Akashi's heart pounded fast as he stood in front of the highest floor of the tallest building in Republic City.
During the last two weeks, he had booked a personal meeting with the councilman, Tarrlok.
He was donned in his best attire, wearing a classic suit.
The secretary asked him to come in, and he did.
Akashi walked in confidently, holding a book in his hand.
The book in his hand was the one that would take Tarrlok down.
"Well, well, if it isn't the famous Akashi," Tarrlok, a tanned man with long braided hair — like most natives of the South Pole — said with a warm smile.
If Akashi didn't know him better, he would have believed that smile was genuine and that Tarrlok was a warm person.
'This is a real psychopath,' Akashi thought.
"What brings you here?" Tarrlok added.
Akashi took the seat across from him and smiled back warmly.
"You seem to recognize me," Akashi asked.
"Of course I do. In just a month, you've contributed a lot to the city by solving two major crimes," Tarrlok said. "Though I was surprised why a man like you would want a meeting with me. But I'm always open to help one of our city's assets."
What a silk, sly tongue he had.
Akashi knew the reason for this excessive flattery.
It was to confirm if Akashi knew something or not.
Akashi tilted his head and smiled. "Man, if you keep praising me like that, I might blush. No homo."
Tarrlok laughed at the joke. "Do you want some tea or something?"
"No," Akashi waved his hand. "I know you're a busy man, working for the best of our city, and your time is very precious. I'm already feeling guilty for taking a bit of it."
"Hahaha. Don't sweat it," replied Tarrlok.
Akashi placed the book on the desk.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's a novel I'm working on," Akashi said. "Inspired by one of the informants I had, who also happened to be taking bribes."
"Interesting. Using an informant?" Tarrlok asked.
Akashi opened the page that read:
'Disclaimer: All of the events and characters in this novel are purely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.'
"I'll read it in my free time," Tarrlok said as he took the book and put it in the drawer.
Akashi stood up and walked toward the door, talking, trying to get out of the range of the bloodbender.
"To make sure it's worth your time, I'll give you a briefing."
"A briefing?"
"It's about the son of a previous underworld tycoon, who happened to escape jail and change his face," said Akashi.
Tarrlok didn't reply. His face was calm, but his heart was pounding.
Akashi continued.
"The son wants revenge on the city, to complete his daddy's work, and take all the power for himself," he said as he walked out the door, muttering to himself, "Man, we're lucky to have people who accept money and have no loyalty."
The twist in the tale is that the one you bribed to cut down our budget is the same one who gave me that information.
"I'll make sure to read it carefully," Tarrlok said.
Behind Akashi, many people were walking—higher-ups and diplomats.
In front of such a crowd, there was no way Tarrlok would use bloodbending.
"Thanks for your time." Akashi left the building.
As soon as he did, he took the stairs and ran as fast as possible to a nearby car.
Then, the next thing he did was visit the police chief.
-x-X-x-
Tarrlok's heart was racing.
As soon as Akashi left, he locked the door, grabbed the book, and began to read the novel.
Although it claimed to be pure fiction, the backstory and life of the main character were too identical.
Despite the warning that any resemblance to reality was a coincidence, it didn't feel that way.
Especially since Tarrlok had been the one to attempt to kidnap Akashi, based on a request from the Earth Queen promising support for him to become the next mayor.
"If he knows about my father, then he'd know he's a bloodbender as well."
And sure enough, the story began with a powerful bender knocking down a criminal who could bloodbend.
'That could be a coincidence,' Tarrlok thought. 'My father was known to be a bloodbender. But my relation to him wasn't.'
But as he continued reading, the son grew up, learning bloodbending.
'He doesn't know about my brother.'
But Tarrlok didn't stop.
The young son, who also became a bloodbender, went to the city to carry out his father's vendetta. He immersed himself in politics, reaching a high level just below the mayor.
He also tried to take power from his competition through underhanded methods.
In the novel, there was a request from the supposed Earth ruler, aka, the queen.
The scene was quite erotic.
In short, the scene described the bloodbender meeting the Earth ruler, an old woman.
She took him to her bedroom and pegged him from behind as he cried. At the end, he thanked her for the reward he earned after kidnapping human airbenders for her scientific experiments.
Tarrlok could no longer read the gay scene.
Most of the things in this book were true.
But the last part made him sweaty.
If this book were published, people might not link the main strings to him.
But those he bribed—the triad heads he controlled—would be able to connect some dots and mock him.
'Akashi, that bastard! To twist the truth like that! How dare he!'
Tarrlok held his chest, feeling his drumming heart almost burst.
The councilman calmed down.
Akashi could be dealt with, whether by bribe or by killing him.
Most likely, he came here with this book to tell him he knew everything about him—or mostly, since no one knew about his brother.
'I remember him saying those who accept bribes have no loyalty and can be bought,' he thought. 'I see. It's the Security Finance manager. I paid him to forge papers, dis-link me from my father, and all. I never told him about my father, but as the security manager, he should have known.'
'Is he using Akashi against me to ask for more money?'
'It could be him, or anyone I bribed.'
'Very well.' Tarrlok, fearful of his dark past and false rumors spreading, stood up.
-x-X-x-
The Police Chief, Lin Beifong, was having her day off.
She was walking with bread in her hand, heading home.
Honk Honk
Someone behind her was honking.
She chose to ignore it, assuming it was for someone else.
But the car matched her pace, and the honking didn't stop.
She turned and yelled, "Get the fuck out before I destroy your sorry ass!"
But then she stopped when she saw Akashi.
"Huh? And here I was about to ask you out on a date," he said sarcastically before honking again. "Get in."
"I can walk," she replied.
"Aren't you interested in what I'm about to show you?" Akashi asked.
"If it's your coffee shop, just spare me," she replied. "I'm on my day off."
"It may be related to a case you never closed," Akashi said, catching her interest with just a few words.
She quickly opened the car door and got in. "If you waste my time… I swear."
Akashi handed her a long-ass camera and said, "Trust me, you may ask me out if you find out what I'm about to show you."
The chief paused, then said, "What is it?"
"I'm not going to spoil it for you now, am I?" he said, driving around, following Tarrlok's car.
"Since when did you buy a car, and since when did you learn to drive?" she asked, as his supervisor.
"Last week I got my license, and it's a colleague's car," he said. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm going to throw it over your head if I find out you wasted my time," she said.
The chief and Akashi talked for a bit as they drove into a district—the same street where Akashi used to have an apartment.
Tarrlok had just entered one of the houses.
Akashi took the camera from Beifong, parked the car, then climbed the building, jumping from one floor to another. With each jump, air circled around his feet and pushed him up.
He stuck to one of the windows and began taking pictures before jumping down.
Beifong frowned, thinking Akashi might have never dropped the case against Tarrlok.
It was obvious that Tarrlok was having a normal conversation with that person.
But Akashi would think anyone talking to Tarrlok might be a corrupt officer since he suspected Tarrlok was targeting him.
Akashi was a good cop, but he had fallen down the rabbit hole that others like him fall into: becoming super paranoid.
Maybe it was time to demote him.
Akashi soon returned to the car and got in.
"Akashi… hand me your badge," demanded Lin.
"You're on your day off," he said, handing her the camera, his face wearing a wide smile. "Anyway, look at the film."
Lin clenched her jaw but decided to take the camera and give it a look before smashing it on his head.
She looked at it.
And before her aggressive behavior took over, she paused because the pictures didn't make sense.
"They're quite low quality because I deactivated the flash. But the lighting inside was pretty good," he commented. "This is the guy he bribed before."
Tarrlok was pointing his hand at the man, and the man was floating. Soon, he got knocked out.
"But why?" she asked, opening her mouth wide.
He lost consciousness.
"I swear I have no idea why, but I decided to follow him out of curiosity. Because he's a creep," Akashi said, denying any involvement in manipulating Tarrlok.
Tarrlok soon got out of the building, putting his hand around the shoulder of the security finance manager.
The man looked like he was walking normally.
Akashi leaned back and put his hand on Lin's chest, pushing her backward.
"He's using bloodbending," Akashi said. "That's why the man looks like he's walking with him. The latter is unconscious."
"Fuck! Why are you not surprised?" she said, looking down. Akashi's hand was grabbing something they were not supposed to touch, and she wasn't wearing armor. He seemed clueless, his eyes following Tarrlok.
She commented. "And you're holding my boobs."
"Better than getting sawed and bloodbent. As for why I'm not surprised, my undercover experience taught me how to control my reactions," Akashi said, not apologizing, pulling his hand away and turning on the engine.
"Just follow him," she exhaled deeply and frowned.