Chapter 57.5- And so the Dragons Danced

Her eyes calibrated quickly to note that it was a disc made of stone with lava at the core and at the edges, fashioned into the shape of a throwing star. It cut back, clearly under the control of a powerful earth bender— Toph Beifong herself was the only master lava-bender out there and Bolin, the Prodigy of her Academy was the only other person known to possess the ability. Some theorized that to learn lava bending then you needed to have a fire bending father and an earth kingdom mother, just like Toph herself did. The Emperor jumped above the star as it came at him again, and he ignored it thereafter in favour of attacking the woman with combustion bending.

The disk sailed into the crowd before coming to a stop in front of a man with tanned skin and long hair that parted at either side of his face along with flowing down his back. He stepped forward, slamming his feet against the ground and turning the ground between him and the Emperor into lava. The Emperor paid little attention to it. Everywhere he stepped, the lava cooled and solidified into stone, and the firebender that engaged him in hand to hand combat was quickly proving to be far his lesser. He clocked a straight punch to her face, dodged underneath a return right hook, and sent her to the floor with a straight kick aimed at her knee. Korra heard it shatter.She tried to send another blast of combustion bending, marked by the telltale distortion in the air. This time, the Emperor just reached out and snuffed it out by pinching it between his fingers like he was putting out a candle. He punched in her direction, and instead of fire, it was pure heat that flowed from his fist, burning her straight down to the skull.

The lava bender was the last in the fight, and he could see the odds were not in his favour. He turned around, trying to run, but the Emperor smiled and reminded everyone of the first name he received in his youth. He stood straight and just pointed two fingers at the fleeing man. The world flashed with light, and Korra was blinded for a second. When she could see again, the man had been reduced to ash, the only thing to survive being the boots he had been wearing. The Emperor walked forward in the silent room to look at the boots.

“Dragon scale. Would you look at that” He said as he picked them up and took a sniff. The room erupted in applause, and Korra herself was one of the loudest. Her father could say whatever he wanted but the Emperor clearly deserved his position.

—

“Now, ignoring the festivities that occured early in the evening, I do hope you were able to enjoy the rest of your night after we spoke.”

“It sure was something. I had a lovely time” Korra said, blushing as she remembered all the chaos that had taken place once the drinks had come out in full. The Emperor clearly knew how to throw a party.