Zhu was on early morning patrol as usual. That's the job they gave rookie detectives. Though she had been working as a detective for two years now, they still treated her like a novice. Liang had offered to switch with her but she denied.
"I should be able to take whatever they throw at me, right?" She said, resting her hand on Liang's forearm as the two snuck away to the break room together, "It's only been a year since I got the permanent spot. And it's not like I have a difficult time here."
"That's because they know you're Lin Momfong's daughter," Her boyfriend teased as leaned down and kissed her jaw, "And Lin Momfong will beat up anyone who hurts you." He pressed his forehead against Zhu's cheek, making her laugh.
"Oh, she'd tell me to stop being a wuss."
Someone cleared their throat and the couple jumped away from each other. Saikhan awkwardly gestured at the coffee machine behind Zhu, refusing to meet any of their eyes. Nobody talked to Saikhan when he hadn't had his coffee.
"Don't you kids have work to do?" He grumbled, as Zhu shifted so that her back was pressing against Liang's chest.
Liang chuckled, "Yes, sir. We were just leaving."
"Sure you were."
Zhu kissed Liang, saying that she'd meet him later. On her way out, she picked up the big lunchbox from her desk. Chen had wrapped it in a huge cloth for Mako and Bolin. The firebender thought she might as well pay them a visit since she was going towards the arena.
She scaled the familiar rooftops carefully, and within minutes, she was at the arena's window. Zhu landed near the sofa. Mako was sitting on the other end of the L-shaped couch, putting on his shoes. Soft snoring was coming from the very back of the room. Zhu assumed that Bolin must not have work down at the gym.
"I told you not to let Bo sleep on the berth," Zhu placed the three-layered lunchbox on the table, "The ladder's wobbly. He'll hurt himself while climbing it."
Mako nudged her to the side, opening the wrapped box, "I did tell him not to, but he told me not to worry. Said something about him fixing it. Oh, hey. Riceballs! Nice."
"Yeah? And what about me saying that the wood has rotted?" Zhu removed the upper box, "You might want to heat up the side dishes a bit."
The boy munched on a riceball, with small bits sticking to the corner of his mouth, "I'll look for a spare ladder in the storage room below."
Zhu tightened the ribbon around her twisted braids on the lower back of her scalp, "I'll be back by evening to get the box." She gestured at Mako's face, "Are you trying to paint your face with rice?" Without wasting another second, she climbed onto the window sill.
She had switched to a red and black hanbok top, with a very minimal looking obi, that covered a good part of her waist. Green and red tassels hung from her waist. The sleeves of her upper garment ended slightly above her elbow, with her forearms covered by black, skin tight arm guards. Since her top ended just below her knees, Zhu wore black leggings with her usual shoes.
Mako wiped his mouth by the back of his gloves, "You're on patrol today?"
"Hence I'm early."
"Alright, jeez. Just asking. Thanks for the food. Be careful!"
"I will."
Zhu spent the next two hours patrolling. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except for the usual vandalism. She caught a couple of teenagers spray painting Amon's face on a building. A good portion of non-benders had started supporting Amon and his radical anti-bending views. The masked man had successfully created a rift between the benders and non-benders by convincing the latter that they were being oppressed.
After brushing off the kids' screams of "The Revelation is upon us, whether you like it or not" and turning them in at the nearest police precinct, Zhu made her way downtown. She heard loud noises and yells that made her quicken her pace. The scene she saw threw her off. The streets were almost in ruins. Broken shards of glass and wood littered the path. Remnants of earthbending were visible. The Police airship hovered over the buildings with its alarm ringing loudly.
Swearing under her breath, Zhu followed the destruction. At the end of the street, she saw a dark skinned girl in Water tribe garb, on top of what seemed to be a polarbear dog, fighting multiple officers using-
Earth and water? Is she-?
Raising her arms, Zhu brought her fists down on the ground. She then pulled her elbows in and pushed out her hands, palms facing upwards. The girl and her pet were surrounded by a circle of fire which took them by surprise.
"Ma'am, I'd like you to stand down." Zhu called, as the Water Tribe girl turned to face her.
"What, you're one of them too?" She gestured towards the officers, while simultaneously extinguishing the fire.
"If by 'them', you mean the police officers you attacked then yes." Zhu clicked her tongue, "You have caused destruction of private and public property, and quite possibly injured civilians. Please don't make it worse by evading arrest." She ignored the question, scrutinizing the way the Avatar was still avoiding the metal lines.
"I haven't done anything wrong-"
The firebender narrowed her gaze and sent harmless flames towards her. Fire shot across Korra, narrowly missing her neck, "That's not what the marketplace and the officers you flung away seem to tell me. One last time, stand down."
Korra stared at Zhu with anger and pulled the reins of her animal, "Come on, Naga."
With one swift motion, the polarbear dog leapt over the firebender, who spun and followed them along with the rest of the cops. Zhu wanted to avoid firebending in the area and accidentally setting something or someone on fire. She waited until they were in a larger space to attack.
As Korra ran across a bridge, one of the cops shot his metal line at her which wrapped around her ponytail. The girl, in turn, threw her arms in a backward motion and the water from the river splashed upwards, freezing and blocking the way. The unfortunate cop slammed face first onto the wall of ice, the metal line releasing its hold on her.
Zhu arched her leg, kicking upwards and creating a fire blade which cut through the ice wall.
"She'll head to the rail tracks!" The firebender called out to the cops as they continued the pursuit, "One of you lead the airship towards the port side."
Following the polarbear dog all the way to another bridge, Zhu jumped forward, shooting a huge ball of fire at them. The Avatar yelped in panic as she looked over her shoulder. Twisting her upper body, she punched at the fireball, putting it out.
Last I heard, the Avatar was at the South Pole, training.
Instead of firing at Korra, Zhu shot lightning at the polar bear dog's feet. The dog toppled over the side of the bridge, landing on top of a train. The firebender followed suit.
"Stop following me!" The Avatar yelled at her, making her laugh under under breath.
The chase continued as they leapt carriage to carriage. Zhu was able to decrease the distance between them when Korra froze suddenly to stare towards Air Temple Island. Of course, she's supposed to be Tenzin's responsibility. Mother's going to be so pissed.
Suddenly, the dog darted towards one of the nearby buildings. Right before it (she? He?) touched the rooftop, Zhu pulled her hands apart, creating a fire whip and sent it towards the animal's limbs. The polarbear dog toppled over and it was then that she noticed the airship over them. Zhu jumped off the train, using fire to propel her forward and landed near the Avatar and her pet.
Korra stared at the young detective helplessly, entangled in the web of metal lines that had been shot from the airship. Under her, Naga whined.
Seeing that the troublemaker had been caught, Zhu notified the nearest officer that she'd be heading to the police station on her own.
"It'll be easier if you come by the airship," Officer Yoon gestured at the huge machine.
The firebender shook her head, "Yeah, no way. Not happening. That's a deathship, not an airship." The cop sent her a weird look and Zhu sighed, "Look, I'll-I'll be right behind you. Chief will want a proper report anyway. It's not everyday you arrest the Avatar."
"Let's see," Chief Beifong circled Korra, who sat handcuffed at the table, "multiple counts of destruction of private and city property... not to mention evading arrest." At this, the Avatar's eyes flickered towards Zhu, who stood in a corner facing the two, "You're in a whole mess of trouble, young lady."
Korra winced and fumbled, "But there were some thugs threatening a helpless shopkeeper and I had to..."
"Can it!" Chief slammed the notepad that she held onto the table, loudly, "You should have called the police and stayed out of the way." She walked to the other end of the table, emitting an aura of power, crossing her arms and facing the girl again.
"But I couldn't just sit by and do nothing." the teenager explained, "It's my duty to help people." She smiled widely, "See, I'm the Avatar." Korra looked extremely proud of herself.
At this, Zhu snickered. Chief shot a look at her over her shoulder and the firebender fell silent.
"Oh, I am well aware of who you are." She shot back at the Avatar and wiggled her fingers mockingly, "And your Avatar title might impress some people, but not me."
Korra stared wide eyed at the woman before gathering herself, "Alright, fine. Then I want to talk to whoever's in charge."
"You're looking at her," Zhu snorted, "That's Chief Beifong." and made quotation marks with her fingers, "'In charge' of the Metalbending Police Force"
Chief took a seat opposite to the girl and Zhu shuffled closer, standing to her left.
"Wait, Beifong?" Korra exclaimed in surprise, "Lin Beifong? You're Toph's daughter!"
The corner of Lin's mouth twitched at the mention of her absent mother, "What of it?"
"Then why are you treating me like a criminal?" Korra demanded in incredule, "Avatar Aang and your mother were friends. They saved the world together!"
"That's ancient history," The woman leaned forward and hissed, "and it's got diddly squat to do with the mess you're in right now. You can't just waltz in here and dole out vigilante justice like you own the place!"
A small section of the wall opened and a male cop's face appeared. We all turn towards him as he peered in.
"Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here." He informed her.
Great. Zhu huffed, knowing that her mother was going to be a foul mood the whole day now.
Mom sighed, "Let him in."
She got up and turned her back to Korra and Zhu copied her, with hands behind her back. The wall of the interrogation room opened and Tenzin walked in, his airbender robes swishing. He looked crossly over the mother and daughter's shoulders, at the Avatar.
"Tenzin," Korra grinned nervously, "Sorry...I got a little side tracked on my way to see you."
The man breathed deeply and then exhaled, controlling his temper. Looking at Lin from the corner of his eye, he smiled at her.
"Lin, you are looking radiant as usual." His gaze turned warmer as he acknowledged the other detective, "Zhu, I see you are here as well."
"Cut the garbage, Tenzin." Chief used her 'no-nonsense' tone, "Why is the Avatar in Republic City? I thought you were supposed to be moving down to the South Pole to train her?"
"My relocation has been delayed." Tenzin replied, "The Avatar, on the other hand," his gaze zeroed on Korra, "will be heading back to the South Pole immediately, where she will stay put."
"But-!" Korra protested but the airbender would have none of it.
"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra," He continued as if he had never been interrupted, "I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events, and cover all the damages."
Chief glanced back at the girl and then at Tenzin before sighing, "Fine. Get her out of my city. Officer Zhu, escort them to the port."
Korra silently whooped in joy as she got up. Zhu stood near the wall opening and gestured at Tenzin to leave first.
"Always a pleasure, Lin." Tenzin stepped back and turned, "Let's go, Korra."
The Avatar was in a hurry to leave. However, before exiting the interrogation chamber, she turned and made a face at Chief, who made the 'I have my eyes on you' gesture. Weirdly, Korra copied the motion and left. Zhu exchanged a confused glance with Chief who had lifted her hand in a 'what-the-hell-does-that-mean' way.
Lin stopped her daughter as she stepped out of the cell. "Good job, Zhu." This made the girl freeze up near the entrance and turn. "What?" The older woman frowned, seeing Zhu stare at her wide-eyed.
"It's...well…" Zhu stumbled over words, "Nothing. I'll see you later, Chief." She hurried out to the lobby, feeling oddly happy and satisfied with herself. Who knew I had to arrest the Avatar to be praised by mother.
At the end of the lobby, she saw Korra flailing her arms and saying something which made Tenzin go red in the face. He snapped back at her to which she calmly started explaining herself. The airbender let out a sigh of exasperation. An officer approached them nervously, with Naga in tow. Korra happily patted her companion as Zhu decided to intervene.
"Councilman Tenzin, if you're ready to leave?" She gestured to the exit.
Tenzin visibly brightened up upon seeing her.
Zhu had been sent to Air Temple Island on a training exercise with the members of the White Lotus. That is where she had met the man. They had gotten along well. With a little strategized conversation, Zhu was able to make him talk about her mother and she was surprised by how much he had praised the woman. She had tried, on multiple occasions, to hint that Lin Beifong was her mother but was interrupted every single time.
"Detective Zhu!" Tenzin smiled, "Yes. Yes, of course. Ah," He gestured towards Korra, "You already met Korra, the Avatar."
The detective bowed out of respect to the Avatar, who crossed her arms and hmmphed in return, "Avatar Korra, my name is Zhu B-"
"You arrested me!" The tanned girl pointed an accusing finger at her.
Zhu blinked, "...I'm sorry for doing my job?"
Tenzin cut in as Korra opened her mouth to retort, "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Zhu. It is unfortunate that you got dragged into the mess someone -" He shot the Avatar an annoyed look which made her pout in dejection, "- created and had you waste your time. You wouldn't have had to accompany us if I had brought Oogie. I ended up rushing here when I heard someone -" He glared at Korra again who let out a whiny 'Stop it', "- had gotten herself arrested."
"Part and parcel of the job, sir." Zhu brushed off the compliment and turned to Korra, holding out her hand, "No hard feelings? I did go easy on you."
Korra who had grinned widely and taken her hand before hearing the last sentence, widened her eyes in disbelief, "What!? No way. I went easy on you."
"If that helps your bison fly, then sure." Zhu shrugged, letting go of the handshake.
"I'll prove it." The Avatar insisted with narrowed eyes, "You and me. One on one. Right now."
The firebender smirked at this, "Only if you limit yourself to one element."
"Scared I'll wipe the floor with you?" She crossed her arms smugly. Tenzin was looking exasperatedly between them as if he were witnessing a pro-bending match.
"It'll be an unfair match if you use all four elements."
"Luckily for you," Korra said proudly, pointing her chin at the detective, "I know only three elements."
"I don't see how that's something to boast about considering you are the Avatar, master of all four elements and not three." Zhu shot back, teasingly and watched the girl stammer and stutter while failing to form a coherent sentence. "I'm joking."
Korra quickly gathered herself, "I knew that."
Tenzin cleared his throat rather loudly, "If you ladies are quite done then I'd like to make it back in time for dinner." When he didn't receive any response, the airbender sighed heavily, "To the port then?"
Hello. The upload was delayed because I've been caught up in work.
Let me know what you think!