Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝐓he airbender had been sitting in the same spot on the hood of the satomobile ever since she found out it was comfortable (when the engines are not hot though). Currently, Team Avatar was resting and eating their dumplings in the streets around the vehicle, but their attention suddenly turned to the radio when it started buzzing out of nowhere.
"All available units, please respond to the fifty-six hundred block of Dragon Flats borough. Equalists have taken to the streets, consider them armed and dangerous. Proceed with caution."
Cloud snickered under her breath when Bolin jumped in the front seat beside Asami before his brother could. Mako was left with the two reckless girls, but it seemed like he didn't have a problem with it. That's a first.
"After you." He let Korra jump in first, helping her get into the car, which made the airbender glance at Asami, seeing her annoyed reaction in the rearview mirror.
"What a gentleman, thanks!" Korra beamed.
Cloud suddenly smacked the back of the firebender's head, the boy wincing and groaning in disbelief when he felt the sting. He rubbed his head to minimize the ache, glaring at the airbender. "What was that for?"
"Move your butt," Cloud muttered, pushing him over to make space for herself. What a gentleman indeed. Asami started the car and drove off to the Dragons Flat borough where police airships were circling around an area plunged in darkness.
"Why is the power out?"
Cloud stepped out of the car as soon as Asami swerved the car around a corner and stopped the engines. A frown slipped on her face at the sight of hundreds of non-benders protesting at the metalbending officers who were holding them behind a blockade. The team became confused at the sight.
"Wait a second, these people aren't armed or dangerous."
"Sure doesn't look that way."
"What is this stupidity I see?"
The team of five turned to Saikhan as he started speaking through a microphone. "All non-benders, return to your homes immediately."
"Yeah, as soon as you turn our power back on," A man said as cries of agreement began to stir among the crowd.
"Disperse, or you will all be arrested."
Now that just didn't make any sense. Cloud frowned as a woman spoke up, holding her child in her arms as her other child tugged on her skirt and pointed at Korra. At the mention of the Avatar, people turned around and rushed towards the dark-haired girl. Korra strode forward, pushing the two metalbender officers aside.
"Everyone, please stay calm. I'm gonna put a stop to this," She told them. Then she turned to the culprit of the whole show. "Tarrlok, you need to turn the power back on and leave these people alone."
"Avatar Korra, you and your playmates have no business here," Tarrlok said sternly.
Her expression hardened. "We're not going anywhere. You don't have the right to treat these innocent people like criminals."
"What she said!" Cloud chimed, making the councilman glare at her. Of course, she glared back.
He lifted his hand and pointed at the people behind them. "This is an Equalist rally. There is nothing innocent about it."
"They're not Equalists." Asami stood up to them. "They're just normal people who want their rights back."
"They are the enemy!" Tarlokk said furiously. "Round up all these Equalists!"
Cloud gaped at the man. "What on Earth—"
The metalbending officers began to earthbend, removing the legs from the barriers and forcing the people back as they coiled the barriers around them. They slammed their legs into the ground, causing large mounds of earth to rise underneath the non-benders, lifting them off the ground. Fear began to spread through those who were not caught, causing them to start running away. The police force prepared to put people into the police trucks. Team Avatar looked extremely aghast with what they were seeing.
Cloud gritted her teeth from annoyance and was about to step up when Korra had beaten her to it. She yelled at them to stop, and when they didn't, she earthbent the mounds of earth down so everyone could escape. The airbender snickered at Tarrlok but her smugness quickly disappeared when he summoned a water whip, suddenly grabbing Asami's wrist. The airbender snapped and stomped toward them.
"Hey!" Asami struggled to break free from his grasp. "Let me go!"
"Let her go, Tarrlok," Cloud said through gritted teeth. "I am not asking you."
The man only stared at her. Then he shouted. "You're under arrest!"
Mako looked shocked as he pointed at him. "What? You can't do that!"
Asami was grabbed by the task force, leaving them no choice.
"Actually, I can," Tarrlok said smugly. "She's a non-bender out past curfew and her father is a known Equalist conspirator."
Mako was furious, but it didn't end there because Tarrlok also ordered the metalbending officers to arrest the two brothers who had done nothing wrong to them. The officers coiled their cables around the brothers and pulled them inside the trucks. Korra became angry at the wrongful convictions, causing her to earthbend two massive rocks on either side of her, threatening to crush them.
"Unless you want to join your friends in prison, I suggest you put those down and go back to the Air Temple."
"Oh, you little git." Her teeth ground together as Cloud spat those words at his face, and before she could even stop, her temper got the best of her. But instead of airbending him and his goons, she hastily threw a hard punch at his face out of spite.
"Take her too!" Tarrlok roared in anger as he clutched his reddening nose, a little scared that his nose could be broken.
For an airbender who's supposed to be a pacifist, she was pretty good at punching people in the face. The metalbending officers hesitated for a second, looking back and forth between the Northern Water Tribe councilman and the respected former Captain of the United Forces. The youngest one in history. Cloud was a little smug when she noticed that he was seething from the inside out. His face looked red from embarrassment and anger.
"Arrest her!" Tarrlok bellowed, almost deafening her in the process.
The police officers were still a bit hesitant but two of them decided to take the matter into their own hands. Cloud stood with a calm smile on her face, looking quite intimidating for a five-foot-four girl. The two officers went behind her and coiled a cable around her wrists before tightening it. She was guided towards the police trucks, but not before she stopped and looked at Tarrlok in the eyes. He grew a bit tensed but hid it with a glare towards the former Captain, waiting for her to utter something.
However, the airbender only gave him a hauntingly sweet smile that would be forever etched in his mind. Maybe he shouldn't have crossed with her. Maybe. It would surely bite his ass back in the future.
