Chapter 11

Korra and Mako rode around on Naga all night, searching for their brothers, but came up short with no traces of them anywhere. They were beyond exhausted, and it was almost surise. The sky was no longer dark, and the street lights were beginning to extinguish. Naga panted heavily as she walked, Mako rubbed his eyes while Pabu slept across his shoulders and Korra was barely keeping her eyes open at this point.

"We've been out all night…" she said tiredly. "No sign of them."

"We've gotta keep looking," Mako replied just as tiredly. "But where?"

Korra had closed her eyes, desperately trying to think of some way to find them. Then, like lightning, it hit her. She instantly whipped around to face Mako.

"I have an idea," she said before turning Naga around and taking off.

Sota groaned, his mind foggy as he head throbbed. His blurry vision was slowly beginning to clear, but that did nothing to make him feel better.

"Sota!" A voice shouted. He recognized it as Bolin's extremely boisterous that seemed to carry on forever as it rattled inside of his head, making him want to groan again at the pain. Looking up, he looked into the dimly lit face of the earthbender who had a happy smile on his face. "Thank goodness, you're alive! I thought that they had- when I honestly didn't know what to think because you were out cold for so long, and-"

"Shhh!" Sota said, finger to his lips as he pushed himself up. Sota struggled to get to his feet, wobbling a bit. Bolin placed a hand on his shoulder, easing the young boy to the wall so he could sit more comfortably. Sota nodded gratefully to him, looking around the small jail cell that they were being held in alongside other members of the Triple Threats. "Where are we?"

"Don't know. After they knocked you out, they loaded us up into a truck and took us somewhere. Only thing I was able to figure out is that we're underground somewhere."

"Who took us?"

"Chi-Blockers. They work for Amon. They blocked your chi so you couldn't bend. It's temporary, but they made sure none of us could bend in here."

Sota looked down to see that his watch satchel was indeed gone, taking away his only means of bending away from him. It's times like this that he wished he could firebend or airbend; without any water, he felt so naked and powerless.

"Why does my head hurt? And how long have we been here?" Sota asked.

"A few hours. If I had to guess, it's probably close to morning by now. And as for why your head hurts, well…one of the chi-blockers hit you pretty hard when she knocked you out."

"Of course she did," he said, looking out of the bars to see a few chi-blocker guards watching all of them carefully. Sota swallowed the nerves building up inside of him, trying to remain calm, though he knew he was completely terrified right now. Leaning in so only Bolin could hear him, he whispered, "We need to get out of here, Bolin."

"We can't," he said sadly. "A few of the other prisoners had already tired. Not only did they get caught, but no one's seen them since. Right now, the best we can hope for is that Mako and Korra can find us. When they were loading us up, I saw them outside the hideout. I'm sure that they're looking for us and will find us soon."

"I hope you're right," he said, leaning his head back against the cold metal wall.

The early morning light was breaking through the sky, coloring it a brilliant grayish blue. Korra would have been more then glad to take in the early morning beauty of the park if she wasn't so tired and stressed out. Naga walked slowly toward the fountain, extremely exhausted from carrying her two companions all night long. Upon reaching the fountain, Naga dipped her head, lapping up the refreshing water. Pabu ran down her back and to her head, eagerly following her example while Korra and Mako hopped off and rested against it.

"The first day Sota and I got into town, we ran into an equalist protestor over there," Korra said, pointing to the now empty equalist stand. Korra had a small smile on her face as she remembered the day. "Sota tried to keep me from over reacting and making a fool of myself…just like he always does…"

Mako was quiet for a moment, letting her sit in her memory before speaking again. "And you think they'll know where our brothers are?"

"It's our only lead right now," she admitted, feeling a bit unsure of her idea.

The two of them sat for hours, both exhausted. Korra could feel herself wanting to fall asleep, and was sure Mako was feeling the same, but knew that they had to stay awake so as not to miss their chance at getting the information that they needed.

"So…why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threat Triad, anyway?" she asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Well we…" Mako started as he looked away from Korra, trying to find a good way of saying this and not cause her to overact. "We used to do some work for them back in the day."

"What!?" Korra asked in displeased shock. "Wha-are you some kind of criminal!?"

"No!" Mako said, annoyed at the accusation. "You don't know what you're talking about. I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street; I did what we had to survive and protect my little brother."

Korra said nothing as she continued to stare at him, his words hitting home. She had never thought of it that way.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely as her gaze dropped to the ground. "It must have been really hard." Mako said nothing, though Korra hadn't really expected him to anyway. "Can I ask…what happened to your parents?"

Mako sighed; he never enjoyed telling the story, a constant reminder of the pain he and Bolin had to suffer with day after day for the last ten years.

"They were mugged. By a firebender. He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight."

"Mako…" Korra said, stunned.

"Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything happened to him…"

"I understand."

"How could you?"

Korra paused for a minute, debating if she should really tell her brother's secret. It wasn't right, especially since he himself didn't know, but after Mako had just opened up to her, it only seemed right.

"I know because…Sota's not my brother," she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Mako asked, looking at her in confusion.

"Well…he is, but at the same time, he isn't."

"I'm not following you."

"You see, when I was a kid, I had wandered off in the middle of a snowstorm. While there, I found a hut and inside was a baby. That baby was Sota."

"So…he's adopted…"

"I saved his life that night, and convinced my parents to adopt him. I never knew what happened to his real parents, and never really thought about it. It wasn't until just a few years that my parents told me what happened. They were killed by roaming bandits, and then dragged away by tiger seals."

"I'm sorry that he lost his parents."

"Thanks, but, he doesn't know that he lost them. We haven't told Sota that he's adopted," Korra said, shocking Mako. "My parents want to wait til he's older. I hate lying to him and keeping him in the dark because, even though we're not related by blood, he's still my little brother, and we're the only family he's got left. I can't let anything happen to him because…"

"Because what, Korra?" Mako asked in genuine worry.

"Because if I can't even protect someone I care about as his older sister, how can I protect the world as the Avatar?"

Mako said nothing, simply turning back forward and closing his eyes, contemplating what he had just been told by his teammate. Korra hadn't expected him to say anything else, so when he did, she found herself not only shocked by it, but also by what he says.

"Blood or not, he's your brother. We're gonna find him and Bolin, not matter what."

Korra gave a small smile as she faced forward, though her thoughts were still a jumbled mess of worry about Sota. She could only hope that they really did find him and Bolin soon. She didn't know how much longer she could go on worrying like this.

The morning sun shined bright in the sky over the park, giving the earth a warm bath of its light. Sunshine filtered through the leaves of the overhead trees, falling upon the two sleep teenager and their pets. Luckily for them, the shade was plentiful, making it much cooler and easier to sleep.

"Equality now! Equality Now!" a man shouted into his megaphone. "We want equality now!"

The shrillness was enough to rouse Korra and Mako asleep, making for a very awkward situation as they realize that they were leaning on each other all night. With a startled yelp, the two jumped apart, but before the embarrassment could really settle in, their attention was drawn back to the protestor.

"Nonbenders of Republic City," he decalred.

"That's the guy," Korra confirmed, pointing to the very loud nuisance. Getting to their feet, they walked over to the table he was standing on.

"Amon calls you to action! Take back your city! It's time for the-" The man gasped as he once again came face to face with the Avatar who looked none too pleased to see him. "It's you again! You cannot silence me Avatar!"

Korra was in no mood for his games. She swiftly knocked the megaphone out of his hand where it proceeded to smash against the ground in many pieces.

"Shut your yapper and listen up," she said. "My brother and my friend got kidnapped by some chi-blockers. Where'd they take them?"

"I have no idea what you're talkingabout," he declared, crossing his arms and looking away from her.

"Oh, I think you do," Korra said, lifting her foot up before bringing it back down to the ground. A small pillar of earth shot up, knocking the table into the sky and the protestor off of it. Flyers began to rain down upon them. The protestor scrambled around, snatching up as many flyers as he could.

Mako snagged one out of the air, examining it carefully. "Witness the revelation tonight, 9 o'clock," he said as he read it. Looking to the still scrambling protestor, he asked, "What's this revelation?"

"Nothing that concerns the likes of you two," he replied snidely. Korra was having none of it though as she grabbed him and lifted him into the air.

"You'd better believe it concerns us," she said, intimidation dripping into her voice. "Spill it."

"No one knows what the revelation is! And I have no idea what happened to your friends, but if they're benders, then my bet is they're getting what's coming to them."

"Where's is happening?" Mako demanded as the sound of a police whistle reached their ears. Turning, they spotted the same heavy-set officer that had chased her and Sota out of the park before, heading toward them.

"Hey! What's going on over there!?" he shouted.

"The Avatar's oppressing us! Help!" The protestor cried out. Korra resisted the urge to shout out "Not again!" as she turned to Mako, dropping the annoying protestor in the process.

"Let's scram!" she said as she began to run. Mako wasn't far behind, stopping only for a moment to snatch up a handful of flyers before hopping on the back of Naga behind Korra. Wasting no time, they took off full speed.

"Hey, how's about some grub?" Bolin cried out as he gripped the bars of the jail cell. SOta simply rolled his eyes. "We're kinda hungry over here. Need to eat, all that."

"That's not gonna work, you know," Sota said.

"Hey, you need to be a bit more optimistic, ok? I bet they're bringing us food, right now."

"And why exactly would they do that, Bolin?"

"So we can keep our strength up for…well…whatever it is that we're going to be doing."

"Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of keeping us prisoner then?" Sota asked, resisting the urge to facepalm himself. Again.

Bolin opened his mouth to reply, but found that he couldn't think of anything to retaliate Sota's claim.

"That's what I thought," he said, placing his chin on his knees as he remained curled up. "I hope Korra and Mako find us soon…if they ever find us at all."

"Hey, come on," Bolin said, sitting down next to him. "I know that they're gonna find us. Korra's the Avatar, and Mako's the smartest guy I know. If anyone's gonna find us, it's them."

Sota looked to Bolin, a small smile on his face, though it quickly slipped from his face as a coupld chi-blockers came to their cell, boas in hand and menacing glow to their goggled eyes. Whatever was going to happen, Sota didn't have a good feeling about it.

Korra and Mako ran until they reached a safe space under the rail yard. Sitting on a bench, the two of them looked over the various flyers for anything significant, but were coming up extremely short.

"Why didn't the Equalist put a location on these?" Korra asked.

"Probably because they don't want just anyone waltzing into their big, revelation," Mako replied back, the last part sounding dramatic. "Whatever that is. I bet the information is hidden on here somehow." Picking up one, he examined the back. "Look at the backs. There's four different images."

"So…it's a puzzle?" Korra asked, the piece falling into place.

"Yeah…of a map!" Mako said excitedly. Picking up the four different backs, Mako pieced them together before moving over to a map posted of the city next to them. Moving the piece across it, it wasn't long before their eyes located the matching part of the map. "Bingo. That must be where it's going down."

The two look at each other, smiles of determination etched on their faces.

Later that night, the two now disguised probenders snuck up to the outside of a building, the location just insight. Mako pressed himself against the wall while Korra leaned around him to see.

"There's the place," Mako said. The two quickly pulled their hats on to hide their identities even more; the last thing they needed was someone recognizing them and outing them as benders too. As they walked toward the building, Korra wrapped herself around Mako's right arm. "What are you doing?"

"We'll attract less attention this way," she said, her voice calm and serious. Though this was her actual intention, there was no doubt a deep part of her that secretly just wanted to do it to be close to him.

As they approached the door, they came to a stop before a very burly looking man. The man scrutinized them heavily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This is a private event. No one gets in without an invitation," he said.

"Uh…invitation?" Korra asked nervously. The guard raised his eyebrow questioningly at them.

"You this?" Mako asked, pulling a flyer from his pocket. The guard took the flyer, looking it over quickly before smiling to them.

"The revelation is upon us, my brother and sister," he said, stepping aside to let them in. The two made quick work entering the building, relieved that they made it through so easily without any problem.

The building was clearly an old factory, which made sense as to why it had been picked for the location. It could fit hundreds easily and would go unnoticed by anyone who wasn't supposed to be there. They made their way to the center looking over as railing to see a crowd gathered in front of a stage.

"I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many in one place," Mako comments as he looked over the crowd. Korra was doing much of the same when he said, "Keep an eye out for our brothers," before heading toward some stairs to the lower floor. Korra followed behind him, pushing her hat tighter onto her head.

They pushed their way through the crowd just as the stage lights activated and the announcer began to speak.

"Please welcome, your hero, your savior…AMON!" he declared, the crowd cheering as smoke began to pour across the stage and a platform started to rise from it. There were seven of people on the platform. Five were definitely chi-blockers, a sixth was a man wearing dual weapons. His uniform was different then the chi-blockers, making them believe that he was probably of some type of importance.

Lastly, front and center, was Amon himself, hands behind his back like the others, his head held down. As the spotlight hit him, he looked up, sending the crowd into even more of a frenzy. Korra looked on at him, slightly stunned by the intimidation that he seemed to bring so easily.

Walking up to the microphone, Amon looked upon the crowd.

"My quest for equality began many years ago," he declared. "When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the firebender who extorted my father.

"One day, my father confronted this man…but when he did, that firebender took my family from me. Then…he took my face."

The crowd gasped, appalled by what they had heard.

"I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since," Amon said, bitterness evident in his voice. Mako and Korra looked at each other, the later of the two being more worried than the former. "As you know, the Avatar had recently arrived in Republic City."

This instantly got a negative reaction as everyone started to "booo" at the mention on the Avatar. Korra suddenly felt very self-conscious, pulling her scarf up over her face to hide.

"And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But, she is wrong. The only thing that bring bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war, in every era. But that, is about to change."

Though Korra was extremely displeased with not only how he was talking about her and the previous Avatars, she couldn't help being intrigued by whatever he was playing at.

"I know you have been wondering "What is the revelation?". You are about to get your answer," Amon said. Korra and Mako looked at each other again, worry coursing through them both. "Since the beginning of time, the Spirits have acted as guardians of our world. And they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity."

Though she was still nervous, Korra couldn't help glaring at him. If the situation wasn't so dire, she'd show Amon a thing or two.

"That is why, the Spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality. The power to take a person's bending away; permanently."

The crowd gasp, shocked by what Amon had said, but no one was more shocked then Korra. Her blue eyes grew wide as she tried to process what he had just said.

"That's…impossible…" she whispered, turning to Mako. "There's no way…"

"This guy's insane," Mako agreed with her. There really couldn't be a way to take away someone's bending.

"Now, for a demonstration," Amon decreed, gesturing behind him. "Please welcome, Lightning Bolt Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City."

The crowd Booo'd him in disdain, though the gangster didn't seem bothered by it all. Not like he was trying to win any popularity contest.

"Ah, boo ya selves," he shouted back. The chi-blockers brought out five more people, including Shady Shin, all of which were dropped to their knees, their arms bound. At the very end were Sota and Bolin, both of which looked terrified.

Bolin looked around wildly, his eyes shifting side to side as sweat poured down the side of his face. Sota wasn't fairing much better. His icy blue eyes jumped from side to side, staring at the crowd that he couldn't see because of the blinding stage lights. His bound wrist pulled at the restraints as best he could, but he was finding it to be completely impossible to free himself, and with no water nearby, there was no way he was getting free. Sota had never been this scared in his entire life, and if what Amon had said was true, this wasn't going to end well for him.

Korra's eyes went wide at the sight of her brother and friend; they were safe, for the time being.

"There they are," she whispered to Mako, prepared to charge in and fight her way through to them, but stopped as he grabbed a hold of her shoulder.

"Wait. We can't fight them all," he said logically. "We need to be smart about this."

"Then come up with a game plan, team captain," she said irritably.

"Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end," Amon said. "Now, in the interest of fairness,I will give Zolt the chance to fight, to keep his bending." The second in command quickly untied Zolt, shoving him opposite Amon.

Zolt smirked at him confidently. "Your gonna regret doing dat pal," he said, launching a fireball at the Equalist leader. Amon easily zigzagged and dodged blast after blast as he made his way closer and closer to Zolt. Seeing that his fire wasn't doing him much good, Zolt charged up the famous lightning that he was known for, firing a streak at Amon. Unfortunately for him, that was his undoing.

Amon dipped under him, grabbing his wrist. With a swift turn, Amon twisted him around, forcing him to face the other way while he guided Zolt's hand into the air. Dropping him to the ground, Amon grabbed Zolt forcibly by the scruff of his neck before raising his right hand and placing his right thumb on Zolt's forehead. Zolt's eyes bugged out, a groan of discomfort echoing from his mouth.

From his spot on the stage, Sota's mouth hung open in horrified shock as the lightning that flash streaked a few times before dying down and changing into fire that too eventually died. Korra was having a similar reaction as she watched she watched Zolt drop to the ground, unmoving for a few moments before groaning and pushing himself to his knees. Throwing an angry fist toward Amon, Zolt attempted to fire blast the man into oblivion, but nothing came out from his fist. The crowd gasps, murmurs of disbelief coming from them.

Breathing hard, Zolt looked on at Amon, fear in his voice. "Wha-What did you do to me?"

"Your firebending is gone. Forever," Amon declared before looking back to the crowd. "The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun."

Sota began to struggle even more as he watched the chi-blocker pull Shady Shin to his feet, untying him and kicking him toward Amon. His heart began to beat furiously at the thought that he was about to lose his bending. He needed to do something and fast because if not, he and Bolin were as good as done for.

His eyes shifted around rapidly, landing on one of the chi-blockers that was standing just to their left. His breath hitched as an idea struck him. It was a stupid idea, that was for sure, but at this point, what did he have to lose?

Of course, without the full moon, who's to say that it would even work? Not to mention that after the last incident, Sota was still disgusted with himself and could only imagine the reaction that would come from anyone saw him do it. In fact, this could draw more attention to him and get his bending taken away even quicker. But at this point, what did he really have to lose? He would lose his bending one way or another.

Focusing on the chi-blocker, Sota tried to recall the feeling, as disgusting as it was and made him feel. He tried to feel for the water in his body, to feel the movement of his blood as it coursed through his veins. The chi-blocker didn't budge as Sota tried to push his way into his body, though it didn't seem to be working.

Closing his eyes, Sota focused as hard as he could, trying to force himself to relive the memory of his blood bending accident three years ago. The feeling, though years old, was still fresh in the front of his mind. He could feel the power surging in his body, the feeling of his chi locking onto another. Opening his eyes, he turned to the chi blocker once more, willing him to fall under his control, to twitch repeatedly, to crumple to the ground, anything.

Sota was about to give up when, for a slight moment, he could feel it, and watched the chi-blocker as his body involuntarily locked up. He gripped one of his bound hands, squeezing it into a fist. The chi-blocker started to move, though his body was clearly resisting, something Sota knew was a result of not having the power of the full moon. Closing his eyes once more, he attempted to push more of his power into it.

Sota gasped in fright as his mind replayed the horrified image of Korra's stunned face. An instant sickening feeling flood his body, breaking his concentration and freeing the chi-blocker from his already weak grasp. Sota held back a groan as he jerked forward, his body spasming as he resisted the urge to vomit.

"Sota!" Bolin cried out in worry. The young waterbender began breathing hard as his head pounded.

Out in the audience, Korra, who's eyes had been on her younger brother, suddenly grew even more anxious to get to him after seeing him jerk forward the way he did. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she swore, if they had hurt her little brother, they would pay with their lives.

"Any ideas yet?" she asked Mako.

"I think so," he replied, turning to his left. "See those machines? They're powered by water and stream. If you create some cover, Sota can waterbend and I can get to him and Bolin without anyone seeing. Then, we duck outta here."

"Works for me," she readily agreed. As Mako turned to leave, she grabbed his shoulder and held up her hand. "Good luck."

"You too," he agreed, grabbing hers before turning and going their separate ways.

Korra quietly snuck out of the audience, double checking that she wasn't being followed before turning and running into the hall. It didn't take her long to find a valve, its large red wheel sticking out invitingly. Grasping it in each hand, Korra gave it a turn, watching as a small bit of steam came shooting out.

"It's not enough," she mumbled to herself, bending down to turn another valve. She was rewarded with more steam, but didn't get a chance to bask in her accomplishment.

"Hey you," a voice called. Korra turned to see the guard from before making his way toward her menacingly as the steam filled the room.

Back in the middle of crowd, Mako was pushing his way forward to the front, ignoring the annoyed protest from the various people he moved past as well as the agonized groan coming from Shady Shin as his bending was taken from him by Amon.

Bolin watched as the next person was brought forth to fight Amon for his bending, worry pumping through him; he would need a miracle if he hoped to get him and Sota out here now, especially since Sota was next, and he definitely wasn't looking too good.

Korra looked upon the man nervously as he towered over her.

"Is there a problem, my brother?" she asked.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked her accusingly.

"Um…looking for the bathroom?" she said before throwing a very unconvincing grin on her face. The guard narrowed his eyes as he brought a wrench out from behind him, something that didn't go unnoticed by the young Avatar, who's gaze turned heated.

The guard twirled the wrench around, getting a good grip on it before swinging it rapidly at her. Korra easily ducked under and around him, her smaller size giving her the speed advantage. The guard had no chance of hitting her, his metal wrench causing the pipes to echo. She quickly ducked, dropping her hat off her head and pulling the scarf from around her neck. After his next swing, she wrapped it around his hand. Giving a strong yank, Korra twirled him around and threw him into the pipes. The force of the hit caused the machine's pipes to burst, releasing large amounts of steam.

"Thanks," she said to the downed guard. "This should be enough."

Shifting her stance, Korra began to bend the steam out of the pipes before forcing them back into them as hard as she could.

Sota's breath began to even out, the pain having fade as the memory receded, hopefully never to return again. Sitting up, he opened his eyes, only to see a chi-blocker standing before him. He had no time to try and defend himself as he was pulled to his feet forcefully by the man and held in place before the audience, many who gasped in shock that a child was there. Some were even beginning to feel uncomfortable at the thought of watching him get his bending taken away. Amon, however, only looked upon him with the same feeling of disgust he did all benders.

"Sota, no!" Bolin shouted as he struggled to break his restraints. A loud explosion shook the room, startling everyone as steam poured into it. The crowd began to scream in hysteria as one by one, they were lost sight of each other. Mako ran forward, hopping onto the stage and heading for his brother.

Sota blinked in confusion for a moment, before bending water on the restraints holding him. They instantly iced over, making them easy to break. Now free, Sota wasted no time bending the steam into water in his hands and attacking the chi-blocker holding him. The distracted man fell victim to his waterbending, flying out over the stage before hitting the ground and being frozen to it.

Turning to his friend, he rushed over to him, freezing his restraints as well before breaking them.

"We've gotta get outta here!" he shouted to Bolin who nodded before being grabbed from behind by a chi-blocker. Before the chi-blocker could get a good grip on him, Mako appeared out of the smoke, grabbing him and flipping him off the stage and way from them.

"Bolin, you alright?"

"Yes! Mako, I love you!" he cheered, opening his arms to hug his brother.

"Where's Korra?" Sota asked.

"She's gonna meet us outside, but we've gotta get out of here," Mako replied. Sota nodded his head and the three ran for the exit. Bolin kicked the door open, relieving them of some of the steam. They found themselves on a balcony, though that didn't stop them as one by one, they began to climb down the ladder, Sota going first, followed by Bolin and then Mako. The sound of footsteps caught Mako's attention, causing him to look up just as one of the Equalist, Amon's Lieutenant in fact, twirl his dual sticks before slamming them on the metal ladder.

A strong electrical plus shot through their bodies as it travelled through the ladder. Their bodies locked up for a moment before their fingers unlatched, sending the three boys falling to the concrete. The landing was almost as painful as the shock, though they had little to no time to let that sink in as they jumped up and apart, narrowly missing getting electrocuted again when he jumped down toward them.

No on their feet, the boys began to attack the Lieutenant, Mako firing off a fire ball, but it was no good as he missed. The man ran up on him, swinging his electric batons at Mako who was able to dodge the swings at him, until he felt one sweep under his leg before the second one knocked him in the stomach, sending him to the ground.

Finished with the firebender, the Lieutenant turned to Bolin and Sota who, without his watch satchel, was about as useful as paper against an airbender. Bolin flipped forward, grabbing a chunk of earth on his way back up and hurling it at his opponent. When the lieutenant made easy work of dodging the first one, Bolin threw a second, only to have that one dodged as well.

The lieutenant charged forward, worrying Bolin who then proceeded to raise a wall of earth in front of him. Which was, once again, dodged by the lieutenant who then flipped over the earth bender, putting between him and Sota. Bolin stood no chance, getting hit in rapid succession with the electric batons, backing up into the very rock wall he created as he was hit with both sticks. Bolin slumped against the ground, just as Mako rounded the corner of the wall, swinging his foot out to send an arch of fire at the man.

As soon as he landed, Mako spun in the opposite direction, kicking more fire at him. The lieutenant dodged him, swinging his sticks just over Mako's head. Mako went in for a quick punch which was deflected, and got shoved backwards, electricity coursing stunning him. The lieutenant jabbed both sticks forward, shock Mako even more before the boy fell over on the ground like his brother.

With the two benders down, Sota could feel the fear creeping up on him. It only became worse as the lieutenant looked upon him, sticks charged in his hands. As he began to advance toward the young boy, he spoke, voice clear with determination and belief.

"You benders need to understand," he said as he walked forward. "There's no place in the world for you anymore."

A large rock shot from the ground, hitting him and sending him into the wall before he dropped to the ground. The lieutenant groaned as he pushed himself up, glaring behind Sota who had turned around, a smile of relief on his face at the sight of his big sister.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet," she said. Sota ran up to her and threw himself into her arms, hugging her fiercely.

"Korra! I'm happy to see you! I can't believe you found me," he ranted.

"I'm so glad you're ok," she said, hugging him back, though dropping the smile on her face as she pulled back. "But you and I are gonna have a serious talk about this later." Putting her fingers to her mouth, she blew a loud whistle. "Naga!"

The polar bear dog ran down a ramp, heading straight for to her while she helped Mako get up, Sota doing the same for Bolin. Korra and Mako hopped onto her back as more chi-blockers jumped from the balcony and to the ground. Grabbing the reins, Korra took control of Naga, going full speed. Bolin, no sitting up, screamed as the charging polar bear dog headed their way, while Sota hopped onto her back, securing himself behind Mako. Naga grabbed Bolin by the neck of his shirt on her way, running as fast she could while jostling him.

"I want-to be- on- your back-" he said between each trot. The lieutenant looked on at them angrily, pointing to them.

"The Avatar, that's her!" he said, the chi blockers preparing to give chase.

"Let her go," Amon commanded as he stood on the balcony. "She's the perfect messenger to tell the city of my power."

Sota stared up at the full moon, a feeling of both relief and annoyance coursing through him body. If it had been a little later, his blood bending would have worked. A small part of him was angered by this because of how close he had been to losing his bending. But a larger, more dominate part of him was relieved that he hadn't been able to do it. The last thing he wanted was to be haunted by yet another memory of the horrible feeling it left him with.

He and Korra had just pulled onto the shore of Air Temple Island and were making their way inside, both deep in thought. Tenzin walked up to them, instantly throwing his arms around Sota who was relieved to see him as well.

"Thank goodness," Tenzin said, pulling away. "I was just about to send out a search party. Are you two alright?" Korra shook her head no while Sota said nothing, his gaze remaining to the ground. "What happened?"

"I was at an Equalist rally; that's where I found Sota. I saw Amon," she said.

"What!?"

"Tenzin…he can take people's bending away. For good," Sota declared.

"But…that's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability."

"But we saw him do it," Korra said. "He almost got Sota and Bolin, Tenzin." The elder man was quiet for a few seconds before replying.

"I believe you," he stated. "I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but this means the revolution is more dangerous than ever." Looking out onto the bay toward the city, he stated, "No bender is safe."

"What do we do, Tenzin?" Sota asked.

"For now, you should get some rest. You've been through a great ordeal." Sota nodded, watching as Tenzin walked away, leaving him and Korra alone. Turning to his sister, Sota searched for something to say, but for once, he couldn't think of anything.

"How could you have been so stupid, Sota?" Korra asked a hint of sadness in her angry voice.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help, and-"

"Help!? Helping, would have been doing a few odd jobs to get some money. You went along with a gangster and got yourself kidnapped. Do you know what could have happened? What if you had been arrested again, or taken hostage, or worse?" Korra yelled. Sota hung his head, knowing that she was right. When he said nothing, Korra continued. "You had me worried sick. Image what Mom and Dad would have done if something had happened to you."

"I'm sorry, Korra. I swear, I'll never do something stupid like that again."

"You damn right you won't because you're not allowed to leave this island again without me or my permission," she declared, pointing at him, a shocked look on his face. "You're ground, effective immediately."

"What!? But Korra-"

"I don't wanna hear it, Sota!" she said, turning to leave, pausing to say, "If I were you, I wouldn't push this Sota. Not if you want to stay in the city."

Sota looked on in shock, but said nothing else as he watched his sister walk away. She wouldn't really send him away, would she? Sure he had screwed up, but…

Sota's gaze drifted up to look across the water at the arena. Had he just ruined his chances in Republic City, all over one mistake?