Chapter Two

Reconstruction

"That's right folks, you heard it here first! The world famous mover star, Ryuuki Ayatsurishi, is coming to Republic City to premiere his new film! A dramatic tale of murder, mystery and romance, "The Dancing Dragons" promises to change the burgeoning mover industry forever! And, as if that weren't exciting enough, we here at The Republic City Chronicler have managed to score an exclusive radio interview with the man of many roles himself! Ryuuki – is it okay if I call you Ryuuki? – Ryuuki, tell us, what is it like to be back in Republic City for the first time since Kuvira's devastating attack?"

"Well, she might not be the metropolis she was 2 months ago, but there's still nowhere I'd rather be than Republic City, Chun. After all, it was in Republic City 2 years ago that my life was changed forever when I, an immigrant fresh off the boat from the Fire Nation with nothing to my name but the clothes on my back and a determined smile, was offered the chance to star in a new form of entertainment, pioneered by the world-famous billionaire industrialist and inventor, Sir Varrick of the Southern Water Tribe. I owe my entire career and current way of living to this city and its people, and it is for that reason that I've decided not only to premiere my new film here free of charge to whoever may want to see it, but to also donate a large sum of my own hard-earned mover money to help out with the reconstruction of the residential areas most badly affected by Kuvira's attack. It's not much, but it's the least I can do to help out the city that once helped me."

"Incredible! Truly, you are a generous man, Ryuuki – Republic City thanks you from the bottom of her heart! Now, I've come to learn that your new mover actually takes its name from a lesser-known traditional Firebending form? It's no secret that you yourself are quite the talented Firebender... tell us, have you ever practiced this ancient form yourself? And how does its title relate to your new mover?"

"Haha, no, I'm afraid it's not one of the forms I ever got to practice – though I'm definitely gonna give it a go if I can get the chance, now. As for how it relates to the mover, "The Dancing Dragons" tells the story of a torrid love affair between two Firebending–"

*CLICK!*

"Mako, hey! I was listening to that! It was just getting to the good part, too! Movers have come such a long way since the days of Nuktuk... *sniff*" Bolin complained. He had to admit, he missed the mover life, sometimes, but after the fall of the Earth Queen and all those years working under Kuvira, it just didn't feel right to spend his life doing something so frivolous anymore when he had the power to do something so much... more.

With as much as the allure of fame and fortune may have beckoned him, it was when he was helping others that he felt the happiest. Thus, his decision to join the police, just like his big bro. Still, none of that meant he wasn't still a huge mover junkie and didn't keep up on the industry and all of its big new stars and titles! And Bolin had to admit, that Ryuuki guy was really something else. It seemed that Varrick was right about what movers could end up being after all, and it was people like Ryuuki who were proving it.

"Yeah, well, you can read about it in the paper and relive your glory days later. We're here." Mako replied, opening the door to the Satomobile and stepping outside. Bolin huffed in response, but begrudgingly followed suit. His older brother never did quite understand the mover appeal, something which Bolin could never quite figure out. I mean, how could somebody not like movers? They were awesome! It was like reading a story, but you didn't have to actually read or use your imagination or anything boring like that and it was happening right in front of you. It was a bit like the theater, come to think of it, but more accessible and with higher production values.

But then again, Mako still didn't like Varrick all that much, either, so maybe that had something to do with it, and he was just bitter that the guy who framed him, threw him in prison and nearly ruined his life was the same guy who invented them. In fact, come to think of it, maybe that wasn't such a bad reason to hate them after all? Oh, what did he know, Bolin was never really the type to carry grudges, the whole concept of those things kind of went over his head.

"They're not my 'glory days' Mako. I'm not some washed up has-been, I could easily get back into the business any time I wanted! I've just been busy." The former mover star defended, his voice lowering slightly when he mentioned how he'd 'just been busy'. Mako shook his head. If that's what helped him sleep at night.

"Whatever you say, Bolin." Looking around the area in which the crime had taken place, Mako could feel his heart sink. He tried not to come to the more run-down parts of the city all that often unless he absolutely had to, and when he did, he tried not to take it all in, it was a depressing sight to behold. Dragon Flats was never considered a particularly safe or affluent area, but ever since Kuvira's attack had decimated Downtown and left numerous residential areas of the city in varying states of disrepair and poverty, it'd become at least a dozen times worse, especially considering its relatively close proximity to the old Downtown and its new Spirit Portal. It was messy, crime-ridden, struggling. There wasn't a single house without some sort of significant damage done to it, no shop without some boarded up windows and a broken facade, not a single family that wasn't struggling to get by.

There were areas of the city that were largely unaffected, sure – plenty of them. But even then, there was also only so much space to go around, and more people displaced by singular blasts of that accursed Spirit Weapon than the city could currently accommodate, and expansion, while progressing quicker than anybody ever could've imagined, was still going to take some time. Of the city's more than 15 remaining residential districts, at least half of them were somehow affected by Kuvira's attack, so for the areas that were most badly affected and still undergoing reconstruction, the residents had little choice but to make due with whatever it was they may have had, or simply leave the city, an option not available to those in areas that were never that well-off to begin with, much like Dragon Flats.

And while some people had opted to take their chances, leaving the city altogether and taking up temporary residence in neighboring towns and villages, not very many people wanted to travel any significant distance from the place that they still called home, let alone permanently move their families somewhere else in the Earth Kingdom – especially considering the fact that Earth Kingdom was technically not a thing that existed anymore. Things were far more stable and transitioning far more smoothly than just about anybody had anticipated, but there was always that lingering unease about the whole ordeal. Change was never easy, especially on such a grand, national scale.

So, a lot of people had returned to their homes, instead, damaged or not. They boarded up their battered roofs and broken walls, replaced their shattered windows, and made do with what they had, keeping a low profile and waiting for things to stabilize and normalize again as the city gradually rebuilt its damaged residential districts and expanded its new ones. But, it was no secret that the government was putting more effort into expansion than reconstruction, especially when it came to the more lower-class neighborhoods, leaving places like this to fend for themselves in a state of limbo. Not quite inhospitable, but not exactly habitable, either – receiving power, but only just. Mako may not have been a big fan of movers, but if what that Ryuuki guy said was true, and he was donating some of his money specifically to help out the more damaged areas of town like this one, then he supposed they couldn't all be bad – at least, the people who made them.

Hell, even Varrick was throwing some money their way, though he was yet another party more interested in expansion and evolution than the restoration and preservation of the old. Places like this almost seemed to be an afterthought to him. Though, just about everything seemed to be an afterthought to that guy, from Mako's perspective. Maybe, once Asami came back, he could try and convince her to let Varrick's company handle the bulk of the city expansion plan for a little while, so Future Industries could crack down on repairing what was still standing out here. He still remembered what it was like living on the streets, having to fend for himself and his brother from the Triads and making just enough money to survive, and anybody who still lived around here wasn't too far removed from that sort of a lifestyle. He genuinely felt for them. He knew what this was like. That's what made it so hard for him to be here.

"...Yo, Mako, are you okay?" Bolin asked, noticing that his brother had fallen silent. He'd basically just been standing there quietly for the last 30 seconds or so. Obviously something was on his mind, Bolin just wasn't sure if it was about the case, or something else.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm fine, I was just thinking about how terrible all this is. This used to be such a beautiful city, but now... Kuvira's going to pay for what she's done. Not just to this city, but every city." Bolin fell uncharacteristically silent. He didn't realize Mako was taking this all so hard. The Firebender subconsciously clutched his left arm, an act which immediately caught Bolin's attention.

"Your scar again?" He asked, clearly concerned for his older brother's well being.

"It's nothing, we should be focusing on the case. The body was found somewhere on this block, outside of the... Che family residence." The young detective deflected, flipping briefly through his notes to confirm. Begrudgingly, Bolin followed along with Mako's shift in the topic, though a concerned look still painted his face as his brother turned and walked on ahead of him. He was following closely behind him this time, though, he wasn't going to be left behind a third time in one day. That'd be a little ridiculous, even for him.

Taking a look around as they walked, Bolin, too, took in the sad state of the city that he called home. Places close to the old Downtown like this one were some of the worst-off and most overcrowded, both by humans, and by spirits. Though, curiously, Bolin couldn't see any spirits out in the streets today – just a lot of very worn and wary people, eying them as they walked around in their police uniforms. The lack of spirits certainly struck him as odd, but the uncomfortable feeling he was getting from the people's staring was quickly overpowering any theories he may have had as to why they'd all leave the area, never mind his concern for his big bro, which was overpowering even that uncomfortableness. Returning his focus back to Mako, Bolin spoke up.

"You know, if your scar's still bothering you, you should have Korra take a look at it when she gets back from her vacation. Remember that time I hurt my shoulder, back when we were still part of the whole Pro Bending scene? She's actually a pretty good healer. If it's still hurting you, then I'm sure she could–"

"This should be the place." Mako interrupted. Wow. For a Firebender, Mako could sure be pretty cold, sometimes. Then again, Bolin had just kind of hit on two of the three things that most bothered his brother to talk about these days: his scar – which he normally kept concealed by wearing long sleeves and gloves whenever he was out and about now – and Korra. The third one was Asami. Bolin figured it probably had something to do with the fact that he'd dated both of them in the past, but Mako seemed to be awfully annoyed that the two of them ran off on some impromptu vacation without telling or inviting either of them.

Personally, Bolin didn't mind. He figured they could use some time off and to themselves. But as days turned to weeks and weeks stretched into months, Mako seemed to get just a little bit more frustrated any time that they got brought up in conversation. A fact he stubbornly denied, of course. It was such a shame, too – up until he'd heard she'd left without a word, Mako seemed to be on some pretty good terms with Korra, again. It really hurt Bolin's heart to see cracks appearing in Team Avatar again, but unfortunately, until Korra returned, he didn't think there was much he could really do to fix it.

As the two of them arrived at their destination, Mako's knocking on the pop-marked wooden door of the Che residence brought an end to Bolin's train of thought, snapping him back to attention. He'd have to worry about his brother later, which was precisely the point of Mako's insistence on working. Well, that and the fact that both of them actually were at work right now. But hey, you can't blame a guy for being worried about his brother, right? All of that would have to wait though, Mako's words about acting a little more professionally echoing in his mind. Shaking off his concern for the time being, he straightened his standing position and kept his hands at his sides, standing at attention behind and to the right of his older brother.

"Who's there? What do you want? Whatever it is, we ain't got any!" Replied the voice from behind the door.

"Mr. Che? I'm Detective Mako, from the Republic City Police Department. I'm here to follow up on the events from last night. I was wondering if I could ask you some more questions?"

"No, I told the detectives that were here earlier everything I know already. Now go away!" Mr. Che shouted back. Well, somebody didn't want to be disturbed.

"Sir, please, it'll only take a couple of minutes. I was hoping you could clarify some–" However, much like he had interrupted Bolin moments before, the man behind the door interrupted Mako in return.

"I said no! Now please, go away! The last thing my family needs right now is to be seen associating with cops!" Mako sighed. He was probably assuming the body had something to do with the Triads. Mako couldn't blame him. Since Kuvira's attack, they'd been stronger and more menacing than ever, taking full advantage of the chaos and struggling populace to gain new recruits and tighten their hold on the city while they still could. It was taking everything the city had to fight back against them and it still didn't feel like enough a lot of the time. To be perfectly honest, it was pretty dangerous for the two of them to be out here at all. According to their most recent intel, the Triple Threats had been especially active in this area as of late, effectively taking it as a part of their territory.

"Well, looks like we're on our own with this one..." Mako complained, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Today just did not want to go his way, did it? Bolin frowned. People were really scared, weren't they? Clearly, approaching this like a cop wasn't working, so instead, Bolin decided he would try something a little different...

"Here, let me give it a shot." The younger brother spoke up, cracking his knuckles. His time had come. Before Mako could register his words and stop him, however, he'd already gone and knocked on the door. Great. Now the witness was going to be uncooperative and angry. Juuuust perfect.

"Now what!? I told you guys to go away!" The man behind the door shouted out again, clearly more than a little frustrated.

"Sir? Hi, I'm Bolin, I'm new. See, this is actually my first case with the force, and my partner and I could really use your help in solving it. I'm sure you saw the body earlier today, right? Man, that thing was creepy, wasn't it? I felt like I was gonna be sick just looking at that thing. Anyway, I dunno about you, but I wanna find whoever it is that can do that and get them off the streets as quickly as possible, but in order to do that, I'm really gonna need your help. Right now, you're the best lead we've got." Really? That was Bolin's plan? So much for 'acting more professionally', now he was just talking to him like he was a child. Mako sighed, bracing himself for the impending screaming.

"...Wait, did you say your name was Bolin? Now why does that sound so familiar... hmm..." Or... not?

"You might know me better as Nuktuk: Hero of the South? I also used to be a Pro Bender for a while there – the one and only Earthbender of the spectacular Fire Ferrets! Well, unless you count the Avatar. Technically she was a Waterbender, but being the Avatar she could bend all four elements so she was technically an Earthbender, too, so I guess wasn't the ONLY Earthbender of the Fire Ferrets, but–"

"Wait, did you say Nuktuk?" Mr. Che asked.

"...Oh you have GOT to be kidding me." Mako facepalmed. Much to his chagrin, the door finally opened, and standing behind it was a man who appeared to be in his mid-to-late 40's with his family standing behind him – a wife, a daughter of about 14, and a single pet cat owl. The look on the man and his daughter's face said it all. "This is unbelievable." The Firebender muttered, shaking his head.

"IT IS YOU!" Mr. Che cried out, his daughter's eyes coming alive as she ran out to hug Bolin while his wife simply stared in wonder from within the dilapidated home. As Bolin hugged his young fan back, her father immediately became more hospitable. "Why didn't you say so? My daughter and I are huge fans of your movers! Nuktuk: Hero of the South, defender of all that is right and sworn enemy of the evil Unalaq! Man, whatever happened to you? When did you go and get yourself involved in police work?" How long had it been since he'd met a legitimate fan? The sparkle in Bolin's eye was unmistakable. Maybe today wasn't so bad, after all, at least for him.

"Well, after the civil war between the Water Tribes ended, I decided to take a break from the movers for a bit and help the Avatar recruit some Airbenders for the new Air Nation! A lot of really crazy stuff happened around that time, like when I found my Grandma in Ba Sing Se, or when I discovered that I could Lavabend, but long story short, I decided I wanted to try and use my bending to become a real-life Nuktuk and help and protect people! My first attempt didn't really go so well and I kind of got swindled and then hunted down by Kuvira for a while, but after I escaped her evil clutches and helped take down her Colossus, I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to join the police force and help protect the city while it rebuilds! Which is why I'm here today, actually. Like I said before, this is my first case, and my brother and I really need your help in putting all the pieces together here." Bolin explained.

While a lengthy explanation like that would probably bore or confuse most people, Mr. Che and his daughter appeared to be completely entranced, hooked on every word that their favorite mover star said. They were still trying to comprehend the fact that they were talking to the Nuktuk. "Wow, and I thought Nuktuk led a wild life, no wonder he was so cool." The man deduced. "Of course we'll help, anything you need!" Bolin turned around briefly, shooting his brother a knowing smirk and raising an eyebrow before turning back to the witness and his family. If Mako's jaw was any lower, it'd probably be on the ground right about now.

"Right! So, if you could walk us through the events of last night one more time?" Bolin began, taking Mako's pen and notepad while he was standing there in shock. Seeing as he was the one that the family had warmed up to, he figured he might as well be the one to ask the questions this time around.

"Of course. Like I told the detectives that came by earlier, sometime late last night, around 1AM maybe, my family and I were woken up by flashing lights and sounds of fighting coming from outside. We huddled against the back wall, not wanting to get too close, thinking maybe it was the Triads getting into another turf war over our part of the city, but something just felt... off. I'm not sure how to explain it, really, but I just had this really sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and the air around me felt really, really heavy. Then there was a really bright flash of light and everything just stopped, and the feeling went away. After things had quieted down for a couple minutes, I took a look outside the window, but it was too dark to really see anything, so we'd assumed whatever was going on was over now and whoever was out there had run off. We went back to sleep maybe a half hour later, and then when I opened the door this morning to see if any damage had been done to our house, I saw the body lying in the street and I called the police. I'm just glad that my daughter didn't have to see it, it was horrible..." The father recited, a concerned look on his face as he glanced over at the young girl. She frowned in response, sensing his fear.

"I see... hmm..." The rookie officer hummed, jotting down a couple of his own notes into Mako's notebook, being sure to keep it on a page separate from his brother's. He seemed to be putting an emphasis on the strange feeling that the witness had described... did he have some sort of theory? "Can you remember what color these lights you saw were?" He followed up.

"Hmm... I think they were white." The father nodded. His daughter, however, shook her head, interjecting.

"No, they were blue, like the sky, and really really bright." She corrected.

"Ahh, that's right. I guess my eyes aren't what they used to be, their brightness really made them seem more white than blue, to me..." Bolin nodded, taking careful note of the color and connecting it back to the feeling that Mr. Che had described. Whenever Mako did his Lightningbending, Bolin got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, too, and it usually fired off in a very bright, whitish-blue color, just like they'd described. Based on that description, his best guess was that at least one of the parties involved was a Firebender with the ability to conjure up Lightning. While certainly more prevalent today than it used to be, this was still a very advanced skill, one that, relatively speaking, very few Firebenders actually had.

"Well, from what you've just described, I'd guess that at least one of the benders could use Lightning. My brother can do that too, so I'm familiar with the feeling. The colors and description of a bright light match, and it can be a pretty unsettling feeling if you've never been close to a Lightningbender before." Bolin explained, finishing writing everything down. "That actually helps us out a lot. Now we know at least one of the people involved was a really skilled Firebender, there aren't many people who know how to create lightning. This gives us a much smaller suspect pool to go through."

"Ah, I'm glad to hear that. But could lightning really do that to a person? That body looked more... mummified than burned." Mr. Che thought aloud. Bolin shrugged.

"I dunno, it's always possible that the victim was the Lightningbender, or that he was attacked by multiple people and one of them had the ability but somebody else actually killed him. Either way, this narrows things down, and now we actually have something to start working with. This is going to be really helpful in moving forward with the investigation! Thank you for all of your help." Bolin smiled warmly, genuinely thankful for their quick turnaround and detailed explanation of the events.

"Of course, anything for the mighty Nuktuk." The man smiled back.

"Oh, that's right! You two are fans, right? I might technically be on the clock right now, but since I'm here, how would you like an autograph, anyway?" The look in Mr. Che and his daughter's faces as they glanced briefly at each other and then back to Bolin said it all. Running back inside for a moment, when the girl came back out, she was holding a pristine Nuktuk poster in her hands. It was in remarkably good condition given the way the rest of her home looked, it almost looked as though it had been framed.

"It's my prized possession. Just write it out to Wang Ping and Li Li." She stated, excitedly handing it over to Bolin to sign. Nodding, he thought for a moment, writing down a few words of encouragement – from Nuktuk, of course – along with the dedication to the two of them and his signature next to Nuktuk's own. Handing it back to the girl, Li Li, she squeaked in excitement, immediately running back inside in order to show it off to her mom. Meanwhile, her father, Wang Ping, thanked the former mover star more properly, shaking his hand.

"Thank you. Things have been really tough for us lately, I haven't seen my daughter happy like that in a long time." He explained. Bolin shook his head.

"No, thank you – you've helped us out quite a bit. I wish you and your family the best!" He cheered, waving goodbye as Mr. Che stepped back inside, closing the door and returning to his family.

Meanwhile, Mako continued to just stand there, trying to wrap his head around the scene that'd just unfolded in front of him. "What the hell just happened?" He asked, though his intentions were more rhetorical than serious.

"I just got us a lead." Bolin confidently replied, starting back down the street to the police cruiser. Mako, however, continued to stand there for a while, rethinking pretty much the entirety of his life up until this point. Did that seriously just happen? By the time that he had snapped out of it, Bolin was already half way down the street. Seemed that Mako was going to be the one having to play catch up, this time.


As the last of the day's light disappeared from outside the window, Mako let loose a tired yawn. What a long day it had been. First day back on the beat in almost 3 years and he ends up walking into an entirely new precinct, gets immediately saddled with the darkest, strangest case of his career, got paired up with his brother of all people as a partner, and then got upstaged by said brother during a witness interview that he probably never would've gotten without him, complete with an entirely new lead that earlier detectives had failed to pick up on. And it was that lead that was keeping him sitting at his desk in the new station tonight, looking through the books for any and all known or registered Lightningbenders.

Even if the haystack was considerably smaller than it was before, the fact remained that this was still a 'needle in a haystack' situation. Relaying the new information to Dr. Lou after they'd returned to the station a few hours earlier, he'd confirmed that there were no signs of scorching consistent with a hit from a Lightningbender, nor did the state of the corpse reflect that of one struck by lightning at all, directly or otherwise, though light scorching on the fingertips did indicate the possibility that the victim had fired off some lightning themselves at close range. Armed with this new information, all he and his brother had to do now was figure out which of over 100 registered Firebenders with lightning conjuring capabilities was their victim, following up on the whereabouts of each and every one of them – a very time-consuming process which had kept the both of them busy for almost 6 hours now.

And this was assuming that their victim was even registered in the first place – it was entirely possible that they were a new or previously uncaptured member of the Triads, or an immigrant, or just some random Zhou who neglected to register their bending abilities with the United Republic, any one of those possibilities making it next to impossible to track them down. Given the current state of the body, matching faces was impossible, but Mako could use the corpse's height and estimated weight before death in order to help him narrow down the search. So far, however, he'd had no luck. And from the looks of things, neither did Bolin, who appeared to have fallen fast asleep in his chair.

"Bolin. Hey, Bolin." The Firebender shook his brother, trying to wake him from his little nap. Reluctantly, the Earthbender stirred.

"Huh? What? I'm awake chief..." Bolin mumbled, stretching out his arms and letting loose a yawn. "...Oh, it's you Mako. What is it? Did you find our guy?" He asked.

"No, no luck yet. But hey, it's been a long day, and you're clearly pretty exhausted. Why don't you head back to the apartment and get some sleep? I'll finish up here tonight. I'm still waiting on that call from Dr. Lou, anyway." He suggested. His brother shook his head.

"It's fine, I can stay a little while longer. It's not like I have anything to do until later on, anyway. I'm taking Opal out to dinner at 9 – one of our favorite restaurants reopened last week and I promised her I'd take her tonight. But until then, I'm all for working a little overtime!" Bolin explained. He really didn't want to leave the station until they either had a name they could put to that horrible, horrible face, or it was time to go meet up with Opal. He felt like they were really, really close to a breakthrough, and he really didn't want to miss it. But, as it happened...

"...Uh, Bolin? It IS later. It's almost 8:45 right now." Mako wasn't sure if there were words that could adequately describe the look of sheer terror that overtook Bolin's face in that moment. And quite frankly, neither am I. It was the kind of look you'd see on somebody walking in on somebody else doing something that shouldn't be walked in on. The kind of look you'd expect an ant to be making as it realized it was about to be crushed by a boot. A face comparable to that made upon the discovery that 100,000 angry hornets have decided to build a nest in your bedroom and you just realized you're allergic to hornet stings. It was that kind of a look.

"OHHHHHH CRAP. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" Bolin cursed, pulling at his hair as he jumped up from his seat and ran in place, looking around the room for an exit. "I can NOT miss another date, Opal's about ready to kill me as it is! Sorry Mako, looks like I'm not gonna be able to help tonight aftERALLGOODLUCK!" He called, his words becoming progressively louder and more scrunched together as he dashed out the room at supersonic speeds, leaving the detective alone with his list of Lightningbenders once more. Well, it was more-or-less what he'd suggested in the first place, anyway...

Mako leaned back and stretched out his back and shoulders, letting loose another tired yawn. Much as he may have wanted to follow his brother's footsteps and get out of here himself, he didn't have such a convenient to excuse he could justify it to himself with. He had no reason not to be here right now, and working overtime was always kind of his thing ever since he'd broken up with Korra. A lot of people on the force had always joked that the only thing Mako's heart belonged to was his desk, and on nights like these, he could kind of see why. Who else stays 2½ hours past the end of their shift making phone calls chasing down a lead? But he just couldn't bring himself to leave something like this unfinished. If there was more that could be done, he was going to do it. Then he could rest.

As it stood, he was still waiting on that call from the M.E. downstairs. It was getting late, but he'd be able to sleep a bit easier knowing that he'd made more headway on the case than "The victim was a Lightningbender". That wasn't good enough for him and it certainly wasn't going to be good enough for Chief Beifong, either. The way he saw it, right now, figuring out the cause of that discoloration and putting a name to that face was the most important thing right now. If they could crack that mystery, then maybe...

As if on cue, the phone situated on Mako's desk began to ring. Picking it up almost immediately, it was exactly who he was hoping it'd be. "Dr. Lou! Does this mean you've managed to figure out the cause of that discoloration? …I see …Uh-huh ...Got it, I'm on my way down." The message he'd been waiting for finally received, the detective hung up the phone, picked up the file of Lightningbenders on his desk, and headed out of the office and back towards the elevator. With any luck, this would be the break in the case he was looking for.

Arriving at the basement about a minute and a half later, as the elevator doors opened, Mako walked out into the long, dimly lit hall of the morgue, passing by a number of dark and empty rooms until coming upon the one he was looking for – Room 5 – which also happened to be the only one currently in use. It seemed that this place was a bit understaffed, as well.

"So doctor, you said I might actually be able to identify the body now?" He asked, rounding the corner through the open door and finding a much different – but still rather disturbing – looking body in front of him, the aforementioned Dr. Lou hovering over it, seeming to be finishing up his second examination, his focus currently being on the victim's face. It was no longer on the examination table like it had been earlier in the day, which had now been cleared off and cleaned, but rather one of the many freezer drawers in the wall, 'bagged and tagged' with only the top left open as the doctor performed his last quick cursory exam of the night.

"Yes, I've managed to rehydrate it somewhat. It looks more like a floater than a mummy now, and it's not perfect, but... it's better than what we had before, I suppose." He mused, turning around to meet the detective. "Oh? Only one of you this time? Well, I suppose we can't all be married to our work." He shrugged, removing his gloves and sitting back down at his desk, jotting down his last few notes before heading out.

"Yeah, Bolin had a... prior engagement. Technically, our shifts ended almost 3 hours ago, anyway. We've just been working overtime trying to track down any missing Lightningbenders who might fit what we know about the victim. No luck so far, but I'm hoping maybe you've managed to reconstruct their body enough that I can at least partially match their face to one of the photos on file." The medical examiner nodded.

"It might be possible. You can take a look for yourself if you'd like. In the process of trying to rehydrate his body, I've also managed to bring a bit more definition back to that discoloration your partner spotted earlier today. From what I can tell, it looks to be a hand print. It's a bit distorted, but it lends some credibility to the theory that this was some form of bending, I suppose." He explained, though his tone seemed uncertain.

"...A hand print? So he was burned, then?" Mako asked. The doctor thought for a moment.

"Well, possibly, but not by a Firebender. At least, I wouldn't think. If this is a burn, it's a very mild one, nothing like what you would expect a fiery hand to the face would entail. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what caused it. Nevertheless, I'm surprised this whole rehydration thing worked out as well as it did, I've never really had to do anything like this before. You're just lucky I'm a Waterbender, I'm not sure an ordinary person would've been able to do this." Not that this was a terribly uncommon trait in the medical field, considering Waterbenders could, on occasion, manifest natural healing abilities. So far as Mako knew, Dr. Lou was one such Waterbender, but he seemed to prefer working with non-living patients, for whatever reason.

Nevertheless, it was now clear that their victim was male, though it was difficult to gauge his age since he was still in pretty poor condition. But, he was recognizable enough that when Mako took a closer look at his face, he was almost immediately able to identify him – he'd seen him when he was going through the list of names upstairs.

"...Two-Faced Kazuo. He was an enforcer for the Triple Threats, and a pretty high-ranking one at that." Mako identified with confidence. After having read through his file, he was almost surprised somebody had actually managed to kill him – he was infamous for his cunning and ferocity with bending, never mind his especially duplicitous nature. Thus the name, 'Two-Faced Kazuo'. He was a con man among con men and didn't take kindly to traitors to the organization, or to cops. He'd taken down more than a few good men in his day, on both sides of the law. Mako couldn't say he was sad to see him go, but he was still at a loss as to who could – or even would – have killed him. Crossing the Triads and taking out one of their higher-ranking officers was typically bad for a person's health.

The way Mako saw it, this was either a crime of opportunity and somebody had actually managed to catch him off guard and overpower the guy, or this was the work of a rival gang. Either way, this was going to be a pain in the ass – the Triple Threats were NOT going to be happy about this one. The detective remained silent for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. He was hoping that putting a name to the face would help explain things, but honestly, the more he thought about it, it only seemed to raise more questions. Given who he was, most cops would probably just consider this an open-and-shut case of violence between rival gangs, but that explanation didn't really sit right with Mako. There were just too many unanswered questions and the manner in which he was killed was just too unusual, even for the Triads. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before.

As the doctor had explained earlier, it was always possible that this was just some horrifying new form of Waterbending, but it seemed to be closer to Bloodbending in execution. But then, Bloodbending wasn't something that just anybody could do, and virtually no one could do it without a Full Moon in the sky in order to enhance their Waterbending powers. So unless Yakone had some more kids running around Republic City that nobody knew about, he somehow got the feeling that that wasn't it, either. Besides, whatever did this had drained more than just his blood. According to the preliminary report he'd read earlier, it had taken absolutely everything, every drop of liquid in his body – even his internal organs were left shriveled up and dry. To be perfectly honest, this didn't even seem like bending to Mako, this almost seemed... inhuman.

"...Doctor, during your second examination, did you come across anything that might be able to help better explain what did this to him?" He asked. He knew he'd probably just get the same theories as before, but he couldn't be sure until he asked. It was always possible he'd made a new discovery during the second examination.

"No... but, I did notice something a little strange when I was trying to circulate the water through his body." Mako raised an eyebrow.

"Strange? Strange how?" The Waterbender turned around, removing his thick, round glasses to look Mako directly in the eye, the look on his face markedly more serious than it was before. So. It was that kind of strange.

"Put simply, this man has absolutely no chi left in him whatsoever." He opened. "Now, I know what you're thinking – he's dead, right? Why would a dead man have any chi? But chi doesn't just suddenly disappear the instant you die, it's stored in all of your muscles and bones and pathways and internal organs, and it leaves your body gradually as it decays, returning to the world around it. So unless somebody has been dead for at least a couple of weeks – which I am certain that this man was not – then normally, you'd expect to find at least a little bit of chi leftover, but... this man has none. It was as though it was drained from him along with every fluid in his body. And for that, I have no explanation." The look on Mako's face became decidedly more grim. Bending that could remove chi? Was that even possible? The more he heard, the more he began to side with his gut on this one – this did not seem human.

"...You don't think... a spirit could have done this, do you?" Dr. Lou remained silent. He didn't want to go there, himself, but he was struggling to think of anything else that could possibly do this to a person. This was not a normal death. The virtual mummification was one thing, but completely draining somebody else's chi? There was no bender that could do that. This was, quite simply, beyond him.

"That... detective... is something you're going to have to figure out for yourself." He replied, putting his glasses back on and adjusting his tie, standing up from his desk and moving back to the body in order to zip it up and put it back into storage. "I'm afraid I've done all I can with Mr. Kazuo here. I don't think his body has any more secrets to be divulged. I will be returning it to storage and submitting my report to Chief Beifong in the morning. I suggest you head home and get some rest tonight, doctor's recommendation. Whatever happened here, you're going to want to go at it at 100%. I will remain reachable should another case present itself, but for now, I will be heading home to get some much needed rest, I've been going non-stop since yesterday evening. Goodnight, detective." With that, Dr. Lou closed and locked the drawer, giving a short bow as he headed for the doorway, hanging up his white lab coat and in its stead, grabbing his brown hat and jacket from a chair by the door as he headed out. He'd seen all he needed to see for one night.

Mako just stood there for a moment. If this was the act of an angry spirit, then Korra sure picked one hell of a time to disappear on a 2+ month vacation. Letting loose an annoyed sigh, Mako sunk. The doctor was right. He'd been at this all day, a little relaxation couldn't hurt. With Bolin preoccupied with his date with Opal, he supposed he'd might as well head back to their apartment and enjoy some time alone while he had it. Something told him this was going to be a very long week.


The next morning, in one of Republic City's newer, rapidly expanding districts, a tall, dark-skinned man sat behind his desk at what was currently the topmost completed floor of the new Future Industries Tower, one of the first buildings to be relocated and reconstructed in the aftermath of Kuvira's attack. Though the sounds of construction raged on above him as benders and non-benders alike bent and raised the steel girders and thick, white granite walls that defined the half-completed building, his work was much too important for him to allow something as meager as background noise interrupt him.

As the temporary head of Future Industries, he was a very busy man, and as much as he may have wanted to join his crew in erecting this new tower for his boss and the city alike, he knew that his place right now was here, signing contracts, reviewing plans and making sure that everything was continuing to run smoothly on a company-wide level throughout the city. Even with all of the extra help from Zaofu's Metalbenders and volunteers from around the country, Future Industries was being spread thin. Real thin. They must've had 8 different projects ongoing as it was at least, and there were more and more coming in every day. Help from Varrick Global Industries was certainly much appreciated, but the man also knew that they, too, were likely having trouble keeping up with their own workload. This was a fight that Future Industries would have to win, for the most part, on its own.

However, it wasn't all bad news. In fact, he'd just received the best news he'd heard all week. It appeared that his boss and the true CEO of the company, Asami Sato, was finally on her way back from her vacation in the Spirit World aboard one of the company's fastest ships, en route from the South Pole. It appeared that she and her vacationing companion, Avatar Korra, had elected to visit the Southern Water Tribe and spend a day with the Avatar's family before heading back to Republic City the long way. At first, he questioned why she didn't just traverse the Spirit Portals and return through the new one that'd opened up in the middle of the city, but then, he didn't really know the exact layout of the Spirit World – for all he knew, that could've been an even longer trip.

Besides, he suspected that she may have wanted to drag out her vacation just a little bit longer before jumping back into this stressful position. He couldn't blame her. He'd also had his suspicions about the exact nature of her vacation since day one, immediately assuming that it was about more than just a little R&R with a good friend. After all, you usually didn't disappear into a pillar of light at sunset for two months with a "good friend" and not contact anybody else while you were away. But, that was none of his business. What or who the boss was up to in her spare time was her thing, who was he to judge? And after losing her father like that, she more than deserved all the time off. Much as he was getting tired of being stuck behind a desk, he wouldn't mind holding the position a little longer, for her sake. After all, she was more than just the boss, she was also an old friend.

"Ravi, sir," Ravi's bright, golden-brown eyes immediately darted up to the door. It appeared that his receptionist, Wei, had some news for him. "The captain says he's picked up Ms. Sato and the Avatar from the Southern Water Tribe and is on course to be here by sometime late tomorrow afternoon." The red-haired man gave a silent nod in response, the receptionist exiting the room immediately after.

Just one more day of this, huh? He was a little surprised, but then, Asami HAD asked for their fastest ship – he couldn't go underestimating one of their own, now. Apparently, the Avatar wanted to weigh in on Kuvira's trial before they got to sentencing, so they were in something of a rush to get back. An understandable position. From what he'd heard, the Avatar did everything in her power to spare Kuvira's life once before, during the battle with her Colossus, so it stood to reason in his mind that she would try and do so again. He couldn't say he quite understood it, but that's why he wasn't the Avatar, he supposed. That wasn't to say that he wasn't a damn good bender, though – he was one of the best Earthbenders he knew – but he took a decidedly more... simple approach to things.

That's what made him so good at his job, and for filling the position that he was currently in. He was a simple man who took a simple approach, and if the things he was doing were not intrinsically simple, he worked at it until he found the simplest possible way he could go about it. He was all about meeting new challenges and studying them and figuring them out, mastering them in his own unique way. It's what he'd done with the management of Future Industries, and what he was doing with his Metalbending training. One of his volunteer workers had graciously, well, volunteered, to teach him a couple of times a week. He felt like he was starting to get the hang of it.

Leaning back in his seat and placing his feet atop his desk, Ravi folded his hands behind his head and looked up to the ceiling, closing his eyes. Soon, he'd be back where he really wanted to be, helping put this city back together piece by piece. It wouldn't be too much longer now.

His rest was short-lived, however, as one of his business partners – head of Varrick Global Industries, Sir Varrick himself – came barging through the door before his receptionist could alert him. "Typical Varrick." He thought to himself, a sigh escaping his grinning lips as he removed his feet from his desk, sat back up, and met the Southern Water Tribe billionaire face-to-face. "Ah, Varrick, I wasn't expecting you." He opened, though the aforementioned billionaire didn't really seem to be paying much attention to him, his focus instead on checking out the temporary CEO's new office space. He'd just moved up here a few days ago when construction had completed, working out of a small office space on the ground floor up until then.

"Nobody expects me, kid, not even me. All part of the Varrick experience!" Well, he wasn't wrong. Perhaps the only one who really expected anything Varrick came up with was his assistant turned wife and business partner, Zhu Li, who was standing quietly beside him, as per usual. Then again, compared to Varrick, just about everybody seemed quiet. "By the way, loving the new office space, much more spacious and refined than that dingy closet you were using last time I swung by. Now THIS is a room where decisions can get made!"

"Thank you, I think? But we're not planning to move the office again unless Ms. Sato decides to upon her return, so yes, this is likely permanent." The red-haired man explained. "So, Mr. Varrick, what can Future Industries do for you today?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh, no, actually, it's what I can do for you! See, I've got some primo seats lined up for the premiere of that new mover they were talking about on the radio yesterday, "The Dancing Dragons", so I'm inviting a bunch of people and making an event out of it! We've all been working our butts off lately building and rebuilding this city, so I figured why not take a night off and enjoy some quality entertainment? I'm telling you, this Ryuuki kid's a talent like I've never seen, it's like he was BORN TO LIE!" Varrick exclaimed with excitement. His... exuberant, personality may have caught the interim CEO off guard in the past, but he'd become at least partially accustomed to it by now. It just took him a little while to adjust.

"Well, thank you for the invitation, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline for now. I've just received word that Ms. Sato will be returning to us tomorrow afternoon, so there's a lot I have to get done before she arrives. I can't have her inheriting all of my messes now, you know?" Ravi explained. A mover did sound nice, but there was just too much work to be done. Honestly, he wondered how Varrick found the time for it. Then again, his business practices were always more than a little unorthodox, so he'd probably found some way to keep things together for the occasional night off here or there. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe those rumors of him having a platypus bear on his board of directors were true.

"Oh, Asami's coming back? That's great news! I'm surprised she's been gone so long, actually, even Zhu Li's and my honeymoon didn't last more than a couple of weeks! That girl must've been all kinds of tired, let me tell ya." Varrick shrugged. Well, there was a bit more to it than just that, but he wasn't wrong. "Anyway, the premiere isn't for another couple days, so that should be enough time to get things in order, no? In fact, invite Korra and Asami for me when they get back! I've already got the President and his wife lined up, might as well go for the whole shebang of Republic City's leaders, eh? Guess I'd better go see if that stick-in-the-mud Tenzin would be up for it as well." Varrick thought aloud. A few days from now? Well, in that case...

"Oh? That would be better, actually. I'll pass along your invitation and see what she says. Perhaps we can work something out." Ravi explained simply.

"GREAT!" However, there was nothing simple about Varrick, only over-the-top. "Looking forward to it! Oh, I'd better go invite Bolin too, he used to be a part of the movers. He should definitely be up for it! Zhu Li, we're off!" ...And just as soon as he'd arrived, he was gone. But at least Zhu Li was a bit more polite.

"Sorry for the intrusion. I hope you can manage to work something out, it would be wonderful to have you, Asami and everyone join us, Ravi. Later." She bowed, exiting the room after her new husband, who'd elected to wait for his wife outside the door rather than take off like he usually would. Ravi bowed his head briefly from behind his desk in response, the room returning to the background static of construction noises from before after they had left. Varrick always did have a tendency to be the loudest thing in a room.

Well. Those visits were always 'fun', he supposed. This one just happened to cut right into his scheduled break time. So much for taking a little nap... With an overworked sigh, he reluctantly returned to work.


Meanwhile, back at his apartment, a freshly showered and mostly dressed Mako prepared a simple, buttered toast breakfast at a small counter set against the rear wall, an old radio sitting atop his fridge left on and tuned in to a local Jazz station in the background. Taking a bite of the first slice as soon as he was finished buttering it, the young Firebender knocked twice on the wall of his two room apartment as he walked back toward the couch in the middle of the room, hoping to hurry his brother along. Not only had he spent more than half the night out with his girlfriend and woke up over half an hour later than intended, but now he was dragging his feet and taking forever to get dressed, too, responding primarily in tired grunts and moans when prompted.

If there was one thing Bolin was not, it was a morning person, which just made his chipper attitude and early arrival to the station yesterday all the more surprising to the detective. Maybe it was just a fluke? "Bolin, come on, we're going to be late!" Mako called from the couch as he briefly took a seat, taking another bite out of his breakfast. It was simple, but it was also quick, both to eat and to make, especially with his Firebending – precisely what he needed right now. As it stood, if the two of them left sometime within the next 10 minutes, they might be able to make it to the precinct on time, provided the traffic wasn't too heavy this morning. But, with the city still deep in the midst of construction and the station located in one of the busiest, half-completed new districts, he found that somewhat unlikely.

Between all of the crowds, construction crews, and building materials lying in the streets and all of the road work that was going on, getting much of anywhere in this town was a real pain, these days. Though to be honest, it was a miracle that all the newer districts were as complete, navigable and habitable as they were, given how short of a time it'd been. Without all of the help from Zaofu's Metalbenders – feeling somewhat responsible for Kuvira's actions and genuinely wanting to help out their allies in the United Republic – and all of the neighboring states sending in so many architects and volunteers, they probably wouldn't be even half as far along as they were right now. But, there was still a lot of work to be done before any of what had currently been tacked on could be considered complete or functional.

Last he'd checked the paper, if the current rate of work continued, it was estimated that the current Republic City Reconstruction & Expansion Plan would be completed within the space of about a year and a half – factoring in the reconstruction of the residential districts most badly affected by Kuvira's weapon, of course. Which as it happened, didn't appear to be one of the United Republic's primary concerns right now, thus potentially dragging things out an extra 6 months. If a bit more effort was put into cleaning up and restoring what was already there, then maybe things wouldn't be as crime-ridden and hectic as they were, but right now, it was all about progress and expansion for the government and anything else was an afterthought. And as far as Mako was concerned, it was going to be holding this place back.

Speaking of the paper, since he still had a little time until Bolin finished getting ready, he figured he might as well see what was going on in the city beyond the precinct today. This quickly revealed itself to be a bad idea, however, as he was immediately greeted by the Republic City Chronicler's top story of the day: "Strange Body Found in Dragon Flats Leaves Police Stumped". Mako sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. But if he didn't, he felt like his head was going to explode. How did the press even find out about...? Oh, who was he kidding, it was the press, how DIDN'T those leeches find out about something. The Chief was going to tear him a new one for this. Whether it was his fault or not, it was his case, and that meant it was his responsibility. Even if it wasn't actually his responsibility.

The second top story was a little better, at least: "Avatar and Head of Future Industries Picked Up from South Pole: Avatar and Ms. Sato slated to return to Republic City tomorrow afternoon". Given his recent theories about his current case, Mako couldn't help but feel a sense of relief come over him knowing that Korra was finally on her way back, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't feeling a little anxious, as well. It'd been two months without a word – she never even told him that she was leaving, let alone where she was going. He had to hear the news secondhand from her parents before they left the party.

He thought that the two of them were finally on good terms again, but then she just goes and runs off with Asami? What the hell was even up with those two lately? Apparently she'd actually bothered to write back to her while she was recuperating, but not him or Bolin? Granted, a master wordsmith he was not, and his letters were probably more painful to read than the poison, but that kind of hurt. He'd forgiven her for it a while ago, but things between those two just hadn't been adding up lately. They seemed to be closer than ever while he was kind of just third-wheeling all the time, and he couldn't exactly put his finger on why.

The answer, of course, was obvious, but it wasn't one that this detective was going to be sleuthing out anytime soon. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind. Coincidentally, it WAS one of Bolin's many theories, but he only considered it a "theory" as much as it was a "theory" that there was life on other planets that knew about and wanted to take ours from us for the purposes of obtaining all our gold. It wasn't as much a "theory" as it was an extremely remote possibility that couldn't possibly be true. Another completely wrong assumption from the Super Bending Bros. ...The first one, that is. The alien one is just plain nuts.

Finally, Bolin stepped out of the bedroom, sliding open the door fully dressed for work, but still looking as though he were half asleep. With a yawn, he approached the couch his brother was sitting on, exhaustively plopping into the seat next to Mako, glancing down at the plate of toast that had just been slid his way. "I made a few extra pieces for you. You should probably put something in your stomach before we go." The detective advised. Didn't sound like a bad idea to him. "Long night?" Mako asked.

"Yeah, something like that. Oh, but it was great though!" Bolin replied, quickly correcting his tone with his second statement. He didn't wanna go giving off the wrong impression, now. "You woke me up just in time, I somehow managed to get there literally right as it turned 9. I almost thought I wasn't going to make it." He explained.

"Don't thank me, thank your snoring. It was starting to get obnoxious." Mako joked. "So you and Opal have been doing pretty well again, huh?"

"Yeah, we've been slowly trying to patch things up and get back to the way things were before since the wedding. I really screwed up for a while there. I just wanted to help people so much that I couldn't see what Kuvira was actually doing, even though Opal kept trying to warn me. And then it was too late. Honestly, she's a big part of the reason why I wanted to join the police, like you. I mean, yeah, I want to help people, definitely, but I also want to show her that I can, too, you know? I want to show her that I'm not just some easily led idiot, that I actually know what I'm doing." Mako gave Bolin a concerned look. So that was it, huh? An idealist with a cause, trying to prove himself to the girl he loved. It wasn't all that often he heard his brother talk so candidly about this sort of stuff, it must've really been weighing heavy on his mind lately.

"Well, you're definitely not an idiot. You're a little eccentric, sure, but so's Varrick, and he's one of the single most successful men in the world. Just, you actually have a moral compass." That was the important part. Though, Varrick had been changing lately – a fact Bolin consistently defended.

"Ah, Varrick's not so bad. He's made some mistakes in the past, but he's been changing a lot lately, ever since he saw what Kuvira was doing with his technology. He's a different man, Mako. You should give him another chance." The younger brother pleaded.

"Eh, maybe you're right. He has been working pretty hard to help out with the city lately, but I can't help but feel like there's some sort of ulterior motive at play whenever it comes to that guy, you know? Time will tell, I guess." Mako shrugged.

"Yeah. Anyway, did you make any headway on the case after I ran out on you last night? I really wanted to help, but you know." Bolin awkwardly inquired, sticking another piece of toast in his mouth.

"Yeah, victim's Two-Faced Kazuo, an enforcer for the Triple Threats. A pretty high-ranking one, too. The mark you noticed on his face turned out to be a distorted hand print, but Dr. Lou isn't sure what caused it exactly, it doesn't seem to be consistent with a burn or anything that bending could've left." Mako explained. Then again, he was almost certain that their killer wasn't human by this point.

"...Wow. Somebody offed a Triple Threat enforcer right smack dab in the middle of their own territory? We might not have to catch this guy after all, I'm sure they'll probably get to them before we ever do." Bolin half-joked, though the expression on his face became immediately more serious when he saw the look on Mako's own. "...What's wrong?"

"I dunno. Something about this case just feels... wrong. Looking at that body again last night... there was something else Dr. Lou mentioned, about his chi. He told me that Kazuo had only been dead a short time and that his body should still have some chi left in it as a result, but when he was using his bending to help guide the water through his body and rehydrate his flesh, he noticed that it was gone. All of it. Whoever killed him and whatever they did to do it not only drained away all of his blood and bodily fluids, it drained away all of his chi, as well. There is no bending that can do that. I'm starting to think... I'm starting to think maybe our killer isn't even human. Maybe this is some sort of spirit attack." Bolin just sat there in stunned silence for a moment. A spirit? Really? Man, Korra sure did pick a hell of a time to go on vacation.

"...Welp, it was nice knowing you, Mako. Lin's going to kill you when she hears about this one." Bolin warned in response, his tone being that of a joke but his words only half of one at best. Mako sighed again. Bolin was probably right, Beifong was not going to be happy about this one.

"Well, whatever. The facts are the facts whether she likes them or not, and right now, they're pointing towards something more than human being responsible for this. I'm sure she'll come around. Thankfully, Korra and Asami are on their way back, they apparently showed up and radioed for a ship from the South Pole. They're scheduled to be here by tomorrow, so with any luck, if this does turn out to be a spirit thing, maybe I can try and get her on board with the investigation. It'd be a bit more than a police investigation then." He explained, rising from his seat and walking over to the coat rack in the corner by the door, grabbing his police jacket off the hook and putting it on.

"They're back!? Oh man, it's been too long! I can't wait!" Bolin clapped. Well, somebody sure seemed to be awake now. "Also, sorry bro, but trust me, Lin is NOT going to want to hear this. 10 yuans says she threatens to fire you." He wagered. Seriously?

"Bull, you're on." Oh Mako. Poor, poor Mako. You just made yourself a deal with the devil.


"You think my suspect is a WHAT?" See? What did Bolin say?

"A... a spirit, ma'am." Mako repeated meekly, feeling as though he'd just swallowed a wood frog. Normally, this would be the part where Bolin would be giving Mako his best "I told you so" face, but quite frankly, a pissed off Beifong was as terrifying a concept to him as it was Mako. In fact, maybe even a little more. Yeah, definitely a little more. Okay, a lot more. He was about ready to wet himself over there. "...I know it's a bit of an unorthodox theory, but if you read Dr. Lou's report, I just can't see a human as being able to do this to somebody. I mean, ripping out all of his bodily fluids is one thing, but his chi, too? The only thing I can think of that might be able to do that would be a spirit." He tentatively explained.

"Well Aang sure had no problem bending other people's chi and energy. As I recall, he used that ability to take away people's bending. And Korra used the same thing on me to give me mine back after Amon took it away with that Bloodbending bullcrap of his." Lin stubbornly replied. An angry spirit murdering people in her city was the last thing she needed right now. The Avatar was on vacation, crime was through the roof, the Triads were taking more territory than ever before and she had a dozen politicians and President Raiko himself on her back to do something about it. Human criminals? Those she could deal with. Spirit ones? That was where she drew the line.

"Yes, well, Aang and Korra are Avatars, Chief, and they aren't exactly human, either. Not completely, anyway. Nobody else has ever demonstrated that kind of ability, and it might not be too much to assume that they can only do it because of Raava's influence." Mako responded. Well, he had a point. Then again, Amon HAD demonstrated that there were other ways to mess with a person's chi... though, cutting off pathways with Bloodbending wasn't exactly the same thing as outright removing the stuff. Maybe Mako was right. But if he was, it was a very, very bad kind of right. Bad for the city and bad for her.

"I think Mako might actually be on to something, Li-er, Chief Beifong." Bolin interjected, coming to his brother's defense. "Normally, Dragon Flats is crawling with spirits, it has been ever since the North and South Spirit Portals were opened, but when we were down there yesterday, I couldn't see any. Anywhere. It was almost as if something had scared them all away. I don't think there's anybody who could do that other than the Avatar, but an especially angry and violent spirit might do the trick." Another good point, which was simultaneously also very bad. Lin did not like the way that this was going.

"Let's say you're right. Let's say we have some psycho spirit going on a killing spree in Republic City. Just what exactly do you propose we do about that? Hm? Throw it in prison? Shove it through the Spirit Portal? It's a spirit, it'll get out of anything we put it in and our bending isn't exactly the most effective thing against those things." ...Spree?

"...Spree? There's been another death?" Mako asked. Lin simply slid a paper across her desk, the same one Mako had looked at briefly before making his way down to the precinct. ...Oh. He'd just assumed that was about the body they'd found yesterday. Another one had popped up in the same area? Well, it seemed to have a preferred hunting ground. Lin sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she kept her other hand to her hip. She was clearly stressed.

"Look, the Avatar's coming back tomorrow. I want you to bring her in on this investigation as soon as that ship of hers reaches shore, capiche? If you're right about this, then I don't think my benders are going to be of much use to you. But I'm not just going to sit on my ass all night, either. I'm going to be increasing patrols in Dragon Flats by 100% tonight on the off chance that this isn't a spirit. You two just make sure you come back with the Avatar tomorrow and we'll put together a plan to track this thing down and stop it once and for all, before it kills again. You two are dismissed." Mako and Bolin both breathed a sigh of relief. That definitely could've gone worse.

"Oh, and Bolin," Right as he turned to walk away, Bolin almost felt as though he'd had a heart attack hearing his name called. WELP. "...Good work yesterday. I'm impressed. Dr. Lou made sure to credit you for that hand print discovery in his report, and I read in Mako's how you managed to calm down the witness and made that Lightningbending connection. You've got a good head on your shoulders. Don't be afraid to use it more often." ...Uh?

"...Uh... thanks, Chief..." Well. That just happened. Giving an assured nod, Lin then sent the two of them on their way, the brothers walking out the frosted glass door and closing it behind them, just standing there for a moment. "...Did she just...?" Bolin asked.

"I told you, bro. You've just got to have a little bit more faith in yourself." Mako replied with a smile. Admittedly, he supposed he did, as well. If there was anything these last two days had begun to show him, it was that maybe he was underestimating his little brother in ways he shouldn't have been. If there was one thing Bolin was always good at, it was rising to the occasion when it mattered most, and it seemed that this new job of his was no different.

"Yeah... I guess so." He replied, smiling confidently. "...Now, about that 10 yuans..."


As the sun began to set in the sky, Korra stood atop the deck of the Future Industries ship she and her new fiancee were heading home on, smiling as she watched spirits and fish alike skip across the water's surface around them. Closing her eyes, she was sure to take it all in – the feel of the cool ocean breeze on her skin, the sound of waves sloshing against the sides of the ship, the scent of that salty ocean air... if there was one thing she'd missed during all her time in the Spirit World, it was serene ocean sunsets like this one. The last time she'd seen one of these, she was also sailing back to Republic City from the South Pole, but under an entirely different set of circumstances.

Back then, she was alone, albeit of her own accord. She thought that that was what she needed. She thought a lot of things back then. She thought she was ready to return to the city, too, but she still wasn't 100% at the time, and unbeknownst to her, traces of the Red Lotus' metallic poison were still wreaking havoc on her system. Back then, she couldn't wait to get back to Asami, and Mako, and Bolin, and everybody, but in the end, things didn't exactly go as planned. She still had some healing and some soul searching left to do, and ultimately it'd end up being another 6 months before she finally felt ready and able to return to the ones she loved.

But things were different now.

Now her health was long since returned to her, the world was finally at peace, balance had been restored between the two worlds, and she wasn't so alone, anymore. Not only did she have all her friends and the Airbenders patiently waiting for her return back in Republic City, but now she had Asami, too, and as more than just a friend. More than even a girlfriend. "Fiancee, huh..." She thought aloud, opening her eyes to catch the moment where the sea almost seemed to cleave the sun's disc in two. "We've come a long way, haven't we, Naga?" She asked, causing the large polar bear dog that was curled up behind her to raise an ear in response. "To think, not even a year ago I was wondering if I'd ever be the Avatar I used to be, and now..."

Korra sighed contentedly. Things could change so much in such a short amount of time that it was mind boggling. And for once, it was change that she actually wanted.

"I thought I'd find you up here." Korra's eyes widened slightly as another voice broke her train of thought.

"Hey, Asami." She greeted, turning around to give the young CEO a small 'hello' peck on the lips. "Something up?"

"Nah, I was just wondering where you'd run off to. The captain says we should be reaching Republic City by tomorrow afternoon." She explained, taking a spot next to her new fiancee so that she could enjoy the sunset right alongside her, the two of them leaning comfortably against the ship's railing.

"That soon, huh? I kind of wish you'd called for a slower ship." The Avatar half-joked, prompting a giggle out of the dark-haired woman to her right. So, this was their last night technically on vacation, huh? She supposed she'd better try and make the most of it. "I was just thinking of the last time I saw a sunset like this. I still wasn't in the best place back then, but I was trying. I wanted nothing more than for things to just be normal again, to be back with you and everybody else. I came so close, but... in the end, I ran away. I guess it's a good thing that I did, though. If I hadn't, I probably never would've met Toph, or gotten the last of the poison removed, or anything. It's funny how things work out sometimes, huh? What seems so horrible at the time can sometimes seem so important in retrospect, a stepping stone to something even bigger and better than what you had before." Korra thought aloud, Asami listening intently to every word.

"Almost sounds like something Iroh would say." She remarked, prompting Korra to be the one to giggle, this time.

"Yeah, I guess he kind of rubs off on you after a while. I've gotta say though, that look on his face when you actually beat him at Pai Sho was priceless." This time, both of them laughed, Korra resting her head on Asami's shoulder immediately afterward, hanging on to her fiancee's left arm. "Everything's changing so much lately, but for once, I couldn't be more excited. Tomorrow's going to be a great day, I can feel it in my bones." Asami smiled.

"Yeah. Me too." As the sun disappeared below the horizon, Asami turned, kissing Korra's head before the two of them broke away as the sky grew ever-darker, stars overtaking whatever traces of sunlight still remained. "So. We've still got a night and a morning to ourselves before we're back in the city and our vacation is officially over. Wanna head back below deck and see if we can't make the most of it?" She asked, eyebrows raised, eliciting a knowing and mischievous grin from the Water Tribe girl in response.

"Girl, you just read my mind. Bet I can make it back downstairs before you can." She wagered, the same smile that was on her face making it's way over to Asami's.

"Oh, you are so on." Asami confidently replied, the two girls breaking off into a sprint for the stairway down below.


Somewhere in the ocean, several dozen kilometers off the shore of Republic City...

A familiar wooden prison housing a particularly powerful prisoner of interest bustled with an unusual amount of activity from the guards currently stationed there, the radio to which they were listening relaying the latest news from the independent city-state. "Did you hear that story about those murders? Man, that's just freaky... there's some pretty terrifying benders out there, huh?" One of the guards began, both appalled and amazed at the creativity of criminals these days.

"Eh, who says it's even a bender? Sure have been a lot of spirits lately, especially since our guest over there opened up that new Portal in the Downtown area. Maybe one of them did it." A female guard spoke up.

"A spirit? Heh, they must be pretty angry to be lashing out like that. Maybe they're pissed about that giant Spirit Weapon that blew up half the city. Quite frankly, I'm still pissed about that one." Another replied, the group of three laughing while their prisoner simply sat quietly in her wooden cage, her eyes closed in the crescent moon's light.

How long had she been here now while her trial continued to drag on and on? Weeks? Months? She'd stopped paying attention a while ago. She knew what the verdict what her crimes would be. She was a very particular kind of "villain", the kind of which examples were made. She had a whole nation – or former nation, as it were – calling for her head, and she knew that Raiko and the other world leaders were going to let them have it. After everything she'd done, it was the only logical conclusion. She knew her life was forfeit the moment she surrendered, but in that moment, she also knew that all that time, she had been in the wrong. She knew what she had done, and for that reason, she felt no injustice in her impending doom.

The two guards immediately in front of her little box, meanwhile, were talking about an entirely different news story, one that the three in the break room behind her and to her right had overlooked. This one actually managed to catch her attention. "Did you hear the announcement, though? The Avatar's finally back. Apparently she was on a vacation in the Spirit World with a friend these past two months." Kuvira's eyes half opened. Korra was back? Had it really been two months now?

"Really? So that's where she'd run off to? Good for her. She needed a break after everything she just had to go through. Kuvira really put her through the wringer, huh?" The second guard replied.

"Yeah. I think they said something about her wanting to weigh in on her trial? Well, whatever. I think this one's about as good as dead, at this point... won't have to be standing out here for too much longer." The first one concluded with a laugh. Meanwhile, the dark-haired former ruler of the briefly lived Earth Empire smiled weakly to herself. So Korra was going to be involving herself in her trial now?

Well, well, well... seemed as though things might end up getting a little bit more interesting, after all.