Searching

Bolin had gotten himself into another situation bountiful in shenanigans. He thought he had volunteered for secret task force that was supposedly run by the police. Alas, he was wrong, and had been lied to and tricked into another job for the Agni Kais.

He had already gotten himself involved in some risky business with the Triple Threats, and he had almost gotten his bending taken away. Riding upon the back of the strong polar bear dog, Korra and Mako swiftly searched the streets of Republic City hoping to debunk their strange feeling of déjà vu.

As they approached downtown, Naga slowed her lengthy strides and began sniffing the air. Korra had hoped Naga could catch the scent of the sixteen year old earthbender. "I can't believe we're doing this again!" Mako shouted, clenching his fists. "I've told you this before, but we'll find him," Korra assured, patting his shoulder.

Naga barked, and bolted down a dark alley. Had she found something? The alley got exceedingly darker and darker. It had already been late, past midnight, and the two benders weren't the least bit tired. Mako was concerned for the safety of his brother, his only living family member. Korra was concerned about her best friend's wellbeing.

The alleyway seemed never ending. Two tall brick buildings made the space seemingly smaller. Naga began to panic. "Easy Naga," Korra said as she tightly pulled the reins. There was barely any visibility, but there was a light peering from the end of this seemingly endless alley.

Korra turned to Mako. "Should we go down there? This alley feels miles long." Korra asked nervously. Mako nodded sternly, "We need to find Bolin. We can't stop looking." He groaned, "I can't believe we're doing this again! Next thing you know we'll be attacked by chi blockers!"

Korra giggled, "Don't say that, we'll be fine." The light got brighter and brighter, until there were buildings surrounding them. It was a dead end. Korra and Mako sighed in defeat. "All this way down this darn alley, and nothing," Korra grumbled. Naga jerked forward, throwing Mako and Korra off balance.

She had lunged forward towards a strange item sitting in the middle of the closed square. "What is it Naga?" Korra asked her animal guide as she leaped off the saddle. Mako quickly followed. She walked towards the item, picked it up, and let the wind unravel it. Mako gasped and snatched it from her hand. "That's Bolin's shirt!" He exclaimed. "You sure?" she asked.

He leaned it to smell it, and pulled his face back in disgust. "It's Bolin alright. I wonder where he is…"

Suddenly three masked figures jumped down from the buildings. Chi-blockers. Mako and Korra quickly assumed fighting stances. "You know I hate it when you're right," Korra groaned. "Tell me about it," Mako replied.

The chi-blockers began sprinting towards the two of them. Quickly Mako began shooting streams of fire from his fingertips, illuminating the dead end. He was fighting a female equalist, obviously due to her bust. It was a one on one matchup.

Korra had been delighted with the pleasure of fighting two equalists. She heavily stomped on the earth beneath her boots, raising multiple small boulders to counter the incoming chi-blockers. They were agile and nimble. They dodged her attacks, but being the Avatar, her elemental arsenal was extensive. Like Mako, she began shooting whips of flames from her hands and feet. When necessary, she resorted to hand to hand combat. Something unfamiliar to Mako.

He struggled protecting his bending. This chi-blocker moved quickly, but he was somehow able to hit her with a few fire blasts. She strafed left and right, behind him, but the adrenaline flowing through his veins made him surprisingly decent in close quarters combat. He threw quick jabs and round kicks, and grabbed a hold of her arms and kicked the back of her knees. She collapsed. He firmly held her hands stretched above her head.

He bent down and tried to look through the thickly lensed goggles. "Where's Bolin?" he questioned firmly. Her voice was muffled by the face covering, "I'm not going to say anything." Her voice sounded familiar, but he leaned in closer, peering through hers lens. He gasped and released her arms. He shot back a couple of feet. The equalist took no time in incapacitating her target. With a few precise and quick jabs, Mako's firebending would be blocked temporarily.

"What are you doing!" Korra shouted as she hit both her targets in the stomach with boulders. The female equalist knew she couldn't win against the Avatar. She began to scale the building walls. "Quickly Korra, knock her down!" Mako exclaimed. Korra aimed at the equalist, and this chi-blocker was injured; it was impossible to dodge all of Korra's shots.

Finally one had hit this girl square in the back. She plummeted to the ground. She struggled to sit up, her legs were broken from the fall, and she was trapped. Mako walked to the broken minion. He grabbed her mask and goggles, and pulled it off her face. Black waves tumbled out of the head covering and angry green eyes glared back at Mako. "How could you?" Mako pleaded helplessly.

Korra strolled over to Mako, dragging the two unconscious chi-blockers behind her. She threw them next to the girl glaring back at Mako. Korra stepped back in surprise. "Asami! You're…you're a chi-blocker? You work for Amon?"

"Yes I do. His vision of equality is something to be admired. You benders have taken advantage of the world, and now everything is falling apart. The Equalists will bring upon a new era of peace and prosperity, something the bending population could never promise," Asami stated firmly.

"You told me that you loved pro-bending!" Mako hollered, holding back tears of betrayal.

"I do! What else is better than watching benders beat each other to a near pulp for sheer entertainment? You benders are your own worst enemies."

"So why get close to us Asami?" Korra questioned angrily, holding Mako back from slapping her across the face.

"To gain your trust. You made it too easy too. Flashing money in front of Mako seemed to click, and then I was able to get close to you Avatar. When you would least expect it, I could've knocked you all out and taken you away to Amon, where he would remove you of your impurities."

"But why Asami?" Mako pleaded once again.

"My mother was taken away from me prematurely, and my father was unable to make his living because the power was concentrated to those who could bend. There was such a split in society and my father lived in poverty, under the oppression of benders, until a kind non-bender supported him, and now he is the most industrious man in Republic City and a proud benefactor to the Equalists. I was raised under the impression that my wealth and good fortune was provided under the kindness of non-benders. You benders are wasteful, careless people."

Mako's eyes were swelling with tears. "Where, is, my, brother?" he heaved while clenching his teeth.

"Since I'm obviously outmatched…he's at an empty warehouse with those Agni Kai thugs. You're just lucky that Amon had other business to attend to, or else their bending would be gone." Korra walked up to her and kicked her in the gut. Asami had the wind knocked out of her, and then Mako had knocked her out with a blow to the head. She collapsed.

Mako fell to the ground, burying his head in his hands. The tears came rushing out. Korra kneeled next to him, and wrapped her arms around him. "I trusted her…she could've hurt all of us." Mako cried.

"I know. We can't trust anyone anymore. This war has gone too far. Let's go get Bolin, and head home. We can't fight anyone anymore today, not with your bending temporarily gone." She wiped the tears streaming down his face and smiled at him. He tried to smile back, but his heart had been ripped out. "C'mon, let's go Cool Guy," Korra said while pulling him up. She wanted to cheer him up anyway she could, and those silly nicknames seemed to do the trick. He weakly smiled. Korra and Mako threw the three chi-blockers unconscious bodies onto Naga.

"First let's take these scumbags to Chief Beifong. I'm sure she'll be pleased," Korra stated. Mako nodded in agreement. With great speed, Naga ran to the Police Station where metalbenders stood patrol. They approached the entrance, and threw the chi-blockers bodies in front of the men. "Tell Chief Beifong I said you're welcome," Korra chimed before Naga bolted towards the docks.

They arrived at the docks, and searched multiple warehouses across the water. There was only one more left. The sun had begun to rise and the sky began to change from a dark blue to rays of pink and orange. "Mako, we've been doing this all day, this is our last shot." Korra said firmly. "He's here, I know it." Mako replied reassured that he was right.

They opened the door to see multiple men tied up in a circle in the middle. "That's weird," Korra said, "they're unprotected?" "It seems like it," Mako answered.

"I wonder why, I guess they were after us." Korra and Mako walked towards Bolin, and untied him as well as the rest of the captives.

"Bolin this needs to stop." Mako declared. Bolin looked down in shame, "I'm sorry you guys. I need to stop being a sixteen year old." Korra giggled.

"Why do you think you're all left alone in this warehouse?" Korra questioned. Bolin answered, "The Lieutenant guy said that no one would find us, and that the Avatar was going right into their trap. You guys are alright, right?"

Mako bowed his head in shame, and Korra gently placed her hand on his back. "Asami was a spy. She stole one of your shirts from the apartment and used it to bait us. It was all a lie."

"Mako I'm so sorry," Bolin sighed. Mako looked at his brother, then back at Korra, and declared, "I'll be okay, because you guys are okay. And Asami got what she deserved, she's in jail now." Mako pulled his brother up, wrapped his arm around Korra pulling her close and smiled, "We're a family and we'll always be together."