Author's Note: Happy New year everyone! I'm trying to get back into the writing mood this year and update my stories. I am sorry for the wait. Here is chapter 12 please leave a review
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN LEGEND OF KORRA OR HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
Chapter 12 the Aftermath
Haru was in his office going through paperwork, but he lacked focus. His mother was taking a lot of heat from the council for allowing Amon to successfully infiltrate the arena and failing to capture him. Even though it was partly his idea she took the blame. He couldn't help but be angry at Amon.
"Damn it!" He yelled as he flung everything on his desk to the floor.
As he heaved to calm himself down, he looked on the floor and saw the chi-blocker glove he found at the arena. He had wanted to study it to incorporate it into his armor. It truly was a technological genius invention.
Haru picked all the papers and organized his desk, taking the chi-blocker glove with him he left his office closing the door behind him. He headed down the hall and saw Hiroshi with his mother and Tenzin.
"Hey Mr Sato." Haru said jovially as he approached them. Hiroshi smiled as Haru approached and shook his hand.
"Haru, it's great to see you. I hope work isn't too strenuous on you." Hiroshi asked concerned.
"Ehh, someone's gotta do it." Haru shrugged. Hiroshi laughed. Lin looked at Haru's hand and saw the chi-blocker.
"Why do you have that Equalist weapon?" she asked.
"I wanted to work on it to put in my armor. Whoever made these gauntlets is a true genius." Haru said as he put it on his hand.
Lin sighed, "Why must you marvel at a weapon being used against us?" Lin asked with a bit of irritation as her son always loved new technology.
"We've gotta think smarter, the way we do police work can only go so far, think about it, by giving this to the non-bending Officers, they would not only be more effective, but also better protect themselves from criminal benders with additional evasive training. By giving them to civilians, with the right permits, we could give both benders and non-benders a chance to defend themselves against thugs and triad members. Not only that, if we can augment it into our metal bender uniform, we could send jolts to stun captured criminals, and other ideas." Haru said beaming at the possibilities of new uses for the gauntlets.
"That's an incredible mind you have there Haru, don't you think Lin?" Hiroshi said.
"Yes, but still, if some run of the mill criminals gets their hands on it, who knows what, could happen." Lin argued with her son.
"Fine, but I still think this invention has possibilities and a lot of potential for great things." Haru finished with a sigh.
Hiroshi shook his head and laughed slightly at the agreement, it was one of the reasons he liked Haru, he wasn't afraid to speak his mind and was always looking out for the little guy one could say as he always placed a big emphasis on bender and non-bender unity.
"Hiroshi, if you remember anything else about Amon's attack be sure to let us know." Lin said as they entered the lobby.
"I'll be sure to Lin. I want these Equalists to pay for what they've done." Hiroshi said as he nodded to Haru and then saw Korra in the lobby and nodded to her as well.
Haru turned to see Korra and smiled and saw her talking with Tahno. While he didn't really like him, and he was angry at him for cheating his team to winning the championship. But he still felt sorry for him that he lost his bending.
"We're ready for you now." Tenzin said to Tahno, as the former bender stood up.
He gave Korra a mock salute, "See you around, Ah-vatar." He said as he cracked a tiny smile as he teased her and walked away with Lin and Tenzin.
Haru walked over to Korra and smiled at her, "Hey babe, wanted to visit me at work?" he asked with a teasing tone.
Korra smiled at him and lightly punched him in the shoulder, "Not really, but I guess it's just a bonus." She said with a hidden smile.
Haru kissed her on the cheek and held her hand.
"Come on I'll take you home."
"Can we go to the arena? I've got to talk to Mako and Bolin"
"Sure"
Haru and Korra went out and saw Toothless, who immediately attacked Korra with licks.
"Haru! Make him stop!" She yelled. Haru couldn't help but laugh.
After getting Toothless under control the two made their way towards the arena to find Mako and Bolin already packing.
"Guys! Great news! You don't have to go back to the streets."
Korra was ecstatic to tell them the news.
"I talked to Tenzin and made all the arrangements. You can come live on Air-Temple Island with me and Haru." Korra smiled with joy.
"Oh." Mako started. "Well we'd love to but-"
"Asami already invited us to live at her dad's giant mansion, a MANSION!" Bolin interjected excitedly. Mako rolled his eyes, but the smirk on his face said he was excited as well.
"That was nice of her." Haru replied. He looked at Korra and saw she wasn't as excited.
Bolin grabbed Mako into a hug.
"From here on out it's gonna be the life of luxury for us."
"Hey Haru! Hey Korra!"
Haru looked and saw Asami coming down from the attic with Pabu in her arms. She put him down and hugged Haru, much to Korra's annoyance.
"Great to see you Sami."
"I was hoping you guys would stop by." she said ending the hug.
Korra grabbed Haru by the arm roughly.
"We were just leaving." Korra said with a fake smile. Hiccup was confused.
"Wait we are?" Haru was confused by the rush.
"Yeah we'll see you guys around." She said dragging Haru to the exit.
"How bout tomorrow? My dad would love for you guys to visit the estate." Asami smiled.
"That'd be great! I haven't visited you guys in a while it'd be nice to catch up. What do you think Korra?" Haru asked with a smile. Korra was a bit sad Haru wanted to visit Asami. She didn't feel comfortable with her around.
"I don't know." She said unsure. "I have some avatar stuff to do."
Bolin picked up Pabu and used him as a puppet, mimicking Pabu's voice.
"Come on Korra. We all deserve a little rest and relaxation after all this craziness. We can swim in Sami's pool. It'll be fun."
Korra and Haru laughed a bit at Bolin an Pabu.
"Alright Pabu." Korra said in defeat.
"Great!" Asami exclaimed. "See you guys tomorrow."
After bidding the two farewells Korra was still fuming a bit.
"Stupid...prissy...pretty girl." she mumbled. Haru gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I get that your mad, but Asami and I have been friends for a while, she's a good person. You'll like her, trust me."
"You mentioned you guys used to date." Korra said slowly. Haru froze when she said that, he hoped they wouldn't have this conversation.
"Yeah, we did, but it was a long time ago." Haru said the last part fast.
"But you dated someone after her and before…me." Korra said sadly. Haru sighed.
"Korra," he began.
"Tell me about Heather." She demanded cutting him off. Haru sighed.
"She was a fire-bender, we dated when I was 16 and she was 17, and at one point I loved her." Haru admitted.
"Loved?" Korra asked.
"Yeah, she and her brother used me to get intel on Triad raids, obtaining police documents and stuff. I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't deny the evidence. She and her brother escaped before they could be arrested, she left me a letter saying she really loved me, I tore it up and threw it away." Haru explained.
"Haru I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Korra said regretting bring up hurtful memories.
"Don't be, I mean you had to know, there shouldn't be secrets between us. You're the first person I've taken serious since then and I hope you know that won't change." Haru said looking her in the eye.
Korra smiled and brought his head close, "I think I can live with that." And they kissed deeply.
"Aright I gotta go meet my mom. We got a lead on where the Equalist got their weapons." Haru said hopping on Toothless.
"Can I come?" Korra asked.
"Sorry babe this is police business." Haru cranked the tail-fin and the immediately blasted off into the air, leaving Korra flustered by her new nickname.
Police Raid
Toothless and his rider flew above an armored truck, which was heading straight for what looked to be a warehouse. The truck sped up and rammed the giant doors down; while Toothless crashed throw the window, followed by metal-benders who swung in on their cables.
Toothless landed beside the truck and Haru hopped off and started looking around. All around there was evidence of Equalist activity. Posters papers and even the glove devices that the Equalists used to knock out the police at the Arena were all over the warehouse. Whoever owned it was in big trouble. Haru walked up to his mom and Captain Saikhan.
"Looks like our intel was good." Lin stated.
"It appears so." Haru replied.
"There's enough evidence here to bury Cabbage Corp. for an eternity."
"I'm not so sure." Haru said scratching his chin.
"What's there to be sure about? Look around you Haru." Saikhan gestured to the warehouse.
"I am looking and all I see is a set up." Haru replied. Saikan and Lin were a bit shocked by this theory
"What do you mean son?" Lin asked.
"We got an 'anonymous' tip saying we would find what we were looking for here in this warehouse. It looks like we've hit the jackpot, but let's think. Amon was ready when we decided to keep the Arena open, it was as if he was counting on it and we played right into his hands."
"You think this is another trap?" Lin asked
"No. I think this is a diversion. This goose-chase to stop the Equalists has made the department desperate after we failed protecting the arena. With Tarrlock going on about new leadership another mistake could be what Amon needs to strike." Haru explained.
"What am I supposed to do Haru? I can't just ignore it." Lin shouted in frustration
"I'm not saying ignore it. I'm saying play along. Amon is a game player, let's do what he wants us to do then we set the trap."
"Alright. We'll arrest Cabbage Corp CEO and freeze his assets. We'll release a statement tomorrow."
"Yes Chief" Saikhan saluted her and walked away. Lin looked at her son with worry.
"I hope this theory of yours is wrong, I want this war to end here."
"Mom. War has already begun." Haru said gravely.
The next day the police arrested Cabbage Corp CEO, froze his bank accounts and closed down his company. Lin took Haru's advice and continued to investigate the Equalists.
Haru and Korra arrived at the Sato Estate and were escorted to the pool where Asami, Mako, Bolin and Pabu were swimming.
"EARTH BENDING BOMB!"
They looked and saw Bolin and Pabu dive into the water making a big splash. Asami's butler, Shu, announced their arrival.
"Avatar Korra and Haru Beifong have arrived." Shu, stepped back and Haru and Korra walked forward. Asami and Mako greeted them.
"Hey guys!" Mako waved.
"Glad you made it." Asami chimed in.
Bolin resurfaced from the water and spread his arms. "Welcome to paradise."
Haru and Korra at by the water's edge while Mako and Asami swan over to them
"Glad you guys settled right in." Korra smiled.
"Yeah I almost forgot how big this place was." Haru said looking around.
"Pretty much. Except someone forgot to ask their father if we could stay here." Mako looking at Asami.
"Now where have I heard that before." Haru smiled knowingly at Asami.
"Oh, come on Haru we were kids. Besides it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." Asami chuckled.
Bolin got out of the water dripping wet and with excitement on his face.
"This is the greatest place in the world. Watch this."
Bolin turned to the butler and stood straight. "Fetch me my towel good sir."
"Yes master…Bolin." the butler turned to retrieve a towel.
See? Master Bolin! Ha! I love this guy." he turned to the butler. Now pat me dry." he ordered.
"As you wish." the butler replied. He began drying Bolin's entire body.
"Don't forget master Pabu." Bolin insisted. Pabu was on top of his head completely wet.
"Wouldn't dream of it sir." the butler dried Pabu who became extra fuzzy afterwards. Once done Bolin jumped back into the water much to the butler's annoyance.
"Classic Bolin." Haru and Korra chuckled.
Haru changed into his swim suit and jumped into the pool. Him, Mako and Bolin started wrestling. Asami swam over to Korra and got out the pool.
"So, what do you have planned for us today? Let me guess: Shopping, Makeovers."
"Ooh ooh, I vote makeovers!" Bolin exclaimed before Haru dunked him underwater.
"I have something a little more exciting in mind." Asami smiled.
Sato Racetrack
The gang was sitting on the bleachers as they watched two Satomobiles race by.
"Pretty cool huh?" Asami asked as she saw Korra's face as the young Avatar was excited by what was happening right now.
"Way cooler than a makeover." Korra said as she watched the cars go at it.
"This is where future industries test drives its Satomobiles. Ever been behind the wheel?" Asami asked.
"The only thing I know how to drive is a polar bear dog." Korra said.
Asami saw Haru and Toothless watching the race and knew exactly what he wanted.
"Want me to take you for a spin?" Asami asked.
Korra turned to Asami in surprise, but smiled, "Let's do it!" she exclaimed.
Asami turned to Haru, "Hey Haru, want a shot at revenge again?" she asked in a pompous tone, knowing it would annoy him.
"Revenge? Toothless and I are the fastest, much faster than any contraption you and your dad could come up with." Haru smirked.
"As I recall I beat you last time."
"Only because you tampered with Toothless' tailfin." Haru said annoyed. Toothless puffed in agreement
"Whatever you say." Asami waved them off.
Haru got onto Toothless and looked Asami right in the face and gave her the, you're going down gesture as Asami looked right at him with a smirk as Korra was in the back of her car.
The checkered flag was swung and the two went at it.
Toothless and Haru took off with such speed, they stayed over the track though Asami was close on their tail, it was clear who was going to win.
After being declared the victors Haru and Toothless landed by the bending brothers.
"I told you Asami. Dragons are better!" Haru said with pride. Toothless looked proud as well. Korra and Asami got out the car.
"Okay, that was AWSOME! No offense but I thought you were one of those prissy girls." Korra admitted. Asami waved her off.
"None taken, I get that a lot. Besides, a 'prissy girl' can't take on five people in hand to hand." she said, flexing her arm. Korra really was starting to like this girl.
As they entered from the door that Shu opened, Bolin was in the middle of his pee dance.
"Emergency, emergency, coming through beep-beep!" he said as he ran to the bathroom.
Haru was laughing as Bolin was running so fast he was picking up dust. Mako was shaking his head in shame.
"Ummmmm, where's the little waterbender's room?" Korra asked.
"Upstairs, sixth door on the right." Asami replied.
When Korra left Asami went over to Haru, "So how's is everything lately?" she asked.
"Pretty lax lately, other than the whole Cabbage Corp thing yesterday." Haru shrugged. Asami rolled her eyes.
"No, I mean how are you and her doing lately, am I seeing the future 'Mrs. Beifong' or what?" she asked. Mako and Bolin let out a snicker as Haru's face turned bright red.
"Me? Korra? Married?! KIDS!,!?" he thought, Asami gave him a pat on the back.
"Relax, I'm joking. You looked like Toothless had baby dragons." she said. Toothless himself gave Haru a similar look.
"Oh, not so funny when the shoe is on the other foot is it bud?" Haru said mockingly, Toothless thwacked him on the head with his tail. Before he could retaliate, Korra returned and quickly began to drag Haru away.
"Sorry guys but I forgot we promised to look after the air-bending kids, gotta go!" she said exiting the house, Toothless in tow. Outside Haru managed to get out of her vice grip.
"Okay, first I don't remember anything with Tenzin and-" Korra put both hands on his shoulders. "We need to see your mom. NOW."
Nighttime outside the Police Station
"Are you 100% sure that was what he said?" Haru asked, Korra groaned.
"Haru, for the FIFTH time YES. I am sure." she said with frustration.
"So you think Mr. Sato manufactured those gloves for the Equalist then framed Cabbage Corp?"
"Korra this is a serious accusation and you have no evidence." Haru said angrily. Korra was taken aback by his attitude; it was like he didn't believe her.
"I may not have proof, but I know what I heard Haru. Sato is up to something."
"Not without proof!" Haru yelled.
Lin sighed. "Haru, I understand this is hard to accept, but he has motive, means, and you know as well as I, that those are good reasons for committing crimes. Plus this goes along with your theory perfectly."
"What motive? What theory?" Korra asked.
"Twelve years ago, the Agni Kai Triads robbed the Sato's mansion and a fire bender killed his wife Yasuko." Haru said softly.
Lin growled remembering the event, "Haru…was there that day too with Asami." She said
Korra's eyes widen, "Wh-what happened?" she asked.
Haru sighed, "It went like this…"
Flashback_
A seven-year-old Haru and six-year-old Asami were playing outside and decided to head inside to clean up.
Asami wiped the mud from her face and glared at Haru, "Really? A mud war! I thought you were going to show me your earth bending?" the dirtied Asami questioned.
Haru, also covered in mud, shrugged, "I wanted to try out mud-bending. It sounded fun." He looked at Asami and then himself, "And it was." He chirped as he patted the dirt on him.
Asami just face palmed.
A scream echoed through the halls.
"Kyaaa!"
Both Haru and Asami froze hearing such a horrific scream.
Asami turned to Haru with a bit of fear, "Ha-Haru, wh-what was that?" she asked in a shaken tone.
"I don't know." he answered as he took a deep breath.
He placed his hand on the floor, trying to feel the vibrations in the earth like his grandmother had taught him.
He felt…a lot of people entering the house and running around it and…one was heading this way!
Haru grabbed Asami's hand and ran up the stairs with her.
He found a closet and pushed her into it, "Stay here." He ordered her.
"But-" she tried to argue, but Haru cut her off.
"No Asami, stay here and I'll try and find your mom and see what's happening." He said as he closed the door on her.
He ran through the second floor of the house trying to find someone; anyone that could tell him what was going on.
He finally found Asami's mother Yasuko. "Aunt Yasuko!" he said getting her attention. She turned to him with a panicked look on her face.
"Haru, run!" she shouted and was hit in the back by a fireball. She flew and landed roughly on the ground, Haru thought she would get up…but she didn't.
A big stocky man came out of the hallway and looked right at Haru.
"Well well, a brat huh, I think that bastard Sato only had a daughter, so you must be her friend or something. What do you say brat? I'll let you live if you bring me Sato's daughter." He said.
Haru was frozen, his feet just wouldn't move. This…this monster just killed Yasuko and now he wants Asami too? No! He wouldn't him. Haru thought as he got into his stance.
The man laughed at him, "You want to fight me?" he said in a joking manner, he rolled his shoulder, "Your funeral, maybe they can have a two for one to save some cash after we rob this place blind." He joked as he shot a fireball at Haru.
Haru jumped to the left of the hall and slammed his foot on the floor, causing it to collapse under the fire-bender.
"The fu-!" he tried to say, but he fell through.
Haru, not being able to control his bending just yet, cracked the floor under him too and fell.
Haru stood up from all the rubble and heard some rubble moving and turned to see the fire-bender, just as he punched Haru right in the face, sending him flying.
"Little brat, your dead!" he shouted.
"Haru!" the voice of Asami cried out.
Haru turned to see his friend in tears as she watched him get hit.
The fire bender saw her and smiled, "Well there you are, time to end you too, so just stand there as I choke the life out of your little friend here." He said in a polite manner.
He wrapped his large hands around Haru's throat and started to squeeze. Haru flailed around, trying to fight back, but sadly he couldn't.
Suddenly a rock hit the fire bender in the eye, causing him to bleed.
He growled as he turned to Asami just as she threw another rock at him. He swatted it away, "Fine, you can die first!" he said as he got up and was about to launch a fireball at her but stopped when he looked down and saw a large earth spike going right through his stomach.
He turned his head slightly to see Haru in a striking pose and tried to gasp for air as the spike went through him. He died right then and there.
Haru collapsed on his knees and looked at his hands. He killed. He killed someone! He just wanted to save Asami and he took a man's life.
He started to cry and felt a pair of arms wrap around him and saw Asami crying as she hugged him tightly, which he returned. The two stayed like that till the metal bending police arrived and arrested some of the fire benders and Lin ran up to the two.
"Haru! Asami!" she said in a frantic tone. She quickly scanned the scene and her heart sank when she saw a fire bender impaled by an earth spike.
She saw Haru shaking and crying as Asami held him and she wrapped her arms around the two and tried soothing them with sweet nothings as she was also shedding tears.
It was a few minutes later that they found the body of Yasuko Sato.
Flashback end_
"Haru…" Korra muttered in sadness as she heard that he had killed someone at such a young age.
Tenzin had bowed his head at remembering the young man had not been his usual self for about a month till he started to talk about it with Lin and himself.
He always had asked if he was a bad guy for killing someone.
They told him that killing was indeed a bad thing, but he did it to save someone's life.
"It was a tragic event. It's possible that he's been harboring anti-bending sentiment all this time." Tenzin said. Lin nodded
"When we raided Cabbage Corp warehouse Haru thought that Amon planted evidence to implicate Cabbage Corp, so we'd get off his trail. Now if we put Sato into the equation, it all makes sense." Lin explained.
"We'll speak to Hiroshi in private about this." Haru said in a neutral tone.
The Next Day
Shu had opened the door to reveal Lin, Tenzin, Korra, and Haru.
Lin and Tenzin headed up stairs to Hiroshi's office as Korra and Haru followed them, but they were stopped by Asami and Mako.
"What's going on? Why are they asking Hiroshi more questions?" Mako asked
Korra was about to talk, but Haru cut her off, "We can't discuss the matters of the investigation at this moment." He said in a monotone voice.
Asami got right into Haru's face, "Take off that cop face of yours Haru and tell me." she demanded.
Haru averted her eyes, telling her that he wouldn't talk about it. She scowled at him and turned to the stairs and started to head to her father's office.
Mako stared at both Korra and Haru for a few seconds till he headed up.
Haru sighed and headed up too, Korra quickly followed.
"Hiroshi, we just wanted to do some follow up questions." Lin said in a neutral tone.
Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, "By all means Lin." He gestured her to continue.
"Korra." She said, and she stood forward.
"Yesterday I overheard you on the phone. You said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, and you're getting ready to strike." Korra said.
"What!? That's a lie." Asami said. Hiroshi laughed.
"This is all just a misunderstanding resulting from the young Avatar's overactive imagination. My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It's providing me an opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Satomobiles. It's just business. Nothing nefarious." Hiroshi explained.
Tenzin and Lin looked at each other unsure.
"In order to put all suspicions to rest, might we have a look into your factories and warehouses?" Tenzin asked.
"Haru, Aunt Lin! Please this is crazy" Asami pleaded, "How could you even think that?" she asked
Lin answered for them, "We need to follow all possible leads Asami, but due to both mine and the lieutenant's relation towards you both, we wished to keep this as private as possible. Sadly, we are still mandated to ask if we can search your warehouses…no matter how much we wish not to." She said with regret.
Hiroshi raised his hand to calm his daughter, "It's alright Asami. Lin and Haru are just doing their jobs. You can search all of Future Industries as much as you wish." He stated.
Lin nodded and walked out the room with Tenzin and Korra. Haru stayed.
"Asami" He began.
"I don't want to talk to you 'Lieutenant', I can't believe after 16 years of friendship, you'd turn on us."
"It's not that black and white Asami." Haru stated.
"It is to me, either you tell Korra she's mistaken, or our friendship is over." Asami threatened.
"Asami that's enough Haru is just following orders, this shouldn't be made personal." Hiroshi interjected. Asami was unmoved.
"What's it gonna be Haru?" Asami stated. Haru sighed and stood firm.
"Like your father said, I'm just following orders." With that Haru left and a single tear fell from Asami's face.
Future Industries Factory
As his mother and the other officers looked through Future Industries, Haru was staying out of the way per his request as he didn't wish to do this. His mother understood, and he stayed out of the search.
When nothing was found in the search, walked over to his mom, Korra, and Tenzin.
"Did you find anything?" he asked.
"No, I can't believe it." Korra said confused. A glimmer of hope shined in Haru's eyes.
"Then he's innocent, right?" Haru asked hesitantly.
"It appears so." Lin sighed with relief. She too didn't want to find anything. Asami walked over to them with an annoyed look on her face.
"So, I hope you're convinced now." Asami scowled
"No, I'm not! I don't care how cooperative Hiroshi is being, I know he's lying." Korra said adamantly. Asami looked at Haru, but he kept his eyes down, she then growled in frustration.
"The only one here lying is you, Avatar." With that Asami stormed off. Mako stayed to talk to them.
"I can't believe you both, I'm disappointed especially in you Haru. You're supposed to have Asami's back!" Mako yelled.
"You think I wanted this!? You think I want to believe he's a criminal? You have no idea what the hell you're talking about Mako!" Haru yelled in Mako's face.
The fire-bender and the earth-bender stood at odds. Smoke seeped from Mako's hands while the pebbles on the ground shook at Haru's feet, Toothless stood behind Haru growling lowly. For a moment the air was still, until Mako tsked and walked away. Haru sighed and Korra grabbed his arm lightly.
"Hey, look I'm sorry for causing this, but you have to believe me." Korra pleaded.
"I do Korra, it's just hard. Come on let's go." He said. As they were about to leave Korra felt someone put a piece of paper in her hand, surprised, looks around to see who handed her the note, to no avail. She opens the note and reads it. Looking at it with surprise, she turns to Haru, Lin and Tenzin.
"I think you guys should hear this. "If you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the Silk Road Bridge at midnight." Korra read.
Silk Road bridge
"How do we know that this source is reliable? It could be another diversion like the last tip." he asked.
As they approached the bridge, Korra felt sad for Haru. Hiroshi and Asami were the first real people who he was friends with, he was probably in denial.
"Psst. Over here." A voice whispered.
As the continued onward an older man stepped out from the shadows, "You got my message?" he asked, Korra nodded.
"Listen, I joined the Equalists because I believed in what Amon said. I thought he could make life better for us non-benders. But I didn't sign up for this…this war."
"What do you have on Hiroshi Sato?" Lin asked.
"He manufactured those gloves for the Equalists."
"I knew it!" Korra said confidently. Haru froze, it was true. Hiroshi was with the Equalists.
"And there are rumors he's working on something even bigger. Some new kind of weapon."
Haru stepped forward.
"That's impossible! All of Future Industries was searched, nothing was found." Haru interjected.
"That's because he has a secret factory."
"Where?" Tenzin asked.
"It's right underneath the Sato Mansion."
On Police Airship
Haru was absentmindedly fiddling with Toothless' riding gear, they had decided that taking the airship over would give them time to think. Korra was beginning to worry, Haru hasn't said a word since the man's meeting. He'd just been in a trance the whole time. Lin was about to call the station but saw how her son was acting, she put a hand on Korra's shoulder.
"Please talk to him, if I ask he'll say nothing's wrong."
Korra nodded and walked over to him. Not noticing her presence, he jumped a bit when Korra put her head in the crook of his neck,
"Hey. You alright?" she asked, Haru, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"I don't know...I'm just angry and confused." he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Korra, look I know your worried, but I want...need to do this my own way. Okay?" he asked.
Korra nodded her head and pecked him on the cheek.
"Remember our promise, no secrets, okay?" she said with a smile on tugging on her lips. Haru couldn't help but grin.
"Yeah, I know."
Sato Estate
They entered the mansion and the other officers slammed the door open and saw Asami, Mako, and Bolin with Pabu, sitting around.
"What are you doing here?" Asami asked in surprise.
"We have reason to believe that there is a factory hidden below the mansion." Lin stated.
Asami got up in anger, "This is harassment, my dad isn't an Equalist, you've known him for years!" she exclaimed, and she turned to Haru.
"Haru please! My father has done nothing wrong!" she yelled adamantly. Haru averted his eyes from her.
"Where is your father?" Tenzin asked getting her attention away from Haru.
"In his workshop behind the house." She answered in a calmer tone.
The group walked to the workshop with the other kids in tow as the metal bending officers secured the perimeter.
They entered the shop and did a quick sweep of the shop.
"Dad? Hello?" Asami called out as she entered the workshop.
"Chief, the estate's been secured. No one has left the workshop since we arrived."
"That's impossible."
Haru was looking around the shop when something caught his foot, he stomped his foot into the ground and felt something. Dammit, Sprits dammit! He thought.
"There's a tunnel. Underneath the metal." he said stepping over the spot, he rammed his fist down, making a hole in the ground, bringing his arm up he took the floor with it and threw it off to the side, revealing a tramcar that went downwards.
"Whoa, do you think your dad knows about this tunnel?" Bolin asked Asami, who was currently in mild shock.
"There...there has to be an explanation." Asami argued weakly. Haru now felt horrible.
"Maybe…you don't know everything about your father. I'm sorry." Korra said to her.
Asami looked over to Haru, he stood at the mouth of the tunnel and looked into it with anger. He felt his mom put a hand on his shoulder, "Haru, I'm-"
"Not now." he said with a hint of anger in his voice. She sighed understanding his pain.
"Officers, into the tunnel. Be cautious." Lin ordered.
Asami, Mako, and Bolin were about to follow, but Haru stopped them.
"You guys stay up here. Officer Song will keep an eye on you." Haru ordered. Asami stepped forward.
"Haru, I'm so sorry." Asami said sadly.
"Me too." Haru replied.
They descended down the trolley and they entered the ground floor and saw many Amon and Equalist banners.
"Hiroshi truly likes to go for extravagance." Lin commented.
"He learned that from me." Haru joked weakly which made Korra laugh a bit.
They continued walking and they saw some kind of metal humanoids.
"And I'm guessing those are the new weapons." Korra said as she looked at them.
"Hiroshi was lying alright, but, where is he?" Tenzin questioned
Suddenly a giant wall of metal blocked the exit for them, taking away the light.
Lin ran up to the wall of metal and tried to bend it but realized she couldn't.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to metal bend that wall Lin." Said the voice of Hiroshi as suddenly rows of green lights lit up the room.
"Its solid platinum!" he said as the mecha tanks came to life and surrounded them.
"My mecha tanks are also made of platinum as well. Not even the renowned Toph Beifong could bend a metal so pure." He said from the mecha tank.
Haru walked in front of the group, "Mr. Sato!" he yelled.
"Yes, Haru?" Hiroshi asked as he knew what the boy wanted to talk about.
"Why? Why do this? Aunt Yasuko would never want this! She loved your inventions when they were used to help people, but now…now you are making weapons to bring war!" he shouted in betrayal.
Hiroshi flinched at the mention of his lovely wife, but he knew that such feeling would come up when he descended upon this path, "I am doing in what I believe in Haru. Nothing more and nothing less." He answered.
"How could you!?" Korra shouted. "Haru trusted you, he did everything to defend you and now you just betray him and his mom like its nothing? Why don't you come out here and-"
"And do what young Avatar?" Hiroshi said as he cut her off. "Face the wrath of your bending? No, I think I'll fight from inside here where my odds are a little more equal." He said.
"That source was a set up. You lured us down here!" Lin exclaimed.
"Indeed Lin." Hiroshi said as his mecha tanks arm launched a cable with a weight at the end of it.
Haru broke off from the group and a mecha tank followed him.
He dodged a cable and ran up the wall while magnetizing his feet to let him stay up there for a bit and he launched himself on to the mech and punched the cockpit repeatedly and jumped off just in time as another cable from another mecha tank shot at him.
He landed and launched a cable around one of the arms of the mecha tank and used an earth platform jump to go over a railing on the ceiling and landed on the ground and locked one of his feet into the floor as he raised another earth platform and launched the mech into the air. He quickly locked his other foot into the ground and used all of his strength, no matter how much his muscles were screaming in pain, to keep the mech in the air and let it drop as he snapped the cables and released his feet.
He ran to the downed mech and started to raise earth columns in a diagonal fashion and locking one of the arms in the ground and doing it to the rest of the body till the tank was covered in a pyramid of earth.
He was panting hard from the strain it took to lift the tank but turned to see another one heading for him and used a cable to swing himself to safety until he was hit from behind and was shocked heavily from another mecha tank. He tried to endure it till another mecha tank latched onto him and added more voltage to him and knocking him out.
Hiroshi exited his mecha tank and looked at the down benders, "I'll say that that was a near flawless test run. Load everyone into the transports and deliver them to Amon." He ordered.
He walked over to Haru as two chi blockers picked him up.
Haru cracked his eyes and looked at Hiroshi in a daze, "Traitor." Haru said with a bit of a slur.
Hiroshi looked at Haru sadly, "Don't worry son, everything will be fine once you're purified."
"You..won't get a-away with this." Haru said as his eyes started to gain their focus again.
"Drop him by his mother." Hiroshi said, and the chi blockers nodded as they dumped Haru next to his mom.
What they didn't see was Mako and Bolin sneak in and picked up Korra and Tenzin and drag Haru and Lin.
"Not so fast boys." Hiroshi said as he wore two chi-gauntlets and the female Chi-blocker had her axe ready to strike the brothers.
Bolin dropped Lin and used Tenzin's arm to wave at Hiroshi, "Hello, wow what a really…swell…scary factory you have here under your giant mansion." He said nervously.
"Sponsoring our team, supporting the Avatar, it was all just a big cover." Mako stated in understanding.
"Yes and the most difficult part was watching my daughter traipse around with a fire bending street rat like you!" Hiroshi responded in anger.
"What about Haru? He's been Asami's friend for years? Do you hate him too?" Mako asked shot back.
"Never. How could I hate someone, who saved my daughter's life? I've watched Haru grow up ever since he was 4, I see him like a son. His understanding of my creations, open mindedness to see their benefits for non-benders and desire for peace is why I could never come to hate him."
As he said that a bit of hope returned to everyone's eyes until Hiroshi spoke again.
"However my hatred towards you benders is far greater and I'll do anything to make sure Amon wins this war. Once Amon purifies him of his bending, hopefully he can forgive me, and we can try to regain the bond we had, as he is a much better choice for Asami then you, street rat." He said with a sneer as he charged his chi-gauntlet.
"Dad stop!" said the voice of Asami.
Hiroshi turned to face his daughter in shock.
Asami's face held nothing but betrayal, "Why?" she pleaded
Hiroshi lowered his head, "Sweetie, I wanted to keep you out of this for as long as I could, but now that you know the truth please, forgive me." he asked
Asami just continued to look at her father, unsure of what to do.
"These people…these benders…they've been the cause of people's suffering for ages. All the bending rulers like Chin the Conqueror, Fire Lord Sozin, Fire Lord Ozai, Yakone, and every other bender who craved control over all nations have been responsible for countless deaths and wars that resolved nothing towards peace. They took your mother the love of my life from me and they almost took you too. Don't you see that Amon can be the one to do what even the Avatar can't do; he'll create a peace that'll last forever by eliminating bending. Without Bending there would be no one who could rise to power to try and rule all nations like the previous benders have tried to do, there would be no gangs, no thugs to threaten innocent people. Without benders we could live in a world where everyone would be treated as equals and no one would have the power to kill anyone else with bending or technology once we create the new world!" Hiroshi paused for a moment.
"If it wasn't for bending, Haru wouldn't have been forced to perform an act that no child should ever do just to protect you from them. They've ruined the world, but with Amon we can fix it and build a perfect world together! We can help people like us everywhere." He took off one of his electro gloves and handed it to Asami.
"Join me Asami." He asked.
Asami just stood there, afraid and confused, but after a moment she gained a determined look in her eyes and she walked forward and took the glove and placed it on.
"No…" Mako whispered in sadness.
"I love you dad." Asami said as she shocked him.
The Chi-blocker went to attack her, but she kicked her axe out of her hand and caught the chi-blocker's other arm and shocked her with the glove.
"Let's get out of here!" Mako as he grabbed Haru and headed to the hole they came from just as the other mecha tanks came to life.
Police Airship
Korra helped Mako lay Haru on a bench and she thanked the fire bender as she rubbed Haru's hair.
Haru cracked his eyes open and smiled at Korra, "Hey babe, how many did you take down?" he joked softly.
Korra swatted him on the head and he yelped, "What?" he asked
"Don't joke about things like that." She said with a huff as she folded her arms.
"Sorry." He muttered
Korra sighed and kissed him on the forehead, "It's okay, just don't do crazy stuff like that."
Haru raised an eyebrow, "You know, since we have to fight those things now, I will be doing crazy stuff like that, right?" he asked with a sly expression.
Korra palmed her face, "Why do you always have a witty come back?" she asked with a groan.
"Because it's make me, me and you love it." He said instantly.
Korra got into a thinking position, "This is true." She concluded.
Haru looked at Asami in sadness, "I'll have a talk with her once I'm rested up." He said to himself.
With Lin and Tenzin
"My metalbenders are on their way to Amon and it's all my fault. Tarrlok's right, I failed as Chief. First thing in the morning I'm handing in my resignation." She said in sadness.
"No! You can't give up like this." Tenzin argued
"I'm not giving up." Lin said with a grunt as she sat up from the bench she was laying on, "I'm going to find my officers and take Amon down, but I'm going to do it my way…outside the law." She said with determination.
"Who's going to take your place? Tarrlok could very well have someone in his pocket to take control for him!" Tenzin stated
Lin gave him a smile, "I know someone who can do it just fine." She said as she looked at Haru.
Tenzin looked surprised, "Lin, he's too young to take such a responsibility plus I don't think he's in the right state of mind after everything he went through with Hiroshi's betrayal."
Lin glanced back at him, "I know, but tell me someone who's better for the job then a Beifong?" she said.
Author's note: Thanks for reading if you have any questions, leave a review. Happy 2019!