Dear lord, this chapter... So much stuff was keeping me from working on this chapter and I apologize for just how long it took. My day job sucked all of my energy and this chapter took so many different routes with me shifting scenes and conversations all around and almost omitting some stuff, but thankfully it is finally here!

Enjoy and let me know what you all think!

Chapter 14

Azula, Cetro, Skeeve and Lectro sat in the rear compartment of a windowless hover van while Sev and B3 were ungracefully tossed onto the floor with four of Slater's men sitting amongst them. Slater's personal extravagant air limo led the way through the air while the larger, more robust van followed behind.

They all sat in silence as the vehicle soured through the sky. Sev stared at the ceiling from his not so comfortable spot on the floor, "You know, you guys should clean the ceiling of this place. It's super dirty."

One of the thugs kicked his side, "Quiet!"

Azula looked over the four guards sitting at each corner of the compartment. Each one a different species and a wall of muscle who could easily overpower her and the others in their current state, all armed with a plasma blaster at their hip hidden by their suit jackets, only visible to her by the faint glow of its battery.

"So firespitter… How's that plan coming along?" Cetro asked under his breath.
"Still working on it." She looked at the thug next to her, noticing he was the bouncer at the club entrance with the cybernetic implant on his head. With her thermal vision she could see a faint glow emanating within it.

"Well whatever it is you better do it quick before-'' the thug next to Cetro elbowed him hard in his ribs telling him to keep quiet.

"Hey guys, how about we just comply for now, so we don't end up dying?" Skeeve said to them.

"They won't kill us, Skeevy boy." Sev said from the floor, "They need us alive to make this stupid trade."

One of the thugs revealed his weapon to them all as a final warning, "Alive, but no one said uninjured."

Everyone stayed silent. Azula stretched her back as a way to hide her positioning a hand to make a reaching motion for the heat source on the side of the cyborg thug's head.

She focused her energy on the heat source like she did on Sev's shoulder but the heat source remained the same. She focused harder and the source began to glow brighter. The thug shook his head as if a bug was in his face and tapped the metal implant in some vain attempt at cooling it down.

"What's wrong?" The thug across from him asked, prompting Azula to stop.

"It's nothing." He responded not wanting to let any weakness be known.

Azula leaned over to Cetro, "Get ready to attack."

Cetro saw the discomfort on the cyborg and had a vague understanding as to what she meant. He looked to the rest of the group and through subtle facial gestures he made them aware of what to expect.

Once settled back in she raised her hand discreetly feeling the heat source once more clenching it and watched as it began glowing brighter and brighter. The thug visibly began to grow more uncomfortable; his face twisted in discomfort, his brow began to sweat and he began to sway as if he was growing dizzy.

Once he grasped his head as if he was soothing a migraine the other thugs began to take notice.

"What's going on with you?" The thug across from them asked.

"Something's up with my cyberware."

The second thug got up and came closer to take a look. Once he was close enough Azula tensed her hand and poured all her energy into the heat source. The thug tensed up and cried out as the cyberware on his head exploded into a flurry of sparks and caught fire, taking the second thug by surprise.

Before he could recover she planted both feet into the distracted thug's hip, sending him back into his seat. The other two began to react. Cetro threw his weight into the one closest to him trying to pin him to the wall while Lectro spun in his seat and began kicking the thug next to him when he reached for his weapon.

As the large muscular man began to recover from the kick he lunged at Azula as she pulled her bound hands forward from beneath her legs and caught his fist attempting to twist it only to find that the man's limb was too strong for her to move. He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall instead.

Sev was tired of sitting helplessly so he looked for any way he could help but the bolts fixed on him prevented any movement but noticed Skeeve who tried to cower away from the action by diving to the floor hoping no one would notice, "Skeeve! Get these bolts off me!"

Skeeve quickly ducked away and began kicking the devices off the cyborgs limbs which was easier said than done as the magnets holding them in place were strong.

The three digit hand around Azula's throat tightened, cutting off access to air quickly. Her kicks to his solid chest did nothing to alleviate it. She focused all her energy in her bound hands remembering how she burned the security officer earlier. When she saw her hands glowing bright enough she grabbed his face and with the combination of her hands and his own body heat she burned his face as if a red hot piece of iron was making contact with him.

The thug screamed out in pain letting her go and grabbing his face in a vain attempt to soothe the pain.

Skeeve managed to kick the bolt off Sev's left leg and once the cyborg could feel his leg moving. He raised it and delivered a powerful kick to the burned thug sending him through compartment doors with enough force to break them open with the man plummeting down to the city from hundreds of feet in the air, the unconscious cyborg thug falling out with him.

The drivers took notice of the commotion with the passenger opening a small compartment door to see what was going on and was met with the thug closest to Lectro falling into him as the reptilian scientist continued to assault him with his feet.

The thug shook Lectro off and reached into his coat for his blaster again only for Cetro to throw a foot into his hand pinning it against his chest. The thug next to Cetro now had room to move and grabbed the engineer and threw him into the scientist as he went to face Azula.

He swung at her which she was easily able to sidestep and get behind him where she brought her cuffs over his v-shaped head and pulled them over his neck strangling him as they fell onto the floor over Sev's legs.

Cetro did everything he could to pin the last thug but his restrained arms meant he couldn't do much.

Lectro now recovered, saw the deactivated B3 still resting on the floor and kicked the restraining bolt off the robot and in a matter of seconds he was back online.

"Forced shut down deactivated. Recalibrating."

Lectro jumped to the opposite seat allowing Cetro more room to restrain his opponent, "B3! Activate defense protocol!"

"Defense protocol activated." The robot reoriented itself, its head swiveling to take in the situation around it and saw the passenger extend the barrel of a blaster pistol through the forward compartment towards Azula.

Reacting quickly, B3's tentacle arm shot out, reaching for the passengers arm and pulling him partially through and twisting his arm painfully away from his target. With his other arm B3 launched a balled up metal fist into the man's face sending him reeling back into the dash.

The last thug shook Cetro off and finally pulled out his weapon on B3. The robot's reaction time was quicker and in an instant B3 grabbed his gun arm and twisted it away from him painfully making the thug discharge his shot into the wall behind it. Unfortunately the wall the plasma bolt went through was directly behind the driver and went straight through his chest killing him instantly.

The driver now gone, he fell onto the controls with the vehicle swerving down ward throwing everyone in the back into the ceiling.

The sudden rocking throwing Azula and the thug she was attempting to strangle out the open door. The thug grabbed hold of one of the doors that was barely hanging on by its hinges while she grabbed onto his clothes as they dangled out of the now plummeting vehicle.

The passenger thug grabbed the controls pulling them up trying to regain control of the vehicle and rocking everyone in the back.

Skeeve managed to kick off enough restraining bolts to allow Sev to be able to move freely and pull the rest off himself after snapping the restraints on his wrists. Instead of helping the others deal with the last thug he pulled himself up to help Azula.

Azula held onto the thug's coat with as much strength she had as the winds hit her causing them both to flail like a flag. The flailing made her inadvertently look down to see that they were hundreds of stories in the air; vehicles rushing past at great speeds, streets were just blurred lines of neon and the realization that a fall from this height was more than a guaranteed fatality weighed heavily on her mind.

Slater sat in the back of his sky limo with a self satisfied smile while smoking a cigar. Normally he would save them for special occasions but he felt like celebrating today.

"Ooooooweeee! I tell ya what! This fabricator is gon be ma ticket to getting in better grace's with the boss lady!" He laughed in a hardy manner to his two chauffeurs.

"Yes sir." They both said in agreement.

He took a long drag of his cigar enjoying its flavor, holding in the smoke before expelling it, "However, that's only gonna be a temporary band aid if our ships keep going missing." He then remembered the skinny reptilian scientist's excuse on other missing ships and thought how there may be truth to it and may prove prudent to investigate other sources, after all there could be clues, "Call somebody to look into other ships going missing in this system and neighboring ones. See if they can find any similarities."

The thug in the passenger seat acknowledged and began making a call.

Now Slater had to think about what he was going to say to the infamous leader of the Crimson Storm. He's never met nor seen My'Rell in person but from what he had gathered she was pragmatic and pragmatists were easy to smooth talk for him. Even the most stubborn imperial Pendaren's would give into his negotiations if he worded it logically enough, along with giving them a dash of flattery.

"Uh… sir?" The driver said as he looked at the screen for the rear view camera, "I think we have a situation with the van."

Slater's happy expression dropped. He pulled the expensive cigar out his mouth and turned to look out the rear window at the van carrying his prisoners and saw that it was swerving side to side before nose diving.

"What in the name of- TURN THIS THING AROUND!"

His limo swerved in the air, almost hitting another vehicle, before diving towards the van.

Sev climbed to the back reaching over the dangling thug and pulled Azula back into the vehicle before sending a swift jab into the thug's face sending him falling, the door snapping off its last hinge.

B3 had his tentacle arm wrapped around the last thug's neck cutting the oxygen off to his brain and knocking him into unconsciousness.

"All present hostiles have been neutralized."

The vehicle swerved hard, sending everyone into the wall as it began dragging its bottom against the concrete and metal floor of one of the many walkways.

"Get these restraints off!" Cetro ordered the robot.

B3 complied using his blow torch to free both sets of his arms and immediately wrestled control of the vehicle away from the last thug in the passenger seat then kicked him out of the vehicle onto a walkway along with the dead driver.

Sev tossed the unconscious thug in their compartment out with them as Cetro redirected the vehicle back into the air, "What was this plan of your's supposed to be anyway kid?"

"I told you I was making it up as we went!" She said as she held her restraints to B3 who torched them off.

"So letting our enemy know about the fabricator was part of it?"

"That was just me reacting to Skeeve's blunder. I wouldn't have let them know we had it but it was keeping Slater from killing us."

Skeeve turned to her after Sev pulled his restraints apart, "My blunder? I saw a way to get us out of being electrocuted to death and took it!"

"And now a murderer knows we have a rare piece of equipment."

"Shut up both of you!" Cetro shouted, "We need to get back to the ship and…" he readjusted the side view mirror and saw Slater's limo speeding up behind them.

They all noticed the vehicle once it had rammed its nose into their back, smashing the other door.

"Oh crap we're dead!" Skeeve panicked, "Quick! Azula, shoot them with fire or something!"

"I can't fire bend under this sun you idiot!"

The thug in the passenger seat stuck his head out of the window with a blaster in hand and began firing into the compartment. Sev quickly stepped before the others holding out his left arm where a panel on the back of his hand opened projecting a tall glowing red shield that blocked every blast that came their way.

The metal plates of his right arm began shifting as his hand unhinged and folded as his forearm opened up to reveal three barrels that began spinning. He pointed his arm out an opening in the side of his shield and began firing plasma at a rapid rate striking the hood and part of the windshield.

Slater's vehicle almost instantly pulled away and ascended above them where it rammed them from above.

"Everybody! Hang tight!" Cetro shouted as he accelerated the van getting ahead of the limo.

Sev managed to keep himself firmly planted between the rear opening and the others to prevent them from falling out.

The van was fast however not as fast as Slater's limo who quickly caught back up next to them. The limo collided with the van pushing it closer to an upcoming skyscraper, its side scraping against its concrete and glass surface sending debris down below until it collided with the green neon lights.

Sev now having a vague understanding as to where their enemy is began shooting again through the vehicle's wall managing to pierce the door of the luxurious vehicle.

Slater jumped to the floor as crimson bolts tore through his door, "The hell y'all doing? Get under them!" The driver did as instructed and got beneath the van.

Slater peered out the window with his own blaster in hand and began firing at the rear hover module keeping the vehicle afloat.

A small explosion from the module rocked the van causing it to lose altitude.

Cetro struggled to maintain control of the vehicle as it descended, "Somebody take care of him before we crash!"

"I can't get a clear shot!" Sev responded.

Azula remembered how she overheated the thug's head and had an idea, "Let me try something!"

She instructed Sev to hold onto her as she leaned out the open back. With her thermal vision she could see the glow of the vehicle's engine. She also saw the glow from Slater's blaster as he continued to fire on them. She decided to test her ability further by reaching her hands out and focusing on his blaster. Within moments the weapon began glowing brighter until the cooling flaps opened to his surprise. She focused harder until the battery exploded in his hands forcing him back inside his vehicle.

Now confident in her skill with this ability she focused on the engine. It was tougher to raise its temperature as it was a much larger piece of equipment and the distance may be playing a part in it.

"Get me closer!" She shouted back to Cetro who reluctantly complied by hitting the limo.

Now closer she could feel the heat emanating from the vehicle more clearly and began raising its temperature quickly until it exploded, the limo swerved and crashed into a parked vehicle on a walkway.

With the danger gone Sev pulled her back into the van as it continued its descent.

Slater kicked open the door as he stumbled out of the vehicle falling to his hands and knees as he tried to regain his sense of balance, his hand slightly burned by his blaster exploding so suddenly and violet blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

One of his men also stumbled out bracing himself against the destroyed vehicle as the passenger lay unconscious on the driver seat airbag.

Slater looked over the damage to his limo. The front was completely totaled with it firmly lodged into the side of a taxi, its hood standing on end as fire and smoke engulfed the engine.

He stumbled to his henchmen, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him to look his way with righteous fury, "What the hell was that?! Why'd our engine give up on us like that?!"

"I-I don't know sir! I don't know what happened to it!" He pleaded seeing his boss raise his other hand that generated electric sparks.

Slater was furious but let him go as he turned back and watched as the damaged van descended down into the lower levels.

His face tightened in a snarl as he grabbed his underling again pulling him closer as he gave his next orders, "I want people at all the space ports, eyes and ears at every dry dock and airlock! Get everyone we can spare patrolling the lower levels and everyone we've got in the police department patrolling the skies! Nobody leaves this city without me hearing of it! Do you understand me?!"

The man shook his head and Slater let him go allowing him to follow his orders as he continued to stare off into the distance at the smoking van.

The van continued its slow fall into the lower levels of the city. Cetro pulled up on its controls as hard as he could but their crash was unavoidable.

"Everyone hold onto something!" He shouted as he guided the van into a less than graceful crash landing into an open lot.

The van skidded across the pavement gradually slowing down until colliding to a halt into a wall smashing its nose.

Cetro punched the airbag that cushioned his impact until it deflated giving him room to move around, "Alright… who's not dead?" He coughed out.

Everyone in the cabin groaned as they recovered from being thrown around like rag dolls except for B3 who answered with, "All passengers are alive with minor injuries. I myself am fully functional."

Skeeve jumped out of the back first falling to his knees grasping his stomach, "Oh geez… I don't ever want to fly in a hover vehicle ever again." He put his hands over his mouth catching his lunch before it could leave him.

Azula jumped out of the back clutching a bleeding cut on her forehead trying to reorient herself, "Alright, we're free. What should our next move be?"

"I thought this was part of your big plan?" Cetro said, opening the door that fell off as he exited.

She sighed in exhaustion, "I said I was making it up as I went and it was to escape our captures, and what do you know! We escaped them and need a new plan!"

Sev climbed out and began scanning the skies for danger, "We should probably make one after we get off the streets."

Lectro appeared by their side, "He's right. They've probably got people around this area looking for us."

"So what should we do then?!" Skeeve asked.

"Well for starters we're gonna need some fire power." Sev said as he kicked his foot up against the wall before grabbing his prosthetic and spinning it around with the metal rib-like plating making up his calf opened presenting the group with several blasters within a small hidden compartment.

"Lucky for you all I know someone we can go too." Cetro said as he took one of them.

Azula raised a brow as she hid a blaster in her jumpsuit, "Please tell me they are alive this time."

"He's alive but has seen better days."

Jakro stumbled out of his taxi and made his way to his apartment building in the middle levels of the city. His lower left arm was in a sling and his scaly face covered in bandages. He tried to keep the fact that he knew Cetro hidden but of course Slater would find out, he's much sharper than Jakro had anticipated.

He gave him all the information he wanted and was thankful that Slater didn't escalate this interaction any further, although he wished Slater would show him mercy and not do the gold chain punishment to keep him in line.

Jakro entered his apartment, a cramped little space fit for one. He didn't even want to think about what was going to happen to his old friend Cetro, he just wanted to take some pain medication and be done with the day. He just prayed he'd be shown mercy.

Just as he hit the switch to the light he felt cold metal being forced against the side of his head.

"Don't move." A female voice commanded, "Scream and you're also dead."

He glanced at his right to find Azula standing there with a blaster to his head.

"You? You're the girl that was with Cetro."

"That's right Jakro." Cetro's voice came from a seat in the living room, "I'd do what she says. She's got a nasty attitude."

"Cetro? Y-You're alive!" Jakro sounded relieved but the feeling left when he noticed Sev's towering form peaking through the kitchen area with Skeeve at his side along with Lectro and B3 occupying the corner of his living room, "How did you all get in my apartment?"

"You should lock the windows to your fire escape better." Cetro answered, gesturing to a smashed window and semi broken wall.

Sev chuckled as he brushed off some broken glass and plaster from his shoulder, "Sorry about that."

"You guys are here…so does that mean Slater…"

"No. I reckon he's still alive and pissed off right now about us wrecking his car and taking out some of his men. Probably has the whole city on lockdown."

There was a long silence that followed.

"Listen Cetro, I know that-" he moved forward as he spoke but was promptly cut off when Azula shoved the barrel of her weapon hard against his skull.

"Didn't I say don't move? Maybe a blast in your kneecap will teach you?"

His body stiffened at her threat.

"Hold it kid. Back off from him a little." Cetro ordered.

"This man sold you out and almost got us made into hostages." She shoved him with her gun again, "He's lucky I didn't kill him as soon as he came through the door!"

"Look at him, kid." Cetro marched over, indicating to Jakro's two black right eyes and the lesions on his snout and cheek, "He didn't have much of a choice.'' He pushed her gun away.

She narrowed her eyes at him and scoffed before claiming her own corner of the room.

He let out a tired and pained sigh, "What did they do to you Jakro?"

Jakro shook his head, "I tried not to tell them anything… I really did."

Azula scoffed again.

Cetro gestured for him to take a seat before speaking in a gentler tone, "I know, but you can make up for it. We need to get off Ginza but it looks like our ship is stuck in the space port and is gonna get scrapped for parts, and I don't know who else's left that can help us."

Jakro sighed, "I get that but I don't know if I can. Everyone who is left is keeping their heads down. I'll point you in the right direction but that's all I can do."

"Come on Jakro, you owe me after I got you out of that mess in Kilikiri."

"I know! But this is different, this is the Gold Sun's. If they find out I helped you, they'll toss me outside of the dome."

Cetro was then reminded of what happened to Kanzo, "You saw it didn't you, what happened to Kanzo?"

Jakro squeezed his eyes shut and looked away, "Yeah… Euretta made all of us watch."

Cetro needed to ask but was afraid of the answer he would receive, "How far did he get before… did his family…"

"He barely made it. His wife and kids are fine. They went back to the homeworld, the boss is arranging new identities and relocating them just in case Euretta ever changes her mind." Jakro explained, seeming a bit more relieved.

Cetro let out a breath of relief, "Good. That's good to hear. I'm sorry you had to witness that, it must have been awful."

"It was…"

Silence took over the room again as the overwhelming somber mood took over.

Cetro shook himself out of it and got to the point, "Slater. What can you tell me about him?"

Jakro scoffed, "You saw him yourself. Didn't you? He's a con man. Not super high ranking in the Sun's but he's high enough to speak with Euretta directly. He was in charge of red sand distribution in the outer sectors of Pendaren space before Euretta put him in charge of Ginza's tech market and brought some of his red sand business with him. Man has a way with words, and managed to talk a lot of our guys into working for him. Even got some of the police force that Kanzo's been trying to bribe for years on his payroll. In just a few weeks he's managed to turn Ginza into his own little kingdom and if anyone steps out of line he's quick to bring down the hammer." Jakro pulled the collar of his shirt down revealing the chain shaped burn marks around his neck.

The burns were even worse than Cetro's, they'll definitely leave a scar and warp the shape of his scales.

Cetro grimaced, unconsciously reaching for his own burns, "What he did to us… what he did to you was terrible."

Jakro's voice took on an edge, "Terrible? This is a mercy compared to what Euretta did… what she forced Kanzo's kids to watch! She almost made his wife run out of the dome with him!" Jakro's breath became more rapid as if he was reliving the whole experience, "For as bad as Slater is, he actually talked her down to sparing his wife and focusing her fury on him, in a bid to make her seem merciful!" Jakro got up and went to the window to calm his nerves, "What she did after was just as cruel."

That phrasing caught Azula's full attention, she had been listening intently the entire time but now she was fully invested in what he meant by that.

"W-what did she do after?" Skeeve asked nervously, not really sure if he wanted to know.

Jakro turned to them, "I'll show you."

He shuffled into the kitchen past Sev, whose large size forced him to sit on the floor, and went into his freezer, fishing out a box and returning to the living area. Everyone eyed him with concern, with Cetro being the first to voice his.

"Jakro, what is that?"

"Kanzo." He opened the box revealing a frozen severed three digit hand locked in a strained grasp. It was so stiff with such a rugged surface Azula almost thought it was a piece of a stone sculpture.

"Good lord man!" Lectro cried out, hand over his muzzle.

"What the hell!" Skeeve said realing away at the sight of it, "Why do you have his hand?"

"Once he was as stiff as a statue Euretta had him smashed to pieces, then gave everyone present a piece of him as a reminder of what happens when you cross her. She put the pieces in the hands of his kids herself, told them to always remember what their father did and the consequences of his actions." he shuddered at the memory of it.

Cetro took the box looking down at the petrified hand, his face tightening as anger and sadness washed over him. Its outstretched position looked as though its owner was in pain. His glared tightened.

"You damned fool… what were you thinking?" He said to the hand before closing the lid, unable to look at it any longer.

"His kids." Sev said, peering over them, "How young are they?"

Jakro looked up at the giant with a look of despair, "Too young."

"That's… that's horrible." Lectro said as if he could feel the pain of their loss.

"Yeah, this lines up with everything I've heard about Euretta." Skeeve said while pacing in order to try and clear his mind of the hand.

"Me and some of the others are trying to make a trip back to the homeworld to bury what's left of him." Jakro took the box back and went to go put it back in the freezer, "You know… being in the business I've seen and met a lot of bad people, but Euretta…" he paused as if he was afraid that what he would say next would summon her, "That woman… She's a monster."

That word, it grabbed Azula's attention fully. Eurette's actions were definitely something many would consider monstrous but to Azula they were a clear sign of strength. The woman he described had petrified him with fear, her shadow making him cower at the thought of her and possibly many others feeling similarly. This was true power, something she had, something she knew well, something she craved again. Whoever Euretta Sareno was, she was someone worthy of her respect.

"We all know that. Which is why we need help to get out of here." Cetro reaffirmed.

"If they find out I helped you…"

Azula stepped in, tired of this pointless back and forth, "Then we make it look like we forced you to help us."

"Forced him how?" Cetro asked, coming to the defense of his friend.

"However way is convincing enough to Slater."

"Would that even work? How would we do that?" Lectro asked.

Azula gave a cruel smile as she pats the blaster tucked in her jumpsuit, "I can think of one way."

"I would much rather you not shoot me!" Jackro said, backing away from her.

"Oh don't worry, it won't be lethal. Just a little shot in the leg and it will look like we tortured the information out of you." she suggested.

"Nobody is shooting anybody." Cetro interrupted fully against the idea.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Slater already knows that you two are acquaintances, he might even be on his way here now."

"Then I'll just have to leave town." Jakro declared, "This is the excuse I've been looking for to go back to the homeworld."

"Do you even have a way of getting off planet?"

"I've got some people in the industrial district that owe me some favors."

"Can one of those help us?" Azula folded her arms as she used her thermal vision to see if his body heat would reveal any lies.

"I can think of one. Kanzo had a smuggler that brought all his supplies to the city. They take passengers off planet for a pretty high price. They're a third party group so they have no allegiance to the Sun's. You can find their meeting place in the sewers in district twelve and if they agree to take you you'll go through an abandoned subway out of the city to their ship in an old geothermal plant."

"Great, we've got a plan then!" Skeeve said happily clasping his hands together.

"But you'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to see them. They got back from a job recently and usually take a few days to resupply and refuel. They should be ready by tomorrow."

Lectro sheepishly entered the conversation, "But we need to leave now, the Sun's are looking for us. Where are we supposed to hold out until then?"

Cetro scratched his chin as he paced, "I think I know a place we can stay."

"Whatever you all think of, I don't want to know. Just make sure you all don't get caught." Jakro warned.

Cetro nodded in agreement, he wouldn't want the Sun's to know where they would be staying if Slater decides to interrogate Jakro again and wouldn't want to give away his escape route if he or any of his crew where caught, "We all have our objectives now." he turned to his old friend, "I guess this is goodbye for now Jakro, stay safe out there." He held out his two right hands.

Jakro grabbed both hands with his own, "You as well.

They left the mid levels of the city and traversed back to the lower levels on foot doing everything they can to avoid being noticed.

Gold Sun gangsters patrolled the streets with lower level thugs prowling in small groups while others hovered overhead in hovercraft. Police were notably more active in the lower levels as they started arresting people who even remotely looked like Azula and her group.

They arrived at a multi story storage depot built next to an overpass with the sound of ground vehicles speeding overhead drowning out all other noise. The building looked worn and dilapidated with the orange neon lights that followed its edges flickering and a neon blue sign displaying its name at the very top with several of the letters either off or flickering.

Cetro approached the front desk where a portly purple creature with a head like that of a shrimp and a pair of tentacle arms protruding from his round body.

"Cetro." The creature croaked out unenthusiastically from his vertical mouth.

"Gorlao." Cetro said back just as equally unenthused before producing the unit card he planned on using to purchase tech with, "Safe house, no disturbances, all of us for everything on this card."

The creature didn't say anything and instead took the card and plugged it into his computer to observe the amount, "How long?"

"Just the night."

Gorlao put the card under the desk and produced a keycard, "Storage room three-eight-seven. Top floor."

Cetro nodded, taking the keycard leading the way to the room.

The safe house door was like that of a storage room and inside looked like one as well until Cetro looked around the back wall until he pulled a panel revealing a screen. Cetro pressed the key card against it with the wall sliding open revealing another door. When they entered they found that the safe house was a glorified spacious attic with old furniture covered in a thin layer of dust, the lights flickered and buzzed, cobwebs covered the corners of the room and clearly had not been maintained for quite some time.

"This place is… cozy?" Lectro said before coughing after fluffing a pillow that threw a cloud of dust into his face.

Sev turned on the holovid display watching the screen flicker on before becoming clear as he brought a fist down on the device, "Better than nothing."

Skeeve opened the fridge, "Nothing to eat."

Cetro went to inspect the entire room for anything suspicious. While he was doing that Azula approached Lectro as she had a question about their shared adversary that was nagging at her mind, "Lectro, I have something on my mind that I'm hoping you could answer."

"If it's something I am capable of answering I'll gladly help." He said as he wiped dust off a couch and subsequently began coughing.

"Slater, he generated lighting from his hands. How did he do that? From what I understand, bending doesn't exist anywhere else yet he was capable of it."

Lectro explained as he waved the dust out of the air, "Oh, well you see that's not bending. Or at least it's not anything like you are capable of. His ability to generate electricity comes from a completely explainable scientific source."

"That source being?"

"Well, he's a Chundari."

She gave him a blank expression, "That doesn't answer my question."

"Right, sorry. You remember how I mentioned that there are species capable of naturally generating electric energy?"

"Vaguely."

"Well the Chundari are one of them. You saw those blue stripe things on his arms right?"

"I did. They're the source of his power?"

"Yes, those are external organs that store energy from the body that the Chundari can use as a weapon by squeezing all that energy out like a wet sponge by contracting them. It's nothing as powerful as your lightning technique but I would advise not being stung by it."

"And are all Chundari capable of doing this?"

"From what I know, yes. It's a little hard to get into specifics about it as you don't really see a whole lot of Chundari outside their planet."

She raised a brow in slight confusion, "Why's that? An ability like that would make them excellent fighters and conquerors."

"That's because they've already been conquered. They weren't that advanced when the Pendaren Empire found them and claimed the planet. They made it a bureaucratic nightmare for them to leave. I guess they saw the potential in them being a conqueror race and decided to heavily restrict their movements."

Another piece of useful information regarding the empire that she'll have to store for later.

"I see. So we don't know the full extent of how Slater could use it in combat." She sighed in disappointment but was relieved that she knew something about it.

"I'm off to make a food run to the vending machines." Cetro announced, "Who's coming with me?"

Lectro volunteered with B3 following him as the other three stayed and made themselves comfortable.

Azula scowled at their dingy abode but it will have to do, she couldn't afford to be picky. Now that she was in a safe place she could feel the weight of the day wash over her and fatigue flooded her system made her feel somewhat dizzy and the stress of all she had gone through was causing a migraine to come on. She needed to rest, not sleep but maybe meditate to keep her mind sharp while resting her body the only problem being the space they were in provided very little privacy, save for the bath stall. She saw a ladder leading to an old vent that didn't seem functional but seemed to be an opening to the roof.

"I'm going to find a place to meditate. Don't disturb me unless it's an emergency." She made her way to the ladder.

"One thing before you go." Sev said, making his way to her, "I think we need to talk about something."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, but made sure he didn't see that, "What do you want Sev?"

"You were pretty quick to suggest hurting the guy." Sev said.

"You mean Cetro's traitorous friend?"

Sev raised a brow at her choice of words, "Right…"

"He gave away information that got us captured."

"Being a little vindictive, don't you think?" Sev shifted his weight and crossed his arms, "The info was beaten out of him."

"He could have chosen to stay silent. If he was truly a loyal friend he would have died before giving anything away."

Sev didn't say anything to that.

"But this isn't what you want to talk about, is it?" she asked, sensing this.

"You wanted to leave Cetro behind back at the club. I've got a problem with that."

Azula really didn't have the mental energy for this conversation but she'll tough it out and get it over with.

"Really? He was in the dragon's den, there was nothing we could have done for him if he didn't walk out of there when he did and in case you forgot I informed you and the others of danger."

"And I appreciate that firespitter but we have a rule in the Crimson Storm. We don't leave our own behind, no matter what."

"And what would we have done? Fight an entire syndicate in their own territory?"

"If it came down to it, yeah."

She pinched the bridge of her nose trying to find any kind of logic to his argument but failed to do so, "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say Sev. Doing so would have killed us all."

"We didn't have to go full guns blazing but you could have at least entertained the idea of saving him."

"Sometimes one must be sacrificed for the benefit of the rest." she argued back.

"Are you willing to be that sacrifice?"

She didn't have a response for this and instead remained silent.

"Listen Azula, trust is something I take very seriously. Without it a group like ours will fall apart. You can always trust me to rush into an inferno to get you or anyone else in our group out of trouble but I need to know if I can trust you to do the same for me and anyone else in the Storm." he extended a hand to her, "Can I trust you Azula?"

She looked at his metal hand, an extension of trust, and her face twisted in contempt at the very word. Rage filled her when she recalled all those she trusted and how it led to her current situation.

"Trust? Sev let me tell you something. Everyone I have ever put my trust in has betrayed me." She looked him in the eye as she tried to mask her rising fury, "My brother betrayed me and our nation when he aided our enemies and overthrew my father, my two best friends in the world stabbed me in the back to save him." her voice began to rise, "My mother betrayed me when she abandoned me! And my nation betrayed me when they welcomed my brother as the firelord!" She turned away from him and took several breaths to quiet her rage, "Trust has only ever led to betrayal, so if you want my trust you'll have to go above and beyond to earn it." She walked away and climbed the ladder outside, "And just so we're clear. I don't trust that any of you wouldn't leave me behind to save your own hides." she pulled the old vent free and slid it out of the way as she exited.

Sev only stood there watching her exit, his hand still outstretched as he contemplated her words. He didn't like her unwillingness to trust him despite him making it clear she could do so but he could understand her viewpoint. It made sense why she was so cold and distant to him and just about everyone else. After all, how does someone trust others when the people they trusted most betrayed them? It didn't help that they are still somewhat strangers, only knowing each other for a few days. For now the best he could do was give her time and some space and hopefully she'll come around to trusting him and everyone else in the Storm.

Sev ran his outstretched hand over his face realizing just how tired he was as well and decided a nap would do him good. He went to one of the four beds laid out along the far wall and claimed one for himself and shut his eyes. Skeeve on the other side of the room, who had been pretending to watch the holovid display was actually listening to every word uttered with his four long rodent ears. Once Sev began resting he looked to the opening Azula climbed out of and saw an opportunity. He'll give her some time to cool herself off before making any attempt to speak with her. He didn't know the full extent of what Azula's fire bending was capable of but he could tell she had something to do with the cyberware on that thug's head exploding along with the engine to Slater's limo doing the same.

She was a powerful weapon, one that could benefit him greatly but could also be his own downfall if he's not careful. While she is meditating he began to think to himself on what he could say to get her on his side.

Azula found herself standing beneath the flickering blue neon sign that overlooked the building that bathed her in sky blue light. She was high up, high enough that it reminded her of the balcony in the royal palace but overhead the many walkways and other buildings sat much higher acting as a sort of ceiling blocking almost all view of the sky and bathing the lower levels in sickly neon green light and the holographic screens of build boards. The whole area was a seedy ghetto but the neon lights gave the environment a rustic unconventional beauty. The air was much cooler here without residual heat obstructing her view.

Now that she was finally alone she let out a long drawn out breath as she sat down. Mental fatigue was consuming her and the previous conversation with Sev only heightened it further. All day she had to be strong against adversity, to not come across as weak in the face of danger and in front of her associates, but it was draining. She scolded herself once more for allowing this to happen to herself. There were countless days at the royal palace where she had to project strength constantly so that she would remain ahead and so that her father would be proud of her and in those moments she would never feel so drained as she did now. It's just as she feared, she's losing her edge. Weakness is starting to set in and she knows just who the cause of it was. Her mother.

The vision in the old tunnel has to be when her mental struggle began. Her mother poisoned her mind and made her second guess herself, second guess her father. She is to blame for everything just like everything else wrong in her life.

She knelt down beneath the sign and closed her eyes focusing on her breathing. She needed to cleanse herself of these thoughts and this weakness. Tomorrow they needed to escape and failure was not an option, she needed to be at her sharpest, she needed mental clarity and needed to make sure that her mother didn't manifest again.

"Blaming mother as usual." Zuko's commanding voice came from her right.

She turned to meet it where she saw her brother within a giant neon red sign dressed in the royal fire nation robes and crown hairpiece in his topknot. The size of the sign made him look like a towering giant as he looked down on her with contempt.

"You can't accept the truth, so you have to blame her for it. Face it Azula, you're just as weak as me."

"I'm not weak!" She shouted back at the sign, "I'm not you! I was father's favorite! I am the prodigy that you wished you could be!"

The neon red Zuko continued to look down on her as she looked up at him in defiance.

"I am stronger than you'll ever be!"

"Oh yeah?" Another voice came from above where she saw a neon blue sign where Katara stood cross-armed looking down on her as if she were vermin, "If you're so strong then how come I, a lowly water peasant savage, beat you so easily."

Her already high indignation went higher at the sight of the water peasant. This being the first time she's manifested as a vision to her.

"You had Sozin's comet at your back but you couldn't even so much as leave a little burn on me. You even had to resort to a cheap shot to get your brother out of the way because you knew you couldn't beat him." Katara mocked with an expression that felt more at home with Azula than her.

"Guess you aren't the fancy prodigy after all, huh?" The voice came from the blind earthbender within a lime green sign along the side of a slow passing airship who sat in a lax position with her feet kicked up, "Can't see that you really aren't all that special. Funny how I can see it when I'm the blind one here." She laughed as she waved a hand over her milky eyes with a wide grin.

"Shut up!" Azula shouted, grasping her head, "You're not real! None of you are real!"

"Yeah I guess you're right." Sokka said from another light blue sign from the distance, "We might not be real but everything we say is. Ain't that right Suki?"

The Kyoshi warrior in question agreed from a bright white sign on the opposite building, "That's right Sokka. It doesn't matter if we're real or not, all that matters is that you are the weak one and always have been. Always wearing that strength of yours like a theater mask, trying to hide what's really there." Suki mocked while fanning herself.

"And you know what happens to the weak." Zuko said.

The next voice came from behind and sent shivers down her spine, it was thunderous and shook her to the very core as a thousand voices spoke as one, "The strong trample over you."

She slowly turned around and saw that silhouette of the Avatar towering over her like a mountain, the neon blue light that washed her no longer came from the sign but from the glow of his eyes and arrow tattoos. Never had he looked so terrifying to her as if he could crush her like she was an ant. He had taken her father from her, his power, his strength and now his sights were set on her with him extending a giant shadowy hand towards her.

She turned away holding her head, "This isn't real! None of it is real!" She reaffirmed herself, "They aren't here. They can't imprison you. It's impossible for them to even be here." Her breath began to calm down.

These hallucinations were beginning to consume her life, appearing so frequently that they are bound to get in the way of her quest and worse let the others in the Storm know of her faulty mental state. She needed to regain control, she raced through her mind to find anything to center herself, like her father. Ozai was a pillar of unparalleled strength, he was the most powerful firebender in the world and her master. He would know what to do as he was one of the most successful fire lords to ever live.

"Is this what you have become?" her Father's voice snapped her back to reality and she found him standing at her side, his domineering presence making everything else seem miniscule.

"A sniveling child? What happened to the conquered Ba Sing Se? The slayer of the Avatar?"

She didn't look at him, she knew he wasn't really there but still she could not face him.

"Look at me Azula!" His biting words made her jump and obeyed his command, "Are you a weakling?" His expression tightened into a scowl expecting an answer.

"No." She said meekly.

"Are you a peasant? Say it louder!" He commanded.

"No!"

"Are you going to cower and let these lies your mother has spread keep you from doing what must be done?"

"No I will not!"

"Will you allow yourself to become as pathetic as Zuko!?"

"I will not be Zuko!"

"Then prove it to me! Pick yourself up and be done with this pathetic display. Get off this pathetic excuse of a city and take what is rightfully yours! You are my daughter, the rightful heir to the fire nation."

His words gave her strength, made her remember who she is and this strength vanquished the mocking voices of Zuko and his pathetic friends leaving only her and Ozai alone on the roof.

Ozai was pleased with her display, "Good. I always knew you had the strength within you Azula. Remember who raised you, who taught you how to be strong. Always remember that and not only will you have the world…" he placed a hand on her shoulder, one of the very few forms of physical affirmations he ever showed her, and gestured to the neon cityscape, "... but the universe itself."

He was right. All of this could be hers, the universe could be hers, "Thank you father, I'm grateful that you-" she turned to him only to be met with nothing. She forgot he wasn't really there. At least the illusion of him gave her some piece of mind.

She just had to remember who she is and she will get through any challenge life throws at her.

She went back to meditating, closed her eyes and breathed deeply focusing her mind on the sounds of vehicles flying by on the overpass below, hover vehicles flying through the air, sirens in the distance, strange music being played loudly, voices from entercoms and the sound of people below. Meditation was having the intended effect as she could feel her body and mind coming to peace, until she felt a presence next to her.

Without opening her eyes she rudely said, "What do you want?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to bug you with your meditation thing." The voice of Skeeve said.

"Then why are you here Skiv?"

He rolled his eyes before correcting her, "Skeeve."

"I know."

He ignored that comment, "Listen, I just want to let you know that despite what the others may say I believe you made the right call back at the club."

She opened one eye to him, "Really? So you had no qualms with leaving Cetro behind?"

"It's like you said, there would have been nothing we could have done to save him." He produced a cigarette and lighter, "Now I would have been just as sad as the next person if we did have to do that." He lied, having no positive feelings for Cetro, "But best to keep our own skins intact if that's all we can do. Am I right?"

Her mouth curved slightly at that.

"Don't let the big man rope you in on that whole, we're a team stuff. He's a tower of cyber muscle and gadgets so he'd actually be able to survive fighting the syndicate unlike us. From what I've experienced all that team stuff is just a bunch of crap the strong say to keep us weak grunts in line." He puffed out a cloud of smoke.

She snapped at him, "Don't put me in the same boat as you!"

"Why not? You don't have your powers right now, like it or not you and I are in the same boat.

She rolled her eyes, "I ask again. What do you want?"

He took a long drag from his cigarette, "The Gold Sun's are looking for us. It's not looking good, the others they're naive. They've been living under the protection of a former imperial with a powerful old ship, loading their heads with imperial propaganda. The Sun's are brutal, things are gonna get messy and if things hit the fan…"

"Let me guess, jump ship and join the Sun's, or jump ship and go through the rest of the universe as a traveling pair?" she finished before he could continue.

"I'm just throwing out some options, you've got to admit your powers are useful." He took another puff before flicking the cigarette off the edge, "Do you really want to be a pawn for My'Rell?"

"I'm no one's pawn. It doesn't matter who comes for us, I will crush them. I've done it before and I'll do it again." she stated, "Now leave me alone. I'm trying to meditate."

Skeeve gave her a ponderous look as he took in that information, "The Crimson Storm's a good gig for now but My'Rell's got enemies, powerful enemies. Sooner or later she's gonna get hers, best not to go down with her." He left her and went back inside.

She focused back on her meditation but she recalled everything she knew of Euretta Sareno. She sounds like the worst enemy anyone could make and now she is on her hit list by association and this whole fiasco she was in may even add to Euretta's contempt of the Storm. She just hopes she doesn't meet Euretta, at least not before she takes over the Storm.

Thank you for reading as always!

Fun fact: Slater and the design of the Chundari was inspired by pangolin's and electric eels.