Session 2: Choices

When Jinsu opened his eyes the next morning sour regret slipped from his open eyelids down to his stomach. He lay in bed for a few moments trying to fall back asleep to forget that his friends Senna and Lee Wong were captured, to forget the look on Dr. Quon Lo's face as he watched his partner disappear up into the equalist airship. To forget the moment when his partner—former partner, had forced him to kneel before her like a slave. But he couldn't ignore it. Not if he was going to get his friends back. If Beifong had found any leads to ending this nightmare he'd find out at work. He and Hachikura had wanted to stay for the night shift but Beifong insisted they go home and sleep.

Jinsu sat up. The place was small and dark and far from the large three storied mansion he'd used to live in, back when he was the head engineer at Cabbage Corp. He had one window in his one-room flat and a quick glance at it told him sunrise was still a ways off. He checked the clock above his door. If he left now he'd reach the station at a reasonable time before sunrise. Beifong couldn't turn him away then.

Jinsu stood up, folded the mat and blankets off the floor, and stuffed them in a closet. When he pulled out his uniform he froze. The coat and pants were still wrinkled from the day before, still heavy with the smoke, earth, and freezer burn of yesterday's bending battle. He dropped them and breathed heavy to get the smell out of his brain. A quick dig into his closet produced a clean set of police clothes. He glanced once at the small stove in the corner and walked out.

He saw them right away. Two guys in slick leather jackets, their arms tattooed, their hair gelled, stood sipping coffee outside his apartment complex. He didn't care though, and nearly knocked their coffee out of their hands as he walked past them. He wanted to get to work. When he turned his first corner he saw them walking behind him but they were too bold, too open for it to be anything sinister. He took a few odd turns and double backs to make sure and they followed him every step of the way. One of them actually shot him a jaunty wink and smile. That did it. He stopped, turned and walked straight up to them.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Seen us didja?" said the short one between leers.

"We got a message for ya," said the tall one with the teeth.

"What?" He didn't have time for this, not now, not today

"Your creditors got bought out see. We're your new bosses. You owe that money to us now, or rather, our betters." He winked again and as his hands moved up to make sure his stiff hair was still in place his left hand flashed a gang sign, tapping his index, middle, and ring fingers on the knuckles of his left hand. They were Triple Triad goons.

"What is this about?" Jinsu asked.

"We got a message from your creditors. You've been doing this little dance ever since Cabbage Corp took the dive. And then you had to go and be a cop which is no more fun for us than it is for you. You're a business man at heart. You were the man behind the face that built the future!"He gestured grandly like a schoolmaster and then looked hard at Jinsu, eyebrows furrowed in the effort. "The face was that Cabbage guy and you being the head engineer and all would make you the builder behind it." Jinsu folded his arms and the good said quickly, "You get the picture. We can give you a way to get rid of your dept and reclaim a little somethin' of yours that was stolen from you.… 'Member that last big project Cabbage Corp was workin' on—the one you never got to finish—the thing that was gonna change the way the world worked?"

Jinsu nodded slowly. "Yeah I remember." He had no idea actually but he didn't think this goon had been given any details either.

"Yeah that one," the tall goon grinned again. "Debt gone and that back… all you gotta do is a little job for us…just take your time and think about it. Leave your answer with the fire flakes vender outside the station when you've made up your mind. She'll get it around to us." He raised his hand in farewell and the shorter goon spat on the ground. Jinsu stood on the dark empty street and watched them leave.

When he got the station he found Beifong with Dr. Quon. "I've just finished asking Dr. Quon what he knows about our kidnapper. Do you have any questions for him?"

Jinsu blinked at his commander and then when he realized she was seriously asking for his input he stuttered out a "Do you know where they've taken Lee and Senna?"

"No. I had no idea this was going to happen. I knew Daeyoon. She came to us with a fairly simple tumor extraction. The surgery was a success and we didn't hear about her for a while afterward. Then a few days ago she started sending to us notes but they sounded crazy and we couldn't understand them. We didn't really think too much of it. We thought that as her doctors she'd never do anything to hurt us." He looked around.

"But where are the rest of your team, Hachi and the like?"

"Hachikura is working on examining the weapons the kidnappers were using, trying to find out where they were manufactured. If we can find their factories it might lead us to Dr. Quenna Miin, Lee Wong and Senna," said Beifong.

"Oh," Quon looked down shyly. "I wanted to— I mean I never got to thank her for saving me." Jinsu shrugged and turned to Beifong.

"Do we have any idea where she might have taken them?"

"Maybe," Beifong ran a finger over her lips as if sealing a thought on her tongue. "I want you to follow up on one of our leads. We just got a tip off from a teahouse in the old earthbender district. They've been getting a patron come in pretty frequently who says he's a former equalist. His name is Shun and he doesn't like cops. I want you to go there undercover and see if you can get him to talk. The name of the place is 'The Wong Teahouse.'" Jinsu nodded and he was out the door in another minute.

It was only a little lighter when he got there. The clouds above him had transitioned from pitch to a gunmetal darkness that weighed on his eyes next to the garish green street lamps. A small hunched figure stood leaning against the wall of the teahouse. In the green light of the lamppost his liver spots made him look reptilian. This man looked older than even his partner, Lee.

"You the goon Beifong sent?" he said when Jinsu came up to him. He was surprised. He'd changed out of his uniform.

"Are you Shun?" he asked.

"Naw, Shun's inside drinking himself to death," said the man with slight jerk of his head to the shop. "Name's Shao Wong. I'm the one that called you here. Man this takes me back. The times I had to drag Lee out of trouble back in his terrorist days." He gave Jinsu a side-along glance. "He ever tell you about that?"

"No, he's a pretty private person."

Shao grunted. "Yeah, keeps his secrets he does. Lee Wong used to be a part of the Yu Dao Resistance group. Even after it became Republic City and The Fire Nation rescinded its claim to the land some of the old earth benders still thought it should be part of the Earth Kingdom. Lee used to run with them in his wilder days. …You should ask him if you want any details. He wasn't too free spoken with me after I quit the Earth Kingdom army after the war. I think he was jealous that he was too young to join up with me," Shao snorted and looked into his cup, murmuring, "Stupid thing to be jealous about. Not sure what changed his mind but cleaned up and joined the police force later on. Good thing too. If the force knew some of the things he'd done they'd have never let him in the front door."

How long was this man going to talk? "So," he said, "About this Shun guy."

Shao grunted again, the creases around his mouth deepening. "Right, business. He'll be in the back corner nursing his second cup of hard liquor. He only talks to other drunks though. And don't let him figure out you're police. Else he'll really shut up. I'll come in and get you a glass. What's your drink of choice?"

"What to do got here?"

"Usual stuff, sake, mead, tsingon beer, plum wine, I've been trying out this new stuff with tapioca balls in it but the liquor don't cut enough through the sweetness."

Jinsu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This mead you've got. It's made from honey isn't it?"

One of Shao's bushy white eyebrows curled down. "Yeah, think so."

"Do you know where this honey is made, I mean, is it farmed out in the Earth Kingdom plains?" Both of Shao's eyebrows were curled low now. "What I mean to say is, is this mead made from clover honey only or is it more eclectic stuff, because I only like clover honey?" Shao stared at him in silence for a moment.

"Yeah," his mouth drew the word slow out of the side of his sneering mouth. "Figured you would." He led Jinsu into the shop. "I'll get you cup of sake," his tone indicated that there wasn't much room for argument.

The inside of the shop was dim with green lamps and latticed walls. What wood was painted was peeling and the door rattled behind him when it shut. Shao slid him a small cup of material that would have been mistaken for water except for the smell. Jinsu took a small sip and staggered onto a bar stool. It went down smooth and warm but a few more sips of this and he wasn't going to be able to talk much less get Shun to. He swallowed and tried to look place was empty except for a shadowed figure huddled in the corner. Had the man been here all night?

Jinsu got up and when he got close to the haunted figure he tried to make his voice as deep and manly as possible.

"What'ya drinkin?"

The figure raised his head and Jinsu got a glimpse of red nose and a round red eyeball before a gruff voice said, "Sake." The eye looked over him for a moment. "What's your poison?" the sandpaper throat asked again.

Jinsu tried to work his voice to match the sandpaper. "Sake." It must have worked because the head nodded and the voice got warmer.

"Sit down, I hate drinkin alone." When Jinsu sat the man went right into it. "So, what's your story man?"

"Um, nothing really interesting." Jinsu's mind raced with nerves. Maybe if he just played it casual. "I'm sure a man like you has got to have seen some…" Jinsu chewed his lip looking for something clever to say, "stuff."

"Yeah I seen a lot of stuff. Nothing worth my neck tellin though."

"Aw come on man!" Jinsu drew out his words like he was drunker than he felt. "What's the point of drinking buddies if we're not sharing stories?"

Shun chuckled a little. "Yeah, guess so. And I could tell you some good stories, just don't go spreadin them around." He grinned at Jinsu and lowered his head furtively, "I am a former equalist, but since Amon was revealed to be a bender and there is no real way to remove bending I've been a lawful citizen since," His prideful expression soured, "Not that I have much choice. Ain't nothing gonna change about this world. There ain't no stoppin' benders. Take what they will when they want, won't they? No matter how many people say it's "The New Age" or whatever nationalist propaganda they're pumping out," he took another swig of sake and shook his head.

"Um, yeah world's pretty twisted," Jinsu bit his lip. He didn't need to hear about Amon he needed to hear about Tao.

"Drink! Drink!" insisted Shun as he lifted his cup. "Don't leave me drinking alone here!" Jinsu stood up abruptly.

"I need to go to the bathroom," he announced quickly and then went back up to the bar. Waving Shao Wong over, he whispered a few short instructions to him and then left his cup on the counter while he slipped into the bathroom. When he came out again his cup was exactly we he'd left it and Shao was rolling his eyes but Jinsu knew as soon as he picked his cup up that the man had done as he asked. He walked back to the table and took a drink where Shun could see him. The cup had been watered down a bit and it didn't make his head swim quite so much as it had the first time.

Shun hadn't seemed to notice his friend was back though. He was looking deep into his cup, his long red nose almost touching the liquor. His words came out soft and groaning. "Man, if I could just see Mao once I'd beg him to come home.

"Who's Mal?" Jinsu asked, not sure if he'd heard right. "Your brother or something?"

The man stiffened. "Can't tell you that. I can't let him get hurt."

And then because he couldn't think of anything else to do and he definitely did not want to risk drinking anymore, Jinsu flung his cup at the wall. It hit a wood post and shattered. Shun jumped and looked up appraising.

"Damn it man! If something is the matter you've got to tell somebody! How else is anything going to change?"

"Ah-ight man! Ah-ight. It's just, you know it's complicated. You can't tell anybody about his okay? You see, Mao is…" Shun's throat choked a little on the next words—"my son. Mao is my son. He's joined up with Daeyoon's splinter cell and I am worried about him. I don't trust this Daeyoon. I can't put my finger on it but there is something about her message that doesn't ring right to me." He gulped down another swig of sake. "If I could see him just once I'd beg him to come home."

Shao came up to their table and plunked down another cup of hard liquor. He looked down at the shattered cup and whispered to Jinsu, "That's on your tab buddy."

"Drink! Drink!" insisted Shun beside him. Jinsu drank and was grateful he was sitting down this time. He had to wrap this up fast.

"Listen," he said- the drawl wasn't fake this time. "I've, I've taken a liking to you see, and I might know some people who know some people that could help you out with this. I, I just need a little more information to go on."

"What are you talking about? You can't help me."

"No Man!" Jinsu pounded the table forcefully. "We're drinkin buddies. We help each other out. I told you I know some people that know some people, just where do you think Mao might be?"

"Well, all right. I don't know for sure where Mao is but what I hear around town is that Daeyoon is using some of the old earth bender tunnels that were created back when there were still Yu Dao purists who roamed the streets fighting the firebenders—not too different from the equalists today in fact. I don't know which tunnels they are using but I know the area of town I was in when I saw that flyin zeppelin the other day- Yu Dao Square."

"Yu Dao Square?" repeated Jinsu.

"Yup, I don't know how you could possibly help but thanks for carin," he flung his arm around Jinsu and smiled at him nice and sweet. Then he took a long swig from his cup and passed out over the table.

"Woo-hoo!" Jinsu stood up and flung his hands into the air in success while Shao gave him a scandalized look from across the teahouse floor. But Jinsu didn't care. Now he finally had a place to start looking for his friends.

…

When Senna came to her senses she realized three things at once. One: she was tied firmly to a chair both around her arms and ankles. Two: she was gagged. Three: Daeyoon Tao was sitting in front of her, unbound with armed guards standing at attention behind her. Senna let out a loud moan that sounded uncannily like, "Bleeding Hogmonkies!" Someone else beside her let out a similar sound she turned her head. Lee Wong sat bound and gagged beside her too. Senna rolled her head back and strained at her bindings in frustration. Lee Wong just glared straight at Tao in a cold fury.

But when Daeyoon Tao spoke it was strangely polite. "I'm sorry about these ropes and guards. It's necessary for now but want you both to know I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," she turned her head to look both of them in the eye. "I know my defection is a surprise but since you're both here I wanted to try to explain why it's become necessary to do this." Daeyoon looked down at her folded hands interlaced into a tight boney lock. "Amon was…misguided but he wasn't completely wrong. This continued level of inequality between benders and nonbenders can't go on, a nonbender president isn't going to be enough to change anything. Inequality has made our society sick… recovery is never an easy process, not for the body, not for society."

She looked back up at Senna and Lee but her eyes were somewhere distant. "I've thought a lot about power and the nature of it. Amon was right that inequality exists because power exists; because bending is simply too powerful for a nonbender to compete. It's not the nonbender's fault that they're worthless," she shrugged, "It's just the nature of power. The Avatar and all her nonsense about finding balance—that's always been about finding balance between other benders between different forms of bending. It's not an evil thing but the role of the Avatar functions from a world view that pretends that nonbenders do not exist. It's impossible to have a balance between benders and nonbenders because by their very nature, benders are powerful and nonbenders are weak, and ultimately worthless to the world. I'm sure that both of you have seen enough of the world to know that what I'm saying is true."

She looked at Lee when she said this and her voice seemed almost pleading, her eyes deferential. "So Amon was right to a point. The only way to correct inequality is to destroy power itself, but he thought that the only way to do that was to destroy bending. But his goal didn't work because the only way to destroy bending was through more bending. If he had won he wouldn't have destroyed power, he would've made it more powerful by making it rare." She stood up and started pacing back and forth in front of them. "You see I'm not really an Equalist anymore. I know that Amon's goals would have only extended the destruction of inequality by making more nonbenders to be oppressed. And I didn't know what the answer was and for a long time after he fell I was near despair. When the doctors diagnosed me with the tumor I didn't think there was any hope. But then I met Dr. Miin and Dr. Lo and they gave me something I don't think even they full understand. A few days after surgery I realized I had power. I'm a bender now."

She laughed a little to herself when she said it, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. She turned back to Lee and Senna and it did not sound like she was talking to herself anymore. "And that's when I realized that the other way to end inequality was to end nonbenders—to find a way to give everyone bending. A nonbender has no value in the world, a nonbender is worthless, but now we have the chance to make ourselves into something different. That's why I needed Dr. Miin. I sent them letters beforehand but they, I don't think they understood. But I can make her understand now. With the Doctor's work we can give everyone who is born the power to bend the elements. We'll establish a new stable balance where we won't need the Avatar because we will become our own avatars. Society can't fix itself. But if you work with me then we can fix it."

She looked straight into both of their eyes as she spoke and held out her hands pleading. "There's nothing special about me but I've been given power and if I don't use it responsibly then—" she looked down, a little of the loose strands of her pony tail brushing in front of her eyes—"there is no point to me." But when she looked up again her voice had regained its sense of force. "So I'm asking you to join me. Lee Wong, I can give you the power you've fought for your whole life, Senna I know you're the policewoman I didn't think could exist. You thirst for justice and equality the same as I do. Join me and we can give worth to every life in Republic City."

Then she turned to her guards. "Take my guests to their rooms so that they may consider what I have told them. I will come to each of them privately, answer any questions they might have and receive their answer."

…..

Shao led Jinsu to Yu Dao Square. The sun had come up by now and everywhere businesses were unlocking their doors. The buildings in the Old Earthbender district were definitely old. Many needed a fresh coat of paint and a few were even abandoned but it was not as forlorn as the old Firebender district had been. Jinsu spied a few shops here and there looking newly renovated. Most of them were artist studios, or earth bender cultural centers. The place was old but it was not abandoned.

They turned a corner and came to a sprawling park. The grass needed cutting badly and the playground in the shape of the Earth Kingdom palace was rusting some. a little to the side, in the middle of a lake inhabited by a noisy turtle duck family, stood a statue of the old Earth Kingdom Emperor. Jinsu recognized him from his history books. In the center of the park, a huge iron and gilt statue of Bosco the Bear stood, holding out a small sprig from an olive tree.

"So how do we find this thing?" asked Shao.

"Shush." Jinsu walked around the playground as if inspecting it then jumped onto the swings and gave himself a hard push into the air. When the swing reached the apex he jumped and stuck the landing, a silly grin on his face. Shao rolled his eyes and found a park bench. Jinsu decided to examine the Bear statue first. Closing his eyes, his foot struck out hard and hit the ground at an angle. He felt the reverberations echo below him. There defiantly was a tunnel running underneath the park but he couldn't locate the opening. It wasn't under the Bear statue though. He wandered over to the pond and sat down by the edge trying to think of something. He took a small stone and skipped it across the pond where it hit the side of a small turtle duckling. Yapping viciously two larger turtle ducks swam up to Jinsu. Taking two low hanging corners of his shirt the mama and papa turtleducks yanked him into the water before he realized what was happening. In the split second moment when he blinked confusedly underwater Jinsu got a look at the hollow underside of the Emperor's statue standing in the middle of the pond. A set of steps seemed to lead from the bottom of the pool up into the statue itself.

He came up spluttering. The mama and papa turtle duck had retreated back to their family. He ignored their self-satisfied quacks and looked at the statue. It wasn't very big, really not much bigger than a normal human, but maybe if one squatted… He dove back under and swam up the steps. The inside of the iron statue made the soft laps of the water ring wildly in his ears. Jinsu wondered if the chaotic reverberations of the water had blocked his earlier attempt to trace the opening because square in the center of the statue was an open man hole.

Jinsu looked into the dark black opening of the tunnel and chewed his lip. Senna's voice, sharp and commanding seemed to echo back to him across the water. If he was going to find his mentors it would be by following their advice. Jinsu went back underwater and got out of the fountain. His clothes were sopping and he hung his jacket and shoes on the jungle gym to dry. Then, barefoot, he ran across the street to a payphone. A secretary forwarded him to Beifong. "I've found a possible lead on the Tao's hiding spot. I need back up."

Beifong didn't ask for details. "I'm sending Kairos to you right away. Just sit tight." Jinsu hung up the phone.

The inside of the tunnel was pitch and wet. He could hear the faint gurgles of pentapi and creeping slim sliding along the walls and he tucked his elbows in. His stone sense kept him from bumping into anything.

Further down the steep tunnel he began to perceive a faint green light coming from a corner turn up ahead. As he neared closer he heard a voice that cracked with youth between every word, "Man I hate guard duty."

"Shut up Mao," said the second deeper voice, "We're the first line of defense. We need to keep quiet."

"Yeah all right."

Jinsu breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. Then he flung himself around the corner, his fist punching forward. A thick shard of rock shot out of the ground and hit the older one square in the chest. He fell to the ground snarling, the shovel in his hand clattering against the rocky floor. The younger one reacted faster than Jinsu had expected. In a second he had a hand on him, and Jinsu shouted in surprise as a sharp electric current ran up his shoulder. He jerked away and with a grunt of bent knees he pulled his hands up as if lifting a weighted pole. Rock and gravel rose with him and coated his fingers, his hand, wrist, elbow and shoulders. Jinsu gave the terrified young guard a smirk before a shovel hit his head with a loud clang. The first man had gotten back on his feet again. Jinsu spun his rock arms hitting the older guard across the head and chest. When he fell down this time he was limp and his head bounced a little on the floor.

"HIII-YAH!" the younger guards voice rang off the tunnel walls as he lunged for Jinsu, his electric glove sparking, his fingers curled into a fist. When it thudded lightly against the rock armor on his arm Jinsu gave the boy a soft smile. Then he brought his hand up and in the next instant the boy was down.

Jinsu tied both of them up and carried them one at a time back to the surface. Shao looked almost impressed at the haul.

"Take this one back to the station," Jinsu said, pointing at the older guard. "But I think this one, Mao, is my old drinking buddy Shun's son. Take him back to your teashop. Maybe if Shun gets his son back he'll make for a useful informant later on."

"So, what are you going to do, wait for backup?" asked Shao.

Jinsu smirked at him.

The door wasn't locked. When he put his ear to it he could hear the sounds of voices and heavy thuds. He had eased the door open just a few centimeters when he froze. His mouth moved in a silent, "Hogmonkies!" He ran his fingers through his hair, nodded and muttered softly to himself, "Yup, let's wait for backup."

….

Senna's eyes fluttered slowly and snapped open. She was lying on the wood floor of an empty barracks room. Bunk beds lined the walls. She was propped up against the foot of one like a rag doll. Lee sat across the narrow aisle in front of her.

Lee looked around anxiously. His cane was gone. That was not good.

"Are you ok?" Senna asked. Her shoulder moved as if she meant to reach out to him. "I can't seem to move. I think she did something to me."

Lee stared at her with cold narrow eyes that did not flinch.

"What did she do to you back in the cell?"

When Lee spoke it was slow like hot iron pouring into a mold. "I'm not telling you that."

Senna's left eyebrow went up. "Lee what are you talking about? We need to get out of here before anybody comes back."

"Why should I go with you? I don't know you. I don't know if I can trust you."

Senna looked as if she'd had the wind blown out of her, "Lee, It's me, Senna—you can't think I would actually-?"

"I don't know who you are."

"You mean you don't remember me?"

Lee's steal grey eyebrows narrowed. "Should I?"

Senna gaped at him. "I'm in your police team, Division42. When Daeyoon took me back to my cell she asked me to join her and when I told her to go shove it two doctors came in and gave me an injection. Did she do something like that to you too?"

Lee regarded her steadily as if unsure whether or not he wanted to give the information. "Yeah something like that happened to me. But I still don't know who you are if I can trust you. Daeyoon Tao might've put you in here to trick me." Lee shifted a bit where he lay. He could feel some strength returning back to him. Soon he could get up and leave.

"Maybe the serum she gave you messed with your head a bit."

"Or maybe you're just a spy."

"Lee, can't you remember me? I'm Senna, I'm your partner. You and I are kind of the defacto leaders of Division 42 since most of the rest of the team are new to the force. Do you remember Hachikura, the young savant electricity bender, or Jinsu, the former CEO who's still not used to getting his hands dirty? What about Kairos? You can't forget Kairos—the guy with all the tea bags hanging out of his uniform pockets! But you can't think that I would help Daeyoon! I'm the one who's unhealthily dedicated to police work! I would never do something against what my hero, Katara, spent her life trying to build!"

Lee hadn't blinked but there were creases of thought deep across his balding head. "I remember the mission. I remember Tao stole the doctors. I remember getting taken. But," Lee's voice was iron, "I don't remember you."

Senna kneaded her forehead with her fingers, not even registering that she'd regained the use of her arms again. "Lee we have to get out of here. We can't get out alone!"

"Your passion at least, has convinced me that you're not a spy. I would like to ask you some questions that only a true police officer would know. If you answer them then I'll trust you- for now."

"Okay, yes, fine."

"What is our panda-dog mascot's name?"

"Scruffy," Senna snorted as if the name annoyed her.

"Who won the last noodle eating contest?" Lee smiled as he asked this one.

"You did," Senna rolled her eyes. Even with memory loss he wouldn't let anyone forget that incident.

"Good. Last question: which police officer in the force has the smelliest locker?"

Senna's lip curled as if remembering the smell. "The other Lee."

"Right." Lee nodded, and then stood up, slowly. Grabbing a post from the nearby bunk beds headboard he gave a yank and ripped off a makeshift cane. He tested it. Except for the splinters on either end it would have to do.

Senna looked around for her water flask as she stood up but even the belt she'd worn it on was gone. No matter, there was a full wash basin by the door. She raised her hands and pulled to create a floating water ball, something she could use if they got into a fight. It was a good plan, except that nothing happened. The water remained absolutely still.

Lee looked at her like she was an idiot. Senna tried again, panic rising in her chest. There wasn't even a ripple. Senna looked at her hands in horror. What had happened to her when she was blacked out?

Lee just shrugged and approached the door. He was prepared to pick locks or break wood but it slid open as soon as he touched it. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. Outside the door was a long empty hallway with one open door frame at the end.

"I hear machinery moving down that that way," said Senna, pointing to the right.

"Let's see what is down there then." Lee grinned and his smile had none of the warmth she'd grown used to seeing. Even in the heat of their last battle he'd seemed calm and content. She wondered if he had forgotten his wife and grandchildren too.

When they peaked around the corner at the end of the hall they both swore softly. The hall opened up into a large warehouse. Boxes and moving trucks filled their half end of the warehouse. Men and women in equalist uniform walked around packing things up, and huge mecha was helping them, with a door just past it at the other end of the warehouse. An exit sign hung above it.

"We're not in uniform," whispered Senna. And there are a lot of boxes we could hide behind. Maybe nobody will recognize us?"

Lee swallowed. "Okay then, act casual."

And it worked. Nobody even glanced at them. As they came along side of the mecha tank Senna was furtively looking around trying to see if there was any open water in the room. The only thing she could see was some exhaust heat coming from the back pipes of the mecha. She bit her lip and took a chance.

When the mecha made a loud creak, dropped his load and shut down people started to congregate around the machine.

"Somebody know how to fix this?" she heard somebody cry. Lee gave her a suspicious glance over her shoulder, but she repressed her smile of relief. It wasn't completely gone.

Free of the crowds Lee decided to speed things up. He ducked behind a large box and then dashed across the warehouse. He stopped when he reached the halfway point. The rest of the way was open space. As long as everyone remained sufficiently distracted by the damaged mecha he and Senna should be able to make it to the exit no problem.

Just then the exit door clanged open and Lee heard his name shrieked with all the grating finesse of a Chris Tucker fan boy, "LEE!" Jinsu was running to him across the warehouse floor, his rock-covered arms making him an even bigger target. Kairos was right behind him.

"Hey, look, a shovel!" Kairos picked up the fallen guard's heavy iron weapon grinning.

Four equalists rushed up to Jinsu their hands glittering with the green light of their gloves. His rock coated arms blocked most of their attacks but he brought up a wall of earth anyway and pushed them back from him. Lee could see Kairos over in the back spinning the shovel and coating it in water experimentally. Lee knocked his head against the side of a wooden crate in frustration.

On the other side of the warehouse Senna was trying to catch up to Lee while keeping an eye on the mecha. She seemed to have damaged it a little but it was starting to move again. Maybe she'd have a better shot taking the driver out. As she ducked around a corner she saw an open water barrel and grinned.

The crowd of equalists around the mecha scattered as a broken glass rained down on them from the mecha's cockpit above. A long jagged ice spike had pierced through the glass and knocked out the driver, who fell out the window.

Seeing his opportunity Lee jumped onto the crates and made a dash for the empty mecha. A gang of gloved chi blockers turned and attacked and he spun his makeshift cane around him, knocking three off their feet.

Another batch of chi blockers were running up to Kairos, who smiled and swung his water-coated shovel around with more than a little flair. Unfortunately water and metal are excellent conductors of electricity. His normally tousled hair seemed to have forgotten gravity by the time he'd knocked them all down. When Senna threw her hands up at him a silent gesture to move his butt to the mecha Kairos said, "What? I took them all out in one shot, seriously, no applause for that?"

Senna looked back over at the mecha tank. Another chi blocker had climbed into the cockpit. The hands of the mecha glowed and three spinning sparking discs shot out towards Jinsu. Jinsu dodged the first two but the third caught around his left leg. Gritting through the pain he stamped his foot and sent a minor quake through the ground. The mecha tank wobbled on its three large legs but held.

Senna sent another ice punch into the chest of the new driver and he slumped over the controls.

Pulling out a water whip Kairos attacked the back of the mecha. "No!" shouted Jinsu as sparks flew from the interior of the tank and a loud bang went off. As smoke from the broken mecha filled the warehouse roof Jinsu swore at Kairos, "I wanted to drive that thing!"

"Well, I wanted to take it down!" Kairos shouted back.

"Guys stop arguing and take out the bad guys!" shrieked Senna as she ran up to them across the warehouse floor. She carried an orb of water in one hand and she drew back her arm to attack the chi blockers still intent on take getting past Jinsu's defense the orb lost its form and sloshed down her sleeve as her bending strength slipped yet again.

Senna let out an "Aggh!" of frustration and just settled for punching the nearest chi blocker in the face. As he fell a trail of saliva froze in midair after him and she redirected the liquid through the glass face of their electric gloves. Kairos took one out with his shovel and Jinsu hit the last one in the back of the head with his rock arms.

Over on top of a pile of boxes Lee Wong was still struggling with the last few remaining chi blockers. He feinted to the left and then made a jab to get the to fall into the other two chi blockers beside him but the chi blocker was younger and quicker than he anticipated. He dodged him and then began to laugh unnaturally loudly in his face. His eyes even teared up a bit.

There was a loud "Sikt" in the air and then the laughing man's face froze, his skull impaled by a long narrow ice knife. "Sikt, Sikt." Lee heard the other two chi blockers around him slump to the ground dead, blood streaming from their impaled skulls. Lee stood in the middle of a circle of dead bodies, unharmed and very confused.

"Well," said Kairos breaking the silence. "Now I can use my shovel to bury these people." Senna looked scandalized at the obvious glee on his face.

"Well I would have a mecha right now but instead we have a shovel so we've got that going for us!" said Jinsu.

"Guys, just—" Senna started and then just shrugged, "It's good to see you all again."

….

Back at the station Lee Wong and Senna filled their team in about Daeyoon's master plan.

"She just kept monologuing!" Senna threw her head back in exasperation.

"Yeah she basically told her evil plan to us," said Lee.

"She plans on artificially giving people bending. She plans on making everyone avatars."

"Really?" Kairos sat up. "That actually sounds pretty cool."

"No," Lee looked over his fingers with narrowed eyes, "no its not."

"But I kind of like this idea though. It'd be cool to be able to firebend as well as waterbend." Kairos leaned back in his chair, his eyes glassy with the thought of it.

"But she's using terrorist tactics!" Senna insisted. "Her goals are good but it's the way she's going about it. Plus she went from being a nonbender to a bloodbending water bender. This method gives you a lot of power much too fast- like steroids.

"And she thinks nonbenders are worthless," seethed Lee Wong. "She thinks she eradicating inequality but she's perpetuating it."

"Yeah, it's not going to fix the problem. People will still discriminate against others, maybe if you can't pay for the procedure or they'll discriminate against people who bought their powers versus those who are born with them," Senna hair was coming loose from her braids and her eyes were wide and accusing.

"Okay, okay!" Kairos held his hands up. "Fine, I get it. I was just thinking about how nice it would have been, when I was a kid after my mom got taken, if I could have been a firebender too. I might've been able to protect myself better that way. It was just a personal fantasy. I get it now- jeesh."

Jinsu looked back and forth between his teammates, sucking his bottom lip thoughtfully.

At that moment a tiny old woman entered the police department on the far end of the room "Is Lee okay?" they heard her ask the secretary.

"Who's this old hag?" Lee gestured angrily at her.

Hearing his voice, the woman's head turned. She spotted him and ran up, half-shouting, "Lee, you're going to drive me straight to heaven one of these days!" Then, before anyone else could react she wrapped her arms around Lee's neck, pulled him down and kissed him full on the mouth.

There was an awkward moment where his teammates were frantically trying to find something else to stare at. When they broke apart Lee was looking down at her with a clear expression. "Xiuying," he said her name softly, some of the humor returned to his eyes. He looked around, "Oh, it's you guys!"

Dr. Quon Lo came rushing in from the front doors. "I heard you rescued-!" but he stopped short when he saw Senna and Lee Wong. "— Dr. Quenna," his face fell as he saw she wasn't here. "Were you able to rescue Dr. Quenna Miin?"

Lee shook his head sadly. "We didn't see her there."

"Oh-" Dr. Quon looked down. "I thought maybe…" he swallowed.

"We'll keep looking for her, don't worry," said Jinsu. He put a hand on Quon's shoulder. Dr. Quon looked up at him and smiled bleakly, but then froze when he saw Kairos.

"You—what's your name?"

"Kairos."

"You don't," he licked his lips. "You don't have any family in Republic City do you?"

"No. I did have a mom once but she got taken from me when I was very young- why?"

"You…" he licked his lips again. "You look uncannily like this patient I had a few weeks ago, only…"

"Who was it?"

"I didn't get her name. She, well she came into the clinic with some cuts and looking like she'd been in a fight. I cleaned her up quickly and sent her away because she, well she was hanging out with some shady characters. She came in with Lightning Bolt Zolt."

"Where have I heard that name again?" murmured Jinsu.

"He's the former Firebending leader of the Triple Triad gang," said Lee, "before Amon removed his bending."

"Yeah, and even without his bending he's a scary character," said Dr. Quon.

"Do you think she's my mom? Is she okay?"

"There's got to be some relation, she looks uncannily like yourself. And she should be fine provided she didn't get into any more fights."

But Kairo's normally pensive face was glowing. "My mom is in Republic City," he savored the words on his tongue.

"Don't get your hopes up too much," cautioned Dr. Quon.

At that moment Beifong opened her office door. "Division42, in here," she commanded. Lee kissed his wife again and tousling her hair, told her to wait outside for a moment. When the door of her office was shut Beifong put their report on the table. "This is a good day for the police force. Everyone got out safely. Jinsu in particular proved that he's no longer the white collar rookie he was when he came in here. You effectively neutralized one of their holdouts and we're that much closer to rescuing Dr. Miin. Well done soldiers." The team members beamed at each other. Senna made sure she was standing with good posture.

"However this is one thing that bothers me about your report." Beifong put her hands behind her back. "This assassin worries me. Did those ice spikes really pierce their skull like that?"

"That's what we saw Ma'am," said Senna.

"But you do realize that's impossible right? No water bender we know can tear through bone. Some of the stronger ones can rip through flesh but usually only by blood bending. What you're suggesting is impossible."

The team looked around at each other, as if unsure what to say.

"Well if we come across anymore deaths like that we'll know to follow up on it," said Lee. "The important thing to note here is that there is some other group or outside faction, other than ourselves, who is also interested in taking down Daeyoon Tao. I propose that we focus our investigation on finding out more about that. If there is an underground war between different groups of criminals we might be able to take advantage of it."

Beifong nodded slowly. "Yes, you make a good point." She looked up, "We'll follow up more on this later but for now I think your rescue is occasion enough to take a break. Go out tonight and celebrate. That's an order."

The team saluted, "Yes Ma'am."

As the team left the station to go celebrate Jinsu caught the eye of the fire flakes vender across the street. The old vender had her arms crossed, eyes unblinking. Jinsu paused for a moment, chewing over the deal the triad members had offered to him of getting rid of his dept. He swallowed and then nodded at the vender once. The vender nodded back, slowly and then began to pack up her cart.

"Old friend of yours?" asked Senna.

"Yeah," said Jinsu, and he looked away from her.