-Clasma—

O-Ren was pleading with Mako, who was deciding whether or not Bolin should be notified about the things that Mako had learned. Bolin's allegiance to the police force, something so close to Graft, had made his reliability questionable to Mako.

"Come on, what did you learn?"

"Look I said I'd tell you, just give me a minute to think about something," Mako said, looking at the phone in O-Ren's apartment.

"Guh, why leave me waiting?" O-Ren yelled. Mako decided that he would tell Bolin later, or hope he figured it out on his own. Mako wanted to be sure of this before he ran telling the police. After all, it seemed strange to him that the police hadn't figured this out already for themselves.

"Fine. So according to what my cop brother told me a little while ago, this huge increase in triad warfare is all over some drug. They have been trying to smuggle something and all the mobsters want it. I think it is dangerous."

"So what is it?"

"The man I talked to called it Clasma. O-Ren, you aren't going to believe what it can do."

Mako explained it to O-Ren, and that day changed the course of everyone's life. The mystery of the Clasma proved to be much more complex than anyone had imagined. Several similar events occurred at once, and so to make things clear, Korra's story will be italicized as it is layered over Lin's.

Bolin finally managed to return to the police station that day, the ringing still present in his ears. His pace was slower because of it. He tried to get himself back in the right mindset to do police work. It was only a few hours ago he was chasing Oni and was ambushed. As he walked through the hallways and heard the echoes of Lin's frustrated yells, he knew he had to snap out of his weakened state quickly.

"I specifically requested an interrogation with him. What do you mean it is 'all taken care of'?" Lin was yelling at a young officer who was simply delivering her the message.

"That was all I was told, ma'am. If you want you can talk to the Chief about it, or Rong or Fu, but there is nothing more I can do," the scared boy said, then quickly fled in fear of Lin's wrath. Bolin walked in, hoping he wouldn't get yelled at for being late.

"And where have you been? Have a nice sleep, did we?" Lin asked.

"Not exactly. I was ambushed last night. I woke up in a trash can this morning." Lin just stared at him. She didn't really know what to say, and her time was limited.

"You what? Who ambushed you? Was it Oni?"

"No, I was following her. She busted another exchange. There was a box that she was stealing. Anyway I chased her for a little while and tried to get her to stop but then we were both ambushed by a group. I couldn't see anything. They threw this flashy bomb that blinded me. I was completely rendered useless, couldn't even move. They beat me up a little then I guess I just fell of the building."

Lin had never heard this. She knew it must have had something to do with the stuff that Korra, Oni, had given to her. These guys wanted it too. But the gangs had never had flash grenades.

"These were mobsters that attacked you? What kind of benders were they? Has this happened before?" Lin asked.

"I have never come across these guys before. I doubt they were mobsters and I have no idea what benders they were. All I know is they were extremely fast and didn't seem to want anything from me. I never saw or heard them coming." This was a huge surprise but right now was just another thing Lin would have to deal with. Bolin asked, "What are you doing right now, Chief?"

Lin sighed. "Well I was trying to get a chance to ask the Agni Kai our forces just brought in from last night some questions. I assume that is where you saw Oni, at the central station?"

"Yeah. It didn't seem right, though, the exchange. It was just out in the square so openly. Granted it was late, but still…"

"Yeah, well I think the whole thing was some kind of a setup to get Oni but she outsmarted them. We have Yakuza now. I need to ask him about whatever it is they are transporting. That's definitely the cause of all this, but now I just heard about these guys that attacked you…" Lin got frustrated again with everything that was going on.

"Don't worry about that right now. I need to make a call about something. One of the fiends gave me some information about someone that could help us, but I'll just make sure the address isn't some torture house, ya know?"

"The fiends told you something useful? Do you think it could help? They're involved in this too. Any of those men we can detain for interrogation would be helpful as well. I've tried to speak with all the people we've detained in the past. At first I just wasn't told and before I knew it the captives were sent off to prison somewhere. Now they just give me a hard time getting in there to ask questions, and when they are done they tell me nothing new was learned. Just standard warfare as usual. Pff, they aren't asking the right questions. They want it to seem like nothing is wrong. Hurry up, Bolin. Make your damn call so we can figure this thing out. I'm not going to miss my chance to have a word with Yakuza," Lin said.

"Okay. I think that if this is a real place, whoever this guy is can tell me something. I'll have to write it down because they can be pretty cryptic in their language," Bolin was excited. New things were happening. Hope for an answer and progress on this complex case. He honestly believed that the two would figure this thing out on that day, and he was happy. He picked up the phone and dialed the number for the address Animal had given him. "Hello, my name is Bolin from the Republic City Police Department. I need some information about a resident who lives in 1407."

"That would be fourth floor," said the man on the other end.

"Oh okay, then. What can you tell me about the man that lives there currently? Any information on how long he has been there would be helpful." The man on the phone pulled out some records.

"Let's see. Came here a few weeks ago it looks like. Rents out the place right now. Paid me up front which was a little sketchy I guess. Don't see him much. Not the most pleasant looking fellow, but I get a lot of those kind in a dilapidated apartment like this."

"What did he look like? Is there any reason to believe he is dangerous? Any strange activity?" Bolin asked.

"Guy was big. Tattoos. Raspy voice like he smoked a lot. His face was pretty hidden. I would call that suspicious. Had a wad of cash to give me. Sits in his room all day. Keeps it clean, no one has been complaining about him. That is all I can say."

"Can I get a name?"

The man on the other end coughed and started to sound nervous. "Well, we just kinda placed him under a random name. I never got his info. H-he didn't really give me a name, just scribbled it down on a contract he slipped to me a few days later. Things happen pretty quick in places like this. People are in and out and I do what I can do save time when I'm…"

"Okay, okay," Bolin said, stopping the man. Bolin had an idea of what was going on. The man matched the description of Steel, the one involved in the car accident a week or so ago. And Animal had given him the name so the possibility was definitely plausible. Bolin would have to prepare himself for going against Steel if had to be the worst case scenario. He hung up the phone. Lin, who had been trying to make calls on the other line looked at him. "It's just an apartment. Sounded weird though. I think the guy at this address was the one who smashed his car in those Agni Kais' car and took their supplies. I think if we can get him that would be huge."

"You really think that it is Steel living there? That would be a huge step, alright. He probably knows what this new drug does. Hmm," Lin thought about what to do. "I don't want to leave here. I really think I will get the chance to talk to Yakuza today. That could be a big step for our investigation as well. I know what questions to ask him. If I can just get the chance, I could wrap this all up." Lin paced and Bolin waited. Bolin had an idea of what Lin would say. He was a little afraid of confronting Steel. The man was crazy, and crazy people are unpredictable. "Bolin, this was your lead. Can you go talk to this man by yourself? What I need to do here is just as important."

"By myself? This guy could be crazy, he isn't going to listen to me."

"Look Bolin: the hardest part of being a cop is doing what scares us. Our current police force seems to have forgotten this. It's the hardest part, but it is also the difference between an average cop and a great one. I need you to go, think about what we are trying to do, here."

Bolin knew Lin was right. The pride of being a great cop didn't appeal to him, but a great cop enables a safe society, and that was ultimately his goal when he joined the force. He knew he had to do this. "Okay, I'm going to head over now, then. I wish I could have figured out a little more about him, though."

"There isn't much time, Bolin. You are a great earthbender, I know you'll be fine. Call me if anything happens, though. Right now I have to go. I have a little date with Yakuza."

Bolin wished her luck and headed to his dingy car. The apartment was across the city. He would be a while before he got there.

Lin pushed several scrawny officers out of her way as she walked down the hall. A door opened and officer Fu walked out. Lin was in his face.

"I need to get in there and talk to Yakuza. I sent several messages," Lin said.

"I know," Fu said. "We ignored them all. Interrogation is over, guy didn't have anything to tell us that was new. We figured…it was a waste of your time to have you come here."

"Oh, I think I'll be the judge of that, thank you oh so much for your concern, though." Lin proceeded to enter but Fu held the door shut with his foot.

"I wouldn't, Lin. Chief Qu is in there. I don't think he would like you meddling in this. You aren't authorized to question suspects yet. That'll take a little time."

Lin could barely control her temper. "Look, Fu. I was doing this when you were still in diapers sucking on your mother's tits. And I couldn't give less of a shit what Qu thinks of me." Lin put her foot down and turned Fu to the side so that he tripped over it. She barged in.

The interrogation room: a dark outer corridor that surrounded the bright room in which Yakuza sat. Bulletproof windows lined the inner room. Yakuza sat at a table. Lin saw Yakuza in his handcuffs, no one speaking with him. Her entrance interrupted a conversation between Chief Qu and a man she didn't recognize in the darkness. Qu looked at her, obviously pissed underneath his calm demeanor. Lin was about to walk in the room with Yakuza.

"Interrogation is over, Lin," Qu said. "We have everything we need." The man behind Qu was veiled by the darkness. He was jotting something down on a notepad. "Would you be so kind as to leave us alone? We have already prepared Yakuza's transportation to his prison."

"I highly doubt this man is unable to give us anything. I'll only be a minute." Lin opened the door.

"Lin, please," said Qu, calmly. Lin ignored him and stomped toward Yakuza. He was frightened by the sight of her. She slammed her hands on the metal table and stared him down. He squirmed in his seat.

"Nice tricks, Yak. What's the matter? Things not going according to plan? Didn't think you'd have to hide your secrets from someone like me, huh? You think you have all these boneheads fooled but I'm of a different breed. Now, you're going to tell me what it is. What is the Clasma."

Yakuza didn't say anything. He just looked confused.

"Come on, Yak. Out with it." She grabbed his shirt. "I'm not playing games, here. I don't know what these guys told you to do, but I'm not going to just buy your ignorance to everything that is going on because it is such a lie that you would know nothing." The truth was in his eyes. She could see it. The word Clasma struck him. She couldn't access his knowledge, though. He wasn't talking. She was stepping over the line by grabbing him. She felt trapped now. He would not say anything.

"I don't have to tell you anything. I don't even know anything. I thought I already went through this good cop bad cop routine with them before." Lin was furious. But there was no way to get the truth out of this man. The door opened. Qu and Rong walked it. Lin turned around and let go of Yakuza. The man Qu had been talking to watched through the window then turned to leave. Lin realized at the last second that it had been Graft. Qu and Rong looked at her. She was humiliated.

"Well, I think we've proved this to you, now that you've formally embarrassed yourself, Lin. Your interrogating skills are astonishing, but as you can see, this man knows nothing because there is nothing going on."

Rong had the chance to insult her now that he had the protection of Qu. "Such an immature way to handle police work. It is like you have no control over yourself and are nothing but incompetent."

"Rong, please," Qu said. "I'm sure Lin is fully aware of her constant regression in our ranks. It is entirely due to her lack of useful police work and constant mistakes like this. Lin, I think it'd be best for you to take the rest of the day off and get yourself together."

Lin hated Qu. She hated Rong. She knew Yakuza was hiding information. For whatever reason, the police force believed him. Something kept him from telling her anything. Lin would have to take this business outside of the department. As long as Qu was around, Lin had no power. She needed to get Yakuza all alone and to herself. She followed Qu's order and exited the interrogation room.

Sabo sat at his desk, his head in his hands. Misery. Defeat. Hopelessness. All these overcame him. It was the afternoon and the cloudy weather depressed him more. The grayness of the day made him feel like he was on Pratt Street, like a fiend, a lost forgotten soul.

Nothing would be the same again. He was never going to get the Clasma. The Agni Kai wasn't just a triad to him, it was a family. And they were falling apart. His men, they would be taken away and never seen again. Sabo had no idea where these people were taken, what happened to them. Yakuza told him a few days ago that he thought he saw Kenji at a bar. It looked just like him. They even made eye contact. Sabo hadn't heard from Kenji since the day he was ambushed by Oni. Sabo had requested one of his men, Jin, to come to his office. He had yet to show up.

Sabo's office was a very ornate room in his penthouse. Delicate. It was a room similar in style to the rooms in the Fire Nation Capital Building. The floor was an old-fashioned tile. A vast collection of books: history, bending styles, cultures, etc. populated the walls. The curtains blocked the light from the window behind him.

Sabo that he had heard a knock. He walked around his desk, opened the door and checked. The long hallways of his house stretched out, but no one was to be seen or heard. Sabo was angry. He returned to his desk and picked up the phone to try and reach Jin. No answer.

Sabo then noticed several of his papers had fallen off of his desk. As if a gust of wind blew over it. He knew he wasn't alone anymore.

Sabo spoke, "Jin isn't coming, and I suspect the one responsible for that is in this room now." He said it almost as if he was accepting his own death ticket. A shiny blade slowly swung around him and was placed at his neck. Sabo didn't flinch. He wasn't afraid. He knew Oni had come for him.

"The great Oni. We meet at last." Korra took her blade from his neck. She knew he was powerless. "May I ask why you have decided to visit me today?"

"Clasma," Korra said.

Yakuza, in handcuffs, was led to a police car. He sat in the backseat as the driver started the car and joined the police caravan that would take Yakuza to his prison cell. He was curious to see what they would do to him. He had a feeling he wasn't going to go to jail for long. He was sure he had seen someone, Kenji, out in town not too long ago, after he had been arrested. Kenji seemed brainwashed. Would that be worse than prison? He thought about these things.

The car was stopped in traffic for a few minutes. Yakuza looked out the windows and didn't see the rest of the caravan close by. They must have gotten broken up in traffic. He also noticed that there was only one cop in his car. Surely there had to be another one to keep an eye on Yakuza. Why were they putting no effort into this?

The car suddenly jerked to the side and drove down an old alley. It spun out onto a street with less traffic and continued to zoom through stopped cars. He didn't understand. He slid from side to side as the driver crazily sped across town. Where they seemed to be after a few minutes looked like some old docks near the water. The car stopped.

"Hey, officer. What is going on, here? Where did you take me?"

The driver didn't answer, just got out and opened Yakuza's door, grabbed his foot, and dragged out of the car and across the pavement. Yakuza yelled for help, but no one was around and the driver had a strong grip. He couldn't break free. Inside the building on the docks he was placed in a chair in a dark room and tied down. It was like all those horror cop stories he heard where the cop tortures you into telling the truth.

"I think you get the idea, by now," the officer said. The lights came on and Lin stood before him with two metal clampers. She clipped them to a metal bar that his hands were making contact with.

"Hey! W-what is this!?" Lin flipped a switch and 10,000 volts began flowing through Yakuza's body. Just to give him a taste. She shut it off quickly.

"That is what we are dealing with here, Yak. No cops around. No lawyers. No Graft. No one who can help you. Just me, and I don't care one bit about killing you. All I ask is that you answer my questions." Lin had kidnapped him, taken him from any source of protection. He was alone, and she had dissolved all of her restraints. She would get the truth from him, or he would feel 10,000 Volts over and over again. He was sweating anxiety. He never thought he would actually find himself in this situation.

"Clasma, been here for a while now. No one seems to be able to figure it out since they are all too scared to take it. Or get their hands on it. It's in high demand by us these days. You know all about that though," Sabo said.

"What does it do? I don't have time for any BS."

Yakuza couldn't help his jitters even after the electricity was switched off. He saw his death before him. He saw his family's downfall. Their end was coming. Maybe if he told her, the ones who started this mess would be stopped. Maybe that was the right thing to do to save his beloved Agni Kais.

"The C-C-Clasma. Please, not again, I'll tell. I'll tell." Lin stepped away from the switch and walked toward him. "The Clasma is something we were told about a few months ago. You've seen it?"

"Yes. I have."

"Whoever made it, that "S" on the bottle is his insignia. I actually don't know who he is. I don't know who told Sabo about it. We didn't want to just go for this without knowing whether or not it worked."

"What do you mean whether it worked?"Korra demanded, pointing her sword at Sabo's face.

"We saw the fiends. They were our example. They showed us something we thought was impossible. They showed us that it was possible, that Clasma was the answer. And it was all we wanted after that. This substance, Clasma, gives people the power to bend."

"That's not possible," Lin said. "It can't be."

"It is possible. The fiends showed us that it was. The man, Steel, was a nonbender. After using Clasma, he could manipulate fire. He could control it like he was a master doing it all his life. We were stunned. Sabo, our leader and beloved Don, lost his firebending, the staple of our family, to Amon. Our family lost its definition, but then this miracle substance introduced itself to us. A hope that Sabo would be able to firebend again."

Korra had no words. She could not believe what she had been told. She thought this was impossible, but it was clearly shown to work. Steel, he became a firebender. His inner Chi paths had been rearranged somehow by this substance. The only conclusion was that this Clasma was somehow a tangible form of Cosmic Energy. Transferrable Chi.

Korra hit Sabo across the face. "You imbecile! Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? Do you have any idea the instability you are introducing to this society because of this Clasma?"

"I didn't introduce it. It was already here." So many thoughts were going through Korra's mind. This was truly the reason she was called back here.

"This is more horrible than I could have thought. How is this possible? How can one take the chaotic Cosmic Energy that flows around us and make it into some physical substance? That is not how it is supposed to be! Everything is being thrown off balance. You don't even realize the higher power you are tampering with."

Sabo was angry. "Are you any different than I? Would you turn down this idea so easily? The power to regain one's lost bending. A piece of our identity. Something we owned that was forcibly taken from us. I doubt it would come as easily to anyone to turn that down. This has the power to give it back to us. We can control who can bend. It is the new era!"

Korra had heard that phrase. From the Spirits, but more recently, from Graft's crew. Somehow it was all connected.

"This must be stopped. This Clasma is not something we as humans can use. I don't know how it got here, but something must have gone wrong," Lin said in response.

"But we can regain what we have lost."

"What are the risks? Tell me."

"There were several fiends who had a bad experience, but only a few. One of them, the most infamous, went by the name of Pig. His mind split in half. He thought he was two different people. And then his skin started to decay. The fiends said he had evil Chi paths that rejected the Clasma. I didn't know what to think. It was a few bad cases."

"This drug isn't meant to be in our hands. It will disrupt all of society. We aren't supposed to be the people who decide who gets to bend or not. Think of what can go wrong."

"In the end, Sabo decided the possibility of getting his bending back was more important. Since then, it was most important to us as well. Think about it, Lin. What would you do to get your metalbending back? Would you really turn away the Clasma so easily if it meant that? If you could earthbend again?" Lin didn't have an answer. Her defunct earthbending abilities was a memory she had tried to forget. She didn't want to revive the idea of her bending's return.

Pig. Korra had heard about these two characters: Pig and Steel. To Sabo, the risk of meeting Pig's fate was not so big that he would turn down the idea of getting his bending back. Sabo told her about this. The fiends were their test subjects.

Korra said, "You were using these people to test your drug. Innocent people. Do you know why they went crazy? Clasma is cosmic energy. Cosmic energy flows from this world to the Spirit World. The Chi that flows within us is this Cosmic Energy. It keeps our abilities, but also our feelings and memories and personality. Forever. When it is transferred through this Clasma, those memories are clashing with the fiends' memories. The possibility that your Chi will conflict with this new Chi that belonged to someone else is so incredibly high. You're toying with our humanity!"

"You've failed to understand me, Oni. I did not do this. I did not use the fiends as test subjects. I didn't make this drug. We didn't start this trade. We were told of it. There is something bigger going on here that you might be unaware of. Unfortunately, I am too. I just went for it, and in the end, I guess I was a test subject as well. A test to see how much people would give up to get their bending back."

Korra suddenly realized why she was unable to detect what kind of benders the men who attacked her and Bolin were. They were on this Clasma. Their bending was artificial. And the weapons they used. The grenades. Those were no gangsters.

"Who told you about this?" Korra demanded. Those men had taken the Clasma from her. She had a feeling they were involved in its creation.

"All I know is a name: Solomon. It means nothing to me, but it is what the "S" stands for on the vials. I could tell you more if I knew what happened to my men after they were arrested. I never see them again. Look, if you plan to kill me while you are here…" Korra had what she needed. The only reason she remained was because she sensed it again. The artificial bending. She turned to run. In the next instant the windows behind Sabo shattered. Two men dressed in all black landed on either side of Sabo, who looked surprised.

The man to the left of Sabo shot something at Korra, who rolled across the office to avoid them. It was the same rugged blades she had been stabbed with.

She reached the door. One of the men followed her. He wore a mask to protect his face from their flash bangs. Korra leaped over the railing and found herself in the living room. She would not let this man catch her and harm her like the previous one did. She reached the balcony. She would be safe once she was outside.

Korra climbed over the balcony and began going down the side of the building. In the living room she heard the clank of a grenade, but this was not a flash grenade. It exploded in a fiery storm, engulfing the entire penthouse. Korra was able to jump to the adjacent rooftop. By this point, the man in black was no longer trailing her.

Lin's case was growing out of control. The forces she was now dealing with stretched beyond this world. It may not have been something she could deal with.

"Why haven't you told the police this before?"

Yakuza sighed. "The Chief told me…not to." Lin's eyes widened. She had no explanation for this. But at this moment, something else came to mind.

"You say Steel had become a master firebender because of this Clasma?" she asked.

"I would think he had been doing it for years." Lin gasped. She suddenly realized the danger in which she had put Bolin.