AN: Thanks once again to Xomniac for being my sanity check and beta for this story. Incidentally thesis was a bitch. But the panelists loved it for some reason so fuck it.
I woke up groaning in pain as everything fuzzily started to come into focus. I soon quickly wished I was unconscious again, due to the first thing to enter my vision being an all too familiar mask.
"Good evening Vic," Amon greeted, his voice thick with his usual smug confidence as fear crept into my bones. "I apologize for the unfortunate circumstances in which we had to meet. I'm afraid the methods used in… 'appropriating' your time had, shall we say, unexpected results?"
"You could've just asked politely," I grunted in pain as I got a better look at my surroundings. I was tied to a chair, though judging from the creaking it was giving off it was rather rickety. Other than that…
"Achoo!" I explosively sneezed right into Amon's face. I certainly didn't hold back, not for a bastard like him. My nose was all reacting like hell to whatever was in the air, I could still feel that shock from the glove on the small of my back and now I had an itch on my nose I couldn't quite fix.
Thanks a fucking lot, Murph.
"Sorry." I sniffed in a decidedly unapologetic manner. "I would've covered my mouth but I'm afraid I'm a little tied up at the moment." I quipped as Amon wiped his mask of the… residue. "Really dusty in here, I suggest you fire your housekeeper.."
"Once again,my apologies," he replied a little more tersely as I sniffed again. Man, there must be a lot of it in here. My nose was twitching like mad. "Personally, I'm just glad to see a non-bender rising so high in society."
"I honestly don't think I deserve any of it," I replied as I observed my surroundings from the corner of my eyes. It looked like there were a couple of mooks beside me, and the window to my right told me we were either close to the bay or one of the rivers. "I can't even begin to figure out how I got there in the first place now that you bring it up."
"Through your own wit and cunning, no doubt." Amon praised as he paced around me. "The Equalists could certainly use a man like you. Someone with the trust of many important people, and access to their information... we could make the transition to a new, benderless society far more painless with information like that."
"Two job offers in one day? And from such… vaunted members of the community too." I drawled, putting up my best English gentry act. "I have to say, this is certainly a lot better than anything I would've received back home."
"Oh? Why do you say that?" he asked, a hint of what sounded like genuine curiosity in his voice.
"It's quite simple really.There are plenty of gentlemen back home who'd certainly give a much better show than I have," I replied with as smug a grin I could manage. "I mean, as is, I'm afraid I haven't been living up to the standard the chaps back home would've set."
"That only highlights your accomplishments even more," Amon countered. "All the more reason that I value your talents, and would be deeply thankful should you join us. I'm sure a man of your skills could be put to good use anywhere the revolution has need of you."
I hesitated a moment. This was a great opportunity to... well, you know… mess some shit up. Get inside info on Amon and shit that was actually up to date. Play the dangerous triple agent game. I could be living a life ala-KGB/CIA sleeper agent.
Then common sense kicked that fanciful idea out to the curb and reminded me what exactly I'd be dealing with. All it took would be one little mistake and I'd be a dead man. Not to mention that I wasn't ready for the amount of triple-think required.
"Certainly an interesting proposition, but alas I don't think I can accept quite yet." I apologized. "I'm afraid my honor prevents me from breaking an oath to another. Not to mention I don't trust scoundrels."
"Oh?" Amon queried, leaning in so that he was practically eye-to-eye with me. "What makes you think I'm a scoundrel?"
"I'm a people person, Amon. It pays to know these sorts of things." I smiled as cheekily as possible. "I'm sure your revolution can succeed without me." I finished as I slowly leaned back on my chair. "After all, you have the 'Spirits' on your side."
I could sense the anger behind his mask as he violently turned away. "You've made a mistake here tonight Vic. One way or another you will serve the cause," he growled as he signalled a couple of mooks to to go and presumably keep watch over me as he imperiously strode out of the room.
"See you later, space cowboy!' I joked, a little happy thought before the door slammed shut behind him and I found myself tied to a chair, alone and surrounded by elite Chi-blocker mooks.
Well… it could always be worse I suppose.
__
The first hour tied to that chair was spent basically just taking in my surroundings and trying to figure out ways I could get out. And sneezing. Lots of sneezing. This was probably some old mill or place that made a lot of dust and it was causing me to sneeze like you wouldn't imagine. I think the mooks guarding me were even beginning to pity me.
That or they considered me enough of a non-threat to just lean on the wall and casually ignore me. To be fair, they wouldn't be wrong. I couldn't hurt either of them, and … well, yeah. I could probably stand a decent chance at breaking the chair, but not without the mooks noticing and bringing down the hammer on me. At least they were kind enough to give me a drink of water every now and then.
So an hours worth of sneezing, testing and observing had finally led me to the following conclusions:
First, I wasn't paralyzed. All my bits were, to the best of my knowledge, fully functioning. Always a good thing, not being hopelessly stuck to a chair for the rest of your life.
Second, this was obviously a trap. I was the bait, and Korra was the target. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Third, while I could maybe, go and break the chair by throwing all my weight at it, again, it was rather rickety, it wouldn't do anything to stop the mooks. So that was out.
Fourth, to reiterate, there was a lot of what I presumed was sawdust in the air. Enough to make me sneeze periodically. This made me suspect this was an old sawmill or processing place of wood of sorts. There were a few sacks of it by the corner of the room, or at least I suspected it to be so.
Finally, wherever we were, we were by the bay and it was sunset. I had sneezed so much at one point, the guards took pity and moved me by a window for some much needed fresh air. I managed to catch a pretty decent view of the city when I turned my head. That and the fresh salt breeze helped confirm my suspicions.
So… added all together, I was in an old place that handled wood, by the bay, with a… non-zero chance of escaping as is. Admittedly, a very, very small non-zero chance that would involve several acts of god, but still a non-zero chance.
It was after that investigation that I started to panic. I mean… I bait for luring in Korra for Amon's nefarious plans. I knew he wanted her to fear him as much as possible. A scared Avatar wasn't a rational Avatar and Korra was bull-headed enough as things were already.
I had no way out and everything was going down the shitter and-
At that point I mentally slapped myself. This… wasn't the first time I had found myself panicking and beginning to berate myself and fate. So I went back to assessing what I had done wrong.
First, I forgot about my job's publicity. That should've led to alarm bells ringing and possibly moving out.
Second, I couldn't actually do anything now. No way in heck could I escape this alone. They could fight, I couldn't, end of story
Finally, help was coming. It may have been a trap for Korra, but the bottom line was that the Avatar was coming. I just needed to calm down and think about how to utilize the resources I had at my disposal.
With that in mind, I realized that there was only one thing I could productively do right now. I promptly leaned back and tried to get comfortable. It was going to be a long night before any sort of help arrived.
___
I wasn't exactly sure for how long I was asleep. The only sure thing was that by the time I woke up, the subtle background noise of the city had died down a bit and it was dark outside. At a guess, it was probably around midnight or after, but I couldn't really be sure.
Another quick glance at my guards dashed the minor hope that the mooks wouldn't be pros. It looked like they were as alert as ever, more-so even. For all I knew, they might have even been different guards. It was hard to tell what with their masks and all.
I was about to try and entice them into a round of conversation when the door opened and Amon strode in. At a nod of his head the two mooks beside me disappeared into the shadows of the building.
"So, it's a trap then." I started. Obvious, really. but sometimes stating the obvious had its uses. Or at least I hoped it had its uses.
"Yes. Now, I believe is the time for you to be quiet." he replied as he forcefully gagged me with a bundle of cloth.
I entertained the idea of defying him some way, some how, but the memory of the Revelation shut me up and prompted me to wait for my time to strike. Patience is a virtue and all that, but honestly, against Amon, I had no chance of fighting him.
Presumably satisfied with my inability to speak, or at the least convinced that I understood my position, he retreated into the shadows. Watching. Like a hunter waited for his prey.
For what felt like forever I tried to get rid of my gag, chewing, spitting and downright biting at it, but mostly to no avail. Pushing at it with my tongue led to some progress, or at least I thought it did. By then though I was too tired to try, so I just rested and tried to save my strength for what I knew was coming.
After another eternity of waiting, the door practically exploded into splinters when Korra came charging in, her face all scrounged up in an expression of both pure fury and relief.
"Vic!" she cried out as she charged towards me.
"Mmmph!" I muffled through the gag. No use.
She came charging in and quickly untied me from my chair and removed my gag, even as I saw Amon quietly step out of the shadows and into the light. Right behind her of course.
"Look out!" I warned the moment she undid my gag. She immediately ducked even as Amon quietly charged, swift as a missile.
Korra smoothly sent water straight out of the window Amon's way, despite my warning. He'd of course naturally flowed around it and closed the distance all the more, forcing Korra to back up towards me.
This brought my brain into overdrive. I Immediately thought of my options. I was free, but there was no way I'd be able to hurt Amon. Escape was really our only option.
I sneezed violently then , causing Korra to stumble and lose even more ground when she turned to look at me in worry.
"I'm fine!" I warded. "Go kick his ass!"
Right. Think. Amon's mooks were waiting in the shadows for some signal of his. This was likely a thing to show dominance over Korra and you know… scar her into submission and uselessness. A fully awakened Avatar was not something he was any match for.
I sneezed again. Goddamn saw… dust.
God thank the Mythbusters. "Korra!" I shouted as I sidled over to what was hopefully a bag of the damn stuff. "Get over here!"
She simply nodded and backed to where I was even as Amon calmly stood his ground and signaled to the shadows. A half-dozen mooks and the Lieutenant walked out of the shadows, easily outnumbering the two of us. avatar or not, Korra couldn't take that many, especially not with me around to protect.
"Remember this Avatar," Amon said as the mooks formed ranks with him. "You may be powerful but we are many. We can strike you and your friend anytime, anywhere."
"Your fieldcraft's pretty good I give you that" I quipped even as I quietly sidled over to Korra and checked the window. It led directly to the river, and it didn't look too tall, we were probably on the second floor of the building. Totally survivable. I think.
"Listen," I whispered. "On my signal you toss this bag towards them and then launch a fireball or something as we bail out the window."
"What? Why?" she hissed as she backed up by me.
"Just trust me." I nudged as I moved closer to the window and the bag. "But Amon," I resumed "I don't think you've quite got us where you want to yet."
"Oh?" he asked. I mean I could just see his eyebrows raise themselves behind that mask. "What makes you think that? You're surrounded and the Avatar can do nothing, not without you getting hurt."
Korra growled at that but I signaled her to hold. "Amon, Amon, Amon…" I tutted, complete with a finger wag. "I think my old mentor taught me something that's quite appropriate for times like... now!" I roared as I heaved the sack with all my might.
The thing was heavy, yeah, but it wasn't the first sack I'd had to lug around. I managed to throw it a respectable distance before Amon casually punched it, scattering the fine dust all over the room
"Now!" I roared again as I dove out the window and into the inky blackness of the river right as a deafening roar and frigid cold engulfed my senses.
__
I rose up from the black waters gasping for air. Korra soon popped up beside me too, though nowhere near as breathless as I was.
"Holy shit." I gasped as I looked at the blazing corpse of the building. "That worked. That really goddamned worked." I finished as a laugh made its way out of my throat.
"Vic," Korra worriedly said as she swam up to me. "Are you… okay?"
I… may have continued to laugh a little maniacally. "Whoo! Science bitches!" I cheered in between bouts of laughter.
"Vic," Korra sternly shouted as she shook me. " We've gotta get outta here."
That snapped me out of it. "Right," I nodded and began to swim for the opposite bank. The current was tough though and Korra must've done some sorta waterbending trick as the current eased up and I soon made more progress again.
"What was that?" she asked the moment we reached the far end, some disused industrial pier. "I mean yeah I know I hit the sawdust cloud with some fire but…"
"It's more flash than bang," I said. "Chances are Amon and co got out of that alive, if singed judging from the way the building isn't completely demolished."
"Still… how?"
"I really, really like explosions." I explained. "Back home, my idols taught me a lot about the nature of them. There are ones with more flash than boom, pretty and look devastating. But they often don't do as much damage as the ones that are more boom than flash."
"I'm just glad you're in one piece," she said as she hugged me tightly. Not in her bonecrushing manner but like a nice friendly one.
It was… nice.
"I'm glad to be alive too." I replied, smiling as we broke off. "Let's… lets go home eh?" I smiled as we walked on out towards relative safety.
