Korra vs Kuvira: The End of an Age (Part 2) (Patreon)

Stiff, powers still in flux, she tried to rise, but it was slow, uncoordinated, a struggle with her own body.

“I don’t need the balance or a lion turtle or past lives!” Kuvira advanced, “I make my own destiny!”

Then she proceeded to do something no one had ever done: she began to physically beat the Avatar state itself.

Kuvira’s soldiers milled about nervously, many of them glancing towards their officers, who were likewise unsure. None of them could see through the walls of flame, but they could hear what sounded like a bending battle. They heard the Avatar screaming as well, but amongst the lightning and rumbling of the earth it sounded like a roar. That meant their commander was still fighting, but likely didn’t have much chance against the massive amount of power she faced.

The reality, and what was visible to the horrified citizens of Zaofu, was very different.

Rock after rock flew at the Avatar, heavy, punishing blows that battered her back step by step. Her arms covered her head, shelling her up within a guard of earth bending that kept her bones from being broken, but nevertheless hammered her, bruising and knocking her off balance. Rather than counter attacking, all the might of thousands of years could do was cover itself, and barely managed that.

Sneering, Kuvira advanced as her opponent retreated, throwing earth bending attacks in a violent, persistent rhythm. They were the sort of blows she threw at training walls, full force, not worried about defense, working out her stress and aggression after a long day. She even cried out with exhilaration at each vicious motion.

“RAGH! RAGH! HAGH! RAGH!”

The echoing voice of the Avatar state gasped and even groaned in pain. Any one of the single Avatar’s could have defended themselves against these wide, telegraphed attacks, but the voices were being tangled and disrupted, like a skipping record. Its only choice now was to take the blows and struggle to find a single voice to guide it.

“THIS IS IT?!” Kuvira roared, “THIS IS THE GREAT DEFENDER OF THE BALANCE?!”

She broke the rhythm of her blows for a moment to flick out a sliver of metal that hooked around the Avatar’s wrist. With a flick of her wrist, she used her control of the metal to yank her opponent’s arm out wide, then threw another attack into the opening she made.

The Avatar’s head was rocked back, then another blow hammered into her ribs before she could collect herself.

Keeping the water tribe girl’s arm held out with one hand, Kuvira continued to pummel her exposed face and ribs with the other.

“Weak!” the general cried out with each blow, “Clumsy! Shallow!”

Its vessel being battered into oblivion, the Avatar counterattacked out of desperation, throwing out her free hand to punch a pillar of flame at her tormentor. It was a wild attack but with the Avatar state behind it was incredibly powerful.

However, the instant the Avatar started to attack, Kuvira flicked out another band of metal that caught her other wrist. With the same sharp motion as before, the possessed heroine’s right arm was yanked wide just like her left. The flames struck one of the boulders the Avatar had thrown earlier, turning it red hot before the fire dwindled away.

With the Avatar trapped in a crucifix, Kuvira laughed.

“And, of course, predictable!”

Roaring in frustration, the Avatar state lashed out with a kick that sent a spear of hardened air in the general’s direction.

Kuvira stepped lazily to the side, as if it was a dance they’d choreographed beforehand, then swept her hands together.

On cue, the Avatar’s arms were yanked back, the metal bands on her wrists reaching towards each other. The glowing eyes widened in shock for a moment then she began to struggle wildly, like an animal that just realized it was on a leash.

“That’s it!” Kuvira snapped, “Make noise! Use all your righteous rage!”

With a bit more effort, she pulled the bands closer together.

Korra’s arms shook as the Avatar tried to resist. The many voices cried out, thrashing madly, but despite the spirits’ effort, their vessel’s wrists drew closer inches at a time. Korra’s shoulders slowly pinched together, healthy breasts pushed out more and more dramatically, body trying to resist being hyper extended. However, there was only so far the shoulders could bend before ligaments in the chest started to stretch beyond their elasticity.

It wasn’t long before the Avatar state cried out in anguish, trapped and in pure agony.

“All you are is a giant spiritual tantrum!” Kuvira sneered, “No thought! A swarm of ghosts with power they should have never had!”

She pulled Korra’s wrists a bit closer together and the Avatar cried out again, dropping to her knees.

“But for all that power, brittle! For all that so-called wisdom, blindness to the future!”

Lifting her hands in the air, the Earth Empress lifted Korra in tandem, leaving the Avatar dangling from her own strained arms.

The Avatar cried out in renewed agony, the glowing eyes wide, the ageless wrath now replaced with very human shock and fear.

Kuvira snarled back, pretty features hardened with bitter malice.

“Now feel the power of my empire, you sanctimonious poltergeist!”

She swung her arms down and slammed the Avatar into the ground, hard enough that it cracked the rock and hard-packed dirt, leaving a small crater. Not done, she then threw her victim to the side, smashing her into a rock fixture that had been created by earlier earth bending.

“The new world is not fire, earth, air and water!” Kuvira shouted as she continued to throw the possessed girl around, “It’s metal! Glass! Plastic! Rubber!”

The Avatar could only cry out helplessly as she was smashed into the ground, beaten against rocks, flipped around, then smashed down again. She was like a toy being played with by a careless, angry child who didn’t care if she broke, and it was a beating even the power of the Avatar state couldn’t withstand.

The fires that had erupted from within the fissures of earth died down, the wild winds slowing. The Earth Empire soldiers began to be able to see what was happening and they grew silent again, fascinated at the sight before them.

From far away, the citizens of Zaofu likewise gaped in shock, though some voices cried out in despair. Only a few of them could believe what they were seeing and only a handful of those few found themselves able to speak. Soon, that handful were only hoping for Kuvira to stop, to cease the humiliating display of brutality. It was already over.

After one final slam, the Great Uniter left the Avatar on her stomach, sprawled flat.

“You ‘re a relic,” she proclaimed, “And it’s time you were discarded.”

The Avatar slowly tried to rise, shoulders shifting, arms quaking, pushing herself up with great difficulty. The progress she made was so painful that a few watchers thought perhaps the Avatar state had faded, but as she managed to lift her head her eyes were still glowing. The power was still possessing Korra, only beaten down, weakened to the point of helplessness.

Every Avatar that had ever existed now groaned, the sound deep and agonized, like a large, fatally wounded animal. The glowing eyes were lidded, the mouth agape, dazed and vulnerable. All the power of so many spirits now only managed to prop their vessel up on her knees for a moment. Then her rump to plop back onto her heels, reeling and unsteady. Her shoulders weaved, head bobbling, barely manage to stay upright, much less launch an attack.

Kuvira stormed towards the helpless Avatar as Korra’s head rolled back, then fell forward, unable to be held straight. Another weak, echoing groan escaped her lips, her arms drooped, hands resting palm up on the ground, too heavy to lift. She couldn’t even look her attacker in the face.

This was unacceptable to Kuvira. She flicked out another metal band that clapped around Korra’s throat, then used it to heft.

The Avatar grunted faintly, another very human sound, so strange to hear from her deep, ghostly voice.

Kuvira leaned closer, staring right into the moonlight-glowing eyes. She said nothing, just peering deep into that ancient power, smug, unimpressed. She didn’t want to rush this moment. She wanted the spirit of the Avatar, the force that carried itself through the generations, to know it was beaten.

Only after several long seconds did she speak.

“I warned you.”

Kuvira released, a long, satisfied sigh, feeling better after releasing so much pent-up emotion. Cleansed, she spoke again, her voice chillingly calm.

“I speak now to the Avatar state itself on behalf of this world.” She said levelly, “Your time is over. The spirits, mysticism, and traditions of the past are long conquered. They will only exist now to serve the ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit of humanity.”

She lifted her hand before her face and closed her fist.

“Now bow before me.”

She called upon her metal bending and the band around Korra’s throat yanked downwards.

Like she was suddenly desperate to prostrate herself before the Earth Empress, the Avatar’s face slammed into the dirt between Kuvira’s boots. Kneeling, arms stretched out before her, she groveled with her backside in the air, the rounded shapes pushing intently against her furred skirts.

Kuvira smiled, “That’s better.”

Lifting her foot, she planted it on the Avatar’s toned shoulders. It was partially necessary to pin her victim for what came next, but she would have done it regardless. She wanted to feel the champion of the balance under her boot.

With two more swift gestures, bands of metal pinned Korra’s ankles to the ground. The bands already on the Avatar’s neck and wrists dug in next, trapping her, keeping her still.

Now that her captive was restrained, Kuvira could finish what she started. She turned her gaze to the shining pin, still poking relatively innocuously out of Korra’s middle back. Her eyes narrowed, preparing herself for delicate work.

“Let’s bring the world into the next age.” She said, mostly to herself.

Focusing on the pin, she pinched thumb and forefinger together. Like before, she rotated her wrist, slowly, carefully turning key. The pin shifted, so slightly that no one but Kuvira could see it.

But the Avatar felt it. Immediately the deep, many voices howled, Korra’s toned body clenching and balling up. She clearly wanted to arch like she’d done before, but she had nowhere to move, pinned down and curled up as she was. Her face jerked up from the dirt, enough for her wide, glowing eyes to be seen, but otherwise all she could do was tense and cry out.

Kuvira ignored the noise, putting more weight on her foot to keep the Avatar still. She needed to work the pin around until she found the precise conflux of chakras, the literal pinpoint of spiritual energy that linked girl to Avatar state. It required great dexterity and skill, like teasing out a splinter blindfolded with a needle. She couldn’t have done it while she was being attacked, but now that her opponent was nicely contained, she would be able to find the right place with a bit of methodical exploration.

As the pin explored, the Avatar’s power fluctuated wildly and the terrain around them paid the price. The cavernous flames flared up again, deep cracks etched themselves into nearby rocks, even distant thunder rumbled. The grass around them shriveled up as the water was ripped out of it, then spilled uselessly into the dirt.

The Avatar herself had suffered similar, erratic symptoms. The light in her eyes flashed and flared, her ghostly voice fading in and out, like a garbled radio broadcast. Other eldritch light flickered around her, spiritual energy that occasionally shone from her mouth as she cried out.

“ST-STOP!” the spirits roared, “STOP THIS!”

“Your opinion is noted.” Kuvira replied, “Now be quiet.”

Spectral energy shaped around Korra in the form of past Avatars, overlaid and overlapping with her, all of them writhing and crying out. Arrayed in the clothing of their various cultures, they blended into a hydra with numerous arms and legs. The spirits were hazy and dim in comparison to the corporeal Korra, but it was still a confusing, even nightmarish display.

“NO!” the spirits cried out again, “YOU… M-MEDDLE WITH POW--POWERS--!”

Kuvira wasn’t listening. She turned the pin just a bit more, then grinned triumphantly.

“There it is.”

A tiny nudge put the pin right in center of that spiritual conflux, the focal point of that connected Korra’s chakras. The movement of the pin was so slight, even Kuvira could barely see it. However, the reaction from the Avatar was immediate and violent.

A tortured howl, literally earth shaking, exploded from the Avatar’s mouth. Light blazed from her eyes and open mouth, so bright Kuvira had to turn away and shield her eyes. The spirits of all the past Avatars congealed into one shape and for an instant Korra was all of them and none of them, a being of pure ethereal energy.

But the show of power was just the last, wild flicker of a candle. Shortly the light dimmed, the shaking ground grew still, the frenetic displays of bending ceased.

“Now fade away.” Kuvira smiled, “Vanish into history.”

The eerie scream grew fainter, the voices in the chorus slipping away one by one. The glow coming from her body faded, the other Avatars dispersing until the only one left was a buff water tribe girl. The Avatar state bled away from her, moment by moment the great power vanishing.

At last, the distinctive moonlight glow of the Avatar state vanished, Korra’s eyes reverting to their normal sea blue, wide with shock. The other voices went silent, leaving only hers crying out in grief and anguish, until it faded as well. Her body drooped, eyelids sinking down, her cry dying out as the strength fled from her. When it finally ended, it was punctuated with a whimper before she went entirely slack.

Her head thumped to the ground, her muscles slumped, her struggles ceased.

Everything was quiet.

The soldiers stood frozen, not entirely sure what they’d just seen, but knowing instinctively that it was historic. Their commander had done something and now the Avatar lay crumpled at her feet, still bowed down, unmoving. They weren’t even sure if she was still alive. None of them made a sound, stunned into a nearly thoughtless state, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event.

In the distant city, the citizens of Zaofu likewise stared, blinking in disbelief, their voices caught in their throats. The silence was cacophonous, even the winds on the plains silent, as if the world itself was shocked to stillness.

Once again, one person stood out above it all.

With a coaxing gesture, the pin of rank snapped up into Kuvira’s hand, its job done. She shook it off a few times, barely any blood on it from the precise acupuncture, then fitted it back on her lapel as she regarded the slumped figure beneath her boot.

Korra was so still it was difficult to tell if she was breathing. Face down in the dirt, her shoulders shrugged forwards, hands still outstretched and pinned to the ground. Her backside still humped up into the air, embarrassingly displayed but making no move to adjust it. She made no sound, just a lump on the ground.

There was no doubt in Kuvira’s mind that the young Avatar was beaten, any threat she presented neutralized. Now she had the pleasure of deciding what to do with her.

With immense satisfaction, Kuvira ordered the metal band on the girl’s left wrist to rise. It floated up, hoisting Korra’s limp arm, then dragging the rest of her after it. Her shoulders rose from the ground, her chin sagging down onto her chest as she was pulled upright. Inch by inch, the limp girl rose to her knees, then higher to her feet and yet higher until she dangled.

Kuvira left Korra hanging from one arm like a marionette with broken strings, wearing a cool smile, but the gleam in her eyes revealing the savage excitement bubbling beneath the surface.

Uniting and strengthening the Earth Kingdom was noble and she would happily allow principalities to join her without battle. However, in the course of her campaign, Kuvira had discovered one important thing about herself: she loved conquest. When she’d first crushed an enemy, broken them down past the point of desperation, cut away all their options until they could only submit, she’d been fulfilled in ways she never knew she needed.

Kuvira let her eyes roam over beaten foe, admiring the blend of warrior’s tone and curving femininity. She respected the training that had gone into honing Korra’s body, that in itself making it more pleasing to look upon than that of some fragile courtesan. Even more, it represented skill and power that could have conceivably defeated her in other circumstances. It made the Avatar’s natural, athletic beauty almost uniquely delicious in this helpless state.

Kuvira smoothed her hand down Korra’s rounded shoulder, down her svelte arm. Feeling strangely playful, even whimsical, she grasped the girl’s forearm and held it up, leaving the hand dangling from the wrist. She tilted it to the left until the hand flopped that direction, then to the right until it flopped back. So strong and sleek, but now inert, just something to toy with.

It was control she loved. Domination. Destroying the fighting capacity of an enemy and making them grovel, hers. The stronger the force, the greater the achievement, the more satisfying the moment of acquiescence.

She lifted Korra’s arm a bit higher, then let it go. It fell, swinging limp before it came to a stop, hanging back at the girl’s side.

And what achievement could be greater than truly defeating the Avatar?

Kuvira clasped the girl’s chin and tilted it up, lifting her head.

Korra was awake, in a state of absolute shock. Her eyes were cloudy and heavy, too exhausted to focus, but they were open. Her breasts rose and fell, shallow and spent, but she breathed.

The Empress guarded her expression well, but her grin grew, her brow lowering to make her eyebrows appear more angular, viper-like.

The Avatar was alive but helpless. Beating and killing the Avatar would have been a difficult task but this was so much more satisfying, not only because she could do more with a live captive. No new champion would be coming and this one was finished. It made her victory complete.

“So much for the sacred balance...” Kuvira whispered, eyes narrowing with delight.

The words caused Korra’s lashes to flutter, her wits called back from her shocked haze. Pained but indescribably tired, she groaned faintly, her pupils focusing. Her brow furrowed and she closed her eyes for a moment, but then peeled them back open. The first things she saw were the dark, piercing eyes of her enemy.

In that moment, something passed between. It was too subtle and it happened too quickly for anyone else to notice, but for the two warriors facing one another, it was as palpable and immutable as any physical wound.

Kuvira’s stared with a smug grin, exultant, while Korra returned a look of profound, weary emptiness. The Avatar had expended every ounce of strength, exhausted every option, and had nothing left to even hide her vulnerability. It stared back through her heavy blue eyes, too tired to be sad or afraid, only a simple admission that there was nothing else she could do.

The Earth Empress asserted her dominance. The Avatar silently accepted it.

“That’s right, Avatar.” Kuvira whispered, agreeing aloud with the unspoken statement, “You’re done.”

She tilted Korra’s chin up until her head obediently fell back and hung from her neck. She left it there, admiring the arching quality it gave the girl’s chest, then ran her hand down the tight blue top.

“Stay down.” The Empress smiled fondly as her hand roamed, “And stay quiet.”

She let her fingers follow the path of least resistance down Korra’s torso, fingers gliding over the tops of the girl’s breasts, across the blue fabric stretched between them, down her stomach. It was gentle, exploratory, even soothing.

It abruptly ended when Kuvira ceased metal bending the shining manacle that held her dangling captive aloft.

Korra flopped onto her back with a pathetic bounce of loose limbs, unable to even twitch to catch herself. She coughed feebly, staring up at the sky, before one of the bands on her ankles came to life and lifted her leg into the air. Something tugged on it and she found herself moving, her rump and shoulders scraping along the dirt and grass. Too weak to fight it, she simply let it happen, not even groaning in protest.

Focusing her metal bending on the scrap still wrapped around the Avatar’s boot, Kuvira strutted towards her soldiers, carelessly dragging her defeated foe behind. As she walked, she hurriedly brushed off her uniform with her free hand, like her biggest worry after taking care of this minor annoyance was that her clothes weren’t dusty. Having apparently forgotten about the figure she was dragging behind her and the crowds staring before her, she even smoothed back her hair with her fingers, combing it back into an approximation of its usual strict bun.

The soldiers remained silent and completely still, enrapt by the power and confidence of their commander. Most still couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Barely pausing at the fissure the Avatar had created during the battle, Kuvira smoothed it out with a wave of her hand and dragged Korra across it. She marched right up to the first rank of soldiers, straight with her shoulders back, pace brisk and professional. Only a few paces away she stopped.

One hand slipped behind her back and she lifted her chin to appraise her gathered men. She looked from helmet to helmet, her gaze passing over them thoughtfully, as if trying to find one that doubted her.

Not a single man moved or made a sound. The Empress’s presence gripped them. In awe of Kuvira, many thinking she was more than human, they wouldn’t say a word unless she directed them. She had their complete attention, every single one of them willing to wait as long as it took for her to speak.

Kuvira allowed herself a small smile. These men would do anything for her now, follow her anywhere. She couldn’t have asked for a better way to earn their confidence.

Finally, once the moment was right, she rewarded their patience. She raised her hand into the air and the band gripping Korra’s boot followed suit, rising up and carrying its exhausted passenger with it.

Korra moaned as her own leg lifted her into the air. Upside down, her arms dangled as limp as her hair, her free leg bending and hanging to the side. It was an uncomfortable position, but she was too tired to move and merely hung there like a wet rag. Like many of the soldiers, she still didn’t entirely believe what was happening. She stared out at the gathered soldiers vacantly, somewhat detached, blinking as her overwrought mind wrestled with the fact that Kuvira had beaten her.

The limp Avatar rose higher and higher into the air then came to stop where the entire army could see her, like a flag on an invisible pole. There was no doubt now their commander was triumphant.

“Soldiers of the Earth Empire!” Kuvira called, “Our enemies have said that what we’ve done upsets the balance of the world! They’ve said we’re arrogant, reckless, as tyrannical as the fire nation! And that like the fire nation, someone would stop us and return the world to its so-called rightful state! Someone!”

She let those words hang in the air for a moment. Her men were beginning to tense, fires lighting in their bellies.

She flicked her wrist and gave Korra a little bounce, causing her arms to flop lazily.

“Well, there she is! The Avatar! Destroyer of armies, toppler of rulers, war-ender, king maker…”

Kuvira paused to grin conspiratorially at her soldiers.

“But not the destroyer of THIS army!” she roared, “Not the toppler of our leaders, ender of our wars! She has no power over us!”

Again she paused, letting the tension build. She could feel her soldiers’ excitement growing as she fed them her own lust for victory and conquest.

“For the first time in history!” the Empress bellowed, “The Avatar confronted an opposing force! In the Avatar State! And! She! FELL!”

Unable to contain themselves, a few of the soldiers cried out in exhilaration. Following their lead, others joined in, bellowing wordlessly or calling out their commander’s name.

“What will our enemies say now?!” Kuvira called over them, “What argument can they possibly propose?! Can anyone doubt the future of our cause?!”

The soldiers roared a resounding “No!”

“Do any of you—does any single man—doubt that we are destined to unite this empire?!”

“NO!” the answer came back, even louder and more violent.

Kuvira’s grin almost split her face. She turned and gestured broadly towards the domed city of Zaofu.

“Neither do they!” she called, “Nor will the entire world after today!”

The soldiers cheered, their hearts swelling with pride to be a part of this army. Even the ones who were reluctant at first now saw that they were part of history, the lucky few taking part in events that would shape the world for centuries. They would be able to tell their grandchildren that they served under the Great Uniter, stood there while she defeated the Avatar.

It was exactly as Kuvira intended.

“Now prepare yourselves!” she bellowed, “Remember your training! Today, we take Zaofu! Tomorrow, we forge the greatest power the world has ever seen!”

The cheers erupted once more and this time Kuvira remained silent and basked, letting her men enjoy their exultation.

Dangling above them all, Korra closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again, as if hoping it would awaken her from this horrible dream. She knew without a shred of doubt that she’d lost completely. The soldiers below cheered her defeat, praised her victorious opponent, preparing to take the city she’d promised to protect. There was nothing she could do about it.

Korra’s weary gaze panned over the formations of cheering, armored men. There were so many of them, far too many for Zaofu to defend itself against, nor any other free city. Fanatically loyal, highly trained, equipped with next generation weapons and tactics, they were now an unstoppable force. Kuvira would soon control everything.

What left Korra feeling so hopeless, what truly hollowed out her soul, was she didn’t know what she could have done differently. She didn’t know where she’d erred, didn’t know how she could have prepared, and didn’t understand how the Avatar state had been overcome. Kuvira had planned it all from the beginning, with nothing left to chance, her victory inevitable.

Exhausted, humiliated, and overwhelmed, Korra looked at the Earth Empress and knew deep down she’d always be five steps behind. Kuvira forged her own legacy and the Avatar couldn’t stop her.

As the cheers continued unabated, Korra found herself floating down towards the ground. She descended slowly, her progress dignified even if her position wasn’t, and the Avatar moaned faintly, closing her eyes. Kuvira had decided to retrieve her.

The water tribe girl turned right side up at the halfway point, supported by her wrists rather than ankle. Her head flopped down to her chest and she left it there, not even trying to lift it. As the last remnants of her shock faded, her weariness was catching up with her, the sinking sensation adding to her drowsiness. She gratefully surrendered as much consciousness as she could, letting the voices of the soldiers become background noise.

Kuvira guided the Avatar down and laid the girl across her shoulder, looping her arm around the firm thighs. Her performance for her troops completed, she turned and carried away her burden at a brisk pace, even impatient. She made no comment and expected no discussion. This was hers now.

To one side of the ranks of soldiers, the Empress’s advisors and personal guard waited, having watched the display with glee. Other than Kuvira herself, her advisors had been the only ones privy to the plan. They smiled, relieved and delighted as their commander marched towards them, the Avatar’s rump propped up on her shoulder.

Kuvira reached the group and they bowed deeply, their own, more dignified version of the soldiers’ cheers. She didn’t return the gesture, already onto business.

“That’s one more obstacle out of the way,” the Empress sniffed, “What of Zaofu? Have we heard from the city leaders?”

The grins of her advisors faded and they blinked in surprise. They’d been ready to shower their leader with praise, not expecting to offer progress reports while Kuvira stood there with the Avatar over her shoulder.

“U-uh…” one of them stammered, “No, Great Uniter.”

“Hmm.” Kuvira frowned, “Not unexpected. Bring up the tanks with the infantry behind and move towards the city. Be ready to attack, but I suspect just a show of force will bring a surrender.”

“Y-yes, Great Uniter!” her generals saluted.

The three men marched away to obey the order but couldn’t help glancing back at their Empress several times. The sight of her directing a command meeting while the Avatar’s limp arms dangled down her back was one that was hard to look away from.

“Send for a legal delegation from Ba Sing Ce,” Kuvira continued humorlessly, “I want them here by tomorrow. We have a trial to conduct. I want mover cameras, displays, parade uniforms. The world’s eyes are on us and we’re going to strike while the metal is hot.”

The remaining advisors nodded, a few of them taking quick notes.

“I want this ‘balance’ business done with,” Kuvira narrowed her eyes, “By next week, there shouldn’t be any more talk about the justness of our mission. The Earth Empire has laws, and we are enforcing them, it’s as simple as that.”

“Yes, Great Uniter,” one of the braver advisors asked, “And… what are we going to do with the Avatar in the meantime?”

“You mean the prisoner?” the Empress wryly grinned.

Kuvira turned her head slightly to regard her burden, eyes roaming thoughtfully up and down the dangling legs. Her practical mind knew there was no reason not to toss the girl aside, but now that she considered it, she found she wasn’t eager to let Korra go. She liked having control of the beaten warrior’s body and enjoyed its firm shape. It was a prize well-earned after all the planning and effort.

She patted Korra’s bottom thoughtfully, weighing her options. There were indeed many things she could do with a helpless Avatar and now more of them came to mind. Once things were more settled, there would certainly be time for her to indulge a bit.

But for now, she had to focus on her mission.

“Take her.” Kuvira gestured to her guards.

The armored troops stepped forward and took their Empress’s parcel, gripping the girl by her arms and supporting her.

“Place her on the outside of the lead tank and chain her there,” Kuvira ordered them, “Make sure the people of Zaofu can see her. There’s no way they’ll fight after that.”

The soldiers saluted, then turned and marched away.

Korra hung between them, blissfully unconscious, boots dragging across the ground.

Kuvira watched them go and smiled, turning to admire her next conquest.

It was going to be a glorious day.