Note: Sorry for the long wait between chapters everyone, especially after what happened last time. We've been dealing with a bit of writer's block as of late, but don't worry, the story is still going on as planned, and everything has been sorted out. Hopefully, it won't take an entire month for us to upload again. Until we inevitably get delayed again, read, review, and enjoy!

"Korra, I'm scared."

The Avatar was hurt. She felt drained emotionally and physically. Just a few days ago, she felt like everything was finally going right. She thought she was making a difference, but now, sitting in a claustrophobic hospital room with the unmoving body of one of her best friends resting before her, she could see how horribly wrong she truly was.

Bolin: badly burned and too weak to talk. Opal: comatose.

"Everything's going to be fine," said Korra. Admittedly, she was trying to convince herself more than her fiancé. "They're alive. That's what matters."

"No, not it's not," Asami said weakly. Her voice had been worn out from constant screaming, and it sounded like she hadn't gotten a decent night's rest in a long time. Korra could only imagine how much stress the Future Industries CEO had been under before; now it was like someone had dropped more weight upon her shoulders.

"Bolin and Opal are receiving the best care in the city," Korra said calmly. "And Lin's watching over them. There's nothing else that can hurt them."

"That's what you said last time," Asami snapped. "You said not to worry when Lin got hurt. You said you had things under control. There is someone trying to hurt you out there, Korra. How can you just shrug it off?"

"I'm not shrugging it off. I'm doing everything I can."

"That's what is scaring me the most! Something like this should never have happened, but somehow, our friends are being hurt one-by-one. Opal is one of the most talented airbenders in the world. Bolin was a soldier. Lin is the best earthbender on the planet, and you're the Avatar. Yet it happened. Something is very wrong about all of this… I can feel it in my gut."

"Wait a second. You're not really thinking that are you?" Korra asked in disbelief, reading the non-bender's mind.

"I'm saying it's possible," Asami explained. "The last thing Opal said over the phone before the attack was that the attacker looked like they wouldn't harm her. What if she saw someone she knew, someone she already trusted?"

"That could be—I don't know," Korra groaned. "Hey… why were you calling Opal right before the attack?"

"Oh, uh…" Asami stammered momentarily. "I was asking her for wedding advice. I guess I just got unlucky with the timing."

Kora processed the information silently. There were times when Asami was a master at hiding her true intentions. Though the Sato heir never fell back on deception all that often, she could pull enough emotion and passion out into her words that when she did, Korra would believe every sentence that flowed out of those beautiful red lips. But over the phone, in the hospital, with Opal's lifeless flesh strung up to countless machines right next to her, Korra heard nothing but a blatant falsehood. Maybe it was the overwhelming stress, but Asami's words sounded half-hearted and stale. Why would she feel the need to lie about something like that? Why was she calling Opal the exact moment of the attack?

Asami couldn't possibly be connected with this. Could she?

No, Korra decided, that was an absurd thought. Asami was Asami. She was wrong for even thinking of her girlfriend like that.

"Well, it's lucky you reached her when you did," Korra said faintly. "You saved her life. You saved both of their lives."

Asami said nothing.

"I'll keep an eye on their recovery," Korra added. "And, I'll get the bastard who did this. That's a promise. In the meantime, I want—"

"You want me to stay out of the city," Asami said knowingly. "You want to keep me safe."

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing."

"Have you considered that maybe I can help you? That maybe I have resources and skills that will help move the case forward?"

"I'm not risking your life for that," Korra stated boldly.

"I can take care of myself."

"So can Lin. So can Bolin and Opal. You said it yourself: something is very wrong about all of this. You are not coming back until this is sorted out."

Asami groaned. She hated it when her own words were used against her. "Fine. Just watch your back, Korra. I don't want to lose you, too."

Korra put down the receiver, and promptly slammed her head against the hard hospital mattress. Opal didn't react, which only made Korra feel worse. The doctor never gave a time frame of how long she would be out. In fact, he told her that she might never wake up again, though it was highly unlikely. What drove the final nail in the coffin however was the explanation as to why she was comatose in the first place. Korra and Mako assumed it was due to head trauma, and while they were partially correct, the doctor mentioned something else that startlingly caught their attention.

The word, "miscarriage," was what caused Mako to collapse against the wall and nearly break down. Opal was six weeks pregnant; she and Bolin were planning on telling him the good news the very next day. The doctor informed them in a very calm manner that the baby was lost when Opal was stabbed in her apartment. That didn't make it hurt less. It didn't help them heal. It only pressed further against Korra's mind that she couldn't do anything to stop what was happening.

Abruptly, Mako entered the room, his forehead covered in sweat. "Is she up yet?"

Korra solemnly shook her head. "How's Bolin feeling? Does he know about—"

"No," Mako said quickly. "He needs to focus on getting rest. I can't imagine hearing that would be good for him."

"You're probably right. Also, I just got off the phone with Asami. She's holding up as well as she could be, I guess."

"Is she coming back?"

"Hopefully not. I told her to stay with Varrick and Zhu Li. Maybe they'll be able to ease her nerves."

Mako nodded. His eyes wandered to Opal, battered and bruised. "Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"I have an idea. Or, I guess it's more like a hunch."

"Same."

Korra knew what the firebender was thinking. She was thinking the same. They exchanged no words of sorrow or empathy. Those words would not fix anything. Those wouldn't undo the damage. The Hanzi Killer had been active for far too long. It was time to end this. For good.

Korra got up from her seat, and pressed her hand firmly on Mako's shoulder. Their eyes did not meet, but she was certain that she would only see fury within them.

"Good luck," she said coldly.

"Stay safe," he said in turn. "Make that son of a bitch pay."

Korra left the hospital at midday, her focus squarely set on placing one foot in front of another as she walked towards her destination. She could not afford to let her mind stray, because every moment that it did, her mind was flooded with sights and sounds of blood and misery. The Killer's blood, Opal's blood, Bolin's blood, her blood; the details were lost in the flashes of brutality. The idea of punching something returned with a passion, raw and savage in its essence. "Make them pay", Mako had said; that was a very ambiguous command. It suddenly crossed her mind that Mako had killed someone before. Granted, it was an accident, but the act was all the same. He was, technically, a murderer. And now, though he had not stated it precisely, she could tell from his hollow voice and dead face that he wanted her to take another life as well.

Why not?

The voice bounced around in her head. Why not? It would be easy. With her powers, there were infinite ways to murder another person. Burn them alive and suffocate them with smoke. Smash their head in with boulders the size of cars. Freeze their blood solid and shatter them like glass. Increase the air pressure around them and crush them like a bug. Stab their heart. Break their neck. Chop them, drown them, claw them, and rip them apart limb by limb.

It would be easy.

What else was she supposed to do? Really? Throw them in prison? If they could get past security so well, what was the chance that they would immediately escape? Who else needed to get hurt due to her inaction? Tenzin and Pema's kids? Kai? Mako's stupid, annoying girlfriend? Or worse, what if he tried to go back and finish the job on Bolin and Opal, or even Lin? It was madness, truly. Inescapable, insufferable madness. All that power only to never be able to use it. It wasn't fair; hell, it was never fair. This was as good of an excuse as any to stretch her legs and test her full capabilities. After all, what could be a better test subject than the person who had caused her and her friends so much misery? It would be so, so easy. She could picture it clearly now, in her head, walking up to the pathetic man who committed such heinous crimes, wrapping her hands around his throat, and then…

Korra stopped dead in her tracks. She took a deep breath. The Avatar Aang Secondary School was directly to her left. She buried those hideous thoughts once more. She had something more important to attend to.

She passed by through the gate with ease. Despite her previous intrusion, the school hadn't bothered getting security set up, probably because they could barely afford it. Lunch had not yet begun, leaving no witnesses as Korra marched straight into the building. The halls were equally barren, with its only occupant a small woman sitting behind a wooden desk on the opposite wall. She opened her mouth to speak, but her eyes went wide and she froze. A typical fan reaction.

"Illu Satori," Korra demanded. "I need to have a word with her."

"Yes, of course, Avatar Korra," the receptionist said, clumsily scooting trinkets around on her desk. "Down the hall to your right and take the second left. She'll be on the first door on the right. I think she's in the middle of a class right now."

"Don't worry," Korra replied, starting to walk away. "Kids love surprise guests."

The rest of the school was as degraded as its exterior. Korra followed the instructions tightly, although she could not shake the feeling that she was heading in the wrong direction since everything looked exactly the same. Occasionally, the sounds of a lecture leaked into the hallway from some decrepit classroom. Students giggled when they were supposed to be learning proper grammar, and shared secrets when they should have studied. They didn't know of the trouble that dwelled in the very city that surrounded them. They were lucky, fortunate souls.

Yet, right as Korra approached the suspected classroom, a bell rang over the speakers, and the innocent souls burst into the halls in a mad frenzy, not unlike tiger piranhas swarming towards a fresh meal. The Avatar backpedaled as the door nearly smacked her in the face, and the children pushed and shoved past her. She saw Illu Satori standing at the front of the class, trying to bestow some final pieces of wisdom on her students before they parted, and failing miserably at it. Her eyes wandered over, and when she saw Korra standing outside, a shocked and bitter expression fell over her face.

Korra stepped inside of the room. "Illu, we need to—"

"What do you think you're doing here?" Illu snapped. "I thought I told you to back off."

"You did. But I—"

"I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to actually come into my classroom," she bemoaned. "What else were you going to do? Were you planning on interrogating me in front of my own students?"

"I just want to know a few things, and then I'll be on my way," Korra explained. "No one is looking for any trouble."

"Then you should have stayed away," Illu said, in what may or may not have been a threat.

"Look, my friends were attacked yesterday," Korra said. The words tasted bitter on her tongue. "You're the best lead I have to finding who did this to them. If there is anything you can tell me…"

"I can't help you," Illu stated. "I'm sorry, but I don't have anything of use to you. I just want to get on with my life."

Korra focuses her gaze. "Then who was that you were talking to the other day?"

Illu froze. Korra studied her face. There was fear. She was certain of that. But soon, that was washed away by a wave of anger, and Illu stepped forward and shoved the Avatar back.

"You followed me home?" she yelled furiously.

"I didn't follow you," Korra said defensively, but the damage was already done.

"But you spied on me!" Illu accused. "You actually spied on me! I always knew there was something wrong with you."

"I was just—"

"Get out," Illu said, pointing one finger at the door. "Get out of my classroom right now, or I'll call security and throw you out."

Korra didn't know what to do. She screwed up. She probably should have thought of some way to confront her more cleverly than that, but she had been so caught up in her own mess of emotions that she could not think straight. Not wanting to start a fight in the middle of a school building, Korra carefully left the room, as Illu slammed the door behind her. She traced her path back outside, thinking about what to do next. If Satori did not want to talk, then maybe her friend did. She had gotten close enough to feel his aura; if she got into the right state of mind, she would be able to trace his movements throughout Republic City. Was that vigilantism? Technically. At this point, she was just about ready to do anything to stop the Hanzi Killer.

However, there was something more important stirring just outside the front door. A massive group of kids were gathered together, screaming and jeering all at once. It didn't take long for Korra to see what the commotion was about. The children had formed a ring around four students: Lee Satori and his friends on one side, and a very small-looking Masaki Sugiyama on the other.

"You want to say that one more time, freak?" Lee sneered. Masaki's face was unusually sullen.

"I said… leave me alone," Masaki declared weakly.

"Why should we?" Lee asked defiantly.

"I tried being nice to you," said Masaki, growing more confident. "I didn't report you to the teachers or try to fight back. I tried being your friend, and all you ever did was try to hurt me. I'm sick of it."

Masaki did not see Korra watching him from afar. He kept his eyes firmly locked on the child opposing him. If he did look up, he would have certainly seen a look of pride coming from his hero.

"Are you trying to act tough?" Lee mocked. "Is that the best you can do? Come on, freak, what's with the serious face? Calm down and smile a little."

Masaki gritted his teeth. "Why don't you make me?"

Lee's cockiness faded. Nobody had ever challenged him like that, especially not that pathetic whelp with the constant grin. He would have to teach this loser a lesson, and a very painful one at that. Lee clenched his hand into a fist, and charged forward. Masaki was motionless as he approached, his dark saggy hair covering his eyes and his hands tucked into his pants pockets. He would have no idea what hit him.

And then, right before he had the chance to swing, a boot connected directly to Lee's face, and his jaw snapped in two. Six teeth flew out of his mouth and shattered on the floor. Almost immediately, another kick struck his kneecap, breaking the bones and bending the joint sideways. Lee collapsed instantly, his screams muddled through the blood flowing in his mouth. The children's' screams were silenced, and Lee's two friends looked on shock.

Masaki smiled, and Korra's pride suddenly turned to horror.

The smiling boy dashed forward, catching the others by surprise. His palm shot out and crashed into one of their throats, before another landed in the same boy's stomach. The remaining one tried to throw a punch, but Masaki caught his wrist, and drove his knee into the child's elbow, breaking the joint firmly. He threw the child to the ground, and stomped repeatedly on his leg; the fragments of bone broke through the skin and oozed with blood. Masaki dodged another strike from behind, and delivered a blow to the nose, crunching the cartilage as the boy dropped to the floor.

The three boys screamed in agony as the other children watched the bloodshed in silence. Lee began to crawl away, but Masaki blocked his path. Smiling down on the person who had bullied him non-stop for so long, Masaki pulled his foot back, and kicked Lee in the face.

"Freak."

He kicked again.

"Loser."

He kicked once more, and then another time in the ribs.

"Waste of space."

He kicked harder and faster. Lee coughed up blood with every blow, yet his smile never dissipated.

"What's wrong? Are you going to cry?" Masaki teased, placing his foot on Lee's face. His black shoes were stained bright red. "Do you think that will make anything better? Do you think that will bring back your aunt? Because it won't. She's dead, and she deserved everything she got coming to her. And so do you."

Lee murmured something unintelligible. It could have been an apology, or a plea for mercy, but Masaki did not care. He simply raised his foot, and drove it sharply down towards Lee's head.

"That's enough!"

Suddenly, the floor beneath them split, and the earth Masaki stood on slid backwards, driving the two apart. Masaki's foot connected with the dirt awkwardly, causing him to stumble and fall over onto his knees. Korra broke through the crowd of children, and reached toward an emergency pouch of water she kept attached to her hip. She quickly knelt over Lee, and began to treat his wounds.

"This fight is over," she stated forcefully. "Break it up."

The children dispersed, talking amongst each other as they fled. Masaki groaned as he rose to his feet. When he saw Korra, he laughed.

"Hey, Korra, did you see that?" he gloated. "I did it! I managed to fight back."

Korra grimaced. "What were you thinking?" she asked coldly. "How can you feel good about this?"

Masaki's smile faded. "What do you mean? I did exactly what you said to do: I stood up for myself."

"I didn't mean for you to do this," Korra cried. "You could have killed these kids."

"And?"

Korra stopped working, and looked up at Masaki. He was staring straight through her, as if his mind was in another place and time.

"I did what I had to do," Masaki explained. "I tried to warn him, but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to hurt me, so I hurt him back. Isn't that what you do to people who try to hurt you? Haven't you won every fight you've been in by hitting the other person harder than they hit you? Isn't that what the Avatar does?"

"Not like this," Korra sighed. "Never like this."

"Says the woman who destroyed half of Republic City."

That was it. She approached Masaki, and grabbed his wrist firmly. "Now listen closely: Whatever you think I taught you, you obviously got very wrong. You are never to raise your hand against anyone ever again. Is that clear, Masaki?"

Masaki shook his hand free of her grasp. He looked at Lee, writhing on the ground, for a long moment. For a second, Korra thought he might go back and try to finish the job. Instead, he tucked his hands back into his pockets, and hid his eyes underneath his shaggy hair. "Yeah. I understand." He grinned. "Hypocrite."

Masaki Sugiyama turned and walked back into the school building. As he walked upon the stairs, Illu stormed into the open, and scanned the horizon until she saw her son struggling along the ground. She let out a panicked scream, and raced towards him. Korra hurried away from the distressed teacher and left the yard as fast as she could. Her presence had caused enough damage already to the Satori family. She didn't want to cause any more.

Sy sat quietly in the squad car as Mako drove through the city. She did not know what she was supposed to say to him. She had been fortunate enough in her lifetime that she never had to face a family tragedy. She couldn't say that she was the greatest of friends with either Bolin or Opal, but they had never treated her wrong, which was more than she could say about a lot of people she knew.

Mako's eyes were focused squarely on the road, and ever since he had picked her up from the coffee shop, he had not said a single word. Maybe she should apologize to him? But for what? She didn't do anything wrong, and she doubted that he wanted to hear anything about it.

Small talk. That was what she would do. She was quite good at that.

"So… I applied for a job yesterday," she said casually. "I figure since I'm old enough, I might as well start working. It's a shoe store in the upper district. It's not too bad, although you do see a lot of… feet..."

The empathetic teen sighed. Mako barely appeared to be listening to her. She rested her cheek against her palm, and gazed out the side window. It seemed that less people were walking the streets as of late. With all of the recent attacks, she could understand why people were less inclined to be out in the open. She decided to change topics.

"How did you're meeting with that Jackdaw guy go? Was he as scary as you thought he would be? Did you get any information about—"

"Sy, shut up," Mako said bluntly. Sy stopped immediately. Mako had never talked back to her like that before.

"I'm sorry," she said with a small voice. "I didn't mean to—"

"Of course you didn't," Mako grunted. "You just say whatever's on your mind all the time without ever thinking about what it means. Why should I expect any different today?"

Sy opened her mouth to protest, but knew that there was nothing she could say that would make the situation better. She simply needed to let Mako grieve, and eventually, his anger would pass. She slumped back into her seat, and let her mind wander. She used to love the colors of Republic City. The ever-present green glow emitting from the spirit portal made everything seem so much more beautiful than it actually was. But now, they just sickened her. The glow bouncing off of the buildings that surrounded her made her feel sick to her stomach.

Actually, now that she thought about, those buildings looked very unfamiliar. They were a completely different style to the ones close to her home. Wait a second. Now that she thought about, Mako didn't even know where she lived.

"Uh, Mako, where are you taking me?" she asked, slightly concerned. Mako's eyes remained fixated on the road.

"I'm taking you back to my apartment," he answered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sy said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I have to get home. My parents are going to kill me."

Mako's fist tightened around the wheel. That was the wrong choice of words.

"You'll be safer if you stay with me until we get this all sorted out," he stated. "This is for your own good."

"Mako, you can't just kidnap me!" Sy complained. "I need to go home. We have a great security system. We'll be safe."

"And what if you're not safe?" Mako snapped. "What if you take one step inside of your house and you get blown to pieces before you even know what's happening? I'm not taking that chance! I'm not going to risk losing you, too!"

"Dude, be reasonable!" Sy threw her hands into the air. "Being with you won't make me any safer. Hell, you're probably, like, the biggest possible target. At least let me go back and talk to my mom and dad about this."

Mako finally turned his gaze towards his girlfriend, and she could see that his eyes were wet and glossy. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I just can't. Not now."

Suddenly, the radio came to life, and thick buzzing filled the car. The Chief's voice came over the receiver, fuzzy and broken.

"Squad car two six seven, do you read me, over?" she called out. Mako grabbed the microphone, and brought it to his lips.

"I read you loud and clear, Chief," he said hollowly. "What's the situation?"

"We have a one-eight-seven in the upper west side," she ordered. "I'm already there. Mako… you need to see this."

Mako slammed his foot on the brake, and turned the car around, causing Sy to clutch her seat and scream.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" she yelled.

"We need to make an emergency stop," Mako explained. "Lin said it was a one-eight-seven."

"And? I don't speak cop."

Mako summed it up in one word: "Murder."

The duo raced across town. Despite Mako's attempt to conceal it, Sy noticed the rage fueling him. They both knew who was responsible for what had happened. The only question that remained was the identity of the victim. Neither of them knew anybody who lived in the upper west side, so at the very least, they were sure that they had not lost another dear friend. However, as they got close, and the sound of sirens blasted through the midday sky, Mako began to suspect that something worse had occurred. He came to a full stop behind a thick wall of squad cars, and he ordered that Sy stay inside of the vehicle, despite her forceful objections. He hurriedly ducked through the barricade, and approached the small apartment that was sealed off with yellow tape and guarded by two senior officers. Lin was waiting outside for him, a scowl permanently attached to her face.

"Chief, I'm here," he said, sweat running down his brow. "Where's the body?"

"In there," she said. "Fair warning: it's not a pretty sight."

Mako gulped, and followed Lin to the front door. The officers nodded, and pulled up the tape to allow the two inside. Maki stepped over, and was instantly assaulted by a dreadful odor. What he saw next was even worse.

Valos Basteln—or whatever was left of him—was rotting on the floor, his thick, round skull cracked open like an egg shell. His bulbous belly was sliced wide open, and his innards had been arranged on the counter nearby, the blood dripping down the sides and pooling at the bottom. Above the organs, written sloppily in blood, was a single character: gluttony.

"We found him like this an hour ago," Lin said regretfully. "There aren't any signs of a forced entry, but the forensics team thinks that he was killed sometime around midnight, while we were focused on dealing with Bolin and Opal."

"They were just a diversion," Mako realized, "from his actual target. He must have known that you were planning on luring him into a trap." He did not know what angered him more: the face that the Hanzi Killer killed the best opportunity they had at catching him, or the idea that he wounded his family just to lure them away.

"We were so close," Lin mused. "I actually thought we had him this time." She paused. "At least we can take solace in the fact that we didn't lose anyone of value."

"That's not really a comforting thought," Mako said bitterly, turning away in disgust. He exited the apartment, and walked back towards his vehicle. Lin made no attempt to stop him. It was a rough day, and she could not do anything for him. They were, once again, back to square one. No reliable leads. Plenty of dead. One psychotic killer still on the loose. It was hard to get much worse than that.

But then, right before he got into his car, Mako saw someone approaching the crime scene. The tall, jagged figure was unmistakable as his long legs strode forward. His greasy hair was still tangled and drooped over his face, but he was dressed reasonably, as if he was ready for a night on the town, despite the fact that he had no reason to be out so far from his home.

"Hey, pretty boy," Jackdaw said with a grin, stepping up to the detective. "It seems like you're awfully busy tonight."

"What are you doing here, Domin?" Mako asked worriedly. "You know you're breaking your probation by being out here."

"I'm not breaking anything," Jackdaw retorted. "Last time I checked, my mission was to gather information about the Hanzi Killer. So here I am, gathering information. Unless you don't want my help catching the man who almost killed your brother…"

Mako gasped. "How do you—"

"Word travels fast, and it's my job to collect as many words as possible." He peered over Mako's shoulders, and smirked. "It's a shame about the old Tinkerer. He had some decent talent. Too bad he felt the urge to waste it on so many perverse things. I guess it's really for the better what happened to him, now that I think about it."

Mako felt a shiver run up his spine. That tingly, uneasy feeling was returning, and as he looked in Jackdaw's eyes, he saw not resentment or disappointment about the night's events, but pure, absolute joy. It was almost as if he had planned for this all along.

A little voice cried out in his head: maybe he really did.

However, before he could respond, Sy burst out of the car, and tugged sharply on his arm. "Mako, come on. Let's get out of here already."

"And who's this?" Jackdaw smiled gently. Mako pushed Sy behind him.

"She's nobody," he said defiantly.

"Please, I'm interested. I never realized that you could actually make friends with another person."

"Hey, don't insult my boyfriend," Sy barked and took a step forward. Jackdaw merely chuckled.

"Boyfriend? I had you completely wrong, pretty boy. I never would have guessed that you liked them so… young."

"I'm nineteen, asshole," Sy said angrily, jutting forward against Mako's wishes and prodding the former cultist's chest with a solitary digit. "And why don't you shut your trap before I make you shut it?"

Jackdaw bent over, so that he could be at eye-level with the feisty woman. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. But before you do something you might regret, think about this: You have very beautiful skin. It would be a travesty to get blood all over it."

"Don't worry," Sy shot back. "It won't be mine."

Before she could say another word, Mako grabbed her wrist, and threw her back into the car. He hurried around the other side, slammed the door as hard as he could, and sped off, leaving Jackdaw chuckling to himself by the crime scene.

"Hey, stop dragging me places I don't want to go!" she complained.

"Sorry," he said combing his fingers through his hair. "But it's just best if I get you back home right now."

"Home?" Sy questioned. "You mean… my home?"

"Yeah. It's probably for the best that you keep your distance from me for a little while."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "What's with the change of heart?"

"No change of heart," Mako said, still reeling from his confrontation with the criminal. "It's just that after seeing that performance, I don't think I can handle trying to work out our sleeping arrangements."

"Ha ha. Very funny," Sy smiled. "Hey, you actually made a joke! See, I made you feel better already!"

"I wouldn't exactly say I'm feeling better," Mako quipped.

"Maybe not, but you got to admit," Sy crossed her arms triumphantly; "I verbally kicked that guy's ass."

"That was kind of cool," Mako admitted. "I don't think anyone has talked back to Jackdaw like that before."

"You're damn right no one has," Sy laughed. She blinked twice, paused for a long moment, and then let out a panicked scream. "Wait, that was Jackdaw!?"