Disclaimer: I own nothing. Percy Jackson and the Legend of Korra belong to Rick Riordan and Nickelodeon respectively.
Korra was woken by the sounds of numerous ship's whistles and unfamiliar machinery. Taking a moment to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she quickly realized where they were. Excitedly, she quicky roused the rest of her group.
"Percy, Naga, Luna, we're here," she said, shaking them awake.
Luna got up slowly, and groggily made to follow the excited girl. Percy grumbled something about, "It's to early," and "4 more hours," but Naga quickly put a stop to this by getting up herself, causing Percy, who was leaning against her and using her as a pillow, to suddenly fall on his back, hitting his head against the floor.
Groaning and rubbing the back of his head, he too got up and joined the others in looking around a crate as the cargo door slowly opened, revealing a bright light that momentarily blinded the two teens.
As the dock workers made to start unloading the freighter, a large polar bear dog, carrying two other individuals, and a weird wolf-like thing on it's back, bolted out from the back of the ship and bounded down the ramp, startling and knocking one of the workers into the water below with the call of, "Thanks for the ride."
Moving off the dock, they quickly made to leave the waterfront, and find Air temple island, the home of Tenzin, his family and the Air acolytes that inhabit the island. They reached the end of the waterfront and looked out over the bay.
There was a huge green suspension bridge connecting the rest of the city to the harbour, which was where the group currently found themselves. There were dozens of Police airships floating all about the city and surrounding area. "Wow," said Percy in amazement. "Look at this place," said Korra breathlessly.
Their attention was drawn towards the bridge, and the sounds of traffic it produced as a long line of sato-mobiles could be seen. "I've never seen so many sato-mobiles," Korra exclaimed in wonder. Wonder which Percy quickly squashed, "You've hardly ever seen any sato-mobiles, no shit they'd be here in bulk," he teased playfully, earning a playful elbow from the girl in front of him.
The weather in Republic city was much warmer than it was in the south pole. As such, the two teens adapted to the warmer conditions. Both did away with the heavy, furry parka's and instead settle for something more streamlined. Korra still had on her baggy pants, and a brown animal pelt hung tied around her waist. She had on a light blue sleeveless shirt with a high collar, and an armband on her right bicep. She wore dark blue sleeves on her forearms.
Like Korra, Percy wore baggy pants and boots, and a white animal pelt hung, wrapped around his left hip, covering most of his thigh and ending at around his knee, leaving the right leg bare. He wore a navy-blue sleeveless tunic with white trim along the seams. He wore an armband on his left bicep, with his forearms wrapped in white straps.
Looking out over the bay, Korra's gaze was fixed, trancelike, on a green statue of Avatar Aang on a small island in the middle of the bay. He was stood with one foot on a lotus flower, his cloak billowing in the imaginary wind, holding a staff with the symbol of the Air nomads presented proudly towards the city for all to see.
And behind it was another island, with a miniature air temple as its primary distinguishing feature.
"Air temple island," said Korra in awe.
"That's where Tenzin lives. You ready?" Percy asked from behind her.
"Ready and waiting," she relied smugly. "You ready girl?" she asked, leaning forward to rub Naga's head.
Said head, however, had other priorities. Shortly after Korra asked if she was ready to swim to the island, Naga instead bolted off in another direction, following her nose as it led her through oncoming traffic, and busy congested streets, forcing the teens to constantly shout out their apologies.
Luna decided to help by jumping off Naga's back from behind Percy and started running, keeping pace with the much larger dog. Once side by side, Luna swiftly joined Naga in sniffing the air for food, eventually coming across a street vender selling cooked meats of all varieties.
Poking her massive head into the small opening of the food stand, Naga was just about to inhale everything in front of her when Korra put a stop to it, "Naga, wait," she said firmly, causing the polar bear dog to whine unhappily.
Percy was forced to dismount Naga's back as well, if only to stop Luna from stealing more meat as well. The white wolf had an almost feral look on her face as she was salivating at the mouth at the sight and smell of all the delicious meat in front of her. Her tongue hung out of one side of her mouth.
Korra quickly went around to the front of the stand, hungrily inspecting one of the skewers, "We'll take one of everything, please," she told the vender.
"That'll be 20 Yuans," the vender demanded sternly.
Nervously, Korra responded with, "Uh, we don't have any money?" she said slowly at the same time that Percy cursed, "Dammit," under his breath, mentally berating himself that of all of the supplies they had packed, they didn't stock enough food for all of them, and they forgot to bring any money.
Angrily, the vender snatched the skewer out of the Avatar's hand, shouting, "Then what good are you to me?" at the startled teen, who sadly walked back around to Naga to lead her away, leaving Percy to deal with Luna, knowing that they'd catch up eventually.
"Don't worry, girl. The city's huge. I'm sure we can find a place to rustle up something to eat," she finished optimistically.
Percy was also trying to lead a dejected Luna away from the angry vender. "I'm sorry girl, but we'll just have to wait a bit. C'mon, let's see if we can't find a park or something. There's bound to be some little critters for you to chase around, eh?" he asked, trying to lighten her spirits.
It seemed to do the trick, as the wolf instantly perked up and bolted ahead of Naga, much to Percy's chagrin and the others' surprise.
Not wasting a second, Percy and Korra quickly hopped onto Naga's back and made to pursue the excited wolf.
An hour later found them entering a park that Luna led them to. Tired and hangry, they started looking for Luna, only for the wolf to happily make her way over to them, a couple of rodents hanging from her mouth. The teen's swallowed any complaints they might have had previously, and instead followed Luna deeper into the park, towards a river system connecting to several small ponds. Naga was the first to realize that there were fish in these ponds.
A couple minutes later, Korra and Percy had caught a number of fish and had them set up on stakes by the water. Korra spent time using her Firebending to properly cook the fish for them to eat.
Percy, meanwhile, was busy scratching behind Luna's ears as she devoured one of the rodents she had caught earlier. If Percy were to look to his left momentarily, he would be faced with the crazed, borderline maniacal visage of Korra roasting the last fish right in front of her face.
She handed one of the fish to Percy, who reverently accepted it. As Korra went to take a bite out of her fish, a rustling in the bush next to her caught her attention.
She gasped in surprise as someone emerged from the bush, wearing dirty and torn clothes, with an untamed grey beard and wild hair. Korra's gasp caught Percy's attention, who quickly discarded his fish and made himself ready to defend himself and Korra should something happen to them.
"Uh, say, think I can get one of them tasty-smelling fishies?" asked the strange man, shaking his elbows in a pretty terrible imitation of a bird.
Her surprise wearing off, Korra recovered as Percy relaxed also. "Yeah, sure," she responded.
As Percy sat down, he started looking around for his fish, only to find it already half eaten by Luna, who was happily enjoying the rest of it. He whined at the sight.
Stepping out from the bush, the man revealed that he wore mismatched boots, one grey and one brown, one of them was completely broken, but the man didn't seem to mind too much. He also only wore one glove which was missing a few fingers.
He happily made his way over to the last fish and started to devour it faster than Percy would seal jerky.
After a moment of not eating, Korra asked a question that had been troubling her since seeing the strange man, "So, do you live in that bush?" she asked disbelievingly, pointing to the aforementioned bush.
"Yes, presently that is what I do call home," said the newly identified homeless man proudly. "Took me a while to procure a bush that beauteous," he finished. "This Park is quite popular with all the vagabonds," he informed them.
"So, there's a lot of you guys here?" Percy asked confusedly.
"I thought everyone in this city was 'living it up'," Korra said, disbelieving.
The homeless man laughed at the teen's naivety, saying, "You kids got a lot to learn. Welcome to Republic city," he finished in a tone like a schoolteacher correcting a student who had made an obvious mistake and was trying to be obvious about it.
They were interrupted from further conversation by a high-pitched whistle coming from behind them. Turning, they saw a portly man in a grey police uniform blowing a whistle in their direction. "Hey, you, stop! You can't fish here," he said, running towards them and waving around his baton.
The homeless man quickly ran and hid back in his bush, not before telling the teens to start running.
Whistling for Naga and Luna respectively, they started running, both jumping on Naga's back when she caught up, and following Luna out of the park, neither teen looking back. The revelations of the day and the homeless man's words, as well as their first brush with authority that wasn't the White Lotus was enough to scare the teens into trying to get to Air temple island as quickly as possible.
After losing the cop, they slowed down for a bit to get their bearings. Still atop Naga, with Luna now sitting behind them on the travel supplies, they entered a paved section of the park with a large fountain in the centre of the area. People were milling about, talking with each other or just walking around.
Percy and Korra were making their way towards the parks exit, when a man on a raised platform caught their attention.
"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders?" a man said through a megaphone, standing on an elevated platform in front of a banner with a man in a grey hood and white mask on it. The man on the platform was quite lanky, and wore plain grey clothes and a hat, and had dark grey hair. "Then join the Equalists," he continued. "For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower-class citizens." Korra and Percy moved closer to better hear what the man was saying and were growing more and more confused and angry with every word the man spoke. Luna shared the two's sentiments, evidenced by the low growl she directed in the man's direction. "Join Amon, and together we will tear down the bending establishment," he finished passionately.
"I'm pretty sure freedom of speech is a thing here, but this has got to be taking it too far," said Percy softly, so that only Korra could hear him.
"What are you talking about?" Korra shouted incredulously, drawing everyone's attention to them. "Bending is the coolest thing in the world," she said challengingly, drawing mixed reactions from the crowd. Behind her, Percy straightened up and nodded his agreement with Korra's statement. Behind Percy, Luna fixed the man with a vicious stare, snarling murderously at the man who paid neither of them any attention.
"Oh, yeah? Let me guess?" the man said, as if he thought that Korra's statement was somehow funny. "You're a Bender."
"Yeah, I am," Korra replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Meanwhile, Percy just rolled his eyes at the man's obvious statement, muttering a "No shit," that was heard by some of the people closest to them.
"And I'm a Waterbending master, for those who weren't wondering," Percy spoke up, loudly this time.
That gave the man pause, who looked at Percy in surprise, before recovering and trying to reassert control over the situation. He scoffed loudly, "Yeah right. They'll make anyone a master bender nowadays to promote bending inequality. I bet that title was just handed to you by an overeager old man!" he proclaimed, severely angering the teens and earning more vicious snarls from the two animals.
Korra was about ready to blast the man into oblivion, but Percy stopped her. Still angry, but determined to prove the man wrong, Percy extended his hand out towards the fountain, summoning much of the water within and willing it to travel toward the man on the platform. The man jumped in surprise and started to cry out in protest as the water moved all around his person, glowing with a luminescent blue glow.
The man only calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief when the water left and returned to the fountain.
"You've got a slightly sprained ankle which doesn't look to be causing you too much discomfort. How'd you do that? Fall off the table while you were practicing in your living room?" Percy asked jokingly, but judging by the heavy blush that overcame the man's face, he must have been right.
"Wait, seriously?" Korra asked, snickering like Percy was. This just enraged the man more.
"I could fix it for you if you'd like?" Percy offered helpfully.
That only seemed to set the man off even more.
"No! I won't let you oppress me with your bending, tyrant!" he exclaimed suddenly, trying to take back control over the situation.
"Oppress? Tyrant? He was trying to help you man, come on!" Korra exclaimed angrily.
"Aww, am I upsetting you by not conforming to your demands? I bet you'd just love to knock me off this platform with some Waterbending, huh?" he finished hotly, smiling smugly and hoping he'd provoke a favorable reaction.
"I'm seriously thinking about it," said Korra, smartly, at the same time Percy said, "Don't tempt me with a good time," raising his hand and stopping the flow of the fountain behind them.
Smiling inwardly, the man knew he had them in his trap. Turning to the assembled crown, he raised the megaphone to his mouth and said, "This is what's wrong with this city! It's benders like those two who only want to use their power to oppress us!" he exclaimed, smiling smugly at the group sitting on Naga's back.
The crowd seemed to agree with him though, as immediately, they all turned and started shouting at the now shocked teens, who were clearly taken aback by the man's brazen accusation.
"What!?" they exclaimed incredulously. Luna started barking at people, causing them to stumble away in fear of the angry wolf. "
"We only got here hours ago, man! We haven't oppressed anyone!" exclaimed Percy, dumbfounded by the stupidity of the protestor who was quickly making an enemy of two very powerful benders.
As he said this, Korra had already spurred Naga to start walking away, leaving the shouting crowd behind them.
"Oppressing them. How am I oppressing them? I'm the Avatar, for spirits sake," Korra muttered lowly.
"You weren't. Maybe this is why Tenzin needed to return to the city so soon," Percy reassured.
Korra sighed in defeat. "Yeah. Maybe you're right. C'mon. Let's get to Air Temple Island."
A while later, Percy and Korra were tired, hungry and lost.
All four of them were making their way down a relatively quiet street. Quiet, except for the two Watertribe teens' excessive arguing.
"I'm telling you Percy; we should've gone right at the last intersection."
"Korra, I'm telling you, it's a left up here, and then again a few blocks down."
"We went left last time! You're leading us in circles!" Korra exclaimed.
"No, I'm not! Don't worry, I know where I'm going."
"Left plus left plus left doesn't get us to Air Temple Island. It literally takes us in a circle, back to where we started!"
"No, it doesn't!"
"Really?" Korra asked sardonically, stepping in front of Percy to stop him from walking any further. "Then turn left on the spot three times, and then tell me how you plan to get us to Air Temple Island as fast as possible."
"Easy," said Percy, with a smirk.
Percy proceeded to turn left three times on the spot, before stopping facing Korra's left side. His smirk faltered.
"Now what?" Korra said haughtily, crossing her arms. It was her turn to be smug.
"Then we go right–"
"–Back the way we came?" Korra interrupted, already knowing that she was right. "Face it, Perce, you're lost."
"Whoever designed this city did a terrible job!" he exclaimed, not willing to admit that he was at fault.
Korra laughed out loud at his proclamation, knowing that she would've done the same in a similar situation. That is, if she was ever dumb enough to get them lost in the first place.
"Come on. Let's get directions and get to the island before it gets dark out," Korra said, grabbing his arm and leading a still pouty Percy towards an older couple on the side of a street.
"Excuse me. We're kinda lost. How would we get to Air Temple Island from here?" Korra asked politely.
Pointing with her hand, the older lady pointed down to the end of the street, but before she could tell them where to go, a bright red, expensive looking sato-mobile turned the corner, starting to drive down the street. It was very loud, and anyone who saw it, quickly ran away or hid out of sight.
"You kids should get moving. It isn't safe," she said, joining everyone else and hiding from the red vehicle as it rolled to a stop on the other side of the street.
Three well dressed men, wearing either red, green, or blue, exited the sato-mobile and approached one of the salesmen. He was polishing a phonograph, inside a store full of phonographs, so he was probably a phonograph salesman.
Luna started growling lowly as soon as the three men left the sato-mobile, and the teens watched as one of the men threatened the store owner with fire. This didn't sit well with the teens, and Percy moved to stop them, but was blocked by Korra.
"Percy, wait," she said.
"Korra?" the green-eyed teen exclaimed in surprise and confusion. "What are you doing? We need to help."
"I know, but this'll be my first action as a true Avatar! Please let me do this one alone?" she pleaded.
Percy looked unsure. He wanted to help and protect his friend as he knew she would do for him. But he also understood why she wanted to do this alone.
Slumping in defeat, he said "Fine. But be careful. And if anything goes wrong, I'm stepping in."
"Thanks!" she said excitedly.
With that, Korra turned to walk towards the commotion right as the phonograph that the salesman was just polishing was destroyed by a fiery kick from the man in red. Percy crouched down to scratch Luna's head, hoping to calm the wolf, and he rested his other hand on Naga's body to steady her. He watched intently as Korra confronted the men.
"–Or else what, hoodlum?" she said loudly.
The three men were clearly startled and turned around to face the intrusive voice, and saw Korra standing confidently with her hands resting on her hips, in the middle of the street.
The men started laughing, and the leader, the man in the blue overcoat said, "Since you're obviously fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple things," he said in a mocking tone, before it switched to threatening. "You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you in the hospital."
As he said this, the bystanders all looked worried and fearful. The older couple they had stopped to ask directions from, looked shocked that someone would stand up to the vicious criminals.
"You're the only ones who are gonna need a hospital. And this won't take long, so for your sake, I hope there's one nearby," korra finished by pounding her hands together, readied for a fight.
"Who do you think you are?" the gang leader asked menacingly.
"Why don't you come over and find out?" Korra replied in a similar tone.
The gang leader was livid. Percy could see his eye twitching from across the street. The gang leader quickly reached inside his coat as if he was going to pull out a weapon, but instead sent a small stream of water at Korra, which she effortlessly stopped, redirected, and blasted back at the man far more powerfully than how it was sent.
The water connected with the mans face and instantly hardened into ice. The man stumbled forwards as the other men jumped back in shock, and Korra sent a powerful roundhouse kick to the man's frozen head, shattering the ice against the hood of their sato-mobile, knocking him out.
Overcoming his shock, the man in the green shirt readied himself to bend the Earth out from under her, but Korra beat him to it by launching him high into the sky with her own Earthbending. Everyone who saw the man get launched started whispering among themselves, trying to figure out how the mysterious girl in the street just defeated two hardened gang members, with two different forms of bending!
Percy was smirking smugly the entire time and had to restrain himself from laughing out loud as he watched the Earthbender fall, hitting every cable, sign and banner on his way down, before landing in a vendor's basket of fruits.
The last man looked at Korra fearfully, before nervously sending a torrent of fire at her, which she easily jumped through. Upon landing, Korra grappled with the rather skinny looking man before spinning and throwing him across the street and through the window of a store full of grandfather clocks.
At this point, pretty much everyone had figured out just who Korra was.
"Got an idea about who I am now, chumps?" Korra asked while chickling at the downed men.
"I think, everyone knows who you are now," said Percy as he came up beside her, both now looking at the Firebender who was just starting to get up.
Their attention was pulled by the sounds of an engine starting up. Looking over, they saw the two other gangsters inside their sato-mobile and making their way by. Using the teen's lapse of attention, the Firebender got up and ran after his two companions, where he was helped into the sato-mobile by the Earthbender.
Korra, determined not to let them leave so easily, wanted to stop them. So, with a shout of protest, bent the Earth around the sato-mobile, causing it to loose control, spin, and crash into several stores before finally stopping inside a store.
Percy winced as he watched this, while Korra had a look of satisfaction on her face.
"Okay, that might have been a bit much. Don't you think?" he asked.
"Why? They were threatening that shop owner. They had this coming," she rebuffed.
"I get that, and I agree. But–"
Suddenly, a shrill siren sounded from above them. Looking up, the Percy and Korra were graced with the sight of a large, grey police airship hovering over them. Naga and Luna started howling back at the airship, which was the cause of the siren.
"Police. Freeze where you are," was heard from above as they watched several men in metal suits jump from the sides of the airship. Halfway to the ground, they deployed metal wires from their gauntlets, which embedded themselves into the sides of the buildings, and helped slow the Metalbenders descent.
"Woah," an awed Percy said softly.
Metalbenders are almost nonexistent in the South Pole, and very few are members of the White Lotus. Also, they were told that metal and cold don't mix. So, to see actual Metalbenders up close is a real treat for the young Avatar and master Waterbender.
As soon as the police officers landed safely, Korra proudly proclaimed, "I caught the bad guys for you, officers," gesturing to the dazed gang members just as they walked out of the destroyed storefront, all groaning and rubbing their sore bodies.
"Arrest them!" the lead officer ordered, and the other officers complied, tying up the three gangsters with their metal cables. The officers went to collect the bound gang members as the lead officer approached Korra and Percy.
"You're under arrest too," he said, point to a thoroughly shocked Korra.
"What do you mean I'm under arrest? Those are the bad guys over there! They were smashing up a shop," Korra argued, trying to make the cop see reason.
"From the looks of it, you smashed up a lot more than that," he explained.
Percy recognized what was going to come next as he watched the officer shift his body. He knew that the officer was getting ready to bend and arrest Korra, so he chose to intervene.
"Officer, wait. You can't arrest her; she just did your job for you. Besides, shouldn't she just get like a warning or something? I mean, she was only doing what's right," he argued, stepping in front of Korra to dissuade the officer from shooting his cable.
But what he said seemed to have the opposite effect on the cop. He narrowed his eyes in anger.
"Stand down, kid. You won't want to join your friend here now, would you," he said sternly.
"What! Why would I be arrested too?!" Percy exclaimed in outrage.
"It wouldn't be for long. But I do have the authority to remove you from a situation if you're impeding a police officer. Now step aside," he said calmly.
"Yeah, not gunna happen," Percy said coolly, ready to bolt at a moments notice.
"Fine. Have it your way," the lead officer replied.
"Wait! You can't arrest us! I'm the Avatar, I was just doing my job!" Korra yelled.
At her proclamation, the other officers who had started to surround the two teens, after securing the gang members, faltered at her proclamation, shifting around uncertainly.
The lead officer, for his part, didn't even bat an eye. "I don't care if you're the Avatar or not. You wanna do what's right? Then set an example and come quietly," he said.
"But–"
"Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you can run around doing whatever you want. So please, stand down, and come quietly. Last chance," he ended sternly, now in a proper bending stance.
"I. . . No. We have to get to–" was as far as Korra got before the cop fired his cable at her.
The cable went around Percy's right side and started coming for Korra, but she grabbed it, still angrily protesting that they shouldn't be arrested. At the same time, another officer fired a cable at Percy, intending to pull him out of the way, but the Waterbender jumped aside.
The lead officer jumped at Korra, intending to tackle her to the ground, but Naga slammed into him, sending him off course and landing on the road.
Upon seeing this, the other officers jumped into action. Percy and Korra jumped on Naga's back, Luna following closely after them and settling between Percy and Korra, and they made their escape, with the police officers close behind.
A police chase had started.
"This is all your fault!" Korra shouted at Percy sitting behind her as they turned a corner onto a crowded, narrower street.
"My fault?! How is this my fault! You got us into this mess!" rebuffed Percy, who was holding on for dear life.
"I didn't get us into this mess, you did! You didn't know where you were going and led us there!" said Korra.
"And that's my fault?" Percy exclaimed.
"Yea – Ahh!" Korra started, before crying out in pain.
One of the officers followed them to a small bridge where he shot his cable at the fleeing group which wrapped itself around Korra's ponytail, eliciting a cry of pain from the Avatar when it was pulled.
"Dick move, officer! You don't grab a woman's hair like that!" Percy yelled as he bent the water from the river below them into a wave. He solidified it into ice behind them, trapping the cable. The officer, unable to avoid the obstacle, crashed into the newly formed ice wall, his cable letting go, and allowing the group to escape.
"Thanks," Korra said softly.
"You're welcome. And I didn't hear you offering any alternatives! All I remember is Naga leading with her nose, and you following her!" Percy argued.
"Oh! So, it's Naga's fault then, huh!" Korra shouted.
"I didn't say that."
"Then it's mine!?"
"I didn't say that! Watch out!" he shouted, alerting Korra to an incoming sato-mobile.
"Then it's yours!?" Korra yelled as if nothing had happened.
"Now who's going in circles?" Percy asked wryly.
They ran through oncoming traffic, likely causing numerous accidents and barely avoiding walking pedestrians. More Metalbending officers were following them, sliding along cables crisscrossing the city. Korra veered Naga to the right and jumped off a bridge, landing atop a train, and almost falling off in the process.
They stayed on; however, Luna did slip off. She landed softly next to the larger polar bear dog, ready to keep running on foot. Percy helped steady Korra who was breathing heavily while resting on Naga's head.
Looking right, they could clearly see Air Temple Island out in the middle of the bay. A winding pathway from a wooden dock, leading up to the main temple of the island, which looked more like a lighthouse now that they could see it clearly. It was a large white cylindrical spire, rising high above the rest of the island with a blue roof. They could also make out other, smaller buildings surrounding the spire. They were more difficult to make out, but they shared the white and blue color scheme of the main temple. The island itself was covered in trees and other vegetation, and the temples were situated atop a steep rocky cliff face.
Another shrill siren could be heard from in front of them as another airship moved to hover above them. The train they were on was going to turn and put them in the path of the airship. Seeing a nearby rooftop, Korra spurred Naga forward, intending to jump the gap between the train and the building's roof. Luna was following close behind.
"Korra, polar bear dogs don't fly," Percy reminded her nervously.
"Shut up and watch," Korra snapped back.
Eventually, they reached the jump point and leapt. Naga leaving the train with a powerful jump, followed closely by Luna. Naga landed on the adjacent rooftop, but just as she touched down, was wrapped up in metal cables from the overhead airship.
Luna made the jump also and started barking at the teens on Naga's back.
"Get to the island Luna! Don't worry about us," shouted Percy upon seeing and hearing his lifelong friends distressed barks.
Another set of cables came down and wrapped around Korra and Percy before they could try to free Naga. After struggling in their bindings for a bit, both teens eventually slumped, admitting defeat.
"Guess I was wrong. Polar bear dogs can fly," Percy said, just loud enough for Korra to hear him.
She threw her head back in response, hitting Percy in the face and eliciting a cry of pain from the bound Waterbender.
When they arrived at police headquarters, Naga was taken to a police shelter away from the other teens. Korra was put in a very secure looking room with no visible doorway, and a large metal table in the middle of it.
She got one last look at Percy before the room was closed off, blocking anyone from looking in or out of it.
Percy, on the other hand, after being put in handcuffs, was taken to another metal room. Like Korra's room, this one had a large table inside. Unlike Korra's room, this one did not look as heavily secured. It also had an actual door.
A little while later, the police officer they first encountered entered the room with a clipboard. He sat down in a chair opposite Percy.
"I'm Captain Saikhan, Republic City Metalbending Police Force. You are in quite a lot of trouble young man. Not as much as your friend, but still," he said, introducing himself.
Percy immediately perked up at the mention of Korra. She had been silent for most of the trip here, and she looked worried when he last saw her. "Is Korra okay?" he asked.
"She didn't look injured, if that's what you were wondering," the officer, captain Saikhan replied.
"One of your officers pulled her hair," Percy reminded him.
"After she had evaded arrest," the captain replied smoothly, not missing a beat. "Which brings me to you. Like I told you, you were impeding a police officer as they were making an arrest. It's not a serious crime, given the circumstances, but it still warrants you being held in police custody for a time. And like I said, it wouldn't have been for long. Now, if that was all you had done, then you'd most likely be out of here by the end of the day. But, when you attempted to escape with your friend there, you joined her in some of her own charges," captain Saikhan said while flipping through some papers on his clipboard.
Percy scoffed, "And what charges would they be?" he asked.
Saikhan looked up at him, "When you two escaped, you ran through a few shop stands. That's, at most, minor destruction of private property. Then there was that bending stunt at the river. That one's still up in the air, because while you didn't do it with the intention to cause physical harm to anyone, a police officer still received injuries as a result of it. It's a bit of a grey area we're still not quite sure how we want to handle, but we can't overlook it," Saikhan explained professionally. "And then of course, we have evading arrest. The first three got you in trouble, but that one's going to keep you in trouble," Saikhan finished.
Percy bowed his head in contemplation after Saikhan had finished explaining. "What kind of trouble?" he asked neutrally.
After a moment, Saikhan replied, "That has yet to be determined. For now, though, let's talk about you. What's your name?" he asked, producing a pen from his pocket.
"Master Percy," Percy replied with a smirk.
Saikhan raised his eyebrow at the inclusion of the honorific. Percy knew it wasn't needed, but he just couldn't help himself.
"Master, eh? Waterbender, I presume," Saikhan said while scribbling some notes on his clipboard.
Percy's smirk grew. "What gave it away?" he asked sarcastically.
Saikhan didn't respond. Instead, he asked, "Who taught you bending?"
"Master Katara."
Saikhan nodded. "So, you're from the Southern Water Tribe?" he asked.
It was Percy's turn to nod. "We just got here this morning, I think," he said in contemplation.
Saikhan looked up at him suspiciously. "You think?"
Percy shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't actually checked the time. We only got here today though," he explained.
Saikhan nodded in understanding, writing something else on the paper.
"How did your girlfriend's confrontation with the Triple Threats start?" he asked.
Percy blushed madly at what Saikhan referred to Korra as. "She's not my girlfriend," he mumbled quietly. "And we were lost and were about to ask for directions when their sato-mobile turned onto the street. Everyone ran and hid and we watched as those three gangsters started harassing and threatening a shop owner. The owner tried to offer them one of his phonographs, but they destroyed it, started threatening the owner, and that's when Korra intervened," Percy explained.
Saikhan hummed in acknowledgement and wrote something else on the clipboard. "You were asking for directions? Where were you two headed?" he asked.
"Air Temple Island. We would've gone immediately, but we were hungry," Percy said.
"Air Temple Island isn't really open to the public; you know. Why were you two headed there?" he inquired.
"Korra needs to learn Airbending. Tenzin claims he's the only one who can teach her, so we came here so that she could learn," Percy answered.
After writing something else on the clipboard, he asked again, "To sate my own curiosity, there was another animal with you, and I'm not talking about the polar bear dog. What was it, and what happened to it?" he asked.
Percy smiled softly at the mention of Luna. "Her name's Luna. She's a wolf, and when you caught us, I told her to go get Tenzin on the island."
"Wolf?" Saikhan asked, perplexed.
Percy chuckled at his reaction, "Everyone reacts the same when they first meet her," he remarked.
"Huh. You sent her to go get Councilman Tenzin?" Percy nodded. "Do you really think she'll do it?" he asked.
Just then there was a knock on the door, and the voice of another officer came through.
"Captain Saikhan? Councilman Tenzin is here," he said.
Percy looked at Saikhan, smirking smugly.
"Huh, what do you know," he remarked, standing to welcome the Republic City councilman.
The door opened revealing Tenzin with a cool expression. But one look into his eyes could reveal the anger he was barely supressing. Luna immediately ran into the room, jumping onto Percy and knocking him off the chair, landing roughly on the floor, laughing and rolling as he was assaulted by Luna's tongue.
"Huh, wolf," Saikhan said to himself. He turned to greet the Councilman, "Councilman Tenzin. What can I do for you?" he asked professionally.
"Truly not much, captain Saikhan. I was made aware that master Perseus was in Republic City and came to greet him," he said, saying Percy's full name to further emphasise his irate anger at the situation. As usual, Percy winced at the mention of his full name. "But imagine my surprise when I learned that the Avatar was also in Republic City, and not in the south pole where she ought to be," Tenzin finished, speaking more to Percy than he was to captain Saikhan.
Taking a deep breath to calm his temper, he spoke once again to Saikhan, "In light of this, I've come to collect the Avatar and her companions, and to take responsibility for any troubles they caused."
"You'll have to take it up with the chief first, Sir. She's in with the Avatar right now. I can take you to her if you'd like?" Saikhan offered, making his way towards the door, taking his clipboard with him.
"In a moment. I'd like a word with master Perseus first, if you wouldn't mind," Tenzin said, eyes never leaving the downed Waterbender, still pinned to the ground by the wolf.
Nodding, Saikhan said, "I'll be outside. Knock when you're ready," before leaving, closing the door behind him.
For a moment, nothing was said between the two masters, before Tenzin exhaled tiredly. "Perseus, what are you and Korra doing here? I thought I specifically told you two to not come to Republic City," he said.
"Well, we disagreed with you, so we decided to go looking for another Airbending master to teach Korra. But once again, the only ones who can teach her are here, in Republic City. And can you please not call me that?" he said from his position on the floor.
By now, Luna had stopped licking his face, but was now laying prone atop his chest, preventing him from getting up. When he tried to, a low growl from the wolf was all it took to keep him down and make her happy.
"Alright, so you landed in Republic City. Why didn't you just go straight to Air Temple Island? Because then we'd be avoiding all this mess," Tenzin inquired.
"You can blame Naga for that. She was hungry," Percy answered nonchalantly.
"Naga was hungry? Are you sure it wasn't you that was hungry and smelt something savoury?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup! Y'know why? Because Naga leads with her nose, I lead with my stomach and occasionally my brain on a part time basis, Korra with her fists and Luna–" he was cut off by another low growl from the wolf on his chest "–By her superior instincts and intellect?" he said, hoping to appease his captor. It seemed to have worked as she calmed down immediately after.
"Spoiled wolf," Percy muttered.
Luna opened her eyes and glared at her current mattress.
Percy averted his eyes.
Luna closed her eyes.
"So," Tenzin said, getting Percy's attention, "You got hungry–" "Naga was hungry," Percy mumbled, which Tenzin ignored, "–And then what happened?"
"Then, we realized that we didn't have any money," Percy answered quietly.
"And then?"
"Then we got lost."
"And then?"
"You're looking at it," Percy finished flatly.
Tenzin sighed tiredly. "Stay here. I'm going to go see if I can sort this mess out. Don't move," he said, rapping his knuckles on the door, which opened soon after.
"Very funny baldy. Hey, how's that stick?" Percy called out as the door was being closed. He couldn't see it, but everyone else in the police headquarters was treated to the sight of Councilman Tenzin, one of the last Airbenders, and the only master Airbender in the world, turning as red as his cape.
A while later, Tenzin would return with an annoyed looking Avatar, who laughed when she saw the position he was still in. Even the stoic and frustrated Tenzin cracked a small smile at the sight.
Once they extracted the master Waterbender from his furry captor, the four of them made their way to the shelter to pick up the last of their troupe.
While they were waiting for the handler to get Naga, Korra and Percy were trying to convince Tenzin to let them stay in Republic City, as opposed to sending them back to the south pole.
"Tenzin, please, don't send us back home," Korra pleaded.
"You blatantly disobeyed my wishes and the orders of the White Lotus. You also managed to get yourselves arrested within hours of your arrival. Quite impressive, I must say. Which is why I think it's best that you both leave the city," he told them calmly.
"Katara gave us her blessing to go. She said we had a responsibility to help, and that our destinies lie in Republic City," Percy tried to reason with his fellow master.
"Don't bring my mother into this!" Tenzin said angrily, raising his voice a little.
"Tenzin, I can't wait any longer to finish my training. Being cooped up and hidden away from the world isn't helping me become a better Avatar," Korra said passionately.
"We explained all this and more back at the south pole. But now, you can make a decision without the White Lotus breathing down your neck about it," Percy said, supporting his friend and still trying to reason with the Airbender.
"Exactly! We saw a lot of the city today, and it's totally out of whack."
"That's an understatement," Percy added.
"You were right about you needing to be here, and I understand that now. Republic City does need you, but it needs us too," Korra finished confidently, hoping she broke through to the stubborn man.
Tenzin was stammering as a result of their two-pronged arguments. He was saved from having to rebuff their arguments by the timely arrival of the handler walking over to them with Naga on a lead. His hair was spiking out in every direction, caused by Naga licking it.
They took the ferry back to Air Temple Island, where the plan was that they'd meet up with a White Lotus ship which would take the group, consisting of Korra, Percy, Naga and Luna, back to the south pole.
When they got there, the White Lotus ship was already waiting, with a group of White Lotus sentry's ready to receive them.
It was a sad and silent affair for the two teens, as their spree in Republic City seemed certain to be at an end.
Sighing sadly, and with Percy's arm wrapped around her waist, Korra started walking to the end of the dock to the awaiting White Lotus sentry's. Percy walked with her, equally as morose, with Luna and Naga following them.
After a few steps, the Airbending kids swooped down and landed in front of them excitedly.
"Korra!" they all exclaimed happily, running up to the older teens and enveloping them in a hug.
Despite the melancholy affair, Percy managed a small smirk. "What about me? Who's gunna say my name?" he asked sarcastically.
"You're just the Avatar's partner!" said Meelo, in his characteristically blunt and uncaring way.
"Wow. That hurt man," Percy said in faux sadness.
Despite her own feelings, Korra managed a low chuckle and smirk at the youngest Airbenders comment.
Ikki looked up at the older teens with a hopeful expression. "Are you coming to live with us on the island?" she asked excitedly.
This sobered the teens up immediately. Crouching down, they began to explain that they wouldn't be staying, much to the children's disappointment.
Tenzin, seeing this, thought back to Percy's words at the shelter. About how he now had a chance to make a decision for the Avatar without the White Lotus's opinion or influence.
Right before the teens reached the sentry's, symbolically surrendering themselves back to the Order of the White Lotus, Tenzin stopped them.
"Wait."
Surprised, the teen's turned back to face Tenzin, curious and hopeful expressions on their faces.
"I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it," he said, walking up to stand right in front of Korra and Percy, his eyes never leaving the young Avatars. "But you are right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy, but you are his legacy," he said, placing his hand on a disbelieving Korra's shoulder. "You may stay and train Airbending here with me. Republic City needs its Avatar once again," he finished.
"Yes! Thank you!" Korra exclaimed happily, cheering in victory. "You're the best," she said breathlessly. She then wrapped everyone up in a hug, comically lifting them all into the air as the Airbending kids all cheered in celebration.
Also enveloped in the hug, Percy leaned over to Tenzin and, whispering so softly that only the master Airbender would be able to hear, said "Good luck."
A/N
The whole "Impeding a police officer" law, I just made that up. I have no idea if it's a thing or not. Same with most of that section.
Nothing much to say here really. Sorry it took so long, but between university, my other story (which is still my main focus), and life in general, updates will happen when they happen.
This was the rest of episode 1: Korra and Percy arrive in the city, they don't have any money, got chased by the police, discovered the Equalists, met the local gangsters, got chased by the police again, got arrested and managed to convince Tenzin to let them stay.
If you have any ideas that you think I should incorporate, please let me know.
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AyeEnfield