บท 24: Agent From the Inside
In Zaofu at the courtyard Korra is sparring with Wing who fires two meteorites at the Avatar who dodges and sends out a metal cable of her own at Wing who dodges twice and traps it in the ground and then bends it back at her making the impact knock Korra on the ground.
"I can't believe I'm sparring with the Avatar!" Wing said, pumping his fists.
"I can't believe I'm stuck with her friend." Wei said bored and unhappy pointing at Bolin who is still struggling to bend metal.
"Hang on! I think I've got it. Lemme try this." Bolin said, still trying to bend metal but nothing. "Okay, maybe…" Bolin was cut off by a slab of metal sent by Wei.
"Trial by fire. It's the best way to learn Metalbending." Wei instructs as he sends a meteorite at Bolin who ducks and then bends a small pebble getting at Wei's forehead. "Agh!" Wei grunted in pain.
Kota, Mako, and Asami who was in Kota's arms arrive and watch Bolin's attack.
"Nice shot, Bo." Mako said.
"Aren't you supposed to be trying to bend metal, not earth?" Kota asked.
"Yeah, cheater!" Wei said, rubbing his forehead.
"Metalbending is extremely difficult. No one gets it right away, if they can get it at all. It's not normal." Bolin said but then Korra dodges Wing's attacks and manages to knock him to the ground with her cable.
"Woohoo! Metalbending champion!" Korra cheered.
"Korra seems to get it down." Kota said.
"Oh, sure. She's the Avatar." Bolin said.
"How about you Kota?" Wei asked, "Wanna go at it?"
"Nah," Kota said, "I'm probably gonna bend Platinum if we spar."
"Man!" Wei said.
"Guys. It's time to get cleaned up." Asami said.
"Right. It's Opal's farewell dinner." Kota said.
"Aw, and now I have to say bye to Opal! This is the worst day ever!" Bolin whined walking away sadly.
"Man up, Bolin," Kota said, face palming.
…
Later everyone is at the dining table and the chef serves Opal's plate.
"Thanks for making my favorite food." Opal said.
"I'm really going to miss you, Opal. No one appreciates my raw veggie wraps like you do." The chef said, serving more food.
"Every time I eat raw kale, I'm going to think of you." Bolin said.
"You're so sweet." Opal said.
"This stinks! We're just starting to get to know each other and now you're off to the Northern Air Temple." Bolin said.
"We'll be together soon. You guys are coming up after finding more Airbenders, right?" Opal asked.
"Yeah, but that's…in the future. I hate the future." Bolin said.
"Until then, we'll always have kale." Opal said, offering a piece of kale and Bolin bites on it.
"Kid, can I give you relationship advice?" Varrick asked.
"No…" Bolin said.
"Well, your loss. Zhu Li, bring me the thing." Varrick said as Zhu Li comes and gives a contraption. "Check out my latest invention; an Airbender finder." Varrick introduced.
"Wait, it can find Airbenders?" Korra asks as Asami points it at the Avatar and nothing happens.
"I think it's broken." Asami said.
"It's not broken. She needs to AIRBEND to it. How else do you expect this thing to work?" Varrick said.
"Thanks, but I think we'll stick to our way of finding Airbenders with reports." Kota said.
On the other side of the table Mako strains to hear the conversation.
"What's going on? I can't hear anything. I hate sitting here." Mako said but then he sees Aiwei staring at him awkwardly. "Uh, not because of you." Mako said sheepishly.
"I can tell you're lying." Aiwei said dryly as the Firebender slumps in his chair embarrassed by his outburst.
Suyin taps her glass to get everyone's attention and she stands up.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention please? Tonight, my beautiful little girl leaves for the Northern Air Temple. Opal, none of us could be more proud of you. You're an incredible daughter, sister, friend, and soon to be Airbending Master." Suyin said as Wei and Wing tear up while Huan rolls his eyes. "Here's to Opal. May she help lead us to the new era!" Suyin said as everyone raised their glasses.
…
Later outside Kota escorts Opal to the airship and she boards into it and the airship starts to take off while Opal is at the ship's window waving goodbye to her family and friends who wave back while Bolin starts to cry and hugs onto Kota's shoulder much to the Earthbender's dismay.
"Lock it down for the night." A guard said into a walkie-talkie.
"We'll head out first thing tomorrow morning." Lin said.
"Understood. Thanks for your hospitality, Aunt Su." Kota said.
"And thank you for coming." Suyin said.
Later the metal petals start to close the city and a guard patrols the houses during the night but then eight figures are moving across a bridge through the city's park and the figures are Zaheer, Ming-Hua, Ghazan, and P'Li and later go under the bridge to stay out of sight of the guards and Zaheer and Itachi wave their hands to direct their group to keep going and go pass another guard and they go for the guest houses and they find Bolin and Mako sleeping.
"Kale, kale, kale…Opal…" Bolin said in his sleep.
Pabu wakes up and looks out to see the eight criminals and squeaks loudly to alarm the brothers, making Bolin wake up.
"What? What's goin' on?" Bolin asked but saw nothing. "Go back to sleep, Pabu." Bolin said going back to sleep
…
Zaheer directs his group to an adjacent window which is Korra's room. Ming-Hua creates an ice sickle to scratch the window making a hole into the window.
Zaheer and his group attempt to break into Korra's room but then Naga wakes up and growls but they fire a shirshu-spit dart at the polar bear-dog knocking her out making the Avatar wake up as well and sees Zaheer bending wind at her who dodges the wind and is about to attack but a dart gets her knocking her out allowing Ghazan and P'Li to pick her up.
Meanwhile at the brothers' room Pabu leaps onto Bolin's bed to try and get his attention.
"Huh, what? Oh, Pabu. It's not playtime right now." Bolin said but Pabu goes for the window. "Okay, we need to have a serious talk…" Bolin stops talking as he sees Zaheer and his gang taking Korra. "What the?! They've got Korra!" Bolin yelled waking up Mako and they rushed out.
The brothers rush out and confront the gang.
"Let her go!" Mako yelled, sending out a fire blast while Bolin threw a boulder.
P'Li absorbs the fire blast while Ming-Hua stops the boulder with her Waterbending and then sends a water line at the brothers but Mako counters with more Firebending but P'Li and Zaheer attack with their respective elements at the brothers who dodge and hide behind a pillar and Mako sees two guards.
"They've got Korra!" Mako yelled and an alarm went off while spotlights beam down at the four criminals.
"So much for the element of surprise." Ming-Hua said.
"Back-up plan." Ghazan said.
P'Li fires a blast at each spotlight while Mako and Bolin take cover, sending them flying to land outside Asami's door. Asami ran out of help while Kota ran off to confront Zaheer and the group.
"We can't let them take Korra!" Mako said.
"I don't think they're gonna go far. Look!" Asami said, pointing at Zaofu guards attacking Zaheer's gang but the four easily defeated them.
Zaheer's gang try to run but are stopped by slabs of metal by Kota, Lin, Suyin, Wei, and Wing as well as one of the guards.
"We have you surrounded! It's over! Release the Avatar!" The guard ordered.
Ghazan then unleashes lava from under the pile but Lin and Kota propelled themselves away with a rock while the guards do the same with their metal cables.
"No way! That guy's bending lava! That's awesome…ly not good for us." Bolin said.
The Metal Clan and Team Avatar are being pinned down by P'Li's combustion blasts while Ghazan and Ming-Hua protect her from retaliation attacks and Korra is conscious again but still paralyzed.
"I'm going to create some cover. We've gotta get out of here." Zaheer said.
Zaheer uses Airbending to create a mask of smoke from Ghazan's lava but then his wrist is caught by a guard's metal cable allowing the guard to reel Zaheer off the platform.
Ghazan sends a lava bomb at the guard who breaks cover to go after Zaheer but is blocked by another guard with a metal slab and Bolin, Mako, Lin, Kota, and Asami take cover together behind a slab of metal in order to avoid the criminals' attacks and as Mako and Bolin deliver their attacks P'Li sees this and arcs a combustion blast at them but Suyin bends a slab of metal as well as Wei and Wing.
"How did they get in here?" Lin asked as they avoided another combustion blast.
"I don't know, we're not letting them escape." Suyin said as three guards use more metal slabs to create a bridge to get to the criminals but Ghazan knocks the guards off with his Earthbending.
"There's no way to get across that moat." Asami said.
"We don't need to cross it. Lin, Kota, and I can drop in from the dome on cables." Suyin said.
"Yeah, that's a great idea. Except we'll be blown to bits the second that third-eyed freak sees us." Lin said sarcastically but another combustion blasts attacks.
"She's a Combustionbender. If one of you stuns her, her powers will be knocked out temporarily." Suyin said.
"Bolin can land a shot." Mako said.
"I can?" Bolin asked.
"You have to take her out right before we drop down." Suyin said.
"I do?" Bolin asked.
"Yes," Kota said.
At the top of the dome Suyin, Kota, Lin, Wei, and Wing are in position.
"If we're in trouble, Metalbend us up." Suyin said and the twins nod.
"We're in position." Wing said on walkie-talkie.
"Copy that. It's Bolin time." Mako said.
"Bolin time. Bolin time." Bolin said and then bends a boulder at P'Li who ducks and avoids it and then fires another attack making them hide and Mako strikes back. "I can't get a clear shot." Bolin said.
"You have to." Mako said.
"Are we a go?" Wing asked through the walkie-talkie.
"No go!" Mako said.
"Copy that. We're a go." Wing said.
"No! I said no go! Wait!" Mako said but Lin and Suyin drop down while the criminals are still attacking the guards but P'Li looks up at the sisters. "Bolin, take the shot!" Mako said.
P'Li gets ready to fire, but then Bolin fires a small pebble at P'Li and it manages to hit dead center on her third eye tattoo knocking her back and causing her attack to explode on her team.
"That's one." Mako said, smiling.
Lin and Suyin land and Lin takes Korra and they start to travel back to the top of the dome but before they could move water traps Lin's leg and it's Ming-Hua but Mako blasts at her with a fire blast to distract the Waterbender.
Zaheer is fighting two guards but then he sees Lin and Suyin escaping with Korra.
"No!" Zaheer said as he used his glider to fly up to chase the sisters.
Zaheer unleashes a blast of air at Lin who manages to dodge the air blast but Zaheer gets close to her but Suyin swings her sister out of the way and bends metal shards from her necklace at Zaheer's glider but Zaheer dodges the glider and goes for the sisters but then something grabs Zaheer's leg and it's a Platinum ankle brace, he looks down to see Kota in his Guardian Spirit Form.
"Get away from them" Kota yelled, jumping at Zaheer who tries to air blast at the Platinumbender who avoids it and then lands a punch in the face on the criminal, sending him down.
Kota falls, but Suyin manages to catch him with a metal cable and they go up the top of the dome.
"Thanks." Kota said.
"Actually, we should be thanking you." Lin said.
"So, those guys are the ones after Korra." Kota said.
Zaheer folds his glider and lands safely next to his team.
"We've failed." Zaheer said. He later uses his Airbending to create huge cloud of smoke and after it disappears the lava is cool and the eight are gone.
"Where did they go?" Lin asked.
"They can't be far. Guards! Search the entire estate!" Suyin ordered.
…
Later at Suyin's office Korra lies on a couch waking up.
"This should neutralize the shirshu toxins." Aiwei said using a green bottle to treat Korra and she's getting some movement back.
"How could you let this happen?! You assured me this city was one of the most secured places in the world!" Lin yelled at Suyin.
"It is. I don't know how this happened. Obviously, this was a well-planned operation, so don't blame me." Suyin said unhappy.
"Aunt Su's right. She obviously didn't have anything to do with this, but…how could they have known where we are?" Kota asked.
Just then a guard comes in.
"We searched the entire estate. There's no sign of them." The guard said.
"Well, keep looking!" Lin orders and the guard leaves.
"It would seem they had some inside knowledge of Zaofu. They must have been working with someone." Aiwei said.
"Th-The…guards. It had to be one of them." Korra said.
"I agree." Aiwei said.
"Question them all! Whoever betrayed my city will suffer the consequences!" Suyin said, storming off.
…
It's now daytime and Team Avatar, Suyin, Lin, and Aiwei are in an interrogation room and Aiwei sits at a small table talking to a guard. Kota wasn't there, he was looking around in people's houses and was searching for clues.
"My name is Zhu Guan." The first guard introduced.
Next the second guard.
"I was patrolling the south wall of the Beifong estates." The second guard said.
Next the third guard.
"I have absolutely no knowledge of the people, who tried to kidnap Korra." The third guard said.
Aiwei looks back at Lin and shakes his head and Lin nods while Korra has a look of defeat.
Varrick is next.
"What was I doing last night? Same thing I always do. From nine to ten, I checked my body for ticks. Lyme disease is a serious killer. Then, I did my nightly Varrick calisthenics, followed by thirty minutes of breath holding. I filmed the whole thing, if you wanna watch it." Varrick said.
"That won't be necessary." Aiwei said.
"Maybe it wasn't a guard after all. Maybe it was a little higher up the food chain. Aiwei, why don't you question Su?" Lin suggested.
"Lin, stop!" Korra yelled.
"No, I'll gladly be questioned. I have nothing to hide." Suyin said, sitting down.
"What is your name?" Aiwei asked.
"Suyin Beifong. I'm the daughter of Toph Beifong and the only sister of Lin and I had nothing to do with the attack last night." Suyin said.
"She's telling the truth." Aiwei said.
"This is going nowhere!" Lin said.
"Just bring in the next guard!" Korra said.
The next guard comes in and sits down.
"Give me your name and tell me where you are from." Aiwei said.
"My name is Hong Li. I was born and raised here in Zaofu." Hong Li said.
"Do you have any knowledge of the people who tried to kidnap the Avatar?" Aiwei asked.
"No." Hong Li answered.
"Did you help the attackers enter Zaofu last night?" Aiwei asked.
"No, of course not." Hong Li answered.
"You're lying." Aiwei said.
Suyin was shocked, "What?"
"How did they get in and out?! Where are they now?!" Suyin demanded grabbing Hong Li by his armor.
"I don't know. I'm telling you, I didn't help them." Hong Li said.
"You're a traitor to the entire clan!" Suyin yelled.
"I suggest we search his place." Aiwei said.
…
Meanwhile, Kota was in Aiwei's house and he found a book and flipped through page after page.
"It's just an empty book." Kota said. As Kota moves onto the end of the bookshelf, he notices marks on the floor.
"These look like scuff marks." Kota said to himself.
"This bookshelf slides open." Kota slides the shelf aside and it reveals a cellar.
'Could this be how Zaheer got in and out?' Kota thought.
Kota later felt footsteps coming towards the door so he slid the bookshelf back to where it was as Aiwei came in.
"What are you doing in my house?" Aiwei asked. "You are trespassing on property of one of the highest-ranked officials in the city. You better have a good explanation." Aiwei said.
"I'm sorry I came in, but I came here while you all were interrogating the guards and I thought you might have some answers." Kota said.
"Sit. If you want to talk, let's talk over some tea." Aiwei said as he prepared tea.
"Cut the crap, how did Zaheer get here?" Kota asked.
"You have no idea what is coming for you," Aiwei said.
Suddenly Aiwei ran away and Kota was chasing after him. He ran down after Aiwei through the cellar and open the door only to find a bomb which explodes but makes a shield with Platinumbending to defend himself.
"Dammit," Kota seethed.
Kota found a small opening almost covered in debris.
"He must've escaped through there." Kota said to himself.
Kota used Earthbending to reveal a tunnel entrance.
Just then Lin, Suyin, and the rest of Team Avatar arrived.
"What happened? We heard an explosion." Lin said.
"Where's Aiwei?" Suyin asked.
"This is gonna be hard to believe, Aunt Su, but Aiwei betrayed us." Kota said.
"So he was lying about Hong Li," Asami said.
"No!" Suyin said.
"I confronted him and he ran out of here," Kota said, "He collapsed the tunnel behind him and rigged an explosion to destroy any evidence that might have been here."
"This is how Zaheer got in and out. Aiwei was the traitor." Korra said.
"I…trusted him." Suyin said, tearing up.
"It's not your fault, Aunt Su," Kota said.
A guard arrives.
"Is everyone okay?" The guard asked.
"Aiwei is a fugitive. Get all available guards to search the mountainside and find out where this tunnel exits immediately!" Lin orders and the guard leaves while she comforts her sister.
…
The gang and the sisters return to Suyin's office and the guard arrives.
"What did you find?" Lin asked.
"We located the end of the tunnel, but there's no sign of him. Just some fresh tire tracks." The guard answered.
"He had an escape plan all ready to go." Mako said.
"I trusted him with my life. I thought we were family. It was all a lie." Suyin said.
"Whoever Zaheer and his gang are, they're more powerful than we thought," Korra said.
"And if we find Aiwei, we'll find Zaheer," Asami said.
"No, we're not hunting Zaheer's group. There could be other secret agents in other parts of the world looking for you right now. I'm taking you both back to Republic City, where I can protect you." Lin said.
"If I weren't safe here, then what makes you think I'll be safe there? No matter where we end up, they'll bound to show up. That's why we need to go after them." Korra said.
"It's too dangerous. You are not going!" Lin said.
"Stop trying to protect us! I'm the Avatar. This is my job." Korra said.
"Don't lecture me about jobs!" Lin said.
"Enough! Korra, listen to Lin." Suyin said.
"Seriously? They…" Korra was cut off.
"Look, Mom is trying to look out for you," Kota said.
"He is right," Suyin said, " I promise you, Aiwei and everyone he's working with will be brought to justice."
"Fine," Korra gave in, "If you really think it's best."
"I do," Suyin said.
"Thank you, Su." Lin said.
"Everyone should go get some rest tonight. I'll have my people prep your airship and you can leave first thing tomorrow morning." Suyin said.
Team Avatar are in their apartment but then there's a knock on the door and Korra opens it revealing to be Suyin and Kota.
"Su." Korra said.
"You sure Naga can track Aiwei?" Suyin asked.
"Yes." Korra said.
"Then here." Suyin said, giving the Avatar keys.
"There's a jeep packed with supplies on the east gate. It's all gassed up and ready to go." Suyin said.
"Why?" Korra asked.
"I want you guys to hunt down Aiwei and bring him back to me." Suyin said.
"But you said…" Kota was cut off.
"I said what Lin wanted to hear and I bought you guys some time. Go. Kota and I will deal with Lin in the morning." Suyin said.
"Thank you, so much you two," Korra said, hugging Suyin.
"You guys go get'em!" Kota said, hugging Asami. Asami smiled and kissed him on the lips.
Later, Korra was riding Naga while Asami was driving the jeep and they left Zaofu to hunt down Aiwei.
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