Chapter 1: Monster in Republic City

It was a quiet night in the great city of Republic City. Well, as quiet as any city could ever get with everyone moving around at all times of the day. The day-shift firebenders were heading on home, while the night-shift was heading into the power plant to create lightning to power the city. Hawkers were still trying to sell wares, and several adult clubs were booming with business. But our story doesn't begin with them.

It begins in a quiet alleyway, as a swirling vortex opened up amidst all the trash. A cat yowled as it ran away from the alien thing that interrupted its snack. Another cat just kept on eating though. It clearly just didn't care. Something big and squelchy was spat out by the vortex as it closed behind it. The thing trailed out tendrils, the body writhing and growing a mass of tentacles, and faces, and arms, and who knows what else. It seemed to be in pain. Then, the tentacles stopped moving as they noticed the cat.

Prey.

The cat finally realised something was up, just in time to see the tentacles reach out for it at a blinding speed. It yowled once, before it was engulfed by them. After a mere second, they drew back to show that the cat was gone. Not a trace of fur, tooth or claw to be seen.

Then it started writhing again, as though it had indigestion.

The drunken man stumbled his way down the street, sucking on his bottle of wine like it was all that mattered. Damn bouncer. Throwing him out like that. Those stupid non-benders needed to learn their place, and fast. If he wasn't so drunk as to be unable to make a whiff of fire, then he'd show that guy his place. Maybe tomorrow he'll go round and burn the place to the ground. As he passed an alleyway, he heard something weird in it. Like a squish. Then he could hear voices. Maybe it was a secret meeting of non-benders. He grinned as he finally got a small flame in his hand. Well those brats were in for a rude awakening. He stumbled down the alleyway, planning on all the ways he could hurt someone. It was going to be fun.

"Come out; come out, you sneaky little non-benders." He looked around, but he couldn't see any sign of them. But he could hear the voices more clearly. They seemed to be arguing at the same time. In fact, it sounded like there were a lot of them now. If he had been less drunk he might've realised what a bad idea this was. But he was still sore after being thrown out like that, and he wanted payback. He rounded the last corner, and stopped as he tried to figure out what he was seeing.

A large mass of black-and-red tendrils writhed, growing body parts and faces. He saw as a man with a big beard turned into a dog, then a fat woman, and then a young child. And they were all screaming. Was this some kind of spirit? He tried to listen in on what they were saying.

"…You're a monster… This is Delta 9, I have... want mommy… Please Alex. I didn't mean it…The pain! It hurts so much." But then all the faces spotted him. They turned to stare, before sinking down until it was now a wall of eyes and mouths. It noticed the flame in his hand.

And it licked its lips.

He screamed and fired out a hose of fire at the spirit as it jumped him. His creams became muffled as he was devoured on the spot. The blob changed colours as screaming faces grew out of it, becoming bodies trying to drag themselves free. But they were pulled back in as the blob became more humanoid, growing bones and muscles while a single eye stared from a socket. Skin started forming over the body as organs regenerated, taking on multiple colours before turning a pale white. Finally, more of the blob covered his skin and became darker, changing into clothing. He wore a dark hoodie over a white shirt, while he also had blue jeans and black shoes. He collapsed, hissing and shaking as all the memories assaulted him.

And he changed shape several times as Alex Mercer tried to hold on to himself.

You're a monster… Oh god. He's in the building… I'm gonna skullfuck you, bastard… Every second you live, more people will die… Get me out of this freak… I don't want to die… Mommy, I'm scared…

You cannot deny your nature.

"Just watch me, Greene." Alex growled as he pulled himself together. This was beyond bizarre. He's never had anything like this before. True, he was pretty sure Greene helped push him into hating humanity. He seemed to keep acting a lot like her. But he's never had so many voices screaming in his skull before. It felt like his whole body wanted to explode.

But he wouldn't let it. The virus would be unleashed. And he swore to never do that again after New York Zero. He just had to keep it together. He had to stay in control, no matter what. But right now, he had to learn what was going on. The last thing he remembered was trying to stop one of Blackwatch's experiments in portal technology, before he got pulled in by the force. Then everything got blurry as his whole body ached. And then he hit something solid, he felt like he was being ripped apart, and then…

Then he saw a man holding a flame.

He quickly started sorting through his memories, trying to find this guy. It wasn't all that difficult, once he got past the headaches. The guy's outfit was weird. Like if the 90s was given an Asian theme. Once he found him, he pulled him forth and started rooting around in his skull. What once only took a second stretched on for minutes, but he finally got it. A new world, where they're only just entering the Industrial Age. Before that, no one bothered because they had benders. People who could control the very elements. Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Regular people had what were pretty much super powers, using them for everything from farming to warfare. And above all of them, their Superman, was the Avatar. The spirit of the World. The Avatar was unique in that he or she could use all four elements at once, while everyone else had one if they were lucky. And once the Avatar died, they were reincarnated in a different Element kingdom.

He was in Republic City, a metropolis made from what had been the Fire Nation Colonies during a massive Hundred Year War between them and everyone else. A melting pot of all nations. And the Avatar was actually here, training for something. Alex frowned at his hands, wondering if he could use firebending now that he ate someone. Apparently, one way to generate fire was with rage.

Well, he had plenty of that to go around.

He felt the souls in him stirring, leeching onto the firebender's memories of his training. He felt them focus on what they hated most, and he nearly fell apart from that rage. But he gritted his teeth and held on, until a small flame flared from his open hand. It reminded his body too much of flamethrowers used later on against him, and so he blew it out. But he got what he wanted. He could firebend. As he sighed in relief, he felt his body seize up as the rage of his victims refused to be diffused. He groaned from the discomfort of having his body being pulled in all kinds of directions, before slamming his fist into the ground in frustration. A pillar of stone rose from the ground not too far from where he was. He looked at it in surprise, all of the souls calming down in shock. Earthbending. Was it possible? Granted, he wasn't normal, but could he also bend all the elements? He looked for a water pipe, and focused once he spotted it. He held his hands out in front of him, like the pipe was already in his hands. And then he squeezed the air.

The pipe burst open from the water, splashing down everywhere. As he grinned, he spun his hand in a small circle, creating a very small gust. If he hadn't been looking for it, he'd have thought it was just the wind. But he could do it. He could bend all the elements. This was an amazing gift.

Now he just needed to find some 'teachers'.

It hadn't been that hard to find someone to 'tutor' them in the art of Earthbending and Waterbending. Besides the fact that the Republican knew about the Triple Threat Triad, none of the benders were exactly subtle. Not surprising. Bending was a gift, one that made them better than normal people. They were the strongest, so they were on top. Now, if they also were Infected instead of weak humans, they could…

"Shut up Greene." He growled to himself. He couldn't get distracted. Not while he was so close to one of the benders. The guy was walking down the street, flirting with any woman he saw. Most left as quickly as they could. This guy had a history of hurting women.

Well, at least he had his opening.

He shifted his body, choosing the best parts of all the women he had consumed. This was also rather slower than usual, like he was stretching muscles he hadn't used in a long time. He could feel his body resisting at every turn. He couldn't even imagine how bad it would be if most of his minds didn't agree to this. They wanted to learn how to use the bending arts. Hell, Randall was first in line even though he despised Mercer. He guessed they wanted to know how to use this and weaponise it.

"Well aren't you just a pretty one." Alex said with forced cheer, swaying her hips and giving herself a little bounce. The Waterbender just couldn't keep his eyes of her chest, almost drooling in excitement. "You know, my boyfriend just dumped me for some flat-chested slut. I think I need some 'company'." She pushed herself against his arm.

"Well I'm the best company you'll ever find ma'am." The triad said sultrily as he led her to an abandoned alleyway. Real classy, pal. "I should warn you though. Women with me tend to become screamers." He placed his hand up her skirt, touching his undergarments.

Alex smiled at him. "That's ok. I'm a bit of a biter." Her waist started devouring his arm, pulling him closer and closer. He tried to scream, but Alex muffled him against her breasts, watching as he sank into her body. Once he was all gone, she swayed as she processed all the information he had. Damn, things hadn't been this bad since he woke up with Amnesia.

One down, two to go.

The earthbender was even easier to spot. He was busy tormenting a non-bender for fun, throwing the guy in the air with pillars and closing off all his paths. He could feel Heller roaring in anger over this injustice. But Alex reined him in. They needed the guy alive, not a stain on the ground. Still, that didn't mean they couldn't torment him back.

He only took a few steps before the bender noticed him. He turned around and gave him an evil grin, not caring that his prey was running. "Well, well. Another non-bender. You here to save your 'friend'?" Alex didn't say anything. He just kept walking. "Well big mistake pal." He used his bending to rip out a good-sized rock and threw it at Alex. Against a normal person, that rock would've pulverised their head like a grape. It was going too fast to stop, so all a person could do was dodge it.

So imagine his surprise when Alex caught it with one hand, and had just kept walking.

"Actually, I wanted to play with my prey." Alex said calmly. "Then I wanted to pick your brain about some things. It's going to get a bit messy." He punctuated that by crushing the rock into pebbles.

The bender started panicking. According to the interrogators, saying scary things so calmly scares people more than threatening them. It says that they're so unimportant that you'd treat them like going to get some milk and bread from the store. The Earthbender fired several columns at Alex, but he just punched them into rubble. Then the bender surrounded him with walls and a roof, before running away. But he yelped as Alex jumped through the stone to land in front of him. He fell over and backed away, whimpering in fear. As he fired off more rocks that were shattered by Alex, the monster got closer and closer. He was soon within grabbing distance.

Then the bender got him through the chest with an earth spike.

The bender panted as he kept crawling away, watching as Alex stared at him. Then Alex smiled, and kept walking forward. The bender could only watch as the spike kept going through his body, but as though it was water instead of a living person. Soon, Alex had stepped through it completely, leaving a lone spike in the ground.

"Wh-wh-what the hell are you?" The bender stuttered as he kept crawling away.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alex asked, his hand changing into tendrils. "I'm a monster."

And then the bender could only scream as his body was torn apart.

Despite some arguing with himself, getting the training from those creeps had been easy. Even when he was surprised by the spike it didn't really matter to him. However, getting Airbending training was going to be much harder.

According to what the benders were telling him, there were only 4 Airbenders in the whole world. Apparently long ago, the Fire Nation killed almost every last one of them to try and stop the Avatar before they invaded everyone, and at the very least make it impossible to have a fully realised Avatar afterwards. Killing and consuming other benders was easy. There was so many of them no one would really look all that hard. But if he ate an Airbender, everyone would jump up and cry out for war. And the newest Avatar, a girl named Korra, was training with them too. Not to mention that almost all of them were kids. He swore he would never go down that road again.

"Guess I'm doing this the old-fashioned way." He said, looking out over the harbour to Air Temple Island. And of course it would be on an island. The one place he hated going. He didn't know why, but Infected had a fear of water as strong as humans' fear of the dark. Before, he would've tried to find a way to fly over, or look somewhere else if he had to.

But bending gave him some shortcuts.

It was morning by the time he got over to Air Temple Island. He figured out on how to get over by holding the water under his feet as he ran over. True, he started sinking in some areas. But he stayed on the surface long enough to get there without being submerged. He'd have to make sure not to eat too much, or he won't be able to do this forever. After shaking some water from his skin, he walked up the long stairs in search of some guy named 'Tenzin'. Apparently, he was the Airbending master. He wasn't too hard to find. He spotted the old guy not far from the top of the steps. He was bald and had blue arrow tattoos, as was supposed to be the custom of the Air Acolytes. But he had a bitchin beard built like the front of a ship. And he certainly looked dignified with his red-and-yellow long robes.

"Oh, hello." Tenzin said in his deep voice, looking slightly confused. He guessed they didn't get many visitors here. "How can I help you?"

Alex decided the courteous thing to do was to bow. "I was told that you're an Airbending master. I would like to be tutored."

"Tutored? In Airbending? I'd love to, but I'm afraid I'd need to see if you are capable. Many times in the past people have thought they were able to airbend, only to realise after weeks of training." Alex nodded before concentrating. All the benders knew was that Airbenders were more calm and at peace with themselves. While he would never be 'at peace' with his souls, enough played along to allow him to fire off a small gust of wind. Tenzin looked like he had been granted a wonderful gift.

"Another Airbender? This is… This is amazing! How did you come across your gift?"

Alex shrugged. "Woke up with it. Figured it was Airbending, heard about you, put two and two together." He gave him a look. "But I want to make it clear I'm not going to join your Acolytes. I just want to know how to use my power."

"Erhem. Yes, right. I understand. I can't force you to become an Acolyte. But I must inform you that we are a strictly vegetarian community. You can eat meat in the city, but you are not to bring it here. Understood?"

"Yep." It didn't matter much anyway. He didn't need to eat anything. If he ever did it, it was to blend in, or remind himself on how to be human. As they talked, his senses warned him that someone was coming up the stairs. He turned to see a young, dark-skinned girl with brown hair and blue clothes walking up to them. The male souls in him noticed that she was very beautiful. Her figure was well-formed, and she had the right amount of muscles to show she was like an amazon. Plus she was rather buxom in the chest. The female souls noted that she didn't overtly display her beauty, nor did she try to hide it. She was simply a girl, and being beautiful and strong was simply a by-product of her gender.

Alex, however, didn't care about anything other than she'd most likely be a very big, persistent, and annoying threat to his continued health.

"Ah, Korra." Tenzin said happily. "Allow me to introduce…Uh. You know, we never really introduced ourselves."

"Name's Alex Mercer." It would be easier to just use the first name he was created with. No one here would know what that meant. True, it would sound very foreign, but he was going for that anyway.

"Alex." Tenzin repeated. "What an unusual name. Well, I'm Tenzin. And this here is Korra. I'm sure you've heard of her."

"The famous Avatar." Alex said as he reluctantly shook her hand. "I've heard of you. Master bender and all that."

"Nice to meet you too, Alex." Korra replied. "So. What brings you to Air Temple Island?"

"You won't believe this Korra. But Alex is an Airbender. He's here to learn how to use his wonderful gift." By now, Tenzin was almost hugging Alex, who shrugged his shoulders to shake him off. He hated physical contact. Tenzin gave a small embarrassed cough. "Anyway, if you could show him to one of the spare rooms, we can begin training for both of you."

"Sounds good. Maybe I'll do better with competition." Tenzin sighed, before heading off in a different direction. "Wow, I never thought I'd meet another Airbender. Where are you from anyway?"

Alex had already thought of a cover story. "I'm from a very small and very isolated island called America. Not that people around, and benders are very, very rare."

"Whoa. I never thought there was such a place." By now they were walking down another path. "What's it like down there?"

"A bit more advanced. Without bending, people started making machines to do things for us a lot sooner than anywhere else. But we're kinda hard to get to know outsiders. Mostly, we just keep to ourselves."

"Dang. Sounds kinda lonely." Alex smirked. Korra was a girl after his own non-existent heart. She was just as awkward as he was. Just far more talkative. "At least I had Naga."

"Who's Naga?"

"My Polar Bear-dog." Alex nearly stopped in surprise, but managed to keep moving. This world had mixed-up animals. Great. His scientific mind was already at work figuring that out. Soon they reached a small building all on its own. "I figured you'd be more comfortable on your own. Unless you want to be with other people."

"No. Alone is good." The furtherer he is from people, the better. With all these 'problems' he's having, the last thing he wanted was to 'wake up' and find out he ate someone. And it made it less likely that someone would find out what he was.

"Great. Well, you get settled in. I'll go and find you an Airbender outfit." She started jogging away, leaving him to 'set' himself up. It didn't take too long – he didn't own anything after all – and he was waiting by the door as Korra came rushing back. "Here you go." She panted, holding up a red-and-yellow suit "Found one in your size. Listen, could you do me a huge favour?"

"Depends. What is it?"

"I just remembered I'm meant to be at my pro-bending training really soon. Could you just let Tenzin know where I am? Not he'll be too worried. He looked like he was bouncing with joy when he introduced you." Pro-bending. The local spot of this place. Where two teams of Fire, Earth, and Water compete to win in front of all their fans.

Alex gave her a nod as he took the robe, letting her rush off quickly to a nearby cliff. Probably swimming on over. Seems like the sort of thing she would do, from just having known her for a few moments. He took a quick look around before shifting his clothes into the robes. He felt weird with hair, instead of covering it with his hood.

Still, he was willing to put up with discomfort if it meant he learnt how to Airbend.

"There you are Korra." Mako said as she ran into the training gym. "Where were you? You're late."

"Sorry Mako." Korra replied. "I forgot. Met this new guy over at Air Temple Island."

"New guy?" Mako's brother, Bolin, said with a look of shock. "What new guy? You never mentioned a new guy before."

"He only just got here. He's a latent Airbender, from some isolated island called America. He seems a bit cold, but I get the feeling he doesn't really have any friends." By now, they were passing a ball between them, to train in teamwork.

"Hold on." Mako interrupted her. "You're saying you just met a guy, who claims he's an Airbender, and came from some island no one's ever heard of? Don't you find that the least bit suspicious?"

"A little. But do you really want to tell Tenzin that you don't trust his new best friend? Besides, he doesn't seem dangerous. And I'm the Avatar. I can handle any creep.

"I'm not saying you can't, Korra. But you're practically inviting this guy into your home without knowing anything about him." Korra threw the ball at him with more force than was needed.

"You could at least give him a chance. You haven't even met the guy yet."

"And you've only known his for, what, one meeting? You can't tell what a guy is like just like that."

"Oh, I hope our newest team isn't having a fight." Some new guy said as he entered the gym. He looked a bit rich, wearing a full-length overcoat and a brimmed hat. "You guys looked pretty good together last night."

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Korra asked.

"Right, sorry. Name's Butakha. I'm the owner and director of this whole place." He shook Korra's hand. "It's an honour to meet you, Avatar." He then turned to Mako, pulling out a big wad of Yuans. "Now, here are the winnings for your last match. But first, there's the cost of the Avatar's new gear, then there's gym rental costs for the month, your rent, and finally a personal loan for groceries." He ended up taking every last Yuan he had been about to give to Mako, who merely glared at Bolin. Korra noticed that the 'personal loan' was the biggest cut of the lot.

"What?" Bolin said defencelessly. "I'm a growing boy."

"And I'm afraid I have more bad news. The teams competing for the championship have to pony up 30,000 Yuans for the pot. Unfortunately, you've only got till the end of the week, or else you're out of the championship." Butakha at least had the decency to look sad from having to tell them this. If their winnings all went down like that, they were never going to make enough by the time limit.

"Hey Korra." Bolin squeaked. "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?"

"Sorry Bolin. I've got nothing. I've never really needed money. Found that out the hard way when I first got here. Far cry from having everyone else look out for you."

"Well then you didn't exactly have nothing, did you?" Mako said angrily as he picked up his bag. Korra winced at that. She probably said something offensive again.

"Don't mind him." Bolin replied. "Ever since our parents died, we've been on our own."

"I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't know." Korra apologised. Looks like she was still learning that things still weren't like she thought they would be.

"Alright, pity fest's over. Now we need to figure out how we're going to make the money."

"Ooh, ooh. I've got it." Bolin hooted. "I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks. When people see him in action, they'll be handing over their money." He looked so happy, holding onto his pet fire ferret. Korra and Mako just shared a look of 'this isn't going to work'.

"C'mon Bolin. We're trying to be serious here." Mako replied, frustrated. Bolin's smile drooped, before muttering that he was being serious. "Don't worry. I'll come up with something. I always do."

Korra looked on in worry. She was the Avatar. Saviour of the world.

And she couldn't even help with money problems.

The good news, Alex found, was that after a couple of tries he got the physical motions down perfectly.

The bad news, however, was that he was a failure on the spiritual side.

"Don't worry Alex." Tenzin's eldest daughter, Jinora, said to him supportively. "Sometimes meditation is the hardest part of Airbending."

"Yeah." Her sister, Ikki said. "The first time, Korra found it impossible to meditate." God, with her motor-mouth and her unending questions Alex almost felt like eating her to get some peace and quiet. The youngest one, Meelo, wasn't any better. "I bet you're just too excited to meditate, like she was. Do you need some help? Do you? Do you? Do you?"

"I refuse to be out meditated by a girl who's up to her eyeballs in sugar." Alex growled as he kept trying to calm his spirits down. Not an easy task at the best of times. He supposed he'd just have to settle with very small winds. It wasn't like they were very dangerous.

"Oh, dad never lets Ikki have sweets. Not after what happened last time. I never knew she could do so much damage with just her head." Alex sighed as he realised he wasn't going to make any headway. Meditating was supposed to calm yourself, help you connect to the spirits of the world. Well, with all the people stuck inside of him, he was never going to calm himself. They were all pulling against each other inside of him, wanting revenge, or power, or something. He and Jinora just watched as Korra went through the Airbending course Ikki and Meelo had got ready for her. It was a bunch of tall panels, sent spinning from the winds. Korra was supposed to make her way through without hitting any of them, as if you hit one you were generally knocked into another. According to Meelo, Korra destroyed the original in frustration. He could believe that.

As Korra jumped out at the end next to Alex and Jinora, he spotted someone else walking up to him. He looked familiar, for some reason. Tall, with dark hair and a red scarf. Then it hit him. Mako, the Fire Ferrets Firebender. A rising star on the Pro-bending arena. And Korra's teammate.

"Ooh!" Jinora said. "Korra, Korra. Isn't that the handsome Firebender boy that drives you crazy?" Korra looked over her shoulder in surprise, before staring at them again.

"Does he drive you crazy in a bad way?" Ikki started asking. "Or does he drive you crazy as in you like him?" Korra quickly Earthbended the two girls high into the air, trying to act as though nothing happened. Meanwhile, Alex watched as they floated back down to the ground, none worse for the wear.

"Hey Mako, what's up." Korra said cheerfully, the Firebender not even caring that she just shot two kids into the air.

"Have you seen Bolin?"

"And a fine hello to you too. No actually. I haven't seen him since practise. Think something's wrong?"

"I don't know. Bolin's got a habit of getting into stupid situations. I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Wait. Me and Alex can help you. I mean, friends help friends, and you can get to know Alex better." Mako looked at him for a bit, frowning as if Alex insulted him in some way. Amazing. Usually he had to actually do something to get that kind of reaction.

First chance he got he was silencing this kid before he got too curious.

"We can take Naga." Korra continued saying, not noticing their glares. "She's a great tracker"

"We'll find him in no time."

"I am so sorry about Naga's behaviour, Alex." Korra apologised as they headed to Bolin's favourite hangout, the Central City Station. "I just don't know what came over her."

"Don't worry about it. Animals just don't like me. I'm used to that." Admittedly, this was the first time he had to resist killing something that tried to maul him. So Korra and Mako were riding on Naga's back, while Alex walked a healthy distance away from them. He could tell how close he could get because Naga would growl at him if he got too close. Probably sensed he wasn't normal.

The first thing that he noticed when they got there was the massive statue of Fire Lord Zuko, one of the city founders according to his memories. The other thing was that neither Korra nor Mako could apparently see this Bolin they were looking for. Alex could've helped, if he knew what the guy looked like. He was sure Korra only brought him along so that whatever problems Mako has with him could be put at ease.

"Well, this is his usual hangout. Someone's got to have seen him." He spotted a bunch of kids playing around the statue, hopping off Naga to go and talk to them. "Hey. You guys seen my brother around here?"

"Maybe." One of them said. "But you know how bad my memory can be." Alex saw the scam coming a mile away. He wanted to just grab the kid, consume him, and learn the truth that way. But he quashed that instinct down. Korra and Mako would have a problem with that. And you don't last as long as he has by just following instincts. No, better to let Mako handle this. He seems to know the rules. He sighed, and pulled out a Yuan to give the kid. "Saw Bolin sitting in front of the statue. He was doing some kind of monkey rat circus for some reason. And then…" Mako gave him another Yuan. "Shady Shin pulled up and flashed some serious cash. Word on the street is that a few members of the Triple Threats, The Red Monsoons, and the Agni Kais vanished last night. Each gang blames the other, and now they're going to war." Having said what he knew, the kid ran off after his friends.

Oops. Looks like someone did notice those guys going missing. And now they were starting a war over it. Alex supposed it was his 'civil duty' to wipe out all the gangs, before they caused him problems. "Sounds like a turf war's going on." He said as they headed back to Naga, Korra looking over her shoulder at the kids. "Now why would such an upstanding citizen like your brother be getting involved with them?"

"Probably some misguided attempt to get enough Yuans for the championship pot." Mako sighed. "That idiot. Come on. We need to get moving before anything goes down."

And if it does go down, anything could happen. Like a gang banger ripping Mako's head off during the fight.

Problem solved.

"It's a bit strange how you know exactly where to go to find their headquarters." Alex said as he ran alongside Naga, easily keeping pace. Hell, he had to slow down so as to not outrun them. That wouldn't be normal. "Met them before?"

"Sometimes you have to do things you don't like to keep your little brother safe." Mako replied. Alex could accept that. He'd do anything to save Dana, before he chased her off by giving in to his instincts. "And what I find strange is the fact you're keeping pace with us."

"Ran a lot back home." Alex swerved as Naga suddenly started chasing after some kind of red-furred weasel. Korra had to fight to get her back under control. Alex hesitated. He could keep going to the hideout. Thanks to the Earthbender, he knew exactly where it was. He could be that guy, pretend he was still alive, and then kill everyone inside.

But he didn't know what Bolin looked like. He could easily end up killing him. And Korra would most likely have his head for that. Growling in frustration, he turned to follow them. Luckily, they hadn't gone too far. The weasel was wrapped around Mako's neck. Clearly some kind of pet.

"We've got to hurry." Mako said as Alex pulled up. "If Pabu's here, then Bolin's in trouble." They raced along, following Mako's directions. Soon, they pulled up in front of a tall building. "Something's not right. There's supposed to be guards outside."

"I thought we agreed something was wrong when your pet showed up on the streets." Alex replied as Korra kicked the doors off their hinges. A woman after his own heart. Of course, he'd have gone for the wall. People never expect you to crash through the wall.

The place inside looked ransacked, like a fight had happened. Maybe one of the other gangs had attacked early. Alex heard some soft talking, just before the sound of a truck starting up. They all raced outside to find a truck filled with people, and bikes. Around the vehicles were strange people dressed in olive-green outfits and strange gas-masks. Alex nearly went into rage-fuelled shock before reminding himself that these weren't Blackwatch.

And if they were? He was going to kill each and every last one of them.

The three of them moved in to rescue the people, when the gas-mooks pulled out canisters. Flashbangs? Smoke grenades? No, it turned out to be a combination of the two. Korra and Mako started coughing as green smoke filled the alleyway, while Alex charged on ahead with his heat-vision activated. He ended up smashing through a bike before crashing into the truck hard enough to knock it onto two wheels as it rode off. Damn. That was the biggest flaw of his heat-vision. As he shook his head, Naga came racing out of the smoke, Korra and Mako on her back. Alex smiled a bit as his hunter instincts started up, giving chase behind them. He sped up until he was even with Naga, before slowing down slightly. He was already pushing the suspension of disbelief by catching up to them. They'd know something was up if he outran them. Besides, he still didn't know what Bolin looked like.

The bikes and the truck were within easy distance, but the bikes were in the way. And they were too manoeuvrable to be hit by Mako and Korra's bending. Eventually, they ended up driving through a large square, before three bikers pulled back and blocked them. They threw bolas that tripped Naga and Alex up, causing Korra and Mako to get thrown off. The mooks surround the three of them, two going for the others while the lone third walked slowly towards him. Alex broke the bola with ease before rushing the mook.

The guy clearly hadn't been expecting that, because he ended up dodging away as Alex punched empty air. He tried to roll around him, but Alex was fast enough to stop him. They went on like this for several seconds, until a lucky dodge allowed him to roll up behind Alex. He then started hitting him in certain locations, areas Alex knew were pressure points.

Unfortunately for this guy, Runners didn't have pressure points.

"That tickled." Alex said slyly, before grabbing the guy and slamming him into the ground with one hand. He won't be getting up anytime soon. Alex turned to see that Korra and Mako were having a much harder time fighting their foes. Too reliant on their bending.

"And were you really any different, Zeus?" Randall said to him. "The only reason you managed to survive after we took your freaky Infected powers was due to pure dumb luck." Alex raced in and gave one of the mooks a kick he wasn't going to forget, while Naga broke free and sat on the other. But she got away from her by shoving a gas canister into her mouth. While Naga was choking on it, the girl-mook tried to get away.

"Oh no you don't, bitch." Alex told her as he grabbed her by the neck. But he underestimated how determined this girl was. She struggled so much he inadvertently snapped her neck in his grip. Great. And it would be just his luck that the other two didn't make it either. He had spent so long killing things that he forgot to pull his punches. Damn. Hopefully, there was another way. Well, waste not, want not. He consumed the girl, keeping his body between her and the others.

Korra was freaking out as she failed to bend. "Calm down." Mako told her. "Those are chi-blockers. They're Amon's henchmen."

"Amon? You mean that anti-bending guy with the mask?"

"Yeah. He's the leader of the Equalists."

"Nice name." Alex snorted. "Bet it's meant to sound all nice and friendly." Korra gave him a look.

"Well, maybe these guys can tell us more." She swept her arm out at the two guys Alex most likely killed. "Where did the third one go, anyway?"

"Probably legged it. Must've realised she lost when it became 3 – no, 4 on one." Mako was checking over them.

"They're dead." He said. "I think it was blunt-force trauma." He gave Alex a glare. "What were you thinking? We could've interrogated them."

Alex shrugged, planning on killing him the first chance he got. "I figured it was better to save our lives first. Sometimes I forget my own strength."

"Wait. You're telling me that Alex killed them with his bare hands?" Korra asked. "That's… that's unbelievable."

"Call it a quirk of my island. Some of us are stronger than we look."

"That's an understatement." She looked in the direction of the truck. "I just hope we find Bolin."

"If we're going to find him, we need to figure out a lead. We can't just keep going over the city looking for that truck. They probably ditched it as soon as I put a dent in the side. We need to find someone who can talk."

"And will someone please tell me what Bolin actually looks like?"

Korra came up with the lead. On the first day she got here, she came across a guy shouting anti-bender slogans and pro-Amon shit. They were going to wait in the park for him, then knock the information right out of him. Well, that bit wasn't agreed on, but he was sure they wouldn't mind. Right now though, all they had was some uncomfortable silence."

"So…" Korra said as they sat around a tree. "What kind of work did you do with the Triads?" Alex smirked. Real smooth, Avatar.

"I didn't do any enforcing, if that's what you're wondering." Mako replied. "I just did book-keeping for them. That's all we really did. And as soon as we could afford it, we left the Triads. There weren't really a lot of options available for orphans on the street."

"Oh." Korra at least managed to look guilty. "Can I ask happened to your parents?"

Mako sighed. "They were mugged by a Firebender. Got cut down right in front of me. I was 8 at the time."

"Oh." If the silence got any louder, the whole city would hear them. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be. You help me get Bolin back, and we're square on the whole issue." Mako turned to look at Alex. "What about you? What's your story? And don't give that whole 'I'm just a regular guy' stuff. Regular guys can't kill someone by accident."

Wait for the right moment. Wait for the right moment. "Just what I told Korra. I'm assuming you know it?"

"You're from some weird island no one's ever heard of, and you're here for Airbending training." Alex shot off a small gust.

"Dad was sociopath, Mom was crazy, Step-mom was a drunk. All I had was a little sister, and we parted on bad terms." The best lies were based on truth. His father was a sociopath.

What kind of man would create a deadly virus for mere profit, and then unleash it when cornered?

"Not really keen on going back." And that was all they said. Alex killed conversations like he killed people. Now all they had was time.

Well, time and a hoard of angry minds.

Alex watched as Korra and Mako fell asleep against Naga's flank, too tired after such an exhausting day. Alex didn't need sleep, so he was lucky enough to start having arguments with himself. They fought over the usual things people in their situation would fight about. Being eaten by a monster wasn't fair; he's evil and should kill himself; some can't wait to get free and tear up some shit; and loads of swearing.

Heller was always a very crude person.

And the worst part was that he could silence them by being them, but the most vocal voices belonged to people that made his look like a lovable grandma in comparison. People who wouldn't hesitate to destroy this entire world and all its people. And he refused to let that happen.

So he sat there, fighting all the other minds in his body, and waited.

"Equality now! Equality now! We want Equality now!" Some guy in an green outfit had started shouting through a megaphone, standing on top of a table. Alex had watched as he and his friend got things set up, wondering if he should wake up the others. But he wanted to be sure it was the right guy. He didn't even notice as the two woke up, found themselves way too close, and jumped away from each other. That was his doing.

What? He couldn't help it.

"Er…Uh…Um…" Korra stammered before giving up. "Let's go and talk to that guy already." Alex stretched his muscles briefly before following them. As they got closer, listening to the protestor shout about how they were being oppressed, Alex got his body ready for action.

He was going to enjoy this 'chat'.

"It's you again." The protestor gasped as Korra pushed her way through the small crowd. "We will not be silenced, Avatar. I have a bodyguard." Korra watched as a guy dressed in a black-and-white outfit walked over, a weird metal stick in his arms. He looked a lot like those chi-blocker last night.

Move aside lady." He growled at her, his voice sounding like it came from a radio. "Or else things are going to get…" He stopped talking as he noticed Alex. Alex looked shocked, confused…and angry. His eyes were almost glowing with rage. The guard started shouting in some strange language, the only word she got being 'Zeus'.

"BLACKWATCH!" Alex roared, before grabbing the guy and slamming him into the ground. Korra thought that the damage he did to the last guy was extreme.

But this was completely different.

The guy pretty much exploded from the slam, splattering blood and guts everywhere. Alex managed to make a hole big enough to fit a satomobile in it, ripping the clothing and denting the metal stick. Everyone started running in a panic. Korra could only look on in horror, as Alex grabbed the protestor by the throat.

"What is your connection to them?" He growled. Literally growled. "Do you work for them? Tell me!" The poor guy had actually wet himself in fear, to terrified to speak. Alex slammed him into the table, hard enough to break it. "Tell me. Tell me!"

"Enough Alex!" Mako shouted at him, pushing him away. Alex turned his eyes on him, looking as though he was going to rip him apart. "We're here about Bolin, not so you can kill this guy about some weirdo chi-blocker in white." Alex glared at him some more, panting heavily, before dropping the protestor and walking off. As he passed, he stopped to stare at some of the pamphlets being handed out, picking up some to look at. "Now, either tell us where the chi-blockers are, or we'll let Alex continue talking to you."

"I-I-I don't know where they are." The protestor stammered. Mako looked at Korra, who headed off after Alex. "No, wait! I'm telling the truth. I just recruit the people to our cause. I don't even know where our base is."

"Then what's this 'Revelation'?" Mako shook a slightly bloody piece of paper in his face.

"I don't know either. But if I had to guess, I'd say your brother would be there. You find the location with the map on the other side. It's been split into four parts, and if you get them together and put it against a map, you can find out where it is. That's all I know, I swear." Korra heard the faint sound of a whistle. This was bad. If they got arrested, Bolin might be in danger. As much as she didn't want to, she was going to have to run.

"Naga. Come on." She called out, hopping on her as she pulled close. Mako jumped on after her, while Alex raced along behind her. They kept going until they were far away from the park. When they hopped off, Mako shoved Alex against a wall.

"What the hell was that? You freaked out and killed that guy, then you looked like you were going to rip apart the only guy who'd know where Bolin was. What's your problem."

"Believe me kid," Alex growled, "if you knew what Blackwatch was like, you'd thank me for what I just did."

"Well I think you should tell us why you hate them so much." Korra said, getting right up in his face. Alex glared before answering.

"Let's just say that my strength isn't natural. Blackwatch made a serum that can make anyone as strong as me. But they didn't want this freely distributed. Probably because they break several humane laws just by making it. So if they find out it's out and about, they hunt it down. And kill anyone in their way." Alex was shaking as he spoke, his words almost tripping over each other. Whatever these guys did, Alex despised them completely. "So yeah, I brutally killed him. And I'll kill every member of their sick, twisted group. Along with anyone that helps them."

"Alex, I can get that you think you have a good reason to kill them all. But no one else will. You're going to have to get a grip, or otherwise you'll get the death penalty. And what if you're wrong about someone? What if you think they're working for this 'Blackwatch' but they're not." Alex kept glaring, before closing his eyes and meditating. How badly did they hurt him anyway?

"Fine." He gritted out. "I'll try doing things your way. But I'm not going to let them get away with whatever they have planned. And if I tell you something about them, you guys listen."

"Deal." Korra held out her hand to shake. She knew Alex could snap her wrist if he wanted to. But she was banking on the fact he meant what he said. Alex stared at her hand for a moment before giving it one firm shake. Nodding in agreement, Korra hopped back on Naga.

"If Bolin suffers because of your actions, I'll kill you." Mako told Alex angrily. Alex just gave him a bloodthirsty smirk.

What had she just made friends with?

Stupid. Stupid. He shouldn't have lost control like that. Yes, that guy was going to try and kill him, his allies, and if there was one there was more. But he didn't need to splatter him like that.

But there were so many voices screaming for revenge. They suffered. Their friends suffered. Their neighbours suffered. A whole city nearly wiped out because the Government made the ultimate weapon. He knew everything they knew, and they knew everything he knew. They knew that Blackwatch was going to nuke New York. They had seen his memories of their atrocities. Blackwatch deserved to die. Every last one of them.

But you can't pretend to be normal if you're killing everyone.

They found the Revelation pretty easily. It was housed inside a large warehouse. Alex was all for crashing in and tearing his way through, but he lost the chance to vote due to the attack. Right now, he had to pretend to be normal, and follow Korra and Mako's plan.

Unfortunately, that wasn't really an option anymore.

"I can't get near that guy." He whispered to them, dressed up as a younger man in a scarf. Korra hid her distinctive clothing and build under a long coat and a hat, while Mako didn't have to do as much work. That guy was a D-Code Super soldier, Blackwatch's answer to Hunters and him. Nearly twice the size of a normal person, and with enough strength to bench press a truck. "He's been modified to be able to smell anyone that drank the serum. He'll recognise we instantly. And after your argument you made it clear you don't want casualties."

"But how will you get in?" Korra whispered back as they stepped closer. The D-Code was already looking around, as though he had a niggling feeling.

"I'll find another way. Go." He gave them a small push as he stepped out of line, stumbling and pretending to be drunk. It worked. The D-Code turned back to the line heading in, ignoring Alex as he got further away. It didn't take him long to find a ventilation pipe leading in. He stretched out, turning into a liquid, and slithered into the pipe. He couldn't see in this form, but he could still detect enough to figure out where to go. As he took turns, the voices of the crowd grew louder and louder until he eventually found an opening. He spilled out of there, quickly grew an eye long enough to look around, and then reformed into his new look. With his hood low over his face, and his scarf high, no one would recognise him. He then sneaked his way through the corridors until he found a massive crowd on the shop floor. Interesting. Seems anti-bending feeling were pretty numerous. He figured some were jealous that they didn't have bending, and wanted to cut down anyone better than them. It would be so easy to silence all of them right now.

No. He had to stop thinking like that. If he slipped up again, he'd end up in prison. Not a big challenge for someone like him, but it was time wasted. Besides, Blackwatch would be nearby if one of their D-Codes was right outside. Best to just get Bolin out, and deal with Blackwatch another time.

"Big crowd, ain't it?" He said walking closer to Mako and Korra. As far as the crowd would assume from their conversation, they were just non-benders surprised that so many people agreed with them. "If there's a bender here, he's probably going to be on stage so we can see the gutless freak."

Korra nodded. "Probably meant to be the main attraction." The lights turned off, except for four directed onto the stage. The main event was afoot.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome your hero, your saviour, the man that stands for the people, Amon." A hatch opened on the stage, lifting up several people. On one side was several Equalist mooks. On the other side was Blackwatch soldiers. And in the centre of them, was the guy with the mask. Amon. Given the cheers people were giving, they clearly didn't know what kind of monster the guy was allied with.

"My quest for equality began many years ago." Amon began saying. Ah yes, establishing the link to the common man. "When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the Firebender who extorted my father." He started pacing as he spoke. "One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did, that Firebender took my family from me. Then, he took my face." The crowd gasped in horror. "I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since. As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." Apparently, despite being a hero, the crowd didn't like Korra. Made sense in a way. They didn't like benders. And Korra was the strongest of all benders. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But, she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world, is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era." Alex took a quick glance at Korra, who was grinding her teeth in anger. "But that is about to change. I know you have been wondering, 'What is the Revelation?' You are about to get your answer." Finally. "Since the beginning of time the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance." Well of course they would. It wouldn't do well for your revolution if they agreed with her. "They have granted me a power that will make Equality a reality. The power to take a person's bending away. Permanently."

Well, colour him impressed. If it was true, then Amon was the biggest threat to benders everywhere. And without their precious bending, people wouldn't be able to defend themselves from the common man. Alex foresaw riots everywhere as the non-benders too whatever they wanted. And he imagined that some would want to break Korra.

"That's impossible." Korra whispered. "There's no way he could take away someone's bending."

"Now, for a demonstration. Please welcome, Lightning Bolt Zolt." One of the Equalists grabbed one of the hostages hidden behind a curtain. He looked like he was a very wealthy man. "Leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City." The crowd booed at him. Evidently, he had a lot of enemies here.

"Ahh, boo yourself." Zolt shouted back, looking smug. More Equalists led several other hostages onto the stage. And Bolin was the last member.

"There's Bolin." Mako said obviously. Korra just squared her shoulders and started walking forward until Mako held her back. "Wait. We can't fight them all. We have to be smart."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Pretty Boy's right. Those guns Blackwatch are holding? All the bending in the world can't help if they shoot you."

"Then what do we do?" Korra asked.

"I'm thinking." Mako replied, annoyed. Alex had an idea, but it was a small one. And the D-Code complicated things.

"Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders." Amon was saying. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending." The first Equalist untied Zolt's bonds. Either Amon was over-confident – which was likely – or he truly could beat a bender in close combat. God knows his mooks managed it.

"You're going to regret that, pal." Zolt said arrogantly as he fired a blast at Amon. But Amon dodged them like it was child's play. Even a blast of lightning was easily avoided. That's why Alex liked guns. Sure, they weren't as flashy. But if you shot at someone, they'd die pretty quickly.

Well, usually.

Amon got behind Zolt's guard, grabbing him by the wrists and directing his lightning away. He then placed his thumb on the centre of Zolt's head. The lightning got weaker, until it changed into flames before guttering out. Amon let Zolt go, who quickly turned around and tried to shoot a flame. Nothing happened. He really did it.

"Wha…What did you do to me?" Zolt asked, afraid. People were always afraid of the unknown.

"I just took your bending away. Forever." Amon turned to face the crowd as Blackwatch members took Zolt away. "The era of bending is over. A new era of Equality begins!"

"So, what were you saying about it being impossible?" Alex snarked at Korra while the crowd cheered. She gave him a dirty look, before turning to Mako.

"Any ideas yet?"

"I've got one. See those machines? They're powered by water and steam. If you can create some cover, I can get Bolin out of here."

"Bad idea kid. While I'm partly sure that Blackwatch won't just open fire in a crowd, you've still got the D-Code at the door to deal with."

"I can handle him." Korra replied. "And do you have a better idea?"

Alex sighed in frustration. "D-Codes are unbelievably tough and strong. They can break a man with one hand, and can survive most things. The last time I fought one, he lost his head for 30 seconds before he finally bled out. So if we're going for this plan, I'll keep him distracted, while you create some steam."

"Are you sure you can beat him without causing casualties?" Mako asked. "Cause that was part of our agreement."

"I don't have to beat him. I just have to keep him preoccupied long enough for you guys to escape." Korra and Mako shared a look, before nodding in agreement. Mako headed to the front of the stage, while Korra and Alex headed away for a side corridor. By using Infected Vision, Alex spotted his prey easily enough.

Time for some fun.

He kept getting closer to the D-Code, not even bothering to hide his presence. The super soldier felt something weird and looked around. Once Alex was close enough, the D-Code looked him square in the face. His eyes flashed red as he used his own infected Vision.

"Fuck." The guy said in English, right before Alex charged him.

The force Alex had been storing in his legs allowed him to smash through a steel wall. Steam billowed everywhere as they ripped apart pipes. Alex and the D-Code grabbed hold of pipes and started smashing each other round the head, denting the pipes more than their skulls. The D-Code grabbed Alex's arm and twisted it till it ripped off. The pain was bad, but Alex had been eaten before. This, this was nothing. He quickly grew another arm with a blade before shoving them deep into the D-Code's chest. But he used the pipe to knock Alex down the corridor, tearing the blade out in the process. Painful, but not unliveable. He then pulled out his rifle, noticed it was badly dented, and just decided to skewer Alex with it. In such a narrow corridor, he wasn't able to dodge.

But neither could the much larger D-Code.

Alex fired a large spike at him, feeling woozy from losing so much biomass. The spike blasted through the cut he made before, and pinned the D-Code to the wall. Alex jumped on him, and started pounding his face until he stopped moving. Then he kept pounding until a normal man would be dead. He was about to strike some more to make sure when he noticed all the steam billowing about. Might as well get going, before more Blackwatch members show up. He grabbed his arm and his spike, before breaking the D-Code's neck and moving out. He blended seamlessly with the crowd, heading out into the open before going to look for Korra and Mako. Hopefully, they managed their mission while he was losing an arm. He rounded a corner to spot Korra picking up a dazed Mako and placing him on Naga. Then she spotted him.

"Alex. Thanks."

"No problem." He spotted the knocked out Equalist, the one with the moustache. " I could finish him off for you." Korra looked shocked, until they heard the sound of feet on metal. Alex's old radio picked up the Blackwatch broadcast. They were ordering all units to deal with all intruders. "Never mind. We need to get out of here." Korra jumped on Naga, and had her pick up Bolin as she passed. Alex used a whipfist to smash some walkways, before racing after her.

Guess this was his good deed for the day.

General Redcliffe watched as his men scoured the perimeter, making sure there weren't any more 'surprises'. Next to him, was the leader of these 'Equalists', Amon.

"You should've let us kill the Avatar." He said in perfect Chinese. If he was going to be negotiating with this guy, he needed to know how to speak the language. Luckily, one of his men 'donated' his understanding of the language.

"If we kill her, then she'll be a martyr for all benders. They will stand and fight in her name. But if we take away her bending and reveal her at the end, then she'll be nothing more than a broken girl."

"Instead, she escaped. Now the benders will know of us."

"Yes. Exactly as planned."

Now Redcliffe got it. "The best way to plan for an enemy is to let them think they know everything."

"Once Avatar Korra speaks of my power, the whole city will tremble before us. And they will dance on our puppet strings."

"Just remember our deal. Above all else, we want the Avatar." There had to be a logical way some people could bend and others couldn't. If they could access that power, they could have entire teams capable of fighting the Infected on even footing.

"Yes, yes. I remember. I don't like it, but your men can be very helpful." He and Amon both knew some of the men were benders. But Amon agreed to leave them alone if they went back home as soon as possible. And the Runner was the reason they were here in the first place. If he hadn't messed with the cross-dimensional portal in the first place, they wouldn't be here. Hopefully, he was dead.

"General." One of his men called out as he saluted. "We found Major General Phillips, sir. He's been killed."

That got everyone's attention. Phillips was one of the original D-Codes. They were Blackwatch's answer to an Infect Hunter, a tank-bashing monster of pure killing. Phillips has torn through several dozen of them. He was pretty much impossible to beat.

That left only one possible, horrifying explanation.

"Sonofabitch, Zeus was here." Redcliffe moved quickly with the soldier to find Phillips' remain, while everyone else got their guns pointed everywhere. Those with handheld viral scanners moved through the crowd, scanning everyone while at least two people kept an eye on them. Given that Zeus had torn through most of Blackwatch with ease, and then Ares did it again the following outbreak, they were taking no chance. Redcliffe found Phillips stuck against several dented pipes, not far from a D-Code sized hole in the metal wall. His head was badly crushed, while there was a massive hole in his chest. The men had a moment of silence for him.

Dammit." Redcliffe growled. "Phillips was one of my top agents. Amon, tell your Equalists that if they spot a pale man in a black hood, do not engage without our support. Zeus is dangerous."

"Actually, according to one of my men, such a man literally crushed the soldier you had guarding him." Amon mentioned almost carelessly.

"And you didn't think to mention a lone man crushing one of my soldiers?"

"I was a bit busy organising the Revelation. We need men to take back the city."

"Dammit. Men, I want this place cleansed by tomorrow. Work systematically and smart. I don't want to waste energy burning a clean floor." As the men moved to follow his commands, Redcliffe stood in front of Phillips. He was a damn good man, and a damn good soldier. Perfectly willing to do whatever it took to stamp out the infection.

"You will be missed." He said, grabbing Phillips' dog tags.

So he was surprised when Phillips started waving his arm weakly.

"Men! Phillips is alive! I want him stabilised on the double." As medics came rushing in, he thought he heard Phillips say something. "What was that soldier?" He leaned in closer.

"I said, Zeus will die."

This story is what inspired me to write 'A Monster in King's Landing'. I thought Alex would be even more terrifying in this setting given how if he had souls, he'd be an eldritch abomination made of them. That in fact causes him problems. As all the people he's consumed are alive inside him again, he's got to put up with them arguing. And As shown, if enough of them agree, they can override Alex's control.

As for bending, yes, Alex will seem overpowered. The rule I've made is that the souls' bending is weaker than the average bender, but having dozens of them working together in one body makes him stronger overall. Well, as long as they cooperate.

And as for Heller, well Alex somehow survived inside Heller, and managed to take over after a while. So, he and Greene are still alive in there, along with Randall.

If Alex loses control, the Avatar World is screwed.