"What happened?" Bolin asked frantically, "Where is Master Jet?"
"I'm not sure," Korra answered, "I didn't have time to go back for him. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him now. Let's just make sure his sacrifice isn't in vain. We gotta stop Amon."
"Right," Bolin nodded, following close behind Korra's rapid pace, "Watch out, Amon! You're about to get toasted by the Fire Ferrets!"
Bolin half yelped when he was grabbed from one side, one hand covering his mouth and wrenching his neck by his chin and the other restraining his arm.
"This mission has no hope for success if you cannot keep that loud mouth of your's shut!" Lin whispered in his ear, releasing him when he relaxed and realized who she was.
"Lin!" Korra exclaimed, "Why aren't you with Tenzin?"
"We figured you ran into trouble when you didn't make the checkpoint," Lin answered, "Tenzin and I decided I would be more useful helping you here. Where is Master Jet?"
"He fell behind," Korra answered sadly.
"I understand. We have to move on without him. Come on! Tenzin will be in position soon and we MUST be there when he is."
The three of them ran down the hallways and corridors as fast and as quietly as they could, navigating the maze with the map Master Jet had left in their hands. As they approached a corner, Lin stopped and checked around and signaled for them to stop.
"... So what do we do with the Firebender?" One of the Equalists asked the Lieutenant.
"Take him down to the holding cell. Amon has a something special planned for him," The Lieutenant answered.
"Yes, sir," The Equalist responded, and turned to carry out his orders. He was heading their way, so Korra shoved Bolin through an empty doorway and then Lin squeezed in and partially closed the door behind them. They were fairly close in the closet as the Equalist boot steps passed by and, for a moment, Bolin was lost in the smell of Korra's breaths. When the coast had cleared, Korra whispered, "Did you hear that? They're holding Mako downstairs somewhere!"
"Korra," Lin said, "We don't have time. We have to make it to the rendezvous point before Tenzin is left fighting Amon's forces alone."
"But what if Mako loses his bending before we get to Amon?" Bolin demanded, "You heard him! Amon has something special planned for him!"
"Amon plans to take away every bender's bending," Lin growled, "That is hardly a 'special' fate. Besides, Amon will not be able to take away your brother's bending if we help Tenzin arrest him before then."
"Lin," Korra replied, "We're significantly outnumbered here. Don't you think we could use all the help we can get? We need Mako!"
"We don't have time for this-" Lin scolded.
"Then we split up," Bolin answered, "You and Korra go help Tenzin, I'll rescue my brother."
"There's no way you're going alone, Bolin," Korra told him, "I'm not losing you too."
"Korra, the plan hinges on you being there when Tenzin confronts Amon," Lin reminded her.
"I'll be fine, Korra," Bolin told her, smiling and taking her hand to reassure her, "I promise!"
Korra looked at Bolin, eyes furrowed with concern and sadness. For a moment, she was indecisive, wanting to help Bolin save Mako, but she knew what she had to do. She had to let go of her Earthly Attachments. She had to let go of Mako. It was the only way to save him, but the pain of doing so brought tears to her eyes. Bolin saw her struggle and reached out to comfort her, but Lin, rolling her eyes, grabbed Korra's wrist and said, "Come on, we don't have time for this."
"Good luck, Bolin," Korra cried behind her as she and Lin took off after the Lieutenant.
"No worries!" Bolin waved, taking off after the guard to find out where Mako was being held.
---
"Amon!" Tenzin called over the enormous throne room, "By the Authority of the Council and the State of Republic City, I hereby place you under arrest for terrorism, kidnapping, illegal experiments on unwilling, living subjects, destruction of public property, and breaking and entering."
"High Councilman Tenzin," Amon answered, not turning away from the large map marked with hundreds of flags and pieces outlining the progress of his plans, "I was wondering when you'd finally come to pay me a visit. But where is your prodigious pupil? Don't tell me you didn't bring her with you."
"If you choose to cooperate," Tenzin continued, "tell your forces to stand down and allow us to take you to stand trial for your crimes, your army, minus the officers and political insurgents, will be granted amnesty and be allowed to return peacefully to their homes. I would also personally see to it that your sentence is granted leniency. If you resist, your holdings will be forcefully seized and your followers will be hunted down and incarcerated."
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Amon cackled, "My army outnumbers your's a hundred to one and your bending will not help you against them. No, I do not think I will allow you to arrest me. But you are a respectable man of great integrity and esteem. Allow me to offer you the opportunity to surrender your bending freely and save yourself the disgrace of having it forcefully stripped from you, kneeling at my feet. Such a position ill-fits a man of your stature."
"Tarrlok," Tenzin called out.
Metalbenders appeared out of thin air, leaping out from the shadows and surrounding the throne room, chains at the ready. Tarrlok stepped into view, smiling arrogantly as he said, "Take them."
The Metalbenders moved as one and without hesitation. They took Tenzin's men by surprise and quickly tied them up, restraining them from fighting back.
"A shame," Amon told him, walking around Tenzin as he struggled against his bonds, "If only you had allies you could rely on. Oh, and if you think sending the Avatar in the back way to rescue you was a good idea, I'm afraid there's a little problem with that plan."
A door opened and the Lieutenant came through it, dragging a paralyzed Korra by the collar. Locking her neck with one arm and leveling an electrified rod at her head with the other, the Lieutenant silently awaited for the command.
"And now," Amon told him, walking again in front of Tenzin to look him in the eye, as he held out his hand towards Tenzin's forehead, "After I take away your bending, you'll get to watch your savior lose her's."
But Amon's eyes suddenly bulged open, his back wrenched his head back in pain and he cried out as the electrified rod sent terrible currents of electric power through his body. He fell to his knees when the rod retracted and flew back, attached to a metal chain, to Lin's hand, who had released Korra and taken off the Lieutenant's helmet.
"I don't think so, Amon," Korra jeered, taking a stance to ready herself for the confrontation. Lin fired the Lieutenant's electric rods on the ends of her chains, taking down the corrupt metalbenders holding Tenzin.
"You're late," Tenzin noted, taking a fighting stance with his back to Lin.
"If you had taught your student a proper sense of punctuality..."
An Equalist jumped in next to Lin, fists seeking her chi points out until she parried with an electric rod, stunning his arm. Tenzin blew him back off his feet. A second Equalist dropped in behind Tenzin as he turned, aiming for the chi points along his spine, but Tenzin rolled out of his way, leaving the Equalist overextended as Lin brought the electric rod into contact with his chest. The Equalist fell helplessly to the ground.
"I could get used to these," Lin remarked, a hint of a smile like her mother's on her face.
An Equalist threw a bolas at Tenzin, but Tenzin simply snatched the rope with one hand, kept the bolas spinning, pivoted on one foot and launched the weapon back at its thrower, tying his feet together while he was in the air, landing the attacker on his face.
"Would you mind spending less time fascinated by those things and more time helping me stop Amon and Tarrlok from taking over Republic City?"
---
Amon stood, staggering a little from the shock and twisting his back to help it overcome the pain. He was slapped in the back of the head and felt his hood soak. He turned and saw the Avatar confident smirk on her face and forefinger beckoning him to rise to her challenge. Turning to face her, his arms at his sides, he twisted his wrist to allow a smoke pellet to drop through his sleeve into his palm before dashing off to one side. Korra pursued with a fiery punch that blocked off his path, but he leaped over the flames, throwing his pellet to blind her for a moment. She pulled her arms up high and then bended the air around her outward to rapidly disperse the smoke. She caught a glimpse of him sneaking off down a passage on the far side of the fighting.
'Oh, no! He's not getting away this time!' She thought angrily. She started running after him, 'If he wants to take this someplace more private, that's fine with me!'
"Korra, wait!" Tenzin called out, trying to free himself from combat, but unable to entangle himself from dodging a metalbender's attacks. An Equalist took advantage of his distraction and landed beside him, readied to strike.
"Tenzin!" Lin cried out, "Watch out!" She swung at the Equalist, grazing his shoulder and stunning his arm, forcing the opponent to withdraw. She threw a rod at him with her metal chain, but the attack was blocked with a sudden flood of water, which hit her, connecting the rod with the metal chain, causing the water and the metal chain to become electrified. Lin cried out in pain as the electricity stunned her. When the water had evaporated from the heat, an Equalist moved in to finish her off, but Tenzin hit her legs before she could properly land and he took a defensive stance over Lin's unconscious body.
"Give up Tenzin," Tarrlok taunted, drawing more water at the ready as Tenzin quickly became surrounded by Equalists and their metalbending allies, "You're completely outnumbered. You always have been. You just never realized it."
"Oh, I knew Tarrlok," Tenzin replied, "I knew about you for a long time."
"Did you now?" Tarrlok asked mockingly, "And so why didn't you do anything about it?"
"Because," Tenzin answered coolly, "I've always had you completely outmatched."
A darkness clouded Tarrlok's arrogant glint and he growled, "We'll just see about that."
---
"Okay, Korra," She whispered to herself, "Now would be a great time to get your Avatar State on. THINK! Let go of your Earthly Attachments...."
Mako appeared in her mind, his dreamy golden eyes shone like the sun as his lips curled into a cute little smirk just before his eyes started to drift close and his face was pulled magnetically towards-
"NO!" She growled at herself, "That's exactly what you have to NOT think about, Korra! Ugh, I'll never get this thing figured out."
'It's no use, Master Tenzin!' she thought, 'There's no WAY I can let him go. I'll just have to forget about him and just fight Amon without the Avatar State. That's it, just forget about-'
"Korra!"
She froze, shock filled her body as she turned and saw Mako carrying Bolin with his arm around Mako's neck.
"Mako!" She cried, momentarily forgetting everything but her joy at seeing that Mako was alright. She ran up and hugged him around the neck, her heart soaring at the touch of his cheek to her's. After the moment passed, she realized that Bolin wasn't greeting her as well and she asked, "Bolin! What happened?"
"He's fine," Mako replied, "The Equalists did a number on him though. He'll be out of it for a while. Let's get out of here while we can."
"No, Mako," Korra told him, "This is it, our last chance to stop Amon and I'm not letting him get away this time."
"We can't take Bolin," Mako said. He kicked open a door and carefully laid Bolin down on the floor inside, "Stay here, buddy. I'll be back for you later." He closed the door and then turned to Korra and nodded. She could barely stand to see the purplish-yellow bruises on his pale skin, reaching out to his cheek and feeling her chi fill her fingertips with healing light, but he pushed away her hand.
"We gotta get going."
She sighed, letting the moment pass, "Yeah."
Then they both took off down the hallway.
---
Tenzin took a breath. The people all around him changed in his mind into spinning boards. He felt himself drift to one side as a metal chain flew at him and then to another as an Equalist fist tried to sap his strength. Then he exhaled. The overextended Equalist was blown through the air into a far wall. He inhaled. A fist. A chain. He grabbed the chain and twisted to wrap himself in it, drawing himself closer to the metalbender wielding it. He exhaled, spinning his arms in a circular motion to create his father's air scooter and slamming it into the metalbender's chest when he was close enough. The metalbender became for a short time Tenzin's own personal living kite. Then Tenzin simply pulled on the chain and slammed the metalbender into the ground. He inhaled. Backtracing his previous steps, he freed himself from the chain slowly by dancing around Equalists trying to get on all sides of him. He exhaled, blowing a mighty wind from his mouth to clear a path in front of him. He grabbed the end of the chain and inhaled. A few short steps and the Equalists he had danced around became entangled in the chain he had recently wrapped around them, tying them together and anchoring them with the unconscious metalbender. He exhaled. A current of wind circled round him to deflect bolas, chains, and smoke which were launched at him. He inhaled. Leaping high into the air, he intercepted a pair of Equalists mid-flight, kicking them back to the ground. He exhaled. A gust of wind redirected his trajectory and landed him in the midst of a group of unprepared opponents. He inhaled. He ducked sweeping for their legs and catching one opponent off guard. The other jumped over his attack and retaliated. He exhaled, propelling him back and away from the attacker while he extended his leg into the opponent behind himself. He inhaled. Dancing around the nest of angry vulture-hornets he had stirred, he pivoted on one leg while rotating about his hip so that his head swung below their attacks and his other leg lifted to sock one of them in the back of the head. He exhaled. An Equalist was trying to land next to him and only got a face full of wind, spinning them in mid-air before they could make the landing. The others, caught off-guard by their ally's tumble, were knocked back by a gust from Tenzin's palms. He inhaled.
---
Amon flipped switches and levers, the dirigible before him nearly ready for takeoff. He was reaching for the last lever when he heard a voice call out across the dock, "AMON!"
He turned and saw Korra and Mako with arms leveled for a fight.
"Going somewhere?" Korra asked.
"Ah, the Avatar. I was hoping you would join me."
Her eyes bulged and she felt a sharp pain in her arms spreading through her body, point by point, until she fell to the ground, barely able to move. She looked up and saw Mako standing over her. He gently turned her head with the toe of her boot and he said, "She's secure."
"Excellent work, Mako," Amon told him, "Bring her aboard. I want her to see what I've got prepared for her."
"Yes, sir," He answered, picking up Korra, who could only feebly try to resist, her eyes flooded with angry, confused tears.
"Mako, what are you-?"
"I'm helping you, Korra," He answered, interrupting her, "I'm helping you just like I helped my brother. You've got to see the truth about bending."
"The truth?!" She mumbled at the top of her lungs, boots scraping on the floor as he carried her with her arm over his neck, "Mako, how could you?"
"Don't you see, Korra? Master Jet was right. Amon is right. This world, the benders sit on top and abuse and oppress everyone else around them, benders and non-benders. The only way to restore the balance is to get rid of bending."
"Master Jet didn't say that!" Korra protested, "He said that only the Avatar could restore balance to the world!"
"And you will, Korra," Mako told her, "Once you have been cleansed of your impurity and see how much it's been corrupting you, you'll be free to help Amon to bring balance to every part of the world."
"Mako, please, you don't believe this," She pleaded, "You've been brainwashed! Snap out of it!"
"Brainwashed?!" He shouted, eyes glaring at her furiously, "Brainwashed? Why would Amon need to brainwash me to see the truth? Do you think when my parents were murdered it was all just an illusion brought about by Amon to make me believe that benders have abused the power they have? Tell me, Korra, do you think the series of wars the world has seen for the last few thousand years have all been made up by the Equalists to convince the world that their cause is just?! Look around, Korra! Bending is tearing this world apart!"
Mako stumbled, nearly dropping Korra. He felt at the back of his head and found some blood on his hand so he turned around, allowing Korra to look and see a large, dark figure standing at the far side of the dock.
"Put Korra down, Mako!" a muffled and wrathful, yet painfully familiar voice called from within the crude metal armor.
Mako gently put Korra down and said, "Bolin, how did you escape that room I locked you in?"
"I'm wearing the door, Mako," Bolin replied.
"Ha ha ha," Mako laughed, "Really? I'm impressed. Never figured you for a metalbender."
"It doesn't have to end this way, Mako," Bolin cried out, his voice cracking from the pain of sorrow and anger edging into madness coursing through his vocal chords.
"Ah, you never did get it, Bolin," Mako answered, "There was only one way this ever could end."
"You can't chi-block me now, Mako," Bolin told him, "You can't punch through my armor, and since you've already let your precious Amon cleanse you of your firebending, you can't burn me out of it either."
"I've never needed either of those things to beat you, Bolin," Mako taunted.
From the shadows, a mecha the size of a tank flew through the air and almost landed on Bolin. From the cockpit, Amon said, "Game over, little Earthbender."
---
Tenzin finished tying up the last Equalist in metal chain and asked, "Are you alright, Lin?"
"I think so," She mumbled, "but I'm not going to be much help from here on. Where is Korra?"
"She went after Amon," He answered.
"Alone?!" Lin demanded, but her pain forced her to restrain herself.
"I'm afraid so," another voice called out to them. Tenzin's face twisted and became perplexed as he turned to see face the familiar voice, "Bumi?"
"Tenzin!" Lin warned, but she was too late. Bumi stabbed Tenzin in the stomach, saying, "I believe, Miss Bei Fong, that I'll be taking my uniform and weapons back from you now, if you don't mind."
Tenzin slumped to the ground, pained in more than one way, "Bumi...."
As Bumi finished putting back on his Lieutenant's uniform, he said, "Hello, Tenzin. I regret this is the way we had our reunion, but... goodbye."
---
The fist of the mecha slammed into the wall, but Bolin had shifted to the side. Strangely enough, it felt a lot like probending, dodging the attacks. Except he knew if he failed to dodge one of these attacks, he wouldn't get thrown safely into a pool. He would become a pool of Bolin Pudding. He tried punching the mecha's knees a couple times because they were the only possible vulnerable points he could reach, but his blows didn't seem to have much effect. While the mecha was having trouble finding the speed enough to hit him, it didn't matter much if Bolin couldn't damage the mecha. Eventually, Amon would hit him and then the fight would be over.
'Well, Bolin, it's now or never....'
He sauntered off to one side, provoking Amon into striking. He felt the mecha graze his side and he heard the scraping of metal, 'A little too close there, buddy.'
He took the chance and jumped in close, between the mecha's legs and punched in as deep as he could, peeling back his armor to metalbend the mecha's outer hull. It was slow going; the metal was denser than the door and he didn't quite expect to find the resistance, but he eventually scraped through, cutting his fingers on the sharp metal edges in his haste. Reaching inside, he grabbed the closest pipes he could find and squeezed, crushing the hydraulic pump with his hand and pulling his hand out fast before the steam and hot water exploded, tearing the leg mechanism apart. The mecha stumbled, unable to stand on that leg anymore. He stepped around behind the mecha reaching for the critical components on the back and started the process of tearing through the protective outer hull again when the lumbering hulk suddenly kicked back with it's still operational foot, crushing Bolin beneath the mecha and nearly tearing off his hand caught inside the mecha. Bolin started bending the metal to pull himself out, but his armor was pinched tight around his legs such that he couldn't feel them very well and his hand caught in the mecha began to tingle as he felt his blood trickle down his arm and pool near his elbow. Blinking the tears of defeat from his eyes, he willed himself to keep digging his way out of his metal prison when a shadow fell over the slot he had made to see through. Amon loomed above him, curiously watching the helpless earthbender squirming beneath him.
---
"Easy now," Mako cooed, "Easy, Korra. It's okay. It'll all be over soon."
She shook her head, which was drenched with sweat and tears.
"Don't be afraid. This is what is best for everyone. Just relax. You don't have to be the hero anymore. Soon, Amon will open your eyes and-"
Her eyes opened, glowing like lightning and shining like the sun.
"... Oh," Mako said.
---
Bumi entered the dock. Noticing Amon kneeling over a wrecked mecha, he approached and knelt.
"I'm sorry, sir, for my failure."
"Not to worry, Lieutenant," Amon answered, standing and turning away from the wreckage, "No damage was done. Our plan couldn't have gone more smoothly."
Looking beyond Amon towards the dirigible, Bumi replied, "I'm not exactly sure about that, sir."
Amon turned and saw Mako, flying back into the dock and landing ungracefully on the floor, followed swiftly by Korra, who was floating in a sphere of air which allowed her to levitate freely, her eyes glowing blue from her connection to her past lives.
"At last," Amon said, "The moment of destiny has come."
Avatar Korra stretched out her hand and stone tore through the metal floors, orbiting around her. She crushed them into tiny pebbles and fired them at Amon, who quickly ran to one side, looking for cover, as did Bumi. The building began to sag and shift from the structural damage. Fire enveloped the space around which Amon was hiding and Korra continued to flood the space with intense heat and flame.
---
Bumi woke Mako with a shake, "Get up, boy. It's time for your last hat trick."
---
When Amon could no longer stand the heat and lack of oxygen around him and she relented, allowing him to stagger out for a moment, his clothes smoking. A tendril of water wound its way around Amon's neck and lifted him up to Korra's height, allowing her to glare at him furiously.
"Do it!" Amon choked, "Kill me! Prove that benders know nothing about justice... ah-heh!" he struggled to breathe, "...but live to spread violence and pain to those who cross them!"
Tears fell from Korra's glowing eyes. Her resolve weakened. Amon's words had cut deeply enough she closed her eyes, extinguishing her fury with tears. The sphere began to dissipate and both she and Amon drifted back to the ground. Then, her eyes widened with surprise as Mako's lightning bolt struck her in the back. The light in her eyes blinked out and she and Amon fell to the ground, darkness overtaking her.
---
To Be Continued (conclusion in part II).