Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar or Korra characters created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and owned by Nickelodeon. All OCs, however, are all mine.

Chapter IX

Wu took them to an outdoor café and explained everything he could, "We happened to be at the same bar and you guys said that you'd just come from a wedding. Kinda clear whose wedding it was, if ya know what I mean. That Air Nomad guy and that Water Tribe girl were all over each other; if they weren't drinking, they were either kissing or saying 'I love you', sweet talking, stuff like that. The big guy here," Wu pointed to Leo, "seemed like he was holding back, drinking only light stuff. I told him he needed to treat himself a little, so I took the five of you to the biggest casino in the city, the Shamballa, where they serve the best rice wine; absolutely divine. And of course we ended up doing some gambling. Now this guy," he pointed to Leo again with enthusiasm, "this guy is one hell of a lucky spirit; a walking good luck charm, if ya ask me. I honestly still can't believe how much money we won last night. And then we met this tough guy with a real funny personality: Sun Wukong. But I found out later that he's a freelance hitman for several triads, so if you ever see him again, walk the other way. I even got a picture of him so you know who I'm talking about," Wu took a photo from his pocket and slid it across the table to the trio. Sokka was the only one who could see it.

"Thanks," Leo said as Sokka took the photo. The man in the picture was scruffy and had a full beard, tiny mustache, and he had a small, almost flat nose, kinda like a monkey.

"Is there anything else you can tell us? Like what happened after that, who did we meet or run into?" Sokka inquired after looking at the photo.

"Yeah, we ran into Avatar Korra. It was so awesome, she and her friend, Asami Sato, were here and we did a few shots. Then we all took turns riding Naga," Wu went on about their antics.

"Who's Naga?" Leo questioned.

"Oh, Korra's polar bear dog," Wu said, "She's actually gone missing."

"Wait, the same one locked in our bathroom at the hotel?" Sokka inquired.

"You guys have her locked in your bathroom?" Wu asked stupefied, "Why do you have her?"

"We obviously don't know, dumbass. We got so drunk and fucked up last night that we don't remember a thing," an angry Toph cursed vehemently at the prince, her patience thinning and frustration growing.

"There you are!" the four heard an angry female voice from afar. Sokka looked towards the source and saw Avatar Korra herself walking fast at them as if she were charging, eyes staring daggers at them, especially Wu. With a worried look and smile on his face, he got up from his seat with his hands held up in a placating manner, trying to play it cool, "Hey, Korra. Look, I can explain; I had nothing to do wi-"

He was interrupted when she grabbed him by his shirt, almost roaring as she interrogated him, "Save the excuses, ya weasel. Where's Naga?"

"Korra, stop it. There's no need to make a scene," the other girl with her put a hand on Korra's shoulder to calm her down.

Before Korra could respond, Leo broke her grip and pushed her back away from Wu, his voice stern, "Hey, cool it, missy!"

"What the- who are you?" Korra inquired, her friend helping her to her feet. Korra could normally maintain her balance after being pushed, but was thrown off guard by this guy's strength.

"Korra, just calm down," Korra's light skinned friend demanded and stepped in front between them, bowing to Leo, "I apologize for my friend's behavior, spirit. She's usually much better with your kind."

"No, Asami, that's not-" Korra was interrupted.

"Avatar Korra," Sokka addressed as he and Toph stepped in front of Leo, "We apologize for our spirit friend. He's just new to city life," Sokka tried his best to excuse Leo's actions.

"What? He's not a spirit. His energy's not right. But I'm guessing he might've gotten on a spirit's bad side?" Korra corrected everyone, feeling his energy was not that of a spirit, but a mortal person who was flesh and bone. She also assumed he'd made a spirit mad and it had phased through him, causing him to look as he did.

"Wow. So you're the Avatar these two and their pals have told me so much about," Leo was impressed, then explained candidly, "You're right, I'm not a spirit, but I've never pissed one off before, and I honestly don't know what that has to do with anything."

"What?" Wu uttered, dumbfounded, "Then how'd we win all that money? Just luck?"

"Well then, what are you?" Asami asked, a bit cautious.

"It's a long story," Leo simply put.

"Yeah, and one we can save for later," Sokka pressed as he got back to the matter, or matters, at hand, "Avatar Korra, it's not Prince Wu's fault. We took Naga."

"Where is she?" Korra demanded.

"She's in the bathroom at the hotel we stayed at," Toph answered.

"Which one?"

"I'd put them in my usual suite at the Jade Emperor's Palace. It's where I stay whenever I come to Omashu," Wu told them.

So that was his suite we woke up in, Leo thought to himself.

As Prince Wu lead them to the hotel, Sokka said to Korra and Asami, "Avatar, Miss Sato, we're extremely sorry this happened. We kinda had too much to drink last night."

"Yeah, so much they don't remember anything from last night," Wu humorously added from the front.

"Will you shut up already?" Toph bellowed in annoyance, "Also, remember Aang and Katara?"

"Sure," Korra said.

"They make such a cute couple, don't they?" Asami threw in.

"Anyway," Sokka pressed them to refocus, "we're asking because they're kinda missing, too. Is there anything you can tell us about last night?"

"Well, you two went to a strip club," Korra pointed to Sokka and Toph, "and you got a certain criminal's attention."

"Who?" they both asked in unison.

"Zhao the Admiral. Runs a smuggling ring in over two dozen ports throughout the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and the United Republic. He's the right-hand-man to Ozai of the Agni Kai Triad," Asami took out a file from a binder she was carrying and gave it to Sokka. He looked like a normal guy, the only thing about him that stood out was his large sideburns. He also had the expression of someone who always holds all the cards, pride, confidence and arrogance in his eyes and grinning.

"He followed you two back to the bar we were all at, and then he got into a fight with your friend," Korra said, referring to Leo.

"Hope it wasn't too bad," Leo replied.

"You sent him to the hospital, then in response to his backup, you ended up starting a riot," Korra remarked.

"What?" Leo gasped, shocked at the revelation. Sokka and Toph were surprised as well.

"Yeah, most of the city is tired of the Agni Kais, so they were more than eager to join. They marched down to the 'Ash Maker' district and trashed it; that's why downtown looks untouched," Asami reported.

Leo started, "Wow. So what happened-"

He was interrupted when he was unexpectedly shot into the air by a pillar of earth and pounced by another individual mid-air, sending Leo flying twenty yards. His attacker then grabbed his foot and threw him another ten into a shop.

Before anyone could respond, the assailant stomped his foot, scattering the whole group all over the street. He then shot rocks at Toph and Korra the hardest to knock them out.

"At long last," he uttered under his breath as he marched into the shop, Leo in a pile of debris and rubble, grabbed the back of his robe, "You son of a whore," and threw him back outside. People were screaming and running from away from the scene in the middle of the street.

He was tall, had two horns on his chin, three fingers and two thumbs, as well as a tail; he was Tyravian. His armor was the same as the savages from the village; he was an Obrachani. But not just any Obrachani: this was Türahn Vladimiran. His legs and forearms had these large boots and gauntlets with small green lights on them.

He came storming out of the shop, his blood boiling with fury, "I've been vaiting long time for dis!" his fist cocked as Leo got to his feet, he delivered a hard hit, sending Leo back ten yards again.

Korra then came flying in with a burning fire kick to his torso. He just held his arms up to block as he stood there and took the heat. She flipped over him and spun around with a hook kick, whipping a boulder at him. He easily caught it and split it in half with a single strike. He took both halves and smashed them together. Korra flipped backwards out of the way. Türahn let out a blood-curdling roar. Korra took a deep breath and brought up two of her own boulders, bigger than his, sending them down on his hard. He managed to block using his own. They began a literal fist fight using floating chucks of earth. Türahn bent his boulders at her followed by a series of smaller ones. Korra caught all of them and swung it all around back to him. He managed to dodge the bigger hunks of rock, but the smaller one he couldn't avoid, hitting him like waves against rocks. Türahn remained standing, Korra sent him flying backwards with the strength of a hurricane in a single gust, slamming him into a thick wall she'd bent behind him. She then curled her knuckles down causing the ground beneath him to become quicksand, burying him up to his chest.

Korra marched up and towered over him. As beaten as he was, Türahn still kept his composure, never daring to hang his head. He looked the young woman in the eye and spit at her feet.

"Who the hell are you? And... WHAT the hell are you?" Korra demanded with authority.

Türahn narrowed his gaze, staring daggers at her as he growled, "Your end."

Türahn broke free from the hardened earth and sprang on Korra, taking her by surprise. He grabbed her by her throat and slammed her to the ground with a thud. He then brought his fist down on her, over and over. Two punches and Korra formed an earth gauntlet, catching his fist on the third. She maneuvered her leg over his arm and used the other to fire kick him in the face. Türahn released her to swat the flames out. Korra pull some water out of the air and doused him. She then found a fire hydrant and took the extra water to encase him in ice. Again he broke free. She pivoted to the side and air kicked him. He was met by a Leo who'd recovered, taking a spin kick to the chest, breaking something made of glass.

"No!" Türahn cried as the lights on his gauntlets and boots went out. He used his greater strength to grapple Leo and hurled him against a wall. He charged with his fist cocked. Leo moved his head out of the way and Türahn's hand went through the wall. It was Leo's turn to punch him, which he did in the jaw, knocking out one of his teeth. Leo grappled Türahn in turn, planted his feet against the wall and pushed off, leaving one of the gauntlets stuck. Leo brought his feet to the ground and took his turn to throw Türahn.

Türahn rose to his feet like some machine driven by programming, rather than a person, his eyes looking angry and almost dead. Leo was done with this. He grabbed a handful of dust and rubble. When Türahn was in arm's reach, Leo threw it in his face, letting him throw a punch only to parry and counter with a whirling cross to his cheek. Leo then smack both his palms flat against his ears. Leo blocked his wild shot from the side, countering with disabling hits to his arms, breaking through his armor to his torso and breaking some ribs as well, jabbing at his throat and blocking his air flow, then adding insult to injury on his jaw, nose, his left eye, and cheek bones. One final blow to the temple sent Türahn falling back like a tree in a forest.

Türahn's face looked a little melted, but it wasn't too bad. His hair was gone. Though after Leo's beating, he looked worse. Korra was still battered from her fight with Türahn, on her knees and collecting herself. She'd been in a lot of fights and had been hit pretty hard, but this guy didn't need to land several hits to win, he just needed to hit something once. Leo and Korra stood over him together as he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Korra replied, then asked, "What are you and who is he?"

"Basically, I'm an alien that's half human and half dragon, and that," Leo pointed to a beaten Türahn and explained, "is Türahn of the Vladimiran family. They're a house of noble status in the Tyravian Empire. He, like many of his kin, is a member of a secret society of elite warriors called the Obrachan… and he's an asshole."

Sokka had managed to recover and was tending to Toph; she'd been hit pretty hard in the head and there was a chance she had a concussion. Korra was checking Asami for injuries, but only found a few bruises. Leo discovered Wu hiding under a cart, curled up in a ball; Leo half-expected to find him sucking on his thumb. The prince mumbled over and over again, "Wu down, Wu down, Wu down…"

Leo turned back to his beaten opponent as everyone was regrouping. Türahn began to chuckle as he regained himself, dazed and battered as he was. Leo bent down and yanked him by his collar and began interrogating him, "What're you doing here?"

"Sightseeing," Türahn choked out sarcastically, "And you?"

"Shipwrecked," Leo countered, his mood serious and unchanging, "Now answer the question."

"Business as usual," Türahn weakly, yet casually answered.

"Hey, I recognize that voice," Toph called out, "He's the waiter from the restaurant. He must've drugged us."

Leo gave a few sniffs and realized it was the same scent as the waiter the night before. Sokka took a knife from a vendor and held it to Türahn's neck and demanded, "Where's my sister?"

Leo sensed Türahn remove one of his teeth with his tongue. He was about to bite down when Leo took hold of his bottom jaw and yanked it open, dislocating it. Türahn squealed at the pain.

"Hey, he's beaten!" Korra protested the excess hostility, "You don't have to torture him."

"I'm not torturing him," Leo countered, reaching into Türahn's mouth and taking the tooth. Leo rattled it a bit and heard something inside, most likely a capsule of cyanide. Leo pocketed it for safekeeping and pushed Türahn's jaw back in place.

"Talk," Leo demanded.

"Alright,." Türahn gave up and began to confess, "Intel got vord zhat you vere traveling vith four humans to Omashu. My superiors sent me vith top agent to vork alongside local syndicate to locate and eliminate targets. Ve tried discretion, but zhere vas mix up. I grabbed wrong vial and instead of mixing tea vith tranquilizer, I poured cannabis leaves."

"You got us high on marijuana?" Leo roared in disbelief.

"I always wanted to try weed," Toph mentioned on the side.

"Oh shut up, Toph!" Leo ordered then turned back to Türahn and growled, "The Air Nomad and Water Tribe girl; where are they?"

Türahn threw up his hands in a placating manner, "I don't know. I svear."

"Why's he talking like that?" Asami asked, her eyebrow raised.

"It's his accent," Leo answered. He never knew why Tyravian speech sounded like Russian; maybe that was the closest comparison he could think of.

Leo then motioned to the devices on Türahn's hands and feet, "I suppose these toys allow you to bend? That's not a natural ability for Tyravians."

"You like?" Tühran queried as he brandished his gauntlets and boots, "Latest tech from labs. Allows vearer to do same magic tricks as natives."

Sokka pushed Leo aside, took out a knife and straddled Türahn, holding it above his eye and threatened, "You'd better tell us where my sister and my friend are, or I swear I'll make you spill every secret you've ever kept your whole life."

Leo put his hand on Sokka's shoulder, "Sokka, you don't have to-"

Sokka sharply interrupted Leo, yanking his shoulder away, "Shut up, Leo! Is it your sister we're trying to find? No? Then shut up!"

Despite the dark look in Sokka's eyes, Türahn chuckled as he mocked, "You think some menacing words and fierce gaze vill make me talk? You're nothing but little boy pretending to be man."

Sokka punched Türahn square in the mouth. His head recoiled against the ground and felt a tooth or two fall loose. It wasn't Sokka strength that sent back with that hit, but the leftover pain and swelling from Leo.

"Hold his head, Toph," Sokka ordered.

"Sokka, stop. He's telling the truth," Toph testified. She and Leo could sense his heartbeat, and it didn't skip a beat in his answers. Sokka turned to her, and he knew from the look in her dull eyes.

Sokka got off Türahn and Toph bound him to a pillar of earth with metal bars. The Tyravian began to spill, "I tried to grab youse several times, but youse kept popping from here to zhere, causing so much chaos. First zhe drinks, zhen zhe tattoo parlor, and zhen vedding. After zhat, lost track of youse. Zhen I hear Prince Vu and Avatar in town," he pointed to Korra and Wu, "and doing partying vith youse. Vaterboy and Dirt-girl seen in strip club," he then pointed to Sokka and Toph, "followed by Zhao to bar vhere others are, zhen you… ," Türahn turned to Leo, "you and Zhao got into fight, caused riot, and vent to hospital."

"What? I was in the hospital?" Leo perplexed.

"Haha," Sokka cackled at Leo, who whipped him with his tail in the back of the head in retaliation.

"Okay, what happened next?" Toph demanded.

"Nothing else I know. I svear," Türahn insisted. He was tired and severely beaten. He'd heal, but now he was too tired to fight.

"Well then," Leo turned to his human companions, nonchalant, "shall we wait for the authorities?"

"You don't know, do you?" Türahn gave one final laugh, "You don't know how many people last night you pissed off. How many on your trail, Leo the Han."

Leo had had enough, so he punched him right in the throat. Türahn struggled for air. The local authorities came and took him away, though they'd needed help throwing him in the back of their satomobile, the metal still wrapped around him. He'd be taken into military custody, held in a top government facility. The group then resumed their walk back to the hotel.

Everyone was a little banged up, but Korra had been beaten pretty hard, and it only took a few hits. She most likely had a concussion and was going to have to wear a neck brace for a while. She also had a broken nose and a black eye. Korra had never seen a being like this before, neither mortal nor spirit, or man nor beast. He walked and talked like a man, back the look in his eye was that of a monster. And what was he talking about? It was like a whole new world beyond what she knew, and it seemed that world was about to envelope hers.

"You sure you're okay?" Korra heard. She looked up beside her and saw it was the tall lizard man in the hood.

"I'll be fine," Korra insisted.

"Your heart says otherwise," Leo pointed out, "From your heartbeat, you're feeling embarrassed, frustrated, I imagine with yourself, and concerned."

Korra snapped her head in his direction, astonished at how spot on he was, "How'd you do that? You're not an earthbender too, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I just got good ears," he answered.

"Leo, was it?" Korra asked his name, only vaguely remembering him from the night before. She and Asami had gotten a little drunk, but apparently not as bad as these three.

"Yeah, and you're Avatar Korra, master of all elements. I've heard about you," Leo replied.

"Yep, that's me: the powerful Avatar," Korra said sarcastically about herself.

"Korra, relax. That guy got the jump on all of us," Asami assured, detecting the tone in Korra's voice.

"Your friend's right, he did, especially on me. I wasn't paying attention and I got tossed around like a rag doll. Another thing, Tyravians are built much tougher than humans, and they fight hard and dirty."

Korra gave a small smile, "Thanks. He did use a few dick moves, there."

"Well, he is a dickhead," Leo added, causing Korra to laugh.

The group made it to the hotel and to the room where Sokka, Toph and Leo had woken up that morning. When Korra, Asami and Wu walked in and saw the state of the place, Korra and Asami's jaws dropped and their eyes grew wide. Wu laughed at what a time they must've had wrecking the place.

"Spirits," Asami uttered.

"What… the fuck?" Korra blurted.

Wu laughed so hard he had to hold his gut, "You guys must've been whacked out of your minds. I almost wish I could've been here."

"Your dog's in the bathroom down the hall," Sokka told them.

Korra and Asami opened the bathroom door and out popped Naga's head, her tongue all over Korra's face, happy to see her master.

"Hey, girl. Easy, I missed you too," Korra wrapped her arms around Naga's head.

"Who's there?" a groggy, yet familiar voice coming from the tub groaned.

"Aang, could you check who that is?" accompanied another voice, also groggy and familiar.

"No way," Sokka uttered out loud from down the hall. He rushed into the bathroom, past the girls and the dog, and found his sister and Aang in their underwear, spooning in a makeshift bed in the tub. Leo and Toph soon followed and they all had a little reunion.

"Katara, are you okay?" Sokka asked, filled with relief yet still concerned his sister might be hurt.

"What? Sokka?" Katara cracked her eyes open and looked up to see her brother kneeling over her, "Sokka, I don't care if you found me and Aang sharing a bed. I'm too tired to deal with you right now. And honestly, I'm not feeling so hot, so please just fuck off."

Yep, Katara was alright, just hungover; and so was Aang. Everyone except Sokka laughed at Katara's words.

"Haha. Wow, I think I like hungover Sugarqueen," Toph chuckled, her arms crossed in amusement.

"Does is help that you always look hot, Sweetie?" Aang whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. An even bigger uproar of laughter erupted, causing the two in the tub to look up and over the edge. After a moment of looking around at everyone with squinted eyes, Aang inquired, "Where are we?"

"You're in my personal suite, which I can see you hard a lot of fun trashing," Wu interjected, then his eyes grew wide in realization, his smile gone, "Oh, fuck me. I'm gonna have to pay for all the damages, aren't I?"

"Sokka, what's going on? Why am I so hungover?" Katara asked her brother.

"That's what happens when you drink too much, honey," Toph bluntly stated, shit-eating grin on her face.

"Alright, that's enough. Could everyone just please get out and let me have a talk with my sister… and Aang," Sokka urged everyone out, "Leo, wait. Could you whip up some food for them?"

Leo nodded, "Sure."