Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra, nor do I financially profit from this fanfiction.

Chapter 4: The Shipment

Michi swallowed and placed the mug onto the table with a clunk. Looking across the table, he focused on his recently acquired shadow. "So, Shima, do you have any family in Republic City."

The woman carefully placed the new light attachment for her camera on the table, taking care to avoid the many stains that had seeped into the wood. "No." She shook her head as she spoke. "My family mainly live in one of the former colony towns to the South."

"So what brought you to Republic City?"

She shrugged. "The same reason as anyone else, I suppose: Work. This city is sucking the surrounding areas dry. Pretty soon all that'll be left are farmers and hermits." She picked up a stick and skewered one of the bulbous pastries on the plate at the centre of the table. "I can work a camera, so I got a job at your uncle's newspaper."

He winced. "Everybody thinks that's the only reason I have a job there."

A smile crept onto Shima's face. "They obviously haven't met your uncle. The man would put Katara through the ringer before he allowed her to heal him."

Michi responded with a smile of his own, but his heart wasn't in it. "It's all I've ever wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to follow in my uncle's footsteps and become a journalist. But he, of all people, is stopping me." He sighed and slumped in his chair. "I honestly don't know what to do."

"You've always wanted to be a journalist?"

"Yeah."

"You work for a newspaper".

"Well, yes."

"And one of that newspaper's top journalists, Nao, is helping you investigate the Equalists?"

His eyes widened. "How did you know that!"

She stabbed the stick with the pastry on its end towards him, syrup dripping from it onto the wood below. "So, what's the problem?"

Michi stared at his co-worker, words failing him.

Shima popped the pastry in her mouth a chewed for a few seconds before swallowing. "You know, these are really good. I don't know why more people don't come here."

He was about to respond when Shima spied something over his shoulder and broke into a grin. She raised her voice as she spoke, "Speak and he shall appear."

Michi glanced over his shoulder to see Nao approaching their table. He waved for Nao to sit on the empty seat to his left. "I got your message to be here." He nodded towards Shima. "She insisted on following me. What's going on?"

Nao frowned at Shima, who merely blinked in response, before turning to Michi. "My contacts at police HQ have slipped me some info." He reached inside his jacket and drew a folded piece of paper, giving it to Michi. "The name, estimated time of arrival of and cargo number of a possible shipment of goods for the Equalists."

Michi unfolded the paper, quickly reading its contents. He looked across at Nao. "Is this advance warning of a police raid or something?"

Nao shook his head. "Tarrlok's got half the department's resources tied up in his little task force, who are currently rampaging through the warehouse districts. They catch an Equalist footman here and there." He scrunched his nose as he spoke. "Good for publicity, bad for investigations. He's just driving them further underground."

Michi's gaze returned to the paper in his hands. "The ship's supposed to be arriving this evening. I'm going to the docks tonight to investigate."

"I figured as much."

"What, no lecture about the dangers?"

Nao shook his head once again. "It would be wasted on both of us."

"You're coming?"

"I've been stuck behind a desk for way too long." A broad grin crossed his features. "It'll be good to be back on the beat again."

"It would be best if we arrived at the docks after dark."

Both men turned to face Shima. Nao raised an eyebrow "We?"

"Of course," she replied. "Somebody needs to keep you two out of trouble." She picked up her new camera piece from the table. "Besides, I can take pictures."

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Michi turned up his collar against the stiff sea breeze that came in across the pier. The cloudless night's air was damp and cold, especially at the waterfront. He rounded a corner and walked towards the shaft of light provided by a lamppost, taking care to avoid slipping on the wet stone. His co-conspirators stood just outside the light, leaning against the corrugated metal facade of the boathouse.

Nao turned to face him. "Minori, you're late."

Michi's opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Shima. "Michi Minori? Somebody must have had fun naming you." The woman looked him up and down. "What are you wearing?"

He looked down at his clothes. He wore a light brown trenchcoat, covering a blue sweater and dark brown plus-fours. He folded his arms. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

She stared at him momentarily. "Ah, forget it. Nao here has managed to acquire the ship's manifest from the dockmaster's office." She gestured towards the journalist, who promptly produced a battered notebook from the interior of his coat.

Noticing the look of concern on Michi's face, Nao smiled. "Don't worry. I'll have it back in the office before dawn. They won't suspect a thing."

"But this is stealing."

Shima raised a finger. "Borrowing. He's bringing it back."

He sighed. "Fine. So, what do we do now?" He looked towards Nao, who shook his head.

"This is your investigation. You have to take charge."

Michi pinched his eyebrows. "I guess we look up the cargo number in the manifest."

Nao flipped open the manifest and skimmed through the pages until he came to the right number. "Says here that the ship arrived late, so they haven't catalogued what this cargo is supposed to be yet. However, they do have a layout of the ship's hold here, showing where each number is kept."

Shima's eyes brightened as she stepped forward. "I guess we'll have to perform a little boarding action. We could climb up the ropes tied to the pier."

Michi nodded. "Or we could walk up that gangplank over there." He pointed towards the removable piece of metal which served as a stairway between the ship and the pier.

"That too." The photographer reached into a bag strapped to her waist and removed two flashlights, handing them to Nao and Michi. "Here. Don't use them too much, you'll lose your night vision. Also, batteries are expensive."

"Come on, let's go," said, Michi. He turned towards the ship and walked, his two colleagues in tow.

When they reached the ship's deck, Shima spoke. "Looks like there are two entrances to the hold. You two take the one up here and I'll take the one down further." With that, she turned and half-sprinted down the length of the ship.

Michi reached out an arm in protest. About to shout, he was stopped as Nao put his hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine. Let's go."

He gave Nao and quizzical look, but the journalist merely shrugged in response.

The two heaved open the crew hatch to the hold in the middle of the deck. The interior was lightless, but the moonlight illuminated the outline of a ladder reaching down into the darkness. Michi nodded at Nao and swung his legs down onto a rung and began his descent.

When his feet touched the bottom of the hold, he pushed off the ladder and reached for the flashlight. He turned it on and began surveying the room. Large crates stood in neatly piled stacks, tethered to iron rings on the floor to prevent them from tipping over in stormy weather. Below each stack was a metal plate with a number engraved on it. "Twenty-one", he murmured.

He heard Nao drop to the floor behind him. "I think the twenties are in this direction." He continued down the line of stacks, Nao closely behind him. The light from his torch fell on the plate numbered twenty-one. He looked up, but there was only one crate above the plate.

Nao walked past him and picked up one of the ropes strewn across the floor. "It's been cut," he said, examining the end of the rope. "Someone's been here already." As he looked up towards Michi, his eyes widened. "Get down!"

Michi ducked on reflex, feeling the air ripple as something passed over his head. He pivoted to find to find the source of Nao's concern, coming face to face with an Equalist footman. "Damn..."

###

Nao shoved Michi out of the way, forcing him back into a crate. The journalist shot a metal wire from his wrist, which wrapped itself around the Equalist. He grinned. "Weren't expecting that, were you?"

The Equalist glanced at Michi through the helmet's glowing eyes, determining him to be a low threat, and brought a hand to the wire. The air lit up as electricity coursed through the length of the wire. Nao screamed as the current passed through his body, discharging into the floor. He landed on the floor with a thud, unconscious.

Michi turned from Nao's body to the footman, who was disentangling themselves from the wire. He sighed. "This is so crazy."

At the sound of Michi's voice, the Equalist turned to face him only to be knocked of their feet as Michi crashed into them. Their bodies careened into a stack of crates, snapping one of the supporting ropes. Michi tumbled out of the way as a crate fell from the top of the stack, wood splintering as hit the ground and the footsoldier.

Finding himself beside Nao, Michi sat up, resting his forehead on his palm. He looked at Nao's unconscious form. "Perhaps you should have given that speech about danger earlier."

"What happened. Are you guys okay?"

Michi turned his head to see Shima standing over them, crowbar in hand. "Just peachy." The sudden movement had made him dizzy and he failed to stand up.

Shima rolled her eyes, reaching out to pull him to his feet.

"We were attacked by an Equalist."

Shima kicked at the arm sticking out from under pile of wood and materials beside them. "I take it he's under this then."

Michi nodded. "Help me get Nao up."

The two bent down and lifted Nao up by the arms. As they brought him up, the journalist awoke. "What happened. Where's the Equalist!"

Michi let go of Nao and pointed towards the nearby debris. "I got him."

Nao blinked. "Oh, good work then."

"This is the cargo we're looking for, right?"

The two turned to see Shima sticking the crowbar between the lid and the sides of the crate. She pressed downwards, using the bar as a lever to pop nails from their purchases. When the lid finally came free, she pushed it to one side, allowing it to fall to the floor with a clatter.

Michi approached the crate, shining his flashlight inside. Sheets of a greyish-white metal filled its interior. "What is this?"

Nao raised his hands over the crate, allowing them to fall to his side after a few seconds. "Whatever it is, it's pure. I can't metalbend it."

"It's platinum. It's used for certain camera parts."

Michi tilted his head to Shima. "What would the Equalist's want with platinum?"

Nao spoke. "I don't know, but now's not the time to twiddle our thumbs." He gestured towards the stunned Equalist. "We've got to get this guy to the station."

Shima shook her head. "You two go, I have some business to attend to."

Nao shrugged. "Suit yourself. Michi, help me bring this guy to my car."

The young man nodded and started towards the unconscious footsoldier.

"And Michi."

He turned back towards Nao, who grinned in response.

"Thanks for the save."

###

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Selected Extract from the 110th edition of the 'Republic City Bulletin'

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

#

AVATAR GOOD FOR PRO-BENDING

To the Editor,

A few days ago, you published a letter from a certain pro-bending fan named Rhiannon, who bemoaned the inclusion of the young Avatar Korra in the sport. According to her, Korra's membership in the Fire Ferrets raises the spectre of fairness in the game. I am writing this to tell you that nothing is further from the truth.

The writer claims that Korra's inclusion is a "balance-breaking factor" because, even though she has been limited to the use of a single element, her natural talent will give her a significant advantage over her opponents. In response to this, I must ask; isn't this the point of pro-bending, or of any sport? To exclude talented benders simply because they are talented is absurd and will lead to a mediocracy rather than a meritocracy in our sport. This is what will render pro-bending a "stale and lifeless husk", not the Avatar's participation. If the Avatar wished to make a career out of pro-bending, I would be delighted.

Moreover, the writer claims that as Korra's presence has increased interest in pro-bending, the governors are exploiting this to increase ticket sales, etc. My answer to this is: So what? Increased interest is good for the sport and the governors are well within their rights to make a profit from this. In fact, if ticket sales go up, ticket prices will fall. This is good news for the fans, so I'm puzzled that someone like Rhiannon, who purports to be one, is against it.

Yours sincerely,

Liwei

Thank you for reading and if you have any ideas about what I should include in my newspaper extracts, please feel free to share them either through the reviewing system or the messaging system.