COMING OUT - Korrasami

Chapter Fourteen

In the refinery above, Asami was wearing a protective facemask and was standing on a stepladder, wielding a blowtorch. She applied the finishing touches to the gasp pump attached to one of the stolen airships. Wonyong, who had his wrists still bound behind his back, looked up at her from the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Asami. You have to know, I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Quit talking."

Tokuga was getting impatient, "How much longer?"

"I'm almost finished."

Wonyong glanced at the lizard-man, pleadingly, "Please, Tokuga. I gave you everything you asked for. Why are you doing this?"

"Because power is never given to those who ask. It must be taken."

Suddenly, the three of them heard a crash and noticed a blast of wind. They turned in the direction of the noises. Asami, who had stopped working, lifted her facemask. She took it off when she saw Korra, Mako, Bolin, Jargala, and a Creeping Crystal member attacking the Tripče Threat mecha suits.

The Creeping Crystal member stuck one with an earth pillar to the chest, while Jargala, Mako, and Bolin fought another with jennamite, fire, and a lava shuriken. Korra blew back a third mecha suit with airbending.

"Korra!" Asami yelled, overjoyed.

"Asami!" the Avatar yelled heading toward her.

Tokuga narrowed his eyes at the sight of Korra and vaulted over the edge of the railing while Asami slid off the ladder. Tokuga sent a threatening glare to Zhen, "Get this ship in the air!"

"Yes, sir!"

"The pump's all connected. Now let us go," Asami yelled.

"Not yet. Take them on board!" Tokuga yelled as he used his tentacle arm to shove Asami back into the grip of a triad member, while Zhen took a hold of Wonyong from behind. Wonyong and Asami were taken onto the airship. Tokuga moved to follow them but looked around in surprise when he gelt the ground rumble beneath him.

Seconds later, Jargala used her earthbending to shatter the floor under him, sending him to the ground and making him drop his hook sword.

Jargala threw a small piece of jennamite at him, "Guessed you missed your flight. Catch!"

"You're gonna have to earthbend a lot harder than that," he chuckled, unimpressed.

"It's time you learned don't mess with a Creeping Crystal," she snapped and as she said, the crystal around his arm started to grow. Tokuga who still looked unimpressed struck the jennamite with his tentacle arm, shattering it and forcing Jargala to cover her face as the jennamite shards flew around.

With his hand free, Tokuga leaped to his feet and grabbed his hook sword, before jumping back onto the metal platform and hooking an overhead pipe with his sword.

"I'd love to stay and finish this but my ride's leaving!" he used his sword and tentacle arm to swing along with the ceiling toward the airship and get away from them.

"Tokuga's getting away! And he took Asami with him!" Jargala said to Korra as she watched her duck under a punch from one of the mecha suits and quickly use her metalbending to wrap two pipes around it, restraining its movements.

"Mako, Bolin! We have to follow that airship!"

Mako and Bolin ran toward the refinery's exit. Korra followed them but looked behind to see Jargala facing two more mecha suits with the Creeping Crystal member. She yelled after her, "Jargala, come on!"

"I'm not leaving my turf in the hands of these goons. Go!"

Korra, Mako, and Bolin all ran outside. Mako and Bolin jumped onto a nearby motorbike while Korra moves a short distance away as she began airbending an air scooter. As Korra raced off, Bolin started the motorbike's engine and rode after her, following her out of the refinery's ground and into Republic City's streets.

"Korra! How do you know where Tokuga's headed?"

"I don't ... but I have a hunch he's going back to where all this started."

The trio raced after Tokuga's airships toward the spirit portal. Korra gritted her teeth with a look of determination on her face when they finally got there.

Meanwhile, on the airship, Tokuga was going berserk with new orders.

"Circle the portal and wait for my order to release the gas."

In the main room of the airship's gondola, Zhen and another triad member stood guard at the door, where Asami looked out of the window toward the people gathered near the spirit portal. Wonyong, who still had his hands bound in front of him, stood next to her. Their conversation was whispered.

"We have a problem"

"I know... all those innocent lives are in danger..."

Asami sighed, "Everyone down there is going to be fine. But if Tokuga releases the gas, we won't be. I didn't anticipate he would bring us with him."

"What did you do?" he snapped.

" I think I can get us out of this, but you're going to have to trust me."

"Asami, what did you do?" he questioned, alarmed.

The engineer glanced at the masks in the nearby emergency cabinet with a glass front also containing a fire ax.

"When I tell you to, I need you to get us those gas masks."

"All right..."

As the airship hovered over the spirit portal, Tokuga picked up a receiver and began speaking into it, his voice was being transmitted out of the airship's radio.

"This is Tokuga, leader of the Triple threat triad... and soon-to-be leader of Republic City!"

The crowd below the airship was starting to get bigger, Meelo looked at his father with a confused expression, "Is that guy running for president too?"

Tenzin gulped, fear evident on his features, "I don't think so, Meelo."

"President Raiko and Avatar Korra have failed this city. The spirit portal stands not as a symbol of hope, but as a harbinger of destruction. That's why I'm stepping in. I will make sure this once-great metropolis rises again and becomes the most dominant power in the world. Starting immediately, the newly elected President and the Avatar will answer to only me!"

Tokuga's words immediately sent the whole crowd into a panic. Zhu Li, the Airbedners, and Kya were trying to calm them down, Tokuga's next words only filled more chaos in the crowd.

"I've also bought Wonyong Keum and Asami Sato on board. Any attempt to bring this ship down will result in their deaths."