-Sink—

Getting back into the city would be difficult. Evading Graft's drones and sentinels would be dangerous. Infiltrating Graft's hideout might be impossible. However, none of these things were extremely shocking, unlike everyone's reaction to seeing Korra in front of them.

"Well," Korra began, "I guess I wasn't expecting anything different, heh," Korra said nervously as Mako, Bolin, and Lin all stared at her in wonder, and a little anger.

"How…what…you've been here? In the city? You were here!?" Mako asked.

"A little over a month, yes."

"Thought you'd come back and start some more trouble?" Lin asked, begrudgingly.

"I thought I could help the city again, actually. This place was already in trouble. I don't think my return has exacerbated it this time, thankfully. It was my intention to avoid that," Korra said.

"You've been…running around at night and doing all that…stuff?" Bolin said. "I chased you!"

"Yeah, I was surprised. You kept up."

Bolin was still confused. "But I saw you. I looked at you. I'm just…how did I not know it was you?"

"It's been a while I guess. I thought it was time I revealed myself to at least my close friends." She knew the real reason they didn't recognize her, but she didn't want to talk about other races and species right now.

It had been a while. Some would even question whether their friendship had sustained since they returned to the city, and now that it was brought up by Korra, they each felt a tinge of guilt and sadness as they had let their old Team Avatar, their friendship, fall apart and become essentially nonexistent. They had all abandoned the idea that Korra would come back. They even accepted that she was just an old memory. A dead person. But here she was. Sitting there, the same Korra they had known and grown close to just a year before. She had risen from the depths of their memories and returned to fulfill her role in the team.

"Look," Korra said, "I'm sorry for keeping myself a secret, but I wasn't sure whether it'd be safe to make it known I was here. I just tried to figure out what was going on…and now I think I know. I know you guys are aware that Graft is the source of instability, but it's not just Republic City that is suffering. The Spirit World has been haunting me. We're connected to the Spirit World through the cosmic energy that flows everywhere, but since Graft has been manipulating this energy, he is negatively affecting the other world. We need to stop him."

The brothers and Lin were wary to trust Korra. They couldn't figure out why they didn't like that she had been in the city. They were slightly angry as if she had done something wrong. They knew she was trying to help; perhaps they were just upset because they missed her. Upset because they didn't feel important enough to their old friend that she couldn't tell them that she was back. It was a little insulting, but Korra's reasoning was not irrational. She had only told Tenzin, at least.

Mako had prepared himself to make this contact again with Asami, but Korra had surprised him out of nowhere. He didn't want his old feelings to come rushing back. Now of all times, he was just angry that in such a dire situation, Korra showed up and threatened to ignite the feelings which once influenced Mako to become the person that, over the last year, he was trying to forget.

Lin rose, "All of us being together again reminded me: I need to make a call. Is there a phone somewhere?" she walked into the next room and called Tenzin to tell him what had happened.

"Look," Asami said, "If we are going to get Graft, we need to go to the city."

"But we barely made it out," Mako said, occaisionally eyeing Korra to make sure he wasn't dreaming. She still sat there. "They have these new things…and they can bend multiple elements, and they are just psychotic. I don't even think there is a person under all that…"

"They're called drones," Korra interrupted. "They are so juiced up on Clasma. There are so many personalities and memories flowing through them that they have no idea who they are. There is no human left in them. They are slaves who can't decide, but they cry out to be free from their pain." The deafening screech. They wanted to die. Graft had torn apart their humanity to make a merciless law-enforcer. We're going to have to find some way to get in the city…does anyone…know of…" Korra was getting distracted by Lin who was frantically dialing numbers. She returned to the main room.

"There is no answer from Tenzin. I know it might sound irrational but I'm scared someone came for him, too."

"It's not irrational," Korra said, "because I think someone is coming for us, now. We aren't alone here." Korra rose and looked upward at the second floor. She could feel footsteps, someone speeding through the maze of halls coming for them. "It's a drone. We're going to have to figure out where we are heading on the way to the city. We are leaving now." Korra drew her blades and readied herself for the drone to show its face.

"What are you doing?" Asami said.

"Get your car, Asami. Everyone follow her and drive around front. I'll hold off the drone until you get there," Korra said. She then sensed two drones coming from both directions upstairs. "Crap, well I'll hold off the drones, then." Asami trusted her. She wanted to do what Korra said.

"Korra, we aren't going anywhere," Mako said. Korra ignored him as he kept saying his normal speech. "I'm staying and fighting this thing, too." Mako couldn't tell if he just wanted to help out, or if his indecisive, confused old self was resurfacing.

"Fine."

"I'm fighting, too," Bolin said, "I'm not just going to leave you…" he was interrupted. Korra airbended him across the room to where Asami was waiting.

"Everyone else just meet us out front," Korra said. They listened and headed to the garage. Asami saw the all-too-familiar duo that was Mako and Korra. A small fear revealed itself within her. A jealousy. She didn't want Mako to come in and ruin what she thought had been developing between her and Korra. Korra's big reveal could have threatened whatever relationship she and Korra now had. She liked the way they had been talking. It was just them. And now Mako. Big stupid Mako. Mako would come in and whine for attention and always go with Korra to do everything and they would just end up together like she always thought they would.

Asami desperately wanted Mako to just leave it alone. Mako hoped to do the same, but was unsure if annoying feelings would keep him from doing so.

Mako and Korra prepared themselves.

"So why'd you let me stay?" Mako asked.

"I only need one person to help me, now that I see we are dealing with two drones. Don't get any other ideas. I'm dealing with a lot right now…"

"Two!? I thought you said…"

"You ready, Mako?" She said, and at that instant two doors simultaneously burst open on the second floor. Two drones, their radiant red eyes trailing behind them, flipped over the railing in front of Korra and Mako. The drones got their readings of the two. Long blades extended from one of the drones' arms, and metal tentacles were on the other's. Both of which were then lit on fire.

The sound of swords clashing sprang around the open room. Korra's swords dealt critical damage to the weak metal inherent to the drones. Metal shards were sent flying. Unfortunately, these carried flames and soon Asami's mansion began to catch fire. Mako wasn't trying to attack the drones directly; instead he firebended walls of flames to section off the room and block the drones from getting to Korra. The house was already coming down anyway. Korra heard the sound of the car rolling up in the front of the house. She flipped over the flames and ran to the car with Mako. Asami looked in horror as her house became a massive ball of fire.

As they sped down the road, they watched Asami's house slowly collapse as it was eaten by the fire. She saw it all come down in the rear-view mirror. The group sat in silence. Asami didn't seem to be reacting to what had happened. Korra felt sympathetic. Asami had just lost everything.

Everything except me, Asami. Except us, Korra thought.

Asami looked again in the mirror. No time for pity now, girl, she thought to herself. The two drones glided down the street behind them using their firebending.

"The city isn't far," Asami said as she drove. Orange filled their mirrors as the drones gained on them. Asami drew her pistol from her belt and fired behind her. The bullets were surprisingly strong; one of the drones had been hit and almost stumbled over itself. She reloaded, "Any help back there would be great."

Korra hadn't moved. She felt something different now. Graft's soldiers, the ones in black, she could only sense them, only sense their artificial bending. But the drones, she not only sensed them. She felt them. She felt the flames coming from their fingers. The feeling made her hands warm. She thought she could almost grasp the energy as it flowed unnaturally through the drones' bodies and generated the fire. She closed her eyes and could see everything that was going on inside the drones. Maybe she could grasp it. Maybe she could manipulate it. She could feel it so easily, like it was air, or the water she used to bend.

In the backseat of Asami's convertible, Korra stood, facing the drones. She put her hands out as if she was going to waterbend. She was touching the energy, it flowed between her fingers from the drones. They knew it too. They sped up after her. Korra's hands began to shake. Blood flowed differently through her veins. Thoughts began filling her head, thousands of thoughts, memories, none of them were hers. She began to sweat, and grunt, but she was plunging deeper into the energy around her. She followed it like a stem jutting out from somewhere. Eventually, it was as if her spirit had met her enemies. Within her mind, she was deep in the pool of cosmic energy swirling around in the bodies of the drones.

Mako and Bolin didn't interfere. The drones started to slow down. Their fire became less powerful. Korra sifted through thousands of memories, and somehow, she was eradicating them. She felt the heat of fire, and she put it out. As she did, the drones grew weaker. The memories and signals she was seeing in these drones revolved around something, like some kind of sink. Korra had gotten some control over the energy within the drones. As if lifting an enormous weight, Korra pushed what energy she had captured into the sink, causing her eyes to be temporarily blinded. She lost consciousness and her balance. The drones tripped over the fire and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Korra, too, had fallen, but into the seat of Asami's car, passed out.

"What happened? Korra?" Asami yelled.

"She stood up and somehow stopped them. The drones are down. I didn't even see her do anything. She just stuck her hands out and the drones grew weaker until they died," Bolin said. He looked down at the unconscious Korra. "I think she did…something."

"She definitely did. She is the Avatar," Mako said. They saw the city. They needed a place to go or else the hand of Graft would quickly find them. "Look, I think there is a place we can go. We will be safe there, at least for a little while. It's a friend of mine who'd be willing to help us, and I think we could use him."

"As long as Korra will be able to rest there," Asami said.

"Yeah, she can. We don't leave anyone behind," Mako said. He knew he cared for Korra, but it wasn't like before. He didn't exaggerate her condition. It was weird to him, that he felt this way when his friend was lying unconscious, but it was a good feeling. Good because he cared about Korra. And that was all. Good because he just wanted her to be safe.

That was it.

He felt part of a team again, part of something important. Despite the severity of the situation, he was almost happy again.

Korra's eyes were slightly open. She looked at the sky, but she was not seeing this world. With some power she was not aware of, Korra was controlling the energy within the drones. The excess cosmic energy. It felt like something she was familiar with. It felt like bending.

Korra bent the energy and returned to its source, and the last thing she saw before she fell unconscious: the Spirit World.