Another tremor shook the Beifong estate. Suyin stumbled, grabbing onto the edge of the desk to keep from falling. She heard shouting over the line—Hong Li calling to his men, and the sounds of combat in the background. Before she could get another word out, the phone cut to static. She listened only a moment longer before throwing the phone to the ground.

"We need to get out there and stop this spirit!" Suyin declared. "We can't let him hurt innocent people!"

"What we need to do is get out of here," Toph countered.

Su shot a glare at her mother. "We are not running and leaving our people to suffer."

"Believe me, I'm not one to run from a fight, but if you'd been through what I have the last few days…" Toph bowed her head and sighed. "I'm not saying we should abandon innocent civilians, but we need to be smart about it. If you try to fight this spirit head on, you're going to pay the price. Let the security force handle defense right now while civilians evacuate. Zaofu isn't that big. You might be able to stall him long enough to get everyone to the trains."

Suyin considered her mother's words. Every instinct compelled her to stand and fight, to defend her city, and yet she'd never seen her mother this cautious about something before. Whatever kind of power Sen possessed, he was dangerous. "Fine, you handle getting people to the trains. Take my family, sound the city alarm, and make sure everyone evacuates as quickly as you can. I'm going to join Captain Hong Li and the rest of the security force in repelling this bastard."

Toph shrugged, and pointed her thumb towards Sokka, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. "Fine by me. I have to get these clowns out of here anyway."

Baatar Sr.'s eyes flared, as he took a quick step towards his wife. "Su, no, please. Come with us."

"I'm not running away," Su said, with a shake of her head. "And I'm not going to ask my people to fight when I'm not willing to do the same."

"But Honey, I just got you back," he insisted, taking her hands into his own. He stared at her, a pleading look in his eyes. "I am not losing you again."

Su merely smiled, and touched a hand to her husband's cheek. "Relax, I'll be fine. Promise."

"If Mom's going, so am I." Opal took a step forward, already pulling off her green Zaofu robes to reveal her orange and yellow flight suit beneath.

"Opal, no, you go with your grandmother," Su said. "You have a son to look after."

Opal stood her ground with an unyielding glare. "San can go with Dad and the others. Bolin and I aren't going to let you go out there by yourself. Right, Bolin?"

Bolin glanced down at baby San in his arms with a small sigh. His expression hardened, and he looked back up to his wife. Nodding in affirmation, he said, "Zaofu already fell once, and we weren't there to help defend it. This time we are. We got your back."

Opal—" Su started to protest, only for her daughter to cut her off.

"Mom. We're doing this."

Baatar made his way towards Bolin, reaching out to take San from him. "I'll take care of him."

Bolin nodded. "Thanks."

"Are you all done arguing?" Toph said. "Because we have to move. Now."

Su huffed a sigh of her own, glancing back at Opal for a fleeting moment. With a firm nod, she led the way out of the office. "Alright. Let's go, everyone."


"Hold the line!" shouted Captain Hong Li. "Push them back!"

The captain stood side by side with the other members of the security force who had yet to fall, working in unison to repel their attackers. They were a mere fifty guards in all, and their numbers only dwindled faster. The giant gejigeji looming before them swatted away every chunk of earth and metal they threw at him, as if brushing off feathers against a wall. Countering blasts of spiritual energy erupted from the eyes of its humanoid face, each focused beam exploding into the ground to send the defending guards airborne.

Four powerful benders accompanied the attacking spirit, each of them bending one of the four elements. While the guards were forced to focus the entirety of their defense on the giant insect shooting blasts of pure spiritual energy at them, these benders delivered surgical strikes of water and air combined with the sheer power of earth and fire, gradually tearing apart any resistance they could put forth. One by one, the security force fell, and one by one the insectoid spirit breathed deep and pulled out glowing wisps from their mouths to consume.

Hong Li ducked for cover around a street sign, covering his head from falling debris. For all his training, nothing could have ever prepared him for an enemy like this. Still, he fought it all the same. As captain of the security force, his duty was to protect Zaofu until his last breath. He had already failed this city twice, and he would not fail it again. Either that, or he'd die trying. The way things were going, the latter outcome seemed far more likely. With his comrades falling around him, he and the few that remained fell back on the defensive. He raised a reinforced wall of earth and metal in front of himself and his men, only for a combined blast of all four elements to blow it to pieces.

The world spun around him. When it stopped, he found himself staring up at the sky. Somewhere in the distance, the citywide evacuation alarm blared over the public address system. The sound was muddled and quiet at first, only to come roaring into his head with a pounding ache when his senses returned. Pushing himself upright, he looked around to find only twenty of his team were left. He tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in his chest forced him flat against the ground. All he could do was look up, as the giant insect lumbered into view, towering above them.

As he braced himself for the worst, the ground in front of him liquefied into molten rock. A wave of lava splashed upward, forcing the gejigeji to skitter back out of the way. The scorching wave hit the ground and spread forward, as if purposefully designed to hold the insectoid spirit at bay. The spirit scowled, and shifted its attention towards a group of new arrivals. Bolin, Opal, and the back-from-the-dead Suyin raced into view. Both Opal and Su combined a follow up attack, launching a series of boulders powered by a massive gust of wind. The spirit didn't flinch. An earthen wall lifted in front of it to block the attack, protected by its own allied earthbender.

"Ma'am!" Hong Li called, forcing his way back to his feet with gritted teeth. "Boy am I glad to see you."

"We're here to help, Captain." Su took formation alongside the recovering guards, with her daughter and son-in-law at her side.

Hong Li joined them, forming a line with what little forces they had left. "You might be too late. I don't know what this thing is, but they're doing a number on us."

"That thing is a dark spirit named Sen," Suyin replied. "All you need to know is that he's here to destroy us all. We have to stop him."

"Okay…" Hong Li swallowed, and took a step backwards. The dark spirit tried to advance towards them, but a combined lava and wind attack from Opal and Bolin managed to hold it back. "So how do we beat it?"

Su slid her foot back and raised her arms, prompting a large boulder to tear up from the ground. "We don't have to beat it. We just have to stall it until the city evacuates aboard the trains."

"But there's no way everyone gets out that fast," he said, as he mimicked her stance.

"Then we do everything we can, for as long as we can."

The remaining security forces struck hard and fast, with their former matriarch leading the offensive. A second wind fueled their actions. Their attacks were more coordinated, their defensive walls more sturdy, and their will to fight stronger than ever. Had they been facing an ordinary opponent, this renewed vigor might have led them to a victory. This was no such opponent. Sen weaved with incredible speed around the streams of molten rock, and the earth and air that managed to strike him had little effect. All the while, he countered with continued blasts of spiritual energy from his eyes, gradually whittling away their numbers.

The other four benders only made things more difficult. These four who Sen appeared to have under his control were far stronger than normal benders should be, each one aligning to one of the four elements. They fought with expert teamwork, as though connected to a single thought process. Their attacks combined in ways Hong Li had never seen before. Ways he and his men had no way to be prepared for. Boulders within watery twisters, fire funneled through rocky walls for added strength, air fanning flames to make them larger. After a while, Sen stopped attacking altogether and allowed his minions to weaken them. He merely sat back and consumed the essences from each of the fallen guards.

"Get back!" Bolin shouted, as he ran forward and planted his hands on the ground. The earth in front of him melted into lava and spread from side to side to create a moat between them and the enemy, a last ditch effort that gave them some breathing room. It didn't last. Moments later, the enemy waterbender swept a torrent across the lava, causing the molten earth to rapidly cool back into a solid form. The water continued onward and slammed into Bolin's chest, lifting him off his feet.

"Bolin!" Opal spread the wings of her flight suit and took to the air. She darted around a barrage of flames from the enemy firebender on her way to her husband, weaving and countering with spiraling shots of wind. She never saw the barrage of pebble-sized stones ripping holes through the wings of her suit. The fabric shredded, and she plummeted out of the sky.

Suyin lifted the earth beneath her own feet and threw herself airborne towards her daughter. She caught Opal in a firm grasp, tucked her shoulder forward, and hit the ground in a roll. When she finally came to a stop, she stood upright and helped her daughter to her feet. "It's okay, Opal, I got you."

A dark shadow lunged into view above her. Several spindly legs lashed outward, slamming with incredible force into her gut. She coughed, and spittle sprayed from her lips. The world spun. When her senses refocused, she found herself lying on her back staring up at a massive gejigeji spirit, its disturbingly human face watching her with its black, beady eyes.

"Mom!" Opal made a desperate attack to deter the giant insect, but her air deflected harmlessly off its carapace. Sen merely swatted her away with one of his many clacking legs.

Turning back to Suyin, Sen glowered. "You were once mine. I brought you back into this world. It's time I take you out of it."

Su recoiled as the insect's face drew closer to hers, prepared to suffer the sensation of her spirit being drawn from her body, when a metal cable zipped into view and wrapped around several of Sen's skittering legs. The cable reeled backward and tightened, forcing the spirits' legs back enough for Suyin to wriggle free. Hong Li swung into view and retracted the cable to launch himself around onto Sen's backside with added momentum. With one final tug, the insectoid spirit crashed against the ground.

"Get out of here!" Hong Li called. "Get to the trains while you still can!"

"Captain, no!" Suyin flipped back to her feet and shot another boulder at the downed spirit, only for the enemy earthbender to swat it away.

Hong Li fired out his second metal cable, latching it onto the enemy earthbender's wrist. The cable reeled back again, dragging the woman with it. "Just go! Zaofu can't afford to lose you again!"

A stream of water collided into Hong Li's backside, snapping both his cables and lifting him airborne. He crashed into the ground with a thudding smack. Suyin took a step forward, instinct compelling her to help the security captain, but a hand on her shoulder pulled her back.

"Mom, we have to go!" Opal pleaded, a frantic look in her eyes. The desperation in her gaze spoke volumes. Their attempt at stalling Sen had quickly turned to chaos, and if they stayed any longer they would meet the same fate.

Su stared at her daughter briefly, and shifted a look towards Bolin. They were the only three left standing, as the other guards had all since fallen. She snapped her focus back to Hong Li in time to see Sen looming above him and pulling out his essence. If they didn't move now, they wouldn't get another chance. With no more hesitation, she pushed her arms forward and split the ground apart in front of them. The slab of earth beneath their feet shot away from the scene, retreating through the city on its way towards the train station. Perhaps they had minimized the damage, or perhaps they had simply delayed the inevitable. In either case, she had to swallow a hard truth.

Once again, Zaofu had fallen.


Varrick frowned, as he studied the readings on the electrical panel. Far too low for what they needed. He gave the panel a tap with his screwdriver, and peered over the top of the machine to the other side where his wife was busy rewiring one of the junction cables. "Zhu Li, we need a stronger output. Try tightening the locking pin in the oscillating chamber."

With Zhu Li focusing on the oscillating chamber, he worked his way around to the back of the machine, where a series of twelve tubes connected the top half of the device to the bottom half. "Asami, I could use a hand adjusting these energy tubes."

One by one, he began pulling the tops off to set them in a different pattern. Asami crawled beneath the machine to access the bottoms of the tubes, and began rearranging their order according to Varrick's new instruction. Looking to the other side of the workshop, he added, "Junior, how's that modulator coming?"

Baatar Jr. carefully tightened one of the screws on the side of a small, round device with a hodgepodge of wires sticking out the back. Without looking up from his workbench, he replied, "Almost finished. Just needs a few more modifications and it'll be ready to install."

"Excellent!" Varrick gave the side of the machine a delighted smack. When he finished with the energy tubes, he took a step back and looked it over. It was a fairly hefty machine, with a large cylindrical base and an empty chamber connected to the top. The chamber began as wide as the base, but tapered off into a narrower opening at the top, with a ring of electrical spokes lined around the edge. "In that case, we should be finished with this doohickey soon. I can't wait to give it a test run."

"And we're sure this will work?" Asami huffed, as she crawled her way out from underneath the machine. "From what I can recall, we only have your theories."

"Of course it'll work! If there are ways to harness spiritual energy as a weapon, you can bet there's a way to drain it. Just trust me on this."

In response to Varrick's confident boasting, Zhu Li glanced up from her work on the oscillating chamber and affirmed in a much calmer tone, "Don't worry, Asami, I went over his plans myself. This will work. Or at least it should."

Varrick uttered a groan and rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, let the whole world know that my wife double checks my genius designs for flaws. Talk about embarrassing."

Zhu Li merely sighed, and lowered her focus back to her work. "If you had let me check your designs for that time machine you tried to build, it wouldn't have exploded. Twice. Not that it would have done anything otherwise, but at least we wouldn't have had to remodel our workshop. Twice."

"I'm telling you, it'll work one of these days!" Varrick insisted. "It just needs a little more... what do you call it? Finesse? Yes, that's the word."

"What it needs is to find a scrap heap," Baatar muttered. "Time travel isn't a thing, Varrick. You'd make better use of your time working on things that will actually help people."

Varrick scoffed, and gestured towards the machine at the center of the room. "Well, why do you think we're working on this thing? This is going to help a ton of people once it's completed! Just imagine the look on Sen's face when we fire it up!"

"But in order to do that, we need to finish it before he makes his way here," Asami added, as she opened up one of the smaller panels on the front of the machine to reorganize several of the wires. "So let's work faster, people."

A short time later, the door to the workshop opened. Sinn entered, carrying a pair of full paper bags with her, one in either hand. With a warm smile, she made her way over towards Asami working on the machine. "Hey, babe. Brought you guys some lunch. Thought you might be hungry, since, you know, you skipped breakfast this morning."

Varrick poked his head out from behind the device. "You say you got food? Brilliant! We need some energy for maximum efficiency. That makes you the hero of the hour, Sinn." As he started to make his way around the machine, he paused and pressed his screwdriver to his chin, thinking. "Huh. Sinn. Sen. You know, I've just now realized how closely your name resembles our mortal enemy. Funny thing, that."

"Uh, right," Sinn replied, with an awkward chuckle. "In any case, it's takeout from Narook's. Help yourselves."

"Thanks," Asami replied, giving Sinn a gentle kiss. "Just put mine over on the table. I'll take a lunch break soon."

Sinn raised an eyebrow. "Soon for you usually means about two hours."

"What? No..." Asami tried to brush off the accusation, but Sinn's continued staring broke through her denial with surprising effectiveness. With a grumbling sigh, she grabbed one of the bags and carried it over to the table herself. "Alright, fine. I'll eat now."

"That's better." Sinn smiled, and gave her girlfriend another kiss before turning her attention to the machine at the center of the workshop. "So, what is this thing, anyway?"

Varrick's eyes lit up at the question. With a small bowl of noodles in his hand, he raised his chopsticks and pointed at the machine with gusto. "This here is going to be the great equalizer in our fight with Sen. I call it the Spirit Conductor!"

"That's a stupid name," Baatar said, with a roll of his eyes. "It doesn't conduct anything. It's meant to store energy."

"Well sure, but Spirit Storer just sounds silly, now doesn't it?" Varrick shrugged, and shoveled a wad of noodles into his mouth. After he swallowed, he continued, "Anyway, forget the name! What matters is what it does. This baby, once we fire it up, will pull in all nearby spiritual energy in the area and store it in a specially designed container. Basically a battery. Now I know what you're thinking: the last time we tried something like this, we ended up with a giant laser cannon strapped to an even more giant mecha suit. Not to worry! I've made sure that this thing can't be weaponized, although it could power all of Republic City for six months when fully charged."

"Okay," Sinn said, with a furrow of her brow, "but how exactly does that help us?"

"Well, Sen is a spirit, and spirits are composed of pure spiritual energy," Asami explained. "By draining that energy, we could weaken him enough to stop him, or at least seriously hurt him. That's the theory, anyway. If we can get it working."

"I first got the idea when talking to our spirit friends over in the Spirit Wilds," Varrick said. "They kept saying that Sen is too powerful, that he has too much spiritual energy, so I thought, hey! What if there was a way to make it so he had less energy? And bam, the Spirit Conductor was born! Of course, the downside is that Sen has to be basically on top of it, but we'll figure that part out later."

Baatar heaved a deep sigh, as he opened his own container of noodles. "Still a stupid name."

Before Varrick could issue another rebuttal, the door to the workshop slammed open. Mako, dressed in his full police chief uniform, sprinted into the room towards them. "President Sato!"

Asami stiffened upright in immediate concern. For Mako to be using her official title meant some kind of emergency, and the look of panicked distress on his face only enforced that fact. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's bad." Mako doubled over when he reached them, heaving in deep breaths with his hands on his knees. "Just got a couple calls over the radio. Sen has already started his attacks. He's hit the Fire Nation capital, and the Southern Water Tribe again." Swallowing a deep breath, he stood straight to regain his poise and looked Asami dead in the eyes. "And he's attacking Zaofu right now!"

"What?" Asami's eyes flared with concern. "Oh no..."

"What about survivors?" Baatar pushed forward around the table, nearly dropping his bowl of noodles upon hearing the news. "My family?"

"Trains with evacuated civilians are on their way here now from Zaofu," Mako stated. "Should be here by tonight. Your family is on one of them, from what I know. I'm afraid the other places weren't so lucky, though. Only Lord Zuko and Shayu made it out of the Fire Nation. They'll be here soon. As for the South..." Letting his words trail off, he glanced over his shoulder at the open door, where three individuals now made their way inside: Jinora, Hari, and P'Li.

"Don't know why you wasted your breath running up the stairs," P'Li muttered, looking around the workshop. "The elevator didn't take that long."

Asami's initial reaction upon seeing the third-eyed woman drove her heart into her throat with defensive flare. She had to mentally remind herself that this woman had been freed from Sen's control and given a second chance. A chance to pay off her debt by helping them stop Sen. Regardless of any history they had, they were on the same side now. Instead of worrying about P'Li, she instead made her way towards the airbender.

"Jinora!" Asami gave the young woman a hug, easing a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"Thanks," Jinora replied, with a sigh of her own. "I just wish I could say the same for everyone else."

"This is really it?" Sinn asked, with widening eyes. "Then the others are all...?"

The answer came in the form of heavy silence, as those present looked between each other in solemn understanding.

P'Li took a step forward and broke the silence, giving her attention to the president. "We came to help. There's nothing more we could do down south, and if we want to save the victims, we have to stop the source. That means Sen."

Another silence followed, as everyone turned to stare with caution at the towering woman. P'Li grumbled, and folded her arms tight across her chest. "Would you all relax? I'm not going to blow anything up."

"It's alright." Hari took a step forward with one of his hands raised, to quell any potential rise in tension. "She really is on our side. She saved both me and Jinora."

"Hmm, so Sen has already hit the Southern Water Tribe, the Fire Nation, and Zaofu," Zhu Li muttered, holding a hand to her chin. "How is he making it across the world so fast?"

"He's an all-powerful spirit," Varrick replied, with an insistent shrug. "I think that question answers itself."

Jinora looked around the room with a quizzical gaze. "Where's Korra? The last time I was able to contact her, she was in the Spirit World looking for a way to stop Sen."

Asami huffed a deep sigh. "She and the others aren't back yet. They're still in the Spirit World."

"What?" Jinora's eyes widened. "But that was over a day ago. They were on their way back when I saw them."

"Do you think something might have delayed them?" Mako said.

Jinora frowned in thought. "It's possible. With what Sen is doing, the Spirit World could be acting up in some way and be giving them problems. It would explain why my spirit was rejected and why I haven't been able to meditate there since."

A deep look of concern creased across Mako's brow. "So, what do we do?"

"We need Korra and the others," Jinora asserted. "I think they found a way to stop Sen and help his victims, but we need to get them back here."

Asami's expression sank. "But if they're trapped in the Spirit World..."

"Then they're going to need us to get them out." Jinora breathed deep and turned a look towards one of the windows on the far wall. From their vantage point, she could see the towering light beam of the spirit portal in the distance. "I'm going after them."

"Not alone you're not." P'Li stepped forward, staring down at the much shorter girl. "You still haven't fully recovered from your injuries."

"I will go too," Hari stated, with a nod. "You know the Spirit World, Jinora. You can show us the way."

Asami looked from Jinora to the other two volunteers. While she questioned sending P'Li along with them on this type of mission, they didn't have many options. Everyone else was needed here. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am," Jinora replied. "Without Korra, without a way to bring down Sen, we're as good as dead. We have to do this."

"Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Varrick said, gesturing towards the Spirit Conductor. "You know, we've been working hard on this thing."

Asami shot him a silencing look, before returning her gaze to Jinora and the other two. "Alright. In that case, good luck. And be careful, all of you."