color of the sky, which changed to purple, and with the change of color came a huge wave of purple energy that spread across the Spirit World as well as the Physical World.

The lightnings began to come out of the arch of joined beams, striking the Tree of Time, and Korra could feel that the prison in which Avatar Wan had imprisoned Vaatu began to weaken.

And then a massive explosion of energy erupted from the hollow of the Tree of Time and Vaatu emerged in full size. After ten thousand years, he was finally free.