Chapter 36

One of the young ladies slithered off the bed, her silky robe barely covering her body. "So, you two are looking for some companionship?" she asked in a deep, suggestive voice, running her hand across Zuko's shoulder and down his arm.

"Not really," Zuko replied, wondering just how many ways Toph would find to torture him if she ever found out about this.

"Oh," she said, turning her attention to Jet, "then you two are looking for a little private time on your own?" She ran an hand across his chest as she looked up at him, amusement in her heavily lined eyes.

Jet realized what she was hinting at. "No," he responded firmly, taking one step away from Zuko—not noticing that Zuko had also stepped away from him.

"We're here on business and got turned around," Zuko began. "We're looking for the man in charge about a transaction."

"Suk-Chul?" she asked curiously. The woman's amusement and suggestiveness had evaporated into businesslike interest. She waved the other girls through a doorway in the back of the room, then turned a cool eye to the two young men. As he looked at her more closely, Jet realized she was older than he'd originally taken her for.

"Yeah, that's the name," Jet said with a snap of his fingers. "Gan Zhuang sent us. Said Suk-Chul was the best man for the kind of job we've got."

"Gan Zhuang's in prison," the woman said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I know. We've been out of town for a while—you know, lying low until all that blew over. Gan sent us here before he got picked up," Jet continued easily. "He's a real joker—didn't tell us we were headed for a house of accomplishments." He gave the woman a very polite bow.

"Well," the woman began, pulling the robe around her more tightly since these two weren't apparently clients after all, "Suk-Chul is out right now. You should just come back later."

"So we don't get lost again, which way should we go to find him when we come back?" Zuko asked.

"Up the stairs and the first room on the left," she said with a yawn.

The two bowed, glad to make their escape, and headed up the stairs. "Are you sure you want to risk getting caught?" Zuko asked Jet quietly as they stood before Suk-Chul's office door.

"Yes," Jet replied firmly. "I want my sword and dagger back." And Mai's money, he added to himself.

Zuko shrugged and opened the door quietly, a little flame dancing in readiness in the palm of his hand.

The room was empty. They both breathed a sigh of relief as they saw their weapons lying on a side table. The money, however, was not there. They belted on their swords and Zuko turned to leave, but Jet kept searching.

A huge, ornately carved desk sat across the room and Jet began to systematically search it for the leather bag of coins, checking every drawer and cubbyhole.

"What are you looking for?" Zuko asked. "Let's get out of here while the coast is clear."

"They took my money," Jet explained. "I want it back."

"Forget it," Zuko instructed firmly. "We're pushing our luck as it is."

When Jet kept searching, Zuko went over and laid a hand on his arm. "It's only money, Jet. Let it go."

Jet pushed away from the desk in frustration and followed Zuko to the door. Zuko opened it to see if the hallway was clear. Unfortunately, a shadow in the stairwell let them know they weren't alone any longer. He closed the door behind him and they sprang to the window.

Soon they stood on a narrow balcony overlooking the roof of the building next door. The drop was about ten feet, so they climbed down the outside of the railing and hung from their fingertips to drop the remaining few feet to the ground. Then they raced across the clay tile rooftop to a nearby alleyway, dropping again to the narrow street below.

But instead of heading away from the brothel, Jet led them back around to the front door.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked in disbelief. "We need to get out of here."

"I understand that money doesn't mean anything to you—it doesn't have to. You're rich," Jet explained as he coolly led them to the front steps. "But those guys took everything I have and I want it back."

Zuko just shook his head and loosened his broadswords in their scabbard in anticipation. Who knew what they'd get into before the day was out.

Back in the upper ring of the city, Aang stood at Jet's door, a rolled up scroll in his hand. A knock at the door brought the footman. At the footman's assurance that Jet had not returned, Aang went to Mai's apartments to find Toph visiting with her.

The girls informed him that Jet had not come back from his trip downtown with Zuko.

"Well, I got a note from King Bumi," Aang stated with a sigh. "He's decided to hold his contest three days from now."

"In three days?" Toph exclaimed in disbelief. "Jet's not ready. What on earth made Bumi decide to push the date up so early?"

Aang couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze as he reluctantly replied, "He says he's got dinner plans for that night and wants the new king picked before then."

"Dinner plans?" Toph repeated in exasperation. "Bumi has so gone off the deep end." She turned to face Aang directly. "Do you want me to go talk to him?" she asked.

"No," Aang replied calmly. "We've got a worse problem. Bumi has decided that the next king will be the winner of an earthbending duel between the contestants."

"Big deal. How many contestants can there be?" Toph asked dismissively. "Jet's the only earthbender in the kingdom who can hear the voice of the earth—other than me, of course."

Aang sighed and sat down, twisting the scroll in his hands anxiously. "King Bumi says he's found another," he said.

"Who?" came the response from Toph and Mai.

"General Ji-Fu," Aang said sorrowfully.

"Who?" asked Toph, but Mai just groaned aloud.

"I take it you know the good general," Aang stated, gesturing to Mai.

"Know him?" Mai replied angrily. "I've spent the best part of the last few years avoiding him. That man is the sorriest excuse for a general and probably the most corrupt politician I've ever had to deal with—and I've dealt with some seriously corrupt politicians."

"He's also the best earthbender in the city—" Aang stated, then looked over toward Toph and added, "present company excepted."

"Thank you," Toph said, giving him a gracious nod. "So why haven't I heard of him if he's that good?"

"He's not just a great earthbender, he's a complete snake in the grass," Mai answered angrily. "He likes to lay low and play the advisors off one another. He's done his best to build a quiet little empire of his own in Omashu. He'll deal with bandits, the military, the trade council, anyone he thinks can help him get his base of power established."

Aang nodded. "I never realized his ambition was to be king though," he sighed. "He's always seemed happy to be a loyal subject. You know, the power behind the throne."

"Ji-Fu is only loyal to himself," Mai snapped in reply. "He's out for whatever he can get—however he can get it."

"And if he's that great an earthbender, there's no way Jet will be ready to face him in three days," Toph groaned. "Jet's got potential, but he's still nowhere near ready to face a master. Any chance that Bumi would be willing to reschedule?"

"Not likely," Aang replied. "He says he's got notices going up all over the city right now announcing it. He's calling it 'Battle Royale: The Ultimate Showdown.'"

"This is insane," Toph spluttered furiously. "I can't believe Bumi would pull a stunt like this without at least giving us fair warning. He knows we've got a potential candidate."

"My guess is he's tired of waiting on us," Aang ventured, taking a seat on the end of a sofa with a sigh.

"That and he's got dinner plans," Mai observed wryly.

"I just wish the guys would get back here," Toph admitted. "If Jet's got to face a master this soon, he needs all the training he can get as fast as he can get it."

Back in the city, Jet and Zuko stood at the front door of the brothel and knocked. After a moment, a footman answered—a footman that looked more like a bodyguard than a servant. He was gigantic.

"What do you want?" he asked in a low rumbling voice.

"We've got an appointment to see Suk-Chul about a business matter," Jet began in a very condescending tone of voice. Then he proceeded to push his way past the guard. Zuko thought he'd perhaps gone insane.

The guard stopped him with one huge hand on his shoulder. Jet eyed the giant paw as disdainfully as if it had been a spotted tickroach. Then he looked back at the guard with ice in his eyes. "I am not going to say this again," he began, silken steel in his voice. "We have an appointment to see Suk-Chul. I will not stand here on the street where my business can become public. Either let us in, or explain to Suk-Chul why a very lucrative contract just walked away."

The guard wavered a moment, then let them into the front hallway of the building. The woman in the silken robe appeared from a side door. "What are you doing here again?" she asked suspiciously. "I thought you went to see Suk-Chul."

"He wasn't in," Jet replied smoothly. "Is he back yet?"

The woman shrugged. "Let them wait in here," she instructed the guard and led them into a large sitting room to one side. The young women from before were there as well, stretched out on couches, sitting at harps, painting a landscape scene—but all only barely covered by their silk robes.

"Once their business with Suk-Chul is completed, they might be interested in doing business with me," she continued with a knowing smile.

Zuko glanced around the room, taking in the exits, noting the places where a guard might be hiding in case a customer began to cause trouble.

"Perhaps," Jet replied, giving the woman a polite nod and turning his attention toward the young ladies. He took a casual stroll around the room, as if looking them over, but was more interested in potential hiding places for his money.

All the same, he couldn't help but notice that some of the girls looked far too young to be in such a place. And as alluring as they tried to appear to him, they mostly just looked like scared little girls.

One in particular wore heavy makeup that barely disguised the healing bruises on her face and neck. When she realized that he'd noticed them, her frightened eyes begged him not to say anything that might get her in trouble. He gave her a little smile and walked away, feeling sick to his stomach.

After a moment, there was a knock at the door and the madam opened it to reveal another guard, not as large as the doorman, but more sinister looking. This one was openly armed with a short sword and wore leather armor.

He looked past the madam at the two men in the room, his eyes widening in surprise. Then he drew his sword and shouted to the other guard. "Get in here, Kwan! Our downstairs guests are upstairs!"

The women shrieked and fled to the edges of the room as Jet and Zuko drew their swords as well. The guard glanced to one side, alerting Jet who retreated a step just as the madam swiped at him with a long hairpin.

"Don't let these ladies get too close to you," Jet warned Zuko, holding the angry madam at bay with his sword. "Some of them are dangerous."

"Are you ready to go yet?" Zuko asked calmly. He'd seen the way the guard had pulled his sword—he was no amateur and there might be more of them around.

"Not yet," Jet replied. "I'm still missing some money."

Just then, the giant guard came in the door, a large club in his hand. The two guards closed the distance between them and Jet and Zuko and the brawl began in earnest.

Zuko ended up facing the club-wielding giant who proceeded to attempt to bash in his head with huge, powerful swings of the heavy weapon. However, he was slow enough that Zuko managed to evade the blows, which connected to furniture instead.

The madam began screaming at him. "Be careful, Kwan, you idiot! That sofa was expensive!"

Zuko circled back toward the shrieking madam, hoping to relieve her of her hairpin, which he was almost certain had been treated with some kind of sleeping potion. Zuko didn't really want to be forced to kill the giant Kwan, but didn't see many options in overpowering him apart from wounding him seriously.

However, the madam danced away from him, putting a chaise lounge between them. As Zuko considered where to strike the giant to immobilize him but not kill him, Jet was not having any such debate with his conscience at all. He was primarily concerned with staying alive.

The guard was indeed an adept swordsman and Jet could see murder in the man's eyes. Apparently, so could the madam because she shouted out, "Hyun, don't kill him! He's worth a lot of money to this house. If you've got to kill somebody, kill the other one!"

The other one was worth more? Jet had to wonder at that. What kind of kidnappers were they dealing with that actually believed he was worth more in ransom than the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation? Then he realized that the kidnappers had no idea who Zuko was—it was Jet they were after.

That surprised him so much that Hyun almost managed to slip past his defenses, forcing him to retreat into the doorframe. He banged his head against it, causing the nearly dormant headache he'd kept since waking up in the bender box downstairs to regroup painfully.

Over the next few moments, the headache grew even worse, slowing him down and causing his vision to blur and double at the most inopportune times. It was all he could do to stay ahead of Hyun's attacks.

Zuko meanwhile placed a couple of carefully planned cuts on the giant's wrist and upper arm, weakening his hold on the club enough that he had to switch hands. Then he proceeded to do the same to the other arm. Before long, the giant knelt on the floor watching blood run down his arms. The sight was apparently too much for him as he turned an odd green shade and fainted.

Zuko turned to help Jet just in time to see the madam lunge for him again with her diabolical hairpin. However, one of the other girls, this one in heavy makeup, shoved her aside, causing the woman to scratch herself down her own arm. As she sank weakly to the floor, she gave the girl a truly malevolent look.

Within seconds, Zuko and Jet together had managed to overpower the other guard, disarming him and forcing him to sit against the wall. Jet pressed a dagger to his throat and asked, "Who sent you after me?"

From the floor, the drowsy madame managed to speak, "Don't tell him, Hyun. Suk-Chul will kill you."

Hyun listened to her and just shook his head, apparently in agreement with her. Jet patted the man down for clues instead, finding his missing money in an inside pocket. However, the money was far less important to him at the moment than figuring out who'd had him kidnapped.

His head still hurt, but he pushed the pain aside to concentrate on questioning the man.

"Who sent you?" Jet repeated, pushing the blade of his knife against the man's throat hard enough to bring a little drop of blood to lie on its silver surface.

"He'll die before he tells you," a quiet voice said from the corner. Jet glanced over to see the young woman with the bruises step out into the room.

"Shhhhhh, Eun Min!" the other girls called out in fearful warning, reaching out for her. But the young woman walked forward courageously.

The madam looked up at her weakly, but venomously. "Don't make things worse for yourself, girl. Don't think these two will be able to hide you from Suk-Chul—or that they'd even be willing to."

"It doesn't matter," Eun Min snapped back at her. "I'd rather die than stay here in this place another day." She picked up the hairpin from the floor and resolutely stabbed the guard in the shoulder with it. He sagged against the wall, all his strength gone as the drug's paralyzing effect went to work on his muscles.

"All I know is that the man who hired Suk-Chul to kidnap you was a very important man. He never got out of his palanquin and Suk-Chul never got in. They talked on the street quietly, but I think some of his men were in the military," Eun Min offered.

"Why do you think that?" Zuko asked curiously.

Eun Min looked down at the carpet in embarrassment as she answered, "Some of them came inside to us. One of them had a new tattoo on his shoulder—a military tattoo."

"Eun Min, be quiet! Don't tell them any more!" came a nervous voice from the group of girls.

"Do you want to come with us?" Jet asked Eun Min. "We can keep you safe."

"Give me a minute," she replied, then hurried out of the room.

Across the room, the giant began to stir. "Unless you think there's enough poison left on that pin to take this guy out again, we'd better get out of here," Zuko suggested.

"Eun Min! Come on!" Jet called up the stairs as they headed into the main hallway.

Eun Min came running down the stairs again, wearing a very plain tunic and skirt instead of the silky red and blue robe she'd been wearing. The elaborate flower decoration in her hair was also gone and she carried a small satchel.

They ran out into the street, Eun Min leading the way.

"Got any idea where we are?" Zuko asked as they put as much distance between themselves and the brothel/kidnapping hideout as they could.

"Not yet," Jet replied. "Eun Min, which way do we go to get back to the center of the city?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I was brought here in a closed carriage several months ago. I've only been out of the house a few times--once long enough to make a friend who might be able to help me now."

"Eun Min, we can keep you safe if you'll come with us," Zuko offered.

"I'm sure you could," she answered. "And that's what they think I'll do. But if they think I'm with you, they won't look for me where I'm really going." And with that, she began to walk away from them.

"Wait," Jet called to her. She stopped and he stepped forward, his bag of coins in his hand. "Take this," he said. "You'll need money."

She just stood there, so Jet reached out and took her hand, pressing the heavy bag into it. "If you get into trouble, go to the upper ring and send a message to Jet or Zuko," he instructed. At her doubtful look, he added, "We'll make sure the guards know to send it to us."

Eun Min shrugged, then stuck the money bag in her satchel and walked away, her back straight. Then she stopped and turned back to them. "Thank you," she said. Then she hurried away down a narrow alley.

"She should have come with us," Zuko said. "We could have made sure she was safe from those guys."

Jet just shrugged and winced a little as his head pounded. He knew where she was coming from. She'd made her break for it. The money in her pocket would give her the new start she deserved. He hoped she'd be okay out there. Then he looked around and headed out in the direction he thought was most promising.

As they walked, Jet grew more and more concerned about their apparent location. They were deep in the heart of a section of town he rarely visited—partially because he didn't have any business there, but mostly because he didn't want any business there.

It was beginning to get dark. He remembered that he'd invited Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak up to the upper ring for dinner. If he didn't get there before them to let the guard know they were coming, the guys would be turned back at the gate.

He didn't want to let them down, so he hurried just a bit faster, despite the fact that the exertion kicked his ever-present headache back up into high gear.

As they rounded a corner, he realized exactly where they were. The good news was that he knew how to get to the upper ring from there. The bad news was that a group of young toughs stepped out of the shadows to surround them.

"You guys in a hurry?" one of the fellows asked, spitting through a gap in his teeth.

"Yep, sure are," Jet responded, drawing his sword and dagger. The best defense was a good offense in this part of town. At his side, Zuko did the same.

"No need to run off," the fellow said, nodding at his gang members. Jet counted seven of them, all armed with short swords. He didn't expect that any of them had any formal training. These were street thugs—tough and merciless. They knew by looking at Jet and Zuko that they didn't belong in that part of town and believed they'd found a pair of soft, easy targets.

"Guys," Zuko began easily, "you need to just let us walk away. Save yourself some time and trouble."

"We don't mind a little time and trouble," the thug said, then closed in on Zuko with his short sword.