Air Temple Island is usually a peaceful place these days, after Kuvira's failed invasion of Republic City caused extensive damage. While the citizens were evacuated, it took time to rebuild after people returned. The arrival of a spaceship, named the Darla Angel, from beyond the stars, surprises them all. The airbenders are ready to take action and take out those they believe are trying to occupy the island. They ask for Korra's help, cutting short her date with Asami. What they find is something none of them expected, leading to new friends and tricky situations not just for Korra and Asami, but for the wild lesbian space captain, Chelli, and her sciencey ex-princess girlfriend, Entrapta.
"Korra, I know you are busy, but we need your help! Some unknown ship has landed near Air Temple Island. It could be invaders again."
Rolling her eyes, Korra grumbled, as she spoke to Ikki who had come to visit her personally. She had just started her date at a tea shop that had reopened. It had been damaged badly by Kuvira's invasion. Like many others in the city, Korra really wanted to take a break, at least for today. Asami held her hand, trying to reassure her. Ikki left after Korra told her she would assist them.
"You should go...I'll stay here and...we can reschedule this for another time."
Korra shook her head. She wasn't going to let that happen. They weren't going to separate just because she was needed for Avatar duties. That wouldn't be right, not at all! She had to do what she could to make sure they stayed together, rather than parting from one another because it was "easier." She hated that. What Asami was suggesting bothered her so much she had to push back.
"No, no. I will go, but you are coming with me!" She firmly grabbed Asami's hand and put down some coins on the table. She suddenly jumped into a nearby car, with Asami following behind. She would have been embarrassed but this time she was elated. She liked doing stuff like this with Korra. Finally they could be together.
This car was a vehicle that she had specifically made for Korra. Asami used to be afraid to ride with Korra behind the wheel. Now, she could admit that Korra had gotten a bit better, partially thanks to her training.
That soon went out the window. Driving as fast as she could, Korra buzzed past other cars at such a rate that Asami was terrified, as she held on for dear life. Before she knew it, Korra had driven to the pier, and put her foot on the accelerator, sending the car right into the water. Using her waterbending and airbending powers, she surrounded the automobile, levitating it above the sandy floor of Yue Bay.
Just in time, she pressed a button on the dashboard. It turned the vehicle into a submersible. Korra breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have to exert any more energy. Using her air and water powers for such a long period could be exhausting. This was the car's first ever field test, so Asami hoped it worked, even though she had tested the concept in her factory. If it didn't, it would be bad news for both of them.
The car-now-submarine went through the water smoothly and made its way toward Air Temple Island. Korra was amazed. She came close to Asami and smooched her on the cheek. "Thanks sweetie. I love this car, water-vehicle thing you made me...thanks so much."
Asami blushed as the vehicle went forward. It easily moved through the water without an issue. She couldn't be happier that Korra liked this. She stared at Korra's blue eyes and hugged her.
"I'm so glad you liked it...I'd do anything for you, Korra. Making this was the least I could do."
At Asami's instruction, she pressed another button. The car became an amphibious vehicle of-sorts, allowing it to come out of the water and onto land. Soon enough they reached the island's edge. While some sides included rocks, others had sandy beaches. They used the latter to their advantage.
Not long after, they spotted a group of individuals wearing strange clothes, by their standards, despite the fact they had traveled across the entire globe and had seen many clothing styles along the way. One of them came forward to the chagrin of woman with multi-colored hair and a sparkly cape. She wore a bombardier helmet with goggles which covered her brown hair. It looked a little like something Asami, or she, would have worn, if they were going on a motorbike ride, during a summer afternoon when there was a pinkish glow. This was different somehow. She had a belt holding a blaster in a holster, as part of her outfit. It was practical while her clothing drew attention. That was the point.
"Hi, I'm Captain Aphra, the greatest archaeologist on this side of the universe...and this is my crew."
Korra and Asami shrugged. They had never heard of her. The nearby spaceship, parked alongside the island, seemed unusual. It didn't resemble anything in this world that they knew of.
Tenzin rolled his eyes. He was beginning to lose his patience with her. She had introduced herself the same way to the airbenders. Like anyone would be, they remained incredibly skeptical of this woman and her crew. Tenzin yelled at her, clearly agitated. He wanted answers and now.
"You said that already! What's that huge ship doing here and why'' you park it next to our island?"
A girl with purple prehensile hair walked toward them. She quickly, and closely, studied Tenzin, then dodged his airbending, and made her way toward to Korra and Asami. She answered matter-of-factly.
"We crashed here because my girlfriend was intensely flirting with me while the ship was spiraling through the atmosphere at an incredible speed. It was so thrilling. I'd love to do it again!"
Korra looked around, unsure which one of them could be her girlfriend. Maybe the girl in the sparkly cloak? The girl with blond hair? The cat-like woman? She looked up. The woman was right in her face.
"Hi, I'm Entrapta. Wow your arms are so big and strong...can I touch them?"
Korra slid back a little bit as Entrapta twirled her fingers in her hair, staring deeply into her blue eyes. Asami stood in front of her defensively. She didn't like people touching her girlfriend without permission or even invading her personal space. That was a relationship red-line for her. It made her incredibly nervous.
Almost like Korra wanted the answer, she chuckled. She didn't mind boasting. "Oh, and Chelli, I mean...Captain Aphra is my girlfriend. She's the best, even though she can be a bit wild sometimes! It keeps things so exciting and interesting, livening the mood for some porking every damn night. It's wonderful."
The woman with the sparkly cloak couldn't hold herself back. She couldn't take this anymore! She couldn't stand by with Entrapta saying this kind of thing openly when she and her boyfriend hadn't even made it past first-base. She didn't know these sexual euphemisms/slang, but she guessed that they did something intense together. She shouted back, her jealously clearly seeping through.
"Hey! You both are the ones who caused the ship to descend through the atmosphere because you wanted to play the kissing game, whatever the hell that is! It was much more than 'intense flirting'!"
Korra, Asami, and Tenzin felt like these were things they shouldn't hear, personal disputes these people should resolve on their own. Holding the woman's hand, a man with short brown hair and deep brown skin stepped forward. He resolved to calm down tensions the best he could.
"Sorry about my girlfriend, Glimmer. She can get…a bit passionate. Our ship got damaged and we were hoping you might be able to fix it. I convinced them to move the ship here so less people would be bothered. Oh and my name is Bow by the way."
Asami still couldn't completely comprehend what they meant about a craft traveling through the atmosphere. Korra and Tenzin thought they were bluffing, at first. Now they were beginning to absorb what these visitors had been saying and it seemed more genuine. She stamped down her foot to get everyone's attention.
"Okay. Back it up a second. What do you mean you came through the atmosphere? Did you come from space? That can't be possible, right?"
Adora laughed heartily. Had these people never engaged in space travel? How primitive were they?
"Come on, have you never gone into space? I mean, I'm fucking She-Ra and I've fought vessels in space with a sword...haven't you done that?"
The cat-woman chopped her on the head with her hand. She was annoyed at how the blond-haired woman had addressed Korra, Asami, and Tenzin, only knowing the name of the latter. It perturbed her because she was doing the opposite of what she had told her to do when meeting people from unfamiliar cultures on planets they visited.
"My girlfriend Adora is being very rude. Not everyone has been into outer space...or has been saved from a genocidal emperor as Adora did...it was then I realized how adorable she really was."
Asami, Tenzin, and Korra seemed to be understanding these strange visitors. However, Korra still had one more question. She was trying to piece it all together.
"Okay, so Captain Aphra is the wild archaeologist...and she's in love with the woman who walks on her hair, Entrapta...you both crashed the ship here because you were kissing too much...and then there's the woman with the sparkly cape, Glimmer, her boyfriend Bow...and the blond-haired woman named Adora who is also named She-Ra...okay. But who is the woman with the cat-tail and cat-ears?"
Shaking her head, Adora pointed to her feline friend, first to her ears, then to her tail. It was so obvious? How didn't she get it by now? Perhaps that not everyone was as perceptive as her.
"Her name is Catra...get it? And she's what some people call a 'catgirl,' although I call her more of a 'cat woman,' a woman who is my lovely girlfriend."
It finally made sense to Korra. What she didn't get was why she had been called here. After all, Tenzin and the other airbenders could have easily held off this motley crew, right? Her date with the beautiful, amazing Asami was interrupted for this? Why? It angered her more than a little. She began to walk away.
"Tenzin, can you handle this? I wanna get back to my date with Asami. This doesn't seem like a big issue."
He sighed. He expected she would say something like that. As her mentor, he also knew that she needed a break and couldn't solve everything going wrong in Republic City nor the world even as the exalted Avatar. Even so, he wanted her to deal with this issue because… well, these visitors were around her age. He was getting too old for this kind of thing. He couldn't just say that, could he? He could not reveal his true intentions. As he was about to say something, he could see Asami whispering in Korra's ear.
She said, in a tone that Korra could only hear, "Sweetie, can we please do this, together? Then we can get back to our date and, later, we can turn on shooter's hill with one another." Somehow, especially her last comment, changed Korra's tune. She now was willing to put up with the annoyance of dealing with these visitors if she could get a reward later.
"Fine, I'll deal with them, Tenzin," she began, in a comment which surprised him. "...if they get out of line, I'll bring them to Chief Beifong, so she can book 'em..." Tenzin nodded. Such treatment might seem harsh, but she felt it could be necessary, if only to get them out of her hair. For all her talk about preserving balance, Korra, herself, wasn't against prisons if they kept the social order in check. However, if the right person came along, they might be able to convince her otherwise, with a reasoned discussion.
Knowing they couldn't take the car there and wanting to get this over with, Korra decided to ride a flying bison instead. Glimmer and Bow watched with amazement as they made their way to this creature. Adora was enthralled, as much as was the first time she ever saw a horse. Catra wasn't sure about this. She didn't want to go near it. Adora encouraged her to go forward.
Chelli found the creature curious. She felt the fur, surreptitiously pulled off some, on her own, and stuffed it into her pocket. She kept thinking how much she could earn if selling this fur at a market. Apta came with her, while she ordered Emily to follow them. With the press of a button, Emily began hovering in the air, and her body changed to be more aerodynamic. These were features Apta has built in, with Chelli's help.
Korra said "yip-yip." The sky bison took off. As they left, Tenzin began walking through the temple, including the open walkway, wondering if he had made the right decision to push this matter onto Korra and Asami (to a lesser extent). As it happened, Pema was there. He confided in her about his worries.
"I really could have dealt with this on my own. Was I right to pull Korra into this, Pema?...I don't know…"
Pema shook her head. She resolved to tell him that there was nothing to worry about so that he did need to be so concerned. It would be okay. She had a sense why he was worried, since Korra's emotions could sometimes get the better of her at times, while at other times she could be calm. This time was different.
"She'll be fine. Don't forget: she has Asami with her. They will all get along fine...I guarantee you."
On the other side of the city, the sky bison descended to a lush area within the picturesque Republic City Park, complete with trees, meadows, stone bridges, and monuments. It was often a place that Korra had traveled to, like many other residents of Republic City, including where she met some hobos and where she had strengthened her personal connection with Mako. No one had bothered her as she flew across Yue Bay and above the bustling city. Residents were a bit used to seeing her at this point, even those who grumbled about the Avatar being "unfair."
After the sky bison had landed, Korra wondered where they would go in the city. Out of the blue and without any prompting from anyone, Adora made a bold proclamation. She boasted that she could take on Korra, thanks to her special abilities. She didn't say what they were until she inadvertently hinted at them, yet again. "You're just a buff girl...I can turn into She-Ra...this won't even be a contest."
Catra was not keen on them fighting, especially since Chelli and Apta were there, as was Emily. The robot sat right by Apta, who was petting her on the head. Asami was the one who egged on Korra, to her surprise. "My sweet Korra, you can do it! Your elemental powers are no match against her damn sword." Adora wasn't sure what Asami was talking about, but she prepared herself. Korra begrudgingly accepted it, only because she didn't want clean up the park if it got damaged in the process of their battle. She really would end up in the slammer for that, well, probably.
"For the honor of gayskull," Adora exclaimed, replacing the word "grey" with "gay" by accident. She changed into an eight-foot-tall warrior lady, which Korra would find intimidating if she was any normal person. However, she did not. Instead, she remained cocky and did not want to back-down. Summoning her powers, she was able to enter the Avatar State. Adora was a bit nervous until she heard Catra shouting to her. "Hey, Adora! All you need to do is kick Korra's ass!" That was something she could do. Asami rolled her eyes and grumbled. She knew this wasn't going to end well.
Apta watched intently, declaring this would be an "interesting experiment." Chelli added that she wanted to fight Korra next. Catra shook her head. She really was surrounded a bunch of goofballs.
Adora began the first attack, lunging with her sword. Using her air powers, Korra sent her flying, causing her sword to be knocked out of her hand. As she tried to get it, she deftly dodged air blasts. Somehow she grabbed a hold of the Sword of Protection yet again. She was glad it wasn't having any issues, as they continued to spare. If that sword somehow got broken, what could she do? She was so far from Etheria. She didn't even know what planet she was on. She transformed her sword into a net, and attempted to put it over Korra.
This plan seemed like it was going to work, until Korra struck back. She froze Adora's hands in place, causing the net to fall. What she didn't count on was that Adora would fall right into her arms, resulting in her ending the Avatar State not long after because she was so embarrassed by this. Adora felt the same way. They quickly separated ways without saying anything about what had just happened. Catra was laughing at how ridiculous it all was, only causing the blush to fully cover Adora's face. She knew that her girlfriend meant well, but sometimes she could… act inappropriately.
Asami knew how to break the tension. She announced they would be going to her favorite tea shop in the city. It wasn't the same one she had visited with Korra earlier that day, but another one she enjoyed. Korra didn't mind the idea. Adora and Catra were fine with this idea as well, as were Glimmer and Bow, seeing it as somewhere they could relax. Chelli sighed. She wanted to see them sparing more. Apta looked up from her copious notes she had been making on her datapad about the fighting styles of Korra and Asami. She whispered in her partner's ear at an audible voice only she could only hear.
"You still want to fuck shit up as you said recently...right?...let's do that, together." Chelli couldn't agree more. She didn't care much if it caused a problem for Korra, Asami, or anyone else in Republic City. Causing chaos within the city sounded like a lot of fun. Perhaps she could even find some artifacts she could pilfer. After all, she already had the fur of that strange creature which carried them through the air. "Apta, let's do it...I'll just come up with an excuse." As they began to walk away, Glimmer called them out on it. She didn't totally trust Chelli, especially with that robot and Apta with her.
"Where do you think you all are going?" Glimmer demanded of them, as on some level, she didn't trust either one of them. Sometimes she really couldn't understand this woman or get why Apta was with her. Didn't she know better? As Chelli began to respond, Apta spoke first. She was fine with that, as she would have cursed out Glimmer if she had spoken instead.
"Me, Emily, and my dear Chelli are heading back to the ship...we need to make some repairs, then we can leave this planet. You understand that, don't you?"
Glimmer grumbled. While she still did not believe their new captain, who had gotten into that position in an awful way (through a sort of coup d'etat), she trusted Apta a little bit more. After all, without her help, they never could have defeated Horde Prime. Etheria would still be under Horde rule. Since then, Apta had begun to make amends for working with Hordak. That was certainly something positive in her favor.
"Fine. You can both go. Please don't cause any trouble." Apta shouted back. "We won't!" They both hopped on top of Emily, who sped off into the distance. Glimmer hoped she had made the right decision.
All the while, Korra, Asami, Catra, and Adora were chatting it up. She felt a little left out. Bow holding her hand made her feel a little better. They continued to walk alongside one another. In the process, they walked on their own, apart from from the group, and chatted amongst themselves. All the while, they watched what unfolded in front of them.
On their way to the tea shop, Korra teased her girlfriend. "Hey Asami," followed by a long, loving kiss on her cheek. Asami couldn't hold back her laughter. Korra didn't understand why until she heard her partner's words. "Are you trying to copy what that fierce cat-woman said?...it sounds a lot like 'Hey Adora' to me."
Korra put her hands over her face, in an attempt to hide how warm it was, and its flushed colors. It did not work at all. She couldn't believe Asami had said that. She tried to claim otherwise. "Pssh! No, why would you think that?...it's nothing like that...you know...I just…"
Asami filled in her next words. "wanted to be cute? Because, sweetie, that was so, amazingly cute."
Almost in unison, Catra and Korra exclaimed, at the same time, "I'm not cute!," with Catra saying it without any prompting from Adora, causing her to laugh as well. Catra tried to do the same thing as Korra did, hiding her face, but it didn't work either. Asami continued to tease her girlfriend.
"So are you going to grow a tail, start purring, and get some cat ears...next?"
Korra, still embarrassed, tried to get Asami to drop the subject. "Can we please forget it?...I shouldn't have listened to her...I just want to get to the tea shop and relax."
Not wanting to cause her girlfriend any more discomfort, she said, as they neared the shop, "You know I'm only teasing you. I really liked it, but it's a little weird to have you sound like some cat...woman we just met, rather than the dorky, fun girl I love." She then kissed Korra on the cheek, who appreciated the gesture. As they walked into the shop, people glanced at them, some admiring Asami, leading Korra to give them a death-glare, causing them to back off. She wouldn't let anyone else look at her girl like she did.
They soon got a window seat inside the shop. At least in this world there wasn't some deadly virus which had killed millions of people. Nothing like that existed in Republic City. If it did, it would have caused a massive upheaval, possibly changing the face of the city forever.
Asami picked her favorite, exquisite tea. It was a bit expensive, but the money Korra got from gigs around town, and money she received from the government in exchange for keeping people in the city safe was enough to pay for it. She still had a lot left over. This time was different. Asami insisted she would pay for it. After all, she was, on paper, the CEO of Sato Industries, although she had delegated many of the company's responsibilities to lower-rung employees, and she remained the largest shareholder.
After they finished their tea, and the table had been cleared, Catra challenged Asami to arm wrestle and Asami accepted the challenge. While Korra and Adora could have done the same, since they had the muscles for it, even though Korra was surely more physically strong than Adora, and they could have kept it going for a while. Korra couldn't believe Asami. She didn't think she would challenge someone to a duel. Adora asked, innocently, "should we allow them do this?" Korra shrugged. It was fine. There weren't many people inside. "Eh, it's okay. Let them do it."
Asami's green eyes met the heterochromic eyes of Catra. Their eyes stared at one another. They both jabbed at each other, with their words, hoping to knock the other one off their game. "You have no chance against me, you catgirl. It's okay to not win." Catra scoffed. How could Asami say such a thing, to someone like her, a person who had been through so much. "In your dreams, rich girl. I won't loose an arm wrestling match to a woman like you." They were soon locked into a match. Each of them had a lot of arm strength, sometimes more than they put on. To be fair, Catra had retracted her claws.
It seemed to be a dead-heat, with each one having the ability go keep going. As the match continued, Asami and Catra continued to sweat and tire a bit, determined to beat the other, proving which one of them was better, which one was superior. They were worked up, as their hearts began to beat faster, almost feeling like they were coming out of their chests. Neither one of them had special powers, like the power to summon elements nor a magical sword, but they had their own abilities and could continue the arm wrestling contest without a doubt.
If Adora and Korra had fought with their arms, the match may have become so dangerous that they would have caused the tea shop to explode, especially if Korra was in the Avatar State and Adora in the She-Ra form. That did not happen. Instead, Asami and Catra wanted to prove themselves to their respective girlfriends, with the latter watching every part of the match. After about twenty minutes of this, Catra and Asami were exhausted, and declared a draw. That wasn't a result either one wanted, but they were, in some ways, evenly matched.
As Korra began praising Asami, and Adora doing the same for Catra, they heard the sirens of the city's elite police officers riding in their specialized vehicles. Each officer wore a suit equipped with metal cable spools on their backs which they could use to capture lawbreakers. Their vehicles sped down the road quickly. They had been given special clearance to not obey the speed limit. Many citizens found this unfair and saw this as one reason they disliked the police. Korra started to reach for the phone, so she could call Chief Beifong. Asami held her back. "Let them deal with that today. Take a break. You don't need to stress yourself out."
Korra withdrew her hand. She knew her partner was right. "Okay. You have a point. Let's have more tea and then head back to Air Temple Island. We can even have a sleepover!" It was then that Glimmer and Bow piped in. "That would be great!" they said together. Adora then added, "I even have some cool pajamas!...I've been waiting to try them out." They had no idea what was going on some streets away, involving Chelli, Apta, and Emily.
All three of them were in a real pickle this time. They had been truly trying to go back to the ship, as Apta would say it. Chelli really did want to get involved in some action. It all started when they came across a cabbage merchant, who was the grandson of the famed merchant Cai. He offered them some of his wares, but the price he sold them at seemed unreasonable. Chelli tried to haggle. Apta grabbed one and threw it to Chelli, who began eating it.
"Ma'am can you please give that back? You can even pay for it...it's no trouble at all…" he said, while his voice began to shake. She joked with him. Getting in his face, she chuckled loudly, so much so that almost everyone could hear her. "Nice things are for the taking. You don't always have to pay for them." The merchant did not know what to say. Chelli gave the signal to Apta. She encouraged Emily to fire her laser cannon, which annihilated his stand, causing the cabbages to fly everywhere, littering the street.
He fell to the ground and exclaimed. "My cabbages!" He once had a huge corporation but was falsely accused of crimes, causing him to lose everything. As had happened to him, and his forefathers before, he would always be the cursed cabbage merchant. Maybe it was time to get into another line of business.
As they continued to walk through the streets, one person saw a nearby police officer, who was patrolling. She pointed at Chelli and Apta. "They are thieves, officer! Arrest them!" They knew they were in for it. Turning around, they faced the officer, who came ever closer. At that moment, Chelli drew her blaster. She cocked it and prepared to fire. She didn't expect a metal cable to be shot in her direction, so her gun went off inadvertently, hitting the officer in the chest. However, his metal armor blocked it, causing the blast to bounce off and reach his nearby patrol wagon, which exploded, with pieces flying every which way.
The officer stepped back and ran to a phone, while Chelli and Apta fled. They couldn't run forever. If they could just make it to the ship, they would be safe. It would even be fine if they left someone behind. Apta urged her to not do that, saying they all needed to stick together. Chelli agreed, although her anger at Glimmer, especially, did not go away. They had almost reached the water's edge when they were surrounded by police wagons. One woman in particular led the charge. She spoke in an even-tempered voice. "Approach with caution. We have reason to believe they are armed and dangerous."
She had on a full suit of armor, with a symbol indicating her role in the police (as the chief). Seeing they were stuck in a corner, she called out to them, using her megaphone. "Please stop what you are doing, this instant! Let's talk down at the station and we can get this sorted out."
Chelli angrily shouted back at her. She wouldn't be bossed around, not by a woman like her. "We won't be going anywhere with you, metal lady!" The officers prepared to advance and were caught off guard when Apta, seeing a way out of the situation, told Emily to blast the nearby building. She did so, causing debris to fall onto the officers, almost burying some of them. Lin continued to advance, even as she endured blaster-bolts from Chelli's gun. With one cable, she knocked the gun out of Chelli's hands, and in another, she wrapped up Chelli, who began squirming.
Other officers swooped in and easily captured Apta and Emily, loading them all into the back of a patrol wagon. They would be taken down to the station to be interrogated for the destruction they caused. On the way back, they passed by the cafe again. Korra, Asami, Adora, and Catra paid it no mind until Bow recognized something. "Uh, everyone, Entrapta's in there…" Glimmer put her head in her hands. "And if she's there, her girlfriend is there too…" This wasn't the way that Korra wanted to end her day. She cared enough about her new friends that she wanted to help them, even if she didn't really know Apta or Chelli.
"Don't worry. I'll go down to the station and get them out. You all can head back to the island." Adora, Catra, Glimmer, and Bow were fine with that. Asami decided to stay with her. As they walked to the police station, Korra commandeered a vehicle, declaring, "official Avatar business. I am taking your vehicle." The man was aghast. "You can go down to the police station to get it." Korra added. He was grateful, even though he didn't like her taking his property.
In record time, they made their way down to the station. Lin had just finished interrogating Chelli and Apta. She wasn't sure what to do with Emily, so she ordered Apta to turn her off, so they couldn't escape. She complied with Lin's request. The moment after Korra came in, Lin angrily shouted at her. "Where were you? These women and their robot hurt my officers! Aren't you supposed to be protecting the city?"
Korra was going to respond, but Asami said something first. She didn't like how Lin was acting. This was one of the many times she had defended Korra that day. "She is taking a break. She has done so much to protect this city, as have I. She can't be on 24/7, all the time. She has to have some down time."
Lin knew that Asami had a valid point. They had done a lot to protect Republic City, even helping stop the invasion by Kuvira. "You are right. I'm just really stressed with all of this...it's a lot to handle right now."
Korra could sympathize. While she wasn't always on good terms with the cops, she had still worked with them, and Lin had been indispensable over the years in taking down a rash of villains. She came up with a compromise proposal which she hoped would help her friends.
"Why don't I take custody of them and bring them back to Air Temple Island? Their ship is there. I can personally guarantee they will leave Republic City without causing any more damage."
Lin appreciated the offer. However, she knew it wouldn't satisfy those who wanted more law and order. "The best I can do, Korra, is keep them in jail for one night. I can't lose the people's confidence again."
Korra understood what Lin was saying, even though she had hoped the result had been different. She could accept Lin's terms. "We will pick them up here tomorrow morning." They both left, with Asami holding Korra's hand tightly. Somehow they would make make their way back to Air Temple Island even though their car, inconveniently, was on the island. Perhaps they would use a sky bison.
As the night wore on, Korra, Asami, Adora, Catra, Bow, and Glimmer enjoyed their time together during their sleepover. They were unaware that Apta had bugged the place with some small drones, so she could keep an eye on what was going on. Apta and Chelli were in nearby cells. Producing a high-pitched whistle, Apta reactivated Emily. To the shock of the officers, who had the robot in confinement, it escaped, and began walking down the corridor which contained Apta and Chelli's cells. When the officers attempted to restrain it, the robot fired a blast of energy, which sent the officers running in fear. They didn't even pull a nearby alarm. Emily, at Apta's direction, blasted the locks of the cells where Apta and Chelli were being held. Now in the hallway, rather than in a cell, Chelli had a great plan: cause a prison break.
In no time at all, Emily blasted the locks of every jail cell. Those released opened their cell doors and soon rushed into the police station's main room, easily overwhelming the guards. They couldn't stop one officer from activating an alarm, which indicated that the facility was on lockdown. Lin got a notification almost immediately, thanks to their cable-to-cable notification system, which she had set up thanks to fellow metalbenders on the force. She called the jail and told them to activate the secret nets. They pressed a button. They nets deployed in seconds. The prisoners climbed out the windows and fled through other parts of the facility. Most of them were captured by the electrified nets. The police had planned for this possibility, due to the number of breakouts in the past.
Apta, Emily, and Chelli somehow got through, with Chelli able to retrieve her gun that the cops had taken from her, thanks to Emily destroying the nets near the doorway, which intended on capturing prisoners. She also grabbed a special trinket, a bluish precious stone of some kind. Apta got back her datapad. They were the only ones who got through. No one else did. Once outside, they fled quickly, with both riding Emily. Not long after, Lin arrived at the jail. The guards had escorted the prisoners back into their cells, who had become so woozy from the electrocution that they could not resist. Some guards used their elemental abilities to fix the damaged cells.
Lin walked down the hallway and made her way to the cells and saw two in particular which were blasted open. "Officer, who were in these cells?"
He responded quickly. "Ms. Entrapta and Ms. Aphra, ma'am. Their robot has also been reported missing."
She grumbled. Yet another headache to deal with. "Thanks for the information. That is most helpful."
Before she left, she picked up an available phone. She ordered the deployment of blimps staffed by metalbending officers to find Chelli, Emily, and Apta, so they could be returned to custody. It was a bit of a show, as she knew that they likely wouldn't find them this time. But she had to make an attempt at least.
As she walked back to police headquarters, Lin groused. "That damn Aphra. I hope Korra knows what she is doing better than me. That girl, her robot, and her robot-obsessed partner could cause a mess here."
Somehow, Apta, Chelli, and Emily escaped their pursuers. Knowing they were in a safe place, Apta directed Emily. "Display the feed from camera one." The robot beeped. The request had been acknowledged.
She showed them what the camera was recording in real-time. They were talking about Chelli and Apta. Korra was asking the questions. "So, why do you all stay with Aphra?...she seems kinda different from you all." Glimmer sighed. She wasn't aware that Chelli could hear what she was about to say. "She really is a big pain in the ass, but Entrapta insisted she stay with us. I don't get their whole relationship. I don't think she's good for her, or anything...I sometimes wish we could just go back to Etheria." As Bow started to say something, Catra cut her off. "Yeah, same here. Maybe Sparkles is onto something. Entrapta has bad taste in women, I have to say." That was ironic considering what she and Adora had done to each other prior to their kiss. Back in the pipe, which looked onto Air Temple Island, where they could see the lights, Apta was inconsolable. Chelli was furious. How could anyone make her girl cry?
Although what Glimmer and Catra had said was not entirely wrong, and made sense, from their perspective, the fact they were admitting it so openly, without trying to talk to Apta about it, showed that the fissures between the crew members were even more pronounced. Emily turned off the feed at Apta's request. Chelli comforted her. "Don't worry. They will pay for what they've said...they won't get away with this." Apta hugged her back and they remained in a close embrace. They began planning for what was to come, then slept in the pipe together, cuddling with one another.
The next morning, Korra, Asami, Catra, Adora, Bow, and Glimmer were awakened by a loud horn. Meelo was acting like a goof and dancing around, as always. His loud voice blared across the room. "It's time to get up, Lin is here!" Korra shot up like a rocket, while mostly everyone else was groggy, even Asami, who Korra shook awake. Why would Lin be there? Shouldn't everything have been solved yesterday?
As they filed out into the breakfast room, Korra and Asami were more alert than anyone else. Lin was waiting for them at the table, where Pema, Bumi, Tenzin, and Jinora were already sitting. Ikki, Kai, and others would have been there, but they were out helping remove rubble, structures damaged by the jail escape and explosions which had been caused by Chelli, Apta and Emily the previous day.
"Korra, I have something grave to tell you...there was a jail break-out last night. Misses Aphra, Entrapta, and that good-for-nothing robot escaped."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How much trouble could these people be causing? Yet another issue for her to deal with. Everyone spent the rest of the meal not saying much, as they chomped down, with Bumi, Jinora, and Pema talking amongst themselves. Tenzin tried to reassure Korra.
"It isn't your fault...don't blame yourself."
Korra didn't. They barely got to enjoy the meal because of it. As they made their way outside, they saw, to their amazement, Chelli and Apta. They looked dirty and messy, presumably because the ship had been repaired. Little did they know, but Chelli and Apta has slept in a pipe the night prior. Lin prepared to arrest them. Korra, with Asami by her side, told her to stand-down.
"Lin, I told you yesterday that I would deal with them. I will personally demand that they not return to Republic City again." Turning to both of them, she made a declaration. "Misses Aphra and Entrapta, neither of you are welcome in this city. Please leave immediately." It was hard to say this, but she felt that she had to say it.
She then whispered at a tone only the others could hear, addressing Bow, Glimmer, Adora, and Catra. "Sorry. I had no choice. It had to be done." Bow responded back. "I understand. You have a hard job."
There was no doubt that she addressed Bow, Glimmer, Adora, and Catra one way and Chelli and Apta another way. This stark difference only infuriated Chelli more. She wanted to curse out Korra, just as she had wanted to curse out Glimmer the previous day. Apta calmed her down, saying they needed to stick to the plan. She knew that Apta was right. She held her anger in, for now.
Not long after, Apta and Chelli acted nicely, welcoming the other crew members back on board. Everyone on Air Temple Island waved as the Darla Angel took off from the island's coastline, then rapidly sped through the atmosphere. Now they knew that space travel was possible, not a myth. Lin pulled Korra aside. "Come with me. We are having a press conference." Korra rolled her eyes. She agreed on the proviso that Asami come with them.
Some time later, in front of city hall, Lin was asked by reporters about the jail break-out the night before. "All inmates are accounted for." Some continued to press forward, wanting answers. One asked, "we have reports that three individuals were able to escape the jail. Can you confirm these reports?" Lin gave them a bit of a cover story. "Those individuals were remanded into the Avatar's custody. They have been expelled from Republic City."
Korra, with prompting from Lin, spoke next. "I can personally attest that no citizens of this city will see the likes of those individuals ever again. They will not cause any harm to anyone, at any point in the future."
That seemed definitive enough for the reporters, so they stayed silent. Asami announced a new plan. "In order to keep the citizens of our great city, which we all love, safe, we are beginning a program to inspect every plane which comes into our city's airspace. We will be working with benders and non-benders alike on this program. Future Industries is developing systems to protect this city from bombing raids, in order to protect us from dangers coming from the sky."
This was all part of a ploy to make the citizens of Republic City feel safer. Whether it worked at all was an open question. At the same time, it was, simply a way for Future Industries to make money. Sure, this was a bit exploitative, but neither Lin, Asami, or Korra wanted someone like Chelli, or Apta, to enter the city ever again. If either one, or both of them, ever did come back, they would be ready.