Bolin considered his options carefully, this was his very last chance. If he chose the right move, his victory was assured, if he chose the wrong move, his opponent would annihilate him with one move of the hand. Slowly, so very slowly, he made his move and hoped for the best.
"You...actually beat me this time." Asami admitted after examining the Pai Sho board on the table between them.
"Yes!" Bolin jumped off his seat and punched the air in triumph, "See, Pabu," he picked up Pabu and held him at eye level, "I told you I could beat her!" Of course if someone were to look at the tally book, they'd see that the pair played ten games before the Beifong's luck changed for the better. Even then it was barely a victory, but an inch was as good as a mile.
"You're way too excited about this." His defeated adversary shook her head, for obvious reasons.
"Hey," he held up his arms in a drawled out shrugging motion, "I don't win that often, let me enjoy it."
"Fine." She relented with a smile, packing up her game set while he continued to celebrate, "We have to get to the ceremony now." Mako and some other members of the academy were being sworn in today as official police officers, and since it was a nice day the friends decided to have a Pai Sho game in the park before taking a leisurely stroll to the open field where the ceremony would take place.
"Yeah, my big bro," Bolin sniffed mockingly and put a hand on his chest, "all grown up, following in his mom-figure's footsteps...it's enough to bring a full grown man to tears." and he jumped as a playful hand smacked his arm, "Kidding. Pretty proud, though."
"So, are you really okay with this, Bo?" The heiress asked as she linked her arm in his for the walk.
"Yeah. I mean, I gotta admit, I'd still kinda like to be a cop. On the other hand, it's pretty fun teaching people." A cheerful expression suddenly turned sour, "Except this one guy, who will remain nameless. He comes in and acts like a jerk." what would be the best way for him to explain this?, "You ever have someone that you just wanna grab by the front of the shirt, smack them lightly on each cheek and shout 'GET OVER YOURSELF'?"
"All the time," she said with understanding "your big brother, for one." Asami's admission made Bolin double over with laughter, which made her lose what self-control she'd managed to hold on to. By the time they straightened back up his sides were hurting and she was wiping tears away. After offering his arm once again and continuing their walk, he got back on topic.
"A guy worse than Mako ever is came to my class the other day, and has been making everyone miserable. I don't get it, my classes are a last chance for students,why is he so arrogant?"
"I have no idea." it certainly made no sense to her, but at least it was only one person, "But otherwise, you're having fun?"
"Otherwise it's a blast!" he said in a pep talk voice with a child's enthusiasm, "These people come to my class thinking they're failures then, boom, they show the metal who's boss and move that coin!"
"As long as you're having fun." She laughed, he could be such a dork sometimes.
"So, how's your business stuff going?" He asked. Now that he'd answered how his career choice was treating him, it was time for her to do the same.
"Oh, well," Asami's good mood came crashing down with one sentence, but she tried to keep an upbeat tone, "we're hitting a rough patch thanks to my father. But with a little work, we should be able to get back on track."
"You sure? 'Cause I happen to know a very rich woman, mean as a viperbat, but she couldn't care less about her money so she'll probably give you some if you ask."
"That's not necessary. And money's not our biggest problem, our partners are dropping out one by one and nothing I can say seems to work."
"I wish I could help, but I don't know a thing about business stuff." It'd be really nice if he did, though, he hated sitting out why his family needed help. Why couldn't her issues be caused by some jerk that he could knock around?, "Maybe I could talk to your partners? Tell 'em you're not like your dad?"
"No, but thanks anyway." if it were that easy, Asami would've just introduced them all to her firebender boyfriend and been done with it when the first partner left, "Don't worry, it'll be alright. Like I said, it's just a rough patch."
"Okay, Business Lady, if you say so." He wasn't convinced, but if there was nothing he could do to help with her business, then maybe it was best for him to take her mind off her troubles, "Wow, a lot of people are graduating with Mako, huh?"
"Yeah, do you see him anywhere?"
"Um, no. Hang on." Seismic sense, probably the best thing about being an earthbender was that if you wanted to find someone, they were only a slap or stomp away, "He's over there." By the time Bolin pointed Mako out, he'd noticed them and was on his way over. Asami let go of Bolin to give Mako a hug and a kiss.
"So, where's Lin? And Korra?" Mako asked them, trying not to show his concern, "They said they'd be here."
"I didn't see or feel them, but don't worry," Bolin brushed off his brother's worry, "They'll be here."
"They still have time." Asami piped in, despite the fact that she was wondering where they were herself. They all three looked at the nearby clock tower,
"Not much time." the firebender frowned with disappointment. Disappointment turned into crushed feelings when the host came to the mic and told all the graduates to take their places, the ceremony was starting in two minutes. Bolin and Asami gave Mako a sympathetic look, "They're busy, I get it." He told them strongly before he went to take his place in the line up.
"Like a kid who's trying to be tough when mommy doesn't come to his play." Bolin observed, and Asami agreed wholeheartedly.
"It had to be something important. Lin wouldn't miss this." This wasn't a game that was played every weekend, this was a rite of passage, it was a once in a lifetime thing. What could possibly make Lin decide that she had to be somewhere else? A life or death situation.
"Which really worries me." They watched in pride for Mako, and worry for Lin and Korra as the soon-to-be police officers marched in from the side and formed military rows. They listened as the host gave a long, boring speech about what it meant to be a cop. Then they listened as the host started to lead them in the final pledge, that's when a polarbear dog came bounding in with two passengers. They stared, with everyone else who wasn't taking a pledge, as the two newcomers jumped off the animal and watched the last half of the oath. The host pronounced them all officers of the law, everyone clapped, Bolin turned to his mom and friend, "Are you guys okay?"
"Fine." Lin said without hesitation,
"Yeah." Korra confirmed quickly.
"What happened?" They didn't seem to be in the best shape, in Asami's humble opinion. Lin had scorch marks and mud on her uniform, Korra's entire back was covered in mud, both had messy hair. The right side of Korra's face was black and blue, Lin bruises on her wrist. 'Not in the best shape' was an understatement, they looked horrible.
"..." Korra and Lin glanced at each other.
Forty-five Minutes Earlier
Chief Lin Beifong and Avatar Korra were discussing some final security modifications for an election debate to be held next week with the City Council and the two Presidential Candidates. After one or two more points, they would be freed to attend their friend's/boy's graduation, but the universe had other ideas. An officer showed himself in to speak to his Chief, much to her irritation.
"Why are you interrupting this meeting?!" she barked at her subordinate.
"Sorry, Chief. There was a call from the Kyoshi District, there was a small explosion on the construction site, it was fowl play." And that was Chief Beifong's cue to leave. Without saying a single word, she left the room to make her way to the construction site on the zip lines, followed by the sealhound that had been waiting at his post by the door.
"What's the status?" The Chief asked as she jumped down in front of the crowd that had to put their noses where they didn't belong.
"Some fuel was tampered with, but by the time anyone was aware of it, the gasoline was on it's way to to the scrap furnace. The fire was put out quickly by a burst waterline." The avatar showed up on her polarbear dog, and a sealhound shortly behind them, but the officer continued without pause, "We cut off the water, set a perimeter in case of another explosion." With all the water on the ground, it'd be hard to set off another explosion, but at least they'd prepared for the worst.
"Keep everyone away, I'll check this out myself." The ranking officer decided. First and foremost, she wasn't going to let anyone else handle the dangerous people/person in there. Second, if she let anyone else handle it, they could be here all day and she had a place to be soon, "Tǎoyàn, come." In dead silence, with head held high, she made her way past the police barriers, and to the patched wood fence when a voice broke through the tension,
"I'll come, too." The Avatar declared, jogging to catch up to the chief, "Sounds like you could use a waterbender in there." Lin was going to regret this, she knew she was,
"Just don't cause me any trouble." She growled, lowering the stone that was blocking the entry way to the area. They crossed the threshold, and the stone rose behind them. The whole area was muddy, there was metal and wood debris from what must have been a supply shed, which was probably the source of the discharge. A heavily reenforced generator stood to the hole, and seemed to be undamaged save for the outer box. The building itself was only two stories of brick and wood at the moment, but it was still intact. That was the only real place for a person to hide. The safest option, seismic sense to pinpoint the culprit(s).
"So, where are they?" Korra asked impatiently. She couldn't feel any people, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
"I don't see anyone."
"They didn't... make it?" the young woman guessed.
"Or they're hiding." She raised her hands into a defense pose, "Spread out. Stay alert." The pair trudged through the muck, searching for any signs of life.
Lin went to the left. Her mutt's ears picked up on a suspicious noise coming near the building's frame. When her ears could pick it up, she recognized it as something scrapping on wood, which meant that it was on the scaffolding that the worker's had been using, or the wooden boards that kept the crew from falling to the basement. Either way, there was no better place to set a trap. Slowly she came closer and closer to the noise when she heard firebending over on the other side of the compound. Her search was put on hold to go to the avatar's aid. Mud-skating to the girl she found no enemies to fight, just an avatar. An avatar who was on the ground, sporting a black eye and bruised cheekbone thanks to a fallen brick.
"I told you to stay alert!" The chief rebuked the girl as she helped her up to her feet.
"I was! There was somebody over here, I came to check it out and I got hit."
"There's more than one." And they were being played with, "Did you see who it was?" Korra shook her head.
"I didn't see anything but part of their shadow. But they went that way." She pointed into the building's frame, "You think it's a trap?"
"Most likely." Lin said evenly as she stepped forward, ready to fight whoever was in there. No one. At least, not in eyesight. Tactically, the two looked over every area, but no one was there, and no one was coming to attack them from the outside. One option left, the basement. There wasn't a visible hole in the temporary wood floor that was big enough for a person to fit through, which made Lin wonder about this, but if this was planned, they might have a way to get in and out quickly without being noticed. Breaking apart a few boards would give away their position, but that had probably already been given done, so two cables lashed out and made short work of three pieces of wood.
"Hello? Anybody here?" Korra called curiously, making Lin roll her eyes,
"Police!" She announced with authority, "Come out with your hands up!" There was no answer, so down the steps and to the large basement, they went. A flame from Korra's hand lit their way. There were noises, small and unintelligible at first. But they were clearly their suspects, a systematic check lead to the far wall, where they were finally cornered, "You've got to be kidding me."
"They're...cute." Tigerdog pups were cowering in several fallen wood crates, not terribly small pups, they were obviously teething and moving pretty freely.
"Yeah. Cute." Lin turned to leave. There were still unanswered questions. These pups couldn't be the cause of the explosion, but there was nobody in the damn compound. No one should have gotten through the police barricade, so she still had work to do, "What are you doing?" she asked as she heard shuffling behind her.
"We can't just leave them here." Korra insisted, shifting a crate upright and loading in the pups. There was no sense arguing, so Lin huffed and continued on her way. Outside and out of the building, Tǎoyàn caught her attention with erratic behavior. He was pacing back and forth, whimpering. There was somewhere he wanted to go, but he didn't dare. He was whining at a wayward pup, while they were in the basement he found his way from Koh knows where to the generator and then found some wires to chew on.
"Oh, hey," Korra said surprised, "there's another one." she put down her crate and went to catch the last pup.
"Korra, no!" Lin grabbed the kid before she could get any closer, the hound wouldn't act this way if it were safe to go there. So they watched as the pup managed to get through the rubber layer to the electric and gave himself a shock. Tǎoyàn decided he couldn't take it anymore and ran in, grabbing the pup by the scruff of the neck and hightailing it out of there, but a second too late.
The faint gasoline fumes that kept him away for so long had met the small opening of electric, and it didn't take much to get a fireball going. There was a strange sound, and then it came at them all, Lin and Korra created a barrier to safe themselves and by extension, the pups. The older of the two women pushed the younger down, pinned her against the wall and covered as she felt the flames lick her back and left side, heating up her uniform. What felt like an eternity was actually less than three seconds, and all was normal. Lin let go of the avatar to find her hound. He escaped the ball, mostly, now he was running with his backside on fire. Both benders quickly brought some of the mud and doused him and the pup. The movement made Lin wince.
"What's wrong?" The waterbender asked. The earthbender looked to her hand,her wrist had gotten caught between Korra and the wall, and she hadn't noticed the pressure thanks to the adrenaline.
"I'm fine." She shrugged it off, motioning the hound over with her good hand, relieved to find nothing wrong but singed fur.
"Chief!" Her officers called, coming in full force.
"We're fine!" She shouted back.
"Wow, wait until they find out what really happened." Korra laughed as they finally picked themselves out of the mud.
"Yes, the Police Chief and Avatar were nearly killed by a tigerpup." Lin deadpanned, "I can see the headlines now." The young avatar's eyes widened, and blood started making it's way to her cheeks.
"I didn't think about that."
"Chief what happened?" wasn't that a good question. The members of the duo gave a questioning look to the other before turning back to the inquirer.
"Faulty wiring in the generator." Lin answered evenly, "Ignited the gasoline fumes."
"Probably the same faulty wiring in the shed that caused the explosion." Korra added. This would be their little secret.
Present Time
"Long story." Lin simply said.
"Yeah." Korra agreed simply.
"Wait a second," Bolin's eyes narrowed, "Scorch marks, mud, tussled hair...you two were fighting, weren't you?"
"Yes!" they could both go with that, no problem, but their quick answer made it subject to suspicion. What little doubt Bolin and Asami still gave the two deteriorated when Tǎoyàn limped up to them, covered in mud with a tigerpup in his mouth. He dropped the pup on the ground and leaned his bad shoulder against Lin's leg. This earned a glare from his master,
"You're not keeping him." She said sternly, the sealhound hunkered and huffed.