Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Epsiode 5: The Spirit of Competition Part 2

"Eight teams have been eliminated and eight advance into the quarter-finals which get underway tonight. The rookies are about to take on the former and longest-reigning champs, the Boar-q-pines. Youth clashes against experience in a battle for the ages, or rather of the ages. The bell sounds, and Korra dodges and, ooh, slams right into her teammate! Down goes Mako and Bolin and Korra!"

"Round one goes to the Boar-q-pines!" called the ring announcer.

"You were supposed to defend while I attacked!" Mako seethed with a fiery glare.

Korra shrugged, sarcasm teeming on the edge of all her movements. "I had an opening so I took it!"

"What is up with you two?" Bolin asked harshly. He groaned as he realized that their inconvenient anger was rubbing off on him, and ripped his temple. "All right, whatever, just pull it together, guys." Mako and Korra huffed and moved back to their respective spots beside Bolin, fixing the Boar-q-pines with glares.

"The Fire Ferrets are looking to mount some offense here in round two. Bolin lets fly a flurry of attacks, he's a one-man bending battalion. The Ferrets are having a rough time finding their rhythm tonight, but thanks to Bolin, they narrowly notch round two. Not sure what's eating them, but this is not the same team who took out the Rabaroos," Shiro Shinobi bellowed as he leaned closer to the edge of his commentator's box to watch as they delved into round three.

"Round three is a tie! We go to a tie-breaker to decide the match."

The referee sauntered out into the middle of the arena while shifting a coin between each of his hands. He gave a glance to each of the teams and tossed the coin into the air and caught it in the same breath."The Fire Ferrets win the coin toss! Which element do you choose?"

"I got this," Mako muttered.

Bolin put his arm in front of his brother's chest with a stern look as he said, "I know you usually handle these, but frankly, your head's not in the game. I'm gonna take this one." He turned to the referee. "We choose earth."

A platform in the middle of the arena raised with Bolin and the Boar-q-pine earthbender, Chan, who both flowed into their earthbending stances. "Looks like the earthbenders will collide in the tie-breaker face-off. Bolin goes in for the grapple, Chan reverses. Bolin strikes from midair, knocking Chan to the edge of the circle. Another strike from Bolin and Chan is in the drink!" Shiro Shinobi cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

"The Future Industries Fire Ferrets win their quarterfinal match!" the ring announcer said while Bolin whooped at his achievement. Korra and Mako accidentally shared a look of relief at Bolin's success in the tie-breaker, but immediately turned away from each other angrily once they noticed.

"Oh, that was a close one folks! Youth trumps experience tonight," Shiro grinned as he leaned back into his chair at the aftermath of the eventful match.

A little after the match, Korra found her way out to a balcony that jutted off of the Pro-bending Arena. Her hands gripped her arms tightly as she mumbled things to herself in the darkness, Mako's steps sounding like nothing as they approached her.

"We need to talk." Korra jolted around at Mako's voice, not noticing that he was there. Mako tightened his scarf and sighed, "Look, sometimes you can be so infuriating. But I-"

"Save your breath. You've already made it clear how you feel about me," said groggily. She was so drained from the day.

"No, I haven't, and I'm trying to be fair to everyone involved, and I - ugh. What I'm trying to say is: as much as you drive me crazy, I also think you're pretty amazing," Mako confessed. He gave a short nod as he felt his chest feel a little lighter, happy with himself for getting through talking to the first person on his list that night.