- . Offing Purple Haze . -

Chapter 4

Earlier that day...

"Seven guys in the building. We enter through the side. We get the cash, plant the bombs and get out. No room for any fuck-ups. Got it?"

A heavy sigh filled the back of the black van. "Yeah. We got it." One of the masked men growled.

"I'm not talking to you." The leader, Koba, snarled back. "I'm talking to the idiot mime back there."

The crew looked over at the guy sitting alone at the back, fiddling with his shoe laces. There were plenty of open seats, but he always preferred the floor. He looked up when he noticed them staring. His eyes jolted around before landing on Koba. He held his glare for a few seconds, shrugged and returned to his shoes.

"The people I have to work with." Koba grunted, picking up a bag between his legs and tossing it to the mute. He heaved a sigh. "You can be lucky that you're good at what you do or I'd have gotten rid of you long ago."

Eyes glued to the floor, the mute stretched out and took the duffel bag filled to the brim with explosives. He dug through its contents, only to give the leader a questioning look.

"What?" Koba growled. "Oh, do you want this?" He pulled the detonator from his left pocket. The mute nodded his head.

"Well if you want it then just speak up."

His eyes narrowed and a small crease formed below his brow. He glared at the leader once more before resuming fiddling with his laces. The crew couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's what I thought." Koba said, putting the device back in his pocket.

The van moved through the industrial roads of Republic City until it reached the harbour. They pulled into an alleyway along a busy street. The vehicle came to a halt right next to an old, brick warehouse.

"You all know what to do." Koba said.

They opened the backdoor of the van and silently moved through the side entrance of the building. There was no one in the first small room they entered. Koba peaked around a corner and spotted one man, preoccupied with preparing some tea in their make shift kitchen. His back was turned to them. Koba made a small hand gesture, and one of the members of his crew crept up behind the man, quickly wrapping his arm around the man's neck and mouth. A short struggle ensued, but to no avail. His neck cracked into an impossible position and he went limp, dropping to the floor.

They all moved ahead. Remaining unseen would become a much more difficult task, as the rest of the warehouse mostly consisted of wide open spaces. The remaining six men on guard sat around a table, half focused on the radio and half focused on their poker game. The five-men crew moved through the shelves, trying to get closer without being noticed. Fortunately for them the warehouse wasn't very well lit.

Koba motioned for his crew to stand back as he continued alone. He stopped and stood up. He took a deep breath, stretched out two fingers on each hand and moved them rhythmically through the air. Small amounts of lightning danced through the air around him, following his every movement. The sparks crackled as they became thicker. The men at the table immediately turned to look at what was going on. But it was too late. Koba had already unleashed his will upon them with terrible ferocity.

It made full contact with two of the men. The rest scattered as the lightning came down around them. The rest of the crew hurried out to join the conflict.

The first guard to get to his feet threw a quick onslaught of fireblasts at the masked men. Some of them made contact, but the crew didn't waste any time in countering the attacks. The other three guards joined in to fight off the masked intruders. A small war ensued between the benders.

One of the guards singled out the mute, bending a flurry of stone in his direction. The mute dodged some of them with ease, but was caught by a fireball by another guard. He regained his balance after a brief stumble, but a large slab of rock crashed into his chest. The force completely knocked him off his feet, sending him tumbling right into Koba. Both were knocked to the ground.

Koba pushed the mute off of him and gave him a hard punch to the gut. "Idiot!" he yelled as he got to his feet and struck both the guards down with another lightning bolt. The other masked men made quick work of the remaining two guards. They collected themselves as the conflict came to a resolution and the last dust settled.

All that were left now was getting what they came for.

A member of the crew walked up to one of the crates to look at its contents. His eyes grew wide as he counted them. "Holy shit! There's more than twenty bags of opium in this shipment alone. That's an easy two million yuans."

"Shut up and get to the safe!" Koba snarled. "That's chump-change compared to what's in there."

He looked over at the mute sitting on the floor. "Kano, help the mime set the charges. The drill takes a few minutes. If you finish before we're done with the safe, load the drugs into the car."

"You got it, boss."

The mute got to his feet as the other three left to crack the safe. He and Kano wasted no time. They opened the duffel bag and started placing the charges on every load bearing wall they could find. They swept through every room, making sure that nothing will be left standing after they're done.

The other three reached the safe and took out the drill they had constructed.

"This is some pretty heavy duty stuff, huh? The mob really doesn't fuck around." One of them stated, marvelling at just how big the safe's door was. It's the largest one they've ever tried to crack. "You think the drill will get through this?"

"We'll just have to wait and see." said the man as he put his headphones on. The other two followed his lead. He fired up the drill and inched it closer to the safe. An ear piercing screech erupted as the drill made contact.

The mute and Kano planted the last charges they needed on the first floor. Kano looked into the bag. "There's five charges left. Wanna plant them upstairs?"

The mute simply nodded his head and followed Kano up the stairs. His heart was beating a bit faster than he was used to and he could feel his hands sweating. He took a deep breath. As they reached the top of the stairs the mute slipped and landed with a heavy thud. Kano turned around to see him lying on the stairs, holding his leg and quivering in pain.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The mute just looked at him, the skin between his brows contorting as he clenched his eyes.

Kano sighed, feeling bad for him. "Ahh shit." He went a few steps down to where the mute was laying. He stooped down and reached out to the leg the mute was clutching. "Let me have a look."

In one explosive motion, the mute grasped his arm, wrapped his legs around it and forcefully pulled it downwards till it snapped. The man barely had time to yell as the excruciating pain overcame him before he was kicked down the stairs. He tumbled for what felt like an eternity before slamming the back of his head on the concrete floor. In just a split second he ceased all movement.

There was no getting up.

The mute took a few seconds to catch his breath. He got to his feet and walked down the stairs. He took long strides at the bottom, making sure not to step on Kano. The sound of the drill in the other room filled his ears once more as he hurried through the warehouse. He went out the back door and stepped out onto the docks.

Waiting on a small boat was a man and a woman in normal fishing attire, with exception to a piece of cloth that covered their mouths and noses. The mute motioned for them to come inside. The two followed him, one of them holding a big duffel bag of his own. They moved through the warehouse, careful not to be seen by the other three working with their drill. They entered a room behind the one holding the large safe.

The mute pointed to a wall and the woman carefully used her earthbending to tear it down. It revealed a large metal structure behind the rubble – the back of the safe. He reached into the bag and extracted a cable as thick as a person's thumb, connected to a series of devices. They placed the devices on the metal wall, the cable's bend resembling a small door shape. They took a step back and activated the device.

The cable heated up rapidly, turning a bright orange. The metal underneath it started deforming under the intense heat. Sparks scattered all over as the device made its way through the thick metal. In just a few seconds, it melted all the way through. The hole it made might have been small, but it was big enough to get what they needed.

They moved the metal piece out the way and stepped inside. Being inside the safe certainly wasn't pleasant. The sound of the drill making its way through the thick metal door completely filled the compartment as it bounced off the walls. But it was all worth the pain, snuffed out by the sight that awaited. Stacks of money and large boxes of gold.

Jackpot.

There was no time to waste. They filled the now-empty bag to the brim with as many stacks of paper yuans as they could. The man grabbed two large boxes of gold and they left for the boat. The mute stayed behind, sifting through the safe, throwing all the money off the shelves.

The screeching became impossibly loud as the drill made it's final groves in the metal.

Where was it?

He searched frantically, decimating every shelf he could find, looking for his true prize.

His eyes widened as the drill broke through the last bit of metal.

WHERE WAS IT?!

Time was running short. He could feel the sweat collecting around his eyes, his hands fumbling through everything in sight. But he wasn't about to give up.

CLANK

Time was up.

And there it was, hidden on the lowest shelf between purple stacks of Yuans.

"Boys, prepare to feast your eyes on the most money you will ever see in your life." Koba said as the door swung open.

The grins on their faces were very short lived however. Their prizes were already raided. When Koba saw the hole in the back wall, his stomach dropped. Slowly it dawned on him.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled as he ran out of the safe. His heart started racing as he saw one of his crew members lying at the bottom of the staircase, blood pooling all around his head. The faint noise of an engine rumbled outside by the water. He ran up to the window to see the mute standing on a boat, moving away from the warehouse.

The mute was staring directly at him, his gaze almost piercing right through his skull. Koba was speechless, motionless. How could this have happened? How could he have been so foolish?

The mute reached into his pocket and pulled out a device. Koba squinted, trying to see what it was through the dirty glass of the window.

"No! It can't!" he yelled. His hands ran through his pockets as he frantically searched for the detonator.

Nothing.

The mute gave the leader a small, knowing nod. He held his hand up and squeezed the trigger.

The warehouse erupted into a spectacular display of fire and destruction. A massive shockwave filled the area, ripping through the surrounding water. The warehouse came crashing down.

He didn't continue watching the flames. As the boat sped away, he chose to sit down and admire his prize. It was a small locked box, decorated with a dragon insignia. It was barely bigger than his hand.

The corners of his eyes contracted as a giant smile formed underneath his mask.

This was worth far more than any piece of gold.

Trunks sat on top of a skyscraper in the brisk cold of night. The city itself held much warmth and beauty, but all he could behold was the dark reality of what he'd done. He was solely responsible for almost murdering the most iconic figure in that world's entire history. A teenage girl was lying in an unforgiving hospital bed, fighting yet another battle for her life, all because of him. It wasn't her fault or the police's. Only his.

Why didn't he just fly away? Why did he have to stay and fight? Frustration? Anger? These questions kept racing through his mind, yet remained unanswered.

He took deep breaths, closing his eyes, trying not to imagine the pain she must be in. But it was impossible not to. He's had his fair share as well, dying at the hands of a monster. He looked down at his hands, still stained with her blood- Dark red.

Was he a monster too?

Another deep breath-

From where he was sitting he could see the window of her healing room. The curtains had been closed for quite some time, but he could still sense her energy.

How could he fix the mess he's made? It just seemed impossible.

A gasp filled the silence of the dark room, her breathing becoming shallow and rough. Slowly her unconsciousness slipped away from her and she could feel her presence reforming on the bed.

What's that awful taste?

She slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. There wasn't much to see as everything was shrouded in darkness. Small amounts of light leaked in through the dark curtain as the city lights tried its best to join the Avatar's room. She noticed the pool in the middle.

A healing room?

Thoughts cascaded through her mind, none of them standing still for her to focus on. Why was she in a hospital? What happened? Where was everyone?

She pulled her arms to her sides, attempting to sit up straight. But when her abdominal muscles hardened, a crushing pain seared through her body. It felt excruciating. She quickly ceased all movement and flopped back on her bed, her breathing rugged once more. The foul taste in her mouth must have been a mixture of her own blood and Koh knows what else.

Then it hit her.

The Devil of Republic City.

He did this to her. She recalled the fight that had taken place between the two of them; his speed... his strength... his raw power...

"What is he?" she asked under her breath. The faint traces of her voice sounded groggy and unknown to her. It's like she hadn't said a word in years.

She gathered her strength and stilled her nerves, trying to sit up once more. It felt even more impossibly painful than her first attempt. She pushed through it, groaning as her muscles refused to co-operate. But she continued till she was finally upright and swung her legs off the bed. She took a large breath. Curse her stubbornness!

Korra heaved forward, putting her weight on shaky legs. Unsurprisingly, as soon as she left the bed, she collapsed. She yelped as the sharp pain stabbed her abdomen. Her body instinctively curled over and she clenched her teeth. Her hand moved down to her stomach and felt a wetness covering her body.

She heard the door slide open and footsteps rush around. A harsh light suddenly filled the room, much too bright for her eyes. She squinted, trying to adjust to its intensity. The footsteps neared her.

"Oh my gosh! Avatar, are you alright?" a woman's voice asked.

Korra didn't bother with an answer. The overwhelming pain kept hold of her. She felt the woman's arms curl around her and slowly lift her up. Korra tried her best to support her own weight, but it was of no use.

The smaller woman somehow managed to get Korra back on her bed. She inspected Korra's wounds. They were torn open, causing some blood to escape. She removed Korra's bandages and bent a small amount of water from the pool. The water lit up into a light blue as it seeped over her wounds.

The furrow in Korra's brow relaxed a bit as some of the pain subsided. Her breathing calmed down and became more stable. As her mind cleared, she could finally focus on one thing again. She looked over at the healer.

"What happened?" Her voice was faint, but it at least sounded more like her own this time.

The healer looked up at Korra. "You were involved in a battle where you were badly injured."

"Yeah, I remember that part. But how did I end up here?"

"A young man brought you in. He carried you all the way into this room."

At those words she froze. Could it really have been him? She had a few recollections of him carrying her through the hallway and pulling the spear out of her. But it couldn't have been real, could it? Why would he help her when he's the one responsible in the first place?

"Did he- Did he have purple hair?"

"Yes he did. It seemed odd to me at first. Is he a friend of yours?"

Korra's brows furrowed once more as she stared straight ahead. "Definitely not."

The healer finished working on Korra and applied some bandages to conceal the wound. She was on her way out before stopping at the door for one last thing.

"I should mention that councilman Tenzin was here, along with some other people. They wanted to wait till you woke up, but I sent them home after a few hours." She said. "Now you better not tear those wounds again, you hear."

She gave a quick smile, left the room and closed the door behind her.

Silence took over the room yet again.

There was just one image that kept on replaying in her head. It was that one moment. That moment when she first opened her eyes as he carried her in his arms. She remembered clutching at his collar and burrowing herself in the crook of his neck. But when she looked up and saw him, she didn't feel threatened. No, not in that moment. It was his eyes. When their eyes met, it was almost like she could see who he was. They seemed to hold so much grief.

She felt it.

It was almost as if, in that fleeting moment, she knew him.

Korra quickly caught herself, knowing just how crazy her thoughts were. Something like that wouldn't be possible. She could just chalk it up as a temporary lapse in sanity caused by her severe injury.

Nothing more.

Before her mind could wander further, a knock filled the silence.

"Come in." she said, wondering if it might be Tenzin, or maybe even Mako. Koh, it would be nice to see Mako again.

She heard the knock once more.

"I said come in!" she yelled.

"I can't." a voice yelled back.

Korra couldn't believe her ears. She could have sworn the voice came from the window. Her heart started racing. A million thoughts flew through her mind. No. It couldn't possibly be him. She closed her eyes, hoping that it was all a bad dream, wishing she could just wake up back at Air-Temple Island. But she couldn't put it off. She had to see.

Against the wishes of her healer, she sat up in her bed once more and placed her feet on the floor. As expected, a searing pain ripped through her. She grit her teeth and pushed through it, heaving her body forwards, slowly. Unlike last time, her legs didn't buckle under her weight. A small moment of relief hit her, and she exhaled. She felt unsteady, sure, but simply being able to stand upright gave her a much needed confidence boost.

She took a small step, quickly placing her left hand against the wall when she got close enough. Another step - then another. The wall proved a big help in steadying herself as she slowly walked toward the curtains, with her right hand holding her screaming abdomen. But any pain that came forth was simply pushed to the back of her mind as she powered through.

Almost there.

She stopped and took a deep breath. Does she really want to see who was on the other side?

She stilled her nerves and slowly pulled away at the curtain. And there he was. Her heart dropped when she laid eyes on him. It really was him. All of her instincts were screaming at her - close the curtains! Run! Throw a fireball at him! Just do something. But she couldn't. She just stared blankly.

There he was, floating in mid-air, looking at her. Her eyes made contact with his, and just like in that hallway, they were filled with grief.

Every fibre of her being was pleading her not to do it. But it was like her hand had a mind of its own. She reached out and unlocked the window, slowly sliding it open. The cold breeze entered through the new opening, making her shiver slightly. The whistling of the wind was all sound between them. Neither of them dared to say anything- perhaps they just didn't know what to.

Trunks opened his mouth, but only uttered a single noise before closing it again and shaking his head. He looked more nervous than she was.

He tried again. "May... May I come in?"

Korra didn't answer. She just stared at him, baffled by his nerve to show his face after doing what he did. But yet again, there was something about him. Something that she couldn't explain.

After a few moments, she nodded her head and moved out the way to let him through. Once he was inside, she shut the window.

For the life of her, she couldn't understand why she wasn't shouting at him. She had so much to be angry about, and she was. But in that moment, all that she could muster was a feint indifference.

"So you're the Devil, huh?"

He too was a little taken aback by her unwarlike demeanour. But he understood that it might still come. He nodded his head.

She didn't really know what she should say, but she knew that there was a questioning that's been burning her mind since she woke up. She looked down at her stomach, lightly running her hand over the bandages. His eyes followed her movements.

"Why?" she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

He knew exactly what she meant. It's the same question he's been asking himself all day. A question that he himself hasn't yet been able to answer. He could hardly look her in the eyes.

"I- I didn't mean to hurt you."

Korra could feel her calm demeanour slip away at those words, her anger once again taking its usual place. She couldn't help but release a sharp bark of a laugh. It rasped through her throat, sounding strange even to her own ears.

"Gee, you didn't mean it? Thank you! I feel sooo much better now." she said, making sure to emphasise her sarcastic tone.

Her frustration was very clear to him. He understood that she would be upset, and rightfully so.

"I know you're mad. I-"

"Mad?!" she interrupted, storming over to him, not caring about the pain it caused in her stomach. "Mad doesn't even begin to cut it, pal!"

She didn't stop until they were face to face.

"You have no idea how furious I am right now! If I wasn't this injured, you'd be the one lying in that bed right now, begging for a healer." she defiantly said.

As empty as she knew her threat was, Korra kept her ground, staring right through him. He remained quiet.

"You have the nerve to come here after almost killing me, and now what, you won't even say anything?!"

She kept looking at him. Still he remained silent, his eyes dropping down to his feet.

Her anger subsided a little, and her senses reminded her of the overwhelming pain in her abdomen. She looked down at her bandages once more. A bit of red has already formed on the top layer.

She snickered and turned away from him, slowly making her way back to the bed. "If you're not gonna talk, then get the hell out." She sat down, facing the wall.

The room was silent- the tension palpable. At that moment, Korra didn't even care that he hadn't left yet. Her thoughts were messy, rushing around without a purpose.

Trunks walked over to the same wall that she was blankly staring at. A sigh escaped his throat as he slumped down against it, only slightly to the right of where she was looking.

Staring straight ahead at the foot of the bed, he finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry. This isn't what I wanted."

She leered at him. "And what did you want?" she asked.

"I wanted to help people." he said with another sigh. "When I came here, it was because I had nothing left. I've lost a lot in my life. Family. Friends. No matter how hard I tried, I was never strong enough to save them. When I saw that people here were going through the same thing, I couldn't stand idly by and watch them suffer."

"Helping people is one thing, but what you do is something completely different." she said defiantly.

"What I do isn't pretty, but I do what it takes to get the job done. And it seems like I'm the only one fighting for these people."

"That's not true! I'm the Avatar and I-"

"Have done what exactly? I see it everyday. Mobs, drugs, murders- there's so much of it in Republic City and it doesn't seem like you or the police are doing anything about it."

"I-..." She wanted to say something, but couldn't. For some reason, she felt guilty. Since Amon, she's been so focused on training that she's hardly had time to try and help people. Yes, she went on patrol sometimes, but that only happened because of him. She released her breath with a shudder.

For a moment, neither of them had anything to say. They just sat there, staring at the open space in front of them.

Korra took a small breath. "I try, you know." Her voice was in complete contrast with the tone she'd taken before. It was soft and full of uncertainty.

He looked over at her, but she didn't meet his gaze. She continued. "Ever since Amon happened, I've been doubting myself. Yes, I defeated him, but honestly, it was by accident. When I had all my strength... I was helpless against him. Ever since Amon I've been terrified at the idea of someone coming along that's even more powerful than him." she paused and looked at him. "And then you did..."

Korra sniffed. Her voice was quivering a little, but she kept on talking. "I had to put on a brave face in front of everyone. And when they told me that they had found you, I jumped at the opportunity to show to myself that I have nothing to be afraid of. But now this happened, and I... I don't know how I'm gonna deal with this."

She tried her best to keep from tearing up in front of him, but it wasn't hard for him to see that she was struggling to keep her emotions at bay. At that moment it became clearer than ever to him. For all the stories of the Avatar's might and power, she was still just a teenage girl. A teenage girl that was in a lot of pain because of him.

"I'm sorry. I know exactly what that feels like. Feeling so helpless when the whole world is depending on you. It really weighs down on you, huh."

She sniffed again. "Yeah."

For a good few minutes, neither of them made a sound.

Eventually Trunks got up to his feet and walked over to the window. "I should probably get moving."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"There's some stuff I have to sort out. Someone has been killing a lot of people lately. I have to find out who they are." He opened the window, allowing a rush of cool air to enter.

"Wait." She said. "You never told me your name."

"Trunks." he said with a smile. "I'm sorry about what happened. It was nice finally meeting you, Avatar Korra."

And with that he left, closing the window behind him. Silence filled the room again, and she strangely felt a bit alone. She didn't really know what to make of the situation. But, in a weird way, she felt better.

A small smile formed on her face. "Surprisingly, it kinda was, Trunks..."

There ya go, chapter 4!

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Till next time!