Based just after the events of Episode 7, if some of you are confused.

Chapter 12 : Missing Metalbenders, Part 1

Lin was still annoyed about this latest thing with Hiroshi Sato. Not that I blamed her. Being used like that, and her men stolen and taken to Amon as well. Now she was sitting at the table with Tenzin and Pema, sipping at some tea. I leant against the wall, watching her.

"This is stupid!" she was saying. "I should be out there, looking for my men!"

Tenzin shook his head, frowning. "You need to heal, Lin. Lay low for a few days; you can recuperate in that time, and plan what to do next."

I raised an eyebrow, because it was pretty obvious Lin was considering doing nothing of the sort. Pema topped up her tea-cup.

"Surely it would be better to spend your time planning," she said quietly. "Instead of ranting and grumbling about the Equalists."

If looks could kill, Pema would be dead by now. Lin sent her another of those cruel glares that only Pema receives, but the pregnant woman skilfully ignored her, and carried on pouring tea.

"I could find them," I said, my eyes flickering from Tenzin to Lin. "I mean, give me some men, and I'll go get your officers."

Lin frowns slightly, and Tenzin flies off of the handles.

"Are you crazy?" he shouts at me, trying to lower his voice because it's not good if the children hear him. "You want your bending to be taken away? There are only so many air-benders left!"

"And there won't be any if Amon isn't stopped," I tell him, scowling. "So I'm going to help Lin, and you can sit on your backside and pretend nothing is wrong."

Oh dear. He turns red, and I prepare myself for a full air-attack of lecturing. But Pema rests a hand on his arm, and he seems to calm automatically. She's so good at that. Lin looks at me, her eyes narrowed.

"You mean it?" she asks, her voice dangerously quiet.

"Of course," I replied. "Someone needs to rescue your guys, and as you can't do, I guess I will."

"Did someone say rescue?" Bolin enters the room, followed by Korra and the others.

Korra looks at me, curious. "What's going on?"

Tenzin bristles. "My foolish brother is going after the Equalists, that's what's going on!"

He made a small huff noise at the end of his sentence, like a child. I rolled my eyes, because when he doesn't get his own way he acts like the younger brother.

"Well, I'm in," Korra said, crossing her arms. "He'll need all the help he can get."

I'm about to object to her presence when Bolin suddenly volunteers as well, saying how he owes Korra a lot, and he doesn't want to see her get hurt. Mako of course has to come to look after his brother.

"I'll go too," Asami offers.

"No," I say, mainly because I really hadn't gotten over that kiss. "Look, no offense, but you're not a bender. Nobody wants to see you get hurt, and you're the most vulnerable out of all of us."

She's about to object, but Mako takes her wrists and talks to her seriously and quietly, whilst Bolin's practically bouncing about with excitement. Korra grins, and asks me where we're going.

"Well, we'll start in that underground factory," I decide. "And then we'll try and find out where they went."

Korra grins. "I'll get Naga."

And so, that's why we're here. We travelled down to Asami's old home, now cold and dark, compared to the light, rich luxury that Mako and Bolin enjoyed for such little time. Even now, Bolin looks at the place longingly, as we pass through on the way to the workshop.

"It looks so… empty," Korra said sadly, looking over her shoulder at the house. "What'll happen to it?"

"The council will freeze their assets, and effectively hold the house ransom," I tell them, as they're now listening to my every word. "Asami will have the fight of her life if she wants to get it back. A fight that doesn't involve fire-bending," I add, looking at Mako.

He glares at me, before looking up at the workshop ahead of us. I examine it carefully before entering; the others are ready to just dive in, but I hold them back.

"If a chi-blocker jumps out and attacks us now, we're done for," I say, raising my staff. "Be cautious. I'll take the front, Bolin, you take the back. Korra, on the left, and Mako, the right."

They all nod, and we enter the workshop. It's the same as ever, except for the large slab of floor that was ripped up by Lin on their first excursion down here. A Satomobile has been crushed, and I almost groan; it's a wonderful car.

"Okay, let's go," I say, confident that there's nobody hiding in the workshop.

I hear a whine, and forget that Korra's brought Naga along. The polar bear-dog could be useful, so we sent her ahead to scout out any Equalists who might be waiting ahead. We carried on down the tunnel, walking instead of taking the machine, just in case it had been rigged with explosives or something similar.

"It's so dark," Bolin shivered, even with the flames used by Korra and Mako. "And cold. Can we take a break?"

"No," I answer. "If we keep moving, we'll get there soon enough."

Bolin pouts at this, but remains quiet, listening out for any sign of attack. Within minutes of this exchange we're at the factory, and examine the twisted ruins of a few of these latest "weapons" that have been created by Mr. Sato. I kneel beside one, examining the cuts made by a powerful air-wave. Tenzin's outdone himself.

"Platinum," Korra said, kneeling beside me. "Sato made sure that the metal was so pure nobody could bend it. It's invincible."

"It may be," I said, straightening up. "But the people inside it aren't."

Naga whined; she'd been sniffing about and had caught the scent of the metal-benders. Korra rushed up to her, and I followed with Mako and Bolin.

"I think she's onto them," Korra told us, stroking Naga's head gently. "But how will we follow them? Naga can only hold so many…"

"I've got my staff," I say, flicking out the fan-like wings.

"There's a bike, over here!" Bolin said, rummaging around in a scrap-heap. "I wonder if I can…"

Tugging at wires, and a few sparks later, the bike kicked into life, rumbling ominously in the dark. Bolin jumped on and drove it over to Mako, who looked a bit put-out at being offered the back seat.

"I'll ride on Naga with Korra," he decided.

I noticed Korra blush a little. Just the tiniest tint of red in her cheeks; she wasn't over him yet, it seemed. I nodded, and leapt into the air, directing the currents around me.

The others set off below; I suppose I was the look-out. Naga led us out of a trap-door, in the edge of the mountainside, and we travelled down winding roads and precariously thin tracks on the edge of cliffs. Where had they taken them?

We hit a river after so many miles. Naga whined and paused, pacing the river bed. She swam across, and sniffed the opposite shore. Nothing.

"We've lost them," Korra said. "They must have travelled down the river."

"With all the embargo in place? They'd walk right into the hands of the police," I frowned, looking down the long line of flowing water, as it weaved around the terrain.

"Where have they gone?" Korra frowned. "They're not here."

"They haven't gone downstream…" Bolin scratched his head, thinking. "So have they gone upstream?"

"Don't be stupid, Bo," Mako crossed his arms. "There's a waterfall not half a mile from here. And unless they have water-benders, they can't get up that."

My brain's telling me something about what the brothers are saying. Bolin's right when he says upstream is the only way to go, but Mako's also correct when he says they can't get up the waterfall. So where could they go, that was there, with the metal-benders?

"They're in the waterfall," I say.

"What?" the three of them ask me, and Naga whines.

I knelt by the muddy bank, and drew a crude picture of us, by the waterfall.

"Okay, so here's the falls," I point with the stick. "Outside, it's perfectly normal. But what if behind the falls, there's a secret cave, or something."

"Oh! Oh!" Bolin nods. "Like in a comic-book!"

"Yeah," I accept. "Something like that."

Korra and Mako look at each other, as if they don't believe someone would actually mine into rock behind a waterfall to create a cave to hide out in. But then they remember that we're dealing with Amon, and so they nod.

"Let's do it," Korra agrees. "We have to get to those men before Amon does."