AN: Well, here we are in a unique chapter in the story, because, honestly, in all the 'Legend of Korra' crossover stories I've read, Korra was always the one who was kidnapped by Tarrlok, no one else had that happen to them.
However, in this story, the victim is Masane.
How will things be in a situation that no one has ever written before?
You'll find out if you read on.
It was very early in the morning.
In the basement of an unknown house there was some sort of large metal box with some vents at the top and the only light in that basement was from a lamp hanging above the metal box.
It was then that the door to the basement at the top of the stairs opened and Masane could be seen paralyzed and moaning a little from the pain, as Tarrlok was behind her and lifting her into the air with bloodbending as they advanced down the stairs.
Tarrlok continued to carry the girl until he got her into the metal box.
"What are you doing?" asked Masane as she whimpered a little before Tarrlok released her from bloodbending and quickly locked her inside the metal box. "TARRLOK! You can't do this! Let me out!" shouted Masane as she pounded on the door of the box from inside.
Unfortunately, Tarrlok left the basement, leaving the girl locked in there.
After leaving the house where he locked Masane, Tarrlok got into his vehicle and drove off back to the city, revealing that this house was in the middle of some snowy mountains, far away from any civilization.
A short time later, on Air Temple Island, the phone was ringing in the room where Tenzin, Pema and Meelo were sleeping peacefully.
Meelo was the first to get up at the ringing of the phone and, stepping over his father, waking him up in the process, picked up the phone.
"Who is this? It's six in the morning! This better be important!" said Meelo before his father took the phone from him to speak.
"Councilman Tenzin here." began Tenzin before the person on the other end of the line said something that made his eyes widen in horror. "What?!"
In Korra's room, the said person sat up and let out a yawn before rubbing her eyes so she could open them.
When she turned her head, she was a bit confused to see Masane's bed empty.
She assumed at first that she must have gotten up early to help with some household chore or something, so she simply treated it as something ordinary and got up.
When she came out of her room, combed and groomed, she was surprised to see Tenzin running towards her quickly.
"Korra. Thank goodness you're all right." said Tenzin.
"Of course I am. Has something happened?" asked Korra confused.
"I just got a call from the police. It seems the Equalists attacked the city hall just as Tarrlok was there." said Tenzin.
"What? Is he fine?" asked Korra surprised to hear that.
"I'm afraid there's more to it than that. It seems that Masane was also on site… and she was taken away." said Tenzin.
Korra's eyes widened in horror at the news.
"No. No, she can't be gone!" said Korra in shock.
"I'm afraid it is. I was planning to go to the city hall to get answers about the facts." said Tenzin.
"I'm coming with you. I want to know what exactly happened." said Korra.
"Good." said Tenzin before the two of them set off.
Later, Tenzin and Korra arrived at the council meeting room where several policemen were investigating the site and Chief Saikhan was standing next to Tarrlok, who was sitting while a waterbender dressed his wounds.
A photographer was taking pictures of various areas of the site where there was an electrified gauntlet, boleadoras wrapped around a pillar, blood stains and a cut mark on another pillar.
"What happened?" asked Tenzin as he and the Avatar approached Tarrlok for answers.
"Why was Masane at the town hall?" asked Korra.
"As I told Chief Saikhan, Masane came to my office late last night. She wanted to turn herself in in exchange for me releasing her friends." said Tarrlok.
"What? That's a lie!" said Korra refusing to believe that.
"It's the truth. I swear." began Tarrlok saying something that WAS true. "That's when the Equalists attacked us. In the middle of the fight, Masane transformed again and attacked them. Unfortunately, they were ready for her and managed to corner her. I tried to help her, but I was electrocuted." said Tarrlok.
However, what actually happened was that he left that evidence behind himself and injured himself with the electrified glove to cover his tracks, as well as giving himself a very serious wound to leave the bloodstains.
"When I came to, the police had arrived. But Masane was gone. I'm so sorry." said Tarrlok.
"If the Equalists have Masane, we must find her as soon as possible." said Tenzin.
"Councilman Tenzin, is that necessary? After all, she is an assassin." said Saikhan before Korra grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to pull him into her angry face.
"Don't talk about my best friend like that! So stop wasting time and get after her!" exclaimed Korra.
"Korra, calm down. We'll do our best to do that." said Tenzin pulling her away from the police chief, but she pushed him away too and walked out of the room.
Outside the city hall, Korra began to think about what had happened and what Tarrlok had told her.
She couldn't believe that Masane was willing to be sent to jail for the sake of freeing the others.
What she didn't understand was why she didn't tell her, why she had to act on her own.
Although, now that she thought about it better, surely, if she had told her, she would have flatly refused, even to the point of locking her in the room herself until she was convinced otherwise.
She felt guilty thinking that she should have at least gone with her.
That way, they could have defended themselves better against the 'Equalists' and would have come out safe and sound, but that wasn't the case.
She also thought she should have gone herself to try to convince Tarrlok to release the others, even if it meant being attacked and captured (by Tarrlok).
However, right now wasn't the time to think about what happened or what might have happened.
She had to find her and as soon as possible, as, surely, the Equalists would do very bad things to her because of what she did to them before, but unfortunately, she didn't have a single clue that could tell her where to look, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, a very huge haystack and she couldn't waste time checking every alley and building.
No.
She had to think of something, but what could she do?
It was then that she heard a familiar bark that startled her a little before she turned to the side to see Naga running towards her.
"Naga!" exclaimed Korra running towards her animal guide before hugging her head. "What are you doing here?" asked Korra receiving a slight whimper from the animal. "Masane asked you to take her here, didn't she?" asked Korra sensing the reason she was there, receiving a nod from the polar bear dog.
At that moment, a small idea formed in Korra's mind, one that might help her find her best friend.
"Naga, do you know where they might have taken her?" asked Korra receiving another nod from the animal.
That made Korra realize that her plan might work.
She wanted to be able to warn Tenzin about it, but she feared that, in doing so, he would tell her that she had to wait to gather what they needed to act and that could take quite a while.
No.
She had to go save her best friend as soon as possible and she couldn't waste too much time.
She knew it would upset him and many others, but it was necessary.
"Naga, take me to her. Quickly." said Korra climbing onto Naga's back, who soon broke into a run. "Masane, please hold on. I'm going to save you." thought Korra with pure determination.
Elsewhere, Lin was in her room sleeping peacefully when suddenly, the radio came on.
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this special report." began Shiro as Lin woke up. "Late last night, Equalists attacked City Hall." gave Shiro, causing Lin's eyes to widen in surprise before she turned up the volume on the radio to hear everything perfectly.
"Subduing Councilman Tarrlok and capturing Masane Amaha, who is known, not only to be the Avatar's companion, but also the perpetrator of multiple murders. Details are still coming in, b…" said Shiro before Lin turned off the radio and got out of bed.
She opened a closet where he kept her police uniform and after taking off her shirt, she used metalbending to put on her uniform.
After that, she glanced at her police badge and remembering that she was no longer affiliated with it, she took it off.
At the police station, Asami was lying on the bed in her cell when suddenly, the door folded like paper and was ripped out of place by Lin.
"Hope you got enough beauty rest. Come on, I'm busting you out." said Lin.
"Thanks. I owe you." said Asami following the former police chief.
In another cell, Bolin was sobering up while his brother was on his back to give him privacy.
"Are you done yet?" asked Mako impatiently.
"Cover your ears! I can't go with you listening." said Bolin.
Mako groaned as he covered his ears with his hands just as Lin ripped off their cell door with metalbending.
"Asami!" said Mako happy to see his girlfriend free before they both hugged and kissed.
"Ahh!" shouted Bolin out of embarrassment for the people present as he went about his business. "A little privacy, please." said Bolin with a red face of embarrassment.
"Are you all right?" asked Mako.
"I'm fine! It's so good to see you." said Asami.
"Hate to break up your lovers' reunion, but Masane's in trouble. Amon captured her." said Lin to the horror of those present.
"What?" asked Mako.
"It can't be." said Asami in surprise.
"Come on, we have to rescue her." said Lin stepping aside to let Mako and Asami pass.
Bolin was about to leave as well, but then, Lin used the metal control to zipper up Bolin's pants zipper, much to his embarrassment.
"Your fly was down." said Lin before continuing on her way.
"Thanks for catching that." said Bolin following her with a reddened face.
Back at the house in the mountains, Masane banged on the door of the box nonstop, intending to open it, but it wouldn't work.
"Somebody! Please! Help! Somebody help me!" shouted Masane pleading for help, even though she knew no one would be there to hear her. "Please." said Masane in desperation as she sat leaning against the walls of the box and hugging her legs.
Masane couldn't understand how it ended up like this.
She was supposed to give herself to Tarrlok to let her friends go free, but he tried to turn her into his personal weapon.
She refused and he responded by attacking her.
After that, everything was a blur, but she was sure that the being inside her had acted up again, but instead of the same result as always, Tarrlok, in a way she didn't know, overpowered her and locked her in that box in the middle of nowhere.
She hadn't felt like this since she woke up at the South Pole.
Alone.
With no one to help her.
She was confident that Korra and the others would hear about it and come to save her, but she didn't know how long it would be before that time came.
Masane felt like she was going to cry seeing that she was going to be like this for quite a while.
It was then that she remembered something Tenzin told her recently.
"We don't know anything about the being inside you and I think you're the only one who can find out anything. I think, if you manage to meditate long enough, you might be able to contact it." said Tenzin. in Masane's memory.
At the time, with everything going on around her, she didn't have time to just sit and meditate, but now she seemed to be at the perfect time to do so.
She might not like her situation, but she could take advantage of it so she could finally find out who or what was inside her.
Determined to find out, Masane got into position, took a deep breath and began to meditate.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, in the middle of the wooded road, Korra was on the back of Naga, who kept following the trail left by Masane.
Although she was focused on rescuing her best friend, Korra was thinking about something else.
The visions she had had the other night.
Why did they happen at that precise moment? What were they trying to tell her this time? Did they… have something to do with what happened with Masane?
"I urge you to meditate on these visions. I believe Aang's spirit must be trying to tell you something." Tenzin said in Korra's memory.
Even though she was now in the middle of a rescue mission, Korra had a feeling that those visions might help her, both in the situation and in the near future, so, despite being in continuous motion, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate on the visions she has been having.
For a while, nothing happened, but then, her mind went into the visions, but this time, they weren't small images or memories.
It was a complete memory, as if she was seeing it in person.
Flashback
Aang was staring into nothingness when he heard footsteps behind him and turned around.
"What are you doing here, Aang? I told you, I have this under control." said Toph along with several police officers.
"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't get involved, but if what those victims said is true, we're not dealing with a normal criminal." said Aang.
"Fine. Follow me, Twinkle Toes." said Toph accepting her friend's joining the mission as they marched off somewhere.
"Toph, I'm forty years old. You think you could stop with the nicknames?" asked Aang.
"'Fraid not." said Toph with a smile before Aang followed her and the policemen.
Now the group was inside an empty restaurant, except for one table where the mystery man from the visions was dining with two bodyguards on either side.
"It's over! You're under arrest, Yakone!" said Toph pointing a finger at the mystery man.
"What is Republic City coming to? Used to be, a man could enjoy his lunch in peace." said Yakone with a smile.
Suddenly, Toph threw a metal rope at him which tangled in the hand holding chopsticks, losing his grip on them.
Toph then pulled on the rope, pulling Yakone forward, knocking over the table in the process, before being grabbed by a policeman.
The bodyguards tried to act, but were also grabbed.
"What's the big idea?" asked Yakone as the policeman put his hands behind his back.
"We have dozens of witnesses, Yakone. We know what you are." said Aang.
"Take him away." ordered Toph before a couple of cops took the criminal away.
"I've beaten every trumped-up charge you yahoos have brought against me! And I'll beat this one, too." said Yakone with a confident smile.
Korra opened her eyes as soon as she finished with that memory from the past.
"Whoa. I finally connected with you, Aang. But, what are you trying to tell me? A way to find Masane wouldn't be bad." said Korra before turning her attention back to the visions to try to figure out their meaning while Naga focused on leading her down the right path.
Meanwhile, Masane was concentrating on her meditation, on trying to contact the being inside her.
At first, she saw the same as the first time she concentrated, a deep, dark tunnel with nothing else in sight, but she didn't give up.
She kept going deeper and deeper into that tunnel until, then, she saw a brief flash of red and when she went further into the tunnel, the red light appeared again, but this time it was so big and bright that it filled her entire inner vision.
Masane's eyes snapped open and she immediately realized that she was no longer sitting inside a box, but standing in a dark, boundless void, standing on an invisible platform.
In fact, she remembered seeing that same void when she was taken to the White Lotus complex at the South Pole.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" asked Masane, receiving no answers, but, still, she wasn't about to give up. "I know you're there! Show yourself now!"
Finally, a female laughter filled the void, startling the girl who looked around for the point of origin, but the laughter seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
"You come to visit me and the first thing you do is boss me around? How rude."
"You… You are the being that dwells within me." said Masane.
"In person. Well, not exactly."
"Who exactly are you?" asked Masane.
"My name isn't important at the moment."
"Then stop hiding and come out at once!" said Masane.
"Hahaha. Oh, my dear. You're still not ready to see me. After all, you don't quite accept me."
"Why should I? You're a murderer!" said Masane.
"You think so? Tell me, what did I do the times I went out?"
"You killed people." said Masane.
"Yes, but those people were Equalists who wanted to hurt you and a lot of people. If I hadn't gone out that night, your little friend might have lost her powers and you would have met a fate worse than death."
That made Masane realize that, although she had killed people, she did it to protect people.
In fact, she remembered being told that she stopped Amon from taking Tahno's powers away from him.
She was even sure that she fought Tarrlok to protect her from him.
"Yes, you're right. Thank you for that." said Masane sincerely.
"You're welcome."
Meanwhile, Tenzin was in the middle of a call when Lin and the rest of Team Avatar walked in, much to the airbender's surprise.
"I have to go. Call me back the minute you hear anything." began Tenzin before hanging up the phone to attend to his 'guests'. "Lin? W-w-what are y… What are y… You should be in the hospital! And you three! You should be in prison!" said Tenzin.
"I figured you could use our help finding Masane." said Lin monotonously.
"Wait, where's Korra?" asked Mako noticing the Avatar's absence.
"I haven't heard from her since this morning." said Tenzin.
"What? Don't tell me she's been kidnapped too!" said Mako with extreme concern, much to Asami's surprise.
"No. She most likely went on her own to Masane." said Tenzin.
"But why would the Equalists want to kidnap her? I mean, Korra could be and Tarrlok too, but to Masane? I don't know what good it would do them." said Bolin.
"They might want revenge. After all, she killed a lot of their own." said Asami.
"Oh, or they might even try to brainwash her into joining them and fighting us." said Bolin.
"I highly doubt those guys have the technology for that. Even if they have Mr. Sato in their ranks" said Lin.
"That doesn't matter now. Do you have any leads?" asked Mako.
"I've been on the phone all morning, but nothing yet." said Tenzin approaching the group surrounding his desk.
"We need Naga! She can track Masane." said Mako knowing of the polar bear dog's scenting abilities.
"I'm afraid her polar bear dog is missing as well." said Tenzin to his and everyone's chagrin.
"Then where do we start?" asked Bolin.
"My guess is the Equalists are hiding underground in the maze of tunnels beneath the city." said Lin.
"Underground… just like my father's secret factory. Figures." said Asami with her arms crossed and a frown on her face, as she still feels bad about her father's betrayal.
"Yeah! Yeah, that makes sense! When those chi-blockers had me in their truck, it sounded like we drove into a tunnel!" said Bolin having a brief flashback to when he was captured by the Equalists.
Hearing that, a click went off in Mako's head.
"I know where to start looking! Come on!" said Mako with a smile before walking out of the room with the rest of Team Avatar following him, leaving the two adults behind.
"Wherever Amon is keeping Masane, I bet that's where my officers are too." said Lin remembering the ones taken on the night of the Sato Mansion raid.
"Let's bring them all home, Lin." said Tenzin.
Later, the group was on top of Oogi who was flying towards the square where Korra, Masane and Mako had their first confrontation with the Equalists.
Once he landed, they all climbed down.
"The truck with Bolin took off down this alley." said Mako before running in said direction with the others following in his wake.
"Which way?" asked Asami as the group stopped in the middle of an intersection.
"Hmm. This way kinda… smells familiar." said Bolin.
Lin used seismic sense to scan the area, managing to find in that way, something interesting.
"There's a tunnel nearby." said Lin pointing in a direction they all went.
On the way, they went down a ramp into a canal.
"There!" shouted Mako as they all saw an entrance to a tunnel that was closed by an iron gate, but what caught their attention, were the footprints in the area, left by the snow.
"Motorcycle tracks." said Lin examining the tracks closely.
"Yes, and Masane has to be in there… somewhere." said Mako.
At that moment, Lin used metalbending to lift the gate.
The group entered the canal, with Mako providing light with some flames in his hands.
They continued walking until they reached a point where the path split into several tunnels.
"Let's try this way." said Mako.
"And what if Masane's not down there?" asked Asami.
"Then we pick another tunnel until we find her!" said Mako before he proceeded to follow the path he pointed out.
As the group walked through the tunnel, Asami, who was behind them with Bolin, decided to find out a certain topic.
"Hey, Bolin can I ask you a question?" asked Asami.
"Anything." said Bolin.
"Do you think he likes Korra as more than just a friend?" asked Asami a little leaning toward the earthbender and covering one side of her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Haha. W-What? No! That's, just gossip, where'd you hear that? Crazy talk is coming out of your mouth right now. Heh…" said Bolin with a smile, trying to pretend he didn't know anything, but Asami noticed from the start and put her hand on his shoulder.
"What do you know, Bolin? Come on, spill it." said Asami.
"Nothing! I mean, there was this one time during the tournament when Mako and Korra kissed, but…" said Bolin revealing that romantic act.
"They… kissed?" asked Asami in shock at the revelation.
"Believe me, I was upset too, but, I'm over it. I don't think it meant anything." said Bolin.
"I doubt that." Asami said sadly before continuing on her way.
Suddenly, the group heard behind them the sound of a vehicle engine and when they turned around they saw a pair of lights approaching them.
"Hide!" said Lin as Mako extinguished the flame in his hand and the group moved to the side to hide behind a pillar.
From their hiding place, they could see a pair of Equalist bikers running down the tunnel.
Suddenly, one of them pulled a small lever that caused a hidden door to open in the middle of the tunnel through which the bikers entered before it closed.
Once the coast was clear, the group approached the area where the hidden door was located.
Lin slid her hand along the wall and when she found what he was looking for, she used metalbending to activate the opening mechanism behind the door, causing the hidden door to open.
Once done, the group entered the secret grotto, the door closing shortly after.
Eventually, they came to a room full of vehicles, along with a couple of Equalist soldiers loading some crates into a vehicle that was connected to the rails of a tunnel.
"That tram goes to the training camp." ordered one Equalist soldier before other soldiers led the vehicle the boxes were in out of the room down the tunnel.
Shortly after, another vehicle arrived from the other tunnel from which another Equalist soldier got out.
"Everything was delivered to the prison, sir." said the newly arrived Equalist soldier.
"That's where they must be keeping Masane." said Tenzin.
"We need to get down that tunnel." said Lin before making a 'follow me' gesture with her hand.
They quickly got into the vehicle and drove it down the tunnel it came through.
On the other side of the tunnel, a pair of Equalist soldiers were on guard duty when an alarm sounded that someone was arriving.
That's when the vehicle the group was in appeared, only to find it empty, much to the soldiers' confusion.
"It's empty!" said one Equalist soldier.
"Yeah, I can see that." said the other Equalist soldier.
Suddenly, a pair of metal ropes wrapped around them before they were pulled into the tunnel.
Soon after, the two soldiers were bound and unconscious.
Lin, Mako and Tenzin climbed up some stairs.
"You, keep an eye on them." said Lin to those who remained behind before using seismic sense to survey the area for anything important. "My officers are inside."
"What about Masane?" asked Mako with concern.
"I don't see her yet." said Lin.
The first group reached the cell area, but as soon as they rounded a corner, they were met by two Equalist soldiers who drew their bolas before throwing them, but Tenzin launched a gust of air that neutralized the bolas and threw the soldiers against the wall, knocking them down in the process.
As Lin continued on her way, Mako approached the soldiers, grabbed one by the collar of his suit, lifted him up and removed his mask.
"Speak. Where do you keep Masane locked up?" asked Mako wanting answers right away.
Lin finally reached the cell where the policemen who had been captured by the Equalists were dejected and depressed.
Using metalbending, Lin bent the railings to make a hole through which they would escape.
"Chief Beifong?" said one of the policemen in mild surprise.
"I'm too late. That monster already took your bending, didn't he?" asked Lin, receiving a nod from the policeman. "I'm so sorry." began Lin disappointed for not being on time. "Come on, let's gets you out of here." said Lin before leaving the cell with the imprisoned policemen.
"I'll ask you one more time." began Mako lifting the Equalist soldier higher before covering his fist with fire to threaten. "Where do you have her?"
"We don't have the witch, and the Equalists didn't attack City Hall. Tarrlok's lying." said the Equalist soldier.
"What?" asked Mako confused as he pulled the soldier down to his level.
"I scanned the entire prison." said Lin arriving on the scene with the policemen. "Masane's not here."
"Why would Tarrlok make up a story about getting attacked?" asked Mako not understanding what was going on.
"Because he has Masane. He fooled us all!" said Tenzin realizing the truth.
Suddenly, an alarm went off all over the place and the group ran off to meet up with the others.
"Let's go, people!" shouted Bolin as he and the others jumped into the vehicle to get out of that area as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, as they were in the tunnel, Mako turned his head to see another vehicle approaching them from behind and what was worse was that there were several Equalist soldiers in it.
Bolin pushed his brother out of the way and used earthbending to cause the tunnel walls to collapse between them and their pursuers.
"Try to chi-block that, fools!" said Bolin.
Unfortunately, Lin discovered that at the end of the tunnel the lieutenant and a large group of Equalist soldiers were waiting for them.
"We've got more company!" began Lin before using metalbending to bend a metal beam above her into the shape of a ramp. "Hang on!" shouted Lin as the vehicle they were in slid up the beam upwards and Lin used earthbending to open a hole in the roof, allowing them to reach the floor above, where the vehicle slid a bit before stopping.
After that, Lin opened a hole in the roof that led to the outside.
Meanwhile, Korra, who had arrived, thanks to Naga, in the mountainous area, continued her deep meditation to find out more about these visions.
Flashback
In the council meeting room, Yakone's trial was underway.
"Yakone has ruled Republic City's criminal empire for years. Yet he has always managed to stay out of the law's reach, until now. You will hear testimony, from dozens of his victims, and they will tell you, Yakone has maintained his grip on the underworld by using an ability that has been illegal for decades. Bloodbending." said the prosecutor.
"The prosecution's entire case is built upon the make-believe notion that my client is able to bloodbend at will, at any time on any day. I remind the council that bloodbending is an incredibly rare skill and it can only be performed during a full moon. Yet, the witnesses will claim that my client used bloodbending at every other time except during a full moon. It would be a mockery of justice to convict a man of a crime that is impossible to commit." said the defense attorney.
Yakone stood all the while with a smile of victory, as he seemed to have freedom in his pocket.
Later, the board members returned to the courtroom after they had been debating on their final decision.
"Councilman Sokka will now deliver the verdict." said the bailiff announced as Sokka stood up and turned to the crowd.
"In my years, I have encountered people born with rare and unique bending abilities. Why, I once bested a man with my trusty boomerang who was able to firebend with his mind. Why, even metalbending was considered impossible for all of history until our esteemed Chief of Police, Toph Beifong, singlehandedly developed the skill. The overwhelming amount of testimony and evidence has convinced this council that Yakone is one of these unique benders and he exploited his ability to commit these heinous crimes. We find Yakone guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in prison." said Sokka as he banged the gavel as a sign that the session was over.
The defense attorney crumpled up a piece of paper before throwing it away in frustration at his defeat as Yakone rose from his seat with a sinister smile.
Suddenly, Yakone used bloodbending with his eyes to bend Sokka's arm backwards, making him scream in pain.
Not only him, but he also used his power of bending on all the council members, making them groan in pain as their bodies became paralyzed.
Toph decided to act fast and threw a metal rope at him, but Yakone turned his gaze towards her to use bloodbending on her as well, paralyzing her in the process.
Yakone laughed evilly as he turned his head back to see Aang in the same situation as the other people in the room as he tried to reach out to catch him.
Korra groaned a little from the pain, as it was as if she was living the experience herself.
Back at the mountain house, Masane continued his internal chatter.
"So… to what do I owe this visit? Surely you didn't come to say hello."
"I want…" began Masane before taking a deep breath to concentrate on what she was about to ask. "I want to know everything. What are you really? Why are you inside me? And most of all, who am I?"
"Mmm. Good questions. Unfortunately, I can't reveal everything to you. At the moment."
"Why not?!" asked Masane.
"I can sense that you aren't yet ready to know the whole truth, but I give you my word that, when that time comes, I will tell you everything."
Despite Masane's desire to demand that she tell her everything now, there was something about her that gave her… confidence.
At first, she thought she would feel afraid to be around her, but in reality, she didn't know why, but she felt she could trust her when she gave her word that someday, she would tell her everything.
"It's okay. I'll accept it. In that case, what can you tell me, at least?" asked Masane.
"Well, I can tell you that I am an entity that has existed for thousands of years. From the moment I emerged, I was passed from one woman to another throughout history and you, Masane Amaha, are my current and last bearer."
"Last? What do you mean by that?" asked Masane in confusion.
"I'm sorry, but that's something I can't tell you at the moment."
"One more thing, why is it that when you appear, I don't remember anything you did?" asked Masane.
"As I said before, you didn't fully accept me. In fact, at those times, you were unaware of my existence, so the only times I could act was when you lost consciousness. That was when I could 'borrow' your body, although I couldn't use my full power."
"Wait, you mean you weren't using your full power?" asked Masane in surprise.
"No. The only way I could do that would be for you to accept me."
"Accept you? Why would I do that? I would never accept a power capable of harming people." said Masane.
"Hahaha. How funny. That's not what you thought the previous time."
"The previous time? What does that mean?" asked Masane.
"Like I told you, you're not ready to know the whole truth."
Masane was really confused.
She accepted that power? Why? Why would she accept a power that turned her into a being that killed people and smiled in the meantime?
She couldn't understand it.
It was then that she felt something strange in her head.
It wasn't pain, but something else.
Suddenly, she had the feeling that she accepted that power for the sake of someone, someone very important to her.
Who was it?
She was unable to remember, but one thing was clear to her.
If she accepted that power last time to protect someone, could she do it again?
But wouldn't she become a cold and cruel killer? Would she end up losing control? Would she stop being herself?
Several similar questions ran through her mind, causing her to debate whether to accept her power or not.
Meanwhile, at the city hall, the group met with the other council members who were being guarded by Saikhan.
"Thank you all for meeting us on such short notice." said Tenzin.
"Chief." said Lin to the new police chief.
"Lin." said Saikhan to the former police chief.
"Have you news of the girl?" asked Tarrlok approaching them from behind.
"We do. You kidnapped her, Tarrlok!" said Tenzin pointing his finger at the waterbender councilman.
"I am shocked you would accuse me of such an evil act!" began Tarrlok with false surprise. "I already explained: Equalists attacked us and took her!"
"But there were no chi-blockers here last night. You planted the evidence, didn't you?" asked Tenzin.
"That is a ridiculous accusation!" said Tarrlok.
"It's true! He took her!" began the council messenger who was peeking out from behind a pillar on the upper floor, drawing everyone's attention. "I was here when she arrived last night, but Councilman Tarrlok ordered me to leave. I was on my way out when I saw Tarrlok bring her down to the garage."
Briefly, a flashback was shown in which the council messenger was seen hiding as he watched Tarrlok lock Masane in the vehicle before driving off.
"That is nonsense! Everyone knows you're nothing but a squeaky-voiced liar!" said Tarrlok trying to defend himself.
"Why did you wait until now to 'fess up?" asked Lin crossing her arms.
"I was terrified to tell because…" began the council messenger before finding the courage to confess. "Because Tarrlok is a bloodbender! He bloodbent her!" said the council messenger revealing the great truth.
Everyone present let out a gasp of horror at that revelation.
"Don't make this worse for yourself. Tell us where you have Korra." said Tenzin taking a position of bending, along with Lin.
Tarrlok stepped forward and Tenzin threw a blast of wind while Lin threw a metal rope, but then, their bodies suddenly froze as they groaned in pain, as did everyone present.
Tarrlok used his bloodbending until they were all unconscious.
Faced with the situation, Tarrlok had no choice but to flee the scene.
Sometime later, most of the group began to wake up from their unconsciousness.
"Wake up!" shouted Lin slapping Tenzin, managing to wake him up completely.
"Ughh! Man! I had this awful dream that Korra was taken by this evil bloodbender. So weird." said Bolin having woken up.
"Bolin, that really happened. He knocked us out." said Asami.
"Are you serious? Where is he? Is he here right now?" asked Bolin looking around for the bloodbender.
"Tarrlok is long gone. I'll alert the whole force." said Saikhan before leaving with the rest of the council members.
"We've only been out for a little while. Maybe we can still pick up Tarrlok's trail." said Lin.
"It could lead us to Masane! And possibly even Korra! Let's go." said Tenzin before the group went to try and find some clue as to where the bloodbender went, hoping that would lead them to Masane.
Back with Korra, she was trying to look beyond what happened after the Yakone trial.
Flashback
Despite still being handcuffed, Yakone was able to use bloodbending on everyone present.
He then had Toph grab the handcuff key and then lifted her towards him before using the key to remove the handcuffs.
After rubbing his wrists, he moved his arms so as to render everyone present unconscious except Aang, who was still trying to stay conscious despite the paralysis and pain.
Yakone turned around before using bloodbending to lift the Avatar up and put his hands behind his back.
"Yakone. You won't get away with this!" said Aang.
Yakone laughed evilly at his winning situation.
"Republic City's mine, Avatar. I'll be back one day to claim it." said Yakone before throwing the Avatar down the stairs, knocking him down in the process, which he took the opportunity to flee.
Outside the town hall, Yakone grabbed a carriage pulled by an animal and slapping the reins, the animal ran off as it pulled the carriage.
Inside the town hall, Aang was still unconscious until, suddenly, his tattoo began to glow and he snapped his eyes open, showing it as bright as his tattoo.
A sign that he had entered the Avatar State for a moment before the glow went away.
Quickly, Aang exited the town hall on a huge sphere of air which he used to reach Yakone.
Yakone let out a gasp of horror when he saw Aang at his side and before he could react, Aang launched a cutting wave of wind that sliced through the animal's reins, causing the carriage to fall and slide a bit before coming to a stop.
Aang circled the air sphere around the carriage in search of the bloodbender.
He waited patiently until suddenly the carriage door opened and Yakone peeked out before using bloodbending to attack Aang and make him undo the air sphere, causing him to fall to the ground.
Yakone got out of the carriage and approached the fallen Avatar, who looked up to see him.
"This time I'm gonna put you to sleep for good!" said Yakone ready to finish the Avatar off.
Yakone used bloodbending to lift him into the air while he was paralyzed and groaning in pain.
Yakone intended to make his limbs spin completely around to break them, but then, Aang entered the Avatar State again, managing to break free from bloodbending and emitting a breeze of wind that surprised Yakone.
Aang landed on the ground before using earthbending to lock Yakone up, leaving his head outside the earth prison.
"Nooo..." moaned Yakone as Aang put his right thumb on the bloodbender's forehead and left hand on his chest.
"I'm taking away your bending, for good." said Aang.
Yakone groaned in despair and horror as Aang entered the Avatar State to take away his bending powers permanently.
Yakone was knocked unconscious after that as Aang backed up a bit as he gasped in exhaustion.
"It's over." said Aang.
As the memory completely ended, Korra's eyes widened as she understood what the former Avatar was trying to tell her.
"Tarrlok… is the son of Yakone. He is a bloodbender." began Korra surprised by the revelation. "Aang… this whole time… you were trying to warn me about Tarrlok." said Korra thanking her former life. "Wait, that means he's the one who kidnapped Masane. Quickly, Naga. We have to rescue her."
Naga let out a bark before she started running with the intention of getting to where Masane was as soon as possible.
"Hang in there, Masane. I'm almost there." said Korra with determination.
Meanwhile, Masane continued her conversation.
"One last question, how did I end up at the South Pole and with no memory?" asked Masane.
"Honestly, I don't know that myself. I'd love to keep talking to you, but it looks like you have a visitor."
Masane was confused by that before she snapped out of her inner emptiness, just as she heard the basement door open, for Tarrlok had returned.
"My life is a disaster now, thanks to you." said Tarrlok approaching the metal box.
"What is it, Tarrlok?" asked Masane as she stood up. "Have they figured out what you did? I'm sure they have. It's only a matter of time before they find you and save me."
"I wouldn't be so sure. I'll escape and start a new life. And you're coming as my hostage. I'm sure your friend Avatar wouldn't dare come near me as long as I have you by my side." said Tarrlok as he climbed the stairs.
"You'll never get away with this!" shouted Masane banging on the door of the box.
Tarrlok was suddenly horrified when, as he emerged from the basement, he ran into Amon, the lieutenant and several Equalist soldiers.
"Amon!" said Tarrlok in horror at the sight of the masked man.
Masane heard it and gasped in horror at it.
"It is time for you to be equalized." said Amon as his minions drew their weapons to attack.
"You fool! You've never faced bending like mine." said Tarrlok with a smirk of arrogance before using bloodbending to take down the lieutenant and the soldiers.
Amon began to advance towards him, scaring the bloodbender who tried to do the same to him.
Despite Amon being paralyzed for a moment, he broke free of bloodbending and continued on his way as Tarrlok, horrified by this, backed up until he ran into the wall.
"What? What are you?" asked Tarrlok.
"I am the solution." said Amon before grabbing Tarrlok's right arm, placing it over his back before placing his right hand on the back of his neck and the other hand on his forehead.
"AAHH!" shouted Tarrlok, whose scream could be heard even in the metal box.
Tarrlok was knocked unconscious after losing his powers forever to the masked man.
Just then, Amon's subordinates woke up and stood up.
"I'll take care of him. You four retrieve the witch. Do not underestimate her. Electrocute the box to knock her out before you open it." said Amon carrying Tarrlok on his shoulders.
"My pleasure." said the lieutenant.
Masane was terrified, as she was about to be captured by Amon, who was worse than Tarrlok.
She had to think quickly of an idea for an escape, but she couldn't come up with anything.
"You seem to be in a hairy situation."
"What? How… How come I can hear you?" asked Masane mentally.
"I guess our talk strengthened our connection to the point where we can communicate with each other."
"I can't let them capture me. I need to get out of here as soon as possible." thought Masane desperate for an idea.
"If you want, I can help you."
"Can you really?" asked Masane.
"Yes, but only if you lend me your body."
Despite the fact that she didn't like the idea of letting… her use her as a puppet, in view of the situation, there was no other choice.
"All right. I'll allow it, but that doesn't mean I've accepted you and don't even think about killing anyone." thought Masane accepting the offer.
"Hmm. You take the fun out of everything."
"It's payback time." said the lieutenant, who was in the basement with three Equalist soldiers, before hitting the metal box with his electrified sticks, sending a shock throughout the object as Masane could be heard from outside screaming in pain.
However, it turned out to be a trick, as it could be seen that Masane was transformed again and was using her hair as tentacles to keep herself hanging from the bars above, being able to avoid the shock, but let out that scream to fool those outside.
The lieutenant kept throwing electric shocks at the box until the bulb in the lamp above it exploded.
"Open the box." began the lieutenant as an Equalist soldier opened the box and they all saw Masane unconscious. "Tie her up."
But before they went to do so, four sharp-tipped tentacles shot out of Masane's hair and dug into their shoulders and legs, causing them to drop to their knees as they screamed in pain.
Looking up, they saw Masane with her blade and yellow eyes with black sclera, but there was one change about her and that was that she had long hair down to her waist with some brown breasts while the rest was red.
"I'd like to stay and finish you all off, but I have more important things to do." said Masane before using her hair tentacles to grab them and throw them against the wall.
Amon was putting Tarrlok into the van when he heard a rumbling in the house behind him and turned in time to see Masane come out of the house, smashing the door in the process.
Masane stood in front of Amon and the two stood staring at each other, like a dueling western.
As much as she wanted to kill him, she had made a deal and the most important thing at that moment was to escape from there, so she began to flee.
Amon didn't hesitate to chase after the transformed girl who kept running until she found a slope down which she slid.
Amon stopped before reaching the slope just as the rest of his subordinates reached his side.
"I thought I told you not to underestimate her." said Amon.
Meanwhile, Masane was sliding down the snow as if she were on a board until she reached the end.
Once there, she turned her gaze to the top of the slope, where she had left Amon and the others.
"They shouldn't follow us anymore. I've done my part. Good luck." began Masane before the transformation unraveled.
The next instant, Masane leaned against a tree while holding her head.
"T-Thank you." said Masane.
Looking around, she saw that she was in a forest in the middle of a storm.
"I hope to get out of here soon." said Masane hugging herself to protect herself from the cold, before starting to walk.
It had been a while since she did so and so far she hadn't encountered anyone or anything.
"W-Why couldn't you stay a while longer?" asked Masane.
"If you were expecting me to walk through the snow while you were warming up inside you, you are very wrong. Just because I'm inside you doesn't mean I have to serve you in everything."
"N-Now I regret having thanked you." said Masane.
Suddenly, Masane tripped over a branch and ended up falling to the ground.
Due to the blow, as well as the cold was taking its toll on her body.
"I-I'm sleepy." said Masane.
"Hey, don't you dare fall asleep after all we've been through. You're tougher than you think."
"Heh. T-Thanks for the compliment, b-but I'm just going to close my eyes for a moment." said Masane slowly closing her eyes until she did so completely.
Soon after, Naga was seen walking around the area, with Korra on her back.
It was then that Korra gasped at the sight of her best friend.
"Masane!" exclaimed Korra getting off the polar bear dog to stand beside her and sit her down. "Are you okay, talk to me please!" pleaded Korra hoping she wasn't too late as Naga approached them.
Naga licked her face a little, managing to get her to wake up.
"Korra, Naga." said Masane surprised to see them.
"Thank goodness. You're awake." said Korra happy to have saved her in time.
"You came looking for me." said Masane.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." said Korra in a relaxed manner before the girl fell asleep.
Korra stood up as she carried Masane bridal style before setting her down on Naga's back.
"Let's go home, Naga." said Korra as she climbed onto the polar bear dog's back.
Without further ado, Naga proceeded to return to the city with her two passengers.
Despite her unconscious state, a certain being was fully conscious.
"Heh. You really are lucky to have a friend like her."
In the middle of the night, in Republic City, Oogi was flying over the city with the group on his back.
It was then that they heard a howl.
"That sounds like Naga!" began Mako before Tenzin pulled the reins of the flying bison to go in the direction the howl came from. "Down there!" shouted Mako when they saw Naga.
Naga stopped in front of Oogi who landed on the ground, allowing the group to get off of him.
"Korra! Masane!" shouted Tenzin as Masane woke up. "Oh, thank goodness." said Tenzin as he and Lin walked over there.
"Where's Tarrlok? How did you get away? And how did you find her, Korra?" asked Lin.
"Please give her some space. She's been through a lot." said Korra climbing down from Naga as she picked Masane up in a bridal position and carrying her towards Oogi.
In the middle of the way, Mako approached them.
Meanwhile, Asami looked sad at how Mako was acting with Korra.
"Are you okay?" asked Mako.
"Relax. We're fine." said Korra with a smile.
Korra climbed on top of Oogi with Mako and let Masane sleep in his seat.
"Everything will be fine now." said Korra brushing a few hairs away from her best friend's face.
AN: How was the chapter? Did I get it right?
I wanted to mix both Korra's revelation and Masane's talk.
I hope I did it correctly and if not, tell me where I failed.