Tarrlok was at his residence, looking down at his 'friends' tied to chairs. Their chains were their blood, and he was the holder of the key.
As they woke up, he gazed at them, visibly angry.
Someone had given Akashi information about his past.
And the latter, acting very pitiful over a minor kidnapping attempt, was about to ruin his whole life and career.
It was a pathetic attempt to insult him… the way the weak fight back, knowing they had no chance against a bloodbender.
Tarrlok could use his influence to stop that book from spreading, so he didn't care much.
What he cared about was who had spread the information about him being the son of a previous mafia boss.
Two of the three people here were loyal vassals to his father and had helped him climb the political ladder.
But one of them had betrayed him.
And he wanted to find out who.
"So," Tarrlok smiled at the three, who looked at him confused. "Who's the lowly bastard spreading rumors about me being a bloodbender? You know, the votes aren't that far off."
"Tarrlok, we have no idea what you're talking about."
"The day you came to Republic City, I gave you a home and money. And now you doubt my loyalty? It'd be better to kill me than call me a snitch."
"What? You're a bloodbender? Oh, right. I forgot about that."
Tarrlok didn't entertain their words. He opened his eyes wide.
The three were lifted off the ground.
Their veins bulged. Unable to utter a single word, they groaned in pain.
"Again, I'm going to ask, and you're going to tell me everything I want to know," he said, his voice threatening and grim.
Tarrlok released their blood, and they panted, desperately gasping for air as their oxygen supply had been cut off by the bloodbending.
"This interrogation is going to take a while," Tarrlok commented as he looked at them.
They pleaded, screamed, and begged, all claiming innocence.
After some mental and physical torture, they started telling him what he wanted to hear.
But when he asked, it didn't make sense.
Besides, none of them could be the one who had snitched on him.
"Very well. I'll bring that airbender, and I'll kill whoever made that silly story about me and the Earth Queen," Tarrlok said, his voice threatening.
The mention of the Earth Queen reminded him of a scene he had read.
It was very detailed, very erotic, and very humiliating.
In the middle of that book, there was a drawing of the main character.
And it looked way too much like him.
Just to make sure it didn't face a lawsuit, Akashi had drawn a mole on Tarrlok's forehead and depicted him being pegged.
"I'll be back. No one dares leave," Tarrlok said, walking out of his residence, leaving the door open.
He knew these guys wouldn't dare leave. They knew about his power.
As a bloodbender, he could kill their whole families. And it would take a lot of resources to stop him.
"Damn it. That angered me so much," he muttered to himself as he walked to his car, heading back to Republic City.
-x-X-x-
Akashi wore black attire with leather armor.
Around him, at a round table in a gray room, were men and a few women dressed in black metal armor.
Most were metalbenders, and some lightningbenders had been requested for the job.
"Okay. I've done a background check on each of you," Akashi said.
He had requested yesterday to be part of the task force to subdue Tarrlok.
Surprisingly, the chief gave him the task of planning.
It was unexpected that she'd give him this job, which would boost his career hugely. If he pulled this off, becoming a sergeant wouldn't take long—maybe less than a year.
But that wasn't Akashi's goal. His goal was to gain experience points by taking the bloodbender down.
"Before anyone asks why I did a background check on you—it's because the target is highly influential, with ears and eyes everywhere," Akashi said. "Most of you are honest working men… your bank statements prove that. I'm one of you, and that's why I'm entrusting my life to you."
Akashi grabbed a long paper and laid it on the table.
It was divided into two parts, with everyone's names on one side.
"Our target is a bloodbender… someone only the Avatar, in the Avatar State, can hope to beat. If we confront him all at once, he'll knock us out in one go," Akashi traced his finger. "This is the city. Everyone will station themselves in assigned locations."
Firebenders and lightningbenders would play the biggest role, given their sniping abilities.
"Remember, no bulk attacks. We'll divide and strike from different locations and distances. If he bloodbends someone, lightningbenders and firebenders will shoot at him to distract him."
"This should take him down. But that bastard is sly, and if he escapes, he'll go to this location. From there, there are two escape routes—the car and the sea. We'll have people ready to destroy his car and boat."
"We'll have people stationed at his residences, located as shown here."
"Please, everyone, do your jobs, and we might take down this terrorist," Akashi smiled. "If you need motivation, look at your bank statements and remember—this Tarrlok is the one pressing us to lower our budget. So, let's fuck him up."
Akashi raised his fist to motivate his team.
But all were silent, their gazes drifting to the side.
It seemed most were afraid of the chief yelling at them.
Still, they nodded before departing.
The operation could start any time—tonight or tomorrow.
-x-X-x-
"Well, I must say, for your first time, that's quite impressive," the police chief said, crossing her arms and nodding at Akashi, who had just finished presenting his plan.
The police chief had worked most of her life as a cop and remembered when her mother told her how Avatar Aang subdued Yakone, the previous bloodbender who ruled the underworld.
Yakone had been nearly invincible—powerful enough to knock out many benders at once. Even Aang got knocked out in the first round. Then, in the second, the Avatar struggled before activating the Avatar State.
It was painful to admit that if Yakone had wanted to kill Aang the first time he was unconscious and without the Avatar State, he could have—and he would have ruled all of Republic City.
But luck had been on their side.
Akashi, here, without the Avatar, had formed a very well-structured plan based on the fact that Tarrlok was a bloodbender.
"That's what she said," Akashi smirked.
Her eyelid twitched, but Akashi pretended not to see it. He just smiled as a few veins appeared on her forehead.
First he stares at her body, now he makes sexual jokes.
"Yes," she smiled, replying, "considering how small you are."
"You mean my position as a detective compared to others here," Akashi smiled, feeling a pang of pain in his heart.
She walked past him, rolling her eyes. "Inside, you know exactly what I mean."
"I can always show you I'm a bigger person than you think," he replied.
She turned to him.
"My qualifications exceed my rank," he clarified.
"I may hold you on that." She replied.
'Is she flirting with me?' Akashi felt a little awkward, smiled, and excused himself.
-x-X-x-
Akashi got back to his residence and saw he'd received mail.
It had the council's stamp, a letter, and a stack of money—1000 yuan bills.
It was from councilman Tarrlok.
"So, it started," Akashi smirked.