Chapter 4: Missing Link

Whistler was keeping herself surprisingly quiet so far. Sen had been expecting her to be more talkative.

Their strange new companion had wordlessly played along as they prepared for their journey into the Spirit World. Their first order of business was to abandon the Avatarmobile. It had served them well, but Satomobiles didn't function in the Spirit World. They took what they could carry on their backs, including Ada's secret container, and left the Avatarmobile in the care of the Airbenders. Master Jung had tried to lodge one last complaint, but a cold sneer from his former student had shut him up quite quickly.

The next stop was to get properly dressed. Ada and Suda had always been wearing clothes suited for long travel, but Sen and Whistler needed a new wardrobe. Sen dressed for utility, choosing the most serviceable outfit he could find. As a bit of flair, he chose himself a jacket made of flexible brown fabric, with a heavy collar. Whistler dressed herself haphazardly, with little regard for fashion. The only thing she seemed to care about was her hair. She meticulously combed it, then tied it up so that it flared out behind her head in spikes. Sen found it odd that she put so much care into her hair all of a sudden, but still neglected everything else.

The next step was to load up on supplies, and then they headed for the Spirit World. This area of town was fairly clear. Sarin's announcement had cleared the streets in some parts of town, and filled them in others. While the road to the Spirit Portals was empty, the path to the capitol building was completely packed. President Dahaka was not having a very good day.

"The guards around the portal should be no problem," Whistler said. "They normally don't allow criminals through, but since I'm wanted under a male identity, it shouldn't be trouble. What about him?"

Whistler nodded to Suda. Sen shook his head.

"Suda was in the Earth Kingdom, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Actually," Suda corrected. "I did do a stint in the southern reaches of the United Republic. Never came to the city, though, and that was years ago, so I doubt they have records."

"We'll see," Whistler said. "The fuzz can be surprisingly uptight about these things."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Suda said. "The whole reason I left the Republic is because the cops were too good at their jobs."

Ada seemed uncomfortable with the conversation. Sen noticed and changed the subject.

"I hope none of them are going to notice Gun," Sen said. They had come to the conclusion that Gun could probably enter the Portal by tunneling up from below, but if the Republic Police had any seismic sense users in their ranks, that would attract a lot of attention.

"Bah, the cops have had barely any dirt-watchers ever since the Beifongs stopped running the show," Whistler said. "We'll be in the clear."

Sen hoped she was right. They were nearly to the Portal now. The massive circle of entangling vines overran the crater, the ruins of several buildings, and even the untouched remnants of Kuvira's colossus. In the center of it all was the spiraling helix of light that marked the entry to the Spirit World.

Travel through the Spirit World was much lighter nowadays. Over the past decade, there had been reports of hundreds of people entering and then never leaving again. Where and how those people had disappeared had yet to be discovered, which only enhanced the fear of the Spirit World. The guard handling their entry repeated these facts to them.

"You're only kids, so be careful," he advised.

"We won't be going far," Ada lied. "Thank you for the advice, though."

Ada, Sen, and Whistler all passed through without incident. Suda nervously presented his identification papers to the guard.

"Suda, huh?"

Sen felt Suda's heart skip a beat.

"I've got an uncle with the same name," The guard laughed. "Take care now, son."

Suda crossed the barrier and joined his friends. Ada was shaking her head. That had been a very stressful two seconds.

As one group, they stepped forward into the Spirit World.

The initial few seconds were a strange time for Sen. For a brief moment he felt he was in a different time and place, and he saw green eyes looking at him. Then he was violently snapped back into reality. The plants on the ground grew thick and pink, and gnarled trees grew sporadically nearby. Perched on one of the twisted branches, a spirit eyeballed the new arrivals. Its head rotated and exposed a second face, which watched them with equal curiosity.

Sen took a moment to examine the distance. Crystalline mountains grew on the horizon, and further on there were massive, spiny ridges of stone. Massive forests of multicolored trees spanned the terrain in random clusters.

The earth shifted slightly beneath Sen's feet. He could feel Gun's massive heartbeat pounding through the soil. His hunch had proven correct after all. Gun tunneled in circles for a while, confused about the sudden change in terrain, but he soon realized the soil was to his liking and calmed down. The ground here was soft and easy to tunnel through, perfect for a badgermole.

"Well, now we're here," Suda said. He didn't exactly like it. It had been daytime back in Republic City, but it seemed like night here. There weren't any stars, either.

"We should probably start making a plan now," Ada said. They had come this far with just the general notion of "go to the Spirit World", but now they needed to actually map out their path. Ada led the way to the nearby human settlement.

Human presence in the Spirit World was fairly minimal. The ethereal dimension was a poor fit for human habitation due to the fact that it had no weather or day and night. People found it uncomfortable to not have a sunrise or sunset to mark their days by. There was a very small settlement outside each of the spirit portals, though.

The Republic settlement was the largest of three settlements, but it was still fairly tiny. None of the buildings were more than three stories, and they covered a very small area. With no satomobiles, people weren't willing to expand very far.

"There should be a teashop," Ada said. "Right over…there."

Ada pointed down the short street, towards a small, one-story building. Sen once again took the lead. A small bell rung as they entered the store. A rather bored looking young girl immediately snapped to attention at the sound of the bell.

"Ah, welcome, welcome to the White Dragon tea shop!"

The teenaged girl quickly grabbed menus and some saucers for them, and set it up rapidly. A boy in the kitchen stepped forward to look at them as the girl set up their table.

"Hello, good day, I'm Pankha, I'll be taking care of you today," She said nervously. Her eyes darted around her new customers, lingering briefly on Sen. Sen felt something in her heart change, but Ada spoke up before he had the chance to ask if anything was wrong.

"Pankha," Ada said slowly. "I remember you. Your parents were running this place the last time I visited."

"Oh, well, you must not have been here in a few years," Pankha said quietly.

Ada opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Something on Sen's face told her exactly what had happened. Better not to continue this discussion.

"So do you serve coffee here or what," Whistler said. "I don't drink leaf juice."

Pankha gave Whistler a venomous look. Apparently she took her tea very seriously. Pankha withdrew a pad of paper and wrote down the first order.

"One cup of bean juice coming right up," Pankha grumbled. Ada and Suda made their orders as well. They ordered tea, which came as a great relief to Pankha.

"I'll take mine with vanilla, if you have it," Sen said. Pankha nodded.

"Of course. That's my favorite too."

"Well, you have excellent taste," Sen said. Pankha giggled. The boy in the kitchen leaned on the counter and glared at Sen. Pankha retreated to help prepare their drinks.

"Pankha's brother doesn't seem to like you," Ada said.

"He hasn't had a chance to talk to me yet," Sen said. Pankha and her brother vanished into the kitchen. Ada pulled out a map of the known Spirit World. It was not a large map.

"Alright, there are only three major routes that are well-mapped. We've got the road from here to the Polar Portals, from here to Wan Shi Tong's library, and from the Polar Portals to the Genesis Grounds."

The Genesis Grounds were a large span of open fields that were, for some reason, sacred to the spirits and considered peaceful territory. Many important meetings between spirit and human dignitaries had taken place there, including Avatar Korra's negotiation with Wan Shi Tong to make his library open to the public.

"If we go to the Library, how easy will it be to get back on the road to the Poles?"

"Not difficult," Ada said. "Tong's Library isn't that far off the main path, all things considered."

"All the same, I'd like to stick to the mapped roads," Suda said. "This place is dangerous."

"We can't waste time doubling back to this settlement after going all the way to the Great Library," Sen said. "We'll have to take a little risk, Suda."

Suda groaned quietly as Pankha returned with the tea. Whistler greedily took her coffee and began drinking. The rest took their drinks in a more polite fashion.

"One sweet tea with lemon for you, unsweetened for the big guy, and one sweet tea with vanilla for a boy with excellent taste."

"Thank you, Pankha," Sen said, grabbing his tea from her slightly shaking hand. It tasted very close to what Korra had once enjoyed with Bolin. There was a little too much sugar, but nobody was perfect. Sen drank it quite happily.

"You know, I, well, you haven't really introduced yourself yet, sorry if that's too forward," Pankha said. "I like to get to know my customers."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Sen, this is Ada, Suda, and, uh," Sen hesitated slightly as he came to Whistler.

"My name is none of your business," Whistler said, quickly returning to her coffee. She would never admit it aloud, but it was better than any coffee she'd had in years. Slum coffee boiled in tin pots had nothing on the good stuff. Pankha barely restrained another dirty look in her direction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Pankha said happily. She looked at Sen specifically. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."

Pankha returned to the kitchen. Her brother apparently had something to say to her, because he stopped glaring at Sen for a second and began talking. She seemed disappointed by his words.

"I think the tea shop girl's got the hots for you, Avatar," Whistler observed.

"Excuse me?"

"Ignore her, Sen," Suda cautioned. "Focus on the plan."

"No, I don't think he should waste this opportunity," Whistler said. She leaned forward. "Flash a few smiles, then you drop the Avatar bomb and she'll be dropping-"

"Whistler!"

Sen was just confused. Whistler was obviously talking about romance, but Ada and Suda seemed offended somehow. Whistler saw the look on his face.

"Jeesh, I didn't know he was that naïve. Sorry."

"Oh, I get it," Sen said. "This has something to do with what Suda and Nura were doing, right?"

"Just drop it, Sen," Suda grunted. He seemed even angrier now that Nura had been mentioned. Ada put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Ah, relax, I'll tell him," Whistler said.

"No," They both shouted. Sen sighed heavily and shrugged. He was never going to get an answer about this. He looked away from the argument that was now beginning between the other three members of his team. To his surprise, Pankha was standing nearby.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you have something to say?"

"Um, if I'm not interrupting," Pankha said. She glanced sheepishly at the argument that was now in full force.

"You're not interrupting me, at any rate."

"Well, my brother Anole has stepped out of the kitchen for a bit, so if you want anything else, there may be a long wait."

"Oh, that's fine, we'll probably be leaving soon anyway. Here, I should pay you."

Ada was too busy demeaning Whistler to notice Sen remove her wallet from her pocket and count out the necessary fee and Pankha's tip. He replaced the wallet before Ada had even noticed it was gone. Pankha counted out the payment and smiled.

"Thank you very much. I hope I'll see you again soon, Sen."

Sen stepped out of the booth. Suda was starting to gesture wildly. The argument had shifted off course rapidly. Sen thought he heard something about badgermoles being shouted now. He decided he'd like to talk to Pankha for a while.

"I'm afraid I probably won't be back any time soon. My friends and I are going on a long trip."

"Oh, that's, well," Pankha began. She looked very disappointed. "That's a shame. There's not a lot of business to go around."

Sen looked around. Even after all this time, Sen and his friends were the only people in the restaurant, and Pankha and Anole seemed to be the only employees. Pankha was barely a teenager and she was already in a desperate struggle to keep her parents business afloat. That was an oddly depressing thought for Sen.

"I'm sorry. You make very good tea, Pankha. I'd come more often if I could."

"Thank you, Sen."

"Now, I'm probably not helping business by keeping these hooligans on your property," Suda said, gesturing to his arguing friends. "I may not be back soon, but I promise I will be back."

"I look forward to it," Pankha said with a smile. Sen forcefully ended the argument and dragged all his friends outside, then got them back into planning mode for the journey ahead.

"We could be doing all this inside, but you had to go and make fools of yourselves," Sen chastised. Suda and Ada looked guilty; Whistler, naturally, was unrepentant.

"We do have an idea of where we're going," Ada said. "It's not like we didn't get anything done before you dragged us out."

"Yeah, I got out a lot of real good insults," Whistler said, sounding all too proud of herself.

"We've already got our plan," Suda sighed. "Go to Wan Shi Tong's library, then double back to the main road and ride it north, unless we get distracted by some weird spirit stuff, which will inevitably happen because the Spirit World is a terrible place."

Suda's lack of enthusiasm was apparent every time he talked about their future. Just being in the Spirit World made him more nervous than Sen had ever seen him before. He wondered why that was.

"Eh, I don't know why we're wasting time planning anyway," Whistler said. "Korra travelled in the Spirit World a lot, we can just ask her for directions."

"The thought had occurred to me," Sen retaliated. "But not in the middle of a populated area. We'll get on the road and then I'll contact her when my glowing eyes won't attract attention."

"If you're worried about attracting attention, I think you're too late," Ada shouted. She pointed down the street.

A man in a green energybender uniform was barreling down the street, roaring like a beast. He raised a stone from the soil and hurled it at the Avatar. Whistler was the first to jump forward, swinging her aluminum staff to deflect the stone.

"I've been waiting for a chance to hurt someone," She shouted exuberantly. With a swing of her staff, a burst of air carried the earthbending soldier off the street and into a nearby wall, disabling him quite easily. Whistler braced herself for more fighting. She finally had an opportunity for some morally-sanctioned violence; she could hurt people and face no consequences for it. It was a dream come true.

"Alright, this isn't good," Sen began. He and his allies, barring the overly-eager Whistler, struck up a formation. "But we've got warning for the main force, and this time all of us are in good shape. We can do this!"

Sen turned to look down an alleyway. He thought he saw a target, but it was just a civilian fleeing the scene of the prior violence. Suda saw a figure appear on a rooftop and nearly struck before he realized it was a police officer arriving on the scene. Sen felt a brief moment of relief. They had the police on scene too.

Relief was once again replaced with tension as a lance of fire roared out of a side street. Sen kicked up a pillar of soil to block the flaming strike, then jumped on top of his own pillar. He struck from above with a quick hail of stones, forcing the firebending soldier back.

The lone soldier's reinforcements began to arrive en masse, flooding the streets and rooftops. The ever vigilant police force of Republic City intercepted many of the soldiers, keeping Sen and his friends from having to deal with too many soldiers, but they were still the center of attention. Ada tightened her grip on her swords.

"Sen, I'm going to need close quarters," Ada requested.

The approach was always the hardest part of combat with a bender. Ada and Sen created a shortcut by having Ada jump on top of Sen's pillar of earth. Quickly stepping down, Sen kicked off the top layer of the stone, sending Ada flying on a disk of earth into the middle of the enemy. Sen's disk crushed a few soldiers as it landed, and Ada quickly compounded their misfortune with a sudden flurry of bladed strikes.

Sen could feel Gun growing restless beneath the soil, and he quickly slammed his heel down. As helpful as Gun was in a fight, his presence would attract far too much attention. There were police officers around, and anyone who saw a badgermole would have too many questions. Gun stayed beneath the soil, though quite reluctantly.

A massive hammer of earth slammed down on dozens of the Energybender's men at once. Suda did not want this battle to go on any longer than it had to. He focused on cutting down entire swathes of the enemy at once, crushing them under massive waves of stone.

Whistler, on the other hand, was taking her time. She singled out opponents, keeping her focus on one at a time, taking special care to strike them as many times as possible before putting them down. She paid special attention to the airbenders among their forces. She knew they were nothing like the bald masters of the Air Nation, but she felt a certain kind of sadism in tossing around her rival airbenders.

The enemies were surprised to be fighting an airbender at all, much less one so peculiarly malicious as Whistler. Her attacks were a source of shame as much as pain: quick cyclical motions caused surging air to knock the soldiers off their feet, flip them upside-down, or launch them into nearby walls. Whenever an enemy soldier got too close for comfort, Whistler seemed to vanish, disappearing in a sudden surge of air and clod of dust, reappearing several feet away, ready to start over.

Sen had found himself locked in an impromptu duel with a particularly talented member of Sarin's army, perhaps a leader of some kind. The masked soldiers firebending was on par with Sen's, if not better, and Sen found himself hard pressed to gain ground on his opponent. The firebending soldier had all his attention focused on Sen, giving the Avatar little room to maneuver.

While the intense focus kept Sen on guard, it made the firebender unaware of his surroundings. He was thus caught unawares when a thin coil of metal wrapped around his waist and forcibly pulled him away from the battlefield. A metalbending police officer quickly moved in to take the firebender into custody.

The cavalry had arrived. The police force had been on full alert since Sarin's announcement, and they descended on the site of the attack with overwhelming force. Dozens, if not hundreds, of armored troopers surged through the spirit portal and into the small settlement, quickly outnumbering the small strike team and subduing them all. Sen and his friends all too happily stepped down, waiting patiently as the police took over the battle. All but one of them

Whistler would have been perfectly happy with a much longer fight. She'd had a few more airbenders left to pick off, but now they were all being wrapped up by the metalbender police. Whistler caught a glimpse of one lone figure on the outskirts of the battlefield. She strolled over to the unconscious earthbender; the one who had started this whole battle.

"Whistler, leave that for the police!"

The Republic City police turned their attention to the airbender as Whistler closed in on the energybender troop and removed his uniform mask. She seemed quite surprised by what she found beneath.

"Hey! This is tea girl's brother!"

Whistler grabbed the unconscious boys neck and turned him to face the other three. It was clearly Anole, the boy who'd been watching them from the kitchen during their meal. The police closed in and took him into custody. Pankha had overheard Whistler's cry and came running out, just in time to see her brother in chains, wearing a terrorist uniform.

"What? No, this isn't possible!"

Sen stepped forward. He was the closest thing Pankha had to a friend here. The police let him go to her as they all proceeded to secure the area and take Anole into custody. Most of Sen's friends were also escorted away, although voluntarily rather than in chains. Sen and Pankha were left behind for a moment, to let Pankha calm down.

"Pankha, I know this might be hard-"

"No, you don't understand, this can't be happening!"

"Pankha, he's wearing the uniform, he attacked us-"

"That's what's not possible, Sen," Pankha said. She seemed as confused as she did upset.

"My brother isn't a bender."

Police Chief Dormin didn't like being in the Spirit World, but he would always make an exception for the Energybender. Sarin and his men were public enemy number one so far as Dormin was concerned. The captured trooper was being held in the small police outpost in the Spirit World settlement.

"A few dozen apprehended, Chief, though I think half as many ran away," One of Dormin's subordinates declared. "Not a lot of property damage, though, and no major civilian injuries. I'd call it a win."

"Good to hear," Dormin said. "Get one of our secretaries preparing a statement for the press. Word of a victory like this will boost morale in the city."

"Right away, sir," The officer replied. While this battle in the Spirit settlement had been the only instance of violence so far, there was unrest stirring in the city, and Dormin knew it. This first victory could go a long way to help keep the peace.

"We've got all the soldiers prepped for interrogation, if you want to have a crack at them."

"No, these men never give up their secrets," Dormin said. Energybender troopers were surprisingly resistant to interrogation. They never seemed to know anything worth hearing. "Take me to the victims, though. Maybe finding out why he attacked them will give us some clues. Save the sister for later. I want to give her some time to process this before we push her to cooperate."

The precinct command nodded and led Dormin to the room where the four victims were staying. They had been brought to the police station to give their statement about the attacks, and to have a few police officers compliment them on their fighting skills. Dormin entered the room and raised an eyebrow.

"Suda. Isn't this familiar."

Suda sighed, but he held up his hands soon enough. His bare wrists came as a great surprise to Chief Dormin.

"Not quite. No chains this time, Officer Dormin."

"It's Chief Dormin now."

Suda nodded. Sen looked back and forth between the two.

"You two know each other?"

"Better than I'd like," Dormin laughed. "Suda ran me ragged back when he was pulling heists in the southern cities."

"Now, you could have given up at any time," Suda said. "It's not my fault you're tenacious."

"True, true," Dormin said. "Now, Suda, as much as I'd love to go over the time I finally caught you by trapping you in a dumpster-"

Whistler started laughing. Ada stifled a giggle as well. Dormin looked pleased.

"I want to know why you're involved with the Energybender. I could understand petty crime, but what have you done with terrorists?"

Suda tried to explain that he was their enemy, not their ally, but he never got the chance. Sen and Ada both jumped to his defense, though Sen was just a bit quicker.

"He's been fighting them is what. Suda's not a criminal anymore, Dormin."

Dormin stroked his moustache. He hadn't had the facial hair back when he'd been chasing Suda through the streets of the southern Republic. He actually had Suda to thank for the moustache in the first place. The young bandit had always joked that the officer would look better with a moustache. Dormin smiled. He stepped forward and put a hand on Suda's shoulder.

"Glad to hear it, son," Dormin said. "If only if it means I'll never have to cross you again. A metalbender of your talents should be doing better things."

Suda nodded. It felt oddly relieving to have Dormin acknowledge that he wasn't one of the bad guys any more. Dormin put his arms behind his back and resumed his professional demeanor.

"Still, the question stands," Dormin continued. "I need to know why you'd attract the attention of Sarin's men."

Sen looked at his feet. He'd never been good at coming up with convincing lies. That had been Hanjo's skill. He had been hoping to avoid attention, and had not come up with a cover story for his presence here.

"Sen," Suda began. "Dormin's a good man. We can trust him."

Sen nodded. If Suda vouched for him, then Dormin was a friend. Sen got out of his chair.

"Chief Dormin, I'm Sen. I'm the Avatar."

"Well, that would certainly explain why you all put up such a good fight," Dormin said. He removed his cap and bowed his head. "It's an honor, Master Avatar."

"The pleasures mine, sir," Sen continued. Dormin replaced his cap and got back to business.

"This simplifies some things, but complicates others," Dormin said. "I'll be up all night trying to cover up your involvement in this. You will want to remain secret, right?"

Sen nodded. Dormin wasn't exactly happy about the Avatar staying in hiding, but he knew the Avatar had his reasons. The police chief beckoned for the four of them to leave the questioning room. After using his radio to order some rooms and hallways cleared, Dormin led them towards the exit.

"Sir, I'd actually like to talk to Anole," Sen objected.

"I don't know why you'd want to spend your time. Anole's small time. He hardly seems so knowledgeable about the Energybender's plans.

"Something his sister said caught my attention, though," Sen said.

"I know what you mean," Dormin said. "All of Anole's paperwork lists him as a non-bender. It's clear that's false, though, the only question is how we were deceived."

"Maybe I can help," Sen suggested. "I am the Avatar, after all. I'm very perceptive."

"If you think you can figure it out, you're welcome to try."

Dormin led them to the questioning room where Anole was being kept. They stood behind a wall of one-way glass to examine their attacker. Anole was chained to the table by his arms and legs, staring blankly forward as an officer interrogated him.

"Questioning these troops never gets anywhere," Dormin said. "Even truth-seers can't get anything out of them. They always say they don't remember anything."

Deep shadows flickered across Anole's face as he was questioned. Sen stared into the darkness. It seemed to be moving. He remembered when he had asked the Harrier about Hanjo's location. He had likewise claimed he didn't remember, and there had been a similar darkness on his face.

"So what do we know about him being a bender," Ada asked. "It doesn't seem to make sense."

"I'd say that he'd been hiding it, but most bending talents emerges as early as two, and Anole was already seven by the time the Energybender made his debut. What reason would a child have to hide his bending?"

"Maybe it was the parents? They were involved with the Energybender before he went public, and they kept Anole's bending secret so he could be a stealth agent."

An officer arrived in the room, holding a very full folder. Dormin took it and began to read.

"Well, this is all the paperwork they had on file," Dormin said. "Tax records, marriage licenses, employment papers… nothing to indicate they were involved in any terrorist organizations, but that doesn't rule out-"

Dormin grabbed a particular piece of paper and examined it carefully.

"Hold the phone…"

"What, what is it?"

"This isn't possible, this doesn't make any sense. After Anole's parents died, they were returned to their homeland to be buried. Their homeland of the Southern Water Tribe!"

Sen shook his head.

"But Anole is an earthbender, we all saw that," He added. "That doesn't add up!"

"Actually, I think it makes sense," Whistler said. She looked through the glass at Anole. "If I had to guess, I'd say Anole's mother had an affair with an earthbender. Anole was born, and the mother kept his bending a secret to hide her adultery."

"That is…logical, I suppose," Dormin admitted. "Naturally we can't prove anything with the parents dead, but it seems reasonable."

Sen glared through the glass. He didn't know if he believed that theory. Something was very wrong about Anole. Sen pressed his attention forward, trying to focus on the room behind the glass. His seismic sense could reach the other room easily, but that told him very little. Sen focused his mind, trying to read the flow of chi within Anole's body. He couldn't get anything from here.

"I need to talk to him," Sen said. He needed to be face to face with Anole to get a good read on him, something he couldn't do from here. Dormin nodded and unlocked the door. Anole reacted with a smug smile as Sen and his friends walked in.

"Avatar Sen. I suppose I should be honored. I get to be one of few people who talk to you before you die."

"A dubious honor that you only share with dozens of other people, Anole," Sen said impatiently. "You're not special."

"Well, I think I am, otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me."

Sen was not amused by Anole's attitude. He thought he was smarter than the Avatar. Sen would disavow him of that notion soon enough.

"I just want to get a better picture of you," Sen said. If he let Anole know that he wanted information on Anole's bending, it would only make him uncooperative. It was better to play it loose, and hope Anole let something slip on his own.

"I've been fighting people in masks too long. It'll be nice to get to know you," Sen said with a stiff smile. "I mean, it's not hard to guess that this all comes back to your parents, but-"

"Ah, the classic dogma of the self-righteous," Anole interrupted, laughing all the while. He took on a very mocking tone. "Everyone who disagrees with you must be broken. You think all you have to do is make me cry about mommy and daddy and I'll be one of the good guys again."

Anole suddenly dropped the smile from his face and began to speak very seriously.

"My parents died in a satomobile accident, Avatar. Regrettable, but accidents happen. They're not why I fight you. I fight you because you are wrong."

Sen could see and feel that Anole absolutely meant that. His heart was burning with passion –and there was something else that Sen couldn't quite put his finger on. Something was off about Anole.

"You say that," Sen replied calmly. "But last I checked I wasn't the one that demolished a city."

"Oh yes, Shen's Post," Anole said. "I had a friend fighting there, you know. He spoke in great detail about how you turned and ran while the city burned."

"Really? Did he ever talk about how he was the one doing the burning?"

Sen placed his palms flat on the table. Anole flinched slightly as Sen showed his hands.

"I've moved past blaming myself for the things you people do," Sen said. "So if you want to get to me, you're going to have to try harder."

"Then it looks like neither of us is going to get anywhere," Anole bragged. "Because you aren't going to get anything out of me."

Anole crossed his arms and leaned back. The shadows on his face shifted as he moved through the light. Sen glared intensely at him for a while. There was still something wrong here, something Sen couldn't quite see yet. Anole was too level-headed for Sen read his chi easily. If he was confused or upset or angry, this would be much easier.

"Alright, so this is a waste of time," Whistler shrugged. "Come on, Avatar, let's got to the next interrogation room. You can flirt with this guy's sister some more."

Sen had just been thinking of how much easier this would be if Anole were angry, and Anole was quite suddenly very, very, very angry. Sen managed to contain his smile.

"I normally wouldn't give Pankha the time of day," Sen said mockingly. He could feel anger bubbling in Anole's stomach. "But I think I might just give it a shot. If only because it would annoy you, Anole."

Sen's allies looked around at each other. That was oddly uncharacteristic behavior for Sen. Ada was the first to catch on to the Avatar's plan.

"I still wouldn't waste your time," Ada said. "She doesn't deserve you."

Anole's rage burned ever brighter. Sen let Ada put in a few more jabs at Pankha and watched as the anger rose in Anole. The increased energy flowing through him made it all the easier to read his chi. Sen's first instinct proved correct: there was something unnatural about the way chi flowed through his chakras.

Sen focused on the Earth chakra in Anole's stomach. It was flowing strongly, but strangely. Something about it did not match the flow of energy you found in one born with earthbending. Sen looked closer, focusing everything on Anole. Finally he realized the problem. The energy within Anole's Earth chakra wasn't flowing naturally. It had been forced. Sen's eyes snapped open in shock.

"You weren't born a bender," Sen said. "You were made one."

There was a resounding silence. The shadows in the opposite room retreated slightly, becoming a bit brighter. Anole looked around in fear as the room became visibly brighter. He knew he had given up dangerous information. The Energybender's ability to create benders was one of his most closely guarded secrets.

"After Amon, Korra used Energybending to restore bending to the people it had been taken from," Sen continued. "I think- I know Sarin's been doing something similar. He's been creating benders!"

Ada took a moment to think about it. It made sense.

"We've never seen any non-benders in the enemy ranks, and that would explain where he's been getting his airbenders," She declared. "He hasn't been recruiting them, he's been creating them!"

The theory was sound. In ancient times, Lion Turtles had gifted the art of bending to humans. Sarin had, apparently, rediscovered the technique, and was using it to build himself an army of benders, soldiers who could operate in complete secrecy, because it would normally be impossible for them to even exist.

"We need to report this to the military right away," Dormin said. "If what you say is true, then we could have an entire army sitting right under our noses!"

"You go. I need to proceed to the Great Library. If my theory is correct, then we'll need to learn a lot more about Energybending," Sen explained, his voice brimming with renewed determination.

"Understood, Avatar."

"You should also notify the airbenders," Ada suggested. "They'll be glad to know that their nation hasn't been breached."

"That they will," Dormin said. He led the way to a back exit, avoiding as many witnesses as was possible. Once Dormin made the revelation, the police officers would be far too concerned about Sarin's powers to wonder what had happened to the four kids, but it was better to keep them covert anyway.

"No, you can't!"

Anole tried to lunge at the Avatar and stop him from spreading Sarin's secrets, but he was chained to the table. They ignored the artificial earthbender's struggle and left the room. Sen prepared his allies to make a beeline for the library of Wan Shi Tong. Before they departed completely, Dormin dug through a small storage locker and handed something to Suda.

"Here. Some old zip-line gear," Dormin said. "You were always better with them than we were."

Suda tried out the metallic line. He hadn't had his hands on anything like this since he'd ditched his bandits and joined Sen. It would be good to have a familiar tool at his side as he faced the dangers of the spirit world. Suda strapped the metal reels to his back and tried out the mechanism. They were still in perfect condition.

"Good luck to all of you. I hope we'll meet again soon."

"Ah, Chief Dormin, one more thing," Sen said. "I know you're already doing a lot, but could you do one more thing for me?"

Dormin nodded. He secretly hoped it wouldn't be anything difficult, though.

"Tell Pankha I'm sorry," He said. "About all of this."

"She didn't actually hear any of those insults, Avatar."

"I meant about her brother being a terrorist and her business falling apart," Sen said. "But, yeah, I guess the insults too. I'm sorry."

"I'll take care of it."

Sen was sorry he couldn't say it himself. That poor girl's whole life was going to be turned upside-down today. Just one more innocent person who'd been hurt by Sarin's mad quest. Dormin nodded again. Sen thanked the police chief for all of his help, and he set out into the depths of the Spirit World.

"So, as it stands, we have to assume that the Avatar is in the Spirit World," Dei Sensheng began. Word had quickly reached his ears of the battle in the Spirit World. Those few who had escaped the battles had brought a full report to Sarin's second-in-command.

The Energybender seemed oddly calm about this news. The Spirit World was a treacherous place, and it would be difficult to track the Avatar.

"We have very few agents with experience in the Spirit World," Dei suggested. "But I can mobilize them all rather quickly. Shall I?"

"I'll handle it myself," Sarin said. He stood up and proceeded across the room, towards his private chambers. He paused briefly before retreating into his inner sanctum.

"I apologize for leaving you out of the loop, Sensheng," He said. "But there are things I keep secret even from you."

Sarin left the room, and darkness followed with him. Dei Sensheng always wondered how Sarin's shadows kept so closely to him. There was something unnatural about it, something Sensheng thought he knew, but could never quite remember.

Sarin sat down calmly by his radio. The Avatar in the Spirit World. It seemed like a disaster to most of his men. The realm of the Spirits was treacherous and inhospitable, they thought, and it would be nearly impossible to catch the Avatar while he was within it. Sarin knew otherwise.

"I'll need you as well," Sarin said to a room empty of anything but shadows. "Make sure the Avatar doesn't arrive too soon, or make sure he stays there until I can meet him. It will take the three of us, after all."

The Spirit World was exactly where he wanted the Avatar. He just needed to guide the Avatar along the right path, and Sarin knew just the perfect bait.