"Alright, Bolin my boy, concentrate and follow my lead." Bolin and a moderately busted up Lee stood in the sandpits, about ten paces from two earth dummies with a cable spool attached to their hips.

"Okay." He watched as Lee raised a hand and flexed his fingers, releasing the cable and wrapping it around his dummy's torso. Bolin raised his hand and flexed his fingers, releasing the cable and knocking the head off his dummy, "Oops."

"Gonna have to tell the lowlifes not to mess with you." Lee laughed.

"More like a waterbender, Boy." His mom called from the doorway. Both men jumped and composed themselves, almost as if they'd been caught doing something wrong.

"Oh, hi Mom, we were just practicing." He explained nervously.

"And you plan to decapitate your suspects?"

"Hey, we coulda used your boy's technique last night, right Chief?" Then he thought about it for a second, "We still could, you know."

"Don't tempt me." As much as she'd love to go knock Tarrlok's head off, there's no way she'd get away with it. Besides, right now she had her son's bending to worry about, "You have to flick your wrist, like waterbenders do."

"Oh, right." he must have missed that, "Like this?" He flicked his wrist and knocked his dummy's arm off.

"Oh man, this kid's a natural." Now Lee was not only Bolin's captain, but his biggest fan as well, "I kept missing the target when I was your age." The Chief shook her head.

"The kid's got great aim. You just gotta be more flexible, Boy."

"Ten years you've been tellin' me to be unmovable, now you're tellin' me to be flexible?! Make up your mind, woman!" he found himself staring into the eyes of torment. Terrible, horrible, malevolent torture, and he decided it might be time to rephrase that last bit, "Mom! Ma'am!...Uh, Chief!"

"Nice cover. You alright, Lee?" Her old friend, along with nearly every other officer in the room, was doubled over and trying desperately to hide his laughter.

"He-he- really is...hegrovelsjustlikeCouncilmanTenzin." That did it. The entire room lost all self control. The official public opinion was in, if she and Tenzin had a son, he'd be just like the one she adopted.

"I'm not an airhead!" Bolin defended. His mother clamped her mouth shut, disagreeing with that statement in front of all these people was beneath even her.

"Get back to your jobs, or lose them."And with that warning, Lin left before she said something her mother would say. As she took the hall that led to the cells, Lee's voice caught her attention.

"See Bolin, your old mom can still teach you a thing or two about metalbending. She's awesome that way." after which she hardened her features to keep the crushed feelings safely hidden. Bolin, her own son went to Lee for training because he didn't think she could help him anymore...well, he had to grow out of the 'mom is my hero' phase eventually. As for Lee, she just chalked it up as another well-meaning comment from people who were both surprised and impressed that the local invalid was doing so well in spite of her condition.

"Let's go, Girl. You got five days of community service to do." Lin had stopped by Asami's cell the night before and told her she'd speak to the judge and get this mess sorted out of court.

"That's it?" The radio announcements yesterday made the punishment sound more severe.

"And three months probation." She and Judge Asiaq went back a long way, all the way to her days as a assistant city attorney. And as a nonbender who didn't agree with the masked man promoting peace by trying to start a war, or the politician fanning the flames by punishing innocent people, it was easy for her to hear a plea for leniency.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"So, when do I start community service? And what do I have to do?" She really hoped that she could go work at the homeless shelter, it sounded so much better than picking up garbage in the park, which is what Mako got to do when he had community service.

"Right now. Serve in the maintenance department."

"But I already work there."

"Now you're not getting paid for it. Get down there, get my blades finished then report to Officer Zi, she'll put you to work."

"Sounds great." She turned on a heel, ready for five days of fixing trucks and broken weapons free of charge. But she just couldn't take that first step, the fact that Lin had grabbed her by her collar probably had something to do with that.

"And the next time I tell you to do something, you better damn well do it or I'll feed you to the wolfbats!" Even though the woman was behind her, Asami could feel her spirit dying from Lin's death glare.

"Yes Ma'am." Asami said meekly before the chief loosened her grip. She walked briskly down the hall, saying a small 'hello' to the avatar as she passed her.

"You decide to sleep in today?" Lin asked with crossed arms and raised eyebrow. Her young pain in the ass-er pupil was running late today.

"No. I ran into Tenzin!" She reported the news, the chief blinked once, then twice before her brain started to work again.

"What?!"

"He came back!" Yeah, Korra didn't need to explain that, by now Lin had figured that out on her own.

"I'm gonna kill him myself." There were three young airbenders and another on the way, they could carry on the culture after he was gone, "Where is he?"

"City Hall."

Councilman Tenzin had been politely discussing the city's most resent events with his coworkers before a strong hand grabbed his elbow without warning and dragged him way. Knowing that it'd only been a matter of time, and that he never could get out of Lin's iron grip, he followed her to an empty room without fuss. Korra followed behind, but stopped short as a door slammed in her face.

"What the hell are you doing here, Tenzin?" Lin would be reasonable, she'd let him explain before she buried him... or put a dart through his skill as burying him would take too long without earthbending.

"I can not hide away while Amon remains at large." And that guilty conscience would get him equalized or killed.

"You're an idiot."

"My family's in safe hands. That's what really matters." If anything happened to him, the airbending race would continue.

"What exactly do you think-" The doors burst open, stopping her mid sentence.

"Chief!" an officer named Fei Yen, who was known for her speed on the zip lines, appeared in the room with the avatar, "We tried to stop them!"

"Who?"

"Tarrlok! His lawyers came with a release order the second you were out of sight, but Captain Lee said he wouldn't release him until you gave the order. The task force arrested him and six other officers and broke Tarrlok out of his cell."

"Damn it." She'd known it wouldn't be long before the weaslesnake paid his way out, but she hadn't expected it to be this quick.

"There's more, Chief. You gotta get out of here before he can get you." Before Lin could ask what that even meant, in came fairly big crowd of reporters, photographers, task force agents, and councilmen. At the head of the mob was none other than the power-hungry bastard she'd just thrown in jail not twelve hours before.

"Lady Beifong, you are hereby striped of your position as Chief of Police. Furthermore, you are under arrest."

"On what charges?" A piece of paper was handed to her from the task force's new captain, Saikhan. Why did that not surprise her?

"For obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and breaking curfew. As you can see, Lady Beifong, no one is above the law."

"It's a confirmed kill." she couldn't deny it. But seeing as she was going to jail on a bunch of ridiculous charges, there was only one thing left to do, "Captain." She stood tall as she handed the arrest warrant back, "I'm afraid you'll have to add an assault charge to that."

BAM ….the sound of a waterbender's breaking nose was overshadowed by gasps and camera clicks. Tarrlok's lackeys had her on the ground in less than a second, and yes they were adding aggravated assault to the charges.

Back in a cell again. Though she had to admit, this one was much more pleasant than her last. Her food wouldn't include saliva, she had an ocean breeze coming through her very own window and best of all, it was made entirely of wood. Of course she wondered why they bothered to take her all the way down to the wooden jail, which was a mile away from the docks, but she wasn't going to complain. Anything but another metal box.

"Lady Beifong." Just who she wanted to hear.

"Come to add insult to injury?" Oh, his nose was all better now. Damn shame.

"I just thought you would like to know that Saikhan has been reinstated and has taken over as Chief of Police."

"Tell me, what'd you do to get him in your corner? Bribery, blackmail, or just promise him my job? I wanna know what the price of his loyalty," and his betrayal, "is."

"Saikhan simply knows what this city needs, and that is me."

"Get over yourself. You're nothing but a crooked politician."

"And let's take a look at you. Seven years ago I heard that you and your mother were keeping the Shuang Gou Dam together, literally holding back a flood. Tell me, could you do that now?" The hostile glare answered the question, "Could you hit a suspect two-hundred yards away with that whip of yours? Or render a captor's knife useless? No. I'm afraid that the once great daughter of Toph Beifong is merely a shadow of her former self." He shook his head with a deep chuckle, "You put up a magnificent fight, I really quite enjoyed watching you put on your little show. But you have outlived your time, Beifong. This is my time. Republic City is mine, now. The sooner you accept this, the better it will be for you."

He left her alone with nothing but her thoughts for company. 'Humph, that smug bastard'. This city needed him like it needed Amon. And how she wished she had the power to stop them both.

"Alright. I say we go bust her outta there." Bolin put in his thoughts while sitting at Tenzin's table with the rest of team avatar. It wasn't fair, his mom just got out of prison and that shady councilman put her in another one. She needed help and he wasn't just going to set there.

"That would not be very wise, Bolin." the sage advice came from none other than the airbending master himself, "Tarrlok arrested her lawfully."

"She arrested him lawfully." Mako pointed out. That hadn't held him for long.

"He used his influence to get out, and his money." Asami countered.

"But Beifong's richer than he is, right?" Korra asked. If it was a matter of wealth, Beifong should be out even faster than the two-faced politician.

"I'm afraid Tarrlok has frozen her assets."

"Of course he did." Bolin sighed, "Well, we still got the thirty-thousand yuans. We'll go bail her out in the morning." his idea fell by the wayside with his uncle's downcast look, "What?! Don't tell me-"

"The judge denied her bail."

"I told you not to tell me that." He grumbled.

"Police!" A man; it sounded like Saikhan, shouted through the front door. "Warrant."

"For what?" They all looked at the people around them, "We haven't even done anything yet."

"Is there a problem, Officers?" Tenzin asked as he opened the door.

"We have a warrant for the arrest of Asami Sato. Move aside."

"But, she was in my home well before curfew."

"The Council recalled Judge Asiaq's sentence." A new voice answered. Even if they hadn't recognized the voice, they would have known who it was.

"Why was I not made aware of this, Tarrlok?"

"The four of us voted 'yes', so your vote wouldn't change anything." For some reason Tarrlok thought that Tenzin shouldn't take this personally. Well, he did. Tarrlok couldn't make up the rules as he went, he was not the king of the Republic.

"You're not taking her!" Mako yelled at the dozen cops. They just scoffed and continued along. Bolin stomped and punched the air with both fists, and sent four metal clad officers flying back. Mako followed his lead, sending fireblasts at the councilman. Korra nearly joined in, but Tenzin sent her flying out of the open door with his airbending and then locked it behind her.

"That was wise, Tenzin." The Water Tribe man congratulated him as Asami and Mako were put in handcuffs and Bolin was tied with ropes and a blindfold. Outside, Korra was banging on the door with all her might, "Wouldn't want the Avatar to go to prison for assaulting an officer." Fire engulfed the door, sending it into the wall behind them.

"You can't do this, Tarrlok!" Korra shouted as the cops led her friends out of the house.

"I'm afraid I can, Avatar." the councilman turned in the doorway to block the exit, "Take them away." he told Saikhan, "I will join you shortly."

"Don't you see? You're doing exactly what Amon says is wrong with benders. You're using your power to oppress and intimidate people."

"And you don't?" He challenged.

"Uh-" that wasn't what she expected him to say, "of course not!"

"Tarrlok, you are going too far!" Tenzin tried to step in, but was stopped and otherwise ignored.

"Isn't that what you were going to do? Intimidate me into releasing your friends? See, that's what I admire about you, Korra. Your willingness to go to extremes in order to get what you want. It is a quality we both share."

"You and I are nothing alike!" She may blow up sometimes, but at least she tried to do the right thing.

"Look, I'll make you a deal. You fall in line and do what I say, and I'll release Ms. Sato and Beifong's boys into your care." It suddenly made sense. They'd had ropes ready for Bolin before they even came to the island. He was planning to arrest every one of them all along.

"That's why you're arresting them? To get to me?" That wasn't right!

"I need your answer."

"No. You might be able to manipulate Chief Saikhan into following you, but it won't work on me." That wasn't the answer that he wanted to hear.

"You will regret that decision."

"You need to be stopped, you're just as bad as-"

"Korra!" Tenzin used himself as a buffer between the two benders, "You must leave this alone for now."

"What?! No-"

"If you are arrested, then who will protect the city against Amon?" he reasoned with her before turning to Tarrlok, "And you will leave my home immediately."

"We will finish this conversation later, Korra." He sneered before storming away.