The Girl After

Chapter 12

Mako firebent to illuminate the tunnel, which was great until we stumbled upon four different tunnels. We stood and stared, hesitant to make the decision. "We're wasting time," I blurted after a couple of minutes. "Amon could be doing who-knows-what to Korra and Dakota — and the metalbenders — and we're just standing here."

"Then what do you suggest, Leinani?" Lin asked. "Splitting doesn't look like our best option."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "So we're just going to go into each tunnel like a herd until we find them? We'd cover more ground and find them faster if we split up!"

Mako's eyebrows furrowed as he began walking towards a tunnel. "Let's try this way," he suggested without waiting for us, clearly ignoring me.

"Leinani has a point, Mako," Asami said instead of following her boyfriend. "What if they're not down there?"

Harshly, he replied, "Then we pick another tunnel until we find them." He proceeded forward with a clenched fist. I looked back at Asami as we all followed, a hurt look on her face. I jogged to catch up with him.

"What's your problem?" I asked. "I get you're worried about the Avatar and her sidekick, but you don't need to be a jerk."

"Since when did you care so much about them?" He asked without looking at me. He spat his words like venom. "You've made it very clear that you hate the Avatar over the years, and you seem determined to ruin Bo's relationship with Dakota. So, what's your deal? Do you think that helping us is going to make everyone forget that you helped make a lot of this happen?"

I glared at him. "Do you take me for some self-indulgent brat?" I asked. "I couldn't care less about what happens to me after this. I want to fix what I did. Saving Korra and Dakota is the least I can do after all that's happened."

He opened his mouth to reply, then froze as something at the end of the tunnel began to glow. In the distance, the revving of motorcycles could be heard approaching. Lin commanded that we hide, and everyone quickly dispersed to hide behind pillars. I peer out from behind the pillar, despite Tenzin's warning hisses, and spotted two motorcycles speeding by. The wall at the end of the tunnel flipped inward like a garage, and the drive onward as the walls flips back into place behind them.

"A hidden passage," I breathed out.

Lin sprinted with determination to the wall, and we all followed suit. She pressed her hand to the wall and closed her eyes. She rubbed the wall, clearly in search for something, then paused. She circled her hand clockwise. Lin pushed forward and the wall flipped up again. With a satisfied hmph, she gestured for us to follow and we all entered the passageway.

As we reached the hideout, we spotted Equalists loading a tram. "The tram goes to the training camp," said one of them, pointing off to his right as another tram entered.

Another Equalist came into view, saying, "Everything was delivered to the prison, sir."

Tenzin whispered, "That's where they must keeping Korra."

Lin turned to us, lips pressed into a thin line. "We need to get down that tunnel," she noted.

Bolin and Asami remained on the tram on standby. I stood with Mako as Lin ran to find her officers, but there was no conversation happening whatsoever. I wasn't complaining, though. There was, however, interrogation of an Equalist. Mako had him by the collar, and no one was going to hold him back. "Avatar Korra," he barked in the man's face. "Where are you keeping here?"

The Equalist didn't reply. This only fueled Mako's anger.

He slammed the man into the wall. "I'll ask you one more time," he snarled warningly. He ignites his fist and holds it to the man's face. "Where is she?"

"We don't have the Avatar," he replied in a strained voice, "and the Equalists didn't attack the City Hall. Tarrlok is lying."

"Now isn't the time to lie," Mako sneered. He inched the flame closer to man's face.

"He isn't lying," I noted.

"How would you know?"

"Because, idiot," I said, yanking him back by arm to release to Equalist. "What I lack in bending, I make up for in observing. I know when someone is lying, and this guy wouldn't risk his face becoming extra crispy just to cover for a Councilman."

"I scanned the entire prison," Lin said as she returned to us. "Korra's not here. Neither is Dakota." I shot an I told you so smirk at Mako, who scowled in response.

"Why would Tarrlok make up a story about being attacked?" Mako asked.

"Because," Tenzin finally spoke, his words laced with anger, "he has them. He fooled us all!" At that moment, an alarm blared above us. We took this as our cue to run. We returned to tram and hauled off through the tunnel. A tram full of Equalists sped behind us. Asami and I were in charge of the controls, where we worked meticulously like a machine. Behind us, I could hear rubble raining down on the tracks and a loud crashing.

"Try chi-blocking that!" I heard Bolin shout behind me. The entire ride was enough to make anyone nauseated with a migraine. It surely had that effect on me, I'll tell you that much. Despite my incapacity to walk without Bolin supporting me, we made our way to City Hall. Even on such short notice, the councilmen had agreed to meet us.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Bolin asked me quietly as we walked into the building, his hand on the small of my back.

"Of course I'm not," I said dryly. "We can worry about me later."

"Thank you all for meeting us on such short notice," Tenzin said to the council members. Lin and Chief Saikhan exchanged passive aggressive glares, acknowledging each other with nods.

"Have you news of Avatar Korra and her little friend?" Tarrlok's voice asked from behind us.

We parted to let him pass, though Tenzin's predatory scowl froze him in his tracks. "We do," he answered, then pointed an accusing finger at Tarrlok. "You kidnapped her, Tarrlok."

Tarrlok took a step back in surprise. His hand was pressed over his chest. "I am shocked you would accuse me of such an evil act," he gasped. "I already explained. Equalists attacked and took her."

"But there were no chi-blockers here last night," Tenzin argued. "You planted the evidence, didn't you?"

"That is a ridiculous accusation!" Tarrlock said defensively. However, it wasn't. In fact, the accusation was spot on. A Council Page confessed that he'd witnessed Tarrlok through the whole ordeal. The thing that had kept this Page from telling us what he had seen was more frightening than any of us had anticipated:

Tarrlock was a bloodbender.

Gran Gran had told me about bloodbending before when I was young. Fire Lord Zuko and Master Katara shared stories of the dark technique, and it had given me nightmares for days. The idea of making someone into a living puppet just didn't seem right. I could only describe it as pure malevolence. I never wanted to see it. I never wanted to experience it.

But we don't always get what we want.

As soon as Lin and Tenzin tried to arrest Tarrlok, he stretched his arms out. Lin and Tenzin's bodies began spasming. Their eyes widened as they gasped and fought for control. Despite my motion sickness still not passing, I lunged at Tarrlok. Bolin shouted for me to stop, catching Tarrlok's attention. Seconds later, everyone within the vicinity was under his control. He was our marionette.

My face burned as I struggled to find my breath. I couldn't fight the restraints. A shooting pain jolted through my body as I was forced to my knees, as was everyone else.

One by one, we and the councilmen slumped into unconsciousness.