Here we are chapter three! Mandatory disclaimer; I own nothing yada, yada, OC's/Plot are mine yada, yada. Any comments/reviews/constructive criticism are all welcome and appreciated. Seriously people these things make a writer feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and greatly help with the writing process. Anyways on with the story!
PS: Chapter has been upgraded as of 2022.
3: Secrets
"Come on city boy; have some fun for once. Yeah, Mako lighten up." Mako grumbled to himself. Mentally cursing Korra, and Bolin as he wove through the early morning traffic as swiftly as possible.
It was six twenty-three in the morning, he was late for work, and if the massive migraine currently trying to split his skull didn't kill him; then Chief Beifong definitely would. With that in mind he revved his motorcycle, and with reflexes that belayed his hangover maneuvered rapidly through the nearly deadlocked traffic.
Before long he found himself rushing through the front doors of the Republic City police station.
"Now I remember why I don't drink." Mako muttered to himself as he sat down behind his desk, and began flipping through one of several case files piled on his desk. All the while hoping his absence hadn't been noticed by the chief. With a migraine this vindictive getting yelled at by Lin Beifong may actually kill him.
"Well, well, well; looks like the butler actually decided to show up to work today." called a smug voice behind him.
"Hey rookie how are those lovely exes of yours doing?" taunted another.
Rolling his amber eyes, the firebender turned to face his least favorite co-workers. Lu, and Gang.
Five years on the force, and the mustachioed duo were still messing with him. The fact that he had yet to scorch their ridiculous mustaches off was truly a testament to his self-control. Having been the mature one for nearly his entire life so far, there was hardly any reason to stop now. So rather than retaliate he merely took the jokes, swallowed his anger, and tried to give as good as he got.
"Shouldn't you two be munching on doughnuts at the mall right now?" Mako asked testily as he turned back to his case files, trying his best to ignore them.
"Ouch what's the matter hot shot? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Lu said with a grin behind his own desk across the aisle.
"Nah I think he's just still sore about both his exes preferring each other over him." Gang taunted next to his partner.
Before Mako could respond, or spirits forbid retaliate for the cheap shot; Saikahn called over from the elevator which led the top floor, and the main office. "Hey Mako! The chief wants to see you in her office. ASAP."
With his hopes of going unnoticed by the chief that morning thoroughly dashed; Mako set down his case files with a sigh, and stood up.
"Better run along rookie, you don't want to keep mom boss waiting." Chang said tauntingly as Lu laughed.
"Can it you two, or do I need to remind you of what happened last time the chief heard you call her that." Saikahn shot back with a smirk.
That little reminder shut them both up quickly. "Man, I thought black beauty would never grow back." Lu said covering his mustache protectively.
Rolling his eyes, the deputy police chief nodded respectfully to Mako as he passed him and entered the elevator. "Good luck kid, you're going to need it." He said as the doors closed.
"Thanks, Saikahn." Mako said returning the nod before sighing in resignation as he made his way to Lin's office.
He was happy that Korra, and Asami had each other. At least that's what he keeps telling himself. All the jokes at his expense didn't exactly help him believe it.
"You wanted to see me chief" Mako asked warily upon entering Lin's office.
"Close the door." Lin said calmly from behind her metal desk.
'She didn't call me rookie. That doesn't bode well.' Mako thought to himself as he followed her orders.
With the door closed he was left to stand silently before the chief of police; impeccably dressed in his officer's uniform' though it's officiality was slightly off-set by his hair which he now wore spiked once again. He had come to see Wu as a friend near the end of their time together. However, he would not miss that ridiculous uniform the prince made him wear. Hell, the first chance he got he had torched the damn thing. As for reverting to his old hair style, being mistaken for, or jokingly compared to General Iroh had gotten very old, very fast.
"Long night last night detective?" Lin asked, not even looking up from her own paperwork.
"Yes chief." Mako answered quickly.
"How Is the new 'Team Avatar' doing? Did you all have a good time?" She asked, sounding deceptively calm. Though having served under Lin Beifong for several years now, he'd long since learned otherwise.
"We did ma'am. It's been a while, but everyone is doing pretty good. Opal says hi, by the way." He responded casually. A rather dangerous tone to take with an irate Beifong, but hey; if the graves already been dug, then what's a few more feet?
Eyes narrowing dangerously, Lin set down the file she was reading, steepled her fingers, and leveled her steely gaze at the young man before her. "That's good to know. Was it enough fun to warrant being late to work?" She asked.
The question was obviously rhetorical, but before he could answer; Lin suddenly used her bending to draw a solid metal paper weight across her desk into her hand, and slammed it down hard on the steel desk. The loud metallic clang causing the fire bender to wince in pain.
"No ma'am." He conceded as his brain throbbed painfully inside his skull.
"And if your reaction is anything to go by; you are thoroughly hung over. Aren't you detective?" Lin pressed.
"Yes ma'am." He admitted. There's no point in denying it.
"I don't really care what you do with your time off Mako, or your nights after work. That's your business not mine. However, during work days, it is my business that you are here on time, and fully functional. You're one of my very best, and that is not a position you should take lightly. I expect more from you, so this had better not happen again. Do I make myself perfectly clear detective?"
"Crystal clear Chief Beifong." He answered resolutely.
"Now have you learned your lesson, or should I proceed to lecture you at a louder decibel?" Lin asked as she returned the majority of her attention to the file on her desk.
"No ma'am! That won't be necessary. It won't happen again." He said quickly.
"Good. Then we can get down to business." She said with a satisfied smirk. "Early this morning we received a rather surprising tip." She explained passing the open file in front of her over to him, her expression becoming more serious.
Stepping forward he picked it up, and swiftly browsed the report. "Future Industries?" Mako asked looking at Lin in surprise. She simply nodded her head.
"According to the tip Future Industries hasn't been paying their electric bill for the last ten months."
"How is that possible? I know Future Industries has had its hands pretty full for the last year, but paying the bills isn't exactly the kind of problem that falls through the cracks. Asami takes her company very seriously. She would never allow something like this to happen." Mako asserted.
"From what little digging we've done so far she didn't. According to the power company's records we haven't heard anything about it because there was no problem. While not paying your bills is illegal; having no bills to pay is not. According to their records future industries hasn't been using city power at all." Lin answered.
Mako raised a spiked eyebrow skeptically. "Are you kidding? Those factories and projects have been running practically 24-7 for almost a year. I know she's been working on alternative energy sources, but there's no way they could run everything on their own. If they aren't connected to the city's power grid then where's the power coming from?"
"That's what I want you to find out detective." Lin said.
Forced to contend with early morning traffic yet again, Mako rode his motorcycle through the congested streets.
Over the last four years the presence of future industries has greatly expanded throughout Republic City. Pretty understandable what with the corporation spearheading the city's extensive repairs and expansion. There were now over a dozen office buildings, seven factories, and numerous smaller businesses that could be located throughout the growing metropolis.
Through Asami's tireless efforts Future Industries had practically become the heart of republic city. It made no sense that the corporation wouldn't be dependent on the power company. He'd expect something like this from Varrick. Even reformed the man was still one of the shadiest of big businessman. Fortunately for Mako he was friends with the CEO, and with any luck Asami could answer this easily.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?" asked the receptionist as he entered the lobby of future industries headquarters.
"I'd like to speak with Miss Sato please. It's important." He answered professionally.
"One moment sir, I'll see if she is available." The receptionist said in an annoyingly cheery voice, with an equally annoying fake smile. "Miss Sato is currently meeting with the Avatar. Can ask who you are?" She asked after a moment while covering the phone.
"Tell her it's Mako." He pressed.
After a few more moments she hung up the phone, and turned back to him her fake smile still in place "Miss Sato will see you now. Please take the elevator to the top floor, her office is at the end of the hall."
"Thank you, Ms.," He glances at her name tag. "Joo dee." With a parting nod he followed her directions and took the elevator to the top floor.
Meanwhile across the street standing at the mouth of an alley was a tall, lean yet strong fire nation man wearing black and red long coat. His searing amber eyes narrowing as his target disappeared inside the lobby elevator. Gathered behind him, hidden by the early morning shadows was a group of men of various nationalities. Their eager gazes shifting excitedly between the sky scraper, and the firebender leading the operation. All of them waiting on pins and needles for the order to begin. "How much longer do we have to wait Shen?" Demanded a man of water tribe descent.
"Hold your ostrich-horses' boys. Everything's going according to plan, and all the pieces are nearly in place. Just five more minutes, and then the fun begins." Shen assured with a sinister grin.
"Hey Mako what brings you here?" Asami greeted with a smile as she leaned casually against the front of her desk.
"Yeah, what's up city boy?" Korra asked playfully from behind the CEO's desk, her feet propped up as she leaned back precariously in the luxurious office chair.
Avatar Korra, and Asami Sato. After everything they'd been through over the years, all the adventures, danger, and nearly every conceivable up and down life could throw at them; they'd made it through together. Along with Bolin they were undeniably the dearest people in the world to him.
Feeling glad to see the heiress wasn't to annoyed with having her personal time interrupted Mako returned the warm smile. "Official police business I'm afraid." He admitted ruefully.
"Oh really? In that case how can I help you officer?" Asami asked as she shooed the Avatar out of her chair, before taking a seat. An amused smile on her lips as Korra moved behind her, leaning against the back of the chair with her head resting on her crossed arms along the top.
"We received an interesting tip about future industries this morning." Mako said as he came to stand in front of her desk, his notebook pulled out, and pencil at the ready.
Asami quirked a delicate eyebrow "Oh really have we done something illegal?"
"No not illegal per say. Just highly unusual, and to strange to just write off. Apparently Future Industries has been running on fumes for the last ten months." He explained.
"What do you mean" Korra asked her brow furrowing in confusion.
"It means that wherever Future Industries is getting its power from it isn't from the Republic City power plant." Mako said looking Asami in her green eyes.
"Well one of our projects was working with hydro electric energy, which is only the first of several alternate energy sources we're developing here." Asami said calmly. Her face was a perfect mask of calm, revealing nothing. Mako frowned at the heiress's answer.
"That project was completed four months ago Asami, and we both know that one dam can't power your entire company. Where is all that energy coming from?"
Asami frowned now. "It's as you said Mako, Future Industries hasn't done anything illegal." Her tone was all business now with no trace of the friendliness from moments ago. "So, unless your official police business happens to have a warrant, I think we're done here. I have a prior obligation I'd like to get back to."
"Uh, hey? Does the prior obligation get a say in this?" Korra asked, waving her hand to get the two's attention, but before either Mako or Asami could retort an alarm began to blare loudly over the PA system.
Snatching the phone of her desk Asami quickly dialed several numbers. "Security what's going on?" She demanded.
There was a moment of static before a haggard voice responded. "There's been a break in mam, ten men, all of them benders by the look of it. They have breached the sub level!"
Asami's eyes widened at the report. "That's impossible' that level doesn't exist!"
"Tell them that Ms. Sato! They had a metal bender with them. We've managed to subdue him before he could fully open the way, but at least one intruder managed to slip through before we could cut them off. Security is doing its best to hold the rest of them back, but we can't hold the line for very much longer." The line suddenly cut off.
"Well, by the sound of things my official police business no longer needs a warrant." Mako said coldly as he turned on his heel heading purposefully towards the elevator with Korra and Asami swiftly following behind. The CEO only pausing a moment to grab a taser glove from her desk drawer.
After several tense, agonizingly slow minutes the elevator doors finally opened to reveal the utter anarchy the lobby had descended into.
Bursts of flame, jets of water, and chunks of what appeared to be the front sidewalk were flying everywhere as Asami's security team desperately tried to fend off the intruders, Triple Threat Triad enforcers by the number of different elements in play. All while Joo Dee hid fearfully beneath the reception desk, her annoyingly cheery smile long gone as she freaked out. Windows were shattered, furniture was broken, and the door to the emergency stairwell appeared to be torn right off its hinges.
Quickly taking stock of the situation Mako and Korra launched themselves into the fray, with finely honed combat skills swiftly brought to bear as years of combat training took hold.
Easily dispersing an enemy fire blast with a roundhouse; Mako swiftly took down the opposing firebender with a concussive fire blast of his own, knocking the man back into several of his comrades, only to instinctively spin out of the way of several ice spears that lodged themselves in the wall behind him. Quickly spotting the attacking water bender he then bolted forward, ducking and weaving through the chaos, all the while gathering enough raw energy to generate lightning until finally, he was presented a clear shot at his target.
With pointer and index finger extended he unleashed the lightning bolt, catching the water bender square in the chest. Luckily for him the detective had more than enough skill and control to curb the lightning's deadlier nature, and only used enough voltage to knock him unconscious.
Before the triad goon could hit the floor however, Mako slipped behind a pillar. Both to catch his breath, and avoid a sizable chunk of marble floor that someone hurled his way.
Hoping that the stone projectile had just been an opportunistic one off. Mako could only growl in annoyance as several more chunks of floor struck the pillar, forcing him to quickly re-evaluate the situation.
While he'd been focused on picking off intruders one by one; Korra had joined the security team in holding off the remaining intruders, easily facing down several of them at once. Which in turn took enough pressure off the security guards for one of them to break off, and lead Joo Dee out of the lobby to safety.
With everyone else thoroughly distracted by the fighting, Mako was the only one to notice Asami done her taser glove as she made a break for the doorway leading to the stairwell.
"Asami!" Mako yelled out, only to quickly duck back under cover as another chunk of marble shattered against the pillar.
Stopping at the doorway the Sato heiress spared him a single glance before disappearing into the stairway.
"Asami?" Korra cried out worriedly, having heard him call out, and not seeing her girlfriend anywhere as the triads continued to swarm her and the security guards.
"Don't worry; I've got her!" Mako assured as he returned fire, quite literally. Forcing the earth bender keeping him pinned to evade his blast, and in doing so stumbling right into one of the security guards who tackled him to the ground.
Now free to move he then bolted for the open stairway after the heiress, only to halt upon reaching the threshold. Being on the ground floor he'd expected the only way to go would be up the stairs, but there in the far wall behind the stairway was a massive hole where a huge section of concrete had been torn out to expose a hidden metal door, which in turn had been forced open to reveal a secret staircase leading down to spirits know where.
With the way shrouded in shadows; a strong sense of foreboding told him not to go down there, but his sense of duty and concern for Asami forced him light a flame in his hand and follow after her.
The passage wound its way downwards for at least two stories before it finally came to a landing that branched off in three different directions. Unsure of which way to go Mako hesitated until the sounds of a struggle could be heard coming from the middle hallway. Without hesitation he bolted down the hall after Asami.
As he made his way further into the hidden complex, he quickly began to notice that the entire hallway looked eerily familiar with the metal grating for flooring, and the walls being lined with pipes, and cables of various sizes.
"What the hell do you have down here Asami" Mako muttered to himself.
Finally coming to the end of the hall, he stepped into a large room filled with more pipes, cables, and various controls consoles. Near the center of the room, he spotted Asami fighting with a tall fire bender in front of what appeared to be the primary control panel. Their struggle only held Mako's attention for a moment however before he caught sight of what lay beyond them in the center of the underground room.
It was something Mako had prayed that he would never see again.