Omni Force: ORIGINS

by NegaiFreak

Where did it all start, you might wonder? Well, some stories aren't about just beginnings. They're also about how bonds between our heroes were forged. Join in as we partake in this 100-chapter story of how the Omni Force came to be, with each member getting a tale for themselves! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

8. Avatar Korra

Hey folks! We're finally back with another chapter for "Omni Force: ORIGINS"! And you've got two stories to look forward to in the coming weeks! I'm probably the most excited for these particular chapters because of who they revolve around and what I'm planning.

In this case, we're getting the chance to write more about Korra. Now I'll admit, The Legend of Korra was a flawed series. Comparing to its predecessor, there are a lot of things that it fails to take stock of and tries to modernize the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, though it struggles on multiple levels. On top of that, romances in the series felt a little forced, except for how it ended.

But in spite of all that, I still loved the series for what it was and the new audience it brought together. Korra was a favorite of mine, too. Not just because she was a strong character in her own right, but she was generally fun to watch. You might remember that I actually did an adaptation of what's probably the best season of the series in my eyes. To be frank, I think it's one of my weaker stories compared to now. So I can't wait to see how a story around Korra changes here.

I think that's enough from me. Time to let Xiaomei take it from here!

OMNI FORCE: ORIGINS

Earth, Fire, Air, Water. The four elements of the world can individually be wielded by those of Universe-766. But only one can master all four: the Avatar. When chaos reigned and challenges arose decades go, Avatar Aang and his friends were the ones who put an end to the strife and built a new republic of the Four Nations of the world. And at the center was a new, bustling metropolis: Republic City.

Though he accomplished many great things in his lifetime, Aang sadly passed on. But as such, so too would the role of the Avatar. And that person would be none other than Korra.

UNIVERSE-766

SOUTH POLE

Fire was spraying all about a small arena as a red-armored Korra quickly kicked two fire blasts toward a man wearing the same armor. The man raised his arms in protection, but he was still sent flying and crashed to the ground. As the Avatar landed, two men, wearing the same armor as well, simultaneously shot fire streams at her. Watching from afar were five people, observing the fight closely.

Korra was seemingly engulfed in a ball of flames and removed from their view, but she dissipated the fire easily by moving her hands in a circular motion. As she took on a fighting stance again, one of the men charged her, shooting three fire blasts, but she dodged the first one, dissipated the second with a grunt, again dodged the third, and then rushed forward. When the man jumped up and sent two fire arcs in her direction, she tumbled underneath the flames, and extended her leg, throwing him off balance with a kick. He flipped over several times and crashed to the ground, but managed to stand up right away.

Korra, now in between the two men, caught the fire stream of the man in front of her head on, while she also kicked back the one that was charging her from behind, knocking him down. Retaliating with fire blasts of her own, she managed to incapacitate the firebender, as he fell onto the ground again. Quickly turning back and forth to defend herself against incoming fire blasts from both men, she powered up her own attack and fires it at the man in front of her, sending him flying all the way up a nearby triangular roof of a small building near the training grounds, where he slides down unconscious, leaving a trail of smoke. The spectators watched on, one of them being an elderly Katara.

"She's strong," she noted, sounding impressed. However, the White Lotus leader beside her seemed dismayed.

"She lacks restraint…" he muttered. The last firebender charged Korra while showering her with a fire stream. She ran toward him, smiling confidently as she went straight into the fire blast, parting it, and then pushed the man's arms apart, effectively stopping his bending. She used him as a step-up to propel herself into the air. And from her elevated position, she kicked a fire arc in the bender's direction, and proceeded to shower him with a powerful fire stream as she descended. The man tried to block the attacks, but was thrown backward, where he sagged down and slowly fell on his back with a light groan in defeat, smoking lightly.

"Woohoo!" the Avatar exclaimed, raising her hands in triumph. She looked over to the spectators, who seemed unfazed. "Hey, why all the doom and gloom, people?" she asked as she ran over, removing her helmet as one of her opponents was slowly getting back up, "We should be celebrating!" she insisted, holding up three fingers from her left hand, "Three elements down, one to go!" she remarked confidently, putting up her pointer finger.

"You're getting ahead of yourself as usual, Korra," Yim stated in a serious tone, "We haven't decided if you passed your firebending test yet," he pointed out.

"Ever since you were a little girl, you've excelled at the physical side of bending," the White Lotus leader noted on, "but completely ignored the spiritual side," he mentioned, much to the ponytailed young woman's annoyance as she looked bored by the explanation, "The Avatar must master both," he affirmed. Korra slightly bowed her head.

"I haven't ignored it…" she argued, "it just doesn't come as easy to me," she pointed out, "But that's why I should start training with Tenzin immediately," she insisted in a more upbeat tone, "He's Mister Spiritual," she added, stretching her left arm out to emphasize her statement. The White Lotus leader slightly moved forward, looking over to the elderly woman at the far end of the group.

"Do you believe she's ready, Master Katara?" he inquired of her.

"Yes," she answered with a smile, much to the others' surprise, "If anyone can teach her what she needs to learn, it's Tenzin," she affirmed confidently.

"Very well, Korra," the White Lotus leader said, "It's time for you to begin your airbending training," he decided.

"Yes! Finally!" the Avatar exclaimed as she jumped up, turning around her axis in happiness and excitement. However, she immediately realized that the elders were still watching her, noticing some had dismayed expressions at her demeanor. "I mean…" she began as her look changed back to a serious one, clearing her thought, "thank you all for believing in me," she said gratefully, respectfully clasping her hands together and bowing. She smiled innocently, slowly starting to walk away while still eyeing the elders.

But she was unable to contain her excitement any longer, breaking into a run as she left the training grounds. Katara watched on with a smile. The White Lotus leader sighed.

"Speaking of Tenzin, I wonder if he's going to be bringing company here…" he admitted aloud.

"You mean the otherworlders that arrived in Republic City weeks ago?" Yim questioned, "They did come under the impression of wanting to assist the White Lotus…" he recalled.

"Hm," Katara huffed, "If they do come, I have no doubt they'll be a great help to Korra," she noted with confidence.

"So you say," the White Lotus leader concurred, grinning under his beard.

As it turned out, the ragtag, multiversal group had arrived in Universe-766 right as Korra was wrapping up her training in the South Pole, expecting to be taught by the lone airbending master from Republic City, Tenzin, one of Aang's children. While not having been in the universe for very long, those guests quickly earned the trust of Tenzin and were brought in on helping with certain matters. But maybe that trust was misplaced…

OPENING

Insert "Hero" by Martin Garrix X JVKE

Opens with Korra seated at snowy ledge, contemplating as she has her arms crossed. She thinks for a few moments before giving off a determined look, standing up and letting the chilly South Pole air breeze by. She blinks, finding herself standing in Republic City, grinning with excitement.

We cut to her dealing with bending triads singlehandedly to the amazement of onlookers before being brought in by the metalbending police force for destruction of property. There's a shot of her looking out at the statue of Avatar Aang as she's taken to Air Temple Island, looking a little glum. However, she's soon excited, getting to train under the likes of Tenzin and his children together.

During this time she's made herself home in Republic City, she makes new friends in Mako, Bolin, and Asami Sato. Also, she makes an enemy of Amon, the leader of the Equalists, who are looking to rid the world of bending. As she faces down their chi-blockers, becoming vulnerable for a moment, she's suddenly saved by Hinata Hyuga, who palms her foe away before glancing back at the Avatar with a reassuring smile.

The scene changes to the pair learning to get along, with Hinata being assigned as Korra's bodyguard whenever she goes out into Republic City. They also end up joined by Ben Tennyson, Naruto Uzumaki, and Rex Salazar. Together, they fight off Equalists and look to take on Amon.

There are several scenes where we see the Avatar in battle alongside her colleagues in the future, fighting spirits in the South Pole with Ash Ketchum, Ben and Naruto, battling the Red Lotus near the Northern Air Temple with Gingka Hagane and Rook Blonko, and even working with Rainbow Dash to take down Zaheer. There's another scene where we see Korra in a wheelchair, left practically crippled from her grueling battle against the Red Lotus' leader.

She tears up with dismay, being unable to do anything. However, hands of support come onto her back. First from Hinata, then Ash, and finally, Juvia Lockser. Asami also comes over, taking the Avatar's hands into her own as she looks at her caringly. With their support, Korra's able to push through most of her struggle to rehabilitate, cutting her hair as she moves forward.

The Earth Empire being led by Kuvira begins its takeover of the entire Earth Nation, looking to move on to take Republic City next. However, Korra stands in their way, alongside Ben and her other colleagues of the Omni Force. Together, they work to fight the forces back before the Avatar takes on Kuvira herself, ending up creating a new spirit portal in the middle of Republic City while also saving the world. She looks out toward the horizon afterward, being joined by her colleagues and friends.

Even though she isn't a perfect Avatar, she's one who was able to face the challenges of the world and overcome them. And the fact that she wasn't alone during those challenges makes it all the more rewarding for her…

END OPENING

AVATAR KORRA

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" a fast-talking Ikki inquired repeatedly and excitedly as the sky bison she and her family were riding upon soared over the tundra, heading for the grounds in the Southern Water Tribe. On the saddle as well was another figure dressed in a familiar white-and-green hoodie with the number 10 emblazoned on the right pectoral. He let out a tired yawn, sitting up and rubbing his eyes as the animal he was riding upon started its descent.

"Get some good rest?" a voice inquired, belonging to Pema as he looked over at her, "I know it's a long flight from Republic City to here…" she noted.

"Hey, it was at least scenic…" the Omnitrix bearer remarked, sharing a laugh with her. He glanced down to see the Southern Water Tribe compound below, taking notice of two figures watching as Oogi started descending. One of them was Korra. "That who I think it is?" he presumed.

"Looks like it," Pema confirmed.

"It looks like we're there. I know it, this is very familiar!" Ikki exclaimed rather quickly as the flying bison descended into landing, "Are we here yet? Are we here yet? Ooh, please tell me we're here!" she pleaded as the Avatar ran over excitedly.

"Yes, Ikki…" her father sighed out in both relief and annoyance, "as I've been telling you for the last fifteen minutes, we are…" he continued as Meelo was perched on his shoulders, gnawing on his bald, tattooed head, "finally… here…" he noted with relief.

"Whee!" his youngest daughter exclaimed as she and Jinora excitedly hopped off of Oogi, riding off his tail with balls of air they scooted upon. Tenzin disembarked from the sky bison, hopping onto the snowy ground as his son was still gnawing at his head.

"Hello, Mother," he greeted as Katara approached, while Meelo started tugging at his ears, while his daughters pulled up on both of his sides, with Ikki jerking his right arm, "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you…" he noted solemnly, "Please… help me…" he pleaded desperately, having seemingly endured enough of his children's antics throughout the trip. His mother laughed warmly as he bowed, allowing her to take Meelo off of his shoulders and into her arms.

"Unhand me, strange woman!" he demanded as he flailed his limbs.

"That's your grandmother, Meelo," Tenzin pointed out. His son nimbly pushed off on Katara's hand to her surprise, somersaulting over her head and landing on the ground behind her. As he dashed out, she gave off a loving smile.

"It's so good to see all of you," she said, only to blink upon noticing Ben helping Pema down from Oogi, "And I see you've brought a guest," she mentioned curiously.

"Yes," Tenzin confirmed, "He wanted the chance to meet Korra while we were here," he pointed out. As Jinora and Ikki went ahead to converse with their grandmother, the Omnitrix bearer helped the airbending master's wife onto the snowy ground.

"Thank you," she said gratefully as her husband approached, "Huh…" she exhaled, "Having gone through this three times before, I know how the story goes…" she mumbled out.

"And I'm certain it'll be a happy ending again," Tenzin affirmed, resting his hands upon her protruding belly, as she did the same. Katara approached, sharing a hug with Pema before putting a hand onto her belly as well.

"The baby's strong," she noted, "I see another airbender in your future," she predicted, only for the pregnant woman to frown slightly.

"All I want is one child like me," she said, slightly irritated, "a nice non-bender, who doesn't blast wind in my face every five seconds…" she told her mother-in-law, gleeful at the prospect before looking gloomy again. Her husband innocently tugged at his beard, while Katara smiled comprehensively.

"Mommy, look!" Meelo called out, causing Pema to dart an irritated expression at her son, who was covered completely in snow as his siblings were playing behind him, "I'm a snowbender!" he exclaimed as he blasted the snow off of himself with a rushing wind. His mother was a bit dismayed, slightly covered in snow before shaking her head to quickly remove it, leaving her hair a mess.

"Heh," Ben chuckled out.

"Huh…" Pema sighed, "Were Tenzin and his siblings this crazy when they were kids?" she asked of Katara in a slightly depressed tone, gesturing to her husband.

"Kyra and Bumi certainly were," she confirmed in response calmly with a joyous undertone, "but Tenzin has always been…" she continued while putting her left hand to her chin in thought, "rather serious," she noted while gesturing to her youngest son, who slightly pouted.

"Mother… please…" he said. Katara smiled broadly at him. Korra was just standing a few meters behind her, calmly waiting with her hands behind her back, but evidently excited nonetheless. "Korra?" the airbending master guessed, causing her to perk up as she smiled brightly, running up to him, "Look at you, so big and strong," he noted as he put his arms over her shoulders, "You've grown into quite the young Avatar," he pointed out.

"Master Tenzin, I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed, "I can't wait to get started," she affirmed excitedly.

"Yes… well…" Tenzin began, letting out a sigh.

"You're going to have to tell her sooner or later," his wife pointed out.

"Tell me what?" Korra inquired somewhat sadly.

"You're not staying, are you?" Katara guessed, saddened by the realization.

"I'm afraid not," her son confirmed after another sigh, "We're only visiting for the night," he pointed out, "Then I… have to return to Republic City," he mentioned.

"But… no, you're supposed to move here…" Korra presumed, not understanding how circumstances had suddenly changed, "You're supposed to teach me…" she mentioned on.

"I'm sorry, Korra," Tenzin apologized, placing both of his hands onto her shoulders, "Your airbending training is going to have to wait," he told her, much to her dismay as she lowered her head. Ben looked on, glancing back and forth between the two before clearing his throat, getting their attentions.

"Uh, sorry," he apologized, "Didn't know when it'd be my turn to jump in…" he pointed out sheepishly. The Avatar arched an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Korra, I'd like you to meet a friend of ours who's been helping us out in Republic City as of late," Tenzin said.

"My name's Ben," the Omnitrix bearer introduced, "It's nice to finally meet you," he noted, holding his right hand out to her.

"Uh, thanks…" she responded, not bothering to return the gesture as she was too dismayed over the new news.

"You may want to hear what he has to say, Korra," Tenzin advised, making her perk up slightly, "He wants to be of help to you, too," he pointed out. Later that night, he and the others were having a late dinner in the compound.

"So, how long until you're ready to teach me airbending?" the Avatar asked of the airbending master, "A week? A month?" she inquired on.

"It… could be much longer," Tenzin admitted in response.

"I don't understand…" the Avatar said with disappointment in her tone, "Why are you making me wait?" she questioned.

"I have a responsibility to Republic City," the airbending master replied, "I am one of its leaders, and the situation there is very unstable right now," he told her.

"But you also have a responsibility to teach me," she argued defiantly, "Believe me, I'd be happy to find another airbending master, but you're the only one," she pointed out, "We're stuck with each other," she mentioned sadly.

"I wish there were another way," Tenzin confessed.

"Wait, there is!" Korra excitedly realized, "If you can't stay here, then I'll go back to Republic City with you!" she decided, "It's perfect!" she proclaimed.

"Absolutely not!" the White Lotus leader shouted as he banged his right hand onto the table, shaking the contents upon it, "The city is far too dangerous," he pointed out, "Avatar Aang tasked us with keeping you safe while you mastered the four elements," he informed her seriously.

"I get that, but I don't think keeping me locked up in this compound like a prisoner is what he had in mind…" she retorted defiantly again.

"I know this is difficult to accept," Tenzin began, "but it's not the right time for you to come to the city," he told the Avatar. She clenched her fists in frustration.

"I don't know about that," Ben chimed in suddenly, causing her to look over at him with the others as he swallowed a bit of rice he had been eating, "My friends and I have been helping clean up Republic City for the past few weeks," he pointed out, "I'd say things are safe enough for her to go," he noted.

"Yes, but there also reports of underground activity and the rise of fringe groups aiming to destroy the city's democracy," the White Lotus leader explained, "We can't just have the Avatar waltzing about when she could be put at risk," he insisted.

"What if she had a bodyguard?" the Omnitrix bearer suggested as a retort, "From what I've heard, she can already handle herself," he continued as Korra smiled, happy to have someone in support of her, "but if you guys don't think she can be safe, then I can have someone keep an eye on her at all times," he told the group.

"Hm," Tenzin huffed, "I was under the impression and that you and your friends would be willing to help the White Lotus with certain affairs regarding Korra," he noted to the Omnitrix bearer.

"I just wanna help her out, Tenzin," he assured.

"And how could you possibly help her?" the White Lotus leader asked, arching an eyebrow. Ben chuckled, standing up.

"Oh dear…" the airbending master sighed.

"Wh-What's happening?" Korra stuttered in confusion as she glanced back and forth between him and the Omnitrix bearer. He tapped the lid of his device, making a holographic green wheel appear over it briefly before the lid was slid forward, making the dial pop up. He pressed it down, enveloping himself in a green flash of light that made everyone else in the room flinch. When it subsided, the Avatar looked over and widened her eyes.

Standing in Ben's place was a bipedal, dinosaur-like creature that was about twelve feet in height. His skin was a tannish brown with a lighter tan on the inner part of his body. He had a long tail, wearing black briefs and a green sash over his shoulder, where the Omnitrix symbol was at his chest. His body was mostly muscular, and wrinkles were evident upon his face.

"Whoa…" Korra uttered in complete shock, while members of the White Lotus were astonished themselves. Tenzin sighed again.

"Ben, just because you and your friends are from different worlds with different powers," he began to the Vaxasaurian, "that does mean you can guarantee anything in a world you're still unfamiliar with," he pointed out.

"Wait… different worlds?" Korra repeated in confusion.

"Yeah," Humungousaur said, "I'm from another universe, not this one," he confirmed.

"Ben is the leader of a small group of people from different worlds aiming to help safeguard and discover more of what they call the multiverse," Tenzin explained, "Ours happens to be one of the many they had yet to visit," he mentioned on.

"And we showed up in Republic City, busting up gangs and cracking down on crime," the Vaxasaurian added further as he stepped forward, only for his head to accidentally hit the ceiling, "Ow!" he yelped out, crouching as he rubbing his hurting cranium.

"Ben, you can change back," the airbending master assured.

"Right…" Humungousaur grunted, tapping the Omnitrix symbol at his sash to transform back to normal in a green flash of light. Korra blinked twice.

"Okay, you've got to let me go to Republic City now," she insisted of her elders, "If Ben can go full monster and help Tenzin deal with whatever's going on there, I can get the training I need," she affirmed confidently.

"It's not that simple, Korra," the airbending master stated firmly, "Ben won't always be able to help, as he has his own world to look after," he mentioned on.

"Well… that's true, but…" the Omnitrix bearer tried to say. However, Korra groaned, getting up from her seat abruptly.

"Whatever…" she muttered dismissively, leaving the room without another word. Tenzin and the White Lotus members sighed. Ben then walked out himself, seeing the Avatar standing on the snowy ground with a look of contemplation.

"Sorry I couldn't be more convincing," he apologized.

"No, it's fine…" Korra assured as she turned to him, "I know everyone thinks I'm being stubborn, but I really just wanna learn airbending and everything else I can from Tenzin," she told the Omnitrix bearer, "That way, I can help people," she added confidently.

"That's what I was thinking, too," Ben agreed, "So now what?" he asked of her.

"Huh…" she sighed, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned up against a column, "If Tenzin won't let me go to Republic City because it's too dangerous, even with you and your friends promising to help protect me," she continued, "then I've got no options…" she grumbled.

"Maybe not…" the Omnitrix bearer suddenly suggested to her surprise, "I'm not saying we can smuggle you outta here to Republic City…" he pointed out, "but maybe we can meet you there somehow…" he added with a wink. Korra glanced off to the side for a moment in thought. She wanted to learn by any means necessary, even if it meant going against her peers.

"Wait… how are you going to be able to find me if I get there?" she questioned of Ben. He let off a grin, reaching into his pocket to pull out something. He flicked it over to the Avatar, who caught it in her right hand. She opened it up, blinking in surprise to see that it was a chip-like device.

"Keep that on you," the Omnitrix bearer advised, "Once you're in the city, we'll find you," he promised. The Avatar clutched the device, giving off a small smile. The next morning, she was seated aboard her polar bear dog upon a cliff, overlooking the horizon as she spotted Tenzin and his family flying off aboard Oogi, heading off into the distance. She also saw Ben aboard the saddle, who took notice of her as well.

She was frustrated. Being the Avatar meant so much to her. And not being able to complete her training made things all the harder. As she lifted her eyes toward the horizon, her expression changed from saddened to determined.

Later that night, she was at the stables. Naga stood up as her owner came running in, taking her saddle down from the pole it was hanging on. She started to set it up upon the polar bear dog, tightening the straps.

"Nice night for an escape, isn't it?" a familiar voice chimed in, causing her to flinch in surprise. She turned to see Katara standing at the stable's entrance.

"…I have to leave," the Avatar proclaimed, though she sounded saddened, "I have to find my own path as the Avatar," she pointed out. The waterbending master was smiling contently, tilting her head down for a moment before looking back at Korra.

"I know you do," she assured. Her student's sad look changed to a grateful one. She tilted her head and closed her eyes as a thank you silently. "Aang's time has passed," Katara pointed out, shaking her head from side to side, "My brother and many of my friends are gone," she added, "It's time for you and your generation to take over the responsibility of keeping peace… and balance in the world," she told the young Avatar, moving forward and placing her right hand onto her shoulder, "And I think you're going to be a great Avatar," she affirmed on. Korra hugged her.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Goodbye, Korra," the waterbending master said, still smiling with her eyes closed.

And so, with her heart set on becoming a full-fledged Avatar, Korra escaped the compound and stowed away aboard a ship set for Republic City. What should've been a simple trip however would turn into something a little more complicated…

X

Despite arriving safely without so much as a hint of trouble, Korra couldn't help but find herself getting into trouble the moment she was in Republic City. After taking out a group of hoodlums with albeit rather reckless and destructive methods, she was forced to flee from the metalbending officers that were looking to apprehend her. And though she escaped their clutches for now, she's about to finally meet someone who'll become a big part of her Avatar story…

"Okay… think we lost them…" Korra exhaled as she and Naga were atop a train they jumped upon in the midst of their escape from the police, "Ugh, I knew we should've just gone to the island…" she muttered, reaching into her parka to pull out the chip-like device that Ben had given her, "Why didn't he tell me how this thing's supposed to work?" she wondered aloud. Suddenly, she heard an alarm sound off. She looked up and spotted the police airship overhead, closing in on her and her polar bear dog.

Straightening the reins in her grasp, the Avatar had a determined look upon her face. Naga hurried forward as the train started to take a turn. She leapt toward the roof of an adjacent building, but noticed several cables coming down from above. Reacting quickly, the polar bear dog flung her owner off of her back as she yelped, winding up with her paws bound by the cables, but also preventing her from getting caught as well. She landed down upon the roof, tumbling to a stop as she quickly hopped to her feet.

"Naga!" she cried out, hurrying over as she ignited a mass of fire over her fist, ready to fire onto the cables to free her. However, a figure suddenly slid in behind her, whom she barely managed to catch out of the corner of her right eye. It was a slender girl of fair complexion, who had featureless lavender eyes. She also had dark blue hair that reached down to her lower back, wearing a lavender and cream hooded-jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armor. She also donned navy blue pants, black, low-heeled sandals, and a black forehead protector around her neck.

She thrusted her right palm out at the Avatar, who barely managed to duck back to evade the attack as she came to a stop. With a growl, she stomped the ground to make it surge up at her new foe, who took a ready stance. Korra blinked in surprise to see her eyes become much more concentrated as veins bulged around them.

"Gentle Fist!" she yelled, palming the ground to make the surge stop before it could reach her.

"So you're an earthbender, huh?" Korra assumed, "Guess that means you're with the cops, too…" she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"You need to listen to me," the girl advised, standing up in a ready stance as the Avatar stalked her cautiously, "Don't make this situation worse than it already is now…" she advised, "Turn yourself in, and we can work things out from there," she assured.

"Oh, so you are with the cops…" the Avatar concluded, "Well, that makes this easier…" she realized, dashing forward with fire daggers she ignited from the ends of her fists.

"No, wait!" the girl yelped, parrying the first attempted strike from the Avatar with her left hand, pushing her right arm away. The airship was approaching the building they were fighting upon, having pulled Naga in and restraining her. After evading two more attempted swipes from Korra's flames, the kunoichi retaliated with a pair of palm strikes to her opponent's stomach, sending her sliding back as she stopped at the roof's edge.

"Whoa…" she uttered out, "Was that… airbending?" she wondered aloud. All of a sudden, cables shot down from above and ensnared her as she gasped, struggling to break free. To her surprise, the girl before her was also bound by cables, getting hoisted up herself. Both grunted, struggling to break free before bowing their heads in defeat.

A while later, the two were sitting across from each other in an interrogation room at the police station, both with their wrists bound to the table. Korra narrowed her eyes onto the fair-skinned girl, who seemed to be rather meek compared to earlier, not willing to look her in the eye.

"Okay, let's back things up here…" she insisted of the girl across from her, "You're not a cop, you're not a bender…" she listed off, "so who are you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Just then, the door was slid open, getting their attentions. Entering was an armored, aged woman with short grey hair and a pair of small scars upon her right cheek. She narrowed her eyes onto the detained pair, holding up a clipboard in her hand.

"Let's see…" she said, walking around the table and approaching Korra first, "Multiple counts of destruction of private and city property, not to mention evading arrest…" she listed off, slamming the clipboard onto the table as she angrily glared at the startled Avatar, "You're in a whole mess of trouble, young lady…" she informed her.

"But there were some thugs threatening a helpless shopkeeper, and I had it—!"

"Can it!" the officer interjected aggressively, walking over to the other side of the table, "You should have called the police and stayed out of the way," she pointed out calmly.

"But I couldn't just sit by and do nothing…" Korra noted in a slightly pleading tone as a retort, "It's my duty to help people," she added as the policewoman put the clipboard down onto the table gently, "See… I'm the Avatar," she said with a little smile.

"Oh, I am well aware of who you are," the officer affirmed in response, unimpressed as her arms were crossed, "And your Avatar title might impress some people," she continued while waving her fingers in contempt before leaning in, "but not me," she stated in a hardened voice.

"Um… Miss Beifong?" the kunoichi chimed in, getting her attention.

"Oh, I almost forgot you got caught up in this whole mess," she admitted as Korra blinked in confusion, "Sorry, kid," she apologized, "But protocol's protocol," she pointed out.

"I understand…" the straight-haired girl responded, lowering her head with shame.

"Wait… Beifong?" the Avatar said, "As in Lin Beifong?" she guessed, letting off a smile, "You're Toph's daughter!" she realized.

"What of it?" the chief questioned back.

"Well then, why are you treating me like a criminal?" Korra asked on, "Avatar Aang and your mother were friends," she pointed out, "They saved the world together," she added.

"That's ancient history," Lin retorted aggressively, "And it's got diddly squat to do with the mess you're in right now," she mentioned, raising the volume of her voice, "You can't just waltz in here and dole out vigilante justice like you own the place!" she shouted angrily, stretching her left arm out to emphasize her point. She then looked over to the kunoichi beside her, exhaling a sigh. "As for you…" she continued, flicking her right hand and making the captive's cuffs unlock, freeing her wrists, "I'm guessing you were just trying to help keep things from getting worse for our little friend here," she presumed as the young woman stood up.

"Yes…" she confirmed in reply. Korra blinked rapidly.

"Okay… you know her?" she inquired of Lin, quite surprised, "Who the heck are you?" she asked of the kunoichi. Just then, a peephole was bent open in the metal wall, revealing one of the officers there.

"Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here," he informed to his superior. Both Korra and her fellow captive grimaced. Lin sighed.

"Let him in," she advised out of annoyance. As the peephole closed, the metal panels opened behind her and the kunoichi to reveal Tenzin walking in. He immediately widened his eyes to see the dark blue-haired girl there.

"Hinata…" he uttered out.

"H-Hello, Tenzin…" she stuttered in greeting, "Um… I…" she tried to say, only for the airbending master to take on a dismayed expression.

"Ben put you up to this, didn't he?" he presumed, causing Korra to blink in surprise again.

"He only asked that I make sure Korra got to Air Temple Island to meet with you," the kunoichi confirmed in response.

"Gah…" Tenzin groaned out, "I specifically told him not to worry about that for the time being…" he noted in frustration, "I suppose he gave Korra a UT for you to find her, yes?" he guessed.

"Okay, please back up…" the Avatar chimed in pleadingly, "Tenzin, who is that?" she asked, pointing at Hinata.

"This is Hinata Hyuga," the airbending master introduced, gesturing to the young woman, "She's another one of Ben's companions from the multiverse," he mentioned.

"And she was going to try and make sure I got to the island before any of this could happen…" Korra realized, "Oh…" she uttered in embarrassment, sucking in air through her teeth as she winced. Tenzin inhaled a deep, frustrated breath through his nose before turning to Lin with an arched eyebrow. He then gave her a smile.

"Lin, you are looking radiant as usual," he complimented in a charming tone to her.

"Cut the garbage, Tenzin," she retorted aggressively, "Why is the Avatar in Republic City?" she questioned, "I thought you were supposed to be moving down to the South Pole to train her," she noted in recollection.

"My relocation has been delayed," he responded seriously, lowering his gaze toward Korra, who looked down guiltily, "The Avatar, on the other hand," he continued through a bit of a snarl, "will be heading back to the South Pole immediately, where she will stay put," he declared firmly.

"But—!"

"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra," the airbending master requested, interrupting her, "I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events and cover all the damages," he promised. Pondering the suggestion for a moment, Lin glanced over her shoulder toward the Avatar, who was still looking down at the table. She then turned back with a sigh, nonchalantly raising her left hand to open the cuffs binding her captive's wrists to the table.

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms, "Get her out of my city…" she insisted in an aggressive whisper.

"Always a pleasure, Lin," Tenzin calmly replied, "Let's go, Korra," he advised in a hardened tone to the Avatar, "You too, Hinata," he added on to the kunoichi.

"Y-Yes, sir…" the latter of the two stammered. The pair followed him out, with Korra rubbing her wrists. As she passed Lin, they both eyed each other with discontent. The police chief pointed with her index and pinkie at her eyes and back to the Avatar, glaring at her all the while.

As the metal wall slid open for those departing to leave through, Korra eyed Lin in malcontent herself. She bent over and exaggeratedly mimicked the police chief's gesture to keep an eye on her, picking up speed and leaving the room with an upheld head. Lin was bewildered momentarily, but she stuck up her nose and assumed a dismayed looked, crossing her arms again as she let out a soft grunt. As the Avatar continued down the hall after Tenzin, she glanced over to Hinata, narrowing her eyes. For what had happened earlier, the kunoichi was someone strong, especially if she was a friend of Ben's. And there was quite a bit still bothering her…

In spite of all the troubles Korra got herself into, she did manage to convince Tenzin that training under him at Air Temple Island was for the best, though with a few extra precautions in place. One of those would be Hinata's presence, much to her chagrin. It wasn't as if Korra disliked the kunoichi. But rather, she hated how as a bodyguard amongst those on Air Temple Island, she seemed rather meek…

However, that opinion would soon change during one fateful ordeal…

X

Korra's training did not start off so well… She was impatient and impulsive, even going far as to destroy the training mechanism that was being used to teach her the fundamentals of airbending. But it wasn't as if those lessons weren't teaching her in other ways.

She ended up going to see pro-bending matches at the arena across the water, making friends with the likes of Bolin and Mako. And through getting to play in matches with them, she started to understand the lessons she was being taught, putting them into practice and growing all the stronger. And with improvements come new interests…

The airbending gates on Air Temple Island spun around thanks to the gusts of wind produced by both Jinora and Ikki at dusk. Korra was on the other side of the gates with Hinata standing beside her, watching as the Avatar jogged towards the gates. She elegantly weaved her way through the spinning panels, twirling around and avoiding every potential point of contact.

"Good! Light on your feet!" Jinora called out, seeing Korra spin out onto the other side without being touched once by the gates. What once was quite a challenge for her had turned into something she could manage. She put her hands onto her knees, catching her breath.

"You're getting a lot better," the kunoichi noted as she approached, getting the Avatar's attention.

"Thanks," she exhaled, "Between the pro-bending training and Tenzin showing me the ropes, I'd say I'm getting there," she noted confidently.

"There's still a couple things you'll need to work on," Jinora pointed out, "You have to make sure your body's constantly balanced and isn't pushing back against outside forces," she explained.

"Yeah, I think I got that," Korra assured, "Maybe she oughta' try," she suggested, gesturing to the Byakugan user, who blinked in surprise.

"M-Me?" she stuttered out, "But… I'm not—"

"Hey, my bodyguard might as well be on my level if she's gonna help protect me from… whatever," the Avatar interjected with a smirk, "Even if you're not a bender, you might as well get the same exercise," she advised on, folding her arms over her chest. Hinata turned to Ikki and Jinora, who both shrugged.

"Huh…" she sighed out. Moments later, she was on the other side of the airbending gates, with the two girls creating gusts of wind to make them start spinning. Korra stood beside the kunoichi, seeing her take a deep breath to relax herself.

"Don't feel bad if you don't get it on the first try," she remarked to her bodyguard, "Believe me, I needed time to figure out how to get through even after—" Hinata charged in, interjecting her words as she weaved around the panels, barely avoiding getting grazed by them while twirling elegantly with the flow of the wind. "Wha…?" the Avatar uttered, widening her eyes. A few quick seconds later, the Byakugan user made it to the other side, not being touched once by the gates.

"Hoo…" she exhaled afterward.

"Woohoo, that was great!" Ikki exclaimed.

"Yeah, you looked like a natural," Jinora complimented, causing the kunoichi to smile and giggle a little.

"How did you do that…?" Korra asked as she jogged over, "I mean, I barely could get halfway without touching the panels a week ago and you just…" she continued, completely astonished.

"Part of it is from watching you, but it's also from my own training," Hinata explained in response, "My fighting style isn't so dissimilar to airbending, honestly," she mentioned, looking at her right hand, "The Gentle Fist allows for me to overwhelm my opponents and simultaneously counter them," she added on.

"And what about your fancy eyes?" the Avatar questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"I didn't need the Byakugan for this," she affirmed, giving off a smile. Korra looked somewhat annoyed, crossing her arms again. Meanwhile, both Jinora and Ikki leaned to their left upon noticing something behind the pair of young women. Coming up the steps to the training grounds was none other than Mako.

"Ooh, he's cute…" Jinora noted, getting Korra and Hinata's attentions, "Korra, is that the handsome firebender boy that drives you crazy?" she inquired of the Avatar, who glanced back to see Mako approaching. She grimaced with embarrassment.

"Does he drive you crazy in a bad way," Ikki started to ask, making Korra glare at her and her older sister, "or does he drive you crazy like you like him~?" she sang in question. Almost instantaneously, the Avatar stamped the ground with her left foot, raising the earth underneath the sisters and catapulting them into the air, causing Hinata to squeak in surprise. As her teammate pulled up, she turned to face him and cleared her throat.

"Ahem," she coughed, "Oh. Hey, Mako…" she greeted as the giggling sisters landed softly in the background thanks to their airbending.

"You seen Bolin?" the firebender asked, short and direct.

"Nice to see you, too…" Korra replied sarcastically, pausing for a moment as she glanced off to the side with concern, "And no. I haven't seen him since practice," she noted in a softer tone, "Think something's wrong?" she assumed.

"I don't know…" Mako responded as he shook his head before looking to his right, "Bolin has a knack for getting into stupid situations…" he muttered, letting out a sigh, "See you later," he said, turning around.

"Wait," Korra called out with a raise of her hand, walking after him, "I could, uh… help you look for him," she offered.

"Nah, I got it," the firebender affirmed, raising his own hand to brush her off. However, she grabbed him by his left sleeve to make him stop.

"Hey, cool guy, let me help you," she insisted with a smile, "We can take Naga," she assured.

"Who's Naga?" Mako asked, sounding intrigued.

"My best friend," Korra responded while proudly pointing to herself, "And a great tracker," she added as Hinata approached.

"I can help, too," she affirmed, getting their attentions.

"And… is this Naga?" Mako presumed.

"Uh, this is actually Hinata…" Korra corrected in introduction, gesturing to her bodyguard, "And she doesn't need to worry about this," she added firmly. The kunoichi blinked before giving off a soft glare.

"The last time I checked, I was supposed to be your personal bodyguard at all times," she retorted, causing the Avatar to grimace.

"Bodyguard, huh?" Mako repeated with a smirk, "So that's why she's always around at practice…" he realized.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Korra grumbled as she threw her arms up, "Just… don't get in the way, please…" she requested in annoyance. Hinata exhaled a sigh. She didn't understand why the Avatar disliked her company at this point, knowing that she had to be looked after at all times in case something happened. In any case, she would join her and Mako in their search for Bolin through the city.

After learning that he had gotten involved with the Triple Threat Triads earlier that day, followed by finding his pet fire ferret, Pabu, the trio arrived at what was the gang's headquarters. Mako sneaked up to the door, pressing his back against the door post while peering into the window. Hinata did the same on the opposite side. The firebender then signaled to Korra that it was okay to approach.

She just casually strolled up to the double-doors, forsaking any form of sneaking up and kicking them down out of their hinges. Her colleagues peered inside out of surprise. They saw that the room was empty, with broken furniture lying about.

"Bolin?" Mako called out, "You in here?" he asked.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home…" Korra noted aloud, "Sure there isn't another place these guys meet up?" she inquired of the firebender, who was checking for any clues to his brother's whereabouts.

"Let me try something," Hinata insisted, raising her right hand in front of her face in the form of a tiger seal, closing her eyes momentarily. When they opened, they became intensely concentrated with veins bulging around them. The Avatar beside her grimaced with disgust.

"Gah… I hate it when you do that…" she muttered out. Ignoring her, the kunoichi looked around carefully, followed by glancing toward the end of the room, narrowing her eyes.

"There's a truck out back with some motorcycles," she confirmed to her colleagues' surprise as they came over, "And there are people tied up in it…" she mentioned, causing Korra and Mako to widen their eyes and look at each other. All of a sudden, they heard an engine roar to life outside. Promptly, the Avatar kicked down the back door for her and her comrades to exit, just in time to see the aforementioned truck and motorcycles driving off. The back doors of the main vehicle were still open, revealing Bolin being held captive alongside a few other men, gagged and tied up.

"Bolin!" Mako yelled out just as the doors were closed by one of the masked figures in the truck, which started driving off. The group started to run in pursuit of them, only for two of the masked figures upon the motorcycles to pull out and toss grenades towards them. They hit the ground and exploded with a bright flash, producing a thick green smog that shrouded them. As the masked figures drove off through the smog, they failed to notice Hinata taking a ready stance, swiftly palming at the air to blow the veil apart. Korra coughed for a moment, as did Mako.

"Nice one…" she complimented of the kunoichi, "We'll handle the rest," she decided, "Naga, come!" she called out to her polar bear dog as she started running with Mako, jumping aboard her pet companion as she chased after the vehicles. The truck swerved around a corner, followed by the motorcyclists. The pursuing party was still after them, as the firebender blasted flames out at the masked figures aboard the motorcycles. They swerved to evade the fire, still hurrying down the street.

Korra then took action, bringing up her arms to bend the earth ahead and form cracks in the street. The tailing motorcyclist evaded the cracks, followed by getting catapulted into the air by a ramp the Avatar had formed. However, the rider landed safely and continued to follow the rest of the escaping party.

They dashed into an open square out of the alley they were heading down. Two of the motorcyclists fell back, one swerving to the left, while the other screeched to a spinning halt, throwing a bola at the incoming Naga. Her feet were instantly ensnared mid-stride, crashing to the ground as those aboard her went flying off from her back.

They fell to the ground, tumbling to a stop. Mako slid on his back up to a kneeling Korra, letting out a pained groan. They both looked up to see the two masked motorcyclists leap towards them, twisting in the air to land at opposite sides of the pair, who both got onto their feet. The female of the two rushed out at the Avatar with no hesitation, enticing her to immediately ignite her fist with fire and shoot off a blast at her incoming attacker. She elegantly evaded it by jumping over it, twisting several times in the air before closing in, much to her foe's surprise.

She attempted another fire blast, but it was evaded as her opponent started hand-to-hand combat with her, aiming for her head. She averted the course with her left hand, retaliating with a fire blast again, but it was ducked under. The masked figure locked arms with her enemy, who threw another fire punch, only for her foe to lean back to dodge it again, knocking the Avatar's hand to the side.

Using her sideways movement to her advantage, Korra spun around in an attempt to land a full moon fire kick, but that too was avoided as her masked attacker moved to the left. She tried a high fire kick at her enemy's head, but she not only reciprocated the move as a counter, but also curled her leg around her foe's to entrap her, leaving her right side vulnerable as she pulled it down. She delivered four continuous jabs to the Avatar up her hip and arm before backing away.

"Ah…!" Korra gasped out as she staggered, grabbing her arm wide-eyed, wondering what had just happened to her as she could only feel a numbness coursing through the right side of her upper body.

But she was still determined to win. She madly charged the masked female with her left hand ablaze, firing off a blast. Her foe evaded, followed by flipping over a low-aimed fire arc and hopping to dodge a fire blast sent towards her feet. They ran toward each other, with the Avatar firing off more fire blasts, only for her opponent to keep dodging them.

Mako was unfortunately in a similar predicament, having found his right arm immobilized as he clutched it, grunting in pain momentarily. He quickly refocused as his masked male foe came at him, enticing him to launch a fire-fueled swing with his left him. However, his enemy easily ducked under the attack, twirling behind his back and swiftly delivering several quick jabs to his open left side up to his arm. Korra found herself taking the same attack from her own foe, causing her to stagger as she yelped. The masked female went ahead and hopped up, kicking the weakened Avatar back with two feet to her chest.

As she fell backward, so did Mako. He landed roughly on the ground with a heavy thud and groan, similar to that of Korra's. Both of them were completely immobile, seeing both of their foes twirling bolas as they approached menacingly. All of a sudden though, something flew in and pierced into the ground just in front of them. They looked to see that it was a kunai with a tag tied it. The tag itself glowed brightly before exploding in a cloud of grey smoke, veiling the area.

The masked attackers looked to each other in bewilderment, wondering where the weapon had come from. Before they could even think to do anything, Hinata suddenly rushed in, slamming her left palm into the stomach of the male of the two, sending him flying as the smoke was blown apart instantaneously. He tumbled through the air before bouncing off of the ground a couple of times, crashing into a nearby wall. His partner looked over to the kunoichi, whose eyes narrowed onto her as she took a ready stance.

The masked female twirled her bolas around, flipping around elegantly before flinging the weapons at her new foe. She charged in, ducking under the bolas and readying her palms. Her foe was prepared to block, but she quickly smacked her arms away with a swing of her left arm, allowing her to slam her right palm into her stomach unimpeded.

"GAAHHHH…!" she gasped out in agony, collapsing to her knees as she clutched her torso, trembling with agony. The Hyuga girl let the bulging veins around her eyes recede as they returned to normal.

"Who are you?" she asked of the masked woman, "And where are you taking those people?" she questioned on. With what little strength she could still muster, the female managed to roll out another smoke grenade, which promptly exploded into a green smog again. She and her partner were able to somehow get back on their motorcycles and flee the scene, though not without injury.

The smog cleared as Hinata looked out and exhaled a breath of relief. Naga had managed to free herself from her restraints, with her and Pabu going over to their respective owners. The kunoichi approached as well, helping the polar bear dog get Korra back onto her feet.

"I thought you said you had this handled…" she said to the Avatar, who grimaced with embarrassment.

"Well, you're the one who let those guys get away!" she argued, curiously eyeing her hands, "Ugh, I think that one did something to me…" she pointed out, raising her arms before punching out with her right one, only for nothing to happen. She gasped. "I can't bend…" she noted, trying again and failing still, "I can't bend!" she exclaimed, now sounding panicked.

"Calm down, it'll wear off," Mako assured, enticing to turn and see him standing up with a stern look upon his face, "Those guys were chi-blockers," he told the pair of young women while pulling his right glove tighter, "They're Amon's henchmen," he mentioned.

"Amon?" Korra repeated, "That anti-bending guy with the mask?" she guessed.

"Yeah, he's the leader of the Equalists," the firebender confirmed in response.

"What would they want with the Triple Threats?" Hinata inquired as she approached.

"Whatever it is…" Mako began, staring off in the direction that their foes had taken off down, "it can't be good," he affirmed, grabbing at his forehead, "Urgh, can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess!" he grumbled out of frustration, crossing his arms.

"Mako," Korra said, putting her right hand onto his left shoulder, getting his attention, "we are going to save your brother," she assured, "I promise you that," she vowed. The firebender kept his stern look, still frustrated.

"In the meantime, we should make sure you're in fighting shape in case we run into those chi-blockers again," Hinata advised as she approached, reactivating her Byakugan as her eyes became intensely concentrated again with veins bulging around them.

"Gah! Ew, ew, ew!" Korra exclaimed in disgust, "Can you please put away the creepy eyes for five seconds?" she insisted, covering her mouth with her right hand, "Ugh, you're making me sick…" she grumbled. From the kunoichi's perspective, she was peering into the Avatar's nervous system, seeing the damage dealt to her body by their attackers.

"Now I see…" she said, "I thought it was the case before, but I wasn't entirely sure," she admitted, causing Korra to perk up.

"What do you mean?" she asked. All of a sudden, the Hyuga girl jabbed her index and pointer fingers against the Avatar's left elbow. "OW!" she yelped in pain, grabbing at it, "What the heck?!" she yelled angrily, "If this is supposed to some sort of joke, it's not funny!" she shouted, raising her left fist as fire ignited upon it, "Wait… what?" she said upon noticing.

"You got your bending back…" Mako noted, surprised as well.

"In one arm at least," Hinata corrected, performing the same action on Korra's right arm as well, making her wince.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking to see that she was able to ignite a small flame upon her right hand as well, "What did you even see?" she inquired on as the Hyuga girl went to jab Mako's arms.

"In my world, we have a similar energy to perform jutsu called chakra," she answered, "Throughout the body, it channels through a network that my Byakugan can see," she mentioned further.

"And I'm guessing you saw a network that's like our chi," Mako assumed, testing his firebending as he shot of a blast of flames into the air, which dissipated.

"Exactly," Hinata responded in confirmation, "The way my clan fights, we attack the points of an opponent's chakra network to disrupt the flow of their chakra, preventing them from using any jutsu," she explained, "It's the same as how those chi-blockers fight," she pointed out.

"Which means you can fight back against them…" Korra realized, widening her eyes slightly.

"Guess we should be glad we brought you along," Mako noted with a grin.

"Uh, yeah…" the Avatar agreed, while the kunoichi smiled, "Still, we're kinda back to square one…" she noted with her arms folded over her chest, "But I might have an idea," she affirmed after a moment of thought.

X

After uncovering the upcoming Equalist event known as 'The Revelation', Korra, Mako and Hinata took it upon themselves to blend in with the non-bending crowd while looking for Bolin. What they didn't expect to find was to find out what Amon was capable of. The leader of the Equalists proclaimed that the spirits had given him the gift of being able to rob any person of their bending abilities.

While it sounded preposterous at first, he was able to quickly demonstrate that it in fact was true, taking the bending abilities of gangsters one after another. And Bolin is about to one of them. So what will our heroes do?

Time was running short with only so many benders left on stage for Amon to demonstrate his unbelievable power with. Mako had come up with the plan for Korra to provide cover with steam she'd conjure from the machines in the building. That way, he could easily get to Bolin without fear of having to fight anyone.

Meanwhile, Hinata was acting as a lookout from afar atop an adjacent building, planning to jump in whenever necessary. Her Byakugan eyes looked through the building, spotting the Avatar twisting the wheels of the pipework to make steam leak out, though she was only managing small puffs thus far. The kunoichi narrowed her concentrated eyes, followed by letting out a tiny gasp.

"Hey, you!" a voice called out from within the building, catching Korra's attention as she stood up to see the doorman from earlier approaching her, his size filling up the entire hallway and blocking off any possible exit in the direction he came from.

"Oh no…" Hinata uttered, jumping down from the building. Inside, Korra gave off an innocent look.

"Is there a problem, my brother?" she asked in a voice slightly higher pitched than normal.

"What are you doing back here?" the doorman questioned back gruffly.

"Uh… looking for the bathroom?" the disguised Avatar innocently responded, letting off a grin. However, the man was hardly convinced as he pulled out a large wrench in his right hand. The fake expression of innocence upon Korra's face changed to one of focus. The man swung the tool at her after twirling it around in his grasp. She nimbly ducked under his swing, evading the next attack as she came up behind him. He turned and aimed an overhead swing at her, which she dodged again as he hit the pipework.

Meanwhile, Mako was in the crowd back in the main hall, watching as Amon took another bender's bending away on stage. Only Bolin was left. The firebender grimaced, glancing over to where Korra had disappeared to in her effort to provide him cover.

"Come on…" he growled impatiently. Korra ducked underneath another violet swing of the doorman's wrench back in the hall, as he hit the pipes instead while also knocking off her hat. She took off her scarf and used it to tie around her foe's wrist as he aimed another swing at her. Before he could react, he was pulled into a turn, flinging his entire body hard against the machinery. The collision knocked off all of the vents holding down the steam, as the three opened pipes had the smoky substance pouring out from them.

"Thanks," the Avatar said lightheartedly, looking over at the mass of steam, "This should be enough," she affirmed.

"Over there!" a voice yelled, getting her attention as she saw a pair of chi-blockers running towards her. She took a ready stance, but all of a sudden, Hinata dashed in from behind her. She quickly palmed both enemies, knocking them down to the ground.

"I'll keep an eye out for anyone else," she promised. Blinking in surprise, Korra nodded with a grin. Onstage, Bolin was completely frightened as an Equalist guard moved toward him, undoing his ropes as he whimpered softly. Once freed, he was pulled to his feet and shoved forward, right as Amon had finished taking the bending away from another mobster. He slowly turned around amidst the loud cheering of the crowd, turning to face what was to be his last victim. The earthbender nervously had his fingertips pressed together.

"Uh, hello, Amon, sir…" he stuttered out, giving off a goofy grin in spite of his fear, "I think there's been a big misunderstanding…" he proclaimed, only for the Equalist leader to start his approach toward him. From the other side of the room, Hinata looked through the wall with her Byakugan.

"You don't have much time…" she noted over to Korra, who was bending the steam out from the pipes.

"Don't rush me…" she grumbled back. A focused look appeared upon her face. The moment she gathered enough steam, she directed it all front of her with a powerful swipe of her left hand. An explosion went off in the meeting hall, causing Bolin to reflexively duck for cover under loud screams of the crowd. Steam started pouring into the room, clouding everyone and everything that it engulfed.

Standing amidst the sudden veil, Amon backed away, vanishing completely. Meanwhile, the earthbender meant to be his last example was looking around himself, staying focused in case someone were to try and sneak up on him at any point. He backed up slowly, only to get grabbed from behind by an Equalist soldier, making him gasp. However, Mako suddenly emerged from the steam and grabbed the masked man, throwing him away over his shoulder.

"Bolin, you alright?" he quickly asked of his brother as he turned to him.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands in relief, "Mako! I love you!" he added happily as he extended his arms out for a hug. However, the firebender seized him around his neck and dragged him off into the steam. The two brothers were out of the factory moments later, busting a door open and scaring off several birds. "So Korra and that other girl are here, too?" Bolin inquired as they ran onto the balcony exit, about to climb down the ladder to the ground.

"Yeah," Mako replied, "You can thank Korra for the cover," he pointed out, climbing down after his brother, "At least you're safe now…" he added in relief. But as if he was tempting fate to throw a wrench in his plans, he glanced up and widened his eyes to see someone else upon the edge of the balcony, being another masked man with a backpack-like generator upon his back that had a pair of kali sticks in it. He took them out, twirling them into his grasp before slamming them onto the ladder. An electric charge surged through it, zapping the brothers as they screamed in pain, falling onto the ground hard as they landed with grunts.

Their new foe jumped down from the balcony, his kali sticks recharged. As he closed in on Mako and Bolin, they quickly took to their feet and leapt away, evading the attack as he slammed his weapons against the ground, releasing another electric surge that would've no doubt incapacitated them. They got to their feet, looking to each and wondering what to do next.

Mako raised his left fist, launching a jet of fire at the crouched man, who ran off to avoid the blast and close in on the firebender. He swiped at him with his weapons, electricity crackling off of them. As he rapidly swung them around and struck, his foe couldn't do anything to stop him. Eventually, with a few fast hits, Mako was floored in a heap. The Equalist then turned to Bolin.

He flipped forward, using his own momentum to hurl a slab of earth he bent up at his target with a focused grunt. However, he evaded it by jumping and twirling out of its path. He dodged another with a similar maneuver, followed by charging the earthbender, who was quite alarmed. He quickly conjured up a tall earth wall to defend himself, but the masked man performed a round off, back-flipping and somersaulting his way over it. He landed behind the shocked Bolin as he turned to face him, delivering a barrage of quick strikes with his kali sticks. He finished by jabbing his target in the chest, shocking him as he yelled with pain before falling to the ground unconscious.

The Equalist was ready to finish him off, but without warning, Mako emerged from beside the wall, having used the adjacent building to push himself off in his target's direction, launching a fire slice from his left foot. His foe dodged, and the firebender again kicked out another fire slice with a grunt of effort, knocking over his brother's earth wall in the process. However, his enemy rolled away from the attack, charging him once more. The two were swinging at air briefly with their attempted strikes, but the masked man managed to jab his kali stick against Mako's stomach, flinging him back as he let out a pained yelp. As he was pushed up against the wall, his opponent charged twirled both of his weapons, jabbing his chest and electroshocking him into unconsciousness as well. He slumped over onto the ground like his brother as their foe looked over them.

"You benders need to understand…" he began, "there's no place in the world for you anymore," he stated. All of a sudden, he felt a presence of something behind him. He whipped around and thrusted out his left kali stick, only for it to be caught in a black hand with bolts for fingertips. He blinked and gasped.

"Boy, you really like causing people trouble, huh?" the figure before him noted, being none other than Feedback, "What's up, Lieutenant?" he remarked in greeting as he grinned.

"You…" the Equalist growled out, "How did you find this place?" he asked.

"Friends of a friend," the Conductoid responded, keeping his grip tight on his foe's kali stick as electricity surged through his arm, "And thanks for the juice," he added gratefully, aiming his tail at his foe's chest. Before he could do anything, he was struck squarely by a blue beam of electricity, getting sent flying back before crashing onto the ground. Still holding the weapon in his hand, Feedback tossed it aside. Jogging into the alleyway were Korra and Hinata, as the former blinked in surprise.

"Wait… you called Ben here?" she inquired of the kunoichi, who was helping Mako back onto his feet as he slowly started regaining consciousness.

"I figured we were going to need help if it meant dealing with the Equalists," she pointed out in response.

"And we've dealt with them a few times," the Conductoid pointed out as he walked over, while Bolin awoke, sitting up. He looked over at the alien standing beside him.

"GAH!" he yelped out, crawling back up against the nearby building, "Uh… am I in a dream?" he inquired aloud.

"They're down there!" a voice yelled out from the balcony as more Equalist fighters were hurrying onto the scene.

"Oh, great…" Korra muttered, readying a fire dagger from her right fist. However, Feedback held his hand out to her.

"Don't worry, he's got this," he assured confidently.

"He?" the Avatar repeated, arching an eyebrow. As the Equalist soldiers started jumping down, another figure ran along the wall up to them. It was Naruto, who immediately went ahead and roundhouse kicked one of them upside the head, sending him crashing into another before they fell onto the ground in heaps. He landed down himself, watching as he found himself surrounded by his foes.

"Naruto…" Hinata uttered as she stood up with Mako. Her fellow shinobi looked around as a couple of the Equalists were twirling bolas they pulled out. One of them chucked theirs at him, attempting to ensnare him right away.

"Heh," he chuckled out, pivoting around and ducking down to evade the bola, crossing his fingers in a t shape, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed. Puffs of smoke burst forth around him, dissipating to reveal copies of himself. Korra widened her eyes, seeing the clones rush out and attack the Equalists, as one flip-kicked an enemy back, while another dodged two more bolas before landing a straight punch to his target's stomach.

"Whoa…" the Avatar uttered out. She then glanced over to Hinata, surprised to see how enamored she was by her fellow shinobi. More Equalists were starting to come out of the factory.

"Looks like we gotta book it…" Feedback realized. Reacting quickly, Korra whistled on her fingers.

"Naga!" she called out. With a bark, her polar dog came running out from behind a building down a ramp, jumping over the last of it before hurrying over to her owner. Hinata helped hand over Mako to the Avatar, while Naruto and his clones continued to fend off the Equalists. As Naga arrived, both Korra and the firebender boarded her.

"We'll catch up with you later," the kunoichi promised, taking on a ready stance as she turned to face the incoming Equalists.

"Right, thanks," the Avatar responded gratefully, whipping the reins she took hold of, enticing Naga to hurry off. Firing off electrical beams from his fingertips, Feedback shot down more of the group's enemies coming down from the balcony. Hinata leapt over to slam aside a few others with her palms. In the meantime, Bolin turned to see the polar dog galloping toward him.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" he shrieked again as he held his hands up protectively. Naga grabbed him by his collar with her teeth, dragging him off. "Hah… Oh… Yah… Stop…!" he gasped out, bounding along with Naga's strides, "I want… to be… on… your back… please!" he begged.

"HRAH!" Naruto roared as he knocked down three more Equalists with quick and powerful punches. Hinata palmed another aside, looking back to see that Korra and the others had successfully escaped.

"The Avatar… she was here…!" the lieutenant grunted out, bringing himself up to his knees.

"Time to go," Feedback decided, landing beside the pair of shinobi as he hopped over.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, quickly reaching into his pouch behind him to pull out an object, which he threw onto the ground to cause a burst of smoke to plume. The incoming Equalists ran toward the veil, only for it to clear to reveal that their multiversal foes had disappeared as well.

"They can't have gotten far!" one soldier pointed out.

"Yeah, we can catch the Avatar!" another proclaimed, about to head off.

"Let them go," Amon's voice suddenly instructed as he was standing upon the balcony, having watched the ordeal unfold, "The Avatar will be the perfect messenger to tell the city of my power…" he pointed out confidently.

X

"Huh…" Korra exhaled as she and Hinata had returned to Air Temple Island later that evening. She rubbed her arms as she was ready to head to her room for the night, about to hopefully take a long rest. But her mind was racing. She had seen firsthand the kind of power that Amon possessed. And it frightened to think what would happen if he somehow got ahold of her.

"Hey…" the kunoichi alongside her chimed in, getting her attention as she placed her hand onto her shoulder, only for the Avatar to flinch and move away, "Sorry…" her bodyguard apologized, "Is everything okay?" she asked in concern. Korra blinked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah…" she claimed in response, turning away, "I just… can't believe Amon's able to do that…" she admitted as she folded her arms underneath her chest. Hinata noticed but the slightest of trembles from her colleague.

"Naruto, Ben and I had never seen him before tonight…" she pointed out, "We normally just helped deal with stopping Equalist attacks around small neighborhoods in the city," she mentioned on, "Now that things are coming to light, I guess that we'll be taking on more when it comes to them," she concluded.

"Yeah, that's… that's good," Korra said, heading off to Hinata's surprise, "Goodnight," she remarked with a wave.

"…If you ever need to talk about anything…" the kunoichi began to offer, causing the Avatar to stop in surprise, "let me know," she requested, "I want to help you, Korra," she affirmed. A moment of silence passed before Korra trudged along, not bothering to say a word. Sighing, Hinata turned to look toward the night sky. Troubling times seemed to be ahead for Republic City. And that seemed to be what troubled the Avatar the most…

Nightmares of Amon stealing her bending abilities plagued Korra's mind. And yet she tried to dissuade those fears by facing him head on, only to almost end up in his clutches when she faced him by herself. She felt so terrified, but she had people who were willing to help talk her down, like Hinata.

As time passed, the Equalists' attacks ramped up with each passing instance. Attacking the pro-bending arena during the championship finals, being uncovered to have created mech suits under the genius Hiroshi Sato, and many other attacks involving benders and non-benders being at odds. There was a task force created to help subdue Equalist activity under one of Republic City's councilmen, Tarrlok. But it turned out he was corrupt as well, abusing his power to threaten non-benders who weren't even Equalists.

After he had Bolin, Mako, Asami, Naruto and Ben arrested when they were only trying to help stop such oppressive acts, Korra and Hinata went to go meet with him that same night. And that night would provide another troubling revelation…

It had been a busy evening for Tarrlok. Between his new law going into effect to being confronted by Korra and her friends, he had a lot to deal with. Working in his office with a decorative waterfall flowing behind him and his page, the window suddenly burst open, with a gust rushing in and blowing a stack of papers at his desk everywhere as he flinched. He looked over to see none other than the Avatar there, along with Hinata.

"We need to talk," she said sternly, jumping in with her friend as they approached the desk. The councilman's face started to contort with anger.

"Are any of the other council members here?" he asked of his page.

"I believe everyone has gone home for the night," he answered.

"Then you should do the same," he advised in response. His assistant's eyes shifted with concern.

"Are you… sure, sir?" he inquired.

"Leave us," the councilman instructed firmly. The page looked over at Korra and Hinata before glancing back at Tarrlok. He then bowed and quickly walked away.

"You should know why we're here," the kunoichi pointed out, giving off somewhat of a glare to the councilman. He huffed, looking over to the Avatar.

"You obviously have something on your mind, don't you?" he presumed of her, "Spit it out," he insisted.

"Don't you see?" Korra questioned, "You're doing exactly what Amon says is wrong with benders!" she pointed out, "You're using your power to oppress and intimidate people!" she added angrily.

"And you don't?" Tarrlok retorted with a tilt of his head. The Avatar was taken aback.

"Of…Of course not!" she shouted determinedly.

"Isn't that what you came here to do?" the councilman guessed, "Intimidate me into releasing your friends?" he presumed on, causing her to glare at him, "See, that's what I admire about you, Korra," he pointed out, "Your willingness to go to extremes in order to get what you want," he emphasized, "It is a quality we both share," he mentioned with a grin.

"You and I are nothing alike!" the Avatar angrily yelled. However, Hinata put a hand onto her shoulder, enticing her to calm down.

"Look… I'll make you a deal," Tarrlok offered, "You fall in line and do what I say…" he continued, "and I'll release your friends," he promised.

"So that's why you arrested them…" Hinata realized as she stepped forward.

"I don't need your answer," the councilman said, "I need hers," he noted, looking over to Korra. There was a short pause. The Avatar closed her eyes for a moment.

"No," she refused seriously, "You might be able to manipulate Chief Saikhan into following you, but it won't work on me," she affirmed. The kunoichi smiled at her, while Tarrlok stood up from his desk and turned his back to them.

"You will regret that decision…" he growled out angrily to the girls' surprise.

"You need to be stopped!" Korra shouted, "You're just as bad as Amon!" she pointed out. The councilman's eyes widened with rage, shaking.

"I've tried to work with you, Korra…" he told the Avatar, "but you've made it impossible," he noted. At that moment, he whipped around, bending a slicing stream of water from the waterfall that slashed through the desk towards the girls. They both moved to opposite sides to dodge, as Korra barely wound up evading the attack, losing only a small section of her ponytail.

She rolled and hopped forward, swinging her arms up and earthbending the floor up to her foe, striking him and making him slam against the wall behind the waterfall in a pained grunt. She then raised her arms with a hop and thrusted them forward upon landing, unleashing streams of fire towards Tarrlok. He quickly bent a dome of water around himself, shielding his body from the flames as steam billowed upon their impact. As the flames subsided, he grinned sadistically, thrusting his hands forward repeatedly to shoot sharp shards of ice towards his foe. She flipped back to try and dodge them, but wound up getting grazed as she landed, letting out a pained yelp. She then attempted to punch the ice darts to pieces, only to end up nicked at her left hip by one, yelping again.

"Korra!" Hinata cried out as she leapt over, activating her Byakugan and landing in front of the Avatar. The attacking councilman blinked in surprise to see her wave her arms around with her palms out, releasing streams of chakra from her palms that slashed through the incoming ice shards shot her way. Thanks to that, Korra was able to twist her body around powerfully in a grunt of effort, bending the wall that was behind the waterfall Tarrlok was using. He took notice too late, attempting to get away but was unfortunately struck.

He crashed through the wall into the council chambers, trying to right himself, but tripped over the railing as he started falling. Thankfully, he managed to grab hold of the railing with his left hand. Strands of his hair went loose over his face as he glared, hearing the approaching footsteps of his foes.

"Still think I'm a half-baked Avatar?!" Korra inquired rhetorically, bending the floor up to the railing to break it, causing the councilman to fall to the ground as he tumbled over a few tables.

"Korra, be careful…" Hinata advised of the Avatar.

"Yeah, got it," she responded, jumping down and punching the ground hard, blowing away all of the tables while creating a large hole in the floor. She breathed heavily with anger.

"Huh…" the kunoichi sighed, hopping down to join her as they approached their foe.

"What are you gonna do now?" Korra inquired of him, "You're all out of water, pal," she pointed out. Tarrlok crawled back in fear as the Avatar readied fireballs over her palms threateningly. She ran at him, intending to finish the fight with one last blow. However, the councilman got onto his feet and held his hands just as she approached, with her flames flying past him as she froze up.

"Korra?" Hinata gasped out. She could hear her colleague wincing with pain. All of a sudden, her arms started to contort, along with the rest of her body as she was brought to her knees. The kunoichi saw that Tarrlok was moving his arms all the while, even though there was no water for him to bend.

"You're in my way, Avatar…" he growled, "And you need to be removed…" he mentioned with a glare.

"What are you doing to her?!" Hinata shouted in question as she lunged out, attempting to palm the councilman. He evaded her first few blows before ducking from a kick, followed by sticking his left hand out at her. Just as she was about to strike, her body suddenly froze as well. "Ah!" she yelped in pain, being brought down to her knees, just like Korra, who was completely shocked.

"You're…You're a… bloodbender?!" she inquired, trying to get control of herself.

"Very observant…" Tarrlok remarked in confirmation.

"It's… not a full moon…!" Korra gasped out as she and Hinata continued to struggle against his control, "How…How are you… doing this?!" she questioned, quite panicked.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me…" the councilman responded. The kunoichi tried to resist as she was starting to bring herself back up to her feet, groaning all the while. However, Tarrlok took notice and immediately flexed his fingers. The vessels around Hinata's eyes bulged.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in agony, falling to the ground and losing consciousness.

"HINATA!" Korra cried out, "What did you just do to her?!" she asked angrily of the bloodbender. Now with his full attention onto the Avatar, he twisted her body and had her fly across the room into a pillar. She hit with a grunt, falling the floor. She slowly started to lose consciousness as the councilman approached her, fainting as he reached out.

Within that time she was passed out, visions flashed through her head of the same council chambers in the past. She had such visions before. Visions of a man who was seemingly bloodbending the likes Sokka, Toph, and Aang as he laughed with determination in his eyes. Sluggishly waking up as she groaned, Korra looked to see Hinata beside her, bound in rope as she was still unconscious. Stains were underneath her shut eyes, though they looked red.

"Hinata…" Korra uttered, "Hinata, are you okay?!" she asked in a panic. She then discovered that her own arms and legs were bound in rope. Hearing a door shut, she looked over to see Tarrlok at the back of the vehicle she and her friend had been put in. "Where are you taking us?" she questioned of him, getting his attention.

"Somewhere no one will find you," he answered, causing her to give off a furious expression, "Say goodbye to Republic City, Avatar Korra," he remarked, "You'll never see it again…" he affirmed. Just as Korra launched a blast of fire from her mouth, he managed to shut the doors in time as he shielded his head in case fire had reached. He slammed his right fist against the door in frustration before walking over to the driver's side of the vehicle.

"You can't do this!" the Avatar roared as the car's engine came to life, "Let us out!" she demanded, "GAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed angrily as she and the kunoichi were being driven off, away from City Hall and into the distance.

Due to Tarrlok's unique bending ability, both Korra and Hinata were subdued and captured, taken an isolated location just outside of Republic City. While Tarrlok himself worked to cover his tracks and shift blame for their disappearance onto the Equalists, Korra started to finally look into the many visions she was having around the life of the previous Avatar, Aang.

As it turned out years ago, a criminal with a unique bending ability of bloodbending was encountered by Aang. His name was Yakone. Aang had fought against him and took his bending away thanks to his own Avatar abilities. However, that didn't prevent Yakone from forming a new plan… with his own children. And one of them just so happened to be the councilman that captured Korra…

Now will she and Hinata break free? Well, let's find out…

X

"Agh…" Hinata groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She winced briefly as she tried to focus her vision, blinking a couple of times. She then saw Korra sitting beside her as they were inside what appeared to be a metal box. "Korra…?" she uttered, letting out another wince.

"Hinata!" the Avatar gasped, reaching over gently to grab her cheeks, "Are you alright?" she inquired, "Can you see me?" she questioned on.

"Yeah… I…I can see you…" the kunoichi assured in response slowly, leaning back, "Where are we…?" she asked.

"Tarrlok got us…" Korra answered, "He was able to use bloodbending to catch us off guard and bring us here…" she pointed out.

"Bloodbending…" Hinata repeated, "Doesn't that only—?"

"Work during a full moon?" the Avatar finished for her, "Yeah, that's what I thought, too," she admitted, "But Tarrlok's different," she noted, "He's unique," she mentioned.

"What does that mean?" the kunoichi asked. Korra sighed. She told her colleague about the visions she had and meditated upon while she was asleep. For Hinata, it was surprising to know that the councilman was the son of a criminal. But at the same, it now made sense.

"Seriously, are you doing okay?" the Avatar asked in concern, making the Hyuga girl blink in surprise, "I feel like you got the worst of Tarrlok's bloodbending…" she noted, "It looked like your eyes were… bleeding…" she recalled grimly. The kunoichi let off a smile.

"I'm fine…" she reassured, "To be honest, I didn't think you'd be so worried about me…" she admitted, "After all, you're the Avatar, and I'm just your bodyguard," she pointed out. Korra let out a dry laugh.

"Hey, you're really strong," she complimented, "So seeing you get all messed up like that really got me worried…" she confessed.

"Thank you," Hinata said, sharing a giggle with her, "So how do we get out of here now?" she inquired on. At that moment, they heard a door open. They stood up as the stairs creaked with each step made by none other than Tarrlok.

"My life is a disaster now, thanks to you…" he snarled out as he approached the metal box.

"So your little bloodbending secret's out?" Korra assumed with a smirk, while Hinata activated her Byakugan, gauging their surroundings. The councilman let off a growl of frustration, walking away. "And I know how you bloodbent me without a full moon," the Avatar mentioned, causing Tarrlok to stop, "You're Yakone's son," she said. There was a brief pause.

"I was his son," he corrected, "but in order to win Republic City… I had to become someone else," he pointed out, "My father failed because he tried to rule the city from its rotten underbelly…" he told his captives, "My plan was perfect," he proclaimed, "I was to be the city's savior…" he affirmed, "But you…" he growled out, "you ruined everything!" he yelled with a swing of his arm.

"Tarrlok, the jig is up and you have nowhere to go," Korra stated, while Hinata narrowed her focused eyes as she peered upward.

"Oh no," the councilman retorted, "No, I'll escape and start a new life," he decided as he headed up the stairs, "And you're coming as my hostages," he mentioned.

"You'll never get away with this!" the Avatar roared as she pounded the door of the metal box with her right fist. However, Hinata suddenly grabbed her by her shoulder, enticing her to stop. She looked over to her. "What? What is it?" she asked.

"We have a new problem…" the kunoichi responded grimly. As he made his way to the top of the steps, Tarrlok gasped with widened eyes as he saw Amon, his lieutenant and several chi-blockers waiting for him.

"Amon!" he exclaimed, causing Korra to gasp upon overhearing.

"It is time for you to be equalized," the Equalists' leader stated as his subordinates all took fighting stances behind him, drawing their respective weapons.

"You fool!" Tarrlok laughed out with a smirk, readying his hands, "You've never faced bending like mine…" he noted. As his foes approached, he quickly took control of their bodies, causing them to crumple over and fall to the floor, with bolas going flying away in the process. The councilman grinned, but then noticed something alarming. Amon was walking forward, albeit with a minor struggle.

Redoubling his efforts, Tarrlok managed to slow him down. But he was still resisting, moving one foot forward before continuing normally, as if nothing was forcing him back. Tarrlok started stepping back in horror.

"What…?" he uttered out before hitting the wall behind him, "What are you?" he asked in a surprised whisper.

"I am the solution," Amon responded simply. He then reached out and grabbed the councilman's arm, twisting him around until finding himself behind his target. He grabbed him by the base of his neck, forcing him to his knees. Following that, he moved his left hand toward Tarrlok's forehead, as he widened his eyes with horror again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in anguish as Korra and Hinata overheard from downstairs.

"He got him…" the former of the two girls realized, quite shocked. Upstairs, Tarrlok collapsed onto the floor with wide open eyes. The other Equalists groaned as they got back onto their feet. Amon lifted the councilman over onto his shoulders.

"I'll take care of him," he decided, "You four retrieve the Avatar," he instructed, "Do not underestimate her," he advised on as the entrapped girls listened from below, "Electrocute the box to knock her out before open it," he mentioned.

"What about the other girl with her?" his lieutenant asked.

"Kill her," Amon responded bluntly, causing both girls to widen their eyes. Time was running short for them.

"My pleasure," the lieutenant said before he and the others started heading downstairs. Korra looked around, trying to think of a solution to this new predicament. She looked up at the bars at the top of the box, as did Hinata, followed by glancing to the bands upon her arms. Without so much as a word, the two girls nodded to each other. "It's payback time," the lieutenant remarked, drawing his kali sticks and using them to zap the metal box.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" both Korra and Hinata yelled from inside. Though in actuality, they were faking their pain. Having used the Avatar's armbands, the two girls hung by holding onto them while having them wrapped around the bars above. As the electricity coursed through the box, the two desperately made sure to hang on and not touch anything metal. The hanging bulb above the box shattered just before the lieutenant stepped back, ceasing the shocking.

"Open the box," he instructed of the chi-blockers. One of them did as told, approaching the container and opening it to reveal both the Avatar the kunoichi seemingly lying unconscious on the floor. "Tie her up," the lieutenant ordered, "And kill the other one," he added. Both girls' eyes shot open. Korra was first to act, kicking a blast of fire from her left foot to blow her foes back. She rushed out from the box, enticing the Equalists to fling bolas her way. However, they were struck down by the kunai that Hinata threw, as she stood up as well. Somersaulting forward to gain momentum, the Avatar slammed her right fist against the ground, making it surge up to her enemies and knock them all down at once.

"Let's go!" Hinata called out, hurrying upstairs with her. Outside in the snowy weather, Amon was just placing Tarrlok in his truck. At that moment, he overheard a commotion from the house, causing him to whip around in surprise before he could close the back doors. The front door burst open as Korra had elbowed her way through with the kunoichi to follow. The Avatar locked eyes with the Equalists' leader as she landed. She grimaced with fright, not having the strength or will to face him now, especially after he apparently took Tarrlok's bending.

And Hinata could see that. She readied another kunai with an explosive tag, chucking it out toward Amon. It pierced into the ground just in front of him, promptly exploding. That allowed for both girls to start running in the opposite direction. The Equalists' leader ran through the smoke and flames after them, only to stop as he saw them leap off a steep slope of the mountain. He clenched his fists, while his subordinates approached.

"I thought I told you not to underestimate her…" he calmly scolded of them, much to their shame, "Then again, that otherworlder girl could prove troublesome as well…" he muttered on, narrowing his eyes under his mask.

Looking back while sliding down the mountain on her feet thanks to her waterbending, Korra bit her bottom lip with relief as she wasn't being pursued. However, she was hardly in a fair physical state, her eyes drooping with exhaustion. Sliding beside her, Hinata took notice, and then gasped.

"Korra, look out!" she yelled, causing the Avatar's eyes to jolt open too late as she tripped over a tree root, flying through the air. The kunoichi leapt over to catch her, sliding along the snow before they both slammed back into a tree, with clumps of snow landing upon them. "Agh…" she groaned, trying to bring herself back up, only to lose consciousness, as did her colleague. Sometime later as the snowfall had become a blizzard, Naga was in the area, sniffing around for a sign of her owner. Eventually, she found her and Hinata, running up to them. She licked the Avatar's face, waking her up.

"Naga…" she uttered, while Hinata stirred awake as well, "You came looking for us…" she realized, managing to sit up, "Good girl…" she said gratefully, while the polar bear dog licked the kunoichi as well. The two of them managed to board Naga, who carefully carried them back to the city.

Korra and Hinata were brought back safely to their friends. But the endgame for Amon and the Equalists was nigh at hand. With them taking out a council member, it was only a matter of time before they would enact an even greater attack on Republic City. And Korra and her friends would have to meet it head on…

X

The Equalists' laying of claim on Republic City gave way to everything spiraling out of control. Tenzin and his family were forced to flee from their home on Air Temple Island, Lin was captured and subsequently had her bending taken from her, and Korra and her friends were forced into hiding. There didn't seem to be a way they could turn the tide.

And to make matters worse, the United Forces that were called to help fight back against the Equalists were also handily subdued. That left Korra's situation to turn completely bleak. It seemed hopeless. But there was an out.

You see, Korra happened to come upon Tarrlok again, who was being imprisoned at Air Temple Island. And in turn, discovered another truth about his past: he was Amon's brother. As it turned out, Amon was another bloodbender like him. Only he was superior, somehow managing to use it in a way that could take another person's bending from them.

How would our heroes come to face that challenge? Well, we'll come to find out soon…

"RASENGAN!" Naruto roared, blasting open the door for him, Korra, Mako and Hinata to break through with Tenzin and his children. The four of them had just freed the airbenders before Amon could take their bending away as the main event of his rally at the pro-bending arena, having somehow captured them in spite of their escape from Air Temple Island. The initial plan for the group had been to expose the Equalist leader's true past as Yakone's son and that he was a bender. But it instead backfired, leading to a troubling situation.

"Get them out of here," Korra insisted of Tenzin, "We'll create a diversion," she promised. The airbending master nodded, looking to his children.

"Let's go get your mother and the baby," he advised of them.

"Prison break!" Meelo shouted out while raising his arms. He and his family ran in the opposite direction from the group, who looked back to see Amon coming out from the hole in the wall. Crossing his fingers, Naruto made several clones of himself appear in puffs of smoke, rushing out at the Equalists' leader, who started running towards them as well. As he did, Korra blocked off his path with a wall of flames she bent, followed by another around the corner as she turned it just to be safe. She hurried after her friends into another room to their left, not noticing all of the clones getting flung back and bursting in puffs of smoke against the wall.

Leaping through the flames, Amon looked to see where his enemies had gone. He could hear the swinging of the door nearby, turning and heading toward it. Inside the room that was under construction, Naruto drew out a kunai, hiding along with his colleagues as the Equalists' leader entered. He was hidden behind some crates on the room's second level, while Korra was under a section covered by a green tarp.

Her eyes shook as she could hear her foe's footsteps, seeing him approach and then stop for a moment. Sweat trickled down her face, hoping that he wouldn't find her. In that moment, he continued searching around, walking away.

"Huh…" the Avatar sighed quietly with relief. But suddenly, her body seized up as she was pulled out of the tarp thanks to Amon's bloodbending grip, being brought in front of him as he held his right hand out. She groaned with pain as she was lifted into the air, gritting her teeth.

"KORRA!" Hinata screamed as she leapt out from her hiding place, readying her right palm to strike the Equalists' leader. Unfortunately, she too fell victim to his control as her body seized up and froze in midair. She cried out in pain as her body began contorting like her eyes, with the veins around her eyes bulging.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he jumped over. Meanwhile, Mako ran out from a stack of wooden posts he had been hiding behind, launching a fire arc over at Amon, who avoided it.

"Let them go!" he yelled as he relentlessly unleashed blasts of flames to the Equalists' leader. He dodged each attack, followed by sticking his left hand out to bloodbend both him and the jinchuriki as well, causing them to freeze up and grimace. The latter of the two dropped his kunai onto the floor, which clattered at Amon's feet. He then slammed all four of his victims hard against the ground.

Hinata felt her body continue to disobey her as she couldn't bring herself to resist the control of the bloodbender. Blood was pricking her eyes as she looked over and saw Amon right Korra up in a kneeling position, walking around her. He grabbed her neck.

"No!" she gasped out.

"Korra…!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Damn it…!" Naruto cursed, clenching his teeth angrily.

"KORRA!" Mako shouted in horror. Amon placed his right hand upon the Avatar's forehead. Her eyes darted back and forth, realizing that there was no way to escape now. She let out a voiceless scream before being let go. Her body slumped onto the floor.

"I told you I would destroy you…" the Equalists' leader noted.

"Korra…" Hinata uttered in disbelief, her bleeding eyes shaking.

"You bastard!" Naruto roared out, bringing himself up to his knees.

"Interesting…" Amon said as he approached the jinchuriki, "No one's ever been able to resist my control like you," he pointed out, "Even if you are from another world…" he mentioned, "What makes you so special?" he wondered aloud, tightening his bloodbending grip on the blonde-haired shinobi.

"Naruto!" Hinata screamed in hour, seeing him grit his teeth in pain as his eyes were clenched shut. Amon started to walk around him, seemingly ready to attempt what he had done to Korra. But just before he could grab the jinchuriki by his neck, he suddenly whipped around with angered eyes of crimson, punching him hard in the stomach to send him flying back, causing him to crash against the wall and fall down in a grunt. With that, both Mako and Hinata felt the psychic grips on them cease, allowing them to get onto their feet.

"What… just happened?" the firebender asked, looking over at Naruto in bewilderment. The kunoichi trembled at the sight of her fellow shinobi's red eyes with slit, almost animal-like pupils. She knew what they meant, yet didn't want to make things worse than they already were by alarming her friends.

"Ugh…" Korra groaned, getting her attention. Mako went over to pick her up off of the floor, holding her like a princess. Meanwhile, Amon staggered forward, being faced by the growling Naruto.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he roared, lunging at him again. The bloodbender held his hands forward, making him halt his approach as his body froze mid-stride.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Mako insisted of her, causing her to perk up. She took one last look at her crush worriedly before hurrying off after the firebender as they left the room. Noticing, Amon let out an annoyed scoff. The jinchuriki managed to take a strong step forward, saliva uncontrollably flowing out from his mouth like an animal.

"I have no patience for someone like you…" the bloodbender remarked, swiping his hands to psychically fling Naruto hard against the wall. He fell down, crashing into some pallets and wood posts in a flurry of dust. With that, the Equalists' leader turned to the door, heading toward it. He didn't even take notice of the reddish glow coming from the dust where his foe had crashed.

In the meantime, Mako and Hinata were hurrying down the hall, with the former looking back every few seconds to make sure they weren't being followed. The latter looked over worriedly at Korra in his arms, seeing how weakened she appeared to be. After everything she had been through to try and stop the Equalists' reign of terror on Republic City, she was reduced to nothing in an instant.

"Guys… my bending…" Korra weakly uttered out, getting the attentions of her friends.

"Don't worry about that," Mako insisted, "Let's just get you out of here first," he insisted, turning the corner with Hinata. However, they screeched to a halt upon seeing the platoon of chi-blockers ahead of them, being led by the lieutenant. The firebender grimaced, while the kunoichi took a ready stance, though she winced as she activated her Byakugan. She stood firm though, ready to take on their foes no matter what state she was in physically. However, she blinked in surprise to see the group's superior pull off his mask.

"I saw what Amon did…" he noted to his enemies' surprise, "I followed and dedicated my life to him…" he mentioned, dropping the mask and stomping on it with his right foot, shattering the glass of the goggles, "Why would he lie about all of this?" he questioned, looking to his foes, who shared a glance with each other.

"Lieutenant," the Equalists' leader said, causing everyone to whip around to see him approaching, "What do you think you're doing?" he inquired of his mustached subordinate, who merely glared back at him. He drew his kali sticks from his generator pack, rushing forward. Hinata was prepared to attack, but he rushed past her, heading for Amon.

"TRAITORRRRR!" he roared. However, the bloodbender stuck his right hand out, instantly taking control of his subordinate's body as he was lifted into the air.

"You've served me well, Lieutenant…" he remarked, flinging him aside into the wall as he fell down onto the floor unconscious. The chi-blockers then rushed him, but one by one, they all fell victim to his bloodbending, getting telekinetically chucked about the hall like ragdolls. Amidst the commotion, Mako and Hinata kept running down the hall. However, the former suddenly found himself stopped, dropping Korra as she rolled and slid along the floor.

"Mako!" the kunoichi cried out as she turned around, seeing his body contort from Amon's bloodbending grip. He then found himself slammed onto the ceiling before getting chucked into the walls like a ragdoll. Hinata was about to go and help him, only to wind up suddenly under their foe's psychic hold as well.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" she shrieked with agony as the veins around her eyes bulged.

"Hinata…!" Korra gasped weakly. Meanwhile, Amon slowly approached Mako, righting him up onto his knees and making certain he was still under his bloodbending submission.

"After today, the whole world will see that benders will be no more…" he proclaimed, grabbing the firebender by his neck with his left hand before raising his right. The Avatar looked over, gasping and widened her eyes.

"No!" she exclaimed, bringing herself to her feet and instinctively throwing a punch forward, hoping that by some miracle, she could send a blast of fire or a mound of rock her foe's way. Neither happened. Instead, she unleashed a torrent of air, shooting down the corridor to send both Amon and Mako flying back. The former skidded further down the hall, while the latter brought himself to a stop, looking back at the Avatar in bewilderment.

"Korra…?" Hinata uttered as her eyes shook with amazement. In spite of his mask, the Equalists' leader was completely stunned.

"Impossible…!" he gasped out in shock. Korra was surprised herself, looking at her right hand as she leaned up against the wall.

"I…I can airbend?" she said, taking on a determined expression as she closed her extremity into a fist, "I can airbend!" she yelled while standing up straight. She then began sending a flurry of air blasts at Amon, who had no means to defend as he was slammed up against the walls and sent skidding further down the corridor until he reached the window. He growled, stretching his right hand out to the approaching Avatar. She was immediately halted due to his bloodbending grip regaining its hold on her. He stood up, strengthening his psychic hold as he held both hands out. Korra's face contorted in pain and the effort it took to resist her foe's grip.

"Eight Trigrams…" Hinata's voice started to echo, causing him to perk up in surprise as he saw her approach, completely forgetting that she was still in the corridor, "Air Palm!" she yelled, thrusting her right hand out to unleash a vacuum like wave of air that collided with her target's stomach, causing him to keel over in pain. That allowed for Korra to easily kick out a strong blast of air from her right foot, slamming into Amon and sending him crashing through the window behind him.

As he fell toward the water below, his mask came off, plunging into the sea with him. Citizens nearby dashed over to see what was going on. Most gasped as they saw the Equalists' leader's mask float to the surface. They looked to the shattered window to see Korra there, while Mako and Hinata walked over to her.

"You bending tyrant!" one of the crowd members yelled out.

"Evil Avatar!" another protester shouted, raising his fist to the crowd. However, none of them realized as Amon was gradually sinking, the water was washing away the 'scar' upon his face. Desperate to save himself, he bent up a water spout to re-emerge. As he gasped for air while riding the spout high above the crowd, he turned and widened his eyes in realization to the crowd of his supporters looking on in shock, realizing what they were witnessing.

"He's waterbending!" one woman noted.

"He is a bender…" another man said in disbelief.

"The scar is fake!" someone else shouted.

"The Avatar was telling the truth!" one more person yelled. Amon, rather Noatak, had been revealed. His whole scheme had fallen apart the moment his painted scar came off and his face was revealed to Republic City. Still hovering over the water upon the spout he had bent up, he looked back at the shattered window to see the Avatar with Mako and Hinata beside her. They stared back at him incredulously. He gritted his teeth before jumping back into the water. The firebender fired off three shots of flames down at him, but he swam away so quickly, he was able to avoid them.

"Ugh..." Korra groaned. She would've keeled over if Hinata hadn't caught her. "Thanks..." she mumbled out in gratitude. The kunoichi smiled. As much pain as she was in from Noatak bloodbending her earlier, she was relieved to know that they had stopped him. It was all over...

"GRRRR..." a voice growled. Hinata immediately widened her eyes. She recognized the ominous feeling of dread... and anger.

"Oh no..." she uttered, catching the others' attentions.

"What? What's wrong?" Mako asked. He then heard a loud footstep. He turned around and gasped in fright, widening his eyes.

"Mako?" Korra uttered upon hearing him, "What is-?" The Avatar stopped as she turned her head. She couldn't believe what she saw. Standing there was a humanoid creature bathed in a dark red and black layer of chakra, with its eyes and mouth a pure white. It had four long tails as it sauntered forward slowly, growling with each step. Korra noticed the spiky head it had. It was similar to... "Hinata..." she uttered, catching the kunoichi's attention, "is... that...?" she tried to ask.

"Naruto..." she answered with shaking eyes. The jinchuriki took a lunging stance.

"LOOK OUT!" Mako screamed, pushing both women down with him as Naruto jumped out. He actually intended to go over them all along as he landed upon the water below with a big splash. The crowd of once-Equalist followers murmured in surprise before the water died down, revealing the transformed jinchuriki. Bubbles of chakra began coming together in the form of a dark purple sphere in front of his mouth before he apparently ate it. In a matter of moments, he fired off several blasts of reddish white spheres from his mouth towards the open water. The subsequent explosions formed huge spouts that could be seen for miles. Panic was starting to spread as most of the crowd left screaming. Their screams caught Naruto's attention.

"No..." Korra uttered in horrified realization, seeing the jinchuriki turn towards the fleeing crowd. The people of Republic City she had fought so hard to protect and serve... were now about to be slaughtered by an out of control Naruto. At least, they would've been if it weren't for the blue streak of light that slammed into the jinchuriki's face, knocking him back along the water.

"What was that?!" Mako gasped. Korra and Hinata looked to see a red, blue, and silver object skimming across the water, jumping into the hand of someone familiar...

"Gingka..." the kunoichi uttered in surprise.

"One of your friends?" Korra inquired, receiving a nod in reply.

"Everyone, clear out! Now!" Gingka Hagane demanded hurriedly. He drew his sword out from its scabbard, putting Cosmic Pegasus away into the pouch at his belt. Naruto stood back up on the water, glaring down the beyblader as he took a ready stance. "Come on, Naruto... Fight it..." he pleaded as sweat trickled down his face. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like his voice was reaching the jinchuriki as he lunged out at him. Just then, a pair of green laser beams struck Naruto, sending him tumbling back over the water. Hinata looked up and gasped in relief to see Jetray gliding overhead. He grimaced as he saw the state his friend was in.

"Really wish we planned better for this..." he muttered, slapping the Omnitrix dial at his chest. His body morphed with his two eyes becoming one and his body turning black as he became Feedback, falling down towards the jinchuriki. He noticed too late as the Conductoid slammed into him from above, pinning him against the water.

"Just hold still for a few minutes...!" he begged, plugging his antennae into the jinchuriki's back.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he roared in pain. Meanwhile, Feedback gritted his teeth. The strain of absorbing as much of the Nine Tails' chakra as needed to bring Naruto back to his senses was definitely taxing. He used his tail to expel that power in an electrical blast shot into the sky. However, he suddenly felt the jinchuriki's tails wrap around his body, threatening to pull him off.

"Gingka... help...!" Feedback grunted out. The beyblader jumped onto the water, running along it.

"Hang on, Ben!" he called out, rushing over to him. Seeing that her teammates were in trouble, Hinata jumped down from the arena window without a second thought.

"Hinata, wait!" Korra yelled, about to go after her until she keeled over onto her right knee. Gingka slashed at Naruto's tails with his sword, managing to free Feedback as he continued absorbing and releasing the energy of his friend.

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he roared again, squirming wildly as he was desperately trying to free himself.

"NARUTO!" Hinata screamed. He perked up to see her there. His white eyes widened to see the tears in her own. "Please..." she begged, placing her left hand onto his face, "don't let it win..." she pleaded. In that moment, Feedback, plugged his bolted fingers into Naruto's neck. A huge electrical beam shot out of his tail as the last of the chakra layer surrounding Naruto completely disappeared. He was back. And he fell unconscious into Hinata's arms. "Huh..." she sighed in relief, holding him tight. She didn't even think about feeling embarrassed. She was glad that he didn't turn into the monster she thought he'd become.

"Everyone good?" a voice asked from above, catching their attentions as they looked to see Rex Salazar there hovering overhead with his Boogie Pack.

"Show up later next time, why don't ya?" Feedback remarked in annoyance as Gingka put his left arm over his shoulders.

"Hey, I was helping Iroh and you take down those planes," Rex retorted, "Cut me some slack, muchacho," he muttered, folding his arms over his chest. As the two argued, Korra looked on with somewhat of a grin. The Equalists had been defeated. Naruto was saved. But at what cost?

X

Though Noatak was defeated and was subsequently killed, his job was done. Korra no longer had a connection to any of her other elements aside from air. Not even Katara could restore her bending. In spite of everyone's support during such a trying ordeal, the Avatar could no longer bear the fact that she had sacrificed a great deal in order to stop such a terrible threat. But there was still was someone who was willing to stand by her, even if she was going to try and push her away…

Korra sat at the cliff above the arctic sea of the South Pole, tears rolling down her face and falling onto the water below as she whimpered. Naga sat nearby, looking at her owner worriedly. She then turned to see a figure approaching, being Hinata. She stepped closer to the crying Avatar, coming to a stop just a few yards away from her. One of the last times she had ever seen her so vulnerable was when she had tried to challenge Amon by herself, only to end up ambushed and threatened. Her walls had caved and she had broken down into a mess of crying like she was now, admitting her fears. Now here she was, with those fears having become reality.

"Korra…" the kunoichi uttered out, trying to get her attention as she sniffled.

"What do you want?" she asked, wiping her eyes, "Are you here to pity me like everyone else?" she inquired on harshly, making Hinata tense up, "Well, go ahead!" she shouted, "Say you're sorry for me and leave!" she yelled demandingly, "I'm no good for anything anymore…" she proclaimed, curling into a ball again as she whimpered on. The Hyuga girl clenched her fists, closing her eyes for a moment.

"I'm not leaving," she stated firmly, walking over to the Avatar's side, "And I'm not going to pity you, either," she mentioned to the ponytailed girl's surprise as she lifted her head up.

"Wh-What?" she stuttered out. Hinata sat down.

"When… Ben sent me here to help look after you…" she began, "it was more than just helping you prepare to become a full-fledged Avatar," she told her, "It was about us becoming friends," she said.

"Friends?" Korra repeated in surprise, earning a nod from the kunoichi, "Why?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Because you and I are so different," Hinata answered, "I'm not brave, strong-willed, or as outgoing as you are," she pointed out, "And I wanted to be like that," she mentioned in admittance. The Avatar blinked in surprise.

"I guess in that same vein…" she started to responded, "I wanted to be a little more like you, too," she confessed, "You're so kind, thoughtful, and caring…" she listed off, "Huh…" she sighed, "You're smarter, too…" she added sadly, "If you were in my place, you'd probably be a better Avatar…" she presumed. The kunoichi sighed.

"That's the thing," she said, "We don't know what would've happened if we switched places," she affirmed, looking up at the cloudy South Pole sky, "What I do know is that I'm here to be your friend and support you, even through this," she declared, turning to Korra with a saddened expression, "I'm sorry we couldn't stop Noatak from taking your bending…" she apologized, reaching over to embrace her friend, "But I don't want you to give up on yourself," she insisted, "You're one of the strongest people I know," she noted, "I just want you to see that…" she added, tearing up. The Avatar didn't know what to say. All she did was hug Hinata, crying with her. At least now, she had someone stubborn enough to stay by her side, even during this trying time…

"Wait…" she uttered upon realizing something, pulling herself back from the kunoichi, "Hinata… have you seen me lately?" she inquired of her.

"Wh-What?" she stuttered in confusion.

"With your eyes, I mean," Korra corrected, "Have you even seen anyone who's lost their bending with them?" she questioned on.

"I… actually don't think so…" she admitted in response, "Do you think there might be something different than before?" she presumed.

"It's worth a look, I guess…" the Avatar affirmed with a nod. Hinata then activated her Byakugan, staring intently at her friend, who was grossed out for a moment. After a few more seconds, the kunoichi let out a small gasp. "What is it?" Korra asked.

"The flow of your chi is different…" the Hyuga girl answered to her surprise, "If Noatak's bloodbending changed the flow, then maybe I could…" she started to suggest, looking at her hands momentarily.

"Go ahead and do what you gotta," the Avatar insisted, "It's better to try than not," she affirmed with a small smile. Hinata smiled back, aiming her fingers carefully a few seconds later. She jabbed Korra in multiple locations around her body as she shut her eyes. She finished by tapping her forehead with her fingertips, pulling them away. There was a long silence. "Huh…" the ponytailed girl sighed, opening her eyes, "I'm sorry, Hinata…" she apologized, "I don't think it—" She stopped her sentence upon noticing that the kunoichi was no longer sitting near her. "Hinata?" she called out, wondering where her friend had gone.

"That girl is incredible," another voice chimed in, getting her attention as she turned and widened her eyes to see none other than Aang there, "She helped you finally connect with your spiritual self," he pointed out.

"How?" Korra asked as she stood up.

"When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change," the former Avatar answered, as their previous lives materialized behind him, stretching far into the distance as they all looked to Korra. She watched as Aang approached, making his eyes and tattoos glow white as he put his hands onto her forehead and shoulder. The eyes of each previous Avatar behind him also glowed before they faded away, along with him.

"Korra?" Hinata's voice echoed from reality, as she watched her friend stand up, her eyes still shut. She then opened them, revealing that they were glowing a bright white like the previous Avatars she just met spiritually. She rose into the air aboard a torrent of wind, sending out bursts of air, fire, and earth subsequently. A large wave of water was bent up from the sea, splashing against the cliff.

The kunoichi watched on in amazement, seeing Korra slowly descend from the torrent of air back onto the ground. Her eyes flashed back to normal as she turned to see her friend there, smiling at her with tears in her eyes. She smiled back gratefully, but then blinked in surprise to see that Mako was there as well, giving off his own smile to her. She ran over to him, leaping into his arms and embracing him warmly as he spun her around for a moment. As she pulled herself back from him, she placed his right hand onto his cheek.

"I love you, too," she confessed, leaning in to share a sweet, passionate kiss with him. A while later that evening, everyone was gathered together by a shrine to watch as the rejuvenated Avatar approached a knelt Lin, performing the same technique that Aang had shown her, placing her right hand onto the former officer's head while entering her Avatar State. Light emanated from her thumbs for a moment as the others watched on. Eventually as the glow subsided, Lin stood up and simultaneously bent several large rocks surrounding the shrine into the air all at once. Everyone was awed, especially Bolin as it looked like his eyes were about to pop out from his head. The former police chief set the rocks down, turning to Korra.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. The Avatar bowed politely in response, while Tenzin approached.

"I am so proud of you, Avatar Korra," he told her, making her smile.

"Well… I had a little help," she admitted, looking past him to see Hinata there. The two girls approached each other and embraced warmly, thankful for having each other's support.

"Things worked out just as you said they would, Ben," Tenzin noted to the Omnitrix bearer as he approached, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well, there were some bumps…" he admitted with a shrug, "But yeah, this is what I was hoping for," he affirmed as Korra and Hinata laughed happily with each other.

And so that brings an end to Korra's first steps to becoming a full-fledged Avatar, along with making some lifelong friends in the process. I'm sure you all know how the rest of her story goes. It has its bumps, but she persevered through them all with the help of her friends. Hinata just so happened to be the one that pushed her to keep going…

We still have quite a few more tales to get through. I'm sure you all know the story of who's next. But you might not know about the endeavors he had during his first mission…

Until next time, this is Xiaomei, signing off!

ENDING

Insert "Kitakaze" by SIX LOUNGE

We begin with a young Korra running about, bending earth, fire, and water with ease outside of her home in the South Pole as her parents watch. She tries to airbend, but fails as nothing leaves her fist. As she continues trying, she's taken in by the White Lotus to hone her skills throughout the years. She finds herself still struggling to airbend and feels dissatisfied with herself for not being able to use it. A supportive hand comes onto her shoulder, getting her attention as she turns to see Hinata there, along with Ben and Naruto. She smiles thankfully to them.

The scene changes to Korra sparring with Hinata on Air Temple Island as Tenzin looks on, impressed with the Avatar's progress. We see her participating in a pro-bending match alongside Mako and Bolin, smirking as she waterbends with finesse while her friends cheer from the stands. However, things change as Korra finds herself facing Amon and the Equalists. She panics as she's struck down by chi blockers, as the Equalist leader is about to take her bending. But before he can hope to touch her, Naruto blasts him back with a Rasengan.

We fast-forward to spirits attacking the South Pole, with Korra bending waves of snow to block it off, followed by a Thunderbolt launched from Pikachu to zap it. We then see her and Ben as Water Hazard fighting Unalaq, as the former firebands to distract him long enough for the latter to tackle him. They join forces again to fight off UnaVaatu in Republic City, with Naruto taking on his Tailed-Beast mode and Ben transforming into Way Big, joining her in battling the Dark Avatar.

Years later, they join forces again to fight Kuvira's Spirit Cannon, stopping the blast together and creating a new portal to the Spirit World. Korra turns to her friends, giving them a grateful look for all of their support over the years. We go through various scenes of her on the battlefield against the Alvarez Empire alongside Gray and Kuvira, fighting off Marines alongside the Straw Hat Pirates, and battling Thanos' forces in Wakanda with her Omni Force colleagues and the Avengers.

Lastly, we see the Avatar sitting in a gazebo on Air Temple Island before she's joined by Asami, who sits beside her with a tea tray. She grants her a kiss to her cheek, making her giggle before she accepts her cup of tea, drinking it while looking out toward the horizon…

END ENDING

Thank goodness I got this done. I like doing these chapters, but they take so long to get done with all of the content I'm working with. Not to mention the fact that I want to work on other chapters for other stories, too. This one just really bogs things down.

But enough about that! The chapter's done, and the next one, focusing on Natsu Dragneel, is up ahead next time! I'll see you then!