Republic City Central Park
With the light of the sun hitting his face, Mako woke up. Korra and Naruto were still asleep, but they looked like they were going to wake up anytime soon.
It was the way they were sleeping, however, what amused Mako.
Korra was sleeping with her resting right on Naruto's left side of his chest while her right hand was placed on his right side. Both their left legs were intertwined with one another. Naruto had his right hand behind his head while his left hand was hugging Korra's waist, keeping her close to him.
"Morning guys." Mako said as Korra and Naruto slowly opened their eyes. "Did the two of you slept well?" he asked, unable to keep a straight face.
Naruto was the first to realize what had happened during their sleep. "I know I did." he replied with a wide grin.
Slowly opening her eyes, Korra finally woke up. She felt well-rested, and very comfortable for some reason. Her left hand grasped something strange. It felt like... leather? And what was this warm thing that was holding her by her hip? And why did her left leg felt so heavy?
And why was Naruto so close to her?
"Getting a little bold, are we Korra?" Naruto asked teasingly.
That was when Korra finally realized what was happening. "D'aaaaaaaah!" she shrieked while crawling away from the Airbender.
"You know Korra, I managed to sleep very well cuddling with you. How about we try it some other time when we go back to the island?" Naruto continued to tease with a wink.
"Sh-Shut up you pervert!" Korra angrily shouted while her face was getting red.
"If you want to talk about perverts, just remember you were the one getting undressed in my room the other day."
Defying the very human nature itself, Korra's face got even redder. "That was an accident!" she roared. At this point, Mako was laughing loudly while rubbing his stomach. Even if it was a serious situation they were in, seeing Korra so embarrassed and angry was plain funny.
The teasing would have kept going if it wasn't for an extremely annoying loud voice that interrupted Naruto's retort. "Equality now! Equality now! We want Equality now!"
Mako, Naruto and Korra turned around to see an Equalist protestor holding a megaphone and screaming at the top of his lungs. "That's the guy." Korra said while managing to fight off the blush on her face.
As they made their way to him, the protestant kept ranting about equality and to fight back. "Non-benders of Republic City, Amon calls you to action! Take back your city! It's time for the-" he stopped when he saw Korra approaching. He gasped. "It's you again! You cannot silence me Avatar!"
Korra was about to take the megaphone away from him, but Naruto was faster. Before the protestant could react, his megaphone was taken away from him by the Airbender, who threw it hard to the ground. The megaphone was shattered into pieces.
"Spirits, you have the most annoying voice I have ever heard." Naruto commented. Mako and Korra silently agreed with their friend.
"Look, what a surprise! A group of benders taking advantage of-" the protestant started to say but Korra interrupted him.
"Shut your yapper and listen up! My friend was kidnapped by some chi-blockers, where did they take him?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Oh, I think you do." Korra said. She then earthbended the table the protestant was standing on. The table was sent flying into the air and all the flyers were scattered on the ground.
Mako grabbed one and read what it said. "Witness the Revelation tonight at 9 o'clock." he said before looking at the protestant questionably. "What's this Revelation thing?"
The protestant glared at Mako. "Nothing that concerns the likes of you three!"
Korra grabbed the protestant by the collar of his jacket and lifted him up the ground. "You better believe it concerns the likes of us. Spill it!"
"N-No one knows what the Revelation is! And I have no idea what happened to your friend, but if he's a bender then he'll get what's coming to him."
Mako was about to hit him when Naruto put his hand on the man's shoulder causing his face to turn pale.
Naruto felt his blood boiling, his eyes turning red, Where. Is. Our. Friend? What. Is. This. Revelation?" A demonic voice was heard from Naruto, surprising both Korra and Mako.
"I-I-I, the-ee Leader, he knows H-how to Take Away Bending," the man stuttered out, before falling on the ground like a bag of rocks.
"Impossible, Only Avatar Aang could do that," Korra was the first to react, completely ignoring Naruto's voice a second ago.
"It doesn't matter, we need to save Bolin, that's what's important," Mako said firmly before walking forward.
Republic City's Train Station
The search party went to the Train Station to properly think what to do next. Once they made sure no one was following or observing them, they sat on a bench beneath the train's bridge.
"Why didn't the Equalist put a location on these?" Korra asked. The flyers they took with them told what was going to happen and when, but not where.
"Probably because they don't want just anyone coming over to their big Revelation." Mako deducted.
Naruto noticed something. The back of the flyers were different from one another. Instead of being plain white or something, they had some shapes in them. Even more, the back of one of the flyers sported a red dot. He spoke up his doubts. "Hey look, the back of these flyers are different from one another. In fact, they almost look like-"
"A puzzle?" Korra interjected.
"Yeah, like a map!" Mako said as he took four different flyers and slapped them to a city map that was drawn for the use of the train. After a few seconds, the figure of the flyers matched the one on the city map, revealing the location. "Bingo. That must be where it's going down."
Naruto nodded. "In that case, we should get ready. I propose we should separate for now and meet again near the entrance of the place to avoid looking suspicious. Also, we should definitely wear a disguise. We have no idea who might show up to this Revelation, so maybe somebody will recognize us if we go like this. Especially you two, taking into consideration that you are the Avatar and you are an uprising Pro-bending player."
Both of them nodded.
Revelation place at night
Walking towards the location, Naruto made sure to act normal and stay quiet. He was wearing his usual attire with now an old black robe to cover his jacket. Also, he wrapped some bandages around his head, covering his left eye and his forehead. If anyone asked, he'd say he was assaulted by a firebender from the Triads and that he lost his eye to him. Now, he had a reason to cover his face as well as a reason to assist the Revelation.
He met Korra and Mako, who were standing next to a building, both fairly well disguised.
"This is the place." Mako said as he and Korra put on a hat. Naruto lifted his hood up in return.
As they reached the entrance, Naruto noticed that a guard was standing near the door. Everyone who wanted to go inside pulled out a piece of paper, an invitation if the Airbender was right, before the guard let them in. Realizing that they still were far enough to avoid being noticed, Naruto stopped Mako and Korra. "Wait."
"What is it?" Korra asked.
"It looks like you need to show an invitation to enter the place." Naruto responded as he took out some of the Equalists flyers he brought with him and handed them to Mako and Korra. "And if I'm not mistaken, these should be the invitations."
Another idea got into Naruto's head. "Also, we shouldn't go all of us at once. I'll go first and then you two go about 5 minutes later. Got it?"
"Got it." the two of them said.
"Good." Naruto said as he started to walk towards the entrance.
When Naruto got closer, he was stopped by the guard. "Halt. Where is your invitation?"
Naruto handed the guard a flyer. "This what ya' mean?" he said with a fake rough voice.
The guard nodded. "The Revelation is upon us, my brother." he said, taking a step to his left and opening the door for him. The disguised Airbender thanked him and walked in.
A few minutes later, the three benders regrouped and watched in awe at the sheer number of people who were attending the Revelation. There were thousands and thousands.
"I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many in one place." Mako commented.
Bolin's search party walked downstairs and blended among the crowd. They looked for Bolin everywhere, but there were no signs of him. Suddenly, the lights of the stage were turned on, illuminating the entire place. A voice was heard from the roof. "Please welcome your hero, your savior, Amon!" the voice shouted as the crowd started roaring and cheering passionately at the entrance of the Equalist leader. Smoke appeared out of the stage, and when it dissipated, a man wearing a mask with three chi-blockers on both his sides was standing at the middle of it. It was Amon.
When the crowd settled down, Amon approached the microphone and started his speech. "My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, me and my family lived in a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for a firebender that extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man. But when that happened, that firebender took my family from me. And then, he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since."
The crowd gasped and started whispering about the evil of bending.
Amon continued. "As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived to Republic City." he said as the crowd booed at the mention of the Avatar. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But she is wrong. The only thing that 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."
Naruto frowned slightly at this, he didn't the whole story but he knew that non benders had a much harder life than benders, looking around, in a way he understood they felt like trapped animals, perhaps they had just endured enough.
"What about Naruto, The Non Bender supporter," Amon suddenly said to the crowd, Korra expected the same reaction, but this time no one booed at the mention of him which caught her by surprise.
"For years he has tried to start the program of Non Benders Jobs, Non Benders Are People Too, but what does the council do, they throw it in his face," Amon continued, many in the audience nodded, Naruto was known around the city to be a supporter of non benders but the blonde thought that taking the city by force was too much.
"If he were here, I know he would agree with me," Amon finished getting many applauding.
Korra glanced at Naruto who shake his head in denial.
"I know what you've been wondering: What is the Revelation? You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the Spirits have been guardians of our world. And they have spoken to me. They said the Avatar has failed humanity." Hearing what he just said, Korra's face tensed and her eye began to twitch. Naruto noticed this and grabbed Korra's hand in an attempt to calm her. She grabbed Naruto's hand and squeezed it hard in anger. "That is why the Spirits have chosen me to start a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality... The power to take someone's bending away, permanently."
"That guy is insane." Mako whispered as well.
However, Naruto was not so sure. Over the years, people have achieved things considered impossible before. Toph Beifong's invention of metalbending was a perfect example. Even if the statement sounded ludicrous, Amon was a complete mystery. And Naruto knew for a fact that a lot of impossible things that turned out to be possible started with being that, a mystery.
"Now, I believe a demonstration is in order. Please welcome 'Lightning Bolt' Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad." Amon said as a couple of chi-blockers entered the stage with a stranded man wearing expensive clothing. "One of the most notorious criminals in Republic City."
The crowd booed hard and loud. "Ahhh, boo yourselves!" was the only thing the leader of the Triad could say. Along with Zolt, other members of the Triple Threat came along tied with ropes.
And Bolin was one of them.
"There's Bolin." Korra said as she started to walk, but she was stopped by Mako.
"Wait, we can't fight them all. We need to be smart about this."
"Then come up with a game plan, team captain." Korra responded harshly.
Amon spoke again. "Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt a chance to fight to keep his bending." he said as one of the chi-blockers untied his ropes.
"You're gonna regret doing that, pal!" Zolt shouted as he fired a couple of fireballs. Amon dodged them with ease, getting closer and closer by every step. Zolt then threw a lightning ray, but Amon simply ducked and quickly grabbed his hand to evade the attack. Before the Triple Threat Triad leader could react, he was forced to his knees with Amon behind him and started losing control of his bending. Amon then placed his thumb on Zolt's forehead. After a minute, Amon released the man. Zolt threw a punch in an attempt to bend fire against the Equalist leader, but nothing happened. "What... What did you do to me?"
"Your firebending is gone. Forever." was Amon answer.
The crowd went wild, clearly amazed by their savior's power. Naruto looked at Korra and she had a face of not only surprise, but fear as well.
"The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun!" Amon shouted and the crowd cheered in victory.
Snapping out of her shock, Korra faced Mako. "Any ideas yet?"
"I think so. See those machines?" Mako said while pointing a couple of can-like machines. "They're powered by water and steam. If you guys can create some cover I can grab Bolin without anyone seeing. Then we get out of here."
"Works for me." Korra responded.
"Me too." Naruto said. Before Mako could go, the Airbender grabbed the firebender's shoulder. "Be careful out there."
"Good luck, Mako." the Avatar said as well.
Mako thanked both of them and went to the stage. Korra and Naruto moved away from the crowd and entered a room full of engines. "That's the machine we're looking for." Naruto said as he pointed his finger at a machine that had some valves. They both started to open the valves, letting out some steam out of the machine. Everything was going according to the plan.
"Hey, what are you two doing here?" a voice said. Korra and Naruto turned around and saw the guard from the entrance staring at them questionably.
"Is there a problem, my brother?" Korra asked awkwardly.
"Yes, there is. I'll ask one more time. What are you two doing here?"
"My sister is just feeling uneasy, she was always like this whenever something that scared her happened?" Naruto said with a completely calm voice, and putting a hand on Korra's shoulder.
The guard looked at Korra, his frown changed into an understanding look on his face, "Nothing to fear sister, Amon will save us all," The guard said kindly before turning around to leave.
Korra took the chance and threw him right into the machine, knocking him out. The machine started malfunctioning, and now steam was coming out of everywhere. "Thanks, that should be enough." Korra said sarcastically.
Naruto looked at the unconscious man, knowing he was not that much injured, sighing before deciding to focus on saving Bolin.
Naruto airbended the steam while Korra waterbended it. With one good hit, both of the benders were able to make a hole in the wall. The steam passed through the hole and started to cloud the stage. "Alright, we did our part. Now Mako has to grab Bolin and get out of here." Naruto said as he removed the bandages from his head.
"I think I know a way out. Come on, follow me." Korra said as she was about to start running.
"Wait, Naga can't carry the four of us. If she tries to, she'll get exhausted and the Equalists will catch us. You go with Mako and Bolin, I'll catch you later." Naruto argued. They already went through a lot of trouble in order to save Bolin and Naruto wouldn't allow this rescue to be in vain.
"What? Are you sure?" Korra asked concerned. She knew that Naruto was right about Naga, but she still didn't want to leave him.
The Airbender sighed. "Yeah, I am. Don't worry about me, just get Mako, Bolin and yourself out of here, ok?"
Korra was silent for a moment. "Fine." she said hesitatingly. "Just... be safe, alright?"
Seeing Korra so worried surprised Naruto. He had to admit she looked cute when she was unsure like that. He placed both hands on Korra's shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye. "Hey, don't worry. I promise I'll be safe. Just trust me, ok?" he said with a reassuring smile. Korra looked at him with her mouth slightly opened, but then she smiled back and nodded.
"That's my girl." Naruto said with a wink. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Korra found her cheeks sporting a small shade of pink. She would've never imagined Naruto calling her his 'girl'.
The sound of a small explosion near them made Naruto look back. He could hear chi-blockers coming their way. "Alright, gotta' go. See you at the Air Temple." Naruto said before running away.
Air Temple
Tenzin was close to suffering an emotional breakdown. Neither Korra nor Naruto had been seen since yesterday and they were still yet to be found. He was currently assembling a search party with the White Lotus sentries to go look for the Avatar and his nephew. While discussing the arrangements of the search party, Tenzin saw Korra walking towards him.
"Thank goodness. I was just about to send a search party. Are you alright?" Tenzin asked concerned. Korra didn't respond, she just stood there avoiding his gaze. The old Airbender saw fear in her eyes. "Korra, what happened? Did you find your friend?"
"Yes, but..." Korra started to say. "I was in an Equalist rally tonight. I saw Amon."
"What?"
"He can take people's bending for good."
The son of Aang couldn't believe what he just heard. "That's... That's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability."
"But I saw him do it." Korra said with all the honesty she could muster.
Tenzin stared at her. The way she looked and the way she talked could only mean one thing. "I believe you. I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but that means that the Revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe." he said. After saying those last words, he remembered his family. Pemma, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Naruto...
'Wait a minute.'
"Korra, where is Naruto?"
Korra was not expecting that question. "What? What do you mean where is Naruto? He's not here?"
"No, we supposed you two were together. You... You don't know where he is?"
Now Korra was panicking. Why wasn't he here? Did something happen to him? Was he caught by Amon? The mere thought of Amon capturing Naruto was enough to make her tremble. 'No, I can't think like that. He told me he'd be alright and I trust him...
Where is He??