35: Retribution

I own nothing, but the OC's. It's been a while, but i hope this helps make up for the long wait. it's gonna be quite a few chapters before that happens though. Enjoy the chapter.

"Final straw?" Ikki asked; her luminous smile giving way to a look of confusion as she rose from her bow, only to flinch back in fear as the knowledge spirit's cold obsidian gaze finally shifted from Mako to her.

"By far." Wan Shi Tong stated coldly as his dark form began to shift before her very eyes. Like all spiritual transformations it took less than a moment before once pristine obsidian feathers grew ragged and feral in appearance, while his body seemed to stretch and elongate into a more serpentine, almost draconic shape, until finally one of her grandmother's scariest stories towered before her ready to strike.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Ikki found herself frozen as an overwhelming sense of primal fear rooted her firmly in place, unable to move, or even cry out as Wan Shi Tong lunged forward with a furious avian screech, his razor-sharp beak aimed directly at her rapidly beating heart.

Yet the fatal blow never came.

Barely a moment before death could claim her young life Ikki felt a tightness around her waist, and the world disappeared in a flash of blinding white light.

"It's not possible. It's not possible. It's not possible." Sakuya muttered to herself again, and again as she continued to bolt up the ancient stairways.

"For balance's sake Sakuya! What's not possible?!" Ayeon demanded as he barely managed to keep pace with the panicking yokai.

"He's still alive!" Sakuya shrieked, her amethyst eyes flaring crimson. "Over ten thousand years, and yet somehow, he is here, now, alive! It's not possible!"

Flinching back from the kitsune's outburst; Ayeon growled in frustration. While admittedly he had very little experience in dealing with Yokai, he at least knew that they did not scare easily, and while his spiritual senses seemed to be failing him at the moment; to see Sakuya panicking like this could only mean there was yet another threat somewhere in Wan Shi Tong's library. Something more frightening to a Yokai than a temperamental librarian, and while said librarian was already seemingly at their throats; the last thing lord Vaatu needed was to be blindsided by yet another adversary.

For the sake of team 'Dark Avatar' as Icky so enthusiastically dubbed their little group; he needed to know just what they were dealing with. Glancing back up from his own thoughts Ayeon was just in time to realize the Kitsune spirit had gained a slight lead just as she disappeared onto the final landing where Vaatu, and Wan Shi Tong were clashing.

Sighing with both annoyance and determination the aye-aye spirit sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could, reaching the final level roughly thirty seconds after Sakuya. In all honesty he half expected to have lost the elusive Yokai entirely, only to find her, to his immense surprise standing barely five feet from the stairs seemingly frozen in place with a look of shock on her face.

With all his focus on the Kitsune spirit; Ayeon stepped forward warily before gently placing gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sakuya, who is he?"

"I….I don't know." She whispered.

Frowning he followed her gaze, and swiftly found himself equally stupefied for his trouble. "Master?"

"By far."

From the moment they had entered Wan Shi Tong's domain Kuvira had begun preparing herself for the worst, and with Vaatu involved she know it was coming fast. So, when those ominous left the spirit's beak she instinctively reached out with her earth bending in hopes of raising a protective barrier around the young air nomad, only to find to her horror that the stone would not yield to her will. With no element to command, and her metal armor counting for nothing against a Great Spirit; she was all but powerless.

As that frightening realization sunk in, she desperately turned to Mako, only to see his normally warm amber eyes turn cold as something darker seemed to awaken within the Dark Avatar. Feeling the now familiar chill race down her spine, and noticing the slightest of twitches in his right hand, her fear seemed to shatter like glass as she instinctively lashed out with her metal cables; encircling, and pulling Ikki to her before pressing her to the floor and covering her protectively, barely a second before everything disappeared in a blinding flash of light, and an unnatural chill filled the air.

For several tense moments Kuvira held the young air nomad close waiting for either razor sharp talons to rip into her, or for the roar of thunder to die off as it echoed ominously throughout the ancient structure. When the former never came to pass and the hammering of her heart against her ribs was the only thing to be heard she slowly opened her eyes, and felt her heart skip several beats for her trouble.

There gouged into the stone floor before them was a series deep grooves stretching from barely a foot in front of them to roughly two yards away, no doubt carved by the owl spirits powerful talons.

Following them Kuvira quickly spotted, much to her surprise, Wan Shi Tong crouching low over the floor right where the claw marks ended with his talons still clutching into the stone as volts of electricity arced painfully over his dark form.

Seeing that they were no longer in imminent danger she allowed herself a sigh of relief as a small smile graced her lips. He'd had saved them. With the surrounding stone remaining unresponsive, and events unfolding far too fast for her to counter the owl spirit's sudden assault, let alone save Ikki from his fury. With no time and her bending restricted solely to her metal armor she had trusted Mako with both of their lives. It had felt almost instinctive as she'd thrown herself into harm's way in hopes of both protecting Ikki and presenting him with a clear line of fire, and in doing so found her trust to be well placed much to her relief.

Despite her relief however she couldn't help, but feel somewhat unnerved by the display of raw power. After defeating Arctos the way he had; she'd been confident his lightning bending would be powerful enough match Wan Shi Tong if at least for a short time, but this? To unleash a lightning bolt powerful enough to overwhelm a great spirit with barely seconds of charge time, and almost no movement aside from raising his arm? It was almost too much for her to believe.

Catching herself Kuvira quickly shook off her surprise, and re-evaluated the situation. Wan Shi Tong was knocked down, but if the hateful obsidian glare leveled in their direction was any indication, he was far from out. Even now she could see the Great Spirit was already beginning to shrug off the unexpectedly powerful blow, slowly but surely. They didn't have time for her to figure out why she couldn't bend the surrounding stone, or how Mako had gathered enough electricity to knock a Great Spirit silly, though she suspected it had something to do with why she could now see her breath misting in the suddenly freezing air.

As the metal bender quickly processed everything that had just unfolded, she had paid little mind to Ikki as she slowly crawled out from under her. At least until she heard the air nomad's startled gasp. For a moment she assumed the girl was just as surprised by the sight of Wan Shi Tong as she had been, only to realize that Ikki wasn't looking at the owl spirit before them, but behind them.

Quickly turning around Kuvira couldn't help but wince as she realized what had startled the young girl. Standing just behind them was Mako with lingering traces of electricity arcing around his still outstretched arm. Given the overwhelming force of the blast she wouldn't have been surprised to find his eyes glowing a furious crimson as they always did when he drew upon Vaatu's power, but they weren't. Instead of Vaatu's fury, or Mako's icy amber glare she found something else, something colder, and far more hateful.

It lasted for less than a moment before the Dark Avatar's eyes returned to their more familiar warm amber, but it was still enough to chill both her, and Ikki to the bone. A sensation the young girl had never felt before in the presence of her surrogate brother.

"Are you two alright?" Mako asked after a moment, his tone cold and devoid of any emotion as he continued to glare at Wan Shi Tong who seemed to finally shake off the last of the fire bender's lightning.

"We're fine, but for some reason my bending isn't working. It's like the stone in this place wont yield to me." Kuvira answered warily as she stood up, while pulling a surprisingly silent Ikki to her feet.

Lowering his arm Mako nodded as he stepped forward, putting himself squarely between them and the knowledge spirit. "You two should keep going then. Try to find Ayeon. I'll stay here and see if we can't reach an understanding with our host."

Quickly glancing between the him and the great spirit Kuvira wanted to protest. After years of fighting and war it felt as though every fiber of her being was demanding she stay by his side. To fight, and prove herself to him as he had proven himself to her. Yet as much as she wanted to stay the more logical part of her brain knew that without her bending she'd only be a liability. He'd already saved her life twice today, and it wasn't even noon.

Seeming to sense her hesitation, the Dark Avatar glanced back as his eyes flared crimson, and Vaatu's signature self-assured smirk pulled at his lips. "No need to get your knickers in a twist wench. We'll be just fine. In fact, I think we might need this almost as much as he does." He said nodding to Wan Shi Tong as the owl spirit seemed to be planning his next move. "And besides there's also the child to consider."

Rather than arguing with the chaos spirit as she so desperately wanted to, Kuvira settled for shooting the chaos spirit a withering glare as she took Ikki's hand, muttering a quiet "Come on." As she quickly led the air bender towards the next descending staircase.

Watching them reach the half way mark Vaatu allowed Mako to reclaim control as they returned their attention to Wan Shi Tong, the lightning bender easily matching the knowledge spirit's death glare with his own. "And here I thought the great spirit of knowledge would be smarter than this. Do you really want to pick a fight with a master fire bender here; in the middle of your precious, highly flammable library, or would you rather talk this out like two civilized beings?" He called out coldly, his sense of reason just narrowly restraining his fury.

"There would be no point in that fire bender." Wan Shi Tong seethed, his obsidian gaze momentarily shifting to the retreating forms of Kuvira, and Ikki. "And as for the threat you pose to my collection, you've already provided me with the perfect counter. Stop them." He ordered coldly as over a dozen fox spirits appeared from seemingly everywhere.

From the connecting hallways, among the shelves, from both the descending, and ascending staircases cutting off all avenues of escape, and within moments both Kuvira and Ikki were surrounded.

"What are these things?" Kuvira asked warily as the fox nearest her bared its fangs menacingly, causing her to glare right back while extending her wrist blades warningly.

"They are knowledge seekers, but I don't understand. They are supposed be gathering knowledge, not serving as guard dogs." Ikki responded fearfully a she fell into a defensive stance. She didn't want to fight them, but she was a part of team Dark Avatar, and she would protect her brother by bond, and his 'not' girlfriend.

"And the Avatar is supposed to be an impartial arbitrator between the spirits, and humanity." Wan Shi Tong responded cruelly as he watched for the fire bender's reaction.

"Call them off." Mako growled as a brilliant orange flame flared to life in his hand. "NOW!" he demanded, brandishing the powerful flame warningly, instantly drawing the spirit's attention back to him.

"Cull your flames boy, and this shall remain between you, and I." Wan Shi Tong commanded, and seeming to reinforce his point the knowledge seekers all sat down though they still surrounded the girls.

Glaring coldly the lightning bender deftly snuffed out his flame. "There's no need for us to fight Wan Shi Tong. We came here in peace. In good faith." Mako stated, his amber eyes narrowing as he stared down the great spirit, while wondering just why Vaatu was acting unusually complacent in the presence of a 'worthy opponent'. Something he'd been lamenting the lack of for days.

"Good faith? Do you take me for a fool boy?" Wan Shi Tong asked slowly, drawing himself up to his full towering height. "Do you actually believe that your word means anything within these walls. That I still don't understand?"

"Understand what?" Mako asked, watching the spirit carefully.

"That Humanity's treacherous nature truly knows no bounds." The owl spirit seethed as he once again began to stalk forward, his talons clicking on the stone floor. "Truth, honor, respect, integrity; these things mean nothing to ANY OF YOU! This library was meant to be a haven where humanity could come together to share, learn and grow as a species. I built this place so that anyone with a thirst for knowledge, and a desire to learn could find solace within these halls. Just look at it now, what it has been reduced to. Everything humanity comes in contact with is abused, and ruined. I understand now that humanity will never change no matter how many chances they're are given. Desecration is the very foundation of human nature, and not even the Avatar can rise above it."

("A little mellow dramatic for my taste, but he's not entirely wrong.") Vaatu commented, only to be ignored.

Holding Wan Shi Tong's glare Mako slowly exhaled through his nose before clenching his fist, and snuffing out his flames. "Maybe we can't, but we try. As horrible as humanity can be, that's only one half of the coin. There are still good people in the human world, and for every one that embraces our more wicked aspects there are a dozen more who strive to overcome the wickedness, you've become so well acquainted with. They try to do better. Don't they deserve a chance to prove that the few who've wronged you so; do not represent humanity as a whole?"

("Ugh; we're supposed to be the Dark Avatar and those words really just came out of our mouth? I think I'm going to puke.")

While unaware of the chaos spirit's presence, let alone his musings; Wan Shi Tong came to a stop, and regarded the fire bender before him. "For a longtime I did believe that mortal, and perhaps I might have heeded words such as yours before now. Unfortunately for you, and your companions it is as I've already said; your words mean nothing fire bender, and your presence here is the final straw. None of you will leave this place alive."

Finally, breaking eye contact for a moment Mako just shook his head as he glanced at the vast shelves filled to the brim with ancient knowledge all around them. ("Well no one can say you didn't try. If this is how he wants to settle this; then anything that follows is on him, not us.")

("Perhaps, but however this plays out we're not using fire. There is too much at stake here." Mako thought back as his amber gaze shifted to Kuvira, and Ikki before returning to the owl spirit preparing to attack. ("Very well then; we wouldn't want to make this too easy. Just don't pull any punches. I want to enjoy this.")

Sensing the copious amount of energy surrounding them; Mako reached out with will alone, and began to tear it asunder, causing volts of electricity to begin arcing around his body. "You and me both." He muttered as Wan Shi Tong lunged forward with a horrendous screech, and talons barred. Just as their eyes flared a hellish crimson.

I Know it's been far to long since my last update, and i am very, truly, incredibly sorry for that. What started as writer's block unfortunately grew into a horrific hiatus. This chapter has been over a year in the making, being written, and re-written again, and again, and i truly hope it's worth the wait. Honestly it's been a while since i've done any writing so if i seem to be a little rusty feel free to let let me know. As always comments, reviews, constructive criticism, it's all welcome. Until next time, enjoy.