Kuvira's Assistant

Chapter 29

Mako nodded, slowly inching away from Bolin as he listened.

"... And for the record, I do not approve of you doing this. I wi-"

"MAKO!!!" General Iroh called out for him once more as he tapped his feet nervously.

"Bolin, GO. NOW. I'll get out as soon as I can. I promise." Mako frowned in distress as he pulled his brother in for a brief hug.

Doing as he was told, Bolin motioned for the hatch. He grabbed onto a lever that had snapped off its machine in case he needed to use it for self defense.

The firebenders nodded at each other.

"ON THE COUNT OF THREE. ONE. TWO..."

Akemi leaned weakly against the brick-laid wall of a building behind her. She'd blanked out for a moment and now her senses perked up; but before she could open her eyes, she could hear the sounds of what seemed to be a heavy brawl. Kuvira's grunts were highly recognisable.

The firebender's eyelashes fluttered briefly and her blurred vision began to clear as she made out the scene in front of her; her girlfriend and the avatar were fighting. Intensely, at that. She had no idea if this had gone on for a few seconds or a few minutes, but she couldn't let it continue. She attempted to stand, but she just couldn't. Her leg was clearly broken, and the pain was excruciating. That didn't stop her. Trying to avoid putting pressure on it, she managed to wobble up and stand up almost straight.

Kuvira diverted her eyes from the fight for just a moment when she noticed that Akemi had literally come back to her senses.

"'KEMI, STAY THERE." She instructed her as she dodged a gust of wind from Korra.

Akemi looked at her in confusion. Why would she just stand there and do nothing?

Korra then glanced at her too as she hurled another punch, and asked, "Are you OK??!"

Instead of responding, the firebender, who now leaned on the wall upright, flared her nostrils and inhaled as electricity started to buzz at her fingertips. The sound of zaps filled the air and within a split second, a thick streak of bright white lightning cracked down into the ground in between both Korra and Kuvira. Akemi wasn't one for theatrics, but rather for lasersharp tactics. The Great Uniter's eyes began to glow as she stared right at the bright light in terrified amazement. The precision of Akemi's lightning generation caused the street to crack a little as it was pierced, and the women jumped back when the sound of thunder cracked in their ears.

The assistant hobbled towards Korra silently with a purely livid expression stamped on her face. Curious, Kuvira watched her in anticipation for a brief moment. Then she called out for her with impatience, "AKEMI, LET'S GO. NOW."

"Go? Go WHERE?" Korra scoffed a retort, "... DON'T LISTEN TO HER!! SHE'S THE ONE THAT HURT YOU!" Her fists were still raised in case she needed to strike.

The firebender paused and looked at Korra calculatingly. She was sure Korra had hurled what felt like a whole tornado at her.

Kuvira huffed and started to jog towards Akemi, who was just a few meters away, before Akemi shot a punch of orange fire at the ground along the path Kuvira was jogging in. The commander looked at her as she stopped dead in her tracks, hurt mildly resonating from her eyes.

The Avatar cautiously continued speaking, "Akemi, I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean to accuse you of having joined Kuvira again..."

The firebender rolled her eyes and interrupted her, "What, so in the middle of a fight we're just going to stop and have ANOTHER discussion? I'm TIRED of this bullshit!" She turned to look at Kuvira, "I want to go HOME. I want this to END," and then at Korra, "haven't you figured out that Kuvira runs away any chance she gets?" she yelled as she stretched out her arm in her girlfriend's direction, "Just get her now, arrest me too if you want, and let's get this over with. I don't CARE anymore."