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All Roads: Detour with the Avatar - Part II (Patron Reward)
🕑 Added 2022-09-26 07:50:02 +0000 UTC[Originally titled Korra vs The Chi Titan.
The following story is a reward for a patron. Thank you so much for your support!
The following is an Avatar: Legend of Korra fanfiction. It features Korra and Asami traveling to an alternate dimension where Korra is grown to 100 meters tall. Contains themes of undressing/partial nudity; body exploration; handheld; feet/legs; accidental destruction/almost-crush.]
Heavy machinery droned with constant activity under the nightfallen sky. The noises of mechanical elevators and industrial power tools played instrumental parts that made a metallic, orderly melody of work being done. Trucks and jeeps drove in and out of the area, unloading resources and extra equipment, then hauling away the old materials. Nearly a hundred uniformed soldiers diligently performed the operations, never stopping to question or remark upon the unusual circumstance – even as they drove past a foothill of piled clothes, disrobed from a giant. Asami was very familiar with the setting and sounds of a factory workspace, but where she was accustomed to the technological projects of Future Industries, the effort exerted here was entirely medical: a large-scale procedure to restore the health of the Avatar occupying the hangar before her.
There’s a lot to learn about this different world, Asami thought on reflection, but after everything… Korra is still the oddest part about it… When she looked back at the bundle of supersized clothes, she was stung to notice the missing pair of boots, those which had kicked off their adventure to begin with. She gripped the leather of her satchel and traced around the bulky contents within; Who would have guessed it would turn out like this?
She was paralyzed where she had stepped out from the jeep, the door left ajar in her hand while the other soldiers exited – the General among them. They had taken Asami to where Korra could be operated on: a towering, outdoor military hangar built into a valley cliffside. It had been originally established for the construction of experimental giant combat mechs, the scale of which rivaled their Chi Titan enemy, until the project was proven critically unviable under non-simulated conditions. At least now, the facility was worth its budget by acting as a medical bay dedicated to a supersized patient; doctoring and engineering appeared unmistakable from one another in the military’s efforts to treat Korra’s wounds and rewarm her electrified body. Every task was a daunting challenge when working on such a huge person, but no resource could be considered ill-spent on the endeavor; according to Asami’s debriefing, the Avatar and her immense size were truly humanity’s only hope to defeat the Chi Titans.
But presently, that hope sat silently still, like a mountain at rest from Asami’s lowly point of view. Korra sat in the hangar with her legs crossed in a lotus pose; while teams of medics and engineers operated on her gigantic body, she delved into her own mind, meditating on the strange situation and her purpose within it. She did so with almost no clothes, obliged to have dressed down to her underwear while the procedure was underway. The sight struck Asami into similar stillness, not having expected to drop in on her giant, near-naked girlfriend.
Her attention then sharpened onto the sprawl of soldiers that treated Korra’s massive form, making use of hangar elevators and rail-lifts to navigate her body. They were all so small compared to her, a fact Asami made note of as she quivered in suspense – perhaps a chill of jealousy. She had marveled at Korra’s enormous size earlier during the encounter with the Chi Titan, but somehow, sitting completely still there in the bay made her appear even bigger and heavier than when she was alive and in motion.
She may have appeared immovably still to Asami, but when Korra finally noticed who the jeep had dropped off, there was an immediate shiver that ran down her body, like a wave that pulsed down a river’s length. “Asami! You’re back!” she exclaimed, broken from boredom in the best way possible. Her enthusiastic volume was a blast of its own, another pulse of her energy that rattled engineers and equipment alike – enough to warrant ire from the shaken military crews. Korra winced apologetically, “Eep– sorry, fellas.”
Asami itched with fluster, lifting her shoulders and looking away from others to discreetly hide her reddened face. When she could look forward again, she flinched under the shadow of a large, mobile foot – the sweeping motion of Korra uncrossing her legs and stretching them out in front of her. Each heel was planted with a thudding effect, only a short distance from where the jeep had delivered Asami; calloused walls of soles presented themselves with heights taller than houses, fanned apart from one another so that a lane between them was formed. Korra invited her beloved to come closer with just a smile, not realizing the impression she was making.
Beginning her approach from Korra’s ankles, Asami retrieved an item from her peacoat’s pocket: a small, single-eared headset that the General had given her. After fitting it on, she waved at Korra’s faraway face. “Korra? Are you hearing me right now?” she asked, speaking at an ordinary level. “I was told you were already given your own communicator. Am I coming in clear?”
“Oh! Heh, yeah!” Korra perked up, looking away from the actual Asami and glancing instead towards where she heard her voice from the side. “So that’s what they put in my ear. I’ve not been asking any questions while you were gone.”
Asami grinned, gradually feeling more at home due to Korra’s uninjured charisma. “I’m glad to find out you’ve not been causing any trouble for them,” she teased, but then sighed with more seriousness. “Had there been an incident, I’m afraid we’d have trouble talking it out. The language that they speak here– it’s similar, but not quite the same…”
“Hey, that’s what I thought about that– that chatter,” Korra said, remembering the moments just before entering the Spirit World portal. “I could almost understand what was being said, as if it was a radio report… But since then, I can’t understand anything that’s being said by these little guys. There’s been a lot of awkward silence.”
Asami shuddered under Korra’s phrasing: Little guys, she thought, looking up from Korra’s calves at all the soldiers – Little guys. She blinked the distraction away; “Well, fortunately, I can mostly make sense of what they’re saying. That’s why they want me to act as a conduit between you and them: they talk to me, I talk to you.”
“What if I have something to say to them?”
“Yeah, th-they didn’t, uh, specify that… I don’t think they’re in the mood to hear your opinion, Korra…”
Korra grunted, but refrained from reacting too much, for the sake of those exact people she was annoyed with. “They sure know how to welcome the Avatar,” she said in a pout. “They needed me so badly, but they don’t have the decency to… ask about my day? Get to know me?”
“I agree, they’ve not been very welcoming,” Asami admitted, “but, to be fair, they weren’t expecting visitors. They had a very different idea of what the Avatar is, they never thought it was a person– hah, there’s a lot that needs to be said…”
“Well, come on up here and tell me everything,” Korra giggled. Her right arm twitched into being brought down from where it was propped on a rail track, offering her hand low and flat on the floor. Bandage wraps made of military tarp and designed for her proportions were applied to her arm, where she had been viciously bit by the Chi Titan’s alligator jaw. The other arm was still undergoing its own surgery, her shoulder having been deeply wounded by a wind turbine’s fan. Despite that and more injuries to count, Korra could still channel a spirited attitude – expressively carefree about not just her health, but her transformed scale as well.
Asami could not so easily ignore such size. Her mind was fully fogged by the time she passed Korra’s knees and was between her thighs. It was nearly too enthralling to keep walking, her belittled position under her girlfriend causing a staggering sensation – an emotion made even wilder by Korra’s earnest blissfulness regarding her own massiveness. It was a difference in awareness between them: where Korra could casually lower her hand between her legs, Asami perceived the most minute details of how that hand was hugged by powerful thighs and placed enticingly, almost tauntingly near to her crotch. A dizzy spell came over Asami, prompting her to enter Korra’s palm and be taken away from those thoughts.
Settled into the center of the hand, Asami could sense Korra’s effort to be tender, carefully lifting her into the air and up to her shoulder. Along the way, Asami crouched close to a finger and leaned into it for support, her own little hands feeling a resonance of warmth and strength. Once brought up to Korra’s shoulder, Asami hopped onto that ledge of muscle, her boots awkwardly finding balance atop the smooth skin; a memory of massaging that area flickered in her mind just before she made the leap onto the hangar platform behind Korra.
Asami gathered herself as she found a railing to support both arms on, leaning over the edge to best see one-half of her partner’s face. “Where to even begin?” she sighed, turning a worried expression into the eye she had a view of. “Actually, I know where to start: how are you holding up? Do you feel okay?”
Korra grinned with a gleam of confidence. “She definitely got the upperhand on me,” she said, “but I’ve had it worse from learning how to bend lightning. Once they’ve bandaged me up, I’ll be good to go. I always bounce back fast when I have you around~”
“That you do,” Asami chuckled appreciatively, “but… besides just your injuries… how are you feeling about this?”
“You’re gonna have to specify.”
“This!” Asami gestured vertically, pointing to the tip of Korra’s crown, to where her seat was firmly planted, and back to the crown again. “This!”
Korra snickered, “Ah, that’s what you meant. I mean, it’s different, but I can get used to this. A little awkward walking around, but it feels… good. Kinda.” Asami shivered at that answer. “What doesn’t feel so good, though, is that I don’t have my bending. I guess that’s the trade-off for not getting shrunk down like you did.”
“Maybe from your point of view, that’s how it looks…” Asami grumbled as an aside, before continuing clearly. “I’m sorry about your bending. If it means anything, you’ve managed without bending before, and I’m sure you’ll manage without it again.”
“That’s true. I needed to remember that. Thank you, Asami.”
Asami smirked. “Besides, what’s so bad about being a nonbender, hmm?”
Korra blushed. “Y-You know what I mean.”
“Do I know what you mean, dear?” Asami hummed, sliding along the railing closer to where Korra’s head was at rest. She reached out and grabbed a side-tail of Korra’s hair with both hands, a lock that was as thick as the mast to a ship. She pulled back on it playfully, “Please explain, dear~ I can only imagine what it’s like, being unable to move the earth~”
“Asami…!” Korra giggled, tickled by the teasing.
“Unable to summon fire~”
“S-Stop~! Y-You know I’m ticklish there…!” Korra choked in laughter, her voice pitched higher in glee as her tiny girlfriend hummed close to her ear. She shivered innocently, as Asami intended, but that joyful jolt triggered alarms and shouts from the ground level. A flinch of Korra’s foot had interfered with the workers operating on her – a doctor was staggered and fell wedged in between her curled toes, and a soldier below narrowly avoided being tackled under her heel. Both women hushed themselves, but Korra still squeaked an apology as she rested her foot slowly back into place, welcomed uneasily by the workers she had startled.
Asami swallowed her embarrassment, but it lingered as a redness on her cheeks. She released Korra’s hair and tended to her own waves out of nervous habit, “Where is my head? I-I almost forgot we… aren’t so alone.”
Korra shed her own blush, but she found the moment more amusing than her partner did. “So, back on topic: what did the General have to say?” she asked in a quieter volume. “You said I’m not what they were expecting, then, what were they expecting? Someone taller?”
“An energy source,” Asami clarified. “That’s what they believed the Avatar was going to be when they powered up their own portal machine. Here, chi is an energy harvested from the elements, which they use to power their vast technology. That energy is produced in chi generators, but when too much chi is drawn from the world… monsters appear.”
“That thing from before? The Chi Titan?”
“Yes, though they’re better known as Eidolons… They spawn from unusual storms, where chi has become unstable from too much harvesting. Whatever these creatures are, they come to this world hungry for chi, and the chi generators are just fountains of it to them. Eidolons do whatever it takes to get their hands– or claws on it, feeding on the power and getting stronger. It’s a threat that the whole world has come together to fight against. The only military is the global military,” she gestured to the units in the hangar, and more broadly across the base, “but that’s not been enough to stop all the eidolons.”
Korra nodded. “At least they’ve all learned to get along in this world.”
“It won’t last if the eidolons keep knocking out power grids and disrupting society,” Asami continued. “The military here hoped to have a steady energy supply that wouldn’t create more eidolons, and to then use that Avatar energy to make superweapons to defend themselves. With you appearing instead… plans have had to change.”
“And now the plan is to just have me beat up the eidolons?”
“More or less,” Asami chuckled. “Your first bout with one didn’t strike up a lot of confidence, to be honest, but the military intends on making the most of what they paid for. You’re very well humanity’s last hope here.”
Korra inhaled her fate deep, affirming herself for the future ahead. Though the information was overwhelming about the world she was in, ultimately, her purpose here was to restore balance – just as always.
“Not to mention,” Asami added, “if we want to return to our world, we’re gonna have to help them. When that eidolon attacked the chi generator, she unplugged our portal home. The only way that’s getting repaired is if the eidolon gets dealt with.”
“More motivation for me to win the next fight,” Korra replied, itching to get up and prepare. “Just point to me where it is and we can be back in Republic City by morning.”
“Not so fast,” Asami urged, grabbing at some of Korra’s hairs as if they were reins. “The eidolon is going to be a lot tougher next time! She’s devoured a lot of chi – it won’t be the same as last time. After she recovers in the mountains, the military expects her to strike a nearby city’s chi generator, and she’s going to be feistier now that she knows you are trying to stop her.”
“... It sounds like there’s already been a strategy meeting without me.”
“The best minds have been assigned to the mission, and they’ve come up with some interesting ideas to get you equipped.” Asami could not hide her grin for long; “Of course, I had some input as well… A few suggestions, some improvements…~”
Just then, Asami’s communicator was pinged for a call. She turned away from Korra for a moment, receiving a message from the General that was apt for their conversation. After confirming the order, she pivoted back to Korra excitedly. “Ready to see what they’ve cooked up for you?”
A military team escorted Korra and Asami to the west end of the valley, far opposite of where the gigantic battle took place hours before. They were brought to a site of various testing fields, several spanning wide radiuses where weapons and devices would be deployed for experimentation, but were made clear for the Avatar’s arrival. She was directed with Asami in-hand into a mock city, a block of empty prop buildings for soldiers to run drills through and around, evidently worn after years of weapons testing. Korra slowed herself in a street to peek into one of the buildings, only to find empty corridors and rooms – very unlike how she expected the situation to be when she faced the eidolon again.
“These roads are… narrow,” Korra remarked to her handheld partner, her posture cloistered to avoid rocking into any of the buildings right at her sides. She was careful as well of the prop vehicles down at her feet, tiny enough for several to end up crushed under one misstep; she balanced herself well on the tips of her toes, though the military guiding her was ever wary of how she carried her weight. “It’s hard enough walking around in an empty street… What about all the little people? Are they gonna be scurrying around while we fight, or…?”
Asami fidgeted about Korra’s phrasing, struck especially by her insistence that everyone was just little people to her. She was startled to reply when asked a question, having fallen immersed in the rhythm of Korra’s footsteps and the passing of the empty buildings. “O-Oh, ah, right. You won’t have to worry about civilians getting in your way,” Asami assured her. “As we speak, orderly evacuations are underway to clear out the city for you and the eidolon. It’s still going to be a tight fit for you, but at least you won’t have to watch your step as much.
“That’s the General. She wants me to watch you from there.” Asami pointed down to a parking garage, the rooftop of which had a helicopter landed with the General and her guards waiting at an outcropping of the building. Korra came to the stout structure and knelt down, gently offering Asami to disembark from her hand. Asami’s touch lingered on the tip of Korra’s finger, a quiet farewell as she let her beloved get into position within a wide open intersection of streets; afterwards, Asami was quick to turn back and gaze at the height of her half-naked girlfriend, cherishing the knee-high angle she had of her.
She would much rather enjoy the view alone, however, prompting her to proceed with the exhibition. Asami spoke into the communicator in her ear, “Korra, do you read me? There’s a present for you in the lot behind that building. Do you see it?”
Korra’s focus transferred from Asami atop the parking garage over to where she was pointed. The area rumbled as she took the few steps to cross the intersection and up to the building in question, immediately finding behind it the items Asami had promised her. She bent forward and lifted one of the articles into the air: a red tank-top designed out of a unique material. Korra compared the style of shirt to her chest, tilting her head as she realized the minimal coverage it provided. “... Lingerie?”
“Not quite, dear…” Asami sighed; she was spared from embarrassment, knowing that only she understood Korra’s awkward dialogue. “What you’re holding is an advanced type of armor that the military created to redistribute the eidolon’s electrical discharges.”
“They made armor that looks like underwear?” Korra scoffed, then holding the shorts against her waist – like the tank-top, they would be tight and run very short on her legs. There were also leg and arm bracers of the same material and color, all constructed with enough elasticity to reliably grip her body when worn. “No wonder they’re losing this fight…”
“The material was originally intended to be made for a special line of giant robotic suits,” Asami elaborated. “A lot like the machine Kuvira used to attack Republic City. Unfortunately, I was told the eidolon made short work of them, regardless of the armor…
“I-In any case, the armor does work,” Asami clarified, sensing doubt from Korra as she learned the danger that the eidolon posed. “Go ahead and put it on. We can test it with a little shock – if you trust me, that is.”
Korra smirked down at her as she fixed the bracers onto her forearms. She hesitated with her thumbs dug into the sides of her underwear, but was stopped from stripping naked when a flustered Asami directed her to wear the armor over top of her current undergarments – narrowly avoiding a humiliating stunt. She continued into the rest of the obtuse armor, and once all was worn, she twisted and flexed her body lightly, familiarizing herself with how it fit on her. Though she still had her criticisms about its lack of coverage, Korra smiled comfortably; the tight grip of the material emphasized her musculature, bolstering confidence the same way her old pro-bending uniform used to.
“I like it~” Korra said, unknowingly stating Asami’s thoughts aloud. “Did they just happen to have it in stock Avatar-size?”
“This was all created not long ago, actually,” Asami answered. “With such advanced technology and powerful machines, their production speeds are incredible – even when they’re relying on reserve chi fuel. Now,” she hummed slyly, “about that shock test…”
“Yeah, let’s make sure this thing works. Uh, how are you going t– yow!” Korra yelped, stung sharply in the back of her bare thigh. She sprung up less because of any pain and more due to the surprise pinch of a sensation, struck in a vulnerable area. She turned and reached behind herself, feeling the mark and finding a needle latched into her skin, connected by wire to a military weapon positioned in one of the traffic lanes – a springjet elite unit, tethered to Korra by its grapple cannon. It had hooked Korra sturdily, that when she pulled away, it was dragged behind her that much distance. Korra had to tug the latch off from her thigh to have it removed, done so with a groan, “What was being aimed at…?”
Asami giggled, “Give the soldiers credit, Korra, they’re shooting from a low angle. More importantly, you didn’t even notice, did you? That springjet was pumping electric jolts through its cable into you, but your armor stabilized everything. By comparison, this should make the eidolon’s tail attacks feel like static shock.”
“Except for the part where I’m still bludgeoned by her tail,” Korra quipped, caressing the point on her thigh that had been tested on. A glare followed the tether from her fist down to the elite that shot her, but the expression softened when she considered the pilot inside, simply following orders. “What is it with these guys, anyway?” she asked, pointing down at the springjet. “They were swarming around the eidolon and had her held down for a while. I thought for sure they would get smacked down in a second.”
“Those are springjets, and they’ve been the best defense against eidolons,” Asami explained. “They operate on almost no chi energy, making them virtually immune to the eidolon’s discharges. A platoon of them will be helping you out in the city – which brings us to the next point. Before you go into battle, you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with having them dashing around you, and likewise for them.”
Without warning, the springjet still tethered to Korra launched into the air, using her fist as the anchor point. A second tether was shot and latched to a rooftop, allowing it to then loop around and up the Avatar’s height, and then finish with a graceful landing atop a building. Korra struggled to keep up with its pace; as impressed as she was by its agility in the air, she was just as concerned about it moving too quickly into a misstep. It bolstered some confidence to then witness additional sprinjets take to the air around her, launching up from the streets and rooftops to showcase a display of daring maneuvers, but those doubts persisted – doubts that Asami read from her posture.
“These are the best pilots the nation has to offer,” Asami tried to assure her. “They all have prior experience swarming the eidolon. You can trust they won’t get in the way. In fact, put your hand out flat for a moment.”
Korra had been shy to make any movements while the sprinjets were in motion, but did as instructed, putting forward her face-up palm. Seconds later, a springjet popped into the air, then landed expertly into her hand, perched and prepared for any more directions. The weight initially felt heavy in Korra’s hand, but the vehicle itself was actually quite light to hold – what was heaviest was the soul of its pilot. Instinctively, she wanted to cup the springjet into both hands for safe-keeping, but resisted and focused on becoming accustomed to its weight and shape.
“I’m more afraid of getting in their way…” Korra admitted as her fingers curled around the springjet. “Are you sure these things are… durable?” Wondering that, she closed her hand into a fist and gradually tightened her grip, testing the question for herself. Based on the military’s confidence, she assumed a certain level of toughness from the springjet – but sooner than she expected, she heard the snap of metal, as though she had cracked the shell of a nut.
“Korra, let go!!” Asami urged, learning too late that Korra was intentionally squeezing the springjet. The soldiers watching became tense, but her grip relented before anything else could break. The fingers unfolded and revealed the springjet, its shape maintained but its exterior crunched and broken, holding inside it the worry of its pilot. Asami winced at how scraps of its features fell between Korra’s fingers; “Th-They’re durable, but not indestructible!”
“I see that now…” Korra squeaked, embarrassed about the incident. She wanted to apologize, and so she lifted the springjet closer to her face – not realizing how her size intimidated the pilot. Before she could speak, a sour aroma wafted into her nostrils, prompting her to sniff and inhale a purple mist that had been rising out of the cracked springjet. The apology was put on hold when her eyes started to water; “Ha-ah… what’s that smell…?”
Asami was unsure herself, until she too noticed the chemical leaking into the air. She shuddered, “That must be… the anti-eidolon vapor. You must have broken the chemical tank and caused it to release…”
Korra groaned, “Oh, that stuff that disabled her… Uh, sh-should I be worried…?”
“Erm… Maybe…?” Asami looked at the General, but her inquisitive stare on the Avatar suggested she was just as curious for an answer. “Uh, h-how do you feel– oh…”
Korra sniffled and her eyes nearly blinked – the telltale signs of a sneeze, made obvious by her scale. Soldiers and scientists bunkered down behind corners and barriers, preparing appropriately for the event to come; expecting as much, Korra shielded the springjet with both hands while pressure built up in her sinuses. “Hahh… ahh…! Aa-hachoo!!” With bomb-like power, her sneeze was unleashed, a barreling storm of wind that ripped down into an unfortunate street. The units stationed there were blown back if they had no prop walls to cling to, pushing them paces away until, as suddenly as the wind had struck them, it was all calm again. The echo of Korra’s sneeze traveled around the valley, and then it was quiet – everything left still until the giant sniffed again, relieved but blushed. “Erk… Sorry…”
Asami blinked, much as the military slowly unthawed from their stiffness. She shakily put back threads of hair that had been winded out of place, spared that much by the sneeze’s effect. “... Well… on the brightside… it doesn’t appear that the vapor has as strong of an effect on you.” She glanced aside nervously, “If it did, that would be… troublesome. A lot more of the anti-eidolon vapor will be released to slow down your opponent while you fight.”
Korra kept her nostrils pinched while setting the springjet aside. Even after distancing from the chemical, she felt the irritations of its effect. “Ugh… I’d hate to be an Eidolon breathing this in,” she said. “Just a whiff made me lightheaded… but at least I know now what to expect.”
“That’s what this is all about,” Asami sighed, her outlook mixed with optimism and uncertainty. “Now, before any more springjets get pressure tested, the General wants to run a simple movement drill. While you run a figure-eight through the course, the springjets are going to be hopping around you. Watch your feet, too, because they’ve set up rows of prop tanks and cars to avoid.”
“Props, right?” Korra specified, shifting her feet uncomfortably as she looked ahead up the streets.
“The only people you have to worry about are the springjet pilots,” Asami assured her, rotating around the rooftop for a different angle. The General and her entourage approached the same side and made sure to hold onto a fence or wall; Asami did the same, realizing what they were preparing for. “Alright. Start when you’re ready.”
Though the task for her was simple – especially compared to any Avatar training – Korra kept a critical focus on her performance. Lest someone was to get hurt, be it there among the props or in the actual city itself, she had to be sharply conscious of everything she did. When she kicked off into an ordinary sprint, she immediately felt the fake buildings shudder and creak, the pavement breaking underfoot. As big as she was, speeding into motion was a notable pulse of energy that quaked the air, as felt by the soldiers and scientists that studied her. Korra winced at such consequences and appropriately slowed her strides, though any movement from her made rumbles run through the course.
Shortly after she began, the springjet platoon followed after her. They shot into the air with tether-powered leaps, swinging off rooftops and walls with impeccable precision and balance. They not only kept up with Korra’s pace, but could dash past her or even above her – Korra was surprised by the first few springjets that flew ahead of her, wary of the risk that she might collide with them. She slowed herself again, but jerked forward when she felt stings in her back where springjets were latching onto her. “Erk! So… pinchy…!” she quietly complained, glaring at those units as they zipped over her shoulders.
“It’s very likely the springjets will have to launch off of you during the fight,” Asami explained, only after Korra’s tremors were too distant to rattle her. “Learn to move alongside them. Keep a steady pace so they can predict where you’re going to be.” She watched Korra closely with binoculars, as did the General with her own pair; after observing the giant woman complete the first bend, they felt the vibrations of her return growing in intensity, and so they bunkered again for those hard-hitting footfalls.
Asami, however, had her own test to participate in. She and the General looked to each other, nodding with regards to a prior arrangement, and so before Korra was back at the intersection, Asami traveled down the prop building and into a garage. “You’re looking great,” she told Korra through the communicator, “but… keep your eye on the road.”
The advice was well-timed as Korra was then upon a military arrangement occupying the width of the street – an assortment of tanks and jeeps, or rather, the metal husks that represented the actual vehicles. Korra passively adjusted her steps to make sure she would step around and over the units, using just the front of her feet to gently glide past. It was evident to her how a misstep would be costly in the real scenario that was ahead, but she was snapped back to the present when a springjet buzzed by her ear, forcing her attention forward. Everywhere she looked, she saw something else to be cautious about.
Yet among all her concerns, Korra kept an eye out for Asami as she finished the first loop of the figure-eight, instinctively drawn to find her beloved – but she found only the uniformed soldiers on the rooftop as she rushed by. “Asami? Um, did you move to somewhere else…?”
A giggle responded. “Watch your step, darling.”
Korra’s eye flashed wide once hinted at Asami's whereabouts, quickly scanning the street for a stylish brunette. Just then, a military motorcycle screeched out from an open garage and onto the track, weaving through a set of prop tanks with masterful handling. Immediately, Korra recognized the daring driving as Asami’s, causing her to tense up while passing through the obstacle of vehicles. Her footing became clumsy with last-second adjustments, whipped into worry with Asami leading each footfall by a distance too close for Korra’s comfort.
“A-Are you crazy?!” Korra gasped, struggling to keep her pace steady for the sake of the springjets. Her eyes would flick to the airborne units, but always locked back onto Asami. “This isn’t the time for a joyride…!”
“This is part of the drill, too,” Asami said, managing a calm tone despite her rushing speed. “If I’m going to be the conduit between you and the military, I need to be up-close to the action to make the right calls!” Behind the tinted visor of her helmet was a thrilled smile, a shine in her eyes that she never quite had in labs or factories. It was a confidence she wished Korra could see rather than infer; “Trust me – I can keep up!”
Korra sighed, “I’m sure you can, but I don’t know if you should…” Every step felt like a close call, but Asami’s driving skills were unwavering, always meters ahead of any footstep. When Korra’s strides were steady, Asami could flow with the rhythm, as if the tremors were natural waves to ride off of – a perspective only Asami herself could understand, while Korra saw the zipping motorcycle as a distraction, a factor that was impossible to not prioritize in between juggling springejets and skipping tanks. Korra continued to fret, but Asami was in a groove, secretly delighted to be chased after by her gigantic partner in a high-speed drill.
But the Avatar’s patience had its limit. After having to stumble past a line of jeeps in the road, Korra decided that the added test had gone on long enough. “I’m sorry, Asami, but this is too dangerous…!” she said as a warning. “There’s got to be a safer way you can help!”
Asami clicked her tongue annoyedly, unamused with Korra’s dismissiveness. Her gloved grip on the throttle tightened. “The portal brought both of us,” she pointed out, “so I don’t see why you have to risk everything alone. I may not have come out big like you, but I’m still capable, darling.”
Korra stuttered, realizing too late that she was slipping into a couple’s feud – in the middle of a military drill. “Y-You know that’s not– ugh… Asami…!” She fumbled her words faster than she usually did in arguments with her beloved, straining to state her case when she still had springjets swinging all around her body. The situation did not allow for the nuance to be discussed, but ultimately, Korra saw only unnecessary risks with Asami’s involvement – before there could be a messy accident, Korra decided to settle the matter herself.
Acting on an impatient impulse, Korra maneuvered forward in an attempt to pluck Asami and her motorcycle up off the road without having to stop the drill. She thought she would be as quick as always, grabbing her target with her practiced swiftness, but her partner proved to be more agile than expected; Asami sensed being reached for and thus boosted ahead for distance, narrowly ducking under the fingers that tried catching her and her vehicle. Korra was wide-eyed and empty-handed, curled awkwardly low in that effort to pick up Asami mid-run. She remained determined enough to want to make a second attempt, but she realized then an unintended consequence of bending forward so fast: when she made that motion, a springjet that was latched to her shoulder was suddenly spun out of its planned trajectory, hurled at a dangerous speed towards a prop building.
Asami had been coy about her driving skills, but her coolness was disturbed when she saw the springjet spiraling above like a dart. “Korra! What did you do?!” she gasped, skidding to a stop on the side of the road. She jumped off her bike in a hurry, worriedly predicting a tragic crash – the sprignjets were advanced machines, but they were difficult to regain aerial control, a flaw Asami had recognized since the debriefing with the military.
“I-It was an accident!” Korra said quickly, stabilizing herself between buildings after the near-stumble over Asami. Her hero’s instincts flared as she then dashed forward, pushing herself to save the springjet; her sprinting strides crashed explosively into the pavement, which Asami witnessed up-close when one footfall landed near where she parked, enough force to bounce her and her bike into the air. In the next moment, the giant Avatar had leaped away, with such speed that no other springjet could keep up with her. There was no time for approval with the military: Korra had decided to act independently, regardless of what it meant for the drill.
Soldiers and scientists around the rooftops were shaken by the sharp increase in tremors and their power, preparing themselves for the scene they saw playing out. Despite her building-like massiveness, Korra propelled herself as lightweight as she felt she normally was, diving ahead in a maneuver that took the breaths away from those that had been studying her. Her incredible weight promised meteoric results, but Korra was self-assured in her acrobatics; curling in mid-air, she not only intercepted the springjet into one fist, but also twisted into position to catch the ground with her other palm. It was a one-handed somersault that was visually graceful, like a feather rolling over grass, but the actual impact was hard and loud, the street fissuring under the immense weight, the wind roaring according to Korra’s mighty movement – a prelude to the event that would happen next.
The intent was to flip forward onto her feet for a balanced landing, a tidy conclusion to her otherwise daring maneuver, but a small miscalculation was more costly than Korra predicted. The backs of her shoulders smashed down, breaking into a barrier of prop military vehicles that she was supposed to avoid – lines of jeeps, tanks, and supply crates that disappeared under her, revealed later to have become unidentifiable scrap embedded into her skin. Korra understood too late that she was larger than she figured, and thus traveled farther than she wanted; the destruction did not stop at the one obstacle, her hugeness continuing to barrel forward into the very building she saved the springjet from colliding with. That springjet was tucked tightly against her abdomen as she braced for the crash, having jolted too fast to then stop herself short– b-b-ooooom! The broad front wall of the building was carved into by gigantic legs, hitting the empty structure harsh enough to make a dent in its middle stories. When her bare feet shifted in search of somewhere better to be, she unintentionally broke vital supports for those floors, causing the upper-half to collapse into itself. Streaks of dusty debris trickled down those damaging calves, itching at Korra as her heaviness settled into a crater of her own creation.
The military comm lines were crowded with panicked back-and-forth calls regarding the dramatic situation. Emergency vehicles raced into the prop course to be in position for rescues, while all other personnelle were directed away from the smoky crash site. As Korra groaned from her stillness, she was slowly surrounded by responders, with Asami coming the closest among them. She drove on her bike up to where Korra lay, awing at the total length of destruction along the way; no one was hurt, and all the damages were just to cheap replicas, but the devastation nonetheless made a very real impression regarding what Korra was capable of.
“Rrh… That isn’t what I planned for…” Korra grumbled, especially slow to make any adjustments to her position. She glanced around herself to determine how little space she had to move, and in that scanning, she found Asami with her helmet taken off, revealing her shellshocked expression. Korra winced, but she at least had some encouragement tucked in her fist: she lowered her right arm towards the crowd of military, uncurling her fingers to let loose the springjet she had saved. Though the vehicle’s outer shell was scuffed by Korra’s grip, it was otherwise in operational condition, and the pilot in particular exited the cockpit unharmed, dizzily clambering down between her fingers. Korra was embarrassed about her huge tumble, but still found pride in her decision and success; “Maybe not my best moment, but I had to do… something.”
Asami remained amazed with the scene, still comprehending the magnitude of consequences that resulted from one underestimated somersault. It was the kind of athletic feat Korra could perform fluidly and naturally, but when applied to her current titanic scale, a keen sense of balance was not enough to avoid ruinous outcomes like that. At the same time, Asami silently blamed herself for the incident, admitting that her surprise inclusion and subsequent teasing led to their situation – but she kept this fact quiet, letting the military react to the blunder first before hurrying to take fault for it.
Clean-up was organized quickly, with crews dedicated to taking away rubble from the prop building and disposing of the crunched tanks and jeeps. The many units required for such a task had to work around Korra’s gigantic form within the destruction; she was only permitted to move when directed, given orders on when and where to reposition her legs and turn her body. Eventually, she shifted into a tight seated pose, cramped in the street with thin pathways of the crews drawn around her. During that time, no one remarked to Korra, and when she looked to Asami, she found her entrenched in a conversation with the General. After causing so much issue, Korra feared she had done something to get them in trouble – whatever that entailed in a world not of their own.
The next order given to Korra was for her to depart back to the hangar and await further instructions. She had hoped that amidst the awkward tension, she would have the chance to change back into her normal clothes, but she returned to the hangar without them brought there, leaving her to shiver in the revealing outfit she was put into. A platoon monitored her from different angles, yet without her beloved, Korra still felt alone. Rather than sit where she once had, Korra impatiently stood and looked outward, waiting for any sign of Asami. She dreaded the possibility that the military would use Asami as a bargaining token, but before those anxieties could grow too big, she was contacted on the communicator by Asami herself, the initial chime of her voice rousing optimism out of Korra.
“Korra, do you read me?” Asami asked, ending a gap of silence. “I’m being taken to the hangar now. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Finally!” Korra laughed, happily fixing the communicator in her ear. She could then sit down, only after double-checking that no one and nothing was in her seat. “I was starting to get worried, you know. What have you been doing?”
“Your concern is sweet, but you don’t need to be so paranoid…” Asami sighed, but soon composed herself. “Ugh, that was rude of me to say it like that… Keeping up with everything here has been, well, a little overwhelming.”
“Yeah, I agree. I hope you weren’t getting chewed to shreds by the General because of what I did back there.”
“Heh, not entirely,” Asami giggled. “I’ll explain everything when I’m back, but on the bright side to all this, there’s a lot to learn from giant-sized mistakes. Hold tight and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Though relieved to know Asami was on her way, Korra’s head still hung low afterwards, burdened by the matter of her giant-sized mistake. Though she knew what she did was right in the moment, the destruction she caused seemed like a warning of what worse could happen. Without a means to seek spiritual guidance, she resorted to uncovering divine signs herself; what she learned was that in this world, she was an Avatar of raw power, endangering everyone around her. Civilization was at risk wherever she went, threatened by her immenseness with every step – how was she supposed to fight a fellow giant, if one mistaken maneuver meant blowing up a building? She shuddered to think what the fight would be like if there were civilians abundant, the lives that would be gambled anytime she acted at all. More than usual, Korra bore the heaviness of responsibility, only this time, she was concerned not only of an opposition, but of her own strength bringing pain to innocents.
Likewise did Asami mentally sort through her troubles while being driven to the hangar. She watched the military camp as the jeep passed through it, reflecting on the experience thus far in this other dimension, all the knowledge she had to make sense of. In a world without bending abilities bestowed to select individuals, Asami felt that her own achievements could finally shine – no benders were around to outshine her accomplishments, and her aptitude for engineering proved valuable and important to the people around her. Yet, sourly, it was Korra that belittled her; it was Asami’s own beloved that insisted she was too weak to be involved, an accident waiting to happen. Stress hissed from her in a long sigh as the jeep approached Korra’s seat at the hangar, her emotions quelled for the sake of another debriefing.
“... So, no more daring maneuvers like that,” Asami sighed – concluding her explanation for Korra to be caught-up. She spoke to her beloved in the bed of her palm; she initially approached with stiff silence, but when Korra instinctively lowered a hand to lift her, that awkwardness melted away. After standing straight and firm in front of military personnel, Asami was able to recline into the curve of Korra’s grasp and relieve some pressure. “Otherwise… you performed better than expected during the drill. Even after that incident, all of the pilots trust you enough to fly with you again.”
“Tch. Really, all of them?” Korra scoffed in disbelief. Until then, the approval of the pilots had not been a major concern to her, but it lightened her heart to hear such news. She shifted in her seat, relaxing her back muscles after being hunched forward tightly towards her handheld Asami. She smiled, but that light was fading; “... That’s great that they still trust me, but… I hope that you do too, Asami. I don’t want you to get hurt in this world – or in any world.”
Asami loosely took her knees and brought them closer to her chest, adjusting her seat within the palm to hold herself together. Positioned that way, her expression was easier to hide, and less of her touched Korra’s hand. “Do you trust me, Korra?” she turned the question. “I want to help – I can help! We’re expecting you to fight a giant monster that already knocked you down hard once before. I want to protect these soldiers, and those civilians, and you, Korra! I’m not–” Asami choked, realizing too much emotion was in her voice. In a calmer tone, she looked at Korra and affirmed, “I may not be the Avatar like you, but I’m not incapable.”
Korra was struck with redness by Asami’s vocalized frustration – a passion that went deeper, she sensed, than the happenings in this dimension. She glanced aside, ashamed, then softly returned her gaze onto Asami, relaxing another series of muscles in her arms. “You’re right. I shouldn’t underestimate you,” Korra admitted. “And maybe I can take a few thunder-tails to the ribs, but all these other people– we need every advantage we can get to protect them. I know your perspective will be invaluable during the battle, so,” she chuckled, “I’ll try not to get in your way, but it’s harder than it looks when you’re bigger than the whole Pro-Bending Arena.”
Asami then shared in Korra’s bright color, warmed by the sympathy her beloved provided. “Korra–!” She rose to her feet, taking a stand but unbalanced, shambling until her back was at the base of long fingers. A hand of her own, as small as a pin’s tip to Korra, found itself caressed between two such columns, grazing and searching as if her fingers could weave into them. Korra responded instinctively, allowing one of those digits to gently curl down into Asami’s reach, to be held in her grasp – however much of it could fit, at least. “I’m sorry– You have too much responsibility for me to lash at you like that…
“After all… it isn’t like I can blame you,” Asami giggled shyly, “for being bigger than life in two realities.” She nuzzled her cheek into the broad length of Korra’s finger, close enough to feel the life within – a single finger was immensely strong, yet it was controlled so delicately and expertly, a pillar that knelt just for her comfort. “I should be grateful you can even see me from up there. You already have a habit to look right past what’s in front of you~”
“Hm, do I now?” Korra hummed, deciding to tease back at Asami by gently curling the rest of her fingers into a fist. Encased in a coil of warmth, she was no longer shined upon by the hangar lights or exposed to the night air. “It is easy for you to just disappear on me like this. I guess that means I just can’t let you out of my sight!” She was tickled by Asami’s little efforts inside her fist, the distinct push of her attempts at dislodging her grip – tests to determine the raw power of Korra’s fingers, if an ordinary human could possibly break-out. Asami made herself laugh in these trials, playfully calling for Korra to let her free from the intimate confines.
When the fingers did unfurl and reveal Asami, she had been lifted higher than she was before, brought closer to Korra’s face. She was abruptly greeted with an unintentional breath that breezed from Korra’s mouth, parted only slightly in a coo of cuteness, but enough to let air blow back Asami’s wavy hair. It took her own breath away for a moment, yet also thawed her to crawl closer on the palm – to stand up and meet that loving expression, arms wanting to spread for an embrace she was too small for. Korra, however, saw the opportunity and claimed it; thoughtlessly tender, her lips neared Asami, floating into her with too little force to shove her, but enough to prompt her arms up to return the gesture. Asami’s amusement sunk into those pillowy stretches, her hands pressing into the lower lip and enjoying their softness, while her head nestled into a gentle curve where both sides met. She wondered if her own kiss would be noticed, planted almost secretly where she was – a feathery exhale seemed to answer her, the giggled breath that it was.
“I wish you could see yourself from my point of view…~” Asami swooned, separating from Korra’s lips and looking up into her heavy stare. She raised a hand up to the point of Korra’s nose, tip-toeing to be within reach of it for a small but satisfying touch. “It’s unreal looking at you like this. I still haven’t gotten used to it.”
Korra chuckled as she lowered her hand, and Asami, down level with her chest. “I can say the same for you. It’s kind of… uncanny. I’m ready for things to go back to normal.”
“Mm… I’m not in that much of a rush to leave just yet…” Asami suggested quietly, her knees crooked with exciting thoughts – fantasies that put Korra’s tremendous size to personal use. The ideas felt unavoidable as she looked directly ahead of her, straight into Korra’s bosom as it breathed steadily with life. Although bound behind the strict material of her top, the immenseness of her breasts was still unquestionable, swirling Asami’s head with intimate desires to explore that titanic body, before they no longer had the chance. “Hmh~ we still have a little time to ourselves. If it isn’t too uncanny, maybe we could–”
Both Korra and Asami twitched from their ears, simultaneously stung with a sudden message from communications. Their faces became equally sour with embarrassment, but where Asami turned aside in frustration, Korra had raised a brow of uncertainty. She prodded the communicator with her free hand and asked, “D-Did they say something to us? I-I kinda forgot they were, uh, around…” Her cringe persisted as messages kept coming in, still unable to decipher anything – except an urgent tone.
Asami huffed and stepped aside, though where she stepped to was just another spot atop Korra’s palm. “Sorry, let me listen for a second,” she sighed, focusing her attention on the frantic words being received. While translating the speech in her head, she surveyed the military camp and the landscape beyond it, standing in a space between Korra’s fingers – far away, she saw the dots of lights for a metropolis, and she noticed the black fade of storm clouds encroaching across a sky that was already dark. Her expression shuddered from inconvenienced to distress; though that was pointed away from Korra, the giant still sensed her stiffness and silence.
“Asami? Was that the general?” Korra asked.
“Y… Yes,” Asami admitted. One arm hung low and loose at her side while the other remained on Korra; a beat afterwards, a siren sounded from the camp. “It seems we won’t have that time to ourselves after all. The eidolon is already en route to the city.”
