A/N: Advanced chapters ahead at www.patreon.com/Blazuki
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Akashi and Korra met Unalaq and his daughters… well, one of them was his son who looked like his daughter. The only difference was the makeup.
'And why are these bitches tagging along?' Akashi forced a smile at Korra's cousins, raising his hands.
Currently, they were traveling through ice. Well, the waterbenders did. As for Akashi, he sat on a spinning air-ball that carried him all the way to the center of the South Pole.
Truth be told, it was very cold. Unlike the water tribe that existed on the edges of this continent, the South Pole was far from merciful. The raging snowstorms. The ice-cold blaze that threatened any non-waterbenders with frostbite. The monsters that survived this cold.
It was an environment far from what any human could survive.
Nevertheless, Akashi handled the cold that slipped through his body with nothing but his vitality stats.
'Man. I got too used to hot weather since I worked a lot in the kitchen last months. After this is over, I will get back home, hide myself under the blanket, and not leave the house for months…'
And in no time, they arrived at the pillar of light. Unalaq was the first to walk in, followed by his kids, and then Korra and Akashi.
The view changed into a different world… or rather, a different dimension.
Lakes were everywhere. Mountains cut in half, and so on. And in the middle, one could see a very large tree that towered over the sky.
Spirits dancing in the sky could be seen as well.
"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…" Akashi hummed a song while giving his uncle-in-law a look.
Unalaq's face was getting more yellowish. If one stood next to him, they would feel that he's radiating heat.
'It seems that viruses did the trick… He caught salmonella, and he's holding his shit.' Akashi thought. Unalaq had a few beads of sweat drenching his face, but he kept a stoic expression, focusing on the last steps of his mission.
"Are you alright?" Akashi said, walking to Unalaq and patting him on the head.
"Nothing more than a casual cold," Unalaq said, assuring. "What matters are the final steps on our mission."
"Great. I knew you're the man for the job," Akashi replied, suppressing his laugh while faking concern on his face.
What Unalaq didn't know was that some viruses and bacteria made their way through his system. And after days of being exposed to them, they started finally showing effect. But that's not the best part. The best part is what he put in his drink yesterday.
'Salmonella. There's a reason why I have been adding bird shit to his food.' Akashi thought, smirking. 'He's holding his shit, literally, for the grand moment.'
Unalaq closed his eyes, as if he's holding back a pain surge, before opening them and walking forward.
"Korra, please, follow me and open the portal," he invited to a sphere that was on the opposite side to the portal compared to the time tree.
"Very well," Korra nodded. By this point, she was just in a hurry to send back her uncle and the Northern tribe members to the North Pole. She wanted nothing more than that.
She reached a sphere made of energy, put her hand on it, and closed her eyes, releasing the energy.
Another pillar of light appeared in this spirit world.
It looked similar to the one that existed in the South Pole.
Applying logic to it, if one stepped into the light, they would find themselves in the North Pole.
"So, everything is done?" Korra asked.
"Not quite. We will just wait for some minutes now," replied her uncle.
"Wait for what?" asked Korra.
Akashi gave the pillars of light a glance. They were slowly bending over, converging.
'This is the moment he becomes the dark Avatar, and this is the moment I expose him to Korra.' Akashi thought.
Unalaq smirked, "For the new era."
The light pillars bent over, joining together.
In the tree of time, and trapped in a barrier of energy, was a red spirit that had kept silent all of this time.
The barrier broke, and the spirit got out, saying, "Finally! After thousands of years, I'm free."
Korra, feeling something amiss, asked, "What's going on?"
"What's going on is that your uncle has released the Dark Spirit, Vaatu, and he's planning to kill you." Akashi walked in, looking at the smile on Unalaq's face. "And he'd rule the world as the new Avatar."
"That's very right." Unalaq nodded.
Korra, the one who believed in her uncle, and considered him as a family for so long, felt shock.
Akashi observed her.
Unlike in canon, where she had time to process her uncle's evil doings and hate him before the final battle, this one didn't have time.
It came to her as a shock.
For a second, she didn't believe him.
A strong dark wave surrounded the spirit world, giving the sky and the world outside a darkish color.
"Now… I shall rule the new era as the dark avatar." Unalaq said, "The new era of humans and spirits shall begin."
Vaatu flew to the sick Unalaq and entered his body. The result was nothing short of something similar to Korra's avatar's state. But instead of his eyes glowing, pure purplish darkness shone from them. Unalaq extended his hand to the portals that linked to each other.
And with that, he fused completely with Vaatu.
"Finally…" Unalaq yelled.
And his son and daughter looked at him, as if he lost his mind.
"Uncle, you are not planning to end the world, do you?" Korra asked, completely forgetting about the part where Akashi told her that her uncle wanted to kill her.
Unalaq smirked. Water surrounded his lower half, turning into a tornado-like shape. He appeared in front of Korra, creating a water tentacle around his hand and slamming into her.
Akashi appeared in front of him, holding his arm.
"What are you doing?" Unalaq asked.
Akashi turned to the shocked Korra, who still needed time to process it, and said, "Take all of the time you need. I won't let anyone hurt you."
At the beginning, the plan was to let Korra and Unalaq fight for a while before backstabbing the uncle in the critical moment.
But seeing him about to hurt her, Akashi couldn't stand still.
"Can't let you hurt my girl. What kind of man would I be if I let you?" Akashi said, "Worse than a cuckold, that's for sure."
"Are you throwing the dreams of a new world, just because you love that avatar," Unalaq scoffed, "Let me tell you, I won't stop at anyone."
"You. Fucking. idiot," Akashi said slowly, "Still don't get it."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not about love." Akashi replied, "I knew about your plan all along, and I had attacked your army, so that nobody gets hurt and Korra gets to see your real face by the end."
"And you idiot helped me achieve my plan faster." Unalaq sneered, "I can't believe that I found someone more stupid than Korra."
Korra felt a pang of pain in her heart.
"Yeah, the kind of idiot that made you feel hot and resist taking shit continuously." Akashi replied casually.
Unalaq's face twitched. "You… you poisoned me."
"Not really. Gave you an illness… Though, I poisoned you last night. Let's say, I gave you some performance enhancer that leaves you exhausted the day after and forces you on a rest."
After having a drink with Akashi last night, Unalaq had been full of energy, and high. He had never expected that a single cup of alcohol would put him in that good mental state. He had credited it to his feeling of accomplishment of his life's mission. But it seemed that it was Akashi's doing all along.
"Though, I know you are stronger than me in your state." Akashi said, "I came prepared, and I'm not underestimating you."
"Very well, armies couldn't stand in the face of the avatars. A lone man like you cannot do a thing in the face of my power," Unalaq replied, screaming. Dark energy surrounded him, forcing Akashi to pull his hand backward.
Unalaq created two whips, glaring at Akashi with glowing eyes.
"Not even trying to dance with me. Straight to Avatar's state? Tsk. You are a coward." Akashi said, thumbing on his nose before taking Bruce Lee's stance.