Mako eyed the pile of paperwork grumpily. Even with Bolin around, he had his fair share of things to write. "I'm going to meet Kai for our guys' night out. See ya!" Bolin was out before Mako could protest. "Why do I feel like I am at fault for not having an extremely active social life?" he muttered as he gathered the papers on his brother's desk and fixed them into a neat pile. He checked the clock. It was five thirty in the evening. He was giving himself two hours to sort all the papers, write the necessary reports, analyse all the evidence on his current case and create a hypothesis within that specified period of time. "Let's do this."
After two hours, the only thing he had done was sort the paperwork. For some unknown reason, his right hand was acting like he had electrocuted himself again, only this time it was less painful. 'I really want to finish all this stuff but I'd rather enjoy a cup of coffee in my apartment than try to work with a useless arm,' he said to himself. With that thought in mind, he cleared his desk and exited the building. Winter had arrived and it was hitting hard. It was a bit too cold than he remembered the Republic City being. As he made his way to his apartment, he thought about his grandmother. She hadn't written to him in two months. It was unusual. She always wrote to him on a weekly basis.
He passed by the restaurant he always had dinner on his lonely days. Still thinking about his grandmother, he crossed a figure that was walking in the opposite direction. The two of neither looked at each other until he noticed the red head wrap on the head, the red reminding him of his father's scarf. He turned around, watching the figure as it continued walking forward whilst he stopped to observe. The step showed that it was a female. It was dressed in a maroon coat, Water-tribe style ending just below the hips with white fur lining on the bottom, on the sleeves which ended at elbows and the hood. Possibly, she was wearing long sleeved piece of clothing judging from the black tight sleeves from her elbows to arms which peeked out. She was wearing a pair of white loose pants which ended on her calves and low black heels.
He eyed the thing which had caught his attention, the red head wrap. It reminded him so much of his grandmother that it hurt to keep looking. He hadn't gotten a letter from her in a long time. Was she okay? He grimaced as the pain in his right hand started to increase. Turning away from the stranger, he continued his trek towards home. 'Must be the weather,' he thought.
The following week, Chief Beifong called him for a meeting with the President, Tenzin, Kya, Wu and Chief Tonraq. Bolin was also present as well as Jinora. He was surprised to find Korra and Asami there as well. "You guys, long time," he said as he hugged both of them. "Good to see you Mako. How've you been doing?" Korra asked as she withdrew from the hug. "I've had better days," he said with a smile. "I'd like to chat but it seems that the meeting is about to start. How 'bout we have dinner later today. Me, you, Korra and Bo, just like the old times?" Asami said as she eyed President Raiko who was giving her a stern look.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming for this meeting on such short notice," Lin said. She sat at the head of the table whilst the others sat on either sides of the table. "The reason I called for this meeting was because of two pressing matters. The first is the rise of a terrorist group of benders who call themselves the Bending Shinobi," she said as she passed papers among them. "From the investigations I have done, they are a group of benders from all walks of life who have a different fighting style different from the rest. Despite being benders, they use weapons such as throwing knives and throwing stars which is different from the swordsmanship skills we are used to. They also specialise in hand to hand combat immensely."
"Their agenda is still unknown yet they have been sighted in different areas across the elemental countries including the spirit portals in the Northern Water Tribe, Southern Water Tribe and Republic City , the Spirit Oasis in the Northern Water Tribe royal palace, the banyan-grove tree in the Foggy Swamp, Kyoshi Shrine on Kyoshi Island, Si Wong Rock, the Great Divide, the Spirit Library, the High Temple, the temple on Crescent Island and in the Sun Warriors city," she listed. "Reports are that they start to attack out of nowhere, injuring anyone in their path. They are said to have a mantra, 'The Will of Fire will live on. That's our nindō.' I really don't know what nindō is," she said with air quotes on the word nindō.
"Which brings me to my second issue, the spirits," she spoke as she passed another batch of papers. "We have several reports of spirits of different kinds being cited in different areas attacking people out of nowhere all across the elemental nations," she said as she threaded her hands together. "No one knows why they are attacking all of a sudden. Chief Tonraq tasked his nieces Eska and Desna to find out what's causing this and if they can be purified through spirit bending in the Northern Water Tribe whilst he worked in the Southern Water Tribe," she told them. "What did they find?" Tenzin asked.
"…nothing. They can't be purified even with spirit bending…"
"That is a great issue of concern and we called all of you here in hopes of getting to the bottom of this," President spoke. "I specifically asked Tenzin to bring Jinora here because her high spirituality. Team Avatar, well, you are well known for saving the world many times and would like for you to help us to get to the bottom of this," he finished as he adjusted his glasses. "Wait, so you're saying we have terrorists and spirits who are going haywire for no particular reason?" Bolin asked. "Are you telling me that you heard nothing throughout this entire debriefing?" Lin glared at him. "Sorry Chief," he apologized with a nervous chuckle.
"I'll do everything I can help. Maybe I should speak with my past lives or the spirits themselves to find out what's going on," Korra said. "Bolin and I will work on the terrorist group in the meantime until we have a grasp on both of the issues," Mako spoke. "I'll work with Korra on the spirit side," Jinora piped in. "Chief Tonraq, Tenzin and I will do the same," Kya said. "I'll be with Mako and Bolin on the terrorist group," Lin added. "I'll calm the public and ensure no one is panicking in the city," the President said. "Right with ya, Mr President!" Wu said with a big smile. "Good. Let's get to work."
"Ah, feels good to be back again as the whole crew together," Bolin sighed as he leaned back into his seat. Mako had suggested they eat at his favourite restaurant, the one near the police HQ. "You're right about that. I missed you two," Korra said as she sipped on her cocktail. "Same here," the earthbender said as he patted his chest. Mako caught the sound of a distant siren approaching where they were. "Why do I hear the sound of a police siren?" he asked. Soon enough, several Satomobiles sped by the restaurant. "Are we going after them?" Asami asked. "What's Team Avatar without a little action and fighting bad guys?" Bolin said with a huge grin.
Korra placed her hand on the ground and began to trace the cars with her spiritual sensing ability. "They headed towards the docks. If we start moving now, we'll be able to catch them before they arrive," she said as she closed her eyes in concentration. "Follow me," she called as she jumped onto Naga's back who had been waiting patiently by the door. The trio followed behind in Asami's latest Satomobile which was faster than the current one, following Naga as Korra directed her. In two minutes, they were driving along the docks. "That one, the one covered with soot, that's the bad guy," she said as she pointed to a Satomobile which had appeared a short distance away from them. There were no police cars in sight.
Korra lashed out her metal cables towards the car, wrapping them around its wheels. She jumped and allowed the cables to pull her to the car. The car swerved swiftly to the left and she retracted her cables before she was thrown into the ocean. Bolin sent a large block of stone at the car, hitting its rear. The car swerved off-course and spun twice before coming to a stop near the containers which were lined along the docks, ready to be shipped away. A figure jumped out and ran towards the containers. "Naga!" Korra shouted to her polar bear. The bear barked in return, speeding after the figure.
"Naga must have the person by now," Korra said as the group ran into the maze of containers. What she didn't expect was to see Naga flying backwards, landing in front of the group and whimpering in pain. "Naga!" she exclaimed as she ran to its side. A large purple bruise was already forming on its stomach. "Whoever you are come out!" Mako shouted as he lit his left hand in flames. They had hit a dead end and there was no way to go forward or turn. The containers were lined up too high for any person to climb. "If you value your lives, you will leave," a soft, feminine voice called out from the darkened corner. "Hey! We're Team Avatar, show us some respect! Come out if you aren't a coward," Bolin called out.
A beat of silence passed. Slow footsteps were heard making their way towards them. Korra was kneeling beside Naga, glaring at whoever was going to come out and give her a piece of her mind. Mako's left hand was lit with flames and several stones were floating around Bolin. Asami held a fighting pose. The figure came into light and they weren't expecting to see the pink, freaking, hair.
So done with this chapter. Hope you like it.
Read and review.
Tozoonana
AfricanFire.
