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[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]The Core[/color]The Core[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=777777]The entrance to the club was much more chaotic than Katakuri had anticipated. Instead of the muted sounds of music spilling from its glowing archways, it seemed the club patrons themselves were coming out, seemingly and suddenly forced to leave, evident by the bewildered expressions on their face. As they filed out, armed individuals were beginning to move in. Foot soldiers for the numerous other gangs allied with the ‘leader’ of the Underground were mobilizing in force.

Katauri paused. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. As far as he knew, the broadcast from Tao shouldn’t have already reached the very bottom of the Underground. There was no way any of these people should have been expecting anyone, but with the way they were running around trying to organize, it was obvious they were. The ‘who’ he had no way of knowing, but despite his uncertainty, he was very certain of the danger Chosah would be in should he hesitate now. There was no going back anymore. There hadn’t been for a while. He had to press forward.

Katakuri scooped a tired Chosah up into his arms. She immediately clung to his chest and rested her cheek against him. He could hear her steady breath as the sound of air hissing through the mask covering her nose and mouth. In their shadow were Archer and Dutchess, still diligently following behind them despite how wildly out of place they were. Their maws were now caked in partially dried blood, a promise and a warning to those who would test their intent to protect Katakuri’s charge or wish harm on any of them. They kept on Katakuri’s heels as he pushed past a few of the clubbers leaving and stepped up to the front door. He was immediately stopped by a large man.

[color=white]”Nu-uh. Club’s closed… and no kids all-”[/color]

[color=b64040]”My daughter is a Firebender. I heard there’s a place down here where she’ll be safe.”[/color] Katakuri stated almost unnaturally calmly given what one might think about the seriousness of his situation. Despite the odd tone, however, the man’s expression immediately softened. His eyes fell on the child curled up in the man’s arms. Then he noticed the two dogs behind them and their bloodied fur.

[color=white]”Sure... but the mutts stay outside.”[/color]

[color=b64040]”No. They're staying with me. They're well behaved and she loves them. They’re very protective of he-”[/color]

[color=white]”Fine fine whatever just go. I can’t tell if your timing is shit or perfect but they’re getting ready to move down there so hurry up. Head all the way down and then it's a straight shot through the corridor on the left. The dogs are your responsibility. They get lost, killed, stolen, eaten, not my fucking problem. They attack someone, they're as good as dead.”[/color] He nodded toward the entrance and waved them through, making sure some of the people walking past them gave the distressed father and his child some room.
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[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]The Core[/color]The Core[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=777777]It had been only a few minutes since Jin had excused themselves to the restroom when Sonam returned. The woman in the blue scarf immediately went back to speaking with the other groups spread around the chamber and left Nelu with his thoughts. He realized then that for the first time in his life, he was in the pit of the Underground by himself; alone in some strange place he didn’t really belong, surrounded by people not long for this world. Down here, with the sounds of the club little more than a muffled memory separated by thick walls of dirt, he found the large room he was in to be strangely, serenely quiet. Whispers echoed across the empty chamber, drawing his eyes to cracks in the walls and pockmarked pebbles wedged into the dirt. The muted voices from the others floated wordlessly in the air, their conversations gathering in the air above them all, trapped as they all were. Trapped just like him. He found himself pondering what they could possibly be discussing; what conversations these people were having that could possibly be worth having, but as he continued to ruminate on the what and the why, he found himself becoming genuinely curious. Questions bubbled to the surface of his oxygen starved brain. Things he felt like he wasn’t supposed to ask and yearning for knowledge he wasn’t supposed to have.

Things like Sonam. Why was her name so familiar and yet so distant a thing? The two syllables of her name bounced off his tongue as if they had before. Like he’d repeated her name to someone and they’d said it back. It seemed… important, but he couldn’t quite place its importance in the maze that was becoming his mind. He thought he should take a pull of clean air from the oxygen canister she’d provided him earlier, but a part of him disregarded the thought and proffered something more interesting: Sonam was right there. He could simply look at her and confirm if her face and voice and name were indeed familiar to him.

And so he did, but when he turned to find Sonam again, he noticed something odd. Some of the raised platforms in the room where people had been seated were now strangely empty. Sonam too had moved, and as she jumped from group to group, those she spoke to would gather their things and begin filing out of the room through the only door.

[color=bca346]"Shit.”[/color] He mumbled to himself as he watched another trio exit the chamber. Suddenly his timeline was moved rapidly forward and without his partner present he wasn’t 100% sure on his next move. He hadn’t received any acknowledgement on his proposed plan before Jin had excused themselves so he couldn’t be sure if they had taken the opportunity to leave or if they actually just needed to pee. But even if they did leave, they’d never make it back in time before every Bender in the chamber had already left. He would be forced to go with his original plan and move on Hunang alone. If they hadn’t left, how long did it take for Jin to relieve themselves?

For the briefest moment, his mind began to scrape at the clouded images of his recent memory, pondering nonsensical questions about how much they had drank since entering the Underground and when exactly they last had a bathroom break. How long could he hold his bladder and how practical would it be to install a system that stored his water waste so he could use it to bend in an emergency. Where the hell was Jin? Or Hunang?

Thankfully, his wandering thoughts were cut short by the out-of-place sounds of dogs barking.
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[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]The Core[/color]The Core[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=777777]Chosah was sat on the cold hard ground only a few yards away from her father and the women he was speaking too. Her Feet and knees were together and her hands were clasped neatly in her lap as if she'd been trained to sit like this. As if the idea 'perfection' was a shape she understood. But while her body projected a sense of ease and normalcy, her gaze betrayed the calm demeanor by remaining eerily fixed on Katakuri. The dark innocence of her eyes studied the expression on his face as it danced to a tune she didn't quite yet understand. A Stern hardness became anger and too quickly did that anger turn to desperation. It was the only time she'd seen him like this. The only time her father's face had shown anything other than the calm she knew him to be. Patient and gentle and warm. That was Katakuri. That was her dad. The man in front of her was none of these things and the words coming out of his mouth were not of the soft voice she recognized.

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[color=b64040]”You don’t understand. They’re not the RSF. They’re not the police! These people are dangerous. They are Benders who train specifically to kill other Benders. Do you get it?”[/color]

[color=608d66]”It doesn’t matter. Everyone here will be long gone before they tear through my men.”[/color]

[color=b64040]”That's where you’re failing to understand the situation. You already have two of them in your cam-.”[/color]

Hunang gave very little warning. The movement of her feet were sharp and stiff. Quick and precise as if it had been practiced a thousand times over. Her hip shifted ever so slightly to the left and her heel followed, sliding an inch over in the dirt and tearing open the ground beneath Katakuri’s feet. The cavity was just wide enough to drop him down to his chest and the sides of the hole were slanted in such a way that his legs became pinned against each other without his feet ever touching the bottom. His arms too were pinned where they had fallen in front of him as thick rock-like cuffs shaped from the earth wrapped themselves around his wrist, forearm and elbow. He couldn’t move, though unbeknownst to Hunang, he was far from helpless even as he was now.

[color=white]”Daddy!”[/color]

[color=b64040]”Stay there, Chosah.“[/color] Katakuri ordered the girl not to move from where she was. Archer and Dutchess straightened up and began to bark but they refused to leave Chosah’s side.

Hunang's eyes fell on the young girl for a moment and then returned to her captured prize. There was a resemblance, that much she was sure of, but more than that, there in his eyes she recognized a very familiar fire. She’d seen it many times in her prolonged life in the Underground. Everyone who had ever tasted desperation had it. The willingness to do whatever it took for a loved one. Honesty used as currency in exchange for their life or another. Katakuri was being honest and he was desperate enough to search her out, but these did little to quell the inferno that was boiling inside her. [color=608d66]”You fucking people,”[/color] she spat. [color=608d66]”You think we don’t know about the Lotus?! I- WE have spent years down here picking up the pieces from every rebellion you’ve torn apart. I know very much what you’re all capable of. I know you lurk in the dark. I know what you are, so trust me when I say I understand that when up against a real threat…”[/color] Hunang bent down at the waist, bringing her eyes closer to the man she had half buried in the dirt. Even bent over now as she was, Katakuri still had to look up at her. [color=608d66]”...More of you always show up. Do [i]you[/i] understand?”[/color]

There was a short pause as Katakuri put the pieces together. They’d already been tipped off. All the movement around them was preparation and what they were preparing for wasn’t to simply hold off the LSF while the refugees somehow escaped. They were taking advantage of an opportunity that had landed right in their lap. [color=b64040]”You plan to bury the LSF down here with you.”[/color] He shook his head. [color=b64040]”It’s not going to be enough, we have more people.”[/color]

Hunang straightened out though so did so awkwardly fast. [color=608d66]”Do you watch a lot of Stickball?”[/color]

[color=b64040]”Neither of us have all day to go back and forth about this so please get to the point.”[/color]

[color=608d66]”It’s simple. If you remove the best players, you weaken the team. [i]Your[/i] people will not be able to recover fast enough to stop what is coming.”[/color]

[color=b64040]”Which is?”[/color]

[color=608d66]”Change.”[/color]

[color=b64040]”How does that work if you’re dead? You will not survive this.”[/color]

[color=608d66]”I’m not the only player on my team and these peopl-”[/color]

[color=b64040]”I do not give a damn about you or your team or the filth in that room you call people. I do not care about change. I only care about giving my daughter a chance to live. If that means I have to burn down Ba Sing Se, then so be it.”[/color]
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