"I'm telling you, heading to Zaofu isn't worth it." Lin said.
"Oh come on, Chief. What's the problem with a Metalbender City?" Connor said.
"We're better off not questioning it. If she doesn't wanna tell us, we don't ask." Leonis said.
"Yeah, but this seems like a safe place to hide out for a bit. Is that alright with you, Korra?" Nero asked.
"Geez, Ace's concern is rubbing off on you guys. Relax, we'll be fine." Hope said.
"Uh...you know coming from you that usually leads to...oh god." Jexi said as they got out to see the three familiar princes. "They followed us."
"Dammit. It seems they're still set on getting the Airbenders, but there's no way we're gonna let that happen." Stahn said.
"Exactly. Why don't you three just scurry along? As you can see, we don't have time to play with you right now." David said.
"Oh it's not that simple. You ruined a fully formed plan for an alliance. And I'm afraid we don't take a failure so easily." Pen said.
"David just said we don't have time for this." Genis said.
"Brother, can I kill them?" Miasma asked.
"I'm considering it." Pen said.
"No way. Don't you dare." Leonora said.
"Lady...Leonora." Miasma said before he turned around.
"What has gotten into you lately?!" Pen said.
"N-nothing." Miasma said.
"Strange… Miasma seemed hesitant for a moment there when Leonora spoke up." Yoko said.
"You know what I think? I think Miasma has a bit of a crush on Leonora, he's just afraid to admit it." Ty said.
"W-what?!" Leonora asked in a blush. "D-don't be ridiculous. I only saved him that one time."
"Yes and since then he's acted differently upon mention of you." Pen said.
"Yup, he's smitten." AJ said.
"He looooves her!" Happy cooed.
"Aww, that's so cute!" Tamamo said.
"This isn't going as favorably as I had hoped." Pen said. "How about this? We're in Zaofu right now...so how about we call a temporary truce until we all leave."
"Why should we trust you?" Azura asked.
"As I recall, you have criminals in your party." Pen said holding a communicator. "At any moment, I can have this place swarming with the Universal Police."
"Blackmailing, huh? It's your call Jexi." Spade said.
"I'll have to agree with this. We can't afford for police to come at us right now." Jexi said.
"Grr… I hate it when people use blackmail to coerce us. It makes it seem like we don't have a choice." David said.
"I'm with you on that. Fine...truce." Spade said.
"Glad you saw it our way." Pen said.
"Brother! What's going on?" A voice shouted from the stealth ship.
"Oh shoot." Pen said as a young girl came running out. "I trust you slept well, sister." He said.
"Sister? You mean there was a princess with you this whole time?!" Hope asked.
"Uh, yes, well we…." Miasma said.
"We were trying to keep it quiet. We were making a side trip before we returned to the Dark Kingdom for our sister's sake." Pen said.
"A side trip? Where would you be taking this cutie?" Lucy asked.
"The Buddy Masters." Pen said.
"Well ain't that a coincidence. Thats where these three were headed. I mean, after the EX Grand Prix of course." Connor said. "So, what's your-" He said before Miasma held a shadowed claw to Connor's neck.
"Bother sister...lose your head." Miasma said.
"Hey, he was only gonna ask her for her name! Jeez, overprotective much?" AJ asked.
"And besides, if you tried to hurt Connor, then our truce would be null and void." Al said.
"Ignoring Al for a moment, sorry, but Connor is just not suited for that kind of talk." David said.
"My name is Yoko Tachibana. These two are Marco and Mana. We'll be new Buddyfighters soon. What's your name?" Yoko asked.
"Onyx Dark, 17th princess of the Dark Kingdom and a Dungeon World fighter." she said.
"17th? She must have it rough…" Marco said.
"Wait, how come you guys let Yoko talk to her and not me?" Connor asked.
"Well she's….way more level headed than you." Natalie said.
"Ouch, way to lay it out on him." Al said.
"Hate to say it, but she's got a point there." Pen said.
"Now, unless there are other matters to discuss, shall we get going?" David asked.
"Yeah, let's go." Mari said.
It wasn't long before all the parties set their sights on Zaofu. It was a city coated in rich metal and filled with advanced technology for the world of bending.
"So this is Zaofu, huh? A whole city filled with Metal Benders." Ty said. "Mari, your thoughts?"
"Well, I must say it does have good technology, but I'm not the one you should ask about that." Mari said as she pointed over to Guy who was fantasizing over the various technology.
"Hello? Earth to Guy!" Mahiru said waving a hand in front of his face. "What's with him?"
"There he goes again." Luke said. "He always goes crazy over fontech machines on our world, and it seems other worlds as well now."
"He's kinda like Raine in a way." Tear said.
"Except my case is ancient ruins and the like." Raine said.
"Yes. Though this city is amazing, I wonder who's in charge here." Stoj said.
They were brought before Suyin who was the leader of the Metal Clan as well as the sister of Lin back on the ship.
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Lady Suyin." Spade said.
"I'm surprised we didn't know about you from Lin." Hope said.
"Per usual. Lin doesn't say anything about me, does she?" Suyin asked.
"No, we didn't know you were Lin's sister till now. Our apologies for that." Nero said.
"Not to mention you haven't spoken to each other in 30 years. What's up with that?" AJ asked.
"Ask her. I've tried." Suyin said.
"Don't put that on me, you're the one who tore our family apart." Chief Beifong said.
"Uh...let's just try and keep things calm, okay ladies?" Connor asked.
"Yeah, we're really only here for one thing. We heard that an Airbender was in Zaofu?" Ty asked.
"Oh yes, that's right. My daughter Opal is thrilled to meet Avatar Korra. I'll take you to her." Suyin said.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Suyin." Altera said.
"Though, I kind of don't understand why Lin never talks about her." Sectonia said.
"It may be something personal between them. It's probably best not to ask why, Milady." Spade said.
"Yeah, it's best if we don't get involved." Leone said.
"Believe me, I know a thing or two about sister stuff. This can get resolved on its own." Ryuko said.
"Yeah, let's just see how things go while we're staying here." Saaya said.
So it was decided that the group would stay in Zaofu, under the protection of the metal benders. While there, Korra began teaching Opal in Airbending, but there was still friction between Suyin and Chief Beifong.
While everyone was getting settled, Luna approached Hate as he was sitting alone.
"Hey there, big guy." Luna greeted.
Hate glared at Luna.
"Whoa, Chill! I'm not here to fight or anything. Heck, I don't have any powers, which if you ask me is bogus." Luna said. "I just uh… wanna talk with you, if ya dont mind. I wanna know...you were arrested right? Why didn't you fight? According to AJ, you never fought back. You turned yourself in."
"I was there you know...I was part of Cia's army." Hate said. "There was a young human soldier hiding among the monsters who hated the world. When the Universal Police came to eliminate the stragglers...I could not let them get arrested. I took her hostage and made myself the villain."
"So, you got yourself arrested to protect that girl, huh? Pretty rad." Luna said. "Look, about what happened in Ba Sing Se, I'm sorry. I know that was your Curse talkin, but… you don't seem like the kind of guy to hurt anybody."
"You're wrong about that. I've killed thousands of people in countless wars." Hate said.
"Oh, that's why y'got the name War Prince." Luna said. "When you were chasing us, you were focusing on getting the Airbenders back for Pen. I guess you care a lot about your bro's, right? And your sis too."
"We all may share different mothers but we belong to the same father. All we do is for the good of the Dark Kingdom." Hate said.
"Really? Sounds kinda like my family. Except you guys are royalty and everything." Luna said. "Is your pops the King?"
"He is King Alabastar Dark, ruler of the kingdom. Though...that may not be true for much longer." Hate said.
"Huh?" Luna asked.
"What he means is, our father is getting on in years." Pen said arriving. "Honestly, he's not going to be around for much longer."
"For real? Bummer. But...who's gonna inherit his throne?" Luna asked. "I mean, he must have a successor at least, right?"
"Normally the throne goes to the eldest prince but our eldest brother hasn't been seen in years." Pen said. "Though the way father's been for the past few years...I can tell something is going through his mind."
"I would ask "like what?" But I think you're not gonna tell me a lot." Luna said.
"There's nothing to say because we don't really know ourselves." Pen said.
"Yeah, figured." Luna said. "Hey, where's Miasma?"
"Probably off by himself, as usual." Pen said.
With Miasma, he was approached by David as he was deep in thought.
"You the type to come out stargazing when deep in thought, too?" David asked.
"Yes…" Miasma said.
"Can't say I blame you. With everything that's going on, I'm still wrapping my head around a few things." David said. "Anyway, what was the deal back there? Ever since the IG-3, when Leonora was even mentioned, you seemed a little… Ugh, what's the word I'm looking for here? Lovestruck? Anyway, what I'm saying is that it was a completely different side of you than everyone else was used to."
"Don't know what you mean." Miasma said looking away.
"Did you turn away the moment I say Leonora's name?" David asked.
"Yes." Miasma said after a moment of silence.
"Come on, do you really think you're fooling anyone with that? I've seen cases like that before. You really are in love with her. You're just shy in admitting it." David said. "Heck, I even pulled that card before and I still get figured out. Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind you. Everyone's got a type."
"She is...my angel." Miasma said.
"An angel? I know she's a Valkyrie and all but…" David started. "Oh...he's talking about when Leonora saved him."
"When I went berserk...all I could see was darkness. Until I saw a brilliant light within my beast. A lone angel come to free me from the dark." Miasma said.
"Yep. That was her. Even though she knew that she would be knocked out of the competition due to the damage she sustained on her mech, she was willing to take one for the team." David said. "Although, that does make me kind of envious a bit. You remember Cheetah, right? To this day, I'm still having trouble getting on the same wavelength as her. For Leonora to pull it off, it impressed me at the time. I didn't know she had it in her."
"Never doubt such an angel." Miasma said getting up. "Bored now. Going to sleep." he said walking off.
David sighed. "I'm not sure whether to call you lucky, Leonora, but… Somehow...I think you can make it work." he said as he looked at his palm before heading back too.
So the heroes and the Dark Kingdom family are safe in Zaofu. Or so they think. For fast approaching them is danger in the form of a titan with a third eye as he scorches the land he walks across, as he journeys towards the heroes.
"My third eye knows all. I am close...I can feel it." He said climbing through the mountains getting closer and closer to Zaofu.