Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Epilogue

"Here are your belongings." The security guard threw him the plastic bag and sighed. "And I guess we'll ship all your cell furniture back to you."

Varrick stared blankly at the bag. A watch from his grandmother, ten yuans he'd like to keep on him in case he ran into a needy child, and a paperclip. All he had left to his name.

"Your current assets are rather depressing." Varrick wished that it was Zhu Li staring back at him when he looked up, but instead it was some random woman who started to look very familiar the longer Varrick looked at her.

"Wait, I know you." He narrowed his eyes. "You were with that guy Bolin at my movie premiere." The woman grinned.

"Yes, and you paid people to infiltrate my soldier's ranks. I'm glad I made such a lasting impression on you."

His shoulders drooped instantly. "Well, I am good with faces." Varrick chuckled awkwardly and tried to scoot around her. "Not so much names, sorry." He didn't know what she wanted but it was never good when a stranger showed up out of the blue.

As he passed her with ease, he got a little too confident that he'd be able to walk out no problem. Then, two soldiers stepped into his view, blocking the exit. When he turned to both sides, four more appeared to box him in. Clearly, the woman wanted to speak with him.

"I get you out of jail and you try to leave without saying thank you? That's low, Varrick, even for you." Her boots clicked against the tiled floors as she made her way to Varrick. Holding his eyes under a scrutinizing gaze, she asked, "Or, did you think this was all just some divine miracle?"

Gulping, Varrick shrunk backward but there was nowhere to go. If he was being honest, he didn't really think twice about being told he was free to go. Sure he had quite a few charges on him, like profiting off of war, but getting out eventually was always the goal.

He had hoped it was going to be from Zhu Li petitioning for his release once she saw how poorly he was doing after being cooped up alone in his cell, but he would have actually had to talk to her recently for that to be the case.

He did tell her to move on and live her life outside of him and all of that. He felt that it would be kind of rude to be the one to challenge that.

"Uh, thank you?" The woman began to laugh and Varrick felt very unsettled by how a smile never actually accompanied her movements.

"There's no need to thank me. Especially when you're now in my debt."

That was something Varrick understood crystal clear and he didn't like a word of it.

"Your debt?" he challenged.

"My debt. You see, I got you out of prison, and in exchange for being free of your cell, you are going to let me pick that genius brain of yours."

Varrick pursed his lips and regarded her carefully. "While I appreciate the flattery, I'd rather go back to that dreadful cell than be used by someone." The woman raised a singular brow.

"Even if I could help you restore your image and win Zhu Li back?" Varrick gasped.

"How do you know about Zhu Li?"

"I know many things about you, Varrick. It's why I know you'll take my deal and that all of this fuss is awfully unnecessary, but you do it anyway to make it seem like you aren't a mere shade of shameful cowardice."

He swallowed thickly. Tense moments passed, the woman's eyes never leaving his like she was trying to establish superiority over him. "...What exactly would you be picking my brain about?" he asked slowly.

"Many things. Improved armor designs for my soldiers, weaponry, the most efficient kinds of assembly lines." As her voice droned on and on, all Varrick could focus on was the Selian Chrysanthemum carved into the metal plate above her collarbone. Those were some of his least favorite flowers and it did not bode well for him that she was sporting one. "Oh, and I need a piece of machinery that can weaponize the power of the Spirit World."

Varrick snorted. Surely she was joking.

When no one else even let a hint of laughter cross their face, Varrick pressed his lips into a firm line and let a possibly very stupid question pass his lips, "And you need this why?"

"As I planned for, the Avatar has prevailed against those that had threatened her. Now, in the absence of those idiots, I am hoping that we can work together to...reshape the tools they left behind."

He tilted his head. "You want to kill the Avatar."

"Of course not, Varrick. I am not a monster. I just simply want to bring peace to the Earth Nation."

"The Earth Kingdom," Varrick corrected. "I know the queen's dead and everything, but I think her great-nephew is gonna take over for her and things will be just fine."

The woman tsked and patted his arm as if he were a petulant child that she kept having to teach to behave. "Oh, things will be just fine, I promise you that, but not because of that child they want on the throne." Varrick was rather confused on who they were, but didn't see fit to argue with the woman as she turned up on his heels and began walking with him out of the prison doors.

His eyes fell upon the bustling streets of Uptown—they were less busy than the heart of Republic City, but not any less exciting to the man who hadn't seen a normal person up close in weeks. "Breathe in that United Republic of Nations air while you can, Varrick, because soon it will be no more."

Well that was certainly a creepy thing to say.

"I'm sorry, who are you exactly?" he asked simply because he wasn't so sure that it was the same woman from the premiere. She didn't seem nearly as unhinged as the woman staring back at him.

"Kuvira, former Ambassador to the Earth Queen. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

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If any of y'all were wondering where our old friend Kuvira has been, you're in luck.

See you next time ;)

JinxingGinny