AFTERMATH

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Golden Tigerdillo was the largest nightclub in Republic City's ever-expanding red light district, an extravagant celebration of the decadence of the city's elite. It was also the headquarters of the Triple Threat Triad, the largest of Republic City's numerous underworld gangs, who used the club as a cover for their less legitimate business dealings. While most of their trade in illicit substances and gambling took place elsewhere, usually in smoky dives hidden from the public eye, if anyone wished to meet with the head of the Triple Threat Triad, the Golden Tigerdillo nightclub was where they would need to go.

Driving past the glittering facade of the club with its gold-painted columns and elaborate stone statues, Shady Shin turned left into a side street and then left again into a narrow alley that ran behind the club. While the alley was kept relatively clean as alleys in the red-light district when, Shady Shin still had to guide the red hot-rod around several piles of garbage and a stack of discarded wine barrels before he pulled up next to a door in the back of the club. It was a simple wooden door with a small sliding window about two-thirds of the way up. A young man leaning nonchalantly up against the door had seen them approaching and as the vehicle pulled up, he reached up and rapped out a pattern of knocks to signal the other gang members inside.

"Morning, Boss," the man said as Viper climbed down from the vehicle and walked past him into the club. Shady Shin slipped a note into the man's pocket and patted him on the cheek, before he followed his leader into the back room. Two-toed Ping also nodded to the man as he followed the other two into the building.

"That was a complete waste of time," Viper complained to his two lieutenants as he led the way up the narrow back stairs towards his luxuriously appointed office on the third floor of the club.

"We did get some to pay up, Boss," Shady Shin said, patting his coat pocket.

"Not even a thousand yuan. Do you think that was really worth wasting most of my morning on?"

"We don't have a lot else going on now, Boss. Ever since Kuvira levelled the Downtown district a lot of our best earners are gone. Even our gambling halls are only pulling in less than a quarter of what they used to. There just isn't much money out there right now."

Viper grunted but didn't say anything more, it was hard to argue with the truth. Since the invasion of the city had destroyed most of the legitimate businesses in the heart of the city, his illegitimate enterprises had suffered as well. Even though the majority of the evacuated population had now returned to the city and businesses were starting to rebuild times were still tough and it was hard to extort money from those who had none. The only satisfaction he took for the current situation was the knowledge at the other major triads were suffering just as much as the Triple Threats.

Reaching the third floor, the three men headed for the office which overlooked the floor of the nightclub. Two well muscled enforcers guarded the room, while a third man dressed in a hooded coat sat waiting in one of the chairs reserved for the crime boss's guests. The man was puffing on a long-stemmed pipe and the air carried the scent of an aromatic blend of tobacco.

"Well if it isn't my favourite smuggler," Viper said with a smile. "You come bearing gifts I hope?"

The smuggler took another puff on his pipe and then with some reluctance pulled a heavy pouch of coins from a pocket in his coat and tossed it across the room to Shady Shin, who opened it and tipped the coins on to Viper's desk to quickly count them. "Not enough, Boss, only three hundred and it's in Earth Kingdom coins."

"You disappoint me," Viper said. "I've given you a place to stay and protected you from the police and this is all you bring back to me?"

"We agreed that you would get half of what they paid me," the smuggler protested, putting his pipe down for the moment. "All I got was six hundred."

"The deal was worth at least a thousand," Viper said. "You are still two hundred short. Did you complete the job?"

The smuggler grimaced. "Things got too hot," he said. "They kidnapped Varrick, you know what sort of heat that sort of thing will bring down. Things got serious and the last I heard Beifong and the Avatar were involved."

"I saw the morning papers," Viper said. "I know what happened to them, but that doesn't change the fact that you still owe me another two hundred yuan. A deal is a deal, I gave you a thousand yuans worth of work and you come back to me with a measly three hundred."

When the smuggler still hesitated, Shady Shin reach inside his coat and pulled out his knife, using it to pick his fingernails clean as he smiled at the man. The smuggler cursed under his breath and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out another heavy bag of coins. He counted out a few coins into his hand and then shoved them into his pocket before he tossed the bag across to Shady Shin who counted out the remaining coins and then nodded to Viper.

Viper inclined his head towards the stairs. "All right, get out of here. I'll contact you if we have any more work."

As the smuggler headed for the stairs, grumbling under his breath, Viper took his seat near the window overlooking the main floor of the club. As it was still several hours before opening time, the club would normally have been empty of customers, but today a small group of men and women dressed in nondescript clothing sat around one of the tables near the stage. A tall, muscular man in a dark-green business suit was standing next to the visitors and chatting to them. As if he had felt his employer's eyes on him, the man looked up at the window to Viper's office and nodded once before leaving the group and heading towards the back of the club.

"Put at money in the safe," Viper ordered, glancing over at Shady Shin.

His lieutenant nodded and walked across the far wall to open a large grey safe bolted securely to the floor. He placed the two bags of Earth Kingdom coins and a large stack of Republic City yuans in the safe and then spun the tumbler in the lock to secure the safe door before he crossed the room to stand beside his boss. The door opened and Marook, the tall, well-dressed manager of the club, walked into the room.

"I've got someone downstairs waiting to see you, boss," he said.

"I can see that." Viper said. "Who is it?"

"The same bunch as last time. They say they have another job for us."

Viper frowned. "The last one didn't exactly work out as they planned. There is no sign of any police activity nearby is there?"

"Our informants haven't mentioned anything," Marook replied.

"All right, show them up. But it had better pay off this time, I don't have time for any more trouble with Beifong."

Marook nodded and headed back downstairs. Meanwhile, Viper picked up a loose coin that had fallen out of one of the smuggler's bags and rolled across his desk until it had come to rest beneath his desk lamp. Flipping the coin between his fingers he sat back and waited for his visitors.

The narrow gorge where the train had come to a stop was heating up as the sun climbed into the cloudless sky. It was still morning, but already the day was shaping up as extremely hot and uncomfortable. Standing beside the rails not far from the front of the trapped train, Mako was watching as the small group of earthbenders from the United Forces troops assigned to protect Wu began working to clearing the track. He wished he could help, but his firebending abilities would be of little use against the piles of stone and earth that were blocking the track so he had to sit and watch as they worked.

"I don't like this," Mako said after several minutes had passed in silence as the work continued. Mako could already see the earthbenders were beginning to get tired and there was still a lot more rubble to clear.

Standing next to Mako, Bumi nodded, reaching up to stroke Bum-ju's fur. The dragonfly-bunny spirit had appeared shortly after the troops had begun work. Mako wasn't sure exactly where it had come from though, as he was certain that he hadn't seen the spirit with Bumi earlier and it definitely hadn't been in the carriage when they departed Republic City.

"I've spoken to the engineer," Bumi said. "He said that he has made radio contact with the next station and that they have dispatched a track repair crew to help us."

"Did he say how long they will take to reach us?"

"Not until tomorrow," Bumi replied. "According to the engineer we are almost halfway between two stations, right on the edge of the Great Divide."

"And you don't find that suspicious?" Mako asked.

"Of course," the airbender replied. "But, we have been stuck here for two hours at least now and we haven't seen anyone else around so this could just be a natural rockfall."

The rest of the troops, those who weren't busy working to clear the rubble, had taken up positions along the edge of the gorge to guard against any potential ambush, but in Mako's opinion there were too few of them and far too much space to protect. "Maybe you could fly up and check things out from the air," he suggested to Bumi. "See if you can spot anyone or anything approaching us."

The older airbender nodded. "I'll take Ryu. The land to the east of here is pretty flat, so we should be able to spot anything coming towards us from that direction. I doubt they will be coming from the west across the Great Divide." With a burst of air he used his airbending to carry himself up to the roof of the train and headed off along the top of the carriages towards the royal carriage to collect Ryu who was waiting with the other two airbenders and Prince Wu.

Mako returned to watching the work the earthbenders were doing, growing frustrated at the slow rate of progress. Several minutes later a voice behind him called out. "Mako!"

Mako groaned in annoyance as he turned and saw Prince Wu atop one of his badger-moles walking along the side of the train towards him. "I thought I told you to stay inside," he said. "It isn't safe out here."

Wu waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense, I am in no danger, not with you and Baobei here to protect me." He stroked the fur on the top of the badger-mole's head. The massive creature didn't seem to notice the Wu's touch and continue to plod its way slowly towards the front of the train, its clawed feet digging easily into the rocky ground beside the rails.

"We still don't know what caused this," Mako argued. "I'd prefer it if you were safe inside with Lei and Jing-mei. Where are they by the way?"

"Up here," Lei called out from the roof of the carriage. Mako looked up and saw both of the airbending women walking along the top of the train carriage keeping an eye on Wu.

"I thought I told you to keep the prince out of trouble."

"Don't blame them," Wu said. "I ordered them to let me leave the carriage. It is getting too hot in there and I hate to think what that is doing to my skin. Besides, it's been two hours and we haven't seen anyone waiting to ambush us."

"You don't know that," Mako said.

A rush of air and a blur of red wing-suits announced the return of Bumi and Ryu, who flew down from the top of the gorge to land next to Mako. "There is someone coming," Bumi warned.

"Who is it?" Mako asked Bumi. He glared up at Wu who raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest and glared back at his bodyguard.

"I'm not sure," Bumi replied. "I could see a line of dust from vehicles in the distance heading towards us. They are too far away to see numbers yet."

"Okay, get back up there and let me know when you know more."

Bumi nodded and leapt back into the air, gliding upwards toward the top of the gorge. "There is something up there as well," Lei called down from the roof of the carriage. The airbender pointed at a point above the front of the train and past where the earthbenders were still working to clear the tracks.

Mako followed the line of Lei's arm, searching for the object she was pointing at. High above the gorge, a tiny black dot was moving across the sky towards them and soon the breeze carried the humming sound of a distant engine to them. "A biplane," Mako said. "Get into cover now!"

"They could be a rescue party," Wu said.

"Bumi said that the engineer spoke to the next station, he would have said something if they were sending out a biplane to find us. So do what I say and get back inside the carriage."

Wu nodded and accepted Mako's help to climb down off the back of the badger-mole and up into the carriage. "Make sure he stays inside this time," Mako told Lei as the two airbenders floated down from the top of the carriage and helped the prince back up into the carriage. Once Wu was safely back inside the train, Mako jogged towards the front of the train to warn the soldiers, although by the time he reached them, their commander had already readied them for a potential attack and they had taken up secure positions behind what little cover was available.

The sound of the biplane's engines gradually grew louder and soon it flew directly over the trapped train, before banking to the right and pulling around in a wide turn. Mako watched the biplane as it flew above them, noting that it lacked any identifying marks, and that the biplane was armed with several large bombs slung under the wings. The goggle-covered face of a passenger could also be seen peering over the side of the plane as it passed.

The biplane finished its long turn and headed back towards them again, this time lined up with the tracks and flying lower than it did on the first pass. "Take cover," Mako yelled to two of the crew who had left the engine to see what was happening. Without waiting to see if they followed his order, he ran for the edge of the gorge and ducked under an overhanging ledge. It wouldn't provide much shelter from a bomb, but it might just be enough to save his life. The United Forces soldiers had already taken up secure positions and their commander had obviously determined the biplane was a threat as several of the benders sent jets of flame and chunks of rock flying towards the aircraft.

The biplane pilot jinked around the attacks and continued to fly directly over the train. Everyone nearby braced for an incoming bomb and an explosion, but it never came. Instead, the biplane flew along the entire length of the train without attacking. Mako slipped out from beneath the ledge to see what was happening and was just in time to see two of the bombs detached from the wings and the biplane banked sharply to the left, pulling up and away from the gorge. Twin explosions sounded from the rear of the train, closely followed by the sound of falling rubble. Clouds of dust rose into the air from the site of the explosion as rocks tumbled down the sides of the gorge.

Running as fast as he could, Mako hurried towards the rear of the train to see what the damage was. He soon discovered that the section of the gorge directly behind them now also lay half-buried in rubble. The bombs had hit the sides of the gorge and it had collapsed inwards and covered the rails. The sound of the biplane had now vanished, so it didn't look like their attackers intended to return to drop more bombs on the train itself. The biplane's mission had obviously been to ensure there was no way that the train could retreat and it had been entirely successful. They were now completely trapped, unable to go forward or backwards. Mako gritted his teeth and looked towards the top of the gorge, hoping that Bumi and Ryu would soon return with more information on their attackers.

The eastern precinct police station was relatively quiet when Korra and Naga arrived outside the front entrance. A couple of the officers standing around chatting near several parked police satomobiles looked over at her as she rode past them, but they soon returned to their discussion, which was obviously more important than the arrival of the Avatar.

"Wait here, Girl," Korra said to Naga as she pulled the polar bear dog up in an empty parting place not far from the station entrance and jumped down from the saddle.

"Avatar Korra!" a shrill voice called out as Korra headed towards the stairs leading up to the station's main entrance.

Korra turned and saw a short man wearing a round hat and glasses detach himself from the group of police officers outside the station and come hurrying towards her. The man had a large boxy camera hanging from a strap around his neck and was holding a thick notebook and pen in one hand and had a copy of a newspaper tucked under his arm. Everything about him screamed reporter to her, so she turned away and continued walking towards the station, picking up the pace to try to encourage him to leave her alone.

"Avatar Korra!" the man called out again, closer this time.

She spun around and glared at him. "What do you want?" she demanded. Naga also walked over from where Korra had left her as if she had sensed that Korra was being threatened. The big polar bear dog sniffed at the reporter's leg and then bared her teeth and snarled.

He pulled up quickly at the sight of Naga's sharp fangs, but wasn't completely deterred, waving the copy of the newspaper in the air. "Would you care to comment on the article in today's Republic News?" he asked.

Korra frowned. "I haven't seen the Republic News today," she said. "So no comment."

"Is it true that you are now reunited with your former lover, Mako?"

"Wh... what? Where did you get that idea from? Mako and I are only friends."

"Oh, so the picture on this front page of the Republic News that shows the two of you in a passionate hug isn't real then?" He held up a copy of the newspaper in question so Korra could see the front page.

Korra glared at the page, annoyed to see that a photographer had indeed captured an image of her hugging Mako goodbye on the station platform the previous day. "Well, no, I did hug Mako when he left for Ba Sing Se yesterday, but it was just a hug. He was a friend who was leaving for some time, it doesn't mean anything more than that."

"So are you denying that there is anything romantic between you and Mako then? Despite this fairly conclusive photographic evidence?"

"Go cover some real news stories," she snapped. She stamped her foot on the ground, using her earthbending to raise a small, circular platform of pavement beneath the reporter that spun him around to face the road. She then bent the platform to one side and gave him a short, sharp push away from her. The reporter stumbled away and fell into the arms of one of the police officers who had watched events unfold. The officer nodded to Korra as she stomped off into the station. Meanwhile, Naga closed her jaws and lay down next to the stairs to wait for Korra's return, although she kept one eye open and warily watched the reporter as he struggled to extract himself from the police officer's arms.

"Did you see that?" He said, brushing down his clothes and glaring towards the station entrance. "She attacked me!"

The officer who had prevented him falling looked at him calmly. "I didn't see anything," she said calmly.

"What?"

"That's right," another officer said, slapping a large, meaty hand on the reporter's shoulder. "We are... what did you call us in your last article? Inept, poorly-trained thugs who couldn't tie their own shoelaces."

There was a chuckle from several other officers and with a final glare, the reporter jerked free of the officer's hand and strode off down the street towards his parked satomobile. Just before he climbed into the vehicle he snapped a couple of quick shots with his camera of the officers and Naga before leaping into his satomobile and driving away. Naga sniffed the air, but seemed finally satisfied that the threat had been driven off, so she closed her eyes and settled in to wait until her mistress returned.