Hello everyone I'm back with a new chapter. Was quite busy with end semester examinations but it's finally over and I'm back with this Mako-centric fic.
So now this chapter we see the other members of the Blue Spirit Unit, I hope you will find them interesting. And I apologise for any grammar error I may have made.
Please enjoy and review, they are my fuel :)
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Blue Spirits
Mako entered his apartment, not wasting time in packing up. Collecting his clothes and packing them into his bags, along with toiletries, sufficient money any other essential items. Something tells him that he will not be coming back to Republic City anytime soon. While he packed he questioned himself, should he really just up and leave without letting anyone know?
But he was in a rush as Fire Lord Izumi said that he needed to leave now, and for the sake of whatever problem they were having, they can't have too many people know about the situation. For all he know, Korra or Bolin might bring everyone along to the Fire Nation, as the so called Team Avatar and the Air Nomads.
He finished packing his bags, slinging them over his shoulders, but before he went out the door there was one last thing he needed to bring. And it was sitting on the top of his drawer, the photograph of his family. Mako held it in his hand, looking at his parents for a moment before putting the photograph in his bag.
A new journey awaited him.
Mako made his way to the empty docks. Seeing all the boats and ships with the dark of night, Mako now realised that Fire Lord Izumi did not specify which part of the docks he would have to meet Jiandao. He tried narrowing things down, looking for a Fire Nation boat. Walking down the docks, the street lamps did not help much in illuminating the whole area.
"Uh Jiandao?" Mako took a chance and called out.
"Keep it down." A voice behind him came out of nowhere. Mako's heart jumped a bit and he quickly turned around. And there, the Blue Spirit was standing right in front of him, the mask was still a little unsettling for him.
"Where did you come from?" Mako asked.
"You weren't looking hard enough." Jiandao said with a small chuckle. Mako could just imagine the smirk behind the mask. "Let's move." Jiandao said with an authoritative tone, walking past him.
"You know now I think about it, I might have read about the tale of a Blue Spirit when I was very young, like legends. In old history book or articles somewhere, in a library I think." Mako admitted. "Didn't think it was real."
The Blue Spirit was silent for a second before answering. "It's real when it's needed."
And now the notion hit Mako, he was going to be part of a legend.
Mako followed behind him as they reached a Fire Nation vessel. It was dark grey in colour typical of the Fire Nation ships. But it was not like those massive cruiser the Fire Nation has, instead it looked more like a yacht for a handful of people. Jiandao got on board, Mako stood on the pier for a moment before taking a deep breath and climbed on board as well.
And as Mako guessed the boat was not really well lit. "Where's Fire Lord Izumi?" Mako asked Jiandao as they got to the main deck of the yacht.
"Fire Lord Izumi's with her son on a separate cruiser. We're on our own on this voyage." Jiandao answered. The main deck had sofas and a dining table, it was not the militaristic look Mako was expecting.
"Mako, welcome aboard." Another voice came from behind again surprising Mako a bit. The voice was feminine this time. He turned to see another individual in the same attire as Jiandao, a black outfit with the Blue Spirit mask, without the swords but instead a belt with knives. The curves and chest clearly indicated this person was a woman. "Again with the appearing from the shadows act." Mako thought.
"Uh thank you for having me." Mako said. "You know who I am?"
"Yep Mako, we know about you. Fire Lord Izumi told us she wanted to recruit you into one of us." The woman said and took off her mask, showing her face with golden eyes and she had long black hair with bowl cut fringe. Mako would guessed that she's around the same age as Jiandao.
Jiandao took his mask of as well, standing beside the woman. He placed his hands on her shoulders and introduced her to Mako.
"Mako, this is Mei. When I'm not around she's in charge of the Blue Spirit Unit." Jiandao said. "And she's in charge of this ship." They both smiled at him.
"If you're wondering, I'm the niece of the Shuriken-Jutsu master Mai." Mei greeted, taking Jiandao's hand with hers.
Seeing how the two stood so close next to each other, how his hands were on her shoulders, and them holding hands. Mako could easily guess their relationship.
"Hmm, no offence, you look shorter up close." She said to him with an elegant voice. "Hey come on, ease up on the kid." Jiandao said. Mei just chuckled, putting the mask back on and headed for the bridge to start up the ship and set sail.
"Up close? You've seen me before?" Mako asked raising an eyebrow, ignoring the comment.
"Actually the whole unit has seen you before." Jiandao said walking past him to the sofas, removing the swords on his back and he sat down.
Mako's eyes widened and jaw dropped. "What? How? When? I think I would remember clearly if I had seen masked people before." He said.
"The city hall meeting concerning Kuvira between the world leaders. You were the bodyguard for Wu." Jiandao answered. The sound engine revving came afterwards and soon the vessel started moving.
"You were there?" Mako asked.
"We all were."
"Where were you guys?"
"Up above, in the upper levels." Jiandao said. "We were acting bodyguards for Lord Izumi during the meeting. It's part of the job." Jiandao paused. "We had to listen to everything."
"Everything?" Mako clarified, inside he was pretty shocked knowing that these people would be hiding beneath people's notice and hearing everything.
"Mei was really not impressed with Wu. And his idea of putting Kuvira on a tropical island prison…putting an earth bender on an island, very smart." Jiandao had a small chuckle at that. "Then in came the Avatar Korra and Opal. And after that Varrick and your brother." Jiandao said.
"But you guys did not help when Kuvira attacked Republic City." Mako questioned the Blue Spirit.
"Lord Izumi ordered us not to engage, we had other missions that needed to be done back in the Fire Nation. Also, we're not a front line army. Heck, not all of us are even benders." Jiandao said, his tone a little serious.
This caused Mako to have eyebrows raised. "You're not a fire bender?"
"Nope." Jiandao said, but then he took a sword, twirling it gracefully yet menacingly. He then said with a low tone. "But I don't need to be one."
Mako got the message from that, Jiandao's posture, his intimidating aura, his swordsmanship lineage. He did not need to be a bender to be formidable.
"Can you tell me who are the rest of this group?" Mako asked.
"Where's the fun in that? You'll meet all of them soon. Come on, sit down." Jiandao gestured to the opposite couch.
"So what exactly is this job? Fire Lord Izumi explained it already, but how would you described it?" Mako asked as he sat opposite Jiandao on another couch.
"Well, it's not exactly a clear cut answer." Jiandao said, Mei at the bridge driving the boat could hear him explaining. "It's only been three years since this team came in operation. We're a task force for the Fire Lord, we answer to the Fire Lord and no one else. We're not like the Royal Procession of old. We don't belong to a specific group in the military, doubt the whole military even knows about our existence. Simply put, we're not soldiers…we're ghosts, we don't stand against our enemies, we haunt them."
"Ok…" Mako echoed.
"Kuvira the Great Uniter became such a massive headache for the United Republic of Nations and the Earth Kingdom. And after whatever kind of mess Republic City got into right after that, everyone seemed to forget that the Red Lotus is still out there now that things appear to have simmered down. They may have gone into hiding, but they were never gone." Jiandao explained.
"You've encountered the Red Lotus in the Fire Nation?" Mako asked, taking in the information.
Jiandao nodded, "But they were all too low-level. The big fishes are still in the depths." Jiandao then said, "And on top of that, reports of criminal activity of the…syndicate nature has been lurking around."
Mako leaned back on his chair. "Why aren't we telling Korra about this?"
"This is Fire Nation matter, this is Blue Spirit business. Bringing the Avatar in and her group, or the Air Nomads will bring too much interventions and disrupts everything." Jiandao paused for a moment before saying, "But that's all for now, once you see what we do then it's easier to understand when you get to the Fire Nation to become part of this team. Downstairs are the cabins, pick one and get some rest."
"Alright." Mako picked up his bags.
"I mean it. Sleep. You're going to need your strength in the Fire Nation." The head of the Blue Spirit Unit said in authority and went to the bridge to join Mei.
Mako headed down to the lower level and enter the cabin on his right. Opening the door, it was a very small room with just a bed with a window and a bathroom, as expected for a cabin in a yacht. Taking Jiandao's instructions, he dropped his bags on the floor, took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed. The boat soon picked up speed, moving even much faster now.
Turning his head, he could see the Air temple island outside the window. He could only imagine the good time his brother is having with Opal, Asami and Korra. Being away from his friends, his mind wandered what's going to happen with them now that he's leaving? Or would it even matter?
At Kwong's Cuisine, Korra, Asami, Bolin and Opal were at a table, just finishing their last part of their dinner before Mako departed for the Fire Nation.
"Cheers!" Everyone held their glasses of drinks, and took a gulp.
"Oh that was good food right there. I got to say, it's great to be back together like this. To Team Avatar." Bolin grinned.
"It's been quite a while." Asami agreed. "But we're finally here."
"Well it's a shame Mako can't join us." Korra sighed.
"You guys said that he was busy with something right?" Opal asked.
"Police work?" Asami asked as well.
"No, he left the police station when we came to find him." Korra said.
"Busy with something outside police work? That doesn't sound like Mako." Bolin quipped.
"I know right?" Korra added.
"So what was he busy with?" Opal asked. "A date?"
"No, believe it or not he said that it wasn't a date." Korra answered.
"Meeting up with Wu again?" Opal asked.
"Nah, doubt it." Bolin replied.
"Hmm, it's pretty strange. What's eating his time up tonight? With all his police work, it seems like he's becoming a little distant now." Opal had her finger on her lip. Bolin and Korra couldn't think of anything.
"Look, whatever it is I'm sure it's nothing serious, maybe we should just leave him to it. Let's enjoy this night ok?" Asami said.
"Hmm yeah alright I guess." Opal agreed. "Hey speaking of which, how's the new factory coming along?"
"It's great, considering it's in a new location outside the Earth Kingdom and Republic City, production is booming over there." Asami said. As she explained further, Korra and Opal listened but Bolin was still wondering what his brother was up to, everyone completely unware that Mako was no longer in Republic City.
The orange morning Sun shined its light through the window on Mako's face. His eyes twitched and opened. With a yawn Mako sat up on his bed, the scenic view of the sea and the sun fell upon his eyes. It's been a full whole day since Mako left Republic City.
Freshening up, Mako went back up on the main deck. Jiandao and Mei were waiting for him, in their uniforms, minus the masks.
"Uh morning." Mako greeted them.
"Morning. We're getting close." Jiandao said. "Get ready."
"Really?" Mako looked out the window. "A one day journey?"
"When you have a boat like this, light cargo, and an improved engine, you tend to move faster." Mei smirked. Soon, land appeared. Mako and the Blue Spirits have arrived in the east of the Fire Nation. It was an island chain, with calm beaches and tombolo spits. And it was secluded, absolutely deserted.
The boat docked at the pier of a particularly large beach, one that has a wide and dark cave in it. Mako took in the sight of the Fire Nation for the first time. The tropical and volcanic terrain and the lack of skyscrapers of Republic City was an eye opener. But he knew he was not on vacation here.
"Mako." Jiandao called to the newcomer. Mako turned to Jiandao who had his mask on, along with Mei. In Jiandao's hands was a folded black bodysuit, and in it was the mask of a Blue Spirit.
"You're going to need this now." He said and handed the apparels to Mako. "Welcome to the Beach Cave Hideout, one of our meeting spots. They're waiting for you inside, but leave your bags here."
"Thank you." Mako took the equipment from Jiandao. He headed into his small cabin first to change. In his cabin, every piece of clothing he change he felt more and more anxious.
Being in a new country, in a new line of work, in a whole new chapter of his life.
He now was wearing a black long sleeve top with a hood, black pants, and black boots. He had his usual black fingerless gloves too. The suit felt snug, while it hung a bit lose on the limbs it held firm on the wrists and ankles. Light, mobile, and dark.
Then the final piece, the Blue Spirit Mask.
He stared at the mask, and it stared back at him. Putting the hood over his head first, he slowly placed the mask on his face, taking in the moment of becoming someone else in a way.
"This is it then. Here we go." Mako inhaled before he left the boat.
Heading down the pier, he was thankful that he was wearing the face, masking his nervousness on entering a cave and he did not know who would be in it.
The Sun was still rising, casting an orange sparkle on the sea. But it did not help with the lighting as Mako entered the cave.
Out from the darkness, a stiletto came and stabbed into the ground at Mako's legs. He froze and stood still, and a kunai was thrown at his feet. Mako was thankful that he had the mask on to hide the startled look on his face, he felt his stomach sinking into a void by the sudden knives at his feet. But he stood his ground. "This their idea of picking on the new guy?" Mako thought.
Torches lit up on the walls, giving some light in the cave. Revealing who were in the cave. There were four people, each dressed similarly and with the mask of the Blue Spirit.
They all stared at him, Mako just stood there stoically waiting if anyone else try to make another move. He scanned each of them.
The first Blue Spirit from the left was a male figure, he had an exact same attire as Jiandao minus the two swords on the back. His left hand held a kunai and his right hand had a small ball of flame twirling around the fingers, telling Mako that he's a fire bender.
The next was a woman, she looked like Mei, except that her hair was braided and it rested on her shoulder. Also, her weapons included fans closed and tucked in her belt, and a katana on her back. If the fans gave anything away for Mako, it would be that she must be a Kyoshi Warrior, or was. Times have changed after all.
The third Blue Spirit was a woman too, her attire was a little different. She wore a pair of long fingerless gloves reaching above her elbows and a black sleeveless top showing a red swirl tattoo on each muscular bicep. Mako could tell she was tall, with long black hair. Her weapon was a little odd, a whip, coiled on the side of her hip. But what truly made the sight of her impressive was that she was sitting on a dangerous creature.
A large quadrupedal creature, with a pink star nose, razor sharp teeth, a thick long tail and powerful legs. A Shirshu. From Mako can remember, the things were one of, if not the best animals for tracking and hunting.
The final Blue Spirit was a male. Again sporting the same attire as Jiandao, but in addition he had a harness carry all sorts of small explosives. He was leaning on a large black Jeep Satomobile with his arms crossed. That amount of explosives, Mako inferred that he must have been the saboteur of this team or something.
The tense atmosphere continued, the four Blue Spirits staring down on the new guy.
"What are you all doing?" A stern voice came from the entrance of the cave. Mako turned his head to see Jiandao and Mei coming into cave.
Jiandao, the alpha wolf stood in the centre of the unit, exuding authority and austerity in his presence. "Explain yourselves. Noren, Hui Lee." Mei said to the first two Blue Spirits, the fire bender and the Kyoshi Warrior.
They shared a look before the fire bender, Noren said, "We wanted to make sure he's skilled enough to be part of this unit."
The Kyoshi Warrior, Hui Lee then said, "Considering he's a little on the young side. In fact he's the youngest among us." Mako just remained silent as his supposed seniors conversed among themselves.
Jiandao stepped forward. "You have a problem with Fire Lord Izumi's decision?"
"N-No Captain, it's not like that." Hui Lee said.
"Lord Izumi chose him because of his background and knowledge on one of our case files. Something that will be helpful for us." Mei said as she stepped forward. "Besides, he's only six years younger than you Hui Lee." That caused the Kyoshi Warrior to look away.
"So Mako right? Street rat to pro-bender, to cop, to bodyguard. Busy kid eh?" Said the Blue Spirit on the Shirshu as she leapt off the animal.
"Street rat…" Mako echoed what she said, his eyes narrowed behind the mask.
"Yeah, touchy subject we understand." Now the Blue Spirit with the Jeep Satomobile said. "But it's because of that you know things that we don't." he added.
Jiandao then turned to Mako, "We know who you are already, but you only know the two of us." Jiandao faced the rest of the group, without words they got the message, introduce themselves. Despite the reluctance in them, they all took off their masks, showing the humans beneath the Blue Spirits.
"Mako, meet Noren, Hui Lee, Jun Jr, and Kuzon." Mei said.
The first Blue Spirit, Noren had golden eyes, black hair with fringe reaching just below the eyebrows, he had a natural tanned skin tone. The second, Hui Lee looked like a Fire Nation woman, her braided ponytail was brown in colour, but her eyes were brown grey. The Shirshu rider Jun Jr, she looked more like she had Earth Kingdom ethnicity, with brown eyes and long black hair, her long fringe covered her left eye. The fourth Blue Spirit, Kuzon had pale skin, golden eyes and short brown and grey hair. He also had a red headband tied on his forehead.
"Noren, Hui Lee, Jun Jr, Kuzon." Mako greeted. "Jiandao, Mei." He said then took off his mask. "And I'm Mako."
"I'm guessing you guys have specific backgrounds that got you all in here as well." Mako deduced.
"Safe to say we all do. Lord Zuko listed out all of us to be enlisted into this unit, you included." Mei answered. "Take Noren here, he has royal lineage actually."
Noren made a small tsk. "Ursa my great grandmother was princess of the Fire Nation, but that's about it. Besides it's her royal children, Lord Zuko and Azula that got the royal lineage. I got the illegitimate one."
"Hui Lee, you were a Kyoshi Warrior?" Mako asked.
"Was. Then Lord Izumi sought me out, me specifically cause of family history in a way." Hui Lee elaborated further. "Ty Lee, my grandmother was a friend of the Royal Family, guess it made things easier to get me to join."
The Shirshu rider said. "You already know my name, Jun Jr. But just call me Jun." Jun went to the Shirshu to run her hand through the fur of the creature's neck. "And this here is Nyla Jr. Or Nyla if you like." The Shirshu leaned in on his owner's touch.
"She was a bounty hunter before we found her at the borders of Ba Sing Se, Mei and I were ordered to seek her out to have her join us." Jiandao explained.
"Crazy story, I was supposed to be hunting a criminal for the city and get my bounty. Then right out of nowhere the Dai Li came after me, if it wasn't for Nyla, Mei and the Captain I would have been screwed. But Captain and Mei helped me escape before Ba Sing Se went up in flames because of the Red Lotus killing the queen." Jun gave her story. "Then we escaped, and I decided to take up Lord Izumi's offer and stick around. I owed Mei and the Captain that much, plus the money's good."
Mako immediately made an inference, the only reason why the Dai Li would pursue her then. "You're an air bender."
To answer to that, Jun took her whip in her hand, and it levitated with a sphere of air. The whip spun around in the ball of wind before it landed on Jun's hand. "Didn't plan to be one, but it just happened. Something about that Harmonic Convergence or whatever. Took a long while to get the hang of it, but I'd say I do fine."
"And lastly, Kuzon." Mei said and the final Blue Spirit operative stepped up. Mei then said, "Kuzon's like you actually. He's from Republic City."
"Yeah, I was born here, but then I moved in Republic City. But then I had to leave." Kuzon said as he adjusted his harness. "I decided to show my colleagues a little flame." His finger had lit up a small fire like a candle. "And then your boss fires you with no reason, no fairness, just like that. And to think I contributed so much to that company."
"What company?" Mako enquired.
Kuzon looked at him said, "Future Industries."
"Hiroshi Sato." Mako added, he remembered Hiroshi's involvement with the Equalists.
"Yeah, that guy decided to terminate anyone who got too careless in showing their bending abilities, namely me. So I came back home, found work in the Fire Nation military as a leading engineer, then Lord Izumi decided to post me here." Kuzon gave his story. "Found out he died, that's unfortunate. But you don't see me shedding tears."
Mako was honestly quite impressed by these people. Standing in this pack, he was just the new pup. He had best be learning the ropes quick to keep up.
"Well." Jun stretched her arms above her head. "Now that the ice is broken. We should be getting down to business right?"
"Something about what I know can help with a case you're having?" Mako asked Jiandao. The group started to bunch a little closer.
"Yes, that's why we're here in the east of the Fire Nation." Jiandao said. "There's been witness reports of suspicious characters loitering around the Bazaar and the Fire Nation School zones, parents are getting worried."
"What about domestic force? Police?" Mako asked.
"Too obvious, they'll scare the prey off too quickly. Besides they got a whole Nation to watch over." Hui Lee answered.
Jiandao then said. "This is where we come in. This is where you come in. A teacher in the school reported to the Fire Lord that she managed to see one of them talking to a kid, but he took off quick before anyone could blow the whistle." Jiandao took out a folded paper from his pocket. "This is a sketch of the guy they were able to make. Do you recognise him?"
Mako took the paper and set his eyes on the sketch. Mako immediately scowled and his eyes narrowed. The goatee, the smug look on the face, the clothes, it's clear as day who this perp was.
"Shady Shin." Mako snarled.
Jun could not resist a scoff. "Shady Shin? What kind of dumb name is that?"
"He's a member of the Triple Threat Triad, he was a water bender but Amon or Naotak took away his bending. So this is where he ended up after all this time." Mako told them and handed the sketch back to his captain.
"Yeah, we suspected it be a big triad. And you've just confirmed it." Kuzon stepped up and said. "What we don't know is where this triad would be, how they operate or what is the state they're in at Republic City."
"And you know these people better than any of us." Noren added. Everyone had their eyes on Mako, prompting him to tell them more.
"I can't believe I'm sharing this to people I've just met, people with masks for that matter." Mako sighed.
"It's ok Mako. Anything that can help us is appreciated." Mei, the mother hen of the team said.
"They're the biggest gang in Republic City, but after the Equalists, and Kuvira's invasion the syndicate divided up badly, it's all in a mess. They use extortion on shopkeepers, smuggling, illegal bets and blackmail to get their money. They used a restaurant as a front for their business in Republic City, and almost always evidence do not stick. They have people like Shady Shin here to get young benders into the gang, that's how they got me into their gang. I was very young and vulnerable on the streets, but I just ran numbers for their bets." Mako gave out his story to the team.
Everyone was silent, their stoic faces did a great job in hiding any form of emotion or judgement. Then Hui Lee was the first to speak, "So only a fraction of the triad has infiltrated into the Fire Nation. And based on what you told us, we can guess why they're here in the Bazaar of all places."
"They're trying to make money over there. And getting people into the gang as well." Neron said.
"School students. Young and vulnerable." Jiandao crossed his arms.
"Doesn't explain how they got here in the first place." Jun Jr said, leaning back Nyla Jr.
"We'll find out soon enough." Jiandao answered her.
"So what do we do uh Captain?" Mako said.
Jiandao put the mask on and gave his plan. "We split up, Noren, Jun, Mako. You three will go to the Bazaar. Gather Intel and scout for anything. I know you're new Mako but I want you to learn our formations on the fly. The rest of us will go to school zones to watch over the area and find Shady Shin."
The rest of the team got their masks on and Mako followed suit. The captain then said, "We do this quiet and efficient. Be back in three hours. Let's move."
"Right!" The Blue Spirits said in unison except for Mako, he would need to learn to be sync with the team quick. Jiandao, Mei, Hui Lee and Kuzon got into the Jeep Satomobile and drove off.
Noren put the kunai in his belt, two hands pointing the ground jets of fire propelled him to move fast and out of the cave.
"Mako." The new pup turned to see Jun Jr getting on Nyla Jr. "Come on kiddo. Let's go." She gestured him to climb up and sit behind her. As he was about to reach up, she grabbed his hand and pulled him over fast in one yank, showing her deceptive strength to him.
"Alright let's go." Jun cracked her whip in the air and the Shirushu sped off following Noren.
"Just got to the Fire Nation and it's already the first day on the job." Mako thought. "And I didn't even have breakfast yet."
So here's a little rundown on the members of the Blue Spirit Unit, every member. While they all have similar skills, they do have different traits. I do hope you like these characters.
Here we go.
Jiandao – Age 42. The grandson of the sword master Piandao, the Alpha, in charge of the team despite not being a bender.
Mei – Age 41. She's second in command and a non-bender too. The niece of Mai who was a shuriken-jutsu expert with knives and stilettos, Mei's the daughter of Tom-Tom.
Noren – Age 26. Kiyi's grandson. This is Ursa's and Ikem's (Noren) descendant. A fire bender with knowledge of swordsmanship and medicinal herbs like his great grand Mother.
Hui Lee – Age 28. This is the granddaughter of Ty Lee. Ty Lee became a Kyoshi Warrior at the end of the first show. Now Hui Lee is a Blue Spirit, being the expert of close quarter and unarmed combat.
Jun Jr – Age 26. A tracker and an air bender after Harmonic Convergence. The granddaughter of the greatest bounty hunter ever, Jun and her Shirshu Nyla.
Kuzon – Age 40. This is the son of On Ji who appeared in the episode 'The Headband.' in the first show. A once successful engineer for Future Industries only to be fired by Hiroshi for being a fire bender. Now he's working as a successful engineer for the Fire Nation.
And finally the new pup of the team, Mako.
As you can tell these are descendants of side characters that have appeared in the first series.
Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, hope to see you in the next one.
