A/N:
This is my take on a Black Lagoon-inspired look at the A:TLA universe if Zuko & Azula were outlaws running a smuggling service with some Sokkla thrown in because why not. I probably would try to blend in episodes from A:TLA when possible but these first few chapters would be more Black Lagoon-esque just to set up the scene. R&R and let me know if I got the characterization down.
Chapter 1: It's never too late to consider a change of careers…...
Lounging on the deck of the Blue Spirit, Sokka pondered on his situation as he stared out into the sea, inhaling the salty breeze that swept across the boat every so often. He was after all, a Water Tribesman and the ocean was in their blood. Besides, he thought ironically, no matter how far he tried to escape the sea it always found a way to claim him back. His father ran a coastal shipping service along the Earth Kingdom coast, with occasional assignments across to the volcanic archipelago of the Fire Nation and the snow swept taiga of the Northern Water Tribe until he retired four years ago. Turning his mind to more recent events, he supposed that being stuck in his current predicament was some twisted punishment for refusing to carry on the family trade. At least with his father, he kept to the right side of the law for the most part whilst the vessel he was on was firmly in the opposite spectrum.
Three days earlier,
It was supposed to be a quick and easy assignment, just deliver some documents and reports from Republic City to Caldera City. Though the company could have chosen to use airmail for this, some things were better suited to be delivered in person. Besides, it just would not do for some nosy mail worker to poke his or her business into such confidential material. Especially if said material contained inside information regarding Heavy Earth Industries' dealings with the Triple Threat triads. Thus, the decision was made to dispatch one of their interns to hand over the documents in person.
When Sokka first got the assignment, he thought to himself, finally, a chance to escape the stuffy office. Besides, it didn't hurt that the company was paying him a pretty generous travel bonus. Therefore, he accepted the assignment and boarded the Omashu Maru heading to Caldera, documents safely tucked away in a waterproof sling bag. Though he had heard of occasional pirate attacks out in the Mo Ce Sea where the reach of the Earth Kingdom coast guard and navy was considerably lacking due to them being lower on the totem pole, he did not put too much thought to the possibility as he had made the same trip a few times already without much trouble and thus, was expecting another milk run of sorts.
Staring down the blade of a broadsword and a charged up blue fist however, clearly did not fit the description of a milk run. The man holding the broadsword was clearly fire nation, despite the skin tone similarity to Sokka's and sporting a red scar over the left side of his face, while the owner of said blue fist had the more stereotypical milky white one expected of an upper-class Fire Nation citizen. In fact, he would have placed her as part of the Fire Nation nobility, not that nobility mattered after the previous monarch changed it into a constitutional monarchy a decade ago.
Governing methods aside, the man deftly snatched the sling bag from Sokka and tapped it with his free hand "The documents are all here right? The documents you were supposed to hand over to the supervisor in Caldera City?" "Yes, that's it! That's all I know!" Sighing, the girl sighed and said to the man, "You know, he looks like he knows more than he's letting on. No matter, a little heat transfer always loosens the tightest of nuts." "Now now 'Lala, don't want to hurt our precious cargo now do we? Besides, I already heard what I needed to know anyway." The girl turned to the man "You know, I don't appreciate you calling me that, especially not in fucking front of people we are trying to intimidate, Zuzu."
Through his earpiece, Zuko heard Aang's voice "You done with topside yet? Appa's saying we've got a few fast movers coming in from Makapu Naval Station." Turning to the rest of the crew huddled on the other side of the deck, he said "I promise y'all will be free to go, however any funny business and you will be swimming back to Republic City on pieces of scrap. That is an Imperial Fire Boat with enough muscle to tear even an Earth Kingdom Royal Cruiser apart, so consider yourselves warned !"
Thinking to himself that he was going to be spared, Sokka breathed a sigh of relief before he felt the cold hardness of a gun barrel under his chin and the whispered words "Not so fast, peasant, you're coming with us." Ten minutes later, he was shoved unceremoniously into the hold on said fire boat, speeding back towards where he came from. Meanwhile, in the cockpit, Zuko fiddled with the dials on the radio before picking up the microphone and hitting the transmit button.
"This is the Blue Spirit, can you read me Ursa ?"
"This is Ursa, I read you loud and clear. Now, do you have the package ?"
"Yeah we have it"
"You know how I like efficiency. Now proceed to the drop zone as agreed."
"Copy that."
Turning to the lady standing at attention, she calmly said "Connect me to Republic City. I'm sure certain individuals are anxiously waiting for my call right about now."
Back in one of the towers that lined the skyline of downtown Republic City, a board of men in suits convened around a large oval table. The atmosphere was tense, serious looks plastered on all attendees. The man at the head of the table slowly panned around, as if to make sure all were present before speaking. At last, he spoke "Gentlemen, as you all know we are gathered here to discuss the unfolding situation at hand. At 4:30 pm Caldera Time we received a call from the head of a certain Sozin Fire Investment Corporation regarding the whereabouts of our documents. "
"Who is this Sozin Fire Investment Corp?" one of the members at the table asked.
"Sozin Fire Investment Corporation is the front company for Hotel Azulon, which is a branch of the Agni Kai mafiya. They ran the Aka Monsun-Gumi out of the Central EK coast and are the current kingpins in charge." one of the other members at the table replied. "So what is it they want? Money? Industrial secrets?" another one asked.
"Shipping routes and supplier lists belonging to our more unsavoury clients are most likely what they are after." another replied. The man at the head nodded and asked "So, how do we proceed in light of this. After all, the 4K triad will not be pleased if it appeared that incriminating information such as this were to be leaked to the public." Suddenly, a knock on the meeting room glass door was heard. The head motioned to allow the person outside to enter and the person did so, bearing a stack of papers to be handed out to the members. After doing so, the person on the right of the direction stood up "As you have just read, the documents are currently not in Sozin Fire's possession, but in the possession of the pirates who hijacked the Omashu last night. Thus, I propose deploying the PMCs that we keep on retainer for such incidents to recover the documents. In the meantime, we need to stall for time to allow them to get there and either recover or if need be, destroy the documents. Any questions?"
A hand shot up and the man motioned for the party to speak. "According to this report, it seems that one of our personnel involved was also snatched by the pirates. What do we do about him?". "Given what he knows or at the very least, suspects about the contents of the documents, he is a loose end that would need to be dealt with along with the pirates. Regrettable, I must admit. He did have a way with numbers and planning. No matter, the documents are the top priority." "Very well then, Zhao, you are in charge of this operation. See to it that it is resolved favourably."
Back in the mess hall of the boat, a shouting match erupted between the man and the girl as their captive decided to make himself scarce and huddled into a corner, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. "You know, I always thought you were the intelligent one, yet this is definitely the shittiest idea you've had since you decided to light that apple on Mai's head on fire." Zuko said in a disappointed tone while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh I'm sorry, I was just looking out for us you know! Besides, it's not like we're getting a big paycheck from this. I mean think about it, how much can she realistically pay out without looking like a dumbass for a snatch and grab?! So what's a little extra cash on top, it's not like mom's gonna find out about this, so calm the fuck down, Zuzu."
"Who in the flying fuck of a boarcupine is gonna agree to that amount, huh ?! Did you even get their contact information? What if they decide to not pay up? Did you think about that before you decided to bag him along?" argued Zuko, starting to lose patience with his sister's attitude. Deciding that her brother was a) not appreciative of her brilliant ideas and b) definitely utilizing his talent in bitch-slapping every red shiny button of hers, she burst out "Alright, alright I see how it fucking is. Agni, you should fucking said so earlier!" as she proceeded to hurl an angsty combination of lead and fireball at Sokka , peppering him with shrapnel and singe marks.
Seeing that his sister seemed hellbent on killing, if not seriously maiming their captive, he moved quickly to position himself behind her, before making her drop her pistol and forcing her bending hand in the direction of the ceiling. Speaking in her ear, Zuko proceeded to do his level best to calm her down. Once she was sufficiently pacified, he released her and she made a show of storming off into her cabin, making her displeasure known to any hapless pieces of furniture along the way with kicks that sent them crashing into the walls.
Turning to Sokka, who decided that it was finally safe to peek out of his hiding spot behind the countertop, Zuko said "Sorry about that, just one of those sibling rivalry things. Wanna take a breather up on deck?" "Not like I have much of a choice do I?" was the reply.
Once on deck, he offered a cigarette to Sokka, who accepted it. After a couple puffs, he decided it was time to address the moose-lion in the room. "So, what's gonna happen to me?" "Well, we're gonna contact your company and see if they want to make a deal. If they do, then we'll set up an exchange after we drop off the documents." "Wait, so you're not gonna hold on to it?" "Nah, we just a bunch of shippers, 'cept the tagline of 'if it fits it ships' isn't a tagline, more of a fact of life." "So you didn't even sneak a peek at it? Aren't you curious?"
Getting up from his position, Zuko turned to him and said "In this line of work, sometimes it's best to not know, else you end up with missing some parts or potentially having more holes than the manufacturer intended. Also, feel free to stay on deck, just try not to fall into the water. I can only handle so many temper tantrums in one day. We'll be making landfall in a couple hours at Pirate's Pier.", before moving to get back into the cockpit of the boat and leaving Sokka to ponder upon his fate.
