Chapter IX: The Trooper
Saltrall strolled down the streets of Republic City, whistling a happy tune. It had been a few days since he'd run into Korra in the park, and he had finally fixed the camouflage core, so he was enjoying the summer morning. That was when he heard someone shouting in front of him. He looked and he saw a strange person shouting in front of a statue. He walked up just as a small group of people walked away from the person, who was looking down dejectedly.
"You alright there, man?" Saltrall asked, stopping when he was next to him.
"No, I gotta make 29,999 yuan by the end of the week."
Saltrall whistled in exclamation.
"That's a lot of cheese," he said, pulling a few yuan out of his pocket, "hope this helps," and he flicked them into his cup.
From behind him, Saltrall heard a car stop and he turned his head to look at it before turning away from it. It was a red car, typical of the Triple Threat Triad. Saltrall gripped his Sonic Screwdriver in his pocket as they stopped.
"Hey Bolin, is that you?" the voice from the driver's seat called.
"Oh, hey there, Shady Shin," Bolin said, still dejected.
"Who's your pal here?"
"I don't know, he was just walking down the street and he gave me a few yuan," Bolin replied, making Saltrall smirk.
"Hey buddy, you got a name?" Shin asked Saltrall.
"I think you already know it," he said turning around, still smirking and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Oh crap, not you!" Shin exclaimed before turning to the others and muttering to themselves. Saltrall took the opportunity to grab his Sonic from his pocket.
"Hey!" Saltrall shouted, pointing his Sonic Screwdriver at them, "I'm still here, and wondering why you are too."
With that they drove off, yelling "go, go, go!" at the driver while turning the corner with tires squealing. Saltrall smiled and nodded softly before he turned back to Bolin and putting his screwdriver away.
"Saltrallosimozonyith, at your service, what's your name?" He asked sticking his hand out.
"Bolin," he said, taking it and getting pulled up by Saltrall, "how'd you do that? Those guys are tough and they booked it like they just saw a ghost."
"Oh that?" Saltrall asked, looking towards the direction they drove in and shrugging nonchalantly, "you could say we have some history, but that's not important, what is important is why you're raising money."
"I'm trying to raise for my Pro-bending team to compete in an upcoming tournament," Bolin said.
"Really? What team are you on?" Saltrall asked, remembering what Korra had said about Pro-Bending during their last meeting.
"Uh, the Fire Ferrets," he replied, thinking for a second as if he forgot what team he was on.
"Oh, you're on Korra's team?" Saltrall asked.
"I am!" Bolin said proudly, "Well, technically she's on our team. Do you know her?"
"Yeah, we've known each other for a while, she said she would get me some tickets to see you guys play," Saltrall said, explaining the situation, "who else is on the team?"
"My brother, Mako. Him and I have been pro-bending since our parents died," He said, turning glum and sighing when he said that last part.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize," Saltrall said before looking down and coughing, an awkward silence falling over them.
"Well I gotta go," Saltrall said, breaking the silence and holding out his hand, "I'm glad I could give you a little money to help out, you take care now,"
Bolin smiled and shook his hand, "Yeah, thanks, I hope to see you at the arena soon."
Saltrall smiled and started to walk away. He had just turned a corner when he heard screeching tires and a cry for help.
He spun around and ran back around the corner just in time to see Bolin getting dragged into the back of the returning Triads car.
"Shit," he muttered under his breath as he turned around and ran back towards them, grabbing his Sonic from his pocket as he ran.
Unfortunately, they saw him running towards the car and sped off before he could catch them, two of the benders shooting out water and fire to create a steam shield, forcing Saltrall to stop and cover his face. By the time the steam dissipated he was left holding his Screwdriver and cursing quietly to himself.
He sighed as he put his screwdriver away and stood there, panting.
"I need to find Korra," he thought to himself. His only problem was he didn't know where to find her.
Then he remembered Tenzin, and he turned to head back to the TARDIS just as someone bumped into him. He turned to look at the person, but they had already started running off. He thought the stranger was wearing a mask, but he didn't have time to worry about it now, he just growled in frustration for having to ignore that and he ran off in the opposite direction.
He made it back to his TARDIS and threw open the door before jumping over the railing of the console platform and sat down. He typed "Tenzin" into the search database and quickly found news articles, pictures, and all other sorts of information on him. He found out he was one of the Council members for the city, and he lived on Air Temple Island in the bay. Armed with this knowledge he got up and readied the TARDIS for transport.
Amon was bent over a table in his office, staring at a map of the city with, small, red pins sticking out of various places, denoting the locations of his future operations. He looked up as the door opened and a masked foot soldier walked in and saluted.
"You've returned, good," Amon said, straightening up and waving his hand, allowing the soldier to relax, "I assume your mission was a success?"
"Of course, sir," the soldier said, pulling his mask off, "He was preoccupied with a Triad matter and I managed to slip the bug into his pocket without any problems."
Amon smiled under his mask, even though it was hidden. "Excellent," he said, turning away from the soldier, "you're dismissed." The soldier saluted and quickly left the office as Amon went over to a large listening device and pressed a button on the top, remotely activating the bug, "now, let's see what we can't learn about you," he said to himself as the bug began recording.
Saltrall landed on the island and changed his TARDIS into a different tree that would blend in more with the surrounding flora before grabbing a light jacket and grabbing the small book of psychic paper he "borrowed" from the Doctor after their last meeting and smiled as he headed towards the door.
He opened the door and stepped out, locking the door behind him before turning around to see the doorway surrounded by a large contingent of soldiers.
"Oh, hello," he said looking at the group surrounding him and he pulled out the psychic paper.
"Allow me to introduce myself, Grigori Rasputin, Republic City Department of Nature, Tree Investigative Division," he said holding up the psychic paper, "I was just checking this tree here for any possible glitches and it has several, so I need to speak to the owner of this island..." He said as he began to walk away from the tree, still looking at the soldiers, "and none of you are believing any of this are you?"
The White Lotus sentries all began to bend their respective elements in response.
"I'll take that as a hard 'no' then," Saltrall said, "Well, if you'll excuse me I have a place to be so I'm just gonna..." He said before sprinting away from the sentries, who began to throw their elements at him.
Saltrall turned a corner and heard Korra talking to her friend, and crush, Mako, so he began to run towards the voices.
"Think something's wrong?" Korra asked.
"I don't know, Bolin has a knack for getting into stupid situations, See you... what the?" Mako began saying, but stopped as he heard the commotion approach and get louder.
"Ah, Korra! There you are!" Saltrall shouted as he ran towards them with the sentries in hot pursuit.
"Oh no," Korra said, facepalming.
Saltrall ran between the two of them and Korra sighed.
"Stop it! He's a friend, calm down," She said, stopping the sentries.
"But Korra, he just stepped out of a tree that appeared out of thin air," the lead sentry tried to explain.
"I don't care where he came from, he's a friend, you're dismissed back to your posts," she said, causing the sentries to bow and walk away.
"Well... at least... I know that... I'm in the right place..." Saltrall said in between deep breaths as he leaned against a wall, "thanks Korra, I'm gonna take a nap," he finished before collapsing into a heap.
He awoke in a room he didn't recognize, and, in a reflexive panic, sat up fast, accidentally headbutting Korra and Mako at the same time.
"Ow!" Saltrall exclaimed, falling back onto the bed, rubbing his forehead, "Who just leans over someone's bed so close like that?"
"You started to stir, we got concerned," Mako said, frustrated and holding his own head.
"Yeah, well look string bean," Saltrall said, looking over Mako, "that was still dumb."
He sat up and let go of his head, "you got a name, kid?"
"Kid? Who are you calling a kid?" Mako began, leaning towards Saltrall.
"Easy Mako," Korra said, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back. The mention of his name reminded Saltrall of why he'd come here in the first place.
"Mako? As in Bolin's brother, Mako?" He asked, looking at him, causing him to nod hesitantly, "good, we're all together," Saltrall said rolling out of the bed and landing on his feet, "Bolin's in trouble."
"What? What do you mean he's in trouble?" Mako said angrily, trying to take a step towards Saltrall, only to be stopped by Korra again.
"I mean some goons from the Triads kidnapped him!" Saltrall said, ignoring the angry look and walking towards the door, "come on, we gotta hurry."
"No, what the hell are you talking about?" Mako said, breaking out of Korra's grip and walking towards Saltrall, "you just show up here, pass out and then claim my brother is in trouble. I'm not going anywhere until you start talking!" He shouted, grabbing his arm.
Saltrall spun around and pulled out his Sonic in one fluid motion, pointing it at Mako's face.
"I swear to God, I will knock you unconscious with a push of a button and drag your sorry ass outside if I have to," Saltrall said, threatening him, causing Mako to let go of his arm and take a step back, but Saltrall kept glaring at him.
"And never grab me like that again, or else I will personally make sure you never have two functioning arms again," he shot at Mako before turning and storming out of the room.
Mako gulped slightly, intimidated by the threat, before feeling a hand on his shoulder and looking over to see Korra next to him.
"What the hell is with him?" He asked her, "and how do you know him?"
"It's a long story, now come on, I don't have time to explain, we need to get Naga and head over to the city," Korra replied. Mako nodded and they ran out of the room after Saltrall.
Saltrall fumed quietly as he ran back to the TARDIS, slamming the door behind him, causing a few things to shake as he stormed over to the console. He sat down and finally caught his breath and calmed down.
"Stupid humans, always ask questions first, act later," he mumbled as he shook his head and pulled the monitor over to where he was seated.
"Alright, girl, let's get the show on the road," he said, cracking his knuckles before twisting a few diddlies and pulling a lever and vanishing towards the city.