"Earthbending bomb!" Bolin yells as he launches himself into the pool from the top of a golden lion turtle fountain, the splash reaching Asami and Mako who were all the way on the other side of the pool.
"Avatar Korra has arrived," a butler said as he led Korra, gawking at the glamorous room.
"Hey, Korra," Mako said as he waved to her.
"Glad you made it," Asami added as she slipped into the pool to wade beside Mako.
Bolin emerges from the water with a splash. "This is the greatest place in the world. Watch this," Bolin said to Korra as he stood next to her and gestured to the butler. "Fetch me my towel, good sir."
"Yes, Master... Bolin," the butler said, his voice audibly straining as he grabbed a towel.
"Master Bolin," Bolin says as he points his thumb at the butler and laughs. "I love this guy. Now pat me dry."
"As you wish." The butler said as he quickly toweled off Bolin.
"Don't forget Master Pabu," Bolin added.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Sir." He loops the towel over Pabu, still on Bolin's head, and speed-buffs the ferret. As soon as the towel is taken away, Pabu's fur puffs out. Bolin grins at Korra and jumps back into the water. The butler slumps with annoyance, a vein pulsing in his forehead as water splashes over him. He then headed towards the door when he heard the bell ring.
"Looks like you guys settled right in," Korra says bemusedly as she sits down on a lounge chair.
"Pretty much, except someone forgot to ask her father if we could stay here." He looked at Asami with a knowing glance.
"Yeah, but I smoothed it over with him," Asami said as she waded next to him. "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."
"Speaking of not asking for permission," Korra said as she stood back up. "I hope you guys don't mind that I invited some friends over to join us for whatever we're doing."
Mako's eyebrows furrowed. "Who did you invite? The airbender kids?"
"As long as it's not those Fairy Tail guys. The girl is fine, in more ways than one," Bolin snidely said with a wink at Mako while the girls gave him an icy glare. "But I don't think I can see those monsters." Bolin was saying as the butler came back into the pool room. "I'm serious, monsters! I still have bruises from the firebender. The firebender!" He pointed to a large purple bruise on his arm. "Since when does fire bruise?"
"Team Fairy Tail has arrived," the butler announced. "They say they were invited by the Avatar." Bolin gave a 'what did I just say' face to Korra. "Shall I ask them to leave?"
"Come on guys," Korra pleaded. "They're pretty cool when you get to know them."
Asami smiled. "Of course they can come; I'm sure they'll enjoy what I have planned." The butler bowed and left to get them.
"Woah! This place is amazing!" Gray said as he walked into the room.
"They have a pool! Indoors!" Natsu cried excitedly. "Do you think Lucy lived like this?"
"I don't know; we never went inside," Gray replied as he took off his shirt. "Korra, I wish you told me she had a pool; we could've brought our swimsuits."
"You don't need to worry," Asami quickly said as she noticed Gray starting to take off his pants. "I wasn't planning on having us swim the whole day. I have something more exciting in mind."
"Ohh, what is it?" Natsu said excitedly.
"Ohh, I think I'm going to be sick," Natsu groaned as he hung over the railing overlooking the racetrack.
"Get a hold of yourself, moron. You're not even in them," Gray said, shaking his head. "I want to drive one." Gray smiled; he always liked driving fast.
"Oh, Juvia wants to ride with Gray." Juvia hugged his body as she said this, her face growing red.
"Well, Mako? Do you or Bolin want to race?" Gray asked with a grin while prying the clingy girl off of him.
"I've never driven something this fast before..." Mako replied.
"Hey, it's not like I've driven those cars before."
"I'll race you!" Bolin yelled. "And as a bonus, the winner gets to ask the other team to do whatever they want!"
Gray grimaced at that. "Are you sure about that? Punishment games often end poorly."
"What? Are you scared?" Bolin smiled as he said that. Mako took him aside, dragging him away from the others.
"Bo, you've never driven something like that before; what are you thinking?"
"Relax, we never said that we couldn't interfere with each other. And I'm sure, as an actual earthbender, I could slow them down." Mako was aghast.
"Bo, you aren't saying you'll cheat!"
"What? Like them!" Bolin whispered loudly. "Gray's not an earthbender, and you and I both know that you can't have two benders of the same type on the same team. Besides," Bolin said, a tear in his eye, "this might be my only chance to show Juvia how awesome I am."
Mako looked skeptical. "I don't think we should challenge them, who knows what they are going to ask? They can afford anything we can request with the money they just got from the championship pot, but we're still dirt poor. And there's no way I'm going to ask Asami to pay for you if you lose." He added this when he saw Bolin open his mouth. He closed it with a huff. They both heard the sounds of the race cars driving near and turned to see Asami cross the finish line.
"Well, if you don't think you can beat someone who has never driven a racing car before, then don't." Bolin turned his nose up at Mako. "I don't need you to do this. I'll just ask your girlfriend instead, that way she'll have to pay anyway." Pabu turned his nose up as well, and they both walked off to the finish line to congratulate Asami on her victory.
"So Gray," Bolin said as he caught up to him on their way to Asami. "What do you say? Do you still want to race and see who comes in first?"
"Oh, I'd gladly race you," Gray started. "But don't start crying when you lose."
Juvia squealed and raised her arm. "Juvia wants to join too!"
Bolin smiled, things were going just as planned. He figured Juvia would still want to join. Now he can beat her and get her to go on a date with him as her punishment. "Of course, you and Gray are racing against-"
"Juvia wants to be with you, not Gray."
"Huh?" Bolin's mind went blank. Normally he'd be ecstatic at the prospect of a drive with the attractive waterbender, but today he stared at Juvia with a look of utter confusion. His bafflement was matched only by Gray's, whose face mirrored Bolin's. Their faces went from confused to horrified when they realized why Juvia would want to race with Bolin instead of Gray.
"You don't want to race with Gray?" Natsu asked, his face still showing his confusion.
"If Juvia races against Gray and wins, then he must go on a date with me!" Juvia started to blush deeply at the thought.
"Ooh, tough luck Bo," Mako said. Bolin looked over at him with a face of despair.
"What do I do? How do I fix this?" Bolin started to nervously bite his nails.
"I don't know," Mako said, patting Bolin on the back. "You'll think of something, I'm sure."
Bolin spun around and grasped Mako's hands with fresh tears in his eyes. "Please, you have to race with Gray! That way, you can win and still get me a date with Juvia. Please?"
"Bo! You can't force a girl to go on a date with you! I thought you might be up to something like that. But now you want to throw the race?"
"Oh come on, it's just to guarantee that we don't have to dip into our funds, right?" Bolin nudged his brother. "Besides, if you win, you'll impress Asami too." He raised his eyebrows at Mako and smiled.
Korra walked up before Mako could respond to that statement. "What's this I'm hearing about a race?" Korra asked, helmet in hand. "Because I am ready to go again."
Mako filled her in. "Gray challenged Mako and Bolin to a race, and Bolin added that whoever wins gets to decide what happens to the loser, but now Juvia wants to join Bolin's team so she can go on a date with Gray."
"Huh. Are you going to race with Gray then?"
"I guess so. Bolin really wants me to race, and I did want to give it a try..."
"Then I'm in too." Korra declared. This sounds like a good opportunity to get some alone time with Mako. "Natsu, do you want to ride with me?"
"No way." Natsu covered his mouth and gagged at the thought. "I can barely stand to imagine it."
"OK. Asami? Do you want to ride with me?"
"Sure, this sounds like fun." Asami smiled and glanced at Mako. "I wonder what I'll make them do?"
"Don't be so sure you'll be the one winning." Gray slapped an arm on Mako's shoulder. "We're not going to lose without a fight. Isn't that right Mako?"
"Uh, sure." Mako was a bit taken aback by the now half-naked Gray, but now that Asami was racing against him, he couldn't afford to lose. Literally. "There's no way we're going down without a fight. Or going down at all."
"Well, we're not going down either," Korra added.
"Juvia will win this race no matter what!" She turned to Bolin. "Right, Bolin?"
Bolin perked up at her attention. "That's right! We're not going to lose to them! We'll do anything to win!"
Even Natsu was getting fired up. "All right! Get ready! Let's get this race going!"