LoK AU: Hero-Verse [Open to All! Let's build this verse!]

[avatar_state]

Legend of Korra: Hero-Verse



The Setting: Republic City, in another place, and a few years ahead of where it normally is...



Once, a long time ago, a normal world gifted the world with something known as Bending - a very rare power to use one's own energy to manipulate the elements. There were many who feared these powers, which came together in him - so he took on a mask and the name of Avatar, becoming a masked hero.

As centuries, and then millennia passed, the mysterious hero's mantle was passed on from generation to generation through reincarnation, someone chosen from each of the Four Nations in turn and from among the very rare ranks of those with the ability to bend the elements.

Flash forward to Republic City, circa the 1930s. For the first time, those who distrust the powers of the benders believe that technology will come to replace them. As the city towers higher and higher, and technological achievement rises even further, it looks like the hero known as Avatar may become obsolete; and there are many sinister forces who are eager to make that tomorrow into today.

Meanwhile, some Benders have taken up mantles of their own - both for good and for ill, while others seek to hide their powers, existing every day with perfectly normal jobs. In the increasingly Art Deco city, there is room for absolutely everyone - and challenges around every corner.

As President Raiko takes an increasingly anti-bending stance, the stage is set for conflicts, challenges, and opportunities to simply erupt...

Comments

[teashopgeneral]

"We'll do everything we can," Iroh said, and on that note he turned to attend to the task he'd set for himself.

[avatar_state]

She made her way back up, just in time to see a huddle of worried, confused faces around their erstwhile entrance.

"It's alright, citizens!" she began, putting on her best The Avatar voice. She began to quickly give her reassurances, specifically to the grandmother that her granddaughter would be returned safely to her, and soon.

All the while she kept her ears open for what she knew would be coming - the faint sirens of the Republic City Police.

[teashopgeneral]

"Where is she? I saw that young man from next door screeching away. If she-- She hasn't..." The grandmother looked around furtively, saw that many of the people who'd gathered were watching her with various degrees of curiosity, and shook her head, shutting her mouth on what she had been about to say.

"I told her parents that my mother left the island and brought our family here to Republic City for a reason," she moaned instead, just a few seconds later, as if the pressure inside of her was too great to shut down all speech. "I would have told his parents too, if we'd been speaking. Not that it would have done any good. Children...they never listen."

She looked sharply at Korra, and caught her listening, but maybe to something more distant. The grandmother hmpfed, but then a second later inquired anxiously, "Do you hear something? Is something else happening?"

[avatar_state]

"Just listening for sirens. You're going to have to have a story for the police, ok? Just tell them...mostly the truth. Leave out a few details. But I promise you I'll bring your granddaughter back to you, unharmed. You've got the word of the Avatar."

She can only hope that means something to the woman - it tends to carry more with the older generations to begin with.

"But I'm not waiting for them, and if you read the paper you know we're not on the best of terms, so...maybe you didn't see me, ok? It's your decision, though. But you'll hear from me. Soon."

And she started to make her way back down. Promises made, promises to be kept.

[teashopgeneral]

The word of the Avatar seemed to mean something to the grandmother; she straightened up and looked around to make sure that everyone around had seen and noted this sign. "Thank you, Avatar," she said. "I hope that you and the police can resolve your differences, and I--" She pursed her lips. That was more difficult; she respected the authority of Republic City along with the Avatar. "You saved my life, but I have been an honest citizen of this city for most of my life. I will only tell them if they ask."

She glared at the bystanders as if daring them to say anything. The little crowd began to disperse under the force of her personality, now directed toward making sure the police didn't ask about any masked heroes.

Meanwhile, Iroh had entered the tunnel in the cellar only to find it completely blocked not very far in by a large machine, exactly the same diameter as the tunnel. The machine had been rigged to activate when someone got within range on the other side.

It wasn't difficult for him to take apart the trigger mechanism, it was a delicate arrangement that fell apart harmlessly at the first precision blow. But the machine itself was more of a conundrum. In the end, he removed several parts that seemed vital to its operation as well as a radio and took them back to the cellar to examine them in the workshop.

[avatar_state]

She made her way back down into the earth, seeking out Iroh again. She found him by the machine, frowning behind her mask and regarding that...thing.

"What is this..." she said, half to herself, calling up some flames to her hand to look at closer details.

It looked like it was cobbled together, but there were a lot of Sato components in it. Interesting. That could be something, couldn't it? Some of them looked really specialized. She gently removed a small assembly, which looked like it handled coolant of some sort. It was unusual enough it might be something she could trace.

She made her way back to the workshop, turning it over in her hands.

"Well that's a thing I've never seen before. I didn't even know there were underground machines, let alone whatever that is."

[teashopgeneral]

In the workshop, Iroh hooked up one of the parts to a power source and began flipping all the tiny switches at the base, watching as the globular portion swelled and shrunk. "This is like something I found left behind in the tea shop," he said. "My nephew broke it trying to get it to do something more. But there were hundreds of them back there..."

He unhooked that part and considered the next, in turn. "Isn't ingenuity wonderful? When it's not being used to kill you, of course."

It didn't look like he knew any more about it than that, though. He glanced at Korra. "What have you found?"

[teashopgeneral]

[Hey, I've been basically running on fumes for this thread for a while and I think I need to step away. If you want to ping me in a month or two and see how I feel about it, that would be fine, or if you want to get someone else to go from here with you that's cool too. Feel free to use the stuff I PMed you about background and how the stuff I've been dropping in fits together and was going, or feel free to go in a completely different direction. It's all cool. Thanks and sorry!]

[avatar_state]

[It's been fun enough I can wait, or we can move on to other things in other places. Your Iroh is great, and I certainly hope I get future opportunities. If it returns, it returns. :) If not, hope for new things down the road - I play a lot of characters, so non-zero chance we just run into each other. Good luck, and no apologies necessary.]