"How the hell did this happen?!" Lin screamed, pacing the President's office, as the rest of the group gave her space. Varrick was sitting in a chair, over in the corner, while Mako and Bolin leaned against the wall next to the door. Korra and Asami sat in chairs next to the desk, with the chief behind it.
Korra was fuming. Steam was almost visibly coming out her ears. "What are we doing here? We should be out looking for her!" She shouted, standing up to leave, but Asami grabbed her wrist.
"Babe, we need a plan. We can't just search around and hope we magically find her." Asami said, giving Korra her most sincere look.
Korra was angrier than she cared to admit. "Well we have to do something!" She yelled back, pulling her arm away. Asami quietly put her hand back in her lap, slowly, and looked down to the ground.
Lin looked among them and groaned loudly. "Alright, here's the plan. Mako, Asami, Korra, you need to talk to Jargala. See if she knows anything about the White Sun. Me and the police force will scour the streets. Bolin, I need you to go to Air Temple Island and speak to Tenzin. We're going to need all the help we can get." Lin commanded.
Korra turned to Asami as everyone began leaving for their missions, but Asami brushed passed her. "Come on, we have work to do." The raven-haired girl said, coldly, as she walked out the door. Korra's eyes dropped a bit, but she followed, a pit forming in her stomach as she realized what she just did.
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Korra, Asami, and Mako approached a small building, and hid in the shadows. Korra looked over to her friends and nodded in understanding, then she lead the way to the door of the building. She slammed her foot against the door, air blasting against it and blowing it off its hinges. Mako came from behind Korra and blasted the 2 gang members in the first room with fire, sending them into the wall behind them.
The trio made there way deeper, they found a staircase, taking them down into a dark cave, with small lanterns to light the path. They went deeper down, occasionally blasting some gangster aside, until they reached the bottom. A scrawny man, dressed in simple robes, stood there, as if waiting for them.
"Lady Jargala is waiting for you." He said, and turned to lead them away. The 3 exchanged glances, but decided to follow. Along the way, several gangsters gave them menacing glares, but none stopped them, or even tried.
They eventually arrived in a fancy looking office, still underground, where a woman was sitting behind the desk. She waved her hand as she was working on some paperwork, and all the men in the room left, closing the door behind them.
"Please, sit." The woman requested, tapping her foot as 3 chairs, made of stone, formed from the ground in front of the desk.
Korra crossed her arms and glared at her. "You were expecting us?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at her, suspiciously.
Jargala chuckled and shook her head, not looking up from her paperwork. "Of course not, but we both know none of my men would be able to stop you, and if you were here to arrest me you'd have brought more people. So let's be civil." She said, setting the completed paperwork aside so she could focus on her guests.
The benders took their seats, and Asami elected to stand by the door. "We need your help." Mako finally admitted, sitting back in the chair and watching the woman carefully.
Jargala laughed a bit to herself. "Oh? And what can I do for the Avatar?" She asked, directing her gaze to Korra.
Korra held eye contact with her for a good few minutes, as the women sized each other up. Eventually, Korra broke the silence. "What do you know about the White Sun?"
Jargala's eyes widened, and she sat back in her chair, examining the group. "You're playing with dangerous forces." She said, her eyes flicking between the trio.
"We know. They kidnapped the President. Do you know where they would be holding her?" Mako asked, glaring at her with dark daggers in his eyes.
Jargala studied them for a bit longer before finally speaking. "You need something from me, I need something from you. I'll tell you what you want to know, if you do me a favor." She said, smiling wickedly.
Korra scoffed loudly but Mako gave her a glance, as if to tell her to be quiet. "What favor?" He asked, turning his attention back to the gang leader.
"My fiance, Wi, is in jail right now. Free him, and bring him back to me." She said, simply, sitting back in her chair to await their response.
Korra slammed her hand on the desk. "We are not freeing anyone for you." She growled.
Jargala shrugged. "Then you'll never know where the White Sun are hiding the President." She smiled, mischievously, knowing she had all the power.
"How do we know you have any accurate intel to give?" Asami asked, leaning against the wall next to the door, and watching the whole scene unfold.
Jargala chuckled internally at her distrust. "You don't, but if you had other options you wouldn't be down here, would you?"
Asami continued examining Jargala, as one question kept popping back in her head. "How would you even know where the President is being held?"
Jargala looked at the raven-haired girl and smirked. "I like you. You're asking the right questions, now. You see, when the White Sun revealed themselves, they quickly proved they were the strongest man on the block, if you will. I wanted to know why, so I sent a spy into their group. He was eventually killed but before that, he told me about their holding facility."
The firebender grunted and glared deeper at the woman. "If he was killed, they know this location was compromised."
The gang lord shrugged. "My sources claim they never vacated the area. Maybe they don't know he knew about it. Now, are you going to help me or not?" She finished. For what felt like hours, it was silent as they all just examined each other, judging each other and thinking.
Mako finally broke the silence, nodding as he stood. "We'll see what we can do." He said, and turned to leave. Korra scoffed and followed him in disbelief.
"See you soon, Avatar." Jargala said, watching them file out of her office.
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"No! We can't do this, Mako! It's out of the question!" Korra screamed in the President's empty office.
"Korra, open your eyes. The President is gone and this woman has the answer we need. We have to do it." Mako responded, sternly standing his ground against the Avatar.
The Avatar scoffed. "We are not making a deal with that leech! Back me up here, Asami!" She said, turning to her girlfriend, who was silently leaning against the wall.
The raven-haired girl sighed and walked over to Korra. "Actually, Mako is right. Look we can catch Jargala and her husband another time but right now, we need to find President Zhu-Li." She said, smoothly and calmly.
Korra glared back at Asami, her eyes filled with anger. "No there has to be another way!"
"Another way for what?" Lin Beifong asked, as she walked into the office. Mako had given her a call on their way back and told her to meet them there, so they were all expecting her.
Mako turned to the chief. "Jargala can tell us where the President is, but we have to release her husband Wi Omo." Mako reported, Korra having her own angry meltdown to the side.
Lin nodded. "Well... Do you trust her?" Lin asked Mako, crossing her arms and looking into Mako's eyes for any sign of doubt.
Mako's eyes were steel. He wasn't sure Jargala was honest, but he was sure this was the best option. "No, but I think this time she's being honest."
The Water Tribe girl groaned. "Chief, this is a bad idea!" She shouted from behind Mako.
Asami rolled her eyes. "Korra, you worked with Jargala when the Triple Threats abducted me. How is this any different?"
Korra sighed and crossed her arms. "I... Well..." She stuttered a bit in response to that. "She only helped us then to get back at the Triple Threats. I don't see what she has to gain from helping us this time."
Lin sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Young love was so... exhausting. "Alright, look. I'll get Mr. Omo and meet you all at the Creeping Crystal's Base of Operations. Tenzin, Opal and Bolin are downstairs. We are getting the President home tonight."
As everyone left the office, Korra grabbed Asami's arm. "Hey! Thanks for having my back, there." She said sarcastically.
Asami turned and crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised to the Avatar, and had her hip out. Her whole stance screamed sass and defense. "What about you having my back? Look, I love you, Korra, but sometimes you're wrong. I'm not just going to agree with you when I disagree."
Korra was a bit taken back by this. "Asami, I don't trust this woman! I can't believe you do." She said, matching Asami's closed off position.
Asami rolled her eyes again. "Look, Korra, I'm not your cheerleader. I'm your girlfriend, your partner. You're right, I don't trust her, but I think this is the best option to find President Zhu-Li. So when does my opinion count as much as yours?" The CEO of Future Industries commanded an answer from the young Avatar.
Korra was frozen. She didn't expect this kind of reaction from Asami. She just stared into Asami's eyes, eyes that had usually been filled with love and tenderness, now looked at her with anger. Reality began to set in for the Avatar. "Asami I..." She wanted to say more but the words just seemed lost.
Asami scoffed and walked out the door, not another word spoken between them.
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After their meeting with the Creeping Crystals, the entire team: Korra, Tenzin, Bolin, Mako, Asami, and Chief Beifong made their way to a small stone cabin, their footsteps light. They were a couple miles outside the city, and with the sky dark, the light inside the cabin shined bright.
Korra approached the door, and, in a blast of air, blew it down. She quickly let some blasts of fire burst out of her fists, knocking out the 2 guards inside the cabin.
The team entered the cabin, and began searching it. "Jargala said the facility was underground." Mako advised the team as they searched the area.
Lin walked to the center of the room, lifted her leg as her armor moved away from her foot. She slammed it back down on the ground, feeling the seismic waves flow through the area. "Over there!" She said, running to one of the walls. She quickly pulled her fist down, causing the stone wall to lower, revealing a tiny metal room.
They all filled the box, and Lin shut it closed again, the only light being a small lightbulb above them.
Lin gave the ground another stomp, this time sending the box carefully down a carved path, until the reached the bottom. Once there, she forced the doors open and Korra, and Mako, flung out the doors, using a series of fire kicks to take out the guards in the small corridor. The walls were all stone, and grey. The room was very large, with 3 hallways leading out the main corridor. There were several empty cells, in this part.
Korra turned to the group and nodded. They all knew what they needed to do. Mako and Bolin took off down the first hallway to the left. Korra turned to Asami, but before she could say anything, Asami looked over to Lin. "Come on, let's take this hallway over here." She said, leading the way to the right hand corridor. Lin could sense the tension between the young lovers, and knew she didn't want to be involved, so she followed Asami.
Tenzin approached Korra and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Korra. We have work to do." He said, softly, as they headed down the remaining hallway.
As they walked, Mako stopped to open the first door they saw. Inside they saw 4 men, sparring against each other. They all stopped and turned to the brothers.
"Uh... Sorry, didn't realize this stall was occupied." Bolin said, pulling the door closed. Immediately after moving out of the way, the door burst open in a cloud of fire and smoke, and the men flew out of the room, going after the brothers with a series of fire blasts. Bolin pulled the ground up, creating a shield between them and the Assailants. With a stomp, a ramp of earth came out to the shield, which Mako ran up. He leapt off the ramp, over the earth wall, and blasted 3 of the men with fire kicks in mid air, as Bolin punched his wall down, sending the rock shards from the wall at the fourth enemy.
Lin and Asami continued down the hall, filled with cells. Each cell was empty, except for one they came across at the end. "Raiko?" Lin gasped, running to the cell and leaning down, looking at the withered body of the former President.
"Ch...chief Beifong? What are you doing here?" The man asked, shakily standing up and grabbing the bars of the cell.
"We are looking for President Zhu-Li. What are you doing here?" Beifong asked, as Asami looked back down the hall to be sure no one was following them.
Raiko groaned and held his side. His clothes were torn, and he clearly had been severely beaten. "So... they did it..." He muttered, his head dropping as he realized the situation.
Lin quickly metal-bent the bars, separating them and grabbing Raiko, helping him out of the cell. "What happened?"
Raiko groaned and leaned against Lin, barely able to stand on his own as they limped back to the entrance. "3 men came to see me. They wanted information about the President's security detail. I told them I'd never betray the United Republic, no matter who sat in the President's office." He started.
"They didn't like that answer... so they brought me here. To be honest... I barely remember the torture. Just... foggy memories... but when I awoke in that cell... I knew... I betrayed the republic." He said, his voice dripping with guilt and shame.
Tenzin and Korra only found one door down their hallway. When they reached it, Korra blasted it off with fire. Inside, there were several men in the usual White Sun uniform, but one man stood in the center of them wearing dark robes, still bearing the white sun insignia. He was significantly more overweight than the others, and had balding grey hair.
The assailants sprung into action, throwing rocks and fireballs at the Avatar, but Tenzin stepped in with a powerful torrent of air, throwing the men back against the wall.
Korra rounded around the air blast, leaping off the wall and spun in the air, kicking balls of fire at the men, then landing and trapping them all in cases of earth.
The robed man, who had moved to the side when the craziness began, stomped his foot hard and the earth cases disintegrated. The 5 assailants pushed on Korra, using a combination of Fire and Earth attacks. Korra deflected each attack until a rock slammed into her arm, sending her spiraling into the wall.
Tenzin blasted the attacker away, and turned to the robed man, quickly trapping him in a miniature cyclone.
Korra grunted as her eyes began to glow white. She pushed back against the attackers, unleashing a barrage of Air and Fire, and each step sent a wave of Earth to keep them off balance. Finally, with one more stomp, she threw her fist up and smashed the men with a large stone, knocking them unconscious.
Tenzin let the robed man down, and Korra quickly grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall, glaring into his soul with her bright white eyes. "Where is President Zhu-Li?!" She barked.
The man was very calm, and smiled at the Avatar. "Oh, that's much cooler in person." He said, shifting a bit against the Avatar's grip. "I'd be happy to tell you where she is."
Tenzin stepped closer to them, eyeing the man suspiciously. "And why would you do that?"
He responded with a simple chuckle. "Because I want you to find her, obviously. We've already gotten all we want from kidnapping her. The president is tied up over at the Pro-bending arena. I'd hurry, because she's also tied up with an explosive. Time's running out." He said, smirking in Korra's face.
Korra slammed her fist into the guys nose, knocking him out. "Tenzin, can you get him to the police station? I'll get everyone else and head to the arena." She said, as panic and fear began flooding her mind.
Tenzin nodded and put a hand on Korra's shoulder. "You'll find her, Korra. Just remain calm and focus." He could feel the heat and anger seething from Korra, and was almost intimidated by it. Still, he knew he needed to try and guide her.
Korra nodded took a deep breath, running out the door to get the others.
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Korra stepped onto the arena, standing over the watery pool below. "She has to be here." She said, mostly to herself.
Mako walked up behind her, and looked back, to where Asami, Bolin and Lin were scouring the stands, coming up with nothing. "Korra it's been 15 minutes. That White Sun guy could have lied to you." He suggested.
Korra spun around, and shook her head. "No, she's here. I can feel it." She said, pushing past Mako. She leaped off the side, and created a path of ice over the water. She made her way to the area of land under the stadium, and there, tied to one of the pillars holding up the stadium, was Zhu-Li.
Korra's eyes lit up. "I've got her!" She shouted to the rest of the team, as she created a blade of ice from the water, slicing the ropes off. She ran over to the President and pulled her gag off. "Zhu-Li! Are you alright?" She asked.
The former-assistant looked at Korra and shook her head. Tied to her hands, was an explosive, with a timer at 10 seconds. "No, we have to hurry!" She shouted.
The Avatar sprang into action, grabbing the explosive and throwing it into the water. She dove after it, and began turning her arms around, as layers of ice formed around the explosive.
Everyone gathered at the edge of the arena... Then the world shook. The booming sound pierced through the sky, and a concussive blast of water exploded from the pool, causing some of the overhead structures to fall, crashing into the stadium and water below.
"KORRA!!!" Asami screamed, running to jump into the pool, but a metal cable wrapped around Asami's gloved hand, as Beifong pulled her back.
Mako leaped off the edge of the arena, diving into the pool. He looked both ways, and saw Korra's body floating in the bubbly water. Swimming over, the firebender grabbed Korra's limp arms, and pulled her onto the area of land under the stadium, near Zhu-Li.
By then, everyone had made it under the arena, and watched Mako drag her body onto the land. Silence fell as Mako pressed his ear to Korra's chest. "She's not breathing..." He said, sitting up and placing his hands on the Avatar's chest. He began pressing his hands down rapidly, one hand folded on top of the other. After 30 repetitions, he leaned down and held Korra's jaw open, and blew fiercely into her mouth, twice. He then went back to the compressions.
Tears formed in all their eyes, as everyone watch in quiet. None could speak, or even breathe watching the scene unfold. Horror began to strike in Asami's heart, but she was frozen, paralyzed.
The police officer did his 30 compressions again, then lifted the Avatar's jaw, blowing into her mouth twice more. He was a machine, continuing to press into her chest. "Come on Korra... come back to us..." He begged as he relentlessly continued his cycle.
Then, after 26 more compressions, Korra began coughing furiously. Mako turned her on her side, as Asami sprinted to her girlfriend, ripping her glove off and throwing it to the side. Water left Korra's lungs as she coughed it out, her breathing heavy and her vision blurred.
She fell onto her back and looked at the vague figure sitting over her. "Korra? Korra? Can you hear me?" The voice rang, as her vision came into focus.
Korra's lips grew into a weakened smile. "Hey, babe..." She said, her voice frail and hoarse. Asami pulled the Avatar into a tight hug, sobbing heavily and holding her close.
"I'm OK... I'm OK..." Korra said, caressing the girl's back.