Chapter 18 by mburns

Who will be the victor?

The Duel

The two heroes charged at Takana. The man grimaced, and pulled up a shield of ice to defend himself. Asami charged forward with her gauntlet, sending a bolt of electricity his way, breaking the ice shield into millions of shards. Korra leaped forward, fists of fire on the ready, and chucked both at him. His fur coat set ablaze, and he quickly ripped off his flaming collar, and chucked it at the Avatar. He whistled for his guards, and two metalbenders approached from the shadows, bending chains to wrap around Asami. She immediately got tangled up and fell to the floor. "One on one, Avatar. Let's see how strong you are now."

Takana sent two circular blades of ice the Avatar's way. Korra dodged them, but they got close enough to slice the sleeves cleanly off the jacket she was wearing. She retrieved the blades before they hit the wall, and set them on fire, and effect that would last just long enough to land a killing blow on Takana. However, he ducked, leaving the blades to melt in midair. Korra could tell she was off her game. Even without sleeves, the jacket restricted her movement. "Oh, why not." In one fell swoop, Korra ripped off the jacket from her torso, and allowed her pants to drop to the ground. Asami's mouth dropped as Korra stood in a battle stance, putting no mind to her exposed body, but putting all of her energy into staring down Takana. For the first time, she saw him flinch.

The fight was over quickly. She used airbending to float him up into the air, and created a stone prison to lock him in. After disposing of the metalbending guards, she ran over to free her friend. Asami embraced Korra in a warm hug, thankful that the ordeal was over. "Okay, now we just have to find Bolin." Asami reminded her. Korra chimed in. "Right. Maybe I could grab an outfit somewhere?" Asami glanced over at Takana, encased in rock. "I know where you can get one."