It was a few days after the events of Zaofu as back on the island, a familiar pokemon was spotted headed to the island. "Lunala...hey, it's Hope and the gang! They're back! And they got Korra!" Lacy said.
"See, I knew he'd make it back." Jexi said.
Hope landed as well as the others as Korra reunited with her friends.
"It didn't go so well in Zaofu. Kuvira how has control of it and now she has the entire Earth Kingdom under her banner." Hope explained.
"We know. We heard the news. Kuvira really does have an entire Earth Empire now." Roku said.
"So it IS an empire!" ZS said. "Man, this is reminding me of Sidious more and more. We've gotta put a stop to this!"
"We will, but we can't go head to head with them right now. We'll just have to wait for Jude and the others to make it back here." Izuku said.
"So you must be Korra." Mark said to her. "Mark Anarchy, leader of Team Chronicle. It's very nice to meet you."
"Uh...nice to meet you too?" Korra said.
"So, we couldn't stop Kuvira in Zaofu. What do we do now?" Gemini asked.
"It's up to all of us together now to figure out how to stop her." Tenzin said. "We're just glad to have you all back."
"Where's Bolin and the friends you sent to spy on Kuvira? Don't tell me they're still captured with Souda and Eddy." Bumi asked.
"They haven't made it back yet." Jexi said. "But I still have faith in them."
Meanwhile with them…
"Come on, pick up the pace." Varrick said riding on Eddy. "Come on. Zhu Li was able to carry me 20 miles in a day when we fled Republic City and that was with a sprained ankle."
"You wanna walk yourself?!" Eddy snapped back.
"She must've been no normal human if she could do that." Miu said.
"Well we aren't Zhu Li." Bolin said as Eddy threw Varrick off. "Need we remind you about the weapon you made that could hurt a lot of people."
"Don't remind me. I'm a horrible person!" Varrick said.
"Well you have a chance to redeem yourself. We set back her plans and we have a chance to get to Republic City to warn everyone about that weapon." Franky said.
"Plus, as far as the Earth Empire is concerned, we were killed in the explosion, so no one would expect us to make any sudden movements." Jude said.
"So come on. We can fix this." Bolin said as Varrick picked himself up.
"You all got a way with words, even you, Bolin. No wonder I made you a mover star. Okay, now it's my turn to carry one of you." Varrick said.
"Oh thank god. My feet were killing me." Miu said getting on him.
"Okay...there we go." he said as they stepped on a patch of grass before they found themselves trapped in a net.
"Are you kidding me?!" Bolin said.
Back in the city…
"So...in honor of your return. How about we enjoy a nice lunch together. All on their tab of course." Ling said pointing to the heroes.
"What…" Saki said.
"Ling, aren't you royalty? You can pay for your own meals." Alkaline pointed out.
"Truth be told, I didn't bring any money with me when I left my country." Ling said.
"Do they take gold pieces?" Shanoa asked holding up a bag of money.
"Uh...you realize gold isn't considered currency anymore right?" Sci-Twi said.
"It kind of was back on my world." Shanoa said.
"Fine, we'll pay. Considering you still stuck us with that bill." Jexi said.
"How are you feeling, Korra?" Ace asked putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Terrible. I dueled Kuvira for Zaofu, but even though I can use the Avatar State again, I'm still seeing myself from when I battled Zaheer during the war of the titans. I couldn't do anything to stop Kuvira, to protect Zaofu." Korra noted.
"So the Physical problem is fixed, but not the psychological." Peridot-2 theorized.
"Like I said. It's PTSD." Hope said.
"That doesn't just go away automatically. It could take years of therapy to treat." Chopper said.
"Let's just forget about that. We're here to enjoy ourselves." Ling said as they took to their table.
"Hey Hope, what did you do with that cake Pinkie-2 made?" ZS asked.
"It got destroyed during the battle at Zaofu." Hope said. "Damn Kuvira."
"Things really have gone to heck recently, haven't they?" Jexi said.
"Yeah. we haven't heard back from Franky or the others. Not to mention we don't know where David is in the city. We told him to qualify as quick as he can to be fair." Toma said.
"David isn't even in the City anymore. We told him to head for the border, remember?" Tails said.
"Oh, right." Toma said.
"And we didn't give the undercover group comms just in case they were tracing them." Indigo said.
"Well, should we send someone to go look for them?" Al asked.
"No way. Given Kuvira's new rule over the empire, it would be reckless to send back up." Todoroki said.
"Todoroki has a point. If we get spotted, I doubt Kuvira will let us go quietly." Omnimon said.
"Besides, those guys can handle themselves." Jexi said.
"Jude, Usopp, Franky, and...to an extent, Eddy, I can understand. But Miu and Kazuichi? They're not meant for the frontlines." Gallantmon said.
"Pretty unorthodox team, I realize. But put them together? They might just be a great group to rival." Hope said.
Back with the Undercover team…
"Hello? Anyone there?" Eddy asked.
"Well well...look what we have here." a voice said as several people in ragged clothing came out of the forest. "A couple of Earth Empire soldiers."
"Actually, I was going to be executed by those guys…" Eddy began.
"Then you're an ally." the leader said. "As for the rest, we know what to do with them." he said firebending and cutting them down as the other people started tying their hands up except for Kazuichi's and Eddy's.
"Okay...so what are a couple of fire and water benders doing in one of Kuvira's reeducation camps?" Usopp said.
"Call it what it really is. A prison." one of them said.
"Kuvira is purging anyone who isn't of Earth Kingdom origin. We're getting out of here and you soldiers are our ticket to cross the border." the leader said.
"Okay, first of all, we were under cover. Second, we're considered either dead or missing. We can't go through any checkpoint." Miu said.
"Miu...let's just...hya!" Bolin said knocking some of them away before lavabending up a barrier to keep them back.
"Hey, what gives?!" Eddy said. "If there's one thing scams taught me, it's always use every advantage. We don't need to cross the border...we got back up on the way, remember?"
"No...we don't." Jude said. "It would be way too risky to send back up considering Kuvira just conquered Zaofu. Like it or not, we're all that's here. So listen, we don't work for Kuvira anymore. We're wanted fugitives."
"If you are fugitives, listen up. There's a wall all the way across the border and patrols at all points. That checkpoint is our only way in and out." the prisoner leader said.
"We can't take the risk, Barazz. How do we know they won't turn us in?" one of them asked.
"Cause we aren't at the bottom of a pool of lava right now." Barazz said. "We all wanna get outta here alive, we have to trust each other."
"Alright, where's this checkpoint?" Franky asked.
Back with the others in Republic City…
"So a large number of competitors already fled?" Hope asked.
"All except the ones trying to escape the Earth Empire. Which is why David left for that border." Jexi said.
"Do we have any idea who's left here?" Cyrille asked.
"We can confirm the ones who were on the highlight list have already gone and left." Zoro said.
"It was a smart choice on their part. None of them want to get involved with this conflict." Ling said.
"But knowing him, he's not gonna stay out of this for long. As soon as he qualifies, he'll be concocting a plan for Invel." Zelos said.
"True, but he's a smart one. He'll stay out of sight in case the Earth Empire decides to take more preemptive measures." Himeno said.
"Plus we still have no clue why they would take those vines." Riku said.
"Those vines conduct spiritual energy, right? Maybe that has something to do with it." Double D said.
"Maybe they're using it for a power source." Starlight said.
"Or more likely...turning it into a weapon." Iida said.
"Come on...enough about that." Ling said. "We shouldn't be discussing things like that here."
"Ling...there has been something I've been meaning to ask you. About what you said when we first met...are you really looking for immortality?" Sunset asked.
"Of course I am." Ling said. "That hasn't changed in the slightest given the time I spent here."
"What I don't get is why." Sunset said.
"Xing is a large country, ruled by a single emperor. Currently he has 24 sons and 19 daughters." Ling said.
"43 kids. Not the largest we've seen." Sunset said.
"However his health has begun to deteriorate as of late. So...I've decided to search for a means of immortality beyond my world so that I can curry favor with him." Ling said.
"Why?" Ed asked. "Do you owe him a favor?"
"No. I get it. You give him a means to become immortal, you move up the line of succession for the throne. " Onyx said.
"That is absolutely right." Ling said.
"But...if he became immortal, would he still need a successor?" Mark asked.
"He's right. It takes away the point of having a successor if you ask me." Alphamon said.
"That would depend on personality. The emperor could just as well retire after receiving immortality." Ling said.
"So generally, it could go either way. That's pretty unique." Hope said.
"I was actually considering leaving the is world to continue elsewhere once this Earth Empire business was settled." Ling said. "Does this answer satisfy your question?"
"Yeah. I'm good now." Sunset said.
Back with the undercover group…
"This plan better work." Miu whispered as they approached the border checkpoint.
"Halt! Where are you all going?" the guard demanded.
"We're taking these escaped prisoners back to a reeducation camp. Found em out in the forest." Franky said. "We're taking them to camp 14."
"But Camp 14 is in the other direction." the guard said.
"Listen you, we just fought our way through several wild animals to get all the way here, I wanna be rehabilitated but if you guys are gonna deny me that, then I can pass word to Kuvira about how poor border patrol is." Eddy said.
"Okay, okay. Go through, sorry about that." the guard said as they opened the checkpoint.
"Whoa. Where'd you get that load a crud?" Usopp whispered.
"Saw it in a movie once. Honestly didn't think it'd work." Eddy whispered back.
As they went through the border gate, the guards recognized the faces from a poster.
"What?! Hey, stop them! They're fugitives of the empire!" one of the guards called as the others along with a Mech Squadron leaped into action.
"Well, it half worked. What do we do now?!" Miu asked.
"Only one thing to do." Franky said. "We fight."
"No way am I going back to Prison!" Barazz said as he burst out his ropes as the fugitives fought along with the heroes.
"There's no way we stand a chance against those mech suits." Kazuichi said before seeing the guards post unmanned. "Hey, Miu. Thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh hell yeah!" Miu said.
"Hey, wait for me!" Varrick called as the three went into the guards post and got to work.
"We need to hook up one of the table legs to the generator inside. It'll cause an EMP to blow out the mechs. Lucky for us everything here is made of metal." Kazuichi said working on the generator.
"Iruma, help me hook up the table leg and stick it in, and hurry!" Varrick called.
"I'm on it!" Miu said.
The three worked together on the generator before flipping it on as they smirked and saw the robotic mechs quickly shut down.
"It worked!" Kazuichi said.
"Now we run." Jude said as the rest of them ran, escaping the guards.
"Finally." Miu said as they eventually reached a port.
"That wasn't the first time I had to escape as a fugitive." Jude said.
"It wasn't? What happened?" Miu asked.
"I was looking for my professor back in Fenmont to give him news about an award. But...when I found him, I saw him get killed. I was marked a fugitive because I saw too much." Jude said.
"Whoa. Well I'm not one to judge. I disfigured a government guy's face to try and save my master." Franky said.
"I guess we all really have something in common after all." Miu said.
"A penchant for opposing government forces? That does happen a lot, doesn't it?" Jude asked.
"Yeah. I guess it does." Usopp said.
"Hey, now I feel out of this club!" Eddy joked. "Guess I'd better pull my weight around here, huh?"
"Speaking of which, where is he? He should be somewhere around here." Jude said.
"Who? We have someone waiting for us?" Kazuichi asked.
"I think so, Jude said he'd be here…" Miu said.
"Whoa… What happened to you guys?" a voice said as David came by.
"We ended up getting caught in a train explosion and now we're fugitives." Miu said.
"I know, I've heard. I really wish I could help you guys out, though." David said as he showed he has 5 coins at the moment.
"Hey, you got 5 of those coins. 2 more and you qualify." Usopp said.
"I know. But the problem is that with the highlighters gone, no one wants to face me. Apparently, the level of competition is getting a bit scarce." David said.
"Pretty sure the highlighters aren't the only reason they fled." Kazuichi said pointing to the Earth Empire airships flying high above.
"The tournament started here, but Kuvira got in the way. I say she's up for a little lesson. Whaddya say, David? You free to teach Kuvira a lesson in not interrupting a man's tournament?" Miu asked.
"I thought you'd never ask." David said.