~Chapter Break~
The prison was dark, dank, and full of rust. Lafey used a flashlight and scanned the ground. "There's dust in all the hallways except this one." She gestured to one hall that was clearly lacking a thick layer of dust.
"I guess we know where the bad guys are hold up." Ringling shook his head and looked over at Tightrope. "Shall we go flush them out cousin?"
Tightrope nodded and looked at Lafey. "We'll take care of the bogies, if it's alright with you captain."
Lafey nodded. "Go, but be careful. We have no idea who or what else is here."
"Speaking of what." Crickets looked over at Iroh. "Anything in these halls we should be worried about?"
"I can't sense any spirits." Korra admitted. "But this place seems very negative, like it's not quite Vaatu levels of dark but I still feel evil."
Iroh was silent for a moment. "It is, but I don't sense anything too hostile but be on your guard this is a very big place and very ugly things happened here." He smirked. "Try not to wake anything up."
Ringling groaned. "Uh, and to think I missed having you and Snowstorm around. Thank you for reminding me of how you two could add to the creepy."
Iroh gave a deep laugh that sounded a little evil. "You're welcome mortal."
Lafey shined a light into Iroh's face catching mostly his lift side and causing him to flinch. "Stop spooking people, Compass. Now let's split up. Compass you and Snowflake will take that corridor, look for the book and if possible Snowflake use metal bending to strengthen any supports that are failing. Mai I want you to go with Jigsaw take that hallway there. Crickets since you love bad jokes take Sokka and Suki with you. Zuko you with me. Clatrap watch the entrance."
The man with a hook saluted. "Yes ma'am."
Lafey nodded. "Ok, let's go."
.o.
Sokka flashed his light around the rusty hallway. "Wow, an I thought this place creepy before but you know I kind of miss all the guards wondering around."
Suki nodded. "Yeah, I hate to admit it but that made this place kind homey." She looked over at their guide. "So why are you called Crickets?"
The man chuckled. "I got the name because I would tell really bad jokes and so the response was crickets. I used to make Snowstorm groan with my favorite joke of 'Puns! The musical! It's a play on words!' I swear even now he's groaning in the after life."
Sokka chuckled. "You know that's not too bad. Who's Snowstorm?"
"He was Iroh's partner for a long time until Snow died. They were really close like most pairs in the company."
Sokka raised an eyebrow then stopped in his tracks and became five shades lighter. Suki paused and looked at him. "Sokka what's wrong?"
Sokka shook his head. "I thought I saw…me…" He pointed his light down the hallway. "I was standing right there…I don't understand. I was pointing this way. Come on! I think I'm leading us to the book!"
Crickets shivered. "You're just as creepy as Snow and Compass."
.o.O.o.
Iroh woke up from the forced nap filling his head spinning. He looked up to see Lafey and a very guilty looking Snowstorm watching over him. Lafay put her hands on her hips. "Good job storm you didn't kill him. How you feeling bro?"
"Anybody get the plates off that satomobile?" He rubbed his temples. "What hit me?"
Snowstorm gave a guilty smile. "Can we just say I'm such a good kisser the spirit of loved knocked you out so you wouldn't fall head over heals for me?"
Iroh gave him a look. "I don't think so."
Lafey chuckled. "I told you, he wouldn't buy it." She helped Iroh sit up. "Storm almost killed you with the knockout lipstick. Good news, it didn't and you'll probably have a resistant to the stuff in the future. Bad news, your first kiss was from the guy you openly hate and who openly hates you."
"I don't hate him, he's just my rival." The two answered in unison.
"Ok, ok." Lafey backed out of the room. "You don't hate each other you, you just want to beat the other one. A friendly competition between guys." She shook her head. "I don't understand boys."
"Exactly." The two answered in unison again before looking at each other queerly.
"Uhuh, ok, sure. Well brother since your awake and out of real danger, I'll leave you to talk to your boyfriend."
Iroh frowned. "He's not my boyfriend, Fey!"
She smirked. "You kissed him, that makes him your boyfriend. Have fun boys! I've got a date!"
She left the two boys alone in an awkward silence. Iroh looked at Storm. "So…. do you think everyone knows about what happened?"
"If they don't they will soon. Your sister loves to spread secrets." Storm crossed his arms. "So do you mind explaining why you didn't want to get caught by the Avatar's son?"
Iroh bit his lip. "It's complicated."
"So is the obstacle course by I mastered that in three hours." Storm sat on the edge of Iroh's bed. "Try me."
.o.O.o.
Zuko walked in silence with Lafey as they checked various cells. Suddenly he had questions swimming through his mind. "So how long have you known Iroh?" he asked at last.
"Almost my whole life."
"And were you two ever…"
Lafey laughed. "Oh, spirits no! Never! We don't have that kind of relationship. When romance is concerned I mostly try to steal his girlfriends away."
Zuko tilted his head. "Why would you do that?"
"Iroh says it's because secretly I'm a relationship kleptomaniac. I say it's because I'm the less creepy one and woman are naturally drawn to stability, save our avatar. But they're freaky in similar ways to I guess that's expected."
They came to a hall with sliding doors on one side. Lafey opened one to find tiny cylinder room barely big enough for one person to stand. "What were these used for?" Lafey mused.
BAM!
A shot rang out and Lefay hit the ground hard her right leg crumpling beneath her. Lafey drew her fan and pointed a light were the shot came from. Standing a few yards away as a man holding Ringling a gun to his head. The stranger leered at her. "It looks like there's more than ghosts in these halls. You there, boy, help her walk and come with me or this fairy get's it!"
Ringling smirked. "Gee, I how'd you guess? Thought honestly, you're not my type."
The man hit Ringling in the head hard enough to make him black out and crumple on the floor. The man pointed his gun right at Ringling's head but never got the shot off as Lafey rushed the man kneeing him hard in the gut with her right leg. Before the man could formulate what just happened Lefay had a blade to his throat.
"Tell me how many men you have here and what happened to the woman with him and I might just spare your life!" Lafey's voice was almost primal. "Emphases on might."
.o.
"Wow did they have to send us down the darkest hallway in the whole place?" Iroh tilted the flashlight around the narrow hallway.
"It's dark? I didn't notice."
Iroh looked at Korra. "Haha, darling, very cute."
Korra smiled but grabbed Iroh's arm. "Don't walk any further. The floor a head has rusted out."
Iroh put the light onto the floor and saw the gapping hole. "Good catch. Let's see if there's a way to go around." Iroh turned and suddenly stumbled back almost falling through the hole. If it weren't for Korra sending a blast of air pushing him forward he probably would have.
"What happened?"
"I thought I saw…never mind. I couldn't have. Impossible. "
"No, you couldn't have. Iroh, we're the only one's here. Don't let your imagination get the best of you."
Iroh took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, let's go. This place… there's an evil in it that's soaked all the way to the foundation…we aren't welcome here."
"Not at all. Let's try to move quickly."
.o.
Mai looked at Jigsaw. "So, why did Lafey tell Iroh to stop being spooky? I mean even I can tell this place is creepy as all get out. And what did Iroh say about not waking something up?"
Jigsaw chuckled. "Compass, or Iroh, has always been spooky but that was almost par for the course of all the night fighters. What Iroh was talking about however was waking up a ghost or poltergeist. Doing that will only make our job of finding the book harder."
Mai shrugged. "Ghosts? Hard to wake up what doesn't exist."
"In a world where spirits wander through the city you live in freely you have trouble believing in ghosts? Wow." Jigsaw looked through another cell. "No, they're real and in most places they're hard to find and you have to be a medium to hear or communicate with them. But in places like this? Well, you want an expert opinion. From what I've been told places filled with so much hate a misery are prime to have malevolent ghosts and spirits wondering the halls."
"Oh…so Iroh's an expert on ghosts? Was he into that as a child or something? He never stuck me as the fortune telling type."
"No, he's not. He is a medium and when he was a teen it was probably like living in a horror movie. He'd look like he was talking to no one at all, carrying on a full conversation too."
Mai frowned. "Wouldn't that make him nuts not a medium?"
"You'd think but he wasn't the only one in our little group, Snowstorm was a medium too and the two of them would have these conversations with pure air. Then one time, one of the ghosts was strong enough to show itself to the rest of us and they were redeemed as not insane. They also scared the crap out of everyone "
"Oh." Mai was silent for a moment. "Who's Snowstorm? Was he Iroh's bestfriend?"
Jigsaw made a motion with her hand. "Kind of…"
"Kind of? Did they hate each other or something?"
"No, they didn't hate each other…it's complicated. If you want to know more I'd ask Iroh."
Mai frowned. "I guess I'll just have to ask him late…er" She looked down a hall and stopped. "Jigsaw…am I going mad? Or is there a woman standing by the railing?"
Jigsaw's shoulders dropped. "No, you're not mad…or if you are we both are. It can't be. She's dead."
"Who is she?"
"My big sis, Shira…code name Puzzle." Jigsaw's eyes glissaded. "Last time I saw her she was…. Maybe she's here to help us." She took a step forward but was pulled back by Mia.
"Stop! The walkway, it's rusted out. You'll fall."
Jigsaw looked down. "Oh."
Mai looked back up and saw the woman was gone. "What happened to your sister?"
Jigsaw's eyes hardened. "The same thing that happened to Snowstorm and most of our generation, slaughtered in K Company's last mission."
Mai frowned. "What was K Company's last mission?"
"It was a massacre." She pointed to a scar on her neck. "I was a lucky one. I didn't loose a limb, didn't lose my partner, and didn't lose my life."
A/N: thanks for reading! Sorry this story is taking so long to update. Comment if you feel so compelled! ~C.C.
