The Ultimatum - Part 1

The Upper Ring was in pandemonium. Many of the buildings were on fire and people ran around stealing and looting whatever they could get their hands on. Bolin and Mako emerged from the palace, staring in shock at their surroundings. 

"I can't believe it! The Upper Ring is in chaos!" Mako exclaimed as looters ran past them carrying various precious items: vases, portraits, chairs with gold on them. 

"Should we do something?" Bolin asked

"This isn't our battle," Mako replied, walking off " We have to find El and then deliver Zaheer's message to Korra immediately" 

"Right. Okay, find El. Deliver message to Korra" Bolin repeated following his brother over to stand at the top of the grand staircase leading down into the upper ring "Yeah, this should be easy... We just have to find one person in a giant city with hundreds of people, then get out of said city and get to the desert, and then somehow find Korra in the vast expansive wasteland that goes on for thousands, and thousands, of miles" Bolin sighed, his shoulders sagging " This isn't gonna be easy." 

"Zaheer said El was gone when they went to get her from the temple. Which means she must have escaped somehow and is hopefully looking for us" Mako said 

"Maybe we should ask people if they've seen her" Bolin suggested before approaching one of the looters currently making off with an ornate gold chair "Excuse me, have you seen a girl around by any chance? About this tall, long brown hair, blue arrow on her forehead, most beautiful girl you've ever seen" 

The looter shook his head and continued on. So Bolin turned to the next person who passed him, asking the same question. And when they too hadn't seen Elira, he asked the next person. Then the next, and the next. 

"This is taking too long" Mako sighed after another looter had no idea where their airbending friend had gone. "There has to be a faster way of finding her in this mess" 

"Well unless you think of one, this is the best we got" Bolin huffed 

Before Mako could reply, both boys were suddenly knocked off their feet by a gust of wind and landed on the group with a harsh thud! 

"What the...El?" Bolin muttered as he and Mako sat up. 

Elira indeed stood before them, arms raised in a bending stance. She was dressed in the typical Earth Kingdom prisoner garbs and her hair, once long and luscious, had been cut short, ending just above her shoulders.

"El! You're okay!" Bolin jumped to his feet, running at his girlfriend with a giant grin and his arms spread wide "I was so worried about--" 

Out of nowhere, Elira sent another blast of air at the earthbender, hitting him in the chest and sending him back towards his brother. Bolin landed at Mako's feet, who quickly helped him up before they both moved to dodge more air blasts from Elira. 

"What are you doing?" Mako cried 

"You are prisoners of the Earth Queen. I'm returning you to your rightful place in her dungeon" Elira declared in a monotone voice. 

"Huh?"Bolin tilted his head confused but gasped as Elira charged at them. He swiftly bent a wall up in front of him and Mako, trying to block her, but Elira jumped and used her bending to skillfully flip over the wall, landing on the other side. 

As she landed, she sent a swipe at the boys. Mako jumped and dodged it, while Bolin took the full thing in the chest and was pushed back against his rock wall. 

In retaliation, Mako sent a stream of fire at Elira who twirled to avoid it as Mako charged at her. Elira tried to blast him away with another but Mako sidestepped it and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back. 

"El, snap out of it! What's wrong with you?! It's us! You're friends, remember?" Mako yelled 

"I am a soldier of the Earth Kingdom. I am loyal only to my queen" Elira said in the same monotone voice. 

Mako's eyes suddenly widened slightly as something then dawned on him. Using his distraction to her advantage, Elira hunched over, sending Mako flying forward over her back and releasing her arm. The two boys were then once again pushed back by a gust of air, crashing against the stone wall Bolin had previously made. 

Elira made to attack again but Bolin quickly recovered and shielded him and his brother with another stone wall, barricading them both in a stone tent. Elira didn't relent, throwing blast after blast of wind at the stone tent. 

"What's gotten into El? Either she's really mad at us for some reason, or she has a secret evil twin" Bolin exclaimed as the stone around them shook and trembled as Elira continued her barrage of attacks on the outside. 

"The Queen must've done something to mess with her mind. Didn't you hear what she said? She thinks she's some sort of servant to the Earth Queen" Mako replied 

"Well, how do we get the real El back?" Bolin asked 

"I don't know, we'll figure out a way to help her but right now we need to get outta here and find Korra" 

"What about El? I'm not leaving this city without her, Mako"Bolin frowned as the stone around them shook even more, small pebbles falling around them. 

"I never said we should." Mako resorted before putting a hand on his chin in thought. Getting an idea, he looked up at his brother "Bro, you're not gonna like this, but you need to knock her out" 

"What? No! I can't hurt El. She may be trying to kill us right now, but she's still El...Deep, deep down" 

"Bolin, we have no idea what the Dai Li and the Queen did to her mind. This is the only way we can get out of here safely" Mako explained 

Bolin looked unsure "But...she's El" 

"I know bro, I don't like it either. But we don't have a choice if we want to help her" Mako put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. 

Bolin was still reluctant at the thought of hurting Elira, but alas he nodded with a determined look. 

Outside the stone tent, the boys had barricaded themselves in, Elira was still gradually chipping away at the rock when the back of it suddenly dropped down and the boys emerged, with Mako sending a round of fire blasts at the girl. 

Elira stopped her stream of attacks to dodge and weave around the fire, moving backwards as the boys advanced on her. Bolin took the chance to pick up a rock from the ground, small but still big enough to do the required damage and stared at his girlfriend sadly.  

He shut his eyes regretfully "I'm sorry, El" 

Using his bending, he sent the rock flying. Mako threw more fire. Elira moved to the side to dodge it, stepping right into the rock's line of fire. It smacked hard against her forehead, sending her tumbling backwards. Before Elira could hit the ground, however, Bolin ran over and caught her head in his hands before it smacked against the floor. 

Picking the girl up gently in his arms, Bolin turned to his brother "Now what do we do?" 

Mako looked up at the sky where an airship was flying by " We need an airship." 

*

Down in the docking bay, the brothers, with Bolin holding Elira in his arms, ran onto one of the airships, where looters were stealing airship components.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention, please?" Mako called out, gaining the attention of the looters "I'm with the Republic City Police and I need to commandeer this airship to help the Avatar." 

The looters stared at the brothers for a second before resuming their activities, ignoring them. 

"Let me give it a shot" Bolin said before turning to the looters "Hey, the Queen's gold's on the third floor of the palace, second door on the right!" 

Hearing this, the looters all grinned in delight and ran out of the airship as Bolin smirked at his brother smugly " You just got to know how to talk to 'em, bro." 

The brothers then ran to the controls. While Mako looked over the control panel, Bolin placed the still-unconscious Elira on the floor, leaning up against the wall, gently brushing her bangs out of her face. 

"What, they took everything. I mean, who rips out a transmission radio?" Mako scowled, holding up a bunch of wires that had previously held the radio. 

"Some folks just do not have respect for other people's property," Bolin said, sitting down in the pilot seat. He then stretched his arms and grinned "Now let's steal this airship!" 

"You know how to fly this thing?" Mako asked sceptically 

"Technically speaking, no. But, c'mon, how hard could it be?" Bolin grinned as a glass lens fell off the control panel. 

Bolin then confidently pushed a lever with his right hand, causing the airship to skid forward across the airstrip as citizens scattered.

"Up! Up!" Mako yelled, crouched on the ground, one arm holding onto the control panel while the other held onto Elira to stop her from sliding around the airship. 

"I don't see any up button. I see levers and switches--oh, there it is." Bolin quickly hit the button and the airship rose into the air. 

*

The rest of Ba Sing Se was just as bad as the upper ring. Everything was on fire, people were running through the streets, stealing and looting. It was a nightmare. 

"The whole city is falling to pieces," Mako said, staring out the window of the airship as it flew overhead of the lower ring. 

Bolin was still in the pilot seat, flying the ship, while Elira, still unconscious, was propped up on the floor against the control panel.  

"Mako, our family's down there." Bolin realised, looking worried. 

"Move over" Mako shoved his brother out of the pilot's seat, taking over the controls "We're getting them out" 

"Oh, you think just because you dated Asami, you know how to fly this better than me?" Bolin sat up and glowered at his brother

"Yeah," Mako said and Bolin scowled 

Mako piloted the airship above their paternal family's house and opened the hatch. 

Bolin slid down the hatch and entered the home via the window. After a brief argument with his grandmother, who was stubbornly refusing to leave forcing him to throw the old woman over his shoulder, Bolin led the others out of the house and the entire family climbed up into the airship. Once everyone was in, Mako flew away just as the fire consumed the entire house. 

"Thanks for getting us out of there. I mean, I probably could have handled it myself if you guys didn't show up" Tu boasted and Bolin and Mako scowled at him "...But, thanks" 

The boys didn't say anything, Mako focusing on flying and Bolin walked over to where El was still slumped against the control panel and knelt down to check on her. 

"Is that...Is that Master Elira?" Chow questioned, seeing the airbender and the rest of the family turn to Bolin to see for themselves.

Bolin just nodded, brushing El's bangs out of her face again. There was a sizable bump on her forehead from where the rock had hit her. 

"Wait, you weren't lying before?" Tu gasped and Chow hit his arm to shut him up

"What happened to her?" Chow asked

"The Dai Li. They messed with her mind somehow to make her think she's a servant of the Earth Queen" Bolin explained "Which she would never do, cause she hates the Earth Queen" 

"May she rest in peace" Yin smiled, hanging her picture of the Earth Queen on the wall. 

"Is she gonna be okay?" Another relative wondered 

"She'll be fine once we figure out how to reverse whatever the Dai Li did to her," Mako said "But Bolin, she'll be waking up soon, you best take her below so she doesn't hurt anyone" 

Bolin nodded silently and gently picked up the airbender, heading off to the lower level of the airship. After about 15 minutes, Bolin returned after finding a suitable room to hold Elira in until they could figure out how to help her. Walking over to his brother, they silently swapped places, allowing Bolin to fly the airship while Mako went over to their grandmother who was still staring at the portrait of the Earth Queen. 

"This airship is nice. Is it our new home?" Yin smiled 

"No, Grandma. I'm not sure where we're gonna take you, but right now, we need to find Korra." Mako explained 

"Did something happen to the Avatar?" Chow questioned, walking over to the two. 

" I'm afraid so." Mako pulled out a map and laid it out on the floor for his family to see "Her airship went down somewhere in the desert. She was coming from a military base near the Misty Palms Oasis and heading to Ba Sing Se. If we retrace her route back to the base, we should find the wreckage." 

*

The sun was breaking by the time they reached the Si Wong Desert. Everyone was on the lookout for the wreckage while Bolin headed down to the lower level of the airship once again to the supply room where El was being held. The airbender had woken up hours ago and immediately attempted to attack Bolin who had been watching over her at the time. It had taken Bolin and several of his family members to restrain her. No one had been allowed in since, as Elira was simply too dangerous in this mindset. But Bolin didn't care that she was a danger. He didn't care that she currently saw him as the enemy. She was El. His El. And he was going to reach her one way or another. Unlocking the door, Bolin slowly walked in, seeing the girl sitting on the floor with her hands tied to a pipe behind her to prevent her from bending. 

"Hey" He smiled gently 

Elira looked up and glared at him as he sat down opposite her. 

"Sorry about, you know, all this. But we'll find Korra soon. She'll know how to help you" Bolin said 

Elira didn't say anything, only narrowed her eyes more at the mention of the Avatar. Bolin twiddled his thumbs awkwardly 

"Your hair's shorter. Did the Dai Li do that to you too?" 

Once again, no reply came from Elira. She simply stared at Bolin with cold eyes. As if she had no idea who he was or the memories they shared. All she knew was that he was an enemy of the Earth Kingdom, which made him an enemy of hers. 

"It looks nice, your hair. Been a while since it was that short. Do you remember? You scared Mako and me pretty bad when you showed up one day as bald as your dad with an arrow on your head. Remember that?" Bolin chuckled 

Again, no answer. 

"Oh, come on, El, you gotta remember that. That was like one of the biggest days of your life. You were so happy. You were finally 'Master Elira, ruler of the skies'"Bolin's voice went deeper as he stuck his chest out in a heroic pose. He grinned hopefully at Elira "Right?" 

Bolin sighed in defeat as once more, no reply came from the airbender "I know you're in there, El. You may think right now you're some pawn to the Earth Queen, but you're not" 

"...I am a soldier of the Earth Kingdom--" 

"No..." 

"--I am loyal only to my queen" 

"No, you're not! You hate--hated -- the Earth Queen! You even called her a pampered poodle monkey. You're not a soldier, you're Elira of the Air Nomads! You love music and flying and listening to your grandmother's stories...Don't you remember any of that?" 

Elira stared at Bolin for a moment 

"I am a soldier of the Earth Kingdom. I am loyal only to my queen" Elira repeated in the same monotone. 

Bolin stared at her sadly. It broke his heart to see her this way. 

"I'm not giving up on you, El," He said as he stood up "You're in there somewhere, the real you. Korra will know how to fix this and then this will all just be a bad dream...You'll see" 

Elira watched with a dead expression as Bolin smiled softly at her before finally leaving and locking the door behind him. 

*

Back on the upper deck, everyone was bored and tired as they inspected the desert for any sign of the wreckage. 

Suddenly, Tu called out "Guys, it's the wreckage!" 

Mako and Bolin quickly walked over to their cousin who pointed at something in the distance "I found it! There!" 

"That's a Ba Sing Se airship, all right. But where's the rest of it?" Mako wondered, seeing only part of the airship suck in the sand below. 

"I don't know. But there's some tracks." Bolin pointed to a line in the sand leading away into the distance. 

The airship followed the tracks all the way to the Misty Palms Oasis. The airship landed with a harsh thud outside of the main gate. 

"See, I told you. Landing is hard." Bolin gave his brother a deadpan look as he lay half on the control panel. 

The family entered the oasis, heading towards the ice fountain in the middle. 

"Spirits!" One of the female relatives gasped in awe at the creatures surrounding the ice as Bolin stood on the fountain rim. 

"Okay, guys. We think Korra found her way back here" He stated, not noticing Pabu crawling onto his shoulder with a happy squeak "Now let's split off into teams and scour the town. Yes, we'll need your help too, Pabu, now just give me a second while I- wait, Pabu? Pabu!" 

Bolin spun his pet around, hugging him in joy. 

"Why is Bolin hugging that big rat?" Yin asked Chow, who shook his head. Yin then turned away in disgust " Eww, now he's kissing it!"

" I'm never gonna let you go again!" Bolin declared, kissing the fuzzy creature as Pichi then landed on his head with a chitter as she looked around for her owner. "Pichi! You're here too!" 

"Guys, look out! Giant dog beast thingy!" Tu yelled and the relatives scattered as Naga charged at them and pounced atop Mako, licking him.

"Okay, all right, Naga. It's good to see you, too. Gah! Stop! You're licking my mouth" Mako pushed the dog away sitting up and spitting in disgust. 

"Asami! Korra!" Bolin exclaimed in happiness, seeing the two girls running out of a cantina towards them

"You guys are okay!" Mako and Bolin ran forward, hugging Asami and Korra respectively. Korra was slightly taken aback by the hug but returned the favour.

"Sorry." Mako quickly pulled away from Korra, awkwardly " I was just- It's so good to see you." 

"It's really good to see you, too. Both of you." Korra smiled at the brothers before looking around in confusion "Where's El?"

The boys shared a glance 

"She's still on the airship. Something's seriously wrong with her" Mako explained 

"What?" The girls gasped 

"What happened?" Asami asked 

"She--" 

"Good. You guys aren't dead." Lin suddenly appeared from the cantina with Tonraq, Zuko, Azula and Shai beside her. 

"Don't get all mushy on me, Chief" Mako smiled before bowing "Tonraq. Sir." 

 Tonraq nodded to him in reply

"So what happened to you? Where have you been?" Asami questioned, returning to the conversation at hand 

"And what's wrong with El?" Korra added, looking concerned 

"El?" Shai stepped forward with Zuko and Azula following "What's this about Elira, is she alright?" 

Bolin gasped in awe when he saw them "Oh my gosh, it's Lord Zuko, General Shai and Lady Azula! I can't believe it." 

Bolin tried to suppress his laughs of excitement as the three legends stared at him, Azula raising an eyebrow in silent judgment. Mako quickly pulled his brother back. 

"Uhm, forgive my brother. We're just really honoured to meet you" The boys bowed in respect 

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Zuko said, bowing back along with Shai and Azula

"Now, boys, tell me everything that happened to my granddaughter" Shai then demanded 

"We were captured by Zaheer and taken to Ba Sing Se. We were there when the Earth Queen was overthrown." Mako explained "While we were escaping we found El. The Earth Queen had locked her up separately from us. But they did something to mess with her mind cause now she thinks she's a solider for the Earth Queen and that we're the enemy" 

"What? But El hates the Earth Queen" Asmai cut in as the three Fire Nation legends shared a knowing but horrified look. 

"That's what I said" Bolin added

"Where is she now?" Zuko asked

"In the supply closet on the airship. It was the only way we could get her here safely without her attacking anyone" Mako said 

"Wait, back up, how did you guys escape?" Korra questioned 

"Zaheer let us go" 

"What? Why would he do that?" 

"Because he wanted us to find you and deliver a message," Bolin replied 

"Zaheer is headed to the Northern Air Temple as we speak" Mako revealed "He said he's gonna wipe out the new Air Nation and everyone in it. Unless you turn yourself over to him." 

Korra stared at Mako in disbelief and worry, as Azula's eyes widened and she turned to her brother. 

"Zuko, our sisters!" She gasped and Zuko's eyes widened in horror 

*

The teens were gathered outside of the supply room on the airship, waiting for Shai, Zuko and Azula who were inside with Elira. Tonraq and Lin stood with the teens too. 

"Zaheer's threatening innocent lives just to get to me," Korra stressed, pacing back and forth 

"He could be bluffing," Tonraq suggested 

"He's already taken out the Earth Queen. I don't think he bluffs." Mako said 

"We need to radio Tenzin and warn him that the Red Lotus is coming." Korra declared, stopping her pacing. 

"I agree. Unfortunately, we don't have a radio on the airship." Mako replied

"There's a portable radio on the jeep, but the signal will never make it to the Northern Air Temple," Tonraq stated

"We need to get to a place that has a strong radio transmitter. The Metal Clan will have one." Lin said

"Let's go. We'll radio Su on the way. Hopefully, she can get a hold of Tenzin at the air temple by the time we get to Zaofu." Korra began to walk off when the supply room door finally opened and Zuko, Shai and Azula emerged. Elira could be seen behind them, still tied to the pipe.

"Well?" Lin asked 

The three legends shared a grave look. 

"It's just as we feared. Elira has been brainwashed by the Dai Li" Azula revealed 

"Brainwashed?!" Bolin gasped as the others stared in shock

"How do we reverse it?" Mako asked 

"I recall Zira and a friend of hers being put under the same influence during their adventures in Ba Sing Se" Zuko recalled 

"And they snapped her out of it right? How?" Korra questioned 

"There are many methods one could use. For her friend, Zira told me that a knock to the head brought him back, as well as some healing from Katara. But for Zira, they had to remind her of who she was" Zuko explained 

"We kinda already tried the knock-to-the-head method...It didn't work" Bolin revealed, glancing nervously at Azula as she narrowed her eyes at the mention of her great-niece being hurt. 

"The method used on her must have been stronger than the one used all those years ago" Shai muttered "There is only one thing we can do. Hope that something we try reminds Elira of who she really is" 

"But I've tried that, too! She just keeps saying the same thing over and over again!" Bolin exclaimed 

"It cannot be just any memory, it has to be strong. The strongest she has. It's the only way" Shai said 

"What happens if we can't reverse it?" Tonraq wondered 

"Then I fear, Elira may remain this way forever" Zuko sighed solemnly and the Krew shared horrified looks.