Part 2 - Order

The Magnificent Turtle Duck flew across the skies as Republic City came into view, only for said view to be directed to the decrepit, desolate as ever Derelict Estate.

While Kang descended towards the metal tunnel which entered his Lab, Claire glanced over at the harbour, spying Water Tribe boats and tents set up on the beaches of the City, "What's the Northern Tribe doing here?"

Kang, too glanced over to the campsite, "They weren't here when we left..."

The wings retracted as the Magnificent Turtle Duck nosedived into the metal tunnel, entering The Hanger and slowly hovering before safely descending onto a platform, "Welcome back to the Republic, you two!"

"I half expected to be returning here," Ghazi said as they stood up and exited The Magnificent Turtle Duck.

The four walked into the lab, still the same as when Claire was last there, the scent of fire and pickles filling the air.

Kang waltzed over to his workbench, where a metallic arm stood propped up, catching the Avatar's intrigue as he picked it up.

"This is a prosthetic arm. I've been working on them for a good decade or so. I'm trying to design it so that a person can still bend when missing an arm."

"How does it work?"

"I've built artificial chi paths within the arm since chi is the root of bending; if a person loses an arm, they can connect with the natural ones, and the person can still bend! Some of the older ones were only used for testing, and overall shouldn't really be used."

"That's an interesting invention... but why would you need a prosthetic?" Khana asked.

He turned his attention to the Kyoshi Warrior, "Because when you're me, you never know when you'll need a spare arm!"

"Does it explode like your other inventions?" Ghazi asked

"Those Silver Bananas were supposed to explode!"

"And what about 'The Timekeeper Tower'?"

Kang puckered his lips, "... Okay, you got me."

The embarrassed Inventor faced the wall his workbench stood against, pressing a blue button and making a metal panel slide away to reveal more prosthetic arms. But as the board fully opened, Kang gasped and dropped the Prosthetic he held. Fortunately, Claire reacted quickly and broke the arm's fall with a gust of wind.

He grappled the sides of his hair, near enough pulling them out by the roots, "Oh, this is not good!"

"What's wrong?" Claire asked as She, Ghazi and Khana approached.

"My blade bending prototype is missing!"

"... The what?" They asked.

He turned around and picked up the fallen prosthetic, "It was a prototype of this!"

"And the blade part?" Claire asked.

"Well, I had the theory that instead of bending the elements with your hands and feet, you could do it with a blade."

"And what gave you that idea?" Khana asked.

"Staying up late gives me bizarre ideas and theories."

They blankly stared at him as Claire whiffled her head, "Do you know who could have stolen it?"

He turned back to his creations, "No... The Zu family know to stay out of here... that means someone knows about this place, someone I don't know."

"You could go ask Lin if anyone's seen a... blade arm," Khana said.

Kang turned back around, "Good idea! Ghazi, you come with me! Claire, I can tell you want to go visit your people. Have fun!"

"Why? Is this Avatar trying to kill you too?"

He shuffled behind and shimmied him away to the elevator, "No, and for the record, Aang wasn't trying to kill me."

"What about me!?" Khana asked.

"Go with Claire!"

The elevator door closed as a nervous Khana turned to Claire, the two staring at each other as a brief air of silence dawned on them, "Well, let's go!"

The two made way to the Northern Water Tribe camp, and upon arrival, they found Governor Sheng still in his blue robes and slicked back hair trying to get inside, but to no avail. Armed and armoured guards prevented him from going any further than their post by crossing their spears before him.

"You cannot just set up a camp here! You don't even have permission from the City!"

But the guards remained silent as Claire and Khana approached the hapless Governor, "Whining like a boiled kettle as usual, aye?"

"ALRIGHT, WHO HAS THE BAL-" He twisted around, "Oh, Avatar. Hello... You're from the North, right? Perhaps you can convince them to move elsewhere."

The guard separated their spears, "Avatar, Chief Unalaq has been awaiting your arrival!"

Sheng glared over his shoulder, "Oh, they do speak..."

Claire observed the guards, then turned to the Governor, "I'll see if I can convince the Chief to move, or at least make it, so the camp doesn't impede the citizens."

"Much appreciated, Avatar!"

The ladies strode towards the camp, but as Khana followed behind, the guards blocked her way, "Only the Avatar and members of the Northern Tribe may enter!"

She grimaced and groaned at the guards, "I guess I'll keep the Governor company."

"Correct!"

Claire silently apologised to her as she proceeded into the camp. Khana shrugged and sat down on a bench with Governor Sheng.

She ventured into the camp, familiar faces scattered among the people there as she stood among the encampment's centre, noticing a luxurious tent surrounded by other, less extensive ones. She approached it and stuck her hand inside, "Hello! Chief Unalaq? It's Claire; I was told you were waiting for me."

Unalaq quizzically stared at The Avatar's hand as it spoke her words for her like a fleshy puppet, "Come in... Claire!"

She brushed aside the tent opening, stepping inside to find him standing before her. His straw-like hair brown and long, with two strands dangling at the sides of his face, less wrinkly than she remembered and his eyes an odd shade of blue.

Navy blue robes with a fluffy white collar draped over his entire torso and upper legs. His pants were the same navy blue colour as his robes, and his boots dark brown with a silky lining.

She bowed to him, "It's good to see you again, Chief!"

"And you, Claire!"

He walked over to a wooden chair and sat down while raising his right hand to a seat beside him, inviting her to sit with him, which Claire wholeheartedly accepted.

"What brings you to Republic City?"

"It is a dire matter... and one I fear only you can solve... I'm afraid Talos has gone mad!"

Claire slanted her eyebrows and leant forward, "Mad? How so?"

"Shortly after your departure all those years ago, he too left... only to return four years later and try to strike me down... luckily myself and a company of soldiers managed to fend him off before he fled into the Spirit Oasis."

She leant back and crossed her arms, "What... would make him do that?"

"I... am unsure, a Spirit may have infected him, and if that is the case, his corruption may have spread!"

"Whilst travelling to the Eastern Air Temple, some off-putting spirits attacked my friends and me."

"I see," he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as his eyes softly shut, "...so it is as I feared."

Claire leant forward, "How do we go about resolving this spirit and Talos situation?"

He sat back up and relaxed his shoulders with a deep breath, "I have heard of a Spirit portal hidden deep beneath Whale-tail Island, we must venture through it and into The Nexus, from there, we can access the Spirit World."

She perked up, raising a perplexed eyebrow to the Chief, "That's not something you just hear about..."

Unalaq turned away at the sound of her suspicion riddled voice and grabbed a flask of water to drink and quickly regain his composure, finally tipping it away from him with a light sigh.

"A professor from the University of Ba Sing Se visited the North Pole recently; he was the one who informed me of it."

Claire slanted her gaze, "Do you know where he got this information?"

Unalaq settled the flask down on the table, "He claimed he found it in a Library; he refused to specify, though."

The two continued to converse whilst Kang and Ghazi searched the City for the missing invention.

The two men strode into City Hall with Kang leading the way to Lin's office, and upon reaching a metal door, he rhythmically knocked, and after a short pause, the door swung open to reveal Lin lowering her hand.

"Hello there!" Kang greeted her.

She smiled, "Kang! How are you holding up?"

"I'm feeling better now, but I have a question."

She affixed her steely glare on him, "What's happened?"

"Something from my... workshop has gone missing... I was wondering if you've seen anyone running around with a prosthetic... blade... arm..?"

Lin's eyebrow raised, "No one's reported any... blade arms... why do you even have a blade arm?"

He confidently flexed his arms, "You never know when you'll need a spare limb!"

"And the blade part?"

"Experimental... bending style?"

Despite her intrigue, she brushed off the topic, "I'll let you know if any reports on... blade arms come in."

"Thank you!" The two began leaving as Lin lowered her gaze to a desk of reports.

But Kang quickly turned back around, "How are the inventions I shared with you and the City Guard treating you?"

She peered up at him, "The crime rate has dropped significantly since you provided us that technology boost."

"I'm glad to hear it!"

He and Ghazi attempted to leave again, but Kang turned around once more, "And by the way-" "Kang!" Lin cut him off with a soft glare.

He peeked down at the reports and nervously chuckled, "Oh, right- Apologies!"

The men left, hearing Lin shut the door behind them with a mighty metal slam as the Mad Inventor let out an infatuated sigh.

"Your infatuation is showing, Inventor."

"Oh, I know, Ghazi. I know!"

As they entered the main hall, he hummed, "Are you two together, or have you not made a move?"

Kang leant against the back of a pew, "I, uh... haven't no, but after helping boost the City Guard, I think I'm slowly getting on her good side; then I'll make my move."

"And by then, you'll both be old, withered and wondering, 'Should I make my move now?'"

Kang grumbled as they exited City Hall, striding out onto the bustling streets, chatter, clamouring footsteps and rolling cartwheels filling the air.

"I'm not good at... well... socialising, so just outright going up to her and saying 'Hey, Lin wanna go on a date?' isn't as easy as it sounds."

The two strode together whilst Ghazi brushed aside passerbys, "It sounds simple enough."

Kang sighed, "Oh boy, I wish it was."

"If only you were as confident in your socialising as you are in your Fire-bending."

"Alright, alright, just drop it already, we have a..." he looked around and perked his lips to Ghazi's ear, "Blade arm to find."

The two continued searching, and as they investigated, Ghazi took in a giant sniff, a snorff that could be heard from across the City, and while citizens stared at him, he gazed down an alleyway and tapped Kang on the shoulder.

"Inventor, I believe we have a lead."

He turned his attention to him as he walked over to a severed arm on the ground. The Mad Inventor knelt and picked it up, observing the arm and sniffing it, immediately jerking back in disgust, "This is definitely a week old at the least."

"I could have told you that"

Kang continued observing the arm and raised an eyebrow to Ghazi, "Then why didn't you?!"

"I thought letting you do the honours would be amusing."

Kang grumbled as he shot back up.

"We have a lead, at least... the Blade arm's probably been missing for a week and in possession of whoever this belongs to," Ghazi said.

He observed the arm and hummed to himself, "although... this arm belonged to a Water Tribe man!" Kang replied.

Ghazi stared at the arm, then to him, "How can you tell?"

"The colour of the skin is similar to that of the Water Tribe's people, and the size and shape of the muscles would determine this is a male's arm."

Ghazi hummed and raised an eyebrow, "I see your intelligence goes beyond inventing. But how are you so sure it's a man's arm?"

"Well, muscle generally equates to physical strength, and as women are overall weaker than men, with a few notable exceptions, it's safe to say whoever this belonged to is a man."

"Surprising. There is logic amongst all your madness."

Kang nodded and threw the severed arm into a trash can before they strolled back to the derelict estate.

Claire exited Unalaq's tent, the Sun setting over the horizon as she strolled out of the camp and stood before a sleeping Sheng and Khana, making a mischievous thought creep into her mind. She pulled water up from the ocean, forming a bubble over the top of them and slowly letting the water leak out, the chilling drips rousing the resting Kyoshi Warrior.

She swiftly erected a rock tent above her and Sheng at the sight of the bubble, noticing the Avatar stood before them, "Oh, Claire. What took you so long?"

She nudged Sheng as the Governor rubbed his eyes, "Ah, Avatar! How did it go?"

"Chief Unalaq... said he'll move the tents to be against the walls as to not interfere with the commute of citizens."

"That is far from what I asked for!"

Claire tossed a sack of gold to him, "And he also said if you objected, to give you this!"

The Governor peeked inside, spying a hundred gold pieces within, "You know what, I'm fine with it."

He stood up from the bench, "I should get back to city hall. Good evening, Avatar, good evening Khana, and good luck with your... situations!"

He made his way back to city hall as Khana stood up from the bench and waltzed over to Claire.

"That was... weird."

"Yes, very weird." Khana hesitantly laughed, "How did things go with the chief?"

But despite the perky questioning, she silently stared off into the distance, "It was... odd. And apparently, an old friend of mine's out causing trouble."

"Any idea where he is?"

"In the Spirit World Apparently... either way, let's get back to Kang's lab!"

The two made their way to the Derelict estate, strolling through the decrepit site and descending into the lab to find Kang and Ghazi had already returned.

Kang rested in a chair, his ears plugged whilst Ghazi performed maintenance on his runic hammer, stopping, and turning his attention to the ladies, "Finally, you two are here."

He gently placed his hammer down and approached them, the two raising an eyebrow as he stood before them.

"I require your aid with a plan."

"What do you need help with?" Claire quietly asked.

Ghazi turned to Kang, noting his earbuds before pitching his idea to the two, their words dampening against the resting Inventor's ears.