Zaheer took another drag from his cigarette. "The avatar is becoming too dangerous," he thought to himself. Ming-Hua and Ghazan happily chatted in the front of the getaway truck. P'li put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll be alright," she said. "It's not them I'm worried about." All of a sudden, Korra and Asami jumped into the back of the truck. "Drive." Asami commanded, firmly, but calm. "Was the raid successful?" Zaheer asked. Korra giggled. "It's going to be a long time before the Quadruple Threat Triads try anything again."
Quadruple Threat Triad. The name didn't have quite the same ring to it as Triple Threat Triad but the organization had become even more dangerous when the spirit-portals became unblocked and air benders spontaneously emerged. The organization wasted no time in recruiting as many airbenders as possible knowing that defensive techniques against airbending had been mostly forgotten. Meanwhile their operations had expanded. It was rumored they were performing human trafficking, but thankfully, these rumors were unsubstantiated. What was confirmed was that they were manufacturing and distributing a drug known as euphoria. It enhanced the bending-powers of all who took it and also lead to its namesake, causing many benders and non-benders alike to enter into delirium and delusions of grandeur.
Speaking of. Asami was climbing on top of Korra, sitting on her lap, about ready to kiss. Zaheer had no problem with homosexuality, but seeing his de facto adopted daughters in a relationship with each other never quite sat right with him, but he knew there was nothing he could do. "The raid was supposed to last five minutes. A get in, get out job. You took ten." The reason became abundantly obvious. Both Korra and Asami looked in his direction. Even in the low light, Zaheer could see their pupils dilated and as large as dinner plates. They were, as the kids would say, geeked out.
Chief Bei-Fong took another sip of her tea. It was 6am and she had been in since 3. The most dangerous terrorist organization, The Red Lotus, had raided the HQ of the most dangerous criminal cartel, the Quadruple Threat Triad. Lin would not have to try very hard to not feel sorry for the cartel. As far as she was concerned, the trash was taking itself out. She once again read the Red Lotus leaflet.
Citizens of Republic City!
The Quadruple Threat Triad trafficks your daughters and sells euphoria to your sons!
Have the police done anything?
Of course not!
Where there is money to be made, there are politicians and policemen to be bought!
We will rid Republic City of this scourge!
We will take over Republic City!
Then we will rid the world of the menace known as "the state"!
Come join your local Red Lotus cell today!
It then gave time and date of the Red Lotus raid on the Quadruple Threat Triad HQ, taunting not just the criminal organization, but the police themselves who did not know the location of the HQ. The two groups had a non-aggression pact for some time. Why Zaheer was choosing to no longer honor this pact was one of the many mysteries to be solved.
Lin recollected the details in her mind. It was The Lovers who did this. The two most dangerous members of the Red Lotus. One was a water tribeswoman who could bend all of the elements and enter the avatar state. It did not take a skilled detective to know who that was. A decade or so after Korra's kidnapping, Korra was performing operations for her kidnappers, for some reason. The myriad searches for the Earth Kingdom avatar were called off. The world breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the avatar cycle had not ended, which had been one of the state goals of the Red Lotus for quite some time. After seeing how deadly the rogue avatar was, some people wondered if maybe it would not have been better if it really was ended.
The other person was more mysterious. A non-bender who was just as dangerous as any bender. Always clad in combat gadgets that were rumored to be created by herself. A woman of striking beauty with pale skin and black hair. They were called The Lovers because they would often kiss in the middle of combat. Mocking their enemies and society's heteronormative values.
Based on intelligence reports, the Quadruple Threat Triads gave a strong public face while arming to the teeth to prepare for their raid, but it had been all for naught. By the time the police got to the Quadruple Threat Triad HQ, located underneath a 100 Years War monument, all of the Triads had been neutralized, to put it mildly. Millions Yuans' worth merchandise had been destroyed. Some of the Triads had pissed themselves. All were taken into custody and Lin was about to interrogate one of them.
Lee was a petty criminal turned soldier for the Triads. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. In return for amnesty he was willing to talk about the raid. "M-my partner was a firebender. He told me that he wasn't afraid of them. He asked what a couple of degenerate girls could possibly do to us? Oh man. We found out. Our job was to guard the stuff." "The stuff?" Lin asked.
"The euphoria. Contained in 208 liter oil drums. Well, I was ready with my earthbending and he was ready with his firebending. The avatar just yawned and said we weren't worth her time. That's when her partner showed up. Even with our best moves, we couldn't do anything To her. She was too fast and too smart. She saw our moves from a mile away. She shocked me and I was paralyzed. My partner got angry and called her a slur, and she, and she-" "She what?" "She snapped his neck." Lee began to cry.
"They kinda forgot about me. That's when the avatar tossed the lid off of one of the drums, and licked its contents, a white powder. She says to her partner, 'I've got a crazy idea.' and snorted some of it. Her eyes began to glow, it was the freakiest thing I had ever seen. Her partner snorted some as well and they began to make out and touch each other sexually, as if they didn't just kill a guy a minute before. That's when the vanguard of the Triads came and-" "And...?"
"No less than one hundred benders. The avatar took care of most of them, but her partner did a lot of heavy lifting to. Against these freaks on euphoria, our guys stood no chance. Only time the avatar got hurt was when she hallucinated something and said 'Not now, Kyoshi.' I don't know what the fuck that means."
"Anything else?" Lin asked. "Yeah. The avatar said the name of her partner." Lin's eyes shot wide. This was a break in the mystery of The Lovers that she needed. "What was it?" "A-sam-i."
"It's your job to keep the avatar on a leash!" Lin yelled at Wong, the White Lotus liaison who worked as part of the Avatar Task Force. She did this at least once a week. Wong was a stoic who never reacted but her police officers were now adept at tuning it out as well. "Not only was she a one-woman weapon of mass-destruction before, but now she has access to unknown quantities of euphoria!" Lin rubbed her temple. "She has mastered all four elements and the avatar state without the White Lotus. What use even is the White Lotus anymore?" Wong peered at her. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't ask myself the same question."
Wong did his usual weekly routine. He went to his favorite Pai Sho parlor, the best in Republic City. He ordered two cups of their finest tea and one copy of the Republic City Morning Post, whose headline was still about the raid, even days later. He skipped straightaway to the sports page reading about pro bending when a middle-aged short, muscular, bald man wearing plain clothes sat down across from him. "This week, you make the first move, Zaheer."
They played a few moves. "The Ozai opening? More aggressive than your usual play style." Zaheer did not respond. They played a few more moves. Zaheer was beginning to cede territory. "You are playing more sloppily than normal. Is anything on your mind?" "The avatar." Wong played a piece. "It's always the avatar isn't it? Decades later and I still don't understand how you kidnapped her." Zaheer made a bold move and began to capture some territory. "Then you are not asking the correct question. The real question is, why did I pivot from ending the avatar cycle to using the avatar?" "Have you?" Wong asked. "It is not up to me." Zaheer responded.
Zaheer continued. "I had the plan in place long before Aang's death. Get Red Lotus members menial jobs within the avatar's compound. Build trust, and when the moment was right, strike." Zaheer played a piece. "I was just some nobody in the compound, doing odd jobs, when Korra came up to me crying, asking what life was like outside the compound. She told me that she was excited to be the avatar, but hated it once she found out she had been robbed of a normal life."
"It was then that you realized the avatar is a human being and that killing an innocent life would be wrong?" Zaheer captured more territory. "The avatar is more than a human being. A symbol. The bridge between the human and spirit worlds. As long as the avatar exists, they cannot help but be a puppet for the state in some way. Just like the White Lotus." "Which is why you decided to leave the White Lotus after becoming my star pupil?" "Precisely." Zaheer won the game. "Same time next week?"
Korra and Asami both did a line of euphoria, made love, and fell asleep, still buzzing. Unbeknownst to them, euphoria was made from the spirit-vines that were taking over the city. In their sleep, they were transported to the spirit-world, where Kyoshi was waiting for them.
"Look at that, Asami. Kyoshi was feeling lonely so she's forcing us to spend time with her. Care for a threesome?" This made Kyoshi angry. "This is serious, Korra! Zaheer does not want what is best for you or the Sato girl!"
Asami was furious. "I am not a girl! And I am not a Sato anymore! I will not associate myself with my capitalist father anymore!" "You seemed more than happy to exact your revenge on the Triads!" "Yes. I am not the helpless little girl that they tried to kill because Hiroshi was too greedy to pay a little protection money. And unlike that fool, Amon, I have truly made non-benders equal. And I will help Korra and the Red Lotus ensure that all are made equal."
"What are you talking about?" Korra sneered. "Since none of my other past lives are talking to me, you'll have to tell them. The first step, well underway, is that I will cut myself off from all of my past lives so they can no longer talk to me, even if they wanted to." Korra then aggressively grabbed Asami and made out with her, just to remind Kyoshi of the earthly pleasures she could no longer have. "Go ahead and tell her step two, babe."
Asami looked at Kyoshi, the most feared avatar in history, with malice. "When Korra and I grow old, she will enter the avatar state and I will kill her, ending the avatar cycle once and for all. Without an avatar to keep balance, the states of the world will collapse, and the Red Lotus' vision will come to fruition. Zaheer's true brilliance was having the avatar make this decision for herself. This brilliance will cost him his life, however."
Kyoshi was utterly shocked, more than she had been at any moment in her life. "WAIT" but it was too late. Korra pulled herself and Asami out of the dream-spirit world and back into reality. Korra yawned. "What's the plan today, babe?" "Figure out how to disconnect yourself from your past lives, make plans to kill Zaheer and take over the Red Lotus," Asami said casually. "Sounds good! I'll fix up some tea!"