While Chief Beifong took the moment to rant at Korra, I had time to assess my current situation.
What would I have to add to future Team Korra? Mako and Bolin were the supporting muscle, with Mako packing both decent detective and bending skills, while Bolin was the really kind animal man. Asami had the whole 'nice girl who has money, resources and self-defense plus electro-glove' angle, and Tenzin was the mentor figure. What did I have aside from future knowledge?
The ability to think on my ass? Maybe if whatever brought me here was kind (WHICH I DOUBTED INTENSELY CONSIDERING THE SITUATION), a latent form of power that would hopefully be of decent use here?
Who was I kidding? The best thing I could do here was spew out bullshit that, with any luck, others would buy and Korra and Co. could use to their advantage.
Even with all the dangers that hanging around them no doubt implied and all but guaranteed, I would rather be around the current Team Avatar than alone in this mad house of a world. In a sense, I had a… general grasp of their character, and I knew that they were genuinely decent people. Better to stick close to them and most likely stay alive than try and run and get swept up in either Amon's crusade, Unalaq's invasion, or the fall-out of Zaheer's actions. And judging by the trailer and one episode I'd seen, Kuvira's hyper-aggressive 'unification' methods were nothing to sneeze at either.
"And you!" I was snapped out of my thoughts, instinctively flinching as Beifong switched her glare from Korra to me. "Who are you?" she growled, pointing a finger at me accusatively.
I caught myself gulping as I tried to figure out what bullshit would work in this situation. "Someone very, very, very lost?" I replied nervously.
Apparently, that wasn't it. If anything, Beifong's stare somehow managed to intensify, and I could feel myself sweating as a response.
" I mean really!" I continued hastily. "I was just minding my own business, planning to do a bit of... err... controlled... falling... when BAM! Explosion of light and all of a sudden I find myself above a city I've never seen or heard of before!" 'Outside of a TV screen, at least...' I mentally tacked on, but something told me I'd dug myself a deep enough grave already.
"You've never heard of Republic City." she stated, disbelief clear in her voice. "Right, and I'm a seven foot tall silver-horned purple platypusmonkey. With wings."
"I'm sure you'd be a very pretty one." I snarked, almost on reflex. It took me a grand total of one second to realize my mistake as the table in front of me crumpled under her fingers. It looked like she was about to forgo due process and lock me away in the deepest hole she could find...
"Err, chief?"
When my new most favorite- if anonymous- metalbender in the whole wide world slid open a panel in the wall and spoke up nervously.
Chief Beifong shot the officer a scathing glare. "The city had better be burning down, or else you're looking at sewer patrol for the rest of your career."
The metalbender swallowed heavily. "Does Councillor Tenzin count?"
"... you got lucky," she muttered darkly. "Let him in."
The wall slid open and Tenzin walked in, as calm and aloof as ever. Man, he was a lot taller than I imagined, but really, add in a few prayer bead necklaces and he'd be a shoo-in for stereotypical monk of the year. Which isn't to say I wasn't loving his guts right now for bailing me out of the furnace.
"Lin," Tenzin opened amicably. "It's good to see you again."
"Cut the crap Tenzin, we both know why you're here," Beifong opened up, hostile as ever. "Why is the Avatar here? I thought she was supposed to be down south where you were supposed to train her."
"I'm afraid I won't be moving south for a while, due to delays. The Avatar on the other hand…" he muttered, directing his glare at Korra. "Will be on the first ship headed south pole. If you would be so kind as to drop all charges against her-"
"And her friend who tried to keep her out of trouble!" I piped in a little desperately. I didn't like the looks Beifong was giving me before Tenzin came in.
At this point, Tenzin started to give me a weird… look, so to speak, before continuing. "I will take full responsibility for all of her actions today and cover all the damages," Tenzin continued.
"Nice try, Tenzin, but that's not going to fly," Beifong growled. "Someone needs to take the fall for what happened, one way or another, and no amount of cash or power is going to change that."
The airbending master barely hid a grimace as the gears in his head worked to find a solution. Finally, I felt my blood run cold as he shot me an all too apologetic look.
Lucky for me, there was a savior in the room.
"Vic comes with us, or I'm not going anywhere." Korra stated firmly.
"Korra-!" Tenzin made to protest, but trailed off when he caught sight of the defiant look in Korra's eyes. He gave me a contemplative look, picking me apart for a moment before sighing wearily and addressing Lin. "Chief Beifong, what if... I were to... insinuate a significant buffer in budget for the force when it next comes up with the council?"
The chief darted her eyes back and forth in thought for a moment. "How significant?" She needled.
"...three new airships?" It was clear that it almost physically hurt Tenzin to grind the words out. I couldn't help but flash a little smirk at the schadenfreude happening here, though I quickly shifted it to apologetic. He was trying to save me, after all.
Chief Beifong glared at me angrily, obviously weighing the pros and cons of the situation before finally sighing wearily and gesturing for the both of us to go.
I couldn't help but breathe out a smile of relief. Interrogations were not fun.
As Korra triumphantly dragged me out of the interrogation room, I couldn't help but notice Lin giving us an 'I'm watching you' gesture.
Despite being tempted to let Korra reciprocate in a hilarious manner, I hastily grabbed her wrist and stopped her from getting the Chief any angrier with us. What with the Equalists around, it wouldn't do for a nonbender, even one who was a friend of the Avatar, to be on Chief Beifong's shit list.
Judging by the way she dragged her finger across her throat when I shot her a nervous grin, I'd say that ship had long since sailed.
… Oh well. It could be worse.
It took a while, what with the loads of paperwork both Tenzin and Korra ended up doing, but the two of them finally managed to get Naga released. It was while we were waiting for Naga to be let out that Korra decided to go for the whole 'don't send me back' debate.
"Korra," I started, playing along with my previously established cluelessness. "What did err… Tenzin mean when he said you were to go to the south pole?"
"It means," she interrupted Tenzin before he could speak up, " that I have to go back down south to go and learn from a bunch of old people about elements I've already mastered, when I should be here learning the only one that I haven't!"
"Which I'm sure you meant to state in a much kinder manner," I very quickly stated as she finished. No need to get my savior angry too. "But why do you need to learn about the elements anyway?"
"Because she's the Avatar," Tenzin explained while stroking that admittedly magnificent beard of his.
"Aaaaaaand?" I stated, continuing to play stupid.
Tenzin just raised his eyebrow, and I could sense all the suspicion that was entering the monk's head. "Which means it's her destiny to learn all four elements so that she can bring balance to the world." He narrowed his eyes at me skeptically. "Which most everyone knows already... Korra," he said, turning to her. "Where did you find this young man?"
Korra gave me this weird shyish look, almost as if she was… embarrassed to explain? Why would she be embarrassed? What was so hard about explaining that I-?
"He… uhh... kinda fell from the sky?"
...Ah. Yeeeeaaaaah, now the embarrassment made sense.
Tenzin had this… well it was like a mix between hope and disbelief. "You fell out of the sky. And survived."
"Well, I had a parachute," I helpfully offered.
"And he flew! Like an airbender," Korra added.
"I glided, more than anything," I corrected. "It's mostly all in the suit." Which I had stored back in its pack. "Oh, and a looot of luck."
Tenzin's suspicion only seemed to grow every moment. I don't think the story helped.
"Excuse me," interrupted yet another civil servant of Republic City. "Is this your polar bear dog?"
"Naga!" Korra exclaimed happily, as the officer released Naga's leash, letting Naga bound back to Korra and lick her happily. It was kinda sweet really.
SLURP!
What I didn't expect was the subsequent licking I received from Naga as she turned around and gave me a big doggy kiss. Eurgh, it was just like being licked by the neighbor's dog, if only a little more affectionate, a lot bigger and a lot more slobbery.
Korra only seemed to find it funny as she laughed. "Well, Naga seems to like him!"
"Hooray for me..." I groaned.
Tenzin only remained silent as he stroked his beard contemplatively, a meager amount of suspicion leaving his gaze. I sensed that this was my one chance to save my ass from almost certain homelessness.
"Look, I'm obviously a newcomer here." I pleaded. "But in my opinion, if it's her job to balance the world then she can't do it without a full skill set! What better place to learn the ways of the world than in what I assume to be The Big City?"
Tenzin just remained silent on the matter until he silently turned around and beckoned us to follow out of the station. No telling if it worked or not, but hey, at least there was still hope, provided we were headed where I thought we were headed.
As I thankfully predicted, I still seemed to be more or less on the stations of canon. According to one of the sailors on the ferry, we were headed to Air Temple Island, and while Tenzin looked like he was silently contemplating something over on the other side of the boat, I had a moment to hatch a plan with Korra.
"Hey Korra," I greeted as I sauntered off to the side of the ship. "So... what do you think? Is Tenzin going to cave and let us both stay, or am I doomed to sleeping in the bushes while you go back to freezing in the south pole?"
Korra laughed a bit, if a little grimly. "To be fair, it's not that bad. You get used to it when you live there for awhile."
"They said the exact same thing when I found myself spending my first winter away from my very tropical home," I retorted. "As I found myself buried under blankets, I cursed my friends who obviously told me lies!" I gave her the best puppydog eyes I could muster. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" And cue lip quiver for dramatic effect, which lasted all of ten seconds before the both of us wound up laughing.
"Seriously though," I said after catching my breath. "What do you think, a bed or the street?
Korra just gave me a rather determined look. "Hey, if I do end up going back to the south, I'll make sure you can hitch along. You do get used to the cold. Eventually. And if anyone argues, they'll have to deal with me and Naga! Right girl?" She said turning to Naga.
… who just rolled over and looked like she'd rather sleep, which inspired loads of confidence. Well at least I had Korra's suppo… wait a second.
"Why go to the mats for me?" I asked, genuinely confused. I then facepalmed at the befuddled look she gave me. "I mean, why are you helping me? After all, we just met today, and well, we don't know each other that well beyond 'You Korra, Avatar, Me Vic, Crazy Skydiver'."
She suddenly started really sheepish, scratching the back of her head nervously. "Well... it's what friends do, help each other... right?" she asked skittishly.
Well yeah, of course it was, wasn't that obvious? Geeze, she was acting like she'd never had friends befoooh goddamit I was her first friend... I was her first friend?!
…Come to think of it, she had a relatively shitty childhood. Sure, she had her family, she was well cared for, protected... aaaand that protection meant isolation and that isolation meant that her first friends were supposed to be Mako and Bolin.
… Goddammit she was starting to sound like freshman me.
"Thanks then, for helping me out," I said as I offered my hand. "I promise to help you too, however I can. After all, like you said, friends help each other, right?"
She simply shook it and smiled, as the ship ever so slowly began to dock with Air Temple Island.
When we saw the three official and stern looking dudes in uniform waiting at the opposite end of the pier, I had the feeling that that was Korra's signal to go on and and get aboard their ship. Still, she didn't look too dejected as I followed her along towards the pier. Maybe it was the thought that she had a friend now?
Then I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. "Hey Korra," I pointed out towards the trio of shapes descending from the sky. "Would you know who those would be?"
"It's probably the kids saying hi," she said smiling, as the three of them made a landing and ran straight towards Korra.
"KORRA," the three of them screamed as they ran to hug her. It was honestly heartwarming to see.
Then the littlest one, turned and gave me acute-yet-hostile look. "And who are you?!" he practically demanded.
Welp, now was good a time as any, I thought as I pulled out my wallet and grabbed one of my many useless coins. "I'm a new friend of Korra's," I answered. "And who are you?"
The little guy kept giving me a rather hostile glare, while the other girl, the hyper one if I remember right, turned to pay attention to me. "Well, grumpy people don't get to learn some of my tricks, " I said as I very deftly 'pulled' a coin out of his ear. "Oh look at this?" I pretended, "Where'd you get one of these strange coins?"
Meelo visibly switched his mood from suspicion to happiness as he grabbed the coin straight out of my hand. Not that it would do him much good. "How'd you do that?" he practically demanded.
"I'm a man of many many secrets." I explained, smiling. Which was also very true. I turned around to see Korra glumly smiling, sad at her inability to fight Tenzin's decision here. Not that I could do much more either. I followed her down the pier, still hoping that like in canon, Tenzin would change-
"Wait," Tenzin interrupted.
Yes!
"I've been thinking a lot about the situation," he continued. "And... I suppose that Vic and Korra might have a point. Right now, despite my best efforts, the city has fallen out of balance. I thought it best to put off your training in order for me to try and help restore order to the city… But I think that is not a job a councilmember can do. The city needs it's Avatar once more, so you have my permission to stay and continue your training with me here."
"And Vic? What about him? Can he stay on the island too?" Korra said as she turned around, her voice hopeful.
"As… much as I hate to admit it, despite Vic's… dubious origins,considering the positive shift from your previous attitude, he does seem to be a good influence on you. So yes, he may stay as well."
"WOOHOO!... wait a second, what do you mean 'atti'-MMPH!"
I hastily slapped my hand over her mouth. "Don't push it!" I hissed desperately before remembering my manners and bowing towards the monk. "Thank you, Master Tenzin," I said.
"You're very welcome," he returned, with just a slight bit of hesitation. Still a little suspicious, but I'd take what I could get.
The next day was the first formal announcement that Korra would make as the Avatar. This, this was where I hoped to shine.
"Alright Korra," I said as I talked to her behind stage, so to speak, considering how we were inside city hall. "Trust me when I say the following: I've been literally taught how to handle a crowd, so I know what to do. Here's the deal: Make the announcement, plain and simple. Then, whatever you do, do not take any questions. Make the simple statement that you are here to stay, you plan on trying to help the city, and promise to do your best. That's it. No matter what they ask you, do not answer them. Just say no comment. Alright?"
"Okay?" she answered hesitantly.
I sighed, berating myself for forgetting that she was essentially a country girl who'd just entered the big city. "Look, things run differently here in cities. If Republic City is anything like back home, then those reporters simply want something that people will read, and they will procure it by twisting whatever words they can get to fit their ends, so what you say out there is very important. Just... choose your words wisely okay?" I finished in as an encouraging manner as possible.
She simply smiled, as she hesitantly down the hall towards the podium and microphone. God help her, nothing can really prepare you for facing a crowd of journalists.
Or the Equalists who I knew were now bringing their plans into motion as Korra addressed the world.
Suddenly, I noticed a presence stepping up behind me, and I made an educated guess on who it was based on who was already out front. "Hello Tenzin."
"Vic," The older man greeted cordially, casually placing a hand on m. "I just wanted to inform you of something. As you've no doubt noticed from your brief stay on Air Temple Island, we airbenders are a peaceful people. However..." His grip tightened viciously, forcing me to bite my lip to keep from yelping in pain. "Should you bring any form of harm down upon my family or my newest student, I shall show you precisely how violent I can be when defending my own. Are we clear?"
I plastered a shaky smile on my face as I nodded at him nervously. "D-don't worry, Master Tenzin. I-I'd never do anything to hurt Korra. After all, doing so would be suicide, because..." I swallowed heavily before looking him straight in the eye. "Well, I'm just a guy who knows no one else."
Tenzin contemplated me silently for a moment before nodding in satisfaction. "Very well then. For now, I am needed outside. We will continue this discussion... later." And with that, he continued out towards the plaza.
I fought to regain control of my nerves as he walked away. 'Yeah. I know no one. But I know things not even you know. '